The Truth About Tradition | Senior Pastor Kenneth Carpenter

i'm glad that his word created the world but i'm also glad that his word forgives us of our sins you may be seated right now if you roll the clock back two thousand years ago and you were standing in a synagogue and you begin to listen to the rabbis as they begin to discuss this man from galilee this man named jesus you would overhear him say well who is he and some would say well he's just the carpenter's son but one would say well one of the brothers at another synagogue said that he had a blind man walk in who excuse me had former blind man walk in and i asked the man how did you receive your sight and he said a man named jesus touched me and another one popped up and said well that's nothing said we had a a woman that was uh bent over had a spirit of infirmity on her she was bowed over she had she was looking always walking face down and said she come walking with her head held high and i said what happened to you said a man named jesus said a blind man a deaf man a lame man and then they would gather around him and the question was not brother birkett can you do miracles that had already been settled the question was who are you just who are you who do you claim to be and oh friend he set them in quite a stir when he said i and my father are one if you've seen me you've seen the father for the father dwelleth in me they didn't like that answer much they said we're going to we're going to stone you and he said well before you stone me i just want to ask you why or what miracle is it that i've done that you're stoning me for they said oh man from galilee we're not stoning you because of a miracle we're stoning you because you being a man you claim to be god well isn't that just like religion to get things backwards he wasn't a man that claimed to be god he was a god who made himself man well i'm glad today 2 000 years have come and gone but there's still some people that don't really know who jesus is but i'm glad to have the revelation that jesus is the father and jesus is the son and jesus is the holy ghost let me tell you who jesus is ah talking yeah jesus who you are usually time and time again let me tell you who he is a baby is but they just don't know who he is number two i know jesus is well the jews were talking to jesus and they said just who are you you claim to be the christ yet you're greater than abraham jesus said everything that you say is i know jesus is is i'll just go ahead and worship go ahead and worship him you're glad you know who jesus is this morning come on go ahead and worship go ahead and worship him right now it's all in him it's all in him the fullness of the godhead it's all in him jesus is the alpha and the omega the beginning and the ending it's all in him oh yes it's all in him he said well y'all make a big deal about that matter of fact matter of fact i'm i'm slacking a little bit i'm slacking a little bit i had a gentleman come and come to church here for a couple months and after being here a couple months he said y'all are not jesus only are you and i said as a matter of fact we're jesus everything amen we're jesus everything now what he means by that is the erroneous erroneous teaching that says that we deny the father or that we deny the holy spirit that we just we just believe there's only jesus now that's that's that's not correct we do believe in the father we do believe in the son we do believe in the holy ghost we just don't believe the third century and fourth century concoction that these three are separate co-equal co-eternal separate persons that make up a godhead and that jesus is the second person in in the godhead well that terminology alone is not biblical jesus is not in the godhead the bible says that the fullness of the godhead dwells in him he is the fullness of the godhead and i thought to myself in my old age i must be slipping a little bit that you could come five weeks and have to figure it out so i'll make sure we are a one god church we are we are one god church we're not ugly with it i don't believe in being ugly with the truth but we're not a covert apostolic church we're not trying to sneak up on you we're not ashamed of it have your bibles today turn with me to the book of mark chapter seven verse number five mark chapter seven verse number five to all of our wonderful guests first time guest thank you so much for being with us this morning at first apostolic church say didn't acquire do an excellent job today wow go ahead give them a real big hand i acquired our musicians mark chapter seven verse number five and i'm gonna emphasize a word as we read these verses and you'll you'll you'll hear me emphasize it then the pharisees and scribes ask him why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders but eat bread with unwashing hands jesus answered and said unto them well hath isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites as it is written this people honoreth me with their lips but their heart is far from me howbeit in vain do they worship me teaching for doctrines the commandments of men for laying aside the commandment of god ye hold the tradition of men as the washing of pots and cups and many other such like things ye do and he said unto them full well ye reject the commandment of god that you may keep your own tradition go down to verse number 13. making the word of god jesus said of none effect through your own tradition which you have delivered and many such like ye things you do now turn to thessalonians chapter 2 excuse me ii thessalonians chapter 2 verse number 15. ii thessalonians chapter 2 verse number 15. therefore brethren stand fast and hold the traditions which you have