0:00 Um I'm going to focus on verses verse 16 and then the first two verses of chapter 4. Uh let's pray. Heavenly Father, I thank you for your word that it's living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword. It's a really It's sharp, Lord. 0:16 It has convicted me. It has It has cut me deep. But you always do it as a surgeon, Lord, so that you can remove those things that are sinful, that that hinder us from a deep, intimate fellowship with you. Do that again for 0:27 me, Lord, as I stand here. Do that for each one of us who's listening in this room or online or will listen to this message. Cut us deep, Lord, because we honestly say I honestly say before you that I don't want anything in me that 0:40 will hinder me from being intimate and close, in complete union with you, Lord. And if you find anything in me, show me anything in me that grieves you, that makes you sad. Cut it away, Lord. Whatever the task, whatever you might 0:52 take away from us, whatever darkness you might allow us to go through, we we accept it. We embrace it, Lord, knowing that you will never let go of us. You have never let go of us, and you won't until the very end. You will finish that 1:04 work, and you will chisel away, Lord, until you have molded us perfectly into the image of your son, Jesus. Please do that for us even now this morning as we study together in Jesus' name. Amen. See, I think most Christians live never 1:18 seeing the deep mysteries that are in God's word and the mysteries of God. And the word mystery here appears in this verse 16, and I was thinking about that. See, God wants our love more than anything else. I used to think that God 1:32 wants our obedience, but then I realized that I was able to manufacture an obedience to God that he didn't like. An obedience that didn't come out of love. It was an obedience like, "Okay, fine, God. You're going to ask me to do that? Here you go." You 1:44 know. That kind of mentality or a complaining spirit, grumbling spirit. But when our obedience comes out of love, then the Lord is is is excited. Even with our giving, the only command we have about giving in the New Testament is not how 1:57 much or how often or when, but do it cheerfully. In other words, if you're going to give, you better be excited about it. Otherwise, better not to give at all. And that's that's the heart of God that God shows us in the new 2:08 covenant compared with the old covenant. That in the old covenant God just said, well, fine. Okay, I know you're going to grumble and complain, but just give it to me anyway cuz I'm going to teach you something. And then he brought it alive 2:17 in the new covenant through Jesus Christ. He opened the new and living way into the Father's presence where he showed us a father whom we could fall in love with and say, "You want me to give that up? Sure, Lord. I love you so much 2:28 and I I want a deeper love with you, so I'm going to give that up to you." So, the Lord wants our love and it's because of that, I think, that he hides the deepest and the most intimate parts of himself from us. Not because he wants to 2:40 be mean to us or tease us, because he wants to see will we chase after him. I think of him and without being too crass here and being careful in how I word it, like a lover who is who is enticing his beloved and saying, "Will you come? I'm 2:54 going to go hide here. We'll play hide and seek for a little bit. Will you chase after me? Or in the midst of this hide and seek will you find something else? Some other toy that captures your fancy and you forget about the person 3:04 you were seeking after." And that's the the not the game, but that's the the relationship that I see that the Lord is is taking me in and I hope he's taking you into that cuz it's exciting. Each day is new and yeah, there are some 3:16 disappointments, but I know my beloved is mine and I am his. And his banner over over me is love like we read in Song of Solomon. And it's that intimate relationship and it's because of that, I believe, that God has these mysteries. 3:29 And you'll read the word mystery, it's a a very uniquely new covenant word, I think. You don't see it much in the old covenant, but in New Covenant there are many mysteries that are referred to. Um now, we we know that that famous 3:40 verse where Jesus said, "God has hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent." And I think, I don't know if you're like this like me in this, that I think that just because I'm dumb and foolish, therefore I'm I'm going to 3:51 know everything. Right? Because while the wise and the intelligent won't get it, so I'm dumb and foolish, so I'm going to get it. No, it doesn't work that way. I might There can be a false pride in my dumbness and foolishness, and I think I'm entitled to 4:03 it because I I I don't I don't care to study God's word, and I'm just lazy with my spiritual life. So, I'm dumb and foolish, so Lord give me your mysteries. No, it doesn't work like that. If you read scripture carefully, you see that 4:13 God it wants to see a a passion in us. Yeah, we don't want to boast in our intelligence and in our wisdom and all of that, but God still wants to see that there's energy, that we're not lazy about chasing after him. And he's 4:26 chasing after us, but he's also enticing us. I see, you know, it says in James, "Draw near to God, and then he will draw near to you." You see the Lord waiting on on you to draw near to him and says, "Are you going to come close to me? And 4:36 then you'll see me envelop you with your love with my love." So, uh just we we can't just say, "Well, okay, I'm not one of those wise and intelligent, so God hasn't hidden it from me." No, there is still some things that God has hidden from everyone 4:48 because he wants to see if we will search it out. That verse that I think Phil quoted earlier this morning, it's the um um the honor of of kings to draw it out, right? That the proverb says that. So, now there are certain things that God 4:59 has not hidden. There are certain things that are not a mystery, such as forgiveness of sins. That's not a mystery, it's very clear. It's the world is blind to it, you can say, but it's not a mystery. God has made it very 5:11 clear. The The Bible is very clear about the way of salvation. You can read the gospels, read the epistles, and you see a way of salvation through Jesus Christ's death and resurrection. Justification, it's not it's one of 5:22 another one of those things that should not be a mystery, it's plain. All you have to do is read your Bible, and it's right there. Justification. Um things like baptism, the ordinances of baptism or communion, breaking of bread, those 5:32 things there's no mystery to it. You just read and you you obey have an obedience to it. And there's there's no mystery there. But then there are certain things that God says there's a mystery. Like, for instance, you you 5:44 can read in 2 Thessalonians 10 you don't have to turn to it, but he says, talks about the mystery of lawlessness. There's a mystery of sin. It's a bad mystery. A mystery of lawlessness, a mystery of why this world is so 5:55 captivated by how much more evil they can do. It's a mystery. To to the spiritually minded person, we look at that and think, what? Really? Why would you want more and more ways to do more and more evil? There's a mystery to that 6:06 lawlessness. There's um in 1 Corinthians 15, he talks about uh I I want to make sure I quote it right, so I'll just turn to it real quick. 