GLORY - The Nature of Christ in us

So, Ray and Anu's son John was sick this week and I believe had to go to the hospital

and the doctors had said that he would be there for five to six days and the churches

were praying, the pursuit was praying, other people were praying. Their words were half

the church was praying, and so let's assume we are the half. And so the church was praying

and his creatine level rose to 120, which is why they said he would have to be in the

hospital for five or six days. And then he was discharged a day later because they have

never seen his creatine level fall from 122 to 82. It has never happened for John before.

And so that is pretty incredible. Like in the past when we prayed for him it has fallen

by 10, so it would go from 120 to 110 and sometimes two points and so it is excruciatingly

slow. But for a child who is supposed to be in hospital for six days, for the levels to

fall from 122 to 80 is phenomenal. So that is unusual and if it is unusual it is God.

It was in medicine. So that is pretty amazing. So that is one announcement. The second announcement

was sent to me by someone, I won't mention his name, but he is sitting to the left of

me and he said, I am not looking at him, he sent me a text saying could we get an announcement

to remind people to clean up after themselves and their kids and if they notice things lying

around. So there are three requests he makes. One, that they clean up after themselves,

they clean up after their kids and they notice things lying around. It has been, and then

he continues and I am not looking at him, it has been getting sloppy lately with things

left everywhere and then almost like a compromise he says, you don't have to announce this today,

it could be another week. Yeah. So, oh he is gone? Okay, so, yeah, so that is an announcement

from someone who was on my left and then are there any folks here for the first time? I

didn't know you were Janelle's sister but I found out Christabel was Janelle's sister

so if you haven't said hi to her, say hi to her and yeah, I don't think there is anyone

else new, right? Okay. Okay, so let's go. We are continuing with what we started off

last week and the first part will be a recap. So we were talking about glory and we said

the word glory can't be separated from Christ so we have to think of it as the glory of

Christ. If you separate it then what happens is we think of glory as a thing. Hey, are

you guys here for the first time? Yes? We were introducing people who came here for

the first time. What are your names? Sorry, you walked in and it looks like, and you?

XT. Nice. Guys, Carton and XT. Okay, who brought you here? Ah, okay, cool, you are welcome.

Yeah, so we were talking about how do you, when you talk about glory you can't separate

glory from Christ because if you separate glory from Christ then glory becomes an it.

Why? We have to keep them together. The glory of Christ. That's how we talked about it last

time and so here is a recap. And today we talk about the nature of Christ in us. So

Hebrews 1.3 says Christ is the radiance of the glory of God. Christ is the radiance of

the glory of God. The exact imprint of his nature and he is seated at the right hand

of the majesty on high. This is just a recap from last week. What is glory? The moment

we think of the word glory we have to think of it as it is the glory of a person. It is

the glory of Christ. Next, Hebrews 1.3 says glory is the radiance of God seen in Christ.

The radiance of God. And then it goes on to define it further. It says glory is the exact

imprint of the nature of God expressed through Christ. And then it goes on to say Christ

who is glorious is seated at the right hand of the majesty on high. That's just in one

verse, eh? Hebrews 1.3. In 1 Peter 4.14 we find out that the Holy Spirit is called the

spirit of glory. And so when we in the New Testament talk about Shekinah or glory or

doxa or kabod, what we really mean is the spirit of God bringing to us the radiance

and the exact nature of Christ in our midst. And so right now as we are talking he is present.

And it's critical that we take these moments to capture his presence. So at this very moment

the spirit of God who was there before the earth was created, I know I keep saying this

again and again, is to just have holy imagination that when there was nothing, when it was chaotic,

when it was dark, the same spirit of God who hovered over the entire chaos and created

the universe is here right now. And he brings to us the glory or the radiance of Christ

and the exact imprint of his nature right now in our midst. And he is here. And in him

being here Christ now is here. One of the things he loves to do, and we know this from

Revelation 1, he loves to walk amongst the lampstand. He's not sitting here on a throne

saying, worship me. He loves walking amongst the lampstands. Walking is a favorite thing

of his. He didn't give me that nature of his, but he used to do it in Genesis chapter 3

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

where he would come walking in the cool of the evening. You go to Revelation and he's

walking amongst the lampstands. And he's walking here too. Because like it or not, he likes

you as much as he likes Jesus Christ, his son. So why would he not walk with you? And

then we talked about glory and how. This glory of Christ, let's not separate the two words,

let's keep them together till we get so used to it that we never think of glory as an it

or a what, but a who and a him. This glory of Christ fills the earth. Habakkuk 2.14 talks

about it. It's revealed in the gospels. Why would the gospels reveal the glory of Christ?

