Jesus Bought A House - Part 5 | Pastor Paul McGee

Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord.

Our God is worthy Glory who is like the Lord.

There is no one who is like the Lord.

He is strong and mighty who is like the Lord.

There is no one. Stand up and give him some

praise. Let's give him a hand clap of

praise. Bless the name of the Lord,

Amen. I just echo my wife today.

So glad to have each one of you Amen in the House of the Lord

today. And we know many of you are

family members and friends and acquaintances of of Brandon and

of Jennifer's and of Zach's, so and so forth.

And we're glad to have each one of you here today.

Some of you of us years ago, we have been to church together and

like the older churches and things.

And one thing I know about the Word family, whenever you talk

about like Brad and Billy and Brandon and these folks, there's

a degree of I see the spirit of their father upon them because

they're always been willing throughout the years to always

help somebody if they needed help.

And I think that was a great mark of their father, always

willing to help whenever help was needed.

I remember whenever my wife, who was, who was here, she's from

Tennessee, she was moving to Tennessee up to this area

because we had plans to get married.

And Brad Worth, his dad at that time, had this Longo trailer and

he hooked it up and drove it all the way to Tennessee.

We loaded it up and drove it all the way home in the same day,

just as being a friend. I'll never forget it.

And then Brother Billy back there, he and I was had some

clown days in the past in the church, but I remember right, he

was brother handy and I was brother tater tot.

And there are some weeks I was French fry because I wouldn't

wear the pillow. So it all depended on week.

It was if I was, if I was tater tot or French fries.

Like blink the water, everybody. I still got it.

Blink the water. And we would work with the

Sunday school classes and the kids.

And so if it gets at a spot here somewhere along this morning, I

might just have to break it out. You know, that's why I have to

break it out. But some of you sat in our

Sunday school classes growing up and were taught as children and

such. And it's so good to see each one

of you. Amen.

In the House of the Lord today we're going to be turning to the

Old Testament book, Prophet of Isaiah chapter #35 You can stand

for the reading the word if you desire a man.

Or if not, you can set one reason why we stand for the

reading, because the book of Ezra talks about they wrote,

they, they read the word almost from morning to evening.

The people stood. And I guarantee you we're going

to get by a little better than them because they ain't going to

take me that long to read what I need to read.

Amen. Today, Isaiah 35, start with

verse #8 and I've been talking about something around here on

Sunday mornings. I'm going to continue talking

about that. But I think it'll help us today,

some benefits of it. Isaiah 35 verse 8, the Bible

Isaiah 35:8

says in a highway shall be there in a way, and it shall be called

the way of holiness. We've been talking about how God

is holy and there's a lot that's involved in that.

He has a holy name and he, he, it's not just a character of

his, it's just who He is. The Bible says in the unclean

shall not Passover it, but it shall be for those, the

wayfaring men, though fools shall not air therein.

Verse #9 I think is important for us all today says on this

pathway, this holy pathway, that no lion shall be there, nor any

ravenous beast shall go up there on shall not be found there, but

the redeemed shall walk there. The ransom that the Lord shall

return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon

their heads, and they shall obtain joy, gladness and sorrow

and sighing shall flee away. It's a tremendous passage of

Scripture. It's a group of people that have

been redeemed, really ransomed by the Lord and they have got on

this pathway, this highway, the returning back to Zion, the

returning back to the city of God.

There's, there's rejoicing, there's singing, there's all

these great things. And in part why that can be is

because the path that they are on, that lion can, can go up and

down the skirts of that road, but it cannot pass up on that

road. And so this morning for a little

while, I want to talk about where the lion cannot walk,

where the lion cannot walk. Amen.

We're going to pray one more time that the Lord would help us

in the next little while. Father, I thank you today, God,

for another opportunity to be in your house.

We're grateful, Lord, for all of our guests, the Lord and all

these people and those that are going to be baptized in the

service. God, we rejoice, God for sure in

that today, God, touch us anew and a fresh God, by your word,

you're able, Lord Jesus, to do it.

God, we need heaven, Lord, to come down and touch us Lord anew

today, God, I pray, Lord, direct our steps, guide our minds.

God, bring understanding. Lord Jesus in the service and

the lovely name of the Lord Jesus Christ that I pray

Hallelujah and Amen. And you may be seated this

morning in Jesus name again. We've been looking at around

here the for the past several weeks.

We've been considering, considering this God, this, this

holy God, this holy God who has the ability and desires and

wants to give and has offered to every one of us His Holy Ghost

and His Holy Spirit being born again of the water and of that

Holy Spirit. And in doing so, that holiness

that God has when we receive His Holy Spirit, that holiness that

He has, then starts to impact and affect our lives.

We've looked over the weeks about holiness, having an idea

about purity and about being set apart or set aside different and

dedicated to the Lord for His purpose.

But it can also be understood in the word of God as as almost

boundaries that are there really for our protection.

