Refocusing on What Matters | Senior Pastor Kenneth Carpenter
by Kenneth Carpenter
First Apostolic Church of Maryville (Maryville, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Matthew 16:24-27, Romans 6:1-3, Galatians 6:14, 1 John 2:15-17, Daniel 5:1-4

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/kenneth-carpenter--refocusing-on-what-matters
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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before i read my text right now i'm going to obey the holy ghost before i read my text i'm going to obey the holy ghost brother brady salyards would you come down here i'm going to tell y'all something i'm not calling this man to preach i'm not calling any ministerial over him but i want you to know god's got a plan for this young man's life and in the name of the lord jesus christ in the name of jesus christ i lay my hands and bomb brady salyers right now and god everything that has happened in this young man's life you are going to take it oh god and you're going to turn it into a testimony god you are going to put something in this young man that will advance the kingdom of god that will tie the enemy up come on help me pray for this young man right now oh brother brady receive this right now in jesus name receive this right now in jesus name every hurt every sleepless night everything that you are disillusioned about god is going to take it and turn it out for his good god is going to take it and turn it out for his good jesus sing it now is one more time please thank you lord so good lord so good before i read my text will you take your breath and praise him right now would you take your breath and do what the song says hallelujah hallelujah thank you jesus glory glory glory glory you know god's been good you know god's been good you know god's been good to you ah you know god's been good to you let's go to the word tonight church matthew chapter 16 verse number 24-27 great is the lord and greatly to be praised matthew chapter 16 verse 24-27 thank god this is the official end of summer thank god i say that not only because i'm looking for cooler weather but i feel a shift at this church i feel like if i was trying to describe what the spirit is moving upon my heart i would say that i feel that god is about to shift some of you from a trying situation to the line where the reward is going to be passed out because you remain faithful unto god in the midst of your season if i was trying to articulate it tonight that would just be how i would articulate it someone maybe all of us several of us have been in a season of trying and god is about to say your summer's coming to an end your heat's coming to an end your discomfort is coming to an end things are going to change like the leaves are going to change god is saying things are going to change feel a divine shift as your pastor i feel a divine shift that is here can i tell you god's able to make all things new matthew 16 24 then said jesus unto his disciples if any man will come after me let him deny himself take up his cross and follow me for whosoever will save his life shall lose it and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it for what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul for the son of man shall come in the and the glory of his father with his angels and then he shall have reward he shall reward every man according to his works i want to minister to the church tonight as your pastor refocusing on what matters refocusing on what matters you have an automobile you know from time to time you go get the front end re-aligned why because the car can pull to the left to pull to the right or it wears out the tires and you have to buy new tires when there should have been many thousands of miles left on those tires so sometimes you have to go back to the shop cost you a little bit but not near as costly as the new tires cost you a little bit but things work better when it's realigned so tonight i want to minister as your pastor may sound like a bible study tonight refocusing on what matters precious father tonight please help me god you said in your word that if i loved you i would feed your sheep lord these are your people god tonight you shed your blood for them o god they belong to you lord i'm just merely god the spokesman the minister the pastor god that you called to be over lord tonight for a few moments would you anoint lips of clay that i may speak the eternal word of god that in the discouraged heart tonight there would be a flicker and a flame that would be rekindled someone would get back in this race in jesus name i pray amen amen you may be seated refocusing on what matters this past friday the cfo of bed bath and beyond jumped from a skyscraper to his death he was 52 years old word had came that there would be job cuts word had come that they were looking at closing stores and cutting jobs whatever the full story is of this whatever the full story is of this something happened in that young 52 year old man's heart that he decided that the end that the end was there it has been said that suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem to the 52-year-old man today his life is over on friday he went out into eternity when his body crashed into the street below this man went out into eternity to be resurrected at the last day to stand at the great judgment seat of christ we live in a world that can distract us from what really matters we're all on a time journey and we're heading to eternity we must be ready for that eternity we must