The Gospel of the Kingdom - Harold Hoffman | TP 2006

and it's going to start at verse nine and it'll go to verse thirteen and if you wouldn't mind doing it I'd like you to read vocally and out loud with me while I read these verses are you ready verse nine after this manner therefore pray ye our Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen would you cup your hands and thank the Lord together praise God praise God praise God I I I guess I enjoy sometimes terrifying people and I never did enjoy just the normal stuff I I wanted people to think I wanted them to kind of slow their mind down to a thinker space and kind of pitch your mental tent for a while and and just I used I I've worn out a couple Bibles and that's very common I used to think that really spiritual people colored in their Bibles you know they wrote things and and I remember the day I got the Holy Ghost the next day after I got the Holy Ghost I took my father's Bible and I went one page at a time through that entire Bible and everything my dad had written in his Bible I wrote in mind and it meant nothing to me but my dad was a what I considered a spiritual person and so his Bible was written in and I wanted to be a spiritual person you know spiritual people were when they dropped their Bible it was like a grenade and it it took about ten minutes to pick it up you know and spiritual people had had church bulletins and dried flowers and newspaper clippings and different things stuck in their Bible you know and and I would underscore things and when I felt like I saw something in in the word of the Lord I would I would underline it and but as I've gone on I don't write in my Bible as much as I used to because I found that when I underlined something when I would read that verse the next time I would immediately go to what I had underscored and in my own pompous way say well I've pretty much got that one figured out and go on to the stuff that I hadn't written in and but the Bible is a living thing Jesus said that my word is spirit and it's life and I've read a lot of different books as you have I'm sure but none of them do for me what the Bible does I've never ever read another book that can make me want to pray I've never ever read another book that will bring me under conviction I've I've read some sentimental old stories you know that make me kind of get teary-eyed and stuff about some hunting dog that died or some tragedy or whatever but but but but to pray in repentance that that this this Bible has the ability to reach your spirit and not just your mind and so I will attempt to do something here tonight I don't want to do a travesty of the word of the Lord but through the years I I just I I think there are just an awful lot of things that we quote quote wrongly I for instance one of the first things that ever happened to me when I was a young preacher people said you need to be instant in season and out of season but we're not really ready it doesn't say and it says you need to be instant in season out of season so there was no out-of-season to us it was an instant in season and out of season it's just when everything else was out of season you're supposed to be indices it's kind of like an evergreen you know other trees leave their lose their leaves but we're not supposed to there's a bleeps in the scripture people have misquoted for years it says without the shedding of blood there's no remission of sins that prepositional phrase isn't there it says without the shedding of blood there's no remission which means that you can't limit the blood to just sins the blood that came from his side was to deal with our sin but what about the blood from his back that wasn't for your sin that was by His stripes you would be healed what about that curse that he turned into a crown and put it on top of his head that was balm for your brain that would help you thought life because you are spirit mental and physical and you cannot limit the blood of Jesus to simply the spiritual aspect there are no limits on the atonement the blood can touch your body the blood can touch your mind the blood can touch your spirit and there are words and phrases and things that we traffic in very very often and IIIi don't think we really really really really look at them tonight we'll deal with a subject about the kingdom and you know people say well we're in the kingdom of God hi I found some scriptures that are very very interesting to me it says in the book of Mark chapter number 4 and verse 23 and Jesus went about all Galilee teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom watch and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people I found in Matthew chapter 9 verse 35 and Jesus went about all the cities and villages teaching in their synagogues preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every sickness and every disease among the people the Bible says in Matthew chapter 24 and verse 14 and this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations and then shall the end come I think we live under a delusion that basically says when I am born again of the water and spirit I am baptized in water in the name of Jesus Christ filled with his spirit speak with tongues I am immediately in the kingdom but the