Transcription
Praise the Lord, everyone! Let's stand together in the house of the Lord. Aren't you glad to be in God's house today? Aren't you thrilled to be in the house of the Lord? Could we lift our hands together and just invite God's wonderful presence into this tabernacle today? Jesus, dear Lord, I want you to know how thankful we are, God, to be in Your presence. I want you to know how grateful we are together today in the house of the Lord. We're here for the purpose, God, of lifting You up, of magnifying Your name, of praising You together in the beauty of holiness. God, You're great. You're great in our lives. You're great in our world, and we're thankful, God, for Your goodness and Your mercy. Oh, if you clap your hands together and give God some praise! Anybody ready to have church today? In Jesus' name, God bless you. You can be seated if you need to. Worship with this praise team in Jesus' name.
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He is worthy of the praise. My Jesus is worthy of the praise. My Jesus is worthy of the praise. My Jesus is [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] glory to that name. [Music] [Music] Give glory to that name. Oh, [Music] [Music] glory to that name. [Applause] Me. [Music] Is the name of Jesus. [Music] Me. [Music] Oh, let heaven and earth give glory to that name. Heaven and earth. [Music] [Applause] Even the oceans and the rocks and the seasons. [Music] [Music] Jesus. [Music] [Music] [Music]
Somebody praise Him right now! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Come on, let's do that across this building. Is that what you came to do today? Did you come to give Him all glory? Did you come to give Him all honor? Hallelujah! Let's take just a couple of seconds and do that. Hallelujah! Jesus! Oh God, we give You all glory and all honor in this house. In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
He loves what you feel in this house. Hallelujah! I believe He's here to do something great today. I believe He's here to work a miracle today. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! You can be seated if you need to. This praise team is coming back. I believe, hallelujah. How many of you is ready to worship? Hallelujah! I want to give it everything I got today. Hallelujah! I don't want to leave nothing on the table when I leave this place today. If you come with a need, you're at the right place. Hallelujah! If you come with something going on in your family, you're at the right place. I'm telling you, miracles is what He does. Miracles is what He does. Hallelujah!
This building was being washed yesterday. I'm sorry, I was about to get out of the way. This building was being washed yesterday, and a young little boy just walked up to me. Gabriel walked up to me, and he said, he said, "That chemical sure works a miracle, don't it?" And I couldn't help it, that just done something to me. He had faith in that chemical washing this building, and I thought, you know what? Hallelujah! We serve a God that works miracles. I'm telling you, that's what He does. He's a miracle worker. Hallelujah! I brought my, I brought my faith today. I brought everybody's been given a measure of faith, and I brought mine today. Hallelujah! I'm here to see Him work a miracle. I believe He's here to do it. Lift your hands all across this building. Let's worship Him and say, "Come back to sing."
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A joy. The lights. You are all I want. You are all I need. Everything my heart could hope for. [Music] The glory of the Lord. Cause we know there's so much. The glory of the Lord. [Music] I haven't found a grace that guides me by the hand. I have found. [Music] You are all I need. Everything my heart could hope for. The glory of the Lord. Cause we know there's so much. The glory of the Lord. [Applause] [Music] You are all I need. Everything my heart could hope for. We are longing for the glory of the Lord. You are all I need. Everything my heart could hope for. The glory of the Lord. [Music] [Music] Oh. [Music]
Hallelujah! Why don't you put your hands together? Oh, clap your hands, all you people! Hallelujah! Jesus! Hallelujah! Jesus! Hallelujah! You can make your way back to your seats. Just remain standing. The ushers are going to come and serve you today and give you an opportunity to be blessed. Hallelujah! I want to say right now, welcome to every guest. We've got a number of guests. Pine Grove, let's welcome our guests. Thank you for worshiping with us. We have got a number of guests throughout this house. I was looking around, and we are so thankful. We want you to know that you chose to worship with us today. We appreciate you being here. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Lord, we ask You to use this offering. We ask You to take it. We thank You, God, for clarity of mind that You've given us. We thank You for health, God. We thank You for the roof You put over our head. We thank You for the vehicle we drive, God. But we thank You most of all for the money that You've blessed us with to bless Your kingdom, God. We ask that You take this. God, we thank You for the opportunity to lay up treasures in heaven. Hallelujah! To do a work that lasts for eternity. Hallelujah! Thank You, Jesus. Hallelujah! Why don't you say thank you as you march and bring your offering? Choir, you can be making your way to the platform as you give.
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Hallelujah! God bless you. You can be seated. In First Second Timothy 2 and 19, one of Paul's last letters, the writer of over half of the New Testament, he said that the foundation of the Lord is sure. He said, "You're with this seal." He said, "I knoweth them that are mine." I'm telling you, in 2020, the foundation of the Lord is still sure. Yes, sir. It's still sure in 2020. The same foundation that was in 2018, 2019, is the same foundation that we stand on today. That foundation is sure. Yes, sir. And He knows them that are His. I'm telling you, you don't have to be scared because He knows you. Come on, man. And He said, He said that we're sealed with that promise. The, the same promise that got us through [Music] I'm sorry, I'm gonna get a little bit sidetracked here, but the same promise that got us through the '88 reasons that that the Lord's coming back in '88, that's the same promise that's gonna get us through today. The same promise that got us through 1999, the Y2K, is the same promise that's gonna get us through 2020. The same promise, the same foundation is gonna get us through. How many believe that? How many believe that? Hallelujah!
