We begin our devotional service and get out of the way for our lecture and get into the further part of our services. Come to Jesus. Come to Jesus. Come to Jesus. Just now. Just now. Where? Come to Jesus. Come to Jesus just now He will save you He will save you He will save you don't you doubt him don't you don't you won't you Won't you trust him? Won't you trust him? Just now come to Jesus. Come to Jesus. Come to Jesus. Scripture. Scripture at this time. Good evening. to the pastor of the ministers of the gospel, Dacons, my trusty brethren, and all of God's children. A devotional scripture this evening gonna come out of 2nd Chronicle, the 7th chapter, the 14th through the 16th verse. 2nd Chronicle, 7th 14, 15, and 16 verse. If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray, seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes shall be open, and my ears attend unto the prayer that is made in this place. For now I have chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there forever, and my heart shall be there perpetually. I have just read to you 2 Chronicles 7, 14, 15, 16. First, may God add a blessing to the reader, the hearer, but most of all the doer of his holy and righteous word. Thank you. Good evening, church. Let us go to the throne of grace for prayer. This evening, dear Heavenly Father, we come to you giving you thanks. Thanking you, Father, for waking us up this morning. You watched over us all night long, dear Heavenly Father, while we slum and slept. You took care of us up and down these dangerous highways and byways and avenues, Father. You are the God that sits high and look low. You are the God that has all power in your hand. We thank you, Father, for being a just God. And besides thee, there are none other. Father God, we come thanking you for your son, Jesus Christ, who died on the cross, but he didn't stay dead. He got up with all powers in his hand. and he sits at the right hand of the Father. Father God, we come praying for our sick this evening. Come praying for our bereaved, Father. We ask you to comfort them. Heal the sick here in New Bethlehem and all over the land and country, Father. We know that you can do everything but fail. Father God, we come in your son Jesus' name, just thanking you. Thank you for our pastor this evening. Bless him and keep him and keep his entire family to heaven father. Sister uh uh Rogers behind by his side to heaven father. We thank you for her. We thank you for the entire family. We thank you for pastor Emerick Walker. We thank you for sister Walker. We thank you for all these preachers that are on the pulpit. Most of all, we thank you for the preachers that are going to bring the word tonight, dear Heavenly Father. We ask you, dear Heavenly Father, to save lost souls and redeem backsliders. Father, we know that you can do saving, dear Heavenly Father. You can do all the saving, Father. We know that it's In your hand, dear Heavenly Father, we ask that you save this evening, dear Heavenly Father. Reclaim backside, dear Heavenly Father. Let someone come tonight saying, what must I do to be saved, dear Heavenly Father? And Father God, we thank you. for everything you have done and everything you will do. You give us food, you give us shelter, you give us clothing, dear Heavenly Father. But most of all, you give us a mind to come out to the house of prayer, dear Heavenly Father. We thank you for saving our souls. We thank you, dear Heavenly Father, for saving us tonight. We ask you to come in to this revival, dear Heavenly Father. We all need revival, dear Heavenly Father. We pray that we all leave here this evening with a blessing, dear heavenly father. A blessing of reviving, dear heavenly father. We pray these prayers in your son Jesus' name. Amen. Good evening. Come on, good evening. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you for your voices and now in the hands of the pope. Let every heart say amen. Come on. Put your hands together and bless the lord for your presence. and your purpose for being here. We thank god for this first watch of Revival 2023. I want you to personalize the purpose of this revival. Look at somebody and say, this revival is for me. Come on, look at another and say, this revival is for me. I want to be made better. I'm here because I want the lord to work on me. Amen. wonderful occasion, this wonderful opportunity to worship and praise his name. I want to give us perspective in terms of this revival, but before I give us perspective, I want to establish protocol Thank God for all of these preachers, especially our guest lecturer and the person of Dr. Alfonso Atkins and his lovely wife, Cassandra. Thank God for my brother-in-law, Dr. Charlemarch Simpson, and his lovely wife, Pamela, my sister. Thank God for Dr. Walker and Ms. Walker. Y'all know I thank God for my baby. Amen. Lady Rogers, my daughter. I want to thank God for all of these preachers. Reverend Sandy and and uh Reverend Shepherd, Reverend Mims and and uh Reverend Erskine, Reverend Van. I see him in the rear. Any other preachers in the house? Any other preachers in the house? Amen. What's your name? Sturdivant. Amen. You want to come with us? Alright. Alright. Thank you for Elder, what's your name, baby? All right, all right. His wife. That's why he don't want to come up here with us. Amen. Amen. Thank you for your presence here today. Listen, come on, put your hands together for deacon and trustees and devoting us. We've got a wonderful job fiery devotion. Thank God for them Thank God for all of you that are here. Listen, we're in for a treat. I believe God is going to Work on us and work through us for the kingdom of God's sake Amen revival perspective Revival perspective. Why are we here? Well, turn with me, if you will, to First John, chapter one. First John, chapter one. Every time, and you can stay seated. Every time you come into the house of God, you should expect to hear the word of God. Amen. Let me say that again. Every time you come into the house of the Lord, you should expect to hear the word of God proclaimed. Listen to what it says 1st John chapter 1 verse 3. Verse 3. 