The Cure For Discouragement | Senior Pastor Kenneth Carpenter

If you have your Bible, let's go back. Numbers seem we we've seem to get kind of in numbers today. Numbers chapter 21 was 22 this morning. Now it's numbers chapter 21 and verse number four. If you'll go ahead and find that. I'd like to say a great big thanks to brother Matt Martin and his team that put up such a wonderful display of our flags every major holiday. Are you think isn't this beautiful? It's beautiful. It's beautiful. It's beautiful. Thank you. Just absolutely beautiful. The only change that I'm going to going to make in the flags. Don't you just think that our driveway coming in would look awesome if it was lined in flags, too? >> So, Brother Martin, let's get that on the books. All right. I think it'd be good just to get all that line. Thank you so much to the army of people that served Strong Tower Youth Camp. I don't know what we're going to do. I don't know what we're going to do, but we're going to do something for you. I don't know. I don't know what it is. Uh but we're going to do something for everybody that stayed up late. I mean, there was people that literally got very little sleep uh all week long at Strong Tower Youth Camp. But how about it? 27 received the gift of the Holy Ghost. Seven was baptized here on Thursday night. Others were baptized in their local churches. Our young people, our young people are on fire and appreciate that. Before I read my text, I want to say uh someone came, Sister Karen came and told me, Brother Zelmer Warren is here tonight. Zelmer, would you wave your hand at me? Would you would you wave your hand way back there? Zelmer one, I'm going to tell you something, Brother Warren. It is so good to see you. That man has more talent in his little toe than most bands have in it's a whole band and everything. Brother Warren, we love you and we appreciate. Would you give my friend, Brother Zelmer Warren, love you, buddy. We go way back. We go way back when Shep was just a puppy. Amen. We go We go way back. Go way back. missed my family tonight. They were watching this morning. They said that I did all right with them not being here. So, I'm appreciate >> appreciate them getting Washington straightened out. So, we're we'll do good. How about the one baptized this morning? Wasn't that great? One baptized. The woman that came this morning very quickly at the end of service very quickly and prayed. Uh I I know she was speaking in tongues, but they told me that she drove all the way from Johnson City, Tennessee. A pastor told her said, "Where you need to go, where you need to go, you need to go First Apostolic Mville." She got online, found where we're at, and she came this morning and she said, "I definitely will be back. A church alive is worth the drive." Amen. >> How many's going to help me preach tonight? How many of our young people going to help pastor preach tonight? >> >> Numbers chapter 21:4. Apologize for having you stand. Numbers 21 verse number four. And they journeyed from Mount by the way of the Red Sea to compass the land of Eden, Edom. And the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. And the people spake against Moses, or excuse me, the people spake against God and against Moses. Wherefore have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither is there any water. Our soul loafth despises this light bread. And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people. They bit the people and much people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned. We have spoken against the Lord and against thee. Pray unto the Lord that he take away the serpents from us." And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said unto Moses, "Make thee a fiery serpent. Set it upon a pole. And it shall come to pass that everyone that is bitten when he lookketh upon it, please underline that, when he lookth upon it, shall live. Moses made a serpent of brass, put it upon a pole. It came to pass that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. I don't know if you need this tonight, but you don't need it tonight. You'll need it sometime. But just for a few moments on this July 5th weekend where more than 150 regular attenders of First Apostolic Church are somewhere in the great USA tonight on vacation. Now, that's that's something. I'm going to tell you what, that's something. That's something to have that amount of people going and have this amount of people here. That's because it's a good church. Amen. >> It's a good church. If you don't need it tonight, if you don't need this message tonight, you'll need it. And here it is. The cure for discouragement. The cure for discouragement. Heavenly Father, I love you tonight. I thank you for the privilege and the opportunity to lead your people. God, you said in your word that if I loved you, I would feed your people. Lord, I thank you for these precious people tonight that have that have come to your house so faithfully. Thank you for the soul that you filled with the Holy Ghost today. Thank you for the soul that was baptized in your name. Thank you, God, for everything you're doing across this church. Lord, move in a mighty way, Lord. We'll give you the praise and the honor and the glory. In Jesus' name we pray. Now, I'm going to ask you before you're seated to give God a good hand. A good hand. No, no golf hand clap. No half No, no half-hearted hand clap. I want you to give him a hand clap. The cure. The cure for discouragement. They're on their way from Egypt to the promised land. It's a journey. It's a faithbuing journey. The Bible would record that as they were making their way from Mount by the Red Sea to compass the land of Canaan, Numbers 21 and4 gives us an interesting insight into their spiritual condition. It simply says, "And the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way." Now the Bible says that they were much discouraged. This doesn't say that they were discouraged but it puts the word there. There were they were much discouraged