Let The Church Be The Church | Associate Pastor Chad Erickson

turn with me in your Bibles to Daniel chapter 3 and verse one I I just want to read a just a few verses from this uh chapter and and then we're going to we're going to preach for a little while and what a mighty presence of the Lord has been in this place amen I don't know if you realize uh just the the sheer energy that our pastor has he preached this morning he preaches this afternoon in sville and then he gets up here and exhorts and just Le Us in worship are you appreciative of your senior pastor amen thank you I I'm a worship leader so I know what kind of energy that takes to put forth and uh I I sure appreciate that we have a pastor that he could just kind of chill out and kind of take a take a seat during the worship service but he gets up here and he leads us so beautifully I appreciate him and sister Carpenter I appreciate all of our team appreciate the ministries of this church and what a what a great crowd that's here tonight on a Sunday night you know this is just not this is not the norm anymore to have a Sunday night service but you sure can't tell around here amen every section's filled Amen to overflowing and thank God the church has shown up to the house of God tonight amen we didn't come to church the church came to the house of God tonight amen Daniel 3:1 says Nebuchadnezzar and I do want to stop right here just very quickly and say that I do appreciate my parents giving me a Biblical name cuz my name is right in the middle love you Mom and Dad thank you they didn't want to leave me out got a brother named John good strong Biblical name nebu Chad nezzar I just wish he was a good guy you know what I'm saying like it be it be good it' be nice if he was a good guy but Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold in all seriousness whose height was three score cubits in the breadth there of six cubits and he set it up in the plain of dura in the province of Babylon then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes the governors the captains the judges the treasures the councellors the sheriffs and all the rulers of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the King had set up skip down to verse number four then an heral cried aloud to you it is commanded oh people Nations and languages that at what time you hear the sound of the Cornet the flute the harp the sackbut sultry damer all kinds of music ye Fall Down and Worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the King has set up and whosoever fall and not down and worship it shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace and apparently there was a question that everyone would not indeed worship this Idol and sure enough they didn't because in verse 17 Shadrach meach Abednego are here talking to the king and they say to him they said if it be so our God whom we serve is able to Deliver Us from the fiery furnace and he will Deliver us out of thine hand oh King but if not be it known unto thee Oh King that we will not serve thy Gods nor worship the golden image which thou Hast set up and I want to read one more scripture in your hearing Matthew 16 And1 18 don't even have to turn there it says and I say also unto thee that thou art Peter and Upon This Rock I will build my church and the Gates of Hell shall not Prevail against it now it is my assignment from God from this Pulpit tonight to sound the alarm because as the world gets darker and more evil The Church Must get brighter and must get more righteous you see as a church we cannot Fade Into the background and hide our heads in the sand and somehow hope and pray that everything is going to somehow get better I got news for you that is not going to happen it doesn't matter who gets elected president this week this world this culture this country will never write itself and turn to God it's not going to happen but that's why we're here last week I preached let God be God and this week I want to preach Let the church be the church last week we talked about God we're not the Christ there's some things we we have no power over we put it in God's hands but we are the church and although we are not the Christ we are the body of Christ to this world today amen and I just believe if we oh my God I just believe if we will bind together in one Accord in this place tonight I just believe there's people that are not going to bow down to Babylon and bow down to the things of this culture in this world but we're going to be the church that God has called us to be we're going to be the hands the feet we're going to be every member of the body come on somebody if you feel that way tonight just lift up both hands as high as you can and throw your head back one more time and come on let's just pray God help us to be the church that you've called us to be Lord help us to be the people Lord God that you've called and you've chosen you've set apart from this world oh God to to be your chosen generation to be your royal priesthood to be a people Lord God that are called by your name I want to be a part of that number I want to be in that church uh I want to be in the kingdom of God and I want to see Lord God people one to your kingdom I want to see Souls change and lives resurrected and Lord one day when the sound when the trumpet sounds Lord God I want to bring as many people to Heaven as I can with me come on do you feel that way I want the church to grow uh this world this world is in a hand basket this world is headed to a devil's hell but Jesus has called the church and predestinated the church to go to heaven somebody clap your hands and give God praise one more time before you seated God we bless you God We