been taught whether by word or our epistle second thessalonians chapter 3 my last verse in the opening text thessalonians 3 verse number 6 now we command you now we command you brethren in the name of our lord jesus christ that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly and not after the tradition which he received of us for a few moments today and i do believe the lord's kind of dealt with me about how this is going to end i believe that there's going to be a a mighty move of god at the end of this message today if you're here right now and you're needing a touch from the lord listen intently and when that time comes i believe that god i believe in prayer god has kind of spoke to me about the end of this that he's going to he's going to minister but it may sound like teaching for a little bit but i want i want to teach on this subject today the truth everybody say the truth the truth about tradition don't you want to know what the truth is the truth about tradition put your bible down father i love you this morning i thank you lord for the honor and the privilege of coming into your house today i thank you lord that the desire to want to come into this place lord to worship you to receive your word to fellowship with brothers and sisters of like precious faith to raise our families god in this atmosphere that they have the knowledge of who you are lord anoint your servant this morning help me to teach your word and i'll give you the praise and the honor and the glory in jesus name i pray amen before your city give the lord a clap offering go ahead and give him a clap offering for what he is going to do come on if you're here this morning and you want to touch from god in your life go ahead right now and go ahead and just go ahead and thank him for it right now i thank you for it lord you may be seated the truth about tradition the truth about tradition let's look at the word tradition as it is given in scripture that one word tradition has the same meaning wherever it is used in scripture it all has the same meaning you notice with me today in the majority of the text that jesus is rebuking the men there that day because they held to the tradition of men they held to the tradition of men and then you would notice the last two verses out of thessalonians that the apostle paul said that they were to walk after the tradition that they had been taught by them it's a matter of fact paul put some very stiff requirements on it he said if you happen to come upon a brother that is walking disorderly he's out of order you walk up on a brother and he's walking disorderly and he's walking out of order because he has not he has not went after the tradition which was given by us as a matter of fact god said that we were not even to to be around them he uses the word you need to withdraw yourself you need to withdraw yourself well tradition is not a bad word even in our culture today even in our culture today there's there's words that people in christianity are shying away from number one fundamental uh radical and don't put the two words together because you'll really be shunned a radical fundamentalist and people say oh i i don't want to identify well well i am i am i am a radical fundamentalist i am radical about this truth right i believe every man ought to and every woman ought to have an opportunity to know this truth and i i'm radical about it i'm radical about it that we would lay our lives down so that people would know the fundamental truth but there's words that that people are shying away from today and this word tradition is one people will dismiss a lot about the bible and they'll they'll they'll write it up well that they're they're just that's just a traditional church well that word is only bad if you're outside of the scriptures of god but if you're within the context of scripture then i want to be a traditionalist today i want to be a traditionalist today the word is not good the word is not bad it becomes good or bad depending on how the person uses it the word tradition has the same meaning throughout the bible as you check and here's what it means the word tradition is a body of precepts the word tradition is a group a group or a body of precepts now what a precept is is rules that govern behavior a precept is a rule that governs governs our behavior especially when it's in a ritual form rules that determine behavior attach to a ritual performance or such as worshiping god it doesn't matter how traditional it is and how long it's been around and passed down because that's what tradition is an oral thing that has been passed down from one generation to another i don't care how sincere people may be sincerity does not take away that god's word god's word has forbid us to make any statues and worship any graven image we're not to have art that we look upon and connect with god we're not to have anything of this world that we look at and try to use it as a connection between us and god i don't care how long the tradition has been around okay how long the tradition has been around it is not god's will to pray to jesus through mary that is a tradition of man that's a man-made tradition so a tradition is a body of precepts the rules that govern behavior especially in a ritual which in the opinion of the of the of the later jews was orally delivered by moses and orderly transmitted in unbroken secession to subsequent generations which precepts both illustrating and expanding the written law as they as they did were to be obeyed with equal reverence in other words the word of god was first transmitted orally god spoke to adam and eve he did not write he spoke to them they we do know it may not be spelled out but they passed