Principles of Position Lesson 18
JD McCulley · Sep 18, 2016
Principles of Position, No. 36
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/492653952718

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

All right. So we've got a new board here too, huh? Not sure what to do with this thing. Go crazy with it. You know. But you're right on that side, you have to write on this side. Well, that's right. Or I could get you to mirror me and I'll do this and you do this.

Yeah, you know, we use this at work all the time, but people are saying, oh, these markers always run out. And I'm thinking to myself, Well, at church, we never have that problem. So I guess that's not the case anymore. But they are fancy. I like them. Well, Lesson 18, you guys ready? Good morning. Let's get to the first question here. And if you don't have your Bibles ready already, you'll need those. We're going to look up some verses, so I'll ask you guys to read here as we go, so just be ready to do that if you don't mind. So question number one.

What is this light in which we have been placed, in which we are to live and walk? So this whole section is about sins and light. So it has to do with the sin of the newborn believer and the maturing believer with regards to this concept of light and what is the impact of that.

So let's start by reading 1 John 1.5. Someone go ahead and read that when you've got it.

This is the message we have heard from him and announced to you that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. Not in any way. Right? So what does this mean, God is light? Back to the basics here a little bit. That's okay. What does it mean? Light reveals everything. Reveals. Okay. It reveals where you dropped something in the dark? What does it reveal? Truth. Light reveals truth? What do you guys think? Light reveals reality. Reality?

Oh, it reveals sin. Would you say His holiness and His purity? Okay, holiness. And I have a really hard time spelling correctly on these boards. FYI. You can laugh, it's okay. The board doesn't have a spell checker? No. Where's that red thing that's like this? I'm like, right click, fix.

Yeah, no. So light is a term in the scripture that's applied to God and his character about the revealing nature, right? So what's the opposite of light? So the opposite of light is darkness. And what does darkness do? Hides. Hides you. Hides. It brings confusion. Confusion? There's fear. Fear? That's a good one. Okay. What else does it do? If light reveals truth, what does darkness do? Reveals truth? Yeah, I think so. Specifically truth, right? Alright.

So 1 John 1.5 tells us that God is light and there is no darkness in Him at all, not in any way. So since the Father is light, God is light. Who also is light? Jesus. Okay. Why? Just checking. Triune God. Just checking your doctrine on the triunity of God. Good. So the spirit is revealing things to us too. Displaying his light. So whose job is it to reveal truth? Spirit. Spirit of Truth, right? Right.

Let's look at 2 Corinthians 4.6 I just want to read that when you've got it.

2 Corinthians 4.6 For God, who said, let our light shall shine out of darkness, is the one who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. So, we talked about the role of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit with regards to light, but what do we learn here? What does light have to do with us? as believers? The light shines in our hearts?

Okay. Yeah. Does it shine? And does that mean that we walk around really shiny? How in the world does light shine in a believer's heart? Verse 7 says, we now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. Did you guys hear that? So what are you? A clay jar. A what? A clay jar. A clay jar. Have you seen the clay jars with kind of the tea light inside of it? Yeah.

Are you the source of light? As a believer? No. You're a fragile clay jar, but you possess light, but it's not yours. Right? So when we tell our kids, go out there on the block today and be a light, do you think they get it? If you were to go to probably most evangelical churches and the concept of go out there and be a light to your neighbors, to your co-workers, to your friends, to your family, be a light, what do you think is often understood when something like that is said from a teacher? Something we have to do. Something we have to do? Would you agree? What kind of things would you do to be a light? Act like a Christian. Act like a Christian? What does that look like? Like a what? It's not real. Okay.

So I think that there's definitely a lot of scripture with regards to this concept of light. And as it relates to us, and I often run these truths that I'm learning through how I'm communicating to my kids as well, and so we're thinking about being a light. Tell me from a positional perspective, what does that mean? Put it in your own words. Sharing the knowledge of the Lord. Okay.