Praise You In The House you may be seated the Gates of Hell shall not Prevail the gates of Hades that's death shall not Prevail against the church God's church will never die y'all listen to me right here God's church will never die it will never become extinct it doesn't matter who's elected it doesn't matter what the laws are the past it doesn't matter how liberal our culture becomes God's church will never die AR you thankful of that we we we talk about and we hear about 400 years years of Silence between Malachi and Matthew but that doesn't mean the church was not alive the church was alive and well we just don't have biblical record of those 400 years the church will never die I love I love what Daddy Rambo wrote she wrote a song called The Church triumphant y'all heard the song Church triumphant our younger Generations haven't heard it and let me tell you something we're working out we're going to we're going to we're going to change it up a little bit rearrange a little bit cuz listen to these words right here it says The Old Ship of Zion it's the hope for the lost and dying it's a Soul Saving Station it's the Tower of Salvation it's the church triumphant oh Lord and it's built by the hand of the Lord she goes in the court she says I'm talking about the church in the Book of Revelation it's built on the Rock it's got a firm foundation it's been through the flood and it's been through the fire but one of these days the church is going to move up higher it's the church triumphant and it's built by the hand of the lord it's been through the storm but the wind couldn't turn it it's been through the fire but the fire couldn't burn it it was fed to the Lions but the Lions couldn't eat it it fought a lot of Wars but never defeated yes it's a church triumphant oh Lord and it's built by the hand of the Lord I'm not crazy about the tune I'm just going to be honest with you but those are lyrics but those lyrics Bring fire when I started reading that song when I started reading the lyrics of that song I thought to myself I'm glad to be a part of that church through through the martyrs through the through the people that gave their life for the gospel for people who gave everything for the gospel I'm just going to I'm just going to slow down right here because I want to make sure we understand I know we feel like we're living in bad times and we're living in Desperate uh we're having Desperate Measures but that's that's really not the case we we've got a good comp compared to what the disciples lived in we got it good compared when the Romans would burn people at the stake we we've got it good compared to the days of the early church but the church has never died and the church will never die oh they tried to drown it but the flood woo it couldn't drown it they tried to burn it but it would not be burned the storm came and tried to blow it away but it would not blow away the Lions tried to eat it but they could not devour it the Wars that tried to annihilate it oh but what about the church today it's still alive and the church is still on fire it's triumphant so here's an alarm that I've come to sound tonight because I just believe that hell and and if you look around you'll see it hell has changed its strategy it's it's been well over 2,000 years and the church is still alive and even Satan has has come to re Revelation and realization that the church cannot be destroyed so he's kind of changed his Playbook a little bit if you will and he's kind of gone to a new strategy and instead of trying to destroy the church he's going to try to change the church I say it again in try instead of trying to destroy the church he's he's going to try to change the church possibly trying to rock the church to sleep in the last days and they might not even notice what's taking place the church won't even know notice that it's lost its identity Proverbs 24:30 here's a proverb it's a warning it says I went by the field of the slothful and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding and lo it was all the grown over with thorns and thistles had covered the face thereof and the stone wall thereof was broken down then I saw and considered it well I looked upon it and received instructions yet a little sleep and a little Slumber a little for holding of the hands to sleep and what this proverb was simply saying is a little sleep and a little Slumber and a little slothfulness causes the stone wall to be broken down and what was once a profitable crop becomes a field of thorns and thistles listen I don't want to be a part of that church I don't want to live through that proverb where we once had something great going on here in Marbel we woke up 20 years later 30 years later and it was filled with thorns and Epistles and where once there was a hedge and there was a wall of Holiness of of protection around the church it no longer was there because people had falling asleep but that's not the church that I'm going to be a part of that's not my church uh that's not the church that's not the Church of the Living God oh second Timothy 4 and2 it says preach the word be instant in season out of season reprove rebuke exhort with all longsuffering and doct for the time will come when they will not endure sound Doctrine but after their own lust shall they Heap to themselves teachers having itching ears and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables I believe that time is coming but not a part of my church not a part of God's church but I believe this Tech this technique and the strategy of the enemy if we're not careful it's going to try to IND inate us like the Babylonians would indoctrinate the Hebrews if you will go back with me and we're