SPEAKER_01: Welcome to this week's message from the church at Chelsea Westover.
SPEAKER_01: Our core values are vibrant worship, intimate fellowship, fulfilling service, and clear biblical truth.
SPEAKER_01: We pray that this message changes your life.
SPEAKER_01: Let's tune in to today's message and see what God has in store for you.
SPEAKER_00: It's going to give you a test time.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you here new here tonight say, uh-oh, uh, don't give me a test.
SPEAKER_00: I'd flunk it because I haven't been here.
SPEAKER_00: But I want to give you a quick review here if I can, uh, just to kind of remind you where we're going with this.
SPEAKER_00: By the way, the youth group, welcome.
SPEAKER_00: We appreciate having you here.
SPEAKER_00: And please, I encourage you, if you can be here on Friday, come as a group and uh walk through the tabernacle.
SPEAKER_00: And I encourage all of you, if uh maybe you've never prayed a prayer out loud before, don't let that scare you, think it all go to a prayer meeting, someone's gonna call on me to pray.
SPEAKER_00: No, you're we are going to have leaders that will guide you and lead you through the stations, and you can experience, you can pray in your spirit and pray in your heart if you don't want to pray out loud.
SPEAKER_00: But you know, there's many times that people go through this and maybe maybe have never spoken a prayer out loud, and it's that very moment in that tabernacle when they feel that maybe they just want to say a word to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: It could be a simple phrase or a couple words, but just expressing your desire to talk to God means so much.
SPEAKER_00: It'll be a stepping stone for you, it'll be a means for you to grow.
SPEAKER_00: But if you just want to come and walk through the tabernacle, it's impressive enough just to be able to look and see and feel and experience what it was like in ancient Israel as they set up this uh physical tabernacle, and this high priest over here, my friend Levi, would uh take folks through uh their petition, their prayers.
SPEAKER_00: He would intercede for them.
SPEAKER_00: And we talked last night about that inner circle, that inner uh holy place where they did ministry.
SPEAKER_00: Now, let me just speak for a moment here.
SPEAKER_00: I know the ones in the back can't see this, and that's fine.
SPEAKER_00: I I don't know if we have PowerPoint up there or not or not, but uh here we have an outer wall.
SPEAKER_00: We know the wall uh was made of fabric, it was not real uh strong and solid, only the fact that God guarded that wall.
SPEAKER_00: And the Bible says that uh uh that there was a command given forth that you come in by the way of the gate.
SPEAKER_00: So there was a hundred and fifty feet foot wall here, and there were pins and uh pillars that held the wall together, and then it was 75 feet uh wide, but there was only one way into the into that tabernacle that was that was by way of the gate.
SPEAKER_00: And when you step inside the gate, that was the place that represented who of the Trinity?
SPEAKER_00: Inside the gate in the in the in the inner court?
SPEAKER_00: It was Jesus, that's the outer, excuse me, the outer court.
SPEAKER_00: That's where they had the brazen altar, and that's where they had the labor where they washed.
SPEAKER_00: The brazen altar was where the lamb was slain, and there were fly fire that was flying from this, and God sent fire from heaven down to the brazen altar, and uh, and he said, keep the fire burning all the time.
SPEAKER_00: There was constant sacrifice being offered on that altar there, uh, day after day for the sins of the people.
SPEAKER_00: That was substitute, that was representative of the Lord Jesus Christ who was to come in the future, and he would be the sacrificial lamb.
SPEAKER_00: And praise God, we don't have to bring lamb and sheep and bullocks and goats and turtle doves today.
SPEAKER_00: Praise God, Jesus was laid on that cross.
SPEAKER_00: He became the perfect lamb of God that died for your sins and my sins.
SPEAKER_00: So we can boldly come into that outer court, which represents the God incarnate, Jesus in flesh.
SPEAKER_00: And then the labor was daily cleansing, the blood of Jesus that constantly cleanses us and washes us from daily sins.
SPEAKER_00: So when we come into the tabernacle, we're gonna meet Jesus first and thank God for our salvation.
SPEAKER_00: Thank God for the sacrifice that Jesus made.
SPEAKER_00: Number two, we're going to go to the laver, and there's gonna be physical water there.
SPEAKER_00: We'll be washing as a sign or a symbol that we want God to wash us.
SPEAKER_00: We can't come into the presence of Almighty God unless we're clean.
SPEAKER_00: He who comes to God must come with clean hands and a pure heart.
SPEAKER_00: So we cleanse ourselves at the altar there, uh the labor, excuse me.
SPEAKER_00: And then we come into the inner court.
SPEAKER_00: Last night we talked about the inner court.
SPEAKER_00: The inner court, there were three pieces of furniture.
SPEAKER_00: We had in the inner court, first of all, to the left, we had the uh uh lampstand, which is a symbol of the Holy Spirit's light and his wisdom and direction that he gives to us.
SPEAKER_00: And then we go to the other side, which is the table of showbread, where we will be taking communion, speaks of the body and the blood of Christ, the word of God, the living bread, and then the altar of incense, right before we go into the holies of holies, and who's represented there at that prayer altar?
SPEAKER_00: We send up the prayers, we do ministry, we minister for the Lord in that place.
SPEAKER_00: The priests went in there and constantly were interceding for the people, and they were uh making supplication for the tribes of Israel that were camped outside.
SPEAKER_00: They were constantly moving around with bells in their garments, they could tell that they were constantly moving about in the uh inner court there, making supplication and intercession and prayers going up for the people.
SPEAKER_00: So they were ministering, doing service for the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Now, who's represented there?
SPEAKER_00: Well, we talked about the third, second person of the Trinity, which is the Holy Spirit's ministry.
SPEAKER_00: He fills us, the Spirit of God.
SPEAKER_00: Once we get saved, every one of us have a ministry.
SPEAKER_00: Every one of us have a service that we are involved in, doing and interceding and praying for people.
SPEAKER_00: So we serve the Lord in that inner sanction there.
SPEAKER_00: But now we come to this other veil, and the veil, now this is the trek that we're on.
SPEAKER_00: We are in pursuit of God.
SPEAKER_00: We want to come into fellowship with God Almighty.
SPEAKER_00: And God has given us an approach, a path.
SPEAKER_00: That path is through Jesus and through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Now we come to this uh veil that only the high priest would be able to go in once a year and make intercession and sacrifice for the people.
SPEAKER_00: So it was a very sacred place, a very scary place.
SPEAKER_00: Matter of fact, if the high priest was to go into that place with any kind of sin in their life, God would strike them dead in a moment.
SPEAKER_00: No sin was allowed.
SPEAKER_00: They had to make sure methodically and systematically, before they went in there once a year, they had to go.
SPEAKER_00: And the Bible says that they cleansed themselves and they made sure they were spotless as they entered into the presence of God.
SPEAKER_00: So also today in our prayer life, we don't still want to rush into the presence of God.
SPEAKER_00: We want to start the path and the approach and walk toward God.
SPEAKER_00: And when we get to that inner sanctum, the place where God the Father is, that's what we want.