Boundaries that are there that protect the holy life that that

is now residing inside of us. After we received the Holy

Ghost. We discussed last week just a

little bit when you look at some of the, the structures of the

Old Testament where God came in and his Spirit came in and it

filled the house. Some of these structures such as

the Tabernacle and the temple and even the city of Jerusalem,

because he called that his holy city that all these different

places, they, they had walls that were around, about the

Tabernacle wall around the temple, a wall that was even

around about the city and it indicated a clear line.

If you were in the city, it was the holy city.

If you were outside of the wall, it was then just just common,

just common ground saying with every Tabernacle and temple that

had such a wall around it, because whenever God's cloud,

his spirit came down, whether it be temple, Tabernacle or

Jerusalem, when his spirit touched those places, they at

once became holy. They at once became

characterized by the Lord and who he was.

And so with this in mind, even when we consider Moses, if we

could one more time, the Bible describes Moses.

He, he was the deliverer of God's people out of Egypt.

They were in bondage. They were enslavement for years

until Moses came and prior to coming he was on the backside of

a desert. Again, the story is of a burning

Bush that's burning and and yet not being consumed.

And the Bible says that the Lord spoke to Moses from that Bush

and said, Moses, Moses, take the shoes off your feet because the

ground that you're standing on is holy ground, because that

ground in that Bush, in that area had been touched and

impacted by the presence of God. It was forever, forever going to

be changed, forever being altered by the touch of the

Lord. And so there had to be some

point there in that, that Old Testament desert where if Moses

stepped, he was on holy ground, but if he kept where he was, he

was just on common ground. There was some boundary, some

vicinity, their mind had not been marked with a literal line

in the sand. There was some line that was

there, although there was an A literal wall around about that

burning Bush. There was still some type of

boundary of sorts, Brother Billy, that that went from

common ground to holy ground, Amen.

Whenever Moses would step, that distinguished that space in that

area, Amen, from every other area in the desert.

And I believe what that means for you and I this morning is

this, if I could explain it this way, we, we would agree this

morning, if you have any type of belief in God, I think we would

believe and know the power of God that God can do anything.

God can do absolutely anything. After all, the scripture says he

is the Almighty. So, so there isn't another that

Trump's him that's higher than him or that is that because when

you are the Almighty, you're the Almighty all by yourself.

And so God could do anything. But I also so realize that

there's some things that God won't do because he is a holy

God and since he is holy by his own power, there's some things

he just will not do. So with that, I understand God

can do anything, but God can also choose not to do some

things because he's the all powerful God.

And yet the the the amazing fact of that matter is this.

Whenever you receive God's Spirit in your life, that same

power to do or not to do then becomes a part of your makeup,

becomes a part of your makeup in your life.

And so there's certain things God won't do because he's a holy

God, because if he would do them, it would contradict all of

the ethical values that God has, even some of his purposes in

creation. So in that sense, holiness then

is in a certain major way has some has some boundaries.

It it, it, it makes some lines of what is common and what is

uncommon and of what is clean and what is unclean, what is

right and what is wrong with that being holiness and our holy

God and that Holy Spirit that we receive.

And even like this morning, Zach, when we take on his name,

that holy name and baptism, it starts to train us and it starts

to order our steps about activities and and ways that we

talk and ways that we used to think.

And now we start thinking a little differently than what we

once thought. All of that is because of our

holy God. And the Bible even tells us in

the New Testament Scripture that there is the boundary of being

in Christ or not in Christ. There is a definitive line of

being in Christ or not in Christ.

And the Bible tells us those that are born again of the water

and the Spirit, they are those that are in Christ.

Yet if we are one of His and we are in Christ, then we start to

recognize that we've been looking at then we are not our

own because He has redeemed us. It's like all those Israelites

that were in bondage, they couldn't get out of bondage

without God. And when they got out of bondage

because of God, he reminded them and they constantly reminded

themself, I'm only where I am today.

The only way I could pass through a Red Sea where there

was obstacles all around me, the only way that I could get out

from underneath the thumb of favor, the only way is because

of God. And so they owe their

allegiance. They owe their life.

They Amen. They owe everything unto the

Lord. And so when I receive the Spirit

of the Lord, I'm not my own anymore.

Amen. My body and my spirit, it

belongs to God, and so I dedicate myself to him.

I I'm a living sacrifice unto God.

And the Bible says in in Romans 12/1 that that is our reasonable

service. Not unreasonable, just a

reasonable service. So above all, I enter then into

the sanctuary. I worship him with total

devotion. Why?

Because he saved me. He redeemed me, and I offered

him offerings of praise and Thanksgiving because he's a

holy, holy God. And if we're one of God's holy

people, Amen, one that God has set apart by his Spirit from all

the other people of the earth through the new birth, then I

want to act like I'm one of is. I want to act as though I belong

unto him. Now, God's always been concerned

about his people throughout the Old Testament, New Testament,

being able to recognize those lines, those walls, the

boundaries. Then the days of Moses, This is

what he told the priest, he said, and he didn't want them.

