God's Time Table - Part II | Senior Pastor Kenneth Carpenter by Kenneth Carpenter First Apostolic Church of Maryville (Maryville, TN) Kind: sermon Scripture: Revelation 3:14-22, Revelation 1:9-20, Isaiah 41:4, Isaiah 44:6, Isaiah 48:12, Romans 5:14, Colossians 1:15, Revelation 13:8, John 1:1-4 Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/kenneth-carpenter--god-s-time-table-part-ii Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page. Free to copy and share with attribution. ------------------------------------------------------------ you have your bibles and would stand with me invite your attention the book of revelation chapter number three verse number 14. i will be ministering today on god's timetable part two god's timetable part two we don't have songs of bloom and doom you want songs of gloom and doom you need to go out to your car and turn the radio on there's all kinds of gloomy songs on the radio but if you want songs of victory just attend an apostolic church aren't you thankful as a matter of fact can i go ahead and request that song where god speaks truth into the lies could you sing that again tonight i've got several that i'm going to call today and you know the devil lies to people but god will speak truth into the lies and i want to go ahead and request that for tonight revelation chapter 3 verse 14. and unto the angel of the church of the laodiceans write these things saith thee amen the faithful and true witness the beginning of the creation of god i know thy works that thou art neither cold nor hot i would that worked cold or hot so then because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot i will spew thee out of my mouth because thou sayest i am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing and know us not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked i counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire that thou mayest be rich and white raiment that thou mayest be clothed and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear and anoint thine eyes with eyes save that thou may see as many as i love i rebuke and chasten be zealous therefore and repent behold i stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door i will come into him and will sup with him and he with me to him that overcometh will i grant to sit with me in my throne even as i also overcame and have set down with my father in his throne he that hath an ear to hear let him hear what the spirit saith unto the churches father today it is your word that guides us it is your word god and planted in the hearts of man that causes a new birth as seed goes into the ground and there begins to take root lord let your word today from my heart that your word god threw my lips to their ears to their heart god let it cause a change to happen to those that are here lord let your spirit give us guidance today for lord we are your children and we know not our left hand from our right hand but god you know the way lord touch us today and help us today in jesus name i do pray amen you may be seated as i spoke to you last sunday i will go ahead and tell you again that the holy ghost has been dealing very strongly with my heart about what the church should be doing the holy ghost has been really dealing with my heart about what i need to be ministering on and what i need to be focusing the church on it's been dealing it's been dealing with my heart and the lord has so quickened to my mind that he is coming again he is coming again we cannot lose sight of the fact that he is coming again our focus has got to be on that event as a matter of fact i feel deeply urged that everything we've been going through for the last two years as a as a world has been to distract our minds the church on what we should be doing what we should be doing as a church what the pulpit should be preaching as a church and that's why when i got with the creative team i got with the team this week we begin to discuss trunk or treat we begin to discuss family weekend and we begin to discuss uh the battle cry tour coming i said it's simply time for us to refocus our attention on reaching the lost we have got to get outside the four walls of our church and do what god has called us to do and i am um i am looking forward to these events that we're going to bring our community we're going to bring our community here family weekend we're going to bring our community here as a matter of fact we're going to be giving away more than just candy on sunday night october 31st we're going to set up some bands out in the parking lot we're going to play some good victory music i just say there's a lot of folks in this community that needs to hear that first song the choir saying and not only that we're going to play some music and i'm going to jump up on a stump i'm going to go to preaching sometime during sunday night because god knows what our community needs it is never before if they won't come to church we'll tease them with a little candy get them here on the grounds and then we'll bait and switch we'll bring out the band and bring out the sermon do a little preaching amen we'll give away some prizes now don't you tell my don't you tell my secrets now we'll give away some prizes that can only be redeemed after the sermon it's time for the church to get back to business it's time for the church to be the church it's time for us to realize that jesus is coming soon i want you to listen just a little few sentences i have written down the next event on god's timetable will be when the lord himself the next event will be when the lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout and by his miraculous power those who sense the day of pentecost who have been born again whose bodies are currently in the grave will be changed