Lord's house. Appreciate the grace of God this week. His help. Ask you to pray for us. Look in the scripture this morning. May the Lord help us. Speak to us through his word. Look in Ephesians. Chapter 2 this morning. Looking in the book of Ephesians. It's been a while since we've been up here, and that's all right, too. But I want to read the last two verses of chapter 1 of Ephesians, kind of where we left off. I'll be brief there, and I'm going to look in John chapter 17. I appreciate the goodness of God. Verse 22, Ephesians 1, he said, and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body. I said a few weeks ago, it's inseparable there, Brother Kevin, one and the same, really. He said all things to the church, and he said, which is his body. His body is the church. The church is his body. They're the same. They're not two different bodies. It's his body. That's who the church is, is his body. Pretty plain there, the scripture said that. I don't know how anybody could deny that. I mean, that's plain English to me. He said, which is his body. He said, the fullness of him that filleth all in all. I'll say again. Christ is not in the body that was prepared for him, but he's still in his body on this earth. Fill it all in all. That's how it works in his body, in his church. That's how it works. I want you to look at John 17. He said, the fullness of him that fills all in all, Christ in you, the hope of glory. Christ is in you this morning, church. And he feels the fullness of all. He said here in the Word of God, that filleth all in all, the fullness of God. Listen, on this earth, Brother Kevin, on this earth, the fullness of Christ is His body, is the church. That's where He's at. I know He's sitting at the right hand throne of God. I understand and know that He is. but the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Ghost in you is filled all in all. That's His presence in this world right now, His church, His body. That's where Christ is at in this world. He's sitting at the right hand throne of God. He ever lived to make intercession for us, but He's in the body. He abides in His own body in the church. Look in John chapter 17, I wrote my Bible that we might be one even as Jesus and the Father are one. And I wanna look in John 17. I'll just read the scripture. I won't say much about it. We'll just be brief and listen to what God has to say. In John 17, in verse number eight, I'm gonna read a few verses and then we'll move on. He said, for I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me. He's speaking, praying here, Brother Kevin, to the Father. This is the Son of God. He's here. This is a prayer. These are words spoken, thank God. He said, the words which thou gavest me. and they have received them and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them, I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine. He said, the Father, you gave them to me, and they are thine, you gave them to me. He said it in notice verse number 10, and all mine are thine, and thine are mine. That's pretty A deep scripture right there. He said, and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world and I come to come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou has given me that they may be one as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest me, I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. And now come I to thee, and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. His joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them thy word, and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, notice this, even so have I also sent them into the world. Now, listen, here's what I'm saying. The working of God is in his body, Brother Kevin. The Father, it seems to me, it's plain to me in the Scripture, that Jesus is saying that the Father sent Him into the world. He said, as thou hast sent me into the world. That's clear to me. He said, even so have I also sent them into the world. You see the same there. The same works are going on, Brother Kevin. I'm not Jesus and you're not either, but I'm telling you this, that Jesus works through His body. That's how He's working. As He's doing the same thing as the Father sent Him into the world, He has sent His body. He sent His church into the world. He said here in the Word of God, and for their sakes, I sanctify myself that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also, which shall believe on me through their word. That's you this morning, by the way. That includes us this morning. Child of God, every person that's ever been saved by the grace of God is fulfilled in here. He said here, he's not only speaking while he's here on this earth, Brother Kevin, but he knows he's going back to the Father and he's speaking thereafter. We're in that this morning. We're in that time this morning. He's not walking on this earth in the body that was prepared. We're in this time right now. He's speaking of us. He said that they all may be one. As thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me The church is one. We ought to be one. There's no schism. There'll not be no division. There's oneness. He's speaking about here. He's speaking about here. And the Word of God speaks. And I'm paraphrasing. I'm not quoting exactly. But I know the Word of God speaks about the brethren dwelling together in unity. There's power of God in there. There's great power. Why? Because