Transcription
God teaches you about living. In fact, I'm going to convince you tonight that the New Testament Church, the New Testament body of Believers, had so graduated in their living for God that being lost and whether they just being saved was far in their rearview mirror. They were way beyond that. They had so graduated that they had so decided to be saved and so decided to sell out for the kingdom of God that what they were working on is what crown they were going to wear in glory. They were doing their best to be rulers over many things where they could attain crowns because they wanted—they truly wanted—to rule and reign with him in heaven. They did not want to go to heaven as a slave girl or a bonds woman; they wanted to go to heaven as a ruler and rule and reign with him, not in some kind of self-importance but out of the sheer joy of being able to serve—serve in eternity with Jesus [Applause] Christ.
All right, so let's talk about this just a little bit. I'm going to tell you if you could get involved in seeking crowns in eternity, it would stop you from all this nonsense of being tempted by every temptation that comes along. James speaks of crowns. James chapter 1 and verse 12. James 1:12. If you could help me out with that right quick, sorry about that. I ended up with two pages here, just about messed me up, but I got it back. James 1:12 said, "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him." James said there's a lot bigger reason to escape temptation than just the fact that you want to be pleasing in the sight of the Lord; there's a crown attached to it. There is a crown given to those that resist temptation, to those that when they're tempted said, "Man, I'm not falling for that. I got higher goals." You know, I'm afraid the reason we hadn't graduated to this is because we really have not convinced ourselves that there's going to be a catching away of the church and there's going to be an eternity and that we're really going to spend a millennial reign with him and we're going to graduate into a new Heaven and a new Earth. I don't know that we really believe that, and if you don't, then you're classified as a non-believer. That's what Jesus kept saying. He said, "The reason y'all are struggling is because you're unbelievers. You really don't believe all this stuff I'm saying." You know, an unbeliever is not just someone that doesn't believe Jesus is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords; an unbeliever is a person that really doesn't see the kingdom. That's what Jesus kept saying. He kept saying, "There are people that can't see my kingdom. They just can't envision it. They just can't wrap their mind around the fact that it's real." They just really believe that this is just an alternate lifestyle, probably a pretty good life to live, you know, you don't get hooked on drugs and alcohol and all that, so I'm a Christian because it's a cleaner lifestyle; it makes me a part of the Christian businessman league, but as far as believing there's actually going to be a catching away of the church and an eternity and all that, I just can't buy into all that. That is the way most Christians live. Wow. Come on. I'm preaching to you here tonight. I'm talking to you here tonight. I'm telling you that there is a—one of the reasons to resist temptation is because there is a crown connected to it.
Yeah. Luke. Luke speaks of a crown. Luke chapter—or are actually eternal rewards. Luke chapter 15 and verse 7. Luke 15:7 says, "I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth more than over ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance." All right, let's look at uh, John. John speaks of crowns in Revelations, actually. Revelations 4 and 10. Revelations 4 and verse 10. He says, "The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns—" Where do they get those crowns? The crowns I'm preaching about tonight. I'm preaching to you about five crowns that's talked about in the Bible that's going to be given to overcomers. And when these crowns are given to these overcomers, it does not mean that you're not going to be saved if you don't have crowns. If you're full of the Holy Ghost, living a clean life and coming to church and all that, uh, uh, you know, you're—you're going to be saved; you're going to make it, but you may go into heaven naked. Wow. But he says there's—there's something else. And let—let me—let me just tell you that if there are levels of crowns and positions being held—being handed out in the glory world, the same is true of hell. Yeah. Yeah. Yes, sir. I—I don't believe the murderer and the rapist is going to be living in the same hell as the little girl that just wouldn't accept Jesus' name baptism or the Oneness of God. Sir, yes, sir. I don't believe the preacher that preached uh, all these years but would not accept the Oneness of God is going to be in the same hell as someone who went on a killing spree across the world. I believe—well, it's getting awful quiet—but he wouldn't be a just God. God would not be a just God if the guy that barely fell into hell because of some rebellion is in the same hell with a guy that broke up six homes, sir, was a whoremonger and destroyed lives and families and children. Right. I believe the abortion doctors who kill thousands of kids over a lifetime is going to receive a level of hell that's going to be different than other people that go there. Well, it's [Music] quiet. Is he a just God? If he's a just God, then there's levels of heaven and there's levels of hell. Hallelujah. I believe everybody that—even whether they serve God for 50 years or whether they serve God for 5 minutes—I believe everybody's going to go to heaven. Everybody gets the same reward for the same penny, but once we get there, I believe the man that sold everything he had and went across the country building churches and built 30 churches in 30 different cities and hundreds and thousands of people received the Holy Ghost because the churches that he built is going to have a whole another level of hell than someone that sat on the pew, struggled all their life, was saved on Sunday and lost by Friday, and thank God Sunday came around and we prayed them through in the altar again and they live their life in and out of righteousness is going to make it, but they're not going to receive the same rewards as the church builder that sold his life out for the cause of Christ. Hallelujah.
