In this sermon, the preacher discusses the Father's delight in His Son and how this love relationship between the Father and the Son extends to believers. The preacher emphasizes that God manifested Himself in the flesh through Jesus Christ and deposited all His glory and wonders in His Son. The sermon also highlights the importance of being prepared and ready for the bridegroom, Jesus Christ. The preacher uses the story of Rebecca and Isaac to illustrate the willingness and commitment required to follow Jesus, even if it means riding camels.

Last week I talked about, this series is called The Beloved or The Beloved, and I talked about the Father's delight and why the Father delights in His Son, and the Bible says that the mystery of godliness is great, that God was manifest in the flesh, and that's Jesus Christ, and that God gathered up all the glory and wonders of His own person and deposited them in His Son and sent Him to us to reveal Himself to us, and that even back in eternity past, there was a relationship going on, a love between the Father and the Son, and we're getting in on that, and it has a lot to do with the purpose of creation, that we're getting to be blessed by that love relationship between the Father and the Son. So I covered that last week, I put down about three of the main things I brought out. Our apprehension, understanding, and revelation of Jesus determine what kind of Christian we are. I've been privileged in my life to know especially two, I've known many, many great Christians, but there are two that stand out to me because of their Christ-likeness. And I told you last week, the thing that I grieve about the most in myself is my lack of Christ-likeness. It seems so slow. The process takes so long. I wish it was instantaneous. I wish that you'd get saved and that was it. Then you're done and you're just like Jesus. But God has a purpose and a plan to take us through growth and trials and tests and through, I don't know if you know this, I didn't get to it last week, but you only lay hold of more of Christ through some kind of a crisis. We get satisfied with the way we are and what we have and we just go along and everything's okay, but when we get into some kind of a crisis or trial or test to where we have no option but to seek the Lord and cry out for a new revelation of Christ. And I brought out how even the early church that started with so much power and glory. I mean, that was glorious. After the apostles died, just John was left alive. They began to decline and lose their power and their focus on Christ. And one of the things I've noticed as I've watched Christian TV, I've traveled and been around and is we claim to have a lot of power, but we don't have the kind of power we claim. And I grieve over that. I want the power of God. I want to be able to pray for people with cancer and see him get up off a deathbed. God wants to do that. But I believe, and if the whole world disagreed with me on this, I would still take this stand. The reason we don't see those kind of miracles is we lost our focus on Jesus Christ. And God said, that's not pleasing to me. I can't release my glory and power. Our church, our generation, we're caught up in the things of the world television. I mean, I'm not going to preach against all that tonight, but we have to be honest, admit there's very few that are really walking in and personal holiness without taking corruption into their lives from the world, from television and the things of the world. We adopt their moors, their morals, their standards, their clothing. And I'm not saying you can't look nice and pretty, but you know what I mean? We're slaves to those things. So we're just, when God sees that, when John saw that, the Holy Spirit through John wrote the book of John and the book of Revelation to turn the church's focus back to his son. So I know that's what God is doing in this hour. On one hand, I see an outpouring of the spirit of fear, an outpouring of the spirit of unbelief, not from heaven, from hell. And there's the spirit of unbelief that's sweeping the world right now. Right after 911, everybody said, let's go to church. Let's get serious about this. Do you know what they said? You know what? Now church attendance is lower than it was before 911. And you know what people said? They went to church and there was nothing there. They went back to church and there was nothing there to attract them or them. So they went away disillusioned and disappointed. And now if something like that happens again, then they won't go back to church. They'll just look for another answer, alcohol, drugs, whatever, to narcotize ourselves and try to ignore what's going on. So the kind of our level of apprehension, revelation, and understanding of Christ determine what kind of a Christian we are. If we really lay hold of Jesus, we'll be great Christians. And I met two people, brother Leroy Beatty. I've told you about the street preacher in Louisville, Kentucky, who had the whole Bible memorized. And I got to hang out with him for a long time. He was one of the most Christ-like people I've ever known. And I, if I could ever be half the Christian he was, I'll be a great Christian. That's more my goal to be half the Christian Leroy Beatty was. He just was so Christ-like. He had, he loved souls. He loved God, but he loved