John 1.14, it says that Christ dwelt among us and we saw the glory of the only Son and

he was full of grace and truth. The word was with us. The word became flesh and the word dwelt

among us and we saw his glory and he was full of truth and grace. And so every time someone reads

the gospels, the glory of Christ is revealed. Never hesitate to help people read the gospels

because in the gospels, Jesus is revealed and Jesus is the visible radiance and the exact imprint

of the nature of God. Next, nature proclaims his glory. Psalm 19.1 that, oh God, your creation

continuously speaks day and night. It's like they have speech and they declare glory. Then in the

church, his glory is manifest. 2 Corinthians 3.18, where the Spirit of God is, there is liberty

and the Spirit of God is here. And what does he do? He transforms us from glory to glory as we

behold him. Behold who? One of the things we need to understand that even as I'm talking what Christ

would love to do, what the Spirit of God would love to do is to show you Christ. Show you Christ in

the scriptures. Show you Christ in the teaching. The last thing he wants is attention paid to the

teacher. What he wants is attention paid to the words that come from the teacher. And with those

words, one of the things the Spirit loves doing is helping each of us behold Christ. And so as a

teacher, if you ever teach, your intent should be, can I with my words make my hearers behold

Christ? And for that, whoever teaches needs the Spirit of God. Without the Spirit of God, these

are just words that do nothing. And so even as you're hearing, if you want, here's the crazy thing,

whether you believe in Christ or not, if you want, the Spirit of God can show you who Jesus is even

while I'm talking. And then lastly, Jesus displays his glory through wonders like taking a boy who's

less than two years old and bringing his creatine levels down from 122 to 80. That is a wonder if it

was your child and you had taken him to hospital at least 16 times in the last two years and you find

these things falling by two points or eight points and then you go in one night and you come out and

you realize that it's fallen 40 points. That is a wonder. That is a sign. And he displays his nature

through his signs. We talked about all this last time. And so one of the things we said after that

is, who is he that is present with us here? And why is he so majestic, so brilliant, so splendid, so

magnificent? But before we go there, we said that it exists on four levels. So the glory of Christ is

in heaven. Revelations four and five talk about it. The glory of Christ is here on earth. Habakkuk 2.14

talks about it. The glory of Christ is in me. 1 Corinthians 3.16 talks about it. Colossians 1.27

talks about it. I'm just recapping. And the glory of Christ is in our midst. 1 Corinthians 6.19

talks about it. So the brilliance of Christ, the substance of Christ, the weight of Christ, the person

of Christ, the nature of Christ exists in all four planes at the same time. We're not used to this,

guys. The need to recap things like this is so that we get so familiar with the fact that at this present

moment, his splendor, his brilliance, his nature, his person exists at the same time in four different

places. In me, in his fullness, in us, in his fullness, in heaven, invisible fullness on earth, in his

fullness. The only difference with heaven is it's his visible fullness. That's just nuts. That's how he

exists. And so right now, in our midst, he exists in his invisible fullness. And so how do you increase in an

awareness of it? How do you increase in an awareness of anything? There are four things that make us increase in the

awareness of something. If you love something, you'll become aware of it. If you practice noticing it, you'll become

aware of it. If you read more, understand more, grow in the knowledge of it, you will become aware of it. And the

last one with Christ is if you are sensitive to the Spirit, you'll become aware of it. These are the four ways we become

aware of anything, in life in general. So how can I become aware of the glory of Christ because it exists on all these

four planes? I'm continuously surrounded by it. Anywhere I go. We talked about this last week. David said, where can I go from

your presence? If I take the wings of the morning, you're there. If I go and hide myself and chill, you're there. There's

nobody, there's nowhere I can escape from you. How do we become aware of his presence? Because again, saying what I said

last week, we are often like Jacob in Genesis 28 verse 13 or 14 where he said, God is in this place and I did not even

Genesis 28:13

know it. And instead, how do we become aware of it? We become aware by falling in love with this person. And when you fall in

love with him, you become aware of him. One of the ways we fall in love as the corporate body is sometimes during worship where you

realize, oh my God, you're here and you care for me. But that aside, through conversations and so on, falling in love,

practicing, continuously practicing. Guys, every time you're not aware of him, all that means is you get a second start. Let's assume

that for the next two hours, I'm not aware of him. Two hours later, 120 minutes later, 70 to 100 seconds later, I can start afresh.

How long may I last? Maybe 120 seconds. But that's 120 seconds more than yesterday. It's only a matter of time.

It's only a matter of time.

Where you begin to live in the awareness of him and to be living in the awareness of him, your problems change, your attitude

change, your nature changes. We'll talk about that today.

Third one is knowledge, increase in the knowledge of him. This teaching is supposed to help us increase in the knowledge of him.

And finally, sensitivity to the spirit, to be sensitive to the spirit. The sensitivity to the spirit is not an on and off switch.

You can't suddenly become sensitive to your wife. You become sensitive to your wife if you like her on a constant basis. You get sensitive to what she needs

and what she thinks, even when she doesn't speak. It's not an on and off switch. So being sensitive to the spirit comes out of walking with the people

of the spirit, walking with the spirit and walking with the word. Three things. If you want to be sensitive to the spirit, you have to walk with the people of the spirit.

Living in isolation, you can live together alone. You know that.

Walking with the people of God, walking with the word, walking by the spirit. Three ways to become sensitive to the spirit.

And then the next bit was asking this question about who is in the room right now.

Who is he that is present with us? Why is he so majestic, so brilliant, so splendid, so magnificent? Who is he who is right now in our midst?

Who is this one that you and I are right now aware of?

Who is this one that you and I are right now aware of?

Why is he so overpowering?

Then we began to answer it because the one who is in our midst right now is the conquering king and the lord of Revelation 19.

He is always triumphant. He is always victorious. He is mighty and he has never been defeated.

