There Comes A Peace (October 8, 2023)

Dr. Glenda gives a prayer, encouraging everyone to praise God. The speaker talks about running the race of life and focuses on the importance of positive thinking and reading. They discuss the book of Revelation and the significance of God holding a book. They emphasize the importance of reading and encourage reading books that promote wisdom, truth, and personal growth. They stress the need to feed our minds with valuable information and to study the Word of God. Thank you, Dr. Glenda, for everything that you have shared, and you have ushered us even closer to the presence of the Lord with a prayer that was filled with the Spirit. And as you were praying, it reminded me that David said, I will bless the Lord at all times. And his praises shall continually be in my mouth. On this first Sunday, which is also the first day of this month in October, I believe that all of us who are connected in this place, but more importantly, connected in the presence of God, that all of us have been authorized and licensed just to give Him praise. So we praise God this morning. We praise Him for our life and for our strength. We thank you that He woke us up this morning, clothed and in our right mind. The things that we can do, the ability to think, the ability to breathe, the ability to walk on our own. Dr. Glenda said to run, hallelujah. We thank God that we can continue to run on, hallelujah, and see what the end is going to be. I submit this morning that while we're on this life's journey, while we're going north, going north on highway finally, hallelujah, there comes a praise. There comes a praise this morning. As Paul wrote in Philippians chapter 4 verse 8, while we're on this highway of finally, finally brothers and finally sisters, hallelujah, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue. And if there be any praise, think, hallelujah. I just need everybody to start thinking now. Think, hallelujah. Think, think, think. Get away from the negative, hallelujah. Get away to anything that would diminish your capacity to just to give God praise, if there be any virtue. And if there be any praise, think on these things. As the people of the Most High God being filled with the Holy Spirit, hallelujah, who has come alongside and inside, now is a good time, hallelujah. Now is the right time to choose to move beyond fear and to move beyond negative thoughts and just give our God and our Father praise and worship Christ as our Savior and as our Redeemer, hallelujah. In the front yard, if you will, in the front yard of eternal victory and the true promises of Christ Jesus, we can just bless the Lord at all times and His praise, hallelujah, shall continually be in our mouths. On Wednesday night, family, this past Wednesday night, Elder Bobby moved us even further through the book of Revelation. And I want to share briefly from some verses in chapter five, the first 10 verses. And let me add that before we read the scripture and go on to rightly divide the word of truth, let me add that I'm not an expert on Revelation, the book of Revelations. I'm going to know more about the book and more about the message that we receive from the Apostle John. So I won't be deep this morning because I can't be deep in the prophetic. So I won't because I can't. However, I believe this morning that I can share in a way that the paraclete, that is the Holy Ghost, has allowed me to glimpse something for our collective benefit in now faith. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for and evidence of things not seen. I hope that God will continue to move in this finite mind, this Christological mind, hallelujah, this renewed mind to share some points that will be practical as we continue to look forward to the soon coming King. So as we go to chapter five of the book of Revelations, I read from verses one through ten. And Apostle John writes this, beginning at verse one, and I saw in the right hand of him that sat on a throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven, no woman in heaven, nor on earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. And John says this in verse four, And I wept much, I wept much, because no man, no woman was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. And one of the elders said unto me, Weep not. Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book and to loose, hallelujah, the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and though in the midst of the throne, and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a lamb, as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the lamb, having every one of them harps and golden vows full of oaths, which are the prayers of saints. And they sung a new song, and they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof, for thou art slain, and hast redeemed us to God by your blood, out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation, and hast made us unto our God-kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth. May our God and our Father, through Christ Jesus and the indwelling Holy Spirit, allow the word to be quickened in our hearts, in our intellect, and in our physical bodies, to fully comprehend the word and rightly divide the truth. To God be the glory, both now and ever. Amen. Amen. Family, this morning, as I hope that all of you can do and will do as the Holy Spirit inspires and empowers, maybe give some consideration to Review Chapter 5. We'll be going back there this week. Tonight, God be willing, we shall live in the Lord till later's return. And as you look at the book in greater context, what I can share this morning is that the Apostle John, in this chapter, he ushers us into the presence of a majestic and heavenly scene of the Father sitting on the throne with a book in his right hand. Think about that. God