In this sermon, the preacher discusses the symbolic meaning of the number four in the Bible, which represents communication. He explains that God dwells between the cherubim, which are four-wheeled chariots. The preacher then addresses the question of how to live according to the Spirit, emphasizing the importance of starting the day off correctly and seeking guidance from the Lord in all aspects of life. He also mentions that there are specific ways to deal with sin and encourages the congregation to ask the Lord for guidance in even the smallest tasks. The sermon concludes with a prayer for blessings, protection, and the presence of Jesus in the lives of the listeners.

We give praise to you tonight as always Lord. Hallelujah. And you do so many wonderful things in our lives Lord. It's just fantastic and we are so thankful Lord, so thankful for all you do, all you have done, all you're going to do. We thank you for each family represented here Lord. I pray your hand of protection on them. Safety and health Lord. Blessings from the Lord. Grant it for each family represented here Lord. And as we continue, you know the needs of the heart, you know the needs of the future. And Lord we pray the Holy Spirit will add Jesus where Jesus is needed tonight. Grant that no one leaves without something from you Lord. Thank you in Jesus name. Amen. All right, we're going to start with Romans 8.29. Now what we're talking about here sounds far out, but it really isn't. It really is not. All we're talking about is that we're being made, we're destined to be made in the image of Christ. Now it says those whom God foreknew be predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son. Now you can take that a number of ways I guess, but the way I take it is full bore. It means just exactly that. I don't think it's going to be done in a hurry. Personally I don't think it's all done in this world. I think that it will will continue to grow. As I said before, the least significant thing that happens to us is physical death. Because I believe life goes on and I believe that our growth into the image of Christ will go on. And so we've been using the book of Ezekiel because in the first chapter it describes the outward image of the Lord, that to which we have been called, as fantastic as it may seem. And then in chapters 40 through 46 of Ezekiel, this will be on the tape, it describes the inward work that God has to do in us to make us in the image of Christ, because there are a lot more chapters devoted to the inward work, because it's the most important. And then in chapter 47 we find where all this is going. So that's all. It's no more profound or exciting than that. But it's kind of strange to us because I guess we figured that we would be just like we are now and we'd be up in heaven someplace, pretty much the way we are now. Well, the Lord Jesus Christ doesn't look like the way we are now. And so it doesn't say he's going to be changed into our image, because we're going to be changed into his image, and his image is that of God, of God Almighty. And the fact that it goes on to say that we're called to be his brothers means just that, that God is raising up a family of sons. So let's start with Ezekiel 1.16. We've covered the prior verses on preceding tapes. I guess we've been on this now for, it's probably about the fifth or sixth tape. Ezekiel 1.16, I mentioned that crystallite is called today what? Do you remember? Olivene. It's a construction material, Mike, that's added to cement and other refractories, that is materials that are built to withstand heat. A refractory is a material that's built to withstand heat without melting, without melting. Olivene is a substance added to cement and other building materials so they won't melt when they're subjected to heat. So this tells us that God wants to work in us until we can dwell in his fire without melting. You remember in Isaiah 33 it says, who among us will dwell with the devouring fire? And how many remember that Jesus said, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am there you may be also. Do you remember that? Do you remember where it is? John 14, the third verse. And if I go, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also. Now, we've just put together our tradition and said that means that he's in heaven so we'll be in heaven. But when we read in Ezekiel, we find that to be where Christ is, is to be in the fire of God without melting. That's what crystallite is, it's a material that's used, we don't use that term anymore, we call it olivine, but it's used to keep materials from melting under extreme heat. And the Bible says, in Hebrews, our God is a consuming fire. Well, if Jesus, we know, lives in the center of God's person, how many knows that? Do you know that, that Jesus lives? Then Jesus lives in the consuming fire. And he doesn't know. Okay, now he said that where I am, and notice that in John 14.3, he didn't say that where I will be. When you're dealing with Jesus, you're dealing with the I am of God. He always is. The Lord said to me one time, all there is, is now. Very profound statement. Just before I had a heart attack, because I'm a very stressful person, I tend to live in the future, and the Lord said, all there is, is now. Because see, tomorrow will be now when you get there. And the Lord dwells in the now. Moses said, what do I tell them your name is? He says, tell them my name is I am. I am. And when you draw that Hebrew term for I am, it means, Rotherham says, I am whatever I wish to be. I am. What is Christ? I am. I'm everything. I'm everything. You name it, I am it. You can't express majesty any greater than that expression, I am. Remember Jesus said to the Jews before Moses was, I am. That you may be with me where I am. Now that ability of Christ to always be in God, I'm not sure what the theological term, they use the term omnipresent. But the term I use for Christ's ability to be everywhere at once, is the power of multiple presence. That's what I call it. I made up that term. The power, the ability to have multiple presence. In other words, you can be present here, there, everywhere. You could be too if you could move at the speed of light. You could be everywhere at once. But we'll see later in Ezekiel, not just yet, that we're called to that same image. And so we will always be in the center of God. In the consuming fire. Always. Remember what his Toyota says, you get your hands on a Toyota, you'll never let it go. Well that's the way God is with his holy saints. Once he gets his hand on you, he'll never let you go. And you'll always be there in the center of God's person. See, you're being made part of the I am. Because you are the bride of the Lamb. And what he is, you are. And you're being made part of that. So you too will be able to go anywhere in the universe. See, that's what it's telling us about these four wheels. The four in the Bible represents communication. For example, the fourth furnishing of the tabernacle was the lampstand. On the fourth day of creation was the sun, moon, and stars. Four in the Bible represents communication. Four is the number of Pentecost. Pentecost is the fourth of seven feasts. It's number four. And when you ever see four, where the Bible is speaking symbolically, such as in Ezekiel's vision and in Revelation, it means communication. And what this is saying is that God dwells between the cherubim. And they are chariots. They are four-wheeled chariots. As I said the last time, there are two kinds of chariots. There are war chariots, which have two large wheels. So they're maneuverable. And then there are chariots that were used in processions. And for other purposes. And what they are, were, I don't use them anymore, they had four wheels. And they were light carriages. And this is a carriage we're looking at here. These four chrysalite wheels, sparkle like chrysalite, show the fire and light of God and his people. This