Stop At The Crossroads
by Kevin Allen
February 25, 2021 · Centerpointe Apostolic Church (Murfreesboro, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Jeremiah 6:16, Isaiah 5:20, 2 Timothy 4:3, Jeremiah 6:16, Jeremiah 6:17, Jeremiah 6:16, 2 Chronicles 7:14

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/kevin-allen--stop-at-the-crossroads
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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Hallelujah. I don't know about you, but something in me is just happy to be here worshiping with you today. I'm glad we have the ability to do church in a digital format, but there's something about being together, something about when you and I and our spirits are here and we are lifting up our God and he walks in among us, just makes all the difference to me, what goes on. Amen. Amen. Thank you for worshiping God. Appreciate the praise team leading us in worship today. To make your way back to your seats, I want to say a great big thank you to everyone who showed up yesterday afternoon to help us clear off the parking lot and the sidewalks and make it to where we were able to come in in a safe manner today. Can we give them a hand for all those that came out, worked so hard? Appreciate that very, very much. Very, very much.

It was a, a few months ago, back in November, I was out in South Dakota going on a pheasant hunt. I had never been to that part of the country before. And uh, of course, it's a long drive from here to go out there. And we were traveling — there was a three in the truck that I was in. We were in Jason Salem's truck, and it was Jason and Jeff and myself driving out there. And we decided to go out a little bit further than the hunting camp, because uh, in my opinion, if you were going to be that close to Mount Rushmore, you really should just go ahead and drive over and see Mount Rushmore. So that's what we did. We left a couple days early. And as we were driving out there, we were taking turns. We were driving five to six hour shifts, and then we were swapping out, so no one person had to do that much driving. And I remember driving in Jason's truck, and we were going out across through the plains of South Dakota and, and the flatness that it is, and a little bit of a rolling hill. But I remember uh, as we were driving, coming across and facing crosswinds. And uh, that, that truck that we were driving, that was — we were cruising along. What was really, really cool out there too is the speed limit's 80. So, which means you can do 90. As we were traveling out there in South Dakota, the winds came in out of nowhere. And it was, it was hard. It was, it was unlike anything I'd ever personally experienced, where there would be such a gust of wind that you were doing your best to stay in your lane, but you would go into the next lane. You would just immediately drift over. And I know some of you have probably seen where uh, these semi-tractor trailers would just be driving out there, and those crosswinds would come across, and it would just turn the entire semi over. So we were facing some situations like that. Not quite the extreme — I wasn't worrying about the truck flipping over. But I was having to fight something that I couldn't see. I couldn't see the wind. I could only feel the effect of the wind.

There's a lot going on in our world right now. I feel like we are at an interesting crossroad, that you and I are beginning to see things line themselves up and unfold for what we know to be the latter day, when he is preparing to come back for his church. It's called by his name. As we stand at this crossroad, as we face things at least in my generation we've never faced before — the tension, the turmoil, political pressure, even what seems to be an outright abandoning of things that had always been near and dear to the church — I feel and have felt for some time in my spirit to warn the church that we stand at a crossroad. And I'm going to preach a message today, simply: Stop at the Crossroad. Jeremiah chapter 6 verse 16, the prophet speaking, says these words: this is what the Lord says: stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply: no, that's not the road we want.

