The Right Hand of Power

with Pastor Micheal Oxentenko

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
And so let's just spow our heads. Father, God, we
thank you, thank you, thank you that it is the
will of the Father to give the little flock of
the kingdom. That Lord, that you look down and you
give grace to those in need. Thank you for loving
this church today. Lord, we've had some bumps in the road,

(00:22):
but we don't have any bump in the road with
you in the road. We have the right hand of power.
So grateful to you for loving us and keep us. Lord,
for Jesus and his name, bless me. I'm just a
weak vessel. Give me the Holy Spirit more profoundly, give
me to the Holy Spirit, so that I can share
the word of God in Jesus' name. Amen. The title

(00:46):
of the message today is the right hand of power.
Take out your hand and squeeze it the right hand.
Try to squeeze it hard. How many of you feel
you have a lot of power. And as Andrew there
tunes that thing in to get that ring over there out,
will We'll let Andrew put his hand down right so
you can mess with the knobs. But the right hand
of power, okay, got a little echo right over there,

(01:09):
and so just on that side, just it's all right
to type it down a little bit. Frederick Douglas once
wrote that power concedes nothing without a demand. It never
did and it never will. Power over evil is the
direct result of personal conquest, personal victory, and hear me

(01:32):
nothing less. So God has not called his people to
fail in the Christian journey. God has called us to power,
not our power, but His power. Now, there have been
times in my life when I have failed the Lord.
There have been times when I've let him down. There
have been times when I have done what Romans three says,
I've fallen short of the glory of God. But I

(01:52):
can tell you right now that God is at my
right hand, that He is with me, and he has
sustained me because of Jesus and the gift of the
Holy Spirit. Jesus fought the battle for all of us
in Gassimone at the Cross, and Jesus won the right
to save us by the power of God Almighty. So
we don't come into a relationship with God with an

(02:14):
insecurity of our acceptance. By faith, we lay hold of
the right hand of Power. In the book Revelation, Jesus
appeals to the awful unconverted Church of Ladieseah Why do
I say that, because when you read the book Revelation,
Ladicea is the worst of the seven by attire, is
the medieval papacy. Why because lad Asa has access to

(02:36):
the truth, Ladysah has access to prophetic truth. Ladyssea has
not lived up to the truth. And a lukewarm Christian
can do more harm than a zealous Christian who has
the wrong ideas and persecutes. And so God is speaking
the relation to his end Time Seventh Day Sabbath keeping

(02:57):
church to get their act together, to get real, to
come into a personal relationship with Jesus. So every person
in that lukewarm end time church can overcome, be saved
and put the marriage lamb garment on and be ready
for the marriage supper of the Lamb. And I speak directly.
Look what Jesus says in Relation three nineteen. Those whom

(03:20):
I love, I reprove and chasten. And what does he
say next two words be zealous and repent. Behold, I
stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my
voice and opens the door, I will come in to
eat with him, and he with me. He who conquers,
I will grant him to sit with me on my throne,

(03:40):
as I am a self conquered and set with my
Father on his throne. The greatest love call invitation the
entire Bible has given the Church of latest see to
be with God and Christ on his throne, to sit
with Him in the seat of authoritium power, and to
know the love of God personally. And this admonition appealed
latency in church. Jesus provides an illusion to the most

(04:02):
quoted verse New Testament. Very often we miss this. When
Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Peter
also made direct reference to this verse. Here alluded to
the most quoted verse in the New Testament. This verse
from the Old Testament, more than any other, came to
represent the faith of those early Christian believers. It was

(04:24):
not in the Book of Daniel, it was in the Psalms,
and this text here alluded to his Psalms one hundred
and ten to one. And I would also like to
read verse two, as it completes the thought you can
open your bibles if we don't have the slides right now,
but we do good. Psalms one hundred and ten one
and two a psalm of David the Lord says to
my Lord, sit in my right hand till I make

(04:46):
your enemies your footstool. The Lord sends forth from Zion,
your mighty scepter, rule in the midst of your foes.
Now this is the most quoted passage in the New Testament.
This is the one verse that the early Church based
their faith on their confidence in Jesus on, more than
any other text in the Bible. The Book of Hebrews

(05:07):
also introduces this most important verse of Psalms one hundred
and ten and one in Hebrews one three. Let's look
at one to three. In many and various ways, God
spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets. But
in these last days he has spoken to us by
his son, whom he has appointed the air of all things,
through whom also he created the world. The Greek is

(05:29):
the eons. You know, I listened to a theologian recently.
He says God is trapped in time. The God somehow
has to be trapped in time or he has can't
be a god of love. And yet this verse says
He created the eons, which means the time ages. Christ
is the potentate of time. He created time and space God,

(05:50):
the Father, God, the Son God, the Holy Spirit, what
sister White calls the hoarded love of eternity. Together they
made time itself. Three. He reflects the glory of God.
He bears the very stamp of his nature, upholding the
universe by his word of And what does it say
in your Bible? He is word of. Come on, reflect power.

