The Family Landmark | Senior Pastor Kenneth Carpenter

If you have your Bibles, it would join me in the book of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter 19 and verse number 14. And we're going to skip through several uh verses there in Deuteronomy. And then we're going to go to a couple of verses in Proverbs and then one verse in in the book of Job. Deuteronomy chapter 19. Everybody say amen to the reading. Amen. Deuteronomy 19 and verse number 14. Thou shalt not remove thy neighbors landmark which they of old have set in thine inheritance which thou shalt inherit in the land that the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it. Deuteronomy 27 and 17. Deuteronomy 27 and 17. Cursed be he that removeth his neighbor's landmark and all the people shall say, "Amen." Proverbs 22 and verse number 28. Lord, thank you for your word. Proverbs 22 and verse number 28. Remove not the ancient landmark which thy fathers have set. The next chapter, Proverbs 23 and verse number 10. Remove not the old landmark and enter not into the fields of the fatherless. My last verse for the scripture reading Job 24 and verse two. Some remove the landmarks. They violently take away flocks and feed there on thereof. Today I want to continue I want to continue my lesson on the family. But what the title is today what the title is today for the message is the family landmark. The family the family landmark. If you love God's word today, would you bow your head with me? Father, we thank you today for your word, Lord. May we always value your word, Lord. Your word is the lamp in a dark world. Lord, your word is a light, God, in a dark world. Lord, your word is honey, God. Your word is the energy, God, of our souls. God, your word is the enlightenment of our eyes. Oh God, I ask you today, Lord, that you would touch. I ask you today, God, that you would move in Jesus name. and bless us all today. Amen. And amen. You may be seated. You may be seated today. Remove not the ancient landmark, the family, the family landmark, the family landmark. And you'll understand this in just a moment. But it was in prayer last week. And as I was in prayer, I begin to meditate and I begin to think about the Lord and what it takes to please the Lord. what it takes to please the Lord. And of course, we know without any searching that the Bible says without faith it is impossible to please him. In other words, you you have to have faith in order to please the Lord. And I got that I got that on my mind about having faith. And and and then I I got on the the the word seemed like the word just came to my lips, the word contented, being content. Being content. And um I um I I begin to I I begin to to to think about the word uh faith and the word content and the word value. Those three words uh those three words just came to my mind, faith and contentment and value. And as I put them together, do do you know that you will never be faithful to anything? If you're not contented with what you're faithful to, I if if you're not content, if you're not pleased, if you're not at rest, contentment, if you're not at rest with what you have faith in, then you'll never be faithful if you if you don't have contentment. and and and I I was I I just kind of in my prayer time I just kind of was mulling through that and then it came to me that you will never be content in anything that you don't value. If you don't value something, you'll never be content. You you don't value what you're content. You'll never be faithful. They all they all seem to go together. Well, let's make a declaration here today. I value God and his word. I'm content in God and his word. Come on. I'm content in God and his word. I'm not searching. I'm not online. I'm not googling a new way. I'm not googling a new God. I'm not googling any kind of I'm not searching for anything that is already satisfied to the fullest extent everything that is in my soul. I am very contented in my God. I'm very contented in God's word. And I'm very I'm very content. I value you. I I value you. We took a few days off this week and it's amazing sometimes how a preacher's brain will work. The place we were staying, the house we were staying, Sister Carpenter and I, was what was in a little room, what be called a loft. And um I uh one morning I'd left my Bible down at the couch. And um so u I heard the boys um Hammond and um I heard I heard the boys down there and and um Beckham and I heard them their mother had made them um pancakes that morning. I heard them. So I leaned over the banister. I said, "Hammy," I said, "Bring Papa's Bible up here. Bring Papa's Bible up here." And um had a little uh one reason I asked for it, it had a a little uh uh spyro stair that went down from the law. Little spiral stair that was made for a person that weighs about 50 lbs. All right. And um I had to talk to my legs going down. Would you excuse me? Can I get by you? I need to get you know. And so it's amazing what you'll do to save money. Anyway, um so I said, "Hey, would you bring my Bible up?" And so he he brought it up and he handed it to me. And when he handed it to me, I felt this goo. And obviously his pancakes were swimming in syrup. And when he went to hand me my Bible, he his little handprints and syrup were all on my Bible. For just a quick moment, I might have got a twinge of irritation. But then throughout the day, every time I touched my Bible, I thought I'd got all the syrup off, but every time I touched my Bible, I remembered my grandson, the family landmark. You know, when I touch the word of God, I want to remember my family. I want to remember my family because