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Praise, Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Don't stop praising Him. Don't stop praising Him. Jesus, the only Name that can save. Save the wretch like you. Save the wretch like me. Brought us from eternal hell into this glorious doctrine, into this glorious light. Hallelujah! He saves men and women from their sins. He saved you. He's delivered you. He's set you free. Glory be to God, giving us a new name. Hallelujah! He that shall come will come and he will not tarry. Now the just shall live by their faith. Hallelujah! We are living by our faith today. Hallelujah! Coming into His gates with Thanksgiving, coming into His courts with praise. Hallelujah! Giving God all the glory on today. Wonderful job by the singers and praise team on today. Giving God the glory for you. Thank you Jesus. Thank you Lord. Certainly, honor the leadership here at Peace Apostolic Church, the Soul Saving Station. Glory be to God. Hallelujah! All the elders, the deacons, the co-laborers, the fellow co-laborers, each and every one of you. Hallelujah! Giving God the glory for His Spirit that dwells in and amongst men, whereby we must be saved. If you don't know Jesus here today, Jesus is the only Name that can save. There is none other. Certainly, uh, give honor to my dear wife, Sister Angel, who's sitting right there with my little boy, Sammy Jr. God bless you. She is a syrup to my pancakes. Hallelujah! Amen. Certainly, uh, lovely to see my dear brother, Minister Dean Bell, the Hope Man, not the dope man. And I love him so much. He's my dear, dear brother in Christ. Elder Parker used to call us the sons of thunder. Hallelujah! We love God. I love you, my brother. And my dear sister, Sister Lexie Bell, all the way from New York back to Los Angeles to be with us again. Hallelujah! Giving God the glory for it.
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I wanted to greet you in the mighty Name and the matchless Name of Jesus above all others. Certainly, uh, not taking it lightly that I get to stand behind this very sacred pulpit that our dear Bishop and the heritage that was left to us in Bishop Howard Arthur Swansey, my dear father in the Gospel and your father in the Gospel, many of you left to us. We're not going to quit talking about Jesus and His soon coming. He's coming back again and He's coming quickly. Hallelujah! So, my name is Sam, and I'm your friend. Before I say anything, my name is Sam, and I'm your friend. I love you. You are my brothers and sisters in Christ. You can be, you can be poor, you can be rich, you can be black, you can be white, you can be Mexican, you can be whatever you are, but you have the same blood in me that I've got, and you've got. Hallelujah! We can rejoice in Him. In Him we live, we move, and we have our being. Hallelujah! Together, one in Christ Jesus. Hallelujah! So, I love you and I'm so happy to be here with you today. Honored. Uh, if you turn your Bibles with me to Psalm 51 and 17. Psalm 51 and 17. When you have it, please say amen. And it reads thus: "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." The topic of today's message is "From Brokenness to Glory." Hallelujah! With a subtopic of "The Journey of a Contrite Heart," from broken, from brokenness to glory, the journey of a contrite heart. Amen.
My dear brothers and sisters, today I need to tell somebody that God is a God who restores what is broken. You see, too often in life, we, we throw away things when they're broken. We discard things that have deteriorated, deciding that somehow they've lost their value. But that is not how the Lord, Lord Jesus deals with us. Amen. No, my friends, God loves broken things, and He, God loves broken people. Amen. And that is because God takes what is broken, He takes what seems lost, Hallelujah! He takes what others would just cast aside, and He makes it whole again and mends it. Amen. He makes them all whole, all whole to reclaim His glory. Why is that so important for us to understand then? It is so these broken things, these broken people might live again and live for His grand purposes. In other words, for them to live according to His perfect plan for their lives. So, if you're here today, if you're feeling broken, if you're feeling even cast aside right now, I'm here to tell you, God is not done with you just yet. Hallelujah! Amen. God restores. God reclaims. And God will take that brokenness and turn it into something absolutely, absolutely beautiful for His glory in His time. And so, God uses broken people. Why? Because broken people are humble. And we certainly know He resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Hallelujah!