their oral way of worshiping from god they passed it down to their sons and their sons begin to worship god so the the commandment of god what a tradition is is a commandment of god it is a commandment of god and then as a generation sees how to fulfill that commandment and we find this god gave the commandment to adam do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil adam set forth a tradition of behavior around the commandment i really want you to see this especially our youth today because i want to change i i saw some young people leaping in the choir today to the song let me tell you who jesus is now i'm glad that they can connect with god and that they can sing songs that god is like a gentle breeze and god is my love and my light and god is a the hammer in the way and god's a butterfly i love all that god will heal me when i'm broken i love all that but it blessed me especially today to see young people leaping to the fact let me tell you who jesus is let me tell you who jesus is because that's not a tradition that is the word now follow this closely adam took the word of god the oral spoken word of god and he said there has to be a behavior around this and the behavior around this sets forth a tradition and the behavior that he gave was simply this don't eat of it don't don't touch it eve don't touch it don't don't don't touch the tree the the don't touching the don't touching the tree did not take away from the commandment but it helped us to obey the commandment because he just simply says i don't want you to even be close enough to touch it don't you be even close enough to touch it and so there are traditions that are not necessarily spelled out in the word of god but they actually help and aid us to be obedient to the scripture now if there is a tradition that causes us to break god's law such as thou shalt not make any graven images of anything on the earth or in the heavens or in the sea and regardless of how sincere someone is god doesn't want you using art nor carvings nor dead saints to connect to him because that tradition takes away from the commandment we are a traditional church and i pray to god we always stay a traditional church that we will not be pushed in a corner to believe that culture and times change and so should the church change the god that we serve is the same yesterday praise god today and forevermore well let me give an uh sister carpenter let me give an an example an illustration the constitution of the united states of america the constitution this what i refer to as a sacred document some may disagree with me on that but i've always said if you want to disagree with me every person's got the right to be wrong i personally believe that it is a sacred document i believe that the united states of america was a country birthed in the will and in the plan of god i believe that our constitution that is like none other on earth gives us the ability of freedoms to worship god the constitution of the united states is the supreme law it is not a law the constitution of the united states is not a is not just a law it is the supreme law there isn't a law any higher than the constitution there's no law any higher than our constitution now we have a branch of government called congress all right and sometimes and it has happened sometimes congress can make laws sometimes they can make laws not sometimes congress can make laws and what you're hearing today you hear men and women pleading this is not constitutional this is against the constitution because we realize that the strength of our nation the god blessed usa is in our constitution now i know the strength of the church is in the bible i get that i understand that but i'm talking about as a country the freedoms that we have that other countries don't have a matter of fact it just takes one trip out of this country to cause you to come back and say thank god i am an american thank god thank god man back it's getting to where it's getting so bad even here that there's parts of the this parts of this country i get back in thank god i'm a tennessean amen amen congress has made laws that were not constitutional and guess who got to strike it down the supreme court because the supreme court is the supreme court and when they deem when they deem that's why all of the fussing and all of the things are going on about who sits when a chair is vacant oh why and that's why you even have today the the the rhetoric that's being thrown around about it expanding expanding because the supreme court can strike down laws if they find it unconstitutional that the congress that the congress makes let me tell you today a tradition is never to take us away from god's word if it is contrary to god's word god's word strikes the tradition down but a tradition a tradition can either take us away from god or traditions traditions can keep us tethered to god i've often heard this never move a fence until you find out who put it there and why they put it there changing we ought to think about why the fence was there in the first place who put the fence there let's let me skip over just for time sake i want to get down this is a traditional church mark chapter 7 verse 5 again simply highlights jesus rebukes them before the tradition of the elders mark 7 and 8 jesus rebukes them again and the word is used the tradition of men in mark 7 13 he just plainly says i rebuke you through your own traditions they belong to you they're your traditions you came up with these paul giving the church at kalashay paul giving the church a warning in colossians chapter 2 verse number 8. look at this closely with me he said beware beware lest any man spoil you spoil you now the word spoil means to