How Fools Die | Student Pastor Zach Hammond

why don't you give the praise team and van big hand for leading us in worship tonight before we go into the word of the lord i'd like to take just a moment pastor mentioned this as i begin to come to the pulpit tonight and that is we've got a tropical storm that's about to hit the southern part of louisiana and i wish that you would just help me for a moment just lift your hands to heaven every person in church every family every home that's in the path of that come on would you help us pray right now god i pray right now god for god so many that stand god in the valley of decision of do they leave do they stay god right now the worry the fear of god right now i pray that you would god that you would come against that storm god that you would god move into every situation god that you would move god is you only you can you can stop the wind god you can stop the storm god only you o god have control over the wind and the waves oh god god we come against it god we bind together tonight god for your people god for your god the state of louisiana all those are in a path right now god i pray your hedge of protection god i pray that your ministering angels would be there right there with them right now in the powerful name of jesus we ask it in jesus mighty name we pray come on and clap your hands if you're thankful that god hears and answers prayers amen so thankful for the opportunity to be able to pray when we're in need amen to call upon a name to call upon a god that can touch that can heal that can deliver that can stop a storm he can do it he can he can answer any of our needs in this place tonight i'm just so thankful i believe what we're doing is is the product of what we feel in this room what we're doing 30 minutes before service is a product of what we that's why we feel what we feel in this house is is the power of prayer in god being in this place you know it it's all about how you approach god i read this week the story of lazarus lazarus is dead jesus doesn't go over there he's been dead multiple days he walks on the scene of lazarus's two sisters and martha comes running out and said had you been here my brother had not died she looks at his face she stands and gives him a theological truth that had you been here he wouldn't be dead and jesus continues on in and mary gets word that jesus has come and she comes and the scripture says she falls at his feet perhaps mary's tears begin to fall upon jesus's feet and all of a sudden jesus is moved you know what mary said the exact same thing martha said had you been here he hadn't died but how she approached him the famous words jesus wept she moved god because she came to him at his feet she fell at him so tonight we could come in this place and we could all have the same thing to say but how we approach him i believe with all my heart that i just prayed a prayer that god could stop a storm i believe with all my might when i came in this place when we began to pray tonight i went over and prayed with brother ethan for gossip that his father's being healed right now in the name of jesus because how we approach him will determine how he responds amen i'm so thankful for the word of the lord i'm so thankful for the church especially in times like this i mean you've got all kinds of things flooding your mind of uncertainty but i know that one thing's certain and that is this word that is this church it is where i'm at tonight and i'm just so thankful to be in the house of the lord it's my honor to minister to you tonight i give honor to pastor and sister carpenter pastor sister erickson sister noel and sister flannery my beautiful wife and all that we do here i give honor to you thank you for being at the house of god tonight we'll go to second samuel chapter 3 verse number 25. i urge you tonight i'm i i've wrestled with this thought and i have other things that i would love to preach to you tonight and i wrestle with this please uh fight the urge when when something tells you you need to just hit the bathroom and maybe hit the side door tonight it's not it's not going to be very uh it's just not the thing you want to hear you're going to hear it in the title and you're going to think what in the world i've not come here to hear doom and gloom and i hear enough of that at home but i i've come to challenge you tonight and i've hopefully come to stir you with what god has burdened me with but verse number 25 of second samuel chapter 3 i find a very familiar story that the lord has brought me to this evening thou knowest abner somebody say abner the son of nir at least abner had a better name than his dad that he came to deceive thee and to know thy going out thy coming in and know all that thou doest he sees you coming he sees you going and when joab was come out from david he sent messengers after abner which brought him again from the well of sarah and david knew it not and when abner was returned to hebron joab took him aside in the gate to speak with him quietly and smote him there under the fifth rib and he died skip down to verse number 33 same chapter and the king david lamented over abner and he said died abner as a fool dieth thy hands were not bound nor thy feet put in fetters as a man falleth before wicked men so far fell as thou and all the people wept again over him i want to preach to you just a few minutes tonight how fools die how fools die if you lay your bibles down lift your hands to heaven let's ask the lord to speak to us tonight god i love you i thank you so much for your word i thank you god tonight for what we feel in this room god is not by our might or by our power but by your spirit tonight that we've