SPEAKER_00: We want our spirit to connect with God's Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: So also, as the tabernacle is three compartments and the Godhead is three in one, so also we, body, soul, and spirit, worship God.
SPEAKER_00: There's a scripture that talks about all three of those body, soul, and spirit may be sanctified wholly unto the day of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So if you want to really want to pray, we have to pray physically with our bodies yielded to God, sacrificed to God as a living sacrifice.
SPEAKER_00: We have to come with the power of the Holy Spirit, praying in the Spirit, working in the Spirit, walking in the Spirit, a pure heart, and then when we come clean, we can go into the presence of God, and there, in the presence of God, we can minister.
SPEAKER_00: Listen very carefully, we can minister to God.
SPEAKER_00: Over 20 passages in the Bible use that phrase.
SPEAKER_00: I started thinking about it this week.
SPEAKER_00: I thought I started thinking to myself, minister to God, minister means what?
SPEAKER_00: Serve or meet needs.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, if you minister to someone, what are you doing?
SPEAKER_00: You're meeting needs or you're helping them.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm thinking to myself, 20 passages in the Bible tell me that I'm supposed to minister to God?
SPEAKER_00: God doesn't have any needs.
SPEAKER_00: God doesn't need a thing.
SPEAKER_00: God doesn't need any help, certainly not Randy Spencer's help.
SPEAKER_00: How can I minister to God?
SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm going to give you four things that God might not need, but God desires.
SPEAKER_00: There's a difference between needing and desiring.
SPEAKER_00: You see, notice very carefully now.
SPEAKER_00: In this inner court, we are ministering for the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: In the Holiest of Holies, we are ministering to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: There's a huge difference.
SPEAKER_00: All the way through the Bible, we find that people were ministering for one another.
SPEAKER_00: The high priests were ministering and serving for the community.
SPEAKER_00: But in the inner court, we come to that place where we minister to God.
SPEAKER_00: Well, what are you going to do in the inner court?
SPEAKER_00: Or, excuse me, in the holiest of holies.
SPEAKER_00: What are you going to do for God?
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to give you several things here.
SPEAKER_00: Number one, how we minister to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Acts chapter 13, verse 2 says, And they were ministering to the Lord and fasting.
SPEAKER_00: This is the church where Paul and Sinas were, or Saul and Barnabas, excuse me, were ordained.
SPEAKER_00: And the Holy Spirit said, Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work of which I have called them.
SPEAKER_00: Number one, they prayed and ministered to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: If you want to minister to God, probably the best thing you can do, teenagers, the best thing you could do to be able to serve God is to talk to Him.
SPEAKER_00: If you have a relationship with Him, we have to commune with Him.
SPEAKER_00: No, as I said Sunday morning, no one has a relationship with someone unless you're on speaking terms.
SPEAKER_00: And the Bible simply says, if my children will speak to me and I can speak to them, it would be ministering to me.
SPEAKER_00: So God is ministered to through our prayers.
SPEAKER_00: Number two, Psalms chapter 101, verse 6, my eyes will be on the faithful in the land that they may dwell with me.
SPEAKER_00: The one whose walk is blameless will minister to me.
SPEAKER_00: Let me say it again.
SPEAKER_00: The one or the person whose walk is blameless will minister to me.
SPEAKER_00: God is also ministered to by your purity, by your walk before him.
SPEAKER_00: So if I want to minister to God when I get to the holiest of holies, number one, I talk to him and allow him to talk to me.
SPEAKER_00: Number two, I make sure that my life is clean and that my walk is clean.
SPEAKER_00: I live a pure life before God.
SPEAKER_00: And number three, we find also we minister to the Lord in Isaiah chapter 56, verse 6, and the foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and be his servants, all who keep his commandments.
SPEAKER_00: Obedience also ministers to God.
SPEAKER_00: Prayer, purity, and performance.
SPEAKER_00: Obedience, saying, God, I will serve you.
SPEAKER_00: And get minister.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, there's one more.
SPEAKER_00: The other one is you minister to God by honoring and respecting Him.
SPEAKER_00: I'm telling you what, young person and old person, today we are living in a generation where the respect for authority has diminished.
SPEAKER_00: We can't, we, we, we seem to have a trouble with understanding the word respect, honor, and to revere someone.
SPEAKER_00: God says, you minister to me when you respect my authority.
SPEAKER_00: I want to tell you what, God made it clear with this art.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the Ark of the Covenant.
SPEAKER_00: God made it clear when you come through that veil and you come into the holiest of holies, you understood that that box was full of power.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, there was electric come from that box.
SPEAKER_00: The angel, the cherubims, overshadowed that box.
SPEAKER_00: It was called the mercy seat and the Ark of the Covenant or the testimony of the covenant.
SPEAKER_00: And the Bible says that God dwelt there.
SPEAKER_00: That was his physical presence on earth.
SPEAKER_00: And the thing that blows my mind that God loved me so much.
SPEAKER_00: I said this Sunday morning, God loved me so much that he was willing to leave the beauty and the glories and the splendor of heaven to come down here to a sin-cursed earth to be able to dwell among us.
SPEAKER_00: No, Jesus isn't coming back.
SPEAKER_00: That's just something falling off the wall over there, okay?
SPEAKER_00: A couple of people cleared the seat by a few inches there, you know.
SPEAKER_00: Uh-oh, the holiness of God.
SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you what, God wanted to put fear in the hearts of the priest and said to them, if you come into my presence without meeting these conditions to minister to me, prayer, purity, obedience, or performance, and respect and reverence toward me, you'll be struck dead.
SPEAKER_00: I want to tell you what, it's pretty hard to find a person that wants to go into the Holies of Holies.
SPEAKER_00: They only went in once a year, but I imagine they drew straws on that deal.
SPEAKER_00: You know, who's going to go into the Holies of Holies with that kind of condition upon them?
SPEAKER_00: Well, praise God.
SPEAKER_00: Let me give you the little secret.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus paid it to the place when he died on the cross, that temple that had that veil that was that was uh four inches thick and uh sixty feet long and thirty feet high, and it took 300 priests to be able to pull it up into place and set it.
SPEAKER_00: When Jesus died on the cross, the Bible says God reached down.
SPEAKER_00: When Jesus' body was rent, God reached down and that veil was ripped from the top to the bottom.
SPEAKER_00: Not from the it wasn't a work of man, folks.
SPEAKER_00: You don't rip something four inches thick, sixty feet uh long and thirty feet high.
SPEAKER_00: It was the dynamic hand of God reached down and grabbed that veil and said, now all the fear and all the trembling and all the uh all the the requirements of the Old Testament law, I'm going to tear it so that you can come boldly to the throne of God by the grace of Jesus Christ provided for us.
SPEAKER_00: So we have the opportunity today, through Jesus, what these high priests had to go through all these rigmaroles and all these rituals and all this fear and trembling, we can come boldly with our prayers to God.
SPEAKER_00: But I want to share with you one thing.
SPEAKER_00: As we look at this Ark of the Covenant, it's not with trembling and fear we come because of our relationship with the Father.
