This Is Eternal Life

God wants us to seek His kingdom and righteousness above all else. We should pray for our leaders so that we can live in peace and spread the gospel. God desires everyone to be saved and come to know the truth. We should not just focus on getting saved, but also share God's love and what He has done for us. In John 6, Jesus tells the crowd not to work for perishable food, but for eternal life through believing in Him. I want you to get an idea of what God has in mind for you. And so let's pray and let's get into God's Word this morning. Amen. Father, we thank you for your lovingkindness, for your goodness, for your mercy, for your grace, for your patience with us. Has God been patient with you? I think we are his patients. God's trying to get us healthy and strong, not just physically, spiritually speaking. The world is waiting to see the people of God. The world is waiting to see God. God has chosen to reveal himself through his people. That's what you're doing here, if you didn't know, on this planet. That's your reason for breathing in and out and getting up every day. Yes, you have a job, yes, you have a family, yes, you have responsibilities, yes, it's summertime in Michigan and you need to do stuff before it's wintertime in Michigan. But God's got something bigger than all of that, and that's the work of the kingdom. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and everything else will find its proper place. That's not a suggestion. That's not a good idea. That's the commandment of words spoken through the Lord Jesus Christ. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and you won't have to worry about what you're going to eat, what you're going to wear, where you're going to live, or anything. As a matter of fact, God has made it possible for a person to live worry-free. Some of us need God's help, don't we? Jesus said, don't worry about tomorrow. Don't worry about tomorrow. Don't worry about tomorrow. But have you seen the news? Don't worry about tomorrow. Lord, have you been watching the news lately? Don't worry about tomorrow. Trust me. I've got this under control. And when all is said, and when all is done, we will see victory in the Son. Because that's where it's at. Give us eyes to see, I pray, ears to hear, a heart to understand, and a willingness to do everything we are here to do for you. In Jesus' name, amen. We're going to start over at 1 Timothy, chapter number 2. And my wife knows how much I was thinking about, what am I going to minister today? And I had an idea, and I had a direction that I was thinking about. But as usual, God said, you know, I don't think so. I want you to talk about this. Okay. And I said, okay, but is it as good as the one I've got, Lord? I said, let me hear yours, and you can hear mine, and we'll have the angels and vultures of it. Listen to this, 1 Timothy, chapter number 2, verse number 1. Therefore I exhort, first of all, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority. Why? Why would Paul say that? So that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. You see, there's a benefit to praying for the leaders, because if they follow God and if they do what God would have them to do, we can live in a peaceable place where the gospel can go forth unhindered. But if there's wars and all this and that, we'll come at some time or another as the end approaches and we get closer. And the world is that way today. You say, well, isn't it? Well, it is, but you ain't seen nothing yet. Have you read the book? This gets worse before it gets better. But in the midst of the darkness, God has a people that are to shine with the light of his glory, to not worry like Gentiles worry. I used to be a worried Gentile guy. Now I'm a child of God, and I know that if I trust my Father, he will handle everything that I commit to him. I don't have to worry about anything. Yeah, but your kids are grown. Oh, well, okay. Yeah, you still have a tendency to worry about your kids, even when you've kicked them out of the house. I mean, they've left home. All right, I'm moving right along. Jesus said, don't worry. You say, well, I wouldn't be a good parent if I didn't worry. Oh, you would be a better parent if you didn't worry. And you cast all your care of your children, of your finances, of your life, of your job, of the future, on the Lord. He loves you. Did you know that God loves you? He really, really does, and he proved it because he gave his son into the hands of ungodly people who put him to death. But thank God that he did. Otherwise, you and I wouldn't be here today, and we would probably have nothing to look forward to except heartache, pain, and misery forever. Have you been saved so long that you forgot really what you were saved from? It's a good thing to always. We're singing, when I've been there 10,000 years, bright, shining as the sun. We're not counting days off God's calendar. Well, that's 10,000 fewer days. There's no less days. The days just keep going on and on and on to enjoy God and the glory and the presence. You say, what's it going to be like, and won't I get bored? I don't think so. If you get bored, he'll probably let you take care of one of those creatures that he's made. One of those with all the, here, you take care of this, this will be your pet. I want you to train this. We have no idea. Before Disney got goofy, a long time ago, many years ago, we took the kids