prepare ourselves for eternity we must fight with everything that we have within us while we're here on this earth as long as we're here on this earth to always keep our minds focused on what really matters what really matters jesus did not speak these verses i read to sinners jesus spoke these verses that i read to his disciples yes even sunday night church going god-loving god praising disciples need for jesus to remind us refocus refocus on what really matters jesus said in the verse that i read he said if any man will come after me let him deny himself let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me word deny himself and take up his cross is a picture of a man who has been already condemned to death he is already condemned to death it has been said by warren wiersby that if you looked out and saw a man carrying a cross down the road you knew that that man was not going to come back romans sentenced a man to death and then had the condemned to carry the cross that he would be nailed to and so when jesus is giving the analogy if anybody's going to follow me if anybody's going to follow me he must first deny himself he has got to deny his fleshly whims and his fleshly desires brothers and sisters tonight i will tell you that our flesh will get us in trouble i said our flesh will get us in trouble don't ever trust your flesh your flesh will get you in trouble that's why you cannot give your flesh everything it asks for that is if you're going to follow jesus that is if you're going to refocus on what matters he said let a man deny himself and take up the cross this picture of a man he's already condemned he's required to carry his cross on the way to the place of execution jesus was just simply saying to them if you're going to follow me you must learn how to tell your flesh no you must learn how to carry the attitude of a cross as far as as far as the world is concerned as far as sin is concerned we are dead to the world as far as our past life is concerned i've burnt every bridge and so should you i'm not going back i'm dead to the things that's that once held me bound i'm dead to those things i don't keep anything around the house that can help me get back to egypt that's one of the reasons god said in his word to the delivered israelites when you live in the land god said i forbid you to have horses i don't care if you have mules and donkeys they are they are instruments to carry a burden but don't you have a horse because if you have a horse a horse is a is an animal of speed and if you have a horse you may be more inclined to want to go back to egypt and god says i don't want you to go back to the place that i brought you out of can i tell you tonight in jesus name if you own a horse sell it i ain't talking about a real horse i'm talking about a spiritual horse tonight if you got something in your car tonight that helps you connect to egypt you better sail that horse if you got something tonight in your house that connects you to back to egypt you better sell that horse because you need to be dead if you got some numbers in your phone you better sell them horses if you've got some apps in your phone you better get rid of some of them horses can you give god a hand of praise we are dead to the world we are dead to the things of the world paul addresses this when he talked to the apostolic church in rome the apostolic church in rome that seemed to be reaching back out to the world he said to the apostolic church in rome romans 6 and 1 he said what shall we say then shall we continue in sin that grace may abound no sir because we have grace does it mean we have a revolving door to run here on sunday night and take our horses back to egypt on monday because we have blood and mercy and grace and forgiveness and all that he said that doesn't give you the right to run in here on sunday night kneel down a little bit but have no have no intention of selling that horse can i tell you we're making a mockery of this altar when we come and we don't leave and sell our horses we gotta sell those things that take us back we gotta sell attitudes brother fallon good to see you tonight pastor we gotta sell attitudes that take us back to egypt i like everything about the church i like our music i like our singing i like our worship i like everybody that goes to this church because i'm planning on going to heaven sail them horses what shall we say then shall we continue in sin that grace may abound god forbid how shall we come on follow me tonight wouldn't hurt my feelings if you read along with me how shall we that are what are we to sin passed out gone out to lunch you see some of us have hung i've gone out to lunch be back at 2 in the door for the devil to read i'm not going to hang on to lunch be back at 2 for the devil to read i'm going to hang out a business i'm gonna hang out of business and then i'm gonna hang under new management jesus my lord jesus my lord i am dead to sin how shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein know you not that so many of us as were baptized into jesus christ was baptized into his death when these roman apostolic people begin to go back and pick up the things of the world guess what paul reminded them of their baptism he said what are you doing acting like this how are we that are dead to sin going to live any longer therein paul would later talk to the apostolic people in the book of galatians chapter 6 verse number 14. he would write to the apostolic church in galatia and he would say these words but god forbid that i should glory save or accept in