We Were Slaves

Wayne Matthews

November 10, 2018

Well, I thought I’d start the sermon by going through all the drama we’ve had on our travels. It’s been very successful overall. It’s a 50, well, 49-51, but I’m not going to tell you which way it went.

Well, the purpose of today’s sermon is to look at what God has done for us when He called us and to consider the tests of faith that we’ve had. If you’d like to turn to John 6:44 (which you would know very well). While you’re turning there, the title of today’s sermon is We Were Slaves.

John 6:44, which Mr. Armstrong covered a lot. No one can come to me, Joshua the Christ unless, and that’s very interesting because it’s unless the Father who sent me draws him. So we have all been called by name because of God the Father because we can’t come to this body, the Body of Christ, the Church of God unless God the Father Himself called us.

Now, often I’ve reflected on my calling because of what it really meant. I remember the excitement of a calling and yet all too many forget this calling that we have and yet those that are listening today, those that hear it in the future, and all of us here today are called by God the Father. What an incredible thing! Absolutely incredible.

Just to put it into a perspective, which is in the book, you can have the perspective of numbers, but if you look at it the average lifespan is three score and ten, seventy years, and the Bible talks about a life, a human life is like a handbreadth, which is not a hand spread out, it’s not wide, which is seventy years. So if you take a rope and you run it one way as far as you can and the other way as far as you can, where it’s out of sight it’s just so far, then you take one hand and put it in the middle that’s seventy years. That’s us in that rope when you look around. Well, if you take a hundred of them it still doesn’t go far, does it? That’s the life of mankind, okay? You look at it, 7,000 years and then there is a hundred years, we have a resurrection in the hundred-year period. So it’s nothing. When you look at it it’s nothing. Yet in that period God is going to build a family from this short period of these 100 seventy-year periods, and then it’s personal choice. But no more children.

So what an incredible thing in that period, which we’re part of this period, one little width, we are on this rope, and yet you can look one way and that’s what we look forward to. There is no end to it. The mind can’t grasp it. But the more important thing, look back the other way as well, because we can’t understand that God didn’t have a beginning. Our minds can’t grasp it. But that’s what we’re dealing with, this little period of time we’re in versus where God has been always and where we could be always this way.

So this little period of seventy years and yet I was called at the age of thirty. So seventy years, it’s possibly forty, all being well, body keeps going. Isn’t that incredible? Here we are called by God for a purpose.

So it says, no one can come to the Church, the Body of Christ, the Church of God, nobody unless, so this is the important word, “unless.” So we’re a group of “unless.” Really! …unless God the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. Now, often when people read it they’ll say, “Raise him up at the last day.” Well, there is not just one last day because we know there are three resurrections. 144,000 – raise them up at the last day. The end of 6,000 years there’s a last day and there will be a resurrection, 144,000. There is another last day – end of 7,000 years. The majority of us would like to be in that last day to be resurrected, the second resurrection. Then there is a last day according to what God has created as far as time. Because, really, time only exists because of us, if you look at what time is, the rising of the sun and going down. Well, if you look at it there is the third one, the last day, which is that big resurrection of the majority of mankind that have had a hundred years to change, to think differently by a choice. Incredible!

So our calling, if you look at what our calling is – incredible thing, yet there have been many that have not followed through by remembering their calling. Just thinking about it it’s very humbling just to have been called, very humbling.

So as the title says, We Were Slaves, well, that’s what we’ve been called out of. We’ve been called, these very few, those handbreadth, just at this time for a purpose, but we were all once slaves.

Now, when you use the word “slavery” it has a different impact physically for different people. Well, some would think, yes, I remember the slavery of the Israelites in Egypt. One group of slavery. Then there are those that were from the African area that were slaves and came to a continent like this, were brought here as slaves. But other countries have done it. The British Empire, they had boats, they used to ship people around all over the world. They had slavery. Today there is slavery, people are in slavery. They’re in the bondage of their natural carnal mind, the natural mind.

So everyone out there that hasn’t been called, unless God the Father calls them, they are in slavery. Well, this sermon is about the fact that we were slaves. That’s where we came from. So we can look back and relate.

Now, that’s why we should not have any expectation on anybody out there, no matter what they say or what they do, because they are still slaves. We’re not, therefore, we’re free. Therefore, we should be different. So we shouldn’t be acting like slaves. Really, when you think of it, we were slaves but we’re not.

Now, they can’t understand it. We know that. So therefore, the responsibility of what we’ve got, this calling, is incredible. The fact that we were slaves to our own natural carnal mind, which we have, which we never thought of anyone else. I know I didn’t. I never thought about anybody else other than myself ever. I still struggle now even though I’m not a slave to my selfishness because God’s given me the awareness of what my selfishness is. So then I can say, “Well, I shouldn’t be doing this,” but you still got to fight. We all got to fight, true? It’s difficult. But we are not slaves, and we’re going to look at scriptures.

I must admit, I do have a problem, one of many. One of them is I have a lot of notes and deep down I really hope I get to certain scriptures, and often I never get there. We’ll see how we go.

So we were slaves and there is different slavery. Today there’s slavery with everybody in slavery to a natural carnal mind. They cannot think spiritually because God hasn’t called them. But we have.

Now, there are current slaves and people don’t look at it as slavery but as people say, “Well, today the prosperity of the United States, Britain, and most westernized countries, is based on slavery still.” People say, “What do you mean it’s based on slavery still?” Well, if it’s made in China that’s slavery because they get a dollar a day. We wear all these clothes and all that because it’s all made by slaves, economic slaves. That’s the truth of the matter. You know there are sex slaves, there are all different types of slavery. There are people that are held and forced to do things and live a particular way even though they don’t want to, but if you don’t, you lose your head.

So there are slaves still existing today, but we are not slaves. Isn’t it an incredible thing when you take the whole world? We’re not slaves. We’re not slaves to this natural thinking. We’re not slaves to a society. In some ways we are, but in other ways we’re not. We’re slaves to taxation, of course. But we’re not slaves on a spiritual level.

We are free because of God the Father called us to it, to be free. It’s a wonderful thing and it’s something we should never forget, but unfortunately human pride will get in the way if we’re not careful. If we don’t have that level of humility to realize the blessing of a calling, whether it’s one year or ten or twenty or thirty years, it really is about thinking about this.

Now, when going through this one of the things that dawned on me is this business about the length of the rope and how we’re never worthy. The more that you dwell on this topic, and I’ve dwelt on it, I realize no one is worthy, no one can be worthy. We’re never worthy. You’ve got this great mind, Yahweh Elohim, who decides to have a family over this period of time, very short, with these beings that are by nature against God, and yet He in His mercy decides to give us the opportunity to share with Him something that He has. Life, true life, peace, and yet He’s decided to call us. We’re not worthy of it. It could have been anybody.

