Lightly edited for readability while preserving the speaker’s meaning and substantive statements.
in the name of Jesus today, Lord, that you will open the windows of heaven, Lord, that you will open up heaven over Opelika and Auburn and over this region that we love and that we're praying for, Lord, over this campus. God, over Auburn University this week, God, as we go out, Lord, to preach and share the word of God. Lord, we pray in the name of Jesus that you will open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing. Lord, pour out your spirit, pour out your Holy Ghost conviction, draw people, open eyes. Lord, we pray, God, over all the people that we're witnessing to and sharing with, God, whether it be at work or whether it be at school or whether it be family members or friends. Lord, we are praying, Lord, for everyone listening today, Lord, for all the people they're praying for. Lord, we pray in agreement with them this morning that you would open the windows of heaven and pour out your Holy Spirit power and glory to save, to draw people from darkness, from deception, from demonic power, from sin, to draw people to to know Jesus as their Lord and savior, to to be willing to repent, to give up their sins, to embrace the savior, and to let the blood of Jesus wash every sin away, to embrace eternal life instead of eternal death. Father, we pray this morning in the name of Jesus that captives would be set free. Oh God, through our lives, through our preaching, through our witness, God, this week, God, and in the weeks to come, we're praying for an outpouring of the Holy Ghost, Lord, because we know it's not us, Lord, it's the power of the Holy Ghost, and we need that power, and we need your presence, and we need your glory. And we pray for it in the name of Jesus Christ, your son. Because it's by the blood of Jesus that we can have access to this grace, to this power. And Lord God, you hear the prayers of your people that stand in the gap for people who are lost, people who are blind, people who are still stubborn and rebelling and resisting. Lord God, we ask you to have mercy upon our sinful nation. Upon a church that's become like the world. America, Lord, we are in such deep trouble. And we ask you, Lord, for mercy. Not that you will not pour out your wrath cuz we know you're going to do it. But that in wrath, you will remember mercy. Like Habakkuk prayed. He knew it was coming. He couldn't stop it. But Lord, we pray in the name of Jesus for mercy. And that your promises that in the last days you would pour out your spirit. So Lord, we want that. We ask for that. Shoo. I feel his presence here today. I feel him just saying hunger and thirst
for my presence. Not for yourselves so that you can feel good, but so that people around you can be touched by the glory of my presence, says the Lord. Yes, Lord, that is that is our desire. That is our hunger. That is our thirst that we would God, be carriers of your presence so that when people get around us and hear us witness and hear us preach, that they would be convicted or melted or touched, whatever's necessary. Lord, the Apostle Jude said, "On some have compassion, making a difference. Others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire." So Lord, we pray in the name of Jesus. Like Moses prayed, Lord, send us out. But Lord, let your presence go with us. Or don't send us." Well, I pray this this morning in Jesus' name. In Jesus' mighty name. Hallelujah. Well, I sense a stirring of the Holy Spirit this morning for some reason. Anybody feel like they had something that from the Lord to share? Did you? Hang on. The Lord said, "I will pour out my spirit on you. The righteous will know my presence. I tell you the time is at hand. Seek me through my word and prayer and fasting. I will provide for you. You, my people, will know me when you search me." Amen. Do you have some? This is two scriptures that God laid on me while we were worshipping. And it's out of Deuteronomy 11, the first one, and it's verse 11. And this is uh I hadn't had a chance to do a little background on this, but it seems like this is God when he's telling the Israelites when they're going into the to the promised land. And uh this the the title over it is new life in a new land. And verse 11 says, "But the land whether you go to possess it is a land of hills and valleys and drinketh of the water of the rain of heaven. And that's just the water is God's spirit being poured out that we have to drink of it
intentionally. And then in Deuteronomy 32 verse two says my doctrine shall drop as the rain. My speech shall distill as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb and as the showers upon the grass. So it his doctrine makes us grow. His doctrine feeds us. His spirit, the rain from heaven poured out on us. I mean that song was just it's so on. Pour out your rain, God. And his doctrine pours out like rain. And it's just I I don't know those two scriptures just hit me hard while ago we were singing that song. Amen. Amen. Hallelujah. Amen. I get it. Praise God. You know, the Lord promised he'd pour out his spirit in the last days, but you know who does he fill? I mean, he made that real clear. Blessed are they who do hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they what? They will be filled. That's why you can be in a time of God pouring out his spirit and still miss it. Because if you're not hungry and thirsty for righteousness then you're going to miss the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And people can be around you receiving an outpouring of the Holy Spirit and receiving power from God and anointing from God and and um the boldness to do what they're called to do and you can be sitting over there with nothing because you want to still play with the sins of the world and the lust of the world and still love the world basically. Um and you know I'm telling you I think the Lord is getting us ready. I believe he's getting us ready for a fresh uh wave of his spirit to win the lost. To see the prodigals some prodigals come home. Amen. And I think I like what um you know what Kevin shared there about the doctrine there in in Deuteronomy because listen, a lot of people use these these catchphrases in the church world, you know, well I I you know, I'm not going to I'm not going to open my mouth. I'll just let them see my life. And you know something? Guess what? They ought to see your life. If you're not living the life of a Christian, it's time to get in or get out. Amen. But bottom line, the Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 that it is by the foolishness of preaching that God has chosen to save those that believe. And how will they hear without a preacher? Someone has to speak. It is the spoken preached word of God that brings life and truth and conviction and the word of salvation. I mean God even calls it in the Bible the word of salvation, right?
