Wednesday Evening Worship & Word | Pastor Whitley

let's give our musicians a great big hand and all of our singers and production staff who help us have a great great worship service I greet you all in the precious name of Jesus Christ tonight now it is a great honor to be a part of this great church and to stand before you and have an opportunity to teach the word of the Lord Bishop McCool is in my opinion I'm sure of many others opinion he is the greatest Bible teacher of our day and I always enjoy being able to hear Bishop McCool teach he is a pioneer of the faith and he is a Great Hero to many of us and so I'm not going to try to fill his shoes tonight but I will try to follow in his footsteps I love the word of the Lord and I hope you do as well so we're going to go to the book of Jude tonight the final book right but before we get to the Book of Revelation as you are turning there I'm going to give honor to all of our leadership Pastor Anthony and pastor and Bishop and all those who lead us we are a blessed people amen we're a blessed people with great leadership who love the people of God who lead us faithfully and so I've had the opportunity over the last two years and this year will be a third year where I go to a church in my hometown back in Bloomington Indiana and they have me Teach through a new testament letter and so for the last two years I've been able to do that last year I taught through the book of Hebrews and the year before that the book of Colossians and so I got word last night that I be teaching here tonight on Wednesday night and I thought well let me share with you what I'm going to teach through the book of Jude next month so you're going to get a little Forte taste of that so let's look at verse number one of Jude this is a short short book Jude and Philemon are the two shortest books in the New Testament both only having 25 verses and most the time people Overlook Philemon and Jude because of their brevity and if you were to tell me a verse out of Jude no doubt the first verse that would come to mind would be first number three where he says we are to earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the Saints and so even though this is a very short book it packs a big punch and so I'm just going to give you just a a brief introduction to this powerful book tonight so we're going to look at verse number one and I'll be cognizant of the time as well so verse number one of Jude it opens up and he says Jude the servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James to them that are Sanctified by God the father and preserved in Jesus Christ and called Sanctified preserved and called tonight I want to teach from this first verse concerning Christian identity concerning Christian identity so let's just pray together and pray the Lord would help us to see something great from his word tonight let's pray father we thank you for the word of the lord it's a lamp unto our feet and a light into our path Lord I pray that you would help me your servant tonight to teach the word of the Lord and I pray that you would help me and to anoint me to say the things that would need to be said and I pray for your people Lord that they would might receive the engrafted word and bless them tonight change us transform us Inspire us encourage Us in Jesus name we pray and everybody said amen concerning Christian identity this letter this short letter opens up with Jude introducing himself he says Jude a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James now Jude was a common name in the first century it's Hebrew form is Judah which we are familiar with and its Greek form is Judas both of which mean God shall be praised now there are several men in the New Testament who share the name Jude or Judas uh mentioned is Judas Iscariot the betrayer we might know him Judas the Apostle also known as Thaddeus Judas of Galilee who opposed the church in Acts 5. there's a man named Judas who Paul lodged with after his Damascus Road experience there's a prophet named Judas barsabbis and finally there is Jew the writer of this epistle who was not an apostle he identifies himself that he is not an apostle in verse number 17. now Luke recorded that this Jude was the brother of James Matthew and Mark record that both James and Jude were the sons of Joseph and so James as we would know it becomes an important leader of the New Testament Church and he would write a letter that was found in the New Testament bearing his name as well now Jude's mention of James without clarifying exactly which James because there's several in the New Testament it indicates that they knew who this James was and we can deduce that this is the James who is the leader of the church in Jerusalem now being that James and Jude were sons of Joseph this made them half Brothers of Jesus initially Jesus's brothers did not believe that he was the Messiah they come looking for him they think he's a madman and he says these are my brothers and this is my family but as after the Life Death burial and resurrection that Christ's Brothers believe on him Paul mentions in First Corinthians 15 and verse 7 that Jesus appeared unto James after his resurrection now it's possible that Jude being that he is James's brother that he's with him or perhaps later on after this experience James convinces Jude and Jude comes to Faith but it's interesting in Acts chapter number one and verse number 14 that Mary and all of Christ's brothers are in the upper room that even though Mary