into a glorified body then we then the born-again person who is yet living will without notice it will happen quickly it will happen suddenly we will feel a change into a glorified body and as quickly as the change came we will be drawn up from this earth to meet the lord in the air and then off to heaven we will go to the marriage supper of the lamb ladies and gentlemen brothers and sisters that is what our minds should be focused on because that event could happen before you take the next breath that event could happen today there is no bible prophecy that has to be fulfilled in order for him what we refer to as the rapture of the church i want you to know as i turn your attention back to this book of revelation chapter number two in revelation chapter excuse me in revelation chapter number one verse number nine the whole reason we have this last book of the bible revelation chapter 1 verse 9 i john who who also am your brother and companion in tribulation and in the kingdom and patience of jesus christ was in the aisle that is called patmos for the word of god and for the testimony of jesus he is a prisoner he is what they refer to as a political prisoner he has went against what rome has said i was in the spirit on the lord's day and i heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet saying i am alpha and omega the first and the last and what thou seest write in a book and send it into the seven churches which are in asia and to ephesus and to smyrna and to pergamos and to thyratara and to sardis and to philadelphia and into laodicea i turn to see the voice that spake with me and being turned i saw seven golden candle sticks and in the midst of the seven candlesticks one likened to the son of man clothed with a garment down to the foot sounds like this glorified jesus was modestly dressed he was clothed with the garment down to get down to the foot and gird about his paps or his chest with a girden golden girdle or sash his head and his hairs were white like wool white snow in his eyes whereas a flame of fire his feet was like a defined breast as they had been burned in the furnace in his voice as the sound of many waters he had in his right hand notice this now he had in his right hand seven stars and out of his mouth when a sharp two-edged sword and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength when i saw him i fell at his feet as dead and he laid his right hand upon me it's it's interesting when they go in detail he didn't just say he laid his hand on me said he laid his right hand on me saying unto me fear not i am the first and the last i am he that liveth and was dead and behold i am alive forevermore amen and have the keys of hell and of death now we have no students of the of the bible we have we have no question today of who we're talking about here this is the risen glorified jesus christ he says to write verse 19 he says write the things which thou has seen and and the things which are and the things which shall be hereafter then verse 20 is very important it's the whole reason i read this this in verse chapter one he said i want to i want to go ahead and explain to you the typology the mystery of the seven stars which i sought in my right hand and the seven golden candlesticks the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches so it's very interesting to note some typology here when john fell at his feet as dead and a matter of fact that should always be the posture for revelation when i fail at his feet we receive nothing for god from god without a submissive spirit i cannot emphasize that god doesn't speak here first he speaks here and if here is open to him in submission then hear the revelation come he touched john with his right hand in his right hand are seven angels seven stars which are symbolically seven there are seven church ages seven churches that represent seven church ages we are currently living in the seventh church age that's why i'm going to minister and by the help of god if i don't get finished today then it will be god's timetable part 3 next sunday but i'm going to deal with the church of the laodiceans because that's what church age we're in right now and just maybe we can find something in this church age to say yes this is where we're at and let us stir ourselves up seven candlesticks represent seven church ages and seven angels or messengers or pastors or ministry represents that god has always had a minister of the word for every church age every church age since pentecost has had the ministry the ministry of the word it's how god changes us we must have the word we must have i love all the trinkets we have as a church i love our fellowship i love our singing i love all the things that we've got but there is nothing that can replace the life-changing power of the word every every church age every church age has had the ministry of the word notice this that when jesus the glorified christ touched john he touched him not with his left hand but with his right hand because every submitted heart then connects to the word of god he touched him if he's got the seven ministry of the word in his right hand then he touches john with the ministry he touches him through the medium of the word and notice the first thing he says to him in verse 17 of chapter 1 when i saw him i fell at his feet as dead and he laid his right hand upon me saying fear not i am the first and the last now stop right there a lot of things you could say why begin there because it is vitally important to everything about the bible that you understand who jesus christ is he is not a second person he is not a lesser deity he is the almighty god robed in flesh for the sacrifice of our sins and now glorified in flesh to be our great mediator but don't lose sight of who jesus is he is the