The Indwelling Christ

Praise God. The Lord is worthy to be praised. I noticed in several of those songs this morning, it talked about shouting or proclaiming. Jesus is worthy of a huge proclamation, shouts of praise. I was thinking, one of my favorite moments in the Bible is where Jesus was, he was on the donkey and he was riding through, and they were singing Hosanna, you know, Hosanna. And I think it was the Pharisees that told Jesus to make them stop. And he said, if I stop them, even the rocks will cry out. One of those songs talked about the whole earth worshiping Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He is worthy. And the thing about it is, when he was raised from the dead by the power of God, and he ascended and sent his spirit back, that same life dwells in you. It dwells in each person here. I mean, the thing, the most joyous thing to me is as we're singing these songs, I see you, Avis. That's the singing girl. Praise God. It's each one of us gifts. And you know what, when we are filled with the spirit, one of the things that we'll get is joy. It will come out. You can fake a lot of things, but you cannot fake joy. And you can be in the lowest place possible, and the Lord can still give you joy in your situation. It's this calm, abiding strength. And that's one of the things that this Holy Spirit gives. And you know, I don't know what all I'll say this morning, but I have been praying for our service all week. You know, and I've been praying for the services, and I'm sure you guys are too.

And one of the things that I keep asking the Lord, show me, Lord, what your will is today. We need to be led by the Lord today. There are seasons, and even when you're being taught and you're in an assembly where ministry's coming forth, where it's the Word of God and people are going to teach and preach, you know, those gifts and that speaking should prepare you for acts of service and me. And even in the speaking thereof, there's different ones who speak or add something. You've got exhortation, prophecy, preaching, teaching, all those things. But you know, we are a many-membered body. And I want the very life that we were singing about, that Jesus we were singing about, to come forth through his whole body, the church. Because a body is made up of different members. You know, we used to hear, I know Phyllis said this numerous times, we talk about, I remember Brother Thomas, he used to be here years ago, the Lord took him home. But he would talk about ministry. He said, you know, the church or the organized church is the one that developed that one-man pastor or one-man ministry. But you know, when you just got one person, what happens, some of what comes across is just one-dimensional. But the body is not one-dimensional, it is multi-membered body that produces that Christ that we need to see. Would you agree with that? That's in the Bible. And the more each member functions, it's seen more as a body. And then the body of Christ, or in essence, more of Christ is seen, you see and experience more of his life, do you not? Byron, when he was up here, he mentioned they went out to Mercy Tree there. And he said, you know, they were just having fellowship with those guys. And he said that was an experience. I agree with him. I believe one of the reasons the Lord has brought this our way is to show us more of

how we are to not just intermingle, but also to give that part of Christ that's in us. And that was the one thing he was saying. When you partake of what another brother or sister says, you know what you're partaking of? Jesus Christ. It's like a loaf. I am thankful that the Lord, not only did he die and was he raised, but as he comes forth in his church, we're going to see more of who and what Jesus is through a multi-membered body. I'm just going to speak to it the way it came to me this morning, and you guys can be the judge of it. But I did walk out this morning, I was praying, and I was thinking about our service and asking the Lord to lead us. We're going to have a little conversation. with Joe Dyer this morning and it confirmed it to my heart. She was just speaking about different things, but she mentioned how we need the Lord in our services and that how we need to be, you know, there are seasons, there are times, and there's things the Lord takes us through, but he wants us to grow up. If you went to college and you got a four-year degree and you can get that degree in four years, a lot of them are like that. What if you sat and listened to a professor, the same professor, for 40 years and you did not graduate? You know, most people, and even when you're in school, you're required to get from the class and do this and that and the other, and it's so that you can express what you're learning, right? We did it in high school, but the thing of it is ministry and teaching should produce something to where you're not just in a classroom for 40 years and there's no change. Does that make sense, anybody? So this morning I was praying. There's a couple of things that I thought of that I hadn't thought about in a long time, but I said, Lord, just help us, lead us, and I thought about the Lord's prayer, which is the prayer he gave us, and that one line where it says, give us this day our daily bread, and you know, when he gave him the manna in the wilderness, he gave it to him six days a week. Everything in the Old Testament points to Jesus Christ. He fulfilled the law, he fulfilled prophecy, and I tell you what, it was all for one

