Remaining Positive in a Negative Culture | Sr Pastor Kenneth Carpenter

church the lord is in this house this morning give him praise right now our victory is here our overcoming power is here this morning give him praise give him praise oh my my the presence of the lord is here today glory glory glory glory glory to god glory to god glory to god our rock our sword our shield oh our god our lamb for sinner slain our way maker oh the one that brought us out of egypt that took us by our hand that led us out of bondage into that promised land our water out of a rock our manna that came down from heaven the captain of our salvation the book of philippians i'm overwhelmed with his presence this morning the book of philippians chapter number four verse number 13. philippians chapter number four if you can give me some monitor please philippians chapter number four and verse number 13. i believe i have the word of the lord for us this morning so thankful that the lord gave sister carpenter and i a very spiritual successful trip out west for a few days to the west texas new mexico district of the aljc led by brother simon king and we had a tremendous time there in lubbock texas we're brothers and sister bostik pastor the pentecostals of lubbock and i highly if there's anyone within driving when i say driving distance we've preached to people there in lubbock that had driven nine nine hours to get there to the service and uh we highly recommend this revival church then brother simon king as he pastors in carlsbad new mexico and we had a wonderful very successful trip sister carpenter spoke and i spoke and she went before me and i wish that hadn't have happened but it's kind of like i always have to follow tremendous things like i have to follow fac sanctuary choir you know and um so here i am today we had a great we had a great a great successful spiritually successful trip the work of god's exciting if you're bored with life get in church start working for the king that's the truth you hear me if you're bored get in church start working for the king and it's the most fulfilling thing you'll ever do it's the most fulfilling thing you'll ever do with all of your life philippians 4 13 let's go let's read it together why don't we do that let's all read it together i can do all things through christ which say it again let's do it again i can do proverbs chapter 15 and verse number 13. proverbs chapter 15 verse number 13. a merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance but sorrow but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken for a few moments this morning i'd like to minister from the word of god on this subject i think it'll be relevant remaining positive in a negative culture remaining positive in a negative culture father i love you this morning i feel your joy upon my heart today lord i just thank you for this body of people that come and worship you and i thank you for those that are standing among us today that you're going to do miracles for them in ways of salvation lord i just ask you this morning to anoint my lips of clay god i need you direct my mind and open their hearts today that your name may be glorified in jesus name we pray amen amen you may be seated let me allow you this morning to give you a few facts about the new testament the gospels matthew mark luke and john just a few facts about matthew mark luke and john the book of matthew was written between 60 and 65 a.d that is a latin term a d is a latin term it is a latin term for in the year of our of our lord you'll you'll find that some will refer to this and put an e at the end of it uh and it's it's it's it's literally trying to take the lord away from this and it's the common error and this it goes into that but jesus christ was crucified somewhere around 33 a.d he ascended back into heaven somewhere around the year of 33 a.d the book of matthew is written around 60 to 65 a.d giving 30 years plus the book of mark is written around 55 to 65 a.d somewhere in the same time period as the book of matthew luke is written around about the same time period luke is written around 60 a.d so matthew mark and luke all right around the same around the same time but now we come to the book of john the book of john was written around 85 to 90 a.d the book of john was written many many many decades after christ ascended into heaven and even many decades after the others had written matthew mark and luke it's interesting the time that john is in in the book of john as we begin to look at the word the simple word believe the simple word believe the word believed is mentioned seven times in matthew the word believe is mentioned eleven times in the book of mark the word believe is mentioned five times in the book of luke again seven times in matthew 11 times in mark five times in luke the word believe and all of us know today what a vital role believing is to the christian it's essential believe again seven times in mark excuse me seven times in matthew 11 times in mark five times in luke it's interesting in john the word believe in john is mentioned 46 times 46 times is the word believe mention i mean you combine matthew mark and luke together you do not have half the amount of times that the word believe is mentioned we go on with a little study here the word love in the book of matthew is mentioned 14 times the word love in the book of mark is mentioned eight times the love word in the book the the the word love in the book of luke is nine but the word love in the book of john once again 39 times 39 times as a matter of fact one reason that believing is