Pilgrims on the Earth

Now for our message today, Mr. Robin Weber. Well, I know you've had a lot of preaching the last several weeks, and so I'm really going to probably more talk to you rather than preach. I kind of told you what I really thought on the eighth day for those of you that were in Oceanside, but being a smaller audience here today. But I do have something that I think is going to be valuable, and I hope that you can think about it. And I think it's actually going to help us with our discussion after the feast. I'd like to share a story I have shared over the years before, but it will be a good start for what I want to talk about this afternoon.

There was an American tourist who visited the 19th century Polish rabbi, Hophat's Heim. When the tourist came into the rabbi's home, he found simply a simple room, and it was filled with books, plus a table, and plus a bench. And the tourist asked the rabbi, Where is your furniture? And the rabbi, using typical Jewish rabbinic wisdom, said, Well, where is yours? Mine, said the tourist, asked the puzzled American, But I'm a visitor here. I'm only passing through. And the rabbi answered back, So am I. And that's kind of the foundation that I would like to build upon today.

It's interesting how much stuff that we accumulate, if this world is going to be our permanent dwelling. But it was not a mistake that the ancient patriarchs made back in the Old Testament. Abraham and Isaac and Jacob all freely confessed that they were strangers and that they were pilgrims on this earth. We find that in Hebrews 11 and verse 13, which we'll be turning to in just a couple moments. As we come off the Feast of Tabernacles and the Eighth Day Festivals, we need to develop that same mentality. And it does take a certain amount of training, and it does take practice.

Because if we understand where our home truly is, and that it is somewhere else, then we will view things differently. As much as we enjoyed Oceanside, and we did have a lovely accommodation there, at the end of the day, there is, as Dorothy once said, I like to say, Dorothy, out of the Wizard of Oz, there really is no place like home. And, ultimately, our home as a Christian is going to be with God the Father and with Jesus Christ.

But sometimes we stay in our timeshares down here on earth a little bit too long, and we become distracted, we become disoriented, and there is always the possibility that we can depart from what God really wants us. Let's anchor ourselves in Scripture for a moment, generally, if you would, in Matthew 6. In Matthew 6, talking about home, and that there really is no place like home, but sometimes we do get things in the way, and God understands that, and that's why Jesus brought this out in the Sermon on the Mount.

In Matthew 6, in verse 19, Do not lay up for yourself treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves can break in, and where they can steal. But lay up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, where your treasure is, where your energy is, where your focus is towards, do I want to use this word?

The true riches that God is providing, where your treasure is there, your heart will also be. Bottom line, simplified common denominator, home is where the heart is. Home is where the heart is. Let's ask ourselves, before we go any further, because it says that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth, let's define the word pilgrim. What is a pilgrim? A pilgrim is one who is on a specific mission from point A to point B, who is devoted, devoted towards reaching a specific end.

If, if, the pilgrim puts down roots, he is no longer a pilgrim. He is no longer a pilgrim. Interesting. Let's further define that, then, by the Scripture. Join me, if you would, in Hebrews 11. In Hebrews 11, commonly called a faith chapter, because it speaks about Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and the patriarchs and the many others whose names are not mentioned here, but they are noted for their faith in this. In Hebrews 11, verse 13, let's take a look. Speaking of these patriarchs, these all died in the faith, not having received the promises.

They were still out there ahead. But having seen them afar off, they had their eyes opened, their vision was attuned, having seen them afar off, were assured of them. Assured of them. They were breathing it in. It had become a part of them. They not only inhaled, but their life's actions, their words, their deeds, exhaled onto others of their example. They embraced them, confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

They proclaimed, oh, when you used to think of confession, it could be both pro and con, but they confessed that they were guilty of being pilgrims. God's fingerprints were all over them, and their fingerprints were all over the vision and the manner of living that God had introduced to them. They were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek notice a home. They seek a homeland, a home. And a home is not just a house. A home is a relationship.

You can buy a house, right? But by love and relationships and memories of bringing the family together is what makes it a home. And truly, if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would not have had opportunity to return. But now they desire notice a better that is a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

A brahm, later Abraham, never got over astonished about the calling of God. Wherever Abraham went, think about this for a moment, he built an altar. He built an altar. Not like everybody else built an altar. He didn't build it to himself, did not create a graven image on it, but he built an altar. Not an idol, limited to time and space, but to the God of creation and the one in whom he believed at all cost.

One of the great lines out of all scriptures, Genesis 12 and verse 1, and it says, And he went, he went. As in that time, when people were beginning to filter into cities, especially in the river valleys of the world, whether it be the Yangtze, the Yellow River, the Nile, the Indus, the Tigris and Euphrates, as everybody was coming into town, there was one vehicle, just one vehicle heading out of town.

He obeyed God at tremendous cost, and he didn't necessarily know where he was going, but he knew his God. And that's what makes a pilgrim, and we're going to talk about that a little bit more. Let's understand this by turning to Matthew 6 and verse 33 before we go any further.

