Transcription
Foreign. I top the hill, and I smile when I see the old "Welcome to Our Town" sign. It's still covered in vines and that old white chip paint. I chuckle when I come past the Piggly Wiggly. There's not one, but three yard sales in the parking lot.
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I turn left by the Burger Barn. That's the classic "Here's Your Sign" landmark. The clinic, the ball field, and the funeral home, all three are lit up. I see the sun and veer off to the right.
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This place, this place made me. I made mistakes here. I learned here. I grew here. This place showed me Jesus, and then it showed me how to serve Him. There's a yearning in my chest for this place. This place can't be replaced. This feeling cannot be duplicated. This place is home. This is home.
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Okay, yes. Thank you so much. Um, praise the Lord, everybody. Let's stand together in the house of the Lord, lifting our hands across the tabernacle today. Let's ask God for His favor and His blessing in this place. Could we do that? Jesus, dear Lord, we need a baptism of Your glory in this house. I'm asking You in the name of Jesus and through the power of the Holy Ghost to reign in this tabernacle today. Lord, we are seeking You. We're here to lift You up and worship You. We're here, God, for divine relationship. That's the reason we're in this house, God. We're here for divine relationship with You. Hallelujah. Would you give the Lord a good handclap of praise across this house right now? Oh, magnify the name of the Lord with me. Hallelujah. You can be seated if you need to. Let's have church today in Jesus' name.
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Foreign.
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From generation to
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Who you generation
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For who You are
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Foreign
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From generation to generation
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Hallelujah
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Hallelujah
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Oh, all the time. All
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All the time.
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Hallelujah
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Hallelujah
For who You are
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All the time
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All the time
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Oh
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Hallelujah
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Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Praise team, stay where you're at just a second. I got to do what I feel, and I, I apologize, but in, in Bible college, they kind of taught us to, to mix the word of God with the song. And many times, I'll find myself kind of paying attention to what they're singing, and I'll kind of tie a scripture to it. But this morning, Brother Dylan Kraft, I woke up with a scripture on my mind, and it was Psalm 106 and verse number one. It said, "Praise ye the Lord. Give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good." Hallelujah. Won't somebody let the Lord know that He is good this morning as they sing in just a little bit more?
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Hallelujah
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Oh
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You're good
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Hallelujah
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Lord Jesus
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For who You are
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Hallelujah
The Lord is good. Hallelujah. Do you know that the Lord is good?
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Hallelujah. We serve our good God.
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Thank you, Jesus. My, my, my. Feels good in the house of the Lord today. You can make your way back to your seats. Just don't lose this spirit of worship. Don't lose the spirit of worship. I'm telling you, anything can happen in this house. Anything can happen in this house. I want to say welcome to our guests. Thank you, guests, for being with us. I want to welcome everyone that's on the live stream that's joined us. I am ready to have church today. Anybody ready to have church? I'm telling you, from all week long, I've been thinking about how, how our, our foundation and our, our biblical truths are under attack. And, and we heard about it on a, on a spring break trip this week to Noah's Ark, how, how the book of Genesis is the most attacked book in the Bible, on the days of creation and Noah's flood and, and all those things. And I, I got to thinking about what our pastor said to us a few weeks ago about how he wanted to do more teaching, the doctrine, and the oneness of God and Acts 2:38. And our foundation, our foundation is under attack. You know what, you know what makes us different than all the rest of the churches? All the rest of the denominations? Is that we believe there's one God. We believe that, that He said, He asked Peter, He said, "Whom do men say that I am?" And Peter's answer was, He said, "That's what I'm going to build my church on." That foundation. And Peter got up on the day of Pentecost and preached Acts 2:38. He, he preached, "Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus, receive." I'm telling you, today would be a good day for somebody to repent. Today would be a good day for somebody to be baptized in Jesus' name. Today would be a good day for someone to receive the Holy Ghost. Hallelujah. I believe it can happen. Worship with this praise team as they come and sing, "The weapon may be formed."
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And my God will never fail
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For the battle belongs
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Belongs to You, Lord
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When the darkness
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For the battle belongs to You, Lord
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Victory
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Do you believe there's power? We're not backing down. Come on.
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Sing with us
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I'm gonna
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Right there
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Foreign
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Oh, like a conquering God, like a mighty warrior God. Yes.
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Foreign
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Jesus, You take
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Foreign
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Yes
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Belongs to You
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Victory
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Somebody sing that. Somebody claim it by faith. I'm gonna see a victory.
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I'm gonna see a. Belongs to You. Hallelujah. Why don't we lift our hands and worship the Lord? Hallelujah. Why don't we lift our hands all across this building and give God some praise? Hallelujah. We love You, Jesus. We love You, Jesus. Hallelujah. We're going to see a victory. We're going to see a victory. Hallelujah. Just remain standing. I'm gonna give you an opportunity to be blessed. And, uh, during this time, you can, you can reach down and grab your phones and share the live stream. We need to, we need to let people know that we are, we are sharing our service with them because we believe that someone could be blessed. Someone could be touched, just simply by, by coming across it on a, on the internet. I know that that can happen. Hallelujah.