reason, to bring us to himself and to restore that which was corrupted by sin and to have a family that would spend eternity with him, and in so doing, as we are saved and we're brought into that body of believers, the Lord teaches us and gives us a gift and a capacity, and that functions in a certain way to where we partake of that in each other, but I was thinking about the bread. Lord, give us this day our daily bread, and the thing I thought of was, you remember when they put three items in the Ark of the Covenant? One was Aaron's rod that budded, one was the stone tablets, which are the commandments, and the other was a gold bowl of manna, and you know, when the Lord gave them that manna, he told them, you gather it six days, you know, six days a week. You only get extra for the Sabbath because that day I don't want you doing anything. I want you to remember, you know, rest, and that's, again, the Lord fulfilled so many things, but you think about in that box, in that covenant, there was that rod, and it was Aaron's rod that budded, but when they, when Aaron was chosen to be a high priest, these different men brought their rods out there, and it was the one that budded is the one the Lord would choose to be the high priest. The Lord chooses people. I tell you what, he, Aaron was a high priest, but who is the great I've raised, and he was chosen. Well, when they had, they get those rods, they were giving those men that came out there, and Aaron's rod was budding, and so he was chosen. The law is in the, was in that box. Jesus fulfilled the law. It all points to Jesus. We now thought about the gold bowl with the manna, and how, you know, the Lord told them, you don't get more than you need, because what would happen? Worms would get in it, and anyway, but you know what? I don't think worms ever got in that golden bowl in that Ark of the Covenant. Do you? The Lord was symbolizing something, and I was just thinking about His Word, and I'm going to read this. This is in John chapter 6. Let me find it here. He had fed them, you know, with a miracle of the bread, and I'm just going to start down in 28. Then they asked Him, what must we do to do the works God requires? Jesus answered, the work of God is this, to believe in the one He has sent. So they asked Him, what sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you, and what will you do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness. As it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Jesus said to them, and this is this is gets back to the bread, very truly I tell you, it is not who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.

Jesus Christ is still the life giver. And we have no life apart from him, nor do we have any true direction unless the Holy Spirit directs us in a way that we should go to where he speaks of each one the way he needs to. Is he able to speak to everybody here at the same time and he might even say something different? Is he able to do that? When we share Christ, there's no telling the depth of what's accomplished when we do that. There's something deep and more profound you see in the whole body. Praise God. Anyway, they say this, they said, always give us this bread. Then Jesus declared, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry. He is the one that satisfies. You know, and I, if you don't mind, go with me to 1 Corinthians 14. And I don't know what all the Lord has this morning. I guess in some ways, maybe it's just a small exhortation. But I see the need for all of us. The Lord wants us to grow up in him and also be what he's called us to be to each other so that we're a strength to each other. It is a body. It's like a whole loaf of bread. And though not everyone is called to speak, I've noticed this, though, that no one can say what the Lord has done for you better than you can. Nobody. And you don't have to say, I mean, how many people did the Lord tell that to? Or I always think about the demoniac. You go in there and you tell them what I did for you. Was he a preacher? He wasn't a theologian.

But Jesus Christ had set him free. That's what they needed to hear is that there is a Jesus. And that Jesus is the same today, yesterday, and forever. And he is here to set people free. We were singing that song this morning. It was enough. When Jesus cried out, it is finished, it was finished. And what qualifies us is not a certain number of years here in any particular thing. What qualifies is the spirit that he put in us. And when he raises us from the dead, we are ready right then to tell somebody about Jesus Christ. And it happens in different forms, different people, different ways. But the truth is preached. It's all through the Bible that at different times different people say different things. And the Lord expresses himself through a body of people. Let me see here. First Corinthians 14, I think it's 26. What then shall we say, brothers and sisters, when you come together? This next word is important. Each, each of you, as a hymn or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or interpretation, everything must be done so that the church may be built up. Is there something that happens with the church as all participate? It's built up. The church is a body. And if a body is going to minister to someone else, you know, if your legs give out on you, you don't get there. You know, if your lips fall off, you may not speak. But it is a conglomerate of members that make up the body. And as the body is prepared, the body gets up and walks around. And on a personal note, I'll say again, even regarding Mercy Tree and the thing that we're a part of now, I believe the Lord has brought this providentially to teach us something. He wants us involved.

No matter where, and we got media. I'm going to say this, even right here. I want everybody to realize this. These cameras and these lights should never dictate what we do anytime we come together. We need to be led of the Lord Jesus Christ by his spirit. And you may have come in here this morning and had something. And yet you may hesitate because it's obvious we do church a certain way. You know, every assembly does church a certain way. But where there's Christ, there is a potential for more. And truth of the matter is we're not supposed to do it a certain way. The certain way is his way. Let us wait on him. Let us look to him. Let's be led by him. And may he flow. Because Jesus Christ is alive, and he has what each person needs. When we were singing those songs about healing, deliverance, salvation, who is it that provides that? Jesus Christ. When he, I tell you, when he sent his Holy Spirit back, the church was equipped. But every person, what he equipped us with, people need. And part of what I believe the Lord wants to show us is we're to be his hands extended to others. And you don't wait until you get some kind of theological degree to do it. You be exactly who God made you. But more important than that, be what he is, where he has changed you, and give voice to what he's done for you. Is he worthy to be talked about? Is he worthy to be praised? Is he worthy to be shared? Yes. I'm not trying to tell anybody what to do here this morning. If I do that, maybe make the trap door open and I go to the basement real quick.

