Transcription
So, uh, so praise the Lord, everyone standing in the house of the Lord today. Could we lift our hands across this tabernacle and invite the presence of God into this place? Would you help me do that? Jesus, we need You. Jesus, we hunger for You. God, I want You to know that our hearts are hungry, our minds and our spirits are thirsty. We're like parched land, God, that needs a reign of Your Spirit. I'm asking You to baptize us in Your blood, wash us clean again with Your Spirit, the blood of the Lamb, in the name of Jesus. Somehow, as we lift You up and magnify Your name today, that's why we're here today, to magnify You. Is anybody ready to have church in the house of the Lord? Why don't you give the Lord a good handclap of praise all across this building? Clap your hands, all ye people; serve the Lord with gladness: I have entered into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. You can be seated if you need to. Worship with this praise team, and let's have church today. My eyes on Your faithfulness.
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Oh God, let me not forget.
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The joy and the strength to lift up my hand and.
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Wanna.
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Bring a heart that wants You first.
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I will not be sad. My song is a.
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First.
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See, my soul will sing.
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On.
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My.
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They want You first. My soul.
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As usual, today is a day to make this place. See, my soul.
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My soul will awaken. Make this place.
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All for, for Your glory.
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Hallelujah! All across this place, can we clap our hands and give the Lord.
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Praise to His name. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! This praise team is coming back. If you need to be seated, you can. But I'm telling you, I, there is no place I'd rather be than right here in this house. Hallelujah! Right here in this house. This is where miracles take place. Hallelujah! This is where God, hallelujah! This is where God puts things back together. Hallelujah! This is where you come to attack the gates of hell. He said, "I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail." Hallelujah! There is no place I'd rather be than right here in this house. I want to say welcome to every guest, every visitor. Thank you for being with us. We are so thankful you're in this place with us. Worship with the praise team as they come back to sing. If you need to be seated, you can.
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Ever stopped.
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Ever stopped.
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Do you hear it? Come on, this is the praise! Make a dead man walk again. Somebody's opening the grave, hoping the grave not coming out. I'm gonna live again. This is.
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Something new.
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Do you hear a church? Come on, this is the praise! Make a dead man walk again. Somebody over in the grave, I'm coming out. I'm gonna live.
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You're not gonna run out of miracles anytime. Singing out with us now, say resurrection again. Somebody.
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This can. Feel it.
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Uh, who knows what God's gonna do in this place today? God's rolling back some stones in this place today. God's moving some mountains. He's moving some situations. Even right now, as we're saying, "My God is able to save and deliver and heal and."
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If.
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When God. This is. This is.
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My God is able to save and deliver and heal. He's able to restore anything that He wants to. Just ask.
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Just as the stone that.
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Oh.
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This is the sound of driverless.
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Said, "I hear the sound." Oh, do you hear it right now? I hear the sound. Yes, I do. Yes, I don't.
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This is.
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Is yourself.
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This is the place where a dead man walks again. Somebody open the grave. Come on, open the grave. I'm coming out. I'm going to live on the grave.
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This is.
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This, this is the sound of presence in this house. I am so thankful for the presence of God in this place. Hallelujah! You can make your way back to your seat. I ask the ushers to come. The ushers, come and help us. It's not too late to share the live feed. So take just a minute while you're getting out your offering and your tithes. Get your phone out and you can hit share. The, uh, the shares double whenever we, we remind y'all to do that. And I'm telling you, there's somebody that you're connected to that needs to hear what's going to take place in the rest of the service. Does anybody else feel that? I feel there is someone that I'm connected to that, that, that you cannot reach. There's someone that you're connected to that I cannot reach. And I'm telling you, the word of God is quick and it's powerful. The word of God is alive, and He knows how to navigate through a phone. He knows how to navigate. He knows how to navigate through a microphone. He knows how to navigate through a cell phone. He knows exactly where He needs to get. And just take your phones out and share this live. And I'm telling you, somebody's gonna be blessed on your feed. Let's stand. Dear Lord, I ask You to take this offering and I ask You to use it. Ask You to multiply it. Reach those who would be reached with Your gospel. God, go to the uttermost parts of the earth with Your gospel in Jesus' name, and reach that soul in the name of Jesus. God bless you as you march and bring your tithes and offering. Choir, you can come on up and assemble on the platform after you give.
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Hallelujah! God bless you. You can be seated. This choir is getting ready. How many of you have been joined this choir? I know I have. This choir, I love our choir, and I love how anointed and blessed that they are. A job that they do. Anybody else love this choir? Come on, let's give them some. They put in a lot of hard work, and I'm telling you, the songs, the songs that they have been singing has been straight out of scripture. Brother Cardwell, I mean, just word for word. And I have, I have enjoyed it. And there's something about singing scripture. There's something about it. Sister Debbie, and it, I mean, it's powerful. And so I heard, I heard what song they were singing today, and I started, Brother Jason, I started looking, and I started searching for that scripture. And you know what? It, it might not be word for word, but I'm telling you, the, uh, the, uh, subject behind it. And in Second Samuel, Second Samuel chapter five and verse nineteen, David, David inquired of the Lord, saying, "Shall I go up to the Philistines? Wilt thou deliver them unto mine hand?" And the Lord said unto David, "Go up; for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand." The next verse, David came to to Baal-perazim, and smote them there, and said, "The Lord hath broken forth mine enemies before me, as the breach of waters." There's another scripture that says, "When the enemy comes in like a flood." Let me tell you what David said: "He said, 'My God has come in like a flood.'" Hey, that, that word Baal-perazim in scripture means "the God of the breakthrough." It means "the God of the breakthrough." David said, "My God has broke through the waters. He has stepped into my situation. He has stepped into my family. He has stepped into my marriage, my children, and He has broke through." Hallelujah! Lift your hands. His choir is coming to bless us in song today. I'm telling you, He's the God of the breakthrough.
