Pentecost be Filled with All the Fullness of God

And to start, I would like to read a section from Genesis 1, verse 1. And it reads, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God, God's power, moved upon the face of the waters. And over the next six days, brethren, God spoke. And on sixth day God, as it says, Elohim, made man after their image and their likeness. At the end of the chapter, we see that God says that He saw that everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the question I have, brethren, please note in first place that when God created man, man as far as a physical human being, everything was very good. So what is wrong? We have so many problems and difficulties and challenges in the world today. Well, nothing is wrong, because God is, as God, a master plan and is in full control. What we don't understand is God's plan. What mankind does not understand is God's master plan. You see, God put man on the earth in a beautiful garden, the Garden of Eden. And God gave instructions to man and a woman on how to live. Instructions of what is right and what is wrong. God gave Adam and Eve a choice to choose. Adam and Eve, as the parents of mankind, they had a choice. And basically, it's a choice like this. You can either believe in me or don't believe. That's actually what it is. You either believe in what God says, what God says it's right and wrong, or you don't believe in what God says it's right and wrong. And therefore, you work out for yourself what is right and wrong. And that's what it is, the Tree of Life, which is God's standards of what is right and wrong. And the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, which is your own self-made standards of what is right and wrong. Or put another way. One is a Tree of Life, of believing God, of following God, of following the guide of His Holy Spirit. And the other is the Tree of Death, of sorrow and misery. And that is what Adam and Eve chose. And that is what we, you and I, as human beings, as a society, have chosen. And so, my purpose today, brethren, is to remind us that you and I, we need to make the right choice. So that the end result will be that you and I will be filled with all the fullness of God.

You see, man chose of his own free will to not trust God. You see, God is faithful. God does not lie. God does not lie. And so, God would only give us what is good for us.

But man chose not to trust in God, but rather to trust in himself. And so, man rejected God's spiritual help, God's instruction, God's principles, God's own helping power, his essence, his Holy Spirit. And so, we see in Proverbs 14 verse 12, Proverbs 14 verse 12. If you turn with me, Proverbs 14 verse 12. Proverbs 14 verse 12. There is a way that seems right to man. There is a way that seems right to you and I. Oh, how self-openiated are we that we know all the answers. But the end thereof is death, is the tree of death. Because it's not our way that you and I need to choose. It's God's way. This attitude, brethren, has prevailed throughout all of society today. Oh, it's my desires. It's my wants. It's as long as I have my will and I'm not hurting other people. You know, I'm a consenting adult. I can do whatever I want. That is the tree of death. That is the tree of death.

Man's values. When man decides for himself what is right and wrong, that's the tree of death. And that's what you and I see in the swole today. So the reality, brethren, is the following.

Peace, happiness, harmony is not possible in this world without us believing and trusting God and following his lead, the lead of his Holy Spirit. You see, we have to follow, we have to emulate, we have to copy, we have to replicate God's character, the mind, the attitude, the feeling, the emotion, the desire, the intent of God, of his essence, of what he is. Mankind, human beings, you and I, without God's Holy Spirit, without God's power, without God's way of thinking, without his approach of looking at things, we are selfish. We have a twisted mind. We are greedy. It's what I want. And we cannot relate to God according to his way, according to his plane. So going back, what is wrong? What is wrong is that you and I have chosen the wrong way and we have to repent and change. In fact, that's what Adam did. Adam, right at the beginning, representing the first family, Adam and Eve, they cut themselves off from God. And effectively, God said, mankind, people, you make a choice. Adam's made a choice and you've rejected God's knowledge, you've rejected God's power, but you have chosen the way of get, of fighting, of competing. And so mankind has got free choice. God has given us the liberty to choose. And therefore, we have chosen our own education, our own way of doing business, our own financial system, our own quote-unquote, enhanced farming methodology. We have chosen our own entertainment, our own sports, our own society, our own human rights, our own woman rights. And you know, God is giving us time to learn a better lesson of experience. In fact, he decided to give us, from what we can see, 6,000 years. In fact, there have been times that God had to slow us down because otherwise we'd destroy ourselves before those 6,000 years. For he says he had to bring in a worldwide flood to slow the world down. He had to confuse the languages to slow people down. He had to bring in different diseases and plagues that decimated the world in the past and, as we can see now, to slow us down and to try and bring us to repentance. But God, throughout us, has allowed us to write history. That proves without a shadow of doubt that our way of choosing for ourselves what's right and wrong, our way will only bring misery, suffering, unhappiness, and death.

