there are many things that we can simply go through the motion to get through in life. But the area that I want to focus on today is washing.

The thing about washing is that if we only go through the motion to wash, then there is a possibility that are efforts of washing may not get the job done thoroughly.

So, I would argue that in order to wash thoroughly one should recognize the dirt is, or the stain that needs to be clean is, so that the efforts of washing can be more complete. Which brings me to the title of today’s message Washing to get clean.

Pr 30:12 — There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness. The world that we live in today is a very much confused generation, for those that sincerely understand the word of God, live the word God and are sanctified through the word of God. See the world today in its true form as being one that needs to be cleansed thoroughly by the cleansing of God.

Ps 51:2 — Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

I am not going to claim nor take credit for knowing anything about washing clothes but what I have observed in life from my mother and then my wife; is that if abnormal stains are on your clothes; then you need to add an additive to assist with the cleaning of that garment so that it may be thoroughly clean, so that when the wash cycle is complete, then the entire garment looks the same.

So, I believe that our generation needs an additive to assist with the washing because we are faced with many forms of abnormal filth and iniquity.

When you are sincere about your salvation and relationship with Christ, there has got to come a point in your life when you look at you. When you identify where your stain is.

There is a possibility that the garment you are wearing has only been going through the motion of getting clean. You go to church, you read your bible, you study, you are doing all the things in which you believe you need to be doing. But what a lot of people failed to do is identify the stain that is keeping them from getting their garment completely clean.

And the side note on stain is, that sometime you cannot even see it yourself. Sometime you don’t even notice it until someone else brings it to your attention. Then 7 times out of ten, now you are not going to talk to that person again, because they recognized something that you have missed all these years.

Eph 5:26 — That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, but stains on us can hide themselves from us, they can go on detected for years. There is a reason why God says that the road is narrow and few be on it.

There are a lot of people that have a desire to make into the kingdom of God, but unless we allow ourselves to be sanctify and cleanse, then we will find out that we are just going through the motion, we are not allowing ourselves to be washed to be clean. That hiding stain is still there.

That stain thinks that it has out smarted us, it believes that because it has concealed itself from us all these years, that it has the victory. It is not that it has been laying dormant all these years, it just been unnoticeable to us all the years.

I think I said earlier that in order to clean a stain, you first must identify where the stain is on your garment. The first step in finding your stain is accepting you have a stain.

To many people get saved and then they start living what they believe to be a saved life. Don’t get me wrong, this is a great thing, but it is only a step in the progression of what you need to be doing in order to get on the narrow road that leads to the kingdom of God.

Do not be deceived in thinking that just because you have come to the alter to receive the gift of salvation, that you have sustain in the requirements of keeping that salvation. The scripture is very clear, that on that day meaning will come and say Lord, Lord, and he will reply, I know you not.

So, it is on us to find that stain in our lives. We need to study to show ourselves approve. You see we need to be knee deep in our word of God, we need to fully understand what is not the Fruit of the spirit. The better we understand Galatians 5:13-26, the better our chances are of finding the stain that could have been hiding from us all these years.

The life of a believer is not something that we can afford to just go through the motion of. And when we really start doing that self-evaluation, when we really start looking for that speck that may be in our own eyes.

Sometimes reality hurts, sometimes the truth hurts, sometimes it is hard for us to accept that we have a fault. We have lived with this persona of being such a great Christian all these years. We have though by the best of Pastor, Elder’s and Evangelist. We been through unknown numbers of seminars and conventions.

When you look at our Christian resume it looks like the post card of image of what a Christian life should be.

But if you have not been washed thoroughly in the blood of the lamb, if you have not been cleansed completely, if you have failed to add that additive that is needed, if you failed to recognize that an additive is something that can help you remove the hidden stain in your life.

I am trying to encourage somebody on this day. Trying to get you to open your eyes and just look at the possibility of a hidden stain in your life.

You have been asking yourself Lord why have you not done this yet, Lord why am I still faced with this condition, Lord why have I not received this yet. You have been crying out Lord Lord and there may even have been some self-doubt about your relation with Christ and where you stand.

I am going to close this message here and continue you it with part two of washing to get clean.

Tit 3:5 — Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

commitments involved in it as well.

But here is the one thing that we all should want when we engage in washing and that is to get completely clean. There may be a few that does not understand the significance of that.

But I want to share with someone today, that read a verse and based on my interpretation those that had washed their robs had made it into heaven

Revelation 7:9-10 (KJV)
⁹ After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
¹⁰ And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

Revelation 7:14 (KJV)
¹⁴ And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, these are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

I told you that in order to get something clean, then you would need to add some form of additive to the wash cycle. The additive that we all need to add comes from the blood of the lamb and that lamb is Jesus.

There is something about the blood of Christ. We use to sing songs day in and day out about the Power in the Blood, and what can wash away my sins, nothing but the blood of Jesus, what can make me white as snow, nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Somebody says the BLOOD!