So these four and twenty elders fall down before the Lord that sits on the throne and they take their crowns off and they cast them at the feet of Jesus. And so we know that crowns are going to be passed out in the glory world. What constitutes good works? What constitutes good works? Well, let's look at Matthew 5 and verse 16. We're actually going to go to three verses in Matthew—or actually four verses in Matthew before we go on. Matthew 5:16 says, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Matthew 26 and 10. Matthew 26 and 10. When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, "Why trouble ye the woman? For she hath wrought a good work upon me." This is the woman that broke the alabaster box and washed his feet with a precious spikenard ointment and then dried his feet with her hair. Jesus calls both of these—this is Jesus—this is red letter in both of these—he calls these good works. So being a witness is good works. Worship is good works. Matthew 10 and 42. Matthew chapter 10 and verse 42, again red letter: "And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward." Generosity is good works. And he says, "I'm an accurate record keeper, and I'm keeping a record of—of—of your good works. I don't care if it's just bringing a cup of cold water to someone." Hallelujah. It's a good work, and that you're going to receive a reward for it. Do you understand? I want everybody in this house to hear me. The person that vacuums the carpet at this church is getting a reward. All of you that cook on Sunday—all of you that cook on Sunday and work in that kitchen on Sunday and clean up on Sunday—you may think to yourself at times, "Nobody cares about this. Nobody—nobody—nobody's rewarding me. Nobody's giving me any thanks." This verse right here tells you that there is an accurate record keeper in the heavens. He sees every meal that you hand out. He—my Lord, have mercy—you listen to me—he sees the food that you cook. He sees the cakes that you bake. People that say, "I hadn't got time to make a cake. I hadn't got time to come up there and help. I hadn't got time to come up there and clean. I—I hadn't got time to come up to church and do anything like that," you're only cheating yourself. You are—you—you—you have a total misunderstanding of how the kingdom of God works. Man, I just want to ask you right now, there is a reward for someone that brings a cup of cold water and gives it in the name of the Lord. What in the world does a bunch of chicken wings do? Hey, I—I—I'm not preaching this in order to get any more out of you. I'm preaching this to tell you that we're not wasting our—our time. I'm preaching this to tell you that we're not wasting our time. There is a God in the heavens, and he is an accurate record [Applause] keeper, and no one is going to lose their reward. I—I—I thought about all the people before I got here that came up here and made peanut brittle. When I got to this church, this was the peanut brittle-making church. They were up here all night and all day, and I was a young pastor and stupid and didn't have any sense and—and—and shut it down. Two things I didn't realize as a young pastor: number one, there were people in this church that felt like that was the only thing they could do, and I robbed them of their ministry. And the second thing I didn't realize as a young pastor is that they were getting a reward for every peanut they put in a peanut patty. There was a record being made of it. Every hour that they logged at this church. Generosity is not just about money; it's about time, it's about effort, it's about attitude, it's about motive. Now, if you come up here and work so you'll get a reward, that's totally different than working just because you want to see the kingdom of God go forward. Your motive has got to be—I—I—I'm presenting—I—I—I'm wanting to do everything I can to present the greatest church that this community can have, the greatest uh, hospital—spiritual hospital—that this community can have so that this church will be available for everyone that desires God. Had we not made the—the journey that we've made through the last few years, these young men on this front row wouldn't be here. It took a—it took a lot of stuff to get them where they are. It took years of people keeping the lights on. It took years of changes—dispensational changes, attitude changes, mindset changes. There was a lot that had to happen for all of us to be—to be able to worship together. Ten years ago, I would have never believed that on Sunday there could be a—there—there could be a hundred uh, people out of the African-American community in this church. Never believe that. It took years of preaching and reaching and teaching to—to—to blend these congregations. And now tonight in this church, if—if everybody's here, that there's people out of the Spanish-speaking community, out of the Mexican community, there's people out of the African-American community, there's people out of the—the American Indian community—all of that is now represented in this church with a bunch of Europeans, and we're all worshipping together in one mind, in one accord, for one purpose. It took a [Applause]—and all of it worked together. Every bit of it worked together. It took the meals we serve on [Applause] Sunday. What's the difference in—what's the difference in this church when we—when we tell people, "Man, we'll have 75—sometimes 75, 100 guests on Sunday"—in churches that don't serve meals? Somebody said, "Well, well, well, well, you—you—you're bribing them to—to get there with food." No, we're doing the same thing Jesus did all through that Bible. You know what Jesus did? He said, "There's nothing more intimate and there's nothing more sacred—fleshly—that's right—than—than breaking bread together." There's something about sitting down and having a meal together. There is a connection in that that nothing else does. You know, they—they had such a different culture back then, and we're so germaphobic today. I don't know if that's good or bad. I have no idea. I'm not going to get into that tonight, but I know that when they—when they supped together, one of them would literally take a bite out of the bread, dip it in the soup, take another bite out of that same piece of bread, dip it in the soup, and hand it across. And if you were brothers and—and you loved each other, the ultimate test was if you would take that and bite off of it where they had bitten it. That's what Jesus did when he offered Judas the sop. And somebody said, "Well, that's unsanitary." Any