It has to be preached. It has to be shared. It has to be proclaimed. It's a given. As a Christian, you're supposed to live it. My Lord, why do we even have to put that out there? I don't even understand that. I mean the word Christian means to be like Jesus, right? That's what we're supposed to be like. Amen. Um well I believe that I believe there's some people hungry for that. You know? And here's the good thing. Hungering and thirsting for righteousness and longing for God to work that in your life and to work righteousness out in you so that you can live this Christian life. That is where the real joy comes from. See, that's why most of the church world now is running after entertainment and, you know, doing the Harlem Shake videos in the church in the sanctuary of the church and all this foolishness that's going on because that's what they got to have to have joy. You know why? Cuz they're in sin, they're in darkness, they're walking in darkness, they're walking in loving the world and loving the lust of the world, and entertainment is their god. And that's where they find their joy, that's where they find their peace. But true Christians find their peace as they walk in righteousness and truth and in the presence of almighty God. And you can't walk in righteousness and truth if you don't hunger and thirst for it. You have to desire it more than anything in your whole being. You have to desire to be like Jesus, to walk and live and breathe and think and operate like him. And you can't do that if you keep wanting to cling to the world and to the sins of the world and the lust of the world and the pride of the world and the entertainment of the world. You can't do it. That's why I say all the time, break up with the world. If you break up with the devil, you give him back his stuff. Amen? I don't understand saying I love Jesus when 99% of your time is spent loving the world. I don't understand that. Something changes when you become a Christian. Repentance doesn't mean, oh, I believe in Jesus and I keep living the same way I was living. Repentance means change. Means turning around. It means I was walking north, going to walk south. Means I was a drunkard, I'm not going to be a drunkard anymore. Means I was a fornicator, I'm not going to be a fornicator anymore. Means I an adulterer, I'm not going to be an adulterer anymore. Because the blood of Jesus has cleansed me and I want righteousness in my life. I want the presence of God in my life. I want truth in my life. That is Christianity, folks. Anything else is just a false It's a false doctrine. Amen. So, I want you to turn with me. This is going to be a one of those words this morning. Proverbs chapter 1.
So, I'm going to show you why that so many are are missing the presence of God in their lives. See, real soon the world's going to be caught by surprise. And I'm talking about the American world. The American continent. Could be this week. How many of you know the North Koreans have a satellite in orbit? How many of you know it's passing over the United States day after day after day after day? How many of you know it's going to pass over the Washington D.C. this week? How many of you know that that satellite is big enough to have a payload on it we don't know what's on it? That satellite has a nuclear weapon on it and it detonates over the United States. Our life's going to change in a moment. Y'all understand that? If they detonate one over the center of the United States, an EMP will knock out 90% of the power grid in the United States. And because it's all depended upon one another, probably the other 10% will collapse. And guess what? We're going to have a hard time getting it back on. And guess what? We could get it back on. And then they somebody else does another one. See, this is why we need to understand that that our our surroundings our ways of life, the things that we put all this trust and it could be gone in a moment. And you know, one thing that one one passage scares me in the Bible. Isaiah 13 and then it's in Malachi 4. But this theme is repeated especially through the Old Testament talking about the day of the Lord's wrath. The day of the end. And he says, "Every proud person will be humbled." He said he is going to destroy and bring down the arrogance of man. I don't know a nation more arrogant more proud of its prosperity, its technology, its knowledge its military might. I don't know of a nation more proud and stubborn than the United States of America. Do not think for 1 second that we will escape the judgment and wrath of God that is coming and it When I say judgment and wrath of God, all God's doing is stepping back and taking his hand off cuz we don't want him. And here's what's so sad. Most of the church doesn't want him. They talk a big
game, but they don't want him. They want their own their own God that they've created in their own image and their own ideas. They don't want the God of the Bible. They don't want Yahweh, Jehovah, Elohim, Adonai. They don't want the the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. They've got a God they've created. And the and and the day of reckoning is coming. And that's why I sit there and I pray for mercy in the midst of wrath, for mercy. And I believe that the only thing that's going to humble the arrogancy and the pride and the stubbornness and the love of the world in the church of America is wrath to hit America. Judgment and destruction to hit America. For it to be over with. And God knows that. And you know what? It is God's mercy to bring judgment, to bring a humbling so that some people can finally snap out of the pride, the arrogancy, the sin, the lukewarmness, and all the things that they're loving right now. There's a lot of Christians that need to snap out of it. And it's going to take a nuclear detonation somewhere in America to get some of them to do it. But God in his mercy is going to step back and let our enemies hit us so that we will wake up. And I believe that's the only time oh only season that we possibly way now that we can see revival. Now, some people will think I'm crazy. Oh, God can send revival whenever he wants. Well, let me tell you something. I am a man of God and I believe I'm a prophet of God and I will tell you this, I don't believe he wants to. You understand? You got to remember something. When God was ready to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah for their wickedness, for their child molestation, for their sexual immorality and homosexuality, when he was ready to destroy it, guess what? His mind was made up. He didn't want to spare the city. It was an intercessor named Abraham that stood there and tried to talk him out of it, but he really didn't talk him out of it. We forget, it still got destroyed. Some people forget. They think about Nineveh. They talk about Nineveh and how Jonah went to Nineveh. And they forget that the message of Nineveh uh that Jonah had for Nineveh was not if you repent. It was 40 days and Nineveh shall be destroyed. There was no promise of mercy. There was no promise of forgiveness. But all the Ninevites from the king down to the children and they even made the animals fast. Some the fear of God fell upon Nineveh and they repented. But you know what? It didn't take even a generation before the Ninevites had gone back to their wicked ways and finally they were destroyed completely. Read the book of Nahum. Judgment got delayed, but it came. I remember God spoke a word, a prophetic word to Kenneth Hagin back in the 1950s.
