Glorious Way Church
Glorious Way Church equips believers for the work of the ministry and stands for God’s truth in our culture. We serve as a regional center, where people from all backgrounds find refreshing worship and true communion of the saints.
Glorious Way Church
God's Orderly Arrangement | James Buntrock
This is a call to recognize the importance of maintaining order and purpose in life, drawing from spiritual, personal, and communal dimensions. It reflects on the idea that neglect leads to chaos, but with intentional care, alignment to divine principles, and empowerment through faith, individuals and communities can thrive. Using biblical narratives, it emphasizes the responsibility to uphold values, nurture relationships, and actively engage in bringing light and order to families, churches, and society, encouraging readiness, commitment, and purposeful action.
We're going to jump right in and get into God's Word. This morning. I have something special for you. I've preached this before, but I didn't get to finish and it was on a Sunday night, and so I know that many of you who come on a Sunday morning, some of y'all come back on a Sunday night, so y'all may have heard this before, but not everybody who's here this morning has heard this message, and I believe it's critical and important for all of us to hear this and to understand what God is showing us, and so we're going to hear it again. We're going to get something more out of it the second time or the first time, and hopefully I'm going to get to a true stopping point, because I didn't get to finish last time, but that's okay. Title of this morning's message is God's Orderly Arrangement God's Orderly Arrangement.
Speaker 1:There's a natural law of entropy that states that any system, when left alone, will move from a state of order into disorder. And you see that all throughout all of creation, you see things going from order to disorder. How you see that, all throughout, all of creation, you see things going from order to disorder. How many of you have children? Raise your hands. How many of you have gone in there and set their room in order and moments later you can come back in and there's chaos and disorder. That is an example of the law of entropy. It is a natural law but it is subject to supernatural laws.
Speaker 1:Structures deteriorate over time. If you have an automobile and you just leave it parked sitting, it will deteriorate. You might think, well, it ran good the last time I started it. Well, yeah, but it's been a while and it's not going to run so good if you just let it sit. It requires maintenance, it requires use, it requires checking up and keeping up with it. You see this in our nation. We started this nation founded on God's Word, on Judeo-Christian principles. God was in this nation's founding and it had a great start. Not a perfect start, but I believe it had a great start and as long as God was honored and God was in it, things were moving the right direction. And then we took God out, and then there was a move to pull God out of schools and out of government and out of the public space. And then we descend into chaos and you see that in our nation today Open borders and riots. You see the result of that, and it's chaos.
Speaker 1:Things in this life will fall apart when they are neglected. We are created with a purpose, but doing nothing allows death to reign, and so doing nothing is not an option. Romans 5 17 says for if, by because of one man's trespass, that is, adam, death reigned in the one, how much more surely will those who receives God's overflowing grace, his unmerited favor this is the amplified and the free gift of righteousness, putting them into right, standing with Himself, reign as kings in this life through the one man, jesus, the Messiah, the anointed one. So through one man's fall, death reigned Through Jesus, we can reign as kings. So this plan was put into place from the very beginning. That is the plan of redemption.
Speaker 1:As soon as the fall of man happened, in Revelations it says that the Lamb of God was slain from the foundation of the world. That plan was in place from the very beginning, and so we know what Jesus has done. In one move, he took on himself all the sins of the world. That plan was in place from the very beginning, and so we know what Jesus has done In one move, he took on himself all the sins of the entire world, all the failures, all the plights of man. God, the Father, turned his back on his son Jesus and abandoned him. He suffered a torturous death and he laid down his life of his own free will. Jesus went to hell. He paid our penalty in full and for all of humanity. All at one time. He threw off the demonic powers. He defeated death, hell and the grave. He took the keys of the kingdom of hell and death and he placed his blood on the mercy seat, which is in heaven, in the presence of our heavenly father, and that speaks to our righteousness every day. The accuser of the brethren, who used to have access to god and accuse us to god daily, has been cast down. He has no more access to god, and the blood of jesus speaks to our righteousness every single second of every single day in the presence of god.