Does light have anything to do with the knowledge of the Lord? Well it says right there, so give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. So definitely the knowledge, the truth. Knowledge is light. Knowledge is light.

That's right. So here's a question for you. If you were to tell somebody, let's say an unbeliever, something that they didn't want to hear but was the truth, what are you doing? Are you just being one of those annoying Christians? You could be. You totally could be. It depends on how you say it and maybe your timing, right?

We talk about, in 1 John, this concept of truthing and love. that truth and love travel together, that the way you love someone is through the truth, and the truth is light. So, oftentimes when we think about telling someone the truth of what's going on, even as humbly and as timely of the Lord that we may choose to share it, it's sometimes not received as light, right? So you're being a light, you're saying, hey, I'm not the source of light, I know who the source is, and I know that it's the very character of God to reveal, to display His holiness and His purity, etc., and I'm going to share that with you, and all of a sudden this unbeliever or believer says, no dice, no thank you, not interested. Does your light go...

Yeah. How does it work? It shouldn't. It shouldn't. God works. God works. What do you think about the issue of the unbeliever not being able to receive the light? Why? Think about this. How does the eye work? What is the eye designed to do? See. See what? See light, and because of light they can see form, right? Yeah. Right? So we see shapes. We see people. And we see the world that God created. So the eye itself is an organ that was designed specifically to receive light. Now, that's the physical example.

The analogy is, what is the spiritual example of that? What did God do in order for you to see spiritual light? Did He give you a new eye? Give you new ears? What did He do? He did, but what if I don't believe? So what's required in order to see spiritually? You need the Spirit. And often times that comes through a need. You're exactly right. Without being a new creation, you have no spiritual eyesight. None at all.

Let's read 1 Corinthians 2.14.

The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, but they are foolishness to him. So if you guys don't have this verse earmarked in some way or can't get to it through some fancy search, this verse is an excellent reminder of the state of those that you're speaking to in many cases. So it doesn't mean that God's light is not effective.

It simply means that they do not have the spiritual organs to receive that truth at that point. By organs I'm making an analogy to the eye, the physical eye. So it's like someone criticizing Bach or Beethoven and them not actually being able to hear. You ever thought about it that way? Here they are telling you, I got nothing to do with this nonsense.

I've got my own God. He's out at the top of a 14er and it's Sunday morning. It's a beautiful day. And me and my dog are headed that way. You like that rhyme? I just made it up. I hear that all the time, and I understand that people want to enjoy the outdoors and spend time with the creation, but what's at the center of someone saying, no, not interested in the Word, more interested in the experiential side of things, more interested in the kind of high I get from this activity or that activity, or this time spent or that time spent, where are they reveling? So, regardless of how they look on the outside, as polished, and as spiritual, I know a lot of people that are spiritual people. And they're calm sometimes, and they're collected. But the Bible tells me that without the Spirit, they are stuck in a place of confusion, and of fear, What else do we learn from that verse that darkness does?

Lies. Huh? Lies. They're stuck in lies? Yeah. I mean, darkness isn't silent, is it? It's an agenda. Whose agenda is it? It's Satan's agenda. Right? It says the only wisdom they have is human wisdom. What's the first part of that? I think darkness would be alive and well without Satan's influence. Because we're just people. So if Satan were not a factor... If he didn't exist, I think people could still come up with plenty of darkness. Satan does exist. Well, I see the theory. Satan does not exist for the believer. It's only the sin nature. You're saying darkness doesn't exist for the believer? I'm just saying Satan is not the only darkness.

The flesh. The world, the flesh, the devil. But what triggered those three enemies? The fall. The fall. So his existence is a necessity in order for those three enemies to exist. However, does that mean that Satan is presently working on that guy you're talking to and No. So does the realm that he has temporarily been allowed work and function with just the flesh being the flesh and sin being sin? Yeah, it absolutely does. And this is their environment.

