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As we continue in the service, and I do want to remind ourselves that we've been in the worship service.
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We're not starting it right now.
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We've been in it, and we have been in it.
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In fact, you've been in it since you've come and approached unto God in a heart of worship.
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This is not what's on my mind this morning, but it is what I have on my mind at this very moment to just bring forward the thought of what is worship.
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If we go to a worship service, what is it we intend to accomplish in that?
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What is the point of going to a worship service?
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Well, it's to worship, right?
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Well, what does it mean to worship?
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Well, it very often in uh if you have this uh explanation or this uh this experience, um when you're when you're little, you know, your your depth of understanding is is at a certain level, and you're you you don't expect someone or uh especially a child or someone new to a field or to an experience to know much more than maybe the surface.
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But with time, you know, you get a little bit deeper and a little bit deeper.
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Uh when I was young, I would, or when when when our children were young, um, I would often quiz them on the way home and say, so what did I speak about today?
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Uh just to see if they were listening, to make sure they were paying attention.
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And when they were young, very often the answer would be, well, you you talked about God, or you talked about Jesus.
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And that would be acceptable for a child, but as they got older, I expect them to give a little bit more detail, a little bit more understanding on what it means or what what it was that I was trying to speak on, trying to get them to understand and to listen.
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Well, what does it mean to worship?
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Uh at the very surface, it means to come together and to and to recognize God.
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And that is that is and that is the beginning of that understanding.
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Uh but there's more to it as you get deeper and deeper.
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Because when you the more you worship God, the more you understand your relationship with God.
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There's there's those those of us here that have had very surface relationships with other people.
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And you may you may say hi to them.
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A friend or coworker or someone that you may greet at a store and greet and say, Hi, how are you doing?
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You may exchange a few words and then you go on.
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There's nothing wrong with that, but that's a very, very surface relationship.
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And if all we do is come to the house of worship and say, Lord, you're God, and that's it.
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Well, that's a very surface worship.
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But the more you worship God, the more you realize and understand, and that's what the purpose of the preaching is, that's what the purpose of study is, is to learn more about him.
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And in learning more about him, you learn more about your relationship in him.
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That he didn't just love you, he's loved you with an everlasting love since before he even spoke the world into existence.
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And the more you learn about bowing yourself before him, you learn more about then you learn more about it's just it's not just your proper place to be before him, prostrate, to honor him above all.
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It's that he actually elevates you and calls you up to be with him, to sit with him.
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Uh there's a scene that plays out with David and someone named Mephibosheth.
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And Mephibosheth was a child of Saul, meaning not just one of his sons, like Jonathan was, but a descendant of Saul.
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And Saul, if you remember, Saul tried to kill David on more than one occasion.
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But when David became king, it would have been expected.
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It would have been uh it would have been anticipated that a king that came in would have destroyed the lineage of the of the king that uh that he replaced.
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That was very common in that day and time.
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In fact, we even see that play out in Israel and in uh and in uh Judah uh a time uh after uh after David came to be in power.
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But David had a promise that he made with with Jonathan, his dear friend, that he would show kindness to him and to his descendants.
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And so when he he uh searched out and said, Is there anyone yet of the house of Saul that I may show kindness to him for Jonathan's sake?
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And so he sought out the Philipp who was lame on his feet because he was crippled as a child.
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And he uh when he had heard that David wanted him, and David uh was that David wanted him brought to him, he he kind of expected the worst.
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But when he was brought to the house of David, instead of being slain, or instead of being punished, or instead of being set in, having everything taken from him like he might have expected, instead David said, Come and sit at my table, and I will feed you, and you will eat the king's meat, you will eat the king's meal, and you will sit in my house for the sake of
my love to my friend Jonathan.
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And in this we see a picture of what it means to be in worship with God.
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Is that while we we are lame on our feet and we might we might well uh uh feel in our hearts that we ought to prostrate ourselves before God, and we should, because he is worthy of all exaltation.
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We are only worthy of all abasement.
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But when we come to that point, we find out that the Lord, for the sake of his love toward us that had before the world was, brings us to his table, and he brings us to his seat, and he feeds us with his bread, and the and the great thing that we find about it is the banner that's over us in that very seat, and in that very house is the banner of love.
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And so that's that's part, and that's just part of what we get to uh experience in the house of worship.
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But above all, uh the glory of worship is to exalt the name of Christ above every other name, because indeed, that's what we will get to do in worship for all eternity.
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So as we continue in the heart of worship, and as we go forward in prayer, and as we go forward in preaching, we pray.
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Uh let us all continue in that same heart of worship that we get to see a little bit more of the face of Christ, that we get to see a little bit more, uh, that we get to sit a little bit longer with our Lord and experience that blessed uh position of sitting in the house of God and eating at his table.
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Please do continue in heart of prayer.
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Um I will say uh I meant to uh say something about this earlier just a few minutes ago, but when we got the news about Brother Dan, uh, that was uh it was heartbreaking.
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Not because I would ever wish anyone who has gone to see to be with the Lord to ever even see this world again in this condition.
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But uh I guess the Thomas, I guess the longer you live in life, the more you see that happen, and each time it's just a reminder that we are pilgrims in this world and we have to say goodbye so often.
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And I wonder sometimes how how often we end up saying goodbye before we say goodbye ourselves.
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But what the what always comes to my mind after that is the hello that comes immediately after that goodbye.
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That uh the scripture saying that the uh that precious in the eyes of the Lord of the death of his saints, that's not idle words.
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That's not just that's not written there just so that, oh well, just make you feel better for that circumstance.
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That is a moment that he anticipates, and he he's not gonna miss that appointment where he receives his saints into glory, and they get to see him for the first time with undimmed eyes.
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And it may not be the eyes of the flesh, that's coming later.
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That's coming where our changed eyes get to see him face to face.
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But our the same spiritual eyes that we can see him through the eye of faith get to see him without this veil of flesh, and we get to see him in glory, and we get to see him in brightness, and we get to see him in the beauty that we know that he has right now.