Speaker 1:And so, finally, we can relax and enjoy the benefits of peace. Careful, we don't get to relax. Remember what we were just talking about. If you just relax and let things be, they will go from order into disorder. They'll descend into chaos. So if we take all of that and relax and enjoy the benefits of what Jesus has provided, we'll still have order going into disorder. So there is no relaxing the cost of doing nothing is chaos. He didn't put us here to do nothing. He put us here for a very distinct purpose.
Speaker 1:In Genesis, chapter 1, what we're going to do is we're going to go kind of a big picture overview I'm going to cover the entirety of the whole Old Testament and we're going to do it in about this much time. But it's important to make the case here. So in Genesis, chapter 1, verse 1, it says in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and the earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And it says in the spirit of God hovering over the face of the waters. And then God said let there be light. And there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good, and he divided the light from the darkness and he called the light day and the darkness he called night, and the evening and the morning were the first day.
Speaker 1:Let's go back into verse one. Right there it says I'm sorry. Verse two it says the earth was without form and void. Those are two Hebrew words, tovu obahu. Put together, tovu means desolation and confusion, obahu means void, vacuity, undistinguishable ruin and emptiness. Collectively, those two words put together mean chaos.
Speaker 1:So when we read this, we say in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and the earth became, it says. It didn't start out that way. It became chaos Without form and void. It became chaos. And the answer was and the Spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters of the deep, hovered over the face of the waters of the deep and he began to set things in order. And so, in the beginning God brought order out of chaos. And then God created mankind in his image.
Speaker 1:In verse 26, it said let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over all the things that creep over everything. It says. And God created man in his image. And he created them male and female, and God blessed them and gave them a directive. He said be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue it and have dominion over it. And so that is the charge, the original intent for all of mankind.
Speaker 1:From the very beginning God set things in order, created man and set man over his creation. And so we're charged to subdue. To subdue means to tread down, to bring under submission or bring into bondage. And dominion is to prevail against and rule over, and we've got a lot of passive believers all around the world and a lot of them are in this nation that just think that we need to be passive and let things be and come to church and keep God in here and just keep to our own lives. But we're charged to have dominion, to reign over creation and to keep things. We're supposed to keep things in order, but we know that that wasn't the case. Adam was given the privilege to name everything. God created woman, he established the covenant of marriage, he gave an order for mankind that we were supposed to follow, and then there was the fall of man, so chapter three, the fall of man. After that, the curse came. Then we had the first murder, cain and Abel, and then in chapter six there was demonic entities that came down and produced offspring with the daughters of men. That's real chaos, like this thing is going off the rails, kind of chaos.
Speaker 1:In Genesis, chapter 6, verse 5, it says the Lord saw the wickedness of man and that it was great on the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. That's what man descended into. You started with creation, beginning in chapter 1, and by chapter 6, it had descended completely into chaos, a demonic chaos. And so God, in that same chapter, saw Noah was a just man, a perfect in all his generations, and Noah walked with God. He was apparently the only one in the entire earth that walked with God. And so God, for the saving of Noah's house, gave him specific instructions. You know the story he built the ark and saved his house and two of every living kind, and there was the great flood. But in verse 11, it says that the earth was corrupt before God and the earth was filled with violence. That word violence is the Hebrew word hamas. Where else have we heard the word hamas? Okay, well, the word hamas in Arabic is not the same in Hebrew. You've got Hebrew and Arabic, but hamas is hamas and hamas is violent and it's demonic chaos in the earth. And God saw that the earth was filled with hamas and so he destroyed it with a great flood. Time to start again.
Speaker 1:And so in Genesis, in chapter 9, let me flip over there, genesis 9, I want you to see what God did again. So remember, he brought order out of chaos when the earth was without form and void, and so now he's destroyed the earth, and in chapter 9, verse 1, it says so. God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. Does this sound familiar? It's kind of like another restart right here, and the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the field, on every bird of the air and on all that move on the earth and the fish of the sea, and they are given into your hand. It's a reset. God reset the earth and reestablished dominion and authority all over again with Noah and his family, the ones who God said were righteous. And so fast forward a little bit.