I'm going to tell you something. We can provide for our families. We can try to get them the we can try to get them the best of clothes and the best of shoes and the best of school. But if we do all that at the failure of giving them the best education in all the world, which is the word of God, we fail. Let me get into my Bible lesson this morning. No doubt you notice with me in all the scripture readings in every place in the Bible where the word landmark is used or the word landmarks plural. I listed I read to you every place in the Bible that the word landmark is mentioned. There is one constant theme and I hope you picked it up. There's one constant theme that ran through every verse and what was it? Don't remove it. Don't remove it. Don't remove the old ancient ancient landmarks that your fathers have set. Called it an old landmark. Called it an ancient landmark. Put a curse upon anyone that would move the landmark over and over again. Well, let me tell you this exactly. A landmark is a visible object placed on the corner of the property which served to identify what was theirs. And I want you to catch this now, though it's very simple. It identified what was theirs and what was not. It was a simple truth that God was teaching. This belongs to you. this does not belong to you. As a matter of fact, this simple truth. Now, today we don't have landmarks such as this. Um, this is actually a fake rock that covers one of the um whales outside on the soccer field. And, uh, they'll be so good to take this back after pastor's done. You thought pastor was big and strong today. You know, it was a landmark. Nowadays, nowadays we have a simple iron pin. A surveyor comes out and he can come out and pinpoint the iron pins that are on your lot line. Sometimes they have to dig down and we could preach a little bit about that today. Our landmarks get covered up with dirt. But not in the Bible days. In the Bible days, most of the landmarks, most of the landmarks were rocks that the ancient fathers had set up and they would say, "This belongs to us and this doesn't belong to us." Well, let's let's talk about land. Let's talk about land for a moment. You do realize that you can never have a nation. You can never have a people if there's no land. No land, no nation, no people. So in order for God to have a people, which was his plan, in order for God to have a people, the first thing that God promised Abraham, and you'll find it, let's just read it together in Genesis 12 and verse number one. Look how Genesis 12 and 1 begins. Now the Lord had said unto Abram, "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house unto a what, church? I'm going to ask for your help a little bit." What's what's he say? He's saying, "I want you to leave all this because I'm going to bring you to a what? I'm going to bring you to a land. I'm going to bring you to a land." Notice he mentions land. I will I will unto a land that I will show thee. Look at verse two. and I will make a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing. Isn't it interesting that God knew then that before I ever start talking to them about being a great nation and being a blessing, I got to talk to them about land because no land, no people. Well, let's travel on. This is Abraham. As a matter of fact, in the next chapter, chapter uh 13 of Genesis, verse number 14, he speaks again to Abram. And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, lift up now thine eyes, and look upon the place where thou art northward, southward, eastward, and westward. For all the land which thou seeest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed be numbered. Would you please notice with me again before he starts talking about seed and sand and number, he talks about land. He talks about land. Look at verse 17. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it. For I will give it unto thee. Look at that promise. Hundreds of years go by. We now have Moses in the book of Deuteronomy chapter number 11 and verse number 10. Listen to what Moses speaks on behalf of God. For the land whether thou goest in to possess it is not as the land of Egypt from whence you came out where thy sewest thy seed and waters it with thy foot as a garden of herbs. In other words, he says where I'm taking you is not like where you've come out of. You had to irrigate the land of Egypt. You had to dig trenches. You had to dig gully ways. And then you had to take your feet and move water into the gardens. And God says, "I'm not bringing you to a land like that." Aren't you thankful that when God brings us out, he always gives us better. Do you know that God never God has never taken anything from us, especially our sins, that he did not in return give us something much better. That's just the nature of our God. That's the nature of our God. It's not like where you've come from. Look at verse 11. But the land where the you go to possess it is a land of hills and valleys and drinkkeeth water of the rain of heaven. A land which the Lord thy You need to glue your eyes on this. A land which the Lord thy God carth for. For the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it from the beginning of the year, even unto the end of the year. Look at that. He said, "I care about this land. I got my eyes on this land. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be anywhere God doesn't have his eyes on. I don't want to be anywhere God doesn't care about." Let me go on. Let me go on. Verse number 24, the same ver chapter. Every place, does this sound familiar? Listen to what he's that what God is telling Moses in uh Deuteronomy 11:24. Listen to what every place where on the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours. From the wilderness of Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall be your coast. In other words, I've not just given you a land. And please hear this. I've not just given you a land, but I've given you borders. I I I I put corners on it. I I put I I've given you a land, but I want you to know I've put borders on it. This belongs to you. Now, let's very simple. This belongs to you, and this doesn't belong to you. Well, let's let's travel on. Moses has died. Moses has went up into the mountain. Moses has died. God has buried him. Joshua, the new leader, takes over. Look at the first thing happens in the book of Joshua chapter number one 1-4. Now after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses's minister, saying, Moses, my servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, thou and all this people, where where we going, God? Unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. Every place that the soul of your foot shall tread upon that I have given you as I said unto Moses from the wilderness and this Lebanon even under the great river the river Euphrates. It sounds familiar. The land of the Hittites under the great sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your coast. Seemed like God is working on something. And I'm going to tell you right now without getting political. I don't want anybody thinking this is a political speech. All right. The trouble in the Middle East right now is two people are claiming the same land. That's what we got the trouble right now. Two people are claiming the same land. And that's why we've got all this war and all of this all of this conflict. But listen to what God says about the land in Leviticus 25 23. Follow this closely. Leviticus 25:23. The land shall not be sold forever. For the land is mine, and ye are strangers and souljourers with me. Now, we got to understand something today. God said, although I have given you land, you're living on my land. The land is mine. Every time you look at that landmark, you not only see what is yours and what is not yours, but you see that it belongs to God. And when you die, you have trained your son because your son is going to take your inheritance because your inheritance is what's going to be passed down. God gave it to you. God gave it to your son. And now he's going to raise his family. And every time they look at that landmark, they're going to be reminded that this belongs to me and this doesn't. And God is the owner of this property. Seems like he's making himself pretty plain as we go through here. Numbers chapter 36 and verse number 7. Still talking about the land. So shall not the inheritance of the children of Israel removed from tribe to tribe. For every one of the children of Israel shall keep himself to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. Now I want I want to go back up for just a moment. I want to go back up for just a for just a moment um to I believe it's my first text that I gave. Deuteronomy 19 and verse 14. Thou shalt not remove thy neighbor's landmark, which they of old have set in thine inheritance, which thou shalt inherit in the land that the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it. In other words, don't move it forever. How you move it is what you inherit. If you move something that God has set, you're going to inherit that. And I'm going to tell you today, I want our landmarks as a family, a bibleelbelieving family has nothing to do with personal convictions here. I'm not preaching personal convictions today. One thing that this church should have the culture and be in common with, we are Biblebelieving people. We may have a difference of cars we drive. We may have a different taste of shirts and ties and skirts and colors and all that, but when it comes to the word of God, we're nothing more than a social club if we don't have the culture of I want this right where God placed it. Don't move the old landmark. Let it be right where God placed it. Want it right where God placed it because if I move it, if I move it, that's what my children inherit. If I move it, that's what my grandchildren inherit. When you're making moves in your life spiritually, you need to have the culture that God placed some things in our lives. He placed his word in our I don't I don't I don't get to debate the word. I don't get to meet with other people and debate the word of God. It is not to be debated. It is to be believed and it is to be obeyed. And is the culture of our church here today? Are we a Bible believing church or not? I said, are we a Bible believing church or not? Do we believe the word of God or don't we believe the word of God? Do we believe that it's current? Do do is this not what you want for your children? Is this not what you want for your grandchildren? He said, "Don't don't don't remove. Let me go back. Let's go down to where I left off." Let's go down to where I left off. I believe I left off. Um, believe I left off. Let's Let's look at Ezekiel chapter 46 and verse number 18. Ezekiel 46 and verse number 18. Moreover, the prince that's a ruler, that's a ruler. Brother Hammond, listen to the rulers. There's no greater ruler than the father of a home. There's no greater ruler than a mother of a home. Can I get a witness? I said there's no greater ruler than a father in a home. There's no greater ruler than a mother in the home. God placed parents in the home to be a landmark. God placed parents in the home. It is our responsibility to raise our children. So he says here, "Moreover, the prince