I'm just laying down some foundational planks here for what I want to share with you. Matthew 6 and verse 33. And one of the reasons, friends here in Redlands, I'm giving this is we're facing a new day. We'll be going through a new week where we've come off the time of training. We're now in the Great Lab session called Life. We've been to school, we've gone to the mountain, we've been taught his ways, and now we've got to walk in those ways. And I cannot say that some of the paths that you and I are going to take this year, all of us, any of us, what is your name, are going to necessarily be easy paths.

But to recognize that we're pilgrims, and to recognize that we're sojourners, to recognize that we're being tooled and molded by the loving and powerful hand of God Almighty. Let's notice Matthew 6 and verse 33. Here is the goal. Here is the destination. But seek first the kingdom of God. Seek first. Top priority. But not just the destination. See, that's a mistake sometimes people make in Christianity, make in our way of life, of made in the Church of God.

They seek the kingdom. They're moving towards a destination. But being a pilgrim is not just simply the destination ahead, it's how you travel along the way. It's how you travel. And there is the biggest challenge. The greatest opportunity we have as members of the body of Christ is to recognize that the kingdom of God is not just simply a destination, but it's how we travel. Because notice, who seek the kingdom of God, and notice in His righteousness. And then it says, then all these things will be added to you.

So let's understand that. Let's understand simply this especially as a pilgrim. We just went up and we heard Mr. Cupid in his message about the Feast of Tabernacles being a pilgrimage festival. But we need to understand that we being pilgrims is not just simply an event. Being a pilgrim, being a sojourner, is an existence. It's a 25-hour existence in a 24-hour day. It's like the Beatles saying, it's eight days a week and a seven day a week. It is what you and I are to recognize us. Are you with me? Let's remember.

What do the rabbis say? I'm just like you. I am passing through. So we want to understand that. Let's take one more scripture before I give it my title. Psalm 119. We're not the only ones that are on a pilgrimage. There's another gentleman here mentioned in the Psalms. Psalms 119, verse 52.

I remember your judgments of old, O Lord, and have comfort in myself. Indignation has taken hold of me because of the wicked who forsake your law. David recognized that there was a difference in the world that was around him and the stuff that was out there with the calling that God had given him. Your statutes, notice, have been my songs. They've been my melody. They are my tune. They are what I whistle as I go to work. Your statutes have been my songs. Notice, in the house of my pilgrimage. I remember your name in the night, O Lord, in the night when it's dark. When it's challenging. And I keep your law. And this has become mine because I kept your precepts. In the dark is when David recognizes that he is in the house of a pilgrimage. Let me share something with you that this year that some of us are going to be challenged with.

Susan and I were talking about this the other day. Have you ever noticed how many of the D words, the D words, are very challenging? I'm going to share a few D words with you. And when I say D words, not all D words are bad. Dog begins with D. And other than a man's wife, a dog is his best friend.

So not all D words are bad. But think of some of the D words. And you recognize how we have lived with some of these. We have not yet jettisoned them. And we will be confronted. And if you beware you who think you stand, lest we fall. Here's some D words. Think about it for a moment. We have words like depression, departure, disappointment, discouragement, doubt, disbelief, division, denial, disaster, distress, dejected, disheartened. That's why I want to give you this message today. Because some of you right now are being affected by those words and or will be affected by those words and or have in the past and have found the solution in some of the things I'm going to be mentioning here. So here's the title of my message. Here we go. Packing God's Word for our pilgrimage. You know how you pack for a trip? And you make sure you don't leave home without it? Well, the title of this message is Packing God's Word for our pilgrimage. Today we're going to unpack some scriptures from the Bible and we're going to pack them for the journey that lies ahead. Now, I'm going to give you certain verses and certain thoughts. And this is by no means are you with me so we can be this together. It's just kind of a talk today, even though I start preaching. It's just kind of a talk. Because I know some of the verses that I'm going to pull and some of the thoughts, the ones that you might build upon this, this is just to challenge you as to what is the core of your belief and what you understand that God is calling you to. And what are the verses that are there that can kind of be like signposts, can be like lighthouses, to continue to help us to understand that we're right on the right track. So that's what I'm wanting to do. And, you know, all of us, we all pack, you know, if we are going off to the feast, we all pack differently. Some people pack lightly, and some people always say that they're going to pack lightly, but can never do that because you try to lift the bag, and they did the same thing last year. And so these are for your consideration as we go along. The first thing that I want to share, number one, is that we're going to... So what we're going to do, are you with me? These are the graphics. We're going to unpack Scripture, and we're going to unpack it here. Because this is how we travel with our hearts. If it's just our brains, you're going to drop in the desert. Are you with me? So we're going to do some unpacking and then some packing. Why do we want to unpack from the Scriptures? Here are just some verses I'm really going to kind of go through quickly. I might give you my notes later, but let's go to John 663.

