The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit lesson 20 cont.
Courtney Hemenway · Feb 6, 2022
Holy Spirit (2021-23), No. 48
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/49261925514084

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

already well we are in less than twenty and we got down to a portion of uh... question three and uh... does one where we identify the jews the gentiles and we're just about uh... ready to start uh... the church so who is included in the church i hope you guys know Yeah, at least we know some people who would be in there, we hope.

Yeah, Jew, Gentile, and so would that cover everybody? Well, who are the Gentiles? All those who aren't Jews. And the Jews. So if we have the Jews and the Gentiles being part of the church, everybody can be part of the church, right? Yes, as long as they come to know the Savior and that. But it's really, it can be anybody now. And so that's a big switch.

Because remember, we went through the Jews, and the Jews were the chosen. They were the ones who brought the messages from God. They were the ones who had the laws, everything, the prophets, all that, that God had chosen them. And then the Gentiles, to them, were just foreboding. They were not to be touched, associated with, you can't go to their house, you can't go through their land, you can't do anything. They were completely separate.

Now, in the church age, we have Jews and Gentiles being able to come together and unify into one body. That was a huge deal at that point. Because just think if you were in that situation where you had somebody that was like the leper, you didn't touch them, you didn't get near them, you didn't do it, and suddenly they're now in your house eating dinner with you. And it's okay. I think this is, you know, I try to put myself in what they're thinking at this point and just when when they started out after pentecost that now jews and gentiles were unified in one body in christ you wanted we are seeing how the jews are always trying to you come back and get back to the old ways and all that because this was very uncomfortable for the person that you are even able to sit down and dinner with her go through the like said in the samaritan samaritans where you couldn't even go through their land And now they were part of the same body? This was a mind-blowing thing for them at that time. So I just get the idea of what they're going through. And I think that's why I always see when Paul goes, and the Jews are always trying to counter what he's saying. It makes sense to me, because this was such a radical idea at this point.

So there are a lot of ones that say who is included in a church. We can look at Colossians 3, 9 through 11. I can read it for you. You don't have to. Look it up. Do not, excuse me, do not lie to one another since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices and put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the one who created him.

A renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, and free man, but Christ is all in all. Miss anybody in that list? Anybody, and you know, remember this is slaves, masters, barbarians. Who are barbarians? Uneducated, you know, they got it because they just blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. They're barbarians.

And so he puts in anybody can now come to Christ. Jew, Gentile, Scythian, barbarian, slave, anybody. So this is, again, quite a change from what the Jews had had before this. You know, and they were, I think, prideful. They were the ones who communicated with God, brought forth God's message.

And now these Gentiles are in with me. just think of what that does to you so again i when i see that how did you spot this you understand why they did it so uh... right out of this way the church is made up of jews and gentiles become new creations when they're placed into the body of christ by the holy spirit a joint body and fellow there's jews and gentiles absolutely united identified and marked out for for heavenly not and earthly inheritance So has the church been present from the beginning of creation?

No. So when did it start? Pentecost. Pentecost. So again, this wasn't something, and remember we talked about the mystery. What was the mystery? This was the mystery. that Jews, Gentiles would be united in one body. So this started at Pentecost. The church starts at Pentecost, which is kind of interesting. I always think about the ones, the two on the cross with Christ, are they in the body of Christ? That's really hard to think, because I'm going to see you in paradise today and all this.

But they're not part of the church body, because the body had not started. The Holy Spirit had not been given at that point. So that unifying Holy Spirit had not been given. So it's kind of hard. They were saved, but not in the body. It's like the Jews who were saved, but not in the body. Yeah.

I think it's just important to point out that none of the Jews understood this until Cornelius' house when Peter was there. And that, I don't know how long that was after the Pentecost that took place in Jerusalem, but I think that was a huge surprise to the apostles. Yeah, because he came back and he said, you know, look what I saw.

And it was, you know, coming down and animals that you can now eat. figure you know again figure that too not only these these uh... these vile horrible gentiles you mean i can't eat a pig? i can eat that? well if you smoke it you can yeah i'm just going to smoke it just properly but that's a big shift i mean think of that on top of all this that you now sit you can sit down now with the gentile and have a pulled pork sandwich You could never touch any of that. You couldn't even sit in the house, and now these 12 guys are saying, eh, go have lunch with them. You understand when the Jews revolted against Paul's teaching, why they did it? It's because they did not want any part of this, because their whole life, their whole thousands of years was separation.

