ACS & AKA 2023 Commencement Ceremonies
by Joshua Wilson
First Apostolic Church of Knoxville (Knoxville, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Psalm 23, John 3:30, 1 Kings 18:19

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/joshua-wilson--acs-aka-2023-commencement-ceremonies
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

------------------------------------------------------------
praise the Lord everybody amen isn't it beautiful here tonight how many thankful for the presence and the spirit of the Lord amen praise God thank you Jesus amen we're so thankful to be here with you all this evening I'm so honored to be a part of this great night my pastor Matthew ball and his wife Jamie ball who I believe was a student here at the school amen and her sister Jody fielden was also a student here at this school and they've been telling me all the stories amen I think we've got pictures of them being cheerleaders and and then Joyce Fielding of course was the the cheerleader leader amen and she was always involved and I've heard nothing but great things about this school and I am so thankful to be able to stand behind this pulpit and to be able to celebrate this great evening with our graduates amen amen I give honor to all the leaders of this church I give honor to all the teachers here tonight your hard work amen and I give honor to all of our graduates that are here tonight amen and I want to say how honored Shelley and I am so thankful that my wife is able to to travel with me we are honored here to be here tonight to celebrate a milestone in the lives of those that are graduating a few weeks ago I was going into my office to pray at the church and I felt an unction to call brother Anthony and so I called Anthony and I said brother I need you to send me a list of the names of those that are graduating and every day since I asked for that I think it was about three weeks ago I've been calling your names out in prayer and I asked God I said God what is something that I can pray for for these students and I was brought back to my first ever Apostolic rally I went to a rally back in like year 2000 it was in Indianapolis and the pastor's name was J.H Osborne I'd never been to an Apostolic rally before I'd only been to our church but he came up to me and he found me at an altar and he prophesied to me and he prophesied this psalm he said blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly nor standeth in the way of sinners nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful but his Delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law death he meditate day and night and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season his Leaf also shall not wither and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper brother Osborne spoke that to me as I started living for God and that word is stuck in my spirit many many days and I stand here tonight behind this Pulpit looking at you graduates I've been praying for Jacob for Chloe Kalina Caleb Brianna Daniel Malachi Carly Audrey George and Jocelyn each and every morning I've been praying that the Lord bless you that you always walk in the counsel of The Godly that you always reject the path of sin and walk in righteousness that you always get back up when mistakes are made that you never sit in a seat that is critical of the ways of God but you Embrace who God has called you to be I've been praying that you love delight yourself and study God's word for the rest of your lives because that's more important than any other class you'll ever sit in I've been praying for you that no matter what season you're in throughout life and yes there will be many seasons that you remain planted and rooted by the river that is the spirit of God that will always keep you sustain you and you'll be fruitful in every season no matter if it's the Dead Heat Of Summer of the cold of winter you can still be fruitful and I've been praying that God Prosper you every morning this message that I'm going to preach about tonight will give you tools on how you can allow this prayer to come to pass if you have your Bibles amen why don't you turn to this 23rd psalm the Bible says the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. he maketh me to lie down in Green Pastures he leadeth me besides the Still Waters he restoreth my soul he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake and yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for thou art with me thy rod and thy staff they comfort me thou prepare us to table everybody say prepare us to table before me in the presence of mine enemies thou anointest my head with oil my cup runneth over surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever let's pray father we thank you Lord Jesus for these graduates we thank you for every individual that's in this place tonight and God I pray that you be with us God I pray that you bless us tonight Lord I pray that we look into our own lives and see what is on the table of our life tonight and Lord I pray that you just go with us in the name of Jesus and everyone say in Jesus name amen graduates tonight I want to ask you who is preparing your table of life for you what is on your table here tonight when it comes to setting the table of life I don't want anybody but Jesus setting my table I don't want my selfish desires to set the table I don't want the Antichrist Spirit of this world to set my table I don't want the lgtbq plus plus agenda to set my table I do not want the precepts and concepts of this world to set my table I don't want a professor at a university to set my table I don't want a devil or a demon set in my table I don't want an offense that I picked up