Worship in Spirit and Truth

Hey man, I appreciate that song a lot. I just want to greet everybody in Jesus' name. Very thankful to be here with you all. I appreciate the reading of the Psalms this morning. I think that's something the early church did a lot, read Psalms, sing Psalms maybe even. We find out a lot about the heart of God in the Psalms. Let's stand for prayer. Oh God in heaven, we thank you for your great love and your mercies that are new every morning. We thank you for this beautiful day and this place to gather and people to gather with. And we pray for you to be in our midst Lord. Be with Brother Walter and his family in Washington. Bless their day there. Be with Brother Harvey in Ecuador or Honduras I think. Keep him safe. Keep him safe as he travels back home here soon. Just brothers and sisters who aren't here today, taking care of other things. Father bless them and minister to their hearts and keep them in your care. May the peace of God rule in each of our hearts. Help us, guide us, teach us, convict us of all evil. Give us ears to hear and hearts to understand. May your kingdom come and your will be done here on earth as it is in heaven. In Jesus name, Amen. The main text today is going to be in John chapter 4 if you want to turn there. When I was when I was growing up I spent a lot of time in the woods. I spent a lot of time hunting and took a great interest in the ways of the ways of the wilderness. I wanted to be a woodsman I guess. Anyway there was these times like okay there was these there was these spots where were pretty reliable hunting spots. You could you could go there and you had a good good chance to bring meat home. But sometimes on your way to that spot and this is something that you know happened happened to me various ways various times. I can think of a few spots. I can think of this one particular ridge that was just it was just it was a great deer hunting spot. But sometimes like on your way to that spot you know you before you ever get there you you come across a trail in the snow of some creature and you start you start following that trail. And it's it's interesting where where did this creature go and why did he go here and and and you keep following and you keep following because because you learn and you learn the habits of this creature and it it it's uh enriching to your to your skill skills as a woodsman. And then finally time is gone and the day is over and you've you never got to the ridge and you never have any meat to bring back but you spend all day following a trail and but I never considered all that wasted time like it was it was uh you learned so much you learned you learned so much about the habits of this creature um and and uh anyway that's that's a little bit how I feel about this about the things that I've prepared here to talk about. I had a I had a place I wanted to go I had a I had I had a subject I wanted to talk about something that something that seemed like meat something that that I thought had good practical applications and and on my way there uh you know I I came across a trail and I started following it and uh I never I never got to the spot I never never got to the place where well where I I came to this meat that I want to bring to you sometime maybe I will uh what what did we come here today for what what is the purpose of us gathering this morning uh we're here because we love one another we're here to to admonish one another while there is still time while it's still called the day we're here to provoke one another to love and good works um I think it's all of those things I think we could also say that we uh we we came here to worship uh when I didn't make it for the prayer meeting this morning but if the if the brothers came together earlier to pray if they if they uh praised God or thanked him or uh honored him for his goodness and that it was worship if if we sing songs uh reflecting back to God his goodness that's that's worship um and so I I think I think coming together is amongst other things is is coming together to worship and and it's it's that passage in John 4 about worshiping the Lord in spirit and truth is is the trail that I came on to and I started following it and and never made it up to that ridge you know um oh and and we'll get there uh but I I want to talk about a few things first before we read there um the word worship means to render reverence and homage uh like to adore with reverence and honor it could be described as like to reflect back to God what we think he is worth one of Strong's definitions is to fawn or crouch to like to prostrate oneself uh uh to prostrate oneself and and and even there in the in the Strong's that I looked at it says it's derived from a word that would carry a meaning something like um to to kiss somewhat like a dog licking his master's hand um anyway worship worship is is that worship is like giving giving that respect and reverence that is due to something or someone uh and and man is inclined man has an inclination to worship I think there is something a God given something in man uh that that wants to adore something way too often it's it's the creation instead of the creation creation sorry way too often it's the creation instead of the creator um sometimes it's another man that people worship uh sometimes it's the works of a man's hand that people worship but from the dawn of civilization people have organized their whole lives their whole civilization and and and their being is organized around religious beliefs and worship man seeks the meaning of like life he seeks the origins of life he seeks to understand the world he he seeks to understand what his place is in the world and in in seeking these things uh people people come to a variety of things but but they end up worshiping something or someone um you know we exist for some reason we exist we walk we breathe we live within us there is a heart pumping blood like we're we're something and for some reason and and uh our existence demands that we reflect worthiness back to whatever or whoever is the source of our existence that's why we honor our father and mother more than we honor