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But but without the darkness, without the lattice work that's in between us, and we get to see him face to face, that hello is something that we will never uh that we'll never uh I'll say we never forget.
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That's true, but but there is no there is no thing on earth that compares the exaltation of the saint that gets to go to be in the very presence of God.
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And and and often that I forget to remember it from his perspective is that he is just eagerly and anticipating that moment that he can receive his child out of sorrow, out of sin, out of this corrupt world, and receive them to himself where they're safe forevermore until the time that he gives them their the body back that he bought for them as well.
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Uh I I didn't I don't I didn't mean to spend that even that much time on that thought, but uh uh but I I wanted to get that out before I go to the thought that I do have on my mind.
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But to continue to continue to as Brother Thomas already has, let us let us pray for each other.
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There's that song that we sing, uh pray for each other, nor let us pray for each other, nor faint by this way in this sad world of sorrow and care, for that home is so bright and it's almost inside, and I trust in my heart will be there.
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So let us continue until we gather together in that place.
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Now, what I have on my mind is something I don't know that I'll I'll even fill up the rest of this hour on.
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Um it's it's a just a brief thought that I've I've uh had on my mind of this week.
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Uh it just came into my mind this week.
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I've been reading on it, trying to study some on it.
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Um, but it's a it's an odd, what I consider an odd thing to think about.
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And it's not one I don't know that I've ever thought about in this way.
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It is um the the subject is or is the seas in the scripture.
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Uh as in not the letter C, but ocean, like oceans, waters, seas.
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And there's there's two particular passages that that stick out in my mind, and it's Genesis and Revelation, which is odd.
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I'm not odd, but I don't think that's a coincidence that the Lord puts a lot in Revelation that you have to go all the way back to the beginning to get some reflection on.
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But in Revelation 21, it says, and there was a new heaven and a new earth.
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For the old heaven and the whole earth were passed away, and there was no more sea.
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Now, I believe that there are aspects of Revelation 21 that are eternal.
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There are aspects of Revelation 21 that are timely, and it's because the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God has the same nature, we have access to it now in the church of Jesus Christ, we have access to the kingdom of God, and when we see the kingdom of God for what it is, it has the same nature as what it will have for all eternity.
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And so when we see the aspect of what the kingdom of God is in this new the new heaven and the new earth and in Jerusalem, the new Jerusalem, the heavenly Jerusalem, we're gonna find that what we what we see about it, we read about it, we say, well, that's that sure sounds a lot like heaven, and it should, because that's exactly what heaven's gonna be like, but it's not that the kingdom of God is different than that, it's that the kingdom of God is the same nature.
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That's what the earnest of our inheritance is.
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It's not a different thing until we get there, it's part of the thing until we get there.
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And so in uh in Revelation 21, what we read concerning this, I want to I want to make mention that I believe there are aspects in which we're gonna, when we get there and see it in eternity, we're gonna recognize this, but we should also recognize some of it when we get aspects of it in the church right now.
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And one aspect of it was the fact that there is no more sea.
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But why, what, what's the significance of that?
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Why no more sea?
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What what what is it about a sea?
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Well, let's go back to Genesis chapter 1, and we find on the third day.
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Now, if you remember, a lot happens in six days.
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A lot, not much happens on that seventh day because that was the day of rest.
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God did not do any work on that seventh day, and that was on purpose.
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It wasn't because he was tired, it's because he was done.
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And that day is points to our Sabbath in Jesus Christ, where the work of redemption is done.
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There's no more work to do.
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He is our Sabbath day.
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That's why we're not concerned about what day
of the week we worship on.
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Christ is our Sabbath every day of the week because the finished work of Jesus Christ is done.
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Now, six days, the Lord created everything that there is.
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As we read in John, if it was created, God created it.
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In fact, Christ created it, and and it was done in six days.
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Day one, we find that he created heaven and earth and light.
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And the first day was the when he divided the light from the darkness, and he made light and called it day, and darkness he called night, and the evening and the morning were the first day.
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The second day it says that the waters, the firmament of the waters on the heaven, and he made basically separated the firm the waters of the above and the waters below of the earth, and it says that was the second day, and he called the firmament above heaven.
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Now, I want to make mention of this.
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Very often you're going to find descriptions of like the birds of the heavens and things of that nature.
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Uh, he's not talking about birds that fly in eternal glory, he's he's talking about it from a perspective of being on earth, and that when you look up, you see the heavens from one side of the side of the earth to the other.
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Everything you look up, you can be considered the heavens in that regard.
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So when it talks about in another passage of scripture, the the fowl of the air that fly in the heavens, it's talking about, well, they fly above you, they've crossed the sky, and that's the perspective that we're given in this.
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But something happens in chapter or verse 9.
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And the Lord said, Let the waters under the heaven, that's talking about what we now call oceans and seas.
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That's what it's talking about.
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The waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear, and it was so.
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Before that moment, as you can read in uh when the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, is that what you would what we call earth would have just been all one big ball of water.
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After this, there was land and water.
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And uh here's here's where I'm trying to get to.
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He said, Let the dry land appear, and it was so, and God called the dry land earth, and the gathering together of the waters called he seas.
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Now, that's plural, which means that there is more than one sea, and it does say let the water be gathered in one place.
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But I want to talk about what
the definition of a sea is, at least according to the scripture.
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See, a sea is more than just the water because he named the waters seas after he created the land.
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The seas are things that are bound by land.
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In other words, the definition of a sea is a bounded water.
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In fact, it's if you look at it in the scripture, anything that's bounded and has the properties of a sea is called a sea.
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And we can go to a couple of examples of this in the scripture, but I think it's very important to distinguish the fact that we're not just talking about water, it's talking about something that is bounded by something.
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So that's why there's multiple seas, even though you could probably have traveled from one to the other without stopping from uh the definition we see of the water being gathered together in one place, at least before the worldwide flood, is the fact that they are bounded by different lands.
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They are bounded however you wanted to shape it, is that there were certain boundaries and certain properties that which there were different seas.
