Relationship | Senior Pastor Kenneth Carpenter

everybody say relationship well if there's ever a word if there's ever a word that the lord has put in my heart for a summer series is relationship is relationship and you're going to hear that you're going to hear a relationship tonight you're going to hear a relationship next wednesday night because it's not a good thing that we have a relationship with god it's essential and i think you'll understand it turn with me to matthew chapter 7 and verse number 21. matthew chapter 7 and verse number 21. somebody say praise the lord god is so good i've got so much here brother hammond would you care to come and relieve me of a few things tonight so i'll have a place to put my bible at thank you thank you so much matthew chapter 7 verse number 21 not every one that saith unto me lord lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven but he that doeth the will of my father which is in heaven many will say to me in that day lord lord have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have cast out devils and in thy name done many wonderful works and then i will profess unto them i never knew you depart from me ye that work iniquity therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them i will liken him into a wise man which built his house upon a rock and the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell not for it was founded upon a rock and everyone that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not shall be likened unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand and the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell and great was the fall of it simply tonight as a summer series i don't know how long this may go but god has touched my heart about one word for the church relationship relationship put your bibles down if you would please and lift up your hands and ask god tonight to open your ears to receive the word of the lord this evening god i love you lord i praise you and i magnify you god i give you the praise and i give you the honor lord help me to convey the words that i studied today god help me lord as you guide the church by your spirit and by your word lord help me god to be able to touch hearts tonight lord i just help me lord that we could form a relationship god with you jesus wonderful name we pray amen and amen once you give the lord a hand to praise before you see go back to the text he begins to talk about those that would come saying lord lord we've done this sound like they prophesied in his name they did spiritual warfare in his name they even did marvelous works in his name sounds like we might have some jesus name people here they emphasize what they did in his name we prophesied in his name we cast out devils in his name we did mighty wonderful works in his name but then to hear jesus say depart from me i never knew you i never had a relationship with you but if you'll put chapter 7 and verse number 22 because there's three little words that literally jumped out to me matthew 7 and 22. you if you if you don't really watch you you'll miss it you'll miss it verse 22 many will say to me here's the three words in that day in that day so if judgment is coming i want to know and i want to be prepared for those three little words in that day now a lot of people want us to preach about the last days plural i understand that but do you know the last day is more important than the last days because all that matters is in that day in that day that day of reckoning that day of judgment that day of giving account for your life lord in your name we cast out devils in your name we prophesied in your name we did these works only to hear him say depart i never knew you never knew i never knew thee there was never a relationship there then he goes on and he divides it up in two groups he says that there was a man that went to build a house and the man that built the house was a wise man he built with a storm in mind he might have started building in fair weather most builders do but he didn't build the house foolishly believing that the house would always face fair weather he built it with the storm in mind he built it with the rain in mind he built it with the flood in mind he built it with the wind in mind and the bible says that the rains came and the floods came and the winds blew and it beat up on that house but that house withstood the rains the floods and the winds why because it was built on a rock then jesus said if a man hears my word and doeth them he is likened to a man that builds his house upon a rock so we have to understand tonight that serving god is more than just hearing a message it's applying what you hear it's applying what you hear then he said there was a man that built a house and did not take the storm in mind he built upon the sand the rains the floods and the winds came and it beat up on that house and it destroyed and he said and great was the fall thereof because when the house collapsed there was more than just the loss of two befores and plywood there was the loss of lives he said this is the person who has somehow convinced themselves that hearing is enough that hearing a sermon is enough that hey i came to bible study tonight hey i come to sunday morning hey i did all this and all that's well and good just like those people said we've prophesied in your name we've cast out devils in your name we've built a debt-free building in your name but jesus says in doing all that you neglected to have a relationship you know relationships are things that you think about some people have