2819 Church - WISDOM & WONDER | Grace & Reward | Matthew 20:1-16 | Milton James

Episode Date: January 4, 2025

In Season 9 Episode 1 of "WISDOM & WONDER," Milton James invites the people of God to examine their hearts through the parable of the workers in the vineyard, found in Matthew 20:1-16. Welcome to the official Youtube channel for 2819 Church. This channel features powerful and life-impacting messages from Philip Anthony Mitchell and guest communicators. As you listen to these sound biblical messages you can expect to be challenged, stirred, matured and inspired in your faith and walk with God. For more information about us visit 2819Church.org.

Family, welcome into the presence of the Lord. Welcome to 2819. Welcome to this house of prayer, this house of presence, and the house of proclamation. First time visitors, we welcome you here. We welcome you all in the overflow, and we welcome you, our digital disciples all over the world. We also want to welcome the unbeliever. We know you in the room, but we welcome you and we ask you to keep coming. Because what we stand on here is you can belong before you believe. You can see brothers and sisters operating in the things of Christ.

And you can feel the tangible touch of the Holy Spirit. And then that touch one day will grab your heart, and you will confess your sins, and you will know who is Lord. We're not around here shouting and jumping around for nobody. He's a somebody. He's a king, and he's glorious and marvelous. And may you get that opportunity to know him on that level. I know it seems strange. Like all these people jumping around.

Because when you get captured by the Lord. I'm talking when the Lord grabs your heart. You have no other response but to say thank you. We in our series, Wisdom and Wonder, we have been walking through the book of Matthew, chapter 12, verse 20. I'm kicking off season 9, episode 1. My name is Milton James. I'm one of the elders here. Yeah, y'all have a seat. Y'all have a seat. Have a seat. Have a seat. Have a seat. We're studying through Matthew, and if you're not familiar with Matthew, he was an outcast Jew who lived in the first century, converted to Jesus Christ, converted to Christianity by Jesus Christ himself. He was an apostle and an eyewitness of the Lord Jesus.

And he wrote this gospel that bears his name. He also was martyred for believing in the one we just were shouting about and praising about. He laid his life on the line for him. Title of this message today is Grace and Reward. Grace and Reward. I'm going to be reading out of Matthew chapter 20, verse 1 through 6. And last but not least, I want to give a hearty honor to our lead pastor, Philip Anthony Mitchell. And Lady Lena.

We thank you, sir, for your eternal sacrifice and for suffering well and leading with such grace and honor. And not being a hoarder of the pulpit. Not believing that the gospel is only chained to him. I think everybody up here has ministered one time or another. Unwillingly. It's not an easy task to handle God's word. We don't take it lightly here. We honor it and we put all we can into it.

So, and also pray for Pastor Phillip and Miss Lena, if you would, brothers and sisters. They're going through a tough time mentally, emotionally, and physically just being weary. It's not easy to stand up here every week preaching three sermons and still dealing with children and bills and all of y'all. Because truth be told, when we lay down to pray, we see y'all faces. I was about to say it. No, I ain't going to say that. But we see y'all faces. And we might not know your name, but we see your faces. So just know that you've been sent to the feet of Jesus by your lead pastor, elders, and prayer team.

Everybody is constantly praying for you. Amen? Let me pray for y'all as y'all pray for me. Holy, righteous, divine, beautiful, wonderful, awestruck Father that you are. I thank you for another opportunity to minister to these, your precious sons and daughters. Have your way in this place, Holy Father. Work in me as you work in them. Let me decrease as you increase.

Come upon my weariness and fogginess of mind. Help me in this time, Lord. I yield everything unto you. I am just a broken vessel trying to deliver holy scriptures to your sons and daughters. I ask that you would do that for me. I ask that you will draw the unbeliever out of his darkness. Destroy that stony heart.