down there, and they were all going to the restroom and whatever. I was standing there, I was looking at the Magic Castle and whatever, and just beautiful. Of course, they're picking up all the trash. There's no trash anyplace. Somebody dropped something, somebody right there picks it up. The flowers, they must have had John and Esther been working in their flower beds. Flowers were growing, the trees. There was a blue sky with just a few white fluffy clouds. I would just enjoy it. I said, wow, this is really great, Lord. And he said to me, God talks to me when I least expect it. This is so beautiful. This day was just one of those perfect days. We have one or two up here in Michigan. It was just a perfect day. He said, you ain't seen nothing yet. We got a lot to look forward to. But right now, we got a lot of work to do. I said work. When the Son of Man comes, that's Jesus, will you be found working? We talked about that last week. My manager at Sears in the display department, Don Davis, 6'7", came back into the display department. We looked busy. Hey, Don's coming. Don's coming. Stop the staple gun fights. Start doing something that looks like you're actually working. God knows, you're not putting anything over on him. People, we got to get busy about the Lord's business. Jesus said, I'm here to do what He sent me here to do. They said, well, that was Jesus. This is my life. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You are not your own. You belong to God. You were purchased with a price. The precious blood of Jesus was shed for you. And you were a servant, you were an employee, a servant of the devil before God set you free. Hallelujah. But we serve Him now. Pray for those who are in authority. I'm not getting very far here. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God, our Savior, who desires all men to be what? Saved, verse number four, and to what? Come to the knowledge of the truth. So God desires everybody to be, number one, saved. That's good. That's good. That's the start. And to come to the knowledge of the truth. You know, I think there's a lot more people who have been saved than those who have been saved and are coming to the knowledge of the truth. Because there's a lot of people who just stopped with getting saved, and now they're just waiting until they die so they can go to heaven. But God did not save you just to take you to heaven. He saved you to go into the world and tell people how wonderful He is, and show people how marvelous He is, and let people know what He's done for us who were lost until God, in His loving kindness, even while we were yet sinners, said, I'm going to give my son because I love you. God so loved the world. Let's never forget that. So He desires two things, be saved, come to the knowledge of the truth. We won't go any further with that right now. Go over to John, chapter number six. Because I took all my time, I took my time. I don't know what I'm going to do with me. I've talked to myself about that. I talk to myself. Well, you talk to yourself, too, so don't get all religious on me now. John, chapter number six, verse 22. On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one of it, which his disciples entered, that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but his disciples had gone away alone, so on and so forth. Hang on just a second. OK. Verse 23. However, other boats came from Tiberias near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given them thanks. When the people, therefore, saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they got into little boats and came to Capernaum seeking Jesus. And when they found him on the other side of the sea, the beautiful sea, they said to him, Rabbi, when did you come there? And Jesus answered them and said, most assuredly, I say to you, you seek me not because you saw the signs, but because I made lunch for you, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. They were just after the food truck. That's why they were there. And he says this, do not labor or work for the food which perishes, but labor for or work for food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set his seal on him. And then they said to him, I want you to hear this question they had. What shall we do that we may work the works of God? What is it that God wants us to do? Just tell us. We'll get about his business. And Jesus answered that query, that question, and said to them, this is the work of God. Here's what he wants you to do, that you believe in him whom he has sent. That's where it all begins, by believing in Jesus. That's the entrance into God's kingdom. You cannot see the kingdom. You cannot enter into the kingdom except through Christ and by the Holy Spirit. That's where it starts. He who believes that God has raised him from the dead and confesses with their mouth, Jesus Christ is Lord, they shall be saved. Well, that's good, because it's God's will that all be saved. You don't get saved by going to church. You don't get saved by reading your Bible. Now, that can lead to, but there are no substitutes. Jesus is the only way back to the Father, and you must believe in him, that he is the sacrifice for your sin, which is a problem that everybody except Christ himself had when they entered into this world, that sin nature. So believing in God and knowing God, that's two different things. Believing in God causes us to enter into