WEBVTT 00:01.020 --> 00:04.780 It's good. It's good to be in the house of the Lord this morning. 00:06.880 --> 00:12.440 We have two Sundays left of the series of the forerunner vision and lifestyle. 00:12.900 --> 00:17.260 And I like to say that this is kind of the meat and the potatoes of the series. 00:17.360 --> 00:19.480 And I held it this way purposefully. 00:19.880 --> 00:22.840 So I just encourage you that next Sunday. 00:23.280 --> 00:24.660 Thank you that you're here today. 00:24.940 --> 00:29.140 But I want to encourage you to come next Sunday because next Sunday I'm going to be hitting a topic. 00:29.780 --> 00:35.760 In the series and in this that is very foreign to our church in this day and age, 00:35.800 --> 00:39.200 which is ministering onto the Lord. That's going to be next Sunday. 00:39.540 --> 00:45.760 But it is such a valuable thing that unfortunately it's foreign to the body of Christ. 00:46.500 --> 00:49.260 Because when you talk about ministering onto the Lord, people are like, 00:49.340 --> 00:52.120 What are you talking about? I thought God's supposed to minister to us. 00:52.200 --> 00:54.280 And he does. And that's scriptural. 00:54.720 --> 00:58.320 But we have a privilege to actually minister onto him. 00:58.320 --> 01:03.600 So next Sunday, I just want to encourage you that you would come as well. 01:03.840 --> 01:09.040 Today, I'm going to give a quick Sunday overview and I'm going to wrap up what I started last Sunday, 01:09.100 --> 01:16.860 which is the John 3 banner of the series, which is being and becoming a friend of the bridegroom. 01:17.280 --> 01:22.180 It's being and becoming a friend of the bridegroom is what I started last Sunday. 01:22.820 --> 01:31.700 Coming out of the Gospel of John chapter 3, where I'll give you the quick overview of where Jesus is baptizing. 01:31.820 --> 01:35.200 Technically, he wasn't baptizing. His disciples were baptizing. 01:35.540 --> 01:38.920 And the disciples of John the Baptist saw all this. 01:39.300 --> 01:41.860 And then all of a sudden they get into a dispute with the Jews. 01:42.220 --> 01:45.600 And the disciples of John, they run over to John and they're like, 01:45.600 --> 01:51.860 yo, the guy that, you know, you said that on him, you know, a dove shall rest. 01:51.960 --> 01:55.860 He's over there baptizing. And then John's response and all this discussion and everything. 01:55.980 --> 01:58.940 That was the context that I gave you last Sunday. 01:59.140 --> 02:04.840 And we have found, because the question that maybe some of you were left with last Sunday is that 02:05.320 --> 02:10.400 we have found that being and becoming a friend of the bridegroom, we have found 02:11.440 --> 02:19.620 through the expression of breaking bread, that's how you can actually be and become a friend of the bridegroom. 02:20.000 --> 02:24.340 It's not the only way. I'm not saying that that's the only way that you can become a friend of the bridegroom. 02:24.500 --> 02:32.940 We have just found in Forerunners that that is one expression of it that we can actually do that. 02:33.100 --> 02:35.120 We can be and we can become friends of the bridegroom. 02:35.120 --> 02:40.700 And the reason why is obviously John 3, because there's a discussion, there's here John, 02:40.840 --> 02:44.800 he's talking about Jesus in a way in a facet that nobody else has. 02:46.120 --> 02:51.100 But more than that, the reason why we have found that breaking bread and getting around a table 02:51.100 --> 02:55.220 is one of the ways that you can be and become a friend of the bridegroom 02:55.220 --> 02:58.760 is because Jesus actually did it a lot, believe it or not. 02:59.760 --> 03:04.840 Though the Bible doesn't tell us exactly how often the Lord did it, 03:05.540 --> 03:08.580 but with the enough evidence of Scripture that we have, 03:09.180 --> 03:15.020 I can confidently say it was a normal thing for them coming both from their culture 03:15.020 --> 03:19.420 and also from Scripture that it was a normal thing that they did. 03:20.400 --> 03:23.380 We can find in the Scriptures that Jesus would oftentimes, 03:23.780 --> 03:28.100 he would oftentimes sit down with his disciples at a table and they would break bread. 03:28.100 --> 03:30.940 It was almost like a weekly thing. 03:31.020 --> 03:35.260 And I'll read you some Scriptures here to give you the Scriptural support to that. 03:35.540 --> 03:41.800 But we find Jesus often sitting with his disciples and breaking bread. 03:42.320 --> 03:45.840 And when we break bread, we have discussions. Am I right? 03:46.720 --> 03:50.140 When we sit down for dinner with our kids, if that's still around, 03:50.280 --> 03:54.180 I know that may be back in the baby boomers generation. 03:56.900 --> 03:59.960 Even further, huh? What was the generation before? 04:01.900 --> 04:04.380 The Truman generation. That's where it really started, right? 04:06.640 --> 04:10.900 See, my American history kind of ends at the baby boomer, you know? 04:13.660 --> 04:16.700 So this is something that is often done. 04:16.860 --> 04:19.960 I don't know if some of you may be in my generation, we still do it. 04:20.560 --> 04:24.160 We like to sit down with our kids and we like to break bread. 04:24.160 --> 04:26.320 We break bread with our kids and we have conversation with our kids. 04:26.480 --> 04:32.700 But anywho, what I'm trying to get across is that Jesus did it often with his disciples. 04:33.240 --> 04:37.980 And we even see Jesus sitting down with what the Pharisees called sinners. 04:38.740 --> 04:43.040 You know, we're talking about the tax collectors, we're talking about the prostitutes, the harlots. 04:43.260 --> 04:46.240 Jesus actually sat and broke bread with them. 04:46.680 --> 04:48.620 That's pretty incredible if you really ask me. 04:48.620 --> 04:52.460 We're talking about the God of heaven and earth. 04:52.640 --> 05:00.640 The Creator comes down and now sits down with people that we deem to be sinners and scum of the earth. 05:01.040 --> 05:02.480 They're done with on and so forth. 05:02.920 --> 05:05.520 Let me give you some scriptural support to what I'm saying. 05:05.680 --> 05:08.840 So in Acts, I read this earlier in this series. 05:09.440 --> 05:14.760 The way that even the early church did church was by breaking bread. 05:14.840 --> 05:16.220 And let me just quickly read it to you here. 05:16.220 --> 05:18.740 This is Acts 2, starting at verse 42. 05:19.440 --> 05:27.080 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship in the breaking of bread. 05:27.980 --> 05:36.300 So they continued in the teachings of the apostles' doctrine and of the fellowship which came through breaking of bread. 05:37.100 --> 05:39.040 Now, what did they talk about when they were there? 05:39.900 --> 05:44.100 I mean, we can really let our holy, I like to call it our holy imagination. 05:44.520 --> 05:46.840 We can let our holy imagination really run. 05:47.020 --> 05:48.800 I'm sure they talked about the kingdom of God. 05:49.100 --> 05:51.300 I'm sure they talked about the coming of Jesus. 05:51.740 --> 05:53.420 I'm sure they talked about Jesus. 05:53.860 --> 05:55.880 I'm sure they talked about things of God. 05:56.040 --> 05:59.780 I mean, they weren't just there saying, bro, check out this new horse that I just bought. 06:00.700 --> 06:03.060 It's a white stallion, man. It's phenomenal. 06:03.580 --> 06:03.940 You know what I mean? 06:04.020 --> 06:07.040 I'm sure there was purpose in their fellowship. 06:08.420 --> 06:12.280 Just knowing the life of the apostles and who they even learned from. 06:12.840 --> 06:15.380 I'm sure there was purpose in their fellowship. 06:15.740 --> 06:18.280 Another scripture that I want to bring to you is Acts 20. 06:19.340 --> 06:26.360 I'm just giving you some support in why we did it at Full Runners and still do it this way. 06:29.220 --> 06:33.020 You know, I'm sure that when they... this is Acts chapter 20 verse 7. 06:33.020 --> 06:39.100 You know, I'm sure that when they got together, they were hearing... 06:39.100 --> 06:41.960 when they were listening to the doctrine of the apostles, 06:42.720 --> 06:48.660 they were learning facets of Jesus that they maybe did not know before. 06:49.280 --> 06:53.940 And they were hearing because the apostles, they walked with Jesus. 06:54.120 --> 07:00.300 They knew the Lord in a way that an average person did not know Him. 07:00.300 --> 07:04.400 Because these are the apostles that were literally with Him for three and a half years. 07:05.080 --> 07:07.880 And then when we get to Acts 20, we're talking about the apostle Paul. 07:08.600 --> 07:13.680 The apostle Paul was not taught by other apostles or disciples. 07:14.780 --> 07:19.420 The apostle Paul actually received everything directly from Jesus. 07:20.860 --> 07:23.220 Like he literally had a supernatural encounter. 07:23.580 --> 07:28.460 When he's talking about himself in a very almost like covered up way. 07:28.460 --> 07:31.960 This is second Corinthians. I think it's chapter 11 and chapter 12. 07:32.180 --> 07:37.400 He's talking about... he says, I know a man that was caught up in the third heaven. 07:38.220 --> 07:40.000 Who is he talking about? He's talking about himself. 07:41.480 --> 07:44.120 The apostle Paul is actually talking about himself. 07:44.380 --> 07:48.880 And in that same chapter, he says there's things that this man knew that he goes, 07:48.940 --> 07:49.940 I can't even tell you. 07:50.680 --> 07:56.440 So the apostle Paul literally knew facets of Christ and knew facets of Jesus 07:56.440 --> 08:01.340 that an average person did not know, which then when he talked about the Lord, 08:01.980 --> 08:05.520 people were like, man, I want to know this Jesus more. 08:07.300 --> 08:11.040 When you talk to somebody who is actually a friend of Jesus, 08:11.660 --> 08:15.440 it makes you want to know Jesus more. 08:17.620 --> 08:21.960 You can have good conversations with Christians and breaking bread 08:21.960 --> 08:23.800 and getting together and hanging out. It's all great. 08:23.800 --> 08:28.840 But I've learned in my life that when I sit down and I break bread with people, 08:29.180 --> 08:31.640 whether it's a man or a woman, it doesn't matter on the gender. 08:32.200 --> 08:37.760 But when I sit down with people who are actually friends of Jesus, 08:38.040 --> 08:42.160 friends of the bridegroom, man, I leave that place and I'm like, 08:42.320 --> 08:45.400 I want to know him more. 08:48.060 --> 08:51.360 It makes you realize, I know nothing. 08:52.860 --> 08:54.700 Literally, I know nothing. 