Transcription
Uh, mine's looking clean. Um, praise the Lord, everybody. Let's stand together in the house of the Lord. What a great thing it is to be in God's house on Tuesday night. And, uh, I'm very thankful that God has protected us and kept us through what could have been tragic. But God, God took care of us, and for that, I'm very grateful. So glad to have each and every one of you in the house of God tonight, and we're looking for great things in God's house. Did anybody come ready to hear the word of the Lord? Did anybody come to receive from His word?
[Applause]
Why don't we lift our hands together and just thank God for this opportunity? Jesus, dear Lord, thank you. Thank you for the opportunity to be in Your house. Thank you, God, for the opportunity to lift You up and worship You in the beauty of holiness. I'm asking You, God, to reign in the tabernacle tonight and let us see the glory of the Lord in this place. In Jesus' precious name, would you give the Lord a good handclap of praise all across the building, praising Him together? God bless you. You can be seated. Worship together. Let's have church in Jesus' name. Give thanks to the Lord our God and King. His love endures, for He is good. Come on, before He is good, He's above all things.
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
Lift your hands, lift your voice.
[Music]
Forever.
[Music]
[Music]
Will carry all His love.
[Music]
[Music]
Is.
[Music]
[Music]
[Applause]
Thanksgiving.
[Music]
Is.
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
Yeah, His love.
[Music]
His love.
[Music]
Yes.
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
Here's.
[Music]
Is.
[Applause]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
Praise the Lord, church. Hallelujah. Our God is faithful. You can return to your seat if you'd like to. You can stay standing if you'd like to. Up for whatever you'd like to do. I'm going to try to get the next singer up quickly, but I, I want to tell you how God is faithful. The Bible tells us that He's faithful and just. Says He's going to cleanse us. Says He's going to wash us. Let me tell you a little bit about what's called the imposter syndrome. When a man or a woman goes to school for a long time and they get a degree of some sort, or maybe even a, a man starting a business, a doctor, let's say, goes to school for eight to 12 years depending on their, their field, and they do all this, and they complete all the tasks, and they, they finally get that graduation, they get that diploma, they get those licenses, and they, they step into their field of operation. And, and soon after they step into that field, they begin to feel like they're an imposter. You know, all these new responsibilities have been laid on them, and, and their mind, and it just goes to them and starts telling them lies and saying, "You don't really know what you're doing. You know, you, you really got that doctorate degree, you've got that title, but you really don't know what you're doing." It goes for educators, it goes for businessmen, it's across the board. It works the same way. When you get in the church, when you get the Holy Ghost, God cleanses you. When you're baptized in Jesus' name, you're forgiven of your sins, and you're completely equipped to, to do everything you need for God. But a short time after that, the devil comes and he starts telling you, "You can't do this," especially when the doctrine begins to be preached and, and those things seem hard. But let me tell you, our God is faithful. We cannot do it of our own.
[Applause]
And that's why we have to be a church. I'm telling you tonight, with all these new faces, the devil is going to lie to you and tell you that you can't do this. But you can. You can because our God is faithful. You can because when you were baptized in Jesus' name, all your sins were washed away. You can because when you received the gift of the Holy Ghost, speaking in other tongues, you became a new creature. You are not what you once were. You are now something new in God. And because God is faithful, you are not an imposter. You can serve the kingdom of God. I'm so thankful to be a part of a church. I'm so thankful to be a part of a church where the devil cannot lie. He can try, but our God will always prevail. Thank you so, so much for being at Pine Grove Pentecostal Church tonight. We hope you have a wonderful time, and we hope the Lord does something mighty for you. Worship with them as they sing.
[Music]
If anybody knows about the love of Jesus.
[Music]
Anybody knows about the love of Jesus.
[Music]
If anybody knows of Jesus.
[Music]
Love of Jesus.
[Music]
He gave me answers. He.
[Music]
Struggling to find my place. I heard the sweetest song. Said to me from.
[Music]
About the grace of.
[Music]
Knows Jesus. The grace.
[Music]
Myself.
[Music]
Is.
[Applause]
[Music]
If anybody knows Jesus.
[Music]
Yes.
[Music]
[Music]
In Jesus' name. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. If everybody would return to your seats. Please remain standing. If I could get a few ushers, we're gonna, we're gonna allow everybody to give everybody an opportunity to be blessed tonight. Our God is so good to us. I'm so thankful. Brother Frederick, I honor you, sir. I, I, I really appreciate you. I'm so thankful for the ministry that you're helping us with here. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. I'm going to pray for this offering, and if everybody would just march joyfully and enjoy the music, worship our God, and let's get ready. Let's get our minds right for the, for the preaching that's going to be coming forth. Lord Jesus, we thank You so much. God, we thank You so much for a church, for a place we can come to worship. We thank You for, for the ability and, and the desire to give unto this offering. Lord, we ask that You bless every bit of it, Lord, and it's in Your name we pray. In Jesus' name. Worship with them as they sing.
[Music]
Come, let us. Let us.
[Music]
[Music]
Oh.
[Music]
Is.
[Music]
You'll be faithful forever.
[Music]
For Your promises.
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
Oh Jesus.
[Music]
Hallelujah.
[Music]
Hallelujah.
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
You've been faithful through every storm.
[Music]
You have done great things.
[Music]
[Music]
Oh Jesus.
[Music]
Things.
