We have the opportunity to hear Bill Poss as he comes once again to preach to us, and we thought that it would be good to share some of Bill's biography for those who may not have been with us the last time that Bill preached. After coming to Christ in the early 1980s, Bill moved from New Jersey to Southern California. Bill had never been a part of an evangelical church up to that point since he had been raised as a Roman Catholic. When Bill started attending the church, the pastor was teaching on the book of Romans, and as Bill sat under this teaching, his soul was overwhelmed with the truths of that book. After a few years in California, a daughter, Grace, was born to Bill and his wife, Denise, and they moved back to New Jersey to raise their daughter. And while back in New Jersey, they became members of a messianic congregation comprised of Jews and other ethnicities. And it was during this time at this church that Bill began to serve under the leadership of Pastor Joe Lasarda. So Bill and Pastor Joe would then later start a fellowship known to us as Bread of Life Fellowship. And so after 10 years at Bread of Life, Bill and Denise moved to Florida to begin a work there focusing on home churches. And during this time, Grace married Evan Chu, and they're both members of our church. And now three grandsons later, Bill and Denise have relocated back to New Jersey to start a new chapter of their lives. And so we are so blessed to have Bill and Denise having joined us the many times that they were here from Florida, but now they are here and they are New Jerseyans once again. And we do thank God for you agreeing to come and preach the word to us this morning. So Bill, please come. Good morning, brothers and sisters. It's a pleasure to come back once again and open up the Word of God. It was a blessing to hear my brother speak from First Corinthians and then to hear Dorian pray. And I guess they were looking at the outline, I don't know, but it sure seems like A lot of what I'm going to talk about today, they spoke about. So if you would, please join with me in prayer. Father, we thank you. We thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you, Father, that though we were dead in our sins and trespasses, that you made us alive. You made us alive. You regenerated us. You gave us a new heart, a new will. You wrote your law on our hearts. You filled us with your Holy Spirit. so that we could be conformed into the image of Jesus Christ. And Father, I would pray that today much would be made of Christ. For all the scripture is about Christ. He is the great thread that runs throughout all of the scripture. And I pray, Father, that day by day, we would love Christ more and more. That we would see his beauty, his glory, his majesty, the splendor of who he is. And that day by day we will look forward to that day when we shall see Christ face to face. We look forward to the day when we shall be like Him. We shall be like Him. What a thought. after our brother read it from 1 Corinthians considering that with the type of people that we were that we were and that the Lord promises us that someday when we see him we shall be like him no longer pain and heartache and sin and wickedness and slipping and sliding and everything else, but we shall be like Him. What a glorious promise. And Father, I pray that day by day, we would be about the business of being more like Him. that those around us, family, friends, neighbors, enemies, that they would see us and say, now there is a Christ one. Not that there's a religious one, there is a Christ one. I see the image of Jesus Christ in that person. And Father, I would pray that we would be that fragrance. That sweet smelling fragrance to those around us. Instead of, as we were previously, the stench of death. Father, we pray that the Holy Spirit would do a mighty work in our midst. That he would grab the hearts and the minds of those that are here today. And Father, if there be any in our midst that have never been regenerated, that have never been born again, I would pray that today they would cry out. Cry, say, come unto me, all you that are burdened and heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. You're not going to find your rest, and money, and careers, or drugs, or alcohol, or whatever. That peace is only found one place, in the Prince of Peace. He promised, I'll give you rest, I'll give you my peace. And Father, we ask your blessing now as we open up the book of Luke and we discover some nuggets, some truths about the kingdom that was promised millennia ago. Father, thank you for all those that are gathered here today and we'd ask your blessing upon us in the precious name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Now, when we open up to scripture, particularly in the New Testament, when we approach a book like Romans or the various letters, the first thing you always have to do you must ask the question, what is the big idea? What is this book about? What is this letter about? Well, we have a blessing when we open up the book of Luke. And I would just mention beforehand, I used the new King James version because I've used it for 30-something years. Those are the verses I memorized, so if you see a few words different, I know you all have the ESV, but if you have your gizmo with you, if you want to pull up the new King James Version, that's what I'm using. All right? So, Luke tells us right out of the gate the purpose. Here's the big idea. You don't have to be a theologian to understand the big idea. Let's look at Luke 1 verses 1 through 4. We'll start there and wherever the Lord takes us, we'll see how far we get in here. We're not going to go through the whole book of Luke today. Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us. It seemed good to me also having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus. Verse four, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed. He's telling you the purpose right there. Look at verse four. You see that little word, that? You're gonna hear that word, that, quite often today. That word, that, is known as a hinder clause. Not getting into the Greek and everything, but when you see the word that in English, you ask the question, what is the purpose? Whenever you see that in the scripture, and you're gonna see it quite a bit today, put a little mark in your Bible. It's telling you this is the purpose, so that you would know. Verse four, so that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed. That is why he wrote the gospel. He wants you to know the certainty of these things. That is the purpose of the book of Luke. And he tells you these things have been fulfilled or accomplished. What things have been fulfilled or accomplished? There's many things, but the main thing that I want you to see, especially we'll be coming up on the quote-unquote Christmas season, and everybody, when they look at Matthew or look at Luke, they see the baby Jesus and the nativity and everything that goes along with that. But you have to understand when you open up Matthew, and you open up Luke, excuse me, I was told I can't move all around today. When you open up those Gospels, you must understand, true Jesus came and he was born. But the main thing is, is a revolution is taking place. The old covenant is coming to an end. The way that things were for millennia is now coming to an end. A transition is taking place. If you remember, The old covenant ends with the word curse. Between Malachi and the Gospels, God hasn't spoken to the Jewish people for hundreds of years. For hundreds of years, he hasn't spoken. And yet, in this faraway land, where there's not too much going on. There's a couple there, Zacharias and Elizabeth. All the couple, beyond childbearing years, they're going about their business. Zacharias is a priest. He's in the temple, he's offering sacrifices. And suddenly, after hundreds of years, a gentleman that's just going about his day-to-day business, an angel appears. Look down at verse 11, then an angel appears. Out of nowhere. And the point I'm trying to make, I was so blessed by my brother that was mentioning 1 Corinthians. Even though it is in my notes, but that he said, wow, you know, for weeks the Lord's been working on me. He's coming to the realization, you know, in and of myself, I'm nothing. And here's Zechariah, here's Elizabeth. Just an elderly couple, serving the Lord. And all of a sudden, everything changes. Everything changes. You know, many times, especially today with social media and everything. Everybody is looking for the spectacular, the great things, the great preacher, the great political figure, the great buildings, the great conventions, the great conferences. We want great, great, But then again, the disciples had that problem too. They wanted to know who was going to be great among them. And what did the Lord tell them? If you want to be great, be a servant of everybody. If you want to be great, be less. But it's like, you get saved, you become a Christian, and you bring this baggage of social media with you. How many hits does he have? How many downloads does Bill Pass have? How many people you running out of this church here? And I know what I'm talking about because the first pastor conference I ever went to, that was the buzz among the pastors. And I'm some schmoe from Jersey City that the Lord saved out of the gutter. Well, I got a hundred people, I got five hundred people, I got a thousand people. Is that what your Bible teaches? Or do you see the Lord dealing with, as our brother read in Corinthians, Let's look at that for a moment. First Corinthians. First Corinthians. And ask yourself, seriously, is this the way you see yourself? Now, For you see your calling, brethren, starting out at verse 26 to 31. For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. Not many. Not many. But God. has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame. You think you're smart? You think you're wise? To put to shame the wise. And God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty. And the base things. which is lowly, insignificant things of the world. And the things which are despised. Were you despised? Were you despised by family, friends? Maybe even despised by your own parents? Despised. God has chosen. and the things which are not. You were dead in your sins and trespasses and he makes you alive. The things which are not to bring to what? Nothing. Nothing. What has happened to you? You were humble and prostrate in the beginning but somehow Even as the disciples did. And the things which are not to bring to nothing. Our brother basically was saying, I was crying for three days. I got that right, brother? Is that the way you phrase it? Okay. Why? Verse 29. I just told you about the word that. Purpose