Bible doesn't teach that and one of the ways you can prove that is in John chapter 3 there's a man by the name of Nicodemus who is at the very least a lawyer and at most a possible judge he is coming to Jesus by night this is the very same man that will be out of the closet in just a little while and he will beg publicly for the body of Jesus but right now he is coming by night he says in John chapter 3 we know that thou art a teacher come from God how do we know that for no man could do the miracles which you do except God be with him the Bible says in the book of Acts there's more in the book of Acts chapter 2 than just verse 38 there really is and like might come as quite a revelation to you but it does say in the book of Acts chapter 2 and verse 22 you men of Israel hear these words Jesus of Nazareth a man approved of God among you how by miracles and wonders and signs which God did by him in the midst of you as you yourselves also know that's how Jesus was approved by miracles signs wonders it says in the book of John 3 we know that thou art a teacher come from God because no man can do the miracles which they'll do us except God would be with him watch what Jesus says you must be born again of water and spirit and he said if you are not born again of water and spirit you'll never see the kingdom and then Jesus says don't be amazed how could I get into my mother's womb the second time after I've been born he said Marvel not that I say anything you must be born again except the man is born again of water and spirit he said you're never going to enter the kingdom so there are five things that Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3 number one you must be born again number two he qualifies how you are born again by being water baptized and spirits filled the third thing that Jesus said would happen is this after you are water baptized and spirit filled you're gonna see the kingdom the fourth thing that Jesus taught is now you're going to have to make up your mind whether or not you are going to enter what you see the fifth thing he taught was the wind blows wherever it wants to you don't know where it came from you have no idea where it's going you just only know why it's there or when it's there III in Acts chapter 1 it said there was about a hundred and twenty and you can have names for sixteen of them you have the sixteen disciples you have their names you have the mother of Jesus who is there that would give you twelve it says his brethren are there that's James Joseph Simon and Judas that are given to us in Matthew 13 54 and 55 it says his sisters are there but never dunno what the names of the sisters of Jesus were but we do know the names of his four half-brothers there's about 120 and I can give you names I'm confident for at least 16 of that about 120 so there's about a hundred or a hundred and four that I don't have names for I always have believed one of those nameless 104 was Nicodemus and one of the reasons I believe that is because when you compare John 3 and acts 2 it says and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind I think that's what Jesus was telling you a boy back there you're gonna know when it happens because you're gonna see you're gonna see it's the wind and when you sense the wind you know this is what I'm talking about Nicodemus this is the account and event of people being born again but it is important to me to point out the fact that just because you are born again does not mean you are in the kingdom the kingdom is something that is presented to you after you are born again you'll see it now you're gonna have to make up your mind are you willing to enter the kingdom way of life because you will find in the book of Matthew and in the book of Mark nobody's baptized in Jesus name nobody is filled with the Holy Ghost yet and yet Jesus is preaching the gospel of the kingdom he's not preaching about water baptism and the infilling of the Spirit that's not the kingdom message that's how you get born again and are presented with the kingdom but the concept of the kingdom is a totally different situation than being born again lots of people that get born again never enter the kingdom when he comes back it says people are going to be with him and they will be called chosen and faithful in the United States they called people into the military used to have but where they would call people up hadn't have the draft we don't have that anymore but when they would have that they would call you all the people were called but you had to pass a physical had to go through some mental tests and some some basic math skills if you couldn't pass the test it did matter if you were called you were never chosen and if you were chosen to go into the military that didn't guarantee that you were going to come out of the military with what was called an honorable discharge you could be called you could be chosen you could go into the military and you could be dishonorably discharged so it's three separate situations of being called being chosen and then being faithful after the choice has been made because according to the Bible what is our first priority seek ye first the kingdom and all these other things shall be added unto you I can prove to you again