So regardless of the bumper sticker on the back of their car, this is what's going on in their hearts. And they can't see a thing. coexist. Have you seen that bumper sticker? I hate that bumper sticker. I really do. It's like the epitome of all wrong thinking wrapped up in a little bumper sticker.

The things of God are foolishness. Foolishness, that's good. That was the first part of that. It doesn't make sense. Yeah, it doesn't. It's total confusion. premise of the question, I guess, going to a non-believer and doing all this. I guess the premise is we shouldn't be worried about his conversion or anything. We're just to present. It's the Holy Spirit's job to convict him of it. We will never do it. It's the Word and the Spirit. So if we're worried about converting them, we're in the wrong position anyway. Has anybody ever been in that position?

Worried about converting someone? I mean, your family members, you know, I remember early on trying, you know, family members and this and that, you know, I was trying to do it, but it's not my responsibility. And, you know, I'm just to be, you know, a reflection of Christ and to present the Word and to be used, but ultimately it's the Holy Spirit's conviction of it, not mine. So question, in that situation, what is your responsibility?

To pray. To pray? I'm an ambassador. I'm to present. Be a light. Be a light. Be a light to them. That's what they always tell us. Be a light, right? And we're told. What about position versus condition here? What's your responsibility conditionally in that situation? It's not so much to do, to be, but to believe that we are because of him. He is the light. And he has made us to be vessels of his, if you want to use the word, lightness or radiance. Yeah, that's a good word. Okay, so I'm going to circle back around and connect these dots. I think it rolls into the next couple of questions here.

So, just reviewing question number one, what is the light in which we've been placed in which we are to live and walk? Quite simply, the answer? Right, that's what we discussed here. Without being in that place positionally or conditionally, and we'll talk about that in a minute, the light is not present, right? We'll talk about that from a conditional perspective in a minute, and I might revise that word.

Number two, if every believer, this blood-bought position is his light, what keeps us from walking and abiding there? So now we have a believer who wants to be a light. He has this desire for folks to see the truth around him. And he understands his blood-bought position, meaning the redemption, the atonement. What keeps us from walking and abiding in that light?

It's like your analogy of the eye. It's more comfortable. That's an analogy. I like to stay sleeping. I also think of if you're in the dark and someone turns on the light, what do you do? You can't even open your eyes. You don't even want to perceive it. And then you just turn it off, turn it off. And I think that's the unbeliever's position. And then just being hidden in the light. They want to cower in the darkness when the light's being exposed. So the unbeliever is blind, never even seen the light. Here's a situation though where you have this analogy of a person closing their eyes and not wanting to see light.

Can a believer operate that way spiritually? Yes. Okay, and so what is it that keeps us from walking and abiding in the light? What causes us, there's two parts to the question, two sides of the coin, what causes us to close our eyes And what is it that opens the eyes of the believer, not unto salvation, but to walking in the light? So a conviction would be just being convicted by the Holy Spirit.

Okay, so what happened prior to that then? Unbelief. Some form of lack of faith, unbelief. It's that previous class that we went through. There is something that you know better than God about, right? That's what it boils down to. You don't think His truth is necessary or effective or needed in this particular instance, and you think you've got something a little bit better.

And in the process of that, you don't leave the presence of light. Positionally, you are there and will never be removed from His holiness. who he is, the Father's presence, which is light. But conditionally, you're closing your eyes. And what do you start doing? Sin has taken its toll, and if you continue to feed that lack of faith, you start going back to this whole realm and saying, hey, yeah, I'm positionally in the presence of the Father who is light, but conditionally, I'm stuck here. So how does that change?