1 Corinthians 15 says, this is a mystery, we shall not all sleep. Where is that? 6:18 Oh, 51. Now, I say this, verse 50. I say this, brethren, that the flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery, verse 51. We shall not all 6:30 sleep. Uh we're not all going to die, that's what Paul is writing there. We are we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. That's a mystery. It's a mystery there. It's It's there, and we can't assume, you know, if if I was 6:43 to ask you, hey, what's going to happen when you die? Oh, yeah, I'm born again. I know the Lord's going to welcome me into his presence. My spirit's going to ascend into heaven. It can be that plain. I hope you're following where I'm 6:53 going with this, that sometimes we can make this so plain, and yet the Bible says, there is a mystery about this. And if if I'm satisfied with this surface level understanding of what the resurrection is all about, and how the 7:04 perishable will inherit the imperishable, or how we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, all of us who believe. There's a mystery behind it. If we don't I don't have time to to explain to go into that mystery 7:14 today. But my the point I'm trying to make is that there are mysteries in God's word, which if we just skim through, if we're satisfied with a skim through Bible reading plan, where I go through the Bible in a year, and I don't 7:26 stop at a mystery. I don't stop at that word mystery and think, huh, what is the mystery there? And that's what we're seeing here in 1 Timothy chapter 3. So, let's go back to 1 Timothy chapter 3. Now, there are two places, and only two places, at least as 7:38 far as I know, where he uses the the phrase great mystery. Well, here well we talked about where there's some things that are not a mystery. It's obvious. Things like forgiveness of sins, justification, those things. There are 7:50 mysteries, the mystery of lawlessness, the mystery of the resurrection. I've already showed that. And then there he uses an like a an exponential version of it, the great mystery. And that's here's one of these. The other one, by the way, 8:01 if you're curious, is in Ephesians 5. He says, "I'm talking about the church." He uses the marriage, right? The husband and wife. The greatest the great mystery is the church. I'm talking about the church. Now, here he says in 1 Timothy 8:11 3:16, "And by common confession, great is the mystery of godliness. He, that is God, some trans translations say God, which is talking about Jesus there. He, God, Jesus, who was revealed in the flesh, was vindicated in the spirit, 8:28 beheld by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, and taken up into glory. But the spirit explicitly says that in latter times and later times, some will fall away from the faith, being attention to deceitful spirits and 8:44 doctrines of demons by means of of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron." I looked at the definition of mystery, and this is how it reads. A religious truth that one can know only by 8:58 revelation and cannot fully understand. I was struck by this. This is a secular dictionary, Merriam-Webster. Understood this, and this is really true spiritually. A religious truth that people who are religious or religiously minded people can talk 9:14 about, a religious truth that one can really only know by revelation. A religious truth that one can really only know by revelation, having your eyes open, your spiritual eyes open to it, and cannot fully be understood. 9:27 He talks about the mystery of godliness. How is How is godliness a mystery? See, I believe that the secret to living a godly life. So, if I could paraphrase 1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 16, it's it's this. Let's let's read it this way. Let 9:40 me read it the way it's written and then and then paraphrase it if you will. And by common confession, great is the mystery of godliness. Colon, you have that in your Bible, too. In other words, he's going to explain what that mystery 9:52 of godliness is. He who was revealed in the flesh. Jesus who was revealed in the flesh was vindicated in the spirit. He who was revealed in the flesh was vindicated in the Holy Spirit. So, the secret to living a godly life, this is 10:05 the mystery of godliness. The secret for you and I to live a godly life is getting revelation on this, that Jesus Christ came in my flesh. The secret to living a godly life, this is the mystery of godliness. The secret to living a truly godly life on this 10:20 earth is getting real revelation on the fact that Jesus Christ came in in my flesh. Now, I use the word revelation because that's a very, very significant, powerful word. Jesus Christ came in the flesh. It's coming up on Christmas time. 10:32 If you turn to most of the radio stations, they're probably playing Christmas carols where they're going to sing stuff like, "Hark the herald angels sing, uh glory to the newborn king, Christ is born in Bethlehem." So, the whole world acknowledges that 10:45 Jesus Christ came in the flesh. So, there's really no mystery there. He's obviously talking about something more than that. This mystery of godliness is far more than my just saying, "Yes, I know that Jesus Christ, this man Jesus, 10:58 lived in Nazareth and in Galilee and in in in Israel around the time of the early part of this of this of AD." In other words, between maybe 0 and 30 AD, this man Jesus lived there. More than just acknowledging it, because most 11:12 people would read this, okay, "This is the mystery of godliness." In other words, if I just know that Jesus was came in the flesh and was vindicated in the spirit, I will have a godly life. That's not true. I know that because I 11:24 have known from the time I was an infant that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. It did nothing for my godliness. I was still just as defeated by lust and anger and all those things and and passions within me, but I knew that Jesus Christ 11:36 came. I know if you'd ask me, "When did Jesus come and live?" Yeah, he was born in around 4 BC, they say, and lived he was crucified on the cross. All those things about the factual nature of Jesus Christ coming in the flesh is not the mystery of godliness 11:49 because that the whole world knows. Maybe a few people deny it, deny even his existence, perhaps. I don't think there's even even the atheists acknowledge that a man Jesus will lived on this earth. So, Jesus Christ coming 12:00 in the flesh, the baby in the manger and wrapped in swaddling clothes and all that, that's not the mystery of godliness. It's good to know that. It's fact, but that's not the mystery of godliness. That's not what he's talking 12:09 about. What he's talking about here is that Jesus as God, listen to this. I have it up there. Jesus as God lived on earth as a man facing all the types of temptations that you and I face. Let me Let me state that again so we we get it slowly. Jesus, 12:25 this is the mystery of godliness. That Jesus Christ God came in flesh. I mean, I want to say it slowly because for for people like you and I that have listened to a lot of sermons where this is just I just take it. I don't even pause to 12:38 think about the the mystery behind this. It's almost like we have to go forward a foot and then back up and say, "No, I I need to do that again." A foot and then back up again. And it's like you're furrowing. You're you're tilling the ground as it 12:51 were. And the Lord has had to till the ground for me of my heart on this very verse because I believed with my heart that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. Like I said, from the time I was a little boy. But why did that not translate into a 13:03 truly godly life within me? Because there was a mystery that perhaps I was too young when I was a young boy, but even as I grew older, I was careless or not diligent enough