A Visit To The Archive

Exodus 40, verse 34 says, Then a cloud covered

Exodus 40:34

the tent of the congregation, and the glory of

the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses was not

able to enter into the tent of the congregation

because the cloud abode there and thereon, and

the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

And when the cloud was taken up from over the

tabernacle, the children of Israel went forward,

onward in all their journeys. But if the cloud

were not taken, Not taken up. Then they journeyed

not until the day that it was taken up. For the

cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by

day and fire was on it by night. And in the sight

of all the house of Israel throughout all their

journeys. I'm going to pick up where we left

off hopefully last week on the secret to our

success. How that we succeed as a child of God.

And understanding that. Those are two different

things, two different versions. That which is

successful to a child of God may just be a total

failure to someone that's in the world. Amen?

Because it looks totally different. It's just

totally different. To be a successful believer

is different than being a successful person in

the world. But it's not alone. Because when we

succeed in Christ, we succeed in the world as

well. Amen. Father, I love you. I thank you.

I pray your blessings on the household of faith.

Lord, just help me now. Help me to preach what's

pleasing to you, edifying to the body. And Lord,

let me be expedient in what we do today. That

when we leave, we leave enriched by your word

and grace. And may we leave here empowered. By

your spirit, till you be praised forever. In

Christ's name the church says, amen. Ask your

neighbor, are you a success? To speed through

this introduction and get us going, remember

the cloud that we've just read about in our text

stood as the symbol and the representation of

God's presence with the children of Israel early

in their leaving Egypt. As God was leading them

out, he went before them. He wanted them to see

his presence. A little bit later, his presence

would be in the Ark of the Covenant. As the Ark

would be constructed, it would be built. The

Ark of the Lord would go before the children

of Israel. Amen. As the Ark moves forward, it

comes to stand and to be the representation of

the presence of God among his people. Today,

what we have... Amen. We don't have an ark. We

don't have a cloud. We have the Spirit of God

residing within us, within you. Amen. If you

are a born -again believer, the Holy Spirit resides

in you. You are the ark that's taking his presence

around the world. Wherever you go, he goes. Amen.

Matter of fact, wherever you go, he's there waiting

for you to show up. Amen. The Lord understanding

was over them to shield them, behind them for

defense, before them to lead them. the same way

the Lord is still today. He leads us. He guides

us. According to the psalmist, the steps of a

good man are ordered or directed by the Lord.

The Lord is guiding your footsteps. Now, if you're

like me, I don't always like where he takes me.

Hello? Sometimes he leads me into a wilderness.

Amen? There have been times he's led me into

a furnace like some other boys I know. You go

through the fire. Sometimes he's led me through

a flood just like he did his children. Amen.

Israelites, the water's open. Wherever he leads

me, though, he provides the way for me. And somebody

needs to hear that this morning. You may be in

the middle of a wilderness, but if you quit looking

at God and seeking his presence, then you're

just going to wander around there. But if you're

watching after him, he's going to lead you all

the way through the wilderness. I love that text

where he told the children. told Moses, he said,

look, you've been here long enough. You've walked

around this place long enough. It's been 40 years.

You've been here long enough. Now I want you

to turn and go the other direction. I love it

when the Lord says, okay, we've walked around

here long enough. Let's go the other way. Amen.

But the thing about it is it's not long enough

until the Lord says it's long enough. Wherever

you're walking, if you are a child of God, you

are where he is leading you unless you're in

disobedience. you got there on your own. And

if that is the case, you can call upon the name

of the Lord and say, okay, Lord, how do we get

out of here? How do I get from here? And he'll

start from that point and lead you right on out.

He is better than Siri. We had to rent a car

here a couple years ago. It was a Ford, and we

had to rent that thing. The lady that spoke through

that car was possessed. Men hurting get along

from get -go. Not like Lucinda that leads me

where I go. Lucinda sends me wherever she wants

me. I say, hey, get me here. Boom, she gets me

there. Had led me astray once. That's Lucinda.

That other woman. Tried to get me off on wrong.