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As they were singing that song, I thought about just, just a few days ago, I was walking around in this building, and I was thinking, "God, I need You to come through for me." And, you know, He always comes through for us. He always works it out. And, you know, we, a lot of times, we think it's, it's too late or it's gone too far. And I'll never forget this. This is one of those moments where you're praying for something, and God shows you something, and it's just so real. And He immediately brought me to the, to the scripture where Abraham had took Isaac up on the mountain, and, and he had, they had climbed that mountain, and he was getting ready to sacrifice Isaac. And he, I mean, he got to the very end. I mean, he was, he was ready to complete that sacrifice. And God came through right at the last second. And, and I'll never forget that, that that came to my mind when I was needing God to come through for me. And He, He just basically promised me, He said, "You know what? If I, if I come through for Abraham, if I've done it like this, you know what it might feel like it's the last second, but, but I promise you, it'll all work out." And as they were singing, "We're going to see the victory," I, I just wanted to share that with you, that you, I don't know what you're going through. I, I don't know what's you're facing today, and you might think it's, it's just about too late. But, you know what? God's no respecter of persons. Abraham had to wait to the very last moment on his, on his provision before he could say Jehovah Jireh. And I'm telling you, He's going to come through, and we're going to see victory. I believe that in Jesus' name. As you march and bring your offering, let's ask the Lord to bless this offering in Jesus' name. God, use this and take it and, and multiply it, and let Your kingdom be built in the name of Jesus. God bless you as you march and bring your tithes and offering. Choir, you can go ahead and be assembling on the platform. Pay attention to the screens as they run the announcements.
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Hallelujah. God bless you. You can be seated. I am looking forward to hearing this choir bless us as they get ready to, to bless us with song. I do want to make mention of the men's trip. We need you to let us know about that. That is going to be a trip to, uh, to Harrison, Arkansas, on a Friday night. They have a men's conference service that Friday night, and then that next day, the men are gonna go over to Branson and, and, uh, spend some time together at a Sight and Sound Theater. Um, the total price per person on that trip is $108. That includes the hotel and the, uh, the Sight and Sound Theater, uh, play there. So we need that. We need to know who is going to be going on that, so you can let us know today, and, uh, we're going to get that planned. How many know that is important for us to fellowship together and, and spend some time together? And, and I, I'll never forget just, uh, just one of the men's breakfasts we had. We had someone that hadn't been coming to church very long, and he had just kind of made this his church, and, and he, he came up to me and he said, "I enjoyed this so much, just, just sitting down with the men and, and eating breakfast." And I'm telling you, whether we know it or not, usually, I know I'm a man, but usually we, we don't, we don't realize how important it was or how much we enjoyed it until it's over. You know, we, we, we think about all the things we got to do that day and, and everything, and we kind of have to, sometimes our wife kind of forces us to, to go on and do it, but we're thankful for it, Brother Rountree, after, after we do it, because we're men, and we, we want to work and provide and do all these things, but sometimes we need to take some time off and just enjoy some fellowship with each other. How many knows that's true? Hallelujah. So if you could please let us know, this isn't very important. Our pastor is, uh, is behind this, and he wants us to do this, and he, he told me to spend this time today and, and let you know how important it is. So there's the, uh, the price for the hotel and the Sight and Sound Theater, and let's, let's get as many together as we can. Let's go do this. We're going to enjoy it. It'll be a great time in the Holy Ghost that Friday night, and then we'll spend a great time in fellowship that Saturday. Hallelujah. Does that sound good? Hallelujah. Well, God bless you. This choir is coming to, uh, to sing to us. Let's lift our hands. Let's ask God to anoint our ears, anoint our minds, anoint our hearts as, as they sing and they lead us in worship in the name of Jesus.
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Through city streets
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Lift up the banners and practice your praise.
Fill up your mouths with that glorious name.
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Jesus
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Jesus
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Is
Fill up your mouth with that glorious day.
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Jesus
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Is
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Because
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Welcome
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Oh
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Fill up your mouth
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Shall
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Jesus
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Glorious
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Welcome
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She
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Oh
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Of Jesus will be magnified. Of Jesus
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Jesus through the town
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Me is
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Glorious
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Come celebrate Jesus. Welcome to Jesus. Oh
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And practice your praise.
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Welcome to Jesus
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Jesus. Come on, let's magnify Him together. Magnify the Lord with me. Let us exalt His name together. How many of you believe He's good?
