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Listen to Rick Beaudry, Pastor of Calvary Chapel Bremerton, teach the Word of God cover to cover, chapter by chapter, and verse by verse. Be edified and built up in your faith with solid Bible teaching. New episodes on Mondays in the Pacific Standard Timezone.
Second Corinthians chapter four verses one through six.
Second Corinthians four one through six. I'll get you out of here in time to see the halftime of the Super Bowl. And, I I know you don't wanna wanna miss that. There you go. And, second Corinthians four one through six.
Therefore, seeing we have this ministry as we have received mercy, we faint not, But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.
But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.
For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Father, thank you for your holy word. And Lord, we we desire, as we humble ourselves, to be taught by you today, to come as children, Lord, before you.
And we pray, Lord, that you would edify, you'd build us up and strengthen us, give us ears to hear. Lord, we pray that your word would transform and change our hearts from within.
Lord, we pray that we'd go away from here, having looked into the mirror of your word, not forget what manner of people we are in relationship to who you are, Lord. And Lord, we cry from within, deep within, Lord, change us.
Transform and change us, Lord, in the image of your dear son. We pray that we be doers of your word, not hearers only, as we leave here today. So blessed, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Would you please be seated?
In the movie The Elephant Man, I don't know how many, even nineteen eighty, there was a movie called The Elephant Man of a guy named John Merrick, in the late eighteen hundreds who had a disfiguring, tumors all over his face, and his arm, and his body and such.
And, he was relegated to being a a a person that was used in the circus.
And people would poke at his sores, and there was one scene where he was trying to and he walked with a mask on his face with little eyelids because the people were so, shocked at the sight of him.
And, and so they these whole crowd of people, a mob of people start chasing him and and they're they misconstrue that he must be an idiot, that he must be sort of an animal, half animal, half human, or whatever.
And, and they corner him in this in this one area of, like the the, below the, whatever you call that, where you travel on the trains and all that.
Anyway, he was he was there in a corner with a grate around there. I mean, he couldn't he couldn't get out, and they're coming closer to him.
And he he begins to cry out in a loud voice, I am not an animal. I am not an animal. And, fortunately, the his circus guy that owned him, you know, lost lost possession of him, and a doctor got a hold of him, brought him to a hospital.
And they began to, clean him up and give him a a place of safety, a place where he could have a room and all that.
But at a certain point, he became a celebrity within England, and people began to come and see him. And he was dressed up with a like this jacket, and he's all with a suit and looking real nice and stuff.
And, some royalty and celebrities would come there. And there was a scene where there was this woman of the day, an actress, a very famous, famous, beautiful actress was in the room there with the doctor.
And, she was looking around the room and it was all nice and decorated for him. And, he'd always been treated like a freak and all that, and they were treating him so nice.
And, she saw a photo photograph, and she looked at that photograph and inquired about it. And and he explained, and then he said, would you like to see a picture of my mother? And she said, oh, yes. I I I would very much so.
And, he brings out the photograph of his mother, and the doctor and this this, prominent actress look at her and say, she's just so beautiful. She's so beautiful. And he chimed in. He says, yes. She has the face of an angel.
And so he, he felt as though if people could see the beauty of his mother, they would they would know, that he was not a freak, that he had genes, that he had family, that he had people that were normal, good looking, wonderful people.
You know?
And, and he also said, I wish that my mother could see me now with you, that she would not be afraid to love me, not be afraid to embrace me as her son, you know, knowing that, I have friends, real friends that that love me in this way.
In John chapter 12, we read of some Greeks that came to Philip. There was a buzz going around about Jesus. When he went before Herod later on, Herod, Antipas, when he when he went to Pilate, then they sent him over to Herod.
Herod was treating Jesus as he was a circus kind of a a freak, if you will. And he wanted to see Jesus do some circus type tricks and stuff. And, Jesus didn't do a thing, didn't even answer him a word or all.
But in John 12, there was a buzz going about of Jesus healing people and such, do these various miracles and all. And there were some Greek speaking guys that came to Philip and said, sir, we would see Jesus.
We we wanna see the face of Jesus. What does the face of Jesus look like? Is it the face of a deceiver? What image do people see from your life? Do they see truth? Number one, are we walking in the light? Notice verse one.
Therefore, seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not. And so we all have been called to the ministry, a ministry of reconciliation, not because we're qualified or we're so good, but because of mercy.
Mercy is not getting what we deserve. We deserve judgment. We deserve hell. And God in his grace and mercy has has chosen each of us.
He said to his disciples, you haven't chosen me, but I've chose you that you'd go and bring forth fruit and your fruit remain. That whatsoever we ask the father in my name, he may give it you.
And so each and every one of us, wherever we fit within the body of Christ, one thing is true to all of us is that God has called all of us to go represent him, to be his witnesses, to share the good news of his coming kingdom to all those he sends unto us.
A ministry of reconciling sinners unto God. We have all of us have the privilege of representing Jesus to a world starved for something real. And yet many times, all the world gets is our freak show.
The number one most watched event of all of history is gonna happen today in New Orleans. And it's gonna be a freak show, especially at halftime. Right? The occult, all the different ways of witchcraft and it's down in New Orleans.
And I grew up playing football. I love football. But I haven't watched the football game or watched the Super Bowl in a long time because so much of it is a freak show. It's an agenda. It's politically charged.
It's woke charged. It's DEI charged. It's so many different things that have nothing to do with football. You know? When I do watch football in times past, I usually I used to have a favorite team, the the Rams.
I grew up in in Southern California, and the Rams were were our team. And when they started to win, when they had Kurt Warner as quarterback and he's a Christian, then it catch my attention.
And when I when I look at any sports now, if I find a Christian within basketball or whatever, it's baseball or whatever, I marvel.
I marvel at the platform they have to share the gospel, to share the glorious good news, especially with kids.
Because when we're kids growing up, all of us wanna be, you know, athletes, be ball players, you know, most of us, most of my friends and such.
And, and these guys have a tremendous whether it be Babe Ruth, you know, in years gone by, you watch all the kids, you know, surrounding them and all, or Hank Aaron, or when I was growing up, I I I wound up, playing baseball in Little League on the Dodger on on the Giants.
So I wound up being a San Francisco Giants fan, even though the Angels and the Dodgers were nearby. So I knew all those guys.
I knew Willie Mays and Willie McCovey and Juan Marshall. I tried to pitch like Juan Marshall. I tried to lift my left leg up over my forehead. I looked so silly trying to do that, but, you know, we're we're mimicking these guys and all.
And, and so for many people, they're they're heroes, you know, or or people within the culture and all. And, and yet, how many people, treat Jesus as an icon? Treat Jesus as God? Treat Jesus as their hero, you know?