1st John chapter 1 verse 3. And y'all can stay seated if you want to. If it's your custom to stand, stand. Alright. Listen to it. That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you. so that you too may have fellowship with us and indeed our fellowship is with the father and with his son Jesus Christ let me read it again that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you so that you too may also have fellowship with us. And indeed, our fellowship is with the Father and with the Son. What does the Lord say to us from this verse? Number one, this is a relational revival. That we want God to restore us in our relationship with him, number one. It can't happen without the word of God. He says, that which we have seen and heard we proclaim. So we expect to hear from God. So that we can have fellowship with the Father. We can have right relationship with the Father. That's imperative. That's number one. Number two, that we'll have right relationship with the Son. Now truly you can't have a relationship with the father unless you have a relationship with the son and it's through the relationship with the son that you have a relationship with the father. But then thirdly, I want right relationship with my church members. He said, in the word of God, how can you say you love me in whom you have never seen and hate your fellow man? Y'all know I've shared with you that there are 57 one another statements in the Bible. Love one another, forgive one another. And that's relationship on the horizontal plane. So we're here that God will restore us in our relationship with one another. You know, some people have avoided people for years. And God said, you can't even offer your offering at the altar if you know your brother have an altar against you. He said, leave your gift and go reconcile with your brother, then come and offer that offering unto God. So I won't write relationship with fellow church member. Here's the last thing. I want a right relationship with the community. That what I have with God, what I have with church members, I want it to spill over and spill out into the community. that people in the community know that I'm a child of God by the way I love them, by the way I interact with them, by the way I care for them, by my concern for their soul because every time they see me, I have a word. I want them saved. So, Lord, restore, revive, me in my relationship with you. Lord, revive me in my relationship with your son. Revive me in my relationship with fellow church members. Revive me in my relationship with the community. That's our revival perspective. It's relational. Look at somebody and say relational revival. everything is built on relationship. Listen, the choir's coming and they're going to sing us happy. We're going to sing with them. They're not going to sing to us but we're going to sing with them. And and and we thank god for the choir. We thank god for the musicians. Listen and immediately after the choir, the song, the choir would sing. The next voice you Reverend Dr. Alfonso Atkins. He's my friend and brother, and we're blessed and privileged to have him with us. Come on, bless God again as we hear the praise. Come on, everybody, stand to your feet. You're coming to give them thanks. You're coming to the praise. Amen. Come on, everybody. Come on, everybody in the building. Oh, give thanks. Oh, give thanks. To the Lord. To the Lord. Come on. For he is good. Yes, he is good. Oh, give thanks. Oh, give thanks. To the Lord. To the Lord. For he is good. Yes, he is good. Say it again. Oh, give thanks. Oh, give thanks. To the Lord. To the Lord. Come on. For he is good. Yes, he is good. Oh, give thanks. Come on. Come on. Come on. For He is good. Come on, sing. For He is good. Come on. For He is good. For He is worthy. Yeah, He is. He is worthy. Come on, sing. For He is good. Oh, he is good. Oh, he is good. Oh, he is good. Sing it out, sing it out for him. Oh, he is good. He is good. Let every heart say amen. Amen. Say amen again. Amen. Amen. If you love the Lord, put your hands together for Jesus. Once again, we bring you greetings from the Wolf Creek Baptist Church in Boonville, Mississippi, where we serve. And we serve as the pastor. At least that's what they say. Amen. To all of these great ministers and pastors of the gospel, and especially your pastor, amen. Thomas T. Jefferson Rogers, great friend, great preacher, great pastor. A great family man. Amen. When the Lord opened y'all gift here, he opened y'all a great gift. Amen. Following a great pastor. Pastor Emeritus. So the thriving of this local congregation is in secure hands with Jesus Christ at the helm. Amen. Amen. My good friend, I can't call out all names, but my good friend, Brother Shalomar Simpson, we worked together in the convention, amen, over in Northeast, amen. And to First Lady, of this church, amen? Amen. Sister Tasha, First Lady Simpson, amen? Amen. And to all of the other minister wives that may be here today, we greet you in the name of Jesus Christ. And my wife gets a little shame when I would like to particularly point out to the single men in the church. who my wife is, Sister Cassandra. We want you, honey. Wave your hand. Amen. Amen. Tonight, in this revival setting, I want to deal with what you call kingdom living. Kingdom living. is all across the face of this world. But if you're not in the kingdom, it suggests to you that you can't see it because you hadn't been born again. The word of God takes us, amen, to Matthew chapter 13. I want to read verse 4 and verse 19. And I want to tag a series this week talking about the heart of the kingdom. Matthew. 13 and 4, it says, and when he sold, some seeds fell by the wayside. And the fowls came and devoured them up. Matthew 13 and 19 says, and when he was given a description after he had told the disciples in chapter 13, verse 11, they asked, why do you talk in parables? And he said, it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. Then he goes in verse 19 and says, when anyone heareth the word of the kingdom and understand it not, then cometh the wicked one and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. That is he which receives the wayside sower. Tonight, in this series of lectures, part one, kingdom the heart of the kingdom, I want to deal with what we call a packed heart. A packed heart. Jesus went out. In verse 1 of chapter 13, he went out of the house and sat and talked about parables. Many people should know, at this time, kingdom living can only be done if you have the Spirit of God. Now, you can live in the world without new birth. But my brother Nicodemus was told, and he found out that except ye be born again, you cannot see. the kingdom of God. We must understand that the Bible even tells us that confession and the belief in the heart will ignite our new birth. But tonight I want to deal with those that may have a bad condition and may be in the body of Christ. and not understanding that what's in the heart, the Bible says that usually it comes out and proceeded out of the mouth. The condition of the heart, my brothers, it can tell. We need to understand that when Jesus gives his parable, he is talking about soils. The soils in this text, it referenced basically the condition of the heart. The heart must be properly prepared to receive this what is song called the seed. The seed which is basically the word of God. My brothers, when we look at the text and understand what the text is talking about, we need to understand that we cannot confront the seed sower because he did his job. His job was to sow seeds. He was not told to skip over certain types of