I've got one scripture I want to share with you, and this choir is coming to sing. How many appreciate this choir? I'm telling you, I've been looking forward to this day, hearing them come back and sing to us. There's something, some kind of anointing that's on a choir, and our, our choir has got that anointing. It says in, uh, in Luke, it says in the seventy returned again with joy, saying, "Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through Thy name." And He said unto them, "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven." Verse 19 says, "Behold, I give you the power to tread upon serpents and scorpions and over the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you." Notwithstanding, this rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you, but that your names are written in heaven. [Music]
I'm telling you, hey, I know it's 2020, and it's been some kind of year, but the foundation of God is sure. You are sealed, and He knows who you are, and you can rejoice that your name is written in heaven. Hallelujah! Let's worship with this as they sing today.
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I thought I'd [Music] I saw darkness run for cover. [Music] But the miracle that I just can't get over. My name is registered. [Music] Still the miracle. [Music] This is my testimony. From death to night. Cause grace rewrote my story. I'll testify. But [Music] this is my Jesus. This is my testimony. [Music] We'll finish what He started. This is my testimony. This is my testimony. This is my testimony. From deadline. Cause grace rewrote my story. Our testified by Jesus Christ. [Applause] [Applause] [Music] If I'm not dead, You're not done. Things are still to come. Oh, You're not [Music] done. [Music] Greater things. [Music] Happening. Greater things. You're not done. [Music] This is my testimony. From their delights. Cause grace rewrote my story. By Jesus. But Jesus Christ. [Music] [Music] Me. [Applause] [Music] Yes. [Applause] What a God. What an amazing job. [Music] He couldn't feel. [Music] [Music] You. [Music] Put me back together. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] Is. [Music] [Music] [Music] Is. [Music] [Music] [Music] Is. [Applause] [Music] Nothing is better. [Music] [Music] Oh. [Music] You get beauty. [Music] Glory. [Music] [Applause] Beauty. [Music] [Applause] Is. [Music] You're the only one. [Music] Is. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Nothing is. [Music] [Music] Crazy. [Music] [Applause] Me. [Music] Me. [Music] Is. [Music] Is. [Music] Oh. [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Every hand lifted across this building. How many of you know that that's the one that you serve? That's the one that you worship. Yeah, He's the only one that can turn bones into armies. Come on! He's the only one that can make a, a sea a highway through that sea. I'm telling you, some of you is in a sea of, of financial problems. Some of us is in a sea of, of sickness. But I'm telling you, we worship the one that can make a highway right through that. Sister Debbie, we worship the one that can make a highway right through that problem. Hallelujah! Does anybody believe it? Does anybody believe it? If you do, clap your hands as you return to your seat. Hallelujah!
Just remain standing. Our pastor's coming. How many of you thankful for your pastor? Hallelujah! I'm telling you, I've been thinking about it for weeks now, but I am so thankful that our pastor navigated us through this, these last few months. I'm telling you, he done a, a miraculous job navigating us through this. How many of you feel that and believe that? If you just think about it, you know, there's so many decisions to be made and so much going on, and he done a perfect job navigating us through this, and I believe, hallelujah, we're on the other side of it. Hallelujah! The Lord's kept His hand on us. Hallelujah! Anybody thankful for that? Hallelujah! If you need to step out and get a drink or or go to the restroom, now is the time to do that. Our pastor's getting ready to break the word of life to us. Hallelujah! Say, "God bless you. God bless our pastors." As he comes. Thank you, Brother Forsyth.
Aren't you glad to be in the house of the Lord? I know you're standing, and so I do not want to leave you standing lengthily, so I will go immediately to the word. Job chapter 35 and verse 5. Job 35 and 5. Job, the 35th chapter and the 5th verse. While you're turning there, thank you to every guest that is here. You've made our day by being with us today. Job 35 and 5 says, "Look unto the heavens and see; and behold the clouds which are higher than thou. If thou sinnest, what dost thou against him? Or if thy transgressions be multiplied, what dost thou unto him? If thou be righteous, what givest thou him? Or what receiveth he of thine hand? Thy wickedness may hurt a man if thou art, and thy righteousness may profit the son of man."
Jesus, dear Lord, thank You for an opportunity to be in Your house. Thank You for the opportunity to be gathered in Your name. I'm asking You to open our hearts, our minds, and our spirits that we might receive Your word. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
God bless you. You can be seated. Right before I go to the word, I want to thank everyone that gathered this weekend. Thank you, everyone that gathered this weekend to work. Some of you worked, many of you worked very hard washing the building. I think ladies, we're inside cleaning for our fall cleanup. We usually do one every spring and whenever fall. Thank you to everyone that took your Saturday morning and came up here and worked to make our church beautiful. The flower beds looked outstanding. How many of you noticed the flower beds when you drove up? The building's been washed, the front doors have been restained. Ladies worked inside the building. Thank you for loving your church and this facility. Also, thank you for all of those who gather every Sunday in the prayer room together, together, and pray to get ready for services. It is vitally important. It is vitally important that we're, if we're going to live the blessed life, to do the things that God asked us to do. And one of the things that He asked us to do is He said, "I'm giving seven days and I'm asking you for one of them." And He said, "If you'll give me that seventh day, then I'll bless the other six." Works the same way tithing works. And if we want a blessed week, then we've got to give Him that first day of the week. So, the first day of the week, the reason we gather, and the reason we have two services, and the reason we expend the lion's share of Sunday upon the Lord is because He said, "You make one day separate it and make it holy unto Me, and I'll bless the other six." And I know a lot of people that say, "Well, I live for God all week long." That's different. You live for God, and you, you praise Him while you work, and while you clean, and while you do a lot of things. But He said, "I want one day for you not to do anything but focus on Me." I don't want you mowing that day. I don't want you working that day. I don't want you distracted with other things while you live for Me. I want you to take one day, and I want you to focus on Me. That's why we come to the prayer room. That's why the choir comes and practices. That's why singers come and practice. That's why we gather in this building. And I never want God to think that I want to cheat Him out of that one day. I'm not running in here for an hour or two so I can go do other things. This is the Lord's day. I burn the candle at both ends that day for Him. I give Him the lion's share and the best of that day. Hallelujah! So, thank you for coming to the prayer room. Thank you for being in worship together, and God's gonna bless the rest of our week because we give the first fruit to the first day of the week solely to Him. I like that plan. It works. It works well. God blesses me for doing it.
