(Singing:)  "In the Presence of Jehovah . . . "

Let's just worship the Lord together.

We worship You, oh Lord.  We glorify You.  We lift up Your Name in this place.  Hallelujah.  Hallelujah . . .

Wonderful is the Lord.  We glorify You.  We magnify You.  For You alone are worthy.  You are worthy, Lord.  You're worthy.  You're worthy, Lord.  Hallelujah.  Hallelujah.  Thank You, thank You, thank You, Lord.  Thank You, Lord.  Thank You Lord.  Thank You for Your wonderful peace.  Thank You for wonderful peace.  Hallelujah.

I know you've been standing a lot, but let's stand just one more time.  We're going to be reading this morning in 1 Corinthians, chapter 15.  

And while we're turning there, let's sing just one more.  We've done a lot of singing, but this is what I feel this morning.

(Singing:)  "Peace, peace, wonderful peace . . ."

Hallelujah.  Amen.

We want to welcome those who are streaming on the Internet this morning in different places.  We just want to send love to all of you.
  
It's a beautiful day in Jerusalem.  And we feel the wonderful peace of the Lord in this place.

Hallelujah.  Thank You for that wonderful peace, oh God.  Hallelujah.  Thank You, Lord.  Thank You, Lord.  Amen.  

Let's read this morning from 1 Corinthians, chapter 15.

Wonderful greeting to all of you that are here.  

All right, 1 Corinthians, chapter 15 and verse 10 . . .

It's going to be a little different this morning - a little bit of a study from the Scriptures.  So you might want to have a pen in a minute to write down a lot of Scriptures that the Lord has laid on my heart for today.

1 Corinthians, chapter 15 and verse 10.  

Let's look up, though, and get a few other verses.  10 is the text, but let's look up to about verse 8.

8.  And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.  

The apostle Paul here is talking about those that the Lord Jesus appeared to after His resurrection.  

Verse 4 said,

4.  And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

5.  And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve.

6.  After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.

7.  After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.

8.  And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.

9.  For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

But listen at verse 10.

10.  But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

Look at verse 10 again.

10.  But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

Hallelujah.  Father, we want to thank You this morning for that grace.  There is something stirring on the inside of me today.

I just feel full - in such a way that if I would just let go, let myself go, I feel like I would be weeping.  I feel like that You are so good and so rich - your mercy that has been extended to us.  

And we fail sometimes to praise You enough, to thank You enough, to glorify You enough.  I thank You for that full salvation that we have been made to feel.  

We're not walking by feelings, Lord.  We're walking by faith in Your Word.  But oh, how good it is in those times that You let us feel Your Presence.

Oh, how wonderful and sweet to know Your Presence as we can feel it in this little basement.

Lord, come now as we look to Your Word and minister to us from it.  And let Your strength overcome, overtake us, possess us that we would go forth in Your power and strength to be living epistles of Your grace and mercy.  BaShem Adonai Yeshua HaMashiach.  Amen.  And the church said, "Amen."  You may be seated.

The apostle Paul is giving us the story, listing for us in this writing to the church at Corinth those eye witnesses who saw with their own eyes and heard with their own ears this resurrected  Savior - the One who had died and who was laid in a borrowed tomb, and yet came forth victorious over death, hell and the grave.

And you know, it's really something because Paul is right.  He was not in this original group of disciples.  He was really a man born out of season.  

He saw the Lord in a different way than these other five hundred plus witnesses.  He saw the Lord in a glorious visitation on the road to Damascus with letters in his satchel that were orders to bring death and persecution to the church of God.

And this Lord Jesus, who had died, who had raised again, who had ascended into Heaven . . . He decided that He was going to appear to this Saul of Tarsus.

And He appeared to him in a great Light, the Bible tells us when the apostle is giving his own testimony.  And from that Light there is a Voice that speaks out, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me."

What a real shock to this man who had lots of authority and was a brilliant, smart man, learned in the things of the Scriptures even.  

And he said, "Who art Thou, Lord?"  And the Voice said, "I am Jesus, I am Yeshua - the One that you are persecuting."  

And a wonderful thing took place.  And we know this conversion.

And now Paul is writing to Corinth, and he's saying I wasn't one of the original who saw Him.  I was born a little bit out of season.  I came along a little bit later than the rest.  

I'm not even worthy to be called an apostle because I was one of the ones who even persecuted those who trusted in the Lord.  

But he said, "By the grace of God - by God's unmerited, undeserved favor - I am what I am."  Do you know that that could be our testimony?  

That could be our testimony today.  We are men and women born out of season, and yet the Lord Jesus has appeared to us.  He has made Himself real to us through His Word.  

And we have also . . .  Perhaps some of us have not always done the right thing, or made the right choices, or lived the right kind of life.  

But do you know what we can say today?  We can say, "I am what I am by the grace of God - not of any good that I've done, not of any merit of my own, but because of His undeserved favor that He has shown on me."

I recently heard someone preaching about the stoning of Stephen.  And I must say it was a different perspective than I had ever heard before.  

I was listening to a CD of Paul Keith Davis who was preaching about this stoning of Stephen.  He wasn't going into a lot of background because we all know the background, we all know the story.  But he gave it a little bit of a different perspective.