more than the Native Americans cutting their hands and mixing their blood. There—there—there was an intimacy connected to sitting down and sharing a meal together. Yes, sir. When you sit down and you share a meal at a table—I don't mean to gross you out—but when you sit there and you share a meal together and you're talking across food, when you get up from that table and you leave, they—you got their DNA in you. There's nothing more intimate than that. There's nothing more—telling someone, "We are brothers. We're connected here. We love each other. We care about each other." And I'm telling you—I'm—I'm teaching you and telling you it took us a long time. It took us a lot of work to get where we are, sir. It took us a long time. I can remember the—the resistance the first time and I—and this is—this is a—listen when I say this, this is not shadowing this church is bad. When I came here, okay, but there was a resistance the first time I said, "This church—where I want to take this church—is a church where every race can worship together under one roof," and the air left the room. We're talking about 27 years ago. The air left the room. Why? Because of the unknown. Not that they didn't want it; it was the unknown. It had never happened before. This was a new idea. This was a new theory. You know, we're—we're way more scared of the unknown than we are anything else. It's not that we're racist; it's that we're afraid of the unknown. We don't know what that means. We haven't seen that. We don't know how to wrap our head around that. But today we've conquered all that, and you know what it took? Work on the part of this church. And let me—let me just tell you right now that there's an accurate record keeper that for 27 years has been writing down every meal that's been cooked. That's right. Every cake that's been baked. Every—every—every piece of money that's been given. Every time you've come to this church and worked and cleaned and scrubbed and built and added on and all of the money—everything that's been given—there is an accurate record. Let me tell you something: not $1 dollar has been overlooked by Heaven. He's an accurate record keeper. Not one hour that's been spent up here working has been overlooked. Not one pack of cheese. Not one bag of chicken wings. Not everything that's been brought to this church. When you came and you marched up here for the purpose—"I want to see my church go forward. I want to see the church do better. I want to see the doors open for the lost"—every time you came up here and clean flowerbeds, worked in the parking lots, all of that to make this thing more appealing to the lost and the dying, I'm telling you God wrote it down, and there will be rewards and there will be crowns in eternity. He shall in no wise lose his—lose his reward. In no wise shall he lose his reward. Matthew 6 and 2. Matthew 6 and 2. "Therefore, when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men; verily I say unto you, they have their reward." And he will go on and—and say, "Let no man steal your reward." Don't let a man rob you of your reward. What does that mean? It means that if you're seeking recognition here on Earth, that's all you get. You better be satisfied with that, 'cause that's all you get. He said, "Don't do that. Don't let your motives be wrong." That's the people whose good works are going to—are going to burn up like wood, hay, and stubble—is the people that was doing it for the wrong motive. That's right. They were doing it for the accolades and—and the—the pat on the back of men. He said, "Don't do that." He said, "You almost want to make sure that people don't find out." My Lord, have mercy. You—you—you—you almost want to go to the extent that no one knows what you're doing. I—I—I've had people uh, tell me before up here that—that they—they just didn't want to do this or that or the other anymore because, you know, nobody ever said anything about it. It just seemed like everybody just overlooked them, and they just, you know, they'd worked—they'd done all this, and it was like nobody cared. I want you to remember this scripture. He said, "I want you to know that—that you—you know of your reward." If people's got to get up and brag on you to keep going—keep you going—if people's got to pat you on the back to keep you going—if people's got to put your name on a board somewhere to keep you going—if there's got to be recognition to keep you doing what you're doing, then I want you to know that you better be happy with the reward that you get on—on Earth because when you stack those good works up and they're tried by fire, they're going to burn up like wood, hay, and stubble, and there's going to be nothing but ash left. But if you're doing it for the kingdom of God—if you're doing it to see the lost saved—if you're doing it because you love God—if you're doing it because you have a vision of his kingdom and you understand what his kingdom means—then you will in no wise lose your reward. God will reward you. God is going to make sure you have a crown. Oh, Holy Ghost. First Corinthians 3 and 15. First Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 15. The greatest enemies to good works is selfishness and laziness. Greatest enemy: selfishness and laziness. You know, I've heard people in this church—I—I—I—I can't go up in there and do all that stuff. I got children. I got kids—as if the rest of us don't. My God. The biggest work we did in this church was when our girls were small. When you see a hundred kids around these altars, I promise you they don't belong to two couples. Everybody in this church has kids. Well, it's quiet. "If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire." Man, you listen to me. I do not want this to happen to me. I do not want this to happen to me. I do not want to get to the judgment seat of Christ and pile up all my works—all the years I pastored, all the Bible studies I taught, everybody that I reached for, all the things I did, all that I gave—all right—and it just burned up. Brother A.R. Walters, because the Lord said, "Well, you got your reward, man. They was bragging on you and patting you on the back and telling you how great you preached, what a great guy you were, and—and all the things that you gave—you gave—you gave—you didn't give to see the kingdom of God go—go forward. You gave so that you'd outdo some other church somewhere. You—in competition with area pastors—and so a lot of good things happened, but they had—but you had the wrong motive, and you strutted around at count meeting 