And rest gently on the floor. I hope I land right. Praise God. You know, we are a many-membered body. And if the Lord gives these gifts, I think in some ways, I think I was getting ready to say this. I've been working with the camera crew, and we've been capturing video now for, it's hard to believe. I thought about it the other day, almost 24 years. That's incredible. I probably didn't have near as much gray hair then as I do now. I'm turning silver. Thank you. Yeah, my hair's silver, but it sticks straight up and it gives me two or three more inches of hair. If it weren't for my hair, I would be short. I still am. But guess what? Zacchaeus, I wish Matt could share what he shared to the Bible study group. He said he had a vision that Zacchaeus and I were in heaven and we had a three-foot-high picket fence where we fellowshiped together for eternity. The fence was only three foot high. That's when I knew it was inspired of the Lord. It is, that is funny. Praise God. I tell you what, I don't care if I'm two foot high. If I'm alive in Christ, I can praise God. And if you're seven foot tall or four foot tall, or if you're just laying on the ground, if you got Jesus, you got everything you need. That's what I want. I want more of him. I want, I tell you, there is a difference, not a difference, but in some ways it is. We are sealed by the Spirit.

We are born of the Spirit. But we can be sealed with the Spirit and not filled with the Spirit on a regular basis. That's why I said be filled. It's again and again and again, even the Matthew 25 parable. They took vessels with them. Who is supposed to be the vessel with oil in it? It talks about us being purified and made vessels prepared for the master's use. We don't just have an empty profession. We have Jesus Christ abiding in us. We are that vessel. If we are that vessel, guess what? You have what this world needs. And despite all your flaws, faults, weaknesses, and things you still struggle with, when Jesus Christ is alive in you, what you have in you can save the whole world. That's incredible, I think. Because I see my, I've still got a few flaws. Just a few. But they're so darn big, they're a problem to me. Thank you. Jesus is bigger than all of them. When he cried out, it is enough. It is finished. It was finished. And whatever, when he put this old man to death on the cross, that man was slain. And he raised me to life in himself. And put in me and took care of all my faults, all my shortcomings. He raised me from the dead and he paid the price for all of it. I tell you what, we serve a risen Lord that abides in each member here. I don't know, as the days unfold, as we move forward, I don't know what all the Lord has,

but for sure, the body of Christ is a multi-membered body. And I need what you got. When the early church met, you know, they met even in homes and it said they would break bread, right? In some ways, that's symbolic. Who is it? What are we going to take off when we partake of communion? Is it not the bread, the broken bread, which is his body? When we break bread together, even at a meal and we're sharing, particularly for sharing the Lord, we're actually sharing Jesus Christ. And when he was broken, we were sharing him. He was broken for each one of us, and He dwells in each one of us. So I don't know what the depth of all this means, but I know that the body of Christ is not one-dimensional. It's much bigger than that. And as we go forward, I believe that the church— I personally believe that the church is going to be brighter when Jesus Christ returns than it's ever been. I don't care how much darkness is in this earth. There is darkness, and is it getting darker? Yes, but the light's getting brighter. And Jesus Christ is Lord of heaven and earth. He's ahead of all principalities. Is there any demon or mounted demons that are stronger than Him? It's not even a close second. They tremble because they know who He is. They also know that He's in us, and that's what the devil works on you about, trying to tamp down any of your calling. You're this, you're that, accusing you. He is the accuser of the brother and the sister.

He accuses us before our God day and night, but guess what? He has been thrown down. And I'll tell you who's been lifted up, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And as we advance into history, whatever, the Lord knows it's not up to me for sure to try to figure out the day and the hour. There's certain things we can know and we can see, but we are supposed to be about our Father's business. The Great Commission is still around and still going on. Preach to everyone, make disciples of all men. And He said, behold, I am with you to the very end of the age. Does He want to share Himself with others to the very end? I believe He does. I don't know how, you know, I hope what I'm saying makes sense. I just believe it is, I had a little conversation I had with Joe Dyer this morning. It just resonated with me. I said, that's the same thought I've had. Lord, lead us. If there's someone else here that can speak to what I'm talking about, you know, maybe we can wait on the Lord a little bit. We need each other. We need each other. There is, sometimes there's, you see a broader depth of any subject. It's not that it's always got to be multiple people.

That's not why I'm saying this, but we need to for sure all know our place and that we have a place, we have a part, and all parts are necessary. Even the ones that are not seen, they said the Lord gives them greater honor. Maybe that's where I'll stop. I just, I've had this on my heart and I've given it out and that's it. Lord bless y'all. Amen. Praise God. Absolutely right. I believe the thoughts that I've had and I'm certainly willing to sit down if somebody else truly has something from the Lord, but I believe the thoughts that I've had flow very well with what has been shared this morning. And I'll try to share just the thoughts that I've had. It seems like sometimes I'll get a line of thought and then I'll go to scriptures and I start looking them up and finally the Lord says, why don't you just tell them the thoughts I put in your mind? Duh. Because there are certain things that he focused on a certain scripture. This is one of those odd times in the year when I'm reading through the Bible and the historical, I can't, chronological, thank you,

version and most of the time you're reading two and three and four chapters. This is the, there was one day at the beginning of May where you're reading Psalm 133, all three verses. But there's a powerful message that is so simple there that I believe it will, if we can get what God is saying there, I believe it will absolutely dovetail with what Steve shared this morning and what the Lord wants us to get. And I'll just go ahead and read it first. How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity. It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down on the collar of his robe. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion, for there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore. And I guess the basic thought that, from which everything else flows is, what is the Lord looking for? What is his heart's desire? And I believe he is bringing a people together that are in conformity with what his heart is about. out. And he's talking about a people who live together in unity. This translation actually kind of interprets the original word, which is more like brethren or brothers. But this is a lot like what we've pointed out that how the word is used in the New Testament. When Paul writes brethren, he's not just writing to the men.