Well, it was actually 1950. And he told Kenneth Hagin that I am only I am passing by America it for its last time. What happened after 1950? The free love drug hippie movement, the antichrist peace movement, the rebellion movement. That's when our our our camp college campuses went to free love and free sex and free drugs and that's where the whole liberal mentality took hold of the youth that are now the leaders of the country and the leaders of academia. And now we've been taken over by the very spirit of antichrist. Listen, folks. It's almost our way of life in America is almost over. See, in America we've clung to even as Christians we've clung to our safety. We've clung to our peace. We've clung to our prosperity. Instead of God. Listen to what God says, Proverbs chapter 1. There is good news in this. Now, listen to me. Just stay with me. Oh. See, this is so good because I might have to back up. Let's read from verse 7. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. And guess what? Fear means fear. Tired of people changing that. Well, it means reverential awe. No, it doesn't. It means terror and fear. I've looked it up in Hebrew. I've looked it up in Greek. I've used multiple lexicon. It means fear. Terror. Right? The fear of the Lord, Jehovah is his name there. Lord is Jehovah. Yahweh. Lord, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. My son, hear the instruction of thy father and forsake not the law of thy mother for they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head and chains about thy neck. My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not or don't hang out with them. This is important. I wanted to bring that out because I'm going to get get on this here in a second. If they say, "Come with us and let us lay wait for blood. Let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause. Let us swallow them up alive as the grave and hole as those that go down in the pit." And you know what we can say about this? This could This could just be people right here advocating abortion. Hear me, folks. Somebody that's for abortion is evil and damned. Simple. They're saying, "Let's lay wait for
blood. There's horrible case going on. They're just murderers. Look at verse 13. It says, "We shall find all precious substance. We shall fill our houses with spoil. Cast in thy lot among us. Let us all have one purse." And you know what that right there is? That's the cry of the world government, the coming world government, the coming world bank and econ- economy that's going to happen. This is the cry of the Antichrist. Let the world We're going to become one in an Antichrist mentality. Let us all have one purpose and one purse. Let's do it. He says, "My son, walk not thou in the way with them. Refrain thy foot from their path, for their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood. Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird, and they lay wait for their own blood. They lurk privily for their own lives. So are the ways of everyone that is greedy of gain, which taketh away the life of their owners of the owners thereof." Wisdom cries without. She utters her voice in the street. She cries in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates in the city she utters her words, saying, "How long, ye simple ones, will you love simplicity, and scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? Listen to what God says. "Turn you at my reproof, and behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you. And I will make known my words unto you." Here is the key. The key to the presence and the power of God is right here. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and then to turn at his reproof and correction. You want to know why the church is so absent of lacking of power and anointing and fire? It's because they won't turn at reproof. Heck, most of the preachers won't even preach correction or reproof or rebuke. But if we had a little preaching of correction, some reproof, some rebuke, something like that, and the church took heed to it, God said, "If you'll turn at my reproof, I will pour out my spirit on you." It is the key to everything. I mean, this is If you think this is not a New Testament principle, you can go to Acts chapter 3, and he says this, "Repent, and the times of refreshing or revival will come from the presence of the Lord. If you'll turn from sin, you'll turn from wickedness, you'll turn from evil ways, I will pour out my spirit on you. I will send times or seasons of refreshing by the Holy Ghost." See, that's the good news. Listen, God is merciful. All he wants us to do is humble ourselves, listen to his correction, listen to his reproof, amend our ways, change our ways, give our
hearts to him, love him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, obey him, and take it seriously. If we fall or mess up, we get up, and we confess it with trembling hearts, and move on. God says, "IF YOU WILL TURN at my reproof, I will pour out my spirit upon you." Oh, come on. Church world that won't preach repentance, that won't cry out against sin, that won't bring correction and reproof to the to the church, they're robbing themselves of the very refreshing and revival and glory of God that he's promised to give. Gosh. It's sad. But see, I believe there's going to be some that do it. There's going to be a remnant in America of of churches and Christians that finally say, "God, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for being addicted to pornography. I'm sorry for continuing to make excuses for fornication. I'm sorry for being an adulterer. I'm sorry for being a drunkard. I'm sorry for being into sorcery, pharmakeia, drug use. I'm sorry for taking those pills that I don't need to take." You hear what I'm saying? I'm sorry, Lord. I ask you to forgive me. I'm turning away from it. I'm turning at your reproof and correction. I'm turning from the