Higher Ground

Temperature

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Pr. E.C. Polite

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Series Code: HG

Program Code: HG000006


00:36 How many of you know that He's able, this morning?
00:37 Come on, you know He's able? All right.
00:42 I want you to put your hands together right there, come on.
00:57 Come on, we know you know it. Say He's able.
01:00 He's able
01:04 You believe that this morning?
01:05 God is able
01:06 He's able
01:08 Thank you, Jesus
01:10 Hallelujah, He's able
01:12 He's able
01:16 I know that He can
01:17 I know that He can do it
01:20 He said he'd help me through it
01:22 He's able
01:25 All right, come on
01:27 He's able
01:39 I know that He can
01:40 I know that He can do it
01:42 He said he'd help me through it
01:44 Verse 8
01:46 Hold on, my brother, for your change is gonna come
01:52 Be strong, my sister, for your work is not done, no
01:57 Keep on believing and hold on tight
02:02 He's able to bring you joy...
02:05 Come on... In the morning light
02:07 He's able He's able
02:09 Here we go, come on.
02:12 He's able
02:23 And I know that He can
02:24 I know that He can do it
02:27 He said he'd help me through it
02:29 Hold on, break down
02:31 How many of you all know that God is able, this morning?
02:33 Come on, don't fool me now, do you know He's able?
02:36 Just lean over and nudge your neighbor
02:37 and say, "You know He's able, right?
02:39 You know He's able, right?" Come on, ladies, say...
02:41 He's able
02:44 Oh, yes He is
02:47 He's able He's able
02:49 Oh, yes He is
02:52 He can do it
02:55 Oh, yes He can
02:57 He can do it
03:00 Oh, yes He can
03:03 He's able
03:06 Oh, yes He is
03:09 He's able
03:12 Oh, yes He is
03:14 He can do it
03:16 No matter the situation.
03:17 Oh, yes He can
03:20 He can do it
03:22 Oh, yes He can
03:25 He's able
03:28 Oh, yes He is
03:33 Oh, yes He is Oh, yes He is
03:35 Take it up. Oh, yeah
03:38 Oh, yes He is
03:39 Oh, yes He is Oh, yes He is
03:41 Come on here. Oh, yes He is
03:43 Oh, yeah, He is
03:45 Oh, yes He is
03:46 Oh, yeah, He is
03:47 He's able
03:53 To open up the door, come on
03:54 He's able
03:55 To make the ways free
03:57 He's able
03:58 To save your son
04:00 He's able
04:01 To save your daughter
04:02 He's able
04:04 To save your marriage
04:05 He's able
04:06 God is able
04:08 He's able
04:09 To save-
04:11 He's able
04:12 To keep your wind going
04:13 He's able
04:15 God is able
04:16 He's able
04:17 God is able
04:19 He's able
04:23 Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
04:26 Somebody believes He's able, this morning.
04:36 And since you know He's able... not just in every situation
04:40 but to do something specific,
04:42 to do what He said what He was gonna do.
04:45 Okay, he said, "Heaven and earth will pass away,
04:47 before my word will turn void"
04:49 So I know He'll keep His promises.
04:51 Hallelujah.
04:53 Come on, let me see your hands
04:54 if you know He'll keep His promises.
04:58 Hallelujah Exceedingly
05:04 Abundantly
05:08 Above all
05:13 you can ask or think
05:18 According to His power
05:27 Which liveth in you
05:31 Is in you
05:33 Oh, oh, oh, oh, come on.
05:35 God is able
05:36 God is able to do just what He said He would do
05:43 He's gonna fulfill
05:47 Every promise
05:48 Every promise that He made to you
05:51 Don't give up on God
05:56 'Cause He won't give up on you
05:59 He's able He's able
06:01 Here we go.
06:06 You believe He's able, say it again, He's able.
06:09 He's able
06:14 Come on, we're gonna say right there.
06:17 God is able
06:18 God is able to do just what He said He would do
06:25 He's gonna fulfill
06:29 Every promise
06:30 Every promise to you
06:34 Don't give up on God
06:37 'Cause He won't give up on you
06:41 He's able He's able
06:43 Come on.
06:48 If you believe it say it, He's able.
06:51 He's able
06:57 We got something for you to sing right here,
06:58 it goes like this, we say...
07:00 Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, He's able
07:07 Can you say it, come on.
07:09 Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
07:13 Sing past this rooftop.
07:15 Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
07:22 He's able
07:24 Say...
07:26 Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
07:28 Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
07:29 Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
07:31 Y'all now let's go...
07:32 Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, He's able
07:34 Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
07:39 He's able
07:41 He's the one to say it.
07:42 Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
07:47 I don't know what you need God to do,
07:49 just want you to know that...