He told the priest, he said, you're, you're not, you're not

allowed to drink alcohol because it'll make hard for you as a

priest to be able to differ between what's holy and between

what's unholy. This is the scripture said in

Leviticus 10 and verse 8. And the Lord spake into Aaron.

Aaron was a high priest, saying, Do not drink wine, nor strong

drink thou, nor thy sons, who were priests also with thee.

When you go into the Tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye

die, it should be a statute forever throughout your

generations and they and that ye may put difference between holy

and unholy, clean and unclean, that you may teach the children

of Israel all the statues which the Lord has spoken unto them by

the hand of Moses. It's interesting that the Lord

would tell his priest now don't get involved in something that's

going to compromise, right? Compromise your ability to be

able to reason or compromise your ability to be able to

understand what's unclean and clean.

Another reason why I think this is a little interesting today is

because what happened right before this set of Scripture,

right happened. What happened right before this

set of Scripture were two sons of Aaron, the high priest, who

were priests themselves. Nay, dab, the Bible says, and a

by who? And the Scripture records that

they came into the Tabernacle and they offered up what was

called strange fire unto the Lord.

It was foreign fire. It was fired that should not

have been used at this particular place.

And the Bible says as a result of doing that, this is Old

Testament heavy hand of judgement.

God. The Bible says that he took

their lives because they offered strange fire before the Lord,

that there was some fire that came down and devoured them and

consumed them and they died. Many, many surmise and I'm along

with them. Why would then the Lord follow

that whole incident up with then start talking into the priests

about now don't be drinking any strong drink or wine when you

come in here because many believe that perhaps Nadab and

Abihu was intoxicated. Follow me intoxicated where they

come into the presence of the Lord in that holy place.

It doesn't say it expressly, but it's implied that they were.

And so after the death of these men, the Lord is then given a

prescription to the other priests saying don't come in

here intoxicated with other things.

He says you need to come in here sanctified, set apart,

distinguished, so that you can draw nigh unto me as a holy God.

He meant so it's interesting today that he would tell them

that after that whole scenario, because the Lord's telling them,

I want you to come in here clear headed.

I want you to come in here with the right conscience.

Conscience. You got to be sober so you can

correctly decipher between what's holy, unholy, clean and

unclean. Amen.

And it will allow you to keep within the boundaries that are

prescribed for you. I'm I'm listen this morning.

Let's just get real practical when we talk about intoxication

because it's not just substance of alcohol that you can be

intoxicated by. I said this a few weeks ago.

There's all kinds of things you can be intoxicated by, but an

individual that is literally intoxicated on a highway and

there is an accident largely and they say they were hit.

I was hit head on by someone that was intoxicated.

If you would talk afterwards, you would understand that the

intoxicated individual could not decipher where the middle lane

was or where the right lane was because they were intoxicated.

They could not decipher where they needed to be because their

conscience was foggy. They didn't have a clear mind.

Scripturally today, spiritually today, the Lord was telling us

that if we'll just keep sober, if we'll just keep holy, if

we'll just keep mindful of Him, we'll know where the lines are

of the Holy Rd. in order to walk.

And folks, there is safety. Can I say it like this?

Today there is safety by staying in our lane.

We're not in Britain. There's no one that would leave

here today and start going home on the left side of the road.

If so, you're either really brave or there's something else

wrong. We might need to discuss that

after this is over. We wouldn't do that because you

know, there is boundaries to this lane.

It goes from here and it goes from there.

And I know by all means, if I if I can control where I'm at,

there's a major of safety that's right here.

Amen, folks, Sometimes people talk about our holy God and they

say, well, that holy God, His Holiness for my life is just

just optional. It has no real bearing upon me.

Well, today that's that's not entirely true because I have

been saved by the blood of Jesus yes, and that has been applied

to my life, yes, And I have experienced a new birth

experience yes. And some will say, well, there's

nothing more because that gift of the Spirit has saved me and

sealed me and yes, God has saved me, Brother Fred, by his own

will. I didn't do any work to save

Paul McGee. It was his blood, his sacrifice

that accomplished all of that. Some will say, well, you can't

add anything to do that, Amen. But that does not mean that the

holiness that we receive from God is entirely unrelated to our

salvation. Whenever I think about just just

follow me here today, when I think about that holy city of

Jerusalem, there was a time, many times actually, but there

was a time throughout Scripture, the Bible says that that city's

walls were broken down. Her gates had been destroyed by

fire. And in the book of Nehemiah,

Nehemiah grieved over the condition of this Jerusalem and

he goes to that Jerusalem with broken down walls and he begins

with other people rebuilding the walls, the boundary line that

distinguish this is the city, this is outside the city.