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My enemies and my foes came upon me to.
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Make me.
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You are the God of the breakthrough.
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Oh.
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My enemies.
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Is.
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When I can't see my what to do.
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Don't. Is what to do.
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Oh.
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You are the God of the breakthrough. You are.
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Oh.
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You are.
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Me.
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My worship.
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Right.
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You are the one.
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Why don't we lift our hands together and give God some thanksgiving and praise? Would you magnify the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords together in this house? We are so thankful for the blessing and the favor of God. Thank you, choir, for a great job. Thank you, choir. And, uh, right now would be a good time if you think you're gonna need to go to the restroom or get a drink of water or anything. Right now would be the time to quickly do that and get back in this auditorium because we're going to go to the word of the Lord. Anybody excited about going to the word of the Lord today?
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Thank you for your worship. Thank you for your response. What a beautiful, beautiful response today to the presence of the Lord. I've seen numerous people come up around the front of this building and get renewing in the Holy Ghost during the worship, and that's what it's about. That's what it's about. How many of you believe that that's what it's about? That's what worship is about, breaking chains, destroying the yoke. So do what you need to do, get back in the building because I want you to be able to hear the word of the Lord attentively and without interruption and without interrupting someone else. So, uh, if you'd stand in honor of the word of the Lord today, we're gonna go to Romans chapter 8 and verse 19. Romans chapter 8 and verse 19. I wish I could read the whole chapter to you, but I'm not going to do that to you today. I want to say welcome to every guest. Welcome to every guest that's in the house. To every guest that's here, you've honored us by spending this Sunday with us. But we want you to do more than just get through an exciting service. We will have failed if your life is not changed because you were here today.
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Romans chapter 8 and verse 19: "For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God." We're going to read through verse 22. "For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope; because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now." Let's go through verse 25: "The whole creation groaneth. Not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for it? He already sees it. But if we hope for that which we see not, then we do with patience wait for it." Would you lift your hands and ask the Lord to speak in this place? Would you do that? Jesus, dear Lord, we're asking You to speak today in the house of God. We're asking You to talk to our hearts, our minds, our spirits. We need to receive from the word of God in this place today, in the precious, precious, precious name of Jesus. God bless you. You can be seated.
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I want to preach to you for the next few minutes. I want to preach to you for the next few minutes about hope. I want to title what I'm going to preach: "The Only Real Hope." I want to preach about the only real hope. My Lord, have mercy. There's only one real hope. That's what this world is seeking for, is hope. This world is groping. There's a lot of things we want to call it. There's a lot of things we want to talk about. There's a lot of things that we want to say. But the truth of the matter is, is we're searching for hope. And I'm, I, I'm just amazed at the deception that is in our world today. I am. Listen to me. Let me say it again. I am blown away at the deception that is in our world today. I am amazed at the people that can't see two feet past their nose in the world today. I'm amazed at the people that are so willing to believe every narrative, to accept everything at face value. And it just, it, it blows my mind that that everybody, it seems. I know it's not everybody, thank God. But it seems that too many people are willing to board every train moving without asking where it's going, as if just moving means progress. It's like the, the two guys on that fast-moving train, and one of them asked the other one, said, "Where are we going?" He said, "Man, I don't know, but we're making good time." Just because you're moving does not mean you're progressing. And I am blown away. I'm blown away at a group of people, at a group of people that want to fight so hard against slavery. And I want you to listen to me. I am absolutely against slavery. I do not believe that anyone should be enslaved, no matter the color of their skin. But just so you'll know, black lives haven't been the only ones that's been in slavery on the, on, in the history of this world. And I'm against slavery. But let me just tell you right now, that the regime that is pushing and behind Black Lives Matter is fighting so hard against slavery that used to be, and they're using it as a tool to enslave everybody. Because the minute you're satisfied to take a six or eight hundred dollar check from the government.
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The minute that you're happy to, to take their government cheese and their government baloney and their government cereal and a check from them, you are being enslaved by them. They're fighting a slavery that happened 400 years ago so that they can enslave everybody, no matter what your relation, your race is, in the here and now. And if you can't see that, you better get a hold of yourself.