And, what kind of things are we gonna see in the churches today? Right now, today? Are we gonna see a freak show where somebody takes a Bible and kicks it through a goal post like it's a football today, like we did last year?
Are we gonna see churches, you know, reduce church down to something like a Super Bowl celebration and all?
Is that is that where we are as a culture, as a church in America, you know? A Super Bowl circus? So the hypocritical self righteous posturing of people who have lost sight of his mercy, shameful.
Just just absolutely shameful, the things that are taking place, the trickery and all. He says, verse two, but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness.
How much of today's gonna be spent begging for money in the churches? Somehow always craftily trick trickery every single week, somehow it's a new trick, a new marketing plan to get money from people. You know, how is that church?
How can it possibly be every single week, this is what the topic's going to be, you know? And especially on Super Bowl Sunday, we're gonna somehow I mean, do we charge people to come to church on Super Bowl Sunday?
We charge them to come in to counselors nowadays. We we isolate them from the word of God. We have them stay home. We don't teach. We receive PPE money during COVID.
And the people starve to death spiritually. And then when they come back to church, they're they don't have enough faith to deal with the reality of the life in which we're living. And we ain't seen nothing yet.
In Jeremiah 12, it says, if you're weary with the footmen, in this kind of pressure, tribulation, difficulty, what are you gonna do in the swelling of the Jordan and when the horses come in, when the war really takes place?
The swelling of the Jordan with the horses and the chariots.
But when I was talking to people yesterday and I liken COVID to some people liken the the flat earther or the COVID thing to an IQ test, I would say COVID for me was a faith test.
It was the best thing that ever happened to me as a pastor. Because now I get to see if the flock that I've been pastoring and preparing has enough faith to trust Jesus rather than be filled with fear and manipulated by fear.
And it was awesome. It was awesome to watch you. It was awesome to watch people wake up and say, no. We're not gonna succumb to that fear. We're not gonna succumb to the, you know, the boogeyman.
We're gonna trust Jesus. Well, you might lose your job. I don't care. We're not taking the jab. We're gonna trust Jesus. And many of you became people that I love to fellowship with, that I love to be with. And you know what?
That was just getting ready for what's coming. There's more coming. It's gonna get harder. But it's my job to prepare you. It's my job to make sure that your faith won't fail. When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?
So what that means is, you do not attend a church where I have to hire 12 psychological counselors to help you deal with your anxiety. It's much easier to pass out little gummies. We give gummies for free to help you with your anxiety.
I'm just kidding. We give you the word of God, and we help you to die to self, already be dead men walking, not to fear death, and to be walking with Jesus in in in faith and trust with him.
You glorify the Lord. You don't bring shame to him. But I heard of churches putting 10 or 12 different counselors, psychological counselors all over Kitsap County, charging like $50.
75 dollars an hour for you to be able to talk to somebody. Because you were isolated and didn't get to go to church and fellowship, had to stay six feet away from everybody, and wear a mask and plexiglass and shut down the whole thing.
And Noah Yewaharaj was amazed. All over the world, the people complied with that. 75% of the people, apparently. Only 25%, you know, rejected and saw through it.
And I'm just so happy, so excited, to see faith activated. Abraham and Sarah, Abraham's called the father of our faith. Well, he didn't have a perfect faith. He's like you and I. And there came a time where the Lord caused a famine.
The economy imploded. There was no food. There was no wasn't anything to eat. So what did he do? He should have trusted in God. Right? He should have been an example of a man, the father of our faith, trusting in God.
Instead, he went to Egypt. Egypt's a type of the world. I'm gonna go trust in the world. We're gonna go back down into Egypt. And, Sarah, you're such a knockout.
You're such a hottie. You know, tell them that you're my sister because they'll try and kill me. You know? And she's, like, 65 years old. So beautiful. And they go down into Egypt, and you know the story.
It doesn't work out so well. They wind up leaving with Hagar. They wind up leaving with the king, you know, the pharaoh saying, you know, you guys need to leave. You know, you need to leave.
These dreams are such that, you know, I wanted to bring Sarah into my harem, but, you lied to me. You said she's your sister. And if that wasn't enough, he did it again with Abimelech later, the same sort of test.
That's the faith test. You take a test of faith and you fail, you get to take it again. The good news is when you get to Hebrews 11, the only thing God records is where you honored him by walking by faith.
In Hebrews 11, the Hall Of Faith, your name's gonna be there and it's gonna say, during COVID, they refused to obey the edict of the king.
Just as Moses refused the splendor of Egypt, all that they're offering you if you comply, Moses esteemed the reproach of Christ, bring it on. Take my job away, take my whatever.
Esteem the reproach of Christ as greater riches than all the splendor of Egypt. Because he had respect under the recompense of reward. He had respect under that day he sees Jesus face to face, and he didn't wanna be there in shame.
And without faith, it's impossible to please God, for they that come to him must believe that he is and that he's a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.
The churches can get so caught up in all the little rabbit trails, all the side things.
It all comes down to faith. Are we trusting in Jesus? And faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So if you're in the word of God, your faith's gonna grow.
And as he brings a test, it's gonna test your faith muscle as you get sick, and then you overcome that sickness or what whatever it may be, relational problems, kid problems, whatever it is, we all have problems.
But how do how do we how do we face those problems?
Is our Jesus enough in these last days? Is or isn't Jesus enough? I need to add AI help. I need to add this help, that help. Freud and Roy, and the latest, greatest, whatever to help because Jesus is just, he's inadequate.
Is that the Jesus you serve? Is that the face of Jesus you're representing to people with that mask on? Can they see the face of Jesus? That fear in your eyes as you wear three masks, driving in your car again, you know?
They wear a little tongue in cheek, a little laugh in there, but, I mean, people were afraid, weren't they? They were afraid. And I got kicked out of so many places.
Oh, my lord. Just crazy people. Crazy. And then you read on the box of those masks, they don't stop a virus. It was conditioning. It was social engineering. It was a means of compliance, a means of getting you afraid.
People are starting to wear masks again, aren't they? They're ramping it up. They're getting ready. Are you gonna pass the test this next time? What if there's more bodies dropping?
What if this time, as Bill Gates says, we got some more bodies dropping this time. Who is that guy? Why is he still alive? Why how can he dictate all this to everybody? Can anybody think? Here we go.
Get him into that digital world, you know, but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty. We could have been dishonest. We could have went with the flow. We could have received the PPE money. Churches receiving money to shut down.
Not walking in craftiness, not handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. I don't care how people respond to the truth.
I'm gonna stay with the truth. I know the word of God is powerful, sharper than any intuitive sword, dividing the sunder of soul and spirit and joint and marrow to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.
I'm gonna stay with the word of God. And it's gonna appeal to their conscience, unless they're a reprobate mind. But I'm never I hope I never ever ever get involved in the idiocracy of a argument, nonsensical arguments, time wasters.
