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Gut Check Time
Source URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe_DKdfvQ6g
Video ID: Qe_DKdfvQ6g
YouTube upload date: 2022-06-21
Video duration: 01:20:19
Transcription: Faster-Whisper small.en (automatic; timestamped)
Note: Automatic transcription; review against the audio before quotation or publication.


[00:00:00] Hallelujah, let's just keep in the spirit of worship here.
[00:00:05] I believe the Lord wants us to worship this at least one more song here and let this be
[00:00:10] the cry of your heart.
[00:00:12] Listen, if we're not going to be hungry for God's presence and revival, then we won't
[00:00:18] have it.
[00:00:19] It's that simple.
[00:00:20] I'm asking you, are you hungry for more of Him, more of His presence, more of His
[00:00:26] truth in your life?
[00:00:58] Yes, Lord. Hallelujah.
[00:00:59] We praise your name this morning.
[00:01:06] I say to you, apart from the nations, for I am the Lord your God who called you out of
[00:01:10] the wilderness.
[00:01:11] Go forth and proclaim my word, for I am the one who causes the sun to rise on the earth.
[00:01:16] Go forth, my people, for I am with you always.
[00:01:18] I am the one who is always with you.
[00:01:20] I will never leave you or forsake you.
[00:01:22] Go forth, my people, for I love you with an everlasting love.
[00:01:26] Amen.
[00:01:34] In Jesus' name, thank you, Lord.
[00:01:54] Marlene and the Frick's children, one of them, I don't know which one it was, said
[00:02:01] they had a fever this morning or had a fever yesterday, I don't know.
[00:02:05] But Silas wanted to share, they're listening, wanted to share this verse of Scripture with
[00:02:10] us, Proverbs 2620, it says, where there is no wood, the fire goes out.
[00:02:17] I'm going to tell you, that's right on with what I want to talk about this morning.
[00:02:25] You may be seated.
[00:02:26] If you have a word or something you feel the Lord gave you, feel free to share.
[00:02:36] Where there is no wood, the fire goes out.
[00:03:02] Amen.
[00:03:04] Where there is no wood, the fire goes out.
[00:03:06] Boy, that's a good Scripture.
[00:03:07] As a matter of fact, we're going to start there.
[00:03:09] I want you to turn there, Proverbs 2620, of course the whole verse says this, where
[00:03:31] no wood is, there the fire goeth out, so where there is no tail-bear, the strife ceases.
[00:03:44] This is an important verse here, and I just appreciate that God can speak through anyone.
[00:03:54] He can speak through the young.
[00:04:00] But I have all my notes in my phone today, so this will let you know that I'm not making
[00:04:07] this up.
[00:04:09] Because basically what my message is called this morning is gut check time, gut check
[00:04:18] time.
[00:04:21] Now for those of you who weren't in the military, ever in the military, or you never played football,
[00:04:27] this is a term that actually didn't really come around until the 1970s.
[00:04:29] I'm going to give you two definitions of what gut check time means in case you don't
[00:04:38] know what it means or you've never heard that term.
[00:04:41] But the Webster's, Merriam-Webster's dictionary says, a test or assessment of courage, character,
[00:04:49] or determination.
[00:04:51] Now I looked up also what the Urban Dictionary said, because this is kind of a modern term,
[00:05:01] but it says here, the Urban Dictionary says, a time, a gut check time rather, is a time
[00:05:08] to test your willpower, your courage, your fortitude.
[00:05:13] It says, rarely does it involve any physical strength or skill, instead being almost entirely
[00:05:19] a mental challenge.
[00:05:22] First heard in the U.S. Army, but has spread through usage among veterans and wrestling
[00:05:27] announcers and sportscasters and coaches.
[00:05:31] And they use the example here when two or more wrestlers have been fighting for a long
[00:05:35] time and are both exhausted, it's gut check time to get back into the fight.
[00:05:44] Gut check time.
[00:05:48] All coaches use this a lot when you're down at half time, you've been beaten up in the
[00:05:55] first part of the game, and half time is a time to sit down and it's time to do a gut
[00:06:01] check.
[00:06:02] You're going to give in, you're going to lay down, you're going to lose, or you're
[00:06:05] going to suck it up, toughen up, and it usually comes first with making up your mind.
[00:06:13] So there's been studies done, many studies done, that the human being is an interesting
[00:06:23] make up because we can almost do anything that our bodies, if our bodies can physically
[00:06:32] do it, we can almost, by sheer making up our minds, get our bodies to accomplish things
[00:06:38] that seem impossible at that time.
[00:06:43] Amen.
[00:06:44] It's amazing, the power of the mind, what you set your mind upon, your thoughts upon,
[00:06:52] what you make up your mind, you're going to do, become hell or high water, as the
[00:06:58] saying goes.
[00:06:59] The problem in Christianity, and I'm going to even say it, the problem even in
[00:07:03] firing grace church is we've got too much wavering going on.
[00:07:10] We've got too much up and down, in and out, there's not a set determination
[00:07:17] about what I am to do, where I am or what I am.
[00:07:22] Now the reason I bring this up, I'm just going to be painfully blunt.
[00:07:28] The pastor knows things, even if you don't tell him, right?
[00:07:37] And I know that the devil's been attacking people and their minds and their
[00:07:40] hearts, and the Lord's had me kind of working up to this the last few weeks.
[00:07:47] But I'm just going to say this, for some of you, it's gut check time to decide
[00:07:53] whether you're going to make a change in your life.
[00:07:56] You're going to get out of bad habits, whether they be sinful struggles, whether
[00:08:02] they be the temptation to fall back and to fall away from God and the things of
[00:08:08] the world.
[00:08:11] For some of you, it's time to say, you know what, it's gut check time, and
[00:08:15] it's time for me to decide that I'm going to get on with what God's called
[00:08:20] me to do, and I'm going to do it right.
[00:08:23] I'm going to be obedient to God, I'm going to live a holy life, I'm going
[00:08:26] to break sinful patterns in my life, I'm going to break sinful habits.
[00:08:30] I'm going to, like Hebrews 12 says, I'm going to lay aside every weight and
[00:08:34] the sin and run the race that's set before me.
[00:08:41] There comes a point, listen, there's too many Christians, they're hanging
[00:08:44] on to bad thoughts, they're hanging on to indecision and discouragement and
[00:08:50] fear and sinful habits, and they're hanging on to these things and they
[00:08:53] think they can run the race after Jesus with this baggage, all this
[00:08:58] baggage on them, and that's why he said, real point, look it up, if you
[00:09:01] don't believe me, he said, let us run the race, right, laying aside
[00:09:06] every sin and the weight that does so easily be set up.
[00:09:11] I say this to Fire and Grace Church, I say this to Christians listening,
[00:09:16] to those who will hear this on podcasts, when are you going to lay
[00:09:20] down the sin and the weights and run the race after Jesus with all
[00:09:27] your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your
[00:09:30] strength, so many Christians, listen, so many Christians will not
[00:09:36] put down the world, and they won't put down the option to go back
[00:09:44] to some worldly habit or sinful habit.
[00:09:53] See, let me tell you something, what transformed my life in 1987
[00:09:59] was a decision, it was a gut check time.
[00:10:06] I had been saved when I was 12 years old, 11 years old in a
[00:10:09] Baptist church, 1979, 11 years old, powerful encounter with
[00:10:18] Jesus, but of course I didn't learn anything, I didn't know you
[00:10:22] had to stand strong, I didn't know you had to get in the word
[00:10:26] and pray, I was just a, you know, a young boy, and nobody
[00:10:31] taught me the word, nobody taught me what I needed to do,
[00:10:34] my own parents didn't even teach me because they didn't know.
[00:10:44] So, because of that, my teenage years hit and I went adrift
[00:10:49] into sin, you guys know the story, I've shared the
[00:10:52] testimony, it's in my books, everybody around us, they know
[00:10:57] the testimony that when I was 19, you know, I had a modeling
[00:11:01] contract, I had a movie contract, I had screen tests,
[00:11:07] and all these things, I was about to be rich and famous,
[00:11:09] but I was doing drugs, and I was drinking, and I was
[00:11:12] carousing, and it was, you know, all the things that I was
[00:11:16] doing, but I knew that Jesus was real, see, I never lost my
[00:11:20] belief that Jesus Christ was the true Lord and Savior,
[00:11:25] God Almighty in the flesh, that He was the only way to heaven.
[00:11:28] I mean, that's what was revealed to me when I was 11 years
[00:11:31] old, plainer than anybody could have made it, I understood
[00:11:34] fully the gospel, that I was a sinner, that Jesus died on
[00:11:38] the cross for me, that God in the flesh died on the
[00:11:41] cross for me, and shed His holy, sinless blood for me,
[00:11:46] and that if I didn't ask Him to be my Lord and Savior,
[00:11:48] to forgive my sins, and chose to follow Him, I knew that
[00:11:52] I would not go to heaven, but I would die and go to hell.
