"A Simple Presentation into The Book of ACTS" - Chapter 10, Part 3 - Bro. John "Ernie" Perez

We continue this deep dive into the Book of ACTS with Bro. John "Ernie" Perez.  Grab your notebooks, your pen and your Word...Let's go!

“Receiving Jesus” can sound like a single moment, but Scripture paints something sturdier: repentance that turns your life around, faith that endures, and a covenant that reshapes how you live. We open John 1:12-14 and ask the hard question many churches avoid, what does it really mean to receive Christ if nothing changes afterward? From Jesus’ first message in Matthew 4:17 to the call of obedience in John 14:15, we talk plainly about surrender, conviction, and the daily direction of a repentant life. 

We also dig into why the name of Jesus is central, not as a religious slogan but as authority tied to belief, baptism, and a transformed heart. Walking through Mark 16, Acts 2:38, Acts 3, and Acts 4, we connect the early church’s boldness and miracles to faith “in his name,” and we clarify why spiritual power cannot be separated from repentance and covenant. If you’ve ever wondered why some people can say “Jesus” all day and still feel stuck, this study offers a Bible-based framework that brings clarity without hype. 

Then we zoom out to the breathtaking claim of the Gospel: the Word became flesh and “tabernacled” among us. Using Colossians 1 and 2, we explore the fullness of God dwelling in Christ bodily, and we land on a truth that changes how you see the cross: God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. We close with a simple challenge to slow down, make room for God to speak through Scripture and godly teaching, and live in a way that proves you’ve truly received him. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.

Ways to Give at https://m3mi.org...Thank you for your seed!  :)

Transcript

Welcome And Study Setup

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Thank you so much for joining me on the journey to the next one. Welcome to Simple Assembly Ship on the Field Herd. I'm your hello, Sister Diana. Thank you so much for being with us today. What a wonderful Wednesday. Hope day. Yes. I got the lovely crowd. I got the lovely crowd this morning. Yeah, we're just we're continuing on our journey into the Gospel of St. John. Brother Ernie is here to do a presentation on that to continue. If you were with us the last time we did chapter one, and we were in part two of chapter one, we're gonna go into part three of chapter one of the gospel of Saint John. It's a very powerful, powerful study. I had asked all of you to share the last time we did it. It was just fantastic. Everybody ready? Got our notebooks, got our pens, and most of all, we've got our word. So we're ready to go. Ready. Amen. All right, go ahead.

Receiving Christ Versus A Ritual

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All right. So we left off last time with verse 12. And so I'm gonna read 12, 13, and 14, and we're gonna close out my last comments on verse 12 and then progress, okay? So John chapter 1, reading from verse 12, but as many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. All right. So we had left off talking about verse twelve, and my last comment took us to Matthew chapter 4, verse 17, where Jesus was preaching in repentance. And that's because when we were talking about what does it mean to receive Him, what does it mean to receive Christ? And I wanted us to kind of hone in on this because there is a popular movement within Christianity to receive Christ. It happens in churches, it happens at conferences, it happens in stadiums at big rallies and things where where the preaching is ended, and either the preacher or the moderator, the host says, uh, all right, let's bow your head, everybody, close your eyes. If you're going to receive Christ, raise your right hand. And then if you have received Christ, come down and shake my hand. And coming to faith is a powerful thing. The people that are doing that generally have been touched powerfully by God and they're responding to the word. But that's not what it means to receive Christ. Matthew chapter 4, verse 17, which is the foundation of the ministry of Jesus Christ, says that then came Jesus. From that time he began to preach, saying, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Where there is no surrender, there is no saying, I've got to do things different from now on. Remember, we've talked about the word repentance much. It means if you're going north, if you repent, you turn around and you start traveling south. And as long as you're traveling south, you are continuing to repent. But if you stop, you're no longer repentant. You've got to complete the journey. So Jesus said, He that endureth unto the end, the same shall be saved. So now let's look at the Gospel of Matthew, and we're going to look at chapter 18. And as always, I suggest you go around and you read what comes before and what comes after, after the study. But I want to focus in something here that Jesus said to his disciples. I'm not sure how many were gathered there. It could have been 12, it could have been 24, it could have been 70, but he's talking to his disciples. And at verse 20 of chapter 18, he says, For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Now, what why did I fall into that? Because walking with Jesus oftentimes takes more than me, myself, and I. I need the fellowship of the brethren. And Jesus sent them out to witness

