Drawn To The Smoke | Associate Pastor Chad Erickson
by Chad Erickson
First Apostolic Church of Maryville (Maryville, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Exodus 19:3-6, Exodus 20:18, Exodus 20:21, Isaiah 6:1, Isaiah 6:4, Exodus 19:6, Job 23:3, Mark 14:26-31, Luke 22:54-62, Acts 2:38, Acts 2:39, Mark 16:5-7, Isaiah 6:1-8

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/chad-erickson--drawn-to-the-smoke
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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as you're turning with me in the book of Exodus chapter 19 and verse three I to along with Pastor Hammond want to say thank you to all our guests that are here today thank you for making this your place of worship and just looking out what a mighty host of people that are in the house the kids the children Kids Quest is already gone in the place is still full amen that just tells me one thing it tells me we come to hear from the Lord today and we've come to give him praise and glory and honor that's do his name today amen amen uh so good to see our senior pastor and first lady love them and so glad to have them back home and glad they got to spend a few days out of town are you are you glad that you're senior pastor and first lady are in the house there's just something about them not being in the house you just feel you feel that emptiness and it feels good to have them here and love them and give them honor today Exodus 19:3 says and Moses went up unto God and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain saying thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob and to the children of Israel you have seen what I did unto the Egyptians and how I bear you on Eagle wings and and brought you unto myself now therefore if you will obey my voice indeed and keep my Covenant then you shall be peculiar treasure unto me above all people for all the Earth is mine I want you to really notice verse six right here and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation a kingdom a kingdom of priests then then look with me in in Exodus 20: 18 and we're just going to kind of going to keep on moving through the story and all the people saw the thunderings and the Lightnings and the noise of the trumpet and the mountains smoking and when the people saw it they removed and stood a far off y'all see that right there verse 21 and the and the people stood stood a far off and Moses Drew near unto the thick Darkness he he he drew near to the Smoke where God was one more passage Isaiah chapter 6 verse one if you don't have time to get there I'll read it for you you can see it on the screen the prophet Isaiah described the presence of God in this similar way he said in the year that King Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne High high and lifted up and his train filled the temple verse four says and the post of the door moved and the voice of him that cried and the house was filled with smoke my title very simple today is simply this drawn to the Smoke drawn to the smoke I I believe today I believe there is a hunger of the people of God this says God I want to be closer to you than I've ever been before Lord I'm not content I'm not satisfied with where I am right now woo I wish somebody could just lift up their hand and pray and say Lord Draw Me Closer to you draw me near to your side Lord I I refuse to be fulfilled by who I am today but Lord God I want you to take me deeper and Lord I want you to do more and greater things through me and with me Lord God and By Me Lord I I just believe Lord God if I continue Lord God to draw to your presence oh God and continue Lord with everything inside of me Lord to yearn after you and who you are and what you are Lord God I just believe Lord God my life is going to be enriched uh I believe my people my family members around me their lives are going to be enriched the church is going to be enriched because we're going to have Revival in our lives I pray in Jesus name if you agree with me come on clap your hands unto the Lord and just love him give him praise in the house Hallelujah you may be seated in the house of the Lord today I I do want to say we have some special guests all the way from upstate New York from Buffalo from Buffalo New York so glad to have you all on the house put your hands together First Apostolic we have we have some of my Northern friends and I got to I got to uh uh talk with them uh during our meet and greet and uh begin to kind of tell them I said I got a story that I'm going to talk about today about our our camp that we used to go to back in Burn New York and and we got to talk and I was glad I talked to you because she started reminding me of stories that I had forgotten about I'm talking about brother Namy that Campground was so ratchet now listen our young people today we go to Strong Tower Youth Camp and and moms and dads listen we we got to hear student pastor we we got to hear whining about my air didn't work last night we we got we got to hear stuff like like like man they put me in the non-air conditioned dorm man we we got to play ball in a gym that doesn't have air conditioning now listen if you've never been to Mars Hill I'm making it sound like it's horrible it's a beautiful campus burn New York where where our where our Pentecostal Campground was it was beautiful now it was in the Foothills it was in the hills of the Catskill Mountains uh we had we had a a beautiful uh stream running through we had a bridge that went up to the guys dorm we had a we had an oldfashioned wooden hotel that the ladies got to sleep in yeah I made that sound good I made that sound good didn't I Alex