What keeps us from walking and abiding there? It literally is wrapped up in that word, abide. If you're not abiding, you're not seeing. And that's one of the ways to think about these little stints of sin that we get into. Not only is there a time when we are convicted by the Spirit and we realize, wow, I took the authority of whatever this situation was, I made it my own, I believed myself over and against what the Lord has said about this matter, and It's really hard for me to think about doing that differently in the next moment, in the next moment. And so it grows, and it grows, and it grows, and it becomes harder and harder to open up the eyes. And I think that analogy of constantly seeing light, not wanting to see it and trying to shut your eyes, but it's like somebody's got a flashlight and your eyes are closed, and there's just that red, constant, argh. You get frustrated. That's kind of the scenario that you feel. Do you know what I'm talking about? trying to take a nap outside in the sun. You know what I mean?

So until the believer learns to abide and walk in the light, he can only struggle on and in the darkness of sin and self. So in that situation of presenting truth and being a light to an unbeliever, If you yourself are closing your eyes, and that's essentially not abiding, and operating out of a lack of faith in a certain circumstance, is the Lord working? You mean you didn't just completely stop the whole game plan? Because you closed your eyes because you sinned? You didn't stifle God's plan. I think it's important for us to remember that we all find situations where we close our eyes and we think, oh, the Lord, I missed an opportunity, I missed this.

Those are not our circumstances to worry about, are they? However, there is the personal responsibility of a son to a father. And so we're going to talk about the consequences of how that works, but here we need to be reminded that conditionally abiding allows us to walk in the light. Not abiding is literally putting on that blindfold or closing your eyes, but the position is always the light of Him. That's positionally where we always are.

So when you're talking to a fellow believer who maybe has that blindfold or those eyes closed, what is it that will cause his eyes to open? What can you do? What is your role? To hear the truth. Because truth is love, right? And the truth is light. So they need to be reminded, okay, sometimes again it has to do with how you do it and when you do it, but the only thing that's going to open their eyes is their faith in who and what God is and what the Spirit is doing in their life versus what they're conditionally believing to be true. and authority-wise, falling into the lies of their self, others, human viewpoint, really.

What's wrong with saying or acknowledging that you missed an opportunity in a certain situation? Okay guys, that's a good question. How do we answer that one? I guess if you're viewing it as an opportunity, you're always going to miss it, because you're viewing it as your work.

If you're abiding and the wife's already doing the work, really, your mindset should be just, that's naturally who you are. You're going to say something that could be what that person, I mean, you won't know what that person needs to be here, or what you're doing is going to impact that person. I always just view it, if it's someone important to you, say this is your children or your sister, that's an unbeliever, you know, my role as a believer would be to live my life, you know, walking in fellowship with the Lord and praying for the person that I love and praying... Right, but if you make a choice to, you know, not walk in the Spirit, I guess that's what I'm talking about, that missed opportunity.

So let's flip it around. What if you're walking in the Spirit, there's an opportunity that presents itself, the person hears the truth, believes the truth, what is the emotional result of that? Because the emotional result of feeling guilty for missing an opportunity is an emotional result. But let's flip it around.

What's the emotional result of having seen the Lord do a work and you were a part of it? It's like, man, I'm glad I was abiding today. I really am glad. I think the Lord prepares the person and you at the same time. You know, I think a missed opportunity might be the Lord is still preparing me and that wasn't really the time I should have shared if I wasn't ready. I don't know.

That's what Mike always said at the beginning. He was saying the right things for the wrong time and the wrong times the right things, whatever. And I always get them on that, that who was he working on that day? On the person that you think missed it, or was he working on you? You know, so it's the finger, you know, I'm pointing at that guy, and there are three fingers pointing back at me. That, you know, you missed the opportunity. Well, the Lord was working on you that day.

And I go back to Romans 8, 28, and we know that God causes all things, all things. Your failures, your weaknesses, all those things. to work together for good for those who love God. And it's not only the positive, uplifting ones. It's those days when, man, I missed an opportunity.

Well, God was working on you that day. And so, you know, we have to take the perspective. He's using all those, the trials, the failures, the blessings that He gives to you, all those, He's working. Like I said, that day, maybe he wasn't working on the guy you were looking at, or the person you were looking at, he was working on you that day. Or the spirit was.

