In this sermon, the speaker discusses the concept of becoming God's servant. He emphasizes that not all Christians are called to be evangelists, but those who will return with Jesus as part of the servant of the Lord are called to be a covenant to others. The purpose of this covenant, as mentioned in Isaiah 42:6-7, is to open the blind eyes and bring out prisoners. The speaker emphasizes the importance of living a righteous life and being a living epistle, as our actions and testimonies can impact others' perception of God and Christ. The sermon also mentions that the spiritual pressures in 1998 will be greater than ever before, but God promises that the wheat (the righteous) will come to maturity alongside the tears (wickedness).

Hey, did Bob Porcelli, did you hear back from him? Okay, alright, I need to know that. Alright, so I've got my ducks in a row then. Alright, well that's the Lord to help us then. Lord, as we come unto you tonight, it is with praise and thanksgiving for your wonderful love and your goodness to us. And Lord, there has been so many answers to prayer lately. It's spectacular. And Lord, we do praise you for each and every one. It's a miracle, miracles, miracles. Lord, that you do, and we appreciate them. And we pray for those that are here, Lord, that you will hear the cry of their heart. Where there still is knotty and unresolved problems, we pray you'll hear and answer prayer. Heal the sick, Lord, bring in those that are outside the camp of safety into your fold, Lord, hear and answer. And Lord, we do pray tonight, Lord, that as we proceed, that you will just guide. I don't know the hearts, Lord, you do. And I pray the Holy Spirit will add what's necessary and make it clear. In Jesus' name, Amen. Alright, Dave, we're ready, I guess, for Eddie's question. You're the singer, aren't you? Aren't you the singer? Yeah, Stan, you should have nabbed him, man. Sing tonight. Alright, week 11 to 23, December 97, tape 4051. Title of the tape is Becoming God's Servant. The recommended reading is my book, The True Nature of the New Covenant. Question 1, short answer. Despite popular belief, not all Christians are called to be evangelists. However, those who will return with Jesus as part of the servant of the Lord are called to be a covenant to others. From Isaiah 42, verses 6 and 7, what three things characterize the purpose of this covenant? Is that right, Eddie? You'll have to answer. Is that correct? Yes. Is that what you mean, Eddie? The first one is? Okay. Alright, it's a light to open the blind eyes and to bring out prisoners. Okay? Any question about that? Now, in what way... Now, a covenant is an agreement between two people. And in Isaiah 42, verse 6, it says, I will appoint you as a covenant, the members of the body of Christ. I will appoint you as a covenant. And then, these three things obtained. Now, how did that go? Explain that to me. How are we a covenant? That's a difficult one, if you haven't been here. It's 2 Corinthians 3, and what does that say? It goes back to Hebrews 8 and Hebrews 10, I will write the law in their hearts. It says two things. He said, you are our epistle written in our hearts. And I went into that. That gets kind of deep. And then the next verse says, that you're living epistles known and read by all men. Okay? Now, someone read Philippians 4 and 9, I believe it is. Philippians 4 and 9. That kind of lays it all out there. Philippians 4 and 9 kind of lays it out. There's where Paul himself is a covenant. See, people can't see God. They can't see Christ. And Paul says, the things you have seen in me. You've heard. Read those four things again, Michelle. No, I want you to go. Wasn't there? Learn. Learn. Receive. Receive. Heard. Heard. And seen in me. So, then he says, that's your part of the covenant. He says, practice these things. That's what you do. Then the last half of the verse tells what God does. What does it say? And so, God gives you peace. That's how you become a covenant. Now, that's very important. Because, we're talking in Isaiah 42. It's about the servant of the Lord. The servant of the Lord is Christ, head and body. We are the body of Christ. And to this point in history, we haven't been challenged to the extent that we're being challenged today. We're being challenged today because the spiritual pressures in 1998 will be greater than ever before. But God said in his word, that when the tares come to maturity, that is wickedness, the wheat also will come to maturity side by side. So, if I'm hearing from the prophets correctly, and I've heard one, two, three, recently, plus what I'm hearing from the Lord myself, 98 is going to be a year of intense spiritual pressure. More than we have known. And we are going to have to grow to match that pressure. The body of Christ will come to a maturity in our day that it has never before attained in history, except for a few isolated individuals who are kind of out ahead of the wagon train. The body of Christ comes to maturity by that which every joint supplies. And so the pressure will be on us this year. Each one of us, Christine included, age imposes no limits on what God is requiring. Each one of us is going to have to find our ministry, our gift. We're going to have to seek Jesus until we find out our place of service. And I think our model for this church will be serving Jesus in 98. The Lord is putting an emphasis on service. Service to the body. The ministries are given to the body, for the body, till we all come to the stature of the fullness of Christ, Ephesians 4. And so the body cannot be built up to maturity until every member finds his ministry, his gift, and ministers to the body. There's no other way in which the body can be built. That's the way that God has ordained, that the body shall be built up by that which every joint supplies. That's in the fourth chapter of Ephesians. And be built up by that. So, you, if you're a member of the body of Christ, will, are obligated this year to seek the Lord until you find out what he would have you to do. I mean, the monkey business is over. The monkey business was over. I noticed in tonight's paper, it says in the San Leandro High School, the teachers are wearing little pink triangles on their clothes. And what that tells the students is, someone that you love is a lesbian or a homosexuality. It's their diversity week. So they are inculcating in a public high school a recognition that this is a way of life. However, I was just, I didn't even, wasn't even intentionally reading it, but I noticed, and I can't even remember where it was. It was just a couple of hours ago, I was going through some chapter, 1st Timothy, 1st Timothy it was. And it lists homosexuality along with every ungodly sin you can think of. Barry? You know, that reminds me of one evening, Karina came home