God gives us a new heart and new spirit. The infinite One connects with us and make His home in us. We sense His love and we learn to obey His call and His Word. (John 14:21-23; Ezekiel 11;19)

Speaker(s): Pastor Thomas Schaller, Pastor Jabulani Zwane
Sermon 11955
6:30 PM on 9/13/2020

P. Schaller –

Band, wait just a minute because I don’t know what is going to happen right now. We have P. Jabulani who is
usually here during our Convention and now he’s here today. In the past, we had him share and
also maybe he was going to do the Zulu song. This pastor we love very much. P. Manny and
Molly went to South Africa and the whole ministry that God gave. God called him and spoke to
his heart and has used him in a great way. We have also been with him in his trial when his wife
passed away unexpectedly and kept following the Lord. We love you and respect you, pastor. I
don’t know what is going to happen. Don’t you love this guy.

P. Jabulani –

Good evening. There won’t be any Zulu dancing. Situation right here. Wearing shoes
first time in two months. Anyway, it’s a long story. I think I sang this song before, so I’ll start
with English first. (song). Thank you band. Impromptu. You guys got it done.

Landed here some time back. Four hours after I landed your president shut down the borders. It got me stuck and
haven’t been able to go home since. I had a dream one time to live in America! I dropped that
dream when I met Greater Grace and became a pastor and then voila!! Twenty-one years later,
I’m living in America. I had a dream to be a missionary once and then I thought I’m a local
pastor. I’ll stick around. Voila! Twenty-one years later, I’m a missionary on lockdown
quarantined with the people of God. Made me think of a couple things. Ecclesiastes 11, P. Schaller thank
you so much for the opportunity to speak to the Body here. It’s never a small thing to stand in
front of anyone and be heard. God has his own ways.

I won’t argue with that. I lost that argument a long time ago. Ecclesiastes 11:4-6, the older I grow up, the more and more I realize that this battle we have with God lies on our finitude, our finite nature and God as an infinite being. It’s a battle between that which is limited and unlimited, eternal and temporal. Four things which
constitute this battle:

1) Substance. 2) Ability. 3) Presence. 4) Time.

Substance which is matter. Ability, presence, and time. It is difficult to explain finitude without those four things. It’s also difficult to explain infinitude without those four things. This verse that we read illuminates the
point that I’m making tonight. Because of our limited nature, we need certainty. Certainty helps
us to be able to predict what will happen next. With an ability to predict what will happen next,
we can plan. With our planning, it gives us a certain sense of control. When we have a sense of
control, it gives us a certain peace, assurance. This time we are in, that has been slashed. It
illuminates our finite nature again. When tough things and hard things happen to us, this is the
battle of God. For me, I don’t have a problem with the fact that God loves me. I made peace
with that some time back.

I realize that actually God does love me, and I feel that. The Body of Christ helps me to feel that. The words being spoken in the pulpit helps me to feel that. The people that God placed in my life has given me a guarantee that God loves me. I don’t have a problem with God’s power or omniscience. But what I do have a problem with is God’s wisdom. P. Schaller mentioned it early on, the only wise God. The thing about wisdom, and if I can just
make that comparison again, the battle between the finite and infinite, God is an infinite being.
He’s omniscient. Right? That speaks to God’s ability. God is omnipotent. God is all-powerful.
That speaks to God’s ability. God has infinite wisdom. I’ll talk to that a bit later on. But God is omnipresent. Unlike you and I who have a substance that is limited. I can only stand here at one
time.

I can only be in America at this time and not in South Africa, even though this microphone
and technology tries to give me the illusion of omnipresence. Right? It’s simply because I’m
aware of my limitations that we come up with that solution that we come up with as human
beings. We’re limited. God on the other hand is not limited. He is not a physical being. God is a
Spirit. There is a battle between my physical structure and him, my substance and him as a
spiritual person. That’s why Romans 8 says the battle is between the carnal mind and the Spirit.
We fight that. God is omni-active. In my physical structure I get tired, but God is omni-active
and doesn’t get tired.