if you reminded me she said she said we would bring plastic and we would line the showers with there was so much mold in the showers that they would duct tape plastic inside the showers before they would go into the shower when we had we had we had we had wild dogs they would lock Us in the Tabernacle because the police were outside trying to shoot wild dogs you know know Strong Tower today they have all kinds of events and activities our events and activities our team sports were to go to the playground we had a we had an old metal slide I don't know if y'all remember metal slides we we had we had rust did Teeter totters y'all remember those some of yall call them seesaws down south um we had we had old squeaky swings but let me tell you these were the be some of my best memories of growing up were at this Campground in Burn New York now we we had church and what we called the Tabernacle Red Barn looking building no windows just had some screens up on the sides the the side doors would would open almost like Barn Door style and and concrete floor except brother white for the center aisle had had a had a worn out burgundy carpet and then we had we had a old worn out burgundy carpet along the altar area and I remember see see I remember my friends and I see we we had read this verse in Isaiah about the train of the Lord filling the temple we we had heard about the the the glory smoke if you will and it was years later that I realized that the smoke that was rising up out of that carpet was not smoke at all I I thought the glor we were dancing and we were shouting in the middle aisle we were shouting along the front and I thought as a young person as a 10-year-old I thought the glory of the Lord is rising Among Us the glory of the Lord rise among I thought the glory was it was dust y'all we never vacuum that place I don't even know if we had electrical outlets that place we didn't vacuum that place and so we would get to shouting and dancing and you'd see that cloud just begin to lift now you the smoke that you see behind me that's not dust y'all know the first lady better than that that's not dust but there was a cloud there there was a presence in that place and and let me tell you something I want to go back and and kind of start talking about the children of Israel because this is how God presented himself to his people in the beginning we know there a pillar of fire in a in a cloud a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of Fire by night and and and God would present himself and he would make himself known by this pillar and by this smoke but but I want to kind of just give some backstory of the children of Israel because it was not God's intent that the generation that came out of Egypt was not the generation that went into the promised land he he fully God fully intended that the people that he brought out the people that he delivered the people that walked out of Egypt with a high hand he had planned on those people being rewarded for the 420 some years of slavery and bondage he was going to reward that generation everyone say that generation that with the promised land cities they didn't have to build walls they didn't have to build Vineyards they didn't have to they didn't have to plant and dress here is a God who loves his people so much he is saying I'm going to take you there's going to be a little time in the wilderness there's going to be a time of worship and a time of sacrifice and a time that you can get back in with me and in the rights with your God but I'm taking you into the land of Canaan but here we are 50 days in the wilderness and and Moses is given the law and and given the Ten Commandments and not only the law but it sets up a charter that incorp operates Israel as a nation because God said I'm going to be your God and you're going to be my people he said I'm going to be your father and you're going to be my children it's it's it's why we still call them the children of God there was a pack there was an agreement set up there was a a charter that was formed there's an incorporation of a Nation listen don't don't listen to the stories that tell you when when when Israel became a nation and who gave Israel the the right right to be a nation don't listen God made Israel a nation Israel has been the people of God the children of God ever since 50 days into the Wilderness when he set when he set this up but but there had to be there had to be laws and there had to be rules because you can't have a nation without laws and without rules well we understand that I don't have to get into that but but a holy God requires a holy people amen God desire listen and here here's here's what people may not really understand what God was Desiring it wasn't that God was Desiring a priesthood he was one a nation of priests they they they took him very wrong uh the the people the children of Israel they really didn't really understand what Moses what he was telling Moses to tell the people he said I want to make them a nation of priests I want to have a personal relationship with each one of them one on one I I don't want it to be just a high priest I don't want it to just be but but here here's the problem the problem was this it was so much easier for them to back away from the smoke if you will to back away from what scared them and what they feared and say you know what Moses you be our spokesman Moses you know what why don't you set up the tribe of Levi and they can represent us before God they could be the praisers they could be the worshippers they could be the ones that they they bring the sacrifices and they sacrifice unto God they could be the priests they have