[Music]
[Laughter]
[Music]
[Applause]
I thank you. Praise the Lord. God bless you. You can be seated. Lyndon, were you about to sing? Are you sure? Was he about to sing? Okay. I thought I jumped ahead. I sure don't want to do that. I'm glad to be in the house of the Lord tonight, aren't you? I want to say a great big thank you to Brother Tommy Parker. He worked very hard so that we could have service tonight. During the storm that we had yesterday, there was an electrical surge that coursed through this church and threw breakers all over the building. He had to reset the screens. He and Brother Wesley Bradley had to take this screen apart completely and put it back together today, right up until church time, to make sure everything was in working order. So thank you so much, Brother Parker, for having a burden and working together to make this service possible. I, um, I want to go to the word, and I feel such a, such a burden to teach tonight. I feel up, I feel an incredible burden to, uh, to teach. I'm glad each and every one of you are here. I'm thankful that you, it was important to you to be in the house of God tonight. It's not important to everyone to be in God's house, and I'm thankful it was important to you to be in God's house tonight. I want to go to, uh, Acts chapter 17 and verse 30 for your consideration tonight. Acts, the 17th chapter and the 30th verse. "And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent." And at the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth, commandeth all men everywhere to repent. God bless you. You can be seated. Would you lift your hands and ask the Lord to talk to our hearts for a few minutes tonight? Would you do that? Would you ask God to open your mind and your heart and your spirit? Jesus, dear Lord, in Your name, I'm asking You, God, to speak to our hearts, our minds, our spirits tonight. Talk to us, God. Get a hold of us, Lord. Shake us in mind and heart. In the name of Jesus, we praise You and we give You glory. We are so thankful. We're so thankful. I would like to go to Hosea chapter 4 and verse 6. Hosea, the fourth chapter and the sixth verse. While you're turning there, I'm going to announce my subject. And my subject tonight is going to be cosmos. K-O-S or K-O-S-M-O-S. Cosmos is what I'm going to be talking to you about for a few minutes tonight. Cosmos. I know that I'm approaching this a little bit slow tonight, but I want to, I want to know that when I talk to you tonight, that I am headed in the, in the right direction. There's so much around in my mind tonight that I want to discuss with you that, um, I'm just a little bit hesitant to launch out. "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing that thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children." That is a troubling passage of scripture. That passage of scripture disturbed me. I am, I'm troubled, troubled by this verse. I want to read it one more time because I want you to really comprehend it. One of the, one of the statements that Brother Balastero has made several times at this church that has stuck out to me and really, really, really shook me in its truth, its simple truth, is that God plays Simon Says. Whatever you do, that's what He does. In other words, you, He allows you to set the rules for how He's going to play the game of life with you. But that's after He makes the offer. "Come, let us reason together: though your sins be as scarlet, I can make them white as snow; though they be red like crimson, I'll make them like wool." But then He goes on to say, "But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." What is God saying? God's saying, "I'm gonna, I'm gonna play the game of life with you as you desire." But here's the condition: if you want Me, you've got to do it with all of your heart and soul and mind and strength. The only way I play the game of life with you is I want all of you. You've got to sell out 100%. You can't bargain shop at the altar of salvation. It takes a total sellout. Here's how Jesus says it: "He that will, he that will give his life for My sake will find it: but he that saves his life back from Me will lose it." And so He says, "Here's the deal: My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing that thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children." What a, what a passage of scripture. Psalms 119 and 115. Psalms 119 and verse 15. Are y'all, are y'all ready to go into this a little bit tonight? I want to talk to you about cosmos. Psalms 119 and verse 15. "I will meditate in thy precepts: and have respect unto thy ways." We're a hundred verses off. We need to go to 115. 119 and 115. It's kind of a long chapter. Psalms 119 and verse 115. While they're going there, Matthew Henry's heart, the heart of a man is narrow. It's so narrow that it cannot contain two loves. The world draws down the heart from God, so that the more the love of the world prevails, the more the love of God dwindles and decays. The Spirit of God in true Christians is opposed to the spirit of the world, and if the same is true, then the opposite is also true, that the more a man falls in love with God, the more the love of this world dwindles. "Depart from me, ye evildoers; for I will keep the commandments of my God." "Depart from me, ye evildoers; for I will keep the commandments of my God." It is important who you listen to. Important who you run with. It is important who your confidences are. It's important who you spend your time with. Revelation 17 and 5. For one more passage, and then we're going to get started. Revelation chapter 17 and verse 5. Sunday, I introduced to you a man by the name of Nimrod, and we're going to talk a little bit again about Nimrod tonight. "And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." And upon her forehead a name was written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and the Abomination, or Abominations of the Earth. We are swiftly approaching. We are swiftly approaching a separation of two worlds. I want you to know that we're on a collision course with the last days. We are swiftly approaching the last days that will be earmarked, little by little, of separation, drastic separation between church and state. You must understand this. This is why I continue to come to you and tell you, you can't cast allegiance too much with any kingdom of this earth. I'm going to be the best citizen I can be while I'm here, but there is a trap of falling into of loving this world too much. Somewhere