Except for the feud that God has called for a special mission, and then he's worked with them, a mission in the future kingdom of God, until those 6,000 years are finished, God has allowed mankind to be ruled by an evil, wrong spirit of God, which is Satan. God allows it. God allows it. God is not losing a battle because he knows in the end it will bear the greatest probability and possibility of good fruit. Then, at the end of that time period, you'll resurrect those feud that he has called that have been chosen and that have remained faithful to the end.

You'll establish the kingdom of God on earth that will bring peace, happiness, and joy to all of mankind, and he will then restore everything to the ideal the way it was at the beginning. And then we as human beings will then appreciate. We will then really appreciate God's power, God's gift of eternal life, the tree of life, will appreciate the spiritual knowledge that comes from God, will appreciate the free gift of God's power and Holy Spirit to help us overcome. We will then learn to trust God, to fully trust God.

You see, brethren, God does everything decently and in order, and that's what he's doing. God first worked through the first family, Adam, and throughout the ages he's been calling other people, for instance, Abel, Methuselah, Noah, and later Abraham. And Abraham became the first family that followed God's way. You know what it was? Abram, Isaac, and Jacob, the first family that followed God's way. And look at it in Genesis 18 verse 19. Genesis 18 verse 19. Genesis 18 verse 19. For I have known him, that's Abraham, in order that he may command his children. You see, it's a family and Abram is Yah, for we can see the first family that actually became loyal to God as a family.

That's why Abram, Isaac, and Jacob are the fathers of the faithful. It's a family. I'm not saying that the children, grandchildren, were obedient because you and I know they went, but it was the first family that really committed because it says, yeah, I know him in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abram what is spoken to him, to fulfill the promise he's done to Abram.

You see, God is working through families, and the bigger family, as a family gets bigger, you end up with a group of people and then you end up with a nation. And Abram was the first family man that followed God's ways, and he taught his children. And to him, therefore, to that family, the promises were made. Two types of promises, physical and spiritual, physically to the nation, to the physical descendants. And spiritually, that that family would be used to bring about the blessing, would be used to serve God, to bring about the blessing of the spiritual blessing of eternal life.

You see, physically, the Israelites were given a commission, a job, a covenant. And God gave them different things, for instance, through that covenant. He gave them a way to and taught them how to serve God, taught them how to give offerings that pointed to the spiritual, because those physical things pointed to spiritual, those offerings pointed to Christ, to the spiritual, and showed them the shadow of things to come through God's holy days, festivals, in their seasons.

You see, so God's holy days to that family became like a bridge to the spiritual to the spiritual of what it all means, because the Passover to that family was the blood of lambs that they put on the doorposts, and they were able to be freed and safe from Egypt. That is a bridge to Christ's blood, which is what saves us from our spiritual Egypt, which in the end is slavery to sin and ultimately death.

Then they had to commit, commit to obey through the meaning of the maven bread. And then we come to Pentecost, that after the sacrifice of the first fruit, then there was the wave sheath, and on the 50th day from the wave sheath, these are lights that reach Sinai, and we're given, as the tradition says, the Ten Commandments. And in the New Testament, we were given God's Holy Spirit to help us to observe and keep the Ten Commandments.

So we can see that this physical is a shadow to a spiritual in so many ways that you can think and meditate about. However, did the physical, that that national entity, that group of people, that nation, even though the fathers were faithful, were those children obedient? No. Regrettably, they did not succeed. They failed. Therefore, did they believe? No, they did not believe. They did not believe to obituary. So what is the purpose of Israel then? Well, you see, as Mr.

Armstrong quoted in the book Mystery of the Ages, the Purpose of Israel, he says, it is true that the nation of Israel was God's chosen people. They were not chosen as teachers' pet for special favors. No, they're not special people. They had a job to do. They were chosen for a special purpose, a special job preparatory to the ultimate establishment of the kingdom of God. You see, again, a bridge to the spiritual. Israel had a role and will have a role in preparing the other nations to the establishment, to the spreading, to the kingdom of God to reach all mankind.