You know, we have been brought up, especially in the Pentecostal world, to say that everything that happens is the will of God.  Nothing can happen unless it's the will of God.  And if you die, it's the will of God.  And Satan can't kill you.  You know, we were taught the enemy can't take your life until God gets ready to let you go, and so forth.  

And I believe that.  I really do.  And I don't want you to think that I don't believe that.  But I do believe that the enemy can sometimes move in and God allows.  

You know, there's a difference between . . .  I'll just try to say it simple.  There's a difference between God's perfect will, His first will, and maybe what God will allow to happen ? His, what we call, permissive will.

And I heard Paul Keith Davis say that Stephen did not die in the perfect will of God.  It was His permissive will that allowed Stephen to be stoned.

You know that . . .  I tell you, that really . . . it made me scratch my face, you know.  It really put me to thinking.  And I thought where would he get such an idea like that?  

And you do think about what a tragedy it was.  He was a young man with a powerful testimony, and he had done nothing wrong.  He had committed no crime.  

And yet even in the middle of his persecution and his execution, He preached one of the most glorious messages that we read about in the New Testament.  

And as the stones were choking his life from him, crushing his chest, he looked up into Heaven and he said, "I see Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father."

It was such a wonderful crossing that the Lord gave him.  And yet I heard this preacher say it wasn't God's perfect will, it was His permissive will.  He allowed it to happen because Stephen's death became a part of a greater plan that God was unfolding.

And I thought about that a little while.  And I ran that through the Scripture a little bit and ran it through my mind a little bit.  And I could see where he was coming from.  

He said that standing there, there was a young man and his name was Saul.

How many of you remember?  This same Paul that we're reading about right now was present at the stoning of Stephen.  

The Bible said those who stoned him . . . they took off their coats, their garments, and they laid them at the feet of a young man whose name was Saul - this very same Saul who later met Jesus on the Damascus Road and became Paul.

And I began to see this picture here as he was kind of bringing it out.  And he said, "God looked down.  He saw that the enemy had hatched a plan to destroy one great anointed preacher, one great man of God, Stephen, who we call the first martyr.

The enemy is the one who said, "I want to shut him up."  It was the enemy.  It wasn't God.  It wasn't God who said, "I want Stephen to be silenced."  

It wasn't God who said, "I don't want him to preach anymore."  It had to be the enemy who said, "I'm gonna stop him.  He's doing too much damage to my kingdom."

And God could've stopped it.  How many of you understand where I'm coming from?  God could've said, "No, Satan, I'm not going to allow you to take his life."  

He did that for Job, didn't he?  The enemy wanted to destroy Job and God said, "You can touch him,  you can take his possessions, but I'm not going to allow you to take his life."

That same God could've stood up that day and said, "No.  You can hurt him.  You can come against him, because he's only going to praise me more and preach with a greater anointing, but I'm not going to let you take his life."

But for some reason God stood back and allowed this plan of the enemy to unfold.  God stood . . .

Somebody said, "How do you know that He stood watching?"  Because that's how Stephen saw him.

"I see Jesus.  The heavens are open and He is standing at the right hand of the Father."

And so we know that He was standing there, watching this whole scene.  He could've stopped it.  Amen?  

He could've stopped it, but He allowed it.  He permitted it.  And we wonder why.  

And I know why.  I didn't know it before, but I knew in the Spirit when I heard Paul Keith say this.  It really went deeper than anything has gone in my heart in a long time.

He said, "It was for Saul.  It was for this young man that was standing there."  

You see, it was as though God looked to the enemy and He said, "Okay, I'll let you do what you've planned to do, but it's going to cost you."  

He said it was as though God said to the devil, "Okay, I'll let you carry out your plan.  I'll let you take his life because after all he's going to come and be with Me anyway and that's where I want him to be.  I'll allow you to take his life.  But there's something you need to know.  If you do it, it's really going to cost you something.  Devil, it's going to cost you something."

How many of you know what it cost the devil?  It cost him the greatest ministry that we have in the New Testament - this Saul who had persecuted the Christians.  And now the Lord Jesus met him face to face.

He was converted.  He was humbled like no other was humbled.  He was blind, and he had to seek out somebody that he would've never sought out under any other circumstances - this Ananias that was chosen for this season.

Let me tell you something.  Ananias isn't mentioned very much in the Bible.  We don't know a whole lot about him.  His ministry doesn't seem to be very great.  But I want you to know, if it hadn't have been for an Ananias, there wouldn't be an apostle Paul.  

He would've been blinded.  But God chose Ananias for this simple little work.  Brother, the Lord . . .

Can you imagine God speaking to Ananias and saying, "Saul is coming to the door, and I want you to pray for him."  Can you imagine what Ananias' reaction would've been?

"Oh Lord, not me.  He's the one that's killing the brethren.  He's the one that's persecuting the church.  He has the power to cut off my head.  And You want me to go and lay hands on him?"  

That reminds me of our sister, her testimony that she gave yesterday, when she said that Chuck Pierce was here and that the Lord had given her a word for Chuck Pierce.

And she said, "Giving a prophetic word to Chuck Pierce . . ."  