It's a Ford. She knew that I was a Chevrolet

man. Now, that's no offense to you Ford people.

A good Chevrolet will do you the same way. They

get offended. But what I'm trying to tell you

is, no matter where you are, the Lord will lead

you out. If he led you there, he will take you

on further. If you got in the mess you're in

on your own, you just stop right there. The worst

thing in the world for a man to do is have to

ask for directions. All roads lead somewhere.

And eventually I'll get to somewhere. Oh, I know

where I'm at now. 50 miles later in an hour and

a half, right? Oh, yeah, I know where I'm at.

But we hate to ask for directions. As a child

of God, you cannot have that attitude when you

get yourself lost. You stop when you realize

that, hey, I don't belong here. Have you ever

got into places where you think, I should not

be here? We pulled off in Memphis one evening

about dark trying to get a hunting license before

we got into Arkansas and realized very quick

that we made a major mistake. We made a major

mistake getting off. First of all, we picked

the wrong exit because we were right downtown.

We had no business looking for a hunting license

on that side of Memphis, none whatsoever. So

we got out. And it's the same way in our lives

sometimes. We find ourselves in places where

we know better than to be. And we took the wrong

turn, but we can get out because wherever the

Lord leads you, he's going to take you out. And

if you get there, he'll get you out because you

got yourself in there. The Lord will never leave

us or forsake us. As a matter of fact, if you

get somewhere, you took him with you. So we understand

that the Lord's presence is what we need in our

life. It's the presence of the Lord that represents

who we are. Praise his name, who he is for us,

in us, and through us as we go about this life.

And we succeed as the Lord goes with us. Because

we've sung it over and over this morning. He

has never failed, and he never will. He cannot

fail. Amen? Oh, when we begin to think about

that, and if our trust and obedience is in the

Lord, what you may see as a failure in your life

is a victory because God is doing something wonderful

in you, to you, and through you. Everything is

not... As it appears, there are spiritual optical

illusions in your life because what we see is

negative. God's saying, okay, I got you where

I want you now. I've got you broken. I've got

you down there. You are where now I can do something

in your life. And sometimes it takes the wilderness

to get us ready to hear, okay, you're ready.

Go the other way. Sometimes it takes standing

before a raging river and an ocean or a sea and

hear the Lord say, stand still right now. What

do you have in your hand? And what we should

have is our praise. and our surrender unto the

Lord. And we lift that up before him. He said,

okay, now I'm going to make a way out for you.

That's the way the Lord works in the life of

a believer. That's the way he's going to work

for you. No matter where you're at right now,

I can't get past this. No matter where you are

right now in your relationship with God or not,

you may not even have one, but all you have to

do is stop where you are this morning and call

upon the name of the Lord your God. Repent through

his son, Jesus Christ, and accept the Lord. lordship

of Christ into your life and ask him to cleanse

you of your sin and he'll do that and move you

forward. Why? Because the Lord becomes our salvation.

We succeed when the Lord is the source of our

rescue. Are we understanding that he is the source

of your rescue? You've tried and you've messed

with your life long enough. It's time you get

your hands off yourself and let God do something

in you and for you. You don't have enough sense

to get your own self out of trouble. Well, pastor,

you're You're offending me. I can't believe you

said that. Well, I'm just relaying to you an

experience I had in my own life. I didn't have

enough sense to get out of my own way. And I

tell you, you don't either. We can't do it for

ourselves. We can't rescue ourselves. That's

the reason we're in the mess we're in because

we've had too much control of ourselves. It's

time we stop and lift our hands toward the heaven

and surrender our heart and life and say, okay,

God, I've made a mess out of it this far. Can

you do something with the rest? And he said,

thank you. for your invitation. Thank you. Yes,

by the way, if you'll just hang a little right

right here, you'll come out on the street called

straight. Hallelujah. And when you get out on

the street called straight, my Lord, he'll lead

you in that divine direction. The street called

straight is where we need to be. So he becomes

our salvation. We understand that the Lord our

God is a sun and a shield and the Lord will give

grace and glory and no good thing will he withhold

from them that walk uprightly. If you're not

walking uprightly and you think life's treating

you unfair, well, you're on your own. But when

you begin to walk upright, what does that mean?