SPEAKER_00: But that does not diminish or eliminate the fact that if we come into the presence of God, we better come with prayer and purity and obedience and respect.
SPEAKER_00: God wants us to honor and respect Him from the depths of our heart.
SPEAKER_00: God, what does God need?
SPEAKER_00: God wants us.
SPEAKER_00: God wants your heart, teenager.
SPEAKER_00: God wants your love.
SPEAKER_00: And he's made a path and approach for you through the person of Jesus to come into his presence.
SPEAKER_00: Praise God for that entrance made open for us.
SPEAKER_00: I love the chat uh Psalms chapter 73, verse 25.
SPEAKER_00: I love this verse.
SPEAKER_00: It says, Whom have I, the psalmist writes, in heaven but you, O God?
SPEAKER_00: In other words, he was just saying, of all the things of earth, all the things that I could have, all the things I could request or ask for, who would I who do I have in heaven but you, O Lord?
SPEAKER_00: And there is none on earth that I desire besides you.
SPEAKER_00: Is that your heart tonight?
SPEAKER_00: Do you want God?
SPEAKER_00: Are you hungry for God?
SPEAKER_00: Are you thirsty for God?
SPEAKER_00: Do your heart does your heart long for him?
SPEAKER_00: Do you want to get into his presence?
SPEAKER_00: Do you want to feel the power of this Ark of the Covenant?
SPEAKER_00: Let me take you on a little journey.
SPEAKER_00: I made reference to it the other night, but this is this is probably one of the most fascinating little passages of scripture because it points out the fear that they had to enter into in the Old Testament here coming into the presence of God.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to turn there, but just listen while I read.
SPEAKER_00: It's found in 1 Samuel chapter 3.
SPEAKER_00: It talks about the boy Samuel.
SPEAKER_00: And there again, that minister, that word comes again to us.
SPEAKER_00: And now the boy Samuel in chapter 3, verse 1, ministered to the Lord before Eli.
SPEAKER_00: I want to tell you, young person, as young as you are, Samuel was a young boy.
SPEAKER_00: He ministered to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: There's a challenge for you.
SPEAKER_00: You could set, you could set the pace.
SPEAKER_00: As a matter of fact, I find many times it's teenagers that set the pace for all the church by their love for the Lord and their walk with God.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to wait and think I've got to grow up before I can be spiritual.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to tell you what, I see young people that are on fire for God to the point where they're the ones setting the pace many times for their parents and their and the adults.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, get on fire for God.
SPEAKER_00: Young Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli.
SPEAKER_00: Who is Eli?
SPEAKER_00: Eli was the high priest of Israel and the judge of Israel.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, a man, old, an older man in his 90s.
SPEAKER_00: And here's little Samuel ministering before the Lord in Eli's company.
SPEAKER_00: And you can minister for the Lord at your young age.
SPEAKER_00: There's no age limit on ministering to the Lord and coming to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: But there was a problem.
SPEAKER_00: It wasn't Samuel that the problem was.
SPEAKER_00: The problem was with Eli, the high priest.
SPEAKER_00: The problem was with Israel when they decided to not follow God and not regard the things that God had set for the tabernacle.
SPEAKER_00: And what they did was began to disregard the commands that God gave about the tabernacle.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't do it properly.
SPEAKER_00: Matter of fact, the tabernacle was everything but shut down.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: And it was desecrated.
SPEAKER_00: Eli's two sons, Hoffni and Phinehas, or Phinehas, were the scripture says to me that in the chapter before that they were wicked men.
SPEAKER_00: Eli failed to raise up his teenagers.
SPEAKER_00: And Eli failed to correct his young men, the teenagers, who were also serving in the tabernacle.
SPEAKER_00: The tabernacle had deteriorated to such a point that Eli was old and he heard every he heard everything his sons did in all of Israel.
SPEAKER_00: They were a bunch of rowdy rebels and uh uh scandal, scandalous activities and scoundrels they were.
SPEAKER_00: And they, it says here, even laid with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
SPEAKER_00: And Eli did nothing about it.
SPEAKER_00: The tabernacle was in ruins.
SPEAKER_00: Everything that God had established, the priest and all of Israel was disrespecting it.
SPEAKER_00: So what was taking place?
SPEAKER_00: Well, sad thing about it, it says, and it came to pass at that time when Eli was laying down to sleep, and when his eyes had begun to grow dim, that he could not see.
SPEAKER_00: And before, listen to me, verse 3, and before the lamp of God went out in the tabernacle of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the lamp of God, and the commandment was to keep oil in the lamp and keep it burning continuously.
SPEAKER_00: You could go to Exodus chapter 27, I believe, verse 20, and it says that God commanded that once that lamp was lit, that the priest's job was to make sure there was always fresh oil in there and never let it go out.
SPEAKER_00: It was the only light that was in there, and the Bible says the lamp was flickering and about to go out.
SPEAKER_00: There was nothing left of the light of the tabernacle.
SPEAKER_00: The priesthood had been defiled, the tabernacle had been neglected, the Lord had been disregarded.
SPEAKER_00: It was a sad place in Israel's history.
SPEAKER_00: And the Lord uh said to Samuel, Come here.
SPEAKER_00: And God called Samuel.
SPEAKER_00: I want to tell you, no matter how bad the church gets, God still has a generation of ones that'll come in and stand and live the righteous life and do the job of God.
SPEAKER_00: Young person tonight, you could you could be the next generation that would help to correct where the church is today.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to me, young people.
SPEAKER_00: Is it pastor, Pastor Lovett and myself down at Liberty University?
SPEAKER_00: One of the most exciting years I had was to work with young people that knew that they could change the next generation of young pastors could change the course of the world and change the course of the church.
SPEAKER_00: There's churches out there everywhere that are dying, and young people, they need some life.
SPEAKER_00: I was in church after church where there's heart.
SPEAKER_00: The youngest, I matter of fact, I called my sister the other day.
SPEAKER_00: She was in church and I said, How'd church service go?
SPEAKER_00: She says, She kind of laughed as she said, Oh, we had a good time uh in the senior saint center.
SPEAKER_00: And I said, What do you mean?
SPEAKER_00: She said, My husband and I, and they are 68 years old and 70 years old, said, We are the youngest ones in the church.
SPEAKER_00: And I thought to myself, what?
SPEAKER_00: I teased her and I said, You need to start a youth group.
SPEAKER_00: Everyone uh 70 and older, you know, can be, or 70 and younger could be part of your youth group.
SPEAKER_00: It's ridiculous.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to me, there's churches that would beg for young blood in a new generation because it's going to be on your shoulders, young people.
SPEAKER_00: It's up to you to carry this uh uh robe.
SPEAKER_00: It's up to you to do what the work of the priesthood and keep the church alive and keep the oil in the lamp.
SPEAKER_00: That old song, give me oil in my lamp, keep it burning, keep it burning until the break of day or till the day of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Uh give me gas for my ford, keep me trucking for the Lord, all those things we sang when we were kids.
SPEAKER_00: Keep oil in the lamp in the church, don't let the lights go out.
SPEAKER_00: And you're in a church here that's filled with the Spirit and filled with life.