come before you to worship you asking you to touch every need asking you to minister this word tonight god i pray god over your people that this word would fall on good ground god that you would anoint my lips of clay to speak your word and speak life into a situation god to draw god through your mercy to an altar of repentance god that someone would see their need tonight god to make things right with you god we give you praise god we give you glory and we give you honor in jesus name we pray and could you shout amen amen amen you can be seated tonight abner died as a fool dieth the scripture says because abder died at the gate not just any gate but he died at the gate of hebron hebron was a city of refuge he died right outside the gate the scripture says 220 times significantly found more in the old testament than the new testament but 220 times of great significance the word gate is mentioned in the bible it was a focal point of the entrance or the exiting of all people depending on your motive your desire your uh your your things that you were trying to accomplish the bible shows us very clearly especially in the old testament that the vulnerability and the strength of the people and of the city was based upon the strongholds that rest at the gate it is established in history that whoever controlled the gate controlled the city there's a spiritual stronghold that i fear we are fighting as a church right now that the enemy is trying to control the gates there is a battle at the gate you can be just a few feet from where you ought to be and be in the wrong place there's a battle going on and the enemy just as he watched abner go to and fro he watched him go out he watched him come in that there's so many right now all across the united states of america and this thing called christianity that the enemy is watching you go in and go out no one has tied your hands nobody has fettered your feet but you just come and go on your own free will but you're in a valley of decision on the threshold of refuge what god has on one side is the promises it's the great things it's what we know about it's what we sing about it's what we preach about but there's things that's come knocking on our hearts come knocking at the door of our lives and have come into our minds it's made us maybe question made us wonder if we turn to exodus chapter 22 moses is on the mountain and god gives him the ten commandments and god tells moses you must go down for the people have turned back to idols the people they they they don't know what they're doing they've lost their minds and i've got this wrath against them he's very upset and so moses goes down and he sees that they're naked sees that they build idols and they're worshiping them as if they had delivered them from egypt and moses gets frustrated as god is and breaks the tablets of stone and burns up the idols and we read all the way down to verse 26 to where moses then decides to take the action then moses stands in the gate of the camp and said who is on the lord's side it's that simple tonight i don't have much revelation for you i've just come to ask you a question just like moses did with a world filled of idolatry and filth with a world that's shaking you to every fiber of your being trying to fill your mind with all kinds of things and trying to lure you this way or that way i've come to stand in a gate tonight and just simply say hey who's on the lord's side church i know you look all around and things seem to be a mess you might have to go out and burn down some idols you might have to go out and stand when nobody else will stand but brother schilling i want to stand in the gate tonight and ask the church here at first apostolic church of maryville who is on the lord's side he said whoever is on the lord's side let him come with me and the sons of levi gathered themselves together unto him and they said unto him thus saith the lord god of israel put every man his sword by his side and go in and out from gate to gate because why the battle is at the gate through the camp and slay every man not just the enemy he said slay a brother slay a companion every man is neighbor it don't have to be an enemy if it's somebody trying to get you outside the gate you need to cut them off if it's some trying to somebody trying to pull you out of the city of refuge it don't matter how close how if they're blood if they're it doesn't matter he says we're going to cut them off and he says at that moment the children of levi did according to the word of moses and there fell that day 3 000 men so moses stands in the gate and settles it at the gate who's on the lord's side the adversary is fighting us right now and i've come to tell you i'm on the lord's side i've come to declare tonight to encourage somebody tonight i'm on the lord's side and it's the best place for you we see david begins to write and and david begins to express and i i've heard it so too many times i saw brother croucher here tonight pray for the peace of jerusalem why why not moscow well not paris why not this place or that place because where there's peace in jerusalem he says there'll be peace in the rest of the world we see here that isaiah sees a storm cloud gathering over the city of jerusalem jerusalem's name means the the place of peace and it seems that jerusalem's been nothing but a place of conflict and he is attempting in isaiah 28 through 31 to he said i've seen a storm cloud gathering over the city bad is coming and i'm trying to get the city to turn back to god and he's trying to get the rulers of judah to stop trusting in politics and treaties and start trusting in god and here's what isaiah had to say i don't know if that