Sunday Evening Worship Service | Pastor McCool
by Mark McCool
First Apostolic Church of Knoxville (Knoxville, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Hebrews 2:1-4, Philippians 2:10-12, Luke 16:19-31, Acts 4:12, 2 Corinthians 6:1-2, Acts 22:16, Jeremiah 30:17

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/mark-mccool--sunday-evening-worship-service-158
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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tonight I want to read you a couple of four verses of scripture for a text calling your attention to the book of Hebrews the second chapter the book of Hebrews the second chapter we'll begin reading at verse number one Hebrews 2 beginning at verse number one therefore we ought to give the most or the more Earnest heed let me read that again I want that to be clear therefore we ought to give the more Earnest heed to the things which we've heard lest at any time we should let them slip for if the word spoken by Angels was steadfast and every transgression and Disobedience received a just recompense of reward how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that hurt him God also bearing them witness both with signs and wonders with divers Miracles and the gifts of the Holy Ghost according to his own will for a few moments tonight I would speak to you on this subject no Escape No Escape let's pray savior we love you God I'm grateful to be in your house I thank you for the many marvelous blessings that you just are so freely pouring out on us Lord we have so much to be thankful for God I could not even State all the blessings you've given me and I know that this is a house full of blessed people so we are thankful now Lord once again we're thankful to hear your word let it go deep into our hearts and keep us and change us and make us better and more like you we thank you and praise you in Jesus name we pray amen and amen no Escape from the mid-1930s until the mid 1960s Alcatraz prison was America's Premier Maximum Security Prison the final stop for the nation's most incorrigible inmates many Infamous inmates called quote The Rock in quote home during its active years there were prisoners who decided not to wait for a transfer to another prison over the 29 years of 1934 to 1963 the federal prison that the federal prison operated 36 men including two who tried to escape twice were involved in 14 separate Escape attempts 23 were caught six were shot and killed during their escape and two drowned two of The Men Who were caught were later executed in the gas chamber in the California state prison at San Quentin for their role in the death of a correctional officer whether or not anyone succeeded in escaping from Alcatraz depends on the definition of a successful Escape is it getting out of the cell house reaching the water making it to land or reaching land and not getting caught officially no one ever succeeded in escaping from Alcatraz although to this day there are five prisoners listed as missing and presumed drowned No Escape our text asks a sobering question how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation I knew not what Pastor Whitley would Preach Today when I studied and prepared to present what I have for you but he told us to dig the old Wells Bishop reinforced it and I feel that God would ask have us all to be reminded that we have something very great and that is our salvation and I give you this simple answer to the question how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation the simple answer is this There Is No Escape from neglected salvation No Escape there's a prison and a bondage that has no Escape no tunnel can be dug no wall can be climbed no plan of deception devised that can escape the incarceration of neglected salvation this prison of neglected salvation is so cruel for it may not have bars it may not have walls it may not have guards yet one can find their entire existing existence free In the Flesh to walk around yet bound because they've neglected their salvation our passage of scripture that we read is a text said this we ought to give more Earnest heed to the things we have heard now what that means is sometimes we need to listen better than we do sometimes we need to understand scripture said he that hath an ear let him hear sometimes we need to listen better husbands I can speak to you because I am one have you ever had your wife tell you you're not hearing me you're not listening and to make it worse you retort sure I heard you praying that the conversation will end there in fact you say sure I heard what you said with a little bit of righteous indignation only to hear those dreaded words well what did I say one lady speaking of marriage said when I got a husband I didn't realize ears were optional Hebrews said we ought to give more Earnest heed we need to listen better he means to pay attention more Earnest means more abundantly more in a greater degree more exceedingly especially this takes the things hear it all listen good oh God have I been paying attention to my salvation have I been listening attentively some appear to have been in church for a long time but have not given Earnest heed to the things that have been said there has been enough preaching of the Gospel from this Pulpit alone to save the whole world if folks would just listen I've seen too many hearing body oh they might could even regurgitate the title and a few main points but have they heard and acted upon what they heard have they listened and been exceedingly tried their best to follow what God's word has told them you see neglecting one's salvation is more dangerous than any other facet of neglect in life you see an avid golfer can shank two shots and he'll head to the range to hit a large bucket of balls because he don't want to