other people's father and mother they they are in some level a source of our existence but it goes our origins go back further than that uh man is inclined to worship something greater all over the all over the world people build places to go worship temples church houses synagogues mosques cathedrals are built in order to worship man is inclined to go to a certain place to worship a place where they think that whatever or whoever they're worshiping is present there there are geographical places that are regarded by people of all religions as superior places to worship for the catholics the vatican city where the pope lives for the jews the western wall for islam it's the great mosque of mecca it's where they it's where they believe that abraham and ishmael built an altar and there they built this this big temple and that's that's of all the places the muslim can go to worship that is the one he must go to at least once in his life uh the hindus have a cash vishwanath temple in india the buddhists have a temple where they believe that the first buddha in attained enlightenment while sitting under the shade of a buddha tree and there's there's still a descendant of that tree growing there like these and and they built this great temple in that area like these people do this thing there's there's a there's a geographical place that is like they think that's where uh that's where we can find it that's where we can find this thing uh that they search this enlightenment now we might think that's all silly uh we might think why do people do this uh but but before we think that too much god actually does the same thing if you don't think so let's look at some scriptures god wanted specific places for the children of israel to worship we'll get to john 4 but let me first read here in deuteronomy in deuteronomy in chapter 11 verse 29 he says now it shall be when the lord your god brings you into the land you are to inherit you shall put the blessings on mount jerusalem and the curse on mount evil and then he goes on down into verse chapter 12 and in verse 8 he says you shall not at all do as we are doing here today every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes for as yet you have not come to the rest in the inheritance that the lord your god gives you but when you cross over jordan and dwell in the land of the lord your god that the lord your god is giving you to inherit and he gives you rest from all your enemies round about and you dwell in safety then there shall the shall be a place that the lord your god chooses to make his name abide there you shall bring all i command you today your whole burnt offering sacrifices tithes firstfruits in the hands of all your uh of your hands and all your gifts and all your choice gifts you vow to the lord he's saying what once you once you get this land there will be a place that the lord chooses there is where you bring your offerings there will be the place where my name abides and that's where you shall worship uh for for a long time in israel's history it was it was there on the mountain that that god had said or moses had said there joshua built an altar there and that was the place of worship but later the temple was built in jerusalem uh and the place of worship was moved there god said to solomon after he had built the temple he says i consecrated this house you built to place my name there forever it it officially at that time it officially became the place for all jews to come there this was the place to worship at the temple in jerusalem just just for some more history that leads up to to the context of john 4 about the jews and the samaritans and this this uh this issue that they had about where to worship so so after solomon uh after solomon uh after after king solomon was his son who did foolish things and the kingdom had the whole kingdom of israel had this big schism um jeroboam was the king of the 10 tribes uh rehoboam was the king of the two tribes to the south and and that was the beginning of a stage of anti-jerusalem ideology and it was promoted by jeroboam jeroboam he he did not want his people to go back to jerusalem to worship perchance if they go back there they mark they might start liking rehoboam again and then they might turn on turn against him so so he set up a place in bethel and a place in dan and said it's too much to go down to jerusalem to worship just we'll just worship here um so so the place that god wanted the people to worship was in the southern kingdom and and and the northern kingdom had this long line of evil kings who practiced idolatry and wickedness and by the year 721 bc the assyrians conquered israel carried away most of them captives but they left some people there they also planted some assyrians in the land these jews and these pagans the jews that were left that weren't carried away captive and the pagans that they planted into the to to reside there they started intermarrying um and that's that's who is known as the samaritans um they would be a race of people who were half jew and half gentiles now that's bad enough to about devout jew but the beginning of this long-lasting hatred between the jews and the samaritans didn't start till later about 150 years after the northern kingdom fell the the babylonians came in and captured the southern kingdom and conquered the southern kingdom and carried them away they broke down the walls in jerusalem they broke down the temple and they were carried away captive they were in exile for about 70 years until nehemiah came back and and started to reconstruct jerusalem now the samaritans under a leader named san ballad the horonite desperately trying to halt that work you you i'm sure you're familiar with that story in in the book of nehemiah and and they've tried to stop that they wanted mount jerusalem to be the central place for the people of the mosaic people to worship and that's where the real that's where the real problem started that's where this this bitter hatred started uh history has it that the the samaritans ended up building a temple at mount mount gerizim they insisted that it was designed by moses to be the place of worship before