John 663.

The Gospel thereof. Why are we going from this? John 663.

It says, it is the Spirit who gives life.

The flesh profits nothing.

The words that I speak to you are spirit.

Are spirit.

They're from outside our existence.

They come from Him who is uncreated.

And to this world of time and space that we think is everything sometimes.

They are spirit and notice, and they are life. How incredible.

This is why this is it, brethren. This is the payload.

This is where it all begins by understanding and exploring the Word of God.

This is life.

And this is spirit. And we get caught up in this world of flesh and blood and time and space.

And recognize that one of the cardinal things that we look at as Christians is that, yes, while there are many men who wrote this scripture, there is one author.

And He breathes life to us through this scripture.

And to recognize there must be something very, very precious about it, because there are just like incredible men and women.

Who gave their lives for you and me down through the ages.

People like John Tyndale and many others that put these words of life into our own language so that we could understand the beautiful things of God.

I see Monica back here, German background. Martin Luther did the same. Martin Luther, a lot of us always think of him as the reformer, but he was also a musician.

And also, he was the one that translated the Bible into the native tongue of Germany, that those people might know that there is a God above.

How do we approach then? Here's another verse that I want to share with you. Just jot them down and look at them later. Psalms 119.

In Psalms 119, verse 2. Blessed are those who keep his testimonies. And notice what it then says, who seek them with their whole heart. Who seek them with their whole heart.

Mathematics was probably my worst class. I hope I'm not spoiling the kids out here, but it was my worst class. In junior high and in high school.

But there's one thing that I remember about math.

100% means 100%. It means the whole pie, not a slice.

Who will seek them with their whole heart. So as we are galvanized coming off the Feast of Tabernacles, we've got to recognize that because we do live in this world of time and space, and because we do live in this world where humanly we can be disappointed, we can be depressed, we can somehow be divided if we allow ourselves to be, that whole heartedness can kind of melt.

And so we have to be aware of that and to recognize that God wants us. How do we do that? I want to share another verse that I hope will anchor us this year on the pilgrimage that set us aside. Psalm 86. Join me if you would there. Psalm 86. In Psalm 86, and let's pick up the thought in verse 10.

For you are great and do wondrous things. You alone are God. That's going to be important as we go on the pilgrimage, because sometimes, wittingly or unwittingly, we pull God off His throne, the same one that is in the beginning, and then we get out our throne that somehow we put in the suitcase, and we put up the little God, the little G on the throne, and push God aside, because it looks like God doesn't understand what we're going through. Notice what it says here, For you are great, and you do wondrous things. You alone are God. Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth. And notice, here's the plea. Here's the prayer of David. Unite my heart to fear your name. Unite my heart. Don't allow me to be divided. Don't allow me to go this way and that way. Unite my heart. Now, why did he say that? Because David recognizes that all of us at times can be disunited from God. And when we're disunited from God, we can be disunited from men. Unite my heart. The prayer is to unite my heart.

Unite my heart. That's the greatest gift that we can give God. And I will praise you, O Lord, my God. Notice with all, all of my heart. You know, we have this expression today, right? I'm all the way in, right? I'm all the way in. God wants us all the way in. He wants a united heart, and that can only come by His Spirit and following the example of His Son, Jesus Christ. How do we get that heart united?

Again, join me in Psalm 119. In Psalm 119, in verse 10, let's notice what it says. With my whole heart I have sought you. O, let me not wander from your commandments, your word. Notice, your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against you. And blessed are you, O Lord, teach me your statutes. And with my lips I have declared all the judgments of your mouth, and I have rejoiced in the way of your testimonies. The way that we do that is to unpack the Scriptures, as I was saying.

Are you with me? Unpack the Scriptures. And pack them into our heart. And then ask God to keep them there. Know what God wants. He wants all of our heart. And the only way we can do that is take the words of life. Jesus previously was the Word. He is the Living Word.

This is the Written Word. We put it into us to be people of what? The Word. Not our words, but God's words. So we want to understand that. As we now understand the importance of being wholehearted, united, and that these words are life. Remember what the Apostle said? Whither shall we go? You're Messiah. So we can say, well, where are we going to go? Are we going to go to Einstein?

Are we going to go to Darwin? Are we going to go to this person? Are we going to go to that person? No. We go to the words of life. Now, there's three pillars that we need to remember here for a second. There are three pillars that we go through and they do not change. These are some of the great principles that were laid down out of Scripture from Scripture back in the 80s. I want to share them with you. Number one. Here we go. Number one. On this journey. Remember, what is it? What's the key?

We're just passing through. We're just passing through. Number one. It come out of the world. That should be a flashing light in front of us at all times. I'm not talking about moonwalking and leaving earth. The world means the culture. It means the culture. It means the society. It means the ways of the world. Revelation 18 verse 4. Let's put that down. Here's something that we can grab a hold of.

