Midweek

Welcome another midweek university. I welcome you guys here. It is uh good to see all of you. Is anybody still using your journal?

Feel free to get that out. A pen. Uh if you've got it digital, that's fine as well. Some way to take notes, that'd be fabulous.

Uh we of course we are in new spot. We will be having our midweek general sessions in here for the next couple of months at least until we we're going to refinish the room down at the other end of the hall and we'll get a camera in there and it'll come and do all then we can possibly transition there. So but for the short term we're going to be meeting in here. Um, as all of you know, the first of the year, we started down a a journey intentionally.

Everybody say intentional. We we wanted to go to the basis, the foundation of God's desire for humanity. In so doing, of course, that leads us to the tabernacle. If you're an Old Testament guy or or or girl and you you enjoy diving into the Old Testament ways and the Hebrew and the meanings and whatnot, you'll discover that there are very very few things that God gave such specific directions for.

And every time he did, it was made for humanity to grow, to survive, to de An example. An example, anybody here ever heard of Noah? He didn't simply say, "Noah, go save your family." But what did God do? He gave him the steps how to, what for?

Because the saving of his family was all going to be dependent on his ability to follow the law, the rule of God. Same thing with spending time with God. He didn't just say, "Look, if you'll kill a cow, I'll come talk to you." Not what he did, but he did what? That's how God works.

Listen carefully. New Testament stuff. There is a reason salvation comes by the word of God, by the plan of God, because he indeed again says, "This is what you have to do." Contrary to what our world and to what some folk would believe, we're all God's children. We're all going to heaven and there that God doesn't say good folk don't go to heaven.

Saved folk do understand. Got to follow the plan. We okay with that? Now that being said, we began the first of the year with this the tabernacle.

Did y'all hear my voice go out? Wasn't that cool? The journey of the tabernacle. And we are following step by step each inch, if you will, of that 150 foot by 75- ft sacred place.

Uh, man, I've learned so much. I don't know about you, but that tent, that holy tent, that sacred space has taught me so many things about how God intended on spending time with people. Um, suffice it to say that as we are digging deeper into the elements and the pieces of the tabernacle, we are finding out that it was always God's desire to have time with humanity. Um, if you again back to Noah, anybody remember what God told him?

God said, you know what? I'm just going to kill everybody and be done with it. But Noah found favor, found grace. God spoke.

God did. God gave saved the family and they began to grow. Also, there was a time we read not long ago that uh the children of Israel did their thing against God and and God said, "Move out of the way, Moses. I'll kill every one of them and start over." But instead, the man Moses stood in the gap and God began to work that plan that he already put into place.

The reason that's important, listen carefully, is because it is God's desire, the creator's desire to spend time with us. The fact though has to stand firm is that we in turn have to want to spend time with him. That's how that works. You cannot call yourself a Christian and not show Christlike characteristics.

That okay? You can't simply say, "I'm a good person and therefore this is what I do and so accept me as I am and I'll not make any whatever that is." You cannot make a declaration about a place that you did not build. You can't get to heaven because you're a good fellow. You got to get to heaven because the creator of heaven said, "I built it to get here.

This is what you got to do." That okay. Now, Exodus, we've read this. I think brother Sam and brother Dan both have have have referenced it or read it. Exodus 25:31.

Thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold of beaten work shall the candlestick be made. His shaft, his branches, his bowls, his kns, flowers shall be of same. I'm just going to read that particular verse and to begin tonight. Uh what is different about the saying of this particular piece of furniture that was not said about the other pieces of furniture?

What what do we notice here? Anybody want to chime in and help me? What do we notice about for an example uh the altar or the labor or what do we notice about the table of showbread that's different about than than this candlestick isol Okay isolated what else it was what what difference does that make oh you're just making a point of reference you know the labor for or the altar or the table of showbread. Those were made of wood covered.