I'm going to remember this because when I see him again I'm going to tell him this story.  She said, "Giving a prophetic word to Chuck Pierce would be like trying to evangelize Reinhard Bonnke."  You just can't do it.

And perhaps Ananias was filled with real fear because it could've cost him his life.  And yet this simple act of obedience that he would sow into the life of this persecutor of the brethren . . .  And God used him to pray the prayer of faith that opened this man's eyes.  

And look at the ministry.  Look at the New Testament.  Look at the lives that were changed.
Look at how the Gentiles were.  

And you know, this is a paradox how God used the apostle Paul for Gentiles.  Only God could come up with a plan like this.  He used Paul for the Gentiles and Peter for the Jews.

This is a strange thing.  God has a strange way of doing business.  But I really feel like there's a message in this.  

Sometimes we feel like we're being stoned to death.  Sometimes we feel like we're losing our lives.  We can't go on like this.  We're going to be snuffed out, so to speak.  

But I want you to know sometimes God is allowing us to feel the things that we're feeling because there's a greater plan that is being unfolded.  

We can't see it right now with our eyes.  Sometimes we can't even sense it in the Spirit.

But can I convince anybody in this house that God is in control of all things?  When we feel like we're spinning out of control, we're not because God is still sitting on the Throne.  He is still in charge.  He is still sovereign.

Nothing is going to happen to me that He doesn't already know about.  And if He allows it to happen, it's because there's a reason for it happening to me.

And Paul said, "I'm not even worthy to be mixed in with this group of the original apostles.  I'm a man born out of season."

But he gives the greatest testimony that anybody could ever give.  He said, "I am what I am by the grace of God."  

He didn't say what he was.  He didn't even know what to call himself.  

He said, "I'm not an apostle, although I've worked more than any of these."

But he said, "I'm not worthy to be called an apostle."  

He didn't even describe to us what he was.  He just said, "I am that I am by the grace of God."

Anything that I am, it's by His grace.  Anything you've seen me accomplish, it's by His grace.  Any work that I've been able to do for the Kingdom is by His grace.  By the grace of God, I am what I am.  

It reminds me of a story that Brother Branham told about someone who jumped up and gave a testimony.

And in this testimony they said, "I am not what I want to be, and I am not yet what I ought to be, but thank God I am not what I used to be."  

How many of you can have the same testimony?  I'm not yet what I want to be, and I'm not yet what I should be, but oh, thanks be to God by His grace, I am not what I used to be.

When I began to hear this testimony, "By the grace of God, I am what I am," I began to think about some things.  

Do you know it recently became a revelation to me when I heard somebody else say . . .  

I guess I'm in the closet, in the dark, about some things.  I didn't realize what I'm about to say.  

But I heard somebody recently say . . .  And it became a reality.  And I mentioned it even in our own church and had a great response.  

I didn't realize that one of the tools that the enemy is using against the people of God, one of the biggest tools that the enemy is using against the people of God, is a feeling of hopelessness.

Well, I didn't realize that because I'm not hopeless.  And when you're not hopeless, sometimes it's hard to relate to people that are.  

But I heard that, and the minute I heard it, I knew it was the truth.  You know, that's how the Holy Spirit does.  Amen.  

When the He, the Spirit, has come, He will lead us and guide us into all truth.  We may not understand it all, but when we hear it by the Spirit, we feel that quickening and we're able to know that is the truth.

We may have to go and study it to get an understanding of it, but our spirit will tell us.

And I knew immediately that it was true.  I think it was Rick Joyner who I heard say that a few weeks ago in a conference where I was.  I'm pretty sure it was him.  And then maybe some others made comment about it that one of the greatest tools the enemy is using against the people of God is this spirit of hopelessness.

And you know, that sounds about right because if the enemy can take away our hope, if the enemy can cause us to feel hopeless - that nothing's going to change, it's always going to be like it is right now . . .

Look at the situation in Israel.  We get up this morning and we made a terrible mistake.  I picked up the newspaper.  You should never pick up the newspaper on the way to church.  It's a terrible thing to do.

I pick up the newspaper and guess what it says?  Well, I won't tell you.  Well, yes I will.  You'll find out anyway.  

Fourteen Palestinians were killed in an attack in the Gaza and included was a seven-year-old boy.  This is a very terrible thing when we hear it.

We don't understand the reasonings.  We're not in the government.  We're not in the know.  We don't know the intelligence.  We don't know why.  We don't know what the purpose of the attack was.  

All we know is that it brings a cry among the Palestinian people for retaliation - especially when it's children involved - always, but especially when children are involved.

We know it was an accident.  We know that no one ever targeted a child.  But an innocent child was in the way and lost his life.

And you know what that means for us?  It means that the terror alert is raised.  It means that the security is going to be higher throughout the Land, especially in Jerusalem.  

It means that as we enter into Passover, we have to pray for the protection of the Lord because it's a season that becomes ripe in the minds of terrorists to attack.  

We all remember the terrible attack at the Seder in Netanya sometime back, some years ago.  And we read that and we could be filled . . .  This is just one circumstance that could cause us to be filled with a sense of hopelessness.

