Transcription
Good morning everyone, and welcome to the pre-service countdown here at First Apostolic Church in the great city and state of Maryville, Tennessee. My name's Josh Weatherly. I'm here with Pastor Nolan Carpenter, and we are so excited to greet you in the name that is above every name, and that is Jesus' name.
We are excited about what God has in store for us today. We want to take just a quick moment, Pastor Nolan, and just welcome everyone that's tuning in with us online. We know that there's an infinite amount of churches that you could be tuning into this morning, and for you to choose First Apostolic Church of Maryville to be your choice this morning, that's a great compliment to us. Whether you're viewing online or you're here on campus, there's about 200 churches in Blount County, Pastor Nolan, and for you to choose this venue to be your place of worship, that's a great compliment. And we're so glad that you're going to lift up the name of Jesus with us today. Our desire is that not only Jesus is lifted up, but your spirit is lifted up today as well, that you're encouraged, and when you leave here, you feel like you've gone to another level in your walk and your relationship with Jesus Christ.
There's so much going on here on campus throughout each week. Pastor Nolan's going to take just a few moments and tell you what's upcoming this week.
Absolutely. If you're looking for something to do, I promise this church has an event for you about every day of the week. And, uh, we know this coming up Friday night through Sunday morning is our Marriage Retreat. Our married couples, we look forward to this event. This is in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. I believe there might be one or two rooms left. And, uh, and I'm getting the, the, the no from the, the, uh, the check-in place over here. We might not need to say that. But we do invite all the married couples. If you don't have a, uh, room, uh, at the, uh, Park Vista in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, we welcome you to come up. There is a small cost of, uh, just to attend, but that would be very worth it if you can drive in for the Saturday morning, Friday night sessions, or the Saturday morning sessions. We know that it's going to be a great time. Brother Woodward is going to be with us. He always, uh, does an amazing job, and we look forward to him, uh, hearing him. He is one of the, I guess you could say, the church favorite, one of the church favorites. So he'll be with us Sunday night too. We still will be having Sunday morning, uh, church next, uh, this, uh, next week. We will still be having church. We'll be live on Facebook and YouTube for our 10:00 a.m. service. And then Sunday night, we'll have Brother Woodward with us at 6:00 p.m. God's going to do great and mighty things. March 5th through the 7th, Taylor Fish is going to be with us, an absolutely incredible evangelist. God has used him mightily as a harvester. He is the type that'll come into a city and he'll bring people with him. You know, he'll go throughout the community, be inviting. So I invite the church to be inviting people to our services. March 5th through the 7th, and those will all start at 7:30 p.m. And we, we believe God's going to do awesome things through that revival, and God's going to add to the church during that weekend.
This month, we are, of course, we've been doing a Bible reading program since the beginning of the year, and this month is focused on James and Galatians. And, uh, I want to tell anybody who will come out here right now and take these books, I'll give them to you for absolutely free. Now, Brother Hammond doesn't know this. And, man, come on now. I mean, are we, are we walking or, or okay? We got one. We'll give you one. Hey, what do you have any plans tonight? No, you don't have plans. You come to church tonight? Yes, sir. Okay. I didn't know if you were going to stay home and watch a football game. All right, good. Glad you're coming to church. You, one more book. All right, one more book. Anybody want to come out here? Oh, Lord. Brother, let's give Brother Hyde. We don't want him. He's going to make a plug for Hyde Farms like he always does. Hyde Farms on 411. Buy one, get one free for steaks. Is that what we're doing? Not today. Not today. Discounted, anyway. Okay, discounted, anyways. Go check them out. Hyde Farms. And, uh, we love, we love having a good time here at FAC. Of course, tonight, we know it's a huge night. We're going to have church at 6:00. We know that good things are going to happen here this evening, and God's going to do great and mighty things. We've got Kids Quest going on, and, uh, a bunch of, a bunch of things.
I want to give a special shout out to, uh, a couple teams here at the Academy. Our elementary boys team won the championship in their KISL Elementary League. We're proud of them. Our, our, uh, middle school girls, Brother Josh has a daughter by the name of Ansley, absolutely awesome ball player. I'm pretty, um, they're, they're my probably my favorite team here. So, um, we, we, uh, that team won the championship on Thursday night in their division. And Friday night, our boys middle school team won the championship in the KISL in their division. And we're so proud of them, man. It's a godly, you know, it's a godly pride. But, of course, we, we welcome you once again here to FAC. We want you to be involved somehow. If that, uh, is partnering us, partnering with us through, uh, prayer, we invite you to do that. If that's partnering with us to get somewhere on staff, we invite you to do that. Find out ways you can connect here at FAC. Of course, we need partners. We need partners in the area of giving. The Bible talks about how the coin was in the fish's mouth and how they went to fish. And when we focus on the fish, the coins will come. And so, I want to tell you today, obviously, everything we do here at FAC is focused on souls. We have projects going on here on campus, from a new, new turf baseball field to a Movement Training Center down the road. And we just believe if we focus on souls, that the money will come in for those things. And so, we partner with, if you want to get involved in a soul-winning tool, we partner with, we would ask for you to partner with us in the area of giving. We know if we focus on souls, that's the main thing that God will provide the means for these, this bait and tackle, let's say that, bait and tackle, how we're going to catch some, some, some fish here in Blount County. But once again, we welcome you. And Brother Josh, thanks for having me on this morning.