take something from you when you defeated an army you defeated a city in the bible days you got to go in and take whatever possessions the defeated city owned you got to go take their gold their silver their clothes you got to go take their livestock it was called spoil now our bible does tell us to buy the truth and sell it not but it also tells us that we shouldn't let somebody take the truth away from us dis spoil you beware lest any man spoil you how could they spoil me through philosophy through philosophy everything that sounds right isn't right come on get that in your mind everything that sounds right isn't necessarily right it's only right if the bible backs it up every philosophy should have to come under the magnifying glass of scripture you ought to measure everything about your life not by philosophy not by culture my god of heaven help us to measure everything about our lives through the word of god to sound right but is it right beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit what's that next few words what after the tradition of men after the rudiments of the world and not after not after not after christ as our bible is laid before us and our bible is where we get our truth from and our heritage is where we get our traditions from our traditions that keep us tethered to our commandments i want you to follow that i'm going slow for a real reason because i want this to soak into you the old aged apostle john some believe he was in his mid-90s wrote this verse i have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth that 90-year-old apostle looked out over several generations that had been begotten under his ministry and he said i have no greater joy he didn't talk about the chariot they would drive or the clothes they were the expensive clothes they would wear or their financial prosperity he said i have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth and can i turn that around today and say in a time of great change that's come across the horizon of the apostolic church where men preached one thing years ago but in their latter years are preaching something else can i as a young man today i have no greater joy man you don't really you don't really realize the messed up minds that i have had that i have counseled with across america the messed up discouraged disillusioned minds of young men and young women that had been brought up by a pastor they beg they were begotten by the word of god they pledged their loyalty they they followed that man if that man said that that man said stand up they stood up sat down they would sit down they govern their lives around it they raised their children around it only to have that same man get up and say ah those things didn't matter anymore it's a sad day it's a sad day when illustrations are being used for change such as a bicycle brought out with training wheels on it and the preacher parades the bicycle across the platform of training wheels and he said you know used to i started out riding this because i had to have these training wheels and then he goes and he begins to list holiness standards that we still believe connect us to a verse of scripture that says be ye holy for i am holy i still believe it connects us sister satan to a scripture come out from among them and be ye separate saith the lord and i will receive you unto myself to have a man parade a a bicycle with training wheels on it and say there was a day i had to have somebody tell me where to go and not go and i had to tell i had somebody tell me about all of this because i was learning jesus but after i learned jesus and then somebody comes and takes the bike with the training wheels they bring out a 10 speed bike he says but i don't need the training wheels on this because this is speed and all this can i tell you that might sound good but it makes lousy doctrine for living for god makes a lousy doctrine for living for god can i tell you today there are traditions that are bad because they violate the word of god but there are traditions that are good because they keep us tethered to don't you want to stay close to god don't you want to be ready for do i have any people in this room that wants to be ready for the rapture do i have any lovers of jesus christ i want to be ready for the rapture how about this one anybody in this room today want to help other people find their way to god anybody in this room today want to help other people find repentance and water baptism in his name and the infilli listen what the heroin addict needs is the holy ghost what the drug addict needs is the holy ghost what the alcoholic needs is the holy ghost what the man locked up in pornography needs is the holy ghost and guess what we've got it let's preach it that's what they need how many is glad for a changed life how many knows your life was changed how many knows that you know that you know that you know that you know your life was changed how many felt something when you come to the altar how many felt something when the sins were being lifted how many felt something when you went down in the name that is above every name how many felt something when god got in your mouth and you begin to speak another i know that i know that i know that i know thank god for a changed life thank god for a changed life thank god for a changed life jacob in the bible had this kind of change happen to him genesis chapter 32 and verse number 30 he had an experience that forever changed his life changed his name in genesis 32 and 30 it reads like this and jacob called the name of that place penile for i have seen god face to face and my life is preserved and as he passed over a penul the sun rose upon him and he halted on his thigh