is sitting on the throne with a book. Hallelujah. Not with an iPad or an iPhone or a smart device, but he's sitting on the throne with a book. With a book. With a book. It's very uncommon to see people who have a book in their hands. It's very uncommon these days to see people to go to church with the book. That's Genesis to the Revelation in their hand. And just in case this morning we may have forgotten, it's good to be reminded that our Father maintains a library, if you will. Hallelujah. John is talking about it now. And our Father is not opposed to us reading books. I know that there was a time in this country that certain people were not allowed to read. Hallelujah. But thank God we have a Father who sits high. And he looks low. And he moves upon us even now to just go and let's read the book. The book that is before us. Hallelujah. It may be in your home. It may be in your car. But let's just go to the book. And I believe that there is something valuable to be passed on from generation to generation. When children are able to see their parents or their grandparents in the possession of books. Especially when they got the right books. When they got the book. Hallelujah. And I believe this morning that if our children and our grandchildren, if they don't see us with books, and they don't see us engaged in the art and the wisdom of reading, how will they ever come into the knowledge of the truth? How will they ever come into the knowledge of the Word of God if they don't even see us reading the book ourselves? How can we? How can we rightly divide the Word of Truth if we don't even read? And how can we study if we don't even read? I'm so glad for one of my older brothers, Brother Rob. And Brother Rob would say, read everything. Hallelujah. Read everything. If you want to be wise. If you want to be smart. If you want to be intelligent. Read everything. Don't be scared, if you will. Don't be scared of reading. The mind is to be fed with the whatsoever things are true. The whatsoever things are honest. The whatsoever things that are just. That are pure. That are lovely. That are of good report. Back in the day, we would say something to the effect that we are what we eat. Well, I believe that to some degree. But let me also submit this morning to the people of God. To the children of God, by faith, that we are also what we read. Hallelujah. We are also what we read. And we need to stop eating junk food. And we need to stop reading junk literature. Junk articles and books. We need to start reading the Word of God along with other wisdom books that would help us to grow greater. That will help us to go further and to go farther. We need to be reading books and articles that will help us to take care of our mind and our bodies. And we need to be reading books and articles that will bring us to a greater place of peace and joy and enthusiasm. If we begin to read better things. Those things that lead us to whatsoever things are true and honest. Are just and pure and lovely and of good report. I believe that we can find this enthusiasm in fields. Hallelujah. We need to read books and articles that will help us to improve our thought process about saving money, about investing money. And let me tell you this, regardless of our age, regardless of our place, our station in life, it is never too late to just start reading. Because reading is necessary for us to study. Study to show thyself a proof. A work woman that needeth not to be ashamed rightly dividing the Word of truth. Yes, a mind is a terrible thing to waste. And too often we are wasting time and wasting our minds because we're not feeding our brains with wisdom and truth. But as I digress, hallelujah, as we consider family, Revelation chapter five, the apostle records that there was a book written within and on the backside sealed with seven seals. And that a strong angel, I'm not talking about a weak angel, I'm talking about a chief angel, a better angel, a mighty angel, an angel that's not even named but a strong angel proclaimed with a loud voice who is worthy to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof. And the apostle, when you read the text, hallelujah, appears to have been overcome with a spirit of depression. Sometimes we just get depressed, y'all. Don is depressed as he's writing to us the Revelation. And with this spirit of depression, the Word says that he wept because he didn't see that there was a man or woman who was found worthy to open the book and to loose or read the book and neither to look upon the book. And yeah, in verse four he says, I wept much. I wept much. But in the midst of the pain, there comes a praise. Hallelujah. There comes a praise. And I hope y'all are getting this with me and the Holy Ghost this morning. In the midst of John's weeping, there comes a praise. And we go to verse five. We go to verse five because it was there where we see that one of the elders said unto him, John, weep not. I believe he's saying that to us this morning who came on this line depressed and distressed. Weep not. Weep not, weep not, behold the lion of the tribe of Judah. Judah right there, she quickened within us. Judah means praise. The lion of the tribe, if you will, of praise. We're talking about Jesus Christ as the lamb here. Hallelujah. And the lion. But the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David. David, hallelujah, the masterful songwriter, the masterful worshiper. Hallelujah. Play a fancy guitar called the harp. Hallelujah. Behold the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David hath prevailed. Hallelujah. Prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven sins thereof. And then we move on to verse seven. And John writes, and he came, hallelujah. Yes sir, yes ma'am, we're talking about the redeemer now. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And I hope you're seeing this with me today. There's a book transfer. There's a book transfer. So the Lord Jesus took out of the hand of his father the book. There's a book transfer. And when we read the word, and when we study the word, and we rightly divide the word of truth, there's a book transfer. Hallelujah. When we get engaged with this living book, the book of life, it begins to work with us. And there's a transfer, hallelujah. It's more than a data dump. It gives us the bread of life. I can hear Jesus even saying now, I am the bread of life. There's a book transfer. But let me go on to verses eight through ten. And John writes, and when he had taken the book, the four beasts and the four and twenty others fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps and golden vows full of orders, which are the prayers of saints. And they sung a new song. There's a praise this morning. And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the sea as they were of her. You, you were slain and has redeemed us to God by your blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation. Somebody should be saying even right now, we all, we got out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation and has made us unto our God, kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth. Family, what an awesome majesty and celestial setting revealed by John as he shares the seeing of God, our God and our Father, sitting on the throne. And the transfer of the book from the Father to the Son. Hallelujah. We need to, if a good man, if a good woman leaves inheritance to their children, their children, I hope we're leaving some books. Hallelujah. And I hope that we're leaving them with the measure of the good book. Hallelujah. Transfer of the books from the Father to the Son, and we see here that Paul, that John writes of the four beasts, the 24 elders. And there's much to be read, if you will, concerning who the four beasts or beings are. And I invite you to do so. It's beyond my bandwidth to get into all of that. The Greek word, though, would suggest that the beasts or the beings are animals, but there are others that would suggest that they were an exalted order of angelic beings. Again, I don't know. And it really doesn't complicate the essentials of Jesus Christ. And by essentials, I mean by his immaculate conception, by his birth, by his life, by his death, and his burial and resurrection and ascension. None of that really disturbs or conflicts where we are right now. I don't know who the four beasts are, so I can't get into that. I invite you, though, to study it for yourself if you're interested, if you will. There's also the debate about who the 24 elders are. And I don't know it enough to tell you specifically who they are either. Perhaps they can be a representative group of the eternal and rapture church. The events noted here in chapter five of Revelation, John is talking about events following the church's rapture. That's significant to me because I just want to remind us and let it be quickened within our spirits that there is a soon coming king. Soon and very soon, we are going to see the king. Hallelujah. But some suggest that the 24 elders represent the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 apostles, but again, I don't know. So I won't be deep because I can't be deep. But one thing that is clear to me, y'all, the one thing that is clear to me is that soon and very soon, once again, the Lord Jesus will be appearing in the sky so that every eye will see him. And the dead in Christ shall rise first, and those of us who are alive and remain will meet him in the midair. Hallelujah. We're going to take flight soon and very soon. And one day we who are believers will be called up. Hallelujah. I hope it happens in my own time. It can happen today. Hallelujah. That we are going to be taken to the next level, if you will. And as the eternal church raptured to see the events as portrayed and described by John in chapter 5, I know that part, y'all. I know that part, and that part right there gives me enough to praise him right now. And in real time, there comes a praise. I can't get deep with you about the science of numerology, the significance of 4, the significance of 7, the significance of 24. But one thing I can tell you about, the one thing that I can share with you is the significance of one. Hallelujah. One. I can preach to you and teach you and tell you about the one Lord, the one faith, and the one baptism. I can tell you about the one Redeemer, Jesus Christ. I can tell you about the one redemption that we have, which is final and eternal. I can tell you, as the one elder told John, you don't have to cry no more. Hallelujah. You don't have to cry no more. You don't have to worry about whether or not you have the credentials or not to open the book. You can lack the necessary credentials. You can lack the finances, the pedigree, the education, but you don't have to cry no more, because behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the tribe of praise, the root of David, has prevailed to open the book and to loose, hallelujah, the seven seals. The Lord Jesus is a book reader. He's a storyteller. And I'm so glad that one day on the cross, the Lord Jesus, a man who was lynched. If you're a Roman citizen, you would not be hung on a tree. Cursed is anyone who is hanging from a tree, but thank God for the Lord Jesus, who was lynched on a good Friday, hallelujah, for my sins and your sins, and he hung there from the ninth, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., hallelujah. And why did he do it? Well, we know he did it because John chapter 3, verse 17 says, for God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. Why, hallelujah, did he do it? Why did he leave his place in heaven and come to earth? Well, in Matthew 