This is a fellowship that goes beyond earthly gender. This is the people who have a certain identity. Something connects them. They are one because they have a foundation for oneness. And so that's what God is looking for. There's a place, there is a particular people where God desires to pour out the spirit that Steve was talking about. Because without that, what are we? We're just a human organization. People come together on a lot of human bases, but our identity is not the Bible tabernacle. It's not our creed, our this, our that, our way of doing things even. It's not any of that. If we don't have what he's talking about here, we don't have anything. Because the world is full of religion that has had a measure of God's presence. That's what he's talking about. There the Lord bestows his blessing. It's like the dew that falls on Mount Hermon, apparently there was a lot of dew there, now falling on Mount Zion. Well, we need that. And that was a daily, daily thing, wasn't it? It wasn't just something where, okay, we got it. Now we just hang on to it, just like you couldn't hang on to the manna. But God wants a place where he literally can pour out his blessing. Now I want to be that kind of place, don't you? Isn't that what we exist for? I believe I'm talking to a lot of people here who want what the Lord wants. And the more we understand that, the more we can connect. Because like I say, people join together and they have what they call fellowship. They have relationships that are pretty much earth-based. We tend to gather with people who are like us.

We tend to share common earthly interests. You're part of my people group, therefore I feel comfortable with you. And I'm, you know, we have this relationship and we want to be with people who are sort of like us in earthly ways. God's kingdom is not like that. Jesus didn't run around with the in crowd. In fact, the in crowd were the ones that opposed him. He went with the people who were in need. And I pray that God will, this is one thing that I believe Steve was talking about in a way or infer or implying, that we need to have a heart that is open to whatever God wants to let him build and connect a people that are because of him, because of our identity in him, not because of any earthly issue. That might mean that people come in here who are not like us. What a thought. But I just pray that God will so give us a vision that goes beyond these earthly issues that we will absolutely be open to whatever God wants to do and however He wants to do it. Because I believe he wants to create an identity that is a lot bigger than we have thought. And of course it involves all the things that Steve said. He wants to live in every one of us and empower every one of us to be the one, the person that he has made us. Praise God. So the identity that he's talking about has to do with our identity with him. Well what is he about? Is he about ... I mean what are the blessings he's talking about here? This earthly pleasantness and earthly affairs, is that what it's about? He wants to make life smooth and easy and pleasant and all of those things. Thank God for every time that we can enjoy those kinds of things, but that's not what life is about. God is bringing together a people whose lives are centered around him and his will.

Wasn't that what Jesus came for? He didn't come for anything that he could get out of this world that had to do with I'm getting this for me. This is what I'm living for. This is what matters to me. This is what I try to connect myself with people who can sort of feed this earthly desire that I have. He came to do one thing was the Father's will. He realized that there's a purpose that goes way beyond anything down here and he's calling people out of that and giving them a ... identity that goes beyond all of it. And I wonder how much we are really a reflection of why we even come here. What's the real reason behind it? What are we living for? What is it that connects you to you to you? Oh, we love music, we like to get together, and we like sports, or we like, you know, we have so many earthly interests and so many things that we like one another because we are alike. God is wanting to connect to people because of one thing and one thing only. Because we have been so called out of this world and given a heavenly vision that that becomes our 100% of our identity. And what we live for, even though we do earthly things, we carry on earthly endeavors and business and jobs and all of that, what we're really living for is Him. And finding our place in His purpose. That's where it involves what Steve said. God has a place for every single person in His kingdom. God wants to live in you and in me and empower us to help one another. But there is a goodness, there is a pleasantness that goes way beyond what you and I think of, because we think of what we can see and feel with these natural senses. And God wants to do something that is supernatural. Jesus had the presence of the Father all the way through. There's one time when the Father left Him, that's when He went to the cross in your place and mine. And He stood there and He took all that we deserved. Thank God and He took it all into that tomb and then He came out victorious, just like has been said. So this has to do with a people that God