souls. And he, and he loved Jesus. He loved to pray. He loved to get in the Word. You get around him, you're going to talk about the Word. You're going to talk about souls. You had no choice. If you went to McDonald's with him, he was going to pass out gospel tracts. I had to stay prayed through all the time. If brother Beatty said, let's go, let's go out to eat. I had to pray through real quick if I wasn't praying through because he was going to witness to everybody in the restaurant. And then the other one was my grandmother. She's the one that led me to the Lord. She was the kindest, most Christ-like. Now being Christ-like doesn't mean you're not tough. Because I used to think it meant you were some kind of worm or wimp. Jesus made a whip out of cords and he ran them out of the temple, whipping them on the back. That's still love. That's still love. But the enemy has come in and taken away our focus and centrality of Jesus Christ in our personal lives and across the board in America, in our churches and denominations. We're focused on everything but Christ. Let me ask you this. This Sunday morning, I preached on wasting yourself on Christ and feeding Christ. Don't answer this question, but what percentage of the church in America do you think that's the main thing in their life? That's their focus is just wasting themselves on Jesus. It's a tiny, tiny minority. I can tell you because I fight. It's a battle to get that for one day and focus on Jesus. The devil diverts us, sends off smoke screens, hand grenades, bombs, whatever he can do. And we get diverted and distracted over here because for a minute we touch the Lord and he's jealous of that. So number two, I brought this one of my favorite quotes. We need an experience of Christ in which we think everything of Christ and nothing of the experience. That's very profound. We're an experience seeking generation. How about a Christ seeking generation? Well, we don't care about the experience. We care about Christ. I got it. That's right. And the nod and something else. We need preachers who will not demand faith or love that we cannot rise to. You ever thought about that? This changed my preaching. I used to make people try to have faith and have love. You can't do it. You can preach on love all day long. We'll still be fighting. But if you preach Jesus, he will produce and compel love and faith. And I always had the cart before the horse wondering why it wouldn't go. But you got to know that Jesus, he brings faith and love into your life. He's the only one that can. I can't do it and no one else can do it. But Jesus can do it. OK, then the alternate translation of Matthew 317, the literal version. This is my son, the beloved in whom I've always been delighting. This has been going on for eons and will go on forever. God will always be delighting in his son. And the way I can please God is hide in him and be in Christ. That's the secret place of the most high in the shadow of the almighty. OK, now part two, the beloved bride. Some things you feel like, should I get on this or not, because they're really very, very deep, but simple. I mean, understand, things can be deep, but they're also simple. We can understand them but not really get the revelation of it. Turn with me to John. I want to read two verses. John chapter 3. John chapter 3, verse 29. John chapter 3, verse 29. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled. John the Baptist is talking, and he said, the one that hath the bride is the bridegroom. And I, he's basically saying, I've heard the bridegroom's voice and my joy has been fulfilled. Now, I want you to stay with me a few minutes. Try to stay awake and alert. Remember Ray Comfort? I don't know if you've ever heard him. I'll say the devil is going to try to rob you of what I say. Right now I'm going to read a verse and say, how many heard that verse? Like 10% heard it. This is not something that's easy to comprehend, but it's, it's wonderful. Now we're talking about the beloved. That's Jesus Christ. What's the purpose of the Holy Spirit? We're Pentecostals. We're Pentecostal to the bone. The new city's built on the foundation of 12 tongue-talking Pentecostal preachers. It is. What's the purpose of the Holy Spirit? To glorify and testify of Jesus. Now many Pentecostals wouldn't tell you that. Speaking tongues prophesy, not just Pentecostal, but charismatic. So you can travel the world and the globe and they'll say, well, the main purpose is prophecy. And I went to a church that had prophetic worship and prophetic prayer meetings and prophetic programs that they passed out. Everything was prophetic. Well, the Bible says the testimony of Jesus is what was it saying the spirit of prophecy, testimony of Jesus, the spirit of prophecy. So whatever you want to name anything in the Bible, uh, all the gifts of the spirit, the fruit of the spirit, all those things, they're really coming from Christ because God has revealed everything in this world through his son. You, Jesus said, no man comes to the father except by me or through me. You can't bypass him. You can't go around him. You can't go through another religion. You can't go through some other way, some other path. There's only one way to the father. That's through the cross, through Jesus Christ. And the Holy spirit will not light on anything else until