Will You Stay Connected To God To The Very End

WOLFL-2024-09

Transcript

I have a question for you. Class 9, will you stay connected to God to the very end? You guys don’t think about the end very often. No, you do. Your age group thinks more about suicide than any group except, about the 80 plus year olds. Isn’t that interesting? Because you have friends you hear about, or you hear about others. So that is thinking about the end. But I’m talking about thinking about the end of the Lord’s Life plan for you.

We are moving now to the next section. So yesterday we finished up with the Church on Earth. Revelation 1-3 now we’re going to the Church in Heaven and you notice there’s two scriptures there, 4 and 5, where we are this morning and then 19:1-10, that’s a snap back and the 19th chapter to this event around the throne. So, we’re going to be. Looking at that.

We hope because we know His plan. Now, this whole idea of being connected to God. Remember the Early Church was getting this, and they were going through persecution. They were going through temptation. And so, they knew God’s plan. And the big part, see, we should all know our part in the plan. The big part is they were Christ’s Church on Earth. So, what is the purpose of the Church and how do we fulfill the Lord’s desires for us? Because we’re headed to this part, we’re looking at today, the Church in Heaven and what you do with the Church on Earth is going to be forever reflected when you’re the Church in Heaven.

I also added, you notice in the middle there, Christ’s Second Coming. There’s a whole other line of words there, the Return of the King, because I was looking at your test again. My wonderful wife always says, Honey, make sure that you cover everything so that none of the students say, he didn’t cover that in class. So, I added that line in there that I noticed in the test that the Second Coming of Christ, which you notice it’s in the second half of chapter 19. See, the first half of chapter 19 is the Church in Heaven getting ready to come back with Christ. But in the test, it’s called the Return of the King, what is that [movie] Lord of the Rings, the Return of the King. And so just for you to remember that’s in chapter 19.

The people of the 1st century with everything they were going through needed this book and this book describes for them what’s coming and then assures them that no matter what’s coming Jesus is all we need to survive. But more than survive, the Lord doesn’t want us to just survive He wants us to live for Him in our darkening world.

Now the people that were getting this letter always remember, first, the first run of this book, it was read in those seven churches, going in a clockwise way around the postal route of Ephesus, and most likely they were planted out from the church at Ephesus. So, will you stay connected to God to the very end?

Now, Revelation 4:1 is a transition. If you look in your Bibles, you notice this time signature. Now, if you get into repetitive reading of the Bible, which I’m a great advocate of, one of the times you read Revelation, you really should mark somehow all these, what I call, time stamps. See what it says, the very first word of chapter 4? After. That’s chronologically speaking. After what happens in chapter 1, after that the next event happens. And all of it, as I said many times, all of this book is like a shooting script for a movie. It’s telling what’s happening so you could almost visualize it with a movie. So, John is still thinking of Jesus talking about standing at the door and knocking and wanting to come in. That’s the end of chapter 3. And all of a sudden, he looks and boom chapter 4 and he starts, he’s in transition from Earth to Heaven. Here’s what it says.

After these things. I looked and behold, a door standing open. By the way, there are several doors that stand open that are highlighted and seeing that in Heaven. And the first voice. Notice, numbered, so you know you’re seeing this as progressing, which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me saying, come up here. Now that’s a little reminder of what Paul taught us in 1 Corinthians 15, the Second Coming of Christ for His Church, or we call it the Rapture. By the way, is the word rapture in the Bible? No. Is the word millennium in the Bible? No. Oh, so you go to Bible school, and you believe in the Rapture and Millennium? It’s not even in the Bible. Wait a minute, are there any English words in the Bible? In the original autographer? No. See, you can, all these people that are trying to get you because you go to Bible college and tell you’re learning something that’s not biblical, you can just smile and discuss with them. Huh, yeah, the Latin word millennium, is not in the Bible, it’s in the Vulgate. Which is a translation of the Bible by Jerome, in the Vulgate, the Latin version. That’s where millennium comes from, because the Greek words for thousand years are in the Bible. Those Greek words are not millennium. It’s the Greek word for thousand. What I’m saying is, people try and unsettle us in what we believe. The best solution for that is just smile and say, I know that. The truth is there.