a relationship with God. But knowing God demands something deeper and closer, and it's called fellowship. And there's a lot of people who have a relationship with God through Christ, but they have never really known fellowship with the Father. And if there's anything that God has been speaking to me through my life, and I've been trying to share with others, is Father wants to spend some time with you. We talk about Jesus. We talk about what he's done, and we worship him. All good. He's worthy. But everything Jesus did was to one end, and that is to bring us back to the Father. But he gets lost in the shuffle kind of. But that's why Jesus did what he did. That's why he laid down his life. He laid down his life to please the Father, but to the end that there would be a way, the only way for a human being to get right with the Creator God is through his Son, Jesus Christ. But it's one thing to believe in him and to be born again. It's another thing to know him. I remember Dr. Ken Stewart, when I was going to Bible school, Dr. Stewart said this, get to know the character of God. You know, there's a lot of people who've been saved for years and years and years, still don't really know God all that well. They've heard other people talk about how they know God, and we try to live vicariously through somebody else's experience with God. But God wants to get personal with you. Some of us are a little afraid of getting close. Don't ever fear your heavenly Father. He loves you. And just think about the prodigal son, the extreme son, the one who took everything and wasted it all. When he came back home, the father, Jesus said, was there not standing like this. Stupid kid. He saw his son while he was yet a far ways away, which suggests to me that when the morning came and the sun rose every day, he was out there just looking, hoping, waiting. And one day, he sees a little speck on the horizon. A little speck on the horizon. That's my boy. And he threw down whatever he had in his hands, and he went running toward him. And when it got to him, he threw his hands around his neck and strangled him to death. Said, you took all the money and you wasted it, you stupid, stupid boy. Never once did he talk about where he'd been, what he'd done, what he should have done. He just threw his arms around him and embraced him. Welcome home. Servants, kill the fatted calf. We're going to party tonight. My son who was lost, he's home. He's home. More joy in heaven, I read, when one comes back. Comes back home. Look at Jeremiah chapter 31. That would be in the older covenant. We live in the new covenant. Thank God we do. We didn't have to bring a bunch of animals to sacrifice here this morning. How many of you are glad you didn't have to bring an animal to sacrifice this morning? Most of you? Now, I just heard somebody say, I'd bring the neighbor's dog. I'm just kidding. I didn't hear it. But I've had the thought. I mean, I perceive. Is that a word of knowledge? A word of silliness. I get words of silliness, too. Jeremiah was, by the Spirit of God, looking ahead. And the Lord was speaking to him about this new day. I think on the front of your bulletin, it says, this is the day the Lord has made. Does it say that on the cover? It was midnight when I put the bulletin together. A little after midnight when I finished it, because I forgot what I put on there. I knew I put sprouts on there. I knew that because Esther would just beat me up. She'd say, I sent you something. Why didn't you put that in there? Pastor, you know, I've got at it with you. That's how she sounds, too. In her text message, I have a voice that reads it that way, you know. No, I don't. These are two of the most precious people I've ever met. Ever. In Port Huron, of course. In my whole life. You are, you're sweet. Anyway, there goes more of my time. See, this is what I do. Behold, days are coming. When it says, this is the day the Lord has made, it's not talking about Monday or Thursday or whatever. It's talking about the new covenant day. This is the day of our salvation. Rejoice and be glad. Now, you can think of it the other way, because that's what we did in the early days of Charismania. This is the day, this is the day. And we were at Duquesne University waiting for them to get breakfast ready so that we could hurry and eat breakfast and go to the first Bible class early in the morning. So we'd get up early, and we'd go over there, and the doors to the cafeteria were shut. So people were singing scripture songs. Hallelujah. Kept us busy until we could get a piece of toast or whatever they had for us. Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah and also with us, because we're included in on this. Not according to the covenant, not like the old one that I made with their fathers. In the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant, which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. I think he's trying to get a little something across here subliminally. He said, I made a covenant with them. I kept my end of the deal. They didn't. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. And this is the new covenant that we have entered into with him. This is the promise of it. It's coming. He said, I will put my law, my word, in their minds, and I will write it on their hearts. That's one of the differences we've talked about. Under the old covenant, it was man's responsibility to get the word in them. Under the new covenant, God said, hey, you didn't do so hot with that. So I'm going to take over, and I'm going to put my word right on the inside of you. And when you are born again, guess what you receive? Do you know who Jesus is? He is the word of God. God's word has come to dwell in you. You say, well, what good is this then? This shows you what's in there, because you can't see in there except by this in God's spirit. Mirror, mirror, in the book, won't you tell me how I look? This shows you that you're a new creation in Christ. This shows you who you are. You've been made righteous. You've been made holy in your spirit now. In your spirit, we're talking. I can't get into all that. So he says, this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to put my law in their minds, write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. But listen to this. New covenant. That's what we've entered into. No more. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord, for they all shall know me. From the least of them, that's me, to the greatest of them. I got somebody in mind, but I'm not going to embarrass them. From the least of them, that's everybody. Everybody under the new covenant gets to know the Lord. But obviously, a lot of Christians don't know the Lord, because they don't act like him. They don't talk like him. They don't live like him. Otherwise, they'd be acting and talking and living much differently than they do. Because when you know the Lord, you manifest, display, and live out the God that you know. That's why our mission is to know God and to make him known. You cannot make him known until you do the first things first. You've got to know him before you can show him. And I want to show the world what God's like. That's your mission. You say it is? You're supposed to show people how wonderful God is. They're supposed to look at you and say, wow, you've changed. I mean, wow. What's up? So God changed my heart. Wow. What did you have to do? Did you have to say, I just had to believe in him? And he came by the Spirit. And he lives in me. I'm a different person now. Whether you act like it or know it or not, when you were born again, you became a different person. All things passed away. Behold, look, see, all things in your spirit are made new. That's you, whether you feel like it or you don't feel like it. No, but under the new covenant, you won't have to say, look, know the Lord, because everybody will have an opportunity to know the Lord from the least to the greatest of them, because God will forgive their iniquity and their sin. He will remember, know, more. Look over at Psalm 103. Let's creep. We'll go backwards here, and then we'll get back in the new covenant. But then we're going to go to the old covenant again. Oh, just, we'll get there. Psalm 103. I was just thinking about writing these notes this morning. She was finding my notes here, and then they would be there, and then they'd be here, and then they'd be there. They're everywhere. They're everywhere. Psalm 103, look at verse number six. The Lord executes righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. The Lord made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the children of Israel. Now, that's a loaded little thing there. Moses had a different relationship with God than the rest of the children of Israel. Somebody else had a little different relationship too, but we won't get sidetracked with that this morning. God knew more about, or Moses knew more about God than the rest of the children of Israel knew. Moses had insight into his ways, why he does what he does, his thinking, and his heart. All the children of Israel could see were the outward miracles and manifestations and the parting of the Red Sea and the pillar of fire. They saw the outward things. But Moses spent time with the Lord, and he got to know his heart. What did I just say? Oh, I remember. Maybe I should write it down. Moses spent time with the Lord. You know what? There's only one way you get to know anybody. And if you don't spend time with God, fellowshipping with Him in His Word, or just going down to the river and giving God some quiet time there. Just thinking about the things of God. Just talking to it. Well, how can you talk to somebody that you can't see? I think we do that quite often. Moses had that special relationship. But God was saying, look, there's going to be a day when it's not going to be you've got to be somebody special to have that relationship. They shall all know me. I mean, that was the idea. That was the plan. God said, here's the opportunity. Everybody, the veil has been rent. The way has been made. If you need help, come boldly unto the throne of grace, where you can find grace and mercy to help in your time of need. The door has not just been opened. It's been blasted off the hinges. It's all clear. Our first son, Christopher, he started crawling at a certain age when kids start crawling. I think it was about 14 or 15 or something. When he's a little baby. When he's a little baby. But he wasn't crawling frontwards. He was crawling backwards everywhere. Maybe you had one of those children who just crawled backwards. I said, whoa, whoa. You got reversed. You found reverse. You've got to shift gears here. You've got to get it down. But I looked at that. I thought, that's the way a lot of us think we have to approach God this life. Do I belong