It's a signpost to show that we're going the right direction. We are to come out of the world as much as a Brahm came out of earth. Come out of the world, my people, that we might not be partakers. Number two. Number two. And this kind of fits in with the rabbi. Number two. Second Corinthians 11.3, Hallmark Scripture.

Join me. Let's take a look at it here for a second. Second Corinthians 11 verse 3. In Second Corinthians 11 verse 3, it knows what it says. But I fear less somehow as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted, notice, from the simplicity that is in Christ. The simplicity that is in Christ. Christ was not packing a lot in the household of his pilgrimage other than to be about his Father's business. He said, my meat is to do the will of the Father.

If you've seen me, you have seen the Father. As we become like Christ, as Christ was like the Father, we come together. Simplify. How simplified is your life today versus a year ago? How simplified are you desiring your life to be as before the Feast of Tabernacles this year? Do we have that vision of the kingdom? Do we want to seek his righteousness? Part of that righteousness means we need to simplify our lives, which is exactly counter to where this world is going today, brethren.

There is so much that is coming at the average human mind. So much information that is out there, just like the book of Daniel, where information will go to and fro. And it's not all bad information. Please understand, it's not bad information. Some of it can be good information, but there is so much that it is hiding the Word of God from people today.

There is a reason today why so many people that are 40 and under are moving away from religion. There is so much coming at them. And there can be so much coming at us. I know Bill here. Bill doesn't mind if I pick on him. He's a big guy. He's from commerce. People from commerce are tough. We all know that Bill and Terry went through this experience together as husband and wife. I would say that Bill is a changed man. Not only skinny on the outside, but his heart has gotten firmer, and he's carrying less stuff in him today, and knowing how to sort it out than before your operation. Is that a true statement?

Okay. Perisha is with us. If we were just family here, we can talk. She's had to simplify her life and put an incredible, incredible focus as to how she wants to spend her time and to share her time with God, with family, with all of you. Arnold Schwarzkopf, commander of the forces during the Persian Gulf, first Persian Gulf War in 1990, said, Death places the mind in a wondrous focus, and then the training takes over.

You get focused. You get focused. And yet all of us act like we're just going to go on living and living and living as if all of this happens to everybody else but ourselves. To the degree that we can simplify our lives beginning today and beginning now, is how much more we can become full with the riches of God and understanding His ways. Simplify your life. What did Thoreau say back in the 1840s, 1850s? Simplify, simplify, simplify. It says that he went to the woods. He got out from the cities, the Industrial Revolution that was beginning to occur in New England.

He wanted to go back to see if things were really true, that he would, in those woods, he would suck the very marrow out of life to see as to whether or not these things be true or not. And yet we become lost in our, in LA, in our freeways and in the multiple houses that are all around us to where, at times, with all the buildings that are going up.

You know, I, Susan, I even noticed they were coming up to 215 in the 60-day, the big warehouses that they're building everywhere now. They're blocking out nature. They've taken over the sheep fields. I mean, it's really hard to be angry and upset and depressed when you look at a pasture of sheep, you know? You don't come unglued. You come at peace. And yet this is the society we live in. If you want to get closer to God, you simplify your life.

Number three, then. The great, other great mandate is, is to learn now to become teachers. Don't wait till tomorrow. Don't wait till next week. And the only way that we can learn to become a teacher and practice what we preach is to come out of the world. You have to do that. Then you have to simplify your life. And where you don't have time to learn to become a teacher and an example of the light of Jesus Christ.

Now, let me share some verses with you. Those are just some same posts along the way.

This is just my unpacking to pack.

I have to start with Genesis 1.1. And you've heard me comment on this before. The four greatest words that are revealed to the human heart and mind in the beginning God. And all the rest of this, all of this, all of this that men argue about in this and that, theology, religion, dividing people down.

But in the beginning God, the first four words reminds us that we are created.

We are not an accident. We are not the result of lovesick amoeba and some slimy pliestocine pond, where the light hits the surface of this green pond that is filled with slime. And as a little photosynthesis dance, you get two sparks and you get life.

If you believe that, then you are living life by accident because you believe that we came into being by accident and not by design. And the rest of the book then tells us about design. Brethren, when we are called of God, God called us by design in a time and for a purpose. And that's a matter of faith.

John 6 and verse 44. Let's turn to the Scripture to be able to honor the Scripture. God's words, John 6, 44, because they are life. It says, No one can come unto me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up the last day. Brethren, we have a calling, a calling from on high.

We have been visited, and this is the time of our visitation to use biblical terminology.

Today, not tomorrow, next decade, but these words that are falling on you tells us that you have been called. Called by none other than by a loving God who in his grace and in his favor, and that it might be to his glory and to his honor your life.