And we could feel like there will never be a change, and one attack calls for another attack, that calls for another attack, that calls for another attack.  And in our spirit, we could see it as a vicious cycle that will never end.  

But when we read God's Word, we know there will come an end.  We know that it won't always be like it is right now.  It's hard sometime to get our eyes on the Promise when it's so easy to see the circumstances.

And these kinds of things, looking at the circumstance instead of the Promise, can cause us to be filled with a feeling of hopelessness.  I think that the reason why the enemy is able to pull that kind of a trick on . . .  He shouldn't be able.

Listen to me.  Satan should not be able to make a Holy Ghost-filled child of God feel hopeless.  If anybody had a reason to be filled with hope, it's us.  We need to be like Abraham and we need to hope against hope.

When there's no reason . . .  Hallelujah.  When there's no reason to be hopeful, we ought to be filled with hope.  

Though our bodies are dead with age, we should still be filled with hope that one day the Promise will be conceived in us and that it will be manifested through us.

So how is it . . . ?  You help me to figure this out.  How is it that the enemy is able to use a spirit of hopelessness on the children of God?

How can he do it?  We all agree that he shouldn't be able to do it, right?  We all agree that it shouldn't work.  He should never be able to do it.  Is everybody in agreement?  But he must be doing it.  

And I want to know how is it that he is able to do it.  I think I know.  I don't know if you'll agree.  You may come up with a more lofty reason or a deeper spiritual reason.  

My reason is very simple, and it may not be the only reason.  But I feel like that one of the reasons why the enemy is able to use this trick of hopelessness and despondency on the children of God is because even in this late hour of serving the Lord, like most of us in this room have served Him for many years . . .

You know, there aren't many spiritual babies in this room.  These are people who have known the Lord down through the years.  

And we think that we know a lot until God starts talking to us, and we realize we don't know as much as we thought we did.

One of the things that's missing, I believe, is a true revelation of who we are in the Lord Jesus.  

I mean, that is easy to say.  It sounds like a cliche.  It sounds like just some worn-out phrase.  But I really believe there is a lack of a true revelation of who we are in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The apostle said, "By the grace of God I am what I am."  

Okay, Paul, what are you?  What are you?  You didn't tell us what you are.  You just said, "I am what I am by the grace of God."  

And I want to give you . . .  

There's no way in the world I could read all these to you - not all the Scriptures.  I could never do it.  But did you know that the revelation of who I am in the Lord Jesus Christ is so big that it's almost the entire New Testament?

The entire New Testament, almost, is to tell me who I am in the Lord Jesus Christ.  I'm going to give you some quick examples, and then I'm going to read to you a list because I would never have time to be able to do it.

Revelation 5:9 . . .

9.  And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

If you were going to make a list . . .

1.  I am redeemed to God by the Blood.

I am redeemed.  It's finished.  I know we know that, but maybe we know it and we don't know it.  Maybe we know it with a knowledge in our head, but we don't yet know it with a revelation in our heart.

I often heard Brother Branham talking about a revelation dropping from our head down to our heart.  

In our head, it's just mingling with one of our thoughts.  But when this Word comes down into our heart, it becomes a revelation and we stand on that.  

And no matter what things look like, what they smell like, what they seem like, what they sound like, when we have a revelation, we know that we know that we know that we know that we know.

I am redeemed.  I want you to know I'm redeemed.  I didn't say I was walking in perfection yet.  I didn't say that I always say the right thing and do the right thing.  

I didn't say I always behave the right way.  I didn't say that I'm always proud of everything I do.  But I am redeemed.

Paul said, "By the grace of God I am what I am."

And one of the things that Paul was, and one of the things that I am, is redeemed.

Look at 1 Corinthians, chapter 6 and verse 20.  

It would be impossible to do this, to go through all of it.

20.  For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

You are bought.  I am bought with a price.  I don't belong to myself anymore.  I am not my own anymore.  I am a purchased possession of the Lord Jesus Christ.  

Somebody said, "I don't like that because it says that I'm not in control."

Well, I don't know about you, but every time I'm in control I get in trouble.  It's good for me that I am bought with a price.  It's good for me that I am a peculiar treasure and a possession to the Lord.

Then 1 Peter 1:19.  Let's look at that.  And I'll read a few of them, and then I'll just start reading the references out.  

19.  But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

Verse 18.

18.  Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;

19.  But with the precious blood . . .

What is Peter saying here?  It's not by following the tradition of your fathers that you're going to know redemption.  There's no better place to recognize that than in the City that we're walking in today.  It is not by the tradition of your fathers that you're going to know redemption.  We realize that.  

Our sister couldn't be here today . . . she was here for a little while yesterday . . . because she's cleaning for religious Jewish families and she's working these days from 7 in the morning till 10 and 11 at night.  And she's not a young woman.

And she's doing all that hard work because it's Pesach, and we've got to get all the crumbs and the leaven, and so forth.  And I'm not in any way making fun.  I think it's a wonderful type, a beautiful type.  And I think that it's good and it's okay.

But she said, "It's getting out of hand."  I've never heard her say anything like that before.  She's always very, very protective - very protective.  But she said, "It's getting out of hand."  She said, "It's just too much."