Right in the sight of God. And you only do that

through his son, Jesus Christ. And when you begin

to walk uprightly, no good thing will he withhold

from you. Now, let me just share something. That

don't mean that you're just going to have more

money and you know what to do with because that

might not be good for you. You know why we're

not all rich, don't you? Lord knows we can't

handle it. Moving right along. So the secret

church, it says, becomes the Lord's presence

in our life. We need the Lord's guidance. We

need his leading. We need his direction every

single day because he becomes our salvation.

He is your Savior. There is no saving outside

of him. Amen. There is no rescue outside of him.

I know the world has all kind of offers, and

I know there's all kind of things every day.

But I'm here to tell you right now, until you

surrender to him and accept him as your Savior,

there is no salvation for your life. You keep

digging a hole. You talk to some of the most

wealthy people in the world that do not have

an upright relationship with God, and they are

some of the most miserable people in the world.

Why? Because there's no peace without God. God,

there's no peace without God. There's no hope

without Christ. And they pile up and they pile

up and they pile up and it just becomes a misery.

But when you've got Christ in your life, amen,

then things change. And all things become different.

Why? Because we become new creatures in Christ.

Because old things pass away and all things become

new. And they do so through Christ. We understand

he is our salvation. Exodus 14, 13, and 14. I'm

trying to get to where we're going. Moses said

unto the people, Fear not. Stand still. See the

salvation of the Lord which he showed. shall

show you today. For the Egyptians that you see,

you will see them no more forever. That army

that's behind you, take a good look at them because

you'll never see them again and no one else either

because I'm going to take care of the enemy that's

coming after you. Somebody needs to know that

today. God is going to take care of the enemies

that are coming after you. You simply stand still

and wait upon his direction. Wait upon his manifestation

and his power to be released in your life. Moses

and them stood still. He stretched forth the

rod and the wind of heaven began to blow and

the Red Sea began to open and on dry ground they

went across. And as they get on the other side,

Pharaoh's army who had been slowed down by God's

pit crew. You remember that cloud that was behind

them? The Lord dispatched an angel out of that

cloud and took every wheel off every chariot.

Oh, you need to go read the Bible. It's really

good reading. It is. There's some good stuff

in there. I don't believe that. I don't care

what you believe. It happened. An angel of the

Lord came out of that cloud, took the wheels

off Pharaoh's chariots, and he was so silly,

he kept on going. They drug him. They made the

horses, dragged them in, and God got them right

where he wanted them. And when they all got in

the midst of the Red Sea, the walls came tumbling

down, and the Israelites went on toward their

promise. I'm here to tell you, no enemy that's

coming after you, pursuing you, will overtake

you because the Lord has a plan for your life.

If you walk upright before him, And allow his

presence to be authority in your life. He will

direct you to what looks like maybe the greatest

obstacle that you've ever faced. But God will

make a way. We sung it. He is the way maker.

He is the miracle worker. He'll cause a red sea

to open. He'll call a Jordan to roll back. He'll

cause water to come out of a rock. If you're

thirsty, he'll call bread to fall down from the

sky. I'm here to tell you this morning, the Lord

will take care of you. Well, hallelujah. So is

your salvation. Psalm 25 and 5, lead me in thy

truth and teach me for thou art the God of my

salvation and on thee do I wait all the day.

Don't get in a hurry. God's got it. I can't get

hung up much more. I got to get where we're going.

Okay, so he's our salvation. We talked about

help, right? The Lord being our helper. We succeed

because the Lord is our help. You don't fail

because you're not doing this in your own strength.

You succeed because he is your help. Amen. What

did the psalmist say in 121? He said, I will

lift up mine eyes unto the hills, comma, from

whence does my help come, comma. My help comes

from the Lord. Hallelujah. Who made the heaven

and the earth. Call on me in the day of trouble

and I will help you. He is an ever -present help

in the time of trouble. And in his presence is

where we long to reside. He becomes your helper.