neglect his golf game an avid Hunter can miss once or twice and they immediately will head to the range to recalibrate their scope there's something wrong I don't want to neglect my hunting Hobby a classic car owner will clean and polish his treasure they'll keep the fluids changed regularly as not to neglect his vehicle yet there are too many that have the greatest freely given gift in that salvation only to find themselves neglecting it and not taking care of their salvation let me tell you Philippians 2 10 said that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven things in Earth and things under the Earth and that every tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father you're going to speak some things out that's come through your ears wherefore my beloved as you have always obeyed not as in my presence only but now much more in my absence work out your own salvation with fear and trembling a lot of folks misunderstand this verse they think that the statement work out your own salvation is just do whatever you don't feel condemned about well I can't I can't tell you that I can do that or this I'm just going to work out my own salvation that's really not what this means there is a Plan of Salvation that you must follow and then you must not neglect yourself you know what that word I think more earnestly and more really defined means when it says work out your own salvation it reminds me of these folks that head into the weight room for a workout that's what working out in your own Sabbath that means the muscles of Salvation those things that brought salvation and those things that will keep you serving God as you should you need to work those things out and not neglect Timothy said exercise thyself unto God rather unto godliness we need to exercise salvation in our life it shouldn't be something well I went to an altar I prayed through I spoke with tongues everything's cool so I don't have to do anything else a thousand times no this is not a scripture of saying you can do whatever it doesn't condemn you instead this is a maintenance warning brother Ron Dan added to mine vocabulary several years ago he's a mechanic and those mechanics they all have technical terms you know they know what you know I'll I'll say the whatchamacallit's not working you know or uh that thingamajig's not working right but he was working on a vehicle and there was a light kept flashing he's a mechanic he knows the mechanical terms he said that's an idiot like going off sometimes I feel like scripture says blink blink blink don't be an idiot work on your salvation you're doing something you shouldn't do you're forgetting to maintenance it you didn't pray you didn't talk to the Lord you got lazy about being in his house you're not working on some things it's not worthy the pastor or your parents or your Sunday school teacher or your youth director knows what you're doing the fear of God when there's neglect it should make one half shaking and trembling that's what it said work out your own salvation fear and with trembling you see it went on to say less than any time we should let them slip man I looked up the word slip I didn't know the word slip a word with just four letters had so many definitions but let me read you some definitions of what it means to slip it means to move with a smooth sliding motion sadly too often I see folks who smoothly slide out from under working for God and laboring in the kingdom of God to move quietly and cautiously oh it wasn't all at once I just slipped a little bit to escape from memory or Consciousness to become uttered through inadvertence a slip of the tongue scripture says from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks to slip to as quickly or easily away to fall into error or fault to lapse to slide out of a place or away from a support of one's grass it's slipped away from me I see too many that are letting the blessings of God slip out of their hands because they're losing their salvation they're neglecting their salvation to fall off from a standard or a custom level of degree to decline sadly I see too many churches that levels of degree they begin slipping away from the tenets of the faith they don't say you need to live it quite as strong as we used to Let's slip away one degree at a time to get away from to elude to evade to let go of to disengage from he said don't let your salvation slip he goes on to say in these definitions to slide out of place or away from the support of one's grass that sounds a lot like backsliding don't it the act or an instance of slipping down or out of a place a sudden mishap fall from some level or standard a decline let me tell you there's some things as our Tech said that we cannot let slip we can't let our faithfulness slip we can't let our integrity slip we can't let our prayer life slip we can't let our church attendant slip we can't let our purity of Doctrine slip now let me pause there just a minute we must not let the purity of the apostolic message slip or we're neglecting our salvation yes I'm thankful for every testimony of salvation but I get concerned when folks so readily say well I know my loved one is not going to a truth preaching Church well but at least they're going to church and I'm satisfied be thankful to going to church but you need to witness to them they need the Full Gospel message of the Jesus name Apostolic message in their life don't settle don't let purity of Doctrine start slipping away and fading away we must ever maintain that we are in Jesus name Apostolic Holy Ghost Field Holiness Church we must not let that slip we cannot let the Salvation message slip but I'm thankful that the word slip also has a couple of antonyms they the antonym for slip means to get up to rise up to stand up to have an uprising listen I