Transcription
Yes, why don't we stand together in the house of the Lord? And uh, the first order of business is to lift our hands and thank God for the opportunity to be in this house. Could we do that?
Jesus, dear Lord, thank you for the great opportunity to be in the house of the Lord tonight. We are so glad to be together in Your presence. We're here to lift You up. We're here to hear Your word. We're here to receive from the word of God tonight. Let the word be applied to our hearts. Hallelujah. We're thankful for every guest that's here. To every guest that's here, we want you to know we're thankful. Uh, we want to invite The Adult Choir to come right now, or the Senior Choir. Want the Senior Choir to come and uh, get ready to sing. So thankful for this Senior Choir. Don't they bless us each midweek service? Hallelujah. Thank for the for this Senior Choir that's coming right now, and we ask God to anoint them as they bless us in song. And uh, for the rest of you, why don't you look around? If you see a guest, uh, shake their hand. Glad to have Brother Smith here tonight. He's out usually driving a truck. Good to see you, Brother Smith. We've been missing you around here. Greet someone in Jesus' name. Let someone know you're happy to see them in the house of the Lord. Hallelujah. We're going to kick off service here just momentarily. You know, I know, welcome someone to the house of the Lord. Worship with this Senior Choir. Worship with a Senior Choir as they sing. God bless you in Jesus' name. You can be seated if you need.
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Well, when I first found Jesus, something over me stayed like light. It went through me and glory filled my soul. Salvation made me happy and took my fears away. And when I meet old sorrow, to him I always say, "I am determined to hold out till the end." Well, Jesus is with me, all in him I can. And I know I have salvation, I feel it in my soul. I to hold was so angry, he said he'd be back. Just let the path get narrow, and he will lose drag. But I'm so full of glory, my Lord. I always find that when I'm on Satan, oh, be behind. Oh, I am eternally determined to hold out till the end. Well, Jesus is with me, all in him I can. And I know I have salvation, for I feel it in my soul. I am determined to hold out till this old-time religion, it makes me sometimes shout. I don't have time to gossip, any time to power. They say that I'm too noisy, but blessings flow. I shout, "Oh, Hallelujah!" I want the world to know that I am determined to hold out till the end. Well, Jesus is with me, on him I can again. And I know I have salvation, I feel it in my soul. I am determined to hold out till the end. Well, when I hear the trumpet sounding in the sky, and see the mountains trembling, to heaven I will fly. For Jesus will be calling, there'll be no time to with joy our glory sing. I hold out till the end. Oh, I am determined to hold out till the end. Well, Jesus is with me, on him I can. And I know I have salvation, for I feel it in my soul. I am determined to hold out till the end. Oh, I am eternally determined to hold out till the end. Jesus is with me, all in him I can. And I don't know I have salvation, I feel it in my soul. I am determined to hold out.
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Thank you, Jesus. You can be seated. Thank you for being here at service on a Tuesday night. That song that they just sung was the song that my grandfather used to attempt to sing, and it brought back a lot of memories. He didn't have a voice that was very pretty. He knew it, but especially as he got older, he would get up every once in a while and just sing that song. Uh, that was his song. "I am determined to hold out to the end." And, uh, he actually sang it in a couple of weddings. Yeah, he asked them if he could sing in their wedding, and he said, "I only have one song I know now, but I'd like to sing in your wedding." And because he was an, some of them, well, I guess, I guess we'll have to let him sing. And he'd get up and sing, "I am determined to hold out to the end." That brought back a lot of memories. I'm excited about tonight. I'm looking forward to hearing from Pastor. Thank you, Jesus. I love Sundays. I love praying people through and starting their journey, but boy, do I like the Tuesday days where we keep on walking. There's something about that journey. It's exciting to see somebody start, but I almost get more of a thrill seeing people grow. And, um, we plant things a lot of times on Sundays, Sunday mornings, but these midweek services are where we come to grow. And I'm thankful for for what we have here. Worship with our praise team. We're going to have a great service tonight in Jesus' name.
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It's in my praise. It's in my praise. It's in my praise. It's in my praise. Victory, the victory in my praise. It's my Hallelujah, Hallelujah. It's in my praise. It's in my praise. It's in my praise. The victory in my praise. Know it me, my joy complete. Hallelujah, Hallelujah. It's in my praise. My praise. My shield. Praise is the steps that I used to climb every hill. Praise is a handle, you open up the door. Every trial that I go through, I'll praise you more and more. Sing it with us. You sing my praise. My praise. My victory, victory. It's in my praise. It's in my praise. No defeat, no defeat. My joy is complete. My joy is complete. Hallelujah, Hallelujah. My praise. My praise. Praise is healing for all disease and pain. When I shout and I call on Jesus' name, the demons tremble and all the enemies flee. When I really shout a praise, it's when I get the victory. It's in my praise. It's in my praise. In my praise. The victory, the victory. It's in my praise. It's in my praise. No defeat, no defeat. My joy is complete. My joy is complete. Hallelujah, Hallelujah. My praise. All the victory, all of my problems is in my praise. The answer to my situation is in my praise. Come on, sing this here. Bless the Lord, bless the Lord, oh my soul. My soul, that is within me, that is bless the Lord, bless the Lord, oh my soul. Oh my soul, all that is within, that is within. Bless the Lord, bless my Lord, for my soul. All that is, that is. Bless the Lord, bless the Lord, oh my soul. My soul, all that is, that is within. Bless the Lord, bless the Lord, oh my soul. Oh my soul, all that is within, that is within. Bless the Lord, bless the Lord, on my soul. And all that is within, that is within me. Bless the Lord, bless the Lord, oh my. That is, that is within. Bless the Lord, bless the Lord, oh my soul. Oh my soul, that is within, that is within me. Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Lord, I love you. Lord, I love you. Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Lord, I love you. Lord, I love you. It's in my praise. It's in my praise. It's in my praise. It's in my praise. Victory, the victory. It's in my praise. It's in my praise. No defeat, no defeat. My joy is complete. My joy is complete. Hallelujah, Hallelujah. My praise. It's in my praise. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah.
