WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.800 So it's not that he chooses not to lie, he can't. 2 00:00:03.800 --> 00:00:06.840 So when he promises that he's going to be with you, 3 00:00:06.840 --> 00:00:09.440 when he says that I am Emmanuel, 4 00:00:09.440 --> 00:00:11.800 doesn't matter where your circumstances lead you, 5 00:00:11.800 --> 00:00:13.720 I will be with you. 6 00:00:13.720 --> 00:00:16.120 He's saying it, knowing I can't lie, 7 00:00:16.120 --> 00:00:17.600 I'm gonna be there. 8 00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:21.760 Yes, you might end up in a burnery of fiery furnace, 9 00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:24.080 but his promise is, what up, I'm in there too. 10 00:00:24.080 --> 00:00:25.080 What's up, what's good? 11 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:28.680 Welcome to the City Light Church podcast. 12 00:00:28.680 --> 00:00:32.040 Thanks for joining us today as we look into God's Word 13 00:00:32.040 --> 00:00:35.680 and discover the hope and truth that he has for us. 14 00:00:35.680 --> 00:00:38.000 If you want to connect with City Light Church, 15 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:41.480 feel free to visit us at citylightnyc.com, 16 00:00:41.480 --> 00:00:44.840 that's citylightnyc.com. 17 00:00:44.840 --> 00:00:47.360 Pastor Boyan Jansik and his team believe 18 00:00:47.360 --> 00:00:49.440 that the power of the Holy Spirit 19 00:00:49.440 --> 00:00:52.600 is already working in our hearts and minds. 20 00:00:52.600 --> 00:00:54.520 As you listen to today's teaching, 21 00:00:54.520 --> 00:00:57.520 remember that you are deeply loved by God, 22 00:00:57.520 --> 00:00:59.880 that you are surrounded by His grace, 23 00:00:59.880 --> 00:01:02.840 and that He has a real hope and a future for you. 24 00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:08.400 How you feeling this morning? 25 00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:13.400 Awesome, awesome, good. 26 00:01:13.400 --> 00:01:16.960 Let me ruin that for you, now I'm just... 27 00:01:16.960 --> 00:01:21.320 So I want to talk today about, man, 28 00:01:21.320 --> 00:01:22.320 I don't even know how to say that. 29 00:01:22.320 --> 00:01:23.360 I said this in the first service 30 00:01:23.360 --> 00:01:27.160 and you could immediately feel the sphinxters tighten up. 31 00:01:28.160 --> 00:01:31.040 I want to talk about being a good Christian. 32 00:01:32.960 --> 00:01:34.120 See what I mean? 33 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:38.000 Oh, man, it's one of those evil things. 34 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:40.840 Tell me about myself, oh, no. 35 00:01:40.840 --> 00:01:43.200 No, but it's not what you think. 36 00:01:43.200 --> 00:01:45.880 It's seriously not about what you think. 37 00:01:45.880 --> 00:01:48.480 I've found that for years, 38 00:01:48.480 --> 00:01:51.280 people have gone about Christianity the wrong way. 39 00:01:52.280 --> 00:01:54.960 And I have an idea of why, 40 00:01:54.960 --> 00:01:59.200 because what it has to do with God's promises, 41 00:02:01.200 --> 00:02:02.360 I think every one of us, 42 00:02:02.360 --> 00:02:05.000 we share equally in the human experience 43 00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:06.520 this thing called disappointment. 44 00:02:07.760 --> 00:02:10.280 We have an expectation for something. 45 00:02:10.280 --> 00:02:12.480 It doesn't live up to the expectation. 46 00:02:12.480 --> 00:02:15.120 And even when the expectation is based on something 47 00:02:15.120 --> 00:02:17.560 that God said, so if God said something, 48 00:02:17.560 --> 00:02:19.080 it's a promise, right? 49 00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:22.280 But that, we get messed up 50 00:02:22.280 --> 00:02:24.480 when we don't see the fulfillment of everything 51 00:02:24.480 --> 00:02:26.520 that we want right away. 52 00:02:28.400 --> 00:02:30.560 But I'm here to encourage you that Christianity 53 00:02:30.560 --> 00:02:33.240 is not what you thought it was. 54 00:02:35.880 --> 00:02:36.720 I'll just let the Ken out of the bag. 55 00:02:36.720 --> 00:02:37.640 Let me ask the question, 56 00:02:37.640 --> 00:02:41.520 how many of you are actually having fun in your Christianity? 57 00:02:45.680 --> 00:02:47.920 I'm really excited for the amount of people 58 00:02:47.960 --> 00:02:50.720 that raised their hands and clapped and applauded, 59 00:02:50.720 --> 00:02:52.160 because guess what? 60 00:02:52.160 --> 00:02:56.120 There are many, and I'm not talking about religious groups, 61 00:02:56.120 --> 00:02:59.520 like they're well-meaning folks, actual Christians, 62 00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:03.840 Bible believing, Jesus confessing Christians, 63 00:03:03.840 --> 00:03:05.440 and they are miserable, 64 00:03:07.080 --> 00:03:08.960 absolutely miserable, 65 00:03:08.960 --> 00:03:13.960 and their lives have been ruined by religion and toil. 66 00:03:14.960 --> 00:03:18.280 They're under the misconception that Christianity 67 00:03:18.280 --> 00:03:20.560 means that you have to be perfect, 68 00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:22.560 and you have to do it right. 69 00:03:25.400 --> 00:03:28.600 And I'm here to tell you today that if your Christianity 70 00:03:28.600 --> 00:03:30.840 is not produced in you, 71 00:03:30.840 --> 00:03:33.040 this thing of actually having fun, 72 00:03:33.040 --> 00:03:34.440 you're doing it wrong. 73 00:03:36.080 --> 00:03:37.080 It's weird. 74 00:03:37.080 --> 00:03:38.680 I don't know if it's just because it's me 75 00:03:38.680 --> 00:03:39.960 or it's the Holy Ghost, but I hear, 76 00:03:39.960 --> 00:03:41.520 I'll show you how to do this, 77 00:03:41.600 --> 00:03:42.760 I said, but I... 78 00:03:46.360 --> 00:03:47.360 You know, sometimes you gotta check, 79 00:03:47.360 --> 00:03:48.600 like, is that me or is that you Lord? 80 00:03:48.600 --> 00:03:49.440 Like that. 81 00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:57.000 Psalm 89, verse 34 says this, 82 00:04:12.520 --> 00:04:16.520 It's easy enough to say yes, but I think the reality is, 83 00:04:18.120 --> 00:04:20.800 most of us, when I say the us part, 84 00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:22.720 I'm talking about the Christians in the room, 85 00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:24.920 and I acknowledge there are some non-Christians in the room, 86 00:04:24.920 --> 00:04:27.240 praise God, you won't be that way for long. 87 00:04:27.240 --> 00:04:32.080 But for most of us, we do this double-dutch thing 88 00:04:32.080 --> 00:04:34.480 of Christianity, double-dutch, 89 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:36.440 you mean like the children's game, yes. 90 00:04:39.200 --> 00:04:40.760 You get a promise from God and you believe him, 91 00:04:40.760 --> 00:04:44.400 so you step into it, yes, but then it doesn't happen 92 00:04:44.400 --> 00:04:45.920 right away. 93 00:04:45.920 --> 00:04:47.880 So you go, well, I don't know, did he? 94 00:04:49.600 --> 00:04:51.240 But then you go through it again and go, well, I mean, 95 00:04:51.240 --> 00:04:53.680 but he's faithful and nobody did for Tiffany, 96 00:04:53.680 --> 00:04:57.840 so I'll trust him again, but then you get your feelings hurt. 97 00:04:57.840 --> 00:04:58.880 Nope. 98 00:04:58.880 --> 00:05:00.760 And then you end up living a life like that. 99 00:05:01.760 --> 00:05:05.760 Well, you do, that is not the way your Christianity 100 00:05:08.160 --> 00:05:09.160 is supposed to be. 101 00:05:13.800 --> 00:05:16.000 The Bible says in the book of Psalms, 102 00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:18.600 oh Lord, help me with this one. 103 00:05:19.680 --> 00:05:22.480 This is pour out your complaint before the Lord. 104 00:05:23.440 --> 00:05:25.560 And the reason I bring it up is because 105 00:05:26.840 --> 00:05:29.480 we've got this misconception 106 00:05:29.480 --> 00:05:32.240 that we can't actually be honest with God 107 00:05:32.240 --> 00:05:34.720 and we can't really bring things to him. 108 00:05:37.040 --> 00:05:42.040 So many of you, your prayer life is fake 109 00:05:44.560 --> 00:05:46.520 because it's based on religion. 