Psalm 121 says he doesn’t slumber or sleep. God is also infinite. The connection between the omniscience of God and the infinite wisdom of God is that God not only possesses all knowledge but knows how to apply that knowledge, when to apply it, how much to apply and most importantly for what purpose to apply it. Whereas me on the other hand as a finite being, I don’t have the ability to know how to apply, when to apply and for
what purpose. This was the problem with the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Eve under the
illusion the tree would make her wise, but she didn’t understand that she’s going to be
disconnected from the infiniteness and be trapped in the finitude and be a finite being. With
God on the other hand, he is eternal. It basically means he can never be out planned or out
maneuvered by knowledge. He can never be out thwarted by Satan’s schemes. God doesn’t
need understanding. It’s a human term.

Understanding by its own definition talks to our limitation in being able to process knowledge. This is not true to God’s nature. God is omniscience. He possesses all knowledge but also an infinite God. We fight God because of the fact we are limited. Another element comes to that. There’s the unknown. We fear the
unknown because of two things. We fear the unknown because of adversity and pleasure but
mostly because of adversity. Because we have learned that adversity is an incubator and
dispenser of harm. Harm hides in adversity. That’s why we want certainty. That’s why we
acquire as much knowledge as we can so we can increase our understanding so we can plan our
next move. But then God laughs at our plans. I had a plan coming here and God was laughing.
Four hours later P. Trump shuts down and God was laughing.

All of men’s collective finite wisdom still does not constitute infinite wisdom. Struggling to come up with a cure for the virus whatever that is. We see that no matter how much of the finite knowledge we can accumulate,
7 billion minds. 2.5 petabytes of brain capacity. That’s like 2.5 million gigabytes. That’s the
average of human brains capacity. So if you take 7 billion, if you take 2.5 million gigs and
multiply by 7 billion, we are still unable to come up with solutions to an invisible virus. What is
invisible has no borders. That’s why I believe God has allowed this virus for a reason to
illuminate that we are limited and need God. We need absolutes. We need absolute truth
through the Bible, the pulpit, the truth that comes from this book gives us those absolutes.

So that even in the limitation of our understanding and knowledge there are certain guarantees,
certain pillars we can hold onto throughout the storms of life. Hold onto the truth, the
guarantee of the finished work, the guarantee of our destination to go to heaven, that’s an
absolute truth we need, the certainty that we need. The guarantee that God loves us. So even if
we don’t understand what God is doing in our lives, at the very least we can be guaranteed and assured of his love. Therefore we can trust God’s wisdom. But in the world, P. Schaller
mentioned it earlier on, the world’s wisdom took out that element of truth. That’s why the
world is ADOKIMAZO which is unable therefore to appraise all things because it has taken the
most important qualitative measures, it has taken out that which is absolute. 2 + 2 is 4. It’s not
22. But you see, when knowledge is not guided by absolutes, when absolutes are taken out of
our lives, we come to those foolish conclusions that it is 22.

We decide that all that is determined by the walls of our minds, by our own dogmatic experiences. Whatever works for me is what should be, but we thank God that he is infinitely wise. We can trust his wisdom. But
if we have not settled this important question, we have trouble with trusting his infinite
wisdom. Who is God? How many of us have answered that question for ourselves? Who is God
to me? With something as horrible as what happened now with the corona virus or we go
through trials of life, if that question is not settled, we will ask the wrong questions. Because
that question is a qualitative question that determines the borders in which our understanding
should be found. That determines the outcome, what the outcome of the answers or the
answers to the questions should be.

Who is God? If you don’t know who God is, you cannot trust his infinite wisdom. Most importantly, who is God to me personally? I’ve had to answer that question. I believe because of the doctrine I received in this ministry, the love I received, the truth I could prove through my own experience, in as much I had difficult questions, there
were some questions I didn’t have to ask. I’ll say that again. If the question of who God is has
been settled in my mind most importantly the question of who God is to me personally has
been settled, there are certain questions I don’t have to ask. I don’t have to ask what is God’s
plan. I just know it’s a good plan. I don’t have to ask a lot of whys. Instead, I ask how do I move
forward God? I ask how. I don’t become moved by my finitude. But I can find certainty and
assurance in his infiniteness and love for me. I’m so grateful to be part of this ministry. I’m
grateful to receive the Word I have received.