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Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. You can return to your seats. If I could get a couple of ushers, we're going to receive an offering. Thank you.
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Jesus. Thank you. Thank you, Lord. I was reading today in a business book of a secular author, and, uh, a lot of times business books are real good because they line up with the Bible. What works, works. But every once in a while, run across something that just isn't biblical. And I was reading in there and they said, "Well, you only have so much time to offer." I got to think about that message you preached Sunday. And see, in the world, it says people that are not valuable to you, which is selfish, that you don't give of your time to those people because they're not valuable to you. But I think sometimes we got to set aside the world when we come back into the church and plant one foot on the water, one foot on the land, and realize that in the church, it's the opposite. It might work in your business, but when you're in your church, He says, "Inasmuch as you do these things to the least of your brethren, you do it unto Me." You minister, you give to others, even if it's the least one, and God multiplies it. Your time as your money, your money as your time. And so, we're going to, we got an opportunity today to give of our money. I encourage you to find a place to give of your time. Let's be good stewards of what God gave us. Lord, bless this offering in the name of Jesus. Use it for the furtherance of the kingdom in Jesus' name. Amen.
Honey in the Rock, water in the storm, then on the ground, no matter where I go, I don't need to worry. Now that I know everything I need, you got it. There's honey in the Rock.
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Praying for a miracle, thirsty for the Living Way. Only You can satisfy. Oh, sweetness at the mercy seat. Now I've tasted, it's not hard to see. Only You can satisfy. There's honey in the Rock. Oh, there's honey in the Rock. There's honey in the Rock. There's honey in the Rock. Freedom where the spirit is. Born in the wilderness, You will always satisfy. Sun in water in the stone, I'm on the ground. No matter where I go, I don't need to worry. I know everything I need, you got it. Honey in the Rock. Purpose in Your power, in the blood. Heal it in Your hands, start going. Everything. Freedom where the spirit is. In the wilderness, You will always satisfy. Sun in water in the stone, I'm on the ground. No matter where I go, I don't need to worry. I know everything I need, you got it. Honey in the Rock. Purpose in Your plan, power in the blood. Keep it in Your hand, start it flowing. When you're setting is done, everything you did. Keep I keep finding you, keep giving you, keep providing. I have all that I need. Is that how you feel about it? You are all that I need. I keep praising you, keep moving, I keep praising you, keep proving. I you are. I keep. I. All I. I've got everything I need. You are all I. I keep. You keep moving. I keep. You keep proving. I. All that I. You are all that I. I. I. Everything I've got. Everything I need. I need. I keep praying. You keep moving. I keep. Keep praising you. Keep proving. I have all that I. You are all that I need. I have all that I need. You are all that I need. Sun in the Rock, water in the storm, man on the ground. No matter where I go, I don't need to worry. I'm telling you, provision is coming where you don't see provision. Provision is coming from a place that you don't think provision can come. Provision is going to come from a place where you don't see any provision. Everything. There's honey in the Rock, water in the storm, man on the ground. No matter where I go, I don't need to worry. Now that I know everything I need, you got it. It's in the Rock. Purpose in your plan. Power in the blood. Healing in your hand. Started flowing. When you this time. Jesus. Jesus. There's honey in the. Honey in the Rock. It's honey in the Rock. Oh, it's honey in the Rock. It's honey in the Rock. Oh, just trusting. Oh, how sweet, how sweet it is to trust in You, Jesus. Oh, how sweet, how sweet it is to trust in You, Jesus. Oh, how sweet, how sweet it is to trust in You, Jesus. Oh, how sweet, how sweet it is to trust in You, Jesus. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. What a beautiful song. How many of you appreciate these singers and worshippers and musicians for leading us into the presence of God? So thankful. So thankful. Thank you so much. Hallelujah. Thankful for the anointing of the Holy Ghost that's in this place tonight. If you'd remain standing, I want to go to the word, uh, very quickly tonight. Go to the word for the sake of time. And, uh, as you know, I've been doing a series, uh, with one word as the subject. And tonight, I want to talk to you about hunger. I want to talk to you tonight about hunger. And this is in the progression of of the, uh, separation as a lifestyle, um, and relationship demand separation. Matthew chapter 5 and verse 6. Matthew, the fifth chapter and the sixth verse for your consideration for a few minutes tonight. Matthew chapter 5 and verse 6. Very familiar passage to you. And, um, basically, uh, Matthew 5 and: 6 tells us that they that hunger, they which do, they which do, blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. God bless you. You can be seated. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness. Now, this is a very, very familiar scripture, but I'm afraid that we miss a lot of it. We get so familiar with the word of God that we miss so much that's in the word of God. This passage says, "They which do." Yes, if there are some who do hunger after righteousness, then that means there are those who don't. So, you got to, you got to hear the wording here. Blessed are they which do. Do hunger and thirst after righteousness. Yes, I do not want to be one of those who does not have a hunger for the righteousness of God. We are too close to the return of Jesus Christ to be hungering for anything else. We're too hung, we're too close to the return of Jesus Christ for our hunger to be on anything besides the righteousness of God. So, I want you to first of all notice that if He specifies, "They which do hunger and thirst after righteousness," that there is a portion of this world that has the wrong hunger. Now, I don't want to get, uh, too deep into this in the first few minutes of this teaching, but a great example of that for those of you reading through your Bible, and you're reading through your Bible from Genesis to Revelation, you have just came through the great Exodus. And therefore, you know that one of the main problems with the Israelites is they had the wrong hunger. They kept hungering for the leeks and the garlic and the melons of Egypt. They could not get that hunger out of their minds, and it literally cost an entire generation the promised land. And it boiled down to the fact that they were just hungry for the wrong things. This is why the Lord kept telling them, "I'm bringing you into a land of plenty. I'm bringing you into a land that flows with milk and honey." He kept trying to wet their appetite for the promised land, but all they