clause. There's the purpose. See the word that? In verse 29, that's a henticlause. This is the purpose, so that for this reason. That's why God Almighty takes the base, the foolish, the despicables, the nothings of this world, the prisoners, the prostitutes, the whores, and on and on and on. So that for this reason, no flesh should glory in His presence. And like I said, I hear it all the time. Oh, I listen to so-and-so, and so-and-so, and so-and-so, and I read this guy, and that guy, and the other guy, and I'm of this guy. Did you read about that sin? About, oh, I'm of James, I'm of Peter, I'm of Paul, I'm of Apollos. Did you read about that? I hear it all the time. You fill in the blank, you know the names. The Holy Spirit's probably telling you right now, yeah, you know how you worship that guy. But then when those guys fall, it's like, ah, what happened? I can't believe it. Never forget, a man is a man at best. But he has a million heads, so therefore, God must be with him. But Zacharias was all alone, and all of a sudden, here's an angel standing next to him. What have we done? Where have we gone? I read you in Corinthians there, and look at verse 31, that as it is written, he who glories, let him glory in the Lord. But I left out verse 30, but of him you are in Christ Jesus who became for us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. What are you lacking? But of Him, you are in Christ. If you're a child of God, you are in Christ. You don't need anything else. He became wisdom from God for you, righteousness for you, sanctification for you, redemption for him. And once again, there's that little hinder clause, there's that little purpose clause, for this reason that, as it is written, he who glories, let him glory in the Lord. Let him glory. in the Lord. I want you all to be encouraged today. We have to get away from the idol of bigness and greatness and popularity and the superstars. God uses the weak, the obscure. That's what all over the beginning of Luke the obscurity of it all. Turn to 1 Peter 2 verses 9 and 10. And this is the reason why sometimes I don't particularly care to give outlines because I'm praying over this message for weeks and it's like my notes are laying here and pretty much they went out the window. So if you're looking on that, am I following the notes? Probably not. You're getting the general vibe though. First Peter 2 verses 9 and 10. First Peter 2 verses 9 and 10. And I want to encourage you because Once again, we live in an age that is kind of like there's the clergy and there's the laity. The New Covenant knows no such distinction. And this, what I'm about to show you, has fallen by the wayside for hundreds of years. Verses 9 and 10. Boy, you, you that are reading that scripture right now, if you're regenerated, if you're a child of God, Pete is talking to you. But you are a chosen generation. What's that next phrase? A royal priesthood. It ain't these few elite people. It's every child of God. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. And notice, you are. Not you're going to be in the by and by when the glory train comes and picks me up, roams me someday. Now, you who are hearing this, you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people. Look at that little word, that again. So that's you, not just me, not just quote-unquote some minister, somebody with a title, so that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. You, who notice past aristotles who once were not a people, but in the by and by, but are one. Now, this is true of you right now, if you feel it or not. The old preacher said one time, if you go by your feelings, you're dead. Spiritually speaking. You gotta go with the scripture says. That is true, and you either believe it or you don't. And if you believe it, your actions will always betray your beliefs. If you tell me you believe something, all I gotta do is look at your actions. Your actions always betray your beliefs. That's another thing you put in your pocket. Never forget that. Who once were not a people, but are now the people of God. Who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. I would venture to say that most of the people here are Gentiles. In Ephesians it said at one time, before this glorious new covenant came, what did it say in Ephesians about Gentiles? You were without hope in this world. Excluded from the promises. that had been given to the Jew. You were excluded. There was a few people, like Rahab, a few Gentiles that came in, but as a whole, we lived, we died, and we went to hell. You talk about this revolution that takes place. These are the things that changed. All of us Gentiles are sitting here, and now, the majority of the church is Gentile, and it kind of reminds me of Romans, which says, you know, don't get too puffed up. You have. And now you're in. And now you look down that nose of yours. Not that one. Not that one. The glorious. That's why I said a revolution has taken place. This great transition from Malachi that ended with a curse. Look in your Old Testament, Old Covenant, Old Testament. Malachi, the last word is curse. And hundreds of years, that was it. No word from God. You had a bunch of dead religion going on with the Pharisees and the Sadducees. and Christ comes on the scene, John the Baptist comes on the scene, the Holy Spirit comes on the scene, and they take the whole religious