And now it's unified. Just put yourself in that, and where would you be? Oh, yeah, come on in. Come on in, have lunch. Yeah, oh, we've got a pork sandwich. Come on, let's have it. You'd be running from that. So again, it's just put in perspective why I see it in Paul's ministries, why he sees such attacks against him, because this was totally different. You have something over here? OK, question four. Again, I should have said we're in lesson 20. of the personal work of the Holy Spirit. And we're in question four. It's chapter four of Rite Out.

So what inheritance or blessing does Israel expect to receive? And page 48, paragraph one. So what is the inheritance or the blessing? And is it the same inheritance or blessing for us as believers? So, what's the inheritance or blessing for Israel? What do they expect to inherit?

Same thing? New Jerusalem. New Jerusalem? For the Jews? Sorry, are you saying what's the blessing for Israel, like, before the church, we're talking? Yeah, well, what are the blessings for the Jewish nation? the covenant blessings, right? Yeah, where are they?

I'll do Mike's real estate. Location, location, location. Land. Land. It's earthly. Where is believers? Heavenly. Heavenly. So there's a difference between the body of Christ and the remnant of Jews. They have earthly blessings, but we have heavenly blessings.

Which one would you rather have? You know, that's really, I think, a difficult question because believers look to earthly blessings, not that the Lord isn't gracious and not that he doesn't bless you, but the sphere of their blessings is heavenly. And because of ignorance, I don't think a lot of believers understand what those are. and therefore they don't value them. We're going to get to a little bit of this as we get to our blessings and what that means to us. So basically the difference is Israel in the nation is earthly blessings. We're believers, we have heavenly blessings.

And in Jeremiah it says, but 31, 33, and 34. But this is the covenant which I'll make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I'll put my law within them, and on their heart I will write it. And I'll be their God, and they shall be my people. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor, and each man his brother, saying, know the Lord, for they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.

So, when does this occur? In the millennial kingdom. In the millennial kingdom. So it's kind of interesting. He's going to write the law on their hearts. So you don't need to be taught. It's going to be on their hearts. I'm thinking about, so they're still sinners with the law written on their heart. How does that work? So yeah, still of the same nature. So I think there's still going to be consequences for all that, but they know the law. They know it's in their heart now. They know it. Yeah.

The redeemed Jews are going to be in the heavenlies. The Jews who inherit the land are going to be the Jews who go into the millennium alive. Is that correct? Right. Yes, they will go in live. And that's the remnant that goes through the millennial kingdom. But what he's saying in Jeremiah is that he's going to write the law on our heart. Exactly.

So they don't even need teaching anymore because it's on their heart, which is kind of interesting. A lot of people think they're doing it for us. Yeah. Well, it would be interesting if just an obtuse thought. If we had the entire Paul's, all of his emblazoned on our heart, we knew it. We didn't need teaching. I mean, that's kind of an interesting thought. How would we function?

Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit. Exactly. The same way that they're going to have the law written on their heart. It's a different function in its purpose, but it's still by the mechanism of the Holy Spirit. Exactly. That's, I guess, the point is that it would be the Holy Spirit working. I would have thought about that.

You know, God has injected into some of his creatures what we call instincts. You know, a dog acts like a dog and a cat acts like a cat, and they don't even think about it. Yeah. Cats do what cats do. Yeah. And dogs do what dogs do. Will Jews with a law written on their heart just do what Jews do with a law written on their heart? Yeah. Yeah. That's what it'll be like. Yeah. Interesting.

So when does Israel obtain the inheritance? When does Israel obtain this inheritance? Mike already said it earlier. When do they get this inheritance we talked about in Jeremiah? The messianic kingdom. So yeah, the millennial kingdom is when this is going to happen. And we can see this in Romans 11, 25 through 27.

Well, I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of the mystery so that you will not be wise in your own estimation. That a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, just as it is written. The deliverer will come from Zion, he will remove ungodliness from Jacob. This is my covenant with them when I take away their sins. So this is after the fullness of the Gentiles.

When is that? The rapture. at the rapture. So the Ridat has it this way. The time when the Gentiles should receive blessings in the hand of Israel, when from Mount Zion should go forth the law and the word of Lord from Jerusalem. So this is at the end of the tribulation, and the millennial kingdom starts. That's when they get this inheritance spoken of in Jeremiah. So, good?