the cross of our lord jesus christ by whom the world is crucified unto me and i unto the world you see if you're really living dead there's nothing about you the world wants and if you're really living dead there's nothing in the world that you want because the world looks at a man or a woman with a cross and the world says i don't want nothing to do with you but we look at the world through the lens of the cross and we say but i don't have anything to do with you because i am dead in my sins there's nothing about the world that should that should entice us there is nothing i don't care how many glorious glamorous liquor commercials you see during the super bowl there's nothing glorious and glamorous of alcohol i don't care how many good-looking men and good-looking women lean against a jet with a bottle of liquor being advertised it's a lie it's a lie it's a lie you really want to know about liquor find you a wreck on a highway where they've taken sheets and covered up a three-year-old and an eight-year-old and a mama and a daddy all the product of a drunk driver come on church i don't care how glamorous they make commercials look about cigarettes and about dress and about sex and all of that it is nothing what they say it is it is death and thank god if we've got a cross on our back we're going to see it for what it is we ought to understand something though we got to deny ourself don't be sick by your your flesh your flesh will even try to tell you what you're going to do is spiritual he'll deceive you to think i can stay at home and get a hold of god you ain't gonna stay at home and grow you ain't gonna stay at home and grow there'll be something spiritually deformed there always is about people that want to claim a relationship with god but not connect to a church there and i i i it's a truth there is some form of dysfunction in their life they can't function with other people they can't function around other people their kids don't marry other kids that have been brought up it is total dysfunction you cannot be a child growing child of god and not be connected to a local apostolic jesus name church lord jesus help me but don't call me your pastor if you ain't going to come to church and what's the hope of carpenter oh you're telling me not to call you no no you you i i know i'm not your pastor it's like the lord said you call me lord lord do not the things which i say don't matter if you call him lord lord you gotta do what he says if you've got a pastor that pastor's going to tell you forsaking not the assemblings of yourselves together as the manner of some is as you see the day approaching get in church get faithful to church go to church every time the doors are open your flesh will tell you you don't need it your flesh is lying to you you need the church i wish somebody helped me preach tonight i'm just doing some old-fashioned pasturing here i just mean i'm just doing some old-fashioned pastoring here you gotta get to church get yourself to church let me take it a step further i i'm not mad i'm anointed but when you hear prayer time start around this church if you're right with god get out of that lobby and get down here and pray with us there shouldn't be one church in the in the altar and another church in the lobby if you're in this lobby you can fellowship after church you can talk about who won the races where the fish are biting where you got a new dress who married who and all that stuff but when it comes to church get down here on the altar and begin to talk to god i love you i love you i love you enough tell the truth i love you enough to tell you the truth even if i might not sleep good tonight i still love you enough to tell you the truth because i'm gonna tell your flesh gonna lie to you your flesh can put you on a time that says well i go to church i just don't go every service oh it won't be long give you a year people that get out of habit are coming on sunday night get out of the habit come on wednesday night then they go from once they're coming once a week i do come once a week then they start missing they come once a month then they come once every couple months then they come once about every six months pastor lady here many many years ago don't try to figure out who she is pastor lady many years ago she'd show about ever about every six months she'd show up about every six months but she happened to miss one of the times she should have been at church so a year went by and i met her at store and she said well i just got offended said i missed church and nobody called me and i thought what have i got to lose here i'll go ahead and tell you i said you'd have to be missing a year for us to know you wasn't coming it is a truth you know who you need to become like you know who you need to become like you need to become like brother james r stevens he was so faithful to church that one wednesday night when he was having church up on the hill he was so faithful to church so faithful that one wednesday night up on the hill church started and brother stevens wasn't there and i got troubled oh my goodness brother steven's not here did brother stevens call any of you listen no he didn't call me my stephen's called no he didn't call me he didn't and i'm gonna tell you he was so faithful to church in my mind standing on that platform i began to think has somebody got in that house he lived all by himself i thought oh god somebody got in there robbed him tied him up could he be over there believe and i went and got my wife and song service was going down i said you go to the