mentioned much more in john and love is mentioned much more in john simply has to do with one thing john was encountering times and the culture is a different culture that he's writing in he is riding in one of the most destructive anti-christian cultures that could ever be maybe will be matched by our culture he writes with the understanding that people christians you and i cannot lose our faith in god we have to remain positive in a negative culture now let me go ahead and tell you today that when i begin to mention positive i'm not talking about this cheap commercial marketing of this positive mental attitude believe in yourself trust in yourself you can make it you have what it takes to make it no let's shove that cheap stuff to the corner it's a knock off of the reel with one exception i don't have it in me to make it but he has it in this word i don't have it in me my faith my faith is not in myself today but my faith is in our living god john sums it up in john chapter 20 and verse number 30 and 31 he's almost at the close of his book he's almost at the close of his book and in john chapter 20 and verse number 30 and 31 he just tells you and many other signs truly did jesus in the presence of his disciples which are not written in this book but these are written i have written these that ye might believe that jesus is the christ the son of god and that believing you might have life through his name no wonder in this negative culture that the apostolic church was in in the first century john would keep hammering away you got to keep believing you got to keep believing in his name you got to keep believing in him but you see true belief helps us to understand and comprehend a most valuable thing god loves us he loves you and i with a love that cannot be compared he loves us with such a love that if we compare our love to his we it is as filthiness in the sight of his pure love john was so overtaken with the love of god john was so overtaken with his belief in god which led to his understanding of the love of god i really believe today that we would get rid of most of our discouragement if we could have a revelation of just how much he loves you just how much god loves you as a matter of fact john was so overcome that when he would write in his gospel he would never refer to himself he liked to refer to who he really was his name was john his parents gave him that name but he says in john 13 verse 23 let me tell you who i really am now you've got to understand john is writing john 13 23 this is john's writing he says now there was leaning on jesus bosom one of his disciples whom jesus loved you know he's talking about he's talking about himself i am the disciple that jesus loved and that's just not a one time that he did it look at john 20 and verse number two he records this then she run up and cometh to simon peter and to the other disciple whom look at that word again whom jesus loved what a motivating factor what a motivating factor 40 to 60 years after he has seen the lord jesus christ ascend into heaven he is still being prodded on he is still believing god the culture has turned against the church persecution is greater than it's ever been but yet in the midst of all of this john is able to say let's steady the ship here come on first century apostolic church let's stay positive let's believe in the midst of this negative culture because god loves us god loves us what a motivating thing that god loves us and again in john in john 21 and verse number 7 therefore that disciple once again whom jesus loved i'm driving the point home i mean when's the last time you've really had meditation that jesus loves you you know what really touched me this morning when they choir got to sing that song i'll tell you what was going on in my mind when the choir got to sing in that song what was going on in my mind he stepped into my egypt and i'll probably butcher all the words to this i just when i don't know the words i make up i make them up all right now years ago some of you older folks that are here know that when singers got up and forgot the song they just act like praise of the lord i just make them up lauren he stepped into my egypt he took me by the hand he led me i'm not the only one you got the music you you march you march me out in freedom into the promised land now i will not forget you i'll sing of all you've done death is swallowed up forever by the fury of your love you know the fires broke out in the mountains here a few days ago and everybody but because it was you you you know the wind was blowing and and that's a whole nother sermon right there we ever get the holy spirit the holy ghost blowing on the love of god we'll burn this city up for the lord we'll burn this town down for god if we can ever just get the spirit and the love of god there's a picture of me on my motorcycle before i came to god and on that day i wasn't in my right mind and i'm not going to go into all that but i wasn't in my right mind but there's a picture of that and this morning when they were singing that song you stepped into my egypt you took me by the hand you marched me out of freedom into the promised land i could see him reaching and taking me off of that motorcycle i know i'm a little warped up here but i i just i just imagine he took me off that motorcycle and led me right down the aisle of that apostolic church in knoxville and he took me right up into the baptismal pool and i got baptized and i got the holy ghost he marched me out by the fury of his love now there's a little debate whether when we begin to read the revelation