because of the way they they looked at the difficulty of the path that they were traveling. Can I tell you tonight, discouragement will grow much worse when we get our mind on the way and not the way maker. You get your mind on how tough it is, get your mind on how hard it is, get your mind on how the way is. And before long, you're glorifying the difficulty more than you are the deliverer. You're you're thinking about how difficult it is more than how powerful God is. How many knows God is almighty? >> God is almighty and the and the soul of the people the soul of the people was much discouraged. Man, that's a that's something you you you know it didn't say their flesh was weak or tired. You you know it's only natural to grow tired and weary. It's only natural as you get up in the morning and feel refreshed from a good night's sleep that as the day goes on that you begin to you begin to tire. And by the end by the end of the day, my wife calls it. She'll say to me, she'll say, "Honey, you're zoning out. You're zoning out." You better believe I'm zoning out, friend, because I'm I'm I'm tired in my body. I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm zoning out. I'm zoning. Call it whatever you want to. She'll say, "Honey, honey, let's get up from the restaurant. You're you're you're zoning out on everybody." And you're right. I'm zoning out. I'm I I'm tired. They said, "I don't I don't know. This is the study they did." They they said 45 minutes of Pentecostal preaching equals like eight hours of hard manual labor. If if that be the if that be the case, I about work 16 hours already today. So So he said um is was much discouraged. Your flesh is one thing, but your soul is another. Your flesh is one thing, but your soul is another. The soul of the people, it says the soul of the people was much discouraged. But, but you know, there's a cure for that. It's found in the book of Psalms, chapter 103 and verse number one. There's a there's a cure when your soul gets discouraged. When when when the difficulty gets deep stained down inside of your soul. Psalms 103 and verse number one, Psalm of David. Listen to this please. Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me. Bless his holy name. Bless the Lord. Verse two, oh my soul, and forget not all his benefits. You see, David knew a little something about being discouraged, but he also knew a little something about encouraging himself. He he said, "You you you got to learn how to do a little soul talking. You got to you got to start talking to your soul. You got to you got to start talking to that discouraged part of you. And David said, "Here's how I do it. I tell my soul to bless the Lord, oh my soul." So you need to get busy blessing. You need to get busy praising. You need to get busy worshiping. You You can't wait till the Red Sea divides to get your praise on. You can't wait till the prayer is answered to get you praise on. Your prayer never be may never be answered the way that you want it answered. But I got news for you. If you want a cure for discouragement, you got to start saying, "I bless the name of the Lord. I worship the name of the Lord." God, I don't know if you're going to come through for me or not. And it really doesn't matter. I would like for you to come through, but it's not essential to me that you come through because I know that you're my God. And whether you come through or not, you're a good God. You're a mighty God, and you're a wonderworking God. Bless the Lord, oh my soul. >> Oh, wait a minute now. Don't run too quickly over chapter 103, verse number one. Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all. Somebody say all. >> All. >> Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and >> all. >> All that is within me. I I wonder tonight. Could I challenge us for just a little bit tonight to give God some all of our soul worship >> to give God I I I want I want to ask you something tonight. Have you really worshiped the Lord tonight with all of your soul? Now, I'm going to tell you something. You can wave your hand and be thinking about your problems. You can even lift up your voice. You can either you you you you can even multitask. On one side of your mind, you're mouthing the words, "I love you, Jesus. I praise you." But on the other side, you're already at work tomorrow and you're already doing something else. But I'm going to ask you tonight that you would all of a sudden bless the Lord with all that is within you. I don't have any room to think about how sick I am. I don't have any room to think about how tired I am. I just got room to think about how great and mighty and holy that you are. For you are a Come on now. You are a great God. I'm going to praise him with everything that I have within me. That's right. That's right, Brother Tommy. That's right. That's right. That's right, Brother Danny. I'm gonna praise him with all that is within me. Come on. Praise him right now with all that is within me. I'm going to praise him with everything I've got tonight. When I leave here tonight, I'm going to be physically tired because I'm going to bless the Lord with all that is within me. >> Can I tell you something tonight? Verse number one, bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. You can't have verse two till you have verse one. >> Verse two says, bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all of his benefits. You see, you have forgotten how good God has been to you. You have got your mind on your current situation, your current circumstances, and you forgot the time that God made a way when there seemed to be no way. You have forgotten the time that you were flat, busted, broke, and disgusted, and all of a sudden, God came through for you. You have forgotten the time that the doctor diagnosed you with something and you went back a few weeks later and the doctor said, "Well, we can't explain it, but we can't see it anymore." I I got news for you. You can't remember if you don't become a praiser. But if you'll become a