you got to decide, "I'm in this world, but I'm not of this world." While I'm here, I will do my best to be the best Christian that I can possibly be. While I'm here, I'm going to do my best to be, to be a good American. But I can't start fighting to keep a country around and keep a world around that God has set His face to destroy. Because little by little, little by little, we're watching the separation of two worlds. There's a separating going on. And what, what is happening is the world is organizing itself against God. This earth is putting together an army to declare war on God. And so here's what the Bible says about that. The Bible says, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world." Because here's what it comes down to: "If any man love the world, then the love of the Father is not in him." Now, this process started several thousand years ago. This process started a man by the name of Nimrod. Nimrod decided that he wanted to be God. Nimrod decided that he wanted to be worshipped. Now, this wasn't Nimrod alone. Nimrod was the glove for Lucifer himself. You see, Luke, Lucifer opposed God, and in his opposition to God, he, he failed. He was kicked out of heaven. When he got to this earth, when he got to this earth, and he caused Adam and Eve to sin. When they sinned, they, they didn't realize, but they, they, it was, it was more grievous than them just eating of a tree that they were told not to eat of. They made a decision to be their own gods. You see, this is always, and this is very important that you, that you get a hold of this. This is always Lucifer's tool. Lucifer will never ask you to worship him. He will always ask you to worship yourself. And in worshiping yourself, really what you're doing is worshiping him. Because his desire is to get you away from God. When they listened to Lucifer, now this is important, when they sinned to Lucifer, and they sinned, Lucifer won a battle, and God would then call him Lucifer, the God of this world. In fact, let's, let's look at John chapter 12 and verse 31. Let's look at John 12 and 31 right quick. And so essentially, what Lucifer did is, Lucifer's problem is he did not have a physical body. Lucifer's issue was that he was a spirit being. He needed a physical body in order to do what he was going to do. Nimrod became a wonderful host for Lucifer, and Lucifer began a process. I, I hope I'm, I hope you all stay with me a few minutes tonight, because you, you need to hear what I'm saying. Every young person in this place, you need to hear what this preacher's preaching right now, because that's what describing what demon possession is. If this mic is clipping to the point that it's distracting, then I'll go to the other mic. So, so Nimrod becomes a host for Lucifer. Lucifer does the same thing. He just repeats the process that he did in heaven. It's all about being lifted up, okay? He lifted himself up in heaven and tried to set himself up as a god in opposition to God Almighty. Through Nimrod, again, he lifted himself up through the Tower of Babel, in a worship of the stars, in a worship of the stars. They divided. This all started with Nimrod. They just divided the stars up into seven kingdoms, referred to, listen to me, referred to as the cosmos. It was the, it was the zodiac of the cosmos. Are you listening to me? Or the order of the world, okay? So the zodiac of the cosmos, or the order of the world, the atmosphere of this present world. Each one of these planets, according to Nimrod and his astrologers, had angels or heavenly beings, and these heavenly beings would leave these planets and visit the earth, and in visiting the earth, they would teach the inhabitants of the earth how to do a lot of things. Now, this is very important. This is very important, and the reason it's important is because all of your astrology and your mythology and the things that, that rule such as such as mysticism, all began under Nimrod. Science, gnosticism, eastern mysticism, all of this. None of this is new. It all began with Nimrod, and it all ties back amazingly to the stars, into the zodiac. Desire to lift yourself up above God and be your own God. Now, all of this tied back to the three loves. I'm not gonna, I'm, this is driving me crazy, so let me switch to the other mic, please. Maybe just a second. It's all going to, to the three loves: the lust of the eyes, thank you, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. That's what it's all going to go back to. The pride of life is the desire to be your own God. The lust of the eyes is, is rooted in greed. And then the lust of the flesh is rooted in, in sex, sexuality, the feeding of the, of the fleshly appetite, hedonism. Eastern mysticism, gnosticism, every false religion. Are you listening to me? Is rooted in one of, or all three of those lusts. That's why all cults will have sexual rites. All cults will have hedonism, and all cults will tell you, you can either worship a false god or be your own god. Okay? It's very important that you understand this, because it's not new. It all goes all the way back to a man named Nimrod. And they built the tower. Are you listening to me? They built the tower for the purpose of reaching the cosmos. They, they had to get, they wanted to get to the stars for the star people and the star gods. Now, this would go right into, this would go right into Egypt. I don't have time tonight for an extensive study of mythology and Greek mythology and, and Egyptian mythology, but they all look the same and sound the same. They've just got different names because of different languages. Every god that you find from the Sumerians, the Sumerians take their name from Sumerius, which was Nimrod's lover. It was never his wife, it was his lover. He never married her. So the Sumerians take their name from Sumerias. What is it? It's the, it's the, it was the goddess of Babylon. She started the first sexual rites. Why, why did the children of Israel dance naked around the golden calf when they came out of Egypt? The reason they did is nothing more than they were following the traditions of the sexual cults of the Egyptians. The Egyptians did the same thing that Nimrod did. Listen to me. It wasn't because they were following Nimrod. It was, are you listening to me? It was because they were in contact with the same demonic spirits that Nimrod was connected to. Nimrod, under the Sumerians, or Nimrod leading the Sumerians, did the same thing. They came up with a, with a, with a mother