The word rapture is not in the Bible, but the Greek word is. And what is that? Harpazo. Think of harpoon. Whalers, harpoon. What do you do with a harpoon? You throw it, it attaches to something, and you pull that thing, it attaches to out of the water. You remember? Amazing Grace, John Newton. Remember him? You all heard of him? He was harpooned. He was on a whaling boat and he was a drunk and unsaved and everything else as a conscript and he fell overboard so they harpooned him in his drunkenness and pulled him back on. And he talked about that’s how God saved him from drowning, or he never would have been born again. But what is harpazo? It’s harpooning. It’s to be snatched out of something and that’s what God is going to do to the Church.

Here we see this voice that Paul talks about, this voice like a trumpet. He said at the last trump, the dead in Christ will rise and that’s 1 Corinthians 15. But here’s what the voice says, come up here. Boom. That’s most likely where the Rapture is. He’s seeing that event. Because if this is sequential, the Church in chapters 1, 2, and 3 are all over, the seven churches, and John is on Patmos. And when we get to chapter 4, all of a sudden, the door opens, a voice tells everyone to come up, and we see them around the throne. So, if you want to know the placement of the Church going to Heaven, it’s right there.

Come up here, I will show you the things which must take place after this. That’s the neat thing about prophecy. It’s not, I wonder if it’s going to happen. God is saying this must happen, this is what is going to happen. And then it says in verse 2, Immediately I was in the Spirit, and behold, and there it is… The first thing in Heaven, a throne was set in Heaven. It’s amazing. A new scene unfolds before John’s eyes, the throne of God that towered over everything.

Now think for a moment. I know it’s early in the morning. John sees the throne and the Majesty on High sitting on the throne, which is a picture of God ruling the universe. And John’s looking up from Patmos, seeing God is sitting on the throne, and think of some of the recent events in John’s life. The emperor Nero came and hunted down, Peter and Paul and others and martyred them. And then he lit his gardens with other Christians. In fact, almost everybody listed in Romans 16 probably died for the faith because they were written in a book of the Bible and Nero just had to get a copy of it and look for all those people and kill them. He knew the key people You ever think of that? It’s not a big, not positive to have your name written in one of the books of the Bible if the government’s against you.

But the throne was there, John realizes, and God was sitting on the throne when almost everybody he knew and loved was martyred by the Roman Empire. The same God was sitting on the throne when another Roman emperor, Domitian, hunted him down and put him on Patmos. The same God was sitting on the throne when Vespasian, another emperor, took a hundred thousand Jews, worked them to death, building the Colosseum. You understand what I mean? All of those Roman emperors did their things while God was on the throne. Why didn’t He stand up and do something about it? See, that’s how we think as humans. We think, why didn’t he stop that? But wait a minute. Through all that horrible stuff I just described, the Early Church was born and strengthened and trained and refined and spread to the ends of the Earth. And the Gospel went everywhere. Usually when everything is calm and peaceful and everybody’s working and earning as much money as they want and can pile up as much stuff as they want, they aren’t busily going in evangelism. But just like we found in Jerusalem in the book of Acts, when Paul came and started smashing the church in Jerusalem, it says they spread everywhere. But you know what it said in Acts when you covered that? Sharing the Gospel. See, when we’re persecuted and trusting in Christ, wherever we go, we tell people why we have hope. That’s the scene of this throne.

Now look, here’s a graphic. This is from Logos. You can do that with your Logos program. See the red tall column. That’s the incidences of the word throne. See, this is the key chapter 4. Look how it just is, boom, right off the chart. This is the big place talking about the rule of God and the effect it had on John.

Verse 2, Immediately I was in the Spirit, and, behold, a throne set in Heaven. And look at the end of the verse. And one sat on the throne. Now all the way through Jesus’ ministry He was teaching about our Father. Remember the Lord’s Prayers, our Father. Our Father. Jesus introduces the Father on the throne. Let’s just look at what God is like on the throne.

Matthew 5. I’ll just read a few of these from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew chapter 5, and starting in verse 16. Matthew 5:16. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven. Verse 34, But I say to you, do not swear at all, neither by Heaven, for it is God’s throne. There’s that throne that we’re talking about.

I like verse 45. That you may be sons of your Father in Heaven, for He makes His sun rise. He makes His sun… He owns the sun. People brag about what they own. All the oligarchs own all these 500 foot long yachts and everything. God says, I own the sun. You can’t live without it. I own it, and I make it. Look at what verse 45 says. He makes His sun rise on the evil and the good. He sends rain on the just and the unjust. Do you understand that God controls all that? And Jesus said you’re here living and fretting and running around with all your frustrations. Take a moment to lift your sight. I want you to meet My Father in Heaven. Wow. Verse 48. Therefore, you should be perfect just as your Father in Heaven is perfect. Chapter 6:1, take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men to be seen by them, otherwise you have no reward. And there it is, from your Father in Heaven. He’s the reward giver.

