The Kingdom, The Power, & The Glory | Senior Pastor Kenneth Carpenter
by Kenneth Carpenter
First Apostolic Church of Maryville (Maryville, TN)
Kind: teaching
Scripture: Matthew 16:26, Matthew 25:30, Matthew 22:13, Luke 16:23, 2 Samuel 22:5, 2 Thessalonians 1:9, Revelation 21:8, Mark 9:43, Revelation 14:11, Revelation 20:14, Luke 16:24, Matthew 13:42-50, Matthew 13:49, Isaiah 66:1, Matthew 5:12, Matthew 6:9-13, Genesis 1:1-2, Genesis 1:14, Genesis 2:7-8, Genesis 2:16, Genesis 2:16, Genesis 8:20-22, Jeremiah 31:35-37, Haggai 1:3-6, Acts 1:8, Acts 3:1, Acts 3:6, Proverbs 3:27, Proverbs 18:21, Ecclesiastes 4:1, Exodus 33:18-23

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

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Come on. If that's your prayer tonight, why don't you >> Let's give him praise right now in the house. If you're not already standing, will you stand with me right now? Let's give him praise right now in our hearts. Give him praise. Give him praise. What a good God. What a mighty God. Lord, we love you and we worship you tonight. We thank you for your goodness, Father. We thank you for your love and mercy, Lord. Father, we've gathered in this house to lift our voices and lift our hands and lift our hearts and to tell you how great you are and how mighty you are. Lord, we thank you for your love. We thank you for your mercy tonight. Now, give the Lord a hand to praise right now. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. You may be seated. So good to see you on this beautiful Wednesday evening in the house of the Lord. We came through a great weekend. Two great mighty services. And I want to go ahead and report church secretary has told me well over well over 50% of all that was pledged Sunday morning has already come in. And we thank we thank God for that. Don't you believe he deserves a hand clap right now? We thank God for that. Early in my ministry, my goal and drive was to become a great preacher. I never reached that status. But now my main drive and goal, I want to be a great pastor. There is a difference. I want to be a great pastor. In the field of politics, politicians will say to those that they want their vote, they will say, "I have your back." Or, "I have your heart." But in the field of being a pastor, the field of pastoring, I want to say tonight, I have your soul in mind. I care about your soul. Your soul is that part of you that will live throughout eternity. Your soul will live throughout eternity. Your soul will continue to be when your body is dead. Your soul is that eternal part. As a matter of fact, your soul is the most valuable part of you and I. Your soul is the most valuable part. How valuable is your soul? Jesus said in Matthew 16:26, "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? Jesus would let us know the value of a soul that if all the world's wi riches, if all the world's currencies could be put together and you would take all the world's riches in exchange for your soul, Jesus said, "You've made a lousy deal. You've made a lousy trade. I want what's best for you spiritually. I want what is best for you spiritually. Every last one of you that's in this room tonight, I want what is best for you spiritually. I want what is best for you about that part that I've just talked about, your soul. Do we rejoice? Sure we do. The testimony brother Nolan gave about Carter. Testimony that he gave. Do we do we rejoice? Well, sure we do. But can I tell you the greatest rejoicing will not take place here on this earth? >> The greatest rejoicing will take place when we hear those words, well done, good and faithful servant. You see that part of your soul that will live out through eternity. Again, I want you to be saved. I want you to be saved. Saved. Saved. You may ask. You see, you have to realize that we are preaching to and reaching to different generations, different cultures. Some may say saved. Saved from saved from what? When you say I want you to be saved, when pastor Carpenter you say I want you to be saved, what are you meaning? Saved from what? Well, allow me to give you a description of what Jesus says we are to be saved from. We are to be saved according to Matthew 25 and30. We're to be saved from a place of weeping and nashing of teeth. Matthew 22:13, we're to be saved from a place of outer darkness. Luke 16:23, we're to be saved from a place of torment. 2 Samuel 22:5-7, we're to be saved from a place of sorrows. 2 Thessalonians 1:9, a place of everlasting destruction. Revelation 2:18, a place where people are tormented with fire and brimstone. Mark 9:43, a place of worms that never die. Mark 9 and 43, a place where the fire is not quenched. Revelation 14:11, a place where there is no rest. Revelation 20 and 14, a place that will ultimately be called the lake of fire. Luke 16:24, a place of hopeless and unsatisfied desires. Mark 13:42-50, a furnace of fire. Matthew 13 and 49, a place of separation. and ma revelation 2:18. A place filled with the cow cowardly, a place filled with the unbelieving, a place filled with the vile, the murderers, the sexual immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idoltors, and all liars. but ultimately a place where the majesty and the power and the presence of God is not. So you asked me tonight, preacher, saved from what? That's what I'm talking about tonight. Because all of our souls are headed to one of two places. My soul, your soul will either end up in what I just listed or by the help of God and by the grace of God. This is where I want my soul to end up around the throne room. Isaiah 66:1. A place where God will reward his people. Matthew 5:12. A place from thieves and destruction. A place of rejoicing. A place where there will be there there will be no marrying and giving in marriage. A house with many rooms. A home of righteousness. A garden of paradise. A place that doesn't experience hunger, thirst, tears, hot sun, or scorching heat. A place of victory and playing of harps. A holy city. A place where God dwells with us. A place that doesn't experience sadness, death, or pain. A place that is lit literally by the glory of God. A place that has no night. A place where no impure thing or person exists. A place of life and healing. A place where God reigns forever more. That's what church is all about. We're not a club. We're not a country club. We're not we we are not a a a a cruise liner. We are we are not a cruise liner or a showboat. We are the old battleship of Zion. And if our minds ever drift from one of those two places, we have missed the mark greatly. I want to hear him say, and if you want to hear him say, I want you to stand to your feet. I want to hear him say, Kenneth Ray Carpenter, well done. enter into the joys