Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Right now we're on a series on the priesthood.
[00:00:06] And I don't know about you, but I've been so encouraged. In week one, Pastor Jim kind of came out with this whole idea of repentance, metanoia. Not just a changing of the mind, but a blowing of the mind. Has anybody. Have you had your mind blown a time or two over the course of this series?
[00:00:31] I hope so. But God's speaking to us, so let's open his word first. Peter, chapter two and verse five. I think we've got it coming up on the screen there. There it is. It says this as you also as living stones are being built up, a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is also contained in the scripture. Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone elect precious. And he who believes on him will by no means be put to shame. Therefore, to you who believe, he, this is Jesus is precious. Those who are disobedient, the stones which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. And a stone of stumbling, a rock of offense. They stumble, being disobedient to the word to which they were also appointed. Verse nine. But you. Everybody say, but you.
[00:01:30] But you are. Maybe we should read this part together. You are what? A chosen generation. A royal priesthood. A holy nation. His own special people. That you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light. Now another verse. Exodus, chapter 19.
[00:01:54] This is. Moses has now just led the children of Israel out of slavery. They're at the mountain, receiving an encounter from God. The law is being downloaded, and this is part of what the Lord speaks to Moses. Verse four. You have seen what I did to the Egyptians. How I carried you on eagle's wings and brought you to myself. Now, if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure. Everybody say, special treasure.
[00:02:26] I'm going to come back to that later from amongst all the peoples on the earth. For the earth belongs to me. You will be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is God's word, and we believe it to be true. You may be seated.
[00:02:50] I don't know about you, but one of the things that I love is, like origin stories, even, like, dealing with superheroes and stuff. I like to see what made them. How did Batman become Batman? How did Superman become Superman? I know there's the nerd in me. I've had people coming in my office and they see my mandalorian helmet in my office and trying to convince my wife to let me hang up a lightsaber in my office, but she won't let me. But I. I'm a nerd for that kind of stuff. I enjoy that kind of stuff. But I like to see how people became what they are. I love seeing, like, entrepreneurs. You know, we can look at some of the wealthiest people on the planet, but I love seeing these shots of them, like in the garage with the handwritten banner Amazon. And to see their humble beginnings and to see what it's become. Even more than that, I. I love the heroes in the faith. I love hearing the miracle testimonies of Kathryn Kuhlman. I love hearing about the mighty revivals under William Seymour. Most of my heroes are preachers like this. But I love not just hearing the miracle testimonies in what God did, but how did they get there?
[00:04:06] Where did they begin? See, we celebrate people like Kathryn Kuhlman and the miracle anointings and the mighty revivals. But you realize that the divorce she went through, that the rejection that she faced being a female minister in a time where that wasn't widely accepted, some of those tensions and some of those missteps, some of those broken moments, were actually what formed her into the woman of God that we know and recognize and celebrate. You realize William Seymour was a man. A black man in a time of racial segregation, wasn't allowed to sit in the classroom with the theologians, had to sit outside of the classroom, had one. One eye, had physical handicaps, and yet he pushed through. And God used that to form one of the greatest revivalists in human history. I love the origin stories. I love seeing the making of a man of God, the making of a woman of God. And I want to encourage each and every one of you, as we've been sharing on the priesthood over the last few weeks. Maybe you're here and you're hearing these testimonies, and you're hearing examples, and I. And you look around the room and say, well, that's great for Pastor Hennessy.
[00:05:20] That's great for Pastor Jeremy. That's great for you, Jacob. But that's not my story.
[00:05:27] That's not my story. Can I just encourage you? Today, I have felt unequipped for literally everything I have ever stepped into.
[00:05:37] I'm a drug addict that got saved by grace. I don't know who my dad is. People ask me all the time, is Marco your dad?
[00:05:45] Maybe. I don't know. He's not. I know that because I know him. But, like, I didn't grow up with my he's not my dad. Just so you know, don't let that rumor get around.
[00:05:55] But I. I don't know my dad. My. My dad, from what I know, he'd start new families every couple of years. And so I literally, I have white siblings and black siblings and asian siblings, and I've got one full blooded brother. My family is a mess.