god who gave birth to a child whose father was a spirit, and they worshipped Tammuz. Egypt did the same thing with Isis, and it goes right on into, into Greek mythology. The, the gods of Baal came right out of the Sumerians. Beelzebub came right out of the worship of Sumerius. Now, everything I'm telling you can be documented not just in the Bible, but in history. Why are you telling this? Why are you talking about this? Listen to me. This is why I'm talking about this, because it all comes back to the worship of the cosmos. What is the worship of the cosmos? Listen to me. It is the worship. Are you listening? It is the worship of the gods that came from the stars. It's the worship of the gods that came from the stars. Here's what Jesus said. Did, did we read? Did we read First John 5 and 19? Let's go there. First, have we read that already? Let's go to First John chapter 5 and verse 19. First John chapter 5 and verse 19. We're going to read a couple of verses here. "And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness." If you take that word "world" there and go back to the original Greek, that word "world" there will be cosmos. K-O-S-M-O-S. Let's look at John 12 and 31. John chapter 12 and 31, right quick. John chapter 12 and verse 31. This is, I believe, if I've got my scripture right, this is Jesus speaking in John chapter 12 and verse 31. Can y'all stay with me a little while for some teaching tonight? "Now is the judgment of this world; and now shall the prince of this world be cast out." Who's He talking about? Lucifer. Listen to me. Lucifer is the prince or the ruler of this cosmos. Let's look at Second Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 4. Second Corinthians, the fourth chapter and the fourth verse. "In whom the god of this world." Who is that? Who's the god of this cosmos? Satan himself. "Hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine in them." Listen, we are building up to a battle between the God of this world and the God of the glory world. Whose side are you on? It is important to establish what team you're playing for. I'm just going to tell you, if you're caught up in this world and the things of this world, you cannot ultimately be saved. You can't wait till the catching away of the church, the rapture of the church, and then decide what side you're on. I'm amazed as a pastor. It amazes me as the pastor, the people that avoid church all the way to coming on this property and still avoid it. I mean, they'll drive here and sit in the foyer. I don't understand that. Just anything not to be in the presence of God. They'll drive here and sit in the foyer and talk while I preach, and then wonder why they battle spirits and they battle their mind and they battle their hearts. It's because they, they, they want so much not to be in the presence of God. Really, what they don't understand is it's a demon inside them trying to destroy them. It's demonic spirits that won't let them come in here. I worry about putting some people on the usher team because they'd rather be in the foyer. Don't lose your very job at the church to cause you to be lost, man. I'd quit a Sunday school class and be in the auditorium if I'm struggling to be saved. I'd say, "I can't be an usher. I, I need to be up around that altar, not out in the foyer." It's all going to come down. Listen to me. It's all going to come down to what you love. I preached in churches that people could not be saved because of their jobs at the church, and that's why it makes me sit on pins and needles as a pastor because I don't want to be guilty of contributing to that. Some people would rather cook in that kitchen than be in the auditorium. All of it comes down to what you love. If you love worldly things, what did Jesus tell Martha? What did Jesus tell Martha when Mary was down there and Mary said she ought to be in the kitchen helping me cook? And Jesus said, "She's chosen. She's made the better choice." I'm going to tell you, it's all going to come down to what you love, and what you love will be revealed, and where you want to be. If you don't want to be at church, you will not be saved. If you'd rather be in a Sunday school class than church, you will not be saved. If you'd rather be in the kitchen than church, you will. If you'd rather be in the foyer, if you'd rather be walking the parking lots. I'm not trying to call you out, I'm trying to save you. And listen to me, listen to me. I'm not telling you that if you sit in the foyer while church is going on, you're gonna be lost. I'm telling you the reason that you're sitting in the foyer instead of being in the auditorium is you already are. It's not that what you're doing affects your love, it's that what you're doing reveals your lack of love. Something ought to draw you to the prayer room. Something ought to draw you to prayer. Something ought to draw you to the Bible. Something ought to draw you to the house of God. There should be a draw. You ought to be drawn. Be seated. You ought to be drawn. And if you're not drawn, you need to be finding out why. What is wrong with me that I'm not drawn to the house of God? What is wrong with me that I'd rather sit in this auditorium for 30 minutes while everybody prays instead of coming over and praying with them? What, what, what's wrong with me that I'd rather sit in here and talk while other people are talking to God? Bro, you're just calling people. No, no, no. I'm not calling people out. I'm asking you, do you want to be saved? Because I'm telling you, there is a battle that is going to go on, and it's all going to come down to what you love. And here's what the Bible says in the book of Acts. The Bible says in the book of Acts, "I once winked at ignorance, but I don't wink in ignorance anymore." And the reason I don't wink in ignorance anymore is because you've been given so much. You've been given 66 books, but you won't read them. You've been given 66 books, and if you do read them, you read them like an attorney trying to figure out how not to obey it, instead of trying to find out how to obey it. We build multi-million dollar colleges and how reprobates to teach the Bible in them so they can teach us how to avoid His word, teach us how His word doesn't mean what it says, instead of how it means what it says. I'm going to tell you, any way you slice it, in any way you go about it, here's what Jesus said in red letters. This is what Jesus said: "Love not the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."