all the priesthood within the Levites they can be the tribe the other 11 tribes we're just going to step back and we're just going to watch from afar and this is where this is where everything broke down because that was never God's will it was God's will not just to have a Moses and an Aaron and a joshan a Caleb it was his will not just to have a pastoral team or or a small group of leaders if you will or Sunday school teachers or Kids Quest directors or or leaders or teachers it wasn't it wasn't God's will that just some people ministered and just some people discipled other people he wanted everybody he wanted the whole nation to be a nation of priesthood he wanted the whole nation to be holy unto the Lord he was looking for Spiritual priest he was looking for families that had had homes where the husband was the spiritual priest but here we have the this lifestyle of of we're going to have one tribe be be the Levites and one tribe be the levitical tribe and everybody else is just going to kind of stand back here we have in Exodus chapter 19 and verse 6 here he says this very clear he says and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation now I know that the 10 spies they they they sealed the Fate for the very first the slave generation if you will they they sealed the Fate you know the story I don't have to go through the story of of Joshua and Caleb and and the other 10 spies I don't have to tell you how when they came back and gave the evil report that that that God infuriated God and God said okay if we're going to play like that if you're not g to have faith if you're not going to believe in me and what I can do for you and that I can be triumphant in your life and that I can lead you and guide you and take care of you you know what then you're going to you're going to hang out here and none of you none of the generation that came out of Egypt is going to go into the Promised Land save Joshua and Caleb but I believe it started right here at the base of Mount Si when God called for the children of Israel to have a spiritual and a holy relationship with him and he presented himself the Bible says he presented himself with thunder and lightning and the noise of the trumpet in the mountain smoking see this wasn't this wasn't the same predicament that job found himself in job 23 and three where he cries out and he says oh that I knew where I might find him this was not the same predicament God made himself well known to Moses and he made himself well known to Moses and the people the children of Israel he made himself known he through thunder and lightning through the sound of a trumpet he spoke to them through the smoke that would rise it was a dark black cloud of smok uh and here we are where God was making himself known to his people and practically begging them for a personal relationship as priest in a holy nation yet they feared and because of their unbelief and possibly Rebellion mixed in the Bible says they stood AAR off I want you to picture this because I can see this even in the New Testament n I'm not about to preach I'm about to bring from old to New Testament because this is something that happens with mankind it's so much easier just to be an observer it's so much easier just to be a bystander somebody that just comes to church and just kind of comes to see what's going to happen and listen I understand that the power of God is in the house and I understand it really doesn't probably even matter where you are spiritually in order to feel the power of God in this house and that's what the children of Israel were facing because they were in the presence of God but they were just far enough away that they didn't have to trust in God they didn't have to have faith in God they didn't have to have a personal relationship with God but as for me in my house when I come into this place today I don't want to just be an observer I don't want to be what we used to call a benchwarmer I don't want to be that person just sits back has my arm all up has my legs crossed and well God what are you going to do for us today oh no when I come into the house of the Lord when I bring my wife and my daughters into the house of the Lord I want to say God I want to be a Priestly member of this nation I don't just want to be an observer I just don't want to be a far off and watch what you have oh no I want to be involved get me involved where can I get involved do I need to get involved in music Ministry or youth ministry or or Kids Quest or the lobby the the the bookstore do I need get into the coffee shop get me involved you ever wonder why people who are involved stick in the church a whole lot longer because they're the Moses's they're the people that say I'm not just going to watch from a far off I'm going to get right in the middle I'm going to get right under the spot where the Glory comes out I'm going to get so close to the smoke that I can feel the presence of God as it surrounds me well there's something that began to take place in the New Testament that was very similar to the Old Testament there's a major Bible character in the New Testament gospels his name was Simon Peter and he suffered from the same mental and spiritual illness oh yeah it's what I like to call the Simon Peter syndrome the Simon Peter syndrome the Simon Peter syndrome is thinking you got game but then when it all comes down you realize that maybe you aren't what you thought you were you you said you can do it and you you made some promises but all of a sudden you realize that oh maybe this is not as easy as I thought it would be matter of fact look with me in Mark 14 and 26 because uh this this this is a real