07:50 Yes, He's able
07:51 He's able
07:52 He's able He's able
07:56 Yes, He is He's able
07:58 God is able He's able
08:00 God sat with me, come on He's able
08:03 God is able He's able
08:05 Just wait and see He's able
08:07 God is able He's able
08:09 He's the healer, come on He's able
08:11 He heals the people He's able
08:13 Yes, he is He's able
08:15 With God, you're never down He's able
08:17 God will bring you up He's able
08:19 God is able He's able
08:23 Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
08:29 He's able
08:31 Say it.
08:33 Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
08:37 He's able
08:39 Oh, oh, oh, oh
08:41 Oh, don't give up on God
08:44 'cause He won't give up on you
08:47 I want you to say it again.
08:49 Oh, oh, oh, oh
08:50 Oh, don't give up on God
08:53 'cause He won't give up on you
08:56 Come on, sing another song.
08:58 Don't give up on God Don't give up on God
09:01 Why?
09:02 'Cause He won't give up on you
09:05 Come on, tell your neighbor.
09:06 Don't give up on God
09:08 No matter what it looks like, no matter the situation,
09:12 keep your faith, press on.
09:15 Don't give up on God, no
09:18 Don't give up on God
09:21 'Cause He won't give up on you
09:23 He's able, come on.
09:25 He is able, Hallelujah
09:30 Our God whom we serve is able this morning,
09:34 so if that's your desire would you join with me.
09:39 This morning, come on down to the altar,
09:42 so when you want to come for a brother or a sister,
09:44 intercessory prayer has power.
09:48 You want ask God to reach them
09:51 and the only way the divine
09:53 imagination can think off
09:57 as we bow and kneel and pray.
10:14 Gracious Father in heaven,
10:18 we commit this hour to You, Lord.
10:21 Thank you for the church
10:23 we've come together to pray.
10:26 We're lifting up our hearts to Jesus,
10:31 for You have been so wonderful to us.
10:35 You have been our God, You have been our light,
10:39 You have shown us the way, O Lord, we speak,
10:46 inside through our bones
10:48 and think what would we be without You.
10:55 We need You at every gathering.
10:58 We need You for shelter,
11:01 the clothes that we have on our backs,
11:04 You have blessed with that.
11:07 The food on our tables, the warmth in our homes,
11:12 the love between our families, the church that we worship at,
11:20 all things come of Thee, O Lord.
11:23 And of thy own have You given us.
11:29 And so it is with praise and adoration,
11:31 dear Lord, that we like the angel
11:33 who just could stand as we are amazed,
11:36 we cry out, Holy, Holy, Holy
11:41 Lord God Almighty.
11:43 We are amazed at what we see of Your goodness and Your love.
11:49 You cause your rain to shine- to rain
11:52 upon the just-
11:54 Your sun to shine upon the just as well as the unjust.
11:59 Our merciful God, a loving God,
12:02 but a God also justice, a God who would judge me,
12:09 a God who came down to this earth,
12:12 shed His blood for us on Calvary,
12:17 willingly He turned to die
12:22 that we might live.
12:24 Thank you, Jesus,
12:25 thank you, Jesus, thank you, Jesus.
12:30 Dear Lord, this morning, we want to lift up
12:34 some of the sick and shut-in within our church.
12:38 We want to lift up James Brunt.
12:41 His mother had a heart attack this week.
12:45 Oh, God, many of us know
12:47 what it means to lose our mothers.
12:53 The one who has loved us so much,
12:57 the one we have loved so much, dear Lord.
13:00 That's why we pray for Brother James Brunt.
13:04 Touch him, dear Lord,
13:07 and only touch him, touch his mother, dear Lord.
13:11 Help her, dear Lord,
13:12 and if it be thy will breaks her up from that pain,
13:17 that our witness may continue to remain strong.
13:22 We pray for Dr. Yvonne Lewis's father,
13:26 - who suffered a stroke,
13:29 his second stroke this week.
13:32 O Lord, we know our God will take care of strokes.
13:36 We know our God who can open up our hearts,
13:40 we know our God who can make them whole again.
13:46 And so we pray, O God,
13:47 that you will perform this time for Brother-
13:52 Bless Michael Jones,
13:55 his brother has injured his back,
13:57 this week, O God.
14:00 And we know how nagging these back injuries can be
14:04 and how difficult they can be.
14:06 Sometimes they just seem to go on and on,
14:10 medicines and manipulations and heat
14:14 and all the treatments
14:16 sometimes just doesn't do any good.
14:18 Dear Lord, we're not depended upon
14:20 those things, this morning.
14:21 We're depended upon You.
14:24 And we pray, dear Lord,
14:25 that you will bless Brother Michael Jones.
14:29 O God, this morning we want to lift up our pastor,
14:32 our assistant youth pastor
14:34 who we bring in the words of life,
14:37 the wonderful words of life.
14:40 We pray that we will all be touched.
14:43 We pray that You will bring more faith to all
14:46 and then-
14:48 Let him show us the way to the kingdom
14:51 and help us, dear Lord,
14:53 they'll be willing to follow him as he follows Christ.