But the lesson of the Old Testament is that Israel failed. Failed. They had the best education. They had God's laws. They had God's principles. They had a healthy genealogy. They had a perfect environment, a promised land, a land of milk and honey. And so, as we now put everything back, what have we got? We've got a situation that mankind, human beings, cannot turn to God and say, had we had enough time, we would have solved the problems all by ourselves.

Because we have had 6,000 years and God had to slow us down a number of times. You see, if Christ does not come at the right time, it says in Matthew 24-22, it says, no flesh will be saved alive. You see, even though God had to slow things down, come to a point where if God does not intervene, we will exterminate ourselves. Secondly, mankind can neither say, oh, had we had God's laws and had we as a nation been told God's principles and been explained very clearly to us, we would have obeyed you.

We would have succeeded. You're not fair because you didn't give us an opportunity. You're not fair because you didn't give us an opportunity. Again, mankind did have that through a nation called Israel. And Israel teaches us that no nation could have succeeded. No nation could have succeeded. Mankind cannot succeed. No nation can succeed.

Why? Why? Because God has proved that our human nature, with all our means, physical, possible, and with all the best conditions that we could have, we can't succeed by ourselves because we've got to learn to trust God. We've got to learn to put it in God's hands.

You see, we're going to try. We've got to learn to believe, to completely support, and comprehend, and grasp that without God's grace, his gift, his goodness, his kindness, you and I, we cannot solve man's problems. How many people say, well, I'm going to be a leader. I'm going to solve the problems of this nation. And once they empower, they realize they're completely incompetent. You see, no man can solve man's problems. It's a spiritual issue, and only God can help us, and we've got to learn to trust God. You see, the human spirit is incapable of doing good. Of doing good. Or you may say, now, come on, there are some nice people out there that are very good. Yes, there are. Yes, there are. But only in specific areas, in specific areas. But when you look at the total picture, we cannot. It requires God's only spirit. You see, in Galatians 5, verse 22 and 23, we read about the fruit of God's only spirit. So let's go to Galatians 5, 22 and 23. Now, in first place, I want to remind you that the word here is in the singular. Well, how many times we say, oh, the fruits of God's only spirit. Brethren, the word is in the singular. The fruit of God's only spirit. In other words, when you and I bear that fruit, you and I have all these attributes, not just one or two or three or five. We have all nine. And we don't have all nine by ourselves. For us to have all nine, you and I need to be.

Following God and to have God's only spirit in us. That is the fruit. That is the end result of having God's only spirit. As it says, we need to have love. Oh, many people are very loving. Yes, they are. Many people are very happy and joyous. Yes, they are. Many people are very peaceful. Yes, they are. Many people are very patient and long suffering. Yes, they are. Many people are kind towards others. Yes, they are. Many people show a lot of goodness. Yes, they do. Many people are very faithful and loyal. Yes, they are. Many people are very gentle, very neat, very teachable. Yes, they are. And yes, many people have a lot of self-control. Yes, they do. But all of them together requires God's only spirit. That is the fruit. That is the end result of God's only spirit. Now, when we do have this overall picture, the spirit, yes, we will bear good fruits. Yes, we will do good things, good deeds, good fruits. But this is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. It encapsulates all these attributes, all of them. And that's why Christ said, look at the fruits. Look at what these people are doing. Turn with me to Matthew 7. Matthew 7. Yeah, Christ in the Sermon on the Mount, when he's confronting people and speaking to them and teaching them and says, beware, starting in verse 15, Matthew 7 verse 15, beware of false teachers, of false ministers, of false prophets. Beware. We'll come to you very sweet, very loving, very kind. Oh, they're such nice, talking, gentle, loving, sweet ministers of God. But be careful, because inside, there's a different intent. There's a different intent. And that's why it says, watch the fruits. Look in verse 20, therefore by their fruits you shall know them. You see, and then he goes on to say, in verse 21 through 23, he says, just because I say, oh Jesus, oh Jesus, that does not mean anything. That does not mean anything.

Because it says, not everyone that says, Lord, Lord, Jesus, Jesus, who went into the kingdom of God, the kingdom of my Father, the kingdom of God. Many will say to me that day, Lord, Lord, haven't we prophesied? Haven't we spoken good things? Oh, yes, many people have declared God's glory. It says, haven't we crossed our demons in your name? Haven't we done many wonders and miracles? Just mind-boggling. In Christ's name, yes, people have done. But you know what Christ says to them? He says, I never knew you. You see, they used, was a word outside, but inside was not by Christ's authority, because it's at a power that they do. And he says, apart from me, you who practice lawlessness, apart from me, you who break God's law.