08:55.300 --> 09:00.900 I was having a conversation with somebody and they shared this with me 09:00.900 --> 09:03.880 and I giggled because I'm like, I know exactly how you feel. 09:04.000 --> 09:08.540 But they told me, they said, you know, the more that I'm coming to church, 09:08.660 --> 09:11.580 the more that I'm serving, the more that I'm reading my Bible, 09:11.680 --> 09:13.100 the more that I'm getting to know God. 09:14.040 --> 09:18.100 This individual said, you know, I feel like I don't even know God. 09:19.000 --> 09:21.060 The more that I'm reading the scriptures, 09:21.300 --> 09:23.420 the more that I'm serving, the more that I'm doing, 09:23.560 --> 09:26.960 the more I'm realizing, I don't even think I know God. 09:27.300 --> 09:29.280 And I giggled and I said, you know, I said, it's funny 09:29.280 --> 09:32.840 because this is a saying that my wife and I have said for many, many years now. 09:33.300 --> 09:36.400 But the more that I actually get to know God, 09:36.680 --> 09:39.480 the more I realize, my God. 09:41.540 --> 09:41.980 Wow. 09:44.700 --> 09:45.140 Wow. 09:46.520 --> 09:49.040 The more that I actually get to know him, 09:49.240 --> 09:52.780 the more that I realize, I don't even think I know you. 09:53.740 --> 09:56.540 It's but a sliver that I know you. 09:58.020 --> 09:59.940 That's just how vast our God is. 10:00.840 --> 10:02.040 That's how big he is. 10:02.360 --> 10:08.280 If we can figure out God in the 70 and even in the 80 years of our life, 10:08.360 --> 10:11.140 if we can figure out God in that measure of our life, 10:11.400 --> 10:13.060 friends, I don't want to serve that God. 10:15.960 --> 10:21.060 If I can figure out a God in my 70 and 80 years of life, 10:21.380 --> 10:23.240 I don't want to serve that God. 10:23.360 --> 10:24.160 I don't know about you. 10:24.360 --> 10:26.680 I don't want to serve a God that I can figure out. 10:29.640 --> 10:33.960 The scripture actually tells us that even when we get to eternity, 10:34.220 --> 10:37.840 we're going to grow in the knowledge of the grace 10:37.840 --> 10:39.760 and the love of who God is. 10:40.260 --> 10:43.620 That means that it's going to take us all of eternity, friends, 10:43.620 --> 10:46.660 all of eternity to learn who God is. 10:47.040 --> 10:49.880 That means millions and billions and trillions. 10:50.380 --> 10:51.880 And like my kids like to make up words, 10:52.360 --> 10:54.500 gazillions and zillions of years, Papa. 10:54.840 --> 10:55.100 Yes. 10:56.720 --> 11:00.720 I'm going to continue to grow in the knowledge of who he is. 11:01.100 --> 11:06.660 I'm going to continue to mature in the things of who God is. 11:08.140 --> 11:11.280 I say that to those that maybe might be sitting here this morning 11:11.280 --> 11:12.480 and you're just discouraged. 11:12.480 --> 11:17.320 You're like, man, I don't know God as well as this or that. 11:17.700 --> 11:19.980 And don't look at this as a discouragement. 11:20.100 --> 11:21.320 Look at this as friends. 11:21.660 --> 11:23.460 The more I get to learn of him, 11:23.520 --> 11:25.220 the more pastor gets to learn of him, 11:25.460 --> 11:27.880 the more that those that have gone before us 11:27.880 --> 11:30.120 have gotten to learn about God. 11:30.580 --> 11:32.460 They have come to the conclusion, 11:33.360 --> 11:36.280 my God, I only know this much of you. 11:37.160 --> 11:41.380 And I've spent 80 years studying the scriptures. 11:42.240 --> 11:46.140 Being with you, talking to you face to face. 11:46.620 --> 11:51.120 And I realize, wow, there's far more to you 11:51.120 --> 11:52.660 than I can even recognize and realize. 11:54.780 --> 11:57.120 So getting together and talking with people 11:57.120 --> 11:59.200 who are actually friends of the Lord 11:59.200 --> 12:00.220 and breaking bread with him, 12:00.220 --> 12:04.420 it makes you want to go home and get to know Jesus. 12:05.920 --> 12:08.580 Acts 20, verse 7, let me just quickly read it here. 12:08.580 --> 12:11.060 Now on the first day of the week, 12:11.720 --> 12:14.480 when the disciples came together to break bread, 12:15.860 --> 12:17.880 Paul, ready to depart to the next day, 12:17.940 --> 12:19.020 I just want to read that first verse. 12:19.400 --> 12:22.640 This indicates to us now on the first day of the week, 12:22.800 --> 12:25.120 when the disciples came together to break bread, 12:25.340 --> 12:28.800 that tells me that they did this on a weekly basis. 12:29.560 --> 12:31.580 That scripture at their supports, 12:31.940 --> 12:35.020 that they sat down together at a table 12:35.020 --> 12:37.400 and they broke bread and they fellowshiped. 12:37.400 --> 12:38.820 Because it was a weekly thing. 12:39.300 --> 12:40.820 On the first day of the week, 12:41.220 --> 12:43.920 the disciples came together to what? 12:44.040 --> 12:44.620 To break bread. 12:45.560 --> 12:48.480 So this is why we believe that being and becoming 12:48.480 --> 12:49.980 friends of the bridegroom 12:49.980 --> 12:52.780 through the expression of breaking bread. 12:52.920 --> 12:54.720 Now again, it's not the only way. 12:55.280 --> 12:56.680 I'm not saying that's the only way 12:56.680 --> 13:00.000 that we can become and be friends of the bridegroom. 13:00.080 --> 13:03.200 This is just the expression that we have seen much. 13:03.640 --> 13:06.960 And when I say much, we have seen much, much fruit. 13:08.120 --> 13:10.740 How many years of ministry have we been now in Zola? 13:10.920 --> 13:14.340 It's been roughly 10 years that we've now been in ministry. 13:14.760 --> 13:16.220 And that's the way that we've been doing it 13:16.900 --> 13:18.080 as we've been in ministry. 13:18.940 --> 13:23.780 So today, I kind of gave you some things for last Sunday. 13:23.980 --> 13:26.340 Today, I want to talk about 13:26.880 --> 13:29.680 what does it mean to be a friend of the bridegroom? 13:30.380 --> 13:31.960 So we talked about how we become 13:31.960 --> 13:33.160 is by sitting together, learning. 13:33.300 --> 13:34.500 But I also want to talk about 13:34.500 --> 13:37.740 what does it mean to be a friend of the bridegroom? 13:38.700 --> 13:41.000 And I think this, 13:41.720 --> 13:44.760 what I'm preaching to you today in itself, 13:45.000 --> 13:47.540 I could literally break this down in a series. 13:48.200 --> 13:49.360 There's so much. 13:49.860 --> 13:52.280 So I'm going to try to condense this 13:52.280 --> 13:55.520 and package this like an Amazon box 13:55.520 --> 13:58.600 and deliver it to you one-day shipping today. 14:01.180 --> 14:01.660 So... 14:01.660 --> 14:04.600 I want to make two statements 14:04.600 --> 14:07.000 and then I'll go into it. 14:07.140 --> 14:09.540 You can open up your Bibles to the Gospel of John, 14:10.200 --> 14:12.760 Chapter 15, this is the Gospel of John, Chapter 15. 14:14.380 --> 14:17.200 And while you're opening up your Bibles there, 14:28.940 --> 14:31.180 let me pray and then I'm going to make a statement. 14:31.360 --> 14:33.820 Father, we thank you. 14:35.080 --> 14:36.560 We thank you this morning. 14:36.560 --> 14:38.300 We thank you for your spirit. 14:39.660 --> 14:41.340 We thank you for your son. 14:41.480 --> 14:42.940 We thank you for your word. 14:44.760 --> 14:46.760 And Father, we're asking you this morning 14:46.760 --> 14:48.300 that you would wash over us. 14:48.520 --> 14:50.820 Wash over your bride by your word this morning. 14:53.000 --> 14:55.960 Wash our minds, our hearts, Lord, our attitude. 14:56.180 --> 14:59.980 Just wash over us by the preaching and the speaking 14:59.980 --> 15:02.080 and the reading of your word this morning. 15:04.020 --> 15:07.000 I pray, Holy Spirit, that you would convince us 15:07.000 --> 15:09.580 and that you would cut us deep this morning. 15:10.560 --> 15:12.480 Judge the attitudes of our hearts. 15:17.110 --> 15:19.730 Change the attitudes of our hearts, Lord. 15:20.170 --> 15:24.490 Direct us to purity and love and mercy and kindness. 15:25.890 --> 15:28.370 We're asking you this morning that you would help us, 15:28.970 --> 15:30.170 that you would help us understand, 15:30.670 --> 15:32.450 give us eyes to see and ears 15:32.450 --> 15:35.170 to hear in Jesus' name. 15:35.210 --> 15:36.870 And if you're in agreement with me, would you say amen? 15:38.710 --> 15:40.330 I want to make two statements. 15:42.610 --> 15:43.970 Maybe just one statement 15:43.970 --> 15:45.250 and the other one is kind of a statement. 15:47.710 --> 15:50.370 I want to say this before we get into 15:50.370 --> 15:52.030 what does it mean to be a friend of the bridegroom. 15:53.830 --> 15:57.190 The Lord desires, and I'll give you scripture to this, 15:58.110 --> 16:01.350 the Lord desires to be a friend 16:01.930 --> 16:05.210 with each and every believer 16:05.210 --> 16:07.390 that is born again and spirit-filled. 16:10.720 --> 16:13.580 The cost that Jesus paid on the cross 16:13.580 --> 16:15.920 was to not just have you be, 16:16.120 --> 16:17.540 and I like to use this phrase 16:17.540 --> 16:20.800 to not just be an employee in the kingdom of God, 16:21.260 --> 16:23.820 but to be a partner in the kingdom of God. 16:24.900 --> 16:27.980 The price that he paid was far too high 16:27.980 --> 16:31.600 to just produce a bunch of employees in the kingdom of God. 16:31.600 --> 16:34.460 But the price that he paid in the intention 16:34.460 --> 16:36.500 of the heart of God, the Father, 16:36.820 --> 16:39.100 when he gave his only son and the heart of the son, 16:39.140 --> 16:39.980 because Jesus said, 16:40.280 --> 16:43.240 I do nothing but what the Father tells me to do. 16:43.620 --> 16:47.060 And the heart of the Spirit is he takes nothing on his own 16:47.060 --> 16:48.520 or doesn't speak anything on his own, 16:48.680 --> 16:51.040 but he takes from the Son and he makes it known to us. 16:51.480 --> 16:53.560 The heart of God, the Trinity, 16:54.180 --> 16:57.660 is to have friendship with us, his creation. 16:59.180 --> 17:01.460 The unfortunate thing is that we actually 17:01.460 --> 17:04.020 have very few friends of the bridegroom. 17:04.100 --> 17:08.400 We have very few friends of God in the body of Christ. 17:10.460 --> 17:12.380 We do, because when I start going through 17:12.380 --> 17:14.520 what it actually means to be a friend of the bridegroom, 17:14.800 --> 17:16.560 some of you are going to be challenged today 17:16.560 --> 17:17.580 and some of you are going to say, 17:17.680 --> 17:20.900 man, maybe I'm not as much of a friend as I thought I was. 17:22.140 --> 17:24.480 And I don't want that to be condemning to you. 17:24.560 --> 17:26.440 That's why I made this statement that I made. 17:26.440 --> 17:31.800 God desires to have friendship with each and every believer. 17:32.020 --> 17:34.440 And if you don't believe me, just read Exodus 19. 17:35.960 --> 17:38.200 If you don't believe me, read Exodus 19. 17:38.660 --> 17:41.920 What was the purpose when God led the nation of Israel 17:41.920 --> 17:42.600 out of Egypt? 17:43.340 --> 17:45.900 The purpose that God led him out is 17:45.900 --> 17:47.920 God wanted to meet with who? 17:48.200 --> 17:49.000 The whole nation. 17:51.120 --> 17:53.500 God wanted to meet with all of Israel, 17:53.800 --> 17:55.360 but they just didn't want to. 17:55.360 --> 17:57.540 They said, whoa, hey, Moses, this is way too scary. 17:58.020 --> 18:00.240 You go talk to God, and then you come back 18:00.240 --> 18:01.560 and tell us what God is saying. 18:04.620 --> 18:06.940 But God's intention was to meet 18:07.520 --> 18:09.700 and to have Israel worship 18:09.700 --> 18:12.460 and give a sacrifice onto God. 18:13.500 --> 18:14.880 But they said, no, no, no, man, 18:15.700 --> 18:16.740 you go talk to God. 18:17.280 --> 18:20.560 You, in other words, bring it to the New Testament language. 18:20.960 --> 18:22.580 You go be a friend of God. 18:23.340 --> 18:25.840 We'll just hang here and we'll be the employees 18:26.340 --> 18:28.700 because we don't want to pay the cost 18:28.700 --> 18:30.680 of what it means to be a friend. 