relate relationships with objects material things and when you've got relationships with with objects material things if they break sometimes they're easy to be fixed something happens it's easy to repair them and then there's others they have relationships marriage is a relationship family is a relationship and sometimes even in those relationships they they can suffer damage a word spoken harshly something being said or not said something being said behind the back an unkind word and untruth and the list goes on and i have seen marriages suffer through the help of god i've seen marriages get healthy i have seen relationship between brothers and sisters both of a blood family and both of a spiritual family suffer setbacks but i've witnessed in the presence of god there to be healing but i want to tell you the ultimate relationship that you can't miss it on i understand broken toys i understand i understand losing money i understand all that relationship you can have with material things i even understand the relationship a husband and wife in a relationship in families but can i tell you don't ever put that to the top of your list because those three little words need to echo in your mind tonight in that day see see tonight i'm going to make this as simple as can be but my purpose in life is one thing my purpose in life is not necessarily to see that all the church prospers financially that is not my purpose my purpose is not even to see that you get along with each other and we all have peace here and blood family and spiritual family get along still yet i don't mean to burst any bubbles but that's really not my top priority oh i want to see marriage as whole i want to see marriages healed i want to see marriages thrive absolutely but i want to tell you tonight the ultimate goal of your pastor is i want to preach in such a way that you develop a relationship with the lord jesus christ that's just it what good would it do if a man should gain the whole world and lose his relationship what would he have prospered what good would it do tonight if we would just minister prosperity to where our parking lot would be filled with the finest of automobiles that the greater knoxville area could give us but yet when it would come to that day we have no relationship with god we could say i went to a jesus name church i got baptized in jesus name i tithed in jesus name we sent missionaries around the world in jesus name only to hear him say and i don't want to hear him say that i never knew you so tonight one purpose in mind one burden on my heart is i want to lead every man woman boy and girl under the sound of my voice and to those that are watching online i want to somehow preach in such a way that it will cause you to form a relationship with jesus christ that's the purpose that is the purpose turn with me to john chapter 12 john chapter 12 and verse number 44. john chapter 12 and verse number 44 jesus begins to speak and he says some most powerful things verse number 44 of chapter 12 jesus cried um jesus cried and said now this anything jesus said is important but you see what he was about to say he literally lifted up his voice and cried he he lifted his voice up he wanted to know that that it didn't say that when he taught the beatitudes he cried but here jesus cried and said he that believeth on me believeth not on me but on him that sent me he that seeth me seeth him that sent me i have come a light into the world that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness it's a diverse listen to verse 47 real closely if any man hear my words and believe not i judge him not for i came not to judge the world but to save the world now a lot of people stop reading right there and they will be very quick to tell you don't you judge my life the bible says judge not don't you judge my life well even jesus says i didn't come to judge the world i didn't come if any man hear my words and believe not i judge him not look that's what jesus said i judge him not for i came not to judge the world but to save the world exactly right he came to save the world he was the word made flesh he brought us the word of god he taught us the word of god but you can't take that verse there and say he's not judging us because look at the next verse he that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words hath one that judgeth him the word that i have spoken the same shall judge him in the last day so we can't say jesus is not coming to judge it's simply the first time he came was not with his judge's robe on he came with robes of salvation and robes of redemption but you have to understand that if you reject his words right now if you're foolish like the man that just wants to hear about jesus just wants to come and hear about him but not do anything about it sir ma'am you're building your house on the sand not only are you not ready for life you're not ready for that day it's about relationship going back to the matthew 7 two responses two responses here tonight two responses one man heard the word and obeyed it one man heard the word and developed a relationship one man heard the word and didn't obey it he didn't have a relationship he had a relationship with a scripture but not the god of the scripture he had a relationship with a code of conduct but not the god of the code of conduct he had a relationship with a form of giving but he didn't have a relationship with the god of the form of giving oh friend tonight i want a real relationship with god john chapter 6 and verse number 63 to show you how powerful the word of god is john chapter 