sin. And God has promised to forgive, to wash the sin away by the blood of Jesus, and then to pour his spirit out on people that genuinely repent. See, that's what happened to me when I was 19 years old. Everybody asked, "What happened to you?" I repented, genuinely repented. I turned from my sexual sin, my drugs, my drunkenness, my partying. My friend Billy here, who was my roommate in college, knows I was a fornicating, habitual drunkard, violent man that would fight at the drop of a hat. But when I repented, when I understood the gospel of Jesus Christ, wasn't just that he died for my sins, but that for me to experience that forgiveness and his love and to walk with him and to be saved and have eternal life, I HAD TO GIVE UP MY SIN, GIVE UP THE WORLD, give up my own plans. And I gave them up instantly when it when it became clear to me. I repented and God filled me with the Holy Ghost. The power of God came on my life. The gifts of the spirit began working through me. My first convert was a Satanist. And I started immediately casting out devils, having death threats, being shot at. And I'm 19 years old. It's simple. Turn at his reproof. I will pour out my spirit on you. Listen to me. If you are lacking in the power of the spirit of God in your life,
cuz there's somewhere God's wanting you to turn. And either you're being stubborn and not listening, or you might just not know. So, that's why it's a preacher's job, it's Christian's job, to work with the Holy Spirit, and to sometimes walk up to a brother or sister, or unsaved person and say, "Hey, the Lord says you got to give that up. You got to turn away from that. You want to be saved? You want to go to heaven? You want to have eternal life? You want to know the presence of God? You got to give up that fornication. You got to give up that pornography. You got to give up that drunkenness. You got to give up the pills. You got to give up your own plans. You got to give up the world. It's time to come home." My God, there's a lot of people going to go to hell over movies and video games. I've never seen a generation more addicted to movies and video games. I'm like, "Y'all are brain dead." Most of the teenagers and 20-somethings, and even into their 30s now, are so into movies and video games that they will go to hell playing Modern Warfare 3. Because they can't turn it off to open their Bibles and get to know God. I I I It's really going to happen. I just look at this generation and I go, "I've never seen a more distracted group of people in my life." I mean, God, I know it I know if all this stuff would have been available like it is in in this generation through iPhones and iPads and computers. I know it's it's easier access to everything. But still, you can't even have I you can't even have for most 20-something-year-olds and I'm sorry for you know, I'm sorry if I'm hurting anybody's feelings. But for most 20-somethings, you can't even have a conversation intelligent conversation about current events cuz all they know about is movies and and video games. And don't dare start talking about North Korea threatening the nukes all I don't want to hear that. Yeah, well, get ready. You're going to hear it instead you're not going to hear a warning you'll hear a loud boom. You're going to hear it sooner or later. Right? Sorry, y'all. Verse 23. Turn you at my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you and I will make known my words unto you. Well, that right there, folks, listen. So many people tell me I don't understand the Bible. I don't understand this. I read it doesn't make sense. You want to know why? You ain't given up the world yet. You ain't turned from sin yet. You ain't made Jesus Lord yet. Here People wondered why how I know the Bible so good.
It was simple. I repented. And when I repented, I got filled with the Holy Spirit. And guess what? I didn't need seminary because I had the Holy Spirit. Let me ask you something. Not against it. I took seminary classes. I had a seminary give me a doctorate degree right there. Big whoop. Because you know what? Bottom line is this. Holy Ghost seminary. I'll take Holy Ghost anyday. Amen? What am I saying? I'm just saying, look. You want to say at 19 years old Y'all don't understand. I would have preachers who'd been who'd been pastors and seminary graduates for 20 something years, 30 years, longer, most of them longer than I've been alive at that point. Could not believe what I knew and understood. Some of them couldn't even debate with me. At 19 and 20 years old. Why? Because I turned at God's reproof and he made known his words to me. Psalm 25 says this, "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him and to them he will make known his covenant." If you will do his will, John 7:17, "If you will do his will, he will make you to know the doctrine whether it is of God." Woo! If you will do his will. You want to know the Bible? You got to turn. You got to give up sin. You got to give up and listen, the sin, part of the things that I had to give up, it wasn't just sin. I had my own plans about pursuing a modeling career, about pursuing television and about pursuing be becoming famous. All that was opening up for me, wasn't it, Billy? Billy knows I used to leave and go to Atlanta every week to go to my my agent. I had all that. But you know what? I had plans. I wanted to finish college. I wanted to be a doctor, a medical doctor. That's what I wanted to do. Those are not bad. For wanting to wanting to be a medical doctor is not a bad thing. It's not a sinful thing. But it wasn't what God wanted for me. So had I done it, it would have been sin. You see what I'm saying? Turn. Listen. All right, here we go. Now, listen to what he says here. Boy, this is this is a word for America here. The American church and America. Verse 24, "Because I have called and you refused. I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded.