office and call brother stevens and see what's happening hey something happened to him if you need to drive over this house drive off his house and something happened to him she came back and she told me she said he went to the dentist today and said the dentist gave him a shot and said he fell asleep and said he woke up about 15 to 8 and he couldn't believe that he slept that long he woke up you need to have that kind of tenacity in you that when you go missing around here somehow say dear god go to their house something bad has had to happen to them don't become the people who well they don't normally come on wednesday night well they don't normally come on sunday night whether or not normally lord have mercy don't listen to your flesh you gotta deny i'm just doing some old-fashioned pastoring here tonight bible says in first john chapter 2 and verse 15. i will say we did shout louder to the liquor part of the sermon than we did the church attendance because we do seem to bark louder at those sins that affect other people i born at night but it wasn't last night first john 2 and 15. love not the world neither the things that are in the world if any man love the world the love of the father is not in him for all that is in the world the lust of the flesh the lust of the eye the pride of life is not of the father but of the world the world passeth away and the lust thereof but he that doeth the will of god abideth forever can i tell you something he said everything you see you need to run it through the filter of the word of god every desire you have you need to run it through the filter of the word of god every position that you want to hold you need to run it through the filter of the word of god love not the world neither the things in the world if any man love the world the love of the father is not in him you cannot love the world and your heavenly father at the same time you've got to be eminently in love with him you have absolutely we are in this world but we are not of this world you have got to be head over heels in love with him don't just attend this church be in love with god don't just obey the doctrine of being baptized and filled with the spirit do you love god tonight do you love him with all your heart tonight do you love him so much do you love god so much you see it's a story in the book of daniel nebuchadnezzar love the world he loved the world he loved the positions and the power god sent a dream to him and in the dream the basic interpretation of the dream to save time the basic interpretation of the dream is nebuchadnezzar if you don't give god glory he's going to take everything that you have if you don't give god glory he's going to take the kingdom from you if you don't give god glory he's going to take your mind from you if you don't give god glory god's going to cause you to walk on all fours like an office if you don't give god glory you're going to eat grass like an ox does your fingernails will grow and resemble eagle's claws your hair is going to be matted by the dew and the rain and you're going to resemble an animal can i tell you something if we don't give god glory sooner or later we'll start living like animals i think this disease that's spreading among homosexuals is aptly named monkey pops i ain't trying to be funny i'm just simply trying to tell you the truth when you want to live to your flesh you're going to suffer the consequences of that flesh if you show so of the flesh you shall reap corruption but if you sow in the spirit you shall reap life everlasting you better give god glory to nebuchadnezzar you better give him glory but one day he stepped out on his balcony wearing his 3 000 house robe and his 2 000 house shoes waiting for his 750 breakfast to come to the room and he looked out and he said look at mighty babylon look at mighty babylon look at what i have done and at that moment god took his god took his mind from him all of a sudden he got down on all fours well they knocked on the door to deliver his 750 dollar breakfast and the man in the 3 000 house coated the 2 thousand dollar house used didn't open the door they couldn't get it open and probably they jarred their west self in and they found oil nebuchadnezzar what new game is this he's on all fours he doesn't want the eggs and the toast and the he doesn't he doesn't he doesn't want the avocado and the tomato he doesn't want all the dainty dishes he begins to want to chew like an oxwood and they took him out the back door on all fours it's in the bible they took him out out the back door and they put him out in the backyard like he would do a dog going to the bathroom they put him out in the backyard and he stayed on all fours his fingernails grew been used to the finest manicures but now they grew like eagle's claws his hair he used to get his hair cut at fifteen hundred dollars oh why but now he wants no haircut his hair grows like eagle wings and feathers that fall down he eats grass they said have you checked on the king lately and they look out in the backyard and he's chewing on the the hedges he's chewing in the dirt he's chewing and he does it for the space of about 12 months until one day he looked up to heaven and somehow in that state of mind he began to say god i give you glory god i give you glory and when he did god put his mind back in him and he stood upright and he knocked on the door of the palace and he said let me back in for i know now to give glory to god church tonight you had better not be intoxicated with your three thousand dollar house robe you better not