You see, we're going to practice God's way of doing right and wrong, the tree of life. We're going to follow the way of trusting God when he tells us what's right and wrong.

You see, brethren, we're going to learn humanity as a heart disease. Think about it. We have a heart disease. Now, of course, put it between in verse and commas. And what I mean by that, look in Deuteronomy chapter 5. Deuteronomy chapter 5. When God gave the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy 5, they are restated for the second time. And then in Deuteronomy 5, it says, verse 27, the people are saying, you go near and hear all that the Lord your God may say. You know, was they telling to Moses, you Moses, you go in and tell us all that the Lord our God says to you, Moses, and we Israelites, we will hear and we will do it. The whole matter is saying we will do it.

You know better. Did they do it? No. They failed miserably. I mean, the way they walked out, even 40 days later, they were dancing and drinking and probably naked and having an orgy. Then the Lord God, verse 28, heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me, and the Lord said to me, I've heard the voice of the words of these people, which they've spoken to me. They are right in what they've spoken in one way. They are right. Yes, I'll talk to you, Moses. But then look at verse 29. Oh, that they had such a heart in them. You see, God knew that they have a heart disease. Their heart is sick. Our heart is sick. It needs to be healed. That they would fear me and always keep my commandments, that it may be well. Oh, I wish that they were not seeking their heart.

You see, the whole point is the actual inside, like Christ said. Be careful, because inside, like the ravenous wolves, the problem is inside we are not clean.

Oh, we might think we are clean, because we blindsided to our own errors and mistakes. We might think we're righteous, but you know, inside we're not. Look at Isaiah 64 verse 6. Isaiah 64 verse 6. Isaiah 64 verse 6. It says, but we are all. We are all. No! I can't believe you!

We are all, it says, like an unclean thing.

All our righteousness is like filthy rats. Brethren, we have a heart disease.

A little later, a little later in Jeremiah 17 verse 9.

Jeremiah 17 verse 9.

It says, Jeremiah 17 verse 9. It says, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? And God tests the heart. You see, brethren, what we get down to it is the following. The heart has a disease. You and I have a heart disease, spiritually speaking. And our heart needs to be healed. Needs to be changed. And that's why a little later in Jeremiah 31 verse 31. It says, the Behold, the days are coming, says the Eternal, when I'll make a new covenant. Not like the old covenant, but a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. Brethren, this is still future.

Yes, God has started making the new covenant with you and I, individually, those few that he's calling. But ultimately, the new covenant with the whole nation of Israel and with the whole nation of Judah is coming at the beginning of the world tomorrow. At the beginning of the millennium. This is still future.

And look at verse 33. This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel and the house in those days, which is still coming when Christ returns to earth. And I'll put my law in their minds and write it in their hearts. I will be their doctor and in between inverted commas, it's like he will do a brain transplant and a heart transplant, spiritually speaking, please. I'm not saying that's what he's going to do. I'm just using that as an analogy. He will change our hearts.

And then they will understand. They will get it because that's what it says. And then they shall know me. Then they will get it.

And I will forgive this inequity. And I'll remember no more. You see, brethren, we need a change of mind and heart.

The whole nation of Israel will do that. And they, as the leaders, will then, from there, will be used to spread it out to all other nations. They still have a role to play in the world tomorrow.

Not that they're better. It's just that God walks through one and then through two and then through four and then through 20 and then through a hundred and then through a nation and then through all nations. It's, you see, how to spread. And he is using us as the pioneers to set that up. We will be the first pioneers as a spiritual Israel to help them, as the family of God ruling on earth of human beings, to help the physical Israel which failed previously miserably. And look at Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8, verse 5 through 9. Romans chapter 8, verse 5 through 9.

It says, For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh. You see, our minds, our hearts are wrong. We need a change. This says, But those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit, you see, once we commit to God's way and we are prepared to make this change right down to the inner core of our being, then we're actually starting to make decent progress. That's what we need to do. That's what we need to do. So he says, because the carnal mind, we read in verse 7, is enmity against God. Our human nature, our mind, our mind as it is, our heart as it is, is enmity against God.