When you get serious about change in your life, when you reached the point when you understand that its time to go all in. Somebody Say All In.

You see when you go all in with God, there is no limited to where God will take you. Let me let somebody in all a secret. It aint always about the success of you going all in, it is more about the intent in your heart to go all in with God. I guarantee you that is going to hit someone a little later.

Talking about that blood.

1 John 1:7 (KJV)
⁷ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

One of the very key things about obtaining the cleansing power of the blood of Christ is our willingness and dedication to be cleanse from all sin.

Reminder that the title of the message is Washing to get clean. As I said last week, sin has a way of attaching itself to us, disguising itself within us, we are capable of going to church for fifty years and still carrying the same sin back and forth with us for fifty years.

It is so easy for us to have and live with certain sins because those sins have convinced us that it is no big deal, everybody does it, all the other Pastors and Evangelist think the same way, why change now?

The bible tells us in Proverbs 14 & 16 that there is a way of life that seems right to man, but in the end, it will only lead to destruction.

This is why God tells us to examine ourselves, If, we are sincere about walking in the same light that Christ himself walked in. Meaning if you pattern your life to allow the Holy Spirit to lead you as He lead Christ.

Wise up and make up in your mind that you no longer what a sample or portion of holiness, that you want the whole thing and you are willing to let go of everything that is preventing you from living the life that allows you to say with complete truth, I am Holy because Christ is Holy.

Rather you believe this are not. The only way that any of us are going to be able to wash our robes in the blood of lamb is that we live Holy. And to live Holy means we are living a life where we are free from committing sin.

Leviticus 20:7 (KJV)
⁷ Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God.

PREACH

Let me Sum this up: Let me start with if your end game is getting to heaven, then your middle game has got to on point. I talked about the extra additive that one needs in order to get cleanse, and we know that additive to be the blood of Christ.

And that blood is represented in the way in which we live our lives, the way in which we treat people, the things that we think about and the things that we engage in doing day to day.

That blood is seen not just by us but it is seen radiating over us. This is a commitment thing. It is okay to talk about living for Christ, it is okay to keep coming to church, it is okay to keep seeking Christ. But eventually every one of us is going to have to put in that extra work and commit and allow ourselves to be cleanse through the blood of Christ.

As long as we keep dipping and dapping, slipping and sliding, as long as we have one foot in and one foot out. If you need me to break down, I can go there. But we all know the sins that lurk inside of us, the mistakes that we make over and over again. We know our short comings better than anyone else.

If you want to be one of those that is standing around the throne of God, draped in your clean white robe than you are going to need to make it up in your mind to sell out to God and become totally committed to living a life and sanctify and holy unto God.

your walk for Christ. The act of being responsible is something that we tend to excel at in certain parts of our life, but neglect or show lack of interest or commitment with in other parts of our life.

The reason why this is important is because the word of God says in all things do it as though you were doing it for the Lord. Colossians 3:23 ESV

If I am doing something for the Lord, whatever it may be, whatever task, assignment, duty, office, participation, whatever I have put my mind, hands and actions to; I need to that as though I was doing in the Lord.

To walk with this type of attitude; will affectively create a greater responsibility in oneself about all matters of life.

Since I am on the subject about responsibility. I was reading a scripture that talked about the responsibility of the watchman.

I was also thinking about why it is so important that we preach and teach about the importance of Holiness.

Ezekiel 33:6 (KJV)
⁶ But if the watchman sees the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand. Ezekiel 33:7-9 (HCSB)
⁷ “As for you, son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. When you hear a word from My mouth, give them a warning from Me.
⁸ If I say to the wicked, ‘Wicked one, you will surely die,’ but you do not speak out to warn him about his way, that wicked person will die for his iniquity, yet I will hold you responsible for his blood.
⁹ But if you warn a wicked person to turn from his way and he doesn’t turn from it, he will die for his iniquity, but you will have saved your life.

I know people may get tired of hearing someone always saying something about the removal of sin from their life. But those that have been giving the responsibility of watching over the people of God, have no choice but to warn the people in advance.

The watchman has been given the responsibility of warning the people of God about eminent danger, but also, he must express the word of God when God gives him utterance of the word of God.

So, this watchman to me, is those that have been given the charge to watch over the people of God. His job is to man the coast, be on the look out at all times, be observant at his post. It is a 24-hour responsibility that requires him to react when it is necessary.

The scripture says, that his duty is to blow the triumphant and give warning to the people. Now watch this here. One would think that at that point, the watchman’s duty and responsibility would be over.