'cause you had a big church," yeah, and you gave and all that so y'—you could build the building so you could show it off to everybody, be the biggest thing in the South. You didn't love souls. You didn't care about people. You cared about your own reputation and all that. I've lived my life for—I watch burn away, and after my years of preaching and being in the ministry, I walk into heaven without a crown, and I pass prayer warriors that sat on a pew, never had a mic in their hand, never taught a Sunday school class, but they prayed hundreds of people into the kingdom, and they walked by me with crowns stacked up on their head, and the Lord said, "Well, well, at least you're saved. You got all your rewards on Earth, but nobody ever said a word about her. Nobody ever thanked her for their—her prayers. Nobody ever appreciated one prayer she prayed. Nobody—nobody—nobody realized when their children and their daughters and their cousins and their family was praying through—nobody realized that it wasn't their prayers, it was her prayers that did that, sir. And I'm an accurate record keeper, and I will not let her sit—oh, my God—I will not let her sit by unrewarded for the sacrifices that she made." I'm telling you God's an accurate record keeper. He is a just God, and I'm telling you the—the—the—the sinners that created the most havoc is going to have the hottest hell, and I'm telling you those that did the most for the right motives and the right purposes will receive rewards and crowns in the glory world. And if he doesn't, he is not just, and he is an accurate record keeper. And you know what he said? "I'm writing it down every time you rise up, every time you sit down, I'm making another—" That's what he said. I won't take time to go there tonight, but he said, "I know the hairs of your head. I've got them counted. I know when you rise up. I know when you sit down. I know when you go in, and I know when you come out. I know when you sleep, and I know when you work. I know where you were born, and I know where you live. I'm keeping a record of everything you do because I am a just God. I'm a just God." Hallelujah. John writes in Revelations 3:10 and 11. Look at this. John writes in Revelations chapter 3—I'm watching the clock—stay with me, please. Revelations chapter 3, verse 10 and 11: "Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown." You know what he said? You know what he's saying here? He's saying, "I'm speeding up my coming, and I'm gonna get you out of there because the closer I get to the coming of the Lord, the greater the temptations are going to come, and you're going to have people you work with and you'll have family members and you're going to be surrounded with people that don't like your church and don't like your religion and don't like what you are. They want you mixing and mingling with them—the things of this world. They want the things of this world to become more important than church. And if you let that happen, they'll take your crown away from you." If I'm not number one, you're not getting a crown. "Behold, I come quickly." He says, "Listen"—that's what—look back—back up—let's look at this—y'all not buying into this, but I'm telling you that's what this verse says. Back up, verse 10: "Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation." What's he saying? He's saying the last hour is going to be the one where—where people are going to lose out. The closer we get to the coming of the Lord, the harder it's going to be to be saved, man. We got screens. We got phones now. We got—we're more entertainment driven than we've ever been. We got jobs that won't let us come to church. We got businesses that want to knock us out of the house of God. All of it is competition to try to make the things of this world more important than God. He said, "But I'm going to keep you from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth." He said, "Because I love you, when the temptation gets bad, I'm going to take you out of here." But until that catching away takes place—verse 11—until that catching away takes place, you better watch—you better be careful, and you better hold on to faithfulness. Don't let the people you work with—don't let your family—you—you know what he said? You know what he said to be saved? I don't have time to go there, but you go look it up. You know what he said to be unsaved? You know who he said is going to be your greatest enemy in being saved? Your family—the people of your own house that are not Christians. He said that's what's—who's going to cost you your soul. The people of your own house is going to be your enemy. That's what he said. You better hang on. Hold fast. Grab on to this thing. Don't let anything upset your faithfulness. I'll get you out of here with a catching away of the church, but you hold on. Don't let any man rob you of your crown. [Applause] They're going to be trying—your family, your parents, your own father, the people you work with—they're going to rob you of your crown. You're going to go into heaven naked if you're not [Music] careful. Hallelujah. Again, James talked about crowns. Paul talked about crowns. Luke talked about crowns. So in a broad spectrum, the New Testament writers—we see crowns referenced. It's evident that crowns were ever at the foremost of the Apostles' minds. That's why they didn't struggle with backsliding. They weren't just trying to be saved. You know this concept of crowns—if you can wrap your head around it—of having a crown, receiving crowns, going into heaven and being made ruler over provinces, to rule and reign with Christ and wearing crowns as kings. And he said, "I'm going to—I'm going to make you kings and priests." Is that what he said? "I'm going to take you to a place where you're going to rule with me as kings and priests. I'm going to put crowns on your head and make you rulers over provinces." If you could get a hold of that concept and start working toward that, you would stop this mess of—"Well, will this make me go to hell? Well, is this going to make me be lost?" Right? You know that an attitude of people that just—they just want the gate to click behind their heels. They—they just want to barely get into heaven, dragging as much of the world with them as they can, being as unfaithful and ungodly and sinful and friends with the world as they can—the gate just barely cut the back of their sandals. Come on. Come on. The reason you're doing that—you don't even have a concept of what heaven's going to be. It's going to be floating around on