And therefore, if we are in the flesh, we cannot please God. We just cannot. We have to change. There's going to be a real radical, change in us. That's what we've got to do. And you know what? Basically, putting it in another way, you and I are in a vicious circle, and something's going to break that vicious circle. You see, we think we're good. We think this, and we're trying to do these things, and we do it our own way, and we think great. But you know, our righteousness is like filthy racks. So we're just propagating that. We're just propagating this evil way, even though we may think we're doing good. Only God can break that vicious circle.

And that's what happened. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5, verse 8, we know that. Christ died for us while we were sinners. So we still in this wrong rat race, vicious circle. But Christ died for us. We're still sinners.

And you know, also, we read in John 3, 16, this demonstrates God's law left towards us, because he gave us his only son while we're still sinners. And that, basically, is the possible. Think about it. That's the possible. That's that blood on the door, pointing it to Christ. Then we still in this red race. God has to grab our little attention and pull our ears and says, for instance, in the name of the Lord, my name is George, I'll wake up. Put your own name. God's going to pull you out of this and says, look this way. And you know what? We keep going back. But God keeps getting us right. See, God calls us. And that, he is again, is grace, is kindness, is loving care for us. He is pulling us out in his mercy. He's pulling us out. You know that his grace is what grants us repentance. Look at Romans chapter 2 verse 4. Romans chapter 2 verse 4.

Romans chapter 2 verse 4. Would you despise the riches of God's goodness, of God's forbearance, of his long-suffering patience, not knowing that the goodness of God leads us, leads you, leads me, leads us to repentance? Do you know, brethren, it takes a while for us to get it. You know, you think, oh well, I'm repenting myself. I did it myself. I've repented.

You know what? You and I can't even repent of ourselves. That's how bad we are. That's in how bad a shape we are. We cannot even repent of ourselves. We are prisoners of our minds, of our mindset, of our human nature, of sin. We are, it was God that had pulled Egyptians, I mean, the Israelites out of Egypt. He had to pull them out.

Because in the end, they didn't want, even after they said, well, we should have gone back there. We didn't want to go back. How nice it was out there with all the this and that. Oh, we want to go back. You know the story in the desert. You know, spiritually, oh, I know we all say, how could the Israelites say that? How could the Israelites say that? You know what? We all spiritually say the same thing. We all spiritually say the same thing. Oh, I've repented by myself. No, we haven't. We have not.

And it takes a while for us to realize that even repentance, we cannot do it by ourselves.

That is amazing, isn't it? That is amazing. We are in this vicious circle, and only God can take you and I out of this vicious circle. Look at it a little bit later in Romans 5, verses 9 and 10. Romans 5, verses 9 and 10. It says, "...much more than, having now been justified by Christ's blood." Yes, you and I have been justified. Understand that the word justified means made right. Being reconciled, made right. There's a right relationship. In other words, you too are talking again. See, you were separated by the sins, but now by Christ's blood, you're talking to another. You can pray to God, and God will listen. You talk to another. We're justified by Christ's blood. We shall be saved. From wrath, through Christ. You know what? It says, "...shall be saved." It doesn't say, "...you might be saved." You probably could be saved. It says, "...you will be saved." You shall be saved. Wow. How? How? What God is saying, brethren, what God is saying, it's a done deal. Do you know what a done deal is? It means, that's it! It's done! I've done it! You will be saved.

Turn with me to Titus chapter 3, verse 4 to 6. Titus chapter 3.

I'm going to come to a point, because I know some of you say, oh well, is he saying that we're already saved? No, I'm coming to that point, brethren. But God has done his part.

It's up to us not to mess it up. That's what I mean.

Let's look at Titus chapter 3. Titus chapter 3, verse 4 to 6. It says, But when the kindness of the love of God, of the love of God, who's God, the Father, is our God, is our Savior. Sure Christ is our Savior, but God's our Savior too, because he sent us his Son. God, the Father, our Savior, towards man appeared. How did his kindness appear? Because he sent us his Son. And this is not by our own words, or our own self-righteous, which we've done. No. But this is according to God's mercy. He has saved us. He's done everything on his side to do and to rescue and to save us.

How? Through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.

He's done everything, not only by Christ's time, but through the washing, it says, yeah, of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. And yeah is the big point, the role of God's Holy Spirit in our transformation. This is a big point.

