God’s Glory & Excellency Blossoming in the Desert

In this podcast episode, Chakari explores the prophecy from Isaiah 35 about God’s glory and excellency blossoming in the desert, symbolizing transformation from barrenness to abundant life through Christ’s presence. He highlights how Jesus, the Rose of Sharon, brings life, hope, and salvation to places and people once considered dead or unworthy. Chakari emphasizes that through faith in Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, believers become living temples reflecting God’s glory, joyfully blossoming even in spiritual deserts.

Key Scripture(s): The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God. (‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭35‬:‭1‬-‭2‬)

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Transcript

Intro

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Grace and peace family. Welcome to King Priest Ethos Podcast. I'm your host, Chris Jacari. If you're tuning in from YouTube, Spotify, Apple, iHeartRadio, or any listening platform, don't forget to like, subscribe, share, comment, follow the page, turn on notifications for a new message, and leave a rate and review. Let's get into the lesson.

Arabah Desert

Ezekiel’s Vision and the Symbolism of Waters from the Sanctuary

The Desert Blossoming as the Rose

Galilee, Nazareth, and the Mixed Nature of the Region

Jeroboam’s Sin and Its Consequences

Assyrian Deportation, Samaria, and the Mixed Population

Jesus’ Ministry Begins in Galilee: Light in Darkness

SPEAKER_01 0:50

God's glory and excellency blossoming in the desert. The reading will come from Isaiah chapter 35, verse 1 and 2. Isaiah chapter 35, verse 1 and 2. And it reads, The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it. The excellency of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord and the excellency of our God. Now this verse, these two verses are really profound, because it is saying here that this desert will rejoice, and it will blossom as the rose. A desert will blossom, and even it will rejoice with joy and singing. The desert will with joy and singing celebrate, will be in gladness, will be in good cheer, will be happy, even to the point that Lebanon and its glory and Carmel and Sharon and its excellency will be given unto the desert blossoming as the rose. That Lebanon's glory and Carmel and Sharon's excellency will see the glory of the Lord, the excellency of our God in the desert. Because it is blossoming. Now we're gonna break down three perspectives on here. The desert blossoming as the rose, Lebanon seeing the glory of the Lord, and three, Carmel and Sharon seeing the excellency of God. And may the Holy Ghost help us as we understand this text. It's gonna be deep with deep study, prayers, reading commentaries and the translations and you know receiving truths, spiritual truths about this. This is gonna be life-changing, and may God bless and anoint this sermon. So, here the desert blossoming as the rose. Now, what's interesting, he's saying the desert shall rejoice with jeer and joy and gladness. It will rejoice even with joy and singing, right? This word desert is important, is the Hebrew term Arabah, A-R-A-B-A-H, and it means a desert, a plain, a wilderness, an open level countryside. It's another words a champagne, right? Not like champagne bottle, but a champagne. C-H-A-M-P-A-I-G-N. Uh by pronounced it correctly, but it's an open level countryside. Now, Arabah, this desert, the Hebrew word desert Arabah, it is literally a prominent, largely sterile valley that forms part of the Jordan Valley, running north to south through Israel and Jordan. It stretches from the Sea of Galilee in the north to the Red Sea in the south. That's important right there. So it is a large sterile. The word sterile means not able to produce. So it is an unfruitful valley, and it forms in the Jordan. Parts of the Jordan, it runs through Israel and Jordan, right? From the Sea of Galilee in the north to the Red Sea. There's a point, the Sea of Galilee to the Red Sea. It is viewed as barren and is used 60 times in the Bible, in the Old Testament specifically. So this Jordan Valley, it forms the main part of the Arabah or the desert, the open level countryside, the wilderness, the plain. It extends from the southern end of the Sea of Galilee down past the Dead Sea, which is also called the Salt Sea, to the Red Sea. And at this lowest point near the Dead Sea, or in other words, the Salt Sea, the Arabah lies more than 400 meters or 1,300 feet below sea level, the lowest land point on earth. Now we gotta pay attention. Now its boundaries is west. On the west is the hills of Judea, Judean hills, and on the east is the plateau of Moab and Edom. So we can see clearly that this is like a sterile valley. Like there's it's not a fruitful place, right? Even the Bible references, let's read a couple of the references used in Deuteronomy 3 verse 17. The plain which is Arabah of the Jordan, from Chinnareth even unto the sea of the plain, even the Salt Sea, Arabah, the sea of the plain, the salt sea, the Dead Sea. In Joshua 12, verse 3, from the plain to the sea of Chineroth eastward, unto the sea of the plain, the salt sea. The south in Deuteronomy 34, verse 3, and the south and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees unto Zoar. So Jericho's valley has a plain. It is the Arapa, not able it's a sterile valley, right? And the climate and the climate is literally arid and sun scorched, barely any rainfall. Saline soil, new poor nutrients, sparse vegetation. The human settlement over there is limited, right? But it's possible because it's near Jericho. Even what's interesting about it is it is prophesied, it is literally prophesied that it will blossom as the rose. It's this place, this blossom, it will blossom. Literally, it's called the sea of the arapa. It is the Dead Sea, the salt sea. That's what it's called. Literally, the sea of the Arapah. Literally, it's called the Dead Sea. Why? Because extreme salinity. Virtue is literally, it makes it virtually lifeless for plants and animals. It is that there's zero life over there. It's absence of life, and it's caused by high mineral and salt content. So there's no life, nothing can grow. It's dead, right? But yet it says it will blossom as the rose. It will blossom. It's a promise. Even when you read Deuteronomy 2, when the when also what's interesting is remember, it extends from the Sea of Galilee unto the Red Sea. And it's interesting because when Moses, because think about it, when the children of Israel left Egypt after the firstborns were destroyed and Pharaoh let the people go, there was a route they could have taken that could have they could have gone through like the route which led to the Philistine area. It's like a shortcut to the promised land. But God brought them instead to the Red Sea. He brought them to this Arapah. That's why when you see the children of Israel, it's like you you send us here a place to die? Because this area is lifeless. There's no fruits, there's no vegetation, there's no population, there's nothing. They were thinking, oh, Moses is trying to kill them. And even though in the mind, in the carnal mind, it looks like it because there is no place. There's nothing. Even the Red Sea, they even said, let's go back to Egypt. Because literally, the area they were at has zero life. It's pointless. The Dead Sea is not has no life in it. No fishes, nothing. It's a salt sea, and there's it's barely hard to grow food and waters, not even the fishes can swim under in there. Literally lifeless for plants and the animals. But God's intervention, God's strength, His divine His divine thought process. Moses lifted up the staff and split the Red Sea. They all crossed through that area, that area that is dead, no life. And then when the Egyptians try to come, the Red Sea closed and they all drowned in it. Which God grant them victory. No longer in captivity of Egypt. And then when you read Deuteronomy 2, on their way to the promised land, to the land of Canaan, they literally journeyed their journey was through the wilderness by the way of the Arabah, from Eloth and Izion Giber towards Moab. So literally, even also Arabah is literally it's linked the territories of Edom and Moab. They were part of the territories throughout that area. Even King Og of Bashan, King Og of Bakshin, the giant, who the children of Israel defeated. His territory included the Sea of the Plain. In other words, the Dead Sea region. But yet the children of Israel took it over. They defeated the giants. So the Arabah, this desert, this wilderness was literally both a barrier and a gateway to the promised land. Think about it. They were complaining about there was no food, no water. The reason why it was like there was no food, there's no water, they're complaining. And when you think about it, in the mind in the human heart, the human mindset, they have a point. Because there's a route. I believe it's in Exodus 13. Like if they took in that route, they would have easily made it to the promised land. They wouldn't have to go through all these trials and afflictions and all these fiery serpents and the doing all this idol worship and all that stuff. No, he brought them to the Red Sea, the start of the Arabah, this area, this place that's no life, a place where no human dwelled at. No human settlement is little. But if they walk through the middle of there, the test to see which one is worthy, to see to test the hearts of the people. That he saved them Egypt. But because many unbeliev because many of them didn't believe, they were destroyed. It's like a testing ground to see which one is refined, which one can withstand. Remember, not all of them, not all of them made it to the promised land. Not all of them saw it, except the people of Joshua and Caleb. All of them, all of them were delivered from Egypt, but not all of them reached the promised land. Why? Because of their unbelief. This is how it easily describes Israel's journey to the promised land. Neither in Jeremiah 2, verse 6, chapter 2, verse 6 and 7, it says, Neither said they, Where is the Lord that brought us up out of the land of Egypt? Now listen to this. That led us through the wilderness. The Lord led them by a pillar of cloud by day, a pillar of fire by night. Led us through the wilderness. Led us through a land of deserts, the Arabah, and of pits, through a land of drought, the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through where no man dwelt. So literally, the place they were, the way they were getting to the promised land, no settlers, even when they wanted to travel, not the Egyptians, no nation, not even Moab or the inhabitants of Jericho, or the Moabites, or the you know, the E the Edomites and the Amorites, they never went through this passage, they never went through this route. Their cities might be near, they might be close to the territories, but they never camped out there. They never pitched their tents. Only the children of Israel did. In this place, this Arabah. No, there's no life, a lifeless place. They settled, they made camp. No man dwelt. However, they were brought into a plentiful country to eat the fruit thereof and its goodness. Glory to God. So despite this, despite this hard journey they went through, they still made it to the promised land. And they got they got territory. Joshua took all the land, the hills, the south country, the lands of Goshen, and the valley, and even the plain, the Arabah. A place there is no life. They have taken it. They took all that land. Even when you read in Joshua 15, verse 6 and 61, in Joshua 18, verse 22, the city, there was a Judah, the tribe of Judah inhabited this place called Beth Arabah, which is what? The house of the desert. It's the city of Judah near the Dead Sea. They got it. They owned it. When you read about David, when David and his men hid in the wilderness areas bordering the Arabah while fleeing Saul, that's in 1 Samuel 23, verse 24. And because of that, think about it. They had to Saul was trying to kill them. And they were hiding areas bordering the Arabah. And also, guess what? Through that, and through that escaping, through that escaping by David, he was made king. Even when Zedekiah was running away from Nebuchadnezzar, the last king of Judah, in Jeremiah 39, verse 4, he fled by way of the Arabah when Jerusalem fell. He he escaped, he tried to take a shortcut, right? You even read about you even read about Jeroboam the second, who restored territory from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the Arabah. We're gonna go back, we're gonna really go back to that about Jeroboam the second. But yes, he restored territory from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the Arabah. Alright. But think about it, a place, think about it, the desert will blossom as the rose, something that has doesn't produce anything, but yet will produce something great. Now notice I read about, I literally read about how David and his men hid in the wilderness areas bordering the Arabah while fleeing Saul. But then what's interesting is in 2 Samuel 23, verse 31, David has 30 mighty men in his army. And guess what? One of David's 30 mighty men was a name it was a man named Abialban, A B I A L B O N. And he was he was called an Arbathite. He was an Arbothite. And his name means father of strength. An Arbatite. He was from a place that has no life, lifeless for plants and animals, barely vegetation, unfruitful. But yet one of David's 30 mighty men was an Arbat. Glory to God. Even when you read Ezekiel 47, oh, the Bible is so wonderful. See, Ezekiel 47. God shows Ezekiel a vision that there's a waters are issuing out from under the threshold of the house, so from the temple of God, and it's coming out through many sides, and even the waters they were up to his ankles, and it were up to his waist, and they water started going up to the loins, and he thought it was like a river that he could not pass over. The waters were rising, like you could swim in there, you couldn't pass over there. And then this man in the vision, he tells Ezekiel, Do you see this? So he brought him and caused him to return to the bank of the river. And then when he saw, he behold, when he returned at the bank of the river, there were many trees on one side and on the other. So what was the vision this man showed him, which the Lord showed him? So this man tells Ezekiel that these waters, let me read this from the Amplified Classic, classified version. These waters pour out towards the eastern region, and they go down into the Arabah, the Jordan Valley, and on into the Dead Sea. So these waters, they spring out of the temple, spring out of the temple, springs out of the temple of God, right? And he says, when they enter into the sea, because they go down to the Arabah and to the Dead Sea, when they go into this place that has high salt levels, high like no lifeless for plants, that no animals, no humans settled. That these waters, when they enter into the sea, this water, this putrid waters, salt sea, a sea that is dead, the waters will be healed and made fresh. And wherever the double river shall go, every living creature which swarms will live. This area, this now remember, where is Aurabat? Where is Arabat located? It stretches from the Sea of Galilee in the north to the Red Sea in the south. So it's from the Sea of Galilee down past the Dead Sea or the Salt Sea to the Red Sea. So he's saying this area, this dead area, in the Sea of Galilee, Arabah, the Sea of Galilee, the Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea, the Salt Sea, when these fresh waters from the temple, when they enter into these waters, they will be healed and made fresh. Creatures which swarm there shall live. There will be a great number of fish. Why? Because the waters, the waters that flow from the temple, they will heal and made fresh. Everything will live. There will be life, even to the point that the fishermen will stand on the banks of the Dead Sea. Fishermen. That comes from Engedi and El Glam and those areas. You know what that represents? Literally, fountains, those two cities. That are play known for thriving water, fountain of calves. They'll start spreading their nets over there. And their fish will be many kinds. It'll be like the fishes that come from the great sea or the Mediterranean Sea. And we know in the New Testament, what does water represent? The spirit. Even he used this in Revelation 22, kind of the same thing. Because hold on, in Ezekiel, in Ezekiel, right, he tells, he tells him that these waters, right? That river upon the bank on this side, they'll these waters that come from the temple will be trees for meat, whose leaves will not fade. The fruit, the fruit will neither will the fruit be consumed. It'll bring new fruit according to its months. Why? Listen to this. Because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary. So we know this is the temple of God, the house of God, his sanctuary, and the fruits will be for meat, and the leaf thereof is for the medicine. So these rivers that not only that will heal these waters, but it will grow trees for meat, whose leaf will not fade, the fruits will not be consumed, it will bring new fruit fruit according to its months, according to its proper time. The fruit will be for eating, the leaves will be for medicine, it will be for healing, like the balms in Gilead. And also what's interesting is it's used kinda in the same context in Revelation, but instead of using using the house of God or the sanctuary, the temple, he used John uses as a he saw in the vision that he showed him a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. So the Lamb of God sits on the throne, what is issued out? Waters of life, pure rivers, which is on the midst of the street, the either side of the river, the tree of life, which bears twelve manners of fruits, yields her fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And you gotta notice with the book of Revelation and Ezekiel, they some some of the scriptures they mirror each other. And it confirms, it really confirms the truth of God's word. And the water always represents the spirit. Because think about it, these waters, these waters have no life. There's no life. But when the waters which proceeds from the house of God pours into these dead waters, how comes life? The spirit of God who sits on, the spirit of God, who literally, the Lamb of God, who sits on the throne of grace, pours out his spirit. He pours out like water. And guess what? There's life. That's why there's no such thing as giving your life to Christ or you surrender your life to Christ. You have no life. That's why we need Jesus. Those who do not have the Son, those who do not have the Spirit of God, they have no life. Without the Spirit, the water and blood, zero life. But those who believe, those who have Jesus, they have life. They have grace. The grace that is seasoned with salt. And not talking about the salt seed that scatters in dead waters, but the salt, like Elisha, when he he brought, when they brought him a new cruise of salt and he sprinkled it onto these dead waters. Think about it, you can't spray salt on dead on waters. They will die. It's dangerous. But through the word of the Lord, the grace of God which seasoned with salt spreads on the place of death and nowhere, nowhere will inhabit it, that will barely bears enough fruit. He said these lead, this these waters will live, they'll be made fresh, and they're even healed unto this day. Jesus says, We are the salt of the earth. So when you literally, every even when I talked about it in the lecture of baptism, literally the water is always symbolic of the Holy Ghost. That's why it said he poured out like water, like liquid. It was poured out upon them. Pour out my spirit like water upon all flesh. That's why he says, washing. The washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. It's like washing, it's like water. Pure river, clear as crystal. But yet it comes life. In these dead waters, in these in this arabah, that it will blossom, that it will bring forth life. There will be water. That not only fishes fishes will swim and animals will drink from, but that trees will grow and produce good fruit and leaves that produce good medicine. And what does that water represent? The gospel. That's why in Proverbs 25, verse 25, as cold waters to his thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. Even when you notice, even in the Bible, when when John the Baptist, when when he was like, when they said about John the Baptist, the voice of him that cries in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his path straight. That's what it says in the New Testament. But yet in the Old Testament, in Isaiah 40, verse 3, it says the voice of him that crieth in the wilderness. Who is that? John the Baptist. Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Make straight in the desert, the Arabah. Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Prepare a path in this Arabah in this desert. Why? A highway for our God. And what is that highway? The highway of holiness. Holiness has entered into the desert. The Lamb of God has entered into this desert. And remember, where was John baptizing at? The Jordan River. This Jordan area. This Arabah. Make his path straight. Once Christ enters, it now blossoms as the rose. Now it's blossoming. It's starting to break forth. There's starting to be new life. It's starting to be expansion. Like a caterpillar to a butterfly. It's like the wings now beginning to fly. It's flourishing. And he says it will blossom as the rose. Think about it. A gentle unfurling of a petal to a vigorous growth of a plant. Springing up. Right. Now what's interesting here is that he said it will blossom as the rose. It is blossoming. This arabah, as the the desert, literally, which has no life, no water, nothing. It will blossom as the rose. And crazy is he used this word rose. Now what's interesting is this word rose is only used twice in the Bible. It's only used twice in the Bible. Isaiah 35, verse 1, which we just read, which is the main passage of this topic in Song of Solomon 2, verse 1, where he calls himself the rose of Sharon. Now this word rose is only used two times. And the Hebrew word is Chabat Saleth, C-H A-B-A-T-S-T-S, E-L-E-T-H. Now, this is a Hebrew word that is uncertain. No one knows what it is. It's most likely to be called a metal saffron. A man named Hiller thought the special Hebrew word chabat saleth is talking about a plant with a bulb, which is the round part under the ground that stores food for the plant. And it comes from probably it probably comes from other two Hebrew words. In the Syrian language, Khabat Salet is written as Khamsaloito. It's just the same word as narcissis, a type of flower. You had a man named Rosenmueller who looked at old books and found that in the Syriac Arabic dictionaries, Khamzaliito is a plant called Kolkakum Autumnnail. Literally the metal saffron. See, this plant has a round root like a bulb. Its flowers look like crocus flowers, and they are light purple and do not have a smell. So there's no there's no really we can't a lot of commentary tators and science. It's hard for them to choose to really know which what how to really describe this. So instead, we try to I look at the Hebrew letters. So the Hebrew word chabat saleth consists of these letters, right? It's it consists of het, bet, sadi, lamed, and tav, right? This word, so het literally represents a fence, a closure, enclosure, the inner room, the tent. It's literally the word living, life, and joy. Okay, then you have bet, which represents the house, a dwelling, or the beginning of something, the first letter of creation, bet. Then you have this word sadhi, it's a wear letter. In Yadalas, see it might symbolize the righteous man. In other words, you know, zadik, which is hook, harvest, or growth. Lamed is learning, teaching, authority, but also to ascend. This last Hebrew letter, Tav, is the last letter which signifies completion, covenant, and sign. So when you put these together, so it's like a flower bulb, right? A flower bulb. It's not just a flower bulb, but it is literally all these words combined. A hidden life in the house of the righteous, which ascends to complete, technically, a hidden flower of life, rising to fullness, hidden beauty, transformation, blooming, a flower. Literally, this rose is a flower that is hidden in the bulb form, dormant, yet destined to bloom. This perfectly describes Jesus as the rose of Sharon. He is that rose of Sharon. He is that flower that was hidden, hidden in God's glory. But yet destined to bloom. In the Old Testament, he was concealed. In the New Testament, he is revealed. The mystery. That's why in Colossians 1, verse 26 to 27. Christ is the mystery of God, the mystery who had been hidden from ages and from generations, but now made manifest to his saints, to whom God will make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles. What is the glorious riches of Christ? Christ in us, the hope of glory, the mystery of God revealed. God coming in the form of man, manifesting in the flesh, justified in the spirit. Who came to save, he came in the form of man to save man. But hell is going to be received him not. To them that believe, he gave them power to become sons of God. He's literally the flower, he was hidden. He was hidden in the the Son, literally in the bosom of the Father. Now made manifest, now blooming among his own, and his own received them not. Those who believe they have power to become children of God. How? By faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, glory to God. Comes into this Arabah place, this desert. Literally, the prophecy, prepare ye the way of the Lord. Make straight, make the path straight. But yet Isaiah says, make paths straight in the desert, in this Arabah, the Jordan. And remember where was John baptizing at? In the Jordan. Literally, Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River. And literally, when you see the Jordan River, it is a disgusting river. It is disgusting. But yet, what God was some what God used as lowly, he now exalts it. Glory to God. The spirit descended in the bodily form of a dove and said, This is my servant in whom I am well pleased. The Jordan River is ugly. It is dirty. It represents literally Arabah. The same one where Elisha tells, tells, when Elisha tells Naaman, Bathe in the Jordan River. Seven times you'll be clean. Think about it. A place that is dirty. But yes, now, but now not only cleanses, not only has cleansed, but now has confirmed to fulfill all righteousness that this is my son, and whom I am well pleased. And also in that same Jordan River, the same Jordan, seven stones were planted, 12 stones were planted under there. By Joshua. See, it's like it's you know, it's no coincidence. And Jesus, full of the Holy Ghost, went in the wilderness 40 days, 40 nights. Defeated Satan with the word, ready to start his ministry. And what's interesting, ready to start his ministry, right? Full power, full of power of the Holy Ghost. The next day in John chapter 1, verse 35 to 46. So John stands up. John stood. John had two disciples. John the Baptist had two disciples, right? He looked upon Jesus as he was walking. Jesus was just walking. John says, Behold the Lamb of God, right? His cousin. So the two disciples heard him speak. So John the Baptist had two disciples. They went and followed Jesus. Then Jesus saw them. He's like, What are you looking for? And they said unto him, Rabbi, which is master, where do you dwell at? And Jesus says, Come, come and see, come and find out. And they saw where he dwelt, and they stayed with him in the tenth hour. And one of the two disciples, one of the two, it doesn't show the name of the two, but one of the two which followed John the Baptist was Andrew. And who was Andrew? Peter's brother. Literally, Andrew put, literally, Andrew put his brother on. Andrew told his brother Peter about Jesus. Andrew literally went to Peter and says, Yo, we found the Messiah, meaning the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. Literally, he brought him and said, Jesus, this is Peter, Peter, this is Jesus. And then Jesus saw him and says, Simon, son of Jonah, you will be called Cephas. By interpretation, a stone. Now this is where it gets interesting. So Jesus went to Galilee. He went forth into Galilee. Now remember, remember, where does this Arabah, this desert, the open level countryside, the plain, the wilderness? Where is that at? It stretches from the Sea of Galilee, the Jordan Valley, to the Sea of Galilee, to the Dead Sea or the Salt Sea, even unto the Red Sea, right? So Jesus goes into Galilee. He finds a man named Philip. Phil and he tells Philip, follow him. And Philip was from Bethesda, the city of Andrew and Peter. So Andrew, Peter, and Philip were from Galilee. They are from Galilee. Remember, make straight path in the desert Araba. And where did they extend from? The Sea of Galilee. Remember, a place that is not able to produce. Oh man. I hope y'all don't catch up to where I'm going with this. So Philip was from Beth Seda, the city of Andrew and Peter. So Philip, Andrew, and Peter are Galileans from the city of Beth Seda. So Philip finds Nathaniel. Philip literally meets Nathaniel and he tells him, Yo, we found him. We found him. The one Moses and the law talked about. The prophets wrote about him. Jesus of Nazareth, we found him. Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. We found the Messiah. And you know what Nathaniel says? He says, can he says, can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? That is a bold statement. Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Now this let this lets us wonder why did he say that? What what is wrong with Nazareth? Now we can easily find out why he said this. Alright, so we're gonna get ready and prepare. Now here we go. So Nazareth is a city of Galilee. It's a city in Galilee. According to Luke chapter 1, verse 26. Literally, Nazareth is a city of Galilee, okay? So Jesus, the the son of David, the flesh, he is a Galilean. Jesus of Nazareth, he is a Galilean, right? And also an honorable mention, Beth Seda. Bethsaeda is near the Sea of Galilee. Remember, Philip, Andrew, and Peter are from Beth Seda. That name, Bethsaida, it literally means the house of fishing. Literally, it's an area known for its thriving fishing industry. So this is like a prof this is like a prof a late a prophetic message from not only Isaiah, but also Ezekiel. Actually, I can say mainly Ezekiel. Actually, not even just Isaiah and Ezekiel, but originally it's Jacob. And we're gonna I'm gonna tell y'all why. Later on. So Bethesda is near the Sea of Galilee, is literally mean the house of fishing. Okay? Now also we know that Andrew, Philip, Peter, really Andrew, Peter, James, and John were fishermen. Okay. They were fishermen by by by business. They were fishermen, right? So literally, Beth Seda is literally known for its driving fishing industry. So they had a business, a good fishing business. And also, in the Bible, it doesn't really tell details about Nazareth, right? We don't know anything really about Nazareth. But what I can tell you, we do know a lot about Galilee. Because Galilee is from the Greek word, is literally translated meaning circle or district. And Galilee is a region, right? It's referring to the region. And you know what it's called? It's literally described as the heathen circle. It's literally a place of heathenism that the Jews look down on because it's a mix of Jewish and Gentile populations. Now, how is that possible? How how how did this happen? Galilee, a heathen circle. Here's a story about it. So Galilee was part of the territory, it was given to three tribes. Asher, one of them was Asher, but the two main Naphtali and Zebulon. And y'all gotta pay attention to these two names. See, Galilee was part of the territory given to these tribes. The tribes of Naphtali, the tribe of Asher, the tribe of Zebulon. Okay? Naphtali and Zebulon, we're gonna focus on these two names. So King Solomon gave Haram, the king of Tyre, the same one who helped the king of Tyre who helped Solomon build the temple, right? Solomon gave Haram 20 cities in the land of Galilee. So like Cana, Capernaum, Beth Seda, Nazareth, one of the cities in the land of Galilee. 20 cities. It could have been just 20 cities, or there are more than 20 cities. But we know Solomon gave him 20 cities in the land of Galilee. Who knew? Who knows? It could have been Nazareth, it could have been Beth Seda, it could have been Cana, it could have been Capernaum, it could have been those areas. So Solomon gave him these cities according to 1 Kings 9, verse 11. Then Solomon starts, you know, later chapters, he starts tripping, he started getting these concubines, these wives, these princesses, and these wives are turning his heart away from God, and he's worshiping idols. And this is where it gets, and this is where it gets crazy about so we know Solomon gave Hiram 20 cities in the land of Galilee. So there are cities in Galilee, okay? Now when you read 1 Kings 11, there was a man named Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, an Ephraithite of Zereda, Solomon's servant. His mother was Zerua, a widow, who rebelled against Solomon in his idolatry. So Jeroboam was Solomon's servant. And you understand, Solomon built, so the background is Solomon built Milo, Milo, M-I-L-O-O. He was repairing his father's city, which his father was David, and he said Jeroboam was a mighty man, and Solomon saw that he was industrious, that he was diligent, that he was a good worker, that he was strong, that he he got potential. So he made him Jeroboam. Solomon appointed Jeroboam as ruler over the house of Joseph, right? He gave him a governmental position. So there was a time that Jeroboam went out to Jerusalem. Then there was a prophet named Ahijah, the Shiloh Knight from Shiloh, who found him in the way. He clad himself with a new garment. And it was just two of them alone in the field. It's just two of them. So he cuts, he has this garment, he cuts it into 12 pieces. He tells Jeroboam, this just listen to this. Listen to this carefully. He tells Jeroboam, out of these 12 pieces, take these 10 pieces. This is what God says. I'm gonna rent, I'm gonna take the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, right? Because remember, David, David, King Saul, the King David, the King Solomon, ruled all tribes of Israel, all the 12 tribes, all the 12 tribes of Israel, right? They ruled all of them. And it's a fair deal. He's saying, I will give you ten tribes, but that's one tribe for just because of my servant David's sake, for Jerusalem's sake, the city I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, Jerusalem, the city in the throne of the Lord. I have chosen this. I'm just gonna keep Judah. But I'm gonna give you ten tribes because these people have forsaken me. They're worshiping these Ashtaroth, the goddess of the Zidonians, Kemosh, the god of the Moabites, Milcom, Ammon, all these, they worship all these false gods. They're not walking in my ways, they're not doing what is right, they're not keeping my statutes and judgments, the same way David did. He says, I'm not gonna take the whole kingdom, but he will be a prince all the days of his life, just out of my servant's sake, David, whom I chose because David kept my commandments and my statutes. However, I'm gonna take the kingdom out of his son's hand, I'm gonna take the kingdom out of Solomon. I'll give it unto you ten tribes. Just one tribe will just be for David and Solomon, for David's sake and Solomon, so that David my servant may always have a light, always, a light always before me in Jerusalem. It's a sign of hope, the city which I have chosen to put my name there, and I will take thee, and I'll shall reign according to all that thy soul desireth, and shall be king over Israel. So these guys will just be king of Judah in Jerusalem, right? Because I have chosen this city, I'll put my name there, and I will take thee, and I will take you, you're gonna reign according to all your soul desires. You'll be king. And this is what God, this is what the this is what God was saying through the prophet Hijah. If you just hearken unto all the commandments, walk in my ways, the same way David did, I will be with you, I'll make sure your house is sure. Same thing, same way I built for David, and Israel is given unto you. I'm gonna afflict, I'm gonna afflict the seed of David, but not forever. So this is a simple deal, right? You take ten tribes, but I'm gonna preserve the one just for my servant David's sake, and that's it. You can do whatever you want. As long as you just do, as long as you keep me in your womb, man, just do what you do as you please, do it as your soul desireth, right? So I'm gonna punish, but it won't be a forever punishment. So then Solomon wanted to kill Jeroboam, and he heard about this. So Jeroboam fled into Egypt. He hid up there until Solomon died, and then Solomon's son Rehoboam ruled, okay? So this was the split. They only have the tribe of Judah, they only have the kingdom of Judah, and you have the kingdom of Israel. Okay. So technically, Jeroboam has more tribes. He literally has more tribes, more leverage. They just have one tribe. But God gave them literally God gave them literally ten tribes. All the tribes except Judah. But this is this is where it gets crazy. This is where crazy, this is where this is where humanity starts being ignorant, and your heart starts to be hardened, and your thoughts start to kick in and say stuff that don't even make sense. In 1 Kings 12, verse 26 to 27. This is what Jeroboam said. After God literally made him the best deal that you're gonna be, you're gonna if you just do, you you'll have a sure house like David. The same thing I did for David, I'm gonna do for you. You'll be established, you'll be great, you'll probably be greater than Solomon. You'll probably literally, you're gonna be, you can have ten tribes. So he literally, this is what it says in 1 Kings 12, verse 26 to 27. This is what Jeroboam, his his ignorance starts to think. And it reads, so it says, Jeroboam said in his heart, see, now there's a problem. Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return, now shall the kingdom return to the house of David. Okay, if this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, now he's worrying that think about it, the ten tribes which God has given me, they can go sacrifice into the house of the Lord at Jerusalem. Guess what? Their heart, they're gonna turn to the Lord, even unto Rehab, the king of Judah, whom God has punished, who's punishing them? Not for long, but he's punishing them. But see, his his heart starts to kick in, like, oh, what if they do this? Now the heart of the people will turn against the Lord, they will turn to God, they'll turn to Rehoboam, King of Judah, they're gonna kill me, and they'll they'll return to Rehoboam, King of Judah. First off, that was never in the deal. Like, what is he talking about? What is Jeroboam talking about? God literally gave him 12 tribes. He literally says, You can rule according to all your soul desires. He made him the most greatest deal ever. Yet he's thinking that oh, he's he's starting to build like these conspiracy theories. He's literally given a kingdom of 10 tribes to rule. He's just saying, like, I'm just keeping one tribe, but you literally have 12 tribes, you literally have all of this, and you can rule, you can reign according to all your soul desires. You can do you can do the same thing, whatever Solomon wants. But only thing, only thing difference is Solomon turned his heart away from God. But yet now Jeroboam is saying, Oh, they they might do he's starting to have conspiracy theories like oh, what if they start to worship the God of Israel and this and that? See? And he started to think like this, and he starts doing the most idiotic thing ever. So he took counsel, he took counsel out of his own heart, he made two calves of gold. He said, he told people, look, y'all don't need to go to Jerusalem. These gods right here, these brought you out of the land of Egypt. See, see, now that now there's a problem. Now now now Jeroboam is tripping. His own heart, he's he's conceited. He made two calves of gold. Remember the children of Israel when they built the golden calves? And Moses got mad? He's doing that in Jerusalem. He said, Look, you don't need to go to Jerusalem. These are your gods right here. He set one in Bethel. Remember Bethel? Remember when Jacob met Jacob, the house of God? The vision? He put the golden calf in Bethel. He put the other one in Dan. And guess what? It became a sin because the people went to worship them. And he was making houses of high places. He appointed and listen to this. He appointed priests that were not the sons of Levi, making a house of high polices for gods, for false gods. And he was trying to copy, he's trying to imitate the worship in Judah to hear, but sacrificing unto false gods, unto the calves that he had made. And Bethel, the priest of the high places which he had made, these false priests, which are not of the sons of Levi. Literally, and it says in verse 33, and in first Kings 12, he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the 15th day of the eighth eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart. See, this type of attitude right here, thinking that oh, you know, they they might go back over there. God literally told him, You have 12 tribe, you literally have 10 tribes. Like, why do you need to go back? No. See, when you when you think when you have when you think of your own minds, thinking what God, when you're thinking, when you say things which God never says, you start doing you start doing things, you start going out of pocket, you start going out of his own will. Instead of trusting God, you trust your own heart, and that's dangerous. So this is now the problem, and it has been going that's why it when you continue later of all the kings of Israel, like Ahab and Ahaziah and all these other kings of Israel, you know what most of them say? They were evil in the sight of the Lord, and they did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat. They never said, they never said Solomon, they said Jeroboam. They all almost majority of the kings of Israel, even Ahab, Omri, you know what they said? They did what evil in the sight of the Lord, and they did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, building two golden calves, placing one of them in Bethel, which is the house of God, appointing priests that are not Levites, and he's building houses of high places for altars of false gods and goddesses, right? Crazy. Even 2 Kings 14, verse 25, you had a guy named Jeroboam the Second, the son of Joash. Now, he is not, he is not the he's not related to Jeroboam the son of Nebat. However, it said he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, right? Now, what's interesting is Jeroboam the second, remember, I read about how he restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain. But yet when you continue reading, it says, according to the