110 00:05:48.760 --> 00:05:52.080 It's based on the chore that you have to, 111 00:05:52.080 --> 00:05:54.800 because you want to get to heaven, let's be clear about that. 112 00:05:54.800 --> 00:05:56.840 You're not trying to live down here and struggle 113 00:05:56.840 --> 00:05:58.160 and then not make it to heaven, 114 00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:00.320 so you're going to do whatever it takes to get to heaven 115 00:06:00.320 --> 00:06:01.920 and you know that that involves prayer 116 00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:02.960 and it involves going to church. 117 00:06:02.960 --> 00:06:05.080 So let me get my attendance, check. 118 00:06:06.240 --> 00:06:10.280 Okay, I got to make sure my prayer check is in. 119 00:06:12.960 --> 00:06:17.960 Oh, here again, Lord Jesus, blessed be thy name, O God. 120 00:06:17.960 --> 00:06:20.000 Thy name, O God. 121 00:06:27.600 --> 00:06:28.600 Hallelujah. 122 00:06:33.480 --> 00:06:35.120 So no, no, no, no, we laugh, 123 00:06:35.120 --> 00:06:37.240 but sometimes prayer is so fake 124 00:06:37.240 --> 00:06:40.560 because we're doing it to make sure that we get the check. 125 00:06:43.200 --> 00:06:44.360 Has it been five minutes yet? 126 00:06:44.360 --> 00:06:45.600 Has it been 20 minutes yet? 127 00:06:45.600 --> 00:06:47.320 Maybe I could get up, oh man, it's only 19. 128 00:06:48.160 --> 00:06:50.720 Let me just elongate my hallelujah, hallelujah. 129 00:06:54.720 --> 00:06:58.520 20 minutes, wow, that really hurt my knees, Lord. 130 00:07:01.880 --> 00:07:03.520 And God is like, how come you didn't stand up? 131 00:07:03.520 --> 00:07:06.560 You could have walked around the house doing all that. 132 00:07:06.560 --> 00:07:08.240 But we go through these religious things 133 00:07:08.240 --> 00:07:10.480 in our mind that say, I have to perform 134 00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:12.040 and I have to get it right. 135 00:07:12.040 --> 00:07:13.360 Listen, I'm gonna tell you right now, 136 00:07:13.360 --> 00:07:15.200 my prayer life does not look like yours 137 00:07:15.200 --> 00:07:17.280 and I am proud of that. 138 00:07:17.320 --> 00:07:19.800 And it's not because I'm better than you in any way. 139 00:07:19.800 --> 00:07:22.120 But there's been a grace, a freedom 140 00:07:22.120 --> 00:07:25.000 that I've inherited from the scriptures. 141 00:07:26.720 --> 00:07:29.080 I don't have to perform anymore. 142 00:07:30.760 --> 00:07:33.240 Christianity is not meant for you to be 143 00:07:33.240 --> 00:07:36.240 on a hamster wheel of performance. 144 00:07:41.120 --> 00:07:42.440 Let that sink in. 145 00:07:43.320 --> 00:07:44.720 Because I know a lot of us, 146 00:07:44.720 --> 00:07:46.920 we've been trying for a really long time 147 00:07:46.920 --> 00:07:48.600 to get good at this. 148 00:07:50.520 --> 00:07:54.400 Did you know trying to be good leads you to religion? 149 00:07:55.400 --> 00:07:58.080 And being stuck in religion actually opens the door 150 00:07:58.080 --> 00:07:59.520 for a sin lifestyle. 151 00:08:00.520 --> 00:08:02.720 So many people are struggling today 152 00:08:02.720 --> 00:08:04.960 not because they're not good Christians, 153 00:08:04.960 --> 00:08:09.240 but because they're embroiled in religion. 154 00:08:09.240 --> 00:08:12.520 They're embroiled in performance based Christianity. 155 00:08:15.720 --> 00:08:17.760 You're constantly finding the next thing 156 00:08:17.760 --> 00:08:20.760 that you have to do in order to present yourself to God. 157 00:08:21.760 --> 00:08:23.920 I don't present myself, I just come. 158 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:27.160 The Bible says, 159 00:08:29.400 --> 00:08:31.720 come with boldness before the throne of grace 160 00:08:31.720 --> 00:08:33.880 to receive help in a time of need. 161 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:38.600 That looks antithical to the way that our prayer life 162 00:08:38.600 --> 00:08:40.560 looks sometimes because sometimes we go through routine 163 00:08:40.560 --> 00:08:42.120 of oh, dear God. 164 00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:44.560 Perfect and holy Father. 165 00:08:45.760 --> 00:08:49.520 You offer the lily of the valleys. 166 00:08:49.520 --> 00:08:51.560 You are Jacob's ladder. 167 00:08:51.560 --> 00:08:54.000 You are the God of Isaac, Abraham, and Jacob. 168 00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:55.600 Oh, I said Jacob again, okay. 169 00:08:55.600 --> 00:08:57.400 Oh, hallelujah. 170 00:09:00.360 --> 00:09:01.680 And we do all these things. 171 00:09:01.680 --> 00:09:05.160 And it's just like, just have the relationship. 172 00:09:06.040 --> 00:09:10.800 Just be free from the burden of having to do it right. 173 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:14.800 You know, when I said that God is not afraid 174 00:09:14.800 --> 00:09:16.400 for you to pour out your complaint, 175 00:09:16.400 --> 00:09:18.560 he's not afraid for you to be real with him. 176 00:09:18.560 --> 00:09:20.240 He's not afraid for your prayer life 177 00:09:20.240 --> 00:09:21.480 to look something like, 178 00:09:23.960 --> 00:09:27.960 wow, yesterday was rough. 179 00:09:29.560 --> 00:09:31.320 I'm believing you for some things 180 00:09:31.320 --> 00:09:34.160 and it seems like everything that I'm believing you for, 181 00:09:34.160 --> 00:09:37.880 the opposite is happening in my life. 182 00:09:37.880 --> 00:09:39.920 But I think that you are good and faithful 183 00:09:40.040 --> 00:09:42.560 because I woke up again, thanks for that. 184 00:09:43.560 --> 00:09:45.480 I wish that some of your prayer lives 185 00:09:45.480 --> 00:09:47.880 would look more realistic 186 00:09:47.880 --> 00:09:49.920 because you would begin to see good fruit. 187 00:09:49.920 --> 00:09:52.680 Because, ooh, thank you Lord. 188 00:09:52.680 --> 00:09:55.080 I told this to my daughter one time. 189 00:09:55.080 --> 00:09:58.600 I said, you know, we already got the A. 190 00:10:01.360 --> 00:10:05.520 When you understand that you already got the A, 191 00:10:05.520 --> 00:10:07.800 you won't strive to perform. 192 00:10:10.920 --> 00:10:12.920 My kids have an understanding. 193 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:15.760 They can't do anything for me. 194 00:10:18.440 --> 00:10:19.680 No, I know some of you are like, 195 00:10:19.680 --> 00:10:21.520 Mr. Thibar, I felt like, what is this? 196 00:10:21.520 --> 00:10:23.640 How dare he say that about those wonderful children? 197 00:10:23.640 --> 00:10:24.480 I've seen them, I know them. 198 00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:27.320 No, they can't do nothing for me. 199 00:10:27.320 --> 00:10:29.880 They can't cook for me, I cook better than them. 200 00:10:29.880 --> 00:10:32.400 They can't buy me nothing, they ain't got no money. 201 00:10:32.400 --> 00:10:34.960 All the things that I want cost money, they ain't got none. 202 00:10:34.960 --> 00:10:36.480 So, what can they do? 203 00:10:36.480 --> 00:10:38.160 They can't do nothing for me. 204 00:10:38.240 --> 00:10:40.960 Oh, but, but Pastor Moore, you know, love affection. 205 00:10:40.960 --> 00:10:42.280 I got a wife. 206 00:10:43.240 --> 00:10:44.920 I don't need them kids. 207 00:10:48.200 --> 00:10:50.000 But, man, do I love them? 208 00:10:51.000 --> 00:10:52.720 And I would give anything for them, 209 00:10:52.720 --> 00:10:55.320 even though they can't do nothing for me. 210 00:10:55.320 --> 00:10:57.640 They can't iron my clothes when I'm lazy. 211 00:10:59.000 --> 00:11:00.600 They can't go shopping for me. 212 00:11:00.600 --> 00:11:01.600 Hey, yes. 213 00:11:01.600 --> 00:11:04.440 Oh, glory be to God. 214 00:11:05.440 --> 00:11:07.840 Chor, oh, I prophesied, chores are coming. 215 00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:08.840 Hey, Katala. 216 00:11:11.840 --> 00:11:13.840 Right now, my kids got chores. 217 00:11:13.840 --> 00:11:15.840 The nine-year-old is her chore. 218 00:11:15.840 --> 00:11:17.840 You have to wash your own dish. 219 00:11:19.040 --> 00:11:20.240 You don't got to wash the whole house. 220 00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:22.240 You got to wash yours. 221 00:11:22.240 --> 00:11:23.040 I know, right? 222 00:11:23.040 --> 00:11:24.240 She said the same thing. 