Participants: Mollie Steenson
Series Code: 16SCM
Program Code: 16SCM000011A
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00:51 Welcome to 3ABN's Spring Camp Meeting:
00:56 Live from the 3ABN Worship Center. 01:02 Hello and welcome to Spring Camp Meeting 2016. 01:05 We're glad to have you here. 01:06 Have you all been blessed? Amen! Whoo! One more time: 01:10 Amen! What an enthusiastic crowd we have here this morning, 01:14 don't we Sweetie? We do indeed. We have been 01:16 so blessed. We are on day #3 I guess - Already? - 01:19 of Camp Meeting. It's Friday morning here, 01:21 and whether you are here in our enthusiastic wonderful crowd 01:25 or watching at home we welcome you to Spring Camp Meeting. 01:29 Today we have an anointed woman of God. Umm... 01:32 yes we do. Mollie Steenson is 3ABN's vice president 01:35 and general manager but most importantly 01:38 she's a student of the Word. 01:40 She's a woman who loves God with all her heart 01:43 and she has a walk with God. She teaches our local 01:46 Sabbath School and does a wonderful job. 01:49 And her message this morning is A Royal Priesthood. 01:51 Absolutely. You know, I appreciate Mollie a lot, too. 01:53 She and her husband, Pastor Hal, for those of you that have 01:55 followed 3ABN for many years, know they were instrumental 01:58 in the beginning of 3ABN with the donation of the equipment 02:01 to 3ABN... some of the cameras from their church and things. 02:04 But she and Pastor Hal are a wonderful team together. 02:07 You know, this is neat how this whole sanctuary has 02:09 transformed for Camp Meeting. Because those of you that are 02:12 here when we do church service there's a wall that goes right 02:15 over there. And where it says A Sharper Focus: that's where 02:17 Mollie Steenson teaches her Sabbath School class... 02:19 right in that corner. And like Jill said, 02:21 we are always blessed. She is a woman of God 02:24 and has a heart for God and the Word of God. 02:27 And it's always inspiring, isn't it, to sit under her - 02:29 Amen - tutelage - Amen! Before she presents 02:32 the Word of God we're going to be blessed by special music 02:34 from Sandra Entermann. I love her music! Um-hmm. 02:38 She sings from her heart. She's a woman of God. 02:41 In addition, her nephew is here - 02:44 Braedan Entermann - and he's going to be singing with her. 02:47 The song they will be doing is: Let The Lower Lights... 02:51 Light Be Burning. 02:53 Before she comes and sings let's go to the Lord in prayer. 02:57 OK. Father in heaven, Lord, what a privilege it is to 03:00 come to You in prayer. We thank You for Your Holy Spirit 03:03 that is here at Camp Meeting. We just pray right now that 03:06 You would be with Mollie Mollie Steenson as she breaks 03:09 the word of life to us today. 03:11 Father, we just thank You and praise You. 03:14 And in Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Amen! 03:22 It's a privilege to be able to sing for you this morning 03:26 that beautiful old hymn. And I just would love to 03:28 fill you in a little on the background of that hymn. 03:31 Dwight Moody related the story in this country 03:35 of a shipwreck on a dark and tempestuous night 03:39 where not even a star was visible. 03:42 And he was approaching... he was telling about a captain 03:45 who was approaching the Cleveland harbor 03:48 where he could only see one light... 03:50 and that was the light of the lighthouse. 03:52 And usually there were lower lights burning 03:55 but they were out and so he didn't recognize the harbor. 03:58 There was a pilot on board, and he asked the pilot 04:01 "Are you sure that this is Cleveland harbor? " 04:06 And the pilot replied: "I'm quite sure. " 04:09 He said: "Where are the lower lights? " 04:12 He said: "Gone out, sir. " 04:15 He said: "Do you think we can make it? " 04:17 And the pilot replied: "We must... or perish. " 04:22 So bravely that old man steered the vessel on 04:24 to the course of safety, but alas in the darkness of 04:29 the night he missed the channel and the ship struck upon many 04:33 rocks and a lot of lives were lost. 04:35 And Dwight Moody in his appeal said: "Brothers, 04:39 the Master will take care of the great light. 04:42 We must keep the lower lights burning. " Amen! 04:47 Isn't that something? 04:48 And I think, you know, as we are here at Camp Meeting 04:51 and hearing all these amazing messages, it's one thing 04:53 to be inspired ourselves and to learn what we're learning 04:57 but we've gotta get out there and share, though, haven't we? 04:59 We've got a job to do. Let the lower lights be burning. 05:18 Brightly beams 05:22 our Father's mercy 05:26 from His lighthouse 05:30 ever more. 05:34 But to us 05:37 He gives the keeping 05:42 of the lights 05:44 along the shore. 05:50 Let the lower lights 05:54 be burning; 05:58 send a gleam 06:01 across the waves. 06:05 Some poor fainting, 06:09 struggling seaman 06:13 you may rescue... 06:20 you may save. 06:36 Dark the night 06:39 of sin has settled; 06:43 loud the angry billows 06:48 roar. 06:51 Eager eyes 06:54 are watching, longing 06:58 for the lights 07:01 along the shore. 07:06 Let the lower lights 07:11 be burning; 07:14 send a gleam across 07:19 the waves. 07:21 Some poor fainting, 07:26 struggling seaman 07:29 you may rescue... 07:32 you may save. 07:37 Trim your feeble lamp, 07:41 my brother. 