be intoxicated with the things of this world you better give god glory i don't care how pretty your hair is you better shout it down i don't care how straight your suit is you better get out there and dance a little bit you better give god glory come on praise him right now oh god i love you god i love you refocusing on what really matters can i ask our youth group tonight how many examples of young girls not being sold out to god and wrecked their life do you need young men how many jerry carpenters am i going to have to bring up here well brother carpenter don't you know my son ain't never done anything he ain't right with god but he never do anything no he's going to go somewhere worse in prison what my brother did got him 34 and a half years in prison but in 34 and a half years in prison he came to himself gave god the glory and right now he's serving god and right now he's in a relationship with god he goes to a church he works in that church he pays his tithes he loves god he ushers he does what he needs to do and if the rapture happens god's going to take him in the rapture so i think we need to i think we need to change the scenario a little bit i think we need to change the background a little bit this ain't about staying out ahead this ain't about staying out of jail it's about going to heaven man is this old-fashioned or not or what is this old-fashioned tonight or what this ain't about marrying somebody of the faith so you all live happily ever after in your little walton mountains this is about going to heaven this is about walking streets of gold is there anybody interested in going to heaven is there anybody interested in hearing him say well done good and faithful servant is there anybody interested in eternity come on ambitious business owner how many failed marriages over money am i gonna have to show you i don't care how ambitious you are you better keep giving god glory i don't care how many businesses you want to start i don't care how much the money's going to flow in you better have a prayer life to match the prosperity because if you don't have a prayer like i got bible please let me say the bible i would that you would be in good health and prosper even as your soul to prosper if you're going to make some big money you better have some big devotion if you're going to make some big bucks you better have some big devotion to to match it up because if you don't you're going to lose everything you have you think you've got it you've got some over here you've got some over there you've got some over here i am well set you are a fool to have that mentality you better give god the glory i didn't say you had to give it to him but you better give god the glory is there anybody interested in going to heaven i'm here to go to heaven i'm serving god to go to heaven i'm living right to go to heaven i'm saying no to sin because i want to go to heaven that's why i'm in this race young folks young men how many jerry carpenters you need middle-aged folks how many examples do you need busted marriages how many i say tonight you shouldn't need one more if you should realize i better deny my flesh my flesh says it's 15 after seven on wednesday night i am tired i'm dirty i'm sweaty my flesh says man that recliner i can prop it up i can go online at least i tell the preacher i went online i'll sleep half the time but i i can at least tell the preacher i watched it online sure your flesh would tell you that but you know what you need to say no flesh i'm going to go in i may have to sit on the back row like some other men and women do but i'm going to go to the house of god why because i need to be saved if i give the flesh a little bit it'll take a little bit more and if i give it a little bit it'll take a little bit more and a little bit more and a little bit more nebuchadnezzar had a grandson by the name of belle shasta we forget we forget the jerry carpenters we forget the couple's names that i could name in this room tonight and you say i remember them yeah did you remember how they got prosperous now their marriages are not together oh don't don't get quiet it's a god's honest truth i don't know i know about you but if my gran my grandfather had god take his mind from him i i think i'd want to stay as far away from that as i could daniel 5 and 1 belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords he drank wine before the thousands belshazzar while he tasted the wine commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in jerusalem that the king and his princes his wives his concubines might drink therein that's odd isn't it you're getting drunk and it comes into your mind to go get the golden vessels and silver vessels that had been used in the temple of god these vessels that had been used for a holy use he calls for them and they filled them with wine then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of god which was at jerusalem and the king and his princes his wives and his concubines drank in them they drank wine and praised the gods of gold and of silver and brass and iron of wood and a stone oh they got drunk can i tell you this world is intoxicated there is nothing sacred in this world there is nothing sacred nothing sacred one religious publisher showed how nothing is sacred in this world they somehow had cut and pasted an article in playboy magazine they were advertising playboy magazine a magazine where they degrade women yes degrade women and in their magazine they had jesus hanging on the cross and above jesus head where they nailed the inscription the king