it ever moved down to jerusalem samaria was also a place of refugees for for outlaw for outlaws out of judaia like you know the the the people who violated the the jewish law or were excommunicated uh went to samaria for safety and um and they were quite willing to take these people in and it just it just fed the already uh the animosity that already existed there um and the samaritans also only accepted the five books of moses they did not accept the prophetic writings and and so these were some of the differences and all these things caused this racial animosity by the time jesus came and by the time jesus came the jews considered the samaritans the worst of human races when the jews couldn't think of anything worse to say about jesus he said aren't you a samaritan with a demon that's as bad as you could call the man uh they had no dealings with each other uh and and and it wasn't just the jews the samaritans like they remember that time when jesus and the apostles would have wanted to travel through samaria and they asked for permission and when the samaritans saw that they were headed to jerusalem they didn't let him it's the time when james and john said let us call thunder down or fire down and destroy these people there was just this there was this bitter animosity okay now in john 4 hmm therefore when the lord knew that the pharisees had heard that jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than john although jesus himself was not baptizing but his disciples were he left judea and went away again into galilee and he had to pass through samaria so he came to a city of samaria called sicar near the parcel of ground that jacob gave to his son joseph and jacob's well was there so jesus being wearied from his journey was sitting thus by the well it was about the sixth hour and there came a woman of samaria to draw water and jesus said give me a drink for his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food therefore the samaritan woman said to him how is it that you being a jew ask me for a drink since i am a samaritan woman for the jews have no dealings with samaritans and jesus answered and said her said to her if you knew the gift of god and who it is who says to you give me a drink you would have asked him and he would have given you living water she said to him sir you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep where then do you get this living water you are not greater than our father jacob are you who gave us this well and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle and jesus answered and said to her everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again but whoever drinks of the water that i will give him shall never thirst but the water that i will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life the woman said to him sir give me this water so i will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw and he said to her go call your husband and come here and the woman answered and said i have no husband and jesus said to her you have correctly said i have no husband for you have had five husbands and the one whom you now have is not your husband thus this you have said truly the woman said to him sir i perceive that you are a prophet our fathers worshiped in this mountain and you people say that in jerusalem is the place to that where men ought to worship and jesus said to her woman believe me an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in jerusalem will you worship the father you worship what you do not know we worship what we know for salvation is from the jews but an hour is coming and now is when the true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and truth for such people the father seeks to be his worshipers god is spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth the woman said to him i know that messiah is coming who is called christ when that one comes he will declare all these things to us and jesus said to her i who speak to you am he there's there's interesting things beyond that that are related to this account but it's not as relevant to what i want to talk about uh so hmm jesus says jesus says to her okay first of all as soon as as soon as jesus said something that made this woman recognize that this this guy has prophetic knowledge this guy told me things about my life that he he had no reason to know other than he's got he's a prophet and she's she said sir i perceive that you're a prophet and as soon as she said that she was like okay now tell me you guys say or we say this mountain is the place to worship this mount gerizim and you guys say it's jerusalem uh and and then jesus said uh woman believe me an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in jerusalem will you worship the father and then down just a little bit further further he says again but an hour is coming and now is okay so so one thing jesus was was saying here is that yes there is a transition coming he's in other words he is not saying no woman you don't understand how it's always supposed to have been he's saying he's saying a time is coming and now is and the woman recognized this too she she as soon as he said this she as soon as he was done with this what he said she said yeah i know that the messiah will come and once he comes he will he'll just explain this all to us uh we'll we'll be able to understand this and and jesus says i am he um uh i think i think there's there's a lot that we could get out of here but one of the things that jesus jesus is doing he he is wanting this woman to recognize who he is his identity he's wanting her even in his very first statement he's already saying if you knew the gift of god and who it is who says to you give me a drink you would have asked him and he would have given you living water uh he he's he's he's starting to tell her like i want you to think about what the gift of god is and try to figure out who that is um and uh uh and and then he says that thing like the time will come that people will the the true worshipers will worship him in spirit and truth and then he says god is spirit and then he says and those who worship him must worship