Just proclaim the truth and walk away. Let them figure it out. You're spending so much time, but as we're gonna see in the next verse here, they're blinded to the truth.
They're past feeling. They can't they can't hear. They've been seduced. They've been so immersed in doctrines of demons and so seduced with fables. You just preach the truth, Timothy.
Just preach the truth. If if they hear the truth, if they have ears to hear, if the scales are off their eyes, they're they're gonna see the face of Jesus. And the faith of g faith of the face of Jesus can be so overwhelming.
All they want is more of Jesus. They're gonna get away from all the peripheral weirdness of YouTube and focus once again upon Jesus. I wanna know him. Sir, we would see Jesus.
Is your life manifesting the truth? Jesus said you know, Philip said, show us the father and that'll suffice. One of his disciples had the audacity to say to Jesus in John 14, hey, just show us the father and that'll that'll satisfy us.
And Jesus says, have I been such a long time with you, Philip? And you don't know me? You don't know me? He that has seen me has seen the father.
I'm the way. I am the great ego e me. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the father but by me. So ego e me, I am. Moses is saying to the burning bush, who should I say has sent me?
I am that I am. The great I am. In John eight, when Jesus said before Abraham was, I am, they know what he's saying, that he's god. I am the resurrection and the life. I am the bread of life.
I am the light of the world. I am the door. I am the good shepherd. They should get it, shouldn't they? Nobody could say that and get away with it except Jesus, because he can back it up. Nobody else can say, destroy this temple.
In three days, I'll raise it up. He can say, I am the resurrection and the life to Mary and Martha, because he's gonna raise Lazarus from the dead in a few minutes. Believest thou this? Oh, yeah. We believe. No, you don't.
But you will. Your faith is gonna grow. Can people see the face of truth in you? Integrity. Proverbs nineteen twenty two says, a poor man is better than a liar. Whole lot of people gravitate toward the billionaires, the trillionaires.
Everybody wants the crumbs to fall from their tables. Can you see the face of Jesus and Donald J. Trump? Can you see the face of Jesus and Elon Musk and Bill Gates and George Soros?
When you look at them, do you see the kindness of Jesus? The truth, the love of Jesus. Sir, we would see Jesus. We've seen a lot of pretenders. We've heard a lot of sermons. We've heard a lot of speeches. But we want Jesus.
We wanna see Jesus. In John four verse twenty, first John four verse 20, if a man say, I love God and hates his brother, he's a liar. For he that loveth not his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
Jesus said in the last days in Matthew 24 verse 12, that iniquity will abound, and the love of many will grow cold. Are you watching the love of many in the church? I don't care about the world.
I expect the world to be worldly, To be filthy. To be ungodly. I expect the world today in New Orleans to have thousands of children being trafficked in pedophilia around New Orleans with no law enforcement.
I expect that of the world. But I expect the world to put a polished little penny on television and make it all look so clean, so exciting that somebody might win three years in a row.
Wow. How about Jesus raising him from the himself from the dead three days later? How about that? I hope and pray somebody, maybe they will. Maybe Carrie Underwood or somebody bring the attention to Jesus today with that stage set.
You know? Wouldn't that be wonderful? The real Jesus. This past week when Britney and the kids were out there driving in that snow and that ice and all that, it was pretty scary.
And I kept texting to them, remember, put Jesus at the wheel, you know. And Kathy Kathy sent me a Carrie Underwood song, Jesus at the wheel, you know.
And so make sure Jesus at the wheel. I appreciate it. Love. Without love where nothing loves the fulfillment of the law. The face of Jesus is not the face of a deceiver. What image do people see from your life?
Are you walking in the light? Do they see Jesus in you? By this shall all men know that you're my disciples, that you have love one for another. Are we loving one another? Without love, we're nothing. Absolutely nothing.
It's all for nothing. A tinkling bell, a sounding symbol. Lord, have all the faith and hope and all those things. Without love, I'm nothing. Are we cultivating love? Are we truly fellowshipping? Do we truly love one another?
Are we asking God to empower me as we sing? We want the power. Do we want the power to love? And not just a a reciprocal love, you're treating me good, I'm gonna treat you good, but an agape love, an unconditional love.
Starts out by talking about his mercy. We don't deserve his love. We have grace, we have unmerited favor. He gives us what we don't deserve. And mercy is not getting what we do deserve.
I deserve hell. I deserve rejection. I deserve to be treated like an animal, a freak show. But God says, no. I'm being merciful to you. I'm being so merciful, I'm gonna place you in the ministry.
You're gonna serve me. You're gonna be a minister of the gospel. And the tribulation period, I'm gonna let an angel fly overhead with the everlasting gospel. But in this dispensation of the church age, I'm counting on you, church.
By this shall all men know that you're my disciples because you have love one for another. Can they see the face of Jesus as you love one another? A face of love, Beaming with joy, with kindness?
Is your life that of a plastic Christian? A freak show? Would mom be proud or ashamed? When I was growing up, my mom with her decor, they had actually on the coffee table, they actually had plastic fruit.
Grapes and a whole thing there of plastic fruit, you know? She had the motif of that long shag carpet, those aqua colors, you know?
It was pretty cool. If the Lord let me win the lottery, I would love to have a retro place. Make it all retro. The retro refrigerator, the retro carpet, the Tupperware parties, all that stuff. You know? It's a golden age.
But as a Christian, we don't want to be those with plastic fruit. We wanna we want the we wanna be the real deal. We wanna be connected to Jesus and bear the fruit of the spirit, which is love. What does the face of Jesus look like?
Is it the face of a deceiver? Is it the face of a devil or of God? What image do people see from your life? Are we walking in the light? Secondly, are we winning the lost? Are we concerned about the lost?
I got mine. My name's written. He saved me. You Gonna go bury it, or you're gonna reinvest? You're gonna reinvest in the lives of others? Are you gonna be able to say, hey. I was once a drunk, now I'm sober.
I was once blind, now I see. I was once a wreck headed to hell, but God intervened. God saved me. What do you mean god? Who is this god you're following? Jesus. Let me introduce you to god. His name is Jesus.
He was crucified. He was buried. He raised himself from the dead proving that he's God. And he went to the cross, and he took the punishment of your sin, of my sin, the sins of the whole world, especially for those who believe.
And the father poured out his wrath upon his son because it's the kindness of god that leads to repentance. It's his kindness. It's his love. It's the joy that was set before him.
The reason why he endured the cross, despising the shame, and seated down on the right hand of the father, the joy of saving you from hell, saving you from judgment, saving you from what you deserve.