of the jews they put a playboy magazine there and the caption read see even jesus subscribed to playboy god help us this world is drunk and they're taking the sacred things of god and they're becoming more intoxicated and more intoxicated and more intoxicated but i want you to know you can make your own decisions that you cannot choose your consequences you tune me off tonight you can turn me off you can even get up walk out tonight that's your choice hope you don't but that's your choice but you can't choose your consequence you can't choose the consequence you can choose a lot of things you can let your flesh tell you a lot of deceiving things but you can't choose the consequence of your decision that's in god's hands and there is coming a day there's coming a day when a trumpet is going to sound and the rapture of the church is going to take place jesus is coming for his church jesus is coming for his church it's going to happen church it's in the word of god it is going to take place there is a god there is a timetable and that timetable is very soon and it's going to happen the dead in christ are going to rise first we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to forever be with the lord he's going to take us to heaven for what is called the marriage supper of the lamb we will enter that that place as a great wedding party but down here on this earth there's going to be three and a half years of unincredible prosperity world peace such has never been known before for three and a half years for three and a half years at the end of three and a half years god is going to turn the kingdom of the beast into confusion the son is going to be given power to scorch people you just hear this preacher tonight this climate change craze that's going around is to give the explanation for tribulation the stage is being set you hear me the stage is being set when the sun begins to burn people with heat they're going to get up and say we've been telling you about this we've been telling you about global warming hell will fall from heaven the size of 125 pounds we've seen some big hell fall but we've never seen anything that size fall waters will be turned into blood there will be a pandemic hit this world that will make covet look like a common cold the world leader the antichrist will try everything that he can to straighten this out he'll try everything that he can but at the end of three and a half years of tribulation the antichrist will say if we can break the back of the only nation that didn't join us and sad to say we will have joined with the antichrist but there's one little nation over there called israel and they done started offering up animal sacrifices they've already they've already right now right now in some of the old rabbinical preschools they're already reviving how to cut heifers up and cut lambs up because they believe they've got to revive that and build the temple in order for messiah to come and while they're over there that group of people can you imagine how crazy animal activists are going to be they can kill a baby but save a whale can you imagine how crazy they're going to be when the israelites start splitting the throats of them lambs and that devil incarnate will set his glare on israel he'll call the nations of this world to surround israel in the battle of armageddon they'll surround israel israel will tremble like a cup that's shaking on a table israel will look around at the mountains filled jet planes flying over and israel will say this is the end of us but just before they get ready to push that nuclear missile just before they get ready to launch those missiles a cracking sound like this never been heard before and they'll turn their heads toward the eastern sky and there he will come riding on a white horse out of heaven with a sword out of it does somebody want to go to heaven does somebody want to go to heaven come on love not the world neither the things in the world do you want to go oh i begged you to not church oh i begged you tonight youth group we don't need another jerry we don't need another busted marriage we need to fall in love with god my god my god i want to be saved i don't want to have a pretty patty pentecostal church i got to go to heaven from here i've got to be saved if you want a patty cake for jesus this ain't the place but if you want to go to heaven come on in we want to be saved he got a sharp two-edged sword coming out of his mouth and they that are behind him are called chosen faithful he smites them with the word of his mouth you may be seated he smites them with the word of his mouth as zachariah tells us what it looks like zachariah said while they stand there while they stand there their flesh shall be consumed upon their bodies while they stand there their eyes shall melt and roll down their faces while they stand there their tongue shall cleave to the roof of their mouth i have just explained to you a human body in the wake of a nuclear explosion before their skeletal frame can collapse the skin is removed from their body and the bible says that the blood will run to the horse's bridle for some 240 miles as a matter of fact they don't have enough morgues around jerusalem they don't have enough cemeteries in the middle east and so god will have to summons the birds of the air to come and eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of captains and to devour the flesh because they don't have enough time to bury can i tell you tonight there's two suppers in the book of revelation there is the supper of the lamb