18:30.980 --> 18:32.560 You go be a friend, Moses. 18:33.260 --> 18:34.720 And then you come back 18:34.720 --> 18:37.840 and you just relate to us what God is saying. 18:39.460 --> 18:42.480 But God's intention is to have 18:42.480 --> 18:45.880 and commune with us as he did with Moses. 18:46.240 --> 18:47.020 That's the scriptures. 18:49.700 --> 18:52.260 You know, we are fascinated 18:52.260 --> 18:55.380 that Moses spoke with God 18:55.380 --> 18:56.640 face to face. 18:57.520 --> 18:59.560 Friend, we have that same access today 18:59.560 --> 19:01.220 even more than Moses did. 19:01.820 --> 19:02.840 No, no, you didn't hear me. 19:03.380 --> 19:05.220 You can agree with me, but you didn't hear me. 19:07.960 --> 19:10.860 We have a greater access 19:10.860 --> 19:14.760 to speak to God face to face 19:14.760 --> 19:16.640 than even Moses did. 19:16.640 --> 19:20.300 Yet we do not take the privilege that we have. 19:21.280 --> 19:21.800 Why? 19:23.060 --> 19:25.560 Because we're too comfortable with where we're at. 19:29.710 --> 19:31.010 We're too comfortable. 19:31.530 --> 19:32.930 We don't want to pay the cost 19:32.930 --> 19:35.070 of what it actually means to be a friend of God. 19:37.130 --> 19:38.410 Here's the other statement 19:38.410 --> 19:39.530 if you want to make it a statement 19:39.530 --> 19:40.630 or maybe it's a statement. 19:41.170 --> 19:43.650 We have actually in the church 19:43.650 --> 19:44.830 in the body of Christ 19:44.830 --> 19:47.530 we have actually diminished 19:47.530 --> 19:49.850 and lowered the standard 19:49.850 --> 19:52.110 of what it means to be a friend of God. 19:52.570 --> 19:54.190 That's why you got a bunch 19:54.190 --> 19:56.190 of immature Christians running around 19:56.190 --> 19:57.950 and saying, I'm a friend of God. 19:59.330 --> 20:01.190 And they treat it with carelessness 20:01.190 --> 20:02.150 and looseness. 20:03.170 --> 20:04.810 I'll never forget this moment. 20:04.910 --> 20:06.870 This is when I felt the Lord just give it to me. 20:07.210 --> 20:09.530 He literally through one individual 20:09.530 --> 20:12.110 the Lord showed me the body of Christ 20:12.110 --> 20:13.670 and how we have lowered the standard 20:13.670 --> 20:14.790 of what it means to be a friend. 20:15.350 --> 20:17.490 Some years ago I met with a young couple. 20:17.670 --> 20:18.930 This is some years ago. 20:19.550 --> 20:21.050 And I met with them for coffee, 20:21.550 --> 20:23.950 for a wedding because it was to do wedding things. 20:25.190 --> 20:26.650 And we're sitting there 20:26.650 --> 20:29.010 and they asked who me and my wife are 20:29.010 --> 20:30.570 and they started asking about forerunners 20:30.570 --> 20:31.670 because they heard about forerunners. 20:31.930 --> 20:33.170 And I'm telling them the story. 20:33.270 --> 20:34.750 I'm kind of quickly going through the vision. 20:34.910 --> 20:37.030 And when I got to the John 3 banner 20:37.030 --> 20:38.190 and I said it is to be 20:38.190 --> 20:39.890 and to become a friend of the bridegroom. 20:40.150 --> 20:43.130 This young man stretched over his hand 20:43.130 --> 20:44.230 because we were out for coffee. 20:44.230 --> 20:46.770 He stretched over his hand over the table 20:46.770 --> 20:49.210 and with looseness and carelessness. 20:49.410 --> 20:51.130 He said, oh, you're a friend of God too? 20:51.210 --> 20:52.630 Yeah, me too. And then he sat back down. 20:53.110 --> 20:54.770 And I was grieved in my spirit. 20:56.090 --> 20:57.990 I was grieved in my spirit 20:57.990 --> 21:00.350 because there was such looseness 21:00.350 --> 21:01.990 in the way that he presented. 21:02.450 --> 21:04.010 Oh yeah, I'm a friend of God too, man. 21:04.730 --> 21:06.490 It's like every person that's in the church 21:06.490 --> 21:07.350 is a friend of God. 21:07.670 --> 21:10.070 The truth is that we're not. 21:14.740 --> 21:16.480 That is the sad truth. 21:17.200 --> 21:20.700 Friends, that is the sad truth. 21:21.320 --> 21:24.700 Is that we actually have very few people 21:24.700 --> 21:26.220 in the body of Christ 21:26.220 --> 21:28.060 that are actually friends of God. 21:29.900 --> 21:31.280 And you're saying, well, pastor, 21:31.440 --> 21:33.040 that's not a very encouraging word 21:33.040 --> 21:34.100 you're telling me today. 21:35.040 --> 21:38.340 And I'm not trying to come out disencouraging. 21:38.640 --> 21:40.340 I'm bringing about a truth, 21:40.500 --> 21:42.520 but I'm also stating the fact 21:42.520 --> 21:45.180 that the blood that was paid for you 21:45.180 --> 21:48.500 was an invitation to become a friend. 21:50.120 --> 21:52.460 Listen, God has done everything 21:52.460 --> 21:55.020 on his end to be your friend. 21:56.500 --> 21:57.540 He's done everything. 21:58.580 --> 21:59.780 You can't say that, 21:59.880 --> 22:01.480 Lord, you didn't do anything for me 22:01.480 --> 22:02.300 to be a friend. 22:02.360 --> 22:03.780 No, he's done everything. 22:04.800 --> 22:06.640 The most precious thing 22:06.640 --> 22:08.340 that the Father had in heaven, 22:08.540 --> 22:09.800 which is his son, 22:09.800 --> 22:12.720 he gave for what purpose? 22:13.820 --> 22:15.120 For what purpose? 22:17.060 --> 22:19.700 To have intimacy, to have friendship, 22:20.140 --> 22:23.240 to have closeness, to commune, 22:23.360 --> 22:25.820 to share his heart on and so forth. 22:25.900 --> 22:27.200 We can make a list of it. 22:28.380 --> 22:30.760 So we can't give an excuse to God 22:30.760 --> 22:32.460 and say, God, well, you didn't do your part. 22:32.800 --> 22:35.060 Friend, he has done his part and even more. 22:35.520 --> 22:36.940 He is still putting up 22:36.940 --> 22:38.460 with your immaturity this morning. 22:40.500 --> 22:43.540 His mercies renew every morning. 22:46.680 --> 22:49.880 So the invitation is still open today. 22:50.340 --> 22:52.220 That's why the author in Hebrews writes, 22:52.660 --> 22:53.860 if you hear his voice, 22:55.420 --> 22:57.100 if you hear his voice, 22:57.240 --> 22:58.720 he says it three times in Hebrews, 23:00.260 --> 23:01.580 if you hear his voice, come. 23:03.780 --> 23:05.820 So we have people in the church, 23:05.900 --> 23:07.180 or I'll even say pastors, 23:07.740 --> 23:09.900 we have actually diminished 23:09.900 --> 23:12.620 and we've lowered the standard 23:12.620 --> 23:16.360 of what it means to be a friend of the bridegroom. 23:16.540 --> 23:18.320 And do you know why we've done that? 23:19.100 --> 23:21.180 Because it makes people feel good. 23:21.480 --> 23:23.500 It makes people feel secure. 23:23.980 --> 23:26.120 It makes people feel, well, I'm good. 23:26.820 --> 23:28.160 I'm a friend of God. 23:28.280 --> 23:29.980 That means I'm good. That means I'm saved. 23:30.320 --> 23:32.960 I have my eternal security on and so forth. 23:33.360 --> 23:34.660 Friend, I'm here to tell you, 23:34.660 --> 23:37.000 unfortunately, that is false. 23:39.100 --> 23:41.460 We have very few in the body of Christ 23:41.460 --> 23:43.920 that are actually friends of God, 23:44.160 --> 23:45.460 that are friends of the bridegroom. 23:48.160 --> 23:52.020 John 15, verse 15, listen to this. 23:52.060 --> 23:52.800 This is Jesus. 23:53.520 --> 23:55.760 This is the Lord talking to his disciples. 23:58.600 --> 23:59.640 This is what he says, 23:59.640 --> 24:02.980 he says, no longer do I call you servants. 24:03.960 --> 24:09.140 For a servant does not know what his master is doing, 24:09.440 --> 24:12.100 but I have called you friends. 24:14.720 --> 24:17.300 But I have called you friends. 24:17.540 --> 24:18.880 The Lord is saying, listen, 24:20.140 --> 24:22.740 a servant, in other words, an employee 24:23.320 --> 24:27.520 does not know everything that the master is doing, 24:27.520 --> 24:29.940 that the CEO is doing. 24:32.120 --> 24:33.860 He doesn't know everything. 24:35.320 --> 24:38.540 But God says, or the Lord says to the disciples, 24:38.720 --> 24:39.440 he says, but listen, 24:40.040 --> 24:42.240 I actually no longer call you servants. 24:43.300 --> 24:45.480 I actually call you friends. 24:46.260 --> 24:47.980 Why? Let's read why. 24:50.340 --> 24:53.620 For a servant does not know what his master is doing, 24:53.620 --> 24:55.360 but I have called you friends. 24:55.920 --> 24:59.160 For all things that I heard from my father, 24:59.560 --> 25:01.440 I have made known to you. 25:01.560 --> 25:03.080 That means all things. 25:05.140 --> 25:07.740 That means that a friend of the bridegroom, 25:07.860 --> 25:09.740 or what does it mean to be a friend of the bridegroom? 25:10.020 --> 25:14.620 That means that God can actually trust you with himself. 25:17.800 --> 25:20.320 To be a friend of the bridegroom 25:20.320 --> 25:24.740 is to actually know what the master is doing. 25:28.460 --> 25:30.360 That's what it means to be a friend of the bridegroom. 25:30.660 --> 25:32.220 How many of you in here in this place, 25:32.320 --> 25:33.200 and don't raise your hand, 25:34.020 --> 25:35.300 but how many of you in this place 25:35.300 --> 25:36.220 can actually say, 25:36.380 --> 25:39.020 I know everything that the master is doing. 25:44.090 --> 25:45.670 Had a conversation with somebody, 25:45.750 --> 25:47.410 was a while back, some time now, 25:48.670 --> 25:49.950 and the person told me, 25:50.810 --> 25:52.250 they were asking me some questions 25:52.250 --> 25:53.490 and I was giving them some answers. 25:55.110 --> 25:57.690 And I was telling them to read a certain book 25:58.390 --> 25:59.150 out of the Bible, 25:59.170 --> 26:00.370 because they were reading other books. 26:00.490 --> 26:00.990 And I said, no, no. 26:01.050 --> 26:01.630 I said, you got to read, 26:01.850 --> 26:02.950 just read this scripture. 26:03.130 --> 26:05.730 Like, you got to read this book out of the Bible. 26:06.010 --> 26:07.010 And I said, here's why. 26:07.110 --> 26:08.950 I said, it speaks about the supremacy of Christ. 26:09.130 --> 26:10.150 I said, you get to know Christ. 26:10.450 --> 26:11.650 And the person replied to me. 26:11.710 --> 26:12.410 They said, well, yeah, 26:12.490 --> 26:13.530 I know everything about Jesus. 26:13.710 --> 26:15.450 I said, wow, that's a bold statement you just made. 26:16.470 --> 26:16.870 Jeez, man. 26:16.950 --> 26:17.750 I've been in the faith now 26:17.750 --> 26:19.030 since I was 14 years old. 26:19.030 --> 26:20.370 And I feel like I know just this much. 26:24.010 --> 26:26.010 A friend of the bridegroom 26:27.430 --> 26:30.190 actually knows what the master is doing. 26:33.430 --> 26:36.610 We actually know what God is thinking. 26:37.250 --> 26:39.070 We know what God is feeling. 26:39.690 --> 26:41.530 We know what God is doing 26:41.530 --> 26:42.930 and is going to do. 26:43.990 --> 26:44.490 Why? 26:44.670 --> 26:45.810 Because he shares it with us. 26:46.090 --> 26:46.830 Now the question is, 26:46.850 --> 26:48.230 why does he share that with us? 26:48.330 --> 26:49.450 Because he can trust us. 26:52.640 --> 26:54.680 So to be a friend of the bridegroom 26:54.680 --> 26:57.340 to be a friend of Jesus, to be a friend of God, 26:57.840 --> 27:01.620 we actually are trusted with the things of God, 27:01.680 --> 27:04.420 which means we are trusted with his power. 27:05.820 --> 27:08.500 We are trusted with his heart. 