Now, let me tell you this, redemption is a magnificent thing, a magnificent thing. The life of God in the soul of man. And Jesus did not come into the world to make bad men good. He came into the world to make dead men and women live. Not to make bad men good, to make dead men live. Hallelujah! Christianity, our faith, this Apostolic doctrine, this faith is the only faith in the world, whether there's a thousand or 2,000 other faiths, Hallelujah, where a man's God comes and lives inside of him. You see, you can give up your lousy drinking, you can give up your rotten women, your rotten living, your adultery, but that alone is not what brings about true regeneration. The problem is that often times we, we go, we go, go too easy on the sin problem. And the world out there needs to change its tone about sin. You read what First John says. John says, "He that is born of God does not sin." That is habitual sin. That is to say, there is a difference between stumbling into sin as a saint and then living in sin. Amen. When there's a true Christian falls into temptation, and he, he clings to Christ, he pleads to Christ for mercy with a broken and a contrite heart. Amen. And so then, what you're saying essentially in that brokenness, what you're saying essentially in that brokenness is an acknowledgement. It's an acknowledgement that indeed, our sin, my sin, my sin put Him on the cross, and I hate it, and I loathe it. My dear brothers, that's the demonic nature. Amen. My, my brothers and sisters, as we will see in this message today, as we move on, that's what God is looking for: a broken, yes, Lord, and a contrite heart. Have you ever had a broken heart over your sin? It's worse than a broken business deal. It's worse than a broken limb. It's worse than a broken friendship. Have you felt the weight of it all? And then have you been able to come to Him, glory be to God, in humility and contrition? Because only then, through the blood of Jesus Christ, can you be cleansed.
Now, let's embark on this journey together from brokenness to glory, the journey of a contrite heart. There is significance of a broken heart. After David committed adultery with Bathsheba, you remember there, he committed that adultery, and he sent her husband, Uriah, to the front lines in battle. He certainly knew by sending him to the front lines that he would indeed be in danger, he would likely die. And indeed, he did die. He then, she then became pregnant, she had the child of David, and what did he do? He went and married her. Just after all of that. This, of course, shows the depths of his corruption. In that moment, David doesn't step back. He doesn't minimize his sin. Instead, he just intensifies. He just presses on to the guilt and the shame and the condemnation. How can that be? Essentially, and then yet the Bible says David was a man after God's own heart. Amen. Essentially, go, it was David's heart, a broken and a contrite heart, that touched the heart of God. His sin, and his, and his reproaches against God, and his depths, and his despair, and the fact that he was able to get broken and contrite, touched the heart of God. Psalm 51, 3 and 4, please. Psalm 51, at verse 3 and 4. And this is where he acknowledges this: "For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest." My friends, as I said before, a broken heart is not just a physical pain. It's not just a broken arm. It's not just a, it's not just a loss of an eye. It's not just cancer in my loved one. It's not just hurting an affliction that's happening to me and countless others. It's beyond the physical sickness. A broken heart and a contrite spirit, a spiritual thing. He broke your heart, and you have it, it's contrite. Amen. So this posture is in humility. Hallelujah! It's the beginning of this journey that we're talking about. Hallelujah!
If you turn with me to Psalm 139, 23 and 24. Amen. Thank you, Jesus. Bless your name, Lord. Bless your name, Jesus. All the Bible says, "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way of everlasting." The cost of sin. There is a need for repentance, like Bishop Boyd said last week, a turning, a repentance, turning from sin and turning to God. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! There's a reality of sin. My sin put Him on that tree, and I hate it, and I loathe it. Isaiah 53 and 5, it talks about Jesus: "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." Hallelujah! There is a journey from brokenness to glory that requires a recognition of the cost of sin and this deep repentance that we have towards God. In a moment, Hallelujah! There's a profound power of the Gospel to cleanse. Even the greatest, you could have been the greatest murderer, the greatest adulterer, the greatest fornicator, the evilest man in the world or woman in the world, but such is the Gospel of redeeming grace that you can come in brokenness, and you can come in contrition, and He can heal you. Proverbs 28 and 13: "He that covereth his transgressions and forsaketh them shall have mercy." The Bible even says in Acts 3:19, "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord." That's what we're seeking, church. We're seeking refreshing that comes from repentance and turning to the Lord. Jesus, isn't it amazing that if you, you've sinned 60 years and you broke in every law in the Decalogue, that one precious drop of the blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse you whiter than snow? Friends, it's not, it is not the blood of goats, bulls, and turtle doves that saves. It is not the blood of 22,000 oxen that were slain at Solomon's Temple that saves over the centuries, oh, for our redemption. Hallelujah! It was not the blood that was shed on battlefields for our freedoms to talk about Jesus. Hallelujah! That saves. What blood is it that redeems us? What blood? It's the precious blood of the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world. That blood, only that blood, that blood that dripped from Calvary. Hallelujah! That blood that terrifies every demon in hell. That blood, the agent of purification that purifies the soul. That blood, it is that blood that brought you near. One time back in the day when priests would come and they would sacrifice for the sake of the unclean. Jesus came and shed that blood that we no longer need to sacrifice to the blood of bulls and goats and turtle doves. Hallelujah! The law held man in bondage, exposing every imperfection. In humility, that blood from the, it saves us from the curse of death, hell, and the grave.