is God. He dwells between the cherubim. Remember it says in Psalms 18, he did fly upon the cherubim. When God is moving, he flies on the cherubim. And that's what we're being made. We're not being made cherubim. They're a creature of part. Satan is a cherub. We're not being made cherubim. We are being made the brothers of Christ and the body of Christ and the wife of the Lamb. But we will dwell with Christ between the cherubim. See, that where I am, there you may be. And so like Christ, you will be dwelling in the fire of God. And God wants you fireproof. And he makes you fireproof by bringing you through the problems of life. And as you overcome through Jesus, it changes your nature from Adam, who is flammable. Adam is flammable. He's wood. Man is represented in the Bible by wood. In symbology, deity is represented by gold. And what fire does to gold is, do you know what it does? It purifies it. It purifies it. When you get gold ore, it has to be purified. And we have the gold of divinity in us because we're born of God. But it has to be purified in the fire. Now when that consuming fire attacks our personality, what does fire do to wood? It doesn't refine wood. Fire does not refine wood. It burns it away. And so as we dwell in the fire of God, that which is flammable, our Adamic nature decreases. And the divinity in us that was born of God is what? Purified. Purified. Purified. Seven times the Bible says, in a furnace of earth. The word of God is purified seven times in a furnace of earth. That where I am. Now Ezekiel, the first chapter, tells us where Christ is. And then the cherubim talk about the chariot of God that can move, run and return with a flash of lightning, but yet Christ remains stationary as it were. He's in those cherubim. He's in them. Just like he's here in this room. But he's also at the right hand of God. And if you stop to think of it, that's also true of us. Because it says in Colossians 3.1 that you are dead and your life is, present tense, is hidden with Christ in God. So as of right now, if you have reckoned yourself dead in water baptism and you have died on the cross with Christ, which is what water baptism means, then you already have the power of multiple presence. Because you are hidden in Christ, in God, according to Colossians 3 and the second chapter of Ephesians, but you are also here, here. So you already have the power of multiple presence. Now it says lift up your heads because your redemption draws near. Now when our redemption comes, we will be released from this body. It's this body that keeps us tied here. It's this body, through gravity, that keeps us tied on the earth. Now when your redemption comes, you won't be tied here anymore. You will be part of, you will be, you're being made a chariot for God to ride in. So that his presence can be anywhere in the creation where there is a need. And you see, you're being formed, each one of us is highly individual, highly unique. And we're being fashioned by the Lord in terms of people that haven't been born yet but are going to need the presence of God. And so you're being made that presence. And of course your Adamic nature is of no use. No use. God wants you to bring Christ to people. He wants you to bring his presence to people. He just, you can only bring, see we talk about bringing people to Christ. But what God wants is us to bring Christ to people. See you can be completely, you could be unsaved and bring someone to Christ. But you can't bring Christ to people until you're crucified and Christ is living in you. And then you can bring Christ to people. And that's God's plan. His plan is that you are God in Christ bringing God's life and healing and wisdom and rule and love to human beings that don't have it. You're being made the presence of God. You're being made the chariot of God in which he can ride. And that is why God deals with us so strenuously. Because when we bring our Adamic nature to people, we're bringing corruption to them. I don't care how religious you are, I don't care how learned you are in the Bible. When your Adamic nature is alive, that's what you're bringing to them. And you may be a dandy person, but that's not eternal life. Only Christ is eternal life. You can tell people about eternal life. And you can tell them to go to Jesus and get eternal life. And that's fine, that's great, cool. Way cool in fact. But how much better to bring the life to the people like the Apostle Paul did. And he kept being brought down to death so that the life of Christ would raise him up and then there would be an overflow for other people. That's how it works. Life comes from the cross, so we bear the cross. And as we do, faithfully, the Lord raises us up. But he always raises us up with more than we need. There's some for somebody else. So we die and other people live. And that's the way the royal priesthood operates. So this idea that where I am means much more than dwelling in paradise. Sure, we'll be in paradise some day, that's not the issue. All kinds of people in paradise. That's where sin began, was in paradise. What we want to be is in the consuming fire. Who among us, Isaiah 33 says, shall dwell with everlasting burns. Who will walk in the consuming fire? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up the soul to vanity. Same as the 24th Psalm, who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord. It's righteous. So Christ has to make us righteous so that we can dwell. The whole aim of this salvation business is fellowship with God. It isn't even going to heaven. The whole aim of why we are saved is what we lost in the garden was fellowship with God. And that's the main thing that we gain back through Christ is to have fellowship with God. You know, it's interesting Bill, where you said that certain parties said that they regard salvation as one thing and holiness as another. But you know Hebrews says, without holiness, no man shall see the Lord. So, can you be saved and not see the Lord? Not cool. Not cool. But you wouldn't want to say that. You wouldn't want to throw any ropes across the Grand Canyon. But that's the first thing that popped in my mind. Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord. We don't see the Lord by grace. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. So Christ has to make us pure if we ever hope to see God. Because it's the pure in heart. That's why children can see the Lord. Babies, but we've got too much guile there. You can't bring guile into the presence of God. It's flammable. So God wants us to be with Christ where he is in the center of God's person and will. That's what we're called to. And that means we keep being brought in closer and as we get closer the fire burns hotter and the fire burns hotter but we're more fireproof than we were. We've got more of this olivine in us. We keep getting closer to God and closer to God and closer to God until BING! We're there with Christ where he is in the center of God's person. That's the rest of God and that's the goal of our discipleship is to get right in there in God's person and will and live there for eternity. Anybody can live in an old mansion, but to live in the center of God's person, you can have all the mansions you want once you get there. Mansions, if you're up for that, that's fine. But you can't live in a mansion and still not be in the center of God's person and will. That's something that you do now, not after you die. That's something that you do now. You press into God's person now. You abide in Christ now. And when you're abiding in Christ, you're abiding in the consuming fire. And it will cause fruit to come forth. Isn't that right? Sure it will. Sure it will. You can't abide in that fire without fruit. So, all four looked alike. The wheels were all the same. It was uniform. Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel. And I talk to you much about that. What does that mean? The wheel intersecting the wheel. That we're made to be in the center of God. You have God, who is in Christ, who is in us, and we are in Christ, who is in God. That means we're in the center of this tremendous being called God. Isn't it true that God is in Christ? Isn't it true that Christ is in us? Isn't it true that we are in Christ? Isn't it true that Christ is in God? Well, then we're smack dab in the middle. The wheels intersecting a wheel. Yes. Is it kind of like a trinity type thing? You know, God as God. Concentric. Not concentric. Picture it this way. Think of a small wheel. A small circle. That's God. Think of a larger circle with a smaller circle inside of it. That larger circle is Christ. God is in Christ. I'm not there yet. Okay, now think of a bigger wheel and the little wheel and the next little wheel are inside this bigger wheel. That bigger wheel is us. And then you have a still bigger wheel and that still bigger wheel is Christ. And then you have a great big wheel that's bigger than them all. That's God the Father. So God is in Christ who is in us and we are in Christ who is in God. It's a wheel intersecting a wheel. The important thing of that is that we become an integral part of that great being that God is. And that's what we're being called to because God wants to give us his glory. We find in John 17, it says, The glory which you gave me, I have given them. The glory which you gave me, I have given them. That's in John 17.23, I believe. The glory which you gave me. Have you got that? Isn't that stunning? But now think. God will not give his glory to another person. And yet he said, the glory which you gave me, I have given them. The glory God gave to Christ, Christ has given to us. But yet God says, I will not give my glory to another. Put it together. What does it mean? We have to become so one with God that when God gives his glory to us, he's given it to himself. As long as we are a person separate from God, he cannot give his glory to us because he will not give his glory to another. That may seem confusing, but stop and think of it. We have the picture in Adam and Eve, don't we? God created Adam from the dust. Maybe his friends call him Gusty, I don't know. He created Adam from the dust. Now he created Eve from Adam. And women brag about that. They say, we weren't created from the dust, we were created from Adam. But they don't know their simple mathematics. If A equals B, and A equals C, then B equals C. In other words, if Adam is made from the dust, and you're made from Adam, then you're made from the dust. Isn't that cunning? Well, now look. Look what God said about them. He said, the two shall be one. And he called their name Adam. And Eve was flesh of Adam's flesh, and bone of Adam's bone. And God did not regard them as two people, but as one. The two shall be one. So anything that happened to Adam was happening to Eve, and anything that happened to Eve was happening to Adam. Because they were married in a way that no two people on earth have ever been married. Because Eve was made from Adam. That's how they were married. They were not married in a ceremony. They did not have a wedding ceremony. The wedding took place as Eve came out of Adam. And she couldn't marry anyone else, because it would have been Adam marrying them. She was Adam in another form. If you go back to the Hebrew, it doesn't say that a piece of Adam came out, and God put that in something, and then built around it a woman. It says the woman was built. Every part of the woman was made from the piece taken from Adam. In other words, it was drawn out, her toenails, and her hair, and her heart, and her lungs, and everything else. All came from Adam. She was Adam. He called their name Adam. Now no two human beings since that time have ever been married in that fashion. No woman was ever taken out from her husband. So what we have is human, and well you might say a first cut, but what God is after is what he showed us in Adam and Eve. And you remember God put a deep sleep on Adam. That was, I guess, the first anesthetist, the first anesthetist. He put him to sleep and operated on him. Well, that sleep that Adam was in was typical of Calvary. See, God caused a sleep, as it were, to fall on the second Adam. And then he had a soldier pierce him. He had to be pierced. That was where, that was the beginning of the bride right there, was when that spear went into Christ. Because before that, Christ was an intact person. He was the Word of God, who was from the beginning with God, and through whom all things were made. But he was a distinct individual. Okay? But once that spear went into his side, that was the beginning, and God took the blood of Christ, and on his flesh and his blood, God is creating a bride. We are not married to Christ as we are. And by the way, the Bible never speaks of being married to Christ. Always to the Lamb. Always to the Lamb. Never is it called the bride of Christ. Always the bride of the Lamb. Because the Lamb is slain. And that's how we become the church. The church is not made up of Adamic individuals. It is the body of Christ, and the bride of the Lamb. And everything that was in Eve, came from Adam. So you're not looking at two people there, you're looking at one person in two forms. The male and the female. So that together, they could be in the image of God, and be fruitful. See, they couldn't be fruitful without each other. And fruitfulness results in dominion, which is what we're called to do, is to govern everything. Now, that's a type of Christ. When we die with Christ in the waters of baptism, and then we go through the experiences of life, which are killing off our Adamic nature, we're being fed in the spirit realm, with the body and blood of Christ. Now, that's what the church is. It isn't what we are. It's that body and blood of Christ. That's the kingdom. That's Christ. That's eternal life. Call it what you will. But it is not human. It is supernatural. It is the body and blood of Christ. And as that is formed in us, that's how we're married to Christ. We're not going to die, and then we're going to go up to a regular Anglican ceremony, and God the Father, you know, and we're standing here, and Christ is standing here, and we're standing here, and here's God the Father, and John the Baptist is the best man, I don't know who the bridesmaids are, and then God says, I pronounce you man and wife. Well, Adam and Eve were not married in a wedding ceremony. They were married by one being drawn out of the other. I think Christians are looking for the marriage to take place in the sky, or in heaven. The marriage takes place as you die, and Christ is formed in you. That's how the marriage takes place. It takes place today. And what will happen when the Lord comes is not the marriage, it's the demonstration of what is done today, and then glorified in a body like Christ. That's the marriage of the Lamb. But the essence of it is taking place as Christ is being formed in you. So we're being made an integral part of Christ, obviously, because Paul says in Ephesians 5, bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh, applying to the church the same thing spoken of Adam and Eve, that's in Ephesians 5, we're bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. Well, if we are bone of Christ's bone, and flesh of Christ's flesh, then we, like Eve was Adam in another form, we are then Christ in another form. It's as simple as that. We're not talking about Adamic people entering into a religious contract with God. We're talking about something that occurs organically within us, as Christ is formed within us. And that which is formed within us will be revealed when He comes. When He comes, we shall be like Him. We shall see Him as He is. Why? Because it's not the outer that's important, it's the inward that's important. The outer is to take care of a twinkling of an eye. It's the inward that occurs through the problems of