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Dec. 23, 2024 - Jim Bakker Show
45:43
Do You Really Know Him? - Ricky Bakker
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Who Is Jesus? 00:04:16
So, friends, I want to ask you this.
Who is Jesus?
I want you to turn to a neighbor right now, and you're going to be doing this quite a bit.
So, hopefully, you pick someone you like, or you sat next to someone you enjoy.
Who is Jesus?
That's the question you're going to ask him.
I'm going to open up to Matthew 16, 15 through verse 17.
If you have your Bibles, go ahead and open up.
I'll give you a second to get there.
Matthew 16, verse 15 through 17.
This is the words of Jesus.
If you have a Bible that's red-lettered, it'll be red.
If you don't, it'll look like the rest of the text.
Black, but you'll get there and find it.
It says, But you, he asked them, Christ, who do you say that I am?
And Simon Peter answered, You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.
And Jesus responded, Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven.
A blessed answer.
You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.
An answer that Jesus appreciated.
Today we're going to be talking about who Jesus is, who he has been, and who he will always be.
Friends, I want to remind you, he's the same yesterday, today, and forever.
And if somebody can figure out when forever ends, I'll give you a dollar.
It's about all I got in my wallet right now.
I'll give you one whole dollar.
Because, friends, there is no time limit on that.
Eternity is forever, and he's the same from the beginning of time until the end of time.
Point number one, we're only going to actually have two points in today's sermon.
So you can look at your neighbor and say, praise God.
And I'll look at your neighbor and say, oh boy, because those two points are going to be reiterated probably about 15 times.
Point number one is Jesus is beyond our scope of time.
How many understand that?
Jesus is far beyond our scope of time.
Well, we live on this linear earth.
He's in a bird's eye view.
He can see the beginning.
He can see the middle, and he can see the end all at the exact same time.
He's beyond our scope of time.
See, Jesus is revealed to us from Genesis all the way to Revelation.
There isn't one book of the 66 books where we don't see Christ, or we don't see him moving in some capacity.
We're going to open up to Genesis.
So if you're in Matthew still, we can start flipping back to the beginning of the book.
It's the first book.
It's going to be the easiest one for you to find today.
Genesis shows us what the beginning of everything looked like.
Genesis shows us the creation of everything.
We see the first man and woman created.
And sadly, we see the first man and woman fall.
We see what separation from God looks like for the first time.
We see the first murder with Cain and Abel.
And just in the middle of all this, we're slapped with our text we're going to be reading today, Genesis chapter 5.
So we're going to open up to Genesis chapter 5.
Excuse me while I drink my water.
So some of you may be thinking, well, what is Genesis chapter 5?
And you're about to open it up and you're about to start reading it.
You're going to see a genealogy from Adam to Noah.
A lot of people may think, well, this just looks like a random pause in the middle of the story of the creation.
Again, I want to say, we see the beginning of time.
We see sin into the world.
And then we see a genealogy where God says, I think it's important to tell these people who everyone came from.
I want to say this as well.
With Adam and Eve and with Cain and Abel, we also see pain.
We see shame.
We see guilt.
We see murder.
And then, friends, we see a genealogy.
What may seem like a random genealogy is God actually showing us from the dawn of time that he has always had a plan and that he has always been in the details and that he is always in control.
Reading Genesis Chapter 5 00:04:53
So friends, we're going to read Genesis chapter 5.
I hope you guys love the word of God because we're going to read it, the entire thing.
I'll read it to you.
Follow along.
This is the book of generations of Adams.
When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God.
Male and female, he created them.
And he blessed them and named them man when they were created.
When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness after his image and named him Seth.
The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years, and he had other sons and daughters.
Thus, all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died.
When Seth had lived 105 years, he fathered Enosh.
Seth lived after he fathered Enosh 807 years and had other sons and daughters.
Thus, all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died.
When Enosh had lived 90 years, he fathered Kenan.
Enosh lived after he fathered Kenaan 815 years and had other sons and daughters.
Thus, all the days of Enosh were 905 years, and he died.