But let me tell you, church, the power of the blood, it's not just about a single moment of repentance. No, it's this journey of brokenness, this sanctification. Hallelujah! Every day dying to self, dying to my sin, your sin, daily. Hallelujah! It's relentless. It's a daily walk. It's a surrender and obedience unto God that Your Name is Holy, and I'm going to obey You, whatever happens to me. I'm going to obey You. If I get downtrodden, I'm going to obey You. If I lose my leg, I'm going to obey You. If I lose my heart, I'm going to obey You. If I get cancer, I'm going to obey You. Woman, you are healed. Man, you are healed in the Name of Jesus. The blood prevails. Hallelujah! You can be cleansed. Isaiah says in, uh, Isaiah 1:18, "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, amen, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." We've got to maintain this humility and thankfulness to God's mercy. Oh, glory! Oh, glory to God! Thank the Lord that we can come to Him and be restored. Hallelujah! If you're feeling unworthy today, no sin is too great for God. "He that cometh to God must first believe that he is and he's a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." He might be tugging on your, your, your heartstrings right now. The Bible says in Hosea, "He will draw you with cords of love." Hallelujah! Isn't that right, Minister Dan? He will draw you with cords of love unto repentance and unto this glorious doctrine. If you're here today, it's by no happenstance. If you're new, God brought you in here. He divinely ordained the whole situation so you could be here. There is no luck in the world. It's only by the power of God that anything should happen. Hallelujah!
1 John 1:8-9. 1 John 1:8-9. When you have it, say amen. Glory be to God. And it reads, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Hallelujah! Now, this is the promise of cleansing and restoration. Hallelujah! That God gives to all who come to Him. You can be from any background, right? You can be young, you can be old. Little Sammy, you can come to Jesus right now. You can be filled with the Holy Ghost. He loves you. God loves you, and He's going to fill you in His time. You come to Him in your own way in Jesus' Name. Hallelujah! He will draw you with cords of love, my dear boy. Hallelujah!
Psalm 34 and 18. Amen. When you got it. "The Lord is nigh unto them." Here we go. We're saying it again. It's repeated all over scripture. "The Lord is nigh unto them of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit." Again, it's reiterating the same point over and over. We'll see in a minute in Ezekiel where he does the same. A broken heart and a contrite spirit. This is how we continue to journey in this glorious, in this glorious sanctification process and on our way to glory. And let me explain something. We are not like Calvinists. We are not like Reformists. We don't believe that once saved, always saved. There is conditional eternal security, which means that you can actually lose this salvation if you continue in habitual sin. That's why we're a Holiness Church. This is Peace Apostolic. It is a Jesus Name Apostolic Pentecostal Holiness Church. We are blood-bought, and we, and we continue to seek the Lord Jesus Christ. Hallelujah! That's why it's so important. I tell you this because I love you. I tell, I'm telling myself this every day. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! We are all the same. God is no respecter of persons. As the Lord says in Ezekiel 18:30-31, "Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin." Here it goes again. "Make you a new heart and a new spirit." It's positionally, He's got to change you from the inside out. Renewing of the mind and changing the heart. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. He needs to change your vocabulary, the way you think about things, completely change your heart. And Jesus alone does that. That's why this is the greatest religion on the planet Earth, 'cause Jesus can come down and reside in a man or woman. I couldn't do this on my own. No deed is going to do this. The Lord Jesus is the only one that can, that can empower us to do it. I can't do it without the Holy Ghost. You can't do it without the Holy Ghost. New person, you've got to have the Holy Ghost. And so God is calling us to live in holiness, saints, to cast everything, anything away that would keep us from His presence. If you haven't decided, this isn't the altar call, but if you haven't decided to follow Jesus, today is your day. Come on over. When we do the altar call, come get filled and baptized with the Holy Ghost. We've got clean water in the pool, and your life can be changed forever, and you can be a brother and sister in Christ. We welcome you. We love you. We care for you. It doesn't matter whatever background you had, whatever you were going through, whatever you were dealing with. If you confess your sin, God is faithful and just to forgive you of your sin. Come and lay it on the altar of sacrifice. Hallelujah!