Repentance As A Lifelong Turn

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how? By twos. And then here he's reminding them when two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. But he's just one person. So if he's talking to 12 couples, 20 couples, 30 couples, he's saying, no matter where you are, if you're gathered in my name, I am going to be there. So when we set about trying to bring people to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, we're not going to achieve what we want without invoking his name. Aren't we preaching in the name of Jesus? Aren't we praying in the name of Jesus? How important is that? It's a very familiar scripture for you. Mark chapter 16, verses 17 through 20. According to Saint Mark, as scholars assume that his gospel was narrated to him by the Apostle Peter, beginning with verse 17. Jesus says to them, these are his parting words now, and these signs shall follow them that believe. In my name they shall cast out devils, they shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents. If they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them. They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. So then, after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word with signs following. They didn't just take what Jesus gave them and set down. They went out into the world. So then to receive Christ is to believe and to be baptized. And these signs shall follow them that believe. So to receive the Lord Christ is to believe to the place where it changes your life. Luke 24. We're looking at this. Luke, according to his research, what he learns about the last words of Jesus, beginning at verse 44, his last words with the apostles. And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning me. Then opened he their understanding that they might understand the scriptures. And he said to him, Thus it is written, thus it is behooved, that Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sin should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Repentance. How can you say you've received Christ if there's not repentance in your life? He who is holy and pure and righteous, you experience him. And we all carry this carnal nature with us. And when we experience Christ, our conscience should be smitten. You know the beautiful thing about guilt? Guilt can lead to repentance and repentance. People go to repentance, the Bible calls it the place of death and of dying because you're dying out to your old life. But it is there that hope is birthed.

Power And Authority In Jesus’ Name

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You rise from the repentant experience knowing I intend to follow God. I have hope. Jesus is with me. Jesus loves me. Jesus cares about me. Let's look at the Gospel of St. John for a moment, chapter five. And we're gonna go to chapter five. Oh, I'm in the wrong chapter. No wonder I can't see it. New Bible. Chapter 5, verse 43. Jesus says something here. I am come in my father's name, and ye receive me not. If another shall come in his own name, him you will receive. So if you're gonna receive me, you're gonna understand something about this name. You can't receive him without identifying with a name. And that name is Jesus. John 14. John verse 14. Chapter 14, verse 15. Jesus says to his disciples, these are the ones who've supposedly already received him, right? Right. If you love me, keep my commandments. Right. If we're not keeping his commandments, what have we received? If we're saying, I receive what you teach, Lord, I receive what you preach, Lord, but my life is not changing to line up with the conviction of my heart that says these things God disapproves of, I haven't received Him. Remember, we talked about there is the Jesus of Scriptures, and then there is the Jesus that has been created in the minds of people. Acts chapter 2, verse 38. I know all y'all are familiar with that verse. I'll read 37 and then 38. They had been listening to Peter preach all about Jesus from the prophets and from the Psalms. And then he told them, You crucified him, you crucified the Christ. Verse 37 says, Now when they heard this, the people, the people heard this, they were pricked in their heart, their conscience fell on them, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? So they heard this. There was at least a few of them that conversed and talked about it and came to the conclusion he's right. What do we do now? We crucify Jesus. Here's how you receive Christ. This is the first time salvation is preached to anyone after the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. First Peter preaches who Jesus is. When they are persuaded of who Jesus is, and they agree that's who Jesus is, what do we do about this? He said, repent. So if receive Christ, like it is commonly spoken of in many churches, just means raise your hand, shake hands with the preacher, sign this card, send money every month, give us your tithes, be in attendance. Peter didn't say any of that. He said, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins. And ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Notice he said, Ye shall receive. Who was he talking to? Everybody that was listening. He didn't say some of you, those of you that are really spiritual. Every one of you is to repent, every one of you is to be baptized in the name of Jesus, and every one of you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. And since it's a gift, I don't have to be guilty over it. So please don't go around hanging your head, I didn't speak in tongues. Go around thanking God for the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and the speaking in tongues will take care of itself. Right. You can't make it happen anyway. You were never designed to make it happen. Acts chapter 3, verse 6. We talked about receiving him and the invoking of his name. Peter and John were on their way to pray at the temple. It was the hour of prayer. There was a lame man there who'd been begging. As you read further in the book of Acts, you'll find he was about above 40 years old. He was there every day begging. Verse 6, then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have, give I thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. And the man was healed. To receive Christ is to understand there is power in the invoking, in the applying of his name to your life. But it's not so much woofy dust. If you don't come to the place of faith and repentance, you can say that name all day long and nothing will happen. It takes covenant for the name of Jesus to have power in your life. Verse 16 of the same chapter. Peter explaining what happened to the man at the gate called beautiful and how he was healed. He says, regarding Jesus and his name, through faith in his name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. You all saw it. It happened in the name of Jesus. We identify miracles with the name of Jesus. And before we move on from this, one more scripture. In Acts chapter 4, when they're having to defend themselves for using the name of Jesus, Peter finally says to the council who's examining him, be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead. Even by him does this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at naught of you builders, which has become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Did the apostle Peter understand what it meant to receive Christ? Yes. If he did, then if he was in agreement with John, then he wasn't all about, please raise your right hand, please bow your head, close your eyes. Please say, Jesus, I know I'm a sinner and I receive you now. Where there is no repentance, what are we believing then? Is God holy? Didn't Jesus begin his ministry preaching, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand? What has changed since then? Nothing. Alright, now I'm going to read again verses 13 and 14

Acts 2 Repent And Be Baptized

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of John chapter 1, and we'll travel on from there. I know I've been here a long time. All right. We read 12, as many as received him. Verse 13. Those who believed on him in his name, verse 13 says, which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of men, but of God. These are not born from their mother's womb. This birth is by a miracle of God. And Jesus is going to get real plain about this. This is a second birth. And in John chapter 3, verses 1 through 8, he talks about being born again. He tells it to Nicodemus, Nick, I'm glad you're here. You need to know you got to be born again. Or else you cannot see the kingdom of God. And when Nick says, please explain it, Jesus goes on to define it. If you want to look there with me, John chapter 3, verses 1 through 8. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher. Come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him. Now, so far Nicodemus hasn't asked a question. He's just stated why he's there. I'm here because I can see what's going on in your life, Jesus. So Jesus responds to that and says, in verse 3, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. You've seen a lot of things, Nicodemus, but you've not yet seen the kingdom of God, because you got to be born again for that. Verse 4, Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Can you imagine the consternation of a man who understands reproduction totally different than we do now? See, we we have a lot of scientific facts now. We've been able to study human anatomy. We got ideas about conception and ingestation and all these things that precede birth. When he says you got to be born again, Nick has one concept. I've seen calves born. I've seen sheep and goats born. I've seen horses born. I got children. I know how they were born. What do you mean, born again? I can't go into my mother's womb a second time and be born. Verse 5, Verily, verily, Jesus says, I say unto you, except a man be born of water and of spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is flesh, that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto you, you must be born again. The wind blows now. He's describing born of the spirit. Listen, the wind blows where it listened. That is, the wind blows wherever it will. And thou hearest the sound thereof. You hear it, you know it. You know it's happening, it's recognizable. Your senses tell you, you can hear it. But canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth, so as everyone that is born of the Spirit, you can hear it. But you didn't see it coming, and you didn't see it going. This is the baptism of the Holy Ghost. John chapter 1, find me verse 14. And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And the word which

Covenant Faith Behind Miracles

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was in the beginning, which was with God, which was God, through whom all things were made. The word who in him was life, and the life was the light of men. This is the word that was made flesh, made human, and dwelt among us. I really love what the Tree of Life translation says there. It says, Tabernacled among us. And that goes so well with God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. Tabernacled among us. John's testified that we beheld, we saw his glory. Remember, he's writing this, I don't know how many years after the death, burial, and resurrection. You have it in your notes. I'm sorry. I don't remember exactly when scholars think John wrote his gospel. But he testifies, we saw his glory. Who is he that became human and tabernacled among us? That's Jesus, right? Who is the us? Who is the we? The disciples and all those that saw Jesus resurrected. That is the we literally, we beheld, we literally saw, we looked upon the Christ. There are many witnesses still alive at the time of this writing. You remember Paul wrote to the Corinthians and said he was seen of above 500 Jesus was at one time. And then he tells them, and the greater part of them which are alive and remain with us today. In other words, you want me to get some and come talk to you? You want to talk to an eyewitness of the resurrection? You don't believe me? There's hundreds of eyewitnesses alive. If you went to court right now and you said, I got hundreds of witnesses that this is the robber. Is the jury going to believe hundreds of witnesses? What's the point of having witnesses? To confirm what was seen and what was done. This we that looked upon the fulfillment of God's promise. That promise was made in Genesis chapter 3, verse 15, first. The first time the promise was made, God says to Eve, I'm sorry, God's cursing the serpent. And he says, Of Eve, and I will put enmity between thee, Satan, and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed, and it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Woman has no seed. This is the first prophecy of a virgin birth. And he that's born of the virgin will crush your head. Go to Genesis 12. Genesis 12, and I'm going to read verse 3. God is speaking to Abraham, and he says, I will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curseth thee, and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed. How does that happen, Abraham? Because one of the descendants of Abraham is Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, the Messiah, the only begotten Son of God. So what does it mean when we say we beheld his glory? This is whose glory we're talking about. Look at Genesis chapter 49, verse 10. I'm a little slow on the draw myself, so be with me. There's a prophecy here that Jacob gives concerning his son Judah. He says, The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh, that is the Messiah, come, and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. The people are being gathered unto Christ. They will be gathered unto Christ, who will come from the tribe of Judah. Isaiah chapter nine.