Wait a minute, I'm entitled. Wait a minute. You're a racist. Wait a minute. You're a homophobe, a bigot, or whatever. How about we're all sinners? How about none of us deserve anything except hell, except judgment?
And Jesus died, not for the righteous. He didn't come for the righteous, but for sinners. He came for homosexuals. He came for adulterers. He came for fornicators, and thieves, and liars, and those and here's one for you and I.
He came for the covetous. Never heard a sermon on covetousness because amassing money is proof that God loves me. Oh, wait a minute. Godliness with contentment is great gain.
It's certain that you're not gonna carry anything out of here. Paul's telling Timothy that godliness is not a means of gain. Paul tells Timothy that the love of money, not money, the love of money is the root of all evil.
It's that covetousness that's the hard part. That's the part that becomes an idol and takes us away from the master passion of our life, which is Jesus. The rich young ruler went away grieved because he had much stuff.
Right? Good master, what must I do? Keep the commandments. I've kept them all. Now Jesus looking at that guy's heart and he's saying, alright, where's the idol of his heart?
I know. How about you sell all that you have, give to the poor, and come follow me? The riches weren't the problem. He's the rich young ruler. That's not the problem. The problem's his heart.
If riches increase, set not your heart on him. So Jesus is illustrating, showing him what was more important in his life, what was the idol of his heart, the master passion of his life, who would he be if he lost all that wealth?
So it's a test. And then come follow me. He's not saying that to everybody. That's not your test. It was his test. It was the idol of his heart.
Are we winning the loss? Verse three. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost. In whom the god of this world notice the little g god of this world. That's the only place in the New Testament you see that.
The little g god of this world. Other places where we see him called the prince, the power of the air. Who is he? Is he the opposite of God? No. He's a fall excuse me, a fallen angel named Lucifer in Isaiah 14.
The description of his fall is five I will statements in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28. A fallen angel, but somehow, an exalted cherub angel, top of the game, above the throne of God as we studied in Ezekiel.
And he had enough influence. He's an influencer on Instagram. He had enough influence to pull away one third of the other angels, the holy angels. According to Revelation chapter 12, the stars that fell with Lucifer.
That's pretty influential. In their coup attempt, in their rebellion against God, these one third of the angels thought they could throw a coup against the true and living God.
And instead, they're cast down. When you exalt yourself, you're gonna be cast down. What was his problem? Pride. But God's able to use this guy. He's able to use this guy, this fallen angel.
Eventually, he's gonna wind up in the lake of fire, but God's able to use him to tempt human beings. To tempt them to see whether they love God for who he is or not. It's a real simple plan. Do you love Jesus? You have eternal life.
You don't love Jesus? Door number two. But the tempter's there. And God can give you a perfect environment like the Garden Of Eden. And you can't play the blame game in the millennium. In the millennium, everything's perfect.
And at the end of the millennium, at the end of the thousand years, Satan who's been bound in the abyss is loosed so that he can tempt the free moral agency of these gentile believers who are in their human bodies like you and I are.
And the devil doesn't make anybody do anything, but he can tempt. He can test. Just as he took Jesus, the son of god, and tempted him, tested him in Matthew chapter four.
And Jesus overcame the temptation of the enemy. How? With the word of god. It is written. It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but for every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
Not gonna not gonna bow down and worship you, Satan. It is written, thou shall worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Thou shall not test the lord thy god. I'm not gonna jump off this pinnacle of this temple. His angels Satan's gonna quote out of Psalm 91. His angels given charge of you, unless you dash your foot against a stone.
Satan knows the bible better than us. Jesus doesn't fall for it. Thou shall not tempt the Lord thy God. Him only shalt thou serve. Satan was looking for a circus performer.
Do all these things. Do miracles, signs, and wonders that'll draw people into yourself. Funny how so much of those miracles that were done in Bethsaida and Capernaum, that the people of the Lord rebukes these cities.
If the mighty works that were done in Capernaum and Bethsaida and all, if they had been done in Sodom and Gomorrah, if they had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they'd have repented long ago.
You guys had the son of God in your midst for three and a half years. We've we've piped on you, you won't dance. We've done a funeral dirge, you won't mourn. We can't get you to do anything.
You're indifferent to the things of the spirit. If the gospel be hid, who's it hid unto? Who's it hid? To the lost. I was once lost and now I'm found. A friend of mine, Jim Kuppler, he he had a bumper, a license plate that said found.
He was once lost, now he's found. In whom the god, the little g god of this world who are your enemies? The world, the flesh, the devil? The world system? And Satan is the little g god, the usurper.
He usurped from Adam. Adam was our first federal head. And then Satan came in as a usurper to usurp that authority that Adam had to take dominion over the earth. Jesus is the last Adam. Jesus came as creator.
Jesus came as redeemer. And he purchased. He paid the penalty. He paid the price to purchase this planet. The planet that he created because Adam forfeited it to purchase us, those walking on this planet, because it wasn't the planet.
He needed plenty of planets out there. He sold all that he had to purchase this field because you're the treasure in this field. He didn't come to redeem angels. You're not an angel. He didn't come in the form of a angel in Hebrews one.
He came as a man, the son of man. 81 times in the New Testament, he describes himself as a son of man. Like Daniel described, the son of man. He wants to identify with you. You identify with him at baptism.
His death, his burial, his resurrection, typifying his love of you and your love of him, your allegiance unto him. And he wants to identify with you in the incarnation that he'd take on the form of a man.
Fully God, fully man. Philippians two, he'd set aside the free exercise of his deity. He would suffer the cross. He would be tempted in all points like we and yet without sin. He's acquainted with our weakness.
He's acquainted with our infirmity. He's reminded that he formed us out of the dust of the ground, that we're just dirt. Next week, we're gonna see clay pots, earthen vessels that the Holy Spirit lives and dwells within each of us.
That's our Jesus, Who has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
I was blind. I went to catechism. I lived in a Catholic community, but I didn't know Jesus. I went to school and there were kids there at school that I found out later that were Christians.
I never knew they were Christian. Nobody ever shared the gospel with me. I went to the Huntington Pier where the higher Krishnas were there. Krishna Krishna, hybrid Krishna.
And they're bouncing all around, passing out all that stuff, you know? There's a guy over there with a big black hat on, a big black bible preaching. I didn't hear a thing. Nobody came up to me with a tract. Nobody preached Christ.
I was blind to it. Couldn't see it. Didn't know it. Attended a few churches from time to time. People rare occasion. Wasn't wasn't a good church goer. Got in trouble. Got kicked out of Boy Scouts. Kicked out of church.
No. I never did. Never got kicked out of church. Craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully. That's not what we're to do. He's the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image that should shine unto them.
The devil, he's come to steal, to kill, and to destroy. The little g god of this world, what's that mean? Well, we looked at Adam as the first federal head, so there's a legal aspect of it, the usurping authority, but he's not God.