Acts 2:38. "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sin, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." The gift is a promise. It's for all of you. It's for your children and your children's children. God will fill you with a new heart, a new spirit, and it will be, there will be signs, and there will be the speaking of other tongues as the Spirit of God giveth the utterance. How do we know you got the Holy Ghost? Because you got the sign, the evidence. Then is your walk with Jesus, this holiness process, the broken, Hallelujah, and the contrite heart. Hallelujah! You bear much fruit. Hallelujah! I can only do it by the Holy Ghost. You can only do it by the Holy Ghost. We cannot do it without the Holy Ghost. Hallelujah!
2 Corinthians 7:10, please. Hallelujah! Many of you know this scripture: "For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death." They want to kill your children. They want to change your mind about man and woman. That's right. They want to indoctrinate your children even at school. They want to tell you that men can marry men and women can marry women. They want to tell you that murder is okay, that we should just legislate this sin. This word of God tells me something much, much different. This word of God says only that God is the giver and taker of life. No man can take life. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Bless the little children. Keep them right now in the Name of Jesus as they go about the schools. Lay a covering over them, oh God. Help them, oh God. This world is debased. Hallelujah! Like in the end of Romans 1, it talks about the debasement when God gives them over. They revel in their sin. They love their sin. And then people clap for them about their sin. This is a different place of goodness. The mercy of God, His relentless favor, His love upon you, regardless if you're sick, you're favored because God loves you, and He filled you, and you were chosen, and you were justified, and you were redeemed. Hallelujah!
1 John 3:6-9. "Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not." Our previous point. "Whosoever sinneth hath not seen him." He's talking about habitual sin here. "Neither known him. Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin; for his seed the Holy Ghost remaineth in him." Those who abide in Christ do not live in habitual sin. They can't do it. I can't get from here to the other side of the platform without repenting if I, if I commit a sin. Hallelujah! Can't help it. I need to be clean before God. You want the blessing? Get clean before God. Lay your all, lay your sins down at the altar of sacrifice. He will cleanse you and restore you back to safety.
Please turn to James 1:14-15, please. Hallelujah! Glory! It is important that we rightly divide the scriptures and we give you enough scriptures. Amen. This is more of a teaching sermon, but I give God the glory for His help. Hallelujah! James 1:14-15. It reads, "You see, to continue this journey towards glory, we must, we must not..." Excuse me, there we are. "But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin: and when it is finished, bringeth forth death." We must flee from temptations. I'm just warning you because I love you. Warn me too. Hallelujah! God's no respecter of person. We need to flee it. I don't want to see you die in the, in the pardon of your transgressions, in your sins, and not, not the pardon, but in your transgressions. I don't want to see you die in those transgressions. I want to make it to glory with you, where we're going to be glorifying God, where all the saints of God will be together, and we'll be able to worship and praise Him 24 hours a day. I want to make it to glory with you. Hallelujah! And here's the good news: if we keep resisting this sin and we just stay close to Jesus, there is a reward waiting for us in glory. Our journey does not end in the struggle of this life. It ends in glory. Heaven is our home, and God has prepared a place where pain and sorrow can no longer, no longer touch us. So now, let's go. Let's take you to that glorious place of the journey, the place, the heavenly place, where there's eternal joy, the glory of Heaven, our destination.