14:57 Bless each member of the church, O God,
15:00 you know their desires,
15:03 you know the problems that they are facing,
15:06 you know the daily things that each has to go through
15:09 and what they need, bless them
15:11 according to their need, dear Lord.
15:15 Give them and show them the love
15:17 that thou in heaven can show.
15:20 Dear Lord, we want to lift up our youth in the church, today.
15:25 Satan, we know is bombarding them
15:28 in this evil world.
15:30 We have young people, dear Lord,
15:33 who we see in church every week
15:36 who are here serving you, praising your name,
15:40 on the Sabbath day
15:42 and we thank you for all them, O God.
15:45 We thank you for faithful, young people
15:48 who are standing for Jesus in this troublesome world.
15:52 Bless the parents too, God,
15:55 bless those who are training young minds,
15:58 who are molding clay before hearts,
16:03 their way hardens, dear Lord,
16:05 they will be in your passion, like unto You.
16:09 And, O God, may we all in that great Kingdom, Lord,
16:16 may we all be standing
16:18 under the blood stained banner of Prince Immanuel.
16:21 When Jesus bursts through the clouds,
16:25 may our hands be lifted
16:27 and we cry out holy praise, God.
16:30 Thank you, Jesus, for saving us and giving us that faith
16:35 that we needed to bring through
16:38 all these blessings we pray in the name of Jesus,
16:43 in Jesus' name, amen, amen.
16:51 One of the things that
16:54 I despise is going to the doctor.
17:01 When I think about going to the doctor,
17:03 I realize that I am in fact a real man.
17:09 Men don't like to go to the doctor.
17:12 Even though things bother us, we have aches and pains,
17:17 we manage to ignore all of our symptoms
17:21 and keep right on going.
17:25 I happened to like my present doctor,
17:27 he is a member of our congregation
17:31 and, yes, I'm gonna put in a little plug for him,
17:33 his name is Dr. Cecil Bailey.
17:36 So if you got something ails you can go see
17:38 Dr. Bailey, he is a good doctor.
17:40 I will go to see him but I notice every time
17:43 I get to his office, there are several things
17:47 that he does or his assistants do
17:50 prior to his coming into the room.
17:53 They say that they're taking my vital signs.
17:57 My vital signs.
17:59 The vital signs include taking my temperature,
18:04 my pulse, my respirations and my blood pressure.
18:11 Now as often as that's been done,
18:13 I wonder why do they keep doing that.
18:17 It's because in order to see
18:19 how well I'm doing physiologically, health wise.
18:24 There are certain criterion that's in place
18:28 to determine whether or not I'm doing well.
18:31 Let me see how well you'd know how well you're doing.
18:35 What's the optimum temperature that one must have?
18:40 98.6, very good. How about pulse?
18:47 120/80 pulse, is that pulse or blood pressure?
18:52 That's blood pressure. Pulse 50-80 beats per minute.
18:58 How about respirations?
19:00 Respirations.
19:05 Are you alive?
19:07 Are you breathing, 12 to 20 respirations per minute
19:13 and of course we've already heard blood pressure 120/80.
19:17 These indicators let us know
19:21 how well we're doing on the inside
19:25 and so every time you go see the doctor
19:28 they're going to take these vital signs
19:31 as is so often the case whatever happens
19:33 in the natural realm
19:35 has a correspondence in the spiritual realm.
19:39 We've got spiritual vital signs and so for the next 4 weeks,
19:46 I'm going to begin a series of teachings
19:49 on spiritual vital signs, is that all right?
19:52 Spiritual vital signs, why did I choose to do
19:56 a series on spiritual vital signs?
19:58 Very simple.
20:02 There has probably been no church
20:05 I have pastored over the past 30 years
20:08 where at least one member has not come to me and say,
20:12 "Pastor, I don't seem to be able hold onto my faith.
20:19 There are highs and there are lows
20:24 and I love it when I'm on the high
20:26 but I get a little bit skittish because I know eventually
20:32 I'm going to experience that inevitable load."
20:36 And I said, why is that?
20:38 Why must you experience the load?
20:41 Probably because you don't know
20:43 how to maintain your spiritual wellness
20:47 and so I want to look at for the next 4 weeks,
20:51 4 spiritual vital signs.
20:55 The first one we talked about in the natural realm was what?
21:00 Temperature, isn't that right?
21:02 So let's look at temperature in the spiritual realm.
21:07 Turn with me to Revelation 4. Revelation 4.
21:12 Pardon me, Revelation 3
21:14 and I'm gonna look at verses 14 and 15,
21:17 Revelation 3:14, 15.
21:23 Here the Bible says,
21:24 "And unto the angel of the church
21:26 of the Laodiceans write,
21:29 these things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness,
21:34 the beginning of the creation of God.
21:37 I know thy works, that thou art..."
21:40 what? "Neither cold nor hot.
21:45 I would thou wert cold or hot."
21:50 Notice the temperature here.