(06:12):
When he had made purification for sins, he set down
at the right hand of the Majesty on high. There
it is a quote of Psalms one hundred and ten
and one. And when it quotes this verse, it says
Christ has the power when the Holy Spirit was poured
out at Pentecost. Peter turned to this passage in Psalms
one hundred and ten as the authoritative prophecy of Jesus, resurrection, exaltation,

(06:36):
the throne of God. Frans, sometimes we don't realize it
that prophecy is all through the Bible. How many of
you thought, well, prophecies just in the Book of Daniel,
Book of Revelation. You can't read the Psalms without having
tons of prophecies that relate to Jesus. The Book of
Genesis has the first prophecy of the Cross, prophecies of
the end of the world all through the Bible. In

(06:57):
Acts two twenty four, Peter is speaking in his Great
Sermon at Pentecost about Jesus. When he speaks of David's
right hand, turn with me to Acts two, verse twenty four.
For David says, concerning him, I saw the Lord always
before me. Where is he? In the verse you tell me?
In your Bible it says, for he is where at

(07:20):
my right hand, that I may not be shaken? So
where does he need to be in our lives? At
our right hand? Therefore my heart was glad, my tongue rejoiced. Moreover,
my flesh will dwell in hope. Peter had denied the
Lord three times. Just before Jesus was crucified. Peter made
bold promises to Jesus that he would never deny him,

(07:42):
but he did. Peter claimed that he would be faithful
to Jesus more than the others. He was unfaithful in
this sense. Peter is a lot like in time latesty
and believers who think they are rich, they're increased with goods.
They boast of being the final generation that will vindicate
the care of God, and they're not vindicating anything, because

(08:02):
it's all about them and not about Jesus. Dear Heart,
we need Jesus and not more of ourselves to be saved.
On the last day, Peter was relying on himself, like
we do so many times, trying to work our own
way to find favor with God, trying to do just
the right things, to look religious, to prove something, to

(08:24):
show something that were perfect enough to somehow be accepted
in our lives. And from that insecurity comes the raw
problem of the latesty in condition. Peter learned the hard
way by denying Jesus that the only person God is
impressed with is Jesus. When Jesus arose from the dead,
the angel at the tomb told the women at the

(08:46):
tomb to go tell Peter that Jesus is alive Mark
sixteen seven. Go tell his disciples and Peter that he's
going before you to Galilee. There you will see him
as he told you. Now, why would Peter be singled
out because Peter had crashed? Paul tells Us in One
Corinthians fifteen five that Jesus appeared first to Peter and

(09:08):
then to the disciples. Jesus didn't wait for Galilee to
find Peter. Jesus found Peter before Galilee. We have no
record of it in the New Testament, but we know
what that meeting occurred, based on one Corinthians fifteen. Peter's
heart was broken because Peter had denied his Lord. Maybe
he was walking a rout along the sea of Galilee

(09:28):
or someplace that we don't know of, and he was
kicking stones and kicking himself thinking of everything he did bad,
which was to wreck the Lord's confidence. He thought and
hurt him deeply just before he was crucified by denying him.
Now we've all done the same thing as Peter at
some point in our life, have we not? The man
with all the personal power in his own head denied

(09:49):
the Lord with his mouth when Peter denied Jesus. In
Mark fourteen seventy two, Mark, who was most likely the
gospel quarter of Peter's gospel, said that Peter denied Jesus.
When he did so, it says he broke down and wept.
That's what happened after he denied Jesus. He didn't go

(10:10):
out and throw the money at the at the religious
leaders like Judas dead. He went out and he wept.
He broke down he realized that his relationship had caved.
It had been inconsistent. He had not had the power
to resist evil. He was relying on himself. He had
hurt the Lord and roll terms Peter was a failure.
But more than that, Peter was a traitor to the

(10:32):
one who loved him more than any other man or
woman ever could or ever had in his life. Peter
had denied Jesus. And how Peter was a broken man.
Now that happens in our lives too. There are times
we have denied Jesus. There are times when we have sinned,
and then it's so easy to want to look righteous
when we're not. For salvation to be relevant, for it