life. And that's why they have them. And that's why they're sent to us. God uses Satan to afflict us, to drive us more into Christ. Don't waste your sufferings. Don't waste them. Every one of them. When people hurt you, or things hurt you, if you will quit looking at the tool, and say, Thank you, Jesus, because this thing is pressing me into you. Thank you, Lord. You say that to all your enemies. Every one of them. Say, Thank you, Charlie, Joe, and Shirley. Thank you so much because you have driven me into Christ. Don't waste your time getting mad at the tools God uses. Take advantage of them. Pray and they'll drive you to prayer. Don't they? Don't troubles drive you to prayer? Well, forget about them on my knees. Otherwise I'd be going around saying foolish things and doing foolish things. Instead, I'm on my knees being pressed into Christ. Hallelujah. How wonderful. That's why Paul said, Therefore I will glory in my infirmities. That way you can't lose. Nobody can take your peace unless you let them. Remember that. Nobody can take your peace unless you let them. You can always use these things to be a catalyst, or however you want to term it, to drive you into Christ. God is not interested in taking Adam up to heaven. What He's interested in is forming His Son in you so that you can be with Jesus where He is in the bosom of God, in the center of God's being and well. So you can always say, I am. Where am you? In the center of God. No matter where you are in the creation, you are in the center of God. You are in the consuming fire. And more and more each day, as you're willing to let God burn out the dross. No more profound than that. And of course in the first chapter of Ezekiel, we still haven't got to the inward image. We're still talking about the outward image. It's very profound. Okay? Are there any questions so far? We got into the wheel intersecting the wheel. Alright. It looks like you're doing alright in this town. Alright. Now, next we want to look at, we're looking at the 16th verse. We want to touch on, most of the guys here know this pretty well, but we want to touch on Psalm 68, verses 15 through 18. Bill, you've got this memorized, I'm sure. And Stan does. Maybe some of the others do. I'm sure Mark Over does. Don't you have this memorized? Oh, well, come on. Let's get with it now. Huh? The Spartans are at the door. The Spartans are at the door. Tony, remember that. Don't be all occupied with the play. The Spartans are at the door. Alright. The mountains of Bashan are majestic mountains. That's talking about religion. The mountains of Bashan are talking about religion. They're rugged. But they look at envy at the mountain that God chooses to reign. And what mountain is that? Zion. That's Christ. And that's why the religious people murdered Christ. It's because they were mountains of Bashan. See, they were reaping to get God's favor and to look good in the sight of people. But religion will always murder Christ. They'll always look with envy on Zion. That's why Pilate said he knew that the Pharisees had crucified Christ because of envy. And religious people will always envy anyone that really knows the Lord. When you depart from iniquity, you make yourself a prey of religious people. Don't think everybody's going to love you. You're going to be a darling when you begin to seek the Lord. Because you're going to find a lot of people in the church who don't like it. But do with that as you will. Alright. Now, see, where God chooses to reign, the Lord himself will dwell there forever. That's in Mount Zion. Alright, now, the chariots of God. See, that's what God is interested in is these chariots. Not chariots singular, as in Ezekiel 1. But God wants thousands and thousands and thousands of them. And that's what he's making you and me. Is a chariot. So that God can ride to where there are needs in his creation. So that you can stay in him and at the same time be out bringing his presence to people. That make sense? You can't minister to people unless you am in God. Alright. The Lord has come from Sinai into his sanctuary. Well, Sinai was the law. But the law is a tutor that brings us to Christ. And Christ makes us the sanctuary of God. We sing that here. About make me your sanctuary. Something to that effect. We're being made the sanctuary of God. But it begins in Sinai. The law is a tutor. It's a slave. A Greek slave that brings us to the school of Christ. And makes us the sanctuary of God. So he comes out of Sinai into his sanctuary. And he always will because the law tells us we have to be righteous. And then we give up. And we die with Christ. And then the Holy Spirit imputes to us the righteousness of the law. And then it enables us to keep, to do the things which the law could never do. The law could never remove envy from a human being. But the spirit of Christ can remove envy from a human being. Isn't that wonderful? See that? Alright, now when you get into verse 18 you're getting into Christian territory. You're getting into Ephesians 4. When you ascended on high, that's Christ. You led captives in your train. That's Ephesians 4, chapter 7, verse 18. You received gifts from men. And those are the gifts and ministries of the Holy Spirit. From. From there doesn't quite fit. Other translations are much better than that. Gifts consisting of men. Or you gave gifts to men. But it's right in Ephesians 4. We'll get to that. Even from the rebellious. God gives his gifts and his ministries to rebellious people. We think somebody, you know, here's a mistake that Christian people make. They see someone with a great gift. Maybe preaching, maybe healing, maybe whatever, and they think that person's spiritual. I'm here to tell you that gifts and ministries are no indication, whatever, of spirituality. God gives them. There's ministers with tremendous gifts. And then they go off into adultery and fornication and everything else. It happens commonly. Don't ever mistake a gift for spirituality. A gift is given to you and to me. It's a gift. It's not fruit. It's a gift. And it's given to make the recipient spiritual. And the people to whom they minister spiritual. But it is a gift. And it's given even to the rebellious. Okay. And then that you, O Lord, God might dwell there. That's the whole purpose of the gifts and ministries of the body of Christ is to prepare a dwelling place for God in the hearts of people. Alright. So then we go now, naturally, to Ephesians 4 starting with verse 7. Yes. Chapter 4. Yes. We're back to verse 15. Right. Religion. Religion. He said, why are they gazing at the mountain where God chooses to reign? The mountains of Bashan gaze at the mountain where God wants to reign. And that's Zion. Hasn't clicked yet. Alright. Now look. Why gaze in envy, O rugged mountains? Who are those rugged mountains? Exactly. Now look. Why are you gazing at another mountain? You mountains of Bashan. See, I'm the mountains of Bashan here. You're the mountain that God has chosen. Why am I looking at you with envy? Because what I tried to get with my striving, I can't get. And you got it. You just, it was given to you. I was looking at the Septuagint and it doesn't say the mountain. Interesting. The mountains of God are majestic mountains. I've never seen... But what does the next verse say? I'll read it to you. That's the Septuagint. That's the Greek translation. It says, the mountain of God is a rich mountain, a dwelling mountain, a rich mountain. Wherefore do you conceive evil, ye dwelling mountains? This is the mountain which God has delighted to dwell in. Yea, the Lord will dwell in it forever. Yeah, that's the same thing. See, two different things. There's the mountain of God and then there are the evil mountains. And that's religion. And that's what the Pharisees see. They were trying to get God with all their show and the stuff that they did. But when they saw Zion and Christ, they looked with envy. Does it? But it's... It's a