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And so the Lord called them seas.
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So one property of a sea that we find in the scripture is its boundary.
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Now I want to I do want to get back to that, but I want to uh let's explore that just one one other place or a couple of other places.
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In fact, uh there's there's two examples.
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One uh one we find in the days of um of Abraham, but uh I want to go to you know let's go to that one first.
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And Abraham, and I won't take the time to go and just read in your hearing, uh, but you go to uh where God uh called Abraham.
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And he called, and when he called Abraham, he said, I will multiply thy seed.
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And then he says, He will multiply thy seed as the sands of the shore of the sea.
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So he will multiply his seed, and then the offspring, and there's a natural uh uh uh there's a natural portion of that uh prophecy of that of that promise.
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Uh but uh I think the apostle Paul points us to the fact that there was a greater promise sealed in that promise to Abraham, and that there was the promise of Jesus Christ, and that he being the promised seed, the innumerable host that is uh chosen and placed in Jesus Christ, is the promise of that innumerable seed, uh the the multiplication of the people of God, that number as the sands of the shore of the sea.
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Now, uh you'll often find in the passage that that promise is referred to many times in the scripture.
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Uh sometimes it's shortened to the sand of the sea.
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Well, if you he it's not talking about a sea full of sand, but it's talking about the sand of the seashore, of the boundary of the sea.
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Now, uh, if you're if you've ever been to a beach, if you've ever tried to pick up one handful of the sand of the seashore and start to try to count those grains of sand, you're gonna find that even one handful is probably gonna be more than you're willing to put in time to try to count the the number of grain, the sands of the sea.
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And so the the the promise to Abraham is consider not just any of just you could probably go to any sea, to the shore of any sea, and start counting grains of sand, and that would get the point of cross.
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But he says that that that's the number of the seed of not just the promise to Abraham and the multiplication of Israel, but the promise of his people and the the multiplication or the the number of his people in the promised seed of Jesus Christ.
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And he compares that to the sand of the seashore.
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So that that uh I bring that to your mind to reinforce that that God even uses the boundary of the sea itself to uh to uh bring in the promise of the uh of the uh of the number of the children of God in Jesus Christ.
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Uh there's another uh example, and I don't know if you're uh how many people are as familiar with this.
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I'll turn to take and read it, take the time to turn and read it.
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In 1 Kings, this is after Solomon becomes uh King of Israel, and um he begins to fulfill the promise of the um of the building of the of the temple.
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Now, uh just a quick review.
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God gave Moses in the day that uh Israel was uh at Mount Sinai, God gave Moses a command to build a tabernacle.
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And that tabernacle was to have certain dimensions, uh, it was to have certain properties, it had uh certain uh material uh that the curtains were to be made out of, uh certain material that the the coating of the tabernacle itself was to be made out of.
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There were there were ramskins, there were goat.
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Skins or badger skins.
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There were linens, things were to be dyed a certain color.
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There were certain uh furniture or finishings that were placed in the tabernacle and outside the tabernacle.
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And it's very one important aspect if you take the time to go and read it.
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Everything in the tabernacle was to be made with gold.
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Now it may have a wooden core to it, but it better be made of gold.
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I think there's some
beautiful pictures there.
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Brass and gold might at a uh at a glance have a similar appearance, but they're also very different in property.
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Uh one, gold will not tarnish.
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Brass will.
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You have to work really hard to make sure brass does, keeps its shine.
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I believe there's a very, very, very close picture there to a human nature versus a divine nature, as we see in that uh in that uh contrast.
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Uh, but there's another aspect.
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Gold, by its, by its physical nature, is soft.
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Brass, by its physical nature, is strong and durable.
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Uh, I think that's more than God just giving us a picture of uh or a material list that that was uh suitable for something that would last a long time.
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I think there's also some pictures there that uh show forth the durability or the uh let me just cut to the chase here.
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Uh I believe with all my heart, and you can feel free to disagree with not.
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I'm not gonna fall out with with you if you disagree with me on this, but I think the entire layout uh from the courtyard to the tabernacle itself to everything inside the holies, holies, is a picture of Jesus Christ.
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It's a picture of uh of his service, it's a picture of his work, his ministry.
00:23:59.839 --> 00:24:09.519
Uh everything from the entrance into the courtyard from the east, and uh I think it's very important to understand east to west is the rising of the sun to the setting of the sun.
00:24:09.839 --> 00:24:21.200
Uh but uh from the east to west, there's a picture laid out, I believe, in the tabernacle, including the fact that there was a brazen altar at the very entrance of that courtyard.
00:24:21.359 --> 00:24:30.480
It was not made of gold, there was a golden altar on the inside, there was a brazen altar on the outside that was the entryway into that courtyard.
00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:46.319
Now, I could go more into that, but uh there's one ask there's one thing that's between that brazen altar and the tabernacle itself where you had to be cleansed before you went in, and there was this this basin of water.
00:24:46.559 --> 00:24:59.119
Now, when Solomon made the temple, that was in David's heart to do it, but uh God prevented David from doing that because he was a man of war.
00:24:59.359 --> 00:25:03.200
He said uh he said, the one that builds my house will be a man of peace.
00:25:03.359 --> 00:25:10.960
Now, I I believe God honored the the heart of David in wanting to build a tabernacle a temple.
00:25:11.200 --> 00:25:25.279
God didn't need the temple, but he honored the promise of David uh or the hope of David and the heart of David in honoring this this uh this uh house that was
made for the Ark of the Covenant.
00:25:25.519 --> 00:25:35.519
But Solomon in his wisdom used the exact proportions and the exact layout that was made for the tabernacle when making the temple.
00:25:35.839 --> 00:25:59.119
And when he uh when he made the uh the basin in uh John or excuse me first Corinthians in uh chapter 7 verse 23 he says this and he made a molten sea a molten sea now molten uh is it talks about the the fact that it was made of molten brass.