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to be practical and winsome, it has to work in
the lives of men and women who have let the
Lord down like Peter did. And A I right. If
it doesn't work for people who have failed the Lord,
then what good is it. I don't like hearing sermons
that preach to me like I'm somehow on a road
to perfection. I want to hear about Jesus perfection because

(11:18):
I believe as I look into the lamb, I will
be healed, and my road to perfection is him not
me that in a relationship with Christ and the stay
of the Word and sharing Jesus, living for Jesus, losing
myself in Jesus. Somehow God takes care of the perfect
part because God takes care of me. Friends, Jesus will
fill his kingdom with men and women who blew it

(11:41):
badly in life. But in that same life they were
broken like Peter, and they came to tears. They fell
at Jesus' feet like he did, grabbing his knees in
Luke five, and he said to part for me, I'm
a sinful man. And Jesus didn't go away. The one
who forgave, the one who overcomes in scripture, is the

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very one who finds Jesus at the bottom of his
barrel of failure and tears. This is why we work
out our salvation with fear and trembling in tears. Peter
broke down, he wept. That's a good thing for us
to do on occasion. There's a good reason why Peter
quotes David and saw him sixteen eight and nine in

(12:23):
his sermon at Pentecost that we just read in Acts
two twenty four. Let's read it again X two twenty four.
For David says concerning him that is Jesus. I saw
the Lord always before me, for he's at my right hand,
that I may not be shaken. Therefore my heart was glad.
My tongue rejoice moreover, my flesh will dwell in hope.
In the Bible, the right hand is the hand of power.

(12:45):
Take your hand again, squeeze it heart well, you might
get an exercise. You don't have to go to the gym. Okay,
our right hand represents our power. Now, Betty Hall, bless
her heart. Is Betty here today? Are you? Betty have
the best grip of anybody in the church as far
as I'm concerned this talk about you getting older. You

(13:06):
hold the hand, and you have a grip that I
want to say, I wish I had it. The strength
of God is in you. For this we rejoice. God's
right hand represents God's power. Peter took note of the
fact that David said, I saw the Lord before me,
for he is at my right hand, that I may

(13:26):
not be shaken. Both David and Peeved are saying that
Jesus is alive, is Lord, and that he brings his
power into my life at my right hand. As Christians,
we're not forsaken people. Did you hear me? We're not
forsaken people. We're not powerless if we have the Lord

(13:50):
at our right hand. And that is why the text says,
therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoice. Now,
if the Lord is at your right hand, do you
have a right to say, my life is miserable? I
don't know how I can make it. Look at what
I've done. But the Lord's at your right hand. Isn't
the Lord being at your right hand something good? How

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mean you can say? Amen to that? Now the Lord
is at your right hand, that means you are gonna
make it. Jesus came into this world to set the
captives free, to give power to the powerless. And that's why.
And Luke, it says, in the power of the Holy
Spirit he performed as miracles. What is the meaning of
the Lord who's at our right hand, the right hand

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of God right now? Excuse? And what's the meaning of
the Lord who's at the right hand of God being
at your right hand? Also? What does that mean? The
same Lord who sits at the right hand of power
is our right is at our right hand? To the
end of time. How through the Holy Spirit that has
been sent into the world. Jesus told Caiaphas that he

(14:55):
would not see him again until the second Coming, when
after a special resurrection of those who crucified him indicated
in Daniel twelve three, he would see him at the
right hand of God in power. Caiaph has died once,
He's going to die a second time and a third
time at the end of the millennium. Those people that
crucified Jesus get a special dose of seeing Jesus Mark

(15:15):
fourteen sixty two. But he was silenced and made no answer. Again,
the High Priest asked him, are you the Christ, the Messiah,
the son of the Blessed, And Jesus said, I am.
That's the language of God. At the burning bush, I am,
And you will see the Son of Man Daniel seven,

(15:36):
who is equal to the Father, receiving dominion from the Father.
You'll see the Son of Man seated at the right
hand of Power, coming with the clouds of heaven. That's
just sends shivers down your spine. God has given all
power and authority to Jesus because he is the son
of Man. So where do we get the power of
God in our lives. If Jesus is seen at the

(15:57):
right hand of power, isn't that far away? Yes? It
is like in Luke nineteen twelve and Noble into a
far country to receive his kingdom. Christ went to a
far country. Where is Jesus every day of our lives
when we need Jesus power when we have none? Practically
relevant question, and let's look at Peter's sermon a little
more closely, turned to Acts two, verse twenty nine. In