Verse 4, it says, let your charitable deeds be done in secret, and your Father. Here’s another insight into God. He sees in secret and He rewards you openly. Verse 6, when you pray go into your room and when you shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place. You know what a lot of people think when they’re all alone? I’m all alone. Do you know what the sociologists say the strongest, deepest pain is that people experience? Loneliness. They said, loneliness eats away, and it just grows and it’s just horrible. Wow, what a cure for loneliness. Your Father who is in the secret place when you shut the door and you’re all alone. Your Father who sees in secret, who sees what you do when you’re in secret, will reward you openly, if you just acknowledge Him.

Verse 8, Therefore do not be like them for your Father knows the things you need before you ask Him. Oh, see what omniscience is so good about, God knows everything ahead and He knows where we are, and He knows everything we’re going to run into. And if we ask Him, to lead us, He says, I’d love to lead you. I know the whole minefield. I know all the dangers. I know all the struggles you’re going to go through. He’s the Father who knows what we need before we ask Him. And then, verse 9, that’s who we pray to, our Father in Heaven. And then in verse 14, if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. You see our Father is the one on the throne. By the way in chapter 10 it says He’s the one that knows when every bird falls to the ground… and if you look at that word It’s not the word for a bird dying, shot with buckshot, and hitting the ground. It’s the word for a bird coming down, and if you notice, birds don’t usually walk like people do, like this. Most birds hop, and so they’re up and down, they hop, as they bounce around. Every time a bird bounces around the Lord knows each hop of every bird on Earth. And what Jesus said is, if He’s got that much knowledge just think what He’s, how much He’s in touch with you. And then Jesus tells us how to connect with Him. And we’re going to talk about that. Okay.

So, in the next part of Revelation, verse 3. And He who sat there on the throne was like Jasper and Sardis stone in appearance. You notice the like word it’s constantly repeated in Revelation. What it is John is forced to stand there and describe what he’s seeing. And he’s seeing things that are so far beyond anything humans are aware of or have experienced that he keeps saying the closest way I can describe it’s so… When you study Jasper and Sardis, you see the colors, you see the gem qualities of them. So, it gives us a little tone of the key colors of Heaven. There’s a rainbow around the throne. By the way, rainbows, if they weren’t stopped by the ground, are actually 360 degrees. If you ever think about it, a rainbow is actually a 360. It’s not a 180, it’s a 360. So, the throne is there and there’s this rainbow. I believe in Heaven you’ll see the whole 360 because what does the floor look like? It’s made of gold that’s clear so you can see through it. And when we get later on, chapter 15, it says that there’s a reflective kind of a mirror like quality. So, it’s transparent. Inside the light refracts and reflects. Because the fire that we’re going to see in a moment shows up in this glass.

So, here’s the throne. It was an appearance like an emerald. So, it’s this beautiful green color. And around the throne were 24 thrones. And on the thrones, I saw 24 elders clothed in white robes and they had crowns of gold on their head. And from the throne, see the throne, throne, throne, throne… comes lightning and you’re hearing thundering and there are these voices. And then really close to the throne are these seven, notice what it says, were burning before the throne seven lamps of fire, which are the seven spirits of God. Now, if the Bible, explains the Bible it says in the book of Hebrews, are not angels ministering spirits. So, God describes angels as spirits. And it’s very possible that this seven spirit, now some people say it’s the seven fold manifestation of the Spirit of God, or the seven fold anointing of the Holy Spirit on Christ which Isaiah 11 talks about. I think the simpler thing is that here’s the throne of God and the seven archangels are there. Why? Because Jesus said there are these angels that always face the throne of God. And we know the archangels, we know two of them at least. Personally, I think the seven spirits of God are these seven archangels. It could be the sevenfold manifestation of the Spirit of God, or it could be the seven attributes of Isaiah 11. But I prefer to see the throne, the seven archangels, the 24 elders, and then radiating outward are the other angels, the hundreds of millions of them.

Look what happens when we worship. I was thinking about that in chapel when I was, I saw all of you. It was really fun to see all of you in your role, whether you were playing or singing or doing the piano or the drums or everything. And as you were offering that offering of worship to Lord, look what happens. Before the throne, there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne and all around the throne are these cherubim. Notice what it says there are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature was like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. And we go, whoa, we’re off the page. What is all this? What is…? These are all the way through the Bible. We first find them guarding the gate to the Garden of Eden. They wouldn’t let Adam and Eve after they fell into the Tree of Life, lest they eat it and live forever in their fallen state, because God wanted to redeem them. And so, they’re guarding the way.