00:25:59.440 --> 00:26:07.599
It doesn't mean it was melted, it means that it was it was uh a uh uh a sea, and that's what it's called, because why?
00:26:07.839 --> 00:26:15.119
It's a body of water that is bounded by the dimensions of the the basin that it's in.
00:26:15.359 --> 00:26:27.519
Made of a molten sea, ten cubits from one end to the uh from one end to the other, and that was by the way, of I'm gonna be a little nitpicky here because I think it's important.
00:26:29.119 --> 00:26:32.559
What we find here, in fact, uh I will mention this.
00:26:32.720 --> 00:26:57.759
This is a passage that some who do deny the uh the infallibility of the scripture and the infallibility of the word of God, this is a passage that's often ridiculed in the world and in the in the in the communities of out there that don't honor the word of God uh because they say that there's a mathematical error here that proves that God must have made a mistake.
00:26:58.240 --> 00:27:00.960
It doesn't, and I want to I'm gonna show it to you here.
00:27:01.440 --> 00:27:16.960
The molten sea is not the whole basin, the molten sea is the body of water that is bordered by the basin, and that was ten cubits across.
00:27:17.440 --> 00:27:18.000
Right?
00:27:18.799 --> 00:27:33.039
Now, it says here that the uh the reason why I wanted to point that out is now it is ten uh it is um uh it is ten cubits let me just read it, it'll make it plain.
00:27:33.279 --> 00:27:38.240
If um it says he made a molten sea ten cubits from one brim to the other.
00:27:38.799 --> 00:27:41.440
Ten cubits from one brim to the other.
00:27:41.680 --> 00:27:46.000
So the the the the brim to brim measurement is ten cubits.
00:27:46.240 --> 00:27:50.720
I don't want this to just be a math problem, but but I wanted I want to see the importance of this.
00:27:50.960 --> 00:28:01.599
It was round all about, that means it was a circle, but we're not describing a circle, we're describing something that has depth and dimension to it.
00:28:01.920 --> 00:28:04.160
That's why it's important here in just a minute.
00:28:04.799 --> 00:28:07.279
It's 10 cubits from edge to edge.
00:28:07.680 --> 00:28:18.319
It says under the brim, uh, excuse me, and its height was five cubits and a line of 30 cubits to capacity round about.
00:28:19.119 --> 00:28:21.680
So here's here's the the problem.
00:28:22.640 --> 00:28:40.880
If you were to take a circle, just a regular old circle, that's ten feet across, this is cubits, but ten feet, and you measured it across
10 feet, and then you measured it around, it's gonna be longer than 30 feet.
00:28:41.279 --> 00:28:44.960
And they say, well, this must be, this shows the error that's in the scripture.
00:28:45.200 --> 00:28:46.000
No, it doesn't.
00:28:46.559 --> 00:28:53.839
Because uh what is under consideration is not so much the the basin, it's the sea.
00:28:54.079 --> 00:29:01.119
Now we're told it's 10 cubits from brim to brim, but the 10 cubits around is the water.
00:29:02.079 --> 00:29:04.559
And that can be proven very quickly here.
00:29:04.880 --> 00:29:09.759
Because if it's or the the rather the 30 cubits around is the water.
00:29:10.160 --> 00:29:25.599
Because if you take just by math, if you take the the the the 30 cubits and you find out how what the radius of that circle has to be inside, it's 4.6 something cubits.
00:29:26.319 --> 00:29:31.599
But it's 10 cubits or a radius of 5 cubits on the outside.
00:29:31.839 --> 00:29:42.400
That difference of about whatever that difference is comes to about, if you account for about 18 inches to a cubit, it's about a four-inch difference.
00:29:42.559 --> 00:29:44.400
Well, read what it says here.
00:29:44.799 --> 00:29:56.880
It says that the that the molten sea ten cubits from edge to edge, but the line, the cer the circumference of the sea, of the water, was 10 uh was 30 cubits about.
00:29:57.200 --> 00:30:00.480
And under it the brim of roundabout, there was gnobs compassing it.
00:30:00.559 --> 00:30:03.920
That means uh well uh uh this is an interesting design.
00:30:04.000 --> 00:30:05.599
We can get into the design of it later.
00:30:05.839 --> 00:30:11.519
Ten in cubit, compassing the sea roundabout, and the knobs were cast in two rows when it was cast.
00:30:11.759 --> 00:30:13.279
It stood with 12 oxen.
00:30:13.359 --> 00:30:16.240
Uh let me get to the point that I was trying to get to.
00:30:17.119 --> 00:30:18.559
I did already skip it.
00:30:20.319 --> 00:30:23.759
Twelve oxen, three to the three in each direction.
00:30:25.440 --> 00:30:27.039
Oh yes, verse 26.
00:30:27.279 --> 00:30:30.880
And it was a hand breadth thick.
00:30:31.440 --> 00:30:33.440
It tells us exactly how thick it was.
00:30:33.519 --> 00:30:35.359
Well, guess how wide your hand is?
00:30:35.599 --> 00:30:37.440
Approximately four inches.
00:30:37.680 --> 00:30:40.319
That's exactly the dimensions that it tells us it is.
00:30:40.480 --> 00:30:47.680
That it the the the thirty dim the 30 cubits of the sea inwardly yields a four point something radius.
00:30:48.000 --> 00:30:50.480
The outside radius uh is five.
00:30:50.640 --> 00:30:56.079
That difference comes to a fraction of cubits, that's about four inches or one hand breadth.
00:30:56.400 --> 00:31:08.079
So this this doesn't just uh this doesn't just deny the foul uh this doesn't just contradict the uh let me put it in in positive terms, it's easier to say it this way.
00:31:08.240 --> 00:31:21.440
This confirms not only the infallibility of the scripture, but we could we could reduplicate the actual dimensions that we that we hear here in this scripture from the description of the first two verses.
00:31:21.680 --> 00:31:34.000
So uh I just find that important because the scripture, I believe, is uh the word of God, and that he gave us exactly what he needed and what we needed to confirm what he says, as long as we actually listen to what he says.
