In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of growing in the ways of the church and being ready to bear fruit for God. They highlight the idea that God gently leads those who are with young, guiding them to love and serve others. The speaker also emphasizes the humanity of Jesus, highlighting his experiences of tiredness, hunger, and weakness. They explain that Jesus had deep love for his apostles, as seen in the scriptures, and that love should be the ultimate goal for believers. The sermon concludes with a reminder that self-control is the starting point, leading to love as the top rung of the ladder. The speaker references Psalm 2 and 1 Peter 1:11 to emphasize the importance of serving the Lord with fear and taking refuge in him.

Now, I felt this morning and I feel again tonight that we should go into the Psalms. We finished the first Psalm this morning. I don't say we're going to go all the way through the Psalm. Take it one meeting at a time. So, we'll go into the second Psalm and see what we're doing. Why do the nations, this is Psalms 2.1, why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? Now, we're going to have to realize that, that all this uproar in the Arab world and in all the things, if it gets to be China and Russia or whatever, they plot in vain because it's God who determines the outcome. I read that once in a student of war, a teacher of war, and he said, you can do everything right, but the battle, he said the will of the warrior is extremely important. But he said, what will happen in a battle is some chance thing will come up and it will affect the whole thing. And that's where God steps in. Just at the right or wrong moment, there's a dust storm or thunderclap or like in the Charge of the Light Brigade, somebody gets their signals crossed or something, and it will determine the outcome of the battle. So, that's why it says, the question is asked, why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? In other words, you think eventually they would understand that God is in control. But we have nothing to worry about. In our country, we're being given a heads up. That's exactly what's happened. God is sick and tired of the sin and he is allowing us to get a wake up call. I see a lot of good coming from it. I know there's going to be a lot of good coming from it. So, God wants us to be on his side. By that I mean that we are looking up at all times praising God no matter what happens because good will come from it. All things work together for those who love God and that is going to happen. If we are serving God and doing his will, then everything that happens is going to work for good and it cannot be otherwise. So, we have nothing to fear except sin. We have nothing to fear except disobeying God. We have nothing to fear except being carried away by the things of the world. We have nothing to fear from nature or from the enemy or anything else. Just sin and that we're not doing God's will. That should be our fear. The people in the last days will fall away according to the Bible, not because of tribulation, but because of temptation. As so many Americans have in our time, pastors, people have fallen away. You would be amazed at the incidences of men leaving their wives and husbands, wives leaving their husbands. I mean people that have been serving God and they just get overtaken in a delusion and off they go. It's common in our day. So, we have to be very careful to pray and read our Bibles and stay with it because I've noticed when those delusions hit people, there is no reasoning with them. They just do illogical things and you can't reason with them because it's a delusion that comes on them and they're not themselves anymore. And you can't do much more than pray. So, these are the days for this kind of thing and there's no reasoning about it. It's purely spiritual and it happens. It happens even with Christians, even with Christians of fairly long standing. So, we have to be careful to pray and to really walk with the Lord. And sometimes He brings us through very difficult things. Sometimes we feel, Audrey and I feel like we're walking through a minefield. The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against His anointed one. And so it is that in the Muslim religion, without disparaging the people in any manner, their Koran teaches them to kill Christians and Jews. It does. They're the infidels and if they don't convert, then their lives are in danger. And that's taught in the Koran. It's not a peaceful book. They can talk about peace all they want to. They ought to read their book and see what it says. And it advocates torture and violence, unless you accept the Muslim religion. But their hope is to overcome the world with the Muslim religion. That's what they're after. It's worldwide unity of religion. It isn't going to happen. It is not going to happen. God will use them to chastise His people. And when God's got His church the way He wants it, they'll just fade away. That's what it's telling us here. Let us break their chains, they say, and throw off their fetters. The one enthroned in heaven laughs. Laughs. God wants you to laugh with Him. Don't get bogged down with the wickedness that you're going to see and the perversity that you're going to see. Don't get bogged down with it. Laugh with God. God laughs. What a funny response. You'd think God would be all upset and angry. Why is God not upset and angry? He knows the outcome. Well, sure, He's an absolute power. So He doesn't fret. He doesn't get concerned in that way. The