soil. He was told that his job was to sow seeds. And the seed that he was to sow was supposed and is good seed. We need to understand that he wasn't required to do anything to the ground. He wasn't required to till it, to turn it over, to de-weed it. All he was to do was to sow seed. The Bible said that the disciples asked a question in Matthew 13 and 10. And he asked the question and the disciples came to him and said, Jesus, why are you speaking to them? about peril. He said, we got you. But why are you speaking to them about it? But then Jesus had to tell us, because I stopped here to tell many of us here, that when we use that catchphrase about God being mysterious, I think we need to catch ourselves and stop saying it. Because in the text it says, because he said, it is given to you. To know the mysteries. of the kingdom of heaven. He said, but to them it's not given because they have no spiritual discernment. My brothers and sisters, that outside the range of natural apprehension, it can be known only by divine revelation to those who are of the sheepfold of grace and mercy. And my brother, those who are enlightened by his Holy Spirit. I truly believe kingdom living needs the right heart in order to operate the right way. Tonight we review, in this first series of lectures, we review this heart. This heart that is called the packed heart. Well, Jesus says in Matthew 13 and four, he began to say, and when the sower went out, some sow seeds. Now listen what the text says, some sow seeds. They throw the seeds out there. But then the Bible says, but some of them. they fell by the wayside. And he said, but the ones that fell by the wayside, the fowls came and devoured them up. And then he asked again in chapter 13 and 10, he said, why are you speaking parable? Then when he came back and start explaining it, he explained it. He said, basically, he said, when anyone hears the word of the kingdom, And then, understand it not, then comes the wicked one. And catches away that which was sown in his heart. And then Jesus said, well, this is the same one which receives seed by the wayside. Jesus speaks in verse four that the sower went out and sold some, fell on the wayside. This type of soil, I'd like to suggest to you tonight that wayside soil is trafficked, heavily trafficked soil. Let me see if I could drop this in your lap a little better for all of the country folk out here. You live in the neighborhood, and you know the road will take you to where you need to go. But if you had a shortcut, it's a little pass. And if they use that shortcut more than the main road, that shortcut, it never grows anything on it. Why? Because everybody know about the shortcut. And that's all they do is take the shortcut. And they walk on that shortcut and nothing can grow on it because everybody been walking on it. It's a pass that's being used on a regular basis. Nothing will grow in a heavily trafficked path if it's been trampled down. If there's too much traffic, my brothers and sisters, I suggest to y'all that if there's too much traffic going in and out your heart, if it's too much traffic, the wrong traffic, Packing too much stuff in your heart that won't do you no good to grow. If a seed is laid on you, anything could snatch it away. It's only because you have allowed too much traffic. You understand something? Even though it's traffic, the Bible said that it's wayside. You know, wayside, I think about football. That the game is played in the middle of the field. But everybody's on the sideline. And whenever the game is going on, they just going up and down. The sideline, trampoline, walking on the ground, nothing can be accomplished because they are on the wayside. It is also the reference to understanding people may be in the church. This is the part that some people, they won't get it, but then they'll get it. People may be in the church. And it also lays reference to people in the church when they don't have understanding. They can't get it because it's too much traffic. Heart been packed. Too many things going on that you are ingesting and you hadn't been ingesting the word of God. When your heart has been packed down, you could be in church and even hold a position. And when you hold a position with a packed heart, it does not allow you to develop at all. Why? In another instance, it's because your spiritual suitcase has been packed with items you don't need for your journey. I'm talking to some folk that know that when you get on a plane, that you know you can only carry so much before you have to pay for it. And if you don't pack the right stuff in your suitcase, when you get to destination, you will have a lot of stuff you can't use. But I suggest to many of us here tonight that we are pilgrims sojourning through this land. This world is not our home. So where you trying to get to, you don't need to be packing. You don't need to be packing anything you don't need for your journey. Because on your journey, if you don't pack right, when you get to where you're going, you won't be able to use what's already in you. It'll be worthless. A seed won't grow. because they are spiritual suitcases. It's packed with items they don't need for their journey. My brothers and sisters, the text also tells us that the wicked one, the wicked one, he calls him a fowl of the air. And you know fowls are sometimes put in a dirty bird category. But you understand this wicked one, he is depicted as, in the text, as one that has hurtful influence. Amen. You know, the Bible teaches us, I believe it's in Proverbs, when he said, it's six things that God hates. And seven, yay, is an abomination. And seven talks about a man, it said, a brother that would sow discord. And you got to understand something, when we talk about hurtful influence, we need to understand that sometimes people sowing discord. Now I'm talking about believers that say they love God. And the Bible teaches us that when we ought to talk, we ought to talk wholesome words, build one another up, love one another. But now here's the hurtful thing about it. It's sad when we live in a church and all of us are supposed to be worshiping Jesus, but we would plot against the direction of the church. by sowing discord. Why? Why do people sow discord in the church? People sow discord in the church because it's not about the way, it's about them wanting to have. Although the wicked one is depicted, the one which which has hurtful, hurtful influence. You know, the most powerful thing about people to understand when they have positions in church is they need to understand they have influence. You know, back in the day when I used to watch Underdog, Underdog Used to fight for justice. But somehow this scientist, he was a good guy. But somebody influenced this scientist. And he went bad. And he went bad and he was trying to design bombs and he was working for somebody that