But I kept on reading the word of God and He said “As for you, son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. When you hear a word from My mouth, give them a warning from Me.
⁸ If I say to the wicked, ‘Wicked one, you will surely die,’ but you do not speak out to warn him about his way, that wicked person will die for his iniquity, yet I will hold you responsible for his blood.
You see anytime God gives us the word to give, then we must deliver that word, as thus sayest the Lord. It may ruffle some shirts, and make us feel uncomfortable at times. There are times when we feel as though we are being single out and being picked on.

But I need to let someone know today, that the watchman has been given a responsibility to do and say exactly what God has given him to say.

There are those that will argue and say, I am not a wicked person, so this scripture has no application for me, so for those that think that way. Here is what the word of God says.

1 John 3:8-10 (KJV)
⁸ He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
⁹ Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
¹⁰ In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

Nobody likes to be called a sinner or be made aware that they are sinning. Sometimes it is the hard cold word of God that we need to hear, so that we begin to understand the importance of the life that we have chosen to live with Christ. For those that keep committing the same sin over and over again.

You keep running back to that same vice that never changes. There is a good chance that there is a flaw in your armour. Something is not as it should be in you. That blood that cleanses us from all sin has not yet cover you completely.  You many need to jump back into the wheel from whence coming the blood of Christ.

But I want to encourage someone today, that God has a plan and a word for you.

Ezekiel 18:28-32 (KJV)
²⁸ Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
²⁹ Yet saith the house of Israel, the way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal?
³⁰ Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so, iniquity shall not be your ruin.
³¹ Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
³² For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.

PREACH

As I read this, I began to understand that God looked at our heart and our mind and seen that we have given great thought to letting go of our iniquity, letting go of our addictions, letting go of the things that so easily attach to us.

Because you have turned from those transgression, you will not die, but you shall surely live.

Contrary to what you thought, I want you to succeed, I do not want you to die in your iniquity. I have put the watchman over you, so that he may give you warning.

commitments involved in it as well.

But here is the one thing that we all should want when we engage in washing and that is to get completely clean. There may be a few that does not understand the significance of that.

But I want to share with someone today, that read a verse and based on my interpretation those that had washed their robs had made it into heaven

Revelation 7:9-10 (KJV)
⁹ After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
¹⁰ And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

Revelation 7:14 (KJV)
¹⁴ And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, these are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

I told you that in order to get something clean, then you would need to add some form of additive to the wash cycle. The additive that we all need to add comes from the blood of the lamb and that lamb is Jesus.

There is something about the blood of Christ. We use to sing songs day in and day out about the Power in the Blood, and what can wash away my sins, nothing but the blood of Jesus, what can make me white as snow, nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Somebody says the BLOOD!

When you get serious about change in your life, when you reached the point when you understand that its time to go all in. Somebody Say All In.

You see when you go all in with God, there is no limited to where God will take you. Let me let somebody in all a secret. It aint always about the success of you going all in, it is more about the intent in your heart to go all in with God. I guarantee you that is going to hit someone a little later.

Talking about that blood.

1 John 1:7 (KJV)
⁷ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

One of the very key things about obtaining the cleansing power of the blood of Christ is our willingness and dedication to be cleanse from all sin.

Reminder that the title of the message is Washing to get clean. As I said last week, sin has a way of attaching itself to us, disguising itself within us, we are capable of going to church for fifty years and still carrying the same sin back and forth with us for fifty years.

It is so easy for us to have and live with certain sins because those sins have convinced us that it is no big deal, everybody does it, all the other Pastors and Evangelist think the same way, why change now?

The bible tells us in Proverbs 14 & 16 that there is a way of life that seems right to man, but in the end, it will only lead to destruction.

This is why God tells us to examine ourselves, If, we are sincere about walking in the same light that Christ himself walked in. Meaning if you pattern your life to allow the Holy Spirit to lead you as He lead Christ.

Wise up and make up in your mind that you no longer what a sample or portion of holiness, that you want the whole thing and you are willing to let go of everything that is preventing you from living the life that allows you to say with complete truth, I am Holy because Christ is Holy.

Rather you believe this are not. The only way that any of us are going to be able to wash our robes in the blood of lamb is that we live Holy. And to live Holy means we are living a life where we are free from committing sin.

Leviticus 20:7 (KJV)
⁷ Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God.

PREACH

Let me Sum this up: Let me start with if your end game is getting to heaven, then your middle game has got to on point. I talked about the extra additive that one needs in order to get cleanse, and we know that additive to be the blood of Christ.

And that blood is represented in the way in which we live our lives, the way in which we treat people, the things that we think about and the things that we engage in doing day to day.

That blood is seen not just by us but it is seen radiating over us. This is a commitment thing. It is okay to talk about living for Christ, it is okay to keep coming to church, it is okay to keep seeking Christ. But eventually every one of us is going to have to put in that extra work and commit and allow ourselves to be cleanse through the blood of Christ.

As long as we keep dipping and dapping, slipping and sliding, as long as we have one foot in and one foot out. If you need me to break down, I can go there. But we all know the sins that lurk inside of us, the mistakes that we make over and over again. We know our short comings better than anyone else.