(16:17):
your Bible, Peter is continuing, Brethren, I may say to
you confidently you know he's not You know, well, I
may be right here. I'm not sure. Let me think
about it. Is that how he's preaching? How's he preaching?
What's the word I just mentioned confidently of the patriotic David,

(16:40):
that he both died and was buried, and his tomb
is with us to this day. Being there for a prophet,
and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to
him that he would set one of his descendants upon
his throne verse thirty one, he foresaw and spoke of
the resurrection of Christ. That he was not abandoned to Hades.
That means the nor did his flesh see corruption? This

(17:04):
Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses.
You know, Peter's given his testimony. We touched Jesus, we
hugged him after he died, We met him, he met me.
I'm not going to tell you what he told me,
and I told him. Nothing is said about that, but
he did after I denied him. He's alive. Peter's saying

(17:28):
that David died and that David has one hundred percent
not gone to heaven yet. Is that how that Bible
text is reading? Does that Bible text says that say
that Peter has died and gone to heaven? Doesn't say that,
So David cannot be speaking of himself here. The one
who did not seek corruption is Jesus, and Jesus is
not in his grave today like David was and is

(17:50):
until the resurrection. David is still in the grave. The
dust of the earth is Daniel twelve. Jesus is not.
David has died and not gone to heaven. David has
died and gone to sleep. Jesus' resurrection, friend, is the
proof and the evidence we all need desperately in life
to not be afraid of death. To live confident lives.

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To know that we have a resurrection Lord that is
coming on the last day, who will raise the dead
like he did Lazaruth, Jyrus's daughter, and the widow's son.
Of Nay, be you young, middle aged, or old, He'll
get it done by the word of his power. And
verse thirty two, Peter says, this Jesus God raised up,
and of that we are all witnesses. Friends. When a

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resurrected Jesus appeared to Peter in that secret meeting before Galilee,
Peter knew in that glorious moment that Jesus had forgiven him,
that God had forgiven him in Christ, and that Jesus
is Lord with all the power to fix a broken
man full of tears. He knew that. Peter at this

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point in his sermon moves directly to Psalms one hundred
and ten, verse one, to show that Jesus is Lord
with all the power that we need in our lives
to be forgiven to become changed men and women. Friends.
This is why it's the most important verse in the Testament.
It's quoted from the Old because it captures the power
the accomplishment of Jesus. Look at Acts two thirty three

(19:19):
to thirty five. Here's the quotation of Psalms one hundred
and ten. One. Being therefore exalted at the right hand
of God, and having received from the Father the promise
of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out that which
you see and hear. For David did not ascend into
the heavens, but he himself says, the Lord said to
my Lord, sit in my right hand, till I make

(19:41):
thy enemies a stool for thy feet. There it is
Psalms one hundred and ten and one in verse two,
referenced by Peter and as an illusion is Mighty Sermon
at Pentecost. Peter is using Psalms one hundred and ten
as the prophetic proof that Jesus is exalted to the
right hand of God and that the Holy Spirit has
been sent into our lives so we can have the

(20:04):
power of God to live for God. Is that meaningful?
That's why Christ descended. Let's go back to Psalms one
hundred and ten and one and two and look at
it together. A psalm of David, the Lord says to
my Lord, sit at my right hand, till I make
your enemies your footstool. Verse two the Lord sends forth
from Zion, your mighty scepter, rule in the midst of

(20:27):
your foes. Not what does this all mean here? God
the Father is speaking to God his son Jesus, who
has been resurrected from the dead and exalted to the
right hand of God. That's what's happening here. In fact,
the resurrection is given in verse three and four when
Christ becomes a priest after the order of Melkezedek and
as a host resurrected with him after his resurrection alluded

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to in verse three, and God the Father says to Jesus,
sit at my right hand. The right hand, friend, is
the position of authority and power. God's in power is
also the divine position of favor, God's favor. We ever
felt like you're not in favor with God, There's no

(21:10):
way God will help me. Look what I did. I
really messed up. I chewed that person out. I blew up.
I sinned. I fell into that compulsive sin in my life.
I treated my dad so awful before he died. My
mother never got the love I should have. I could
have helped my brother live, but I didn't. We all

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have our stuff in our heads, so we've let the
lord down. But when a king, as you sit at
his right hand, friends, it means that you have the
authority of the king, that is, at his right hand,
you have the favor of the king. For you you
have the authority of the king in your life. God
the Father then says, I will take I will make
your enemies a footstool for your feet. Is that how

(21:54):
the text reads? Are you falling with me? The Hebrew
word translated make is the word put. Did you know
that it's the word seat the word seth from it?
Seth was named to put why because it was an
echo of the promise of Genesis three point fifteen till
I put your enemies as a footstool for your feet.

