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You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You Amen welcome to first works baptist church We're going to get started with song number 42 as you find your seats song number 42 And if you are able to please stand with me to sing song number 42, my latest son is sinking fast song number 42 there in your hymnals Song number 42 seat on that first my latest son is sinking fast my race is nearly run My strongest trials now are past my triumph is begun Oh Come angel band Come and around me stand. Oh bear me away on your snowy wings to my eternal Oh bear me away on your snowy wings to my eternal home I know i'm near the holy ranks of friends and kindred dear For I hear the waves on jordan's banks the crossing must be near Oh come angel band come and Around me stand. Oh bear me away on your snowy wings to my eternal Oh bear me away on your snowy wings to my eternal home I've almost reached my heavenly home my spirit loudly sings Thy holy ones behold they come I hear the noise of wings Oh come angel band come And around me stand. Oh bear me away on your snowy wings to my eternal home Oh bear me away on your snowy wings to my eternal home Oh bear my longing heart to him Whose blood now cleanses from all sin and gives me victory Oh Come angel band come And around me stand oh bear me away on your snowy wings to my eternal Oh bear me away on your snowy wings to my eternal home Amen wonderful singing let's start off our service with a word of prayer dear god and my father I wish to thank you so much for dear god for just allowing us to be here in your house this morning lord God, I do pray that you please just bless every single soul that's here I do pray that you please just bless every aspect of the service this morning. Oh dear god I pray that you please bless the singing and praise unto you lord your god And we also do pray for our pastor lord god that you would please just fill in with your holy spirit As he expounds on the scriptures unto us would your god and I pray that you would please also just be with us What are your god that you would help us to be attentive with our hearts and our ears lord god And that we might play the sermon to our lives with your god that we might leave here changed with god this morning I pray these things in jesus name. Amen. You may be seated song number 164 Praise him praise him Song number 164 Praise him. Praise him Song number 164. See it on that verse praise him praise him jesus our blessed redeemer Sing all earth is wonderful love proclaim In his name Hail him hail him highest archangels in glory Strength and honor Give to his holy name Like a shepherd Jesus will guard his children in his Arms, he carries them all day long Praise him praise him tell of his excellent greatness Praise him praise him Praise him praise him jesus our blessed redeemer For our sins he suffered and bled and died He our rock our hope of eternal salvation Hail him help him Sound his praises jesus Praise him praise him tell of his excellent greatness Praise him praise him Praise him praise him jesus our blessed redeemer Jesus Rise Praise him All right, great singing everyone thank you so much for being here just a few announcements here before we sing our next song Which will be 161 if you want to get that ready in your song books our great savior song number 161 if you did not get a bulletin going to raise your hand one of the ushers can get one for you Our services are as follows sunday morning is at 10 30 sunday evening at 5 p.m And then we have our thursday night bible study at seven o'clock and we are currently going through the book of first samuel And so hope to see you on thursday evenings for the bible study there you see the so many times and teams The list of expecting mothers if you can continue to pray for them And I believe we can remove miss olivia lee from the list. Correct. I think she already had her baby Is that is that true or am I mistaken? Does anybody know? Yes, do we have the stats on that? No stats yet? Okay, we can get those for the following service, but we can remove her from here And so, uh, and then you see the important reminders on there and some of the upcoming church events Of course today pastor shelly was supposed to be preaching for us today But you know, he got evicted and so he used that as an excuse not to come and I don't know what's wrong with the guy but you know priorities folks priorities. No, i'm just kidding No, he got evicted from his um from his church building him in his church for preaching god's word in texas And so, uh, he is currently meeting somewhere else right now and once they get settled then they'll uh, he's gonna come visit us And uh preach for us and so be in prayer over pastor shelly instead of as baptist church Uh today is the birthday breakfast and judia soul winning And so whose birthday is in uh in the month of march raise your hand if your birthday is in the month of march Got one over here one right there anybody else? Is that it? Two people in our church. All right, look who brother chevy brother carrie. Okay, cool All right, anybody else? Let's sing. Happy birthday to these three people here All right. Here we go. Ready? Happy birthday to you Happy birthday to you Happy birthday. God bless you Happy birthday All right round of applause for the three in march Get yourself a donut after service there You see the san diego soul winning marathon's coming up this saturday march 12th at 8 30 If you're going to be if you're going to be there if you're planning to attend and participate you can uh, let brother Uh, ulysses know about that brother ulysses hernandez and he'll sign you up and then ariel's baby showers coming up on sunday, march 13th That'll be the following sunday Uh this this coming sunday, excuse me. Music training is on saturday march 19th. That'll start at 11 a.m We'll have lunch prepared for everyone and anybody who is uh involved in the music ministry It's required for you to be there. We're going to go over some important things regarding that men's prayer nights coming up on friday, march 24th And then something that's not on your bulletin is that next next week, excuse me on march 13th is daylight savings time Okay, and most of us have like an uh, you know Modernized phones and everything like that But for those of you who don't okay, just keep that in mind because we spring forward so we lose an hour and so Do not be late to church. That's the reason i'm announcing it. All right And then we have here at the bottom no food or drink allowed in the main auditorium except for water and coffee No loitering in the foyer and fellowship hall during the preaching service And then of course quiet time is this afternoon from 3 p.m To 4 15 and please make sure you silence your phones during the preaching so as to not be a distraction during the service And that is it for our announcements. Let's go ahead and sing our next song 161 our great savior song number 161 Song number 161 our great savior song number 161 See it on that first Jesus what a friend for sinners Jesus My soul friends may fail me those My savior What a friend saving help me Jesus what a strength in weakness Myself in him Tempted Right and sometimes barely My strength What Me Jesus what a hell in sorrow While the pillows or me Even when my heart is breaking My What Jesus what a guy and keeper I Don't take me my Save your Friend Help me keep me Jesus I do now receive him more than all Him I find He hath granted me Forgiveness, I am his and he is mine What a friend saving help me With me to The end Amen wonderful singing at this time. Our wishes will be receiving the offering and please turn your bibles to colossians chapter one So So So So Colossians chapter number one the bible reads Paul an apostle of jesus christ by the will of god and timotheus our brother to the saints and faithful brethren in christ Which are at colossi grace be unto you in peace from god our father and the lord jesus christ We give thanks to god and the father of our lord Jesus christ praying always for you since we heard of your faith in christ jesus and of the love which you have to all the Saints with hope which is laid up for you in heaven wherever you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel Which has come unto you as it is in all the world And bringeth forth fruit as it doth also in you since the day you heard of it and knew the grace of god in truth As you also learned of epaphras your our dear fellow servant who is for you a faithful minister of christ Who also declared unto us your love in the spirit? For this cause we also since the day we heard it do not cease to pray for you And to desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding That you might walk worthy of the lord unto all pleasing being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of god Strengthened with all might according to his glorious power unto all patience and long suffering with joyfulness Giving thanks unto the father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in life Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear son In whom we have redemption through his blood even the forgiveness of sins Who is the image of the invisible god the firstborn of every creature? For by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth Visible and invisible whether they be thrones or dominions principalities or powers all things were created by him and for him And he is before all things and by him all things consist and he is the head of the body the church Who is the beginning the first who is the beginning the first born from the