praiser, you'll begin to Oh yeah, he did make a way. Oh yeah, he did do this. Oh yeah, he did do that. >> Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases. I'm going to tell you why. I just don't really have anything to be thankful for. Oh, so the creator drawing you to him is not enough. >> Well, I don't really have anything to thank him for. Oh. Oh, so out of over eight billion people on planet Earth right now and God came down and drawed you to him. You see, you got to get off your self-righteous kick. You didn't come to him. >> He came to you. >> We got we got we got our terminology all messed up. I found the Lord. You didn't find the Lord. He found you. >> God wasn't lost. You didn't find him. He wasn't wandering somewhere and you find you didn't build a smoke screen. You didn't You didn't send up smoke signals to God over here I am. God, would you come over here and God said, "Ah, I think I will." No, no, no. That's not how it happened. God saw you before you saw him. God had you on his mind before you ever thought. While you were in a bar slurping down your liquor or smoking your pot, while you were reading your romance books, while you were all caught up with your house, God was looking down from heaven and God was saying, "I'm going to save them. I'm going to touch them. I'm going to move on them." That's why I'm going to praise him tonight. You ain't going to tell me I don't have something to praise him for. I've been redeemed by the blood of the lamb. I've been set free by the blood of the lamb. Come on. Ain't enough people praising in this house right now. Well, if God would if if God give me a raise on my job, I'd praise him. No, you wouldn't. If God would do this for me, I'd praise him. No, you wouldn't. But you got to praise him because he he is good. He draws you. You were unworthy. I was unworthy. He draws you in your sin. He draws you. He He had the gift of the Holy Ghost with you speaking in other tongues when you was cussing every other breath. He had the gift of the Holy Ghost laid out for you when you were lying and cheating and fornicating and doing everything else. God had you on his mind. Tell me I can't praise him. He's healed me. >> He forgave me all my iniquity. Every lie ever told, everything I ever stole, every unclean thing, come on, somebody. Every unclean thing I did, God forgave me. Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and half that is within me. >> Bless the Lord, oh my soul. And I've been in this way a long time. And it's them it's them men coming from Bree class. They're the wild ones around here. I've been in this way a long time. And there's a lot of truth to that. They've been in the way for a long time. I preach in a lot of churches and a lot of people have been in the way because they think they're sophisticated now and they don't have to worship and they don't have to pray. That that's for those weak-minded people that we get from the drug houses. That's those weak-minded women that we get from the houses of real repute. Oh, no, it's not. It's for people that have been in the church now. Almost almost 50 years I've been in the church. Almost 50 years I've been in the church. But I'm thankful for the pit from which I was drawn. I'm thankful for that pit that God brought. I was a little I was a little 15year-old marijuana smoking boy. But God looked down from heaven and God said, "I'm going to do a work. I'll never forget that. I'll never forget what God I'll never forget what I'll never forget what God's done." Come on, praise him with all your heart. Come on, praise him with all your heart right now. If you're able to stand, you ought to stand and you ought to bless the Lord with all of your heart tonight. He saw not what I was. >> He saw what I could be. >> When he reached his hand to where I was, >> he took a chance. Somebody help me. >> But he saw not what I was. He saw what I could be. >> When he reached his hand to where I was, he took a chance on me. All I had to hope for was just a possibility. Still, he saw not what I was. He saw what I could be. So now you know the reason I lift my hands so willingly. If he hadn't found me when he did, I'd still be lost. He's lost to me. And although I'm still far from perfect, I'm even further still. You see, from the life I lived just yesterday before the Lord found me. Cuz he saw not what I was, he saw what I Come on tonight. Don't you tell me you don't have a reason to give him praise tonight. He forgave you of all your wins. Bless the Lord, oh my soul. Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me. Bless the Lord, oh my soul. I don't have to feel a chill bump. I don't have to have my favorite song. I'm just going to bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me. Bless. >> Sit down for a minute. Psalms 150 verse number six. I'm giving you the cure for discouragement. How many would wave your hand tonight and say, "I already feel better. I got I already I already feel better." Psalms chapter 150, verse number six. It's the last verse. It's the last verse in the whole book of Psalms. Oh, 150 verses or 50 chapters. Psalms has the longest chapter in the Bible. Psalms 119 is the longest chapter. 150 chapters. 