gave birth to the son of man she's still in the upper room waiting for the infilling of the Holy Ghost and so this family has come to faith in Christ Jude and James and Mary now the contrast we should note this as we're going forward is that Jude who is the writer of this epistle it stands and stark contrast to that of Judas Iscariot Judas Iscariot was the one who would betray Christ he is the first apostate he's the first one to leave the faith he's the first one to deny Christ Jude on the other hand who wrote this letter lives up to his name that he is going to praise praise God he is going to be one who gives praise unto his God now Jude introduces himself first and foremost as a servant I hope I'm not boring you I'm giving you a lot of information and we're going to go somewhere I promise we're talking about identity tonight so he introduces himself as the servant of Jesus Christ he does not begin by saying that he's the brother of Jesus now what would we do if we're going to write a letter we want to make sure we identify who we are and who we know for perhaps who we're related to don't we like the name drop you know have you gotten those conversations with people they just kind of just name drop somebody you know I'm Billy McCool's grandson-in-law hopefully that gives me some some favor I'll tell you this when uh when I was when I was evangelizing by myself as a single young man I can count on one hand how many times I had ever received a gift basket from the host church I can count on one hand and I couldn't even tell you what they were probably you know some Diet Cokes and some oatmeal cream pies a couple Red Bulls Ashley and I got married and we had a few dates still before we came on staff here that I had to fulfill and we went to this church in Ohio for a youth weekend and we show up at this beautiful beautiful hotel and again brothers and sisters as a single young evangelist I've rarely seen a beautiful hotel rarely it was mostly mostly the other sign other side of the of the hotel called the motel you know the ones that have the door on the outside you know they just you know hope you don't get killed at those types of places you know we're staying at a nice hotel and we walk in there's this I'm talking the biggest gift basket you had ever seen your entire life I mean the biggest gift basket and they've got chocolate covered strawberries in a vase uh and I mean it is unbelievable and Ashley goes this is awesome this is amazing does this happen everywhere and I said no I'm getting this because you're Billy McCool's granddaughter that's the only reason why this is happening right now I'm teasing not really but I I knew that they really didn't care about me all that much and now today now today when we go somewhere it has nothing to do with Ashley or myself it's all about Easton maybe get a gift basket it's all the toys and all the things that she likes you know I can name drop right not the name drop we want to make sure that people know that we know people but not Jude Jude does not open up and say hey I'm I'm the brother the half-brother of Jesus he doesn't say that he opens up and says I'm a servant on a servant that's a that's his introduction to the sweater that I I'm just I'm just a servant isn't that the opposite of what we would do as people today we're somebody let me give you my title I'm I'm CEO I'm I'm entrepreneur I'm this I'm that not Jude Jude opens up and says I'm a servant I'm a servant he's showing his humility in this moment it's a picture of servitude it's a picture of what he really wants to be identified as let me ask you we're talking about identity what do you want to be known as what do you want to be known as over time Believers can begin to forget about the essentiality of humility and service we can allow our callings and positions to inflate our ego and diminish our humility on one hand the Apostle Paul defended his calling and apostleship saying he magnified his office Paul did not think of himself as inferior to supposed apostles who went about boasting about their Ministries to the Corinthian churches additionally Paul did not shy away from showing the many signs of his apostleship but on the other hand Paul was always willing to posture himself as least in the Kingdom he says this in First Corinthians 15 and 9 for I am least of the Apostles now you and I wouldn't think of that he wrote so many letters in the New Testament and yet he sees and Views himself as unworthy to even be called an apostle he said because I persecuted the church he never forgets where he comes from you know a great thing for us to do is to never forget where we came from you weren't born a Christian you weren't born an Apostolic you might be you might be 10th Generation Apostolic and that's great but don't forget that you are a sinner don't forget that you were at once lost he says in first Timothy 1 15 let me read a different translation he says here's a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance Christ Jesus came into the world to save Sinners of whom I am the worst this is a man who has influenced the World by the time he writes this letter to Timothy he says I'm still the worst of sinners Christ taught humility was essential to Kingdom living He said in Matthew 18 and 4 whoever humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven to be great to be great in God's kingdom is to be humble it's not to think low of yourself but is to think less of yourself did you hear that you need to think of yourself