he had a life-changing event happen to him he wrestled with god and he had a life-changing event god reached down and touched the hollow of jacob's thigh and it was knocked out of joint he said i've seen god face to face and he walked back in to his future and he walked with a limp he walked with a limp can i tell you when god does this plan of salvation on your life you will always if you are in a healthy relationship with god spiritually speaking you will always walk with a limp he always had a limp he halted on his thigh when grandbabies and great-grandbabies would be born and get old enough to recognize papo wasn't walking like everybody else walked he might whisper to his mama and say mama how come papa he don't walk like everybody else oh son i thought you'd never ask me you see your papa got in the presence of god and god touched his life one thing our children ought to be asking about us not only at church but at home how come we don't act like everybody else in the neighborhood how come we don't act like everybody else and that would be the note to say because god changed our lives well it did affect them a tradition started a tradition started jacob walks over and he's limping and somehow they figured out that the sinew or the the muscle in his hip had withered away and verse number 32 leads us to this therefore the children of israel eat not of the sinew which shrank which is upon the hollow of the thigh unto this day because he touched the hollow of jacob's thigh in the sinew that shrank look at this it's here just leave it highlight it what happened to jacob altered his children grandchildren and the future every time they got ready to go to the butcher and get a piece of meat of the hindquarters they would say to the butcher go ahead and trim the sinew off the hip bone well that's crazy why you want me to do that well let me witness to you mr butcher my great-grandpa had a wrestling match with god and god almighty touched the hollow of my great-grandpa's hip and he never walked the same again and in tradition with that i just simply want you to cut the tendons away from the hip bone and that became a tradition that still to this day among some jewish people they have that part of the tendon trimmed back from the bone in light of what god did i'm just going to tell you today we need to understand that the enemy before he ever gets our truth he's going to try to get our tradition he'll have an easier time getting our truth if he can somehow convince us to let down the tradition we'll soon forget about how our god will soon forget about commitment we'll soon forget about devotion and loyalty that god if the enemy can cause us to let go of our tradition but i i believe today that i'm in a church i'd believe today that i'm in preaching to a group of mom and dads and grandparents and great-grandparents that are saying could we keep our traditions could we keep on because these are things that keep us tethered to the truth of god's word it may not be cutting edge the world may not view it as user friendly and seeker friendly but some which somebody is sure that if i die that my great-grandchildren get the same truth preach that i had preached because the only thing that's going to set us free ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free tradition in the book of jeremiah chapter 35 verse number one let me tell you just give you a little background about the verb about the verses we're going to read god has sent prophet after prophet after prophet and they all begin their sermons with thus saith the lord thus saith the lord but israel would not hearken they would not listen the prophets of baal had better prophecies the prophets of baal the prophets the false prophets were easier to obey the false prophets were more appearing to be compassionate and understanding of the times but these rugged leather-faced prophets that simply would preach thus saith the lord and israel would not turn god wanted to give them one last opportunity here it is in jeremiah chapter 35 and verse number one the word which came unto jeremiah from the lord in the days of jehoiakim the son of josiah king of judah saying go into the house of the rachabites and speak unto them and bring them into the house of god into one of the chambers and give them wine to drink go down to verse number five and i set before the sons of the house of the rachabites pots full of wine and cups and i said unto them drink ye wine now god says bring these this certain sect of israelites this certain group of israelites bring them into my house into my house and set bowls of wine tell them to drink wine so jeremiah went and got the rack of bites and he brought them into the house of god and he had pots of wine and he said go ahead and drink wine verse 6 but they said we won't drink no wine for jehonidab the son of raqqa our father commanded us saying ye shall drink no wine neither ye nor your sons forever it's interesting verse 7 neither shall ye build house nor sow seed nor plant vineyard nor any nor have any but all the days you shall dwell in tents that you may live many days in the land where you be strangers thus have we obeyed the voice of jehonadab the son of raqqa our father in all that he had charged us to drink no wine all our days we our wives our sons nor our daughters nor to build houses for us to dwell in neither have we vineyard nor filled nor seed but we have dwelt in tents and have obeyed and done according to all that john and deb our father commanded us but it came to pass when nebuchadnezzar king of babylon came up into the land that we said come let us go to jerusalem for the fear of the army of the chaldeans and for fear of the army of the syrians