Guest Sermon - Pastor Milton Harding

Join us for a one-off sermon from special guest speaker, Pastor Milton Harding.

Thank you so much for listening to Family Church's Sermon of the Week! If you would like to learn more about Family Church, please visit our website myfamilychurch.com or follow us on Facebook or Instagram at @myfamilychurchVA.

Transcript

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Welcome to Family Church's Sermon of the Week. We're so glad you're here. Each week we share a message from God's Word to encourage your heart, strengthen your faith, and help you grow in your walk with Jesus. We hope this time blesses you and draws you closer to the heart of God.

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If you have your Bibles with you, turn to the book of Mark and a couple of administrative things. Is this thing gonna hold me? Oh, that's not encouraging. I hope so. If I leave the stage, you'll know why. Um a few administrative notes to get out of the way first. Um thank God for the ministry to women that will be taking place and is taking place here. Um I am grateful always when I see, in fact, I uh I love I love women. I I married one. Yes, yes, it's a wonderful thing. But I understand uh certainly God's purpose and role, so thank God for that. Uh getting the given the fact that Mother's Day is coming up, uh men, don't you dare let me see the husbands in the room. Oh, yeah, yeah. We probably didn't bring enough packets, but don't you dare leave this building without seeing some resources that my wife will uh handle out in the lobby area there. Uh John Pastor John said he put the table right there that you'll have to actually stumble over us to get to get out of here. So uh I'm not afraid to chase you in the parking lot either. But some wonderful devotions for uh your mothers and your wives uh for Mother's Day, so it's not too late to get that gift for them. And also uh there's some stuff there for men too, which every man. How many of you all uh uh uh how many men do we have with us this morning? Raise your hand. Okay, some men didn't raise their hand. Okay, good deal. We've got resources out there for you as well, so please uh let it be an encouragement. Uh I'm not begging you to stop by and get it, but I'm encouraging you to. Uh lots of word. How many of you all know that the power of transformation is in the word of God? The power of transformation is in truth. Yeah, and truth will change your life. There's nothing about the word of God that is optional, there's nothing about the word of God that is even challenging. The word of God is a command. And what do most commandments, in fact, all commandments, require? Oh Lord. I'm a priest to you right here. You're getting all the answers, man. Yeah, yeah. Obedience. Yeah, you don't even have to figure it out or think about it. Yeah, God's word. Uh, did I tell you to turn to uh the book of Mark? And the Gospels? Somebody say yes. Listen, if you haven't figured this out, I I like interaction. I don't know that we can invite the Holy Spirit in this place and only one person be talking. You know, I mean, he's speaking to everybody out here. Amen. Oh, I know what you all need. Stand to your feet if you will. You just need that little exercise before a black preacher with a towel begins to preach to you. Yeah, you just need you need to stretch out right now. Uh, lift your voices with me if you will. Oh, come, let us adore. Oh, you know it. Come on, say it like you know it. Oh, come, let us yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh come let us adore Christ. All right, now over here you're gonna have to sing, for you alone. You know that verse? Sang it. Sing it like you won. For you alone Christ the Lord. Amen. Amen. Give him praise, give him praise. Yeah, give him praise. Listen, you may be seated. Some of you all thought you just showed up in here today, but you're drawing his breath this morning. You're drawing his breath this morning, and how dare we think uh or try to figure out whether we want to praise him or not? Amen? Okay, book of Mark. We got to get there because I think Pastor didn't tell me how long I had, so that's always a good sign for visiting pastor. Uh, we should be finishing up right around three. I can get you out of here for the second layer of Pope's chicken. Not the first. I can get you out for the little second layer. Book of Mark. All right, how many will agree with me that we're pretty jacked up in our culture? How many would you agree that we're jacked up in our world? How many of you would agree we're jacked up in our churches? Amen. Yeah. And I want you to figure out the math on this. It's an easy one. The world doesn't stand a chance if we don't get it right. The world doesn't stand a chance. Stop complaining about what's going on in the world if you're not salt and light in it. Now, I didn't, I want to, I want, I want you all to love me before and after I'm done. But I'm not gonna stay awake at night because you don't, I gotta tell you what the Lord put on my heart. Amen. Yeah. And so if we plan to make that change, uh Matthew 5 and 13 and 14, he didn't say, Jesus didn't say you're gonna be light and salt. He says, What? Oh, we