If you want to be one of those that is standing around the throne of God, draped in your clean white robe than you are going to need to make it up in your mind to sell out to God and become totally committed to living a life and sanctify and holy unto God.

But what I have learned over the course of Pastorial years is that you cannot prevent the will of the Lord from its mission. 

Ephesians 5:17-18 (KJV)
¹⁷ Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
¹⁸ And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

I know right now you are saying that does not seem like a big deal scripture Pastor. God is just saying Use common sense when you do things, don’t get drunk, be smart about what you do, and make sure that you are filled with the Spirit.

If only it was just that simple.

Let me let you in on a little secret about interpretation of the Bible, in order to under the simple so call simple scriptures, you must first understand the scriptures that proceeded the so-called simple verses.

Ephesians 5:3-8 (KJV)
³ But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;
⁴ Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.
⁵ For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
⁶ Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.

This is where you must be very careful because this is where most congregations and Pastor will begin to sugarcoat the word of God so that it is acceptable to those that pay tithes and offerings

What profit a man if he should gain the world but yet lose his soul? There is a way of life that seems pleasing to man but yet in the end it leads to destruction.

It is easy to say, oh yeah, I know you have needs, I know that you need to do what you need to do. Yes, my sister brothers go ahead and shake up and live like you are married.  But the devil is a lie. Be not deceive

There is a way of life that God has demanded of us to live.

Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting There are so many young people and older people that believe that they must be the life of the party, that must tell this joke and that joke, talk about this person and that person. That they must be the center of attention. They have people that are paid professionally to be comedians.

For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. There is no way to change the meaning of this passage nor sugar coat it, it means exactly what is says.

You are not going to be able to go to God and say. Well Lord it was more beneficial for me not to get married because I am not the commitment type person, and I prefer just having the freedom to sleep with whomever I choose to when ever I choose to. But to keep it simple Lord, I just go and pay for it.

There is not getting around this, there is no viable argument when it comes to trying to convince God about your needs. God is not concerned about sexual needs if your sexual needs do not include marriage.

⁶ Let no man deceive you with vain words and to add to that, do not deceive your own self with vain words, thoughts or reasonings. The word of God means exactly what it says. for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.

For there are those out there that will lead you astray, will tell you all types of lies, will want to continue in a life of darkness.

⁷ Be not ye therefore partakers with them.
⁸ For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

God assures us this is not our life anymore, we are not the children of the world, we are not living in darkness anymore.

¹⁷ Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

Which brings me all the way full circle back to the opening text. Be not unwise. It is very important that you know the word of Lord, Know the expectations to the lord, don’t get side track into thinking that this is acceptable and that is okay. It is alright because it is just for a limited amount of time.

Nobody knows the time of hour of their departure, but what we do know is what the word of God says in verse 5, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. This is what we have to stand on and live by.

My closing remark, be wise about the word of God, don’t allow anyone and I mean anyone to be successful in making you think that God has a completely different meaning of the bible just for you.

your walk for Christ. The act of being responsible is something that we tend to excel at in certain parts of our life, but neglect or show lack of interest or commitment with in other parts of our life.

The reason why this is important is because the word of God says in all things do it as though you were doing it for the Lord. Colossians 3:23 ESV

If I am doing something for the Lord, whatever it may be, whatever task, assignment, duty, office, participation, whatever I have put my mind, hands and actions to; I need to that as though I was doing in the Lord.

To walk with this type of attitude; will affectively create a greater responsibility in oneself about all matters of life.

Since I am on the subject about responsibility. I was reading a scripture that talked about the responsibility of the watchman.

I was also thinking about why it is so important that we preach and teach about the importance of Holiness.

Ezekiel 33:6 (KJV)
⁶ But if the watchman sees the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand. Ezekiel 33:7-9 (HCSB)
⁷ “As for you, son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. When you hear a word from My mouth, give them a warning from Me.
⁸ If I say to the wicked, ‘Wicked one, you will surely die,’ but you do not speak out to warn him about his way, that wicked person will die for his iniquity, yet I will hold you responsible for his blood.
⁹ But if you warn a wicked person to turn from his way and he doesn’t turn from it, he will die for his iniquity, but you will have saved your life.

I know people may get tired of hearing someone always saying something about the removal of sin from their life. But those that have been giving the responsibility of watching over the people of God, have no choice but to warn the people in advance.

The watchman has been given the responsibility of warning the people of God about eminent danger, but also, he must express the word of God when God gives him utterance of the word of God.

So, this watchman to me, is those that have been given the charge to watch over the people of God. His job is to man the coast, be on the look out at all times, be observant at his post. It is a 24-hour responsibility that requires him to react when it is necessary.

The scripture says, that his duty is to blow the triumphant and give warning to the people. Now watch this here. One would think that at that point, the watchman’s duty and responsibility would be over.