27:08.780 --> 27:12.900 We are trusted that we will not misrepresent him. 27:16.850 --> 27:18.310 And I look in our church, 27:19.750 --> 27:20.930 in the churches, 27:22.890 --> 27:26.290 and I'm just gonna throw pastors under the bus 27:26.290 --> 27:27.050 because I'm a pastor, 27:27.450 --> 27:28.870 and we have a bunch of pastors 27:28.870 --> 27:31.950 that are misrepresenting God from the pulpits. 27:37.190 --> 27:41.350 And if pastors are misrepresenting God from the pulpits, 27:42.050 --> 27:43.670 there's no doubt about it. 27:43.710 --> 27:45.630 If the pastor is misrepresenting them, 27:45.890 --> 27:47.490 then that means that the congregation 27:47.490 --> 27:50.590 that is sitting is also misrepresenting 27:50.590 --> 27:52.370 because pastors are called to what? 27:52.650 --> 27:53.190 To shepherd. 27:53.790 --> 27:54.490 To lead. 27:55.090 --> 27:56.630 To green pastures. 27:57.110 --> 27:58.190 To still waters. 28:01.210 --> 28:04.390 A disciple is not greater than his master. 28:07.660 --> 28:09.520 So to be a friend of the bridegroom 28:09.940 --> 28:11.680 is to be trusted by God. 28:12.020 --> 28:14.760 It is to know the voice of God. 28:15.040 --> 28:15.640 It is... 28:15.640 --> 28:16.540 You see, and this is... 28:16.540 --> 28:18.140 We can apply that very... 28:18.900 --> 28:19.740 Generally, we're like, 28:19.840 --> 28:20.860 well, I know the voice of God, 28:20.900 --> 28:21.900 so I must be a friend. 28:22.140 --> 28:23.400 But let's just keep digging. 28:23.660 --> 28:24.900 Let's just keep digging here, okay? 28:25.560 --> 28:26.660 John 15-13. 28:28.020 --> 28:29.680 Okay, we're going a few verses up. 28:31.120 --> 28:32.680 John 15-13. 28:33.220 --> 28:35.760 This is again, this is Jesus talking to his disciples. 28:36.160 --> 28:40.320 He says greater love has no one than this 28:40.320 --> 28:44.480 than to lay down one's life for his friend. 28:48.160 --> 28:50.940 To be a friend of the bridegroom 28:50.940 --> 28:55.460 is to live a life that is laid down for him. 28:57.040 --> 28:58.880 And that's where you literally 28:58.880 --> 29:01.360 60 to 70% of the church 29:01.360 --> 29:02.200 you just do this. 29:05.980 --> 29:08.220 We've diminished what it actually even means 29:08.220 --> 29:09.620 to lay down your life for Jesus. 29:10.480 --> 29:12.640 We think just because once a week 29:12.640 --> 29:15.400 we're doing something that's inconvenient for us, 29:15.460 --> 29:16.400 we're laying our life down. 29:17.500 --> 29:19.300 And maybe if you're new in the faith, 29:20.060 --> 29:22.120 maybe if you're a year or two in the faith, 29:22.400 --> 29:23.800 that makes sense for you. 29:24.640 --> 29:26.920 But if you've now been walking with the Lord 29:26.920 --> 29:31.100 for 5, 10, 15, 20, on and so forth years, 29:31.100 --> 29:34.360 and you still think you're laying your life down 29:34.360 --> 29:37.520 because you're doing one inconvenient thing during the week, 29:37.800 --> 29:40.340 friend, I question if you're even a friend of God. 29:44.700 --> 29:47.940 According to Romans 12-1, what the apostle Paul is writing 29:47.940 --> 29:49.380 is this is a lifetime. 29:51.340 --> 29:53.240 The apostle Paul is literally, 29:53.520 --> 29:55.360 he's begging his listeners. 29:56.000 --> 29:57.600 He uses this word. He says, 29:57.740 --> 29:59.040 I beseech you, brothers. 30:00.300 --> 30:01.880 In other words, think of it this way. 30:01.880 --> 30:04.280 It's like a person getting down on their knees 30:04.280 --> 30:08.380 and they're saying, please, please do this. 30:09.500 --> 30:10.920 That's what he means when he's saying, 30:12.260 --> 30:14.080 I beseech you, brethren. 30:14.420 --> 30:17.160 This is Romans 12, starting at verse 1. 30:17.860 --> 30:21.620 He says, I beseech you, brethren, that you would what? 30:23.380 --> 30:25.120 You got, let's open it up. 30:26.020 --> 30:27.060 I want to read it to you. 30:28.700 --> 30:30.760 This is Romans chapter 12. 30:37.740 --> 30:39.780 Romans chapter 12 verse 1. 30:40.500 --> 30:45.180 I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God 30:45.180 --> 30:49.820 that you would present your bodies a living sacrifice, 30:50.660 --> 30:53.280 wholly acceptable to God. 30:53.520 --> 30:55.780 Which is your reasonable service? 30:57.920 --> 31:00.380 Which is your reasonable service? 31:00.380 --> 31:05.960 He's saying, listen, present your bodies as a living sacrifice. 31:07.900 --> 31:10.520 Ongoing. It's not that you did it once and that's it. 31:10.620 --> 31:13.100 You're done. It is an ongoing thing. 31:13.660 --> 31:16.860 This is why, again, the apostle Paul, he says that 31:16.860 --> 31:20.420 I crucify or I die to my flesh daily. 31:21.900 --> 31:23.500 I bring it to submission. 31:23.940 --> 31:25.180 I bring it to sub... 31:25.180 --> 31:28.460 I bring it to subjection that it would listen to the Lord. 31:28.460 --> 31:31.800 I bring my body as a living sacrifice. 31:32.380 --> 31:35.680 Why? Because I want to be a friend of God. 31:36.140 --> 31:36.820 That's why. 31:38.660 --> 31:40.120 I want to know him. 31:43.230 --> 31:49.300 I want to know the Lord in ways that very few people know him. 31:49.580 --> 31:53.420 Not to brag and to taunt, but because I've tasted 31:53.420 --> 31:56.100 and I've seen that the Lord is good. 31:58.620 --> 32:01.460 I've tasted and I've seen that he's good 32:01.460 --> 32:02.900 and I want to know him. 32:04.140 --> 32:08.140 And if I want to know him, that means that this is the type of lifestyle. 32:08.420 --> 32:11.300 If I actually want to be a friend of God, 32:11.500 --> 32:16.720 I actually have to lay myself down on a day-to-day basis. 32:16.820 --> 32:18.840 Not when it's only inconvenient once a week. 32:19.660 --> 32:23.620 But this is a lifestyle that the Apostle Paul is talking about. 32:24.160 --> 32:26.040 And he's begging us. 32:27.660 --> 32:30.340 The Apostle Paul is begging us. 32:30.660 --> 32:33.620 The latter church, he's saying, I beseech you. 32:34.100 --> 32:36.300 You're missing out if you're not doing this. 32:36.900 --> 32:39.840 There is access for you to know God. 32:40.180 --> 32:42.920 And he goes, I beseech you. This is far better for you. 32:43.780 --> 32:45.700 Remember, this is forerunner talk. 32:46.380 --> 32:50.340 A forerunner. Who goes before? He scouts. He discovers. 32:50.860 --> 32:51.800 And then he says, come. 32:53.380 --> 32:54.820 This is forerunner talk. 32:57.180 --> 32:59.800 We're talking about the great Apostle Paul 32:59.800 --> 33:02.580 who wrote about three quarters of the New Testament. 33:02.940 --> 33:06.640 This is the Apostle Paul that is telling us, I beg you. 33:06.940 --> 33:07.920 I beseech you. 33:09.400 --> 33:12.760 There is riches in Christ that you have not known yet. 33:13.700 --> 33:17.740 There is a facet of his heart that you have not discovered yet. 33:17.900 --> 33:21.640 You haven't even seen his beauty in the fullness that he is. 33:22.740 --> 33:27.000 But you're swimming here in shallow water and you're not... 33:27.000 --> 33:27.940 You're just swimming here. 33:28.740 --> 33:30.160 You're only ankle deep. 33:32.360 --> 33:36.740 A friend of the bridegroom is one who literally lives a life 33:36.740 --> 33:39.300 that is laid down onto the Lord. 33:40.080 --> 33:41.120 Verse 14. 33:42.620 --> 33:46.580 Let's read again. John chapter 15 verse 14. 33:47.740 --> 33:50.000 I know I'm having you flipping your Bibles this morning. 33:51.040 --> 33:52.400 Is this good so far? 33:57.780 --> 34:01.260 A friend of the bridegroom is one who is trusted by God. 34:01.920 --> 34:06.900 A friend of the bridegroom is one who lives a life that is laid down. 34:07.040 --> 34:08.340 They lay down their life. 34:08.680 --> 34:10.780 They are a living sacrifice. 34:10.780 --> 34:12.620 Now verse 14, listen to this. 34:14.480 --> 34:19.260 You are my friends if you do whatever I command you. 34:19.920 --> 34:20.320 Wow. 34:21.740 --> 34:23.940 You just took another 20% of the church. 34:24.040 --> 34:27.860 Remember, 70 already left after living a life laid down. 34:28.380 --> 34:30.700 So out of 100, if 70 are left, how many do we have? 34:31.480 --> 34:33.300 Okay, just want to make sure you guys got your math right. 34:33.860 --> 34:34.000 Okay? 34:34.800 --> 34:35.600 Verse 14. 34:36.100 --> 34:37.300 He says you are... 34:37.300 --> 34:38.120 He makes a statement. 34:38.280 --> 34:39.300 The Lord makes a statement. 34:39.300 --> 34:39.960 How dare him? 34:42.000 --> 34:47.160 He says you are my friends if you do everything that I command you. 34:48.200 --> 34:50.320 Not just what I tell you to do on Sunday. 34:51.660 --> 34:52.900 Did you hear what I said? 34:56.040 --> 35:00.220 You are my friends if you do everything that I command you. 35:00.420 --> 35:03.020 You took 20% of the church right now and you did this. 35:03.680 --> 35:05.000 You're left with 10%. 35:07.680 --> 35:13.380 To be a friend of the bridegroom is to do everything that he commands us to do. 35:16.220 --> 35:17.760 It is to obey. 35:19.120 --> 35:20.260 It is to submit. 35:21.140 --> 35:22.360 It is to follow. 35:24.740 --> 35:25.680 That's a friend. 35:27.760 --> 35:33.420 To be a friend of the bridegroom is to actually obey. 35:34.220 --> 35:36.240 Now you are talking about works, pastor. 35:36.380 --> 35:37.640 Now you get into that works thing. 35:39.420 --> 35:41.380 I'm saved by grace through faith. 35:41.680 --> 35:43.120 I don't need that. 35:44.140 --> 35:46.540 You are telling me you don't want to be a friend of God. 35:47.160 --> 35:48.100 That's what you are telling me. 35:52.040 --> 35:53.580 Pastor, you don't know my schedule. 35:54.860 --> 35:56.760 Maybe I don't, but God does. 36:02.120 --> 36:06.180 Pastor, you don't understand what I have been through. 36:06.260 --> 36:07.520 You don't know my life, pastor. 36:07.520 --> 36:09.820 You're probably right, but God does. 36:14.260 --> 36:18.460 Pastor, you just don't know I was this and I was that friend. 36:19.520 --> 36:21.340 We can go all day long. 36:21.840 --> 36:24.760 Listen, I can write you an essay on excuses. 36:26.440 --> 36:29.180 And some of them would be legitimate excuses. 36:30.140 --> 36:32.160 I can write you a lesson of excuses. 36:32.660 --> 36:34.920 See, we even have people that come from the perspective, 36:34.920 --> 36:36.420 well, the church ain't perfect. 36:36.580 --> 36:38.340 Why, you know, this and they go, you know, the church... 36:38.340 --> 36:39.700 And they get into that. 36:39.820 --> 36:43.800 Friend, we can give hundreds of excuses, 36:45.400 --> 36:48.040 yet miss the point of what God is actually trying to say. 36:49.060 --> 36:50.000 You following me? 36:51.800 --> 36:55.920 A friend of God is one who actually does everything. 36:56.740 --> 36:59.980 I said everything that God commands them to do. 37:02.600 --> 37:04.780 That means if God tells you to stand on your head 37:04.780 --> 37:05.560 in the middle of service. 37:05.980 --> 37:07.560 I love how Pastor Mary said that today. 37:08.340 --> 37:10.900 She said, man, she goes, when I got saved, it was in 19... 37:10.900 --> 37:11.880 What year did she get saved, Pastor? 37:12.660 --> 37:12.940 1981. 