[00:11:54] That revelation and that reality was made real and clear
[00:11:59] to me by the Holy Spirit when I was 11 years old.
[00:12:03] And so even through my years of being a teenager,
[00:12:06] and drifting away from God, and then going to college,
[00:12:09] and being totally a heathen and away from God,
[00:12:12] I never once doubted the Bible as the word of God
[00:12:17] or Jesus Christ as the true God, never doubted it.
[00:12:22] Matter of fact, me and a friend almost got in a fight
[00:12:24] over it, because he tried to tell me, he didn't know
[00:12:26] if it was true or not, and I said it was,
[00:12:28] and we almost got in a fight as we were drinking beer
[00:12:32] talking about the gospel.
[00:12:37] I look back at that now, pretty amazing,
[00:12:40] that God was working on me while I was in college.
[00:12:47] But here's the thing, gut check time.
[00:12:50] So while I'm doing all that, I am living the full,
[00:12:54] ungodly life, worldly life.
[00:13:01] But God comes in there and says,
[00:13:02] son, you can have everything the world has to offer,
[00:13:06] and go to hell, or you can finally surrender,
[00:13:09] give up, surrender your life, and live forever.
[00:13:15] And I sat there, and there was no church service,
[00:13:20] there was no 15 choruses of just as I am,
[00:13:25] there was no Billy Graham preaching,
[00:13:30] there was no Steve Hill altar calls that make save people
[00:13:33] want to get saved all over again.
[00:13:36] But I'm sitting there, and the plain truth,
[00:13:39] and in essence, this is what the Lord was saying to me,
[00:13:43] make up your mind, till once and for all,
[00:13:48] lay down your sin, lay down the weights
[00:13:52] of doing things your own way,
[00:13:55] and having your own plans, lay it all down,
[00:14:01] and start running the race.
[00:14:04] And what transformed my life,
[00:14:07] before I was called to be a preacher,
[00:14:09] before God called me, or before I knew I was called
[00:14:11] to be a prophet, or a pastor, or a teacher,
[00:14:14] before any of that, God made it clear to me
[00:14:18] the most important thing is a decision,
[00:14:24] time to move on with Jesus, and be real, okay?
[00:14:30] So that's gut check time,
[00:14:31] that's gut check time on the salvation level.
[00:14:36] Now let's look at it more of a Christian
[00:14:41] and a church issue.
[00:14:41] Go with me to Matthew 16, and don't get me wrong,
[00:14:48] we're gonna come back to Silas's verse
[00:14:50] he gave us this morning, Matthew 16.
[00:15:04] See, there's a problem in the world right now,
[00:15:06] and even in the church world.
[00:15:08] There's so much sin, there's so much false teaching,
[00:15:10] there's so much abuse in the leadership of the church,
[00:15:14] there's almost now, even among many believers,
[00:15:16] a disdain for the church.
[00:15:20] And when I say church, I do not mean Roman Catholic Church,
[00:15:27] but I'm talking about the Church of Jesus Christ,
[00:15:31] that believes the gospel of Jesus Christ,
[00:15:33] I'm not talking about a church that prays to Mary, okay?
[00:15:40] But here's what Jesus said here, and this is Mark 16,
[00:15:46] and let's just read 13 here.
[00:15:51] And when Jesus came into the coast of Caesarea Philippi,
[00:15:53] he asked his disciples saying,
[00:15:54] who do men say that I the Son of Man am?
[00:15:57] And they said, some say that thou art John the Baptist,
[00:15:59] and some Elijah and others Jeremiah are one of the prophets,
[00:16:02] and he said unto them, but whom say ye that I am?
[00:16:05] And Simon Peter answered and said,
[00:16:06] thou art the Christ, the Messiah, meaning,
[00:16:09] Emmanuel, God with us, is what that meant.
[00:16:12] He understood that, and the Son and the living God.
[00:16:16] And Jesus answered and said,
[00:16:17] and blessed art thou Simon Barjona,
[00:16:19] for flesh and blood has not revealed it unto thee,
[00:16:22] but my Father which is in heaven.
[00:16:24] And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter,
[00:16:26] and upon this rock I will build my church
[00:16:29] and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.
[00:16:32] Now, this is where the Catholics try to say
[00:16:35] that they are the true church,
[00:16:36] because the popes are the apostolic succession of Peter,
[00:16:43] but this is not what it says.
[00:16:44] In the Greek language here, Jesus says to Peter,
[00:16:48] thou art Petros, a stone, a pebble.
[00:16:54] But he says, upon this rock, Petra, is the Greek word,
[00:16:59] Petra, meaning the massive mountain of rock,
[00:17:03] I will build my church.
[00:17:04] What is that massive mountain of rock?
[00:17:08] The stone that the builders rejected, Jesus.
[00:17:13] But it's also not just Jesus, it is the revelation,
[00:17:18] supernatural, Holy Spirit revelation
[00:17:21] within the church of Jesus Christ,
[00:17:23] of who he is, believing who he is,
[00:17:25] knowing him intimately.
[00:17:27] That's why he said to Peter,
[00:17:28] flesh and blood didn't reveal this to you,
[00:17:30] but my Spirit, my Father revealed this to you
[00:17:34] by his Spirit.
[00:17:35] And what he's saying, Jesus said,
[00:17:36] upon this rock, what?
[00:17:37] The rock of the revelation of Jesus Christ,
[00:17:40] I will build my church
[00:17:42] and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
[00:17:44] So what I want to tell you is,
[00:17:46] the true church of Jesus Christ
[00:17:49] that he's established in the earth,
[00:17:51] the true churches that believe the word of God,
[00:17:54] amen, that believe and know Jesus,
[00:17:56] that know who he is, right?
[00:17:58] The true churches exist.
[00:18:00] Now they're fewer, much fewer now.
[00:18:03] And they don't necessarily all have steeples on them
[00:18:06] and have big buildings,
[00:18:07] but the true church is out here.
[00:18:09] So let me ask, let me just tell you something,
[00:18:11] be careful what you say
[00:18:13] about the true church of Jesus Christ, amen?
[00:18:17] And be careful about your attitude
[00:18:19] because your attitudes against the church
[00:18:21] will get you in trouble.
[00:18:23] And when I say about that,
[00:18:25] what I mean by that is this.
[00:18:27] Jesus said that the church,
[00:18:31] that the gates of hell, the true church now,
[00:18:32] the gates of hell would not prevail.
[00:18:36] If you find yourself at odds with a true church,
[00:18:40] if you find yourself having problems
[00:18:42] with a true church,
[00:18:44] if you find yourself resisting
[00:18:47] and not even wanting to attend a church,
[00:18:49] a true church,
[00:18:52] well guess what, my friend?
[00:18:54] You're setting yourself outside
[00:18:57] of a place where God says
[00:18:58] the gates of hell will not prevail.
[00:19:01] This is why Hebrews 10.25, write it down.
[00:19:06] Hebrews 10.25, you can turn there and read it.
[00:19:08] This is why Paul said to the Hebrews,
[00:19:12] he said, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together
[00:19:17] as the manner of some is,
[00:19:19] but exhorting one another.
[00:19:20] That word exhorting means to call people near to Christ
[00:19:24] and so much the more as you see the day approaching.
[00:19:27] So what he's talking about the assembling
[00:19:28] of yourselves together was a church, okay?
[00:19:35] A church is an assembly of believers
[00:19:37] that has God called leadership.
[00:19:42] Now let me just emphasize that for a second.
[00:19:47] In the same book of Hebrews,
[00:19:49] and I'm just giving it to you quick
[00:19:50] because this is just the introduction.
[00:19:52] In the same book of Hebrews, chapter 13,
[00:19:57] he talks about submitting yourselves
[00:19:59] to elders in the church, all right?
[00:20:06] So God calls elders and he calls leaders
[00:20:11] to establish assemblies of believers
[00:20:15] and there's orders for things.
[00:20:18] But I'm gonna tell you right now,
[00:20:19] we know the Bible warned us that there would be,
[00:20:22] Paul said it, 2 Corinthians,
[00:20:24] there would be false apostles.
[00:20:26] Now what's a false apostle?
[00:20:28] What's the difference between an apostle
[00:20:30] and the other four of the fivefold ministries?
[00:20:32] The only difference is an apostle is a church planner,
[00:20:36] but he's also a prophet, he's also a pastor,
[00:20:39] he's also an evangelist, he's also a teacher.
[00:20:41] But an apostle is a church planner.
[00:20:47] Y'all want me to tell you how you recognize an apostle?
[00:20:52] I know some of you are gonna have a friend.
[00:20:53] Yes, I believe they're still apostles
[00:20:57] because Ephesians 4 said that the fivefold ministry,
[00:21:01] apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers
[00:21:04] were for the perfecting of the saints,
[00:21:07] for the work of the ministry,
[00:21:09] till we all come into the unity of the faith,
[00:21:15] until we all come into the unity of the faith, sorry.
