Bed of Lies | Zach Hammond
by Zach Hammond
First Apostolic Church of Maryville (Maryville, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Isaiah 28:13-20, Genesis 3:13, Romans 1:18-22, Mark 2:1-5, Acts 3:1-2, Proverbs 8:32-34

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/zach-hammond--bed-of-lies
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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you can remain standing for the book of Isaiah, chapter number 28. If you want to get your Bibles out, just very quickly, I just want to give honor to all the ministers as we already have tonight, but I give you honor and I thank you for being here supporting Strong Tower Youth Camp. Whether you're a pastor, a student pastor, uh give it to all the parents, everyone that is here with us tonight. Why don't you give all of our pastors, leaders, parents, guardians, everybody a big hand. We thank you for being here. And if you came to hear good preaching, you came on the wrong night. You should have came the other three nights. We have heard from Brother Woodward, Brother Thornon, and Brother Grizzle. three amazing messages, three friends of mine, and I thankful to have them here at Strong Tower Youth Camp. Brother Grizzle said it the first night as we listened to Brother Woodward that I believe God, he said, I believe God is equipping this generation. And I believe that. And I am going to try to take everything that you've been equipped with over the past three days and try to just put it into put it into your mind, but but to send you out of this place with it. Okay? That's our goal tonight is just to to take you and to to send you back into your community, send you back into your home, send you back into uh the life that you will live Monday uh through Saturday with um everything that you've been given. And and so I'm just going to challenge you a little bit tonight and that I give honor to my father and mother, my father-in-law, my mother-in-law, my pastor, um the voices in my life. I obviously would not be here today if it was not for them. Um to all of my friends that have been a part of our morning discussions or seat at the table. And then to brother Jennings, thank you so much for being here this week, my friend. We've enjoyed you preaching to us and singing to us and leading us to brother Ericson who preached so powerfully on a very difficult topic. I give him honor but we needed it and God I think I think so strongly did amazing things in that service. And then this morning one of my greatest friends in all the world brother Anthony Mcool did what only brother Anthony Mcool could do. brought out some snakeskin boxing gloves and preached a message. If you missed it, need to go back and watch it. But God is good. Thankful for my friends and my youth team, our our student ministry team here at FAC. Could you please just give them a big hand? They do so many things behind the scenes. So thankful for each and every one of them. Isaiah chapter 28 and verse number 13 says this. But the word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept. And he says it again, precept upon precept, line upon line. In case you didn't hear it, he said line upon line. He says it both both both statements. He says it twice. Here a little, there a little little that they might go and fall backward and be broken and snared and taken. Huh, that took quite the turn. Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men. Lets us know his audience there that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. Because you have said, we have made a covenant with death. That's a three words for let's just call it sin. A covenant with death and with hell and are we at agreement with the overflowing scorge shall pass through. It shall not come unto us. For we have made lies our refuge. And under falsehood have we hid ourself. Therefore thus sayeth the Lord God. Behold, I lay in Zion a foundation stone, a tried stone, a precious stone, a sure foundation. He that believeth shall not make haste. For judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet, and the hell shall sweep away the refuge of lies. So verse 15, you take refuge in your lies. In verse 17, he will sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow your hiding place, and your covenant with death shall be disanol, and your agreement with hell shall not stand. When the overflowing scorge shall pass through, and you shall be trotten down by it. From the time that it goeth forth, it shall take you, from morning by morning shall it pass over you. By the day, and by the night, it shall be a vexation only to understand the report. Now, I understand I just read all that and a lot of you young people who I'm preaching to tonight are thinking, "What in God's name is this guy talking about?" I'm doing what as a child, as a young person sitting at youth camps always was like, "Hey, man, why can't you like go to the New Testament and just give us a scripture?" You know, you go to some thing and you're telling me about covenant with death and oh this and that. I don't understand anything you're saying. All right. Well, if you don't get any of that, let me just I'll describe you in picture form in one sentence right here. Verse 20. For the bed is shorter than a man can stretch himself out on, and the covering narrower than he can wrap himself in it. There's your picture. You've taken refuge in lies. You've hid yourself in lies. It's a short bed and a small blanket. I want to preach to you for a few moments tonight on this topic, a bed of lies. a bed of lies. Would you lay your Bible down, your device down, but would you lift your hands as we did this morning? And would you begin to cry out to the Lord to speak to me tonight? Preach to me tonight, God. Lord, use your word to be all that it is, Lord. That it is that perfect lamp, that perfect light. Lord, in the midst of everything that we are facing in our world today, in the midst of every young person tonight that has a calling, that has a purpose, but yet they have struggles. They have things that are against them. We know that there's an adversary. We know that we have our flesh that we are up against. Lord, pray that you would help us tonight. lead us and guide us throughout this sermon, Lord, to see your word for all that it is. In Jesus mighty name we pray. And would you shout, "Amen." Come on. Would you shout amen? Amen. Would you shout amen? Amen. There we go. You can be seated. I've noticed throughout a short time of doing my best to try to help um lead young people and uh guide young people that there's something that most all of them have in common. And that is tomorrow on the way home. All of a sudden, the pictures will begin to be posted of you all falling asleep out cold in the van. And you'll see and notice that young people can sleep anywhere. anywhere. You know, you got one kid's got his feet propped up. You know, he's he ain't he ain't took a shower all week, got his shoes kicked off. And there's this girl, you know, she's got on every every perfume they sell at the at the mall. Got her head laid over on these stinky socks. You got them in this weird Everybody's laid all over the bed. They got people under the, you know, one guy's got his ear in a bag of Cheetos that somebody else dropped. They're laying back here and you feel something wet and they turned over a power aid in the bus and it's running all down their leg and they got stuff going on but they just out cold. The only person uh the only person awake is the the the the precious uh student pastor that's up there with three cans of Red Bulls and some toothpicks stuck in his eyes and everybody else is out cold cuz young people can't sleep anywhere. I don't know. Maybe I just I want to just try