She said, "They're miserable."  She said, "They're miserable.  There's no freedom.  There's no joy.  They're so miserable.  I can see it in their lives, their faces.  They're just miserable.  It's a dread.  They dread it."  "It's not something they're looking forward to," she said.

And she said, "The thing that really fixed it for me was I was in a Jewish store the other day and a woman walked up to the clerk and said, 'Are these eggs kosher for Passover?'"

She said, "Then I knew that it's getting a little bit out of hand when we want to know if the egg is kosher."  

Come on now.  But it's the tradition of their fathers.  The reason why we don't make fun of it is it's all they have.  That's the reason why I don't make fun.  It's all they have.

It's all they have to give them any kind of connection to God.  We know there's coming a day that they're going to have more.  But by these traditions they feel connected to the God of Israel.

But Peter says here, "(It's not) from vain conversation, received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Mashiach as of a lamb without blemish and without spot."         

How many of you are glad that you have taken, you have been made a partaker, of the real Paschal Lamb, the real Pesach Lamb, the real One who came without spot and without blemish?  We cannot forget those who do not yet know.

But the emphasis of what we're saying is Paul said, "By the grace of God I am what I am."  

What are you Paul?  Well, one of the things that Paul was is he was purchased by the precious Blood of the Lamb.  I'm Blood bought.

Look at Matthew 10:31.  

I've got to hurry.  I know this is just too simple for you extremely spiritual people, but I needed this.  This is for me.  I needed a review sometime.  

You ever need a review?  Oh, the devil calls you all kinds of names and you get confused on what you really are, he says so many things about you.

Matthew 10:31, said,

31.  Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.

This is the Lord Jesus talking.  And He talks about two sparrows sold for a farthing and one of them . . .  He said, " . . . and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father (knowing it)."  

And then He said that even the hairs of your head are all numbered.

Every hair on your head is numbered.  Do you believe it?  Jesus said it.  He said it.  It's hard for me to imagine.  

I said, you know, He knows the gray ones.  He knows the black ones.  He knows the brown ones.  It didn't say He notices the color.  It said He keeps up with the number.

And I said, "You know, some people are really keeping the angels busy because they're losing hair at a very fast rate and so there must be an angel somewhere subtracting all those that fall out in the sink."

If you live where there's a woman with long hair, hair can show up everywhere.  Anywhere there can be hair.  

And one of the most awful places is the vacuum cleaner.  When it's time to clean out the vacuum cleaner, sometimes you can pull out . . . literally, you can pull out that much hair out of the vacuum cleaner because it's all the time falling out.

And Jesus said the Father knows every hair.  Hallelujah.  And He said you're of more value than many sparrows.  

I want somebody to say, "I'm valuable.  I'm valuable to God."  Have you ever felt worthless?  Have you ever felt like you had no usefulness?  

You're looking at me like you've never felt that way.  Ooh, this is a spiritual bunch.  Praise God.  What a room of kings and priests and prophets.

And yet we all feel like sometime we have no value.  If I died tomorrow . . .  My granny used to say this, "If I die tomorrow, the sun is going to come up just like it did this morning."  

And sometimes we have the feeling nobody would even notice.  Wonder how long it would take for the news to get around that I was dead.

But I want you to know Jesus said, "You're of more value . . ."  If our Father loves the sparrows so much that every one that falls to the ground is recorded and every hair that turns loose is recorded, then surely He knows everything that's going on in our life.

Look at Ephesians 1 with me just a moment.  It's . . .  I have a few more minutes.  Just a few more - give me a few more.  

Ephesians 1, verse 18.  

These thoughts will take you all over the New Testament.
                                                        
18.  The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

I am one who has an inheritance in God.  But I am also one who is a part of His inheritance.  I am a part of the Lord's inheritance.  

I am what I am.  I am a part of the Lord's inheritance.  And He has given me an inheritance.

All right, it's time now to just start reading the list.

2 Corinthians 5:18 says I am reconciled to God.

John 13:10 says I am made clean - even when we feel impure, even when we feel dirty before the Lord.  

You know, sometimes all it takes to feel that way is to get out in the world.  Sometimes just walking through the crowd, you really . . .

You get to thinking about how lost and undone people are, and you see the wickedness of people everywhere you go, and literally, sometimes you can almost feel dirty because people are in such trouble.

I don't mean holy, self-righteous.  That's not what I mean.  But just getting out there and getting among people, sometimes you . . .  But the Word of God says we've been cleansed.

1 Corinthians 15:2 said I am saved by the Gospel, by the Good News.

1 Peter 1:23 says I am born again.  This time I am born of incorruptible seed.  I was born the first time by corrupted seed, by seed that is not eternal.  But I am born this time by an incorruptible and an eternal seed.

2 Corinthians 5:17 - I am a new creation.

1 John 4:4 - I am of God.

1 Corinthians 3:23 - I am Christ's.  I belong to Him.  

1 Corinthians 1:30 - I am in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 2:10 - I am complete in Him.

1 Corinthians 9:19 - I am free from the control and bondage of man.

Romans 6:18 - I am free from sin.

Romans 8:2 - I am free from the law of sin and death.  Hallelujah.  The control and the power of sin and death have no place to work in my life.