When you read the book of Jeremiah, and you find yourself wrapped up in the emotions of his plea, in his heart for the people of God, so much of his writings and warnings can be applied to the day and age in which you and I are living in right now. Jeremiah was known as the weeping prophet. He wept because he delivered what God had laid on his heart and what God had placed in his mind, but the people disregarded and ignored his words. Here in the passage that I have read to you today, Judah was in the process of collapsing as a nation, and they had continued on in a moral decline, in an outright turning away, in a disregarding of all things that belonged holy unto God. And the prophet, the man of God, as he was moved on by the Spirit, felt strongly — so much so that he is weeping — saying to the people: please, please listen and heed the words I say. You are standing at a crossroad. But they ignored. He continued to try to tell them, but they continued on the path that they walked. And our God is a gracious God. He had sent a man to warn, as he always does, because that's what God will do. He'll go to the greatest links to try to reach his people, to let you know that: hey, I'm right here. Even though you are running away from me, I am still right here. And he continued to try to do that in this day. But society had declined, and there was no man to be fought who, who tried to live for truth. And the prophet was trying to warn them. There was all kinds of new influences that was coming in to their world. It was only leading them further and further in pushing them away from God. They began to look to Egypt to, as, as a form of their salvation, instead of trusting the God that had proven to himself, proven to them over and over again, that he could be trusted. They decided to take matters into their own hands. You can read the story of, of Judah, and how they embraced and rebelled and shunned obedience, running headlong into reformation and running away from repentance. They were blinded by self-delusion. They were living, in John Mayer's words, dancing in a burning room. That's what was going on. They're not paying any attention to the day and age in which they were living in, paying no attention to the reality that they were walking away from God. They turned away from their true love. They sought for love in any form or fashion they could find. Principle was lost in politics. They sought the road of convenience, ease, and acceptance. Morally and spiritually bankrupt, they were naive enough to follow anything that looked good and appealing and desiring to them. And somehow they failed to realize, they failed to understand, they failed to remember, that their past successes and stability was directly tied to their obedience and the moral choices of living and worshiping God. They drifted. Cross winds came in and began to push them in a direction that I don't believe for a minute they ever intended to go. But they continued to allow themselves to drift off course. With morality gone, they had no way anymore to tell the difference between right and wrong. Everything was subjective to the individual, or to the social trends of the day.

I don't know about you, but it seems an awful lot like the world that we're living in right now. There are cross winds trying to push us in every direction, to try to steer us off course. This was not something that was new to Judah, is Isaiah warned them about a hundred years before Jeremiah, with these words in Isaiah chapter 5 verse 20: woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. In this time, there were all kinds of men and prophets who spoke confirming words, only gave them what they wanted to hear. They only fed them what they were looking for, not what they needed. We must be very careful when we are only being pacified in the moment, and not directed with purpose. What they were hearing was not God's direction, but it was self-gratifying commands and pleasing. It was comfort that they sought, and it was comfort that brought them down.

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm here to tell you: this church was never created to make you and I comfortable. We must be very careful how much attention we place on comfort in the church, because the church was created by God to convert, to transform, to convict, to direct, to instruct, in the process of becoming more like him. If we ever becomes a place that only makes us comfortable, we have failed in the mission of God. Because if we are going to preach and teach what he wants, then there's going to be something in that word that is taught and preached that convicts the very soul that you and I possess. There should be moments of uncomfortableness that causes us to have a course correction, to get back where it is we need to be with God. It's not about convenience. It's not about making feel good about yourself. It's about preaching why thus sayeth the word of God. It's not about being comfortable healing this earth. It's about making it to heaven one day.

But they were not listening. And I'm afraid too many in our world today are not listening anymore. There are at least three main ways that God's people received instruction during this time. You can read about it in Jeremiah, in the preceding chapters that led up to this one we are preaching out of today. First and foremost, they had a watchman who was on the wall, that our watchman, who was looking to see what they themselves could not see, from his elevated position that he was in. His job was to declare what the current state was, and to declare what was coming on the horizon that they couldn't see. They had a watchman on the wall. The second thing they had is they had trumpets that were to be sounded for them together when it was time to worship. Worship always has been a part of the daily lives, and God had not changed his mind on the importance of worship. And third, they had signal fires that were high up in the high places, that were to signal a rally cry to prepare for war when the enemy had been spotted. And what's crazy, ladies and gentlemen, is they had all three of these things in place, yet no one was listening to what was being said. No one was paying attention to the battle cry that was sounding out. No one was paying attention. God was trying to give them what they needed to hear, but they would not awaken to the cry. They would not listen. They were no longer stirred anymore. The cries had become background noise, just white noise, that, that seemed to be drowned out by what society wanted, and their own convenience and comfort. They had heard it time and time again, and, and without paying attention, it became something that no longer caused anything inside of them to be awakened. It was just noise. It was just preacher rhetoric. It was just what Pentecostal preachers do. So we can, we can learn the motions of church, but it never really goes down and convicts anything inside of us.