[00:06:09] And I look at this and, like, what. What God has raised me in. But what I'm recognizing more and more and more is that everything I've done, God has prepared me for. And I could allow my family history or my history of addiction, I could look at the trajectory that my family was on and say, these are all the reasons that God could never use me. Or I could say, that's my origin story. This is the making of a man of God. This is how God formed me to be the king and the priest, that. That I'm walking in that identity today. And I want you to know that's your story as well. I don't know what your brokenness is. I don't know what your family history is. I don't know what your sin record is. But I'm here to tell you that if you would allow God to. If you would allow God to work in you, he can turn all those things for his glory.
[00:07:03] He can. And so I'm here today. The title of my message is, you were born for this. In fact, let's make it personal. I was born for this. I want you to say that I was born for this.
[00:07:16] I know that you aren't all that God wants you to be just yet, but you will be. You're in process right now. And I'm telling you, if we're going to see mighty revival poured out, if we're going to see change and transformation, mighty reformation begin to sweep our cities and our states and the United States and all around the world. I'm telling you, we need some people who grab hold of this. I was born for this. And so I want to come today out of our verse is first Peter two. We just read it earlier. And the very first thing that it says, I've got four declarations we're going to make over ourselves today. I don't want you to just take this as. That's a neat idea. Oh, that's just the sermon series that we're in. I want you to take this, and I want you to declare them over your life. So the first one is first. Peter two nine says, you are a chosen, chosen generation.
[00:08:11] So here's what I want you to write down. Here's what I want you to say. I am chosen.
[00:08:18] I am. Everybody say it together. I am chosen. Come on, tell your neighbor. You are chosen.
[00:08:27] That's a big deal. You say, well, what are you chosen for? I know today we're going to pray for healing, because some of you have scars from being the kid who wasn't picked for dodgeball. You weren't picked for the team. But I have good news for you today. You were chosen by God. You were chosen by God. See, the Bible says, this, blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is Ephesians one three, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world.
[00:09:05] Friend, he called you before you did anything to earn the calling. He called you before your life played out the way that he has. No, he's got a purpose. He's got a destiny for you, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. Watch this. Verse five. Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ, to himself according to the good pleasure of his will. Oh my.
[00:09:36] What were you chosen for? You can look at this. You can look at romans. You can look at a few different examples. And what I find interesting is every time you see the word predestined, you'll see another idea that's attached to it. Now, I know the minute that I say predestined, a number of you immediately like, okay, what's he gonna say about this? How do we view this? And I know, man, I had the debates around the table all throughout Bible school. Somebody actually called it out. They knew the theologian that I was referencing in the first service. When I talked about, I'd sit in one classroom and hear one of our instructors affirm predestination and God's foreknowledge, and on and on and on. And I'd literally walk across the hallway in Bible school to another classroom where someone said, all of that. All of that is the doctrine of demons, and you can't believe that. And so, boy, we had some of the most fun conversations about predestination. I mean, I'll have a Bible study with you sometime if you ever want to talk about these things. But here's the problem.
[00:10:39] We spent all of our time in Bible school arguing about predestination and what that actually means and what is foreknowledge and all of these things, and we miss the entire point of the verse, the verse says, this is. Again, this is verse five. That he predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself. Do you know that you were chosen to be his son? You were chosen. See, when we contend for revival as an evangelist, when I'm appealing to people come to Christ, I'm not just praying that people, like, get their fire insurance so they can escape hell. That's important, friend. But I'm telling you, it's so much more than that. God's adding you to his family now. You're an heir with an inheritance. You want to know where this kingly anointing comes from? It comes from King Jesus, the king of kings and lord of lords. And you have been grafted into those promises. Oh, I feel the fire of God on this. This is a good promise for us. You were. Come on. I want you to say it again. I am chosen.
[00:11:54] You are adopted as sons. See, the Bible says in Romans 829 that Jesus is the firstborn among many brethren.
[00:12:04] You realize. Now, hear me. You're not.
[00:12:10] Should I say this? I'm gonna say this. You need to stop trying to identify yourself with Daddy Adam.
[00:12:17] Well, it's just my sin nature. No, the Bible says that Jesus was the last Adam.
[00:12:24] Jesus was the last Adam. So you don't have a sin nature like your daddy Adam. The moment you have come to Christ, guess what? You're starting to look like your father in heaven. You're starting to resemble Jesus more and more. As we come in a place of worship in the word, in prayer, and we're beholding the Lord, the Bible says we are being transformed into his glorious image. You say that's a trip. How's that even possible? Well, the Bible says in John 112, as many as received Jesus. To them, he gave the right to become children of God.