Born Of Water And Spirit

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This is often called the Christmas scripture. I'm going to read verses six and seven. Isaiah prophesies, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called wonderful counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice. From henceforth, even forever, there is an eternal quality to the Son given. Even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. This child born is called wonderful counselor. This Son, the mighty God, the Son is called the Mighty God. No human can be God. The everlasting Father. How can the Son be the Father? The eternal Father, and the Prince of Peace. This is a mystery that will unfold in the person of Jesus Christ. Finally, in Isaiah, we'll look at chapter 35. Then we'll jump out of Isaiah. Isaiah 35, and I'm going to read verses 4 through 6. The man of God prophesies. God tells him, say to them that are of a fearful heart, be strong. Fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance. Even God with a recompense, he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as in heart, and the tongue of the dumb sing. For in the wilderness shall waters break out and streams in the desert. What are we talking about? Do you remember when John was in prison? And he sent some of his disciples to ask Jesus, all right, do I have it right? It really is you, Jesus, right? Isn't it you? And so they hung around with Jesus for a little while. And they watched him minister. And then Jesus tells them, Go tell John what you have seen. And Jesus quotes from Isaiah 35. The eyes of the blind are being opened, ears of the deaf are being unstopped. The gospel is being preached to the poor. When is this going to happen? When your God comes, with what vengeance? You remember when the demons cried out, I know who you are, Jesus, Son of the Most High God. Are you come to torment us before our time? Yes. By the way, if a demon ever asks you that, are you here to torment me before my time? Just tell them, Yes, in Jesus' name. I cast you out in the name of Jesus. Of course I've come to torment you. Now, verse 14, rereading it. And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. He is the only begotten Son. Adam was

The Word Made Flesh

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the only created son. Genesis 1 and 27. God created Adam in his own image. The nation of Israel was the adopted son of God. Turn to the book of Hosea. Hosea chapter 11. Right after Daniel. Hosea chapter 11, verse 1. Listen to the way God speaks through the prophet about Israel. When Israel was a child, and I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt. So Israel was his adopted son. Adam was his created son. But Jesus is the only begotten son of God. There's not another one like him. We that are new the New Testament church are also the adopted children of God. Romans eight, fifteen. Did I say fifteen? Should have said fourteen, I'm sorry. Romans eight, fourteen. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God, then you incorporate fifteen with that, for ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the spirit of adoption. Whereby we cry, Abba, which is a word like daddy or my precious daddy, my precious father. Abba, Father. It's a tree a term of extreme endearment. Jesus came into the world via procreation, that is through the womb of Mary. Thank you for your patience. We're still in John chapter one. Verse fifteen now. John bare witness of him and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake. He that cometh after me is preferred before me, for he was before me. How was he before John? John was born at least three to six months before him. Because in the mind of God, Jesus existed in eternity. And the concept, the imagination of God became a reality in the womb of Mary. So John looks at him and says, Hey, this is expression of eternity. He was before me. This is a demonstration of him that is eternal. John the Baptist testified about Jesus. Matthew chapter three, verses one and two. In those days came John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judah and saying, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Who was following him? Who was he preparing the way for? Jesus. Jesus. So John testified of Jesus before he came. Verse 16 is pretty powerful. Of his fullness, and of his fullness have all we received and grace for grace. Now of his fullness is a big deal. John in the opening of his gospels declares, he declares there, in Jesus is the Word, who is the life, who is the light of men, and that in Jesus we see a full and complete revelation of God. Now remember, God fills all time and space, right? Not long ago we were talking about how God spoke through the prophet Isaiah and said, The heavens is my throne, the earth is my footstool. So some 700 years before Christ, Isaiah goes outside to verify that. He looks up at the heavens. He looks as far to the left as he can. He cannot see the end of the heavens over there. He looks as far to the right as he can. He cannot see. He looks as far in front of him, he cannot see. Look, there is no end to the heavens. He cannot see the last star. No. He cannot see. There's a Milky Way. Maybe you can see that with the naked eye. What's beyond it? I don't know. There is no end to it. So when he says the heavens is my throne, he's giving us perspective. How ought we to think about God? How big is he? How vast is he? He said, The earth is my footstool. Okay. Isaiah said he knew by the Spirit God sits on the circle of the earth. Makes me think Isaiah said it's a round world.