Galatians 3:13 - I am free from the curse of the law.  Hallelujah.

John 8:32-36 says I am free - not just free, but what?  Free indeed.  Hallelujah.  Free.  That's really free when we're free indeed.

Romans 8:30 - I am called according to the purposes of God.

1 Corinthians 1:9 - I am called into the fellowship of His Son.

1 Corinthians 7:15 - I am called to peace.

Galatians 5:13 - I am called to liberty.

1 Peter 5:10 - I am called to His eternal glory.

1 Corinthians 3:9 - I am God's field.  I am the field where He plants His seed and uses His husbandry, the Bible said.

1 Corinthians 3:9 - I am His building.  I am His house.
  
1 John 2:14 - I am one whom His Word abides in.

2 Corinthians 3:3 - I am an epistle of Christ written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God.

John 15:5 - I am a branch that is connected into the vine, the Lord Jesus Christ, and His life is flowing through me.

John 15:15 says I am a friend of God.

1 Corinthians 9:19 says I am a servant of God.

I know I'm going fast, but I have to to get through.  I want you just to hear some of it.  I know you know it.

1 Corinthians 12:27 - I am part of His body.

Romans 1:6 - I am one of the saints.

Ephesians 2:19 - I am a fellow citizen with all the saints in the kingdom of God.

Hebrews 11:13 - I am a stranger and a pilgrim passing through this life.

1 Corinthians 3:16 - I am the temple of the Lord and the Holy Spirit dwells within me.

1 Thessalonians 2:10 - I am called to be His witness.

2 Corinthians 11:21 says I am bold by His strength and power.

Revelation 21:2-10 says I am the Bride of the Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 11:2 says I am jealous for the saints with a Godly jealousy.

I am a minister of the Gospel of Christ - Romans 1:16

I am a part of a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation and a peculiar exclusive people - 1 Peter 2:9.

Galatians 3:29 - I am Abraham's seed.

Galatians 3:29 also says I'm an heir according to the same promise that was made to Abraham.  Hallelujah.

Galatians 4:7 - I'm an heir of God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 2:19 - I'm a member of the household of God.

Galatians 3:26 - I am a child of the most high God.

Ephesians 5:8 - I'm a child of the light.

1 Thessalonians 5:8 - I'm a child of the day.

Ephesians 5:8 - I am light in the Lord.

I am chosen - 1 Corinthians 1:27.

I am His disciple - John 8:31.

I am a priest - 1 Peter 2:9.

I am a king - Revelation 1:6.

I'm an ambassador - 1 Corinthians 5:20.

And it goes on and on and on and on - four more pages of Scriptures throughout the New Testament and a few of the Old Testament.  

And every one of these are personal promises that are made to those of us who have accepted the sacrifice that the Lord Jesus made on our behalf.

So we've got to ask the Lord that He would help us to have a revelation.  I am convinced that if we could receive a full revelation of who we really are in the Lord Jesus Christ and that we are really saved . . .

You see, the enemy tries to make us doubt the very fact that we're saved.  I know people that have served the Lord for years - prophesied and spoke in tongues and had great experiences with the Lord - that the devil still comes around and tries to tell them they don't have the Holy Ghost.

I know people that have served the Lord faithfully that the enemy comes and tell them, "I think you've blasphemed the Holy Ghost."  

People come and ask me sometime when I travel, "Pray for me.  I think I've blasphemed the Holy Ghost."

You know what my answer to that is?  I'll pray for you, but you haven't blasphemed the Holy Ghost.

Somebody said, "How can you give such a generic answer?"  

Because I believe that if you have blasphemed the Holy Ghost, the Bible tells that you're turned over to a reprobate mind and you don't have the God knowledge, you don't have that consciousness that "I've blasphemed the Holy Ghost."

You walk in deception.  You go on thinking that you're just as good as anybody else.  And those who have really done that, I'm telling you it's a serious thing.

I was one time in a place where I came across some people that I really sensed in my spirit that that was what they had done.  And I'm telling you they were in the most awful mental shape of anybody that I've ever known.  They were literally, physically, literally in chains.

The institution where they were . . .  I was only called to see one, but I ended up seeing a whole ward of people.

And the institution where they were had exhausted all of their means to try to humanely protect them from themselves, and they were literally chained with chains - not straight jackets, but literally chained.

And as I was among those people . . . and there was, of course, people with me to keep me safe, to help protect me.  

And I just discerned so heavy in my spirit the reason . . .  How could people be in such . . . ?

I don't mean just a little bit mental.  I don't mean a little bit senile, I mean totally, completely, out of control of their lives - stuck in a body that didn't function properly either.

And every one of these people, they told me, lived normal lives.  They had lived normal lives.  They weren't born with a problem.  But they had ended up in this kind of a shape.

And they had them in a ward together because of their similar behavior, because of their similar condition.  And they had placed them together.

And I sat there trying to talk to one who I'd been asked to go and visit.

And I discerned in my spirit how are these people so alike?  It was like they were carbon copies of one another and they had the same disease, so to speak.

And the Spirit of the Lord revealed to me, these are people who have blasphemed the Holy Ghost, and there is no deliverance and no help for them and this is their condition.