Pastor Nolan, we're in the final countdown, and I'm just excited about everything that God's going to do today. You had mentioned, just real quick, before, before we transition here, the Park Vista in Gatlinburg, where we're having our marriage retreat. You know, it's a tradition for many families year after year to go to the Park Vista and vacation with their families. Some of the most beautiful views in all of Gatlinburg, looks at Mount LeConte there. But if you are coming down to Tennessee here in the next, uh, few months, we would love for you to visit one of our campuses. We have a Sevierville campus, and of course, Maryville is just right in the backyard. And I want to send out a special invitation this afternoon. I'll actually be traveling to our Sevierville campus right after this to lead in worship. Excited to hear Pastor Carpenter, Bishop Kenneth Carpenter is going to be preaching an anointed message. So to all my friends and family in the Sevier County area, come and join us at 2:00. We'll have an anointed service, and I believe God will do great things. If you look at a map, Tennessee touches about eight or nine states. So that's about 60% of all of the U.S.'s wealth and population just in that snapshot. So so many people come down to this area. We would love for you to visit one of our campuses when you come. But we hope that the Lord richly blesses you today. We're getting ready to to lift up the name above every name and just have a great Sunday. And we'll see you here in just a few moments.
On to another generation. Well, the true meaning of this is, and, um, some may, some may wonder, well, why do you get in a big tizzy about, uh, boy, that's a neat word, isn't it? Why you get in a big tizzy, uh, uh, about, about somebody burning the American flag? I personally believe, you burn the flag, you ought to go to jail. And I do. I just, that's, I'm not, I'm not running for politics. Already hold an office higher than the White House. Amen. And that's the truth. And, and so, I, I think you ought to go to jail. I think you ought to go to jail or go out of this country because that flag represents freedom. That flag represents our freedom, our democracy. It represents who we are. And men and women, countless men and women have paid the ultimate sacrifice for that flag. So that flag means something.
Now, I said all that to bring you around to marriage. Because marriage has a fuller meaning than just a male and a female coming together and getting a marriage license and sharing the same address. It has a much deeper spiritual analogy that God had in mind. I have a book, and I would, I would, I would actually recommend that if you would like to purchase this book, um, you can go online. I have it in, uh, in electronic form. But several years ago, I purchased a book called "Well-Versed." And it, it simply, it, it, it simply, uh, addresses, uh, subject matters, um, that, that are in our world today. And one of the subject matters is, is marriage. Let me read from Carlo's book on "Well-Versed." "Why should we care about marriage? What is the foundation of marriage? And why is marriage such a big deal to God?"
"It is important to know that your Bible opens in the Book of Genesis with a marriage between a man and a woman. And your Bible closes in the Book of Revelation with a marriage between a groom, Jesus Christ, and a bride, His Church. The book opens with the marriage, Genesis, and it closes with the marriage in the, in the New Testament."
"The full image of God. I just buckled up for a few moments. God is neither male nor female. The Old Testament writers use gender-specific metaphors to describe the indescribable. Sometimes the words used to describe God are distinctly masculine. Most obviously, the usage of Father or He. At other times, the phrase is used to depict God in feminine terms, like a breastfeeding nursing mother (Psalms 131:2, Isaiah 49:15). Giving birth is referred to God (Deuteronomy 32:18), in labor (Isaiah 42:14), as a mother hen (Matthew 23:37). But the fact is, God is neither a He or a She. In Genesis chapter 17, in verse one, God's name in the Hebrew phrase is El Shaddai. It is believed that the El means Mighty, like a mountain, thus the strength of masculinity. Shaddai likely comes from the Hebrew word for breast, such as feeding a newborn baby, thus the nurturing feminine characteristic. That single name for God includes a full spectrum of masculinity and femininity. We are made in His image. However, a male alone cannot fully represent all the descriptors of the image of God. For example, a male by himself cannot manifest the full spectrum of God's features historically associated with femininity, tenderness. Thus, no husband can represent the full image of God. At the same time, a female alone cannot do justice to His image either, due to a lack of classic, classic masculine strength. In spite of the fact that we were created by God individually, we express the full image of God only when the two halves of humanity complement each other and become one."