He becomes the one who assists you through everything.

Understand that God is your refuge according

to the Psalmist in 46 and 1. And he is your strength

and he is a very. Ever -present help in trouble.

How many of you got a little trouble going on

in your life? If you got a little trouble going

on and things going on around you, God will be

your ever -present help. Why? Because he loves

you. And if he loves you and you love him and

you're walking up right before him, if he doesn't

perform the word that he's proclaimed over our

life, then he is not God, but he is God. And

therefore, if he's declared it, if there's a

thus saith, for I will rise, I shall. You can

rest assured he shall and he will and he'll perform

it for you. But you and I must learn to wait

upon the salvation of the Lord as the Lord arrives

to help and to assist our every need. He's your

help. Hebrews 4, 16, Let us therefore come boldly

into the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy

and find grace to help. In the time of need.

That's the New Testament. That's not the Psalms.

Amen. That's a little New Testament for you.

The promise carries over. Why? Because he's the

same God. That's why. I am the Lord and I. Change

of not. Amen. He's the same God of the Old Testament.

He's the same God in the New Testament. Amen.

He'll raise the dead if necessary. He'll open

blinded eyes. He'll heal the deaf ears. Amen.

He'll cause the lame to leap. Hallelujah. And

they that wait upon the Lord, he will cause to

have their strength renewed. They'll walk and

not faint. They'll run and not grow weary. Why?

Because he is the ever -present help to the believer,

to the one who needs help that calls upon his

name. I just caught a glimpse out of the corner

of my eye, and I meant to mention this earlier.

Inspired this morning by cell phones laying on

the altar. Thank you, guys. That's good right

there. That means I have their undivided attention

this morning. And that's the reason I feel what

I'm feeling because the Lord's talking to somebody.

It doesn't matter how young you are. It doesn't

matter how old you are or where you're at in

between in this process. We all have trouble

of our own nature. You can have trouble. You

can have problems. You can have things that drive

you crazy at 5, 6, 7, 8, 98, 85, 65, 55, and

anywhere else in between. We all can have dilemmas.

There's dilemmas at school. These kids face things

that you and I didn't dream of. could just slap

them in the mouth and go on. You might get a

paddling, but some things are worth it. Is that

right, honey? She got in more trouble for fighting

than I did in school. Oh, yeah. Don't let that

little sweet little grin. Don't let that fool

you. You've heard the old saying, would fight

a circle saw backwards? Right there. Mean. She

was a heathen. Y 'all think I'm, I'm just not.

I'll tell you the truth. She'd jerk them by the

hair of the head and drag them out in the hall

and just, I've seen it more than once. I'm thinking,

I think I can tame that cat. Look what the Holy

Ghost in me has made right there. Way more him

than me, I guarantee you. I couldn't do nothing

without him. And it's because of him. Hallelujah.

It doesn't matter what kind of trouble you can

find yourself in. It doesn't matter at what age

you're in this morning. There's dilemmas at work.

It's just everywhere. It's all around. The devil

is everywhere. He's roaring. He's seeking out

whom he may devour. He's trying to kill, steal,

and destroy from every one of us. He's trying

to take us out. But every one of us who know

the name of the Lord Jesus, who are stamped by

the seal of the bloodstained banner of Calvary,

who have had our sins removed, we understand

that he is the source of our sin. I know I couldn't

be saved. saved without him. There's no other

thing that could do it. It had to be him. I had

to be delivered by him. There was no other power

that was able to set me free, but he touched

me. That's the reason the songwriter with so

much passion declared that song, Reach Out and

Touch the Lord as he goes on. Why? Because he

is the only thing that can alter the situation

in your life. But here's the deal. He can alter

every situation that is going on in our lives.

So the Lord becomes our help. Now, for the new

part. We succeed because the Lord is our joy.