going to go back into time when the Hebrews when when Daniel Begins the story of four Hebrew boys love the Book of Daniel love to see young people living for God love to love to see young people standing up for what's right and we got to realize that they're abducted from Judah to serve King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon and this king of Babylon he he only took certain captive during the first wave of attack of foreign Nations now they would attack they were they were a great a nation that was powerful and strong the strongest of their day and so they would go into other nations and and they would conquer the nation but they wouldn't just Begin by destroying the nation the very first thing they would do is they would bring out all those that were intelligent were young and many times the best looking of the nation that they went in to take captive they they didn't go in they didn't go Devour the nation that wasn't what they did they didn't they didn't start off by killing by enslaving he took the best and the brightest and he brought them back to Babylon and the whole idea was he was going to indoctrinate them with the Babylonian religions so we have four boys here names which they received at their circumcision they all had something of God in them Daniel means God is my judge hananiah means the grace of the Lord mishel means he that serves the strong God and Azariah means the Lord is my help but to make them forget about the God of their fathers these Babylonians would give them new names and these names would be the gods of the caldan idolatry Daniel they named him belsazar which means The Keeper of the Hidden Treasures of bell Shadrach means the inspiration of the son which the calans worship meach means of the Goddess Shack under which the name Venus was worshiped and then Abednego which means the servant of The Shining fire which they worshiped also and in studying King Nebuchadnezzar and this the Babylonian Empire I found out that for three years the Babylonian religion was not forced upon the foreigners however everything possible was done to wean the foreigners off of their upbringing and a name change was the very first order of business but I love this and I I guess I never really realized this until I really started reading into the book of Daniel but Daniel never calls his Hebrew Friends by their Babylonian names now we do because all the children's stories talked about Shadrach mhach and abedo and so we just naturally just think that's their names but that was not their names that's what the Babylonians named them the Babylonians they named them in order to take everything everything of their past everything of their identity they wanted to pull from them take from them so that they could train them up in the ways of the Babylonians but oh it was Daniel whenever he was around the three he would call them by their Hebrew names because he wanted them to remember exactly who they were because if you remember who you are there's some things you won't do such as d Daniel earlier in the story there there's things that Daniel he made up in his mind and in his heart that he would not eat the king's meat or drink the King's Wine he would not sit at the king's table and eat what the king ate and eat what the Babylonians ate because he had the fear of Jehovah God within him and so he helped as these these three young men came into the Babylon and they came he said I'm going to help you I'm going to help train you to keep you in the way of your God because even back in Deuteronomy Moses warned the Hebrews in Deuteronomy look look with me in Deuteronomy 8 And1 this is this is so interesting to me because God fora this this was not just a Babylonian thing God fora he sought he said hey if you get things too good in your life if you if things get too good if you get too well favored you might just forget about who you are and where you came from and Moses told them and said Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God in not keeping his Commandments and his judgments his statutes which I command thee this day lest when thou Hast eaten and art full and H has built goodly houses and dwelt therein and when thy herds and thy flocks multiply and thy silver and thy gold is Multiplied and all that has multiplied then thine heart be lifted up and thou forget the Lord thy God which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage and then look in verse 17 and thou say in thine heart my power and the might of my hand hath gotten me this wealth but Thou shalt remember the Lord thy God for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth that he may establish watch this right here establish his Covenant which he swear unto thy Fathers as it is this day this Babylonians King Nebuchadnezzar he housed them in his Palace he tried everything he could do to cause them he he gave them wealth and riches tried to feed them the best of the best promoted them in his kingdom and and I know as we read this story we could from the outside look in and say you know this is really awesome these these Hebrew boys here they are taking captive and and God's so good to them that God would promote them in the Kingdom of Babylon and I I know this looks like something that is good and something that is positive but what it was really for was to get them in the place of position to where they felt allegiance to this King Nebuchadnezzar instead of instead of enslaving these people and having to manage these people he taught them how to be managers and he used them not from the bottom but he used them from the top down oh but they purpose in their heart this is not who we are going to be this is not what we were