There's a different perspective from what did I do or what I didn't do, to what is God doing? What is God doing? Because again, when you say that, who's to focus on? You were saying, well, I'm looking at myself and went, oh, wait a minute. The focus is on God, Christ.

Does that make sense? We had a guy, Sam Dalton, who, you know, he always used, he used to carry a straw, then he got a flexible one. He got a flexible tubing. And that is, that's all I am. I'm just a conduit. Nothing special, nothing. I'm just a conduit. You're just a clay, clay vessel. Earthen vessel. Right. That's right.

Let's read Ephesians 5, 8 through 9. Or 5, 8, and 9. Whenever you guys are ready. What chapter 2? Ephesians 5, verse 8 and 9. Sorry. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are light. in the Lord. Walk as children of light, for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth.

Is that what you wanted? That's fine, yeah. So, who are you? You are what? Light. Where? In the Lord. in the Lord. What's the key word there? Are you never... It can be argued that that's true. What was my question? I think... Is this ever not a reality for you?

No. Positionally, no. Positionally, no. Our blood-bought position is in the light of the Father's presence. Positionally, you are light in the Lord. If you don't know that, if you don't know position at all, all you have is condition. That's a horrible place to be for a believer, because it neglects so much of the truth of God's Word. More so, it causes everything to be a conditional experience, which is where 95% of people really are. They'll read this, and they'll say, you're a light in the Lord. Well, if you're not in the Lord, you better get back in the Lord. Right? And where are you starting to worry? Where are you starting to focus now? Where are you starting to look? At me. Right? So, question number three.

What makes a new young believer in Christ self-centered in spite of their eagerness and service for the Lord? So we just, we're a few months in. Got new friends, new folks around you, you're spending time in the Word, got your quiet time going, got your handy little devotional book. All the things that oftentimes happen, and I'm not trying to belittle it, I'm just saying that there's that honeymoon stage where we just come to know the Lord and we're super excited. I remember even with my kids, There's just this eagerness and desire to do things.

But what makes a new young believer in Christ self-centered in spite of all this eagerness? What is it that you think that a new believer does not have, that even though they're excited and they're doing stuff, what causes that self-centeredness oftentimes in a new believer? I don't think they know that it has nothing to do with things they do to make them like with God. What's interesting is that the gospel is all about what the Lord did. So they just got introduced to this whole new concept of what Christ did on their behalf that they could not do, and here they simply believed, you'd hope, And they're saying, I am saved. And then they say, now what?

It's just a lack of understanding of their position. But the gospel itself is a position. So we just covered positional truth with them. Probably wouldn't have said that way. But hopefully they're not thinking that they have to die on the cross themselves. It's interesting that when the gospel is presented as a positional truth, if it is, often times everything else is presented conditionally, or understood conditionally. the gospel itself leaves no room for a mindset of thinking not positionally after the fact.

Do you understand what I'm saying? There are positional truths in the scripture. Redemption, atonement, justification. I don't remember being there before the judge's gavel and being declared righteous. Where does that happen? What happens in heaven? Oh yeah, yeah, okay, I got that.

I mean, nothing they've ever heard or experienced. I mean, they've been in the world, and that's all they know. And nothing operates like Christ does in his grace. There's absolutely no positional thinking for an unbeliever until they hear the gospel.

Even that, I mean... If it's not delivered correctly, potentially, or not delivered in such a way that they understand that, hey, I am justified, but I wasn't physically there. So it's there, it's just not explained very well. And I think that that's just one of my own personal perspectives, is that the Gospel itself is positional. Radically positional. the most positional thing there is in the scripture.

You're going from one life to another life. And you're saying this happened just a second ago when I believed? I don't feel any different, but all of these things are now true of me? That's all positional truth. But you're right, that's the very first time they've ever heard anything like that, and if they believe that, Why is it that so much of our teaching and so much of the self-centeredness of a young believer goes from what is a positional truth in the gospel to instantly being conditionally focused?