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Thank you, choir. Thank you, praise team. I know you're standing. Most of you are standing. We should stand and honor the word of the Lord. If you need to go to the restroom, get a drink of water, anything like that, now would be the time to do that. I'm not gonna preach long, but I want everyone here to hear what I have to say today. I feel like it's important, not because it's from me, but because it's from God. Matthew chapter 18 and verse 11. While you're turning there, I want to say welcome to every guest that's here. Welcome to every guest. And I also want to say thank you to the people of God for faithfulness to the house of God. It's never been as important as it is right now to be faithful. Matthew chapter 18 and verse 11 says, "For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost." "For the Son of Man is come to save that which was lost." Would you lift your hands and ask the Holy Ghost to speak in this place today? Would you do that? Jesus, dear Lord, I'm asking You in Your name and through the power of the Holy Ghost to talk to every heart, mind, and spirit in this place today. God, I need You desperately. Hide me behind the cross of Calvary, Lord, not that they would see me or that they would hear my words or my voice, but somehow, God, if through the anointing, conviction of the Holy Ghost, if You could work through me as a vessel, God, and speak in this house, open our minds and spirits that we might hear and receive. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. God bless you. You can be seated. I believe that every time the word goes forth, it is important. I believe that every time a preacher preaches, it is vital. I believe if we're going to be saved, we don't have a message to spare. We don't have a message that's unimportant to respond to, but every message should be responded to. Every message should be important for us to receive. But there are some messages and some services that somehow they just hold a deeper meaning and a deeper conviction. This is one of those messages that God has worked on me about for days and weeks. It's been on my heart and in my spirit. In fact, I, when the Holy Ghost began to speak to me about this message, I took several of my pastor friends and told them what the Holy Ghost was dealing with me concerning. Every one of them texted back and said, "Brother Copeland, what you, you text me is so important and so pertinent for the day and hour that we live in." I want to preach to you for the next few minutes from one word subject. I want to preach to you: Lost. Lost. The title of this message is just simply going to be Lost. We live in an hour where wording has lost meaning. I don't know what the word "lost" means to you, but I'm afraid in this post-modern society that it does not still hold the same meaning as it did in 1611 when your Bible was translated. And I'm going to tell you that what it means today is not nearly as important as what it meant then. The meaning does not hold the same truth. Somehow, somehow, many of us in a post-modern day, where Hollywood and society is now setting the meaning of life for too many people, the word "lost" does just simply not hold the same importance as it once did. What does it mean to be lost? What does it mean to be lost? Well, let's first go to Jesus' words. What, what did Jesus think? What did He mean by the word "lost"? Matthew 18:11 says that He left His throne in glory, robed Himself in flesh, came to this earth, and died on the cross for one reason, and that's because men and women were lost. It was a big deal that we were lost in Jesus' opinion. We were lost without recourse. We were lost without hope, enough that He left His throne, came and walked among us, was beaten, whipped, and crucified to give us an opportunity to change the fact that we were lost. Luke 19 and 10. Luke, the 19th chapter and the 10th verse says, "The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." You see, when you're lost, so many don't even realize they're lost. Listen, I don't like the terminology that we found God. We didn't have enough sense to find God.
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I'm telling you, if you're here today, it wasn't because you sought God. It was because God sought you. He came looking for you. He came searching for you. You didn't have enough sense to find Him. You didn't know where to look. You, you didn't know where to turn. He came because you were lost. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians the fourth chapter and the third verse some very interesting things, but if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost. When you're lost, you can't even see the gospel. It's a very revealing thing when you argue with your pastor, whether it's verbally or whether it's in your own mind, or whether it's with your own family. God puts you in a church, puts you under a pastor that loves you and cares about you, and then your response is, "Well, I just can't see." You know, it's very revealing when you can't see what the preacher's preaching. Can you put it up there one more time? 2 Corinthians 4 and 3. Maybe you ought to read this through one more time, those of you that like to say, "I just don't see it that way. I just can't see what he's talking about. I can't see what Pastor is so emotional about. I, I can't see what the problem is." Well, if the gospel's hid, it's a bad thing when you can't see it. Matthew 15 and 24. We're going back to the words of Jesus. He said, "But He answered and said unto them, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel." I'm just giving you a sampling. We don't have time today for me to go through every verse, but I'm telling you, lost was a big concept for God. It was the all-consuming. He had heaven, He had earth, He had planets, He had universes, fish of the sea, fowls of the air. Jesus, God Almighty, had a lot going on, but there was only one thing that was consuming the mind of the Almighty, and that was that people were lost. It may not be a big deal to you today that you're lost, but it's a big deal to God when you're lost.
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What does lost mean to you? What does lost mean to you? I'm afraid I'm preaching to people today that are lost. I'm disturbed in my spirit that I'm preaching to people that's sitting on these pews that are lost. The reason they're lost is because being lost has lost its meaning to them. It's a scary thing to be lost. It's a worrisome thing when you no longer want to go to church. Church isn't important to you anymore. Even when you're here, you'd rather be in the foyer. I wonder how many are in the foyer today. Several in the foyer. They're lost. Something's wrong. That's where they'd rather be. I wonder how many are not here today because they, they're home because that's where they'd rather be. That's where their heart is. Their heart is not in the sanctuary. They're lost. They're lost, or something would be drawing them to the sanctuary. They're lost, or something would be pulling them to the sanctuary. They're lost, or something would be driving them to the sanctuary because they're lost. They're lost. You know, it's not people's fault alone. I'm afraid preachers have done this to us because I've, I've in the last 40 years, I've never heard of anybody being lost. I've never went to a funeral where a preacher said someone was lost. Maybe it's the ministry's fault for not having enough guts and preaching everybody into heaven. Everybody's saved. Preachers get in the pulpit and talk about people that never went to church, cussed, lied, cheated, and everything, said, "Oh, we're gonna see them again." I'm amazed sometimes when I see my fam, when I hear family say, "Well, he's on the streets, he's in a better place." Is he lost? Don't have any meaning anymore. People drinking, drugging, running around on their spouses, living illicit lives, and then their family members said, "Well, they're in a better place. They're not suffering anymore." Oh, no, no, no. According to the word, they just started suffering. What they felt on the suffering they went through in this world is nothing compared to what they're going through beyond the grave. Does the, has the Bible lost its meaning? You know what, I understand what I'm preaching today isn't popular. I understand I'm on the live stream, and this isn't the kind of preaching you do on live stream. I understand this is old-fashioned. Well, it can be what it is. I would be derelict as a pastor not to melt this pulpit today in 2021 and tell you that people are still lost. If they're without God, they're lost. If they're not full of the Holy Ghost, they're lost. If they haven't got relationship with God, they're lost. And if they die lost, they're not in a better place. If they die lost without God, they're not finished suffering. Their suffering just began, according to Jesus. You know, this, this Bible is not one of those things you can pick and choose. I'm going to tell you right now, if this word of God is not completely true, then it is completely false. It's not one of those things like a textbook that you go through like a buffet or a smorgasbord and decide this is right and this is wrong. I'm telling you, the word of God, you can either stand on it, or it's not real at all. Jesus said that men and women were lost.