we're one in Christ as Christ is in the Father. He's telling us why right here in the Scripture. That's why the power flows, Sister Officer, because of the oneness. Jesus never did anything nor said anything, Brother Kevin, contrary or other than that that the Father sent him to speak. He said, the words that thou gavest me, that you sent me into this world, I've given them the words, at what, that thou gavest me. Jesus glorified the Father. All things is under given to him. But he is here on this earth, he spoke of the father. He spoke the words that the father gave him. And listen to this. He said this in the word of God, verse 22, and the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them. Jesus said the glory that the father gave him, he said, I have given them that they may be one even as we are one. He speaks of the glory, not only the oneness, but the glory that the Father gave him. Jesus sent him this scripture that he gave that to us, Brother Kevin. He's given that to us. Why do we have that, Brother Kevin? Why do we have that church this morning? Because your position is in Christ, who you're in this morning, and his glory is your glory. I understand that all glory, he's worthy of all glory, and all honor is his, Brother Kevin, but he said he's given that to us. We're heirs. He said this in the Word of God, and I'm gonna go back to Ephesians. I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. He's praying, speaking to the Father here. And he says right here in the Scripture that we're one, we're one. There's one God. There's the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. There's one God. And really, the Scripture speaks about God, and it speaks of God. The Scripture speaking of the Godhead was what we say, and the Scripture says also, He said, but we're one here. He said one here, but he's telling you this morning, thank God. Now listen, he's head over all things, all things under his feet. He's head over all things to the church. And he said here in this scripture, he's praying, speaking to his father, thank God, who at this time, Jesus is on the earth. And no doubt the father's still in heaven around the throne of God this morning. But he's saying this morning, listen, that the father, God, the father loves you just as much, just like he does his own son. No difference. I can't explain all that to you. That's deeper than I have comprehension of. But I'm telling you this much, Jesus said it right here in the scripture. Listen, the father loves you as he loves his own son. You're his child. He don't love one more than the other. There's only one Jesus. I get it. We'll be made like him. We won't be him, but we'll be made like him. and we'll see him as he is, but the father loves you as he loves his son. In fact, according to the scripture, Jesus said it there in John 17, that listen, we were given to the son from the father. The father gave you to the son, and the father gave his son to the world. He showed you his love, he gave his own begotten son. He's head over all. His body is the church this morning, and he's the fullness, listen, which is his body. Listen, child of God, what he said in Ephesians 1, you're the fullness of him that filleth all in all. Because you're the church, you're the body. That's where the fullness of God is this morning, is in the church. Not in any other organization. Listen, all things there is not bad, Brother Kevin. I'm not saying all things are bad. There's things that you can be a part of that's not bad. It's not even sin unless God tells you not to do it, then it could be sin to you, would be sin to you. But that's not the church. That's not the church. God's name been tagged to a lot of things that God ain't in. You say, how do you say that? I say, listen, with conviction, boldness, and authority, because he said, listen, you this morning, his body, he's the head of his own body, but you, the body, you, the church, is the fullness of him that filleth all in all. That's who we are this morning. That's the fullness of God in this world, Brother Kevin. You say, could God do it another way? Only if it had been by the divine counsel of his own will, and it's not by the divine counsel of his own will. We're not putting God in a box, brother, this morning, Brother Kevin. We're not going by what we don't have, we're going by what we do have. You can't rightly, you don't rightly divide the word of truth by imagining something else that might be in there. You know the scripture says, this ain't all that God knows. But I can't go by that, Brother Kevin. How can I go by all that God knows besides this when I don't have it? You can't do that. Can't do that. You don't know the mind of God. I don't listen, Brother Kevin. We don't know all there is to know about the divine counsel of God and the will of God. I don't know all that. I know some things that God showed me in this scripture, Brother Kevin, and this is what he's given us. This is what we have to work in this world and be the fullness of him that filleth all. And all this is what God's given us and that's what we have. That's what we go by. That's how you determine what God's saying. That's how you rightly divide the word of truth. What's the word of truth? What we have. Not all that God, I'm paraphrasing again, but listen, to write down all that God knows, you'd drain the oceans dry if it was ink. I understand that, Brother Kevin, but what's wrote in