223 00:11:28.240 --> 00:11:32.440 But they can't do anything for me of substance. 224 00:11:32.640 --> 00:11:34.800 But that doesn't mean that I wouldn't pour out 225 00:11:34.800 --> 00:11:36.680 everything to meet their need. 226 00:11:36.680 --> 00:11:37.960 Why do I bring it up? 227 00:11:37.960 --> 00:11:41.720 It's an imperfect father like me has that mind and heart. 228 00:11:41.720 --> 00:11:44.560 How much more the father of lights 229 00:11:44.560 --> 00:11:46.760 in whom there is no shadow of turning? 230 00:11:47.600 --> 00:11:49.760 That's the way your father looks at you. 231 00:11:49.760 --> 00:11:53.080 He has already approved you, washed you in his blood, 232 00:11:53.080 --> 00:11:55.480 cleansed you, and said that you belong to him 233 00:11:55.480 --> 00:11:56.840 and promised you the world. 234 00:11:56.840 --> 00:12:00.880 But the question is, why don't you believe it? 235 00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:07.440 Now, before you engross yourself 236 00:12:07.440 --> 00:12:09.440 with guilt, shame, and condemnation 237 00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:12.440 for not being the type of Christian that I have described, 238 00:12:12.440 --> 00:12:17.440 we find examples of this type of believer in the Bible. 239 00:12:17.440 --> 00:12:19.440 And I just want to point it out to you 240 00:12:19.440 --> 00:12:21.440 so that you can feel better about your situation 241 00:12:21.440 --> 00:12:23.440 because you're not the first person there. 242 00:12:23.440 --> 00:12:24.440 Amen? 243 00:12:24.440 --> 00:12:26.440 So let's look in the scriptures. 244 00:12:27.440 --> 00:12:29.440 When God promises you something again, 245 00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:31.440 you have to take him at His word. 246 00:12:32.440 --> 00:12:33.440 Because if you don't take him at His word, 247 00:12:33.440 --> 00:12:35.440 you're going to be like people like Abraham. 248 00:12:35.440 --> 00:12:38.440 Abraham acts the Lord in Genesis 15 and he was like, 249 00:12:38.440 --> 00:12:41.440 Lord God, how shall I know that I will inherit it 250 00:12:41.440 --> 00:12:43.440 that the very things that you promise to me? 251 00:12:43.440 --> 00:12:46.440 Now, I love it because God didn't reprimand Abraham 252 00:12:46.440 --> 00:12:48.440 for failing to take him at His word. 253 00:12:48.440 --> 00:12:50.440 That's how gracious God is to His people. 254 00:12:50.440 --> 00:12:52.440 He even came down to Abraham's level of faith 255 00:12:52.440 --> 00:12:54.440 and did something to a short Abraham 256 00:12:54.440 --> 00:12:56.440 that he would always keep his promises. 257 00:12:56.440 --> 00:12:58.440 He made a covenant with Abraham. 258 00:12:58.440 --> 00:13:02.440 That's like a modern day contract, if you will. 259 00:13:02.440 --> 00:13:04.440 And God didn't do this for His own benefit. 260 00:13:04.440 --> 00:13:05.440 God is a God of His word. 261 00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:07.440 He does not break His word. 262 00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:09.440 He binds Himself to the covenant 263 00:13:09.440 --> 00:13:12.440 because He knew that Abraham needed to know in His heart 264 00:13:12.440 --> 00:13:15.440 that God would do whatever He had promised Him. 265 00:13:15.440 --> 00:13:17.440 So man finds it hard to just believe. 266 00:13:17.440 --> 00:13:20.440 For example, there was a situation my wife and I, 267 00:13:20.440 --> 00:13:22.440 we were going to buy a home in Long Island. 268 00:13:22.440 --> 00:13:26.440 And for some silly reason, 269 00:13:26.440 --> 00:13:29.440 they didn't take me at my word when I said, 270 00:13:29.440 --> 00:13:31.440 I'll give you thousands of dollars. 271 00:13:31.440 --> 00:13:33.440 And I didn't take them at their word 272 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:35.440 when they said that they would leave the house 273 00:13:35.440 --> 00:13:37.440 and leave the keys on the table. 274 00:13:37.440 --> 00:13:39.440 We did this thing where we got a paper, 275 00:13:39.440 --> 00:13:41.440 I signed it, they signed it, 276 00:13:41.440 --> 00:13:44.440 and we got lawyers to verify that everybody's signature 277 00:13:44.440 --> 00:13:46.440 was correct. Amen. 278 00:13:46.440 --> 00:13:48.440 And we found out later down the line, 279 00:13:48.440 --> 00:13:50.440 there was some things that weren't lining up 280 00:13:50.440 --> 00:13:51.440 with the contract. 281 00:13:51.440 --> 00:13:52.440 Like, hey, what do you mean? 282 00:13:52.440 --> 00:13:55.440 This is an underground oil burning. 283 00:13:55.440 --> 00:13:58.440 Like, the tank is underneath the ground. 284 00:13:58.440 --> 00:13:59.440 Well, that can't be. 285 00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:00.440 That's not what you promised. 286 00:14:00.440 --> 00:14:01.440 It's going to have to be above ground. 287 00:14:01.440 --> 00:14:04.440 So either you pay for it because we're not paying for it 288 00:14:04.440 --> 00:14:06.440 or we're leaving. 289 00:14:06.440 --> 00:14:10.440 So people put in contracts because they don't trust words. 290 00:14:10.440 --> 00:14:11.440 Amen. 291 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:15.440 And God understands that about people. 292 00:14:15.440 --> 00:14:19.440 Even though He knows that He is faithful. 293 00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:20.440 Have you ever read this in the scriptures 294 00:14:20.440 --> 00:14:23.440 when it says that God cannot lie? 295 00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:26.440 That is actually one of the most awesome things 296 00:14:26.440 --> 00:14:28.440 that I've ever read in scripture. 297 00:14:28.440 --> 00:14:30.440 Because people don't fully get what it's saying. 298 00:14:30.440 --> 00:14:32.440 Sometimes you read that and you think, 299 00:14:32.440 --> 00:14:34.440 well, man, God is just, He's so holy. 300 00:14:34.440 --> 00:14:36.440 Look at His moral upstanding. 301 00:14:36.440 --> 00:14:38.440 I choose not to lie. 302 00:14:38.440 --> 00:14:39.440 I am so faithful and morally high. 303 00:14:39.440 --> 00:14:41.440 That's not actually what the scripture is saying. 304 00:14:41.440 --> 00:14:43.440 What the scripture is actually saying is, 305 00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:46.440 I can't lie. 306 00:14:46.440 --> 00:14:49.440 Like, if I tried it, it wouldn't work. 307 00:14:49.440 --> 00:14:52.440 Like, if I said the microphone was white, 308 00:14:52.440 --> 00:14:55.440 everything in creation has to manifest. 309 00:14:55.440 --> 00:14:58.440 Reality has to change to conform to the truth. 310 00:14:58.440 --> 00:15:01.440 When there was nothing but darkness and God said, 311 00:15:01.440 --> 00:15:05.440 let there be light. 312 00:15:05.440 --> 00:15:07.440 Like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, 313 00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:10.440 like, like, like, like, like, had to come out. 314 00:15:10.440 --> 00:15:12.440 So it's not that He chooses not to lie. 315 00:15:12.440 --> 00:15:15.440 He can't. 316 00:15:15.440 --> 00:15:18.440 So when He promises that He's going to be with you, 317 00:15:18.440 --> 00:15:22.440 when He says that I am Emmanuel, 318 00:15:22.440 --> 00:15:24.440 doesn't matter where your circumstances lead you, 319 00:15:24.440 --> 00:15:27.440 I will be with you. 320 00:15:27.440 --> 00:15:30.440 He's saying it knowing I can't lie. 321 00:15:30.440 --> 00:15:33.440 I'm going to be there. 322 00:15:33.440 --> 00:15:36.440 Yes, you might end up in a well. 323 00:15:36.440 --> 00:15:41.440 Yes, you might end up in a burnery of fiery furnace. 324 00:15:41.440 --> 00:15:43.440 But His promise is, what up? 325 00:15:43.440 --> 00:15:46.440 I'm in there too. It was good. 326 00:15:46.440 --> 00:15:48.440 You know, they had a down friend there, 327 00:15:48.440 --> 00:15:49.440 regardless of what it was. 328 00:15:49.440 --> 00:15:51.440 Like, hey, we're going to go commit a felony today. 329 00:15:51.440 --> 00:15:52.440 I'm down. 330 00:15:52.440 --> 00:15:54.440 Oh, yeah, I didn't get that. 331 00:15:54.440 --> 00:15:56.440 They don't got those type of friends. 