Job 35 and 5. This is essentially, in modern-day English, what Elihu is saying to Job. He says, "Look, look how high the heavens are, Job. Look how far the clouds are above you. God don't care whether you sin or not. It don't affect Him. It doesn't dethrone God because you commit sin. It doesn't put Him on the throne when you don't commit sin." I mean, your sin may hurt you, and your sin may hurt your children, but it does nothing to God. I want to preach to you for a few minutes from this subject: Why God is Concerned About Your Sin. And I want to start out by saying, yes, we all sin. Yes, we're all guilty of sin. None of us in this house are sin-guiltless. And there is a tendency in all of us to feel like that God is not concerned, or should not be concerned, with whether we sin or not. There is a tendency to make sin purely human because we know God doesn't sin. So sin must be a human thing, and that God's up in heaven and He's separated and He's detached from man's life and man's world. I want to tell you clearly that nothing could be further from the truth. Why on earth would God be concerned about every little sin that I commit? What is sin? What does sin mean? I do want to tell you that the reason that our world is so in trouble is because we've lost respect for two things. Number one, we've lost respect for God. And number two, we've lost respect for sin. Somebody said, "Respect for sin?" I'm talking about more in a fear situation. We have lost a fear of sin and what sin does. Now, approach sin with a, with a smirk, with a sly wink. Sin has become something that's fragrant and alluring. And I do want to establish in the beginning of this message that sin does have an allure. Sin does have a charm. To stand in this pulpit and tell you that there's nothing attractive or alluring or charming about sin would be a fallacy. It would be wrong. I want to tell you that sin is fun. Sin is thrilling. Sin is enjoyable. Sin is alluring. Sin has a smart, sharp look to it, but only in prospect. You see, the problem is, sin is only alluring and attractive when you're headed toward it, when you're going into it. It is ugly and it is devastating in retrospect. Sin reminds me of, uh, the story of Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth was allured by a certain perfume. She wanted, she desired everything in her, wanted a perfume. And when she finally dipped her hand into that perfume and then held it up to her nose, it had become so stenchful that her words were, "All the fumes of Arabia can never make my hands sweet again." She wanted it. It was alluring. It was beautiful. It was fabulous. It was everything she desired until she put her hand in it. And once she put her hand in it, it became such a stench that she hated and despised her hand and wondered if it would ever, if there was any cleansing that could ever make her hand smell good again. That's exactly the way sin is.
Now, how, how do we come to the conclusion that God somehow is not interested in whether we sin or not? And why should He be? How do we come to the opinion that God does not care about our sin? Well, the first step, the first step is, let's go back to Eli, Elihu and Job. They felt that sin. Elihu stated to Job that sin was purely a human thing, that God is so far and so great and so indifferent, indifferent because of His infinite wisdom and how high He is above man, that there's no way that He could even be interested. And then Job says the same thing in Job 7 and 20. In Job, the 7th chapter and the 20th verse, he actually says that that God, one, one interpreter says it this way: "What, what is my sin to You, O God, who spies on man?" In other words, he calls God a spy. Job says that God just spies man out, that He's a great God in the heavens and, uh, He, He just, He spies on man. Really, what God ought to do is go about His business of being God, leave man alone. Elihu asks Job this: He says, "If you're righteous, what, what do you give God by being righteous? What does He receive at your hand? And when you're wicked, what, what does that go, what does that do to God?" And so, number one, it would seem that we think that God is not concerned about sin because He's so high above man that it has nothing to do with Him anyway, that our sin has no effect on God, so why should He be concerned about it?
Number two, man seems to have a charge account with hell. In other words, man can sin as much as he wants to sin, and there's never a cutoff. I mean, even a, even a bar has a cutoff. Even a good bartender says, "You've had too much, pal. I'm not serving you anymore." But not with sin. You, you can sin unto your sin-sick man. Every man has an open tab with sin. A woman can sin until she ODs on heroin and leaves four children in a car in the middle of the heat while she dies of heroin overdose in the driver's seat. Sin has no cutoff. You can run a tab into the millions, the billions, the trillions. There's no end. And so, number one, my sin has no effect on God or heaven, so therefore, why should He be so concerned? Number two, I can run up as high a tab as I want to run up. I can devastate my family. I can devastate my children. I can devastate, I can do anything. I can devastate my world. I can kill myself and leave my children derelicts in the streets, and there's no end to the tab that I can run up. So how is God concerned about my sin?