in life somewhere setting my table I want the Lord to set my table here tonight he knows exactly what I need and exactly when I need it amen there's a verse that's found in John chapter 3 verse 30 it says he must increase but I must decrease he must increase but I must decrease I want to look what is on the table of my life tonight and if there is something that is on that table that will poison my spirit I want to take it off amen I want to decrease so that the Lord can increase in my life the Bible says one of the signs of the end times is that many shall be offended young people you are geared social media is gearing you to be offended and divided about everything in our world today but what we have to do is make sure that a fence does not stay on this table amen if the Lord asked me to set the table with him I want to make sure that I'm bringing willingness to the table I'm bringing my worship to the table I'm bringing my praise to the table I'm bringing my love for Jesus to the table I'm bringing servanthood to the table a heart that is after God to the table a life that is daily surrendered to him and a mindset that says I want my life to be all about Jesus amen I need to bring my life to him and I wish today that I could stand behind this pulpit and say for the past 23 years that I've allowed the Lord to set my table every day but if I said that I'd be lying to you because there's times in my own life even after living for God that I want to put things on my own table I know better than God knows for my own self the enemy in his lives have a way of putting things on the table of our life our Disobedience to God has a way of putting things on our table amen we have to be mindful of what is on the table of our life because whatever sits on that table is what we're going to consume amen and tonight I'm not talking about Burger King I'm not talking about getting a steak down the road I'm talking about things that go into our hearts we've got to make sure that when we leave this graduation what's been put in your spirit during Chapel what's been taught by your Sunday school teachers stays in your heart when you walk onto a campus that's telling you ah you've got to believe this it's got to stay on your table no because what I learned in God's word is higher and better than what's on that table what we become what we consume from our table comes in our hearts and the words that we speak amen comes from the depths of our heart out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks and when we speak words we begin to create things and when we begin to create things amen if it doesn't come from God we're going to create lies and lies Will Keep Us locked up amen we have to keep the table clear we have our habits that are set on the table we have our Hang-Ups that sit on the table we have distractions that sit on the table tonight I want to tell somebody I want you to look and see what is on the table of your life I want to make sure that when the Lord shows up that my table is clear and then he can put whatever he wants on that table and in order to do that I Must Die daily I must walk up to that table every day and look at it and say okay the Lord put that there that stays yes that's going to stay there oh what how did that get there I got to take that off if it's not of him and what I have to do is I have to bring it to a place of prayer I have to bring it to an altar so that God can come and take it off the table you see if that thing on that table is not going to give me life then it didn't come from God Jesus said I've come that you might have a life and that you might have it more abundantly Jesus came he's the way the truth and the life and if there's something showing us the way that it's from him if it's truth and it's from him but if it's a lie amen get it off the table I began to think about people in the Bible that had a lot of stuff on their table I think about Abraham he had a lot of promises on the table God spoke it to him but in order to inhabit in order to take key to that promise amen he had to leave his father in his land behind he had to take that off the table then he had to separate from the lot then he had to patiently wait on the Lord for the promised child but then we see what Sarah did his wife she wanted the child and could not give him a child and so what did she do she went and she said we're going to make this happen I've got something we can throw on the table she brought compromise to the table and said listen I can't give you a child but I know that that woman haggar she can give you a child take her and she compromised she had a child with that when he had a child with that woman amen and gave birth to Ishmael Ishmael amen it became chaos in the home she said this is this isn't going to work it upset Sarah that she couldn't have a child and so she wanted that child out of them she ended up having a child the promise came to pass and then she wanted to get rid of it but let me tell somebody when we bring compromise to the table and we compromise this Apostolic truth and we happen when we compromise the principles that God has taught to us it will bring chaos it will bring division it will bring her to it will bring pain in our lives I want to take compromise off the table tonight and say I'm gonna buy the truth and I'm not going to sell it for the rest of my life [Applause] we're still dealing today with that compromise that that woman made it will always backfire don't allow the compromise to fall on your table amen don't allow compromise tell a man to sit on the table of your life don't allow the truth of one God to be compromised don't allow the truth of Jesus name baptism to be compromised don't