Then we find them when, remember when Isaiah, high and lifted up, but before that Moses sees them, because Moses made images of cherubim in the tabernacle. So, these creatures are very important. By the way, a cherub is a living one. It’s a living being. There’s seraphs. You ever heard of seraphim? That’s what they’re called in Isaiah 6. That means burning one. The Hebrew word seraphim means burning one. So, these creatures are living. Notice what it says, covered with eyes front and back. When Ezekiel describes them, he says they have four faces. So, their heads are like four sides to their heads, and they’re covered with eyes. And all of a sudden, we go, ugh, that sounds weird.

But that’s what Satan is. Satan’s a cherub. So, we know what Satan looks like. He has these four faces, he has all these wings, and he’s covered with eyes. That means he doesn’t wear red tights and have a pointy tail. Like all the pictures, caricatures of the devil. Satan was the highest of these and made the highest of all the creatures. And that’s, remember, from yesterday, that’s in Isaiah what? 14. Let’s all say it, Isaiah what? And Ezekiel what? I heard one person, 28. Now the easy way to remember that is 14 times two is 28. So Ezekiel 28, Isaiah 14 is the origin of Satan.

Why would they have all this strange stuff in verse 7? What’s the lion, calf, man, and eagle? When you studied the Gospel, did anybody have you? You’ve done all the Gospels right so far. Do you remember? There are four of them. Matthew shows Christ as what? King of the Jews, right? Mark shows Him. What is the servant? He’s like a servant. Luke. He’s the perfect who. Man. For the Greeks they want to have the perfect man, and Mark is a perfect servant for the Romans, and Matthew is the perfect king for the Jews. What’s John? John presents Jesus as what? God. So, think about that. To the ancients, when they thought of the gods, I’m talking about everybody, they thought of the eagle because it flew closest to Heaven. And so, this face of the eagle thing is mirroring God. That the calf or the cow was the servant animal, they’re always pulling plows, and they don’t even fight it. They just do it And so we have the lion, remember Lion King. Disney even helped us with that one. The lion speaks of kingship, the calf speaks of service, the face of a man speaks of men or humanity, and the eagle speaks of deity or divinity. It’s a picture of the four Gospels.

You say wait a minute, in the Old Testament, the Jews lined up in four groups when they were going through the desert. And the first group of three tribes had a standard, which was the image of a cherubim as a lion. The next group had the image of the calf. The next group had the… These cherubim images were used in the children of Israel, in their marching and when they camped the tabernacle was in the middle. And they had the calf image of that group of cherubim there, they had the eagle one there, they had the lion one there, and they had the man one there. They had this always facing the tabernacle. Why? Because it’s a picture of Jesus. And that’s why we see them here. They’re portraying Christ in His role as the king of the Jews, the perfect king. That’s the lion. The calf, the perfect servant, like the Gospel of Mark. The perfect man, like Luke presents Him, the face of a man. And the fourth, like John presented Him, as a flying eagle. So, you see this correspondence even in Heaven with the four Gospels and the incarnation of Christ.

But I want you to think for a minute about the throne because the only way you can get the best view of this throne is to get all the pieces of it. Listen to what Daniel said. Daniel got to go to the same place, and this is what he saw in Daniel 7. And I watched till thrones were put in place and the Ancient of Days was seated. His garment was white as snow. The hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame. Oh, it doesn’t say that in Revelation. So, there is, you’ve got to slide that into your imagination as you’re seeing this sight. The whole throne is on fire. It’s burning. And there are burning creatures, angels like flames in front of it, fire. But look at this, I love it. And a fiery stream came forth before Him. If the throne is there and there’s steps coming down the throne, there’s like water, like a river flowing out below down the steps. It’s like a fountain. Only it’s a fountain of fire. Wow.

That’s why, do you remember I told you one of the times I read through the Bible I look for every name and title and ascription of God. Do you know what one of them was? He’s called in Isaiah the Everlasting Burnings. The writer of Hebrews picks that up and puts it this way, our God is a Consuming fire. So, to even walk up His throne you’re walking through consuming fire that consumes anything that is not holy. So, the only access to God is what Isaiah calls the highway of holiness.

