"The Pain and the Prize of Sacrifice" - Pastor Kenneth Carpenter

In Genesis chapter 3 and verse number 21, and unto Adam, unto Adam also, and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothe them, and clothed them. Like to read it again. It's a very short verse. Unto Adam also, and unto his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them. For a few moments tonight, I would like to deliver my heart, and this would be my my title. The pain and the prize of sacrifice. the pain and the prize of sacrifice. If you want the Lord to touch you tonight, your ears to hear, close your eyes with me now and let's all go before the throne of heaven. Father, I love you tonight. I thank you for the privilege of carrying your word. Lord, we're here tonight and the only thing that can change us is your word. Lord, we only shout because of your word. Lord, we only rejoice because of your word. Lord, we know that your word is a light unto our feet and a lamp unto our pathway. Lord, we know God that your word has the ability to transform our lives and to change our lives. Lord, by faith tonight, do I preach. By faith tonight, God, do I bring this word, the word of the Lord, to this congregation. Lord Jesus, move among us tonight and bring a great change in our lives that we can be a great light to you. In Jesus' name we pray. And I would that you before you're seated would give the Lord a great hand of praise tonight. Thank you, Lord. You may be seated. the pain and the prize of sacrifice. A word and a spiritual concept. A word and a spiritual concept that every Christian must embrace is the word sacrifice. It is the word sacrifice. As a matter of fact, you cannot and would not we would not have had Christianity had it not been for his ultimate sacrifice. I would be less than a man of God to preach to you to come and surrender your life to a bed of roses to a life of ease. I will tell you tonight that being a Christian is a life of sacrifice. Amen. It is a life of sacrifice. To believe anything else than that fact would be a surprise and a deception to you when things do not work out because we are made to embrace sacrifice. The definition of sacrifice is simply an act of giving up something valued. The act of giving up something valued for the sake of something else regarded as a more as more important or worthy. So when we talk about sacrifice, we are talking about giving up something of value. Something that we regard of value. It's not sacrifice if you do not value it. It is not sacrifice if it is not something you value. It must be something that you value that you're willing to give up in order in order for the more the importance and the worthiness of something that you value even more. Can I tell you that God has got to be at the top of our list of what we value? God has got to be at the very top of our list when it comes to to our value. He's our pearl of great price. Can somebody say amen? He's a lily of our valley. He's a bright in the morning star. He is our everything. He is our all and our all. The Bible tells us that God, if we'll dig into the scripture, we can find that God set the pattern for sacrifice. Because when man, God's valued creature. As a matter of fact, God valued man more than he did the earth that he created. God valued man more than he did the animals that he created. As a matter of fact, man is God's highest value in creation. There's nothing on this earth, church, that God values any higher than he values you and I. That ought to be a comforting thought tonight. God values us. And so, when man fell in sin, man needed a covering. Man needed a covering for his physical nakedness. And man needed an act of sacrificing performed in his presence so that man could see as his father God did and man could continue to sacrifice and the blood would belong to God is atonement. That word atonement can be broke down into a simple phrase at onement. We speak about atonement and exactly what the blood does. That brings it brings two parties that were separated and sin separated us from our God. But the blood of atonement at onement brought us back together again. And so God, he wanted his highest creation that he valued. God wanted fellowship with that with that creation. And so in man's eyes, God took an animal. In Genesis 4 and verse number 11, it says, "Thou art worthy, oh Lord, to receive glory and honor and power. For thou hast created all things, all things. And for thy pleasure," there the word is, for thy pleasure they are and were created. So God made everything for his pleasure. It was God's pleasure that he made the animals. It was God's pleasure that he made the fish in the sea and the birds in the air. It was God's pleasure that he made the beast in the forest. It was God's pleasure that he made the sky blue and the earth green. It was God's pleasure that he made all of creation. But God's highest creature was not an animal. God's highest creature was a man and a woman by the name of Adam and Eve. But when Adam and Eve needed a covering, God was willing to take something that he created, something that he valued, something that it was his pleasure. God looked down on an animal. If you want to call it a lamb, you can call it a lamb. It would fit into topology if it was a lamb. God looked down upon an animal that he valued. And God looked down upon an animal that was his pleasure. And God looked at sinful man and God looked at his pleasure. And God said, "I am willing to sacrifice my pleasure so that man can be covered." And so God lays out the groundwork, Brother Hammond, for what sacrifice