332 00:15:56.440 --> 00:15:58.440 Jesus, praise God. 333 00:15:58.440 --> 00:16:01.440 I used to be a friend like that. 334 00:16:01.440 --> 00:16:04.440 Hey, I need you. 335 00:16:04.440 --> 00:16:05.440 Felt it. 336 00:16:05.440 --> 00:16:06.440 All right. 337 00:16:06.440 --> 00:16:07.440 New life. 338 00:16:07.440 --> 00:16:08.440 Baptism. 339 00:16:08.440 --> 00:16:09.440 Old man. 340 00:16:09.440 --> 00:16:12.440 New man. 341 00:16:12.440 --> 00:16:15.440 But Abram, 342 00:16:15.440 --> 00:16:17.440 and he's a believer. 343 00:16:17.440 --> 00:16:22.440 He's an actual believer. 344 00:16:22.440 --> 00:16:24.440 And he starts playing hopscotch. 345 00:16:24.440 --> 00:16:26.440 What do you call that thing when you jump rope? 346 00:16:26.440 --> 00:16:27.440 Double dutch. 347 00:16:27.440 --> 00:16:29.440 Hopscotch is double. 348 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:31.440 No, so he was, 349 00:16:31.440 --> 00:16:34.440 he starts playing double dutch with God. 350 00:16:34.440 --> 00:16:36.440 Let me show you from the scriptures because again, 351 00:16:36.440 --> 00:16:38.440 I want you to find comfort in this because 352 00:16:38.440 --> 00:16:41.440 you keep thinking to yourself that you're the only one 353 00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:42.440 and you're imperfect. 354 00:16:42.440 --> 00:16:46.440 You're just saying, just chill. 355 00:16:46.440 --> 00:16:48.440 The real, 356 00:16:48.440 --> 00:16:52.440 the key to your success as a Christian is that you would 357 00:16:52.440 --> 00:16:55.440 rest in all of what he did for you. 358 00:16:55.440 --> 00:17:00.440 That you would believe that you are what he said you are. 359 00:17:00.440 --> 00:17:05.440 The true fight of faith is not against the devil. 360 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:08.440 The true fight of faith is you every day appropriating 361 00:17:08.440 --> 00:17:10.440 the promise of God and saying, 362 00:17:11.440 --> 00:17:13.440 I don't care what the bank account says. 363 00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:15.440 I don't care what the symptoms in my body say. 364 00:17:15.440 --> 00:17:20.440 I know what you said and you don't fail and you will be with me. 365 00:17:20.440 --> 00:17:24.440 I can't tell you how many pits the Lord has lifted me up out of 366 00:17:24.440 --> 00:17:28.440 because I trusted that what he said was and then I find myself 367 00:17:28.440 --> 00:17:30.440 on the other side of it. 368 00:17:30.440 --> 00:17:33.440 Ta-da. 369 00:17:33.440 --> 00:17:37.440 I wish the process was easier. 370 00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:40.440 But the God on his truth is you have to deal with the 371 00:17:40.440 --> 00:17:44.440 mundane part of life that continues to go and not look like 372 00:17:44.440 --> 00:17:46.440 what he promised. 373 00:17:46.440 --> 00:17:52.440 But we do have the promise and the faithfulness of God. 374 00:17:52.440 --> 00:17:55.440 We've got his resume. 375 00:17:55.440 --> 00:17:58.440 God never really asks people to move in blind faith. 376 00:17:58.440 --> 00:18:01.440 He's always giving the track record of all the things 377 00:18:01.440 --> 00:18:04.440 that he's done. 378 00:18:04.440 --> 00:18:07.440 He's the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of Jesus. 379 00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:09.440 He gives you these things. 380 00:18:09.440 --> 00:18:11.440 I've done all these things for all these people. 381 00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:14.440 All the testimonies that you hear in church of God showing up 382 00:18:14.440 --> 00:18:16.440 and moving on behalf of the people. 383 00:18:16.440 --> 00:18:18.440 He's trying to let you know that's my track record. 384 00:18:18.440 --> 00:18:21.440 He has my business call it. 385 00:18:21.440 --> 00:18:23.440 I am the great salvation maker. 386 00:18:23.440 --> 00:18:25.440 Way maker as we call it. 387 00:18:25.440 --> 00:18:27.440 Anything you need, I'm there. 388 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:32.440 Or you think God talked like that sometimes he does. 389 00:18:32.440 --> 00:18:35.440 Romans 4.20 says this about Abraham. 390 00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:38.440 He says he did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief. 391 00:18:38.440 --> 00:18:42.440 But was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God and being 392 00:18:42.440 --> 00:18:46.440 fully convinced that what he had promised he was able to perform 393 00:18:46.440 --> 00:18:51.440 and therefore it was accounted to him for righteousness. 394 00:18:51.440 --> 00:18:53.440 Now that sounds awesome. 395 00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:55.440 That's encouraging. 396 00:18:55.440 --> 00:18:59.440 That's a very aerial view of this situation. 397 00:18:59.440 --> 00:19:02.440 Can we get granular for a minute? 398 00:19:02.440 --> 00:19:04.440 So how about this? 399 00:19:04.440 --> 00:19:08.440 Let's take a review of the gospel. 400 00:19:08.440 --> 00:19:12.440 We all could use a review of the gospel, amen? 401 00:19:12.440 --> 00:19:15.440 The gospel is the good news that Jesus came to save us, 402 00:19:15.440 --> 00:19:18.440 that he died in our place for us and as us to bring us liberty 403 00:19:18.440 --> 00:19:20.440 and freedom from sin. 404 00:19:20.440 --> 00:19:22.440 So let's look at that through the scriptures. 405 00:19:22.440 --> 00:19:26.440 We can take a granular look at Abraham. 406 00:19:27.440 --> 00:19:28.440 Amen? 407 00:19:28.440 --> 00:19:30.440 No, I know some of you are wondering already, 408 00:19:30.440 --> 00:19:32.440 like you said you were going to show me the gospel. 409 00:19:32.440 --> 00:19:35.440 Why are we going to Genesis 15? 410 00:19:35.440 --> 00:19:39.440 Because we're going to look at the gospel. 411 00:19:39.440 --> 00:19:42.440 After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram 412 00:19:42.440 --> 00:19:45.440 in a vision saying, do not be afraid Abram. 413 00:19:45.440 --> 00:19:47.440 He is not Abraham as yet. 414 00:19:47.440 --> 00:19:49.440 He is Abram. 415 00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:53.440 I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward. 416 00:19:53.440 --> 00:19:56.440 But Abram said, Lord God, what will you give me seeing? 417 00:19:56.440 --> 00:19:58.440 I go childless. 418 00:19:58.440 --> 00:20:02.440 And the heir of my house is Eleazar of Damascus. 419 00:20:02.440 --> 00:20:06.440 Then Abram said, look, you have given me no offspring. 420 00:20:06.440 --> 00:20:09.440 Indeed, one born in my house is my heir. 421 00:20:09.440 --> 00:20:11.440 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him saying, 422 00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:13.440 this one shall not be your heir, 423 00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:16.440 but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir. 424 00:20:16.440 --> 00:20:20.440 Then he brought him outside and said, look now toward heaven 425 00:20:20.440 --> 00:20:23.440 and count the stars if you are able to number them. 426 00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:28.440 And he said to him, so shall your descendants be. 427 00:20:28.440 --> 00:20:31.440 And Abram believed in the Lord, 428 00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:34.440 and he accounted it to him for righteousness. 429 00:20:34.440 --> 00:20:39.440 When you believe God, it puts you in a different class. 430 00:20:39.440 --> 00:20:46.440 It puts you in a different status altogether. 431 00:20:46.440 --> 00:20:48.440 Verse 7, then he said to him, I am the Lord 432 00:20:48.440 --> 00:20:50.440 who brought you out of the earth, the caldians, 433 00:20:50.440 --> 00:20:53.440 to give you this land and to inherit it. 434 00:20:53.440 --> 00:20:55.440 And this is the part that I love. 435 00:20:55.440 --> 00:21:00.440 And he said, Lord God, how shall I know that I will inherit it? 436 00:21:00.440 --> 00:21:04.440 This is the believer. 437 00:21:04.440 --> 00:21:07.440 Am I the... 438 00:21:07.440 --> 00:21:10.440 You guys are with me. 439 00:21:10.440 --> 00:21:14.440 Didn't it just say that he believed God and God said, 440 00:21:14.440 --> 00:21:16.440 because you believe me, I've now put you in a different status. 