But that’s not all. We’ve got this fiery river coming out of the throne and a thousand thousands ministered him. What’s a thousand thousand? What is, one to ten to the sixth? That’s millions. It’s six zeros with a one. But then it doesn’t stop there. Those are the ones that are ministering. That’s the means, by ministering, they’re moving around. They’re doing whatever has to be done that God wants. They’re moving. But then there are 10,000 times 10,000 that are just standing. So, imagine, throne, the seven pillars of fire, the 24 thrones. Then you’ve got those four creatures that are flying. See, they’re flying, those cherubim, and constantly circling the throne, and they’re saying, Holy, Holy, Holy. But then beyond all that are these hundreds of millions of angels who just stand there. And, of course, they fall down.

So, we go from there to Revelation 4 verses 5 through 8. From the throne are lightnings, and thunderings, and voices, and the fires burning before the throne, the sea of glass. In the midst of the throne, around the throne, those four creatures full of eyes in front and back, and they have six wings full of eyes around and within, they do not rest day or night saying, Holy, holy, holy. It’s the only attribute of God given the ultimate emphasis, threefold. Remember the writer back then, they didn’t have Druk wide font, and they didn’t have bold, and all this stuff we have now in our graphics. So, to emphasize something, they would repeat it. And one emphasis is saying it twice. The ultimate emphasis is saying it three times. He, the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.

Now think about that. We have to appear before that throne. Whoa. That makes it a little different. One by one we come and stand before that throne with all that lightning, and all that thunder, and all that fire. See, it’s probably, it says we, each one received the things done in the body according what he has done, whether it be good or bad.

And then when you overlay that with 1 Corinthians 3, we are, remember our Lego project yesterday? We’re building with our little Lego pieces, either gold or silver or precious stones or wood, hay and straw. Each one’s work becomes clear. Why? Because it’ll be revealed by fire. Where’s the fire? It’s coming right out of the throne. Wow. It tests what we built with our life, and if anyone’s work that he has built on endures, he receives a reward. And if anyone’s work is burned, he suffers loss, but he’s still in Heaven, he’s saved.

Now go back. If those rewards are tied to, remember there are five crowns offered in the New Testament. Five crowns, the crown of life, and the crown of righteousness, and the soul winners crowns, you turn many to righteousness, to You, there’s a crown for that, for denying the flesh. That’s Paul. He says, I beat myself and knock myself out, so I don’t give in to my desires. So there are all these crowns, but look what it says in verse 10, when the 24 elders fall down before Him, if the 24 elders represent all the saints, we know for sure the only use of the number 24 in the whole Bible is the courses of priests. There were 24 courses of priests we meet. One of them, remember Zechariah. It says he offered incense in the temple where he heard about the birth of John the Baptist, by course. If you read the Old Testament, there are 24 groups of priests that rotated through serving in the temple. So 24, the only connection in biblical numerology is with priesthood. It stands for the priest. What is 24 made of? 12 and 12. What is Heaven made of? 12 foundations of apostles, 12 gates of the 12 tribes. All of a sudden, we find in Heaven this merging of two groups of 12. 12 apostles, 12 tribes. Then we have 24 somethings, and all of a sudden, we see 24 thrones with 24 saints sitting on them. And it just happens that God calls all believers from all the ages, He calls them saints. He calls us the Church, but He calls the people in Heaven saints. So it’s very possible that 24 speaks of the representative peoples for the Old and New Testament saints merged together. It doesn’t tell us anything other than what we can put together from other scriptures but do look at what they do at the end. They worship him who lives forever and ever and cast their crowns.

You ever wonder why God gives out rewards? What is a reward? A reward is a distillation of your time. That’s what money is, by the way. You exchange your time for money, and they pay you $10, $20, $30 dollars per hour. By the time you’re a lawyer, if you haven’t been to a lawyer lately, they charge $800 to $1,000 an hour, or $2,500 an hour, or a lot more than that. And so, their time is worth a lot. And so, you exchange your time for money. The Lord says, I have a deal. You can exchange your time for eternal reward, like a crown. The essence of what a person lived for could be these crowns. So, what do we do with them? We show them off? No. At that moment when we’re in front of that throne and all that sound comes and the fire’s flowing and the angels are saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy, the representatives of us fall down on their faces and they take their crown… You ever heard that in songs? Casting our crowns? In fact, there’s a whole Casting Crowns group that sings that and all the other singers, but that’s… What it’s talking about is this moment where they fall down and say… What they do is they take everything they live for on Earth. Which has everything that wasn’t eternal burns away, everything that’s left is reduced to gold, silver, and precious stones and Jesus forms it into this crown that He gives to us. For what? To give back to Him. That’s what worship is. Giving back to God.