and the glory of the of the Lord. You've been faithful down here on this earth. I want to hear that in my soul tonight. I want to hear that. I want to hear those words. Well done, good and faithful servant. I don't want to hear. Oh God, oh precious God, I don't want to hear the words, depart from me. I never knew you. If you're in this room tonight or you're watching online and I personally have any spiritual influence in your life, if there's anything about the way that I've lived and preached that causes you to believe, I want you to lean in tonight and I want you to open your heart. She said, "Well, brother Corbin, I thought you was going to talk to us about getting ready for Easter." I am. Because we're not in competition with the other churches around here. We're not we're not in competition with who can have uh uh the the the politician or the movie star or who can have a singer come that fill their building. Easter's not about filling our building. Easter is about celebrating the resurrected savior. And because he is our resurrected savior tonight, you and I get to celebrate our new life that we have. So I want you to lean in to me tonight. I want you to lean in. My prayer has been that God will put the church, every man and every woman, that we'll all be on the same page. My text tonight, Matthew chapter 6 and verse number nine. Matthew chapter 6 and verse number N. We're going to go to prayer after I read my text this evening. Please remember to pray. I've got several texts from uh William Cooper and Stacy Cooper. Their precious sweet [name redacted] is in the hospital. Has been in the hospital. May still be in the hospital, but she's there. That little girl is very sick. Can we lift up a faith prayer? Can we lift up a faith prayer? You know, when people believe, when people believe, God can answer prayers. People believe. We were visiting the hospital the other night. We sat down. Complete stranger. Complete a complete stranger. We'd never met the lady before. She just leaned over and she said, "Uh, would you pray?" said, "Uh, my my husband said they won't let him go home. He's had some procedures done and said, "We're just waiting and waiting and waiting and they won't let him go home till he's able to move his feet. They won't let they won't let him go home." And right there in the waiting room, we just join hands. Sister Carpenter and I, we just begin to pray with her. We just ask God in childlike faith to touch. Of course, my motive for God want to heal. I always want to direct people. I always want to direct people to this wonderful lifesaving apostolic doctrine. Oh God, I I want to take every healing and point to the apostles doctrine. I want to take every good thing and point it to the apostles doctrine because that's what saves us. That's what keeps us that's what keeps us in that line is that wonderful apostolic doctrine. I don't know. We sat there and talked to the lady maybe maybe 10 minutes or so. She got a phone call and and I heard her say, "He did. He did." And she got all excited and she looked over to us. and said, "He's moving his feet right now. I got I got to go. I got to go." He's a He's a prayer answering God, isn't he, church? He's a prayer answering God. But remember remember [name redacted] tonight. Also, also remember the Azars in Lebanon. I spoke with him a couple hours ago and uh by text. I actually was texting with him. He said, "Brother Carpenter, we had service. We had church tonight." And of course, I believe there's several, brother Ericson, are they hours ahead of us. And uh he said, "We've already had church." And he said, "We've had such a move of God, but he said, "Tomorrow, they're they're asking all Americans to leave." And said, "Tomorrow we're we're going to be flying to Cyprus." Said, "Please pray that we have safe passage there to Cyprus." And uh from Cyprus, they're going to be coming they're going to be coming home. So let's please, you know, the Middle East is rocking right now. And let's please remember let's please remember them. Matthew 6:9 after this manner therefore pray ye. Our father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name. Everybody say thy kingdom >> thy kingdom come thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Here's where I'm going to take my te This is where I'm going to take my text from tonight. Lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil. For thine is for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Let's pray. Father, in the name of Jesus, tonight we pray for [name redacted] right now. Lord, by your healing hand, Jesus, would you clear up the infection that's in that precious girl's body? Lord, would you move through [name redacted], God, from the top of her head to the soles of her feet tonight? Lord, would you touch her body, soul, and spirit? God, would you touch the Lord, those that we've kept their names out, Lord? Would you, Lord, would you touch Janette Carpenter? And God, would you touch Lord, Brother Nash? And Lord, would you touch Mother Zander and God those Lord that we keep praying and those God that we keep believing and Lord I pray Lord that you would touch Sister Satan tonight and the request on Mother Satan tonight Lord that you would move and that you would touch. Father I ask that you would anoint me tonight. God help me to connect with every man in this building. Help me to connect with every woman God. Lord, may we spiritually be stronger than ever before in this Easter season. God, draw us closer to you. In Jesus wonderful name we pray. Amen. And amen. Would you give God a hand of praise? You may be seated. I am going to teach for a few moments this evening using the 13th verse of chapter 6 and I am going to minister on the kingdom, the power and the glory. The kingdom and the power and the glory. And of course, as I begin to study these passages of scripture the other day, once again from our precious word of God, once again, something just jumps out of the page. Something you've read many times, but now something jumps out of the page and you begin to go back. But I believe that when he said, "For thine is the kingdom and thine is the power and thine is the glory." I believe that they these three go together and they build the stairs that help us reach a level that we cannot reach on our own. And I believe that it begins just like it is laid out. I believe that it begins with the kingdom. The Greek word for kingdom here has the meaning of royal power, kingship, dominion, rule. It has the notion that is it is the foundation. It is the foundation of the kingdom. It is the place to where you begin to build. It is the territory subject to the rule of a king. We could actually substitute the word kingdom for structure. For