07:45 Some poor sailor 07:49 tempest tossed 07:52 struggling now 07:55 to make the harbor 07:59 in the darkness 08:02 may be lost. 08:07 Let the lower lights 08:12 be burning; 08:15 send a gleam 08:19 across the waves. 08:23 Some poor fainting, 08:27 struggling seaman 08:30 you may rescue... 08:33 you may save. 08:38 Let the lower lights 08:43 be burning; 08:45 send a gleam across 08:50 across the waves - across the waves. 08:53 Across the waves. 08:56 Some poor fainting, 09:01 struggling seaman 09:04 you may rescue, 09:07 you may save... 09:12 you may rescue, 09:18 you may save. 09:36 Amen! 09:41 That was beautiful! You know, Danny in the back... 09:45 he just prayed with me, and I appreciate that so much. 09:47 And he said: "Oh that lady's got such a beautiful voice. " 09:51 But you know what? She's got a beautiful spirit - 09:54 Amen - and a beautiful voice as well. 09:57 And I always appreciate her ministry. 09:59 You know, Ephesians the 4th chapter 10:02 says that Christ Himself "gave some apostles, 10:07 some prophets, some evangelists, 10:09 some pastors and some teachers. " 10:11 Why did He give all of that? 10:13 For the perfecting of the saints. 10:14 How many of you need perfecting? 10:16 Amen! I know I certainly do. 10:18 Well Bruce, I realize I'm not an apostle. 10:21 I'm sure not a prophet; I'm not an evangelist; 10:24 I'm not a pastor. But my prayer today has been 10:27 "God, permit me to teach. " Amen! 10:30 "Let this come across the way You would have it come across. " 10:34 So that's my prayer. 10:38 Has anyone ever asked you who you are? 10:41 Anybody ever ask you that? "Who are you? " 10:44 You know what we're prone to do when somebody asks us 10:47 who we are? Tell them what we do. 10:51 "I'm a mother. " "I'm a teacher. " 10:53 "I'm a truck driver. " We seem to identify 10:58 with what we do not who we are. 11:01 And usually the first things out of our mouth 11:04 is the thing we most closely identify with. 11:07 I remember one time years ago... 11:09 I've got a son named Jeremy. How many of you know Jeremy? 11:13 Let me tell you this about Jeremy Alan Steenson. 11:15 He is a mighty man of God... 11:18 What's the last? All of my Sabbath School class knows 11:22 the rest of that statement: 11:23 in the making. He may not be there yet 11:26 but I want ya'll to know God, by the power of His Holy Spirit, 11:30 is working on all of our children. 11:31 How many of you have children that God is work... 11:35 You've got the prayers out there, and God honors. 11:38 And as for me and my house 11:41 we're gonna serve God. 11:44 Well, quite a few years ago somebody asked Jeremy 11:48 "Who's your daddy? " You know what he said? 11:50 "He's a preacher. " And then they asked him: 11:52 "Who's your mother? " "She's a cooker! " 11:56 So that's how he identified me. I'm the cook in my house 11:59 and his daddy was the preacher. 12:01 See, the "who you are" question, the "who are you" question, 12:05 feels like a trap. 12:07 Kind of like a trick question. 12:10 It makes us look deep inside 12:15 when we try to determine just who we are. 12:19 Easy to say what you do, but today you know what we want 12:22 to do? We want to look at who we are. 12:26 Not what you think you are, 12:29 not what other people think you are, 12:32 but let's look at who we are in the light of Calvary. 12:36 Let's look at who we are the way God sees us. 12:39 How many of you would agree with me 12:42 that if God says it that settles it? Amen! 12:45 You know, there's this saying: "God said it, I believe it, 12:48 and that settles it. " That's not the case. 12:50 God said it. Whether you believe it or not, honey, 12:53 that settles it. Amen! God said it... that settles it. 12:57 God sees us through the light of Calvary. 13:00 Let's look at Colossians the first chapter. 13:04 I want to lay a little foundation, a little footwork 13:07 here. Colossians the first chapter; 13:11 we're going to look at verses 12 through 14. 13:14 The scripture says: 13:23 I'm going to stop at this word. What's that next word? 13:27 Inheritance. Now think about inheritance 13:31 because we're going to be look- ing at inheritance a few times 13:34 today. Inheritance. As a rule 13:38 who do you get your inheritance from? 13:40 Any of you ever inherited anything? 13:42 I've inherited a little in my life. 13:46 Came from my momma and my daddy. 13:48 That's where the inheri... Usually it comes through 13:51 the family. Is that not the truth? 13:53 Usually it comes through the family. 13:55 Now what did you do to receive that inheritance? 14:01 Not a thing. You got "borned" into the right family. 14:03 Can I use that word borned? 14:05 Sometimes I say "we got borned again" like past tense. 14:08 We get born... Ya'll do know I'm from Alabama. 14:10 Now if you don't, let me stop and tell you. 14:12 How many of you here are from Alabama? 14:15 Look at that. I've asked a lot of people here 14:18 and people from Alabama come to 3ABN Camp Meeting. 14:21 Don't they, Danny? Thank God for that! 14:23 So we get our inheritance not based on our efforts 14:29 but based on the family we were born into. 14:32 This says: "Giving thanks to the Father 14:34 who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance" - 14:37 meaning we are going to receive something - 14:56 OK. Something good happened to you when you made Jesus Christ 15:01 the Lord of your life. Amen! You got transformed 15:05 out of the kingdom of darkness. Where are you right now? 15:08 You got transferred into or conveyed into 15:12 the kingdom of God. 15:15 We changed kingdoms. Can you praise God for that? 15:19 When you change kingdoms you change the person you serve. 