him in must worship in spirit and truth okay he's he's saying it's not on mount not on this mountain it's not in uh don't don't think like it it's in this geographical spot or that geographical spot jesus said other things like in matthew 24 he said when they say this thing that's supposed to come right when they say it's here or when they say it's there don't believe it if they say it's in the desert or or or or or in the secret chamber or somewhere don't don't go there don't believe that uh uh but remember what moses had said and i think he said this prophetically when he said then there shall be a place which the lord your god shall choose to cause his name to dwell there one thing the jews and the samaritans both recognized as bad as they were at odds with each other they recognize that there is a messiah coming when this messiah comes he'll explain it all he will set up an everlasting kingdom no doubt he will that that kingdom will be where he abides um he will dwell there he will cause his name to abide there forever and that will be the place to worship i think the jews and the samaritans both believe that where is that where is that place that moses prophetically talked about where is this place that they both knew that once the messiah will come it'll all be taken care of he'll explain it clearly no more no more uh debating about it uh let's look at luke chapter 17 i'll start reading in verse 11 because i think this part is interesting especially in the in the in the um context of the samaritans and this this problem this animosity think about well we've already talked about this this racial animosity between the jews and the samaritans um and and racial animosity is animosity between classes of people and races it just it just seems not to cease to be um here here in in verse 11 of chapter 17 in luke he says when he was on the way to jerusalem he was passing between samaria and galilee and he entered a village as he entered a village 10 leprous men who stood at a distance and they raised their voices saying jesus master have mercy on us and when he saw them he said to them go and show yourself to the priests and they were as they were and as they were going they were cleansed now one of them when he saw that he had been healed turned back glorifying god with a loud voice and he fell on his face at his feet giving thanks to him and he was a samaritan i i think that would i think jesus jesus really wanted to break down he came he's the creator of all man he wanted to break he is about breaking down these walls of racial division and class division and all that and so like i think i think we should think this in light of like well i trust that nobody in this room is is prejudiced toward races or anything like that but but like if this was if this was if this took place if this account took place in in in hitler's days uh he would probably be telling the germans and he was a jew or if it took place a few hundred years ago here in america he would he would be telling these this this story would be be told and and and they said like there was these 10 10 people that god healed and and and one of them returned one of them found it in himself to come back and and return to the to the healer the the the the glory and blessing of this healing and and he was a negro uh or or whoever the the despised people are he was a hippie he was a uh a gangster a what a buddhist an indian yeah just um and and jesus is like driving this point home like look and okay okay i'll just keep on reading then answer jesus were there not 10 that were cleansed but the nine where are they where were the nine they were on the way to the temple they were they were on the way to see the priest to do some kind of a ritual that's where the nine were going but this one this one found it within himself to come back and worship uh and and return or reflect the worth that he that he experienced of this healing to to the giver of the healing or to the healer uh was no one found was no one found who returned to give glory to god except this foreigner and he said to him stand up and go your faith has made you well here's here's what i wanted to get to right on the heels of that account this is what it says now having been questioned by the pharisees as to when the kingdom of god was coming he answered to them and said the kingdom of god is not coming with signs to be observed nor will they say look here it is or there it is for behold the kingdom of god is in your midst the the king james translation says uh the the kingdom of god comes not with observation but it is within you i don't know which one's the most accurate but i i think they have a similar enough meaning um the kingdom of god is not something that is coming with with with observation uh it's it's um it's a spiritual kingdom it uh the spirit cannot be seen you remember what jesus said there when he said to nicodemus he said something like the wind blows where it where it listeth and you can hear the sound but but you can't tell from where it comes from where it goes um like the kingdom of god the spiritual kingdom is is in that way you can't really tell you there's for sure elements you just can't see it uh it's not it's not observed in that way it is within you and i think there's a similar sentiment in what he said here uh to what he said to the woman in the well when he when he told the woman in the well the time is coming when the true worshipers will worship in spirit and truth there's a similar sentiment there as when he says uh the kingdom of god is within you a man cannot receive that but by the spirit a man cannot receive that but by believing that he jesus is the one whom the father sent what's a kingdom without a temple what's a kingdom without a throne uh what's a kingdom without a place to worship the king but once we believe that this man jesus is the one with the words of eternal life the one who shall come as the samaritan woman said the one who who once he comes will explain everything to us once we believe that once we believe that jesus of nazareth is he we will give our undivided attention to every word that he says the reason i think