john the revelator but in john but in revelation chapter one verse number four john revelation chapter one verse number four you're about to see tribulation like you've never seen tribulation you're about to see wars and vexation and death and famine and the planets and everything falling apart you're about to see all of this in the upcoming chapters but you don't get four verses into the book of revelation john to the seven churches which are in asia grace be unto you and peace from him which is and which was and which is to come from the seven spirits which are before the throne and that's a symbolic thing the fullness verse 5. look at this closely with me and from jesus christ who is the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead and the prince of the kings of the earth watch this unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood you know what's going to motivate us through a culture that is anti-christian that is anti-god you know what's going to keep the church i'm not looking to build a bunker i'm looking to build a hill to proclaim the name of jesus christ upon i'm not looking for a hideout i'm looking for a shout out i'm not i'm not i'm not looking i'm not looking as we come to the end to find me a bunker somewhere and have a commune somewhere and to him that loved us and who washed us in his blood that's what will take us through tribulation that's what will take us through hardship when your life is falling apart and you have nothing positive to say you can meditate on the great love of god do you believe it this morning do you believe in this morning come on john 46 times believe believe believe live love love man you can't preach in here this morning you know you need to turn your license in first timothy chapter three let's let's examine writer of over half the new testament bible let's examine a man whose life was you talk about a 180 you talk about a 180 you can't get more of a 180 than the apostle paul christian persecutor christian killer but one day on the damascus road he met the love of god and the christian killer goes to being a christian encourager and one that sought to stamp it out is now willing to lay his neck on the chop block and let him take his head from his body first timothy tells us a little bit about it first timothy chapter 1 verse 15 listen to this man this is a faithful saying and worthy of all exception that christ jesus came into the world to save sinners see the rest of it of whom i am chief i am the cheapest of all sinners i am the biggest sinner in the whole world i i don't know today that that might be a little issue with us because we fight hard to say well i wasn't as bad as somebody else paul just said it i am the cheapest of all sinners i am the chiefest of all sinners really what does it matter what does it matter where you were born in the church and kept from a lot of moral behavior or you never knew any moral teaching and you had no morals at all and both the one that was raised with morals and had moral behavior and the one that was it but neither one knows jesus christ both share the same hell there's not going to be a real hot room down there for folks that were what we consider as a matter of fact when the writer got ready to tell us what will send you to hell he mentions one word unbelieving unbelieving you you just refused to listen to the 46 times he keeps driving home and driving home he's alive believe thomas said i won't believe unless i can touch well he did and he believed but that belief is our foundation this sunday is palm sunday it is a sunday that jesus wrote into jerusalem and fulfilled the prophecy that the king would come riding upon the back of a cult and when the kings would come and they knew that victory was there they would take palms branches of palm trees as a matter of fact i did a little research on it and the the branches that come from the trees you can you can research the word back they even refer to them as victory trees anytime you saw a man or a woman with a palm in his hand or her hand you knew one thing about them they've got victory they just came from battle and they've got victory can i tell you this morning if you'll keep believing there's not a negative thing on the horizon of your life that belief and the love of god cannot walk you through and you can remain very positive in the gospel in this negative culture howbeit he said i'm the chief of sinners how be it for this cause i obtain mercy that in me first jesus christ might show forth all longsuffering for a pattern to them which should here after believe on him to everlasting life you know what all of us need you you remember back when people put signs they put a little billboard on their on their chest and back and they went down the road they had a sign here and a sign in the back and it was advertising something i think now they've got banners you know our banner ought to be all of us our banner ought to be this if god could save me he can save anybody if god can save me he can save anybody that's what paul was saying in that verse paul was just saying i was a christian killer i held the coats when they stoned the first deacon stephen i was a christian killer i drug women out of their homes with babies crying by the hair of their head and i locked them up because they called on this name i put them to death i put them to prison but oh paul would say if he would save me he could save anyone that's why we need you to share your testimony that's why when you come and get these this re the easter revival uh advertisements let's live with the fact he could