I’ve often thought, “Why me?” Winning the lottery is not even involved in this. This is not about winning a lottery. This is an incredible act of mercy that God has a purpose for us, as He has for all creation, the opportunity, well, we’ve got it now and we should hang on to it really tightly, really tightly, because the opportunity of what God has put before us is, well, our minds can’t go there. What’s it like to live forever? I often think, what’s it like not to sin, or to think bad? Wow, wouldn’t that be good. Looking forward to that day. because by nature we do. So we were slaves, but we’re not anymore.

Let’s look at 2 Corinthians 6:16—And what agreement… Now, this word “agreement” means “putting together” because when you do an agreement both sign a contract. That’s an agreement. Well, what putting together or what accord has the temple of God, which we are, with idols? Which is, what has God got to do with falsehood, something that’s not true? Nothing. You can’t join the two together. They don’t go.

For you are the temple of the living God, which is the dwelling place of God. As God has said, so this now covers what true fellowship really is: I will dwell in them, this is Yahweh Elohim, the Creator of the universe that has a mind that we really can’t comprehend. We may think we comprehend God, but really deep down God has existed forever, and so that mind that has existed forever, and we have a natural carnal mind, so even though we have 57 truths plus 1 we know little of the glory and the magnificent power of God. Really! We assume we do, but can you go that far forever and think that God has had all this thinking for this long and created everything?

I was saying to Johnny the other day, I think it’s called The Power of Ten, when I watched it, I found it more exciting, not the going up part, looking up, but the going down when you get into molecules and atoms and there are things inside that. Then they say within a particular molecule or atom there’s space. What do you mean there’s space? It’s incredible! They go magnifying hundreds of thousands of times trying to go lower and they do and there is still something there. The mind of God who created that, put that all together, and we think that we’re special? Human nature, the mind. I know how to count to fifty. Whew, incredible! But that’s our potential.

Now, when you look at that physical thing, well, let’s look at the truth. So God places truth in the Church and the potential we have is what? To think that we know better or know more than the God of the universe who has existed forever, and yet we lift ourselves up, or have this potential. Because why do people leave the Church, really? They lifted themselves up because they thought that someone is wrong, that they’re right. But that’s why they leave the Church. Well, I don’t want to forget. I sometimes struggle to speak about it. We’ll carry on.

I will dwell in them, this is God, and walk among them, which is what’s happened to us. I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Now, we here and those listening, we are God’s people. We underestimate it. We truly, truly do because we just don’t value our calling, what God has really done for us. We underestimate we are God’s people. We are the people of God.

At the Feast there was a young child. He’s three. He used to say, “How old are you?” “Three.” We’re walking back from a meal and he turned around and he said, “Wayne, God speaks to us, doesn’t He?” And what do you say? It’s true. So I had to tell his father to make sure he doesn’t go to school telling people that God speaks to us. But that’s true, God speaks to us. Isn’t it amazing? But God doesn’t speak to others to the same degree. God’s word is there, but they can’t hear Him anyway even though God does speak to them through the book and all that. But they don’t hear. They can’t. But God speaks to us.

Now, how many people in all of the creation can say that God speaks to us? Incredible calling. Well, people forget it and people tend, or have a tendency to lift themselves up and virtually think that they have a special relationship with God outside of the structure that God set up. This Creator that existed forever set up a structure, which we have, yet people will raise themselves up. Well, we have that same potential and hopefully we’re going to get to a particular scripture where we have that tendency, and in the moment say, “I would never do that. I would never do that.” Whew! Don’t be so self-assured that that’s what you would never do or I would never do, because that’s an element of pride. You have to be very careful because by the grace of God, by the mercy of God go we. We’re blessed that we’re here because God allows us to be here because we have a purpose that we don’t fully comprehend.

Verse 17—Therefore (because of this), come out from among them, which is unbelievers, come out of their lifestyle, come out and be separate, think differently than everybody else. Now, we have the power to think differently. They don’t and they can’t, therefore, we should know don’t expect them to think differently. Don’t expect people to understand. Like when you go to a foreign country and you hear a different language. We travel. We went into California and because of accents that are there we struggle to understand the English that they were speaking, because Australian English is different than American English, and then you throw another dialect into it or another accent into it. We went in and we were looking for milk, which Americans call cream, I think. We call it milk. We wanted to order this thing and the lady went di-di-di-di and we think we have no idea what you’re talking about. So in the end we said, “Milk drink.” “Ah, you want a Frappe!” Because that’s what it’s like.

Well, we should understand that from a physical level. On a spiritual level it’s exactly the same. Nobody can understand what we’re talking about. “We’re going to the Feast of Tabernacles.” “We’re going to have the Day of Atonement.” We speak a different language. We really do and we don’t understand it. They can’t understand the truths of God. We can; we have it. Now, we only understand because of God’s great mercy because God called us and gave us to Joshua the Messiah and we’ve been placed into the Body of Christ, which is the Church of God. We are all part of the Church of God. Incredible thing! Well, we’re never to forget it.

So we’re to come out of this world, come out of that way of thinking, come out of that lifestyle, the different things that they do. Often we think because of the way we are in our society, we think that we pay taxes, yes, and then we tithe. But in our mind that’s the way we think. But really God should be first. The most important thing in all of that system is 1st tithe and 2nd tithe. They’re the most important things. The taxation doesn’t matter. Truth. But those two are so important. But people will pay their taxation before paying 1st tithe. You think, priorities, the mind is capable of many things. Justification. But really, deep down the mind should say, “God is first. 1st tithe is first.” Taxation doesn’t matter, whether it’s low tax here in America compared to where we are, that’s first. But the mind says taxes first, you’ve got to keep the government because the government will be after you. You think the mind’s not right. The thinking is wrong. God should be first. God. “Come out of her My people.” God’s first.

So we’re separate. We’re different. Be separate than the ways of this world. So it’s about slavery. Everyone is in a slavery, a bondage, a captivity of the mind. No matter what it is it’s about systems and the way they live. Well, we’re to come out of that.

It says here, Do not touch; do not handle what is unclean. Well, first thing people think of clean and unclean foods. Well, it’s spiritual in nature. Don’t touch the unclean. Don’t handle sin. So if we’ve got sin in our life, which we all have, God says we shouldn’t handle it. It shouldn’t be just something that we become complacent with and absorb because consuming unclean foods, well, this is about don’t absorb these things. But there is a tendency in our life to do that just because of the way we are. Well if we don’t handle sin and we are continually looking to repent, looking to change, it says, I will receive you. I will be a Father to you.

If you look at it, what is a father? Anyone that has children knows what a father is. A father protects, provides, leads, and nurtures. That’s what God does to us. At this time He does all those things. He protects us. He provides for us, if we’re willing to consume it. He leads us in a direction through Church government, and He nurtures us. None of us are worthy to be part of the Body of Christ. Nobody. It’s just that God decided. God decided to call you and me for a reason.