[00:21:19] That ain't happening until Jesus comes back,
[00:21:21] so I guess that means apostles, prophets,
[00:21:23] evangelists, pastors, and teachers
[00:21:24] will be in operation until then.
[00:21:29] My purpose of this sermon is not to say,
[00:21:31] but I'm just gonna say this.
[00:21:32] I mean, I'll be criticized for it, but I don't care.
[00:21:37] Do I believe that I am also called
[00:21:41] to an apostolic, calling apostolic ministry?
[00:21:43] Yeah, okay.
[00:21:48] But see, here's what I love about God.
[00:21:51] The true never looks big and fancy.
[00:21:58] You gotta remember the Messiah,
[00:22:01] you know, we're celebrating his birth,
[00:22:03] this Christmas season,
[00:22:04] even though he was probably born in September,
[00:22:07] but we celebrate it in December
[00:22:08] because the Catholic Church has pagan issues,
[00:22:11] but there was a birth of Jesus Christ,
[00:22:12] and this is why I protest other holidays,
[00:22:16] but I don't really protest the Christmas time too much
[00:22:18] because at least the world is somewhat recognizing
[00:22:22] that we're celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ,
[00:22:26] the Messiah, that he came to earth.
[00:22:28] So I don't fight Christmas, okay?
[00:22:32] I don't like Santa Claus and the big fat man
[00:22:35] and the air and all that,
[00:22:37] and I've never told my kids that their gifts
[00:22:40] come from some fat man flying around with reindeer, okay?
[00:22:46] Because when I go out and work hard for that money
[00:22:48] and buy them gifts, I want them to know,
[00:22:49] I'm not giving the credit to some mysterious fat guy.
[00:22:53] I worked for it, I got it for you, I love you, right?
[00:23:02] And then, you know, if we go down the list,
[00:23:04] we start telling our kids about Santa Claus
[00:23:06] and the bunny rabbit and the tooth fairy
[00:23:07] and all this other nonsense.
[00:23:09] By the time we get ready to tell them about Jesus,
[00:23:10] they can't see, why should they believe us?
[00:23:13] So I've never gone down that road,
[00:23:16] but I don't have problem with giving gifts at Christmas
[00:23:18] because the wise men brought them to Jesus, right?
[00:23:21] They brought gifts.
[00:23:22] I don't mind the lights
[00:23:24] because we say the star and the heaven
[00:23:25] and Jesus was the light of the world,
[00:23:27] and I don't mind any of that.
[00:23:28] It's all fine and dandy.
[00:23:30] I get criticized for that, you know.
[00:23:32] I know there's some people
[00:23:32] that don't understand my thinking on certain things,
[00:23:35] but that's fine.
[00:23:37] You understand, but, and I just totally digress there,
[00:23:41] but I think somebody must have needed that
[00:23:43] for Christmas time, maybe to put you at ease a little bit.
[00:23:46] I'm not a Christmas hater, all right?
[00:23:48] All right, where was I?
[00:23:52] Possible.
[00:23:58] Oh yeah, Jesus came, and I think about this.
[00:24:00] God in the flesh, the king of kings,
[00:24:05] comes as a baby, not born in a fancy palace,
[00:24:12] born in a stable, in a manger,
[00:24:15] that animals would eat out of.
[00:24:20] And I remember one time God told me,
[00:24:23] he said, read Matthew chapter one.
[00:24:25] Whenever God tells you to read something
[00:24:26] you've read, you know, a hundred times,
[00:24:29] he's usually gonna speak to you, right?
[00:24:32] And I remember when he told me,
[00:24:34] he said, read Matthew one,
[00:24:35] and I'm reading Matthew chapter one and two,
[00:24:37] and I remember the Lord spoke to me.
[00:24:38] I remember the whole story of how, you know,
[00:24:41] the Holy Spirit came over Mary,
[00:24:43] and supernaturally she was impregnated
[00:24:47] by the power of the Holy Spirit
[00:24:48] to, with this sinless, powerful God Almighty
[00:24:53] in the flesh in her womb,
[00:24:55] and this mystery of great power,
[00:24:58] and yet so that God would take on human flesh.
[00:25:04] Paul said, this is a great mystery, right?
[00:25:07] Just amazing, right?
[00:25:09] But God allowed one of the greatest
[00:25:13] and holiest things he ever did
[00:25:16] to have a little bit of question mark around it.
[00:25:20] Because Joseph even, you know,
[00:25:25] Mary was engaged to Joseph,
[00:25:26] and here she comes up pregnant.
[00:25:30] This looks bad to the world.
[00:25:33] This looks bad to the community.
[00:25:36] Why would God do one of his most holy things,
[00:25:39] but not let it appear holy?
[00:25:41] Oh, see, everything God does like that's a test,
[00:25:48] because you know what?
[00:25:49] We get too focused on the way things look on the outside,
[00:25:53] instead of discerning what they are on the inside.
[00:25:57] Now, having said that, let me just say,
[00:25:58] well, what defines a real apostolic ministry?
[00:26:01] You wanna know what it defines it?
[00:26:04] I'm just getting real blunt today.
[00:26:06] Paul defended his apostleship,
[00:26:08] so I guess today, in a sense, I'm defending mine,
[00:26:11] but I'm just gonna speak it out, and I don't care.
[00:26:14] People say you're a self-appointed prophet.
[00:26:16] Guess what?
[00:26:17] I didn't give myself those gifts,
[00:26:18] and I didn't call myself.
[00:26:20] So, this is what I'm saying.
[00:26:22] It doesn't matter.
[00:26:23] Paul said, hey, I'm an apostle.
[00:26:25] People didn't say, hey, what are you saying?
[00:26:27] Are you bragging on yourself?
[00:26:28] Are you trying to boast yourself?
[00:26:29] No, it didn't matter of those things.
[00:26:31] I'm just trying to explain to you.
[00:26:34] It's funny, it's no shame to call yourself a pastor,
[00:26:36] is it?
[00:26:38] These nuts out here say, I'm a pastor, I'm an evangelist,
[00:26:41] but don't dare call yourself a prophet or an apostle.
[00:26:43] You're a heretic then, right?
[00:26:45] No, it's not wrong to call yourself what you are.
[00:26:50] If God calls you that, then that's what you are.
[00:26:52] Don't be ashamed of it.
[00:26:53] He told me one time to quit being ashamed
[00:26:57] of what I called you to be.
[00:27:00] Quit worrying about what people think.
[00:27:02] But I'm gonna explain something to you,
[00:27:04] because see, there's some of you in this church,
[00:27:07] the devil, rather, is trying to turn you
[00:27:10] against this church, and he's always worked real hard
[00:27:16] to turn people against whatever ministry I was doing.
[00:27:20] Even though they would say, hey, man, preacher.
[00:27:22] Even though they would say, you preach the truth.
[00:27:25] Even though they'd say, the anointing's on you.
[00:27:27] Even though they'd say, wow, the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
[00:27:30] And yet, the devil's always working hard
[00:27:33] in people's minds.
[00:27:35] And so that's why I like to just be blunt,
[00:27:37] sometimes like this, and bust him up.
[00:27:39] And expose his lies that he's talking in your head.
[00:27:43] I mean, I know some of you are even considering
[00:27:45] going to another church.
[00:27:46] Now, if God leads you, if that's God
[00:27:48] leads you to do that, I'm fine with it.
[00:27:51] I will never say, I don't want God's will in your life,
[00:27:57] if that's God's will.
[00:27:58] But a lot of times, it's not God's will.
[00:28:01] You're listening to the devil, or you're listening
[00:28:03] to emotions, or you're being swayed by other people.
[00:28:08] And there are people that I knew
[00:28:13] needed to stay in this church to get the truth
[00:28:17] about repentance, and holiness, and deliverance,
[00:28:20] and healing, inner healing, and real outer.
[00:28:24] There are people that needed to stay here.
[00:28:25] There are couples that came here that should have stayed.
[00:28:32] But because of they wouldn't let go of certain sins,
[00:28:35] they wouldn't let go of certain weights,
[00:28:37] they would listen to the wrong people,
[00:28:38] they listened to the devil,
[00:28:40] they left a true church and went to a dead church.
[00:28:45] And now, those three couples that I can just think of
[00:28:47] after all three are divorced.
[00:28:51] Their marriages are destroyed and gone.
[00:28:54] Now, is that because I think we're big or something?
[00:28:56] No, but there's few true churches anymore, you guys.
[00:29:00] There's few churches that are number one
[00:29:02] led by the Holy Spirit.
[00:29:03] Number two will tell you the truth,
[00:29:05] whether you like it or don't like it.
[00:29:08] There's few churches that believe Jesus Christ
[00:29:10] is the same yesterday, today, and forever,
[00:29:12] and believe in the gifts of the Spirit for today
[00:29:14] that cast demons out of folks,
[00:29:16] will lay hands on you when you're sick,
[00:29:18] and will tell you in your face if you're wrong,
[00:29:21] because they love you.
[00:29:25] Now, you can always go and find a church
[00:29:28] that'll tell you what you wanna hear.