He began to rebuild those things and and set the gates back up in

their place. Others even prior to Nehemiah,

and this is important today. Others prior to Nehemiah like

Hazra and others, they went before him and the Bible says

they rebuilt the altar in that city because the temple was all

dilapidated and torn down too. That they rebuilt the altar, the

altar that was in that city and they re established the worship

system there. They even started on building

the temple that was there, but they had the altar.

They had the temple, but they were still lacking walls, No

walls, no gates, which meant although they, they worship

there and the altar was established and the temple was

established. Any enemy, any enemy could just

trample right into that city and desiccate and tear down again

everything that they had already built up concerning their

worship system, concerning their temple, because they had no

walls of protection. They, they, they could build a

few blocks, if you will, of the temple and the next day a few of

those will be taken down because there were no walls of

protection. Ladies and gentlemen, our

relationship with God, it's not about just being born again and

worship and sacrifice and all that.

You want to still be able to be doing all those things 10 years,

years, 20 years from now. And the only way that is

possible, you got to have some walls encircled around your life

because you do have an adversary.

You. I'm declaring it this morning.

I don't want anybody to walk around with their head in the

sand. Whenever you begin to start a

life for the Lord and start doing things for God, you have

caught the attention of the adversary.

Whenever you start living life differently than you once lived,

Amen. Acting differently than you once

acted, Amen. Listening to the voice of God

rather than the voices you used to listen to.

The enemy is upset. He's like, I've just lost one.

It's like the song we sing. Hell lost another one.

I am free. I it happened.

He does not like that. He doesn't like to lose any of

his clients, so he's going to be like a hound, Amen, Coming after

you to try to frustrate you, to try to have you backpedal and go

back to some of the things he used to do.

The way to prevent that? Amen.

You're still going to hear the voice, but from him getting his

hands on you is create some walls, create some boundaries,

create some protection. I mean, it's, it's the three

little piglets all over again. Little pig, little pig.

Let me in. Somebody needs to be standing on

the inside of their brick house with some wall sand.

Not by the hair of my Chitty chin chin.

I I've been set apart. Hey, man, we had to go right to

the three pigs. We just had to.

But Nehemiah, in his book, he's rebuilding, he's reconstructing

walls. And the Bible says, listen to me

this morning. I might not get through

everything I have this morning. That's fine.

But the Bible says that they got about at the halfway mark, about

the halfway mark from from ground 0 back up to halfway

where it once had been. And the adversaries, the Bible

says Sam Ballot and Tobiah and those the adversary sought to

stop the rebuilding process of the wall.

Not only that, the Scripture also tells us that the people

that were doing the building, they were becoming discouraged.

All right, come on. Because while they're trying to

find if there were blocks that they could have used that were

tore from the wall and repurpose them back in the wall, they

would. But all that materials among

debris that don't contribute to the wall.

And they're searching through here, Zagner, like, well, that's

a good brick, we use that. That's trash.

Get rid of that day after day of sorting.

What's useful, what's not useful, what can contribute to

the wall, what can't contribute the wall.

And after doing that for so many days, the Bible says they were

discouraged. You know how it is, Amber,

Looking back over your life, reconstituting things in your

wall life that you can use, but other stuff that's just debris

and coming back in contact with some of those things.

It's hard to say this isn't going to contribute to my new

life. Used to I would incorporated

that, but that's not going to contribute to the walls of

protection I need right now. And at the apex of that time,

when the walls halfway and you're discouraged and half the

work is complete, the adversary says, let me see how I can

frustrate, how I can frustrate what is going on.

Why? Because they're just at halfway.

If they get this thing rightfully standing again, we're

going to have a harder time overtaking.

Listen to pastor today. If you're being tried by the

adversary, you are a threat to you are you say, well, I just

don't understand why all this I'm going to knock everything

over today. I just don't understand why all

this is happening right now. It's because you're making

strides. You're adding another brick to

the wall. You're putting up protections in

your life and the adversaries say no, they can't be doing

that. That's going to set me off

distance from them. That's going to keep me from

having a voice in their life. That's going to you know what I

say, go on and talk adversary. I'm going to add another brick.

I'm going to add another brick. I because I understand the

holiness of my God in my life. He's setting me apart.

He's making me different than what I used to be and I need His

protection all around me, all around me.

Look, look at the scriptures. I want to read the scriptures.

Nehemiah 4 verse 6. Hope we get to our text today.

Nehemiah 4:6

So built we the wall and all the wall was joined together into

the half thereof. That's what I told you about for

the people had a mind to work. It came to pass that when sand

Ballot and Tobiah and the Arabians and the Ammonites and

the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made-up

and that the breeches. It's not that just some of the

wall was torn down. Some of the wall had holes in it

and that the breeches began to be stopped.