you focus on Jesus Christ and fall in love with him. The Holy spirit will not move in your life. You get away from the cross. You just stop the Holy spirit for moving in your life. You just stopped it right there. And we have so many Pentecostals and charismatic and spirit filled full gospel, whatever you call them that are running around and they're just, uh, you know, just a tempest in a teapot. That's what we do. And I've done it a lot and we're not following. We're not more in love with Jesus every day. We're just running around trying to find a doctor or something we can prove or somebody we can show up or get in a fight. Uh, you know, we're not really understanding that the Holy spirit quit moving. It's like Samson did not know that the spirit of the Lord had departed from him. That's one of the saddest verses in the Bible. And sometimes we don't even realize we're running around when, you know, worried about all the gifts and I love the gifts. Don't misunderstand me. We got to have them. They're to the church and I love the fruit of the spirit. I love all these things, but the Holy spirit isn't here to titillate us, give us goose bumps or Jesus bumps or whatever you want to call it, make us fall out, go in the dark, levitate all that stuff. That's not why the Holy spirit's here. He's here to glorify and testify Jesus. And if that's what you're hungry for and thirsty for, he'll move heaven and earth to reveal Jesus to your soul. Well, if you open up your heart and cry out to God, say, God, I want to know you. I want to know Jesus, the Holy spirit, walk up and down in your soul and glorify and testify Jesus. Bernard of Clareau said, I've the Lord. He said, I opened my soul. It was the longer that, but the Lord, the bridegroom has entered my soul and I've known the loveliness of his beauty. When Jesus enters your soul. Now stay with me. Don't lose me. This is my personal opinion. I believe I can prove it in the word of God, but, uh, the, the, the master theme of the Bible, the biggest type in the Bible, the biggest picture in the Bible of Jesus Christ is a lamb. And I don't think anybody to argue, but you can't find a bigger one. I've tried from Genesis till God made them a bloody coats of skin, maybe of lands. We don't know, but then Abel took a firstling of the flock and offered it up to God. And God had respect till you get to the book of revelation for the lamb is standing 17 times. The lamb, Candace mentioned in the Greek, a baby newborn lamb all the way through the Bible. And his biggest role is the lamb of God. And I don't, I'm not going to have time to teach on this. I'd like to go back, teach on it, but the lamb was promised something by his father that why he said, I'll go and I'll do it. Besides it being the father's will and him wanting to please the father, God gave him a reward ahead of him who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of God. God said, I will give you a bride. The biggest picture, the deepest picture of Jesus in the Bible. When we're talking about the lamb, we're talking about the bridegroom. I'll tell you one thing of that tonight, but the most important, if I could put it this way, the most important thing to Jesus is he's going to have a bride Romans 1 19 and 20. The natural is a type of the spiritual and what God made in the natural. He's revealing something in the spiritual. And the first thing that God made, he made a man, he made all the creation, everything, but like himself, he made a man and it breathed in his nostrils, a breath, a breath of life. God looked at the sun, the moon, the stars, the drafts, the hippopotamuses, everything. And he said, that's good. That's good. That's good. And he looked at man, said, that's not good. That's what he said. It's the first thing he looked at and said, that's not good. Why? It's not good for man to be alone. Now remember, God is painting a picture for us in the spiritual realm. Well, what he did in the natural realm, his first act in his own kind, his own nature, you know, God brought Adam out there and they looked for him to help meet. God knew what he was going to do. But Adam didn't. And God took Adam and he brought an alligator in front of him. So what do you think? I don't think so. They went through every animal in the world. Don't you know, he was glad when the rhinoceros wasn't the one or the giraffe or a snake and he's our kangaroos. He named them all after their nature. But the Bible said they went through every animal on earth looking for a help meet for Adam. No, no, no. He's going, thank goodness. They couldn't find one because he had no kind. He had no counterpart. He had no one like him. So God put him to sleep. This is just, this is my, what my belief, I believe I can prove it, but I won't try to tonight. Besides you can't prove most things anyway, but the old time Pentecostals and the Puritans, some of them taught this and we don't teach it anymore. There's a body of Christ. That's the church. But just like God put Adam to sleep and took a rib out of his side and made a bride for him. The old time Pentecostals used to teach that God's going to take a rib out of the church and make a bride for his son. Now, the reason they taught that was that not every Tom, Dick, and Harry that sits on the church pew is going to marry Jesus Christ. When you get ready to get