When Canaan had lived 70 years, he's the youngest father at this point, 70 years old, he fathered Mahalalel.
Kenaan lived after he fathered Mahalalel 840 years and had other sons and daughters.
Thus all the days of Kenaan were 910 years, and then he died.
When Mahalalel had lived just 65 years, scratch that.
This is the youngest father now.
He fathered Jared.
Mahalalel lived after he fathered Jared 830 years, and he had other sons and daughters.
Thus all the days of Mahalalel were 895 years, and he died.
When Jared had lived 162 years, he fathered Enoch.
Jared lived after he fathered Enoch 800 years and had other sons and daughters.
Thus all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died.
When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah.
Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years, and he had other sons and daughters.
Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years.
Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.
I'm going to caveat right there and make a little point.
Enoch never experienced death.
It says right here at the age of 65, he began to walk with God.
Now, friends, this isn't hyperbole and this isn't a metaphor.
He legitimately began to walk with God.
He had such an intimate relationship with God that 300 years after that, God said, you know what?
I don't want you to have to experience death.
I don't want you to have to taste what that feels like.
And he walked into heaven with God.
When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he fathered Lamech.
We're in verse 26.
Methuselah lived after he fathered Lamech 782 years, and he had other sons and daughters.
Thus all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, the oldest man recorded to live, and he died.
When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son and called his name Noah, saying, Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.
Lamech lived after he fathered Noah 595 years and had other sons and daughters.
Thus all the days of Lamech were 777 years and he died.
After Noah was 500 years old, Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Joseph.
We just read the entirety of Genesis chapter 5.
And this is a really tough way to find out you're not the favorite child.
Because everyone else is just, hey, he had other sons and daughters.
No, I'm just kidding.
They go based off their firstborn.
I was going to say, they're reading the text.
Come on, Dad, you couldn't have thrown my name in there.
Noah was 500 years old when he fathered Shem, Han, and Joseph.
So we just read the entirety of Genesis chapter 5 together.
So what do we see here?
We see that we have in order Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalule, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, and Noah.
Names With Meaning 00:06:02
Now you may be thinking, Ricky, what on earth type of bunny trail are you taking us on this morning?
Well, friends, I want to tell you right now, I want to encourage you, this is no bunny trail, but this is a trail that leads us to the most critical moment in all of history, the cross.
Of course, until the second coming of Christ.
We're going to dive into these men and what their names mean in their original language, and I want you to follow me here.
Adam, the first man, comes from Adomah, which means man.
And brothers and sisters, as the first man, that seems quite fitting that his name means man.
Then we have Seth.
Adam's son Seth, which means appointed, when he was born, Eve said, for God hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain had killed.
Then we have Enosh.
Seth's son was called Enosh, which means mortal, frail, or miserable.
And it is from the root Enosh, to be incurable, used of a wound, grief, woe, sickness, or wickedness.
And it was in the days of Enosh that men began to defile the name of the living God.
Then we have Kenan, Enosh's son, which means sorrow.
We have Mahalalel.
Kenan's son was Mahalalel, which means blessed or praised.
And then we have El tacked on the end of the name, just a caveat.
Whenever they did this, it means of God.
So we see the name like Daniel.
It means God is my judge.
We see the name Nathan Yel.
The EL at the end means a gift of God.
It means of God attached to it.
Then we have Jared.
Mahalalel's son was named Jared from the verb yardah, meaning shall come down.
We have Enoch.
Jared's son was named Enoch, which means teaching or commencement.
And he was the first indeed of four generations of preacher.
In fact, the earliest recorded prophecy was from Enoch, which amazingly tells us of the second coming of Christ.
Then we have Methuselah.
Now, the flood didn't come as a surprise to a lot of people because God told Enoch that his son Methuselah would live and then when he died, he would have to judge the earth with a flood.
So Enoch took that into account and he named his son accordingly.
The name Methuselah comes from two words, two roots, muth, a root that means death, and from shalak, that means to bring or to send forth.
Thus the name Methuselah signifies or means his death shall bring.