00:31:34.240 --> 00:31:44.079
Because what one of the differences that in knowing what the what he said is the sea part, the part is has to do with the what with the water that's inside.
00:31:44.240 --> 00:31:58.400
So let me get back to one of my points is that the sea is defined by the water, at the very least, when it's talking about water, it's talking about water that is bordered or separated from something.
00:31:58.640 --> 00:32:05.599
Uh and there's other passages of scripture we can turn to, but I wanted to get to that because there's a very important reason why.
00:32:05.759 --> 00:32:15.440
When the Lord Himself says uh that there's a new heaven and a new earth, but in this new heaven and a new earth that he's talking about, there are no seas.
00:32:15.680 --> 00:32:17.599
Well, is it because that he doesn't like water?
00:32:17.759 --> 00:32:22.720
No, that has nothing to do with whether he likes water or not, whether it needs water or not.
00:32:22.880 --> 00:32:25.839
It has to do with there's no separations here.
00:32:26.000 --> 00:32:30.880
There is no uh there is something that does not separate one body from another.
00:32:31.039 --> 00:32:41.599
Uh there is there there uh in fact we find uh very pointedly uh by the words of the Apostle Paul that Christ has broken down of this middle wall of partition uh between the Jew and the Gentile.
00:32:41.680 --> 00:32:50.559
In fact, do you know what the Gentiles were often uh turned under in uh if you go to Isaiah, you're gonna find that uh they were the people of the islands.
00:32:50.880 --> 00:32:51.759
What is an island?
00:32:52.000 --> 00:32:55.440
An island by definition is a land that's surrounded by water.
00:32:55.599 --> 00:33:00.079
It is it is it is by definition something that is separated from each other.
00:33:00.240 --> 00:33:13.440
Uh now physically speaking, some of the uh Gentiles that he was talking about, you could have walked to where they lived, but he called them islands because there was a separation by a sea between them.
00:33:13.599 --> 00:33:21.519
Uh whether you're talking about uh even if you're talking about uh uh geographically, one side of the Mediterranean Sea to the other, well, guess what?
00:33:21.680 --> 00:33:22.799
You're still separated.
00:33:22.880 --> 00:33:28.880
You have to cross that sea to get to the other people, or else go the long way around.
00:33:29.039 --> 00:33:49.279
Well, here we're talking about a a uh a an inhabitation, a world, an earth, and a new heaven and new earth, where there is no separation as such, there is no
distinction as such, there is no uh there is no uh Jew or Gentile, there is no bond or free, uh, there is no male or female in that regard.
00:33:49.359 --> 00:33:59.039
Uh uh, yes, he put all those things in this world, but in his mind and purpose, you're either his, you're either his child or you're not his child.
00:33:59.200 --> 00:34:00.000
And guess what?
00:34:00.240 --> 00:34:10.239
If you're there, you're his, and that's what matters is that everyone that is in the kingdom of heaven, everyone that is in the new heaven and in the new earth is his.
00:34:10.800 --> 00:34:13.519
We are all brethren in the kingdom of God.
00:34:14.719 --> 00:34:15.760
Pardon me.
00:34:16.079 --> 00:34:19.440
That's one of the most blessed things that we have in the church of God.
00:34:20.559 --> 00:34:29.360
Is that uh, is that uh, is that right to call each other brother and sister, the right by the blood of Christ to claim inheritance.
00:34:30.400 --> 00:34:32.719
You know as well as I do, pardon me.
00:34:34.079 --> 00:34:49.920
You know as well as I do with that when you grow up in a close family, uh, and uh and you grow up as uh uh with close bonds as brother and sister with with each other, uh, whether it's two sisters or two brothers or brother and sister, uh there's something that takes place.
00:34:50.159 --> 00:34:56.960
Is that uh don't you dare come making fun of my brother or sister, or else I'm gonna get after you.
00:34:57.119 --> 00:35:02.000
There's a defense mechanism, there's there's a there's an ownership that you have of family and brother.
00:35:02.159 --> 00:35:08.800
And there's uh there's uh there's experiences you share with each other that you don't share outside of the family.
00:35:08.960 --> 00:35:16.719
Uh not that it's wrong, uh, but it's it's just that something that is uh that is only a bond between brother and sister.
00:35:16.880 --> 00:35:24.239
And with that shared experience comes shared relationships and a deeper, and what should be a deeper and closer relationship.
00:35:24.400 --> 00:35:26.960
Well, guess what you have in the church of God?
00:35:27.199 --> 00:35:33.679
Guess what you have in the kingdom of God, guess what every child of God will have throughout all eternity?
00:35:33.840 --> 00:35:41.119
It is that it is that closeness, that bond uh of being uh bound by the very blood of Christ, that we are related by blood.
00:35:41.280 --> 00:35:47.440
We are related by blood just as much as if we were born to the same father and the same mother.
00:35:47.519 --> 00:35:53.840
But that blood is not the the brother uh the blood of my mother or my father or your mother or your father.
00:35:54.000 --> 00:35:55.679
It is the blood of Jesus Christ.
00:35:55.920 --> 00:36:03.760
Binds us together as the family of God, and that we have there is no uh division and there is no distinction, so simply get there.
00:36:03.920 --> 00:36:05.679
There's not gonna be, oh, you know what?
00:36:05.840 --> 00:36:09.039
Oh, you uh
you get to sit at the popular seat.
00:36:09.119 --> 00:36:13.519
Okay, but you know, everyone else, you get to sit at the you know the the outcast seat over here.
00:36:13.599 --> 00:36:14.719
There's none of that.
00:36:14.880 --> 00:36:15.920
Uh you know what?
00:36:16.800 --> 00:36:20.400
You did well in your uh your life on earth.
00:36:20.480 --> 00:36:23.280
Uh you're gonna have the richest blessings of heaven.
00:36:23.519 --> 00:36:30.960
Boy, you know, you just barely scrape by while you're yeah, you know, you'll get to come in, but you know, why don't you be everybody else's servant while you're here?
