Body, Soul + Spirit | Senior Pastor Kenneth Carpenter

have your bibles and return with me this evening to the book of romans chapter number 11. begin reading it verse number 33. i believe it was the watch manufacturer rolex that wanted and hired a marketing agency to market their watches this marketing agency took the rolex watch and was deciding deciding which angle the watch would look best in the magazine which angle the watch would look best in the showcase what angle what the watch would the the best that that would cause your attention to look at it what what could it be and after they decided several angles they decided that a rolex watch would look its very best if one hand was on 10 and the other hand was on two and i want you to know tonight more than just watches look good with their hand on ten and their hand on two the church looks good with their hand on ten and their hand onto could you just give him some praise would you just lift your hands signify that you're one of them tonight oh yes oh yes oh yes say one last thing see my city the live recording sunday night 6 p.m we have got several uh invitations for you to take to work and uh pass out put it on your bulletin board let everybody know that we're having a live recording here come be a part of this live this live recording and i believe that god can touch souls you say brother carpenter don't you know what season uh don't you don't see you you're you're wanting us to go out and invite people to church don't you know what season that it is yeah it's football season they just put 85 000 people in the stadium over here and i think if they can do that i believe us for the king of kings and we're actually going to win too romans chapter 11 verse 33 oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of god how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out for who hath known the mind of the lord or who hath been his counselor or who had first given to him and it shall be reconciled unto him again for of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory forever amen father i ask you this evening lord to anoint my lips at play god that i may for the next few moments impart your word that is a light and a lamp that is a sharp two-edged sword that can help us to bring more glory and more honor to you lord i pray for over our hearts tonight that we will receive with meekness your word in jesus mighty name we pray amen amen you may be seated god bless you for standing in honor of the reading of the word of the lord the book of romans is an interesting book it is a filled with with teachings that are so rich about our foundation of our faith that is rooted and grounded in the gospel of jesus christ we're told several things about the gospel but one of the things we're told about the gospel that i love is that it is the power of god unto salvation the gospel is the power of god unto salvation paul paula spends 11 chapters he spends 11 chapters and he's talking to jew and gentile and he has got such a balance about him because he tells the gentiles don't you get too halty don't get too halty in your salvation because you only got it because the jews rejected it so you're here you're here in salvation because the jews rejected it the gentiles got it because it had first been rejected because the bible says to the jew first but then he flips it around and he sees the wonderful personality of the gospel if i could give the gospel a personality you know what personality i'd give it mercy mercy i think there's one thing that we ought to all be thankful for and that's the mercy of god that is the mercy of god you get to heaven i'm going to tell you we'll all have one thing in common when we get there and that is the mercy the mercy i'm so thankful for the mercy of god i hope that my life reeks i hope that everything about me speaks of the mercy of the mercy of god so he he told the gentiles he said now you've got to understand it was because of rejection that you got it but god is such a master minded planning god is going to magnify mercy in the gentiles that do you know what to pull the jews out of rejection mode is when they see the mercy of god on the on the gentiles so it was rejection that caused the gentiles to receive it but it'll be the mercy of god that is an attraction mercy is very attracting it's it's it's very attracting mercy the mercy of god listen everybody is attracted to the mercy of god and so paul paul he um he writes in this book of romans he has 11 chapters that he just hammers away the mercy of god the mercy of god i mean i i think if your finger touches one of the chapters in romans 1 through 11 you have the fragrance of mercy just mercy mercy but then he comes and and he ends it in verse number 36 it's almost like a crescendo it's like a crescendo for of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory forever amen it's like he's built up this mercy and he crescendos the mercy and he says amen but wait a minute he's not finished writing he's got several more chapters to go but yet he wanted to crescendo mercy oh i thank god i can't hardly talk about mercy very often very much without just saying thank you jesus that's scary thank you jesus thank you thank you jesus thank you jesus and then he says amen but he's not finished he starts off in verse 12 chapter 12 and verse 1 he says i beseech you therefore i beseech you therefore this is the fourth time in the book of romans that paul has used the word therefore in light of that's what that means in in light of in in light of therefore and now he starts off a new thought he says i i beseech you that that word beseech means to beg it means to plead with to beg to plead with to pull