to help Isaiah tonight help the word of the Lord to paint you a picture. Anybody ever been in a bed that was too short? That's not a short joke, huh? You lay down and you're like, "This isn't too bad." And before you know it, you start getting a little dizzy. You know, your head's hanging off the bed, your arms hanging off, but your feet lose feeling. Huh? Get a little numb. And like you, you know, y'all could put probably any of you young folks on this mattress in in the lobby out there and you'll be fine tonight. Well, you take somebody that's a little bit older. You know, I've noticed that as people get older, they pack things like mattress pads, certain pillows, sound machines, less clothes, more comfort. You know what I'm saying? It's like they can't just sleep anywhere. they've gotten older. Things have, you know, comfort is a a high priority. But young people, you know, they can just lay down about anywhere. It's like me, I I'm I'm very cold naturatured. Like, you give me this blanket, I'm not sleeping tonight. I'm going to have to go get a hoodie, a beanie, something. I don't want no fan on. Sorry to offend everybody. I don't want no fan blowing in my face. I don't want any I just want to be warm. I I just want to be. So, this right here would just drive me insane. Just a little blanket. Any anybody I don't know if you had a sibling growing up, maybe you you shared you had, you know, share a blanket and you end up you're pulling and tugging and you know, somebody's rolled up like over here on one side. They got they they've done rolled up and took all of the cover there is. Huh? And they you got you got a small bed and a short blanket. Maybe some of you can relate, maybe some of you can't. But we see here that Isaiah says sin, this covenant with death is like a small bed and a short blanket. The bed, he said, is shorter than a man could stretch himself out on. The comforter is too small. There's never enough to be completely covered. And you have to understand tonight, we are all in a covenant with death. We are all born in sin. We all have this problem called sin. the bed in the bed of of sin. The the the the the thing that our flesh just wants to do. Our carnal flesh that will never be enough to cover it. It will always, as the elders have said, take you further than you want to go and keep you longer than you want to stay. There is no greater bondage. We'll just go ahead and dive right into this tonight. Well, there's no greater bondage than a lie where somebody finds false liberty. Yes, sir. There is no greater bondage than somebody that is in a lie where they find just a portion of freedom. Yes, sir. Just a little bit of comfort. here to tell a young person tonight. You might be able to sleep on a small bed with a short blanket for a season, but as you begin to mature and as life begins to happen, you're going to become more and more and more and more uncomfortable. You're going to have more issues and more things that I just can't stretch myself out. I just can't seem to find any kind of refuge. I can't seem to find any kind of joy. I can't seem to find any kind of hope. And before you know it, you've just become just become comfortable in this very tight space. Huh? You may have some others fooled, but let's just be honest. You may can do it right here in the altar and and and do the dance and lift your hands and you can pray the prayer and you can clap when everybody else claps. We've talked about it this week, but when you get home tonight and you're all by yourself and you lay down and you put your head on the pillow, are you really free? Oh, you don't you ain't going to feel much anxiety in this room. But when you lay down in a small bed with a short blanket, all of a sudden, fear begins to grip your heart. temptation begins to slip into your heart. Some things that you maybe didn't feel tonight in the altar, all of a sudden you lay down by yourself and the same spirit enters that room that you've been fighting and you've been dealing with and you've been wrestling with. You've been wrestling with that short blanket for way too long. And we live in a world that you're scrolling through that algorithms are throwing things at you and everything you're looking at is just a world seeking comfort and covering. and they've settled for small beds and short blankets. For some of them, they that's all they know. They emotionally cannot stretch themselves out, but that's the life they've lived. They've never been introduced to true freedom. They don't know anything other than numb feet in their head hanging off the bed. They don't know what true joy. They don't know what true freedom feel. They don't know what the they they don't know the God that you serve. They've never experienced the love of God. They've never experienced any of the things that you felt in this room before. They're just used to this feeling. This is just how it is and this is just who I am. And some of you I fear tonight that you would fall into the category if we're not careful of having a form of it but not the fullness of it. It's a bed, but it's not a full bed. It's a blanket, but it's not a comforter. All right. It's not quite big enough to be able to do what it's supposed to do. Every man, James says, is tempted. When he's drawn away of his own lust and enticed, then when lust has conceived, somebody say conceived. It brings forth sin. Sin when it's finished bringeth forth death. Do not heir, my beloved brethren. Do not heir, students of strong tower. In other words, a lie is a birth. A lie is a birth. deceive, conceive. You can get into all the context of the words there. It is birthed. It is you. You're drawn away. When lust has conceived, it brings forth sin. Sin started in Genesis, we see in 3:13, "And the Lord God said unto the woman, what is this that thou hast done?" The woman said, "The serpent begile me, and I did eat." begs simply there says that the serpent that word nasha in the Hebrew means that he planted a lie. The deception is conceived in Eve's mind and it's birthed into action of eating a fruit before she parttook of it. It was birthed in her mind. It was born in her brain and the results are the sin's consequences. The lies birth requires deception to take up root, to have some thought, to have some things go on in between our ears that cause her to begin to have a conversation within herself and say, "Maybe God didn't really mean it." You know, the devil just he didn't tell her a full lie. He just tells her a little bit of say, "Maybe what God says wasn't true." He didn't even have to tell her a lie as much as he just had to have her question what God said. And here's the thing. I think some of us good old Christian folks that got to, you know, we got it all buttoned up and we looking nice tonight and that's all well and good. You don't have to be a liar. The Bible says you just have to believe one. You say, "Well, I don't do this." That's fine. But if you've been deceived, you might as well be doing all kind of other things because you got more. You might have it all right out here on the outside, but up here between your ears, you don't believe no more the God of this book because you you've got these things going on between your ears and that is it's conceiving fruit. It's conceiving things in your life. You're conceiving things. Every now and then something comes out of your mouth and you think, "Where'd that come from?" It came from your heart because you've been having that dialogue in your head for a long time. In fact, Paul tells us about it in Romans 1 18. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth. They hold on to this truth in unrighteousness. It's a bed, but it's not a full bed. It's got a form, but it's not really gonna cover. It's it's it's a it's a form of it, but it ain't all of it. I can do that part, but I can't do this part. I can take those pages, but I can't take those other ones. That would cause me to have to really hold the truth and unrighteousness. That's a ban of lies because that which may be known of God is manifest in them. For God has showed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and godhead, so that they are without excuse. Because that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations. and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. Vain imaginations. We've heard it mentioned this week. Paul, that word there is inward dialogue conceived from a conversation within yourself, born in your brain long before it is the fruit of your life. You must look outside of yourself to discover truth. Truth is not within you. Let me go against the society says you need to look within. You need to follow your heart. You need to look within. You need to feel how do you feel? How does that make you feel? It don't matter how it makes you feel. Your heart is deceitfully wicked. And if you go to following your heart, you're going to deceive and conceive some me. Don't you look within yourself. The worst thing you can do is look within yourself or look around and try to figure out who you are and who you're going to marry and who you're going to be and where you're going to go to school and decisions you've got to make. That don't need to be inward dialogue. That needs to be a dialogue with your pastor and dialogue with the word of God and dialogue in a prayer room. Because if you're not careful, you'll find yourself laying in a small bed with a short blanket trying to make full life decisions. Decisions that when you're in your 30s, this ain't going to be comfortable. I know you could sleep wherever now, but this is going to really hurt your back when you're in your 40s. This is really going to mess with your His word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against him. I got to take this from the outside and get it on the inside. Don't let deceived dialogue within you create a doctrine for yourself. You've convinced yourself everybody's against you. They're not. You've convinced yourself that you're unloved. God loves you. You've convinced yourself you're not enough. You've convinced yourself that you don't need any more God. You've convinced yourself that I'm just the way I am. I'm okay the way I am. No. This inward dialogue is assassinating the apostolic movement. Stop talking. You're not going to make it if you don't get this word in your heart that when the devil comes in with his too many times. Too many times I ask a young person, where in God's name did you hear that? What do you mean? What do you mean you don't feel loved? He died for you. Well, you you don't you don't understand. No, he bled for you. He let him spit on him. He let him Well, I just don't I just I can't see how everything's going to work out. Everything's just so uncertain. I just can't see the light at the end of the tunnel. You know what the cross tells me? It tells me what this Bible tells me. That is at the greatest in the greatest in the greatest uncertainty in the darkest times God is most at work. I am who he says that I am. The days must cease that we have apostolic students that will sing about a great God, claim to have a power inside of us, but cow down to fear, cower down to a world. Coward that's not who he says you are. That's not who you claim to be. You better speak life. Don't you have that inward dialogue? Don't you let that conversation start. Inward dialogue has killed more relationships, ministries, marriages because assumption is the lowest form of understanding. It's sadly the foundation of a lot of people's life. In an effort to dodge truth, we just assume. In an effort to dodge conver uh confrontation, we just assume. Assumption. Yeah. They were talking about me. I know they don't like me. What you ever talk to them? No. No. I just know they don't like me. I know that post was about me. I know and I and I know they you know pastor walked by me I just don't think he cares about me no more inward dialogue it's ruining students you just sit there on your phone scroll through and it starts a conversation in your brain and it will it will completely considering that you're spending 10, 11, 12 hours a week on it. If you live to the age of 60 and you've spent around six or seven hours on it a week, that's 14 15 years of your life. 14 to 15 years of your life. That's almost as much as we take to try to educate you that you have spent scrolling through and you think that that's not influencing you. Some of you, you need to lay it down. Why? just so you can have a normal conversation with yourself. Just so that you can have a God conversation in your mind. Yeah. Prayer, it's probably awkward cuz God says a lot about your flesh that social media don't. Repentance is probably real awkward between you and God cuz social media don't call sin what God calls sin. And so you would much rather have a conversation with the gossiping crew and with the fleshly crew and with the carnal crew and with the people who want to give give your carnal flesh a little comfort rather than call it out. It's within our nature. Denominations have been formed. You know denominations is not a biblical term. Those were birthed from inward dialogue. There's not but one way that I see in here. It's the way. The truth, the not a way, not a back door, not a side door, not you believe and I'll tolerate whatever you No, no, no. It says the way, the truth, the life. It's the apostolic doctrine. It's the Pentecostal experience. It's a holiness lifestyle. I I see it all through the text. And the only way you can get anything else from it is you have a conversation with yourself instead of having a conversation with the word of God. Or you have a conversation with somebody over coffee that has a conversation with themselves instead of having a conversation with the word of God. Somewhere somebody thought they had a revelation, but they had a conversation with themselves cuz God did not divide himself. God. The devil is about division. When they kicked the devil out, they kicked out a third of heaven. He's been dividing things into a third ever since. Don't you play games in your mind. Vain imaginations. Vain imagination. Vain. What's that mean? It means that it serves one thing. Me. If the conversation's in your mind, if your motive, if your motive is always about me, some of us are, we're so conscious about evil, we need to be delivered from mevil. You got these conversation. Everything you got going on your mind. It's all about, well, I wonder if I do this if I'll get the promotion. It's a manipulative lifestyle. It's all about how can I serve my life and how can I serve my It has nothing to do with nobody else and it sure don't have anything to do with the kingdom of God. It's vain imaginations. We will combat obvious truths just to be right. It's within our nature. It's within our nature we would rather be right than be free. Being right is a real cheap version of selfworth. Come on. It's a conversation within yourself to prove to yourself that you knew you were right. I knew I was the So Paul says in 2 Corinthians, "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God, the pulling down of strongholds." Brother Woodward's always preached about casting down imaginations. Every high thing that exaltth itself against the knowledge of God bringeth into captivity, every thought to the obedience of Christ, casting down inner conversations. There is nothing, Mark said, from without a man that enterth into him that can defile him, but the things that come out of him that defile the man. It's inside of you, and