first and he is the last what was the glorified christ telling john i am the almighty god i am the first and i am the last we can never as an apostolic church get bored with or think it's just semantics we just you know they're just saying it a little bit different let me tell you something you gotta say it like the bible says it he is the almighty god when you get to heaven and you look upon jesus christ you're going to look upon the glorified body of where the almighty god is dwelling in i am the first and i am the last i am the first and the last you're educated enough to know there cannot be two first and two last that's called a tie there is no tie in the godhead he is the first and the last isaiah 41 and verse number 4 listen to god of the the god of the old testament listen to the god of the old testament isaiah 41 4 listen to this god who hath wrought and done it calling the generations from the beginning i the lord the first and the last i am he isaiah 44 6 thus saith the lord the king of israel and his redeemer the lord of hosts i am the first and i am the last and beside me there is no god isaiah 48 12 hearken unto me o jacob and israel my my called i am he i am the first and i am the last now stop there for a moment that's god in the old testament declaring i am the first and i am the last now go to my scripture reading this is the glorified lord jesus christ claiming the same title not two first not two last but one god who is a spirit who overshadowed a virgin and was birthed into this world the only begotten son of god and now he is glorified we got to understand we cannot allow this one god message to become boring we cannot allow we got to get our mind back on because if we allow that one god message to become some little trinket over here that's mark this with with me in your bible it is the church of the laodiceans notice what it doesn't say it doesn't say the church in laodicea laodicea was the city it does not say as it does the other six churches well let's start with just just as an example we start with the first church in chapter two verse one unto the angel of the church of ephesus right it's the church of ephesus it is in ephesus go on down um we could go down to verse number 18 unto the angel of the church in thyratara and to the angel of the church in philadelphia but why the wording here unto the angel of the church of the layout of sins so that caused me to do a word study on the name laodicea because we do know symbolically that the seven churches their names had spiritual meaning the meaning of the name laodicea simply means the justice of the people leo means justice and of the people laodicea as history tells us the people established the law the people established the law other research about laodicea was that laodicea was ruled by mob rule or what we would know as protests laodicea they decided the law i didn't write this i just studied this out laodicea is called the democratic church because the people ruled the church that's why it's not just a slip of the word it is truly the church of the laodiceans they decide what they believe they decide what is holy and what is not and they decided you know there's an interesting thing i just read this now you know we got to be politically correct and and and you got to say things just right that there are some religious groups contemplating on removing from the bible the right hand of god why because it would be offensive to left-handed people there's bibles being written where there's no gender so it doesn't offend people that believe that god did make a man and a woman no no gender their father mother because they believe that that there's no structure you see today what we got to have is never before is a church that is led by god's spirit led by god's spirit this this laodicean church this people rule this this majority rule listen a democratic system may be a great way to run a civil government but it's not the way that god chose to run his church i studied a little bit of the history said laodicea the city and it and it it infiltrated the church was was filled with philosophy and continual continual debating people debating you would find them all over the city of laodicea two on this side that believed one thing two on that side that believed another debating debating debating so the city of laodicea would be a city of who knows what to believe just follow the crowd after all the crowd must be right just let that sink in just they were a majority rule no one person or group of people had the answer no one person had the answer no group no one group of people had the answer brother ben it was whatever the majority came together and blended together gave the answer no one i'm going to keep hammering this away no one man no one group had the answer it had to be all brought together it would be here in revelation 3 14. it's interesting how jesus would introduce himself to the churches he introduced himself many times to the churches as to the cure of what was wrong with them he introduced himself to a worldly church that thought they were hiding their sins and he said i have eyes like fire in other words what he was saying is i see you he introduced himself to false doctrine churches that had false doctrine in it he said i've got a two-edged sword i'm ready to come in here and do surgery on this thing i'm ready to whack away at the chancellor of false doctrine but he introduces himself in revelation 3 14 because remember about the laodiceans no one man has the answer no one group has the answer unto the angel of the church of the odessian's right these things saith thee amen you know what that means don't you amen is the final say there isn't anything said after amen he said let's just get things right here today when i step into