And indeed, the year that Methuselah died, the flood did come.
Methuselah was 187 years old when he had Lamech and lived 782 more years.
Lamech had Noah when he was 182.
So friends, the flood came in Noah's 600th year.
So we do 187 plus 182 plus 600 years.
That's 969 years.
That's how we get the age from Methuselah when he died, the oldest man recorded in the word of God.
Now, it's interesting that Methuselah's life was, in effect, a symbol of God's mercy being extended out to us.
I don't think there's any coincidence that the oldest man to ever live also was the timekeeper for when judgment would be brought.
This shows us right here the extensive mercy that God has for people.
He said, I'm going to let him live a little bit longer.
I'm going to let him live a little bit longer.
Noah's building this boat.
I'm going to let him live a little bit longer.
Maybe other people would join.
Friends, 960 years, nobody joined except Noah's family.
Lamech, Methuselah's son was named Lamech, a root still evident in our word lament.
Have you heard like lament?
Also in lamentation, it suggests despairing.
And then we have Noah.
Lamech, of course, is the father of Noah, which is derived from Nacham, which means to bring relief or comfort, as Lamech explains himself.
Now, I'm a visual person, so I had to write this down.
I just want to clarify to something again.
We have right here, Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalil, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, and Noah.
The entire genealogy of Genesis chapter 5 written right here.
And I put their name meanings right next to them, and we're going to read them how they write.
The name Adam means man.
The name Seth means appointed.
The name Enosh means mortal.
The name Kenan means sorrow.
The name Mahalalil means the blessed God.
The name Jared means shall come down.
The name Enoch means teaching.
The name Methuselah means his death shall bring.
The name Lamech means the despairing.
And the name Noah means rest or comfort.
Friends, when we read this all in order, what do we get?
Man is appointed mortal sorrow, but the blessed God shall come down, teaching his death shall bring the despairing rest or comfort.
Genesis chapter 5 isn't just names.
Friends, what do we see again?
We see the beginning of time.
We see the creation of man.
We see the fall of man.
We see the entrance of sin into the world.
And then we see what we would normally think a random genealogy.
But no, friends, God was showing us from the beginning of time in Genesis chapter 5, he had a plan.
That, friends, we are appointed mortal sorrow.
Why?
Because we deserve it.
We truly do.
We're born into sin, but the blessed God will come down, teaching his death shall bring the despairing rest or comfort.
God's Promises Guide Us 00:15:28
That's us, friend.
From the beginning of time, God had a plan.
See, God reveals his son to us in Genesis chapter 5.
For a lot of us, it was hidden in the text for a significant amount of time, but now that your eyes are open, you'll never read that text the same.
His son is being revealed to us.
And Christ reveals his promise to us in the 23rd Psalm.
We're going to open up to that.
See, we see that even from the parts of the Old Testament that may not look applicable to our day-to-day lives like a genealogy in Genesis chapter 5, to the parts that are definitely applicable to our day-to-day lives, like Psalm 23, that God is in the details, that he is so infinite in his ability to reason that he says, I'm going to give them the plan, and then I'm going to show them what is promised to them as believers.
Friends, we're going to open up to Psalm chapter 23, and I'm going to read it to you.
It says right here, the Lord is my shepherd.
I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
This is the part where we all quoted maybe growing up, and we should quote pretty much every day of our lives.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.
Why?
Because you are with me.
Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil.
My cup overflows.
And surely goodness and mercy follow me all the days of my life.
And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
So friend, I want you to look at your neighbor and say, this is point number two.
Jesus is beyond our scope of goodness.
So point number one again is Jesus is beyond our scope of time.
And now it's Jesus is beyond our scope of goodness.
If you're opened up to Psalm 23, whether it be a physical Bible or an electronic Bible, what we see here is two primary themes.
A shepherd caring for his sheep.
And the second is of a banquet and a king.
A beautiful evolution and transition of how the Lord takes us, protects us, restores us, and then puts us in places of honor before our enemies.
We can see how God, as our shepherd, devotes himself to us.