Speaker 1:That was chapter, that was verse, I'm sorry, chapter 9, and then, by the time you get into chapter 11, there's the building of the Tower of Babel, and God and the Lord said in verse 6, chapter 11, this is Genesis 11, 6, it said Indeed, all the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do, and nothing that they purpose to do will be withheld from them. And God confused their language and scattered them, not because they were becoming too powerful and they might overwhelm God, but because they were using their voice of unity, one voice. There is power when people use their voice for one purpose and they speak things together in one accord. There is power in that we're built with that on the inside. And God saw that they were using that for evil, and so he had to confuse their languages and scatter them over all the earth. That's in chapter 11.
Speaker 1:Chapter 12, the promise of Abraham came. In chapter 16, abraham violated God's order. God was going to produce, through Abraham, a family that outnumbered the stars in the heaven or the sands on the earth. And Abraham tried to do things on his own, without God, and he produced an Ishmael and we're still paying the price for that today. And so God, adam violated God's word, but he didn't destroy Abraham. Abraham ultimately fell into God's plan and produced Isaac.
Speaker 1:Then, after that, we got the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. God was ready to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah and Abraham pleaded with God would you destroy all the evil that's there, along with the righteous? Abraham pleaded with them if there was 50, if you could find 50 in that one place, would you not destroy it? And God said I'll spare it if you can find 50. And they went all the way down through the numbers 50, 45, 40, 30, 20, 10, they stopped at 10. And finally Lot and his family had to leave and Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed. After that you've got so the lineage here, you've got. Abraham produced Isaac and then Jacob, remember, jacob became Israel. God renamed him because Jacob wrestled with God, and so that name, israel, alludes to that contending with God.
Speaker 1:And after that Joseph and the other tribes of Israel Remember Joseph was sold into slavery. What a family. That was a chaotic family. His brothers told his you know your son's dead and they really sold him into slavery. But that turned out for the better of Israel. Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt and he went from the bottom to the top and then welcomed Israel in and it was a refuge for him, a saving for him. And then, a little while later, israel fell into slavery in Egypt.
Speaker 1:And then there was the Exodus. Moses brought the Israelites out according to God's command and they just, they weren't meant to take 40 years to get across the wilderness. Moses was supposed to bring him from Egypt into the promised land, with a little trip in between, taking a little road trip here. But it took 40 years to get Egypt out of the Israelites. They weren't ready to go into what God had for them, and Moses violated God's command along the way, and so God wouldn't let him go into the promised land. He said you're going to get to see it, but you won't go in. And so God gave Moses the law in Deuteronomy. Along with the law came the blessings and the cursings. God raised up Joshua. Joshua was the one who brought the Israelites into the land, into the promised land, and they began to accomplish what God set out for the Israelites to do, and they began to take the cities and run out the evil.
Speaker 1:But they didn't do right all the way through. And because they didn't do right all the way through and because they didn't do right all the way through, you've got story after story of sins and punishments and curses and deliverers and blessings, and lather, rinse, lather and repeat multiple times all the way through, and so that kind of sums up most of the Old Testament, the book of Samuel. God rejected the king that man chose and he anointed the one that he chose, and it was the unlikely one. So man looks on the outward appearance, god's looking on the inside and he anoints, so he'll anoint, he'll put down one and he'll set up another. And David wanted to build a house for God and God said no. But let me tell you which one of your sons is going to do that? And it was Solomon. And he built a house for God. You got priests and kings and prophets that were basically a mediator between God and man, and they contended with God. Some did right, some did wrong, and that's the Old Testament.
Speaker 1:So here we are in the New Testament, in the Gospels Enter Jesus. We were created to carry out God's orders. We were created to restore what God set into place and to bring order out of chaos. That's what we were created to do. To maintain that order out of chaos. That's what we were created to do to maintain that.