So you can imagine why I answer somebody who walks up to me in church in their right mind and says, "I think I've blasphemed the Holy Ghost."

Brother, when we've committed that kind of a sin then we bear the results of that sin.  And yet the devil will tell people those kinds of things.  

It's because we receive truth, but we let the enemy move us about in that truth.  We want such a clear revelation that we could say, "If there's only one . . . If there's only one person that's going to meet the Lord, I'm that person."  If there's only one person that overcomes . . .

I'll just tell you this story.  There used to be a song that they sung in church when I was child that I didn't understand at all.  I thought it sounded very . . . not so good.  

The song said, "If anyone makes it all the way home, surely I will."

The verse said, "If working and praying has any reward, then surely some morning I'll meet my dear Lord.  With God as my pilot, I'll climb the high hill.  If anyone makes it all the way home, surely I will."

And when I heard that song, I used to think, as a child, "That is bragging.  That's overconfident.  It sounds like you're saying, 'I'm the only one that's saved.'"  

But you know what?  After serving the Lord and preaching the Gospel 30 years, I like to sing that song when I'm by myself.

I don't sing it necessarily in church, but when I'm right by myself sometime I sing the song that I hated so bad as a child, "Surely I will, Lord.  If anybody makes it all the way home, surely I will."

What changed my mind?  How could I now sing what I thought was so terrible?

It's because I've been through the battles.  I've been through the struggles.  I've been through the scars.  And I have a revelation that I am going to go home one of these days and live with the Lord.  

I'm going to say something that people don't like, but I'm going to say it anyway as I close.

I mentioned Brother Branham several times.  I don't think that will offend you, but if it does I'm sorry for that.  Let me just tell you another thing that he said that people really don't like, but I like.  I really like it.

He said, "Once you receive this revelation of who you are in the Lord Jesus Christ, once you really know, 'I am a seed of God, I am a son of God,' then you go forth with a revelation that you can no more be lost than God could be lost."

Boy, when you say something like that people's denominational minds start kicking in.  "That doesn't sound right."  

It sounds very, very right to me.  When I get a revelation of who I am and, most importantly, Who it is that is living inside of me . . .  It is the eternal life of God.

Can God be lost?  What life is this that I have living inside of me?  It's Zoe in Greek.  It is the life of God.
  
Once I have that kind of a revelation, I can no more be lost than God can be lost.  Of course, now our little . . . again, our denominational theology kicks in and we go back to that age-old argument of eternal security.

But I want to tell you . . .  Will you still be my friend if I say something you don't agree with?  Will you still try to endure me and love me and be my friend?  

I believe in eternal security.  I would make a very good Baptist, you know, because the Baptist people . . . they really believe in eternal security.

And I don't believe it exactly like the Baptists believe it, but I believe it like the Bible teaches it.  I didn't grow up that way.  I grew up thinking that if I failed the Lord, I was lost.  So really, I'm saved today, but if I do something that I shouldn't do, I'm lost.  And if the Lord were to come, I would be left.

Am I the only person that grew up with that kind of theology?  That was the church's teaching.  Then I say, "Lord, forgive me and have mercy on me" - I'm saved.  And then if I tell a lie - I'm not going to tell it on purpose, but maybe a bad situation comes up and I tell a lie, I know I'm telling it, I tell it - then I'm lost.

And then I say, "Lord, forgive me," and I'm saved.  And then something else comes up and I cheat a little bit on a test  - I'm lost.  And then I say, "Lord, forgive . . ."  See?  Back and forth.  

You know, all I can say about that is I hope the Lord catches you on a good day.

When He comes, I hope He catches you on a saved day.  I hope He doesn't come back on a lost day.  You know, we don't believe that.  That is not what the Bible teaches - no.  

I believe that once we have become truly, genuinely born again, we are born again.  And when we fail God . . .  The Bible said, "Little children, I write unto you that you sin not.  Nevertheless if you sin, you have an advocate with the Father."

So if I'm saved and I sin - it's not what I set out to do, but I sin - then I stand right where I am, saved, and I say, "Lord, have mercy on me."  

The Holy Spirit convicts me of that sin and I say, "Forgive me and help me to be strong and help me to . . ."

I don't move back over here into the realm of the lost.  It's only should I completely reject the grace and the mercy of God that I would ever be able to completely step across that line.  

Does that mean that as a Christian I don't have to repent over sin?  Of course not.

We must repent.  But because we fail God, we don't immediately become lost.  

Everyone's looking at me.  Some are looking at me with hope and some are looking at me like I'm in trouble.  You can have it your way.  Okay?  

You have it your way.  But I'm going to pray that the Lord comes back on your good day and not your bad day.  

"I know what I am."  Paul said, "By the grace of God, I am what I am."  

And if I sin and if I fail, the Holy Spirit is there to catch me and to help me.  

Now you say, "But I know people that have gone to church and have served the Lord and now they're way back in sin, in adultery, in fornication, drinking and carrying on.  What is their excuse?  Are they saved?  Are they lost?  What are you going to say about a situation like that?"

Well, you may not like my answer.  But I'll give you the only answer I can give you from the Bible and that is I believe that if that person who has left the . . .  