got some students here. Yes, you are light and salt. All right, so you all figure out what that means when he says you are that? Okay, let me help you with that. I am black. See how see how easy that was? Yeah, yeah. So so that's not gonna change. You are light, you are salt. That's what Jesus says about those who belong to God. And so if you are light and salt and you're in this world and you've lost your saltiness because your testimony's going down a tube and your light has lost some wattage, how many of you all sense that your light might be flickering just a little bit? Yeah, and you know, transparency is gonna be good. Three people raise their hand, but I can guarantee you there's more of you in here than that. In fact, some of your lights have gone completely out, and you're showing up Sunday morning traditionally. And we can't have that. Amen. Did I tell you where to turn in Mark? Did I tell you to turn to Mark? Okay, I just don't want you to get ahead of me. I only have uh like three points I want to make this morning, but I got like 4,500 scriptures. So if you don't hear anything else I say this morning, please write down the scriptures because the power of transformation is in the word of God. There was a time in my life when I thought it would be wise to shove cocaine up my nose and smoke big, big blunts. Is this the crowd I'm gonna need to define what a blunt is? No, okay. These are the folk I want to talk to right here. Y'all ain't playing. I like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no, no. That was that was a time that, and then Jesus came. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Then Jesus came. Now I didn't get to your street, could have been drinking, I did enough of that, could have been carousing in the street, did enough of that, but then Jesus came. No one in this room can tell me that Jesus is not real. No one in this room can tell me, in fact, I'll fight you, that truth does not transform you. I was not saved when I married, when I'm sorry, when I met my wife, but I got saved before I married her. Because of the grace of God. Because, yes, yes, that's worth a clap. Absolutely. No, let me tell you something. I was a conservative heathen. Some of y'all figure that, what in the world does that mean? Yeah. Uh I let me just define what that is. A conservative heathen, a heathen knows he's jacked up. A conservative heathen has no idea how much he's jacked up. Yeah, there's the definition right there. And we got some right in this sanctuary this morning. Or we had some, and I pray that we don't still have some, but I was living for the world. Anybody been there, done that? Yeah, I was making worldly choices, and then Jesus came. When Jesus came, he brought his whole gospel of the word into my life. And if in if no one else in this building believes my testimony, I got a woman over there for 44 years that has seen it. I ain't just heard about it. She's seen it. She has got the best husband in the universe. Don't you, babe? Yeah, see? Yeah, in the universe, and and and and not because I'm anything spot, but I mean to be that way. Not because I am that way. But the Spirit of God and his word took a hold of me, and I know this work. So be quick to hear this morning. Because there's something that's going to come out of my mouth, not because I'm brilliant or bright, that's going to come out of my mouth that the Lord put there that is exactly for you. And how many of you realize that the word of God is not for education only? It's for application. Yeah. Whenever God chooses to give you revelation, the whole purpose of that revelation is for application. The application leads you to transformation, and the transformation leads you to glorification. That's the track. You don't have to study and seek revelation. He brings it to you. He reveals himself. That's the only way you can get it. Remember when Peter says you are the uh the Son of God, the of the living God, the Christ of the living God? And Jesus said to him, No one on heaven and earth gave you that answer. See that that answer came from my Father who is in heaven. So revelation will come right to you. It'll come to you this morning if you're willing. And here's the thing that happens in churches, and I preach in a lot of different churches, a lot of different places, over denominations and all of that. Um, I'd like to say that there's a change, but there isn't. The universal church is about as jacked up as it can be right now. In fact, it's becoming darker even as we speak. But there's always a remnant. God always has a remnant. Yes, he always has a remnant. And that remnant will get the word of God, and it will obey the word of God, and it will be the light and salt wherever it's been set. There's a remnant in here. Okay, did I tell you to turn to Mark? Did I tell you where to turn to Mark? Okay, how about we do this? We're gonna go a couple of places today, and I gotta move quickly because four o'clock will be here before you know it. Listen, listen. The book of Mark, chapter one. And and verse uh yeah, let's start in verse 15. Now, listen, um, I titled this message, and again, guest preacher comes in with a message like this The Sickness in the Soul. The sickness in the soul. That's where it all begins, brother and sisters. There's a sickness in the soul. Let's read. Mark chapter 1 and verse 15. Hopefully, in your scriptures, you will find that these words are in red, uh which are attributed to our Lord and Savior speaking, and saying, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel. Now, this is not one of the apostles' writing, this is not one of the prophets' writing, this is God Almighty Himself speaking. The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel. That word time in the Greek brings about this flavor. He's not saying, okay, I need you to think about whether you want to do this. He's saying the time to do it is now. Anybody in here like that? Anybody in here got children? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We push the boundary and all that. It all depends on who said it. If mama says it, you man, you probably got another hour or so. Not to take anything from mama. But when daddy says it, that's probably gonna get done. That's like amen. Yeah, yeah, okay, okay. Yeah. Anyway, anyway, I grew up in a time when uh anything out of your mouth other than yes, sir and yes, ma'am, was just not happening. Bring those times back. Bring those times back. Okay, okay, okay, okay. So, so, so. Jesus says the time is fulfilled. Here's your opportunity right now, and it's not optional. He says, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Obey the gospel. Well, wait a minute. I thought the gospel was optional. We're gonna see that it's not. Matthew chapter 9. Go with me there. Let's see if we can't break that down a little bit. How many of you are getting something already? And you didn't even plan to? Here it is. Matthew chapter 9. Um, I'd like to start in verse, um, let's start in verse 11. Are you with me still? When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, Why is your teacher eating with the tax collectors and the sinners? Verse 12. But when Jesus heard this, he said, It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. Hmm. Verse 13, but go and learn what this means. I desire compassion and not sacrifice. For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners. There's a sickness in the soul. There's a sickness in the soul. Jesus starts out by speaking to those who are, or at least in their mindsets, who are healthy. So, what is healthy? Healthy is in this biblical context as those who have the ability to do life self-sufficiently on their own. How many of you all have figured out that uh you can't do life on your own? Now, it's one thing to recognize that and acknowledge that, it's another thing to go to Jesus. Because what we just read about in remark and mark has got to take place before you even go there, and that is repent. If you've been in a place where you have, and I you've made decisions and they went right down the tube. Anybody? You made some, in fact, you made some decisions. You'd like to have those decisions back right now, wouldn't you? Yeah. There's no wisdom in shoving cocaine up your nose. When you're doing it, you think, oh, yeah, this is wonderful for a moment. But but wisdom, only the wisdom from above is that which underlines and undergirds the bedrock of our faith. Wisdom that comes from above. And so Jesus says, you know, the healthy here, and and uh if we look at uh we don't have to go there, but do write it down. Genesis chapter 3 and verse 6, we see we see how this whole thing got started, where the healthy up through Genesis chapter 2, because Adam and Eve, they were healthy up until Genesis chapter 2. Amen. As you know, the fireworks began in Genesis chapter 3 when it opens up, the curtain is drawn, and Eve is having a conversation with Satan. Craftiest of all. How many of you all have ever had a conversation with Satan? Four people? Yeah. Rest of y'all just lying. Yeah, that's all y'all do. Y'all say I appreciate it. Five people. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so, and so we pass fast forward in that passage. In verse 6 and 7, we see that she ate of the fruit and gave her husband some. Forget about the fact that it was a tree and fruit, and everybody's still trying to figure out what kind of what difference does it make what kind of fruit it was. The problem was they disobeyed God. They had God's command: don't touch the tree, don't eat the fruit. In the moment that you do, you will. Actually, he gave another adjective to that, which only accents what he meant when he said, He says, You will surely die. Sometimes I say amen if you understand. This is God speaking. If God says something is surely going to happen, what's likely to happen? Bingo. If God gives us instructions, if we follow those instructions, the results will be there. But if we don't, that's called Oh, I love it. I love it. Yeah, we're warming up out there. Somebody must have a double latte back there. But yeah, yeah, it's disobedience. And there's a cause for disobedience. It it dripped from the cross. So every time you think about your disobedience, and it doesn't have to be big disobedience, it didn't have to be big, it'd be little disobedience. In fact, that's how it starts. You start disobeying a little