it is important to not only recognize the truth of what jesus said but also to recognize that he is the son of god is because no one no one can receive his entire doctrine unless they believe that um i've met i've met atheists i've met agnostics i've met omnists who believe who believe they can accept all religions um and and and just kind of take the good things of all religions and they like a lot of what jesus says they they like they like when jesus uh talks about social equality they like when he talks about um uh about peace yet they like they like that he doesn't they like that he just withstands these religious leaders real strongly they like all those things but eh you know when he says deny yourself you know lose your life for my sakes they can't accept everything that he says and and unless and this is exactly like sooner or later this jesus has a hard saying and unless it is determined in our mind that he is the one with the words of life and he can say whatever he says and it's right and and we come we we have the the attitude that peter had when he when when he did say a hard saying and many people left him and and he was like are you jesus asked peter peter are you guys going to leave too and peter said where shall we go there ain't no place to go you have the words of life and i don't think peter was saying i get what you're saying i understand it jesus just got done saying if you don't eat my flesh and drink my blood you've no part in me that's paganism the jews have been the jews have had it established in their whole it's it's in their dna that that is the thing of pagans and nations we do not do that and here jesus says eat my flesh and drink my blood or you won't have any part in me and peter's just like where shall we go you have the words of life you have the right to say this and i have nothing to say against it once we believe once we believe that and we receive uh his entire being and doctrine a spiritual kingdom is born within us within our hearts or in our very midst with within you will be the place will be the place where the lord god chooses to make his name abide that's it that's the place the place where moses is talking about it is with in you hmm this can be done for a jew a gentile a half jew and a half gentile like the samaritans god is the creator of them all and the doctrine of god's son is the message for them all this jerusalem this zion this city of god where love and truth dwell peacefully where where the governor of of of of this city worships in spirit and truth where its members work together in unity where the soldiers have beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning him that city can be within us the the the prophet zechariah describes the future restoration of israel and i what all he's talking about like i think he's talking about the the the heavenly jerusalem that is still to come he may have been in part talking about even the restoration of jerusalem that nehemiah was nehemiah and ezra were were instigating but i think he's also talking about this kingdom of god within us um and he says in zechariah 8 he says and the word of the lord almighty came saying thus says the lord almighty i have been zealous for jerusalem and for zion zealous for her with great zeal and fervor thus says the lord i will return to zion and will dwell in the midst of the in the midst of jerusalem and jerusalem shall be called a true city and the mountain of the lord almighty the holy mountain thus says the lord almighty elderly men and elderly women shall yet sit in the streets of jerusalem each one holding his cane in his hand for the multitude of their days and the streets will be filled with boys and girls dancing in their streets thus says the lord almighty if it is impossible in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days will it also be impossible in my sight says the lord almighty thus says the lord almighty behold i shall deliver my people from the land of the east and from the land of the west i shall bring them in and settle them in the midst of jerusalem they shall be to me a people and i will be to them a god in truth and in righteousness that that that that beautiful city that we just talked about that can be a reality within our hearts within our spirits but it even gets better than that because our flesh uh can can be brought into subjection to the spirit it can be a reality in our not just in our not just within us but without us it can be a reality in our lives in the very working out of our life and it gets even better than that when when we find other when we find other people other believers who have this kingdom of god within them and we come together and we walk together and we work together and we live together and we worship together this city can be a reality right here right here among us not just inwardly but outwardly remember what in that psalm i think it's 133 where where where the psalmist says behold how good it and pleasant it is when brethren go out together in unity and then he says it's like it's like um it's like ointment on aaron's crown and like the dew of herm on it and then he ends that song by saying for there i will command my blessing and life forevermore all right let me let me just try to tie some of these things together and some of this stuff is deep deeper than than i than i claim to fully comprehend when jesus said the true worshipers will worship me in spirit and truth and then he said god is spirit and he said the true worshipers must worship him in spirit and truth god is a spirit he is he is not a visible being but he but he begat a being ah that being is the son of god which is also of man he is flesh dwelling right here with us walking and breathing and eating and drinking and he hurts and he's happy and he's sad he's all of these things this son of god is truth he said he is truth he said i am the way the truth and the life um he he is the true fullness and reality of god like the um what what the spirit is that jesus meant when he said god is spirit well this is this is how the fullness of that looks like when it's in bodily form it's in the man jesus christ he is he