Number three, judgment is so slow that it seems that it does not come at all. I mean, if God is concerned about my sin, why don't He judge me? Why don't He do something? I mean, I would be less likely to sin if I could see some kind of adverse effect it was having on eternity. But eternity just goes on. I would be less likely to sin, maybe, if, if there was a cutoff date, if there was a time that that God said, "You've done too much, you can't sin anymore," or if, or if judgment would fall, if God would say, "I'm calling you into judgment according to the sins that you've already done." But according to Ecclesiastes 8 and 11, Ecclesiastes 8 and 11 tells us that that because sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, that men just bind it in their hearts. They just set it in their hearts to do evil because it comes so slow. It would seem that it does not come at all. And so, of course, mankind's going to turn it around on God and say, "God, am I seeing it in my thought? My sins, Your fault. I sin because it seems that You don't care. I sin because it seems that You won't stop me. I sin because it seems that You won't judge me. And why should You be interested anyway? What does it have to do with You? I mean, if my sin's not affecting You, if my sin's not hurting You, You must be, You must be some kind of selfish death pot to worry about me anyway. Why judge me for something that's not hurting You? If my sin neither dethrones You, nor my lack of sin and righteousness, it don't enthrone You, then why even be concerned?"
Well, let me answer it right here. The reason God is not concerned, or the reason God is concerned about our sin is not because it has anything to do with Him. He's God whether I sin or not. He's God whether I'm destroyed or not. He rules the universes, no matter what happens to me. God is concerned about my sin simply because He loves me and He wants relationship with me, and He can't have relationship with me if I am destroyed. God's concerned about my sin because He wants relationship with me. I was not created to sin. I was not created to be destroyed. I was created to love Him. I was created to worship Him. I was created to talk with Him. And sin separates me and severs that relationship and will ultimately separate me for eternity. So God is concerned about my sin because He wants relationship with me, not separation. He wants me to spend eternity with Him in paradise, in heaven, not in destruction. So God's concern with my sin has solely to do with me and nothing to do with Him. He is not saving me because it helps Him. It's solely about me.
What is sin? Let's talk about what sin is. First John 3 and 4 tells us what sin is. Sin is an act of commission and a transgression of the law. Here's the deal: If you took God out of the equation, even atheists have to admit that this globe, this world, operates on a set of unseen, unwritten laws. It just does. There is a law of the harvest. Those who are not even Christians will look at you. They've never read the Bible. They don't believe in heaven and hell, but they'll look at you and say, "Hey, what goes around comes around." You know what they're saying? They're, they're basically evading quoting Galatians 6 and 9. "You reap what you sow." There is a law of the harvest that if you sow righteousness, you're going to reap rightness and right living in a right life. If you sow sin, you're going to reap death. You see, to answer the earlier, uh, questions of Elihu and Job, basically, man's sin is taken out day by day. It's kind of like the guy, you know, you know, really, it's a, it's a tragically elusive deal. It's like the guy who had a, a dog whose tail was way too long, and he decided to cut the dog's tail off and make it a stub-tail dog. And instead of just cutting it off all at once, he just cut it off an inch at an inch a day, saying that he was going to help the dog. He made the dog hurt for a year and a half instead of just letting him hurt for a minute and a half. And that's the way sin is. Sin don't hurt you all at once. It hurts you day by day by day with ever-increasing pain until you, when you finally realize what's happening, you're in too far to dig your way out.
What is sin? First John 3 and 4. "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law; for sin is the transgression of the law." There are laws that this globe is built on that that it's just going to get you. You're not going to outsmart the law of gravity. You're not going to outsmart the law of the harvest. This earth is built on righteousness, justice, and truth. And if you sin, sins of commission, you're going to pay for those sins. There's going to be a payday, and it's going to be far worse than you can understand. It's going to last far longer. The most expensive thing, listen to me, listen to me, don't get distracted. The most expensive thing that you will ever pay for is sin, because you pay for it over and over and over again. The worst investment that you can make is sin. There is no worse investment in this world. To the person that gives his life savings to buy a star and he's got a deed to a star, as much good as that'll ever do him. I'm amazed at what people pay for. But there was literally, literally a time when I was a, a teenager that in the back of these magazines, they had this advertisement that you could get a deed to a star, and people were actually buying stars, paying for them. But there's no more horrible investment than sin, because you pay for it. You pay part in your conscience. You pay for it in your body. You pay for it in your marriage. You pay for it in your reputation. You pay for it in your children. You pay for it on your job. You pay for it among your friends. You pay for it in your self-respect. You pay for it in the way other people respect you. And then ultimately, if it's not repented of, you will pay for it for all of eternity. You can't outsmart the laws that this planet that you live on was built on.