Because there's no other examples of it like that in our life and in the world. Everything in this world is earned, or you work for it, and so all examples lead to leave the self. So that's all you have to go on. So there's an ignorance there. Right? The young believer here, he is encountering positional truth, but maybe he or she is so overwhelmed with that, and there's no knowledge of how all of this think-position, all the stuff we've been talking about these last few months, none of that stuff is in their mind at all. And so where do they go? Where do they default?

Self and emotion. Feelings, emotions, self. But I think the Lord takes all things again. And a new believer, you're excited, and I think the Lord answers lots of those prayers and the gimmies, I think, at that point. But then he takes you through that growth position where the dependency upon the Lord, he takes you from looking at yourself and the emotions early on, I think, to identify, you know, kind of taking you out of that identifying self and working you through that.

And it's the growth, you know. Oh, the growth process. And, you know, grace is unknown in any example in the world. And you're now in an operating system of grace. So you're thrown from a world which is self-centered and all that to grace which is totally the opposite.

And you also realize that the old man is squealing like a stuck pig at that point, because he's trying everything he can at that point to have any relevance. And so it's going to be self-motivated at that early stage, I think. What do you think about this statement? The new believer is taken up mainly with what Christ has done, is doing, and will do for him. What's going on with that? I'm so excited about Jesus because He did this for me, He's doing this for me, and He's going to do that for me. Right?

Fast forward, lots of growth, time, ignorance is then the darkness that they have about certain aspects of who they are in Christ all of a sudden becomes revealed, and then it's about him turning and seeking to live and work for the Lord, to looking at what it is that Christ is doing and not what he can do for me, right? So that's really the answer to question number four as we look at it. What characteristics does an adolescent believer exhibit beyond the baby stage? So the emphasis in the life is being shifted from dwelling on what Christ has done to rather rejoicing in who He is, what and where He is.

Where is He? Where is He? And where does that positionally place us? So all of a sudden, now your focus is not on what is the Lord doing for me, but who and what is He doing, and where is He? And if He is there, and I am there, then all of a sudden my thoughts are heavenly thoughts. My mind is operating on things above, not below.

Right? How long does that process take? It depends. Oh, come on. Give me a time period. It's variable. Why is it variable? It's in his time, and his time is not the same for everyone. And you've never heard traditional truth. It can take forever because you just wallow in all these emotions about being good enough, am I really saved? So you guys are telling me that it's variable, but the one constant is a need to remove ignorance about positional things, right?

Because that helps a believer, through the work of the Spirit, move from focusing on what the Lord is doing for me, to what is He doing, or what is God doing in this situation to where is He, what is He up to? And we're saying that period of time can be different for each believer. Do you think that this whole positional thing is just something that Holly Hills is all into? Or do you think this is actually a super big key to living the Christian life?

The verse that you had me read there in Ephesians, it's sometimes good to see what God says he's doing in his word, not just to hear what you say or I say. And the very next verse, after the two that I read, begins with the word proving what is good and acceptable to the Lord. I took the time to look it up. It's documento.

It's that word that James uses so carefully. God never parazzo's us. He never tests us for failure. But he documento's us. And here it's the Spirit of God that reveals through us what is good and righteous and true, that tests for approval what is good. So it's a process in us so that not only we but those around us can see what is good from God's perspective.

Isn't that neat? That is. Does that make sense to you guys? Explain the two words again for the rest of these guys. In James he brings out the contrast, but here it's used in the correct fashion of God. who is proving by testing everything that the Spirit reveals to us. He manifests what is good. He reveals by that testing process that what God reveals is good and true and righteous. It really is reality. It isn't fake. It isn't going to fail. It isn't going to end up in us being disappointed. But it's just the opposite. It does not fail. It is sustainable. And we're never disappointed. And what's the opposite? The testing for earth?