But you have set at naught all my counsel, made it as nothing, as unimportant. There's people that set their Bibles on the shelves and watch TV and movies all the time. You have set at naught all my counsel and would none of my reproof. How about Christians now? I don't want to hear any preaching against sin or I don't want to hear any preaching about judgment and wrath of God. I don't want to hear anything about that. I don't want to hear anything about homosexuality. I mean, a really popular preacher, you know, this was disturbing not too long ago. A really popular preacher who's got a mega church, got invited to do Obama's to pray or do something at Obama's inauguration. I'm not going to say his name. Everybody You can Google it, find it out yourself. But he got invited to pray, but then some people some the homosexual community found out that 20-something years ago he preached a message against homosexuality and caused a big uproar. So, he stepped away from it. But the problem was his first response. He said, "Well, I really haven't preached on that in over 20 years. It's not really on my radar." And I thought, that is not The tragedy is not that the homosexuals got in a uproar. The tragedy is, how could you be a preacher over the last 20 years and you've not preached against homosexuality and took a stand boldly against that perversion and that sin. That's why America is going to be judged. Listen to me, folks. It's not just because of the sinners and the lost people and the wicked in this nation. It's because most of the Christians have become just like them. They have become weak and tolerant and they are consenting with these sinners and approving of their things and not speaking against them and God said that's it. Let's go on. Because I have called and you refused, I stretched out my hand and no man regarded. But you set at naught all my counsel and would none of my reproof. Here's what the Lord says. Here is the the cry Here is the payment. Here is the punishment for not listening, for not turning. I also will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your fear cometh. When your fear cometh as desolation and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind. When distress and anguish come upon you. Then shall you call upon me, but I will not answer. They shall seek me earlier diligently, but they shall not find me. Why? Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord.
They would none of my counsel, they despised all my reproof. Therefore, they shall eat of the fruit of their own way and be filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely and shall be quiet from the fear of evil. I, the Lord says, will laugh when your calamity comes. I will mock. You've mocked me, I will mock you. He said, "Then, at that time, Here you So, here's the scary thing. The judgment starts falling on America, the bombs start dropping, the economy collapses, whatever domino's going to get pushed over first. A lot of people are going to drop to their knees and cry out to God, and God's not going to listen to them. Well, that's not preached too often, is it? See, here's the thing. There's a lot of people think that God's obligated to listen to them and forgive them. That he has to, like it's some rule. No, but you see, here's the thing. He knows their heart. And he knows the ones that are falling on their knees when calamity comes, who have no intention on really repenting and really making him Lord, and really being humbled, and really dealing with the sin in their lives, and and really exalting Jesus and the blood of Jesus and the cross of Jesus. He knows the ones that are just crying out cuz they're in trouble. Listen, we forget something. Judas threw the money down. Judas was sorry for his sin. But Judas didn't really repent. He went and killed himself. Showing how his whole mind was corrupted. Remember it says in the book of Hebrews that Esau sought repentance carefully with tears, but could not find it. See? I remember when in Acts 8, I might could just go down the line. In Acts 8, when Simon the sorcerer, it says he believed in Jesus. And he was baptized by Philip the evangelist. And he believed in Jesus and he was baptized and when the apostles got there and he saw people getting filled with the Holy Ghost and he said, "I'm going to give you money to give me this power so I can do this." And what did Simon Peter turn to him and then say, "Oh, you sweet little ignorant Christian." No, he turned and he said to him, "You know what? Your money perish
with you." He said, "You are still in the bond of iniquity. You're in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity." And he And Peter said these words, "Pray if perhaps the Lord might forgive you." What does that show us? Son, it ain't automatic. It ain't just a simple prayer. It's not some formula. It's not just automatic. You better get this stuff rooted up out of your heart. You better change your whole heart, your whole attitude. And guess what? Church history reveals that Simon Magus was his name. Simon the sorcerer did not get his heart right, fell back into his sin because of wanting money and wanting attention and wanting the power at any price. He became the greatest heretic, false teacher, and false prophet of the early church. Because he didn't heed what Peter said. Sounds like he did a little bit in Acts 8, but he didn't. Amen. It's not automatic, folks. I will laugh, verse 26, the Lord says, "I will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your fear cometh. When your fear cometh as desolation and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind. When distress and anguish come upon you, then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer. They shall seek me early, but they shall not find me." They shall seek me and not find me. Well, that that ought to Pardon my French for a minute, but that ought to scare the hell out of you. You hear me? One day, think about this, one day people may try to pray to the Lord, and he's not going to listen. Wow. And it's it's it's almost terrifying to think of. Why? Cuz we've been taught Listen, we got little We got little children's Sunday school mentality as adults. Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Yes, he does. But it also says this, that if you don't turn at his reproof, and over and over and over again, you set at naught his counsel, and over and over again, you resist his correction. He says the day will come, you will call upon me, and I will not listen. You know what that's called? That's called crossing the line. Point of no return.