married, we got, how y'all doing? It's good to see you tonight. We got some people getting married this weekend. Well, I don't think the young man went to the nursery, to the cry room, to see if he could find a bride. Well, I don't know, sucking on a pacifier, dirty diapers. I don't think so. And if he did take a little baby from the nursery, he said, let's go on out, out to eat or something. And he said, let's look at the sunset. And he looks at the little baby, he goes, isn't that beautiful? And the baby goes, there could be no fellowship, no fellowship of any kind because they're not close. And what God did, he saw there was no kind, so he made a kind. He made one like Adam. And he said, Adam looked at Eve and said, actually, originally it was probably Mr. and Mrs. Adam. Adam named her. And he said, finally, here's how the Hebrew reads, finally, here it lasts, bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh. You don't know what that means. The Bible says it twice in the New Testament, maybe three times and not exactly, but implies it several times that this is a great mystery. Paul said, and I speak of the church. He said that bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh, that's the way the bride of Christ is going to be. And someday this is what he was promised. And John the Baptist said, I've heard the bridegroom's voice. The bridegroom came down to reveal himself to his bride. That's one of his main purposes, to entice her and to go to the cross and display who he was, his art, and make her fall in love with him. But see the bride of Christ loves the cross and his suffering and his death. The world thinks it's foolish and it's stupid and it's ugly. Isaiah said he had no beauty that we should desire him. His face was more marred than any man, but the bride of Jesus sees his suffering and agony, and it makes her love him even more. It's not foolishness to her. And God is going, see, there's no kind for Jesus. When he stood in the bow of the boat after the storm, if you've ever been out in the waves like this, we did, Nancy and I went to the Bahamas and I didn't want to go on one of the tour boats out to the coral reef because they charge $50. There was a little Bahamian fishermen in a blue boat, little blue boat. And I said, how much would you charge us to take us out to the reefs? And he said, $10. That sounded good. I'd say $40 right there. So, and a lady, a young black lady from Philadelphia comes running up. She's in a suit, a suit outfit and hose and shoes and everything. And she said, where y'all going? And I told her what we were doing. She said, I'm going. So she climbed in the boat too. And we go out to the reef in the Bahamas. And in the Bay, it's real calm and smooth. In fact, Nancy and I had been snorkeling in the Bay. We saw this couple coming out with starfish and shells and stuff. I thought, let's go snorkeling in the Bay. Cause I'm not, I don't like water. I'm scared of water. And it's real smooth and calm. And I saw a big giant clam. And Nancy, I said, Nancy, is a giant clam. Let me swim over there. It was a great big pair of men's BVD underwear on the bottom. I didn't even want to know where it came from or how it got there, but I was so disappointed. We swam all over the place and could not find one starfish, no shells, nothing. So we finally got in the boat. We get out to the coral reef. Nobody told me that when you get past that coral reef, the water's going like this. I'm scared of water. I get seasick in the bathtub. We get out past the reef and immediately I was horribly seasick. We're going like this in this little tiny fishing boat like this. And the lady from Philadelphia turned green, literally turned green and was, well, she got sick. I was getting sick. And I told the guy, I said, I got to get out of this boat and I'm not a good swimmer. I put on the snorkel mask and the life preserver jumped in the water just to get out of that boat. Cause I was about to get sick. Well, immediately I'm in the water trying to swim like this. And my life vest came loose and my snorkel mask is leaking and full of water and I'm drowning right there. And the guy, Nancy's in the boat laughing at me. She was. And some girls in a powerboat came by and saved me. I was drowning. Well, when I read about Jesus out on the sea of Galilee in that storm in that boat and he was asleep, that tells me he was incredibly exhausted and tired. I could never sleep in that. He's asleep in the bottom of the boat. The storm is so bad that these experienced seasoned fishermen are scared that worked on that sea for a living. They're terrified and they wake him up. So master, master, don't you care that we're, that we perish? And Jesus, he called him his favorite nickname. Oh yeah. A little faith. That's what he called him all the time. Little faith. He stood up in the bow of the boat and he said, shut up. That's what it means. Put a muzzle on it. Literally put a muzzle on it. Don't ever let me hear from you again. Can you understand that storms going like this? Jesus stands in the bow of the boat and he said, shut up, put a muzzle on it. And don't ever let me hear from you again. The Bible says immediately, instantaneously, the water went just like that. The storm ceased. And the Bible said these experienced fishermen that were afraid of the storm were now more afraid of