He's not a little God. He's an angel, a fallen angel. So when it speaks of him being the god of this world, it means that he's the world's god.
He's the world's hero. It means when I tell you that I'm not a politician, that I'm not here to pinch baby's cheeks and pat backs and gain a constituency, gain a following, you know, by being a people pleaser.
That's not who I am. That's not what a pastor is. There's the audience of one. I'm here to please Jesus. That's it. All of us to please Jesus. But the little g god of this world, he's a politician. And his followers, they love him.
And in the tribulation period, there's gonna be a Luciferian religion where everybody receives a mark on the right hand of their forehead, and they actually worship the image of the beast also, the AI image of the beast.
People it'll start out for three and a half years, a pseudo Christianity, an apostate Christianity, an apostate one world religious system of Judaism, of Islam, of Crislam, of all the different religions of the world with the gospel of doing good, a good social credit score.
That's their gospel.
But at the midpoint, the Antichrist, the AC, the in place of Jesus Christ, the world's hero goes into the temple that's rebuilt in Jerusalem, demands to be worshiped as god, declares himself to be god, demands to be worshiped as god.
And everybody that's watching the Super Bowl, I interrupt this this minute on your phone.
Get to your knees and give me 20. Show your obeisance. Show your worship toward me as he declares himself to be God. And the whole world gets that mark on their right hand of their forehead to show their allegiance to this pretender.
In the first two centuries, the early church, once a year, they were compelled to take a little bit of incense into a pagan Roman temple and declare that Caesar is Lord. The Christians, six million of them refused to do that.
It was a test of faith. They would be good citizens. They'd work hard like the Christians in China. They do their job. They work hard. They show up to work because they're doing it not under men, but as under the Lord.
They're bond servants of Jesus Christ. They willingly serve wherever they're planted, but they will not cross a line of that of worshiping the image of Mao.
His face everywhere or Adolf Hitler or any other pretender that's positioning himself, promoting himself as the face of God.
Not gonna happen. Not gonna happen for Christians. An innumerable multitude of people in Revelation six and seven, what we call the tribulation saints, are beneath the throne of God.
And according to Revelation 20 verse four, they're there because they lost their heads. They were beheaded like John the Baptist for refusing to compromise. They passed the test of faith by refusing.
The gospel was open to them. They heard the gospel. But the devil, he comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy. Jesus said, I've come that you might have life, that you might have it more abundantly.
And then when it speaks of less the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, that light is not the be light of Genesis one verse three, which we're gonna see in a couple verses.
It's the light of his countenance. It's his Shekinah glory.
The light bulb goes on. It's the light of his countenance of Psalm 48 verse three, of his glorious gospel. The light that Peter, James, and John saw on the Mount Of Transfiguration when Jesus was shining brighter than that of the sun.
His strategy is to blind men, to not let them see the light. Darkness for all eternity. Satan tries to keep the face of Jesus from them. If they see the face of Jesus, he knows it.
They're gone. And that night that I got saved, the Lord revealed himself to me. I tasted and I saw that he's good. I what what happened to me there is I had free will, but man, I got surprised.
I wasn't looking for eternal life. I wasn't looking for God. I wasn't looking for salvation. I was just looking for more beautiful girls, and they happened to be at the concert at a church. You know? That's how a lot of guys get saved.
Their girlfriends bring them. You know that? That's how a lot of guys get saved. They're good church going, beautiful, pure, godly girls that all of us heathens want, and we wind up going to church and we get saved.
Right? You guys aren't laughing with me. It's true though. It's true. It's so true. It's true. It's like bees to honey. So I'm there and I'm hearing the music and I'm looking around and they look like they're from the beach.
Everybody looked normal. They didn't look like what I viewed Christians as. Bunch of dorks. Guys that couldn't get dates. You know? And, that guy shared the gospel at the end of that concert. And it it was so incredibly overpowering.
The lord took the scales off my eyes. He opened my heart. He revealed himself to me. The person on my left, on my right, in front of me, back of me, I don't know about them. All I know is there was a zone I was in.
Now I coulda walked away from there and said, no. I'm not gonna give up my sin. I coulda kept my sin, exercised my free will, and resisted that revelation, that illumination of light, but I'd have went insane.
It was so powerful. I would have went insane. I could never go back to the previous Rick that I was after that encounter, after that moment.
How how could I I would have went insane. He's the hound of heaven. He wouldn't leave me alone. And he began to speak to me. Began to reveal himself to me.
He transformed me immediately. The change began to take place. And then the days and weeks ahead, as I struggled a bit, as I went to church, as I lived in the party house and that sort of thing, things weren't real clear.
It wasn't I wasn't being discipled immediately and all that, but I was attending church and still hanging out with the old guys and stuff.
And then one night, he spoke to me, and he basically said to me, Rick, if you don't put me first, you're gonna wind up like your mother. And that haunted me because she's married seven times. And I saw the torment.
I saw the emptiness of in and out of relationships. And I was in and out of relationships. I wanted meaning and purpose. I wanted a home and a family. I didn't wanna keep perpetuating that explosive, explosive torment that I grew up in.
Everything fracturing and breaking apart, and the police coming, and having to live with friends to get through high school and stuff. I didn't want that for for my kids. I wanted to have kids.
I wanted to have a family, but I didn't know how. So God spoke to my heart right there. You put me first. And I did. I gave in to him, and the darkness began to dissipate. The light dispelled the darkness, and I got a glimpse of Jesus.
I got a clear picture of who he is. Because my pastor taught the unadulterated word of God, the pure word of God. And God revealed himself by his spirit through the teaching of his word, and I began to fall in love with Jesus.
The devil wasn't strong enough to hold on to me. Had to let go. Satan tries to keep the face of Jesus from them. He presents a photoshopped image. A false Jesus, a different Jesus, an AI Jesus.
The Jesus of the freak show. The circus of kicking a bible through a goal post today. That's idiocy. I'd be embarrassed to bring somebody to that type of an event. That's not my Jesus. Gonna kick the word of God.
People have died to preserve the word of God. And you're gonna mock God and unbelievable. Lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. Jesus said, I am the light of the world.
He that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. You are the light of the world, church. A city that set on a hill cannot be hid. We reflect. We're like the moon. He's the light, the source, and we reflect him.
The image of God. People see Jesus in us, in our face reflecting his glory, reflecting who he is as he empowers us to love. In Acts chapter 26 verse 18, Paul describes the gospel that Jesus gave to him.
And he said the intention of the gospel was to open their eyes. People are blind to the truth that you and I have. The natural man understands not the things of God, neither can he know them because they're spiritually discerned.
In first Corinthians two verse nine verse 14, the natural man. What's the natural man? He's body and soul. He's a two part being. Adam, the day you eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, you shall surely die.