And what a better gift than to say, remember how Paul put it, redeem your time? Every time you choose between two things of just entertaining yourself or of working on another verse, of just enjoying yourself or going out of your comfort zone and sharing the Gospel, of saying no to your flesh or giving in to your flesh, every one of those two choices, if you pick the right one that pleases God, it transforms that time into gold, into a crown. For what purpose? After pastoring for decades, people come up and say, I’m not interested in rewards, I’m not going to show off in Heaven. I said, no, you’re not going to show off in Heaven, you’re right about that. You should be interested in rewards because God is going to show you off. What Heaven is about is what God did with you. We have a choice is whether we want to go along with it or say, I don’t want You to do anything with me.

See, it’s not a choice… that really is very positive to say, I don’t want to serve the Lord because God wants you to serve. What does it say in Ephesians? We were created for good works. He made us for the purpose of earning these crowns so that we can cast them before His throne. So, it’s very exciting.

Basically, that throne, the sea of glass, those angels in the fire, that’s what we’ll all see in Heaven. And all of us who are born again are true worshipers. Paul put it this way. He says, for you are the circumcision, God gave you a new heart, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, have no confidence in the flesh. That’s who a true worshiper is. So true believers are worshipers, and in Revelation 4 and 5, we see the future picture. All true believers gathered in Heaven, worshiping at the highest level. Unhindered, unrushed, you don’t have to run to lunch. You know what I mean? We’re focused, and glorified worship.

By the way, worship? God has told us exactly how He wants to be worshipped. Revelation 4:8, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty.

It’s amazing that true biblical worship is a response to that holiness. Verse 9, Whenever these creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to Him, they fall down.

Look at the focus of worship in verse 11. You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power. For You created all things, by Your will they exist, and were created.

Now, it’s early in the morning, but it’s time to practice something. And we’re going to practice this hour and next hour. As believers facing the End of Days we need to be reminded of our seven greatest needs. Did you know that Jesus tells us what we need? He said, I’m all your need, and He tells you what we need. What we need is what only God supplies, so we can make it through life pleasing Him. Now, for a minute, there are five verses all of you have memorized. And I would like to have a group recitation out loud of these verses. Do you know what five they are? It’s the five verses over one and a half billion people on Earth have memorized. And at this moment, they can all say them out loud, and so can you. We’ll practice, you ready? Our Father, who art in Heaven. There you go, see, I saw it happen. Did you know that? Did you know a billion and a half people know that?

Do you know what most people do with it? They just recite it. Jesus didn’t say, recite this. He said after this manner, what he said is this is the framework of what you need most to ask Me for all through your life so that you make it. So, what we’re going to do, let’s all stand and watch this. We’re going to, you are going to read the yellow because you know it. And then I’m going to remind you of what that yellow part tells you that God wants from us. God wants me to be connected to Him. God wants me to see Him high and lifted up. So, He regularly wants me to do this. Now that’s a great thing. I think we all should do that, to get awakened. I like it. But here we go. It’s early in the morning. You start and you read the yellow.

[Our Father which art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name]. Here’s my first and greatest need. I need God to connect me to that throne. I need God to focus me, that apart from Him, I can’t do anything. That’s why this prayer starts out with, You are in Heaven, You’re the one that Jesus talked about, You’re seated on the throne, and I want to hallow Your name.

Okay, secondly, you read the yellow, [Thy kingdom come]. Do you know what that means? Do you know what kingdom is? Kingdom is a king. And if you’re not the king, you’re a subject. There’s only two things in a kingdom, king and subjects. I need you, God, to control me. Because I was born controlling myself and wanting my own way. So every time I pray the Lord’s prayer I’m saying, Lord, I need to connect with You on the throne. And now we’re connected. God, I want to step in my little chalk circle. I talked to you about, and I’m saying, God, I need You to control me because I’m like a sheep that goes astray. I want my own way. Today, I want to do your will.

Number three, here you go. You get the yellow, [Thy will be done in Earth, as it is in Heaven.]. God’s will. How much do people want to know God’s will? That’s one of the big questions. What is God’s will? How do I know God’s will? How do I know I’m doing God’s will? God’s will. I need God to lead me. He said two words. This is how Jesus called His disciples. What’d He say? Follow Me. That’s all He wants, He’s going, and we follow Him. And so, it’s me saying God, I need You to lead me That’s the only way Your will, will be done.