And so, number one, is the sins of commission. It's the things that you do that are sins. Luke, the 25th chapter, I'm sorry, Luke, the 10th chapter, and the 25th through 37th verse. We won't go there and read it. You can read it later, but though that, that passage, uh, tells us of of several types of sin. There's several types of sin called into account. There's the sin of commission. There's those that that took this guy, the bandits that that robbed him of his money and beat him till he was half dead, and we understand and recognize. There's no question that they committed sin in doing what they did, and they will pay for those sins of commission. But there's also another sin that's called into account by God in that parable, and that is the sins of omission. The priest and the Levite saw the man stripped, beat, wounded, and cast aside in the road, and they went to the other side of the road and ignored him. And God called them into account on the sins of omission. So it's not just what you do, it's also what you refuse to do that is righteous. Hell is going to be full of people that would not do what they know they needed to do. "To him that knoweth to do good and will not do it, to him it is sin." There are sins of omission. God made the judge to say in this story, "These will go away into eternal punishment." Why? The one charge against them was not anything that they had done, but what they failed to do. They simply didn't do righteously. Their sins of commission, their sins of omission.
And then John 1:12. John, the first chapter, and the 12th verse. There's a third type of sin, and it has nothing to do with doing or not doing. It has to do with being or not being. "But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name." You see, this whole deal of why God's concerned about your sin is the fact that He wants relationship with you. He wants you to be His child. He wants relationship with man. You were created for relationship. And the number one reason why people are going to be lost, why they're going to go to hell, why God's concerned about their sin, is because they will not come into relationship with Him. And it is sin, and the allure of sin, that severs that relationship. Most people will go to hell because of the refusal of the new birth. He came to give them life and life more abundantly. But they had rather have the death of sin than eternal life with God. John 7:37-39 describes what God wants to do for you. You're dying because of sin. You're dying because you were tricked. Who, who in the world wants to be duped? There's nothing more embarrassing than the embarrassment of being duped. To everyone that's ever bought something stupid and then found out later, you don't run around and brag about that. You run around and brag when you make a good deal. You don't run around and brag when you, you buy something and get it home and it falls apart. You don't tell anybody about that. You don't tell anybody about how you found that great, awesome Mont Blanc watch on the streets of New York and paid $300 for a $1500 watch, and you got it home, and while you was wearing it, all the insides fell out of it. You don't tell about that because no one likes to be duped. But that's what sin does to people day after day, week after week, year after year. People give up their marriages, their homes, the respect of their children, their lives for a sin that is a mirage. It has all the lure in the world in prospect, but it's the ugliest thing on the planet in retrospect.
But here's what God offers. He said, "Let me tell you, the thief hath come for to kill, to steal, and destroy. The only thing you're going to get is ripped off, destroyed, and ultimately death." But He said, "I've come that you might have life, and that you might have it more abundantly." In John 7 and 37 tells us what He's going to give you. He said, "I'm going to tell you, when I get done with you, instead of emptiness, instead of fear, instead of anxiety, instead of laying in your bed wondering who you are, what you were created for, with emptiness inside." He said, "I'm going to tell you, if any man thirsts, let him come to Me and drink." Because when I get done, verse 38, "out of his belly is going to flow rivers of living water." Verse 39, "I'm telling you, He's gonna flow." "But He spake this as of the Spirit, which they that believe should receive: for the Holy Ghost." God wants to fill you with joy and peace and hope. My God, have mercy! That's why God's concerned about your sin. Because He wants to give you life. Whatever God forbids, He doesn't forbid because He's mean. He doesn't forbid because He's looking to judge. He doesn't forbid because He's a big potentate on a throne with a zapper in His hand and a crown on His head, waiting to beat His minions over the head. He is a Father. He's a Father that loves more than an earthly father can love. He's a Father that loves deeper than an earthly mother can love. And He created this world, and He created you on this world, and He created the beauty of the mountains and the seas and the rivers and the, and all that is here that you admire and that you love every day. And every day when you wake up and the birds are singing and the sun's shining and there's a cool breeze, and you think, "What a beautiful world that I live in." He created that environment so that He could live on this earth with us and have relationship. And man, in his rebellion against God, filled this earth so full of sin that God couldn't even dwell here with us. And so He spent 6,000 years trying to redeem all those of man, man that will allow Him to redeem them. What has He done for 6,000 years? For generation out of generation, He's called a church out of every generation. Every generation that's lived on this globe, there are some in that generation that chose to shun sin and receive new birth through Jesus Christ, to no longer be a child of hell, but to be borned again through the Holy Ghost, to be separated unto God. And that's what this entire thing's about. He's not a Father, He's not a judge trying to zap you. He's a Father trying to redeem you. He's trying to say, "I have something better. I have something much better than you can ever know on this earth." And if you'll but become one of Mine, oh, please leave sin alone. It'll destroy you. It's not that God curses you for sin. Are you listening to me? It's that the laws are already in effect. You're going to be cursed by sin if God never lifts His finger. You're going to be cursed by sin if God never gets off of His throne. God is not cursing people for sin. The laws are already there. God, as a Father, is telling you, "Leave it alone. Come with Me, because I don't want you to be cursed. I don't want you to be destroyed. I'm trying to stop you. If you sin, this is what's going to happen. I'm not doing it to you. It's because you're sinning against the laws of creation, and I'm a Father trying to tell you that if you'll come apart from sin, if you'll come out of sin, I'll give you life. I'll redeem you. I'll turn it all around." [Applause]