clouds, naked as a cherub, playing a harp. It's going to be rulers and reigning over provinces—kingdoms. He said, "Why would you want to be a big man around town down here and not be a big man around town up there? This is going to pass away. This is going to be taken away from you. I'm wanting to make you a big man or big woman about town in heaven—in the glory world—he said—where—where it can't be taken from you. Robbers can't steal it from you." Let's talk about—just one second—8:27. I still got time. I got five crowns I'm going to cover right quick, okay? The first crown: Second Timothy 4 and 8. Second Timothy 4 and verse 8. "Henceforth there is laid up for me—there is waiting on me," he said, "I know I've got it." This is Paul writing to Timothy. He says, "I know I've obtained it. Yeah, I've got a crown waiting on me—of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." My God, have mercy. The only way—see, the reason they call this the crown of righteousness is the only way you can love his appearing is you got to be living righteous. If you're not living righteous, his appearing scares the living pudding out of you. A simple test to see if you're living in such a way to receive a crown is to judge your response to the Lord's sudden appearance. Are you ready? If he comes right now—right now—are you ready, or would you say, "Hang on. Could you put it off 10 minutes? Let me go to that altar. I got some stuff I need to straighten out"? Then you're not going to get a crown. You've got no crown because this is a crown given to people that—that live righteous all the time. They don't have to be scared to death Jesus is coming back. They do it because they understand, "I don't want this world. This world can't give me a crown. This world will steal my crown. This world will send me to hell. I might not even make it. I'm—I'm living righteous because I want to rule and reign with him. I want a crown. I want to spend eternity with the Lord." Yes, sir. What does his—the thought of his coming right now—do to you? And somebody said, "Well, you know, I—I—I deal with a lot of stuff. I—I'm a big business owner. I'm—I'm this or I'm that, and—and when I get to heaven, I'm going to explain to the Lord—" You—you're not. No. Isaiah 6 says angels that have never committed sin, when they go into his throne room to stand before him, they take wings and cover their face—to cover their face—to cover their body all the way down to their feet, and they won't even look at him because of his righteousness. These are angels who have never told a lie. They've never deceived anybody. They've never thought about stepping out on their spouse. They've never had beer in their belly. They've never had drugs in their veins. They've never had nicotine between their lips, but yet they can't even look on God. And John the Revelator, who was translated by God—he was so righteous—he was translated by God to write—write the last book of the Bible miraculously and prophetically—when he stood before him, fell on his face as one that were dead and couldn't even answer him. And you going to bust up in there and explain stuff to him? I don't think so. But there is a crown given to people that keep themselves righteous. There is a crown given to those who live so righteously that every day that they live they say, "Woo, I hope this is the day that the Lord comes back. I hope this is the day that the Lord returns. Maybe this can be the day that he comes back and gets us out of this evil place. Oh, I'm looking—I'm rejoicing. Oh, is that the trumpet that's about to sound?" There's a crown of righteousness. I wonder if there's anybody here that could jump up and say, "I'd like to have that crown. I'd like that to be my crown. I—I—I want that to be my—my crown. I—I want a crown of righteousness." My God. Woo. My Lord, have mercy. I want that crown. I got to move on because I'm running out of time. The—the—the second crown is the crown—the victor's crown. It's called the crown of mastery. It's the—it's the victor's crown. First Corinthians chap 9:25-27. First Corinthians uh, ch 9:25-27: "And every man that striveth for mastery is temperate in all things." All right. Every man that striveth to master his flesh gets to the point that there's some things he don't fool with. We got this—these Pentecostals now that say there's nothing wrong with social drink. Well, well, "I just took a little sip. I just got a little—little for my stomach's sake before I go to bed at night." What about the guy that needs a little—little suck of marijuana before he goes to bed? What about the guy just needs a little—little crystal meth to get up in the morning? You're temperate in all things. You—in other words, you leave it alone because there's a bigger goal. I'm not trying to fit into this world; I'm trying to fit into that world. Can—can I ask you something? Why—why would we throw away—you—you—you know, before I—I know this as a—as a—as a pastor, and I love these kids and I'm proud of them and all that, but you got to get about 18 or 20 before you really wrap your head around the concept of what we're doing. So why would you throw—what—what does that reduce us down to? The average person—about 60 years. Why would you throw the glory world away for just 60 short years here on Earth? Why would you do that? Why would you throw eternity away? I mean, just the millennial reign is going to be a thousand years. Just the millennial—in the millennial reign—that's kind of like the—introductory to eternity. That's introducing you to—that's the first 1%. The thousand-year millennial reign is the first 1% of you ruling and reigning forever with him
Church. I don't know about the I don't know. I understand the salvation of these people that the least little things that happen, they quit; they give up. They see inconsistency, and so they stop. They see inconsistency in Christians, and so they quit. I'm just going to tell you, as the pastor of this church, if I quit every time I saw inconsistency, I'd be an alcoholic. You listen to me. I've seen inconsistency in just about everybody I pastor at some time or another. But you know what? I know. I know that I—it's not about us being perfect; it's about Him being [Applause] perfect. And I'm just thankful that when I look over—overlook inconsistencies in others, that maybe one day they'll have enough kindness to overlook inconsistency in me. Right. It bothers me—the people that have—it troubles my spirit—the people in this church that have left this church because they saw inconsistency in me.