[Applause]
Since the time of Nimrod, since the time of Nimrod, Nimrod, the Bible says, was a great hunter before the Lord. If you'll study that out and find out what "before the Lord" means, it does not mean that he was a great hunter in the sight of the Lord. It means he was a great hunter in the face of God, or he said, "I'm gonna hunt in Your face." And if you'll study, you'll find out that the Sumerian, the Sumerian money, the Sumerian cast that was on the sides of the building in the first Babylon was hunters with their foot on the neck of a lion. I wonder if it had anything to do with the lion significance with the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. What Nimrod said is, "I'm going to be my own God, and I'm going to do the things the way I want to do them." And Nimrod, listen to me, Nimrod did everything in his power to rule this world without and in spite of God. And Egypt did everything it could to rule this world without and in spite of God. And Persia did everything it could to rule this world. And Rome did everything it could to rule this world. And read the history of every one of them. They were polytheistic. They believed in numerous gods. And every one of their kingdoms, including Assyria, including Persia, starting with the Sumerians, had sexual rites or hedonism directly connected to the worship of their gods. Their priests were told how to cut their hair and what kind of facial hair to wear. There are women. Every, listen to me, every kingdom that opposed God. And let me just shoehorn this in right here and tell you, the final battle, according to the book of, of Revelation, the final battle is going to come down to a battle between Jesus ruling in Jerusalem and Lucifer ruling in Babylon. Okay? You've got to understand what I just said. The final battle will be Jesus Christ. God will rule through Jesus Christ. The Spirit God is a spirit will rule through His physical body, Jesus Christ, on the throne in Jerusalem. The Antichrist, Lucifer, the spirit, will rule through the Antichrist on the throne in Babylon, and they will fight for dominion of this earth. Lucifer, through the Antichrist, will be fighting for dominion in order to set His kingdom up and rule it. God will be fighting to take control of it, to destroy it. And everything comes down to this right here: What side are you on? The cosmos. The original Greek word cosmos has two meanings. One means world, and the other meaning is order, or the order of this world. And some of you say, "Well, Pastor Copeland, why is it that the, the apostolic church is so restrictive in the way you dress?" Because study every kingdom that opposed the people of God, and I'll show you the scantily clad dress, sexuality, the worship of the human body directly connected to harlotry and prostitution was the order of that earth, that world. While Jesus, from the garden to the return of Christ, will ask you to be holy and modest and to dress in such a way that separates you from the order of this world. Well, you, you apostolics are even against a woman wearing makeup. You don't even want her to put makeup on her face. Well, I wonder where makeup came from. Jezebel made her face up. The Egyptians were the first ones to actually make their face up. And when you study history and you ask the Egyptians, "Where, where did you learn makeup?" The Egyptians will tell you that they learned it from the star people while they were standing on top of their towers studying the stars. The star people came to them and taught them how to wear makeup. That is why it took on the name cosmetics, because it came from the cosmos.
[Applause]
And so you've got to decide whose side you're on. You see, here's the problem. People like to take a little splice of the pie and ignore the rest. Here's what I just said. People want to take a little splice of the pie, just cut them a little, a little slice of the pie of life, and ignore all the rest. And say, "For me, it's just about fitting in with my friends. It's not, you know, I don't want to fight against God. I love God. I just want to fit in with my friends." I mean, for me, I don't hate God. I just like sports. I mean, I don't hate God. I just enjoy movies. I mean, what's the harm in that? I mean, I just, I mean, for me, it's not about fighting God. It's not about being a part of the Illuminati. It's not, it's not about any of that. Hey, hey, let me tell you something. The same is true of the original sin. Eve didn't want to, Eve did not want to wrap up on the side of the serpent and fight with God with the serpent. She just wanted a piece of the fruit. And this is why God said, "Hey, there was a time I would wink at your ignorance, but now there's a, there's a church on every corner now. That there's an apostolic preacher to listen to. Now that there's a Bible with 66 books, and it's the best seller in the world, but you ignore it. Your ignorance is not okay anymore." Somebody's telling you what it means. I don't care if it's just a bite of the fruit of the tree. I don't care if it's just sports with you. I don't care if it's just movies with you. I don't care if it's just a little bit of makeup with you. You're buying the whole package.
[Applause]
And you could claim that you were just ignorant, but the best-selling book in the world is the 66 books called the Bible. And I've sent a preacher to tell you that there's a lot of ways to fall in love with the world, and the devil really don't care which way you choose. See, I, I hate to get graphic with you. I hate to get graphic with you. Cover your ears, kids. But Lucifer is the, of the universe. See, here's what God says. God says there's one name, there's one door, there's one love, and there's one God. And you've got to sell out to that one God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And you've got to love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. "If you love Me, I'm a one-woman man."
[Applause]
But here's what Lucifer says. Lucifer says, "I'm just a, I don't care if you love me or not, as long as I can get, as long as I can lure you away from Him." And so I'm like the on the street corner. I'll wear a red wig, or a blonde wig, or a black wig, or a purple wig. You can call me Susie. You can call me, well, I don't want to start calling names. I'll call the name of somebody here. You can call me whatever name you want to call me. I'll put on whatever wig you want me to put on. I'll be a policewoman. I'll be a nurse. I, I'll dress however you want me to dress, just as long as you don't go home to your husband tonight and stay with me. And Lucifer says, "I'll be drugs. I'll be pornography. Call me sports. Call me makeup. I don't care what you will call me. Call me alcoholism. I'll be whatever you want me to be. I'll turn into, I'll turn into whatever you just as long as you love me and not Him." That's right.