Now, let me stop there and add my, my, my, my thought on, on this. We often say, "The devil is attacking my marriage." The truth of the matter is, the devil is attacking your image. He is not attacking you personally. He is attacking what you represent. For Satan would love to erase every image of God on the face of this planet. That's why the, you know, "Well, these people don't want the manger scene here." And these people don't want a cross here. And these people don't want the Ten Commandments hanging up. And on, on the list goes. It's not those people. They're just a puppet in the hand of an enemy that wants to erase every image of God.
Let me continue to read from Carlo. "Adam, the man, versus Adam, humankind." And I do need your undivided attention. You, you, this is really kind of goes deep. Put your snarkle on this morning and, and get your air tanks ready. All right, let's go deep, deeper into the Hebrew language of Genesis. The traditional view of human creation is that God created Adam, put him to sleep, took a rib, created Eve. But the Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew, not English. Is the Hebrew text saying that God created Adam, a male, and then created Eve, a female, from Adam's rib? I think there is something more profound in the Hebrew Old Testament that reveals a deeper understanding of the Genesis account. In the beginning, God created not Adam, the male, but Adam, that is, humankind. Don't picture Adam as a male. The word Adam, or pronounce Adam, means humankind or personhood. It is later that Adam is the name of a male. But initially, God created Adam, a, that is, humankind. After creating humankind, God said, "It is not good that Adam, humankind, be alone." This was not a case of God creating a male and then saying, "It is not good that a male is alone, so I will make a female." That is not what happened. I suggest a more correct reading of the Hebrew would be, "It is not good for humankind to be at one." Let's not miss the point. God made humankind, then He said, "It is not good for humankind to be at one, or one, one, or to live in solitude." Here we have the splitting of the atom. Pardon the pun. Here we have the splitting of the Adam, as Adam, or humankind. He gets split apart, and when we end up with male and female. But what about the proverbial rib? The word rib does not appear in the ancient Hebrew text. The word that is used, used, is Tesla. I'm not talking about the car either. What is Tesla? It can be translated half or side. Don't miss the significance of the next, this next sentence. Instead of God creating Adam, taking a rib to create Eve, the text says that God created humankind, observed that it was not good for humankind to be one or alone, and then took a side, or a half, of humankind and created a female, which is Eve. What remained was male Adam."
Let me stop there and inject this. Evidently, God took all the femininity out. And when He did, there was masculinity there. In other words, the whole of humanity that was created in the full image of God, with both the strength of man, masculinity, and the tenderness of femininity, is now two complimentary halves of humanity, male and female. One of the reasons for the strong sexual attraction of males and females to each other is the desire for the two halves of humanity to come back together, undoing the splitting of the Adam, and reuniting male and females as halves to make a whole, now reflecting the full image of God.
Now, let's go a step further. Are y'all all right today? Somebody sleeping beside you? Punch them real good. All right, let's look at this. Ish, i-s-h, and Isha, i-s-h-a-h. And Yahweh. The Hebrew word for man is ish. The Hebrew word for woman is Isha. Pronounced Isha. Here's the difference between ish and Isha in the Hebrew language. There is one letter in ish, or man, that is not in Isha, woman, and that is the letter Yah. In the Hebrew word for Isha, woman, there is one letter that is not in the ish, man, and that is the Hebrew letter Hey. Put these two together, and you form Yahweh. You get today, Yahweh is the basis for Yahweh, the name of God, that is used 6,800 times in the Old Testament. In other words, when you put ish and Isha together, we have Yahweh, or the expression of the full image of God. Even the Hebrew words for man and woman depict the breathtaking construct. Let's be clear. Two men can never, two men can never represent the full image of God. And two women can never represent the full image of God. That's not being judgmental. That's just being biblical. It takes a man and a woman to fully give the full spectrum of the image of God.
What was Satan's, what was Satan's cause to be cast out of Heaven? What was Satan's reason? Why did God cast him out of Heaven? "I will ascend, and I will be like the Most High God. I will be like the Most High God." And do you know that God cast him out of Heaven? But yet God, in Satan's own backyard, God created a world. And God created man and woman. And when Satan looks at man and woman in the relationship of marriage, Satan is reminded of his doom. How many of you have said this or heard this? "I've read the back of the book, and we win." Amen. "I've read the back of the book, and we win." And so Satan, every time he sees a man and a woman joined together in holy matrimony, in a marriage, Satan is reminded of the ultimate marriage that will take place at the end of time, when the Lord Jesus Christ, our heavenly husband, our heavenly bridegroom, is going to say, "Time is no more." And God is going to call His Church, His bride. He's going to rapture her, and He's going to take her to Heaven for to ever, throughout all eternity, be with the Lord. And we're going to have a great marriage supper. Come on, do you believe that today? Would you give Him some worship right now?