your church i'm the final say the only way that we can get this world turned back around is introduce them to the i am to the amen the i am and the amen amen we need to introduce a world to the final say the bible isn't just a book it is the book jesus christ is not a way brother schnitzer he is this way it is not just a name it is a name that is above every name and there is no other name under heaven given hey church we gotta focus back on what really matters there was a uh a debate going on between a pastor and another pastor one pastor believed that to be baptized repeating the words father son and holy ghost was the correct biblical way to be baptized the other pastor was lacked a lot of education but he accepted the bait and they they said to him they had 30 minutes of peace to present their point and the man got up for 30 minutes and and and talked about why the bible jesus said to be baptized in the name of the father and of the son of the holy ghost when he came that preacher's time he got up and he opened his bible he had 30 minutes he had 30 minutes and uh he opened his bible up and he said i draw your attention to acts chapter 2 verse number 38 then peter said unto them repent be baptized every one of you in the name of jesus christ for the remission of your sin you shall receive the gift of the holy ghost and he closed his book and sat down he said do you have anything else to say come say more on this subject he stood back up and walked up and opened his bible he said can i invite your attention to the book of acts chapter 2 verse 38 you see that the debate was over because the word is the amen he steps into the church y'all seeing this today i hope i'm not boring you this morning uh we was talking to a preacher the other day and he he was saying he i think it was brother tony he said man i was preaching and i had them on the edge of their seat i said i was too they was getting ready to leave so anyway it is the church of the layout of sins and if it to be corrected he walks in and he says these words these things sayeth thee amen i am the final say the faithful and true witness the faithful reliable true you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free so he is faithful can i get a witness our god is faithful let's not allow a pandemic to cause us to believe our god isn't faithful our god is faithful our god is the final say you can search all over high and low educated uneducated you can search all over but you'll never find the amen because there is only one amen he is reliable he is faithful and he is the true witness and i've already hit this but watch how he introduces himself the beginning of the creation of god how can you be the beginning of the creation of god because as god he created but as god he had a plan he is the beginning of the creation seems like here that this church needs to really know that you're dealing with the almighty god he is the beginning of the creation of god because it was god who created but this god had a plan this god had a plan do you realize in romans chapter 5 and verse number 14 romans chapter 5 and verse number 14 look at this with me who is jesus christ who is jesus christ romans 5 and 14 says nevertheless death reigned from adam to moses even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of adam's transgression the the subject is adam adam's transgression adam who is the figure of him that was to come who is adam adam was made in the image and the likeness of god but it's prophetically adam was made in the image and the likeness of god in the mind of god he calls those things which are not as though they were because in the mind of god jesus christ had already been conceived of the virgin mary had already lived 33 years had already died on the cross and had already been resurrected by the same power that caused his conception so when it says that god made man i was talking to a gentleman the other day about this and he said brother carpenter that the bible wanting to wanting to wanting to prove a plurality in the godhead he said but the bible says let us make man in our image after our likeness i said okay so you're saying that god is three persons he said that's correct and adam is made in the image and the likeness matter of fact it was a group of men i was talking to and you say that adam was made in the image and the likeness of god he said that's correct and i said god is three persons he said that is correct i said so therefore when god made adam there were three atoms there and one of his friends beside him looked at him and said he's got you no i don't have him the word hasn't you see he is the beginning of the creation of god because he is the creator god but he was the savior that god had the plan and the mind of god to make do you all see that this morning look at rebel look at colossians chapter colossians chapter 1 verse number 15 speaking of jesus christ speaking of jesus christ colossians 1 15 who is the image of the invisible god speaking of jesus christ who is jesus christ he's the image of the invisible god you can't see god until god creates light what was the first thing god created let there be light why did god create light first not for him to see what he was doing but for us to realize what he was doing because man sees nothing in the dark you've got to have light jesus christ is the image of the invisible god the firstborn every creature now revelation 13 8 in the mind of god at creation in the mind of god when god made adam he made him he made him in the figure of the one that was to come look at revelation chapter 13 verse 8 and all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him is speaking of the antichrist all that dwell on the earth will worship this antichrist whose names are not written in the book of