6 and verse number 63 listen to these words it is the spirit that quickeneth now that word quicken it there means to make alive that word quickeneth means to make alive to bring to life to bring back to life it is the spirit that quickeneth the flesh profiteth what the spirit does what quickeneth but the flesh what does the flesh profit nothing it is the spirit that quickeneth the flesh profiteth nothing listen to these words jesus is speaking the words that i speak unto you they are spirit and they are life the word that is spoken is more than just something that you need to hear tonight it is something that can bring life to you when you understand a relationship it is something that can bring life back to you when we understand a relationship now go all the way with me tonight back to the beginning genesis chapter number two genesis chapter number two and verse number i believe genesis chapter two verse number seven now we know in chapter one the bible just says let us make man in our image and our likeness but in chapter two of genesis god goes into detail and tells us a little bit about how he did this and the lord god formed man of the dust of the ground the lord god formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living a living soul what we were made of was the dust of the ground what separates us from all other created beings is the breath of god when god breathed into our nostrils he breathed his life into us that's the image and the likeness of god we were able to communicate with our creator we were able to know our creator we were able are you listening we were able to have a relationship with that creator now i know it may be a little silly tonight but the dog lovers in here will understand it i've often looked at two little dogs that i have that i'm so fond of and i've said to my wife who's not quite as fond of them as i am i said i wonder if they really know how much i love them i wonder if they really just know and i just sometimes wonder are y'all just not jumping up and down doing flips because i'm the only one that'll go to the refrigerator and feed you but you know something we may have to doubt that on both sides but when it comes to god don't you ever doubt this fact he loves you don't you ever doubt that don't you ever for one moment believe the lie from hell that you've went too far for him to love you've done too much for him to reach i don't believe that i want you to understand something he created you so he could love you oh friend if that don't make you want to shout i don't know what will i i don't know what will you hear what you know what i said he created you to love you he created you to love you but you know something he just didn't create you so he could love you he created you so you could love him back you see he created the angels but that's they're just created beings they have one word in their vocabulary holy holy holy holy he created he created a vast majority of the angels that were nothing more than robots that just simply did his bidding but god doesn't want a bunch of robots god created us with our own free will see that's what makes it so special about you being here tonight is when god looks down upon you being in this room tonight god understands that you came here because it's your will to come here it's your will you wanted to come to church you wanted to come here some may say well you know it's a social gathering there's a lot more places you can go socialize tonight than here so i'm not sure i buy all of that you could socialize in a restaurant you could socialize in a ball guy at a ballpark tonight but i am persuaded that the vast majority of you have come here tonight because you wanted to come here no secret what we were going to do right brother after no secret nobody's curious nobody was on their way to church tonight thinking i wonder what we're going to do tonight you all knew that we were going to pray to our god you all knew that we were going to we were going to sing songs to him right and you all knew around 8 o'clock that i was going to get up and open up the bible and i was going to teach right so not only did god create you because he loved you he created you and then handed you your own free will for you to in return turn it around and love him back but then in genesis chapter 2 verse 17 he gave the man some he gave the man some word he gave this man some word in the words jesus said my words are spirit and my words are life you want to live forever adam you want to always have eternal life adam yes god then listen to this word listen to this word but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it for in the day that thou eat us thereof thou shalt surely die well i wish i'd kind of read verse 16 before i did 17 if you could give me verse 16 and the lord god commanded the man saying of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat you know all it costs you to have the abundant blessings of god is one word relationship it's all it costs you a relationship that is tethered to obedience you can freely eat of all the trees look at them you can freely this is your life adam you can freely eat of all the trees this is your this is your fleshly life i understand that you've got to eat i understand that you need nourishment i created you with an appetite i created you with a stomach i created you to be able to live to have fuel in your physical body by food i created that so i created all of these trees and adam you can just eat from all of these trees and your life will be sustained you'll have energy you'll have strength but