first thing He does is laugh. Look at those people scurrying around. They're going to cast off. I'll snap my fingers and a million of them will pass out. That's ridiculous. But when God gets through laughing, the Lord scoffs at them. Look how foolishly they do, thinking they've got power. And they're all dust and the least little thing and they're gone. Then He rebukes them in His anger. You see how God controls His emotions? As He is making us in the image of Christ, He wants us to learn that. It's not easy. When we're first saved or before we're saved, we're kind of an undifferentiated mass of emotions. They actually control us. But God controls His emotions. He has His wrath and He has that over here in this area. And He has His humor in this area. And He has His compassion in this area. And His thoughtfulness in this area. And He draws on them as the occasion warrants. And that's the way He wants us. You say, oh, could a Christian be really angry? God can develop in us His own anger because we're going to be fighting the battle of Armageddon and that is a genuine battle. God wants to develop in us His own sense of humor. His own peace. All these things that we draw upon as we're following Christ according to what is appropriate. There's times when we get mad when it's not appropriate. Isn't that true? Well, that means we've lost our self-control. Our emotions are governing us. God wants our anger under control. He wants our love under control. He wants all the things that we have in us under the control of Christ so that we know as we follow the Lord, now it's time for this. And now it's time for that. And now it's time for this. And we're not driven about. Now, that's maturity. But we don't get that right away. Now, Jesus is a lot of things. Two things that are in stark contrast is the Lion of Judah and the Lamb. Now, there's a big difference between a lion and a lamb. Now, during the thousand-year Kingdom Age, it tells us that these animals will dwell together in peace. But that does not mean that the lion is a tame animal. And it doesn't mean that the lamb is a wild animal. It means that a little child leads them. And God wants us to be little children to enter the Kingdom. But He also wants to develop in us the lion because that's part of the image of Christ. You see, it's the lion that's the conqueror. And we have to be conquerors. To really achieve the inheritance that God has for us, we have to overcome. Lambs don't overcome. Lions overcome. So, that lion has to be developed. But it's to be under the leading of a little child. Now, the lamb must be developed. And that's God's favorite personality that God loves. But God created lions and God created lambs. And we're being made in that image. And so, there will be in us when we're fully mature, the wild animal and the domestic animal. That may surprise you. There's two other animals that will be in us. Do you know what they are? It's the ox and the eagle. Because when it comes to bearing burdens, lambs and lions don't have it. You've got to have an ox. And God, it says daily, bears our burdens for us. Some people in the church are just naturally good at this. Boy, you can hardly give them enough to do. They'll take on anything. They're just used to it. Others have got so much ego in them that you can't harness them. They're off and running. But God doesn't want us to be oxen to the place where we can't soar like the eagle. But when it comes time to overcome, it's not the eagle or the ox that's going to do it or the lamb. It's the lion. Now, these are the four faces of the cherubim of glory and the four faces of man. Man has the lion, the eagle, the ox. And what's the fourth one? The man. Because that is the relationship. That's how we see these other three animals. Love is not as important to them as it is to us. And God is love. So, all of these things are being developed in us. And if we're low in the area of the lamb and we're all the time roaring around, then God's going to work on that. If we've got our heads stuck down in burdens all the time and we're all bowed down, He wants to give us the ability to fly a little. Let it go. Fly. Soar with God. Because He has that wild, independent nature of the eagle. God is not earthbound. So, all these things are being developed in us. But the reason I was talking about that is they all have to be under control. You don't want to be flying when you're supposed to be bearing burdens. And you don't want to be meek when you're supposed to be overcoming. And you don't want to be a lion when you're supposed to turn the other cheek and be meek. But see, we have to know. We have to know when to turn the other cheek. We have to know when to be the lion. We have to know when to be the eagle. So, it all boils down to walk humbly with your God. And then He'll show you. And you're in control of yourself. You don't lose your temper anymore. But you've got it there. You've got the wrath of God there in your personality that can roar when it has to. But it's under your control. All that's stored up in us against the day of wrath of God. Amen? God wants us under control. He rebukes them in His anger and terrifies them in His wrath. Now, we need to know this because we've had so much soup preached in America about how loving God is, we're losing the consuming fire. And so, the fear of God is out of the churches and the people tend to act sappy. Reverence for God. There's a time to be sappy and there's a time to be reverent. And we've got to know the day in which we're living now is a time of