this book, in this paper didn't drain the ocean, but this is what I have. It's what you have. That's what you go by. He's the fullness we are. The church, the body, is the fullness of him that filleth all in all. That's where he's at this morning. The abiding of God is in the believer, not somewhere else. Let's move on to Ephesians chapter two. The church should be in unison, together, no division, one as Christ and the Father is. Listen, remind you now, the scripture, brother Kevin, really, listen, this is a spiritual kingdom. It's not on this earth, it's not a worldly kingdom. We're in the world, Jesus said he wouldn't know the world, that's why we know the world. But it is a spiritual kingdom and we ought to be in unison and in oneness and dwell together in unity spiritually. That don't mean we agree on everything. If you go out in a parking lot, there's all kinds of different vehicles that ain't got nothing to do with that. You might have a white house, you might have a red house. I've seen some crazy color houses that didn't suit me not one lick, Brother Kevin, but if the people that's living there is satisfied and more power to them, so be it. It's good for them. If you want a purple house, paint it purple. Don't make no difference to me. That ain't what God's talking about. We're in unison spiritually in a spiritual kingdom. What God wants. That's where Jesus come to the world to do spiritual work that the Father gave him to do. He did have to eat, drink. He had a body, just like me and you've got, that needed temporal nourishment. fleshly nourishment, if I'm allowed to say that. He did, he had to eat and drink just like me and you did, as God gave him a body. He had to be made just like me and you, Brother Kevin, to fulfill and be a savior. Listen, to succor you, to help you, to save you, he had to become you. There's things you've been through out here in the church that I know nothing about. I pray for you, but I really can't help you. like somebody that's been there can. Sister, you just had a surgery that I ain't never had. I don't know nothing about that. I'm brave for you, but I can't help you. I can't tell you what you need to do. I ain't none of that. I ain't been there, Brother Kevin. If you ain't been there, you really don't know. But Jesus was and he is able to succor us, help us. Tempted in all points. He's faced it. Ephesians chapter 2, let's move on. who is the believer, saved, born again, child of God, sinner saved by the grace of God, that's who he's speaking of there. And he said, and you hath he quickened. Now notice, again, I'll say to you, I've said many a time, I'm by no means no English scholar, and that was my worst class, I hated it the most in school. In fact, I despised it, and I did enough to squeak by and graduate, Brother Kevin. I'm just being honest. I ain't saying that's the right thing to do, and I ain't giving that advice out to nobody to do that. I'm just saying that's the way it is. I didn't like it. I like grammar all right. I didn't like to read. I couldn't stand to give a book report. I'm like others. I didn't like getting up in front of people. I did not like it. I despise it. I guess you'd call it cheating, but it was available. You could go buy cliff notes and all that and kind of skim through the book, you know, and then you could give something to get by. That's about what I did. But he said here in the word of God, and you hath, that means it's already done. That's not now, that's a past tense word in the English language that God's give us a book that's translated into the English language that we know. That's what we're reading. If this was written in Spanish, I couldn't tell you very little what it said. I took two years of it in high school. Did all right with it, Brother Kevin. I did it cause I needed to and then I forgot it. Don't use it, you lose it. That's with a lot of things. He said, and you hath the quicken who were, that's past tense, dead in trespass and sin. He's quickened us. He hath quickened us. Listen, we've been made alive. We've been brought from death to life. He said, and you hath he quickened. He's did it, Brother Kevin. It's beyond me why anybody would think that they could bring to life somebody that's dead. I don't understand that, Brother Kevin. other than the Son of God. He quickens, thank God. He brings to life that that's dead. I have no power to say bring in, quicken anybody who is dead and trespassing the sins. You, me, nobody alive on this face of the earth has the power to do that of their own. Now there's great power within you, Brother Kevin. And listen, Paul even said that. He said, I plan to pause water, The Word of God goes forth, and you will sow, and you will plant, and you will water, but it's always God, it's always He that giveth the increase, because He's the one that has resurrection life power in Him, Brother Kevin. I don't have that of my own. We have that as a child of God, Brother Kevin, we do, but it's His. It's not mine, I can't do that. He said, and you have He quickened. who were dead, according to the scripture, you were dead. I'm not going to go into all of it. I probably look different on that part of it than some people do. And that's a whole nother scripture. It's a whole nother scripture. It is. But other than, he said, we're dead in trespassing. I'm going to say this and then I'm going to move on. And other than this mortal shall put on immortality, this