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Luke 15 and 6. Luke chapter 15 and verse 6, "And he would fain have filled his belly with the husk the swine did eat, and no man gave unto him." You know where this young man was? He was lost. He was outside the Father's house, and he was lost. Jesus Christ took an entire chapter. I won't take time to go there right now, but Jesus took an entire chapter in the book of Luke to talk about lost things. There was a lost sheep, there was a lost coin, and there was a lost son. He was trying to impress upon the minds of people that there was something worth going for. He told those that stood around, He said, "How many of you, if you had one lost sheep, wouldn't leave the rest, the ninety and nine, and go after the one that was lost?" The Bible has many terms for the lost, and I'm not going to go through them all for the sake of time, but here's a sampling. The Bible talks about those that perish, those who are condemned, those who are under wrath, those who are in blindness, those who are in darkness, and those who are disobedient. These are all words for people who were lost. What does it mean to be lost? It simply means lost. Simply means to be separated from God. It means that you are separated from God. The Bible says, "All have sinned, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." Or either they are separated from God. Genesis 3 tells us where mankind became separated from God. I'm going to say this right here: All sin, rebellion, and disobedience separates you from God. All sin, rebellion, and disobedience separates you from God. You can be sitting on a church pew, singing in the choir, ushering at the back door, parking cars in the parking lot, and be separated from God. You can be teaching a Sunday school class and be separated from God. If you have sin, rebellion, or disobedience that you are unwilling to repent of, going to church does not mean that you're not lost. The best way I can term up lost, or or sum up the term lost, is a separation from God. It means that you're not saved. You're lost. Church membership does not make you saved. Relationship with God makes you saved. Having a position does not make you saved. Being right in relationship with God makes you saved. Church leadership, in church, worshiping in church, altars, all of those things are tools to keep you right, to get you in relationship, and keep you in relationship, but they are not an end, uh, or a means to an end within themselves. It all comes down to this right here: Have you repented of your disobedience? Have you stopped your rebellion? Have you severed sin out of your world so that you can have relationship? Genesis 3 tells us how man and woman in their rebellion separated all humanity from God. God sought throughout time to have relationship with man, and finally found there was only one way to have relationship with man, and that was for Him to robe Himself in flesh and pay man's debt of sin for him. Do you understand that? Lost may not be a big concept to you today, but it was a huge concept to God for the sacrifice that He was willing to make so that you would not be lost. Through the cross, He sought to bring mankind back into relationship. Isaiah 55 and 6. Isaiah chapter 55 and 6. He wants to call you son. He wants to call you daughter. He wants to call you bride. But you can't do that as long as there's sin in your world. Now, I want to tell you that you're running on a time element. The ability to be saved will not always be available to you. I'm going to say it again: The ability to be saved will not always be available to you.
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You're not getting it. The ability for God to find you will not always be there. Isaiah 55 and 6 says, "Seek the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near." You know what this scripture indicates? That there is a time that you will not be able to find Him. There is a time that He will not be near unto you. You've got to seize the moment. You gotta grab the opportunity by the hair on the front of its head, because you're gonna miss it if you try to grab it by the hair on the back of its head as it goes by. Ecclesiastes 12 and 1. Ecclesiastes 12 and 1 tells us, "Remember now thy Creator in the days of your youth." Seek Him early. Seek Him quick. Get it right as soon as you can. As soon as it comes to your realization that I'm not right with God, that is the gift of God. You didn't get there on your own. God gave you that understanding. You couldn't get there by yourself. I want to stop right now and remind you of the story of Samson. Remind you of the story of Samson. Once he had lost the anointing of God in his life, the Bible says he would shake himself as times before, but now it did no good. He could not find God. Have you ever sought God and couldn't find Him? Have you ever prayed and couldn't feel Him? Have you ever reached for Him and He was not there? Have you ever talked to Him and had the feeling that He did not hear? I'm gonna tell you, I have. I've been there. I've been there when the, when the heavens were brass. I've been there when, when God was silent. I've been there when I searched for Him. There is nothing so empty. There is nothing so hopeless. There is nothing so full of fear as to shake yourself and can't find God. I am so glad that He finally returned. I'm so glad that He finally spoke again. But can you imagine that for some people, there's coming a day that they're never gonna find Him again? You better search for Him while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, "I have no pleasure in them." There's a day coming that God is going to look at mankind and say, "I have no pleasure in them anymore." There's coming a day. Are you listening to me? Well, according to this, where God's going to be through. I'm disturbed at how some of you are looking at me today. I'm disturbed at how foreign some of you are to what I'm preaching. I wonder where the conviction is in your fornication. I wonder where the conviction is in pornography. I wonder where the conviction is in rebellion. I wonder where the conviction is when you're willingly living in sin. You're lost. Are you listening to me? You're lost. You're lost.