seriousness. This is not a time of high revelry. We've got a lot of people suffering in this country. And we need to look to our business. This is not a time to be prancing around. Can you agree with that? Yeah. So, we need to be serious when there's a time to be serious. It's not really comely or suitable for Christians to be having parties when the other half of the nation is afraid of anthrax. We've got to, you know, look up to the Lord and say, Lord, is it a time for frivolity? Or is it a time to be serious? You know what it says in Ecclesiastes? It's a time for war, a time for peace, a time to sow, a time to reap, a time to laugh, a time to cry. That's the way God wants us. So, we're not victimized by our personalities, but are doing what is appropriate because we know what the Lord wants. And we're not bound by our emotions. What do you think about that? Does that sound like something that you want? Sure you do. You don't want to behave inappropriately. No, none of us does. And He terrifies them in His wrath, saying, I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill. See, there was a revolution in heaven, and God did not declare Himself at that time. He created man, and then He put the Spirit of Christ in man, and then the Spirit of Christ in man spoke to these principalities and powers. And He's speaking to them now. He's speaking both to the nations and to the spirits that govern the nations. And He's saying, I have established my King, and this is it. You can forget about your competition up here with all the lords, because I have made up my mind. I have found one righteous. I have anointed Him with the oil of gladness. I have chosen Him. He is the King. And after He rose from the dead, He said, all authority in heaven and earth is given to Me. And ever since then, Satan has had to run on a lie, because his authority is gone. So, the only way Satan can get you is by playing with your mind and causing you to do things that you shouldn't do, through delusion and deception, playing on your lusts, going through the doors in your personality that are open, because the bottom line is, if you resist Him, He will flee. Why does He flee? Because Christ destroyed His authority on the cross. So, He can't really exercise anything against you. He has to play with your mind. He has to trick you. He can't stand against you in battle if you're in Jesus, because that was taken from Him on the cross. So, you're standing in the King. Yet have I set my King. He governs Satan, and you are finished. You're going to eventually bow the knee to Jesus. You better know it. So, all He can do is lie and convince and persuade and confuse us. But when we pray and know our Bible and know the will of God, Satan cannot harm us. I've been working with someone on the email about that thing. You know, because Satan does torment people at night and scare them and get on their bed and give them the feeling like they're losing their soul and all kinds of things. When that happens to you, turn over and go to sleep. He doesn't have that power. If you're not sinning or disobeying God, you can forget about haunted houses and everything else. He doesn't have that power. God has set His King on Zion, so Satan runs a bluff. He's been running it on the church for 2,000 years, and the church is afraid of Antichrist. Afraid of Antichrist. You know, it makes Jesus jealous. That's the way kings are. Oh, you want to serve that king? Well, go. That's the way kings are. That's not the way saviors are. But they go out and leave the 99 and rescue the little lamb that fell off the cliff. But kings are that way. And Jesus puts on His King hat when He wants to. Puts on His Savior's hat when He wants to. Puts on His healer's hat when He wants to. He does whatever the Father shows Him. And He wants us to be like that. To just have our self-control. That's the beginning of the fruit of the Spirit, isn't it? Well, you say, no, love is. No, you got on the wrong end. The beginning of it is self-control. It works up to love. Love is the top rung of the ladder. It begins with self-control. You don't have that, nothing else will work. Alright. I will proclaim the decree of the Lord. Now, who is saying this? Jesus is saying this. It's the Spirit of Christ, as it says in 1 Peter 1.11. The Spirit of Christ in David is speaking out and saying things that heaven needs to hear. The good spirits, the evil spirits, and mankind, everybody in the creation needs to hear this. That's why Moses would say, hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth. Everybody needs to hear this. Because the revelation of God is coming forth in the earth, not in heaven. This is where the Spirit of Christ is speaking. And he says, I will declare the decree of the Lord. In this case, the Lord is the Father. The Lord said unto my Lord. The Lord here is the Father. He's the Lord over the Lord. I will proclaim the decree of the Lord. Christ is saying, this is what He has said to me. Listen to it, heavens. Listen to it, O earth. This is what the Father has said to me. You are my Son. What was He before then? He was the Word. In the beginning was the Word. He did not start off as the Son of God. He started off as the Word, the expression. In the Greek, the logos, which does not mean a written word or a spoken word. The logos means the expression. God, the inscrutable God, brought forth from Himself, or out from Himself, or however the process was, in a time called the beginning, which is not the beginning of God, by the way. God has no beginning. There's no beginning