So, I could I could hear people in their heads, you know, I know people are going to listen to this. I'm going to I know God lets me perceive thoughts. Well, that's Old Testament. You're It's all Old Testament you're preaching, preacher. All right, go to Hebrews chapter 6. Hebrews 6, are you there? I'm doing good. We used to say, you know, when the Pentecostal church wasn't getting out, you know, we weren't getting out at 12:00. All preachers used to say, "Hey, the line will be down once you get to Piccadilly. You'll be fine." You'll be waiting in line anyway, she might as well be hearing the word of God. Amen. All right. Hebrews 6. Let us read it verse 1. You put this together with with Proverbs 1, you can understand what God's talking about here. You hear all kind of crazy ideas about what this means, but let's listen to this. Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permit. Now, listen to these next verses. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, have tasted of the heavenly gift, were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. Now, there's been much misunderstanding and false teaching when it comes to this, but hear what I'm I'm going to say. Can a backslider, a born-again Christian, fall away from God, fall back into sin, fall back into rebellion and disobedience, and come back? Yes. So, it almost looked like this doesn't make sense. Okay? Because we know we have the story of the prodigal son. He was a son of the father. The only way you're a son of the father is to be born again, or you're a son of the devil. Jesus made that clear in John 8, right? Told the Pharisees, "You're of your father the devil. You are from beneath, and I am from above." He told Nicodemus, "You must be born from above, or born again, right?"
Everybody with me? But here's the thing. What this is showing us is very something very clear. There are some people who are saved, or have been saved. They've been enlightened, meaning the Holy Spirit brought light to them. Conviction, opened their eyes, they understood the gospel, what it means to be saved. Then it said they tasted the heavenly gift. Who's the heavenly gift? Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift, right? The gift is Jesus Christ. He is God gave His only begotten Son, right? That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish. Means you could. Shouldn't, but you could. Shouldn't, but you could. Right? If you got a Bible that says shall not, throw it in the trash. Get you one that says should. Amen? It's the correct translation. Here we go. He says, "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, have tasted the heavenly gift." And here's the clincher, "were made partakers of the Holy Ghost." And in the book of Romans, Paul makes it very clear that if you don't have the spirit of Christ, you are none of his. So, he's talking about somebody who were partakers of the Holy Ghost. Partakers of the heavenly gift. Oh, and get this. It says, "And tasted the good word of God." Meaning that they were not novices, newly come to the faith, but they had heard the word of God preached and had a good understanding of what God's word said. And then it says, "Tasted of the powers of the world to come." You know what that is? That's the gifts of the Holy Spirit had worked through them. Tongues, interpretation of tongues, healing, miracles, casting out demons, discerning of spirits. They prophesied. These are people who are saved, he said. But he said, "There's some of them like this. If they shall fall away, it will be impossible to renew them or bring them to repentance." Dear Jesus. I promise you you'll never hear this preached. There is a line out there you can cross you can't get back from. I didn't say it. Do y'all see this? People tell me they're once saved, always saved, no matter what. No, friend. Keep walking down that road of compromise. Keep walking down that road and not turning at God's reproof. Keep walking down that road of sexual sin and immorality and lying and cheating and stealing. Keep walking down that road and you're going to find yourself so far down that you can't get back. You know what's scary? because I've seen Christians like this. I've seen them come to altars and cry. I've seen them go to church week after week after week.