is going to drop, brother Kevin. This is not going to glory to be with God. But I don't know so much about, and as it is appointed, none of the men wants to die. I don't know so much about that talking about going to the grave. Because some's gonna be alive and remain. Enoch didn't die. Looked to me like Elijah was caught up. Listen. He was dead in trespasses and sins. He'd been made alive. He died out to the old man. Oh, he's still here. We still have to deal with it. But he said, you were dead in trespasses and sins. You were spiritually dead. By the way, listen, Brother Kenneth, I think this is right, church. By the way, that took place in the garden. And the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. Adam did not die physically that day. I think he began to die, but he did die spiritually. He was dead to God. That's why, sister, instead of meeting with God in the cool of the morning, that's why they went and hid themselves. They know there's naked, they went and hid themselves among the trees. and tried to clothe themselves with them leaves, them fig leaves, they tried to clothe themselves, Brother Kevin. Why? Because it's dead. It looks to me now, it looks to me again, again, I can only go by what the Word of God does say, but the Word of God never told me, never told me, church, that Adam and Eve ever hid themselves from God in the cool of the morning until they'd sinned against God. It ain't there, Brother Kevin. They never went and hid themselves among the trees when God met with them. That was not the first time, the first day that God met with them, the day that they went and hid themselves. That's not the first time God did that. Why'd they do that, church? Because they was dead. Spiritually, God done told them. You say, how you know they was dead? Spiritually, they was dead in trespasses and sin, Brother Kevin. Why? Because God said, you eat of that, you die. And God was not going to, nor did he, back up on what he told them. They ate of that tree, the knowledge of good and evil, and that day they died. That's what, listen, that's why God, again, I'm not gonna tell you, I can't quote it word for word, but that's why God had the flaming sword there at the tree of life, he said, lest they eat it and live. It looks to me like, Brother Kevin, if they could have eaten of that tree, then they'd have lived and they'd never had to have any payment, any responsibility for the sin that they sinned against God. That's what God said, lest they eat thereof and live. That flaming sword wasn't guarding that before that. God wasn't blocking the way, Brother Todd, to that. He wasn't blocking that way to the tree of life. Listen, if they had even attempted to get to it, God would have killed them. But before they ate of that tree, that was not so. God put that there because if they had eaten thereof, They'd have lived and there'd been no pain, the punishment of painless sin. He said, we were dead in trespass and sin. When Abednei, when they eat of that tree, they died to God. They're dead spiritually to God. Had to be a payment. What'd God do? He killed the animals, he shed the blood and he clothed them with that skin, he covered up their nakedness, but he shed that blood, why? That animal didn't eat of the tree. That animal was not guilty. I don't know that scripture even says what animal, but the point is the animal was not guilty. That animal did not disobey God. There's the lamb. Jesus never disobeyed God. He is not, was not guilty. likeness of sinful flesh, yet without sin. Sacrifice took my place. If you read over there in Hebrews, really what he's talking about, Jesus took my place. He really took my appointment. The appointment was on me. I was guilty, Brother Kevin. He's not. He was not, nor is he guilty. nor will he ever be guilty, but I'm the one that's dead in trespasses and sin, and he died in my place. He took my appointment. He took my punishment of God. He was not guilty. He was the absolute perfect sacrifice, the Lamb of God that was, listen, he is the altar, but he was sacrificed. He sacrificed himself for my sin that I was dead in trespasses and sin was, thank God, but now the word of God said he hath quickened us. You were dead, now you're not. This is dying, Brother Kevin. We just talked about earlier. My back of my, I can do that right there. I'm telling you, back of my hands didn't look like that when I was 20. Why is that? Because there's corruption in it and it's dying. That's just the truth, ain't it, Brother Todd? That's just it. I've had them for a long time. Crows feet and all, I've had them for a long time, but they show up more. That's all right. I put a little lotion on my hands, keep them from cracking in the morning, but I'm not trying to keep them looking young because they're going to die. You can do what you want to. I'm not saying don't take care of yourself. That's not what I'm saying. It's still got corruption in it. We're dying this morning. You're more dead today than you were yesterday. Is that right? We've got so many days here on this earth. I'm talking about physically now. We're closer to death today than we were yesterday. Spoke to a lady Friday night, she's 92 years old. I wasn't just trying to be polite, she wanted me to guess her age. I'd say you're probably in your mid-80s. She said I'm 92. Looked pretty good, get along pretty good for 92, Brother Kevin, but she's going that way. My grandma lived 101 