thine is the structure. Thine is the structure. Can I tell you tonight that submission to the structure is what begins. Everything with God begins with our submission. Our submission to the structure. Our willingness. Our willingness to submit. Our own will power of placing ourself under the lordship of Jesus Christ. Nobody intimidates you to do it. Nobody guilts you into doing it. It is not an emotional thing. Submission is not emotional. Submission is a frame of mind that you study something out until you see the value. And when you see the value of submitting yourself to God, you willingly you willingly of your own will. that has nothing to do with your emotions. It is submission to the structure. We see throughout the word of God, we see in creation that God had structure. God begins in Genesis 1 with structure and submission. with structure and submission. God created the earth in a structured order. And I'm going to tell you, as never before, what people need in their life is structure. They need in their life is structure. What every individual person needs is structure. What every marriage needs is structure. What every family unit needs is structure. And what every church needs is structure. We see structure in creation. We understand. We understand in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and they were without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And so a form of structure began. The spirit of God moved that structure upon the face of the waters. And God said that structure. He goes on in this structure of building an earth. And in Genesis chapter 1 verse number 14, the Bible says, "And God said, let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night and let them be for signs and seasons and for days and for years." You see the God, he is creating God is creating a structure. He's creating a structure. As a matter of fact, if you would go one more chapter over to Genesis 2 and verse number seven, it gets really interesting here in Genesis 2 and 7. Up to this point, God would speak and whatever he spoke came into existence. Am I right tonight? Whatever God would speak, let there be and there was light. God would speak. But he comes to Genesis chapter 16. Look at this with me if you would please. Genesis 2 and chapter six verse 16. And the Lord God commanded the man saying of every excuse me I I went one text too far. Genesis 2 and 7. That's my bad. Genesis 2 and 7. Um, and the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Man became a living soul. So now we have man created. But look at verse eight. It's very interesting. And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden. And there he put the man whom he had formed. Out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. the tree of life also in the midst of the garden and the tree of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Go back to verse eight for a moment because this is interesting. Do you would you notice with me that the Bible says God did not say let the garden be? Could he have said that? And would there have been a garden? Absolutely. But the Bible says that God planted a garden. Could it be that God was giving an example to the man that he just created how to plant, how to see the harvest come? Could it be that God was saying to the man, I'm going to give you a form of structure? I'm going to model this structure for you. Because it simply says, "And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden. He gave him and showed him how to live. Showed him how to survive. Then the scripture that I read just a moment ago or partially Genesis 2:16. And the Lord God commanded the man saying, "Of every tree of the garden, thou mayest freely eat. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it. For in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." Let me tell you something else. God gave us God gave us the power of choice. We are not robots. We are not angels. There are some angels that were created that can do nothing but give glory to God. They don't have they don't have the ability to choose. They were created. But you and I, you and I have been created with the ability of choice because choice is the foundation of our worship. Sister Lorie Hawkins sings the song, I choose to be a Christian. I choose to live for him. Nobody's making me do it. This is how I want to live. So beautiful. Tonight, we all made a choice, did we not? And that choice was to be in the house of God this evening. And there is because the power of choice. Do you realize that when we choose the righteous choices in life, when we choose to do the right thing, nobody's making me do it. This is how I want to live. When we choose to live, when we choose to live the right way, do you know there is a reward for choosing to live the right way? There is a reward when you choose it. It may not be immediate, but I want you to know if it's a command from God and it's it's yoke uh yolked up to submission, you might as well open the window because the blessing is on the way because God has always rewarded the choices of righteousness. But just as sure as there is the reward of a righteous choice, there's a consequence of an evil choice. If you choose to snub your nose at God, if you choose to sit here tonight and view me as just, you know, just that you you just he's just our preacher. He's just our preacher. And I understand that. And I've understand that for many years in this room tonight, in this room tonight, there are people that I am viewed as nothing more than their preacher. It's all I am. I'm just preaching to them. But then there's others that I am their pastor. And there is a big difference between a preacher and a pastor. >> When you see somebody as a preacher, he's just another loud fastspeaking person, just another person that somebody dies in the family. We get him to come and say his sweet little word. Somebody wants to get married, he's going to come and say that. You know what? That's a sorry way really to view a preacher because what I read to you for a few moments tonight, what I read to you about your valuable soul ought to be something that you say, "I don't want to go to hell. I don't want to spend eternity in a place indescribable fire. I don't want to spend eternity in a lake of fire. I don't want to spend because it's my choice." Somebody has said, "Will God send me to hell?" God will send no one to hell. You send yourself. You make the choice. You make that choice. And because we make that choice, there is a consequence that goes along with the choice. Now, let's say this tonight. Some people believe because they have sinned and a swift judgment doesn't come that it's no longer wrong with God. Can I tell you? You may