less because when you do that you're thinking of others more that's a picture of humility Jesus said again in Matthew 20 and verse 26 it shall not be so among you but whoever would be great among you must be your servant whoever would be first among you bust Me Your Slave even the son of man came not to be served but to serve he didn't come to be served he came to serve and it's and if we're not careful listen to me tonight we'll allow what we do we'll allow what we do to be to become our identity and we get all wrapped up into what we do or what we don't do and then why should we treat it a certain way and I should be I I should be exalted or I should be honored and I should I someone should name drop me every once in a while but Jesus said if you're going to be great you need to serve somebody you need to serve somebody Jesus said again the greatest among you shall be your servant greatness is found in service greatness is found in service in Luke 14 11 Jesus said for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted if you don't humble yourself Christ will humble you I would rather humble myself than for him to Humble me I would rather humble myself and that's hard to do isn't it it's hard to Humble ourselves because we think so highly of ourselves but if you're going to be great in the Kingdom you have to be willing to think of yourself less and to think of others more Paul writes that Jesus was the perfect example of a servant he says in Philippians chapter number two do nothing from selfish ambition we could talk about I mean this this this little passage right here we can unpack this for days do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit but in humility count others more significant than yourself do you think of others more do you account them greater than yourself because if you do that you'll treat them right think about that how you talk to somebody how you treat somebody if you if if you are if you are serving other people you're not looking down on them you're lifting them up you're not trying to push other people down you're trying to lift them up and let me say this if you if you can't speak highly about somebody don't speak at all right if you have to try to blow somebody else's light out to make yours shine brighter are you hearing me now well if I were up there I'll tell you how I'd do it I'm sure you could do it better but look what we want to do is lift other people up you don't step on somebody to lift yourself up if you'll lift other people up Jesus said he will exalt you Paul goes on to say have this mind among yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus who though what he was in the form of God did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped but emptied himself are you emptying yourself or are you full of yourself let that one simmer a little bit I'll let that one simmer a little bit are you emptying yourself Are you full of yourself you can't be full of yourself and be full of Christ you can't be full of yourself and be full of Christ but he said being found in human form he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on a cross Jude modeled Christ's example of human humility and service now the word servant that he uses here that our English translation of the Greek word means dulos which means Bond servant or slave in other words one completely subject to another Jude is saying that he is completely under the authority of Jesus Christ is Jesus lord over your life is he Lord because if he is not Lord over all he is not Lord over anything if he is not Lord over your life and everything that you do then he is not Lord over anything he is Lord he is the Lord of all or Lord of none to confess in Christ's lordship is to bring yourself under subjection to his rule but I got good news for you Christ lordship is not burdensome I can't go to church I have to give up so many things it's hard keeping all the rules and doing all this Jesus said this take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your soul serving Jesus Christ is not hard it's not hard if you surrender your life to him willingly this is a life of blessing this is a life of rest oh I wish somebody who believed that would clap their hands tonight serving the world is hard do you remember how you lived do you remember how you lived before Christ saved you that was hard living the way of a transgressor is not easy it's hard but serving Christ him as Lord is gentle lowly rest now I like lists sister Donna reached out to me the other day she goes I like those lists that you had in your in your notes gonna have those I like lists scripture outlines several characteristics of service to Christ what's it look like to be a servant what's it look like to to live your life for him number one serve God not the world for one cannot serve two masters if you're going to serve God you have to serve him with your whole life mind heart soul Spirit you can't serve two masters number two serve Faithfully if you're going to serve Christ you must do it every day not just on the week on the weekends not just during the Christmas season or Mother's Day if you're going to serve Christ you must do it Faithfully Jesus said later on to occupy until he comes you have to occupy yourself with his service what are you doing for God right now what are you doing for God now servant God now we get this kind of mixed up in our thinking of with Christianity like serving God is what you do at church you don't serve God just at church