system and throw it up in the air. Why do you think the religious people were so furious? They had their nice little setup. The money was coming in, everything was nice, and along comes Christ, and everything gets thrown upside down, and he says over and over, but I say to you, but I say to you, but I say to you, but I say to you, over and over in the Gospels, the kingdom of God is like this. The kingdom of God is like this. You have heard it said, but the kingdom of God is like this. Christianity is supposed to be a vibrant, supernatural, joyful, Life changing. Day by day, falling in love more and more with the glorious one, Jesus Christ. And many of us are satisfied with going to a church on Sunday morning for an hour, hour and a half, punch out cards, I gotta go. I got my life to live. That is not Christianity. That is religion. Religion has damned more souls to hell than anything else. It's the opiate as donations. Jesus Christ is a live person. And the Holy Spirit comes and he dwells inside of people. and he absolutely changes everything. As I said, I left all these notes. You read Luke 24. The disciples are on the road to Emmaus. As a matter of fact, go over there. Go to Luke 24, what I was telling you about. People, so I took you to Luke 1, now I'm taking you to Luke 24. There's the whole book of Luke. Now, all kidding aside, I'll probably be doing Luke for a couple years, so. But I want to show you the transition that takes place. Look at Luke 24, beginning at verse 13. Now, behold. Now, when you see that word, behold. Behold it, be like, Now behold, two of them were traveling that day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. So it was while they conversed and reasoned that Jesus himself drew near and went with them. Realize this, Christ has been crucified. The resurrection has taken place. Here's Christ. rose up on his two disciples. Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were restrained. And look at the way there, once again, so that for this reason they did not know him. And he said to them, what kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk in our sad Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to him, are you the only stranger in Jerusalem? And have you not known the things which happened there in those days, in these days? And he said to them, what things? So they said to him, the things concerning Jesus of Nazareth. Once again, notice the obscurity. Nazareth, not Jerusalem, Nazareth. Remember the scripture that says, can any good thing come out of Nazareth? Once again, I'm trying to show you the obscurity, the nothingness of it all, is where God moves. Have you not known these things which had happened? The things concerning Jesus was from Nazareth, there was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people. And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, then crucified him. See who it says there? Who were those? Who was those chief priests and rulers? Huh? Those were religious people. For hundreds of years. And how the chief priest and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we were hoping that it was he who was going to redeem Israel. And we'll look at that before I close, the relevance of that. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened. Yes, and certain women of our company who arrived at the tomb early astonished us. When they did not find his body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said. But him they did not see, then he said to them, then is he saying to you today, O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken. All throughout the old covenant, all throughout the Old Testament, All the prophets have spoken, ought not to Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory. And beginning at Moses, that's the Torah, that's the first five books, the Pentateuch. And beginning at Moses, then all the prophets, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Micah, Amos, all of them. Beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them and all the scriptures the things concerning himself. The Old Covenant comes to an end, Jesus Christ comes fulfilling and accomplishing all the things that are promised throughout the Old Covenant. He is the fulfillment of all of those shadows. Realize this, the Jews had the Old Testament, the Old Covenant, they had a photograph of Christ. a photograph. When Christ comes on the scene, he is God in the flesh. There's no photograph any longer. There's no shadow. There's no labor. There's no Passover lamb. There's no temple. There's not all of these shadows. The shadows are all fulfilled. And now Christ comes on the scene alive and well and changing the whole history of this world. One man from Nazareth, one carpenter, has revolutionized the whole world. Even the calendar that you look at, BC and AD, before Christ. And now, Christ. How many of us, we play in the shadows, we play in religion, we play over here, we play with these people, those people, and you're missing the vibrancy. I'm not even sure that's a word, I know vibrant is. The splendidness. The majesty. The beauty. of alive Jesus Christ. Realize this, and this certainly wasn't in my notes, realize this, you can have the scripture and you can be as dead as a doornail, dead as a doornail, The Hasidic Jews in New York, they have the Torah memorized word for word. And I think Christ had something to