from the dead? That in all things he might have the preeminence For it pleased the father that in him should all fullness dwell And having made peace through the blood of his cross by him to reconcile all things unto himself By him I say whether they be things in earth or things in heaven And you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works Yet now hath he reconciled and body of his flesh through death to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight If you continue in the faith grounded and settled and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel Which ye have heard which was preached to every creature which is under heaven Whereof I paul and made a minister Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you and fill up that which is behind Of the afflictions of christ in my flesh for his body's sake which is the church Whereof I made a minister according to the dispensation of god Which is given to me for you to fulfill the word of god Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints In whom god would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery? Among the gentiles which is christ in you the hope of glory whom we preach warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom And we present every man perfect in christ. Jesus Where into I also labor striving according to his working which worketh in me mightily Let's pray dear lord god. Uh, just thank you for your word Thank you for preserving it for us in the king james bible just ask that you would be with our pastor now Please just strengthen him fill in with your holy spirit Just ask that you bless the preaching of your word and choose this use it to help us Your own grace and the knowledge of your son. Jesus christ. It's in his name. We pray. Amen. Amen Okay, we're in colossians chapter number one this morning look down at your bibles at verse number 16 It says here for by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth visible and invisible Whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers all things were created by him and for him and he is before all things and by him all things consist and the title of my sermon this morning is visible and invisible the Visible as well as the invisible as christians. We know that, you know, there's more to life than what meets the eye, right? The naked eye although capable of beholding grand spectrums of colors and faces locations and Beautiful things in this world. It can't go beyond the material world Our physical bodies are only meant to touch that which is physical See what that which is physical Uh and taste that which is physical it has its limitations. It can't reach into heaven to bring christ down from above It can reach into heaven or look into the vastness of eternity to behold what eternity is it can only distinguish That which is visible can't perceive the spiritual but here's the thing is that as christians we know that the spiritual exists We know that the spiritual realm is there it exists. We know that For a fact that it's it's a reality Even though we can't see it with our naked eye and it's not because you know, we've gone to heaven, right? It's not because we ourselves had a dream of going to heaven and we saw enoch and we saw the the apostles there And we saw all these heavenly beings and therefore we know that heaven exists It's not because we had a dream about going to hell either, you know Where we went to hell and we saw what it's like down there, you know, there's plenty of people out there I call charlatans who want to claim that they've been to heaven want to claim that they've been to hell But they've never seen either. Okay. Now most of them will see hell one day if they don't trust christ as their savior And if they get saved and they will see heaven but here in this physical world They will not behold those things with their physical eyes with their physical bodies. It is impossible Now obviously we see examples throughout the bible of people for example the apostle paul who was caught up into the third heaven, right? We have luke chapter 16 where god gives us this miraculous conversation between lazarus who is uh Excuse me between abraham who's currently in heaven and the rich man who is in hell? And they are basically discussing and he's talking about how he's in torment and in fire, but this is not a regular occurrence This is what's called a miracle And the very essence of a miracle is that it's special Why is it special because it doesn't happen all the time, you understand? This is obviously something that was put forth in order to validate and confirm the word of god, okay But these aren't things that take place. You say well, how do you know then that heaven exists? How do you know that hell exists? I know there's a spiritual realm because of the fact that I believe it by faith That's how I know he said. Well, I want some clear Concrete evidence that god exists. I want some clear concrete evidence that hell is real that heaven is real Well, I don't have clear concrete evidence and neither does god want you to have clear concrete evidence for it The only evidence that he has is something that you can't see. It's something you have to believe by faith Okay, and you know, I get tired of these atheists out there who constantly want well, no you proved to me I don't have to prove anything to you I have to preach the word of god to you. And if you want to accept it, that's on you If you want to believe god's word and trust god's word That's up to you, but i'm not going to bring christ down from above to say look here he is I'm, not going to bring some burning body from hell And say look see hell is real I don't have that ability and god doesn't want us to do that because of the fact that You know, these things are accepted by faith. The bible says we walk by faith and not by sight, okay These things are accepted by faith hebrews 11 verse 1 Says now faith is the substance of things hoped for listen to this the evidence of things not seen Then you want evidence? Yeah. Well, you can't see it though Faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen for by the elders obtain a good report through faith We understand that the worlds were framed by the word of god You said how do you know that because all things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made the bible says John 1 1 tells us how everything was created Genesis chapter 1 tells us how everything was created and therefore we accept it by faith He says through faith We understand that the worlds were framed by the word of god so that the things which are seen were not made of things Which do appear so the things which are seen the things that we're looking at the planets and the stars the universe Nature itself wasn't created by something that was already here. It was created by the eternal By the eternal word of god who spoke these things into existence. Oh, yeah, but how do you know that? You know, you weren't there. Yeah. Well according to your Theology or your doctrine you think that everything came from like some primordial soup And let's say that were true. You weren't there to see it either So obviously you're just exercising your faith to believe a lie to believe evolution Whereas I simply place my faith in god's word and I believe what he says that how things were created. So the problem today Is that people want to perceive the spiritual with the physical eye? And they say well if I don't see it then i'm not going to believe it, okay Well, you know you believe in error You believe in the wind there's plenty of things that you don't physically see but yet you still believe that it exists But even beyond that there is a spiritual realm that exists And in fact the bible tells us this that a wicked and adulterous generation listen to this seeketh after a sign So god says the person who just wants to us to show the proof that god exists and that you know Demons exist and the angels exist and there's a spiritual realm the bible calls that a wicked and adulterous generation Because here's the thing. Let's say god Miraculously just showed himself To this world in 2022. First of all, everyone would just die because no man can see his face and live the bible says But let's say he didn't let's say he just showed his backside the vast majority of the population would still not believe They wouldn't believe they would try to reason it away And create other excuses as to why they saw what they saw Because at the end of the day, that's not the issue At the end of the day, it's not an issue of whether these things really exist why it's it's an issue of their faith Do they want to believe it? Okay Wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign and there shall no sign be given unto it The bible says this is jesus speaking but the sign of the prophet jonas and he left them and departed the invisible Which is the spiritual? Is often encapsulated by the visible though So we obviously understand that we can't just open our eyes and start seeing demons and angels And the lord and the spiritual things that are taking place beyond the realm of the physical But we are able to perceive them with our spirit We're able to perceive them with the faith that we have because god's words says it go to the first corinthians chapter number two If you would first corinthians chapter number two talk about visible and the invisible Why are you turning to first corinthians chapter 2 i'm going to read to you from romans 1 verse 19 says this Because that that which may be known of god is manifest in them for god hath showed it unto them Listen to this for