shall not take of the people's inheritance by oppression to thrust them out of their possession, but he shall give his son's inheritance out of his own possession, that my people be not scattered, every man from his possession." Now, I've talked a lot about an Old Testament culture. Talked a lot, Sister Carbon, about an Old Testament thing today. But you do realize we have the Old Testament because we, the church, you and I are spiritual Jews. We are spiritual Israel. We are a spiritual Israel. What they was in the natural in the Old Testament, God now has in a people. That's what he meant when he told Abraham, "In thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." We are spiritual Jews. We are a spiritual Israel today. So, we can read about landmarks in the Old Testament, but how do we bring it down to the 21st century? How do we bring that down? How in the 21st century do we have a rock and a landmark that doesn't need to be moved that is placed eternally? It is placed eternally there. What would be our rock? What would be our landmark? His name is Jesus. He is our rock. To the spiritual Israel today, don't move that rock. You can move a lot of rocks, but don't move that rock. Politically, they can come and they can go, but that cannot come and that cannot go. Don't move it. Don't try to identify him as anything other than who he is. And Jesus Christ is none other than Almighty Jehovah Yahweh made known to us in the flesh. Don't move it. Don't try to belittle it. Don't try to add to it. Don't try Well, the culture is different. It doesn't matter today. You see, it's not that we got to move him to fit the culture. We're not going to move him to fit the culture. The culture needs to repent to fit the rock. I need to understand I don't believe I don't belong on this side of the rock. I belong on this side of the rock. Am I Am I making sense to you today? He is our rock. Jesus Christ is our rock. He is our everything. He is our all in all. He should be the first name you mention of the morning and the last name you mention of the day. He should his name should roll out of your lips many times throughout the day. It ought to be automatic is as automatic as inhaling and exhaling. You ought to you it ought to just be you see something you ought to say, "Oh, I just thank you, Lord. I I just praise you, Lord." A little grandchild comes bouncing down the aisle, you just say, "Oh, I thank God. What a good life it is to live for God." you. He ought to be. Come on, culture. Is he our everything? Is he our all and all today? Is he everything to us? He's everything. He's everything to me. He's everything. Come on, culture. He's everything to me. He's my father, my mother, my sister, and my brother. He's everything to me. I'm not knocking songwriting today. I thank God for all the songs coming out of the tomb. I thank God for all the songs. Unwrap me. I thank God for all the songs. Let me come out. Let me do this. Let me shout dancing on the grave. Come out of the tomb. Shake off the chains. I thank God for all that. But if we ever forget who shook the chains off. If we ever forget who brought us out. If we ever forget, it wasn't an experience that brought you out. It was the name of the Lord that brought us out. Come on, culture. Let's praise him right now. It is our culture to worship him. You shouldn't be able to hear the name Jesus without saying praise the Lord. You shouldn't be able to hear that sound without saying praise the Lord. Who is he? I'll tell you who he is today. John 14:6 Jesus saith, I am the way, the truth. Everybody say truth. Truth. I am the way. The truth. Let's go on down to let's go back rather about say truth. That's the culture of the church. What's the culture of the church? Truth. Why do you believe what you believe? That's about 10 of us out here. Come on. How you going on? If you if you're new here at First If you're new here at First Aposto, you're going to learn something. When I'm preaching something, I really want you to get it and you ain't getting it. We gonna keep circling and circling and circling and circling and circling like the old farmers when they would plow. When they would plow, they'd be going down that that field and that plow was cutting deep. But if it ever hit a rock, that plow would come up like that. A good farmer, you know what he would do? He'd take that old mule say, "Come on, Bessie. Let's circle back around cuz we going to keep hitting that bump until we get that rock out of the field." And if we got a bump of getting offended or you think you had got you you're just a little bit too good. You've got it a little bit too together and you you know I just you know that Jesus stuff that's for those that's for them men and women that are struggling with addictions and stuff. That that's for those weak-minded people. No, no, no, no. It's for the highest educated individual that's sitting in this that's sitting in this congregation that that's for the most wealthiest individual that's sitting here today. That's for the poorest. That's for the wealthiest. That's for the educated. That's for the un said his name is Jesus. He is truth. Somebody say it. Truth. Truth. Yes. Truth. John 1:14. And the word was made flesh. Why was the word made flesh and dwelt among us? And we beheld his glory, the glory as the only as of the only begotten of the father. What was he full of? full of grace and truth. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. John chapter 8, here's why we don't want to move this. John chapter 8, verse number 32, Jesus said, "And you shall know the truth, and the shall make you free." John 15 and1, I am the true vine. Some folks are drinking from a false vine. You make wine out of a vine. He said, "I'm a true vine. If there's a true vine, there's a false vine." You better make sure that you're drinking from a true vine. You better make sure somebody hasn't moved the landmark. Why? Because false vine doesn't produce the good wine. You know why you need it? You need it for yourself. But wherever you're moving that rock is where your kids are going to drink from. Wherever you're moving that rock is where your great grandkids are going to drink from. And I want you to know, I may be of Jesus terries and you may be dead and laying in a cemetery somewhere in this town, but wouldn't you take great comfort in dying to know that what you stood for truth is going to be able to reach all the way down generation after generation after generation. Please don't be like this. Please don't be like this. John 18:34, excuse me, John 18:37. Pilate saith unto him, "Art thou a king?" Then Jesus answered, "Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the what?" Truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice. Let's listen to Pilate now. He's a politician. Pilate saith unto him, look at those three words. Say it with me. What is truth? Boy, don't aren't we in a culture right now today that truth is up to opinion. If you believe it's truth, then it's truth. And what I believe is truth. I got news for you. It's not a truth. It's the truth. The old bumper sticker says, "God's word says it. I believe it. And it's so." Wrong bumper sticker. God's word says it. It's so whether I believe it or not, it's still so. Heaven and earth shall pass away. The earth shall be on fire, but my word, what is true? Pilot says, well, what is true? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, saith unto them, I find no fault in him at all. Isn't that matter of fact, isn't that way a lot of people are? They ask a question, never stay around long enough to hear the answer. What is truth? I think he said it scoffingly. Well, just what is what is what is truth? He went out again to the people. Mark looks at it a little bit different. Mark 15:15. Go there with me. Still the same arrest. Still asking the question, "What is truth? I have come to bear witness of truth." What is truth? And the Bible says in Mark 15:15, "And so Pilate willing to content the people." You You got to get this. You got to get this. Pilate willing to content the people released Barabus unto them and delivered Jesus when he had scourged him to be crucified. Let me give you a little a different translation that says it this way. So Pilate willing to gratify the crowd released Barabus to them and delivered Jesus after he had scourged him to be crucified. Isn't that amazing? You know why some people move the rock? To please the crowd. They would rather have a murderer running loose in their cities than to have to stand up and say, "This is the absolute truth. This is where we belong and this is where we don't belong." I can find Isn't that amazing? A man could find no fault in him. But the problem is you can be a good moral person, but I want to ask you something. Do you believe the truth? I find no fault in him. I find no fault in him at all. I've got a man over here. He's a murderer. He's Barabus. You don't want him in the neighborhood. You don't want him around your kids. You don't want him around your wife. He'll slit your throat. He's already done it once. He may do it again. Isn't it amazing that our culture would rather have that running rampant in their schools and in their street than to stand up and say, "This is our landmark. Jesus is our landmark. This is where I belong and this is where I don't belong. I I I don't belong here. I belong over here. Why? This is where God's got his eyes at. This is where God cares about. This is where Can I tell you, we are Oh my my my my my. You can put God's promise 430 years in Egyptian bondage. You can beat it. You can rape it. You can try to stamp it out, but some years later, God still got a people that are going to march out of Egypt. You can try to do everything you can do. God said, "I care about the land. I got my eye on the land. It may go through the fire, but the fire can't burn it. It may go through the flood, but the flood can't drown it. God help me to keep from under the aisles right now. But he said, "Upon this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail. Against it, it is my rock." You have to guess whether you're in the church or not. You better get the Bible open and get to looking. If you have a guess, I I don't know if I'm in or not, you better get the book of truth out. Amazing. A preacher gets up and preaches on absolutes and the world crucifies him as a baffoon. You start preaching absolutes and you're a you're a fearmonger. You're a hateful person. you you start preaching absolute, but they'll let the world and the craziness. Come on now. Don't you get self-righteous with me this morning. The insanity that's going on in our world today, the the the the gender dysfunction and all of that stuff that's going on in the world today. And they want to tell us we're odd. I just choose to tell you, I don't fit in here, but I fit in here. I don't look right here, but I sure do look right. Sister Hiner, that's where I want my children at, Brother Long. That's where I want my children at. I want them on this side over here. That's where That's where I want them at. I want them on this side. Will you lift up your hands and lift up your voices? I hear questions coming from people that blow my mind. A question's coming. Well, where does the