different translation. They're both saying the same thing. Alright, now let's take a look at Ephesians, the fourth chapter. We're looking at verses 7 through 13. This is very important. I know you've all heard this before, but it doesn't hurt. Okay. To each one of us, grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says, when He ascended on high, He left captives in His train. And they believe that's those who were in Sheol, in the grave, the righteous in the grave, like Samuel, were caught up to God with Christ. That's what scholars believe that means. And gave gifts to men. See, and Psalm 68, it said gifts from men. But I don't... That doesn't really make a lot of sense. But anyway, here we are. And this, of course, is a direct quotation from Psalm 68. What does He ascend in meaning? He also descended into the lower earthly regions, which Christ did. He descended as the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens in order to fill the whole universe. That's Jesus Christ. He gave some of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. And by the way, these are not specially exalted ministries. This is only a sample. Because in 1 Corinthians 12, in the same category, we have gifts of this and gifts of that. So this is a... People are trying to, today, make this five or four exalted ministries. And that's not God's intention at all. They're just gifts to the body. To prepare God's people for works of service. Now, notice the end result. So that the body of Christ may be built up. That's the purpose. That's the sanctuary of God. That is the end result of the ministries, is to build the body of Christ. See that? Now, it goes further than that, and it says, until we all reach unity in the faith. That's why I believe ministry continues after the grave. Because it's a sure thing that all Christians are not in the unity of the faith. So the Bible says it's going to happen. So the gifts and ministries must continue in the next life. I can't get anything else out of it. Because it is a sure thing that there are very few Christians who are in the unity of the faith. Even with each other. Even in the same church. Alright, now, and in the knowledge of the Son of God, and certainly numerous fine Christians die without the knowledge of God. They don't have the knowledge of God to the extent. Paul, toward the end of his life, was still saying that I may know him. And he was certainly far ahead of all of us. Alright, and become mature. Now, it's defining maturity here. It's defining maturity. The maturity is measured by the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Now, that does not mean, according to the syntax, and I've gone into this, it doesn't mean that all the people together form the fullness of Christ. It means that each person is brought to that. Each person. Because if you have one person, even ignoring the syntax, if you had one person in the body of Christ who is not in the unity of the faith, and the knowledge of the Son of God, you'd have an imperfect body. Because the body is only as perfect as the least perfect member. Just like a chain is only as strong as the weakest link. You can have a chain that would hold the Queen Mary, but if it's got in there somewhere a weak link, the rest of the strength of the chain means nothing. When pressure put on it, it'll pop at that link, regardless of how great all the other links are in the chain. It's only as strong as its weakest link. And the body of Christ is only as perfect as the least perfect member. You may have to think about that a little bit. But it's only as perfect as the least perfect member. You can't have imperfect members in the body and call it a perfect body. It's impossible. So this is not talking about someday, somewhere we'll all get lost in the big soup. It means that God wants each one of us to come to the unity of the faith. See, this is the we're called predestined to be changed into his image. And God does not do things halfway. It doesn't mean you try to make yourself like Jesus. It means that God predestined you to do that and will do it by his power. All you've got to do is just follow Christ each day and do what he says. There'll always be problems in the day. There'll always be grace to overcome that problem. And if you do, you will be changed that day. And you should never go two consecutive days and be the same. You're wasting God's time if you are. You're the same now as you were yesterday at this time. You're wasting God's time. I'm sure God gave you problems today. He gave you some little exercise in your workbook to work on between yesterday and today. And if you were faithful and you did your homework, you're more in the image of Christ today than you were yesterday. There's no time to waste, people. The prophets are telling us, this latest one by Dimitri that you sent me, by his boy about Russia rearming itself. Christian people, we're asleep here. Alright, any questions thus far? Alright, let's take a hard look at Ephesians 2.15. Same book, back two chapters. Two chapters, yes. Ephesians 2.15. Ephesians 2.15 is a very useful verse when people begin to say, well then there's the church and then there's Israel. There's no such thing. Either you are part of Christ or you're not in the Israel of God. It has nothing to do with physical characteristics, whatever. There is a nation of Israel and God recognizes that nation and will return to that nation in the last days. Paul said that plainly. But when you're coming to the elect of God, there is only one seed of Abraham, not two. And it's here in the one new man. By abolishing in his flesh the law with his commandments and regulations, that's the law of Moses, his purpose was to create in himself that is in Christ one new man out of the two. And the two mean Gentiles and Jews. One new man. There are not two seeds of Abraham. There is a nation of Israel and God has special purposes for it. But when you're talking about the elect of God, the church, there is not a Jewish church and a Gentile church. There's only the one new man. And that one new man is the seed of Abraham. It is Christ head and body. It is the servant of the Lord. It is all these things. And it is the sanctuary of God. It is Zion. There are not two Zions. There is only one. Any questions so far? We talked about... And do you know that goes on today? That's the craziest thing. Some say God isn't dealing with the Jews anymore. That's against Romans the 11th chapter. Some are saying that the two witnesses, one is Israel and one the other is the church. All kinds of things. It seems impossible for people to accept the fact that Jews and Gentiles are made in Christ one new man. Period. There's no other Zion. There's no other kingdom of God. There's only, and Paul says it in Galatians 3 so perfectly, not seeds plural, but seed as of one which is Christ and if you be in Christ you are Abraham's seed. I mean, what could be clearer? There seems to be some kind of a spiritual blinder on this fact because it is so clear in the scripture. And of course, the first church was all Jewish. The first Christian church was made up of 5,000 law-keeping Jews. People talk about a Gentile church. There's no such thing as a Gentile church. It does not exist. We Gentiles were taken out and grafted into the one tree of Israel. Not two olive trees. But boy, you want to get an argument with a Christian people, it seems to be one thing that they will not buy it, and one thing I can think is a satanic thing because he knows that if Christians ever get the message that they are one and that our eventual destiny will be over in Jerusalem with Christ on the throne of David, Satan's licked then. He's trying to keep the Gentile Christians separate from the Jews because God isn't going to work without the Christians and he isn't going to work apart from Israel. The two have to become one stick in God's hand before Satan's kingdom is finished. It says that