And so it says, which he poured on us abundantly through Christ our Savior. So you see, yeah, in a couple of verses, he's saying, God is our Savior. Christ is our Savior. Yes, they're working together. They were here as a team. And they are as a team saving us. Christ died for us. He's our Savior. God sent Christ for us. He's also our Savior. They are working together as a team. And he's given us, through Christ, He's our Holy Spirit. That's God's Holy Spirit. God's power. It's from God. It proceeds from the Father. John 1417. I think it is proceeds from the Father. So He's given us that. So let's look here in Acts chapter 1, verse 4 and 5. Acts chapter 1, verse 4 and 5. After Christ had resurrected, in Acts chapter 1, He was talking to disciples. And it says here, in verse 4, and being assembled together with them, that's Christ, resurrected Christ, He commanded them, the disciples, not to depart from Jerusalem, to stay in Jerusalem, until today, at Pentecost, as you and I know, to wait for the promise of the Father, the promise of the Father. What is the promise of the Father? The promise of the Father is to give us God's Holy Spirit.

For John, the Baptist, truly baptized the forward, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Not many dies from hands, you know, worse ones than Pentecost. So, you can see, the Father promised. He has the Father's plan. He has the Father's desire. He has all. Yes, He put man, physically on earth, as a physical human being, it's very good. But spiritually, we have to learn some lessons. We have to learn some lessons, eternal lessons, that we, by ourselves, we can't do it. We need God's help. And therefore, He promised that He would give us the help, because He wants us to be in His family. He wants us to be, receive the glory of being His children. That's what His ultimate goal is for us. And therefore, He's done. He's done everything that can be done from His side. It's a done deal. It's up to us now, not to mess it up. It's up to us now, not to throw it away. You see, that's the promise of the Father. Now let's look at this in Hebrews chapter 10. It's an amazing chapter that I think we don't get. Let's read Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10. I'm going to read the first half or so, Hebrews chapter 10. But in the first few verses, I'm just going to summarize in Hebrews chapter 10. It basically says, look, the law and offerings and things of that era was the ceremonial law. The ceremonial law. Not God's law, not God's eternal law, but the ceremony. The sacrifices. All these ceremonial things are a shadow of things to come. Because these just pointed to Christ and to the plan of God, and they're just shadows of the reality. You see, and therefore he says, for instance, the sacrifices can never really take sins away. Look at verse 4. For it is not possible that these physical sacrifices or bulls and goats could take away sins. They just an analogy. They just an example, like a leavened bread and a wine during the Passover. It's just a symbol, a pointer. So those things were just a pointer to the real sacrifice, which is Christ. You see, because in verse 5 says, sacrifice and offering, it is not desire. God does not want, really, it's not His desire for us to be killing bulls and goats and stuff. He's got no pleasure in that. That is only as a lesson, as a lesson to give us a teaching point. You see, in verse 6, in burn, offering, and sacrifice for sin, you have no pleasure. So why are they there? Two points to Christ. That's why it says, Therefore, verse 7, Behold, I have come, it was I, means Christ, I have come, in the volume of the book, it is written of me, of Christ, and I Christ have come to do your will of God the Father. Christ came to earth to do the Father's will.

Look at verse 9. Behold, I have come to do your will of God the Father. Christ saying, He takes away the first, then He may establish the second. What do you mean? The first, that means the sacrifices of fools and goats. Those were only symbolic, because the reality is the sacrifice of Christ. Then He may establish the second. The first, the fools and goats, was just appointed to Christ. Verse 10. By that will, we've been sanctified. By that will of God, we have been made right with God. We've been reconciled with God through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. It's a done deal! Done. Done. Done. And every priest stands ministering daily. At that time, they were still offering sacrifices until A.D. 70, when the temple was destroyed. And he says, And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. Never! They're just appointed to the reality, which is Christ. The real sacrifice. Verse 12. By this man, that's Christ, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God. And from that time, waiting till his enemies are made, his food still at the right time, when God the Father says, Okay, Christ, you go now and establish the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God. Until that time. Because, verse 14, for because by one offering, that's Christ offering, he has perfected forever us. There's no need of a second sacrifice. It's a done deal. It's a done deal. We have the road open for us to make it. Provided, as it says, forever, for those who are being sanctified. Provided we continue on that path and remain faithful to the end, being sanctified to the end through the power of God's Holy Spirit.

