Well Done John | Associate Pastor Chad Erickson

thank you, evangelist wilson. thank you so much for bless us. one more time, put your hands together if you're thankful for the ministry of the wilson family. he was saying some good notes in there. y'all hear that? can't even get those notes. that's good. that's good stuff. come on, stand to your feet. aren't we so thankful to be in the house of the lord today? what an amazing service we had this morning. bishop carpenter just absolutely brought the word and we're so thankful that the holy ghost is still being poured out. that tongues are still in the church today. tongues as evidence, spiritual tongues and the gift of tongues. boy, that was so good this morning. if you weren't here, get back online and watch it. and i promise you, you're going to be blessed. amen. and turn with me to matthew 25:21. give honor as pastor said to all the uh ministry that's in the house. i already got to shake hands with so many friends and pastors, ministers, all getting ready for uh general ministry conference. of course, it starts tuesday night. everyone's welcome. we have tickets, free tickets for everyone to get in the door. as registration, but because we are from the tri-state district and it is a local uh downtown knoxville, the knoxville convention center, uh they have given free tickets to all local churches. so, you can come to whatever services you want to just come by uh the main registration booth in the convention center and you can just tell them you got a family of four or whatever you have and they will give you four tickets and you can get in the door and worship. every service is open. you are invited. matter of fact, wednesday night, we are moving our service here from this location to the knoxville convention center. so, if you get here on wednesday night, it will be dark. the lord hasn't come back. well, maybe uh 7:00. 7 o'clock. knoxville convention center. everybody say 7:00. >> not 7:30. 7. matter of fact, 6:30. get there at 6:30. we got some great music going be singers and musicians and and worshippers going to be leading us in worship at 6:30 and then 7:00 we'll get kind of rolling with the main with the main event with the main service. but uh get there by 6:30. get there by 6:15. choir is going to sing on thursday night. uh we're just going to have a great time. bishop carpenter's preaching on thursday night. it's it's going to be a great week. so get to general ministry conference. we have no excuse. it's in our backyard. it's right here. we have no excuse. get there. get there. get there. get there. amen. and then also we have prayer going on as you know uh from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. monday through friday right here in this sanctuary. uh when you come in, you come into entrance number four. this back entrance side entrance over here. um you can sign in at the desk. you can check in. uh we have a nice uh kiosk that you can sign in for prayer. and come on, let's make this place. the bible doesn't say a house of prayer. it says the house of prayer. amen. and i believe that's what this is. amen. the house of prayer. matthew 25:21 says, "his lord said unto him, well done, thou good and faithful servant." anybody else want to hear that right there one day? another scripture, luke 22:31. you're going to you're going to recognize this one if you can't get there. it's on the board. it's on the screens. and the lord said,"simon, simon, behold, satan hath desired to have you." and that you right there is plural. it's not just talking to peter. he's talking to all his disciples, all his followers. that he may sift you as wheat. probably not many farmers in the house, but when this was being written, it was written to a lot of farmers. and the greek word for sift suggests shaking, agitating, and separating. satan desires to sift you. he's not merely trying to tempt you, peter. he's want to break you. he's want to expose your weaknesses. he's want to prove that your faith is not enough. but thankfully there's a verse 32 because then jesus said, "but i have prayed for thee, peter, that thy faith fail not." church family, i would imagine that if jesus is praying for you, you're going to be okay. one more verse in your hearing. matthew 11:11, the main character for my message tonight. matter of fact, he was the main character for bishop's message this morning. jesus said, "verily, i say unto you, among them that are born of women, there hath not risen a greater than john the baptist, not abraham, not moses, not david, not elijah." jesus said, "there's no greater man born of woman than john the baptist." but then immediately he says, "notwithstand, and he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." try to figure that one out. i believe simply that john was the greatest man of the old covenant. but john never experienced what we've experienced. john never experienced the kingdom. never saw it. he preached about the holy ghost, but he never received the holy ghost like we've received the holy ghost. john pointed towards calvary, but y'all, we live on the other side of calvary. so thankful. if john could become great at what he was given, church family, what can we become with what we've been given? i feel the holy ghost already. i just for just for a few moments, i want to preach on this topic. it's not going to make sense yet. my topic is this. well done, john. that's it. well done, john. come on, put your bibles down. let's pray together. father, we love you. god, i'm so grateful, lord, to be standing in front of the greatest apostolic, pentecostals. lord god, i believe we have young people, strong tower students are on fire for you, lord. there. they're on fire before strong tower youth camp. they're on fire before general conference. they're on fire, lord. i'm thankful, lord god, for the middle-aged, lord god. those that are my age, lord, i'm thankful, lord god, for the senior saints in the house that have lived this life and