from work, and she works for a parish. There was many, many complaints. This is a sin that is condemned in the Old Testament and the New Testament. But my purpose tonight is not to labor on that. I'm not going to major in minors here. But what I'm telling you is that this is the direction that society has taken. And never in history has God permitted a thing like that to go on for any length of time. But what it does do, when a nation takes that stance, legally, that this is acceptable, it invites every demon in the world to come. And so our country, I mean, we have demon oppression now, it's going to get worse. And so what God is saying to us is, it is time for the members of the body to come up to full stature. And the only way that can happen, it cannot happen through the ministry, it cannot happen through me, or any other pastor, or any other evangelist. It can only happen as you, as a member of the body of Christ, that includes Christine, that includes the youngest and the oldest, age imposes no limits on what I'm talking about. We must, we must, I mean there is no alternative. We must spend time throughout this year, and we'll begin tomorrow night, seeking Jesus, seeking Jesus to find out how we, as an individual member of the body, are to function in building up the body. First of all, so that the Christians themselves will be able to stand. And secondly, so that they will provide a light, as Eddie was pointing out, a light to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners, and what was the third one? Isaiah 42.7, what was the third one? Light. Open the blind eyes and bring out the prisoners. You see, there's a lot of people in the world who are good people. They're just plain righteous people. And they don't know anything about the Lord, or very little. They believe there is a God, and they probably reverence Christ, but they don't know much more than that. But when they see these things going on in our nation, they feel terrible about it, and they don't know what to do, and they're confused, and their children go to school, and they're taught these things, and it throws them in an uproar. And you see, it's the purpose of the church to show, not to tell about how ain't it awful, but to show in themselves what is right, to be a covenant to the people, so that the things that they see and hear in you, that they will practice, and then God will give them peace. Does that make sense to you? Can you see how important that is? Can you see now, like Barry, or who did you say was on the job, was telling you? Irenia. See, now it will be up to Irenia. She doesn't have to go around, tearing posters off the wall, saying, isn't it terrible, and all these people are going to hell, or anything. All that she has to do is to become a full stature in Christ, and that will depend on the church where she's going to do that. It's the function of the members of the body to build up the body. And as Irenia is built up into the fullness of the stature of Christ, then people will see in her, and hear in her, and if they practice that, God will give them peace. If they do not practice that, they will have no peace, because there is no peace to the wicked. Now, can you see what it means when it says that we become a covenant to the nations? Can you see that? They can't see God, and they can't see Christ, so how can they have a covenant? God makes His covenant with Israel. The new covenant is made only with Israel. This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Judah and Jacob after those days. The new covenant is not made with an unsaved person. The new covenant is made only with God's elect, no one else. And so that leaves the world with no covenant. And there's no use telling them about it. They have to see it in us. Paul didn't say, I'm going to tell you about something. He said, what you see in me, what you hear from me, practice this, and God will be with you. And that's what God wants you to be able to do. We've made a kind of a strictured thing out of the four steps of salvation. I've been reading Oswald Chamber about his life, and he ran into that. And he said, that's no way, that is not the way you do the four steps of salvation. It has to go way past that to people. They've got to see in you the presence of Jesus and the glory of God. You have got to become a living epistle. You have got to become a living epistle. You're the only Bible that many people will read. And if your testimony is not righteous, if you lie, if you criticize the boss, if you're immoral, if you swear you are of no use whatever, you can talk about God until the cows come home, tell the four steps of salvation to people, tell them to come to church. It's all wasted. The American people are looking today, and Oswald Chamber is telling you the same was true in his day. He was over in Egypt as a chaplain for the YMCA when all the allied troops were going through there at the first stages of World War I when they were fighting the Turks. And he said the men didn't want to hear about the gospel as it customarily is. What they wanted to hear was about righteousness, just as we found in the jail. That was true in 1917 and 16. He said the soldiers flocked to him by the hundreds, and he taught them a course called biblical psychology. He was teaching them how to live as a Christian. They were from Christian England and Christian Australia and Christian New Zealand, and they'd heard the gospel and it was coming out their ears. That is not what they wanted to hear. They wanted to hear about God and how you live with God. And the same is true today. In America we've had gospel, gospel, gospel, gospel, gospel. And it's all necessary, it's all good. The Bible says preach the gospel of every creature. Well it's been preached. But what Americans are waiting to see is somebody who shows in himself the life of Christ. Do you believe that? Living epistles. Your life speaks a million times louder than your mouth. And people are spiritual, even though they're unsaved, every person has a spirit in them. And they can sense when you have God. When you get enough of God, people come around you, you don't even have to say you're a Christian, they'll stop swearing. And some of you have experienced that. They sense it. You don't have to go and say, I'm a Christian. Live it. Live it. Live it. Pray, seek Jesus, read your Bible. Live it. Because America, the gospel has become a laughing stock. Christianity has become a laughing stock in this nation with all the gospel preaching. Because the people aren't living it. They know that Christians lie and steal and swear and fight with their wives and husbands and molest their kids and everything else. They know that. And they say, well, so they go join, they become a Muslim. Or they go into yoga or the Hindu religion or transcendental