Jesus Christ. And they looked at each other and said, what kind of a man is this? They were saying, what species is this? What kind of person is this? Who is this? That even the wind and the waves obey his voice. And when God made his son, there was no counterpart. There was no kind, there was no person like him. So he created this whole universe to raise up and train a counterpart that's going to sit on the throne and rule and reign with his son for eternity. Everybody else is going to get in on it. There's going to be, they're going to be blessed. And I'm not going to argue about this. This is just my opinion, but John the Baptist is going to be the best man. He said, the friend of the bride is the one that stands and hears his voice. And in my joy is full. He, I believe he's going to be the best man. The Holy spirit is going to be there. The father's going to officiate. It's not a shotgun wedding where the father's marching a bride and curlers and cold cream and jelly all over down the aisle. The Bible said his bride had made herself ready like Esther. And to me, there's a lot of deep verses in the Bible. Genesis six, the sons of God went into the daughters of men. I've never heard anybody really adequately explained. I don't understand it. I know what happened, but to me, the deepest, most profound verse that I don't understand is revelation 22 17. I believe that this is on the list. You know what it says? The spirit and the bride say, come, come drink of the water of life freely. I don't understand how the spirit and the bride are already out there in eternity future. When John is seeing all these things in writing or, or maybe he heard that that day, but some way the spirit and the bride say, come, I don't understand that. I know it's deep. I know it's profound. I know it means something wonderful. Paul said, the new Jerusalem is the mother of us all. It says in first Corinthians 15, that when Jesus has subdued every enemy, I mentioned this two weeks ago and put them all under his feet to the last one is under his feet called death. And he puts it under his feet and does away with it. He's going to turn around and turn the government back over to his father. It's what's this. And he's going to sit on the throne or in the, I don't know what else is going to happen, but I know that he's going to be with his bride, that he went through the agonies of hell, literally hell for here's a man that didn't ever have a family only lived to be 33. Didn't have a wife, kids, home, everything we enjoy and like he gave it all up. And we celebrate this time of the year, him being born in a manger. The Bible says he left ivory palaces, ivory palaces where angels fell at his feet and worshiped him. He was the bride and morning star. And he left all that came down to this world because his father had promised him, I'm going to make you someone like you and you can marry your bride. This is not a natural sexual or physical thing. This is a spiritual thing, a spiritual love. And I know because of that promise and folks, I can't find in anywhere in the Bible where any of us are invited to be in the bride of Christ. I can't find it. If it's there, I've looked, you know why only the Holy spirit can do that. See the lot, the Holy spirit draws us. We get saved. He brings us to the sun, but there, there, there has to be some kind of a love and seeking there because the greatest story is in Genesis when Abraham sent Eliezer out and Eliezer is a type of the Holy spirit. And he said, I want you to go back where I came from to my kinsmen and find a bride for my son. And he goes back and you know, the story of how he asked her to water his camel. She said yes. And, but the amazing thing to me, here's a girl that doesn't even know the guy hasn't ever met as far as we know. And he sits down and this is, this is the way the Holy spirit does. This is what his job is to do, to train and prepare a bride for Jesus Christ. That's what he's, that's what he's doing all the time. He's, he's not going to present a prostitute. And as, as preachers and leaders, we're not supposed to go out into the streets and get a harlot and a prostitute, but God's raising up a bride without spot, without blemish. And she's going to be wearing fine linen, clean and white. And the Bible said, blessed are all those who are invited to the reception to the marriage supper of the lamb. It's you're blessed if you're invited to that, but it said his wife had made herself ready. That's another deep verse. What does that mean? Nancy and I, and some friends were talking about the other night. I don't really understand that because this is grace. It's all grace, but they're also, I believe is a point where love takes over. And I believe that God responds in kind to love. God loves all of us. He loves the whole world. He died, Jesus died for the whole world, but God wouldn't be fair. If, if I loved him more than they did and his relationship is the same with them, but they're, they're just carnal. They watch TV all the time and I'm not preaching against TV. I, I'm, I would like to enjoy the Dallas Cowboys, but I can't do it. But, but you know what I mean? They're just caught up in, in wasting their time and that's all they do. And they have no, a little bit of interest in the Lord. They go to church and their conscience gets soothed over and