You know, sometimes we think people leave God because they leave the church.  Amen.  

But just because you leave a church doesn't necessarily mean you've left God.  Aren't you glad of that?  Aren't you glad of that?  

But some people leave, and they do go out into sin. And here's what I believe.

I believe according to the Bible that in God's foreknowledge He knew from the foundations of the world who was going to choose to serve Him and who was going to reject Him.  

The Bible calls it foreknowledge.  And by that foreknowledge the Scripture said, "He predestinated them to be conformed to His image."

In other words, I believe that if a person has ever truly been born again and that person was seen in the mind of God as one of those who would make the right choice, then to me I believe it doesn't matter how far in sin they go as children of God, He will reach out in mercy and bring them back into the Kingdom.

But I don't believe that they're necessarily lost because they're in sin.  Somebody said, "My, that's a very strange way of looking at it."  

It's the grace of God.  It's the grace of God.  And you know what I believe?

Somebody said, "Well, what if that person were killed in a car accident and didn't have time to go back to church?"  

I believe if that person was an elected son of God that God would allow that person in the last seconds of their life to say, "Have mercy on me."  

If it's in your heart to serve God, it's always there somewhere.  If you come here with that seed of representation to serve God, it's always there somewhere and you just keep pushing it down and filling up your life with other things.  Hallelujah.

The reason why I like to preach this . . . and I'm closing . . . is because we've all got loved ones who are so far away from God right now that it grieves our hearts.  And some of them give no indication of ever changing their ways, you know.  They're just in serious trouble.

And we could really get discouraged and really get despondent about it.  But when we read who we are, and when we read the promises that have been made to us and we start standing on those promises, we must believe that the God who is able to keep our souls that we have committed to Him against that day, the apostle said, that same God knows how to reach our loved ones wherever they are, whatever shape they're in, whatever condition they're in.

And all it takes is the light, God's light, shining into their life.  In a moment's time, they can go from the worse addict in the worse condition and when God's light is shined on them . . .  

They could have said for years, "I don't want any part of God.  I don't believe there's a God.  I don't need God's help.  But when that light turns on in their life, they start saying, "I need God.  I need help.  What's wrong with me?"  Hallelujah.

That is the mercy and the grace of the living God.  And I'll just tell you what Jesus . . . this conversation that Jesus had with the eternal Spirit of His Father - "None that the Father hath given me are going to be lost."  Amen.

Not one of them, not one of those who were in the mind of God at the foundation of the world, those who would choose to serve the Lord, not one of them are going to be lost in the end.  Let's stand together.

Lord, give us a revelation of who we are.  Give us a revelation.  (Marybeth is coming.)  

Give us a revelation.  Oh Lord, let these Scriptures . . .  When we start reading our Bible again, let us be able to identify ourselves in Your Word.

Let it not be what we read about other people, but let it be what we read about ourselves.  Let us be able to see our own lives in these promises and let us go forth with that attitude, "By the grace of God, I am what I am."

I may not be what I want to be or what I ought to be,  but by the grace of God, I am not what I used to be.  Lord, we need that this morning.

Let's just lift our hands up to Him.  We surrender our minds.  We surrender our thoughts.  We surrender our denominational ideas and man's dogmas and creeds.  And we pray, Lord, that You will let us receive what John received on the Isle of Patmos - the revelation of Jesus Christ, the revelation of Yeshua HaMashiach.

We want that revelation because once we have a revelation of who You are, we're able to begin to see ourselves in You.  

Oh, we thank You that all the Father was was poured into Yeshua the Messiah, the Son, and all that Jesus was has been poured into us by the baptism of the Holy Ghost and Fire.

We thank You that we're overcomers.  We thank You that we are more than conquerors.  We thank You that we have every reason to be filled with hope and with confidence and with assurance, and we can leave this place - "I know that I've been sealed until the day of redemption.  I know that I know that I know that I've been bought with a price."

Lord, let Your people overcome every spirit of hopelessness and discouragement.  

May we see our value in You.  May we see, Lord, our usefulness in You.  And help us to sow that as a Word into other people's lives that they also may begin to recognize their calling.

Let our calling and our election be made sure.  Let us know who we are in You, Lord.  Hallelujah.  We bless You.  We thank You, Lord.  (Tongues)  

We thank You for a covering of protection in this Land.  We thank You for watching over Your people.  We thank You, Lord, that You'll keep us in Your will.

We certainly want to walk in Your will, Your perfect will.  We don't want to just go forth in Your permissive will.  

Lead us, guide us, direct us, Lord, as we walk about Zion.  In the wonderful Name of Yeshua.  Hallelujah, hallelujah . . .  Blessed be the Name of the Lord.

I'd like for us to sing a chorus if the words are in the book.  I'm not sure if it is, and I don't think I could get them right if I didn't.  But let us just see just a moment.  

It's "My Life Is In You."  Is it in?  All right.  Let's sing this.  Hallelujah.  140 in the songbook, if you see a songbook there.  My life is in You.  Hallelujah.

(Singing:)  "My life is in You Lord . . ."

Let's clap our hands to the Lord.  Everything that we are . . .  Hallelujah.