allow the truth that the Bible is the infallible word of God to be compromised don't allow the spirit of this world to put lies on your table and say that God made a mistake when he created you and you were created as a woman or you were created as a young man God did not make a mistake [Applause] I don't care what a college campus says you are not a mistake you are made in the image of the Almighty [Applause] when the world attempts to put compromise on your table don't let it sit there for a second don't pull up a chair amen don't get out your fork and knife man throw that thing across the room get nasty about it man somebody bring something up you picked it up and you say Ah that's not going to be in my table amen I can't stand it I can't take it in I've got to keep truth in my spirit when I think of somebody else in the scripture I think about a man named Elijah you can read about him in First Kings chapter 18 and there's a verse in here amen where he he comes through this head he sees these false prophets of Baal 450 of them and he is tired of them and I love what the Bible says here listen to this in First Kings 18 and 19 it says now therefore sinned and gathered to me all of Israel into Mount Carmel and the prophets of Baal 450 and the prophets of the Groves 400 which eat at Jezebel's table these false prophets sat at Jezebel's table they ate what Jezebel was giving them and still here today part of the end time churches we do with that same Spirit of Jezebel she wants to undermine the will of God in your life she wants to bring immorality in your life she wants to paint things up to look beautiful and alluring on the outside but on the inside it's powerless and full of poison it undermines The Voice of Truth in your life and it will manipulate the will of God to benefit self and not the kingdom and and the prophet said I want to have a battle with these false prophets amen he gets them all together and he says all right here's the battle you guys can call on your God and I'll call on my God and whichever God sends down fire that will be the god that we worship amen and so they start doing all this stuff they're dancing they're cutting themselves they're doing all kinds of crazy stuff and Elijah stops he starts mocking them he starts saying oh maybe you're God's out to lunch maybe he went down to Jimmy John's I don't know maybe he's getting some coffee and then finally out all day they do all this stuff and nothing happens and then this Prophet Elijah man he's got some gumption he says all right pour some water on it rebuild the altar and it calls on the god of Abraham Isaac and Jacob and as soon as he calls on that God fire comes down upon that altar amen and then he goes and kills all those false prophets man that was a crazy scene talk about a demonstration at that moment just crazy and man it was Victorious and could you imagine that he he probably walked like this after that had some swag to himself Look What the Lord Has Done but then wouldn't you know a few days goes by and he gets a message and old Jezebel she found out and she goes and she brings this word to the prophet and she says 24 hours Elijah you're dead and she throws it right on the table of the prophet he can't see the victory that's on the table anymore he can't see the prophecies that he's got to speak on the oh he can focus on is this thing right here Jezebel said I'm gonna die amen and that's all he can think about angels show up and bring him lunch man that is crazy they start cooking them cakes and he says I know there's Angels bringing me food but all I can see is I'm gonna die the LIE expires 24 hours goes by and he's still alive and at that point I'm starting to shout I said oh man she's a liar I'm still alive I'm gonna be victorious but he couldn't focus on anything but that was on that lie there at that table and so he ends up going into this cave amen that lie started you're going to die it sent him into depression it sent him into a place where he said I'm done I can't do it anymore and he went to die in a cave and when he was in that cave he felt like I'm the only one that serves God in this whole world I'm the only one that's still serving him amen but I thank God that the Lord showed up amen he came to that cave and he said Elijah what are you doing here and notice students the voice of God was not found in the fire wasn't found in the earthquakes wasn't found in the winds but it was a still small voice and that's still small voice said what are you doing here it called him out of the cave and when life comes at you hard and it brings you to a cave don't look for it in a fire don't look for it in the winds don't look for it at an earthquake but listen for that still small voice when you're on your college campus and you feel like you're the only one that's living up to what God wants you to do and you're the only one that's living righteous amen I want you to know that God is with you amen and so God calls them out of that cave and he begins to speak to that lie amen he says hey there's still people like you you are not alone he said I still got an anointing for you you're still alive Jezebel is going to be taken out and God took that lie off the table and put it on an altar I want somebody to know here tonight if there's something on your table that the enemy has put there it's time to take it off the table because that lie will never give you life it's time to surrender to the Lord and say God I need you to sit my table [Applause] I need you to set my table amen I want you to lift your hands and I want you to help me pray just for a moment I'm almost done you don't have to stand but I want you just to be seen Lord I pray right now that we