[00:29:31] You can always go and find an apostle
[00:29:33] or a prophet or an evangelist or pastor or teacher
[00:29:35] that'll tell you what you wanna hear.
[00:29:37] You'll find one that'll soothe your little weak emotions
[00:29:41] that'll agree with the devil talking in your head,
[00:29:46] but I can tell you this.
[00:29:47] If it's not a true church,
[00:29:50] if it's not a true church that's preaching the truth,
[00:29:53] if it's not a true church that's led by the Holy Spirit,
[00:29:56] if it's not a true leader who's not being led
[00:29:58] by the fear of man more than he is by the fear of God,
[00:30:02] you just put yourself, your marriage, your family,
[00:30:05] your children in danger.
[00:30:08] I don't care if they have a big youth program,
[00:30:11] I don't care if they have a big choir
[00:30:13] and you wanna sing in the choir, I don't care.
[00:30:16] You see what I'm saying?
[00:30:20] We want Jesus to be born in the palace.
[00:30:33] Yeah, he's over here in a dirty old barn.
[00:30:44] Jesus would step in their temple sometime to preach,
[00:30:48] but they didn't want him there,
[00:30:54] and it was those temple folks that ended up killing him.
[00:30:56] Remember that?
[00:30:59] Y'all hear what I'm saying?
[00:31:07] I want you to go with me to 2 Timothy 4.
[00:31:26] See, here's the thing,
[00:31:27] this is why I'm bringing this up today, y'all.
[00:31:33] As you turn to 2 Timothy 4, just hold it there.
[00:31:37] I wanna tell you that God sent me and Nancy to Auburn
[00:31:44] sovereignly by the Holy Spirit,
[00:31:46] because there's nowhere in the Bible
[00:31:47] that says Dean and Nancy Odell
[00:31:49] go to Auburn and start a church.
[00:31:51] So you have to be led by the Holy Spirit, right?
[00:31:56] To hear those things and to know those things
[00:31:57] and to let God confirm those things.
[00:31:59] God told us and told me very plainly
[00:32:03] to come here and start a church in this area.
[00:32:11] When we first came here to start a church here,
[00:32:13] I knew, I even told the Lord,
[00:32:16] see, this is not the first church I start.
[00:32:19] Been several, okay?
[00:32:25] But I remember saying,
[00:32:26] God, I don't wanna start a church.
[00:32:32] It's too difficult.
[00:32:36] You know what his words were?
[00:32:37] Go to Auburn, start a church.
[00:32:44] And he was serious about it,
[00:32:45] because I tried to ignore him for a little while.
[00:32:50] And God has this way of stepping away from you
[00:32:53] and letting you dry up and die spiritually for a while
[00:32:57] to show you you're not listening, right?
[00:33:03] But I remember when we first started coming,
[00:33:08] there were great difficulties in the beginning.
[00:33:11] Great difficulties, not to tear.
[00:33:16] Still great difficulties,
[00:33:18] but there were great difficulties.
[00:33:19] And there was a dream God gave me.
[00:33:21] I had a dream about,
[00:33:23] and I believe it's really a dream about the last five years.
[00:33:29] Because in the dream, when we first came here,
[00:33:31] we were living in Georgia
[00:33:32] and we would drive over to have services here on Sundays
[00:33:35] and sometimes even twice a week.
[00:33:37] We'd drive over and do midweek youth meetings.
[00:33:43] But this dream was,
[00:33:46] I was at the property that we now live on,
[00:33:49] which belongs to my aunt, my great aunt.
[00:33:51] We were at the property.
[00:33:52] And when we first came here,
[00:33:53] we would stay with her on the weekend.
[00:33:55] Sometimes we'd spend the night.
[00:33:57] Sometimes we would just drive on Sunday morning
[00:33:59] and drive back Sunday evening.
[00:34:02] Two hours, one way, four hours on the road.
[00:34:08] No money, I just have no idea.
[00:34:12] We would drive here sometimes to do church.
[00:34:16] And the only way we got home was what,
[00:34:18] maybe $20 or $40 was in the offering
[00:34:21] is the only way we were able to get,
[00:34:23] to buy gas to get back home.
[00:34:24] No joke.
[00:34:30] But hey, I loved it
[00:34:31] because I knew it was God's will, amen?
[00:34:34] But in this dream,
[00:34:36] out behind the fence on the property there
[00:34:38] where the garden used to be,
[00:34:40] for some reason in the dream,
[00:34:41] it was a big pond back there, just water.
[00:34:45] And in the dream,
[00:34:48] for some reason there was a big fish tank
[00:34:52] and y'all know what I'm talking about.
[00:34:52] I'm talking about a big fish tank
[00:34:54] like those you see in restaurants.
[00:34:55] I mean, a big old thing.
[00:34:57] And yet it was mostly submerged
[00:34:59] except the top of it was sticking out of the water
[00:35:01] about this high, okay?
[00:35:04] Now in that little fish tank,
[00:35:06] in that fish tank,
[00:35:07] there were these little fish swimming around in there, right?
[00:35:14] And me and Nancy are on one of those rafts,
[00:35:19] like you lay out in the pool on,
[00:35:21] those little blow up rafts
[00:35:22] if you blow up with your mouth.
[00:35:24] But it was half out of air
[00:35:27] and me and her are trying to stay afloat on that thing.
[00:35:32] All right?
[00:35:33] Now, if that wasn't a hard enough trick at the moment
[00:35:36] and what we were doing
[00:35:38] is we were trying to get over next to that,
[00:35:40] we were getting over next to that fish tank
[00:35:43] and we were feeding the fish,
[00:35:45] the few little fish in that fish tank.
[00:35:48] And then I remember looking over
[00:35:50] and hearing this big splash
[00:35:53] and looking up and watching about a 15 foot monster alligator
[00:35:59] enter the water and head toward us.
[00:36:04] And I remember all I'm trying to do,
[00:36:06] the only thing I could do
[00:36:09] was I tried to paddle us around
[00:36:12] because it was coming this way
[00:36:13] and we're on this side of this little thing.
[00:36:15] I was trying to just paddle us around
[00:36:17] to the other side of the fish tank.
[00:36:20] And I'm just like in the dream,
[00:36:21] I'm thinking how in the world
[00:36:26] are we gonna deal with this?
[00:36:31] And the whole time,
[00:36:32] and you know what God spoke to me in that dream was
[00:36:35] how the whole time we've been here
[00:36:38] trying to obey God and start a church
[00:36:42] and have a ministry
[00:36:44] and fulfill that of establishing a church
[00:36:48] in the Auburn-Opelika area.
[00:36:51] That the whole entire time
[00:36:53] we have been barely afloat.
[00:36:59] We have done our best to stay afloat
[00:37:03] financially, mentally, emotionally, physically.
[00:37:07] In every way we were just doing our best
[00:37:11] to stay afloat.
[00:37:14] Alligators in the water coming after us,
[00:37:17] but we kept trying to be faithful
[00:37:20] to feed those little fish,
[00:37:22] the few little fish in that little fish tank
[00:37:26] and keep them protected from the alligators.
[00:37:32] You hear what I'm saying?
[00:37:34] Y'all know what the little fish tank is,
[00:37:37] the little fish tank's fire and grace church.
[00:37:39] The little fish is you.
[00:37:44] Oh yeah, and before we came,
[00:37:47] that's right, I forgot about that part.
[00:37:48] They were feeding on just,
[00:37:49] they were starving to death
[00:37:50] and feeding on whatever they could get off the,
[00:37:54] there were like little plants inside there
[00:37:55] and they were just starving.
[00:38:00] And I know that some of you
[00:38:06] know that your lives spiritually
[00:38:09] in a lot of ways was saved
[00:38:12] through this ministry, through the truth you got,
[00:38:14] through the ministry you got.
[00:38:15] Now, having said that, I know,
[00:38:17] and listen guys, Nancy and I, we know,
[00:38:21] as your pastors, we ain't done everything right.
[00:38:27] Nor do we believe we're the best pastors
[00:38:29] in the world.
[00:38:31] We fall short.
[00:38:34] We get worn out, we get tired.
[00:38:37] There's things we would like to do.
[00:38:38] We just don't, and sometimes just don't have
[00:38:40] the time, energy, or strength to do.
[00:38:44] There's things that slip through the cracks
[00:38:46] that I wish didn't slip through the cracks sometime.
[00:38:49] Right?
[00:38:52] But I think because of that,
[00:38:53] even with those things,
[00:38:54] like when Noah after the flood got drunk,
[00:39:00] was it God's will for Noah to get drunk?
[00:39:01] No.
[00:39:03] But his mistake exposed
[00:39:07] the evil that was in one of his sons.
[00:39:10] He had three sons, you found out.
[00:39:11] Noah got drunk, was laying naked in his tent,
[00:39:13] and that's why he shouldn't drink.
[00:39:16] Boys and girls, you end up naked.
[00:39:25] Just go to Bourbon Street,
[00:39:26] you'll find that out during Margot, right?