to seek out the mystery of godliness that lay in this, 13:17 that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, seated at the right hand of the Father from beginning time beginning of time, the alpha and the omega he calls himself in the book of Revelation. This Jesus came and said, "You know what? I'm going 13:29 to come down in flesh." Not just to die on the cross because he could have come and just died right away and gone back up to heaven. So, it was for far more than that. It was for far more than to just give us an opportunity to have our past sins 13:41 forgiven. If all God was offering me was the forgiveness of sins, Jesus Christ would have come as an adult man onto the earth. The Father could have done that. Sent Jesus Christ to earth at the age of 33. Now, Jesus die on the cross, 13:52 everybody's sins will be forgiven, and you come back up to heaven. But, instead, the Jesus that was manifest in the flesh was born like a baby. And experienced the same struggles that a baby experiences. And that a 2-year-old 14:05 and a 4-year-old and a 6 10 15 18-year-old 22-year-old 25-year-old struggling with lust uh uh being tempted with lust being tempted to get angry being tempted to love money uh perhaps being tempted to to borrow and get into 14:18 debt being tempted to gossip and slander being tempted with all these things so that he could open up a way of salvation. That is the mystery of godliness. So, Jesus as God lived on earth as a man facing all the types of temptations we 14:32 face. Now, I I didn't just say that. That's from God's word. So, let me show that to you just so you know that verse. It's a wonderful verse to know. Hebrews chapter 2. A very very liberating verse. The book of Hebrews it as a whole is a very 14:43 liberating book. But, there are there are little nuggets in here, and this is one of them. Hebrews chapter 2 verse 17. Therefore, now, I hate starting sentences with the word therefore, but I I don't have time to go back and see 14:55 Please read the previous verses at some point. But, he had to be made verse 17 like his brethren in all things. He had Jesus had to be made like us, his brothers and sisters, in all things. He had to have a flesh that would that if 15:09 something uh cut it if a knife cut it, it would hurt and it would bleed. And if uh if somebody said something evil against him, his flesh would be tempted to react to that negatively. The temptation was there. He was made like 15:21 us in all things. He had to be made like us in all things so that he might be full of mercy towards us. So that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make propitiation for the sins of the 15:36 people. For since he himself was tempted in that we have with in that which he has suffered, he is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. So the mis- the mystery of godliness, we're still talking about that, is that Jesus 15:48 Christ came in the flesh, lived and walked on this earth, submitted to imperfect authority, his parents who were not even born again, they weren't Christians. They were unconverted because they were Jews. At that time that's the only conversion you 16:00 could have. But these imperfect parents who told him to do things that maybe he thought he could do better because he was the son of God. And he submitted. And what about this, you know, I wonder about this. Um what if Jesus was, you know, back in in 16:15 in the days in when Jesus lived on this earth, they thought the earth was flat. And I wonder if Jesus' school teachers tried to teach him the earth is flat and here he is the son of God. No, it's not. I know, I made the earth. What do you 16:27 mean it's flat? But I picture Jesus, I don't know how you would have answered on that test. Is the earth flat? I don't know. But um I you know, I don't know. I'm we should we should be careful how much we go into the mind of Christ on those things 16:39 because the scripture silent on it and I want to be careful on that. But we know this that he came to this earth and made himself like us in all things knowing better. Knowing that there was a purity in the presence of the Father, he gave that up 16:51 to come and dwell on this little slum that we call earth here. That we so are taken up with and we look at all the the fancy things on this earth and from Jesus' perspective, looking down from heaven, it was a slum. It was like, 17:02 "Really, that big mansion and that fancy car? It stinks, man. You should see heaven. That's nothing. That's ugly compared to what's in heaven. That's That's what Jesus gave up." But he made himself like us in all things so that we 17:14 could understand the mystery of godliness. You see the depth of it. It's more than just, well, yeah, thank you Jesus, you died on the cross, you came on you came, you know, the angels sang glory to to God in the highest and there 17:27 was this baby and that's a beautiful beautiful story. It's a beautiful story, but the mystery of godliness is when I see WHY HE DID IT. WHY DID HE choose the man the only person who could have chosen where he would be born and where 17:40 how he would die. The only person that had perfect control over his destiny before he was born chose to come and born be born in in that time of of mankind's history where there were no iPhones and no cars and no traveling to and fro and be able 17:57 to go here and there and no he lived in great poverty. He lived in a time of slavery where where the Jews were were slaves to Rome. Why did he do that? Verse 18, since he himself was tempted in that which he has suffered, he is 18:11 able to come TO MY AID. NOW, MY DEAR BROTHER SISTER, what are you going through that Jesus has not gone through already? That's why he had to come down and that's why it's a mystery of godliness. Now, we have no excuse. 18:25 Now we have we have no cause for complaint. I can't say, "Lord, this is too much for me." I can't say, "Lord, you why are you doing this to me?" Because what will the father say if he could answer to that question? He says, "No, it's not because my son went 18:41 through that same thing. I sent my son as an example on this earth to be tempted in all points as you are so that you could see this mystery of godliness." Now, if I care more about my my my situation and my complaining 18:54 attitude and I love my wallowing in that filth of grumbling and complaining, then I don't really care about the mystery of godliness and God will allow me to be deceived. We'll look about we'll look at deception here in a minute. 19:05 The second part of that is that he was proved so Jesus was tempted in all points so as we are. Well, did he sin? No, we saw that he was vindicated by the spirit. We saw that in 1 Timothy 3 and Hebrews 4 goes on to say that clarify 19:18 that in 4 Hebrews 4:15 he says the same high priest who came down to this earth and was tempted in all points as we are. We do not have verse Hebrews 4:15. We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one 19:31 who has been tempted in all things as we are yet without sin. Have you stopped to think about those three words? Yet without sin. What does that mean? Yeah, he made him who was no sin to be sin on our behalf. We sing that. We can 19:46 probably recite those words easily. But stop and think about that for for for a minute, friends. Yet without sin. He was tempted in all points as we are yet without sin. That means what? He was tempted for the pressure TO GET 20:00 SO MUCH ON HIM THAT HE JUST WANTED TO YELL IN FRUSTRATION. LIKE YOU AND I FACE SOMETIMES. HE WAS TEMPTED SO MUCH TO HATE THAT PERSON WHO HAD HURT him so bad. And yet without sin. There's a power in those three words that I don't even know that we'll 20:16 have time to delve into it in this lifetime. That on the in his entire life on this earth for 33 and a half years, he faced every kind of temptation that anybody on this earth has ever faced or will ever face. And he didn't even sin once. 20:33 He was proved spotless and pure in spirit. Now it says in 1 Peter 2, I'm going to show you that verse later, that it's not enough that Jesus did it. Let me show Let's turn to that verse. 