37:14.160 --> 37:15.700 She said, when I got saved in 1981, 37:15.860 --> 37:17.220 for those that weren't in prayer this morning, 37:17.600 --> 37:19.300 she said, when I got saved in 1981, 37:19.800 --> 37:21.760 she said, I told God, God, I'm gonna do anything 37:21.760 --> 37:22.420 you want me to do. 37:22.480 --> 37:24.280 If you want me to stand on my head upside down, God, 37:24.320 --> 37:25.000 I'm gonna do it. 37:25.180 --> 37:26.660 If that means somebody's gonna get saved, 37:26.880 --> 37:27.820 I'm gonna do it, God. 37:29.060 --> 37:30.580 Where did that attitude go in the church? 37:34.070 --> 37:35.770 I'm not saying that all of you need to go stand 37:35.770 --> 37:37.210 on your heads. 37:38.450 --> 37:40.930 But point being is that way... 37:40.930 --> 37:42.090 See, this goes back to a few... 37:42.990 --> 37:47.730 Has our heart really grown that cold and callous? 37:50.450 --> 37:54.190 Have we really become that cold in our heart 37:54.190 --> 37:56.230 that our heart is no longer tender before the Lord? 37:58.710 --> 38:00.870 You know, when I asked the question, 38:00.930 --> 38:01.870 maybe some of you thought this, 38:01.950 --> 38:02.830 when I asked the question, 38:03.130 --> 38:05.150 when is the last time that you wept 38:05.150 --> 38:06.190 when you read the scriptures? 38:07.590 --> 38:08.550 Some of you may have thought, 38:08.670 --> 38:10.810 well, why are you referring to weeping? 38:11.030 --> 38:13.290 Why do I have to weep when I read the scriptures? 38:13.690 --> 38:15.810 It's not necessarily the act of you weeping. 38:16.110 --> 38:18.130 That just tells me the condition of your heart. 38:18.250 --> 38:19.030 Is your heart tender? 38:21.790 --> 38:23.510 Is your heart tender before the Lord? 38:23.690 --> 38:25.310 That's why I asked that question. 38:25.450 --> 38:26.230 It's not necessarily, 38:26.750 --> 38:27.850 oh, every time you read the scriptures, 38:28.010 --> 38:28.670 you have to weep, 38:28.810 --> 38:30.570 though I would desire that to be. 38:31.530 --> 38:32.790 But that is my indicator. 38:32.790 --> 38:35.170 When I begin to read the scriptures 38:35.630 --> 38:37.190 and it's not affecting me 38:37.190 --> 38:38.770 the way that I know it should be, 38:39.430 --> 38:40.190 I repent. 38:40.350 --> 38:41.490 I say, Lord, I repent. 38:42.470 --> 38:44.090 Tenderize my heart, Holy Spirit. 38:45.230 --> 38:46.770 Tenderize my heart to your word, 38:46.930 --> 38:47.650 to your presence, 38:47.810 --> 38:49.790 that my heart would not be cold 38:49.790 --> 38:51.410 and callous and hard, 38:51.630 --> 38:53.110 but I would actually weep 38:53.110 --> 38:55.570 when I understand what you've done for me. 38:57.430 --> 38:59.370 It's about the tenderness of our hearts, 38:59.430 --> 39:01.270 rather than, oh, well, I didn't weep, 39:01.270 --> 39:02.510 so that's probably a bad thing. 39:02.970 --> 39:03.610 You know, I'm probably... 39:03.610 --> 39:04.210 No, it's not. 39:04.550 --> 39:06.230 The weeping is just the expression. 39:06.970 --> 39:08.530 It's the condition of our heart 39:08.530 --> 39:10.050 is mainly what I'm trying to hit here. 39:13.440 --> 39:17.800 John 15, verse 16. 39:17.920 --> 39:18.640 This is a good one. 39:21.890 --> 39:23.150 John 15, 16. 39:25.370 --> 39:28.650 It says, you... 39:28.650 --> 39:29.650 This is, again, the Lord talking. 39:29.810 --> 39:32.170 We're still in that same chapter. 39:32.930 --> 39:34.470 You did not choose me, 39:34.550 --> 39:35.550 but I chose you 39:35.550 --> 39:36.870 and appointed you 39:36.870 --> 39:40.170 that you should go and bear fruit. 39:41.070 --> 39:42.390 Now, we can pause there 39:42.390 --> 39:43.210 and we can say, okay, 39:43.310 --> 39:44.350 I'm a friend of the bridegroom. 39:44.610 --> 39:45.730 We can pause right there, right? 39:46.050 --> 39:48.590 I bear fruit, so I'm a friend of the bridegroom. 39:48.930 --> 39:49.930 Now, listen to what the Lord says. 39:51.290 --> 39:51.790 He says, 39:52.350 --> 39:54.450 appointed you that you should go and bear fruit 39:54.450 --> 39:57.030 and that your fruit should what? 39:57.990 --> 39:58.430 Remain. 40:00.070 --> 40:02.730 And whatever you ask my father in my name, 40:02.890 --> 40:04.910 he may give you these things. 40:04.990 --> 40:05.750 This is verse 17. 40:05.870 --> 40:06.930 These things I command you 40:06.930 --> 40:08.710 that you love one another. 40:09.770 --> 40:11.270 So, a friend of the bridegroom 40:11.270 --> 40:14.010 is not just one who produces fruit, 40:15.570 --> 40:17.950 but fruit that actually remains. 40:21.260 --> 40:22.880 Fruit that actually remains. 40:23.300 --> 40:24.140 You know, it's interesting 40:24.140 --> 40:24.860 because now again, 40:24.980 --> 40:26.960 now we took 5%. 40:26.960 --> 40:28.100 So, we're down to 10%. 40:28.100 --> 40:28.380 Remember? 40:28.380 --> 40:30.100 Now we take 5% 40:31.020 --> 40:32.280 and we put them to the side. 40:33.200 --> 40:35.240 There's a lot of Christians that produce fruit. 40:37.200 --> 40:40.040 But when you start about talking fruit that remains, 40:41.860 --> 40:43.040 this is the best way 40:43.040 --> 40:44.000 that I can describe to you, 40:44.060 --> 40:44.720 fruit that remains. 40:44.940 --> 40:46.420 Because when we think of fruit, 40:46.780 --> 40:47.800 I feel like right away 40:47.800 --> 40:49.080 in our Pentecostal circles, 40:49.480 --> 40:50.540 we think of how many people 40:50.540 --> 40:52.300 you brought into the church, 40:52.380 --> 40:53.440 how many people are saved. 40:53.520 --> 40:54.640 That's like we go there right away. 40:55.200 --> 40:55.680 We're like, okay, 40:55.840 --> 40:57.300 fruit means that I got people saved, 40:57.300 --> 40:59.100 which is one facet of it. 40:59.660 --> 41:00.900 Which is one facet of it. 41:01.480 --> 41:02.580 It's a very important fruit 41:02.580 --> 41:04.600 for us to have, to bring people to Christ. 41:04.780 --> 41:05.400 Very important. 41:05.580 --> 41:07.080 I am not belittling that at all. 41:07.320 --> 41:08.980 But that's not the only fruit 41:08.980 --> 41:10.540 that Jesus is actually referring to. 41:13.760 --> 41:15.060 I personally believe 41:15.060 --> 41:16.600 what he's talking about here 41:16.600 --> 41:17.480 in this context. 41:17.860 --> 41:20.000 The fruit that the Lord is actually talking about, 41:20.200 --> 41:22.000 fruit that remains is first love. 41:23.340 --> 41:24.420 That's what I really believe 41:24.420 --> 41:25.700 the Lord is really talking about there. 41:26.900 --> 41:27.880 You know why I say that? 41:27.880 --> 41:30.580 Because one week, we love the Lord 41:30.580 --> 41:31.540 and we're on fire 41:31.540 --> 41:32.760 and then the next week 41:32.760 --> 41:33.540 we're down and out. 41:34.080 --> 41:35.920 Oh, hell broke loose. 41:36.460 --> 41:37.660 What am I going to do, God? 41:37.860 --> 41:40.160 And our love for him is out the door 41:40.160 --> 41:41.660 quicker than you can say Mississippi. 41:43.720 --> 41:45.380 A friend of the bridegroom, 41:45.500 --> 41:47.780 because friends, let me give some context. 41:47.960 --> 41:48.700 Here's the truth. 41:49.220 --> 41:51.780 Each and every Christian has valleys 41:51.780 --> 41:53.540 and we have mountaintops. 41:54.480 --> 41:55.280 Every Christian. 41:55.580 --> 41:57.280 None of us are disqualified 41:57.280 --> 41:58.920 and we only have mountaintops. 41:59.200 --> 42:00.440 And none of us are disqualified 42:00.440 --> 42:02.340 where we only have valleys in our life. 42:02.680 --> 42:04.540 Every Christian that is born again 42:04.540 --> 42:07.700 that is led and walks by the Spirit of God 42:07.700 --> 42:10.120 and loves God has valleys in their life 42:10.120 --> 42:11.540 is where it's tough. 42:12.040 --> 42:14.120 Though I walk through the valley of what? 42:14.280 --> 42:15.160 The shadow of death. 42:15.600 --> 42:16.380 I fear no evil. 42:16.620 --> 42:17.640 What is that talking about? 42:17.980 --> 42:18.900 David is saying, 42:19.260 --> 42:20.720 I'm maintaining the fruit. 42:20.860 --> 42:21.580 My fruit remains. 42:22.400 --> 42:24.420 My first love remains for him. 42:24.620 --> 42:26.820 Though I'm walking through the valley 42:26.820 --> 42:28.740 of the shadow of death, 42:29.060 --> 42:30.620 I will fear no evil. 42:30.980 --> 42:31.580 He is saying, 42:31.980 --> 42:34.320 my fruit, my first love unto God, 42:34.680 --> 42:35.440 it's remaining. 42:36.440 --> 42:39.020 Which makes me a friend of God. 42:40.920 --> 42:43.540 But we have Christians that as soon as they go down 42:43.540 --> 42:45.040 in the depths of the valley, 42:45.380 --> 42:46.480 all hell broke loose. 42:46.840 --> 42:48.140 Oh God, forgot me. 42:48.340 --> 42:50.780 Oh Lord, friend, where is your first love? 42:51.960 --> 42:54.720 God is trying to produce something in you. 42:54.720 --> 42:58.740 And half the times we brought ourselves into the valley. 42:59.060 --> 43:01.500 We weren't even led by the Lord into the valley. 43:01.700 --> 43:03.760 Though the spirit of God leads us there. 43:03.920 --> 43:06.660 But there is most times where we bring ourselves 43:06.660 --> 43:07.420 into the valley. 43:08.980 --> 43:09.540 Why? 43:09.860 --> 43:11.740 Because we choose not to repent of sin. 43:11.980 --> 43:13.380 And we come down to the valley 43:13.380 --> 43:14.880 and all hell breaks loose. 43:15.580 --> 43:19.000 Because we are choosing to not repent of something 43:19.000 --> 43:21.920 that God has been dealing with us for years. 43:25.460 --> 43:29.080 David says even though I walk through the valley 43:29.080 --> 43:30.500 of the shadow of death, 43:30.680 --> 43:32.080 he says I will fear no evil. 43:32.540 --> 43:33.120 Because you're with me. 43:33.440 --> 43:34.160 I'm maintaining. 43:34.780 --> 43:35.520 I am remaining. 43:35.780 --> 43:37.540 And my fruit is remaining God. 43:37.640 --> 43:39.620 My first love unto you is remaining. 43:40.000 --> 43:42.200 That's friend of the bridegroom. 43:43.200 --> 43:45.680 That's why you take out of the 10% that's left, 43:45.800 --> 43:47.000 you take 5% out. 43:47.220 --> 43:50.120 And you actually have 5% of Christians 43:50.120 --> 43:53.660 that maintain or have fruit that remains. 43:53.980 --> 43:55.700 Fruit for what type of fruit? 43:56.100 --> 43:56.600 First love. 43:57.920 --> 44:00.820 First and foremost, it's my first love unto you God. 44:01.300 --> 44:03.080 That's the fruit that he's talking about. 44:03.260 --> 44:05.580 Though there's other facets and expressions of fruit. 44:05.900 --> 44:07.500 I believe in this context. 44:07.840 --> 44:10.100 When the Lord is talking about being a friend 44:10.100 --> 44:11.060 of the bridegroom, 44:12.120 --> 44:13.500 he says you're going to do everything 44:13.500 --> 44:14.560 that I command you to do. 44:14.780 --> 44:16.200 And you're going to produce fruit. 44:16.400 --> 44:17.640 But you're going to be different 44:17.640 --> 44:19.280 because your fruit is going to remain. 44:21.220 --> 44:23.340 And then you've got people that are in the mountaintops. 44:23.720 --> 44:25.520 Do you know that you can be on a mountaintop 44:25.520 --> 44:27.540 and you can have fruit that no longer remains? 44:30.980 --> 44:32.620 Pride comes before the fall. 44:33.720 --> 44:34.620 Did you hear me? 44:35.560 --> 44:37.940 I said pride comes before the fall. 44:38.300 --> 44:39.300 You can be at the mountaintop, 44:40.060 --> 44:41.420 yet your fruit is not remaining. 