born to be we are Hebrews woo there are there are certain Traditions that we live by there's certain rules and laws that we must follow there's a separation between us and between this world and we cannot be of this world we're in this world but we're not of this world listen if we live like the world we're going to soon begin to think like the world that's why God's always called his people out of worldly living I'm just preaching about the church Let the church be the church listen last Sunday night Pastor Hammond got up here and preached about the body of Christ he brought a cool skeleton up here he began to talk about the body then on Wednesday night pastor preached about the church and so I'm just kind of just carrying on the theme because I feel like God is trying to speak to his church in this last hour it's quite simple we cannot convince someone else to change our life if we're living the same lifestyle they're living if we must live woo a holy lifestyle separated from this world I don't want to think like the world I don't want to act like the world I don't want to consume what the world consumes I don't want to drink what the world drinks I don't want to be addicted to the things this world is addicted to Holiness and separation is not bondage my friend uh it is the greatest Freedom you could ever imagine oh when I look back over my life my Mom and Dad are here when I look back over my life and I think that my mom and dad keep me separated from worldly living and a worldly lifestyle I think my God I have no regrets you think I look back over my life and and wish that I have been addicted to to marijuana or it got further into crack cocaine or meth or or something kind of abusive substance do you think I look back on my life and wish that I had needle marks and I had all kinds of issues with my body today I don't look back over my life and feel those things I I just say thank God I never had to experience my testimony is I never had to experience those things we didn't watch the kind of stuff that Babylonia wants their people to watch and and wants to get listen this Babylonian lifestyle stle it's scary y'all the Babylonians they would try to indoctrinate and and that's why I thank God for our Christian School you've heard me say it before and you'll hear me say it again I thank God that we get to decide what our students here what our children here on a daily basis I'm I think that my daughters have Holy Ghost filled teachers that speak into their life and can lead them and guide them and help them walk the walk and talk to talk I'm thankful for a Headmaster that's filled with the Holy Ghost that loves God I'm thankful for school pastors that love God and preach Doctrine to my kids preach Doctrine to my kids don't hold back I want to be a part of the church and more than that I want my kids to be a part of the church here these boys are I got to move but but here they are Daniel haniah Melle ezariah here they are and they're living for God even in Babylon even in the darkest of times they're living for God they're holding on strong woo they're saying oh God we might be favored here in Babylon but we are Hebrews we are Jews we're Hebrews we know what we believe and here we go at the end of three years of Babylonian indoctrination Nebuchadnezzar he erects he erects this huge image in image of himself and instructs everyone watch this right here from every nation every tongue to bow in worship the idol you see this right here in Daniel 3 and4 The Herald cried aloud and said to you it is commanded oh people Nations and languages he was testing out the indoctrination of the Babylonian Empire that's all this is it's not about worshiping this Idol it's all about making sure that the indoctrination was a success look who he invites he wanted the princes and the governors the captains the judges the treasures the counselors the sheriffs the rulers of the provinces these were people he had brought in to manage the people this wise King This brilliant strategy that he had he's indoctrinating them but now he needs to see if they've been indoctrinated oh here we go but these three young men Daniel's not here at this time but now these next three we call them Shadrach meach and Abednego here they are and they're about to go through the test of a lifetime the test of a lifetime but let me first preach to our 21st century Church uh let me preach to us here today are we willing to stand up against the indoctrination of prosperity all right all right or we will We allow the influence of prosperity to govern our worldview oh watch this right here oh because we weren't always where we are today we weren't always in a multi-million doll worship facility where we come in hear the greatest sound and have the greatest lights and cameras and and video walls oh I like that brother Dale that looks cool we've not always had the title of the message on a on a screen that wraps around the platform we've not always been where we are today matter of fact you've not always driven what you're driving you've not always lived in the type of house that you're living in come on I'm looking at at some white haired and some gray haired saints of God that you remember what it was like before we found favor in Babylon you remember what it was like when we were on the other side of the track some of yall remember what McGinley Street the corner of McGinley and Monroe Street look like I was driving I had London with me other day we went to we went to one of the ball games of of our young men and we were coming back and we were driving back through and I was I was kind of telling London I said London right up here is where is where the first church was where