[00:13:05] As many as believe in his name, he has given you the right to become children of God. In a couple chapters later, in John three three, Jesus answered and said, most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Now, we know these verses, but let me just. Let me give you a little depth on this. When the Bible says that you must be born again, it's the greek word ganeo. Everybody say ganeo.
[00:13:37] It's translated born again. And it's literally where we get the word genes.
[00:13:45] The idea is not that you just. Well, I professed my faith in Jesus, and now I'm a Christian. So I'm gonna get rid of my slayer t shirt, and now I'm gonna get a christian t shirt. And I'm gonna. I'm gonna get my WWJD bracelet and I need to start going to church. That's all external and that's all wonderful and probably necessary. How not the WWJD bracelet. But. But understand, when we come into Christ, it's about so much more than. Here's the things that I have to do now.
[00:14:15] He literally comes into your DNA and he begins to regene you. In fact, when the Bible says as many as believe he gave the right to become children of God, it's the exact same word, ganeo become. To receive new genes as children of God. This is where Peter begins to talk about how you and I, who believe, we begin to be partakers of God's divine nature. Divine, by the way, means God.
[00:14:51] You are receivers and releasers of the God stuff.
[00:14:58] That's a big deal. That's a lot more than membership in a church and a new t shirt. I'm telling from your DNA, you have been transformed. Oh, my goodness. I don't know about you, but there's things in my DNA that I don't like. I don't like that I had an unfaithful father. I don't like that my bloodline is prone to addiction. I don't like that I have thinning hair.
[00:15:22] But in Jesus, I am receiving new jeans. So guess what? Jesus has got hair white like wool. I'm going to be like Pastor Jim one day. Hallelujah. I'm receiving a new nature. My flat feet are going away. Hallelujah. Come on. I'm telling you, you don't need to live in the bondage, in the addiction just because it's in your family line. New jeans, new nature. You're looking like. Come on. Tell your neighbor you look like Jesus.
[00:15:54] You were born for this.
[00:15:56] Now, secondly, so I am chosen. Now, secondly, I want you to say this. I am a royal priesthood.
[00:16:08] That's right. I am a royal priesthood. This again, comes out of our text. But you are a chosen generation. A royal priesthood. Now, we've been on this for a number of weeks, so I'm not gonna spend a lot of time here. But essentially, you gotta understand that our job as royal priests is to see heaven come to earth. We're uniting heaven and earth as priests. We come boldly before the throne of God. And you have access to the throne of God to present your needs, to present your praises, to present and ask God for solutions in the earth. And guess what? You have access. And God will speak to you and as God speaks to you, then we come as kingdom ambassadors, royalty who enforce in the earth what God has spoken to us in the heavens. This is a big deal. See, most of us, most of us live in one world or the other. We're good at the spiritual stuff or we're good at the natural stuff. Pastor Jim said it very well last week. It's like, why? Why do we feel like we have to choose between whether going to pray for the sick or build a hospital?
[00:17:23] Priests will contend for miracles, but those who have a kingly mindset says no. We can release solutions in the earth. We can pray God touch Uganda, save Uganda. And we can send missionaries. We can release people to go and do kids camps and basketball training and on and on and on. And we can have a hand that extends out in that area. God is releasing a dual anointing for kings and priests. What it will require of us is metanoia, repentance.
[00:18:00] Repentance does not just happen when I believe. Okay, I got a list of bad things I got to stop doing now so that I can be saved. No, metanoia should be something that's happening to us all the time.
[00:18:13] I don't know if you've ever prayed for somebody and seen them healed, but I remember the first time that happened for me, and it was a metanoia moment. It's like, whoa. I didn't know that I could pray for somebody and they recover. I know the Bible said that people said, but that just happened. I'll never forget. This was a metanoia moment for me. I was praying for a young man who began to manifest demonstration. I was about six months old in the Lord at this time. His face turns green. Different voice comes out of his mouth. It was awesome. And he stands up and is rearing his fists like this, and he comes at me. Now, I know another topic that we had debated in Bible school was this whole idea, what is the function of binding and loosing? Some people say, oh, that's about the demonic. Other people argue, no, it's not. It has nothing to do with this and that. Listen, I didn't debate theology in that time.