441 00:21:16.440 --> 00:21:20.440 You are now officially righteous. 442 00:21:20.440 --> 00:21:24.440 So we know Abram is a believer. 443 00:21:24.440 --> 00:21:27.440 He stepped into it. 444 00:21:27.440 --> 00:21:30.440 I believe. 445 00:21:30.440 --> 00:21:34.440 But how do? 446 00:21:34.440 --> 00:21:37.440 Because again, I want you to feel okay. 447 00:21:37.440 --> 00:21:39.440 Christianity is not about you being perfect. 448 00:21:39.440 --> 00:21:42.440 It's about you having real relationship with God. 449 00:21:42.440 --> 00:21:45.440 It's about you being willing to go to him and go, 450 00:21:45.440 --> 00:21:47.440 I do trust it. 451 00:21:47.440 --> 00:21:49.440 I just don't understand how. 452 00:21:49.440 --> 00:21:53.440 You want me to get to here, and I feel very much down here, 453 00:21:53.440 --> 00:21:55.440 but I know you can make up the difference, 454 00:21:55.440 --> 00:21:59.440 so if you could just give me a little bit of revelation. 455 00:21:59.440 --> 00:22:03.440 I wish we didn't act like that wasn't us. 456 00:22:03.440 --> 00:22:05.440 I hope you don't believe that in my household, 457 00:22:05.440 --> 00:22:11.440 I'm just walking around going, I am Captain Fitch! 458 00:22:11.440 --> 00:22:14.440 Wife, get the Bible. 459 00:22:14.440 --> 00:22:18.440 We shall read today of our coming victory for this week. 460 00:22:18.440 --> 00:22:21.440 No, sometimes it's like, you see in that bill, 461 00:22:21.440 --> 00:22:23.440 I see in the bill too, man. 462 00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:25.440 I've got to do something. 463 00:22:25.440 --> 00:22:31.440 Jesus, you see the bill? 464 00:22:31.440 --> 00:22:36.440 It's that type of realness, but it's so gratifying 465 00:22:36.440 --> 00:22:41.440 when God comes through beyond your understanding 466 00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:44.440 and beyond your resources that go, I did see it. 467 00:22:44.440 --> 00:22:46.440 Here's the provision to cover it, 468 00:22:46.440 --> 00:22:48.440 because I know you weren't planning it. 469 00:22:48.440 --> 00:22:52.440 Oh, great leader of the home, I'm like, 470 00:22:52.440 --> 00:22:57.440 God had done no Jesus, God had done. 471 00:22:57.440 --> 00:22:59.440 Listen, for all the husbands in the room 472 00:22:59.440 --> 00:23:01.440 that God has come through in an 11th hour 473 00:23:01.440 --> 00:23:05.440 because you did it, you better give him praise. 474 00:23:06.440 --> 00:23:08.440 Wow, I got a lot of wives, 475 00:23:08.440 --> 00:23:12.440 eight men's right now. 476 00:23:12.440 --> 00:23:15.440 Lord help us. 477 00:23:15.440 --> 00:23:19.440 But this is the believer, amen? 478 00:23:19.440 --> 00:23:20.440 Verse 8, and he said, 479 00:23:20.440 --> 00:23:23.440 Lord God, how shall I know that I will inherit it? 480 00:23:23.440 --> 00:23:25.440 So he said to him, bring me a three-year-old heifer, 481 00:23:25.440 --> 00:23:28.440 a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, 482 00:23:28.440 --> 00:23:30.440 a turtle dove, and a young pigeon. 483 00:23:30.440 --> 00:23:33.440 Then he brought all these to him and cut them in two 484 00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:36.440 down the middle and placed each piece opposite the other. 485 00:23:36.440 --> 00:23:38.440 But he did not cut the birds in two. 486 00:23:38.440 --> 00:23:41.440 And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, 487 00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:42.440 Abram drove them away. 488 00:23:42.440 --> 00:23:43.440 Now you're probably reading that. 489 00:23:43.440 --> 00:23:45.440 And again, sometimes we dismiss things 490 00:23:45.440 --> 00:23:48.440 and we read too quickly in the scriptures admittedly. 491 00:23:48.440 --> 00:23:51.440 But I want you to take more care when you read 492 00:23:51.440 --> 00:23:53.440 because there's so much happening in the scriptures 493 00:23:53.440 --> 00:23:55.440 for your benefit. 494 00:23:55.440 --> 00:23:56.440 We don't understand this today, 495 00:23:56.440 --> 00:24:00.440 but what God was doing was he was cutting a contract with him. 496 00:24:01.440 --> 00:24:05.440 Because he sees that Abram is having 497 00:24:05.440 --> 00:24:07.440 the spirit of double dutch on him. 498 00:24:07.440 --> 00:24:11.440 I believe you, but, but, but, but, but. 499 00:24:11.440 --> 00:24:14.440 And he's like, okay, so I see what you need is you need a contract. 500 00:24:14.440 --> 00:24:15.440 You need a covenant. 501 00:24:15.440 --> 00:24:18.440 Now understand a covenant is different from a contract 502 00:24:18.440 --> 00:24:19.440 than that. 503 00:24:19.440 --> 00:24:21.440 It was a lot more severe back then. 504 00:24:21.440 --> 00:24:24.440 When one king addressed another king and said 505 00:24:24.440 --> 00:24:26.440 that I want to make covenant with you, 506 00:24:26.440 --> 00:24:29.440 there were some ramifications that happened. 507 00:24:30.440 --> 00:24:31.440 It was basically saying, 508 00:24:31.440 --> 00:24:33.440 I'm promising that if anything happens to you 509 00:24:33.440 --> 00:24:35.440 and your kingdom, me and my kingdom 510 00:24:35.440 --> 00:24:36.440 will go to bat for you. 511 00:24:36.440 --> 00:24:40.440 We will be as one man and vice versa. 512 00:24:40.440 --> 00:24:45.440 And if anything happens that I don't fulfill my end 513 00:24:45.440 --> 00:24:46.440 of the commitment, 514 00:24:46.440 --> 00:24:48.440 may I be like these two animals? 515 00:24:48.440 --> 00:24:51.440 Because the Bible says that he took the animals 516 00:24:51.440 --> 00:24:52.440 that God requested. 517 00:24:52.440 --> 00:24:54.440 Abram knew what to do immediately. 518 00:24:54.440 --> 00:24:58.440 Notice it doesn't say that Abram said animals. 519 00:24:59.440 --> 00:25:03.440 Why would you have me get a three-year-old heifer? 520 00:25:03.440 --> 00:25:04.440 No. 521 00:25:04.440 --> 00:25:05.440 And me. 522 00:25:05.440 --> 00:25:09.440 Not a sheep, give me a heifer. 523 00:25:09.440 --> 00:25:11.440 Give me the heifer. 524 00:25:11.440 --> 00:25:12.440 Okay. 525 00:25:12.440 --> 00:25:13.440 He gets all the things. 526 00:25:13.440 --> 00:25:15.440 And the Bible says he knew exactly what to do. 527 00:25:15.440 --> 00:25:17.440 He cut them down the middle. 528 00:25:17.440 --> 00:25:21.440 Because what happened when you made this ritual 529 00:25:21.440 --> 00:25:23.440 of covenant back in the days? 530 00:25:23.440 --> 00:25:25.440 You cut these animals in half 531 00:25:25.440 --> 00:25:27.440 and you grab hold of the hand of the person 532 00:25:27.440 --> 00:25:29.440 you were making the covenant with. 533 00:25:29.440 --> 00:25:30.440 And you walk through. 534 00:25:30.440 --> 00:25:32.440 It was like a waterfall of blood. 535 00:25:32.440 --> 00:25:34.440 It was a bloody situation. 536 00:25:34.440 --> 00:25:36.440 You walk through the waterfall of blood. 537 00:25:36.440 --> 00:25:38.440 And basically you were making the promise 538 00:25:38.440 --> 00:25:40.440 that if I don't fulfill my end of the covenant, 539 00:25:40.440 --> 00:25:44.440 make me like these animals that have been cut in half 540 00:25:44.440 --> 00:25:46.440 and blood open. 541 00:25:46.440 --> 00:25:49.440 It was a serious thing back then to make a covenant. 542 00:25:49.440 --> 00:25:51.440 It was not light work. 543 00:25:51.440 --> 00:25:53.440 And God goes, 544 00:25:53.440 --> 00:25:54.440 you need a covenant? 545 00:25:54.440 --> 00:25:56.440 Let's get a covenant. 546 00:25:56.440 --> 00:26:01.440 But the part that I need all of us to get 547 00:26:01.440 --> 00:26:06.440 about our Christianity is what role we play in this covenant. 548 00:26:06.440 --> 00:26:13.440 Because God makes a covenant on our behalf. 549 00:26:13.440 --> 00:26:16.440 Verse 12. 550 00:26:16.440 --> 00:26:18.440 Now when the sun was going down, 551 00:26:18.440 --> 00:26:22.440 a deep sleep fell upon Abram. 552 00:26:22.440 --> 00:26:28.440 And behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. 553 00:26:28.440 --> 00:26:30.440 Then he said to Abram, 554 00:26:30.440 --> 00:26:31.440 this is God saying to Abram, 555 00:26:31.440 --> 00:26:33.440 no certainly that your descendants will be strangers 556 00:26:33.440 --> 00:26:35.440 in a land that is not theirs. 