meditation or one of the many African sects that at least have principles and preach righteousness. Even the Jews preach righteousness. The only religion that doesn't preach righteousness is Christianity. We preach grace instead of righteousness. And so we're confused. The world wants to see the righteousness of Jesus Christ expressed in you and me. And then the Bible says, they'll ask you, they'll ask you, when they see it, they'll ask you for a reason of the hope that is within you. And then you answer them with meekness and fear. Not with, you know, we's the people, gangbusters. With meekness and fear. You know, trembling. I fear God. And, you know, worship God with me. That is not to say there's not to be evangelists. I'm not saying that at all. That's understood. I mean, everybody's preaching that. We need more preaching of righteousness. Of godly living. Because the covenant is not in words. I will make you a covenant. I will make you a fisher of men. You know, the Lord didn't say to Peter and Andrew, go fish for men. He didn't say that. He didn't say, go fish for men. What did he say? Follow me. And I will make you fishers of men. And there's a vast difference between somebody going out and trying to fish and somebody following Jesus. And let them make him. He will make you a fisher of men. And you'll do it in a million different ways. Not one little way, but in a million ways. By what you are. What you say. The kindness that you show. The honesty. The integrity. The honor. That's what is missing in our nation. It's missing in our government. Morality. No, I don't do those things. I don't do drugs. No, I don't want to do anything nasty. That's not where it is, kids. That's not where it is. You don't even have to say you're a Christian. You can do honest things. And then you don't have to say, well, I do this because I'm a Christian. It gets so phony. Just be it. Just live it. And somebody will ask around, what's wrong with that dude? He's a Christian. Oh. Makes sense? Living epistles. Known and read of all men. That's what America's waiting to see. The gospel in shoe leather. Somebody that they can see. That's got the stuff. Somebody that's not a phony. A religious phony. Somebody that is living it. That knows Jesus. And that changes people. You can't look at a... You can't come into the presence of someone who's full of God without being changed. You change. You see the glory. You don't realize it, but it will impact on you. And it will change you. And the more of God they have, the more it will change you. Why? It's contagious. Any question about that? Does that make sense to you now? And the three things was... Be light. Open the blind eyes. And bring out the prison. A lot of people in prison today. A lot of people in prison with drugs and all kinds of things. And that's your job. Not to go and lecture at them. It's to be. Be the covenant. Be the covenant. And God will show you how to fish. Barry? It's interesting because... I don't want to have myself on the back of the money. And they always ask... If a kid dares to live the Christian life, the other kids will make fun of him and everything. But pretty soon one or two will come up and they want to be friends. It's an amazing thing. People just need a leader. They may mock and everything. But there's people in the crowd that are thinking... Boy, I wish I had the guts to do that. Yeah. God needs leaders. God works with leaders. That's how he works, is with leaders. Okay. We all set so far? Alright. Short answer. With regard to the communication of the covenant, it has been stated... The new covenant cannot be written on paper. What does that mean? Clarity. The old covenant had tablets of stone which symbolized... As they are changed, the things that they do and the things that they... And you can't follow it. Yes, that's true. In Hebrews, the 8th chapter, it says... I was not pleased with the people under the old covenant. I made a new covenant with the house of Israel and Jacob and Judah and Jacob or whatever. And he says... I will write it in their mind and on their hearts. And that's very important to understand those two different things. It affects your mind. It affects your mind so that you begin to think... Have the mind of Christ. And it affects your heart, your feelings and your emotions and the source of your will. And what's put in there is God's eternal law. It's written there. It cannot be written on paper. It's only written within the human being. God's covenant with us is only written within the human being. Any question about it? That's Hebrews, the 8th chapter. The old covenant was written on stone and on parchment and paper and on the walls of your house. But the new covenant is written in your mind and on your heart. And it's written there as you live. When is it written in my heart? Well, it's written there line upon line, line upon line. As you live... Let's say you become a new Christian. Okay, so you don't know your arm from your elbow about Christianity at all. But somebody tells you you've got to forgive somebody. Well, it's hard. So you pray and God helps you and you're able to forgive them. That's written in your mind and your heart. That's the beginning of the writing. And then something else comes up. Maybe the Lord tells you to put away your cigarettes. And so you pray and you get the strength to do that. And then that cleanliness is written in your mind, written in your heart. And as you go on and you pray and overcome each day... Now, if you're not overcoming, there's nothing being written there. If you're not overcoming, there's nothing being written there. It's only written there as you gain the victory over sin. And it's little by little. You should be a stronger Christian tonight than you were last Tuesday. Between last Tuesday and tonight, there should have been some things happen in your life that challenged you. That took you to prayer. And you prayed. And as you prayed and said, Lord, you're right and I'm wrong. Then Christ was able to write His law in your mind so you'd have understanding. And in your heart so that you would want to do it and have the motivation to do it. Now, if the challenge came last week to forgive somebody or to be honest or to be patient or whatever it was and you just come out in your natural man and were throwing flesh all over the place, nothing was written in there. You didn't grow. You're still a baby. And that's what it says in Hebrews the 5th chapter that I can't talk to you about Melchizedek because you're still a baby because you can't discern between good and evil. You don't have your senses exercised to discern good and evil. That's the sign of being a baby. When you can't tell good from evil. I don't know whether this is right or what. I don't know whether I should forgive or be patient or