could think about was the leeks and the garlic and the cloves and the melons back in Egypt. Now, I want to, I want to convince you in the next few minutes that hunger is completely within your control. Hunger is absolutely not a, a, um, involuntary situation. It's very voluntary. What you're hungry for is very voluntary. And we're going to talk about that. But before we do, I want to go back to my scripture one more time, and I want to point out two things in this passage. Blessed. This, this verse is very unique in the fact that it begins with a promise and it ends with a promise. This verse is bookended on both ends. If you can obey this verse, you're going to be blessed going into it, and you're going to be blessed going out of it. You're blessed in the beginning, and you're blessed in the end. He promises you a blessing if you have correct hunger, and then He ends by saying these words, and listen to me, because this is universal. This is what everyone is searching for. I don't care who they are, I don't care where they're looking. Everybody on this earth is searching to be filled. They're all just searching in different wells, but in the end, the search is for fulfillment. They're looking to be fulfilled. They're looking for their dreams to be fulfilled. They're looking for their ambitions to be fulfilled. And the only place that you're going to find fulfillment is in seeking first the kingdom of God, having the proper hunger. And I'm going to show you that that fulfillment is not just in spiritual things, but He will literally allow you to be fulfilled in the very avenue that you're seeking if you'll keep your priorities right. So, let's go to Matthew chapter 6 and let's start around verse 23. Let's start around verse 23. Now, you're going to notice that everything, the reason that this is one of the last installments of this teaching is because everything I've taught up till now, Jesus is going to tell you in this, this passage of scripture. This is one of the few chapters in the Bible that is almost completely read. I don't mean r-e-a-d, I mean r-e-d. Right? This is one of the few times where Jesus starts talking and just keeps talking. Yeah, He's not very talkative, but this is one of those passages. Matthew, Matthew chapter 6, and let's begin with, uh, verse 23. "But if thine eye be evil, then the whole body shall be full of darkness." What have I been talking about? Encroaching spiritual darkness. If you're hungry for the wrong things, if you're looking for the wrong things, you're going to bring spiritual darkness into your world, and you're not going to be on the same page with your pastor anymore. You're not going to be on the same page with your church anymore. It's going to look to you like they're the least people in your world that you need. They are actually in your way. I'm preaching to you. I'm talking to you. If you get your eyes on the right stuff, right? Here's the way Jesus said it. The, the, the Rock of Ages have become a block of stumbling to you. Wow. That, that, that cornerstone that you ought to be building your life on will actually become a stumbling block if you get the wrong motives. You'll trip over God instead of building on Him. Yes, sir. The church, your pastor, spiritual teaching will actually get in the way of your ambition. And buddy, when you've been living for God, and you've been raising your family in the church, and, and, and, but all of a sudden, it becomes in your way, you got the wrong desires. Ambitions have taken you over. He said, "But if thine eye be evil, then the whole body shall be full of darkness." "If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness?" Verse 24. We're going to read through this as quickly as possible. "No man can serve two masters; he will either hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You can't serve God and mammon." What is mammon? The best way, I don't know how to describe mammon. Somebody put money there, but that's not the truth. Because if money couldn't buy things, you wouldn't want it. I think the best interpretation is things, things concerning fleshly desires, feeding covetousness. You can't, in other words, you can't covet the world and love God. And what He's saying here is not that you have to give the world up. He's going to say, "Put Me first. Have the right ambitions, and I'll give you the things of this world that you desire and you want." But if you seek them in spite of Me, if you try to shove Me out of the way to acquire those things, then you're not going to wind up with either one. You're going to lose in the world, and you're going to lose in God too. All right. You can't serve God and things of this world. Verse 25. "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, what you shall drink; nor yet for your body, what you shall put on." Stop worrying about where you're headed. Stop worrying about that. God will, God will bring it to you, man. Over and over and over and over and over my life. In my life, I have lived by the principle that if I want something and I get fascinated on it, and I get talking about it, and, and, and get to trying to figure out a way to get it, every time I reach for it, it escapes me. But if I'll just get to pray it and forget about it, and just get to loving God, it'll just show up in my life one day when it doesn't matter anymore. God don't mind me having it. When it does matter, He won't let me have it. A good, good illustration of this is several years ago, and I can't say whether it was right or wrong, or whether I made a mistake or didn't make a mistake, but I'll tell you this, it, it, it wouldn't have mattered at the end of the day. But I, I got to where I, I just, you know, we, we had, when we, when we moved here, we grew so fast and focused so much up here trying to build this building and get in this building and all that kind of stuff. And, uh, so for years, we lived in a, a modular, modular home down the road. And I just, I just got it in my heart that I wanted a, I, I wanted a house, you know, I just, um, I, I was getting older and, and had not put anything back for my retirement because I focused everything here. And anyway, it, it became a fascination. I ended up buying a house in Forest. I'm not going to say God cursed that. I'm not going to say He was against it. I'm just going to say it wasn't the best of situations. Now I'm living right across the street from the church. Had I just waited? Had I just trusted the Lord with it? Am I making sense to y'all? If I'd just put it in God's hands, He, He brings it to you if you're just trusting. All those years, it mattered. I, I couldn't, I couldn't lay my hands on anything. But the, the day I just gave up and forgot it. That may not be a perfect illustration for you, but I'm just telling you, over and over and over. Not only in my own life, but in pastoring people. As long as it matters, God won't let it happen. God won't let them have it because it's an idol. Because you're hungry for the wrong thing. You've got your heart set on the wrong thing. All right. "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, what you shall drink, nor yet for your body, what you shall put on." Is not life more than meat, and the body more than raiment? I'm afraid most of us