not have a judgment, but you will have a judgment day. Things may not the tires may not come off of your life and you may never live spiritually miserable, but one day you're going to stand before the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, and you will give an answer for your choice. You know, I I don't know why people that keep getting burnt from sin, I I don't I don't I don't know why they keep going back. If it burnt you once, why are you going back again and again? My wife and I, I think we're probably like a lot of you, but we'll go through stages of eating certain foods, you know. We'll we'll go through stages of, you know, having fried baloney or we'll go through stages of having what I'm about to tell you about, boiled eggs, you know, and so we we're we're at the stage right now boiling. I we get up some mornings and we got some avocado. We're at the avocado stage and and and and you know, and we we'll eat that for a while, then we get tired of it and move on to something uh not as healthy, you know. And um so we were I was boiling eggs the other morning and trying to talk on the phone boiling eggs and I got the timer on the microwave and I got it going and I got the the the gas range going and the water is boiling. The eggs are in there boiling and and the timer goes off and I reach and I grab the handle of that pot. Immediately pain signals shoot up here. Two big blisters, one on my thumb and one on my finger. All right. And uh for the rest of the day, put some ointment on it and and all of that. It it feels a little little little tender to the touch right now. But you know, I boiled some eggs Monday. And do you know that when I got ready to go grab that pot? Oh, me get washcloth. Now, they make other things, but you got to get down in the drawer to get these things. Good washcloth, I get it, too. Or good washcloth, I get it. You know, put it wet just a little bit and I wrapped it around there. You see, that pain caused me to remember I'm not going to do that again. Can I tell you something tonight? If you're here and you continue or grabbing that pot on the stove and getting burned, when are you going to stop? When are you going to just realize it's never going to pay to make unrighteous choices in your life? Can somebody say amen? >> He said, "I'll give you the choice." Genesis 2:16, the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree thou thou thou mayest freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." There's a choice. You know what the choice is? You can either eat free or pay for the meal. All right? He said, "Of all the trees of the garden, thou mayest what?" >> Freely. It's free. He said free. It's free. He said, "All the trees of the garden, thou mayest freely eat, but of the tree of the garden of knowledge of good and evil, thou mayest not. For in the day you eat, you shall surely die." You see, you can either enjoy freedom or you can choose to eat from that tree and you will pay. The Bible says that the Bible says the wages of sin are what? >> Death. The the Anybody ever paid for a gift? Huh? You paid for a gift? No. It ceases to be a gift if you paid for it, right? You're thankful that God gives us a gift >> from a tree and that gift is eternal life tonight. Let's choose that gift. Why don't we? Let's choose that right way. I promise you, if you'll make righteous choices in your life, if you'll make righteous choices, you will live to see how how beneficial that it is. We'll go on over to Genesis chapter 8, verse number 20. Noah built an altar unto the Lord. Sounds like structure. Took of every clean beast and every clean foul and offered burnt offerings on the altar. That's structure. The Lord smelled a sweet savor. And the Lord said in his heart, "I will not again curse the ground anymore for man's sake. For the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I again smite anymore everything living as I have done." Now watch this structure. Watch God give structure. He's a God of structure. That altar that Noah built, imagine that before Noah built a home, he had an altar. He built an altar. That's structure. He offered up sacrifices. That's structure. And when he did what he did, God comes down in verse number 22. And he says, "While the earth remainth, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease." Look at the clause there. While the earth remainth, While the earth remainth, there will always be seed time and harvest. There will always be summer and winter. There will always be cold and heat, and there will always be day and night. So, let's not buy into the agenda of the save the earth religion. >> All right? Can I tell you the same word of God that created the earth and causes the earth to exist will be the same word of God will bring it to an end. But while the earth remainth, guess what's guess what there's going to be? There's going to be structure. There's going to be structure. There's going to be seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease. Now, I'm going to deviate just a little bit, and I think this is going to help us with the times that we're in right now. I'm going to deviate just a little bit to show you the shity of the word of God. Are you hearing me, church? The certainty, the certainty, the shity of the word of God. The word of God, when God speaks it, it's sure. When God speaks it, it's iron clad when God speaks it. Now, there's a lot going on in the Middle East right now, and there's a lot of of nations that that that come together to annihilate the nation of Israel and the seed of Abraham. Are are y'all with me tonight? >> All right. Look at Jeremiah 31:35. This is very interesting. I'm just deviating just a little bit. Jeremiah 31 and35. Thus saeth the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinance of the moon, and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea with the waves when the waves thereof roar, the Lord of hosts is his name. Let's study verse 35 for a moment. Who created the sun? The Lord. All right. Who created the moon? Who created the stars? And they've all got a job to do, right? God never creates anything to do nothing. He created the sun to give light. He created the moon to reflect the light. He created the stars. He created the waves. He created the tides. He created all of this. So God is the creator. Now let's go to verse 36. God says, "If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever." What does that mean? Lose hope in Israel when the sun refuses to shine. lose hope in Israel when the moon is not reflecting the light. Lose hope in Israel when there's no stars and there's no seasons. But until that day, you've got to look at that nation and realize as long as there's a sun in the sky and a moon