21:54 Who are the Laodiceans? The church of today.
21:59 And God has somewhat of awe against them
22:02 because when He takes their spiritual temperature,
22:06 He discovers something about them.
22:09 That they're what?
22:11 They're neither cold nor hot.
22:16 Do you have a temperature at all?
22:20 Yes, we do but we need to find out
22:22 from the word of God
22:24 what has happened to the temperature.
22:26 Turn with me to Matthew 24, Matthew 24
22:32 and let's see if we can find out
22:34 from the word of God what has happened
22:37 to our spiritual temperature in these last days.
22:41 Matthew 24:12, notice what the Bible says.
22:49 "And because iniquity shall abound,
22:53 the love of many shall..." what?
22:56 "Wax cold" Wax cold.
23:03 Because something about the love of many gets cold,
23:09 what is that something?
23:11 Iniquity.
23:13 What is iniquity?
23:15 Sin, wickedness, because it runs rampant
23:21 then it causes individuals
23:23 who once loved God with great fervor
23:26 and great intensity to lose the love that
23:30 they once had for spiritual things
23:34 just being affected by the iniquity the wickedness
23:38 that is around us on every hand.
23:43 That's a terrible state of being.
23:46 Now I don't know about you
23:49 but the last time I touched someone
23:52 who had no temperature, they were dead.
23:59 They were deceased.
24:02 I'll never forget, I have kissed my father
24:06 several times growing up as a lad,
24:09 but when he died, I bent over his casket
24:14 and kissed him on his forehead
24:17 and I discovered he was as cold as ice.
24:22 Absolutely no temperature
24:24 and with no temperature where was no life.
24:30 Iniquity has a way of robbing us of our life.
24:37 Our vital forces
24:39 when we lose our love for God.
24:46 "Pastor, if that happens what can we do about it?"
24:54 I believe you can't do anything about it
24:57 and so that's why I want to spend the balance
25:03 of our message talking about what can happen
25:08 to get your spiritual temperature back.
25:10 In fact, did I tell you the name
25:12 of this first message?
25:15 I told you the name of the series,
25:16 what's the name of the series?
25:19 Spiritual vital signs,
25:21 but here is my first message in the series.
25:26 Turn with me to Mark, the book of Mark 3, Mark 3,
25:34 and you'll see where I'm going with this first message.
25:37 Mark 3, and we're going to look
25:41 at verses 28 and 29.
25:45 "Verily I say unto you, All sins..."
25:48 how many sins?
25:49 "All sins..." shall be what?
25:52 "Forgiven."
25:53 "All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men,
25:56 and blasphemies wherewith so ever they shall blaspheme."
26:00 Verse 29
26:01 "But he that shall blaspheme" against who?
26:05 "The Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness,
26:09 but is in danger" of what?
26:12 Eternal damnation.
26:13 "Eternal damnation."
26:16 Here's the topic of my message today,
26:19 do you have the Holy Ghost?
26:23 Do you have the Holy Ghost?
26:27 I still remember the look on his face
26:32 and I especially remember the fragrance around him.
26:37 I was conducting a Revelation seminar
26:41 and he staggered into the room,
26:45 sat down with the handbill that somebody had given him
26:49 and wanted to participate in the Revelation seminar.
26:54 One of my deacons came to me
26:56 because it was very clear to everyone in the place
27:00 that this man was under the influence of the spirit
27:04 and he wasn't holy.
27:10 "Pastor! What do you want us to do?
27:13 Shall we take him out of here?"
27:16 And I said, you know,
27:19 I understand what you're saying,
27:21 I want you to sit beside him
27:24 just in case the other spirit gets a hold of him
27:30 and you can restrain him.
27:32 But I'm just curious as to how an individual
27:37 who is under the influence of one spirit
27:41 will find his way into a place
27:43 where there's another spirit at work.
27:47 Let him stay here and so for the next 24 nights
27:54 that man sat at the table
27:58 and he went through the book of Revelation
28:01 with everybody else.
28:03 Now he still smelled like a distillery
28:08 and yet night after night after night
28:12 he showed up under the influence of one spirit
28:15 only to get onto the influence of another spirit.
28:19 Hello, somebody.
28:22 At the end of the series,
28:26 I went to him and I appealed to him
28:28 and I said, "Jessie,
28:31 what are you gonna do about the Lord?"
28:35 I'll never forget his answer he said,
28:36 "Pastor, I believe..."
28:40 listen to what he said,
28:42 "I believe I have committed
28:45 the unpardonable sin."
28:54 What do you mean you've committed the unpardonable sin?
28:57 He said, "I have been so bad
29:00 that God cannot forgive me."
29:05 I said, "Jessie, do you know what Mark 3:28 says?"
29:12 We turned right there on the spot
29:14 and I reread that verse again, "Verily I say unto you,
29:18 All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men."
29:23 There is only one sin that can't be forgiven.