years and then she died. It happens. He's not speaking about that. Listen, we're dead spiritually. He said we're dead what in trespasses and sins. Who'd you trespass against? Who'd I trespass against? God. Who'd you sin against? Who'd I sin against? God. You sinned against and I sinned against the very one that quickens you. Crucified. We hate him. Despised and rejected, brother Kevin, amen. We hated him, we despised him. Listen, it was our iniquity that was laid on him. It's our punishment that he took. It's our beating that he took. Everything that Jesus went through, listen, listen, listen, the whole reason for him coming to this earth was to do the will of the Father, but was for you. He didn't die for himself. We're talking Almighty Sovereign God that spoke the world into existence, came to serve you and me. He said, we're dead in trespassing sins. That's past tense position. That's where you is at, that's where I is at. That's where every sinner is at, is lost without God. They're dead to God. They're living, but they're dead. They got a natural body, a fleshly body, their heart's beating, their lungs is working. They're breathing that the air God give them and don't even realize it, but God's given them the air to breathe. All that's a functioning in that natural body by perfect fearfully, wonderfully made design that God did himself. All that's going on, and they're alive physically, but they're dead to God. A sinner is absolutely dead to God. He has no life in him, but Kevin, that's why he can't get to God unless God comes to him. How can a dead man get to God? Y'all ever seen anybody get out of the grave? I ain't. The dead's gonna rise. But we ain't seen it, Brother Kevin. We've read about it. Hey, some got out of the grave. Lazarus did. He didn't get out by his own power. Looks to me like the voice of God, the command of God. Jesus never asked Lazarus, will you please come forward? He said, come forth. That was a command. That was demanded, commanded by God himself, Brother Kevin, and he come out by that power. In fact, he was bound up. He couldn't walk, couldn't do anything. He come out of the grave. He didn't get out by his own power. He's dead. A dead man don't wake up. If you've been dead, if you've been dead four days and he stinketh, according to the scripture, listen, would anybody think that Lazarus, after four days, he said, I'm stinking. I better wake up and go take a bag and get cleaned up so I don't smell so bad. That ain't gonna happen, it can't. God brought him back to life. Jesus quickened him, thank God. Called him forth, he come forth. You were dead in trespass and sin, he said he had quickened those who were dead in trespass and sin. Notice this, in verse number two, wherein, and I gotta go on, wherein in time past, that's past tense. Not trying to rewrite and reword the word of God, but that's past tense, Sister Hobson, it is. He said, we're in in time past. That's beforehand. That's before you're quickened. That's when you're still dead in trespass and sin. He said, you walked according to the course of the world. Now Jesus said, them that thou gavest me, they're in the world, but to not of the world. Listen, we're quickened by the power of God. We're quickened by the power of God. Listen, listen. In God, in God. In God only is what I'm speaking about this morning. In God. In God. Child of God, you've always been His. There was a day and time in your life that God saved you, redeemed you by the grace of God. That is not when an eternal God determined, decreed that you were His. You were given. Jesus said, listen, he said it there in 17 when he was on this earth, them that thou hast given me, not only these, but those that shall hear the word and believe, that includes you. Listen, you was already given, thank God. You've always been, but you was given to the Son of God. There's a day and time, thank God, that you did have to come to God. You did have to repent. That never took place till God quickened you. The life of God's a comin' in on you. Conviction, God's a doin' the thing. All that did have to take place, but it's God. Listen, it's gonna take place. Jesus said this, I read it in y'alls here. He said, I've lost none except the son of perdition that the scripture might be fulfilled. That's the only reason why Judas walked with him. and he never was one of him. He was of the wicked world. He was a terror. He never was a weak. He never was a wheat. And then he turned his back on God and God turned him into a terror. Oh no, he never was a wheat. He always was a terror. He always was a there. And the only reason why that took place is that the scripture might be fulfilled. Listen, he never fooled Jesus. He never fooled God. He knows who he was, Brother Kevin. Never slipped nothing up on the Lord, snuck in. I'm of the wicked one, but I'm a slide in here with the 12. That never happened. Jesus called him, Jesus called him to walk with him just like he did the other 11. Knowed who he was. Knowed he wasn't his. Know that he was not, that wasn't one that the Father gave him. He knows all that, Jesus knows that. And he did it that the scripture might be fulfilled. He said, and we did, we walked according to the course of this world. In time past, he said, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. He said, in time past, in time past, ye, put my name right there, Brother Kevin, ye. Put your name right there, church. He's speaking