where the church on mle street was and she said it was over here I said yeah right here right down this Ro right here is where the church used to be this is this is when we used to be in a small building with only one aisle only one aisle down the center and listen I I remember what McGinley Street was like I grew up we used to have a church over the o o over the the brown and sun TV now listen we didn't believe in TVs we didn't own a TV but we had church over Brown and sun TV Mom and Dad we found a a little building that had a second story they wanted to rent out it's where I out the Holy Ghost we had Church in the upper room y'all I don't think 120 could have fit up there though but I remember those days I I remember was like we we I believe the next location we had was in the basement of a mall we we found a space that was larger we we outgrew that upper upper room and we found a larger space and we had we had Church in the basement of a mall with concrete floors I remember what was like on the other side of the tracks side I remember what it felt like when people would watch you go down the old stairs in that mall go down the creeky doors would open and go down where lights lights were flickering you know and but you know what we had church and the Holy Ghost fell and people got the Holy Ghost and we outgrew that church building and then we had to build a church and thank God for it but we haven't always been here but I believe if we're not careful the spirit of prosperity can change our world view and it can change the way we worship it could change the way we preach brother Jeter we got to be careful we got cameras we're on the internet now we got to be careful because man when we're in Babylon we got we can't offend we got to be careful not to offend and we can change listen how we preach I've read sermons sinners in the hands of an Angry God y'all ever read that sermon you want to be offended read that sermon there was a day when preachers weren't scared to preach weren't scared to preach about Sin but Babylonian wo the way they want to indoctrinate they want to try to intimidate our preachers against preaching of about Sin be careful as not to offend Don't Preach against hatred or bitterness or anger Don't Preach about Don't Preach against unforgiveness or abuse or homosexuality or gender confusion some of y'all getting nervous right now Don't Preach against worldliness or drunkenness or drug abuse or lust or immodesty don't drink or Don't Preach against drinking or Rebellion or jealousy or Envy don't pre preach against adultery oh my God somebody in the audience might have committed adultery Don't Preach against adultery don't Don't Preach against fornication or witchcraft what scares me to death is if my generation is silent about Sin the next generation won't even be able to Define sin no let's fight against it now listen I knew this would be heavy I I'm glad you got your worshiping and shouting out of the way because I knew this was going to be heavy but I feel like I've got to sound the alarm because we've been quiet for far too long the whole idea of The Quiet minority come on somebody we got to be careful we are the church we got to stand for righteousness and stand for Holiness and stand against sin stand against ungodliness uh stand against worldliness uh we can't be ashamed uh we can't be asoo let me tell you something oh the enemy Babylon they're not trying to enslave they're just trying to indoctrinate they're not trying to ensl the devil's too wise to know that our young people are going to get addicted to drugs and alcohol brother Valentine it's too late our young people have seen too much young people have felt too much they've been to too many strong Towers they've been too to too many nyc's and National Youth conventions and and youth congresses they've seen too much I'm not worried about our young people going off and getting addicted to drugs I'm just I'm not but if he can get the church to change if he can convince us that the church is not what it used to be and doesn't have to be what it used to be my God I refuse to be a part of the generation that allows the Next Generation to lose focus on what God designed the church to be Let the church be the church uh Let the church rise up uh let listen I know it's presidential election week but let me tell you a Pastor said it he said it's not so much that the church is getting into politics but politics is getting into the church when the politics starts to decide what's right and what's wrong let me tell you something I refuse to have fear I refuse to be afraid uh of preaching against sin I said it last Sunday I'll say it again I'm not telling you who to preach for I'm not telling you what economy is better than the other economy and what's going to get more jobs and create I don't care about that what I care about is making sure that the church does everything the church can do to sound the alarm oh my God there's things woo there's things there's there's things like abortion that we've got to stand against you're not going to find in the Bible my body my choice that's not political y'all I'm preaching Bible right now God's word stands firm against same sex marriage God said I want One Man and one woman to come together and produce an offspring and multiply two men cannot multiply and two women cannot multiply and if it doesn't fire you up anymore when you hear you may be seated you may be seated it bothers me when I can watch the news and see people talking about well I think it's my child's choice to take some puberty blockers my God a child shouldn't even know what the word puberty means don't L letting a young letting a six-year-old come up