So, you had a two-step process. You had to find the shidum wood that was brought, put it into its form, and then you covered that in gold. You covered the sticks in gold. You covered the rings in gold.

Right? But when it comes to the candlestick, as is mentioned, the Bible says that it shall be one piece. If you'll go through again Exodus 25 here, you'll find it is one piece beaten. Now, what what process is that that's different than than just overlaying it with pure gold, heating it.

Yeah. If you if you melt the gold, pour it over something, it it reacts and responds a certain way. But if you have to pound it out with a hammer, what else? A lot of work indeed.

Probably a hundred times the amount of work. As has already been mentioned, this particular p piece of furniture would have weighed 90 some odd pounds. They were super heavy. Um, I'll share this with you.

It may not make sense to you, but it does mean. Um, years ago, my wife and I made the trip to James Town and the colonies and we it was really cool. But there was a blacksmith there. The blacksmith, they they if you've not if you've been to it, you understand.

If you haven't, it's it's really cool to go to. They live in character. They are they are there and if they're a blacksmith, they're talking in the blacksmithy things. If they're a a doctor, they're talking doctorally things.

So, it's really cool. So this blacksmith is pounding out something in his shop and we're standing watching and one of the things that the blacksmith mentioned was the fact that they began to make rifles and weapons. Now what what is a distinct way or or feature of a rifle that's that's that's necessary for it to work? What?

What does a rifle have to have to work? A what? Fine pin. What else?

Chamber. Yeah. It has the barrel has to be rounded. What else?

So I So I asked the guy, he's got several halfmade weapons laying there, Logan. I said, "So how what is how does this work? You go buy a pipe or what?" He said, "No, no, no. Everything I do, I forge and I fold it and I make it into a round pipe.

Now, that might seem very ba okay. Yeah, whatever. But think about that. You got a bunch of ore.

You put it in a fire. You melt it down. You ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding. You get this flat piece of metal.

And then you got to curl it. And you got to roll it. And then what do you have to do? You got to seal it.

Otherwise, when you fire it, what will happen? My mind's blown. I'm like, what? The last thing I did not see at the blacksmith shop was this really neat tool that you simply take it and go there.

understand their understanding of how to take metal, make it a pipe, barrel, and then put all the things on it, and then trust that when they take that 50 caliber, 45 caliber, whatever sized ball they put it in there with the with the gunpowder and all that, that when they shoot it, they're okay. Shoot it. It'll work. Yeah.

Go ahead. First, listen to me. That changed my whole understanding of the candlestick. Because to take that metal, forge it, pound it enough to take a flat piece and begin to mold it, mold it, mold it, bring it around, and then actually weld it without an arc welder or a machine, a robot, and actually make it into straight pipe that could be used to fire.

My mind, brother Rob, I began to say, "Wow, these dudes were good." And then I'm reading this. This is beaten gold. That has to be the same thing. A p a tube because what's going up through the tube, oil, a wick.

It's going to be used to light to produce light for this holy place. And then it's gold of all things. Does anybody here have a gold have a lot of gold? I mean, you just covered up in it.

I mean, you know, you got it on the streets in your house. And anybody here got like 40 or 50 pounds of gold that you'd be interested in sharing with us? We'll take just a little bit of it. Gold is really soft by its nature.

Gold, pure gold is actually very, very soft. Am I right? Any anybody out there understand that? How do you take and beat this into a pipe?

The bowls that will hold oil, they're called knops. And then they actually make it to where you have one and then you have three on each side. And this thing works. H how do you not dent it?

I mean, you know, imagine if the blacksmith of the goldsmith was Bruce. Pink, pink, pink. Oops. I mean I mean I knock it over to break and then you can't melt it down.

Don't melt it. Listen to this. That's what this candlestick was. Pastor, why are you on this tangent?

I'm telling you this because when God said, notice the amount of detail that God made sure that the artisian that the one who did it knew about this thing is going to be so incredibly important. If you don't do it this way, it is not going to function. What's something you did not see on here that you saw on almost every other piece of furniture? no rings.