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Now, that's my, my message today will not be political, but it's hard to preach on the end times without calling out politics, because it is politics that is pushing us into the end of time. What will bring the end of this world is one of the greatest political leaders, and I don't mean great in good, I mean great and powerful, that ever lived. The Bible referred to him as the Antichrist. I don't know what his name will be, but the Bible referred to him as the Antichrist. So let me get where I'm going. But in order to get where I'm going, my opening statement has got to be: You've got to open your eyes. You've got to shake yourself out of sleep. And then secondly, you've got to know whose side that you're fighting on. You've got to know whose side you're fighting on. And everything that seems religious is not right. Don't forget that. One arm of the Antichrist regime will be a false prophet who will have a religious order. So the title of my message is "The Only Real Hope." And I want to start by saying that what we are seeing today and what we are facing today is the greatest war that's ever been waged on this earth. It is a war that is bigger than nations. It is a war that is bigger than the Second World War. It is the cataclysmic war of the spirit world. We have, we are the generation of whom the ends of the world have come. And the, and the war that you're seeing now is bigger than the Muslim-Christian war. The war that you're seeing now is, is greater than the Ottoman Empire. The war that you're seeing wage now is greater than the Second World War. It will be greater than the Third World War. The Third World War will only be a piece of the real war. The war that I'm talking about is who will rule and reign on planet Earth and who will be worshipped on planet Earth. And Jehovah says, "It will be me." And Lucifer says, "No, it will be me." Now, before we even, before we even get into the message that I'm going to preach today, there's one thing that I've got to warn you about that hasn't been popular in the times that I've talked about it before. But the great thing is, is I'm not trying to win a popularity contest, so I'm free from that. This is what you've got to be careful of. God says in II Peter 3 and in 10 through verse 12. II Peter 3:10-12. God says, Jehovah says, Jesus says, "I am going to destroy this earth, but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with a fervent heat, and the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness? Verse 12: Looking for and hastening unto the coming day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with the fervent heat." Jesus says this thing is going to be destroyed. Now listen to me. The Antichrist says, "No, it's not. I'm gonna save it and turn it into a utopian society." Are you listening to me on Sunday? This is where we are. You better get a hold of the fact that this is where we are. And you better be careful that you're not on the side of trying to save this thing instead of letting it go. Um, see, I told you it's real unpopular. And you know why? Because we're in love with this world. We're in love with this world. We like it down here.
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Let's look at Isaiah 24 and 3 right quick. Isaiah 24 and 3. Boy, I hope it gets better in a little while because I've already bogged it down and we haven't even started good. "The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word." Zephaniah 1 and 18. Zephaniah chapter 1 and verse 18. Zephaniah, the first chapter and 18th verse. Maybe you ought to write these scriptures down. Zephaniah 1 and 18. I'm going to tell you, all the way since the Old Testament, He's been prophesying that this thing's not going to last, and this thing's not going to stand. And the, listen to me, God's intent, never intent the same way He came to you, not to make you a better man, but to make you a new man. We are so resistant for change. "Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns." Verse 19. We're in Zechariah. Let's go to Zephaniah. Sounds just like it. It's just got a 'ph' instead of a 'ch'. Zephaniah 1 and 18. That might have been a good one. That might have been a good one, but we need to go to Zephaniah. Thank you. "Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath: but the whole land shall be devoured by fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land." One last one. Zephaniah 3 and 8. You gotta get a hold of this, folks. Listen, I am as, I am as American as anybody in this building. I love America like everybody in this building. I'm going to vote. I'm going to vote. And as long as this thing stands, I'm going to be the best American citizen you've ever seen. But I'm not going to try to save it when God's trying to destroy it. That'll put me on the wrong side. "Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy." Y'all don't like that, do you? It is my prayer. Hey, this thing's gonna get better in a little while. It's gonna get positive in a little while. But it is my prayer that the church has not laid her treasure up down here. It is my prayer that the church hasn't put all her stock down here. It is my prayer that the church has not laid her treasure up where where moths corrode and and and uh and robbers break in and devour, destroy it. It is my prayer that we have kept our focus on the glory world and the rapture and the catching away of the church. Hallelujah! Gonna help me for a little while. Preach. And so here we are at the end of time. Somebody said, "Brother Copeland, are you sure we're at the end of time?" I'm, I'm pretty sure we're at the end of time. Let me ask you right now. Let me ask you right now, how many of you can literally say that right now today, you can plan for the future on this earth? Raise your hand if you, you right now say, "I can plan for the future." Not one hand. You know why you can't plan? Because you don't know what coronavirus is going to do. You know why you can't plan? Because you can't even keep the sticks and limbs out of your swimming pool, because every time you clean it out, out of nowhere comes another storm. We have not even recovered. Let me tell you something. You, you may say New Orleans is recovered from Katrina, but talk to anybody that lives there, and they'll tell you that New Orleans has never been the same since Katrina. Lake Charles has not even got in the surrounding areas has not even got their power on, and Sally is bearing down on that Louisiana coast again right now. Tell me that you can plan for your future. And in the, in the middle of all this, and it really, let me tell you something, the politics of it does not matter. It does not matter if coronavirus is a natural phenomenon or if it's man-made, even though I've got my suspicions. Every bit of it, whether it is natural or unnatural, is being used by the powers that be to enslave the inhabitants of this earth. It is being used. It's being manipulated to enslave you. Because there's always a few that want to get to the top and get all the money and all the power and make you work for them. And we can make this a black issue, but it's not a black issue. It's a people issue. And I'm not taking anything away from anyone that's been enslaved, whether it's creed, race, or color. It's not right. It's wrong. It's against God, because in God's eyes, all men were created equal. All men were created equal. But slavery is not a black issue. Slavery is a people issue. Because all the way back in time, the Jews have been enslaved by the Egyptians, and the Jews have been enslaved by the Romans, and the Chinese have been enslaved by the Japanese, and the Chinese have been enslaved by the by the, uh, Americans. And the, it's just, I mean, it's just on and on and on and on and on. And right now, if you really want to do something to fight slavery, it's not get focused on what was going on 400 years ago, but how about why don't we, why don't we work on the child slavery that's going on right now? Why don't we forget what happened 400 years ago and break our children out of slavery that we know is an issue? We can do something in the here and now. Every one of you know I'm not racist. Every one of you know I'm not racist. I'm not here today to deal with issues as much as I am to tell you that there's no hope in this world. And Paul told us that a long time ago when the, when the Jews were enslaved by the Romans, in First Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 19, this is what Paul said. This is what Paul said in First Corinthians 15 to 19. This is what I'm telling you. We only have one real hope. We only have one real hope. And that's not that this world's going to get better. It's not that this world is going to do better. It's not that we're gonna get some of our religious freedom back. That is not our hope. Paul said, "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable."