to you and say Dad I've decided I'm a little girl but I've decided I'm a boy listen hey if we don't preach this stuff there's coming a generation that's not going to know where we stand you don't believe me you think 15 years ago I would have ever believed that they would allow a man in a woman's rest restro just because he identified as a female Brother Bruce if that happened when I was a kid that security would have went into that would have shoved that kid up against the wall and would have expelled him the rest of the year for going into the girl's bathroom but today it's encouraged so you think 20 years from now if it looks like that now let the church be the church we cannot bow down to the things of Babylon oh I will not be afraido Nebuchadnezzar is going to threaten brother ER aren't you worried they're going to take you off YouTube and take this church off Facebook well I guess we better step back and stop preaching against sin man I I call them I call them TBN personalities they're they're not it used to be T evangelist but you can't even call them tele evangelists anymore they're just personalities they're just on there trying to make you feel good about yourself trying to trying to preach enough stuff to make you feel good about yourself my God that's listen that's not what a preacher is in the word of God show me a prophet in the Old Testament that ever made anybody feel good about themselves John the Baptist he was in the Old Testament show me where John ever made people feel good about themselves he said repent repent there's one coming after me I'm just a forun I know I preach this last week but it goes too well right here I know I'm the Forerunner of the Christ I am not the Christ but I've come I've come just to beg you reent why because a church is about to be formed and I know pastor preached about he he he told it right the church was predestined from the beginning of time from the beginning of Eternity oh the church was predestined but when the church woo when the Holy Ghost came on the day of Pentecost when the kingdom came to Earth when the kingdom of God was formed uh it wasn't with a sword it wasn't with an army it wasn't it wasn't people overtaking the Roman Empire oh no but when the kingdom of God when it came to Earth when the church began it was a spiritual thing and John said you got to repent because when the church is formed there needs to be people of Holiness and people of righteousness people that have left sin behind people that don't act like they used to act and do what they used to do and they got to be a part of the body of Christ because there's got to be a church that's going to preach the gospel no matter what at any cost come on Pentecost at any cost we got to preach it we can't be ashamed of it we got to say God no matter what this world does no matter how they try to indoctrinate us I love my daughters way too much to not not allow them to understand what I believe and what this church believes so here we go back to Daniel chapter 3 Nebuchadnezzar spake in verse 14 and said unto them it is a true oh Shadrach meach and Abednego do not ye serve my gods nor worship the golden image which I have set before you oh he gave them an opportunity but when everybody else bow down there were three in the crowd that put their shoulders back threw their head back closed their eyes and stood there in Rebellion against the god of Babylon I will not serve your God I don't care what kind of job I have what kind of money I'm making how prosperous I feel that I am I will not serve the god of Mamon I will not serve the god of this world oh but he gave him another chance he says now if you be ready that at what time you hear the sound of the Cornet he goes through all these instruments when you hear the orchestra he he said Fall Down and Worship the image which I have made he said it's going to be good as well but if you worship not he shall be cast into the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace and who oh who oh who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands can go go back to the beginning of that verse right there who is that God I want to see that y'all see that capital G right there I love that right there because even right here it's showing that when he spoke of that God he was speaking of Jehovah God but he didn't even know Jehovah God he's saying who's got the power to deliver you out of my hands and he was about to meet that God because these three young young Hebrew men were given one more chance to Bow and oh let me tell you someone who didn't have good morals could come up with an excuse I'm sure someone that didn't have an Integrity could come up with an excuse I'm sure someone who didn't trust in their God could have come up with an excuse I'm sure those people may have thought well when we bow we'll just in the back of our minds we we'll just bow down and we'll say Jehovah god Jehovah god Jehovah God we won't become Idol worshippers we we'll just we we'll just we we'll worship the imagees just one time but then we'll ask God for forgiveness the King has absolute power and we've got to obey him I'm I'm talking about excuses that people come up with why they bow down to the idols of Babylon oh the king appointed us and we've got to obey him this is a foreign land so God will excuse us for following the customs of this land or or maybe our ancestors set up Idols in God's Temple and this isn't half as bad as what our ancestors are did we're not hurting anybody everybody else is doing it and although all these excuses sound sensible at first they're dangerous they're dangerous because every time you bow you're going to come back next time it's going to be a