law of life of the lamb slain from what the foundation of the world does that mean jesus was crucified twice absolutely not simply means in the mind of god before god ever hung one star to shine before god ever created any kind of earth or matter god already had an ultimate plan of making a man and praise god making the redeemer for that man god made the redeemer for that man of which i am thankful that he not only made me but he made my redeemer oh praise god he made my redeemer in john chapter one verse number one through four stay with me now in john chapter one the gospel of john chapter one verse number one through four in the beginning was the word and the word was with god and the word was god in the beginning was the logos the logos there in the greek means thought planned idea thought planned the idea in the beginning was the thought plan the idea and the thought plan the idea was with god just like just like a contractor steps out on an empty lot with a blueprints in his hand to build a house the house is not there yet but he has the blueprints in his hand and at the beginning of creation god almighty held the blueprints of redemption in his hand and that redemption was the firstborn of creation because although the virgin mary had not yet conceived and jesus had not been yet been born and god had not yet dwelt in a fleshly body in the mind of god it was already done we can't get bored with this we have got to refocus our mind back on let me tell you who jesus is because if we don't get if we if we lose sight of who jesus is nothing else fits in the plan of redemption baptism doesn't make any sense spirit baptism doesn't make any sense holiness living doesn't make any sense but if we can get god in the seat that he should be lifted in the name above every name i'm going down in the name of the lord jesus christ i'm being filled with resurrection power in the beginning john 1 4 in the beginning was the word and the word was with god and the word was god the same was in the beginning with god all things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made watch this now in him in who in the word in the plan in jesus in him was life and the life was the light of men the life is deity and if we believe upon the lord jesus christ and submit ourselves to salvation guess what we get light we get light light to see where we're going the bible talks about without the gospel the god little g of this world hath blinded their minds this world cannot see where they're going we are now entering we have the church of the laodiceans i've got news for you in the seventh church age the church of the laodicea is the church that the people ruled the people had to have the majority we are swiftly approaching global unity we are swiftly approaching and understanding that it can't just be the united states we we have got to come together with other nations and the world has got to lock arm and arm and we have to put down our foundation of being established as a christian nation just a few presidents ago i said in horror as i heard the highest office of our land the president make this statement we are no longer a christian nation god help us god help us i don't know about you but things are crazy out there but it's not time for us to sandbag it's not time for us to believe our god isn't reliable it's not time for us to believe our god is not powerful but it is time for the church the bride of christ the spirit driven the spirit led church i am not in this world all alone you hear me i am not in this world all along because you look up here at me because in me greater is in me is he that he that is in the world greater is he within me than he that is in the world i've got that power we don't have to wring our hands and wonder what's going to happen the church doesn't wring its hand the church raises its hands victory victory is our victory is ours he said i am the amen i'm the final say i don't want to i don't want anybody talking i don't care about your debates i am the amen it's the only way i'm going to correct this church he says i had eyes like fire to worldly church i had a sharp two-edged sword to foster doctrine church but you all are running this church and he said jesus said i'm just stepping in and telling you right now don't say another word i am the i i am the amen amen he said i'm faithful i'm reliable and i'm powerful i'm the truth and i am the beginning of this thing wonder why i mentioned beginning you know why i did the seventh church age signals the end he says hey let me tell you something i started this thing he said i know your works church i want to talk about the world now it may not get as noisy as it's been because we're going to talk about the church i know your works you're neither cold nor hot i would that you were either cold or hot so because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot i will spew the thee out of my mouth but i want you to know i want you to know something the unity of the church needs a revival i said the unity of the church needs a revival you can go to churches that are on fire for god you can go to churches you can preach them they're on fire for god they got a prayer room roaring like a fireplace they're on fire for god you can be invited to another church and you could skate down the aisle with your ice skates it's cold my wife and i recently said in the dedication service of a building and it was quiet it was quite about like right now and that minister said now i'm not talking about i'm talking about one of our churches because that's what i'm talking about here the minister said something about jesus being god and the next thing i heard was sister carpenter say amen and two whole sections did this you do know you do know what makes a lukewarm drink don't you is