say about that. He said you search the scriptures, and in them you think that you have eternal life. But there are things that speak of me, Jesus Christ. And what I'm hoping to God today is that the Lord opens your eyes to the supernatural Jesus Christ. You're not going to put him in a box. You're not going to domesticate him. What do you want to do with this one that walked on the water? What kind of box do you want to put him in? The one that was raised from the dead. The one that because of him, millions of people for thousands of years, their whole life and their whole destiny has been changed. I don't want you to get discouraged because that's what happens a lot in Christianity. You become a Christian, then you become acclimated into this thing, whatever the thing is. You don't know over 30 years how many people I've heard say, oh, man, when I first came to the Lord, I was on fire. I first came to the Lord, I was on fire. And if that's your testimony right now, why is that? Why? Why? I know one thing. I loved my wife 37 years ago, and I love her more today than I did then. And why is that? Was it because of I got to know her in a better way? So it is with Christ. As I said, many people, they get born again and they're on fire, then they get in some kind of a system or denomination or something, and you see them years later and the pickle puts on. They're moping around with their shoulders down. That's not what Christ called us. I'll show you an example of it. In case this is in your notes, go to 1 John. And whoever's got to use them, I'm sorry, y'all, but I got to go with the Holy Spirit. 1 John 1, verses 1 through 4. Everybody over there. 1st John, the first epistle of John, chapter 1. Can you hear me all right out there? I know they said the mic wasn't working. That which was from the beginning which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled concerning the Word of God. The life was manifested and we have seen and we bear witness and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us. That which we have seen and heard we declare to you. All right? That's what I'm doing. I've seen it in the scripture, I'm declaring to you, and the apostle there says, what? That which we have seen and heard, we declare to you. I didn't see Christ, but I'm declaring to you what the scripture says about Christ. Declare to you, notice, see the little word that again? If you don't get anything today, I pray to God you get that word that. Every time you open your Bible, it'll be like, the apostle was telling me about that, there's that that. We have seen and we declare you that. What? Why are these people declaring this to you? That you may have fellowship with us. See the blessing of being with the brethren? Fellowship with the people of God? The apostle wrote these things to us that we would have fellowship with the saints. Fellowship with us and truly our fellowship, I mean fellowship is with the father and with his son Jesus Christ. So you have the fellowship with the saints. Did you ever notice you meet a child of God? It don't matter what country in the world you are, You meet a child of God and five minutes later he's got big old Kool-Aid smiles on your face. You've known him for five minutes. Why? Because you have the fellowship. The fellowship of the saints, the love for one another, the one another's that are all throughout the scripture. Loving one another, having compassion on one another, forgiving one another, lifting one another up, the one another's. That's what people in the royal priesthood that are in this holy nation, the special people, what they do. And notice what the result is. Like I said, your actions are going to betray your beliefs. That you would have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you. These things. Just like Luke said, I'm writing these things to you. Here's John saying, I'm writing these things to you, that you have fellowship with the saints, with the Father, and with the Son, and look at the result of it. Tell me if there's a place for a pickle push there. Verse 4, and these things we write to you so that, so that for this purpose, this is the reason why I'm writing this to you, so that your what? Your joy may be full. There is no place for a miserable Christian there. Something is seriously wrong if you are a miserable Christian Christ said he'd give you joy and your joy would be full and here's the Apostle saying the same thing that Joy, so that for this reason I've written these things Luke says I've written you these things I want you to know these truths and John's saying that's your joy may be full If your joy is full that's infectious That's infectious. How much of quote unquote Christendom today, the majority of the population would say, you know, they're a bunch of hateful people. Tell me it's not true. We can argue about the reasons for it. But the majority of humanity says, they're a bunch of hateful people. I'm a part of that. Christianity is my tribe. Not necessarily Christendom, because there may be those sitting here today that are kind of getting a little offended today. And that's fine, that's part of the word. Exalting one another, admonishing one another, encouraging one another. If you're down and out and think the Lord can't use you, guess what? He can. He used me. I was none but a thieving, whoremongering, drug addict, gangbanger. Almost 40 years ago. But from that time, as my brother mentioned in my bio, when I heard the book of Romans being read, my life was never the same. And I'll tell you why. Because in Romans 3 it's shown about we're all sinners, there's none righteous, there's none who do good, and on and on and on. Paul locks everybody up under sin. But then he gets to chapter 4. You know what? Let's go over there. How much time I got? About 15 minutes? 