He is impossibly true. You can't measure how true he is, how straight he is, how perfect he is, how holy he is.

How holy he is in everything, in the way he thinks. He is so true, in the way he feels, in the way he judges, in the way he decides, in the way he says things, in the way he does things.

He is so true. He is so true. So straight. Impossible.

Who is he? Who is he who is here right now? He is mystery. He is majesty. He is creator. He is full of light. He is mystery.

Don't understand him fully. Can't even comprehend these few lines. He is mystery. He is majesty. He lives in majesty.

The word king comes because of who he is. It's not a word that had to be put on him. It is a word that came out of him.

He is the one that we are in the presence of. He is creator. He is full of light. He is perfection. He is excellence. He is infinite and he is unending.

He is unending. If you went up him, you would never get to the end of him. His greatness, his fame, his praise, his reputation, his dominion, his power, his honor is unsurpassed.

Nobody can hold a candle to it. I love the next one. He is kind. He is good. He is kind. He is good.

He is gentle. He is meek. He is forgiving. He is loyal. He is unpredictably faithful. He has never been anything else. He is kind.

He is kind. The one who is in this room is kind. He is good. These words originated because he exists. He is kind. He is good. He is gentle. He is meek. He is forgiving. He is loyal. He is faithful.

He is faithful and he has never been anything else. He is also Yahweh. He is the ancient of days. He is the lamb of God. He is the lion of Judah. He is the bridegroom. He is the king of kings and the lord of lords.

He actually has a robe in Revelation 19 that has that written on him. He is just. Right now, here, he is just. He is all-knowing. He is super-fair. Everything he does is so full of equity and fairness.

He is generous. Like ridiculously generous. All these words exist because he is. He is merciful. Super merciful and he is sacrificial.

Then we go on to the song we sang. The second song we sang. He paid with his blood for me, for us, for Richmond, for nations, for creation. This is the one who is in our midst right now.

I don't think I'll ever get tired of going over this list, guys. I want to go over this list so often that it becomes such a natural thing for me to inhale and exhale him who is in me, him who is in our midst, him who is in heaven and him who is on earth.

His presence is here and it is supernatural. And as you go over this again and again, you begin to realize, ah shucks, this is a real person and he is here. His presence is here and it's supernatural with signs, with miracles, with healings, with wonders, with power and compassion.

Power and compassion always go together, right? When it comes to God, power does not exist on its own. How do you know whether the nature of the Father is being exhibited through preachers, teachers, evangelists, apostles, prophets when they are on stage?

How do you know whether the nature of God is being exhibited with them, through them, when their signs and wonders break out? Look for compassion. Don't look for power.

When power exists without compassion, it is not really God and one must begin to question why it still exists.

He is the author and the source and the origin of wisdom, of creativity, of beauty, of oneness, of laughter, of joy. He is the author, the source and the origin of laughter and joy.

He is the author, the source and the origin of laughter and joy, of wisdom, of creativity, of beauty, of oneness. He is protective. He is present right now. He is jealous.

He is a dread to his enemies and darkness flees from his presence. His words give life, his words form, his words sustain creation, his words split the earth.

I know that took a long time to get through, but as you begin to go over it again and again, you realize that this is who is here right now.

This is who is in me right now. This is who is in heaven right now. And this is who is pressing down on the earth right now.

Where can you go from his presence? Our work now is to become aware of him. How can I be unkind, not good, or hurtful to someone?

How can I be deceitful, corrupt, untrustworthy once I get to know him? How can I be unforgiving, proud, unfaithful, disloyal once he becomes embedded in the very soul of my being?

How? It changes you. The more aware you become of him, the less you are of yourself.

What is it to be God conscious? It's very simple. To be God conscious is to be less aware of you and more aware of him. That's all.

What does it mean to be conscious of his presence? Very simple. Less aware of you, more aware of him. That's it.

That's a very simple definition. A boy, do you and I need to change and become more like him.

He's here. This is who we worship. We bow with the angels and the elders in adoration and worship to him who is glorious in our midst.

Oh come, let us adore him. Oh come, let us adore him. Oh come, let us adore him Christ the Lord.

Oh come, let us adore him. Oh come, let us adore him. Oh come, let us adore him Christ the Lord.

For he alone is worthy.

We give him all the glory. In any way this is.

We give you all the glory. We give you all the glory. We give you all the glory.

We Christ the Lord. We acknowledge you Jesus.

Meek, gentle, jealous.

Brilliant.

You tower over us right now.

You are gathering us.

Highest praises Lord of all.

Be enthroned upon the praises of a thousand generations. You are worthy Lord of all.

Unto you the slain and risen King. We lift our voice to heaven singing worthy Lord of all.

And I stand, I stand in awe of you. I stand, I stand in awe of you.

Holy God to whom all praise is due. I stand in awe of you.

Just sing one more and then we can go back to the teaching.

Jesus we enthrone you. We proclaim you our King. Standing here in the midst.

We raise you up with our praise. One more time Jesus. Jesus we enthrone you.

We proclaim you our King. Standing here in the midst of us. We raise you up with our praise.

And as we worship build your throne. And as we worship build your throne.

And as we worship build your throne. Come Lord Jesus and take your place.