That you have been called now, and it is a calling. God the Father calls, and we also know that Jesus, his son, calls. He said, Follow me. John 15 tells us, I have not, you have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. We have to understand, brethren, that we did not stumble into this. You know, like we often say, you don't join the church. I'm not talking about an organization. I'm not talking about a building. You don't join the Ecclesia. You don't get to join like a country club. You don't get to join like, for those of you that like clubs, Sam's Club. If you can't be in the country club, it seems most people are going to Sam's Club. You don't join. You are called. You are drafted. You are given something bigger than your own life. Because God wants to do something very special here with you, with me. Because it's about design. He's creating a new man. He's creating a new woman. He is creating a new way of being a human being. Behold, I create all things new. And with that new man, and with that new woman, He's creating a new kind of community. This community, we would not have known one another, right? We would not have known the Richardsons. We would not know the Halls. We would not know this person or that person, but by the calling of God and being drafted and being brought together in this community to practice something. What are we to practice? Let's move to another set of scriptures. Are you with me? We're going to move. What about faith? Why do I want to draw upon some scriptures about faith? Join me, if you would, for a moment in 1 Peter. Romans 1. Romans 1. In Romans 1, Paul's great thesis on salvation. What about faith? How important is faith? Romans 1, 16, 17. For I am not ashamed of the gospel or the good news of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, and as it is written. Notice, the just shall live by faith. Probably the one verse out of scripture that has affected humanity more than any other verse. I don't have the time to give you all the historical backdrop of that. But to recognize it says, and the just, those that are justified, those that have a relationship with God, are going to live by faith, not by what we see, but by what God reveals to us. How important is that? Is this some Pauline thought? Is this something that is the Bible about two different stories? No. Habakkuk 2 and verse 4. You might want to jot that down. Habakkuk 2 and verse 4. The just shall live by faith. It's not that God has two stories. It's the expanded story that God called Israel of old, and now he's drafted in new people to the Israel of God. So what Habakkuk was talking to, a remnant people back in whatever century BC, is the same story. Everybody from Abram, the father of the faithful, and to the millennium are going to be justified by faith, and that is believing God. How important is that? Hebrews 11 and verse 6.

But without faith, it is impossible to please him, for he who comes to God must believe that he is, must believe that he is, as did Abram, the father of the faithful, and notice, and that he is a rewarder of those who notice diligently seek him. Diligently seek him. That's how we travel, brethren, this coming year. It is not by sight, not by our works, but by faith that he is.

That is, Moses revealed to the Israelites in the beginning God, put right up there in front to be above all of that which Egypt worshipped, the heavens and the earth and all the critters and everything that was in between. God inspired Moses, you move me right up front. Whatever man is worshipping, whatever gets man confused, whatever man really thinks is awesome, it all starts with me. The one that delivered your people Israel was before all that Egypt worshipped in the beginning God. How important is that? Let's talk about that for a moment. How can we walk in faith? Again, important Matthew 4, verse 24, just some big verses leaping out here. Matthew 4, verse 24.

The first gospel. How do we learn about this God who is in the beginning? And how do we learn to please him in faith?

Jesus, out in the Judean wilderness.

Is that what I want? Excuse me just a second here. We're looking.

Actually, Matthew 4, verse 4. Here's Jesus, he's out in the Judean wilderness. Now let's understand something for you all, that and me, that yes, Jesus was the Son of God. But we also recognize that he was the Son of Man. And so he was in this human tent, tabernacling.

In his own pilgrim, it's for three and a half years down here. From Bethlehem to Golgotha, to the tomb, and back to heaven. And so he's out in the Judean wilderness, and every temptation was out there to break his faith. To create disillusionment, to create division from his father, to be depressed, to depart.

But notice what he said here, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Every word. And on our pilgrimage, that's a part of understanding God's righteousness. If we do not accept that every word of God between these two covers is the heart and the mind of God, brethren, we're going to have issues. We can't go here and say, well, I like this part, and I like this part. We can't be like Thomas Jefferson, who took scissors to the Gospels and cut out all of Jesus' miracles, and then said, here's a Jesus of Nazareth that I can live with. The Bible is not the soup plantation. Susan and I went there during the feast, and I do have... confession is good for the soul. There are major areas of the salad bar that I skip over.

You're all looking at me. Are you looking in agreement? No, anyway, that... there's major parts that I skip over.

Scripture is not the soup plantation. It is not pick and choose.

And it's been bought at a price that we might understand, that God can come to us, and that we can be followers of Jesus Christ.

That somebody picked up the bill for us by His life and by His death. That we might understand that we need to read the fullness of Scripture. Psalm 119, verse 4. Psalm 119, verse 4. Pivotal verse this year. There's going to be times, maybe, when we're depressed. Perhaps times when we feel divided. Even in our own mind, we have that divided heart. But notice what the psalmist says here in Psalm 119, verse 4.