bit, and then you start mounting on that, and then the next thing you know, you got a full-blown elephant of disobedience. Somebody say it gets quiet in here, and that's like saying amen. Yeah, I know I'm in your tulips. Yeah, yeah. And so, and so, the healthy. So then we fast forward and then we hear the Spirit of God speak through Paul in Romans 3.23. He says, All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Okay, well then how can there be a contrast between Jesus says, I didn't come for the healthy. The healthy doesn't need a physician. Well, who in the world was he speaking to? Well, if Paul, by the Spirit of God, says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, then we couldn't have had nobody healthy. Somebody say amen if you understand what I'm saying. Nobody was healthy. If we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and we did, yeah, every last one of us was born into iniquity. And and and because of what took place in Genesis 3 and verse 6 and 7, that's why it requires us to have a relationship to repent. To repent, that's how you get it. You can't just blow into the kingdom, it's just not gonna happen like that. It's gonna require you to repent. And the only way you can repent is that you've got to have your eyes open. You have to be enlightened by the revelation of God when you hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, dead, buried, and resurrected. And when your heart has been opened and your ears have been open to that, you receive that gift. Not because you knew to receive it, but because he was enabling you from the inside. Now, my prayer this morning, because this message is not as much about salvation as as much as it's about repentance. Because the reason that the church is so jacked up this day and time is because we are unwilling to repent. Amen. Amen. We know we're sinning, and that's the scary part for me. We know we're sinning, but we ain't got no interest in repenting whatsoever. How many of you will have that words come out of your mouth that you never should have said, and it took you like nine, ten days to even admit it, and then another nine or ten days to even maybe say, I'm sorry. Oh, it got too quiet in here. So, so so yeah, I know I got some takers there. Listen, listen. The conviction that comes from heaven is true. It convicts us, the Holy Spirit, John 16, he's here to convict us of sin and of judgment and of righteousness. And when that conviction falls upon you, you know what the best thing it is for you to do? Be obedient to it. Some of you will be convicted in here this morning. And what the enemy will do is just he'll just wrestle it right away from you, and you'll walk right on out of here, unchanged. And brothers and sisters, that we we got we that just can't happen. Just can't happen. Uh turn to your neighbor and tell them you need to repent. Ooh, wow, that's pretty bold, isn't it? That's pretty bold. Listen, so that you understand the frame of this, don't have to turn to it, but write it down. John 15, uh 5B, let's say. Divine relationship, but Jesus says, Apart from me, you can do nothing. No one in here woke up one morning and says, I'm gonna go to Jesus today. Didn't happen that way. Didn't happen that way. Holy Spirit had to convict you. The Holy Spirit is Jesus says, No one can come to the Father unless the Spirit draws him. If you came here this morning, you thought you would come into church, but the Spirit of God drew you in this place this morning. Yeah. And it should be that way. You should be moving on the Spirit instruction and direction. And we do it way too often on our own. Proverbs 3, 5 warns us lean not to your own understanding. How many of you are guilty of that? Too regularly. Listen, today is the day to repent. You don't ever have to raise your hand to that again. You can repent today. You don't have to wait until it happens again and you go, well, there I go again. And then we have this get out of jail free card and just say, oh, that's just the way Mary is. Or that's just the way John does. Uh-uh. Not in the kingdom of God. That's why repentance is in there. Anyway, anyway, anyway, anyway. He says, I didn't come for the healthy. We've discovered this morning, no one is healthy. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. If you're in this place this morning, if you've never accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, do not leave this sanctuary until you talk to me or some leadership here or someone here that knows the Lord Jesus Christ and can share with you the gift of eternal life. Don't, don't leave here that way. And so he says, okay, so let's talk about those who are sick. Let me give you a little uh uh cacos is the Greek term for that, but let me give you a little umbrella of what that looks like. Here's the sick. They are morally bad, diseased, evil, grievous, miserable. Have I hit anybody yet? Okay, I'm just giving you the definition. This is just the definition. Uh, to be ill from an improper life, distressed and oppressed. That's what sickness is. Oftentimes, when we see it in scripture, when we see Jesus going about healing the sick of all kinds of sicknesses and diseases, we think there were