10, 15 minutes? Nobody's saying nothing. All right. All right. Go to Romans 4. Most people, when a preacher says that, they're like, this guy might go on and on and on. Turn to Romans 4. And brothers and sisters, this is to encourage you no matter where you are in life. I want you to know that God Almighty can use you mightily like He used Zacharias, Elizabeth, Mary, Joseph, Peter, Paul, Mary, Martha. That's why I'm showing you this. And that's why I mentioned the things about myself. That wasn't exactly, hey, you know, I'm a fine individual. It's to encourage my brothers and sisters. Romans 4, starting at verse 1. What shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about. But, but, but, but, not before God. For what does the scripture say? Like I say, you don't go by your feelings, you go by what does the scripture say? What does the scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was accounted or credited to him for righteousness. Credited righteousness. Stamped in the book. Righteousness imputed to Bill Pass. The very righteousness of God imputed. Now if you're one way And you always believe that to be true of yourself. That you want nothing, you'll never be nothing. That's your life. And then God Almighty takes you and declares you as righteous as Christ. In 2 Corinthians 5 it says, and he became sin for us so that we would become what? Somebody shout it out. The righteousness of God. How do you wrap your head around that? You were this wicked individual, and if you didn't see yourself as wicked, hopefully you read 1 Corinthians a few times and you realize, yeah, you know, that was my condition. He takes a person like that and declares him as righteous as God? I mean, how do you wrap your head around that? 30 some years later, I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. I believe it to be true. But I don't know how in the world that could possibly be true. That shows you how supernatural the Bible is. Who would say something like that? Especially a Jew. That's who wrote the majority of scripture. They would never say that about the righteousness of God. They don't even say the word, spell the word God, it's G hyphen D. And here we are. sinners that God declares righteous. Verse 4. Now, get our supernatural verse for us. When I heard this in California, this changed my whole life. I said, you know what? I'm qualified. I grew up, as my brother mentioned, in Catholicism. You can never know that you're right with God. You can hope you're right with God, but you can never know for sure. The Pope don't know if he's right with God. All right? You can never know. The priest wouldn't tell you, the nuns wouldn't tell you, because they couldn't know it. I never knew it. And as I got older, I got worse because it's like, well, if I'm going to hell, I might as well live that way. There's no hope for me. And then that preacher opened up in the book of Romans, this text I'm going to read you. And if you're here today, you're qualified too. And if you're here today and your head is a little puffed up and prideful, Notice the kind of people that the Lord saves. Verse four. Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace, but as debt. I work for you, Lord. I want my reward. But verse 5 says, and this shows you how supernatural, because there's no religion on the planet that teaches verse 5, except true Christianity. But to him who does not work. The one who does not work, but believes on him who justifies Who? The godly? No. Religion tries to make people godly. Christianity takes the ungodly and gives them a new heart with new desires indwelt by the Holy Spirit and changes those ungodly wicked lives into godly lives honoring Jesus Christ. That's why Paul said, listen, I worked harder than all my brothers and sisters in the Lord, because he knew how wicked he was. And most people don't want to teach truly the grace of God, because it's like, oh, Bill, what's going to keep them, you know, you got to use the law. You got to use the law to whip the lazy, I'll use the other word, donkeys into shape. And anybody that knows Reformed theology knows who said that. And knows the true saying. You use the law of God to whip the lazy donkeys into shape. Jesus Christ will conform you into his image. The Holy Spirit will conform you into his image. And he's written his law on your heart. And now that heart loves the law. Specifically the law of Christ. Loves the law. Doesn't try to do the minimum. That's what the Jews did all throughout the old covenant. Well, how much can I do? Or I should say, what's the least that I have to do? There's some elders here in our midst. There's some teenagers in I missed, have you ever heard? Well, can I touch his arm? Can I touch her leg? Can we kiss? Can we? You're trying to do the minimum. As opposed to if you listen to the Holy Spirit, he's telling you exactly. Would you do that with your sister? Would you do that with your brother? But the point I'm just trying to make there