don't believe that. I believe most of us get focused on the fact that what we wear, and what we eat, and where we live, and our position in society is more important to us. Come on. That's good. Than anything else. Verse 26. "Behold the fowls of the air." Look at them. They don't plant a garden, they don't reap a harvest, they don't gather in the barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not, are ye not much better than they? Are you not more important to God than the fowls of the air? How many of y'all ever seen a bird starving to death? Verse 27. "Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?" And why take you thought for raiment? "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow." They toil not. In other words, they don't sow, they don't weave cloth. Verse 29. "But look how beautiful they're they're arrayed." And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon and all of his glory was not arrayed as beautifully as one of these lilies in the field. Verse 30. "Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?" Why are you worried running around worried about the things that God has promised that if you'll seek Him first, He'll just give it to you? Verse 31. "Wherefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or Wherewithal shall we be clothed?" For after all these things do the. Remember the message I preached? We're not Israelites. We're not Gentiles. We're Israelites. We're not Egyptians. We're not of this world. All these things do the Gentiles seek. They're, they're running after it. They're trying to get their hands on it. They're doing everything they can to track it down, to to get their hands on it. He says, "For your heavenly Father knoweth that you have need." He knows that you need these things. He created you. He knows you need clothes. He knows you need a place to live. He knows you need a roof over your head. He knows you need shoes on your feet. But "seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things." I want to tell you what these things are. These things are not spiritual things. These things are not even necessary things. These things is the stuff you want. God never, one place tells you or or whips you or spanks you for wanting unnecessary things. It is His good pleasure to give you the things you desire. He wants you to have the things that you desire. He wants to supply it in your world and in your life. He literally wants you to have things that you enjoy. God does not have a problem with you having a hunting camp. He has a problem with a hunting camp having you. God don't have one problem with you having a hunting camp, having a deer camp. He don't have a problem having you having a fish lodge. When He starts having a problem is when that stuff starts having you to the point that you can't come to church anymore. And let me say on every bit of this that, hey, I understand. Listen to me. I understand that from time to time, people have to miss church. I don't have a problem with people missing church. I have a problem with people missing church with impunity. I know every once in a while people got to miss church. I understand that. It's hard for you to take, take a vacation without missing some church. It's almost impossible for you to take a vacation without missing church. I understand people get sick and have to miss church. I understand that people, people, things happen. Things come up in your life and in your world, and every once in a while, you have to miss church. That's not what I'm preaching about and preaching against. When you see that list every week, you just start noticing it's the same names. It's like anything else. You, you, you, you get an habit of things. You get to where it doesn't matter anymore. There, let me tell you, there is a spirit attached to missing church. There's a spirit attached to it. Everybody here needs to hear what I'm saying right now. It, it, it, I don't have a problem with people taking prescription meds when they need them. My problem is you get in the habit of that, and you'll wind up in drug rehab. Every time, every time you take a, a prescription drug, a mind-altering drug, you better look at that thing and say, "I absolutely need that." And you just tremble, think, "Man, I'm doing one of the most dangerous things on the face of the planet I can do." People are losing houses, cars, marriages, homes, lives, and everything because of this right here. So if I absolutely have to take this, I'm going to take it, brother. I'm making up my mind, this will be the last one. If I don't, I pray I don't need the next one. And that's the way church has got to be. I'm just in a position that I got to miss a service. But you know what? I'm nervous. I'm scared to death. People have lost their souls over missing church. Come on, somebody. I'm not just going to just start missing church. It's important. Hallelujah. I get it. I get the fact that kids get sick. I get, I get the fact that things come up. Things happen. Work happens. All this stuff happens. I'm not talking about that. Every once in a while, every one of us miss church. It's just got to be a situation to where you realize the danger of it and you say, "I'm, I, I refuse to allow this to be a habit. This is, it's important to me. I don't mess my life and mess my world up." Seek first the kingdom of God. God wants you to have stuff. God wants you to have a motor home. Ain't nothing wrong with a motor home. God wants you to have one if you want one. God will give it to you if you'll seek Him first. Put, make Him most important. Tell Him, "I'm going to go buy a motor home, but I tell you one thing, I ain't fixing to leave in it and miss a month of Sundays." Hallelujah. I'm going to get in that thing. I'm going to leave town instead of leaving and figuring out how many services I can miss. I'm going to figure out how I can have a vacation, how quick I can get back and be back in church. I'm just telling you, the key to everything in life is keeping God number one. You can have anything you want to have, be anything you want to be, go anywhere you want to be, as long as you keep God first. If you'll keep God first, He'll let you be anything and go anywhere and have anything you want. But you got to keep Him number one. If you'll seek His kingdom first, Hallelujah. It's, it's vital. It's so important that you put Him number one. All right. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things." I'm going to tell you what you ought to do is you ought to take a, a, if you write in your Bible, you ought to take you a pen and you ought to put brackets around these things. And then you ought to list over on the side the things that you want and desire and enjoy in life. If you like to collect guns, write guns. If you like to wear nice clothes, write nice clothes. If you want God to give you a house, write out in those in the side, the kind of house that you want. On, write it out there. Write, write it in the, draw a line from these things and write over in the column of your Bible or in the on the side of your Bible, write out and describe the house that you want. "I want a brick house with big white and, and this color shutters." And, and God's going to give it to me because I'm going to keep Him number one.