at night and stars at night, there will be a nation of Israel. There will be. And I I was going to have somebody run outside tonight and look at the moon and come back in here and say, "There's still a nation." Let's read on. Verse 37. Thus sayeth the Lord, if heaven above can be measured, they do that in light years. All right? Our telescopes and things we've seen into outer space, they measure the vastness by light years. If the heavens can be measured and the foundations of the earth searched out before I'm every time I read this verse I think of Johnny James who read an article of somebody that said they knew exactly how much the world weighed of which he asked where are the scales and the foundations of the earth. Let me start back again. Thus sayeth the Lord, if heaven if heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord. You know what God is just simply saying? He is saying to a group of people that were in bondage. Israel was in captivity at the time of these reading and he was saying if you don't see the sun coming up in the morning I forsaken you but every day no wonder they said things like this is the day the Lord hath made because every day the sun come up it was reminder to them regardless of where their lives were what the bondage was it was a reminder to them that God keeps his word I'm standing here tonight to tell you our God keeps his word let's don't doubt him one bit our God keeps his word. That's why I want to come and tell you that you and I need to develop daily structures in our life. We need to be people of structure. We need to have the structure of prayer. We need to have the structure of scripture reading every day. We need to read it. We need to read the word. And we need to allow the word to change our lives. Remember how God worked in creation. God first moved. God first said and then God provided and God restricted. God gave structure. Lord help this church and help me as a pastor that I preach the holy habits of prayer. We need the structure of prayer. We need the holy habits of prayer. And if you're not in the habit of praying daily and reading your Bible daily, there's not a better time to start that habit than right now tonight. before you go to bed, get a Bible, just read some out of the book of Psalms and just just figure in the morning, get up and and and read it again. Well, I I I don't have time to do that. Do you have time to get on social media? If you got time to get on social media, that's your structure. That's why your brain's warped. That's why you're depressed. That's what That's why. But if you can get in the word of God, get you some structure. I'm reading a verse a day. I'm reading a chapter a day. I'm praying for a few moments a day. I'm giving God some praise today. That is that is structure. Some people don't have structure. Prayer will do wonders for your spirit. Prayer will do wonders for your faith. Reading the word of God will do wonders for your faith. It'll do wonders for your life. You'll begin to run upon situations and remember the word of God. You you'll begin the word of God will come back to you and you'll begin to remember that. But you got to have structure. You gota you got to have the the structure about I imagine a lot of people in my counseling it would be a lot of people that when we begin to uncover the problem in their marriage or the problem in their lives it has a great deal to do with money has a great deal to do with money and the reason people have financial problems is they have structure problems they have structure they're they've not structured their finances around what the word of God says. They they've not structured. They they've got they they they've got in their own mind and made up in their own mind how much God should get and or when God should get things. And they they say things like, you know, when I get out of debt, I'm going to begin to tithe. And I could just I I just tell people, you're never going to be a tither. All right? You're never you're never going to be a tither. Because God didn't say in his word, bring all the tithe into the storehouse if you're out of debt. But I'm going to tell you the best way to get out of debt is to get the structure of tithe and offerings and missions giving. Hegi chapter 1 and verse number three. Listen to Hegi. And of course the house of God was being neglected and he began to prophesy. Then came the word of the Lord by Hegi the prophet, saying, "Is it time for you, oh ye, to dwell in your sealed houses, and this house, which was God's house, lie waste?" Now therefore, thus sayeth the Lord of hosts, "Consider your ways." Now, here's what he's saying. He says, "Is it time? Is it time?" Now, folks, I didn't write this. I I know some of you looking at me tonight like, "Okay, here we go." Yeah, here we go. Because it's structure. All right. It's structure. You're not running the aisles tonight. I didn't figure I think I even put down on the notes they won't run the aisles tonight. You know, I don't believe I've had to tell you to sit down one time, have I? We've I've really not had much of a clap tonight. Yeah. You're you're just not anointed. Oh, no. I believe I'm just as anointed >> as I've ever been. All right. >> >> But we don't naturally gravitate towards structure. But God said, "Let me give you a little example." He said, "Is it time for you to have the best? Is it time for you to have a sealed house, which was a very good house, and my house be laid to waste?" He says verse number five, "Now therefore, thus sayith the Lord of hosts, consider your ways." Could we could we say those three words together as one congregation tonight? Consider >> one more time, would you? >> Consider. >> You have sown much and bring in little. You eat, but you have not enough. You drink, but you are not filled with drink. You're clothed, but there is none more. And he that earneth wages earneth wages to put into a bag with holes. You know what it's saying? It was saying at the end of the week, you're saying, "Where'd my money go? I make this much money." I hear people I hear people I make this much money and you know I I've and again I'm I'm telling you about counseling that I've had but I've had people come to me that make $1,000 a week and they're struggling. And I've had people that come that have made twice that amount a week and guess what? They're struggling. And I've had those said and talked about a massive amount of money that they make a week and guess what? They are struggling. It's not the amount you're making that's making you struggle. It's the lack of structure in your finances because God can take the 90% and make it go further than anything else that you could do. God can take that form of structure and say, "All