save me he could save anybody oh if you're a if you if you if you're here today and and you lost your way with god and you were what was called a prodigal and and you found your way back to god why don't you be a big billboard for us why don't you go through listen there is an army of prodigals in this city there are people within within almost walking distance there's people that live around here that are prodigals and maybe all they need see they don't believe god can save them they believe they've went too far they believe that god has washed their at his hands of them they don't believe god loves them anymore but oh if we as the church can be very positive in a negative culture and say oh yes he does love you i know he still loves you while we had a prodigal come back last week while we had another prodigal come back oh i do know listen i don't have one bit of pride to tell you this but i tell you that i was a two pack of cigarette a day 16 year old kid and god delivered me well why would you want to bring that up you're 61 years old why do you want to what do you want to bring that up why do you want to say that about your life i'll tell you why i want to say that about my life because there may be somebody here this morning that is bound by that habit of nicotine and you may not believe that you can be delivered but if you look up and say well he did it for the preacher he did it for the preacher when he was 17. let me tell you this i had listen i hadn't preached one sermon and he delivered me from cigarettes i hadn't given to one missionary and he delivered me from cigarettes i'm telling you he loves you today he loves you more than you can comprehend stop waiting to be good just believe stop waiting for to do some kind of good thing stop waiting for a year of good behavior he loves you right here he loves you right now do you believe that he loves you he loves you he loves me that's why brother thompson thank you for the freedom just to tell everybody when you jump up and do that pentecostal watusi or whatever you do over there i mean you just get you just get with it you know i love to point to people now but i'm saying that man used to be on cocaine that man was wasting his life away on drugs but he had a god that wouldn't let him go he had a god you said well no no no his wife linda no no yeah yeah the god that was in his wife wouldn't let him go yes we give praise to his wife yes we give praise to his pastor but when it's all said and done wives can give up on you pastors can give up on you but there's a god you look at my eyes this morning there's a god that believes in you and there's a god that will never i wish somebody shout never there's a god that would there is a god this morning what did john want me to know in a.d not a.d 80 and 1890 believe live believe i know caesar's taking heads i know the culture's got us on the run but apostolic church just believed come on praise him right now believe me john chapter 10 verse number 28 let me go very quickly john chapter 10 verse number 28 listen to jesus and i have given them talking about the church and i have given them eternal life and they shall what never perish neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand my father which gave them me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand i and my father are one you understand this today if you want to be saved put a period at the end of it you're going to be saved because if you've got the want to god's got the keeping power to keep you he said you're in the palm of my hand he didn't say you're in my pocket bin he didn't say you're in my pocket he said you're in the palm of my hand he didn't say you're you're somewhere you're in the front pocket he said you're in the palm of my hand and no man is able to pluck you out of my hand ben did you have a did you have a twist with alcohol absolutely ben did you have a little bit of trouble with alcoholism absolutely but somewhere in ben's life was a small flicker of a love for god it was a small flicker and god kept saying i love being more than him getting drunk i love being more than his mess up i love that's the problem some of us think god doesn't love us anymore that's a lie from the pit of hell god loves you come on now god loves you you're in the palm of his hand nothing's going to pluck you out if you want to be saved you're going to be saved we quote this verse and we quote it and we get our mind on things romans 8 28 and we know that all things work together for good to them that love god to them who are the called according to this purpose you see you can't you can't overlook that one little simple phrase to them that love god to them that love god you can't overlook that all things are not going to work for your good until you love god but what's there not to love what's there not to love he takes our trash and he gives us treasure god i know you have a sense of humor god but you're a lousy traitor because you say let me give you salvation and i say i got to give you my junk he says i'll trade with you you give me your junk and i'll give you my salvation what a trade what a trade paul goes on in romans 8 and verse 30. moreover whom he did predestinate them he also called and whom he called them he also justified and whom he justified them he also glorified what shall we say to these things if god before us who can be against us preached a message years ago entitled the who is you who is against us who could be against us he that spared not his own son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things who shall lay anything to the