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If I have to put my hope in the fact that Joe Biden's going to do something to help me, unless you get all over wrought and righteous. If I have to put my hope in the fact that Donald Trump is going to do something to help me, if my hope is that Chuck Schumer is going to help me, if my hope is that Nancy Pelosi is going to help me, that is my hope, that I am of all men most miserable. If the greatest hope that I can hope for is that the government's going to send me another $1,200 check, if my greatest hope is that the government is going to temporarily pay my light bill or send me a cell phone, then what on earth have I got to live for? It is no wonder that people are wrestling with suicidal tendencies. It is no wonder that the world is, is, is filling psychiatric couches and psychiatric wards. It is no wonder that that one-fourth of our population today is being deemed mentally ill. If this is our hope. Don't forget that the CDC is now warning us that we have turned a, that we have turned a corner in this world, and coronavirus is only a harbinger of what is to come with the diseases and the and the and the things that we're gonna face in this world. Now, I'm telling you, that's what the CDC is saying. The CDC is saying that what mass squaring is not going to go away because even if coronavirus does, something else is coming. You better keep your mask close at hand because this is a new normal. And we have people leaving the church to go seek their fortune in this world, to go build themselves a life in a world full of disease, in a world full of fear. Can I ask you something? What are you doing? What are you thinking? To all the young people in this world that, that listen, and, and hey, let me bring some balance in this. The Bible says, "Work until I come." Okay? It's not about what you're doing as much as it is where your hope is.
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Listen, everybody ought to go to college. Everybody ought to try to get a good job. Everybody ought to do the best to build their business. Everybody ought to do the best they can to do the best they can while they're here on this earth. I'm not talking about what you're doing. We're told to work till I come. So let me bring a balance to all this. I'm talking about where your vision is. Where is your focus? What we better do is go back to the word of God. We better go back to the word of God and just remind ourselves again of the book of Nehemiah, where Nehemiah said, "Hey, I understood that it was time for me to build a wall. I understood that it was time for me to reestablish the tabernacle of God in the Lord's land." But he said, "I'm gonna tell you what I did. I worked with a trowel in one hand and a sword in the other." And that is a picture of what the church better be doing today. Hey, enjoy your house while you got it. Enjoy driving your nice car where you got it. But you better drive that car and work on that house and, and whatever you're doing, go to college, build your business, you better do it with one hand working and the other and the other with the other, uh, attention. You better have your focus on the return of Jesus Christ, because our hope is not in this world only.
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Let's look at Luke chapter 21 and verse 9. And for the sake of time, I'm not going to go to Matthew, but write down Matthew 24:5-12. Matthew 24:5-12 is the same thing as Luke 21:9-12, basically the same concept, same ideas. But we're going to go to Luke 21 and verse 9. Luke 21-9. Let's find out what Jesus said. He said, "But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must come to pass; but the end is not by and by." You're just right there on it. Everybody say, "That's where we live." We're right here at the end time. Then he said, "Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs there, there be from the heavens." Do we not live fear? I want you to look at this verse. I want you to look at this verse. They're saying, they're saying that we have more earthquakes today, more earthquakes today in a one-year period than our forefathers had in a hundred years. In divers places, famines. Have you ever seen such a day of famine? It's widespread. It's all across the nation. It's all across the world. I, I'm going to have to do something about my Facebook Messenger because being a pastor on Messenger, I'm getting constant bombardment from every country, just about, in the world, of people saying, "Please, pastor, send food. Please, pastor, send money." And pictures of starving children. I know some of it is just a scam, but I'm going to tell you, it's the reflection of something that is very, very real in our world. And pestilences. What do you think coronavirus is? It falls under the heading of pestilence. And again, the CDC is warning us that this is just the beginning of the new normal, and the way life is going to be on the face of this earth. Fearful sights, great signs shall there be from the heavens. What are we having? We're having a time and again, just like earthquakes, just like earthquakes. They're saying we're in a hundred-year period now to where earth, uh, uh, storms are gonna come, tornadoes and hurricanes are gonna come on top of tornadoes and hurricanes. We're in a time channel. They said, "Well, they're coming right on the top of each other." And that's the hour that we live in, to where man cannot plan for his future. We don't know what's coming next. And in the middle of this, there are people that say, "I think I'm going to strike out, divorce my spouse, find me another one, and live happily. I'm gonna go find hope and joy in this world. I'm gonna get out there and seek my fortune." Let me tell you today from this pulpit that God woke me up before daylight this morning, speaking to me, and He gave me a word for everybody in this church. I'm going to tell you what you better do. You better be still and see the salvation of the Lord. You better stay the course and see the salvation of the Lord. If you're not in the church, why halt ye between two opinions? If you've not sold out, why in the world? Let me tell you what you do. You better get on the Lord's side. Who's on the Lord's side? Stand up and be counted for.