Psalm 119, verse 4, it says this. You have commanded us to keep your precepts diligently. O, that my ways were directed to keep your statutes. To maintain the pilgrimage. That I would not be ashamed when I look into all your commandments. And I will praise you with uprightness of heart when I learn your righteous judgments. I will keep your statutes. O, do not forsake me utterly. How can a young man cleanse his way by taking heed according to your word with my whole heart? I have sought you. O, let me not wander from your commandments. Again, I have hidden you in my heart that I might not sin against you. Scripture tells us that the Word of God is like a lamp that is unto our feet. So we notice that. Let me give you another scripture that I was thinking about today. This discusses faith. Join me, if you will, in Galatians 2. Faith in God, faith in His Word, faith that we are not alone. Galatians 2. Some of you may not have realized that I grew up in what we call the old Los Angeles church. I used to meet down at Figaroa on 9th when I was in high school.

Our pastor at that time was Mr. Rod Meredith. This was a verse that he often went to and could expound as only he could as a preacher. But this is a verse that we want to use as a hallmark in our pilgrimage. It is about faith. I have been crucified with Christ. Well, that's a deed. And that takes faith. But it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. Is that a metaphor? Is that poetry? And or is that spiritual reality? And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith.

In the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Faith.

We can't come to God without this kind of faith, brethren. That Christ literally lives in us. In John 14 it says, and I will come to you. That's more than coming back to the Mount of Olives. It's now. It's now. At his resurrection. And then when he came back on that day of Pentecost, when you receive God's Spirit, you have the literality of the Spirit of God the Father and Jesus Christ living in us. Thus there is a difference as we are on this pilgrimage. As to whether or not we are walking with Christ. It's pretty nice. It's nice to walk with Christ. I go to the garden alone. No. It's nice to walk with Christ. Let me pass this pattern out. Okay. And or do we realize that Christ is walking in us? No, the disciples walked with Jesus for three and a half years. And they didn't get it. And all along Christ was wanting to walk inside of them, but it had to wait until Pentecost. My question is simply this, that only you can answer as we continue on this pilgrimage. And that is, are you even on the trail with Christ? Is Christ walking by you? And or do you have Christ walking in you? Your answer to all of those questions will make all the difference in the world. As you and I proceed on this pilgrimage. First Peter 1. Again, another verse about faith. First Peter 1. And let's pick up the thought if we could in verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us. Again, notice a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. From the dead. To an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven. That which Abram and Isaac and Jacob were moving towards, that heavenly country. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need you be grieved by various trials. That the genuineness of your notice? Faith. Being much more precious than gold, the stuff that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love.

And though you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls. That when you look at verse 1 here, where it talks about this lively hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul always created a synonymous link between the resurrection and the interest of God in us and the power of God.

Are you with me? When Paul speaks of power throughout the Epistles, it is underlined with the resurrection.

That was the mark that just astonished the Apostle Paul. And once he understood that, once he understood that Jesus died for our sins and then was resurrected, he recognized that this was the Messiah and that Jesus, in that sense, going to the grave and had Him died, had not only destroyed the sting of death, but had taken all the forces of evil, conquered them, destroyed the works of the devil.

And that this could not just simply be for the Jew, could not just simply be for Israel, but it was so vast, so great, this power that is manifested by the resurrection, that God was doing something.

Behold, something new. The Israel of God. Neither Jew nor Gentile. Neither male or female. Neither slave or free. Behold. Behold. I do a new thing.

I have a question for you on this pilgrimage that many of us have been on for decades. Just a question.

No matter where we're at, no matter what's happening, are you ready to have God do a new thing with you, or are we just simply satisfied with SOS, same old stuff that we haven't cleared out?

Another thing that we've got to recognize, brother, if we are going to be a healthy Christian, a vibrant Christian, one that is a light to the world, light to our family, light to one another in the church, and that God knows that we get it, is to go to John 3, 16.

Just so you know, I'm only going to be able to cover about half my notes, but that's good. John 3, 16.

And the Gospels. How important is John 3, 16, this discussion with Nicodemus? A man that thought he was doing pretty good as a covenant person, but Jesus was going to stretch him. In John 3, verse 16, let's notice this.

God did not come to condemn the world, but to save the world through his Son.

One of the great posts that need to be on this pilgrimage for you, and I'd understand that, the love of God. I could take you to 1 John 4, and I'd suggest that maybe you read that this week. Just 1 John 4, speaking about the love of God, that God is love. So important that the Apostle John mentions it twice.

That love transformed John. John, remember, was called what? A son of thunder.

John wanted to nuke the Samaritans. Let us call down this fire. Let's get him now.

Jesus turned and said to him and his brother, James, that you do not know what spirit you speak from.

When we have tasted the love of God and understand it, we're going to be different people.

We will find that we and faith become secure in that love.

We will find that we will no longer have other people messing with our minds.

Too many of us have other people's thoughts get into our minds, and they mess with our minds.

And they make us slaves because of what other people are doing or what other people are thinking.

Rather than internalizing and embracing that love of God that has no limits. No limits. Not at all. No limits.