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Everything I'm saying to you right now is important. God is not trying to restrict your life. He's not trying to take the joy and the pleasure out of your life. All you got to do is keep Him number one and make Him in the center of it. Am I making sense to y'all tonight? If you want God to give you a particular car, it's involved in these things. But see, how most people get it is they take a second job that knocks them out of church so they can afford a car note. I don't mean to be unkind, but stupid, stupid, stupid. Don't do that. Say, "God, if You want me to have that car, You can give it to me, and I don't have to miss church." Stop making the things in your life more important than God. Keep Him number one and say, "God, if missing church and not praying like I need to and keeping my focus on You is on the only way I can get that, then I give it up. I won't have it. If I got to lose out with You to have it, I won't have it." But, but if, but, but if it's important to me, God, but You're more important. And if You want me to have it, then I can be faithful and love You and serve You and, and, and I'll look up one day and that car'll be sitting in my driveway." Listen to me. I'm preaching to you the truth. I'm preaching to you the way it happens. I'm talking to you about what it happens. There's not one thing in my life that I've wanted that I've not ended up with. I told my wife the other day, "I can't think of one thing I've dreamed of that God has not added to me." And I've not had to lose out with Him and miss church and take side jobs and get in multi-level marketing schemes in order to do it. And I've not sacrificed one thing at this church in order to do it. I'm telling you, the one thing I can tell you, and I, I'm not, I'm not here to patent myself on the back. I'm just using this example. But Brother Kelly sat down, Brother Cim Kelly's daddy, he comes every year at the first year to go over our books and look at our books and keep us right with IRS and all that kind of stuff. And he's on our board of directors. He, he, he said, "One of the reasons I love my son being here is I don't know of a more giving pastor in the world. I do all kind of people's books, and I don't know of a more giving pastor in the world, Brother Copeland, than you." I don't say that to pat myself on the back. I'm telling you that God has given me a lot of nice things. I'm 57 years old, and I've realized almost every dream that I've wanted in my life. But I've not done it by sacrificing the kingdom of God. I've not kept y'all over in one of these little buildings and been refused to give or invest in the sound system and the lights and cameras and screens and what missions and sending money overseas and, Hallelujah. Every, be seated, every year we're in the top giving. And I don't always come to you and ask you for it. A lot of times, I just write checks right out of the, right out of the tithing account. But we're in the top givers in the state in, in building churches and she's for Christ and missions and all mother's Memorial, everything. You can look at Pine Grove Pentecostal Church, it's always in the top five givers. You, you, but, but in spite of all that, I've realized every dream I've wanted because when you seek first the kingdom of God, you can't outgive God. He will make sure that you have everything you want. But you got to put Him first. You got to put Him first. You got to put Him first. I, I, I can't count the times that I've said, "I want that, but not bad enough to circumvent what God's doing and give to the kingdom." And two or three years later, look up and tell my wife, "Man, a few years ago, I wanted this so bad, and I, I, I walked away. We didn't do it because we were trying to build the church or we were trying to give to missions or we were trying to accomplish something to do with the church." And we walked away from it, and look at it. Here it is, and I didn't even go for it. God, God just gave it to me. And I'm not special. He'll do the same thing for you. Yeah. Come on. You say, "What, what are you, what are you preaching, Brother Copeland?" I'm asking you, what are you hungry for? If you're hungry for things, if you're hungry for stuff, if you're hungry for all that, and that hunger overtakes you, and that hunger drives you, then you will, you will live and you will die grasping for things that you'll never get your hands on. But if you'll put God number one, if your hunger will be the kingdom of God and the righteousness of God, if your number one hunger will be to please the Lord above all other things, "I want relationship with God. I am hungry for the things of God." Then He will add these things to you. And you know what? It ought to change every year. It shouldn't be the, the same as you go through the Bibles that you read, read, and the Bibles that you have that you utilize. You ought to be able to go back and say, "You know, 15 years ago, these things was this right here, and God gave me every one of them. But now, 10 years ago, I was reading this Bible through, and I wrote down these things, and every one of those things God's given me. And now I'm in this new Bible, and I got a whole new list of these things." Wow. Yes. Because if you'll keep Him number one, not one dream that you have will He not give you if you'll keep Him number one. I fully believe that. But you've got to decide what it is that you're hungry for. All right. Let's move on. The Oxford Dictionary says that hunger means a strong desire or craving. And that is the key. A strong desire or a craving. That's the, that's the key to every bit of this. Is most of the time, what we call hunger is not really hunger. You can go several weeks without your body actually getting hungry. You can go several weeks without your body actually getting hungry. Y'all struggling tonight? Well, I tell y'all, I wish y'all could see the far-away look in y'all's eyes. Come on to church a little while. I won't keep you long. What we call hunger is not actually hunger, it's craving. Now, this is, this is very important. And I, I know that that there's medical conditions that could change that. But for the most part, most the people in this building could go up to 21 days without your body actually getting hungry because we live in America where we're well-fed. There's probably not a one of us that's ever known real hunger in our lifetime because real hunger means that your body is now starving for nutrients and actually starving for for the things that actually supply the the the movement and the the energy of the body. Somebody said, "Brother Copeland, I can't go one meal and I lose my energy." I understand. But the truth of the matter is, you're having the same problem the drug, drug addict has. It's just that you're addicted to food, not drugs. Your body will put on all kind of antics to get you to eat. The dizziness isn't real. The faintness isn't real. The nervousness isn't real. You're having withdrawals. Are, are you listening to me? You can go several days, many days without food before you're actually in a physical condition where you have to eat. But your body will go through all kind of antics that, listen, anybody that's ever been on a three-day fast knows what I'm talking about. After three days, it gives up. The first, first three days are the hardest, man. You'll have headaches, your eyes are crossed, you'll stumble around, you'll get weak. Guess what? It's addiction. You're not hungry, you're craving. And after three days, after a three-day fast, all that goes away. And up to about seven to 10 days, you're slick, man. I mean, it's like cruising. Yes, sir. Once you break the addiction, cravings, you can go several days on a fast without even feeling the pangs of hunger