I exalt this in the matchless and mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ and everybody says amen. Amen. Thank you, kind sir. Can we give a hand to our worship team real quick? Yeah. Beloved family, when I was growing up in Philly, every time she gets me when she says that. When I was growing up in Philly, we did a lot of small jobs because we didn't have allowances. That was something foreign to us that we only saw on television, you know.

So we never had allowances, so we always had to do little odd jobs around the neighborhood to make extra money. Wash cars, cut grass, clean alleyways. But the job I liked the most was the older women on the block would call us to run errands, go to the grocery store, pick up milk and bread and just stuff that they needed immediately. And I thought that was just such a cool thing. You know, it was like you sitting waiting for the bat call to come in. You'd be on a weekend, you'd just be waiting for that call and the phone would ring and you'd be, hello, hello. Hey, baby. I'd be like, oh, you're about to make some money. So, you know, she would call, and it was about five of us, and they would send us out, and we would go back to the home.

And when we would go back to the home, she would pay us. But then when she would get to the fifth guy, she would give him more money. So, the first time that happened, I didn't really trip. I was like, oh, okay. I didn't pay no attention to it. But then it happened regularly. I was like, hold on now. Wait a minute.

We running the same errands. How is you keep giving him more money than the rest of us? So what that welled up in, I ain't going to speak for them. What welled up in me was a little entitlement, a little anger. And that is the context of this text that we're going to talk about today. But before we go into that text today, I want to remind you of what Pastor Philip preached about last week about the rich young ruler. I'm going to run through it real quick. Amen? Amen.

That's chapter 19, verse 16 to 30. And behold, a man came up saying, teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life? What struck me was the man knew who to go to. Because you're just not going to go up to anybody and ask them, hey, bro, how do I get to eternal life? So the man had an understanding who Jesus was. And he said to him, why do you ask me about what is good?

There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments. Which ones? Jesus said, you shall not murder, keep the commandments. Which ones? Jesus said, you shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness. Honor your father and mother.

And Pastor Philip told us last week, those are commandments that you can see that he was keeping. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The young man said to him, all these I have kept. A little arrogance has rose up in his heart. Because truth be told, I can't remember keeping none of them. So that had to be a little arrogance had flared up in this man. If you would be perfect, go sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasures in heaven, and come and follow me.

Perfection is the prerequisite to get to heaven. Perfection, the moral law is perfect. And Christ is the only one, the one we were shouting about, he's the only one that has reached that perfection. So that's why he has bestowed that upon us. That's why we thank him the way we do. That's why we shout the way we do. That's why we honor him the way we do. Because we know there's no getting to heaven without him. All this false doctrine

out here. There's no getting to heaven without purity and moral purity. There's no getting to heaven. Christ is the only one. Everybody else is in a box. Christ is in heaven on the throne.

If you would be perfect, go sell what you possess and give to the poor and you will have treasures in heaven, and come and follow me. When the young man heard this, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. And it seems his great possessions had him. And Jesus said to his disciples, truly I say to you, only with difficulty will the rich person enter the kingdom of heaven.

Again, I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and said, who then can be saved? They were astonished because all they heard was the Old Testament. Deuteronomy 28, 1 through 14, all it talks about is blessings equated to riches. Blessings equated to possessions. Blessings equated to land. Blessings equated to sons and daughters. Blessings equated to land. Blessings equated to sons and daughters. Blessings equated to wife and husband.

And we do that today. We do that today. That's why our hearts get so grieved. And this is what the crux of this parable is going to talk about today. Let's finish. But Jesus looked at them and said, with man this is impossible, with God all things are possible. Then Peter said, replying, that old big mouth apostle boy. We have left everything and followed you.

What then will we have? Jesus said to them, truly I say to you in the new world, when the son of man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel and everyone who has left house or brother or sister or father or mother or child or land. For my namesake will receive promise. And will inherit promise. Eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first. Jesus is trying to figure out Peter's question. Well, I shouldn't say that because he's not trying to figure it out. He's trying to let us figure it out, but this is how he presented it by using this parable that we're about to read.