Next, the middle of the prayer [Give us this day our daily bread]. Notice it’s daily. You know what God wants? Me to need Him every day. And the amount you need Him is reflected in how much you connect to Him in prayer. And that’s why Paul said we should pray without what? Ceasing. Paul was advocating constant connection, constant. And when we pray and God supplies, we go, wow, you did it. It’s in my life. Thank you.

Okay. Then he says this, [And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us]. Wow. I need God to do what only God can do. He can cleanse me. If I allow sins to build up, I don’t get along with other people. I grieve the Spirit, I don’t get along with Him. Only God can cleanse me.

And then, [And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil]. Next week we’re going to talk about demons and Satan, and they’re worse than you ever imagined. They’re more horrible than you could ever imagine. And I need God to protect me from them. Because Satan has a singular purpose. He wants to kill and steal and destroy. He wants to confuse and disrupt and thwart. And God is the only one that can protect me. I can’t protect myself. And that’s an interesting, interesting thought.

Here we go, here’s the last one, then you’re done. For [For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen]. If you really think about what you just read, you’re saying it’s all about You God, it’s not about me. Yours is the kingdom, that’s what I’m living for. Yours is the power, that’s what I need. Yours is the glory, I don’t want any of it. Did you know God said I won’t share My glory with anyone? Do you know what it says? Humble yourself in the sight of God and He’ll lift you up. But otherwise, God resists the proud. He fights against us. Every shred of pride in our life, God is resisting it, and you don’t want God to be resisting your life because He’s really good at it. He’s good at taking your wheels off of your chariot like He did to Pharaoh. So, I need God to empty me. Humility is a choice. It’s not a fruit of the Spirit. It’s a choice. You want to see Colossians 3? Clothe yourself with humility. It’s a choice.

Okay, you may be seated. To stay in touch with God every day, I need to ask Him to focus me. I want to be connected to You, to control me. I want to do Your will. Supply me. I want You to show Your power in my life. I want to see You every day. Cleanse me. Because I don’t want to grieve Your Spirit. I don’t want to quench Your Spirit. I don’t want to hinder what You want to do. Protect me. I don’t want the devil to deceive me. I don’t want him to thwart me from doing Your will. And empty me now so You get all the glory.

So, going back to where we started, how did this message affect those people on that map? They were the first recipients. As they went through every day, either they were a slave or they were a citizen, either they were in the military or in some other thing, tradesmen or whatever. And as they went through life, they had a simple choice every day. And Jesus said, after this manner, constantly communicate with me. God, as I go through this day, I want to focus on You. I want to focus on You because I need You to control me. I need You to lead me. I need for You to show me the pathway in life. Now, what kind of a pathway is it?

When I was your age, let’s see, how many minutes do we have? Oh, we have just enough time. I was a ministerial student, just a lot of you are going into ministry, missions, whatever. We got assignments. You guys get assignments. Do you know what our assignment was? Do a hospital visit. So, I was assigned to do a hospital visit. You know what a hospital visit is? Where you go visit someone in the hospital, usually you don’t know them. And I said, how do you do it? And they said, you’ll learn. Just go to the hospital, find someone, read the Bible, and pray with them, and try and lead them to the Lord if they’re not saved. Find out about them. I said, okay. So, I was a poor, 19 year old student. I went to the hospital. To the hospital

Now, it was a long time ago, they didn’t have any rules back then. You could just walk into any hospital in any door. It wasn’t even locked. And we didn’t have all these terror things back then. So, I just walked into the local hospital where our Bible college was, and I started walking on the first floor. Looked in each room, you shouldn’t look in all the rooms, because they’re doing all kinds of stuff to those people. But I kept walking, went to the second floor, and finally I found someone that looked like a safe person to talk to. It was just this man. Forlornly lying in bed like this, staring off in the distance and he didn’t have too many tubes in him, so I didn’t think he was dying or anything. So, I went in with my Bible and I knocked on the door. I had my Bible, and I said hi. I’m from the local Bible College and I’m doing hospital visits. Can I do one on you?