They're filling in the hose. They were filling in the

vulnerable areas, he said. Then we were very wroth and

conspired all of them together, all of these enemies to come and

fight against Jerusalem to hinder it.

New convert 1 that just repented and been baptized.

Your adversary is going to try to hinder the work of God in

your life. Absolutely.

Come on, you might says, I'm going to be proactive about

this. I know their attacks are coming

and I know the wall isn't exactly at the height it needs

to be yet. And this is what the Bible says

that he did. He's very strategic.

Look at verse #13 I have this, I don't know if it's up there,

it's King James. It's all right.

I'm reading from the HCSB that you'll be able to see the

correlation, and I'll just read it up there for your purposes.

Therefore, said I, in the lower places behind the wall and on

the higher places, I even set the people after their families

and their swords and their Spears and their bows.

Can you go on verse 14? And I looked and rose up and

said into the nobles and to the rulers and to the rest of the

people, be not afraid of them. Remember the Lord.

I like that. Be not afraid of them.

Remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight

for your brother and your sons, your daughters, your wives and

your houses. Nehemiah says we're about at the

halfway mark in some of these areas, but there's some sections

of the wall that's a little blower than the halfway point.

And he says in order to in order to do this proper, since now

we're under the attack of the adversary, he says, I'm going to

increase the numbers of fighters and people at the lower section

of the wall because it's low right there.

They might be able to hike up the leg, you know, and step over

the wall. But I'm going to put people

there since my wall isn't where it needs to be yet.

I got to increase security at the low vulnerable area of the

wall. What's that?

Tell me as someone reading the Scripture, even as a pastor, you

know what that tells me? Low walls are invitations for

attacks at that spot. Come on.

If I'm the adversary, I'm walking around.

I'm looking for the vulnerabilities.

Any good thief or robbers looking for the vulnerability in

the security system? When are the guards there?

When are they not there? Whatever they're they're they're

casing the joint, whether they weren't they not there looking

around the areas that spot that goes over there towards the

woods that stick. Have they not got it as guarded

because I thought that's the woods and no one ever go in

there chasing out the joint. If I'm him, I'm going around

thinking low wall. Write it down, boys.

Make a note. We got us a penetration point,

but also thinking through these terms, folks, the place where

walls are low, it requires more manpower at that spot.

Whereas if they were built to the height they needed to be, it

wouldn't require as much effort at that area.

It's protection by the race. File out holes in this wall of

holiness that God has given to me.

And it just means there's certain areas of my life I'm

going to have to guard more often.

I'm going to keep Why? Because within itself it has

vulnerabilities because it's low.

Am I doing all right? It's only first time I've done

that today. For all those who go here

regularly, I'm just telling you, all these other people's

attention are are stolen away from other things because they

got to watch the low spot. But when you have high walls,

high walls empower people, high walls empower leaders, that they

can reallocate their focus to other matters and other concerns

because that's amply protected the way that wall is

constructed. Can I go a step further today

and tell you that that our boundaries in our life don't

just impact us? Yeah, that's true.

I told them that we're manning the walls, particularly the low

walls. He says I need you to fight not

just for yourself, but you're fighting for your countrymen,

you're fighting for your family, your sons, your daughters, your

wives, your homes. What's he saying?

He said whenever you have lesser than stellar walls of

protection, you're going to have to be more in fight mode.

You're going to have to be more in fight mode than just simply

guard mode or you're. That's the reason why I said, as

we're doing the work, we're now going to have to work with one

hand and we're going to have to have our sword in the other.

You're going to be divided in your time between building up

and fighting off what's coming because the walls are not where

they need to be. Folks, just imagine how much we

could allocate to the worship and the glory of God if we had

substantial walls. But we didn't always have to be

fighting, but we could be worshipping and living.

And yes, Amen. You got the walls in place

there. There's guardianship there,

dates, there's, there's guardianship there.

But if you don't, it's, it's almost like a soldier going to

war, going to war, they'll have no weapons, they'll have no

armor. He has no capacity to protect

himself from the opposing opposing force.

And as a soldier would be going into the battle without those

things of protection, so are we then without His Holiness.

We're defenseless in many ways. We're unprotected from the

snares and what the Bible calls the devices of the adversary.

So it's in this sense, ladies and gentlemen, that we are

protected by His Holiness. To my text, I got a little bit

of time. Consider what Isaiah the prophet

said about holiness in our text. First of all, when you go home

today, you might want to read, read the verses of chapter 35

that come before our text because talking about this

highway of holiness, this way of holiness, and it says it shall

be there, but we really don't know just from the text where

there is. And so you read the verses prior

to there and you understand where this Highway of Holiness

is, where exists, where it's been constructed, where it's

been formulated. And as you read the verses, the

there is referring to where the Highway of Holiness is right now

is what was once, everybody say once what was once a barren,

dilapidated, torn down, arid, desert, vacant place.