[00:39:32] Isn't that right, Louisiana boy?
[00:39:36] I think there was a country song once.
[00:39:38] Tequila makes her clothes come off, yeah it does.
[00:39:42] God wants you to keep your clothes on.
[00:39:44] Right?
[00:39:48] Come on now!
[00:39:50] Where was I?
[00:39:51] See, I digressed again.
[00:39:52] Ham.
[00:39:55] See, that's why I got a helper there.
[00:39:56] I got a good helper.
[00:39:59] But Noah's sin, his mistake,
[00:40:03] revealed that he had two sons
[00:40:05] that still respected his authority
[00:40:08] and the hand of God on his life
[00:40:10] even when he made a mistake.
[00:40:12] And his, but the evil brother went in
[00:40:15] and wanted to go tell his sin to everybody
[00:40:17] and wanted to try to bring that respect
[00:40:19] and bring that authority down.
[00:40:22] But when his brothers heard ham saying,
[00:40:25] you know, father's laying in his tent naked,
[00:40:27] he's doing stuff he shouldn't be doing,
[00:40:28] his other two brothers went in
[00:40:30] and wouldn't even look, went in backwards
[00:40:31] and covered their father.
[00:40:36] And when Noah woke up, isn't it amazing,
[00:40:37] he woke up.
[00:40:39] He still had enough anointing on him
[00:40:41] to prophesy over them, all three.
[00:40:43] And all those prophecies came to pass.
[00:40:44] But ham was cursed by God for that.
[00:40:52] There's a verse in 1 Corinthians 4.
[00:40:58] You can hold your spot,
[00:41:00] what I told you to turn to 2 Timothy 4.
[00:41:04] But let me turn to 1 Corinthians 4.
[00:41:11] I love this verse here.
[00:41:22] David Copeland and I had a little discussion
[00:41:24] about this the other day on Facebook.
[00:41:28] I'll explain that in a second
[00:41:33] because I really stirred up the pot.
[00:41:34] I mentioned something about life coaches,
[00:41:36] but we'll, I'll share that in a second.
[00:41:40] But this is an interesting verse.
[00:41:42] Paul writing this to a church he started,
[00:41:46] a church he planted.
[00:41:48] And this is what he says.
[00:41:50] Are you with me?
[00:41:54] And basically he's having to defend himself
[00:41:57] because they're accusing him.
[00:41:58] And look at verse 9.
[00:41:59] He says, for I think that God has set forth us,
[00:42:02] the apostles last, as it were appointed to death,
[00:42:06] for we are made a spectacle into the world,
[00:42:08] into angels and to men.
[00:42:09] We are fools for Christ's sake,
[00:42:11] but you are wise in Christ.
[00:42:14] We are weak, but you are strong.
[00:42:16] You are honorable, but we are despised.
[00:42:20] Even unto this present hour,
[00:42:22] we both hunger and thirst and are naked
[00:42:24] and are buffeted and have no certain dwelling place.
[00:42:26] And labor working with our hands,
[00:42:28] being reviled, we bless, being persecuted,
[00:42:30] we suffer it, being defamed, we entreat.
[00:42:33] We are made as the filth of the world
[00:42:35] and the offskering of all things into this day.
[00:42:37] You want to recognize a true apostolic ministry?
[00:42:41] It will be hated by much of the church
[00:42:45] and the world for sure.
[00:42:49] And look what he says, but this is what he says.
[00:42:52] Verse 14 and 15 is what I wanted to get to here.
[00:42:55] I write not these things to shame you,
[00:42:57] but as my beloved sons, I warn you.
[00:43:00] What's the warning?
[00:43:01] Next verse.
[00:43:03] For though you have 10,000 instructors in Christ,
[00:43:07] yet have you not many fathers.
[00:43:08] For in Christ Jesus, I have begotten you
[00:43:10] through the gospel.
[00:43:12] Wherefore I beseech you, be you followers of me.
[00:43:16] What does he say?
[00:43:19] You may have all these different people
[00:43:23] who share things with you,
[00:43:24] who teach you things about the word of God.
[00:43:26] And that's all fine and dandy.
[00:43:29] Paul was reminding the Corinthians.
[00:43:30] He said, you may have many instructors.
[00:43:33] You may have many counselors.
[00:43:35] You may have many teachers.
[00:43:36] You may have many people.
[00:43:39] He said, but you have not many fathers.
[00:43:41] And let me explain the difference.
[00:43:44] A teacher is somebody who gets paid to teach you.
[00:43:54] A father is somebody who looks out for you
[00:44:02] and teaches you whether they get paid or not.
[00:44:11] That's why I made the comment on Facebook
[00:44:13] the other day about life coaches,
[00:44:14] that it irritates me.
[00:44:15] That pastors and churches are getting into
[00:44:17] this life coach craze, right?
[00:44:20] To be mentors, to help you find your dream for a price.
[00:44:27] And I'm sitting here going,
[00:44:29] that's what pastors and Christians
[00:44:31] are supposed to do for people.
[00:44:32] We're supposed to make disciples.
[00:44:35] We're supposed to counsel people.
[00:44:37] We're supposed to encourage people.
[00:44:38] We're supposed to rebuke and correct people.
[00:44:40] We're supposed to make disciples
[00:44:43] whether we get paid or not.
[00:44:46] Amen.
[00:44:47] I'm not against a church taking up tithes and offerings
[00:44:49] or a pastor getting a salary.
[00:44:51] That's biblical.
[00:44:52] But here, what I'm saying is,
[00:44:54] if I'm a pastor and I'm getting a salary
[00:44:56] and I don't get one here,
[00:44:57] but if I'm a pastor and I get a salary,
[00:45:00] you get what I'm saying?
[00:45:01] And yet I'm gonna create a life coach thing
[00:45:04] so I can charge you a fee for becoming a mentor to you
[00:45:08] or a quote, a spiritual father or life coach.
[00:45:12] No, no.
[00:45:12] Coaches go where the money is.
[00:45:15] A father is your father for your life.
[00:45:18] They are committed to you
[00:45:19] when you're the prodigal and when you're not.
[00:45:22] A father loves you
[00:45:23] and a father will tell you the truth
[00:45:25] and a father will whip you
[00:45:26] and then a father will make you cry
[00:45:28] and then a father will hug you and hold you
[00:45:31] and a father is out there looking out for your best
[00:45:33] even when it's something that's gonna hurt at first.
[00:45:39] And that's what Paul is saying here.
[00:45:40] You Corinthians, you don't understand
[00:45:43] that you can have all these fancy teachers
[00:45:45] because the Corinthian church,
[00:45:46] everybody wanted to go preach there
[00:45:47] because that town had money
[00:45:49] and that church had money.
[00:45:50] Everybody wanted to float through the Corinthian church
[00:45:53] and preach a good word and get a big offering.
[00:45:56] And Paul was saying, you know what?
[00:45:57] You guys got all these fancy preachers
[00:45:59] and you got all your big offerings,
[00:46:01] but you despise me now and yet I'm your father.
[00:46:10] So he's a difference.
[00:46:12] The true church, the true leaders of a true church
[00:46:15] are spiritual fathers and spiritual mothers.
[00:46:26] You can preach on now.
[00:46:31] Now I ain't forgotten.
[00:46:38] And can I just tell you,
[00:46:39] the devil will always work real very hard,
[00:46:42] just like he does with kids.
[00:46:44] They get, let me tell you,
[00:46:46] there's nothing new on his son
[00:46:48] and there's nothing different.
[00:46:49] Listen to me.
[00:46:51] Children tend to be more obedient when they're smaller
[00:46:54] and you can discipline them
[00:46:56] and deal with them when they're smaller.
[00:46:57] Teenagers start thinking they know everything.
[00:47:02] Then you got big problems because they wanna rebel.
[00:47:04] It's the same in church.
[00:47:06] Folks start getting some knowledge.
[00:47:09] All of a sudden they think they know everything.
[00:47:14] I can't tell you how many people I've run into.
[00:47:17] 20 somethings.
[00:47:20] 20 something year olds that, okay, praise God,
[00:47:23] you got saved, you're on fire for God.
[00:47:24] You're studying the Bible.
[00:47:26] You're watching videos on YouTube.
[00:47:28] You're learning all this information.
[00:47:32] And all of a sudden,
[00:47:34] you think after being saved a year or two or five years
[00:47:39] that you got it on somebody
[00:47:40] that's been doing this for 20 years.
[00:47:41] I'm sorry.
[00:47:43] You don't.
[00:47:45] It's like teenagers.
[00:47:46] All of a sudden they think they know better than mom and dad.
[00:47:49] You don't know squat at 13, 14.
[00:47:55] You think, oh, cause you know about sex now.
[00:47:57] You know about drinking.
[00:47:58] You know about drugs.
[00:47:59] You know about what the world's doing.
[00:48:01] You can watch all the videos and the movies and the game
[00:48:04] and you think you know what the world's about.
[00:48:08] You don't know squat.