from i i i i beg you paul says in light of i beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of god or in other words i beg you by 11 chapters of me presenting to you a god that is merciful i i beg you i i plead with you by the mercies of god i i therefore it's the fourth time he uses the word therefore in the book of romans the first time he uses the word therefore is in romans chapter 3 verse number 20. romans chapter 3 and verse number 20 says this therefore by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight for by the law is the knowledge of sin now you know what he's introducing there how that we were born in sin and condemned condemned condemned that word condemned is a decision of guilt and punishment has already been made punishment has already been made without the gospel of jesus christ without the gospel of jesus christ you are condemned you are condemned the punishment has already been given you what is that punishment that punishment is eternal separation in a lake of fire now if you could see it this way if you could see it this way on calvary jesus christ paid for our sins he paid and he paid it in full he paid for our sins he paid for our sins on calvary he paid now i understand i know there's the gospel that we go to and the obedience to the gospel but i'm talking about the initial deposit that god made into the bank of redemption he made an initial deposit in the bank of redemption there would there wouldn't be the ability to withdraw through obedience to the gospel if there was not a grand deposit at calvary he paid the price for our sins calvary was ugly calvary was brutal calvary was painful calvary was death but he paid the price for your sins and for my sins but if i choose and it is a choice if i choose to reject the gospel i am condemned the punishment has already been decided i am going to spend eternity a word we can't fathom i am going to spend an eternity in a lake of fire why i have to pay for my sins calvary is god paying for your sins hell is you paying for your sins don't know about you tonight but i am thankful that he paid for my sins aren't you this could you praise him with me for a moment hallelujah oh sweet lamb of god he paid for my sins he paid a debt he did not owe i owed a debt i could not pay so paul simply says here in chapter 3 he says therefore you're condemned the punishment has already the punishment has already been given it's already there john chapter 3 verse number 16 listen to jesus giving the altar call to nicodemus you do realize don't you that john 3 16 is the altar call given to nicodemus because nicodemus didn't understand new birth he didn't understand typology of the old testament he didn't understand that god came down robed himself in flesh and that god was omnipotent and omniscient and omnipresent he didn't understand all he didn't understand any of these things so john 3 16 he just just just god just starts off at ground zero and he says for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever boy i'm glad for the whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life for god sent not his son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved he that believeth on him is not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned already now don't don't think that you're going to live your life and on judgment day he's going to condemn you if you're not in a relationship with jesus christ you are presently condemned you are condemned already he that believeth on him is not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten son of god and this you want to know what you want to know what condemnation looks like and this is the condemnation that light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil can i just simply tell you tonight it is not just your distaste for the bible it is not just your distaste for the ways of god and it is not just your distaste if you are not in a relationship with jesus christ you are running from the light now you can make all kinds of excuses but the truth of the matter is you are running from the light you're turning your head from the light and you are according to scripture you are condemned that's the first time that paul uses the word therefore the second time he uses the word therefore is in romans chapter five verse number one therefore romans five and verse one therefore being justified by faith being justified by faith we have peace with god through our lord jesus christ therefore being justified by faith because it takes faith to be saved you cannot be saved without faith you have to place your faith in god and because you have heard the gospel and you have chosen to place your faith in god it is the power of god unto salvation you have chosen to place your faith in god god placed in your account justification he says therefore being justified by faith now you got to understand that word justified is a judicial term that that word justify is a term used in the courts when someone guilty had been proven innocent when someone that should have been punished was released they were justified they were justified now i love to keep things simple i love to keep things real simple and the best way to know the doctrine of justification justification by faith the best way to know the doctrine is simply this just as if i had never sinned as if i had never sinned because it is not simply that he forgave me of those sins in the eyes of god i become justified and god doesn't see me as a forgiven sinner he sees me as a newborn son or daughter of the most high god i have been born again it is just as if i had never sinned therefore being justified by faith we have peace see so many people are in a turmoil in