But I kept on reading the word of God and He said “As for you, son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. When you hear a word from My mouth, give them a warning from Me.
⁸ If I say to the wicked, ‘Wicked one, you will surely die,’ but you do not speak out to warn him about his way, that wicked person will die for his iniquity, yet I will hold you responsible for his blood.
You see anytime God gives us the word to give, then we must deliver that word, as thus sayest the Lord. It may ruffle some shirts, and make us feel uncomfortable at times. There are times when we feel as though we are being single out and being picked on.

But I need to let someone know today, that the watchman has been given a responsibility to do and say exactly what God has given him to say.

There are those that will argue and say, I am not a wicked person, so this scripture has no application for me, so for those that think that way. Here is what the word of God says.

1 John 3:8-10 (KJV)
⁸ He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
⁹ Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
¹⁰ In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

Nobody likes to be called a sinner or be made aware that they are sinning. Sometimes it is the hard cold word of God that we need to hear, so that we begin to understand the importance of the life that we have chosen to live with Christ. For those that keep committing the same sin over and over again.

You keep running back to that same vice that never changes. There is a good chance that there is a flaw in your armour. Something is not as it should be in you. That blood that cleanses us from all sin has not yet cover you completely.  You many need to jump back into the wheel from whence coming the blood of Christ.

But I want to encourage someone today, that God has a plan and a word for you.

Ezekiel 18:28-32 (KJV)
²⁸ Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
²⁹ Yet saith the house of Israel, the way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal?
³⁰ Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so, iniquity shall not be your ruin.
³¹ Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
³² For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.

PREACH

As I read this, I began to understand that God looked at our heart and our mind and seen that we have given great thought to letting go of our iniquity, letting go of our addictions, letting go of the things that so easily attach to us.

Because you have turned from those transgression, you will not die, but you shall surely live.

Contrary to what you thought, I want you to succeed, I do not want you to die in your iniquity. I have put the watchman over you, so that he may give you warning.

best that God has got to offer for you, then there will be no regression.

Definition:(a return to a former or less developed state)

For those that stay in Christ Jesus and have obtained the power granted by God in the form of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, they will not return to their former self, former life, former beliefs, former habits. To them that have elected to wait patiently on the Lord, I say to you, the best is yet to come.

For some you have been on this Christian Road for a long time, and for others you have only just begun to experience it. But what I want to ensure each believer on this day, is that you have not yet seen your best, you have not yet lived the best that God has got to offer. For when you live the best that God has got to offer. There will be no regression in you of any form what so ever.

Isaiah 30:18 (KJV)
¹⁸ And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.

What scripture says that the Lord will wait. I really want to establish the significant of that. We have God that has elected to wait on us so that he may be gracious unto us.

We as people have tendencies to get a small taste of God or a small blessing from God, or even a small understanding of God, and we often find ourselves regressing to our former or similar way of our old lives.

But God in his mercy says I will wait, I am going to give you a chance to get you out of the way, give you a chance to receive your bumps and bruises, along with your experiences of life that will become the refining fire of whom you will be in Christ Jesus.

Isaiah 30:20-21 (KJV)
²⁰ And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers:

Let us be clear we are going to go through things, there are going to some experiences of life that just possible may shake, rattle and roll us just bit. But those that have been standing in your corner, those that have been teaching you the word of God year end and year out, those who you had failed to take heed to their words of advice and God’s love and gratitude toward you.

God says, that the day will come when your eyes will see thy teachers. The light will go off inside of you, and you will recognize that they have been trying to tell me this all these years.

You may say I wasn’t ready for that way of life then, I had some on finish business, I was still living me like I wanted to. I have been through a whole lot during that time.

Whatever you had elected to say. The beauty of God is that he didn’t leave and he didn’t abandon us, what he said is I waited.

²¹ And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, this is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.

You those that live this Christian life, you have often heard that voice that has said, do this, do that, turn this way, turn that way. What you have experience in that interaction of the Holy Spirit within.

What you have experience in God trying to bestow upon you the gift and power of the Holy Spirit within your life. He is trying to give unto you a power that is unmeasurable and unfathomable to what it can do and will do in your life.

(Incapable of being fully explored or understood. Impossible to measure the extent of)

Isaiah 30:23-24 (KJV)
²³ Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous: in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures.
²⁴ The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground shall eat clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan.

Let me sum up what he just said. I will give unto you blessings that will sustain you for life. I want everyone to understand the thing about serving God.

PREACH

One is that God will wait on you, but during that waiting period you will find yourselves going through the trials and tribulation of life.

But God in his mercy, I am going to wait on you to get you out of the way, I am going to wait so that I may structure you to person that I need you to be.

There are going to be teachers in your life, people that will constantly be in your ear about doing it this way or that way.

You will have that period of life when you may not want to hear a word they are saying because what they are saying is making sense and you don’t want sense in your life right then.