You know, this last year, I don't know, was it eight months ago, nine months ago, we got sheep.
Brooke and I got sheep.
We aren't sheep farmers.
We don't know what we're doing with sheep.
We just knew we had a fence.
And the fence might be able to hold the sheep.
Well, friends, at the beginning of it, the fence was indeed not able to hold the sheep.
You have Brooke and I out there in our, you know, pretty much our regular everyday work clothes out there trying to figure out how to corral sheep back into the pen where they're safe.
See, friends, Brooke and I understood, well, you guys need to go back into the pen for their safety, but the sheep didn't understand that.
The sheep thought, well, this guy's trying to get me.
All I know is he's running at me.
He's out of breath.
And if he gets me, he's going to throw me back in that pen.
See, we weren't sheep farmers, but we were devoted to those sheep.
We understood that those sheep need us to survive.
We understood they need protection if they're going to live because we have in this area mountain lions and we have small bear and we have other predators that would love to have some lamb.
But Brooke and I were responsible for the protection of those sheep.
You know, we see ourselves a lot, and I'm going to just say this, we see ourselves a lot like sheep, believers.
We're likened to sheep quite a bit.
And, you know, we're quick to wander.
We're stubborn.
We're consistently consuming something.
That's just the reality of it.
I know nowadays it's iPads and iPhones and Android devices and computers and screens, but before that it was something.
Whether it was newspapers and televisions as you walked past a store and they had what, those like 18 TVs stacked on top of each other trying to convince dad to buy one of them.
We were always consuming something.
Every generation has had something that they're consistently consuming.
You know, a lot of people see our correlation to sheep and assume it's because we're dumb.
Really?
Well, I want to encourage you something today, friends.
It's not because we're dumb.
It's because we're dependent.
And now's not the time to be looking at your neighbor.
I just saw like three people look over at their neighbor.
No looking around right now.
Now is not the time for that.
Friends, we're dependent.
100% dependent on God.
If it wasn't for him, we would be like a lost sheep wandering the Ozark Mountains.
We would probably have about a six-hour span of life before something saw us and took advantage of us.
And friends, I want to tell you right now, the devil seeks to take advantage of you every opportunity he can.
Why?
Because the Bible tells us that the devil is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.
Friends, there's one encouraging thing in that verse to me.
It is the fact that the devil is like a roaring lion.
And friends, we serve the God that is a roaring lion.
That is the encouraging part of that.
See, friends, again, in Genesis chapter 5, we see the promise of Jesus to us that he understood.
This is a fallen world now, and they need a Savior.
But in Psalm 23, we see the promise of what Jesus does for us.
You guys thought you were done with the board, but we're not.
I love whiteboards because I'm a visual person.
Let me see if I can get this thing to flip.
There we go.
We're going to have it on camera.
You guys can look up there.
We're going to break this down because there is something important about Psalm chapter 23 that I don't think a lot of people realize is that we have 20, or excuse me, we have 17 promises promised to us in Psalm chapter 23.
Again, it's the Lord is, and this is my, I read out of the CSB, so I know a lot of people, this is not going to click because, you know, we have the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
The version of the Bible that I read says, the Lord is my shepherd, I have what I need.
I promise it's still the word of God, just a different translation.
So I'm going to read it out of the translation in which I wrote it.
The Lord is my shepherd.
I have what I need.
He lets me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me along the right path for his name's sake.
Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no evil, for you are with me.
Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil, and my cup overflows.
Only goodness and faithful love, some translations say mercy, will pursue me all the days of my life.
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
So, friends, we're going to break down what these promises are to us right here.
We have the first one.
The Lord is my shepherd.
Through that, we are promised relationship.
Relationship, as we were talking about earlier, is the most important thing that we can have with Jesus Christ.
We can do all the good things we want.
You can try to live the best life that you could possibly live.
But if you have no relationship, then you truly have nothing.
I have what I need.
The second promise that is given to us is that Christ is our source.
Now, friends, you can have all the money you want in the world.
You can have the biggest house, the nicest car, the prettiest jewelry.