You didn't have a stick that went through it and carried it. The the ark, you did the the table of showbread. You did the table of incense. You do you got it.

The brazen altar, you got to be able to carry this thing. This candlestick. It's almost as if it's almost as if this is such a special piece that God told them, "Don't put this in a forge. Don't put this in a in a fire, melt it down, and then just pour the gold.

That would have been so incredibly easy." That's No, you need to work for this one. Why Why do you think Why do you think that was the case? Anybody? Why does it matter?

I mean, we we could all almost understand a table of showbread. You got to have a lip around it so the bread doesn't fall off. We can understand you got to have bronze for the for an altar because it's got to take the heat. But why was this piece so specifically set apart even how it was made?

Anybody have a have a thought? A what? It's going to light up an area. Okay.

What else? That's right. What else difference does that make? I mean, to me, I'm just going to say, it's just me.

If somebody tells me I have a candlestick of pure gold beaten, in my mind, I'm going to go, that's about $4 million. But if they tell me I I have an ark that's wood inside covered in gold and it's $4 million. You know what I'm going to say? Either one will be fine.

The greatest value was not even placed on this but on the angels inside the holy of holies that held the mercy represented the presence of God between the cherubams on the mercy seat. Listen to me. Brother Sam has done a fabulous job over I mean last week was so cool. Him sitting in there and those poor ladies trying to pound out these olives to make oil and then they squished it and and all of that work and came up with maybe a a fraction of a teaspoon of oil.

Man, it took gallons and gallons of oil for this and that that's a cool lesson. And then the the the function of the almond and why it had to look that way. That's so important. But more than any of that, when when God told him said, "You need to do this and it has to be beaten, which means somebody has to learn the fine art of precision unto the Lord." There was, you remember the golden calf that they made at the foot of the mountain?

What did Aaron say to Moses when he asked him about it? Anybody remember what he said? Well, what happened? They they brought me gold and I threw it in the fire and boom, this cat jumped out.

That's what it sounds like. And I mean, read the story. Read the encounter. It's like, yeah.

Boom. So, I said, "Okay, this is what we're doing." And I'm like, "Well, did nobody have to touch it or do it? Did you just throw it in there?" and then abracadabra and this calf fell out and okay we're going to point is is that this golden candlestick was so important because listen to me carefully a little bit tonight in the presence of God he will not accept half-hearted half done halfbaked not glorious unto him he is going going to do and require what he does and requires. Moses could have said beyond a shadow of a doubt, he could have told the artisians, the guys who were working, he could have said, "You know what?

This divine furniture that you're building, do the best you can and we're going to live with the outcome." That's what he could have said. And and and on a few of the pieces, it almost makes sense that they would say they he made it out of shidum wood. That makes sense. Okay.

To me, you know, a couple of you maybe have built furniture before and you got a planer, you make it, you joint the edges, put them together on a miter. You screw it together, stand it up and say, "There you go." Oh, that's not I got to cover it now in wood. So, I got to go melt down the gold and I got to come and pour it over it so that it's okay. You see that?

That's a process in your brain. You can understand. But this divine piece of furniture called the candlestick, the lampstand was going to be the only made light in that holy place. When he passed through the veil into the holy of holies, what was light there?

Anybody? The what? The shikina. I'm sorry.

The old times the shock and all the shikina. What was the shikina? Anybody? What was the shikina?

That was the actual presence of God in the holy of holies. Listen to me, friend. You can't make that. You can't fabricate that.

That is God and God alone. that says, "I accept what you are doing. I accept that because you did it and you did it as unto me." So, it only stands to reason that if the mercy seat was going to have the light of God, the shikina of that orb, if you will, and it would illuminate the holy of holies, there is no way in this world that God would say that in the holy place, do the best you can with the light you got. Why is this important?