Because he's asking, why are you really following me, Peter? Because what was Jesus' answer was, eternity is your reward. Amen. Jesus. eternity is your reward. Peter was asking, what am I going to get? Or what are we going to get? Jesus responds, eternity. Peter asked, what am I going to get? Jesus answered, eternity. Eternity.

Eternity has to be enough for us. And if you're not familiar with what a parable is, it's a story used illustrating moral and spiritual lesson. Jesus used them as a judgment because when he was preaching absolute truth to the people, they automatically rejected, called him a heresy and a madman because they felt like what Jesus was speaking was going against the Old Testament, against the law. He said, I have not come to abolish, but to fulfill. He's come here to expand because we would just do the surface. He said, no, I'm coming to broaden your horizons to show you the depths of it because the depths of it is the human art.

I had an argument with some dudes in the barbershop. They was telling me the Bible was irrelevant. I said, no, sir. I said, the Bible's not irrelevant. I said, you're looking at horses and wagons. I said, the human heart has not changed. That's what the Bible is attacking, the human heart. Not the culture and the environment, it's attacking the human heart. It's trying to lead you to a savior, to show you repentance, that we are wicked and he is glorious.

The parable used as a judgment to reveal truth to those who were willing to hear it and to conceal truth from those who had hard hearts and were rejecting it. We're going to start in Matthew 20, verse 1 and 2. For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of the house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into the vineyard. There's some things I want to point out to you right here. For the kingdom of heaven. I know a lot of times we may hear that verbiage, but it's not verbiage. The kingdom of heaven is established by a king. And a lot of times we breeze by that because the king has set the parameters of all things.

The king has made the world. The king is the one dictating to you and I how we should operate and how we should breathe and how we should walk and how we should treat one another. It's the king. So whenever you see the kingdom of heaven, you automatically should think, what is Jesus saying? Because Jesus is the king. He has established it all. Like, and it's amazing how we'll,

we'll pay attention to the laws of the land. But we'll gloss over the kingdom of heaven. And when the king speaks. Because I'm going to tell you, beloved family, this is not an easy text. But it's not my words. We're walking through the Bible. It's amazing how much pushback we get from walking through the Bible. Y'all would be blown away to find out how much pushback against this Holy Scriptures. The one that we all say we love,

the one that we say we want to follow him, the one that we say we're going to be in heaven with, pushback. Push back. Second thing I want to point out in verse 1 and 2 is the laborers. The laborers are a representation of you and I. Okay? The vineyard is a representation of the church.

And the master of the house is Christ. So what Christ does, and remember what I just told you, Jesus' response to Peter. It was what? Eternity. So as you listen to this, in the back of your mind, in the back of your heart should be running eternity. Eternity. Whenever you read the Holy Scriptures, you should be thinking eternity. Eternity. Eternity. That should be playing over and over in the back of your mind. So now the master of the house goes and grabs laborers, pulls them into the church, and they serve in the church.

Vineyard, so he goes, grabs laborers, pulls them into the church, and they serve. Amen? Verse 3 through four. And going out about the third hour, he saw the good master standing idle in the marketplace. The marketplace is where they sold and buy goods, and it's a form of the world. Standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, you go into the vineyard too. And whatever is right, I will give you.

So they went. Going out again, about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the 11th hour, he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, why do you stand here idle all day? They said to him, because no one has hired us. He said to them, you go into the vineyard too. Now, it's two two different

laborers the laborers in verse 1 and 2 they made an agreement with the good master for one denarius a day but these laborers they said we'll take whatever

is right. I see they had to have an understanding when they seen this man walking around. They had to have an understanding of who he was. For them to trust him. For them to know his character. It had to be some form of relationship that had to be happening. Because in this time, the master, when they went out to the marketplace, it was like when you go to Home Depot and you see those guys standing around and they want to get hired. It's the same thing.

They would go to the marketplace and wait to get hired. But he only went out one time. That was in the morning. He never went out again. He never went out again. So what would make a man stand in the hot sun all day hoping and wishing and praying that someone would hire them. What would make a man do that? And that's when they saw him.