Yes. It says, when I will take away their sins, won't they still be sinning? Won't people still be sinning in the millennial kingdom? Yes. But I'm wondering if this, and you may know more, because they're still sinning. I mean, it's a sin nature. They haven't been separated from the sin nature. They have the law written on their heart. Is that the same as us as believers with the Holy Spirit and we still sin? I think they'll be in the same situation, but I don't know what the... Will they immediately take care of that? Think about before Christ came.

What did God do about the Jews' sins? He covered them. Yeah, covered them, right. So when John the Baptist sees the Lord Jesus walking down, he says, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. That was a new thing. Right. Because their sins were just covered. until Christ could die and pay the penalty for it. The benefit of the death that Christ will now accrue to the Millennial Kingdom Jews, their sins will be taken away. The consequences. That's what I guess the consequences, the sins are taken away. I mean, it's like us, we may sin and there are consequences to it, but they're taken away. Right. So is that the same? In other words, they won't be condemned. Yeah, they won't be condemned, but yeah. Right. Okay. So similar, similar really does. Yeah, Dre.

We always got to remember our God makes the impossible possible. We praise and worship an amazing God, and in that sense, They can have a sinful nature their whole life, but we don't really know what it could be like if they have the word written on their hearts. We don't know how immediately that could change everything that they do or act.

Right, and that's kind of the interesting part, is they have it written on their heart, but they still have a sin nature. So that's kind of the ambiguity there, is you have it written on your heart. You know the law, but you have a sin nature. And it's kind of like, and that's why I said, is it going to be according to like, well, we have the word, we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, but we still sin. And so is it going to be a similar type situation? Well, and the believers who will come with Christ in glory, it will be impossible for them to sin because they won't have the nature. Right, we're separated from the central body.

So, yeah, I think it has to do with the benefits derived from the work of Christ on the cross in terms of the bloodshed for remission of sin. Yeah, I mean, when you sin in the Millennial Kingdom, is there a consequence to it? I don't know. Well, think about the world in the Millennial Kingdom.

There will be the Jews, but then there'll be all these other guys who will have sin natures. And then it'll be a theocratic kingdom with the Millennial Kingdom law imposed on the whole planet. And there won't be an arrest and a charge and a trial and all of that. It'll be instant judgment.

We'll be able to remind, I believe. We can stop as Anyway, this is what I heard, that we will be able to stop crime before it's even... It's still in the thought process. Interesting. I hadn't heard that. I don't know where that would turn out. I don't know. I forget where I heard it, but... I'm of a mind... This is my own personal opinion.

I'm of a mind that that's probably the major activity that the body of Christ will be in the Church of the Lord for a thousand years, and it will be the implementation of the mosaic law and the restoration of those who sinned instantly. We're going to be all over the place. Yeah, we're millions and billions. Anyway, an interesting question.

The context of this is the church is raptured in the heavenlies and there's a return for the millennial kingdom seven years later. That's the Davidic, or the, we have rule, a kingdom rule established. Right, at that point. Right, so justice. Christ comes to reign and rule. The nature of the justice system changes because the rule changes.

Is that accurate so far? Yeah, I would, yeah. So we have 1,000 years of kingdom rule, and we're talking about those Jews who are now in the process of inheriting all that was told of them in the Old Testament covenants. And you have the law written on their heart during that period of time, of which they also have this in nature. And so the rule, the kingdom rule is there to establish order for that very reason.

Yeah. Correct. Yes. Yep. So I just wanted to get kind of the chronology and the big picture. We're talking about the way things change judicially. In the millennial. In the millennial kingdom. Right. Correct. With Christ on the throne. Yes. Correct. He's ruling in Iranian. We're there with him. So we think about how injustice happens to us today and its punishment. We think about the kingdom nature of justice and how Joe mentioned that it's thwarted before it even happens, potentially. Don't know. We don't have a whole lot of information about how that kingdom rule is executed, but we know that it is fully established at that stage. So there's a thousand years of that. that is much different than it is today. Completely different. Completely different. Completely different than today. And again, I think there's not a lot of information on that. I mean, speculation. And if you think about who is the ruler, we know everything about the nature of it. We just don't know how it's actually, it's tactical. Yeah, the tactical implementation of it, yes.

And we know that we're going to be a part of that rule. There's gonna be certain believers, saints, that are integral to that rule. Yeah, because we're to rule and reign with him. When we return, we're to rule and reign. So somehow we're associated with that.