But if you don't have Jesus, then you truly don't have a source.
You can have a high-paying job, but that's not your source.
Because the source is for the thing that matters the most, the health of our soul.
And we see that through Jesus.
He lets me lie down in green pastures.
The third promise that we are given in Psalm chapter 23 is rest.
I know a lot of people here need rest.
It's been a long fall.
It really has for a lot of people.
I understand there's been a lot of hardship.
And the only place that we can find true rest, believer, is in Christ.
He leads me beside still waters.
What is the next promise that we are given in Psalm chapter 23?
We're given peace.
Because how many people have rested without peace before?
You don't get much rest.
You don't.
You can rest and sleep and get your full eight hours, but if there's something between you and your spouse, or if there's something between you and a loved one, or you and a child, there's that inner conflict that doesn't allow you to have full peace, you're not truly resting.
Well, the Lord promises us in Psalm chapter 23 that we are promised the gift of peace.
He restores my soul.
The fifth promise that we are given is healing.
Friends, we are promised that he will heal our soul.
But we are also promised by his stripes, we are healed.
We're promised physical healing as well, that the Lord is so good that he doesn't just tend to one aspect of our lives, but he truly cares about all aspects of our lives.
It says right here, he leads me along the right path.
Friends, we are given the promise of direction.
If you can't read my handwriting, I apologize.
We're given the promise of direction.
Jesus is the only compass in the world that is truly accurate.
He is the only moral compass that has ever existed that points true north.
There might be compasses that are close.
There might be compasses that look good.
But friends, there is only one moral compass that we can truly depend on, and that is Christ.
He gives us our direction.
It says right here, for his name's sake, that gives us our purpose right there, friends.
We're promised purpose, that we don't have to go out and look for purpose.
We found it.
Why?
Because he leads me along the right path.
He gives me the right direction.
But we're not just walking along the right path for no reason.
We do it for his namesake.
And that gives us our purpose.
So friends, we're promised the gift of purpose as well here.
It says, even when I go through the darkest valley, now this might rough some people's feathers right here, but we are promised the gift of testing.
A lot of people don't want to be tested.
But friends, I want to remind you of Matthew chapter 7, verse 24 through 27.
We see a parable that Jesus tells us of two homes.
Now, the same things happen to both homes.
Both homes were built.
One was built on a firm foundation, and the other home was built on sinking sand.
Now, just because one was built on the firm foundation doesn't mean that it was foregoing everything that happened on the external of the home.
No, friends, for both homes, the water still rose, the wind still blew, and the external forces of the world attempted to knock both homes down.
What was the only difference between both homes?
The foundation.
So friends, when you're going through trials and tribulations in your life, when there is wind, when there is water rising, when there are things pushing against you that are make you feel uncomfortable, look down.
Most of the time in church, we hear look up.
I encourage you to look down.
Look at your feet and see where you're standing.
Are you standing on the word of God?
Are you standing on the promises that he's given us?
Are you standing on Christ's sacrifice on the cross?
Or are you standing on your own opinions?
Or are you standing on things that you heard 30 years ago, but you never actually checked to make sure they were biblical?
Friends, we have to be standing on the word of God.
So we are promised testing.
It says, even though I go through the darkest valley, I fear no evil.
So, friends, even though we go through testing, the Lord shows us that he gives us the promise of protection.
Protection allows us to go through the testing comfortable.
Not comfortable in the sense of everything will feel good, comfortable in the sense of knowing my soul is at rest.
My soul can have peace.
I can walk through this and I can come out of the fire unscorched.
See, friends, I want to encourage you by saying this and really think about this.
See, Daniel was not delivered from the lion's den.
He still had to go in the lion's den, but he was delivered from the lion.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in that same time period were not delivered from the fiery furnace.
They still had to walk in there.
But what were they delivered from?
The fire.
They came out and not even their clothes smelled like smoke, the word of God says.
Friends, I want to encourage you when you're about to walk into a lion's den or you're about to walk into the fiery furnace, whatever that situation may look like in your life, be encouraged to know that the mouth of the lion will be shut and that you'll come out of the situation not smelling like smoke.