is all about. If it's not something that you value, it is not a sacrifice. In order to give God something of value, it has got to be something you value. If you value your time, give some of it to God. If you value, say, "Man, I'm a busy man." Listen, there is nothing making God more pleased tonight. that several hundred people on a Sunday night, brother Dean, in a culture where people are shutting their doors on Sunday night and saying that's family time. That's time families ought to be together. Let's just have a halfhour service on Sunday morning and then let's let everybody go on their way. But praise be unto the Almighty God. We are in a place tonight that has said there's no greater thing that we could be doing tonight. Not bowling, not fishing, not hunting. There's nothing any greater. Brother Clayurn, I'm telling you, God looks down. God looks down. There's there are there's business executives here tonight. There's business people. There's white collar, bluecollar people here tonight that could be in a number of different places, but they value their time. But they understand that that that God is worthy of our time on Sunday. God is worthy of coming on Sunday morning. Amen. God is worthy of arranging our schedules to say, "It's the hol, it's the holy day, not the holiday." He's worthy of coming to the house of God and saying, "God, here's my time. Here's my time this morning. He's worthy of us. He is worthy of us coming again on a Sunday night. So if you value, you were giving this to God. God set the pattern. The Bible says in Genesis chapter 4 and verse number one, "And Adam knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bare Cain and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord." Verse two, she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. Process of time, it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering to unto the Lord. And Abel he also brought of the first lings of of this flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering. But unto Cain, and to his offering he had not respect. Cain was very wrought. His countenance fell. We see the division. We see a division right here. We see a division right after sacrifice was given. And that is we have a we have a son by the name of Abel that knew how to give a sacrifice. He gave a sacrifice of something that was valuable to him. It was not just the first. It was also the fat thereof. It had it had value to him. It was a sacrifice that had value to him. But now Cain Cain gave something. The Bible says in the process of time it came to pass and we have the we we we we have here where where where Cain changed. In the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And it was there that God showed that there's some sacrifices that he values and there's some sacrifices that he has no respect over. He has absolutely no respect for a sacrifice that is not laced with faith. He has absolutely no respect for an obligation. Cain brought an obligation. An obligation is it's the day of worship and I've got to bring something to God and why don't I just go get some fruit somewhere and lay it down on a platter and come bring it to him. But not Abel. Abel's sacrifice was not an obligation. The book of Hebrews says it this way. It was a sacrifice of faith. Hebrews 11:1. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Three verses in to the to the chapter of faith and this comes up. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God and that all things that are seen were ma were not made of things which do appear. By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. By faith, Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts, and by it he being yet dead. He being dead yet speaketh. Why was it? Because Cain had an obligation. I've just got to go to church. I've just got to go to worship. I've got to bring some mey fruit to him. I can't go empty-handed. I've got because it's an obligation. The difference tonight between obligation and sacrifice is faith. And faith comes into the house of God. Faith never gives without expecting to receive something. Faith is not an obligation. There may be some here tonight that's fulfilling an obligation. You're just here. You're just here. But I want you to know there's one here tonight called me. And I'm not here just to be here. I truly believe that my worship tonight will affect my day tomorrow. I truly believe that what I'm giving to God today was going to affect my Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. I truly believe we have a division here. We find that the Bible says in Genesis, we find that in Genesis chapter 6 and verse number one, and it came to pass when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, that the and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God, follow this closely, Genesis 6:2, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were fair, and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord said, "My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he is also his flesh, yet his day shall be 120 years." Now, let me tell you what some people have thought this means. Because in in Genesis 6, there is a division. There is a term used the sons of God, the sons of God, and the daughters of men. The sons of God and the daughters of men. Or we could say the sons of man and the sons of God. And it has been taught that angelic beings came down to the earth and had sexual relationship with women. And from these women came forth the giants that are mentioned a little later. Can I tell you tonight that at that