here? Am I supposed to be here? I don't know yet. God said, come. Come, you who are thirsty. Come, you who are hungry. Come on. Let's have lunch together. Come to the master's and come and dine. The master called and come and dine. You can feast at Jesus' table. Oh, sorry. Well, it's closed. Missed lunch, you know. Come back at dinnertime. That's one of the things that amazes me most. Well, there's a lot of most things that amaze me about God. But one of them is, how does he have any time for you? Because he's really quite busy with me. And I don't know how you're getting an appointment with him, because I got, you know, it's both, oh, Todd, you get in. Well, I have had that happen. When I've said, Father, and he said, wait just a second. Todd's here again. He said, would you like to make an appointment? It's like trying to get my dog's hair cut, groomed. Sparty got a haircut the other day. Looks much better now. I said, Mom, it's coming home. You've got to look good, man. He looked like a hippie dog, you know. He actually looked like a puff marshmallow, a black, furry marshmallow. But we got to walk. But I called my groomer. And she said, well, it's going to be about six or seven weeks before I can get to him. I said, do you know who I am? I didn't say that. I don't even know who I am. So Moses knew his ways. He had a special relationship. But that was then. You can have an even better relationship than what Moses had, because God didn't live on the inside of Moses. It was all this external. Now God has come to make his dwelling place, not in buildings made with men's hands, but in peoples with us, created by him. Look at John chapter 17. This would be in the newer part of the book here. John, the 17th chapter. Jesus, these are his prayers, John 15, 16, 17. He's talking to the Father. He's getting ready to check out here and go back home, having completed his mission. And in John chapter number 17, this verse 3, if you were to ask somebody, what is eternal life, I think most people would say living forever, or going to heaven when you die, or something. Jesus gives us the definition of eternal life right here. This is eternal life. He's talking to the Father. That they may know you, the only true God, and me, Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. That is the essence of eternal life. Not going to heaven when you die, but knowing him right here, right now. You see, the scriptures say we not only have the promise of the life which is to come, thank God, but we have the promise of the life that now is. And a lot of people, when they get saved, start going to church. And you can go to the Bible studies and listen to, I was going to say tapes, but we don't do tapes anymore. CDs, oh, we don't do CDs anymore. However you listen to the word, YouTube, or whatever, and be careful, little eyes, what you see, and little ears, what you hear on YouTube, Mike. Crazy madness, lies, distortions, being spewed forth, in many cases, by people who don't know him, but claim to know him. And one day, some of them folks are going to stand in front of the one they've been claiming to know, and he'll say, never knew you. Show them the door. And some of those people, evidently, will be people who said, well, I used to prophesy. I used to cast out demons. See, that's kind of scary. Good. It's good to have a dose of the fear of the Lord. You say, well, scary. That word, fear, doesn't mean scary. Well, it kind of does, sort of, sometimes. Because when I got into the display department at Sears, I was not handy with tools and stuff. But I learned a lot of different things there. I learned enough to make a mess of everything. But I learned how to use the table saw. I had not used power tools before. And so the carpenter in the display department was a German guy named Matty. And Matty showed me how to use the table saw and make sure it didn't jam up. Because if it jammed up, it would shoot the piece of wood. I saw it happen, shoot it back through the drywall into the other room. And I thought, you know, if I was standing over here, I would be a holy man. But when Matty was showing me how to do that, I'd noticed that most people have 10 fingers. And sometimes some things happen that you lose a finger or two. But he had pieces and parts of a lot of his fingers. They were gone. And I thought, maybe I'd like someone else teaching me how to use the saw. Anyway, Jesus said, you want to know eternal life? You want to know the essence of what life is all about? It's not being in a place and living forever. It's knowing God. I want to know Him. I want to know Him so that I can accurately show Him to somebody else. Because the world looks at the church and say, if that's who your God is, if that's, I want nothing to do with. Daniel chapter 11, let me draw this to a close. Daniel, that would be back in that old part again. But there's things we can learn from back here. In Daniel chapter number 11, verse 32, I'm just jumping in. I'd read more context, but we don't have time. Says, those who do wickedly against the covenant, he shall corrupt with flattery. But the people who know their God shall be strong. And carry out great exploits. Now, when you see italicized words in the King James or New King James or whatever, these words were added to help you make sense and understand in the English language what in the Hebrew or the Greek, because the languages were more expressive and whatever, to try to get a sense of what's being said here. But it's saying something here about people who know their God shall be strong. We need to be strong as God's people. Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. How are you strong in the Lord? By knowing Him. How can you be strong in faith if you are questioning His integrity or His faithfulness? When I'm singing, all my life you have been faithful up here, I'm not singing it because it's black marks on a page of paper. I'm singing it because all my life you have been faithful. And while I'm singing that, I'm thinking about, yeah, this time, and that time, and that time, and that time, and when there was no way we were getting out of this, and there was no way I could pay for that, and there was no way this is ever going to happen. And bam, bam, bam. Not when I thought it should happen. Not how. I thought it should happen. God always made it happen. He makes all things beautiful in His time. Don't ever look at your watch and say God. Didn't you move your clock ahead? Don't you move your clock ahead? It's timeless. And a day is like 1,000. 1,000 years is like a day. And time just, that's not on His calendar, although He is the God of times and seasons. And we live in times and seasons that He created. That's an Earth thing. Right? Not in where God lives. Now, this is a neat thing that I've seen, though, and I really believe this. If you're walking in the will of God, and you needed something, and then it shows up just in time, just at the nick of time, it just happened, and you say, man, that's God. That's God. But you know, God didn't all of a sudden say, angels, hurry, hurry, you've got to hurry. It's almost time. God has made, has made, every provision for everything you will ever need. It's already there. You say, how in the world are you on something? I'm on Jesus. I'm high. High. What do you mean? If God made provision for the sin of mankind before the foundation of the Earth, if God provided for our sin before there was ever a man who sinned, if God made provision for that, He's made provision for everything. And all you have to do is walk in the Spirit. Well, that's the issue. If God's made provision over here, and you're over here doing your own thing, and say, hey, God, I'm not seeing anything. Hey, it's over here. Well, how do I get there? That's the problem. You've been doing your own thing, and He wants us to follow Him. Walk in the Spirit. Jesus didn't just go where He wanted to go. Go where you want to go, Jesus. Do what you want to do. He'd get up and say, OK, Spirit of God, where are we going today? Went to this town? Oh. And even Paul learned that. He was going to go a certain place and had a dream. A man of Macedonia appeared. God gave him a dream and says, hey, come over and help us. But before that, the Holy Spirit was stopping him. He had plans. Hey, look, ministry team, we're going to go over here. And then the Holy Spirit said, uh-uh. He said, OK, better wait. I think we'll do this. Uh-uh. Oh, OK, better wait. Yeah, wait. You've got to wait. You've got to wait. Sometimes you've just got to wait. What am I waiting for? You're waiting for the right time. Because it can be the right thing, but if it's not at the right time, it's not right. Think about that. Pray about that. I looked up that word translated there or expressed there, do great exploits. And the Hebrew word we're getting here really has a sense of they who know their God shall do. They shall make. They shall take action. They shall accomplish. They shall advance. They will perform. They'll do something. They'll make it happen. I didn't do the make it happen part. That was my, they'll be people of action. They'll be strong and they'll do stuff. Not just sit here and wait until Jesus comes back. You know, when Jesus says occupy till I come, that didn't mean fill up space. That particular Greek word means do business. That goes back to when I come back, shall I find you working? I'm working. I was at the car show yesterday. Todd was at the car show. Were you guys at the car show back there? Hey, Torellos, pay attention back there. Torellos, pay attention. Stop talking to one another. I'm talking. Did you make it to the car show yesterday? I took my car down there. I got up early. I was the first one to drive my car into the car show yesterday. I won't tell you the rest of the story. But anyway, I was the first one in there. And then I opened the trunk of the car and I bought myself a powered scooter. And I rode back home and got in my other car, went to Burger King, got me some breakfast. Then we went back home and did this and that and the other thing. And then we took a nap, I think. And then got up and I took Shea down there. And we walked around and we didn't see Todd. I texted him, you're here. Where are you? Where are you? I thought I'd recognize, I know I recognize your vehicle, but I couldn't see you. Never mind. I couldn't see him. I said, Shea, do you see anything? She said, do you see what I see? I said, no, hold me up. Come on, woman. Help out here. So I better finish this. Do something. Those who know their God will get busy and do something. Take action. Get her done. That's what should be right there. Those who know their God will be strong and get her done. People of action. Last scripture. Not forever, all time, but today. Philippians chapter 3. Of course, some of you have had this scripture going