church stand on same-sex marriage? Oh, but wait a minute. You're not being sympathetic. We ain't never going to win those folks. Well, you sure ain't ever going to win them by letting them think that's okay. Oh, don't mention the adultery word. Oh. Oh, and I want to tell you something. Well, you you can't build a church preaching like that anymore. You come 41 years late to tell me that. People don't want to come and hear that. You come just a just a few decades too late to tell me that. I found that people that are hungry for God, they want truth. I found that people that are wanting a change, they want truth. It may burn them. It may prick them. It may disrupt them. But at the end of the day, they're in the altar and they're saying, "God, you know, I need a change. Adultery is wrong. No, no, no, no. Adultery is sin. Cuz if you don't watch it, our terminology changes. Oh, that lady had an indiscretion. What did she do? Oh, she she she left with another man. She committed an indiscret indiscretion. Come on, folks. It's not an indiscretion. Read my lips. Sin. Sin. Cuz we got to make them people happy. We can't preach on that because we got to make these folks happy here. We can't preach on this because that'll offend somebody over here. We can't preach on this because it's it's over here. And if we don't watch it, willing to please the crowd, we're going to turn loose every foul spirit in our congregation because we were willing to please the crowd. We're going to release spirits of perversion. You hear me today? We're going to release spirits of perversion, demonic spirits that want to put all kinds of destructive behavior in our children and our grandchildren. We'll rather release that than to say, "I stand for Jesus and let the world go by. I'll claim his promise. He will supply. We'll walk together. Just the Lord and I. I'll stand for Jesus and let the world go by. I'm on this side of the rock. Jesus said it this way in Luke 11:23. Ask yourself this question here today. Ask yourself this question here today. Luke 11:23. He that is not with me is against me. And he that gatherth gatherth not with me scatter I'm tell you papa. Where's our field? See that rock boy? Yeah. This side is our field. Peppa. What about this over here? They don't belong to us. But papa, that's got some apple trees over there. And you know, I'll get twisted and warped if you deny me apples. I won't grow up. I'll grow up twisted and warped and held behind. I want you to move that rock over there so I can have that apple tree. Because every time we move the rock, we're moving it into an area that we don't belong in. And no child has ever been warped being taught the word of God. No child has ever been warped to be taught this is right and this is wrong. We have a multitude of people across America today that are living horrible bondage miserable lives and they got to find a reason to blame it on. Can't take self- responsibility. Can't blame it on self. I got to go back and say it was that that way that church taught me. It was that way the church taught me. The church, they they they warp me. Listen, the word of God, truth, has never warped anybody. Sinful living. You're either for him, you're against it. There's only two kinds of people in this congregation right here, right now today. There's only two kinds of people watching me online today. Only two time types. You're either for him or you're against him. There's no middle ground. Musicians, would you come with me right now? Would you come? Ephesians 2 and 20. We are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Jesus Christ himself being the what? Being the chief corner what? Being the chief corner stone. First Peter 2 and3. Someone say, "Praise God." Praise God. If so be, you have tasted of the Lord, that the Lord is gracious, to whom coming as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious. Ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture. Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner of what? stone, elect precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be confound. That word means ashamed. Unto you therefore, which believe, look at these two types of people. Unto you that believe, he is what? But unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, they moved it, the same is made the head of the corner. Two types of people. He's either precious. I don't need him. Sad. Some people only need a preacher two times. There's two times some people only need a preacher. When they got a kid, wants to get married or they got somebody they want to bury. Where's the preacher at? Where's he at? You do know there's a difference between a preacher and a pastor. I said there's a difference between a preacher and a pastor. Preacher is just somebody you tune him in, turn his volume down, take what he wants and disregard the other. He going to marry our daughter though. Boy, I'm going to live like the devil all my life. When I die, get that little preacher to come preach for me. And this little preacher, this little 5'7 inch green eye preacher would do every bit to muster up something good to say about you. But I will not and I have not put somebody on the streets of Oh, they're shouting right now. I'm sorry. No, no, I'm not even sorry. He's either precious or he's a nuisance. He's either precious. I feel the Holy Ghost moving right now. I feel the I give you a strong word this morning. I I give you a strong word this morning. I feel the Holy Ghost. Would Would if he's precious to you, would you just call out on him right now? Would you? Come on. Call out on him right now. Every dad, every mom should be