Reverend, we are still being sanctified now. How? By God's Holy Spirit. Look at 1 Peter. I beg your pardon. 2 Thessalonians. Let's first look at 2 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians. Chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians. Chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians. Chapter 2. Verse 13 and 14. 2 Thessalonians. Chapter 2. Verse 13 and 14. But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit. How is it that you and I are being made holy, are being made like God? How are we set apart? How are we taken from this vicious circle of the world to be like God? How? By the sanctification of the Spirit. See, that's what it says. Yeah, by the sanctification of the Spirit and belief in the truth. Belief in the truth. That in the end result, the truth is that the end result, God's got a plan for you and I to be His children in the Kingdom of God. And therefore, to achieve that end result, we've got to go through a cleansing process of overcoming with God's Holy Spirit. As much as we don't mess it up, but from God's side, He's done everything. It's a done deal. From God's side, it's as if we're there already. But it's up to us now not to mess it up, to stay the way.

Verse 14, to which He called you by our Gospel, and it was by the message, the good news, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here is a key point. The end result, brethren, is that when you and I are the children of God in the Kingdom of God, you and I will obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's what it says here in your Bible.

We will obtain the glory of Jesus Christ, of children of God.

I think this is amazing, brethren. This is mind-blowing. You and I just cannot get it. Number one, we don't fully grasp what is the glory of God. We don't fully grasp what is the glory of Jesus Christ, because we physical human beings, we limit it. But we can get an idea. It's pretty big. And you and I ought to have to obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, the same glory. If we suffer with Him, we shall be glorified with Him, right? Look at 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 2.

It says, we are elect, we are chosen, we are selected, we've been called and then chosen, elected according to the foreknowledge of our God, our Father. God knew up front that He was going to call some people. He knew that was part of His plan. That was the foreknowledge. And do that through what? In the sanctification of the Spirit. That means in the setting apart by God's only Spirit. For what? For what purpose? For obedience.

For obedience.

For own good. For God's way is for own good. As we read right at the beginning in the Autonomy 5, oh, that they had a heart that they would do this, so they may be well with them and their children. For our own good.

For obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. So that is the ultimate purpose for us to be children of God. And so, brethren, the whole purpose of God is that when Christ comes, those of us that have been called, we read that in Revelation 17, verse 14, those that will be within, those that have been called, have been chosen, and was elect. Why? Because we are dying. And we are faithful. Why? Because we remain faithful till the end, until Christ's coming or until our death. And so those then of us that remain faithful to the end, that we've been keeping ourselves clean and sanctified by God's Holy Spirit, we stay close to Him through prayer, Bible study, meditation, or casual fasting. We are obeying in the faith. We are pleasing Him.

We, as it says, therefore have God's Holy Spirit, because God gives His Holy Spirit to those that obey Him, Acts 5.32. And it says, also in Acts 1, verse 8, it says, when He was, they were waiting, Christ said, waiting, Jerusalem, for the power, which is the promise of the Father, which is the power of the Holy Spirit. And therefore, what we have, we have, brethren, through God's Holy Spirit, we have the only true force.

The power is within us. For one, to get us to repent. It's only through God's power that you and I can repent. I can't repent by myself. I need God's power to do that, to obey God through His power, to change our hearts and minds through His power, to be sanctified by being faithful to the end by His power. So then, ultimately, you and I can have real life being resurrected in a family of God as the sons of God becoming the first fruits and for receiving the helper, the paracletus, as it reads in John 14. We receive the helper that will help us. That's God's power that helps us. That's God's essence. That is the true force. And that is the meaning of the repenticos that we receive that true force. That's the day that commemorates us receiving that power. And that power will not fail. Think about it. It says, God's power will not fail.

Because it says, you know, in a movie, somebody says, oh well, in this movie, and says, oh, the force is with you. Brethren, the real force is God's power, and it's with you and I. That's why you read in Matthew 12, verse 31, if you blaspheme the power of God's Holy Spirit, you can't be forgiven. Why? Because God's given you His power to overcome, and you are throwing it away. How can you be forgiven? How? How? God's given you His power power. The power that was, as we read in Genesis 1, that was moving on the waters. And when Christ spoke through that power, things changed.

And if we throw away that power, if we blaspheme that power, how can you and I be forgiven? Because that's very God's very own power. And so brethren, you and I have the greatest reaches, the greatest richness in the whole world in our hand, and God's given it to us. It's the power of His Holy Spirit.