But God says the day will come, when you will hear that voice in your head. The day will come when the Holy Spirit will begin to speak to you, the day will come when you realized what them old folks were talking about finally makes a lot of sense.

And when that holy Ghost power really begins to become the ruling factor of your life, then you will experience a form of life that you may have thought was unachievable but in actuality it was only unfathomable.

My word of encouragement today: is that if you hold unto to God, if you continue to allow him to be your lord and director, that you will experience and see for yourself that Your Best Is Yet to come.

But where the issue comes in, or should I say the sin comes in. Is when we act upon the things in life that we feel we need to get revenge or get back for.

Leviticus 19:18 (KJV)
¹⁸ Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.

Proverbs 20:22 (KJV)
²² Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the LORD, and he shall save thee.

Matthew 5:44 (KJV)
⁴⁴ But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Now the one thing about this message is that it requires you to keep it real about your feelings and often time check your emotions and pump your brakes.

We often move without the wait on the Lord portion of the scripture. Because we need satisfaction and right now get back, we have a tendency to react without knowing what God’s true intention, motive or way of dealing with problems in our life.

living for Christ. Meaning that there have been times in our lives that we lived a sinful life.

And before you start disagreeing in your mind about how unblemished with sin your life has been. Let me remind you that the word of God says; All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23

But I want to encourage you today, because we serve a God that when we find ourselves on these roads of life that have us wrapped up in sin, when we find ourselves lost and sometimes not knowing the way back. We have a God that will dedicate time in bringing us back home.

Eze 34:12 — As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so, will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.

Luke 15:5-7 (KJV)
⁵ And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
⁶ And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.
⁷ I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

You can have the best of intentions to live a life reflective of a sincere Christian life. But life itself will offer you many opportunities to go astray. There are roads after roads that leads to sinful activities. People, circumstances, desires, curiosity. The truth of the matter is that each of us at some point in time have found ourselves on a road in which we were lost and possible separated from God.

But here is the thing about God, he says I will seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered.  I want to put emphasize on a couple things here, first he says from all things. What could be your all thing, that thing that makes you feel that you are not worthy of the love and intervention of God, that thing that has you far turned away from God that you are not even sure if it is possible to come back to God.

But God says I will bring you back from that place, I will seek you out and not give up until I have found you again.

I want you to understand the commitment and resolved of God. God is not going to give up on us.

There could have been times when we were comfortable in that state of living because that state of living felt good to us. We didn’t have to answer to anyone, didn’t have to try to be righteous, didn’t have to claim to be a child of God, we felt the freedom to just be ourselves and explore a road of life that we had no clue where it would lead.

We were just living in a darkness without even know where the light switch was. Or maybe possible having no interest in going toward the light. But even with that mindset, God still has a commitment and promise.

Eze 34:11 — For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. Eze 34:31 — And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord GOD.

Mt 18:12 — How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?

You may have been lost, you may have been trapped in your own sinful desires, you may still be lost and still trapped in the snares of life that lead to sin. But I want to encourage you on this day. God said I am going to make it my business to make sure that I find the lost, and when I find that which is lost, I will rejoice.

You ask how do I know he is going find the lost and retrieve him, because he says I will search until I have found it.

God is not going to leave you out there alone. You may feel as though you are alone, you may feel as though you are going through your pit fall of life all by yourself. You may think that no one can relate to what you are dealing with, or no one has had to deal with the challenges of life that have fallen on your plate.

But I need to encourage today, and let you know God will forever be trying to get you to see the way that leads back home to him.

We are in this world, we doing us as they say, but God is trying to get us to do him. He will use various methods to get our attention, to get us to step away from the sin, to get us to repent, to get us to find a new love and desire to have him in our lives.

The encouraging thing that I love is going to be persistent, he is going to keep trying. Some people get stuck in their sinful way of life for years upon years, even decades, running and trying to avoid living their life for God.

People get entrapped in a way of life that seems right and the glitter of riches that seem rewarding. But when you have been choosing by God, when you heard that knock on your heart and you took the time to say yes lord, your servants hears you, what is it you will have me to do, when you have accepted Christ as your salvation.  

There is something special about you, you are a sheep of God and he will move mountains and men to reconcile you back to him.

John 10:27-29 (KJV)
²⁷ My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
²⁸ And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
²⁹ My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.

Be, encourage in the knowledge that you are never so far away from God that God cannot find his way back into your heart. There will come a time when you will realize that I can do so much better living in the presence of God then living in the life of sin.

Be encourage that whatever you have been through, whatever hurt you have suffer, what challenge of life that was thrown in your face, that God is the answer, God is the key, that God will not give up on bringing you back into the land of worshipping him.

understand God.

Well today I want to spend some time talking to those that want to learn and grow to understand God. Because the more you understand about God, the more you desire to have God as an intricate part of your life.