I reflected back the other day, I can normally speak between 1½ to 2 hours without much trouble. I remember the first day I went to Spokesman’s Club and they said you’ve got to do a 6 minute Ice Breaker. Six minutes!! What am I going to talk about for six minutes? I worried about it. I prayed about it for three weeks. Six minutes! I look at the watch, three minutes is gone. What am I going to talk about? Now I think, ½ an hour I’ve nearly done introduction. Oh dear. Time heals all things.

So don’t touch the unclean thing. We’ve been called out. We shouldn’t be handling sin. So if there is sin in our life that we’re aware of God says you’re going to come out, get rid of it, and He’ll help us. We can only get sin out of our life or overcome sin by the power of God’s holy spirit. We have to think differently. We’ve got to come out of the way we were, the slavery to selfishness because that’s what it’s really all about.

When you look at Days of Unleavened Bread, the slaves, we were slaves. Yeah, we were slaves to our selfishness. Well, now we have to learn to deny ourselves, sacrifice ourselves, and now become slaves to God – servants of God. That’s what we have to do. So it’s a journey and it takes time. It takes a lot of time to actually: “Come out from among her My people.” It really does. It takes time. It’s not easy. That’s the whole point, it’s not easy.

I will be a Father to you and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the LORD Almighty, the Eternal God.

So we were called to be separated from sin. We were called to be a dwelling place of God. It’s an amazing thing if we just could grasp that and what is really being said. We’ve been called to be a dwelling place of God, God’s thinking in our mind. That’s the reason we’re called. God wants to dwell in us. The only way that we can overcome our selfishness, the slavery that we have by nature, what we choose, is that God dwells in us.

We’ve been called to start - and I’ve underlined the word “start” because it is a start, because we’ll never overcome everything, but we’re to start something – to start the process of overcoming self by our own free choice. That’s what it’s about. We were once slaves. Well, now we have free choice. With the power of God’s holy spirit now we can choose.

I remember up to the age of 30 I chose things based on my human nature, which is self-satisfaction, self-comfort. So that was the choice. There was no other choice for me. Carnal. There is no other choice. You don’t want to be uncomfortable so why would you choose that?

Well now we have a power of choice. It’s an incredible thing. We have that power. No one out there has that power; we have. So we have been called to overcome our self or our selfishness, joined with the power of God’s holy spirit. But it is a choice. We can go either way. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose, by choice, because the carnal mind will dominate.

We were called so that in time (based on our choices) we could be part of Yahweh Elohim and if you just remember that really long rope both ways and the hand, that’s your life and my life, just that little period there, that period of time. We’ve been called to live this little period here so that we can never see the end of that rope. How merciful is God? So, really, we shouldn’t become despondent because what God is requiring of us is just to make a choice. It sounds easy, I know. Just make a choice. This little period here and I’m going to give you all of that, never to suffer pain, never to have bad attitudes, never to sin, never to be in rebellion. That’s what I’m offering you. All we have to do is make one choice: God first no matter what. That applies to our nature.

So we get tempted and tested in things and God says, “Well, what will you do? Choose. Just choose.” Sounds easy, doesn’t it? Sounds really easy, but it’s not when it happens to you.

We as the Church of God today can appreciate what God has done for us by Him calling us out of slavery, out of the bondage of the natural carnal mind, a calling is a gift from God. Incredible gift that we have that others haven’t been given. Their time will come.

Once called, baptized, and having received God’s holy spirit then we have the power to think differently by choice. We can now obey the spirit of the law.

Now, the world can’t understand the spirit of the law. Which, Christ went through and explained about adultery, what it really meant: You don’t have to commit adultery to be committing adultery, if you know what I mean. It’s about the thinking process, it’s the thought, and what we do with the thought. So we have the power to look at our intent. Now, mankind tries to examine it. They can’t understand intent. We can. We know our intent. It’s either for God or against God. Straight forward. There are no three choices. There are two. The intent is I’m going to look after my pride and who I think I am versus I’m going to honor God and sacrifice myself for what God has offered me. Two choices, not difficult; it’s difficult when you’re living it.

The aspect of we are not worthy of a calling, and it’s something to really meditate about because connected to this thinking about being not worthy is true humility because the opposite to it is pride. So if we think we’re worth a calling ever big warning bell. You know, it should be a big bell. Bang! Pride. Bang. Pride. We are not worthy and the day that we can come to that conclusion that we’re not worthy, we are nothing, we’re selfish – God in His mercy made us and given us this opportunity. We’re never worthy, never going to be. No matter how much obedience a person does they’re still not worthy. It is a gift from God….a gift from God. Never worthy.

Well, we can look at that. Humility, and yeah, I’m not worthy, versus pride and “I think I’m worthy.” No, never worthy. Can’t be. Only God can give us what He’s offering because of our humility, that we choose what He gives us. God has to give true humility.

So we can’t earn this calling. No one can just turn around and say, “Oh…” Often an email will come in and it says, “I want to join the Church of God.” Well, where do you start? You cannot “join” the Church of God, if you know what I’m talking about. It’s a spiritual matter because it requires certain things. It requires, the first thing, repentance. What of? What is the repentance of? Sin. What is sin? The transgression of God’s law. God’s what? God’s law. Most people look at God’s law, 10 Commandments, as physical things. Don’t have idols. Remember the rich man? Don’t have idols, don’t do this, don’t do that.

It’s about the spirit of the matter. So now we’ve been required to obey the spirit of the law, why do we do what we do is what’s the most important thing. So someone can say something and their motive behind why they said it, we don’t know. But they may say something to us believing they’re encouraging us. We may hear it and think, “Well! Say that to me!” When really their intent was good, but our receiving of it is bad. That’s why we should never take anything that way. You should never hold anything against anybody because we don’t know people’s intent.

Deuteronomy 6:10—So it shall be, when the Eternal your God brings you into the land… This is physical we’re reading and that’s what we tend to look at, the physical part, and here they are God’s saying, “I’m going to bring you into the land.” Well, we can look at this like the Church. So when God in His mercy calls us, draws us, and places us in the Church, the Body, of which He swore (which He promised) to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you a large and beautiful cities which you did not build. So the Church of God as we exist, no human built it. No human built it. God did it. This is God’s Church; we belong to God. We don’t belong to anybody else. We belong to God. We’re all different, thankfully. If you’re all like me we’d have big problems, no one would get a word in edgewise.

So we’ve been called, we’re all different, but it’s a beautiful thing that God is doing. He’s called us in so that He can build something for a family. So we didn’t build it. Nobody builds the Church. God does it all through Joshua the Messiah.