right, I'm going to press it down. I'm going to shake it together. I'm going to rebuke the devour from your life. I'm going I'm going to cause there to be I'll tell you what I'm going to cause. I see a little young married couple. I see a little young married couple that he's just got a new job as a salesman. And he steps out on a Sunday morning and he makes a pledge for a missionary in Rome. And because that little couple made that pledge, he says, "On Monday, I'm going to open up the largest account that that company that he works for has ever had." And he's going to get commissioned. But I'm telling you, it's got to do. Come on, church. It's got to do with Somebody shout it. Structure. Structure. Structure. If we don't have structure, we don't have the next word. We don't have the power. No structure, no power. He said when you pray, he said when you pray, say when you pray, for thine is the kingdom. Yours is the structure. Yours is the structure, God. The structure of coming to your house. The structure of giving praise and worship. The structure of reading my Bible daily. The structure of praying daily. The structure of coming to the house of God. The structure of lifting up holy hands. The structure the structure of finances. The structure the structure. And he says because thine is the structure. Thine is the kingdom. And what's the next word we're going to talk about? the >> power. Is it amazing? There's a lot of people want power, but they don't want structure. >> Now, I can get people shouting when we start talking about power cuz boy, I'm going to tell you what we talking about. Acts chapter 1, verse number eight. But you shall receive power. Dunamis power. Oh, that word dunamis meat comes from the root word dynamite. Oh yes, I want that power. Well, you don't get power until you get structure. But when you get structure, when you get structure, let's go on tonight. When you get structure, when the structure comes, you get power. What does the word power mean? It means strength. It means power. It means ability. It means the inherent power. Power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature of which a person or thing exerts and puts forth. means power for performing miracles. It means moral power, excellence of the soul. It means power and influence. It means the power and resources. It it just simply talks about power. Do do you realize that a lot of times we walk in weakness because we walk in the absence of structure. But when we walk in structure, let me show you a good structure here. Here's a good daily prayer life. Here's a good structure. Here's two men in the Bible that evidently had the structure of prayer. They're found in Acts 3, verse number one. Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer being the ninth hour. Sounds like there's a structure there. Sounds like these Jewish people have a structure of prayer. Sounds like they got an hour of prayer, right? I mean at the that went up to the went up to the temple at the into the temple at the hour of prayer being the ninth hour. There was an hour of prayer. There was a time of prayer. There was a structure of prayer just like we are attempting to have a structure of prayer of daily prayer around here. Daily daily daily prayer for Monday through Friday the the church is open for daily prayer. What's that too? That's talking about we're giving you an opportunity to have structure. Now, here's Peter and John. They go up to the temple. It's just a structure. It's just a routine. They go up to the temple, and a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple, which is called beautiful, to ask arms of them that entered into the temple. You know what I'm talking about? What happens next? They are operating in structure. Now, just imagine this. If a lame man can get healed with them going to prayer, pray tell what can happen after they do pray. You see, we get to thinking that we're the most powerful at the end of our prayer and then as we live our go through our day, the power begins to go down. That that's not so that that's not so. The power resides upon a church that has the structure of prayer. Peter and John are going to the temple. They've not yet prayed. They've not got in the room yet. But they see a they see a lame man lame carried there from his mother's womb. He looks at them asking for arms. Peter fastened his eyes upon them and said, "Look on us." He looked on expecting to receive something. And guess what Peter said? He said, "Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise and walk." And he reached and he took him by the right hand and he lifted him up. And when he lifted him up, his feet and his ankle bones miraculously received strength. And he leaped up and began to walk and leap. And guess where he went to? He went into the temple leaping and walking and praising God. Can I tell us today, let's don't live spiritually puny lives. We have got to learn a structure of prayer because you and I are going to run into our lame men that we need to be able to minister to the power of prayer. Look at Proverbs chapter 3 and verse number 24 or 27. Proverbs chapter 3 and verse number 24. Look at 27. Get it right. Proverbs 3 and 27. Withhold not good from them to whom it is due when it is in the power of thine hand to do it. You see, you got power. You just need to know where it's at. He said, when you have the power in your hand to do good, you need to do good. Proverbs 18 and 21, watch this. Death and life are in the power of the tongue that and they that love it shall eat the fruit. We got power in our hand. Too many people are waiting for God to open a door for them when they've got power in their hand to do what's there just apparently in front of them. But they sit with folded hands waiting for some door to open for them to get busy. When God just says, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all of your might. Do it with all of your might." He said, "The power of life and death are in the tongue." You have the power in your tongue. You have the power to encourage somebody. You have the power to discourage somebody. You have the power. You you have the power to create life. You have the power to have a funeral. I believe it was uh brother Mitchell from Michigan and he said the first time I heard you preached and he named it years ago. He named it years ago and he said I never he said I will never forget it's like 20 some odd years ago. He said I'll never forget what you preached. You preached about being a peacemaker and you you preached that that you had two people said you didn't name them but said you had two people in the church you pastor that were at odds with each other. They were at odds with each other and um you