If you're not happy and you're claiming to be

a child of God, I want to lay hands on you and

pray for you here in a little while. Matter of

fact, I really don't care if you're happy or

not. It's not about being happy. It's about being

full of joy. Circumstances dictate happiness

but circumstances cannot defer joy unless you

allow it. You and I have to permit it. It'll

not be deferred unless you defer it. You have

to choose to be sad as a child of God. You have

to decide that I'm going to worry on the things

that the enemy's putting in my mind. You make

a choice to mull on it. You make a choice to

chew on it like a cow on a cud and just sit there

and over and over and over and over and let the

devil torment your mind. You do not have to live

that way. You hear me this morning. The joy of

the Lord. according to Nehemiah 8 and 10, becomes

your strength. We're talking about a people who

are in bondage. We're talking about a people

who are oppressed by the enemy, and they've got

let loose, and they're finally at home, and they're

depressed because they're at home because the

task looks so great. There's walls that's got

to be built. There's gates that's got to be hung.

But here, Nehemiah, Ezra has read the Word of

God, and the people are crying because they've

come to a realization that they are not where

they should be in God's good grace. And they're

crying and they're mourning. And Nehemiah stands

up and says, hey, go home and eat the good. Go

home and eat the sweet. Go home and drink because

the joy of the Lord is your strength. Knowing

that now you have turned again to him. And when

you turn to him, he becomes the strength of your

life. And joy in knowing that we are in right,

when you're in right relationship, you do not

have to weep. And if you're listening to the

devil, would you please stop? Do me a favor and

stop. These old depressive thoughts, that's not

from God. Huh? Despair and agony on me. If it

wasn't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all.

It's not about luck. It's about being in position

to be blessed. Did I not read to you, no good

thing will he withhold from those who walk up

right before him? If it's not good, check your

vertical position. Check it. You're sad because

you think on sad stuff. You know where the Lord

told them, said, consider the lilies they toll

not nor they spin, right? And he talked about

the sparrows. And then he talked about their

stature. He said, which one of you, taking thought,

could add one cubit to your stature just by thinking

about it? None of us. So let me just pose this

question to you. Why think about it? I mean,

what's the deal with that? Our son, Gerald, got

most of Sister Kathy's family genes. And it took

him a long time before he ever grew up to be

as tall as his mama. And she's five foot. So

he would hang from the closet rock. Milk. Couldn't

keep that boy in milk. Makes you grow. He's doing

everything he can do to add to his stature. But

let me tell you, you get what the good Lord gives

you. I always wanted to be six foot, and that

ain't never going to happen. Never. I couldn't

reach it up, so I was trying to get it around.

I was close. Whoo! I closed. So, this junk the

devil's got you fretting over, why are you fretting

over it? I mean, he's got you thinking about

world problems and all you need to do is eat

breakfast. Pop your tart. Get on about your day.

He's got you thinking about stupid people and

I said that. I did. There's stupid people in

this world. Right? And let me just tell you something.

You can't fix stupid. You have to educate stupid.

And then, some of them go from stupid to just

ignorant. You say, Pastor, it's awful strong

words. Well, we need some strong words in the

day in which we're living. If you're woke, go

back to sleep. I assure you this is not the place

for you. You know the difference between stupidity

and ignorance, right? Stupidity is not knowing.

That's like our little children when we try to

teach them that a stove is hot. You tell them

three or four times and then you'll pat the back

of that hand. No. before they get it, right?

It's hot. They don't understand the concept.

You know when they figure out the concept of

hot? When they got that little blister on the

end of that little finger. And they look at you

like, okay, the next time they just reach out

and touch it, that's just because they wanted

a blister, I reckon. We live in a world that

is consumed by ignorance. Surely people know

better. And they do it anyway. It's a refusal.

We refuse to accept the reality that's going

on around us. Don't be that as a child of God.

Look, how many of us, just by a show of hands,

you actually, you can tell when the Lord's trying

to speak to you and lead you and guide you? Okay.

How many of you know when you're just talking

to yourself and there's some things you want

to do and you know the voice of yourself? How

many? Okay. You know what the other voice is

then? That's old Diablo. Slewfoot. Who's that?

That be the devil. Satan, Lucifer, the serpent,

the old dragon, the accuser of the brethren.