So we honor you Jesus. You here in your glory which is the exact imprint of your nature and your radiance you are here.

We are going to become a people that becomes so aware of you. Here on earth you are just pressing upon believers upon unbelievers.

So that you can reveal yourself to them. You are in us. You are in me. You are here. We just sang standing here in the midst of us.

Have you also catched glimpses of heaven in me? Thank you. They are drawing us deeper. Oh God this is so rich.

How do physical visible people so tangibly feel an invisible God? By the spirit right? By the spirit.

That was the recap so let's go on to what we want to talk about today.

So let's go to John 14 20. Look at her handwriting yeah. Look at my handwriting yeah. Nice yeah. Never complain again.

She might be slightly smarter.

Now I know Aaron why when she gives you a list to go shopping you get only two things and come back home.

I was blaming you all. I was blaming you all this time. Now I know.

Okay.

John 14 verse 20. That's what we look at today.

John 14:20

John 14 20 and here's what it says. It says.

When I it says on that day on which day on the day that he rises. So basically when I rise. Jesus is saying.

You will know.

That I am in the fact that you will know that I am in the Father.

You in me.

And I in you. That's what we look at today.

When I rise on that day as in when I rise you will know that I am in the Father.

You and me and I in you. So let's take the first bit.

He is in the Father. Why is he saying that?

Well there might be many reasons why he's saying that.

One of the things that really stands out is he's trying to say to us. Listen.

The mutual indwelling.

The mutual indwelling. I love this.

The mutual indwelling that I have.

With the Father.

Is exactly.

The same kind of that dwelling.

I have with you. He's almost trying to establish a type.

That's what he's trying to establish here among other things.

This is one of the main things that he wants to establish.

Like he's saying listen I am the ascended Christ.

My Father and I.

We are mutually indwelling. We are one.

Mutually indwelling.

At one point earlier on in John 10 he says I and the Father are one.

It's the kind of indwelling that is so intense.

That it is even deeper than a baby in a mother's womb.

And in saying that he's saying listen.

The mutual indwelling that I the Christ have with God the Father.

Is the same mutual indwelling that I have with you.

It's just unimaginable.

Many of these things are unimaginable.

But our spirits can get it.

And our minds can begin to work it slowly.

Through holy imagination.

And through the study of the word.

It is so intense.

So inseparable.

That's the kind of indwelling.

That he has with you.

The kind of indwelling that he has with the Father.

It makes us a completely different species.

Literally.

Yes homo sapiens.

But here's the thing.

We have the God the creator of the universe.

Actually living in us.

In such a way that we are inseparable from him.

Romans 8 what can separate us.

It's impossible.

Can you separate God and Jesus.

The Father and the Son.

No you can't.

You can't separate me from Christ.

It's a mutual indwelling.

He decides it.

Guys relationship is not up to you.

Relationship was established by the cross and by the blood.

Presence is not up to you.

Presence was established by the cross and by the blood.

And by the spirit.

You can choose to be aware.

Or you can choose to be in fellowship.

Relationship is not up to you.

Judah does not have a choice.

Judah is Remy's son.

There's nothing he can do about it.

Just nothing.

He can go to court.

He can do this.

He can do that.

But hey Judah you're still his son.

He can change his last name.

Judah you're still his son.

Like Judah is stuck for life.

In a good way.

It's the same way.

And then to not show interest or be bored of this one that is in us and not to be passionate about him.

It's kind of dumb.

So that's the first thing.

He in the father.

He's trying to establish this principle that Jacob the mutual indwelling that I have with the father is the same mutual indwelling I have with you.

And then he goes on to say you are in me.

You are in me.

And so are he in us.

Why?

Why?

We think because we became Christians.

No.

Why?

So that we can partake in his divine nature.

So that we can partake in his divine nature.

Where do you find this?

Second Peter 1 3.

Let's go read it.

Second Peter 1 3.

Second Peter 1 3.

Here's what it says.

His divine power.

And by that he means the Holy Spirit has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness through these.

He has given us his very great and precious promises so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desire.

And so why is he in me?

One of the reasons he is in me here on earth is so that I can partake in his divine nature.

Christ in you.

Christ in you.

And so this gives you an opportunity.

Gives you the opportunity.

To publicly.

Present publicly present and proclaim.

The exact imprint of his nature.

Remember from Hebrews 1 3.

Exact imprint of his nature.

Or in other words the glory of God.

In all your interactions.

With all people.

In all circumstances.

Crazy.

Aspire for this guys.

Don't let it go.

Christ in you.

Christ lives in me.

It gives me an opportunity.

To publicly proclaim publicly present.

The exact imprint of his nature.

He now lives in me.

I must be an exact imprint of his nature.

Jesus was an exact imprint of God.

Now he lives in you.

And he's saying hey body of Christ.

Hey Videsha.

Can you be the exact imprint of my nature.

In all your interactions.

In all circumstances.

With all people.

So we fail 84 times today.

But what if we failed only 81 times tomorrow.

Which means that three times we were the exact imprint of his nature.

Can you imagine that?

What are we talking about?

We're talking about mere human beings.

Beginning to show his glory.

Through jars of clay.

Why does 2 Corinthians 4.7 say that this treasure.

This glory.

Now hi ya.

Want to come and preach?

Come.

No. Okay.