150 book. 150 chapters in the book of Psalms. Here's the very last verse. I think it's here for a reason. Let everything. >> The only way you're excluded is if you're not an everything. >> You're not You're not a limb of a tree. You're not a blade of grass. >> You're a human being. Let everything that hath breath >> praise the Lord. >> Praise ye the Lord. >> Well, I I just don't know if I'm supposed to be a praiser. Are you breathing? Are you breathing? If you're breathing, you ought to be a praiser. If you're breathing, inhaling and exhaling and inhaling and exhaling. God didn't give you the ability to do that so you would live. He gave you the ability that you could do that so that you could praise him that everything Come on, let him. Let him. You owe God some praise tonight. You hear me? Some of us are past due on giving God some praise tonight. We've been breathing. We do it naturally. We've been breathing and God saying, "I'm waiting for some praise. I'm waiting for some pray. Let everything. >> Let everything You may be seated. Let everything that have breath praise the Lord. >> Praise ye the Lord. Let everything you owe God praise. Why? Because you wouldn't have life if he hadn't breathed. >> He jumpst started you >> when he breathed into man >> and man began began a living. So he didn't breathe into birds. He didn't breathe into animals. He didn't breathe into the oceans. He didn't breathe into the Grand Canyon. But he breathed into a to a clay body laying on the floor. And he breathed into that body. And when he breathed into that body, clay turned into flesh and senuse and veins and blood and hair. And all of a sudden, the man blinks his eye and a man called Adam stands up that can communicate with his creator. But he got his start because God gave him breath. If God gave us breath, we owe God praise. I'm going to keep hammering it. You owe God praise. You owe God praise. There's no sense in you griping and complaining about how hard life is if you are not a praiser. God is not obligated to you if you are not a praiser. But if you will begin Come on. Don't you feel like you owe him some praise right now? Don't you feel like you owe him some praise right now? Don't you feel like you owe him some praise right now? I feel like I owe him some praise right now. First and foremost, I'm saved. I'm saved. I'm saved. I'm saved. I'm filled with the Holy Ghost. I'm baptized in Jesus name. I'm saved. I'm saved. I'm saved. How about the added things? How about the extra things? How about the time God healed that fever? Anybody been healed of the fever in this house? >> Why don't you stand up? If you've been healed of the fever, wave your hand right now. Go ahead, praise him right now. >> Come on. Anybody else been healed? Anybody else been healed? Why don't you wave your hand and praise him right now? >> You been healed? Anybody in this place been healed? God ever put any bones back together. >> God ever turned some doctor's reports around and and he said you had cancer and and that you don't have cancer and and listen, I'm glad for modern medicine. I'm glad for every treatment you took when you had cancer. But I'm here to tell you, it wasn't the treatment that healed you. It was God that healed you. >> You said, "Well, no, no, no. It was it was the treatment." Who do you think gave man the ability to know how to make the concoction of the chemo? Who do you think God Who do you think man just come up with this on their own? No, it was God that told man how to do this. Come on, give it praise right now. Do we have any women in the house that you had difficulties in your pregnancy that God turned it around and you got a healthy? You ought to give God some praise right now. You ought to give God some worship right now. >> My God. >> Come on. Let everything that have breath. >> Let's try this again. >> Let everything that Let everything that have breath >> praise ye the Lord. Let me be seated for just a moment. I I don't claim to have got God figured out, but I think I've understood some things in the word. I I think God blesses praising over griping. I think we get more out of God by praising than we get out of griping. >> I think we get more out of praising God. I think I think we tempt God to do more good stuff for us when we're saying, "God, I just love you. God, I just thank you. God, I sure would like for you to take this burden, but if you never take this burden, I still love you. I still praise you. I'm still here. You don't have to put me in a trial. You don't have to take anything away from me. I want you to know, strip me down to bare bones and the last thing I'm going to say is thank you, Jesus. Glory to God. I'll give you a sacrifice of praise. I may not understand you, but I'm going to trust you, God. I I I think I've stumbled onto something. He will bless a praiser over a complainer. 12 spies went into the canon man. >> 10 brought back gripes. >> Two brought back grapes. >> What are you bringing back to God? Yeah. >> A matter of fact, I just I I want to get back on this subject. We owe God something. >> You You didn't come to church night to do God a favor. >> He's God before you ever come along. >> Come on now. >> I said you you ain't doing God. I'm singing the choir and doing you ain't doing God a favor. >> He'll sober up a prostitute and put her in the choir. >> God don't need you to God don't need you. >> But you need God. >> Come on. Listen. You You You didn't come to church tonight to help the cause of God. You came tonight to give him praise and glory because I I just I just flat out tell you I'm here tonight because I believe I owe God something. >> Well, I know you get somebody get carried up say, "Oh, that's salvation from works." No, that ain't salvation of works. >> The Bible says, "Give to the Lord the glory. >> Do his name." >> There's some praise. That's due. >> I don't know about you, but I came here tonight cuz I owed a debt. Amen. >> That I couldn't pay. >> And he paid a debt >> that didn't owe. >> I come tonight to tell him one more time, you're good. You're good. You're great. You're mighty. You're awesome. I come tonight cuz he's been he's been good. >> 10 lepers, 10 men society had given up on and ostracized them, isolated them. You can't even live in Jerusalem. You can't even go to the temple. You can't even have your wife. You can't even hug your children. Say goodbye to your children. Say goodbye to your wife. Say goodbye to the temple. Say goodbye to Jerusalem because we're taking you to the gate and your best life is going to be living among lepers. That's all you're going to have for the rest of your life. You're going to live among other people that are in the same condition that you're in. But you see, somehow someway, these 10 lepers got word that there was a man called Jesus that was opening up blinded eyes and