(22:15):
When God the Father spoke to Jesus after his resurrection
ascension at his throne, he no doubt saw the nail
holes in Jesus' feet after his ascension. As Jesus sat
down at the right hand of God, his holy feet
were there pun intended. And when they found their place
just before the throne, all you had to do is

(22:36):
look down and there they were, or look up holy feet.
There's a reason why the word put is used in
Psalms one hundred and ten and one till I put
your enemies of footstool for your feet. It's an echo
of Genesis three fifteen, when the first promise of a
savior was made to Eve. Just after she said and
just after she denied the Lord, just like Peter did

(22:56):
in her own life, God told the serpent who justice
and Genesis three point fifteen. This is the proto Gunglian promise,
the first Gospel promise. Look what it says, I will
put enmity between you and the woman. It's the serpent
the woman, between your seed and her seed. He that
is the seed of the woman shall bruise your head,
and you the serpent shall bruise his heel. This is

(23:17):
a death struggle between the serpent and he who is
the seed of the woman. The woman here represents the
true believers of God who follow the ways of the
heavenly Jerusalem, who is our mother, who is free? According
to Glacious four twenty six, Jerusalem above is our mother,
and she is free. Paul says, the seed of the serpent.
Who are the many in the world? Are those who

(23:39):
buy into the surples. Serpents lies are human beings and
devils who do what he asks them to do. But
the seed of the woman is one, because the Bible
calls the seed of the woman. He here. And that's
why Paul says in Glatians three that the seed is one,
not many. He the seed of the woman. He shall
bruise your head, and you the serpent will bruise his heel.

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God said, I will put enmity, and his foot will
be wounded. But he'll crush you. Between the faithful and
the unfaithful. He will put enmity. The seed of the
woman will crush the head of the serpent. That heel
would be wounded by the serpent and the prophecy. How
many fangs does a serpent have? Come on, Elementary Watson?

(24:28):
How many? Two? Okay, snake has two fangs that bite
and sting with death. Two Roman knaills were driven into
Jesus' feet. As the serpent's fangs closed in on Jesus,
he said, the prince of this world is coming. He
has no power over me, but he got him in
the feet the serpent's fangs. With those wounded feet, Jesus

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will crush Satan and all his followers at the very
spot where he died. Most people don't realize it, but
the cross of Christ will be the place where the
judgment occurs. At the end of the millennium, the Holy
City will descend. Christ's feet will touch the Mount of Olives,
which is Gaugatha based on Bible evidence, facing the veil
of the temple in that graveyard condemnation zone where he

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was crucified in a tree. Ernest el Martin I mentioned
this before in his Secrets of God Gath that nails this.
Many Messianic Jews are also aware of this reality. The
castic structure of the chapter it is finished in the
Desire of Ages nails. The Gaugatha is the Mount of
Olives and near the altar the Red Heifer, the most
sacred altar in Israel's history, alluded to in Hebrews thirteen,

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is the place of crucifixion. That is where the throne
of God will rise up and Jesus with minister judgment
for the world. It's described in the book Great Controversy.
With those wounded feet, Jesus will crush the serpent in
all evil. You see, Jesus is the Satan smasher. Did
you hear that with his wounded feet he is the

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Satan smasher, can Satan smash you? If Jesus has is
the serpent under his foot? No, all that is in
Psalms one hundred and ten and one. All this is
there because Jesus has the power to rule in the
midst of his enemies, to crush the serpent. Said, and
let's go back to Psalms one hundred and ten, Verses
one and two, and keep moving. I Saalm of David.
The Lord says to my Lord, sit in my right

(26:22):
hand till I put literally your enemies as your footstool.
Verse one is about Jesus, and I go to verse two.
Verse two is about the Holy Spirit. Psalms one hundred
and ten. Verse two the Lord sends forth from Zion
your mighty scepter, that's his ruin in the midst of
your foes. Jesus is at the right hand of God.

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Jesus scepter is here on earth, in the midst of
his enemies. Jesus is Lord, but the scepter is also Lord.
Who not what is the scepter? I ask you the question,
who not what is the scepter of Jesus? The scepter
that comes to earth is the scepter of Jesus power
and authority. In Psalms one hundred and ten two, turn

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with me to Hebrews one, verse eight, and I understand
the young adults have cracked the book of Hebrews. Hebrews
one eight. Hebrews one is loaded with good stuff that
introduces us to Jesus, his enthronement and the power of
the Holy Spirit. Verse eight. But off the son, he says,
thy throne, O God is forever and ever. Well, that's
the end of Jesus being a created being. If he
has an eternal throne, that means he's a forever being.