so we dwelt at jerusalem or by the wall of jerusalem then came the word of the lord unto jeremiah saying thus saith the lord of hosts the god of israel go and tell the men of judah and the inhabitants of jerusalem will ye not receive instruction to hearken to my word saith the lord the words of jehonodab the son of record that he commanded his sons not to drink wine are performed unto this day they drink none but obey their father's commandment notwithstanding i have spoken unto you rising early and speaking but you hearken not unto me i have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets rising up early and sending them saying return ye now every man from his evil way amend your doings and go not after the gods to serve them and ye shall dwell in the land which i have given to you and to your fathers but you have not inclined your ear nor hearkened unto me because the sons of jonah dab the son of raqqa have performed the commandment of their father which he commanded them but this people have not hearkened to me now watch what god is doing here god is saying do you hear me a man commanded his sons don't drink wine now why would such a command be given because with the drinking of wine could be the easy temptation you become a drunkard and so this man set the bar high not only that there's another thing that can turn hearts away from god materialism materialism can turn hearts away from god and so this man jonah dab this man jonadev said i think we ought just to wander in the land and dwell in tents i think that we ought to just wander and dwell in tents and and and raise cattle and when we need fruit and vegetables we'll trade with cattle we'll trade meat for cattle but i just think to stay away from materialism we won't build any uh houses we'll just live off the land we won't drink wine and we won't plant vineyards and the bible says and this is the interesting thing i want you to i want you to understand when he said we i thought when when they set the wind down before him and said drink wine now the first thing you got to get in your mind the first thing you got to get in your mind is you need to have a conviction so strong that places nor people can deter you some people have laid down they're they're the good old democratic way if a vast majority of people are doing it it's almost as if that gives them the right to go along so he brought him in the house of god and he had the priest to say the prophet to say drink wine but they said we will drink no wine for our fathers have told us now this is the part i didn't tell you it's not saying that his father it was a over 200 year-old conviction for over 200 you search the script you you search commentaries and you'll find that this set of people called the raccobites over 200 years they were an odd group they didn't drink wine or an odd group they didn't live in houses they were an odd group well they might be an odd group but there wasn't a wine bibber among them and they may have been an odd group but there wasn't one that was intimidated to worship god fervently because he was wrapped up in materialism you see their conviction kept them tethered to their god for over 200 years the rachabites passed it down and passed it down and when a little rackabite got old enough to say how come we don't live in a house daddy it was a dab that passed down a tradition how come we don't drink like the other folks drink daddy there was a dad there to pass down a conviction until it became so strong that god said my people won't even listen to me but yet the rachabites stand as a testimony and god used god god used this to say basically this basically this israel look at this the rachabites will obey a man but you won't obey me isn't it amazing today how we have a different standard for things that we're asked to do on our jobs or things that we're asked to do in the house of god hand somebody a sheet of requirements for making thirty dollars an hour and they won't buck at it but hand somebody a choir handbook with some requirements i just don't believe i have to do all that you mean we'd do something for the god of materialism but we wouldn't be willing to do something to bring glory and honor i never want to live in any way that distracts people from the love of my life jesus christ i never want to talk in a certain way dress in a certain way act in a certain way that would ever take attention away from the love he is the love of my life the lord jesus christ come on let me stir you up a little bit let me stir you up a little bit shame on us today if we are willing to sign off to everything we don't even agree with so that we can make forty dollars an hour but a man of god he's just trying to get us to have some traditions that keep us tethered to the things of god's shame on us well why we got to do this we love jesus that's why we're doing it well why can't i go there we love jesus that's why we're doing it that may stick why can't we drink that wine why can't we drink that one because it may desensitize us to have a good sound mind to read the scripture well i meant the best is yet to come brother erickson god's not done because god has always blessed people that will go the second mile you say what you want to i have preached in some large churches with many number of hundreds of people there dead is a doornail simply this no anointing i didn't say emotions because some people cannot discern between emotions and anointing let me tell you emotions can cause the sinner to cry but anointing can break the yoke that's on the center emotions can have me coming to church bound in sin and feeling a little bit good every sunday and wiping a tear away from my eye but the anointing of the holy