I don't know how they felt or what happened, but the fact that they saw this man walking towards them and asked them what they were doing out there, they said, no one would hire us. And he said, come. They were so full of, just so grateful, so overjoyed that somebody, I don't care how long it is, just somebody, because if you don't work, you don't eat. So they got a family at home. I got to bring something home. The typical workday was 12 hours. They worked from sunup to sundown generally from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The first hour was at 6 a.m. was at 12 hours. The third hour was 9 a.m., 9 hours. The sixth hour was 12 p.m., 6 hours. The ninth hour was 3 p.m., 3 hours. and the 11th hour was 5 p.m., one hour. And they said that one hour was normally when they just put all the tools away and just kind of cleaned up. So, the one-hour shift, they really didn't do anything. Remember eternity. Eternity. Verse 8. And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman,

call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last up to the first. So the last would be the one hour. The scriptures don't explain how many was hired, whether it was five, whether it was ten, whether it was one. But he said, pay them first and work your way up to the ones that started at six o'clock. Then the master of the foreman goes down and he starts giving out denarius, denarius, denarius, denarius, denarius. He's giving them out denarius. So what's happening in the heart of the 6 o'clock? We're about to get paid. We've been here all day.

We're about to get, he's about to break us off. Because normally in that society, if a man would work all day, they would pay them extra. But for you to actually see it and you know what you've done. Like, I know what I did. I know what I'm worth. Denarius, denarius, denarius. Don't know how long it went on. He might have had 100 people out there.

Denarius, Denarius, Denarius, Denarius, Denarius, Denarius. Denarius. Verse 9 through 12. And when those hired about the 11th hour came, each of them received a denarius. And when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more. But each of them also received a denarius. What the son of a... What is that welling up in their hearts? Say that again, bro.

Who said that? Yeah, welling up. And on receiving it, they grumbled at the master of the house saying, these last work only one hour and you have made them equal to us who have bore the burden of the day and the scorching heat. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. See, this is what we do. We forgot that I made an agreement with God.

You know what our agreement looks like? Vision boards. Our agreement looked like Lord I'm going to write a book That's what our agreement looked like Lord I'm going to get a car That's what our agreement looked like Lord I'm going to buy a house

That's what our agreement looked like And now these men Have made an agreement with God and he gave them what they deserved. And a lot of times God is trying to do so much more, but we are locked in to that vision board. We're locked in to what we want to do. And God said, okay, here you go. But the problem is those six o'clock, when they look down

the vision board, and you see the one hour person thriving. And you're like, Lord. But remember, they never made an agreement with God. They never made an agreement with God.

They said, good master, do let your will be done in our lives. You pay us what you decide to pay us. Whenever you try to lock God into an agreement, you're going to lose. Because what you're saying is, what I'm trying to do is better than what you're trying to do. The group that has worked all day noticed the lavish generosity of the good master.

I keep calling him the good master. I can't help it. And he's saying, why are, why you and I get jealous when we see somebody else get elevated? Because he's saying his elevation has nothing to do with you. You made the agreement. You good. You signed the contract. Go your way.

But this person I can work with. This person I can do all things with. Because this person hungry and trust me see my goodness see my character a lot of times we lose out on God because we don't recognize his character

he's not going to hurt you that's why we cry out up here he's a good father even though I know a lot of us may not have framework when we talk about fathers. Me and Elder Eric was talking about in the back. Every time we bring up fathers, we feel this resistance. Continue to read your Bible. Read who Jesus is.

How do you think I became a man? Not by no outside influence, by reading the Scriptures. By reading the Scriptures, the real man. How to pray, how to give, how to treat your brothers and sisters, how to do anything you want to do in this life. That's how I learned how to be. I remember one time I was disciplined at my daughter.