because you broke the addiction part. Now, I know that you're totally convinced that you can't go 12 hours because all that stuff's real. But just try it sometime, see if it doesn't work. With that said, the truth, the same is true in the spiritual. And this is what I'm submitting to you right now, that that what you're hungry for is completely in your control. What I'm trying to convince you tonight is that you can't crave something you've never tasted. You can't crave something that you've never tasted. So the only way that you can be hungry for worldly things is you've been tasting worldly things. It is completely within your power for you to hunger to pray. It is completely within your power for you to hunger to read God's word. It is completely in your power to hunger to come to church. Now, listen to me. Hear what I'm telling you right now. When your hunger is to miss church, when your hunger is to read something other than your Bible, when your hunger, your hunger is to do anything but pray, you're on a bad trajectory. Now, you got to hear what I'm saying right now. I'm telling you, it is up to you whether you hunger the things of this world or whether you hunger for God. And it just depends on what you supply and what you feed your mind and what you feed your spirit. If you feed your spirit scrolling on social media, that's what you're going to be hungry for. If the first thing you do when you wake up every morning is grab your phone and see what's going on on your phone and check your emails and, and, and, and see who texted you and see who called you and see who made comments on your posts on on Facebook or social media, then that's what you're going to be hungry for. And when you wake up every morning, that's going to be your hunger and your desire, and it will lead you away from God and into worldliness and bring darkness in your spirit. But the same is true of the other. If you can go three days maintaining your focus to say, "I will pray and read my Bible before I check one email. I will pray and I will read my Bible before I scroll on social media. I will pray and I will read my Bible and talk to God before I check and see who's texted me." Just three days, and worldliness will begin to break off of you. I'm not saying you'll be hungry for that in three days, but I'm telling you, the cravings for worldliness will begin to break in just three days. Ten days down the road, you will literally crave to read your Bible and crave to talk to the Lord and crave to bow before His throne before you do anything else. It's within you to desire to to decide what your hungry and what your cravings are going to be. And so therefore, we blame too much on the devil. We blame way too much on the enemy. I'm telling you, in the Holy Ghost, the the devil gets blamed for a lot of things that that is not his. He didn't do that. The devil don't hook you on social media. The devil don't hook you on worldliness. He will use every one of those tools if he can get you to hook yourself. Hallelujah. Y'all making me work for it tonight. Hallelujah. Y'all making me work for it tonight. I, I, I don't know what's going on, but I feel like I'm just boring y'all to death. Please come to church. Hallelujah.
I don't know if the rain's distracted y'all. I don't know what's going on. I tell you'all one thing, y'all going to wear the mustard out tonight, and most going have to go home and get good night's sleep. They're going to have to repl those hinges on those doors by in the morning.
Listen, this is what, what I'm talking to you about is important tonight. What I'm preaching to you is vital. It's vital to your mind, it's vital to your spirit. Amos 3 and three. Amos the third chapter and the third verse. I'm going to have to shift gears just a second here and and get your attention. Listen to me.
In around the year 1850, 1849 to be exact, a phenomenon began in the United States of America that would end up, it would end up affecting the entire world. And that was that a prospector made a gold strike in Sutter Mill, California, which is a district in Sacramento. When the news got out that gold had been struck at Sutter's Mill, it shook this the entire world. All over the world, people begin to leave their homes and go to California in search of gold.
Now listen, this, this is this is remarkable. It don't seem like much now because the population of the earth is so different. But in 1850, somewhere around 50,000 people a year were showing up in Sacramento, California. 50,000 a year. I, I would, I would estimate that that that would be like 500,000 now with the difference in the population growth of the world. It, it was, it was such a rush and people were so determined to strike gold that they were abandoning ships in San Francisco Bay. Would literally ship over here from Ireland, England, Scotland, all over Europe and other known parts of the world. They would, they would take ships into San Francisco Bay, and when they'd get into San Francisco Bay, they would literally abandon their ship, swim or or wade to the shore and never go back to their ship and just leave it. To the point at one point, there were thousands of ships crowding the Bay Area of San Francisco until they could not get to land. That they couldn't get shipments in. The, they, they couldn't get a, a ship bringing stuff into Harbor into Harbor because it was, it was so congested and crowded with abandoned vessels.
The land was selling so quickly that there was no more land to buy. To the point that they begin to sell them. Real estate agents literally begin to sell parts and pieces of the harbor. They sold them water. Said, if you can figure out a way to build something there, well, get after it. And so what they would do is they would get one of those abandoned ships, bring it into the close to the land, build a ramp out to it, and they started building saloons and houses and apartment complexes and everything in abandoned ships. The reason these people would wade to shore or or go to shore is because their, listen, their hunger for gold was so strong that they had left their families, they had left everything in foreign lands to come get rich. There was such a death rate because of the gold that when they abandoned those ships, this was their attitude: I'm either going to get filthy rich or I'm going to get killed. Either way, I don't need this ship anymore.
This also started people leaving New England. Some would ship over to New England and then get carts, wagons, and start for California. Now, now, what I'm telling you right now is so vital and so important. You got to, you got to get the concept of what I'm saying. They were so hungry for gold that they would put their family on a wagon to start a two to three thousand mile trip with oxen or horses and wagons headed to California to find gold.
Now the reason this is important is because when they started the journey, they would start with all kind of stuff. It would be Mom, Dad, several children. Many mothers were expecting babies in that wagon. They would have, they would have meal so that they, they could cook cakes on the way. They would have food items. They would have Grandma's Hope Chest. They would have blankets made that were family heirlooms. They would have Grandpa's bureau or dresser, and they would start for California with all that stuff. But many of them, by the time they got to the mountain ridges of in Arizona, it was just the man. And in states scattered all across America, he had buried his children and his wife, and the furniture had either been pushed off because it had gotten too heavy or it had been broken up in order to build fires to warm by, to cook meals. Beautiful family heirloom furniture that would be broken up to build a fire because the hunger, the hunger for gold was so strong.