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All of my hope is in Jesus. All of my hope is in the Lord. So let me tell you that we're on the very verge of the, the, listen, where the Antichrist is shown up or not. I'm going to tell you, his system is already in place. Let's look right quick. Let's look right quick if you, what, what you have to face. You, if this world is where your hope is. Daniel 8 and 23. The Antichrist system is already in place. Listen to me. There were times in my past, growing up, where I thought we were in the last days. I wondered if we were in the last days. Let me tell you something. You have no spiritual perception if you cannot stand up today and say, "We are absolutely in the last throes." The earth is groaning. That's why I read that scripture. The earth is groaning. The people of God are groaning. They feel the pressure of the end time that's upon us. And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. Daniel says that he's fierce. Daniel 11:21 says that he's vile. Zechariah 11:16 says he's an idol shepherd that will abandon the flock. Second Thessalonians 2 and 3 says he's a man of sin and perdition. Second Thessalonians 2 and 9 says he's a deceiver. And Revelation 3 and 1 says he's a beast. And your hope is in this world? Your hope is in this earth? Why in the world would anyone put their hope in this world? I'm going to tell you the main reason that people's hope is in the, is in this world, because they love this world. Even though we were warned, "Love not the world, neither the things that were in there that are in the world: if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." That's why you're trying to save this nation and save your rights and save this earth, because you love it. Now, I told you that I was not, that I was going to bring balance today. So let me give you some hope. I'm telling you, I, I'm telling you that God has got to where He does this to me, but He woke me up before daylight this morning. I, I awakened early this morning with God speaking to me. And when I tell you God speaks to me, I don't ever tell you that unless I know. But He talked to me this morning. This is what brought to my mind: We do have a hope, but our hope cannot be in this earth. If our hope is in this earth, we're going to fall prey to the Antichrist regime. Many, many Christians are going to fall prey to the Antichrist regime because it's going to seem like that it's somehow religious to protect and save the Christian values of this earth. You better understand that's over with. There'll be no return to that. That's done. You've got to change your focus and change your vision. And here's the re, what God spoke to me. God spoke to me that the reason people are not crazy about heaven is the result of the fall. We don't like change. There is a fear of the unknown. We'd rather hang on to something that we know that's not all that great than to give it up for something that we don't know that somebody says is great. I got to say that again because you didn't get it. Just like the children of Israel in Egypt, we'd rather hang on to slavery because there's some good parts of it that we know than to go to a land that we've never seen that we don't know.
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But let's go back to our text in Romans, because Paul deals with this. And this is the scripture that I woke up with, Brother Rogers, Brother Roger Simpson. This is a scripture that God woke me up with this morning. You got to hear this. You got to see this. In Romans 8 and about 24-25, here's what he says. He says, "Let me tell you something." He says, "It's not hope if you can see it. It's hope if you got enough faith to believe in what you can't see."
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"Because God said it was gonna." Oh, Lord.
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"But if we hope for that which we see not, then we do with patience wait for it." Back up one verse to 24. And he says, "It's not hope, or let me insert a word there, it's not faith if you can see it. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen that is seen is not hope: for what man seeth, why hopeth he yet he hoped for it?" If you have to look at it to have hope in it, then you don't have faith. You don't believe.