I’m grateful I can trust God’s plan and will for my life. And if we don’t answer this question, and many people who have to answer this question for themselves, for them to come back and be in these seats. If they haven’t answered who is God to them, they are not going to come back and sit in these seats, not now, not ever.

Amen.

P. Schaller –

That was so awesome. Thank you. Wow. A few thoughts on that song and P.
Jabulani’s words. The infinite connecting with the finite. That’s what we heard from pastor. And
Josh just sang nothing else, nothing else just you. I can just sit and be quiet. I don’t even need
blessings. Just you. Then the testimonies of these young people and you guys really edify us.
We rejoice. This is what happened to you and me and us is John 14. This will be maybe ten
minutes. I always say that. It doesn’t matter. It’s not the point. John 14, take a minute to receive
what we want to say. Vs. 21. How could I keep God’s commandments? How could that
happen? I can’t but Ezekiel 11:19 is a memory verse for you and I.

This morning, we talked about our culture moving away from God. If you meet some people that are unbelievers and don’t want any of God, you could say they have a stony heart. I evangelize them but they don’t care
what I say. They are not interested in what I say. They don’t have a capacity to hear me. They
don’t want to hear me. They have no idea. Why? Because they have a stony heart. That’s why. How could I evangelize someone that has a stony heart? How could the message go to
someone that has a stony heart? Answer? It can’t happen. They don’t hear you. They have a
heart of stone. Have you met anyone who has a heart of stone? Look on your right and left.
Have you? Have you met someone who has a heart of stone. I have. What do you do with
evangelism?

I evangelize. But I’m not surprised that they say no. I’m not surprised they are not
interested; they have no capacity. God says I will give them a heart of flesh. God says I will
replace the stony heart with a heart of flesh. P. Jabulani mentioned that people that are finite
and they don’t have. They don’t relate to God. Yet the Bible says the work of God is like a
pregnant woman who has something growing in her just like a person where God is doing a
work. God is doing a work in the heart. It happened to Lydia in the book of Acts, chapter 16:14.
It said God gave her a heart to listen to Paul. God gave her a heart. Zane mentioned thank you
for praying for us. I’ve been in this church all my life. We could say amen. Thank you for that
encouragement, that edification, Zane.

It’s so good to hear that. God gave you a heart for this. He gave it to me. I don’t know where it came from except from God. It’s called the grace of God. How did I get here? I don’t know. I had a heart of stone, but God gave me a heart of flesh. He did. Ezekiel 36:26, has that happened to you? There is no way anybody would be here tonight
unless God gave us a new heart and a new spirit. I’m telling you there is no way we would be
here worshiping God. Man has no capacity. Don’t pat yourself on the back and say I’m the
most sincere person. No. Like Jesus said, if you keep my commandments it’s because you love
me, and that love didn’t come from you. It came from me. I gave you a heart of flesh and put a
new spirit in you. Now my Father honors you. John 14, what does it mean keeping the
commandments? It’s answering to God.

This is the problem with people in general. They relate to people but when you have a new heart, it’s all about God now. That’s what Josh sang. That’s what these young people gave a testimony. It says in Prov. 16:1. Who prepares your heart? The Lord. How did it happen in your life? I remember lying in bed. I wasn’t in any church. I
remember lying in bed and there was something going on and I started thinking about these
things and started to say prayers and didn’t know who I was saying them to. I wanted the
infinite God. You are made for infinity. You are made for eternal life. You are made for God.
Your heart will not rest until you find God unless you have a heart of flesh. The stony hearts are
all around us. They are hard hearts. They are arrogant hearts. They are selfish hearts. They are
empty hearts. They are hard hearts. They’re killers, liars, deceivers. They have no compassion.
How does it go? Proverbs 12 tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. Like a drug dealer giving you
your first one free. You don’t owe me anything.