557 00:26:35.440 --> 00:26:37.440 And will serve them and they will afflict them for 400 years 558 00:26:37.440 --> 00:26:39.440 and also the nation whom they serve, 559 00:26:39.440 --> 00:26:41.440 I will judge. 560 00:26:41.440 --> 00:26:43.440 Afterward, they shall come out with great possessions. 561 00:26:43.440 --> 00:26:46.440 Now ask for a you shall go to your father's in peace 562 00:26:46.440 --> 00:26:49.440 and you shall be buried at a good old age. 563 00:26:49.440 --> 00:26:50.440 But in the fourth generation, 564 00:26:50.440 --> 00:26:52.440 they shall return here for the iniquity 565 00:26:52.440 --> 00:26:56.440 of the Amorites is not yet complete. 566 00:26:56.440 --> 00:27:00.440 So we have this covenant being cut 567 00:27:00.440 --> 00:27:04.440 and Abram's part to play. 568 00:27:04.440 --> 00:27:09.440 Because the scripture tells us that he fell asleep. 569 00:27:09.440 --> 00:27:11.440 Keep that of note, amen? 570 00:27:11.440 --> 00:27:14.440 What was Abraham's part? 571 00:27:14.440 --> 00:27:19.440 He was resting. 572 00:27:19.440 --> 00:27:23.440 That'll make sense when I read you this next verse. 573 00:27:23.440 --> 00:27:24.440 Verse 17, 574 00:27:24.440 --> 00:27:26.440 and it came to pass when the sun went down 575 00:27:26.440 --> 00:27:27.440 and it was dark, 576 00:27:27.440 --> 00:27:28.440 that behold, 577 00:27:28.440 --> 00:27:31.440 there appeared a smoking oven 578 00:27:31.440 --> 00:27:34.440 and a burning torch that passed between those pieces 579 00:27:34.440 --> 00:27:37.440 on the same day the Lord made a covenant 580 00:27:37.440 --> 00:27:38.440 with Abraham saying, 581 00:27:38.440 --> 00:27:39.440 to your descendants, 582 00:27:39.440 --> 00:27:41.440 I have given this land 583 00:27:41.440 --> 00:27:43.440 from the river of Egypt to the great river, 584 00:27:43.440 --> 00:27:44.440 the river Euphrates, 585 00:27:44.440 --> 00:27:45.440 the keynites, 586 00:27:45.440 --> 00:27:46.440 the Kennesites, 587 00:27:46.440 --> 00:27:47.440 the Cadmenites, 588 00:27:47.440 --> 00:27:48.440 the Hittites, 589 00:27:48.440 --> 00:27:49.440 the Parasites, 590 00:27:49.440 --> 00:27:50.440 the Rathame, 591 00:27:50.440 --> 00:27:51.440 the Amorites, 592 00:27:51.440 --> 00:27:52.440 the Canaanites, 593 00:27:52.440 --> 00:27:53.440 the Gurgishites, 594 00:27:53.440 --> 00:27:55.440 and the Jebiusites. 595 00:27:55.440 --> 00:27:59.440 So the smoking oven 596 00:27:59.440 --> 00:28:01.440 and the burning torch 597 00:28:01.440 --> 00:28:04.440 passed between the pieces 598 00:28:04.440 --> 00:28:08.440 while Abraham slept. 599 00:28:08.440 --> 00:28:10.440 And you might think to yourself, 600 00:28:10.440 --> 00:28:15.440 what does that have to do with the price of tea in China? 601 00:28:15.440 --> 00:28:19.440 That is the Gospel, ladies and gentlemen. 602 00:28:19.440 --> 00:28:20.440 You're trying to figure out, 603 00:28:20.440 --> 00:28:22.440 okay, Exodus 13, 604 00:28:22.440 --> 00:28:24.440 21 says this, 605 00:28:24.440 --> 00:28:32.440 and the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of... 606 00:28:32.440 --> 00:28:36.440 We're going to get this together. 607 00:28:36.440 --> 00:28:38.440 Reading is fundamental. 608 00:28:38.440 --> 00:28:42.440 And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud 609 00:28:42.440 --> 00:28:44.440 to lead the way. 610 00:28:44.440 --> 00:28:46.440 And by night in a pillar of 611 00:28:46.440 --> 00:28:48.440 to give them light 612 00:28:48.440 --> 00:28:50.440 to us to go by day and night. 613 00:28:50.440 --> 00:28:52.440 Now we go back to verse 17 from Genesis 15. 614 00:28:52.440 --> 00:28:54.440 And it came to pass when the sun went down 615 00:28:54.440 --> 00:28:56.440 and it was dark that behold. 616 00:28:56.440 --> 00:28:58.440 They're appeared a smoking oven. 617 00:28:58.440 --> 00:28:59.440 Ain't that a cloud? 618 00:28:59.440 --> 00:29:01.440 And a burning torch. 619 00:29:01.440 --> 00:29:02.440 Ain't that some fire? 620 00:29:02.440 --> 00:29:04.440 So here we have God the Father 621 00:29:04.440 --> 00:29:06.440 and God the Son 622 00:29:06.440 --> 00:29:09.440 cutting a covenant on Abraham's behalf, 623 00:29:09.440 --> 00:29:16.440 but Abraham is where. 624 00:29:16.440 --> 00:29:19.440 If God is going to make a covenant on your behalf, 625 00:29:19.440 --> 00:29:22.440 aren't you supposed to be in the covenant? 626 00:29:22.440 --> 00:29:24.440 If God is going to write up a contract that says, 627 00:29:24.440 --> 00:29:26.440 you need to do all that you do, 628 00:29:26.440 --> 00:29:27.440 and then I'm going to do all that I do, 629 00:29:27.440 --> 00:29:28.440 and I promise I'll do all that I do. 630 00:29:28.440 --> 00:29:30.440 Shouldn't you be somewhere? 631 00:29:30.440 --> 00:29:31.440 But we're learning, 632 00:29:31.440 --> 00:29:33.440 this is what Christianity ought to be, 633 00:29:33.440 --> 00:29:35.440 where you're not resting on your performance, 634 00:29:35.440 --> 00:29:38.440 but your trusting and God's ability to keep you. 635 00:29:38.440 --> 00:29:40.440 He removes you from the equation 636 00:29:40.440 --> 00:29:42.440 and with good reason, 637 00:29:42.440 --> 00:29:43.440 because if you're like me, 638 00:29:43.440 --> 00:29:46.440 then you know that you would mess it up! 639 00:29:46.440 --> 00:29:50.440 He removed me from the equation. 640 00:29:52.440 --> 00:29:54.440 The fate of my household and my life 641 00:29:54.440 --> 00:29:58.440 is not on me and my stellar leadership skills, 642 00:29:58.440 --> 00:30:00.440 although my wife would say otherwise. 643 00:30:00.440 --> 00:30:01.440 Amen. 644 00:30:01.440 --> 00:30:11.440 My salvation is not held up with duct tape 645 00:30:11.440 --> 00:30:14.440 as I'm like trying to hold it together. 646 00:30:14.440 --> 00:30:15.440 God understands, 647 00:30:15.440 --> 00:30:17.440 if we leave Muhammad in charge of this, 648 00:30:17.440 --> 00:30:19.440 he's going to mess it up! 649 00:30:19.440 --> 00:30:22.440 Jesus, I need you to do me a solid. 650 00:30:22.440 --> 00:30:24.440 I need you to go down there 651 00:30:24.440 --> 00:30:26.440 and I need you to take Muhammad's place, 652 00:30:26.440 --> 00:30:28.440 because Muhammad is going to mess it up. 653 00:30:28.440 --> 00:30:29.440 We don't want him to mess it up. 654 00:30:29.440 --> 00:30:31.440 I'm going to do my part because I'm God. 655 00:30:31.440 --> 00:30:33.440 I don't fail. 656 00:30:33.440 --> 00:30:36.440 Muhammad not so much. 657 00:30:36.440 --> 00:30:38.440 So we're going to invite Jesus. 658 00:30:38.440 --> 00:30:40.440 You play the part of Muhammad. 659 00:30:40.440 --> 00:30:42.440 Oh, I could be good looking around. 660 00:30:42.440 --> 00:30:44.440 Only some of y'all get that. 661 00:30:44.440 --> 00:30:45.440 Praise God. 662 00:30:45.440 --> 00:30:46.440 He says, you play the part of Muhammad. 663 00:30:46.440 --> 00:30:48.440 I'll play the part of God. 664 00:30:48.440 --> 00:30:50.440 And we're going to cut this covenant together. 665 00:30:50.440 --> 00:30:52.440 I'm going to uphold my end. 666 00:30:52.440 --> 00:30:54.440 You uphold his end, 667 00:30:54.440 --> 00:30:56.440 and it'll be perfect. 668 00:30:57.440 --> 00:30:59.440 And the entire time. 669 00:30:59.440 --> 00:31:01.440 You know what I love about it? 670 00:31:01.440 --> 00:31:03.440 It doesn't say that Abram fell asleep. 671 00:31:03.440 --> 00:31:06.440 This is that he fell deep asleep. 672 00:31:06.440 --> 00:31:08.440 Drug! 673 00:31:08.440 --> 00:31:12.440 You know that deep sleep. 674 00:31:12.440 --> 00:31:14.440 I don't care about life right now. 675 00:31:14.440 --> 00:31:17.440 I'm conscious to the world. 676 00:31:17.440 --> 00:31:23.440 The Bible says he was dreaming about his future. 677 00:31:24.440 --> 00:31:27.440 Dreaming about the promises of God that God gave him. 678 00:31:27.440 --> 00:31:30.440 Because remember, the promise for him was about his seed 679 00:31:30.440 --> 00:31:31.440 that was to come. 680 00:31:31.440 --> 00:31:36.440 And God was showing him generation upon generation upon generation. 681 00:31:36.440 --> 00:31:39.440 I dare some of you to go to sleep and trust God 682 00:31:39.440 --> 00:31:42.440 so that he would start giving you visions about tomorrow. 683 00:31:42.440 --> 00:31:46.440 Right now you've been aborting your future because you refused 684 00:31:46.440 --> 00:31:50.440 to acknowledge the fact that hope is coming. 