sounds familiar to you but isaiah had to say to a a city that was under attack and falling prey to the politics and falling prey to uh to to to not not being repented he says and for the spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment and for strength of them that turn battle to the gate i'm here to encourage you tonight to turn the battle to the gate there's warfare at the gate i've come to remind you tonight just simply whose side you ought to be on because i'm talking about a god that's never lacked talking about a god that's never failed talking about a team and a side that you ought to be on that's never faced an enemy too big it's never faced a pandemic too powerful a sickness too strong i'm here to tell you you ought to be on the lord's side whatever you do tonight get on the lord's side if you need to repent get on the lord's side never been baptized in the name of jesus get on the lord's side if you've never experienced the gift of the holy ghost by the evidence of speaking in other tongues go ahead and step across that threshold tonight because there's some great things inside the gate who's on the lord's side i'm here to tell you tonight some of you are eat up with doubt some of you are eat up with worry some of you are eat up with questions i don't know the answer to it i don't know how to deal with my kids i don't know what to do with my marriage i don't know what my finances are going to look like next week there's all kinds of things attacking you i'm here to ask you whose side are you on because the last time i read on this side of the gate no weapon formed against me shall prosper i'm more than a conqueror if i'm inside the city nothing's coming against me no nobody's slipping under the fifth rib in the city of refuge you can't get past the gate don't don't turn back to egypt get on the lord's side if i could have a little more monitor please i'll tell you this and i want to make sure that i stay within the confines of what i want to communicate to you tonight but covet has brought more than a physical attack and i know you know that but there's a spiritual attack and i've come to let you know it's at the gate there's a thing that's attacking that's calling causing the spiritual breath inside of you to be hard to inhale and exhale to be hard to justify staying inside and it's something called convenience believe it or not there's churches across the united states that canceled service during covid and some of those services never came back why convenience pastors have uttered out of their own mouth well i was getting the offering when i wasn't having church so why do we need to have something what's happened convenience has snuck in and it's messed with the threshold it's messed with the gate and all of a sudden convenience has caused people to feel like well i used to go to all three services but now i'm going to watch one online or convenience it's called it's it's happened everywhere there's certain things that you used to do that you don't do wine covered it's a spiritual attack at the threshold it's caused us to be a gate dweller hell i don't know if i'm gonna go today or not they may i may be in contact tracing it's given me an excuse it's given me a convenience god help us not to die as a fool you can be so close yet so far he said i'll just get him just outside the gate by the step i just gotta lure him just one but one step it's a spiritual attack we're dealing with i'll tell you the other thing and i want to make sure that that we're i don't want to overstep my boundaries here but but there's a major thing that covet has caused us to do spiritually and that's question things does this mask really work that that's the logistical does this vaccine is it really going to do anything the pros the cons we heard from erickson last week this is divisive it's it's it's just looking to divide people in the room i agree but the questioning factor the heartbeat of the whole spiritual attack right here the thing that's caused us the question has caused us to say this pastor is he really got my best interest at heart are we really making the right decisions and before you know it questioning has not just been a thing of mass and vaccines it's a thing of questioning submission and authority which puts you outside the gate because jacob said that bethel the house of god is the gateway to heaven and you don't get into the house of god without going through the gateway which is the man of god and god forbid that you allow that thing that you thought was just a cough or a fever to get into your spirit and cause you to question things that's going to be your gateway you felt it you just didn't realize it was a spiritual attack it's entered your mind even if you haven't uttered it to somebody else and god forbid you allowed satan to multiply it but it's attacking not just this church it's not a it's it's it's gone rampant whether tim lee in singapore we discussed it online the other day he said why are people questioning the authority of the man of god and the only thing we can look at is there's a questioning spirit that is entered and we question the government we question this we question that so that we get the spirit of questioning and we start being unsubmitted and all of a sudden you find yourself i don't really think we have to do that i'm just going to step outside the gate you got to get in the gate narrow is the gate he said if you find it you see there's some requirements at the gate the gate was a place of business perhaps narrow is the gate to heaven and wide is the gate to destruction because and not so much because of travel but because of dwellers think about it nobody sets out for