absolutely holds no water according to scripture. Angels are spiritual beings. They are not bodies. They can appear in body form but they are not bodies. What this is talking about is some of Cain's descendants. Because if you're just a worshipper of obligation, you will produce children of obligation. But if you are a child that is worshiping by faith, you will produce children that are worshiping by faith. The children that are worshiping by faith are called the sons of God. The children that are worshiping by obligation are called the sons of man. They are fleshly laid because anything they do is for the moment. The world lives for the moment. Their motto is li eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die but not to the child of God. Tomorrow does not death. Tomorrow holds our resurrection. Tomorrow is a great day because I am a worshipper of sacrifice. Oh, Genesis says Genesis 6 and 8, but Noah, it's interesting how he begins that verse. But Noah, he's telling about he's telling about the sons of men and the sinful actions and the mingling together. That's why we must maintain our distinction. We can never allow the sons of God to mingle with the sons of men. We cannot have half spirit and half flesh going on. We have got to live our lives by faith. My flesh is not going to be in control because I'm going to do a very painful thing to my flesh every day. I'm going to crucify my flesh. My flesh must be I'm your pastor's talking to you tonight. I'm telling you, you will never get to a spiritual plateau or a spiritual level where you don't have to battle your flesh. I am 57 years old, been serving God since I've been 16 years old. And I have battled my flesh every day of my life. I battle my flesh. But I have learned that the pain is only part of the process. The prize comes after the pain. When I nail my my flesh to an altar and I'll tell my flesh, you're not going to lust flesh. I'll check my heart. You're not going to hold anything in your heart. When your feelings are get hurt, you're not going to let it fester up and let it turn into bitterness. Can I get a witness tonight? When somebody does something wrong to you, you're going to quickly forgive them. You're not going to hold grudges. You're not going to give a cold shoulder. You're not going to withhold love from a brother or sister. That is not what Jesus would do. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Chap verse 20. Noah built an altar. Noah built an altar unto the Lord. Took of every clean beast and every clean foul and offered burnt offerings on the altar. Verse 20. And the Lord smelled a sweet savior. And the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground anymore for man's sake. For the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth, neither will I again smite anymore everything living as I have done. While the earth remainth, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease. I'm going to tell you something. Let's take care of mother earth. Let's don't abuse the earth that God has given us. But let's don't walk around listening to the scientists, the godless scientists that are telling us that things are going to burn up, wanting to plant fear and doubt into the hearts of our children. Because our substance, our life is not in how many trees there is. Our life is not how many green patches of grass there is on planet Earth. Our life does not contain in how many trees and how much grass is on this earth. Our life is in the one who spoke the worlds into existence. And as long as the world, as long as he says for the world to be what he created, it will always be. I'm telling you something tonight. Noah sacrificed. And Noah got a covenant that you and I are still enjoying to this very day. Noah sacrificed and God gave him a covenant that said, "While the earth remains, seed time, harvest, cold, heat, summer, winter, day and night shall not cease." Can I tell you tonight that our provision comes through sacrifice? Do you know it doesn't make any sense if you're a son of man, it doesn't make any sense to your fleshly frame of mind that the way to have your needs met is to give. To a fleshly son of man mind, the way to get your needs met is to get all you can and can all you get. You live by the golden rule. He hath he that hath the gold rules. You live by a total separate different system than that. If you're going to have, you got to put back. You got to look out for number one. But that is not the way sons of God behave. Sons of God understand that the way we have our provisions met is to be sacrificing people, is to be giving people. One way to receive is to be giving. Somebody talking about, "Well, I Brother Carpenter, I hear you talking about receiving all the time. I'm just simply I don't seem to be there." I got to ask you, before I ever got in the receiving line, I had to get in the giving line because the pain comes before the prize. You got to know how to let it go. You got to know how not to listen to your son of man mind. You got to learn how to let it go. And you don't let it go by obligation. I got to pay my tithe. I got to give the building program. I got to give to the mission program. That's a cane obligation. But you give out of an able obligation. What I'm giving today is going to come back to me. Pressed down, shaken together, and running over shall your father give to you. Come on. Is somebody listening to me tonight in this house? God sent the prophet down to during the time of a drought, God sent the prophet down to the widow woman at Zerapath. God said, "Prophet, go down to that