physical healings that were taken care of. And there were some. But consistently, there were sick healings taking place. Because the sickness is not always in our flesh. Come on, somebody say amen. The sickness is in our soul, our inner man. And we feed that inner man some stuff, don't we? Oh, y'all got too quiet on me. How many of you all have Netflix? Don't raise your hand. We feed that inner man some stuff. It doesn't have to be Netflix. Some of it could be C N N, it could be M S N B C and L-M N O P Q R S T. Any of that. But we feed it so much stuff, and then when it comes time to make a godly decision, we're tapped out. Somebody say amen if you know what I'm talking about. We don't hardly even know who Jesus is. And what I encourage pastors and men and marriages and anybody that says that they belong to Jesus, be so close to Jesus you can tell me what he had for breakfast. Walk with him like that. I promise you, he'll breathe on you. Because in that breath is his whole purpose in life. And the fact that we draw that breath every morning, we're tied to his purpose. And if we live that day any other way than for his purpose, we have just done that thing called we need to repent. It's just that sensitive. You know, here's a little, here's a here's a little, well, okay, okay. Um I realize time is of the essence. Turn to Jeremiah chapter 17 and verse 9. Let's talk about the condition you all are in. Just because this thing is screeching, it doesn't mean I just feel like it's gonna be gone any minute now. It could be gone any minute now. And and y'all would just laugh, you'd say, oh, but then you would laugh, wouldn't you? Okay, okay, okay. Did I say, did I say did I say Jeremiah chapter 17? Uh did I say what verse? Okay, so you're already there. Maybe I should get there. Um, I want to give you the condition of what you all look like on any given day. Okay, of what we look like on any given day. The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick. Who can understand it? The heart is deceitful, more deceitful than all else. It's in the top rung. On your best day, and you all look wonderful in here this morning. You do. On your best day, you're carrying around a deceitful heart that's desperately sick. I can guarantee it if you're not plugged into Jesus. Can guarantee it. Guess what? You're making decisions out of that heart. Yeah, you're making decisions out of that. And those sickness decisions seem normal in a culture that's jacked up and all dark, it's all get up. Somebody say amen. Y'all getting quiet. Quiet is just like saying amen. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Yeah. In fact, you just keep saying amen. Nobody will ever know. Yeah, look, look, look, look, look, look, look. Deceitful above all else, desperately sick. Desperately sick. Some translations say wicked. That's what's sitting next to you this morning. Go ahead, take a look at them. You say, but that's my husband and that's my wife. I know these people. I don't care. On any given day, wickedness is gonna flow out of there. Because we think wickedness gotta mean you gotta commit a mass murder or something, or something like that. But that's not what wickedness is. Wickedness is any soul that's not on Jesus. And you can be in Jesus, but not on Jesus any given day. Where my marriage is at? Somebody say amen to that. You can be in Jesus, but it might not be your best day for being on him. Oh, we got any testimonies? I don't have time for them right now, but I know we I know we do. Listen, Jeremiah chapter 7, turn there real quick. Let me give you the the the remedy to that. Jeremiah, and see, these are Old Testament uh testimonies, uh uh uh uh trues revelation, if you will, that has already been set before us. All we have to do is obey it. He tells us that he doesn't want us to go to track that Israel did when that with about 22,000 where the ground just opened up and swallowed them up. Why? Disobedience. Disobedience. Listen, Jeremiah chapter 7 and verse 23. But this is what I commanded them, saying, and this is God speaking now. So it's pretty simple. Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you will be my people, and you will walk in all the way which I command you. And this last phrase is huge for everybody sitting in this building this morning. Why is he told us the precursor to this last phrase? So that it may be well with you, so that it will go well with you. You get those patches of life where it's not going well for you. I don't mean you all, but you may know some Christian people somewhere where you're going along and it's just not working out. It's not going well for them. Why? Because they've forgotten who God is and they've forgotten their role as being one of his children. And whenever you get that out of order, in fact, whenever you ever get anything out of order with God, it's not gonna go well with you. Just not. Remember over in Ephesians chapter 6 when he says, Children, where my children? Raise your hand. Children, yeah, here's the oh, yellow. I mean, like real children, not there, like not. Well, that's I mean, you all are real children too. Yeah, children. I was talking about those that might be still eating biscuits and bacon