unstoppping deaf ears and calling cripples to walk and even calling men out of the grave and and even cleansing lepers. And these lepers saw Jesus coming. And all 10 of them cried out, "Jesus, my star, have mercy on us." And when they said that, Jesus said, "Brother Nichols, Jesus said, "Hey fellas, go show yourself to the priest." They knew exactly what Jesus was mentioning. It was the priest that diagnosed you as leprosy. It could only be the priest that could pronounce you clean. They said, "Man, let's go to the priest." And the Bible says as they turned, you see, sometimes you got to activate this. as they turn to go. Some of us have been told what to do, but we're waiting at the corner of what? And we're wondering why it's not happened. And God is wanting you to get out on the street of go, go. And the Bible said, "And as they went, they were cleansed. Something happened. Something they began to feel it in their bodies. Maybe it was a fresh supply of blood begin to pulsate through fingers that hadn't felt blood in a while. Maybe it was something, but but something somehow they be to know that they had been healed. And the Bible says there was one that was there. He was a Samaritan. He was number number one. I'm going to tell you the greatest blessing you could ever get in your life is the blessing of having no options. You see, in North America today, we have so many options. If we get in trouble, we've got so many options. But the greatest blessing you can find yourself in is in a need where Jesus is the only thing you can go to. He's the only thing. And there was one man. He was a Samaritan. And Jesus said, "Go to the go to the priest." And that man thought to himself, "Go to the priest. When they find out my lineage, they're going to go through the genealogies. And when they find out I'm not a Jew, when they find out that that I'm not of the lineage of Abraham, that I am a Samaritan, they won't even let me in the gate. And so this man, nine had an option. Nine could go to the priest, but one stood there. And he said, "I I don't have any options here, but I'll tell you what I think. I owe that man something right now. I owe him." And he come running and with a loud voice. Don't tell me we can't get loud. With a loud voice, he be to glorify God. With a loud voice. Come on, get With a loud voice. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Master. Thank you, Galilean. Thank you, Savior. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. maybe said, "And he said, >> did I not cleanse him?" >> You see, there's some things he shouldn't have to tell you to come praising. >> I can tell you a good healthy marriage, a good healthy, let me friend, I'm going to tell you, me and my wife, we don't have an unhealthy marriage. I'm going have to say, "Honey, would you hold my hand?" Honey, would you scoot over here beside me? Honey, would you give me a kiss? Honey, God, who wants a stinking relationship like that? >> And I'm just wondering if we don't tell you to praise God too much in this church. >> I'm just wondering if we're not tell. Would you lift your hands? Would you give him praise? I'm submitting to you tonight. That ought to be an automatic thing. >> Would you hold my hand? Would you scoot over here? Would you all lift your hands? Would you tell Jesus you love him? Why don't we just get off that and just say, "You know what? He's done so much for me. I cannot tell it all. My God, I feel like running around this building tonight." I said, "I feel like running around this building tonight." Come on, brother Warren. It's good to see you. I'm telling you, he's done so much for me. I cannot tell it all. You ain't going to tell me to raise my hands. You ain't going to tell me to do this. He's Well, Go ahead. Go get on. Come on. He inhabits the praise of his people. He just loves it when you do it and you're not asked to do it. >> >> Oh yes. >> I wish somebody throw your head back and shout as loud as you can right now. I just wish you'd do something that I've not asked you to do. I just wish you'd do some form of praise right now that I've not asked you to do. It's the cure for discouragement. It's the cure for discouragement. Keep praising. I'm doing something on my iPad right now. You know what I just did, Sister Marshall? >> I just sent a text to my wife >> that said, "Penny, I love you." >> But I'm not sending it because I ain't talked to her in a while. >> I'm not send She not getting it saying, "Well, it's about time you text me. You ain't text me since you left me yesterday, huh? I've texted her a bunch of times. I can show it to you because I don't text her to stay out of trouble. I text her because I love her. I'm not here. My God, you hear me? That's the kind of worship God wants. That's the kind of praise God want. God wants you coming back on Wednesday night just as prayful as you are right now of praising him. I just love you, Jesus. I just thank you, Jesus. You're just wonderful, Jesus. You're everything to me, Jesus. You're just so awesome, Jesus. I just praise you, Jesus. I just magnify you, Jesus. >> Come on. Do it. Do it. Do it. Do it. Do it. >> Come on, praise him right now. >> You owe him praise. You owe him praise. You owe him praise. Come on, you owe him praise. Come on, you owe him praise right now. Come on, you owe him praise right now. Come on, you owe him praise right now. Come on, you owe him praise right now. >> Did I not cleanse 10? Where's a nine? >> They are not found. They return to give glory to God. save this stranger. And he said unto him, "Arise, go thy way. Thy faith have made thee whole." You see the difference between just getting cleansed and being made whole. That's restoring. >> Being made home is restoring. Some people get salvation and they're just cleansed. They get the Holy Ghost. They get baptized and they're cleansed. But other people keep on coming back. And it's to that one man that he says, "Oh, I know what leprosy took from you. It took part of your fingers. I'm going to give you your fingers back. I know that leprosy took some of your toes. I'm going to give you your toes back. I'm here to tell you if you'll be a praiser, it'll blow your mind what God will do with your life. I don't care how many bankruptcies. I don't care how far down the line you are. If you will become a praiser, >> we praise him. For our God inhabits the praises of his people. I just love you, Jesus. I just praise you, Jesus. I just magnify you, Jesus. I just love you, friend of all friends. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I praise you. I love you. I praise you. I thank you. You're great. You're wonderful. You're mighty. You've never done me nothing but good. I magnify you. I glorify you. Maybe seems more. I hear you. I hear you. >> I hear you in the spirit. I hear you. >> You just don't know what I've been going through. Is that right? You lost all your wealth. Your ATM card not working. Lost all your wealth. You bankrupt. Come on. You bankrupt. I'm not there. Okay. Okay. How bad have you been out the cemetery? You been out the cemetery to by 10 grave plots. >> Cuz that's what happened to Job. >> One day he woke up a wealthy man and the same day he went to bed a popper. >> One day he woke up with 10 children. At the end of the day he's having 10 graves dug. But Job, can you be a praiser? Yeah. Sounds something a little bit like this. The Lord has given and the Lord has taken away. >> See, we don't know the difference. He didn't say the Lord done away with. >> He said it came from God and it's back in God's hands. My wealth came from God. My wealth is in God's hands. Them 10 children came from God. Them t 10 children are in the hand of God. The Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken away. Naked I came into this world and naked. It's it's it's amazing how a praiser has a a perception. He said I came in naked and I'm going out naked. The Lord has given and the Lord has taken away. God and Satan. Satan is waiting because Satan has won so many spiritual battles by stripping people of the material things and stripping people of their health. Satan has seen a multitude of people who could worship a god in prosperity and could worship a god in good health, but they couldn't worship a god in poverty and they couldn't worship a god in sickness. And I can see Satan as he rubs his hands. Are you ready for this God? Are you ready for the man to curse you to your face? And God is standing there. And he said, "I was naked when I came in. I was naked when I'm going out. The Lord has given and the Lord has taken away." Let me get my praise on. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name. God, I hate to do this. I hate to do this to you right now. I just texted Sister Carter a minute ago and I said, "I love you, Penny." She just texted me back just now and said, "I love you more." And then she said, "Are you in church? Are you not watching the webcast?" Amen. Oh God, I'm going to get it over that one. Amen. But I got news for you. If you'll put your praise on, it doesn't matter what you lose if you'll put your praise on. But let me give you the last verse. Let me give you the last verse. Let me get off this. Let me give you the last verse. Here's the last verse in chapter n chapter number one and verse 22. In all this, Job sinned not nor charged God foolishly. >> The people of Israel said, "God, what are you doing, >> Moses? What are you doing? We had it better in Egypt. You No, no, you didn't have it better in the world. You just forgot about the world. >> What are you doing, God? What are you doing, Moses? What are you doing?" Now, let me let me interpret that for you. Here's what they're saying. God, do you not know what you're doing? Do you know not? Do you not know what you're doing? God, do you not know what you're doing? Moses, do you know you do you not know what you're doing? Do don't don't you don't you have any sense, Moses? Don't Don't Don't you under Don't you understand? Don't you know what you're doing? >> Can I tell you that's charging God foolishly? >> That's charging God foolishly. You'll go to a doctor that you don't even halfway know. He'll write you a prescription. You can't even read the writing. You'll take it down to the drugstore. And I just love it when us country folks try to say those big medical words that just, you know, we just butcher them all up, you know, and they'll give us this medicine. We don't know what we're taking. It'll say on there, "Take three times a day. Drink a little milk before you use it on a on a full stomach. Don't operate a vehicle." We'll read it all and we'll just take it. We'll just take it. Not ask any questions. But God will raise up a man in your life with a holy word in his mouth and a holy book. And he'll begin to tell you, you ought to be a praiser. You ought to be a worshipper. You ought to be a magnifier of God. Does he really know what he's talking about? You better believe I know what I'm talking about. It's a good thing to give praise. Oh, magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together. Praise him. Praise him. Praise him. Praise him. Praise him. I'm going to tell you something right now. I come against every gossip group in this church. I pray that God raises up a praiser in every gossip group in this church. I >> I'm think I'm going to pastor just a little bit. I come against ladies getting together and talking about their husbands. >> My husband this, my husband that, he don't understand this, he don't understand that. Well, way. I got news for you. Keep complaining about him. Some woman will hear about it. She might think he's a pretty good man. >> She might take your problem off your hands. >> But I wonder what would happen in the midst of every gossip group. And I hope we don't have any. I'm just preaching. Everybody say, "He's just preaching. What if we had a praiser among every gossip group that we just start saying, "Oh no, it ain't that way. Oh no. Oh no. I'm going tell you what. We just don't know how I got and I've tried that going