[Applause]
I'll put it on like you want me to put it on. I'll be Hollywood. I'll be movies. I'll be illicit sex. I'll be drugs. I'll be cigarettes. I'll be, I'll be Meryl. I'll be whatever you, anything you want to fall in love with, that's what I'll be for you, just as long as you love the cosmos, not God. And it's coming down to that battle. Every bit of this is displayed in Abraham and Lot. I don't have time to go into it, but I talked to you about shadows and substance last week, and Abraham and Lot is a type of the shadow and substance. You got three players in that story. You've got Abraham, who represents the man who sells out to God at any cost. You've got Sodom and Gomorrah, who have sold out to the world at any cost. And in the middle, you got poor little Lot, who wants a little bit of both. Lot's constantly following Abraham. He wants Abraham's benefits. He wants Abraham's God, but he just can't keep his eyes off the things of this world. Abraham, or, or Lot did not like sin. Okay? He did not like sin. He liked the pleasures of this world. Listen to what I'm telling you. Bear with me a few more minutes. I haven't been preaching that long. I've never preached on a Tuesday night when everybody was so distracted as they are tonight. I'm fighting a lot of distraction tonight. Y'all better get yourselves together because this is one of the most important messages you'll ever hear. You know why Abraham was the friend of God? Because when Abraham sold out to God, he sold out with all four feet. He sold out with everything he had. It was proven by the fact that he came out from the Ur of the Chaldees. You know who built Ur? Do any of y'all know who built Ur? That, that caused God to say, "Abraham, come out of Ur of the Chaldees. Leave the people of the Ur of the Chaldees and go to a land that I will show you." Can any of y'all guess who built the city of Ur? Nimrod. Do any of y'all know what Abraham's father, Terah, was? He was a creator of idols to be worshipped. And that's why God said, "You got to leave them. You got to walk away from them. You can't have mixed allegiance. It's impossible. You've got to come out, separate yourself, go to a land that I will show you." And the Bible says God was so overwhelmed by Abraham's faith in His voice that he would leave everything he knew, his friends, his family, his home, whatever he had to leave in order to follow God. And Lot said, "Where are you going, Uncle Abraham?" And he said, "I'm following the voice of God." And there was enough in Lot's heart that Lot said, "I would like to have your God too." And Abraham said, "Well, if you want my God too, come with me, Lot." And I truly believe, listen to me, listen to what I'm telling you, this is so important. I don't, are y'all listening? Or you guys listen? Or you girls listen? I really, and this is just speculation, okay? But I know human nature, and I've been pastoring for a long time. Why did Lot do real good in the beginning of his life and fail in the latter years? I really believe Lot's love for the world did not begin until he married the wrong woman. Lot is willing to leave. He's willing to follow Abraham. He goes with Abraham. He follows Abraham where he goes, and everything's fine until all of a sudden Lot starts giving Abraham problems until Abraham says, "We're not headed in the same direction anymore. Separate yourself. Take your shepherds, take your sheep, take your livestock. Choose the way you want to go." And Lot chose the well-watered plains by Sodom and Gomorrah. And it's just as well, because Abraham would have never went towards Sodom and Gomorrah anyway. It wouldn't have mattered how well-watered it was, because when you are in love with God and you're not in love with this world, convenience doesn't matter anymore. It doesn't matter if it's well-watered. It doesn't matter if it's convenient. It doesn't matter if it looks good. None of that matters. It's in the wrong direction. It's in the wrong direction. Direction matters. Which way you're looking matters. It matters what direction you head. I've never understood people that say, "Well, I'm gonna go over here and work because, boy, I can make good money, but I'm gonna be away from my family and I'm gonna be away from my church." And what does that matter? Abraham would have never went that direction anyway. And so Lot, and I'm not going to preach much longer, but Lot first goes to the well-watered plains toward Sodom. It's very significant that when the, the children of Israel pitched their tents, they pitched their tents in the direction.
[Music]
Of the church house, so that the first thing they saw when they pulled their tent flap back every day was the house of God, and the last thing they saw when they zipped their tent up at night was the house of God. And if they sat outside their tent door to drink a cup of coffee, they were looking at the house of God. But the Bible says that Lot pitched his tent toward Sodom. So every morning, the first thing he was looking at was the city of Sodom. Night, when they went to bed, the last thing they looked upon was the lights of Sodom. And if he sat outside to drink a cup of coffee after supper, he was looking at and listening to the sounds of Sodom. The next thing you know, he's visiting Sodom so much that he gets voted into the city council and sits in the gate of Sodom. And before the story is over, he's living in Sodom. I think it's quite amazing that never one time do you ever in your Bible read of Lot building an altar. Abraham, throughout the time that Lot's traveling with him, builds an altar everywhere he goes. But Lot never builds an altar. Lot had a relationship with God through Abraham, but he didn't have his own relationship with God. I hate to tell you this, but if something ever happened to me, there's a lot of you that would lose out, and that's very sad. That your relationship with God is through Brother Copeland. If you find out I'm not going to be at church, you won't be here. If you find out I'm not preaching, you ain't coming. I'm going to tell you, you got to build your own altar. You got to have your own relationship. I'll never make a good cult leader because I don't believe your relationship with me is important. I believe your relationship with God is important.