15:24 Let's say for instance 15:27 you lived in, oh, a country 15:31 that had a dictator as the head of their country. 15:37 And things were very difficult 15:40 for you to live under those conditions. 15:42 But you came out of that country 15:46 and the United States accepted you 15:48 and you came into the United States. 15:50 Is that dictator any longer the one that rules over you? 15:54 No! So you came out of... We came out of that kingdom 15:59 where the prince of the powers of this world was the one that 16:04 was the ruling authority. Now we're in the kingdom of God's 16:08 dear Son. We've been transferred out of that kingdom 16:11 of darkness. Amazing things happen. 16:14 Before the change... before you got transformed 16:19 out of the kingdom of darkness... 16:20 if someone asked you: "Who are you? " 16:25 your only response could have been 16:28 "A child of darkness who has no future 16:32 and no hope. " Is that a true statement? 16:35 Before... How many of you have made Jesus Christ the Lord 16:37 of your life? Oh, we're so glad that now if someone 16:42 asks us "Who are you? " we can say: 16:47 "I am a child of the Most High God. " 16:51 "I am a child of God. " I John 3:2. This scripture 16:55 has been thrown out by almost every speaker 16:58 I've noticed here at Camp Meeting. 17:00 I John 3:2. It says: "Beloved... " 17:03 When? "NOW are you the sons of God. " 17:07 When are you a son of God? Now. 17:10 Right now. Not yesterday; not tomorrow. 17:13 Not in the sweet bye and bye. 17:15 When are you a son of God? Now! 17:17 So we are identifying who we are. 17:20 How many of you can say: "I'm a son of God? " 17:23 Can you say that? You know, it's difficult 17:26 for us sometimes to say about ourselves 17:30 what God says about us. 17:31 I'm going to throw one out here 17:34 that people really have difficulty with. 17:37 How many of you love the scripture I John 1:9? 17:40 Oh, thank God for I John 1:9! Amen! 17:44 It says: "If we confess our sins, 17:50 He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins 17:55 AND cleanse us from all unrighteousness. " 17:59 Now think about this. 18:01 Now do we accept that? That's one of my favorite scriptures. 18:05 We confess our sins... are we forgiven? Yes! 18:09 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just 18:13 to forgive us, but He goes one step further. 18:16 What does He do? Cleanses us from what? 18:19 All - All unrighteousness. 18:21 Now let me ask you this: if you are cleansed 18:24 from all unrighteousness, what does that make you? 18:29 If you're cleansed from all unrighteousness, what does that 18:32 make you? Somebody say that again. 18:35 Righteous. Does that make you righteous? 18:38 Do you know how hard it is for us to say we're righteous? 18:44 Does this scripture say we're righteous? 18:46 Now there is a prerequisite. I've got to... I want to qualify 18:50 that. The prerequisite is you confess your sins 18:54 and you're standing before God pure and clean. 18:58 You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. 19:01 Don't ever let yourself think 19:04 that it has anything to do with you. 19:06 Remember: this is who we are in light of Calvary. 19:10 In light of what God accomplished for us, 19:14 what Christ rode out for us at Calvary. 19:17 THAT is who we are. 19:20 We've been transferred out of the kingdom of darkness. 19:23 We're now in the kingdom of God's dear Son. 19:25 We're part of the family. 19:27 We get this inheritance not because of who we are 19:31 or anything we've done. We get this inheritance 19:34 by birth. We've been born again. 19:36 Our identity has nothing to do with what we do; 19:41 our identity has everything to do with what Christ has done. 19:45 OK, now: I Peter 2:9. 19:48 How many of you knew that at some point I was going to 19:51 to be going to I Peter 2:9? 19:53 Turn there and put your marker in your Bible 19:56 at I Peter 2:9 because we're going to hang out there 19:59 a whole lot today because in it it says who we are. Yes! 20:03 OK... looking at who we are in the light of Calvary. 20:08 I'm going to read the whole scripture but we're going to 20:10 go back and kind of break it down. 20:12 I Peter 2:9... 20:33 Now, do any of you underline in your Bible? 20:37 Any of you ever do that? 20:39 I've got this old Amplified Bible. 20:41 It doesn't have a front cover on it any more. 20:43 I heard the saying: "If your Bible's falling apart, 20:46 probably you're not. " Well, my Amplified Bible's just... 20:49 It's marked up. It's got markings all over it. 20:52 I underline and I put the date out by it 20:55 when I underlined it, when this scripture really spoke to me. 20:59 Goes all the way back almost to the time I made Jesus Christ 21:03 the Lord of my life, and I treasure that. 21:06 Do any of you treasure your Bible? 21:10 So you underline that because this tells you 21:14 who you are. Not what you do, but rather 21:17 who you are in Christ. 21:19 First, we're a chosen generation of God's people. 21:23 And I love this: the chosen generation 21:27 of God's people transgresses all cultural boundaries. 21:32 It includes every race, kindred, tongue, and people. 21:37 And I'm thinking here. We've got several 21:43 tongues, kindreds, and people sitting right here in this 21:46 auditorium, do we not? 21:48 But across the world do you know that Three Angels 21:52 broadcasting signal reaches every inhabited continent? 