through your little head there once I started talking about this. And we've read this many times before, but I'll tell you what, this passage of scripture is so loaded with truth to live by. And you've got to understand, Paul, you might think, you know, so and so that you know, you know, they're so mean, they could never get saved. Paul was a terror. He was a terrorist. The terrorist from Tarsus. He spent his life, when he got up in the morning, he thought, how many Christians can I round up today? How many prayer groups can I bust up? How many church meetings can I wreak havoc and take the men away and have them in prison? And when they vote whether to put them to death or not, you know, kill them, kill them, kill them, kill them! Until he got knocked off his horse on the road to Damascus. And the Lord said, hey, son, yes, Lord, you're causing me a lot of problems here. And so he switched teams. And he became one of the greatest evangelist teachers that there's ever been since Jesus. But he, listen, as much as he knew as many revelations as God, Jesus gave to him personally. He didn't learn this from another man. Jesus taught him. He was still growing. He was still learning. He realized he didn't have it all. Philippians 3, verse 1, in conclusion, Finally, my brethren, oh, that's a good way to end. Finally, my brethren. Rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe. Beware of the neighbor's dog. Hold it, not neighbor's dog. Now, Elizabeth, some of you know Elizabeth Boyce, come to church here, but they just moved, her and her husband moved to Texas. But her dog, Shiloh, the last time she was over at my house, bit me in my knee. Beware of the neighbor's dogs. Shiloh, I'm glad you're in Texas. You're a cute little dog. But we do miss you, Elizabeth and Michael. But they had a grandchild, and, you know, they tend to attract grandparents. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation. For we are the circumcision who worship God in the spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have very little... What? Well, that's my interpretation. No confidence in the flesh. Remember, Jesus said, I can of mine own self do nothing. So where do you think you relate to Him in that? If He can do nothing of His own self, where am I? Am I up here? No, no, you're not up there. Think about it. We need God, people. You might think you're all wise, all sufficient, and almighty, and you're none of the above. And I just told you in case you ever wonder. Though I also might have confidence in the flesh, Paul would say, man, if anybody could think there's somebody... I graduated from bright schools, and I had the right parents, all that. I was good. My picture was in the yearbook up there, right on top. If anyone else thinks he has confidence in the flesh, well, I more so. Well, excuse me. Circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel, tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, concerning the law of Pharisees. Concerning zeal, well, I persecuted the church. Concerning the righteousness, which is in the law, I was blameless. But what things were gained to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet, indeed, I also count all things loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish. Now, that word is kind of cleaned up in our Bible, but it means something you wouldn't want around the house. Yeah, that. He said, those things I counted in comparison here to what I've gained. Losing that to gain Christ. I'm ready to lose it all. Yet, indeed, I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I've suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ and be found in Him. Not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that righteousness which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith. And this is the point of his life. What is it, Paul, that you live for, besides doing God's will and going on? That I may know Him. That I may know Him. Paul made this statement to Timothy. I know whom I have, what, believed. Paul started the same way we all start, with believing. Very few people, in my experience, in the realm of the church have come to know God like they ought to know Him. We're believers. We have a relationship with Him. You say, well, how do you know that they don't know Him? Because if you don't walk in love, you don't know God. You can check that one off at the top of the list. And John talks about that in his epistle. He says, if you're saying that you love God and everything, and you're not loving people, if you can't love your brother who you can see, don't for a minute think that you love God who you can't see, because you're a liar. I'm just quoting scripture there. I'm not calling you a liar. John, the apostle John. It was not John Pastor. Not any of the Johns. We have a Stephanie back there, just kind of in between two Johns back there. But I'm telling you, he says, I count everything but loss for the excellency of the knowledge, the knowledge, the knowledge, because this is what life is all about. It's not about going to heaven when you die. But that's where I want to go, and that's where I am going. Hey, God, that's great. But I'm not dead yet. But to know Him, that's living. That's the abundant life that Jesus said, I've come to give you. I've come that you might have life, and have it more abundant, the God kind of life, to live like God, to act like God, to talk like God, to