charge of god's elect it is god that justify it who is he that condemneth it is christ that died yea rather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of god who also maketh intercession for us who shall separate us from the love of christ he said he keeps saying who's going to separate us now look at look at who's going to separate us from the love of christ that's a question shall tribulation comma distress comma persecution comma famine comma nakedness comma pearl pearl sword as it is written for thy sake we are killed all the day long we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter nay in all things we are more than conquerors we are more than conquerors through stay with me now church stay with me through what through him that does what through him that doesn't where is my conquering fact at now i love to shout i'm an emotional guy i pastor an apostolic pentecostal church we love out running hand clapping shouting spinning as long as you don't hit anybody we love all running we love all of the above but i'm going to tell you a shout is not what's going to get you through what's going to get us through is the love of god monday morning depression i'm sorry but a shout won't help you monday morning disaster will not help you unless you begin to meditate on he that loves us there is a god that loves us i know what the news says i know what my surroundings are doing but there is a god who loved me he came to this world and robbed himself in flesh lived 30 years went to a cross suffered bled and died rose again on the third day sent the baptism of the holy ghost given me all the gifts of the spirit has blessed my life abundantly and he's our soon coming king glory to god listen if you try to drink your way to happiness you're of all men most miserable if you try to peel pop your way to happiness you're of all men most miserable but meditative medicating upon jesus christ meditating upon jesus christ it gets better and better and better and better and better since he led me out of egypt my life hasn't just got on a plane it gets better and better and better and better do you love jesus this morning we are more than conquerors to him that loved us for i am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers northwest things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of god which is in christ jesus our lord now having believed this i can do all things through christ which strengthens me i can do all things through christ which strengthens me without christ you're on your own buddy good luck how long can you tread water but when you understand the love of god i can do all things through christ you know i really believe that the scripture in proverbs 15 13 is so true a merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance you see uh sometimes we cannot hide on the outside what we're really feeling on the inside but the bible says if you will if you will allow god to give you a merry heart i can't think of any more mary of a heart than one that in this this negative culture we're absolutely positive that god loves us absolutely and it's that that can put a smile on your face it is that that can brighten up can brighten up your countenance i read a little article this week written by this doctor he tells a story of the movie star dick van dyke says one man who seems ageless is dick van dyke he's 94 at the time of this article he's 94 but he doesn't know it he doesn't know it in his book keep moving he recalled filming a movie for disney he was performing a dance scene when he suddenly felt the back of his leg snap like a rubber band his injury grew worse and he saw a doctor who took a bunch of x-rays after studying them intensely the doctor looked at van dyke and said you're covered with arthritis from head to toe i'm surprised the doctor said that you could dance i have never seen such so much arthritis in a single person what about a married person ass dick ever the comedian the doctor said married or single you're literally covered with arthritis said the doctor what about the pain in my leg it's arthritis the doctor answered chatting him and telling him was no joking matter the doctor predicted van dyke would be using a walker if not a wheelchair within five years van dyke was scared so badly that he did something rash he stood up in the examining room and started tapping his toes and shuffling around then dancing as if proving to myself i could still order my body to do a soft shoe anytime i wanted the doctor looked at him in shock and said still covered in arthritis you want to know when this happened this was in 1967 dick van dyke was 40 years old and he said i haven't stopped moving since i haven't stopped moving since there is something powerful that energizes your heart when your mind and your heart connect together in two words i believe and i know he loves me i believe when i gave you the stats this morning on the book of matthew mark and luke of how many times the word believe is mentioned and how many times the word love is mentioned and it's so much more in the book of john john leaves out a lot of stories you know if you read the book of john he doesn't tell about a manger john doesn't tell about wise man you don't get a nativity scene from john you don't get a lot of the stories john goes right to the punch he starts out he doesn't start out with in the days of caesar augustus he doesn't start out with this one big at that one he starts out by saying in the beginning was the word and the word was with god and the word was god the same was in the beginning and all