the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen Being understood by the things that are made even his eternal power and godhead so that they are without excuse So look god, although does not reveal the vastness of eternity to mankind By visibly looking at it. He doesn't reveal the eternal damnation of hell to mankind by physically being able to look at it The things which are seen manifest the fact that god is real manifest the fact that These things were made by a creator you understand and this is what we would refer to as the witness of creation Now this witness of creation is not enough to get someone saved Now there's people out there that will tell you that you can get saved through creation and that's completely false Because the bible says that the gospel is the power of god into Power of god into salvation to everyone that believeth to the jew first and also to the greek He said what's the point of creation? The point of creation is to provide Light for you to respond to that'll take you to the next step so that you can get saved Okay, someone looks at creation and recognizes there is a creator there is a higher being there is a higher power And I want to seek after that being in a higher power now Let me just say this is that there's no such thing as a legitimate atheist You're like what I run into atheists all the time. Yeah, but All atheists every human being in this world believes in a higher power And in fact the bible says the fool hath said in his heart there is no god And the reason it says that is because a fool is someone who knows the truth but rejects it That's why he says a fool hath said in his heart. There is no god everyone in this world understands that there is a higher being A higher power they have the witness of creation The bible says that when the gentiles which have not the law do those things which are contained in the law These being without the law are a law unto themselves In other words, they know the difference between right and wrong. Well, that's just you know, uh evolution Um, you know, let's go to the jungles of africa Let's go observe some of these animals out there and see if they're exercising morality It doesn't look like evolution has helped them very much with that now has it right, you know The difference of knowing the difference between right and wrong good and evil does not stem from some evolutionary You know occurrence it comes from the fact that god has placed within us the law of the law of god in our hearts That's why we know the difference between good and evil and so when we respond to that we get a little closer to the truth you understand Look what the bible says in first corinthians 2 verse 9 But as it is written I hath not seen nor ear heard neither have entered into the heart of man The things which god has prepared for them that love him the bible says So physical eyes the physical ear and even the physical heart can't perceive the things that god has prepared for them that love him These are spiritually perceived verse 10 says but god has revealed them unto us By our eyes by our ears by our heart. No by his spirit the bible says For the spirit searcheth all things. Yea the deep things of god verse 11 for what men know with the things of man Who is it out there that has all this knowledge of man? Not just in regards to his physical body But even regarding his soul even regarding his mind even regarding his eternal, uh spirit who knows these things What man knoweth the things of man look what it says save the spirit of man, which is in him Even so the things of god knoweth no man, but the spirit of god and so in order for us to understand this world In order for us to understand that which is physical that which is visible We have to have a clear understanding of that which is invisible the spiritual realm You understand? You say what's the what's the point of this? Well, the point of this is to help us to understand the fact that you know, obviously we live in a physical realm But you know what? It's important for us as christians to place a heavier emphasis on that which is spiritual in order to understand the physical When we understand that which is spiritual we understand why things happen in this physical world and i'm not referring to science I'm not referring to cause and effect i'm referring to spiritual problems That manifests itself in physically in a physical world you understand it's like why is the country in such bad shape? It's a spiritual issue Why is this person involved in drunkenness and fornication because it's a spiritual issue Why am I depressed? Well, you probably need to change your diet and lift some weights, but other than that, it's a spiritual issue Right, why is this physically happening i'll tell you why because it's a spirit Why do people die because it's a spiritual issue For the wages of sin is death the bible says And so we understand that which is physical based upon that which is invisible according to the bible And by the way, this is why christian psychologists shouldn't even exist Right or how about this just psychologists just in general Now psychologists, you know, they understand a lot of what's going on in the mind They understand the psyche of people but you know what an unsafe psychologist is missing one element that they'll never be able to solve Which is the spiritual? So they can understand the cause and effect in the brain All these neurons and what's taking place in the mind? But they'll never come to a definite conclusion or definite solution to a person's problem because it's a spiritual issue Like we don't understand why we don't understand why this guy just grew up and became an axe murderer He just went out and just murdered 50 people raped a bunch of people We don't understand. What's the problem with this? We just this just happens. No, it doesn't just happen It's called a reprobate mind according to the bible It's a spiritual issue But when you remove that spiritual element the invisible element the physical world doesn't really make sense a whole lot you understand When someone tells you that you came from soup I don't know man, you know, I don't know if that really makes sense, but when you recognize that a creator made you You know the the That the creator of this world of the universe made you He made you exactly how you are with the personality that you have He knows all the hairs that are numbered on your head. He knows uh you from the beginning to the end He knows every aspect of you then that makes sense Turn with me if you would to matthew chapter 12 Let me give you examples of invisible elements encapsulated in the visible world Well, I think we need to keep these things separate The visible and the invisible we need to keep these things separate But you know what god doesn't keep these things separate. In fact, he put he puts one in the other And let me start at the most basic level here. Let's talk about hell for example Hell is a spiritual place But it's actually encapsulated in a physical world according to the bible You're in matthew chapter 12 i'm going to read to you from jonah chapter number two Let me just give you a bit of a background of the prophet jonah jonah Was a prophet of the lord who was supposed to go to ninnova to preach into the ninnovites cause him to repent get right with god He disobeyed the lord and decided to go elsewhere. Okay, and of course god wasn't pleased with that So he prepared a great well to swallow him up. He was swallowed up by the whale and he was in the whale's belly And he repented within the whale's belly the well vomited jonah back up on land and you know He was pretty motivated thereafter to obey god He was like, you know what? I think I am gonna go I had I had some time to think about this You know and he went he preached and the entire city repented they got right with god But while he was in the whale's belly he made some statements That were actually prophetic of jesus christ Let me read it to you from jonah chapter 2 verse 16 says then jonah prayed unto the lord his god out of the fish's belly And said I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the lord and he heard me out of the belly of hell Cried I and thou heardest my voice now jonah was not in hell jonah was in a whale's belly But prophetically he's stating that he was in hell. Why is that? We're going to look in just a bit verse 3 says for thou has cast me into the deep In the midst of the seas and the floods come past me about all thy billows and thy waves passed over me Then I said I am cast out of thy sight yet. Will I look again toward that holy temple? The waters come past me about even to the soul The depth closed me round about and the weeds were wrapped about my head. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains Now whales can swim pretty deep But not below mountains This is referring to a complete different location He says the earth with her bars was about me forever The word of god says yet thou has brought me up mine afflict from mine corruption. Oh lord my god So what is he talking about? He's talking about being in hell He describes it as being in hell first and foremost then he says he goes to the bottoms of the mountains He says the bars with her earth were about him forever This is referring to the realm known as hell. You say well, how do you know that? Well, because jesus christ actually references this story when talking about himself look at matthew 12 verse 39 It says here but he answered and sent him to them and evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign And there shall no sign be given to it. But the sign of the prophet jonas jonas is jonah For as jonas was three days and three nights in the well's belly listen to this So shall the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth Now what is this specifically referring to it's referring to the fact that when jesus christ died on the cross The bible says that his soul descended into hell Now a lot of people have an issue with that because they think to themselves How can you say such a blasphemous thing that jesus god himself went to hell? Well, the bible actually says that And in fact the bible states in psalm 15 later, uh reiterated in act chapter 2 That would not leave my soul in hell neither would I suffer that holy one to see corruption? And hell there is referring to hell. Okay, and a lot of people, you know, the dispensations would try to say Well, that's referring to abraham's bosom I've preached sermons on that debunking that it's referring to hell folks because if jesus were to pay for our sins If we were to pay for our sins, we would go to hell One like man or jesus christ paying for our sins went to hell for three days and three nights That's why he has the keys to death and of hell. This is why his feet are as brass in his resurrected form in revelation chapter one This is why the animal sacrifices were burnt offerings in the old testament Jesus christ being the lamb of god who should take away the sins of the world Literally went to hell in order to pay for our sins for three days and three nights But his soul was not left in hell the bible says neither did his flesh see corruption But I want you to notice that it says that he was in the heart of the earth the heart meaning the core Now when you study the earth physically, we know that at the center of the earth There is lava. There's brimstone. There's fire That is what's known as the heart of the earth and spiritually speaking god refers to that as hell So we see a spiritual place encapsulated by a physical world now Go to number 16, if you would number chapter 16 How many have ever seen the youtube video sounds of hell? As a new christian, I remember watching that and I was like, this is so scary You know, they said that some russians like they dug they had a drill and it went all the way down And it went into hell and they put a mic down there And then when they put the mic down there all you hear is like a bunch of people screaming And then they brought it up and the mic was melted And you know as a brand new christian because you know a babe in christ, you're like, oh that's legit That that for for real happened Like that's that's for sure and then you listen to the sounds it's like yeah I mean people are weeping and wailing and gnashing their teeth for sure, you know, but it's it's obviously a hoax Because no one listen to me Not one human being will ever be able to dig down all the way to the core of the earth It's absolutely impossible to do you wouldn't even surpass the mantle You're not even going to scratch the surface when digging into the center of the earth, okay But that doesn't mean that hell doesn't exist It means that god has made it impossible for the physical people to be able to behold hell with their physical eyes But they can behold it with their spiritual eyes if they die without christ Okay, look what the bible says in number chapter 16. I'm gonna read to you from ephesians 4 This is going to reinforce the statement of jesus christ going to hell it says in ephesians 4 Wherefore he saith when he ascended up on high he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men Now that he ascended what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth He that descended is the same also that ascended far above all heavens that he might fill all things So the bible's giving us an order of sequence here He said before he even ascended into heaven to put his blood on the mercy seat as the bible tells us Before he did that when he died. He actually descended first into the lower parts of the earth matthew 12 into the heart of the earth quoting jonah chapter 2 being Hell So that shows us that hell is a spiritual place where souls go And it's encapsulated by a physical world. Okay, look at number 16 verse 25 This is a very interesting story here What we have here is three men coradathan and abiram And these are false prophets and they're seeking to usurp the authority of moses. Okay, we obviously understand that moses Is a friend of god He speaks to god god favors moses greatly and he doesn't take kindly to anybody attacking moses Okay. In fact, he takes it offensively even against himself And we see here that coradathan and abiram they're trying to usurp the authority of moses And of course god is going to punish them And let's read verse 25 says moses rose up and went into dathan and abiram and the elders of israel followed him And he's spoken to the congregation saying Depart I pray you from the tents of these wicked men And touch nothing of theirs lest he be consumed in all their sins So prior to this he says look if these men die the common death you know, they just I don't know. They just fall over and die or something or you know They fall off a cliff and they bang their head and they die He's like then, you know, obviously it wasn't of the lord. He says but if the earth opens up her mouth And they go in then know that it is of the lord so he's going around warning people saying Don't stand near coradathan and abiram and their tabernacle and their families because they're about to be destroyed Verse 27 so they got up from the tabernacle of coradathan and abiram on every side And dathan and abiram came out and stood in the door of their tents and their wives and their sons and their little children And moses said hereby you shall know that the lord had sent me to do all these works for I have not done them Of mine own mind if these men die the common death of all men Or if they be visited after the visitation of all men, then the lord hath not sent me But if the lord make a new thing and the earth open her mouth and swallow them up With all that appertain unto them and they go down quick into the pit Then he shall understand that these men have provoked the lord now, let me explain a couple things here When it says they go down quick into the pit, it's not referring to the rapidity by which they fall It doesn't mean like oh man that was quick or they fell quick quick just means alive Okay, the bible says in ephesians 2 you hath the quickened who were dead and trespasses in sin In other words, you have to be brought back to life who are dead and trespasses in sin The bible says that the word of god is quick and powerful Sharper than any two-edged sword referring to the fact that the word of god is alive. Okay, so he says here Uh That if they go down quick into the pit the pit's referring to hell And if you reference this with any other references in the bible regarding to pit, you'll see that it's talking about hell. Okay He's not just saying just some random pit. He says they're going to go alive into hell. Okay Verse 31 it came to pass As he had made an end of speaking all these words that the ground clave asunder That was under them and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up and their houses and all the men that appertained into Korah and all their goods they and all that appertained to them went down alive into the pit And the earth closed upon them and they perished from among the congregation go to isaiah chapter 14 isaiah 14 so we see literally that they actually Physically went down into hell now. I don't believe that when they actually fell into the pit that their physical bodies Like went into hell at that point. Okay, they obviously died on the way down Okay So the bodies got caught somewhere but their their soul continued to descend into hell And often when the bible describes someone going to hell describes them as then going down into the pit Descending going down because that's where it physically is located. Okay Look at isaiah 14. I'm going to read you from isaiah chapter 5 It says therefore hell hath enlarged herself and opened her mouth without measure and their glory and their multitude and their pomp And he that rejoiceth shall descend into it. Look at isaiah 14 verse 8 verse 9 Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming It stirreth up the dead for thee even all the chief ones of the earth It hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations now This is prophetically referring to uh satan lucifer himself saying hell from beneath is moved for thee But this is basically could be talking about anybody who's going to hell The point that i'm trying to make here is the fact that hell is beneath us And although it's a spiritual realm it does exist Encapsulated within a physical world. Okay. This is how god will often create things He'll create something that is spiritual encapsulated in that which is physical go to revelation chapter 20 last verse here on hell So And the inspiration for this for this sermon was I was talking to uh, our evangelist brother ulysses And I was telling him about a short that I was going to make I was like, I think i'm gonna make a short about hell Just talk about hell. You know what I mean? Like where is hell located? I was like, you know hell is located in the center of the earth And he was just like yeah, it's like literally there, you know, it's like physically there and I said well It's not necessarily physically there It's spiritually there and he's like but doesn't it say that it's in the center of the earth i'm like, yeah, but It's spiritually there It's just encapsulated by that which is physical And