SPEAKER_00: Young person, serve God, pray to God, be pure, be obedient to God, and honor and respect God when you come into his presence and understand that you're going to be the next generation as Samuel was to make a difference.
SPEAKER_00: Well, we find in the scriptures that things began to get even darker.
SPEAKER_00: We find in the scriptures that the word of God was rare in those days.
SPEAKER_00: What does it mean the word of God was rare?
SPEAKER_00: It means that God wasn't speaking anymore.
SPEAKER_00: It's sad today, but I wonder how many churches hear the voice of God.
SPEAKER_00: When the word of God is rare today, it ought to break our hearts.
SPEAKER_00: When the word of God is not seen and felt in a long, long time, it ought to break our hearts.
SPEAKER_00: The word of God was rare.
SPEAKER_00: And they had problems in those days because they weren't hearing from God.
SPEAKER_00: And if we're not hearing from God and God stopped speaking to us and we stop speaking to God, what that simply means is we're alienated ourselves from the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Number two, there were no visions and revelations, the Bible says.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, the work had ceased.
SPEAKER_00: Where there's no vision, the people perish.
SPEAKER_00: We need a vision.
SPEAKER_00: And when we have when God's not speaking to us and we're not going anywhere serving God because we have no direction, we're in sad shape, as it was in Israel.
SPEAKER_00: And number three, ere the lamp of God went out in the tabernacle, the lights were growing dim.
SPEAKER_00: Well, God was raising up a uh a Samuel to take the place.
SPEAKER_00: But this I want to tell you the consequences when the church gets in that shape.
SPEAKER_00: And chapter four, it tells us the consequence.
SPEAKER_00: What happened now?
SPEAKER_00: Uh tabernacle was wasn't working the way it needs to work, and that's why it's important that we understand the power of the tabernacle.
SPEAKER_00: It's not working the way it should be working.
SPEAKER_00: And all of a sudden, Israel was called to battle to the Philistines.
SPEAKER_00: And I'll do this very quickly.
SPEAKER_00: Seven consequences because the church was.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, if the man of God is not right, Eli's not right, the church is not going to be right.
SPEAKER_00: And if the church is not right, the nation's not going to be right.
SPEAKER_00: We have to have men of God in the pulpits that make sure the church is right so the nation goes right.
SPEAKER_00: And if we're going to see a healing in our land, it's going to be.
SPEAKER_00: And the only victory, the only strength we're going to have is when we come strongly as the church and as men of God stand up and preach the word.
SPEAKER_00: But what happened was the Philistines went to battle.
SPEAKER_00: And as they were going to battle with the Philistines, they just thought, well, business as usual.
SPEAKER_00: God has always protected us and we're more powerful.
SPEAKER_00: So the armies of Israel went against the Philistines, and all of a sudden they found that they had no power.
SPEAKER_00: 4,000 footmen died on the battlefield and they chased them back to their camp.
SPEAKER_00: And when they got back to their camp, they got together and said, What in the world happened?
SPEAKER_00: God, where are you?
SPEAKER_00: We thought we could trust you.
SPEAKER_00: God, where were you when we needed you?
SPEAKER_00: 4,000 men died.
SPEAKER_00: The Philistines drove us out.
SPEAKER_00: And all of a sudden, one of them said, Well, you know what we need to do?
SPEAKER_00: We need to go down and get the Ark of the Covenant.
SPEAKER_00: We need to go get that box out of the tabernacle, and all that'll fix it.
SPEAKER_00: And all of a sudden they brought the Ark of the Covenant in, and all of Israel gathered together and they started cheering and shouting.
SPEAKER_00: And man, the noise scared the Philistines half to death.
SPEAKER_00: They thought, man, the boy the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is coming through again, and man, they're getting their armies together, and all of a sudden the Bible says they mustered up strength and said, Man, let's stand strong, let's not back down.
SPEAKER_00: And the children of Israel went into the battle with the Philistines, and this time, instead of losing 4,000, they lost four.
SPEAKER_00: 30,000 men died on the battlefield and they chased them back to their camp.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to me, when the temple is not right, when the church is not right, there's no victory in our nation.
SPEAKER_00: If we want to see America turn back to God, we got to get the church right before the nation's right.
SPEAKER_00: And men are going to die.
SPEAKER_00: And I'll tell you something else.
SPEAKER_00: Not only are we going to lose men, not only are we going to lose power as military power and a national power, but we're we're also going to lose our children.
SPEAKER_00: Because Eli lost his two sons, Hophni and Phineas.
SPEAKER_00: Both died in battle.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it just keeps getting worse.
SPEAKER_00: Both of them died in battle now.
SPEAKER_00: And Eli himself, when he got the news, fell over backward and broke his neck and he died.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, could anything else go wrong here?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, everything's, I mean, the the 34,000 die, 30,000 die.
SPEAKER_00: The priest uh son's both dead now.
SPEAKER_00: And the high priest falls over and breaks his neck, and everybody in Israel's saying, What in the world's happened?
SPEAKER_00: Well, I'll tell them what happened.
SPEAKER_00: You gotta get back to church and make the church right.
SPEAKER_00: You gotta get the lamp burning again.
SPEAKER_00: You gotta get on your knees and pray.
SPEAKER_00: You've got to get back to pure living and walking with God and talking.
SPEAKER_00: You gotta get back on talking terms to God.
SPEAKER_00: Well, that wasn't the final thing, because when Phineas's uh wife heard that uh Phineas was dead in battle, she was pregnant with a child, and as she was bearing the child, she died.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, can it get any worse?
SPEAKER_00: But then the midwife, as that child was born, said, God, it's obvious that you're not here anymore.
SPEAKER_00: She named that little baby Ichabod, which means the glory of God is departed.
SPEAKER_00: God help our churches today.
SPEAKER_00: God help us today that we don't have that statement made of us.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to tell you, if we don't get our churches praying again, if we don't get our churches living a pure life again, if we don't get back where we need to be, churches are gonna continue to keep closing down and shutting down, and we're gonna see a continual overcome of the enemy over our lives.
SPEAKER_00: I was sad, sad is is what, I don't know how many years ago.
SPEAKER_00: I was down in West Virginia.
SPEAKER_00: I was pastoring a little church down there years ago, and uh I was out driving one day back through the back alleys and down through the hills and the hollers, as they say over there, and I got so far back in visiting this couple that gave me direct.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I I I got to a place where I was crossing creeks and walking up paths and getting, I finally got to this old cabin and I visited these folks that said they were were wanted to come to church.
SPEAKER_00: So I visited with them, prayed with them, and on the way out of there, I noticed as I was driving through the brush and the brambles, scratching both sides of the car, I looked up through the weeds and I saw an old steeple of a church.
SPEAKER_00: I stopped the car and I thought to myself, there can't be a church out here in the middle of nowhere in the midst of West Virginia Hills.
SPEAKER_00: There just can't be a church up there.
SPEAKER_00: I shut the car off and I walked up through the brambles and the brush and the briars and got up there, Danny, and there was the neatest little wood, white wood frame church, and it had an old broken-down sign on it called Methodist Church.