whole lot easier to Bow the next time because that's what sin does to you oh the first time you do it you think I'm never going to do it again that was a one-time thing but oh that's how the enemy works because if he can get you once he can get you again and if he can get you you again he's going to get you again and over I call it the cycle of sin over and over and over it happens but when you know that your God is able and greater is he that is within you than is in this world when you understand who your God is although the King Nebuchadnezzar doesn't know who your God is Shadrach mehek and abedo knew her who their God was and they went by the first time and let me tell you something right here I don't have time to read it but they didn't bow the second time either so they stoked up the fire they got the fire burning oh they got the fire so hot that when they were about to get thrown into the fire even the guards that were throwing them into the fire got too close to the fire and they were burned up they were burned alive they fell Dead Oh but Shadrach meach and Abednego oh the Bible says they fell down but it wasn't to the image oh no they fell down Bound in the midst of the burning fiery furnace then Nebuchadnezzar in verse 24 the King was astonished and Rose up in haste and spake and said unto his counselors did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire they answered and said unto the king true oh King he answered and said lo I see four men loose walking in the midst of the fire and they have no hurt and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God or like the Flesh of God now listen I know he didn't have a true revelation of what he was looking at but he understood enough to know that the god of these three young men is the god of power what I thought I had all power and I thought that my gods had all power but he began to say listen the god of Shadrach meach and Abednego he is God he is the god that Reigns uh he is The God Who Reigns over all the earth and the King witnessed the theophany a visible manifestation of God so let me share with you I'm almost done let me share with you what I feel God spoke to me early this morning he said Chad The Church Must wake up and must be my church listen I know listen I know that we're hoping for a politician that we vote for is going to win the White House but there is no man or woman who's going to get in the white house that can do anything to change the direction of this nation I know I know we feel like if he passes the right laws oh I know if the Congress if the Senate if they will approve and pass on the right laws that everything's going to look better but I'm sorry to tell you it didn't happen the last time that Donald Trump was in office and I hate to tell you if he gets elected this week it's probably not going to happen again but I know a God who has all control woo it's not the White House but it's the church house it's not the white house uh it's not Senate it's not Congress it's not the judicial branch it's not the Supreme Court but it's God and it's his church uh it's God and it's the body of Christ as the world gets darker the church has got to get brighter and although this world might be in a Down Road spiral and it's falling quickly the church is going up uh we've been predestined we are going up and nothing no man no woman can stop the church uh death cannot stop the church the Gates of Hell shall not Prevail against the church oh stand to your feet with me I I wish I had just a few more of you on my side tonight but I believe tonight listen I believe in the last few minutes of this message I I pray there something I've said I I'm not trying to bring you any great Revelation I've been reading some good books I'm not trying to bring you any great Revelation I'm just here to sound an alarm I'm here to try to just to tell somebody we got to wake up church we got to wake up we are the church this world has no hope without the church amen unless we get them into the church they're going to die they're not going to spend time with Jesus for eternity they're going to die and they're never going to see the one who died for their sins uh they're never going to experience what we're going to experience uh woo on streets of gold they're never going to experience what we're about to experience when we go to the other side but is the church awake and does the church see what Babylon is trying to do to the church uh oh my God God help us I pray again I pray that everybody gets out and votes I pray if you've not already voted I I please please get out on Tuesday and vote because I just believe the church has got to have a voice we got to have a voice we've been silent for too long we've been worried about what other people think for too long we've been worried about not offending people for too long the church has got to have a voice I feel God said I need the church to be the church I need the church 1 Corinthians 16 and13 says watch ye and stand fast in the face uh in faith uh quit ye like a man and be strong uh another translation says be on guard stand firm in the faith uh and be courageous and be strong are there any courageous in this place tonight come on I need some strong tower Young young people that want to be courageous I know you've grown up in the listen our society the culture that you've grown up in is horrible it's so much it's far worse than I could ever imagine as a 16 and a 17 year old my god there was no such thing as cell phones when I was 16 internet we didn't have internet a God you're facing stuff that your parents and your grandparents can't even imagine but I need Strong Tower young people to realize you are a part of the