saying that wonderful name today. Jesus. He's precious. He's precious. I build my life on him. Verse seven. unto therefore who believe he is precious. Unto them which build disobedient, the stone which the builders disallow, the same is made the head of the corner, a stone of stumbling, a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient, where unto also they were appointed. But you are a chosen generation. And so he put his blood in you. A royal priesthood. He put his spirit on you. A holy nation, a peculiar people. You said, "Brother Carpenter, he doesn't mention lamb there." Oh, you've not read the last book in the Bible. John said, "I saw New Jerusalem coming down. It's 1500 miles wide and 1500 miles long and 1500 miles tall. It's the new Jerusalem. Three gates on the north, three gates on the south, three gates on the east, and three gates on the west. And the righteous shall enter in there. I do. You're a chosen generation of royal priest to the holy nation a peculiar people that you should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light. In which time passed you were not a people but now you are the people of God which hath not obtained mercy but now you obtain mercy. Look with me this morning just I'm closing. You may be seated just for a second. for a second. You'll either build on him. You'll either build your life on him. You'll either build on him. But what if I decide not to build on him? Hold on for a moment because Jesus says in Luke 2017, he does address those that we will not build their lives. Penny, I built my life on Jesus. He found me when I was in sin as a teenager. He filled me with his spirit. I I lived my life feeling like trash, but he filled me with his spirit one night and I got baptized in his name. And for once in my lifetime, I felt like I was somebody. I built my life on him. You and I met and married. And to the best of our ability, we built our life on him. God's blessed us with three beautiful children. We built our life. God let us come here 41 years ago and take this church. And for 41 years, we've built our lives on the word of God. When the city religion calls us heretics, when the religious people of the city say they're odd and they're strange and they're heretics, it didn't matter that the culture wouldn't accept us. We said, "Don't move the rock of truth. Keep it right where it's at. And mother Lee, out of the mouth of a denominal pastor here in this city, he said these words. He said, "I don't know what it is down there, but I had people come through my church that never could get their act together, but they started going down there to that apostolic church and said somehow they got their act together." I'll give you a testimony of another denominational pastor. I won't call their names, but they had said this is what they say about the church. They don't believe the doctrine, but they say there's a heavy anointing and a presence of God that rest on that place. Even the city understands. They may not agree, but they understand there's got to be something in that place that they preach. Can I tell you, it's not the personality of Kenny Ray Carpenter. It's not the fantastic music of this church, but I'm going to tell you what sets us apart. We don't move the landmark. Why? It's not ours to move. We're just on Stand with God's got me so stirred up. Luke 20:17. And Jesus beheld them and said, "What is this then written that is written? The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner. Whosoever shall fall on the stone shall be broken." That's repentance. But whosoever shall it fall, it will grind them to powder. Can I tell you, you're going to have a relationship with this rock. You're going to fall on him as the merciful savior of the forgiver of your sins. And he's going to mold you and make you again. or there's a last day coming that this rock cut out of the mountain is going to come down in the book of Daniel and it's going to knock over the kingdoms of this world. The truth is today, do you want to fall on it in repentance or do you want it to fall on you in judgment? That's God's truth. I may not be preaching in a flowery way. I may not even be preaching in a culture. The culture around me may say, "He hollers, his face gets red, you don't listen to the word of God, and you'll end up in a place where there's weeping. You ain't heard the lights of crying out cuz you're either going to fall on it this morning and say, "God, help me." Daniel saw the rock cut out of the mountain. There's no middle ground. Don't stand here today. Don't stand here today and say, "I I'm in the middle." You are not. Nobody's in the middle here today. That's right. Would you would you just for a moment put your hand over on somebody and pray with them right now? It's a culture. It's a culture. There's no middle ground here today. There's no neutral ground. You are either for him or against him, but you are not in neutral. You are either the thief on one side of the cross that says, "Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom." You're either on that side of him or you're on the other side. If you be the son of God, come down. You're either in the room when the woman breaks the ointment and fills the house with odor and begin to worship. You're in the room today, Sister Paula, and you're either saying, "I worship you." Or you're in the room. That room only had two types of people in that day. had a woman that came to worship and disciples that came to judge. A woman was on this side calling it worship. The judge people were over here calling it a waste. You're either in the upper room and you're either