this is the account of of the Last Supper in in Jesus and disciples have come together and Jesus is kind of trying to share with them that there's going to be some bad stuff about to take place in the next couple days and it says when they sung in hymn they went out into the Mount of Olives and Jesus saith unto them all ye shall be offended because of me tonight for it is written I will Smite the shepherd and the Sheep will be scattered but after that I am risen I will will go before you in Galilee but Peter say unto him although all shall be offended yet will not I y'all see that not me Lord and Jesus said unto him verily I say unto thee that this day even this night before the Crow twice Thou shalt deny me Thrice but he spake the more vly Peter he said if I should die with thee I will not deny thee in any wise likewise also said they all they all said yeah yeah what Peter said but then we look in in Luke 22:54 and you're going to see where I'm kind of I'm kind of bringing these two these two stories together and they're parallel and they took Jesus and led him and brought him into the high priest's house and Peter followed a far off that sounds familiar doesn't it woo and when when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall and were sat down together Peter said uh he sat down among them oh Peter he's he's with everybody else in the hall but a certain ma beheld him as he sat by the fire and earnestly looked upon him and said this man was also with him here we go Peter and he denied Jesus saying woman I know him not and after a little while another saw him and said Thou Art also of them and Peter said man I am not in about the space of one hour another confidently affirmed saying of a truth this fellow also was with him for he is a Galilean and Peter said man I know not what thou sayest and immediately while he yet spake the crew and the Lord watch this right here the Lord turned and looked upon Peter and Peter remember the word of the Lord and how he had said unto him before the Crow Thou shalt deny me three times and Peter went out and wept bitterly now let's talk about Peter because right here if you just read this one passage if you've never heard of this Simon Peter maybe you haven't grown up in church and you don't know this Simon Peter you think to yourself man this guy's a jerk this guy he's got a big talk but he don't have much of a walk but now Peter let me tell you something Peter was Peter was Jesus's guy I'm talking about he was a fisherman he was an entrepreneur he was a businessman who had multiple ships and multiple boats and multiple voice and when Jesus came came and said come on and follow me Peter the Bible says he dropped everything and followed Jesus dropped everything Peter was a guy who who stepped down the water during the storm they they saw a figure a form of a man walking on the water and everybody else was afraid but it was Peter that said hey if that's you Jesus bid me to come it was Peter now I know I know again he failed I know he began to sink but at least he stepped out when nobody else would step out at least he said hey I'll step out I trust Jesus enough I I know the voice of my shepherd He was the one he was one of the few who really understood who Jesus was Jesus asked his disciples he said who do men say that I am and they began to tell what everybody else and and Jesus said oh no wa hold on one second who do you say that I am and it was Peter that stepped up it was Peter that raised his hand first he he was the one at the front of the class that raised his hand first and said I know who you are you are Jesus you're the Son of God Thou Art the Christ it was upon this Revelation that Jesus even said upon you Peter Upon This Rock I will build my church in the Gates of Hell shall not Prevail against it I'm preaching about a successful disciple of the Lord I'm talking about one that stood out you don't hear a lot about some of the disciples there's probably about seven disciples you don't hear anything written about but Peter was one of the ones that we have the most written about because he stepped out he had Faith now his faith wavered at time but he had Faith he even had enough Faith to rebuke Jesus at this last supper we just read about he said he said listen I I know you're telling me that I'm going to be offended but you're wrong you couldn't offend me if you wanted to that's pretty much what he was saying you couldn't offend me Jesus if you wanted to he said I will die for you he said I'll take a bullet for you I'll go to prison for you if I must but you know what I got to thinking about Peter right here and you know we could talk about his failing but I thank God for at least a man who at least talked the talk I mean some people won't even talk to talk some people you you talk to them about God you talk to them about religion or you you you talk to them about what do you believeing man they'll they'll water it down so much you don't even know what they believe in and they're not going to tell you they're not going to oh well I would have told him about the oness of God but I was just intimidated I would have told him why I wear what I wear and why I believe separation from the world but but I I would have been intimidated I thank God that at least Peter tried at least he said you know what God I'm I'm going to tell you right now I'm going to stand with you now we've read the end of the story we know what happened but please get that out of your mind at least he talked the talk I'm thankful today for a new speaker of the house I'm quite sure that there's other Christians in Congress just just hold on I'm not being political I promise