Began to study, and, um, I came across, and I'll spend the rest of my Bible lesson on an old familiar parable found in the Book of Mark, chapter 4, verse number three. And see, I don't want you to think because I wasn't yelling and throwing my hands in the air and running up and down the aisles, I wasn't preaching. You probably heard some of the finest preaching the last 10 minutes. To be reminded, it's not just about my wife and I, my husband and I. It's about who we represent. And it's about at the end of time. At the end of time, I want to be called to that marriage supper of the Lamb. I want to be robed. See, we, we think, we think we came up with all this stuff. The, the bride coming down the aisle and the, the, the, uh, the white dress. You know, we think, "Man, aren't we, aren't we, aren't we cool to think about?" And then we really think we're cool because after the wedding, we get to go, we get to go eat. Can I tell you that was put in us somehow in our DNA? And somehow man brought it out of us because one day, we, the Church, symbolically or literally, are going to be clothed in fine linen. Not just linen, but fine linen. And it's going to be clean, white, and as we are adoring in Heaven. And the, the bride, and I could, I could get into this, but I, I don't want to get into this, but I might crack the door, door, and let you look into it. The Church is going to wear a garment throughout all eternity that represents her as the Church of Jesus Christ. The Old Testament saints, although they'll be there worshiping, they will not have the same garment on as we have because we are the Bride of Jesus Christ. We, we'll be identified as the Bride. There'll be Old Testament saints there that will talk about the blood of the Lamb that Moses put on their door. But we'll sing a new song in Heaven that we have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, and we'll have a new garment on in Heaven. And there, there will ever be. And if you're happy about that, would you give Him a praise right now? There will ever be with the Lord. There will ever be with Him.
But let's work on our marriage this morning. Let's work on our marriage today. Mark chapter 4 and verse number three. Jesus gives a parable. He says, "Hearken; behold, there went out a sower to sow." Let me first tell you about this. A sower goes out today for a harvest tomorrow. The sower goes out today for a harvest tomorrow. He has tomorrow in mind. We are here today listening intently to an important subject of marriage because if we will listen and apply and sow, not maybe, not if I get lucky, but if we'll apply God's principles to our lives today, we will enjoy a better harvest tomorrow. So the sower is working today for a harvest tomorrow. Verse 4, Mark 4 and 4. "And it came to pass as he sowed, some fell by the wayside, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it." I want you to know something very important. Even statistics tell, tell this. Not even church statistics tell this. That people who attend, couples who attend houses of worship on a regular basis are happier, healthier, and their families are more whole. Now, that's not some church organization. That's just some college or university like Yale, places like this, that do stats on families. That doesn't surprise me. That doesn't surprise me. Why? The seed that's going to be sown is greatly influenced. Its growth is either promoted or stunned by the soil that it falls into. I want you to know today that the environment of the Church of Jesus Christ is the best place to sow your life. It's the best place to sow your life. You know, we hear so much sometimes negative about a church or about the church. Can I tell you, if there's any negative, it's got to do with people. But in our God, there is no negative at all. It is a good life, living for Jesus Christ. It is the best life you will ever live. Are you hearing me today? It is the best life you will ever live to live for Jesus Christ. This is the best time you'll ever spend to have it on your schedule on a regular basis to come into the house of God because environment, environment is important. He said he sowed seed, but the seed fell by the wayside. The wayside is soil that is not tilled. It is dirt that is hard and compacted. It has not been tilled. It has not been plowed. It has not been turned over. It's as hard as the asphalt that you walked into this church upon. But the seed, but the seed fell on the wayside. The soil is the environment that the seed is sown into. Wayside soil is unprepared ground, hard packed. The seed cannot enter. The seed cannot enter. It cannot enter into that ground.