Revelation 21 and 4. And it reads, "And God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." What a beautiful picture this is. Streets of gold. Hallelujah! Gates of pearl. Crystal, silver, crystal rivers. Glory be to God. Eternal peace, eternal harmony, mansions of splendor with the Lord Jesus, perfect fellowship with God and with believers and with saints. That's why I'm telling you, we've got to make it to glory. Heavenly music and worship just playing everywhere. The angels are just saying, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty." Yes, there is a glorious place to the end of this journey for all who have walked the path of repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. So, to recap: God is not seeking perfection. He seeks hearts that are broken, that are contrite. Jesus is the only perfect one. Amen. And through Him, we are eventually made whole. We are going on to perfection. Glory be to God. This journey begins with us recognizing our own deep sin and brokenness, and for the saints, if you continue through true ongoing repentance, it leads to glory and God's grace being made manifest at every point in your life. Every point. Glory be to God. God desires a heart and a spirit that continually, regularly, consistently acknowledges its need for mercy. Hallelujah! This is a heart of the life transformed by His grace and His mercy, living in humble reliance and obedient submission to His unending mercy. So, church, let us keep the posture of brokenness before the Lord. His mercy is new every morning. Renews every day. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Take a step towards glory by coming before Him with sincerity to be cleansed, and He'll cleanse you. He will. Right now, I'm calling on each and every one of you to respond to this journey in your own way. If you feel that stirring in your spirit, that pull on your heart, that's the Holy Ghost, of course, reaching out to you. Don't wait. Don't hesitate. If you need to come on down to the altar right now, come with a broken heart and find the glory that awaits in His forgiveness and in His power. Whether you're here to renew your walk with God or you're just ready to start, uh, afresh. Amen. His arms are open wide, like the prodigal son coming back to the Father, to welcome you back into the fold. He didn't want to hear his excuses when he came back. He knew he was sorrowful and broken and contrite. What did he do? He kissed him on the cheek and welcomed him back in. That is emblematic. That parable is like, is about the Lord Jesus. He welcomes us right back in. Hallelujah! And if you've never been baptized in the Name of Jesus, if you've never received the precious gift of the Holy Ghost, today is your day. Right now, this is your moment. There's nothing that can stop you. There's nothing that can hinder you from experiencing the refreshing that comes straight from the throne of God. The only thing keeping you back is yourself. You've got to come by your own free will. Lay everything down at the altar. He's just to forgive. He'll cleanse you. He'll fill you, and you'll forever be with the Lord. The altar is open. Come on down and let God do what only He can do. Amen. In the Name of Jesus. Amen. Glory be to God. Come on down now. Hallelujah!
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Amen. I know this message wasn't a heavy preaching message, but it needed to be said in the Name of the Lord. Friends, this Bible is all we've got. This and the Holy Ghost is all we've got. And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
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Glory to God! This is your last chance, but we'll still be here after. If you feel uncomfortable, that's all right. He will wipe away all the guilt and all the shame. You can come on down later. We'll still be up here. You can get the Holy Ghost. He that shall come will come and he will not tarry. Glory be to God. Go ahead and give Him glory.
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Bless your Name, Lord Jesus. Righteous Savior, Emmanuel, God with us, the hope of glorification. Amen. If you would all stand as we dismiss in prayer. Thank you.
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Lord, in the Name of the Lord, Lord Jesus. Jesus, we come before You with broken hearts, contrite spirits, giving You all the glory, giving You all the praise. We love You, Lord. You are God. We honor You, Jesus. Give You the glory.
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You saved a wretch like me. And the only thing our hearts can do is cry out unto You, Abba Father. Thank You for all the ones coming up here and getting blessed, getting renewed. Thank You for those that have called, that have been called to repentance. Thank You for those that have laid their sins at the altar. Bless them, oh God. Keep them. Help them to receive the Holy Ghost. And we look for Your soon coming and Your appearing. Bless the congregation. Keep a hedge of protection around them. Take them to their safe abode, and we will forever have Your praises in our mouth. For this poor man cried, and the Lord heard his cry, and He delivered him out of all of his trouble. We've tasted and we've seen that You are good, oh Jesus, King of Kings. We give You the glory today. We give You the honor, and we give You the praise that is well due Your holy Name. In the matchless Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. In Jesus' Name. Amen. Amen. God bless you, saints. We love you.
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I worship and adore You. Just want to tell You, Lord, I love You more than anything. I love You, Jesus. I worship and adore You. Just want to tell You, Lord, I love You more than anything.
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