you serve God all the time you're occupying well you're saying I don't teach Bible I'm not a preacher I'm not a singer I'm not a musician I'm not this and I'm not that well if you have children you should be making disciples of all men if you have a job if you're working with people you should be shining your light of Christianity on your job occupy are you occupied unfortunately we occupy our time with a lot of nonsense serve God number four serve God and not sin Paul would say what you yield yourself to that's your master if you're yielding your members if you're yielding your body to sin that is your master but if you will serve god with your body Paul would say that you have been bought with a price therefore glorify God in your body so what you do with your body is of great concern to Christ who bought you that's why we don't talk any old way that's why we don't live any old way because we are serving him in our body we are yielding everything in our life to him is he Lord in your thoughts is he Lord in your mouth is he Lord in your ears is he Lord on your TV on your device on your social media is he Lord there because if he's not Lord there he's not Lord of all anywhere someone say Amen cheapest Leaf you like you have to serve him fervently in Romans 12 11 we serve Christ fervently not slothfully are you serving him with some fervance with some fire down in you let me ask you this you don't have to raise your hand you don't have to say it out loud but you can think it in your brain are you serving him with as much fervency today as you did the day you were saved chances are you probably aren't they couldn't keep you from jumping up and down they couldn't keep you from running they couldn't keep you from witnessing but now a few decades later I'm just gonna calm things down no we're not going to We're Not Gonna serve him slothfully we're serving him with some fervency look at Bishop of course you ever get up here and he'll go oh you can't keep him calm down you can't keep him from I mean he's you gotta my pastor from back home Pastor Tim Gill Ashley and I's wedding he said this he told Ashley he charged her he said you're going to have to put some woe in his go right because there's I want to do something I don't want to be sitting around waiting for opportunity to serve Christ I'm going to take initiative to serve him are you doing that are you taking some initiative to serve him I'm not waiting for the opportunity I'm creating the opportunity oh somebody hear me right now somebody hear me right now when I got here I went from preaching five to ten times a week come in here and preaching one time a month you know what I did I started discipleship class I went and got me a Bible study I went to people's homes and taught Bible studies why I'm not waiting on my opportunity I'm going to create opportunities I'm going to occupy until are you going to hear me tonight oh come on somebody I'm going to occupy until he comes I'm going to do it with Ferb and seek now I'm gonna I'm gonna jump here a little bit we're moving quick all right now he opens and says I'm a servant now this letter that that Jude is writing he says he goes now I'm meant to I'm meant to write unto you about the common salvation but he said it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith he said I wanted to write about the common salvation he said but now I want to tell you about how to contend he tells you how to do that in 25 short verses because there were false teachers infiltrating the church and so he gives some examples if you get to verse number 11 he gives three examples we're going to talk about threes here in a second but he gives three examples of people who are not servants Kane Balaam and Cora three people who are not servants Balaam refused to listen to God's First Command concerning balak Cain refused to listen to God about Sin Korah refused to listen to the authority and Leadership of Moses all three men met their demise these men he goes he says this in verse number eight these types of apostate teachers these false teachers they despise Dominion another translation says this that they reject Authority they reject Authority and so if you're going to serve Christ if you're going to be a servant of Christ you have to submit yourself to Authority if you can't submit yourself to Christ you'll never submit yourself to a pastor come on if you can't submit yourself to an employer you are out you are out of alignment of how God does things in his kingdom when you think you can do it on your own outside of what God has planned and ordained you despise Dominion but Jude opens up and says I'm a servant that's the first thing I want to be identified as I am a servant I'm not a bishop I'm not a pastor I'm not an evangelist I'm not I'm not an apostle I'm not a prophet I am a servant I want to be identified as a as does anybody else want to do that I want to be identified as a servant whoa someone say Amen and he goes on I'm moving quick moving quick servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James so he doesn't call attention do his relationship to Jesus as his half-brother instead he emphasizes that the greatest relationship to Jesus is through salvation it's not genetics it's spiritual he shares a mother with Jesus but that is not Jude's hope for salvation now listen to me the New Testament repeatedly emphasizes that one cannot inherit salvation from family members or other godly people I remember hearing about the rapture second coming