They asked Jesus one day, they said, "Why did Moses, why did Moses allow divorce?" Jesus gives a simple answer. Mark 10 and 5. Jesus answered and said unto them, "For the hardness of your heart He wrote you this precept." He said, "You know why it happened? Because hearts were hardened." Hearts were hardened. Now, that makes me today want to work on not getting a hard heart. I, I don't want my heart to get hard. I, I don't want my heart to get callous. And there's several things. There's one major thing. The, the plow. The plow is not the, is not the seed. And I know you know that. I just want to make the point. The plow that goes into the ground is not the seed. But it's important because it's the instrument that God uses to break up the soil. And so there are several things that will help you keep a soft, pliable heart. Number one, that's prayer. Number two, that's hungering after God. And yes, number three, and not necessarily in this order, you need to have a preacher putting the plow to your heart and turning over. And sometimes you can yell out, "Amen, preacher, preacher." Sometimes you whisper to your heart, "Oh my God, help me." But whether you're saying, "Amen, preacher," or you're whispering to yourself, "Oh God, help me," He just took my feet right off me with that word. You need to say, "Come on, Plowman, plow me up today. Come on, preacher, plow me up today." Don't worry about me going and find, and, you know, I said this, and I, I do believe we're living in this culture. People don't backslide and leave church now. They nowadays, they just change churches. And, and they think by going somewhere else, I'm going to tell you, if he's a true Plowman, he'll plow you up. God will tell him because God loves you too much to let you die with a hard heart. Come on, Plowman, plow me up today. Come on, preacher, plow me up a little bit today. Come on, plow me up. Don't, don't you want the preacher to plow? Come on, when I start drifting away, get on your bullhorn and start hauling at me to paddle back to the shore and get back to the shore. Come on, preacher, plow me up. Plow me up today. So why did they get divorced? Jesus, He said, "Because your hearts were hard." Jeremiah 4:3. "Thus says the Lord to the men of Judah." Jeremiah 4:3. "Thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, break up your fallow ground." That's hard ground. And sow not among thorns. He said, "Be careful, be careful. Break up your hard ground because you're getting word thrown on you. You're getting seed thrown on you. You're getting the word thrown on you." And He said, "If your ground is not broke up, somebody's looking. Somebody's perched up in the tree." And that's the adversary. The Bible said the fowl comes, and that's the adversary. He's looking today. And we say, "The devil don't come to church." But he does. And he's perched around here today. And he's saying, "I don't care how much seed falls over here, and falls over here, and falls over here, and falls over here. It doesn't matter. The ground is as hard as can be. And when they leave here today, I'll just swoop down and I'll take up the word out of their heart. I'll just take it up. It'll never, it'll never change them. It'll never change them one bit." But I say today, preach to me, Plowman, plow me up. Plowman, turn me over. Plowman, it don't feel good. It don't feel good. But put the blade, put the blade down in. You know, I think, uh, Sister Karen, I think I was back maybe, Brother Weir, I was probably when the Lord kind of stops me and speaks to me. I, I don't know. I get a picture of where I'm at. Not that I want to go back there. I don't think there's anything special about that spot. But I was praying last week in my private time, and I was going up and down the aisles because I try to have a ritual and a custom to lay my hand on all the pews and pray for the men and the women and the children. And I got back there, and the Lord spoke this into my heart. He said, "I hate the phrase toxic masculinity." I hate the phrase toxic masculinity. Well, don't we know? Has anybody heard that phrase, toxic masculinity? Did we hear it from here? Where did we hear it from? Heard it from the world. I stopped there and said, "Come on, Lord, talk to me a little bit." And He said, "People today, My people, have mistaken the plowman's voice for toxic masculinity. There is masculinity that has been used to harm, but not the plowman. The plowman may raise his voice, and he may get red-faced, and he, it's flat out will get angry. But his anger is to get you to turn. He's only trying to show you on his face what's on My face. He's only trying to tell you by his voice, voice, and his displeasure, what is in My heart." And I stopped back there. You know, we need masculinity in the pulpit. I said, we need masculinity in the pulpit. Let them call him a dictator. Let him call him a cult leader. Let him call him whatever they want to call him. But we need strong masculinity in the pulpit. We need leaders in the pulpit. We need men that can get the pull of the church and know this is the direction we want to. Now, wait a minute. We not only need masculinity in the pulpit, we need masculinity in the home. We need masculinity in the home. We need it in the home. We don't need fathers that try to be best friends. We need fathers to be fathers. I'm going to tell you something. If you'll be a father to them, they may not love you at the time, but the day will come that they'll shed tears and tell you, "Thank you, Daddy, that you didn't let me go there. Thank you, Daddy, that you made me do this. Thank you, Daddy, when everybody else was doing it, you said, 'As for me and my house, we are going to serve the Lord.'" We need strong masculinity, not being, not being abusive, not when it's God. Not when it's God. We love the flock. We can kill a lion. We can also hug a lamb. You hear me? A true shepherd can kill a lion, but he can also love a lamb. A true father can kill a lion, and he can hug his kids. He can hug his kids. So please have the attitude. Come on, Plowman, plow me up today.