And all of us, brethren, speaking with yours to live here, can be more loving, more gentle, more forgiving as we are on this pilgrimage.

It will be welcoming to others. They will notice our light. They will see that there is a difference.

They will see that we are firm. There is a confidence. Because God is loveless, and we know that we are loved.

And we know that He's given us His Word, the whole enchilada, as we say here in Southern California.

Not because we understand it, but because of His revelation and because of the opening up of our hearts.

There becomes a difference when you know who you are and what you are about and who you are serving.

It radiates.

God changes not, and neither do we. Because we are the disciples of His Son. Philippines 4. With all this stated, we are going to have challenges.

Philippines 4. 6. Be anxious for nothing.

We have a GPS. If you've ever gotten a GPS that says, start at this point, do whatever you do.

Whatever you do, because I don't use a GPS. I have been around people that use GPSes, especially when I'm the driver and I'm lost.

So they get on their smart phone, but you put in point A, point C, you go here, you go left, you go right.

And you can hear it in all sorts of different accents, I understand.

But you know what? Or you look at a map. Some of us have been traveling. You guys traveled up to Steamboat Springs.

And you know some of those roads that you look at. Did you do a map or you just know the way like San Jose?

Steven? You know the way. But if you had a map, you would see this straight line. It looks very, very straight until you get on that straight line and you realize that there are dips.

You realize that there are curves. You realize that there may be elevation.

You might not know that a major thunderstorm has come in to dump three or four inches on you like it just did over in Kingman this past week while we were here just basking in fog.

And so God kind of lets us know that here's point A and here's point C.

And He's in the beginning and the end. He wants to meet us at the end. But you know there's some lightning, there's some thunder, there are some dips, there are some valleys of death.

There are some people that are after us like King David, who's always looking over our shoulder, it seems, when you read the Psalms and you read the book.

But notice what it says, be anxious for nothing because we know that we have been called, we know that we have been given God's Word, which is Spirit, which is life.

We know that Jesus Christ is living in us, but in everything by prayer and supplication and with thanksgiving.

Even in trial, thanksgiving is the most important thing, one of the most important things.

Thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ.

You see, God and Jesus Christ always working together, they're always in union.

You see, one in one set of Scriptures just wandered down a little... there's Christ, you wandered down a little bit more, there's God, there's no division.

The only division is down here about who and what they are and how they are united.

Scripture just clearly shows that they're united in purpose and in love.

There is a oneness that we need to embrace from them, and it will guard your hearts.

The terminology that's being used here by Paul is like Roman sentinels at the door of Caesar.

On guard, spirit, don't be anxious.

Who me? I'm not scared.

And we are not distant friends, we are going to be scared.

God knows that.

Our knees will be shaking. That's human.

But our hearts, as we claim these promises, as we hold onto these verses to pack into our heart, it's going to keep our heart firm.

Shakespeare said in Henry V, if the mind be ready, all things are so.

And if our hearts are ready, that we will be able to meet the challenge.

Why are we able to meet the challenge? Romans say a verse that we need to pack in there, brethren, every day.

You know, David said in Psalm 139, Where shall I go from your presence?

Where can I go? If I go up, you're up there. If I go down, you know what? You're down there.

Well, Paul was not telling a different story. He's telling the same story. He's telling the story of freedom. He's talking about the story of liberation, that for the Jews, for the Israelites, went back to Passover, but now there is that greater Moses, the second Moses.

And to recognize Psalm 139 is beautiful until you read Romans 8. Join me if you would there in Romans 8.

When we get a little shaky on the pilgrimage, this is what Paul says here.

This is what Paul says.

Verse 35, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, peril, or sword?

As it is written, for your sake, we are killed all day long, and we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

Yet in all of these things, we are more than conscious. We stay on the path. We remain on the pilgrimage.

We see like a Brahm and Isaac and Jacob that better city.

And like Dickens said in the Tale of Two Cities, it's a far, far better thing than I've done than I've ever done before, and it is indeed a far, far better place than I go, than I've ever been.

But when you read the end of the story of the Tale of Two Cities, there is a sacrifice at the end.

Yet in all of these things, we are more than conquerors through Him.

And you think, here, if I can make a comment when you look at this, it says that Paul takes a breath right here.

Isn't that enough?

And then he starts thinking about even more that does not sound... This is a breath, a pause, and then his mind and his heart gets rolling, and he says, For I am persuaded now, the inertia goes up again, that neither death nor life nor angels or principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Henceforth, forevermore, almost sounds religious.

Always look at Psalm 139, which is a beautiful psalm, and then attach Romans 8 to it, and recognize it's one great story of God's love for us.

I have many other scriptures to give you, but I'm going to conclude here. I want to share a thought with you.

Whatever you are going through right now, some are more noted than others. Others are quiet with what they're going through right now. All of us, to one degree or another, are going to be going through it. We have to all go through it, because that's how the precious gold is tested.