their life because of the way they've lived their life and they're trying to overcome years of wicked living with years of good living just look up here and understand something tonight you can't live enough good years to overcome the wicked years so well if i just start being a better parent if i just start being a better this or a better that if if i'd laid this habit down if i would do this if i would do that if i would start if i would start being honest if i would start paying the truth and all of this well can i just simply tell you all the good you can do will never bring the sense of justification there is something about justification that we have the memory before i gave my heart to god initially and i did things as a 16 year old boy that i would be ashamed for you to know tonight although i could remember some of those deeds it's amazing i cannot i can remember what i did that i'm ashamed of but when i remember them there's something absent and that's the guilt that's the condemnation because what took care of those 16 years of lewd living was when i placed my faith in the lord jesus christ name above every name when i placed my faith in the plan of salvation i still have the memory of those sins but is it wonderful only the gospel can do this i don't carry with it the condemnation because i have been justified sometimes i can think back on my life things i did before i came to god and it as it is as if i'm talking about some other person well i am that was the old kenny carpenter but oh praise be unto the most high god i was born again of the water and of the spirit and now i'm a new man i'm a new creature and all the can you can you get happy with me tonight oh brother carpenter now you were 16 years old you could not have been you could not have done some of the things that that i was involved with well i don't know but i find in first corinthians chapter six see if you fit anywhere in here first corinthians chapter six and verse number nine somebody say praise the lord first corinthians chapter six and verse number nine know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of god be not deceived neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor effeminate nor abusers of themselves with mankind have you fallen into any of these yet if not then hold on next verse thieves covetous drunkards nor revilers nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of god and such were some of you and such talking to the corinthian church talking to the maryville church and such were some of you but what happened but ye are washed but you are sanctified look out now but ye are justified in the name of the lord jesus christ and by the spirit of god that gives the church the blessed power and privilege to tell anyone out there living in sin regardless of the type or depth of sin the church of the living god can lift up a banner and say come on in you can be born again come on in the mercies of god wait for you can somebody say amen the first therefore you're condemned the second therefore you're justified the third therefore is found in romans chapter eight and verse number one through four the third the third therefore romans eight one through four there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in christ jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit for the law of the spirit of life in christ jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death for what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh god sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit you know what the fourth therefore is assurance assurance i'm not i'm not hoping i'm saved i'm not taking a chance that i'm saved i have and oh friend somebody's already wrote a song blessed assurance jesus is mine oh what a foretaste of glory divine i have and you have tonight what's called blessed assurance it's not insurance it is assurance tonight i have blessed assurance tonight in the gospel and in what i believe i have assurance in what i believe tonight so we have the third therefore the first therefore condemnation the second therefore justification the third therefore assurance but now we're going to come to the fourth therefore the fourth therefore because remember in verse number 36 romans 11 he says amen he crescendos it and then he goes right in to the fourth i beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of god i beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of god that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice holy acceptable unto god which is your reasonable service and be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of god let me show you something here paul goes 11 chapters and hammers away with mercy he comes to the 12th chapter and he introduces the fourth therefore and he says it's time for you to dedicate it's time for you to dedicate your body it's time for you to dedicate your bodies as a living sacrifice it is time for you you were condemned you were justified you now have assurance and now it is up to you i want you to present i want you to present god's not into twisting anybody's arm behind their back and i i'm i'm just not i i i am just i am just not one of these preachers that believe that you got to be hung over hell every third sunday night of the month by spider web to live right that's i don't i don't get into that i don't i don't get into that because that takes you back under i gotta motivate you through condemnation i gotta motivate you through condemnation god doesn't want us to be motivated through condemnation god doesn't want us to do things he doesn't want us to ask things such as is that a heaven or hell issue is that a heaven you really know