[00:19:05] When this guy's coming at me with his fist, I just said, I'm gonna go with the demon guys. I bind you in the name of Jesus. And I watched from the unseen realm. It was as if somebody grabbed this young man by the wrist and drew his hand to the side of his body. This was a metanoia moment for me. It was the first time I realized that at my declaration, things in the unseen realm literally begin to shift and can transform things in the earth.
[00:19:37] Let me give you another metanoia moment I will never forget. There was a hawaiian man that I used to pray with on a regular occasion. And for those who have ever prayed with people on a regular basis, you know, there's few things that you can do to get closer to somebody than to pray with them on a regular basis. There's an old hawaiian man. His name was Keoki.
[00:20:01] He and his wife, they'd come every day for prayer. And I'll never forget the day when Keoki got hit with a massive stroke.
[00:20:11] They rush into the hospital. He survives the stroke. We go and visit him on the first day, and he looks pretty good. I mean, we're talking to him. He's able to give us thumbs up. He's able to communicate with some sign language, but not able to talk. And we immediately begin to pray for a miracle. We didn't pray comfort prayers, Lord. Just. Just take him home graciously. No. We were full of faith, believing for a miracle for him. For about three days, we contended. And I think it was the second day my wife and I went back, and I was shocked by what I saw. He'd been responsive. He had given us thumbs up. We had prayed and believed that God was working. We felt the anointing as we prayed. But when we went back a couple days later, he was gray, he was lifeless. He lost a lot of weight. We continued to pray. We continued to believe. But that night, Keoki passed away, and I had a moment where I was just honest with God. I don't know. If you talk to God honestly, you know, you can go to him with more than just your worship and your praise. You can come to him with your frustrations, your disappointments. God, we prayed for Keoki. We didn't pray weak prayers. We rallied people we anointed with oil. God, where were you in this?
[00:21:33] I remember being so frustrated and asking God, like, what is going on here?
[00:21:39] And I remember I was sitting in the sanctuary. I was sitting on the front row, just me and God just duking it out. And I said, goddess, we prayed by faith, and Kaoki died.
[00:21:51] Why did you let that happen?
[00:21:54] And I heard God speak to me as clearly as I've ever heard it.
[00:21:58] Jacob, Keoki is more alive than you are.
[00:22:06] I tell you, that messed with me.
[00:22:09] It was a metanoia moment. You realize that this life is compared to a shadow, compared to what we're going to enter into one day, that everything we see and feel and touch was created out of the unseen realm. The unseen realm is more real than what you and I see and experience around us right now. The Bible says that we are to look at the things which are not seen, but at the things which are. I'm sorry. We do not look at things which are seen, but at that which is not seen. For the things that we see are temporary, but the things that are not seen are, are eternal.
[00:22:48] Do you have anybody who you love?
[00:22:52] We sent out prayer requests.
[00:22:55] This is fresh in my mind. I wrote this message on Thursday, and yesterday we received news that my nephew died as he was being born.
[00:23:12] And it was shattering to my heart. The only reason I'm talking about it is because my family just made it public this just a few minutes ago.
[00:23:21] We prayed. Many of you prayed. We sent out something to the prayer team and to the pastors.
[00:23:27] And I'm just telling, I want you to hear my heart today, church.
[00:23:31] I'm not preaching to you. Just let's get motivated. Let's get. I'm walking this out right now.
[00:23:40] And there is, it's so real. I'm having to remind myself today that Cole, he's more alive than I am right now.
[00:23:52] And as much as it grieves my heart and I'm like, God, why? Why did you, why did you take him? What in the world is going on? I have to remind myself that I fix my eyes not on what is seen, because this is temporary, but I fix my eyes on what is unseen because it is eternal. You realize Jesus was uniquely anointed to operate in both of these realms as kings and priests. He would say things like, if you follow me, you're going to see the angels of God ascending and descending upon the son of Mandev. That's priestly, that's unseen realm. Because everybody in the natural looked at Jesus and I don't see any angels. I don't see open heavens over you. And yet when he ministered, it was clear that angels were there. He said, I don't, I don't do anything unless I see the Father in heaven doing it. You look around, I don't see the Father, who's he talking about? But when he would minister, you would see the father's will being enacted. I only say what the father is saying. And again, I don't hear anything. But he's obviously hearing something because it's making change and transformation in the earth.