Oh, I'm preaching to the church right now. We have to be very careful where we're at. Because those of us who have been here for any length of time, we know how the emotions of a service can go up and down. We know how to gauge what's going on. We know how to raise our hands when hands to be raised. We know how to say hallelujah when a hallelujah needs to be shouted out. But I'm going to ask you: do you really believe the words that you sing? Do you really believe the praise that's coming out of your mouth? Is it more than just mouthing the words? Is it more than just going through the motions? Does it really have an impact in your life? Oh, it bothers me when I said, as a watchman on the wall, and I feel God moving in the service where we are, and there are some people who have become so comfortable that they don't do anything at all. There should never be a moment in your life, when the presence of God is around you, that it doesn't cause something inside of you to want to worship him. Have you become so familiar that it no longer moves you? That the God of all is in this place, yet you have not given him any of your attention? It makes me very nervous, because that was what was going on in this day and age. They were still going through the motions of church. They were still showing up at the temple. They were still sacrificing. But it didn't mean anything to them anymore. It was just part of a daily ritual of life. We must be very careful that we don't get into the motion of playing church. This isn't about a game. When we come and we gather together to be taught, to worship, it's not just going through the motions that count. We're checking these things off. But it should be engaging in your life. It should be something in you that desires to do these things.

We must be careful when we as a church are more concerned with comfort and convenience than we are from hearing from God. When you go to the doctor, do you go to the doctor just to have him tell you what you want to hear? Or do you want him to tell you how to get better? Now you may not like what he says. But what do you want when you come into the house of God? Are you just looking to be told what you want to hear? Are you looking to be instructed on how to be better? Because it makes a difference on what you leave here with. If it's just about making you feel good, there's going to be times, I promise you, that I will disappoint you, if you're just wanting to feel better about yourself. But if you want to know how to be better, I'll do my best to take this word right here and, and try to break it down in a way that you can get your mind wrapped around on the commands of God.

Paul warned Timothy that there would be a day coming, in Second Timothy chapter 4 verse 3, when people would no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They would follow their own desires, and would look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths. And I'm here to tell you, church, that that's the day and age in which we are living in. That time, that hour is right now. We got to pay attention to what our attention is paying attention. We got to pay attention to what our attention is paying. There's so many things that are clamoring and trying to, to captivate you for just a moment. There's so much information, so much entertainment, so much stuff that's going on in our world and day. And without even being aware of what's going on, you find yourself captivated by these things. Be honest with me, and for just a minute: how many of you have found yourself being consumed by a device much longer than you ever thought possible? How many of you will say with me — and I'm admitting my own guilt in this — that there have been times that I got on to look up something with best intentions, only to find myself 30 or 40 minutes later? If I would have told you, those of us who were around 25 years ago, that you would be controlled by a six or seven inch piece of plastic and metal you could put in your pocket, that it would dictate and rule your day, it would cause you to feel like you were less than, it would cause you to feel like you were more than — oh, just a little piece of metal and plastic and glass. If I told you that, you'd have thought I was crazy. If you ever wanted to know how they can control us, they already do it. It goes with you everywhere. It listens to everything you do. Just mention something, and the next thing you know, there's an advertisement for that thing that pops up right there. It's always there. And we carry with us literally everywhere we go. There's not a place it doesn't go, not a place that it's not around us. So don't tell me there's not a day and age in which we're living in, where there are things that will captivate our attention and cause us to drift away.