[Music]
And I'm going to go a little further and tell you, if you only do things because Brother Copeland said it, please just don't. And don't go around this city telling people, "Well, I do this because Pastor says it. I do this because Pastor preaches it." None of that matters. I'm going to tell you, your relationship has to be with Jesus Christ. And while I may lead you into something, while I may preach something, you need to find it in your own Bible, and you need to find it in your own heart. You need to find it in your own conviction. I believe everything I'm preaching is right, or I'd stop preaching it. I believe everything I believe is right, or I'd stop preaching it. But let me just tell you this, I really believe if you'll pray and read your Bible and seek God with an honest heart, you'll come to the same convictions that I have as a pastor. But you don't do anything because Brother Copeland says that. I'm not a priest. I'm not a cardinal. We're not Catholic. You read your Bible for yourself. You build a relationship with God for yourself. That Bible is more than just 66 books printed on pages. I'm going to tell you, as you read it, it becomes God.
[Applause]
He said, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." I believe that as you read this Bible, it becomes God. You build a relationship with God.
[Applause]
It becomes God in your life, and you learn to love it, and you learn to live it because you love it. That is why sports are so dangerous. That is why Hollywood and movies are so dangerous. That is why Facebook and Instagram are so dangerous. Why is that? Because what you spend time with is what you will love. And not unbalanced, that love will diminish the love of God in your world. Brother Copeland, you preaching against these things? I am. Why? Because there's many of you who have memorized every jersey number of every player. You know how many home runs they've hit. You know how many, you, you know how many people they've struck out pitching. And you can't quote five verses out of this Bible. And that's why there's no way that you can be saved. Somebody said, "Brother Copeland, you're telling me that if I can't quote five verses, I won't be saved?" That's pretty judgmental. I'm telling you, I'm telling you not that you're gonna be lost because you can't quote five verses. I'm telling you, you can't quote five verses because you're already lost. Your love has already revealed where your heart is. I'm going to go so far as to say you're not going to be saved because you talk in tongues. You're not going to be saved because you've been baptized in Jesus' name. Those are technicalities. Are they real? You better believe it. Because if you really love God, and you've really read His word, and you really have revelation, then you're.
You're going to want those things in your life. You're going to understand that in order to be one of His, you've got to take on His name in baptism. And in order to be one of His, you've got to have His Spirit living inside of you. And you've got to understand that you can't really love Him without Him taking control of this physical body.
But you're not going to be saved on those technicalities. You're going to be saved. Here's how you're going to be saved or not saved: If you love Him, you're going to spend an eternity with Him. If you love this world, you're going to spend your eternity in this world. It's all going to come down to: you're going to spend eternity with what you love. Heaven will not be heaven to a person that does not love God. There's no need for you to even go there.
And see, that's what Lot wanted. Lot wanted a relationship with Abraham's God while living in Sodom. Lot wanted to love God, but he didn't want to turn loose to the things of the world. He enjoyed the conveniences and the pleasures of Sodom.
Now, you've got to listen to what I tell you in the ending of this message because I stand convinced that Lot loved God more than he loved the world. I stand convinced. The Bible says that Lot was vexed daily with what he saw in Sodom. Your Bible says, and thank you for quoting it, "Righteous Lot was vexed daily with what he saw going in Sodom." Well then, why would? Because he, he, he couldn't bring himself to make a decision between the two. He wanted the best of both worlds. And he was living with a woman that just unashamedly said, "I don't care about your God. I love Sodom."
Here's the thing, folks. I talked to you about the fact that, that the sexual rites of the idolaters, setting yourself up as a god, and all that. But let me just tell you, all the way down to some of the American Indians, the Aztecs, every kingdom that has arisen without God, without Jehovah at the center, has ended up in child sacrifice. And somebody said, "I would never do that." Every person that loves the world and loves God winds up sacrificing their children. Hey, I've been in full-time ministry for over 30 years. I can unequivocally say that if you will not sell out 100% to God, you will sacrifice your children to this world. If you don't get a prayer life, and you don't fall in love with God, and you don't stay faithful, your children will wind up in the world, caught up in alcoholism, drugs, and will have no desire for God. If you try to cheat the system, you'll sacrifice your children. And to me, there's no difference in throwing your children into the fires of Molech and throwing your children into eternal fire because you can't break free of the love of this world.
Somebody said, "You preach it too straight, preacher." I'm just preaching the Bible, brother. That, that Bible says in Matthew 7, "Straight is the gate, narrow is the way that leadeth to life everlasting, and few there be that are willing to go in there." At many are called, few are chosen. Most people are going to choose the convenience of this world. But there is a people who are called by His name. There are a people who love God more than they love this present world. There are a people that say, "I'm going to follow You, whatever that means. I'm going to live for You, whatever that entails, whatever I have to put down, whatever I have to walk from." There are a people. There are people who love God more than they love cosmos.
Be seated. I got just a little more and I'm gonna be done. What about you? What about you? You have something that constantly draws you away? You have something that constantly pulls you? What about your love? About your devotion? Does your heart drive you to prayer or Facebook? Does your heart drive you to your Word or Instagram? On Wednesday, on Tuesday night, do you leave work saying, "I got to get to the house of God"? You leave saying, "Man, I'm tired. Boy, Brother Copeland wouldn't notice I wasn't there. I think I'd just stay home." What about on Wednesday nights? Have you always got something else that obligates you? Something else you'd rather do? Be doing?
I'm going to tell you that, that, that the sins of omission are more deadly than the sins of commission. Because you can point at the sins of commission and say, "You sinned right there." But the sins of omission are so, they're so elusive. You see, work is one of the greatest things on earth. It's one of the most noble things on earth until it's more important than God. See, many people will be lost for very, very noble things. But there's a difference between noble and righteous. Where is your heart drawing you? Where is your heart taking you? Because it really comes down to these two things: Jerusalem or Babylon. The God of heaven or the god of this world. And the gods of this world are so good at making this world look so good.