of the Lord being about five six seven years old and I think to myself in the Pew I will grab on to Mama Lindsay's skirt if she's gone I'm grabbing moms right anybody else ever thought about that I'll just I'll just hit your ride I'm just going to ride shotgun to heaven but can I tell you this and I've said it before I'm going to say it again God doesn't have grandchildren that's right you didn't hear me God is never identified as Grandpa you know why because God doesn't have grandchildren he has children and if you're going to have God as your father you must be born again you cannot claim your Godly grandmother's salvation as your own you cannot listen you can't claim Bishop McCool's salvation as your own you must be born again someone asked George Whitfield The Great American evangelist they asked him I said are you going to ever stop preaching you must be born again and he pointed his finger and said you must be born again why because that's the greatest truth in this world today that you cannot be saved by works you cannot be saved by genetics you must be born again this is happening in in Christ's day that they believe that since they were The Offspring of Abraham they just automatically were in but John the Baptist said don't you dare claim Abraham because you're not going to get in based upon what he done you must bring fruits unto repentance you can't listen I don't care how how many years your grandfather has been in church you must be born again you must have faith in Christ you must repent of your sins you must be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins you must have the Holy Ghost why because you you you must be born again does anybody still believe that that you must be born again of the water and of the spirit oh yeah you can inherit I can't inherit Brenda Whitley's salvation she can pray for me she can teach me but I have to have my own experience for myself salvation is not inherent inherited the only thing that you bring to your salvation is your sin that's it the only thing that you get from your family spiritually is sin for all have come short of the glory of God everyone is ungodly everyone is a sinner what about Grandmama and what about Grand Papa yeah they're still Sinners and guess what so are you while you're worried about somebody else you must be born again you must be born again you must personally believe in Jesus Christ he's not claiming listen he's not claiming Jude is not saying well since I'm the brother the half-brother of Jesus that's enough and can I say this it's not enough for you just to come and attend a church and to have your attendance checked off you listen you you can come to church all you want you can sit here all you want you can come here and clap your hands and lift your and lift your hands all you want but you at the end of the day must have faith in Jesus Christ you must repent you must be baptized you must have a spirit because if you don't have his Spirit Paul said you are none of his and you that's why I keep preaching it that's why Bishop keeps preaching him because you must be born again that's the only way that you can see or enter into the Kingdom of Heaven is to be born again someone say Amen going fast going fast having a good time tonight all right identity I didn't that's we're talking about concerning Christian identity now he moves on Jew the servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James now he talks to who he is writing to he's introduced himself now let me address my readers to them that are Sanctified by God the father and preserved in Jesus Christ and called three things Sanctified preserved and called three things he likes to use threefold this three-fold literary device throughout this letter can I share those with you another little list here I love little lists maybe if you're a son maybe you're a Sunday school teacher and you want to you like to have like little sermon outlines I'm going to give you something all right Jude uses three things over and over he would just group him by threes so we see that right here Sanctified preserved and called the next verse he says Mercy peace and love then he gives three historic warnings leaving Egypt deserting angels in Sodom and Gomorrah three negative actions they pollute their bodies reject Authority and slander angels three rebellious examples Cain Balaam and Cora three characteristics of ungodly men in the church that cause division follow Natural Instincts and do not have the spirit three prescriptions for contending and continuing in the Faith Build Your Faith build up your faith pray in the Holy Ghost and stay in God's love three ways to show Mercy help doubters save others from destruction and carefully rescue others three attributes of God it keeps us from falling presents us without fault and gives us great joy oh powerful right he's wanting to get this point across to us he's wanting to get this point across to his readers that you have identity in Christ and if you would ever realize who you are if you would ever awaken to your identity in Jesus Christ you wouldn't have anxiety you wouldn't have worry you wouldn't have fear why because I am a son or I am a daughter of God now I'm not saying you're never going to have those things but if you would wake up and put your feet down on the floor after you wake up and say I am a child of God I'm blessed and highly favored he has called me Sanctified me and preserve me I'm not going to have a bad day today why because my father owns a