2025, pastor, this is Old Testament stuff. This really doesn't have anything to do with me. The Bible says that we're the light of the world. So, we should be able just to be light in there.

Okay, fine. Question. What kind of light are you? Are you a flashlight?

Anybody here got a flashlight in your pocket? Anybody? Anybody got a flashlight? Okay, leave it on.

How long will it last? Am I remember right? You can turn off now. I got these other ones up here.

These lights right here, how long are they going to last? Do what? Till you pay the There is that. Okay.

There's a way that you could do light, but it's not everlasting. Now, if that is indeed then the case, when we look at this golden candlestick, this lampstand, the reason that God gave such specific details and told them to do exactly the way because God knew if I let them cut corners in my presence, it's not going to be too long that they're going to decide that it's no longer necessary to burn incense or that it's no longer necessary to have water to wash outside. They're going to want to come in this place. They're going to want to decide that everything's fine just because we've got enough of the mercy of God in the Holy of Holies.

Everything out here doesn't matter. Listen, friend. By the time you touch that first curtain to come into that sacred tent, you better know something there. God is serious.

You bring me an animal, I won't judge it standing right there. And if it's got blemishes or spots, if it's got stuff on it, you're not going to see fire. you're not going to be it's not going to be accepted. I'm going to depend on the priest to make sure that they inspect that.

If you're going to get past that altar and get into the labor and you begin to wash, the washing of the meat, the washing of the priest was intentional because God don't want your junk that you just brought left there to go into his presence. You think for a moment that then Old Testament that God was would be okay for come to the altar to walk to the labor to kind of rinse off and then to walk on into the holy place and say here I am Lord bless me. God would simply say I will only accept your best. I can't have dollar general flour making or using Dollar General flour in those shoe bread.

You can't go on Amazon.com and buy that frankincense that's going to sit in those cups that sits on that bread. That that incense that burns on the altar as a perpetual it's continuously for me when you're standing there doing that you better not bring in junk from outside. Listen to me. If that's the case, tonight I want to help us understand the purpose of the lamp was to be a light in the presence of the holy place.

The priest had a job to do. When he got behind that first curtain and he steps into that holy place, he's got a table of showbread. He's got a candlestick over here that's got seven flames on it. And right next to that curtain was going to be an altar of incense.

Everything about that place had to be done ex especially perfect according to God's law. If that's the case, then here's here's another question. Why seven flames on the candlestick? Why not just one?

Wouldn't that be sufficient? Okay. Anybody else have a have a flashlight? Can you Can you turn it on?

Anybody? No, just one. Okay, everybody. Okay, you pick one.

All right. Yeah. If there's one light in here, can everybody see? Okay.

If seven people turn on lights, can everybody see? Probably more. Listen to me. This is This is so So incredibly cool.

The multitudes did not go into the holy place. God was not depending on lighting a way for everybody to see. You realize in the holy place that three million plus Israelites out here, they never saw in that place. Who did?

The Levites, the priests. Now, if everything was done according this this beautiful piece of work that was done placed in this holy place when it was put there as the candlestick that would have basically flames the size of your pinky, let's call it times seven. God was not looking for a way to light the world. everybody.

What God was doing was if you follow what I'm telling you to do now, what did the children of Israel look for? Anybody? They stood at their tent doors and they watched for the fire to fall and consume the sacrifice and be that pillar of fire that led them at night or the cloud that led them during the day. Now everybody can see it.

Listen carefully. If we are going to make it into the promises of God, if we are going to move forward into the promises of God, we cannot be sidetracked by our flames that can actually very easily be extinguished by doubt and fear and questions and all. But what we're trying to do is get into the holy place so that we can get into the holy of holies so that the mercy seat of God can hold the shikina that's lit from fire from heaven. And once that's accomplished, then the whole world will see that's God's people.

That is God's people. Matthew, let's let's go notice what Jesus says about Matthew chapter 5. This is in the the attitude chapter in your Bible. Somebody read for me really really loud.