and again because you see there are not just nine Beatitudes there are at least there are at least 10 there are at least 10 it says John the Baptist he anoints the Lord this is the Lamb that takes away the sin of the whole world and that's great when you're loose on the street and you've got lots of followers but six months later he's in jail and his following has dwindled down to just a few faithful disciples somehow he gets a message out of his cell to these disciples they go to a place where Jesus's ministry and at the end of the lesson he kind of opens it up for question and at the back of the crowd someone says art thou he that should come or do we look for another jesus said this go and tell John again no one said John wanted us to ask you this question but Jesus knew where the question originated from go and tell John again he said the blind receive their sight the lame walk the lepers are cleansed the Deaf hear the dead are raised up and they have the gospel preached unto them blessed is he who is not offended in me in another translation it says blessed is the man who doesn't get angry or upset by the way I conduct my business Jesus is telling John you made the right choice I am the lamb don't second-guess yourself now son I know you're in prison I know you're alone but under that anointing weeks ago you made the right choice I am the Messiah but understand this John don't be offended at what I'm doing I am preaching the gospel of the kingdom what is the gospel of the kingdom not simply water baptism and the infilling of the Spirit it's much much more than that I have asked people for years what is the gospel don't tell me it's the good news what is according to the Bible the gospel it is very common to hear this response the gospel is the death the burial and the resurrection of Jesus and it does say that in 1st Corinthians 15 and I believe that for a long time but I no longer believe that I don't the gospel was the death the burial and the resurrection I believe this it says in 1st Corinthians 15 like 1 through 4 it says moreover I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you which also you received and wherein you stand how that Christ died for our sins according to the scripture and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day and that he was seen he was seen of above five hundred brethren he was seen of me like one born out of due season he was seen by the apostles what is the gospel the gospel Pentecost is not just water baptism and the name of the Lord and the infilling of the Spirit the real gospel is the water baptism in the name the infilling of the Spirit and then people would see Jesus in you and I and if people don't see Jesus in you and I we're only preaching of the Bible half the gospel the gospel is not just water baptism in the infilling of the Spirit there needs to be miracles there needs to be signs there needs to be wonders that's just as much the kingdom as this other message because you get what you preach reason we have modest people in this room tonight is that's what we preach the reason people return they're tithing is because that's what we preach the reason people are baptized in the name of the Lord and filled with the Holy Spirit that's what we preach the reason you worship so magnificently with your mouth and your hands and your music is that as what we preach and teach but there is a part of this gospel in this Bible that is just as much Scripture as all of the freely previous things I have just mentioned it is biblical that Jesus would be seen in a miraculous way by your neighbors by the people that you work with by the people that come into this church that's the gospel of the kingdom sake that first I'm not minimizing water baptism in Jesus name or the infilling of the Holy Ghost that's paramount but that is the new birth message that's not the grown-up message one man in Hebrew said not laying again the foundation of repentance and the baptisms and the resurrection from the dead let's forget those things which are behind and let's go on the perfection he doesn't mean forget baptisms don't think repentance doesn't matter he's saying get those things established in your life and let's go on to something more God has more for you than simply being water baptized in his name and filled with his spirit God wants to use you to affect somebody else in this city so that they would see Jesus in you in the book of Matthew this one of the most traumatized scriptures in the Bible is Matthew chapter 11 and verse 12 and from the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force and I've preached it and I've heard it preached and if you want something you got to get violent has no I it's not even close to what that's verse means not even I preached it with great conviction but it's not right this is what it says the kingdom of heaven is suffering because selfish men are using the gospel of Kingdom for their own advancement that's what it means what is the gospel of the kingdom not the salvation message what's the gospel once you get in that Kingdom not the gospel to get in what's the gospel after you get in because it's saying does this sound familiar that the kingdom is suffering because people are using the Gospels message