I've had people leave, and they turn around and point this—it's Brother Copeland's fault; he did this or that, or he didn't rule properly on this and that. And I promise you, when they were coming into the church, right, I can always remember all kind of things I did for them, to help them—all kind of things I overlooked in them when they were coming in. Hallelujah. Anyhow, but they don't turn around and give me the same privilege. I preached a message a while back, and I'm going to preach it in this church—the this Church offers you the privilege to make a mistake. It offers you the privilege to mess up. That's why there's an altar here. That's why there's an altar here. That's why we give an altar call every Sunday. We give an altar call every Tu—there's several opportunities a week for mistake makers—to run into an altar. I said mistake makers; I didn't mean people that had set it in their heart to do sin—set it in their heart to live evil—that's iniquity. I'm talking about mistakes—when you have a wrong judgment, when you say the wrong thing, when you do the wrong thing, when you mess up—there's an altar. This Church offers the privilege to make a mistake.
There's going to be persecution, brother. I want—I want to tell each and every one of you, if you can be persecuted out of the church, you will be. If you can be persecuted out of the church, it's going to happen. If inconsistencies, being sinned against, being lied to, being hurt, and being wounded will knock you out of the church—if you hadn't got more gospel than that—if you've got not more—not got more Holy Ghost than that—it's going to happen. I'm telling you, you will wind up on the rocks of Despair and backsliding somewhere. You got to make—make up in your mind that I'm going to—because I love the Lord—I'm going to endure persecution and temptation to give up and to quit. And the Bible says there's going to be a crown for that. There's going to be a crown for it. Yes. James says, in fact, "Brethren, count it all joy when you fall into diverse Temptation, knowing that this is the trying of your faith." My God, blessed is the man that endured Temptation, for when he has tried—listen—he shall receive a crown of life. But you can't get the crown until you've endured the [Applause] tempting. And he says the person that's shooting for the crown—understand this—you know what Jesus said? Jesus said, "Offenses must come." You're going to be tried. It's going to be seen if you can be knocked out of the church. It's going to be seen if you can be made to give up. But if you hang in there, if you count it all joy, if you say to yourself, "Man, God must really trust me—to trust me with this kind of Temptation. God must really have confidence in me to let me be hurt like this, to let me be offended in this way. He must know I've got the rug Goods in me. He must know I've got Steel in [Applause] me." Count it all joy, man. There's always going to be that Temptation—"Well, I guess I need to go to another church. So and so didn't speak to me. It didn't seem like so and so treated me right." I've literally had people in this church come to me and say, "So and so don't like me. It's been obvious to me for years they don't like me." And then me go to that very person, without revealing anything to them, and—and just, you know, in a slick way bring them up, and they said, "Oh, you know, I—I boy, I really like them. They, you know, I ought to spend more time around—you know, I pass them in the aisle, all that. But we're—boy, we're so busy with life. I—I need to invite them—have them over sometime." And it's obvious when I get through talking to them that there's not one thing between those two people except a lying devil—somebody wants to knock them out of the church. Really, what that Devil's trying to do—he's trying to steal your crown. For when he's tried—when he's tried—he shall receive the Crown of Life. When he's tried—you got to be tried to get the crown. And you think about this—you—you think—you think about Christians in China. They're being martyred. They're being killed for the Gospel's sake. You—you think about—you think about Christians—man, I got to hurry—but you—you think about Christians in Russia. You think about the Christians in North Korea. You—what do you think about the Christians in North Korea tonight? You think their biggest worry is that they went to church and so and so across the aisle didn't speak to them or didn't say anything to them, and there just seems like there might be something between them? You think that's their biggest worry in North Korea tonight? No, that's not their—their biggest worry in North Korea is that a soldier is going to come in and take every one of their heads off when they catch them worshipping underground. They don't care who speaks to them and who don't. They don't care who invites them to Pizza Hut. They don't worry about—"Well, it seems like they—too—hang out all the time. Well, I guess you got to have the right name, the right bank account to get in their club." They're not worried about that in Russia. They're not worried about that in—that's first world baby. And if that's your biggest worry, you're a crybaby Christian—titty baby Christian. We need to give you suck. We need to find some Mama to put you on the tit tonight. You need some real problems. You need some real issues. You got to be tried if you're going to wear the Crown of Life. You got to be tried if you're going to wear the Crown of [Applause] Life. Get over it. Get over it and understand it's going to take some steal. It's him that endures to the end—the same shall be saved. There's got to be some endurance in you. If you're looking for reasons to quit, you'll find it. If you're looking for reasons to jump out, you'll find it. If you're looking for reasons to leave, you'll find it. If you're looking for reasons to quit, you'll find it. But if you're looking for reasons to rule and reign with Him in the glory world, you can find that [Applause] too.