have, lord, have have a testimony of being brought out of so much. and lord, they've lived for you their entire lives. lord, i'm thankful, lord god, that you've given us a church family that's on fire for you. but oh god, in these last days, in these trying days, lord god, trials and tribulation, temptation, lord god, i pray that we remain strong, god, i pray that we remain on fire for you, lord god, that we would serve you all the days of our lives, no matter what the ws the enemy wants to bring against us. lord, i want to serve you, god. i want to hear those words, lord. oh god, when i step through pearly gates, i want to hear the words, "well done, thou good and faithful servant. enter in." lord, that's our prayer tonight. won't you anoint me and won't you anoint the ears that hear? in jesus' name we pray. let the church say, "amen." come on, clap your hands if you agree. come on, that's what amen means. if you agree, so be it. let the word be praised. lord, i agree with your word. you may be seated in the house tonight. i am definitely no hunter. i'm not a hunter like pastor hammond. and i don't have any deer heads hanging on my office wall like brother hammond. but i got a picture here. now all i see is death. >> i'm no hunter, but i've researched hunters and hunting, and there's a difference between an average mount and a trophy mount. a trophy mount is something rare. a trophy mount is is not ordinary. it's not average. a trophy is exceptional. nobody spends years hunting something common. come on, just follow me. i know some of you aren't hunters. some of you are like me, but come on, just follow me with this. nobody invests thousands of dollars pursuing something ordinary. a trophy is a little different. a trophy is special. a trophy is valuable. matter of fact, years ago, i was i was downtown at a bookstore in a small town i was i was preaching. and a lot of times i'll i'll go into a town early sometimes to to do leadership training or what what have you and they'll have me preach on sunday. so, a lot of times i'll have saturday afternoons and i don't know, i was in middle tennessee somewhere and my wife was shopping and i was uh i wasn't shopping. i was just perusing through a bookstore and trying to find something good to look at and and i started to to notice that there was a commotion outside and people were looking out the window of the bookstore and others i saw were coming walking out of businesses and cars were slowing down and something was obviously in this small town something was happening and so i felt uh like i needed to probably step out of the bookstore and i i walked down to the sidewalk and i saw a pickup truck that had just driven into town. and laying in the back of the bed of that truck was the largest deer i had ever seen. 26 points, they said. now, i didn't get close enough to count, but everybody that came out was looking at it. people were gathering around taking pictures of it. people uh people were you could hear a murmur and and everybody wanted to hear the story because there's always a story behind the hunt. >> it was obvious that the truck didn't hit the deer. >> that's the only hunting deer hunting i've ever done. but the hunters jumped out of the truck and and and right away i began to to overhear as they began to talk about tracking this 26 point deer buck. they had been tracking it for years. they knew where he lived. they knew its habits. they knew the territory. they knew his patterns. season after season, they had tried to get him. and year after year, hunter after hunter had failed to shoot this deer until that day because eventually something happened and the old buck made a mistake. somehow he stepped out of cover and somehow he exposed himself and he became vulnerable. and when he did, there was one hunter that got his trophy. and i'm sure he mounted him. i'm sure he does displayed him. i'm sure he showed him off. and i'm sure that he bragged about this trophy. and again, i'm not a hunter, but i do know this. the bigger the trophy, the more effort the hunter makes and the more effort the hunter has invested. the the smarter the trophy, the more study was required. >> the hunter has learned its habits, his weaknesses, his tendencies, his desires. some of y'all know where i'm going with this. the hunter had had to understand what how to lure him out of where he was hiding and what would attract him and what would make him vulnerable. i i heard a preacher at at arkansas camp meeting this week, wesley jackson, began to preach a message that hell has a trophy room, too. >> you see, the devil doesn't spend years studying people that he's not afraid of. >> the devil doesn't spend years and time studying people unless they got a purpose. unless they have influence, unless they have an anointing. >> people who can advance the kingdom of god. people who can make a difference. the devil studies trophies. >> oh, pastor wesley jackson told a story about his family that i will never forget. for his uncle thomas guy mcneely, some of you probably heard of him. a great preacher, a great evangelist. he used to preach a message called the trophies of hell. he would tell about his own father. this was brother jackson's grandfather. a mighty man of god, a powerful preacher, respected leader, a a camp evangelist, a man greatly used of god. god had used him so mightily. he had become a district leader in the texas district, a respected voice, a powerful influence in the apostolic movement. but something somewhere came along the way and something happened. his popularity, his success began to go to his head. he let his spiritual guard down and everything became all about him. he somehow got wounded in the spirit and became offended and became bitter. bitterness began to grip his heart. and over time, the enemy found an opening. the last time brother mcneely saw his father was at christmas and he had a gift for him. so he began to search for his father and he finally found him sitting in an old