SPEAKER_00: And I thought to myself, there was a time that almost every hill and every holler and every corner and every in every every cove, every village had a Methodist church in it.
SPEAKER_00: And I thought to myself, what happened to the churches in America as I looked at this little white wood frame church that shut down?
SPEAKER_00: I thought to myself, how many churches no longer survive?
SPEAKER_00: I walked into that church, and it was like something had happened in a moment, like Jesus came and caught them all.
SPEAKER_00: I opened the door up.
SPEAKER_00: There was dust everywhere, there was old gasoline lights hanging from the ceiling, an old pump organ on this side, a pulpit on the platform on this side, and a piano over here, and the pews were all there, and there was hymn books in the in the hymn, uh hymnals in the in the book racks.
SPEAKER_00: And I thought to myself, I just stood there for a moment, and and God spoke to my heart and said, Randy Spencer, if something doesn't happen in America, this is going to be the sign of churches all across this country where just simply people disappear.
SPEAKER_00: They just uh it was like I walked up there to that altar and I looked down at that they even had an old family Bible there, and I opened up that family Bible, and the words of the Samuel came to my mind.
SPEAKER_00: Ere the lamp of God went out in the house of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: I stood there and wept.
SPEAKER_00: And I could almost, as I was standing there in front of that little church, I could almost hear the shouts of glory, the old time saints meeting in there.
SPEAKER_00: I could almost hear that pump organ rattling and the piano rattling and singing and praising God.
SPEAKER_00: I could almost hear the shouts of glory.
SPEAKER_00: I could almost see the horse and buggies drawing up through those old paths up there on Sunday, and when they'd bring chicken on the ground and bring their dinner that day, and they'd sit around all day long and fellowship and rejoice and have revivals, and people would get saved, and they'd walk them down to the creek and baptize them.
SPEAKER_00: I could almost feel it there, and I stood there and I said, God, never let our churches in America die like this.
SPEAKER_00: God, save the church.
SPEAKER_00: God help us.
SPEAKER_00: Well, what happened was the Philistines, not only did that all take place, but the final thing was, here we go.
SPEAKER_00: Final thing, the Philistines took the Ark of the Covenant.
SPEAKER_00: They thought to themselves, oh, you think your Ark of the Covenant's gonna save you?
SPEAKER_00: Man, you had we we chased them out of here, and they left so fast they left the golden box sitting in the middle of the battlefield.
SPEAKER_00: The Philistines said, Man, that would, that kind of gold box would look pretty good back in our house with uh Dagon, our God, and we'll put it back in our temple.
SPEAKER_00: So they loaded up that old box.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't know that inside that they didn't know inside that old box.
SPEAKER_00: They may have chased Israel out, but they didn't chase God out.
SPEAKER_00: And God had his power and anointing in that box right there, and God said, You touch this box and you're gonna die.
SPEAKER_00: The Philistines grabbed that box, carried it back, and put it in their temple, and oh what happened that night?
SPEAKER_00: Dag on the God, uh Dagmonit, yeah.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, he fell off that thing and smashed himself.
SPEAKER_00: He broke his arms off, and they came out the next morning and thought to themselves, what in the world happened to our God that's laying here?
SPEAKER_00: Just a torso is laying there.
SPEAKER_00: They grabbed it and set it back up on the pedestal the next day, and the next day they come out, and then it was smashed again.
SPEAKER_00: And God is saying, There's no God gonna stand before me.
SPEAKER_00: I'll not take second place.
SPEAKER_00: I am the God of God, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords.
SPEAKER_00: Well, the Philistines were kind of getting the message at that point, and they thought to themselves, well, what are we gonna do with this old box?
SPEAKER_00: They took it out of that place there and just set it in the street or wherever, put it in someone's house, and all of a sudden God sent a plague to those people.
SPEAKER_00: Tumors hit their bodies.
SPEAKER_00: Hemorrhoids.
SPEAKER_00: Don't tell me God doesn't have a sense of humor.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, everyone in the Philistines started getting big old hemorrhoids.
SPEAKER_00: And the and the worst thing about it was they didn't even have preparation age.
SPEAKER_00: Tell them that's what the word says.
SPEAKER_00: They don't believe it.
SPEAKER_00: It is.
SPEAKER_00: I'm telling you, I know you laugh, but that's that's from the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: They got these hemorrhoids.
SPEAKER_00: You say, is that in the word?
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it is.
SPEAKER_00: Go home and read the passage.
SPEAKER_00: They grip big tumors and hemorrhoids.
SPEAKER_00: And then, oh, I I they they won't believe this one.
SPEAKER_00: But when they when the when when the Philistines said, we need to get this thing out of here, someone get this thing back to Israel.
SPEAKER_00: We don't, we got it, we got all these problems on the lower acreage, and we need to get this, we need to get this ark out of here.
SPEAKER_00: And someone, someone uh takes it back.
SPEAKER_00: They tried shuffling it from city to city.
SPEAKER_00: They went to Goth, they went to Elkton or whatever it was, they shuffled the thing around to several different cities, and before they got rid of it, they went to Israel and said, please, please, take the box back.
SPEAKER_00: Take the box back.
SPEAKER_00: We don't want it anymore.
SPEAKER_00: I don't care what the gold is in there, just take it.
SPEAKER_00: Well, Israel said, You want us to take it back?
SPEAKER_00: For every hemorrhoid you have, put a put a make a golden hemorrhoid, and we'll take it back by golden hemorrhoids, made of solid gold.
SPEAKER_00: I'm telling you the truth.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, the Bible isn't God, tell me God doesn't have a sense of humor.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna tell you what.
SPEAKER_00: That ought to put some fear in you.
SPEAKER_00: Don't mess with God.
SPEAKER_00: See, here's here's here's my point.
SPEAKER_00: I could go on and I could tell you this Ark of the Covenant, this box, and the power that was in it.
SPEAKER_00: I could tell you the judgment that God brought upon Israel because of their disrespect for it.
SPEAKER_00: I could tell you about the fear and trembling that they went in to the temple time after time, and they and people were struck dead because of this.
SPEAKER_00: But here's the good news everything that Israel had to go through, Jesus died for that and paid for that, so that now we don't have to come with fear and trembling into the presence of God.
SPEAKER_00: We can come with boldness.
SPEAKER_00: And listen to me, I want to share one other thing.
SPEAKER_00: When I say boldness, it doesn't mean with casualty or excuse me, cat uh commonplace or casual appearance, it doesn't mean haphazardly or flippantly or lightly.
SPEAKER_00: Boldness simply means we can come with confidence to know.
SPEAKER_00: But but what does that does that eliminate or does that uh spell spell out the fact that we don't have to come before the Lord with fear?
SPEAKER_00: I think something that's see, even though even though Jesus has paid for all this to make this a welcome place, see the what is called is a mercy seat.
SPEAKER_00: And because when we come into the presence of God on Friday night, when we come to this with this box, God's not in a box anymore.
SPEAKER_00: That's right, God's inside of you.