It doesn't seem like much, and you don't always know it's there, just like those crosswinds. You can't predict it. You can feel its effect, but you don't know where it's coming from. Our enemy is sly. He's sneaky. His, his number one weapon is to make you think he's not there. That's why he's subtle, soft, easy. But the wind is blowing. That's why you got to pay attention to what direction you're headed. Every time you come into this sanctuary, God has a plan for you. Do you hear me? Every time you come into this sanctuary, God has a plan for you. God has a word for you. It's not meant for your neighbor. It's meant for you. It's not meant for so and so that's not here. It's meant for you. If you come in that door saying: God, I need a word. I need a touch. I need you to do something in my life today. You will not leave this place disappointed. But if it's only about coming in and getting hyped up on emotions — because a lot of people view apostolic Pentecostal churches as a bunch of people that are just emotional junkies. I'm not an emotional junkie. I'm a Jesus junkie. I want to be wherever he is, or whatever he has going on, and whatever he wants me to do. If you're going to label me, then you label me at Jesus everything, because he is my everything. Where are you, child of God? Are you sitting in the house of God, yet miles away from where he's trying to bring you to? God has a plan. But are you listening? Are you looking? They continued to go through the motions of church. They kept their holy days. They kept their requirements and presented themselves. But there was no desire, no longing, just an obligation to fulfill. Is that what this has become for you? Just an obligation to you, for you to fulfill? Or is this a life that you choose to live? There was no submission to the Spirit, only ceremony. But God was ashamed of their behavior. They became complacent and unconcerned that God wouldn't, would do anything about the choices they made. There was no fear, no respect, and no reverence for God. Nothing was holy and sacred anymore. Now I fear that some here today are in the same place. You show up and expect that God is forced to bless your efforts, that God owes you. Oh, be very careful. You're standing at a crossroads today. And the watchman on the wall was declaring that there's a crossroad in this room. A crossroad. A decision. A crossroad where you need to make a choice in your life. How are you going to lead this place here today? How are you going to move forward from this moment in your life?

Crossroads are interesting. They're dangerous places. Sometimes they're very dangerous places. They can — they meet dangerous place here in this great United States we live in. But if you've ever traveled outside the borders of this country into, into smaller countries or third world countries especially, crossroads are bananas. It is basically whoever has the most courage. There's been a few times that I've been in situations where — and I don't get scared often — but I would just close my eyes and like: Jesus, you've brought me this far, I'm trusting you're going to get me on through this. I just, I couldn't watch what was going on, because I didn't know how I was going to make it. There was a time my wife and I, we were on our honeymoon actually. We were on a bus ride. Oh my goodness, what a bus ride it was. And we came through an intersection, and I, I just — and we're on the front row of the bus. While we picked the front row, I don't know. But we had a front row seat to chaos. And we made it through the intersection. But it was, it was one of the most dangerous things I've ever seen or witnessed or been a part of in my life.

Our Scripture we read at the very beginning of this message: that Judah was standing at a crossroads. The prophet declared those things that God was giving them instructions. And I believe that these exact same instructions can be applied to our lives today. We stand here in this time, and we're at a crossroads. We're facing so many converging roads, converging thoughts, converging mindsets in our life and in the time we're living in. And I'm worried about those who, who just blow right through crossroads in their lives. And maybe you're thinking: Pastor Kevin, and tell me, let me know, how am I to handle a crossroad? Well, that's a good question. I'm glad you asked a good question. You're smart people, and I like smart people, because smart people ask good questions. Jeremiah 6 16: this is what the Lord says: stop at the crossroads and look around. The first thing you need to do is stop. That was the command: stop and look around. Take note on what it is you're depending on. Are you depending on God at all in your life? Or are you depending on yourself? Do you give any space for God to operate in your day-to-day life? Or do you keep him on the shelf, like you do the bottle of Advil? Where is God at in your life? If you continue to move forward, it's hard for you to really see what's going on. So the man of God is saying: stop and look around. Stop and take inventory. Stop and evaluate your circumstances and situation. What are you trusting? Which way will you go?