widow woman's house. That's where you're going to have all your provisions met." And the Bible says in chapter 17, first Kings 17 and 10, so he arose. God told him to go. So he arose and went to Zerapath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow woman was there gathering of sticks. And he called to her and said, "Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel that I may drink." And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her and said, "Bring me, I pray thee, a mercile of bread in thy hand." She said, "As the Lord thy God liveth." Now, would you please notice something with me? She did not say, "The Lord my God." She said, "The Lord thy God." And I'm going to ask you something tonight. What are you saying to folks? The Lord thy God. Or are you saying the Lord my God? As far as I know when we're we're to pay, he said, "When you pray, say our father, our father tonight." And so she says, "The Lord thy God liveth. I have not a cake, but a handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruise. And behold, I'm gathering two sticks that I may go in and dress it from me and my son, that we may eat it and die. And Elijah said unto her, "Fear not. Go and do as thou hast said, but make me therefore a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and thy son. For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, the barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the crews of oil fail until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth." Now, what are you going to do, woman? I'm going to tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to give by faith. You see, I'm here collecting enough sticks to build a fire because I got a handful of meal and I got a little oil and I got enough of me and my boy to have our last meal. But the man of God preached faith into her heart. That's what we need tonight. We need faith preached into our heart. The man of God said, "You hear the word of the Lord. You just simply give me the cake first." Now, what the cake represented was giving God first. Giving God I know we've got a man involved here, but God was wanting to see, woman, will you put me first? Will you place me first? Will you value me above what's in your kitchen? Will you value me above what you've got? Some of us are never going to come out of the situations we are in until we begin to look into God's God's heavens and value the invisible God and the word of God and stop looking at what we can see and letting what we can see affect how we do believe. But we need to look into the heavens and we need to say, "God, if your word says it, I am willing to put you first in my life. I am willing to give." He said, 'Woman, if you will give, he said, your meal barrel will always have meal and your cruise of oil will always have oil. You'll always have bread until God sends the rain. And you know what she did? She did not give out of obligation. She gave out of faith. And the Bible tells us that she made him a cake first. And when she went back to that meal barrel that she had emptied out a few hours before, there was meal in that barrel. And when she went to that cruise of oil that she had emptied out a few hours ago, there was oil in that cruise. Ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, tonight, it is a sacrifice that gives by faith. When you've emptied everything you've got out, it may be your energy. It may be your time. It may be your finances. But when you've emptied out everything, Provisions come because we're willing to give away. You've heard the voice and I've heard it, too. Y'all stop giving so much to missions. You all get the other side of that building done. Anybody ever heard that voice? I've heard it. I've heard it many times when I'm places like I was the other day and I was the other day in Sacramento and a young man, he's going to be here the last Sunday, missionary to Honduras. Stephen Jones is going to be here. He's going to be preaching for us. And I sat there in that service and heard that young man pour his heart out to God and heard that young man talk about having church on a dirt floor in Honduras. God began to speak to me about $25,000. And you know what? I heard that same voice. Because you see, I'll admit it tonight. Some of you may not admit it, but I will admit it from times to time. From time to time, I still battle son of man mentality and son of God mentality. I I'll admit it tonight. I'll just go ahead admit it tonight. Sometimes I battle son of man mentality. Sometimes when the spirit of God comes in, God's waiting for which one's going to answer the door. Is the son of God gonna answer the door or is the son of man gonna answer the door? I heard that boy say, "Man, $25,000. I'm gonna tell you something. Y'all don't have it. We got some bills. We got to get in that other side. The money the monies that we that we got off our old building is dwindling down with I mean, you get $800,000, but when you're writing checks for air conditionings, that's a a quarter of a million and on and on. And that number keeps on coming down." And and that began to play in my mind. And it was almost that the son of man was going to write it off, but I stepped out and I just said, "I'm gonna let the son of god answer this." And I pledged that money and we sent we sent the check. But God began to change things because I first thought that it was going to come from this church. But as I begin to pray about it because up in Sevirville there there there we there's not a dime taken there. Nobody's there's nothing being paid out. The money's just