…houses full of good things. What’s that referring to, “houses of good things?” We think physically. We think TV, big screen. None of that. The good thing is the truth. This house is filled with good things. Only God is good, therefore, the truth is good because it comes from God. Incredible things that we have, they don’t. He called us. We have the truth. We didn’t do anything about it. God gave it to us and here it is. Here is this house, the Body, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig… Now, you can look at wells. What are wells? Water. What is water symbolic of? God’s holy spirit. So we didn’t do anything. God gave us the holy spirit because He gave us repentance. We made a choice to follow God at baptism, now the gift of God’s holy spirit is available to us. The only problem in all of this is me and you. So the well can be empty because of what we do. But God want to keep the well full, if you understand where I’m going with this. It’s about God’s holy spirit. So we didn’t dig it. No. God gave His holy spirit so that we can think differently, so that we can appreciate our calling, that we can actually understand that we were once slaves to something else – selfishness, and therefore, God through the power of His holy spirit has given us the opportunity to be free, but now to be servants of God.

…vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, which is all about spiritual food. When you have eaten and are full… so we’ve got all this. Here we are, Church of God—PKG, many called, some awakened from being asleep (me one of them), well, here we are, we have all this—beware!

Verse 12—Beware! We’ve got all this plenty. Beware! Don’t ever think that we cannot deny God or deny the truth. Many have. Beware, keep on guard, be on guard in the mind. We’ve got to watch that level of bitterness or what we think others said to us or what others might have done to us. Who are we then to think that about somebody? We have to be on guard about our thinking. We all fail in it. I’m not saying that we’re all perfect by any means. We all fail in that. That’s normal. But it’s about grabbing hold of that thinking and saying, “Hang on a minute, how stupid am I, Wayne, to think that way? Who do I think I am that I would think that about someone that God has called, that God has placed in the Body and given His holy spirit?” Everyone is at different levels of growth, so who are we to raise ourselves up and think someone is not worthy. You think of it, it’s really stupid thinking because we’re lifting ourselves up against God.

So we have all this spiritual wealth; we have the truth. We are to beware. Verse 12—Beware, lest you forget the Eternal who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. That’s the biggest danger we all face, is to forget our calling. The Church has preached this for a long period of time. It’s a big problem within people’s lives. They forget what we’ve been called out of. You all would remember the day or the period of time when you were called and the excitement.

I remember clearly going to my mother, who was a Catholic, and Chris and myself were being called. I had this new knowledge and I was going to tell her. It went really well. Kaboom! Because, you understand Catholic, she thought in her mind that if I was turning against the Catholic Church I was going to, not gehenna fire, hell fire and that I was lost forever. She was that upset. But, boy, talk about the jugular vein. Well, that was the last time we mentioned anything about the truth for a while. At that period of time because we were under attack in different areas of family we decided that the only way though it was to separate ourselves from our family – at that time, going back thirty odd something years. But that was the only way. We did and had little contact, and still have very little contact because? I’m a religious nut.

I’ll tell you what happened. My mother died and my brother rang me up because she was in another area, another state. I trigged really quickly. My brother said, “Ah, mom’s dead.” I said, “Ah, that’s di-di.” “Be coming over for the funeral?” No, it was miles away, one side or the other. I said no, I wouldn’t be there because I understand what death is and all the rest of it. He doesn’t. Then he turned around and said, “Anyway, Wayne, what’s it like being an evangelist?” I thought, “He’s been on the internet.” His perception of an evangelist is white suit because he’s a carnal mind. I know he’s a carnal mind. I know what he’s thinking. I didn’t answer him. I just said, “Ah, it’s been really hot over here.” Then he twisted a bit more and he said two minutes later – didn’t have much to talk about, you see, because when you’re separated and you’re of different minds there is very little to talk about. You can say, “How are the kids,” and all that sort of. “Anyway, what do you do as an evangelist?” I didn’t answer that one either. I could have told him that I do as I’m told but he wouldn’t have understood that. I thought, well, “Why, it’s been really hot again, really hot over here.”

What do you say to people? You can’t answer these questions because I know his understanding of what he thought I was and am is totally different to what I know is happening to me and what I am battling. Because if I had sat down and said, “Well, I’m battling myself.” He’d think I was really loopy. So we can’t talk to them. He’s in slavery and I’m being set free. One day he’ll understand but at the moment he doesn’t. It didn’t last very long. That’s the last time I spoke to my brother, would you believe? It’s been a long time because I know he’s in a different thinking and there is no advantage for him or me at this moment. I know one day, God willing, he’ll see and go, “Ah…” Like I go, “Ah, what a stupid person I am.” He’ll go, “Ah, what a stupid person I was.” That’s what the hope is.

So we have this great calling. We’re never to forget that God called us. We were once slaves just like Israel was, but it’s a spiritual thing. This was physical. God was doing all of this for us. Now, that is incredible. All that those people went through physically was leading to something. That was all the physical. All that they did and all the wandering wasn’t about them, really, was it? It was about us in this room and those listening. It’s about something spiritual. Incredible thing! I look forward to the day one day meeting one of those people that were wandering in the wilderness and saying, “Yep, you went through all that, forty years in the wilderness, for me.” Because it’s actually true. There’s was something physical, mine is something spiritual, “come out,” be separate, being called by God. Slaves, they were slaves and they were set free. Well, we were slaves and we’ve been set free.

So the main point here is that we should never forget who called us and why. Now, we should all understand the why. Now, there are aspects of our life that we don’t understand everything, but God loves us and He has a position for all of us, every one of us, and we’re not sure where it is or where we fit but we do fit if we continue in the truth.

We’re to never forget that we see the truth by the power of God’s holy spirit, which many do. Many forget how they saw the truth, where the truth, and how the truth comes into the Church. Many. I’m not talking hundreds – thousands of people have forgotten their calling, thousands.

Verse 13—You shall fear the Eternal your God, which is fear to go against God. We should fear to actually sin, to go against the Creator of the universe, and if we always just stopped and thought about it, whether we’re worthy or not, and if we were just to think about that hand breadth, that seventy years that God says in the Bible, and we’re on this rope and there’s one little hand and that’s your period of time, maybe we would fear to sin – when you consider that way and that way on the rope, that God has been there all the time, yet in His mercy He put me on this rope in this position and it only lasts for 7,100 years. It’s not very wide out of this huge rope. Maybe we would all stop and think, “Oh, I need to change. I need to fight more, be more diligent.”

…and serve Him, which is serve Him with our thinking, and you shall take oaths in His name. Well, we don’t do that, of course, as a physical oath, but we make commitments to God at baptism. We made commitments and God wants to know whether we’re going to honor it. God is pointing to a fact here that we should put God first in our lives by looking to Him for all spiritual direction in our thinking.

Verse 14—You shall not go after other gods… Well, we do when we give into our selfishness, because the greatest god, false god out there, is our human nature. That’s what we lift up. We put our selfishness first and we do it often. Often we don’t even recognize we’re doing it, but that’s what we do by nature. We lift our self or our view or our opinion above what God says. Disobedience is simply that. We’re either obeying or disobeying and when we disobey what are we doing? We’re lifting something else up before God, above God.