Sometimes for years and never quit sleeping around. They never quit. You know, some of them never quit drinking. Some of them never quit lying. Some of them never quit stealing. Some of them never quit their idolatry. Some of them They never ever ever truly come to the knowledge of the truth. And oh, you know, our Baptist theology, you know, they got out there and say, "Well, they never were saved." What What am I reading here? No, they were saved, friend. Listen, a person that's never been saved can't can't cross this line. You hear me? Because God's not willing that any should perish. He's drawing all them. Right? But there are folks that won't listen to correction anymore. They won't listen to reproof. They won't listen. And And And here's the thing, listen to me. They're They're even now being sealed into the delusion. They're being sealed into it. They won't get out of it. See, there's There's Christians out there that think they can keep playing on the edge and never fall off. That's That's why the once saved always saved, the unconditional eternal secure That's why that doctrine is such a damnable heresy and will be the theology and the belief system that will damn and has damned and will damn millions to eternal fire. Because they believed they were okay when they were not and they wouldn't hear anything else. I mean people There are some people out there think I shouldn't make a point of this. Again, when I stand before God, my conscience will be clean in the matter. When they stand before God preaching that foolishness, going to give an account for every soul that they caused to stumble. Every single one. And if I remember correctly, Jesus said if you cause these little ones to stumble, it would have been better for you that a millstone was hung about your neck and you were cast in the depths of the sea. That would have been better
than what's going to happen to you. Doesn't sound like heaven to me. Amen. Let's read it. For it is impossible, verse four, for those who were once enlightened, have tasted the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance, seeing they crucified to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to an open shame. And look at what it says. It says it gives this illustration in verse 7 and 8. For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed receiveth blessing from God. Meaning those that receive the Holy Spirit and bring forth fruit, they're blessed. But that which beareth thorns and briars is rejected and is nigh unto cursing whose end is to be burned. But beloved, we are persuaded of better things of you, things that accompany salvation. Better things. Go back with me. Go to Isaiah 1 and I'll stop. Isaiah chapter 1. I'm scared for some folks, y'all. Isaiah chapter 1. If you want to know a passage that's for now, for today, for our time, this is it. This is one of them here. All right. Can we do a little reading? If this wasn't for the United States of America right now, then I'm not a preacher. Let's read starting at verse 2. He said, "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord hath spoken. I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knoweth his owner and the ass his master's crib, but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. Ah, sinful nation, a people laden or weighed down with iniquity, a seed of evildoers. Says, "Children that are corrupters, they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the holy one of Israel to anger, they are gone away backward." "Why should you be stricken anymore? You will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick and the whole heart is faint." Well, this is describing the church in America. He says, "From the sole of the foot even unto the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrifying sores. They
have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment." What is lacking? The anointing and power of the Holy Ghost to heal up these things. Look at verse 7. "Your country is desolate. Your cities are burned with fire." And that is what is coming. "Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire, your land strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate as overthrown by strangers." Listen, I listened to a prophet yesterday, Henry Gruver, who saw things about the end that was coming on America in the last days. He saw them in the '80s and the '90s. He saw the Russian troops. He saw the Chinese troops. He saw New York nuke. He saw the East and West Coast destroyed. I never even heard of this guy before God gave me the vision of the East and West Coast being destroyed. I'm telling you judgment of God is coming to America. He's taking his hands off. He's going to use our enemies to humble us and break us until we repent of our sins and our iniquities. And he's just going to take out multiplied millions of the wicked in very soon. We have little time left to warn and to get ourselves right with the Lord, and we better do it quickly. Cuz he says, "Your country is desolate. Your cities are burned with fire. Your hand Your land strangers devour it in your presence. It is desolate and overthrown. The daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. Now, hear me, this is what he says, "Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom and Gomorrah. We should have been like Gomorrah." We need that there's only going to be a small remnant because because there is a remnant in America, God's not going to let the whole country be destroyed. You know what I'm saying? It could just be all out thermonuclear war and take out everything. I don't believe that's going to be the case because there is a remnant of people in America who fear the Lord, who hunger and thirst FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS, WHO SIGH and cry over the abominations committed here, that grieve in their heart when they see the horrors of abortion, that grieve in their heart when they see homosexuality be flaunted all over the place and even in the church. They grieve in their heart over the sins and wickedness. And then he says this, "Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom. Give ear unto the Lord our God, you people of Gomorrah. To what purpose?" And boy, listen to this, church world, "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me?" Saith the Lord, "I am full of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts. I delight not in the blood of bullocks and of lambs and of goats." He said, "When you come to appear before me, who has required this at your hand to tread my courts? Bring no more vain
oblations and incense is it is an abomination unto me. The new moons and the Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with it. It is iniquity, even the solemn meeting." God is saying, "I'm sick of your church meetings. I'm sick of your conferences. I'm sick of your concerts. I'm sick of all this stuff that does not call people to repentance and to righteousness and to holiness. I'm sick of it. People go to church Listen, people go to church and they go to service after service. They give offerings, they give ties, they help, they serve. They give all these things, but they're living in sin. They don't want to hear the correction, they don't want to hear the reproof, they don't want the preacher to talk about the end of time and judgment and they don't want any of that. And God says, "I'm sick of this. I look at Charisma magazine and I see all these conferences with Apostle so-and-so and Prophet so-and-so talking about how you can prosper and have your best life now. Let me tell you something. It's all about to come crashing down upon them. They have built this thing with untempered mortar and this wall is about to fall. It's a facade. Look what he says, "I'm sick of all these meetings. Your Saddleback Community, your Lakewood Christian Center, your mega churches, all your fancy Bill Hybels Willow Creek emerging church yoga, all this I'm sick OF IT. I'M TIRED OF IT. YOUR SOLEMN ASSEMBLIES, he says. And look what he said verse 14, "Your new moons, your appointed feasts, my soul hates. They are a trouble unto me. I am weary to bear. And look what he says in verse 15, "And when you spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. When you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. You have not told the sinner, the backslider the truth. You have not cried out against abortion and homosexual You have not stood for anything. You have not told the Christian adulterer he's lost and going to hell. You haven't told the premarital sex fornicator they're lost. You haven't warned them. And then what did Ezekiel say? If you don't warn the wicked to turn from his wicked way, his blood is on your hands. If you don't warn, it says the brother who's walked away, the righteous man that's gone back into his iniquity. If you don't warn him that he's headed for eternal death and damnation in the lake of fire, it says blood is on your hands. Listen to me, FOLKS. THE AMERICAN CHURCH, THE American pastors, their hands are dripping with blood. AND SOON, WHEN JUDGMENT BEGINS TO FALL, GOD IS GOING TO LAUGH.