God's word is for you and I to stop. Stop running headlong like nothing matters. Stop running headlong like nothing's going to change the outcome. Stop running headlong, because eternity is at stake. Ladies and gentlemen, wake up, sleeper. Do you even know what's going on right now? Or are you just simply living for a moment? Are you tuned into what God is trying to tell you? Do you appreciate the fact that God is still reaching for you? God speaks — are you listening? God speaks, but are you listening? He will not drown out the noise in your life. You will have to find a quiet place to hear his voice. Stop and look around. Stop and see where you are. You need a watchman in your life. You need someone who will speak truth to you, who will let you know when you're running off the road, who will let you know when there's danger around the corner. A priest a few weeks ago about having a man of God in your life. You need a man of God in your life. And I said it then, and I'll say it again today: if I can't be your man of God, that's fine, but you find a man of God in your life. If you get to heaven, you're going to be there because there was some man or some woman who had their fingerprints all over you. There was some person who was standing as a watchman on the wall, who was saying: I wouldn't go that way if I were you. There's danger around the corner. Maybe you can't see it. Maybe you don't understand it. But I wouldn't go that way. You need a watchman on the wall.

God is sending someone a word today. And I've learned in my life: if God gives me a word, it's a word I need to listen to, even if I don't like it. Even if I don't like it. If God's given it to me, he wasn't given to me unless I needed it. There are cross winds blowing. You can't see the wind, but you can feel its effect. Are you so busy caught up in your own affairs, so busy caught up in what you want to do, your own desires, that you don't ever stop and ask if God is approving of what you're doing? Have you even thought about it? God, are you happy with the direction I'm taking in my life? God, are you happy with the direction I'm leading my family? God, are you happy with the decisions that I'm making? Are you just basing everything off of your emotions and what you think is right, or what society says that you should do? Do you even care if he approves of your choices, of your decisions, of your affair? If we're going to be obedient to his word, we have to look again at what the prophet says. And the prophet said: stop and look. Before you ask anything, you need to look, so that you know where you're at. How do you know what to ask if you don't know where you're at? How do you know what to ask if you have no idea the condition you're in? How do you know what to seek after if you don't know what your need is — not your want, but your need? Do you even know where you are? Are you even aware of what road you're on right now, or what direction that you're traveling in, or the path that you're walking? Stop and look is the command. Stop and look is what the word of God says. See the path of your own. Make every effort, because there might possibly be that you need to change course. You got a crossroad today. Look around. What direction are you taking? Is it God approved? As it got ordained?

And now that you've looked around, the next command was for what? What was the next command? We were to ask a question. It was to ask for the old godly ways. You see it: stop, look around, figure out where you are, understand your position, know what it is you need, and then ask. And when you ask, ask for the old godly ways. It's not the old methods. He wasn't saying go back to the old time, or the old way of doing things. Some of you got excited and said: we're bringing the hymnals back, based off this verse. No, that's not what this verse says. It said: ask for the old ways. Ask for the old truths. How can I stay on the path if the crosswind is blowing? You have to know what direction to go. So many choices. So many new paths being presented. That's why it is you need to find somebody who's a little further down the road in life than you, somebody who's established and settled some stuff in her life, and asked him: how did you get to where you are in your life? How did you get to have that relationship you have with God? Can you help me understand the old way, on the old path, so that I can find it myself?

We must be careful. The world today sees change as progress, but that's not always the truth. Just because something's changed doesn't make it any better. It doesn't make it right. Old paths are not old methods. Jeremiah is not talking about the methods of the past, and I'm not talking about the methods of the former generations. I'm referring to those old, tried and true truths that are there, things that have been true from the beginning. God does not change. His truths do not change. He changes not. His word is forever settled. We're not talking about old methods. We're talking about established truths.

