But now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were afar off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the metal wall of partition between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for to make in himself a twain one new man, so making peace. and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby. And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God. And beloved, we are in, this morning, congregated the household of God. We are the household of God, each born-again believer who's covenanted together here at Mount Zion to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth. We are the household of God. And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom all the buildings fitly framed together groweth into a holy templeless shrine, and the Lord, in whom ye are also built together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." The church of Jesus Christ, I will build my church is the habitation of God through the Spirit. It's very sacred, very sacred. So remember this morning that we are in the presence of God. If we could practice that in our daily lives, it would Deliver us from so many temptations practicing the presence of God in your life. I can remember one time at work that every hour during those 8 hours or 10 hours that I worked, I would stop and think of God. Every hour I would do that. To keep focused on God's presence with me. And I never forget doing that. I don't know why I don't do it more often, but it was a particular time I was thinking upon the presence of God. Try it sometimes. It'll work. You don't have to be talking out loud. You can just do it mentally. Just gather your thoughts, recognize that the Lord is with you. He said, I'd never leave thee, nor forsake thee, so that we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper. He's always with you. He promised in Matthew that he would be with the church always, even until the end of the world. So he's with us all the way to the end. So beloved, let us practice the presence of God. In this epistle of Paul to the Ephesians, we see that a spiritual building, a spiritual temple, a shrine, a holy place, is the habitation of God through the Spirit. You know, he told Solomon, Solomon said, who can build a house for God since he's omnipresent, he's everywhere. But He indwells you and I. What a blessing. What a blessing. Notice in Colossians chapter 1, verse 13. I hope you have a copy of the Word of God this morning. And I want to tell you by the authority of God's Word, and from my own experience, if you don't study the Word, you won't grow. You won't grow. Whether you're a young Christian, or whether you're a mature Christian, whether you're a father or a mother, or whether you're a young woman or a young man, if you don't study God's Word, you will not grow. You know, John says in 1 John about the young men overcoming the devil. How do they overcome the devil? With the Word of God. With the Word of God. So in Colossians chapter 1, in verse 13, "...who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son." Let us stop and meditate for a moment. Think about every one of us here, our lives, where we were before God translated you out of that kingdom of darkness. You were lost, we were lost, we were undone, we were without God in the world at one time in our lives. Just like the world, serving the lust of the flesh, serving the world, serving the lust, the appetites of the world. But one day, God translated you and I from the kingdom of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of God's dear Son. Let us be grateful for that day. Let us be grateful for that. Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness? Satan no longer has the authority over you as a child of God. We have a new master and his name is the Lord Jesus Christ. None other Beloved, we have the privilege and we have the obligation to say no to any other master. You belong and I belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is number one. Not our fathers, not our mothers, and I'm talking about Christians now, not a government, no power on this earth. has number one except God Almighty. He's number one. He is the Lord of glory. He's the one that we bow to. He's the one that we worship. His name is the Lord Jesus Christ and Jehovah God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We in Isaiah believe in the Trinity. We believe in the triune God. I believe that the eternal Son of God was the one that was incarnated, not the Father. There are some groups teach that the Father was incarnated. There is no eternal Son. That's why it's so important that you know what you believe. To read the Word of God. To study the things of God. There's so many false doctrines going on in the world, beloved. So you see, first of all, there's the translations. Who's translated us out of darkness. Oh, what a blessing that is. Out of bondage. Out of sin. Broken the power of sin. Sin no longer reigns over you as a master. You may sin, yes, but it won't be a master to you. There's always those occasions where maybe you are tripped up by Satan, but you know, we come back to repentance and tears. Forgive me, Lord. Forgive me. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, in verse 12, Paul gives a statement, this is our responsibility of being translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God, dear son, that you would walk worthy of God. Christian life brings responsibility. Coming under the banner of Jesus Christ, being called Christian, Christ-like, brings responsibility. He said, why call me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? This is to every one of us. It could be as simple as reading the Word of God, your prayer life, family devotion, serving God in your community, serving God in your home, putting God first in your life. It's so easy to become lukewarm, isn't it? As it speaks about in Revelation, where God said, I wish you were either cold or hot. God hates the lukewarm. Oh, isn't it easy to move into that area of lukewarmness? We're not jumping up and down, but yet we're not really cold either. We're kind of just in the middle. There's a warning about being like that. that ye walk worthy of the law of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory." Who called us into his kingdom? God! The Father has called us unto his kingdom and glory. We should be praising God and thanking God for that. Notice Romans chapter 14. Another comment concerning the Kingdom of God by the Apostle Paul, for the Kingdom of God is not meat and drink. See, so many people get the wrong conception of the Church. They look at the materialistic things of the Church, the building, and we thank God for this building, don't misunderstand me, all the material things that we can see, but notice what Paul says about the Kingdom of God. He says in verse 17, for the King of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy and the Holy Ghost. If you're not experiencing those things in the church, you're not in the spiritual kingdom. You can tell whether you've been translated from one kingdom into the other kingdom with this one verse. Because if you've been translated into God's kingdom, You'll be living upon the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Where is your faith this morning? Are you trusting in your righteousness or in His righteousness? Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to thy cross I cling. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. Where is your faith this morning? Paul says, I know in whom I have believed. He's the eternal Son of God. if you believe in the true and living God this morning. His name is Jesus Christ. He's one with the Father, co-equal, co-eternal with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He became incarnate and became man, became the God-man, the mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. Righteousness and peace. Oh, what's the one thing God gives His children when He quickens them from death unto life? What floods their soul? The more you study about Jesus, you realize He bore your sin in His body on the tree. The peace of God that passeth all understanding. And we know that we have peace with God through Jesus' righteousness that's in blood. And we know that we maintain the peace of God by daily living upon His righteousness and pleading His blood at the throne of grace. Because the moment we sin, we need to be restored. And we need that fellowship with the Lord. And joy in the Holy Ghost. In other words, the presence of the Lord, when you read the Word and you meditate on the Word, and all of a sudden, it could be just for a moment, for a minute, for five minutes, the Word just becomes alive to your soul. That's the Holy Ghost making it real to you. That's the presence of the Lord. That can do more for you in five minutes than twenty hours of Bible study on your own. And I guess Bible study, don't misunderstand me, but we need the presence of God, even in meditating and studying the Word, so it becomes profitable. The temple of God's shrine, as we've seen in Ephesians. And Paul says in Corinthians that our bodies are the temples of the Holy Ghost. And this is something that this age in which we're living, we need to remind ourselves as believers, especially young people, if you are believers, you're professing faith in Christ, your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. God indwells you. God indwells me. We need to remind ourselves. of that fact. Peter calls this, thinks about it in 1 Peter 2, 5, that we are a spiritual house. We're spiritual stones. You're not a dead stone. Spiritual. We make a difference. We can make a difference, beloved, to each other. We pray one for another. We intercede one for another. Never take your spiritual life for granted. God has called you into this church, into this congregation, into this body for a purpose. Paul told one of the elders, be sure that you fulfill the ministry that God has called you to. Thought can be given to each one of us here, to the elders and to each one. Be sure that we fulfill the ministry that God has given us in Mount Zion, to fulfill that ministry. You're not here just to sit on a pew. You're here to grow in grace and knowledge of Christ, and you're here to share, you're here to build, and to edify one another as a body of Christ, members in particular. You say, what can I do? As I said earlier, you can pray. You can encourage. You can build up. The temple of God, which temple we are, you've been bought with a price. Paul said, therefore, glorify God in your body and in your soul, which are God's. And I always think about when I think about those verses, I preached a sermon one time on Paul's checklist. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. I just want to read a few things to you. our responsibility to God as individuals. He says in beginning reading with verse 9, For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by the Lord Jesus Christ, who hath died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Did you hear that verse? Let me read it to you again in case it went right over your head. who died for us. Now, He died for a purpose. That whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. There is no life, there is no living apart from Christ in your daily routine of life. Whether you're sleeping or whether you're awake, you're living with Christ. You're in a new spiritual kingdom. Christ set up a spiritual kingdom. Not materialistic, as we think about church buildings. A spiritual kingdom. No matter where you're at, what time it is, whether you're awake or whether you're asleep, you're living with Him. What a thought. Paul says, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. Beloved, you must make that same confession of faith. Christ is living within you. The hope of glory. And how often do we not recognize that presence? Because we're too intoxicated with the world. And we're all guilty. I'm not pointing fingers at anyone. We all have to guard against being intoxicated by the world system today. Wherefore, comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do." Hear what Paul said that we should do? Comfort one another. Do you think of helping another individual in the house of God? That's what our responsibility is, to comfort one another. Young people go through trials. There's some older and there's some younger. But beloved, everyone can help another young person. A young person can help another young person. Hey, I went through that same problem. Let me tell you how God gave me deliverance. Let me warn you, if you go down that path, I tell you, you better get ready. It's hard. And edify one another. Don't tear each other down with gossip, but build each other up. The hardest thing, and I'm going to give you the... Here's the number one test for your spiritual growth. This includes Brother Rhodes. How well do you control your tongue? How well do you control your tongue at home? Somebody rubs you the wrong way? Boy, that old tongue really starts on it. A sharp answer to your wife, a sharp answer to your husband, Or a sharp answer, in my case, to my mother? Or her a sharp answer to me? Oh, now there is where we get down to where we live. How well do we control the tongue? And the Word of God says in James, the tongue no man can control. Unless you're living in the presence of God, you will not be able to control your tongue. Now, we have the power to say things that hurt other people, but we don't have the right to do it. And beloved, you can think, boy, I have grown spiritually, I'm studying the Word, I'm praying, and in a moment, that tongue can destroy it all. Anger in the heart can come up and say words that you can never bring back. And when we face those situations in life, it's to remind us where we came from, the dust of the earth. Apart from God's grace, you and I are nothing. Apart from His keeping us, we would be nothing but sinful beings. Who are we depending on? We need the Lord. When we say, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, beloved, as long as we're under the shepherd's care and following the shepherd and He's keeping us, we have no wants. But the moment we wander away from the shepherd on our own and become as Adam and Eve and become as gods in the sense, I'm going to do my own thing, I'm going to do what I want to do. The number one sin is independence. To act independent of God in making your decisions. Oh, we're all guilty. I'm going to do it whether mother likes it, dad likes it, brother likes it. I'm going to do it whether my husband likes it. I'm going to do it whether my wife likes it. I'm going to do it whether God likes it or not. Oh, that spirit's in every one of us. We have to guard against it. That's to keep us humble. You know, Paul said he had a thorn in the flesh, so do every one of us. We have the old nature. And as Jeremiah the prophet says, and the older you get, and the more you experience life, you understand that the heart is desperately wicked who can know it. You can be so spiritual for so long and think you've arrived, and all of a sudden, in a moment, as I said before, it all, you can just fall that quick into some Unruly tongue, judging, evil, anger pop up within you. I just wanted to remind us what we were. We were in darkness. We were in sin. We were in bondage. And even now as Christians, we have to guard against that nature. Guard against this tongue. If you have a trouble with your tongue, take it to the Lord. And that's the Lord's attainment for him. He's the only one who can. And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you, and esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake, and be at peace among yourselves. There he's talking about the ministry. You should respect the elders of your church. If for no other reason for their work's sake, the call of the ministry, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake, and be at peace among yourselves. Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feeble-minded, support the weak, be patient toward all men." Now, these are things that we can do as Christians in the Church of God and in our homes. See, people don't want to take Christianity to the home, along suffering, patience, kindness, gentleness. Oh, isn't that hard to do with a daughter or son who's unruly parents? And isn't that hard for young people to be submissive when they're being provoked to anger by the parents? See, we're both guilty. There's no innocent in these cases. And children are to obey their parents, they're to honor their father and mother, If at the same time, we as parents should not provoke our children to wrath. It's because we have the power to do it, because we're parents doesn't give us the right to do it. All discipline should be done in love. Paul said, what are you going to do in word or in deed? Do it all to the glory of God. And when we deal with our young people, we deal with our friends, we deal with our loved ones, we should do it in love and do it for the glory of God. Boy, there's more to living a Christian life than just going to church, isn't it? Be patient toward all men. Boy, you're driving down the road and some guy cuts you off. Oh! If I could just jump out of this car and get a hold of him. What happened to that gentle spirit? What happened to long suffering? What happened to gentleness? Went right out the window, didn't it? That's what I mean. Beloved, we need the keeping power of God even on the highway, on the byways, and every other way. We need God's strength to keep us from ourselves. We are our own worst enemy. See that none render evil for evil unto any man. Some people say revenge is sweet. But, oh beloved, God says vengeance is mine. I will repay you, saith the Lord. be meek like the master who when he was railed upon didn't answer back. I know it takes the grace of God for that. He goes on to say, but ever follow that which is good both among yourselves and to all men. Rejoice evermore. I've seen some Christians, I don't know if they ever rejoice. You don't know if they're in the morgue or in the living. They walk around so gloomy. So I got nothing to rejoice about. If you have nothing to rejoice about, you know nothing about salvation. If you've been translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God, your son, and you've been, you were not ordained to wrath, but to obtain salvation, yes, you have something to rejoice about this morning. Jesus said, don't rejoice because the devils are subject unto you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven. This word here is transitory. It's just, we're just passing through. It means nothing. It's vain! Song of Solomon or the Ecclesiastes, when Solomon wrote that, all is vain under the sun. We labor and we work and we work and we work to lay up, to save, to work, to save, and God said it's vanity! Yet, we devote our lives to vanity. Pray without ceasing. Most Christians pray when they eat. Lord bless this food, amen. And when they go to bed, Lord watch over me, amen. And that's about the range of their prayer life. Unless something comes their way, oh, then we run to the Lord. Lord, deliver me this one time, and I'll serve you faithfully, Lord. Isn't that the way we are, human beings? We make such promises when we're caught in a real tragedy, we're going through something, but as soon as everything kind of, you know, quietens down and the flow of life is back to normal, what do we do? We forget the Giver. And everything gives thanks. If you read the book of Romans, you find one thing in the book of Romans, chapter one, unthankful. And what is it today that Americans basically don't give thanks? Oh yes, we have a Thanksgiving once a year, but how many truly in their heart give thanks to God? For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. How long has it been since you've got your family together in prayer with your children and knelt down and gave God thanks for your children, for your marriage, for your home, for the spiritual blessings, for your physical blessings, so they can grow up in an attitude of seeing that you are thankful for what God has given you. It's biblical. Paul said to give thanks for your election. How long has it been since you've knelt down and said, Lord, thank you for choosing me to salvation? A worm like me. A sinner like me. Quench not the spirit. You have such a desire to read the Word and to pray, but the phone rings. Or someone knocks on the door. Oh, I gotta go to the store and get groceries. Are we sensitive to the Spirit's leadership in our lives? See, that's that presence of God I'm talking about. We're too busy. We're so busy making a living, we're so busy doing material things, like the story of Mary and Martha. One of them were to stay at the feet of Jesus, and the other one was busy. We need to stop sometimes and sit at the feet of Jesus and worship. Despise not prophesying. How can you despise prophesying? What does prophesying mean? It's the preaching of the Word. How can you despise preaching of the Word but not listening to the Word of God being preached? Another way is by not obeying the Word once you've heard it preached. Thou, this is the way, walk you in it. When you refuse to walk in that way, you're despising the Word of God. You're despising God. In simple language. Whether it be Elder Rhodes, Elder Forrest, Elder Parker, or any of you. When we hear God's commands from the Word and we refuse to obey that, that is despising prophesying, the preaching of the Word. And it's despising the great shepherd because he's the one who calls his ministers to proclaim his word for us to obey. We're servants. Prove all things. Hold fast that which is good. Hold fast. We need that command today. If you're Have a devotion started, that every morning you're going to give the first beginning of your day to God. Get ready for a battle, because everything in the world is going to come up to hinder that. That's what Paul is saying here. Hold fast to those things which are needful in your life, your prayer life, your devotion, reading the Word, visiting, encouraging others. You know, I was going to go see so-and-so the other day, but just too busy. Then before you know it, one week goes by, and another week goes by and another week goes by until you know what a year has gone by