people's mark of maturity when they look at things that will bring glory and honor to jesus christ something that they have to do and should be glad to do it in light of how much he has done for us if i do this will i go to hell i i know where you're at already i know i know you're at that is this kind of like i've seen you all heard this before i am not kind to my wife i do not open the car door for her i do not open doors for her i do not let her walk in front of me when we're in public i do not buy her mother's day cards birthday cards just because i love you cards i don't do all of that because man if i don't do it man she might sue the pants off of me folks man if i you know i'm gonna go i'm gonna i'm gonna maybe i'm gonna go out to kroger tonight buy some roses and and i'm gonna take them home because man i'll tell you what she like will soothe the pants off man divorce you know boy wouldn't that be a terrible way to have to live i better do something because i don't you know that's how people do that they have this going to hell mentality why can't we do something therefore i beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of god by what i have spent 11 chapters driving home how good you you shouldn't even be in the church gentiles you shouldn't even be in this thing right now it was because of rejection that you're here i beseech you in light of the mercies of god that you would present you you would present and matter of fact that that word present there in the greek has the term a permanent standing a permanent standing he said i would like for you to permanently present your bodies to god as a living living sacrifice a living sacrifice you see there's got to be balance in this walk with god of course a lot of people are turned off a lot of people get turned off because sometimes all they were were raised up to hear is what you did on the outside didn't matter your spirit was poison it it didn't it didn't matter it it didn't matter that you had all this poison inside of you as long as you cleaned the outside up and the outside looked like what god wanted to look like no jesus talked about that did he not he said you're like the pharisees he said they go down to the graves of the prophets and this is why they would get so mad with him he said you all go down to the graves of the prophets and you you paint white the old sepulchers and said inside is dead men's bones and he says as a matter of fact you were the one that killed them and put them in there and he said that's what you look like on the outside you're you're washed you're you're all whited on the outside but on the inside you're like dead men's bones and so as a church tonight and reading the word of god god not only wants the inside to be right but god wants the outside to reflect what the inside has and there's there's some it'll say well it don't matter it don't matter what's on the outside well apparently it does because the bible says that we are to present our what would you would you keep that scripture up on the screen because i i want y'all to see this phrase over he said present your what bodies present your bodies a living sacrifice now when he says a living sacrifice he is he is mentioning living in reference to the dead sacrifices of the old testament in the old testament they brought they brought they brought sheep goats bullocks calves they were not a sacrifice they were going to the sacrifice oh no they were not a sacrifice till their throats were cut and the blood was grain and they were thrown up on the altar where they became a sacrifice was not walking into the tabernacle where they became a sacrifice is when they were thrown up on the altar they became a sacrifice but it was a dead sacrifice but now in the new testament we have something something much greater than they did in the old we have something much better that's the word i want i want the word better do you know that the book of hebrews the book of hebrews is a book written to people that wanted to go back under the old testament law and offer up all the sacrifices and the gifts and the oil and the bread and all of that and so paul wrote an entire book called hebrews about the gospel versus the law and do you know that you will find the word better better you will find the word better more times in the book of hebrews than you will find in any other book in the bible why is that because i want you to know the gospel is better than anything you have ever had in your life it's better than a club that you're a part of it's better than trying to live a good moral life i am glad tonight to embrace a better a better a better i'm living a better life now i'm a better person now we got a better marriage now we've got a better family now he says i want you to present your bodies a living sacrifice now maybe you could add some more to it after after i'm done tonight you want to come around say hey would you add another to that but i have only found two truly living sacrifices in the bible i've only really found two brother white the first one is isaac isaac it was isaac in genesis chapter 22 verse nine it was isaac genesis 22 9 and they came to the place which god had told him of abraham built an altar there lay the wood in order bound isaac his son and laid him on the altar of wood you know you know the story isaac was abraham's only son except the promised son with the exception of ishmael out of the blue god requires for abraham to take isaac to a mountain and offer him up but i really think that we have done isaac and injustice we are always talking about abraham's faith we're always talking about what our abraham did and what abraham did this and abraham did that and that is true but