you but thank you speaker Johnson for being bold enough to talk about your Christian values and be unashamed of your Christian beliefs and let me tell you something just like Peter he's going through it Fox News reported yesterday you might have read this I I read this yesterday and I quote Fox News reported this said Democratic strategist James Carville sounded the alarm on the new Republican house Speaker Mike Johnson saying he and other Christian nationalists whatever that is are a bigger threat to the country than Al-Qaeda appearing as a panelist on on on Bill Mah's overtime segment car was asked about Johnson who is from his home state of Louisiana Mike Johnson in what he believes is one of the greatest threats we have today in the United States now time out forget the fact that that yesterday I also read that in the state of California 57% of the students in public school do not affirm being male or female now now now he's worried about the speaker of the house and and how this is the greatest threat to the United States of America I'm I'm not being political this has nothing to do with Republican Democrat this is Christian Mar said he said you're talking about Christian nationalist he said absolutely he said this is a bigger threat than Al-Qaeda to this country my god listen I don't know what Christian denomination Mike Johnson belongs to but he sure isn't afraid to stand up for his Christian values I'm not certain that he could walk the walk I don't know but I'm so thankful that he isn't ashamed to talk the talk come on there there needs to be more of speaker Johnson Who Who Are Not Afraid listen I know listen the world's getting darker and darker and the church is getting brighter and brighter we can't as just like Peter we're not going to be able to sit around the the the campfire of the world and think they're not going to recognize who we are brother Lee you think that you can be in the presence of Jesus on a Sunday and go to work on Monday and then not realize who you are you're GNA you're going to ring your hands and oh I hope they don't figure out that I go to that crazy First Apostolic Church of marville I hope they don't I hope they don't get online and see people running the aisle on my word they're going to they're going to start talking about me in the break room in front of the in front of the water cooler I'm going to be the newest joke on the Block but oh what about what about children of God what about speaker Johnson's what about even Peter Simon Peters they say you know what I know there's not a lot of faith in me but I'll stand for you no matter what I know I made mistakes I know I Fallen I know I faltered I know I sank when I should have walked on water I know my faith it Wan just a little bit but Jesus I'm willing to take a bullet for you I'm willing to go to the ends of the Earth for you come on I believe before we can walk the walk we got to be able to talk to talk you can't do it until you start talking about doing it but the but the problem is this we get around this this campfire mentality of of people we got to watch who influences us here Peter is he's he's trying to keep an eye on Jesus as as Jesus is he's coming through and oh my goodness they're they're about to put him on trial and man oh they're not treating him good they're spitting on him and they're they're pulling at his beard as he walks by and they're yelling blasphemy at him and Peter oh Peter has it in his heart listen Peter loved Jesus he he had in his heart but fear just like the children of Israel were they w't they W approach the smoke if you will Peter had that same fear what are they going to say about me what are they going to think about me what oh Peter come on what are you even talking about you ought to get in there with both feet he's been there for you you ought to be there for them and I think to myself it's the same with me God I don't want to fail you because you've never failed me and I don't ever plan on you fail me so God help me to talk to walk enough I don't want to be a Seeker Christian in other undercover agent I I don't want to be a closet Christian I don't want to be neutral and uncommitted I want to get involved in everything I can get involved in I don't want to arrive late and leave early I want to arrive early and leave late I just want to be in the presence of Jesus I just want to be as close to him as I can be oh listen I want to preach to you today please don't take me wrong when I'm preaching this message I'm not trying to condemn anyone I'm just simply saying Jesus Loves You Jesus wants you Jes Jesus wants you close to him uh he's drawing you to his side he wants to be your God and he wants us to be his people Peter never intended to follow from a far off but that's where he found himself he could see Jesus but that wasn't good enough it wasn't good enough that he could just see Jesus because here it is the people that influenced him the people that spoke to him he did not even know knowing who Jesus was it wasn't enough that he said I don't follow that man I don't hang out with that man I don't believe what that man believes he says I don't even know who you're talking about and it's the enemy that desire to either dilute us or pollute us delute means it it's watered down he he'll either water down our faith he'll he'll have us be influenced by someone so much that that by the time they're done with us we don't even know what we believe oh or or he'll he'll want us polluted and polluting is mixing in worldly thinking until we no longer have power pollution there's so much worldly thinking mixed in and philosophy mixed in in worldly Doctrine not Bible Doctrine