the kingdom's message to line their own pockets with money how many people use healing and the miraculous for their own advancement Jesus or Peter rather one time looked at a man and he said your money's gonna perish with you he said it's hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom because in the book of Corinthians I want to know how can you distinguish the kingdom this is what it says in Corinthians for for the kingdom of God is not in word but it's in power I've dedicated my life to perfecting the art of preaching some say I'm very good at it but I have dedicated a lot of my life to something that doesn't really matter because the kingdom has nothing to do with just how good you can speak with your words the kingdom of God's not in words it's in power seek that seek that there's a great scripture in the book of Acts 16 Paul goes to Mars Hill Areopagus he's been trained at the field of commit feet of Gamaliel in my mind it's his day to shine all right you dumb Pentecostals you just stay back here these are my kind of people these are educated people and when you get to act 17 I'm convinced Paul dipped his tongue in hurry no and he's quoting philosophy and he's talked about snowing sand Epicureans and he's given us all fancy stuff and I'm absolutely convinced that Paul was convinced himself he's gonna Wow him it's his chance to use his education and when he gets done with what I'm sure was a magnificent message you know what they said to him we'll hear you again on a later date concerning this matter translation get out of the way preacher somebody else wants a dog at saks 17 next verse acts 18 and one and Paul came to Corinth and I know what he did because it's found in first Corinthians two and three he said for my speech and my preaching were not with enticing words of man's wisdom why I just tried that at the last place it didn't work this time we're gonna believe God and the demonstration of his spirit and the power of his resurrection I tried that fancy preaching at the last place impressed of a lot of people but nobody it we didn't we didn't have a revival we need more than fancy preaching you have a beautiful building wonderful music great staff magnificent city but in the midst of all of that I'm asking you this year separates yourself and seek the kingdom seek the kingdom God lay bare your arm show us your power show up and show off show the City of Sydney that you are the one true God his name is not Allah his name is not Buddha he is not just higher knowledge his name is Jesus [Applause] in Jesus name in Jesus name in Jesus thing you're gonna find your thought if you believe this because in Matthew 23 and verse 13 jesus said woe unto you scribes Pharisees and hypocrites for you shut up the kingdom against men you neither go in yourselves and neither suffer you to let them go in you don't believe the miraculous and you won't ever let anybody else believe the miraculous but in spite of those impediments and those walls in that opposition I'm asking you to believe God for it because it's just as much of a Bible message as acts 2 and verse 38 because in Matthew chapter see the Bible says in Psalms 19 the heavens plural heavens declare the glory of God it says in Corinthians 12 I was caught up to the third heaven reason dictates if there's a third heaven there's a second heaven and there's a first heaven and if there was just one heaven and it was around the throne of the Lord I could understand that but the Bible said there are heavens there's more than one it says in the book of Matthew chapter 16 and verse 19 Peter I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven notice what it says next and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven Jesus gave Peter the keys of the kingdom he wasn't talking about water baptism he wasn't talking about Holy Ghost in filling he was talking about binding and loosing something in heavenly realm and if the only heaven is the one around the throne why do you need to tie anything up there or let anything go it's obvious there's another realm there's another world that lives between where I and where the throne of the Lord is and there is a fight at a battle and you wrestle not against flesh and blood but you are going to wrestle against principalities powers the rulers of the darkness of this world spiritual wickedness in the heavenlies and if you're gonna wrestle in that realm you're gonna have to understand I need the power of God on my life Jesus gave parables about the kingdom he said the kingdom is like a grain of mustard seed what's that mean it's minimised by many but what is minimised by many is a great thing another parable is it's like living just a little bit of it but it can affect the whole thing it's again it's small to many but it's very powerful to me the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure that's in a field he said whatever you do sell everything you have and go buy that treasure whatever you do get that treasure the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant man seeking goodly pearls and he found the pearl of great price he's saying this is what my kingdom is like he said everything you've got pales in comparison to how valuable that one pearl is the kingdom of