when you mix hot and cold together now i can't help what happens in other places but we don't need hot and cold here we don't need hot and cold here now now i want you to know i want you to know that i'm not referring oh you you you don't think i'm on fire unless i'm running the aisles now some of them can run be as cold as an ice truck hot is not what kind of dance you do down here it's what kind of life you live in here and out there hot is not for a few hours wednesday sunday morning and sunday night you get a little shook up and get a little lather up about god know hot it's 7 24 7. you're excited about jesus christ i could call you and talk to you about the lord you're going to tell somebody in the mall why don't you come to church with me you're going to tell some lost loved one come on church we don't need cold and hot in here what makes lukewarm church is when you get cold people mixing with hot people and then you get a lukewarm church we need to be the church he wants to drink because he said i'm going to tell you something i am about to spew you out of my mouth i i am about i didn't write this the the amen wrote it i am about to spew you i took one sup of you i took one step and i'm just about to spew you out of my mouth why why would why would why would we be why would we be spewed out of your mouth look at verse 17. i don't know if i'll get much further today than verse 17. which somebody just read out loud the first three words would you say it again what's making him almost ready to spew us out it's because of what we're saying so i'm ready to spew you out based on what you're saying and isn't that true because can i get a witness from the abundance of the heart from whatever is right here comes out here he said you're lukewarm because of what you're saying i hear what you're saying because thou sayest i am rich and increase with goods and have need of nothing look at those words this is a church that came to church and they said oh i'm not here for me oh you're preaching to me oh how dare you preach to me hey no no i'm not here i'm not i'm not here for me because i need nothing i mean i've been in this son i want you to know i was in the church before you was born i tell you i was right here i isaac wonderful but don't you ever think that longevity caused you not to need something i need him i'm just going i'm just going to pastor i'm going to preach today i need him that ought to be our favorite theme song around here i need thee oh i need thee every hour i need thee oh bless me now my savior i come to the that's not just a cute little course we sing before i preach that's got to be a way of life i need i need thee oh i want god listen i don't want god to hear me bragging about my new car i don't want god hearing me bragging about my new suit what a good cell i got i don't want to hear i don't want god to hear me talk about the deer that i shot or the good golf game that i had and when it comes to singing god doesn't hear anything out of us he doesn't hear one word out of us i need thee oh i need thee every hour which you sing with me i need thee come on first apostolic oh bless me now my your i come to the oh god i need you today lord oh god you are the vine and we are the branches lord oh god you are the potter and we are the clay oh god we need you today lord we need you i'm rich i'm increased with goods i have need of nothing matter of fact where are you going well i'm going to church i'm going to pay my tithe today i'm going to help the church out i'm gonna help the church you're the church of the layout of sins no no we get a mindset the material thing let's say something this building that is a great blessing could become our biggest curse while we're quick to show each other the grandeur of this building and i do believe that god ought to have the best but but it could be a curse when we think this is our wealth our wealth is not in this beautiful building our wealth happened this morning about 9 30 and for about 15 minutes we called on the name of the one you want to talk about our wealth that's our wealth right there because there's some places you can go you can't get four or five to come together and have a prayer why because they don't need anything they're just coming as a social gathering it is the church out of the laodiceans i need something you seen the house i'm living in do you know how much money i made last week last year do you know where we're living now do you know what kind of retirement plan i've got all well and good but you better put that at the end of the amen because there's another man it's a parable in the bible it's a parable in the bible there was another man that had a man he had a he had a one more bountiful crop year he brought in more brother sally's he brought in more this man and the parable brought in more he brought in more than he had barnes for he didn't have enough barns for all the crops and guess what he did when he saw the bountiful harvest he said i'll tell you what he said i will tell you what i will do i will pull down the barns and i will build bigger and i will say to my soul soul thou has much goods laid up for many years eat drink and be merry and then the amen walked into his room and the amen didn't say hey good farmer hey prosperous businessman the amen walked in the room and said you fool this night i'm going to require your soul you are going out into eternity this night and then whose will these be and that's the same picture when we live like there is no tomorrow jesus is coming you hear me get the sin out of your life wake up stir yourself up get your soul get the fire burning put some wood on the fire get your zeal back for god get your praise back for god get your praise out don't just attend a church that praises god be an attender