but worldly Doctrine mixed into where we don't even know who we are anymore but I believe is at this time and and I don't know I I might be looking into this a little bit more than I should but I I just believe it was at this time when he denied Jesus the third time that Jesus on purpose looked over at Peter and caught Peter's eyes and I believe it was right here that Peter was pricked in his heart and I believe listen I don't think anything's on accident in the word of God I just got a feeling that that some 50 three days later there was going to be some other people pricked in their heart because of how they had done Jesus and I just believe that Jesus wanted to make sure that Peter remembered what it felt like to get pricked in the heart so when he got up and preached on the day of Pentecost when he got up on the day of Pentecost and began to preach you crucified Jesus you crucify the Messiah when they began to be pricked in their heart and said men and Brethren what must we do to be saved I can see old Peter thinking to himself I know exactly what that feels like I know what it feels like to get pricked in the heart I know exactly and Peter knew the answer Peter had the plan yes he had the plan he had the Plan of Salvation and it was Peter who preaches some over 3,000 people it was Peter who said oh then Peter said unto them he said repent and be baptized oh every one of you in the name cuz they were asking they said we're pricking the heart what do we do now he said you need to be baptized in the the name of the Lord in the name of Jesus for the remission of your sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and somebody help me quote this verse because it goes on for them for the promise is unto you and it's under your children all you that are far off and listen I know one stretch us just a little bit but I believe right there Peter thought I've been a far off I've been the person that's been a long way away from the presence of God uh I know what it feels like to want to be close uh but not quite be close enough uh but he was simply saying uh it's for you it's for your children I know it's for us today I know we consider ourselves a far off but it's also for people that need to draw near and draw closer to God somebody clap your hands if you're thankful woo I'm thankful I'm thankful that that Jesus turned and looked at Peter right when when he turned and looked at Peter because I believe that Peter was on his mind when Jesus was on the cross I believe Peter was on his mind I believe the very first thing when he rose from the grave I know Peter was on his mind matter of fact let's look it up because there's a song that said when he was on the cross I was on his mind oh and I believe that I believe that so strongly but here we have the Simon Peter syndrome because now he's crying now he's whining now he's saying here my best friend is gone I didn't stick with him I didn't stand with him I I didn't stick up with him but here we are in Mark 16 and verse 5 watch this right here and entering into the SRE they saw a young man sitting on the right side clothed in a long white garment and they were afraid the women were coming to anoint the body of Jesus but Jesus wasn't there but there there was an angel sitting on the right side of where Jesus had been laid and he said unto them Be not Afraid ye seek Jesus of Nazareth which was crucified he is risen he is not here behold the place where they laid him but go your way and tell his disciple and Peter meet me in Galilee oh here you are Peter you thought all hope is lost and I can see the ladies coming back to Peter saying Peter listen Jesus called for you specifically and Peter's like no no no no no I bet he called I bet he called Bartholomew I bet he called John John was the one he loved I bet he called specifically for John I bet it was Thomas that he called for and the lady said oh no no no he called for you specifically he called for the disciples but then he understood that you probably gave up and gave in you're probably you're probably crying in a river you're probably depressed somewhere you're probably in your closet you probably got the door all closed and crying and Jesus said no no no no you're still one of my disciples uh you're still one of my friends uh you're still my follower come on and meet me in Galilee come on and find me and I promise you you're on my mind if I could if I could preach to somebody here today the Lord wants you the Lord is calling you by name if this is your first time in First Apostolic or you've been attending here for 40 years Jesus is Calling You by name it doesn't matter what you've done it doesn't matter where you are it doesn't what matter what season of life you find yourself in he wants you at his side he wants to know you he wants you to know him he's calling you that one phrase and Peter proves everything thing we need to know about our savior I love the song he looked beyond my fault and saw my need he knew me yet he still loved me I don't know if you're like Simon I I've been like Simon a whole lot in my life I've had the Simon Peter syndrome a whole lot I've tried to talk a big talk but I've not always followed through I battled that syndrome in my life but I'm so glad that there's always a still Small Voice that's saying Chad I want you to come I want you to meet me I want get back to the house of the Lord get back into my house get back in my presence again Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a Wretch like Me I once was lost but now I'm found thank God I was blind but now I I see what a life lesson woo What A Life Lesson all that Peter learned but it all goes back