God is a Father trying to stop us from the effects of sin. A.J. Toynbee was a historian, philosopher, and economics professor at the University of London. University of London economics professor, philosophy professor, and historian. He studied, he spent his life studying every great civilization. And when he was all done with his studies, he published, he published an intellectual paper, and this is what he came up with. He said, "Every great civilization that ever existed and collapsed, their collapse was the result of the same thing." They, they, they were not destroyed because they weren't properly set up economically. They weren't destroyed because of a weak navy or a weak army. They weren't destroyed, uh, they weren't destroyed because of their political regime. It didn't matter if they were, if they were, uh, ruled by democracy or by a theocracy. It didn't matter if they had a king or a president. It didn't matter if they were socialist, Republican. It didn't matter if they were communist. That's not what brought their collapse. Every civilization that ever rose to greatness and collapsed, according to Toynbee, he said, collapsed for the same reason, and that was moral decay. They collapsed because they would not leave sin alone. And if you take God out of the equation, if God goes to heaven and leaves the earth alone, this globe still circles on a set of laws. And the laws are: if you live righteous, you're gonna reap righteousness. If you do people right, you're gonna be done right. If you do your money right and pay your bills, you're gonna, if you'll go to work every day and work hard, you'll eat. If you want to fish every day, you're gonna starve your family to death. I mean, no one's going to get around these laws. But the ultimate law is the wages. Listen to me, listen to me. The wages of sin is death. If you sin, you're gonna collapse and die. And men think because they don't smoke a cigarette and fall dead with lung cancer that they're getting by. They think if they take a drink and can dance all night, they've gotten by. If they don't take a drink and fall dead with cirrhosis of the liver that they're escaping. They think God's not concerned. It's all on me. But God is concerned. God is concerned about your sin, and no one, are you listening to me? No one is going to escape the law of the harvest. And the law of the harvest is two-sided. It's not all negative. It don't just say those that sin are gonna die. It says those that will be newborn are gonna have eternal life. If you'll run to God and repent of your sins and say, "God, I want to be a child of Yours, not a child of this world." He said, "I'll give you life more abundantly." Not only will you enjoy life down here, but I'll give you eternal life.
Hosea, and I won't take time to go there, but Hosea gives us one of the most beautiful pictures. God calls Hosea. He says, "Man, I, I've tried trying to explain to man what the deal is. I've got prophets that I've sent trying to explain to man what the deal is. I've done every way I can to to make man understand my relationship with him is God." And He says, "He, He has not paid attention to anything so far. It seems that I've written. I've sent crying preachers, it don't help. I've sent fire-breathing preachers, it don't help. They've preached mercy, and they've preached judgment, and it seems to have not changed man at all. I've wrote letters, and it didn't help. I've allowed nations to to play in front of them for generations, and it hadn't helped." So He tries a new tactic. He said, "Hosea, I want you to marry a, I want you to marry a rank prostitute." Now, here you are, you're a preacher of the gospel. She's going to be the nemesis of everything that you are. She's going to love the world. She's going to love wine and whiskey and drugs and nightclubs and partying. She's going to, she's gonna hate anything righteous while you are preaching and proclaiming righteousness. That's what Hosea did. He obeyed God and he married the worst woman to ever cross the pages of history, Gomer. Hosea's bride, that child of Samaria, she made Jezebel look like a sweet angel. She made Delilah look like a chaste woman in a white wedding attire. She was the worst woman in the Bible. She had several children to Hosea, and she continued her horrible, sinful, ungodly ways, addicted to alcohol, addicted to the nightlife, addicted to sex, until finally she leaves him and disappears. If Gomer had been a judge, he'd have slammed the gavel down and judged her head. If Gomer had, if Gomer had been the chief of police, he'd have locked her up. Had he been the district attorney, he'd have given her a life sentence. Paul, Gomer wasn't any of these. Poor old Gomer was a lover, and he walked the streets looking for her with tears rolling on his cheeks. He wasn't there to shake his finger in her face. He wasn't there to curse her or tell her off. He was there to wrap his coat around her and bring her home because he wasn't a judge, he was a father. And his one goal, no matter where she had been or what she had done, she had not went too far for him not to forgive her and still have relationship with her. And God is saying, "Jerusalem, oh Jerusalem, how often I would have gathered you under My wings and loved you, but you, your sin is this, that you wouldn't." I offered you life, and you shook your head no. You'd rather have death. I offered you peace, and you shook your head no. You'd rather take Zoloft. I offered you hope, and you shook your head no. You'd rather despair in this horrible world that you live in. I offered you eternity, and you chose hell. I don't understand. Why am I concerned about your sin? Not because it affects me. I'll go on being God. I'm concerned about your sin for one reason and one reason alone. I'm concerned about your sin because I will love you for eternity, no matter where you spend it. I'll still be in love with you. If you go to hell, it won't be because God didn't love you. I'm almost done.