Hebrews 8:10 (KJV)
¹⁰ For this is the covenant (an agreement, usually formal, between two or more persons to do or not do something specified) that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

How many times have we said or have we heard it said “I keep reading the bible but I am not understanding the things that I read, I think I have read the whole thing but I really don’t understand the majority of it”.

Let me encourage you today by showing you that what you said, is not actually what is taking place. Millions of people believe that they do not understand what they are reading in the bible. But the truth of the matter is that the word of God is being written upon the heart and in their mind without them even realizing that it has taken place.

Now I am willing to let anyone challenge me on that teaching. Because I can guarantee you that God’s word has already begun to formulate itself in your heart and in your mind.

How do you know this Pastor? This is my proof to everyone that thinks that they do not understand the word of God.

1. For God so loved the world that……. John 3:16
2. All have sinned and………. Romans 3:23
3. Greater is he that is in you then……….1 John 4:4
4. For if God be for you who……. Romans 8:31
5. I am the way, the truth and the light……. John 14:6

I wanted to show you that even though you may think that God’s word is not understood by you, God is forever equipping you with his word, and the reason why he does this is so that you will be able to stand and fight against the enemy, so that you will be able to give an encouraging word at the right time, so that you will be able to express to someone what thus says the lord.

You see this is a covenant that God has made with all of us under the new law. But it is not the only promise or covenant that he has made with his people.

As we began to prepare ourselves this month for revival, I want you to listen to this next scripture and begin to get an expectation of what God is preparing to do for you.

Ezekiel 36:25-27 (KJV)
²⁵ Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. If you come with an expectation of being released from the things that are binding us, things that we know God does not approve of, ways that we have that we know God needs to change within us. But there is a catch to this, you are going to have to meet God part of the way, meaning you are going to have to say lord I truly desire that you take this cigarette dependency away from me, Lord I truly desire that you take my alcohol dependency away, lord I truly desire that change the things that come forth from my mouth, Lord I truly desire to just love you more and more and serve you with all my heart.

The thing about revivals, if you come looking for a filing in God you are going to leave with a filling from God.

But he didn’t stop there,

²⁶ A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.

There is going to come a point in every believer’s life when God is going to need to change your heart. The thing about that change, is that you know without a shadow of a doubt that God has done a new thing in you.

This is not one of those things that happens when you come to the alter and give saved or give your life to God. Because chances are you are going to go our and intentionally sin again.

But when God removes that stony heart that heart that did not want to listen all the time, and then gives you that spiritual flesh heart that is design to serve the Lord God. Your life will never feel the same again, your reasoning for living will never have the same again.

But he does not stop there.
²⁷ And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

God is going to expose us to his spirit, to his power, to his divine authority, and when he does this, he tells us that the spirit of God that is resting, ruling and abiding in us, will cause us to walk in the statues of God.

Temptation may come our way, we may still hear the whisperer in our ear saying do this and do that, but the spirit of God is also going to be in our ear telling that spirit of iniquity to shut up and leave God’s child alone.

Here is another beauty of having the spirit of God within you, there is a joy deep down in your soul, it’s like fire just yearning to be released. There is a newness that runs within you. A new kindling taking place in you with each breath that you take.

You feel brand new, I can stand here and describe that unspeakable joy, but the best thing that I can really do for you expose to you to the opportunity to get it for yourself.

So, I am encouraging you, want better for yourselves, have a desire to grow closer to God, get your affairs in order and say goodbye to the sin that wants to keep you in bondage and hello to the power of the spirit of God.

ready on time. They could have had a week noticed and when the time comes for us to do whatever it was that we were suppose to be doing, they are never prepared are ready for the task at hand.

The problem with this, is that it could cause an adverse effect for you. You could easily end up with the same name as them. “Late for everything” I t could even cause you to miss out on something that you really were looking forward to doing.

So, our attitude and character about being prepared and getting to places on time is something that God himself has made reference to in his word.

So, we are going to do a little reading today. And God be willing the word of God will do all the talking.

Matthew 25:1-13 (KJV)
¹ Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
² And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
³ They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
⁴ But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
⁵ While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
⁶ And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
⁷ Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
⁸ And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
⁹ But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.

So, the instructions and thought of mind being deliver through this parable. Is that when God is giving you instructions, he has prepared you, he has given you prior knowledge of something pending and happening.

With this knowledge is an expectation from God that you will go and prepared yourself for what ever it is that God has designated for you to do.

But the problem is that most people want to wait to the last minute before they respond to what it is that God has given them to do. It is almost as though, that they do not believe God, so they do not prepare for God.

It is further almost as though, they have not the faith to believe that it was God that said unto them go!