things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made he goes right to the punch line he can turn water into wide he goes right to the punchline as a matter of fact the greatest display the greatest display that we have proved positive of god's love is calvary are you aware of the fact that most of the book of john revolves around the last week of jesus life i mean the majority of the book of john chapter after chapter has to do with one week the week of the passion the week of the love could it be this morning could it be this morning somewhere deep down in your heart you're going to conceive god loves me god cares about me god does love me i believe he loves me i believe that he loves me we live in toxic families we live in a toxic world church let's don't let it get in here can you help me this morning let's don't let negative toxic poison come into the church let's let's not let this come into our church it's out there in the world it's negative nobody knows what to believe anymore and i'm not trying to be political today but i will be nobody knows what to believe anymore we look and we see things are changing we look and we see there's just different changing different changing going on but look at me church today not here this is a house of hope this is a house of love this is a house that we're open to the broken oh help me get an eraser help me do a race from the minds of people that oh if i come back they're just going to say there he is again we're not going to see there he is again we're going to say there he is again praise god there they are again praise the lord it's the house of hope oh you're eating up with arthritis you've got a bunch of trouble can i get out and show you what i can do can i get out and tell you what i can do we are going to see souls change god will use first apostolic in a most dynamic way in the years to come because we're going to lift up that banner that god loves you do you believe it god loves you he can turn it around god loves you let me close today i had planned to spend a great majority of my my time this morning on the third chapter of daniel you know you cannot get more you can't get a more anti-jewish culture than babylon babylon see if there's any similarities here nebuchadnezzar builds a 90-foot tall idol idle 90 feet tall eight or nine feet wide uh some say it wasn't solid gold some say it was just plated gold he builds this huge image image he builds this huge image he's the leader he's a political leader he's a king he's a nebuchadnezzar he builds an image and in an effort to utilize unify his kingdom he brings out a song if there's ever been a song we're hearing today it is drop what you believe and let us come together for the betterment of man he gets together a group of musicians and he calls them to the image and in the old testament there is an image where music is played but in the new testament in the book of revelation there is an image that will actually speak the old testament the image had music around it which was a song that you were to bow down and worship the image worship the image and if you don't worship the image you were cast the same hour into the fiery furnace in the new testament if you don't receive the mark of that image you cannot buy or you cannot sell so everybody heard the sound of the music and everybody bowed you know the story except the three boys um some have asked where daniel was at where daniel where was daniel well if we use this as typology sister franklin if we use this this image as new testament typology of the antichrist daniel represents the church so you ask where daniel's at you ask where the church is at daniel's rapture daniel's not there but these three hebrew boys were convinced that god loved them i'm going to tell you something that'll build your convictions a matter of fact your convictions if your convictions don't have love they are not god's true convictions i don't want to hear anybody talk about your convictions and you don't have love that's not convictions that's phariseeism don't tell me what you don't do and what you do don't tell me all that but you're absent of love a true love for god you know what caused them three hebrew boys to stand there and say we you know we're going to give you a second chance maybe you didn't hear me well if you don't bow down to this temp this image we're going to throw you into the fiery furnace maybe you didn't hear me i'll give you i give you another chance of yet these three convictional boys that knew that jehovah god loved them they said o king we have thought about this and we don't have to really think any further our mind was made up when you tried to shove that food down our mouths when we first got here we told you we didn't eat that we told you we didn't do that you saw that we turned out better by not doing that and and we don't really have to we don't really have to take time and go in a side room and decide what we're going to do o king our god i love how he says that our god that means we're personal our god i'm glad i've got an hour father i'm glad we've got an hour father i'm not going through a statue to get to him i'm not going through another person to get to him i'm telling you today jesus christ is our father how can i get to him he's as close as the mention of his name you want him to help you right now well just say his name jesus our god whom we serve is able to deliver us out of your hands and he will deliver us but if not but if not if it doesn't happen on nebuchadnezzar we got one last word to say to you before we're thrown into the fire we will not bow