being filled with the Holy Ghost, joy unspeakable and full of glory. You're either in the upper room being full of the Holy Ghost or you're standing outside mocking saying these men are full of new wine, but nobody's in the middle. Know about you today, but I believe that God is calling the culture of our church to get back to the place to where we all believe the same thing again. One more time. I just feel the Lord all all over me today. I feel him. It's a landmark, father. It's a landmark, mother. It's a landmark, saint of God. It's a landmark. I open this altar up this morning for anybody that wants to come and fall on this rock today. Open this altar up for anybody who your heart's been beating in your chest. You've had a clump in your throat. You've thought tears streaming down the front of your face because this is what you've been looking for. You've been waiting for this moment that God would come and deal with you. I invite you to come to this altar and if you do, push as close as you can. It's the rock. It's the rock. It's the rock. It's the rock. It's the rock. It's the rock. It's the rock. It's the rock. It's the rock. It's the rock. It's the rock. It's the rock. It's the rock. It's the rock. Come on. How long has it been since hot, salty tears bathed your face? How long's it been since you talked in other tongues? How long's it been until you got I don't care attitude? I'm going to lift my voice. Come on. How long it been? How many years have you been playing church? How many years have you been coming and judging everything going on? How many years has it been since you've opened up your heart and worship? Oh God, we don't need a momentary. We don't need a few minutes of prayer. We need a season of prayer in here right now. We don't need lingers. We need worshippers. We don't need people that are lingering waiting for We need people that are crying out to God. Oh God, I've moved the landmark. God, my children are suffering from it. God, I moved the landmark. Oh, I wish I had about a hundred fathers in here. I wish I had about a hundred fathers behind me today. I wish I had about a hundred fathers that would lift their voice up in a masculine tone. I wish I had about a hundred mothers today that would lift their voices up. It's a matter of life and death. Here I come. God help us. Oh, God help us. I'm going to get lost in worship today. We want to hear the stories about being drunk in the spirit, but we don't want to linger in the altar. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. I need you. Oh God. I need you. Oh God, I need you. Oh God, I need you. Please touch my life, Jesus. Please touch me again, God. God, one more time. Fill me with your spirit, God. One more time, touch me, oh God. God, I'm moving the landmark back today. God, I'm moving it back. Your center point of my life. You are my everything. Oh, fall on him right now. Fall on him right now. fall on him right now. Jesus wants to make all things new. Jesus wants to make all things new. Jesus is the only hope for your marriage. Jesus is the only hope for your sanity. Jesus is your only hope for your children. Your children are not far. They're not too far away from God. I rededicate my life back to you, God. I'll move you back to the center point of my life. upon your love. It is a firm foundation. I will put my trust in you alone and I will not be shen. I will build I upon your foundation. I will put my trust in you and I will not be my foundation. Heat. Heat. Oh, heat. Come on, that's the Holy Ghost. Come on, that's the Holy Ghost. Come on, that's the Holy Ghost. There is no like you. That's the Holy Ghost. That's the Holy Ghost. Come on, Moses. That's the Holy Ghost. What we're experiencing right now is the Holy Ghost. Get your hands up. Open your eyes. No one like you. There is no beside you. Oh yes, God. Yeah. So, Holy Ghost, let me tell you what we just experienced about the last three minutes is God confirming his word. was God confirming his word. Thank you, God. Thank you, God. Thank you, God. I'm going to tell you something. Don't miss tonight. Don't miss the 5:30 prayer. Don't miss the six o'clock evangelistic. We're gonna worship. We're gonna get on the floor with the word quickly because God wants to do something tonight. God is going to shift back the culture of FAC. It is the will of God that every man has another man in this church. Come on up, brother Sullivan. It is the will of God that every man has another man in this church that you can freely without any uneasiness talk about Jesus too. Yes sir. Yes sir. It is the will of God that every man in this church has a friend that talk can talk about Jesus. And it's the will of God that every man in this church leads his family to Jesus. Amen. It is the will of God. It is the will of God. Kim Kim Clayurn, it is the will of God that every woman in this church has another woman that you can talk about Jesus to. If you got friends that it gets uneasy to talk about the Lord and the work of the Lord and what God is doing, you need to become the friend that brings Jesus back into the conversation. You need if you got some friends and you left here a few Wednesday nights ago and you said pastor's on his hobby horse again about baptizing in Jesus name. As if we don't know how to baptize. Oh, by the way, after I preached that message a couple Wednesday nights ago on baptism, sis, wave your hands right now. I took her to the water. She said yes to water baptism. Because if we can talk about everything but Jesus, we'll become a church culture, that moves away from God, I do say I'm sorry that I've held you so long today.