don't want my salvation to slip I want there to be something Rises up in me every time I have the opportunity to exercise my salvation how do I exercise that by showing the love of Christ by letting the word of God guide me and direct me in my daily path by maintaining my Integrity when it's easier to lie about something by loving my family and caring see hell is full of neglected salvation the term neglect defined is to be careless of to make light of to be negligent to have no regard please no matter how long or how short a time you've known the Lord never take for granted the wonderful opportunity that God has afforded you for the Salvation and his Saving Grace you see did you know some can neglect their salvation by simply doing nothing and the automobile world and a lot of machinery there's a term they use Bickle hadn't been driven or hadn't been abused it's just been setting for a long time they call it getting lot rot nobody ran it in to a pole nobody damaged the tire by hitting a curb too hard but they just let it sit and for long the tires start to dry water rotting the hoses start dry rotting and they will not maintain the fluids they there's a chemical breakdown even of fuel just by inactivity let me tell you if you become inactive and you become one who just sits down you can neglect your salvation if you don't maintenance your house you'll have leaks and creeks and all of those things you have to maintenance the house but I got news for you if you neglect your marriage you'll have leaks in your marriage if your job and the cares of Life become more important than maintaining the relationship with your spouse and loving one another it's not marriage Retreat time but you need to hear this year around there's some things you don't need to neglect if you neglect your children even in the name of making a living and providing for them find yourself making a living and providing for lawyers fees for rehab centers if you neglect your health did you know we as Christians we don't talk about this much but there are habits and ways of living that if we neglect our health our bodies are going to break down you're not going to feel good I know this don't make folks shout and dance and Huck a buck let me hear you you need to let me have you hear me I should say we need to take care of our health we need to be careful that we do not abuse the physical bodies that God has given us they're only going to last for a certain time God is the is a god of healing he can heal anything he wants to but time and chance happeneth to them all these old fleshly bodies will break down and while we do service even for the Lord we must maintain our physical health Jesus told the story in Luke of Lazarus and the rich man Luke 16 19 let me examine it with you for a few moments it said there was a certain rich man which was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day notice he had neglected his finances he was a rich man he hadn't neglected his wardrobe I mean he wore Purple Label for crying out loud he said he wore clothes and purple and fine linen and he lived sumptuously which means extremely costly a rich luxurious magnificent life and there was a certain beggar named Lazarus which was laid at his gate full of sores designed to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table moreover the dogs came and licked his sores came to pass that the beggar died was carried away by the angels in the Abraham's bosom the rich man also died and was buried and in hell he lifted up his eyes being in torment and saith Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom now scripture does not choose to give any more details concerning the lives of these two men and sometimes we assume that one who is wealthy and rich is automatically bad and someone who is poor and firmed is automatically good that's not necessarily so but it's simply in the case of the parable and story that's being given so understand that it says Unity lifted up his eyes being in torment and see if Abraham afar up and Lazarus in his bosom and he cried and said Father Abraham have mercy on me and sin Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I am tormented in this flame please understand the imagery of the story being told understand no matter no matter how much wealth you amass no matter how sumptuously you live if you find yourself in the torments of eternal hell you would give it all for just one drip of water on your tongue for some momentary relief from the torment you see it's an important thing not to neglect your salvation but Abraham said Son remember that thou in thy lifetime receive us thy Goods you had a lifetime to have salvation and likewise Lazarus evil thing Lazarus suffered In the Flesh he was poor he was infirmed with sores but now he is comforted and thou art tormented whatever Lazarus had done he found Comfort whatever the rich man had done he found torment and besides all this between us and you there's a great Gulf fixed what this statement simply tells us all you can accomplish in your salvation is now on this Earth don't wait till it's too late this preacher wants to tell you don't neglect your salvation make your call sure make your commitment positive make everything that you do about your salvation Hallelujah and when the reality had set in in this Parable and story to the rich man there was no hope the torment was so great his mind turned to his family then he said I pray thee therefore father that thou would have sent him to my father's house he said if you can't help me would you help my family would you some way send Lazarus to my father's house I have five Brethren now how much torment must there be for a brother to want to help his five brothers because I've seen how Brothers sometimes get along but it was such torment he said if