Several years ago, I was in London, and we were walking around. You don't realize how much — how, how young of a country we are, until you go to these old countries and you realize the United States is just a babe. We're, we're still in diapers. I was over there, and I was standing in Westminster Abbey. Part of that building was built in the 800s. Not the 1800s, the 800s. And it's still standing. What I found interesting, as I was walking along those old buildings and some of those old cobblestones passed — I walked across these little metal discs. They were, they were there. They're about this big around. And I'm beginning to look at them, and they were, they were, they were geo markers, geographical markers that were placed on old things that we're not going to move. See, the prophet's telling you to stop and look for the old paths. Why? Because they haven't moved. They're still right there where they always were. Look for the old truths that are in the word of God, ladies and gentlemen. They're right there. God, his word is forever settled. He has not changed his mind about circumstances and situations that he's already declared in his word. That's why it is that you need to go back sometimes, when cross winds are blowing, and go back to a fixed point, so I know how to chart a right course in my life.

Somebody needs to hear this word today. You've drifted. The wind has blown. It's shifted you off course. You're a little bit lost. You're feeling that right now in your life. And I'm here to tell you, as a watchman on the wall: go back to the old path. Go back to the old ways. When, when you do a word study on this verse, the word translated — the Hebrew, in Hebrew there is Elohim, 63 times it's translated everlasting, and it's also defined as eternal. God is directing Jeremiah to remind Judah to go back to the eternal, go back to the everlasting ways, go back to the Elohim that is there, because he hasn't moved. He's still there. He is fixed. And you can build your life on that.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are dealing with eternal matters today, not temporary feelings or emotions. But where are you walking in the eternal? Do you even know where you're at right now? You can't tell if you don't stop and look around. Jeremiah 6 17, the next verse — listen to this: I posted watchmen over you, who said: listen for the sound of the alarm. But you replied: no, we won't pay attention. No, we won't pay attention. No, I'm not going to go back to all that stuff. No, I don't think all that's necessary. No, I've found a new way. No, I've found something that is not so legalistic and oppressive. Oh, be very careful. Be very careful when God sends you a watchman to sound the alarm, and you decide that you are good. You decide that you're okay. You decide that it's all right. You decide just because God has not intervened on your decisions, that somehow his, his silence is consent. I'm here to tell you that's not the case. Maybe you don't like me. But you were never called to like me. My job is not to make you like me. My job is to get you to him. You don't have to like me along the way. You don't have to like me along the road. But if you'll follow after where I'm pointed, I'll promise you, I'll do my very best to get you to where he is. You may not like everything that comes out, but I'll promise you I'll only teach and preach you what comes out of this book: that there is a right way and there's a wrong way, and you have to stop and look around and understand where you're at. There are some things maybe you don't think are necessary, but I'm not here to play games with the eternal. There's some things that are just settled in my mind. And I'm here to tell you that I settled them long ago. I settled them for a reason, because I was tired of fighting with my flesh. So I dove down into the word of God. I spent time on my knees, on my face, in prayer. I wasn't looking for a new way. I was looking to settle some stuff inside my spirit. And God helped me settle some things. And I got up from that time, and I charted my course, and I haven't looked back. And there's things I just don't deal with anymore.

But some of you are facing what I consider to be elementary Christian decisions still in your life. You've been supposedly living for God over 20 years, and you're still arguing over holiness issues. My God, when are you going to settle that stuff? If you don't settle it, every wind of doctrine that comes your way will blow you off course. But as a watchman, I'm here to tell you: you need to put some of that stuff to bed and walk on. Move forward. You're never going to get where he wants you to be if you're constantly trying to dig the marker out of the ground. There's a pandemic going on. We can't take a chance on not being at church. Yes, I know there's sickness. Yes, I know people are dying. And all this breaks my heart. Stop crying out on the wall: we're not going to pay attention. I'm here to tell you that every time this place is open, if you are physically able to be in this building, you should be in this building. I'm not trying to drive a number up. I'm trying to help you get to heaven. And there's something about being in this place that gives you strength, that gives you the ability to endure. They're a sweet, precious lady just a half a mile up this street. There's, there's a few of them up there in the Rutherford that would give anything to be in this place every time it's open, because they understand that some of you will look for any excuse to not be here. And the difference is those who have settled stuff long ago, and then those who are still trying to dig up ancient markers and move it to where it's convenient.