is the logos there in john where it says in the beginning was the word and the word was with god and the word was god like that word word um comes from the greek word logos and and word is maybe as good a good a translation as you can get for it but it's so much more than that like it's it's if you look at all the all the descriptions of logos it's uh it's the word but it's it's the thing gone forth it's uh it's the image it's the reality it's or well it's the image or the expression like something gone forth from from that from that other thing um and and that uh that expression you might say or that word or that thing gone forth it is brought into a reality or or a truth like a virtual a thing beholdable handleable um tangible it is brought forth in that in the man jesus christ it is uh it is because of the life of christ that we see remember remember that that that this this woman had said i know that the messiah is coming and when he comes he will explain all things to us okay jesus jesus is like he explains in in his life and in his words he explains god he explains what what he said when he said god is spirit like look at jesus this is what it means this is what it means when when the spirit begets flesh this is what it means this and and and and and then just study jesus okay so this is what happens this is what the spirit does or this is what the flesh does that is begotten by the spirit when he is smitten on one cheek he offers the other one what what does uh when the flesh that is begotten by the spirit has its cloak stolen it forbids not its coat to be taken also uh when when um the flesh is persecuted the flesh that is begotten by the spirit when it is persecuted it suffers it patiently uh jesus was here he was here in the flesh he did these things in the flesh because he was begotten of the spirit i think in a very similar way that okay if if i've not tied it together yet like jesus could have meant a whole lot more than what i'm touching here but when he when he says they must worship him in spirit and in truth i think i think we must worship the father and the son the son is the truth right the father is spirit when he says god is spirit he's talking about the father and and then he's and and he refers to himself as the truth and he says they must worship him in spirit and in truth um okay and in a very similar way uh if we will be worshipers in spirit and truth this spiritual kingdom that i've talked about that that doesn't come by observation but is within you uh it must it must not merely be within us if if if uh if jesus would have only said true worshipers must worship him in the spirit um then then then then i could then then for the point that i'm trying to make like if he if that's what he would be saying and then and then we could say okay well then this kingdom of god is simply something within us it's it's within our spirit uh but but because this spirit begat truth he begat a being uh it it became a reality it became truly flesh it became it came here like in that same way this kingdom that is within us that is a it must also have reality uh it's not just inwardly it's also outwardly it's not just invisibly it's visible if the if the life of the kingdom is not lived out in the flesh uh it is not spirit and truth if we are not living the life of christ with our hands and our feet and our eyes and our ears and our mouth and our stomachs and our entire being then the father uh which is the spirit and the son which is is is truth um they have not yet both came and made their abode in us the fullness see in uh i can't maybe can't quite quote that verse where it talks about how how jesus is the fullness uh in bodily the fullness of god in bodily form something like that um uh if and in a similar way like the fullness of the kingdom the fullness of the kingdom um is not is not trying to separate uh the the spiritual life from the fleshly life that's thinking that's that's not what this is about that's not what god is about that's not what the that's not what his teaching is about it's not trying to separate these things um but it's rather like bringing the flesh into subjection of the spirit in the same way that the son of god subjected himself to the father it was martin it was martin luther who said we are saved by faith and faith alone but that's not in scripture friends that is not in scripture um in fact it is it is in the full faith faith is something we believe like it's an it's this inner thing but uh it is in the fullness of faith which is which is uh when when the spirit becomes an actuality or a truth it is it is when we have faith in fullness that it's working out not only as a as a belief but but in truth and in in a reality in a real way um that's why we call it faithfulness uh as i think buddy pointed that out maybe some weeks ago i think it would be more complete scripturally to say that we are saved by faithfulness alone okay i've given you some of my my opinions about those things and there's there's uh like i say i i kind of feel like i i kind of feel like i went down this trail of very things that were very interesting to me i hope they're interesting to you uh and i i never got i never got to the subject that i set out to talk about um maybe i didn't bring meat home this time but lord willing maybe in a in a in a message soon here we'll get up to that spot where i want to where i want to talk about i'll give you a little hint i want to talk i want to talk about the life of a man after god's own heart where where there was some of this fullness there um but i'll close for now and you can add and or uh i don't know if you can take away but you can correct and some comments god bless you thank you brother that was a blessing um i think you said um i'm not sure if i'm tying this together but i think you tied it together with a double bow and uh i think it was a very nourishing rabbit trail to be honest um lots of savory meat there yeah i just want to say amen and hallelujah i didn't really have anything to add to it but i was just really encouraged and blessed by that thank you amen brother duane and i appreciate your comments i look forward to