you got to deal with it. Jeremiah said, "You've healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly." Peace. Peace. There ain't no peace. He says it twice, two chapters. You can give them partial comfort, partial coverage. They can promise you a season of feel good, a season of hope, a season of this, a season of that. There's too many people in our world today, young people with halftruth trying to help a dying world. You can't put a band-aid on a gaping wound. It's a bed too small and a covering too short. Half truth is still a whole lie. It's a small bed and a short blanket. Knowledge is at an all-time high. I've preached everything I've preached at this point because I'm preaching to a generation that has more information than anybody else. I would be fooling myself to take my pulse off of that and not preach to you that there is a truth that we must buy and it's not for sale. Don't settle for a short bed and a small blanket. Jordan Peterson said on his newest episode that middle schoolers middle schoolers are his most his most viewership most watched time that they do all their analytic analytics are coming from middle schoolers. You better know the truth. Shift gears here. Mark 2 and verse number one. And again he entered into Capernaum. Everybody say Capernium. After some days and it was noise that he was in the house. Straightway many were gathered together in so much that there was no room to receive him. Not so much as about the door. It was so packed they couldn't even get in. He preached the word unto them. And they came unto him bringing one sick of the pausy who was born of four. In other words, in other words, he was paralyzed. and four men come carrying him. And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was. And when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the Pauly lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the Pauly, "Son, thy sins be forgiven thee." I love this story, and I'm going to do my best to preach a little bit about it tonight very quickly. Favorite part about this is everybody else called him lame. Jesus called him son. But there was certain scribes sitting in there having a little inward dialogue reasoning in theirelves. Those Pharisees and Sadducees, they don't ever really say nothing in front of Jesus. They just have a little inward dialogue. She comes in with the alabaster B and bust it all there. And you go to the story, Simon Peter's there. They don't ever say nothing out loud. Just inward dialogue. Pastors preaching, they never come talk to the pastor. They just going to have a little inward dialogue. They just go have a little conversation at the table with somebody who thinks the same way they think because they're having a little reasoning within their hearts that are deceitfully wicked. Why does this man speak blasphemes? Who can forgive sins but God only? And immediately when Jesus perceived the spirit because they didn't have to say it cuz Jesus knows. God knows that inward dialogue and they so reason within themselves. And he said, "Why reason these things in your hearts?" You got to understand, you read all that that's not a conversation. Jesus knows what they're thinking. whether it is easier to say to the sick of the Pauly the sins be forgiven or say the arise take up thy bed and walk but they may not know the son of God hath power on earth to forgive sins and he said the sick of the py I say unto thee arise take up thy bed thy walk go into thine house and immediately he arose took up the bed and went forth to them all and know so much they were all amazed and glorified God saying we never saw it on this fashion this is a powerful story and sometimes in the Bible the cool thing about the Bible is it's not all about necessarily what is being written and even who it's who it's being written to, but perhaps where it's being written. Capernium. Everybody say Capernium. Capernium has become Jesus's headquarters. He seems to always be in Capernium. It's a bit debated, but a lot of investment went into Capernium. And some would say that he performed more miracles in Capernium than anywhere. He's always in Capernium doing a lot of work, a lot of investment. But when it comes to Capernaum and the people of Capernium and the religious people of Capernium, there's not a lot coming back to Jesus. Crowds would come, but he was always very, you know, they're just trying to catch him in every word that he says, catch him in everything that he does. And so we see Capernium has become this place that Jesus works from. Jesus shows himself powerful performing miracles but he is rejected in Capernaum. He gives so much to the city and pours so much in here but yet it rejects him and he will not believe. In the same city that we read the text about the man who is lame. He is a paralytic. He is sick of the pausy. His body does not move. But just because you aren't moving doesn't mean that you are lame. The issue here is that the body does not respond to what is in the head. The man knows but his body won't do. Everything is there. Everything's present because we know after the healing he walked out. He had the feet. He had the ability. He knew in his brain. I see other people walking. I see other people doing things. But he knew, but he couldn't do. The body would not respond to what's in the head. Everything's there to function, but there's a disconnect between the knowing and the doing. Therefore, to him that knoweth to do good and doeth not, it is sin. The body just wouldn't obey the head. So it's deeper than a lame man that Mark tells a story about. He's speaking to the condition of capernium. Capernium is spiritually paralyzed. Brother Keith spiritually they've got this experience with this man ca called Jesus. And Jesus is all about doing and teaching. It's not just knowing, it's action. And this man is physically what the city is spiritually present but not connected. You have everything you need in your reach but it's not connected. Let me preach to you for a moment. You got your family is present but they're not connected. You got your church. Everybody's present but are you connected? You got your pastor. You got the word of God is present but are you submitted? know do to do good but it's paralyzed and it's sin. So we see that there is a requirement for action. I understand many of you I'm preaching to tonight you're not smoking, cheating, fornicating. Maybe God I hope not. You're not even telling any of those white lies you know. But just because you know all the things that we don't do, God is looking to see what you actually do. There is sins by omission too. Yes, sir. He's going to say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." You You can't be righteous by not doing anything. Come on. I know a lot of people that they've just become comfortable Christians and they just have inward dialogue about anybody that's trying to do anything for God. Jesus trying to heal somebody, it ain't going to happen. Somebody trying to repent, they'll be back next week. You got it all figured out. All the while, you're just sitting on your short bed with your little blanket. Most of them sucking their thumb victim because you can't be comfortable. You got to find somebody to tear down so nobody sees the rest of your bed a here, hidden parts of your life. So we see here that we've got this issue within Capernium that we have to address. And Mark tells this story so perfectly and and and I I want you to understand and I this is what I've come to really talk about tonight. And I know we've been equipped, but some of us, God's just saying, "You need to get up. You're way too comfortable to be a Christian. Stop looking for a bed to comfort you in your casual and somewhat carnal lifestyle. You didn't realize