is the law, apart from the Holy Spirit, you want to do the minimum. Just like the concept of tithing. Right? The Lord in the New Covenant says he loves the cheerful giver. If you're underneath tithing, well, I make $1,120. So therefore, I give a hundred, and one, and twenty cents. Now if anybody is doing that, realize the spirit I'm saying that in. The Lord says he loves a cheerful giver. And the point I'm trying to make is, the old covenant law is precept upon precept upon precept. And there's no wavering from it at all. All 613 laws, there is no wavering from it. It's precept upon precept upon precept. The law of Christ is principle. I'll give you an example. In Romans, what does it say? About eating and drinking. The old covenant would say, thou shall not. The law of Christ that's written on your heart. If your brother doesn't eat pork, you don't go over to his house with pork chops. Paul said, all things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. See the difference? Precept upon precept upon precept upon precept, 613 laws, no separations. Description knows no thing of tripartite separation. It knows nothing of moral, judicial, and ceremonial. Six to 18, all of them. Those precepts can't eat shrimp, can't eat lobster, can't eat shellfish, can't eat those cockroaches. But that is what I mean by precept upon precept. The principle in the law of Christ is, is that gonna edify my brother? Is that gonna edify my sister? So I hope you get that. Probably many of you never even heard of it before. And all I would say is, see if your Bible says that. Lastly, totally went off my notes, I'm sorry. But let me mention about the kingdom, lastly. Well, before I go to that, I keep saying about, you want to keep the law? Go to Luke 1, and I'll show you why. Because there's a whole new thing going on. Look at verses 15, 35, 41, and 67. 15. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb." Filled with the Holy Spirit. Verse 35, And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the highest will overshadow you. Once again, the Holy Spirit. Verse 41, And it happened when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Verse 67, Now his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied. Filled with the Holy Spirit. That's why you're not going to run amok. Why you're not going to live according to the dictates of this world. When he gives you a new heart, he puts the Holy Spirit inside you. And now the Holy Spirit guides you with the Scriptures. He doesn't guide you apart from the Scriptures, but with the Scripture. But you have to understand what you're doing with the Scripture. And that's why it says not many of you aspire to be teachers, because there's a special judgment for you. Everything I'm saying up here today, I gotta stand by it before Almighty God and give a defense of what I said. And I am not bringing you anything about my feelings, I'm bringing you the scripture. Now why I said this was so revolutionary, we're going to look at Luke. 1, 31. And this is what was happening. And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bring forth a son, and shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and he will be called the son of the highest, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. And he will reign over the house of Jacob, how long? forever. And of his kingdom, there will be no end. That's why I'm telling you a revolution is taking place. You had the kingdoms of this world, and in a moment in time, an angel shows up, this nobody priest, and the revolution starts. This kingdom is about to burst forth with its king. And life has never been the same. This world has never been the same since this king arrived. That's why I said at Christmas time, yeah, all that stuff is cute. The baby Jesus and in the manger and all that stuff. But realize what's going on. This is the beginning of a revolution that the Holy Spirit is coming and this world is never going to be the same. And when he saves you, He never intended that your life would stay the way it was. He's taken all these different people throughout history, all the different ethnicities, all different people from the high and lifted up ones to the ones in the gutter. And He has given them a great love for Jesus Christ. Because this Jesus Christ takes the lowly, the base, those that are powerless, and he transfers them into a kingdom. That's what it tells us in 1st Colossians. And you, well, go over there so I can prove my point. I'm going to wrap it up in a few minutes. Colossians 1, look at verse 18. He has delivered us from the power of darkness. Notice what it says? He has. In the Aorist tense, he has. An action completed in the past, being played out now in the present. He has delivered us from the power of darkness. Notice, from the power of darkness. and transferred us, or conveyed us, or translated us, depending on your translation, into the kingdom of the son of his love. I love that phrase. The father, the son of his love. He's taking us, all the children of God, and transferred us into this new kingdom. that came on the scene thousands of years ago. And that kingdom, I'll end with this prophecy that was fulfilled. Turn to 2 Samuel 7. And this is the kingdom, if you're a child of God, that you're a part of. 2 Samuel 7 verses 12 and 13. This was David. He wanted to build a house for the Lord. And I think the scripture said, when the woman asked Christ, well, the Samaritans say, worship over here, worship over there. I think Christ said, he's looking for those that worship in spirit and in truth. But David wanted to build the Lord a house too. Verse 12, well sorry, verse 11. 