Now how that all works together, I'm not 100% sure. Yeah, of course people will be born that during that time too within this Yes, and and the sacrificial system will be reinstated and so the Jews Right, it'll be a memorial system. They won't be yeah, this is the Christ has already died So what about the issue that we face today as believers in the church where we're told to inherit the kingdom, to enter into the kingdom? that the kingdom is present today. I know that's a big, huge discussion, but what do we say to that vividly?

Yeah, it's, you know, when I hear music or something, kingdom come, and like now, and that's not, the kingdom is for the millennial time. We are a living person now. We are a person, Christ. One body in Christ. And that's different than a kingdom. there's the gospel of the kingdom, the good news of the kingdom. Yes, the good news of the kingdom.

Who heralded that? Well, that was... Christ was talking about all of that through... John the Baptist. Yeah, through the... So was Peter at the Day of Pentecost. Well, Peter, yeah. But Christ was the one who was laying out the kingdom. Kingdom gospel. Kingdom gospel. That's why the separation, that's why Paul's epistles speak to us as the body of Christ. Most of Christ's ministry was talking to the Jews and their kingdom. You know, whatever they called it, Father, what is the prayer, what is it? Blessed? The Lord's Prayer. The Lord's Prayer. I can't remember Father's Prayer. You know, that's millennial kingdom.

That is not us. If you look at that and dissect it, that doesn't apply to us. Because we have the gospel of substitution. Right. Yes. It's important to recognize that, because otherwise you look to Christ's teaching and also Peter, and you would think that he's speaking directly to us, where he's not. No, he's not. He's speaking to Jews.

Well, it's also covenant theology, that everything is what Israel gets, we get. Right. Nah, and thankfully so. So that's the covenant that says all those blessings to Israel accrue to us, and it's not. And so that's another misdirection of teaching these days. All right, that was a long tangent off. Thanks for doing that. Yeah, no, it was interesting. I mean, I appreciate it. We don't have a lot of information in that, which is kind of rule and reign. What does that mean? What is judgment? I just don't have a good feel for that. Maybe that somebody has a lot of information. All right, moving on to question five.

According to Ephesians 1-3, where and what blessings does the church expect to inherit? So that's Ephesians 1-3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Okay, so if this is the case, what blessing should we be asking for? stuns silence again other questions since nobody's answering that one uh... how did happened does this relate to our prayers do not ask anything of the father on europe on your previous one courtney we've already been So if we're asking for blessings that we've already obtained in heavenly places, then we're asking for something that we already have, it would seem.

Yeah, that's correct. And that's the thing that kind of pointing it out. We've been blessed with every, all, total blessings in the heavenlies. Positionally, that's true right now. Right now, we have that. We have that inheritance. We have that that will not change.

All spiritual blessings. Just try and wrap your head around that one. You know, you've been blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies. So that can be a bad translation when we get to heaven. We've been blessed with all spiritual blessings.

I think that that's one of the key elements in a believer's spiritual growth is his finding out what those blessings are and be able to understand, yeah, they're heavenly, yeah, they're spiritual, and yeah, they're true of me right now. especially Reformed theology, keeps you away from those blessings.

They keep you away from the totality of what all of that is because it keeps you begging for something you already have. And it's a pretty subtle way to go at humanity if you're the opposition. You know, if I can keep you walking on your knees and begging God for something that you already have because you're ignorant, then I still control your behavior. Right. You know, and it's just kind of an interesting thing. So, the second question is after that.

So, how does this change our prayers? And do we not ask anything of the Father? If we've been blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies, What do you pray for? I think you pray for, like Paul prayed for in Philippians, that I may know him. I think you pray for conditional conformity to his image. I think the number one thing you pray for as you grow and get it is to know him, to know the Lord Jesus face to face just for that reason.

So, any other thoughts? before exiting. I think you also pray for, I think one theme in all of those epistles is the knowledge and wisdom of God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. Knowledge and wisdom of what we have and who He is. Okay. Any other thoughts? And that's really where we come from on our teaching on grace. The only thing you can say to grace is thank you. It's unmerited and unlimited blessings. Unmerited. We didn't do anything for it, so all we can do is say thank you. So, okay.

Should I always, because I know I'm blessed, be praying for others rather than myself? Well, we're getting to where I want to go with this. What did we do at the beginning of this class? We prayed for the infirmities of our fellow brothers and sisters. So you all gave that you only pray for wisdom and knowledge of God and all that, but we, is that the only thing you pray for?