texas tavern. the man whose voice once thundered from a pulpit. the man who once walked in authority. the man who once knew the power of god sat on a bar stool broken, weary and tattered, shoes worn, a life that was shattered. and when this brother mcneely handed him the gift, tears began running down his father's face. and his father said to him, he said, "kj, i would give every drop of blood flowing through my veins for just one more touch of god. >> not one more title, not one more position, not one more sermon." he says, "if i could just have one more touch from heaven," because once you've truly experienced the presence of god, nothing else can satisfy your soul. and brother mcneely would often describe the trophy room of hell, demons standing around saying, "let me tell you about this one. let me tell you about this one. we studied him. we watched him. we tracked him. we learned his weaknesses. we found an opening. we found a wound. we found some pride. we found some weakness. and eventually, we got the trophy. >> oh, the story that i heard at arkansas camp meeting began to haunt me. it's haunted me ever since i heard it because it reminds me that nobody is beyond attack. nobody is beyond temptation. nobody is beyond being shifted by the devil. if you're here tonight and you think you're beyond, you know too much, you've seen too much, you've got too much experience, you've got too much anointing, i've got news for you. if you step out of under your covering for just a moment, that's all the devil needs. >> a man whose life the enemy would have loved to take as a trophy i've come to preach about tonight because oh, he might have lost his head to the enemy, but he never lost his heart. oh, john the baptist might have lost his head. they might have put it on a silver charger. they might have paraded around the kingdom. he might have lost his head, but the enemy never got his heart. >> the enemy could never make a trophy out of him. cuz you can't make a trophy out of something if you don't have their heart. >> he was a man who carried extraordinary purpose. he was a man who carried extraordinary anointing. a man who carried extraordinary influence. john the baptist. bishop, preach about him this morning. but like so many others, john never became a trophy. >> oh yes. he never became a trophy. matthew 11:11 says, "among them that were born of women, there have not risen a greater than john the baptist." if anybody ever heard heaven say well done, i promise you john the baptist heard heaven say john well done. >> so what made him so special? oh, the answer begins long before he was ever born. because for 400 years, god had been silent. no prophets, no visions, no fresh word from heaven. generation after generation waited. y'all know 400 years. there's a lot of different 400 years in the bible. children of israel held captive for 400 years. for 400 years at after the book of malachi, we have just silence. we have nothing recorded. nothing has been said. there's there there's there's no record of of ministry. there's no record of the next prophet. there's there's no record to be found. just silence. they're waiting until one day this old priest named zachchariah enters the temple and suddenly an angel appears unto him. luke 1:13 says this is but the angel said unto him fear not zacharias for thy prayer is heard and thy wife elizabeth shall bear thee a son and thou shalt call his name john and thou shalt have joy and gladness and many shall rejoice at his birth. watch this right here. for he shall be great in the sight of the lord and he shall be filled with the holy ghost even from his mother's womb. please notice uh before john ever preached even one sermon, god already knew him. before john baptized one convert, god already had a plan for him. before john stepped into his ministry, heaven already had assigned him a purpose. jesus was appointed or john was appointed even before he was born, even before he arrived. and you better believe that hell took notice also. come on, you remember the story. mary, the mother of jesus, a baby jesus, comes to visit her cousin elizabeth expecting expecting john the baptist. in luke 1:41, it came to pass that when elizabeth heard the salutations of mary, when mary walked in the door and said, "hello, liz." the bible says the baby leaped in her womb and elizabeth was filled with the holy ghost. before john saw the light of day, he already recognized jesus. he was already responding and reacting to the presence of the lord. >> somebody here needs to hear this tonight. you are not an accident. thank god for this story right here because this tells us that before we were formed, before our mother even knew she was pregnant with us, god already saw us. god already named us. and god already had a purpose for us. >> i don't care what your parents told you. told you you were a mistake. you were an accident. you you you not random. you're not just some kind of afterthought. god knew your purpose before anybody even knew your name. god had a plan before anybody even recognized your gifting. and the enemy has begun to study you from birth. has watched you as you've grown. but god appointed you. the enemy might be watching, but god has called you. the enemy may be trying to sift you, but god has a purpose for your life. that's right. >> then something interesting happens because the bible once again becomes silent. years pass. no stories, no miracles, no sermons, no crowds, no followers, just wilderness. just a man living in the wilderness. a man who looked crazy. john lives the first 30 years of his life in total obscurity. yet god was working behind the scenes. god was shaping him and preparing him and developing him because god trusted john with influence and so he had to develop his humility. >> because before you can be given a platform, god has to see your character. >> listen, the wilderness is not our punishment. everybody goes through the wilderness experiences. everybody goes through dormant