that praises god get it out stir it up come on tell him you love him this morning come on tell him you love him right now say it with your lips if you're not already standing where you stand right now we need to tell jesus something today i love you lord i love you lord we are the church of the seventh church age i don't want to be god look warm i hear it all honor our glory listen to me for a moment as our musicians come the seventh church age had more spiritual privileges and opportunities than any other church age to whom much is given much is required it's a fearful thing to have at our fingertips the things we do the opportunities that we could be a blessing i close with this there was a king named nebuchadnezzar he gave not god glory god blessed him he got he gave not god the glory and god you can read it in the book of daniel sister carpenter god took god took nebuchadner nezer's mind he's the most powerful political leader in the world and god took his mind until he walked on all fours he he stopped standing on his two legs and he started moving around like an ox in the bible and they let him out in a field they kept the king behind the palace in a field his hair grew the bible says like eagle's feathers and his fingernails curled like claws and he said until the day that i looked up and i said there is no god in heaven or upon earth like the god of daniel and he said when i made that confession my mind came back to me i stood up on my feet i shaved i showered they put the robe back on me and i led a nation but what we're suffering from in the church is the first generation gets in on fire and the second and third generation cool down i'm after you second generation i'm after you third generation i'm after you because nebuchadnezzar's grandson bill shasman knowing that god took the mind of his grandfather and until his grandfather made a confession of faith that there was no god belshazzar began to live in a prosperous kingdom and for whatever reason at a state government party one night they got to drinking bill chaser did belshazzar got to drinking his wives his concubines they got the drinking and for whatever reason i think i know it belshazzar said would somebody go down to the vault and bring up here the golden cups that my father my grandfather took out of jehovah's temple he defeated my grandfather defeated jehovah robbed his temple would somebody go get the golden cups and bowls these cups and bowls that at one time been in the presence of the shekinah glory of god they now find their way into a drunken state party with women partially clothed immoral acts being performed on the floor they filled them up with wine and they began to drink and then they broke out and they begin to say we praise you o gods of gold we praise you old gods of silver and god said i've had enough god manifested a hand through the air and the finger burnt on the wall many many charcoal farsi he stopped the king james version is very modest the king james version says that when the king saw the writing that his loins were loose that's a very modest way that's a very the king james says his loins were loose that's a very modest way of telling he lost control of his bowels he saw the handwriting on the wall he called for a man they said only know one man and they brought that preacher in that daniel they brought the amen in the room and the amen said i can read it for you many many tackle you far sin god has numbered your kingdom and god has weighed you in the balances and you've been found wanting god god put your life in the balance what you're saying about your car about your house about your material things he put it in it in reference to what you're saying about him you see little did belshazzar know it but that very night an enemy king dyrus was digging under the walls now shazar kept a watch on the top of the wall but what belshazzar didn't know is your palace floor is about to crack open and an army's coming in and they gonna kill you your wife your children and everybody at this drunken but here's the one phrase i want to use daniel said king you knew what god did to your grandfather see today we've got to get stirred up this morning the lord is coming it's his church i said god during all this pandemic what how do you want me to lead them and i felt like i heard him say lead them back to my coming lead them back to what really matters lead them back to my coming they've got to be ready spiritually for my coming everything else is second place can we go home by way of the altar today should we just gather up around this altar right now god's timetable let's confess our sins let's ask god to forgive us of our sins let's ask god to stir us up oh some of you some of you that used to come to every service you've cooled down to one service now some of you you used to be involved you're just coming to church now come on we got to stir ourselves up come on come on stir yourself up would you move as close around the altar as you can move up as close let's make as much room for people there was a day you moved out of your pew there was a day you moved out into the isle oh god in jesus name and jesus name in jesus name stir yourself church scare yourself let the holy ghost do its work on you right now the amen the faithful one wants to give you power today he wants to fill you with his spirit as you begin to confess your sins you'll begin to feel a trembling in your lips god wants to fill you with the holy ghost this morning as the more you repent the more you're submitted god you'll feel your lips begin to quiver go ahead let god fill you with the holy ghost right now jesus god oh god hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah come on let's gather up around the altar let's go home by way of the altar this morning