21:57 Amen! So the messages that come forth out of this pulpit 22:02 come forth to touch the needs in every nation 22:06 for every kindred, tongue, and people. 22:09 Some people tend to think that the gospel of the Lord Jesus 22:14 Christ is just for the white person 22:16 or the person that lives in the Western world. 22:20 But this gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ 22:23 is for who? It's for everybody! 22:27 For every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. 22:30 The legitimate Israel of God 22:35 is this chosen generation. 22:37 I want you to turn to Galatians the third chapter 22:40 verses 25 through 26. 22:43 The legitimate Israel of God is in this chosen generation 22:49 that transgresses all cultural boundaries 22:53 and includes every race, kindred, tongue, and people. 22:58 Galatians 3:25-26. 23:02 This says it again. 23:52 Amen! It's not your race; it's not your culture. 23:56 Nobody is exempted from the power that's in the blood 24:02 of the Lord Jesus Christ. That blood was shed 24:05 for everybody. You are, first of all... 24:08 How many of you are sons of God? If you've made Jesus Christ 24:11 the Lord of your life, this is who you are. 24:14 You are a son of God. 24:15 You are a chosen generation. 24:19 Let's go on. We're a chosen generation 24:23 that's bigger than just you and me. 24:25 It's bigger than our blackness, bigger than our whiteness, 24:30 bigger than our cultural backgrounds. 24:32 Amen! It's the WHOLE family of God... 24:36 and we're part of that family. 24:38 Then it goes on to say we're a "royal priesthood. " 24:42 So we're royalty. Praise the Lord! Hey, we're royalty! 24:47 And if you go: "Ooh, I'm royalty, " 24:50 and get your head kind of blown up about that... 24:52 you know something I have found out 24:54 about God by the power of His Spirit? 24:56 He can let the air out of your head so quick. 25:00 So don't go gettin' puffed up. It's nothing about what you did. 25:04 You don't get this inheritance, you're not an heir based on 25:10 what you did. You just got born into the right family. 25:13 You got born into the family of God. Amen! 25:17 A royal priesthood: you and I in Christ 25:21 in the light of Calvary are sons and daughters of God. 25:25 Co-heirs with Christ... that makes us royalty. 25:31 Do you know who Prince William and Princess Kate are? 25:37 Yes. They're royalty, aren't they? 25:40 You know they are the future king and queen of England? 25:44 They're royalty. 25:46 Now what did they do to get to be royalty? 25:50 The same thing we did to get to be royalty. 25:54 They got born into the right earthly family. 25:58 We got born into the right heavenly family. 26:02 Now they've got two children. Pretty little things, 26:05 aren't they? Prince George and Princess Charlotte. 26:09 Do you know that they're royalty too? 26:13 And what did they do? Just got born to the right people. 26:17 You and I didn't do a thing to get to be royalty. 26:22 We just got born again into the right family. 26:26 But royal what? Royal what? 26:31 See it doesn't say we are singular. What does it say? 26:34 Royal priesthood. Not priest... but priesthood. 26:39 One of many. The priest in the Old Testament 26:43 had clear and constant access to God. 26:46 Do we as children of the Living God 26:49 have clear and constant access to God today? 26:54 We are... We are kings and priests. We know that. 26:58 The Bible clearly tells us that. 27:00 We are a royal priesthood. 27:03 Again, God breaks down the barriers. 27:07 It's so we can't think it's just me or it's just us. 27:11 This is a priesthood. 27:14 If the person sitting next to you has made Jesus Christ 27:19 the Lord of their life, do you know that they are 27:23 your brother or your sister? Amen! 27:25 They're part of the same family. Yes! They're as royal 27:29 as you are and they are a king and a priest. 27:33 So any time... Oooh, I'm going to start meddling now 27:37 and it's not even in my notes... 27:39 Any time we start badmouthing, 27:46 gossiping, biting, devouring 27:49 the person sitting next to us or the person across the aisle 27:54 do you know we're biting and hurting ourselves? 27:59 We're part of the same family. 28:01 Now I don't know about ya'll. I've got three sisters 28:04 and a brother. Now my sisters... I mean, we've got 28:09 a good relationship; we get together. 28:11 Do any of you's family ever sometimes kind of get on 28:14 your last nerve? Yes! See? And we can go behind a closed door 28:18 and talk that out. But out in the public 28:22 we will never discuss our differences. 28:25 We keep that... We take our concerns... 28:29 And this is something that we talked about in Sabbath School 28:33 not too terribly long ago. If you have a fault... 28:36 you know, an issue with your brother, what are you supposed 28:40 to do? Your supposed to go to that brother. The scripture 28:43 gives us good direction on what we're supposed to do 28:47 when we have issue with a brother. 28:49 But what would we rather do? 28:51 Run to somebody and just gripe and complain about them. 28:54 That's not God's way. 28:56 God's way is for us to handle things according to 28:59 His scripture. We're all one family. 