wants to have a relationship with. I don't know what all is necessary to say here this morning, but I did think of one scripture that we have heard many times in the past, and it has to do with answering the question, what is God looking for? What's He looking for when He's trying to call people out? Not trying, He is calling people out. Look at Isaiah chapter 66. These words through the prophet Isaiah, this is what the Lord says, heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool. So now you're standing back and you're looking at the immensity of all that God created and you think, oh He created that because He's going to enjoy that and think of, and look at all the great stuff I did and wow, isn't that, that has nothing to do with it, does it? That just shows us how great He is. But He didn't do that so He could feel proud and look what I did. And then He says, where is the house that you build me? So many people are out there trying to build God something. God doesn't need anything that I can build. I don't have the power to do it. You don't either. We need to find out what God is doing and be a part of that, right? That's the whole point. Where is the house you will build for me and where will my resting place? What an interesting idea. God's looking for a place where He can be at rest, where He can feel at home. Boy, I want this place right here. Not because of the place or the building, but because God has brought together a people in whom He feels at home. Think about that. Where is our heart in a practical sense? God's got some work to do, doesn't He? I probably got one or two little things wrong with me yet. One or two gazillion. But I'm so thankful God is working at us. Thank God it isn't some sort of snap-and-it's-done situation, but God is looking for a people. And He says what that is. Where will my resting place be is the question. Has not my hand made all these things and so they came into being? If that's what I was looking for, it's done. There it is. But the whole heart of God is wrapped up in something that is incredible. His purpose is not fulfilled until He has a people. He made you and me to have such a relationship with Him that He can live in our hearts and reside there and be at rest. Well, He's certainly not going to find any rest with somebody whose heart is attached to

this world and that's all they're ... that's what they're living for. And you know it's possible to come in here on Sunday morning and ... And smile and do all the right stuff, but your heart really is kind of out there. That's what we're really living for. May God help us. He is. But I want to listen. I want to get what his heart is. So he says, all these things, I made all that. That's what I wanted. It's done. These are the ones I look on with favor, those who are humble and contrite in spirit and who tremble at my word. Now he's not talking about, oh my God, I got to measure up kind of fear. He's talking about somebody who takes what he says seriously. This is not just, well, you and me will have a dialogue, God, and I'll decide what I think is right. And you, you know, this is, God, you have a purpose. You made everything. I was made for a reason. I want to find out what that reason, and I want to be in agreement with it. So God is looking for a people who are totally in agreement with him, and a contrite heart is that we are a hundred percent on board with what he says about our need. When God talks about all have sinned, that means me. I can't look at somebody else and say, well, I'm not like them, so I'm okay. God is looking for a people who are 100% signed on for the duration to be his people, to realize my purpose in being here is not to live a life, an earthly life. It's to be connected with you. And not only that, so that you can share your life with me and I can share it with others. See, that's where it goes.

Praise God. Praise the Lord. I hope, I trust the Lord's helping this. Is the Lord in this? God help me, because I feel my weakness. But that's kind of the way things work, isn't it? Thank the Lord. So anyway, he's talking about how good and pleasant, the goodness and the pleasantness is what he says at the end, there the Lord bestows his blessing life forevermore. So this goodness and pleasantness, it comes upon God's people, but how? Just because they're signed on a dotted line and then they're just kind of out there somewhere? This is a living together situation. This is when God brings people into an earthly outward relationship with one another, and we actually interact on a daily basis. There's a lot of folks out there that would like to think of Christianity as a separate me and Jesus. We've heard that many times in the past, where I've got this relationship to him, he tells me what to do, and it has nothing to do with whatever anybody else does, I'm just going here and going there. We need to have the Lord connect us. The people that are here that he has called into his kingdom are here for a reason, and they're here not just to have this private thing, but to take that private, the personal relationship which is real, and absolutely live it out in our earthly relationships. That has everything to do with how we live with each other, how we treat each other. It gets into the home. It gets into daily attitudes. It gets into, are we treating others the way we want them to treat us? What is our ... Do we forgive? Do we ... All the things we've heard many times, all those issues, are we living out what he's talking about here?

Because God's not just talking about, okay, you're in, you're a mess, but you're in. God wants to absolutely begin to clean us up and change us, and the more we have of the practical side, the practical outworking, the more of his presence we're going to have. Anybody feel like we've got room for a lot more? It's not that we measure it by, oh wow, the thunder is rolling, the power is down, and all that kind of stuff. God can do that, but we need the reality of his spirit so manifest in our lives that that's what people see when ... That's what comes out of us. A good question is, in our daily interactions with each other especially, but with anybody, what is it that comes out? Well, if you don't have Christ in you, the only thing that comes out is the old you. But I'll tell you, the problem is so much of what comes out of us is still the old us. We talked about recently, God put us in the tomb and left us there. As far as he's concerned, that's where we are. He brought us forth. He didn't bring the old you out, but the problem is we don't get that. We don't know that, do we? We still think ... still think in very earthly ways, and God is working on me, and He's working on you to change us. So this is about a people who live together in unity, and the unity is not following some earthly leader and blindly saying, they've got it, they're God's voice, and I'm going to shut up and listen, and you know, that's not that kind of a unity. It's not the unity of some earthly idea, some earthly doctrine. This is something, this is God at work, revealing Himself in His heart and His purpose. Praise God. So when God's people live together in unity, it is like precious oil that is poured on the head, running down the beard, and so forth. What was the oil about? Yeah, you remember when the law was given, one of the things that was really central