00:36:31.039 --> 00:36:32.800
You know, that that that'll be a good place for you.
00:36:32.880 --> 00:36:34.159
That's not the way it's gonna be.
00:36:34.320 --> 00:36:36.800
That's not the way it is in the kingdom of heaven.
00:36:36.880 --> 00:36:38.639
Uh it's not the way it is then.
00:36:38.800 --> 00:36:43.199
Uh when we get to eternal glory, it's not the way it is now in the kingdom of heaven.
00:36:43.280 --> 00:36:47.760
When we enter in, there is there is no bond or freedom.
00:36:47.840 --> 00:36:49.760
There is no servant or master.
00:36:49.920 --> 00:36:52.159
We're brethren before the feet of God.
00:36:52.480 --> 00:36:54.559
There is no sea between us.
00:36:54.719 --> 00:37:02.480
There is no boundary, there is no division, there is no uh there is no uh there should be no distance that we have to cross to get to one another.
00:37:02.719 --> 00:37:14.000
It is it is uh it is that we are united and bound, uh, as uh the apostle Peter put it, as joint as uh stones jointly fit together in the house of God.
00:37:14.159 --> 00:37:16.480
It means right up against each other.
00:37:16.639 --> 00:37:22.880
Uh uh so close to each other you shouldn't be able to get a piece of paper between those two stones.
00:37:22.960 --> 00:37:25.280
Uh so there is no division.
00:37:25.599 --> 00:37:31.280
Now I I believe there's a lot more that can be said about that and by people wiser than me.
00:37:31.440 --> 00:37:47.280
But uh but there's uh another aspect of the sea, though, that I think is important, I think it's every bit as important as the fact that the sea by definition is a separation.
00:37:47.840 --> 00:37:54.400
And that there is no separation in that day and time, not in the kingdom of heaven now, not for all eternity.
00:37:55.280 --> 00:37:56.800
Between the people of God.
00:37:59.119 --> 00:38:09.119
But another aspect of the sea, according to the scripture, is that it is all trouble.
00:38:11.679 --> 00:38:17.599
The sea is, by definition, where problems are found.
00:38:18.800 --> 00:38:20.800
We see that many times, huh?
00:38:21.119 --> 00:38:34.079
We can get we uh in fact, um there's one occasion we can turn to where a fellow named Jonah wanted to run away from his his responsibility.
00:38:34.400 --> 00:38:39.119
Thought- I don't know if he actually thought he could, but he thought he'd give it a try.
00:38:39.440
--> 00:38:49.280
He ran as far as away, in fact, he he got a boat to try to get as far away from uh from Nineveh as he could by going the other direction on the sea.
00:38:49.519 --> 00:38:51.039
And what does God do?
00:38:51.599 --> 00:38:52.960
He sends a storm.
00:38:53.280 --> 00:38:57.280
Now that was not the first storm that had ever been on a sea.
00:38:57.519 --> 00:39:06.400
That was that when that storm came, and those men in that boat tried to row against it, they weren't saying, What is this?
00:39:06.559 --> 00:39:08.559
We've never seen anything like this before.
00:39:08.719 --> 00:39:18.559
No, they may not have seen a storm just like that before, but they've seen storms because storms are found on the sea.
00:39:18.800 --> 00:39:20.800
Now, do you find storms on land?
00:39:21.039 --> 00:39:21.519
Sure.
00:39:21.840 --> 00:39:29.360
But that's that's almost by definition that if you are a sailor on the sea, guess what you learn to prepare for?
00:39:29.679 --> 00:39:30.480
Storms.
00:39:31.199 --> 00:39:36.960
Because that's they're full of it, because it is unstable water.
00:39:37.840 --> 00:39:39.119
That's another aspect to it.
00:39:39.199 --> 00:39:45.920
I don't I don't want to get too much into that, but the waters of the sea are by definition unstable.
00:39:46.079 --> 00:39:48.559
Meaning they go up and down, there's waves.
00:39:48.880 --> 00:39:52.639
It's it's troublesome, you cannot count on it.
00:39:52.960 --> 00:39:57.519
Uh there uh uh let me continue on with that thought.
00:39:57.760 --> 00:40:06.239
So, anyway, the uh with Jonah, uh the storm came, the Lord prepared that storm, the Lord prepared a fish, he prepared a lot of things.
00:40:06.320 --> 00:40:11.199
Uh the the book of Jonah is a good book to read about God's preparation.
00:40:11.440 --> 00:40:17.519
He's prepared everything for every every event before it happens because he knew it was gonna happen.
00:40:17.679 --> 00:40:22.400
He knew as soon as Jonah's heart was turned against him, he said, Well, okay, here we go.
00:40:22.639 --> 00:40:28.800
I don't know if it was the moment that Jonah started heading to Joppa to get on that boat, but he started making preparation.
00:40:29.039 --> 00:40:30.960
And so that he prepared this storm.
00:40:31.119 --> 00:40:35.760
That storm lasted as long as it needed to last.
00:40:36.320 --> 00:40:44.239
As soon as they cast Jonah out of that boat, that storm, that storm stopped.
00:40:44.719 --> 00:40:48.320
So that establishes two things.
00:40:49.199 --> 00:40:53.280
What do you what can you expect on a sea?
00:40:55.920 --> 00:41:00.480
Who is the master of the sea and the sword?
00:41:03.199 --> 00:41:05.280
He's the one that's the master of it.
00:41:05.599 --> 00:41:07.679
He's the one that created it to begin with.
00:41:07.920 --> 00:41:10.159
He's the one that gave it its name.
00:41:10.880 --> 00:41:14.079
You know, there's a lot of things about the scripture about God giving names.
00:41:14.159 --> 00:41:18.320
He even named the stars, and I believe that's a beautiful picture of him naming his children of God.
00:41:19.440 --> 00:41:26.239
But when the master, when the creator speaks, the creation listens.
00:41:27.840 --> 00:41:34.800
And if there's anything that shows how deep man has fallen, it's that.