[00:25:05] This is what God is calling us to family. It's not just for Jesus. We don't look at Jesus and applaud him as the son of God. He's the firstborn among many brethren. And the way that he lived as a priestly kingdom was a prototype for what every one of our lives is supposed to look like as well.
[00:25:29] Hallelujah. I know my story made you heavy, didn't it?
[00:25:34] But it's real.
[00:25:36] It's real. Here's the third one. Is everybody still doing okay? Check on your neighbor. Make sure they're good. You good? All right. Just ask them. All right. Number three declaration. I am holy.
[00:25:51] I am holy. I want you to write that down. I want you to say it with your own mouth, out of with your own faith right now. Say it. I am holy.
[00:26:00] See, the Bible says, you're a chosen generation. You're a royal priesthood king and priest, a holy nation. Now, I know people are ready for me to go Hellfire, brimstone. I'm a rebuke you about all your sin, and you need to live pure lives. This is part of the problem with holiness.
[00:26:18] We have been taught that holy and pure are used interchangeably, and they're not.
[00:26:26] To be pure is not to be holy. To be holy is not to be pure. In fact, when you look at everything that the Lord is declaring over the children of Israel, he says, I'm going to make you a holy people.
[00:26:41] If you look at the King James Bible, which I like, it actually uses a different word. He says, I'm going to make you a peculiar people.
[00:26:49] Literally translates to weird.
[00:26:53] If you've ever been to Israel, it is kind of weird. I mean, the way that they trim their sideburns, the way that they wear their hats, the things that they eat and don't eat, but that's exactly what the Lord intended. Like, listen, you guys are going to be a spectacle to the entire world. You're going to be weird. You're going to be different. You're going to be set apart. That's literally what holy means, is to be set apart for God's purposes. Set apart for God's. I want you to say it. Set apart.
[00:27:23] I'm going to set some of you free. Some of you are in this religious mindset, and you think I'm disqualified from praying like a priest? I'm disqualified from being a kingdom ambassador in the earth. You feel like you're disqualified because you're not perfectly pure, so you must not be holy. Not so.
[00:27:44] Not. So you see what makes anointing oil holy?
[00:27:51] It's the same exact oil that you use when you're cooking it's. The same oil. And yet we believe that when we anoint the sick with oil, they will be healed. The Bible gives an entire chapter dedicated to how anointing oil is made and the functions of anointing oil. Do you know what makes that anointing oil special?
[00:28:12] Holy.
[00:28:14] I'm going to take this oil and instead of cooking with it, I'm going to use it for prayer.
[00:28:22] That's it. I'm setting it apart for kingdom purposes. I'm setting it apart for God to use. And when it is set apart, oh, my goodness. All of a sudden, a capacity for anointing is upon it. It has been set apart, and now God can rest upon it. And so we can believe by faith when we anoint with oil, they will be healed. We do the same exact thing with communion. What's special about this bread? What's special about this juice or this wine? Nothing. But when we set it apart for God and for his purposes, all of a sudden it's holy and it's life. Transformative. Your tithe.
[00:29:06] Your tithe, you say, I'm going to take a portion of my income and I'm going to set it aside. Holy.
[00:29:14] I'm going to set it aside. I'm not going to pay bills with this. I'm not going to go to the movies with this. I'm not going to. This is the Lord's. I'm returning it to his house. And all of a sudden a heavenly capacity opens up over your giving. Where the devourer is rebuked, where the windows of heaven are open, blessings are being poured out so abundantly, you can't contain it. The only difference is it's holy.
[00:29:41] Set apart.
[00:29:43] I'm holy.
[00:29:46] You realize the moment I surrendered my life to Jesus, I belong to you, Jesus. I didn't get it all figured out. I didn't have perfect purity. I still. I still am working things out, man. I still get frustrated with people. I still get frustrated with God. I've been frustrated over the last 48 hours of unanswered prayer.
[00:30:09] But I'm holy because it's my life for the gospel. It's my life for you, Jesus, use me. And as we set ourselves apart, guess what? We receive a capacity for anointing, for supernatural things to rest upon and flow in and through our lives. Come on, I want you to say it out of your own mouth. I am holy.