Adam and Eve died spiritually. Nicodemus, you must be born again. When you're born again, when you're born of the spirit, when you have the holy spirit within your heart and life, you're no longer blind. Now you can understand.
Now you have the capacity. Now you can look at first Corinthians chapter two and you can say, eye has not seen nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the hearts of men the things which God has prepared for them that love them.
I can only imagine. I can only imagine.
But if you read further, he says, but god has revealed them unto us by his spirit. You get a taste now. You get a revelation now. God's revealing himself to you now because you're a three part being now, your body, soul, and spirit.
The formation of Christ in your heart and life. The spiritual formation of Christ. So Paul's gospel that Jesus gave to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to the light and from the power of Satan.
That's what the gospel does. It opens their eyes, turns them from darkness to light, and the power of Satan unto God. That they might receive forgiveness and inheritance among them who are sanctified by faith that is in me.
Sanctified means made holy. God's gonna make you holy. We win the loss by reflecting the face of Jesus unto them. In second Timothy two twenty five, Paul said, in meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves.
They're fighting against themselves. You ever seen somebody try so hard to get to hell? He's the savior of the whole world. All their sins have already been forgiven.
All of them. Not just you as a Christian. All their sins have been paid for too. But especially to those who believe. Believing in Jesus, now you appropriate. Now you receive that forgiveness by grace through faith alone in him.
He's offering a free gift of eternal life. He said, it is finished. It's already the work's done. Well, what must I do? Believe on the lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved, Paul and Silas told the Philippian jailer.
Believe. God be merciful to me, a sinner. This man went away justified. The Pharisee prayed with himself in his sin still, in his self righteousness, In meekness, instructing those who depose themselves.
If God peradventure will give them repentance, a gift of repentance, that conversion, that turning from sin to the acknowledging of the truth. Not denial, not blame game. An acknowledging of the truth.
I'm a sinner. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. You're no exception. All we like sheep have gone astray, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Why? He's making all guilty so that he can be gracious.
So that you don't have to work. So that you can receive as a free gift eternal life. And not just for 5,000,000,000, for all eternity. The best is yet to come, truly. And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil.
The devil's a trickster. He sets traps. He's entrapped people in drugs and alcohol, illicit sexual activity, and things of the flesh, and things that lead to bondage, and corruption, and destruction.
He's come to steal, to kill, and to destroy. He seduces people. He gives lies. He he's the father of all lies and a murderer from the beginning.
And we counteract his lies with truth. The truth of God's word, who are taken captive by him to do his will. He holds them. He doesn't wanna let them go. How are we going to extricate them?
How are we gonna rescue? How are we gonna win the lost from the clutches of the wicked one? They have free will. But if they're blinded, if they don't have ears to hear, if they got scales on their eyes, how do you how do you do that?
Through prayer. We pray for them. That's our job is to pray. What do you mean? How do you pray? Well, you can pray a short prayer, Lord, save them. That's fine.
But maybe in regard to here and this blinded mind and being in bondage and being bound, maybe what Jesus is saying in Matthew sixteen nineteen, what Jesus is saying in Matthew 18, that we would bind the hand of the wicked one.
That we'd pray, as Jesus said, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. Whatsoever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Maybe we intercede and we pray and we say, lord, bind the wicked one. Bind the wicked one that he would not have that control over this unbeliever. Lord, set them free that they the scales come off their eyes, that they not be bound.
Maybe we have a part with our authority upon this rock, Jesus said in Matthew 16. He asked his disciples, who do men what's the general consensus? Who do men say that I am? Some say you're John the Baptist.
Some say you're Elijah. Some say you're Jeremiah. Nobody said you're Jonah. Forty days you're gonna perish. No. You don't mind us of Jonah. You remind us of Jeremiah the weeping prophet. You remind us of Elijah the miracles that he did.
You remind us of John the Baptist just uncompromising, unafraid of the religious leaders. You remind us of of them. Who do you say that I am? That's what you have to determine this morning.
Who is Jesus to you? Doesn't matter what anybody else thinks he is, whoever else thinks he is. Who do you say that I am? And Peter says, thou art the Christ. In the Greek, the Christ. In the Hebrew, the Messiah. The anointed one.
And Jesus said to Simon, blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood, meaning the natural, in the natural, flesh and blood has not revealed this unto you, but my father who in heaven has revealed this unto you.
And I say unto you that thou art Peter, little stone, and upon this rock, upon myself, you're not the pope, upon this rock, I'm gonna build my church and the gates of hell not prevail against it.
You're gonna storm the gates of hell, you guys. You're gonna storm the gates of hell. They're not gonna be able to keep you back. And I'm gonna give you guys the key, Peter, the keys of the kingdom.
And whatsoever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. That's authority. He's given you an eye authority to do battle against the devil who's taken people you love captive against their will.
In your intercessory prayer, you're praying, Lord, help them to see. Help them to exercise their free will to say yes to Jesus, to say yes to the gospel.
But Lord, you gotta reveal yourself to him. You gotta take away the blinders that the devil has on him. Bind the wicked one and his tactics, his his stuff that he's doing. Lord, can they see the scars?
Can they see the cross? Can they see Christ crucified for their sins? This is the condemnation that light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil, in John three nineteen.
Why won't they believe they love darkness? They love their sin. Well, Lord, make them sick to death of alcohol. When Jessica and Jerm drink, Lord, make them vomit.
Make them just hate the smell of it. Change them from within, Lord. Change their appetites. Change the filthiness. Get rid of the filthiness. Let them come to the place where they're sick and tired of being sick and tired.
Change their heart, Lord. What does the face of Jesus look like? Is it the face of a deceiver? Is it a face of a devil? What image do people see from your life? Are we walking in the light?
Are we winning the loss? And thirdly and finally, are we witnessing of the life? Jesus said, you're gonna be my witnesses. Verse five, for we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the lord and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.
What is your life preaching? Go and preach the gospel to every creature. And when necessary, use words. What's your life preaching? How can people read you while you're at work, while you're interacting, where you go?
Some of you tell me, you know, at work, they know I'm the one that didn't take the COVID jab. They know I'm the one that researched and got the religious exemption.
They know I'm the one that goes to church and has a bible and reads the bible and loves Jesus. They know I'm the one that you can try to instill fear in me and it's not gonna work.
I've already determined that if need be, I'll sacrifice this job, sacrifice my house, sacrifice my life. I I already belonged to Jesus. And that's the power that the early church had.
They could threaten to beat him. They could threaten anything they wanted. And when they would beat him, when they would put him in jail, they would go away rejoicing, accounting themselves worthy to suffer for the Lord's namesake.
These people turned the world upside down. You couldn't silence them. You couldn't stop them. You let them out of prison, where would they where would you find them?