meant no well. And it was all because he was under influence. And you understand when you are under influence, sometimes you could be working for the wrong person. But who you think you working for, you actually tearing the kingdom down rather than building the kingdom up. And y'all already know this. Y'all understand this. Many of y'all, y'all been in the church long enough. You know that a clique cannot be glorifying God. We all heading in one direction, serving the same God. But while we're heading in that direction, serving the same God, we must understand, at no time do we know that straight is the way, that we ought to allow somebody to pull us off the road. Why? Because they have their own influence and intention. Many may be trying to worship from the sideline, but I need you to know that in this game, in this game, we don't need to be pressed down. We don't need to be pressed down. We don't need to be patted down. We need to be lifted up. Many may be trying to worship from the side, but I want you to know on the side, you can't worship there. You got to get in the game. You got to get in the spirit. You can't worship from the side because staying away, all you're doing is allowing heavy traffic to get in your way. On the sidelines, I have discovered one thing. If a seed cannot grow on the sidelines, how can you produce any fruit if you're steady being run over instead of being packed down? But the church, we need to understand, has got to be in you. But tonight, as we will soon find out, that if you're not prepared in the heart, you have no anticipation. Because if you're not prepared in the heart, that means that you already have an agenda when you come to church and you put your best dress on and your best smelling cologne, that you are anticipating God speaking something into your spirit. That not only will stay there, but it'll take root and it'll grow. But tonight, as we'll soon find out, if you're not prepared in the heart, you will not receive any revelation. Because in order to receive revelation, God has got to pull the cover off of what you already see in order to show you what you can be. Tonight, we need to understand, my brothers and sisters, that we'll soon find out if we're not prepared in the heart. We'll not be able to have any anticipation, any revelation, but last but not least, and when it comes to worship, you ain't gonna have no jubilation. Because, see, if you got a packed heart, you ain't got nothing to shout about. Most times, people with a packed heart got more to complain about than shout about. I have discovered something about people with a packed heart. They like monuments in the church. They can be seen, but they can never be heard. You cannot have jubilation, revelation, or anticipation without receiving this seed in a prepared heart. So I talked to us tonight as I let us know there needs to be some unpacking done. When I say it's some unpacking done, I want you to say and maybe think and pray and meditate on the fact, if you had bad conversation among church members, you need to unpack it. Amen. If you've been lazy and slothful about trying to get revelation knowledge, you don't mind getting your shout out on Sunday, but you can't sit in class during the midweek service, you need to unpack something. We need to understand tonight, my brothers and sisters, that this life that we live as Christians, we are on our way up. And you can't go up long as you holding on to junk. And when junk is packing you down, you'll never be able to get to where God wants you to. Because when you get to where God wants you to, guess what? Somebody gonna find out that there is a God that's serving somewhere, and they wanna see the light that shines in you. You need anticipation, revelation, and jubilation because why? That seed, my brothers, even though I got to leave you right now, that seed that was planted in good ground, that same good ground, one Friday evening, there was a seed of righteousness that was put in the heart of the earth one Friday evening. But see, unlike bad seeds, it was put on good ground. And on Sunday morning, that seed, it rose. And when it rose, it rose that we would all have that same power. I'd like to leave you tonight by just telling you tomorrow, if you wasn't part of the Packed Heart, If you could come out tomorrow, maybe I could help you if you got a rocky heart. God bless you. What a word we have heard. Thank you, Dr. Atkins, for spounding on Matthews, when it deals with the soul. Listen, this is our time of prayer. This is our time of casting away. Letting go of something. I want you to stand where you are and create an altar. And he told that you have to unpack. Listen, this is a time for you to be real with yourself about who you are and what you have on the inside of you that don't need to be in you. What you really need to confess and give over to the Lord. Asking him to deliver you. Listen, this is prayer time and again, we're praying for relational revival. I want my relationship right with god. Yes, lord. Whatever I need to get out of the way. all of the burdens and you know, the things that so easily beset us. I'm getting it out of the way because I want my relationship right with god. I with my fellow church member. I'm no longer coming to church and avoiding people at church. Because I know what the Lord has called me into. He has called me into a faith family. And I am to love everybody. Whether they act good or bad. Whether they have right intentions or not. He didn't tell us to just love the lovable. He told us to love those who are hard to love. So I want my relationship right with my fellow man. I want my relationship right with the community. Listen, Dr. Simpson is coming. and he's going to pray for us. And then after prayer, I want you to prepare your hearts to give your best offering. Our brethren are coming with the containers and we'll march around and give, but now we're casting our cares. Dr. Simpson. Amen. Let us go to god in prayer. God tell us in first Thessalonians five seventeen that we should pray without ceasing. Jesus tells his disciples in another parable in Luke chapter eighteen verse number one that we are to always pray and not faint. Prayer is always in order. So, let us pray. Dear gracious god, our father, we come before your God, we thank you for this day, this day that you have made. God, help us to continue to rejoice and be glad in it. God, we are mindful of what you shared with us through the pastor here at this church in first John chapter one, verse number three, that this is a relational revival. And God, we must have right relation with you first in order to have right relation with our brothers and sisters, in order to have right relation with our community. But you also tell us in first John chapter one verse number nine that we must confess our sins. And if we confess our sins, you are faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So God, we come confessing our sins. We come confessing our faults, our missteps and our mishaps. God, we pray now that you would unpack our hearts. God that we can have proper anticipation. Then we could have revelation. So we can also rejoice in jubilation. God we ask that you go with us and go before us tonight. God we thank you for the lecturer tonight. God, we ask now that you would teach us how to take your word and hide it in our hearts that we may not sin against you. God, I pray for my brothers and sisters here under the sound of my voice. I pray now that you would remove every hindrance, remove all blockage, God, help us to be what you have called us to be. God, help us to be regenerated and revived from your word that we can go out and do what you have commissioned and command us to do. Matthew chapter 28, 19, and 20. God, we just thank you for this time. God, I ask that you would lift every burden. Lord. God, I pray for this church and this pastor. God, that you will just continue to fill them afresh. Yes, Lord. That they can be pleasing in your sight. Jesus. God, we just thank you. Thank you. We thank you for this time that you have allotted and allowed. Yes, Lord. And we pray these prayers in your son Jesus name. Yes, Lord. Amen. We have reached a moment of giving. We pray that you would take out your best gift. The preacher has made it. Doctor Oliver, come join us in the pulpit. Amen. Come on, give the lord a hand for safe travel. Arriving mercies. We're under the direction of our ushers. Bless the Lord with your best gift. We ask every aisle to stand. You coming to give us direction? All right. Amen. All right. Lord bless. Lord bless every giver that has given according to your word. in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. The preacher is here. He needs no introduction. He has preached. three years now, and we thank God for his presence. We thank God for the gift that he is to the body of Christ. He's in the person of Dr. Greg Oliver. After the choir would have sang two songs, the next voice you will hear is that of our preacher for these three nights, Dr. Greg Oliver. Come on, bless the Lord for him. Thank you. So glad. So glad. Jesus brought me. So glad. I'm so glad. Jesus brought me. So glad. So glad to be here. You didn't have to do it. You didn't have to do it. Jesus brought me. You didn't have to do it. You didn't have to do it. Jesus brought me. So glad to be here. Jesus brought me this far and I come to praise his name. So glad to be here. So glad to be here. Jesus brought me this far and I come to praise his name. He didn't have to do it. He didn't have to do it. Jesus brought me this far and I come to praise his name. He didn't have to do it. He didn't have to do it. Jesus brought me this far and I come to praise his name. Over hills and mountains. and I come to praise his name. over hills and mountains. over hills and mountains. and I come to praise your name. Hallelujah. I'm so glad. I'm so glad. Jesus brought me. I'm here y'all glad to be here tonight. He's been so good to us. From yesterday to today. And I'm glad about it. So now, we're gonna let the sopranos come in and tell you what they got to say. I'm going to praise you. I'm going to praise you. Come on out. He's been through it all You don't know like I know what the Lord has done for me. You don't know like I know what the Lord has done for me. You don't know like I know what the Lord has done for me. Yes, he's been good. I'm going to praise you. I'm good, I'm good I'm good, I'm good I'm good, I'm good You don't know like I know what the Lord has done for me You don't know, you don't know, you don't know, you don't know. You don't know like I do, but the Lord and I do. You don't know like I do, but the Lord and I do. I said, you don't know. You don't know like I do, but the Lord and I do. I said, you don't know. You don't know like I do, but the Lord and I do. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus Yeah. Can I get a witness in the building? Has he been good to you? Do you have a reason to give him praise tonight? Hallelujah. Oh Lord, we bless your name We lift our voices to say thank you Lord, your goodness and your mercy toward us. For your goodness and your mercy Oh, Lord, we give you praise. And oh, Lord, we bless your name. We lift our voices to say thank you for your goodness. for your goodness and your mercy for us for your For your goodness and your mercy for us For your goodness Crazy for you You can do it. Will you stand with me one more time, please? Would you bow your heads and pray with me and for me? Oh god, our father, how we we bless your name tonight for your goodness and your mercy. There is none like you. We thank you for the revelation of father, son, and holy ghost. Then god, we thank you for everybody in this room. Now, lord, I ask that you'd forgive me of my sins. Amen. Fill me full of your Holy Spirit. Fit me and fix me in your service tonight. In the name of Jesus, we pray. to our wonderful senior pastor whom I love and thank God for. What a blessing he is to the city, the body of Christ. Come on, put your hands together for Dr. Rogers. Major blessing, major blessing to the body of Christ. And then I'm just excited to see Dr. Walker in the house tonight looking as good as the emeritus. Looking good, I promise you. I promise you if I can look that good at that age, I'm gonna try to get me two or three more wives. And then for this man, this lecturer, Dr. Atkins. My God. I wanna be from Mississippi so bad. Everybody that come from Mississippi is just tough, man. Amen, amen. And then to all of these other pastors in the pulpit, preachers and men of God, summon the pews to everybody in here to this awesome music ministry. They minister to us tonight. I come tonight and I greet you in the name of Jesus Christ. And I bear record that there is no other name that really matters. This is bad English, but it's the best way I can say it. Ain't nobody like him. I know you ain't supposed to say ain't, but ain't nobody like him. If you could turn with me to 2 Kings, the Old Testament book of 2 Kings, chapter 4. It is not my desire to be before you long tonight. We drove in tonight. today from Marshall, Texas. We had a funeral there this morning at 10. And immediately after the funeral, we got on the road and drove here. So I'm a little tired. And so I don't plan to be before you long at all. But I pray that you would pray with me. 2 Kings chapter 4. 