1 Peter chapter 2. It's not enough that Jesus lived this 20:50 perfect life. I'm I'm going with that sentence. Listen to the end of the sentence. Yes, it is enough. He said it is finished. But why did he do that? Yes, he wanted to give us a way of salvation and forgive our sins. But 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 21:02 21, you have been called for this purpose. He's writing to us believers. If you're born again, you have been called, chosen by God for this purpose. What is that, Paul? Uh Peter Peter's writing this. Since Christ suffered for you, in other words, 21:16 just like we read in Hebrews, since Jesus Christ came down from heaven and walked on this earth and was tempted in all points as you and I are, and suffered, since Christ also suffered for you leaving you an example. That's why 21:30 you were called. You weren't called just for Jesus Christ to forgive the filth of your past and take away all the shame and guilt and take you up to heaven. No. Jesus Christ came as a little babe and was tempted in all points as you are as 21:42 you and I are without sin for this purpose so that I might have an example for me to follow in his steps who committed no sin. Do you see that the example we have in Jesus Christ, who yet without sin, this yet without sin Jesus, 21:56 who committed no sin, it says in verse 22, is now my example. Now he says, you follow me, my younger brother, younger sister, in following me without sin. Then I have understood the calling that God has over MY LIFE. THEN I'VE 22:08 understood the mystery of godliness that Christ coming in the flesh is not something just oh wonderful, thank you Jesus for coming in the flesh, dying for the dying for my sins, ALL THAT. NO. NOW IT PUTS THE RESPONSIBILITY on me. 22:20 Be careful about digging into the mystery of godliness. You might You might have some responsibility on your hand. I I That's exactly what I felt as I studied this this past week. I was like, Lord, maybe I shouldn't have read 22:33 this because I dare not now walk away from this with a heart of disobedience and say, "Yeah, I'm still going to live in my sin. I'm still going to get on those internet sites. I'm still going to get angry at my wife. I'm still 22:44 going to love money. I'm still going to gossip and slide. I still want to do these things even though you've showed me the high calling and the reason why Jesus Christ came in the flesh. You've started to open up this mystery of 22:56 godliness. Now I'm without excuse. There's a There's a phrase in the epistles that says, "You are without excuse." To him to to whom much is given, much is required. And Now, I'll tell you this, it hasn't put fear in my heart because I know God has 23:10 given us the Holy Spirit to strengthen us to walk this way. The alternative to that is far worse. The alternative to following Jesus, as miserable as it might seem because I have to give up my lying, slandering, money-loving, lustful 23:23 ways, the alternative to that is actually far worse. Once we see it, we're taken up by this mystery of God. And we're we're excited about IT. WE'RE EXCITED THAT Jesus opened up a new and living way through the flesh through the 23:34 flesh through my flesh for me to go now as an example. So, the secret Now, the secret to freedom from sin is grace. I think you know this already. Turn to Romans chapter 6. This is a a very a very There's a There's a lot of a lot of 23:47 power I think a lot of meat hidden in this one phrase where he says, Romans chapter 6 verse 14, probably a verse that you could all quote, but he says, "Sin shall not be master over you. Sin will not control you. Sin should not 23:58 control you. Sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace." Let me paraphrase that. Sin will not be master over you if you're under grace. For all of you that are under grace, and Paul is telling the 24:13 Romans, "You guys are under grace. Let me just tell you, you're under grace now. So, sin should not be dominion over you. Should not have mas- should not have dominion over you. Should not be master over you. Sin shall not be master 24:24 over you if you're under grace. If you're still under the law, if your relationship with God is based on Well, I better obey him because he might send me to hell, or I better obey him, otherwise he might cause me to get some 24:35 fatal disease, or I better obey him or I might lose my job." That's living under the law. But when you come under grace and you experience why Christ, you know, John 1 says that Jesus Christ came full of grace and truth. That's Christ manifest 24:46 in the flesh. For the first time we have this word grace. Now, where Now, I'm under grace, and because I'm under grace, sin shall not have dominion over me. So, the secret to freedom from sin is grace. And the reason Jesus never 24:58 sinned was because he was always under grace. There's a wonderful wonderful two verses that show that Jesus was always under grace. We know that you know he full of grace and truth but let me show you this. You see in Luke chapter 2. 25:12 Luke chapter 2 verse 40 you know here he was after he was taken to the temple and I presented there and then Simeon prophesied he's like I've seen the Messiah can go and die and then the prophecy about him verse 29 30 etc. 25:32 And then after this after all these wonderful things happen about Jesus and people are saying you know this little boy he's going to he's the Messiah and all that. Um and they performed everything according to the law Luke 2 verse 39 they returned 25:46 to Galilee to their own city of Nazareth and Jesus this little boy the child he's a child continued to grow and become strong increasing in wisdom and the grace of God was upon him. Now the grace of God could be upon him 25:59 because he was born of the Holy Spirit. We we don't have that because we're born in sin but the moment you and I are born again the moment you and I commit our life to Christ and are truly genuinely born again we become like Jesus was in 26:11 that sense that we're born of the spirit now and having been born of the spirit we have the same opportunities to be under grace that Jesus had and Jesus consistently chose to be under the grace of his father always submit to the hand 26:24 of his father always submit to the hand of his father that's why he never sinned. The reason that Jesus never once fell into sin was because he was always seeking to put himself under the grace of his father's hand. Always in every situation. So the secret 26:39 to battling sin if you're struggling with a particular sin my dear brother sister is not well you fight it and fight it and you do some self-control or you know you go out in the world you start to do some yoga and meditation all 26:49 this stuff. You can bring meditational practices into Christianity and it won't work. The secret to being free from sin is that you come under the grace under the grace of your of the Father just like Jesus was and you and I because we 27:00 have an example what Jesus showed us situation by situation how to always stay under the Father's hand under the grace of the Father's hand. This decision, Lord, should I spend my money on this? What would Jesus do? No, 27:11 really, what would Jesus do? He would stay under the the grace of