destruction i i i narrow is the gate that leads to heaven few find it but wide i mean nobody sets out wanting to go to jail nobody sets out wanting to go to hell we're going to get 100 participation when we say who wants to go to heaven tonight right nobody sets out saying i want to be addicted to drugs nobody gets married thinking i'm going to get a divorce but there's a wide path it's got a wide gate because there's a lot of people that stand at the gate it's wide because the people that end up in the path of destruction are gate dwellers just just a little smoke just a little text just a little step and before you know it they've stepped across the threshold and we're in a battle at the gate i believe it's no coincidence that we find ourselves matthew says and i say also unto thee that thou art peter and upon this rock i'll build my church and not the sounds of hell not the binding of hell not the shaking of hell but the why because there's a battle at the gates satan don't have to get you down the road satan don't have to get you down off on some oh he's got to get you brother jacob all he's got to get you just take a little step outside the gate and i've got a little something and i'll slip under that i wish you felt what i felt right now get inside the gate father don't die as a fool mother don't die as a fool it's the it's the epitome it is the perfect example of being so close yet so far abner feet faith away from no man can touch him chapter 3 dr luke takes us from pentecost to chapter chapter 3 and verse number one now peter and john this is what he decides to go to went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer being the ninth hour and a certain man somebody say lame lame from his mother's womb was carried whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which was called beautiful to ask alms to them that entered into the temple who's seeing peter and john about to go into the temple ask of alms sees the pitter-patter of some more feet and he reaches out and does what he always does alms alms and he gave heat unto them expecting to receive something of them and peter and john they're just coming through and peter says unto him the famous word silver and gold have i none but such as i have give i thee in the name of jesus christ of nazareth rise up and walk and he took him by the right hand and lifted him up and immediately his feet and his ankle bones received strength only time those words are mentioned in the original text his the feet and the ankle bones receive strength only luke could have wrote that as a doctor as a physician he says they were simply just out of joint and we see here that he reaches up and he pulls and begins he leaps he stood he walks and he enters into the temple walking and leaping and praising god it's the epitome of entering his gates with thanksgiving and entering his courts with praise and all the people saw him walking and praising god and they knew that it was that guy that used to sit at the beautiful gate of the temple and they were filled with wonder and amazement and what had happened to him and as the lame man which was healed held peter and john all the people ran together into the porch and called as is called solomon and they greatly wondered now there's three people in this story many say that due to the consistency of the lame man being carried to the gate many commentaries historians believe that in this story it would have been family that would have brought him to the gate and because he was lame he was not allowed to enter into the temple they had to simply lay him at the gate this was far enough this was a beautiful gate it was a beautiful place to him so let's perhaps if we could play it out somebody's bringing him the first lesson we can learn from this story about this beautiful gate just outside the temple is why stop at the gate he was lame yes from his mother's womb could i just play on this for a moment father mother is a generation lame at the gate because they were dropped by mom because they heard the church talked about in such a way that as one generation goes on in another generation sits out there we carry them but they can't get past our in and out are coming and going god forbid that we speak so much against the church or the man of god the gateway of heaven that we find ourselves where our kids are lame and we just lay them at the gate we can't get them to buy in because they see mom and dad they're in at service but they speak against the pastor at home they're they can't get them to buy into something that they're not bought into because they see the reality of the abner spirit of i'm here and i'm there i'm here and i'm there god forbid we allow anybody not just the next generation but anybody have to stop at the gate we need to make sure that we get them past the gate get them into the city of refuge get them into the temple get them to a place where their lives can be changed i don't know why i feel this so strong in the holy ghost tonight but if you're a mother and you're a father in this room and that connects with you and god's speaking to you right now you ought to get on the phone tonight after service and call a young man call a college age girl and tell them hey i was wrong when i spoke against the church i was wrong my god i feel the holy ghost i was wrong when i spoke against the pastor i was wrong when i was talking i'm here to fight somebody at the gate tonight i'm here to face the adversary at the gate tonight who's on the lord's side oh god don't be a don't be a gate dweller don't be a gay dweller oh there's some of you that used to be about the kingdom work there's some of you that used to be about the city