Why?
Because we're promised protection.
For you are with me.
Right here, promise number 10 in this.
The Lord promises us faithfulness, faithfulness.
And what I really beckon somebody to find me a more encouraging promise than that the creator of the universe, the person who understands everything, is faithful to me.
Even when I am not faithful to him, that's true faithfulness.
Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
This is another one that might ruffle some feathers right here, but it is.
I'm going to have to bend down for this.
Boundaries for Fullness 00:02:25
We are promised discipline and boundaries.
Friends, as a believer, it's so important that we have discipline and boundaries.
For when the Lord tells us to walk a straight path and we say, hey, well, I'm going to veer off to the left.
Or he tells us, hey, I need you to walk this straight path and we go off to the right.
Friends, it's important we realize the boundaries are not set in place to hinder us.
The boundaries are set in place so that we can walk in the fullness of what God has for us.
Now, if I'm standing over here next to the perfect will of God in my life, am I still able to be used?
Yes.
Am I still able to commune with God?
Yes.
But am I walking in the perfect will of God for my life?
No.
That is why we have boundaries and discipline.
Whenever you have a sheep running off, a lot of the shepherds will carry a J-hook, a staff with a J on it.
And they see one wandering, they'll hook its neck and they'll pull it back into the rest of the flock.
They'll pull it back.
Now, to the sheep, the sheep may be thinking, why on God's green earth would you hook me by the neck and yank me back with these other smelly fellas?
Friends, sometimes there's discipline.
But when it comes from the Lord, I want you to know it is always just.
When it comes from the Lord, it is always pure and it is always righteous in nature.
He prepares a table before you in the presence of your enemies.
Friends, right there, we are promised honor.
Now, friends, we as human beings born into sin have done nothing to deserve honor from God.
It is the sacrifice of his son's blood that allows us to retain honor.
Promises of Abundance 00:08:47
And he does indeed honor us.
Friends, I want to caveat and go off this just for a second.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
It's not the table is prepared and then I call you into the banquet.
Friends, we're standing there.
Our enemy is standing there.
And Christ is preparing the table in front of us and in front of them.
See, friends, it's your enemy.
They could be saying all types of things about you.
Well, he doesn't deserve this.
Well, look at what he's done or look at what she's done or look at the thing that they used to do or look at what they used to consume and look at all these factors, God.
You shouldn't be preparing this table.
But friends, while the devil knows your name, he calls you by your sin.
But what is honor?
The fact that God knows our sin, but he still calls us by our name.
He knows what we have done, but he still calls us by our name.
I dropped my cap.
It says, you anoint my head with oil.
We are promised the gift of consecration.
In the Old Testament, when a king was going to be established, what did they do?
They didn't take these cute little anointing bottles that we have.
I appreciate them because obviously like who has the capacity to be carrying around like half a gallon of oil at any given time?
If you do, there's probably other questions I got to be asking you.
But, you know, at this point, they filled an entire ram's horn.
Do you have the shofar?
Do you have a shofar with you today, Alan?
Or no?
Just a trumpet.
Just a trumpet today.
Well, if somebody has a shofar, lift that thing up.
This is what that's going to look like.
And maybe if the camera can get a shot of that right there, I know it's going to kind of be difficult.
Maybe this one can get it.
They're going to fill that entire thing up with oil.
And that is what the future king is going to be drenched in.
This isn't just a tablespoon or two or a cup or two of oil.
No, they're being consecrated.
It's going to be poured on them and it's going to go from their head to their feet.
Thank you.
I won't make you hold that up any longer.
I appreciate it, though.
I was testing to see her resolve there.
She wasn't even shaken.
Friends, when we're consecrated by Christ, we are secured Christ.
When we have the holy anointing oil of Jesus poured on us, everywhere you go, people will know there's been a change in your life.
My cup overflows is the next thing right here.
This is the promise for us, believer, of abundance.
Now, this doesn't mean this doesn't mean that everyone's going to be a millionaire.