that's the last thing we're saying you know the story and i'll speed the story is king commanded all their clothes to be brought from the closet he bound them up tied them up with all their clothes heated this heated the the furnace up hotter than it had ever been i tell you it's getting hotter than it's ever been don't you it's getting hotter than it's ever been come on now it's getting hotter please come on it's getting hotter than it's ever been i mean when we're hearing of things and and i'm hearing it then with you're hearing them and the the the gender stuff and all this it's getting hotter than it's ever been our great-grandparents rolled over when they legalized liquor what is that compared today that we're looking at today in our messed up with not only a messed up culture by the erickson it's not only a messed up culture today it's a culture that is hostile toward the church they're hostile toward anybody that confesses faith in jesus christ will let them be hostile my god they can cancel out everything they want to well they're going to find out who we are they're going to take us off the internet let them take us off the internet what are they going to do let them do all that they want to do but we will not bow to this culture we will not bow there's a god that loves us there's a god there's a god that loves us we will not bow we will not allow it to come into the church we will thank you for standing for the lord you may be seated just let me we won't bow and they threw them in the fiery furnace and they thought it was the end but nebuchadnezzar something got him looking over into the furnace now now i do believe there there is there is some tradition and i do i do partly believe it because why would you go look into a furnace that just ca killed all of the service guards that tried to put them in why would you go look into a furnace that killed your guards that put the three boys in but there's an old tradition that said as the king said on his throne that he begin to hear from the direction of the furnace singing can i tell you the world can play music but the church can sing a song the world can play music but the church can sing a song and the old tradition says that the king heard singing and it came from the direction of the furnace and he got up from the throne and he looked over in the furnace and he said did not we cast four three men bound they said true o king he said well did you you come over and look with me how is it that there's four walking around in the flames and the fourth one is likened to the son of deity like unto the son of god would you tell me how this happened now watch this the bible plainly says that the fire had no power on their bodies god was able to take the power out of the fire he did it once a burning bush that burned but was not consumed god can take the power out of the fire that which means to destroy us can be used by god to build a testimony in our community when they see the fourth man he says hey i know political things can destroy you but it won't destroy you i know that i know that numbers are power but it won't destroy you just keep on walking saint of god just keep on walking young woman put your head back don't let them put a title on you you're not an ex-con you're not a divorcee you're not you're not some kind of overcoming addict you are a blood-bought spirit-filled what a baptized child of the most high god would you stand on your feet and could we give him a thunderous praise come on if you know what i'm talking about shake the raptured raptors of this place shake the raptors of this place come on first apostolic we've got love we believe come on singers come on this morning come on right now praise him praise him i'm not what i used to be i'm not what i'm gonna be but i'm not what i used to be brother erickson we've got to end today with through the fire we just got to end today with through the fire we got to end today with through the fire thank you for your praise but is your love still burning right now hey hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah jesus yes lord jesus yes lord jesus yes god oh god you know what came at the end of shadrach meshach and abednego's life see the very reason the very reason that men came to the king and said you've got you've got some jewish people in this kingdom that are not bowed down do you know why they came and tattled i could say tattled i don't like that word but you know why they came they were jealous of shadrach meshach and abednego's position they already had and so they thought we can get their jobs if we can go and tell the king look they're they're not obeying you we're going to get their jobs but can i tell you no weapon formed against you will prosper brother sister salads hear the word of the lord this morning no weapon formed against the salyard's family is going to prosper no weapon it didn't say a weapon wouldn't be formed it just says when they got ready to use it it wouldn't prosper when you're messing with god's people the apple of his eye the one that god loves you hear me now it backfires on the devil because when the king looked down into the furnace and saw shadrach meshach and abednego he called him out now before he referred to shadrach meshach and abednego's god he said and who is the god that shall save you out of my hand when he saw that god guess what he called him he said he's the most high god he's the most high god i've never seen a god work like him he's the most high god and when shadrach and meshach and abednego come out of the furnace when they came out of the furnace the