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Be seated. I gotta hurry. 2 Corinthians 6 and 2. 2 Corinthians, the sixth chapter and the second verse says, "For He saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I secured thee. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation." I want to preach to you and tell you that I've been doing this for over 30 years. I know what I'm talking about when I tell you today is the day of salvation, and there may not be another one. When I was a kid, they were having a revival in Houston, Texas, which was not far from my home. It was heralded far and wide when it happened, and it still stirs me to think about it. I remember the impact it had on me as a child, but a notable evangelist was preaching for one of the churches in Houston. He preached along the lines that I'm preaching right now. He pointed his finger at the back row where two teenage girls or college-age girls sat, and he said, "I'm telling you, I'm preaching to somebody that this is your last altar call. This is the last time God showed me. This is the last time that you're going to hear a message." And one of the girls crossed her arms and said, "That preacher don't scare me." Our friend bumped her and said, "Don't, don't, don't do that." She laughed and said, "He's trying to use a fear tactic on me." She said it loud enough that the evangelist heard it up at the pulpit, and he said, "Lady, I wish a scare tactic would work." She got up and walked out the back doors. The next day, she went to her job. Less than 24 hours later, it was lunchtime in a downtown office building where she worked. She walked outside the doors of our office building, and there were cars parked on each side of the doorway, the street side. She walked between those cars to cross the street to go to a little deli that was across the street to get some lunch, and a man hurling at a high rate of speed, running three or four times the speed limit downtown. She never saw his car. She stepped from between those vehicles in front of that car. I hate to be so graphic, but I'm just going to tell you how it was. They took shovels to scoop her brains up off that highway. She was so close. Her day of salvation was over. Death is going to come and take every one of us, some before the other. And youth is no indicator that you've got a long time. Youth is no indicator that you have tomorrow. Being in your teen years and feeling like you've got it forever. You say, "Brother Copeland, why in the world would you preach this way?" Because it's the Bible. Why would you preach this way? Because it's the word of God. I don't care how much we avoid it in this post-modern world. I don't care how much we try to make our stages and our singing and our, our, our messages, or whatever you want to call them now, our speech is, uh, perfect for television. The word of God, Jesus preached more about hell and being lost than He did anything else. He came to seek the lost, and I'm just going to tell you, if He came and died because people were lost, it's because people were lost. It says, "Many are called, and few are chosen." Many are called, but few are chosen. Do you understand that? If you're, if you've got sin in your world, according to John the third chapter, the only way you can do away with that separation between you and God is to be born again. You must be born again. Jesus went on to say, "You must be born again of the water and the Spirit." You've got to be born again. The old man has got to pass away. The old man is separated from God. And the reason Jesus came, listen to me, get a hold of this, the reason Jesus came is because He didn't want you to be eternally separated. He wanted your separation to have an ending point. Today is the day to do away with the separation between you and God, because if you die and haven't fixed that, Ecclesiastes, where we read earlier, also says, "As a tree falleth, there shall it lie." What was the writer saying when it says, "As a tree falleth, there shall it lie"? It was saying that once you die, there's no remedy for your separation. The remedy has to happen between the cradle and the grave. And every time you get up and walk out of an apostolic service, it's like rolling the dice one more time. It's like gambling one more time that you got another space to repent. And I just told you of a girl. I just told you of a young lady that rolled the dice and lost. She gambled that she was right and the preacher was wrong, and she lost the gamble. And so now she is in torment today. That happened in about 1975. She has spent 40 years in torment and torture, and it's only just begun. It's only just started. Do you understand that? Once you're lost, there is no remedy. Lost for anyone who's still living and breathing and walking around can be a temporary thing, but once you die, lost is stamped forever on your soul without recourse. That's why preachers are desperate. That's why preachers are saying, "Pray now. Pray today." Because once you die, or Jesus comes and you're taken into eternity, lost becomes your name. 2 Thessalonians 1 and 9. 2 Thessalonians, the first chapter and the ninth verse says, "Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power?" Separated forever, without remedy, without recourse. Matthew 25 and 41. Listen to this. Matthew 25 and 41, "Then shall He say also unto them on the left, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Matthew 8 and 12. Different verses describe what hell is going to be. Let's look at it right quick. Matthew 8 and 12, "But the children of the kingdom shall be cast into outer darkness." Can you imagine being blind for eternity? You'll never see again because it's in outer darkness, and there shall be weeping for eternity and gnashing of teeth for eternity. No end, no stopping. I hope next time you see that exit sign, you don't take it for granted. I hope next time you look at that exit sign, you appreciate it, because if you go to hell, you'll never see one of those again. There will be no exit, no end. It'll never be over. You will repent and repent and repent, and all of a sudden, repentance will do no good. You know, it's powerful today. Today's the day of salvation. The altar is right here. You can repent of your fornication today, and God will wash it away. You can repent of your ungodliness today, and God will wash it away. You can repent today, and God will submerge you beneath the blood of Calvary. But once you get there, here's what the Bible says. The Bible says tears are rolled on your cheeks, and you'll repent, and you'll beg God, and you'll plead, and you'll stack up molten boulders, and you'll repent and cry for a thousand years, and when you put your ear toward heaven, the Bible says that what you'll hear is, the Bible says then He's a God of mercy today, but then the Bible says He will laugh at your calamity, and He will mock when your fear cometh. Today is the day of salvation. Right now is the accepted time. Today is the day to get it right, because if you're lost, it's forever. If you're lost, there is no exit. 1 Peter 3 and 19. I've got to hurry. 