and there is the supper of the great god where the birds eat the carnage don't know about you i am going to suffer i am not going to be supper i am going to suffer that as long as i got strength in my body get ready get ready oh i wish you would be relevant there's no more subject of eternity that is relevant eternity are you ready you wrap yourself up in your mink code if you want to you can wrap yourself up in your cds if you want to you can wrap yourself up in your false uh uh your your fault securities if you want to but there's a god that knows exactly how to find you and he knows exactly go ahead go ahead bill shastard get as drunk as you want to get cause i'm about to invade your party you've got strip naked women laying around on ivory white couches on a black marble floor you're drunk and staggering all over the place and women are laying nude all over your party but all of a sudden all of a sudden god says i've had enough and all of a sudden god manifest himself in that room with a hand a hand burns in the plaster on the wall many many tackle you farsin the king the bible says his knees smoke together in fear violins and musical instruments ceased nude women pulled their clothes around them drunken men sobered up and said what is this somebody said i'll tell you what there's a man in this kingdom his name's daniel he can tell you he can tell you what that says they summons daniel in the middle of the night daniel came down to the party you may be seated daniel came down from the party daniel walked in the room and sister would you hear me good daniel walked into the room and the king said if you can read that for me i'll make you a wealthy man if you can read that from me i'll put a gold chain on your neck if you can read that from me you'll never want for another dime i'll make you extremely wealthy and daniel said like most men of god you keep your money but i will tell you what that says o king didn't you learn your jerry carpenter lesson king didn't you learn from your grandfather don't you remember as a little boy going down to the picket fence and looking through at your grandfather eating grass like an oxen don't you remember them telling you the story that he didn't give jehovah god glory and god took his mind from him and the very moment he began to give god glory god gave him back his mind i'm going to tell you something worship is the pivotal point when god starts restoration your restoration doesn't start when things get back in your driveway or somebody comes back to your house your restoration begins at the pivotal point of worship how many how many how many ambitious men that started businesses and god of a girlfriend do you need buddy how many stories you need he said bill shasser you should know better you should have known better but tell me what it says many many target you far sin it simply says thou has been weighed in the balances and found waning god has numbered your kingdom and god has finished it could i ask you something tonight if there was a set of balances up here on this platform and one side of the balance was the works of your flesh and the other the works of the spirit would there be more on this side than that side would god weigh your thoughts do you have more thoughts about god than you do about your flesh you see i really believe you ought to get up in the morning and when you first come to an awareness that you're awake i really believe you ought to start saying thank you jesus thank you jesus i need you today god i praise you god today i thank you god you open your eyes it shouldn't be i can make another buck today thank you jesus thank you god you've been waiting in the balances and you've been found wanting god has numbered your kingdom and god has finished it you see what bill shazer didn't know he had his confidence in his thick walls the outer wall of the city of which belshazzar partied was 17 miles around these walls that he was within was 22 feet thick and 90 feet high i'm secure sister ryan i'm secure i've got a wall of 17 miles i've got a wall that's 22 feet thick and 90 feet high i also have guard towers on the walls that are a hundred feet tall i also have gates that are made of bronze also have an inner and outer wall and even a moat was placed around there to secure him sounds pretty secure don't it but you know what he didn't know that very night the chaldeans had been digging under the walls and that very night the chaldeans were about to come up on the inside of that wall and they did and they smoked killed belshazzar that very night i'm going to serve god brother carpenter i'm going to get real fired up for god i know i've got things in my car i've got things on my phone i've got things at home i got connections with egypt i'm going to get rid of them someday what if the deaf angel is digging under your house now what if the death angel unbeknowing to you what if your appointment with death what if your appointment with death is but 48 hours away are you ready because when that death angel comes and your time has ended when that 52 year old man hit that sidewalk the bible says as a tree falleth there shall it lay you know how that man's going out to meet god in the very condition that he hit that sidewalk do you know how you go out to meet god in the very condition good intentions don't get on the balances you can't convince a teacher that's worth it that's worth his his or her salt you can't stand there with an f on that test and say i wanted to study it was in my heart to study if they're worth their weight in salt they'll