[00:48:10] That's why you better listen to mom and dad.
[00:48:12] That's why you better listen to your pastor
[00:48:13] because you don't know Jack.
[00:48:18] Cause there's big boogeymen out there that you don't see.
[00:48:20] But I've fought for a long time.
[00:48:25] And let me just tell you, there's bigger boogeymen coming.
[00:48:32] See the church, the true church,
[00:48:34] the true church that has true leadership,
[00:48:36] that has true spiritual fathers
[00:48:38] is the place where you will learn to fight the enemy
[00:48:41] where the gates of hell will not prevail against you.
[00:48:44] That's why the devil tries to separate you
[00:48:47] from true churches and true spiritual leaders,
[00:48:49] true spiritual fathers and mothers, true elders.
[00:48:52] That's why he's always trying through little criticisms,
[00:48:54] through little attacks, through little mental games
[00:48:57] in your head.
[00:49:00] That's why these preachers out here with these big churches
[00:49:03] and that's why they're always trying to lure you
[00:49:06] with the carnival, with the cotton candy.
[00:49:15] Mom and dad's trying to get you to eat
[00:49:17] some meat and vegetables and the carnival
[00:49:19] just wants you to come there and spend money.
[00:49:22] They want you to buy the cotton candy
[00:49:24] and the caramel apples and the funnel cakes
[00:49:27] and ride the rides and throw up
[00:49:29] and have a good time and they don't want you,
[00:49:32] they don't care if you eat the meat and vegetables.
[00:49:36] They don't care if you put your life in danger
[00:49:39] as long as you're buying the tickets and riding the rides.
[00:49:42] That's most of the church world.
[00:49:44] That's the instructors.
[00:49:46] The spiritual fathers want you to eat meat and vegetables.
[00:49:51] They want you to be healthy spiritually,
[00:49:53] emotionally, physically.
[00:49:54] Want you to grow up right and know right from wrong.
[00:49:59] You hear what I'm saying?
[00:50:02] That's why I look at Jesus talked about the hirelings
[00:50:05] versus the true.
[00:50:11] The hireling sees the wolf coming and runs.
[00:50:14] The churches out here and the so-called preachers
[00:50:17] that won't expose the wolves and won't fight the demons
[00:50:21] and won't pray and won't fast,
[00:50:26] they're there for a paycheck, folks.
[00:50:28] They're there to give you cotton candy
[00:50:30] and keep you happy in a pew or a chair.
[00:50:37] You put your entire spiritual life's eternity on the line
[00:50:41] when you don't go to a true church
[00:50:43] and you're not submitted to true elders and true pastors,
[00:50:46] true spiritual fathers and mother.
[00:50:48] See, it's easy to pay a life coach
[00:50:51] because they're gonna tell you what you wanna hear
[00:50:53] so they can keep getting your money.
[00:50:56] A spiritual mother, a spiritual father
[00:50:58] will tick you off because they care about you.
[00:51:13] There's places that we need to go.
[00:51:16] Look at, I'm gonna show you.
[00:51:19] I may go a little long today.
[00:51:20] I hope y'all don't mind.
[00:51:25] How long have I been going?
[00:51:33] 50 minutes.
[00:51:34] See, I'm under my hour still.
[00:51:39] Second Timothy four, verse one.
[00:51:52] And this was the charge the apostle Paul was giving
[00:51:54] to Timothy, I believe, that at the time
[00:51:57] had the calling of pastor on his life and teacher,
[00:52:00] but really that Timothy was gonna take Paul's place
[00:52:03] and become that apostle and he did, okay?
[00:52:07] He said, I charge thee, speaking to the pastor
[00:52:11] of the church, I charge thee therefore before God
[00:52:14] and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge
[00:52:16] the quick and the dead at his appearing in his kingdom,
[00:52:19] preach the word, be instant in season, out of season,
[00:52:22] reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all long suffering
[00:52:25] and doctrine, for the time will come
[00:52:28] where they will not endure sound doctrine,
[00:52:30] but after their own lust shall they heap
[00:52:31] in themselves teachers having itching ears
[00:52:34] and shall turn away their ears from the truth
[00:52:36] and shall be turned unto fables.
[00:52:39] But watch thou in all things endure afflictions.
[00:52:42] Boy, pastors have to do that.
[00:52:46] Do the work of an evangelist,
[00:52:48] meaning you gotta reach these lost people,
[00:52:50] make full proof of your ministry.
[00:52:55] And then Paul says, for I am now ready to be offered.
[00:52:57] The time of my departure is at hand.
[00:53:00] I have fought a good fight.
[00:53:01] I have finished my course.
[00:53:02] I have kept the faith.
[00:53:03] Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness
[00:53:06] which the Lord the righteous judge shall give to me
[00:53:09] at that day and not to me only,
[00:53:10] but also all them that love his appearing.
[00:53:12] Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me.
[00:53:15] Now listen to this closely.
[00:53:16] For Demas has forsaking me,
[00:53:19] having loved this present world
[00:53:21] and is departed unto Thessalonica,
[00:53:23] the Cretans have departed to Galatia
[00:53:25] and tied us unto Dalmatia.
[00:53:28] Only Luke is with me.
[00:53:30] Take Mark and bring him with thee
[00:53:32] for he is profitable me for the ministry.
[00:53:35] And Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus,
[00:53:38] the cloak or the coat that I left at Troas
[00:53:40] with Carpus when you come bring with you and the books,
[00:53:43] but especially the parchments.
[00:53:46] Alexander the Coppersmith did be much evil.
[00:53:49] The Lord reward him according to his works
[00:53:52] of whom be thou where also
[00:53:53] for he has greatly withstood our words.
[00:53:55] Now look at verse 16.
[00:53:56] Paul says this is a sad commentary
[00:53:59] at the end of an apostolic ministry,
[00:54:02] probably the greatest apostolic ministry that's ever been.
[00:54:07] This is what Paul says.
[00:54:08] At my first answer,
[00:54:11] no man stood with me but all men forsook me.
[00:54:14] I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge.
[00:54:18] Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me
[00:54:20] and strengthened me that by me,
[00:54:22] the preaching might be fully known
[00:54:24] and that all the Gentiles might hear
[00:54:26] and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.
[00:54:29] Now I bring this up
[00:54:30] because Demas had been a close associate of Paul's
[00:54:33] and had worked with him in the ministry.
[00:54:34] Mark had been with him and left him.
[00:54:41] But isn't this a sad commentary?
[00:54:42] And when Paul says at my first answer,
[00:54:45] that means when I was going through my trouble,
[00:54:49] when I started going through my time of difficulty,
[00:54:55] look it up, you'll see.
[00:54:58] He said at my first, he said no man stood with me.
[00:55:03] All men forsook me.
[00:55:08] You want a sign of a true apostolic ministry?
[00:55:11] People run away.
[00:55:15] Just being honest.
[00:55:18] People run away.
[00:55:26] Because see a true apostolic ministry
[00:55:29] is a true spiritual father and mother.
[00:55:36] Don't really care if the truth hurts your feelings.
[00:55:44] Don't care that you make it, that you grow up,
[00:55:49] that you learn the truth,
[00:55:51] that you learn how to live the Christian life,
[00:55:57] not eat cotton candy and ride rollercoasters.
[00:56:02] See this whole mentality that the church is here
[00:56:05] to be seeker sensitive meaning
[00:56:06] is here to make everybody comfortable
[00:56:10] is a lie from hell
[00:56:14] or that you got to have this group
[00:56:18] or a singles ministry, a youth ministry.
[00:56:21] You got to have a big church.
[00:56:22] You got to have a patted pew.
[00:56:23] You got to have a choir.
[00:56:24] You got to have this.
[00:56:25] You got to have that.
[00:56:27] That's all fine.
[00:56:30] If it's truth, the whole truth.
[00:56:35] See folks, it's not just what you preach,
[00:56:37] it's what you don't preach.
[00:56:40] The sin of omission is going to get a lot of people damn to hell.
[00:56:45] I like what the great preacher Leonard Ravenhill used to say.
[00:56:47] It's not the things that I do
[00:56:48] or that I did that scares me to death,
[00:56:50] it's what I should have done.
[00:56:56] Some people say well, doesn't Joel Osteen preach the Gospel?
[00:56:59] Yeah, he preaches some Jesus,
[00:57:01] but he doesn't preach the whole Gospel.
[00:57:06] And the parts that he leaves out
[00:57:07] that he leaves out are critical.
[00:57:09] So the sin of omission is damning people in his church
[00:57:13] and then people that listen to him
[00:57:14] because he doesn't bring it up.
[00:57:16] And of course, because he goes on Oprah
[00:57:17] and says that he believes practicing homosexuals
[00:57:19] will go to heaven.
[00:57:20] And the Hindus practicing Hinduism will go to heaven.
[00:57:23] He doesn't really preach the Gospel,
[00:57:25] but it's cotton candy.
[00:57:26] It feels good.
[00:57:31] I'm just going to be honest with you this morning.