Prophecies Pointing To Messiah

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Yeah. He was not a flat earther. Okay. Don't go find your flat earth friends and get on their case. But my point is, Isaiah has revelation from God. The heavens is my throne, the earth is my footstool. Colossians one and nineteen. There's that word fullness again. We saw that word fullness in verse 16, of his fullness. Whose fullness? The fullness of Christ, who was the word, which was with God that was God. Of his fullness have we all received. Paul says, For it pleased the Father that in him in Christ should all fullness dwell. That is a complete revelation of God is in Christ. So as many as received him have received an opportunity to have relationship with the true and living God. So maybe uh maybe I want to say this right now. If you go to a football game and you go to a baseball game, you get a home run or you get the touchdown, what happens in the stadium? Man, they're going bonkers. Yeah. They're going nuts. That's my team. That's my guy. That's my athlete. That's I'm a fan, you know. And when they go there, the reason you know they're a fan is how they act and how they behave. Have we received Christ? Someone's got to know it by how we act and how we behave. How do we conduct ourselves that shows the world I have received the living God into my life? Chapter 2 of Colossians. Staying on this fullness thing for a moment. Verse 8 and 9. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in, how important is that word in? In him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Listen, I'm in this room. When God says he's pleased in his son, I know a lot of translators now using the word with, and maybe that's more compatible with English grammar. And with our culture, we say, I'm pleased with my child, I'm pleased with my spouse, I'm pleased with my friend. We don't say, I'm I'm pleased in Ralph over there. No, because Ralph is over there and you're over here. You're not in Ralph. But God said, This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. I'm one of those, I don't believe we should have changed that to with, because there's too many of the scriptures that you read that say God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. Right. John chapter 1, verse 17. For the law was given by Moses, but great and grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. And I'm gonna read verse 18. No man hath seen God at any time, but the only begotten Son, which is in the there it is again, in the bosom of the Father. He hath declared him. Well, if God fills all time and space, we are definitely in him. If I had the glass in my hand right now, we would say the glass is here with us in the atmosphere, right? Yes. But the atmosphere is also in the glass. He was in the bosom of the Father, but the Father was in him. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. And and we could go back to Colossians one fifteen, and you got that already. So let's look at Exodus thirty-three and twenty. Exodus thirty-three, verse twenty. God said to Moses, Thou cannot see my face, for there shall no man see me and live. The invisible God didn't have a face, as it were, to show Moses. No, you see my hinder parts. Are you sure? Listen to me. God is a spirit and he fills all time and space. The heavens is his throne. Look up there and see his face. Too powerful. Too magnificent. Note the location of the only begotten Son. I am in the Father. The Father is in me. The Gospel of Saint John again, chapter one. All right. Second Corinthians four and six. What I need to do is get me somebody to open my scriptures and read them for me, huh? And make this go quicker. Second Corinthians, chapter four, verse six.