I was, she was, she was real. She probably was four. And I was justining my daughter. She was real. She probably was four. And I was just, hey, you better. And the Lord flashed in my mind how my dad used to discipline me. And I stopped. Because she would holler so much and she would be so loud. My wife would go outside the house. That's how bad it was.

And he flashed that image in my mind. And he said, don't you ever discipline her like that again. He said, what you do, you sit her down, you explain to her what's going on, what she did wrong, you walk her through the scriptures and tell her how she's supposed to get disciplined. Not all this wildness, what you're doing with her. Bend over. Whack, whack, whack. Whack, whack, whack.

We walk through the scriptures. We pray. Peace. But I learned how to do that. Real man of God Jesus Christ a real father he'll heal all those wounds

you just have to trust him and that's the whole that's the whole the whole problem with everything and the answer Peter gave what do you want do you want possessions or do you want? Do you want possessions or do you want me?

Do you want it right now? Listen, if you want it right now, you can have it. Go get it. He going to send you on your way. He is not going to fight with you to push it. He died on the cross. That's enough fight. He's not going to fight no more.

He's not going to fight no more. He has given us free will. He did not want a robot. He wanted somebody to love him authentically. For who he is and what he does. His character. Read the gospels. We keep asking all these other people what God is like.

No, you read the Gospels. When you get discouraged, when you feel like it's just, I don't feel God, I don't know God, read the Gospels. Put yourself in the Gospels. That's what we're doing right now. We're putting ourselves in the scriptures. And we're asking the Holy Spirit to do a work in this sinful flesh. Because we can't do it. Therapy is great.

I recommend it. But it still can't, it can't, it cannot. Talking to your brother and your sister is great, but it cannot. Those are just supplements, but you got to get that transformation in your soul first, in your heart first, that love for Jesus, and you got to run after him. I don't even know where I was. Thank you, sir. Me and Elder was talking about this in the back. And we know, I know it sounds like we like take your salvation for granted.

We really don't. It's just that we hungry for y'all to experience Christ like we experience Christ. And we just know it's going to take time. But in that time, we get frustrated and weary. We get frustrated and weary. Because we want y'all to be there. That's why we, that's why we, that's why, thank God for y'all today, the way y'all worship today. Thank God for that. Thank God for that.

That, I'm telling you, that probably was one of the best worships that I've been experiencing since this room has been filled. Because it seemed like 80 to 90% of the people was engaged. But we want everybody to be engaged. We want everybody to be enamored with who Jesus is. We want everybody to just love him and let their heart explode. You have fought out here all week. And his grace is so wonderful that he's brought you into the gathering to feel his tangible presence, to get recharged in your soul. And shout a hallelujah out here.

We fight all week and then we're so quick to run right back into it. Ah, help us, Jesus. And when you feel in some kind of way, remember this moment. Remember and worship in your home like that. Worship in your car like that. Take a worship break. Go somewhere. Lord, hallelujah.

Praise your name. I know stuff looks rough right now, but you are the risen king and you got my back. You're not going to let nothing happen to me. I'm a citizen and I'm a son of the king. You have all dominion in your hands. Do this work, Lord. Do what we

need to do for me right now. God, I need you. Stop playing. We sit there and get beat up and just get beat up. And we just, we wait, we wait till we limp in here on Sunday. When it happened, Lord, I thank you. Y'all don't even know the hell I've been through this week to prepare this message. Y'all don't even know. But every time it happened, thank you, Lord Jesus. I know you got me on assignment today. I know the devil is trying to stop me today, but he's not going to stop this word to go forward. I know people need to hear it.

And that's why I tell y'all about your pastor because he fights through so much truth be told I probably would have been like I was telling him I said he built different he built different.

He built different. All right, I didn't talk long enough. Verse 13. But he thought to one, he replied to one of them, friend, I am doing you no wrong. Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to you. The Lord, he can do whatever he want to do. And he's just. The laborers have no valid complaint.