Speaker 1:So John 3.16, again, this is one of the most profound scriptures in the entire Bible and we're fond of quoting it. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believe on him would not perish but have everlasting life. And we know that we've quoted it. We've been taught that from children's church and children's ministry, and it's true. But there's something about that that I don't think most people are aware of. Words have meanings and there's no accidental word in this Bible. These are the words of Jesus. It's written in red John 3, 16, written in red in my Bible.
Speaker 1:And Jesus didn't accidentally say something. What he said, and remember the New Testament is written in the Greek. He said for God so loved, and the Greek word for world. I thought world was people and people, groups and nations, and really just people. God loves people and that is absolutely true. He loves people and he loved people so much that he gave his only son so that they could come back into right standing with him and not perish but have everlasting life. That is absolutely true. But Jesus didn't use people when he spoke world. He didn't use nations, he didn't use people, groups. It would have been ethnos in the Greek. If he had intended to say ethnos, he would have said ethnos. But what he said was cosmos, which means his orderly arrangement in its entirety. For God so loved his orderly arrangement, the entire universe, everything that he set in order, every spiritual law, every natural law, every order for man, every office, every position, all the way through the entirety of creation. God loved his entire orderly arrangement that he gave his only son. It's not just people. He loved his orderly arrangement that he gave his only son so that whosoever believes on him would not perish but have everlasting life, and also restore us into right standing in the original intent, just like what he intended for Adam, and hit another reset button and put us into position to carry out the original orders For God so loved his orderly arrangement, the cosmos.
Speaker 1:Matthew 28, in verse 18, jesus said all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things as I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen, that's the great commission. So Jesus restored. He came to restore and this was his delegated authority right here All authority, every bit of it, has been given to me and I'm delegating it back to you.
Speaker 1:The assignment is once again on us to get this done so fast. Forward a little bit to Acts and enter the Holy Ghost. We've got this big assignment. We've been saved, we've been redeemed, we've been brought into the family of God. But how do we do this? Well, you can't do it without the Holy Ghost.
Speaker 1:In Acts, chapter 1, verse 4, it says and being assembled together with them. He commanded them, jesus commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem but wait for the promise of the Father, which he said you have heard from me, for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Not many days from now, verse 8,. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit. Not many days from now, verse 8,. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you should be witnesses to me and Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and the entire earth. We can't do what we've been charged to do without being empowered with the Holy Spirit. You must be filled with the Holy Spirit to get this done, with the Holy Spirit to get this done. So after that, paul's got some revelation that he received that kind of builds on what Jesus has just done, and the disciples had some revelation. But Paul's revelation was after Jesus had left and it was astonishing what God revealed to him.
Speaker 1:In Ephesians, chapter 1, verse 21,. It says that Christ has been seated far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age, but that which is to come. And he put all things under his feet. And we know that we are the body of Christ and his feet are in the body. And if he put all things under his feet, then they are under the body's feet. So all these things that are named, every principality, every power, every might, every dominion, every name that is named, not only in just this age but the next one, has been put under our feet because we make up the body of Christ. That's astonishing revelation. That means we can begin to put things in order. In Ephesians, chapter 5, verse 27, it compares the marriage relationship to the one between Jesus and the church. And in verse 27, it says that he might present himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, but that she should be holy and without blemish.
Speaker 1:The church is not ready for his return. The nation is not ready for his return. It's time for the church to wake up, to get up out of bed and to get ready for his return. It's time for an awakening, a great awakening. It's time for a revival. There is no time to do nothing and the cost is too great to sit around and relax and enjoy the simple benefits of salvation. Now I'll report that this church, we're doing a lot and we're not doing everything that God has called us to do. We have not yet completed our mission. If this is your church, you've got a mission. This is my church, this is my mission. This church is active. We are bringing order. We are doing what God has assigned us to do in this time as a regional center to bring order, to bring order to schools, to bring order to this region, to bring order to the city, to the state, to the nation. And we're doing that, you know, with my God Votes and bringing the church back into capitals, bringing pastors out of their pulpits and into the public space.