2nd Samuel 7, verse 11. Since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people, Israel, and I've caused you to rest from all of your enemies, also the Lord tells you that He will make you a house. The Lord is telling David, you got this wrong. You're not gonna make me a house, I'm gonna make you a house. When your days are fulfilled, and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed, not seeds, seed, singular, after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build the house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. And that is what is taking place in Luke 1. That is the genesis. Look at verse 32 and 33 and he will be great and will be called the son of the highest and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom. There will be no end And brothers and sisters, that's why I read to you earlier. I that we are part of that kingdom. A special people. A royal priesthood. Every one of us. We may have different functions. Some preach publicly, some are elders, some clean bathrooms, some are coffee, some mow the lawn, some do whatever. Some are in Huge buildings, some are in offices, some are down in ditches. It doesn't matter where you are. This is a royal priesthood, a special people created to declare the praises of Jesus Christ. That is the calling on your life. And I don't care if you're a waitress, digging ditch, whatever your vocation, quote unquote, is. You should be full of joy, have fellowship with the brethren, fellowship with the Heavenly Father, with Jesus Christ, a life full of joy, a life declaring the praises of the Lord. Because you are part of a kingdom. I noticed when I read Colossians to you, He has transferred you. into the kingdom. This isn't in the by and by, the now and then far away in a distant land. This is right now. Just like John the Baptist. What do you do? Proclaim the kingdom. What did Christ do? Proclaim the kingdom. What did the apostles do? Proclaim the kingdom. What do you get every week? How did the Pope get here? It's a proclamation of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. So brothers and sisters, that's the good news that I got for you. That no matter where you are, that if you're a child of God, you have been transferred from this kingdom, this kingdom of darkness, into the kingdom of his glorious son. And everything that you read in that scripture that is promised, that promise is true for you. You don't have to keep on beating yourself over the head, I wonder if I could. That's why, once again, brother, I hate to keep bringing you up, but I was blessed by you saying, you know, yeah, for a couple weeks the Lord's really been dealing with me about this, that, and the other thing, and I wonder if... Yeah. The Lord will take anybody and use anybody. And lastly, if there's anyone here that has never come to Jesus Christ, I pray today that you would come to Jesus Christ. Because apart from Christ, the wages of sin is death. The wages of sin is death. The scripture says, standing condemned. And John, everybody that watches the ball game, for God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son. Yes, that's absolutely true. But look a couple of verses later. about people not believing and that they didn't believe. Why? Because they love the darkness. And know today, if you're here and you're outside of Christ, it's because you love the darkness. And love of darkness has its reward at the end. The wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus. I would pray if you're not saved that you would seriously, seriously consider where your life ends. It's not all fun and games. Not all fun and games. And Father, we thank you that you did not leave us in our sin. that you sent Christ to live, to die, and to make atonement for the sins of his people. And we thank you, Lord, for the calling upon our lives. For we know that we didn't deserve anything but hell. But it pleased you to have mercy upon us. I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy. And Father, I pray that there's not one here today that would spurn that mercy. but they wouldn't embrace Christ. Father, I would pray that the Holy Spirit would empower people right now to say, you know what? I'm going to take this Christianity seriously. I'm sick and tired of playing games. I'm sick and tired of playing churchianity. I want this vibrant Christianity. disconformity into the image of Christ day by day, seeing people come to the Lord, seeing people delivered from darkness, seeing those that had no hope all of a sudden having a hope, being able to smile, being able to sing, being able to love, being able to fellowship. Father, I thank you. for the Lord Jesus Christ and I pray when we read the scripture that we would look at it a little differently maybe than we have been looking at it that we would see the glorious truth that Malachi ended with the curse that the Lord came through Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ And Father, we thank you for Jesus Christ. We'd ask your blessing on all those that are gathered here today. And Father, we ask you these things in the precious name of Jesus Christ. Amen.