Once somewhere along the line, Oh, I feel the Holy Ghost, God

has redeemed that barren place. He's redeemed that deserted,

unfruitful place, and he has created a main way, a highway of

holiness upon it. And the Bible tells us in our

text now the redeemed walk there and the Redeem are headed to

Zion. They're headed to that Jerusalem

and they have singing upon their lips and they have everlasting

joy. The Bible describes that the

sorrow that they had is no longer there.

The sign because of of just being overwhelmed with life,

it's no longer there. Amen.

Rejoicing has replaced sign. Celebration has replaced sorrow

because verse 10, look at it here.

It says in verse 10 that the ransomed, if you'll notice, the

ransomed of verse #10 are those that are coming to Zion.

The ransomed of verse #10 are the redeemed of verse #9 they're

one and the same. They are a ransom people, right?

And they are a redeemed people. Someone has paid the price for

them and they have been bought back by someone.

These are the ones that are walking on this highway called

holiness. And then verse 8 says this.

You want to talk about protection?

This great gives great comfort to my show.

In verse 8. It tells us that there is no

unclean thing that's passing over this highway.

The Amplified Bible reads like this.

The unclean will not travel on it, but it will be for those who

walk on the way. That is the redeemed and fools

will not wonder on it. That is to say, listen folks,

holiness may not save us, but again, neither is it unrelated

to the salvation that we receive.

Because once I receive the gift of God walking on the highway

prevent some of the things that I need to deal with and some of

the attacks that would penetrate me if there were no walls.

The Bible says in Romans 6 and you probably have this in the

KJV. I'm reading it from HCSB, but I

can read it from a pair. The Bible says in verse 19 I

speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of the

flesh. For as you have yielded your

member servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity,

Even so now or by say now you your member servants to

righteousness and unto holiness. Before you go to verse 22, let

me tell you what the Home and Christian Standard Bible says.

It says this, that you offered parts of yourselves as slaves,

but now offer them as slaves to righteousness, which is

sanctification. Sanctification is that 5

syllable King James Version word that means that you have now

been given unto holiness. Verse 22.

You have it up there for me, brethren alone.

You're doing a great job, brethren, alone by the way, but

now being made free from sin and become servants to God.

Ye have your fruit. We've looked at these verses

over the past several weeks. Unto holiness and the end,

everlasting life. The Christian standard says it

like this. You have your fruit which

results in sanctification. There's that holiness word

again. And the end.

The end is eternal life. God made you holy at your birth,

but again, that's just your birth.

There's been, there's been, there's been children born.

No problems, no difficulties, no diseases, nothing in their lives

move through the process of their journey of life.

Certain things develop, happen and take place.

The situation of their life when they die is of course going to

be grandly different than when they were born.

Some of that is just life. Some of that we have control

over with how we live life. Really, he says.

The sanctification is where it's at in the beginning.

But if you stay on the highway and you walk the highway, in the

end it'll be eternal life because that's where this road

is headed. That's where this road is

headed. God put you on pair.

But if you'll mind, if you'll mind, if you'll mind the edges

of the road, hey, man, it's going to increase if you will,

your odds. Can I tell you you're put at a

lesser wrist, you're put at a lesser risk.

And so we come to the Lord Ioffer myself and to the Lord.

I sat on that street and now notice the protection.

This is the label of my host sermon today.

The protection on this holy highway.

Isaiah says no lion and no ravenous or violent destroyer,

robber, murderer, beast is there or shall go bear on.

Why is that important to me? I'll tell you why, because

Scripture describes in the New Testament in particular that as

a lion and as a ravenous beast, which can be interpreted

murderous beast, as a lion and a murderous beast, our adversary

is categorized as both of those in New Testament scripture.

Take some point first. Peter five and eight says be

sober. There's that.

Don't be intoxicated, Peter 5A. Be sober.

Be vigilant, diligent, because your adversary, the devil as a

roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour.

It's like I described earlier. He's walking around the security

system, he's seeking whom he may, John 844 tells us, Speaking

of this adversary, the devil, this this ravenous beast or

murderous beast. John 844 says he was speaking

Jesus was speaking to some people said year of your father,

the devil, the lust of your father.

You will do. Look what he says concerning the

devil. He was a murderer from the

beginning and abode not in the truth because there is no truth

in him. Let's just say a side note.

If the devil is telling you something, it's a lie.

If the devil is telling you something, if you're getting

that negativity coming in your mind about your walking your

path, he's telling you something.

He is lying to you. You can't trust what he's

saying. So matter of fact, what you can

do is flip whatever the lie he is telling you on its head.

If he's telling you you're not going to make it, that means

you're going to make it. If he's telling you you're not

going to survive, that means you're going to survive.

If he's telling you you're going to fall, you can put your leg up

and say here, here, here. I'm going to travel on with

Jesus just the same. He's a liar and has been a liar

from the beginning. It's not changed from Genesis.