tell you well that is just bad this is the grade you got church is there anybody that wants to go to heaven that wants to look at eternity is there anybody dug under the walls they dug under the walls and that night bill shazer lost his life the story of every young man or every young woman that's went to prison has been to look back and say it wasn't worth it it wasn't worth it when sin digs its way out and and shows up in your life a tale that gets told over and over again it wasn't worth it it wasn't worth it i've had to witness the most horrific sights and almost 40 years of pastoring i've witnessed men beating their head on my desk why did i do it i've witnessed women sobbing uncontrollably because you listen to me tonight look look at me laser your eyes on me tonight because what sin is going to tempt you to do one day you'll look at the consequence and you'll say it wasn't worth it you'll hear the words if i had it to do all over again if i could just go back esau a lousy sister aretha a lousy bowl of beans he sold his future for a lousy bowl of beings we should read our bible this way abraham isaac and esau but the reason esau's not there and jacob is is one bowl of beans he looks back and he cries he did it's in the bible he went just a bowl of beans i sold my birthright for a bowl of beans but can i turn the coin over jacob bought a birthright for a bowl of beans can i tell you that in light of the blessings of god we now have and the unimaginable blessings of god that are coming in eternity we will look at all of eternity and we will say mother tharp we got all of this for a bowl of beans we we got all of this for a mole moment all we had to do was repent and be baptized and receive the holy ghost and go to church and live for god and look at what we got look at what we got for a boat i'm living forever i'm living for eternity i'm living out eternity stay with me control my voice oh is god jesus jesus oh god god jesus jesus come on if you're the altar is open right now come on the altar is open right now god is dealing with you you got some things in your life you need to sell the horses you need to sell the horses tonight come on walk the aisle and sell the horse come on walk the aisle and sell the horse i beg you i plead with you eternity's coming in god come on god forgive us of gossip god forgive us of that body we've got water tonight we can baptize you you can receive the gift of the holy ghost tonight come on if you're standing beside somebody if you don't have the holy ghost tap them on the shoulder and tell them i don't have the holy ghost jesus jesus you better number your spirit you better under your spirit tonight jesus is coming the only way you can be saved you to humble your spirit my tonight pray church pray church pray pray pray pray pray oh god i need you tonight i'm going to ask the church tonight to help me i'm going to ask you to pray for one another tonight i'm going to tell you that i'm weak in my body i would love to pray tonight i love to pray tonight but i've delivered my soul i need you to function as a church right now i need you to pray with one another pray your brother through pray your sister through there's no way with the crowd this size i can lay my hands on everybody i need the help of the men tonight i need the help of the women tonight sister fine sister brother fine brother pray you've got energy pray pray to the top of your voice shake hell with your prayer pray pray one another through pray what another drew pray pray pray in the spirit pray in other tongues you've got to be ready for heaven sell the horse sell the horse whew hey if there's anyone that wants to be baptized tell somebody besides you tell somebody beside you i want to be baptized they will connect you with the right people i gotta make it i gotta i gotta make it i gotta hear him say well done god forgive me forgive me god if i've got anything in my heart god if i have gossiped if i have backbited god if i've had thoughts that are not pure oh god i gotta make it i gotta make it i gotta make it i gotta make it i can't hate anybody i can't hold a grudge at anybody yes right lay your hands on one another go ahead go ahead dakota go ahead and go find somebody pray with you better refocus on what matters you better refocus on what matters there's something you've been thinking about leaving church they some of you been thinking about going to another church you better refocus on what matters right now oh yes oh men and women of god pastor is drained of his strength tonight i gotta have you to pray the spirit wants to do something okay come on you ought to pray it is work it is work it is work it is work you ought to feel like you've been to work when you leave tonight you want to feel like you're tired when you leave here tonight but it's going to have the greatest dividends the greatest big events i gotta have you men and women of god pray come on church pray come on church pray you better refocus on what matters we're gonna lose your soul you're gonna lose your soul you're gonna lose yourself you're gonna lose your soul you better pray do you feel like you've been to work you're gonna have to push it out because your flesh is gonna bite you pray pray pray i promise you if you'll pray you'll leave here with victory if you'll pray you'll leave here with victory glory glory refocus pray hey pray pray pray pray you need to feel like you've been to work tonight seth lay your hands on this young man right there and pray with him let's operate as a church let's operate in the holy ghost you