[00:57:37] If you're contemplating that you can't handle
[00:57:42] fire and grace church, that's fine.
[00:57:48] If it's God, let God lead you.
[00:57:55] But if the devil's putting all kind of crap in your head
[00:57:59] and you're being led by emotions
[00:58:02] and lies and deception and manipulation, snap out of it.
[00:58:11] Because God wants you planted in a church
[00:58:15] that preaches the truth, the whole truth
[00:58:19] that'll make you grow up,
[00:58:22] that'll teach you how to fight the devil,
[00:58:25] that'll point out when you're falling away,
[00:58:29] that'll point out and get specific about sin,
[00:58:33] that'll hear from the Holy Spirit.
[00:58:35] You heard what I'm saying?
[00:58:36] Do I think we're the only church in town?
[00:58:38] No, I just know they're few.
[00:58:43] Listen, I get the emails, I get the letters,
[00:58:45] I get the calls from all over.
[00:58:48] I wish we could find a church like yours.
[00:58:53] You know, and I think about some of those people.
[00:58:54] I say, I wonder how long you could really take it.
[00:59:00] So some of you I commend, you're still here.
[00:59:06] But here's what I'm getting at, and I'll close with it.
[00:59:09] Because there's a lot I could say,
[00:59:10] there's a lot of scriptures I could go to about this.
[00:59:15] The vision of this church, the call of this church,
[00:59:18] the purpose of this church is to be a Pentecostal,
[00:59:26] spirit-filled, spirit-led church,
[00:59:32] unafraid of the word of God, anything in it.
[00:59:36] We will preach it, teach it.
[00:59:40] We are a deliverance ministry, we cast out demons.
[00:59:45] And we are believing and praying,
[00:59:47] and part of the vision was to help facilitate
[00:59:51] and bring about a revival in this region.
[00:59:57] I'm not talking about Pentecostal pep rallies.
[00:59:59] I'm not talking about a good healing service.
[01:00:01] I'm all for healing services.
[01:00:03] I'm talking about a revival of truth, of repentance.
[01:00:09] Now hear what I'm about to tell you.
[01:00:10] Hear me, let everybody eyes forward,
[01:00:12] look at me, hear what I'm about to tell you.
[01:00:15] I think that we have gone through a difficult period,
[01:00:23] even if it's been five years of a difficult period.
[01:00:28] Because the devil doesn't want to get us
[01:00:30] to get to where we're headed.
[01:00:36] Do I still believe after five years of struggle
[01:00:41] that our church can see a revival and many souls saved?
[01:00:48] And true growth, I do.
[01:00:54] God has spoken to us very clearly
[01:00:56] that that will not happen until the bovine excrement
[01:01:01] hits the fan.
[01:01:12] The bovine feces hits the fan.
[01:01:14] Y'all know what it is, all right?
[01:01:22] I'm telling you, stay the course with me.
[01:01:32] You hear what I'm saying?
[01:01:36] I know it's been a rocky ride, but I need you.
[01:01:43] Because I'm gonna be honest with you.
[01:01:46] I got a little frustrated Wednesday.
[01:01:49] During prayer meeting, I was just like,
[01:01:51] why does our church show up for prayer?
[01:01:55] Why is this so difficult?
[01:01:56] And it's not just now, it's been a struggle
[01:01:59] to get people to prayer meeting since we began.
[01:02:04] Consistently.
[01:02:06] I'm not talking about you drop in once a month
[01:02:07] or once every, I'm talking about consistent prayer meetings.
[01:02:15] You want this church to have power.
[01:02:17] You want this church to grow.
[01:02:18] You want this church to flow more into gifts.
[01:02:20] You wanna see more people healed, more people delivered.
[01:02:23] Let me tell you where all that comes from.
[01:02:25] It comes from the power of prayer.
[01:02:27] Leonard Ravenhill and all the great preachers said,
[01:02:30] you can judge any church's strength by its prayer meeting.
[01:02:36] See, the problem is, the prayer life of this church,
[01:02:40] the prayer meeting of this church has not ever been
[01:02:44] what it has needed to be.
[01:02:47] But the reason that we've had any strength
[01:02:50] or even a little strength is because
[01:02:52] we have stood for the truth
[01:02:53] and God has blessed and honored that with grace
[01:02:56] because we will not back away from the truth.
[01:02:59] But I'm gonna tell you right now,
[01:03:00] if this church doesn't become a praying church
[01:03:03] and a fasting church and a church that's determined
[01:03:06] to stand together united with the vision
[01:03:10] and purpose of this ministry,
[01:03:11] this church will not continue
[01:03:13] because I'm gonna tell you, I won't continue doing it
[01:03:16] if you don't step up to the plate and help me get it done.
[01:03:22] I don't have to do this.
[01:03:25] And I've already told the Lord,
[01:03:26] I said, I'm tired of the stubbornness and the laziness
[01:03:30] and the up and down and in and out.
[01:03:35] I got frustrated Wednesday night at prayer meeting
[01:03:38] because I'm like, where are they?
[01:03:46] And like I said, it wasn't just about that night.
[01:03:47] It just kind of all came in on me.
[01:03:54] I don't have to do Sundays.
[01:03:55] I don't have to do Wednesdays.
[01:03:57] I don't have to do Bible studies.
[01:03:59] I don't have to get up and pray.
[01:04:01] You know what I'm saying?
[01:04:03] You get what I'm saying?
[01:04:04] I'm reaching, listen, God's using us right now
[01:04:08] to reach thousands of people.
[01:04:10] We could just stop having church and do an internet ministry
[01:04:16] and go preach in churches
[01:04:17] or go preach on the street somewhere.
[01:04:20] You get what I'm saying?
[01:04:21] But then the Lord kind of got onto me.
[01:04:23] I told you to establish a church here and I'm like,
[01:04:25] well, Lord, I got some of them thinking about leaving.
[01:04:29] They won't show up to prayer meeting.
[01:04:32] They can't handle, some can't handle what I preach.
[01:04:35] Some want a youth group.
[01:04:36] We don't have a youth group.
[01:04:36] Some want children's ministry.
[01:04:39] We don't have that.
[01:04:39] We don't have this.
[01:04:43] They want the buffet.
[01:04:46] We're not a buffet.
[01:04:49] We're a steakhouse.
[01:04:50] You get a steak dinner, some salad, baked potato.
[01:04:57] We're not a carnival.
[01:05:11] Hey, I'm just being real.
[01:05:13] Is that okay?
[01:05:16] See, I think about it.
[01:05:19] Think about, you know,
[01:05:20] even though our teenagers in here, our kids in here,
[01:05:25] I know it's been tough being in this little church sometimes.
[01:05:28] Well, be where a bunch of people are.
[01:05:32] I understand that, but you know what?
[01:05:37] I think about when this young man was at the altar cry.
[01:05:41] I seen this young man at the altar cry.
[01:05:44] The presence of God touching these,
[01:05:46] that's what's more important.
[01:05:52] Now, I am praying about something,
[01:05:54] about making some changes.
[01:05:56] And instead of having prayer meeting on Wednesday night,
[01:05:58] which seems to not work,
[01:06:01] is doing it on Friday night.
[01:06:05] But I'm still praying about that,
[01:06:06] because I'm like,
[01:06:09] let's see if we switch to Friday nights.
[01:06:10] Will that work?
[01:06:12] I don't know.
[01:06:15] My Friday nights,
[01:06:18] especially if I've worked during the week.
[01:06:19] I like to chill.
[01:06:28] We'll see.
[01:06:29] I don't know.
[01:06:30] But y'all hear what I'm saying?
[01:06:32] I think God wants to take us somewhere.
[01:06:38] I think God is gonna add to this church
[01:06:40] when the bovine excrement hits the fan.
[01:06:45] But if there's no church here
[01:06:46] and there's no faithful people here,
[01:06:49] there won't be anything here for them to come to.
[01:06:54] You are the church.
[01:06:58] Be the church.
[01:07:05] You are not an island to yourself.
[01:07:09] Can I say this before I close?
[01:07:11] This is just the truth.
[01:07:14] When one of you,
[01:07:16] or one of the families here,
[01:07:17] when you're not in church,
[01:07:20] it changes the service.
[01:07:21] Did y'all know that?
[01:07:25] It's amazing.
[01:07:26] I've watched this over years.
[01:07:33] And you say,
[01:07:34] well, all I did was sit here and listen.
[01:07:37] Sometimes that's all you needed to do.
[01:07:40] But your presence encouraged me,
[01:07:43] or encouraged someone else.
[01:07:47] And you never know
[01:07:48] when the Holy Spirit's gonna move on you
[01:07:49] and you're gonna be the one the gifts flow through,
[01:07:51] like Andy did this morning,
[01:07:53] prophesying, and Bill did this morning, prophesying.
[01:07:56] You never know when you come to church,
[01:07:58] you may have felt like hell.
[01:08:01] And you get up and come to church
[01:08:03] and you bring your children to church.