He's still trying to lie and just don't you sow into those

lies. Don't you allow him to get in

your spirit and convince you what he is saying and true.

Quite contrary, the opposite of what he is saying is true.

He's threatened by your wall. He's threatened by your

progress. He's threatened by your

obedience. Hallelujah.

Amen. So he was a murderer from the

beginning about not in the truth, because there is no is no

truth in him. When he speaketh the lie, he

speaketh of his own, for he is a liar in the father of he was a

murderer from the beginning. So we have descriptions of our

adversary, New Testament Scripture as both a lion and a

murderer. Isaiah says on the holy pathway.

He says no lion will walk there, no ravenous beast will walk

there. You know what Isaiah is saying?

There's a place where the lion cannot walk.

I'm not telling you that the enemy isn't mobile, because he

is, but he isn't omnipresent, meaning he can't be everywhere

at the same times. The Bible says his tail pulled

1/3 of the angels of heaven with him.

And yes, he sends out demons and Imps and things of that nature

and unclean spirits. But the devil can't be

everywhere himself at the same time.

He is not omnipresent. But I do will tell you this.

He does search for vulnerabilities.

He search for if you will have cocked obedience he searches

for. Isolation.

He searches for people that wouldn't be submitted.

He searches for blurred boundaries.

He searches for half constructed walls.

He searches for breeches in the walls.

Hey, listen, Pastor Miguel, this morning maybe you tell them that

I don't have to worry about anything concerning the

adversary if I walk on this holy way.

I didn't say that. I'm just telling you he will not

walk on the way. That doesn't mean he won't be on

the edge of the way. I'm not claiming there's no

danger that exists Amen, in the God path world that we live.

But I'm telling you there is a path that God has established in

what once was a barren and forgotten place where danger

loses its access. Case in point, anybody ever read

the book of Job, you know, whenever you thought life was

bad and you said you need to be encouraged, go read Job because

he for sure had it worse than I do, and I'll be encouraged.

Oh, he lost all that. I'm feeling pretty good about

life, right? Job's not really a discourager

and a downer. It's an encourager because

probably none of us has had that.

It's like, man, he had it bad. I don't have it so bad.

God's good. What happened?

The Bible says in that first chapter, when the sons of God or

the angels gathered together to the Lord, Satan came also.

Your devil, your lion, your ravenous, He came also among

them. Lord says, where you been, Where

you been? Satan?

I've been to and fro. He's seeking to and fro.

Notice the devil didn't pick up on the life of Job.

God had to point out the life of Job.

Why? Because Satan tells God, Job has

this hedge about him. Job has this hedge about him.

He's the your adversary is seeking whom he may devour.

He's looking for the vulnerabilities.

He's looking for the lower walls.

Even the Old Testament, they often times always went for

those that were sick and weak on the backside of the army,

looking for the vulnerable. What are you saying?

I'm saying Satan didn't even give Job a second thought

because he had protection around about his life.

And what does the Lord say about, you know, Job?

He said he's perfect or whole, complete and upright.

Got a little hole in this on him.

How do you consider him? No, I'm not, he said.

No, I'm not concerned him. There's a hedge, he says.

If you take down the hedge, you compromise the hedge for me.

He says I'll go at him. Let me put it in terms like

this, because that's not a place I can walk unless you let the

hedge down. Honey, they're just you just get

you just get so enamored and so taken back Amen about living for

the Lord. You just live for him and you

show up and you pray to him and you just dig into that Bible and

you read about Amen, him. And when you hear you throw up

your hands and you just worship and you just build yourself a

cocoon of God's presence and power around about your life.

And the enemy's going to be looking for a easier access than

your life because you're going to have built a hedge.

You're going to have concreted some walls where the lion cannot

or does not try desire to walk. Amen, Amen, Amen.

Let's close. I don't, I don't want to.

We got baptisms to do. I don't want to.

I don't want to take advantage of you.

So stand with me this morning. What happens?

Our highway of holding this is a certain degree comes like a

restricted Rd. Only certain ones can pass on

that. The the lion's lost his

appetite, he's lost his access. It creates limits by the reefs

for the enemy that he must respect.

Just like darkness cannot overcome light and disorder

cannot coexist with God's order, the adversary cannot freely

operate where God's rule is honored and his boundaries are

observed. How's this show?

I'll tell you just one more verse with the James.

It might be our last one here for now.

James 47. We love forever.

Apostolic Church members, Christians forever.

Is love the last part of this verse?

Resist the devil. Then he will flee from you,

right? Tony?

I love that man. You know, devil on my back.

I'll flee from you. But when we've left off the

first portion, we have weakened and made null and void our

resistance. Your Bible says submit

yourselves, therefore to God. We're frustrated in our

resistance mode. I thought they told me this

would work. They told me this would work.

When we feel weak, we don't feel empowered.