Speaker 1:All these things and the Great Commission didn't exclude the world of government and politics, and all of that is true. We can let things happen or we can let not. You can let or you can let not. We have been given the keys to the kingdom of heaven. We've been given the power to bind and to loose, to allow and to disallow in the heavenly realm and the earthly realm. When we allow things in the earthly realm, we're allowing things in the heavenly realm. We're allowing demon powers to do things when we allow evil to happen on earth, we're allowing demonic activity in the heavenlies and we bind or put a stop to those things on earth. That's our dominion. We're charged to have dominion over the earth to subdue it, to take it by force and rule over it. So it's in our wheelhouse to allow and disallow, to let, to let, not to bind and to loose. And so that's on us and we are helping to wake up the church.
Speaker 1:In Jude there was a stern warning. Verse three says Beloved. While I was very diligent to write to you concerning the common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you, exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain men have crept in unnoticed who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men who turn the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Certain men have crept in a long time ago and have created and brought chaos in long time ago and have created and brought chaos in, and we've got to shift that and get that back in order. And so we're doing that Now.
Speaker 1:We didn't do this, but I'd say we had a hand in this, because how many are familiar with the Johnson Amendment? So the Johnson Amendment is related to the IRS, is related to the IRS, particular religious institutions, 501c3, non-taxed organizations. If you're a church, they said, you can't speak on these political issues, you can't endorse candidates, you can't talk about these things, you can't engage in politics. And for the longest time pastors have been silent in their pulpits about these things because they had a fear of the IRS. And in truth they were, under even under those rules, allowed to do a whole lot more than they were even doing. And they were doing nothing because they were operating with the fear of man and not the fear of God. And so pastors stayed silent and we did nothing and the chaos reigned.
Speaker 1:Just last week there was and this is exciting, this is something to rejoice over just last week there was what's called a joint motion of consent, so the two parties have consented and agreed in judgment on a civil matter. The plaintiffs were the National Religious Broadcasters, nrb, and there was a couple of other churches that were listed on that as plaintiffs as well and that was versus Billy Long in his official capacity as commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, and it basically says pastors can speak on political issues they can endorse, the church can endorse. They can engage in politics, speak on political issues they can endorse, the church can endorse. They can engage in politics. They can do all of these things and communicate with their congregations in any way. That is normal for them to communicate with their congregations, and the IRS can't stop them, can't shut them down. They have freedom of speech, but the IRS didn't make the church the church.
Speaker 1:But the IRS didn't make the church the church. God made us the church. Jesus said I am building my church, my ecclesia, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And he gave us authorization to do some stuff. So we were already authorized and free to do all the things that God said we can and should do. And so I look at today, with this kind of a ruling, I look at it as kind of Juneteenth. There was a group of people who were free and didn't know it, but thank God they know it. Now At least they're beginning to find out, the message is getting out and now they're going to begin to do the things that God has already set them free to do. And so those are great wins and that's exciting and we're talking about God's orderly arrangement. We have a window of opportunity that is very small and I'm talking about this nation now a very small window. God gave us a respite. He gave us mercy, a window of mercy so that we could do the things that we were called to do, that we were restored to do, and we better get busy about doing them. Right now the church is not ready. The nation is not ready for his return. He's coming back for a church that's without spot or wrinkle or blemish. He's coming back for his bride and we've got to get this thing ready. This is critical and time is short.
Speaker 1:So how does order begin? Well, let's go back to the beginning, because there's some clues there. In the beginning, god created the heavens and the earth and the earth was without form and void, it was in chaos and darkness was upon the face of the deep and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters and he said let there be light. Order begins and happens where there's light, and light begins when the Holy Spirit comes in and hovers over things. We need that light.
Speaker 1:1 John 1 says that Jesus was the Word and the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him Nothing was made. That was made In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. In him was life and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness and the darkness comprehended it not. We're talking about God's orderly arrangement and we need to set things in order. We need the Holy Spirit to come in and begin to hover over the deep, dark things and we need to say let there be light.