SPEAKER_00: And what God is saying to us, have respect for the God that lives inside of you.
SPEAKER_00: Your body is six different scriptures in the New Testament says, my body was bought with a price.
SPEAKER_00: Young person, remember that.
SPEAKER_00: When you want to give yourself up to impurity, or you want to give yourself to some nice looking guy someplace in the backseat of a car, or you want to smoke dope or drink alcohol or get yourself looped up or whatever, whatever you do, you want to destroy your body, just remember what God said to you, young person.
SPEAKER_00: And all per all of us, God has said to us, our bodies, that's my dwelling place.
SPEAKER_00: It's the tabernacle, treat it with respect and honor because I live in it.
SPEAKER_00: God lives inside of every one of you.
SPEAKER_00: All of us have God living here.
SPEAKER_00: And he said, as Israel honored that holiest of holies, so honor your body and make sure that you respect me and honor me.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, God does want us to enter with fear.
SPEAKER_00: Hebrews chapter 10.
SPEAKER_00: Where is it?
SPEAKER_00: I I kind of wonder if there's any fear left, the fear of God.
SPEAKER_00: Now I'm not talking about being uh trembling and shaking.
SPEAKER_00: There's a difference between the fear of God uh and uh uh and the spirit of fear.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible tells us, you know, we don't have the spirit of fear, but love, power, and a sound mind.
SPEAKER_00: He's not talking, he's not talking about and first John also says that uh there's no fear in love.
SPEAKER_00: And perfect love casts out fear because fears uh involves torment.
SPEAKER_00: And he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
SPEAKER_00: We I understand that.
SPEAKER_00: That's that that's terror fear.
SPEAKER_00: But God is saying, you need to fear me as respect me, respecting me and honoring me today when you come into my presence.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm afraid today that we've lost the wonder of the holiest of holies.
SPEAKER_00: We've lost the wonder of God, all of us.
SPEAKER_00: We've lost the wonder of God's might and power.
SPEAKER_00: In the New Testament, don't tell me that God wasn't even in the New Testament trying to send a message when Ananias, what happened to Ananias and Sapphira when they lied to the Holy Spirit?
SPEAKER_00: They were struck dead.
SPEAKER_00: And the Bible says it brought fear upon all the church.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, God wants to be feared today.
SPEAKER_00: And Hebrews chapter 10, verse 19 through 22 says, Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence, we can enter into this holy place by the blood of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Make sure you come by his way, by the new and living way opened for us through the curtain that God tore the veil into because he rent his body of his own son and drew us near with a sincere heart full of assurance.
SPEAKER_00: We're living in a day today, honestly, where uh we're not fearing God.
SPEAKER_00: There's no fear in church, no fear, because we live in a day of tolerance, everything's acceptable.
SPEAKER_00: God's gonna love you regardless of how you act or how you live.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, and and he does love you, but he doesn't he doesn't accept it.
SPEAKER_00: You can't have a relationship with God.
SPEAKER_00: And we live in a day of no moral absolutes, relativism rages in our society, our generation, generation after generation, has dwindled in their respect for one another and for authority.
SPEAKER_00: There's no regard to anyone except for ourselves, yeah, and there's no there's no fear of punishment or discipline.
SPEAKER_00: Our kids aren't being disciplined, there's no get discipline in our judicial system, and we just kind of get the idea we get away with anything that we want to.
SPEAKER_00: And God is some kind of big sugar daddy up in the up in the sky, and he'll forgive us all.
SPEAKER_00: And he's just a big old gray-haired uh granddaddy up there in Santa Claus that just wants to give us gifts and we can just act that.
SPEAKER_00: I've actually had people say to me, I God understands my situation.
SPEAKER_00: I know I'm living in sin, and I know I'm living in immorality, and I know I'm not doing what I should be doing, but God knows that and He He loves me and forgives me anyway.
SPEAKER_00: Is that a fear of God?
SPEAKER_00: And they expect to walk into the presence of God when God says, You regard iniquity in your heart, I can't hear you.
SPEAKER_00: You don't come into my holy presence with impure heart.
SPEAKER_00: I understand this is hard stuff, especially for some of the teenagers.
SPEAKER_00: And all of us need a lesson in just being able to understand that God still demands us to fear him and honor him and respect.
SPEAKER_00: I I was I I can't remember where I was.
SPEAKER_00: This is several years back.
SPEAKER_00: I was walking down a street, and I saw this guy uh standing on a street corner, and uh he was a tall, spindly guy, and uh he had a t-shirt on.
SPEAKER_00: And on the back of it, I just happened to notice.
SPEAKER_00: I like to read t-shirts.
SPEAKER_00: Some of them get like uh whole uh chapters on the back there, and I can't stop and read it, you know.
SPEAKER_00: But uh this one was pretty easy to read.
SPEAKER_00: It just simply said, ain't scared.
SPEAKER_00: And I thought to myself, what?
SPEAKER_00: Ain't scared.
SPEAKER_00: And on the front of it had a thing up here, no fear.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, this guy was tall and skinny, about in his mid-30s or whatever, and his arms looked like two strings of spaghetti.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, his pants were hanging down to his knees, and he had this old baggy shirt on with this words, no, no, ain't scared.
SPEAKER_00: And I thought to myself, if I was just wicked enough, uh I'd like to wait till a dark alley and have that guy walk down, and I'd like to jump out behind a dumpster.
SPEAKER_00: And I'll tell you what, he'd clear his pants in a moment.
SPEAKER_00: I'm telling you what, scared or no skiered, that man is gonna jump.
SPEAKER_00: We get the idea, you know, we live in a day of extreme sports.
SPEAKER_00: We live in a day where fear factor, you know, we try to push the limits.
SPEAKER_00: Is there anything gonna scare you?
SPEAKER_00: We got these roller coasters that go up to the moon and soar down to hell or whatever they do.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, they grow the geese and the gravity that they have to endure takes them to the very limit of almost passing out.
SPEAKER_00: We go to these big haunted houses to try to see if anyone's gonna get scared.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna tell you what, we need to understand that God wants us to be scared of him.
SPEAKER_00: God wants us to honor him and respect him and understand we need to bow to him because if we don't, one day the Bible says every knee's gonna bow, every tongue's gonna confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God.
SPEAKER_00: What I'd really like to do with that young man and say there's someone you better be afraid of.
SPEAKER_00: And I've noticed even while he was talking to his friends, that every word out of his mouth practically was the God word, cursing God.
SPEAKER_00: And I thought to myself, friend, there's somebody that you better be scared of and you better get your heart right with God before Jesus comes back here before you die.
SPEAKER_00: There's someone you need to bow to.
SPEAKER_00: And we might as well do it here today, adults.
SPEAKER_00: Might as well surrender it to him.
SPEAKER_00: Give it all to him.
SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you what.
SPEAKER_00: I have, I don't say this in any type, it's it's my where are we at?
SPEAKER_00: I'm about finished.
SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you a couple stories here and we're done.
SPEAKER_00: I don't say this in any way in a I let me talk to young people here today, because I know there's some of you sitting there saying, God doesn't love me or God doesn't have a plan for my life.