00:41:35.519 --> 00:41:41.280
Because man of all creation won't even listen to the voice of God.
00:41:41.519 --> 00:41:46.800
And I believe that I believe when he speaks with efficacy, when he speaks and says, live, you listen.
00:41:47.039 --> 00:41:47.760
You live.
00:41:48.079 --> 00:41:53.440
But as far as man in his nature, he is altogether enmity against God.
00:41:54.400 --> 00:41:59.039
Even the winds and the waves still know the voice of the one who made it.
00:41:59.199 --> 00:42:00.320
And how do we know that?
00:42:00.800 --> 00:42:01.920
He proved it.
00:42:03.119 --> 00:42:10.559
When there was the when on at least two occasions, but one occasion where he was asleep on a boat.
00:42:11.199 --> 00:42:14.400
And let's just set the scene here.
00:42:15.199 --> 00:42:17.280
I won't take too much more time.
00:42:19.280 --> 00:42:21.840
Christ gets on this boat with his disciples.
00:42:22.400 --> 00:42:28.639
The disciples, many of them were fishermen, on this very sea, the Sea of Galilee.
00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:32.800
And they knew the kinds of waters they were on.
00:42:32.960 --> 00:42:36.000
And they knew what to expect, they knew the kind of thing.
00:42:36.159 --> 00:42:45.280
And there's nothing in the scripture that says this storm was a storm like Jonah's storm that was sent in preparation, but it was a bad one.
00:42:45.519 --> 00:42:53.039
And when when the the boat started getting rocked and the waves started coming over, and they said they were they were they were uh prevailing over the boat.
00:42:53.119 --> 00:42:56.559
They were they were the water the boat was taking on water.
00:42:56.880 --> 00:43:04.480
And the the these boatmen, these these the the these fishermen, uh they they knew what was going on.
00:43:04.960 --> 00:43:08.320
James, Peter, John, they knew this was dangerous.
00:43:08.480 --> 00:43:10.639
Like this this was not good.
00:43:11.360 --> 00:43:13.920
And yet the Lord is here sleeping.
00:43:14.239 --> 00:43:20.400
Now, you can look at them and say, well, they should have taken note of that.
00:43:20.559 --> 00:43:34.559
They should have said, well, if the if the one who they knew was was uh uh the the one sent from God to deliver Israel was had no problem with this, well, maybe they shouldn't have had a problem with it, right?
00:43:35.039 --> 00:43:39.440
Except I think this is also a good lesson for us to understand.
00:43:43.519 --> 00:43:47.760
Yes, they probably should have paid attention.
00:43:49.119 --> 00:43:51.280
Just like we should probably pay attention.
00:43:52.159 --> 00:43:57.280
Because if God is not worried about it, should we worry about it?
00:44:00.239 -->
00:44:04.960
So when we look out of this world, it is not a world.
00:44:10.159 --> 00:44:14.559
There's nothing about this world that has that has lost control of.
00:44:19.920 --> 00:44:24.000
It is not beautiful to us, nevertheless.
00:44:25.679 --> 00:44:33.679
I think Christ did correct them when they were worried.
00:44:33.920 --> 00:44:42.880
But I think there were, I think that what was the most the worst part of it was not that they were concerned about the water coming in.
00:44:43.199 --> 00:44:50.159
I think the worst part of it is that they they they charged Christ with not caring.
00:44:50.880 --> 00:44:54.800
You see, they said, Carest thou not that we perish.
00:44:55.119 --> 00:44:58.159
See, I think that was the fault of the disciples.
00:44:58.400 --> 00:45:03.440
You see, we can look around and say, well, this looks like water is coming to the ship.
00:45:03.679 --> 00:45:08.400
And I know by nature, if water comes to the ship, the ship sinks.
00:45:08.719 --> 00:45:13.920
Now, Christ may, the Lord may not be worried about it, but this is a fearful thing.
00:45:14.239 --> 00:45:18.880
The problem comes when we say, doesn't the Lord care?
00:45:19.760 --> 00:45:21.039
That's the problem.
00:45:21.440 --> 00:45:29.119
You see, it's one thing to face a fearful problem anticipating and trusting the Lord that the Lord will show you the way through it.
00:45:29.280 --> 00:45:32.719
It's another thing to think the Lord doesn't care about it.
00:45:32.960 --> 00:45:34.079
And that's the problem.
00:45:34.320 --> 00:45:37.119
I think that's where their faith uh failed them.
00:45:37.199 --> 00:45:42.159
Is that they were not, it's not that, yes, what the ship was coming up water.
00:45:42.239 --> 00:45:43.840
I don't think that ship was going to sink.
00:45:43.920 --> 00:45:52.639
And what they would have seen would have seen like the ship could weather the storm, whether they expected it to or not, because the Lord was in the ship.
00:45:52.800 --> 00:45:59.760
But what they did get to see was that the because of the the because the Lord answered their problem.
00:46:00.320 --> 00:46:05.199
And their problem was not uh so much, do we make it to the other side?
00:46:05.360 --> 00:46:14.320
Their problem was that they needed to see that the Lord has control of the of the problem and he cares about them.
00:46:14.480 --> 00:46:15.599
He that he actually does.
00:46:16.400 --> 00:46:20.719
He wasn't forgetful, he wasn't just taking a nap and lost track of time.
00:46:20.960 --> 00:46:28.719
He he was worried, and they should not have worried about his care for them because he was on the boat with them.
00:46:28.880 --> 00:46:33.519
And so when they woke him up and said, Carest thou not that we perish, what does he do?
00:46:33.599 --> 00:46:37.440
He comes out and just says, Peace be still.
00:46:37.760 --> 00:46:45.360
And the seas answered his voice, because they know the voice of the Creator.
00:46:47.920 --> 00:46:57.679
But when we
look at the new heaven and the new earth, there's not even room for the problem.
00:46:58.719 --> 00:47:02.320
There's not even a place for there to be a storm.