Let's go to verse five. Let's go to verse 5. Mark 4. "Some fell on stony ground; it had not much earth, and immediately it sprang up, and because it had no depth of earth, when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away." Are you ready for this? This ground, now, wayside is not plowed at all. This ground wasn't plowed deep enough. Was it plowed deep enough? Won't you look good on the surface? It had, it had yay amount of soil. Evidently, evidently either the plowman didn't go deep enough, or the rock was there that wouldn't move. So he got enough earth, but not enough for root. And it came up immediately, overnight. But when the sun came up, trials and tribulation and heartache came, it withered away because it had, it had no root. Look good on the surface, but underneath there was issues. Good on the surface, but underneath. And I know you've already said "I do," and you did. But if there's somebody here today that's not said "I do" yet, date them long enough to know if they've got any rocks under the surface. I don't care what he drives and what his checkbook looks like. And, and I don't care what she looks like and, and, and her dress and all that. That's surface. That real person is what's underneath the surface. That's going to be, it's not what you see here that determines it. It's what is right inside this heart. Come on, Plowman, not only plow me, but plow me deep today. No, don't, don't just plow me today, but, but, but, but plow me real deep. Let, let me get issues. You know, there are things that happen to happen to us as we're growing up. Some are in single homes, and some may, some may, you know, be the custody of the state. And we have all of those that are here. But there's nothing in your child-raising that God and a relationship with God cannot bring out. He's either Lord of all, or He's not Lord at all. At all. We either have to crown Him Lord, or crucify Him. But don't try to compromise Him. He can either help us in all our areas of our life, or He can't help us in any area of our life. And I want to preach to somebody from the bottom of my heart today and tell you, you don't have a rock so deep inside of you that a relationship with God, His Word, prayer, and fasting cannot bring that rock to the surface.
I forget where I was at. I forget where I was at. But I was in a countryside somewhere, and I really, I don't even know if I was in the United States or not. But it's a beautiful stone fence. It was just such a beautiful stone fence. And it went for some distance, beautiful stone fence there. And the person and I was with, and Lord, I wish I could remember who it was, but they said, "Brother Carpenter, do you know where they got those stones from?" And I said, "I don't." He said, "When they would plow the field, said every time they hit a rock, they would take it out to the border of their property and they would stack it up." And that over time, every time they hit a rock, they take that rock, put another, put another thing up. Said that field could not produce a harvest until all that rock got out. And when all that rock got out, that field could produce a harvest. But now, that fence, that rock fence, when the farmer comes out there, don't mean anything to the, don't that old rock fence don't mean anything to me. But there's an old leather-skinned farmer that steps out there. And when he comes through that rock, he comes through that fence, he knows exactly, "Yeah, I had to dig and dig and dig to get that boulder right there out. Yeah, I had to put her deep. I had to put me four mules up to get that rock out right there." But I said, and God will do the same thing for you. If you're not, if you're not being fertile inside of your heart with joy, peace, and righteousness, God is able to help you get that rock out. And you'll put it over to the side and you'll say, "When I used to think about that, I got bitter. When I used to think about that, I felt sorry for myself. When I used to think about that, I got angry with people. But now, through the blood of Jesus Christ, I can look over it, and I can raise my hands and I can give God thanks." Come on, would you give Him some praise right now?
Well, let me, let me bring this to a close. All right. I want, I want to end. I want to end on this. I'm not done. Maybe I'll take it up next week. I'm not done. But men, the responsibility falls on us. The responsibility falls on us. Our wives were not made to carry the load of the leadership. And I know clips of this will be taken by people. I love you. Praying for you. God loves you. And I do mean that. How archaic is what a dictator he is. What a cult leader he is. And I told somebody, they said I was a cult leader. And I said, they said, "We heard that's a cult down there." I said, "I can prove to you that's not a cult." What do you mean? I said, "Give me the definition of a cult." I said, "A cult is a group of people that follow a man and do everything that he says." I said, "Right there, it tells you." [Laughter] Oh, Lord, let me go. But men, it falls on us. God designed us to be leaders. God designed us to be leaders in our home. We are abandoning our position. You know, and I, this, this is the way my brain works. Maybe some of you brothers can help me today. Down at the Thor dealership, Brother Doug, what is it? I can buy a half-ton truck. Can I buy a half-ton truck? Is there a half-ton? What about a one-ton truck? Can I buy? They make a one-ton. Make a one-ton. Is that what you got out there, Brother Perry? One ton. Then there's a half-ton, right? Is there anything below a half-ton? Is there a quarter-ton? No. So a half-ton. What would happen to a truck if I tried to put a ton on a half-ton truck? It's going to break it down. Oh, you might, you, you, you might get across town. You know, it'll go across town like that right there. You might do it once or twice. But sooner or later, what you're putting in that truck, that truck wasn't designed for. And sooner or later, it's going to break. And I'm here to tell you today, and I'm just here to tell you today, when our wives' lives are called