at your table. Okay, okay. He says, obey your parents, honor and respect them. Why? So that it may go well with you. You discipline a child and they think you just rip their teeth out. And for God's sake, don't ask for their phone. That's your problem right there. You ask for the phone. Okay, okay, no, no, no, no. Let's read, listen, let's let's read verse 24 while I still can can preach. Listen, yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart and went backwards. You know, I love the word of God because you don't even have to figure it out. If you sit there, it'll speak right to you. And it has a way of finding you if you're out of line or out of step. You know what I'm saying? It just won't fit. If I get upset with my wife, I can't just carry it for days. That just bothers the bejeebies out of me. Why? Because it's not in line with God's will. Uh, husbands, just so you know, when your home is in an uproar, not that you all, I'm talking about you might know of some church homes that might be in uproar, if you discover one, um that invoice from heaven is coming right to your mailbox. It's not going to hers, not going to the children's, going to yours. And you better be in a position to get it right. And that begins with us first. Because we're roughly cornerstones. If we don't set our stones, they got no idea where to put theirs. Somebody say amen if you understood what I just said. Yeah. Okay, okay, okay, okay. So, so we know what the sickness is, we know what the healthy is it. And so it's an interesting thing that Jesus says in this text that caught my attention, and I hope it catches yours. Because the process and the manifestation of it happens right in this sanctuary. If if family church is your home, this should be happening. As a matter of fact, next Sunday when y'all come, can y'all just fill this whole area in here out first? Just pack this first. That's that's a little side note. That's just, but it's family church. So I like family, you know. You ever had a family member that irritates the snot out of you? Can I say snot in here? I guess. Yes, okay. Okay, see. Yeah, yeah, they just irritate the snot, but just you know, you love them still. Yeah, please say yes. Okay. Here's something that Jesus says. Matthew. But go and learn what this means. I desire compassion. Oh, did you catch this? Listen, listen. Sick soul. Sick. Evil, wicked soul. Jesus' remedy for it is living compassion. Living compassion. It's a word that'll get away from you if you never practice it. Compassion. Compassion. It means mercy and kindness and active desire. Not just say, boy, I'm a compassionate person. If you're a compassionate person, there will be evidence of your compassion. Jesus in Matthew chapter 9 was so compassionate. He had been going about being among the people at 935, I think it is, being among the people and seeing all of the conditions of the people. They look like a people who were without a shepherd, oppressed and distressed. And the and the scripture says he was taken by compassion. Compassion is a gut level response. It's a gut level response. Something down in here won't let you rest because your compassion is oozing out. Jesus says, Go and learn what this means. I desire compassion and not sacrifice. Well, I sing in the praise team and I usher and I park cars and I'm in the A V and I do this, I do that, I do this. That's wonderful. Great sacrifice. But what's your compassion, Meter? We got people that walk right by people, walk right to a seat, sit down and get up after service over, walk right out, and no one would ever know where they were. No one will ever know they were here. It's not, I don't mean here. I'm talking about in churches. We ought to make it our business to bump in somebody we don't know. In fact, we ought to make it our business to bump into somebody we do know. Because I promise you, everybody in here has got some kind of jacked up that's going on. Nobody here is immune from it. You're pressed in that culture day in and day out. You're pressed in it, pressed in it, and it presses up on you. Gas prices gonna be$6 probably another two months here. We'll get exercised one way or the other, but I'm just saying. God has a way of working those things out, but that culture, the darkness of that culture, can choke you. You listen to enough of it up on TV. Guess where all of these wonderful TV shows come from? Real life, real life stuff. Compassion is the key for a sick soul. The world does not know how to live compassion. They can give till they ain't no tomorrow. They can give to people they don't even know. They have no compassion. Compassion. It's a gentle, it's a mercy, it's an active desire to help a soul. It's a steadfast love, and kindness becomes a lifestyle. It's a lifestyle. Oh, I'm I know it sounds like I'm bragging on them, but I'm not, but it's just what I know. I would lie to you if I didn't. I'm married to one of the most kind women I could ever have known, and I was about to mess it up. Before we, my mother came to me and said, Now, don't mess this up. I listened to my mother. I listened to my mother. Kindness cannot be confused to a soul that is sick. Do you hear what I'm saying? And don't you assign