2 Kings chapter 4. I want to begin at verse 38 of 2nd Kings chapter 4. When Elijah returned to Gilgal, there was a famine in the land. As the sons of the prophets were sitting before him, he said to a servant, put on the large pot and boil stew for the sons of the prophet. the prophets. Then one went out into the field to gather herbs and found a wild vine and gathered from it his lap full of wild gourds, and came and sliced them into the pot of stew, for they did not know what they were. So they poured it out for the men to eat, and as they were eating of the stew, they cried out and said, O man of God, there is death in the pot. And they were unable to eat. But he said, now bring meal. And he threw it into the pot and said, pour it out for the people that they may eat. Then there was no harm in the pot. You may be seated. I don't know what to call this, so just call it Second Kings. Verse 38 through 41. And you can title it however you want to title it, and I won't be guilty of giving a topic and not touching it. Um, but what you'll see in this passage is, of course, Elijah comes back to Gilgit, Elisha, um, Elisha, Elijah, um, who's the successor of Elijah. He's going to come back to Gilgal and to the school of prophets and he's going to be teaching them. And then he's going to say, even in the midst of a famine, to possibly to Gehazi, his number one servant, put on a big pot of stew. and Gehazel, or if you're from Louisiana, a big pot of gumbo. And so Gehazel puts on this pot. One of these young prophets goes out into the woods, into the wilderness, and he finds some, a wild vine. with some gourds on it, which really are like cucumbers, but they're not necessarily edible. But he doesn't know it, so he brings them back lap-full. In other words, you know, I'm from the country, so sometimes when we were picking peas or whatever, we would put them in our shirt, you know, and bring them and then drop them in the bucket. So he has all of these gourds in his shirt, and he brings them back, slices them, into this stew because he doesn't know that they're poisonous. And after the stew gets through cooking and they start pouring it out and eating it, the prophets who are eating it say, oh man of God, there's death in the pot because the stew tastes terrible. And some translations suggest that they're saying, man, this stew is killing us. And Elijah just takes a meal and flour and puts it in the pot and the stew that was poisonous and nasty is now palatable. And that's the text. I was amazed with Elijah because I'm trying to learn how to cook. And because I don't know how to cook, my mom didn't let us in the kitchen. So I don't know how to cook, so I'm learning how to cook. And I can barbecue a little, and I can fry fish and fry deer meat. I can do that. I'm learning to do pretty good, as long as I don't have to mix anything. I can't mix nothing, so even when I'm cooking the meat, I just go in the cabinet and get all of my wife's spices and put all of them on there. A real chef knows how to mix stuff. A real chef knows how to mix stuff. I don't know how to mix stuff and match stuff and measure stuff. I don't know. I just know I just cook it like it is. And chemists know how to do that. Chemists know how to mix and match and measure stuff so that certain elements that if you take them by themselves they'll be harmful but he knows a chemist he or she knows how to mix it and match it and measure it and put something else in it so that you can take it and or and it won't be so harmful pharmacists know how to do that Pharmacists know how to take certain medicines that would be harmful, but they'll mix it and match it and measure it to the point where what was harmful is no longer harmful. And that's what Elijah does here tonight. In this text, he just throws some meal into some poisonous or some stew that was really nasty, and it becomes palatable. So there are two real interpretations here. One is an obvious interpretation that I want to deal with that's more public. Well, it's more geared toward preachers. And then the other one, the last one I want to deal with, is more private toward you. In that, toward the preachers, Verse 38 says that there's a famine in the land, right? So there's a famine in the land. And Elijah comes back to the school of prophecy to teach these prophets because there's a famine in the land. Famine suggests that there is no food anywhere and God has closed up heaven Famines, very desperate times. Famines are a result of sin, seasons, or seizure. seasons, you know, if it didn't rain then, you know, at the right time then grain couldn't grow and then people would be in a famine. Or as a result of seizure, in other words, a military, another nation would seize you. They would seize Bessemer and then so that there would be no imports and exports and they would squeeze you so that you couldn't get anything in and you would die and suffer because of famine. Or it's a result of sin. Again, God closed up heaven. God says, if you sin against me, turn your back on me. I'm going to curse your seasons so you won't get rain when you need it. And then I'm going to make you weak so that the enemy can seize you. So even the seizure and the seasons are a result of sin. Now Elijah comes back to the school of prophecy because the problem in Israel at this time is not just seasonal and seizure but the problem is sin. See the society is suffering because of sin. And if they are going to get better, it's going to have to be when they start dealing with their sin issue. And they can't deal with their sin issue unless the preachers start preaching again. So he comes back to Gilgal to the school of prophecy because if things are going to get better, it's going to start with the preachers. You you're wondering now how things are going to get better in your life it starts with a word from the Lord And let me say a pure word let the church say pure Word that's uncontaminated and these preachers are about to learn a lesson and about the pure word. Because while Elisha is teaching, he says to Gehazi, man go put on a pot of stew in a famine, go put on a pot of stew. So Gehazi goes and he puts this big pot of stew on and one of these young preachers goes out into the wilderness and gets some cucumbers that don't look to be poisonous, but they are poisonous, comes back and puts it in this stew. which is a representation of us of putting impure stuff inside the Word of God. You know, the New Testament says as it relates to the Word of God, you and I can't add or take away from it. We gotta preach what the Word of God says. Sunday school teachers, you gotta teach what the Word of God says. You can't put no wild gourds in it. You gotta teach it as it is. Listen, I can't even preach what I feel about the Word. I gotta preach what the word says. I I can't even preach what I think about the word of god. I gotta preach what the word of god says. Otherwise, I'm putting poison in the pot. We gotta preach what but making a difference how I feel about it. I have a cousin that I love dearly and he's practicing homosexuality and I love my cousin. I'll almost fight you about my cousin. And I want to give him some rights and some room and some ease. But I can't. Because the word says it's