to that were there were certain people that were, first of all, they were chosen, right? God does the choosing. If we're in the kingdom of God, it's because God did the choosing. Praise God. Now we responded to His choosing, but there is a divine choosing. This is what God ... God doesn't care in a sense about the stars. They'll pass away, as a matter of fact, and be replaced. But what God cares about is a people. I mean, think about the beginning, all that God had created, and there was a walking and talking with Adam and Eve until they listened to God's enemy and sinned. And what happened then? Did the Lord just say, oh, I'm done with you? He went looking for them. Thank God. Do you see where God's heart is? God's heart has always been with the people that He created. He longs to have a real relationship with us so that it's not just some religion we practice that's dead. He wants to have a living relationship where He lives on the inside and we experience His presence in our lives and His enabling. And so the oil symbolized a choosing. It symbolized a setting apart, because if you are called to be part of this kingdom, you have been set apart from this world. They're going this way, we're going that way. And if that's not where your heart is, that's where you need to start. You need to say, wait a minute, Lord, I need you. I need you to do something supernatural in here, because my heart's headed the wrong way. I need you. I need you to give me that new heart.

I need your Spirit to come in and reside and Jesus Christ to become Lord, because apart from that, I'm just like the world. I can even ... and people, I'll tell you, untold numbers of people are sitting in church pews this morning across the world who have never been born of this Spirit that He's talking about right here. I pray that, and I know God is still reaching out. Praise God. Okay? The precious oil, and immediately someone mentioned it's the anointing. That's absolutely right, because where do we get this ability to help one another? If someone does have a word that is really from heaven, the ability to give that out comes not from human ability, it comes from Him. If we don't have that, what do we have? I mean, you can get trained how to put sermons together and learn how to speak publicly. That doesn't do a bit of good if God isn't in it. We need His Spirit. We need the anointing, and when Aaron and the other priests carried out the mission that God had given them, they didn't just do it with human ability. This was a symbol of something that was real, something that you can't see. Oil on the head was a symbol, this is where I'm putting my Spirit. I am empowering, I'm choosing, I'm separating, I am empowering this person to carry out something as a part of my plan. How many of you know that we're all a kingdom of priests? God's anointing is for all of His people, not to be the same as each one, as all the other ones, but He wants His Spirit to be upon every one of us. Praise God, all right? So it's like that. This is the blessing. In other words, this is what the good and the pleasant is about. I want to put my Spirit on a people.

I want to find a place of rest where my Spirit is upon a people, and they are empowered to carry out my will on the earth. That's kind of what He did with Jesus, and He said, as the Father has sent me. So send I you." And then the dew of heaven, or the dew of Hermon falling upon Mount Zion. You have this sense of the life-giving presence. You know, the manna is certainly another illustration of how God, we need that daily renewing that comes from heaven. We don't need to just come in here and say, well, we know how to do church like Steve has said. We need to come in and say, Lord, we need your presence today. Thank you for everything you said yesterday. Thank you for everything you've done in the past. We receive it, we rejoice, but we need you now. God help us to never, ever, ever lose that sense that we need Christ to dwell in our midst. We need what he's talking about there, the Lord bestows his blessing, where our people are willing to come together entirely based on the identity that we have been given in Christ. And we're in harmony with his purpose. We accept everything about his kingdom, and we see that that's what it's really about. God wants to actually have a relationship with us. That's incredible. Why would God, who can create stars, who can create all the things that we see, why would he want to have a relationship with somebody like me? That doesn't make any sense, but that's his heart. Praise God. Praise God. I want to be entirely on board with that and understand it. I don't know if this needs to go on and on, but I thought of a couple of other scriptures.

Praise the Lord. One just went right out of my head, but that's okay. Maybe this is supposed to be all there is, but one thing that I thought of ... I remember what it is now. It's in Ephesians chapter two. It's an interesting way Paul puts this, because the subject he's talking about has to do with the fact that you've got Jews and Gentiles, that God is reaching out to all of that. He's put away that distinction. That's not my point right here. But in verse 19, speaking to Gentiles, he says, consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of his household built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building ... See, now you've got a different illustration than just the body. Now he's talking about us as if we were a building, in whom the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. God's looking for a home. Look at me that way. God's looking for a home. I wonder what kind of a home we are for him. Does he feel at home here? I want to have a sense, and I want to be one with him in a way that allows him to come and feel at home, be at home. How do you feel when you're tired and you've been out and you're way off somewhere and you finally get, ah, I'm home? It's a resting place. It's a place where I just, this is where I want to be. This is my favorite place to be. I can just rest and be myself here. I want the Lord to feel that way of us here when he comes here.