00:47:02.800 --> 00:47:09.840
There's not even the the there's not the opportunity to have to see the Lord correct the problem.
00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:10.320
Why?
00:47:10.559 --> 00:47:12.079
Because there will be no problem.
00:47:12.400 --> 00:47:15.760
There will be no storms because there will be no sea.
00:47:15.920 --> 00:47:21.039
There will be no unsteady waves because there will be no uh unsteady waters.
00:47:21.199 --> 00:47:24.000
Uh there is another aspect, there's another passage.
00:47:24.079 --> 00:47:37.440
Uh if you try to take the time to go and read uh about the uh the uh the scene that's uh earlier in Revelation before the great white throne, it says uh uh that there was a sea of glass before the throne.
00:47:37.599 --> 00:47:39.440
Uh well that's not water.
00:47:39.519 --> 00:47:41.199
Uh I want to I want to point that out.
00:47:41.360 --> 00:47:46.159
Glass is not water, uh, but there's an aspect in which we ought to see something there.
00:47:46.320 --> 00:47:51.119
Now, there was something that was there that was bounded because it was called the sea.
00:47:51.280 --> 00:47:56.719
And it was bounded, but it had different properties than what the kinds of seas we see in this world.
00:47:56.880 --> 00:47:58.639
It was a sea of glass.
00:47:58.880 --> 00:48:02.719
Now, what is it that's uh about glass that might call to your attention?
00:48:02.880 --> 00:48:08.800
Well, you might think about it being breakable, you might think about it being transparent, and those are true in nature.
00:48:08.960 --> 00:48:24.559
But one thing about glass, that's uh, if you go and look in the scripture, almost every time that glass is referred to, it's talking about like as if you were looking to a looking glass, or something that's smooth and shiny, and and uh the surface is completely flat.
00:48:24.719 --> 00:48:34.079
And what you're looking at there is a scene of a glass or a sea of crystal or as it were of glass where there was no uh there was no disturbance.
00:48:34.159 --> 00:48:44.719
Uh there was there was no ridges, there was no the the surface was completely clear and completely clear of any uh uh uh uh disturbance on the surface.
00:48:44.880 --> 00:48:49.519
It was uh there was no trouble there, it was uh it was something in which there was no problem there.
00:48:49.599 --> 00:48:55.679
Uh that that's that's the manner in which uh the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of earth has no sea.
00:48:55.760 --> 00:49:06.719
Uh not only is there no boundary uh between the inhabitants of this uh kingdom of God, but there is no trouble to be found there, there is no disturbance to be found there, there is no storm to have to still.
00:49:06.880 --> 00:49:09.199
Yes, God could still still the storm.
00:49:09.920 --> 00:49:11.280
That was a lot of stills.
00:49:11.840 -->
00:49:21.199
God could very well still calm any storm that comes along, but there will be no storm to calm.
00:49:21.440 --> 00:49:23.280
There will be no troubles there.
00:49:23.679 --> 00:49:32.000
Very, the very uh in fact, if you go, uh I will close with this this passage in uh Revelation 21.
00:49:32.559 --> 00:49:42.400
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there were no more, there was no more sea.
00:49:42.960 --> 00:49:50.960
And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
00:49:51.199 --> 00:50:05.599
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them and be their God.
00:50:06.000 --> 00:50:26.400
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away.
00:50:26.880 --> 00:50:31.519
You say, Brother Chris, that is a beautiful picture of heaven, and it is.
00:50:32.000 --> 00:50:35.440
It's also a beautiful picture of the kingdom of heaven right now.
00:50:37.039 --> 00:50:41.199
Because where is it that you go in the time of trouble?
00:50:41.519 --> 00:50:45.920
You don't go to the place where you might find trouble or you might not.
00:50:46.639 --> 00:50:50.880
You go to the place where you know you will never find trouble.
00:50:51.440 --> 00:51:00.960
You go to the place where you go, you go to the feet of Christ, you go to the seat of the Lord, you go to the church of the living God, you go to his word, and guess what?
00:51:01.119 --> 00:51:12.079
When you go there, you're never gonna find death, you're never gonna find sorrow, you're never gonna find crime, not except it be crying, tears of joy, uh, but you're never gonna find pain and suffering there.
00:51:12.159 --> 00:51:12.480
Why?
00:51:12.719 --> 00:51:16.639
Because what you're gonna find is the declaration of the finished work of Jesus Christ.
00:51:16.800 --> 00:51:26.480
You're gonna find the power and the glory of the mighty hand of God who saved his people by his own strength, who saved you and loved you with an everlasting love and made you his.
00:51:26.880 --> 00:51:29.920
What you're gonna find is in the face of death, you're gonna find life.
00:51:30.000 --> 00:51:40.800
When you're gonna find in the face of sorrow, you're gonna find joy with in the face of pain, you're gonna find peace, and you're gonna find that right here and right now in the kingdom of God.
00:51:40.960 --> 00:51:44.880
Yes, we we come in and out of the kingdom of God in that fashion.
00:51:45.199 --> 00:51:48.800
We we must needs uh labor in this world.
00:51:49.039 --> 00:51:52.559
But when we get to heaven, we're gonna find a familiar place.
00:51:52.800 --> 00:51:55.280
We're gonna find that we've already seen it.
00:51:55.519 --> 00:51:58.960
Well, we will see it better, but we've already seen it.
00:51:59.199 --> 00:52:01.280
We've already seen it in the presence of God.
00:52:01.360 --> 00:52:07.199
We've seen it when Christ has visited us, and all sorrow passes away.
00:52:07.440 --> 00:52:12.320
And the storms of the sea are calm, just like in the day of the disciples.
00:52:12.559 --> 00:52:21.920
We will know, we'll know it, and we won't have to be convinced where we're in the right place because we've already been there and you know it.
00:52:22.159 --> 00:52:31.199
It'll just be brighter and it'll be more joyful, and one day it will be eternally ours to dwell in in the very presence of God.
00:52:31.599 --> 00:52:33.519
I pray that something is good.