what the sickness is. God knows what it is. That soul, when you give it a drink of kindness water, that soul will gravitate to you. And then don't just give them words out of your mouth, give them truth. Give them the word of God. Because when you leave their presence, they gotta hang their hat on something. It's got to be truth. Otherwise, to no avail. Listen, listen, he says, go and learn what this means. Sacrifice, not sacrifice. For I did not come to call the righteous. I came to call sinners. Now, if you're here today and you know the Lord Jesus Christ, thank God you're not a sinner. Thank God you're not a sinner. I'm gonna help you with this. I'm not gonna leave you out there because I don't want you to walk out of here thinking like you got it, right? You are, according to the word of God, and that's all I'm gonna give you, you are a saint. He calls you a saint who happens to sin. A sinner can't help but much sin. But because of Christ living in you, you are a saint that has something that a sinner doesn't have, and guess what that is, ladies and gentlemen? And I'll give you a hint because we're running out of time. It begins with the letter R. Wait a minute, I've been talking for three hours, nobody picked up on that yet. Okay, here's it, here it is, because we gotta go. Repent. A saint can repent. Yeah, a saint can repent and go on with his life. Why it's so important that you obey the gospel? The gospel has to be shared. You obey the gospel so that you can go on with your life. Why in the world should you go to hell because no one saw fit to share the gospel? Now that's the evangelism piece, but I'm saying, as saints, we do sin. Don't get me wrong here. Yeah. But we have an advocate. We can go to uh first John tells us if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive forgive us and cleanse us from most. Oh, I love this crowd. Oh unrighteousness. Tyler, are you still in the building? Is my pray team? Praise team, they gone home already? Oh, that yeah, there you are. There you are, there you are. Listen, stand to your feet if you will. Because I want you to embrace this as I leave. And I pray that, yes, yes, there you will are. The praise team coming? Yes. Okay, wonderful, wonderful. Many of you don't know this, but Pastor John was coming to with a hook. No, no, I'm only kidding. I'm only kidding. Listen, this is the most important moment of our life in this sanctuary this morning. And I want to pray and I want you to bow your head and pray with me quietly, silently. Father God, we do thank you. And we give you praise. We give you praise for your presence in this place this morning. We're grateful, Lord God, that you saw fit to tap each heart in here. And Lord, you know what you're speaking in this moment. You know exactly what you desire. And so, Father, I pray that this would be fulfilled in this moment and in this time, because a time, the time, has been fulfilled. And Father, I pray that decisions for you right now will be made all across this sanctuary, Lord God, to your glory. If you're here today and you say, Pastor Milton, I've heard the gospel. I believe that Jesus Christ died for my sin and that God raised him from the dead. And I believe that. But I've never consciously given my life to the Lord. I've never consciously accepted that free gift. If that's you in the sanctuary, I just want you to raise your hand right where you are. All over this sanctuary. You don't know the Lord Jesus Christ. If you died today, you do not know the Jesus of eternity. All over this sanctuary. Most important time here in this moment. Yes, you do come to church traditionally, but you've never had an intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Saints pray. All over this sanctuary. If you're here today and you say, Pastor Milton, you came to my street. I know I belong to Jesus, but I know that I'm not living right. I need to repent. If that's you, I want you to raise your hand right where you are. Thank you, Holy Spirit. Keep it up too because I'm gonna pray. Thank you, Holy Spirit. It's not about me and who sees you, it's about God and He sees you. All over this sanctuary, if you know that you belong to Him, but you're not living the way He has called you to live, raise your hand all over the sanctuary. Thank you, Holy Spirit. Father God, you see those hands that are raised before you, not before me and not before others, but before you. And Lord God, you know the need, the boldness required, the motivation required to cause that repentance to take place. Father, pour into their lives right now and give them that boldness to bring their lives back on track with where you are and who you are. Father, let their lives not be the same when they leave this building. Let them recognize, Lord, the encounter that they've had with you and your Holy Spirit. So, Father, we do thank you. We give you praise for those who have made the admission that they desire to repent. Now, Lord, I pray that you would give them godly sorrow, godly sorrow, and that that repentance would take place to your glory. In Jesus' mighty name we pray. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 43:09

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