You know, it's nine o'clock. That I'm done. But Lot had several warnings. And I've done this long enough to know that most people have several warnings. You know, it's, it's an amazing thing to me that, that Lot, Lot got down there and got to messing with Sodom until five kings got together and decided to overthrow Sodom. And one of the captives that they took was Lot and his family. And who do you think rescued him? The man that was right with God. I've watched in this church over and over and over, children of the people in this church go get themselves on drugs, go to jail, get themselves in trouble, or even grandkids, or even neighbors. It's an amazing thing that when they're in trouble, when they're lo—the love of this world gets them in trouble, they always call on the people of God to come set them free. It's always the apostolics that come to their rescue.
And you thought, think Abraham or Lot would have learned? But he don't. He goes right back to Sodom after he was captured there. And Lot had to come save him. Then he moved his family there. And when God's going to destroy Sodom again, it's Abraham, his praying uncle. This is what about Lot and his family? Not because of Lot, but because of righteous Abraham, God sends angels. And the angels literally have to grab Lot, physically grab him, and drag his family out of Sodom. Now, listen. This is so amazing to me. He says, "Go to the mountains." And when the angel points at the mountains, or you listen to me, it's the very mountains that Abraham dwelled in. And he says, "I can't make it all the way to the mountains. Could I just go to Zoar?" You know, it's kind of like Sodom. It's just not as wicked. You see, his heart was revealing itself again.
There's some of you. There's some of you that says, "I can't go all the way to that Copeland Pentecost. Could I be in church and just go to a church that's not as wicked as the world, but it's not all the way to the mountains like Copeland and that Pine Grove is? Can I have just a, can I have something that's just a little bit like Sodom?" Abraham is the tragedy of the ages. I'm sorry, Lot is the tragedy of the ages because he had Abraham right there all the time, the friend of God. And I found out as a pastor, I'm none but all I can do is make it available. If you'd rather be in the foyer, I can't help you. All I can do is make it available. If you'd rather sit out here, they go the prayer room. What can I do? All I can do is make it available. If you'd rather do something else than come to Wednesday night prayer meeting, there's nothing I can do but just keep making it available. Just keep making it available. Just say, "Hey, it's here if you want it. It's here if you want it." But ultimately, ultimately, your love is going to reveal itself.
Falling in love with Jesus, that's the best thing I've ever done. Would you stand together and lift your hands all across this house? Would you reach out to the Lord? Come on. I hope I've preached this in a positive and not a negative manner. Come on. Would you reach out to the Lord with everything that's within you? Come on. Come on. There's a people. There's a people that's going to be willing to walk out. Musicians, come please. There's going to be a people that's going to be willing to sell out. There's going to be a people that's going to say, "God, I love You more than I love anything that this world has to offer." There are a people that's going to say, "God, You're more important than anything that this world has." Come on. Would you worship Him right now? Reach out to the Lord with everything that's within you. Come on. Come on. Come on. Are you willing to go all the way with the Lord?
So, would you thank God for speaking to you? Would you thank God for talking to you? Come on. I believe it would be an order on this Tuesday night for me to open these altars. I believe that all over this building, there's people that want to come and remind God, "God, I'm Yours, and You belong to me. And the best thing I ever did is fall in love with Your kingdom, to fall in love with You." Come on. Come on. Come on. That's it. That's it. These, these altars are open. I wish everybody would come. If you love God, I wish you'd come around the front of this building. If you love Him and you want to be saved, I wish you would show it by coming out of that pew and coming up around the front of this building, letting the Lord know, "God, I want, I want You to alter my life. I want to submit myself to the altar." Come on. Come on. Come on. Everybody here, reaching out. Everybody.
Come on, everybody here. Reach out to the Lord with all of your heart. With you, Jesus. I am falling in love with you, Jesus. It's the best thing I've ever. Come on. That chair. Everybody here. And it is in His arms I'm loved and protected. There's no place I, I'd rather be. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. With you, Jesus. I am falling in love. Oh, in love with you, Jesus. I am falling in love. Oh, with you, Jesus. And it is the best thing I've ever. You, Jesus. I love you, Jesus. I'm falling in love with you, Jesus. It's the best thing I've ever done. Come on. I am falling in love all over with you, Jesus. The Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is still doing the work. Let's don't rush the presence of God that's in this place. Don't rush the presence of God that's in this house. The arms of Jesus. Never disconnected. In His arms. If we lift our hands one more time as a church. Come on, everybody. Across. If there's somebody around you that's appropriate, pray with them. Just reach over, put your hand on their shoulder. Let's pray together just a moment. Don't stop the Holy Ghost. Jesus, it's the best. Jesus. Come on. Come on now. God, in the name of Jesus. That's it. You should pray for somebody around you right now. The Holy Ghost is falling. I'll tell you my Holy Ghost. There is no place. Come on. Don't stop worshiping Him. The Holy Ghost is right now. Don't stop, people. The best thing I've ever done. Falling in love. With you, Jesus. That is the best thing. That is. Yes. Changing the lives of changing the world. With you, Jesus. Falling in love with. Giving Him a few more minutes. I'm never disconnected. Oh. Pour Your Spirit out, Lord God. Baptize everybody this time.