walk like God, to be a walkie-talkie for God. All right, a couple more verses, and I shall yield the floor, and the table, and your time. Back to you. That I may know Him, verse 10, and the power of His resurrection, that is, what the resurrection really means to me. What was His resurrection? How does that affect me? Because we are identified with Him at His death, burial, resurrection. And the fellowship of His sufferings. Oh, I don't like that part. I don't highlight fellowship of His sufferings. I crossed that out. I've got a big black marker here. Let me cross it. I don't like that. You're going to have to endorse this stuff if you're going to want to know anything, what it's like to be God. Now, I'm not God. You're not God. But I tell you what, if you want to know suffering, God knows suffering. I won't go any further on that. All right, let me close. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm not. I'm not, but I just thought I should say that. But if you think I am, then you could. I am, but I'm not. That you may know Him and the power of His resurrection, fellowship, being conformed to His death. To die? Yeah, Jesus said you need to die. Take up your cross, follow me. Well, what am I doing with this cross? What did I do on my cross? No, whoa, no, no, no. If you're not willing to lose your life, you'll never find it. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, it's not I who live anymore. It's Christ living in me. I'm getting out of the way so that people can see Him. The only thing in the way of people seeing Jesus in you is the unsanctified, unrenewed you. If by any means I attain to the resurrection of the dead, not that I've already attained or I'm already perfected, but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do. Forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, let us, us, us, as many as are mature, have this mind. And if in anything you think otherwise, God will show you. He'll reveal even this to you if you're not thinking the way that you ought to think. Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk this way by the same rule, and let us be of the same mind. I want to know Him. I want to know Him. And that's a good thing. You ought to think, well, that's a good thing, that the pastor wants to know God. Because a lot of pastors get up here and they don't share their personal experience with God out of that fellowship with Him. All they're sharing is what the guy at the seminary taught them about God from the books that they've been using, the old dusty things that they've been passing on down. And people who don't know God, the blind leading the blind, they're all falling in the ditch and nobody knows. Nobody knows. I want to tell you the truth as it is in Christ Jesus. I want to know the One in whom I have believed. And here's the bottom line of that. You know, with the world being as unstable as it is, and chaos and darkness growing, and everything's, my God, my God, my God, what's going to happen? The only thing that's going to keep you in the times to come sane without losing your little mind is that fellowship you have with your Heavenly Father and with Jesus Christ. That's the only thing that's going to keep you in times of trouble is your fellowship with your Heavenly Father. You can overcome everything by the power of God in you. And it's not up to you to try to work something up. It's up to you to lay it all down at His feet. And whatever in this place, whatever you're going through right now, never forget that God is with you and God is for you. He is not against you. Trust Him. Trust Him. But I've waited so long. Trust Him. But I thought by not trusting Him, in God we trust. You can believe in Him, but trust really comes when you know Him. And that's why a lot of God's children have trouble exercising true faith. If you really know Him, you really trust Him. And as things get tough, maybe with the economy or whatever, I don't know what's going to happen. I could sit, and my wife and I have talked about this. What's going to happen? What will we do in this now? Well, you know, when it really comes down to it, the only ones that are going to make it with any sanity through anything are the ones who know their God. Because they'll be strong, come what may. Get to know God. Get to know your Heavenly Father. It's God's will that all be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. You say, well, what's the truth? Jesus said, I'm the truth. I'm the way. I'm the truth. I'm your life. Can we get serious about serving God? Can we get serious about living for Him? Can we put Him in His rightful place, first place? If there's anything else in your life that you love more than God, something's not right. Something's not right. Let's make the necessary adjustments. God help us. God help us. God help us. There is a revival coming. There is an awakening coming. I'm ringing the bell right now. It's time to awake, to arise, to shine. Let's do it, because the time is short. Father, I pray that as we walk from this place today, that we go forth as men and women who have a heart that completely belongs to You. And if in us there be anything that needs adjustment or needs to be put out for the trash tomorrow, let's put it out tonight. Let's do it today. Let's, like Paul said, count it rubbish. Time to clean house. We are the house of God. Let's start acting like it, in Jesus' name. Amen? Amen.