Here is the dangerous thing, a lot of people just want to brush things off as it is no big deal, I get around to it when I get a chance, God knows I am not ready yet, there is no sense in me committing myself to doing that, when I really do not have the time to do that. For that matter I really may not be a fan of doing that, If God really needs that to happen, I know he is able to get the right person for the assignment.

The danger lies in what the scripture says, ¹⁰ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. To those that want the Lord to wait till they get their act together, instead of getting prepared and waiting on the lord. Instead, we tend to make excuses and fine reasonings within our own minds for why we can’t do for God.
¹¹ Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
¹² But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.

You see people get so caught up in themselves and what they want, what they are willing to do, what they believe is best for them, how they can make this work out better for me. I am not ready to give my all to God. I want to still hold unto some of the vices that I have because it is what I want to do.

But the danger of God saying I don’t know you. This should really get your attention. I am not even going to stay in this long, but I am going to go into it for a minute.

¹³ Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

PREACH

We so easily forget that we do not know when the return of Christ will be. So, we walk around with this assumption that you are going to live to be hundred and you have all the time in the world to get your life together.

But I need to tell somebody. If the bridegroom came tonight, would you be ready, or will you be like the foolish virgins who did complete the task of being fully prepared for the coming of Christ.

They lack because they had no oil. We lack because we still have sin in our lives. We lack because we have not yet let go and let God be in control. We lack because we think that God isn’t going to mind if we are a little blemish, he is not going to mind if we did not manage to get our robe clean.

We lack for lack of commitment to God and dedication to maintaining this vessel that God has given us as the temple of the highest God. We lack because we will use various types of chemicals in our system.

I ready to close this down, but I want to encourage somebody. Don’t be like the foolish virgins, you want to come prepared to receive a double dose of the blood of Christ in your life.

because of the reflections of time spend with those that we have loved and are not longer with us.

But it is also a time that we are able to make new memories, new thoughts new laughter, new opportunities to express our joy of thankfulness of being graced by God.

So today I want to ignite your emotion and encourage your faith, I want you to leave with the knowledge that God gives strength during those times that we may grow weary.

Isaiah 40:29-31 (KJV)
²⁹ He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
³⁰ Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
³¹ But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

God is not the type that will give up on us, even though we feel like given up ourselves.

But what I have learned over the course of Pastorial years is that you cannot prevent the will of the Lord from its mission. 

Ephesians 5:17-18 (KJV)
¹⁷ Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
¹⁸ And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

I know right now you are saying that does not seem like a big deal scripture Pastor. God is just saying Use common sense when you do things, don’t get drunk, be smart about what you do, and make sure that you are filled with the Spirit.

If only it was just that simple.

Let me let you in on a little secret about interpretation of the Bible, in order to under the simple so call simple scriptures, you must first understand the scriptures that proceeded the so-called simple verses.

Ephesians 5:3-8 (KJV)
³ But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;
⁴ Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.
⁵ For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
⁶ Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.

This is where you must be very careful because this is where most congregations and Pastor will begin to sugarcoat the word of God so that it is acceptable to those that pay tithes and offerings

What profit a man if he should gain the world but yet lose his soul? There is a way of life that seems pleasing to man but yet in the end it leads to destruction.

It is easy to say, oh yeah, I know you have needs, I know that you need to do what you need to do. Yes, my sister brothers go ahead and shake up and live like you are married.  But the devil is a lie. Be not deceive

There is a way of life that God has demanded of us to live.

Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting There are so many young people and older people that believe that they must be the life of the party, that must tell this joke and that joke, talk about this person and that person. That they must be the center of attention. They have people that are paid professionally to be comedians.

For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. There is no way to change the meaning of this passage nor sugar coat it, it means exactly what is says.

You are not going to be able to go to God and say. Well Lord it was more beneficial for me not to get married because I am not the commitment type person, and I prefer just having the freedom to sleep with whomever I choose to when ever I choose to. But to keep it simple Lord, I just go and pay for it.

There is not getting around this, there is no viable argument when it comes to trying to convince God about your needs. God is not concerned about sexual needs if your sexual needs do not include marriage.

⁶ Let no man deceive you with vain words and to add to that, do not deceive your own self with vain words, thoughts or reasonings. The word of God means exactly what it says. for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.

For there are those out there that will lead you astray, will tell you all types of lies, will want to continue in a life of darkness.

⁷ Be not ye therefore partakers with them.
⁸ For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

God assures us this is not our life anymore, we are not the children of the world, we are not living in darkness anymore.

¹⁷ Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

Which brings me all the way full circle back to the opening text. Be not unwise. It is very important that you know the word of Lord, Know the expectations to the lord, don’t get side track into thinking that this is acceptable and that is okay. It is alright because it is just for a limited amount of time.

Nobody knows the time of hour of their departure, but what we do know is what the word of God says in verse 5, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. This is what we have to stand on and live by.

My closing remark, be wise about the word of God, don’t allow anyone and I mean anyone to be successful in making you think that God has a completely different meaning of the bible just for you.