what's wrong with blowing off at somebody once in a while or a few swear words and such. You're a baby. You're a baby. You're not a covenant of God with anybody. You're a baby. You've accepted Christ? Yes, you've accepted Christ. But you're not in the pathway that leads to life. Jesus is the path that leads to life. And that's straight and narrow. He's the gate that enters in and then He's the pathway. He's the way. I am the way. He's the way. And you have to walk in Him. If you're not, you're not growing. Growth occurs as you struggle against sin. You remember in Hebrews it says you haven't yet resisted unto blood struggling against sin. You have to struggle against sin because it's fight. Did sin fight with you today? Huh? Were you challenged today? The challenge is to your fleshly nature. Am I going to do what I know the Lord wants? Or am I going to give in to my emotions and my fleshly nature? And you decide that. There's a choice you make. And you're going to be judged on those choices. To judge and see the Christ, you're going to be judged on those choices. What you did. And if you're a determined Christian and a disciple, and you're going to have to be in 98, you're going to have to mean business with God in this coming year. Now remember what I'm telling you. The evil is going to get worse. And the only way you're going to survive is by growing in Jesus Christ and serving Him, which we ought to do anyway as a Christian. So if you overcame today, you were honest when you attempted to be dishonest, you were courteous when you attempted to be rude, you spoke right things when somebody was trying to get you to gossip. Gossip and slander are condemned in the New Testament as being worthy of death because it's the nature of Satan to slander and criticize. Satan is the accuser of the brothers. It is of the nature of Satan to slander and gossip. And if you've got a gossiping tongue, and you pray to God to burn that thing. See, James says, the tongue is set on fire of hell. And you pray to God and say, get this hell out of my mouth because it's set on fire of hell. Your tongue is when you're criticizing people. I know it's hard, especially if you're used to it. There are people who are accustomed to being critical and gossiping. In fact, their chief joy in life is gossiping. Gossiping about people. That's their chief joy. There are people whose chief joy in life is to gossip. And if you could see into the spirit realm, you would see a snake wrapped around that person and coming out their mouth. They're worthy of death. In 1st Romans 1, they do such things, including gossip, are worthy of death. You say, well, that's not so bad gossip. Everybody does it. No, they don't. Overcoming Christians don't gossip. How in the world do I stop? Call on God. What do you think He's there for? Call on the Lord. Lord, get this dough out of me. To get rid of any sin, you have to make up your mind it's sin. You can't fool around and say, well, everybody's doing it. I don't think it's so bad. And if you want to take it, Lord, fine. You're going to get nowhere. You've got to say, this is a demon. It belongs in hell and the lake of fire. And God, it doesn't belong in your kingdom. I want it out of me. If you mean business with God, God will take it out of you. Take that snake right out of your life. And you'll grow. That's how you grow. Isn't that fun? Fun for the whole family. So there's always something going. Right, Lindley? Always something working. Always something working. Challenge down to your painted toenails. I don't know if they're painted, Lindley, because you have your shoes on. In case they are, you're challenged right down to your painted toenails. You haven't yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin, it says in Hebrews. Because some did resist unto blood in those days. And so he's talking to the people. Quit whining. Don't be an American baby. Well, they weren't Americans in those days. Don't be a baby. Quit your whining. You haven't resisted unto blood yet. Just keep up the battle. Straighten up your back. Straighten up your knees. Walk as children of God. It'll be over someday. Joe Louis, you don't remember him. You're too young. Well, he's a famous prize fighter years ago. And after every fight, which he won every one, after every one, he said, it's a hard fight. He was talking to his mother on the mic, Madison Square Garden. He says, hard fight, Mom. I'm glad I won. Hard fight, Mom. I'm glad I won. Well, I heard that so many times. I remember, hard fight. Mom, I'm glad I won. Well, that's what you want to be able to say when you meet the Lord. Hard fight, Mom. I'm glad I won. And you can. Because you've got Jesus to help you. But it's not a time for foolishness. It's a time for war. Okay, you can't write the covenant on paper. You can the old covenant. You can carry it around under your arm. But the new covenant is only written in your mind and your heart as you battle through your daily challenges. In Jesus, there's always evil given to you each day. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. And there's always grace given for that day to overcome that evil. So each day, you've got an exercise in growth. If you move to another state, it will move with you. If you go on vacation, it will go with you. God wastes no time. Every day, there will be evil given to you. And every day, there will be grace to overcome because there's no time to waste. And God wants you to grow as much as possible while you're alive. When your life means nothing anymore, He'll take you. You don't die when you're old. You die when you're ripe. Okay? Age has nothing to do with it. When God is through with your learning, I think he took Oswald Chambers at the age of 43 because he had influenced thousands of people. But his wife took shorthand, took down all of his sermons, and then spent the rest of her life publishing them. And instead of reaching thousands, he's reached many, many millions of people and changed their lives. But he lived to 43, and he was a fantastically successful soul writer in a fine and deep, comprehensive sense. And he reached thousands of people. But through his wife's writing, and still is, he's better known today than he ever has been. God knows what he's doing, people. He took this man in the prime of his life. Same way with Peter Marshall. He died, and then his wife wrote a man called Peter and reached many times what he ever would have reached. So God knows what he's doing. He doesn't take you when you're old, when you're ripe. You want to be with the Lord? Sure you do. You'll be panicked when you face death, but when it's all over, it's just like a tooth pulled. You'll be so happy. Oh, you'll be a happy camper. Now, I wanted to, just to amuse the children, I wanted to read you something that came over the