Romans 3 and 23. Romans chapter 3 and 23 says that we have all sinned. Sin is a universal issue. Sin. Psalms 51 and 5. David said, "I was born in sin." You see, those that say, "I was born this way," you may be right. Okay, I'll give you that. Maybe you were born that way. But you see, the whole thing is, is He offers you new birth. He says, "Come to Me and be borned again, and old things will be passed away, and behold, all things." So I'm not going to get in an argument about whether you were born that way or not. What I'm going to tell you is, there is a new birth. You must be born again. There's a new birth. David in Psalms 51 and 5 says this: He says, "I was born in sin, I was shaken in iniquity. It was in sin that my mother conceived me." God is concerned about your sin. Will you listen to this one last point? Let me close because you can't do anything about it on your own. So let's, let's go with the narrative of the pedophile. Let's go with the narrative of the homosexual. Let's go with the narrative of the alcoholic or the drug addict that says, "I was born with this. I was born this way, therefore I can do nothing about it." Well, let me tell you something. We all have that same story. You're not unique. We were all born in sin. We were all shapen in iniquity. We were all born with the sins of our fathers for four generations hanging over our head. And you know what? You're right. You can't do one thing about it. The homosexual can't help himself. The pedophile can't help himself. But neither can the drug addict or the murderer or anybody else. That's why Jesus comes on the scene and says, "I'm not here to judge you. I'm not here to reign judgment upon you. I'm not here to accuse you. I'm here to say, I'll give you life where you're in pain. I'll give you hope. I'll give you life, and I'll give you that life more abundantly." If you'll repent, you can come up out of that water, a baptism, a new man. All your sins will be washed away into the sea of forgetfulness. I'm telling you, you must be born again.
Can we go there? John 3 and 6. Be seated, please. I'm done. Can we go there? John 3 and 6. Musicians, come. John 3 and 6. He says, "Let me tell you something. You must. That which is born of flesh is flesh." Let's back up to John. You know what? Just start with verse 1. "There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus by night, saying, Rabbi, we know that there are a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him." Jesus said, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus saith unto him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he mean it until the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?" Verse 5: "Jesus said, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man is born of the water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. He can't see it, and he can't get in." "That which was born of flesh is flesh; and that which was born of Spirit is Spirit." Verse 7: "Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again."
Verse eight. The wind bloweth where it listeth. Thou heareth the sound thereof, but cannot tell where they come or whether it go. So is everyone that is born of the spirit.
Here's the deal. I'll go with the narrative of the people of this world. "I was born this way. I can't help myself because I was born this way." And Jesus comes in love, not to judge, not to accuse, not to destroy, and says, "Yes, but I'm here that you might be born again." And behold, the old man is going to be buried. He's going to pass away, and there's going to be a new man. And where there was fear, and there was emptiness, then there was anxiety. "I'm gonna give you hope, and peace, and love, and joy in the Holy Ghost." He says, "This is the will of God concerning you, that you would have joy, that you would have peace, and not fear."
God said, "I've came to change everything. If you'll fall on an altar of repentance, there you die to the old person that you've been. Then we take you to baptism, and we bury you, and you come up out of that water, and the old person stays under the water." That's why we call it "buried with him in baptism." You bury the old man, the old hopes, the old dreams, the old desires, everything. You baptism is not an outward sign of an inward work. It's an absolute necessity that we leave the old man in the water. You come up out of that water born again, and the old man is gone. All those old things are gone, and behold, you've become new.
I'm gonna close with this. But because God is not a judge, because he's not a district attorney, because he's not the chief of police, because he's not a king ready to judge his minions, because he is a father, and a groom, and a husband that loves without restraint and without end, there is no capacity to his love. Because that's the kind of God that you serve. I'm going to tell you that the saddest day that God ever lived is not the day that God found out that the Pharisees and the scribes were going to try to catch him and destroy him instead of believing in him. It wasn't the day that he stood over Jerusalem and wept and said, "Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, I've tried to love you for 5,000 years now, you won't respond to me." The saddest day in the life of Christ is not the day that he stood at Lazarus' tomb and looked around at those that should have believed him and said, "Is there, is there no faith? Is there no faith in Israel?" The saddest day of the life, the life of Christ is not the day that he found out that the very people he came to save were going to crucify him. The saddest day was not the day that he looked at those of his own race, his Jewish bride, as they screamed, "Crucify him! Let him be crucified!" That was not the saddest day.
The life of Christ. Stand together. The saddest day in the life of Jesus Christ is not the day they whipped him and they beat him. It's not even the day that they nailed him to a cross. Nobody looking around, please. We need conviction in this house right now. God's reaching for somebody here. The saddest day in the life of Christ is the day he reaches for you and your pain, and your fear, and your emptiness, and your basket of this world that's filled of not much else but trouble. He says, "I'll take all that away from you, and I'll give you hope, and I'll give you a relationship, and I'll pick you up, and I'll change your world." And you shake your head and say, "No." Like Gomer, you'd say, "I'd rather live in these streets and prostitute myself than come home and love you." That's the saddest day in the life of Christ. It happens every Sunday when people walk out the back door and say, "I'd rather have my trouble than have your hope."
Lift your hands together right now. God's reaching for somebody in this house. Is God concerned about your sin? You better believe he is. But it's not because of what he's doing to him, it's because of what he's doing to you. Come on, reach out together right now, everybody here in this place. God's reach for somebody in this house. I'm telling you, God, God is reaching for someone today. These altars are open. These altars ought to be full. Somebody take somebody by the hand and say, "Go to the altar with me." Leave these aisles open because I want everybody to come. God's reaching for you, sir. He wants to turn your ashes into beauty. Come on. He wants to turn your brokenness into hope. Come on.
Is God concerned about your sin? You better believe he is. It's not because it dethrones him. It's not because it hurts or wounds him. He, he's interested because of what it does to you. He wants relationship. He loves you. Come on. Leave these aisles open. I want everybody to come. Take, take somebody by the hand and say, "Go to the altar with me." Come on. Let's go talk to this God that loves us so much. He's calling for you today. He's saying, "Will you come? Come unto me, all ye who are weary." I'm asking this group right here, standing right here, just to step forward a little bit and open that aisle up. Come on. There's still people trying to get in this altar. Come on. Just come a little closer. Listen. "Come unto me, all ye who are weary and heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, for my yoke is easy, my burden is light."