Chapter 5 of Matthew verse 14, 15, and 16. Somebody, anybody at all? Verse 16. Now, thank you.

Um, you are the light of the world. This is the teaching of Jesus to the church, to his followers, let's call it that point. This was that incredible sermon there on the mount where he's talking about all these things that they need to they need to wrap their minds around. They need to understand about this new gospel of this new message, if you will.

And one of the things he tells them is, "You're the light of the world." Now that's very very challenging to understand is it not? Because I'm not a light. I'm a person. I have a job.

I do things. I work. I have a family. So forth.

But in the sense that Jesus is speaking to them, he is telling them that there is something about you that has a purpose in the world that you are in. You are not simply a carpenter, a mechanic. You're not simply a judge or a lawyer or a doctor. You are in fact light.

And if you are indeed light, then you have to understand something. Light has a purpose. In the beginning, what did God do? Thank you, sweetie.

In the beginning, what did God do? Created heaven and earth. And then what did he do? He separated what?

Why did he separate light and darkness? Why not keep them together? Difference does that make? Why can't they mix?

Diluted. What's diluted? How do you dilute light? That's a great point.

How do you dilute that? You filter it with what? Anything. Right.

Here's a question. Is darkness pre prevent prele prevalent or is light prevalent? Which one rules? But all you have to do with light is flip it off and then what?

Darkness takes over. Then all you got to do is turn the light on and then what? light takes over. Man, we're in such a quandry here.

I guess to us as humans, what do we have to know? We have to know where the source is of the light or the dark. What is the source of the light? What is the source of the dark?

No. Non Jesus. Unjesus. No Jesus.

That's I mean honestly cuz if it if he's the light of the and he understands the power and the energy that he brings than anything else that he illuminates himself on that's that's just showing what it actually is. You know the moon all it it has no energy source. That is such a cool thing. The moon doesn't have the energy.

All it does is what? Reflect energy the light. So here's the point of that. Jesus is teaching in Matthew 5 and he's saying you are the light of the world.

And then he references candlestick. You don't light a light and then put something over it. It serves no purpose. But instead you light a light and you put it up so that whoever's looking, whoever opens their eye, they can see what's going on around them.

Listen friend, if you're ever going to reach your family, friends, neighbors, this world, wherever you are, you don't do that by lighting yourself and then burning them. Hey, can you see? Can you see? Can you see?

Can you see? No. You know what you do? You simply let the power of the spirit light you and then you glow.

The power emanate. It comes out of you. Any darkness does what? it it removes itself because light actually energizes the atmosphere.

Jesus explains that the church has to be the light. You don't get lit church and then stick yourself under a bushel it calls it. Okay? You don't get lit church and then get under a rock.

You don't light up with the power of the Holy Ghost and then climb under a rock. The power and the purpose is this world needs light. Fact John said that that in the beginning the the word and when he talks about the then he talks about the light and the light didn't what the world didn't comprehend it. They didn't understand what the light was for.

Because as long as as long as the world lives in darkness, it doesn't know that it's wrong. Come on. If you're walking in a dark room and you don't know something's there, what are you going to do? Step on it.

Stub your toe. Is that how that works? Come on, mom and dad with Legos. But if you'll turn on the light, then it changes your path.

Now you don't put your foot there. Why? Because all the receptors of light go through your brain. You're going to go, "If I step on that little Lego in the middle of the night, the whole world's going to know that I'm not happy." Light did that for you.

Now, it's interesting here that when we talk Old Testament tabernacle, there was something that happened in the holy place. And that light, that candlestick was made, beaten, formed with such intentionality that if you don't have the right oil to go in it and the right wick to go in it and you don't keep it trimmed and you don't keep it clean, it is not going to do what it's supposed to do. I'm here to tell you that they were so interested. Those who formed and fabricated this place, this holy temp, they were so interested in it.