in Ezekiel 37. You've got two sticks there. You've got the stick of Judah representing the Jews and you've got the stick of Ephraim representing the Gentiles because Gentiles are the father of the many nations. Alright, now if you go down to, very interesting, just down a couple of verses to 21 and 22 in the same, there in him, that is in Christ, the whole building. Now notice the building the Greek word for that I'm sure means building. Now when it says in my father's, how many of you remember this statement in my father's house are many mansions? This is the father's house. It isn't heaven, it's this building. What is it Oikos? Well that's a derivative of Oikos. Yeah. See? This is where it says in my father's house are many mansions, literally many dwelling places, this is the house, and you and I are the dwelling places. Living stones. See when we read John 14, it says in my father's house we say, oh, heaven. But see the Bible doesn't refer to heaven as God's house. This is God's house. The building. It's really simple when you get a hold of it. Alright, is there any question about that? Because that's a little different from what commonly is taught. Alright, now it rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. See originally, heaven never was God's house. It never was God's house. What was heaven? His throne. Heaven is my throne. Isaiah 66, verse 1. Heaven is my throne. You're gonna have to counsel your friend there because she knows her Bible well enough to know it's true, but she's never heard it on that way. No, heaven is God's throne. You have to go by the Bible. See, and Isaiah 66 says heaven is my throne. Now, the trick about that is the trick about that is that God is making us his throne. See, he's moving his throne from heaven. No, God has not had a house up to this point. You know what God's house was before now? Jesus Christ. In him, in Christ, dwells all the fullness of the Godhead. No, God dwells in Christ. He doesn't dwell in heaven. You have to go by the Bible. You have to go by the Bible. You can't go by, because we've got a lot of traditions that are not scriptural. And this is very important because you see the throne of God, you could say like this, is preparing to move from heaven into the hearts of people. That's what God created man for, was to be his throne, his dwelling place. I was born to be your dwelling place. Before this, God did not have. See, God is seeking a rest. God has no rest. This is in Isaiah 66 and also in Acts 7. And this is what it says. Heaven is my throne. The earth is my footstool. What is the house you will build me? Where is the place of my rest? God has no rest. The reason God has no rest is because there was a rebellion in heaven on the part of the angels. And it created an uproar. See, it created an uproar. So God, instead of, God still has not executed judgment on those angels. That will not come until the day of wrath. And then God will avenge himself. But in the meantime, what he's doing, he's saying well, there's no rest around here. Here's Lucifer, was right here a covering cherub, and he rebelled, and he evidently brought another and here's God without a place of rest. So that's why he went to the dust of the ground and created a new race called man and he had in mind to make man in two stages. The first stage was Adam. The second stage is made as Christ is formed in Adam. That's the second stage. That's the permanent stage. The first stage is temporary. The Adamic race is a temporary race. It will be done away. We see in Revelation 19 that the earth and heaven fled from the face of God. That's the end of the Adamic race. It actually ended on the cross of Calvary. When Jesus said it is finished, what was finished was the Adamic race. And then Jesus was the firstborn beginning of the new race. Jesus was the beginning. The firstborn from the dead. Meaning that others would follow. The Adamic race is over. You can't do anything with it. God found it to be corrupting. Corrupt and corruptable and corrupting. It's just no more. It doesn't exist. That's where religion looks at envy because religion is trying to take the Adamic nature and make something out of it that will please God and impress people. Let's say you go through cathedrals, you go through great choirs, you go through orchestras, you go through robes, you go through all these things. It's the high hills leaping. They're trying to impress God and people, but they are Adam. They're Adam. The whole pomp of the thing. It's all Adam. Get out and inherit the kingdom. God finished him on the cross. And then up came Jesus, the beginning of the new creation of God. And we are part of that new creation. We are dead, and yet Christ is living in us. That's the kingdom. And that is the place of God's rest. God finds rest in us, and we find God. In Psalm 68, Rotherham says these gifts in the ministries are that Yah Elohim might settle down to rest. And God has no rest until he finds it in you, and you have no rest until you find it in God. But it's not called your rest, it's called God's rest. In Hebrews 4. Enter into God's rest. Yes? What is the rest day? The seventh day, the Sabbath, is a type of the eternal rest of God. See, in the Ten Commandments, the Sabbath was to not work on Saturday. Okay, that's the Sabbath day. But it's a type of the Sabbath that Jesus lives in, which is eternal, where you never work apart from God. You never speak apart from God. You do not think your own thoughts apart from God. And that's called in Isaiah, and I think it's the 59th chapter, that's called the Sabbath. And that's the real Sabbath. And Jesus lives in it eternally. He wants us to live in it eternally, for you never speak your own words, and you never think your own thoughts. You never seek your own pleasure. In the case of the Jews, it was one day a week. With us, it's total. We enter into the total, eternal Sabbath of God. Huh? Isaiah 58. You might want to read that so the group can hear it, if you have it there. Isaiah 58, listen to it. If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath, and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord's holy day honorable, if you honor it by not doing your own way, and not doing as you please, or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land, and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob. See, now that's how Jesus always lives. He never seeks his own pleasure. He never speaks his own words. And we're being made in this image. And that's why Hebrews 4, referring to let us enter into that rest, he refers to the Sabbath day, but he's not telling those people to begin to keep the Sabbath day. That's really come short of what God has for us. It's not as much more than not working. It's not finding your own pleasure. It's not speaking your own words. You know, that Isaiah 58, that's a perfect description of the Sabbath. And that's the meaning of that, that's eternal because in Genesis 1, on the 7th day, God did not work. In fact, on the 7th day, there was no evening and morning. Like the other 6 days, there was no evening and morning. Telling us it's eternal. And so Hebrews says, what Hebrews is saying is this, it says God on the 7th day finished everything, and that's all the way to the New Jerusalem. Everything was finished on the 7th day. He completed his works. Now it says you enter into that rest, meaning that you don't run your life the way you want to. You find out what God spoke concerning you back in Genesis 1. See, we're predestined from the beginning of the world. And you know, the basic choice that any human being makes is whether you're going to try to find God's will for your life or whether you're going to run under your own steam. There is no other decision. There is no other way of living. You either live in the Spirit or in the flesh. You either live in God's will or your own will. And when you're living in God's will, you're living in that