44:42.120 --> 44:43.760 You can be at the mountaintop 44:43.760 --> 44:45.780 and traveling and doing this and doing the other. 44:46.040 --> 44:49.080 And all of a sudden you forgot your first love. 44:49.880 --> 44:52.160 Friend, I've been there and I recommend you 44:52.160 --> 44:55.260 to never ever forget the Lord in the mountaintop. 44:56.920 --> 44:59.680 I have been in that place where I traveled. 45:00.100 --> 45:02.500 I ministered until God came in. 45:02.820 --> 45:05.960 And he said son, you have loved this right here. 45:06.080 --> 45:07.120 You've loved the pulpits. 45:07.420 --> 45:09.480 You've loved the public more than you love 45:09.480 --> 45:10.320 to be with me alone. 45:10.600 --> 45:12.940 You have forgotten your first love. 45:13.660 --> 45:15.200 Return and repent. 45:17.620 --> 45:21.080 Fruit that remains is fruit that maintains. 45:21.980 --> 45:24.520 We constantly, we constantly... 45:24.520 --> 45:25.280 Lord, I'm in the valley. 45:25.600 --> 45:26.760 I'm going to walk in first love. 45:26.880 --> 45:29.020 This is tough, God, but I'm walking in it. 45:29.360 --> 45:30.320 We're at the mountaintop. 45:30.440 --> 45:33.820 It's easy to get distracted on the mountaintop. 45:33.900 --> 45:34.780 Did you hear me this morning? 45:36.800 --> 45:38.380 When everything is going well 45:38.380 --> 45:40.100 and lolly dolly everything, 45:40.240 --> 45:41.500 the finances are coming in. 45:41.980 --> 45:42.780 Everybody's healthy. 45:43.160 --> 45:44.200 Wow, this is great. 45:44.200 --> 45:47.440 In those moments, those can be distractions 45:47.440 --> 45:50.040 that take us away from the first love of God. 45:52.540 --> 45:55.420 When we talk about the story of Peter walking on water, 45:55.660 --> 46:00.320 oftentimes we refer the waves to bad things in our lives. 46:00.800 --> 46:01.020 Right? 46:01.420 --> 46:02.480 That's what we refer him to. 46:02.640 --> 46:03.940 And that's why we start sinking. 46:04.440 --> 46:06.320 I'm going to give you a different perspective this morning. 46:06.660 --> 46:07.500 The Lord gave it to me. 46:07.560 --> 46:09.460 He said son, he said those storms 46:09.460 --> 46:11.580 aren't just representations of bad things. 46:12.220 --> 46:16.540 He said those storms can be as simple as a good thing in your life 46:16.540 --> 46:18.920 that has taken your eyes off of the Lord. 46:19.260 --> 46:20.300 And he said you're going to sink. 46:21.660 --> 46:23.720 You could have just had a job promotion 46:23.720 --> 46:25.540 and you can still sink. 46:27.700 --> 46:30.720 You can be traveling the world for ministry 46:30.720 --> 46:32.300 and you can still sink. 46:32.540 --> 46:34.680 If your eyes get away from the Lord. 46:35.640 --> 46:36.980 A friend of the bridegroom 46:36.980 --> 46:39.640 is one who produces fruit 46:39.640 --> 46:41.860 and that fruit remains. 46:43.300 --> 46:45.740 You just took out of the 10% that we have left 46:45.740 --> 46:48.480 you just took 5% and you've cast them to the wayside. 46:50.400 --> 46:52.580 Because one day I love the Lord. 46:53.040 --> 46:56.220 The next day I complain that you have left me, oh God. 47:05.540 --> 47:07.420 To be a friend of the bridegroom 47:08.030 --> 47:11.940 is to be connected with his voice. 47:15.360 --> 47:17.280 To be a friend of the bridegroom 47:17.280 --> 47:20.500 It's to know the voice of God 47:20.500 --> 47:23.140 and it's more than just to know his voice. 47:23.340 --> 47:26.920 It actually means that you're now trusted with his voice. 47:28.800 --> 47:31.280 This goes back to what I said in John 15, 15. 47:32.540 --> 47:33.420 You know everything. 47:34.440 --> 47:36.480 I now call you friends. Why? 47:37.220 --> 47:38.540 Because I've told you all things. 47:40.480 --> 47:42.680 A friendship has trust. 47:43.920 --> 47:47.460 I said a friendship has trust. 47:49.240 --> 47:51.380 Let me give you a perspective. 47:53.020 --> 47:58.620 Trust is the doorway to friendship with God. 47:59.720 --> 48:05.760 Yet at the same time, distrust is the back door out. 48:06.720 --> 48:09.040 When we lose trust with him. 48:11.080 --> 48:12.780 You know what the sad thing is? 48:13.140 --> 48:14.720 And this is a scary truth. 48:15.320 --> 48:17.180 That it takes us years. 48:18.080 --> 48:22.980 I said years to cultivate a relationship with the Lord. 48:23.240 --> 48:24.740 A man of God says it this way. 48:25.040 --> 48:29.340 He says a intimacy with God is like a slow drip. 48:30.300 --> 48:31.240 It's a slow drip. 48:31.380 --> 48:32.560 You ever seen after a rain? 48:32.960 --> 48:35.440 And then you have the little drip that comes from the gutters? 48:36.100 --> 48:36.980 You guys ever seen that? 48:37.740 --> 48:39.860 That's to have intimacy with the Lord. 48:40.080 --> 48:41.980 You don't get it in a snap of a finger. 48:42.100 --> 48:44.920 And all of a sudden God's sharing everything with you. 48:45.320 --> 48:47.260 It is a slow drip. 48:48.400 --> 48:50.060 That's why none of us are not... 48:50.060 --> 48:51.240 Let me rephrase that. 48:51.520 --> 48:54.200 That's why many of us don't want to have it. 48:54.480 --> 48:57.080 Because we are a generation that has been bred. 48:57.380 --> 48:58.180 That has been raised. 48:58.300 --> 48:59.100 We want it now. 49:01.320 --> 49:04.320 That's why we don't want to pay the cost. 49:04.480 --> 49:05.740 Because we want it now. 49:05.740 --> 49:07.660 I want my cheeseburger now. 49:08.020 --> 49:11.140 Why is this person in line ordering the whole McDonald's menu? 49:11.380 --> 49:12.920 Do they not know that I'm hungry? 49:13.440 --> 49:15.120 I've been fasting for a week. 49:15.200 --> 49:16.920 And I want a Big Mac right now. 49:19.560 --> 49:21.480 Why is this person in green light? 49:21.620 --> 49:23.240 Why are they sitting there for 30 seconds? 49:23.460 --> 49:24.160 Honk, honk, honk. 49:26.640 --> 49:27.120 Right? 49:28.840 --> 49:32.640 But a life of intimacy with God is a slow drip. 49:33.580 --> 49:39.460 And the scary truth is what can take you 20, 30, 40 years 49:39.460 --> 49:43.600 to be trusted by God with His voice and with Him 49:43.600 --> 49:45.040 you can lose in a moment. 49:46.280 --> 49:47.500 Oh, you didn't hear me. 49:49.300 --> 49:54.340 What has taken you 20, 30, 40 years to cultivate in the Lord 49:54.340 --> 49:56.040 you can lose in a moment. 49:58.060 --> 49:59.720 You're saying, where are you getting that? 50:00.120 --> 50:01.000 Read the story of Moses. 50:02.700 --> 50:03.840 Read the story of Moses. 50:07.780 --> 50:08.840 Pastor, I'm going to share this. 50:09.840 --> 50:11.040 I shared this with pastors. 50:11.440 --> 50:13.600 We were in the office and we were talking. 50:15.500 --> 50:17.280 I said, I got a fear of the Lord on me. 50:17.540 --> 50:18.580 Remember, we were sitting in the office. 50:18.720 --> 50:19.540 You know where I'm going with this. 50:20.360 --> 50:22.140 I said, I have a fear of the Lord on me, Pastor. 50:23.940 --> 50:25.800 I said, what has taken you and your wife, 50:26.240 --> 50:27.940 if we're hearing God correctly, 50:28.380 --> 50:31.480 and me and my wife are to be your successors, 50:31.480 --> 50:33.520 if we're hearing God correctly, 50:34.980 --> 50:37.000 I said, Pastor, I said, I got a fear of the Lord on me. 50:37.740 --> 50:40.140 I said, because what has taken you and Pastor Mary 50:40.140 --> 50:42.080 for how many years now, 40 plus years 50:43.000 --> 50:46.960 to cultivate the presence, the preaching, the things of God. 50:47.280 --> 50:48.740 I said, I have a fear of the Lord on me 50:48.740 --> 50:50.880 because when the time comes, if we're hearing God rightly, 50:51.240 --> 50:53.660 when the time comes, I can screw this thing up. 51:00.080 --> 51:01.300 Now that's the fear of the Lord. 51:02.560 --> 51:05.740 What takes us decades to cultivate with God 51:05.740 --> 51:06.640 we can lose in a moment. 51:09.380 --> 51:10.640 We can lose in a moment. 51:11.360 --> 51:13.980 So a friend of the bridegroom is one who is trusted 51:14.360 --> 51:16.420 with God's voice. That's what he says in John. 51:16.560 --> 51:19.120 He says, my sheep, they know my voice. 51:19.800 --> 51:21.560 He says, my sheep, they know my voice. 51:21.720 --> 51:24.020 Though that's almost a general spacing, 51:25.100 --> 51:27.700 but the deeper of that is they know my voice. 51:27.760 --> 51:28.780 It doesn't say this in the scripture, 51:28.900 --> 51:30.300 but I'm trying to show you the deeper here. 51:30.840 --> 51:31.920 I trust them with it. 51:33.720 --> 51:36.760 Proverbs 31, a virtuous wife is what? 51:38.120 --> 51:40.600 He trusts in her is what the scripture says. 51:41.980 --> 51:45.680 He trusts in her knowing that she's not going to mishandle 51:45.680 --> 51:48.920 his voice, his things, his authority on and so forth. 51:50.220 --> 51:51.180 You still with me? 51:52.440 --> 51:55.700 Listen to this. This is where now we're down to 5%. 51:55.700 --> 51:57.240 Now remember, we're down to 5%. 51:57.240 --> 51:59.740 We're about to get down to like 2% right now. 52:02.700 --> 52:03.840 James chapter 2. 52:05.220 --> 52:06.360 Actually, you know what? No, no, no. 52:09.520 --> 52:11.580 Exodus 33. Let's read Exodus 33. 52:17.510 --> 52:19.670 Just warning, we're going to go a little bit past noon today. 52:28.190 --> 52:29.750 Exodus 33 verse 11. 52:37.570 --> 52:40.410 Okay, this is how the Lord... 52:42.550 --> 52:45.150 Because we all can say that we hear the voice of God, right? 52:45.270 --> 52:47.090 How many of you in this place just raise your hand 52:47.090 --> 52:49.450 if you can confidently say you hear the voice of God? 52:50.370 --> 52:52.690 Okay, good, good. 52:52.810 --> 52:53.690 And if you didn't raise your hand, 52:54.010 --> 52:56.610 we'd love to explain to you that you have access 52:56.610 --> 52:58.470 just like anybody else to hear the voice of God. 52:58.950 --> 53:00.390 Not because Pastor Igor said it, 53:00.410 --> 53:02.230 but because what Jesus did on the cross. That's why. 53:02.890 --> 53:07.630 Okay, now here is the difference of actually being a friend of God. 53:07.750 --> 53:12.550 Listen to what the scriptures tell us in Exodus 33 verse 11. 53:13.430 --> 53:18.550 So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face 53:18.550 --> 53:21.390 as a man speaks to who? 53:22.470 --> 53:23.130 His friend. 53:24.330 --> 53:26.710 And he would return to the camp, 53:26.930 --> 53:29.570 but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, 53:29.730 --> 53:32.230 a young man did not depart from the tabernacle. 53:32.530 --> 53:38.090 So the Lord speaks to his friends differently 53:38.870 --> 53:40.490 than he speaks to other people. 53:43.270 --> 53:45.150 Now you're saying, well, that's not fair, God. 53:47.610 --> 53:48.630 That's not fair, God. 53:50.830 --> 53:53.050 You know, God is... How do I put it this way? 53:53.550 --> 53:55.590 God is not necessarily a God who's fair. 53:55.730 --> 53:56.670 He is a God who's just. 54:00.380 --> 54:01.040 What's that scripture? 