down to the altar. I I'm just going to do it my way. No, no, no. You You're just stubborn and you're rebellious and you need to break your spirit down and you need to get up in that altar and you need to worship God and you need to m Pastor told us to praise the Lord. Pastor told us to magnify the Lord." Yeah, but you know he he's got it all m you hush your mouth, girl. You don't know what you're talking about. That man's got the pressure of the world upon him. But he walks into church when everything inside of me is trying to push me down. He walks in the church and raises his head. I got news for you. I don't praise him because I feel like it. I praise him because I know it's right to do. >> >> Come on. Owe him some praise. Come on, Job. Chapter 1 verse 22. And all this Job sin not nor charged God foolishly. So you better be careful. God, do you know what you're doing? You've not answered my prayer. God, do you know what you're doing? God is saying, "You better be careful cuz you're teetering on getting to believe that I don't know what I'm doing." Let me read you something. Job made a stand. I'm going to tell you, praise is a stand. Praise is a position you take. It is a stand that you take. Bible says in Ephesians, having done all to stand. What's the rest of that verse? You got to take a stand. >> Job made his stand against fear and did not give in to panic. Job made his stand against makebelieve pretending and appropriately mourned. Job made his stand against pride and humbled himself before God. >> Job made his stand against self and decided to worship God. Job made his stand against a timebound mindset and chose to think in terms of eternity. Job made his stand against unbelief and did not give in to the vain questioning to God. Job made his stand against despair and saw the hand of God even in the in the catastrophe. Job made his stand against anger and did not blame God. >> Can I tell you something? I'm back to the non-praaser. You you you got it bad. You got it bad. Oh yeah, brother Carton, I'm so glad you finally sympath sympathized with me and connected with me. No, I ain't doing Read my lips. You got it bad. It can be worse. Do you know what you're doing? God, do you you and Moses? Do y'all know what you're doing? We got it so bad. We don't have water out here. Which they did have water. We don't have bread out here. Which they did have bread. They had heavenly bread. But they said, "Our soul loafth. We We're just so tired of eating that." Can I tell you something? >> Don't ever get tired of coming to church. Well, well, we do the same thing. I know we do the same thing, but we do it to a God who's worthy of it. >> God, do you really know what you're doing? God paid my tithe, came out of Egypt, stopped dressing like Egyptians, started coming walking in the desert with you. God said, "You got it bad?" Yeah. Let me give you worse. >> Snakes come bite them. Snakes start slivering out of the rocks and coming down. You begin to hear people in their tent. Oh. Hey. Oh. Oh. Men walked out with swollen hands and people walked out with snake bites on the side of their face. Fever chilling and chilling. All of this. They were chilling and snakes were biting them. See, cuz you you better watch out cuz it can get worse. And instead of saying, "Moses, you know what you're doing." And God, you know what you're doing. Here they come with a swollen hand, their swollen face, and their chills and their fevers are coming to Moses. Moses, pray to God for us, Moses. Pray to God for us, Moses. And thank God for a Moses that didn't say, "I told you so." He didn't say, "You get what you deserve." That's not a good leader. A good leader doesn't say, "I told you so. You're getting what you deserve." A good leader will take you before the Lord, and a good leader will begin to talk to the Lord about you. And he said, "God, the people are down here praying." Now, they were griping and complaining and questioning you and me, but now they're down here asking for help. And God said, God said, Moses, make a make a fiery serpent and put it on the pole. Take a take a fiery serpent, put it on the pole. And Moses made one of brass and put it on a pole. And God said, "When they get snake bit, when they get snake bit, put it right down here in front of the altar. And when they get snake bit, if they will lose their pride and come out of their tent with swollen hands and chills and sweats and delirious if I can just make it down to the temple. And when they would look up on that snake, that brazen snake, they would look into the face. The Bible said a healing be to take place and the swelling went down and and they began what what they were looking at. They were facing they were facing what caused but they were also facing the cure. They were facing it. Can I tell you tonight you will never be healed always facing and talking about your problems. you'll never be healed. Whatever your face, whatever you're facing toward is what's going to speak to you. Every face has a voice. And if you're always facing discouragement, always facing what's the obstacle. All you'll hear is, "I got you this time. You're not coming through this. You'll not feel God. You've gotten older now. You're not going to feel God like you did years ago. I've got you now. I've got you in a trial of your life. I've beat you to the floor. You're you're you're you're you're toast, man. You're toast, Zimmer Warren. You're toast. You're you're you're toast, Brother Nichols. You're you're toast. And you can listen to that all you want to. Or you can turn your face to the solution. And you can begin to hear God say, "Behold, I can make all things new. Behold, I can give to you the years that the canka worm has eaten. I can restore unto you the years that life took away from you." Which do you want to behold and look at? Do you want to look at griping and complaining and you don't have and all that? Or do you want to look at God and say, "God, you're the answer for today. God, you're my answer. God, you're my way maker. God, you're the problem solver. I don't know when and I don't know how and I don't know the way, but I believe you're going to come through. If you kept If you kept three men safe in a fiery furnace, you can keep me safe tonight. If you kept Daniel safe in the lion's den, you can keep me safe tonight. If you made a way, if you made a way through the Red Sea and through the Come on, somebody. If you made a way, can he not make a way for us? >> Come on, stand with me right now. I have praisers in the house tonight. >> Come on. Do I have any praisers in the house tonight? Come on, praisers. Not Not a moaner. Not a moaner, but a praiser. >> Come on, lift up. Go to a high key in your praise. Come on. Go to a high key in your praise. Come on. Go high high key in your praise. Not a low moon. Go to a high king. Glory to God. Glory to God. Glory to God. Glory to God. Glory to God. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. >> Praise him. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I'm coming through. I'm coming through. I'm coming through. Come on, praise team tonight. Come on, praise team tonight. Start Start playing that music right now. Come on, praise team tonight. Get in your Get in your position. We're going to praise him tonight. We're going to praise him tonight. Come on, get ready. Get ready. Come on. Cross. Come on. Come on. Come on. Cross the platform. Get Get your place tonight. Come on. Get ready. Get ready. Get ready. Come on. Praisers. Come on. I do a little staff meeting here. I'm going to do a little staff meeting here. I want you praisers. I want you praisers to begin to praise him right now. Not in song. I want y'all to put the mic to your mouth. I want you to begin to praise him right now. >> Come on, turn your mics on. >> Jesus. Father, we declare your name. >> Come on, turn your mics on. >> Father, we >> Come on, put that mic to your mouth right now. I know you can sing to me. I want to know. Can you praise me? Your authority in this house tonight is how great. I want to know can you can you all praise him? Can y'all praise him? There is none greater than you. >> I know you can sing. Can you praise him? You are master king. You have no right Jesus. Can you praise him? Can you praise him? Hallelujah. Come on. Can you I know you can understand more than your great name. Father, we declare 10,000 hallelujah to your name. Praise God. God is praise. Hallelujah. Pour out of your life. I feel victory coming. My God, I feel victory coming tonight. >> Come on. I feel victory coming tonight. Hallelujah. >> I feel like marital issues are going to are going to are going to dissolve right now. I feel like depression is going to dissolve right now. I feel like God is I'm going to praise him. I'm going to praise him. I'm going to praise him. I'm going to praise him. Thank you Jesus. Thank you Jesus. >> We got to be a praising. >> We got to be a praising church. That's right. That's right. Sister Bloodsworth, get with it. Get to praising him right now. Get to praising him right now. Come on, Stephanie Watkins. Get to praising him right now. I get all the text messages about your mama being sick. I get all the text messages about you being sick. I want you to praise him right now. I want you to praise him right now. >> We ought to be better at praise than we are about prayer requests. We ought to be better in praise than we are about prayer requests. I got to praise. I got to praise and I got to let it out. I got to praise. I I got to praise. I got to praise and I got to let it out. I got to praise. I said I got >> Hold on. >> >> I hear it. >> I hear it in the spirit. I hear it in the spirit. But I I I want to make myself crystal clear. I want to make myself crystal clear to everybody tonight cuz I hear it. We're never going to really attract people in our city with all this worship. We do this this running and and these kids coming around the altar and these we never going to attract people. Our Christian school golf team, our granddaughter London became friends on a tournament. Brother Hiner became friends with another little girl about her same age on a different team. Little girl, if I have the story right, little girl can speak three languages, French, Spanish, and English. Comes from a highly educated background from a home. But Lauren London just believes in her God. And she just invited that young lady to Strong Tower Youth Camp. I watched her first night. she was there and watched her as we begin to worship. Her head would just bob around and look around. I watched her as the preacher began to preach. I could just about see her lips say, "That's right. That's right." Thursday night, I don't know if I've ever been in a more demonstrative worshiping place in all my life. We even had one of Sister Wilson, we even had one of the workers at Marble College, a worker that was there to help us in the auditorium. God baptized him with the Holy Ghost Thursday night. Boy, I'd hate to think the future of this church is in my education. I'd hate to think the future of this church. God have mercy. I'd hate to think the future of this church is in what I can learn in a textbook. A worker. A worker. Hold on. Hold on. We going to praise him. Hold on. A worker in the back of the room received the baptism of the Holy Ghost. I was watching that little girl. It was demonstrative. I was watching her. She's watching them run by. And then all of a sudden, I didn't see her anymore. And Lauren came out of a big huddle that was over there. And Lauren, London, London, London, London, come out. London came out. And she said, "Papa, my friend just received the gift of the Holy Ghost." She wrote, "Learned in the sweetest text." She said, "I've never been in a place of complete strangers and felt so much of the love that I had in that place." Can I tell you tonight, we got to keep the praise up. We got to keep the praise up cuz I I got to praise. I'm done tonight. God bless you. See you Wednesday night. Stay as long as you want to praise him.