(27:29):
Thy righteous scepter is the scepter of thy kingdom, which
is tied to his throne, also eternal. Thou hast loved
righteousness and hated lawlessness. Therefore, God, Thy God, Now what
does it say in your Bible? Look at the verse
with me, God has what anointed thee with the what
the oil of what gladness? And beyond thy comrades, who not?

(27:52):
What is the oil that Jesus has anointed us with
the Holy Spirit? Zachariath? For whear is this out? In
many places the Bible? In this passage, the scepter of
Jesus kingdom is affirm because Jesus has been anointed with
the Holy Spirit. The oil of gladness is the Holy Spirit.

(28:13):
The scepter is the Holy Spirit. Jesus was baptized with
the Holy Spirit and the power of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus worked every America in his ministry from his baptism
to his death with joy to save the lost. The
Holy Spirit is the oil and the scepter of his power,
the gladness the sceptor of his power. Now, in the
Exodus story, the rod of Moses represented the rod of power,

(28:35):
that is the Holy Spirit. And you said, well, how
do you know that, Well, that's evident in the evidence here.
The magicians were smart enough to realize that moses rod
that was called the rod of God by God in
the text was the finger of God that was wielded
by both Moses and Aaron and the ten plagues of Egypt.

(28:55):
Did you know that? Didn't know that? I want to
show with the two verses, two passages from the Spirit
of Prophecy, to show you that Moses gave up his
old rod and got one from God. Now the Hebrew
text indicates that, and I don't have time to do
an exposition of that with you. But the Hebrew text,
what is this the valel pointings being left to psy

(29:18):
because their ninth century AD, those consonants, as they occur,
are always in the Torah from this, and so Upun
is in place? What is this from this? In your end?
Testimonies of the Church, Volume three, page three forty two.
But Moses dared not choose his own course, do as
best pleased himself. He had the shepherd's crook at God's command,

(29:41):
and in its place what did he receive? Had received
a rod of power? He dared not delay. He dared
not lay down the scepter and resign his position till
God should dismiss him. Counsels of parents, teachers, and students,
page four eight. I'm amazed at how the spirit of
prophecies in with deep Bible insight. This woman did not

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know Hebrew, but she knew Jesus. Thus educated, Moses was
prepared to heed the call of God to exchange his
shepherd's crook, for what what does it say the rod
of authority to leave his flock of sheep to take
the leadership of an adultrous, rebellious people. But he was
still to depend on the invisible leader. As the rod
was an instrument's hand, he was to be a willing

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instrument in the hand of Christ. Now in the first quote,
go back to it, just go back to the one
before this. She calls it the scepter that he received
Exes Eight nineteen. Now those magicians knew good and well
what that rod was. It was shared between Aaron and
Moses as the miracles wrecked the nation of Egypt. Now,

(30:45):
the ancient rabbis believed that that scepter was sapphire. In
ancient Egypt, there was a vos scepter that was carried
by the Egyptian pharaohs that was sapphire, and it looked
like it had this symbols of snakes on it, the
water symbols of snakes. It had a hook at the
bottom so they could catch snakes. And it was meant

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to look like a crowbar so it could open up
the water, the subterranean waters. And so God is speaking
to their culture in clear language. Now, of course, the
sapphire we know in Exues twenty four ten to twelve
that God was standing on blue sapphire stone, which is
the throne of God. In Ezekiel twenty six and Ezekiel

(31:29):
ten one to three. And we know that from the
text of Exus twenty four that God's ten commandments were
taken from the stone it says front and God gave
his law, and that's why every Jew had a tassel
of blue to represent the law of God, to keep
all of his commandments. And so they were connecting the
dots that that scepter, that moses rod, must bepphire, because

(31:49):
if it was able to hit the rock that is
God's throne, it had to be an equal hardness Exus
eight nineteen. And the magician said to Pharaoh, this is
the what the finger of God. Pharaoh's heart was hardened.
He would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
The rod was the finger of God, because it was
the rod of God, the scepter of his power, the

(32:11):
extension of holy stupid spirit might empower in moses ministry.
And with that finger of God that was a rod,
Moses broke the back of the mightiest nation on Earth.
Exus thirty one eighteen Deuteronomy nine ten both inform us
that the ten commandment law of God was written with
the finger of God. But that is not all the
rod of powers the finger of God was used for