29:02 And who is the head? If somebody kicks my toe, 29:05 do you know my head's gonna hurt? 29:07 And so any time you hurt one of your brothers and sisters 29:11 do you know you're hurting the head? Who is the 29:14 Head of our church? Jesus Christ. OK. 29:18 The omnipresence of God. 29:22 As priests, we have constant access to God. 29:26 Not only is God everywhere 29:30 He gives us constant accessibility to Him. 29:33 Do you know we have constant accessibility to Almighty God? 29:38 Remember when Peter... He did something that we all 29:43 say: "Look at Peter. He took his eyes off of Jesus 29:46 and what happened? " He started sinking. 29:49 Hey, he was out there walking on that water though. 29:52 Have you ever walked on water? 29:54 I haven't. But what did Peter do when he started sinking? 29:59 "Lord, save me! " And what did the Lord do? 30:02 Constant... instant accessibility. 30:06 I had a friend some years ago 30:09 and she was... I'm going to say she was a Christian lady. 30:13 I'm not going to judge her, but she... Well, I'll just tell you 30:17 the whole case of it because she won't be watching. 30:23 We got down in Metropolis. They've got a boat... 30:28 one of those gambling boats down there. 30:30 You know what I'm talking about? They... I don't know, 30:32 you go down and - I don't know - you gamble. 30:35 Anyway, she said it had good food, too. 30:36 But I bet you she just wanted to go gamble. 30:38 But anyway... She told me that she was going to go 30:42 to the boat. And I told her: "You can go there! You can't 30:46 do that! Don't you know that God is there? 30:51 God sees everything we do. 30:54 He hears everything we say. 30:56 He's with us everywhere we go. 30:59 You can't go to the boat; you can't go somewhere like that. " 31:04 I don't know... I never knew whether she went or not 31:06 because she didn't tell me 'cause she knew... Anyway... 31:09 But what we can't do is lose sight of the fact 31:16 that God is all knowing. Amen! 31:19 We are His priests and His kings; 31:22 we are His royal priesthood. 31:25 And we must never lose sight of the fact 31:29 that we are constantly in His presence. 31:31 Oh, there is... there is a reverence 31:36 that we must have. Did we invite God's presence 31:39 into this place today? How many of you believe God 31:42 by the power of His Holy Spirit is in this house today? 31:46 Amen! And He's seeing us. 31:48 And you know, we ask God to touch all of us. How many of you 31:50 want God to touch your heart today? 31:53 My prayer is always: "Father, " no matter if I'm teaching 31:56 two people or two hundred people or the message is going 32:00 to the whole world... "Father, let nobody leave this place 32:03 the way they came in. " 32:06 "Touch our hearts; pick us up and move us forward. " 32:09 And let's look at one of the privileges that God gives us. 32:14 A privilege as a royal priest 32:17 that God gives you in His omnipresence. 32:22 And I'm just going to say that I bet most of you 32:25 can quote this: 32:42 How many of you need grace? 32:44 Amen! How many of you need mercy? 32:47 Amen! How many of you have a need in your life today 32:50 that you need God to touch? 32:52 He tells you: "Don't hang out back here. 32:55 Come boldly before Me. I'm here to help you. 32:59 You are My children. You are royalty. 33:03 I'm here to give you what you need. 33:05 Come boldly before Me. " 33:08 Then Peter tells us that we're a "holy nation. " 33:14 We have to appreciate it because that, too, 33:18 is bigger than just us. We tend to be such individualists. 33:23 "Us four and no more. " Have you ever heard those prayers? 33:25 "God bless me and my husband and my two kids. 33:28 Us four and no more. " My family... my church... 33:33 my denomination. No, no, no. 33:37 We're part of something so big it includes everyone 33:41 who makes Jesus Christ the Lord of their life. 33:44 How many of you know that there are people 33:48 that have made Jesus Christ the Lord of their lives 33:51 in every denomination? They have hearts turned to God. 33:55 A holy nation. Not just the Adventists 33:59 or the Methodists or the Baptists or the Presbyterians 34:03 or the... you put your choice in there. 34:06 But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord 34:10 is in this nation. We are a part of the same family. 34:14 It goes on to say in I Peter "His own special people. " 34:20 He calls us His and says we are special. 34:24 What does the King James? Any of you got a King James 34:27 version of the Bible? What's it say we are? 34:30 Peculiar. I always liked that. 34:33 "A peculiar people. " I always felt a little different. 34:36 Do any of you just feel a little different anyway? 34:39 Well this says in the New King James version 34:42 "His own special people. " 34:44 That is a species of beings that never before existed. 34:49 Could there be Christians before us? 34:52 We're a species of beings that never before existed. 34:55 We've made Jesus Christ the Lord of... We are His own 34:59 special people. We are a peculiar people. 35:02 And what does it say? And this is the crux... 35:06 where I was getting to all along. 35:08 What does it say the purpose of us being a chosen generation, 35:12 a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people? 35:17 What is the purpose of every bit of that? 35:20 "That you may... " do something. 35:23 "Proclaim the praises of Him who called you 35:27 out of darkness into His marvelous light. " 35:30 The whole purpose... the whole purpose is for praise. 35:35 He wants our praise. 