church brother land we're a part of the Church of the Living God come on we're powerful the church has got to be the church in this last day in this last hour let the church be the church let young people stand up for what they know is right uh for Truth uh for Godly principles uh let them stand up for God uh God said you be my people I'll be your God you stand for me I'll stand for youuh he said but if you're ashamed of me I'll be ashamed of you we need middle age we need people of my age that say I've got a 10y old I've got a 13y old I've got a 17y old my god I've got to make sure that my children understand what it means to be the church what it means to be a part of the kingdom of God come on on grandparents we need you you brought us this uh you let this down you gave this to us uh you taught us uh you trained us come on parents come on grandparents we need you in Jesus name to keep on standing up and keep on standing for righteousness and Holiness and righteous living come on Church come on I'm not just talking about First Apostolic Church I'm preaching to the church I'm preaching to people that say God for far too long I've been silent I don't even know if my kids know where I stand on homosexuality I don't even know if my my kids know where I stand on abortion I don't even know if my kids know where I stand on holy living come on if we're going to be holy we got to be separated from this world and our children have got to understand what it means to live separated it's a good thing it's a beautiful thing uh Holiness unto the Lord uh Holiness unto the Lord we're not going to see God unless we're holy we can't see him we can't experience him we can't understand him we cannot receive Revelation from him unless we Are Holy I wish if you're a father or mother I wish you would find your kids and pull them as close to you as you can I wish families would come together grandparents would would find grandchildren and pull them as close as they could together come on somebody we are living these times oh this day this hour that we live in these are terrifying times but oh the church woo the world is going to see a church a city set up on a hill that cannot be hidden they're going to see a light that a bushel will not hide woo God I'm going to let it shine W God I'm not going to be hateful I'm not going to be divisive I'm not going to be mean I'm not going to come against people Lord but instead I'm going to show love and I'm going to show compassion and I'm going to show them that there is a church that they can be a part of where their life can be changed uh there doesn't have to be bondage uh there doesn't have to be divorce in their life uh there doesn't have to be separation but oh they can come together because in the church uh there's protection in the church uh in the body of Christ there is protection come on compassion come on love come on faith come on gentleness kindness we need you right here woo come on this is not a hate message this is a love message I love I love the world so much uh just as God he loved the world so much that he gave uh he wanted to see the world saved oh I don't want to see the world die I want to see them in the church I want to see them alive and on fire the Gates of Hell shall not Prevail against the church Church come on moms and dads you ought not be ashamed to lay your hands upon your children you might even lay your hand upon their forehead and you might just begin to pray and say God lord I pray for my child Lord I pray for Paris I pray for Windsor I pray for London right now in Jesus name Lord I'm believing I pray for my niece Gabby I pray for her husband Noah Lord I'm believing Lord Lord God you going to put inside of them Lord God so much faith in you so much courage I believe in Jesus name there's going to be a strength uh there's going to be a firmness Lord God that Lord as they get older in you God they're going to get more mature in you as they get older in you God lord they're going to be have a backbone like a crowbar when it comes to spiritual things Lord God help them stand up for righteousness and holiness come on come on Babylon Babylon is after our children but you can't have my children Babylon wants to indoctrinate our children but you can't have our children Be steady be strong come on the church uh the church has got to be the church uh the church has got to be a place of safety a sanctuary the church has got to be a place where we can run to and be safe woo it's a strong tower here's where the name of the Lord is it's a strong tower and the righteous run into it and are safe Jesus woo come on come on wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up woo wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up yes yes yes yes come on the Holy Ghost wants to move right now come on the Holy Ghost wants to break some chains right now the Holy Ghost wants to change some Minds right now some paradigms need to shift right now come on open up your heart and your mind to the word of God open up your heart in your mind to Holiness Holiness Holiness is what I long for Holiness is what I need Holiness is what you want from me God let it happen in this place tonight God let there be a revelation of a Hool let there be a revelation of righteousness oh God do it do it do it do it do it right here God God we are your church we are your church we've been called by your name we are people of the name we represent you in our community we represent you in our world we represent you in our culture Lord God you are living through us through our hands and through our feet you are living through us oh God help us be the church help us be the church help us stand up help us stand up