Tyranto is what Satan does. He tests us with a hook to lead us away from believing God. And the net result is we sin, we fall short of the goodness, or we step over the line of what is good and evil, and we do things that don't please God. And the net result is being out of fellowship.

So in all of these examples that we've talked about, as believers sharing with unbelievers, and then the things that happen, whether or not we feel guilty or this or that, it's important to remember, based on what Roy's saying, is that the testing is for approval.

The approval is literally himself, and revealing himself. Whereas the testing for failure produces, Oh man, that was, right? It's all about me. And so it's the same kind of self-centered concepts that we get into when we're thinking about what can he do for me rather than what is he doing. But it's good to see that context for sure.

The old Zen nature is really good about us going to a position of saying I've got a witness now, let's see where's the opportunities to witness, which is a test for failure. That is not a test for approval. God's test is to let the Holy Spirit reveal the truth, and in the process prove to us that it is true. And so what we do is we look, okay, what are you going to show me today, Lord? Versus, what am I going to do for you today, Lord?

Big contrast. Does that make sense? Pretty big. Thank you. No apologies needed. Paul, to say, oh wretched man that I am, who can deliver me from this body of sin. And he says, I thank God for it. So that's what brought him to that point, that very same testimony. That's right. That's good.

I was going to say, I think, in my kind of evangelized people, I think what I've found is you can share the gospel with somebody who totally rejects it, but after they've heard different pieces of God's word and truth, that all those meanings weren't in vain, but at some point in the future, It all kind of comes together, you know, I believe. Right. Not necessarily... All in sequence. At that one particular point in time so that you can like sign them up for, you know, a new conversion. Right.

That's right. There's one who plants and one who waters and resting in what God is doing for testing towards approval and proving himself. is the reality. That's all a process of who he is as light, right? That takes our eyes off of the fruit, puts them on the source. Always a source thing.

I'm excited because this stuff is critical. It's not something that is an advanced class that Ollie Hills has in the back room for only those that are spiritually ready. That's not what this is. This is stuff that needs to be explained at the earliest stages, even though it may not be understood fully. The process of thinking this way has to be introduced very quickly because Otherwise, your focus falls back on yourself, and then you're in a back and forth battle with darkness, right?

I can just give testament to churches. I grew up in a church that, and I still to this day think, they haven't moved past the, to this, and like you said, being introduced to this so early, they still stay in the mindset We always just have to give the gospel. I mean, it's just always the gospel, always the gospel, always the gospel, which is good. I mean, you want to make sure people hear the gospel. but they also need to hear about growth and continuation afterwards, because if you're stuck in that, you repeat that cycle, that emotional cycle, like two weeks it wears off, okay, well what do I gotta do instead? Okay, I'm gonna do this to kind of get that emotional feeling back, and it's a very vicious cycle, I would say.

And I think for the longest time, you know, when I was a child, I knew I wanted to be saved, but then I continued every night to ask for the Lord to save me. Until I was told, I was talking to someone, and they're like, oh, when did you ask? When did you ask? And I was like, well, I always ask to be saved.

Double check and triple check. You're pretty organized, aren't you? And the lady who was talking to me, she's like, you only have to ask once and that's it. Pray about it and ask the Lord and then that's it. You're done. That's interesting. I think we all probably could share testimonies of that same sort. Thanks for telling us. Alright, well let's pray. Thank you guys for sharing.

Father, we thank you for the truth of who you are and just this testing towards approval, recognizing that it is your work as we rest in you. We get to witness the reality of your light shining in our hearts. And as a clay and earthen vessel, Lord, we still find ourselves to be so privileged to possess the light that you've given us. And just pray for literally a focus that is not on what you're doing for us, but what you are doing, what you're up to, and that we might recognize the importance of positional truths in our own lives and for those around us. We thank you for them. It's in your name we pray. Amen.