You got to have this. The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. They will lie to you but it’s cruel because it’s from a stony heart. It’s an empty heart, a hard heart. Vs. 21. John 14:21, with your new heart you will know God. That’s what P. Jabulani said. With your new heart, you will relate to God and have a fellowship with God. Josh
sang it. I come to the garden alone, when the dew is fresh on the roses. And the voice I hear,
falling on my ear, the Son of God discloses. Hey, imagine this is such a great thing. I love this.
This service tonight is so awesome just because God is here with us. He wants to say to us,
when you evangelize, don’t worry about it. One day you are going to find someone. God already gave them a heart of flesh. When they listen to you, they are receiving what you are
saying. They are hungry for what you are saying. You are giving Bible definition and leading
them to Christ. God did it. Who saved them?

God did it. Who gave them a heart to listen to you? God. How did it happen? I don’t know. Salvation is of the Lord. I do not know why I got it in my heart. I don’t know why I started to go to the church. I do not know why I started to
listen. I don’t know why I started to feed on the lamb of God. I don’t know why I overcame
some temptations at different times. I don’t know why I went to Bible college. I don’t know why
I made certain decisions. I just have to say I don’t have a heart like that. God gave me one. God
gave us one, a new heart and a new spirit. We can sit in a room all by ourselves for an hour and
just wait on God and enjoy it immensely because we have a heart of flesh. Jesus speaks to our
heart of flesh. That’s a work of grace. It’s our prayer as we talked this morning about some of
the hard things that can happen. When Jonah was put down into the ship and they said awake
thou o sleeper.

The message this morning was awake thou that sleepest o man of God, o woman of God. Awake thou that sleepest and Christ shall give you light. The world is in trouble. There’s a hurricane and they are bailing out the boat and you say, what are you doing down here sleeping? What meanest thou o sleeper? What are you doing? Jonah had to wake up. There was something God was doing in that whole situation. The church, we are awake Lord.
Our hearts are tender. Our hearts are listening. Our hearts are hungry. Thank you, Lord. We
need it. We want to do what you want us to do. We want to keep your commandments. We
want to love you. The Father says I love you and I will manifest my Son to you. You will know
the Son and you will go in and out. You will have victory over sin, over yourself, over hardness,
victory over arrogance, victory over loneliness, victory over sexual patterns of lust in our soul.
We are not perfect people, but we have a new heart and that heart is after God. I remember
reading about hound dogs.

Maybe I shared this before. A hound dog doesn’t have such good eyes but has an amazing nose. Its nose is 1,000 times stronger than a human nose. Once it gets on a trail, it goes after a fox. It goes after the fox. The fox can do a circle and the fox can even cut through the hound dogs because they can’t see it because they are on the trail. There is a hound of heaven. The hound of heaven, an old poem by Tennyson. God is on your trail. God
wants your life. God wants you to glorify him. God wants you to seek him and find him. He is
finding you and seeking you and caring about you. There is no hard heart with God and you. It’s
a heart of flesh. God has a tender heart for you, and you have for him. This is a new relationship
that we have now. We love it. Vs. 23. He will assemble with the saints. He will learn the Word of
God. He will learn to open his mouth.

He’ll talk about God in wisdom and in love. He’ll keep my words. I remember one missionary in Africa, maybe it was C.T. Stud reading the Bible and they said what are you doing with the Bible? I’m looking for things I can obey. I’m looking for things I can obey. I just want to find how I can obey. Why? I have a new heart. I want to know what he
says. I want to feel what he is saying. I want to love him. I want to follow him no matter what. I
want to believe and trust him with all my heart. That new heart God gave you. God gave it to
you. That’s how we live now and we’re having a good time doing it. Vs. 23. Imagine God being
really close to you. The angels say why are you close to him? Because he loves me. I gave him a new heart and he loves me. He does the things that I say. The infinite God is lined up with a
finite person? Yep. That’s how it is.

That’s new. Angels are amazed at it. All of heaven glorifies God, almighty God who is so humble that he would make his abode with a man and with a woman. God is so glorious and mighty and caring, and he knows the hairs on our head and every footstep, and the day we are going to die and pass into eternity. He knows it all and it’s in
his heart, a tender heart and he gave us that heart and we can live in a different way. Wow!
That’s beautiful. That’s all. That was awesome.

Amen. God bless you. Thank you, Jesus.

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