word of the Lord God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amitai, the prophet. Now, remember, he restored literally, remember the only reason God did this, use Jeroboam the second, because he said that he had no other choice. See, God literally, God is in the sense, like, man, you know what? Let's let's just use Jeroboam the second. Literally, God, that's literally God is like he's like, Man, I don't I have nobody to do it for me. So, you know what, Jeroboam, I'll I'll I'll do it for you. I'll help you out. It's like it's literally that thing. So literally, what's crazy is he literally this what happened was he again he restored literally the Araba, the Dead Sea, the Sea of the Plain, right? He restored the coast of Israel. So Arabah is literally part of the coast of Israel. It was it was restored according to the word of God, and the word of God spoke with this by the hand of his servant Jonah. And Jonah was a prophet. You know where he was from? Gath Hefer. And you know what that's located, and you know which territory that belongs to? Zebulon. In Galilee. So Jonah was a Galilean. And remember what Jesus called himself? A greater than Jonah is here. Jonah was a Galilean. Gath Hepher. Literally a place of wine. Literally a place that pressed the wine wine pressing. And remember Jesus' first miracle? The wedding of Canaan in Galilee? Water turning to wine? Okay, yeah, yeah. Okay, I'm doing too much. I'm doing too much. I'm doing too much. It just it's not a coincidence. It is not a coincidence. Literally, Noah, I mean not Noah, Jonah, literally, was in the belly of the whale three days, three nights. Jesus in the tomb, three days, three nights. Jonah left, you know, was spat out, went to Nineveh. Jonah literally said one line. He didn't even preach a whole sermon, just one line. The whole Nineveh, all of them, even the king started to repent. And God won't destroy them. Jesus Christ in the tomb, dead, was buried, rose again, defeated sin, the law of sin and death. It says, Believe in the Lord, believe in me, you have everlasting life. Guess what? God did not destroy humanity. You know they just deserve to be destroyed. But God's mercy, God's grace shows. See, Jesus, the greater than Jonah, is here. Difference is Jonah was a little mad that the prophecy didn't come true. So you see that 2 Kings 14, verse 25 has to do with Arabah, the Dead Sea, the Galilee, the Salt Sea, the Sea of Galilee, right? Right? It's related to this. Then when you go to 2 Kings 15, now this is this is where really remember, we're still talking about the background of why Nathaniel says, can there any good be come out of Nazareth? Now it does, now the Bible doesn't really speci really specify on Nazareth, but it does talk about the other the other things. What are the other things? Galilee. Because this is where really the core of the problem is. So in 2 Kings 15, verse 29, you had a man named Pekka, the king of Israel, and they said he was evil, and he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. So he's carrying this evil that Jeroboam has done, right? So he did which evil in the sight of the Lord, and in the days of Pekka, king of Israel, he had a man named Tiglath Pelezer, the king of Assyria, who took Ijon and Abel Beth Makah, and Janoah and Kadesh and Hazor and Gilead and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria. So again, so literally this land of Naphtali, one of these one of these areas in Galilee, one literally Galilee, all the countries, the people that dwelt in Ajan, Abel Beth Makhah, Jenoah, Kadesh, Hazor, Gilead, Galilee. Galilee is one of them. The land of Naphtali. He literally carried them captive to Assyria. So he can't he literally took all the residents of these areas, mainly Galilee, and brought them to Assyria. Now, why did this happen? Now this is where it gets interesting. Why why Assyria? Literally, why was Israel carried away out of their own lands to Assyria? Why is this? You know whose fault it was? Now we could easily say it was Solomon's fault. Even though he has, you know, he was the reason that, yes, the ten tribes had to be split. The kingdoms had to be split. But when you really read it, it's Jeroboam's fault. He rent Israel from the house of David. They made Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, king. And Jeroboam drove Israel, he literally draved Israel from following the Lord. This is 2 Kings 17, verse 21 to 23. Jeroboam drave Israel from following the Lord. He made them sin, a great sin. Literally, it says literally, the for the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam, which they did, they departed not from them until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight. As he said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own lands to Assyria unto this day? So think about it. All this time, God is showing his mercy, seeing how Jerob Jeroboam is literally these appointing these false priests and you know doing this evil. And remember, ten tribes. One of the tribes was Naphtali and Zebulon. Right? So he's made literally doing these great sins. The children of Israel, literally, he's like their role model. They're like following Jeroboam's ways. All the kings, even to the point that the Lord had to remove Israel out of his sight, like go to Assyria. He sent literally the king, Teglath Pelezer, the king of Assyria, carry them out into their own land to Assyria. So they're in there they're blended. Now they're blended in Assyrian territory, okay. Now this is different. Now remember, this is separate. Because remember, Judah, Judah were exiled to Babylon. Right? Technically, yes, Judah, Israel, right? Judah the Jerusalem was literally raided. Israel. So remember, they're splitting two kingdoms. The same way the Jerusalem the Jews, the Jerusalem, Judah, and them, they were carried to Babylon. These children of Israel were carried to Assyria. Alright? And this happened because of Jeroboam. It was Jeroboam's fault. Okay. Now this is where this is where it gets crazy. This is why we really figure out. This is why we find out. This is where this is where the problem lies, okay? When you read 2 Kings 17, verse 24. This is really 2 Kings 17. In verse 24, it says the king of Assyria, do you know what he did? He brought men from Babylon, from Kutah, from Ava, from Hamat, from Sepharvaim. No, these aren't not even, these are not Jews, these are not Hebrews, right? He brought men from these pagan nations. He placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel. And they possessed Samaria and dwelt in the cities thereof. Now, it I know it says Samaria, but one thing, let's talk about Samaria. This is the first time. When you read, when you actually look through the Old Testament, Samaria is only mentioned, this is the first time it mentions Samaria at all at all. We don't really learn about Samaria until John 4, when Jesus met the woman at the well. And the woman was a Samaritan woman, and she was at Jacob's well, a city called Sikar. And what's interesting is this was Jacob's well. And this belonged to the tribe of Joseph. And when you read Genesis, when you read in Genesis 33, Joseph, in Genesis 33, Joseph, not Jacob, bought that land. He bought that land. Even when you read in Genesis in Genesis, I believe Genesis 48. I believe in Genesis 48. After Jacob blessed Ephraim and Manasseh, Jacob gave Joseph that part of the land. Now it doesn't say Sikar, but we can tell easily that it confirms it. Let's pull it up quickly. Let's pull up John chapter 4 quickly. So John chapter 4. Okay, so Jesus, remember, Jesus goes in in verse 4. He goes through Samaria. He comes to cities of Samaria, which is called Sikar. Listen to this. Near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there. Jacob had a well over there. Alright. So Sychar in verse 5, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Okay. So it's a parcel of ground. Let's look at Genesis 33. Genesis 33. Okay. We're gonna get there. I promise you. We're gonna get there. In Genesis 33, okay. In genet, let's start from verse 17. Jacob's journey to Sucketh, he built No, let's start from verse 18. And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padanaram, he pitched his tent before the city, and he bought a parcel of a field, which he had spread his tent at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for a hundred pieces of money. So he bought money, he bought that area for cash, for silver and gold. So this descro destroys all this things that oh there was no there was no money back then. Yes, they had silver and gold. And he created an all he erected an altar there. Elohi Israel. Let me look hold on, let me I forgot, let me look it up. This is what it means. Can't believe I forgot to put that on there. Israel. And that means so he built an altar. God the God of Israel. That's what it is. God, the God of Israel. When he erected his altar, in that place he bought the parcel of ground, God, the God of Israel. The Lord God of Israel. That's important right there. The Lord God of Israel. Technically, that's Samaria. That is Samaria. Let's go to Genesis. Let's go to Genesis 48. Genesis 48. After Joseph blessed, after Joseph blessed Ephraim and Manasseh, in verse 22, actually, in verse 21, Jacob or Israel was talking to Joseph. He said, Behold, I die, but God will be with you and bring you again into the land of your fathers. More I have given to you one portion above my brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow. So he has given them one portion above your brothers, right? He has given to thee. So what what what was he given? Let me let's look it up. Let's look up this verse. And in Joshua, this I know it, Joshua chapter 24. Joshua 24, verse 32. Okay in Joshua 24, verse 32. The bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem. Literally, in Shechem, in the parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred pieces of silver. It became an inheritance to the children of Joseph. And remember, Samaria, remember, Samaria, this is this is important. The Lord God of Israel, literally, Jacob built an altar. Now it's called Sikar over there, but in Genesis 33, it's Shechem. So not only Jacob bought that land, he had given it to Joseph. He gave it to Joseph. Joseph was buried there. Actually, the children of Israel, they buried him in Shechem in a parcel of ground. Samaria, which Jacob bought for a hundred pieces of silver. It literally inherited Joseph's inheritance. It became the inheritance of the children of Joseph. So literally, this is literally the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh. Ephraim and Manasseh, they owned Samaria. And Jacob built the altar, the God of Israel. So Samaria is literally known as the God of Israel. Okay. Now what does this have to do? Because again, we're talking about Galilee. But let's, and you know what's interesting? Charles Burgeon did a sermon on here talking about 2 Kings 17. He talked about sham fake conversion. And he talked about how, and actually in this verse, before I really go like into the sermon, but this is what the story in 2 Kings 17, verse 24, right? When you read the next verses, this is where it gets crazy. So remember, the king of Assyria brought all these pagan men into Israelite territory, okay? Israelite territory. These pagans into a place where Jacob, the God of Israel, the Lord God, right? A place where it belongs to Ephraim and Manasseh. Okay. So this was they since and when they went there, literally, when these e when these pagans went there, they did not fear God. So they didn't believe in the Lord God of Israel. The Lord sent lions among them, killed some of them. And they went, and these pagans, they went, they spoke to the king of Assyria. They said, Look, the nations, the children of Israel you removed and you placed in the cities of Samaria. You know what they you know what they call him? They know not the manner of the God of the land. So guess what? They sent lions among them. And they slay because they don't know the manner of God of the land. They don't they know not the manner of the God of the land. Not the Lord God of Israel, the king, the king of glory, the Lord God Almighty. So, you know, they don't know nothing. The king put them there. So the Assyrian king, he starts making a strange request that carry thither one of the priests whom you brought from thence. And let him go and dwell there. Let him teach the manner of the God of the land. That's what it's called the quote unquote the manner of the God of the land. So one of the priests who was carried away from Samaria, remember, the children, remember, the children of Samaria, the remember the children of Israel, they were taken. Remember? Alright. So one of the priests who was carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel. The same place Jeroboam built those false golden calves, right? So one of the priests was carried away from Samaria, he dwelt in Bethel and taught them how to fear the Lord. Now what's interesting is now we have a problem. Because this was not a this was not a Levite. Because remember, Jeroboam hired false priests in Israel. There had not been a true Levite priest. However, they got this person right here, this one of the priests, who was not of the tribe of Levite, teaching them how to fear the Lord. But here's the problem. These guys are making their own gods, they're putting them in the highest of the house of places, the high places which Samaritans had made. Every nation's in their cities where they dwelt. So the men, the these foreign, that these foreign people, these pagans, which king, which the king of Assyria took them and brought them in Samaria instead of the children of Israel. They start practicing paganism. So think about it. They were not only worshiping God, they're worshiping other idols. And they said they made them to themselves all the lowest of them priests of the high places. So this is not a Levitical, this is not a Levite that's teaching the word of God. No. They're bringing priests, false priesthood. So then think about it, they're fearing the Lord, serving their own gods, after the manner of their nations. They're following their religious, their religious practices from the other nations, right? So it says, unto this day, after the former manners, they fear not the Lord. They're not doing his statues after his ordinances, the laws. Literally, God and literally, you shall not fear other gods, nor bow to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them, but the Lord only bow down to the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power, a stretched out arm. Only you fear him, only you worship him, only me you sacrifice. Follow the statutes, the ordinances, the law of the commandment, which I wrote for you. You observe to do forevermore. You fear no other gods. The covenant I made with you, do not forget. Fear no other gods. The Lord, your God, only you will fear, and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies. But nope. No, no, no, no, no. They did it after their former manner. So think about it. Samaria are literally following the Lord and pagans. So they're literally serving two gods at the same time. Both the children, the children's children, unto that day. Unto this day. Now, what's interesting, Charles Spurgeon, when he did this sermon, he talked about sham conversion. He talked about, you know, the colonists. Remember, these Babylonians, these all these people from these other nations, they were they did not show fear of God, did not reverence him. And they were just chilling. They didn't fear God. And they and you know it's crazy. They lived near the godly people of Judah under King Hezekiah. Think about it. King Hezekiah was king at the time. They literally lived near them, but yet they didn't want to follow the God of Israel. But and they had a see, the only reason, the only reason they wanted to learn the God of the land, the only reason they wanted to learn about, you know, quote unquote learn about the Lord, only because the lions came. Literally, just because of this is what Spurgeon said. They were only their conversion was only driven by fear of danger or even the calamity of the lions, not by love or genuine desire. See, because they had they lacked true knowledge of God, they only know about the man of worshiping the God of this land. Not God Himself. And they're confusing Jehovah with the pagan gods, worshiping him as one God among many. They only know about the man of the God of the land, literally, a desire for form over substance. He breeding corrupted priests. Literally, he's mixing worship of Jehovah with idol worship. Literally, this is what they're doing. Samaritan. Literally a mixture. It's a it's a mixture of it. Now, I know what you're thinking. What does this have to do? What does this have to do with Samaria? Well, here's the thing: the king of Assyria did that not only, remember the king of Assyria, he took the children of Israel from the land of Neptali, which includes Galilee, into Assyria. And then when you read 2 Kings 17, he brought all these men from foreign nations and placed them in Samaria instead of the children of Israel. And remember, Samaria belongs to Ephraim and Manasseh. However, this is a pattern of gentle resettlement. Because when you read Isaiah 9, verse 1, it describes by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. The Hebrew phrase, Galil High Goyim, is literally the district of the Gentiles. So there's literally a pattern of Gentile resettlement extended into Galilee as a natural consequence that happened with the earlier deportation in 2 Kings 15, verse 29, and the Assyrian imperial policy of repopulating cop conquered lands. So Isaiah 9 verse 1 confirms that affected Galilee as well. So not only King of Syria, the king of Assyria brought these foreign people into Samaria, but they also brought them into Galilee as well. That's why it's the district of the Gentiles, which Isaiah 9 verse 1 calls it. A heathen circle. It's mixed. Profane. Think about it. Something that belongs to the children of Israel, but yet it's mixed with both idol worship, the worship of God, and the worship of these golden calves, and these other gods that they brought in from other nations. A mixture of religions. That didn't make sense. Having two gods, two masters, you can't do that. Choose one. Either choose one or start. Literally. If you don't choose one, you're literally saying no. So really, when we want to understand what really can there any good thing come out of Nazareth, it's because of this. Because the mixture, the mixture of holy and unholy, but Yahweh is now made unholy. Literally is now a Gentile nation. It's not about all their Gentiles, but their false worship, the false gods, the false religions has come, has taken over the land which God has erected, has Jacob has erected as God of Israel, the altar. The Bethel, the house of God. Something that becomes the house of God is now. That's why also in Amos, also even in Jeroboam's time, in Jeroboam II, Amaziah was like, get away from here. The false priest who was not of a Levite. He said, This is the king's chapel, the king's court. So it's literally a mixture of Assyrian. So when he says, can there anything good come out of Nazareth? Literally, it's talking about Galilee. It's literally Galilee in these areas are mixed. Literally, everything has affected Nazareth, Bethsaida, Cana, Capernaum. It's a mixture of heathenism, Jewish and Gentile. Crazy. A mixture of false worship mixed in those lands. Literally, the time in 2nd King 17, in 2 Kings 17, they're living under the covenant of works. Their worship was an insult. They're placing God alongside pagan deities. That's why when you read about Ezra wanting to rebuild the temple and the Samaritans wanted to join, they said, nah, I'm good. Even when I talked about Nehemiah, the Moabites, the Ammonites, and the Arabians, they wanted to join the work, knowing that they did not want, they did not want to learn about the Lord. Nehemiah was like, nah, I'm good. We're good. You have no part of it. And remember, the only reason these people were doing it, the only reason they're doing this is because of the fear of lions. Lions were sent. They only it wasn't really out of the love. They didn't want to learn about the Lord. It wasn't out of genuine. They were just scared. That's why a lot of people, the only reason they claim they love Jesus is because oh, they were taught that, oh, hell is this and bad, and oh Satan, sin, this and that. And like they they preach so evil that they think, oh, this will this will bring people to repentance. No, it's that the goodness, the love of God. The goodness of God leads men to repentance. Not fear, not wrath, not God did not give us a spirit of fear, but power, love, and of a sound mind. Jesus didn't come about doing, you know, talking trash. No, he came about doing good. He did good. Guess what? That led men to repentance. Not forcing yourself. Oh, this and that, you're going your way to hell. This talking the ministry of condemnation. No. This conversion, Charles Person talked about this conversion was not based on their love for God. Only all only just because of the fear of lions. And they didn't even want to learn about God Himself, but the manner of the God of the land. So like they're learning about Jehovah, and they're learning about these other pagan gods and goddesses. Can't do that. Choose one. Choose whom you day you choose choose this day whom you will serve. As for me and my house, we'll serve the Lord. Literally, and Galilee.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:03