(32:32):
in the Bible. Look at Luke not eleven nineteen and twenty.
Jesus is speaking. If I cast out demons by Belzabel,
that's what they're accusing him of. By whom do your
sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges.
But if it is by the finger of God that
I cast out demons, then the King of God has
come upon you. See, Jesus is the new Moses. Jesus

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wields the rod. There's no evidence that Rod ever went
back into the ark after number twenty. That rod went
back into the hand of Jesus. When Moses went up
Mountain Nepo and he died, the Lord buried him. And
they're at the threshing floor. When the Lord, the Angel
of the Lord, who is the pre existent Christ, meets Gideon,
he has the rod in his hand, and with it

(33:16):
he burns the sacrifice. It's the rod of God. If
I cast out demons by Beelzebil, which means Satan, by
whom do you sons cast them out? Therefore they shall
be your judges. But if it is by the finger
of God that I cast out demons, then the Kingdom
of God has come upon you. Now I'm going to
show you a parallel passage in Matthew twelve's twenty seven.

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If I cast out demons by Beelzebil, this is by
whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall
be your judges verse twenty eight. But if it is
by the spirit of God, now wait a second, that
was the finger of God in Louke. But it's the
spirit of God here. But if it is by the
spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the
king of God has come upon you. So what is

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the finger of God? You see that was with the
rod of God in the Old Testament that worked those miracles,
God's rod, God's scepter, God's finger. The Holy Spirit. He
wrote upon the tables with the Holy Spirit. The Ten Commandments.
He writes upon our hearts the Ten Commandments with the
Holy Spirit. In these passages, the finger of God is

(34:19):
the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the finger of God.
That is the rod of God, that is the scepter
of the power of God, that casts out evil spirits,
that crushes the power of Satan and Psalms one hundred
and ten two God sent the Holy Spirit to bring Authorityrist.
He says, send forth your scepter to ruin the midst
of your enemies. Because Christ has been enthroned. Peter says,

(34:41):
he has sent his Holy Spirit friends because of Jesus.
What does that mean? Practically? We are not powerless in
life anymore. God has sent his Holy Spirit, as the
scepter of Jesus, power and authority into the world. The
third person of the God had, according to Sister White,
person Christ. He brings Christ. He is a personal being

(35:05):
as the Godhead, but he is one with Christ. Friends.
Jesus has poured the oil of gladness on us because
we are not doomed to live powerless lives with no hope,
no victory, no joy in life. No, you know, we
have a good thing going here at reaching Hearts. I
had to pause right here. How many of you noticed
the garden in the back? You haven't if you look

(35:27):
behind the bar bar Jonathan, you're planning a garden. Right
Where are you at? Right? I can't see. My eyes
are carry innes helping too. Right there you are, Jonathan.
Thank you for bringing living things to the back of
this place. And that's a huge thing. I hope we
have fruit, trees and life and joy and lots of

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garden stuff going on here in the future. God be praised.
Want to affirm that. And so Jesus is alive like
a shoot from the ground, and Jesus is at the
right hand of power and friends, Jesus has sent his scepter,
the Holy Spirit, his rod of power, the Finger of God,
his anointing oil into this world to be at our

(36:08):
right hand. And the Holy Spirit is at your right
hand in mind, so we will not be shaken or
overcome or powerless in life. When my brother died a
few years back at the direct result of a deep
depression through suicide, I was shaken and depressed. I didn't

(36:35):
tell you. I slogged through my sermon series on Joseph.
I went deeper than any other series I've ever preached
because of Joseph's suffering. I could identify with it. I
was preaching a sermon series, as I said in the
Life of Joseph during that time a few years ago,
when this tragedy overtook me and it crushed me. I

(36:55):
had been close to my brother, trying to help him
for two weeks. I couldn't call him because the problems
that I had to address with this building, which is
God's building, And during that time, my brother died. My
brother got hooked on opioids through prescription opioids through doctors,
and then he started paying for them because he couldn't
get him out of a system he was And I

(37:18):
know people could say, well, how could anyone do that? Listen,
I had surgery years ago, or had back and they
gave me opioids and I felt myself moving toward addiction
because of the power of those things, and I had
to set them aside and live in pain for nine
months till I got through the recovery from that because
I knew where it was leading and that's not easy.