ghost can break whatever habit has attached itself to me and i can be a new creature in christ jesus i preached in some churches you think i've got a high standard i preach in some churches that'll make mine look like dirty sheets on a close hang a clothes line outside when it snows you know something about it if you're not pharisaical with it and you don't want to be pharisaical because a standard a tradition is not to bring glory to you it's to bring glory to god and anytime you start looking at people and judging them because of that you have phariseeism inside your heart but i do what i do not so people can look and see how holy or think how holy i am you don't know it you don't know my heart that's where holiness is but when i go to those churches sometimes they're not the biggest in number but there's an anointing there there's an anointing there they may not have all the latest songs that are out they may not have all the latest technologies out but you can't deny the fact let me tell you something you'll never get a lighting package to bring the anointing you'll never get enough smoke in the room you'll never get enough just perfectly designed service to bring the anointing down the only thing that brings the anointing of the holy ghost down is a group of people that are attached to the commandment that are not ashamed of the gospel am i preaching to the church this morning but i haven't even given the best part of this verse yet he said the racquetbites will listen to to man man made a commandment in the rackabites listen to it verse number 18 of the same chapter i was reading from in jeremiah and jeremiah said unto the house of the rachabites thus saith the lord of hosts the god of israel because you have obeyed the commandment of jehonadab your father 200 years and kept all his precepts precepts what's a precept a group of behavior a behavior that keeps you tethered to a ritual because you have obeyed because you have obeyed the commandment of jehovah dad your father and kept all his precepts and done according to all that he hath commanded you listen to this get ready to praise him now church get ready to praise him now therefore saith the lord therefore thus saith the lord of hosts the god of israel jehonodam the son of wrecker shall not want a man to stand before me for ever meaning that there'll always be arachabite when great grand paul raquel is dead and in a tomb somewhere over in a yonder field is arachabite not drinking wine not living in a house not caught up in materialism they're excited about jehovah they're excited about their love for god they're serving god and they would say there will always be a wreck about in my presence come on can i preach to us today do we care enough about our future to invest in it do we care enough about our future if god doesn't come for a hundred years hear me if god doesn't come for a hundred years no doubt one day there'll be a black hearse parked out in this circle here and i'll lay down before you here in a casket and they'll roll me out and take me to a cemetery somewhere and then then that my descendants will take over and then my great-grandchildren and my great-great-great-grandchildren my god today my prayer is may i have a standard may i have a tradition that somebody will say papa preach it this way catholic said we shouldn't go there papa said we shouldn't watch that papa said we shouldn't act like that pamphlet said we shouldn't come to church and not have prayer on our lips pam paul said we ought to bring our bible peppa said we ought to baptize in jesus name pablo said we ought to talk in terms if he doesn't count for 200 years i want there to be a sudden standing here i want there to be a widener standing here i want there to be a third stand in here a hundred years from now a hundred years from now when drugs will be one more the the the easiness to sin will be more than ever before when the culture will be tighter than it's ever been before i want my great great great great great great great great grandson to look at a culture and say i can't act like that because my father let it be notice they didn't say 200 years ago they said our father because what we have had passed down to us for hundreds of years should be as fresh as if it was given to us yesterday it should be as fresh hey when i got in this thing god gave me some things overnight and i'm still going to believe it i'm still going to trust it now oh my god maybe maybe i'm preaching other people's problem today but you may be seated but i thank god what i'm not hearing here i thank god i don't have to sit in an office and hear some little snot box educated thinks he's educated a little soon to be the the the preacher at the church look over at me and say well you know when the old man's not here things are going to be a little bit different and i want to look at him and say you make me sick what do you mean when the old man what do you mean when the old man's gone you ain't talking about holiness are you you ain't talking about what you brought and one of them went up to him and said one time said what your father grandfather used to lay hands and cast out you're trying to counsel with it in the office your dad your papaw used to lay hands on people like this and now you think you can take them in a nicely lit dim comfortable office and and counsel it can i tell you you'll never get sin canceled out counseled out of you you'll never get the ways of this world explained enough you've got to be in love with jesus until you just let everything pass you by this world is not my home you can take all of its trinkets you can take all of its dazzle and its pride give me the church give me the apostolic church put