He said, you’re here. Real thrilling, encouraging, guy. And so, I walked up to his bed, found out a little about him. He’s from Texas. And he was there, it was Thanksgiving actually. It was over Thanksgiving. And he said, of course, I can’t go home to my family and I’m here in the hospital and they’re going to let me out in a couple of days. I said, great, I’m going to read to you and pray with you. So, I read with him and prayed with him. And he indicated he was a Christian, so I said good. And I said thank you for letting me do my hospital visit. And I was leaving. He said wait a minute. I did something for you, you’ve got to do something for me. I said Whoa, okay. I did something for you, I read the Bible and prayed. He said no, no, I want you to do something for me. He said the food here is terrible. He said there’s a Wendy’s down the street, I want a triple.

I was a 19 year old college kid. I’ve washed my roommate’s clothes with mine so he would pay for the washing machine and give me the soap, because I didn’t have enough money for the soap and the washing machine. I was earning my way through school. You talk about poor. A Wendy’s triple costs 99 cents. That was too much. But I thought for a minute, I thought, oh, it’s one of those tests from the Lord. So I said, okay, down the flights of stairs, down the street, got him a triple, brought it back, smuggled it up the back stairs, brought it to him, handed it to him. I said, there you go. He said, thanks. So now we were even, I paid a dollar to do my hospital visit and I walked out the door. As I was out the door, he says, hey, wait a minute, son. I said, yeah. He said, what’s your name? He said, I know where you are, you live at that school. I said, yeah, and I told him my name.

About, I don’t know, two weeks later, I get a letter like I’ve never gotten before. It was in an envelope that was made of paper like you’ve never seen before. It was paper that was like made of cloth. My name was on there, but it was not flat. It was raised. It was called embossed. I enjoyed the envelope. I went and felt it. Then I opened it, and there was just a card inside, and it says, you’re invited to dinner. Be outside your dorm you live in at this time on this day. Then it said, wear your best clothes. I thought that’s easy. I had work clothes and church clothes. My work clothes I wore to school and to work, and my church clothes I did on the weekend when I was doing church and being a youth pastor. I just wore my church clothes, and I stood out in front of my dorm wondering what would happen and how I would know it was him. And all of a sudden, this extended car with multiple windows and a driver pulled up. And the driver came out and opened the door and there was my hospital friend sitting in the back seat. And I looked at him and he said, [gestured to come]

And I came to know a man who lived in Texas who had a 10,000 acre ranch. He grew Barzona, Black Angus cows, and oil wells. And he was part of those famous Texan families. When I visited his home in Texas, I sat on elephant’s feet. The chairs were elephant’s feet. The table was made of elephant’s tusk. It was just like, out of this world, extravagant. So, he took me to dinner. They pushed a cart. They had a cloth on it. They pulled the cloth back, and it was an entire quarter of beef. And the guy was sharpening the knife. There were no prices on the menu. If you have to ask the price, you can’t afford it. That’s their maxim. And he said, what cut do you want? Now I realize what it means, a cut of beef. They actually cut it. What I asked for. I said, I’d like a porterhouse. And so, he moved, and he cut. That section. So that was fun.

At dinner, what he said is, he said, by the way, I’m a Christian. I know your college. And he said, I know you kids and it was fun for you to do a hospital visit. I wanted to see if you’d do it. And the thing about the triple, I wanted to see if you would sacrifice for me. I know you’re poor. He said, what are you doing this summer? I said, oh, we all go on missions trips (like you guys do in second year.) he said, oh, where are you going? I told him smuggling Bibles. He says, when do you leave? And I told him, he says, want to come a week early? He said, I’ll show you a part of Europe you’ve never seen. I said, really, what part? He said, the whole of Europe you’ve never seen the way I go. I said, okay.

He bought me a week early ticket. I didn’t fly with him, but when I got off the airplane, you know how you walk, they open that door after they tell you it’s free and you pull your bag, and you come. Standing there was a person with a card. He knew I was coming. They had a card, and it said my name on it. They took me down a stairway. There was a car waiting under the airplane. You don’t go through that terminal with all those people, and they said, don’t worry, we already have got your bag taken care of, it’ll be at your room. I said, how do you know my bag? They said, that’s what we do. I got in the car, took me to a hotel. From the hotel, he took me to dinner. Dinner was in a restaurant that looked like an aquarium.

It was a glass wall with fish behind it. It was a fish restaurant. You picked from the menu the type of fish, and they speared it in front of you, in the tank. And cooked it and brought it to you. All that to say, I went for a week, a way I’ve never seen Europe. Why am I telling you that? Because God says, if you’ll follow Me, I will show you a life you can’t believe. It might have persecution and suffering and martyrdom, but it’ll be the best life possible because you’ll be following Me.