know uh you you preached about how that it troubled you and you were trying to find a way of making peace. And he said, he said, "You preach and said, "One night you were talking to one of the men and um one of the men was really dogging the other man, but he said something positive just a midst of all the grumbling, complaining, and and he's a low down sap sucking dog and all that, he said he said he said something that was good and you said, "Wait just a minute." And you went and found that other man and you said you started talking to him. You said you know I was just talking to the fell that you know I was just talking to Yeah. You talking about him he's a he's a low down no good. I said well you know what he just said about you? He just said that you're one of the best occupation. You're you're one of the best. He said he did. He said well you know he's pretty good guy too. He said you know he's pretty and said then you took off running back to the other guy and you told the other guy. Do you know what he just said about you? And and it when he was telling me it, it reminded me of the story and I remembered it. And through that going back and forth for a couple services that just going back and forth, I help plant some peace if those two brothers come back together and are still brothers to this very day. But I could have had the ability to took that same tongue and separated them. >> When it's in your power, if we can get structure, we can get power. And we got power in our tongue. And we got power in our hands. Let me read you a verse out of Ecclesiastes. I believe that we can relate to this. I believe that we can relate to this. Ecclesiastes chapter number four and verse number one. Ecclesiastes 4 and 1. So I returned and considered all the oppressions. Can can anybody relate to that? all the oppressions that are done under the sun. Said, I looked at all the oppressions, and behold, the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter. And on the other side of their oppressors, there was power. But they had no comforter. He says there was the oppressed and they had no one to comfort them. He says there was the oppressor. And he had power but he had no comfort. And so the two words are mentioned there, comfort and power. And here's what separates us from the oppressed and the oppressors. You and I who have the Holy Ghost have both power and you shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you. What is the Holy Ghost called in the book of John? But when the Holy Ghost, which is the >> comforter, Aren't you thankful tonight? You're not oppressed and you're not an oppressor. Why? I am both a comforter and I have both the power tonight. What a wonderful church. What a wonderful thing. What a wonderful thing to be in. And let me go to our last word tonight. The structure, power, and the glory. It's an interesting word this word glory because it simply means in the New Testament it's always a good opinion concerning one resulting in praise and honor and glory and splendor and brightness. It's always a good opinion concerning one. And of course you know who our good opinion is of don't you? Jesus Christ. He's never done us nothing but good. >> There's none like him. If you're not serving him, if you've not bent your knee and submitted yourself to the lordship of Jesus Christ, do it. Do it tonight. There's nothing like serving God. I find no fault in him. He's done me nothing but good. He's been way better good to us than we've been to him. There is none like him. What's your opinion of him tonight? Is he Is he lovely? Is he your savior? Is he the friend? Is he the comforter? Is he your healer? Is he everything you need? Don't you want to know him more? Don't you want to get in his word and know him more? Don't you want to get down at the altar and have a daily prayer life? Will you begin to say, "Our Father, which are I don't know about you, but I want more and more and more and more and more of the Lord Jesus Christ. He has done me nothing but good." I have got that I have got that opinion of him. And do you know that anytime you have that opinion of God, you can't help but praise him. Ain't nobody has to cheerlead you. Give me a J. Give me an E. Ain't nobody has to cheerlead you. When you come in here and you got the opinion that he's nothing but good. Oh God, he's been so merciful about me. If he wanted to put me on display, he could humiliate me. He could absolutely. He could absolutely humiliate any of us in this building. But praise be to God, he chooses to cover our sins by his wonderful blood and give us another chance and another chance and another chance and another chance and another. I'm going to tell you, God like that, I can't help but begin to clap my hands. I can't help but begin to lift my voice up. I'm glad I'm in the structure and I'm glad I've got the power, but I'm here to tell you, I've got the glory that goes along with it. Come on, give him praise for just a moment tonight. Give him Give him some praise for just a moment. The glory is in the mind. You are persuaded that God is good. That that goodness of God, that glory will lead to goodness. I'm closing tonight. But Moses cries out to God. He saw a lot of things, man. He saw a rod turn into a snake, turned back into a rod again. And Moses saw his hand turn lepous and then be healed. And Moses saw plagues. And Moses saw red seas being divided. But isn't it amazing when it's with God, you never get enough of him? When you come through a service like we did Sunday morning, Sunday night, right here, we're back Monday. Was we were in here Monday and there were people all over this room praying. Why? You just can't get enough of it. It's why we're back tonight. We just can't get enough of it. Moses, settle down, man. Didn't you say he split the Red Sea? But in Exodus 33 and 18 watching and he said Moses, I beseech thee, I beg thee, I plead with thee, show me thy glory. I want to see your glory. And God said, "I will make all my what?" What did Moses ask for? Say it again. >> He asked for what did God say? I will show you. See, because God wanted to show Moses how good he is. Because glory always leads to goodness. I I'm convinced. I am convinced as never before people that don't serve God don't hate him. They just don't know him. Just let that sink in. I I don't believe people hate God. I just pe I just believe people don't know God. But if we could get them to know God, they won't hate him. God says, "You want to see my glory?" He says, "I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee, and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy." And he said, "This is God. You cannot see my face, for there shall no man see me and live." And the Lord