685 00:31:50.440 --> 00:31:52.440 Everything is about the right here and the right now 686 00:31:52.440 --> 00:31:54.440 and how much it sucks. 687 00:31:54.440 --> 00:31:56.440 Can't believe I got this job. 688 00:31:56.440 --> 00:31:58.440 Can't believe I'm still single. 689 00:31:58.440 --> 00:32:00.440 Can't believe my arm still hurts like that. 690 00:32:00.440 --> 00:32:04.440 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 691 00:32:10.440 --> 00:32:15.440 We walk around like the mean with the guy kicking rocks. 692 00:32:15.440 --> 00:32:19.440 All I want is for God to bless me and he doesn't seem to be doing it. 693 00:32:19.440 --> 00:32:21.440 Well, I won't he bless me today. 694 00:32:21.440 --> 00:32:23.440 It's not like I didn't pray again. 695 00:32:23.440 --> 00:32:25.440 So what if my prayer was only two minutes? 696 00:32:25.440 --> 00:32:27.440 Whatever, I prayed. 697 00:32:27.440 --> 00:32:29.440 I even went to church. 698 00:32:29.440 --> 00:32:31.440 I was a little late and missed the three songs, 699 00:32:31.440 --> 00:32:34.440 but so what I heard to sermon. 700 00:32:34.440 --> 00:32:37.440 God is not here for your performance. 701 00:32:37.440 --> 00:32:40.440 Thank God. 702 00:32:40.440 --> 00:32:45.440 He's here for you to receive the things that he has prepared for you. 703 00:32:46.440 --> 00:32:50.440 Man, your Christianity is going to jump 12 notches 704 00:32:50.440 --> 00:32:53.440 when you understand that it's not up to you. 705 00:32:53.440 --> 00:32:56.440 When you stop resting on your performance, 706 00:32:56.440 --> 00:32:59.440 you're going to start receiving the pure, 707 00:32:59.440 --> 00:33:02.440 unadulterated grace of God. 708 00:33:02.440 --> 00:33:06.440 His mercy, the Bible says, it makes you great. 709 00:33:06.440 --> 00:33:10.440 Do you know what mercy is? 710 00:33:10.440 --> 00:33:14.440 Mercy is when God holds back the consequences of your foolishness. 711 00:33:15.440 --> 00:33:20.440 The Bible says that his mercies will make you great. 712 00:33:20.440 --> 00:33:24.440 He's going to bless you with things that you could never hope to deserve 713 00:33:24.440 --> 00:33:30.440 if you would just get out of the way and stop acting like you got it all together. 714 00:33:30.440 --> 00:33:33.440 Am I preaching to anybody today? 715 00:33:34.440 --> 00:33:39.440 Let go of the fallacy that you're in control of being this great Christian. 716 00:33:39.440 --> 00:33:42.440 Because I know some pastors and some Christians, 717 00:33:42.440 --> 00:33:45.440 they believe like, how can you tell people that? 718 00:33:45.440 --> 00:33:48.440 If you tell people that they don't have to do all of these things, 719 00:33:48.440 --> 00:33:51.440 they're just going to go wild and go loose and go crazy. 720 00:33:51.440 --> 00:33:54.440 Well, Jesus didn't go wild and go loose and go crazy. 721 00:33:54.440 --> 00:33:58.440 The Bible says that he didn't know what he was going to do. 722 00:33:59.440 --> 00:34:01.440 Well, Jesus didn't go wild and go loose and go crazy. 723 00:34:01.440 --> 00:34:05.440 The Bible says that he didn't sin and thought were it or deed. 724 00:34:05.440 --> 00:34:09.440 And he perfectly exemplified receiving grace and mercy. 725 00:34:09.440 --> 00:34:14.440 The Bible says that he didn't do anything unless he saw the Father doing it first. 726 00:34:14.440 --> 00:34:18.440 The way that I want you to live your life is to go check in with Dad. 727 00:34:18.440 --> 00:34:20.440 Hey, Pop, what's the day looking like? 728 00:34:20.440 --> 00:34:22.440 What's this week looking like? 729 00:34:22.440 --> 00:34:24.440 Okay, okay, got some direction. 730 00:34:24.440 --> 00:34:25.440 This is good. 731 00:34:25.440 --> 00:34:27.440 I don't know exactly what's going to happen, 732 00:34:27.440 --> 00:34:29.440 but you're promising that you're going to be with me? 733 00:34:29.440 --> 00:34:30.440 Cool, I could take it. 734 00:34:30.440 --> 00:34:32.440 I can now conquer the world. 735 00:34:32.440 --> 00:34:34.440 Because I know that God is with me. 736 00:34:34.440 --> 00:34:37.440 Because if God is with you, you can go into any situation 737 00:34:37.440 --> 00:34:39.440 in circumstance and have victory. 738 00:34:39.440 --> 00:34:42.440 Because you're not resting on your own ability, 739 00:34:42.440 --> 00:34:44.440 you're resting on the one who's with you. 740 00:34:44.440 --> 00:34:54.440 Amen. 741 00:34:54.440 --> 00:35:00.440 The road to fun and freedom from religious toil is rest. 742 00:35:00.440 --> 00:35:04.440 And worship team, you can come on up. 743 00:35:04.440 --> 00:35:07.440 Bolt loads of resting and his ability and not your performance. 744 00:35:07.440 --> 00:35:10.440 Notice, I did not say laziness. 745 00:35:10.440 --> 00:35:13.440 You cannot conflate the two. 746 00:35:13.440 --> 00:35:19.440 You have a practical human part to play. 747 00:35:19.440 --> 00:35:20.440 How about this? 748 00:35:20.440 --> 00:35:22.440 We get young people all the time. 749 00:35:22.440 --> 00:35:24.440 And, you know, not everybody's in a relationship. 750 00:35:24.440 --> 00:35:27.440 So you get young people that are single and they want to be with somebody. 751 00:35:27.440 --> 00:35:31.440 It's like, hey, you know, how come God hasn't, you know? 752 00:35:31.440 --> 00:35:33.440 Hanson Meprear yet. 753 00:35:33.440 --> 00:35:37.440 It's like, well, are you marriageable yet? 754 00:35:37.440 --> 00:35:40.440 You're asking for a husband, but you're not a wife. 755 00:35:40.440 --> 00:35:49.440 You're asking for a wife, but you're not a husband. 756 00:35:49.440 --> 00:35:52.440 The Bible says that the man that finds a wife finds a good thing 757 00:35:52.440 --> 00:35:53.440 and has obtained favor of the Lord. 758 00:35:53.440 --> 00:35:55.440 Notice, it doesn't say that he found a booty call. 759 00:35:55.440 --> 00:35:56.440 It doesn't say that he found a baddie. 760 00:35:56.440 --> 00:35:58.440 It doesn't say that he found a girlfriend. 761 00:35:58.440 --> 00:36:01.440 It says that he found a wife. 762 00:36:01.440 --> 00:36:05.440 Meaning that when he rolled up on her, she was a wife already. 763 00:36:05.440 --> 00:36:07.440 It's not because she was married to somebody, 764 00:36:07.440 --> 00:36:13.440 she had the caliber, the character, and the integrity of a wife. 765 00:36:13.440 --> 00:36:16.440 Are you a husband? 766 00:36:16.440 --> 00:36:20.440 Are you a man or a boy? 767 00:36:20.440 --> 00:36:25.440 You still living with my mom? 768 00:36:25.440 --> 00:36:29.440 Listen, I'm not saying like this. 769 00:36:29.440 --> 00:36:35.440 I went from renting my mom's basement to then move into my marriage, 770 00:36:35.440 --> 00:36:39.440 but I wasn't just down there for free eating bread and cheetos. 771 00:36:39.440 --> 00:36:43.440 My mom was ruthless. 772 00:36:43.440 --> 00:36:45.440 Yo, bro. 773 00:36:45.440 --> 00:36:46.440 It's $12.59. 774 00:36:46.440 --> 00:36:47.440 You ready? 775 00:36:47.440 --> 00:36:49.440 What? 776 00:36:49.440 --> 00:36:51.440 It's the first. 777 00:36:51.440 --> 00:36:54.440 You ain't got to be like that, mom. 778 00:36:54.440 --> 00:36:56.440 Wow. 779 00:36:56.440 --> 00:37:01.440 No, she was serious because she knew you need to be ready to be a man. 780 00:37:01.440 --> 00:37:04.440 You would think on my wedding day that my mom would be the most happy. 781 00:37:04.440 --> 00:37:13.440 My mom pulled me to the side and was like, you see this gorgeous creature? 782 00:37:13.440 --> 00:37:16.440 I said, are you ice grilling me at the wedding? 783 00:37:16.440 --> 00:37:24.440 She said, you be a blessing. 784 00:37:24.440 --> 00:37:27.440 She said, don't let her have to clean up after you. 785 00:37:27.440 --> 00:37:29.440 She's not your mother. 786 00:37:29.440 --> 00:37:30.440 She's your wife. 787 00:37:30.440 --> 00:37:42.440 You stand there right here, ain't you? 788 00:37:42.440 --> 00:37:46.440 The idea is to find yourself ready for the things that you're praying for. 789 00:37:46.440 --> 00:37:51.440 So there is a natural part for you to play, but it's not one of performance and acceptance. 790 00:37:51.440 --> 00:37:56.440 There is not one thing that you can honestly do to make God love you more. 791 00:37:56.440 --> 00:38:01.440 He has already given you the zenith level of his love and affection. 