35:37 Everything in our lives must be done in praise. Yes! 35:41 When you work, when you play, when you rest. 35:45 When we work we praise God we've got a job. 35:48 "Praise You, holy God. " When we rest, thank God 35:51 we've got an opportunity for rest. 35:54 In everything we must praise God. 35:57 Isn't that what Psalm 150 verse 6 says? 36:01 "Let everything that hath breath... " do something. 36:06 "praise. " How many of you've got breath? 36:08 We have it. The whole purpose of everything you are 36:11 is so that you can praise God. 36:14 In the wilderness... Matthew 4:8-10... 36:19 In the wilderness where Satan was testing Christ 36:24 let's see what that was about. Matthew 4 verses 8 through 10. 36:55 What did Satan want? What was he after? 36:59 He was after worship. 37:01 Who does Jesus say? Who's the only person 37:04 we can worship? Almighty God! 37:08 Even in the third angel's message - Revelation 14:7... 37:12 You don't have to turn to that 'cause you all can quote that. 37:16 You wouldn't be here at Camp Meeting if you weren't 37:18 serious about God. Revelation 14:7. 37:21 Let's read this together or quote it together: 37:38 So who are you? You are a chosen generation; 37:42 you're a royal priesthood; you're a holy nation; 37:47 you're a peculiar special people. 37:49 And what is the purpose of every bit of that? 37:52 For you to praise God. For you to proclaim praises unto God. 37:57 Now, in looking at I Peter 2:9 38:03 I asked myself the question: 38:05 "Where did Peter get this terminology? " 38:08 I think if we go there we'll get to another route. 38:11 Go to Exodus. Where did Peter get this terminology? 38:17 Go to Exodus the 19th chapter. 38:20 Let's see if we can find some similar wording. 38:26 Fifty days from the Exodus 38:31 where were the children of Israel camped? 38:34 Somebody tell me. Fifty days after the Exodus 38:38 where were the children of Israel camped? 38:41 Sinai, were they not? 38:43 They were at Sinai. OK... Exodus 19:1. 38:58 Now in verses 5 through 6 God speaks to Moses 39:03 and tells him concerning the children of Israel: 39:19 Does that sound a whole lot like "a special people" 39:23 that I Peter says we are? 39:44 So do we see where Peter got his terminology? 39:50 This terminology that tells you who you are 39:54 comes from God speaking to Moses at Mount Sinai. 39:59 Now what... and we're going to look at some more of this... 40:03 but tell me the one thing, the main thing, 40:06 that Mount Sinai and Moses on the mount... 40:09 When he came down off that mountain, what is the one thing 40:12 that we think of first? 40:15 What did he bring down off that mountain? 40:17 The Ten Commandments. 40:18 All right. So this was fifty days 40:21 after the Exodus. They're at Mount Sinai. 40:25 Now what is the feast that commemorates 40:31 God giving the Ten Command- ments at Mount Sinai? 40:34 What was the name of that feast? 40:36 Somebody know the name of the feast? 40:39 Pentecost. Pentecost is the feast 40:44 that the children of Israel celebrate in honor of 40:50 the Ten Commandments in commemoration. 40:52 OK. This was fifty days from the Exodus. 40:56 Now how many of you know what the word Pentecost means? 41:02 Pentecost means fifty days. 41:06 That's what Pentecost means. 41:08 Now I used to be in a persuasion that was called 41:12 charismatic, but people would ask us 41:15 "Are you Pentecostal? " 41:17 And there was a time when I would say: "Not yet. " 41:22 "In about 15 years. " Now if somebody asks me if I'm 41:25 Pentecostal I'll have to say: "Well yeah, and then some. " 41:29 Pentecost simply means fifty. 41:32 Now let me give you another something that I find 41:37 interesting. Fifty days after the resurrection - 41:43 the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ in Acts - 41:50 there was a group of people in an upper room. 41:55 Fifty days from the resurrection of Christ 41:59 they were in the upper room. 42:02 Now, Acts 2:1 says: "And when the day 42:07 of Pentecost was fully come 42:10 they were all with one accord and in one place. " 42:14 Now let's go back to Mt. Sinai. 42:17 Moses is on the mountain. 42:19 Remember when Moses was on the mountain? 42:21 He came down off the mountain and the children of Israel 42:27 were all praying and seeking God and thanking God that Moses 42:31 was coming down with the Ten Commandments, right? 42:35 Not hardly. What did Moses find 42:40 when he came down off that mountain? 42:43 They were cavortin'. 42:46 They were carryin' on. 42:48 And you know what they said? 42:50 "Well, we just took all this gold and put it in the fire 42:54 and this gold calf just jumped out. " 42:58 And Moses was just real happy with their actions, wasn't he? 43:02 No... what happened? What happened? 43:06 Moses came down off of that mountain 43:09 with the transcript of God's character in his hand... 43:14 with those Ten Commandments. And the children of Israel were 43:17 playing the fool, were they not? 43:20 And something happened in that myth. 43:23 How many people were slain 43:26 when Moses came down off that mountain? Do you recall? 43:30 Three thousand. 43:32 Three thousand were slain 43:34 when Moses came down off of Mount Sinai 43:37 because of their misbehavior. 43:40 Now Peter and the 120 are in the upper room 43:44 50 days from the resurrection. When the Day of Pentecost 43:49 had fully come something happened in that upper room. 43:53 What happened in that upper room? 43:55 A rushing mighty wind. 43:57 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. 44:02 And they went down. Peter had his first evangelistic campaign. 