Right back in the temple? Can't stop them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord and ourselves, your servants for Jesus' sake. What's your life preaching? What do people see?
Is it a freak show? Is it the face of death or the face of life? The face of hope or of despair? When people are losing hope, are you caught up in that despair, or are you living a life of faith and hope and love in Jesus Christ?
More and more, we're gonna see a separation. We're gonna see more and more a sifting. People are gonna be able to observe your life as those that are passing the faith test. The calmness, the peace that you have, the smile on your face.
In the face of adversity, in trials, in difficulty, now there's a line of demarcation. Now you can see the ones on the one side, the others on the other. You begin to question, do they even have saving faith?
Do they really believe? What do they believe? They say they believe, the demons also believe and tremble. But where is their faith active enough, strong enough to rely upon Jesus right now?
And we all fall. And we pick them up, we get them going, and we try to build them up and strengthen them, help get them going again. But some just don't want to live the life of faith. They wanna live the life of feelings.
They wanna find a place where they can be stroked and and live in denial. Because living in denial means I'm still in control. I'm still in control if I'm in denial. I don't have to face reality. I don't believe in a pre trib rapture.
I don't believe in a tribulation period. I don't believe that Israel should be in the land. I don't believe in the millennium. I'm in control. How did you come up with that? The bible doesn't support that, because I feel that way.
Well, what's two plus two equal? Well, I feel like it's five, but tomorrow it's three. It's always changing, isn't it? Always changing all over the place. And the pastors distract because the pastors talk about themselves.
And they talk about the Super Bowl, and they talk about this guy and that guy, and with how to make money here or there or whatever. It's never about Jesus. He's someone they adult trade.
He's someone they use. They sell. They use them to sell their their scheme. We've got the Department of Faith at the White House. We've got the apostle, Paula White, a prophetess, a pastor, the one that led Donald Trump to Christ.
Is he a Christian or is he not? She's a part of the NAR, the New Apostolic Reformation, the part of the Golden Age, an age of light. Luciferian light, a new light, a new age.
What do you see in the face of Trump? What do you see in the face of Elon? What do you see in the face of Gates or of Soros? You remember that picture of Bill and Melinda Gates, and he's got the jab, and he's got the kid there?
Do you see that glee? That look at we're gonna jab these kids in Africa. It's it's the feast of a devil, of a demon, of a insatiable desire to maim and destroy children.
But he spins it like they're philanthropists, and they're saving the world. Let's get the mosquitoes out there. It's it's mind boggling how he's allowed to do it, except he serves the little g god of this world.
Population reduction, bring as many people to hell as you can. God said, let there be light. The darkness had to flee. The ugliness of my heart and life was forever changed when I met Jesus.
Let there be light. Out of darkness in Genesis one verse three, the Hebrews be light or light be. Light be. The darkness can't stop it. With John Merrick, the elephant man, we cry, I'm not an animal.
That's not who I am. This is not a freak show anymore. I'm not gonna perpetuate the alcoholism, the drugs, the womanizing. I'm not gonna perpetuate the hate and the unfaithfulness in marriage.
God's gonna make me a father. He's gonna make me a husband. He's gonna make me a Christian. He calls me a saint. From a sinner to a saint. He rescued me. Look at the picture. It's the face of Jesus, my savior.
I have a relationship with him. In John Merrick, the elephant man, there's a scene where the head of the hospital comes with the doctor's invitation to come meet John to determine whether he can stay there or not.
And John Merrick begins to speak and all, and the higher up guy says, well, you know, you guys have rehearsed this.
You just rehearsed this. And, no, I don't think this would be good. And doctor Teas walks out. And as they're walking out, I encourage you to watch a movie. It's a powerful movie.
John Merrick's there with a sheet, and this guy that everybody thought was an animal. This guy that they poke at in his in his tumors and hurt him. His handler, his owner would hurt him and beat him as a circus performer and all.
He had no freedom. Didn't know what it was to be loved. And now these nurses and the doctors at the hospital are loving on him, rescuing him from animals. They're calling him an animal. And he's saying, I'm not an animal.
And somebody, that beautiful mother of his, who had the face of an angel, took the time to teach him the bible. And he begins to quote Psalm 23. And as the headmaster and the doctor are walking out, the doctor hears.
John Merrick declaring, the lord is my shepherd. Personal pronoun. Relationship. I've got a relationship with Jesus. I've seen the face of Jesus. The lord is my shepherd I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pasture.
He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his maiden's sake. Yey, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil for you're with me.
Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runneth over.
The holy spirit, the overflowing of the holy spirit. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the lord forever. That's not a guy that just memorized Psalm 23.
That's a guy that knows the writer of Psalm 23, who knows the holy spirit, who knows the true and living god, who knows Jesus, the great shepherd, the chief shepherd, the good shepherd that lays down his life for the sheep.
I'm not that freak anymore. My mother raised me to be more, so much more. I'm not the devil's dog.
I'm not an animal to be used and abused. You say, well, I was raped when I was a kid. I was molested. That's not who you are anymore. You're a new creation in Christ Jesus. The old things are passed away. All things are become new.
You're not the devil's dog. You're not the devil's animal. You're not to be condemned anymore. Jesus is more than enough. More than enough. Far greater than any any injustice that's ever happened to you, Jesus is more than enough.
Yeah. Nobody has been so mistreated, abused as Jesus. Look at the picture. Her face is that of an angel reflecting the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Sir, we would see Jesus.
Where is he? We've come to see the face of God. Why do people come to church? What are they looking for? Who are they looking for? Who are we presenting? Who are who are who are we bringing and providing? Can we get out of the way?
Can you and I get out of the way in our pride and let people see Jesus? Or is it all about us? Our celebrity, our buildings, our church incorporated, our marketing of Jesus. Do they see the real Jesus? Do they see the true Jesus?
Can they see Jesus? Through the fog of all of our scheming, marketing, Where is he? We've come to see the face of God. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father, which is in heaven.
The apostle Paul is walking to Damascus. He had earlier seen Stephen, and Stephen, his face was shining like that of an angel.
In Acts chapter six, he's he's he's debating with the religious leaders, with the legalists. And in chapter seven, they're gonna lay their coats at the feet of one Saul of Tarsus because they lost the debate.
Stephen, a deacon, anointed with the Holy Spirit, goes through the history, the biblical history of the way that these legalists, these religious leaders, the way they treated Jesus and their failure to walk by faith, their rejection of Jesus.
And they grabbed their ears. They didn't wanna hear it anymore at one point, but his face, we're told in in, Acts chapter six verse eight, was shining like that of an angel. Or excuse me, verse 15.
And all that sat in the council looking steadfast to him saw his face as it had been the face of an angel. Angel faced Stephen, reflecting of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. What was he doing? He was debating with them.