So just think.

Let's say you got it wrong 84 times.

But three out of those 84 times.

You begin to behave.

In the exact imprint and nature of Christ.

Do you realize what you just did?

Your jars of clay.

2 Corinthians 4.7 I think.

Jars of clay.

Carrying a treasure.

What is a treasure?

The glory of Christ.

What is the glory of Christ?

The exact imprint of God.

Carrying it in you.

Three out of 84 times tomorrow you get it right.

Day after tomorrow.

Four out of 84.

Ten days from now.

Sixty out of 84.

It'll be nuts man.

Any questions on that?

Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.

Yep.

But the practice of that purity.

Any questions?

Do you realize the enormity of this?

Let it sink in slowly.

Have you heard that joke about quicksand?

Takes a long time to sink in.

So.

Christ in you gives you the opportunity to publicly present and proclaim the exact imprint of his nature.

As in Jane does me harm.

And now I have the opportunity to present the exact imprint of his nature.

In both forgiving and reconciling.

I see a need that prosper has and without him asking, I now meet that need and he doesn't even know that I met it because I do it secretly.

I have just begun to exhibit the exact imprint of his nature.

And then I harm Remy.

I harm Sue.

And I do evil to Sheldon.

And I have failed three times.

But tomorrow I go and reconcile with all three of them.

The exact imprint of his nature.

And it just goes on and on.

And every time you get to match who Jesus is, his glory shows.

His glory shows.

Every time you get to do it, his glory shows.

That's why Paul says, listen, I know you're a flawed, broken, uncrushed, sometimes persecuted person.

But despite the crushing, despite the persecuting, despite your confusion and your perplexing, know this.

That you are what God has chosen, Jacob, as a jar of clay in which there is ridiculous treasure.

And that treasure can affect anybody and everything.

Sometimes what happens is he has a headache.

And now the way Christ's exact imprint of nature flows is that while I'm talking to him, I just pray a simple prayer like let his headache go and it disappears.

Now it's different.

The glory of Christ now works differently where his headache disappears.

Or what?

If right now when I'm teaching, I'm able to recognize the presence of Christ here and I teach under the shadow of who is here.

The words that I speak suddenly become life and spirit, not just ordinary words.

The words that I speak with no concern for myself, but the only concern I have is first for him and then for you.

If that happens, then the words that I speak to you, I'll be able to quote John 6 63 and say,

the words that I speak to you are spirit and life for the flesh profits nothing.

And then it doesn't matter whether you're half dead or half asleep.

The words still penetrate your spirit and it quickens and awakens you.

This is what we're all called to.

All called to.

Any questions?

Guys, this kind of awareness?

Gosh, when we as a church get there, then what is impossible because he is standing with you and he's in your midst.

Worship?

It'll be like, no, we don't have a separate time for worship.

We have this treasure of the glory of Christ in jars of clay.

Why is it in jars of clay?

There too, God is brilliant.

Why do we have the treasure in jars of clay?

You know what, guys?

This is where we have to separate what's happening on TV, what's happening in the world in terms of Christianity.

You know why he wants his treasure in jars of clay?

The rest of the scripture explains it so that the overflow of its glory will never be mistaken for you.

That's why.

So that the light and the power that begins to flow in a place, they'll never think it's Sheldon because he's a skilled pianist.

It'll be because as he begins to play, light and power will begin to flow from the keys that he's playing and begins to affect people.

It is in every area of life.

It is when Aaron begins to draw.

It's when Derek begins to do things as a person in charge of his staff at work.

It affects everything.

It's not just limited to ministry.

It's not just limited to ministry.

In everything I do.

We have this treasure in jars of clay so that the extraordinary outflow, the extraordinary outflow of light, of goodness, of power,

is seen unmistakably as God.

Even though, and particularly when, you are crushed, broken, perplexed.

That's particularly when he just shows off.

May your brokenness, may your being crushed, may your being perplexed never stop you from letting the glory of Christ overflow.

So many of us step back because, no, I'm not having a good day.

Who cares?

Really, I don't.

I care that you're not having a good day, but when it comes to God wanting to flow through you,

really, you're better off than most people then because none of you will show.

Now you understand Paul's statement in 2 Corinthians 12 where he says,

Any questions, guys?

Some of the most blessed days that we can have is when we don't have a job, don't have much money,

don't have a wife or a husband, don't have bright prospects, have a lot of problems around us,

but somehow are beginning to understand that God is amazing and you can kind of trust him and be quite happy in him.

Those days are some of the best days of your life.

You know it.

There's nobody here who hasn't been through a very difficult time.

And there were those days when despite the difficulty, your heart was dancing and you can't understand why.

Those are some of my Paul's blessed days.

I feel bad for Anna.

She got a job.

I'm happy for you.

What I'm trying to say is some of the best days are when you don't have all this.

May you be blessed.

May you make a lot of money.

May you stay there forever.

May you be blessed.

May you be blessed.

Some of the best days are when you don't have all this.

May you be blessed.

May you make a lot of money.

May you stay there forever.

And may you be super generous.

And may you have a party and may you always be invited.

Hallelujah.

The next one is us in him.

Us in him.

Us in him.

Guys, just try to, you know, this verse that I'm about to quote from Acts 17 was actually actually from the Bible.