Listen to me. If you want, you can find stuff. You can find an excuse anytime you want. And society will tell you it's okay. But is it society's opinion you're after? Is that what you're wanting? Is you, are you wanting your co-workers to patch you on the back? Is that what you're looking for? Are you looking for their voice in your life to say: you're doing a good job? Are you looking for them to say: hey, you're a good Christian? Is that what you want? No. There's only one, ladies and gentlemen. There's only one who will say: well done. There's only one, and it's his voice that I'm looking for. It's his voice that I'm tuning into. It's his voice that I try to quiet all the rest of the noise of my life out, so that I can hear what he's trying to tell me. And he leads me down paths that are well marked, but not well traveled. He leads me down paths that are well marked, but they're not well traveled. Because the day and age in which we're living in, people have found every other way to go beside the true. And they'll use everything they can, every excuse they can, to try to get out of it. They'll use family. They'll use finances. They'll use vocation. They'll use education. They'll use politics. They'll use sickness. They'll use a pandemic. And the whole time they're not paying attention that they're across winds that are blowing. And they're, they're, they're — I'm going down this slide. You can't always see it. That's why you got to have fixed points, so that you can get back on where you need to be.

The apostle Paul, he was very aware. We think sometimes the people in the, in the Bible days, they didn't have to deal with stuff like you and I had to deal with, as if there wasn't politics then. Evidently you haven't read the word of God. It was very, very political. Only difference is they didn't have any issue with killing you for sport. They would throw you an arena and watch a lion eat you, all politically motivated. So don't act like they didn't have it as bad as you and I did. That's why I love the words when Paul wrote: I fought the good fight. And I love that he said: I finished the course. Because he didn't say: I always stayed on course. Why? Because there's cross winds blowing. There's stuff that you and I are going to face always. But here, Sister Sue, you love the word of God. I love the word of God. This is where my mind begins exploding. There's so much for me to preach today that we'll be here to four. But maybe we should be here before, because we haven't had church in a month. Yo, I'm wound up tight. I can keep on preaching. But as I was studying this, I began to think to myself: I could almost hear David's words echoing in Paul's mind. He's, he's saying: I fought a good fight. I finished growth. I kept the faith. Henceforth there's laid up for me. So David understood: man, you fight some stuff. You go through some things in your life. You're gonna face some battles that go on. But David understood this. He, he found this out about life: that goodness and mercy followed him everywhere he went. Everywhere he went. Even when he drifted off course. Even when I'm not where I'm supposed to be, goodness and mercy follow me all the days of my life, no matter where I go. When I'm where I'm supposed to be, goodness and mercy follow me. When I'm living the right life, and I'm following all the God's commands, goodness and mercy, they follow me. But when I drift off course, and a crosswind blows me out into the ditch, goodness and mercy follow me. When I'm not making the decisions I'm supposed to be making, goodness and mercy are following me. When I'm not living like I'm supposed to be living, and I'm making every decision wrong in my life, goodness and mercy are following me. And here's the day: if I try to run away from God, I have to run through goodness and mercy.

Somebody needs to hear what I'm preaching to you today. You may feel like you're off course. You may feel like things are not the way they're supposed to be. But I'm telling you: goodness and mercy, goodness and mercy are following you.