Galilee, what good? Because this happened. Because this stuff happened. Can anything good for come from Nazareth?

SPEAKER_01 1:17:19

But yet, however, something good come out of Nazareth. Jesus. Now you might be thinking, Jesus of Nazareth. But he was born in Bethlehem. The Christmas season's coming up. He was born in Bethlehem. Why is he called Jesus of Nazareth? Now we can easily say that he, you know, he was brought up, he was brought up there, he grew up there. However, that's not the reason he's called Jesus of Nazareth. Even when Paul, even when Jesus spoke to Paul, Paul asked, Who are you, Lord? He says, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. Why is he called Jesus of Nazareth, not Jesus of Bethlehemite? Why is he not called after Joseph's hometown of Bethlehem in Judea? He's called Jesus of Nazareth. When you read Luke 1, verse 2635, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into Nazareth, a city of Galilee, to Mary, who is a spouse of Joseph. And he told her that you will conceive in your womb, you will bring forth a son, call his name Jesus, who will be great, his kingdom will have no end. Gabriel tells her that the Holy Ghost will come upon you, the power of the highest will overshadow you, and his holy thing will be born, will be called the Son of God. So the Holy Ghost, so Mary was conceived of the Holy Ghost in Nazareth. The word of the Lord, who the word of the Lord came unto Mary through an angel in Nazareth. When Joseph didn't believe, when he broke away, the angel tell angel said, the angel of the Lord confirms to him that Mary is telling the truth. This child is the child of the Holy Ghost. He was told this in Nazareth. And then the taxes came. He went to Bethlehem. They went to manger. There was no room in the inn. Jesus was born. Herod wanted to kill. Because remember, the prophet Micah said he will be born in Bethlehem. The wise men, they left. The magi. God told him in a dream, Don't go back to Herod. They left. Herod found out he was tricked. He went to Bethlehem, killed every child under two, killed all the babies. Jesus fled, they fled to Egypt. And after they heard about Herod died, they tried to come back. But then Joseph heard about a man named Archelaus reigning in Judea in the room of his father Herod. So he was trying to go back home. But he was afraid to go back. Because God warned him in the dream. So instead, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee. He dwelt in a city called Nazareth. Remember, the word of the Lord in Luke 1. Remember, Luke 1, they were in Nazareth. Matthew 2, they were dwelling in a city, they dwell in a city called Nazareth. Matthew 2, verse 22 to 23. They went back to Nazareth. Because remember, Mary and Joseph were in Nazareth. And they came back to Nazareth. So it can be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophets, he shall be called a Nazarene. And remember, Jesus grew up in Nazareth. Now we have no, there's no proof for anywhere that shows Nazareth. The closest thing we can think of is Isaiah 11, verse 1. When it talks about the rod of Jesse will come stem forth, and a branch will spring forth. And that word branch in the Hebrew is Netzer. Meaning greenness, a young plant, a descendant, a new branch emerging from an established plant. Remember, Christ came where? From the house of David. Stock of Abraham, the tribe of Judah. A descendant, the Messiah, the anointed king. Who came to bring not salvation from the Roman Empire or from its neighboring enemies, but to bring salvation to save people from their sins. Jesus, he will save his people from their sins. Netzer, the branch. So that's what, and remember, Jesus, remember they said, can there any good come out from Nazareth? The gospel, and remember, this is talking about Galilee in general, and it affected Nazareth as well. Nazareth was one of the affected ones. Because it's in Galilee. What's interesting is remember the word of the Lord, angel, the angel Gabriel, came to Mary in Galilee. The angel of the Lord came to Joseph in Galilee. Jesus was conceived of the whole the child was conceived of the Holy Ghost in Galilee. Jesus came to be baptized where in Galilee. And he leaves Nazareth. Remember, he comes back from the wilderness. He departs into Galilee. He's leaving Nazareth. He's leaving his own hometown. He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zebulon and Nephthalim. And listen to this. It fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet Isaiah. The land of Zebulon, the land of Nephtalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. Same thing in Isaiah 9, verse 1. We just read by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, meaning that it was a mixture. Galilee was affecting the same thing that the same way the king of Assyria brought in pagans to Samaria, the pagan king brought these pagans to Galilee. See, the land of Zebulon, the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people which sat in darkness saw great light. And then which sat in the region in shadow of death, light is sprung up. Remember, Arabah. Arabah is literally the desert, not able to produce. We read in Jeremiah too, that the Lord brought them to the pits, through the deserts, through the wilderness, and all these stuff, through the shadow of death, where no man settled, no man traveled through. But yet Jesus says here, they're walking in darkness. See, Galilee, they were in the era of darkness. They're walking, they were sitting in darkness with all this idol worship and you know, worshiping two gods. Worshiping trying to worship Jehovah and all and their these other false gods and these golden calves and these false priests. See, those in darkness in Galilee, they saw great light. Those who sat in the region in Galilee in the shadow of death, light is sprung up. It blossoms. The desert shall blossom as the rose. The region, the Arabah, the Jordan, which extends from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea, to the Red Sea. Light has now sprung up. It's blossoming as the rose. Christ, the rose of Sharon. Hidden, now made manifest to the saints. To them who believe. He gave them power to be sons of God.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:45

They were in the era of darkness.