seasons. everybody feels called of god and then there's years where they just wonder now what god oh what what's the plan for my life wilderness that's a time of preparation the wilderness is not rejection the wilderness was protection for john the baptist as he was growing in god because the same humility uh that was developed in the wilderness would later protect john when thousands of people started following him >> you see everybody wants a platform, but not everybody wants the preparation. >> oh, come on. let me preach to some of the young people here today that feel called of god. everybody wants influence, but not everybody wants development because development takes time. oh, it's grueling at times. i know people want visibility, but oh, there's not too many people that are willing to settle for the wilderness experience when nobody knows who you are. and if they know who you are, they might think you're a little bit crazy. but greatness is not built in front of crowds. i'm going to say it again. greatness is not built in front of crowds. greatness is built when nobody else is watching. >> the wilderness prepared john for the greatest test of his life. and let me tell you what his greatest test was. and it wasn't about the persecution. it wasn't even about his time in prison. it wasn't even about being beheaded. that wasn't even the greatest test of his life. the greatest test that john would ever face was success. because after 30 years of obscurity, preparation and wilderness living, all of the sudden john appears on the scene and on the pages of scripture, he had no introduction, no credentials, no title, just a voice. matthew 3:1, in those days came john the baptist preaching in the wilderness. watch this right here of judea, saying, "repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. for this is he that was spoken of by the prophet isaiah, saying, the voice, everyone say that, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the lord, make his paths straight. the prophet isaiah calls him the voice. a voice exists to carry a message. a voice exists. not a message about himself, but a message simply communicates what someone else once said. that's what a voice does. john understood something that many people never learned. he was not the message. jesus was the message. he was not the destination. jesus was the destination. he was not the focus. jesus was the focus. that's right. >> but the danger comes when a voice begins thinking that they're the message. >> the danger comes when the messenger starts believing that the attention belongs to him. >> but john never made that mistake and people began gathering from everywhere. verse 5 says, "then went out to him jerusalem, all judea, all the regions around about jordan. people were coming from everywhere and were baptized of him in jordan confessing their sins. jerusalem was coming. judea was coming. the entire region surrounding was coming. crowds were gathering. influence was growing. attention was growing. john's ministry was exploding. come on. you got to see this in your mind's eye. this wasn't just some crazy man with five or six followers. he had thousands of people. they were coming to find the man from the wilderness who was baptizing people under repentance. they were coming to see what he was doing. they were allowing him to baptize them. they felt the cleanse, the clean feeling of getting your sins forgiven. >> and this is where so many people fail. it's when success arrives. because success can become a greater test even than suffering. popularity can become your greatest test. >> influence can become your greatest test. >> but john the baptist passed every test. and one day everything changes because john is standing at the jordan river and the crowds are gathering once again. people are listening to him preach. people are responding to his message. uh people are being baptized. but then here walks up the dusty world, jesus the messiah, jesus the christ. and john, he says as jesus comes on the scene, behold the lamb of god which taketh away the sin of the world. john had seen jesus. i should say john hadn't felt jesus since he was in his mother's womb. but the minute that jesus walked up, he knew exactly who he was. he thought, "i know what this feels like. i know what being in the presence of the lord feels like. this is he. oh, behold the lamb of god that taketh away the sins of the world. i've been preaching repentance. but he's coming to baptize you with fire >> and with the holy ghost. >> everything john had ever done pointed to this very moment when jesus come walking on the scene. everything pointed toward jesus. and notice what john does. he's always pointing away from himself. behold the lamb of god. the statement tells all about what's in john's heart. the greatest thing you will ever do is not build your name. the greatest thing you will ever do is point somebody to jesus. >> listen, the greatest church is not the church where everybody knows the pastor. the greatest church is a church where everybody knows jesus. >> the greatest sermon is not a sermon that people remember the preacher. the greatest sermon is a sermon where people remember jesus. oh, john spent his entire life introducing people to somebody greater than himself. woo, that's true ministry. god, i want to do everything i can to get people in the same room as your presence. god, i'm going to do everything i can. every song that i sing, it's not about sounding good. it's not about talent. it's all about getting people in the presence of the only one that can save them from their sins. getting people in the presence of a god who can change their life and change their marriage and change their family. it's all about getting people in the presence of the messiah, savior, jesus. i got to move fast. i got to fast forward. jesus is baptized by john. jesus begins his own public ministry and suddenly people start i want you to see this right here. people start leaving