with God. But at the beginning that God is going to tell us about, what began everything was the logos. So it came out from God, the expression of God, before there was any angel, before there was anything. In the beginning was this that came out from God, and before that was God, and there was no beginning with God. No beginning. And are He, in the Greek, and are He the logos? In the beginning, when God began, out from Him came the logos. And then through the logos, God created all of the angels, Satan himself, cherubim, seraphim, Melchizedekian priesthood, and orders of which we know nothing, they came forth through Jesus Christ. As God moved on Him, they came forth through the logos. But you see, there was no... The logos was there. He had everything. He was the expression of God and the creator of all things. But His joy was not complete. Do you know why? No one to fellowship with. He's different from the angels. Angels do not have souls. That makes them different from us. They have intelligence. They can speak, they can think, but they have no souls. They have a will, but they have no souls. God has a soul. Christ has a soul. We have souls. And here we have the great creator, and He created all these things, but there was none like Him. But God knew that this would eventuate. And so God said, I'm going to bring you into a different relationship. You are my son. Son. What does that mean? I don't know, because there's no sons at that time, except in a general sense in which the angels were called sons. You are my son. And then He said something. Today, today have I begotten you. Whoa, what a mystery. What a thing to say to the lovers. What does this mean? How many know what that day was? Were the days in three parts. Stan knows. When was he first called the Son of God? He was baptized by John the Baptist. That was the second time. The angel said to his mirror, remember that holy thing that shall be born in thee? Shall be called the Son of God. Remember that? First time. Today have I begotten thee. Second time, the Holy Spirit came upon him when he was baptized in water, and He said, this is my beloved son. Hear him. Today have I begotten thee. When was the third time? No, I don't think he's called the Son of God there, was he? Was he? Okay, that's part of the second one. But there's a third one. See, we go through the same three things. It's in the first chapter of Romans. He was declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection. And you see, to be a Son of God, we have to go through these three things. Because we're being made like Him. We are His little brothers. We have to be born of a woman. We have to be born of God. And then we have to be raised from the dead. And you remember in Romans 8, around 21, it says, I'm groaning for the adoption to wit, the redemption of the body. So, God gives birth to us through a woman. God gives birth to us through His own nature. And then God adopts our body. And then we're a Son of God. Then we're a brother of Jesus. Today, see, there's a point of time. Today. God doesn't exist in time. He's talking now of something that He's doing in the physical world. And I'll tell you something that the church is not aware of. The physical world is a better world than the spirit world. See, we tend to think the opposite. But where's the first... As soon as Satan got kicked out of around the throne of God, where did he come? When God spoke to Satan in the book of Job, He asked Satan where he'd been. What does Satan say? Walking up and down in the earth where the coals of fire are. The coals of fire are human beings. You walk up and down in the midst of the coals of fire. It doesn't say it's in Ezekiel, I think, but in Job. I walk to and fro throughout the earth. Why? It's a better realm. See, we want to go to die and go to heaven. Well, why? Because we're... Listen, when you're the age of Audrey and me in June, you'll know why. There won't be any doubt left in your mind why we want to go to heaven. We just want to feel better. And get rid of our problems. And be in a place of perfect peace and joy. Doesn't that sound good to you? Well, that's what it's like in the spirit realm. If you're in the right part of the spirit realm. It's a place of absolute peace and joy and ecstasy. I'm going now not on what I read in the Bible, but on the testimony of people who've had near-death experiences. They don't want to come back. There's no gravity, you know. And gravity doesn't give us all our pains. It's just wonderful. You say, well, you can stay on the ground. Yes, you can stay on the ground. How? What? You're a spirit. That's why you can be wherever you want to be. Wonderful, isn't it? Pretty soon you'll be wishing you were back on the earth. Because that's the way we're made. You miss the trees. And you miss the people. And you miss the clouds. And you miss the rain. And you miss the seasons. And you miss all that's here. Because this is where we're made. We were made from the earth. We'd like a little relief, thank you very much. But you see, we're made in the image of God. We're creators. Okay? Like our Father. We're just like our Father. We're creators. We're made to love. We're made for relationships. We're made to carry burdens, solve problems, and work. How would you like to go for eternity with nothing to do? How long do you think you'd last up there with no problems? Not even the weather. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Going out to see your friends. How are you today? Like I always am. And like I've been for the last 5,000 years. Don't you get older? No. Well, what do you do? I'm waiting. What are you waiting for? I'm waiting to go back to the earth if you don't mind. Don't you see that? In Revelation, we are kings and we will rule on the earth. You see that? You see that longing? That's where we're made for. That's what we're made for, is the earth. In the final wind-up in Revelation, where are people going to be? On the new earth. That's what we're made to be. You wouldn't like it any other place. You want to fly around like an angel or walk on a sea of glass? No, you don't want that. You'll be fine for a while. Just let me rest, Lord. I'd like to rest for a while if that's okay with you. But when I'm rested, I know myself. Then when I feel better, then I must say, well, what's doing around here? What is there to do? There's got to be something to do. John, if there's nothing to do, things get boring. Do you ever been bored, John, with nothing to do? Well, you see what I'm saying? He's bringing in something new. A new relationship. It's not the Father and the Word. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was toward God. It was toward God. And the Word was God. Same was in the beginning with God. Here you've got God and the Word. Now, he says, I'll declare the decree. I'm going to tell you something. The Lord, my Father spoke to me. The Almighty God spoke to me, and He said, you are my Son. This day I've begotten you. Now you're going to be more than being the expression of my person. You're going to be related to me as a father is to a son. Well, what is that? Well, we'll see today. Call the Son of God to marry. Call the Son of God by the God speaking out of the cloud. Call the Son of God, declared to be the Son of God by the resurrection from the dead today. We're entering into a thing called time. It does not exist with God. God's in the past, present, and future all at once. But God has instituted time here today. Today. Do you ever stop to think what time is? They say it's determined by the beating of our heart. That's why we have a sense of time. Do you ever wonder about rhythm? Do you feel rhythm within yourself? Do you ever try to understand what that is? Pretty hard to define. Pretty hard to analyze, to understand. What is it in us that makes us feel rhythm or time or sense of time? They say it's our heart. It's rhythmical and gives us a sense of now and yesterday and today. But it's a mysterious thing. It really is. But God is not bound with it. It's all the same to Him. Future, past, present. But now we're talking about time. Today. Today, I have become your Father. Whoa! Which of the angels did God say at any time? Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. Where's that quoted in the New Testament? Hebrews. First chapter of Hebrews. That's why He's greater than the angels. He has by inheritance obtained a better name than they. Not because He created them, but because He was given the name of Son. Guess what name you've been given? Son. As many as received Him, to them gave He authority to be the children of God. It's a wonderful thing. That was never said to any angel ever at any time. That's why the little child dying in some impoverished area of the world has a capacity for God that no cherub has. Not Satan himself. No Lord of glory has that. Only man. Marvelous thing. There's more marvels here yet. God said to the Logos, a.k.a. Son, ask of me. Now here's a wonderful thing. Here is the new Son praying to the Father. Ask of me. You know, the best prayers you'll ever pray are those that God tells you to pray. Sometimes prayer, when people are learning to pray, it's more like it's a chore, they do it, they know they're supposed to do it, and they're glad when it's over. But when you stay with prayer long enough, you enter into another realm. Prayer becomes not just a case of beseeching God to do something, but interacting with God and listening to God. And you can call it like taking up your parable. You kind of stir up this gift of prayer that you have. And it's delightful. It's delightful. Your time of prayer becomes the best time of your day, and you begin to look forward to it because it just isn't a case of doing your duty. Now I've got to pray. Well, let's see how. I've got to pray for a half an hour. All right, so I'll pray for a half an hour. Let's see. Okay, well, I'm praying. I'm praying. Well, now let's see. It's got to be about 15 minutes anyway. Two minutes. But when you get to where you stir up, you learn to stir up the prayer. I mean, hours go by because it's so delightful to pray that interaction with the Lord. And the reason is, is because the Holy Spirit's telling you what to pray for. And it becomes kind of like a dance. And you can tell when you're prayed through. When you're prayed through, you can't pray for it anymore. So that's a wonderful thing. And it keeps you going. So there's all kinds of delights in prayer. But it takes some working to get that experience in prayer, like it does any other valuable thing that you want to accomplish. But God, when God puts it in your heart to ask for something, that's the best prayer you'll ever pray. And so when He said to the Son, when the Father said to the Son, Son, I want you to pray for something. Okay? How wonderful. How wonderful when God puts it in your heart to ask for something. And when He does, I don't care how staggering it is, pray for it. Don't say, oh, I'm not worthy. I'm not worthy to pray about this, Lord. Or you're too busy. Or this is too great. Or this is just little old me. And I'm not a