They have lost nothing. They received their fair wage what they agreed upon. That's why God don't want us to make agreements with him. He's not a bargainer. We just cried out. We just cried out. Abba, he's a good father. We just was crying that out. Why we don't use that outside of these four walls? He's not here to bargain with you. He loves you. He's got the best intentions for you. I don't know why we so afraid.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not acting like I got it all together. Every time I pray, I listen and I move. No, I struggle too. I struggle with it too. I struggle with hearing God's voice. Was that really God? Lord, I'm not sure.

And sitting there frozen, not taking steps. And I know he told me to do something and I'm still sure, and sitting there frozen, not taking steps, and I know he told me to do something, and I'm still just waiting like, eh, eh, eh. We all do it. You know why we do it? Because it's this stuff called sin and flesh. Because the flesh automatically going to think you know better. And then when I get in those moments, I got to realize I don't know better. That's why it's called faith.

You got to take, that's why it's called faith. Take steps. You're not going to realize your true potential until you take steps of faith I would have never would have imagined I'd be doing this never until I started putting out those

flags that y'all see until I start getting up at 5 in the morning, getting 300 chairs, setting up a room. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Because God's plan is to discover. Because that keeps you tethered to him.

It's this beautiful dance that goes back and forth. And it keeps us tethered to him. And we got to discover what, so you got to take, you have to. It's not, there's no way around it. You have to take steps of faith with the Lord. You have, if he speaks to your heart, Lord, I don't know it is you, but I'm going. I'm going. Still, the master chooses to explain himself.

Verse 15 and 16. Man, I got to get y'all out of here. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Am I not allowed to elevate who I choose to elevate? Am I not allowed to elevate who I choose to elevate? Am I not allowed to give a million dollars to who I want to give a million dollars to? Am I not allowed to take a million dollars from who I want to take it from? Because we got God twisted.

Like we trying to bend his arm to make him do something for us. That's not the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible is the king. Back in the day, who was it? Oh, goodness gracious, help me, Lord. One of the queens wanted to go in there to talk to the king, but she was afraid because if you go into... Esther, thank y'all. If you walk into the king's quarters unannounced, you could be killed. Yeah, thank you, church.

Because we teach the Bible here. Amen. Let's finish up. I choose with what belongs to me. Or do you begrudge my generosity? So the last will be first and the first will be last. That word begrudged is having an evil spirit, an evil, they called it an evil eye. It was like a jealousy and grudging spirit that looks at others enviously that have possessions.

Stop fronting. You know we all done it. Because I want that Benz bad. And when I see one, sometimes it, and I'll be like, ah, nope. Thank you, Lord, for that 2010 Charger that's paid for, that keep riding, and I'll keep it clean. And it ride good. The master has all the right to be generous with what is his.

We cannot complain about what the Lord is doing in someone else's life. And we can never take possessions and make them equal to God. Because eternity is much more greater. The greatest gift you could ever have. And it's a gift. It's not something that we earned. Was no agreement. He did all the work.

As Trey was crying out today. He did all the work. We just came into his presence and he accepted us. Why? Why would he accept a wretch like me? Never would have thought, never would have imagined growing up in Philly, thought I was going to be dead at 21, lived reckless and wild because I didn't have an understanding of who I was and what my identity was. Thought I was just going to be dead, so I just lived carelessly and recklessly.

Didn't understand. Didn't understand. But in my 20s, I'm laying in bed one day. I'm selling drugs and got a big house by myself. And I got money saved up. And I got women. I'm doing all this stuff. And I don't even know the Lord.

But there's something in there. And I just would lay in my bed and be like, Lord, is this it? Just tell me right now. If this is it, I'll just keep hustling in these streets and I'll just keep grinding. Just tell me right now, is this it? Didn't know the Lord, didn't have a framework of who God was. And when I think back on that, I think about Paul on the road to Damascus.

He immediately knew who was speaking to him. He said, Lord, I immediately knew who was speaking to me. Amen. I just offer that right now to the unbeliever in the room, the unbeliever online, the unbeliever in the overflow. Stop running. You don't have an understanding or idea when this life will come to an end. And you got to stand before the king. And he tells you, depart from me, you worker of iniquity. I never knew you.