54:02.280 --> 54:04.200 It's like God is not a... 54:05.960 --> 54:07.920 No, no, no. It'll come to me. It'll come to me. 54:08.140 --> 54:09.280 I looked at Pastor and he's like, 54:09.300 --> 54:10.420 I don't know what you're trying to say, man. 54:12.820 --> 54:14.440 It'll come to you and then you'll say it. 54:14.700 --> 54:15.240 It will. 54:16.060 --> 54:18.320 So God speaks with his friends. 54:18.520 --> 54:20.280 According to what it says in Exodus 33, 54:21.080 --> 54:24.220 he speaks to his friends face to face. 54:25.140 --> 54:26.760 You just took that 5% 54:26.760 --> 54:28.760 and now you've minimized it down to 54:28.760 --> 54:30.800 I'll even confidently say 2%. 54:31.720 --> 54:32.640 Did you hear me? 54:34.280 --> 54:35.740 I'm not trying to preach to you 54:35.740 --> 54:37.900 a condemning sermon this morning. 54:38.220 --> 54:40.260 I'm preaching to you truth this morning. 54:43.640 --> 54:45.860 God desired to speak 54:45.860 --> 54:48.860 with the nation of Israel face to face. 54:51.160 --> 54:52.960 But because they said, 54:53.540 --> 54:54.880 no, no, no, no, no, no, no, God. 54:55.620 --> 54:57.420 Whoa, Moses, too scary. 54:58.000 --> 54:59.240 You go talk to him 54:59.240 --> 55:01.040 and then tell us what he says. 55:03.720 --> 55:06.140 This is our church in our day and age right now. 55:06.700 --> 55:07.140 Right here. 55:08.460 --> 55:09.880 Right here. Exodus 19. 55:09.880 --> 55:11.380 This is our church. 55:11.620 --> 55:13.420 It's not that God doesn't want to. 55:13.660 --> 55:15.000 It's that we don't want to. 55:18.950 --> 55:20.070 Let me say that again. 55:21.010 --> 55:22.950 It's not that God doesn't want to. 55:23.310 --> 55:25.170 It's that we don't want to. 55:27.830 --> 55:28.970 We don't want to. 55:29.550 --> 55:31.530 Our flesh doesn't want to. 55:34.170 --> 55:35.230 We want the boat. 55:35.410 --> 55:36.050 We want the house. 55:36.150 --> 55:36.830 We want the marriage. 55:36.970 --> 55:37.530 We want the kids. 55:37.850 --> 55:38.550 We want this. 55:39.170 --> 55:40.110 That's good, friends. 55:40.450 --> 55:40.950 That's good. 55:42.390 --> 55:43.470 That's awesome. 55:44.490 --> 55:44.970 Great. 55:46.390 --> 55:48.490 It's cool that you want the American dream. 55:48.830 --> 55:49.470 But man, 55:50.290 --> 55:52.330 your American dream is going to perish 55:52.330 --> 55:54.070 with everything here that's on this earth. 55:58.320 --> 56:00.380 I'm not discouraging you from having kids. 56:00.680 --> 56:02.940 I'm not discouraging from getting married. 56:03.080 --> 56:04.760 I think those are all fantastic things. 56:05.120 --> 56:07.180 But we got to have our priorities set straight. 56:08.680 --> 56:10.920 We got to have some things realigned 56:10.920 --> 56:13.360 on our bookshelf, so to say. 56:15.200 --> 56:17.020 You know, in Numbers 12 actually, 56:17.820 --> 56:19.120 in Numbers 12 we hear 56:19.120 --> 56:21.300 Aaron and Miriam complaining. 56:22.700 --> 56:25.120 They're like, well, is Moses really 56:25.120 --> 56:27.360 the only one that God speaks to? 56:27.480 --> 56:28.000 I mean, come on. 56:30.260 --> 56:32.220 Wasn't Aaron called to be a prophet? 56:32.800 --> 56:34.140 He was like, think of it this way. 56:34.200 --> 56:36.280 He was like Moses' sidekick, so to say. 56:37.960 --> 56:39.500 So they're complaining and then God 56:40.060 --> 56:41.360 corrects Miriam and Aaron. 56:41.960 --> 56:42.640 He corrects them. 56:43.560 --> 56:45.400 You can read Numbers 12 by yourself, 56:45.440 --> 56:46.340 but he corrects them there. 56:46.880 --> 56:49.440 And he begins to show the distinct 56:49.440 --> 56:52.860 difference of how he talks to people 56:52.860 --> 56:55.860 that he loves and how he talks to people 56:55.860 --> 56:57.080 that are actually his friends. 57:00.720 --> 57:02.120 He talks to all of us. 57:02.240 --> 57:03.960 We all have access to hear the voice of God. 57:04.400 --> 57:06.460 But when you become a friend of God, 57:06.820 --> 57:08.580 the scripture tells us he talks 57:08.580 --> 57:09.740 to you face to face. 57:13.060 --> 57:15.140 You just took out again that 5%, 57:15.140 --> 57:17.920 you just took 3% and you threw it off to the side. 57:20.680 --> 57:22.100 You know what else is interesting? 57:22.540 --> 57:23.820 We're coming here to quick close. 57:24.120 --> 57:24.820 Hopefully soon. 57:27.720 --> 57:29.000 This is still good though, right? 57:29.800 --> 57:30.360 Is this still good? 57:31.680 --> 57:33.440 Because if this is not good, I'll end it right here. 57:37.040 --> 57:37.260 Okay. 57:38.720 --> 57:40.200 When you're a friend of God, 57:41.400 --> 57:43.340 you never give that claim to yourself. 57:45.920 --> 57:46.800 Did you know that? 57:48.220 --> 57:49.520 When I read the scriptures, 57:50.360 --> 57:51.320 I'll give you just a few of them. 57:51.380 --> 57:53.720 Put up James chapter 2. 57:54.640 --> 57:57.360 Put up James chapter 2. 57:58.960 --> 58:00.740 A friend of God is not one 58:00.740 --> 58:04.520 who runs around and claims the title. 58:07.160 --> 58:08.060 Did you hear me? 58:11.080 --> 58:12.720 And when I find it in the scriptures, 58:13.340 --> 58:15.740 James 2 here, I'm going to show you something. 58:18.950 --> 58:20.190 James chapter 2. 58:21.310 --> 58:23.010 Let's go verse... 58:23.730 --> 58:24.830 Where's my notes here? 58:25.290 --> 58:27.430 James 2, let's go verse 23. 58:27.730 --> 58:29.590 James 2 verse 23. 58:34.720 --> 58:35.240 Okay. 58:36.000 --> 58:38.220 So a friend of God is not one who runs around 58:38.220 --> 58:39.600 and claims that title, 58:39.960 --> 58:42.240 but he actually or she actually 58:42.240 --> 58:45.080 allows God to make that known. 58:45.080 --> 58:48.040 And we see this throughout scripture. 58:48.580 --> 58:49.840 We see this with Abraham. 58:50.700 --> 58:51.980 We see this with Moses. 58:52.620 --> 58:54.640 We see this with John the Baptist. 58:55.120 --> 58:56.560 We see this with the disciples. 58:57.140 --> 58:59.440 None of these men ran around 58:59.440 --> 59:02.140 and said, I'm a friend of God. 59:03.800 --> 59:05.420 They allowed God 59:05.420 --> 59:08.040 to make that claim on their behalf. 59:11.140 --> 59:13.240 So friend, I want to tell you something this morning. 59:13.600 --> 59:15.160 If you've been running around and saying, 59:15.160 --> 59:17.700 I'm a friend of God, I would challenge you. 59:17.940 --> 59:19.320 I would challenge you 59:20.140 --> 59:22.100 to let God be your spokesperson. 59:24.180 --> 59:25.760 And not the man of a mouth 59:25.760 --> 59:27.780 or not the mouth of a man or a woman. 59:29.280 --> 59:31.400 Listen to this. James 2 verse 23. 59:33.420 --> 59:35.600 It says, and the scripture was fulfilled 59:35.600 --> 59:38.000 which as Abraham believed God. 59:38.400 --> 59:40.920 In other words, Abraham did everything 59:40.920 --> 59:42.140 that God commanded. 59:43.220 --> 59:45.540 He said, go and sacrifice your son. 59:46.080 --> 59:46.680 He said, amen. 59:49.060 --> 59:51.380 He said, you will have a son. 59:51.920 --> 59:52.240 Amen. 59:53.320 --> 59:54.440 Though he had a little bit of doubt. 59:56.180 --> 59:58.280 Abraham believed everything 59:58.280 --> 59:59.900 that God told him. 01:00:02.320 --> 01:00:03.300 Listen to this. 01:00:03.620 --> 01:00:04.920 Abraham believed God 01:00:04.920 --> 01:00:07.220 and it was accounted to him 01:00:07.220 --> 01:00:08.540 for righteousness. 01:00:09.300 --> 01:00:11.180 And he was called 01:00:11.180 --> 01:00:13.220 the friend of God. 01:00:13.940 --> 01:00:15.120 Now who called him that? 01:00:15.540 --> 01:00:16.120 Was it Abraham? 01:00:17.620 --> 01:00:18.480 Who called him that? 01:00:19.240 --> 01:00:21.400 According to Isaiah 41-8 01:00:21.400 --> 01:00:22.940 God called him a friend. 01:00:25.850 --> 01:00:27.670 God made that title known. 01:00:28.070 --> 01:00:29.550 This is my friend 01:00:29.550 --> 01:00:32.330 because he knows everything that I'm doing. 01:00:32.650 --> 01:00:34.930 He does everything that I'm commanding. 01:00:35.030 --> 01:00:37.870 And he is one who actually lays down his life 01:00:37.870 --> 01:00:39.230 for me. 01:00:41.510 --> 01:00:43.350 Abraham packed his bags, 01:00:43.710 --> 01:00:45.530 left his father's house 01:00:45.530 --> 01:00:46.950 to go to a complete, 01:00:47.010 --> 01:00:49.310 strange, uncharted territory. 01:00:49.590 --> 01:00:51.090 Why? Because God told him, 01:00:51.330 --> 01:00:52.210 you're going to have descendants. 01:00:55.030 --> 01:00:57.230 God spoke with Abraham 01:00:57.230 --> 01:01:00.230 in such nearness and closeness. 01:01:00.550 --> 01:01:03.410 And then God made the claim, 01:01:03.710 --> 01:01:05.490 that's my friend. 01:01:06.790 --> 01:01:08.550 Abraham did not run around 01:01:08.550 --> 01:01:10.430 and wear a lignard that said, 01:01:10.490 --> 01:01:11.870 hey guys, I'm a friend of God. 01:01:12.030 --> 01:01:13.130 Look, look, look, look, look. 01:01:13.390 --> 01:01:15.350 I didn't stretch my hand and say I'm a friend of God. 01:01:15.630 --> 01:01:18.150 He kept quiet and he let God 01:01:18.150 --> 01:01:19.250 be his spokesperson. 01:01:22.250 --> 01:01:24.170 People oftentimes ask me this question 01:01:24.170 --> 01:01:25.770 and have asked me, well Igor, 01:01:25.950 --> 01:01:26.830 are you a friend of God? 01:01:27.110 --> 01:01:28.970 I fear to even answer that question. 01:01:31.070 --> 01:01:32.910 I fear to answer that question. 01:01:33.850 --> 01:01:34.810 You know why I fear? 01:01:35.090 --> 01:01:36.470 Because everybody that I read 01:01:36.470 --> 01:01:38.150 in the Bible that were friends of God, 01:01:38.530 --> 01:01:40.390 they never even answered that question. 01:01:41.390 --> 01:01:42.530 John the Baptist, 01:01:42.730 --> 01:01:44.710 they came to him and they said, 01:01:45.070 --> 01:01:45.990 are you the Messiah? 01:01:46.550 --> 01:01:48.050 Are you the prophet? Are you Elijah? 01:01:48.330 --> 01:01:50.070 Who are you? Are you the one 01:01:50.070 --> 01:01:50.990 that we're waiting to come? 01:01:52.790 --> 01:01:54.030 John the Baptist 01:01:54.030 --> 01:01:56.250 feared to even, he had 01:01:56.250 --> 01:01:58.270 a fear of the Lord to even answer that question. 01:01:58.510 --> 01:02:00.130 He simply said, I'm a voice. 01:02:01.190 --> 01:02:02.700 Though according to Matthew 11, 01:02:03.450 --> 01:02:04.930 Jesus said, he is the 01:02:04.930 --> 01:02:06.630 greatest prophet born of women 01:02:06.630 --> 01:02:08.110 and even more. 01:02:08.470 --> 01:02:10.670 What was Jesus referring to when he says 01:02:10.670 --> 01:02:12.890 and even more? He's saying he is 01:02:12.890 --> 01:02:14.930 the example of what 01:02:14.930 --> 01:02:16.670 it means to be a friend of 01:02:16.670 --> 01:02:17.570 the bridegroom. 01:02:19.630 --> 01:02:20.890 If John the Baptist 01:02:20.890 --> 01:02:23.130 never claimed that title, 01:02:23.330 --> 01:02:24.810 then friend, I fear 01:02:24.810 --> 01:02:26.830 to claim that title. I will 01:02:26.830 --> 01:02:28.890 let God speak on my behalf. 01:02:30.230 --> 01:02:32.730 Because if I really am a friend of God 01:02:32.730 --> 01:02:34.450 then that means that God will 01:02:34.450 --> 01:02:35.810 reveal himself to me. 01:02:36.170 --> 01:02:38.090 That means that God will show up 01:02:38.090 --> 01:02:39.490 when I show up to speak. 