29:27 Have you committed a sin
29:29 that is not covered by this phrase of sins?
29:35 He says, "But I'm an alcoholic."
29:38 I said, "I've heard about you."
29:40 He said, "They call me the town drunk."
29:43 I said, "I've heard about you."
29:46 He said, "God cannot forgive someone
29:50 who has sinned as often as I have."
29:54 And I said, "I've heard about Him."
29:59 And He says, 'There's no sin that I cannot forgive'
30:05 that includes you, Jessie.
30:08 Why don't you give your life to Jesus Christ
30:10 and start all over gain?"
30:14 There's one thing about people who walked the streets,
30:18 people sometimes overlook them, ignore them,
30:22 they impune their intelligence.
30:25 However, when I spoke with Jessie poignantly,
30:28 he spoke to me directly and said, "Preacher,
30:33 when I get myself ready, I'll give my heart to Jesus."
30:40 I said "When you'll get yourself,"
30:41 he said, "I got to straighten up."
30:43 I said, "What do you mean you got to straighten up?"
30:44 He said, "Right now, preacher, I don't want to stop drinking."
30:49 Would that some of us would be so honest with God
30:53 and just admit to God we ain't ready to stop
30:57 some of the sinning that we do,
30:59 we hold on to those darling sins
31:02 and they take us lower and lower and lower
31:05 and yet Jessie said they were-
31:09 in his statement was some ray of hope
31:12 he says, "I'm not ready, but when I get ready,
31:17 I'm coming to this church
31:19 to give my heart to Jesus Christ."
31:23 I stood there a little befuddled
31:25 because first, he said he was too bad to be forgiven
31:30 but then he turns around and says, "When I'm ready.
31:36 When I'm ready, I'll give my heart
31:38 to Jesus Christ
31:40 right in this church."
31:47 A few months later,
31:48 I conducted an Evangelist meeting,
31:50 a tent meeting, and I told one of the deacons
31:57 I said, "Do you remember months ago
31:59 when I conducted the Revelation seminar
32:02 there was a gentleman there who was always very fragrant?"
32:10 He said, "Yeah, I remember."
32:11 I said, "Go find him
32:14 and bring him to my tent meeting."
32:19 That deacon didn't have any problem finding him
32:24 because everyone knew where Jessie hung out,
32:27 everyone knew his bar.
32:29 Everyone knew he would be there
32:31 and what time of the day he would be there.
32:34 But when my deacon asked him
32:37 to come to the meeting that evening,
32:39 guess what he did, he showed up.
32:43 And he kept coming
32:45 night after night after night for 5 weeks
32:52 and at the end of my meeting
32:55 when I invited meeting with the boys and girls to come
32:59 and give their heart to Jesus Christ,
33:01 guess who was the first person down the aisle, Jessie was!
33:06 I said, "Jessie, are you ready?"
33:09 He said, "Preacher, I'm ready now.
33:12 I've done all I can do, I can't get any worse,
33:16 I might as well try Jesus."
33:18 Amen.
33:19 Not only did Jessie come, but Jessie, up to that point,
33:25 he looked like a wino, he dressed like a wino,
33:30 and he talked like a wino, he walked like a wino,
33:34 but when he gave his heart to Jesus Christ
33:38 and he showed up at the church, Jessie had on a suit.
33:45 It weren't pressed, but it was a suit.
33:48 Jessie had a tie on his neck,
33:50 I don't know what kind of knot that was,
33:53 it wasn't a Windsor
33:54 and it wasn't a half Windsor knot,
33:56 but it was a knot nonetheless and he had a tie on
34:00 and he showed up there and Jessie kept coming
34:03 month after month, year after year,
34:06 until one day guess what happened,
34:09 the church forwarded
34:10 Jessie to become the first elder of the church.
34:17 Don't you tell me what God can't do,
34:21 you cannot tell me
34:23 that somebody has done so much wrong
34:26 that God cannot redeem and restore them.
34:33 The Holy Spirit
34:35 is a powerful individual.
34:41 The Bible says there's only one sin
34:45 that cannot be forgiven
34:47 and that's blasphemy against the Holy Ghost.
34:50 What- Who is the Holy Ghost?
34:56 That's question 101 isn't it?
34:59 Look at 1 John 5, 1 John 5:7
35:06 "For there are three that bear record in heaven,
35:10 the Father, the Word"
35:13 and we know from John 1:1 the word is the Son,
35:16 "And the Holy Ghost,
35:18 and these three..." are what?
35:21 "They are one."
35:24 "There are three that bear record in heaven,
35:26 the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost."
35:31 Now of course I'm aware that
35:33 they are those who don't necessarily
35:36 believe in the concept of the Trinity.
35:40 However, I believe in what the word of God says.
35:43 And if the word of God says there are three
35:45 that bear record in heaven then guess what,
35:48 there are three that bear record in heaven.
35:49 What did I say?