Like Hosea, listen to me. I'm done. They're going to sing. But like Hosea, walking the streets of Samaria, looking for Gomer, he wasn't there to arrest her. He wasn't there to curse her. He wasn't there to shame her. He was there to wrap his coat around her shoulders and say, "Come home, Gomer. Let's don't talk about where you've been or where what you've done. Just know that you're forgiven, and I want relationship with you. I want to salvage you. I want you to raise our babies. I want to love you." I'm gonna tell you, God's not here today to point his finger and accusation at you. He's not here to judge you and say, "You went too far. Why did you do all that?" He's here to say, "It doesn't matter where you've been. It doesn't matter what you've done. I want to save you. I want to give you life. I want to wipe the tears away from your eyes. I want to, I want to have a deep, loving relationship with you."
God wants to fill somebody with the Holy Ghost today. He wants to give somebody new life. Would you pray for somebody around you right now? Come on. Reach out. Reach out. Jesus is here. Come on. Come on. Would you lift your hands and tell him, "I need you, Jesus. I need your help." Oh God. It ain't about where you've been and what you've done. It doesn't matter what's behind you. All that matters is what's in front of you. Come on. The Holy Ghost is here to baptize somebody today. Would you let God change your world? Sing it, brother Jason. Come on. Come on. Come on. The Holy Ghost is here. My God. I can't make it. Come on. The Holy Ghost is reaching for you right now. It doesn't matter where you've been. It doesn't matter what you've done. We've all failed. We were all born guilty. But there's a new life. There's a new hope. Come on. For somebody around you right now, man. Come on. Pray for somebody around you right now, ladies. Even if you remain in the pews, go ahead and pray together. Pray right where you are. God can hear you from those pews. I need your mercy. Without you, not for all one. I need your mercy. Without you, not for one day. I need your mercy. Come on. Come on. God's working in these altars. God wants to baptize somebody with his spirit today. All you got to do is say, "God, forgive me." God, forgive me for where I've been. God, forgive me for everything I've done. I want to start over. I need a reset. I need a brand new life. I need to start this thing over. A brand new man. A brand new woman. Come on. I need your mercy, Lord. Lord, I need your grace. I need you. Come on. There's people praying all over this house. Don't stop. There's people praying all over this house. Don't stop. God's not done in these altars. Come on. I still believe he's going to fill somebody right now. Come on. Keep praying. Keep reaching. God's working. God's working all over this time. That's it. That's it. That's it. That's it. Come your on. I need your mercy. I need your grace. God's working. God's in these altars. God's working in these altars. Come on. God's filling people with the Holy Ghost. Come on. God's filling people with the Holy Ghost right now. We gotta have a brand new start. We gotta have a brand new start. I need your mercy, Lord. I need your grace. Lord, I need your. Make mercies without you, not for one day. I need your mercy, Lord. Come on. Let's push just a little further in these altars. God's working. God's hearing the cry. God's responding to the plea of hearts right now. Come on. God's responding to hungry hearts right now. Come on. The people in these altars, they're no different than us. We just came to a point where we said, "We got to have a change. Something's got to change in our world." We didn't realize it was a whole new life. We didn't understand God was going to give us a whole new world, a whole new life. Come on. That's it. That's it. That's it. Without you, not for one. And I need your mercy. I can't make it without. I need your mercy. Oh. Come on. Let's push just a little further, just a little more, as God works in these altars, as God changes people's lives and turns their circumstances around. Oh God, I gotta have you. God. I gotta have your mercy, Lord. Holy Ghost. Come on. That's it. That's it. That's it. God's working. Come on. Come on. God's working right here. God, baptize her with the Holy Ghost right now. Let the power of the Holy Ghost fall right now. There it is. Come on. Holy Ghost. Holy Ghost. Holy Ghost. Holy Ghost. Not God, the Holy Ghost is in this house. The Holy Ghost is here to redeem. He's here to set free. He's here to change your life and change your world and change your circumstances. Jesus is here to bring a difference. Warned. I need your mercy, and I need your grace. I need your merch. I need your mercy. I need your grace. I need more. Come on. There's a sweet presence of the Lord in this tabernacle. As we move toward dismissal, would you lift your hands and thank God for what he's done in this house today? Would you do that? Come on. Would you thank the Lord for what he's done in this place? Come on. Magnify his name. Worship him together right now for his goodness and his mercy. What a great God we serve. What a mighty and awesome God that we serve and worship in this place today. In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. God bless you. Thank you so much for being in the house of the Lord today. Everybody say three o'clock. Three o'clock. We're going to be teaching right here in this auditorium from three to four. The young people will be in the Sunday school classes. The ladies have served and prepared next door. There's a meal prepared in the fellowship hall. Please join us for that meal. Guests are welcome. Everybody are welcome. Pine Grove Pentecostal Church. Please support the ladies department. Please support the ladies department by joining us next door for a wonderful, wonderful meal. God bless you. Welcome to every guest. Guest, you're welcome to join us. Please join us next door for fellowship and a meal. Three o'clock Sunday school. Three o'clock teaching. Three o'clock new believers. Three o'clock youth service. God bless you in Jesus name. We'll see you at three o'clock.