then we then we started thinking about all these examples in the bible that show the spiritual encapsulated in that which is physical. Okay And we're going to go through more of these look at revelation 20 verse 1 it says and I saw an angel come down from heaven Having the key of the bottomless pit in a great chain in his hand so hell's not only referred to as being the pit It's referred of course as hell but it also is referenced as being the bottomless pit because when someone falls into hell They are continuously falling because the earth is continuously rotating on its axis. So he's just falling falling falling It's like a bottomless pit It says and he laid hold on the dragon the old serpent which is the devil and satan and bound him a thousand years And cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up and set a seal upon him that he should deceive the nations No more till a thousand years should be fulfilled and after that he must be loose for a little Season go with me if you would to second peter chapter one. So we see here first and foremost an invisible thing such as hell Is encapsulated in that which is visible known as the earth now, thankfully, you know, if you're saved you'll never see hell Amen You will never see hell but let me just say this if you're sitting in here this morning And you have not believed on jesus christ for your salvation if you are doubting your salvation If you're wondering I don't know if i'm saved. I don't know if I were to die today if i'd go to heaven I do believe in god. I believe in the bible. I just don't know beyond a shadow of a doubt You need to get that settled today Because the last thing you want is for this invisible place To be a reality to you one day You know the bible says that the rich man died and in hell he lifted up his eyes being in torment the bible says Hell's a real place where people go To burn for all of eternity. The bible says that the smoke of the turn of their torment ascended up forever and ever And they have no rest day or night If you have a chance to be saved today get saved today Before you leave you say well, you know, i'll just wait till next week But how do you know you have till next week though? How do you know that you have until the next hour? How do you know that you have till tomorrow? There's thousands of people in this world. They make plans for tomorrow. They won't even make it to the end of the day Thousands of people who make plans for next week. They won't even make it till tomorrow They might die today and they'll split hell wide open, but that can be averted folks You can avoid the wrath of god known as hell by believing on jesus christ Trusting him as your savior plus nothing minus nothing the bible says he that believeth on the sun listen to this hath everlasting life He that believeth not the sun shall not see life, but the wrath of god abideth on him That's what the bible says So get that settled today. If you don't know 100 sure that if you were to die that you would go to heaven So hell is a spiritual place located encapsulated in the physical world, but how about this the bible? Is god's word encapsulated in a physical book Right now this particular book is the word of god, but it's the content of the bible It's the spiritual truths in the bible that count not necessarily this physical book And the reason I say that is because you know A lot of people will place an emphasis too much of an emphasis on the actual physical book itself You know, they have this superstitious view Of the bible where it's like it's almost like holy but here's the thing. What's holy is the contents in the bible This was made by like a printing, you know machine or something like that Okay, this is put together by a man This leather is from some animal. Okay, the paper is from some tree And it's not necessarily important It's the content within the bible but the bible does show us that it's god's word encapsulated in a physical book And the reason that's important to notice because of the fact that you know, for example muslims They revere the quran as being like Some really holy book even to the point where the physical book itself is holy They will put it if you go into a muslims home. It is the highest object in that home In fact, I knew a muslim and and when I would go to his house He had the quran and nothing could basically go above the quran. It had to be in in a specific location You know high above everything else because it was the physical book that was revered But we obviously understand that that physical book first and foremost is not holy The contents of that book are not holy. It's not god's word But more than that the physical doesn't necessarily matter It's simply used as a vehicle to transport that which is spiritual. Okay, look at first peter or second peter. Excuse me chapter, uh first peter, sorry second peter chapter one Psalm 119 89 says forever. Oh lord thy word is settled in heaven Now that doesn't mean that I had you know There's a there's a bible up there with pastor bruce mihi on there and a you know letter from the common the king james translators in heaven It's referring to the fact that god's word just period is settled in heaven prior to even the english language being created It's always been settled and it's always going to be there Look at first peter 123 says being born again Not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible By the word of god which liveth and abideth forever So according to the bible the word of god itself will live and abide forever. This physical book will not live in a bite forever In fact in the 14 years that i've been saved going on 15 i've gone through dozens and dozens of bibles Okay. Now here's another point that I want to bring up. Okay? Because you know, sometimes people can get again a little superstitious about physical bibles Where it's just like In my opinion if there's a bible in the church that has like a couple pages torn out or something like that I throw it in the trash But that's the bible though Yeah, but it has a couple pages torn out though Why don't we just get a new one? You can't do that to god's word And here's the question I have. Well, have you read it? Have you even read the pages that were torn out? Yeah Well, I just feel like something bad is going to happen if we just throw away by don't take the sacrilegious view Of the bible itself. It's the content of the word of god. That's important And look a bible that is worn that is torn that is that is just completely just abused Is good because of the fact that means that the person who owned it used it You understand, you know You never want to have just a bible that you have for years on end and it's just in mint condition or something like that Because it obviously shows that you don't read it That's why we should reject the vedicanus and cyana, Atticus You know, uh underlying texts that underlies the modern versions of the bible because there's such a mint condition because no one read them You know, they want to put them in a museum for everyone to behold but folks no legitimate You know christians in the first century ad would actually read those because those who are actually read were actually torn because they're using them Bibles are meant to be used my friend It's a spiritual book, but it's encapsulated in a physical book. It's a spiritual It's spiritually the word of god, but it's encapsulated In a physical book now, let's not go on a campaign to just throw everything away if it's like torn or something like that You know, I have bibles in my office that you know have like three or four pages torn out The only reason I keep them is for it's it's because it was like a gift that was given to me You understand but if the church burned down tomorrow or something like that and they're in there I'm, not going to shed a tear because I can just get another bible you understand and in fact, you know I could read the word of god anywhere I could put it as a I can witness to anybody in this world with any bible as long as king james Obviously, okay, let me make that disclaimer out there I don't it doesn't have to be my specific bible If i'm witnessing to someone in our church a visitor I can literally just pick up anyone's bible. I don't need tabs on it I don't need any notes I can literally pick up any bible and use it to witness because it's still the content of that book is what's most important You know why because john 3 16 is still in the same place Right The role romans 3 23 romans 3 10 romans 6 23 revelation 21 8 revelation 20 verse 14 and 15 They're all in the same place All the verses don't change Now, you know the spacing might change because you know, you have a particular bible you use and you know, like, okay I know this passage is on the right side Okay, i'm familiar with this because the passage is on it's always on the bottom left. I know that right How many know what i'm talking about? Okay, so we familiarize ourselves with that particular book and it's just like well, I know but at the end of the day folks We just need to know the content of the bible That if someone slaps a book right in front of you and says hey find this for me you'd be like I know where that's at You know here it is right there because romans chapter five doesn't change. It doesn't come before four It doesn't come after six it's always there the book of romans is always going to be in the same place It's the content of the bible. It's the spiritual aspect of the book that's most important And the reason I make you know, such as think about this because you know churches in times past Would place such an emphasis