cattle in a thousand hills he gives me joy in his presence he's equipped me with his word it's a sword of the spirit I'm thinking of The Shield of why because I'm his child I know who I am and I know whose I am I'm talking about identity I'm starting to feel my preach coming now let's start with the first one here sanctified sanctify that sounds like a a great Bible word sanctified the first of this Triad of Christian attributes he said he says you're sanctified the word sanctify means to be set apart the Greek word carries the idea of being separate from worldly things you're not who you used to be you're different it also means to purify or to make holy it's the root word that we get of the English word saint you're a saint of God called to be Saints Peter would write this in First Peter 2 and 9. but you are a chosen generation stop right there I just wish I lived in the 50s had it so much easier back then I've got friends of mine who say that I got I got preacher friends oh which is so much easier the 50s you're so much easier in the 60s I'm like really 60s Woodstock counterculture easier than I don't know didn't have the internet I don't know man Bishop is telling me about how they used to make the voice of Pentecost and they'd print these things up and they'd have to line everything up and print everything like how could you do that like with a click of a button I don't think it was easier back then air conditioning it's nice I like that chose it you're a chosen generation for this you are called for this God knew what he was doing when you were birthed on his calendar he knew what day he knew what era he knew what generation the Bible says that David served his generation if you would get the mindset that I'm chosen God put me in 2022 for such a time as this I'm going to serve my I'm not looking for the past days I'm not looking I'm not looking for future days it's not going to get any easier this is the day that the Lord has made he made you for this day thank God for the past days but I'm thankful for the opportunities that we have now chosen generation a royal priesthood a holy nation A peculiar people peculiar means distinct you should show forth the Praises of him who has called you out of Darkness Into His Marvelous Light peculiar means different or distinct when you are Sanctified you are to be different from everything else the first thing you have to be separate from is your past some of y'all lose are constantly uh are constantly uh reverting back to your past we've seen a t-shirt uh mom pointed out while we were at Disney and y'all I'm gonna tell you something about my mother she wrote Every roller coaster and we had a time in Disney I was like you sure you won't even lay out in this one she goes no all right let's go I was a little scared super scared a couple times you should see these pictures of me coming down this thing called the Tower of Terror I do not want to go to hell y'all because it scared it out on me and on that Tower of Terror you go down like I don't I mean this is and that you think you're just gonna go oh here you go close the doors and you're just going to drop I'm expecting it oh no if you've been there they walk you around and fly you around this thing all of a sudden you drop I think I spoke in tongues a couple of times I'm pretty sure of it we read a t-shirt that says don't trip over your past that's powerful you need to be set apart from your past you need to say goodbye to your past you need to say goodbye to your past faults and failures somebody on you say goodbye to your past friends and your old Association to say listen I'm not going back to those things I'm not going back to those places I'm not hanging out with those people I'm cutting them off why I am a chosen generation I'm A peculiar person I'm different I'm changed I'm sanctified somebody say Amen moving fast the next one he says you're preserved preserved the Greek word here means to guard keep watch over it implies a fortress Christ preserves those he sanctifies he didn't bring us listen to me now he didn't save us to kill us he didn't save us to leave us and let me just say this I want to I'm going to hit some Sanctified theology tonight he didn't save you then leave you and say save yourself now hope you make it good luck he didn't do that he gives us a down payment or the inheritance of the Holy Ghost to keep us and to comfort us and to guide us into all truth he said no man's gonna pluck pluck them out of my hand why because you're mine I'm talking about identity he didn't say to you to kill you and he didn't save you to leave you he's going to preserve Us in such a time like we've lived through already did he save anybody did he keep anybody during 2020 did he keep anybody during 2021 has he been keeping anybody in 2022 hey it's going to be all right you might want to shut off the news it's going to be all right why because I'm his son and I'm his daughter it's okay [Applause] whoo preserved it's the same word that Paul used in first Timothy 5 22 to keep yourself pure now we don't believe in once saved always saved but he will preserve those he sanctifies he will preserve those who keep themselves pure he gives you the Holy Ghost to get you to become holy right I talked about that a few weeks ago Paul's imperative imperative is like that of a general giving orders to soldiers to keep watch you got to keep watch over yourself you can't let yourself go spiritually you got to watch over your soul watch over your spirit and make