said, "Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock, and it shall come to pass, while my glory pass that I will put thee in a cliff of the rock." It's where we get the psalm. And will cover thee with my hand while I pass by. And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts, but my face thou shalt not see. Now, please, you got to understand, it's not a literal hand. It's not a literal face. It's not a literal back part. The back part was what God is saying here. He said, "I'm going to cover you up. You're not going to see you're not going to see my face or you're not going to see into the future. I'm not going to show you things in the future to show you my glory. I'm going to show you what I've done in my past, my backside." Okay? I'm gonna show you what I've done in my past. And this is why we need to write things down in our Bibles. We need to write things down when God does good things for us because I'm convinced tonight and I believe I could I believe I get a hearty amen. We have forgotten a lot of the goodness of God >> that God has done. Mother-in-law, you remember when you broke your arm and it was a clean break. The X-ray showed the clean break and all that, but before they could go back to put it in the cast, they they they x-rayed it again. And you'd had prayer in between all that and it wasn't broken. Look at the goodness of God. That that's just one testimony right there. I would say tonight there's a lot of good things. But but what happens? Our adversary hopes we forget about those good things because he wants us to look in the future to be excited when I'm telling you God is already Oh, come on, brother Nolan. Preach now. Amen. God has already done enough. He's already done enough in our past that if we would just look back and remember what God brought you. Don't Don't you remember when some of you couples in this room tonight when you first got married and and and and you did Listen, you you didn't you didn't listen, you were robbing Peter to pay Paul and hiding it from James and John. You couldn't go out to eat. You you just barely making enough to pay the light bill. You had furniture. Remember some of our first furniture? We we got it out of your mama's storage building and we put block. It was a pretty chair, but if you lifted up the flaps on it, it didn't have any legs on it. We put blocks. There were cinder blocks under under there. But you know something, those are good times. Those are wonderful times. Those are times you look back and you remember what God has done. You remember what God has done in your p. Come on, take a moment, right? Just take a moment right now. Surely God has done something for you that you that that you forgot about. You It's you forgot about. But when I look back down the road where I laid my heavy load, I start Thank you, Jesus. Yeah, you paid that bill for me. Thank you, Jesus. Yeah, you paid that bill for me. I don't believe Brother and Sister Jeter would mind if I told this story tonight. And if they do, they're down in the warm Florida and they can invite me down there to dinner and I'll tell them, "Forgive me." But they were struggling in a business and uh I left. I was doing a youth conference in Columbus, Ohio and I had brother sister Jeter on my mind and um I left up there and it was so strongly on my mind. It was so strongly on my mind I left up there and that that's when we did we lived two or three doors down from brother and sister Jeter at that time and I just had them on my mind and as I got down the road as I got down the road I took my jacket off. I was sweaty from preaching and I took my jacket off in between Columbus and Cincinnati. And when I took my jacket off, I reached in my pocket, Brother Ericson, and there was four 20s, a $5 bill, and two $1 bills. $87 in my pocket. Now, I'm going to tell you something. I might accidentally leave a dollar in my pocket. And by chance, I may leave a five in my pocket and watching the kids without the wife around, maybe a 10, but that's as far as it goes. And I wondered, somebody when I was going through the crowd, somebody had to have slept slipped some money in my pocket. Somebody had to somebody had to reach out. I don't to this day, I don't know who did or was it a person. I drove all the way Columbus, drove to Jeter's house, went up the driveway, knocked on the door, and of course they were very discouraged about some things that were going on. And and we sat there and we prayed and and they began to tell me it was either a water bill or a light bill. Said, "If we don't have said they're going to come to turn our lights off or the lights or the water said we've got to have $87 Monday or they're going to turn our lights off." I just live put in my pocket. I said, "Sister Jeter, I don't know how in the world this got in my pocket, but here's this $87 right here. I'm telling you, God has done enough for you and I if we just start praising him and thinking back on what he's done for me." I said, "Moses, I'm not going to show you what I'm going to do in the future. I'm going to show you what I've already done." Come on, stand with me right now. I'm going to show you what I've already done. Got anybody in this house tonight that you're surprised you're still here? Got anybody in this house tonight that got anybody in this house tonight? You really don't know how you got where you're at right now? You were looking at a mountain. I heard somebody say by faith. I'm going to show you my back part. I'm going to show you my hinder part. Moses, what? What's that? How do you think Moses wrote about creation? God showed it to him. What did God show? Moses witnessed an earth. Please hear this and we're done. Moses witnessed an earth without form and void, empty, destitute, ugly, undesirable, unfruitful, uninhabitable. But when God finished, it was beautiful, magnificent, awesome, splendid, glorious, magnificent, and it was desirable. God says, Moses says, "Let me show you what I started with, and let me show you what I'm going to end with. And by the name of the Lord tonight, God is wanting to show somebody, I can start with the ugliness of your life. I can start with the formlessness of your life, but let me get finished with you. You'll be productive. You'll have a structure. You'll be living and you'll be serving a purpose. Church family, let's get ready for Easter. Brethren, let's get ready for Easter. Every man in this house tonight, what do you say we get ready for Easter? Sisters, how about said? Sisters, let's get ready for Easter. What do you say? What do you say we sell out and realize to God be the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Lift your hands and begin to give him praise. And when you're done, you will be dismissed.