You shall not go after other gods, other families, selfishness that is in us, or have a relationship with our selfishness is another way to put it. We’re not to have a relationship with our selfishness, which is if we’re slaves that’s what we do. Well, we’ve been called out of it. …the gods of the peoples who are around you. Which is, if you look at it today, self interest. Self interest is a false god, really, because that’s what the world does; it looks after self interest, self first. We’re to have no other relationships because those relationships will lead to our death, spiritual death.

Verse 15—(For the LORD your God is a jealous God among you). In other words, God knows us and He has called us to give us the opportunity to overcome our selfishness. ...your God and be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth.

So we’re to protect our minds by not going too far to become set. Now, God in His mercy has often intervened into mankind because their minds were going in a direction. Unless God stopped it through death their minds would have gone too far and they become set. There are many a people that are alive today that have gone too far. They’ve gone too far and their minds are set. No matter what God would offer them their minds are set on their own selfishness.

Verse 16—You shall not test the LORD your God as you tested Him in Massah, which is “a place of testing.” Israel wanted to prove that God was with them, that’s what it was about. So we’re going to look at that in Exodus 17:1. Now, when we look at this we think it’s something physical, that Israel, here they’re all whinging, or whining, and they come to this place and there’s no water. There was some Ephramites there, I’m sure. They would have been whinging.

So we can learn from this physical example that we’re going to look at which covered in Exodus 17:1, if you’ll quickly drop to it, is what was the problem? What was the real problem there? Verse 7—….Is the Eternal among us or not? A brilliant question! Now, this is a doubting question that they asked. So they’re saying, here we are, there is no truth in the sense of no water. There is no truth, that’s what people say. There is no water and we’re complaining and well, is God with us? Is God with this, really? Because if God was with us wouldn’t there be water? That’s what they’re really saying.

Well, from a spiritual perspective let’s look at it. Could we ever say God is not in the Church of God—PKG? Could we ever say that? The answer is we have the potential to. We have the potential. How do I know that? How do you know that? Thousands have left the truth. And why do they leave? Because they answer this question for themselves, “Is the Eternal among us or not?” “Is this God’s true Church or not?” That’s the question. So on a spiritual level we’re going to look at what Peter did. We often look at and judge Peter for denying Christ. We’ve got the exact same potential, to deny Christ.

Now, this question is why people leave the Church, really because “God’s not here, obviously, otherwise Mr. Weinland wouldn’t have said what he said.” “Obviously, you can prove that God’s not here.” That’s why people leave because if they knew the Eternal God who had existed forever, if they really believed it and remembered their calling, do you think they would leave? They wouldn’t because if God was here you wouldn’t leave. Why would you? There’s only one God, all powerful, almighty.

So this question is going to come up. We’re going to look at it. The proof that God is with us is found when? So how do we know God’s here? Well, I’ll give you the answer: We see our calling. Number one, we see our calling because we give the credit to God. Only God could have called us out of where we were.

I know for a fact. I’m living proof. If you had known me from the age of whatever to thirty, and now you see me and who I am now, what God has made me, I remember my calling. I know what I was like. I look at it and I don’t want to talk about it because of the shame that’s connected to it. You think, “How did I ever do that?” Well, I know why I did it. Totally selfish, totally and utterly. Even when I was first called I now look at it and realize how badly I treated my wife and family – and I was called and I still did it! Why? Because deep down Wayne is in there. Selfishness is in there. It’s taken a long time to come to see that I treated my family so badly. I don’t want to talk about it.

Exodus 17:1—When all the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin, “Clay” in Arabia, according to the commandment of the Eternal, and camped at Rephidim, “a place of rest,” but there was no water for the people there. So we’re looking this physical.

We’re going to look at this on a spiritual level. God provides a place where His spirit was, where the water was because it was a period from 1994 to 1998, the beginning of the Church of God, where water was available. True? Spiritual. The beginning of the Church, the Church of God—PKG in 1998, Pentecost of 1998. So water was provided but it required something. It required to go back here to what God said, “Nobody comes to Christ, nobody, unless God the Father calls them to this place of water. Nobody.”

Well, that’s what an awakening is as well because I’ve been through that. In some ways it’s a blessing to have been asleep, in some ways. I did the wrong thing. I went to sleep, self-righteous, and then to be awakened. I remember I was sending an email or sent an email to Ron and said (I remember the date, 15th of December), “We’re now joining you!” It’s a spiritual matter, true? There is no joining. This is a matter of whether you see or you don’t. You remember your calling.

Well, I’m now blessed in some ways, I remember my calling. I remember all the things I did wrong in the beginning of that process. I remember all the words that I said that were wrong and all the things that I used to believe. To now, to be awakened and to see, it was so exciting to see certain things! I remember one person came up to me and said, “You know, this guy, he believes there’s only one God.” 2005 sermons. “You know that, Wayne?” because being part of Worldwide there was two Gods because he thought that would put me off. “You know, he’s preaching there’s only one God.” I said, “No.” I hadn’t heard that sermon yet! “No…no. But it doesn’t matter.” Because it doesn’t matter, does it? Really, when you look at it, it doesn’t matter. I knew God was here.

We were just so thankful to be awakened. It’s an incredible thing to be awakened; it’s an incredible, incredible thing. Just like a calling. To get a second chance, second chance to know the truth and to see the truth? Well, there is a place of rest for God’s people since 1998; water was there if we wanted to drink it.

Therefore, the people contended… Now that word “contended” is “grappled or debated.” They debated, with Moses, they complained to him and said, Give us water that we may drink. So Moses said to them, Why do you contend with me? Why do you test (try) the Eternal? Because it goes back to that verse 7, “Is God here or not?”

Well, this is the question for us because if we can answer it we will never leave God, if we really believe it because they are different things to answer. “Hey, God’s here. Of course He is.” But do we really believe it? Do you really believe? Do I really believe that God is in me? Like the little boy said, “God speaks to us.” Do we really, really, really believe that God speaks to us? I believe it. I believe it. I hope you do. I hope everyone listening does too because that’s the answer to whether we’re going to endure or not. This is God’s Church. God does speak to us, and I see the truth. Not because of Wayne Matthews. Nothing because of who I am or anything like that. The opposite, actually. The gift of God. God the Father called me and my wife and you. That’s why we see. Isn’t it a beautiful thing?

Now, anybody that’s not called or doesn’t understand or have God’s spirit will think I’m an idiot. Why wouldn’t you? “This guy thinks God talks to him!” But that’s true! That little kid was right. Out of the mouth of babes. It’s a wonderful thing. It’s beautiful.

I won’t tell you some of the other things he said as well, because I had to go back to the father again and say, “Listen. You’ve got to make sure he doesn’t tell them about that one either.” Ah dear.