to you. In time past, you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of power there, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. Why did you walk that way? Ephesians chapter six, we won't turn there this morning, but you can turn there and you can read it for yourself if you want to, where we wrestle against, listen, you wrestle against wherein you used to walk. How do you defeat that, Sister Hobson? How can you defeat it now and you couldn't then? Well, number one, the Holy Ghost lives within you. He's the Spirit of Christ. And Ephesians chapter six tells you to put on the whole armor of God, and that's how you defeat that. That's how you walk away from it. Say, do you do that perfectly? Do you never slip up? Do you never sin? Do you never fall out of that? I'm not saying that. Listen, we're guilty. We sin against God. Thank God we got an advocate with the Father, the Son of God. You can go, listen, you can go to Father, thank God, and the Son ever lives to make intercession for you. And I'm not trying to say what Jesus, everything he says to the Father, but if I can put it my term, Jesus said, he's one of mine, I redeemed him. He's clean. Clean. Listen, he's clean. We're to confess it, we're to confess it, but spiritually and eternally, listen, this morning, you can believe this if you want to, I got no dirt on me. Because I'm in Christ, and he don't have no dirt. And the Father loves me because he loves his Son, and he loves me like he loves his Son. And I'm his, thank God, nothing changes that, Brother Kevin. That's no excuse, that's no sin, that's no license to sin. Should we continue in sin that grace might abound? God forbid, he said. Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. You rightly divide that. Nobody that's saved by the grace of God and really realizes what they have in God and the mercy and the grace of God that we have, Brother Kevin, nobody that I know that really knows what they have in Jesus ever thought that they had a license to go out and do what they wanted to do. Ain't nobody I know that believes that way. that thinks that way, that really knows who they are and their position and who they have in Christ and really redeemed, they don't believe that. I failed God yesterday. What'd you do? Confess it. Ask God for grace and mercy and forgiveness. Grant to me repentance. Do better, do better today. How you gonna do that? By His help and power. according to his exceeding power that worketh in us. Ephesians said, that's how we do that. Notice this, why, listen, why did you walk in Tybalt? Why did you walk the way he said we walked in verse number two? Why did we do that? Why did we do it? Notice this, verse number three, among whom also, notice this, we all, no getting out of that. You're not excluded from this. I'm not excluded from this. He said here in the Word of God, Paul, he's writing to the church in Ephesus, he said, among whom also we all had our conversations in time past in the lust of our flesh. That's a natural man, that's Adam. That's that corrupt man. That's that dead man. That's that sinful man. That's that man that ain't been redeemed. And by the way, when the scripture speaks of man, ladies, that includes you too. That's men and women all, mankind, God made man. He made Eve from rib of man. Listen, that's all of us. That's all of us. He said, among whom also we all had our compensate time pass in the lust of the flesh. This is why you walk the way that you walk. It's why you walk according to the course of the world. Why? Fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. That's why we walk that way. Listen, why did you live the way you wanted to live in time pass? There was really no other governing controlling factor other than maybe mama's switch or daddy's belt when you was a child. We're not talking about as a child. Y'all know that I'm commanded by God to honor my mom this morning, but I'm out from under the command to obey. I'm not a child. But I'm to honor, I'm respect her. And you can trust me, if she asked me to do something by all the power that's in me, I'm gonna do it. But there's a difference there. But really, we just submit ourselves to one another when you really get down to it. And there's obedience in that, as unto the Father. But we walk that way, you walk that way, you walk that way because that's what you wanted for yourself. You fulfilled the desires of the flesh. Your flesh wants it, you see it, you want it, you go get it. Or you see it, you want to do it, you go do it. That's the way he's saying it here in the scripture. We all in time past, we walked that way, we walked according to the course of this world, but the reason we did was to fulfill the desires of the flesh and of the mind. He said this in the scripture, and we're by nature. I said, that's that natural, man. Adamic, that's that Adam man in you. He said, we were by nature the children of wrath. Notice this, even as others. Y'all know this morning that the word of God says, there's none that do a good, no, not one. There's none that seeketh after God. There's none that seeketh after God. None. Genesis is the book of beginnings. And really, Brother Kevin, you really can, in depth, if you look at it and think on it, meditate on it. And I don't know everything about that book, but I'm telling you, every time I read it, you really can. You can see the beginning of all. Nobody's ever gone after God. In