Because when we think abundance, we think money.
I'm going to be honest with you, that's just the reality of what we think.
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with somebody who's worked hard their entire life and they become a millionaire.
By all means, make sure that you tithe.
I'm not joking.
I'm just saying the Lord hasn't called me to that.
Not even close.
But I realize that I still have abundance in my life.
That I still have an abundance of what I need.
Because what I want and what I need are two very different things.
I can want a whole lot, but the Lord has supplied me with an abundance of everything that I need.
Friends, that's where we need to understand that we are promised abundance.
It says, only goodness and faithful love, or some translations say mercy, will pursue me all the days of my life.
Promise number 15 is a promise of blessing.
We are blessed through Christ.
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord.
Promise number 16 is very important.
I will dwell in the house of the Lord.
We have the promise of security.
Friends, you can be in the most secure building in the entire world.
If God wants to find you, it's not a secure building.
I'm going to let you know right now, if he wants to enter into whatever capacity of a building, you can be behind 16 feet of concrete.
The Lord wants to walk through that wall.
He's going to walk through that wall.
The only place that we can find a true tower of refuge and have true security is in Christ and in Christ alone.
In Psalm 23, we're promised that.
And right here, the last promise that we have in Psalm chapter 23 is forever.
We're promised eternity with Jesus.
That is our last promise of Psalm 23.
Side note, if I spelled any of this wrong, it's because I can't spell.
Friends, the Lord is my shepherd.
I have what I need.
The Lord is my shepherd.
We have relationship.
I have what I need.
We have our source in Christ Jesus.
He lets me lie down in green pastures.
I can find true rest in him.
He leads me beside still water, the only place that I can truly find peace.
He restores my soul, the only true place we can find healing.
He leads me along the right path, the only true direction we'll ever have in this lifetime for his name's sake.
That is our primary purpose, friend.
For even when I go through the darkest valley, even when I have testing, I will fear no evil.
He promises us protection, for he is with us.
There is faithfulness there.
Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Friends, we are promised discipline and boundaries.
In the presence of my enemies, or excuse me, you prepare a table before me.
In the presence of my enemy, we are promised honor.
You anoint my head with oil.
We are consecrated by Christ.
My cup overflows.
We have abundance in Christ.
Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life.
We are promised blessing, friend.
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord.
I have security in Christ forever.
Eternity with Christ.
Now, friends, I want to tell you something right here.
I'm going to stand on this side of the board.
If you want eternity with Christ, you have to have relationship with Christ.
If you want him to be your source, you have to have a relationship with him.
If you want true rest, you have to have a relationship with him.
If you want to find peace in your life, you have to have a relationship with him.
If you want healing in any capacity, you have to have a relationship with him.
If you want direction, friends, I'm a broken record, but I love doing it.
You have to have a relationship with him.
If you want purpose, have a relationship with him.
When you're going through testing and you want protection and faithfulness, have a relationship with him.
If you want discipline and boundaries, which every single one of us should desire, have a relationship with him.
If you want honor and consecration, have a relationship with him.
If you want abundance and blessing in your life, have a relationship with him.
And if you want security for eternity, have a relationship with him, friends.
That is the promise that is given to us in the 23rd Psalm.
Again, I want to say that God reveals his son to us in Genesis chapter five after the fall.
We see sin enter the world.
We see shame.
We see guilt.
We see the disgusting nature of what sin does to the human.
And then we see a promise that he'll send his son, teaching that his death shall bring the despairing, which is us, friend, rest or comfort.
And then Christ shows us in the 23rd Psalm 17 promises that he will give to us when we have relationship with him.
When you know Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, not just in words, friend, but in relationship and intimacy, when you actually know him for who he is.
So again, the question still remains.
I want you to ask your neighbor one more time, who is Jesus?
I had a verse to back up every single one of these points, but my wife told me we don't have three hours.
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So I'll just read them to you.
No, I'm just kidding.
I'm just kidding.
I did have a verse to back up every single one of these points, but it is a whole lot.