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Be seated. I gotta move on. So here's what I got to tell you. The reason people are not, a lot of people are not excited about going to heaven is they don't know what heaven's going to look like. It's some kind of a pipe dream out there somewhere. So I want to talk to you. I want to talk to you just for a few minutes about heaven, and then I want to give an altar call, and I want God to fill people with the Holy Ghost, and I want God to fill people full of hope, and I want God to put young set young people on fire to believe that heaven is real, and heaven's what we want, and heaven's where we're headed. And I want to start by telling you that the reason people don't want to go to heaven, or are people that are not excited, a lot of people say they want to go to heaven, but they're not excited about going to heaven because they really enjoy what they're doing down here. And a lot of it's not sin. They enjoy working in their garden. They enjoy planting tomatoes. They enjoy building a house. They enjoy a job well done. There's a lot of pleasure on this earth. They enjoy going and seeing Mount Rushmore. They enjoy going and seeing the Grand Canyon. They enjoy going and seeing the redwood forests of California. It's not sin. They just really appreciate and love this world that they live on. Why leave something that's so beautiful? Why leave something that's so nice? Well, let me just shoehorn a little thought process in here. How can you enjoy the beauty of the Grand Canyon when hundreds of children a year, I'm sorry, hundreds of children a week are being put into the sex trade? How can you enjoy walking through the redwood forests knowing that this is going on in this very nation that we live in, addicted to drugs and addicted to alcohol, and and kids in high schools are being pulled into the sex trade and the drug trade every day that you live? Isn't there just a little longing in you to say, "As beautiful as this is, there's got to be a change." And if Ronald Reagan couldn't fix it, Donald Trump won't be able to. Are you, are you hearing what I'm telling you today? You, you got it. You got to hear me preach that the reason we don't want to leave is we do have our little corner of the world, and we do have a soft feather bed to sleep in. And Chicago hasn't moved into Sebastopol yet. But if God don't speed His coming, if God does not speed His coming, Portland is going to come to Jackson. If God does not speed His coming, Chicago's coming to Meridian. We're only seeing the beginning tremors. You say, "How do you know that, Brother Copeland?" Because I've read the end of the book. The Bible says before this is over, men are going to run to the mountains, not to admire their beauty, but to beg that they would fall on them and crush them under their weight because they can't live on this earth anymore. And we're already feeling the groanings. Paul said the earth's groaning under the weight of sin, and the people of God are groaning under the weight of sin. He says, "But I'm going to tell you, we have a hope." But hope, our hope is not in what we can see. Our hope is what we can see. And he said, "It's really not faith unless you can stand up and say, 'I'd rather have what You told me about, God, that I can't see, than to put my faith in what I can.'" And so, let me ask you, Sister Norma Bailey, what's heaven going to look like? And I, I could, I could go into a lot of that, and I don't want to because I, I, I don't really have time. But let me just, let me just skim the tops of it, okay? Heaven is where we'll dwell with Jesus Christ in mansions. John 14:2-3. Heaven will be a city built for worshipers. Hebrews 12 and 22 through 23. All nations and people will worship Jesus. Romans 7 and 9. Heaven will be filled with joy and peace and praise. Revelation 17:15-17. Heaven will be built and made up of precious gemstones. Revelation 21 and 9. Heaven will have pearl gates and streets of gold. Revelation 21 and 21. The Tree of Life will be in the midst of it. Revelation 22. You see, that's the deal. Y'all didn't get near as excited about what you can't see as you did when I was talking about the redwoods of California and the Grand Canyon. You got more excited about that than you did this, because we're fallen nature, and our affections are on what we can see, no, what we can't. But let me give you an understanding of what heaven's going to be. The Bible says, John said, and I won't take time to go there, but John said, "I saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven, and there was a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had passed away, and there was no more sea." And he saw this new city set down in Jerusalem, and the Lamb of God sat on the throne and ruled this earth.
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From Jerusalem. Now, if the new birth is any indication, if the new birth, hey, this is what God woke me up with today, okay? If the new birth is any indication of the new earth, then it's a place I can live. Come with me, brother, because I remember when Brother Eric Adcock walked in the back door of that little brick building over there. I don't mean to tell a story, I'll let him tell his story, but he was a mess. He had problems. I hate to tell you this, but I, I don't know if I'd be standing right here with him. We may have buried him had it not been for the new birth. Let me tell you, God didn't give us a better Eric. He didn't give us a new and improved Eric. The Bible says the old man passed away. Hang on, brother. Don't leave me. Don't leave me. I said the Bible said, "My God, have mercy, that the old man passed away." And we buried the old man in the waters of baptism. The Bible says that what we have here is not an unimproved Eric, it's a brand new Eric Adcock. Be seated. He looks a whole lot like the old Ad Eric Adcock. It's just that the alcoholism is gone. Come on. The lying's gone. Come on now. Come on now. Come on now. Come on now. The sins are gone, and there's a new Eric walking in your shoes. I actually like the new one a whole lot better than I did the old one, even though they look a whole lot. Don't leave me, brother. Stay with me. Let me tell you something. The reason Brother Eric looks a whole lot like the original Eric is because God did His best work when He created man out of the dust of the flesh, or the dust of the earth. You ain't hearing me. Man was a masterpiece when there was no sense in starting over with a new prototype.
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Because He did His best work when He created man. The reason that Brother Eric had to be reborn was not because God messed up, but because the devil messed up God's masterpiece. And when God brought a new Eric, he looks just like the old one because God's masterpiece was perfect. It's just that the new one does not have the marks that sin, that sin put.
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I just got a feeling. My God, have mercy. Then in Genesis 1, God did His best work when He said, "Let there be light," and there was light, and He separated the firmament from, oh God, have mercy, and He separated the land from the sea, and He created animals, and He created fish, and He created trees, and He created grass, and He created the heaven. Oh my God. And when He got done, He said, "It is good." It is good. It is.