it, but you made a bed for it. You've made a bed for your insecurities. We've compensated for our carnality. This is just my personality. This is just who I am. This is how I was born. This is the family I'm in." And we've got a lot of talking in the Christian world with not a lot of walking. We got a lot of people laying on a mat talking like they run marathons. They have a mat called the internet. People tell people how to do stuff they've never done. Huh? Got a bed of excuses for everything. Here to ask you, how many souls have you won? Oh, that that's not my thing. You know, no, no, don't don't talk about teaching no Bible study. Huh? Don't talk about the Bible study. Mm- No, no. That would be way too I would have to get out of my comfort zone. I I don't Please don't talk. Please, Brother Jennings, don't don't play that shout music no more. That's out of my comfort zone. I I'm way too comfortable. Why don't you go to the prayer room, Brother Thor? Oh, no. That would be God might do something. God might inward dialogue will cause you to all of a sudden start saying things and and there's a lot of talking. You can't claim to be Pentecostal and be lame. There's a man here in this story that I hope we can all grasp tonight that he just gets tired of not functioning. Yeah. But if there's ever a message to preach to young people, it's this. He was around the right people. He was around the right people. Now I better I better slip back up here real quick. I'm going I don't have enough time to He is around the right folks. Everybody say, "I'm in the right place." He was around four people that took him to Jesus. Look at your neighbor. Tell them. Say, "I'll take you to Jesus. I want to be with people that can take me somewhere. You don't need to be running with people who are looking for short beds and small blankets. You don't need to be looking for folks that are looking to cover up their sin. I want somebody who will tell me, "Hey, I might not can help you, but I know who can." You see, I know a God. I know a man. I know a church. I see. I am not. I've had that conversation. I am not. But I know the I am. I know. I know a man named Jesus that pulled me up out of the muck and out of the mire. I want somebody to pray with me. I want somebody to say, "Hey, you going to the prayer room tonight? They sure will gossip with you. They sure will get on that negativity train. I need somebody to say, "Hey, why don't we pray about it? Why don't you magnify the Lord with me? Why don't you exalt the I want to be with somebody take me to Jesus. I want to be with somebody that can do something about that can add value to my life." Our flesh wants to find people who are as dysfunctional as we are having the same inward dialogue in order to make our own dysfunctional look normal. Two insecure young people are always going to find each other. They think, "Lord, this is a match made in heaven." No, that's two lame people. That's like two blind people. The blind leading the blind. They both in the ditch. Don't put two insecure people together. Don't put two negative people together. That's not who you need to be with. You need to find somebody. If you're negative, go find some positive people. If you're broke, go find somebody knows how to make money. Stop running around with blind folks. Stop running around with lame folks. Run with somebody that's fruitful. Run with somebody. Now, I know I know I know this is just, you know, it's deep. It's as deep as a puddle. But you say, "I I I I just I'm not comfortable worshiping. You ain't going to be back here." While everybody else is in the altar, I'm struggling. If I'm struggling, I'm going to find somebody. Say, "Hey, why don't you worship? Why don't you magnify the Lord with me? Why don't you I'm not going to just sit around and find somebody else got the same problems. You ain't nothing but a spiritual leper colony. You're nothing but a All it takes is just a few people to get around somebody say, "Hey, I know you can't walk, but we can take you to Oh, and you're talking about some good folks. Closer they got to Jesus, the more creative they had to be. It was there was obstacles in the way. The door was crowded. I want to run with people who don't stop every time it gets it gets tough. Oh, well, you know, it I just don't feel good today. It don't matter. We still going to worship. The door is crowded. It don't matter. I want to go with somebody that'll tear the roof off for me. I want to be with somebody who's more passionate than a Hey, we'll carry you. We'll not only carry you, we'll get creative. We'll You ought to grab the hand of somebody next to you, throw it in the air, and let them know, "Hey, I'll be a friend that takes you to Jesus." I want to run with the right folks. Come on. You know if you're there or not. If you're not with those folks, I wish you'd just shift around a little bit. Find you somebody. Say, "Hey, will you help me rip the roof off of this guy? Will you help me create an atmosphere where somebody's life can be changed? I want to find somebody that when I get down, they're willing to reach down in there and carry my carcass. They're willing to get up there and get creative. Take me wherever God is. Take me to the place. They're willing to get me to Jesus no matter what happens. I want to be about my father's business. I'm telling you right now, if anxiety and depression are going to catch me, they better move fast. They ain't going to catch me just laying around. Let me get down to where you're at. I might be broke, but I ain't going to be cuz I'm lazy. I don't know why I ain't got no job. Get out of the bed. There may there will be seasons where the people around you will determine where you go. There will be seasons in your life that determine whether or not you will lay idle or you've got some folks that can help you get through that season. I'm not there yet, but I'm moving. I'm headed the right direction. [name redacted], come here. Hurry. Run, son. Lay down on that mat. Brother Thornon done called me out. I do like using people. I thought he was going to make me sing the other night. We would have not been friends. Let me let me explain to you why some of us are having vain imaginations. We get in our short bed with our little blankie and we trying to live for Jesus and we stay in this posture for way too long and we give the devil way too much credit. He's not omnipresent and he cannot create anything. He has to take whatever is there, dilute it, distort it, water it down, get you to doubt it, and get the dialogue started in your head. But when you're all by yourself, you're all by yourself, you go to lay down at night, put your head on the pillow, the devil, from the very beginning of our reading of him, has been defeated. literally defeated. He ain't got no feet. Defeated. He put him on the ground. So when you lay down, that slithery old sucker, gets up in here. Hey, you know nobody likes you. You know all them boys are making fun of you. You know you ain't really called of God. You know you've been looking at stuff you ain't supposed to look at. You know you got stuff in your heart you thinking against. And let me give you perhaps the one picture I can paint for you tonight is if you would get up, you would get the devil out of your ear and get him under your feet. Some of you have been stagnant in your season of comfort for too long. And the devil has took up camp in your mind. And tonight I am declaring for somebody that this moment is just going to be simply this. Would you get up? Lay back down. See this with me. See this with me. When he said, "Rise, take up your bed and walk." Understand? He says, "Arise, pick up your bed and walk." Now, hold on one second. Hold on one second. One second. When you start walking, your relationship with this bed changes. That's it. What carried you in here, you're now carrying out of here. Here's the thing that I think we miss is we think this thing with God is that we get to drop the bed. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Take up your cross and follow Jesus. I get to carry it because every step I take, greater is he that's within me than he that's in musicians, you can come lay lay it down. So we we get God wants to deliver somebody. You can lay back down. I just enjoy making you lay there. God wants to heal somebody. God wants to deliver somebody. God wants to give you a victory tonight and he wants to send you into action. Pastor Carpenter, as you said it last night, radical action. The resurrection power of God wants to bring you out of your situation. You say, "Well, I've done wrong. I've messed up. You don't know what I'm trying to hide." Yeah, I know. Adam did it. He showed us what happens when we sin. and we want to grab something and cover it up. But those fig leaves were a short bed and a small blanket. Here's the power of God. He's got something called mercy that he says his mercy draws you to repentance. His mercy reaches for you. Say, "Well, you don't know what I've done. Here's what I know about God." You can drive a nail in his hand and he'll reach it right back to you. What's that say? Mercy draws me to repentance. That means mercy standing next to you before you ever repent. Mercyy's pulling on you. So here, let me show you this. Mercy tonight, no matter what you've done, is wanting to pull you up out of this bed of lies. The devil is a liar. It is not the will of God for you to remain where you're at. He's Mercy. Mercy. Mercy has got a hold of me tonight. Mercy pulled me up out of stuff I I didn't deserve it, but mercy pulls me up out of Hold on. Stay right here. You got to understand this tonight. [name redacted], come here. [name redacted], come here. But when I start walking, he said, "Mercy follows me, too." But mercy can't follow nobody laying. Mercy follows. So mercy's in the front and in the back. But mercy's got a friend when we get out of the bed. Mercy's got a friend that when we start walking, he will follow. And it's goodness and mercy. And so anytime, keep walking. Come on this way. Come on. Keep walking. Anytime. You got to stay close to him. Stay close to him. Don't get along. Let him get to you. Anytime goodness and mercyy's following and the devil starts speaking that dialogue in your head trying to tempt you. Something said on Instagram, something's tempting you and you stop for a second. Mercy can get in front of you. But goodness and mercy bump into him. I want you to see this. I'm trying to paint you a picture. All this happens when you're walking, when you're moving, when you're moving. Come, come here real quick. Come help me. Run. Run. Run. [name redacted]. Come here. Go ahead. Keep walking, [name redacted]. Come here. Get in there. Get in there. Lying behind her. He says when you walk, he says the believer, he says that signs, signs can't follow nobody laying down. You say, I want to see a miracle. Here's the thing. Our inward dialogue wants us to be the miracle every Sunday. Come on. We just misuse the mercy of God. And we misuse the mercy of God and the altar and the singing and the preaching and the youth group and the bowling alley and the pizza and everything's got to all be about me. God's calling you to get up. God's calling you to win. The kingdom of God is not all about me and my and I. Get up out of that. When you start walking, there's some things that follow you. Now, don't about to let him sing. You're thinking, "My God, how long is this guy going to preach?" When I get into a place where I am walking and I am carrying the past, that I am a testament. Go ahead and pick that bed up. I'm walking. I'm walking and I'm a testament. I want you to see that this is what the followers are all about, not social media. Somebody's going to do something in the kingdom of God that they got to have something following them other than some fake friends on social media with some emojis that don't really mean anything. If you want to be used of God, if you want your pastor to say, "Hey, why don't we why don't we try to give them an opportunity?" He needs to look and see some fruit following him. He needs to look and see that you've been fruitful. There's a past of righteousness, not just a path because good intentions are great. Empty promises. We've already talked about earlier this week. There's got to be some preparation. There's got to be some things that we look at. God, when it's all said and done, he's going to look back over your past of righteousness, not your good intentions on a Sunday night. Are you with me? I understand tonight. You boys stay right there. I understand tonight. This is where I I really wanted to get to. Think, man, you could have got there a whole lot quicker. But we can't just leave here another Thursday night of strong tower and go crawling right back into a bed of lies. I understood. Well, you don't understand, brother Hammond. I'm going back to a a home that's in turmoil. I'm going back to a place that I can't even describe to you. You've got to make up in your mind that I'm going to order my steps in his word no matter what the situation looks like. My closing text is this. And Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer being the ninth hour. And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried and laid at the gate of the temple which is called beautiful. You've heard the story. You perhaps heard it preached 40 years. The next chapter tells us that he was lame from birth. But this man who could not walk was positioned Pastor Garnett at a place that he knew was right. Let's say it this way. Maybe he went to Sunday school as a kid. Maybe his mama carried him in and he heard the words of Solomon. The wise proverb chapter 8 verse number 32 says, "Now therefore hearken unto me, oh ye children, for blessed are they that keep my ways, hear instruction, and be wise and refuse it not. Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the post of my doors." I just have to believe tonight that that man ordered his steps in the word of God before he could even walk. In other words, can you believe this word and have conversations, God conversations in your head when everything around you looks wrong? When all you can point at and say, "It's a beautiful gate. I'd love to go inside. I'd love to walk and leap and praise God, but just a beautiful gate. Can you tonight, no matter what your situation looks like, some of you have been diagnosed with sicknesses that you're believing God's going to heal you. Some of you are dealing with stuff that even this week things have changed and the corners have been turned and things have happened in your life you never expected. Can you allow there to be a shift in your mindset even when the current condition and the atmosphere is different? You're in the right place tonight to have a resurrection moment. You say, "Brother Hammond, I've already been baptized." No, I'm not just talking about that one time experience. We're going to get that washing of the word once again and have a little bit of inward dialogue. So, we're going to lift our hands right now and I trust me, we're going to get to where God wants. I know you're thinking, "Man, this is the last night. I want to dance and shout." We need to lift our hands and let the word of God wash over us right now and kill every lie of the enemy. It ought to be a thing where it's coming out of your mouth. Say, "God, I know that I am a chosen generation. I know that I am a royal priesthood. I know that you have called me out of I'm sorry that I've acted