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 19, "By which also He went and preached unto the spirits in prison." What's Peter talking about? Peter's talking about hell. Hell, Peter says, is a prison. Luke 16 and 24. I want you to look at this. Luke 16 and 24, "And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame." Hell is real. Hell is a lake of fire. Hell is bottomless. Hell is burning forever. 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9. First, or 2 Thessalonians, I'm sorry, 2 Thessalonians, the first chapter and the 8th through the 9th verse. 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9. I'm telling you that lost is for eternity. Lost is a bottomless pit. Lost is flames. Lost is burning. Lost is blind. Romans, the first chapter, in the 28th verse, tells us who will be there. Romans, the first chapter, and the 28th verse says, "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient." I want you to look at this verse 29. I want you to look at this, boy. I hope that computer will work with us today. Should have, instead of praying for God to anoint me, I should have prayed, "God, anoint the computer." "Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; and whispers." I want you to look at this. Go ahead. Gossip. You're lost. Go ahead. Deceive people. You're lost. Go ahead and be full of envy. You're lost. Be malicious, covetous, wicked. Go ahead with your fornication. What, let me ask you, what's the deal today? What's the deal today with all of a sudden, even in the church, everybody can just have sex with who they want to, and it's okay? Society does not set the standard for the church. You're lost. You're lost. You're lost. You're lost. Do you hear me? You're going to hell. You're going to be lost. You're not going to hell for sexual sin. You're in sexual sin because you're going to hell. You've lost relationship with God. You're separated from God. You feel no conviction. That's what scares me. He starts this verse in 28 by telling you how you can sin and feel no conviction. How you can sleep with somebody that's not your spouse and feel no conviction. He says it's because you've been turned over to a reprobate mind.
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You're reprobate. I'm not saying it in anger. I'm saying it in desperation. My God, I want you to be saved. You got to repent. You got to stop your wickedness. I don't care if it's accepted in society. I'm not saved, not what society decides. I'm saved or lost without obeying the word of God.
[Applause]
Somebody wants to get all righteous and full of righteous indignation about homosexuality. Let me just tell you something. We shouldn't make a big deal out of homosexuality. I'm telling you, if you're having sex with somebody that you're not married to, I don't care if it's man and man, woman and woman, or man and woman, it's still sin. Sexual sin is sin. It doesn't matter who the partner is, according to the word of God. Sex is confined to marriage. If you're not married to them, keep your hands off of them. If you're not married to them, stay out of their bed. If you're not married to them, leave them alone. If you want to be intimate with them, make a vow and marry them. You're lost. You're lost. You're gonna be lost for eternity, separated from God forever. Revelation 21-8. Revelation 21-8. Repent. We live in a day where lost, it seems, just to be confined to this world. Well, I'm not in church, I'm lost. Well, I don't go to church, I'm lost. I, I'm lost not going to church. It's not about that with God. It's about eternity. It's about stopping you from being lost forever. You listen to me, folks. I don't care if we haven't been preaching it in Pentecost. There's still a hell. It's still a lake of fire. Men and women still go there. And know, if they weren't full of the Holy Ghost, their, their, their suffering has not stopped. It just started. No, if they weren't full of the Holy Ghost, they're not in a better place. They're in a far worse place. They're in the most hard, horrible place that anybody can imagine. I don't care if they're your uncle, aunt, mother, daddy, sister, brother. I don't care how good they are. I don't care if they give you the shirt off their back or their britches off their behind. You listen to me right now. If they weren't full of the Holy Ghost, they're in hell. They're lost. Lost means something. To be lost means something. It means an eternity without God. And He, oh God, and I'm preaching to people that's going there. You go in there because you know to do good and you won't do it. You're going there because you know to do good and you won't do it. You're lost. But the fearful, and the unbelieving, and the abominable, and the murderers, and the whoremongers, and the sorcerers. You know what a whoremonger is? I don't care if you're 16 or 86. If you're looking at pornography, you're a whoremonger. I don't care if your wife's good or not. I don't care if your wife sleeps with you. You're still a whoremonger if you're using pornography. Nothing justifies it. Nothing makes it all right. Nothing makes it not a sin. Sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars. All liars. When did lying become okay? If it gets you out of a bind, if you're lying, you're lost. If you're living a lie, you're lost. If you're deceiving, you're lost. Shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. That's who's going to be there. There will be no second chances to repent and be saved. To be in hell is to be apart from God's light. 1 John 1:5. 1 John 1:5. That means God's light will not be there. "This then is the message which we have heard of Him and declared unto you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all." But in hell, hell is going to be dark. It's going to be so dark. It's going to be worse than being blind. There'll be no peace. Ephesians 2 and 14. There'll be no peace. There'll be no mercy. Lamentations 3 and 23. Lamentations 3 and 23. I'm rushing through these for the sake of time. There'll be no joy there. Matthew 25 and 23. There'll be no love there. 