In all of this, let's understand something here.

God has not chosen to create new conditions for us to live in. We remain in this world. Jesus said, Father, I ask you not to take them out of this world, but to keep them. Have you ever seen that verse? Oh, thanks. Just thank you very much.

Be me up, Scotty, and do it now.

When we're going to wake up tomorrow, the world be your world. My world be much the same as it is today. But as I said before, God is creating new men and new women through His Spirit. People that, by understanding that we are pilgrims, that we're just passing through, just passing through, can understand what Victor Frankel said. Victor Frankel was a very famous author, a Holocaust survivor during World War II, Austrian Jew, and he was placed into a camp. And also, being a psychologist, he was studying everybody there. And he basically came to this. He came to this conclusion, and I ask that you hear me, that while people that are survivors, whether physical survivors or spiritual survivors, those that start the pilgrimage and conclude it with Jesus Christ walking in them as they approach the Father, that while such people cannot control what happens to them in life, can control what is happening as it happens to them. I'm going to share that. It's profound. Survivors, those that came out of the camps, those that complete the pilgrimage journey that is set before us as well, such survivors, while they cannot control necessarily what happens to them in life, can control what happens as it happens to them. Why is certain things happening to us? We're family here. We'll talk for a moment. I've got Parisha right in front of me right now, who we all love, like a daughter. But Susan, I always say she's got an old soul. She's like our age. She's always been our friend. We have Bill, who almost died here a couple months ago. We have others that are in the hospital state. We have the tailors who just had that horrible accident. Susan and I are going to go visit Ray out here after services. Why do these things happen? I don't have all the answers. When I was 23 and graduated from Ambassador College, I had all of the answers. At age 67, I have no answers, but I've got great faith in God. Because I recognize that there is nothing that is going to separate us from the Father because of the love of Christ. And to use old Jewish wisdom like good old Heim is that we're going to have to leave some things to God and have that conversation with Him at the end of the journey. Two more verses, if you'll just bear me time. We must, on this pilgrimage, always begin with the end in mind. Stephen Covey, big, big principle. You have not just been covetized. Join me if you would in Revelation 21. Revelation 21. We always begin looking at that true home, looking at what God always wanted to do, that I will be your God and I will be your people. We go back and understand the story of Genesis where it talks about God having created the heavens and God creating the earth. That He always wanted it to be one. He tells us about Revelation in Genesis. That heaven and earth are going to be one day created, seemingly different in our human minds and hearts, but He's going to make it one.

He then, in Genesis 3, makes man and woman, two different beings, two different human beings, that He ultimately wants to be what? One. What is God's favorite number? Two? No. One. He's the God of oneness. Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. And also there was no more sea, no more buffers, no more division. Oceans and seas of old were looked with dread. That's where ships disappeared. That's where monsters were, out there lurking in the deeps. Many and most of the sailors of old were what we call coast huggers. They went along the coast. They were afraid to go out. There's going to be no more sea, no more division between God and man, man and man. And then I, John, saw the Holy City, New Jerusalem, coming out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his people. And God himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away notice every tear from their eyes. It speaks to the personableness. It speaks to the intimacy. It speaks to God touching his creation. Him, literally, whether it's figurative, whether it's apocalyptic, but it gives us the sense of a God that loves to be touched and be touched by us and for him to touch us.

Have you ever wiped a tear away from your wife's eyes? Or maybe your wife come up and wipe a tear out of your eye or your children's eyes?

There is almost nothing more intimate than that.

There's a warmth to that tear. There's a moisture to that tear. And there is a... when that is done in love, hopefully you didn't make her cry, or you didn't make him cry, but that... or the child, accidents do happen.

But that... that it's so intimate. And that's how God wants you and me, as we continue this pilgrimage, to see him through the framework of a tear.

That when Jesus went to the grave of Lazarus, it's said that he cried.

God was framed in a tear, through Christ, about death, about unbelief, and God's ability to join us at the end of the pilgrimage.

You keep that vision. You keep that post. And then you remember what Jesus said. You might want to jot this down, Luke 23 46.

No matter what comes your way in the days, the weeks, the months, the years ahead, only God knows our time.

And he's not only created time, but he's the master of it for each and every one of us.

Luke 23 46, let it be our prayer, that every day we go to Genesis 1 1, in the beginning God.

He is Creator. He is Intervener. He is our Heavenly Father. And Jesus, with everything that he went through in those last hours of his life, no matter what came on his way in his pilgrimage on this earth at that time, one that he didn't have to take but took willingly, because he was about his Father's business. Luke 23 46, we finish. Are you with me? Look up here. Don't miss the PowerPoint. We really have to pack this in our pilgrimage suitcase.

Father, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.

All packed up. Let's get ready to go.

And as a Redlands congregation, let's continue this pilgrimage together. And as God helps us, comforts us, let us be sure to comfort one another.

Say, let's go.