you can't help me can you help my family that he may testify unto them lest they also come into this place of Torment and Abraham said unto him they have Moses and the prophets let them hear them and he said nay Father Abraham but if one went unto them from the dead they will repent let me tell you there are some who just feel like and they'll even state if I could see some Supernatural thing take place then I'll serve God man if I could see something extraordinary something out of the ordinary then I'll believe if I could see somebody raised from the dead if I could see this and that happened you see salvation cannot be based on some emotional response to some event salvation only comes through obedience to the Salvation plan and then the maintenance of what God gives you following his lead and following his call he said nay Father Abraham but if one went unto them from the dead they will repent he wanted something Supernatural to affect his family I'm here to tell you don't go by what you see go by what you know let the word of God minister to you an obedient Spirit to the Salvation plan is what you need forget about what happens around you what does the choir sing if you never do anything else you've already done enough if the Lord doesn't do another thing for me if he doesn't bless me again he's already done enough when he gave me a Salvation plan and the promise of Eternity in heaven oh don't neglect it it's too great it's too wonderful Heaven's too Grand I don't want you to miss it [Applause] [Music] some feel they have leverage to bargain with God for a shortcut for forgiveness and salvation but verse 31 said this and he said unto him if they hear not Moses and the prophets neither will they be persuaded through one rose from the dead if you won't hear your Bishop and your pastors and your Sunday school teachers and your school teachers and your child care leaders and your group leaders if you want to hear the message they're trying to tell you some great miracle of someone speaking from the dead you're not going to listen more earnestly to them either it might be a bit of momentary excitement hear me in this house tonight don't neglect your salvation it's too great it's too Grand let me tell you don't neglect or be ashamed of the primary part of Salvation and that's the knowledge of who Jesus is acts 4 and 12 most of you can quote it neither is there salvation in any other for there is none of the name under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved don't neglect the name of Jesus we're not looking for some generic watered-down presentation of denominationalism we will always be people of the name of Jesus Jesus is not a third person in the Trinity Jesus is not a third of God he was God manifest in flesh he was all God he still is God he is on the throne and we need to be excited and unafraid to share the testimony as Soul winners that Jesus is God there is no don't neglect knowing that and telling it stand with me I've got some good news for you if you've been slipping if you've been neglecting your salvation if you've got breath in your lungs it's not too late for restoration and a good maintenance program to start tonight a new workout you need to work out your salvation second Corinthians 6 1 said we then as workers together with him beseech you also that you receive not the grace of God in vain for he saith I have heard thee in a Time acceptable right now is the time for God to hear you right here in this house right now you need to let God hear you and in a day of salvation I have secured thee that term secured mean I have assisted you and supported you in times of trouble and distress how many times have you in your lifetime in a time of trouble and distress said oh Jesus I need some help right now and he's helped you sometimes you didn't have time to pray a lengthy oration you might have been on the highway and it looked like an accident was inevitable and all you had time to do is say oh Jesus help me right now and some way somehow you made it through it might have been a sick baby whose fever had gone so high and all you could do is say Jesus touch my baby right now let me tell you he still securing he still assisting and helping he said and in the day of salvation I have secured thee behold now is the acceptable time oh I just had it visualized in my mind I could wait till a Revival that some great person would be there and I'll I'll get my workout in and I'll oh stop the neglect and I'll start them now is the acceptable time behold now is the day of salvation somebody hear me in this house I know not who I'm speaking to but God knows that he's telling somebody now is the time to get things right now is the time to straighten things up remember the antonyms of slip was to get up to rise to stand to have an uprising acts 22 16 said this and now why Terry is that what you waiting on what you waiting on arise be baptized watch your way thy sins calling on the name of the Lord Jeremiah said it this way for I will restore Health unto thee and I will heal thee of thy wounds saith the Lord because they call thee an outcast say this is Zion whom no man seeketh let me tell you a couple of things I saw last week during National youth convention yes I saw Young Folks making their way to the altar from the beginning of service and having a good church but I saw something in particular happen I don't know why well I do know why but I don't know the particular circumstances I saw brother Jackie Dillard take a sleeping grandbaby so that mosh pit of Holy Ghost worshipers right down front The Dillard I saw you you know what he was doing brother Dillard was maintenancing his salvation with his family [Music] he was bringing one of his little ones during a move of God how many of y'all do I see you you don't send your