1 John 4:8. To be apart from God is to be separated from all that is good. I'm almost done. Why are you preaching like this? I'm preaching like this because I would be derelict in my duties because some of you are about to inherit hell. No good attorney is going to present someone an inheritance without describing to them what they're inheriting, and no good pastor is going to let someone head along go into hell without at least telling them what to expect when they get there. I wish I could tell you differently, but I'm just repeating what Jesus said. Jesus said more people would be lost than would be saved. Said more would go to hell than would go to heaven. Jesus said that when it came to the world, that one fourth would absolutely would have no part with Him. And if we came to the church, He said half, half. They were ten virgins. What does virgin mean? It meant they were all, they were without sin. They were virtuous. That's what virgin means, is virtuous. They were virtuous. They were a part of the bride of Christ, but half of them were derelict in their duties to keep their relationship with God. According to God's suspicion statistics, if we drew a line right down the middle of this building, one half of this building would tumble off into hell. That's God's statistics. Look around you. I wonder how many children are not going to share heaven with their parents. I wonder how many dads are not going to share heaven with their kids. I wonder how many grandmas are going to look for their family, and they're not going to be there. They're going to say, "Well, they were at church. They, they were in the house of God, but they were lost in the house." You see, one of the, one of the parables that Jesus told in Luke the 15th chapter is about a coin that was lost, where in the
house. He was trying to describe to you that you don't have to be outside the doors of the church to be lost. All you got to do is be spiritually lazy, spiritually incompetent, refusing to refill your all your lamp with oil. I guess the greatest passage that we can know to preach on hell, and I'm almost done, is Luke the 15th chapter, or 16, I'm sorry, Luke 16 and 19.
Luke 16 and 19 tells us a story of of two men, and I'm not gonna take time to go deeply into it, but there was two men. There was a rich man and there was a poor man. The rich man fared sumptuously every day. The amazing, there's some amazing things about this rich man. And and this is the amazing thing about this rich man is that when the rich man realized he was lost, the bible says that in hell he said, they they hear Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them. And here's what he said, and this is what I've been preaching to you here today. There can come a time that you can hear but not hear. There can come a time that it can fall on your ears and do nothing to your heart. And you shake yourself and look around and you can't feel the conviction everybody else is feeling. Shake yourself. You want to weep, but you can't weep. It's just not there. It's just not. You've lost it. It's gone. You know what's happened? You've passed your time. Your opportunity. Today is the day of salvation. What are you saying? He said, they have Moses and the prophets. Let him hear them. That he said, oh, they're not listening to them. But if one came back from the dead, boy, they'd listen to a dead man. And he came back. And here's what, here's what Abraham said, once you can't hear a preacher, you won't hear anything else. An angel from the dead won't shake you if you've gone beyond the ministry.
I saw something the other day. I'm done, but I saw something in the other day and it said that in Bible times, medical science was so new, they didn't have this equipment that they have today. When they would cut someone's skull open to look at their brain, the brain looked like a big wadded up worm to them. The way the it ran, it looked like a big wadded up worm. And so they began to refer to the brain as a worm. Later, it would be described as a noodle. But in the inception, it was a worm. And it gave a whole new meaning to what Jesus said when he said, you're going to that lake of fire where the worm dieth not. You know what that means? That means you're still going to want to smoke. You're still going to want to drink. You're still going to look at pornography. That brain that's so active for sin will remain active. But one of the most tormentous things in hell is you will not be able to satiate any of those desires. He said, I'm telling you, they understood what he said. They understood the lingo of the day when he said the worm dieth not. You're still going to hear. You're still going to understand. You're still going to know. You're still going to be full of memories. In fact, one of the things he said, one of the things that Abraham said to the rich man in hell was, son, remember. And it was like a big old finger came down out of heaven and turned on a big movie screen in his mind where he could go back to every opportunity he had, every message he heard preached, every song the choir sang, every altar call he'd ever been given.
You see, one of the greatest blessings that any man can have, musicians, come please, come quickly. Church praying, church praying for conviction. I'm reaching for someone's soul today. The most blessed thing that you can have is a righteous mind. A good mind. Can you imagine being born derelict in your mind? There are people like that. There are people born that you just know they just don't understand. We've had people come to church that they just couldn't grasp it. They didn't have the mental capacity for it. But the largest majority of you don't have that problem today. You got a good sharp mind. Boy, you can remember who offended you. You remember who hurt you. You got a mind like a steel trap. You can remember all the pain, sorrow. One of the greatest blessings is a good mind. You work a good job, run a good house. You can do a lot of things because God blessed you with a good mind. But I'm telling you, the biggest curse in hell is gonna be that good mind God gave you because he's gonna say, son, remember. Because that worm's never gonna die. It would be better for you to have never been born and go to hell. It'd been better if you'd have never been mourned. It had been better if somehow that egg would have died in your mother's womb. They'd had to do a DNC to remove you from your mother's womb. It been better for you to die to sl or been born a slobbering vegetable in a wheelchair with no mental capacity to ever understand the things of God, than to reject Him and go to hell. Than to be disobedient to His word and be lost. It'd been better if you'd have never been born.