and you never went to see brother or sister so-and-so. And it happens to all of us. Hold fast. Perseverance. You didn't know this was involved in being a church member, did you? There's a lot. Responsibility. to being a member of the house of God. And this next one. Hold fast that which is good. Today people want to hold fast to evil. Abhor that which is evil. God says in his word, we're to hate evil. What has happened To Christianity, there's not that hatred, there's not that vileness of sin as it used to be. We've become like the frog in the water. We've become warm, lukewarm. We're immune to evil. We don't hate it like we used to. What was one of the characteristics of Christ over in Hebrews? He hated iniquity. And He loved righteousness. And we should follow His steps. We need to pray for God to give us a hatred for sin and for evil. But oh, isn't the heart desperately wicked? We love it, naturally. But oh, remember, we've been translated from that kingdom into a different kingdom. That's why Peter mentions to the young people about, flee, youthful, lost. As I've said before in my preaching, beloved, we need to pray earnestly for our young people. Abstain from all appearance of evil. So many Christians today want to flirt with evil. How close can I get and not get burnt? Maybe I'll have just a little bit of the world, and a little of God, and a little pleasure, and a little church, and I'll be happy. See, everyone wants a little bit of everything. The beloved, it doesn't work that way. And yes, we try it. And yes, God chastens us. And He has to train us. I'm the Lord that shall have no other God before me. And yet, we want to put other little things before God. That's the great lesson of life. To learn to have no other gods before Jehovah God. Abstain from all appearance of evil. If it even appears evil, abstain from it. Go back. Leave it. So, beloved, it's so easy to be drawn to evil. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly. Here was the verse I was thinking about when I was thinking about that earlier. Wholly. God doesn't want just 88% of you He wants 100%. And I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless. That's the greatest challenge in this verse that this young generation can ever listen to. And to all of us. To be blameless in body, soul, and spirit. Now that's Christianity. That's serving God in a spiritual temple. That's more than just coming to church, hearing a sermon. That's more than just putting a little offering in the offering box. That's more than just shaking someone's hand and saying, I love you. This is where the rubber hits the road. And who knows that? God knows. Man looks on the outward appearance, God looks upon the heart, the spiritual temple. Okay, that was the introduction. Let me get a little water here before I continue. We were created, as we've seen before in Christ Jesus, unto good works. Now where are these good works performed? In the house of God. In our homes. You mean I have to go home and be good? Yes. You mean I have to go out on my job and be good? Yes. I thought that was just for church, where I could be quiet, sit there like a nice young lady, young man, but when I get out of the church, turn me loose. And it's not just the young people, we act like that, our dogs too. You know, we get home, we kick the dog, kick the cat, If the wife don't act right, we might kick her. You know, that's how mean we are. We laugh. I don't mean literally, but with a tone. Oh, isn't it hard to control that tone? Ooh! God help us all in that area. And beloved, that's the gauge of your spirituality. That's the gauge. But we're created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath ordained that we should walk in them. Because you're born out of God, as it speaks about in John, born of the Spirit, born out of God. We are a spiritual creation, and by being a spiritual creation, we can be spiritual in our thoughts and our thinking. Paul says, if it be anything lovely, good report, any virtue, think on these things, a good report. What are some of the good works that we can do as children of God? Notice Hebrews chapter 13. You know, Paul says in verse 13, Let us go forth, therefore, unto him without the count, bearing his reproach. In the Jewish day, you were in the Jewish religion. They crucified Jesus outside the camp of the Jewish religion because they considered Him an infidel. Today, we don't want to be caught in the religious realm of this world. We want to be without the count. That despised group of believers who serve one king and one lord and one master. Let us go forth, therefore, unto him without the count, bearing his reproach. And this is what stops a lot of people from serving God. They don't want to bear the reproach. Very difficult for young people, I understand that. You're going to college, and if you're a Christian, if you profess to be a believer, they laugh at you, they make fun of you, they mock you. The professors, they try to do everything they can to belittle God, to make God nothing but a puppet. Nothing! Bearing his reproach. If you work on the job, they laugh at you, oh, he's a Christian, he has virgin ears, don't say nothing in front of him. That's how people look at you in the world. They make fun of Christianity. They make fun and mock being a Christian. It's reality. And sometimes it's very difficult. Sometimes it's hard to maintain that constant spirit of following Christ, not giving in, not listening to their filthy jokes, not laughing at their jokes. It's difficult at times. You must hold fast, as Paul said over there. Oh