It was actually attributed to poets that were not necessarily believers, but it is now canon of scripture and it holds true for us.

And here's what it says.

In Christ, I, we, you, live, move, have a being.

Acts 17, 28.

It's like, hey, you're like a baby in the matrix of a womb.

In you, in you, Jesus, is all my living, all my moving, all my being.

There are times that stray out and color outside the lines, but this is where I want to be.

I just want to be where you are.

Always dwelling in your presence.

Take me to the place where you are.

I just want to be with you.

This idea of living, moving and finding my entire being in him.

Because we must not forget that as much as we are, as much as he is in us, he's saying, listen, Jacob, you are in me.

Everything you need is in me.

I was teaching somewhere yesterday and one of the things I said is if you want to go from a mature child to a mature son,

then you need to understand that there are seven things your father takes care of and you've got to stop thinking of these seven things.

These seven things, and I know some of you remember this from years ago.

These seven things were given to every man, woman and child in the Garden of Eden.

And it's never been rescinded. It's not a special thing for believers.

It was given to all humankind in the Garden of Eden and it's never been taken back.

And the way to begin to operate in Christ is to know that these seven things that are taken care of are never go running after them.

And what are these seven things?

The first one, Genesis 2, it says, he gives us dignity and worth.

We are made in his image. He gives us dignity and worth.

We won't elaborate on it. I'll just give you the rundown.

He gives us dignity and worth. Two, he gives us authority or dominion.

He gives us authority. Three, he gives us security.

Four, he gives us provision.

Five, he gives us the freedom to be who he has made us in its fullness.

Six, he gives us companionship and intimacy.

Seven, he gives us purpose and joy.

These seven things are the very things that the entire world seeks.

And when Christians begin to seek this outside of Christ, they will not have time, will not have time for the things of Christ.

This is the fulfillment of Matthew 6.33 where it says, seek first.

Because the Father will take care of the rest. He'll add it to you.

The seven things that we as believers are continuously running after.

When believers run after it, it is shameful.

And all of us should be in that sense ashamed of it.

I'm not trying to put shame on you, but I'm telling you that all of us are caught in one of these or the other.

But people like Jesus, people like Paul, realize that this would be something that the Father would take care of.

I wish I could say these seven things I never seek anywhere else.

What is the list again?

Dignity and worth.

When nobody's approval or disapproval ruins you or builds you up.

Next one, authority.

Where you know how to enforce the will of God here on earth, first in your life and then around the earth.

Three, security.

Where you know he protects you.

You're not worried about controlling situations.

You're not worried about will this happen? Will that happen?

The pagans chase after that.

Four, provision.

Oh my God!

Oh, I'm new in this country. I have to work. I have to make a stable...

You know how long stability takes in this country? About 27 years.

27 years.

Yeah, third one is provision.

Provision is when we start chasing after provision saying, I've got to take care of my provision.

And you begin to work by the sweat of your brow.

It totally overtakes you.

And you are not able to walk like this because this takes up so much time.

Fourth, freedom.

Freedom to be who I am and be who God wants me to be.

And to have no limits on it.

It's like when children go with their dads or the moms and they look at the swing and they look at their dad

and they look at the swing and they look at their dad and the dad nods yes.

And the child climbs on the swing and begins to go really hard.

And everybody else is thinking this is a bad idea but the child knows my father's got my back.

The freedom to try it.

The freedom to...

I don't see... there's no children here, right?

The freedom to jump off a high sofa onto another high sofa.

Knowing that your parent will catch you.

Sixth, purpose and joy.

Purpose brings joy. Purpose brings joy.

You find the purpose that God has allotted for you right now.

And it brings you joy.

It brings you joy.

And the last one was what?

Companionship and intimacy.

He does it on two levels.

On one level he provides you Eve.

On the other level he provides you himself.

There is nobody more interested in your marriage than your father.

Earthly fathers put so much pressure.

If you're Indian and you're not married and you're 32, you're toast.

So much pressure is put on you.

Because your dad is concerned, oh my God, my son is getting old soon.

No, this father is more interested in you than anybody else and he knows how.

And then he provides companionship.

You got years to go, Dishalty, not time yet.

Sorry, I just thought you were whispering.

And he provides companionship, his intimacy he provides.

There's nothing as satisfying.

Guys, ask any husband, ask any wife.

When things really are not working in their marriage, the one place they can still always run to is the companionship of God.

And it is so refreshing.

You come back humbler and you say to her, you were right about everything else.

Right, Derek?

Right, Derek?

I love this Lexan line.

Still trying to wrap my head around it.

Your true life.

Your true life is an uninterrupted, is an uninterrupted.

Extension of his indissoluble, as in it cannot be even tainted or touched or disturbed, indissoluble, expansive, as in it is much larger than you think it is.

Private life, as in it's his personal life before the father.

Your true life is an uninterrupted extension, as in the life that I presently possess right now is an uninterrupted extension of Jesus Christ's indissoluble, expansive, private life.

Jesus is a being.

He has life.

No one gave it to him.

He's from everlasting to everlasting.

That is his life.

He is a person.

He has personality.

He is not an ethereal something.

He has a life.

That is his private life.

And it was and always had been between father, son and spirit.