you used to be doing things you used to be involved you used to be in the prayer room but now you just sit lame at the gate you've settled for a beautiful gate you've settled for a place that god meant to be an entrance to something greater beyond the gate but you've just settled for something that's right here on the threshold of what god has for you and for your family get up out of your situation get up out of your dilemma reach for the things of god lift your head up all you oh i feel the holy ghost because the lame man had become comfortable in his condition just take me to the gate i'll beg while others go in i'll put my hand out while others go in and put their hands up i've got to make sure i just go in and gather what i need i found this comfort in my condition and it's just a beautiful place to me some cry holy holy holy just feet away while i cry arms arms i'm here for just what i can get out and hear is the scary thing about the lame man is the lame man knew all about inside the city those who become gate dwellers they know how to dress to get in the city they know the language of the city they know who come in with who they know the going out and coming in and i'm here to tell you tonight the enemy is defeating more by impersonation he's defeating more and he's coming against us more not so much with offense but he's coming with the look-alike the gate dwellers the people that'll stand here they know all about the church they can tell you every little thing who's dating who who's going where who's gate dwellers know all about the business of the city but they're not in there gate dwellers may be in the house they may be here tonight let's just be honest but you come and you know all there is to know about it but you don't get in his presence i'm thankful for good music i'm thankful for good preaching i'm thankful for all the great things and my god what a beautiful place but this is the beginning this is the gate we can't become comfortable with the way things are you say this is such a beautiful place it is but it's not beautiful without the presence of god it's not beautiful without peter and john saying in the name of jesus in the name of jesus christ of nazareth rise up and walk i don't ever want to become addicted to good singing i don't want to ever become addicted to good preaching i don't want to ever become addicted just coming to church and just sitting at the gate and saying it's a beautiful thing it's a beautiful thing brother luke no i've got to have the power i've got to have the power to say get up change move beyond the gate come on don't get comfortable where you're at come on don't get comfortable where you have when you get comfortable by the gate all it takes is just a few steps that's what the church is all about after all peter i love this what's peter say hey brother cade look on me look on us don't you sit by this gate in your situation i cussed him i denied him i did him wrong i was once addicted i was once messed up i've been through it god knows if you ought to look on anybody and know that god can bring you up out of your situation that god can take you from a look on us kid of the church hey look right here look around there's a cloud of witnesses that says get up in the name of jesus rise up and walk in the name i don't know if you feel what i feel in this house right now but god's calling somebody beyond the gate god's calling somebody beyond. young person you ought to get past the gate the famous story rings out in my mind thomas aquinas enters into the presence of pope innocent ii where he finds himself walking to a beautiful cathedral where pope innocent ii has a large sum of money laid out over his desk and he honors these words which you find in almost every commentary of acts 3. hey thomas as you can see no longer do we have to say silver and gold have i none where thomas respectfully responds to the pope and he says sir but we can no longer say in the name of jesus rise up and walk why because we had got comfortable in what was beautiful we no longer get what's beyond the gate god forbid we find ourselves in a place where god meant to be an entrance god meant to be this this just the onset just and that place becomes beautiful to us and we just sit and we become stagnant we become comfortable don't die a fool's death hebrews chapter 13. and verse number 12 wherefore jesus also i love this he says that he might sanctify the people with his own blood suffered without the gate let us go forth there for unto him without the camp bearing his reproach for here have we no continuing city but we seek one to come so in other words he says i went out and i took a crown of thorns and i took nails in my hands i went outside the city and i died and i created a city i created a gateway that you now can step across of and he says it's one that is to come and this is what gets us so many times we feel because we can't see everything that the city has to offer we can't see beyond this present world we find ourselves meandering outside the gate and going back and forth i like knowing that my future is secure i like feeling like that heaven is going to be my home i like housing and experience in the presence of god but during the week when i don't see all these people and i don't have a choir and i don't have things going on i tend to venture outside the gate and jesus says i suffered out there so you wouldn't have to i went out there so you wouldn't have to so i stand at the gate tonight and i ask you this simple question who's on the lord's side because we have made this gospel in the united states of america a whosoever gospel but i'm here to tell you there's a word in there it says