Nothing changes. Powers not in myself Resistance.

The power is in whom I'm submitted to.

Can you help me, Brother Zach? Brother Zach and I say this

respectfully. Brother Zach is our in house

meathead. That just means he lifts and he

can do it folks. OK, I'm not going to go through

his specs. You want to see his resume?

Talk to him after church. He can.

He can do it. But any one of you could come up

here. And I might think, you know, I,

Josh, I take you because I am Paul R McGee, junior, is that

the fact of the matter is I might resemble olive oil a

little bit. Popeye, sweetheart.

I don't have no power per SE, but when I yoke up to one that

I've made my friend, come on, that's good.

Whatever opposition comes now, see wherever I go, and I'm

trying to follow his lead, probably more so than mine.

Where he goes, I go. Whom he sets with, I set with

his way of talk, I start to adopt as my way of talk because

this is my company. This is my company and and

there's a little rubbing off that's happening in this there.

And I'm trying not to preach all day, folks.

I really ain't. But then when adversary Josh

comes and all of all standing here, you better wait one, one

minute, brother, because you don't understand what I've

become submitted to. You want to wrestle with me?

Maybe you don't want to wrestle with Zach.

He'll bench press 2 of you's. You understand what I'm saying

today. What's that mean?

That no lion wants to walk there?

No lion wants to walk there. Lucifer was in heaven one time

and got prideful within himself, and he was dispatched by the

Lord of Glory from the glory. I guarantee he doesn't want to

tangle with that. Again, no lion wants to walk

there. So you need to yoke yourself up

with God and you need to yoke yourself up with the character

of God and you need to yoke yourself up, my God, 'cause

there is a place where the lion cannot walk.

Man, I'm feeling a little pre rapture.

Come on here. You know, you're saying that the

devil disappears. No, he don't disappear.

He's still watching, he's still seeking, he's still, he's always

going to have an eye open for vulnerabilities.

You say saying no, he's not destroyed, he's just not there.

He's just not there. There's people sitting in the

sound of my voice today. Some of you already been

frustrated with your Christian journey.

I understand that. I implore thee, I challenge

thee. Just live for God as hard and as

obediently as you can. Just give it all to Him.

Yoke yourself up with Him. Sometimes we get so distracted

about trying to take care of all the little fires and little

issues and problems that we forget the relationship.

So we're trying to take care of this problem.

It's like, it's like going down the road when you got nuts and

bolts and you know, nuts coming loose on this, when you get it

tighten up and it's loose on this because the vibration of

the journey, you're just all you're doing is getting done

going around trying to keep all the boats tighten.

But I'm telling you, if you focus on the main thing, your

relationship with the Lord, if you keep that your focus, he'll

take care of the boats. We bow our heads in this place,

folks. I can tell you today, I feel the

Holy Ghost, God's Spirit is in this building today.

And whenever He shows up, He doesn't just show up to be a

spectator. He shows up with purpose and

with intention. And He's here today with

purpose. I know we have a vast, vast

group of people here today. And some of you, this is your

first time, but listen, there's nothing written in God's holy

word like you got to wait till the 5th time you've ever been to

church to engage with God's Spirit.

If you're feeling a pool upon your life today, you said Pastor

McGee, why you been talking this morning?

I just been feeling something I've never felt before or

there's there's been things happening through this service

at different times. Some things that provoked me to

cry are the things and there's a lot of emotions I'm dealing

with. Sir or ma'am, let me tell you

something that is God's spirit dealing with you this morning.

That's God's Spirit dealing with you and we're opening these

altars right now. What does that mean?

This provides a time for us to come forward to pray.

You can pray in your Pew. You can pray standing, kneeling

on your stomach. It really doesn't matter to me,

but it it provides a time for us to engage with God this morning,

talk to him, cry out to him, tell him about our troubles.

We this is a time where we can come forward and we can have a

afterthought about the way that we've been living life and we

can repent of our sins. This is open up to whosoever

will you don't have to be a member of this church to kneel

at this altar. You don't have to be a member of

this church to pray Amen. If you are here today and you're

feeling the drawing of God's Spirit.

Something that's been said this morning that that your your mind

and your heart just identifies with this altar is for you

today. God will meet you here this

remember this is a holy altar of holy sacrifices.

This is one of those places that Pillai and can not walk,

Hallelujah. Cry out to him.

You can pray quietly, you can lift your voice, Hallelujah.

You don't have to worry about anybody else.

What anybody's going to think, what you might think anybody's

going to say. What you're doing right now is

honorable in the sight of God. Hallelujah.

Just start talking to Him. You.

You don't have to have special words.

You don't have to speak in the King James Version, Bible

language. You just talk to Him like you

would talk to a friend. You can lay it all down.

Bring your trouble, bring your concern, bring your questions,

bring your fear, bring your anxiety, bring your pain,

whatever it is.