great apostle. And blah, blah, blah. And keep it up until God goes to somebody else. I'm telling you, you can lose. I saw a guy lose his ministry. God had it all laid out for him. And he fiddled around, fooled around, and he lost it. And God went to someone else. So, He doesn't do that instantly. I mean, He's not looking to see who He can outwit. But you want to be careful. And when God tells you to pray for something, and that burden is in you to pray for it, you get in. I don't care how great. God might put something in your heart and say, oh, I'm going to give you a great gift, and you're going to go to the Arab nation, and they're all going to be converted to Christianity. It could happen. It would be nothing to God to do that. And He might do it for you. Look what He did for the apostle Paul. Man, He explained the whole ball of wax to Paul all by Himself. Paul said, I heard stuff I'm not permitted to say. He said plenty as it was. But one guy. And it's changed the history of the world. One guy. Because the gospel in the early days went up into Russia and all over the place. One guy wrote those things. God does those kind of things. And if He puts it in your heart and says, I want you to... I'm going to use you in a great way. I need to be careful. I know we can get deceived and everything with delusions of grandeur. I know that. So, I'll offer that as a caution. God tells you you're going to be the great prophet in the church and everybody's supposed to stop and listen to you. Better check it out with the elders. And if it's true, we'll witness to it. And you can do it. Nobody's afraid around here of somebody getting ahead of them. We just want you to be sure that you've got the real stuff. So, granted that disclaimer, God might tell you to some young person, I'm going to use you in a tremendous way. In India or God knows where. They'll say, oh, well, are you sure? You remember like Moses? I can't speak. I'm not really learned. And I haven't been to Bible school. And my parents are the least in the church. And so on and on and on. Take it when it comes. Pray. Ask. Say, I believe. Even when you don't, say, I believe. Just say it. And God will go by your words. Yes, He will. He'll go by your words. He'll tell you someday, well, you said you believed, didn't you? See? So, say it. Say, I believe it, Lord. And He'll catch up with you eventually. Don't be afraid. Our God is a great God. And we limit Him by our experience. Oh, I'm 70 years old. God can't use me anymore. I'm sold. He'll never use anybody as old as me. Or as young as me. Or as homely as I am. Or whatever. Don't do it. Listen to Him. He loves that. Say, boy, I can come to Him or I can tell Him anything. They'll believe it. Be a friend of God. And He told them great things here. He said, ask Me. Just ask Me. And Jesus, what, what, what? Tell Me what to ask You. I'll ask You. That's the way He does everything. I will make the nations Your inheritance. You're talking now to the Word of God. It was the Word of God at one time. This was the one that liked to come down on top of Mount Sinai and scare everybody to death. Don't you dare come near here. Don't let a cow come near here. If they do, spear them. I'm God. Don't you know that? Boom! Go the Roman candles. Whole mountains shaking. They're blowing trumpets way too loud. That's Jesus. That is not the way you inherit nations. It's by scaring them to death. A lot of dictators tried that. They can get your body, but they can't get your heart. And it's no good making people your slaves when they don't love you. So now something's in the offing here. And it is awesome. I use the word once. Awesome. Twice. Wonderful. Marvelous. Because what is He going to do to this mountain shaker so that He can inherit these nations? A lot of times when God tells you something, you don't know how it's going to work out. Like He said to Jeremiah, I'm going to, you're going to tear down nations and build up nations. Before he got through it, Jeremiah, Jeremiah was cursing the day he was born. That was a rough go, tearing down nations. So the Son, aka the Word, He didn't know what this entailed. God said to him, you ask me and I'm going to give you the nations for your inheritance. This great unwashed mass of rebellious people. I'm going to give you the nations for your inheritance. And not only that, but the farthest reaches of the earth is Christ's inheritance. And the nations are His inheritance. Well, you would think he'd say, son, my new son, I'm going to give you heaven for your inheritance. And all the angels. You're going to be able to soar from planet to planet. You're going to go up so far out of sight, nobody will be able to see you for three million years. You're going to inherit. You know, that's what people got in their mind. I read that once in the Pentecostal evangel. This guy says, oh, we're going to inherit the planets. He's all anxious to get up there in the planets. Well, some of them are coal, you know. And most of them are so big, or many of them are so big, that you'd probably weigh about 4,000 pounds up there and hardly be able to get around. He's going to inherit all these planets. We got this in our mind. You know why? We like novelty and inherit people. The nations. Come on, you can do better than that. How about a backyard full of diamonds? I get my golden shoes and my backyard full of diamonds, and I'm home free. You're going to give me the great unwashed. Hoi polloi. The people. And the farthest reaches of the earth. But I want to go to heaven. No, the farthest reaches of the