you do realize that isaac was of the age that he could have looked at his father and say you're out of your mind you're going to do what with me your god said what i am not going to i want you to hold on to this word i am not going to submit to that can i tell you you will never become a living sacrifice without submission without submission it's not an ugly word it's not an ugly word it's a beautiful word you're you're going to do what cut my throat you believe what you you believe god's going to raise me up well let me cut your throat pops huh see that's just like when peter was on the water that night that's like when peter was on the uh was on the ship and the storm and jesus come walking on the water see if i'd been peter i wouldn't have done what peter did peter said lord if that you bid me to come walk unto you on the water no if me and kevin lawless was in that boat and i'd say lord is that you you said yeah that's me i'd say tell kevin to come walking on the water to you all right hey pops let me cut your throat let's see if god will raise you up i want you to know tonight that we can never be the sacrifices god wants us to be without the spirit of submission to god's voice our bible is the most important book in our in our lives our bible let me say it again our bible is the most important book in our lives it is not outdated it is just as current as it could ever be it addresses every area of my life and i stand with the number one book of all times the bible bring me the bible if the bible says it i don't care what man says bring me the word of god bring me the bible bring me the bible but you know something's beautiful in the story isaac could have said you're crazy but you know what isaac did isaac displayed submission he stuck his hands out his father bound his hands up he gladly let his father cradle him down to the pile of woods and there his father lifted up his hand now we know that god called out of heaven but they didn't know that god was going to do that they didn't know that and hebrews chapter 11 verse number 19 says it this way talking about isaac being sacrificed accounting this is abraham this is what was going on in abraham's mind accounting that god was able to raise him up even from the dead from whence also he received him in a figure isaac was different from that day out how is that he was a living sacrifice from that day out they didn't look at isaac the same they looked at him as he is a living sacrifice oh i would that god would baptize us all with a mentality about ourselves let's don't get over salvation let's don't get over the greatest thing that happened to us when we were born again let's don't start out you know really oh we're really on fire and after a while we just kind of smooth out blend in with the other folks you know just kind of become a nice little church a nice little apostolic church a nice little place now i do get stirred up when i lose my job and i do get stirred up when the marriage is not so good and you'll see me praising the lord when when i'm really in need of something that that shouldn't be you and i we shouldn't have to have money to praise the lord we shouldn't have to have help to praise the lord we we shouldn't have to have things just right in our life jesus makes things just right in our lives could you just praise him with me right now i am a living sacrifice i have died out to the way that i want to live i am a living sacrifice oh let me share something with you it was after that isaac accepted to be a living sacrifice that in genesis chapter 22 verse number 13 14 genesis 22 13-14 look at this after isaac was willing to give his life abraham was willing to take his life the bible says and abraham lifted up his eyes i want you to underline that abraham lifted up his eyes and looked and behold behind him a ram caught in the in the thicket by his horns abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son notice verse 14 and abraham called the name of that place jehovah jireh as it is said to this day in the mount of the lord it shall be seen can i tell you something there are some things in god you will never see until you're submitted well i wish you would explain it to me i wish you'd help me to see this the only way you can see it is to submit to it the ram was there the whole time the ram was caught in the thicket the whole time the whole time they're coming up this side of the mountain saying i don't understand this i don't understand it father there's the wood there's the knife there's the fire dad where's the sacrifice my son god shall provide it was prophetic wording my son god shall pros god shall make way god shall provide for himself a lamb for an offering god shall provide it for himself they didn't know that they were just by faith isaac stretched his hands out submitted to it i don't understand it abraham raised up the knife i'm just believing the promise is greater than this act here but on the other side of the mountain was a ram but they were not able to see it until they fully had the spirit of submission can i tell you tonight oh the joys that are here oh the peace that is here submission is not a bad word submission is not an ugly word as a matter of fact in the walk with god in the christian life submission is one of the most beautiful things you'll ever get into because when you do submit yourself to the bible you do submit yourself to spiritual authorities all of a sudden your eyes get opened up and you begin to see wondrous things in god oh i'm glad that i submitted to this i'm glad that i did this i'm glad that i did that brother erickson the next living sacrifice is the truly is truly it's truly the living sacrifice and that living