in a way. I'm sorry that I've been dormant. I'm sorry that I've just been uh spiritually laying here. I'm sorry, Lord, but I believe what your word says that I am more than a conqueror. That greater is he that's within me. I believe everything that's been preached to me. And I'm not just going to let it be something that I shout about one night in a camp, but I'm going to let it be something that I begin to let it get in my walk. I let it get in my Monday. Come on, I need you to pray that right now. Come on, I need you to pray that right now. Let that word, let who he is, your identity's got to change tonight. The thoughts towards yourself have to change tonight. What? If you would, if you would, everyone would look up here. I am I hope I know some of you I could tell and maybe some of the adults hadn't been you haven't been here the whole time or whatever. These students have been just as as they participated in every moment here. And I I just want you to understand I'm not I'm not up here guessing around or doing I I'm I'm intentionally doing what I'm doing, okay? And I I I do this with students all the time. And what gets me is we've had such a powerful experience all week, but right now I'm not yelling at you. Brother Jennings isn't doing the two-step. And this is still a better environment than there will be on Monday. And you are fooling yourself if you can't pray now. You are fooling yourself. You got four people around you that's willing to take you to an you're in an atmosphere of all atmospheres. And if you can't right now saturate your mind with the word of God that you know you think you're gonna change on Monday. You think I'm just being real with you. I just want to be honest with you. I Some of you are looking around thinking, "Hey, what's he going to do next?" My question is is what are you going to do next? So still, brother Ethan, for just a few more moments before we shift, before we change, I'm going to give you just a few minutes to get this for yourself. I'm not going to tell you to grab somebody's hand. I'm not going to tell you, and I don't care if you have to spread out. I don't care if you have to go to the back wall. I don't care if you have to whatever. But individually, when you lay your head down on the pillow tonight, you have to be able to lay that head down and be able to combat and tear the stronghold down and say, "No, devil. I am free because he says I am free. I am enough because he says that I'm enough. I'm not enough because of the person standing. I'm not I'm not here just living in the overflow of somebody else's prayer. I know who I am because what God has done for me. I want you to close your eyes if you want to kneel down for a moment. If you want to stand, if you want to lift your hands, if you want to find a whatever you need to do, but for the next few moments, you've got to have a conversation with God about your current condition. Lord, am I in a small bed with a short blanket? Lord, have I deceived myself into thinking something right? Something's right that's not right. Lord, have I turned my back on people that I used to really value their voice in my life? Come on, Adam. He's looking for you, Adam. He's looking for you, Adam. Stop trying to hide yourself. Be not deceived, for God is not mocked. Come on, young man. God speaking to you. Close your eyes. remove the distractions and let the son of God, the power of God, the resurrection power of God overwhelm you right now. There's victory in this house. There's healing in this house. There's deliverance in this house. There's a transition that's about to take place here in a moment when you can start having the right conversation in your mind. I am I am I am more than a conqueror. I am a temple of the Holy Ghost. I am a child of God. For you are bought with a price. You are bought with a price. You are bought with a price. You have this treasure in earth and vessel that the excellency of his power may be of God and not of us. Ah let me not follow my heart but let me order my steps in your word. Lord let mercy pull me, draw me, let grace teach me. Let signs and wonders follow us. Come on. Don't let the devil distract you. Don't let anything around you distract you. On this last night, I need you to close your eyes and focus. God's got something for everybody here. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. This is In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. I would that every person in this place would stand to your feet. I hope that there's been ample time that you have had a conversation with yourself that you understand that I am a child of God. The devil is a liar. The devil is a liar. He said, "You can make your bed in hell and I'm there." God's here for every person tonight, no matter what your situation is. But let me finish that story in closing. Acts chapter 2 takes place and we turn the page and there's a lame man sitting at a gate. About 3,000 souls have been added to the church. The man sit at the gate for 40 years lame from his mother. Perhaps Jesus had passed him by. Maybe Pastor Grizzle maybe even dropped something in the bucket. But it's not until Acts chapter 3. It says that 5,000 souls witnessed him walking and leaping and praising God. And when they pulled Peter and John up and they wanted to accuse Peter and John and they were trying to they were trying to accuse them of wrongdoing, they said, "We don't find no fault in Peter and John because that lame man's been sitting by the gate for 40 years of standing next to him." because it's hard to accuse some folks of anything when there's a miracle next to him. And God performs that miracle at that moment so that 5,000 people could see it. Your revelation tonight is if you get up out of your bed. If you order your steps in the word of God, signs, wonders, miracles, the harvest is coming. So would you throw your heads up? Would you throw your head back? And would you receive in the name of Jesus? In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. You know, I want you to hear me. On the count of three, you are all spiritually going to experience what is going to happen to [name redacted] physically. Come on. You going to come out of this short bled. You going to get out from up under this small blanket. The blood of Jesus is about to wash over you. The glory of God is about to fall in this place. You have already, now hear me. That's why I told you we're doing what we're doing for a reason. Because if you really had a conversation with yourself a moment ago, you don't care what anybody else thinks. Now, if you had a if you had that inward dialogue and you care about what somebody else thinks, you might be about to get run over cuz I'm just about to preach to somebody for just a few moments on this last night who's sick and tired of being lame. I'm sick and tired of the devil telling me that I'm not I'm sick and tired of listening to his own lies. I'm sick and tired of hearing all the things. I'm just sick and tired of being sick and tired. So on the count of three, I want you to respond to the resurrection power of God that's about to hit this room. It's already here, but it's about to hit this room in the name of Jesus. One, two, three, rise up and walk. walking, leaping and praising. Walking and leaping and I wish somebody shout. I wish Heat. The devil is a liar. God is exalted. The devil is a liar. God is exulting. The devil is a liar. God is exalted. The devil is a liar. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Here we go. Get up. Get up. Get up. Get up. Out of that. Get up. Get up. Get up. Get up out of that bed. Get up. Get up. Get up. Get up. Out of that. Get up. Get up. Get up. Get somebody right here. Get up. Get up. Get up. Get up. Out of that. Get up. Get up. Get up. Get up. Out of that. Get up. Get up. Get up. Get up. Get up. go down go down go down go down go down go down go down go down go down go down go down go down go down go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go Heat. Heat. Heat. Go go go go go go go go. So I know I understand completely that I have become that person and I apologize but I realize that like 75% of us are getting this but I would love to have 100% participation. The only reason is is you say, "Well, that's just not my personality. That's a short that's a short bed, small." Don't make excuses. I don't think heaven is going to have like 15% standing over the corner. I just don't do that, you know? I just don't say holy. I just don't I don't think heaven's going to have a section where they That's just not my personality. Brother Jenny, I'm sorry. I wish those of you that got stuck got stuck in the shift, you want to go ahead and shift on back around. There's a lot of room back here. We could turn this place into heaven right now. For all the parents that are here, you're welcome to participate, but we're not going to miss the party tonight. Everybody, everybody, everybody, give me a little room. Give me a little room. Just give me a little room. Somebody that's Thank you. Heat. Heat. sound like just like Just like I got to praise. I got to praise and I got to let it out. I got to you. I got to I got to let it out. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. I got I got I got I got a praise. I got a praise. I got to I got to praise him. Praise him. Praise him. Praise him. Praise him. Praise him. Praise him. Praise him. Praise him. Praise him. Praise him. Praise him. Praise him. Praise. I got a praise. I got a praise. I got a praise. I got a praise. I got a praise. I got a praise. I got a place. I got a praise. I got a place. I got a praise. I got a I got a I got a I got a I got a I I really feel like somebody's going to get healed tonight, but I think we just got a a little bit more of a push. Okay, but Anthony, you care to help me? You got your boxing gloves? No, just I'm I'm kidding. You come. No, you come up there. I know you got them. Brother Huff, can you help me back there? You're in the back. Just Hey, just stay right there. Some of you boys, y'all slide right here in the middle. We going to let the devil know that we ain't laying on this thing no more. Y'all come right here. Come right here in the middle. We going to pass this thing all the way back to the back. No more Satan. No more Satan. No more Satan. No more Satan. Let's go. Somebody I got a praise. I got a praise. I got to let it out. I got to praise. I got I got praise. I got to praise. I got I got praise. I got to I got to I got to I got to let it out. I got get up out of that. Get up. Get up. Get up. Get up. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Get up, get up, get up, get up, get up, get up, get up, get up, get up, get up, get will I will I am a monster. I am a Yeah. Heat. Heat. If you need a physical healing in this place, it's here. If you got doubt, you could be dismissed to the fourth meal. But if you've got if you've got a physical need, we're going to do this the way they did it. I need If you got a physical need, just raise your hand. Physical need. Raise it high. Raise it high. Look around. Look around. Look around. It says that four men, four people carried it. I need at least four or five people. At least reaching over and grabbed the hand or lay hands on that person that just raised their hand in the name of Jesus. I believe right now that by your stripes in the name of Jesus be healed in the name in the name of Jesus. Rise up. Rise up. If you got it, let me see a Take your hand and you let me see yourself feeling you. Let me see you. Just clap your hands and speak. I got it. I got it. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. I got it. You got it. I got it. Let me see you clap your hand. I got it. I got it. Let me see you feeling tongue. I got it. I got it. I got it. I got it. I got it. I got it. I got it. I got it. I got it. I got it. I got it. I got it. I got it. I got it. I got it. I got it. You got it. I got it. You got it. I got it. You got it. I got it. You got it. I got it. You got it. I got it. You got it. I got it. Heat. Heat. tonight to praise the Lord. Let me see you clap your hands. If you're not ashamed to praise the Lord, let me see you stomp your feet. If you're not ashamed to praise the Lord, let me see you wave your hands. If you're not ashamed to praise the Lord, let me see you leap for joy. Somebody clap your hands. Raise your hand. Somebody clap your hands. away. For joy for joy for joy for joy for joy for joy for joy. If you're not ashamed to praise the Lord, let me see you. Clap your hands. If you're not ashamed to praise the Lord, let me see you stomp your feet. If you're not ashamed to praise the Lord, somebody wave your hand. If you're not ashamed to praise the Lord, let me see you leap for joy. Somebody clap your hands for joy. Clap your hands off your feet. Wave your hand for joy. They want victory. They want strength. They want healing. They want joy. They want people. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. No matter what the weapon is, I want you to know that I want you to my way. I will. I will. I will. Heat. Heat. Heat. Say, "Open your mouth." Shy. Open your mouth. Sh. Open your mouth. Shotty. Yes. Yes. Yes. Open your mouth. Sh. Open your mouth. Sh. Yes. Open your mouth. Sh. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes, we are. Yes, we are. We have the PS. for the answer. Hallelujah. Open your mouth Sh. Yes, Lord. Lord, open your mouth. Sh. Yes, Lord. Lord, open your mouth and sh open your mouth and shout. Yes, Lord. Lord, open your mouth and shout. Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. Open your mouth shell. Yeah. Now the Bible says to shout unto God with the voice of triumph. So, I want Ho ho ho, hold on just a second. We're going to do this, right? There's no instrument that's going to help us with the voice of triumph. All right. If you feel like that you have victory here at Strong Tower Youth Camp, I want the level of your voice to be the indication of your victory tonight, I want you to lift your voice on a shout of three. One, two, three. Lift your voice. Come on. That's it. Come on. Let's seal it with a worship with our voice tonight. What's that sound? That's the sound of the redeemed. That's the sound of those that are rising and walking. Come on. That's it. Lift your voice. Come on. Ain't no drums can take the place of your voice. That I feel the Holy Ghost in this house. Lift your voice. If you need victory tonight, lift your voice. Come on. If you need confidence in the Holy Ghost tonight, lift your voice. Come on, let's lift our hands and thank him for what we felt this week. Come on. Lives have been changed this week. Young lady, you're going home with through with confidence of the Holy Ghost this week. Young man, you've been healed of depression this week. Young lady, those anxiety attacks have been healed in the name of Jesus tonight. Come on, do something with your victory tonight. Walk in your victory tonight. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Let's clap our hands all across this room. Oh, hallelujah. Hallelujah. Now, it'd be a cry and shame that you've preached every preacher that's been behind this pull pit. You've shouted through every song and worshiped through every every set list that we tried to put together. Be a cry and shame if we go back Sunday and sit on a pew like a bump on a log, not help our pastor preach. I got a challenge for you. Let's let Strong Tower continue Sunday morning at your local church. Come on. Do you accept that challenge? Amen.