on the physical book itself and it almost became Just an outward appearance of things Yeah, where it's just like well, you know You've got to have your bible when you go to church and you got to show it and you got to have it And it's just like i'm all for that But are you reading it though? Are you studying it? Are you memorizing it? Are you meditating upon god's word? That's the most important thing you understand Look at second peter you're in first peter go to second peter And by the way john matthew mark luke and john the apostle paul Great physical people that existed at one time, but they're not the most important people though It was the message that god gave to them that's the most important So it's not like well, I want to know what john said though. Well if it's in the bible who cares what john said If it's in god's word, it's in god's word, that's all that matters Well, I want to know what daniel said though. Yeah, but you know, there's portions of daniel that were not written by daniel Who's it written by? I don't know some unknown prophet But does it matter? Well, yeah matters no, it doesn't because god wrote the bible All scriptures given by inspiration of god is profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction for instruction and righteousness That the man of god may be thoroughly furnished prepared into every good work It's god who wrote the bible in spite of this human instrument that was used to pen it down Understand look at second peter one verse 19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy Where until you do well that you take heed as it went to a light that shineth in the dark place unto the day dawn And the day star arise in your hearts Knowing this first that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation Give that to joseph smith. Amen For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man Listen to this but holy men of god spake as they were moved by the holy ghost So people could try to say, you know, i've gotten this at the door when i'm out sowing Well, man wrote that book Right, how many you've ever heard that before? Man wrote that book and i'll tell him well man did not write this specific book. This is made by a computer A printer made this If you want to get literal like that At the end of the day the content is written by god And this is what I tell them here's the difference between The word of god and every other bible out there or every other religious book that's out there is that Those have all types of errors discrepancies Whereas the bible has no discrepancy. It has no contradictions It has withstood the test of time my friend And look, it's it's it's valid for me because i've read over the last 14 years and i've never read a discrepancy error contradiction It's never come across it but forget my 14 years. How about the last 400 years of the king james bible? No one has been able to discredit the word of god the king james bible It has withstood the test of scrutiny and has withstood, you know textual critics who seek to you know Say that it's there's errors. You can't read it It's so difficult to read and try to say all this this manner of evil against the word of god. It has withstood that And anytime someone tells me that book has errors, this is what I tell them show me Where's it at? Well, it's summer in there. Well, where where though? How are you just gonna make a claim like that Oh that book has all kinds of errors, you know, and i'm I slap it in front of me It's like can you show me where it's at? Just parroting what some other people say that's all they're doing You're like what if they actually like point to something well first of all most christians If you tell a christian something, I mean unfortunately today If you give a bible to a christian and say show me where isaiah is they're like, uh They'll be looking for it in the new testament Right If you say hey find me the book of job They'll say the book of what the book of job And they're like, all right Let alone some unsafe person out there Who's simply parroting these textual critics and haters of the word of god? They're not going to be able to find it for you So The bible the word of god is a spiritual book, but it's encapsulated in a physical book And this is why we give out bibles for free. Obviously our house the house of god is not a house of merchandise We don't sell anything here. But let's say for example if we did one thing we would never sell is bibles Now look if you say well, you know, I want a nicer bible. I don't want one of those then great You know go buy yourself a nice bible, but at the end of the day It's the content that matters most of all jesus said this it is the spirit that quicken it Listen to this the flesh profiteth nothing the words that I speak into you. They are spirit and they are life And what does quicken mean brought to life? Okay Go to first corinthians chapter number two first corinthians chapter number two So See the word of god has power my friend The word of god has power Hey, the book of enoch has no power The epistle of barnabas no power Maccabees no power The king james bible power Why because this is the book that has been used To get people saved for hundreds of years I've never really heard a testimony if someone's saying someone brought me the book of maccabees and man, they they showed me the maccabees road They used the barnabas road to get me saved it's not there And look this is why the bible listen to this jesus said this For by thy words thou shalt be justified and by thy words thou shalt be condemned By thy words thou shalt be justified and by thy words thou shalt be condemned, you know The words obviously what we're articulating isn't necessarily important, but it's the belief behind the words It's the spiritual profession of faith you make behind the words This is why people, you know, they say well, you know We don't have anybody in the bible that called upon the name of the lord the way you guys make People call upon the name of the lord. Well, here's the thing the reason we're so specific when we You know, I encourage people to call upon the name of the lord. It's because it's good to be specific But yeah, you're right god didn't give us a template but it does say for whosoever shall call upon the name of the lord Shall be saved And we have plenty of examples throughout the bible where people have done that in one way or another Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom that's calling upon the name of the lord And by his words he was justified So the words that you speak the belief behind the words can can condemn you or it can give you eternal life Obviously if you're already saved you're saved, but if you're not saved it can condemn you to hell, okay? What I have you turn first corinthians 2 verse 1 look what the bible says And I brethren when I came to you came not with excellency of speech Or of wisdom declaring unto you the testimony of god for I determined not to know anything among you save jesus christ and him crucified And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom But in demonstration of the spirit of power why? That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of god Now i'll be honest. I haven't listened to a whole lot of niv preaching But i'm not interested in listening to niv preaching and I guarantee you those people who have will probably not say, you know Wasn't really powerful But preaching that has been associated with the king james bible people will tell you that preaching is powerful There's something about that type of preaching that's attached to the king james bible where they're preaching god's word There is power behind those words and it's not because of the delivery of the pastor either It's not because of the eloquency of the pastor. What is it? It's the words It's the power of god's word the word of god is quick and powerful Sharper than any two-edged sword it pierces even to dividing of sunder of soul and spirit joints in the marrow It's a discern of the thoughts of the intent of the heart This is why you go to a baptist church meeting you get kind of offended Because it's a discern of the thoughts and the intent of the heart The bible is a spiritual book. Yes encapsulated in a physical book You know and i'm for taking care of things and making sure that you know that you're being a good steward of your possessions But we never want to have this You know, uh, superstitious view of the bible where it's just like oh, we can't let it touch the ground You know what? I mean? Uh, we can't because this is god's holy work The only reason I wouldn't want to touch the ground if it's the ground's dirty and i'm picking it up and you know There's like feces on there or something, you know, like I don't want to touch that stuff I'm, just saying like we shouldn't have this view where it's just like the physical book itself is spiritual. It's not This thing can't float folks It's not going to levitate it's not going to float and by the way If you put it in the middle of your coffee table at your house, you're not going to get god's blessing It's not like well if I put this in my house and we put it on a stand You know In the middle of my house god will bless me for it. No folks. It does not work that way You know The man who meditates upon it He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringing forth his fruit in his season and whatsoever Doeth shall prosper the bible says It's the person who actually reads and meditates upon god's word That's the person who shall be blessed in his deed the doer of the word and not the hero only Okay, go to first