792 00:38:01.440 --> 00:38:04.440 Do not fight for the affection of God. 793 00:38:04.440 --> 00:38:06.440 It belongs to you already. 794 00:38:06.440 --> 00:38:11.440 If anybody tells you to do anything, I want you to give so that God would love you. 795 00:38:11.440 --> 00:38:12.440 It's a lie. 796 00:38:12.440 --> 00:38:14.440 God already loves me. 797 00:38:14.440 --> 00:38:17.440 I don't need to give anything based on that fact. 798 00:38:17.440 --> 00:38:22.440 When I do give, I give not because I have to, it's because I get to. 799 00:38:22.440 --> 00:38:25.440 I do it from a privileged position. 800 00:38:25.440 --> 00:38:28.440 It's like I've changed my mind about the whole thing. 801 00:38:28.440 --> 00:38:31.440 All the religious things that say you need to do these things. 802 00:38:31.440 --> 00:38:32.440 I don't need to do them. 803 00:38:32.440 --> 00:38:34.440 I've got an A already. 804 00:38:34.440 --> 00:38:37.440 God said that I'm accepted in the beloved. 805 00:38:37.440 --> 00:38:38.440 I'm forgiven. 806 00:38:38.440 --> 00:38:43.440 The Bible even says that I'm made perfect. 807 00:38:43.440 --> 00:38:48.440 I am holy and blameless and above reproach in his sight. 808 00:38:48.440 --> 00:38:50.440 That's not my thoughts about me. 809 00:38:50.440 --> 00:38:53.440 That's what the Bible says about me. 810 00:38:53.440 --> 00:38:58.440 So if that's what the Word says about me, why wouldn't I believe that? 811 00:38:58.440 --> 00:39:05.440 Because we've been convinced that in order to receive these gracious gifts we have to earn them, 812 00:39:05.440 --> 00:39:08.440 it's a trap. 813 00:39:08.440 --> 00:39:11.440 You cannot earn your place in heaven. 814 00:39:11.440 --> 00:39:13.440 Heaven is for perfect people. 815 00:39:13.440 --> 00:39:17.440 You are not one of them. 816 00:39:17.440 --> 00:39:19.440 Shocker, neither am I. 817 00:39:19.440 --> 00:39:22.440 But I'm going. 818 00:39:22.440 --> 00:39:25.440 Because of what Jesus did, I'm going. 819 00:39:25.440 --> 00:39:30.440 You can hand out the elements. 820 00:39:30.440 --> 00:39:39.440 I just want us to get on the same page and stop fighting for what belongs to us already. 821 00:39:39.440 --> 00:39:44.440 Do not fight to be recognized by the God who already sees you. 822 00:39:44.440 --> 00:39:48.440 You are the apple of his eye. 823 00:39:48.440 --> 00:39:53.440 You are the pearl of great price that he sold everything in order to get. 824 00:39:53.440 --> 00:39:58.440 He loves you so dearly. 825 00:39:58.440 --> 00:40:05.440 So let go of all the fallacies that say, I need to do this and I need to do that in order to receive. 826 00:40:05.440 --> 00:40:10.440 Just receive. 827 00:40:10.440 --> 00:40:11.440 Do your part. 828 00:40:11.440 --> 00:40:15.440 Listen, in any practical thing, do your part. 829 00:40:15.440 --> 00:40:23.440 You need to make sure that you give the people this. 830 00:40:23.440 --> 00:40:25.440 You want to be more attractive to women? 831 00:40:25.440 --> 00:40:28.440 Work on your career. 832 00:40:28.440 --> 00:40:30.440 Read a book. 833 00:40:30.440 --> 00:40:36.440 Stop doom scrolling. 834 00:40:36.440 --> 00:40:43.440 All of a sudden I'm not popular. 835 00:40:43.440 --> 00:40:49.440 You feel like you're overweight, go to a gym. 836 00:40:49.440 --> 00:40:52.440 Work on yourself. 837 00:40:52.440 --> 00:41:01.440 Spend some deep work actually doing the things that help you to benefit yourself. 838 00:41:01.440 --> 00:41:06.440 Because you get back to the spiritual stuff, that is spiritual stuff. 839 00:41:06.440 --> 00:41:15.440 You do your part in the natural and God will do his part in the super and give you supernatural results. 840 00:41:15.440 --> 00:41:18.440 I'm not saying that you have no part to play as a human. 841 00:41:18.440 --> 00:41:19.440 You still need to wake up. 842 00:41:19.440 --> 00:41:20.440 You still need to go through life. 843 00:41:20.440 --> 00:41:24.440 The Bible says if you don't work, you don't eat. 844 00:41:24.440 --> 00:41:27.440 So if you want to be hungry, you keep at it. 845 00:41:28.440 --> 00:41:31.440 Not waking up in the morning, doing your part. 846 00:41:31.440 --> 00:41:36.440 You know, the Bible says that God blesses the work of your hands. 847 00:41:36.440 --> 00:41:48.440 And sometimes we rob him of opportunities because we don't put anything in our hand. 848 00:41:48.440 --> 00:41:56.440 But I do believe, and I feel this deep in my spirit, there's too many of us striving to look apart 849 00:41:56.440 --> 00:42:01.440 and you don't have to play. 850 00:42:01.440 --> 00:42:07.440 Stop trying to appear to be something and be something. 851 00:42:07.440 --> 00:42:09.440 Get off the hamster wheel. 852 00:42:09.440 --> 00:42:10.440 I need to do, I need to do. 853 00:42:10.440 --> 00:42:15.440 No, no, no, all that do-do is turning your brain in a do-do. 854 00:42:15.440 --> 00:42:17.440 How about you try being for a change? 855 00:42:17.440 --> 00:42:18.440 Be his son. 856 00:42:18.440 --> 00:42:19.440 Be forgiven. 857 00:42:19.440 --> 00:42:21.440 Be set free. 858 00:42:21.440 --> 00:42:25.440 Be in the process of receiving his love. 859 00:42:25.440 --> 00:42:28.440 See what that does for you. 860 00:42:28.440 --> 00:42:39.440 Because the rest of it is starting to smell like do-do. 861 00:42:39.440 --> 00:42:46.440 I want us to spend some time worshiping God through song with a different level of freedom. 862 00:42:46.440 --> 00:42:53.440 Because sometimes you can really tell the Christians who've received this truth and those that can't when it comes to worship. 863 00:42:53.440 --> 00:43:00.440 Because there's this weird element of performance that comes in and a lack of freedom. 864 00:43:00.440 --> 00:43:05.440 Because it's like, ah, there's so many people here and I don't want to worship ugly, I don't want to cry. 865 00:43:05.440 --> 00:43:09.440 No, no, no, you need to let go and give God control. 866 00:43:09.440 --> 00:43:10.440 Amen? 867 00:43:10.440 --> 00:43:18.440 Because this is not about how you look or how you sound, it's about who you get to worship. 868 00:43:18.440 --> 00:43:26.440 So we're going to take communion now and we're going to do as the Bible says, we're going to proclaim the Lord's death till he comes. 869 00:43:26.440 --> 00:43:36.440 I love that we get to take communion on this of all days for this message because here we have a reminder of what he's done. 870 00:43:36.440 --> 00:43:40.440 Not what you did, what he did. 871 00:43:40.440 --> 00:43:44.440 And the Bible says that we proclaim his death until he comes. 872 00:43:44.440 --> 00:43:53.440 So that means every time you partake in this, you are declaring that when you died, Jesus, you forgave my sin. 873 00:43:53.440 --> 00:43:59.440 When you died, it is by your stripes that I was healed, so I walk in supernatural health. 874 00:43:59.440 --> 00:44:03.440 When you were on the cross, you were robbed of everything. 875 00:44:03.440 --> 00:44:08.440 You became broke so that I could become rich. 876 00:44:08.440 --> 00:44:14.440 That divine exchange takes place and you proclaim that and then you receive it by faith. 877 00:44:14.440 --> 00:44:16.440 That has nothing to do with you. 878 00:44:16.440 --> 00:44:26.440 Your only part is to now receive and he will rise you up to get you what you need. 879 00:44:26.440 --> 00:44:37.440 So partake with me and then let's join together and worship the Lord through song but do it in freedom. 880 00:44:37.440 --> 00:44:40.440 This is the City Light Church podcast. 881 00:44:40.440 --> 00:44:47.440 If you've missed any part of today's message or if you would like to find out more about Pastor Boyan Jansik in City Light Church, 882 00:44:47.440 --> 00:44:53.440 visit us at citylightnyc.com that's citylightnyc.com. 883 00:44:53.440 --> 00:44:59.440 Feel free to visit us online or in person anytime. We would love to connect with you. 884 00:44:59.440 --> 00:45:07.440 We pray that you have been encouraged today, that you have been reminded how much God loves you and that you are surrounded by grace. 885 00:45:07.440 --> 00:45:15.440 Thank you for listening. Make sure that you subscribe to City Light Church Podcast wherever you find your favorite podcasts worldwide.