I think about kids in this church—and I'm almost done—be seated. I think about kids in this church that come right by themselves. They live in houses where there's beer in the refrigerator, booze in the cabinets, drugs in their parents' bedrooms, walking in the bathroom watching Mama's and Daddy's mainline drugs, and they come to church and live for God. They walk in here with one suit, one pair of shoes, one necktie—people have to pick them up for church—and they come to church and they live for God. And then big old blubbering babies that's had the Holy Ghost for 30 years going to quit because some so and so don't like me. Well, I think so and so has a problem with me. I just don't know if I can go to church. You better put your big pats [Applause] on. Him that endures to the end—that's who's going to be saved—and there's a Crown of Life for him that when he's tempted, he stays faithful. When he wants to give up—biggest worry I hear in the church is—"Well, I don't know what they're going to think about me now. Well, I don't know what they're going—what they're going to think about it." Doesn't matter, man. You want to go—you want to go to church in the Philippines where a guerrilla Warfare comes in in the middle of the service, starts shooting people down with machine guns? I've been there—not where it actually happened, but I've seen the holes in the walls. I've seen the clothes—one of the biggest testimonies I've ever seen, man. I should have had Brother Mallarie bring them right here to this church—Church. G. Gordon Mallaries in the Philippines, having church, preaching, and Guerrilla Warfare—they walk in with machine guns to just start mowing everybody down in the church, they thought. But guess what? Nobody bled, and nobody fell. And Brother Mallarie collected the clothes; he brought them. I saw them; I held them in my hands, weeping—bullet holes riddled the clothes, shirts and pants, but the bullets went right through the people. Yeah, one man had his mouth open praying; his eyes were closed; he was so into worship he didn't even realize it happened. And when he closed his mouth, he closed his teeth down on one of the bullets. I held that bullet in my hand. I saw the picture of it between his teeth at the end of that night. It was the Gorilla War—the gorilla Warriors that took off—run—they dropped their guns and took off running. They'd never seen anything like that before, of course. They thought it was witchcraft. But one of the sad things that happened is when another time that they came in, they grabbed one of our missionaries' infant babies out of the Mama's arms and turned around and hit that baby's head against a concrete wall. And she stood there and watched that baby—that infant's lifeless body—lay in the floor as the brains of that baby ran down that concrete wall. And you going to stand up and tell God in judgment—"Well, I left that church 'cause it just didn't seem like people treated me right. They didn't seem like people liked me. Well, so this happened, and that happened, and I had to leave because this happened, and I was deeply wounded, and I was deeply hurt." You better wake up. Jesus said, "Offenses must come." We're going to find out what you're made out of. We're going to find out if you really got the steal—if you really got the goods. You're—you're going to be tried. But I tell you what—if you—if you—if you can make it—if you can make it through—there's a crown for you. There's a Victor's Crown—number four—there's a crown of Joy. I got 10 minutes. There's a crown of Joy. This is referred to as the Soul Winner's Crown. I don't have time to go into it, but I'm telling you, you're not wasting your time winning Souls. You're not wasting your time uh—or organizing small groups. You know what you ought to do if you're sitting in this church—"Where do I fit? Where do I fit?" Start you a small group. Get involved in winning Souls. Get involved in and teaching Bible studies to everyone that calls people and checks on people—to everyone in this church that encourages people, pays for people's dinner or lunch—o—o—over here when the guests come to service, goes and sees people and checks on them. I'm telling you, there is a crown of Joy—a Soul Winner's Crown—that's going to be given to you. 1 Thessalonians 2:19 and 20. First Thessalonians—for what is our hope, our joy, our crown of rejoicing, are not even in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ in his coming? Verse 20—"For ye are our glory and our joy." Who's he talking to? He's talking to the new converts—those that—those that are just coming into the church—those that are being won into the church. He says, "Y—you're our Crown." I'm going to get a crown for winning you to God. I'm telling you, to every person that's taught Bible studies, to every person that—that—that's reached people, called people—there is a crown—a Joy Crown—a Soul Winner's Crown. Lift your hands and thank God. Come on, somebody. I want to wake you up to the fact that there's more to just—just Heaven and Hell—to go into church. There's more that just—"Am I going to be lost or saved in going to church?" I got to get done. Last one—last one—is a crown of faithfulness—a crown of faithfulness. 1 Peter, chapter 5, verses 4-6. 1 Peter, chapter 5—musicians come, please. I'm going to close. "And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, you shall receive a Crown of Glory that fadeth not away." That's the beauty of these crowns, brother—nobody can take them from you. "Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the Elder; yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and he giveth grace to the humble." Next verse—"Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time." When is that exalting going to happen? That exalting is going to happen in the glory world—that's when you're going to be exalted. And this isn't just talking to preachers—those that preach in prison, nursing homes, visit the hospitals, help round up strays—one of the biggest Ministries I know of in this church is people that look around and see people that are missing and call them and go check on them. Somebody needs to make that their Ministry. The Bible says there's going to be a Shepherd's Crown given to you—not as a pastor and an over Shepherd, but an under-shepherd—someone that Shepherds God's people. You care