sacrifice that is truly that is truly the living sacrifice we find him in revelation chapter 1 and verse number 17. we find him in revelation 1 and 17. jesus says and when i saw him i fell at his feet as dead he laid his right hand upon me saying saying unto me fear not i am the first and the last watch this closely please the living sacrifice i am he that liveth i am he that liveth and was dead and behold i am alive forevermore amen and have the keys of hell and death in other words i am the living sacrifice i am truly the living sacrifice isaac was a type of the living sacrifice but jesus is truly the living sacrifice i am he that liveth and was dead but behold i am alive forevermore he's a living sacrifice but you do understand that on his way to calvary did he not have a prayer meeting in gethsemane did that prayer meeting not have something to do with you follow me wasn't there something to do with some submission did it not sound something like this father if it's possible take this cup away from me but nevertheless not as i will but it's thou will thy will be done he prayed it not once not twice but three times finally and i've often preached you need the third time prayer paul said he had a thorn in the flesh and he said i've besought god three times and on the third time i got my answer god said my grace is sufficient for you i'm not going to take it away i'm just going to tell you i've got strength to give you we need to have a third time prayer where we just say god i totally submit to you lord god i don't necess i don't want this to happen god i'm not looking forward to this happening but god if this is in your will and i'm going to go through this then god thy will thy will oh god be done sounds like to me that the flesh submitted to humanity to deity the flesh submitted now remember what i said there are things you will never see if you're not seeing some things if you're not seeing some things i want to submit to you check the spirit of your submission check the spirit of your submission because look what even happened with jesus christ here's old testament prophecy here is old testament prophecy of jesus christ isaiah chapter 53 isaiah chapter 53 and verse number 10. it's old testament prophecy yet it pleased the lord to bruise him he hath put him to grief when he shall make his soul an offering for sin he shall see his seed he shall prolong his days and the pleasure of the lord shall prosper in his hand what happens when he's crucified what happens when he submits in gethsemane and says not my will but thy be done what happened when he laid down his life nobody took it from him he laid it down that's what he said i have power to lay it down and i have power to pick it up but what happened look at this tucked away in the look at this tucked away in the scripture he shall see his seed guess what he saw at calvary he saw you he saw me oh he went all the way and gave all of his life and from the timbers of calvary he looked down and he saw us on a wednesday night singing hallelujah to the lamb glory to the name of jesus he saw us oh give him some praise tonight come on give him some praise right now give him could you just give him some praise right now oh give him some praise give him give him give him praise give him honor right now give him give him some praise and give him some honor hallelujah oh i praise you god i praise you lord i praise you lord i think i've come to a good place to end tonight do you know the bible tells us not to yield our members as instruments of unrighteousness don't yield your bodies is what he's saying don't yield your bodies to things of unrighteousness i want you to think about that for a moment because think about a voice in this world today that is trying to tell us that while you were in the world you yielded your bodies that's right you yielded your bodies you yielded your bodies to sin if you were addicted to drugs you yielded your body you healed your body you got in the car and drove to the corner and bought whatever you're going to buy and you worked and whatever you yielded your bodies you you took your butt you yielded yourself to this alcohol you yielded yourself to get in the car and drive to the liquor store and buy whatever and get drunk you you y'all understand i know it's kind of simple you you yielded you yielded your body um if you were perverted you you had to yield your body to acts of perversion but when we came to the gospel and gave our lives to god we now yield our bodies to a different spirit we yield our bodies to a different spirit do not believe the voices in religion today that tell you there is nothing you can do you are saved it's in your heart you don't have to do one thing don't believe that do not believe that you are saved by the gospel you're saved by obedience but in that obedience there are things that god says i want you to yield your bodies to it is my will that you assemble yourselves in an assembly in worship it's in the bible for satan not it's it's it's even something that is tethered to the last days as you see the days the last days approaching paul said forsake not the assemblings of yourselves together as the manner of some is now he didn't say if you agree with everybody in your church keep going he didn't say if you know if you really feel like that's a good place to be keep going no he said i want you to yield your body i want you to get off of work on wednesday afternoon after you've worked all day and you're tired i want you to take a shower i want you to eat a little bite of supper i want you to get in the car drive down to the church walk into the church sit down on a pew i want you to open your mouth and sing to me i want you to