"The Church - God's Final Message" - The Apostolic Connection

and welcome to the apostolic connection the weekly televis service of the First Apostolic Church here in marville Tennessee I'm Pastor Kenneth Carpenter and we would like to give you a great hand clap offering for worshiping with us today by way of television and by way of the worldwide web Welcome to our Sanctuary today for just a few moments I draw your attention to the Book of Jeremiah chapter 35 and verse number 18 and Jeremiah said unto the house of the recites thus sayeth the Lord of hosts the god of Israel because ye have obeyed the Commandment of jonadab your father and have kept all his precepts and done according unto all that he hath commanded you therefore thus sayith the Lord of hosts the god of Israel jonadab the son of reob shall not want a man to stand before me forever 2 Corinthians chapter 3 and verse number two ye are our epistle written in our hearts known and read of all men for just a few moments today I want to preach a message entitled the church God's final message the church God's final message you may be seated allow me to preface this message this morning that I am not a doomsday preacher nor am I negative about the church quite the opposite I view myself as an opportunist I view myself as a realist I believe that whatever life brings to us God can more than take care of it yet I see today something that is alarming I see a small leaven that has been deadly and will even prove to be even more deadly if allowed to go unaddressed we have become so Seeker friendly minded that we have forgotten to be Apostolic you see a Seeker Friendly Church says it's all about the visitor it's all about the guest no it's all about the savior in a Seeker Friendly Church a visitor Friendly Church Seeker Friendly Church it's being mindful of the time let's be mindful of the time brothers and sisters today I don't believe in having lengthy Services just for the purpose of having a long service but neither am I going to come here with the attitude of leaving quickly you see it's not about the time it's about being sensitive to the spirit of the Lord even our Pentecostal Church churches Across America are are toning down their Sunday morning Services they are wanting to create an atmosphere less offensive an atmosphere that that won't freak somebody out if somebody with the love of God stands up and shouts Hallelujah we want to have it time just right we want to we want to get you out of here we want you to know when you come you're you're assured to be be leaving in a certain hour we we we want to we want you to understand that anyone would feel welcome here can I tell you something today we can't dumb down God's house we just need to be the church because the church is God's final message to a lost and a Dying World if the church changes her identity then the world has no answer you see there are many that are wanting the world the church to change to suit the world I'm reminded of the story of the captain of the ship coming in to Harbor and he saw what appeared to be the light of H of a ship headed his way he got on the microphone the radio and he dialed up the frequency and he said I am the captain of this ship and he gave all of his orders and he said I I command you to to turn your vessel and he gave him the directions to go uh The Voice came back the voice came back after the captain had given all his orders and demands and told him to turn and the voice came back and said I Am The Keeper of the lighthouse I cannot change there's too many ships coming into Harbor that are telling the church you need to change this and change that we can't change this we are a city set up on a heal we've always been and always will be the church we are hearing such words today we hear such words today for example we're hearing this and it's deadly because the church is hearing it and believing it I'm hearing those saying well we are Apostolic but we just don't do the Holiness thing we just don't do the standard thing can I tell you that that is a perversion of mine that is seeking to place greater importance of scripture they're seeking to say this scripture over here in Acts is more important than these Epistles about living over here in Romans I just got one question I want to ask those that are saying that this scripture is more important than that scripture I have one question directly to Ask ask you when did God die and leave you in charge when did God die and you become the one that decides what scriptures are greater than other scriptures as far as I'm concerned from Genesis to Revelation it's all important if it's meant enough to be in God's house Church we've got to be the church because we are the last message to this world we've got to remain the church I find myself quite amused now sitting down and talking with men that want to tell me that certain scriptures are more important than other scriptures but I find myself this is not a new spirit that has risen its head in the last days second Peter chapter 3 and verse 16 dealt with this Peter dealt with this in second Peter 3 and16 he says as also in all his Epistles of course Peter is referring to Paul's writing as also in all his Epistles speaking in them of these things in which are some things hard to be understood which they that are unlearned and unstable rest as they do also the other scriptures unto their own destruction now Peter said that there's those that are unlearned and unstable you see being unlearned is not something that's impossible to cure you can get some teaching and go from being unlearned to knowing what scripture says but he said they're unlearned and because they're unlearned they're unstable notice that goes together anytime you have someone unlearned in scripture you'll have someone unstable in scripture that's why they're way over here one year and their way over here the next year that's why for years they embrac this and then now nothing is wrong it's because they're unlearned and unstable it says that they rest r w s t rest the scripture I begin to study this word rest out and it means to twist or to convert in other words they take a scripture they don't like and instead of accepting it at face value they begin to modify it they begin to change it they begin to convert the scripture may I boldly Proclaim in your hearing today that the scriptures are not for you to change or to convert but they are given by God to convert and change you God didn't give us the scripture so we can get a hold of it and start changing it and converting it God gave us the scripture because we are sinful men and we're in need well Jeremiah is filled with this simple verse here God says I sent you prophets they rose up early they stood by your gates at the temple they cried out against your wickedness day and night I sent you prophets to try to warn you finally God said I'm going to present my final message jonadab call jonadab the rites into the house of God call this no Nomad tribe call this group of of Jews who 300 years before their father jonadab 300 years before jonadab while viewing the drunkards of Ephraim the tribe of Ephraim that was getting drunk on wine he viewed the drunkards of Ephraim and he said I don't want that for my family I don't want drunkenness for my family so he made a real strong man-made standard he said ask for me in my house we ain't going to drink wine we drink water out of Wells but we won't drink wine and say as a matter of fact I fear that if we get to living in houses we'll get so comfortable that we'll forget about God said we need to get a lifestyle that is totally dependent upon God so this one man jonadab this one man jonadab steps out and he says I see the drunkard of Ephraim we're drinking no wine we're not living in houses we're going to live in tents we're not going to plant Vineyards we're going to live we're going to live from cattle we're just going to live a very simple lifestyle we're going to live a very simple lifestyle like Abraham did we're just going to live from the land we're going to live and we're going to travel and for 300 years gener generation after generation after generation bought into what jonadab said while everybody else let me me tell you something I'm not going to base my standard of Lifestyle on what everybody's doing I'm going to base it on what's safe for me I'm going to base it upon God's word and so here these These rabes are 300 years they're an odd people they don't live in houses and they don't drink wine and they are peculiar people they just traveling all up and down all up and down but you know something they were a people that had instilled in them a spirit of obedience and for 300 long years they maintained a standard of their father 300 years finally the day came that a runner went out and found them and said the Prophet Jeremiah has a word for for you now this was the word that God told Jeremiah God said Jeremiah bring the rabes into my house and set bowls of wine before them and cups of wine cups that they can drink from and then tell them to drink the wine now you really think about a conviction you really think about something as they're feeling the pressure they're feeling the pressure not from the Babylonians not from the Heathen syrians they're feeling the pressure from their own Kindred their own people they're in the house of God they're being told by the prophet to drink wine go ahead but the man spoke up and he said we will not drink any wine for it was commanded To Us by our father to drink no wine 300 years of the same type of separate living and then when when he said that God spoke through the prophet and he said you tell my people that I God have spoken to them rising up early and telling them and yet they have not obeyed my word but here stands a people today that would obey the word of their father said you go tell them you go tell that rabite there'll never be a day that there's a gathering of worship that a rabite won't stand in my presence