As I prepare to bring this sermon to do a close, let me tell you how you can know that you're on the right path. So Jeremiah 6 16, back up again: this is what the Lord says: stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your soul. I don't know where you're at. I don't know everybody's story today. I don't know what you're going through. But I can tell you this: I feel so strong to preach this word today, that you're standing at a crossroad. And the way you know that you're on a path you're supposed to be on is: is there peace in your soul? It doesn't say everything in your life is perfect. That's not what that says. Does it say that? No. It doesn't say that everything is right. I miss you ladies, he'll be there Tuesday. Doesn't say everything's right. But it says the way you know is what? How does it say? Rest, and what, for your soul. If you have peace in your soul right now, even in the midst of chaos, even the midst of circumstances, even the myths, when nothing makes sense, even in the myths, where things have been taken away from you and you've had great loss and you've suffered, but yet for some reason there's a peace that passes understanding — you're on the right path. But if you don't have that peace, if you can't say that you have that rest, then as a watchman I'm telling you: you're not where you need to be. You're not where you need to be. Because if you're on the right path, the old ways, where you're supposed to be, it just brings rest. Doesn't mean it necessarily changes the circumstances that you're in. But there's something about it: you just have peace about. Some of you know what I'm talking about, because life has dealt you such a blow that even the church people said: I don't blame you if you lose your mind. But you're like: nah, I'm good. My God is still good. And you show up in this place, and the first time that someone sings a song, first note, you get your hand up, and you're declaring God, and you're singing those words, not to mouth them, but you're singing them from a point, because you're fixed. You're fixed. You're settled. You're settled.

Listen, ladies and gentlemen, you're at a crossroads today. Is there peace in your world? Is there peace in your marriage? Is there peace in your finances? Is there peace in your family? Is, is it there? If it's not, there's a real possibility you're walking down the wrong path. Crossroads and crosswalks, shoes and cross winds are impossible to see, but you can feel them. They push at you. They're constantly trying to, to steer you off course. But does that close this message today — I want you to know there's a God who knows where you are. I think about Job. He's lost everything. Everything. Kids. The only thing he's stuck with is his, is his bride, his wife. And she, she seems to be a little unpleasant at the moment. He's covered in bowls. He's got, he's got a couple of friends that were supposed to show up and be good, but I don't know how much good those friends were either. He's just in a miserable place. But I love when he says: I look to the left. I look — I'm all right. I look around. But even though I can't find it, he knows my ways. He knows where I'm at. I want you to know: he knows where you are. And he sent me to tell you: stop and look around, and find the old godly ways. Find the old godly ways, because it brings rest.

Listen to me, dad, where you at? You're standing at a crossroads. Where you at, dad? Your family, they're watching. They're seeing. What decisions are you making? Where you lead them? Listen to me, mom, where you at? You're standing at a crossroads. Do you find peace in your life? Is there no peace? Then maybe you're not on the right path. You're standing. Stop and look around. Take inventory of where you are. Listen to me, child of God. Stop. Look around. You're at a crossroad today. What are you going to do?

You know, we want so much in our world to change. We desire so much for things to be different. We know that Second Chronicles 7 14 says: if my people which are called by my name will humble themselves and pray. We like this, right? This is one of those candy stick verses in the Scripture. But do you really read who that verse is written to? It's not written so we can like: well, if the world would just humble themselves and pray. That's not who that verse is written to. Who's that verse written to? To the church. So if you really want to change some stuff, if you want to know where you can start, an old path right there: the church. If my people which are called by my name — that is the definition of the church. If the church will humble themselves, if the church will pray and seek his face, the church will turn from their wicked ways. Oh, wicked in the church? Are you kidding me? Yeah, wicked in the church. But look, look what he says. If we'll do it right, what's he say? I will hear from heaven. I will forgive their sins. And I will heal their land.

It's altar time. We're at a crossroads. I'm asking: is there anybody that needs a course correction? Is there anybody that needs a course correction? Is there anybody that just needs to stop and look around, and see where it is you really are? Now I know we — we, we're, we're human beings are a little funny this way, right? Like, nobody's gonna be number one to go anywhere, usually. So I want us to pray, and then pray. And if you're comfortable, I want you to just close your eyes with me. But if any time during this prayer you feel this time to come, and I want you to come down the altar, and God will meet you, and set you on the right course.

Jesus, I love you, and I thank you so much for your presence has been with us here today. Thank you, God, for your word and the truth that are in your word. God, I pray that we would have a moment where we would stop and look around and evaluate where we are. God, that we would take inventory of our life, and try to make decisions on whether or not we're on the right course. God, that we would look for the old godly ways, so that we can move forward in our life and draw closer to you. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Churches, prayer time.