clap your hands i want you to try to keep your attention as the preacher is preaching and you know what if when i was a sinner i yielded my body to get some kind of satisfaction how much more should i do it tonight you know y'all understand what i'm saying i'm closing i'm closing i'm just going to be real trans you may be seen i i'm going to be real transparent with you for a moment the first time i danced before the lord the first time i danced before the lord the first time um he didn't jerk me out of the pew god didn't jerk me out of the pew i hope nobody of course i i know there's some that they're going to judge me and say when you were in the flesh well yeah that's the only thing i got to worship god in i think they were in the flesh i tell you everybody's in the flesh when they come running out of the choir they're in the flesh they ever get in the ghost i'm out of here all right all right i didn't feel a chill bump and i feel i didn't feel anything i didn't feel anything matter of fact will you please not judge me too harshly i very seldom feel god to praise god the bible says know ye that the lord is good it didn't say feel ye that the lord is good oh i feel the holy ghost oh i feel something in this room right now see you remember that boy that i talked about that was 16 years old remember that that guy that i talked about earlier that was 16. on friday nights you know where you can find that young man governor's skating rink clinton highway friday night we would skate ten o'clock they had what was called the midnight special from 10 o'clock to midnight they brought in a band we took our skates off they brought in a band and from 10 to 12 they played music and from 10 to 12 that little 16 year old kenny carpenter was out there on that dance floor i doing the funky chicken and the frogs and i just doing it i just doing all that crazy stuff we just out there and i got in the church because i knew that wasn't nothing in that i was miserable in that you only happy when you're high and you're not even happy then you're afraid the police are going to pull you over oh come on somebody you adjust your little halos back there just a little uh little oh god that's our pastor up there oh yeah whole time you're what's called paranoid you go in the store hey let's hurry up and get out of here that clerk was looking at me i'm telling you there's something going on we've never enjoyed that do stupid stuff lay out a school you tell me how stupid this is plan to stand behind the tree when the school bus runs so you can go stand all day in the cold in the woods when there's a warm schoolhouse pick berries off a fence so you can get something to eat then plan right at 2 45 when the bus comes by to go back by the tree and go down the neighborhood so mom think you went to school that day and i'm still paying for it to this day with grammar and et cetera et cetera i sat down that was i wasn't having fun but i got in the church because i was empty and i was born again and i got the joy of the lord in my heart and one night we were having camp meeting and the preacher said this and it forever changed the way that i worship he said shame on you if you could dance when you were in the world but you can't dance now that you're in the church i'm going to tell you what this little 17 year old boy did that night at camp meeting i slipped out of my seat and got down there around the front and i started praising the lord i started magnifying the lord because if i could yield my body to that would you stand with me right now if i could yield my body to that come on use your bodies right now don't wait for god to lift up your arms you lift up your arms don't wait for god don't don't wait for god to lift up the volume of your voice you lift up the volume of your voice if you would holler because you killed a big deer you want to holler because god is the dear lamb of god and if you live hallelujah hallelujah come on let's yield our bodies right now i promise you it will yield our bodies the holy ghost will move the holy ghost to move right now lord i love you lord i praise you lord i magnify you lord you're all together lovely lord i yield my body to you i yield my body to you i close with this i close with this the bible says brother hammond that jonathan and his armor bear almost preached it sunday night jonathan and his armor bearer are sunday morning jonathan and his armor bear looked at each other and said let's go fight the philistines jonathan and his armor bearer went against the odds jonathan it keeps saying it jonathan and his armored bear went against and because jonathan and his armor bear exposed himself to the philistines jumped down two men jumped down in a crowd of an army and god took over and god caused the ground to shake and god struck fear through the hearts of the philistines and they were smitten that day and then it closes out with saying this and the lord wrought a great victory that day in israel uh uh wait a minute no no it was jonathan and his armor bearer he says no it wouldn't you just yielded your bodies i wonder if some of you yield your bodies tonight you want to do something spiritual you want to operate in the gifts go empty these out of the lobby tonight god is not going to send angels down here and get them and put them on the bulletin board at your job but you can why don't we yield our bodies see this place filled with gas sunday night and let them feel just a little something of what we get to feel all the time would you do that would you help me out would you heal your bodies would you yield your hands tonight god bless you i'm starting a three i'm starting a three-part series tonight i'll continue it next wednesday