5, Matthew 20, verses 27 and 28, Jesus tells us this, and whosoever will be chief among you, whosoever will be chief or greatest among you, let him or let her be your servant, even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. That's why he did it. That's why he left his place in heaven and came to earth. The Lord Jesus came to serve and not to be served, so we could sing a new song. And I'm so glad that even on the night that he was betrayed, on the same night he had his last meal, if you will, before the cross, that the Lord Jesus and his disciples, they sung hymns before they left the upper room. I don't know if you recognize this, but Jesus, beyond being a book reader and a storyteller, he was a singer too, so they sung hymns, hallelujah, on before he went to the cross. He was singing on the night that he could declare that, that Peter, you're going to deny me, and Judas, you're going to betray me, that he still could sing hymns with his friends and with his foe, hallelujah. And I thank God that when he got to the cross, that he told one of the male factors while he was hanging there, that this day, I believe that this first Sunday in October, we can reclaim it right now as being this day, hallelujah, this day you shall be with me in paradise, in the midst, thank God for the Holy Ghost, in the midst of the pain that comes of praise. And finally, family, as he has promised us an abundant life in this earth and in this time, he has also promised us a new life in paradise. We can have a new praise this morning and a new song to sing that Christ, our kinsman, redeemer, he took the script on the cross. He didn't go on strike like they did in L.A., but he would stay there on the cross, and he flipped the script, hallelujah, when he said it was finished. I thank God right now, I'm in a better conference, hallelujah, not the SEC, not the ACC, not the SWAT or the MEAC, I thank God for being in the new conference, the SOT conference, the spirit of truth conference, I'm in the SOT, and when the SOT, Jesus Christ himself, when he had paid the bill, he said, it is finished. The bill was paid when he said that, when he said, it is finished. He paid the last amount that was owed, the amount that was due for my sins and your sins, he paid the last amount by the last drop of his blood, the blood that needed to come out to make the final payment for all of our sins, and the bill was paid, and thank God it was paid in full, hallelujah. So in Christ, we have a place to go, a place that he called paradise. I believe it's an eternal timeshare, yeah, an eternal timeshare, paradise, if you will, that was pre-planned, for God so loved the world, and he gave his only begotten son, and so it's pre-planned and pre-paid. Do you want to go with me? Hallelujah. Do you want to go? Do you want to go? And if you want to go, and if you want to go, you can go, and you don't have to worry about this, or they, I know that somebody might be struggling right now, talking about, they won't let me do this, or they won't let me do that, but you don't have to worry about whether they're going to let you do something or not, because as I close, John writes about a new day, hallelujah, John writes about a new day, and he says this in verse nine of Revelation, chapter five, John writes this, he says, and they sung, hallelujah, they sung, well, who is they? They are the four celestial beings, and the twenty-four elders, they sung, hallelujah, they sung a new song saying, you are worthy, the Lamb is worthy, the matchless Lamb of God is worthy, He is worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof, for He was slain, and has redeemed us to God by His blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation, I don't need no United States Constitution to put me right here in chapter five, hallelujah, of Revelation, because there was a better Constitution, to say, it is finished, and He created an upset, they thought they had Him down, but on the third day, He did the upset, came from behind, hallelujah, so that we might have a right to the tree of life, so He's worthy, and this morning we can move from the old rap to the new song, we can go from the gangster rap to the gospel song, hallelujah, this morning we can move, hallelujah, from the old into the new. In the Old Testament, the people of God asked the question, how can we sing? How can we sing? How can we sing in a strange land? But this side of the cross, in 2023, in the newness of life, in the New Testament, and with a renewed mind, the people of God all over the world, those that have been redeemed by His blood, hallelujah, out of every kindred, every tongue, every people, every nation, we can be singing, and should be singing, in this era of God's great revival, a new song, that the Lord Jesus is worthy. We can sing a new song that the Lord Jesus has redeemed us, and not because we are worthy, but because we are worth it. Thank God that He loved us so much, that He showed us that we were worth it, not worthy, but worth it. Only the Lamb of God is worthy. Thank God this morning that we may not be worthy, but we're worth it. So much so that our Father and our God, yeah, He sent His Son, and His Son gave His life, that we who believe on Him should not perish, but we should have and enjoy paradise, yes ma'am, an eternal timeshare, an everlasting life. So, in this hour of God's great revival, there comes a praise, there comes a praise, there comes a praise, regardless of what you're going through, there should be coming a praise, and we could sing a new song, because Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. He was lynched, He was nailed to the truth, that we might be free, and free indeed. There comes a praise, let the Redeemer, the Lord say so, let the Redeemer, the Lord praise so, and let the Redeemer, the Lord sing so. Amen.