email this morning. It's from Roberta in Israel. From Roberta in Israel. And she says, Pastor, the following statement is so true. And she's referring to something that I had written. It appeared on the internet the day before Christmas, 1224. It's called The Servant of the Lord. And she took a paragraph. She's commenting on this paragraph. And she says, The following statement is so true. See, I'm going to ask you about this paragraph. And this is what she says. Now, she belongs to forums. If you're not a web buzzer, you don't know much about forums, but there are forums of people at forums like clubs on the internet. And they all post stuff and they read each other's stuff and comment on it, maybe 20, 30, 40 people, depending on the forum. Well, Roberta is part of several of these. And she's got the people that are on the forum reading my material. So, this is what she says. Confusion upon confusion in our forum because no one understands this concept. And I am not so old, only tired. Now, you'll understand that in a minute. I am not so old, only tired. Now, she's tired. She's expecting again. I expect that's why she's so tired. And she'll be hearing this tape. Now, this is a paragraph that appeared the day before Christmas that I wrote. And it caused great confusion. And she said it is so true. Because she understands it. Roberta is very keen. Until you come to realize that God's elect are one anointed company with the Lord Jesus as the head, and that they as a governing priesthood are forever separate from the saved nations of the world, you will understand neither the Old Testament nor the New. I know this sounds arrogant of me to make such a statement, but I am too old and tired to waste time trying to be humble. Alright, now this is the concept and I want to raise it with you because there's probably people here that maybe don't understand it or would challenge this, which would delight me because then I can bring out some scriptures for you to think about and see what you think. This is it again. God's elect are one anointed company with the Lord Jesus as the head. God's elect are one anointed company with the Lord Jesus as the head. Body of Christ. Any question about that? God's elect are one anointed company with the Lord Jesus as the head. Okay? Voila. They as a governing priesthood, now, is Christ's head and body, is it a priesthood or not? Does the Bible say we are a priesthood? Does the Old Testament say that Israel was a priesthood? You know where? You're a kingdom of priests, a holy nation, a royal priesthood. Does the New Testament say that we are a priesthood? Where? Peter. 1 Peter. 2 Peter. 1 Peter 4 is about judgment and suffering. 1 Peter 2. You are a royal priesthood. You better look that up because this is a chosen generation. It's the same thing that was spoken to Israel. Now, he's writing to Gentiles. Peter's writing to Gentiles here. So we can tell from the internal evidence of the text, of the epistle. Alright, now, make sure you know this because this all hangs on this. This whole confusion hangs on this. You have got to be persuaded that we are a priesthood. You all know what a priesthood is. I'm sure. Tony knows because he was at one time a member of the Greek Orthodox Church. He knows what a priesthood is. Some of you may have been Catholic. You know what a priesthood is. Okay? You know what a priesthood is. If not, you can go visit St. Mary's. There's St. Mary's in National City and there's one in Escondido. St. Mary's Catholic Church. Alright, somebody read the verse. 1 Peter 2 something or other. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who has... Now, I ask you, boys and girls, are we a priesthood? Some are not sure. Well, let me put it this way. Does the New Testament say we are a priesthood? I think that's undeniable. Alright, that being the case, what is the role of a priest? Well, this is a priest per se. What does a priest do? How many here have been Catholics at some point in your life? One, two, several people have been Catholics. Alright, what does a priest do? A priest stands between God and man. Is that true? When a Catholic comes, they are seeing the vicar of Christ. They are seeing someone who stands between God and them and represents God. Is that true? That's a priest. It was true in Israel. The priest was more holy than the people. Yes, Barry? Yeah, Hebrews gives the definition of a priesthood. What does it say? It says every high priest stands between God and men and every low priest stands between God and men. Good, okay, so we're all established that the New Testament says we are a priesthood. And the New Testament says a priest stands between God and men. Go pathetic? Alright. Now, what did Jesus say about our being priests? Didn't He say there is one priest, one mediator, Jesus Christ? How did He word that? I know He said, Call no man your father. And then He said, Call no man master, but one is your master, even Christ. And call no man your father, but one is your father, even God. Okay? Now, Paul said there is one mediator between God and man. How many, does anybody have that anywhere that is? I think that's in Timothy. First Timothy 2.5, read it. For there is one God and one mediator between God and man. Okay. So now we have a conflict in the Scripture. In one place it says we are a royal priesthood. In another place it says there is one mediator between God and man. Okay? Now, if we, now here is where the rubber hits the road. If we are a priesthood, we're standing between God and man. Okay, and that's what we all said, a priest is. Alright, we know who God is, but who are the men? Tune in next week. Now this is critical. See I've said here that until you understand this, you will understand neither the Old Testament nor the New. And that's true. Until you understand who we are mediating, you will not understand the Old Testament or the New. You won't understand it. Yeah, well, when you understand this, it will change your whole concept of Christianity. You won't be thinking anymore about living in mansions. It will change your whole concept of Christianity. Believe me, this is rad. It goes to the root. It goes to the root of the way you conceive the Christian religion. Yes? Ephesians doesn't say that Christ is going to draw all things? Yeah, Ephesians 1.10. Ephesians 1.10. Alright, now listen to the paragraph again. Until you come to realize that God's elect are one anointed company with the Lord Jesus as the head, and that they as a governing priesthood are forever separate from the saved nations of the world. Now what I'm saying, and we'll go into the scripture, as you will, is that the church consists of people who were chosen by God from the beginning of the world to be a priesthood that will stand between Him and the rest of the world. And that you can