Don't blow it. Don't blow it. It's your choice. It's my choice. That power gives us understanding, understanding of the things of God, as we read in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verses 9 through 16.

And therefore, as we come to a conclusion, we have a choice, a choice to believe God, or a choice not to believe God, a choice to track the tree of life, or a choice to track the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which in other words is the tree of death. And therefore, it says in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 30, don't grieve the Holy Spirit. Don't disappoint God by not using His power. Don't grieve the Holy Spirit. How do we grieve the Holy Spirit? And you can read in Ephesians 4 verse 29 and chapter 5, verse 1 and 2, is when we are disobeying, when we have God's strength, when He gives us that help, and we kind of turn our backs and throw it away. Now, we grieve in God's Holy Spirit, and you can only grieve it so far. You can only grieve it so far. So, in that same book of Ephesians, I want to look in conclusion at Paul's prayer. Now, think about it. Paul mentions here in Ephesians prayers, and I want to mention, I like two prayers that he made here in Ephesians. So, let's go to Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1. Verse 15. Ephesians chapter 1 verse 15.

Therefore, I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, so he asked Paul, saying, after I heard how you are dedicated to God's way, I do not cease to thank God for you, mentioning of you in my prayers. You see, so Paul is saying what he mentions in his prayers, and he says that the God of our Lord Jesus, he knows that God the Father, the Father of glory, the Father of glory. You see, we are going to be the children that are going to receive that glory. He's the Father of glory. May give you... So, Paul is saying, I pray, that God may grant you, may help you to get it, may help you to grasp it. Desperate of wisdom and revelation. I pray, Paul is saying, and I pray, I think we all, as God's ministers, pray, only not only for yourselves, but for ourselves, that we all may get it, the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.

Pray that the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that your eyes may just see, that you may just get it, that you may know, that you may really get it, the hope. What is the hope? The hope of his calling. What is the hope of his calling? Is that you and I are going to be children of God in the kingdom of God, but there's more. Because Yahitz says, the hope of your calling, what are the reachers of the glory of his inheritance in the science? Do you get the reachers of the glory that you and I are going to receive as sons and daughters of God? And you know what? We don't deserve it. He's done it all for us. That's his grace. He is the one that brings us to repentance. He is the one that makes us understand. He's the one that's given his son for us. He's the one that has done it all. He's the one that gives us the help. He's the one who's going to resurrect us. It's our work zero. Our work is zero.

But we need to get this hope. Because if we have this hope in our minds, we will really work hard not to let it go. You see, because it's a done deal from God's side, but it's up to us to be faithful to the end. So that's why it says, verse 19, and that, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power towards us who believe according to the working of his mighty power? You see, he's got this great power, which he worked in Christ when he raised him. The father raised Christ when he was dead. Of course, Christ couldn't have not resurrected himself because he was dead. Right? So the father raised him from the dead and sat him, seated him at his right hand in heavenly places. And now Christ is far above all principality, power, and might, and dominion, every length, and put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head of all things, which is the church, which is his body, which is us. For what? To what? Of which is his body? The fullness of him who folds all in all. Brethren, it's the father through the power of his spirit that folds all in all. He's going to fill us with his glory, a shodron of God. This is enormous, brethren. It is enormous. And that's why Paul is saying, I hope you get it. I pray that God may give you the understanding and the enlightenment to get it because this is so big. This is so big. Look at a little bit later in chapter 3, verse 14. It says, For this reason I bow my knees to the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory. That he would grant you according to the riches of his glory. In other words, that's what God wants for us. To be strengthened with might through his spirit in the inner man. Why? Because we need this power to help us overcome, because you and I cannot do it by ourselves. That Christ may dwell in your hearts. Yes, Christ dwells in us. It's not literally Christ inside the earth as a being, but his mind, his attitude, his spirit, his character, his desire, his intent. We follow that. Right. That Christ dwells in us through faith that you, being rooted and grounded in love, in the same love as he is, may be able to comprehend that you may get it with all the other true Christians, all the saints. What is the width and the length and the depth and the height to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge? You know, that you may get this, which is so big, that you may be that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. That you and I may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now, to him who is able to do, you know, God is able to do it. It's up to us not to mess it up. Now, to him was able to do it accordingly, abundantly, exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, that's the power of his Holy Spirit. To him, to God, to him, be the glory in the Church of Christ Jesus to all generations. Amen.