also tr created a tree that is tethered to your spiritual well-being i created a tree that has the knowledge that has the knowledge of good now notice this now this tree is the knowledge of good and evil so if you would eat of the fruit of the tree now stay with me now if you would eat of the of the fruit if you would eat of the fruit this fruit just like you can eat certain fruits and get certain vitamins from right you can eat certain kinds of fruits and vegetables and and and if you're deficient in an area the doctor will tell you you need to eat some of this fruit or you need to eat some of that those vegetables because in those vegetables are the vitamins that you may be deficient in now having said that i believe that when god created the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that it did it was a fruit and that if you did eat it you would have a knowledge of good well what is good at this time god you would have the knowledge of good god but you would also have the knowledge of evil which is satan and god simply said you're going to have a relationship with me but it's not going to be because you ate a fruit it's because you have walked with me too many people think that a relationship is going to come at strong tower or it's going to you know we're just going to you know brother carpenter is going to get his heart right one day and he's going to invite the right preacher here and he's going to have flames coming out of his fingers and he's going to lay his hands on me and i'm telling you that blessed day it's going to be wonderful what's going to happen to me he's going to lay and it's all going to be no that's never going to happen if you're ever going to have a relationship with god it is going to be a walk with the lord a daily walk with the lord come on that's true a daily walk with the lord he says adam you want to live he said by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it for in the day that thou eat us thereof what's going to happen the day that you eat of it what's going to happen you're going to die you're going to die well we all know the story don't we adam did eat adam did eat of that tree he did die on that day although as far as i can study in the bible he physically lived hundreds matter of fact adam lived 100 according to scripture adam lived 930 years that's how long he lived he lived hundreds of years after he disobeyed god he lived hundreds of years after he disobeyed god we'll say then wow look at that conce that inconsistency in god's word look at that inconsistency god said that in the day that you eat of that tree adam you're going to die and he didn't die he lived to be 930 years old look at that inconsistency in god's word it's not an inconsistency he did die he did die he died spiritually on that day there was a spiritual death that day and then in genesis chapter 3 verse number 19 he passed the sentence to him look at genesis chapter 3 and verse number 19. god says this is after adam has fallen into sin he says adam in the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat bread till thou return and to the ground for out of it wast thou taken for dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return he did die on that day and the sentence of death started ticking in his body he started on that day to age he started on that day the track of decomposition he started on that day of dying of aging but let me tell you the moment he broke god's law he died with a relationship a spirit god is a spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth he died to his communication with god he died to the ability to be able to communicate he was dead in his spirit he had no way to reach out to god notice this notice this it was an adam that went in search of god it was an adam mother thorpe that went through the garden saying god where art thou because he's dead he doesn't even know he's lost he knows his eyes he knows they've done the wrong thing but he doesn't even have it in him to seek after god it was an adam that went through the garden saying god where art thou it was a loving god that knew there's no way for that man to communicate with me except i go down to that garden and i walk through the garden and i say these words adam where art thou and you know how lost man was when he heard the voice of god he was afraid and went in the opposite direction and hid himself before that time he had a spirit it was like a magnet when god would come down in the garden his spirit just automatically like a magnet was pulled into the presence of god but let him die let him die and let the relationship be southern and when god's presence would come down he would hide himself from the presence of god he did die he died spiritually on that day he died spiritually on that day now let me go to ecclesiastes chapter and i promise you tonight i am not going to get finished i am not going to try to get finished tonight i am going to be back here next wednesday night lord willing and i believe somebody will stay with me amen but the book of ecclesiastes chapter number 12 begin reading verse number one ecclesiastes chapter 12 verse number 1 remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth while the evil days come not nor the years draw nigh when thou shalt say i have no pleasure in them well if that if this is not a message to young people tonight right now is the time for you to remember your creator don't listen to the voices that say when you get 18 you'll get serious when i get out of college i'm really going to get serious so when i when i get married i'm really