the next nourishing lesson too and uh that is a puzzling verse uh the kingdom of god is in your midst or uh within you oh i think one of the early christians said it's within your reach it's it's in your reach like for um the woman there it's it's in her reach it's won't be very long before pentecost came it's the kingdom but the kingdom was there whichever one i i'm ignorant to it i don't know which one's the exact but in your midst within you or within your reach and appreciate it dwayne and yeah we're saved by faith alone and some of them say we're saved by grace alone through faith alone through the scriptures alone but how about what what paul says we're saved by grace through faith not a good works that you may boast but you are his workmanship created for more faith no you're created for good works the lord be magnified yeah thank you brother duane um lots of effort was put together to tie these things together i thought i thought it's very uh very nourishing like the brothers testified um it just seems like times never change uh maybe there's a better one thing that stood out to me was just the when you were talking about the different places that people go to worship and and how the catholics do it one way the buddhists another way and the hindus another way and and how that that could be a pretty good description of uh of these scriptures teaches jesus said things like not to go after those things you know people say low here or low there for behold the kingdom of god is within you is what jesus said and and so i guess that's that was a good good thing for me to uh clarity i guess to make that connection and see how the the days that they were in back then were evil as well as as it is today and it's confusing as well it is today and and so we need to just worship the lord and i thought it brought out real clear how how to worship him in spirit and in truth somewhere there's a verse that how is it that if we deny i was looking for it and i thought i had it john chapter 3 at the end he that believeth on the sun has everlasting life he that believe is not the sun shall not see life but the wrath of god abideth on him it seems like that might be this might be this truth that that can so easily we can easily acknowledge maybe god being as being spirit the king james says a spirit but other versions says god is spirit i like that better like god is spirit and and we can recognize that because we don't see him but what about the sun you know the the truth part of it that god god sent him and and brought through him came grace and truth you know like it says earlier in john the law was given by moses but grace and truth came by jesus christ and so if we deny this sun i'm just trying to make the connection between the sun having maybe weighing heavy on the truth and and if we deny that we've been denied um the sun and so i'm sure none of us we want to do that and um so easy to for people to get lopsided in those areas and i don't want that god bless y'all uh praise let the and his glory And His glory is exalted, and His glory is exalted, And His glory is exalted far above the earth and sky. Let the praises give Jehovah, they were made on His command, Then forever He established, His decree shall ever stand. From the earth, O praise Jehovah, all ye mighty dragons low, Iron, hail, and snow, and paper, stormy winds that hear Him call. Let the praises give Jehovah, for His name alone is high. And His glory is exalted, and His glory is exalted, And His glory is exalted far above the earth and sky. All ye fruitful trees and cedars, all ye hills and mountains high, Freelings and beasts and cattle, birds that in the heavens fly. Kings of earth and all ye people, princes, queens, and judges all. Praises be of men and nations, faith in men and children small. Let the praises give Jehovah, for His name alone is high. And His glory is exalted, and His glory is exalted, And His glory is exalted far above the earth and sky. From offspring still in existence, by His word the universe, Through Him many with His voice shake the foundations of the earth. He's the One who left below, and shall be close upon His breast. His disciples He hath led, He's the King forever blessed. Who can measure all the waters in the bubble of His head? True and wondrous power has made of earth, of the heavens in a span. He's the One, the light, the shepherd, He's His flock and all His men. Carries death within His bosom, He's our God, the great I Am. Who inflamed in fiery vengeance, will descend on everyone. Who ignored God and obeyed not, all the past will understand. He's the One, the gift you owe to, to the end have faith request. Say for God, good faithful servant, He's the judge of righteousness. O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness, in the beauty of holiness, in the beauty of holiness. Glory to the Father, and of His diversity. He joins all the holy people, and sanctifies Jehovah. O glory hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. O come before His presence, and glorify His name. O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness, in the beauty of holiness, in the beauty of holiness. Glory be to Jesus, our gracious Redeemer. We praise Him for He loved us, and has raised our nation. O glory hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. O come before His presence, and glorify His name. O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness, in the beauty of holiness, in the beauty of holiness. Glory to the Spirit of the Holy Redeemer. We praise Him with our fathers, and with our son our Savior. O glory hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. O come before His presence, and glorify His name. Rise up, O men of God, and come with lesser things. Give heart, and soul, and mind, and strength to serve the needs of kings. Rise up, O men of God, this kingdom bear is long. Faith in the day of brotherhood, and in the night of wrong. Rise up, O men of God, the church for you doth wait. Her strength unequal to her task, rise up and make her great. Live by the cross of Christ, where his feet have trod. As brothers of the Son of God, rise up, O men of God.