And we literally don't have three hours.
She didn't say that.
I just made that up.
She would probably let me do it.
He let me grow this cool mustache.
So I thought it was pretty cool.
I love my wife.
She's Brooke.
She's over there.
I was just going to give her a round of applause.
Five years in the making of begging.
I said, can I please grow a mustache?
Between her and the army, they said no.
And now, praise God.
Here it is.
Anyways, the question still remains, who is Jesus?
And I'm going to read through this fairly quickly.
So stick with me here.
But this is who Jesus is.
He is our advocate.
He is the Lamb of God.
He is the resurrection and the life.
He is the judge.
He is the Lord of lords.
He is the man of sorrows, the head of the church, our master, our faithful and true witness, our rock, our high priest, the door, the living water, the bread of life, the rose of Sharon, the true vine, our Messiah, our teacher, the holy one.
He's our mediator.
He's the beloved.
He's the branch.
And he's the carpenter.
He's the good shepherd.
He's the light of the world.
He's the image of the invisible God.
He is the word, and he is our chief cornerstone.
He's our savior, yet he is a servant.
Our author and our finisher of our faith.
He is the almighty, the everlasting father.
He is the Shiloh, the lion of the tribe of Judah.
He is the I am.
He is the king of kings, the prince of peace, our bridegroom, the only begotten son, and our wonderful counselor.
He is Emmanuel, the Son of God.
He is the dayspring in the amen.
He is the king of the Jews.
He is our prophet, our redeemer, our anchor, and our brightened morning star.
He is the way, the truth, and the life.
See, friends, in chemistry, he turned water into wine.
In biology, he was born without normal conception.
In physics, he disproved the law of gravity when he ascended into heaven.
In economics, he disproved the law of diminishing return by feeding 5,000 men with two fish and five loaves of bread.
In medicine, he cured the sick without ever administering a single dose of drugs.
In history, he is the beginning and the end.
In government, he said that he shall be called wonderful counselor and prince of peace.
In religion, he said that no one comes to the Father except through him.
In religion, he said, no one comes to the Father except through him.
See, friends, he had no servants, yet they call him master.
He had no degree, but they call him teacher.
He had no medicines, yet they called him healer.
He had no army, yet kings feared him.
He won no military battles, yet he conquered the world.
He committed no crime, yet they crucified him.
He was buried in the tomb, and yet he lives today.
And friends, I never get tired of talking about who Jesus is.
So here's some more.
Friends, listen to this because this is important.
He is Abraham, the father of our faith, who was sent away from his own family.
He is Moses, the one drawn from the waters who left his prominence to suffer in the wilderness with his own people and provide a way to the promised land.
He is the tablets of the law, the word made flesh broken on his first appearance and then honored on his second appearance.
He is the red cord in Rahab's window crying out mercy and is the shout from the Israelites that still breaks down every wall today.
He is Joshua, the one who rests in the tabernacle and who ushers in the promise to us.
He is the curtain of the presence torn to provide access to the Spirit of God.
He is the judge, the judge, the payment, and he took on our sin.
He is Jacob wrestling with God, wounded by God, and finally blessed by God.
He is the brazen serpent lifted high for all of us to gaze upon, yet in his iniquity brings healing from the serpent's bites.
This is Jesus.
He is the center of our church.
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He is the goal of our pursuit, and he is the one whom we love.
Friends, if that doesn't answer the question for you, we're going to end today's service with an answer that even Jesus thought was wonderful.
Matthew 16, 15 through 17 says, But you, he asked them, who do you say that I am?
And Simon Peter answered, you are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.
Jesus responded, Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven.
Jesus, I want to thank you for revealing yourself to us in Genesis chapter 5.
I want to thank you for showing us your promise and your faithfulness in Psalm chapter 23.
And Jesus, thank you for being our mighty king, our faithful friend, and the goal of our pursuit.
We, as the body of Christ, fully recognize that everything we do is to have relationship with you.
In your name we pray, Jesus.
Amen.
God bless you guys.
Have a good Sunday.
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