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So you don't have to be worried. You're in good hands with God. I believe when that new heaven and that new earth comes down for us to rule and reign on, it's gonna look a whole lot like the one you already own. It said, "But I will wipe away your tears, and there'll be no more sorrow." I just kind of got a feeling the Grand Canyon may still be there. I just got a feeling that the redwoods may still be there. Oh my God. I just got a feeling that the hills of Mississippi may still be there. I may rule and reign right here in Sebastopol that I love. It'll just be without the, oh my God, it'll just be without the mosquitoes. It'll be without the disease. It'll be without coronavirus. It'll be without tornadoes. Don't you worry. God knows what you love. And it.
was good when he created it. It was good, my God. Be seated just a minute. Lift your hands. Oh, I feel the Holy Ghost in this place right now. I believe every hill and every valley will be recreated. I just got a sneaking hunch that every waterfall will be recreated. I just got to believe and Getty where David hid with all its beauty and all its waterfalls and its caves will still be there or be re-recreated again. He did his best work when he created this earth. I just got a feeling that the Ozarks will be recreated, every hill and every valley. And so many of the things that we do, the works of our hands, were God-given. They were God-given.
In Exodus, man, I feel the Holy Ghost right now. Why don't you entertain the Spirit of God that's in this place? Why don't you entertain the Spirit of God that's in this place? Even the works of our hands, in the first few chapters of the book of Genesis, in the first few chapters of the book of Genesis, the sons, the sons of the first humans on this earth, built cities, they created musical instruments, they went into the cattle business. Don't you know that all that was God-given in their intellect and understanding? They didn't know how to do that. It was the gift of God.
In Exodus, the 30th chapter and the 30th, in the third verse, the Bible tells us that God, God speaks and he says, "Let me tell you, those that, those that built the temple." He said, "They'll overlay it with pure gold and top thereof and sides thereof, around about the horns thereof, and shall make under the crown of gold round about where it need to be." In 31, I'm sorry, Exodus 31. He goes through all this about how they're going to do it. And in Exodus 31:1, he takes credit for it all. Can I tell you, the reason we know how to build houses and we know how to do all the things that we do is because it's all God-given wisdom?
"The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 'See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uriah, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.'" I want you to look at this. "And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, and wisdom, and understanding, and all knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship." He took credit. He said, "The reason they know how to do what they're doing is because I'm giving it to them."
And the Bible says that in heaven, we will rule and reign with Christ. I have a sneaky feeling that in the new earth, we'll still be building houses, just without the sweat of our brow. We'll still be living life. Life won't look a lot different than it is right now, except the headache and the pressure and the fear and the disease. You see, the reason you didn't want to go there, the reason you didn't want to go there, is you thought you was going to float naked on a cloud, with a harp. You'd be up there bored. Some of you folks would be bored in just a few minutes if all you could do is lay on a cloud and play a harp. But from the beginning, that's not the way it was. He said we would rule and reign with him in the glory world.
And, and I want you to look at Genesis 2 and 15. Before the fall, when man was put in the garden, before the fall, in Genesis 2 and 15, he was instructed that, "I'm going to put you here and I'm going to tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going, I'm going." "The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it."
Let me give you a difference between praise and worship. Praise is what you do for a few minutes around an altar. Worship is everything your hand finds to do, you do it as unto the Lord. Worship is a lifestyle where you're working, but everything you're doing is a praise to God because you're not doing it in sin, you're doing it as unto Him.
I just have a sneaky feeling that the new heaven and the new earth isn't going to be a whole lot different than the one we live in right now, except there'll be no more tears, there'll be no more sorrow, there'll be no more pain. Oh my God, have mercy. Be seated one more time. Just lift your hands and reach out. What about, what about this life that we live? What about this life we live without the pestilence? What about this life we live without the pain? What about this life that we live without divorce? What about this life we live without children with no parents? What about this life we live with no death and no abandonment? What about this world that we live in, but it's a new world where He dries every tear and He takes away every pain, and every person here does what they do and they live their life as unto the Lord, ruling and reigning with Him in glory. You're destined for a throne. You're destined to rule over a new heaven and a new earth. And don't worry, God did his best work when he created earth, and the new one's gonna look a whole lot like this one. It wasn't that there's anything wrong with this earth, it's the sin that encroached upon it that destroyed it, not the beautiful creation that He created. When He got done, He said, "It is good."
Lift your hands together, everybody in this place right now. Musicians, come. But I want you to reach out just a moment. All my hope is in Jesus. Thank God, my yesterday's gone. Come on, somebody. Come on, somebody. You're hoping in divorce? You're hoping in backsliding? You're hoping in giving up and quitting? Stay the course. Stay the course. Stay with it. In just a few days, this mortal shall take on immortality. In just a few days, there's going to be the sounding of a trumpet, and all things are going to pass away, and behold, everything is going to become new. Come on, I'm telling you in the Holy Ghost, I'm preaching to you right now. If you're in this place and you haven't got the Holy Ghost, don't you walk out those doors without it. You're hoping in this world. If you're in this house and you've never been baptized in the precious name of Jesus, don't you leave without it. And if you're in this house and you've got the Holy Ghost, but you're discouraged and you're carnal and you're empty because you're worried about what's going on around you, I'm telling you, your hope is not in this world. There's not a world leader that lives that's going to be able to correct this thing. It's too far down the tracks to destruction. But let me give you hope. In just a few days, the Lord is going to send the Son from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up to meet him in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
John knew that we wondered what was going to happen. So he said, "John, you tell them, you tell them what I show you, write it down so that they can read it later." And John said, "I saw a new heaven and a new earth, because the old one had passed away, and there was no more sea." I saw it coming down out of the glory. My God, have mercy. And that new city, the new Jerusalem, set down in Jerusalem. God set His throne up there, and He ruled the earth from Jerusalem. And we, the redeemed, rule and reign with Him in the new heaven and the earth.