beloved, this is difficult. He goes on to say, for here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come. That's our hope, a blessed hope. This world will be burned up and everything in it, everything that you own, everything that you see, you will never see again when you leave this world. Never. You'll never see your homes again, all the materialistic things you own, all the money that you own, all the stocks, your retirement funds, everything that you have, possessions, material possessions, you will never see again once you die. No wonder the Lord said, labor not for that meat which perishes. And we think about the lost people doing that. We're about as guilty as they are. Going on. By Him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God. Continually, that is, the fruit of our lips given thanks to His name. How long has it been since you give praise to God and thanksgiving? The fruit of your lips to your God. And how long does this first thing should do it? Continually, we should be praising God, lifting up the name of God, extolling God, giving in the midst of the congregation, we should give praises, like I mentioned about the prayer of my nephew's home, how God answered that prayer. All of you should be standing up and giving testimony of what God, great things the Lord has done in your life and in your family's life. The Word of God says, let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Now, we don't have to do it here just in the church. We can do it when we have our meeting downstairs, when we have our dinner, when we meet in homes. Let us talk about the things of God, what God has done. I know it's hard to get away from the Bears and the White Sox and the Blackhawks once in a while. But the thing that should burn within us should be what the Lord's doing. How many home runs has He done? knock for your life over the fence. How many enemies has He defeated on your behalf this past week? How many things has He controlled that you didn't even know He had control of in your life and He was working behind the scenes and here you are safe? Give praise. What can you do in the church? You can give praise and thanksgiving to God. Let me read this verse again. Should a man and his wife dwell together according to knowledge? How can you dwell together according to knowledge if you never talk, if you never communicate? It's like the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. Some marriages are built like that. One's going one way, one's going the other, and neither one knows what's happening. We need to communicate. Take time. Husband, it's your responsibility to take time with your wives and communicate. You're the head of the home. Your spiritual responsibility is to communicate to your wife. And wives, if you see your husbands are not doing that, it's your responsibility to get on your knees and pray for your husband. And seek God to heal that desire, to put that desire in your husband's heart. To communicate. Keep that communication together. And we as church members, we need to communicate. Do we open up to each other honestly? Do we really open up when we go into a real problem and really open up and say, I'm really in desperate need this week. I need prayer. And we walk around with our pretended halo on our head walking around. We're so, you know, spiritual. And in the middle of it we know we're about ready to fall over and ditch. Honesty. Putting a weight. Lying. Oh, we thought that was easy to put off. Lying. But when we walk around with pretense, what is that? Lying. And we're all guilty. See, we're in a spiritual kingdom now, in a spiritual realm. Let us be honest with each other. There's not an individual in this church here that doesn't need prayer, doesn't need grace, doesn't need the God's strength. Hebrews chapter 4. I hope they got a slow cooker downstairs. Hebrews chapter 4 verse 14, seeing then that we have a great high priest. What do you know about Jesus and his priestly ministry? That is passed into the heavens. Now there's only one priest that I will worship or bow down to and that's the one who's passed into the heavens, because all other priesthood has been done away with him. There's only one high priest, one priest over the house of God, and his name is Jesus Christ. And he goes on to say, the Son of God, what does he say to us? Because he's passed into the heavens, let us hold fast our profession. Are you holding fast to being a Christian in an evil world. Because, beloved, we will be tested, tested, tested, tested. Those that work will test you, to anger you, to trip you, to make you listen to a filthy joke, so-called friends. Satan will always have his one temptation that will tempt you to draw you into sin. You're dealing with an enemy. It's wiser than we are. He knows your weakness better than you do. And His one objective is to bring you down to shame in the spiritual kingdom of God. And to bring you down so that you won't hold fast to your profession. That's the enemy. He says, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not a high place which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace." Now this is difficult when you sin. When you're on a mountaintop and you're spiritual and you're reading the Word of God and you're praying, Boy, to go to the throne of grace is so easy. But boy, when you get knocked down through sin, the wickedness of your own heart, and you feel so ashamed, it's difficult at that moment to grow boldly to the throne of grace. That's why Satan wants to get us down to that level. Because he knows our spirit has been