his Father's hand and he would say, "You know what? If you spend that money here, you might face a you might might put you really close, you'd have very little bit money 27:22 left and you'll have a you might have a difficult time come up in the winter. So, save it. Don't buy that thing even though you might have the money for it. Certainly don't buy it if it's going to put you into debt." This is Jesus 27:31 showing me the mystery of godliness cuz then only it's meaningful to me. Otherwise, well, Jesus, you know, he lived this good life and all that. Does nothing for me, but when he shows me in that situation where there's a a pretty 27:42 girl walking by and I could be tempted to lust, what would Jesus do? He would put himself under the grace of his Father says, "Father, if I sin in this situation, if I look at an woman in lust, even one look, the way of salvation for you and I is 27:55 gone because now we don't have a sinless redeemer anymore. We don't have a sinless mediator. Jesus lived without fear of God, it says in Hebrews 5. He was heard because of his godly fear. It was a healthy fear. It was a a reverence 28:07 for his Father and it was a precious it was a precious relationship that he with with all everything within him. He didn't want to ever destroy that relationship and it is out of that that we have a mediator and it is out of that 28:18 that we have an example. This is the Jesus I want to follow. I hope this is the Jesus you want to follow as well. There's all kinds of other Jesus's that people are preaching and teaching and talking about, but this is the Jesus 28:30 this is the true Jesus who set an example for us of always staying under the grace under grace of his Father all the way to the end of his life. Look at Hebrews chapter 2. It says that this same grace, you know, it's wonderful when the grace of God 28:44 does good things for you and gives you a good upbringing and maybe a good family and and all this takes care of all your logistical needs on this earth because seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added into 28:54 you. What if one day you feel like this thing wasn't added onto you? What if one day you feel like Matthew 6:33 just doesn't seem to be working right now because I really feel like I need this money. I I don't know where the next 29:06 paycheck's going to come from. Father, you said that if I seek your kingdom first, you will you will meet all my needs, my my my necessities. Where is it, Lord? What would Jesus do in that situation? I tell you this, I take God's word as the 29:19 authority that Jesus faced that very temptation at some point in his life and overcame and showed me a way of salvation in that particular situation how I can be at rest in the Father that he is never going to let me down. 29:34 My father loves me. He will never leave me or forsake me. He's going to carry me through this. Oh, no, you never let go. Through the storms and through the trials, you never let go, Lord. I know it and you're never going to let go. We 29:45 have to write another chorus for the end of that song. You're never going to let go either. Hebrews chapter 2 verse 9, but we do see him who has been made for a little while lower than the angels, namely Jesus, because of the suffering of death, 30:00 crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. Careful here. This is dangerous territory. If this is the Jesus you're following, you might have to taste a death, not the death of Jesus Christ cuz 30:15 that's a once for all propitiation, but there is a death, a partaking of his death and resurrection, a partaking of his suffering that he might allow you to experience for the sake of somebody else. Somebody else's benefit might result in 30:29 for the sake of somebody else's benefit, you might have to experience a loss. Is that the Jesus you're following? Where you have to give up something and there's no perceivable benefit that you get out of it except that brother got 30:40 blessed by that time where you went into the ground and died. That sister got blessed by the time when you denied yourself that thing. And in that death, the grace of God took Jesus into that death. Because he was under the hand of his 30:53 father at all times. He says, "Lord, wherever this it's like you know, the pillar of cloud, I think it's perhaps a picture of that. He was always seeking to stay The grace of God is going here. Okay, I better be there." Because that's 31:03 the secret to being free from sin. Oh, the grace of God is taking me here. I better STAY THERE. I KNOW IT FEELS good here and I like this experience, but the grace of God is going elsewhere. I better stay under the grace of God. That 31:13 is the secret to Jesus overcoming sin. Because sin and grace, right? I showed you that in Romans chapter 6 verse 14. So, from birth to death, Jesus never sinned even once. Because he stayed under his father's hand of grace. And that And the reason 31:27 I'm pointing that out is because that is the mystery of godliness for me. Now, how does it apply to me? How is Jesus an example, like Peter told us in 1 Peter chapter 2? I follow the same example where I see the grace of God. In other 31:39 words, if I could say something or write an email, or make a phone call, or send a text message that isn't seasoned with God's grace, I have a choice now. I could either follow my forerunner Jesus, who did everything under the grace under with 31:54 grace, full of grace and truth, or every now and then I shoot off and do this thing without grace. I do this dead work. May not be evil. It's just dead, not full of grace. And the more I do those things, you know, the Bible talks about repenting of 32:07 these dead works because God wants me to bring me wants to bring me bring you and I to this place where we're always under the grace of our father. Not sticking out a leg here and there, you know. Think Phil used the picture of an 32:18 umbrella earlier. That staying under that umbrella of God's grace at all times will protect me, will guide me, will lead me. And that is the God who will never leave or forsake. That's the person who God will never leave or 32:28 forsake. If you venture out of God's grace, I don't know what's going to happen. I don't want to say that a bad thing will happen, but I don't know. There's no guarantee. The guarantee is for those who are under God's grace. Sin shall not 32:41 be master of you if you're under grace. He goes on to say in 1 Timothy chapter 4, uh after he says this about the the mystery of godliness and that Christ was revealed in the flesh and vindicated by the spirit, he overcame in all things. He says, "But 32:57 verse chapter 4 verse 1, but the spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith." There's eternal security for you. "Some will fall away from the faith paying attention to deceitful spirits and 33:12 doctrines of demons by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron." In the latter days, because of this mystery of godliness, the devil is is keen that the elect, those who might be 33:28 in danger of of experiencing this mystery of godliness, he is keen to get them deceived. If he sees somebody somehow venturing close to this umbrella of God's grace and wanting to stay there, he's going to find some way to 33:40 deceive them. To get them The spirit explicitly says that in later times the devil's going to realize that his time is running out. And he's going to try if possible even to draw away the elect, Jesus said. He's working overtime as the 33:52 end is drawing near, and most Christians are sitting there with their legs crossed thinking, "Ah, come back, Jesus." And the devil's working hard. He's prowling around like a roaring