going to buckle down if there's ever a time to remember your creator is right now in the days of your youth because he talks about aging and can we just be real tonight he talks about aging and he says there's days that are coming that are going to draw nigh where you will say i have no pleasure i have no pleasure in them now he's going to use analogies to describe the aging process he says while the sun or the light or the moon or the stars be not darkened nor the clouds return after rain he's talking about aging and age taking your eyesight from you all right age taking the eyesight from you and then he goes in verse 3 in the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble and the strong men shall bow themselves or the grinders shall cease because there are few and those that look out at the windows be dark and he's talking about your arms your hands trembling your legs not as sturdy as could be the grinders are the teeth and he's talking about them being few verse four the door shall be shut in the streets when the sound of the grinding is low and he shall rise up at the voice of a bird and all the laughter of music shall be brought low he's talking about losing your hearing as you get old he's talking about going to bed early and waking back up three hours later wide awake and only the older folks here tonight are with me verse 5 also when they shall be afraid of that which is high and fear shall be in the way and the almond tree shall flourish and the grasshopper shall be a burden and the desire shall fail because man goeth man mangoes to his long home and the mourners go about in the street i know this looks this is just like really really you really brought us out here on wednesday night to talk to us about how we're headed to the grave i have because some folks live like they're never going to die but i have failed miserably as a preacher if i have failed to tell you you better live because of in that day you got to live because you are going to face god and i'm going to face god one day because the purpose that god made us wasn't so we live in brick houses and we have more money when we retire and we're comfortable and and and all this in your 401k and all of that that's not god that's not why god made you and i he made you and i so that we could spend eternity with him or go ahead give the lord a hand right now just end that day in that day or ever the silver cord be loose verse six he's talking about your internal organs or the silver cord be loosed or the golden bowl be broken or the picture be broken at the fountain or the will be broken at the cistern he's talking about your kidneys your lungs your heart verse 7 then shall the dust return to the earth as it was and the spirit shall return unto god who gave it can i tell you we don't have to guess what it's like when death comes because the bible just told us what death does when your body ceases to be your heart stops beating your brain your lungs and they pronounce you dead your body begins to go back to the material that god made it from but your spirit goes to god who gave it now this is where salvation comes in everybody's spirit goes back to god at the time of death everybody's spirit goes back to god who gave it with one exception if you've never been born again then a dead spirit ascends to god but if you've been born again then a living your living spirit goes to god turn with me to john chapter 20 and verse number 22. please remember with me that when god made adam god breathed into him the bible says that god breathed into him and man became a living soul god breathed into him and man became a living soul but adam disobeyed god and he died spiritually but this is where salvation comes in this is why the same god who made him robed himself through the virgin mary and took on the form of a man and came with the purpose of redemption to redeem man that's why after jesus resurrection and just before he ascended into heaven in john chapter 20 verse number 22 the bible said he came to the disciples in verse number 22 and when he had said this watch how jesus does he breathed on them and saith unto them receive ye the holy ghost you know what he's doing don't you he is bringing attention to what's going to happen at pentecost when they receive the holy ghost it's more than just speaking a tongue it's more than just an emotional high it is the breath of god on the inside of you it determines whether you have a dead spirit or a living spirit inside of you oh i thank god for the holy ghost oh i thank god for the holy ghost tonight oh if you've received the holy ghost could we just praise god that he gave us the holy ghost he breathed into us oh he breathed back into us i used to take the name of the lord god in vain but when i got the holy ghost i began to bless the name of jesus oh i used to say all kind of vile words but when he filled me with the holy ghost i began to want to live for god and serve god and pray to god i never wanted to pray with a dead spirit i never wanted to go to church with a dead spirit i never wanted to love god with a dead spirit but when he filled me with the holy ghost i began to want to go to church and read my bible and to know the lord jesus christ oh hallelujah to god now let me stop right here for a moment and take you to the book of revelation and explain something remember remember back brother holland at the beginning of our bible lesson there were two responses what was one he heard the word he obeyed the word he survived the storm he heard the word he did not obey he did not survive the storm there are two