SPEAKER_00: I I'm not important to God.
SPEAKER_00: I grew up on a I grew up in poverty.
SPEAKER_00: I grew- I uh if you could if I could take you back to the farm that I grew up on 100 acres in central Pennsylvania, up in the wilderness, uh, up in up in snow country.
SPEAKER_00: You don't even know y'all don't even know what you you talking, you're telling me this is winter out there.
SPEAKER_00: Good night.
SPEAKER_00: Come on, folks.
SPEAKER_00: Come with me to Pennsylvania in the midst of winter.
SPEAKER_00: My sister up there right now called me the other day and they had 10 below zero up there, and it was big old snows coming up through there, drift after drift, and snowstorm after snowstorm hitting the New England states.
SPEAKER_00: I grew up in that kind of poverty.
SPEAKER_00: I grew up in a little uh farmhouse and my dad had eight milk and cows.
SPEAKER_00: When I was born, there was something peculiar about me because I uh, and there's still something peculiar about me.
SPEAKER_00: Danny says, Danny says, you know, you're you're different in the pulpit.
SPEAKER_00: Uh you're you're kind of calm and and and kind of quiet, you know, outside the pulpit.
SPEAKER_00: But when you get in the pulpit, you come you come alive.
SPEAKER_00: But I'm gonna tell you what, when I was born, I was born a very, very uh shy, introvert type boy.
SPEAKER_00: My mom was concerned because I I was five years old and hadn't said anything yet.
SPEAKER_00: Dad's like, he's all right, man.
SPEAKER_00: When he wants to say something, he'll say it.
SPEAKER_00: I wasn't I wasn't talking.
SPEAKER_00: And uh dad just simply said he doesn't have anything to say yet.
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, well, someday he'll come up with something.
SPEAKER_00: And um uh when it comes, you know, they didn't have kindergarten back then.
SPEAKER_00: They had uh, you started at first grade in the one-room schoolhouse, and uh outhouses and the whole thing, and the old uh the old water dipper, you know, and the old potbelly stove.
SPEAKER_00: That's that's what I grew up with.
SPEAKER_00: And uh I didn't talk.
SPEAKER_00: Anytime company came, I ran to the barn and hid.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, no one I I was always called Bob's Boy.
SPEAKER_00: And no one even knew my name.
SPEAKER_00: It was Bob's Boy.
SPEAKER_00: When company came, I took off.
SPEAKER_00: I was seven years old, and mom says, You're gonna have to go to school.
SPEAKER_00: And I said, I don't want to go to school.
SPEAKER_00: And she said, You have to go to school, Randy, because every child has to go to school.
SPEAKER_00: Your sister's in school, she's been in there for two years, you gotta go to school.
SPEAKER_00: And I fought her to the point where she didn't she couldn't get me on the bus.
SPEAKER_00: I was I was now going on eight years old.
SPEAKER_00: And mom said, You're gonna have to get to school.
SPEAKER_00: They'll they'll come and they'll come and arrest you, they'll they'll take you off to some kind of boys' reform school or something.
SPEAKER_00: Now that scared me enough to be able to think, well, maybe I better go with my sister.
SPEAKER_00: But when the school bus came, mom was pushing me and my sister was pulling me up on the bus.
SPEAKER_00: My sister was in the other one room schoolhouse, but as soon as she dropped me off in the schoolhouse, I followed her over her to her room.
SPEAKER_00: And the only way she could get me in this in my classroom is to sit on me in my desk.
SPEAKER_00: And she sat on me for an entire year.
SPEAKER_00: I didn't say anything that year.
SPEAKER_00: Matter of fact, my sister had to sit on me in first grade that year, and she failed that year because she she was out of her classroom.
SPEAKER_00: And you know who else failed?
SPEAKER_00: I I failed first grade.
SPEAKER_00: You're talking about a real intelligent boy here, you know.
SPEAKER_00: And my my my teacher called my parents up and said, I I can't pass him, he hasn't said anything.
SPEAKER_00: All he does is sit on his desk there and stare at the desk.
SPEAKER_00: And his sister sits on top of him.
SPEAKER_00: Through elementary school with that type of uh uh nature and character, I I was I was scared to death to be around anybody.
SPEAKER_00: When I got to uh sixth grade and I was gonna go into Du Boys, the sixth grade teacher called.
SPEAKER_00: My dad and mommy and said, I I don't know what to do with him.
SPEAKER_00: Uh the only thing I could suggest is when he goes into do voice, I can put him in a special uh education program and uh take care of him there.
SPEAKER_00: And uh my dad says, That's what you have to do.
SPEAKER_00: I I don't know what we can do.
SPEAKER_00: He d he doesn't like to talk, he didn't like to be around people, he won't do his homework, he won't r uh read or write, we don't know where he's at, just put him in a special education program.
SPEAKER_00: But something happened.
SPEAKER_00: Something happened the summer before they put me in the education, special education program when my cousin came to the farm and we were camping out, he introduced me to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: When I asked Jesus in my life, and all of a sudden I started reading God's word and memorizing the scriptures, and I find, I mean, just a simple little Bible verses, all of a sudden, God began to touch this boy's life.
SPEAKER_00: And it and and and that uh uh special education program, when I went when I went in, my dad talked me in to put me in the lower uh the lower place of the education, and in in one year, seventh grade, from the time I accepted Jesus, I went from the very lowest shop class up to the academic level in one year's time.
SPEAKER_00: I was the only one at that time that had promoted from the lowest class to the highest class in one year's time.
SPEAKER_00: And then at 15 years old in my church, God called me to preach the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Now I wasn't saying a whole lot, I was doing better in my homework, but I wasn't still not saying a whole lot.
SPEAKER_00: And I'd go to church and I wouldn't talk to anybody.
SPEAKER_00: And I was 15 years old, we went to a youth camp, and the invitation was given about being called to the ministry.
SPEAKER_00: And my pastor came up to me and said he wanted to pray with me.
SPEAKER_00: At the end of his prayer, I looked at my pastor and I said, God's calling me, God is calling me to be a preacher.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, he didn't believe it.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't believe it.
SPEAKER_00: Bless his heart, bless his heart.
SPEAKER_00: He wants to be a preacher.
SPEAKER_00: Bless his heart, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, he's so sweet.
SPEAKER_00: And then listen to me, this preacher, this was on Saturday now, Sunday, the next Sunday, he said to me, thinking he was gonna talk me out of it or humiliate me out of it or question my call, he said, Okay, if you're called to ministry, you're gonna preach next Sunday night.
SPEAKER_00: Tomorrow night, you have a message ready.
SPEAKER_00: Man, I want to tell you, talk about skirt.
SPEAKER_00: This old boy could have worn the shirt with honesty.
SPEAKER_00: I'm telling you what, with fear and trembling.
SPEAKER_00: And I uh went to church that morning and the preacher announced Randy Spencer is going, feels called to the ministry.
SPEAKER_00: He feels called to preach, and he's gonna preach a sermon tonight.
SPEAKER_00: Now I want to tell you what.