see this priesthood in the 21st chapter of Revelation, and the priesthood there is called the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem is, according to Revelation 21, the wife of the Lamb. Come hither, I'll show you the Lamb's wife. And he showed me that city. The wife of the Lamb is the church. The bride of the Lamb is the church. There is no other bride of the Lamb except the Christian church. If the New Jerusalem is the bride of the Lamb, or the wife of the Lamb, and that's what it says. He says, come hither, I'll show you the wife of the Lamb, and he showed me that city about Revelation 21.9. And if we know from the scripture that the wife of the Lamb is the church, and I don't think any Christian would disagree with that. The wife of the Lamb is the church. Then what we are saying is the New Jerusalem is the church. And if the church is the royal priesthood, then the New Jerusalem is the priesthood. Alright, then we must ask ourselves, are there any people on the New Earth who are not part of the New Jerusalem? And if so, who are they? And Revelation 21 answers that question. It refers to them as the saved nations. It says in Revelation 21, and somebody can find the verse quickly, the nations of them which are saved shall come to its light. Verse 24. Now there you have two entities on the Earth that are not the same at all. They're not the same at all. In fact, there's a tremendous wall that separates them. You have, therefore, two classes of saved people. You have one class that is God's elect. And the New Testament teaches that clearly. That there is an elect. For example, it says, you see your calling, brethren, how that not many mighty are called, not many noble are called. Yet, God said He is willing that all, that none should perish. But that all should come to repentance. So you've got to make sense out of that. In one place, He said you see your calling, not everybody's called. Then you see in another place that it says God is not willing that any should perish. So you have a contradiction. But if you will look at those, that when He's talking about calling, He's talking about the church. The word church means called out. It does not mean a building. It cannot mean a building. It can only, I mean, I'm talking now lexically, lexically in terms of the meaning of the Greek term. It cannot mean a building. The Greek term for building is oikos. The word for church is ekklesia. And it means called out from. It's in the nature of a verb. It is not a noun. It's in the nature of a verb. It cannot refer to a building. So the church is the body of Christ, the wife of the Lamb. It is a royal priesthood. Not everyone is called. People have had problems with that for years. They have said, well if not everybody's called, that means that not everybody can be saved. No, because there's a difference. The calling refers to God's Israel, God's true Israel. God's true Israel is the olive tree. It is the priesthood called out from among men. Now listen carefully. God's true Israel is all who belong to Jesus Christ, okay, beginning with the Jews and in the end will return to the Jews. Okay, you got it? But that does not mean the rest of the world is lost. If the only people who were saved from perishing were the members of the church, they would have no one to serve as a priest. The truth is the nations are the inheritance of Jesus Christ and all who are co-heirs with Him. The nations are your inheritance. You were called from the foundation of the world to inherit people. Not mansions. Not diamonds. Not golden slippers. Not hearts. That is not your inheritance. Your inheritance is the earth and its peoples. If you do not grow in Christ by meeting the challenges of the day, you are of no use. You cannot inherit people because you have nothing to give them. People don't want your fleshly nature. They want Jesus Christ. He is the only bread of life. There is no other bread that gives eternal life other than Jesus Christ. And the world is dead spiritually. So God called you. You cannot come to Jesus Christ unless God calls you. No man can come unto Me except the Father draw him. Listen to John 15. You did not choose Me. I chose you and ordained you that you should bring forth fruit. That fruit is the life of Christ in other people. You are the covenant of God with man. Will every saved person have a portion of Christ in him or her? Yes! Yes! Every saved person will have a portion of Christ in him or her. But not every saved person is a priest of God. Now if you understand that, I will tell you from personal experience that to inherit one person is better and will bring more joy than ten thousand heavens. I know what I'm talking about. I speak by revelation. And this is how Jesus Christ feels about it. The inheritance is people. There is no other inheritance worth having. Now all of you have at one time or another wanted something and finally bought it. It may be a car. It may be a new house. It may be new drapes. It may be perhaps a new job. And you got it. And do you know how long it brought joy to you? I mean real joy? About a week. And after that it was all that. And that is exactly the way heaven is. The reason heaven sounds so good to us is because we're full of aches and pains. We have bills. We're facing a new tax year. We that have children have endless. I mean Tony hasn't hit it yet. Wado Yanni is old enough to drive. And you wake up at two o'clock in the morning and he's not home. And you scream, Sarah, Sarah, it's two in the morning. He's dead. I know he's dead. I know I heard the sirens. Because you'll hear the sirens right at that time. He's dead. The boy's dead. My life is over. But in heaven that doesn't happen. I can't enjoy the beach because when I sin and I worry about everybody's kid they're going to drown. And my greatest joy as a boy was swimming. I can't enjoy the beach anymore. I'm worried about everybody. Watch that kid. Nobody watch. Oh God, he's going to go under. It doesn't happen in heaven. You don't worry about leukemia or pneumonia or anything else. It doesn't happen there. It's no wonder we want to go there. But after you're there and you've seen it and God has wiped away all tears and there's no pain and no death or anything you know what you're going to be saying to yourself? What's next? You'll see a kid has got a room full of toys that looks like Toys R Us and they'll say to their mother, Gee, Mom, I don't have anything to do. Isn't it true? And there's some poor little kid in some remote village in India that if he had one of those toys he'd be in orbit. And your child has got an annex of Toys R Us. Mom, I don't have anything to do. Things don't do it. And when you have perfect health you don't even think about it until you're sick or old. You don't mind those. It won't. After 500 years and