The Glory of Lebanon Given to the Desert

SPEAKER_01 1:24:49

Literally, Galilee. What's interesting is when you read Isaiah 9, verse 1 and 2, it's a little different than Matthew 4, verse 16. Because in Matthew 4, verse 16, this is how it's read. The land of Zebulon, the land of Naththalum, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people which sat in darkness saw great light. And to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, light has sprung up. Okay? That's how it's read. But yet in Isaiah 9, verse 1 and 2, this is what it read. Nevertheless, the dimness shall not be as such as was in her vexation, spiritual darkness, and distress. When at the first he lightly affected, afflicted the land of Zebulon and the land of Naphtali. He lightly afflicted, right? It was a slight, you know, lightly afflicted, minor, minor attack, a burden, right? It was a minor, okay. And afterward he did more grievously afflicted. It was more grievous by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations, the Galilee of the Gentiles. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. So literally, Galilee, Jordan, this outer blood, this desert, is described as the shadow of death. The same wilderness which the children of Israel wandered around to do the deserts, which they pitched their tent, no food, no water. All the miracles happened. But yet somewhere ignorant didn't believe. He said the land of Zebulon and Naphtali. And also what's interesting here is Jacob prophesied. Jacob prophesied about Zebulon. Remember, Zebulon is a territory. Zebulon, Naphtali, they own Galilee, right? And Genesis 49, verse 13, this is what he says. Ships will pass through. And think about it. Zebulon, literally, Arabah. See if Araba, literally, Galilee, a territory, Araba, which is not able to produce a sterile valley in the Jordan Valley, not able to produce fruitless, high salt, mint high salt concentration. These dead seas, the salt sea, is now life. Jacob really prophesied this. And notice what's interesting is that his border will be unto Zidon. And Zidon, he's the son of Canaan. It's a Canaanite territory. And remember, God told Elijah, go to Zarephath, and a widow will sustain you. And what's more interesting is when Jesus returned to Nazareth after he read Isaiah, the people were saying, Is this not Joseph, the carpenter's son? Hey, they're saying, physician, heal yourself. We heard about your miracles, you know, do all this healing. You know, let's see what's what's up. And then Jesus says, I say unto you, no prophet is accepted into his own country. Think about it, Jesus, he left Nazareth. He left Nazareth. He did not, he did not all the miracles he did throughout the Bible. He didn't even do barely in Nazareth. He said, No, why? He says, No prophet is accepted in his own country. This is how Jesus says, this is the truth. There were widows in Israel during Elijah's days, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months. Great families throughout the land. Elijah didn't go there. The only person, the only place he went to was Seraptah, a city of Sidon, unto a woman who that was a widow. And he also compared the lepers in the time of Elisha. None of them was cleansed. The only one who was cleansed, Naaman, the Syrian. Oh, when he said that, oh that, oh, they were so mad. They were they were right. They wanted to throw him off the cliff, but he was able to escape. So you see the coincidence how this all ties up. Think about it. Jesus' ministry, when you read Matthew 4, Mark Mark 1, verse 14, the start of Jesus' ministry, remember, light, the people were in darkness, see a great light. This was prophesied. The people that dwell in the darkness have seen and has seen a great light. Those that dwell in the land of the shadow of death in that region, Galilee of the Gentiles, because it's a mixture of heathenism, the mix between Jewish and Gentiles, sat in the region. Now light is sprung up. Think about it. The gospel of the kingdom of God started in Galilee. A place Arabah, the desert will blossom as the rose. It started there. His baptism was in Galilee. His first preaching sermon, his sermons, his preaching was in Galilee. His first start. Started there. Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Jesus began to preach this message in Galilee. His fame was known all over Galilee. Think about it. When Jesus appointed his apostle, remember, Jesus met Peter, Andrew, John, and James fishing by the Sea of Galilee. He tells them, Come with me, I'll make you fishers of men. The people called him Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. Jesus never went to Judea, according to John 7, verse 1. It says, Jesus always walked in Galilee. He would not walk in Jewry. Why? Because the Jews wanted to kill him. There was no point. Even when you read about Jesus appointing apostles, it happened in Galilee. Jesus appointed his first apostles in Galilee. The first twelve happened in Galilee. Why? Light has come. The light has come in this desert. The rose of Sharon has now manifested in Arabah. A place that has no good. Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Technically saying, can there anything good come from Galilee? Because it's a mixture. But yet a light has come. Christ has come into the land. Even Jesus prophesied. He says, When I rise again, I will go before you into Galilee. Even in the great, even when the when Jesus res, even when the women were looking for him, the angel said, Didn't you didn't you remember what Jesus says? That he will meet y'all in Galilee. That happened in Galilee. They went back home. When Jesus reconvened with the 11 disciples in Matthew 28, remember the great commission? It says they went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus appointed them. Some worshiped him, some doubted him. Jesus tells them, All power is given unto me in heaven and earth. Go ye therefore, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whichever whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you all the way, even unto the end of the world. Amen. So think about the great commission happened in Galilee. These Galileans, Jesus of Nazareth, a Galilean, the man from Galilee. And also, what you know's crazy? What makes it a heathen nation? Herod's jurisdiction was there. Herod's jurisdiction was in Galilee. And Herod was an Edomite. I believe so. Herod. Herod is an Edomite. So you see, there's a there's a a problem there. Why G why Herod wanted to kill Jesus. Herod literally was an Edomite. He he adopted the customs of the Jews, but he was an enemy. Remember, Edom and Jacob were enemies. Jacob and Esau, right? The the people are enemies of each other, right? So literally, they are enemies. There is there is conflict within that area. So think about it. The people that were walking in darkness, the desert, the desert now will be rejoicing because Christ has come. The king of glory that enters in the desert. The desert now blossoming as the rose, because the rose of Sharon has entered. And guess what? On the day of Pentecost, all in one accord, one place, a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind. It filled the house all where they were sitting, appeared unto them clothing tongues like as a fire. It sat upon each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Ghost. Speaking with other tongues, the Spirit gave them utterance. Now listen to this. They were dwelling at Jerusalem, Jews. They went to Jerusalem, Jews, devout men out of every nation under heaven. Now think about it. Jerusalem, there were Jews from all around the world. Devout men who were celebrating the feast of Pentecost. And remember, these men are Parthians, Medis, Elamites, Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, Libya, about Cyrene, strangers of Rome, Jews, Proselites, Cretes, Arabians. You know they were all saying to each other, All Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? So think about it. The gospel began, Jesus began his ministry in Galilee. The New Testament church. It did start in Jerusalem, but it was started by the men, by Galileans. By Galileans. A place that is nothing good can come out of. Nothing good. That is not able to produce anything good. Nothing special. A mixture. A mixture. And you notice his Jesus ministry started in Galilee. And what's interesting about Galilee is that it shows that salvation is available to all. Because remember, it dwells both Jew and Gentile. Jesus never walked in a place of Jewry, just like Jewish only, because they will kill him. And remember, they did that in Jerusalem. But however, in Galilee, he had not just Jews, but he had Gentiles. And the gospel of the kingdom shall be preached unto all nations. The gospel really was made exclusive for all of them. So when Nathaniel was like, you know, can there any good come out of Nazareth? It's like something good has happened. Something good came from Nazareth. The gospel. The gospel of the grace of God. Think about it. Think a place these here that is mixed with Gentile and Jew. You think that, oh, they're not supposed to go together. But through the blood of Jesus Christ, He has made them one. How can a prophet, how can something good arise from Galilee? Because remember, Jews and Samaritans are prejudiced. There was also prejudice at that time. And Galilee was looked down because a lot of non-Jews were living in that region. A lot of non-Jews. Jesus was living. Majority of Jesus' disciples are Galileans. And you know it's a little prejudice, right?

SPEAKER_02 1:37:28

Literally, a light has shone, a light has shined there.

Trees, Wine, and Spiritual Metaphors: Lebanon and the Church

SPEAKER_01 1:37:37

Glory to God. And think about it. All these foreign nations, all the nations from around the world, all the nations, from Jew and Gentile. All these nations literally have seen, have heard the one. They're saying they're speaking the wonderful works of God. They're literally speaking the wonderful works of God. These Galileans. See, this is how, see, let me twist in the way Isaiah, you know, let me put it in Isaiah's terms. Parthians, so the glory of Parthians, Medis, Elamites, Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phyrgia, Pamphlia, even in Egypt, Libya, Cyrene, the strangers of Rome, Jews, and proselytes, Crete, Arabians, that hearing them speaking in tongues of the wonderful works of God. Literally, they are given unto the gospel. They are given unto Christ. They're given unto the Word of God, the Holy Spirit, which has dwelt, which has impacted, which has entered into these Galileans. The desert is blossoming as the rose, rejoicing with joy and singing, speaking the wonderful works of God. The glory of Lebanon is given unto this, unto this desert blossoming as the rose. Glory to God. Now we're gonna deal with Lebanon, seeing the glory of God. Lebanon, the glory of Lebanon is now given unto the glory of God, which is now manifested in the desert, Arabah. It now has hit Arabah. This desert, this place, this this place has no production, no, no produce, no life, only death. But now the it's now blossoming, it's blossoming abundantly. The grace of God is now bringing it alive. The waters which from heaven, from the throne, is poured out upon all this dry flesh. It's poured out in our hearts. Trees of God's planting. We will now see Lebanon seeing the glory of God. Alright, now, so now in the next verse, so it says, The glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it. So it's saying Lebanon in its glory will be given unto this desert, which is blossoming as the rose. It will that is blossoming abundantly with joy and singing. So Lebanon is gonna look at this desert. Think about it. This desert, which is has nothing, which doesn't produce anything. No man has dwelt there. Nothing special, nothing significant about it. But yet it will be given unto its glory, it will give it unto its blossoming. Same thing with these Jews from all around these parts of the world, seeing that how is this possible? These Galileans, these these heat, these heathens, these how how is it blossoming? Like, how is this possible? Lebanon will even be seen given the glory of God. The glory, Lebanon in his glory, will see it's blossoming. Now, what's interesting about Lebanon is Lebanon, see, the glory of God is compared, see, Isaiah, he's using the glory of God as the glory of Lebanon. And Lebanon will be given unto its glory, right? So, what what is something what is so significant about Lebanon? Lebanon is known for its snow. Lebanon is literally the white mountain. That's what it is, a snow-covered peaks, pale rocks. Literally, according to the Easton's Bible dictionary, the tops of the mountains of Lebanon are white with snow for most of the year. And snow are found in large banks in the valleys and the northern slopes or at any time in the summer. Also, Lebanon's glory are known by their trees. See, the Lord, it says the glory of Lebanon will come unto them. He he literally mentions three trees: the fir tree, the pine tree, the box tree. The fir tree represents the the fir tree is used in palatial or temple settings, right? It is un is you know it doesn't have a really it's tied to spears, lance, musical instruments. It's used in temples and palace constructions according to Isaiah and Ezekiel. And the unique traits about these fir trees, they are tall, conical, evergreen, and durable wood. And they represent and so they are used in temple settings in worship and using other crafts and artifacts. You have the pine tree. He mentions the pine tree. Now remember, Isaiah 60, verse 13, and Isaiah 41, verse 19, they use the same trees: the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box tree. So what do we know about the pine tree? So this this fir tree represents nobility and prominence. So Lebanon's glory also is by the pine tree. So this pine tree is enduring. The root meaning of it is enduring, and it's used in Isaiah 41, verse 19 about God planting trees in the desert, and it's known for its longevity and strength. Last but not least, and also this pine tree represents stability and endurance because it's enduring, right? Then you have the box tree, which is in other words the cedar tree. The box tree is means to be straight, upright, represents righteousness, is used in the construction for artistry, upright posture, and is valued for fine grain wood. This was the box tree. And what does it represent? Majesty and uprightness, because why? It's associated with erect posture. So these are trees. These are represented as trees. And who is and when you read verse 14, you can see who it is described to. So it's also that God has his part in this. That all these trees, all these things, God has done it. The hand of the Lord has done this. They can see and understand. It will be a witness. The exiles may see, know, consider, understand that God has a hand on things and is the creator. And in Isaiah 60, verse 13, when it says he'll plant, he'll bring all these trees, it'll be to beautify the place of my sanctuary, and I'll make the place of my feet glorious. So where is his sanctuary? Where is his sanctuary? This is where it's interesting. In Psalms 102, verse 19, it says the sanctuary is above in the height of the heavens, where he beholds the earth. But then Jeremiah 17, verse 12 describes the sanctuary as a glorious high throne. In Jeremiah 17, verse 12, a glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary. So our dwelling place is with Christ, a glorious high throne from the beginning. And remember, Ezekiel talks about the house of the Lord, the temple bursting out with the rivers of with the water. That's bringing fruit to the trees and leaves, the fruit for food, and the leaves for medicine. But yet in Revelation 22, it talks about the throne of God. So the temple of God, the sanctuary of God, it is his throne, the throne of grace. A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary. So when he beautifies the place of our sanctuary, where is he beautifying us? Because a glorious high throne, which has been there from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary. That same sanctuary which water has issued out that brought forth healing. And who is that? And what who are the sanctuary? It's the church of Jesus Christ. According to 1 Corinthians 3, verse 16 and 17. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? And if any man defile the temple, God will destroy, for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. We are holy. Well, the church of Jesus Christ are holy. We are temple. We are a temple. Our body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. We are literally the temple of God. We are God's dwelling place. We are the habitation. According to Paul in Acts 17, verse 24 to 30, the same God that made all the world, all the things therein, Lord of heaven and earth. He dwells not in temples made with hands. He's not worshiped with men's hands. He like as he needs anything. He doesn't need anything, but he gives all life and breath, all things. He hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on the face of the earth, black, white, Mexican, no matter what. And he hath determined, or no, he hath ordained, he has marked, he has specified the times before appointed or prearranged and the bounds of their habitation, or in other words, the limit placing of their residence on this earth. He's wishing that his desires that they should seek him, if happily they might feel after him. So God wants them to deeply understand him, touch and handle him, verify its nature, find him, even though he's not far. He's not far. We live in him, for in him we live and move and have our being all because of God. And the poet says we are his offspring. We have God's genetics, we're his DNA. And the Godhead is not, he's not like gold, he's not like material things, he's not something that is built in a statue, he's not even a man's imagination or his thoughts of what God is, a black man, a white man, or his image of what God is. And he calls this the times of ignorance. And during this time of ignorance, God winked that, he let it slide. But now he commands all men everywhere to repent. Oh, Jesus. Oh, thank you, Jesus. Think about it, he beautifies the place of his sanctuary, renewed in the our minds are renewed in the image of him. Think about it to beautify the sanctuary. What where is the place of our sanctuary? Our bodies, which is the temple of God, God's dwelling place, our sanctuary, and literally, and he dwells in us. His glorious high throne from the beginning. We he is in us, he is in us, and we are in him. We are in heaven, we are seated in heavenly places. Literally, we are with Christ. And you will think that, oh, how is this possible when we are in this earth? Just like the Pharisees, they thought, when should the kingdom of God come? When when the kingdom of God should come. You know what Jesus says? It doesn't come with observation. It's not like, okay, here it is right there. Oh, you have to fly up here. Oh, it's in the sky, it's in space, it's in this planet, it's here, it's there. No, no, no, no, no. The kingdom of God is within you. Within you. You are in heaven. It's not about, oh, we're waiting to go to heaven. We are in heaven. We are in heaven. We are citizens of heaven. We are in the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God dwells within us. The same kingdom of God where Christ sits on his throne. He is in us. The same water that pours out of the throne is not only poured on us, but he dwells in us. The kingdom of God is not meat and drink. The kingdom of God is not that. It's righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. The kingdom of God is the Holy Ghost. And remember when Jesus told the apostles in Galilee, he told the Galileans, You shall receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and you'll be my witnesses. You will receive power after the Holy Ghost. And the Bible and Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4, verse 20, the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. And the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of the Father. That's why it's called Christ in Us, the hope of glory. God's love is spilled on our hearts by the Holy Ghost. As children of God, the Spirit of His Son cries in our hearts. Abba, Father. That Holy Ghost, the kingdom of God in our hearts is a pledge. It's a seal. It shows that when something is sealed, it can't be reversed. We are his. We belong with him. We belong to him. We can't be erased. He's not, he can't change covenants. It's not like that. It's official. That's why salvation is a one time. The day you believe, the day you receive salvation, you're sealed. And because of the riches of his glory, which is made manifest, Christ in us, the hope of glory, the mystery which has been hidden, now made manifest, we are strengthened with might, with his dutymus, the power. We are strengthened with power by his spirit in the inner man, in the internal dimension of our personhood, which which encompasses the mind, emotions, will, and conscience. That shapes our true character and motivations. We are strengthened with his power by his spirit in our inner man. How? By faith. By faith in Jesus Christ. And he dwells in our hearts. Rooted. We are root, and because he dwells in our hearts, we are rooted and grounded in love. We follow the royal law of love. And we are made glorious. Christ Jesus, the one who has eternal glory. We have obtained salvation in him. That word obtained, we are refreshed. We enjoy the salvation which is in Christ Jesus. The scriptures make us wise unto salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. We are saved by grace through faith, which is the gift of God, which no man should boast. The gift of God is what? Eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. That's what he beautifies. He beautifies us. We are his sanctuary. The waters are the gospel. The gospel of the grace of God. Gospel of the kingdom of God. The Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Christ, who speaks witness, who witnesses that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the Son of the living God. The one who is dead, buried, rose again, has all power, all glorious, nothing like the name of Jesus. The name of Jesus, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess. No man will say Jesus Christ is Lord except only by the Spirit of God. Glory to God. So when we learn more about Lebanon's glory, in Psalms 29, verse 6, Lebanon is compared to a young unicorn, which is what? Youthful, robust, uniquely distinguished, an untained spirit, a burgeoning strength, unmistakable presence that sets ones apart. That's why the temple is holy. We are fitted, we are building together. We are a holy temple unto the Lord. It's not like temple Solomon built, but it's our bodies. We are the temple of the Holy, we are the temple of the Spirit of God. He dwells in us. He compares Lebanon like a young unicorn, an innocence of youth and the powerful, young yet mighty, grown yet already impressive, untamed, yet purposeful. Even in the songs of Solomon, 4 verse 8 to 10, he talks about come with me from Lebanon, my spouse. This is God, you know, the husband speaking to his wife. Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon. Look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shinir and Hermon, from the lion's den, from the mountains of the leopards. Thou hast ravaged my heart. With with the eyes, with the chain. The love is better than wine. Smell of ointments than all spices. This is said to be translated as because Amana, Shanir, Hermon, they are these are mountain peaks, distinct mountain peaks. And Shenir and Hermon are summits of Lebanon, and they're known for their imposing stature, stature. And their point to real peaks near ancient Babylon and Damascus. See, Amana is related to the root word meaning faithfulness. It signifies steadfastness and trust. Be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Shinir represents the pointed peak. Herman means abrupt or lofty, a sharp, towering summit that touches the heavens. He's telling them, come out from Lebanon, come out from the world. From Amman and from these skies, from the places where the lions den. The leopards. A place is like like Sodom. See, from the outside, it looks like the Garden of Eden. It looks beautiful, while the inside is corrupt. Come out from the world. From the den is dens of lions. Where Satan roams around. Leopards. They're like leopards and evening wolves. They are fierce and bitter. Violence. Don't drink from the wine of Sodom, which is produced violence and destruction and bitterness. The root that bears wormwood and gall. The place which does not produce good fruit. But he says, Thou hast ravished my heart. We have ravished his heart. He was through our our countenance. We are transported with love. Captivated. Prisoners of Christ. Captivated by his love. And think about it. It's not about we loved him first. He first loved us. He saw us. He said, Wow, I want to marry you. God tells Israel that I you are I am your husband. Return to me. Return to your first love. He is captivated by us. He loves us.