They would not let the soot of terrible oil fill the room. What was next week? Next week. Next.

Two weeks. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry.

Table of in or the altar of incense. You'll get there, too. Trying I'm trying to back off. I'm trying trying to help you, brother Gibb.

I'm trying. What do you have to have to have a lamp that functions? Let's look there. G, we get this indication from all the things that God told Moses.

This is how you make this candlestick. Jesus then begins in his ministry. I mean, chapter five is when he starts giving all this instruction and then he builds it from there. What do you have to have to have a lamp?

You got to have oil. Hopefully good oil. You have to have a reservoir place that holds the oil. You have to have a wick, something that goes through it so that the oil soaks into it's a substance then that has to actually burn and be consumed so that the light shows.

And you got to have a flame. There's a whole lot of other things, but these are some things that basically explains how and what you got to have to have a lamp that has light on it. Jesus explains then and he gives the indication here that if they're going to be followers of him, what do they have to do? They have to have that.

They have to be lit. They have to have oil. They have to have a wick. They have to have the substance needed in order to be a light.

And the fact remains is that if we don't have that, we are not going to be able to shine in a dark world. People are not going to find their way. I'm I'm convinced that our world today is so full of junk and garbage. It's the darkness of following after things that are not godly.

And what happens when the church becomes the church is what? light begins to illuminate the area. And and anybody any boy, I'm going to use an old old word. What was my clock?

My clock's back there. It It's It's useless, but I see it. Um I'm going to use an old word. There there was a word that our grandparents used to use quite often, and it was called conviction.

When's the last time that was in a conversation you had with someone? See, conviction in today's vernacular has taken on a new word or new meaning, and it's condemnation. Well, you're condemning me. No, I'm telling you, there's a reason that your heart's broken and tears are flowing out of your eyes because you're wrong and the spirit is lighting itself around you and you are seeing the flaws.

Don't get mad at that. Be glad that God's got enough mercy and grace to say, "Look, you're messed up and I can fix you, but you better let this light shine around you." It's called conviction. Watch this. Show of hands.

Has anybody ever felt conviction? How do you know that's what it was? How did you How did you know it was conviction? Could it not just have been bad pizza?

Could it not have been just some kind of terrible incident that you went through? What does conviction do to a heart? It does what? It works repentance.

It pulls. It begins to shed all the stuff and it begins to demonstrate what you've got going on here, friend, is sin. And that's separating you from God. And then you begin to feel that weight of your responsibility.

Wow, I didn't feel this before. Why? Because I was living a life and I was happy and I was doing all this dumb stuff and but now there's a life been flipped on and now I'm like what? Why did I?

Why did I? Why did I? And then of course we can read very clearly in the New Testament that the scripture reveals that lay aside the weight and the sin that what easily besets you. Look, if if I'm in the world and I'm looking good, you know what I can do?

If I begin to look bad, I can just simply change clothes or put on another jacket. But when it's raw God, your sin's not going to stand there. Your mess and all the junk you're it's not going to be there because God's not sin. In fact, he's going to say, "I don't even I don't even have nothing to do with that.

What I need you to do is I need you to let the light shine." And then in repentance, you turn around and then as you turn around, you begin to walk towards me. And in that I will begin to say I need to remit those sins. Pay the price for it. There.

Boom. The blood of Calvary says I remitted those sins while you were baptized. Well then what? Now watch this.

Spirit of God begins to burn in your life. There's your light. The oil is the Holy Ghost. The reservoir.

That's your body. That's your That's your who you are. The wick. That's your prayers.

And the anointing is flowing as you're talking to God. The flame. That's the igniting of God as you become that spirit working in this world. We all have a job to do in our current situation and in our world.

This world is not looking for somebody like them. They want to get into a holy place. They don't know that's what it's called. You know that's what it's called.