Most of them never saw a piece of gold. Out of that, out of that time era would come many words that we still use today that we don't even understand what they mean. One of them is greenhorn. What was a greenhorn? That was a, that was a person that was headed to California to buy gold that didn't know anything about a wagon train. They didn't know anything about cattle. They didn't know anything about gold. They didn't know anything about mining. But they were hungry. And so therefore, a greenhorn could be easily fooled and everything he had could be taken from him. Word like words like Heckler came from that time period. Words like Fool's Gold came from that time period. What did that mean? It means that men would go into the mountains of Nevada and the mountains of Arizona because they knew they had to come through there in order to get to California, and they would, they would dig into the side of a mountain and they would seed it with Fool's Gold. And then they would send their kids out to start jumping up and down and screaming when a wagon train came by and say, "Papa struck gold! Papa struck gold! There's gold in them their hills." Another term that you hear. All of this came from the Gold Rush. And these people who were tired and weary and lost everything would think, "I don't have to go all the way to California. There's gold right there. I can get gold right here in Nevada. Nevada has gold too." And seeded with Fool's Gold, men would walk in. And the money that they had left that they had to claim a stake and buy a stake in a gold mine in California, they would give it all because they were so tired. But they were so hungry.
Listen, what I'm telling you, one of the highest suicide rate time periods in America was during the Gold Rush. As men who had beautiful homes and beautiful families in Vermont and and and Connecticut and New England and New York or the New England area, New York, that area would leave to go become multi-millionaires in California, only along the way to lose everything. They would lose their wives. They would lose their children. They would lose their family heirlooms. They would get to California with nothing but the shirt on their back and their life, and then find out they bought into something that yielded nothing. Some of them would finally acquire a little gold, and they had such a network of thieves that when they would go into town to put it in the bank or try to sell that gold in order to get paper coins in exchange for it, they would never make it to town. Because the network of thieves would say, "Hey, Ed hit some gold and he's headed to town to sell it." And before he would ever get to town, his life would be taken over a little bit of gold.
You're sitting there right now and you're thinking, "How foolish, how stupid. What, what a foolish thing. Why, why couldn't people with good homes and good families and good lives and everything put together, why couldn't they just stay put and just be happy with what God provided for them? Why did they have to let such a hunger get a hold of them that they would put everything on the line?" And I'm here to submit to you that on the spiritual side, right now today, there's backsliders that's taking their first hit of fentanyl. They know that everybody else that's taken fentanyl lost their lives. There's backsliders taking their first hit of crystal meth, and they know what it's done to everybody else that's ever got on it. But they've woken up such a hunger. Listen to what, what I'm, this is what I'm telling you right now. You say, "Couldn't they look at all the people that lost their lives? Couldn't they look at all the people that went to California and yielded nothing as a result? Couldn't they look at all them that their hunger drove them to lose it all?" I want to ask you, what about those right now that's starting an extramarital affair? Haven't they seen how many homes it's destroyed? Haven't they seen how many people that it's wrecked their life? Why in the world would they do that? Because we all think that our hunger is the one that's going to be satiated. We all think our hunger is different. You know, my hunger is different than everybody else's.
I want to submit to you tonight that as you sit in this Apostolic church, it's important what you're hungry for. Yes, sir, it is. And it is important what kind of hungers you wake up in your spirit. I can't imagine that right now today, we still have people sitting on Apostolic pews that are still looking over the fence at things in this world and thinking there's something out there that would make my life complete. When the Bible over and over and over declares to you that it's, it's letting your bucket down into an empty well. Haven't you learned by now? Haven't you figured out by now that there's nothing out there that you can get hungry for that would change your world? Right. It's literally a hunger for empty dreams, empty desires. Yes. You know, we feel sorry for the ones that went to California and didn't strike it rich. But let me just present to you tonight, we don't even have time to go down this trail. But let me just present it to you that if you'll study the lives of the ones that did, you'll find out that they fared worse. The ones that got out there and struck gold actually had worse outcomes than the ones that didn't. For every one of them, it wrecked their world because they had no capacity to know what to do with what they had. It brought death and destruction and damnation.
What is it that you're hungry for tonight? If you looked into your own heart and your own spirit right now and just ask yourself, what is it that I am so hungry for? What is it that's consuming my thoughts and my mind and my spirit? What am I just wrapped up in right now that that I want worse than I want anything in this world? Once you locate and find out what that is, you better turn that deal around and so, you know what, I'm going to seek God first. And if God sees fit for me to have that, he can make it happen. I don't have to go seeking for it.
We have a rule in our home, and both of my girls and my wife both have repeated it to me just lately. This is what it is: If you have to push for it, if you start having to turn yourself inside out to acquire it, if you start having to overcome obstacles, if it becomes really, really hard, then let it go. Because if it's God's will, it'll come to you. If you have to chase it, you probably ain't going to want it once you get it. Over and over and over as a pastor, you see people throw everything away to acquire something, and then when they get it, they don't want what they got. When they get what they want, man, if you have to start, this is so important that you hear, if you have to start putting your family on the line, your kids on the line, your marriage on the line, all this stuff, if you have to start putting everything that's important to you on the line, this is one of the, this is one of the mysteries of mysteries to me. And I'm almost done. But you have to pastor a long time to see this happen. If you pastor five years, 10 years, you'll never, you'll never get this revelation. But if you pastor people for a long time, over and over and over, this is what I see in people's lives. And I don't mean one time, I don't mean two times, I don't mean five times. I mean more times than not, people will work and work and work and work and work to to acquire the American dream. They'll just kill themselves to get married, get a little house, you know, get that thing paid down to where they can handle it. You know, their kids, kids are doing well, and their home's doing well. And, and I mean, they've got 10 or 15 years invested in putting this together, and then do something stupid and lose it all. I mean, just forfeit it. And if I've seen it happen once, I've seen it happen 20 times. And I think, "What in the world did you work so hard for? Why did you work so hard to make all this happen just to forfeit it? Just to throw it away?" I mean, you, you told your family for years that this is what was most important to you, and now all of a sudden, nothing. Every one of your priorities have been rearranged. You better be careful what hunger gets a hold of you. You better be cautious what kind of craving gets a hold of you.