That other voice that you hear that's always

pulling you down and pointing an accusation towards

you, that's the enemy's voice. The Lord is your

help. The Lord is your salvation. Do not entertain

that other garbage. Thus, the reason we have,

resist the devil. Resist the devil, and he will

draw nigh unto God, and he will. Let's get this

thing right. You do not have to live in the condition

of your mind state. You don't have to live in

depression. Why? Because the joy of the Lord

is your strength. What does that mean? It means

no matter how bad it looks, it's going to work

out to your favor. It doesn't matter what you

may have to go through. It's going to work out

to your favor. Joy. Amen. It's when you can walk

into a federal bankruptcy court and still leave

with a shout. It's the most embarrassing thing

that I've ever walked through in my life, but

I saw the hand of God as I had to walk. The mess

that I made, it wasn't his mess, but I'm telling

you, he's the God of heaven who got me out of

the mess that we had made. Amen, amen, amen.

You don't have to be depressed about it. You

don't have to hide under a pillow about it. You

don't have to. put your head in the sand. because

he is a God who will show up at your most embarrassing

moment and let the light of his glory illuminate

your darkness, and you can lift up your head,

oh, you child of God. Ye whose hands are hanging

and swinging low, he will pick them up. Lift

up your eyes. That's the reason the psalmist

said it in the declaration, I will lift up my

head. You have to make a personal declaration.

I'm going to look to God because in him is hope,

in him is help, in him is salvation. He is the

source of my redemption. He is the ability of

my health, and he is the joy of my ongoing life.

So what Nehemiah was telling them was, hey, folks,

be happy. We're home. Go home. Enjoy. You're

here. But I'm glad for the reality of conviction.

Upon hearing the reading of the law of God, their

hearts were pricked because they understood their

spiritual relationship with God. And why God

had them where he had them, that was to get them

back to where they were at. Oh, my Lord. Remember

what the psalmist said that they demanded of

us the songs of Zion. You remember that? I preached

on that a few months ago. As we sat by the river

Chabar, our captors came and demanded of us to

sing the songs of Zion. Sing, I'll fly away.

We want to hear it. We heard you people love

to sing and worship. Sing us one of those songs.

And they said, we can't sing you a song. We've

hung our harps in the willow bushes. We didn't

even bring our music with us. We didn't bring

our song along. We can't sing for you. Then the

psalmist said, oh, Lord, never take the cunning

of my right hand away, the skill that I have

to play. Oh, don't take that away from me. Oh,

Lord, hallelujah. If it was David, David understood

the anointing. It wasn't David. It was way past

his time. But any of the psalmists would know

the joy of worship. I saw something the other

day that stirred me pretty much. It was a little

clip about what is the most important thing because

I've had to examine it in my own mind, in my

own heart. What is the most important thing we

do when we come to church? Is the preaching the

most important part or is worship the most important

thing that we're supposed to do? We do understand,

right, that what I'm doing now is because of

sin. I'm preaching to us hoping that one of our

hearts are going to change today. I'm preaching

to us today because of the effects of sin. Trying

to preach to us and encourage us and lift us

up to know that God is our salvation. He is our

source. He is our refuge. Amen. He is our rescue.

I'm preaching to you today because you are overwhelmed

with trouble and problems in life. And to let

you know that the Lord is your help. I'm preaching

to you today because of the effects of sin and

an enemy that's out to steal, kill, and to destroy.

To let you know that God's joy, joy in your soul.

salvation, joy in the fact of knowing that if

you come boldly to the throne of grace that you'll

find help in your time of trouble. I'm preaching

to you today because of the overwhelming effects

of sin. But can I tell you our worship to God

has nothing to do with sin nor sin's effect.

It has to do with the gratitude of the heart

of the worshiper. So I had to kindly back up.