They don't know. You know what they think? They think, "Man, if I can just have sanity, if I could just have peace of mind, if I could just rest at night, if I could just come, if I could just get to breathe easier and this weight be lifted from me, then then I can feel like I'm not busted and broken and falling apart." And the fact is, that's who they are. But how do you fix them?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is what you need. This is what Calvary was for. Now, God instructed Moses how to make this lampstand.

You beat it out. You You work it out. You put everything together. You don't pour it from a mold.

You don't do that, but you shape it in the image, listen here, that God gives you to shape it. Man didn't have the wisdom to know how to take a piece of gold and pound it into usable product. God had to put that there. You understand that?

You're not going to know how to get to heaven, you're not going to understand anything about it. But when the spirit of God begins to work, you know what? As you're filled with the Holy Ghost, guess what begins to happen? I said Sunday, I'll say it again tonight on Wednesday.

There's something going on in my spirit says, Lord, come Lord Jesus. Come, Lord. Why? Because my vision says, "This ain't what I want, God.

That you're the one that I want. You're the one that I want." I I fear that there's people even in the in the kingdom of God, even in the family of God, they're saying, Lord, don't come just yet. I'm not ready. I've even heard people say, you know, I don't want I don't want the rapture to happen because I know I'm not ready.

And I'm going, okay, are you okay with that? That ought to scare you to death. It ought to throw you on the floor every night saying, "Oh my Lord, could this be it?" Now, I'm I'm I'm watching my clock. 7:46.

I got one hour left. The light from the lamp has a purpose. The priests when they came into the holy place, the only way they could see to minister was if everybody had done their job right according to the lampstand. The oil crushed correctly, the wick made appropriately, the oil, the bowls swapped out, refilled, trimmed.

That's the only way that they could. Anybody ever heard of the story of the the wedding that was going to happen and the bridegroom was going to step out? That's Old Testament stuff. It's so cool to watch.

New Testament that was still the same kind of features is that when they would when they would get there would be a wedding, then there would be those who were called to say, "Hey, if you want to see the bride and you want to be a part of the or you want to see the groom, excuse me, you want to be part of the bride's party, then you got to be what? ready. How do you know you're ready? Because you got a lamp and you got enough oil in it to last until And the story goes, it's a parable.

It's a story that says there were five wise and five foolish. They both had everything needed, lamps, oils. They were there. They were present.

But something happened in the middle of the darkness. Those who were wise brought the extra in the reservoir. Those who were foolish, the Bible said what happened? They ran and and what was told them?

This is so cool. Go do what? Go to the market and see if you can buy some more. Man, that don't make no sense.

What markets open at midnight? Oh, it's a 24-hour just drive-thru. It's Taco Bell. Can I help you?

I need oil. You know what I'm saying? I I don't think that the that this parable, this story was foolish at all. In fact, you and I, we read that story, five wise, five foolish.

We teach that to our kids even. We tell them, "You better be wise. You better have enough oil in your lamp." When what we are really saying to them is you better let heaven be number one in your life and you better do everything you can do to make sure you are living the right way. Do none of us know the coming of the Lord, what date that is, what time that is, do we?

We don't know when the groom is going to step out and say, "Come on, let's have this marriage supper." But I fear that in in the day and age in which we live, we have somehow someway feel like feel like that that it's okay because he has terried. He has waited on his coming. And then it's so cool that even in the Bible it says they're going to say to you, "Well, where is he?" You said he's coming. He's not.

I mean, this is 2,000 plus years ago. Here we are in 2025. What's the world saying about the rapture? Anybody Anybody see there's a there's a little 10-minute video that's being released now called the rapture.

Anybody seen it's animated? Yeah, I I I made Okay, I'm doing the lesson. So, yeah. 10-minute junk.

That's not what the Bible says. That's not how the Bible wrote it. What are they doing, Brother Rob? Trying to take something, make it into something that everybody begins to do what?