lion. Jesus said, "If you know that the end 34:03 times are coming, be alert FOR SPIRITUAL THINGS. WATCH AND PRAY AND STUDY GOD'S WORD AND AND AND GET TO KNOW THE MYSTERIES OF GOD'S word because that will save us in the end. That will preserve us from from our love growing cold. He who 34:17 endures unto the end will will be saved, Matthew 24 says. The love of many will grow cold. I think that's what it That is That's what he means there. But the spirit explicitly says that in the later times some will fall away from the faith paying 34:28 attention to deceitful spirits, to lies. I want to take you back for a moment to the to the lie that the devil tells, the lie. The lie that the devil told Adam and Eve was essentially this. God said, "If you eat of the tree of 34:43 knowledge of good and evil, if you disobey my command, you will die." What did the What did the devil say? Do you remember? "You shall surely not die." I mean, that's flat-out lie. Your Your God says, "You know, if you eat out of the tree of 34:58 knowledge of good and evil, you will die." The devil says, "Nah, he's not serious about that. Yeah, God doesn't He's, you know, sin is it's okay. God He's a loving God. How can he send you to hell? How could a loving God create a hell? How could he 35:11 really mean it when he says that he will judge you for that?" How Let me show you a verse in Romans chapter 8. Where it talks about death. This is the new covenant lie now. In the old cove- In the In In the Garden of Eden, 35:26 the serpent came to Adam and Eve and says, "God said if you eat out of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, you will die. I'm telling you, no, you won't die." That guy That's just a flat-out lie. What's the lie that the devil tells 35:35 us today? Romans chapter 8, verse 13. "If you are living according TO THE FLESH, YOU WILL DIE." IF YOU ARE LIVING according to the flesh, you will die. Okay, what's that mean? If in a situation to lust, I choose to lust, I'm going to die. What's the devil 35:51 going to say? Ah, you surely shall not die. If in a situation to gossip, I choose to gossip, what does the devil say? Ah, you know, all those verses about gossip, it's doesn't really mean that. Or a situation to get angry, a 36:04 situation to love money, to to chase after the things of this earth. You surely shall not die. If you are living according to the flesh, you shall die. But But the positive part of the verse is the latter half of it. If by the spirit 36:20 you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. Eat from the tree of life, my dear brother and and by putting to death the deeds of the body, which means what? In those situations, I say, "I know this is going to feel good, 36:31 but the grace of God has taken me here. I'm going to stay under the grace of God because I'm following my forerunner Jesus." And I have understood I have started to see the mystery of godliness, and that, my friends, is the secret of Christ 36:43 manifested in the flesh as my example. And you know, when Paul talks about this in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, he tells them, "I'm afraid that the devil's going to deceive you just like he deceived Eve. He's going to come and say, 'Oh, 36:58 you know, this this that.' He's going to give you some kind of justification for your sin." "I'm afraid," Paul says to the Corinthians in the second letter to them. And by By the time he wrote the second letter, they were a lot more 37:07 spiritual. This is a more spiritual church than the first letter. And now he says to the spiritual church, "You guys have cleaned up your act. You've gotten rid of that adultery in the church. You've gotten rid of that gluttony and all those other evil things 37:18 that was going on in there." And that church was a mess. First Read the first the first letter to the church in Corinth. NOW THEY'VE CLEANED IT UP, BUT HE SAYS, "NOW ALL OF THE DANGER IS NOT THAT YOU GUYS ARE coming drunk and 37:27 you're One guy's sleeping with his his father's wife, stepmother, all this stuff. That's not the problem. NOW YOU GUYS are spiritual and so religious that I'm afraid that the devil will deceive you in the same way that he deceived 37:37 Eve." He's talking to a spiritual church now. Are we spiritual people? I hope so. Then the message for us is, "I'm afraid that the devil will deceive you. The serpent will deceive you as uh as he deceived Eve." Read that in 2 37:52 Corinthians chapter 11. Verse 3. I am afraid lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, this this justification of that No, really, it it wasn't really love of money. It's just uh it's a business venture. It's not really lust. 38:08 It's just admiring God's creation. It's not really uh gossip. It's just, you know, I I just wanted to pour my heart out in prayer requests. It's not really slander. It's It's the justification, the craftiness of the devil. I'm I'm 38:20 spiritual brothers and sisters, I'm afraid lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your mind should be led astray from the simplicity and the purity of devotion to Christ. From that simple, pure following Jesus as your 38:35 example, always staying under the grace of the Father. If your mind is led astray from that by some detour here and some little tangent there, I'm afraid that the devil will deceive you. The serpent will deceive you. And then he goes on to say, "This is 38:51 another Jesus." And I'll tell you sadly, most of the churches and most of the preaching that I've heard, most of it, I don't want to say all of it. I want to be careful also. I'm not thinking of anyone in particular and I want to be careful how 39:02 I speak about those who could be God's servants. But I do know this that in the messages I've listened and I listen to many of them on the internet from all kinds of sources. Unfortunately, the majority of them are preaching another 39:13 Jesus that's not this Jesus who was always seeking to stay under the grace of the Father and would never do never do anything, whether it's a business venture or a a relationship with a with a woman or a or a man if you're a woman or any other 39:28 thing that would bring him out of the grace of his father. That's the Jesus that that Paul says I'm afraid that your minds will be led astray by somebody who's just going to give you a better job and a a nicer car and take care of you when you're 39:40 homeless or or or or make sure you get a job or you get unemployment or whatever. That God will do that, too. God will take care of all of our needs. Matthew 6:33 is just as true today as when Jesus spoke it back back then. But, 39:53 the Jesus I am following is one who's showing me how I can get victory over sin in my life. How I can overcome impure thoughts and overcome anger and and overcome love of money and overcome gossip and slander and and lying and and all those things. 