wrong. See how quiet y'all got on me? brother. I love my cousin and I want to say, man, it's alright. I understand that was some stuff that happened to you in the past. It's alright to be that way because I've got, I love my cousin and I feel like I want to give him some ease but I got to stick with the word of god. This put some poison in the pot. And the reason we got weak church and weak saints today is because we got weak preachers in the pulpit who've been putting poison in the pot. We gotta let the word do the work. We gotta quit trying to change the word to satisfy somebody. The seed is sown. And they cry out, it's poison in the pot. Amen. Amen. And what does Elisha do? He sprinkles some flour in there. What can fix the church? What can fix our society? The word of god. If the word of god don't Now that's an overall view. That's really an obvious interpretation of this. But I want to say something to you personally. I want to say something to you about the desperation in this text. There's a famine. There's a famine. And, you know, famines are not just a lack of food. But you can be starving for a lot. You can be starving for attention. You can be starving for affection. Jesus says, blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, because the good news is you shall be filled. And then today, man, we're starving for hope. We're in a famine of hope. Just some hope that tomorrow is going to be alright. And everybody we got that might give us a glimmer of hope something come out on him. Every man in here wanted to be Heathcliff Huxtable. If nothing more than just to have a prayer. Y'all catch that later. And then it comes out that we should not put our hope in him. Think about it. Who do our children can they point at and say, I want to be like them. We are void of hope, man. You, let me tell you something. You can live several days without water, about 40 days without food, only moments without hope. We're in a famine of hope, desperate times. people quitting everywhere. They're killing in Shreveport like they got a quota. No hope. And now even the Hebrew Israelites are telling us that the hope that we had in Jesus, we shouldn't have that hope. What we gonna do? It's a word of desperation. These are desperate times. but it's also secondly a word of good intention good intentions this young prophet that gets these cucumbers has good intentions the verse says he did not know that what he was putting in the stew was poisonous intention. He's got good intention. You should see him smiling. Yeah. Walking with pep in his step. Yeah. Cuz he's got this garment full of these gourds. He can contribute to the stoop. He's got good intentions. Don't think that everybody who said something meant to hurt you when they said it. People in church have good intentions sometimes. Let me tell you something, people say stupid stuff. I'm talking to somebody in here right now. My mama died when I was 20. And that week, somebody had the nerve walk up and say to me, man, well, at least you waited until you got out of school. When was a good time for my mama to die? Do people say stuff like that to you? Stupid stuff. They put poison in your pot. Hey, there's some stuff that you and I've been taught by some heroes People that we looked up to that was wrong Y'all gonna make me read you It's some sister in here right now refused to get married just because her mama said don't trust no man And you never thought about your mama got five children and none of them got the same daddy. Maybe men ought not trust her. Bad doctrine. But your mama meant well. She had good intentions. And you'll survive. Listen, there are some people today who don't like you and it's all because of your color. You ain't never done nothing to them. They've never experienced anything negative based on anybody that's your color. It's all because somebody taught them something. Because somebody wanted to preserve a culture. And they taught them wrong. Poison in your pot. church hurt. Folks said stuff to you in church. You know that dress too short. It's the only dress I got. Hell, I just come out the club. But I'm here. Poison. Good intention. Let church say good intention. Good intention. I'm going to talk. Check this out. I'm going to Jerusalem. I'm going to suffer many things at the hands of scribes and Pharisees. And I'm going to be crucified. Yes sir. And I'm getting up the third day. Peter takes him to the side and Cause these fellas, uh, you know, he wouldn't have left boats and all kinds of stuff. Matthew left the receipt of custom, a good job. And now you're telling us you finna go to Jerusalem and, uh, suffer many things at the hands of scribes and Pharisees and be crucified. You don't need to be talking about that. Jesus says to Peter, get me behind me, Satan. This shouts me number one, cause you ain't listening. I said I'm going to Jerusalem to suffer many things at the hands of scribes and Pharisees and be crucified and be resurrected. You ain't hear but two of them. You heard that I was going to Jerusalem. I was going to suffer many things at the hands of scribes and Pharisees and you heard I was going to be crucified and you shut me off at that point. If you would have kept listening, you would have heard me say that I'm getting up on Sunday morning. But Peter had good intention. Paul, before he was Paul, said, I was Saul and I was a persecutor of the church that I'm now preaching and pastoring. He said, but when I did it, I did it in ignorance because I thought I was right. you can tell me listen if you can be honest and I'm through you can be honest that's some stupid stuff you've done and you thought you were right oh man of God that's death in the pot in that church. Death in that church. I ain't going back. I found out it was poison in the pot. I ain't listening to that preacher no more. I found out that there was poison in the pot. Some of y'all ain't getting married no more. Been there, done that. That's right. Poison in that pot. It's I'm through y'all, it's poison in the pot. It's poison in the pot. This message is so simple, I'm embarrassed to preach. It's poison in the pot. But it's desperate times. So we can't throw it away. Y'all, it's a famine. We can't throw it away. suicide is throwing away the pot. I want to talk to somebody in here tonight who might be getting ready to give up and the devil is telling you to end it all. You're trying to throw away the pot. But Elijah Elijah. Like a good chemist. Yeah. Elijah. Yeah. Like a good chef. Yeah. Elijah like a good pharmacist. Yeah. Says that even though there's poison in the pot, I know how to mix it and match it and measure it so that Elijah is a picture of God. I said Elijah, this is a picture in the Old Testament of what God does in the New Testament. When Adam and Eve sinned in the Old Testament and death reigned, God did not throw away the pot. He just mixed