SPEAKER_02 1:57:40

He wants all he wants you is to believe. That's it.

The Excellency of Carmel and Sharon

SPEAKER_01 1:57:46

That's it. Believe. He even says the garment, he even look how he describes his church. He describes as the smell, how the smell of garments is like the smell of Lebanon. And remember, Lebanon is known for its cedar forest, majestic cedar forest, which God has planted. God, the cedar trees, God is the one who plants them, not man, God. The cedar forests are majestic, the trees, refreshing mountain air, freshness, purity, natural beauty of us. Invigorating, enduring. He looks at the church of Jesus Christ, whose presence in life are as refreshing and pure as Lebanon's air. He even compares it like the streams of Lebanon. Us as street, he literally sees as streams from Lebanon, a fountain of gardeners, a well of living waters, streams from Lebanon. So these are waters that originate from the snow covered mountains of Lebanon. And they form and these snow, remember, snow which is pure and white. They form, they flow downwards in trickling, gushing, steady streams. A source of fresh, pure, abundant water. And they're vital. They import the surround, they support the surrounding regions. This melting snow gives rise to life-sustaining waterways. See, remember, they said the glory, see, God's rest is like the snow of Lebanon, which is cool and refreshing. Cold waters. There's a lot of souls out there that are thirsty, that needs to be refreshed and renewed. And believe not in their own works, but in the finished worked on the cross. Glory to God. He even even the church, even Christ, he is described in Solomon Song of Solomon 5, verse 15, about how his legs are as pillars of marble set upon sockets of fine gold, his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. See, God, He literally, the glory of God, Christ, Jesus, literally, his visible glory, the His countenance, His visible glory. It's like Lebanon, which is majestic purity. It's its excellency, it's divine selection. Or as the cedars, strong, enduring. In Song of Solomon 7, verse 4, he also looked at it. The Church of Jesus Christ is compared to a nose. According to John Gill, he did an exposition on this. He talks about how there was once a tall tower built on Mount Lebanon on the side of the on the side that faced the city of Damascus. And this tower stood in the open area, which is easily seen. It could be easily seen. It was exposed to strong winds. And the Roman poet Lucan called it windy Damascus. And this tower was said to be so tall that people could see and count the houses in Damascus from its top. And this tower is seen as a symbol for the ministers of God's word, teachers and leaders in the church. Ministers use different images or metaphors because they have a lot of important jobs. They're like they're the eyes that help others see the truth. They are the nose that can sense or smell what is good and true in the gospel of Christ. They not only understand the truths of the Bible themselves, but they share it with others. Just like the four lepers, they understand the truth that the Syrians are gone, the food, the spoils, they're all here. They don't just keep it for themselves, they share it with others, they share it with the town. Those who believe, they rush into it. They run a stampede. Those who don't believe, they are victims of that stampede. They trample. They hear it, they will see it, but it'll be too late for them. Unless they believe, unless they repent. Just as the nose is an ornament that adds beauty to the face, ministers bring beauty and honor to the church. And just like a strong tower that protects a city, the ministers defend the church from harm. The tower looked toward Damascus, a city whose people were often enemies of Israel. It's just how faithful ministers of Christ always stay alert, watch for danger, bravely standing up against those who oppose the church, against false doctrine. Even talks about even the church, a well-shaped nose can show grace and dignity. The church having beauty and strength. The tower that faces Damascus, the church is brave, does not fear enemies, but stands tall and confident. We do not fear the great work of God. Even if men like Sanbal and Tobiah and Geshem and all the men, they want to bring the wall down. They want to destroy, confound, confuse the work. Literally, the nose is as a tower of Damascus, which looks. See, it is the church wisdom, the good judgment, can discern between truths and lies. See, danger comes from far away, protects itself from harm. That's what Lebanon is compared to. Even in Lebanon, it says even Hosea 14, verse 5, how Lebanon roots cast forth because of its magnificent and enduring cedar trees. They're in immense size. And remember, we are called trees. Remember, the waters that issue out of the sanctuary that we are planted. The Bible says we are should be like trees of the Lord, trees of righteousness, God's planting, God's husbandry, which produces leaves and trees and flowers, roses and lilies, the rose of Sharon. Glory to God. Unyielding nature, cedar, strong, can withstand anything, because we have the armor of God. We can withstand the wiles of the devil and this play make the place of his feet glorious. Our shoes are pre are shod with the gospel of peace. How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. Strong. The planting, the branch, the vine. Remember, he called the branch who comes from the house of David. Who comes and says, He is the vine, we are the branches. Because he is the vine, we bear good fruit. And we can't bear good fruit on our own, because the works of the flesh does not produce any good fruit. Only the Spirit of God produces good. Love, joy, peace, patience, guidance, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things, there is no law. Even it says, even Hosea brings up the wine scent, the wine of Lebanon. See, the glory of Lebanon's glory is given unto it. One of the Lebanese glory is their wine. See the grapes, see, the grapes of Lebanon are literally the size of plums, and its wine is literally the best in the east, even in the world. See, Israel was like a luxury, but empty vine, bringing forth no fruit to God. God looked that he should bring forth grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes. God made him a noble plant, a noble vine, but they become degenerate. Now its glory and luxuriance should not hinder its bearing fruit. And it's the noblest of kind, the rich and fragrant, its odors of graces, the spirit of God not fleeting but abiding. New wine poured out from heaven. His blood. The best wine. See, according to history, the best wine comes from the grapevines that grow on Mount Lebanon. And halfway up the mountain, there's a monastery called the Canobine. And it's in a beautiful place. And there are travelers that say it is famous for making the best fine wine in the world. It's red, sweet, and thick. It can even stick to glass. Even there's a city near Mount Lebanon called Ampeloisa, which is a Greek name that is rich in wine. Gabriel Sionita said even in their time the wines from Mount Lebanon were popular and respected. There was a scholar named Kimchi that said wines from Lebanon, Hermon, Carmel, Samaria, and all the mountains were the best in the world. The best, the finest taste, smell, and healing power. And remember what Paul tells Timothy? Drink a little wine for your stomach, say. It's a good medicine. And how and remember, wine, where did it come from? Grapes. Grapes are fruit. Who plants the who plants it? The farmer. He waters the plants, grows fruits, plants his grape seed, produces group. Ooh. See. I am the vine. You are the branches. There was another writer named Jeffhet that said the smell of these wines, you could notice them. It's noticed from far away. Like the goodness of Israel is noticed by others. Think about it. On the day of Pentecost, when they were speaking in tongues, the new wine, people even to the point, these foreigners thought they were drunk. The Jews, literally the Jews that came from other nations, they thought, oh man, these guys are drunk. Because they they noticed in the upper room, these Galileans. The region of shadow, the shadow of death. This place that has no producing, no fruit, no life. But yet now has life. Because now they have the Father and the Son. The Spirit of God is now dwelling, has come upon them. Filled with the Holy Ghost, the new wine. That a lot has people has known of it. The Ethiopian, from from the Ethiopian to the Cornelius, to the Philippian jailer. They notice the goodness of God. Even Jesus says salvation came from the Jews. So what is the wine scent of Lebanon? John Gill describes this perfectly. The savoriness of truly converted, gracious souls, of their graces, doctrines, life, and conversation. It is literally their memory. That's why it says the memory shall be as the wine of Lebanon. Or in other words, the memory of their goodness. See, the saints obtain a good report through faith and have a good name, better than precious ointment. Their memory is blessed. They are had in everlasting remembrance. The memory of them is not only dear to the people of God and after ages, but the memory of their persons and of their works is exceeding grateful to God and Christ. I remember actually a couple days ago, couple this was like last week. Actually, no, this was Tuesday. A pastor from Memphis he preached about the Ethiopian eunuch, actually, and about Philip, you know, the Philip the Ethiopian eunuch was reading from Isaiah. And Philip was like, Do you understand what you're reading? And he talked about, you know, who was the greatest prophet? And to him he said Jonah, because Jonah only spoke one line, a one-liner, that made everybody repent. And you know what's crazy? We just talked about Jonah. But yet he said the greatest prophet is Isaiah. And he brought up how in Isaiah 6, let me pull it up real quick. Isaiah chapter 6. Glory to God. Isaiah chapter 6. Okay, so this was in Isaiah, and during the time of King Uzziah that the Lord was sitting upon, and he saw the seraphims, and you know, Isaiah was like, you know what? Let's read verse 8. This is because this is where it starts. Isaiah chapter 6, verse 8. So Isaiah hears the voice of the Lord saying, Whom who should I send? Who will go for us? Who's gonna represent? Isaiah was like, send me, send me, send me, send me. And God tells Isaiah, go tell him. And you know, and you know what? God tells him, Let's listen. They're gonna hear you. They're definitely will tell this people, they're gonna listen to you, but they won't understand you. They will see you indeed, but they'll perceive not. See, he says, Make the heart of this people fat, their eaves will be heavy, shut their eyes, unless they're unless they see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, converted and be healed. So think about it. God, Isaiah was like, Lord, send me, let me preach to them. God tells them, Look, alright, go tell them, guess what? They're not gonna listen to you. Their hearts will be hard in their ears, they're not gonna understand nothing you're gonna say. They're not even gonna they're gonna be as dumb as rocks. And then Isaiah answers, Lord, how long? He says, until the cities will be wasted without inhabitant, the houses without man, the land will be you know utterly desolate. See, see, the mind of God is like, and think about it. Isaiah, remember 700 years before Jesus, right? Isaiah literally is saying, literally, God tells Isaiah, no one's gonna listen to you, no one's gonna understand you. And yet, now, majority of people nowadays, from the New Testament church to now, receive salvation based on the book of Isaiah. The Ethiopian eunuch, once he really learned about Isaiah being when Philip was explaining to the Philip, the Ethiopian eunuch about Isaiah, he believed. A lot of verses in Isaiah, you know, wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him, with his trip we are healed, for unto us a child is born, unto us the son is given, the government shall be upon his shoulder, his name shall be called wonderful counselor, the everlasting father, the mighty God, the prince of peace, of his kingdom there should be no end. Huh? Isaiah A virgin shall conceive, will call his name Emmanuel. See, out of a out of the rod of Jesse, out of Jesse's house will become David's, will a branch will rise up. Netzer. Think about it. Isaiah. Isaiah is still preaching through the scriptures. The word of the Lord is still speaking through the writings of Isaiah. Think about it. During his time, imagine that oh no one's gonna listen to him. God, they're not gonna listen, they're not gonna understand anything. However, they listen, they believe. People believe. Even Charles Spurgeon, he heard a sermon. He didn't really hear a sermon. He said the preacher was an idiot. All he remembered, just like Jonah, one one message caused him to repent. This preacher, he pointed at Charles Spurgeon. He says, I don't I don't know who you are, young man. You look miserable, you you look terrible. Look unto Jesus. Look unto look unto him and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth. That's when he got converted. Look unto him and be ye saved. Look unto Jesus and be ye saved. That's it. Even John, even in 2 Chronicles 9, verse 20, that'll be that'll be the that'll be the last reading before we continue to talk about the excellency. Now we're dealing with the glory of God, how God's glory is compared to these things. So he compares God's glory to the vessels of the house. So in 2 Chronicles 9, verse 20, he talks about Solomon's wealth, how his drinking vessels were of gold, and he talks about how the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure, pure gold. I had I'm not gonna lie, I had a hard time understanding this part. And then I read and then I found John Bunyan. He actually did, he did an exposition on this on 2 Chronicles 9, verse 20. This mystery about the house of the forest of Lebanon. And he t he identifies it as the type of the church in a wilderness state. The same way the temple at Jerusalem represents the church in its worshipful prosperity. The forest house represents the church as she is assaulted and persecuted, a church enduring trials in a hostile world. Cause remember, all King Solomon, he had no silver, all gold. All his cups are gold, pure gold. So he talks about these cups. They're not temple vessels for worship because they're reserved for Jerusalem temple. The forest house was not to offer burnt offerings or sacrifice, but it's an altar or fortress for the people of God in exile. These were drinking cups. Cups stand for the droughts, the experiences, the trials. The church in the wilderness that drank as they lived by faith in the desert, the Arabah, which we are going through. This earth we are living in. We are sojourning. We're pilgrims, we're strangers in this earth. Our citizenship is in heaven. The children of Israel, their citizenship was in the promised land. Canaan. Our citizenship is in heaven. And yet we journey in this earth. We journey in this wilderness, this Arabah. But by the Spirit of God we blossom as the rose, rejoice evermore with joy and singing. Righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, the kingdom of God is in us. Even Bunyan, John Bunyan, describes that these fierce trials represent pure gold that are ordained, sanctified by God for the good of his people. Moses chose to rather drink a brimmer of affliction than to enjoy the pleasures of sin in Egypt. And that the sour, bitter cup only torments those who love neither God, Christ, nor his grace. And these afflictions are more worth than all the treasures of Egypt, valuable, profitable, refining believers and leading to eternal glory. These trials are proving true faith, sound, honest, faithful. The graces will be found in praise and honor at the second coming of Christ. John Bunyan even says how godly people in hardship glorified in tribulation, took pleasure in reproaches and persecutions, even rejoiced in temptation, saying, Happy is the man that endureth. He will not, a real believer will not treat his bitter cup for the sweetest poison in this world. He'd rather have Christ's bitter cup with the harlot of Revelation 17, sweet cup. He literally differentiates actually the bitter cup of Christ with the harlot of Revelation 17, sweet cup of the scarlet beast. See, I talked about this in a couple episodes about the one the wine from the vineyard of heaven. The allure of the world is poisonous, and God's bitter cup purges the soul in life of death. Even as these trials are painful, these are love tokens, blessings in the disguise, sent by God, whether by friend or foe. Even Christ Himself drank this cup of suffering. That is not poison, but to drink it for his sake. That's why Jesus says, Are you able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of? And then John Bunyan identifies his trials as the cup of Christ of affliction, and he links the golden cups of Lebanon to Christ's own cup that we share in his sufferings, not alone, but with him. Glory to God. And it's not just stoic endurance, but a loving purpose in these trials. How God's time sanctifies each bitter cup for good of those of his that drink them. And his hardships make the faith of the church more precious and witness more beautiful. And that the suffering we go through is God's refining fire. It's unpleasant to the flesh, but it's valuable to the spirit. The cups of pure gold, bitter droughts, gold because they are God gifts, God given gifts of grace. We consider it joy when we face trials because they prove our faith and our steps towards our future glory. Glory to God. Hallelujah. John Bunyan even considers the second kind of cup, the one filled with sweetness, the cups of consolation and salvation, the cup of salvation, who God Himself, Christ, is the portion of our inheritance. The sweet droughts come after a period of suffering, like tender mothers giving sugar to soothe a child after medicine. We share in Christ's sufferings, but we will share in his comfort. Some cups overflow with blessing, like David, my cup runneth over, even in the presence of enemies. Paul himself was filled with comfort despite the tribulation. In Bunyan's allegory, he talks about these sweet experiences are the Lord's gift of joy, peace, and grace that comes after distress, reinforcing the church hope. Thank you, Jesus. Now, remember, the glory of the Lord, the glory of God, and the glory of Lebanon. So the glory of God is like the Lebanon's glory. Lebanese glory, right? So he talks about Lebanon's sweetness, hope and hardship. So Lebanon is where the house stood. And the forest was the forest of Lebanon was famed for its beauty in what? Cedars, honey, milk, fruit, streams, and flowers. And this is in Song of Solomon 4, verse 11 and 15 through 15, Psalm 72, verse 16, where it talks about Lebanon's fruits, and Hosea 14, verse 6 and 7. Now we write about Lebanon in the Song of Solomon. So Solomon building the house in such a pleasant local talks about that, represents that even a wilderness church can enjoy God's blessings. That Christ used the same image in the Song of Solomon, comparing the bride to Lebanon's sweetness, how her lips drop as the honeycomb. Honey and milk are under her tongue. Bunyan suggests the very luxury of placing the house in Lebanon shows how God makes the wilderness joyful. The church's future glory. One day redeemed, we'll see Lebanon's Lebanon's promise fulfilled. Even in exile, the church receives cups of consolation. What is it? The honey and milk despite the trials. So in this chapter, in songs in Song of Solomon, in the in 2 Chronicles chapter 9, in verse 20, he's using the image of cups, honey, the beast, the dragons, mother's compassion to speak to the church, to value trials as God's wise provision, to encourage them with the assurance of future consolation. That God's people like vessels of gold, undergoing bitter suffering, but these are God ordained, profitable, and they will be sweetly followed by the overcoat flowing comforts of his grace. Bunyan, literally, bunyan in his translation in earnest English, the beleaguered church, he's telling them, Do not despise bitter cups, for it is the Christ's cup and God's love. Rejoice that even in wilderness Lebanon can bloom. And remember, the glory of Lebanon will be given unto the blooming desert. So how can we how can we view God's glory? God's glory is Lebanon. How how will it be Lebanon? This country will be given unto God's glory. And it'll be as more glorious than even Lebanon's glory. How? Through the Holy Spirit, through the water that that issues out of the sanctuary. We are refreshed. We are made pure. We are made white as snow. We are cleansed, sanctified by the blood of Jesus Christ. And through the blood of Jesus Christ, we are in we enduring. We are enduring. We are his temple. Our bodies are a living sacrifice, holy acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable surface for our service. We are up, we are righteous. We have eternal life. We are tall. We are more than conquerors. We are literally in heaven. Our citizenship is in heaven. We are in heaven. We are the city of the Lord. We are the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. We are a new creature in Christ Jesus. We are a new Jerusalem. We are citizens of Mount Zion. We are his temple. Through that, his glorious high throne from the beginning is our sanctuary, is our dwelling place. We dwell under the shadow of the Almighty. We are his dwelling place. We know him. We believe in the gospel. We are refreshed. The kingdom of God lives in us. Christ lives in us. We are rich. We are rich in spiritual blessings. We are blessed with all the spiritual blessings. We are mighty. We have purpose. We are his children. We are distinguished. We are holy. We are set apart.