judgments there are two judgments revelation chapter 20 and verse number 11 revelation chapter 20 and verse number 11. and while you're looking for that i want to say something to you i want you to think about this while i'm reading the text i hope none of you end up at this judgment you don't want to be at this judgment you do not want to be at this judgment and i'm going to tell you why in just a moment but let me read you don't want to be at this judgment and i saw a great white throne and him that sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away and there was found no place for them in other words there's a great day of judgment coming and you can't hide you can't hide nobody's going to be able to hide they'll cry out bible says they'll cry out for the rocks and the mountains to fall upon them but you can't hide john said in verse 12 and i saw the dead small and great small means the person that stands on the street corner and begs great means all of those movie stars that you see in all of their flamboyant living i saw the dead small and great stand before god and the books notice this is plural the books were opened and another book singular was opened which is the book of life and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books plural according to their works the sea gave up the dead which were in it death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them and they were judged every man according to his their works death and hell were cast into the lake of fire this is the second death and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire now let me let me just show you this is the final judgments of all judgments it's when every person that's ever lived from adam to whenever this time will take place there's a resurrection the small and the great and the plural books are open because there's so many different dispensations throughout the scripture to those that lived under the dispensation of the law he'll go back to the law books and they'll be judged according to what they did matter of fact did you hear that word over and over again now i know that we get inundated with false doctrine that tells us not by works lest any man would boast they take that scripture so far out of context that's talking about the the works of the law we're in a different we're in a new dispensation we're in the dispensation of the grace of god and that grace comes by faith in god and faith comes by hearing the word of god and doing the word of god there'll be those that are under the dispensation of promise there have been those that are under the dispensation of human government there's several and they'll be judged and he will judge them according to whatever dispensation they were in and he will judge them according to how they walked in the dispensation that they were in and there's a book there it's called the book of life and if they obeyed that dispensation that they were in they will be in heaven everyone that was found written in the book he said oh wait a minute blue carpet you said we don't want to be there i'm going to show you why we are just like everybody wants to talk about how special the nation israel is and they are israel is special because that's where god started with abraham but can i tell you god's plan was the church god's plan was the church that's you and i that's that's god's plan is that we respond to now the gospel we respond now to the teachings we respond to the epistles how we should order our lives we we respond to the word of god and we are the church we are referred to as the bride as the bride of christ we're referred to as the bride of christ we refer to as the church now the reason that i said you don't want to make it to that judgment is because if you make it there you miss the rapture and it's it's it's not called the rapture of humanity it's not called the rapture of people it's called the rapture of the church so what's going up in the rapture the bride the church you gotta understand and i've heard this said and you know i'm not the first to use this but coming to the church building doesn't make you a christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car that's right you know what makes us ready for the rapture not because on wednesday nights i'm here and sunday mornings and sunday nights i'm here and and ten percent and missions offerings and and and and i i obey this and obey that that's not what makes me the church what makes me the church i'm not saying we don't do those things but what makes me the church is i have a relationship with him i know him and he knows me so on that day i can say lord i went to church he said yeah you went there to bless my holy name lord i went to church and i gave yes you helped me to spread the gospel around the world god i obeyed lord how i should dress and how i should walk and how i should talk yes you stood up in the culture of a godless generation and you did you proclaim my name you are mine and i am yours oh come on give me praise right now hallelujah i'm talking about the church i'm talking about the church tonight that's what i'm talking about first or excuse me revelation excuse me romans i'm just a little bit excited this is where i'm going romans chapter 14. romans chapter 14 verse number 10. romans chapter 14 verse number 10 but why dost thou judge thy brother or why dost thou said it not thy brother why are you judging your brother why are you deciding people you put out of your life and you're judging them for we shall all stand before the judgment see christ see that's the white throne said no it's