king began to say this he began to say i make a decree i make a decree right now that if anybody speak any word against the god of shadrach meshach and abednego that they will be hewd in pieces and their houses will be torn down and they'll be made a dung healed and then it says this it says this he said and he promoted meshach shadrach in a bendigo brother sister bryant you've weathered some storms you've weathered some storms in your life you've had negative things come to your life you all have walked in a time you have walked a road that parents in this place never want to walk we never want to walk a child to a cemetery we never want to walk a child to a cemetery that's not the way it's supposed to end sister brian but god had your journey god had you take danny ray out to the cemetery but i got news for you because you have kept the faith and you believe you believe that god loves you god's going to give you a promotion one day and the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall change i don't know what you need this morning but if you got a negative situation in your life why don't you bring it to a positive place right now and let god begin to work on you we'll go home by the altar today we'll go home by the altar if you've got a negative situation in your life right now i ask you in the name of jesus to step out of your pew and walk down to the front of this building it becomes positive it becomes a positive atmosphere it becomes positive when you get here it's a positive place it's a positive thing that's going to happen it's a positive thing that's going to happen bring your hurt right now bring your negativity right now bring the toxic lifestyle bring all of that into this altar right now bring all of the hate of your enemy bring all the hate of those that want to see you fall and crumble bring all of that hate into this altar this morning the name of jesus the name of jesus would you push up around the altar today those of you that we were needing we're needing more room in the altar we're needing more room if you just push up around the front he's a god that loves us remaining positive in a negative culture remaining positive in a negative culture come on bring the hate of your enemy right now bring the hate of your enemy right now the name of jesus christ the name of jesus christ the name of jesus christ that's right rhonda the name of jesus christ that's right brothers that's right lay your hands up on them right now yes lord yes lord yes lord yes lord yes lord i bring the negativity i bring all the negativity i bring all of the hatred that's been spewed on me i bring it all right now i bring a culture i bring a culture that hates the believer i bring a culture that hates us today come on bring your negative spirit come on bring that negative thing right now that thing that depletes you of joy please give it to him right now that thing that thought that thing that depletes you from joy lay your children in the altar this morning lay your problems in the altar this morning god's not going to fail you god loves you too much to fail you hey oh yes god yes lord yes lord yes lord so many times i've questioned certain circumstances or things i could not understand many times in trials my weakness blurs my vision my frustrations they get so out of hand as i look back at all the victories the spirit rises up in me it is through the fire my weakness is is so many times i've questioned all the circumstances of things i i just couldn't ever understand no no no no i've never had a stand just as i look back at all the victories the spirit rises up in me it is through my weakness and he never promised that the cross would not get heavy and the hill would not be hard to collide is again but if the hand of god again he never promised that the cross would not get heavy and the hill would not be so just remember it shows and he never promised that the cross would not get heavy and the hill would not be hard is me and he will take he will take oh i'm coming out of this oh i'm coming out of this i'm coming out of this i'm coming out of this furnace i'm coming out of this furnace it might not be today but i've got him he said i'll never leave you i'll never forsake you i'm gonna come out of this fairness oh yes everybody comes out of the furnace every believer comes out of the furnace and we come out for that grand promotion of all grand promotions when the lord sounds that trumpet when you think of the word promotion you always think of the word going up nobody ever said i got a promotion down they always say i got a promotion up just like shadrach meshach and there's coming a day when we're going to get a promotion but it's not a promotion down it's a promotion up the dead in christ are going to rise we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together in the clouds come on now i'm going to get my promotion shout it with me i believe it shouted again shout he loves me shout it again i believe it he loves me you know even medical doctors are finding out now they're prescribing to their patients that you need to talk to yourself positive you need to have conversations with yourself and say i like you you are a good person you got a lot going on for you but you know what they got a one thing missing number one they didn't come up with it because god had it back in the old testament when david said bless the lord o my soul and all that is within me oh friend would you so would you so talk to yourself i believe he loves me get on out of here and come back tonight at six o'clock god bless you dismiss in jesus name