about God's people—there's going to be a Shepherd's Crown that's going to be given to you. It is my prayer that tonight I've woken up a desire in your heart to do more than just live on this deal—"Well, can I do this and still be saved? Can I do that? Can I get that in my life and still—still make it to Heaven? I hope I can shift a gear in you tonight, and you literally step up to a higher play—filled that what your mind is made up from here on out is that I'm going to rule and reign with Him in glory. I got my eye on some provinces—not after out of Pride—but man, if it's offered, that's what I want. I want the privilege of ruling and reigning with Him. Yes, sir. I want to wear a robe—yes—and a crown. Do you understand that this a possibility for people to wait—to—to—to have a bunch of crowns? When you look at these—I know people that's going to have everyone of them. And people don't wear crowns all the time. It don't mean that you're going to walk around Heaven with crowns stacked up on your head. I've never seen the Queen of England with her crown on. She don't wear it when she goes out in public. She don't wear it when she's speaking. There's only certain situations in which she sits on that thr—throne with that crown on. But somewhere in your office or your mansion or your throne room—if you're given to rule over provinces and kingdoms—there's going to be crowns stacked up behind you—crowns that's been given from the Lord. But the Bible says really what's going to happen is when we Behold Him that we're going to take those crowns and we're going to cast them at His feet and say, "I'm not worthy. It was You that made me worthy." Stand together and lift your hands—everybody in this house—heads bowed, eyes closed, hands lifted. Would you let the Holy Ghost speak to your heart right now in the last moments of this service? Come on. Come on. In the last moments of this service, would you let the Holy Ghost talk to your heart? Come on, everybody here reaching out. God, I'm praying for every person in this building right now, and I'm praying that You would put in their heart a deep desire—a deep desire, God—to step up to something in Your Kingdom, God—to graduate from this deal of—"Can I do this? Can I do that? Can I still be saved if I do this? Can I still be saved if I wear this?" Go there, God. I pray that this congregation becomes such a mature congregation that there's no lust in their flesh and their desire—that nothing of this world is more important to them than ruling and reigning with You. Come on, somebody reach out right now. I'm asking You, God, to put a desire in their heart—hearts—for bigger things and higher things. God, I want to wear a robe and Crown. I want to spend eternity with You in the glory World. Come on, somebody cry out right now. We got about two, three minutes. We're going to dismiss this service, but God wants to talk to your heart at the end of this message. God wants to speak to you in this house tonight. Come on, let the Holy Ghost speak to you. Come on, let the Holy Ghost wake something up inside of you tonight—tonight. God, give me a desire to work in Your [Music] kingdom. Give me a desire, God, to apply myself to Kingdom cause. [Music] Come on. The Holy Ghost is speaking right now. Come on. The Holy Ghost is talking to you. Come on. Reach out. Reach out. Reach out. Reach [Music] out. God, in Jesus' name. Will—instrument—want to empty myself—available to You—let me be—let me be a willing vess—be a willing vess—yes, Lord. He that will invest You can—He—Holy Ghost, go make me a willing vessel—vessel You can use, God. In Your Name. Lord, I want to be will—the instrument—why don't you pray for somebody around you in the last moment if it's appropriate? Come on. The Holy Ghost is moving in this house. Just reach over and pray with somebody right now. Let me will, God. Let me set my eyes on higher attainment, God—so much more than just being saved, God. Oh, God, I want to be something in Your kingdom. I want to be willing—Holy Ghost can use—Lord, make me—make me a soul winner, God—the instr—make me faithful, God. I would empty up, God, in Your name—be aailable—let me be that—with—be willing—bless—yes, Lord—be willing—bless you. Oh, I want—be willing. Come on, wake up a hunger, God. Wake up a hunger in every heart. Wake up a hunger and every Spirit—every heart—every mind, God. Make us want more, Lord. Be available—make us want more, God. Will—oh, will—want—de—we're—we're about to be dismissed, but without any music, could we just for a few moments just entertain the Holy Ghost? We're about to be dismissed, but I—eyes closed—Hearts lifted—I want you to just entertain the spirit for just a moment here. Come on. Come on. Come on. Something's trying to happen in the spirit. Come on. God's calling you to a higher level. Come on. God's calling you to higher desires. He's calling you to deeper consecration. He's saying, "I got something big for you." Come on. Can you hear God calling you? Can you hear the call of the spirit? I don't want to just barely make it, God. I don't want to just be saved. I want to rule and reign with You in heaven, man. If You got crowns to pass out, God, I want one. Yes, my God. There's something trying to happen in this place. I'm not trying to hold you. I'm about to dismiss you, but there's something big trying to take place right now. Come [Applause] on, my God. Do you feel what's happening in this place? Woo. Jesus. Jesus. [Music] Jesus. E. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. E. E. My God. Would you lift your hands and thank the Lord for speaking in this house tonight? Come on. He talked to us. Well, this was real. It's what I was waiting on. It's why I had the music stopped. The Holy Ghost spoke to me that He wanted to speak—you just heard the voice of God in this house. He wants to take us places. We got to lay aside the world. We got to lay aside ever—wait—there's not much time left—and He wants to take us [Music] there, my God. [Music] My God. In the Name of Jesus. Holy Ghost. Holy Ghost. God bless you tonight. Please don't forget family prayer tomorrow night, classes, and breakout sessions. I love you. I pray that you take this home with you. It's my prayer that you take this home with you and pray about it—seek the Lord over [Music] it. You're dismissed, in Jesus' name. God bless you.