earth. The earth and people. You know what? You may not like this, but we are co-heirs with Christ. Guess what we're going to inherit. How many could guess what we're going to inherit? The great unwashed and the farthest reaches of the earth. I don't want that. Well, I didn't want it either. I didn't want it either. I was very interested in theology and the death root and the covenants and the feast of the Lord and the tabernacle of the congregation. And a friend of mine approached me when I was tired and he said, I'm going over to Iceland. Would you like to go with me? And I thought, well, I'm tired. I'll do anything to rest. So Ole Oleson and I went over to Iceland and when we got there, Lord, whoa. I mean, God gave me such a love for those people. I could hardly stand it. And the first night I was up and I'm a proud person. You've got to realize I've never been accused of being humble. And I was I'm I'm standing up in the church trying to do my best GI posture. And it was too much for me. I look at those people. I bawl like a baby. And I said, I said, this is what I said. You show you my pride, Andrew. I said, I'm not homesick. I don't want to think I'm homesick, you know, because I'm in Iceland. And I'm going, oh, what an experience that was. I never quite recovered from it. But I did see then I saw where the inheritance was. And I saw that it was better to inherit one person than 10,000 heavens. I mean, I got the message big time. And so here's Christ and he has inherited the best possible inheritance. Which is people. And he said, you know what? In the 53rd chapter of Isaiah, he said, I'm going to divide the spoil with the strong, with the strong. And he's got these people that he loves with an intensity that we couldn't bear at this time, maybe someday. And he said, you know, I'm going to share them with you. I'm going to love them through you. And when that glory comes upon you, as it says in Isaiah 60, they'll come to you. And you'll have your inheritance and you'll have it on a new earth that's so much bigger than this earth that there's room for everybody and a spare. But you see, the root to this was to be made helpless. And so the Word, the Creator, now the Son of God, was born as a baby. There is no figuring out the Father. He just does things in his own way. Have you found that out? He does things in his own way. So here's this little helpless baby, you know, like the little one over here. What's her name? Something Joy. Destiny Joy or Hannah May or India May. Just a little baby. Here's Mary walking around with the God of Sinai in her hands. The God of Sinai in her hands. Why? Because God was creating people and he was bringing Jesus into relationship to them. Not as a thunderer, but as someone who could appreciate what it feels like to be a person. And he got it all. It says he was tempted in all points as we are. I love, you know, they brought to him the woman caught in adultery. Well, here comes the religious people. Are they going to catch the Lord? Because they knew he was tenderhearted. So they bring this poor thing and she comes. What's going to happen now? What is going to happen to me? Poor female. And all the Pharisees are standing around. Now we're going to see what this guy does. We'll catch him one way or the other. If he lets her go, we've got him. If he does something, we've got him. We've got him coming and going. Because they had the letter of the law. The law says stone him. But something else is working here. The one who gave the law. And he wrote in the ground. He was writing the law in the ground. And then he said, he that has no sin, he throw the first stone. He has divine wisdom. He can't cope with that. And the poor thing's standing there. And he reached down again. He wrote, this time he wrote the new covenant. Neither do I condemn you. Just knock it off and behave yourself. Go on. This is not the God of Sinai. This is the baby that was born and grew up with brothers and sisters. A father and a mother. He knew what it was like to be tired and hot and hungry and weak. Jesus. And God gave him such love for his apostles. Unbelievable. You have to feel it. And then you read between the lines in John 14, 15, 16, and 17. And you can see what he meant. You know, we read, in my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, then where I am, there you may be. So he said, oh good, we're all going to a nice house in heaven. We missed the whole point. What love was saying was, that where I am, I want you with me. Then he says in John 16, a woman when she is in her veil has sorrow, but when the child is born, she forgets all about it. Because a child is born. She's feeling all these things that people feel. And he said, you'll see me again. You'll see me again. Don't worry about it, guys. You'll see me again. It broke his heart to leave them, but he had to trust in God and do what he did. I go to prepare a place. And he went to the cross so that they could be in him forever. And he could be in them forever. Here's my flesh. Eat it. That's not the word saying that. That's the son saying that. That's the man born of a woman 33 years old. Here's my blood. Drink it. Here's my flesh. Eat it. Become part of me. Become part of me. You don't have the faintest idea of the love I have for you. And that's how you inherit nations. And so when God gets us ready for fruit bearing, what he does is he wounds us. So when you get ready to graft something into a tree, you have to wound the tree. You have to cut it. And so you've got the slip or the branch, whatever it is