(37:40):
So I don't have any business judging anybody who has
been there. What God's people need is help and love,
not a bunch of critics telling them how bad they
are because of what they're going through. A person who's
suffered from drug addiction has gone through some awful but
the power of God is there for them. My brother
died and I tried to help say his life and

(38:00):
I couldn't do it. I couldn't do it. I called
him every day except for that little phase of time
helped to put him in rehab. My brothers and sister's
rally to save his life couldn't do it. After the funeral,
late into the evening, I would sit with my guitar
and contemplate Psalms one thirty nine with a tune that

(38:22):
came to my head. I wrote a song called Wings
of the Morning, the music and the words, and Emily
Flores helped tweak it a little bit for the piano,
and she used her wonderful talent here, and she sang
it as the last song in my sermons series on
the life of Joseph. My mind in the song settled

(38:43):
on verses seven to ten of Psalms one hundred and
thirty nine. So open your bibles and look at that.
David says, where can I go from your spirit? Or
where can I flee from your presence? If I send
into heaven, you were there. If I make my bed
in hell, which means the grave, behold you were there.
If I take the winnings of the morning and dwell
in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there, your

(39:06):
hand shall lead me. Your right hand shall hold me.
The Holy Spirit is the right hand of power. In
our lives. Jesus may be in heaven, and that's good.
But Jesus has sent his scepter, the right hand of
his power, to rule in the midst of his enemies,

(39:26):
to rule over evil in our lives, to overcome evil
that is against us. And in us. God's hand that
leads us is the Holy Spirit. And don't I'd just
like to pause here and say, thank God for the
Holy Spirit in my life. I don't have to be
crushed by what happened to me, nor do you. We
have victory in Jesus name. God's hand that leads us

(39:49):
is the Holy Spirit. His right hand that holds us
is the Holy Spirit. His scepter of power that guides
us in life is the Holy Spirit. Where shall I
flee from your spirit? Your right hand holds me, Soalm
one hundred and ten one. The Lord sinds forth from Zion,
your mighty scepter rule in the midst of your foes.
Peter knew that God has not left us bereft of power,

(40:12):
without hope and forgiveness in our failed lives. Friend, God
has poured out his Holy Spirit on us so we
can be saved. Because we've been accepted in Jesus. He's
given us the Holy Spirit while we still struggle with sin. Well,
we have a sinful nature, while we're not perfect, Paul says,
the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it.

(40:33):
The Holy Spirit is at our right hand and in
us tewod Christians three point seventeen. Now the Lord is
the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is,
there is freedom. Because of the death, the resurrection, and
the exaltation of Jesus Christ, which is the Gospel. Peter
knew that he was forgiven. The Holy Spirit helps the

(40:54):
Gospel to make a difference in people's lives. You know,
we want to wiggle out of the Gospel and find
other way. To be said, let's just give up on
us and give in to Jesus and let the Holy
Spirit do his work. And the first work of the
Holy Spirit is to convince us that we're accepted by
God in the beginning of the journey, justified by faith,
so we're not on trial every moment of our lives.

(41:15):
As we grow in grace. Peter knew that the Lord
had brought authority into his weak life to overcome every
sin and boy at ease end and to preach the
gospel of God's forgiveness, the good news to a world
without hope. God Christ gave him hope. Peter knew that
the world that was there that day at Pentecost was
in need of Jesus and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

(41:36):
Look at verse thirty seven, Acts two. Now when they
heard this, they were cut to the heart and said
to Peter and the rest of the apostles, brethren, what
shall we do. And Peter said to them, repent and
be baptized, every one of you in the name of
Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you
shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the

(41:57):
promise is to you and to your children, and to
all all that are afar off everyone whom the Lord
our God calls to him. Dear heart asks the Holy
Spirit to work on your heart. Don't resist the wrat
of Jesus' power and discipline in your life. He says
to the latesty in church as many as a lover,
prove and discipline and chas enim repent when you need

(42:20):
to do it. Don't be afraid of doing that. Be
baptized as you should to show that you believe. Be
thankful for the gift of the Holy Spirit, who is
the Lord, at your right hand in your time of need.
When your right hand is mighty weak, he is not.
And never forget that Jesus sent his mighty Holy Spirit
the scepter of his power for you and your children,

(42:41):
so you will be saved. Where is Jesus right now.
Jesus is at the right hand of power. Where is
the Holy Spirit, who is the Lord. Also, the Holy
Spirit is at your right hand, so you will not
be shaken, so you will overcome. So you will be
saved by the right pace hand of power. Father. As

(43:02):
we bow our heads, I asked the church with me
to raise their right hand to heaven and hold it tight,
clenching the fist. Thank you, Father for the gift of
Jesus at your right hand, and the gift of the
Holy Spirit at our right hand. And give strength to
your people to live. For you to obey you, because
in Jesus he got it done at the cross, and

(43:24):
the Holy Spirit is the proof that we can do
it through him. In Jesus' name, Amen.