He was earnestly contending for the faith. He was preaching Christ and they couldn't handle it. So what did they do? They hired liars, just like they tried with Jesus, to make false accusations against him, threatening him.
We're gonna sue you for slander. We're gonna beat you up. We're thinking of violence. Because when they lose the debate, all they can resort to is violence.
They don't know what else to do. They're the great big guys. They're the guys who are supposed to be so smart. The legalists. And then Stephen, they pick up rocks, and they bring him out and they stone him.
They kill him. They murder him. They gaped upon him. And at the end of act seven, with their teeth, they're biting at him. They're ferocious. That's not the face of God. That's not representing the true living God.
But his face is shining like that of an angel, and he looks up into heaven and he sees Jesus, seated at the right hand of his father, stand up to give Stephen a standing ovation, the first martyr in the church.
Well done, Stephen. Well done. Stephen, you're just about home. But before Stephen goes, Stephen says, Lord, barbecue them all.
No. He didn't say that. That's not the heart of God. He said, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. Makes Saul of Tarsus crazy. Crazy. Now in Acts chapter nine, Saul is breezing out threatening.
He's going all the way to Damascus to grab hold of these Christians. And the Lord Jesus, in the Shekinah glory, shines brighter than the sun, says Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?
Can you continue to kick against the goads? Can you continue as you're haunted with the majesty of Stephen reflecting my glory?
Can you continue to resist my love, Saul of Tarsus? Who art thou, Lord? I'm Jesus whom you're persecuting. Jesus identifying with you and I, the persecuted church.
And so the lord gives Saul of Tarsus Blindness, And the men lead him into the city on a street called straight to the house of Judas, one Judas. And Paul's there. He's praying and he's blind.
He saw a great light, the Shekinah glory of God. I saw the light as Hank Williams would sing it. Right? I saw the light. And then the Lord speaks to Ananias, the prophet, and he says, Ananias, there's a hit man named Saul of Tarsus.
And he's at the house of Judas on the street which is called Straight. Behold, he prays. Lord, I've heard how bad this dude is. I can't go there. No. He's a chosen vessel unto me. Show him what things he must suffer for my name's sake.
I've chosen him. He's a trophy of grace. And you go and pray with him. You lay hands upon him. The scales will fall off his eyes. You baptize him, I'll baptize him in the power of the Holy Spirit, and he's gonna be my witness.
He's gonna reflect my love to a world that's perishing. He's gonna reflect the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. In your suffering, in your witness, in your martyrdom, let people see the face of Jesus. Let them see Jesus.
Jesus said he sent the comfort of the Holy Spirit to convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment of sin because they believe not on me, of righteousness because I ascend to my father, of judgment because the prince of this world is judged.
We've already won.
He triumphed over all principalities and powers. He spoiled all of them. And now we, as as the church, as the bride of Christ, we have the great commission, the great blessing of reflecting the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
This is the condemnation that light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil.
I can't force them, but I can intercede and I can pray, And I can go in the authority of the already won victory of Jesus.
He's already won. He said he saw Lucifer fall. He saw the devil fall out of heaven, cast to the ground. He's given us the keys.
He's given us the authority to bind and lose, to bind the wicked one here on earth. He'd be bound in heaven. It's a spiritual battle against principalities and powers, but we're equipped with the power of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus prayed in John seventeen twenty four that, people would see the glory that he once had with the father. And so we're reminded, beloved, now are we the sons of God.
It does not yet appear that we shall be. We know that when he shall appear, that we shall be like him, for we shall see him. You're gonna see the face of God. And when you see the face of God, you're instantly changed.
And he that has this hope in him purifies himself even as he is pure. Now Fannie Crosby, she wrote over 5,000 hymns as a as a blind person. Hymns for the church that the Lord gave her.
She had eyes that she could see and ears that she could hear that were spiritual eyes and spiritual ears and her physical infirmities. And people said, oh, it's such a bummer that you're blind, that you don't see.
And she says, no. The first thing that I'm gonna see is the face of Jesus. That's what I'm looking for, the face of Jesus. Sir, we would see Jesus. Let's pray.
Father, we come before you, lord, and we we just lift up this time, this place, and this moment of history. We thank you that we're here. We thank you that you've drawn us, that you're keeping us by the power of your holy spirit.
And, lord, we don't wanna run away with our basket full without offering salvation to someone that you've drawn here who's empty, empty inside. Lord, we wanna share Christ. We wanna share what you've given us with others.
So, father, we pray by the power of your holy spirit that as you bind the hand of the wicked one, who has blinded people's eyes, lord, we believe and trust that as one man sows another waters, that god that you want to bring the increase.
So Lord, by faith, we share the gospel even now. If there's anybody here that you don't know Jesus Christ, you don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ, this moment in time, this is your time, this is your moment.
Today is the day of salvation, for why would you die in your sins? Why? That makes no sense.
That's illogical. That's irrational. And the Lord is loosing. He's loosening the grip that the devil has upon you, and he's given you the exercise and the free moral agency of choice, of choosing life, of choosing Jesus Christ.
It's that simple. All the work's done, and your response must be must be, lord Jesus, come into my heart and life. As many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of god. You either receive him or you reject him.
No man can come unto him except the father which has sent me. Draw him, Jesus said. And all that come to me, I'll no wise cast out. So you exercise your free will. You look at it as election. He's elected you. He's chosen you.
He knows you. He's drawing you. He's wooing you, and now it's your turn. How will you respond? Will you respond in faith or in unbelief? If anyone here, you're turning from your sins, you're crying out to God, just lift your hand up.
We wanna lead you to Christ. Anyone on Facebook, anyone watching, come to Christ. Cry out to Jesus. Cry out to Jesus. God, be merciful to me a sinner.
Jesus, come into my heart and life. Change me. Make me new. Write my name in your lamb's book of life. Anyone this morning? Lift your hand up. We wanna pray with you. Father, thank you once again. Lord, empower us.
Strengthen us. Give us that zeal to reach the lost today, this week. Lord, we pray for your protection upon all the children being trafficked at the Super Bowl and around the world, But especially, Lord, the epicenter of New Orleans.
Thousands of kids, thousands of children being offered up to elites, offered up to people that have come all over the world and have appetite for children.
Lord, we pray that you would expose, that you'd rescue, that you'd reach these these children and reunite them with their families, with their moms or dads.
That you would intervene, that you would bring prosecution, prison sentences, whatever it takes to preserve, to protect these children, lord.
And Lord, may we never be a culture that turns away, that looks for the flash, that looks toward the touchdown, unaware, unwilling to look, in denial of the evil just beneath the surface.
Expose the light, Lord. Let the light shine and dispel that darkness. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.