01:02:39.790 --> 01:02:42.050 That means that God will do things 01:02:42.050 --> 01:02:44.430 on my behalf and I don't have to 01:02:44.430 --> 01:02:45.910 run around and prove 01:02:45.910 --> 01:02:48.130 to everybody that I'm a friend of God 01:02:48.680 --> 01:02:49.670 because I'm insecure. 01:02:53.140 --> 01:02:54.440 A friend of God 01:02:54.440 --> 01:02:56.000 never claims that title. 01:02:56.340 --> 01:02:58.060 They let God speak on their behalf. 01:03:00.720 --> 01:03:02.100 Moses didn't even 01:03:02.100 --> 01:03:04.220 go and correct Miriam and Aaron. 01:03:04.460 --> 01:03:06.060 He let God do it. 01:03:07.460 --> 01:03:08.420 He let God 01:03:08.420 --> 01:03:10.020 fight his battle. He let 01:03:10.020 --> 01:03:12.060 God correct Aaron and 01:03:12.060 --> 01:03:12.540 Miriam. 01:03:15.930 --> 01:03:17.950 If we are a friend of 01:03:17.950 --> 01:03:19.710 God, friends, this is 01:03:19.710 --> 01:03:21.950 this gives me such ease and such 01:03:21.950 --> 01:03:23.710 peace in my spirit that 01:03:23.710 --> 01:03:26.170 wow, if I'm your friend 01:03:26.170 --> 01:03:28.330 I don't have to go around and tell anybody 01:03:28.330 --> 01:03:29.970 you're going to make it known. 01:03:31.210 --> 01:03:32.670 And more than that 01:03:32.670 --> 01:03:34.850 you'll make it known in the age to come. 01:03:36.610 --> 01:03:39.070 Because being a friend, I said this last Sunday 01:03:39.070 --> 01:03:41.030 being a friend is actually 01:03:41.030 --> 01:03:42.990 getting a storehouse 01:03:42.990 --> 01:03:43.630 here. 01:03:44.830 --> 01:03:46.590 Storing up my treasures 01:03:46.590 --> 01:03:48.530 up there. What treasures? 01:03:49.770 --> 01:03:50.890 It's not silver or 01:03:50.890 --> 01:03:52.370 gold. It's the treasure 01:03:52.370 --> 01:03:54.830 of the revelation of Jesus 01:03:54.830 --> 01:03:56.510 Christ and the knowing 01:03:56.510 --> 01:03:57.650 of who he is. 01:03:59.110 --> 01:04:00.770 That's why the Apostle Paul 01:04:00.770 --> 01:04:02.270 writes in Philippians 3 01:04:03.550 --> 01:04:04.910 he says, I count 01:04:04.910 --> 01:04:05.970 everything rubbish. 01:04:07.030 --> 01:04:08.850 All that stuff. It's rubbish 01:04:08.850 --> 01:04:10.950 compared to knowing 01:04:10.950 --> 01:04:11.670 him. 01:04:13.710 --> 01:04:14.810 Those are the words 01:04:14.810 --> 01:04:16.110 of the Apostle Paul. 01:04:16.910 --> 01:04:18.610 And man, when you read his resume 01:04:18.610 --> 01:04:20.750 my God, he's got a resume. 01:04:22.290 --> 01:04:24.150 And he says, I call it all rubbish 01:04:24.610 --> 01:04:26.470 just for the sake of knowing him 01:04:26.470 --> 01:04:28.690 I'm willing to do it. And it's 01:04:28.690 --> 01:04:30.110 not just knowing him here 01:04:30.110 --> 01:04:32.630 on this earth, but he's saying, I'm storing up 01:04:32.630 --> 01:04:34.590 treasures because I want to be a friend 01:04:34.590 --> 01:04:36.130 and I'm storing up treasures 01:04:36.470 --> 01:04:38.330 that are in heaven, that are eternal 01:04:38.330 --> 01:04:40.810 that are never ending. That's what he's talking 01:04:40.810 --> 01:04:41.130 about. 01:04:42.450 --> 01:04:44.510 A friend of the bridegroom has 01:04:44.510 --> 01:04:45.750 an eternal perspective. 01:04:46.430 --> 01:04:48.530 They're not looking at the life 01:04:48.530 --> 01:04:50.650 that they live from this perspective. 01:04:50.910 --> 01:04:52.970 They're looking at it from that perspective. 01:04:53.530 --> 01:04:54.510 What is going to 01:04:54.510 --> 01:04:56.230 benefit me in the age to come? 01:04:58.690 --> 01:04:59.930 That's friend of the bridegroom. 01:05:00.910 --> 01:05:02.810 That's friend of the bridegroom thinking. 01:05:03.210 --> 01:05:04.850 That's friend of the bridegroom attitude. 01:05:05.770 --> 01:05:07.410 What is going to benefit me 01:05:07.410 --> 01:05:08.650 God in the age to come? 01:05:08.850 --> 01:05:10.210 And friend, I'm here to tell you 01:05:10.210 --> 01:05:12.270 the only thing that will benefit you 01:05:12.270 --> 01:05:14.490 in the age to come is the knowing of him. 01:05:14.910 --> 01:05:15.470 That's it. 01:05:17.330 --> 01:05:19.170 It's the knowing of Jesus 01:05:19.170 --> 01:05:20.670 our Lord and 01:05:20.670 --> 01:05:22.550 Savior who bled on the cross 01:05:22.550 --> 01:05:24.650 who died on the cross, who rose 01:05:24.650 --> 01:05:26.370 from the dead to have 01:05:26.370 --> 01:05:28.070 a relationship with us. 01:05:29.330 --> 01:05:29.890 That's 01:05:29.890 --> 01:05:32.110 the treasure that I'm after. 01:05:33.410 --> 01:05:34.890 I want to know him 01:05:34.890 --> 01:05:35.970 and I'm willing 01:05:35.970 --> 01:05:38.430 to lay down my life even more 01:05:38.430 --> 01:05:40.410 for the sake to know Jesus. 01:05:40.670 --> 01:05:41.050 That's it. 01:05:44.530 --> 01:05:46.790 I'm willing to lay down my life. 01:05:46.890 --> 01:05:47.850 I don't know about you. 01:05:48.250 --> 01:05:49.990 I'm willing to lay down my life. 01:05:50.230 --> 01:05:51.770 I am willing to learn 01:05:51.770 --> 01:05:53.830 anything that he commands me to do. 01:05:53.970 --> 01:05:54.610 God help me. 01:05:55.950 --> 01:05:57.130 God help me. 01:05:57.770 --> 01:05:59.190 I want to be your friend. 01:05:59.570 --> 01:06:00.510 Help me in the moments 01:06:00.510 --> 01:06:01.990 where you're asking me to do something 01:06:01.990 --> 01:06:04.370 and I don't know how to do it. Help me Holy Spirit. 01:06:08.400 --> 01:06:08.920 That's 01:06:08.920 --> 01:06:10.580 a friend of the bridegroom. 01:06:11.920 --> 01:06:12.940 And right there 01:06:12.940 --> 01:06:13.840 out of the 2% 01:06:14.240 --> 01:06:15.420 we've just cut out one. 01:06:16.900 --> 01:06:18.280 I believe there's only 01:06:18.280 --> 01:06:20.560 1% of people within the body of Christ 01:06:20.560 --> 01:06:22.020 that are actually friends 01:06:22.020 --> 01:06:22.920 of the bridegroom. 01:06:23.600 --> 01:06:25.160 Because the same attitude 01:06:25.160 --> 01:06:27.060 that the nation of Israel had 01:06:27.060 --> 01:06:28.960 our church in this day and age 01:06:28.960 --> 01:06:29.940 has that same attitude. 01:06:30.240 --> 01:06:31.580 You go talk to him. 01:06:32.100 --> 01:06:34.140 And then you tell us what he's saying. 01:06:37.270 --> 01:06:38.270 But God is 01:06:38.270 --> 01:06:38.990 after friendship. 01:06:40.550 --> 01:06:42.210 He wants to trust 01:06:42.210 --> 01:06:44.130 us with himself. Do you not 01:06:44.130 --> 01:06:44.990 hear me this morning? 01:06:47.070 --> 01:06:48.270 He wants to 01:06:48.270 --> 01:06:49.990 trust us with signs 01:06:49.990 --> 01:06:51.570 and miracles and wonders. 01:06:51.570 --> 01:06:53.530 He wants to put his children 01:06:53.530 --> 01:06:55.370 in awe. He does. 01:06:56.050 --> 01:06:57.830 What kind of father? He says a few 01:06:57.830 --> 01:06:59.030 earthly fathers 01:06:59.570 --> 01:07:01.570 give good gifts to your children. 01:07:01.810 --> 01:07:02.830 How much more 01:07:03.570 --> 01:07:04.770 the heavenly father 01:07:06.470 --> 01:07:07.810 he wants to blow 01:07:07.810 --> 01:07:09.530 our socks off by having 01:07:09.530 --> 01:07:11.350 us see the dead rise. And those 01:07:11.350 --> 01:07:13.950 out of wheelchairs get up. He desires 01:07:13.950 --> 01:07:15.410 for us to fall more 01:07:15.410 --> 01:07:17.390 in love with him. But the question 01:07:17.390 --> 01:07:18.730 is are we willing? 01:07:19.670 --> 01:07:21.170 That's the real question 01:07:21.170 --> 01:07:22.890 friends this morning. It's not 01:07:22.890 --> 01:07:24.430 that God stopped doing miracles. 01:07:24.670 --> 01:07:26.510 It's not that God is not doing miracles. 01:07:26.790 --> 01:07:28.690 He is looking. The spirit 01:07:28.690 --> 01:07:30.750 of God is going to and throw the 01:07:30.750 --> 01:07:32.610 earth. Looking. Who 01:07:32.610 --> 01:07:34.710 would be my friend today? 01:07:36.790 --> 01:07:38.670 Who would be my friend 01:07:38.670 --> 01:07:40.610 today? Who would be like John 01:07:40.610 --> 01:07:42.470 the Baptist? And he would hear 01:07:42.470 --> 01:07:44.770 the voice of the bridegroom. And he 01:07:44.770 --> 01:07:45.450 would rejoice. 01:07:48.410 --> 01:07:48.910 That's 01:07:48.910 --> 01:07:49.850 what God is 01:07:49.850 --> 01:07:50.290 after. 01:07:52.450 --> 01:07:53.910 This is what it means 01:07:53.910 --> 01:07:55.570 to live a forerunner 01:07:55.570 --> 01:07:57.290 lifestyle. This is the 01:07:57.290 --> 01:07:59.490 John 3 banner. And when you get 01:07:59.490 --> 01:08:01.550 around people who live this type 01:08:01.550 --> 01:08:03.170 of lifestyle, when you get around them 01:08:03.170 --> 01:08:05.310 at the table, it makes you realize 01:08:05.310 --> 01:08:07.650 two things. My God, I 01:08:07.650 --> 01:08:09.190 really don't know you. And the 01:08:09.190 --> 01:08:10.710 second thing that comes out of it is 01:08:10.710 --> 01:08:12.490 I want to go and get to know you. 01:08:13.910 --> 01:08:14.710 That's why 01:08:14.710 --> 01:08:16.530 we get around the table. We break 01:08:16.530 --> 01:08:18.730 bread. We fellowship. We share. 01:08:18.970 --> 01:08:20.470 We get vulnerable. We get 01:08:20.470 --> 01:08:22.430 transparent for the sake that we would 01:08:22.430 --> 01:08:24.590 be and become friends 01:08:24.590 --> 01:08:25.630 of the bridegroom. 01:08:27.210 --> 01:08:28.490 As a pastor, 01:08:28.950 --> 01:08:30.390 as a pastor in this church, 01:08:30.710 --> 01:08:32.710 I desire, I desire 01:08:32.710 --> 01:08:34.610 that all of us would be 01:08:34.610 --> 01:08:35.310 friends of God. 01:08:36.990 --> 01:08:38.390 I desire that 01:08:38.390 --> 01:08:40.170 God would come in an 01:08:40.170 --> 01:08:42.390 audible way and say the church 01:08:42.390 --> 01:08:44.290 word of life, they're 01:08:44.290 --> 01:08:44.950 my friends. 01:08:47.790 --> 01:08:49.730 That it wouldn't just be an audible voice 01:08:49.730 --> 01:08:52.030 of God saying Pastor Verde and Mary, but 01:08:52.030 --> 01:08:54.150 it would say the church word of life, 01:08:54.690 --> 01:08:56.290 they, they, plural 01:08:56.290 --> 01:08:57.190 are my friends. 01:08:58.590 --> 01:08:59.870 That's what I desire. 01:09:00.830 --> 01:09:02.350 That's what I desire. I 01:09:02.350 --> 01:09:04.130 desire that for myself and I 01:09:04.130 --> 01:09:05.790 desire that for every individual 01:09:05.790 --> 01:09:07.870 sitting here, because friends I have 01:09:07.870 --> 01:09:09.430 tasted and I have seen 01:09:09.430 --> 01:09:11.430 that the Lord is good. I've 01:09:11.430 --> 01:09:13.490 tasted. I've seen that the 01:09:13.490 --> 01:09:14.650 Lord is good. 01:09:15.990 --> 01:09:17.270 And there's riches 01:09:17.270 --> 01:09:19.390 and revelations in him 01:09:19.390 --> 01:09:21.370 that we not had yet attained. 01:09:22.210 --> 01:09:23.570 That's why the Apostle Paul 01:09:23.570 --> 01:09:25.370 says, he says I don't say that I've 01:09:25.370 --> 01:09:27.190 attained at all, but I live a life 01:09:27.190 --> 01:09:29.270 and I go upward. I go upward. 01:09:29.590 --> 01:09:31.210 I go upward towards the goal 01:09:31.210 --> 01:09:33.030 that is what in Christ Jesus. 01:09:33.430 --> 01:09:35.150 It's the knowing and the revelation 01:09:35.150 --> 01:09:36.290 of his suffering. 01:09:38.110 --> 01:09:39.110 God 01:09:39.110 --> 01:09:39.970 desires friends. 01:09:41.170 --> 01:09:42.830 I said God desires 01:09:42.830 --> 01:09:43.910 friends.