heaven is like a net you're gonna throw it into the sea you're gonna get good fish and bad fish which means sometimes it'll work and sometimes it won't but that won't stop you from throwing your net I've heard people say I don't believe in that prophecy I heard a lousy prophecy once that never came to pass and I gave up on prophecy hey folks I've heard lots of bad preaching in my life and I haven't given up on preaching just because I heard one bad message and I'm not giving up on prophecy just because I've heard one bad one I'm convinced there's another realm there's another world God wants us to operate in the kingdom [Applause] [Music] kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain King which had a marriage for his son and there's people that made light of it but he replaced them and he got somebody else surely you just don't believe in a Bible Jesus surely you don't just believe in a Bible Jesus do you because I believe in a Bible Jesus let me try to explain it to you in another way there was a guy named bill Shakespeare one time and he wrote a magnificent book called Romeo and Juliet but he wasn't over when he did dead he wrote another one called Macbeth when he done with that when he wrote another one you know King Lear on and on and on the five great tragedies you ever heard of the snows of Kilimanjaro written by old Ernie Hemingway but what about that one for Whom the Bell Tolls sealed Ernest Hemingway had more in him than just one good book and bill Shakespeare had in him more than just one good play do I believe that Jesus can do everything that's in this book absolutely but don't you live it Jesus to the Bible he wrote the Bible he's bigger than the Bible if you think this is the only book he can write you just say and he's got one good bestseller in him and that's it not a chance the Bible said there were many other things which Jesus did if they would have written them all down not even the world could contain the books that should be written the Bible says in Ephesians 3 and verse 20 unto Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above oh that we ask or even think but it is according to the power that works in us it appears that you and I set the high-water mark with our thoughts and our words and whatever we think about him and talk about him he will exceed that in other words if you think little thoughts he'll be a little bit better than little but if you're willing to think and say great things he'll do exceedingly abundant above whatever you say about him whatever you think about you see I used to learn to play golf I I never I was raised in a church where you went to hell if you played golf so I never did and I get married to Renee and her dad wakes me up one morning says if you're going to be my son-in-law you're gonna play golf so he gave me a bag of shag balls and an old broken 3-wood and took me out to the golf course I was absolutely convinced I would be struck dead but I wasn't and I got it addicted to this crazy little ball that Winston Churchill said was an odd game with implements ill devised for the tasks of getting the orb in the hole and if you've ever played golf everybody knows what your first goal is you want to break a hundred and then you want to shoot 90 golf because most golf courses have 18 holes for par fives for par threes and the rest par fours and if you bogey every hole on the golf course which is one over par you can shoot 90 and if you can shoot 90 golf you can play with 98% of the golfers in the world and I made up my mind I was gonna beat my father-in-law and it took a lot of work but I remember the day when I finally beat him it was a great day Tiger Woods has put golf on the map around the world everybody thinks their little bubble ooh is gonna be the next Tiger Woods at the risk of exploding your bubble let me explain something to you last year in America alone they sold six million sets of golf clubs there are 125 men in the world who are good enough to play the PGA Tour 125 and that's it they are freaks of nature their hand-eye coordination is off of the charts and in the midst of this magnificent game that men dedicate their lives to comes this little Thai black boy on the scene and he just massacres Tiger Woods in the golfing world is the hundred year storm he only shows up once in a great while but when he does he blows down anything in his bath but Tiger Woods as great as he is has never shot a 59 in competitive golfing rounds there are only three men in the history of organized golf that have ever shot a 59 al Geiberger David Duval and a guy named chip Beck three men have shot 59 a great golfer by the name of Ben Hogan said in theory it's possible to birdie every hole and if you could birdie every hole in 18 holes you would shoot a 54 there have been three men that have shot a 59 nobody's ever shot a 58 but when you're dealing with Jesus you see if you'll just believe that he's Tiger Woods Jesus can shoot a 50 for every round I've played good golf one day and there's something after 20 years of playing golf I've never been able to do I've never been able to play good golf two days in a row but if you're gonna be a pro you got to shoot in a 60s four days in a row you shoot par and you'll starve to death on