coming in in the Sevirville church and it's collected. It's collected some money up there and the Lord began to deal with me and say, "I want to not only bless your church, this congregation here in Mville, but I want to bless that church up there in Severville." And so I stepped out and I told the church in Sevirville and you ought have been there the night that I told them that we had some money in the treasury, but we were going to take $25,000 of that money and send it to Honduras to the missionary. Am I telling it right? There was a spirit of worship that broke out in that church. There were people shouting out loud. There were people praising God. There was a wave of a glory that went through that church. I want to ask you something tonight. If you're not getting your provisions met, are you just giving an obligation? Are you just giving a cane obligation? Or are you writing out your tithe check knowing that this is worship and that it will return to me? Oh, come on. Give the Lord a big hand of praise. You may be seated. I want to ask someone tonight. I want to ask somebody a question. I want you to raise your hand tonight. How many are in this room right now and you need God to answer you on a particular subject? Would you raise your hand right now? You need an answer from God. Come on. I I need an answer from God. I need I need an answer from God. God needs to answer me. All right? I'm not setting you up, but you just got set up because I'm here to tell you something. You need to use the You need to use the Elijah. You need to use the Elijah material because Elijah comes around in First Kings 18:21. And Elijah came unto all the people. First Kings 18:21. And Elijah came unto all the people and said, "How long ha you between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him. But if Baal, then follow him." And the people answered him not a word. Then said Elijah unto the people, I even I only remain a prophet of the Lord. But the Ba's pro bell's prophets are 450 men. Let them therefore give us two bullets and let them choose one bullet. And and and I'm just going to kind of go for time sake. Let them call on the name of Baal, the name of their gods. And I will call on the name, notice in verse 24, the people of the world called on plural names of their gods. But the people of faith called on the name of the Lord. And the God that answerth, remember some of you said you needed an answer. And the God that answerth, oh hallelujah, by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, it is well said. Can I tell you tonight answers come after sacrifices are given. If you are halting between two opinions. Some of you tonight are bouncing back and forth between son of man and son of God. Some of you ladies are bouncing back before between daughters of God and daughters of men. Sometimes you believe God's miraculous. Sometimes you believe God can do all things. Sometimes you're walking on water. Sometimes you just believe God is going to bring your unsaved husband into the church. Sometimes you believe God's going to bring your backsliding children back. But then you vacasillate back over here and you scratch your head and you think it's not doing any good. The more I pray, the drunker he gets. The more I pray, the more wild they get in their religion. Can I tell you a sacrifice will always bring an answer from God. You have never sacrificed, stayed on the altar, kept it on the altar without God's attention saying, "I've got to come down and I've got to answer you." I want to say to you tonight in the name of the Lord, stop limping between two opinions. If God be God, get after it with all your heart. If God be God, get after him with all your heart. There is a precious woman that years ago during the Vietnam War, there's a precious woman that attended Brother Holmes Church in Little Rock, Arkansas. I believe that not only was her son sent off to war, but that her son was sent off to war backsliding. And that precious woman made a vow to God that she would not sleep in her bed, but she would sleep on the hard floor in her bedroom until her boy came home and until her boy came back to God. She said, "Well, that's that's a little fanatical, preacher. Most sacrifices look like that." Most sacrifices can look like that. They may look like a woman saying, "I'm going to spend 30 minutes in prayer every day till my husband comes in. Right? I'm I'm going to pray and I'm going to give until we come out of this situation. They they look like that. And that woman made a sacrifice. She made a vow to God that I'll never go back to my bed. I'll never sleep in my soft bed and my soft pillow until God brings my boy home and back to church. Some time went by. I don't know how many months went by. It may have even been a year or so went by. But on a Sunday night in Little Rock, Arkansas, that woman was up around the altars praising God. And the back doors of that church opened up and a young soldier boy walked through the back doors of that church. And he not only walked through the back doors of that church, he walked on up to the altar and he fell in the altar. And you know who that boy was? You got it by now. It was the son of that woman that said, "I'll never go back to my bed. I'll never sleep in that bed until God brings my boy back." I say tonight, if God could do that, and I believe God did that, how much more would God do to us? We're not used to sacrifice because we don't like the pain. But how many of us are willing to nail some flesh to the altar tonight and say, "I'm willing to endure. Some of you have got some