you know everybody by their first name and you can't even talk about the rain because it doesn't rain. Mom, I don't have anything to do. But when you've got people to love, to serve as a priest, to teach, just think of the kids in heaven that never got to live past the age of two. And they're going to be resurrected and live on the earth and they don't know anything about it. It's going to take teachers to teach them about geography, how to write. Gee, I'm not kidding. These kids have got to learn there's things to do. And that involves, you don't know it, but you've got a tremendous blessing coming. God's going to give you people and some of them are going to be rebellious, hard to teach, stubborn. You know, you can take pot metal or some soft metal like that and make a knife out of it and it's useless because you can put an edge on it easily and it comes off easily. You get tooled steel. I think Mr. Buck made his first knives out of discarded files. The file is made out of tooled steel. You take a file and try to put an edge on that thing with another file. You've got problems. But once you get an edge on there, I mean that edge is on there to stay. You can cut the head off a nail with it. Okay? You can cut the head off a nail with it. That's the way stubborn people are. It takes a long time to get them right. But once they're right, boy, they're in for the duration. Nobody's going to change their mind. But God will give you... See, you're unique. You're unique. Each one of you is unique. Scientists tell us that all of our fingerprints are different. Well, then how much your whole personality differs from every other person that's ever been born. And God knew you from the beginning of the world. He says, I want that one in my priesthood because you are going to be... What shall I call it? The womb or the matrix or the mold out of which uncounted numbers of people are going to come. And when you're making a mold for something that's going to be used, you don't make it out of ordinary steel. You make it out of tool steel. And you make it to precise dimensions because a lot of pieces are going to be made from that mold. So God is going to work with you day and night, night and day. Why? To get you saved? No, you're already saved. To get you to go to heaven? No, you're already on your way to heaven. That's done. That's assumed. The issue is to make you something that God can use to be a covenant with people so they can see it in you and hear it in you and feel it in you. And God will give you a love for them and it will break your heart. Oh, you wait until that happens. You'll see what I'm talking about. It will break your heart. I'm not talking about human love. I'm talking about the love of Christ that passes. You just can't get a hold of it. It's internal. It's powerful. And it'll be directed toward the people that God has in mind for you to influence. And they'll feel it because it's love that always produces. Love is the primary creative power in the world. People don't need lectures. They need to feel the love of Christ in somebody touching them. Then they know they're home. It's a feeling of being home. But you see, God had a rebellion in heaven and so He can't just take you, bring you into the world and use you. He's got to take you and beat the atom out of you and put Christ into you because people don't need to hear your atom. They don't need to put up with your civilian noise. Okay? They need Jesus. Sirs, we would see Jesus. Tony, that's what the Greeks said. Sirs, we would see Jesus. We're not interested in you. You smell of fish. We would see Jesus. I'll tell you where all this is in the Bible. That'll help, won't it? Isaiah 60. All Isaiah is about the servant of the Lord. This is about the servant of the Lord too. It's just a few chapters down the road. And here you'll see the difference between the priesthood. Some of you are going to sleep. You'll see here the difference between the priesthood and the rest of the world. They're not all lost. Thank God if they were all lost and we're stuck up in heaven in our mansion and we can't be a priest over one another, that's forbidden. So there we are. We're ready to rule and nobody to rule. How many know we're going to rule and reign with Jesus? That's not correct. Either one or the other. Either you're going to rule with Jesus or reign with Jesus. Not both. Okay? Which do you want to do? How many say we're going to rule with Jesus? Does the Bible say we're going to rule with Jesus? Does it? Who are we going to rule? Are we going to rule one another? We'll take turns. I'll rule Mark over Jim and he'll rule me. We'll take turns. Put my little crown on, I'll get my little scepter. Mark! Mush! Oh, worse yet, I'll break out my rod of iron. Bong! No, no. You're going to rule the nations. I never thought of that. Neither did Roberta's Forum. Isaiah 60. Arise, shine for your light has come. It hasn't come yet, but it's not far off, I don't think. And the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. And you are the servant of the Lord, the body of Christ. Okay? For behold, darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples. And that's on the way. Boy, that's on the horizon. Whoa! We're probably farther in than we know. But the Lord will rise on you. See, where sin abounds, grace does much more abound. The wheat and the tares. Sure, darkness coming on the people, but light's coming on you. And nations, nations, will come to your light, not to God, to your light. Now, I ask you, are you awake? Yes, we are awake. To a man, we are awake. And one little girl. Alright, now, the Lord will rise on you. Nations will come to your light. Now, who is your light? Members of the body of Christ. And then where else the light of God is going to come? On Christ and His body. But here, is this talking about lost nations that are going to come? Or saved nations that are going to come? Well, it says right here, April's looking at me like it's from another planet. Alright, now, look. Nations will come to your light. You said that your is God's Israel. Christ and all are a part of Him, whether Jew or Gentile. Okay. But who are these nations? Are they saved nations? Or lost nations? They're not lost. You remember in John 17, 23, that you may be one in us. You remember the rest of it? Oh, you don't remember that? John 17, 23. What have you been reading? That you may be one in us, that the world may believe. The reason we're made one in God is so the world may believe. God wants to save the world. How many know the verse says, God so loved the church that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish. Is that what it says? Is that what it says? You weren't listening, were you? I said, for God so loved the church that He gave His only begotten Son. Is that what it says? God so