Tell you, we had personal experience of this. We were called into Worldwide. We walked away, got a caravan, parked the caravan, we looked for the Church of God. Of course, we drove around all the time looking for the Church of God. There was no such thing. So anyway, our daughter was, I think, six or seven, maybe, I can’t remember the age exactly and we have all this. You don’t realize children hear sermons and she was hearing all the doom and gloom and the destruction part. So we’re in the caravan one day and the next minute the person in the other caravan or unit they were in came and was banging on the door really fiercely and had Thea in hand and said, “Keep your maniac daughter away from us.” Then we realized what Thea was saying. She was walking around saying, “The end is coming,” and all this stuff, you know, and we go, “Oh!” So we had to sit down and say, “Well, there are certain things you can’t say. You can’t go telling the other people and other children that everyone is going to die.” Anyway, so I was trying to help this person because I knew what it was like.

So what they were saying was the attitude is if God was here this wouldn’t be happening. Now, we can have this same attitude, would you believe? Very easily. “This would not be happening.” I’m going to go through some aspects of how we can get into that attitude because of things that happen in God’s Church that we don’t expect because I came out of a Worldwide background and a lot of what I believed was physical. Things change, and the spirit of matters is here, the spirit of a matter, and it’s different, it’s different than what I did. So you prepare, you prepare yourself and think, “Oh, okay…”

Once someone asked me once about the Bible and I said, “Look, don’t ask me.” They said, “But you’re an evangelist, you should know.” I haven’t a clue. There are many a scripture I would not have a clue. I have present understanding on certain things but I don’t know what it really means. All I know is that I’m in God’s hands and whatever God reveals through His apostle, that’s fine with me. Outside of that I wouldn’t have a clue. Don’t ask me. But they assume you know.

Well, in the old days, of course, you gave an answer for everything, even if you didn’t know. You told them. Whereas now you go, “I don’t know what that means.” “What does Revelation such and such mean?” Wouldn’t have a clue! This is what I think it means, but hey, we’ll wait until God reveals it. There is much in the Bible hasn’t been revealed. We just don’t understand it all.

So this attitude that they had we can have. If this is God’s Church why is this or that happening? So I want to look at some of those. The tests that we have had is about this, “Is this God’s Church?” Well, the first one, the “What If” sermon. Remember that? If those that were around at that time. What if Christ doesn’t return on a particular day? Well, then you get to the 2012, “Well, this can’t be God’s Church because…” People left over it. What’s that all about? Here it is, the answer. The answer is just what we read. Because people say, “This can’t be God’s Church, can it? Here we are; we’re out here and it didn’t happen.” “If this was God’s Church we’d have water.” “If this is God’s Church we wouldn’t have this information and it didn’t happen.” Well, it was simply a test. Really, when you look at it, it was just a test to see whether or not we believe this is God’s Church. Do we really believe God speaks to us? Really? Really, really, really? Or do we just say it. If we believe it, won’t matter what happens. It will not matter what happens.

The 50th Truth, the change of the 50th Truth. If this is God’s Church it doesn’t matter what happens, what changes. Really it doesn’t. Really, deep down, doesn’t matter. We are God’s. We don’t know everything. We don’t lift ourselves up thinking we know. We know this is God’s Church and it really doesn’t matter.

We’re in God’s hand. After all, when you really look at it, we’re in God’s hands. If we understand the rope and this little period of time, this rope belongs to God and there is no end either way, and here we are, and yet we’ll raise ourselves up on this little rope and think, “I know more! I know the end of the rope and the beginning.” No, we haven’t got a clue. We have no idea where that rope goes in the future. We think we know. But to be in Elohim? We don’t know what it’s like. We don’t really know what it’s like not to sin, but that’s what we’ve been offered, the potential.

Well, we’ve got to be careful we don’t develop this attitude, “If this is God’s Church, why is ‘this’ or ‘that’ happening?” You know, there have been many tests. There are certain tests that have been talked about within the Church, but there are other tests we can have in life, and it all goes back to this one point about, “Is this God’s Church or isn’t it,” and if it doesn’t really matter what happens. Whether ‘this’ happens or ‘that’ happens, no, we are God’s people and God does speak to us, as strange as it may sound to others.

Verse 3—And the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses, and said, Why is it you have brought us out of the land of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst? So they’re looking at it very physical and they were really saying, “Well, where is God in all of this? This can’t be right, because where is God?”

The physical emotional reaction that they had, we should remember. The reason I say that is because often when people lose their way in God’s Church it becomes that, a physical emotional reaction. That’s what it really becomes because God’s spirit is not there they don’t look at it, at the spirit of the matter and say, “I’m the problem.”

There is one particular person (won’t go into a lot of detail), but through different periods of counseling and saying certain things (and she’ll remember who it is), well, I’d listen and listen and listen and she’d say, “Well, what do you think?” I’d say, “Well, all I can tell you is you’re the problem.” Because we are the problem. Because when someone says something to us what’s the problem? The way we react. That’s the problem. So someone can call us whatever, it doesn’t matter, or do we let pride get in the way and justify or complain back? No, if we just remember we’re the problem. We’re always the problem. We’re always going to be the problem. Whatever happens in God’s Church the biggest problem is “me.” “I’m” the problem. It’s the way “I’m” thinking.

So Moses, this is rather incredible what happened. So Moses cried out to the Eternal, which is an incredible thing. The leadership of God’s Church, something not sure, asking God and then wait and wait and wait because you just don’t know when it’s going to come. And then when it comes, “Ah, should have seen that.” How many times has that happened, where certain things and then you go, “Look at that! Can see it now. Why didn’t we see that?” But now we see it easy. One God. How we ever believed there was two? True? Because you can make things fit. Now it’s so obvious there’s one God. “There is no other God besides Me.” Should have read that before, but it wasn’t God’s time to give it to the Church, to His people. The power of God’s spirit was given to us and there is no drama is there? It might be a battle for some but it’s, “Oh yeah, okay.” This is God’s Church. That’s where we’re going.

It’s wonderful if we have that ability by the power of God’s spirit in us. It’s a wonderful blessing to see it. We figure, “Oh, okay.”

“Don’t move the chairs on the aisle.” Okay. Don’t move the chairs on the aisle. Is it difficult? No, not really, just don’t move the chairs into the aisle. But for some it may be difficult.

So Moses cried out to the Eternal and said, What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me. So this is that verbal attack. It could have turned to a physical one, what he’s saying. So Moses turned to God for the answer, really. He turned to God and said, “Well, what do you want to do with this people?” It’s like transferring the issue because often we think we can solve the matter. Well, the reality is you can’t. We have to wait for God and He will solve it in His time, which is the problem for humans. “In His time” is a big problem for humans because we’re impatient.

And the LORD said to Moses, Go on before the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Also take in your hand your rod, now, that rod was from God and it pointed to authority. It’s the rod of authority that he had, that God had given him. Also take the rod in your hand with which you are to strike the river, and go. Behold, I will stand before you. Now, this is the exciting part of this particular scripture: “I, Yahweh Elohim, the Creator of the universe, will stand before you.” What can go wrong? If God is there standing before us what is it that’s going to overpower us? Well, it will if we don’t believe that God is standing before us. This is God’s true Church and God is before us. God is with us. God is in us. God speaks to us. The world can’t understand it.

Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, which points to Christ, the water, which points to the holy spirit, will come out of it, and the people may drink, which is the living water. So a lot of that you can read that physically, but it’s really very spiritual. It’s talking about what’s going to happen, almost like a prophecy because it’s something physical pointing to something futuristic which is spiritual in nature.

And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. So he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contention (strife) of the children of Israel, and because they tested the Eternal, saying, Is the Eternal among us or not? Brilliant question for all of us individually.

There are spiritual tests in the Church and there will be more. Some of them we have individually. They’re just tests and it’s about what will we do? Will we complain and whinge or will we wait on God, will we wait for Him.

I’m going to go to a particular scripture because I realize I will run out of time. Matthew 26:32. Prior to this there is a scripture, if you wanted to put in your notes, in Zechariah 13:7 about God striking the shepherd and the followers would leave. In other words, it was a prophecy that was talking about the disciples and what would happen to Christ.

Matthew 26:32—But after I (Christ) have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.

Verse 33—Peter answered and said to him, Even if all are made to stumble because of you, I will never be made to stumble. Now, this really is for us because this is something physical. Peter does not have God’s holy spirit living and dwelling in them, in him (in the disciples), so it’s for us. “I will never be made to stumble,” which is self-confidence. Warning! Warning! The moment self, self anything, self-confidence, self-righteousness, selfishness—what do they all got in them? Self. We all have a self called the natural carnal mind. So it’s a warning because he’s saying, “I won’t be made to stumble.”

Same for us. Will we be made to stumble if things don’t go the way we perceive things? Will we stumble? What will be stumble at? Well, this is interesting the way Peter is thinking. He’s so self-confident. “Doesn’t matter what happens I won’t stumble because of you. There is no way!”

Joshua said to him, Assuredly, I say to you this night, before the rooster crows… Now, there’s been always debate about this in the sense of understanding, and, like, people say it’s a conflict of scripture. But really what is being said here, it’s a particular time that the rooster will crow before the dawn because if you live in the country roosters crow often. So this one is talking about a period of time just before dawn when the roosters do crow because it’s the morning, the sun is starting to come up, just before dawn. So he says here, before the rooster crows, which is early in the morning, it’s pointing to a specific time just before daylight or dawn you will deny me three times. Deny means to disown.

Now, why I’m covering this is an aspect and I’ve been thinking whether how much of this I’ll cover without being too complicated. But people would call me and you “Armonstrongites.” They think we follow Mr. Armstrong. Well, now it’s we follow Mr. Weinland so we’re a “Weinlandite.” But they don’t realize we’re “Godites.” We follow God. We follow Mr. Armstrong as he followed God. We follow Mr. Weinland, what he preaches, because he follows God. It’s not hard, is it, for us? But you know, we’re put into all these different periods.

Well, there can come a time, as it did here for Peter, where we are very confident we would never deny it. But what I’m pointing to is, is there going to be a time when under pressure, which we’re going to get to Peter, when under great pressure we will deny that we are members of the Body of Christ? But put it another way, that we belong to the Church of God—PKG? Do you think that could happen?

Well, that’s what it’s about. What will we deny? Or will we stand firm in confidence about what we do. “I remember my calling. I remember my awakening. I see the truth. Yes, I am a member of the Body of Christ, and yes, I follow Ron Weinland as he follows God, and I’m confident in it.” Well, maybe we’ll get under pressure that will we let pride get in the way and say, “Oh, I never knew him.” Let’s look at what Peter did.

Verse 35—Then Peter said to him (Joshua), Even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you! Whew, big statement! Same for us. “Even if I have to die I will not deny that I am part of the Church of God – PKG!” Self confident! He’s pretty confident here, really self-confident. No God’s spirit here at the moment, self in the way. Self-confident. And so said all his disciples. “Yep, we’re all in it. No matter what happens to you we’ll die with you!”

Well, let’s have a look; drop down to Matthew 26:47—And while he was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, which is sticks, came from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now, his, which is Joshua’s, betrayer had given them, which is the high priest, the priests, and the elders there, a sign, saying, Whomever I kiss, he is the One; seize him. And immediately he (Judas) went up to Joshua and said to him, Greetings, Rabbi! Nice greeting. “G’day mate!” Same thing. Greetings, all friendly. Oh isn’t this all lovey-dovey? “Greetings, Rabbi (Master)!” and kissed him. Looks good on the outside. Intent. Intent. See, what looks good on the outside, God knows the intent of the heart. It might look all good dressed up, looks good on the outside. Well, it does anyway, but inside is the more important thing.

Well, Judas had a motive, an intent, different. It’s still carnal so he’s using his selfishness. He kissed him. But Joshua said to him, Friend, why have you come? Then they came and laid hands on Joshua and took him. And suddenly, one of those who were with Joshua stretched out his hand and drew his sword, which was Peter, struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear. But Joshua said to him, Put your sword into its place, and all who take the sword will perish by the sword. That’s something physical.

So something spiritual, what do we take up? The sword, the word of God. It’s sharper than any two edged sword. We take it up. We take up the word of God. So taking up the word of God, the potential of perishing is if we don’t take up the sword guess what’s going to happen? We’re going to perish. We have to take up the sword. We have to stand firm for God’s word no matter what happens. We have to be willing to perish physically so that we don’t perish spiritually. So it’s a challenge. We have to take it up.

Verse 53—Or do you think that I cannot now pray to my Father, and He will provide me more than twelve legions of angels? Well, a legion is 6,000, so it was 72,000 angels. But the reality is there was only a need for one. With God’s great power you don’t need an angel, really, but really one angel would do it because you can’t kill that angel, but he can kill us. He’s spirit so there was no need for 72,000 but Christ is virtually saying something here, “Do you think that, you know, God won’t defend me?” basically.

Now, then, don’t do anything, don’t intervene because scriptures have to be fulfilled, but this must happen. This is the way it’s got to be because he has to be the Passover. In that hour Joshua said to the multitudes, You have come out and against me as a robber, with swords and clubs to take me? I sat with you teaching in the temple, and you did not seize me. But all this was done that the scripture of the prophets might be fulfilled. So it had to happen this way. There had to be a Judas. There had to be a Judas. You go into other scriptures it talks about vessels for honor and dishonor. There has to be a Judas to be able to achieve God’s will here.

Drop down to verse 69. So we must remember here that Peter had a carnal mind and he did not have God’s holy spirit dwelling in him. Now, Peter sat outside the courtyard. So it’s still dark. And a servant girl came to him, saying, You also were one with Joshua of Galilee. “You are a ‘Weinlandite!’ You’re one of them!” What should happen? Well, with God’s spirit we’d say, “Yep, I am.” There’s a consequence for that.