they feel a little better and they go home. And, uh, but here I am, maybe let's use brother Allen. I don't want to use me. Brother Allen is in love with Jesus and he's fasting and he's praying and crying out and he's laying on the floor in tears. Jesus. I want to know you. Holy spirit revealed Jesus to me just like Ellie's or did to Rebecca. The Holy spirit's going to sit there. You know what he did? He sat that girl down and he said, see this coat. This is from Isaac. He sent it for you. See these rings. This is from Isaac and he loads her down gifts. And he said, let me tell you about him. He's wonderful. He's so wise. He's so good looking. And folks, if we had ever get still and get down and love the Lord, the Holy spirit would just fill that room and say, I just been waiting for a chance like this. Let me tell you about him. His name is wonderful. Let me tell you what that means. Counselor. He's the bridegroom and he wants to, you to be prepared and get ready. And he will sit down and tell you such wonderful things about Isaac that you will fall in. She fell in love with him long distance. And that's what we're doing. We're falling in love with whom having not seen we love and beloved. It does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears, we shall be like him for, we shall see him as he is. And John saw him as he was. And he felt his feet as a dead man. The Jesus that he leaned on his bosom. When he saw him in his glory, he fell at his feet as a dead man. The eyes face shining like the sun eyes like flames of fire. The only bad news. There is some bad news with this. You got to ride camels. I hate camels. They stink. If I had a message to the bride of Jesus Christ, and I'm not see the first point I had on here is why does this devil hate this truth so much? He'll get you off here and left field to one extreme. I know a church right now, just one little church, local church, by the way, you know, God's plan is the local church. You know that they're sitting there right now over in East Texas. They're the bride. The only ones that are the only ones in the bride till the other extreme is you can be a homosexual and being the bride of Jesus Christ. The truth is the bride of Jesus Christ is made up from saints down through time all over the world, probably out of every denomination that names that believes in Jesus. Anyway, I don't know, but God knows, but I know if it was automatic, the Lord wouldn't be saying you had to make yourself ready. You'll be clothed in fine linen, clean the watch till the last part of the books has come. There is a rising up, but the bad news is that you got to come on camels. And if I could tell the bride of Jesus Christ something, it would be the camels are coming. That's the bad news. You can't go on a Mercedes. I wish you could. I wish you could live for God and just ride in a Mercedes all the way with a CD player in the air conditioning going, going 70 miles an hour, but you can't. He told Rebecca's parents, they changed their minds. Wait a minute. We don't want her to go. They called her in. Will you go with this man? You don't even, you don't even know him. Will you go? And you know what she said? I will go. Eliezer had done such a good job. Even when she saw the camels and it was a two, about a two week journey on camels, she said, I'll go. And that's what the Lord's asking you. Will you go, will you go? And the Holy spirit will come to you and make this real to you. And he'll testify of you and glorify you, but Satan hates this truth. He obscures it. He damages it. He'll try to put a bad taste in your mouth about it. He'll get you through some experience in some group that taught the bride truth and, and say, well, that they're all messed up. I hate it. I don't even want to be in the bride of Jesus. When I was a young teenager, I thought, I don't want to be anybody's bride. I'm a man. And understand it was spiritual. It's as the picture of the submission and surrender of a bride and the oneness. And the Bible is calls her something. You know what it calls her? The lamb's wife. She's like the lamb. She follows him whether with us, wherever he'd go. It's the nature of a lamb. You want to know the nature of the bride. Satan hates it. My experiences been along this line is I've heard people teach it, that we're ugly and mean and spiritually proud and elitist. And, and then you just, you get turned off to it. So I'm just going to be a regular Christian Christian. But in the last days, the Lord's going to raise up a new group that said, I want to marry Jesus Christ. I want to be like him. I'm going to make myself ready. I'm going to throw off everything that's hindering me. What does it say in revelation? Keep your garments unspotted from this world. That's one of the requirements. You don't get there by accident. You know, somebody climbed Mount Everest and got all the way to the top. You know, it takes months to do it. It's so the conditions are so bad. And the reporter happened to be waiting there. He'd say, how'd you get up here, sir? I don't know. It's an accident. I just out walking the dog ended up on top of Mount Everest. You don't get there by accident. That's what I'm saying. You've got a purpose in your heart. I want to be in his bride and I'm just touching on the surface. Believe me, the, all the way through the