upon to be the spiritual leader of our house, there is a weight put on them that they were not designed to carry. Now, over time, it'll break their health down. Over time, it'll break their mental ability down. Over time, Sister Carpenter, it will rob them of their joy. Over time. So men, today, I'm closing with this. Let's step back into our role of leadership and let's begin, begin to lead our family. When things start in the home, that's the time that we address it. And that's the time that we call attention to it. That's the time because God so designed, God so designed the family to put the man in the leadership of the home. And I want every man today that has received this word, every, every man that has received this word, you may not even be married yet, but you're going to get married someday. And you're going to need to remember what Pastor taught this morning. I want every man to stand with me right now that you receive this word, you're physically able, I want you to stand today. You, you receive this word right now. I want you to stand with me now. I want you to walk down to the front of this altar today. I want you to walk down to the altar with me because that's what real men do. Real men don't only just tell, real men show. Real men show today. God, I love you today. Man, I want you to push in as close around the altar as you can. Want you to push in as close as you can up around the altar today. Real men. Oh, it's my house, God. Lord, it's what's going on in my house, God. It's what's going on in my house, God. Oh, it's what's going on in my house, God. Lord, "As for me and my house, we are going to serve God." "As for me and my house, we are going to serve God" today. My Lord. What an army. What an army. What an army. Men of leadership. Men, I'm going to, I'm going to lead. I'm going to lead. I'm going to lead. I'm going to lead. I'm going to lead. I'm going to lead. Wives today, wives, you'd stand with me right now if you'd make your way down. Because after this man, it's you. After this man, it's you. You make your way down if you've received this word today. If you'll make your way down. Lord, I love you today. God, I love you this morning. God, First Lady, I want you to come because I want you to help to pray. I want you to come and help us pray right now. In the name of the Lord Jesus. Now, before I pray over the men, before I pray over the men, I want to tell you of a story that I read of a man that had a large rock, a large rock in his yard. And he had, he didn't have the ability, he didn't have the ability to move the rock. He didn't have enough strength to move the rock. He knew the only way I'll break the rock is to take a sledgehammer and just bust it into pieces. But he hit, and he hit, and he hit, and he hit. He got to where he was counting the times. And he hit, and he'd get a little weary because all he could see on the surface was a few nicks where the sledgehammer was hitting. But on the 100th time of hitting that rock, that rock split wide open. You say, "Was it the 100th time that did it?" No. The first time he hit that rock, deep in the core of that rock, it began to crack. In the core of that rock. And when he was looking at it, giving up and going in for a few days, inside that rock, that crack was getting larger and larger and larger until he finally hit it, his last time, and it cracked open. Can I tell you, said Brother Carpenter, we've done this before. We have. We come down to the altar before. Yes, Wednesday night, Sunday morning, Sunday night. Yeah, we do it over and over and over again. But I got news for you. It is making a difference. The rock is cracking from the inside out. Brother Dove, it is making a difference. Brother Barry, it is making a difference. Men, it is making a difference today. Come on, let's keep swinging today. Let, let's keep trying today. I know I've got hang-ups, and I know I've got failures, and I know I fall many times. But God, I'm getting back up. I want to pray over our men today. Lord Jesus, God, as a pastor of this church, as a spiritual leader, God, the number of homes that are gathered in this altar right now in the name of Jesus Christ, I pray over every man right now. I pray, God, for wisdom. I pray, God, for knowledge. I pray for determination. I pray for a refilling of zeal. I pray for a re-seal, a refilling of burden today. I pray, God, that we step back. Lord, I know that I missed some seasons of my life. Lord, I know that I was asleep while they were in elementary school, and I was asleep spiritually when they were in high school. And now my children are far from God. It's not over, saith the Lord of hosts. It's not over. Right now, I'm going to start swinging again. Right now, I'm going to start trying again. Right now, Lord, forgive me. Lord, I wasn't at my post of duty. But God, you're not going to fire me. I'm back in the game now. I'm back in the play now. I'm, I'm back in here, here now. Lord, I want you to help me, God. I want you to bless the men. I want you to touch the men today. Come on, men, lift up your hands and lift up your voice today. God is going to make a leader out of you. God is going to make, God is going to put the masculine, He's going to put that masculine leadership in you. Come on, men, lift up your voice one more time. The rock is cracking. The rock is cracking right now. The rock is cracking right now. You're going longer without, without that outburst. The rock is cracking right now. You're going longer without that, that, that situation. That rock, that rock is cracking. That rock is cracking right now. You're going longer. You're going longer. You're identifying it. You're identifying it right now. You're going longer. You're going days. You're going days. You're identifying it right now. You're identifying it right now. I will not let this rob my family. I will not let this rob my leadership. I am a Holy Ghost-filled man. I am a Holy Ghost-filled man today. I am the spiritual leader of my home. I pray over my wife right now. I pray over my helpmate right now. I pray over, I pray over them right now.