35:51 There are three that bear record in heaven,
35:53 the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
35:56 Well, how can that be?
35:57 It says that the three of them are one.
36:00 Are they three Gods or they're three in one God?
36:05 The best way I can explain that
36:08 is simply if I were to give a bowl of water
36:15 and I heat that water up, what would happen,
36:20 what would you begin to see from the water?
36:23 Steam, ain't that right?
36:25 That steam is a form of water that occurred
36:29 because the water got hot.
36:31 But if I took that same bowl of water
36:33 and put it in the refrigerator
36:37 or I should say the freezer, what would it turn to?
36:41 Is that still water?
36:42 Yes, the cold now turned it into ice.
36:46 Heat made it steam, a cold made it hard as ice
36:52 and its nature state is just fluid, water.
36:56 It is still water.
36:59 I can put something in bowl
37:01 pour some in the pot get steamed,
37:03 pour some in a ice tray, get ice.
37:06 It all came from the same source it's still all water.
37:10 It's only taken all different forms.
37:12 There are three the bear record in heaven,
37:15 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
37:17 I believe that if we want to make analogy of it,
37:20 we could say that the Father might be the ice
37:23 'cause you- they were really people
37:26 who think that the father is hard
37:27 and all stare and he's rigid
37:29 and he's without mercy and grace.
37:31 We might look at him as ice
37:33 and then the Son would be the fluid form of water
37:37 and the Holy Ghost would be again
37:40 to that of a steam or the vapor.
37:44 It's still one entity.
37:49 So if you offend one, what have you done?
37:57 Offended all.
37:58 I can remember growing up as a boy,
38:03 my mom is here, by the way,
38:05 and she can tell you it was a little rough
38:08 at times growing up in Newark
38:11 but I remember that whenever one of us
38:16 got into a fight with somebody,
38:21 you got to fight who?
38:22 All of them.
38:24 All of us, all of us,
38:27 now some of my Hispanic friends,
38:30 I have to pray for them.
38:32 Because when their kids got in trouble
38:35 or got into a fight,
38:36 the brothers and sisters didn't show up,
38:38 mamma would come with her pot of beans,
38:40 hot pot of beans
38:42 and she was going to get into the fight too
38:45 and the father would get off, he tried to get off of work
38:48 and he wanted to get into the fight.
38:49 Grown folk want to get into fight with kids.
38:53 But the idea was if you mess with one member of the family,
38:58 if you offend one member of the family,
39:00 you offend all of us.
39:03 So all of us rise to the defense.
39:08 I can imagine the same is true with the Trinity.
39:12 Now how can offend,
39:14 how can you blaspheme the Holy Ghost?
39:20 To blaspheme the Holy Ghost is to offend the Holy Ghost
39:25 by disrespecting the Holy Ghost.
39:29 I want you to see something in Romans 2:4,
39:32 Romans 2:4, Romans.
39:38 Romans 2:4.
39:42 Look and see what the word of God says here,
39:44 "Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness
39:48 and forbearance and longsuffering,
39:51 not knowing that the goodness of God..."
39:54 Does what?
39:56 "Leads to repentance."
39:59 What leads to repentance everyone?
40:02 The goodness of God, the goodness of God.
40:08 Now if you were to turn to Galatians 5:22,
40:11 you would find in Galatians 5 a listing,
40:15 an enumeration of what we call the fruit of the spirit
40:19 and in verse 22 of Galatians 5
40:21 we find that one of the fruit of the spirit is goodness.
40:27 So when the Bible says
40:29 that the goodness of God leads to repentance
40:35 and goodness is one of the fruit of the spirit,
40:38 guess who's actually leading us to repent.
40:43 It's the spirit.
40:46 You think that because you do something wrong,
40:49 that you're so holy, that is your idea,
40:53 it's your idea to go to the Lord about it.
40:58 You got absolutely nothing to do with it.
41:03 It is purely the Holy Spirit that's leading you to repent.
41:11 Now what happens then with that impression to repent
41:17 if it's the Holy Spirit that leads you to repentance?
41:23 Let's understand something, let's understand something.
41:26 There is, there is, well, let me just show it to you,
41:30 let me just show it to you in Genesis,
41:33 turn to Genesis with me.
41:38 The Book of Genesis 3:15
41:47 notice what the word of God says,
41:48 "And I will put..." what everyone
41:51 "enmity between..." who "thee and the woman,
41:55 and between thy seed and her seed,
41:57 it shall bruise thy head,
41:58 and thou shalt bruise his heel."
42:01 Who's talking here? This is God talking.
42:04 Who is He talking to?
42:06 The serpent or the devil, isn't that right?
42:10 And he says he's gonna put enmity
42:13 between the serpent or the devil
42:16 and the woman and her offspring.
42:19 Enmity translates from Hebrew an uncomfortable mess.
42:25 That means that whenever we sin,
42:29 it ought to be something
42:31 that's uncomfortable about what we're doing.
42:36 When you do some- Don't put your hand up.