look and see what is on the table of our life Lord I pray then in the name of Jesus for every graduating student here tonight that daily they look at their table and they see see what is on my table here today amen I got a friend it's in our youth group well actually he just graduated from Ocean College and as a young child he was molested by his next door neighbor the enemy wanted to kill still and destroy this young man and when that action happened it threw something on the table of his life and from when that young man was a child he kept it a secret he felt dirty he felt like this was my fault and every time that he would go to an altar and pray he would try to take it off the table and put it on an altar but the enemy would say nope it's got to stay right there he could not have a functioning relationship he he couldn't have a relationship with his parents but then one day the Lord showed up and began to deal with him say we're going to take this off the table he brought it to an altar he said it there he surrendered that aspect of his life to God and he said this simple thing God what do I do the Lord led him to get a counselor the Lord led him to talk with his parents and talk with his pastor he left it on the altar he took it off the table tonight if there's anybody in here that's had something on your table for 20 or 30 years it's been eaten at your spirit it doesn't have to stay there any longer if you've been hurt by something that's happened to you years ago it does not have to stay on the table because as long as you eat from and as long as you partake of it it will never give you life and tonight he I want to testify to you it's been about two years since you've taken that off the table three years he just graduated from college he's getting married here in about six weeks he's very involved in preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ he's licensed in the Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ and if God can do that for my friend God can do that for anybody in this place here tonight but you've got to take that first step and you've got to start taking it off the table [Applause] so I end on this tonight my Psalm said that he prepares to table before us young people tonight you've got the rest of your life ahead of you you have an opportunity to clear the table and it was at the beginning of this year I was praying in our sanctuary When I close my eyes I saw this vision and in this Vision I saw this table and this table had all kinds of stuff on it had bills brother gray I saw you back there dues to collect busy work just stuff just full of it Bishop but cool just full there was no room on my table [Music] it was full I had my work all my junk and I saw the Lord show up in this vision the Bible says he daily lordeth us with benefits at his daily load of benefits he was bringing to my life to sit on my table and it was like I saw the Lord walk up to the table and look at me and say I'll see you tomorrow [Music] there was too much stuff on my table and when I saw that I ran to that table started clearing it God here I got room I got room students here tonight you're going to leave this place there's going to be all kinds of influences trying to put things on your table you need to believe this you need to do this this is your next step you need to listen to this voice put all kinds of things on your table but I want to help you here there's only one person that you need to let set your table of life because he's the one that's going to have the table set in heaven and if I learn amen what the food in heaven is now and I start partaking of it and I'll surely know what it's going to be like there so tonight what's on your table [Music] not just to the graduates from this side and the back to that side of the back what's on your table if the Lord set your table pull up a chair enjoy but if he hasn't said it you can do what all of us have done many times take it off the table lay it on an altar and clear it so Church will you help me pray for these graduates tonight will you just lean your hands towards let's pray for him we're living in a crazy world let's pray the protection of God upon them right now let's pray father I thank you right now for these graduates God as they begin to take steps into bigger things of life God I pray that daily they clear the table if there's something that's on that table that's not of you Lord I pray that they take it off and put it on an altar God of sin somehow sneaks its way on Lord let us take it off the table father of the lies of this Antichrist generation try to set something on there of compromise let us take it off the table Lord if there's any hurts in our students lives tonight that God has been there they've not revealed fatherhood has taken off the table and Lord I pray right now that you prepare a table before us in the presence of our enemies that we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever amen I pray for these young people as they go to college I pray as they get married that's going to be on the table you can better see God about it what you're going to do in college it's going to be on the table but God knows where you're going to work it's going to be on the table but God knows [Music] thank you come on the presence of the Lord is here can you close your eyes and just lift your hands just for a moment [Music] come on even if you're a guest here tonight the Lord is speaking to you right now I ask you what's on your table [Music] and if there's something on there that's been bringing you pain and hurt it don't have to be there anymore God can save you God can fill you up with everything that he can put on the table in Jesus name [