SPEAKER_02 2:23:53

Just like Lebanon.

SPEAKER_01 2:24:00

Our smell, we we bring a sweet fragrance. Like our prayers, it's like a sweet fragrance of incense before the Lord. And the Spirit of God, even though we don't know what to pray, the Holy Spirit helps us pray. He intercedes for us. The Spirit of His Son cries in our hearts, Abba Father, we are refreshed through the watching of regeneration. But according to His blood, He died for us.

SPEAKER_02 2:24:26

Through His blood. Through His blood and water.

The Glory, Excellency, and the Kingdom of God

Conclusion: Seeing the Glory of God by Faith

SPEAKER_01 2:24:40

We excel in the knowledge of Christ. We have discernment. We know truth from lies. We cast out every false doctrine. We are rich in grace, the riches in His mercy. And we are pure, like pure gold. Like the gold in the house of the force of Lebanon. That many cups. That despite the these trials we go through, that we will be refined with gold. That these things are God's glory. We do all things for the sake of Christ. That's why, that's why, you know, that's why one thing I love, I love is Paul. Literally, Paul is really one of the greatest examples of the grace of God. Paul, think about it, from killing believers, killing believers, persecuting the church, to now suffering for the name of Christ's sake. To bring us all these wonderful letters inspired by the Holy Ghost to enrich the saints. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. God's glory is made manifest. Glory of God, literally, the Lebanon, Lebanese glory. Lebanon is seeing the glory of God. And not only Lebanon is seeing the glory of God. Not only the glory of Lebanon is given unto the glory of the Lord, which has happened in this desert, which is blossoming, but also the excellency of Carmel and Sharon are witnessing the excellency of God. And that'll be the last point. The excellent Carmel and Sharon seeing the excellency of God. So both Lebanon, glory, Lebanon and his glory, Carmel and Sharon and his excellency will see the glory of the Lord and the excellency of our God blossoming. They'll see it in the desert because it's rejoicing and blossoming, because the glory of the Lord has risen upon that desert, and God's excellency has appeared unto their right now. Okay? Now, when we think of Carmel, we think of the miracle, the showdown between Elijah and the prophets of Baal. And Elijah, you know, God answered Elijah's sacrifice. Amen. Now, Carmel, Carmel is used a couple times in the Bible. But there are important things. So, for example, Song of Solomon 7, verse 5. So, what what makes Carmel so excellent? So, Carmel literally means fruitful. The excellency of Carmel is fruitful, a plentiful field, is known for its agricultural richness. It's literally a lush land, a luscious landscape, bounteous harvests, reflecting the natural bounty of that area. Even the church of Christ is compared, according to Song of Solomon 7, verse 5. It says, Thy hand upon thee is like Carmel, and the hair of thine head like purple. The king is held in the galleries. So notice, Christ is calling his wife's beloved head to Carmel. He's comparing the beloved's head to Carmel. That it is majest so like because it's the head is something high, majestic, and commanding. It's fruitful. Its presence is both elevating and light-giving. It's a uh it's a commanding admiration, a noble landscape that which commands his eye, which commands the eye, and the way the hair flows freely, the hair of thy head like purple, catching the light like threads of royal fabric. And that color purple, it's it's deep. It was it's costly dye. It's worn by kings and nobles. And remember, we are royalty, we are a royal priesthood, we are kings and priests, we are a holy nation. We are royal, we are a diodem on his head, we are a crown. Catching the light like threads of royal fabric, majesty and splendor, the splendor of the king, glory and majesty. We our life is hid with Christ and in God, and he is glorious, he is majestic, he is great, he is awesome, worthy to be praised. And he's the king, and the king, literally, Christ is captivated with the beauty of the church's hair, flowing hair, like he's caught with the winding galleries or locks. That his love for us, it binds himself. He's adored, like he is he's taken away from his authoritative figure and to now in love with us. God is madly in love with us. See, sometimes I don't like people that say, Oh, God is not he's not in love with you. He's angry, he's calling for repentance. You know, you need to pre how is that gonna bring no the goodness, yes, we do preach repentance. The goodness of God, learning God's goodness, learning his kindness, learning his fruits, learning his character, his kindness, his love that will lead man to repentance. That will lead men to want to believe. Simple as that. Simple as that. Not this extra stuff. In Micah chapter 7, verse 14, Carmel is used in this path in this way. Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood. In the midst of Carmel. So he's talking to those. So he's saying, Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thy heritage. So Jesus is called the great shepherd of the sheep who feeds us. He literally oversights us. He's the shepherd. He's the bishop of our souls. Who watch over the sheep, who watch over his flock. The Lord is our shepherd. We won't want, we should not want. Even Jesus seen that Carmel, a fruitful place to those, the flock. There's a flock that dwells solitarily. They dwell by themselves in the wood, in the midst of Carmel. They are a sheep without a shepherd. The harvest is great, but the laborers are few. So God sent apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers for the perfecting of the saints to edify the body of Christ. The Lord of the harvest sending forth workers in the field. Christ sent his ministers. God ordained ministers, those who are trained in the word of God. Like Ezra, bringing in men who understand, who can easily tell, who can expound the scriptures to the people to understand God's God's word. We are like sheep without a shepherd, but the great shepherd of the sheep, he sends sheep, he sends shepherds. He has an army. Man who knows the truth of God's word. So that we may grow, that we may be edified. Drink the milk, so we may eat strong meat. We're sheep without a shepherd. We are victims of wolves. The false priests. Think about it. During that time of in this in Samaria and in during in Galilee, they were victims of false priesthood. The wolves are feeding on them. They're destroying them. Lord, Lord, Lord. Karma is fruitful, is there, but there's a she there needs to be a shepherd. In Christ, he sends his shepherd. He sends, he sends shepherds. He sends workers into this labor, into his field. He sends ambassadors to represent the country of heaven. So bring the will of the king into our hearts. Feeding us every day with his rod, not to beat us, not to destroy us, but to guide us, to teach us the right way, guide us in his truth, sanctify us through that truth, because his word is truth. We are the flock of his heritage, we are the sheep of his pasture. We have eternal life. We dwell with the shepherd. That wolves come, he defends us. And our lives is a testimony that how God has saved us. That he tells, he tells everyone, he tells his friends that the shepherd, that the sheep is now safe. We are safe in his arms. And he says, the excellency of Sharon. Now, one thing about Sharon, they belong to the tribe of Gad. And they have suburbs. In 1 Chronicles 27, verse 29, there was a man named Sharon. There was a man named Shitri of the Sharonite, who was over the herds that fed in Sharon. And the name Shitri in Hebrew, and he was a Sharonite. It means official, the magisterial one, the man of authority. And what's interesting is Sharon is literally a flat, fertile area of land, a coastal region. It's known for its lush vegetation, agricultural abundance. It means to be straight or level. The Sharon Plain stretches approximately 90 kilometers along Israel's central coastal area and is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the west and the Sumerian hills to the east. And guess what? It extends from Nahal Taninim near Mount Carmel in the north to the Archon River near Tel Aviv in the south. So it's known for flat terrain, fertile soil, strategic location. It's only used six times in the Bible. So you had a man named Shitrai, and notice he was in David's kingdom. David had a lot of things. Shitrai, the Sharonite was the official, he was authority, he was a ruler, he ruled over the herds. And then when you read Isaiah 65, verse 10, Isaiah prophesies that Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, that the fertile plain of Sharon will be a safe, beautiful, and well provided space where the flocks can graze and dwell. The animals can eat. And none other to feed us better than the shepherd of the sheep who was called the rose of Sharon. He is literally Christ. Christ who is God, almighty, revealed, manifested in flesh, who rules heaven and earth, who is great, worthy, worthy to be praised. There's a hymn, there's a hymn that goes really well with the rose of sharing that describes Christ. It goes like it it literally goes like this Jesus, rose of Sharon, bloom within my heart. Beauties of thy truth and holiness impart, that wherever I go my life may shed abroad fragrance of the knowledge of the love of God. Jesus, Rose of Sharon, bloom in radiance and in love within my heart. Jesus, Rose of Sharon, sweeter far to me than the fairest flowers of earth could ever be. Fill my life completely, adding more each day, of thy grace, divine impurity, I pray. Jesus, Rose of Sharon, balm for every ill. May thy tender mercies healing power distill. Harabukasa Telebasa, for afflicted souls of weary burdened men, giving needy mortals health and hope again. Glory, glory, hallelujah. Jesus, Rose of Sharon, bloom evermore, be thy glory seen on earth from shore to shore, till the nations thy own thy sovereignty complete, lay their honors down and worship at thy feet. Karako Karaba Kaledi de Basa. We lay all our burdens down at the feet of Jesus. It's not by our works. It's not like Mary. It's not it's not like Martha trying to work, trying to please God, like preparing, doing the servant. But just like just like just like Mary, just sitting under the feet of Jesus, listening, learning more of him, being refreshed, being refreshed with his salvation, being every day renewed with the gospel, learning more about his grace, his love for humanity, his purpose, the truth of the scriptures, how they testify of him. I'd rather just sit down at the feet of Jesus. It's not about your works of trying to serve and trying to impress him, but all it just does sit down, sit down on his feet, sit down, sit under his feet. Cause beautiful is the feet of the one who brings the good news of the gospel of the grace of God, the gospel of the kingdom of God. Glory, hallelujah, hallelujah. Now, Lebanon is known for its glory, and Sharon and Caramel are known for its excellency. There's a difference between the two. So the Hebrew word for glory is kavod, which is the weight, the significance, the honor, the divine presence, the inner worth, the authority, the glory of God, human honor. So kavod is the weight of honor, the gravity of importance. So Lebanon is the weight of honor. It's important because think about it, without Lebanese snow, waters won't produce. Think about it. The waters are the reason that majority of the plains in the surrounding areas grow lusciously. Flowers, trees, the waters that issue out. See, Lebanon, Lebanon in its glory is compared to the glory of God. Which comes to the temple. That water spews out of the sanctuary and brings life. And we as a temple of God, we who are the God's dwelling place, we preach when we preach the word of God, we are baptizing them. Our doctrine is dropping like rain, washing, refreshing with the good words of God that only the Holy Spirit can bring through his revelation. So Lebanon is that weight of honor, the gravity of appearance, the glory of God is that weight. But the X, the word excellency in the Hebrew is Hadar, the beauty, the majesty, the splendor, the outward appearance, majesty, the regal splendor, the visible beauty. Hadar, the excellency, is the beauty of honor, the visible expression of that glory. Christ is literally the excellency. He's the visible express expression. He's the image of the invisible God expressed. Let me read Hebrews real quick. In Hebrews 1, it describes Christ, it describes, it describes him poetically and perfectly. Hebrews literally Jesus Christ, the excellent, who represents the excellency, like the excellency of Carmel and Sharon. He is the brightness of God's glory, the express image of his person. He is literally the express image, the sculpture. He upholds all things by the word of his power. By himself, with no help, purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. That's Christ alone. He didn't need no help. It was only by his divine grace that he saved us, washed our sins in his own blood, poured out from heaven. So X so Sharon, so Carmel and Sharon, known for his luscious vegetation, this beautiful agriculture, fruitful, a place where the flocks graze. And you have the shepherds watching over them. A place is fruitful. This Arapah, this dead sea, the sea which is dead, which is barren, has no life, now has life. Now it's available all the fishermen, all the fishes from the Mediterranean Sea, all the all the fishermen want to come from these areas and start fishing. They're seeing the glory of the Lord. How can we describe the glory of the Lord? It's like you know, Ezekiel saw it as like the appearance of a rainbow that is in the cloud in the day of rain. You know, when it rains, see, the when it rains, it shows the colors, the rainbow appears. His beauty is made majestic. When it rained 40 days and 40 nights, and God sent a rainbow, a promise. The Holy Spirit is that rainbow. The Holy Spirit is like that rainbow, a seal of promise. That he will never leave us nor forsake us, that he is with us. And his appearance, the appearance is like the glory of God. The Holy Spirit, Christ in us, the hope of glory. Thank you, Jesus. Even Paul, the apostle Paul, he counted all things lost, all the things, his accomplishments, all the things he did to the church, the harm, he counted as detrimental, damaging. Only for what? The excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus. The knowledge of Christ Jesus is excellent. It's supreme. It's higher degree, it's high quality, supreme, higher, greater than any course, any to any course that Paul has taken during his time before he was converted. And he counts all of them as dung, is nothing but eau d'ur. It's crap, it's excrement, it's dirt. All those things when it comes to the compared to the excellency of Christ, to the supreme knowledge of the Godhead. Ain't nothing like it. It's great. Excellency. Even Paul uses that same Greek word for excellency in here in Philippians 4, verse 7. The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, which is supreme, which is higher than every human understanding in this world. He will do what? Keep our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. So