which was spoken concerning you at the beginning of the world. Think of it. God whom he foreknew, he did predestine to be conformed to the image of his Son. And just think how great God is. On that 7th day, there was no evening and no morning because it's an eternal day. God spoke your name. Back there, God spoke your name. And listen, more than that, he prepared a place in his kingdom. Your place in the kingdom is already prepared. It's got your name on it. It's got your name on it. And God did that at the beginning of the world. And then when you were ready to be born at a certain time, you came into being and then you have a choice. Every day. You either seek that that was created in the rest of God, or you go your own way. And interestingly enough, back where it says that just shall live by faith, that's what it's talking about. The opposite of living by faith is living according to your own way. Living by faith means you're not living according to your own plans and desires. But you are living by faith in the Lord Jesus. And that's how all the righteous live. They live by faith. Rather than in their own pride. Back in the second chapter, it says his soul which is lifted up in him is not righteous, but the righteous shall live by their faith. Meaning it's the opposite of pride. And so every one of us has a choice, every moment of every day. We either are looking to Jesus and living in him and doing his will, or we're running according to our own brain and desires. There's no other way to live. The only other way is to faint. But once you come alive and start moving, you're either moving according to your own brain, or you're looking to the Lord. That's why I keep talking about this. It's so important to bring everything of your life from tying your shoelaces to getting married. Bring everything to Jesus. Everything. Because whatever you don't, you're just working out like an animal in your own endemic nature. And it's supposed to be dead. It's just wrecking yourself dead. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Exactly. Exactly! The answer is in Romans 8.4. The answer to your question is in Romans 8.4. This will be on the tape. Sherry showed how to get the tape. So you can look at me. So I can talk to you. I want to explain it to you. I know, you won't lose it. It's on the tape. and I'll show you where to get the tape, so you can refer to it, but this is what it says that the righteousness of the law will be imputed to us if we don't live according to the flesh, but according to the spirit so the question is, your question is, and its root is, how do you live according to the spirit? see, because if you walk in the spirit, you will not fulfill the laws of your flesh okay, so how do you walk in the spirit? well, first you orient yourself correctly in the morning the morning is key how you start off your day is key if you get out of bed and you're late for work, and you go up to have coffee and a slice of toast, you're late because then you read in the newspaper, and the liberals did some other perverse thing and the first thing you know, you're frantic okay, so you've got to quit watching the television at 11 o'clock so that you get to sleep by 9.30 or so, so you can get up early enough that you don't have to charge off to what you're doing without having the chance to get spiritually poised so that's the first thing, that's eminently practical okay it's discipline of course it is, of course it is discipline is good of course it is of course it is so the first thing you do in the morning, is you call to mind who you are and what you're doing I'm a Christian, my life is dead, my treasures are in heaven and it wouldn't hurt to offer a brief prayer to the Lord, this day, make this day yours and when you get stronger spiritually, you can maybe do 15 minutes in the morning or maybe a half hour huh? yeah, you've got to pray you can't make it as a Christian without praying sometime each day and reading your Bible sometime each day if you don't, you won't make it as a Christian okay, you've got to do that and if you don't have the time, ask God for the time he's more than happy to hear that prayer if you don't have time to pray and read your Bible, ask God for time yes, exactly that's how Satan is killing us is by keeping us so busy we can't pray see, he'll keep you so busy right up till the day you die and you'll find you miss God's purpose in your life there's no telling he is God and we can't define him and he'll do it in some way that will probably surprise you and all of a sudden you'll say wow, you know I had time to pray today and you won't realize how it happened he works on some people that he just gives them extra energy and they maybe sleep four hours a night they're just full of life but don't try that, you know just let God do it all right, and then right after you've given the day to the Lord whether it was a half hour prayer or whether it was just an acknowledgement of the Lord when you woke up then as much as you can I can't do this at once it takes quite a bit of discipline to bring your mind together you're brushing your teeth just say, Lord help me brush my teeth combing your hair Lord, help me comb my hair see, you can do that or beginning to think of a million distressing things you have a choice because you'll do a better job if you ask him first place, you don't know how many hairs there are on your head do you? do you know how many there are? God does according to the Bible well, then he can do a better job because he's looking at each one the scripture says that all right, now so then you're going to eat breakfast now you can just go out and do what you ordinarily do you can say, Lord, guide me as I eat my breakfast what I eat how much I eat see? and I would suggest don't read the paper good don't turn on the radio, read the paper don't get your mind filled with junk because what you're doing not even k-praise nothing, no get your mind filled with junk because a lot comes over k-praise it's just traditional and then all right, so you get in your car Lord, help me to drive today and when you're driving driving to work is a wonderful time to pray see? then when you're on the job God knows how to what kind of work do you do? I work in stores so I try to witness until people would come in I'm not talking about witnessing I'm talking about praying to do the job see? just law what do you do? are you a cashier? do you do the cash register? yeah, I just basically give a lot of advice all day long pretty much just help people well, I work in the nutrition business so I do you work in what? I work in the nutrition business nutrition all right okay well, then pray about it and when you sell something just pray it'll be a blessing to the person but I tell people a lot of ways that, you know if you want a high blood pressure pray for wisdom thank God, give me a couple of pills well, pray for wisdom well, don't you think God knows more about physiology than you do? all right, what I'm trying to show you in a few simple ways you asked a question how do you do all this? this is simple little actions and you're not going to do this all in one day I mean, this takes a lifetime of learning to abide in Christ but let me touch one other thing you said, what about this anger and things? there's definite ways you can deal with sin it isn't just vague try to avoid it there are definite ways and this is just a few simple steps as you begin to abide in Christ and look to the Lord instead of trying to like, trying to comb your hair yourself ask Him the Lord make a practice of asking the Lord about everything don't wait for Him to tell you how to comb your hair just ask Him what you're combing and say, Lord, guide the comb well, the Bible says Proverbs 3, verses 4 and 5 in all your ways, acknowledge Him in all your ways, acknowledge Him you just acknowledge and then it says no, don't get too religious on this now just keep it simple