The Bible says that if you go to hell, if you're lost, here's what the Bible says. The Bible says you're going to cry for the mountains to fall on you and collapse on you and destroy you. Hell's a horrible place, folks. Somebody gets in a position here on earth, they say, man, I don't know anything worse than what I'm going through. I do. Just go to hell. Just be lost for eternity. There's something worse. Why would you preach like this, preacher? Because I love you too much to not preach this way. Oh God, did the Holy Ghost would shake this house today. Oh God, that old-time conviction would walk the halls of the eyes of the sanctuary. Oh God, help this message today. Lord, stand together. It would be better if you'd have been born in Tibet and woke every morning to hearing the Tibetan priests ring their little wheels and hear prayers to a God that don't exist. It'd be better if you'd have been born in the Middle East, Iran or Iraq, Afghanistan, and woken every morning to prayers, Islamic priests.
It'd been better if you'd have been raised here in that than to go to hell and remember a preacher preaching. Then to go to hell and in your mind, hear Cody Marks preach again and again and give an altar call. Hear Wesley Jackson preach again and again and hear an altar call. Hear Lee Stone King preach again and again and give altar calls. Hear your pastor preach again and again. Hear your choir sing. Hear the altar calls. Can you imagine people walking in hell with their hands under here saying, oh my God, not church again. I can't go to church again. But the scripture said, son, remember. And you repent, but it does no good. And you pray, but it does no good. Why are you preaching like this? Because I'm preaching to people. I'm preaching to people that you've slipped into ungodliness sitting on the pew. You've slipped into sin riding the pew. You're riding a queue to hell thinking that it's okay to let this in and let that in. Let the. I'm calling you out of pornography. I'm calling you out of fornication. I'm calling you out of uncleanness. I'm calling you back to the prayer room. I'm calling you back to relationship. I'm telling you, you don't want to be lost.
Lift your hands together, everybody. Reaching out. Everybody all across this building. Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, saints of God. I need to hear a mother of Zion pray. If what I've preached today is in your word of God, if what I preached today is the Bible, why aren't you praying over your lost children? Why aren't you weeping over your lost family members? I'm opening these altars right now, and there's men that need to run down. You need to forget what anybody thinks and you need to run down these aisles. There's young people that need to fill these altars. I'm telling you, I'm preaching to people who are lost. I'm preaching to people who are lost right in the church house. I'll be preaching to people who are lost right in the house of God. My God, don't be lost. There is a remedy. There is a remedy. There is a remedy. There's a remedy to sin. There's a remedy to ungodliness. My God, if you're gonna go to church, do it here, not in hell. If you're gonna repent, do it here, not in hell. If you're gonna get try to get right with God, do it here, not when it's too late, not when you're lost. You're lost. You're lost. You're lost. Do it now, not when you're lost. Do it now, not when it's over.
Everybody in this house needs to be praying today. Everybody in this house needs to be praying. You need to be praying. Daddy, lead your kids to heaven, not to hell. Lead them to the prayer room, not lake to church. Lead them, daddy. Everybody needs to be praying. Everybody.
I must be safe.
No man's worth being lost over. No woman is worth being lost over. No boyfriend is worth me going to hell for.
Lord, I must be saved. Oh Jesus.
I must be saved. Or pray for somebody around you. Whatever. Come on, guys. Pray for each other. Girls, pray for each other. Pray for somebody around you right now.
I must be saved. I've got to be saved. Oh Jesus. Above everything is God. I must be saved. Lord, whatever you got to do to me, don't let me be lost.
Come on, don't just pray. Do you feel better? Pray to your prayed through. Pray. Do you cleanse yourself of all rebellion and sin? Pray the carnality's gone. Come on, don't stop. Don't just pray to the conviction list. Pray that you're right. Pray that you know you're right. Pray. Pray till all disobedience is out of your spirit. Come on. Praise somebody for whatever you get to do to me, don't let me be lost. Oh, eternity. Above all is.
Oh God, come on mamas and daddies, get in the spirit. Come on, I need to hear travail in this house. You mothers of Zion, come on. I need to hear intercession in this house today. Pray for each other. We pray with somebody. Get together with somebody. Say, my God, we can't get lost for eternity.
I got to be saved. Don't let me be lost.
I must be saved. Jesus. I must be saved. Get to do to me, don't let me be lost. And don't let me be lost.
Oh, don't let me be. All. I must be saved, Jesus. Above all, must I must be saved. Oh, don't let me be lost. I must be saved.
Come on, that's it. That's it. That's Holy Ghost. Come on, come on, don't stop. Go ahead. Come on, come on. That's Holy Ghost. That's it. Come on, that's how you receive it. Don't stop.
Yes, yes, yes, yes. Come on, come on. That's it, man. That's Holy Ghost. Don't stop. Don't stop. That's Holy Ghost. Keep going.
Do.
You.