not the wiper on judgment it's the judgment for the church that we're all going to stand before well you say women does that mean we're we're not saved no no you will say you are saved but but you see there are those when we get to heaven and this is where the teaching it's not really explained very well anymore but this is where the teaching of rewards come in because it is possible for a hundred people in this building to make it to heaven but when we get to the judgment seat of christ rewards are going to be different because there are some that have simply just done more given more that's right and he says we're going to the judgment seat of christ let me read one more passage one more passage first corinthians the judgment seat of christ first corinthians chapter 3 verse number 10 somebody say praise the lord oh thank you lord first corinthians chapter 3 verse number well let's go go to nine would you please first corinthians three and nine we're going to continue this next wednesday night all right next wednesday night lord willing we're gonna we're gonna we're gonna continue this but listen to me verse number nine for we are laborers together with god ye are god's husbandry husbandry is like vines it's like a vineyard ye are god's building according to the grace of god which is given unto me as a wise master building builder i have laid the foundation and another build it thereon but let every man take heed how he buildeth thereon for other foundation can no man lay then that is laid which is jesus christ you get this in your head tonight you don't get to choose the foundation foundation has already been laid the plan is already there you don't get to choose how you're saved that's already been determined you don't get to choose if it suits your fancy you don't get to choose if i understand that's already been laid out there it's already there then peter said unto them repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of jesus christ for the remission of your sin and you shall receive the gift of the holy ghost that foundation is already there you don't get to decide the foundation here's the only thing you get to decide for other foundation can no man lay them that is laid which is jesus christ now if any man build upon this foundation gold silver precious stones would hay stubble every man's work shall be made manifest for the day shall declare it because it shall be revealed by fire and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is if any man's work abide which he hath built thereon he shall receive a reward if any man's work shall be burned he shall suffer lost but he himself shall be saved yet so as by fire now you know what that's saying he says the foundation's already there but you choose how you build on it you don't choose how you're baptized you don't choose how you receive the holy ghost you don't choose how you walk you choose how you respond want to give your very best which i say do do the gold get the gold plan because fire is coming to your work your motive is going to be checked and fire there's three of these uh a gold and precious stones all the stones there fire simply makes it better sometimes you can kind of know trials in people's lives some trials leave people better and some trials leave people bitter but he says you get to respond you want to bring gold silver precious stones you want to give your very best i want to give my very best he said or maybe would maybe hay or maybe stubble in other words let's just face it tonight not everybody is going to be on the gold card not everybody's going to respond the rod now i'd like to preach that we don't give god any stubble it's all going to be burned up when you stand before the judgment seat of christ the fire is going to try the the motive your motives are going to come out but if you're saved you're saved right praise god but you know i want to get to god i want to get to heaven and i want to look around i want to find a bunch of people in heaven that i don't even know there's going to be some folks walk out of some villages in the philippines that are going to walk up and say first apostolic church thank you thank you for for sending some money and sending us a missionary we were into idolatry we were into catholicism we were into all of this but a missionary came our way brought us the gospel and we were about that's what i want to be tonight would you stand with me right now lord jesus i love you tonight god i thank you lord i want to be ready god i want to be ready for the rapture of the church god i want to be ready for the judgment seat lord god everything i do i want it to be with the motive that i love you jesus i love you jesus god i've not always been perfect in god i nowhere near god i'm not always done right i've not always been right god you of all ones know my heart god but god i love you and i praise you tonight lord i worship you tonight father i know that you love us tonight god and we love you right now jesus we thank you god for the plan that you had before the foundation of the earth we thank you god that you overshadowed a virgin mary and from the virgin mary god you walked in flesh god you were with us we thank you lord that you showed your love for us when you died on that hill of calvary and you rose again on the third day and you sent us the holy ghost and the plan of salvation and the word of god lord we love you tonight lord as a pastor of this church we want a relationship with you oh mighty god we want a relationship with you in jesus name i pray give him a hand to praise before we go home tonight