something in the pot to make the pot that was poisonous now palatable. He sprinkled it with grace. I'm through y'all, but he sprinkled it with grace. Oh God. Oh God. You know why you're here tonight? You know why you're here tonight? Do you know why you're sitting in this church tonight? Cause the Lord sprinkled some grace on you. Oh, I got somebody in this room tonight. You don't look like what you've been through. You know, that person beside you saying that you're looking good. Man, you sure look good. And girl, you sure look good. But they don't understand you've had some poison in your pot. You've had some folk to say some stuff to you. that gutted you. You had some folk to do some stuff to you and boy if the Lord hadn't sprinkled you with grace You'd be in jail right now if he hadn't sprinkled you with grace. You wouldn't be married right now if he hadn't sprinkled you with grace. You wouldn't have a job right now if he hadn't sprinkled you with grace. You'd be dead right now but you thank God for his grace. I've had some good days. I've had some bad days. I've had some hills to climb. But when I look back over my life and see how good the lord when I think about what he's done for me. For I hear Peter saying, and I'm going to leave you alone, but Peter uses a word and his word is grace. Porcelain must mean the multicolored trials. It's trials of all kind of different colors. But on the other side, he uses the word porcelain and porcelain means multicolored grace. What that the devil put on me. God gave me some shoes to match it. Can I get a witness here? and grab your neighbor by the hand and say to your neighbor, neighbor, yes, I've had some trouble. Yes, I've had some trials. Yes, I've had some sleepless nights. Yes, I've had some poison in my pot but the reason I'm here God did something. Every time I had some trouble, the lord delivered me and I thank god for his grace. Everyone to your feet if you will When the word is preached it merits an invitation Poison in the pot The pot is a representation of us That Adam sinned in the garden and all of us became tainted and but God had a remedy for the poison pot. He has a remedy tonight. If you're here and you're not saved, your pot is still poisonous. Jesus says, come. I have the remedy for the poison. If you're here, you're not Grace is the cure. Come tonight if you will. Secondly, if you're here and you're backslidden, and you need to be restored, that's what revival is for. Revival is for restoration. Rebuild. Refocus. Reenergize. rekindle. You can be restored tonight. You're not as fervent as you used to be. You're not as passionate of the things of God as you used to be. You're becoming different. It really doesn't matter if you serve the Lord, if you worship the Lord, if you praise the Lord, if you hear word from the Lord, if you join the fellowship if you're part of in-person worship. Your passion is gone. You can be restored tonight. Thirdly, if you're here in need of a church home, and I'll say tonight because we have a plethora and array of pastors here, If the spirit is not leading you here and the spirit is leading you somewhere else, we just want you churched. We want you churched. Listen, people say now, you know, I'm not with the church. I ran into a young lady last night and she said, well, I'm not with the church. I said, well, how can you be Christian and against what he died for? How can you be Christian and be anti-church? And she said to me, well, you know, I can read the Bible for myself. I said, well, it's obvious that you're not reading it because he told you not to lean until you won't understand it. But in all your ways, acknowledge him. And if he set it up, and you have to succumb and surrender to the will of God. Listen, the doors of the Lord's house stands ajar. If you're here and you're not saved, come on, give your life to Christ tonight. Don't you let Satan cause you to put off today for tomorrow. Listen, yesterday is gone. Tomorrow is not promised. You only have now. now faith now is the day of salvation you only have now give the lord your life tonight listen secondly come be restored thirdly come receive a faith family the doors are open come you can come by letter christian expense of kennedy for baptism come on come on come on come on come on come on Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Let him come. Come on. Come on. Come on. Listen, the lord is waiting. Come on. Come on the lord. Won't you? He desires He's drawing you because he desires you. Come on. Come on the doors. The doors. Come on. Y'all give me some kind of music. Come on the doors. The doors. Come on. The lord said, come. I said, come. the evangelist, the lecturer, preachers, Jesus. Come on the door's still open. Come on. Come on. We're going to make one more round. Come on. Come on to the Amen. Sister Clerk, who do we have? Nabian Johnson, a candidate for baptism. Amen. Come on. Bless the lord. Amen. Bless the lord. Bless the lord. Young soul that has come to the lord Jesus Christ. You want to be saved. Yes, sir. Amen. To be saved, you have to believe in as the savior of your soul. How did he save you? He came from heaven and he died on the cross of Calvary for your sins. Do you believe that Jesus died for your sins? Yes, sir. Amen. Do you believe that Jesus was placed in a tomb, in a grave, and God raised him up Sunday morning? Yes, sir. Do you believe Jesus now, because of your belief, takes residence? He's in your heart. Yes, sir. Amen. Father in heaven, we thank you for his soul. for you adding him to the kingdom of god and forgiving him of his sins and drawing him unto you lord through the atoning work of christ we thank you lord for his mother we thank you for his family lord we thank you for saving them all lord i pray that this be the first day of the rest of his life with you that lord we understand the responsibility that you have given us as a church that we are to teach him lord and teach him again baptizing him in the name of the father son and holy ghost and lord that he would observe all things whatsoever you have commanded thank you father i pray that his life identified with you your father, your son, and your Holy Spirit. Now, Holy Spirit, take residence in his heart. Take control of his life. Lead him and guide him. In Jesus name, Amen. Amen. Amen. Come on. We can do better than that. Amen. Amen. Amen. Hallelujah. Glory to god. Glory to god. Amen. We'll hear words from our evangelist and then he'll close us out in prayer. I just want to say To somebody I don't know who I Want you to know you're gonna be alright I Know it hurt But you're gonna be alright God ain't going to take the poison out. He's just going to put some grace in it. And now, may the grace of our Lord and the sweet communion of his Holy Spirit rest, rule, and reign over us and in our pots henceforth now and forevermore. Let us all respond Amen.