sure you're not putting in more junk nonsense and worldliness you got to keep guard over your own soul he'll preserve those that He sanctifies I'm moving fast talking about calling now he says and called called each believer has been called of God Jesus said you have not chosen me but I have chosen you I've said it before I'll say it again you didn't find God you know what anyone looking for him he found you there's a southern gospel song that says he came looking for me he didn't go looking for God he found you but he called you not to leave you the same way that he found you he called you to sanctify you and to keep you we're called of God Paul wrote in Romans 8 and 30. moreover whom he did predestinate then he also called and whom he called them he also justified in whom he justified them he also glorified the call that Jesus Paul and Jude are alluding to is the call to Salvation a summons to Christ precedes a summons to Ministry or service you must be assured of your salvation in Jesus Christ faith in Christ repentance of your sins baptism in his name the infilling of his Spirit are to take place in your life before you ever go and do something for him before Christ calls us to Ministry he calls us to himself stand with me your identity listen to me tonight I'm closing your identity in Jesus is found in your relationship to him it's not what you do or what you are it's whose you are it's whose you are more times than not listen to me men and women who work for the Lord feel as if they no longer have to ponder their identity in Christ and what's dangerous is that they begin to feel like they don't need the gospel that they preach to others you never graduate from the gospel never graduate from it it's not well I I have this experience and I'm saved and that's it I don't need it anymore don't need to hear about it anymore the gospel that saves you is the gospel that will keep you it's the gospel that will Empower you but they're always going to be people it's a dangerous thing listen to me now I'm I'm speaking out of experience all right is that you start to I used to get to rap you get you you wrap yourself up in what you do and so if you no longer do that thing you feel like you're no longer a useful Christian or something I've known people and just listen to me for a second I'm closing they'll have a position have a title they'll do a thing and the thing take is being is taken away from them or they get too old or somebody votes them out or something like that and they feel like well what am I I'll tell you what you are you're a Christian he is not going to say Well done thou good and faithful preacher not well done without good and faithful Apostolic Christian School teacher he's not going to say that he's not going to say Well done good and faithful general superintendent let me tell you something Jesus is not as obsessed with titles and positions as we are what he is concerned about is the condition of your soul and if you start believing that your identity is found and what you do I play the piano here and I play the drums here and this way and if I don't do that then I'm just not going to be here I can't do the thing if I can't do the thing I'm not going to show up I I'm just gonna I'm I'm lost I don't know what to do with myself I'll tell you what to do with yourself pray through because people who are prayed through don't find their identity in a title or a position but if you start to transition out of a position you transition into something else you don't quit as Bishop has taught us we don't retire we re-fire your identity is not in the thing you never graduate from being a son or a daughter of Christ your identity is a servant a son a daughter Jude says you're called sanctify beloved and preserved verse 2 he says you're given Mercy peace and love your identity should not be based on your position office or giftings you're a child of God and being such yields many spiritual and Earthly benefits flip your hands for a second and let's pray father your word is truth and just a little verse in a little book there's great truth on Who We Are god well we don't want to get wrapped up into what we do or the things that we don't do or the titles we might have or not have God first and foremost I'm a son I'm a daughter I'm a follower I'm a servant Lord you're not as concerned about what I do as much as you are concerned about who I am the condition of my soul is what you're concerned with and you purchased our soul with your own blood at Calvary you have empowered us with your spirit you have equipped us with your word and I pray that you would help us find our identity in you Lord I know that there are people in this place who are so concerned about those things but I pray that you would relieve them of the pressure relieve them of the burden of that and let them find rest in you all those other things will be added later all those other things will come but father my relationship with you is of utmost importance Lord I pray that your blessings would be upon your people for the rest of this week we're believing for great things this week and this week in our back to school Revival I pray for a great harvest I pray that your blessings would chase down your people this week Empower Us in Jesus name we pray and everyone said amen why don't you greet somebody next to you tonight and you can be dismissed in Jesus name we'll see you Sunday morning we'll see you Sunday night let's have Revival at our back to school Revival in Jesus name