loved the world. God loves the world. He's not interested in putting everybody in the lake of fire. Okay. Are some going to be? Yes. Unfortunately, there will be some put in the lake of fire. But it was not prepared for man. It was prepared for the devil and his angels. Okay. So God has no intention of putting 99% of mankind in the lake of fire. It is not going to happen. They're going to come to you. They're going to come to you. Why? Because you are the covenant. Because they can't see God. They can't see Christ. They'll have to see Him in you. That's what the Bible says. They will come to you. When the light comes, they will come to you. Alright. His glory and kings to the brightness of your rising. We see another place in Isaiah. It says the kings will bring their glory into it. The kingdom and nation that will not serve you will perish. Lift up your eyes round about and see they all gather together and come to you. Your sons will come from afar and your daughters will be carrying the light. Your inheritance is people. People. Sons and daughters. The unsaved are going to bring their families to be blessed of God just like they brought the children to Jesus. All the mothers wanted Jesus to touch their children. When they see the glory of God on you, they're going to bring their sons and daughters so you'll touch them. It won't be you. It will be Christ in you. But nonetheless, you will be the vehicle there. And your daughters will be carried in the arms. Then you will see and be radiant. Why? Because this is your inheritance. I mean, if they brought you a harp and golden slippers and two tons of diamonds, your heart wouldn't be radiant. You wouldn't be radiant over that. But sons and daughters? Whoa! Your heart will thrill and rejoice. I told you you got some good stuff coming. Because the abundance of the sea, the sea there means people, mankind, will be turned to you. The wealth of the nations will come to you. And it says that in Revelation 21. It says they bring the honor and glory of the nations or something to that effect. In verse 24, what does it say? The nations of them which are saved shall... Oh, hey. Revelation 21, 24. Huh? Well, it's in the Bible. The nations shall walk by its light. All right. Now, didn't Jesus say, you are the light of the world? Or did he say, you are the light of heaven? Or what did he say? Okay. So that's where it's fulfilled. Here's the city. The glory of God is on it. It doesn't need any sun to light it by day or moon, by night. It's all lit by the glory of God. And all the nations of the earth are walking by that light. And so the scriptures fulfill, you are the light of the world. And the nations come and bring their honor and glory into it according to Isaiah 60. The same chapter. Chapter 60, about verse 12. The kingdom and nation that will not serve you will perish. Zechariah 14, it says, Any nation that does not come up to Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Tabernacles, on them there will be no rain. And the nations keep the Feast of Tabernacles by coming up and celebrating the fact that God is dwelling in His people. That's the only way the nations can keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And if they don't come up to be blessed by the church, there'll be no rain on them. And it's talking about Egypt. And boy, if there's no rain whatever on Egypt, it's already drier than anything could ever be. And they'd really be done in. That's Zechariah 14. So the Bible is clear. Now I told you it was red. Okay? It will completely change the way you think of yourself and you think of your destiny. If you think of yourself as dying and going to heaven, doing you know not what, that's one concept. But if you think of each day you're being prepared by the Lord to nourish and bless people in the future on the earth, on this earth during the thousand years and on the new earth after this earth leaves, your inheritances, people, you're going to be happy campers. So make sure that as God challenges you each day with a temptation to your fleshly nature that you are very diligent. Take it to the Lord. Get the victory that day. And if you'll do that until the Lord comes, just keep on getting the victory. You're going to grow. You're going to become a covenant. And when the Lord comes, according to Daniel 12, you will shine as the stars forever. They who turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars forever. God's word is so great. He said to Abraham, look at the stars, so shall your seed be. Didn't he? Now look at the way that's being fulfilled. Every Christian is the seed of Abraham. And that's going to stretch on into eternity. Look at the seed of Abraham. That's what God means when he says something. It's fulfilled to a degree you can't even grasp. Remember in the visions of Annie, there's boxes of treasures. Smokey now, being born in a manger. All of these things shall come to pass for you. To a degree you can't even comprehend. So be utterly faithful. Take advantage of the days you have on the earth, whether they're long, many or few. Learn your lessons. You've got all eternity. Okay? Shall we stand? Praise the Lord. Can you say praise the Lord? Hallelujah. If there's something that you're challenged with right now, something that you're struggling with, why don't you tell Jesus to take that thing right now. Tell him it's history in your life. It isn't worth selling your birthright for some miserable thing in this world. Take it to him. Tell him, Lord, by your power, get this fleshly thing out of me. Don't want to miss out on the glory, the inheritance. Trade it like Esau did. Father, we come unto you tonight with thanksgiving and praise. Father, we know you love to work in mangers. You love to work in down homes. Simple, plain things. But Lord, let's remember that the king of glory was born in a barn. Who could have believed to see the little baby? That one day he would be Lord of heaven and earth and uphold the creation by the word of his power. Now help us, Lord, to remember that's the way your word is. You test us, Lord, but we know the promises are fantastic. Fantastic. So, Lord, give us a faithful heart. A holy heart. Whatever trouble tonight, lift from them, Lord. The challenge of the flesh. The animal. Lord, get it out of us. Fill us with Christ tonight. Our minds and our hearts. That we may be a covenant of God with mankind. May it bless many people in our pilgrimage, Lord. Thank you, Father. For Jesus. And I pray, Father, for each one of us as we go that this year, 98, will be a time to serve Jesus. A time to serve Jesus. Serving Jesus in 98. Lord, make it our theme, our consciousness that we'll be serving Jesus as never before. Keep us safe. Bless our homes. Give us a good night's sleep, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen.