How great is our God, amen! I've come to really love a certain psalm, and I’ve truly taken it to heart. It’s a beautiful psalm of David and it says, (Psalm 28:7) “The Lord is my strength and my shield, my heart trusts in him…” How many of you trust in the Lord? And well, we all say, “Yes, amen.” But sometimes we stray a little because of circumstances, but it says, “From Him I receive help.” Where do you get your help from, church? From where? Oh, I can barely hear you! Where do we get our help from? From our God! My heart jumps for joy! That's why some of you are jumping, right? You’re jumping for joy and with songs we will thank Him! Every time we come to God's house and sing to Him, we are really thanking Him for everything He has done, for everything He's doing, and for everything He will do! How many here believe that God will do wonderful things in this house today? He will continue to do it because God is the same yesterday, today and forever!

We will start with the book of John 14, verse 15 and onwards. This is a well known verse, but I’m using the New International Version so it might sound a bit different than what you have in your Bibles. “If you love me you will obey My commandments,” verse 16, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to help you and be with you and be with you forever.” How long? Forever! “To be with you forever.” We’ve heard a lot about the Spirit of Truth, right? There are many, many spirits, but there is only one Spirit of Truth; it is the Holy Spirit. He is the counselor and advocate that Christ promised the church. Why? So that we would live in the truth, not in the lies of the spirits of the world. “The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him…” It doesn’t know Him. “But you,"—what does it say?—“you do know him.” You know Him. Because He was given to the church and the children of God. How many children of God are here?

So, the Spirit was given to us. You do know Him because He lives with you and will be in you. But sometimes, that promise is not fulfilled because we do not obey the Word. Because He says, “If you love Me, obey My words, then I will send you the Holy Spirit.” Sometimes we grieve the Holy Spirit in our disobedience. Sometimes we have one foot inside and one foot out, but the promise is that the Holy Spirit will be with us forever, and this is a great promise. He says, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.”

He is not talking about seeing with our own, physical eyes but something spiritual—because He dwells within us. “But you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.” And He is not telling us about any normal life on earth either; not a life that some of us older people, like me, live in the world. He is talking about life on earth that shows that we are alive in Him, and also about the eternal life we will have with Him. Christ is not dead, He is alive! And if He is alive, the church has life! Not it’s own, but the life of Christ brought through the Holy Spirit. He wants us to show that life so that the world may see that God is alive—so that the world may know that Christ came, and that all of this is not just some movie that comes on during Easter every year, but that it is real. And this life with Christ does not mean that there will be no problems or difficult situations, it means that through those very things the Holy Spirit will give us the strength to overcome, demonstrating that Christ is alive in us.

"Christ is not dead, He is alive! And if He is alive, the church has life!"

“On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.” How does that sound? “On that day, you will realize that I”—Jesus says—“am in My Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.” I don’t know how many of us understand this. Jesus says, “You are in Me and I am in you.” Why does He describe it like this? He is in us so that we would do the works for which we have been called. We have been called to do God's work—just as Jesus Christ was when He walked on earth. He came to do the works of His Father and He instructed His disciples to do the same, so that when the Holy Spirit descended they would multiply their numbers. Many Christians were born during Pentecost, and for more than two thousand years the Lord is continuing to do the same. He wants to multiply in this place. He wants this earth to be full of Christians—little Christs.

How many of us can say today, “Christ is in me and I am in Him”? That’s what He is trying to show us here. He is in us to multiply us, so that we would be those little Christs who do the work set out for us two thousand years ago. We have witnessed that the Lord has been very good to us, even this year. He wants to show us that if the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are truly in us, He can do something through us. He asks, “Who is the one who loves me? Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” This unity of the Trinity allows us to participate in the divine life of God, which is what we are receiving and learning about in this time.

Why does the Lord want to manifest Himself in us? He wanted this even way back then, and while the Lord has manifested Himself in thousands of people, He still wants to do it in you. We learned in the past that the Lord is not only in one person, but desires to be in each of us. “Because I live, you live, because I am in you.” You have to have faith to believe that, and we have often lacked it. Today, the Lord wants each of us to understand that He is within us. God is offering us a chance to understand how much of a privilege this is; a mercy from God when we did not deserve it! This is supposed to be a union like a marriage; that's how He wants us to always be united with Him.

Why does He want to show Himself to us? Why does He say, "He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will show myself to him"? A manifestation of the Father is different from just “being with” Him. Anyone can say, “He is here.” And if God is here there’s no problems or conflicts, and they live their lives quietly as if nothing has even changed. But no! Manifestation is a demonstration, an act done to make something known. Jesus Christ came to manifest the power of the Father, the power of the Holy Spirit; He manifested Himself, and now He wants to manifest Himself through us. I want Him to manifest in me so that the world can believe that there is a true God! A powerful God, a God who heals and saves! A God that makes and keeps promises for His people! Christ manifested His power while in this world, the disciples manifested it, and many thousands of people afterwards have manifested it too; we here are witnesses even now! We were chosen to demonstrate that we now have life through Christ. But not just any life, not the life I lived before—no, that wasn’t really life—but a life that demonstrates the power and divinity of God through the Holy Spirit.

And this means a participation in His divine life. That we now live through Him. That we no longer live, as Paul said, “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me…” And when Christ lives in us, the old things have passed away, and all things are made new. A newness in our inner being, in our heart, that will be reflected in our lives. Why? When we experience the newness of the Lord—when we experience His presence—we no longer want anything else but to continue in it. We cry out, “Lord, come and touch my hands! Come and fill me, Lord!” That is what we have to do, not because we can or even in our human nature want to, but because the Lord in us can. Divinity is the capacity given by God to reflect His character and His purpose.

"Divinity is the capacity given by God to reflect His character and His purpose."

Church, we need to reflect the character of the Lord. We need to seek the purpose for which each of us was chosen. We need to work for Him. Because no one in the world wants to do it—you can go and ask people, no one wants to. But there's a church right here, and God has His people who are living for Him and through Him! Are there people here who want to live for God and live through Him? Is there a people who will be set apart for the Lord, who will love Him more and more each day? “If they love Me, they will obey My words, and then I will not leave them alone.” We are not alone, the Holy Spirit is with us. We can feel Him, we can experience Him, and we can do whatever God sends us to do!

Blessed be the God who has chosen us, not because we are good or deserving, but because of His great mercy. Yet, many of us believe that by doing things, we deserve God’s mercy. That somehow even being a pastor like me means you “earn it”. But it's God's mercy alone that draws us to Him in the first place! No, you can do whatever you want, and so can I, but it is God's mercy that has drawn us to Himself. He says in Hosea 11:4 that He draws us to Himself with cords of love—so how can you not respond to the Lord? He says He will not leave you as orphans if you love Him, that you are going to have life, and He says, “I will be in you and you will be in me.” What a privilege we have! Blessed be the Lord. If anyone is in Christ, what are they? A new creation, amen!

We are going to go to the second book of Peter, 2 Peter 1:3-4. It says, “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” What has He given us? “Everything we need to live as God commands.” Verse 3, “Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”

This morning's topic has been that God wants to manifest His divinity in us, His children, and that's why Peter talks about this as a great promise. I'm going to read you an older translation too, which is titled, "Partakers of the Divine Nature.”: “All things that pertain to life and godliness have been given to us by His divine power, through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence; through these He has given us precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world because of evil desires.” God is the one who calls; He is the one who opens the way and gives us the knowledge of who He is through the power of the Holy Spirit, and this power makes us partakers in God’s divinity.

Peter was trying to teach a people who were being terribly persecuted—people who are being thrown in jail and sawed in two—that by those promises in the power of God they have received everything they’ve needed. Honor to God for His mercy; the honor that means love, devotion, reverence, and sanctity towards God and love towards your neighbors. Yet many of these people were still facing persecution, some had to flee their homes or even towns. We enjoy our homes, we enjoy our families, but these people would rather forsake those for Christ! Peter is talking to them and saying even with everything they had lost, that they had received everything necessary to have true life. That all those things have been given to us by His divine power! God gave us the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ lives in us!

Now when we hear about all these things for life being given to us, let me make it clear: It’s not that you don’t need to do your job or take care of your house, the things he talks about here are not the physical, but the heavenly things that bring power into our lives to manage our circumstances. If these persecuted people can receive this Word, why shouldn’t we be able to in our easier times? Because we tend to step aside from our walks and continue in the ways of the world—in our minds that becomes more important. It says “...through knowledge of the One who called us…”, and how many has God called here? He called us; it wasn't us who, by our own volition, came here. I wasn't the one who said, “I want to go to church now, I no longer want this life!” No, it was He who called me for His glory and excellence! This is that precious promise from the book of John; it is the promise of the Holy Spirit. It is the promise that Christ is in me and I am in Him and that I can live through Christ. That is the hope of glory! That is our promise!

Do you know what the problem is, church? Scholars say that there are more than three thousand promises in the Bible, but how many of them do we bother to know? We know what we think are the most important for ourselves, or perhaps the ones that are just more visible and well known. But we have all of these promises, and Peter calls a few of these out right here—that from them you will become participants of the divine nature. Every time I read and meditate on a promise, that promise enters my heart and touches me; I keep it in my mind and try to live through it. Why haven’t we all done this? We tend to be busy with our own things. But God is coming and telling us the time is now to know these promises. When God told Moses that it was time, he went up the mountain for 40 days and came back down with the Ten Commandments. Every time, day, and season is the time of the Word of God, so it is on us to know His promises and to know when to act on them.

We can be called to things that we may not know how to do in our own wisdom or effort, but the Word of God will teach us. He is the One who calls, He is the One who gives the promise, He is the One who gives us the knowledge of who He is, and He is the One who has given us a different life so that we can practice godliness. Another version says, “He, by His own action, has given us everything we need to live a truly good life.” Not just any life. Not you having a packed mansion and full fridge—that doesn't mean it's a good life. The good life is to live with Him, allowing us “...to know Who has called us.” The Lord has allowed us to know His Son through His mercy—His beloved Son who came into the world to pay for our sins. God is holy, so when we live life in Christ and through the Holy Spirit, He comes and makes us holy, because without holiness no one will see the Lord. It is through Him that God's greatest and most precious promises become accessible, allowing us to escape from the lust and greed that exists in the world and instead participate in the divine nature of God.

"When we live life in Christ and through the Holy Spirit, He comes and makes us holy."

So often we can't participate in the promises because we have one foot in and one foot out; we are looking for broken cisterns with tainted water. But in the Lord we can have waters of eternal life. He has great promises for us. I think we should ask each of ourselves this question: “Why am I not participating in the promises that are already here? If He has given them, what is my reason?” That’s a question for all of us.

Sometimes, we think we can have both the best of the world and the best from God. You won't be able to have both. You can either find those things in the world or find the Lord. If we have Him, we have everything. If we are only looking for material things, we will not find life. God didn’t say “I came to give them material things first.” He said, “I come to give you the Holy Spirit. I come to give you My Son. He will be in you, and as He is in Me, we will be one.”

Oneness with God is something incredible, but we have to look for Him to dwell in us first. God has waters of eternal life; that's one of His thousands of promises. Don't look for pearls out there in the world, look for the pearl found in Christ. It is valuable because it cost Him His life. It is like a precious stone; this is how the Bible describes the spiritual riches of God's promises—they are beautiful because their value is incalculable, and yet He has given it to us. He gave it to you and He gave it to me. After Christ had returned to the Father, the disciples told the beggar, “I don't have gold or silver, but I'll give you what I have…(Jesus Christ).” Do you believe that? Christ has been with us throughout time. God is here, God will be in you, God will be in me. We have to manifest Christ—that divine life—because when we don't, we instead manifest the flesh.

You probably already know about this, but around three to four years ago my sister and I were stuck in bed with COVID. We were hospitalized and things got pretty bad, and we’ve been left with many of the lasting effects of the virus. Today, things are still pretty difficult due to it; problems with my health, both body and mind, that my sister deals with as well. But there's something important in this struggle. God wanted to test me in my body and mind. Maybe for my health this strife continues, but for my heart and mind, God wanted to truly show me His spiritual promises. He has given many to me, but I don't believe I have seen them all. I still don’t know why He had to do it in this way, but God knows everything. He knows why He does these things, and it could have very well been to test my heart. I thank God so much for what He did, and not only in me! God came to free me from my own mentality, to touch my heart, to fill my life with His presence, and today I long for His presence more than ever! And I know that problems will continue to come, because God didn't promise that the world or life was going to be easy. He promised that, “I will be with you and I will give you My peace. I will give you My love, and I will give you My presence.” So today I can tell you, church, that God is true, God is great, God is good, and God has mercy on us! Hallelujah! He is good, because despite everything I had going on, the Lord came to me, touched and filled my heart, and there's nothing else I want! For from Him and through Him I can do all things! He will do it in my family, and He will do it in you! God is good. His mercy is so great and soon the testimonies of His work will begin to be heard - there must be testimonies of what God has done and will do.

I want to read to you something very interesting: A Scottish minister, Alexander Maclaren, wrote over a century ago that, “We can have as much from God as we want.” Say someone wants to have a wife, he gets married, and then spends all of his time at home watching TV. All the while, all he does is warm the bed. He must not have really wanted the wife, right? It's the same with us—I can say I love God very much, but the proof of it depends on my actions. He is the One who called me and the One who can heal me, but I am the one who has to reach out to touch and look for Him. He wants us to try and find Him.

“We can have as much of God as we want.” Christ puts the key to the treasure chamber in our hands and invites us to take everything we need. If a man is allowed to enter the golden vault of a bank and is told to help himself—if he comes out with a penny, whose fault is it that he is poor? We can be rich, but rich in the Lord. The material things aren’t inherently evil, right? It's good that we have a house, but that and things like it will be stuck here on earth. God will never leave our side if we look for Him and treat Him greater than the gold and the silver. We are rich if we have Him.

I thank God, and I wanted to tell you all of this because it is important for you to realize what the Lord has delivered me from. He has delivered me from dark thoughts and a hurting heart, and today I am so happy and cheerful. Yesterday—or the day before I think—I was telling my sister that when I go to bed now I sleep like a baby. How long did I go without sleep? And you know the story, but now when I go to bed, at any time that I go to bed, I put my head down and I fall asleep because God, He has done something. He has done a miracle. These days, I raise my hands and say to God, “Thank You for what You are doing. Thank You for being in me.” “If He is in me, who can be against me?” says the Word. Give the Lord a round of applause!

Hallelujah, Hallelujah! Blessed be our God! Blessed be our God! Blessed be Your name, Lord! Blessed be my God.

The power of God works in us! The power of God works in each of us. Stand up brother and begin to worship the Lord and to believe, to believe in Him and His precious promises. Blessed God, we adore You. We love You and we thank You for how good You are Lord. There is no one like You, Father; You have done and will continue to do wonderful things. You have made man and—church, I want you to listen to this—God has made men and women to be participants of His divine nature. The power of God has made His power work through us when we believe that Word can do what God has called us to do—His wonderful work! Thank You, Lord!