john the baptist. i you know we we we always use disciples. we use the word disciple as if only jesus had disciples. that's not true. there were all kinds of religious leaders that had disciples. disciples are just followers. they're following a teacher. suddenly john's disciples they they start to worry a little bit. john 3:26 came unto john and said unto him, "rabbi, he that was with thee beyond jordan," talking about jesus, "to whom thou beest witness, behold, the same baptizeth," watch this right here, "and all men are coming to him." they were saying, "hey, hey, brother john. hey, pastor john. everybody's leaving your ministry. uh, your attendance is is beginning to drop. the crowds, they're they're shrinking. the excitement is moving away from the jordan, john. your disciples are now becoming disciples of jesus. but john understands exactly what's happening because he realizes the mission that i have been given is succeeding. the assignment that i've been given is being fulfilled. the purpose oh that i was born with, the reason why i'm walking earth is being accomplished because john never existed to build followers to john. he existed to prepare the followers for another baptism. >> john answers his disciples and in verse 27 he says, "a man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven. he said, "ye yourselves bear me witness that i said i am not the christ, but that i am sent before him." in other words, i told you from the beginning. this is nothing new. i am not the messiah. i am not the christ. i am not the savior. i am not the answer. >> he said, "i'm just simply the forerunner." and the next six words explains the entire life and lifestyle of john the baptist. for in verse 30 he said he must increase and i must decrease. he said jesus he his ministry must increase and my ministry must decrease. his popularity must increase and my popularity must decrease. if my crowds are getting strong smaller, i decrease. if my influence is getting smaller, i decrease. if my recognition is getting smaller, i decrease. if people forget my name, that's okay. i decrease >> as long as jesus increases. but the story of john the baptist is far from over because there is still a hunter that's tracking him. even though his ministry seems to be decreasing as jesus's ministry is now increasing. oh, there's still a hunter. oh, that's hot on his track. there's still an enemy studying. there's still a devil that desires to sift him like he desired to sift peter to sift him as wheat. oh, that 26-point buck that i began with, he was studied because he was vulnerable. brother jackson's grandfather was tracked because he was vulnerable. and john the baptist was certainly vulnerable to the kingdom of god. the question is, how did john survive spiritually when so many others did not? and the answer is simple. it's humility. he had humility. it became his spiritual protection. the hunter studies what appeals to nature of the trophy deer. the fisherman begins to study what appeals to the nature of the fish. and satan studies what appeals to our flesh. it's not always sexual lust. that's an obvious one, but it's not always that one. it's not always drugs or online gambling or other addictions. many times it's as simple as pride. >> it's as simple as offense. sometimes it's just bitterness. sometimes it's [panting] it's just when it's all about self-importance and self-centerness and everybody taking notice of me. my i the enemy doesn't need a new strategy. he simply needs an opening. >> brother jackson's grandfather, listen, i already told you this is story haunts me. he didn't lose his way overnight. something must have wounded him. i don't even know the story, but something must have wounded him. something must have offended him. because you know what? when you're all about yourself, those things are really easy to happen and take place. uh you you you start wearing a chip on your shoulder. it's really easy to get knocked off when everything's about yourself. something entered into his spirit and what started as just a just a little spiritual wound eventually became an opening. it became a way for the devil to get into his spirit and into his heart and into his mind. woo. that's why the bible repeatedly warns about bitterness in hebrews 12:15. looking diligently, lest any man fall of the veil of the grace of god, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled. do you see that right there? many are going to be defiled from just a small root of bitterness that springs forth offense, pride because whatever is not crucified eventually will grow. >> and that's why john's humility was so important. he kept his heart right. that's why i could stand here tonight and say, "well done, john. >> well done for surviving the wilderness. well done for preaching repentance when it wasn't an easy thing to preach. >> well done, john, for pointing jesus or pointing people to jesus. well done, john, for refusing the spotlight. well done for saying he must increase and i must decrease. well done for staying faithful even while you were in prison. >> do you realize that he spent 30 years in the wilderness preparing for a ministry that only was months long? you say, "what happened? did he backslide?" no, he didn't backslide. he got put in prison because he told the king the truth. >> he stood for holiness and righteousness and separation from sin and he was put in the king's prison because of it. now, how many of you could be in prison after spending 30 years preparing for your ministry and only getting a minister for a few months? how many of you could keep bitterness from getting in your spirit if all you had was a threemonth ministry and then you were put in prison? >> i don't know if i could. that's offensive. i could take offense to that really easy. i could say, "god, why me?" come on, god. i i lived off of locust and honey. y'all y'all ever tried locust? not in your right mind. you haven't. wore camel's hair. anybody ever wore camel's hair? i