42:39 When you commit a wrong act,
42:42 do you feel uncomfortable about it?
42:45 I said don't tell on yourself, God knows I don't want to know.
42:49 Don't say nothing.
42:53 If you are not feeling uncomfortable
42:57 something has happened
42:58 to the enmity budding in your mind.
43:04 I had an alarm clock, beside my bed,
43:09 and I used to work at night and I hated that alarm clock.
43:16 Now the alarm clock didn't tell me to set it.
43:22 I set it myself.
43:25 I set it and whenever it would go off,
43:29 it would go off on a show, a program, to this day
43:33 if it's on the air I'm not going to listen to it,
43:36 it would start off "Ahoy, shipmate"
43:40 and it would ring the bell ding-ding,
43:42 ding-ding, ding-ding.
43:43 It was a religious program.
43:44 Ahoy, shipmate and then this little male chorus would say,
43:48 "I've anchored my soul in the haven of rest."
43:56 A very fine program.
43:59 I just won't listen to it,
44:02 not because it doesn't have good substance
44:06 but because it reminded me every night
44:09 that I had to get up go into the cold night and go to work.
44:14 Sometimes when Ahoy, shipmate would come on,
44:18 I'd reach over and slap the clock.
44:23 What was I doing? Hitting the snooze button.
44:27 But guess what,
44:29 the snooze button didn't cut it off totally.
44:34 It turned it off or interrupted it for a moment
44:39 and guess what would happen a few minutes later.
44:43 It would turn right back on again
44:47 and I'd slap it one more time, two more times,
44:50 until I got tired of slapping it
44:52 and decided to get up and go to work.
44:56 Every time, we are faced with a sin,
45:01 the alarm clock called enmity goes off in our minds.
45:06 But what do we do?
45:09 We reach over sometimes and do what?
45:12 Hit the snooze button.
45:16 Turn it off, so I can keep on going.
45:19 Hit the snooze button. I'm parked in a car.
45:23 I know I got no business in that car
45:25 because it's only me and her.
45:29 And a low voice tells me
45:30 "You need to go and take her back home."
45:32 What do I do?
45:36 Then I just move on a little closer to her put my arm around
45:39 and the voice will go off again, what do I do?
45:45 Then I reach over and look her in the eye,
45:51 and that low voice really gets loud and say "Argh, no!"
45:56 But I hit the snooze button two times.
46:02 I can't finish this story.
46:08 Eventually, the snooze button won't cut- have to be hit
46:13 because the alarm won't come on anymore.
46:18 Something will happen.
46:20 Look at 1 Timothy 4,
46:22 1 Timothy 4:12, what happened?
46:26 1 Timothy 4:12,
46:32 1 Timothy 4:1-2, pardon me.
46:37 "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly,
46:40 that in the latter day some shall depart from the faith,
46:43 giving heed to seducing spirits,
46:46 and doctrines of devils,
46:48 Speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their..." what?
46:51 "Their conscience seared with a hot iron."
46:56 Eventually, beloved, what will happen is that
47:01 if you hit the snooze button too many times
47:05 you will be permitted to just go forward in your sin
47:14 because if you do that too often,
47:16 the Bible says "You will have your conscience..." what?
47:21 Or "cauterized" so that you won't have
47:26 any feeling responsiveness anymore to spiritual things.
47:36 That's a terrible, terrible place to be.
47:42 But I can't leave you right there
47:47 because remember what Jessie said
47:50 "I'm too bad to be forgiven"
47:58 and yet we have discovered that the Holy Spirit,
48:02 the Holy Spirit is God's means
48:07 of helping us to resist sin.
48:13 He hasn't left us on our own.
48:17 Remember now the Bible says "He's touched by..." what?
48:21 "The feelings of our infirmities."
48:25 He knows what it is to walk through this human journey.
48:29 He understands and so he would not leave us without hope.
48:36 Our hope is found in 1 John 1:9, 1 John 1:9.
48:42 I want us to repeat that verse together
48:45 because if you don't know it you need to learn it
48:48 and you need to commit it to memory.
48:49 It says, "If we..." what? "Confess our sins..."
48:54 He is what? Say that again.
48:56 Faithful.
48:57 "He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins,
49:01 and to..." do what?
49:02 "Cleanse us from..." some... All.
49:05 A little bit. All.
49:07 "All unrighteousness."
49:11 Somebody ought to say amen.
49:13 He's faithful and I notice it doesn't say we're faithful.
49:20 It says He's faithful and just but that is a condition
49:27 that is tied to this promise, that condition is what?
49:33 If we confess He's faithful and just to forgive.
49:41 Let me give you the simplest definition
49:43 I can give you for the unpardonable sin.
49:48 It is simply this.
49:51 There is no sin, we've already discovered that,
49:54 we found that in Mark 2,
49:56 there is no sin that God cannot forgive.
50:01 Amen. Amen.