AND THEY'RE GOING TO LIFT THEIR HANDS UP, AND they're going to make many prayers. And he's going to say, "I will not hear." That's why there's one big prayer ministry here in the United States. And I'm sitting there and I've gone to their conferences. And I've sat in their conferences, you got to believe I've been around this this American Christianity. I can name names, I can drop names. I've been around them. I've been in places where the glory of God, the spirit of God was moving powerfully. But I've never seen anything like it. How can you have a 24/7 prayer ministry and there's no power and no glory? And I've been in their meetings and there's emptiness. I've been in some of the biggest churches in America. Emptiness. It's so empty. Shoo. Here's the cry. Verse 15 gives it when you spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Yea, when you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. Wash you and make you clean. Put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes. Cease to do evil. Learn to do well. Seek judgement. Relieve the oppressed. Judge the fatherless. Plead the widow. Come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. And though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If you be willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land. But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. I think there is a window. There are some people now, I'm going to close with this, I promise. There are some people now, they have a window left. Hear me. And you have heard me preach this, but hear me again. The Bible tells us there is a war. It's going to kill 1/3 of mankind in in just over a year. In 13 months, 1/3 of mankind will be killed by fire. If that is a literal 1/3 of mankind, that is 2.33 billion people. For many of those people, it will be in a moment, in a flash, it's going to be over. No time to repent.
It's over. So, if we take the Bible for what it says in the prophecies of the Bible always come to pass, 2.33 billion people are going to be gone in a moment. Most of them, the vast majority will go from the fire of the nuclear holocaust to a worse fire. In hell for all eternity. Because they would not turn. So, their window is closing cuz I know this war is coming upon us quickly. So, that window is closing. There are people whose window is closing because God's sick and tired of trying to get them to turn. And yes, does his patience finally run out with some folks? Yeah. Ask Ananias and Sapphira if his patience ran out. Amen. See, we play games with God. There's a There's a scripture in Isaiah 55 that says, "Seek you the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near." What does that tell you? Now, what it tells me, could be a time you seek him and you can't find him. Too many religious games going on. I didn't at all preach the message I was going to preach this morning. Completely deviated from the whole thing. But, you know what? We got to warn people. We got to plead with people. We got to tell them what's coming. And we've got to somehow explain to them what they must do thoroughly to get right with God. It can't be oh, I just believe in Jesus and everything will be all right. That's not the gospel. Never has been, never will be. Paul said he made known repentance and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. That's the gospel. Y'all heard me preach it. I preach it strong. We got to tell them. Amen. Pray. Pray, pray, pray like you've never prayed for mercy. Cuz it's running It's running close to time for judgment to hit.
I won't be surprised if North Korea launches a missile at Japan, South Korea. I won't be surprised if they detonate some weapon or they launch something from a submarine at us. I won't be surprised. A lot of people going to be surprised. You know, we found out that North Korea has something like 40-something submarines. And we don't know where they are. And you know what's interesting? They're all like World War II class submarines been modified. We don't even know what they've been doing to them. With help of the Chinese, with help of the Russians. But you know we were talking about the other day. Sometimes low-tech will beat high-tech. These submarines with nuclear reactors in them. We have satellites can detect smallest traces of radiation. We know You know that we have satellites, we know where every single nuclear bomb is in the world. Even if it's encased in lead. Yeah. We know where every bomb is in the world. Submarines? Different story. Under a whole lot of water? Yeah. I've always said if I was president, our fleets would be constantly monitoring back and forth our our coastline. They would be home guarding us and not the oil fields of Saudi Arabia. You know why? Cuz we'd have our own oil fields. But I'm not president. Let's pray. Thank you, Jesus. Father, we pray. Lord, we know your your love is great. We know your mercy is great. But Lord, these are truths in the Bible that we have to bring out. To be honest. To be honest to ourselves, to be honest to our children, to be honest to Christians around the world, to be honest to the lost. Some will be ready for their day of judgement when they die or when Jesus comes. Some won't. Most won't. God, we pray that you will help us you will help us humbly and boldly and
in every way possible plead with them to come before it's too late. Father, I thank you and I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.