Fullness Of God In Christ

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For God, who commanded the light to shine out of the darkness, hath shined in our hearts. Ooh, thank you, Jesus. To give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. See the word in again. In the face of Jesus Christ. The glory of God is to be seen in the face of Jesus Christ. Then look at chapter 5, verse 19. You hear me say this one all the time. It's one of my favorite scriptures. To whip that God was in Christ. Reconciling the world unto himself. That's so powerful to me. Because if God was in Christ, then when they slapped Jesus in the face, who was feeling it? Who made himself subject to human pain like that? The God who fills all time and space, the God who said, The heavens is my throne, the earth is my footstool, was in Christ. So then when they smacked Jesus in the face, when they punched him in the face, when they ripped out his beard by the fistful, God was in Christ. This knowledge did something to me. Because I had heard Madeline Murray O'Hare. If you don't know who she is, pretty famous atheist. When she said, You believe in a God who would send his only son down to suffer and die? And while he sits up there on the chair, and the Holy Ghost sits next to him on another chair, and the Son comes down here and he suffers the agony and he goes through everything. Madeline, you should have read God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. 19. God loved me so much. When he sent his only begotten son, it didn't mean that he wasn't a participant. So that means every lash upon the back of Jesus, God was sharing in the pain. The weight of the cross as he carried it. God decided, why would you experience something like that? To redeem us. That is love. So we'll quit there and we'll come back and start our next lesson with verse 19. Thank you so much for listening. I'm having a great time doing this. I'm gonna confess I'm a crazy old man who loves Jesus. Thank you so much for your time. Amen. What a great lesson. You know, we we so much we get so involved in things and the wording and and all of that that we overlook some of the most powerful parts of the scripture. I think sometimes that's a fault when we're doing devotionals, we're trying to get our 10 minutes in, our 15 minutes in, and we we overlook the powerful impact of what the scripture is trying to say. So I think it's no no greater love is than what Jesus did for us. Sometimes I think we try to make it too complex. We do, and and that's why we're trying to break it down into the simplicity of the gospel, right? And uh so I mean wonderful, wonderful

God Was In Christ Suffering

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study. Thank you, Brother Ernie. It is important what you just said. Yeah. Trying to hurry through a devotion and keep a schedule. Yeah. Yeah. You know, I don't know who schooled me in this, but early in my faith, and dating mama, and I I would take her home after we ate on Sunday. And I would go to the church and go in a little upstairs attic that was converted to a Sunday school room. And I would go there to pray. And not that I knew I could pray for hours, that's not it. I just wanted to be alone with God. Yeah, yeah. And some of your greatest experiences with Christ are when you have decided there's nothing more important than you, Jesus. Yeah, and I got time to sit here. Not I'm working you into my schedule. No, I'm working my schedule around you. Yeah. Yeah. Give God a chance. I and one of the saddest testimonies I've heard is when when Christians have said to me, God's never spoken to me. Oh what do you mean? Well, I never heard the voice of God. Would you have a Bible? Do you read it? Does it inspire you? Because God's speaking to you through the Bible. Yeah. Do you hear good preaching, good teaching? God's speaking through you, through the man of God, through the woman of God. Do you read godly material? Yeah. Is God not speaking to you? God can speak to you in dreams, visions. Yeah. God can speak to you through your unsaved neighbor who just happens to say something, they have no idea you've been praying seeking God for an answer. Yeah, yeah. And they speak it. Yeah. Nothing is by accident, Christian. Yeah. No, that's powerful. Wow, good stuff, good stuff. All right, y'all. So we were so excited that you joined us today. If you haven't, if you missed some parts of the study of the book of John, there's these three parts, four parts that we're going to be doing, I know, just on chapter one, because there's so much good stuff in there. But if you've missed any of that, go back. There's the introduction, and then we have part one, part two, and part three. And so thank you so much for tuning in. Please go like and follow and share and and put these put these studies on your Facebook pages, on your Instagram pages, and just share the word. I mean, just get it out there. So we so appreciate you. If you like to see Brother Ernie in in the flesh doing this uh on uh on YouTube, we go to our simple discipleship unfiltered YouTube and see that. So thank you so much. We're gonna end today with our slogan to go show some love, show some compassion, give mercy and go be Jesus today. Hey STU family. If you have enjoyed this podcast today, would you please like, follow, and share our podcast link? We would love to hear your feedback and your podcast topic suggestions. To do that, simply go to our website at www.m3mi.org, scroll to the more tab, and select contact us. Also, if this to you has been a blessing to you, you can also go to our website and select sew a seed. There are several ways that you can give, whether it's helpful, vinyl, cash app, or if there's an address to send a check or money order. All your gifts are tax deductible, and we thank you so much for sewing your seed with us. I want you to remember this. This person once said that if a person has given you their time, they've given you their most precious gift because they can never ever get it back. Thank you for sharing this day with me. We love you, we'll see you soon.