promise you they don't make women's dresses out of camel's hair. we enjoy wearing cotton and silk and stuff that feels good. man, he he he wore the most uncomfortable garment you could wear. he lived in obscurity. his own parents probably didn't even know what he was. yet, he gets thrown into prison. did he ever doubt? oh, yes, he did. there came a day in his ministry when he had to send his disciples who would come to visit him and say, "i need you to go to jesus and i need you to ask him, art thou the christ?" come on. he felt hopeless. you got to come on. you got to we can't throw shadow on him. ask me if he's the christ or is somebody coming behind him. maybe maybe i was wrong. maybe maybe i just maybe i was just feeling my wedies when he walked up and i thought he was the christ, but maybe he wasn't the christ. maybe there's one that follows after him that's really the christ. go ask him if he's true the christ. or or do we seek for another? he he doubted. church family, you can't hold it against him. but he never gave up. he never gave in. and he never gave up. the truth of the matter was this. it's still christ. even though even though i'm not going to get saved out of this prison, even though i'm never going to walk a free man again, even though i'm going to have my head taken off my shoulders, even though i'm nothing more than a mockery from wicked jezebel and her >> sensual daughter who's making horrible, lustful dances before the men of the kingdom. and now all john is is a mockery. his head's on a platter. but even in his time in prison, even though he knew that he was about to go to the chopping block, he never gave up faith and hope. he understood that jesus was the christ and the messiah. he kept his heart right. he never became offended. he oh, come on, somebody. we cannot allow offense to get inside us. we cannot have a good enough excuse to be offended. we can't allow that spirit to get inside us to get control of us. i had preachers last week had the honor of preach at the rock church in sacramento, california. and i began to preach to them. i began to tell him them there's a lot of people who are wounded in war. a lot of people are going to go to heaven missing limbs. there's a lot of people that are going to die with cancer in their body. there's a lot of people are going to die maybe with diabetes and they're going to die of heart attacks and all these things but i promise you they're going to make it to heaven. they're going to have brand new bodies. >> but the people you're not going to see in heaven >> are going to be people that got wounded spiritually and never allow themselves to heal. here you have a man who got blown up by a grenade and lost his arm, lost his leg. he's going to go to heaven and he's going to be home. >> but you got people who might be sitting on a pew next to you. it might be you yourself who you've allowed offense to get inside of you. and oh, you might go to church the rest of your life, but if you can't get rid of that offense, >> the bitterness, you're going to die and there's going to be no hope for you. >> but god, if we can ever realize, even if it wasn't your fault, i know so many times people get wounded, people get offended, and it's not their fault. somebody abused them, somebody mistreated them, >> did something to them when they were a child. and i don't want to bring up hurtful thoughts and hurtful memories. i know it wasn't your fault. i know you got a legitimate i know you got a legitimate reason to be offended, >> but the only person that loses is the one who won't let it go. >> but john, satan, he thought, i'm going to sift him as wheat. i'm going to chastise him. i'm going to try to separate him. i'm going to try to do everything i can. oh, the bible talks about this satan. he's looking to kill. he's looking to steal. he's looking to destroy. >> he's not just trying to get you to backslide. he wants to do everything he can to ruin your life. and not only your life, he wants to ruin your kids' life and your grandkids life. he's not he he's not satisfied when you go to a devil's hell. he i had brother dale put up these mounts because i believe this is what hell's hall of fame looks like right here. i believe that every single one of us on on each one of these little name placardsh is written on these name. it's engraved in these placards. now there's no heads yet because you're still alive. because you still have hope. but i believe in hell. he's already put a plaque up and he's waiting to see if he can put your head. this is his trophy case. this is his trophy room. he's saying, "if i could get a preacher to backslide, if i could get a prayer warrior to backslide, if i could get a sunday school teacher to backslide, if i could just get just a little small area in their heart, if i could just find just a the smallest opening, if i could get into their spirit, if i could dilute them and i can cause them to think that god doesn't care about them and god doesn't love them anymore and god doesn't see their future, he said, "i'm going to get them. i'm going to have a trophy and i'm going to mount their head right here in hell's hall of heaven's got a hall of fame. hall of fame in hell has a hall of fame. i can just see it. i can just see it. the devils, the demons. woo! i can just see them as they're waiting because i believe i believe even right now there are there are many many great men of god and women of god who failed. oh my god, god forbid. oh, but brother jackson, it wasn't just his grandfather because he kept on telling the story. he said, "i'm ashamed to say not only my grandfather, but he began to talk about a brother of his and another uncle of his and another family member of his that the devil had come in and sifted as wheat." and he said they lost their souls. and i i can just see in hell as those imps, those demons as they start to talk kind of like hunters do started to you should have saw this one right here. they were at church every day of the week. you said, "oh my goodness, if you could have heard them talking in tongues in the prayer room, if you could have heard them calling out to god, oh my goodness, they were a hard one to conquer, but we got them. they were a difficult one and it wasn't drugs. we didn't try to tempt them with some horrible sexual misconduct. oh no, we got them by just a little offense. brother jackson, as he was at this camp meeting, weeping about his family members who had watched the devil take advantage of their grandfather yet somehow went down the same path. how in the world does that happen? i see it. i see with our school students. i i see it with our school students. oh, i think to myself when johnny sees what his sister's doing and the life that his sister's living and how her her whole life is turned to hell. how her she's into drugs and and she's living with a man and everything about her. she's she's pregnant out of wedlock and her whole life is falling apart. surely johnny ain't going to follow his sister. >> but church, i've seen it happen. i've seen it happen. you've seen it happen. how in the world can people watch the devil absolutely take a family member out and they just walk right behind and say, "well, here i am, too. i'll i'll open up. i'll get out of my cover, out under my covering." you know why we're preaching the series that we're preaching on wednesday nights? because there's such protection when we're in and beneath our covering. come on, young person. come on, middle-aged person. stay in the church. stay protected in the church. stay under the covering of your bishop and under your pastors. uh stay under the covering of your pastor's wife. uh under your first lady. stay under their covering because if you can stay right there, you're protected from the ws of the devil. i personally, oh my god, i've personally watched singer after singer, musician after musician, and sad to say, preacher after preacher, some of my very own friends that have ministered on the stages of of north american youth congress, who have ministered on the stage of national youth convention in front of thousands of people nyc they boast some 40 50 i don't know 60 thou there's tens of thousands of people and they've allowed the fame >> you say that's not fame oh yes it is >> oh yes it is matter of fact one of those that the devil got oh he was a friend of mine went to bible school went to any bible college, graduated, worked at indiana bible college. he was one of the greatest preachers, one of the greatest preachers of my time, of my generation. oh my god. i remember being in an airport after youth congress. he had preached at youth congress and i watched him walking through the airport and i watched young people not go up and talk to him. brother holland, i watched them from a distance take their phones out just to video him walking by. oh, don't you tell me there's no fame in the pulpit and on stages. >> you let that get to your head and you'll end up you'll end up on one of these mounts right here. >> your name will be inscribed right here on this placard. y'all, i've got too many friends >> that if they don't get right with god and brother tony, if they don't make a turnaround, their heads are going to end up right here. woo! in this, oh my god, this hell's hall of fame, this trophy case that hell has, if they don't get their hearts right, if they don't repent. but when you allow pride to overtake you, when you allow fame to overtake you, when you are anointed, but instead you allow that relationship with god to wayne and all of a sudden it becomes about you that you might increase and jesus might decrease >> because that's what's happening. >> come on. i wish i could wake somebody up. i i'm sorry. oh my god. i feel so horrible. i know you came expected tonight uh to to swing from the chandeliers. i know you expected to shout and dance and maybe you got that in this morning. i hope you had your dance this morning because i just believe that god has given me a convicting message that there's people here tonight. woo! if you don't get right, you're going to get left. i want to be like john when my race is finished. uh when my course is finished, uh i want to hear jesus say, "well done, thou good and faithful servant. uh well done. enter into the joy." i wish today you would just stand to your feet. i feel the holy ghost in this place. i wish you would just throw your hands up in the air and you begin to pray the prayer and say, "god, i'll do whatever i have to do to get my heart right. lord, i must decrease. uh lord, i must decrease. uh i refuse. listen, devil, you might get my head, but you will never get my heart. you can take this head off my shoulders, but you will not get my heart. >> i want to open this altar and i wish we would pray. you're not coming because you've done something wrong. you simply want to say, "god, i want to pray. let my heart be pure. let my mind be pure. let my motives be pure. i want righteousness and holiness to flow inside of me. i want you to protect my mind against pride and against self-centered thinking. i don't want to have a self-centered lifestyle. i must decrease so you can increase. come on, somebody. i feel the holy ghost so strong. i feel conviction in this room right here. there's somebody that's here today. you've been struggling. you've been struggling with an offense. oh, it's got your mind. all you can think about day and night and night and day of how you got to get even and how you were done wrong and how you got to make it obvious that you've been hurt. god forbid i rebuke that spirit in jesus name. god, i rebuke that spirit is the same spirit of pride. it's all about self. it's all self-centered. god help us. i want humility. i want humility. uh i want you to be able to say well done. thou good and faithful servant. well done. i called you for a purpose. uh and you fulfilled the calling. woo. i called you. i called you to be a teacher, to be a preacher, to be a prayer warrior. i