I know we're not the only ones, but God has put us together. I want that to be the reality here. In him, you too are being built together ... Ooh, that's a scary thought. Use the word together in Psalm 133, but here it's built together. I can just hear somebody saying, well, the Lord, why'd the Lord connect me with them? Seriously? I can get along with most people, but God's put me together with so and so, and we just fuss and fight all the time. We can't stand each other. God knows how to put people together who have needs, and God wants to deal with everything that would disconnect us, that would interfere with the unity that he wants to build. God is pretty, I think he has a sense of humor sometimes, but God knows how to put people together so that he can work. Notice it doesn't talk about it again like, boom, there's a building. Well, I turned away from it. We are built together. being built. We are being constructed. God is constructing a house to live in. We sing about that sometimes. I want to be part of that house and I want to have a sense that I'm a part of you and God's put me together with you. All of the things Steve said about the body of Christ are absolutely right. The different elements of my body are connected to me. We talked about this many times. They don't have independent wills where this one goes this way, this one goes this way, and I'll see you later when we get together. We are together. We are connected. And God wants us to have that as a heart conviction that enables me to focus not on my needs and my wants. That's the problem. Human nature is all focused on self and what self wants and what self finds pleasant in this world and what we think we need, what we think we want, and you see the result. Nothing but conflict and hatred in the world. But God wants, when Jesus came, who was He focused on? Whose needs was He focused on? Was it His own? He was focused entirely on you and me. That's incredible. That is hard for somebody who's born into this world in Adam's family to wrap their minds around. But that's the change that God is bringing about in every one of us so that we can be

servants one to another. So that my focus is not on my welfare but yours. Lord, help me to have this sense where I'm focused, I am so free from my own needs. I know, Lord, You take care of them, but I want to find how I can bless somebody else. Lord, the most fulfilling thing, the thing that fulfills me the most is being able to be a blessing to somebody else. God, help me to have that kind of a heart. That's what God is looking for. One other thought that I had, and I guess I'll go ahead to John chapter 17. This isn't going to take much longer. John chapter 17. Because this is where Jesus was praying, and what a prayer it is. But the one part that needs to be focused on is, begins, I think, well, all right. Praise God. Well, I'll just pick it up in verse 15. My prayer, talking about His disciples, His followers, my prayer is not that You take them out of the world, but that You protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Is that true of us? May God help us to get that. Are we of the world, or are we of the kingdom? It takes a miracle to produce that, but that's the miracle of the gospel. Everyone who opens their heart, God pours His Spirit in, and we become a new creation. Praise God. So anyway, they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify or set them apart by the truth. Your word is truth. As You sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them, I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. Everything Jesus did was so that we could enter into this. But what is it? My prayer is not for them alone. So think about that. Jesus was standing there almost 2,000 years ago. He was praying for you and for me right now. His prayer to His Father, do you think His prayer is going to be answered? His prayer was for you and me right here this morning. In spite of everything we might experience and all the things we think are wrong, I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message. What? That all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in me and I am in You, may they also be in us so that the world may believe that You have sent me. I wonder how much of Christ's life is actually something that other people can experience because they don't just need to hear doctrines, join organizations. They need to encounter Christ. And the only way that can happen is when He dwells in us, not just dwells in us, but comes through us. God's changing us so that that can happen. May God bless you. God do that in all of us, all right?

So the world may believe, I have given them the glory that you gave me, now why did he do that? That they may be one as we are one. Wow, one heart, one purpose, God's bringing forth a people, thank God. In them, and I in them, and you in me, so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know, and so forth. I just praise God, I see that God wants to enlarge us in many ways. I mentioned, I asked the question a while ago, how comfortable would we be if people started coming here that weren't like us? Do we not need to have the heart of Jesus Christ? And be about not earthly identity, and earthly being alike, and gathering because we like each other in an earthly sense, but seeing beyond that. The thing that connects me to you, and you, and you, is not all these earthly things, it has to do with one thing, is Christ living in me, and is he living in you, and are we joined together because of that? If we have that, we have all that we need. And I just pray, I know that God wants to take us beyond our walls in all kinds of ways, we've seen that. And I've said this many times, and I'll say it again, I want to be as open as God wants me to be. And I want to be as discerning as God wants me to be, because there's a whole lot of dead religion out there that just has preserved a form of something. But I'll tell you, we have brothers and sisters, is Jesus' prayer going to be fulfilled? Steve talked about that. I don't know what it's going to look like. I know that Christ is going to have a church that is without spot and wrinkle or blemish on that day. How that's going to come about and when, I don't know, but I know his prayer is going to be answered. And I want to have that spirit, that heart that is willing to recognize people in whom

that God has rescued from the power of darkness, and he lives in them. God's going to make connections that we have not imagined. He already has, hasn't he? May God continue to open our hearts and help us to see beyond our little limited understanding. He's not going to show us way down the road, but we can walk in the light he gives us today and say, Lord, change me. Help me to be more connected to your heart and your purpose, because your whole purpose in creating us was to have a home in us, to share your love. He didn't do this for himself in a selfish sense. He did it because his heart is to reach out and embrace and share all the power and the love and the goodness that he has with the people. God's changing us so that we'll be more like him. Anybody here got room for growing a little bit? Yeah, we all do. I certainly do. But I believe this is God's heart. And I believe there is a place and there will be until he comes. There will be people that he is absolutely bringing together and joining together and his blessing, his spirit. What is the blessing? It's his spirit. It's life evermore. Boy, this is going on into eternity, isn't it? You remember what it says? I didn't take time to look this up, but I'll just refer to the scripture at the end of Revelation that the dwelling of God will be with men. What an amazing thing. He made us to live with him. That's his heart, is to live with us forever and ever and ever. We've been there 10,000 years and so forth.