Speaker 1:Ephesians 5, verse 8 says that we were once in darkness, but now we're in the light of the Lord. Then it commands us to walk as children of the light, finding what is acceptable to the Lord. Walk as children of the light. We're light beings. Colossians 1, verse 12 says that we have been qualified to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints of light, and he's delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of his son. We've been brought out of darkness and conveyed into the kingdom of his son. We're inheritance, our inheritance of the saints of light. We're in that family, and so let's start putting things in order right now. Let's put some things in order right now.
Speaker 1:First, peter 4, 17 says that, for the time has come for judgment to begin in the house of God. He wants you to be perfect and complete, lacking nothing, and so I'm going to ask you to self-examine a little bit. I'm going to keep preaching, but I want you to think about your own family, your own life, your own world, your own little region of dominion that you have and the places you go and the people you interact with and what you're in charge of. What's going on in your life? Is there chaos in your life, in any place, anywhere? Have we let things in? What's going on in your body? What are we allowing in our body? What are we allowing in our family, in our home? What's going on at home? What's going on in church, in this church? And, of course, the bigger things, you know, the outside, the regional center things. What's going on in our region? What's going on with our schools? What's going on with our kids, with our communities, with our city, in our state, in our nation? What things are going on? Where's the chaos? And we can hit all those other things, but if we're going to get all those other things right. It's got to start right here first. It's got to start here first.
Speaker 1:Proverbs 4, 23 says to keep your heart with all diligent, for out of it springs the issues of life. You've got to keep your heart the inside with all diligence, not casually, not every now and again, not checking the oil every hundred thousand miles. You've got to keep it with all diligence, make sure it's running like it's supposed to, make sure the right things are on the inside and none of the wrong things. Guard your heart Value and protect your mind and your emotions, your way of thinking, so that you can make choices in this life and we don't invite chaos to come in where God has set things in order. If you're conveyed into the kingdom of light through his son Jesus, things were set in order in your life. In that moment you were saved. All the old things were washed away. You're a brand new creature with a fresh start, brought into the original condition, with the original intent, empowered with the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1:If you've been filled with the Holy Spirit, you have the power of the Holy Ghost on the inside of you to accomplish all the things that he said you can accomplish to have dominion, to rule, to reign, to subdue, to bring things under subjection, to maintain, to be a good steward of. Are we doing that in our life? Let's let the God of peace rule in our hearts. We got to bring order to our body. Paul wrote that I discipline my body. I bring it under subjection. I don't let my flesh do everything that it wants to do. I bring it under subjection lest when I have preached to others I myself may become disqualified. You're all able ministers of the gospel of Christ and if you're going to minister the gospel of Christ to others, we've got to keep our body under subjection. Don't ignore symptoms in your body and let them stay. Well, that's just a little thing and let it go. We've got to bring that under subjection.
Speaker 1:Squatters are hard to get rid of. When you let something in, it's harder to get it out. It's easier just to keep it out in the first place. We got to bring order into our families. First, timothy it talks about in chapter three, talks about the qualifications to serve in ministry. But you're all ministers of God's calling. The believer's ministry is the greatest ministry.
Speaker 1:But here are some qualifiers. Here it says one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission. With all reverence, for if a man doesn't know how to rule his own house well, how will he take care of the church of God? Things got to be right at home before you can help other people get things right out there. The light that reaches the furthest is the brightest right here. This begins in the house of God. It begins with us, begins in our home, begins with our families. We want to be a light that reaches really far. Well, it's got to burn really bright right here. What about your marriage? Your marriage needs constant maintenance. You don't park your marriage in the driveway and check up on it every few months. It requires maintenance to keep the chaos out, to maintain divine order in your life With your children.
Speaker 1:Proverbs 22, 6,. Train up a child in the way they should go, and when they were old they will not depart from it. If you keep things right from the early stages, they'll be right in the latter stages. Let's get it right up front so you can look at the fruit of your kids and decide are they in order or is there chaos? And if there's chaos with your kids, I'm going to blame the parents, because they didn't say the child shall train up a child. It says the parents, talking to the parents right here to train up your children, to train to do things repetitively, to build it into them so that it's just how they are and what they do. It requires training.