God's peace, the peace of God, which flows like a river, that is greater than all human understanding. Because think about it. A grace of God, he said, let your grace, let your speech be with grace seasoned with salt. Sprinkling salt on the water. When you sprinkle salt on the water, it has a bad taste. When you sprinkle salt on the water, it's it has there's no life. Fishes will die. It won't meet, it won't work. But the power of the Holy Ghost, see, our hearts are like the hearts of man. We're like the desert. It's like Arabah, it's like the Sea of Galilee. It's like the Galileans, like those in the red in the Dead Sea. That there's no life, nothing grows, nothing good comes out of there. But Christ, the rose of Sharon, who blooms, appears, he blooms in our hearts. He waters us. And he reveals, like Paul, he the grace, he by grace of God, he revealed his son in us. Who we are really in Christ Jesus. We are a new creature. We are righteous. We are justified. We are sanctified. It's simple. It's simple. The simplicity is only in Christ Jesus, in Christ Jesus alone, who passes all understanding, greater than all of that, and he keeps our hearts and minds. And our word keep, he's like a sentinel. He stands watch. He foresees, he sees potential threats. He protects us. He's our shield, our buckler, our refugees and strength of every help in our days of trouble. And we fear nothing. God is our refuge and strength. More than conquerors. We are safe under his arms. We are sheltered under his wings. We are safe. He has protected us. The wall, the glory of the Lord is like a wall of fire around us. He keeps us. He stands watch. Make sure no foreign object comes against us. If our God is for us, who can be against us? No weapon formed against us shall prosper. Oh man, the glory. Think about it, man. It's the glory, the excellency. It's nothing like it. Light has come. See, the people in Galilee, in Nazareth, in Bethsaida, in Cana, Capernaum, a place where the Assyrians, the mixing of the worship of Jehovah and the worship of these other gods, they're in darkness, spiritual darkness, they're in distress. They're sitting in darkness. But however, the light has come. Light has sprung up. The light has blossomed. The rose of Sharon has appeared. But yet the things of this world, the God of this world, what? They're blinded. It blinded the minds of those who believe not. The only way, the only way that can shine is the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God. So the glorious gospel is described as a light. The same God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, he has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. He is that light that sprung up. Now notice, now in 2 Corinthians 4, verse 4, and in verse 6, light is only used twice. In 2 Corinthians 4, verse 4, it says, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God. So the gospel is described as the gospel of light, a glorious gospel. It's not just any type of light. Okay? And then when you read verse 6, it says God who commands the light to shine out of darkness. So that's a different word. See, in that one in verse 4, the word light is photismos in Greek. But yet the God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, that Greek word is false. It says the same God who commands the light to shine out of darkness, God, the Christ who is the image of God, he shined in our hearts. How? He gives the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. So the gospel of Christ is that light, the glorious gospel of Christ. See, he is the God, he's a light. He commands the light to shine out of darkness. He's the one that says, Let there be light. The light of the world commandeth light in creation. Now, this is where it's interesting. The word light in the Greek, which is false, is simple to shine, to be bright, a general shining, glowing, literal light, a light, a lamp, a star, a person shining. So literally it's like the lamp shines. But that light, so he describes the glorious, so he describes the gospel of Christ, which is photismos, is the is the fultismos, is that light. And the knowledge of the glory of God and the face of Jesus Christ is that light, it's the fultismos. It has shined in our hearts. It has beamed. So that word photismos means to beam forth. It radiates, it illuminates, it enlightens. It's perception, divine radiance. The light is shining outward from a source. Jesus Christ is that source. He is the lamp. So Jesus Christ is the lamp unto our feet, the light unto our path. Christ Jesus is the lamp. And that light which beams outward, which illuminates us, is the word of God. It's his knowledge of the glory, the revelation. That's why the Father of glory has given us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, that our eyes may be enlightened, that our understanding may grow in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. So the word of God, the gospel of the kingdom of God, the gospel of the grace of God. It is the light, the fultismos. He is the enlightenment of the mind or spirit. He is the revelation. He is the word. He we get who we get understanding, truth, and the wisdom becomes clear. Christ, the wisdom of God. Our wisdom. Not just seeing, but perceiving. We spiritually awake. Those who are asleep, we have waken up. And we know Christ is in the room. He's the guidance of divine light, the light that shines in the evening, that overcomes ignorance, darkness, gross darkness. Peter describes him as Peter describes Christ as the day star that dwells in our hearts, the morning star, the bright celestial body. Just like the planet Venus that appears in the sky before sunrise. It heralds the coming of daylight. Jesus came in the time of the law under the shadow, just before the sunrise of the New Testament of the body of Christ, the blood is now shed that forgave man of sins, past, present, and future. The coming of daylight, the Old Testament. Literally, the Old Testament is the night sky. Just before that sunrise, before the New Testament, the new dawn has come. The grace of God is now entered. He is the symbol of illumination, hope, and new beginnings, a new creature. We have a new story, a new testimony, a new song to sing. He brings enlightenment. He guides us. He dispels darkness through his wisdom and truth. John describes him as the Jesus calls himself the bright and morning star. He's that light that shines with purity. He brings new beginnings. He stands as a guiding presence, the star of the dawn. Shines with exceptional brightness just before the rising sun. He's like the planet Venus that shines most bright brilliantly before the sunrise. The anticipation that accompanies the coming of light after darkness. They have seen the darkness. They were in the time of darkness, but light has come. Glory to God. Think about it. The place of darkness has brought light. Jesus came out of Nazareth. Something no good can come out of. And it clear and it clearly shows why. The people don't believe. Look, you know what they were saying? Kill yourself. We heard what you did in Capernaum. You hear we hear what you did in other other places. Why you don't do it in your hometown? He knew no prophet is respected in their own country. The land of Zebulon, Nephtali, have seen the light. Even even Samaria themselves. Even Samaria. Even Jesus had to use the parable of the good Samaritan. Breaking down the racial barrier through the blood. We are made one. We belong to one race, the human race. We are seated in heavenly places. We belong. We are the offspring of God. We have the same genetics as God. Children of the Most High. Thank you, Jesus. So I like to end with this. What is it? So how how can one see the glory of God? Think about it. His brightness, his glory. The place you might think, just like you're you're in darkness right now. Nothing is going well, nothing's producing. The things of the world looks look so it looks so appeasing. The vines of Sodom. The place of Sodom, which looks like the Garden of Eden. It looks godly. It looks beautiful, but inside is corrupt. It's like whitewashed tombs, but inside is full of dead man's bones. It looks beautiful on the outside, but inside is such corrupt. It might be as beautiful, it might be as beautiful as Jezebel, but inside is straight up evil. The appearance might look holy, but inside is unholy. On the outside of the surface, the the it looks it looks perfect. The wine, the red wine looks good, but inside is poisonous. We might think that. In spiritual darkness and distress, depending on my own works, thinking that it can score points, I can score points with Christ. That I can see his glory, that I can, you know, see the power of God. Thinking that, oh, this thing, this thing can score me points. That if I if I serve, if I do the work like Martha, I'll be recognized. But not like Mary. But just like Mary, just sat down, listening to Jesus, sitting down at the feet of Jesus, who bringing good news of the gospel. So what what is the key? What is the key to have that experience? To see the desert blossoming as the role, something that doesn't produce anything now bring comes back to life. Something that has dead waters, but now is now healed and made fresh. And all the fishermen from other people, places from other the rich think about it. It's like they discovered the kingdom of God. A man had a lot of pearls. He discovered one pearl of great price. He sold all those things to come find that pearl. The gospel, just like some, it's like he heard all these religions, all these denominations, all these stories, but he heard one truth that Jesus saves. That he is the savor of the whole world. He has cleansed me from He has cleansed us from sin. We are no longer sinners, we are made righteous. That we grasp on it and we tell others. The fishermen, instead of fishing in Elgi and El Gam and the places that produce such great, great waters and great fishes, instead of fishermen from the Mediterranean Sea that come fishing at the Dead Sea, the Sea of Galilee. And yet, and also Andrew, Peter, Simon, Andrew, Andrew, Simon, Peter, John and James, fishing. Literally, fishing in the water. Fishing, literally, fishing in the Sea of Galilee, which was considered dead, considered no life. But yet Jesus comes and says, I'll make you fishers of men. They have caught men, and they caught and they saved through that gospel. Believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's all you have to do. Believe. Last verse, John 11, verse 38 to 45. Jesus was groaning in himself, coming to the grave. It was a cave, a stone. This is when Lazarus died. Jesus tells Martha, roll away the stone. So Martha was saying, the same Martha that was working, she's saying, Lord, he's dead. He stinks now. It's been four days. He's been dead. You know what Jesus responded? Jesus saith unto her, said I not unto thee, didn't I did not did I not did I not tell you that if you would believe, you would see the glory of God? They rolled the stone away. He says, Father, thank you that you have heard me, and I know you always hear me. And let these people believe that you have sent me. He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he was dead, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with gravecloths. His face was bound with a napkin. Loose him, let him go. Then many of the Jews which came to Mary had seen these things which Jesus did, believed on him. This is simple. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. You will see the glory of God. You'll see transformation. You'll see life. You'll be refreshed. You will be you will be happy. You will be rejoiced, you'll be rejoiceful, you'll be rejoicing. You'll have a heart of gratitude. Your heart will be your heart will be replaced with a stony heart, with a heart of flesh. In you, the spirit of the living God will dwell in you. It will be peace. You'll have peace. You will have such love and joy, not only for Christ, but for his people. It's a great thing, it's a wonderful thing, it's a glorious thing, it's a marvelous thing, which is rare, like riches, treasure. The treasures are rich and rare. Something never hurt before is now revealed. Hidden glory and creation, now revealed in Jesus Christ, who is the rose of Sharon, who blooms the deserts. The waters are now alive. And guess what? The blind can see, the dead will live, the mute will speak, the blind will see. Those who don't have will have. Those who are down will rise up. Those who are weak will be made strong. In our flesh, in our bodies, which is the body of flesh, the body of sin which will be put to. Death. His grace will abound within us. His grace exceeds abundantly. It's hyper, hyper grace. If it's not hyper grace, if it's not over grace, because I know a lot of people are against the grace of God. If it's not exceeding abundantly high degree of grace of God, it ain't grace. Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. It blossomed in Galilee. A place that nothing good came out of until Christ came, the man from Galilee, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Even to the point they were called the Nazarenes. They were called Nazarenes. Think about it. What was it in Nazarene? What was it in Galilee? A mixture. Different races. Jews and Gentiles. Jesus came into Galilee, a place mixed with Jews and Gentiles. And the gospel was made manifest over there. Not in Jerusalem, not in Judea, but in Galilee. The gospel for all nations. Believe. Literally, to see the glory. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. You will see the glory of God. You will see a change. You will see a reviving. You will have an understanding of who Christ is and how He has saved you. Washed us from our sins in His own blood. Made you righteous, holy, justified, sanctified. Believe. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Thou shalt be saved. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah. Galilee have seen the darkness. They were in a time of darkness. No light, no fruits, nothing. But now blossoming abundantly. Christ has come. The word of Christ dwell richly in our hearts, admonishing, we admonish one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in our hearts to the Lord. The desert is now rejoicing. And other nations want to see, they want to walk with the Lord. The Gentiles want to see it. They want to walk with us. The unbelievers will see it. They will see the light. Walk in the light as ye are in the light. You are the light of the world, the salt of the earth. The temple of God. The Spirit of God flows like Peter, just speaking the words. They were baptized with the Holy Ghost. Teaching Cornelius and his household, just preaching, the Holy Spirit poured out like water. And they began speaking in new tongues and prophesying. This is the grace of God. The desert is now blossoming as the rose. The glory of God has hitten, has hit the desert. The excellency of Christ has now in the has now blossomed in the desert and is abundantly, exceedingly hyper hyper grace. Amen. Glory to God. Thank you for listening to this message. I pray that this word enlightens both you viewers and listeners. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the sweet fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with you all. Amen. God bless.