40:08 That's the Jesus I'm following. Because Warren Buffett can make tell you how to get rich. Warren Buffett's got the best health wealth gospel that I know of. Even better than than all these preachers that claim to know it. 40:20 But Jesus is the only one who lived a perfect life yet without sin. That's the life I want. That is the health wealth gospel. The spiritual health and the spiritual wealth that Jesus has won for me on the cross. That he says now you 40:35 follow me and I will put it into your bank account. You don't have to earn You don't have to work for it. You don't have to earn it. It's not that because you follow me therefore you're entitled it. No, it's already there, but you must 40:44 follow me like a disciple. You must forsake all and follow me and then this is all there for you. It might be the poorest existence on this earth. I don't Jesus was certainly not rich by any of our standards. Take anybody in 40:56 the United States I'm pretty sure Jesus had a lower standard of living than that. So there's no guarantee. Don't look at the standard of living and compare yourself with others and think well therefore God is not blessing me. That's 41:06 a lie of the devil. It's the craftiness of the serpent who is deceiving Christians into this and that and this other thing. Away from the simplicity and the purity of devotion to Christ which is this, staying under the grace of the Father 41:20 that I might not sin. Not even once. And then that verse that I showed you in 1 Peter 2. It is for this reason that God has called you to follow Jesus' example of godliness on earth. Is this exciting you? Is this uh wetting your appetite? Is this 41:35 challenging you? Are you thirsty? Is your spiritually is your tongue dry? Now where you think Lord I want this. I'm not It's not a reality in my life perhaps. And And you say Lord I I I I I want it. This I see that you're you're opening my eyes 41:48 to see the mystery of godliness and I haven't been EXPERIENCING IT. PLEASE PLEASE give it to me. You must have the desperation that Jesus had. Do you know that Jesus was desperate for this? I don't know if you've read it. Again, if you read read 42:00 the Bible slowly and carefully you'll see it. Hebrews chapter 5. This is the desperate example you and I are following. This is the Jesus I see in the New Testament. Desperate to stay under the grace of the Father. Desperate 42:13 never once to walk away from his Father's will. It doesn't matter if if if you know for you and I if we sin we have an intercessor. We have somebody who who has paid the cost already and who will forgive our sins richly if we if we repent and turn from 42:28 those sins. Jesus didn't have that. He was the mediator. But he lived with that fear Lord I cannot afford to sin even once. And to follow Jesus example is to follow with that committed wholehearted mentality Lord Jesus Father I cannot 42:41 afford to be outside of your will for even one second. Not even one second can I afford to be out of your will. That is to truly follow Jesus. And you and I might fall. If anyone says that he is without sin he is deceiving himself. But if you do you 42:55 have an you have somebody who will forgive your sins. Jesus Christ the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. But set your mind on following this from a set your mind on a simple pure devotion to following this Jesus. 43:09 Cuz he says in Hebrews chapter 5 or 7, "In the days of his flesh when this Jesus this is the mystery of godliness Christ manifest in the flesh." We saw that in 1 Timothy 3. In the days when Christ was manifest in the flesh what 43:20 was the mystery of godliness that he demonstrated in the days of his flesh? It says, "He offered up both prayers and supplications." Well once a week he went to the prayer meeting. And then of course he he prayed for every meal. And then when he was 43:34 sick he prayed. Is that how you READ IT? WITH LOUD CRYING AND TEARS. THE SON of God the sinless Son of God crying out with loud crying and tears. See I I cried with loud crying and tears because I see my sin and how I grieve God. I I 43:48 say Lord I'M SO I'M SO ASHAMED OF THAT SIN. But that's not the loud crying and tears that Jesus was crying about. HE SAID LORD I DON'T EVER WANT to be away from your grace. Heavenly Father I don't WANT TO EVER WALK away outside of this 44:01 umbrella where I'm doing my own thing. Where I say just this once let me do my will except not yours. Just one Just for 1 minute, Father, will you let me just do my will? It's not anything sinful. It's just I just want to spend some 44:14 money on this little thing that I think it'll be good for me to have. And the Father has said, "No." But, Lord, just once. Jesus could have pleaded like that. And sometimes when you and I plead, the Father will say, "Okay, I I I guess you 44:27 love that more than you love me. Go ahead and have it." He'll allow us to have those things that he doesn't want us to have. He'll try He's a loving Father. He'll try to hold it back from us. But, if he sees that you and I complain or are 44:38 insistent on banging down that door instead of knocking on it and waiting for it to be open, kicking down the door You might be able to kick through some doors and get your way in life. The world is full of such people. They don't 44:48 even acknowledge God. But, the Father is looking for people who are surrendered to his will, who say, "Lord, yeah, that door is locked. I I I sense that you're taking me through that door, but I'm going to stand here and wait for 44:58 that door to open." That's what it means to stay under the grace of the Father cuz the Father says, "I'll open it for you. You won't have to kick and fight. You won't have to defend your reputation when somebody speaks ILL OF YOU. I WILL 45:08 BE YOUR DEFENDER. I'll stand up there and defend. You put your mouth in the dust and be silent before the the shearers. You put your mouth in the dust and humble yourself and see Stand still and see who will win this victory for 45:19 you." That's the the Jesus who is setting me an example with loud crying and tears to the one able to save him. This is the mystery of godliness, that as I walk in the days of my flesh, I'm offering up prayers and supplications with loud CRYING AND 45:34 TEARS. YES, I'M THANKFUL that God has forgiven my sins, but now I'm crying out with loud crying and tears because, Lord, I'm facing a situation today that it could make me anxious. Have you thought about anxiety? That that is a sin. God said Jesus said more 45:48 often, "Don't be anxious" than he said, "Don't lust." He said more often, "Do not fear" than he said, "Don't get angry." He spoke about anxiety and fear more often than that. Discouragement, I think is a sin that puts God put that like It's like 46:02 throwing mud in God's face and you're not true to your word. Yeah, I read the Bible and I know it's God's word, but in this moment of duress, I get discouraged and depressed and angry at God and I it's like I throw the Bible at him and say, "Yeah, that's 46:13 not true." You will not allow me to be tempted more than I'm able to bear. 1 Corinthians 10:13. All of those promises in God's word, discouragement is is a an insult to God. Depression, I'm not saying that we can never be discouraged. I'm saying 46:25 we should never be discouraged, but if you do, take it seriously. I've been trying to do this myself because um as a young man, I really struggled with discouragement. I don't know I maybe some of us are built that way, but 46:35 I was just I was very emotional and sometimes discouraged a lot and just for no reason. I mean, sometimes I could I could pinpoint my source of discouragement. Maybe I fell into sin or I felt like a failure. Other times I 46:45 just woke up in the morning feeling discouraged. You got been there? Okay, anyway. Um in those situations, fight it. This is how the Lord spoke to me. Santosh, fight that discouragement like you would fight a sexually impure thought. Fight that I 46:58 that thought of anxiety or fear like you would fight a thought of anger at somebody. Fight it like you would fight you would fight the the temptation to go kill somebody. Treat it with that seriousness because you see that there 47:09 was a an example who walked completely 100% of his life without sin, not even once. That's the example we have in Jesus Christ. And it says these loud cries and tears weren't in vain. They were heard not because they were loud and because they 47:24 were tears, but because he had godly fear. It says