Speaker 1:No place in God's word does it say that children should raise themselves or that they ought to be able to decide what brand of cigarette to smoke or what brand of whiskey to drink. It doesn't say that your children ought to, at any age, be able to choose what sex they want to be. They were created in the image of God either male or female, and that's it. They were created in the image of God, either male or female, and that's it. Don't entertain the nonsense. Don't tolerate chaos in your life, in your home, with your kids. There's a cost, and it's a high price, for not parenting. Let's talk about order in the church.
Speaker 1:When you came to church this morning, was there an anticipation of coming into the presence of God? For some of you, that might be true. You were excited to get here. You couldn't wait to get here. You knew that if you just walked in here, there would be the presence of God and the stress and the pressure of the world's going to fall off and you're going to come in here. You're going to meet the King of glory, the one who created this universe. You're going to walk in here with anticipation for a meeting, an appointment with God. You're going to be able to lavish praises and love on Him and then, in turn, you're going to get the things taken care of in your life that you need in your life. He's our provider, he's our defender, he's our healer, he's our peace. You're going to come meet with that this morning. So, was there anticipation? Was there preparation? Did you get up on time? Did you get out the door on time? Did you get your kids ready? Did anything get in the way of you getting here?
Speaker 1:The psalmist said it wasn't until I came into the sanctuary of God that I understood. If you want to understand something, I know you can have a prayer life. You can get in the presence of God. You can do that and should do that on your own. But when we gather together in one place and one accord worshiping together, there's something different. There's something special here and we need to look forward to that, to value that. I know we want to visit with each other in the lobby and visiting is good. Every joint supplies. We've got to have those relationships. But there ought to be an urgency to get in here when your pastor's up here to hear what God has given him for you. There's meat in this house for you If you're serving in a ministry.
Speaker 1:Are you in position? Are you dressed and ready? Do you have the proper gear? Are you, are you prepared? Did you get up that morning? Did you clock in for duty? Did you start by putting on the whole armor of God, knowing that you're going to contend against principalities and powers and wickedness and things in high places, knowing did you come with the sword of the Spirit and the shield of faith? Have you come prepared to do battle, to contend, to throw chaos out and to set things in order? Are you ready to serve? Are you ready to serve? Are you ready to help people around you serve in all of their places? Are you ready to welcome that first-time visitor who comes into the parking lot and doesn't know quite where to go? Are you there to meet them? Are they going to feel love when you first talk to them? Are you going to help bring them into the sanctuary of God, into the presence of God.
Speaker 1:What were you expecting to offer God when you got here? Did you prepare something to offer God? Your time? Did you come filled up and ready to pour out to somebody who needs it? Did you come prepared to give? Did you come prepared to receive? There's a preparation. What did you expect to happen when you came here in the presence of Almighty God? What were you expecting? Did you expect to happen when you came here in the presence of Almighty God? What were you expecting?
Speaker 1:I want to look at Ephesians, chapter 1, verse 17,.
Speaker 1:Back to the revelation that Paul had that the God of our Lord, jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, that the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what he's called you to do, what are the riches of his glory, of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to his mighty power, which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at the right hand in heavenly places, far above all principality and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but also that which is to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him, who fills all in all Chapter 2,. And you he made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sin. Give him thanks, in which you once walked, according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience and brings chaos, among whom also we also conducted ourselves in the lust of disobedience and brings chaos, among whom also we also conducted ourselves in the lust of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature the children of wrath, just as others living in chaos.
Speaker 1:But God, but God who was rich in mercy because of his great love, which he loved us even when we were dead in trespasses, he made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you have been saved, and he raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace, of his kindness towards us in Christ Jesus, for by grace you have been saved through faith, not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Verse 10 says for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand. Go back to the beginning, which God prepared beforehand. He prepared beforehand that you should have dominion, that you should rule, that you should set things in order beforehand. He prepared beforehand that you should walk in those works. And so there are things that need to be set in order, and it starts with the Holy Spirit hovering, and the next step is let there be light.