corinthians chapter 15 lastly i'm going to point out the most obvious one when it comes to that which is visible and invisible and that is us Yeah We are spirit we have a soul but we are encapsulated by a physical body You know and when the spirit without the body is dead It's showing you how closely tied those are together, you know, the person that you're looking at right now You're seeing me my face my facial expressions my voice, but the real me is inside The real beauty is inside folks It's not this outward appearance Understand the real us is inside And the bible says though our outward man perish listen to this the inward man is renewed day by day We are spiritual beings encapsulated in this corruptible flesh And you said why is it important to to to to note that or to talk about that? Well, because you know that you have people out there who think that once you get saved you're never going to struggle with sin You will always Repent of your sin. You're always going to live right you're never going to make any mistakes But that person is encapsulated by his flesh And our flesh is corruptible. Our flesh is sinful. We're always going to struggle with sin You me today will sin This is not an open invitation to go sin, by the way I'm not saying we're not putting like an activity together to go sin. I'm just saying today we're going to sin Because we make mistakes There's none righteous known on one and the reality is this is that we live in this corruptible body these members the desire You know to fulfill the desires of the flesh and of the mind This is why god tells us walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh For the flesh lust is against the spirit the spirit against the flesh These are contrary the one to the other so that you cannot do the things that ye would It's a constant battle And for a person to say well once you get saved you're not going to desire any of that you must be dead You must be dead Because anybody this side of eternity who still has this corruptible flesh, you know on him is always going to struggle with the flesh But look at first corinthians 15 Verse 39 It says in verse 39 all flesh is not the same flesh But there is one kind of flesh of men another flesh of beasts another of fishes and another of birds Look at this. There are also celestial bodies And bodies terrestrial now, this isn't referring to like an alien Like an extraterrestrial terrestrial simply means like like terrain it's earthly You understand the what we have here is a terrestrial body Okay, but there's also a celestial body in the heavenlies And if you're saved you will one day inherit that celestial body. This is a body that is perfect You know and i'm not talking about perfect like six-pack perfect and long flowing luxurious hair and you know, you just you got the You know, I don't know Whatever you define as being perfect. Okay, chiseled features cheekbones or whatever Uh, no belly This is just referring to a sinless body A body that's capable of standing before the face of god And living okay He says there are also celestial bodies bodies terrestrial But the glory of the celestial is one and the glory of the terrestrial is another go to romans if you would Or actually go to second corinthians chapter four second corinthians chapter four i'm gonna hasten here I'm gonna read to you from romans chapter seven And verse number 16 Now you tell me i'm gonna read you from verse 15 Tell me if this doesn't define or describe us on a day-to-day basis weekly basis monthly basis This is the apostle paul speaking here. He says for that which I do I allow not For what I would that do I not but what I hate that do I? I think that pretty much describes all of us Is that the things that I hate to do I end up doing them the things that i'm supposed to do I don't do them If then I do that which I would not I can send them to the law that it is good now Then it is no more I that do it but sin that dwelleth in me. What is he referring to? He's referring to his flesh Okay, he says for I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth No good thing for to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not for the good that I would I do not but the evil which I would not that I do It sounds like you know, this is a tongue twister here try to read this five times fast Now if I do that I would not it is no more I that do it but sin that dwelleth in me I find in a law that when I would do good evil is present with me for I delight in the law of god Listen to this after the inward man So he says I actually delight in preaching I delight in god's word I delight in the and when someone expounds upon god's word, but it's not my flesh that likes it It's my inward man. It's the spirit Now what's the principle that we can learn from that? Well, you know a lot of christians sometimes if you're not careful you try to delight in the law of god after the outward man Well, how exciting is this sermon? How you know intriguing is this particular preaching or how much you know, if i'm going to read the bible? Why go to the book of leviticus? Why go to the book of deuteronomy? It doesn't appeal to the excitement of my flesh. Well, here's the thing though It'll appeal to the inward man though Because the inward man delights in the law of god all the time It constantly wants to hear god's word It wants to sing the psalms the hymns and spiritual songs and wants to sing and make melody in his hearts into the lord Because that's the part of us that actually delights in that Okay. Now you say well, how do I apply that if I know that but how do I apply that? Today in 2022 if i'm in church Well, if you're offended at god's word If when I preach god's word and you're offended just know this it's probably your corruptible flesh that's offended Because your inward man actually agrees with me you know, sometimes every once in a while you have couples in church where i'll preach something and they're just like They're like nudge them a bit because they're guilty of it Well, you know the the inward man is what does that to the the flesh? we preach on some sin and then the inward man is like That's you that's you So And it's the outward man that gets offended It's the outward man is like I don't like the way he said that and you know what the inward man says It's not what he's saying though, or it's not how he's saying it. It's what he's saying It's god's word that's offending And so i've learned within my christian life that when I get offended at preaching when it rubs me the wrong way The inward man is not bothered by it. The inward man is bothered by heresy Yeah That's what is bothered by when there's just blatant heresy of works-based salvation being put forth When there's false doctrine coming forth from the pulpit that ticks me off And I think it even ticks off my flesh sometimes too You know, I mean like my flesh gets pretty upset too, but more than that my inward man gets upset But the inward man delights in all types of preaching as long as it's biblical Hard preaching Extra-tative preaching we're preaching that rebukes reproves preaching. That's long suffering preaching There's just doctrine it delights in it all because it's god's word So train yourself To listen listen to this with your inward man Train yourself discipline yourself to listen in church with your inward man, not your flesh Where do I have you turn? Saint Corinthians chapter four look at verse number three Now we are physical human beings We can't do any miracles. We can't fly We can't do anything, uh divinely special as far as physically But there's one miracle that we are a part of That we can do every single week and every single day of our lives and that is preach the gospel We can get people saved And the gospel is the power of god into salvation That means listen to this you as a regular human being can go to another person who's not saved You can give them the gospel and literally change their eternal destiny forever You can change their life forever Amen You can go knock on someone's door who you've never met before You've never talked before you expound the gospel into them And you can literally change their direction Change from going to hell to going to heaven like that It's powerful And at the end of the day, you know, we look at the miracles of the bible like fire being called down from heaven You know destroying the enemies of god. That's pretty cool. I would you know, I want to try that, you know raising the dead You know healing the deaf the blind and the mute and all these things. These are great But you know, the greatest miracle Is that some physical corruptible body? Can actually Save someone spiritually I mean the apostle paul said that I might by all means save some You know, we save them pulling them out of the fire Look what the bible says in second corinthians 4 3 for if our gospel be hid it is hit to them that are lost In whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not Lest the light of the glorious gospel of christ who is the image of god Should shine unto them now according to this the bible saying that people aren't getting saved. It's because people christians aren't preaching Does it put the blame on god? Why does it put the blame on god if god's the one who saves them i'll tell you why Because he needs us to save them too Because it says if our gospel be hid it is hit to them that are lost Yeah, let me just let me just give you a rude awakening today god requires you and needs you to get other people saved Now he's the one that saves them. Yes, but you know what he needs us to go and preach the gospel to them to save them We have christ in us the hope of glory. We have this spiritual, you know being living within us But it's encapsulated by that which is physical Look what it says in verse five for we preach not ourselves, but christ Jesus the lord and ourselves your servants for jesus sake For god who commanded the light to shine out of darkness Hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of god in the face of jesus christ Look at verse number seven But we have this treasure. What is the treasure referring to the gospel? We have this treasure in earthen vessels That the excellency of the power may be of god and not of us Amen he said why is it why can't just god just like split The heavens open and just reason just preach the gospel to a bunch of people get them saved because that doesn't require faith Doesn't require any faith But more so than that when his people go out and give the gospel to get people saved god gets more glory You say why because who are we? What's so special about us nothing The most uneducated person the person who's the most rude the person who's the most you know Had doesn't have talents or gifts can get people saved and god will get glory from that person That's how it works You know, we're not a joel osteen church. Thank god, you know, we're not a rick warren type church You know the world doesn't know us, but you know what? They don't need to know us We don't need to be known To this world We're simply earthen vessels carrying an eternal treasure We're simply that which is physical that is encapsulated that which is spiritual but here's the sad thing is that christians out there Have this treasure in earthen vessels And they kind of just bury it in the ground They don't talk about it they don't want to get people safe they don't go soloing understand And at that point, you know There the gospel is hid to them that are lost But the bible says this awake to righteousness and sin not for some have not the knowledge of god I speak this to your shame It's a powerful verse Just reminding us that god is basically saying I need you To go give them the gospel You have this treasure in earthen vessel. Don't be like the guy with the talent who hides the Hides his talent in the earth Which is basically what's happening, right? Because we are earthen vessels And the treasure is being hid in here If we're not out there preaching the gospel Go out there and change someone's life And get them saved I'm pretty much done You know these earthen vessels god expects for us to Manifest out spiritual things right and i'm not saying healing people and smacking people on the forehead or whatever I'm talking i'm talking about living righteously Doing justice Preaching god's word preaching the gospel getting people safe being being good to others But you know this principle can also help us to understand when we're going through hard times Because a lot of christians have a hard time recognizing that we're in a what spiritual battle It's not a physical battle Now us men we like to turn it into a physical battle though I know I do You know, you kind of like you get kind of upset You kind of want to get in a fight I'm, just being honest with you. I'm not gonna do it. I'm just saying like, you know in our flesh, you know That that's our natural response to things, right? Well, what does the bible say? The bible says we wrestle not against flesh and blood But against principalities against powers against the rulers of the darkness of this world And the bible says the weapons of our warfare are not carnal But mighty through god through the pulling down of strongholds Casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of god And bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of christ So there's constant reminding us. This is a spiritual battle. Don't let it be about physical things You run into someone out there who cusses you out And start saying all manner of evil against you just know this they're either number one possessed by a devil Or two they're being influenced by a devil Hey, you have some believer out there that doesn't support you And is saying bad stuff about you too. They're separating you from their company. Just know this they probably have some demon Influencing them to do that It's a spiritual battle. It's not a physical one The spiritual is Encapsulated by that physical person you understand And it you know viewing that or understanding that will help you when reprobates come When the false prophets come when your family rejects you When you know your your your family your mom your dad your cousins They're saying all manner of evil against you and instead of taking it out on them Just recognize this is a spiritual issue encapsulated in someone that's physical You know, what did what did jesus tell peter Get thee behind me satan Which by the way shows you how close he was to peter where he could like just rebuke him like that That's super offensive, you know But obviously he was close enough to peter to be able to tell him something like that and peter just kind of like all right Sorry, and then just continue on with their ministry What i'm saying is, you know, we live in a visible world But don't forget or neglect that there is an invisible world out there as well and every once in a while We need to be like elijah or elijah, excuse me Where he pulled back the veil of discernment and allowed his servant to see the armies that are out there spiritually speaking Okay. Now we're not a church that it's just like there's a demon around every corner Or it's just like I see spirits or something like that. This is all by faith You know, we see dead people or you know, this is all things that are perceived spiritually And how do we perceive them? Well, we look at a situation we compare it to god's word and we recognize this is a spiritual battle This is something spiritual that's taking place And we need to fight it spiritually by prayer by supplication By the word of god by preaching the gospel by standing for righteousness, you know pastor shelly he's going through a spiritual battle right now And you know what it's not even about the building Right, so, how do you know that come on? Because we went through the same exact thing only a little worse Okay, instead of evicted we got evicted but a different way They didn't go they didn't do it lawfully they just threw a bomb in the church and then it forced us out of that building But that's a physical building But here's the thing we understood this is a spiritual issue though, it's not because they wanted that building It's because the message was a threat And so they had to do something physical in order to get us out of there and the same thing's happening with pastor shelly It's a spiritual issue And you know a good takeaway from this sermon is simply this When you're going through a spiritual battle keep that in mind Don't allow yourself to get physical or want to fight these things. You know, what the it's just like oh man biden I'm gonna vote for someone else. That's not necessarily the answer Probably not gonna help Now will trump be president again probably But you know what that's still not gonna help anything For the christian Because it's a spiritual issue It can only be taken care of spiritually the reason that our let me give you a Just you're gonna be mad at me the reason that our country is in the mess that it is in today Is not because of the republicans it's not because of the democrats. Let me tell you this it's because of lame christians Who didn't preach righteousness Because the church is the moral meter of this world And if the pastors are not screaming it from the house tops everyone else will follow suit The world follows What the churches are doing If the churches are preaching hellfire and damnation and righteousness, it's going to keep everything right, but we had a generation of pastors Who didn't and that's why it's in the message. It's in today So don't try to take care of a physical problem with our church Problem with all right, don't try to take care. Yeah a physical problem with that which is physical recognize. It's a spiritual problem Amen Let's pray father. We thank you so much for The fact that you've created all things the visible and invisible help us to have the right mentality And recognize that spiritual battles are a spiritual thing. It's not a physical thing And we obviously understand that we're we're uh body soul and spirit and sometimes when our bodies are being affected by something It could be a diet issue, it could be an exercising issue It could be a chemical imbalance, but it's also a spiritual thing. They're all intertwined and um I pray that lord you'd help us to recognize that And to continue to walk in faith and not by sight to trust in your word to believe it And may you bless all there is lord and bless us as a church as we continue to put it in the effort to Get people saved and recognize that we have this this wonderful treasure in this earthen vessel And it's our responsibility to partake in the ministry of reconciliation To get people saved and make a difference for eternity in jesus name. We pray. Amen Amen song number 19 is our last song. There is a fountain song number 19 Song number 19. There is a fountain We'll start off on that first verse there is From Beneath Their guilty Response Rejoice My sins away Wash all my sins away Wash all my sins away Dying Some church of god be safe to sin no more Be safe to sin no more Be safe to sin no more By faith I saw the street Redeeming love has been my theme and shall be And shall be And shall be till I die When this Is Amen wonderful singing you are dismissed You