And then one day they decided, let's make Jacob.

The idea is brilliant.

Let's make Derek.

Let's make Sue.

The idea is brilliant.

And they make us.

And then they say, but they shall have my private life in them.

It is an extension, an uninterrupted extension.

Once we become a believer, uninterrupted extension of his life, indissoluble, cannot be touched, cannot be tainted, cannot be disturbed, expansive.

There's no limit to this life.

We'll taste it here on earth.

And then we know an expansive life in eternity that we had no way to imagine or even describe.

And it's his private life.

That's the life I possess.

That's the life I'm founded.

That's the life I have.

That's the life I have.

And that's the life you have.

This is the life of the person here right now in this room.

Worship should be so blooming easy.

It's life to life, oranges to oranges, deep to deep.

Amazing person we met, man.

And then he says, OK, not only this, I'll seat you with me.

Ephesians 2, 6.

Let me seat you with me.

I'm in you, you're in me.

I'm in you and you are in me.

But you're also seated with me.

I'm in my father.

You're seated next to my father.

It's impossible to comprehend.

But look at what he's saying.

I'm in you.

Oh, by the way, I'm seated next to the father.

So you are seated with me.

I'm in you.

So you are seated with me.

I'm in my father.

So you're seated next to my father too.

You have access.

You have access.

You are welcome, Jacob, in these courts.

This is not your father's study.

This is not your father's meeting room.

This is your father's house.

I will dwell in my house for, and I will dwell, Psalm 23.

Surely goodness, love, and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.

And I shall dwell in your house for ever.

Come on, man, every time we feel down this week, we feel beaten this week,

know who you are in and know who is in you.

And remember who he is, the enormity of who he is.

Go through that list.

I have it on my phone.

Go through that list again and again, till you get used to the one in you.

People have artificial craniums and hearts.

When they go through that thingy, they tell them,

I've got this thing in my head.

And so they can't go through the metal detector.

They have to do some other thing.

You've got a metal detector inside you.

Not metal detector.

You've got strange, someone's trained inside you.

He's not earthly.

You are earthly.

He's not.

But to get used to it.

You know, I get excited every time I teach this because the more I teach this,

the more I understand it.

You should teach it to somebody.

Ask your husband or wife to sit and say, let me teach you.

And then start.

My sister used to do this when I was small.

She'd be the teacher and I'd be the student.

But strangely enough, I'd get a couple of whacks from her that I couldn't understand.

Even though I knew more math than her.

I'm not going to tell you how to do it.

I'm going to tell you how to do it.

You have a living bond.

You have a living bond.

You have a living bond.

Almost like an umbilical cord.

With the ascended Christ.

With the ascended Christ.

Not Jesus of Nazareth.

The ascended Christ.

The ascended Christ.

And so begin to judge things by kingdom standards.

And whenever you judge things, first start by judging yourself.

How did I behave with Jonathan?

How did I behave with Jeremy?

How did I behave with Evan?

When I'm thinking, can I begin to think along the lines of the glory of Christ is here?

When I'm praying, can I remember that the glory of Christ as in the person of Christ is here?

When I'm alone, can I remember that gosh I'm so not alone.

The glory of Christ is here.

When I'm talking like right now, can I remember that the glory of Christ is here?

And my words can transform if I yield to him.

Whether you're loving your spouse or your child, can you remember that the glory of Christ is there with you?

Can you remember that the glory of Christ is there with you?

When you're interacting with people, when you're judging things, when you're ministering, when you're worshipping, when you're sleeping,

can your last thought be, ah, the person of Christ is in me and is here with me and he's protective, he's jealous,

he's kind, he's gentle, he's meek, he's brilliant, he has substance, he's glorious, he's already planned tomorrow, he knows the future.

When I'm arguing, can I remember that the glory of Christ is here?

Strange, why include argument?

Because there will be arguments, but can I imagine, not imagine, can I know that as I argue with my wife that the glory of Christ is here,

it will change your language, it will change your tone, it will change your attitude.

As I'm watching social media, Facebook, Instagram, can I be aware that the glory of Christ is here?

As in the exact imprint of the nature of God is with me, in me, around me.

As I submit to things that I may not necessarily like but I know what submission is, can I remember that the glory of Christ is here?

And it's brilliant and shining because it knows that submission and order is important.

When I'm working, when I'm struggling, can I know that the king of glory is here?

There's nothing that is outside this purview but to become aware.

How do we become aware?

When you love somebody, when you practice it, when you increase in knowledge and when you're sensitive, you always end up being aware.

It's so true that when people first fall in love, they're aware.

They're at work and they're thinking of her.

They're cutting vegetables and they think of her and cut their finger.

They are thinking of her every time they see a phone.

They're thinking of her every time they drive home, go to work.

They're thinking of her every time they see a scone or a blueberry muffin or whatever.

You just begin to think of her. Everything reminds you of her.

It doesn't matter where you go, you're aware.

Same principle, man. Love is such a key to awareness, such a key to awareness.

Use our times of worship here to fall in love again and again and again.

In fact, let's do a worship night tomorrow. Tony doesn't know this.

Let him know anyway when he comes down.

But I'll talk to me and what's his name first, Don.

Maybe they have something that they've prepared really hard.

And they're saying, I worked a week. I don't want to do this.