44:07 Remember that? He went down out of the upper room; 44:10 went out in the streets of Jeru- salem and he started preaching. 44:15 How many people came to the Lord? Three thousand. 44:19 Do ya'll see some parallels there? 44:22 Moses comes down off of the mount with the 44:26 Ten Commandments, the very transcript of God's character. 44:30 The people should be worshiping and praising Almighty God. 44:34 And they weren't... they were misbehaving; 44:36 3,000 were slain. Peter and the 120 44:40 came down out of the upper room with grace and mercy, 44:44 with a power... empowered by the Holy Spirit. 44:48 Moses came down empowered with the Ten Commandments. 44:52 Peter and the 120 came down empowered with the Holy Spirit 44:58 and all heaven breaks loose. 45:00 Mighty move of God as people come to the Lord. 45:04 How many of you are empowered with that Holy Spirit? 45:08 See, your day has come. The Day of Pentecost 45:12 has fully come. As we're filled with God's Holy Spirit 45:15 you're a royal priesthood, you're a chosen generation. 45:20 You're a holy nation; you're a special people 45:24 and you are filled with God's power. 45:27 You're filled with that Holy Ghost power 45:29 and mighty feats and wonders are accomplished 45:33 through you. That is who you are in Christ. 45:35 Is this encouraging you? 45:37 Are you seeing who you are and what's expected? 45:40 OK... back to I Peter 2:9 and at Mount Sinai. 45:46 While at Mount Sinai God gave Moses instruction 45:51 for two different things. Turn to Exodus. 45:55 Go to Exodus chapter 25. 45:58 What was the first thing that we told you that Moses came down 46:02 off of the mountain with? Those Ten Commandments. 46:07 But he also came down off of that mountain 46:12 with something else. Exodus 25 verses 8 through 9. 46:18 And it says: 46:40 Now look at Exodus 25 verse 40. 46:53 God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, the transcript of 46:57 His character, while he was on the mount. But He gave him 47:01 something else: He gave him the pattern for the sanctuary. 47:06 Now why did He say He wanted them to build a sanctuary? 47:11 So that He might dwell among them. 47:15 And it was... And we heard it so beautifully last night. 47:20 The sanctuary: a place for God's literal presence. 47:24 Was it God's literal presence? 47:27 Was that Shekinah glory God's literal presence 47:30 in the ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies? 47:35 Did God literally abide and reside within them? 47:38 "Build the sanctuary so that I can live with My people. " 47:45 Also, what else was the sanctuary for? 47:48 For the forgiveness of sin. 47:51 Once a year did their sins get forgiven? 47:53 Praise God for that! But it was also a place for worship. 47:58 Worship. God gave Moses on Mount Sinai 48:04 a pattern for worship. 48:06 Let's think about that. There was the outer court; 48:11 there was the Holy Place and there was the? 48:15 And what was in the Holy of Holies? 48:17 Not a type; not a shadow; not a figure 48:21 but a what? What was in there? 48:23 The literal presence of Almighty God. 48:27 Something that's brought... And I like the threes that 48:30 we find in the Bible. Justification. Did we not see 48:34 that in the outer court? Sanc- tification in the Holy Place. 48:38 Glorification is where? In the Holy of Holies. 48:43 There are seven feasts, but they're broken down 48:48 into three categories. What are those categories? 48:51 Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. 48:55 There's also the gifts of the Spirit. 48:58 How many gifts of the Spirit are there? 49:00 Nine gifts of the Spirit, but they're broken down 49:03 into three categories: 49:05 the gifts to know; the gifts to speak; 49:09 and the gifts to act. 49:11 God does things throughout the Bible 49:14 and all of it is to show us that He is in control. 49:18 Nothing is done by accident. 49:20 God is in control. 49:22 We have the outer court; we have the Holy Place; 49:26 and we have the Most Holy Place. 49:29 And what is the purpose that every one of us was created? 49:34 So that we can be a holy nation; 49:37 so that we can be a chosen generation. 49:39 What is the purpose? What was your purpose 49:42 for being placed here in this earth? 49:45 To praise God. To bring praises unto Him. 49:48 Entering into true praise is a progression. 49:53 It's outer court; it's Holy Place; 49:57 and it's going right into the Most Holy Place. 50:00 First you walk, then you run, 50:05 then you soar into His presence. Amen! 50:10 I think about coming to church on Sabbath morning. 50:13 Now this may never happen to you but it seems like if I'm ever 50:17 gonna run out of hair spray it's gonna be on Sabbath morning. 50:24 And if ever Hal and I are gonna... Never mind about that. 50:28 But by the time you get to church 50:33 you're just thinking "Oh, thank God. And I nearly 50:35 burned my potluck anyway. " 50:37 And you come and you're sitting in the back of the church 50:41 and the worship leader stands 50:46 and starts bringing you into His presence. 50:49 The last thing you wanted to do was praise God anyway 50:51 in the mood you're in. 50:53 But as the music goes forth 50:57 and the worship starts penetrat- ing and touching your heart 51:01 and you realize "It's not about me... 51:04 it's about Almighty God. " Amen! 51:07 And you've been in that outer court, and you start moving 51:11 toward the Holy Place. 