I'll tell you, this is a simple truth, but God is wanting to bring a people who are so set apart to him. Their hearts are not attached to the things of this world, but they get what we're here for. They realize I'm not here to serve myself. I'm here to serve my brothers and sisters. He's promised that when I seek him and look to him, he's going to put the oil on me. He's going to share his life and I'm going to have the power that I need to be able to fulfill his heart towards one another. The more we are like him, not just on paper kind of thing, but in absolutely how we treat one another and how we interact with one another on a day-to-day, day-to-day, week-to-week and so forth basis, we're going to have God's presence. He's going to take us to higher places in him and greater places and get us ready. We're going to be a light in a dark world. He's going to bring his people, his remnant, his true people in the earth. We're going to find more and more connections. And I'll tell you, some of that is going to be people that we would never have imagined who would come in here from all kinds of backgrounds. And we're going to need to have a heart that just welcomes them and say, if you love Jesus, we're one with you. I don't care what the earthly boundaries are. They don't exist. Jesus is the boundary. His spirit defines everything. His heart defines everything. And that's what I'm in on. I want to be 100% in harmony with that. To God be the glory. Praise God. Praise God.

I hope, I hope I don't screw up here. I don't get up very often. But, you know, not that this needs confirmation this morning, because what Steve and Phil have shared is absolutely the Lord. And I just wanted to get up because I wanted to share something, what Phil was talking about unity. I can't go through my whole testimony, but I was in pretty miserable shape when I was overseas on drugs and a rebel of rebels. And we went down to Switzerland to a youth with a mission meeting. And I'll be honest, I mean, I was, I just went down there to get away from base because that's the only way I could get off base to go to, go to Heidelberg and listen and go to a rock concert. I mean, that's the only reason I went. And I was miserable, but we went down there into this place, this house, and the place was filled with young people. And there was such a unity, a oneness there. And that was the first thing that caught my attention because I didn't know God or, I mean, I knew about God, but I didn't know God. Matter of fact, I persecuted God's people. But I got in there and then I started sitting in the meetings at night and God began to work because there was so much, there was a oneness, that God's presence was there. And it's like Phil said, because they were dwelling together in unity. And that's just a fact. And when the Lord kept working and working, we went to a coffee house one night and I told the guy that went with me, I said, we got to get out of here. Those devils were being stirred up. We got to get out of here. Something going on here. It's weird. Anyway, he said, no, let's stay, let's stay another couple of nights.

So I stayed and God began to break down this heart. He took away the heart of stone and gave me a heart of flesh. And I know when I went there, those kids saw me, the way I was dressed and the way I looked, I wasn't, I mean, you know, it's like Phil said, we don't know who's going to come in, but we need to receive them. They received me. They were nice to me. And I mean, that just, it's like, it's like the scripture says, you know, when people come against you and all that, and you show kindness to them, it's like pouring hot coals on all their head, on their head. It just, it just starts breaking, it starts breaking us down. Beloved, I just want to encourage us. Let's seek God when we come into this place. I know it's been my, it's been my cry, God, I want, you need to be here because people need to really see you, you know, until you, that's the starting point. If you don't ever have a place of confrontation where God confronts you and you have to surrender, if that doesn't ever happen, I mean, you look at, you look at scriptures, how God used people. He had to confront them first. He had to break them. And that has to happen to everyone that God draws, but he'll confront you. And when he does, something changes in you and you know it, you know what happened and you know, God, and you know, Jesus and the devil and nothing, no principality. No. power can take that away. No matter how mess how bad you mess up or fail, God's loving kindness will be there forever. He will not take away his loving kindness from his people. And and you'll know that and you'll have that great assurance. But I just wanted to I just wanted to get up and share that because of the unity there in that place and how God how those people received me who was a rebel. I mean I look I mean I can't believe that they had you know were so good to me. That's what God's looking for. God is looking for a people that's that has Christ in them because Christ loves people. He wants he said I take no pleasure in the death

of the wicked. He wants to reach out and try to help them and we just need to do what we can be led of him but God will use that to help people. I'm a living testimony. I ain't perfect by any means. Matter of fact you know sometimes I wonder God you know I mean I battle with this a lot but but I know that the word of God is true. I know he's going to complete the work that he started. But I thank God how could you you know how could you even love somebody like me? But he does. He does because his word says he does and I'm standing on that. But beloved let's just let's take heed to what we've heard this morning and let's begin to pray really pray earnestly pray. Seek the Lord with your heart all your heart because God is real and we're going to stand before him one day and give an account of what we what we've done down here and I want to know I'm not going to stand there ashamed because he said I wouldn't so let's pray let's really seek God okay.