Now, that's interesting. How do you know? It's been a dilemma of mine for a long time. If I'm going to pray for you, because, I don't know, you've got some sort of malady. Pitching my head along. How do I pray for that? Do I pray for you to be comforted? Do I pray for you to be healed? Do I pray for God to continue your limping around until you learn your lesson? So that's kind of the thing when I get to this, you know. What should we pray for? We've been blessed with all spiritual blessings, given, positional, done. But are we supposed to pray for other things? Yes, for that I may know Him.

You know, 2 Peter 3.18, to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus. All those things are there, but is that the only thing? And we started by praying for people. And if you notice, actually, in the prayers, it's if it's His will. Because I remember when I first came here, and we went to the lunchtime study, and Mike's like, well, why are you praying for him? Maybe he should be suffering. God may want him suffering. That's why I never came back. We never. I came back, but it was sheepishly, I would never bring up a prayer request because it was like, I prayed for something that God may want that person to hurt. So it took a long time to work that through. Not the threat, but it was like, well, maybe there's supposed to be something. Maybe he should be limping.

Well, the whole study, the person, the work of the Holy Spirit is how the intercession, and if there's a prime example of that, it's Mike. yeah that's exactly it you know and we went through that and that's what i was going to at the end of this get to is that the holy spirit is the one who makes intercession for us in our prayers he's the one who intercedes for our prayers but and and this is we've kind of gotten into this a couple times with mike is that can you pray for anything even stupid things yes philippians philippians 4 be anxious for nothing but let all your requests be made known to god thank you for looking for six or seven be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to god in the peace of god which surpasses all comprehension will guard your hearts in your minds in christ jesus so there limitation on that there was supposed to pray for spiritual growth or is there a limitation on that is there a qualifier that says don't bring that up in everything even if it's stupid even if it's not the holy spirit intercedes on that and the real thing is doesn't say you're going to get it the answer that you want what did it say peace that passes all understanding surpass it yet and the peace of god which has a lot will guard your heart in your mind You can ask for anything, but accept whatever answer he gives. And he will give you peace. That's cool.

Because if you get to that, I can ask for anything. But the answer may be no, you're crazy, whatever. And that's the intimacy that I always go to with the Lord. We can go to him with anything. Abba, Father, Daddy. We can ask anything. And again, I relate to a parent and a child. Does a child have to come to you, oh great father, I'm requesting my homework be reviewed by you today, or whatever. Is that how you talk to your dad? And you can ask your dad anything. And our heavenly father is the same. That's cool.

Is it appropriate to think, when you begin to pray to solicit the Father's input about how should I pray about, here's the issue, how do you want me to pray about? Exactly. And I think as you grow in your spiritual life, more of the focus is on Christ and maybe those blessings and who we are in Christ and to know Him. You begin to focus more on that and I think the real key is asking in accordance with God's will. Yeah. Lamb. Yeah. If it's your will, have him get rid of it. That's a valid request. He may not answer it in that way, but it's a valid request. Sure.

And so it comes to me, and this is the one where in 1 John 5, 14 and 15, this is the confidence which we have before him. So we're before him. That if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us and if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask we know that we have the request which we have asked for this so it's in accordance with his will that's what's going to be answered yeah i think sometimes we think of god's will is something that's maybe uh... i don't know the words but very uh... formal and almost sterile and it has an unapproachability to it, but the truth is we're talking about the will of a person and not an established, some kind of force, right? Impersonal force that is controlling our fate and our destiny. If we're talking about God's will, the way that we learn about His will is we learn about Him. Yeah. Right. And specifically the Lord Jesus. Exactly. And the more we know Him, the more we know His will. His will. His will. And that's the great part.

Courtney, regarding your last, uh, 1 John, does that mean if we ask something that's not in accordance to His will, that He does not hear us? You know, that's interesting. It's, I think it's that He doesn't answer in the way that we want. It's like, yeah, I would agree. You know, I think it's, He, I'm asking for a Ferrari tomorrow. Everybody gets mad when I use that, but I'm trying to think of something else. It's like I'm not having an obsession for little Ferraris.

But if that's not in His will, is it going to happen? No. And when we pray for all the prayers that we did today, it's according to His will. you don't get the ferrari but you get peace that surpasses understanding absolutely and that's the understanding that if it doesn't come the way i asked i have peace with that his will has another direction and i'm okay with that that's where the pieces that are standing in my heart in my mind that's a cool partly is that that and glad to be that's right it's the intimacy that we can go to him anytime anyplace anywhere and ask anything That's the comfort that gives me peace of mind and heart. I don't have to go with him and think, wow, man, was that really what I was supposed to pray for? I can do it. But if I have the peace to understand that whatever answer comes back, that's OK.