it didn't start with Peter it all goes back to the smoke when Jesus or when God when he tried everything inside of him as the father he tried to bring his people he tried to bring them in close he tried to create this nation of priesthood but oh it was because of those that would not draw nigh it was because of those that stood a far off it created a void and I conclude today with this the reason why the Israelite Nation settled for Moses and the priest to represent them before God was because they didn't feel they were holy enough and that's something we've got to fight we got to we got to have enough faith in grace and mercy but that was it they were they were scared and fearful to be in the presence of God it reminds me of Isaiah the prophet we we read this a little bit in our in our opening text about Isaiah chapter 6 and verse one where it says in the year the king Uzziah died I saw this is Isaiah I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up his train filled the temple and above it stood the seraphim each one had six wings with Twain he covered his face with Twain he covered his feet and with Twain he did fly and one Cried unto another and said holy holy holy is the Lord God of host the whole Earth Is His the it's full of his glory and the post of the door moved at the voice of him they cried and the house was filled with smoke then said I here it is right here woe is me or I'm not worthy for I am undone because I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips for mine eyes have seen the king the Lord of hosts then flew one of the seraphim unto me having a live coal in his hand which he had taken from the tongs from off the Altar and he laid it upon my mouth and said Lo this hath touched thy lips and thine iniquity is taken away and thy sin purged but I want you to watch what happens in a change of mindset once repentance and forgiveness takes place look at verse 8 and I heard the voice of the Lord saying whom shall I send and whom will go for us then said I here am I send me do you see this right here he enters in to a beautiful place where the train of the Lord filled the temple where the smoke was so thick he could hardly see he was in the presence of a holy God Where Angels seraphim were crying out holy holy holy he felt unworthy I don't know about you but that's how I feel when I'm in the presence of the Lord he felt unworthy but when he began to repent when he began to say I am a man of unclean lips I don't talk right oh the things that come out of my mouth are not holy they're not worthy to be in this room he said I'm not worthy to be here in this Temple oh the beautiful thing was when he repented there came a seraphim oh with a live coal a hot burning coal and put it upon his lips and that was the signal there was a sign of forgiveness right there to where once that took place uh he was a different brother Harris he was a different man all the sudden he heard the Lord saying who shall go for us and it was woo it was Isaiah that said whoa whoa whoa here am I say and me I'm your man he went from being feeling unworthy oh to all a sudden he said I'll be your man I'll go I'll do whatever you called me to do I'll do whatever Ministry you've called me to partake in uh come on God has called people in this room but we've got to we got to be drawn to the Smoke we got to get closer to the we got to get close to the presence of God where God can use us and God can change us and God can rearrange us come on if you agree with me stand to your feet and I wish you begin to praise and just say God I give you glory today for your Holiness come on that's what Isaiah he began out by saying wo he's holy holy holy I'm unworthy to be in your presence today come on somebody I refuse to be like the children of Israel who said Moses uh you go and have a relationship with God we're going to stand a far off I refused to be Peter a far off watching what was going on to Jesus but I want to be right in the middle I want to be right in the middle of the smoke I want to be right in the middle of the presence of God let the train of his robe let it surround oh my God I feel the Holy Ghost in This Place let it surround you come on I wish there was somebody that could come to this Altar and just say God I want that to be me I want to draw so close to you the Bible says if we will draw n to God He will draw nigh to us uh W come on in this place is there anybody huh come on they're already coming is there anybody that just simply says Jesus I want your presence so thick in my life uh I Want Your Glory so thick in my life I want to be of the priesthood that just simply means I want a personal relationship with you I want to be the one that you talk to I want to be the one that you converse with I want you to be the one that I have a relationship with woo create in me a clean heart oh God r KN a right Spirit within me uh cast me not away from thy presence uh and take not thy Holy Spirit from me uh but restore unto me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with thy Free Spirit uh watch this right here come on as you're praying then will I teach transgressors thy ways and sinners shall be converted unto thee wo right here the psalmist was saying if you won't reject me but if you re if you receive receive me and accept me oh God if you won't take your spirit from me then I'll go a step further and there will be people there'll be transgressors that'll be taught your word there'll be Sinners that are converted unto thee come on how bad do you really want them how bad do you really want him come on if you've been a bystander if you've been watching from a distance come on this is your