So we'll discuss it slightly later.

Isaiah 6-3. I just want you to know we are almost at the end.

Holy precedes glory.

Holy precedes glory.

I was very intrigued when Tony read out Isaiah 6.

I've never heard someone read Isaiah 6 as well as Tony did.

There was so much emotion in it.

He's not a reader normally.

Normally when Tony reads or speaks, it's like, eh.

But today when he read, you could feel the strength of Isaiah 6.

He literally was there when he was reading it.

And at one point he begins to say, holy, holy, holy.

And his voice ascended. I just closed my eyes and I listened.

But holy precedes glory.

If you read Isaiah 6-3, it says, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.

Heaven and earth are filled with his glory.

When it comes to sending, when it comes to kingdom, when it comes to glory,

holy precedes it.

If holiness is the excellence and the perfection of God moderator,

glory is the public display of it.

Hear me. If holiness is the excellence and the perfection of God,

straight, pure, perfect, excellent,

if that is what holiness is, then glory is the public display of it,

saying come see, this is what it looks like.

This is what it looks like in my life.

This is what it looks like during worship.

This is what it looks like in the way I treat my wife.

This is what it looks like when Thuney walks in through the door. This is what it looks like

Thuney you're done with the kids

Okay, someone is taking care of them, right? Okay

This is what it looks like

Pardon

Yeah, holy precedes glory

Every time you want to send someone

Holy

Precedes glory you can't send someone in the name of Christ if their lives are not lives that have worked out holiness

When it comes to the kingdom coming the kingdom has more traction

When a people are holy as in the rule and the reign of God when you want to open ancient gates

What's the requirement in Psalm 15 and Psalm 24?

holiness

Who shall who shall lift up these gates those whose hands are clean whose hearts are pure?

At the end of the day every time God's

persona God's

Express nature God's brilliance God's radiance wants to camp somewhere

What would he tell these lights in the Old Testament make sure I'm turning up in three days

Make sure that the entire campus clean make sure that this is taken care of that is taken care of there's no

Such act there's no this thing no that thing he had a whole set of rules and laws before he would turn up because he wanted

the camp to be holy

That was a physical way of demonstrating what he actually wanted

Holy precepts glory go ahead

Holiness is the perfect the perfection the excellence the

Purity the straightness of God and so if I

Consecrate myself for that then God expects me to walk in it

And when I begin to walk in it like someone else said blessed as a pure for they shall see God God becomes so

Normal in an environment created by that

He's already created that environment by the blood of Christ and the cross of Christ so that he can live in us

But to live in us is one thing to work with us to work through us is another thing and for that again

He goes back to second Timothy to 20 in a wealthy Homer vessel some of gold and some of clay the good ones are used

For guests the bad ones are kept away if you stay away from sin

You're like a vessel of gold used for the very best used for Christ alone

Why is he saying that if he already lives in me because when he wants to work through me when he wants to serve others

Then he wants a vessel that is holy

Because the vessel that is unclean will not be used by him to serve others

Am I unclean? I don't mean imperfect unclean as in when I make it a practice to live a life that is

Deliberately intentionally unclean when it's become a practice

God always looks at which way I'm leaning if this is the clean side and this is the unclean side

He just wants to know that I'm leaning this way if I'm leaning this way

He just wants to know that I'm leaning this way if I'm leaning this way

He'll take me this way man. And if I'm leaning this way, he'll take me this way. Sometimes when I sin now my

Conversation with God is father. I'm surprised that there was a desire to sin

Where's the desire from my feeding myself stuff? Am I thinking am I behaving a certain way where I'm not dealing with it?

Like today when I was coming to church

Someone cut me off again and I just shook my head like this and I was hoping he would catch me shaking my head

And I realized immediately three things at work one anger two pride three shame

As in shame as in who are you to humiliate me like that two pride?

Who are you to humiliate me like that three anger? Who are you to humiliate me like that three things anger shame pride?

I'm thinking to myself Jacob. How long?

This has been going on for years how long how long what in this

Comes from the exact imprint of the nature of christ what?

How long?

Which way do you want to lean?

I said father I want to lean this way. I want to be free of it when

Tony was singing a song and it said these things are of the past I thought yes

Abides of the past it's not going to happen again. And if it happens again, I'll stand up and say it's not going to happen again again

Because we keep leaning on to one side. Yeah

These are the things that we I should be rid of by now anger shame pride

What in the nature of christ has that to do with me he who lives in me and I who live in him what commonality

That's the kind of thing that should rise in us so that we begin to fall one way

When you sit on a fence whichever side you're leaning to is where you fall

So

You know the trick is not to

the

Glory if glory is to be made visible then the foundation

Should be holiness

in a church like this

That's why god says to act 29 be holy for your father in heaven is holy

Finally

Hey at the end of the day when you want to change

Sin for something good look to god. Eh, don't try to

Look to your sin and try to correct it

Focus your attention on the holy one and he usually has the ability to change your heart

It's it's one thing to change sin. It's another thing to have your heart changed

Sometimes when your child is upset you just have to hold the child and the child looks at your face

Because it sees mommy's face again or dad's face again and it's enough

It's enough

Tears are forgotten the wrong is forgotten. The discipline is forgotten and the child is back