broken. Now, beloved, this is reality. This is where you live. This is where I live. This is where Satan wants to get each one of us. He wants to get us to sin. He wants to break. Our vast profession of faith. He wants to make us feel depressed and discouraged because we feel the guilt of our sins. And beloved, the Word of God says, when you feel the guilt of your sins, where could you go? You should go to the throne of grace to obtain mercy. God knows that. The first thing He said in this verse, that you may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. When you're sinned and you feel the guilt of your sins, it might be the tongue where you said something wrong to your mate. or to your children, or your children to your young men and women to their parents. It may be to the next-door neighbor. It may be many things. But when that happens, you need one place you need to go. The Bible said, if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. Plead His blood, we come boldly into the throne of grace because of the blood of the everlasting covenant, and we repent of that sin, and we confess it, and get up and march on. Their sins and iniquities, I will remember no more," God said. How many times should you forgive your brother? Seven times? Seventy? How many times do you think God would forgive you and I? Infinitely. We serve a loving God. And the blood, He says, Hebrews 10.19, having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus." The blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Are you thankful this morning for the blood of the atonement that has cleansed you and I from all sin? Every evil thought, every loss, every act of disobedience, we've been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb. It's not a cheap grace, it costs Jesus everything. Some people say, well, if I believe like you did, I'm just going to live like I want. No, you love the Lord, you won't want to live like that. You may fall into the devil's snare, but the Lord will bring you back up. Hebrews chapter 7 verse 25 says, wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him. This is so difficult for us, and I'm not trying to embarrass our young people this morning, but we do pray for our young people that they'll serve God. Whether they know it, we love you, each one of you, very dearly. But I take courage in this verse here. Wherefore, He is able also to save them to the uttermost. They come unto God by Him. They're coming a day when God's power will be brought to your life and you will come to God. And there'll be no stopping it. And I take courage in that. Sister Sharon prayed for her boys. And one day, God started calling her sons out of darkness into light. Mark, Chuck, Greg, and Jeff, all serving the Lord because of this verse. God calls! And there's no refusing. There's no saying no. And I know we fear and we were concerned about our young people. Will they serve God? Are they going to serve the Lord? They love it when God calls. He will shake them from their bootstraps. And they'll come willingly. My people should be made willing in the day of my power. Parents, take comfort in that. It doesn't lessen our responsibility. And young people, it doesn't lessen your responsibility to be attentive to the things of God, to seek God in your life. But oh, I thank God for that verse. Wherefore he is able to save them to the uttermost, that cometh to God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercessions for them." For them. Who's the them? It's his elect who are scattered abroad. The sons and daughters of God, as many as Peter says on the day of Pentecost, and to as many as the Lord our God shall call. Hallelujah. In Hebrews 9.24, I'm going to close with this. I've got a lot more to go, but I'm just going to stop at this. For Christ is not entered into the holy place made with hands, which are the figure of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Everything Jesus has done was on our behalf. Peter says, whom having not seen ye love. There's true love. For those who want to know what is true love, love is sacrifice for the object of His love. We were the object of Jesus' love. He gave everything for us. Everything. Whom having not seen you love. This is just a small token of being a member of the Lord's house. a spiritual kingdom, not the coming in and setting down necessarily, which that's needful, not just going out the door, but the spiritual things that you can do as believers. I pray that the Lord will bless you with His presence. If you could just, day by day, if it's one minute, if it's an hour, or if it's five seconds, just have the presence of the Lord in your life. It would transform your life. Read the epistles of Paul. Paul said, the Lord stood with me. I don't believe he physically stood with Paul. I know he appeared to him at one time, but I believe Paul lived such a life of faith, he recognized the presence of Christ every moment of his life. But we're so caught up into this world and the world system, and I know we have to provide a living, don't misunderstand me, but we need to take time to practice presence of God. May we pray. Gracious and loving Father, we thank you for the Lord. We thank you for being members of Mount Zion. We thank you for being able to hear the Word of God. We thank you for the Word of God. Forgive us of our sins. Forgive us of our lukewarmness. Forgive us for doubting your promises. Lord, we pray that you would just strengthen us now as we sing our closing hymn. We give you the praise and the honor and glory. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.