I'm going to tell you, God created you to work. God created you to be busy. God created you to accomplish. That's what you're going to be doing. We're going to be doing a whole lot of what we're doing down here while we worship the Lord, and everything that we do, it's just going to be absent of all sin and all pain and all heartache and all death. We'll never bury another parent. We'll never bury another brother or sister. We'll never bury another child, because death will be eradicated. It'll be gone.
I'm looking for that city where the Lamb is the light. I'm looking for that city where there's no more night. That's what I'm looking for. I'm not trying to dumb down the glory world, I'm really, really not. Because I'm telling you, at the same time, it's going to look a whole lot like it did down here. I believe the inside of the tabernacle was to give them a clue of what heaven was going to look like, because on the top of it, on the top of, I believe it being a whole lot like this. He said, "Let me tell you, it's gonna have streets of gold, gates of pearl, walls of jasper, precious stones."
Does anybody want to go? Does anybody want to translate your vision from trying to make it better down here to just saying, "God, come on, take me out of here and give me a new heaven and a new earth"? Stand together and lift your hands. Would you reach out all across this tabernacle right now? Come on, all across this place, would you reach out? Would you cry out to the Lord? Come on, everybody here, everybody here, reaching out right now. Come on, would you reach out right now? Come on, would you cry out? Come on, lift your voices, everybody here, lifting your voices. Come on, come on, come on, come on, lift your voices, your hands. Come on, lift your voices, your hands, your hearts. Would you cry out to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords? Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on. The Holy Ghost is moving in this place right now. Come on, the Holy Ghost is moving in this house right now. Right now, right now, right now, right now. Come on, come on, come on, come on, everybody, everybody, everybody, everybody. When you come around these altars, leave the aisles open so everybody could get in. God wants to fill somebody with a Holy Ghost today. Somebody needs to give up right now and say, "Hey, my hope's not down here, God. I need the Holy Ghost." Come on, leave these aisles open, everybody, everybody. My coming gone. Come on, the Holy Ghost is pulling and calling for you right now. Come on, the Holy Ghost is pulling and calling for you right now. Come on, everybody here, reaching out to the Lord. That's it. Cry out to Him right now. Come on, cry out, cry out, let the Lord speak. Come on, in that city where the Lamb is the light, in that city where there is no more night, I have a mansion over there. All my sins there. Come on, come on, come on. Go cry, crack. Let the Lord cry out to Him right now. God wants to fill somebody with the Holy Ghost today. God wants to baptize somebody in the Spirit today. My yesterday's gone. Oh, my sins they. Come on, cry out to Him, somebody. Let Him hear your voice right now. I gotta. I don't want to be left on this earth that's bound for destruction. Does anybody want to spend eternity with the Lamb? Oh, my sins, they are forgiven. Yes, Lord. Holy. Washed by His blood. My Lord, my Lord. Come on, reach out to Him. Reach out, reach out, reach out, reach out, reach out. God wants to fill somebody with a Holy Ghost in this place right now. God wants to baptize somebody with the Holy Ghost in His house right now. Yes, Lord. My hope is in Jesus' name. All my hopes in Jesus. Come on, reach out to Him now. Hello, my sins, they've been. My sins are forgiven. Thank God. Thank God. My. I wish everybody in this place would pray for somebody around you right now. Come on, pray for somebody around you right now. Your hope's not in this world. I want you. Come on. That's it. Pray for somebody. Your hope's not in this world. Holy Ghost. Yes, Lord. Thank God. My yesterday, my yesterday's gone, and all my sins, they're forgiven. Yes, Lord. God, my yesterday, my yesterday's gone. All my hopes washed by His blood. Why don't we lift our hands and just thank God for His goodness and His grace and His mercy? Come on, come on, come on, come on. Thank God for His goodness and His grace and His mercy. Come on, come on. Praise Him for His goodness and His mercy and His grace. By the power of blood, Lord. Oh, magnify the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Jesus. How many of you got your mind made up to be saved, no matter what? Come on. How many of you got your mind made up to be saved, no matter what? My God, in Jesus' name, what an anointing of the Holy Ghost that's in this house. Why don't you, one last time before we're dismissed, just cry out to the Lord? Would you do that? Would you just cry out to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords? Gone. Thank God. He's going to deliver us there. He's going to take us out of this earth that's been marred by sin. We're gonna come back to a new earth, and it's gonna be full of His glory. Hallelujah. God bless you. Everybody say three o'clock. Three o'clock. Right here, we're going to be having Sunday school, adult class in this auditorium. Of course, the kids will be going to their classes. The young people, new believers' class will go on. We're gonna have a great time of breakout sessions at three o'clock. But right now, the ladies have prepared a meal next door. Man, don't let their work be in vain. Go over there and fellowship, visit, have a great meal in Jesus' name. There's a great meal prepared for you next door. Please go enjoy that. Please support. Please support our ladies' department. God bless you.