50:03 No sin.
50:05 Secondly, he gives us what?
50:07 To convict us of our sin, the Holy Spirit,
50:11 he gives us the Holy Spirit to convict us of our sin.
50:17 Now the Bible says if we confess,
50:22 He's faithful and just to forgive us.
50:25 Here's the definition.
50:27 The unpardonable sin is the sin
50:30 that cannot be pardoned unless it's confessed.
50:37 How does that sound?
50:39 Sound right? Yeah.
50:41 Do that one more time.
50:42 The unpardonable sin is a sin
50:46 that cannot be pardoned unless it's confessed.
50:52 That means that if a murderer confesses his sin,
50:55 can it be forgiven?
50:57 Can- If a prostitute confesses her sin,
50:59 can it be forgiven?
51:01 If a crack-head confesses a sin,
51:03 can it be forgiven?
51:06 If an alcoholic or a wino confesses a sin,
51:08 can it be forgiven?
51:10 If an adulterer confesses his sin, can it be forgiven?
51:14 If a thief confesses his sin, can it be forgiven?
51:18 All sin can be forgiven, if it's confessed.
51:26 And the only way it gets confessed is
51:29 if we open ourselves to the Spirit's pleading.
51:36 That's why I ask you,
51:38 do you have the Holy Ghost?
51:44 Or are you left to continue
51:49 sinning indiscriminately
51:53 without any sensitivity to the God
51:57 who died for every single one of your sins?
52:02 That's why we can never afford to write any-
52:06 I don't care, I don't care how bad your children are.
52:12 God can save your children.
52:16 I don't care how bad your husband is,
52:19 God can save your husband.
52:23 I don't care how bad those folk at work treat you,
52:28 God can still save each and everyone of them.
52:33 There is no one beyond the reach of grace.
52:39 Amen.
52:40 No one beyond the reach of God's love,
52:44 no one that the Holy Spirit cannot reach out to.
52:48 There is no person that he cannot inveigh,
52:52 he can get to each and every one of us
52:56 if we will but confess.
53:01 If we submit to the Spirit's pleading to confess our sins.
53:11 Let me share this story with you in closing.
53:17 I was in South Carolina
53:20 conducting a revival,
53:25 a one-week revival
53:29 and I met a young woman named,
53:34 Jackie, there.
53:37 Jackie was so moved by the messages
53:42 that were preached that week that Jackie came to me,
53:46 she was a hired musician for that week.
53:50 She was not even a member of that church,
53:53 she was just a musician in the city
53:55 who had been hired for the revival
53:59 and she came to me and said,
54:01 "Reverend, I don't care where you are,
54:08 whenever you run your next meeting,
54:12 I want to be your musician."
54:16 I said, "Do you know where I live?"
54:18 She said, "Yeah, you live in Texas."
54:22 She said, "I don't care,
54:23 I will come to wherever you are
54:28 and play for your meeting.
54:30 I just appreciate the ministry."
54:33 I said, "Okay."
54:36 Guess what meeting she came to play for,
54:39 the meeting that Jessie came to.
54:45 Two individuals who were sitting
54:48 under the teaching of the Holy Spirit
54:52 for 5 weeks night after night
54:55 and at the conclusion of the meeting,
54:59 here's one man that comes down and says,
55:02 "I'm ready to turn it all over to Jesus."
55:07 Here's another person who has been on the keyboard
55:10 playing the great hymns of faith,
55:14 the great gospel songs of hope,
55:17 and when I went to her personally and said,
55:22 "Jackie, don't you want to give your life to Jesus Christ?"
55:28 Jackie said, "I'm not ready.
55:35 I'm not ready."
55:37 I didn't get too discouraged because I remember,
55:40 essentially, that's what Jessie had said before
55:43 and Jessie came to the Lord later.
55:46 So I said, "Well, I'm gonna pray for you,"
55:47 and I prayed for her.
55:50 A month later, I got word, after she left my meeting
55:55 that Jackie was found in her home
55:58 dead of a drug overdose.
56:02 That was the final opportunity
56:04 that she had to make her peace with God
56:10 while she was in the meeting.
56:14 Do you have the Holy Ghost?
56:18 If you can hear something in your spirit speaking to you,
56:24 urging you, and saying this is the way, walk in it.
56:29 If you can hear something inside you,
56:33 something within saying it's time to turn it over to Jesus,
56:39 you have not committed the unpardonable sin.
56:43 Amen, I don't care how dark the night is
56:47 or how stormy the day,
56:49 if you can still hear his voice above the din of noise
56:54 and the raging repultery of the crowd,
56:57 you have not escaped the grace of God.
57:03 And I appeal to you and I urge you.
57:07 Listen to the Holy Spirit,
57:11 allow him to revive you,
57:16 put that spiritual temperature back where it is
57:19 so you'll be on fire for the Lord.
57:23 I want that to be my experience.
57:24 How about you?


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Revised 2015-05-13