my family down in a place where they've got some convictions and they've got some stat that's where i want to be there's power musicians would you come and i've asked for a special song to be sung and i want them to make their way somebody let's praise him right now come on let's praise him right now oh let's praise him right any rachabots in the house right now any women in this place that you're living the way your mother told you any men in this place you're living the way your papal told you to worship anybody got somebody dead in the grave right now but it's still affecting your life because they taught you something come on can we worship for a moment tradition tradition association materialism danger danger of addiction i'm going to tell you something what's wrong galatians 1 and 11 very quickly galatians 1 11 paul said but i certify you galatians 1 11. i don't believe i gave you the scripture galatians 1 11 but i certify you brethren that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man neither received it of man neither was i taught it but by revelation of jesus christ ye have known you have heard of my conversation in time past in the jews religion what's it called it's called the jews religion you know why it's called the jews religion because it was first god's law and then the jews added their own traditions to it until god just looked down and said all right that's your religion that's your religion how that beyond measure i persecuted the church of god and wasted it a religion that tries to kill is not the religion god wants you to be in and he said it profited in the jews religion as again above many my equals in my own nation being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers but when it pleased god who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace look at me today church religion kills philosophy kills religion kills that's what paul was a part of but listen to first timothy 1-12 i thank christ jesus our lord who enabled me for that he counted me faithful putting me into the ministry who was before a blasphemer a persecutor and injurious but i obtained mercy because i did it ignorantly in unbelief the grace of our lord jesus was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in christ jesus this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that christ jesus came into the world christ jesus came into the world to save sinners of who i am chief how be it how be it for this cause i obtain mercy that in me first jesus christ might show forth all along suffering for a pattern to them that should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting paul had the jews religion you hear me paul had the jews religion it made him a killer paul had the jews religion it made him a blasphemer paul had the jews religion it caused him to harm people but oh on that day on that road to damascus when he met the living lord when he had an encounter with the living lord when he had that encounter with the living lord not the jews religion but he had a recounter with the living lord he repented of his sins and was baptized in the name of a living lord and he was filled with the holy ghost and now he becomes paul the life-giver what i want you to have today to start us with is to understand we don't need to start you on tradition today you need to start on truth today what you need sinner man sin or woman what you need today is not to look around and pick up a tradition you see us doing what i want to do is introduce you today to truth tradition will come but tradition without truth is powerless tradition without truth is powerless jesus said plainly in john 14 6 i am the way if you're lost today hear me i am the way i am the truth if you're confused in your mind today hear me i am the truth and the life without him there's no way without him there's no truth without him there's no law life and i close today with this the bible said jesus went to nazareth where he had been brought up and as his custom was he went in the synagogue on the sabbath day as his custom was as his tradition was he went into the synagogue on the sabbath tradition brings you back around to power because before the day is open tradition grabs a book and says the spirit of the lord god is upon me he has anointed me to preach the gospel he has anointed me to touch the brokenhearted in the blind he has anointed me to set at liberty those that are bruised he has anointed me to preach the time of opportunity tradition brings you back around the truth i want you to listen to the words of this song today you can bow your head if you want to you can pray whatever you want to do right now but before i call you to the altar let's cast our eyes upon jesus christ i couldn't see there was jesus for forgiveness i'm not perfect so i thank god is or it's amazing i'm not perfect so i thank god of the eyes there was jesus oh is is jesus is in this house today you never have to have another lonely nightly day jesus oh there was jesus in the shadows always is i'm not perfect so i thank god every day even there was jesus is is even when is oh where i'm going is is like a blessing buried in the broken pieces every me precious god today we love you lord jesus god we thank you for your word god we thank you that in the mountain or the valley depression divorce god whatever we're facing god disease that you're an ever present help in the time of need oh mighty god today i ask that you would just go with us keep your hand upon us oh holy god of heaven oh yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes lord yes oh lord lord yes lord yes lord yes lord yes lord yes lord i think the lord is lingering upon us right now oh god in the name of jesus