COVID was a time period that I saw people's hungers get rearranged. During the time of COVID, many marriages struggled. Many homes struggled. There was marriages that was lost in this church during COVID, even though I'd pastored here up till that 20 years without ever hardly losing a marriage. In fact, I can't remember one until COVID. But people got to sitting at home fooling with that stupid internet, social media, until a hunger woke up in them, a craving for something that was completely, completely out of order with all their hopes and dreams and aspirations and teachings and everything up to that point. I asked one of them when I finally got them in my office, "What are you doing? What are you thinking?" Well, this, that, and the other. And I, I said, "Hang on, hang on. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. If one of your adult children was sitting here telling you what you're telling me, what would you tell them?" They said, "I'd tell them they're stupid and they're about to lose everything for nothing." That's what I tell them. I tell them this is a bad idea. Wow. Well, then why are you doing it? I'm going to tell you why, because they let a craving get a hold of them, right? A hunger got a hold of them to the point that they couldn't turn around. It's a bad thing when you look in your life and you're making your kids do things that you're not willing to do. It's a bad deal, man. If you're giving your kid one set of advice and you got another set of advice, something ought to click in your mind, man. I've seen for years when when we used to run buses, these backsliders and people that knew the truth and knew God, put their kids on a Sunday school bus every Sunday and send them to a church. They never went to. Hunger.
You're, let me, let me just end with this. Hunger is not involuntary. Cravings are not involuntary. It's not something that sneaks up on you and jumps on you. I'm telling you, things are an acquired taste. If you're hungry for something, it's because you've been ingesting it. You can't have a craving for what you've never experienced and never tasted. One of the, one of the things that got a hold of me years ago, I, I never forgot it. It has been in my mind over and over and over and over again. And Sister Jennifer Bry, you were the one that said it. And it, I'm just telling you, it was one of those, have you ever had anybody say something to you and through the years, you go back and you think of that one statement? It just, it just resonates somehow. We were, we were at a, a, I guess a restaurant. I, I can't, I can't remember the location. But I suggested that she give one of her boys or letting me give one of her boys ice cream. And her answer was, "Absolutely not. No." I said, "You, you, you're not going to have them let them have just a little ice cream?" "No, no, no. I'm not letting him have any ice cream." I said, "Why is that?" She said, "Because the day that they finally get ice cream, they'll develop a taste for it and they'll never stop wanting it. I'd rather them not even taste it than to want something like that all the time."
I want you to think about about that. People with porn addictions, it didn't sneak up on them. People with alcohol addictions, it did. It didn't sneak up on them. Can you imagine the cravings of people wrecking their lives over alcohol, drugs, all of pornography? Infernal bombs are put in the heart of homes. It blows homes apart. And you've got to understand, these, these, these things didn't sneak up. The, the people are not victims to that stuff. No one is a victim to drugs. Now, I, I don't, I don't mean to hurt your feelings, but no one's addicted to painkillers. I mean, no one's a victim to painkillers. Somewhere they picked that painkiller up one time and they thought to themselves, "You know what? I don't know if I would take this or not. It seems like something's happening to me that's sending me down a bad road." But somewhere they had to make a decision to decide, "Am I hungry for this or am I hungry for my family? Am I hungry for this or am I hungry for my marriage? Am I hungry for this or am I hungry for my relationship with God?"
I'm telling you, if you will develop a hunger for the things of God, you can have, you can be blessed and you can be fulfilled. But nothing else that you're hungry for will ever fulfill you. I don't care what it is. I'm finished. But ask Elvis Presley if being the greatest singer on the face of the planet fulfills you and blesses you. Ask Marilyn Monroe if being the most known sex symbol on the planet brought fulfillment. Ask Ronald Reagan, just ask him if being the, be, being the president of most powerful country in the world fulfilled him. It was Ronald Reagan that was one of the few that answered it. He actually said, you can find it in the library, that the greatest thing that ever happened to me was not becoming president. The greatest thing that ever happened to me was the day I became a Christian. And becoming a Christian for Ronald Reagan meant so much more than any other president that's been been in there because Ronald Reagan was one of the few that had received the baptism of the Holy Ghost and was baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. I'm telling you, I don't care where you go, what you do, nothing will fulfill you like seeking God first. And I'm telling you, if you'll seek God first, you can have him and all those other things too. But you can't have that stuff in spite of him. And if you get it without him, it will not fulfill. It will bring you to despair.
Let's stand together. Lift your hands all over the building. Come on, everybody here, lifting your hands. Would you thank God for His word? Come on, everybody. Come on. I'm asking you to thank God for His word tonight. God, in the name of Jesus, and through the power of the Holy Ghost, I'm asking to open our minds, open our spirits to Your word. God, let this word somehow get a hold of our hearts and our lives tonight. God, make me hungry for things of righteousness. Make me hungry for things of truth. God, let hunger get a hold of my spirit. Don't let anything in this world, God, overtake me with hunger for anything else but Your will and Your word. In the precious, precious name of Jesus. Thank you so much for considering the word tonight. Thank you so much for considering God's word. I love you.
Please don't forget family prayer tomorrow night. Listen, listen to, let me announce this right quick and I'll let you go. Tomorrow night is going to be different. Uh, we're between for, in fact, for the next two weeks because the week after that, this is a very important announcement, so please hear me. Uh, we ended our eight week installment of classes last Wednesday night. So this Wednesday night, Brother Josh Slaughter, Brother Josh Slaughter is going to be here to do a general session on business. Um, business is missions. Business is a, a way of giving. Um, and then next, next Wednesday night, we're also going to have a general session. And the reason we're doing that is because it's spring break week, and I know that many of you will be gone and out of pocket for spring break. And so therefore, we won't start the classes until the week after that. Again, we'll start another segment of classes once everybody gets home, okay? So the next two weeks will be general sessions. But we will have prayer meeting tonight. Tomorrow night, Brother Josh Slaughter will be here to speak to us. Shake hands, be friendly. You're dismissed. I love you and appreciate you. Thank you for being faithful.