you're going to graft into that stock. And it's got a raw place on it. And the stock has a raw place on it. And you press them together. Sometimes you use wax. You bind them around with twine until the life from the stock begins to flow into that grafted in slip, whatever it is. That's what he's going to do to you. You'll see. You'll be all proud of your knowledge and not the trotting. But there'll come a day when God is ready to cause you to bear fruit. And when that day comes, he will wound you. He will wound you. That's why Christ, the spear pierced his side. It was symbolic of the fact that there had to be a way made into Jesus. And so there is a raw spot in the Son of God. There's a raw spot in you. And then the two are pushed together. Then you become a branch out of the vine. Before that, you're a good religious person, faithful, diligent. And God sees that you're ready to be grafted, graft you into the stock. From then on, you understand what it's all about. It's not about doctrine. It's not about knowledge. It's not about theology. It's about love and love alone the world was made for. And that love is so tremendous that could we feel just the faintest part of it, we would weep ourselves to death. But that's what God brings forth children and puppies in that love. And God, He says that the love wherewith you love me may be in them and I in them. And God wants to give us people. And so that love comes from the Father through Jesus to us out to that person. That's the kingdom of God. That's how it operates. And so the greatest thing in life is joy. But it's love that the end of all things is joy. The end of all of God's working is an eternity of joy in my presence is fullness of joy. That's the end. But a great part of that joy is love. Love for God, love for Jesus, love for people. That's the kingdom of God. Of the increase of His kingdom and of peace, there shall be no end. So God knew exactly what Christ would enjoy, what the Word would enjoy, what the Son would enjoy. And so in His infinite wisdom, He says, ask of me and I'll give you the nations. Because He knew what that would mean to Christ someday. And so now Christ has it all. He has it all. All flesh. As thou hast given Him authority over all flesh. That's in John 17. That He should give eternal life to as many as you give Him. And so that's it. It's a dance. We start off in the church and we learn the ways of the church and we grow up little by little and God looks to see who's ready. Who's ready to bear fruit? Who's ready to be a mother in Israel, so to speak? Who's ready for my love to flow through them so that they can lose their life in God and in other people? When He finds someone, He deals with us. You know, it says in Isaiah, He shall gently lead those who are with young. And pretty soon we realize, yeah, that's it. That's it. These are the people that you've given me, Lord. And you love them through me. That's the kingdom. And that's supreme joy. And that's the end of the matter. Hallelujah. Ask of me. And it wouldn't hurt to ask God that sometime. Just say, Lord, I'd like to see what that man's talking about. Or maybe you already know and I'm just rehearsing with you. Refreshing your pure mind on how God works. You'll rule them with an iron scepter. You will dash them to pieces like pottery. Isn't that what He said to us if we overcome? Revelation 2nd chapter. Him that overcometh will I grant to rule the nations. You say, well, how can I rule them and yet love them? I'll tell you how. Every school teacher finds out sooner or later. Until you've got the class under rule and discipline, you cannot love them. They're miserable. If you have a child that's disobedient, it's very hard to love that child. Is that right? Don't raise your hand. But when your child is finally obedient, then you're free to love that person. So, we'll have nations to rule. There are inheritance. But first, they must come under the rule of the rod of iron. But God will not give you a rod of iron over people until you love them. See, as a husband loves his wife and gives himself for her, we like to say, wives, obey your husbands. How many know that's good? That's Bible, isn't it? Wives, obey your husbands. Whatever you do, obey your husband. What? This clown, I'm supposed to obey him? This guy doesn't know as much as I do. I mean, this is a mess. But I didn't stop there. He says, as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her, that takes more strength than just grabbing your wife by the hair and dragging her into the cave. It takes more strength to get in a right relationship by giving yourself. That's the strong one who does that. And if your wife has to give herself for you, then she becomes the priest of the home. Because the stronger is the one who does the giving. Isn't that paradoxical? But isn't it like with Jesus? He loves the church and gave himself for her. He doesn't say, you do this and you do that. How many have the experience that the Lord is patient with you? Well, we ought to be patient with one another, right? Why? Because he loves us. He doesn't order us about harshly, does he? Very gently, giving himself for us. That takes strength. Therefore, you kings, be wise, be warned. You rulers of the earth, serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the son lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. So we have a great king. Yet have I set my king on my holy hill of Zion. But I'm going to make him a baby. And he's going to learn about love. And then I'm going to give him people. Shall we stand?