opportunity I'm an opportunist this is your opportunity right now to say God I'm ready to pray more than I've ever prayed before I'm ready to get up every morning I'm to set time aside in my morning devotion just to praise you God just to give you glory oh God uh just to have a relationship with you I want to feel you come on somebody if he's giving you a prayer language if you don't know what else to pray that's okay let him put the words in your mouth uh there's another tongu that's going to come out out of you let it burst forth come on are you hungry are you thirsty do you thirst after God and his righteousness come on that's right I hear I hear the voice of people who want to be as close to the Smoke as they can get come on it's calling come on it's beckoning it's saying come on in woo it's drawing you to its side oh God draw me nearer draw me nearer but bless the Lord draw me near bless the Lord yes yes yes yes yes yes yes come on I don't want to have to cheer Le you I wonder if you can just lift up your voice on your own and pray a prayer on your own come on I I wonder if we could just have a deafening praise right now people that say God I'm not been the close to you as I need to be Draw Me Closer to You Jesus oh draw me close to your come on why don't you lay your hand upon your heart this is this is not even a type of altar call where we're going to pray for one another yet why don't you just lay your hand upon your own heart and just say godo create in me a clean heart oh God creation he's still creating he's a creative God the psalm says created in me but then it says renew a right spirit that means that you've had a right spirit before but you just needed to be renewed inside of you renew a right Spirit Within Me cast me not away from myy presence take not your Holy Spirit from me come on pray that pray that with everything inside of you Jesus yes yes yes yes yes yes oh yes Lord yes Lord I will I will I will Lord I'm going to start setting days a week Lord God where I start fasting things in my life things that that I'm addicted to things that I can't hardly live without I'm going to start fasting those things it might be it might be food it might be Electronics it might be social media I'm going to begin to fast things oh God to show you that I want to be in your presence uh to show you that my flesh doesn't control Lord that my spirit is in control of My Flesh woo I'm going to read my Bible like I haven't read my Bible before Lord God I'm going to study your word I'm to hide it in my heart that I might not sin against you oh in Jesus name draw me to you Lord draw me to you Lord draw me to you Lord draw me to you Lord draw me to you oh everything is changing come on can we just throw our hands in the air and throw our heads back now come on it feels good the joy joy is being restored right now in the presence of the Lord oh yes Spirit of the Lord come on throw your heads back everything is changing now of the Lord Spirit of the lord of the Miracles are PR come on the Holy Ghost his miracles break out Spirit of the Lord is here begin to change your soul God everything changing begin to rearrange your soul God of the GL mirales I pray Spirit of the Lord there Freedom say there's Freedom here in your presence There's Hope fullness of Jo there's here come on I feel freedom in the house right now he I'm train I'm training sorrow tring sorrow joy for joy in come on it's in his presence come on sing with us sing there's Freedom here in your of let freom in the house SE your presence your I'm traed morning I'm training sorrow for Joy your sing your PR sing your PR heing your come somebody celebrate the pra Freedom here here in your pres it's in your presence it's in your I'm training training sing your praise your prise everything is changing now thank you Lord everything is changing now the spirit of the Lord is Spirit of the Lord is is Miracles are breaking now presence is the spirit of the Lord is the spirit of the Lord is everything is changing one more time lift up your hands everything is changing I feel a spirit of change in the house Spirit of the Lord the spirit of the Lord is Spirit of the Lord is oh yeah everything bre break Spirit of the Lord just one more time I love that of the everything is changing everything is changing Holy Ghost changes everything is changing Spirit of the Lord is here of the Lord is the spirit of the Lord is Miracles are breaking now your presence is Among Us Now Spirit of the Lord is here of the Lord is I never want to have a service go by where we don't make an invitation to baptism preached about a Peter Peter gave a very simple plan isn't it awesome how he he might have failed right for Calvary but God still chose him to be the first pastor of the first church yep he was the one that got to tell everyone what they had just experienced in the upper room and if you want to be baptized today he simply said you be baptized in the name of the Lord for the remission of your sins for the removal of your sins can I just see a hand if you've been baptized in the name of Jesus for Miss can you raise your hand real high R real high look around come on if you've never been baptized come on this is a crowd you want to join this is a people you want to be a part of the people of the name the people in wash in the blood sins removed new creatures old things passed away behold All Things become new amen amen I'm looking out and seeing that today amen if you if you do between now and tonight let somebody know we we'll baptize you tonight come back again tonight we have a service again at 6:00 tonight the waters are going to be troubled I believe in Jesus name amen