I do think, though, that you don't have license with God to just throw a bunch of stuff at him. I think because you know him, because you're growing, because you're learning, When you contemplate, well, I want to talk to him about this issue, and you think about it and say, no, that's sinful. I'm not going to talk to him about it. But that's in growth. Yeah. There is no qualification on what I can ask.

And that's the thing that I really want to emphasize, is that if we get to that point, you can have people not going before the Father and praying, because I'm so worried about what I'm asking. He wants the fellowship of that prayer. He wants us to come before him. That's a really important point right there. And that's the intimacy that we drive with him. And that's what he wants.

There's a lot more to prayer than just asking for favors. oh yeah it's the intimacy in the relationship what do you know all through the day and uh... talk to the lord you know and that's time with him and it could be a dumb request it could be a dumb conversation it can start really you want to say that we're dumb like uninformed right but if you think about that first attitude of prayer even if everything you say after you quote unquote bow your head It could be completely off the wall in regards to your life experiences and relationships, but where are you going? And that's an attitude that starts with now the object of my prayer is not something that's in my control or something that I do, a law or a rule. I'm actually depending upon someone, but I don't know how to ask them for this. And I'm talking about, I just want my next meal, or maybe I just want to go get some new clothes or buy a new boat, whatever the case.

But I'm starting a conversation, as raw as it is, I'm having a conversation with my creator. That's the key issue. Abba Father, Daddy. I know people get upset when I say it, but you can go to the Father and say, Daddy, it says that. Abba Father, that means Daddy.

That's how intimate we can go before Him. so i don't know if they're going to start god is our life god is our life he's our head he's our brain why wouldn't we go to him for everything even if it's some silly stupid things just to bring it before him that's my point is that there should be the qualification because he wants the relationship and when we go before him with anything we're in that relationship we're focusing on him Miles, were you going to say something?

Yeah, I was going to say, like, just tying us back together to what we were talking about earlier with the difference between Israel's blessings and our blessings. I mean, when we start talking about this intimacy with God, and like, you know, they didn't have that. I mean, I always think of tying a rope around the priest's foot, just in case he did something wrong when he approached God, you know, so you could drag him out dead, you know. Whereas we have this completely different, we have an intimacy that's just, you come to Him with everything, anytime. in close personal intimacy, right? Huge difference. Great thought. Because I think with Israel, it was a big stick. You did something wrong, the earth opened up and swallowed 5,000 of you. You were suddenly in captivity for 400 years, being slaves. We don't have any of that.

We can go before him with anything. I think Miles brought up an interesting point. Hebrews tells us the word anaren. And actually, our whole life exists inside the veil. Inside the veil, right. So we don't, you know, they're not going to ever drag us out of there. They can't. They can't.

I was reading Hebrews recently, so maybe that's why. Yeah, I'm going through Hebrews now in my daily, too, yes, after Melchizedek. Anyway, I think we are well beyond. Sorry about that. Good discussions, though. Good thoughts to try and think about when you pray. And again, I just put, don't limit yourself. Just have the communication. Have that relationship. to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus.

When you come before him and you're talking with him, you're focusing on him, that's what he wants, no matter what the request is. All right, we will, I guess, start with whatever question six I think was. Next week we'll have a couple and then, are you next? Then I guess Mike sent out the lessons 21, so you should have that. We'll finish up this one and then Michael will start next week.

All right, let's close. and i thought we thank you we thank you that we do have an innocent intimacy to come before you the god of creation the god who created all things and we can call you now daddy because of the relationship that was graciously offered to us through your son who paid for all of our sins past present future all of them and then you graciously through faith you've allowed us to come into that body of christ one body and uh... more importantly now we have the uh... indwelling holy spirit which finds that body together and we uh... we just thank you for all these truths that we have and uh... we just thank you again for the intimacy that we can have with you and the relationship that we have with you that we can come before you anytime anyplace anywhere and make a request be made known to you and you'll guard our hearts and our minds and uh... we thank you for that system that you have and the ability to come before you and have that relationship. So we just pray for the next meeting just to prepare our hearts to receive it and we again just ask that all we say and do this day will honor and glorify you. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.