SPEAKER_00: I got up in front of those people and I said something that night, and I have no idea what it was, absolutely no idea, but I can guarantee it was the most pathetic, most ridiculous thing that ever came out of anyone's mouth in a pulpit before.
SPEAKER_00: And when I come down off the pulpit, all the all the people in Bible Fellowship Church come around and they said, Oh, bless us.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't he cute?
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that cute?
SPEAKER_00: He's just so sincere.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, God bless you.
SPEAKER_00: And none of them believed that God was gonna call me in the minister, but God put a burning pull inside.
SPEAKER_00: I was a young Samuel, and I knew that I heard from God, and I knew God was calling me, and there was no doubt about it.
SPEAKER_00: At 18 years old, I graduated high school and I still try to run from the call of God.
SPEAKER_00: And I said to Dad, I don't want to go to Bible college, I don't want to go off to train for ministry.
SPEAKER_00: And dad said, I thought you said you were called to the ministry.
SPEAKER_00: And I said, There's absolutely no doubt about it that God called me, but God, but God also knows that I can't talk in front of anybody.
SPEAKER_00: I can't even give my name without embarrassment.
SPEAKER_00: How am I gonna be a preacher?
SPEAKER_00: Dad said, You trust in God, you go down there and you give your heart and soul to Jesus and walk and follow God, and He'll do what He needs to do.
SPEAKER_00: It's His work, not yours.
SPEAKER_00: 18 years old, I packed up my one suitcase.
SPEAKER_00: My dad drove 16 hours and dumped me off at a Bible college, and I want to tell you, it was the worst tormented year that I've ever gone through in my entire life.
SPEAKER_00: It was like a military boot camp, and I wanted to quit so bad.
SPEAKER_00: But I want to tell you, the thing that kept me going through the call of ministry from 15 years old to leaving for Bible college at 18 and fulfilling the years of Bible college was one thing.
SPEAKER_00: It scared me to death to think that God would take his hand off of me.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not a I was not concerned that God would put his hands on me.
SPEAKER_00: I was concerned that God would put take his hands off of me.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm gonna tell you tonight, young person and adult, I still fear God to the point.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to ever get outside the will of God.
SPEAKER_00: I don't ever want to be a castaway.
SPEAKER_00: I don't ever want to be a vessel that God can't use.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to be unuseful and a castaway for God forever.
SPEAKER_00: I know that God called me and that keeps driving me forward, and I've got 43 years of serving God faithfully as a pastor of God, knowing that God called me and I can't do it.
SPEAKER_00: I'm like Paul the Apostle.
SPEAKER_00: I know what Paul the Apostle said when he said, Whoa, or judgment upon me if I preach not the gospel of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: I have to preach.
SPEAKER_00: I can't sit down, I have to keep going.
SPEAKER_00: And they may say that I retired, but I'm gonna tell you what, I'm gonna keep going to my last breath, preaching Jesus and serving God because I I fear God to the point if I don't do it.
SPEAKER_00: God has called and God will fulfill.
SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you it's not etched in my mind, the fear of God, it's etched in my heart.
SPEAKER_00: And I fear him.
SPEAKER_00: I love him and I fear him and I honor him, and I don't ever want to do anything to disobey him.
SPEAKER_00: And I know that the young lions shall lack and suffer hunger, but those that seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints.
SPEAKER_00: Fear the Lord, you his saints.
SPEAKER_00: But those who come near me, God says, I must be regarded as holy, and before all the people I must be glorified.
SPEAKER_00: God needs our reverence and our purity.
SPEAKER_00: God wants us to be able to follow.
SPEAKER_00: Here's all the well, I'm gonna I'm gonna close.
SPEAKER_00: If you get a picture of who God, the closer you get to God, the smaller you become, and the bigger he is, the more you want to fear him.
SPEAKER_00: I think of this God.
SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
SPEAKER_00: Who am I to say no to God?
SPEAKER_00: Who am I to question God's call upon my life?
SPEAKER_00: And I'm gonna tell you, because I was willing to step out and do the impossible, I can't it it what what you're seeing in in the pulpit is nothing short of the divine hand of God upon a boy that had absolutely nothing.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says he chooses the weak things of the world to confound the wise.
SPEAKER_00: He's choosing the foolish things, and man, I'll tell you, the weak and the foolish are all embodied in Randy Spencer.
SPEAKER_00: And anything you see that gives any glory to anybody, make sure it's not to this person here because I'm still stuck back in an old farm boy body with a uh with a shy and introvert spirit.
SPEAKER_00: But when God calls you to preach, he'll not he'll enable you to do anything that he calls you to do.
SPEAKER_00: Young person, stand up and say, God, speak to me.
SPEAKER_00: Be a young Samuel, say, God, you speak to me.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, your servant hears.
SPEAKER_00: What does God want you to do?
SPEAKER_00: How does God want you to serve?
SPEAKER_00: Everyone in our church, everyone in this church has an opportunity in ministry.
SPEAKER_00: When you see God in all of his magnificent holiness, then we're able to understand he's worthy.
SPEAKER_00: You know the you know that God says all the oceans he has in the palm of his hand?
SPEAKER_00: That's right.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, could you imagine that's how big he is?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, he says he expand he spent the span of his hand from here to here, he measures the universe.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, when I start thinking of the stars and the moon and the sun and everything around us, it uh it I uh it blows me away to think how big the nearest star besides the sun is 4.3 light years away.
SPEAKER_00: Traveling at the speed of light at 160, 60, 186,000 miles a second.
SPEAKER_00: That is 670 million miles an hour.
SPEAKER_00: And there are galaxies that literally would take 5 billion light years to reach.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I just heard on the news they're discovering more planets out there that are billions of light years away.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna talk about blowing your mind.
SPEAKER_00: And God made all that, he's Lord of all that, and he it and if you want to find the size of God, if you take one grain of sand in California's beach and you put the nearest star, it would have to be in New York City.
SPEAKER_00: That's the distance to the nearest star, and the Milky Way galaxy is only one galaxy of millions of galaxies out there.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it blows my mind to think that that God chose Randy Spencer, a poor little dirt farmer boy that couldn't speak, didn't have any personality, didn't have a brain, didn't have any have any skills, any talents.
SPEAKER_00: And God says, I want that boy because he's gonna demonstrate my power and my holiness, my ark of the covenant is gonna rest in his heart, and he's gonna be anointed by my spirit to touch multitudes of people.
SPEAKER_00: And he could do that for anyone in here.
SPEAKER_00: If he could do it for me, he'll do it for you.
SPEAKER_00: That's this God that once to use used to once live in a box, now lives in here.
SPEAKER_00: Do you know him?
SPEAKER_00: Do you love him?
SPEAKER_01: Thanks again for tuning into this week's message.
SPEAKER_01: We pray that your life has been changed.
SPEAKER_01: If you would like to find out more about us, visit us on our webpage at thechurch at cw.com.
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SPEAKER_01: Need prayer or more information?
SPEAKER_01: Send us an email at office at the church at CW.com.
SPEAKER_01: We hope you have a wonderful day, and again, God bless you.