[01:08:04] One of them get touched by the Holy Spirit that morning
[01:08:08] and save them from something
[01:08:10] you didn't even know they were doing.
[01:08:12] You see what I'm saying?
[01:08:15] It's not about Pastor Harper being in church.
[01:08:20] I didn't make the rules.
[01:08:25] But people take the church lightly
[01:08:27] that Jesus said it was the church,
[01:08:29] the true church that he would build,
[01:08:32] that the gates of hell would not prevail against.
[01:08:36] I'm gonna ask you something.
[01:08:37] How many of you have been touched by God,
[01:08:40] the presence of God in services in this church?
[01:08:43] At some point or another.
[01:08:45] Raise your hand.
[01:08:48] Can everybody in this room?
[01:08:51] How many of you have learned something
[01:08:53] that you didn't know before?
[01:08:58] How many of you can say that your spiritual life,
[01:09:01] your Christian life has been strengthened
[01:09:03] and you've learned how to fight the devil better?
[01:09:07] Can everybody raise their hand?
[01:09:14] And what does that tell me?
[01:09:15] What does that tell you?
[01:09:19] You've been part of a real church.
[01:09:25] But you think about it.
[01:09:27] Just as much as you need a pastor and elders,
[01:09:35] the pastor and elders need you.
[01:09:38] We are a team.
[01:09:40] Whether you're in leadership or not, it's a team.
[01:09:45] And if we're gonna reach people,
[01:09:47] other brothers and sisters who are floundering
[01:09:49] and being starved to death at the carnivals,
[01:09:52] if we're gonna reach them,
[01:09:53] if we're gonna reach the unsaved,
[01:09:54] if we're gonna be here for the people
[01:09:56] when the stuff hits the fan,
[01:09:58] if we're gonna be here,
[01:09:59] it's gonna take us all being for real and being unified.
[01:10:07] God placed us here.
[01:10:08] We have a mission.
[01:10:10] Listen, John Kilpatrick,
[01:10:12] we talk about the Brownsville Revival sometimes,
[01:10:14] but John Kilpatrick was the pastor
[01:10:16] of Brownsville Assembly of God
[01:10:18] for 14 years before the revival happened.
[01:10:24] 14 years it took of prayer and intercession
[01:10:27] and fighting and getting the church
[01:10:29] to get focused on prayer and on revival
[01:10:32] and on doing things right.
[01:10:34] 14 years it took them.
[01:10:36] But when the power of God fell and the revival hit,
[01:10:39] millions of people were impacted.
[01:10:42] Many prodigals came home.
[01:10:44] Many bodies were healed.
[01:10:46] Many demons were cast out.
[01:10:47] Many people were saved and born again
[01:10:50] when the power fell.
[01:10:51] It was worth, John Kilpatrick,
[01:10:53] and you know what?
[01:10:53] He got down there at the end
[01:10:54] right before the revival hit, he wanted to quit.
[01:10:58] Do you know that?
[01:10:58] He wanted to resign from his church.
[01:11:03] The morning the revival hit,
[01:11:04] he was so depressed,
[01:11:05] he was so discouraged that he even told,
[01:11:08] he told Steve he was supposed to preach that morning.
[01:11:10] It was Father's Day.
[01:11:11] He said he never gave up his pulpit on Father's Day.
[01:11:15] He said, I can't do it.
[01:11:18] You go ahead.
[01:11:20] He wanted to quit.
[01:11:26] So don't worry on me.
[01:11:29] Five years, that's nothing.
[01:11:33] When a revival, we finally get a revival
[01:11:36] and a move of God when we finally start acting right
[01:11:38] and get unified and become a praying church,
[01:11:41] it'll all be worth it.
[01:11:44] Amen.
[01:11:48] Remember, Jesus lived 30 years before
[01:11:50] he started his revival.
[01:11:55] 30 years, he waited on the timing of God,
[01:11:58] fasted and prayed, went out in the wilderness,
[01:12:00] fought the devil, came out and Jesus had a revival
[01:12:04] for three years.
[01:12:07] Amen?
[01:12:09] But 30 years was the process.
[01:12:14] For us, maybe it's five years, maybe it's six years.
[01:12:17] I believe because we're in the last days,
[01:12:18] we're running out of time and God's about to do it.
[01:12:21] We just got to be, not grow weary in well doing,
[01:12:23] not let the devil separate us and divide us,
[01:12:29] not let us be found an island to ourselves.
[01:12:31] I know a lot of Christians that do not attend a church.
[01:12:38] Sad, I guess I ought to quit.
[01:12:49] So it's gut check time.
[01:12:54] Are you planted at Fire and Grace Church?
[01:12:56] Is this your church?
[01:12:59] Are you unified with the vision?
[01:13:02] Do you want to get down and get to business
[01:13:04] and become a church that the gates of hell
[01:13:06] do not prevail against?
[01:13:10] I'm telling you.
[01:13:12] There's an old saying in the church world,
[01:13:13] new levels, new devils.
[01:13:16] You want God to bless us?
[01:13:17] You want God to graduate us?
[01:13:18] You want God to take us to another level?
[01:13:20] Well, guess what?
[01:13:21] There's bigger devils.
[01:13:22] So that means you got to have a bigger prayer life,
[01:13:24] with more of a fasting life.
[01:13:26] You got to be more determined.
[01:13:27] You got to have a more disciplined mind and emotion.
[01:13:30] You got to be ready to fight.
[01:13:36] See the difference between a true church
[01:13:38] and the carnival churches is
[01:13:40] we want to move on in the Holy Ghost.
[01:13:42] We want to get deeper.
[01:13:43] We want more.
[01:13:44] We want to see the power of God.
[01:13:45] We want to see the will of God.
[01:13:46] We want to see the kingdom of God come on the earth.
[01:13:49] We want to see the demon possessed
[01:13:50] and the demon of prayer set free.
[01:13:52] We want to see the unsaved,
[01:13:53] people that are in darkness
[01:13:54] saved to the uttermost.
[01:13:56] We want to see people delivered
[01:13:57] from all kinds of stuff.
[01:13:59] We want to see bodies healed.
[01:14:00] We want to see cancer go.
[01:14:01] We want to see everything.
[01:14:02] We want to see Jesus do what Jesus does
[01:14:07] in the church.
[01:14:09] But there's an old saying and I love it.
[01:14:10] It says God doesn't answer prayer.
[01:14:12] He answers desperate prayer.
[01:14:14] Jesus said certain things are not going to come out,
[01:14:16] but by prayer and fasting.
[01:14:18] You're not going to deal with certain demons
[01:14:19] by just hanging around in church once in a while.
[01:14:22] You're going to have to become a prayer warrior,
[01:14:24] a fasting warrior, a Bible warrior.
[01:14:26] You're going to have to become a committed church member.
[01:14:30] You understand?
[01:14:31] Committed to your church.
[01:14:33] Now I know some of you are.
[01:14:34] Don't get me wrong.
[01:14:35] Some of you are and you have been through
[01:14:36] some thick and thin, some battles
[01:14:38] and you're committed.
[01:14:39] I thank God for you.
[01:14:42] But we got to get more unified.
[01:14:46] Amen?
[01:14:49] I could preach a while on this.
[01:14:53] Gut check time.
[01:14:55] Kevin says he's got a Keith Green song.
[01:14:56] Go ahead, bro.
[01:18:24] Wood, what do you have to do?
[01:18:27] You got to put some work into it.
[01:18:28] Cut the trees and split the logs
[01:18:32] and stack it and haul it and restack it
[01:18:37] and go get it and carry it in your house.
[01:18:40] That's what it's about.
[01:18:44] You don't have a fire in your fireplace
[01:18:47] with the trees out in New York.
[01:18:51] You hear me?
[01:18:53] That's what the church thinks we can do.
[01:18:54] We think we can have a fire, a Holy Ghost fire,
[01:18:56] but we want to go out and get the wood.
[01:18:59] We don't want to go out and do the work.
[01:19:00] We don't want to go out and have the prayer life,
[01:19:02] the fasting.
[01:19:03] We don't want to change our habits.
[01:19:08] You want a relationship with God.
[01:19:10] It's something you got to go after.
[01:19:13] Something you got to work toward.
[01:19:14] It's something you got to put some effort into.
[01:19:19] You want a strong church.
[01:19:20] It takes all the links.
[01:19:22] So the chain have to be strong
[01:19:23] for the chain to be strong, right?
[01:19:29] Hook up a chain to pull the truck
[01:19:30] and there's a weak link.
[01:19:39] Takes all of us.
[01:19:40] And I'm just hoping, I'm just saying,
[01:19:42] I need all of you.
[01:19:43] I hope you're all, you know,
[01:19:47] that we can all be unified and see this thing through.
[01:19:51] I know it's been difficult.
[01:19:56] Nancy and I are having to move around.
[01:19:58] Nearly everybody in here, financial struggles,
[01:20:01] marital struggles, struggles with family, children.
[01:20:06] We've had a rough time.
[01:20:09] Health struggles.
[01:20:15] We can do it.