I thought, huh, I got to watch this because I

am a preacher. You know what I'm saying? They

know they're more important than the declaration

of the word. And then I got checked. Amen. There

was worship before there was a preacher. Oh,

my, my, my, my, my. We were created from the

beginning to be a worshiper of him. Amen. You

can go back and you can look and see where Adam

and them are worshiping. They're bringing their

sacrifices. Amen. They're bringing their, they

were worshiping in the garden. We have to understand

that worship is. The most important part. And

then what a preacher is supposed to do, and I

hope I try to accomplish this task, is to let

you know that sin does not have to have preeminence

and priority over your life. That darkness does

not have to prevail over you. Are you hearing

me? When the devil starts whispering things like,

you have no reason to live. You have no hope

to live. The devil, somebody needs to hear this

preacher this morning. The devil is a lie. Anything,

that's the reason I had you distinguish between

the voices that are coming into your mind. You

know God isn't going to tell you junk like that.

He's going to say, I've created you. You're fearfully

and wonderfully made. I know every sinew that's

on your bone. I know every tendon. I know every

muscle. I knew you before you were born, before

you were formed in your mama's womb. I knew you.

As a matter of fact, in that time I've called

you according to a purpose. You've got a purpose.

It's the devil over here saying, oh, woe is me.

It's dark. No hope. No life. My God, dismiss

the voice of darkness and let the voice of light

prevail. God loves you. The devil's the one that's

trying to kill you because he wants you to go

where he is destined. to be. Hell! The reason

preaching becomes so effective is because the

presence of God is drawn in by the worship. How

so? Because he dwells within the praises of his

people. What do you mean? Well, he is the one

of honor who's being honored, so he shows up.

Come on with it. That's what he's saying. Go

ahead. And the more we do, he goes, let me give

you a little more of that. Come on, give me some

more. Glorify my name. I am God. He is. Why do

you think you have the big ten and one of those

y 'all shall have no other God before me? None.

I am a jealous God, and a jealous God enjoys

the worship of those in whom he created for the

very fact of worshiping him. So the next time

you come in next Sunday morning and you want

to sit down, swell up. puff up, blow up, saying

they're not singing my song. Get over yourself.

It's not about you. Is it a song that'll glorify

him? Hallelujah. Whether it's I'll fly away or

whether it's whatever, it doesn't matter. He's

a miracle worker. He is. And he's never stopping.

He's always working. And it's good for you to

let him know that you understand when I can't

see you, you're working. Even when I can't feel

you, I know you're working. It's a declaration

of my faith in my worship. I can't see it. I

don't know if it's coming out, but I'm lifting

you up anyway. I don't know what the situation's

going to turn out like. I need your sword this

morning. Piper won her competition the other

day. Got a samurai sword. Go ahead and get ready.

I meant to celebrate that earlier. Give honor

to whom honors do. Brother Mike don't have a

sword. He wants one bad now. We'll see if he

gets one next month. Next month? November. He

got a couple months to get ready. God's on your

side. He's our joy. Instead of going back up

there and add another 30 minutes of this, I'm

going to jump right on through it. We succeed

because he's our salvation. He's our help. He's

our joy. And he is our refreshing. Acts 3 .19,

times of refreshing shall come from the Lord

when after we have repented. So if you need to

repent, honey, get on with yourself. Hello? repent

and go on, quit doing that stupid stuff. I've

never had a pastor talk like this. You probably

never will. Again. You need to get over yourself.

You need God. Plain and simple. You need God.

How many, just a show of hands, I like this hand

thing, if you're honest. If you're not honest,

it really doesn't work. How many want to go to

heaven? Really, you really want to go to heaven.

Now, how many are living like you're going? A

show of hands. Come on, let's get them up. I'm

about to give an altar call for the rest of us.

Because if you're not living like you're going,

you know what that means? You're not going. Are

you telling me I'm going to hell? I'm telling

you you're going to hell if you ain't living

right. Yes, you are. Buster wide open, baby.

You're going in head first. Sounds comical, doesn't

it, until you understand the reality of your

sentence. You see, hell is a lake of fire. More

than that little young 'un getting a little bubble

blister on the bottom of her finger. I got one

right here on this one the other day. Brother

Robbie set that brush pile on fire. I got through

spraying the ditch and he was pressure washing

the pavilion. I said, I'll go up there and restack

some more of it will burn. Well, I retched and

got one that still had some fire on the bottom

of it. And before I could turn it loose, I felt

the bubble rising. And that little old blister

hurt for days. And it's still a little tender.