lost moms and dads. Some of you have got some moms and dads that are giving you a world of hurt and a world of trouble because you're trying to serve God and they're doing every try thing they can to try to convince you not to serve God. But can I tell you what the son of man wants you to do? It wants you to get bitter towards your mom and dad. It wants you to be disrespectful toward them. It wants you to write them off. It wants you to do all that. But you need to let the son of God appear in your life. And you don't ever need to stop praying for your mother and your father to come to God. Make it a point of prayer. Get you a few meals out of the day. I'm still preaching, everybody. Get you a few meals out of the day and say, "You know what? On Wednesday, on Wednesday is a fast day." I can prove it. I can prove it right here. I can prove it right here. My wife has fasted and prayed for her family. She has fasted and prayed for her sister Rhonda. She has fasted every Wednesday. I don't know, for years, she fasted for Rhonda. Now Rhonda's like the rest of us. You hear me tonight? Rhonda's like the rest of us. She's not where she used to be, but she's not where she needs to be. All right. That only goes for Rhonda. That goes for me, too. I'm not where I used to be. And I'm not where I want to be. But I got news for you. For years, she missed every meal on Wednesday. Why? I want Rhonda to come to God. I want my brothers and I want my brother and sister to come to God. And I've got news for you. We have seen Rhonda here on a consistent basis, servant God. And you know what? It's a product of not my preaching and not your friendliness. Because God got a hold of her because somebody said, "I'll go through three meals on Wednesday. I'll miss three meals on Wednesday to get the prize of my sister. Can I preach a little bit longer tonight? And I love my family. I love my family tonight. And she's got another sister, Robin, that more than likely is watching us preach tonight by way of the worldwide web. She lives in Florida. More than likely, she's watching us preach tonight. And I can probably see tears coming out of her eyes right now because mammo them kids that you raised are the easiest kids to preach under conviction I've ever preached to. They all get to squallen when they get into the presence of God. And I'm telling you something, Robin, too. And I know she's going to be watching tonight, but our prayers is for Robin to get the Holy Ghost and for Robin to be baptized in his name. That's why we would pray and we would fast. Come on. Anybody else want to get in this? How many of you kids got some unsaved daddies tonight? Wave your hand. How many want to see your daddy come down the aisle? How many want to see your mama get in the baptismal pool? You got to have some sacrifice. and it answered. And God answered by fire. To those of you that may not know the whole story there, the sons of men built their altar and prayed all day long on that altar. And Baal didn't answer one word. But the son of God stepped up there. Elijah stepped up there, rebuilt the altar, and prayed a 50word prayer. Fire came down from heaven and the people fell on their faces saying, "The Lord, he is God." You want an answer in your life, go to sacrifice. You shouldn't be halting between two opinions for years. That's the devil's good plan to keep you halting around life. You want an answer on a subject? I challenge you tonight to sacrifice. I challenge you tonight to give God some of your time in prayer. I challenge you tonight to tell your stomach you're not going to eat a meal. I challenge you tonight to tell your flesh there's certain things you if your favorite thing's ice cream. I challenge you tonight to tell your flesh you're not getting a you're not getting one scoop for 40 days. I know some of you grinning tonight, but it is God's truth. If we will start telling our flesh what it's going to do instead of having our flesh, son of man, tell us what we're going to do, God can begin to change the dynamics in our lives. I got news for you. Salvation only came through sacrifice. Don't tell me God so loved the world. I know. I know. God so loved the world. But he loved the world enough to sacrifice for the world. That's how much he loved the world. Hebrews 10:4. For it is not possible. Hebrews 10 and4. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, sacrifice an offering, thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me and burnt offerings and sacrifices for sins. Thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come in the volume of the book, it is written of me to do thy will, oh God, above when he said, sacrifice and offerings and burnt offerings and offerings for sin, thou wouldest not, neither hast pleasure therein, which are offered by the law. Then said he, lo, I come to do thy will, oh God, he taketh away the first, that he may establish the second, by the which we will we are sacrificed through the offering we are, excuse me, we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. No sacrifice, no salvation. He said, "When I came," he's prophetically talking that when the man Christ Jesus came into the earth, when the man Christ Jesus was born into this o into this world, the man Christ Jesus had a mandate, a scripture of prophecy over him, and that is a body, oh God, you have prepared me. And why did God prepare a body in the man Christ Jesus? Please hear this. Why did God prepare a body in the man Christ Jesus? Because it was not possible that the blood of bulls and goats and heers and lambs could take away