called you to be a fit team member. i called you to work in the coffee shop. i called you to work in the youth ministries. i called you to work in the children's ministries and i did it. god, i want to say i did it. i fulfilled your calling. i saw young people get the holy ghost. i saw young people repent of their sins. i saw young people in a baptism. god, i want to fulfill what you've called me to do. i must decrease so you can increase. come on. come on. lift up your voices in a cry. there ought to be a cry. hey, hey, if brother jackson's grandfather, a mighty preacher, a district official, if he could fall, any one of us are can fall. but god, i'm believing that we have a church filled with people who are here to make a decision. i will trust you. i will serve you. i will follow you in the good times and in the bad times. i'll still follow. i'll still trust. i still obey. i still i'll still come to church. uh i'll still be obedient to your word. come on, lift your voice. come on, pray that prayer. i will. i will. i will. i will. i will. i'll say yes, lord. yesuh to your will and to your way. i say yes, lord. yesuh. i will trust you and obey. when your spirit speaks to me, when my whole heart i'll agree and my answer will be yesuh. it'll be yes. it'll be yes. somebody just say it. i wish we could turn this place into a prayer meeting. you might just want to fall on your face. this might not be a time you pray for anybody around you. you might as want to say, "god, it's me, oh lord, standing in the need of prayer. not my brother, not my sister, but it's me, oh lord. i need you, god. i need you to redirect my thoughts. i'm sick and tired of late nights laying on the pillow, looking at the ceiling, worried about things, and frightened about things and confused about things. oh god, i want you to fill me, lord god, with your holy ghost. so there's no room for doubt. so there's no room for pride. so there's no room. come on. i heard in the prayer room tonight, uh there may need to be an intercessory prayer. uh you might have a child. you might have a backsliding child. there might need to be an intercessory prayer. if it's not about you, it might be your child. it might be your spouse uh you might have a brother or a sister that's no longer in the church. and if something doesn't happen, their head's going to be mounted in hell's hall of fame. oh my god. come on, bishop carpenter. he preached about oh, tongues this morning. he preached about uh sometimes you get into a prayer language uh when you don't know what to pray but prayers are made being made for you. oh, you may not know what to pray. you might just start crying out in a tongue. you might just allow that tongue to flow. you don't know what you're saying. you don't know what you're praying. but god knows and he's making intercession for you. come on, somebody begin to pray. satan desires to sift you as wheat. but jesus said, "i am praying for you. i am praying for you. i'm looking out for you. i see you in your low times. i see you in your valleys. uh i see you in the shadows. uh i see you in the wilderness. i am praying for you that you >> >> come on. i don't think anybody here i don't believe anybody's in great sin in this room. i don't believe that for one moment. but i do believe there's little things. it's a little foxes that spoil the vine. it's just those little things. it's a lowhanging fruit. it's easy for them to get to. come on, somebody. woo. you just got to say, "god, search my heart. uh, god, search my heart and see, lord god, that i want to love you. i want to live for you. i want to be righteous and holy to you. search my heart. search my heart, oh god. search my heart. jesus. hallelujah. [bell] >> >> father, heaven. >> >> i'm praying right now that god will heal every wound, that god will close of every wound, every scar, every every point of pain, oh god, that somebody has in their life right now. god, i believe you're going to heal it right now. god, i'm not praying, lord god, for disease. i'm not praying, lord god, for physical healing. i'm believing for a spiritual healing, oh god. right now, lord god, people have been carrying around wounds for far too long. wounds that are gaping open, wounds that are infected, wounds that are allowing all kinds of sin to enter into the body. god, i pray that you would heal right now. i pray, lord god, that you would restore right now in jesus' name. let the spiritual wounded be healed in jesus. be healed in jesus name. be healed in jesus name. be healed. be healed. be healed. be healed. come on. you're in the house of healing. you're in the house of healing. you're in the house of healing. what better place could you be with a wound than the house of healing? oh, it's not just the house of prayer. this is the house of restoration. this is the house of healing. hey, he wants to heal you, but you got to let him. he wants to heal you, but you got to let him. >> >> come on. come on. not only i hear you, but god hears you tonight. come on. i hear the moans of a mother who's got a daughter that they're sick and tired of that daughter living the way they're living. they've raised that daughter to be holy, to be righteous, to live separated from the world. and i hear the cry of a mother who's interceding for their daughter. a mother who shows up to prayer every day here at the church and weeps for their daughter. i want you to know that god has heard you. god has heard your prayers. uh god has heard your prayers. uh and you better be ready. the door is going to open. your daughter's going to come home. the door is going to open. she's going to want to start living right and dressing right and looking right. come on, mom. don't give up now. keep on praying. don't give up now. come on, dad. don't give up now. come on. it's happening. it's happening. it's happening. i believe there's a power of the holy ghost. there's an authority that we have through the holy ghost that's overcoming the spiritual world of darkness.