Listen to me today. Did it not strike you strange? Did it not strike you like you a little strange in the Bible when I read this morning, my opening text? God said, "It is not good for man to be alone." That then it goes into the animal kingdom. Adam named this, and Adam named that, and God brought this, and Adam named that, and all this. And then it says, "But unto Adam, there was not found a helpmate." Do, do you know that what God wrote had that written for is for we men to understand today? Cars, material things, four-wheelers, shotguns, golf clubs, best buddy clubs will never take the place of what God made for you in your wife. She'll be your best friend. She'll help you become a better man if you'll let her speak into your life. She'll help you to become a better man. Men, don't get a, and know you said, "Man, you're, you're grilling the men today." Brother Hy, you better believe I'm grilling the men today because the leadership is us. The leadership is us. She'll make a better man out of you when she points out a character flaw in you. Don't get mad. When she counts, when she picks out a character flaw in you, don't say things like, "You're not my mama. I'm tired of you telling me what to do." When she picks out a character flaw, be man enough. I said, be man enough. Be man enough. It doesn't make you a weaker man. It makes you a stronger man to be man enough to say, "I know it. I know it. I need to work on that. Thank you for calling it to my attention. Thank you for keeping me accountable. Thank you for that." Right there, she'll make you a better man. She'll make you a better man.
Now, right now, women today, women today, you're going to be the, you're going to be the backbone. You're going to be the supporter. You're going to be the helpmate for your family. You're going to be the helpmate. Right now, First Lady, lift your hands up. Pray. Ladies, lift your hands up right now. God, Lord, you called us. Lord, you made us to be the helpmate to our husbands. God, I ask you, Lord Jesus, to help me, Lord, be that feminine counterpart to my husband's masculinity, that together we become more history. How to I'm theck that we will be GL. I'm that together. Help us, Lord, to be, oh God, to His strength. God, God, you've made us the weaker vessel, not mentally, but physically. Lord Jesus, I ask you, Lord, help me, Lord, to be that one that sets the atmosphere of calmness and kindness in our homes. Oh God, that we will lead our children, that we will guide the home. God, that we will instill the fear of You in the hearts of our children. That we will be strength under control. That we will be women under submission. Such a beautiful place, just as You've told our husbands to love us, as You've loved the Church. And what did You do? You came and You died for the Church. God, help us, Lord, as our husbands are dying out and being that example and strength to us, that we will be the calmness and the submission of such a beautiful place. God, that we will guide the home, homes, oh God, and make it an atmosphere of love and of kindness. That we're not busy bodies in the business of other families. That we're not tailbearers. That we will be women that fear You and that we will guide our home as a place of God. That we fear You. That we will train our children, submission, Lord, and that we will teach them Your ways. Oh God, anoint every lady in this place that we truly will abide in our home. Although many of us work jobs outside the home, may we have a spirit that we love our home and that we want it to be a place of calmness and kindness. Lord, give us wisdom to train our children to fear You. Lord, help us to be that example to our children, oh God, that we fear You and that we love You and that we serve You. Touch every sister in this room that we will be a light in a dark world. Anoint our minds and anoint our spirits as we are women that profess godliness. God, help us to betray that, to be that light to our children and to all those that are around us. In Jesus name, we pray. Come on, men. Amen. In Jesus. Come on, women, let's lift our hands up right now. Let's give God praise. Oh yes, God. I love You. Lord. Oh yes, God. Oh yes, God. My God. Oh yes, God. Yes, God. Yes, God. For in my house. For in my. For in. Oh yes, God. Yes, God. God, God, God. Yes, God. My, my. Thank you. I'll be free. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Because you said, "I am free." I am free. No matter how I feel. No matter what I see. Your word is my authority in every season of life. So as for me and my house, we're going to be. Oh, so I will stand up. Fight for my freedom. I will stand up. I stand up. Take what I will worship. I will in my situation. I will my head. Voice my voice. I am free. In my house. In my house. In my house. We're going to be free. My house. Be in my house. My house. Be in my house. My house. Be. I declare for my family. For my heart. For my. For myself. When your word is spoken, no matter what I feel, see, every chain is broken. I declare. I declare it for my. I declare it for my heart. For my. No matter what I feel. No matter what I see. I declare. I stand upon the word of God. I declare my. Daughter. I. I see. I declare. I declare everything. The word of God. No matter what I. I'm going to be free. We're going to be free. Going to the freedoms we believe in. Come on, one more time. Let's love the Lord your God before you're dismissed today. Jesus, we thank You for family. God, we thank You for husbands and wives. We thank You for strong marriages because strong marriages and strong families make a strong church. And we are the Church of the Living God. We're going to leave here today, Lord God, come back tonight ready to worship You, ready to praise You, ready to lift up Your name and hear Your word. In Jesus name, we pray. Somebody said, "Amen." God bless you. Dismissed today in Jesus.