man's sin. So God had to have a blood sacrifice. It had to be something that he valued. Remember, he valued man over the animal that he had pleasure in. He valued man more than he valued the lamb. But he saw that the lamb could never take away the sins of the man. So God made himself a body. And he made Yeah. He made himself a body so that he could come down and talk to everybody and show how great he is. No, he made himself a body so that he could sacrifice that body. He made himself a body. Do you see this tonight? He made himself a body so that he could sacrifice that body. It wasn't that he wanted to show you what color of eyes he's got. He wasn't to show you what God looks like in clothing. He was wanting to show you, I have created a body because I want to sacrifice that body so that I can reach back out and bring you back into the fold because you are of value to me. I believe tonight I believe tonight that John 3:16 has a little different meaning to me right now. For God so loved the world that he gave that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. God so loved us that he gave something of value. I have a man that I can dwell in. I have a man, the man Jesus. The man Christ Jesus born of a woman. I can dwell in him. But you see, God's plan wasn't just to get back in flesh. If that was God's plan, he could have impregnated Mary, be born into the world, and went on up into glory, and never suffered 40 days of fasting, and never suffered the crown of thorns or the nails in his hands. But why? Why did he come as a body? Because we can't have salvation without sacrifice. For God so loved the world that he gave that he gave his only begotten. That ought to cause some of us to just feel special tonight. My God. Listen. Isaiah chapter 53 and verse number one. I'm I'm coming to an end. I promise you I'm coming to an end here in just a moment. Proverb, excuse me, Isaiah 53 and verse number one. Who hath believed our report? Who's going to believe this? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? The power of God? For he shall grow up. Now, this is all Bible prophecy of God becoming flesh in the man Christ Jesus. For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant. God looks at the man Christ Jesus as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground. He hath no form nor clumliness. And when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should behold him. He is despised and rejected of men a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. We hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken and smitten of God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him. And with his stripes, we are healed. And I got to stop right there and tell you, this is the reason we're going to praise Jesus. This is the reason we're going to talk about the name of Jesus. This is the reason we're going to sing about him, preach about him, teach about him, love Jesus. Tonight, it's going to be Jesus. when the service starts. Jesus in the middle of the service and Jesus all the way through. You know why? Because without Jesus, we're nothing but a glorified country club trying to have a little meaning around here. But oh, hallelujah. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him. And with his stripes, we are healed. Excuse me for a moment. Oh, hallelujah. Oh, thank you, Jesus. Oh, glory to God. Jesus in my life. Jesus in the morning. Jesus when the sun goes down. That's better than talking about beer. That's better than talking about marijuana. That's better than talking about pills. I'm talking about Jesus tonight. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. You may be seated. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. Chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we were healed. All we like a sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed. He was afflicted yet opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before his shear is dumb. So he opened not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment. Who shall declare his generation? I'm going to answer that in just a minute. Who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, because he hath done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. It pleased the Lord to bruise him. It pleased the Lord to bruise him. The Lord looked down upon the man suffering, and it pleased the Lord. Why? Sacrifice has always been a pleasing thing in the sight of Almighty God. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed. See there, he died in faith. He died not an obligation. God's got to go to the cross and die. It's an obligation. No, it wasn't an obligation. It was a sacrifice by death. Because when God looked down upon the sacrifice there, he saw his seed. He shall see his seed. What is his seed? You and me. That's what he saw. You see, in sacrifice, some of you see what you got to give up. But a true faithful sacrifice, you see what you're going to gain. That's why it says that that that's why it says that he endured the cross and he endured the suffering and the shame because for the joy which was set before him, he endured the cross and he has went and he is seated at the right hand. You see tonight when God looked down and saw the man suffering on a cross, he didn't see the end. But he saw a group of people on a Sunday night dancing under the influence of the spirit of God. He saw men who used to hold beer cans in their handsh lifted magnifying and praising God. He saw women that were selling their bodies and he sees them with a choir robe shouting the praises of God. I'm glad that he saw the scene. How many knows we're not saved without sacrifice? The only way we can keep ourselves, mother Thorp, the only way that we can keep ourselves in the hands of God is by our personal sacrifice to him. The only way you can get your provisions met is by sacrifice. The only way you can get an answer from God is by sacrifice. The only way we have salvation is by sacrifice. And the only way we can keep ourselves in the hands of God is by sacrifice. Would you like a scripture to end this sermon? Romans 12:1. Romans 12:1. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies Now I feel the Holy Ghost. You see some of you hear me tonight. The the pastor got off the plane. I believe it was brother Roland Baker got off the plane in South America. When you get off the plane, you get out in some of these c these countries. They're trying to sell you everything. They're trying to sell you things as you're going to the taxi. They're trying to sell you just any the beggars. There's beggars all over just trying. But there was one beggar that caught Brother Baker's ear because he knew that it was a religious high day in the city. And that little boy had whittleled out some crosses. And he was selling crosses this way. Cheap crosses for sale. Cheap crosses for sale. Cheap crosses for sale. Can I tell you tonight, there is no such thing as a cheap cross. You hear me? There's no such thing as a cheap cross. There was no such thing. Can I tell you what he did for you at Calvary? Rockefellers don't have enough money to do for you. Can I tell you what he did for us at Calvary? over the bin. All the money, all the gold in Fort Knox can never do what Jesus Christ did for us at Calvary. That was not a cheap cross. And I'm telling you what, I will never stop preaching. If there is not a cheap cross, then there is not a cheap response to that cross. There cannot be a cheap response to the cross. If the cross is invaluable, bless God. My response to that cross is invaluable. Oh, I know that there's churches that are like Walmart. They're slashing their prices. There's denominations that have slashed their price to get more of this people in and more of that people in. And there's churches that are slashing the price of holiness and slashing the price of this because they want to be more appealing to the sons of men. But you look up here at your 5'7 inch greeneyed pastor tonight. I'm telling you, if it wasn't a cheap cross, then it's not going to be a cheap response. Come on. Will you stand with me right now? Hallelujah. Why you folks do what you do? Why y'all act like you act? Why do you do what you do? Because of Romans 12:1, I beseech you. That word beseech means beg. I beg you. Therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable. Some translation says it only makes sense to respond back to him this way. See, you you might be figuring it out tonight. The reason the cross is not speaking to you is because you're not speaking to it. You cannot embrace a God that went all the way for you by you going half the way with him. If you're going to have the full benefits from Genesis to Revelation, I'm here to tell you, it's time to crucify the son of man tonight until what comes out of your mouth is the son of God, which is your reasonable service. And listen, listen to verse two. Be not conformed to this world. That's crazy. Y'all shout out the choir. That's crazy. A man went running around this building. That's crazy. A woman went running across the front. It's not crazy if you understand that's a response. When the man wins the Daytona 500 and he takes that car and he does donuts in it, burns the tires off of it, nobody stands around says he's crazy. When a man makes a touchdown and he takes that ball and throws it down, nobody says that's crazy. When the guy makes that touchdown and they do all kind of dances in the end zone, nobody stands around and says that's crazy. You know why they don't? because the son of man says that's all right. But when we begin to respond back to God, it's not crazy. And I'm going to tell you, I'll make sure everything's always done decently in order here. But I'll never put my hand on anybody giving a public display of their worship to God. Run if you want to. My only request is keep your eyes open. Right? Just keep your eyes open, shout, spin, dance, do whatever you want to do to bring glory to his name because the price, the pain, the prize of sacrifice. This is for tomorrow night. But I wonder what it was like for Sister Kirby. Her body was dying, struggling, but her spirit was strong. One of the last things I said to her, I bent down in her ear and I said, "I love you, Sister Kirby." With her mouth open wide, trying to gasp a breath, I heard that weak voice say, "I love you, too." Wonder what it was like when Sister Kirby stopped breathing. Oh, in the spirit realm when the angels came down and received her spirit and took it to God. I don't know about you. There's no time in eternity. But if there was one second in eternity, no wonder the writer said, "It's going to be worth it all. It's going to be worth it all. It's going to be worth it all." Some beautiful, glorious day. Tonight it is 7:52 by the clock on the back wall. I wonder if I could challenge every person in here to give God 10 minutes of uninterrupted prayer to him, of nothing but telling him and praying to him. And then after that, you can feel free to to go home. I challenge you tonight. Who will be the first in the altar? It's 7:52 right now. The altars will fill up. You'd like your your your altar