My mind instantly goes to a lake of fire. I think

that little blister is no comparison to literally

swimming in, for our purposes, molten lava. And

you never die. The pain never stops. Because

you choose to do whatever it is that's not upright.

To watch whatever you're watching. Listen to

the junk you listen to. You realize that it distracts

and takes your soul from the presence of God,

right? The devil knows what he's doing with lyrics

and music. And don't get me on this jelly roll

garbage. And this other guy. Well, I still like

to smoke a little smoke and drink a little drink

and just sing Amazing Grace at the concert. That

ain't going to get it done. Sorry. You got to

walk upright. Got to have your sins purged by

the blood that flows from Emmanuel's veins. Old

songwriter said, I've been to Calvary. Well,

I live at Calvary half the time. I catch a fresh

flow regularly. He is our refreshing. That's

why you succeed. We have to remain cleansed.

That's the reason Jesus instituted and he gave

us that wonderful illustration in the night before

he's going to be crucified about this water baptism

and then he talks to us about washing. Washing

the feet. Remember that? Peter says, Lord, you're

not going to wash my feet unless you wash all

of me. He said, Peter, all of you is not dirty.

It's your feet, son. When you walk through this

world, you get a little on you and you got to

keep it washed off. How many has got a little

on you? From time to time, you've compromised

in areas. You got a little on you. Watching,

listening, going some places that you've got

no business taking the presence of God to. So

I better get right on past refreshing and get

to supply. You stand with me and I'll be sure

and shut her down here in about 20 minutes. We

succeed because he's our salvation. He's our

help. He is your joy. If you are a child of God,

cheer up. What did that old songwriter say? Cheer

up, my brother. Live in the. We'll understand

it when. That's when you worry about it, not

now. He's your help. He's your joy. He's your

refreshing. That Greek word there means back

and breathe. It means you get a fresh breath.

How many of you ever needed a fresh breath? Spiritually.

When times of refreshing come from the presence

of the Lord, they come from repentance. You want

to be refreshed? Repent. Let him wash it off

of you. My granny used to say, wash. Get that

wash rag and wash that off your face, boy. That's

what granny would say. I always thought washing

was a little more aggressive than washing. Especially

if granny... Took hold of the cloth. I mean,

it was high dirt and all. And that stuff she

washed hers in was not fabric softener. It was

like 80 grit with a washcloth. Wash it out. You

need to be washed. Refreshed. Then you know that

he's your supply. He's your supplier. My God

shall supply all of my need according to. I can

do all things through Christ who? Because he's

your supplier. See, I didn't have time to really

dig into that refreshing part. We could have

went to where Samson picked up a jawbone. And

what a battle. At the place they named the jawbone.

And while he was there, after God gave him the

victory, he threw that jawbone down. He was thirsty.

God, you're going to let me die of thirst here

after all this? And the Lord claimed a place

in the jawbone. A spring. And he refreshed the

man of God, the warrior of God. If you've been

fighting and you're saying, God, I'm thirsty.

Wherever you're at, he's going to hollow out

a place. My Lord. He's your supply. He supplies

us rest. So on this Labor Day weekend, Matthew

records the words of the Lord when he said, Come

unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden,

and I will give you rest. He said, He said, come.

Then he says, take. Take my yoke on you. It's

easy. My burden light. He said, I'll swap with

you. How many of you need to swap some things

with the Lord? You need to swap yokes. Anybody

need to come and rest in him? I mean, you just

need a reprieve. Times of refreshing come from

the Lord. You need to just catch your breath.

Devil's been a fighting the wars on. You need

a little spring. You need a little cool drink.

You'll succeed because of the Lord's presence

in your life. Greater is he that's in you than

he that is in this world. The hope that is in

you is Christ Jesus. Lord, I love you and I thank

you today. If you need prayer this morning,