all right, now uh, but when you're kind of dealing with sin this is what you do as you go on this path which is called abiding in Christ you'll find the Holy Spirit will bring something to your attention now, it may be anger it may be lying it may be some lustful thing whatever the instant that is identified right then say, Lord, you confess it this is in me this is what I'm going to do, all right? then, after you confess it to the Lord you denounce it as being not worthy of the kingdom you do this very vigorously let's say it's anger you mention anger so evidently this bothers you at times okay say you become angry now, you know what the Bible says the wrath of man works not the righteousness of God okay so anger goes nowhere it only ruins the image of Christ because he doesn't go around getting mad at everything that happens all right so what do you do? all right, the Lord shows you've got anger so then you say Lord, there's anger in me it's being expressed and it's not scriptural it's not the image of the Lord okay step number one step number two you denounce it and you do that thoroughly and if you're in a place where people can't hear you just denounce it out loud say I denounce this spirit of anger I denounce this anger that's in me as not being worthy of the kingdom of God first confess then denounce this is because you see the spirit realm is listening to this you just say this is not worthy of the kingdom the third thing you do is renounce it you say this has been in me I do not want it in me any longer and you do this very vigorously and very diligently specifically not oh God, I'm so full of sin, help me anger one thing at a time all right you're not an infinite assortment of sin there's only a specific number again, what was the first thing? no, confess you name it name the baby remember John the Baptist's mouth was open when he named the baby name the baby confess name it confess it anger yeah secondly, you denounce it as being wicked and you don't and denounce means that you call it names in other words you say this anger belongs in the lake of fire it's an evil thing it doesn't belong in the kingdom it's evil it's unclean call it unclean denounce it and call it unclean everybody's so angry these days no, not everybody let's not concentrate on the world let's concentrate on you for a minute all right you've called it unclean you've denounced it by calling it unclean all right what do you do thirdly? no, that's denouncing it yeah you got it you got it now what's the third step? what's the third one? right what was the third step? it's almost like denounce but not like the same not re-announce renounce you've already announced it renounce it i don't want you in me anymore you have to tell satan that he's not welcome right in other words, you're history you're not in me anymore you're not in me anymore so you're dealing with a spirit and you're not in me anymore yes, he is and the fourth thing you do we're not quite there but this is the last one you submit yourself to God you submit in other words you bring yourself into the presence of God and resist the devil just by looking to God and saying, father, thank you for cleansing me from this thing and I love you and I worship you and you've cleansed me and thank you for it and then in the future we could even use that for a fifth one in the future resist the devil in other words, when you feel that tendency you will find that now you have control over it whereas you didn't before this process will give you control over anger then it will be up to you to resist it you will find a new strength to resist anger once you know now it's wrong the spirit knows that you don't want it God has forgiven you God's word said he'll cleanse you from all unrighteousness and now you just will find that you have an ability for the first time in your life to resist it that's how you deal with sin well, what I told you is scriptural and you'll find that the Holy Spirit will do that in your life you don't have to do it by your own strength you do have to resist God you have to determine that's what you want to do but you don't have but you see, it's one thing as long as that spirit's in you, you can't resist it you will succumb to it but see, this is a way of getting it out of you and then you're on the upper hand then it will look at you and try to get you going no way, God has healed me from anger it's history there's power in Jesus he came to destroy the works of the devil 1 John 1a he's manifested to destroy the works of the devil Sherry, you're going to have to get her tape all these notes are there any other questions? we were looking so you see, there's a building that's the house of God that's being built the place of his rest this is Zion it's Christ, head and body we are living stones in this temple this is what it means in my father's house there are many dwelling places you're a dwelling place you're also a chariot see, you've got two things here you've got the chariot that goes out and ministers but you've also got the center of God's purpose so that at once you're with God on his throne in Christ but you're also ministering that's the power of multiple presence and it's rising it's made up of Jews and Gentiles this is the one new man the one new man is the whole building and in him you are being built together to become a dwelling you're one of those mansions one of those dwelling places in which God lives by his spirit so we're talking about the inward image we haven't got the inward image but we've got the outward image of Christ and the inward image and when we come to the stature of the fullness of Christ then God has his house and his place of rest as Stephen said the first martyr said where is the place of my rest? the most high dwells not in temples made with hands okay, are there any questions? not everybody got A plus well, let's stand then we'll go through that simple prayer and then if there's anything that comes to your mind that God has shown you in this last week or so you can take this opportunity to confess it Father, we come to you right now and we ask you Lord, we're going to go through a process of judgment right now so we all can gain experience in dealing with sin so right now we're going to confess to you something that has occurred in our personality this last week perhaps that is not of your image it's not of God's image and we name it Lord we name it to you as individuals this is in my personality and I confess it to you Father this is not in the image of Christ and now Lord, I denounce this thing I denounce it as being unclean it's evil it's an unclean thing it is not something that is desirable at all in any way it is unclean it is evil God's word condemns it as evil I've confessed it Lord and I denounce it so that the spirit realm can hear that I, as a child of God am denouncing this as evil and now Lord, I'm renouncing it I'm saying I do not want this spirit in me ever again ever again manifest in my flesh never again manifest in my flesh I want to be so cleansed from this thing that it never raises its filthy head in me again never, never I want it so that when Satan comes he can find nothing in me nothing in me I do not want this thing in me anymore and now Father, I submit myself to the father of spirits I submit myself to you as being my father and my Lord my head the ruler of my life my creator I submit myself unto you Lord to enter your rest to enter your will to enter your holy consuming fire and to live there forever and I pray Father if that spirit ever comes near me again that you will alert me and right then so that I can say no never again never again will that thing go down that path will that thing ever, ever have a place in my life no, not for eternity because it is consigned to the lake of fire that has authority over it and that is where it belongs and I go free before my father and before Christ in Jesus name in Jesus name seal it father