51:14 Your eyes start turning toward Jesus 51:18 and you start worshiping Him and praising Him. 51:24 Coming into His presence... coming into the literal presence 51:30 of Almighty God. Are you going to find that literal presence 51:33 in the outer court? 51:35 Are you going to find it in the Holy Place? 51:37 It's a progression... worship is a progression. 51:41 It's not singing two songs and a chorus. 51:47 It's moving into the presence of God. Yes! 51:51 And when you worship as a whole church it's like mass transit. 51:56 We come into His presence, and something I want you to know: 52:00 any time you move into God's presence 52:03 He wants to do something for His people. Yes! 52:06 He wants to touch you. 52:08 How many of you need a touch from God today? 52:11 He wants to deliver you. 52:15 He wants to set you free. Whatever your need is 52:19 when you come into that place with God, 52:22 when you move into His presence, 52:24 it's because He wants to minister to you. 52:29 What did Jesus do? How Jesus of Nazareth 52:33 went about doing what? Good! 52:39 And healing all that were oppressed of the devil. 52:45 Let me give you some Calvary terminology. 52:48 That would be Isaiah 53:5. Yes! 52:52 Here is Calvary terminology. 52:56 "But He was wounded 53:00 for my transgressions; He was bruised 53:03 for my iniquities. 53:05 The chastisement of my peace was upon Him 53:10 and by His stripes we are... " Present tense... 53:16 "we are healed. " 53:17 Do ya'll see that that is Calvary terminology? 53:20 Do you know that? "Wounded for our transgressions. " 53:25 How many of you believe that He was wounded for your trans... 53:28 What is your transgressions? Your lawlessness. 53:31 "Bruised for my iniquities. " 53:33 "The chastisement of... " How many of you know 53:36 He's given you peace? "And by His stripes 53:39 we are healed. " We are healed. 53:41 Do ya'll think that's just spiritual healing? 53:44 See, it is spiritual healing. 53:46 But I want you to know: healing was in the atonement. 53:49 It was accomplished. You receive your physical healing. 53:53 I stand in need of a physical healing. I need this Word 53:58 to touch me and to move me closer into that Holy of Holies 54:02 into the very presence of God. 54:04 Any of you standing in a position to receive. 54:07 By His stripes you are healed mentally, 54:10 physically, emotionally... but don't stop there. 54:14 Healing was in the atonement. You receive your healing 54:18 just like you receive your salvation. 54:21 How do you receive your salvation? 54:23 By faith. Yes! By faith I'm healed. 54:27 By faith these nodules in my lungs are gone. 54:31 By faith these lesions in my spine are gone. 54:35 Because He was "wounded for my transgressions; 54:39 He was bruised for my iniquities. 54:41 The chastisement of my peace was upon Him 54:44 and by His stripes we're healed. " 54:46 Where do we find Almighty God? 54:49 "In the presence of the Lord there is fullness of joy 54:54 and the joy of the Lord is my strength. " 54:56 Do you know the Word declares that God inhabits the praises 55:01 of Israel. What I want to do today 55:04 is any of you that have a need. You have a need for God 55:09 to quicken your mortal body... let me read this to you. 55:13 Romans 8:11. "But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus 55:18 from the dead dwell in you... " 55:21 How many of you have that same Spirit that raised up Jesus 55:24 from the dead dwelling in you? 55:26 "He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also 55:31 quicken... " What does that word quicken mean? 55:34 Make alive! "your mortal bodies 55:38 by His Spirit that dwelleth in you. " 55:41 Are you in need of a touch from Almighty God today? 55:44 Do you need the quickening by the Spirit and the power 55:48 of Almighty God? We're in the presence of God. 55:51 You already told me: we're in the presence of Almighty God 55:55 here. We prayed and asked God to come into this sanctuary. 55:59 And now we're praying and asking God 56:02 "Quicken these mortal bodies oh God. " 56:04 How many of you are standing in need to receive 56:08 a blessing? How many of you need physical healing 56:11 in your body? How many of you need spiritual healing 56:13 in your body? How many of you need spiritual healing 56:16 in your family? Amen! 56:19 Mentally, physically, emotionally. Nothing was 56:23 left out at Calvary. Christ accomplished all 56:27 at Calvary. That is where it was accomplished. 56:31 So if today you want God by the power of His Spirit 56:36 to quicken your mortal body we're going to pray 56:39 and we're going to ask God. First of all, 56:42 "Search me, oh God, and know my heart. 56:44 Try me and know my thoughts. 56:45 See if there be any evil way in me 56:47 and lead me in the path everlasting. " 56:49 If it's your desire to have God touch you 56:52 and quicken you today, stand with me. 56:55 Holy Father, we come before You in the name of Jesus. 57:00 And Father, I praise You and I thank You 57:02 that it's truly not by might nor power 57:05 but it's only by Your Spirit that anything of any value 57:08 is accomplished. So Father now in Your presence 57:11 we speak over everyone that is listening and watching 57:15 by radio or television, everybody seated 57:18 in this congregation. Father, we're asking 57:21 that You would quicken our mortal bodies. Let healing 57:23 virtue flow into us. Touch us and raise us up, 57:27 Lord, that we can better serve You is our prayer 57:30 in Jesus' name, Amen, Amen. 57:34 Know who you are in Christ. God bless you all. |
Revised 2019-12-10