kids to the altar or you don't come to the Altar and leave your kids back at the seat I see whole families coming listen that doesn't happen everywhere you know what's happening people are maintenancing the salvation of their family they're saying it's important don't you be afraid that to come to the altar you know so sometimes the word sacrifice scares us brother Whitley again we keep referring to the mighty message he preached talked about a new sacrifice some folks think that sacrifice is always something negative and something denying no sometimes sacrifice means putting forth Supreme effort there can be joy in sacrifice let me say that again there can be joy in sacrifice I've seen some of you to have to be the one that takes the first step to do something yeah it took a little pushing your flesh but once you started taking that step and stepping out by faith suddenly in the midst of sacrifice there's joy and excitement there because you know God's got something really good some of you folks pulled up roots and moved from other states in a sacrifice to have your kids in a Christian School that was tough to do I know that to to leave the security of your jobs your home family members some said I'm maintenancing the salvation of my family I want to make sure I want to make sure that there's nothing more important I'm sending a message to my kids right now I've been seeing the Perez family and all those who work with Pia [Music] brother Whitley they've been they've been digging they've been digging we had another one baptized in Jesus name today I I water is springing forth It's same well it's the same Holy Ghost [Music] it was so aptly stated by so many messages that I don't know which wise man said it this week but somebody said all Ministries are not Pulpit Ministries all those folks I named this morning that helped decorate the church I don't know if there's one of these new titles we can come in up with the ministry of decorating the ministry of interior design [Music] are making the house of God an inviting place a pleasant place for folks to come in and to keep us reminded oh folks can do the same thing for two different reasons one's giving honor to God and one's giving honor to man folks gave of their time this last week during a quote vacation time a downtime to come and decorate the church you know they're maintenancing their Outreach because they care about their Church time will not permit me to name all of the special talents within this assembly that folks give of themselves so that the house of God will be an inviting place to witness to others to find Salvation so I closed tonight with a couple of final scriptures Joel 2 23 said be glad then be glad then you children of Zion and rejoice in the Lord your God for he hath given you the former Reign moderately and he will cause to come down for you the rain the the former rain and the latter rain in the first month what's that saying there's blessings coming to folks who maintenance and maintain their salvation there's an Escape Route there is an escape from the bars of Flesh and the bars that would try to keep us conflicted he goes on you can read it for yourself to expedite time but he simply says I'm going to rebuke those things that would come against the natural says you'll eat the Plenty you'll be blessed and verse 28 said and it shall come to pass that afterward that I will pour out my spirit upon All Flesh sons and your daughters shall prophesy your old men shall dream dreams your young men shall see vision and upon my servants and upon my handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit let me ask you to do this this is a call tonight for you're 20 000 miles or maybe it's your five-year maintenance checkup maybe it's your one year maintenance checkup to make sure that you're not neglecting your salvation maybe it's your 20-year maintenance checkup how do I do that I come to an altar and I say God would you once again speak to my heart I open the Altar for everybody that wants to make sure that you are maintaining what God has so blessed you with he's called us scripture said that he did not call us to uncleanness but under Holiness there's a call for all to be holy let me have a maintenance checkup on my salvation make sure I'm still Holiness in my heart whatever you need to maintain and repair and restore give it to the Lord right now lift your hands and love Jesus together right now savior I love you savior I Praise You Lord I love you Us Falling In Love With Jesus was the best [Music] [Music] do you feel his protection right now right where you are would you talk to Jesus right where you are is that meant no judgment of you this is you and Jesus right now would you talk to him [Applause] restore your joy let the message be assured in my heart in your arms [Applause] [Music] [Music] Falling In Love With Jesus [Music] was the best thing I've ever don't that feel good don't that feel good [Applause] Jesus Falling In Love With Jesus [Applause] [Music] Christ [Applause] Jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] would you love him right now savior I love you savior I love you let my calling be sure Lord let my salvation be sure in you Lord thank you Jesus thank you Jesus thank you Lord hallelujah First Apostolic Church thank you thank you for being an active growing maintaining Church looking forward to great things in the next several days remember all the announcements of upcoming events school starts back tomorrow that's a good thing we're excited about the Lord taking a strong into the Christmas holiday season time and we have a lot of activities going on let's go with God tonight knowing that our Salvation is sure in him Lord bless you you're dismissed in Jesus name greet everyone as your personal protocols make you comfortable