But here Peter is still physical and so what does he do? Verse 70—But he denied it before them all, saying, I do not know what you are saying. “I’m not part of PKG!” “I’m not part of PKG! I’m United!” See, that’s denying Christ, denying God, denying God’s Church. We are the Church of God! God speaks to us. God dwells in us. We don’t deny it!

How do we deny it? By the way we live. It doesn’t take words. It doesn’t take someone asking us things, “Are you part of PKG?” That’s not what’s asked, is it? Have you ever been asked that? You might have, but not many. The truth is it’s by our actions. We deny Christ, we deny God because of our actions. We do not live the truth. We don’t live as if we belong to the Church of God—PKG. Shame on us! Shame on us that we refuse to let God and Joshua the Messiah live in us! It’s a shame on us isn’t it, really, when you think about it. Here is this potential, unique, out of all the people in the world, this little weenie period of time, and we make such stupid selfish choices to deny Christ just like Peter did. He’s physical.

We’re spiritual in nature, but we do it, refusing to pay 1st tithe correctly! Refusing to save 2nd tithe! How stupid can a human be? Really, how stupid can we be? If we can’t see that we don’t see the truth, we don’t see this is God’s Church! This is the Church of God, Yahweh Elohim’s Church handed over to Joshua the Messiah for a purpose, a great spiritual promise. But human nature, we let it get in the way and we justify it and do all these machinations of things. It’s who we are.

So he denied it the first time. Then when he had gone out to the gateway… So he’s going farther away because once you deny Christ you go farther away. So that’s what he’s doing. So he’s going out to the gateway, and another girl saw him and said to him who was there, This fellow also was with Joshua of Nazareth. Of course the pressure is going up here. Another opportunity to answer, “Yes, I am a member of the Body of Christ, the Church of God—PKG!” But again he denied with an oath… He swears, “I’m not!” “I’m not part of PKG! I swear I’m not part of PKG!” It’s not swearing bad words, it’s making a promise, “No, I’m not. I don’t know who you’re talking about. I’m not part of it.” I do not know the Man! “I do not know Ron Weinland!” “I do not know God’s Church! PKG? Who are they?”

Be careful. Remember, it goes back here, “I won’t stumble.” We’re going to be put under pressure at some point in our life to know, is this really in us. Because that’s what it’s about, is this really here? This is God’s true Church. God’s Church! It’s either in here or it’s not. It’s the spirit of the matter. Well, we have that opportunity every single day to answer his question, whether or not we are. Because the reality is if we’re not willing to follow the instructions from God given to us by an apostle we are not part of the Body of Christ, we are just not because we’re refusing, we’re denying Christ. We’re just saying, “No, I don’t know. I don’t know God’s way.” Liar! You had the opportunity to learn it. So we are the problem. We’re the problem because we often deny Christ just by the way we are. It’s not about words; it’s the way we live towards others. It’s the way we think toward others. That’s what it’s about.

And a little later those who stood by came up to Peter and said; Surely you also are one of them. I love that, “One of them!” Well, I won’t use the word “proud” but I am so, so thankful I am one of them! That’s the way we should be, really thankful we’re one of them. Isn’t it brilliant? We’re one of them! It’s lovely. It’s brilliant stuff. And a little later came up and said, Surely you are one of them, and your speech (your accent) betrays you. Feast of Booths. That betrays you! Feast of Tabernacles, Atonement, Passover, Unleavened Bread – that betrays you. Your speech betrays you.

Well, in the world one day they’ll be able to say, “Your speech betrays you!” Why? Because we don’t curse people, we don’t use bad language. All the things the world does reveal who they are. True? Well, our speech and our conduct, it should betray us that we are different, we’re part of God’s Church. It’s an incredible thing.

And he began to curse… Now, that word “curse” is not the bad language curse, which is call down curses on self, which is it’s like you say, “I swear on my child’s grave,” or something. It’s like a “promisey” thing, “I swear on my mother’s grave that I, you know did this.” That’s what it’s about. …and swear, saying, I do not know the Man! And immediately the rooster crowed, just as Joshua the Messiah had said.

And Peter immediately remembered the words of Joshua who had said to him, Before the rooster crows, which is that time of dawn, you will deny me three times. And yet prior to this he along with others were so confident, remember? Really, really confident. “I will never! If you die, I’m going to die with you!”

…and he would deny him three times. So he went out and wept bitterly. Now, we can look at that physically. So if we do ever deny Christ by our thoughts, words, or actions, what is weeping bitterly? Repent. Mourn about it, repent before God because this is all physical and people read a story and say, oh yeah, he did that and he did that, and then he went out and cried.

This is about us! If we sin, if we fall down, if we deny Christ and God living and dwelling in us to the benefit of others we should weep bitterly, we should repent, think differently, change, change from this way. Stop denying Christ! Stop it! That’s what this is about, a physical story all for us.

One day when Peter and them are resurrected and see we’ll be able to say, “We know exactly what you were going through because I did it!” Because people look at it physical, and Peter, he’ll feel badly that he ever did it. I’m sure he remembered it. Every time he heard a rooster, any time during the day, what do you reckon happened? He would never, ever, ever forget that he did that to the Messiah. That would be an incredible thing to bear all that period of time, true? Incredible.

We are worse! We are worse. We know better! Yet we still do it. I do it. You do it. The answer? Weep bitterly about it. Repent. Change. “I don’t want to do that again.” Stick to the words that Peter said, “If you die, I will die.” Christ has died, we’ve got to kill self. True? We’ve got to get rid of self and put our whole being into it.

The most important thing in life – deny self. That’s the most important thing in life. Learn to deny ourselves, choose to deny ourselves.

I better wind up because I think we’ve run out of time. I’ve always got too many notes, which is a good thing.

Well, in conclusion, we as God’s people that have God’s holy spirit, can deny Christ, like Peter did physically, but we can do it spiritually which is much, much, much, much, much worse. If we do the most important thing is to remember our calling, remember we were slaves to something called self. We were slaves to that. We didn’t know about it. We didn’t even fight it. We didn’t even understand it. We just thought we were right. Well, God’s called us and given us the sight to see; now we see. Yes, we were slaves and in future scripture, which I haven’t got to, but there is an opportunity and it talks about, “You are servants to who you obey.” “You’re a slave to who you obey,” which is true. We’re either serving self or serving God. There is no grey area. It’s one way or the other.

So whenever we are under pressure at all we just fall back to our main position, “This is God’s true Church. I have God’s spirit living and dwelling in me.” Tell ourselves this. “God is with me. God is standing before me. This is God’s Church. I am a member of the Body of Christ. Yes, I am part of the Church of God (administratively now) PKG. That’s me. That’s who I am.”

With that we’ll conclude.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1