verse 7. He was heard because of his piety, his godly fear. The Father saw that here was his son, the son of God, pure, never sinned once. He wasn't afraid of God because 47:38 God was going to send him to hell. He wasn't afraid of anything of that. He knew his Father. This was his Father whom he had perfect fellowship with from the beginning of time and was going to until the end of time except for that 47:48 time on the cross when the Father forsook him, but it was this God that he it says he had godly fear of. And out of that godly fear he cried out with loud crying and tears. Now, let me clarify that. I don't mean that it has to be loud. Your voice 48:00 may not be that loud. The point is within, is your spirit crying out with loud crying and tears. You know that Jesus it says was vindicated in the spirit. A lot of people are trying to get vindicated in the flesh. In other words, 48:11 you Lord, you prove me wrong. All these people have accused me of all these false things. You prove me along wrong. Prove me right, Lord, in the flesh. No. Jesus Christ, to this day people think that he was a fool or he was misled or 48:23 he made false claims about being the son of God, but he was vindicated in the spirit. And those who are born of the spirit see these spiritual things and see Jesus Christ as vindicated, raised up at the right hand of the Father. 48:33 That's the Jesus I see. But he's been vindicated in the spirit. One day he will be vindicated physically as well and the whole world will bow every knee and tongue will confess to him in the physical realm as well. But for now, the 48:45 spiritual realm, he's already been vindicated. We saw that in 1 Timothy chapter 3. And that's the way I'm going. It says, Lord, I don't care what whether you ever prove me right in this situation. You know me. You know that I'm not perfect and I've 48:56 made a lot of mistakes, but I've cast it all all my burdens upon you and you vindicate me in the spirit. You in your spirit testify about me that's a righteous man like God said about Job. That's the vindication I'm looking for. 49:08 And if that's what you want, you have this loud crying and God will hear your spirit crying out loud crying and tears. Save me, Father. What? Save me from what? Not from going to hell and all this stuff. Jesus wasn't worried about 49:20 that. Save me for for from even for 1 minute saying, let me do my will. Even 1 minute, 1 second. Save me from that, Father. Loud crying and tears. That's the example we have. I'll show you this little graph here. Um I see that when you see the you get a 49:43 revelation of the mystery of godliness, now you and I are faced with a choice. Two paths diverging in front of us. Here you've got a revelation perhaps of the mystery of godliness. Perhaps you started to I don't think I've covered 49:53 it. I I I feel so weak and and incapable with the words I've spoken already today. But I hope that the Holy Spirit who will speak into your heart triggering perhaps from his word things that you've read, verses that we read, 50:06 or some thought that the Lord has planted in your mind and will reveal to you the mystery of godliness. To you, it has to become personal where you have set your eyes simply and purely upon this Jesus Christ who was revealed in 50:19 the flesh to you and you're going to follow him. And once you see that, you will be presented with a choice to either disobey and the disobedience will will result in spiritual deafness. There's a deafness that will come in, 50:32 you know, you read those verses I have there. Look it up sometime. When you when we fail to obey God's word. See, God's speaking to us. He's speaking to me right now. He has been speaking to us. But every time we hear and we don't 50:43 obey, our ears become dull. Hebrews actually in chapter 5 later on verse 11 where we were still there. He says, "Consider concerning this this Christ manifest in the flesh, concerning this Jesus who is the source of the 50:55 mystery of godliness, we have much to say but we can't tell you because you have become dull of hearing." You have heard so much and heard so much and heard so much that it's not doing you any good anymore. You walk out of that Sunday service and 51:09 that afternoon you've already lost your temper with your wife and it doesn't even bother you. Or that evening you speak speak harshly against your husband and it doesn't even bother you. It's because I just I'm not even serious about it, man. 51:25 But if the more I allow that disobedience, if I walk in that way of disobedience, my ears become dull. And unfortunately, the time will come perhaps when the Holy Spirit will speak and it'll just be like it's like speaking to a deaf man. 51:36 Can't hear it spiritually. Lord has has to come in the great physician and heal and unplug those ears and unstop the ears that the deaf may hear again? But the the way of obedience is an obedience of faith. Romans chapter 16 talks about that. 51:55 Obedience of faith. Let me close with that verse actually. Show it to you. Romans chapter 16. Beautiful passage. It's actually a good way to end. Now, having told you about all of this, explained to you the gospel, and you've 52:09 started to see the mystery of God in this. Now, 25. Let me say this now. In closing, in conclusion, to him who is able to establish you according to the gospel, my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, 52:26 which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the scriptures of the prophets according to the commandment of the eternal God has been made known to all the nations for what purpose? Leading to the obedience 52:39 of faith. Not an obedience of understanding where, oh yeah, I get it. I better obey because then it'll do this, and if I obey, I get the nice car, and then I get the job, and I Oh, everything lines up perfectly. Okay. That's That's your obedience of 52:50 understanding. The obedience of faith is Faith is the evidence of things hoped for, the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Lord, I don't see it, but I'm going to obey because I trust your word, and I trust 52:59 you that I'm going to walk under your authority, submit myself under your mighty hand, and always be under your grace. And that's your obedience of faith. Says, Lord, I don't I don't care whether everybody else around me, all 53:09 the naysayers says, how could you trust God in this moment of duress? How could you trust God when he would allow you to go through that situation? How could you trust God? I'm going to trust you. And it's an obedience of faith because I 53:20 can't see the fulfillment of the promise. I can't see the answer. Like Abraham, he couldn't see Isaac, but he believed, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. That's faith. That's the obedience of faith. And that's the kind 53:31 of faith God is looking for in these days. That's the kind of Jesus who is the That's the faith that Jesus is the author and perfector of. That faith. That's true faith. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for your word. 53:46 I I fear, Lord, that this is this could so easily become something that we understand with our mind, cuz we have for so many years, Lord, understood it with our minds. We know that you came in the flesh. Give us revelation. Lord, we need it. 53:58 Not Not just now, Lord, but tonight I I'm going to need revelation. Tomorrow, I need more revelation, please, Lord. Help me to walk in fear before your face at all times. Help me to have that spirit of love loud crying and tears to the one who's able 54:12 to save me. You are able to save me. Now to him who's able to establish. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.