Oh, this is not important. I've got a lamp, but I ran out of oil. So, I can just set my lamp on the table because apparently, if that's all it's about, I know this that if I'm desperate, I need a healing, I need life change, I'm not going to depend on somebody else. I'm going to come to an altar because I know the answer is in Jesus Christ.

And therein is where hungry hearts begin to pour themselves into the things of God. As I close today, I know our time's running out. Brother Don, you could come give them some false hope. We are shaped.

We are made. Don't you be mad when things begin to hit you and you feel like you're not being dealt a good hand or you feel like people are out against you. I'm here to tell you this that if you're a golden lampstand in the holy place, you're going to have to endure some p some things pounding up against you. Some things that are not so comfortable.

You understand that we are all pieces of work in the master's hands. He is making us what we should be. What we need to do is yield ourselves. Again, another story talks about a potter.

What did he do? He made vessels. But it wasn't the vessel's job to make himself. The vessel had to guild himself to the master's hand.

Now over the last six months and there's a lot of stuff I know and in the last few weeks I realize that there's been lots of data. Listen to me carefully. Over the last since the first year the last several months God has been helping us as a church to understand that his plan for his people is still right. If you are looking, if you are trying to discover a better way to get to heaven, a more simple way to get to heaven, a way that's not going to cost you anything, you won't find it.

Now, you may find a plan, but the plan is going to fail because it's contrary to the word of God. Now, more than ever before, we need to be living for the master. Lights set on a candlestick that say, you know what? I have nothing to be ashamed of.

I am who God made me. And now I'm going to love him and serve him. Don't put a bushel over me. I'm coming.

I am loving God. I'm serving God. My family's going to pray. We're going to spend time with God.

Why? Because salvation is a choice you have to make. Do you submit yourself to it or do you simply try it on your own and see how good it is? Stand with me, please.

It's five minutes to eight. There's so much possibilities, so much purpose in our world. There's so many directions that you can go in. You parents of of children, you're you're trying to teach them to be the best they can be.

Agreed. See, we can hear they're trying to teach them. But the fact is this. The fact is this.

Listen carefully, please. They're going to learn that life doesn't revolve around them. Didn't you learn that? That's a hard lesson, isn't it?

The fact is is that you're going to learn hard lessons that you didn't really sign up for. But when things begin to happen in your life and the love of God begin to work in your life, you begin to discover, you know what? It's about him and not me. It's about what he's doing in my life.

Therefore, I submit to it. We are in the world and there are so many possibilities and so many things that we can do. I I challenge us tonight as a church. Can we allow ourselves to be put on a candlestick so that we show those around us the light of God?

Can we somehow get to a place that we decide, you know what, it's not about me. It's about him and the work he's doing in me. That golden candlestick, if you'll go through the details, you'll find so many incredible lessons about God's desire to want the purest and the best for his life. Because God knew there were to come a church that would be lights.

And if they don't understand the power of that, they're not going to know what's required of them. Why don't you lift your hand right now and say, "Lord, help me to be to become what you want me to be." Lord, I I know, God, that you've got a plan for my life. I know that the work on Calvary was for me. I know that you shed your blood.

You You went through all of that. You took the stripes through the bruising for me. I I know that was for me, Lord. Right now, I I stand here, Lord, and I am humbled at the fact that you love me and you care.

I'm also thankful that the tomb is empty and I'm thankful Lord that you filled me with the Holy Ghost power. You allowed me, Lord, to be a light. I love you, Jesus. Let help me, God, to let light shine.

Your light, Lord. Let it work through me, God. Let it change, Lord, those around me as it's illuminated through the working of the spirit in me, God. This world needs light.

Help me, Lord, to be the light that I should be. Oh, come on, somebody. Can you make it a Wednesday night prayer? Lord, I desire you.

I am hungry for you, Jesus. I am thirsty for more of you, Lord. I want to know you. Come on.

Can we worship the Lord together for just a moment?