[00:30:33] I know some of you believe that now. I am holy. If you don't feel like you're holy, if you've never set your life apart for God. We're gonna pray for that today. This is how you can see drug addicts running great businesses. This is how you can see people with broken marriages running marriage counseling. This is how you can see people who were gripped with cancer, praying on the sick and seeing them recover. How does that happen?
[00:30:56] Holy.
[00:30:58] My life for the gospel, my business for the gospel.
[00:31:04] Here's the last one.
[00:31:07] Wow. I'm doing good on time.
[00:31:13] You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people.
[00:31:23] To look back. You remember at the beginning of the service, I read out of Exodus the Declaration of God. Very similar language you're gonna be to me, kings and priests, a holy peculiar people. Then he says, a little different than the text we read here in one Peter, you will be to me my own special treasure.
[00:31:47] You will be to me my own special treasure. I want you to. This is, if you're taking notes, write this down. This is our fourth declaration. I am a treasure.
[00:32:01] I am a treasure.
[00:32:05] Now, I know some of you that's not hitting your heart just yet, but this was a major metanoia moment for me. Just a couple years ago.
[00:32:15] I realized that so much of the way that I live, washing performance based, I realized that so much of what I did was out of religion, just religious obligation, religious duty. This is why repentance, metanoia needs to remain central to our walk with the Lord, because he wants to constantly blow your mind about new things.
[00:32:38] He wants to show you things that you never saw about yourself. He wants to show you things that you've never seen about your family, about your marriage, about your cause.
[00:32:47] This was a metanoia moment. Matthew 1344.
[00:32:52] Jesus says, the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid. And for joy over it, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field again. The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who when he has found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. Now, there's a pretty famous sermon out there, and I was always raised to think that the pearl of great price. Oh, that's Jesus. Jesus is the pearl of great price. And if I want to receive the pearl of great price, I need to give my life to Jesus, and then I can receive him. The problem is, it's bad hermeneutics. Hermeneutics is the study of scripture. In basic hermeneutics, you understand. You can understand a lot of things in the Bible if you just keep on reading the Bible. Like, you get confused over reading revelation. Like, what's all this stuff about the dragon? The dragon, the dragon. And then you keep on reading and you'll see, oh, the dragon. The serpent of old Satan. Got it. Keep on reading. You'll understand. This is an example of that. What happened is jesus was telling parables all throughout Matthew twelve and Matthew 13. You can check me on this. He's telling parables, and he's telling a parable about a sower. And jesus goes and he tells his disciples. Let me explain this to you, boys. The man who sowed seed is the son of man. It's Jesus.
[00:34:29] The field that he sowed into is the world.
[00:34:34] The field that he sowed into is the world. You can see this in verse 37. You don't have to turn, but write it down. You can study it later.
[00:34:43] And then he immediately tells the parable about. The merchant tells the parable about a man who is seeking treasure, and he finds a treasure and he hides it in a field.
[00:34:58] He already told us that the man seeking the treasure is Jesus. He already told us that the field is the world. And this is good theology. You understand Jesus for the joy that was set before him, laid down his life. He gave everything to buy the field and everything that was in the field. He gave his life to redeem us. This is good theology, so we understand Jesus, okay? Jesus is the merchant. Jesus is the one seeking treasure. And he looks into the world, and he gives his life to redeem. Redeem the entire world unto himself.
[00:35:39] That means the treasure is you.
[00:35:47] That means the pearl of great price is you, friend. This messed me up when I began to understand it. Like Jesus, while I was in the world, not after I've come out. And now I've got all these gifts and talents that are to be admired. No. When I was in the world, before I was redeemed, I was steeped in sin, I was dirty, I was broken, I was buried.
[00:36:17] And he looked. And another translation says he was mesmerized by the extravagant treasure.
[00:36:28] Jesus looks at you. No matter where you're at, this may be your first day to ever come to church.
[00:36:35] And Jesus looks down at you and says, you.
[00:36:40] You're worth me buying.
[00:36:42] You're worth me giving my everything. The Bible says, for the joy that was set before him. He looks at you and says, I'll give everything because I'm mesmerized by this treasure.
[00:36:57] Oh, Jesus, help us to see our lives the way you see us.