fact, listen, before Adam and Eve ate of where God told them not to eat, God met with them in the cool of the morning. God came to where they is at. They didn't go to where God was at. God came to where they is at. And you go on into Scripture, God did tell them and gave them command, which, listen, that's you this morning, child of God, that's me this morning, child of God. You are the tabernacle, the building, the housing of God. But God did give them a command and told them how to build a tabernacle, Brother Kevin, and he told them when to move it, and he told them when to stay still with it, and that's where God met with them there, but that's still God came to them where they was at and met with them. God did, no man's ever gone after God. There's none that seeketh after him, none. All we did, all you did, all man ever has done is go after the fulfillment of his own lust, to fulfill the desires of the flesh, Sister Linda, and that started in the garden. They saw it, and it was good in their eyes. The serpent deceived Eve, believed a lie, but the desire of the flesh, the fulfilling of the desire of the flesh in the mind was present in the garden and that's why she went, that's why he, that's why they went that way. They certainly did not go and grab that take of that fruit of the tree of the knowledge evil in an attempt, even a little bit of attempt to walk after God. Brother Kevin, how could they? God said, don't do it. That was not walking after God. Why'd they do that? Fulfill the desires of the flesh and the mind. They took of that, they sinned, they died, and that's why man does the same thing today. How many years that has been, I don't know how many years it is. I tried to do that one time, Brother Kevin. and I got all mixed up. I don't know how many years it's been. I know by how many years it was up to the flood. They say it's been 5,000, 6,000 years. I don't know, 1,600 and something, I think, up to the flood. But listen, that's why it got so bad then, Brother Kevin. Desires of the flesh and of the mind. God said, the end of all flesh has come, but it's just come to me, it's before me. If I put it in my words, God said, I'm gonna kill them all. They're all gonna die. except eight, and them animals that God brought to the ark. Why'd that happen? He said, that was us. That's why we walked after the course of this world to fulfill our own desire. There's no one, brother Kevin, it don't surprise me, it really don't. But it really don't, don't make it right, but it don't, anything that I see today, it does not surprise me, Keith. And it shouldn't surprise you. Because such were some of you. He said all of us in time past had our conversation within that. You walk that way, I walk that way. Why? Because man wants what he wants. one commandment, one thing God told them. They had everything. Can you imagine that? Just take your own self. That shows the corruptness and depravity of man. Take this day, this day, child of God, class, church, this morning, take this day. And in your own mind, everybody here is different, I understand that. But in your own mind, Brother Todd, Anything that you could desire, you have desire, you like, you enjoy, whatever, however you want to put it. Everything that, if you could have it this morning, take everything, if you could have it, if it was put before you except one thing, you still would not be satisfied. I wouldn't either. Why is that? You'd want that one thing that you don't have. That's what happened, Brother Kevin, in the garden. Just one, just one. If it's there, I ain't seen it. God told them one thing, don't do. What'd they do? What he told them not to do. Yeah. And I've heard people say, well, it's just one sin. Well, one sin's bad if you look at it in God's eyes. Everybody's condemned outside Jesus Christ. Now, do we realize this small reality of what Jesus did? Listen, if he had not come, if he had not come and died, brother, if he had, that's the only hope we got. Every man looks to me like would have ended up in hell with the devil and his angels because they rebelled against God, had it not been for Jesus. Everyone. Everyone. He said, we've had our conversation in time past. The flesh wants what the flesh wants. And it don't like to be denied. I've thought about that. I mean, in my own mind, I got, everybody's got, you know, different desires, what they like, different battles in the flesh. And I know in the garden, Brother Kevin, was not 2000 and 22. I understand that. But the years that's gone by don't have nothing to do with where the problem is. Little reality, they had everything. God gave them everything. Looks to me like they didn't even have to toil their souls to get their food. Before that, those kids looked to me like God bought them. Drop it in their lap, here it is, eat it, take it. But after that, just one bite. I got a lot of stuff, brother Kevin, a whole lot to rest on. I got a lot of stuff that I don't need. I'm not too sure how reality we see necessitates more than I include myself. But there's a lot of stuff I have, brother Todd, that I don't need to survive. and closing them back there would be continued peace. We all do, Brother Kevin. I wonder, I think sometimes how satisfied I'd be if all that was taken away. Because Adam and Eve had everything except one thing, and they weren't satisfied. I got a lot more than one thing, Brother Kevin, that I could do without and still survive. Yes, a lot more.