Bible, Eve, Ruth, Esther, Mary, Jesus' mother, Mary of Bethany, Mary Magdalene. These are all pictures of the bride of Christ. All these women in Jesus' life portray different aspects of the bride of Christ. Then I talked about the rib company. What does this truth mean to me in my everyday life? His wife had made herself ready. Remember Esther? What'd she do? She bathed. She put on the garments. She was bold. She went into the King. All the things that she did are picture of what we have to do now. See, here's where it's all by grace, but God puts in you the will. One guy quoted the verse to me, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. That's his great truth. But you ever read the next verse? For it is God who works in you the will and the do of your good pleasure, of his good pleasure. So I have to ask God, and that's our part, is to lie before the Lord or fast and pray and seek God. Get in the words that God put the will and the do in me. I want this. I don't want to be a regular run-of-the-mill Christian. I don't want to stay in the status quo. I want to be in your bride and whatever it takes, get me there. That's my part. And God, and God lays his hand on something. He says, okay, well, you're doing this and you're doing that. Get this out of your life. What's your part? Yes, Lord, I'll do it. I surrender. I surrender. The mystery of the ages, and believe me, I promise you, I'm just touching on this just to maybe wet your appetite a little. When Jesus came to this world, when he went to the Jordan River, came up out of the water, that whole series is based on that incident. And God spoke audibly out of heaven, said, this is my son, the beloved, in whom I've always been delighting. John the Baptist had said, one day and then the next day. First he baptized, and the next day Jesus comes walking along the bank. The first day in John, the Baptist said, behold, the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. Then he baptized the next day. Jesus comes back again. Why was Jesus hanging out at the Jordan River? He was looking for somebody. He comes back again. The next day, John the Baptist sees him again, said, behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Well, that time two guys standing there, disciples of John, turned around and noticed him. And I don't know what they noticed, but you know what they did? They started following him. I'll tell you the day I saw this, this blessed me so much. Something about Jesus clicked with them, and they were intrigued, and they were interested. And I believe it was the Holy Spirit drawing them. And Jesus, he just walks up to the bank for no reason, and then walks off. John the Baptist said, look, it's the lamb of God again, who takes away the sin of the world. Then he just walks off. But two of John's disciples turn around and they noticed him this time, and they started following him. And Jesus turned around and said, what do you want? They had no idea what they wanted. They just, something was drawing them. You know what he said? What they said, they just said, first thing they think of, where do you live? Where do you live? You know what he said? Come and see. Come and see. The Bible said they went home with him. Stayed there all day. And they never were the same again. We know one of them was Andrew. Most people think the other one was John. Andrew and John never were the same again. It ruined their lives, folks. It ruined their lives for good and for heaven. One of them went and got his brother the next day and said, Peter, you know what we've been looking for our whole lives? I found it. Come on. Peter comes back the next day, and I want to close with this, but can you imagine the excitement? That's why I just hate dry, dead doctrine and teaching. I hate studying it anymore. I can't stand it anymore. I don't want to listen to it. I want it on the radio. I don't want it in my head. I want to hear somebody that loves Jesus Christ and they're walking with him and they're preaching him and knowing him because that's what's on my mind now. I believe in the last days, God's going to start putting that on all of our minds. That we're going to start wanting to know him like we've never known him. That we're tired of everything else. Tired of the status quo. Tired of this and that. And can you imagine Jesus' excitement when he sat there with his bride for the first time since eternity past? And that day Jesus sat down with two of his bride, spent the day with them. That's why he was there. They sure ruined their lives. Aren't you glad that Jesus ruined your life? Stand with me. Let's pray. Father, in the name of Jesus, bless your people tonight. They're hungry for you, Lord. Let us even get hungrier. Lord, I don't want to be satisfied. I want to be dissatisfied with a holy dissatisfaction. Bless your people tonight. Feed them of your word. Holy Spirit, reveal Jesus to them. Reveal Jesus to them. Sometimes you have to convict it to sin and deal with us and cleanse us, but you're here to reveal Jesus to us. We want to grow up in you. We want to mature in you. We want to be a mature bride, a clean bride, a holy bride. Lord, you're not going to marry a harlot. You're going to marry a pure bride. Father, I pray you'd raise us up in the last days to seek your face like never before. In Jesus' name, everyone said it. Amen.