whosoever will anybody can step across the threshold it is open to whosoever but it's whosoever will as you stand your feet tonight i feel that god wants us to answer the question tonight could you get inside the gate abner because i've come to tell you the devil is lurking the devil's seeking to kill and sister erickson if you would come play but i don't i don't really want any other musicians or any singers i believe so strongly that we've become comfortable the scripture comes to mind that saul had to have music to pray we don't need to come up here and i don't know nothing i love music probably more than anybody as much as anybody in this room but we need to pray tonight we need a move of god in every single home in every single heart we do in need to investigate our position because you can be here but be so far and i take you back i take you back to our opening text in second samuel 3 and 34. nobody's bound your hands you've got to stop blaming it on the devil nobody took that from you nobody's keeping you from stepping nobody's fettered your feet you're free to come and go as you please but there's coming a day where david had to stand there and say abner didn't just die david had to attend what i consider the saddest funerals i've ever attended i attended a funeral one time where a young a young mother had a car accident the baby had died in the accident and the mother was so so beaten up and so tore up she actually went and attempted to pull the baby out of the casket i mean i've been to enough funerals in my life being in a pastor's home there's no funeral that compares to someone being rolled down the center aisle of a church that you know they knew all about everything that happened in this place they knew how to sing the songs they knew how to talk the talk they knew how to come in but they also knew how to go out and abner in a casket is one of the most moving things because the scripture ends like this that they all all the people wept over him again i'm here to wake somebody up tonight it's not a popular message it's not what i really i'll be honest it's not what i want to bring to you tonight but it's what god wants somebody to hear and i don't know why but father mother god's speaking to you tonight young man you just keep taking a step outside this oh god the devil's waiting you're not promised tomorrow you better get in the city oh you're not promised oh there's so many things that are trying to lure you right now i wonder if i could open up these altars to somebody that would just answer the question for yourself for god for the enemy that you just tell right now i'm on the lord's side oh god if there be anything in me tonight god if there be any wicked thing in me tonight god search me and know my heart show me where i stand with you oh i feel his presence moving in this place right now i wish somebody get real about your position oh who's on the lord's side i feel his presence sweeping into this place right now come on young person make up your mind right now come on don't let convenience pull you out don't let comfort pull you out come on some of us are some of us are way too comfortable just coming around the altar and going through the same motions that we've always gone through god's speaking to somebody right now oh would you pray till you pray in the spirit how long's it been since you've not you got that evidence that you're inside the gate i got to get my kids i got to get my wife i got to get my family inside the gate ai foreign come on the enemy's fighting you right now come on the enemy's fighting you right now he's distracting your mind there's a battle at the gate some of you got to step on through it right now come on surrender your mind surrender your heart right now come on open up your mouth come on open up your mouth and do spiritual warfare the battle's at the gate the battle's at the threshold oh jesus come on pray that prayer get honest right now oh creating me a clean heart oh god god if there's any questioning in my mind god if there's any unpure motive oh god purge me o god stir my heart right now god forgive me o god forgive me o god for becoming comfortable oh foreign i love you guys foreign come on church could we be the church right now reach over pray with somebody next to him in the name of jesus come on could have peter could a john reach over say in the name of jesus in the name of jesus touch my brother tonight in the name of jesus such a young person tonight in the name of jesus touch my family tonight god touch my kids tonight oh oh that's it church that's what it's all about right there come on reach out to somebody in the name of jesus i pray nobody leave here the same way they came in could we get beyond the gate tonight could we get beyond the gate oh god god oh i feel it happening come on there's another level of what god wants to do in this place he wants to demonstrate himself come on there's spiritual warfare going on right now come on there's some things happening in this room right now there's some prayers being answered outside of this room right now um yes so come on that's it we've just turned this into a prayer meeting and that's what it needs to be when you're done praying you're welcome to be dismissed there'll be no formal dismissal but i believe there's another level god wants us to go to right now come on i wish you lift your hands all across this place come on who's on the lord's side who's on the lord's side right now come on there's some young people making up their mind right now oh there's some mothers making up their mind right now making some things right right now oh that's it i feel your presence god oh i feel your presence god right now