You don't want that to be the response don't play around coming to these gatherings don't come around playing around in these gatherings week in and week out you've been here six months seven months, eight months, nine months what are you waiting for? you're not going to lose out here.

Had a conversation with my daughter. She's 19. She said, Dad, it ain't nothing out here. She said, it ain't nothing out here. She said, I'm just ready to go to glory. I want peace. I don't want to fight my sin no more. I don't want to be doing all this no more.

What are you waiting for? He's a good father and his arms are open to you. I beg you to repent of all your sins, all of your unrighteousness. Let him fill you with your spirit. He's made the ultimate sacrifice in blood. The pathway is in blood. That moral righteousness, that moral perfection,

he has done it all. Like in Revelations, they're crying. John starts crying because there's no one worthy to open the seal. And the angel goes over to him and say, no, no, no, don't cry no more. There is someone worthy. It's the lamb that was slain.

The lamb that is calling and beckoning to you to just turn your life over. Stop waiting. Yeah, stop waiting. Yeah, stop waiting. The ultimate reminder is that we are not home. This is not your home. Stop trying to build your whole, everything you're trying to build right now.

This is not your home. We are sojourners. We are walking through this life and to grab as many people possible unto the ark of safety. Stop being so attached to this life. Stop looking at what other people are doing. God wants to do it for you in your life. Forget what's on the left and forget what's on the right.

He wants to do that marvelous work just for you and you alone. You go into your prayer time, he should say, Father, Abba, I'm here. What do you want to do with me? I tell people all the time, y'all, you go into your prayer time, you think you got to have this whole diction of, Lord, thank you for X, Y, and Z, and can I get blah, blah, blah, blah, and you just run down all the way. No, no, no, no. Sometimes just go into his presence.

Lord, I'm just going to sit here and wait for you. Even if he don't say nothing. Because all you need is one, you just need one word from him. One whisper from him. I hope y'all got something out of this. Heavenly Father, I just pray that the proclamation of your word has transformed the hearts of your sons and daughters and even the unbeliever that they see themselves as a sinner.

The only thing for them is wrath and hellfire. Let not that be their faith. Let them to have assurance enough that they see your character Lord they see that you're good Lord they see that you're holy Lord they see that you're righteous Lord let them say I want you

Holy Spirit snatch them out of darkness into your marvelous light bring them into glory. I don't care how old you are. You're not too young. Repent. You don't have to know every scripture.

You just have to know him. Repent. The scriptures is to train us in sanctification so that by time we get to him we might be a little bit more transformed into a citizen of the kingdom heavenly father continue to work on the heart of the unbeliever

work on the heart of your son and daughter help us lord Work on the heart of the unbeliever. Work on the heart of your son and daughter. Help us, Lord. Help us, Lord, with the condition of our heart. With our ungodly motives and our ungodly attachment to possessions and money. Let us stop sacrificing for the marketplace. But let us sacrifice for the work of the kingdom. Let right now, oh God, a holy, a holy, what's the word?

Just let us give to you this, that's not right in your sight. Let us just hand it to you. And you give us your peace, your love, your grace. Transform us with the teaching of your word. Help us to accept it. Help us to honor it. And I thank you so much, Lord God. I thank you, Lord, for calling me faithful to do such a wondrous work.

I thank you that I continue to take steps of faith, even when I was weary and even when the devil fought against me, Lord. I pray your sons and daughters will do the same. They will fight against Satan and fight against sin in their hearts and fight against this disgusting world that's trying to draw them all the more into darkness. Help them to fight, God. We love you, Lord, and we honor your word. And I just pray for transformation into who you are. That's all we want. Transformation of who you are. That's all we want. Transformation of who you are

so that one day when we see you our hearts will just explode. Our hearts will just explode. We love you. We honor you. It's in Jesus' name I pray. In Jesus' name.

Amen. Amen. Amen.