the PGA Tour you've just got to understand you got it what they do say that I'm gonna go low I'm gonna go low I'm gonna shoot a lot of birdies and those guys go out there and they just are convinced I get up on a tee and I'm just glad to shoot par but not those guys they think different than I do I'm gonna birdie this thing I'm gonna ego this hole it's the way they think they've devoted their lives to it and guess what they do it again and again and again and again one man in the history of the NBA the National Basketball Association has scored 100 points in a basketball game his name is Wilt Chamberlain I don't know anything about cricket I know very little about your footy so I can't relate to you with some of your sports heroes but I understand this very very well but years ago there was a British boy by the name of Roger Bannister and he believed that you could run a mile in under four minutes the physiologist said that your lungs would explode and nobody could run a mile in under four minutes but Roger Bannister believed that he could exceed the best that anybody had ever done and at the risk of his lungs exploding Roger Bannister broke the barrier and now the mile is routinely broken at 357 358 because that man believed a hillbilly boy from West Virginia named Chuck Yeager believed that he could fly faster than the speed of sound and he did it with gum on his microphone and chattered in his own hillbilly tongue but he did it because he believed that he could do it there are barriers in the spirit there are laws in nature and there are laws in the spirit and you have to understand that there are barriers that people will impose upon you and barriers that you will impose upon yourself but listen to me you got to understand that Jesus can score a hundred and ten points any time he starts dribbling the ball Jesus can shoot a 54 any time he tees it up Jesus can run a mile in three minutes flat Jesus can do more than anybody else could ever imagine if we're not saying then it's obvious for one reason we don't even think it because thought is the womb of your words and what bothers me is a lot of people just don't even think it they don't even think it can happen not to me do you understand that you could have the best search in the world and still not live for Jesus you're gonna hear people criticize this church you ought to do this better if you just did that I'd come if you just do this I'd come to listen to me fairly closely Adam and Eve back slid in the garden Cora back slid following Moses the meekest man in the Bible days I back slid following Elijah the double portioned prophet in the Old Testament Judas back slid following Jesus Ananias and Sapphira back slid in the first church in Jerusalem Dimas back slid following Paul and the devil back slid in heaven and you can have the best Church in the world and that doesn't guarantee you'll serve the Lord Joseph who spent his entire career as a second man who ended up in prison on a trumped-up rape charge told his brothers you meant it to me for evil but God and it to me for good Moses was an adopted boy and as an adopted boy should have had a chip on his shoulder and all he had to do was shut up because he knew the balance in the Royal checkbook in Egypt but when he came to years he refused to be called an Egyptian what are you talking about birth often I'm talking about a little girl who doesn't have a name in the Bible she's a prisoner of war to a Syrian general by the name of naman and that nameless little powa who should have felt so sorry for herself looked at her Syrian captor and said there's a man in my country that you'd go to his house and listen to what he has to say I promise you gotta heal you of your leprosy she should have shut up she had a perfectly good reason to shut up not even mention or glorify the Prophet or her God but in the midst of captivity she can't be silenced she's still gonna be a witness Jobe lost his family his health his possessions job what's the worst thing God could ever do to you I think if he killed me and never ever explained why but though he slays me I'm still gonna trust him I can give you example after example of people who had great circumstances and yet their lives ended in tragedy and I can give you people who had horrible circumstances and their lives ended with great testimonies because you'll never have a testimony without a test Jesus I am convinced was not talking to demons in that Matthew eight when he said what's your name I think he was talking to the man but before the man can respond the demon say our name is legion how many times do we let our circumstances do our talking what are you identified by here tonight aren't you being tired of being known as the deadbeat the divorcee the depressed the despondent one that's not who you are what's your name I found a great Scripture years ago in Samuel 22 Jesus is in a cave at a deulim he's running for his life from Saul and the Bible said 400 nameless men come to him in the cave and they ask him to be their captain I really shouldn't call them nameless because they are named their first name is distress their middle name is dead and their last name is discontented it says all 400 of them were in distress all 400 of them were in debt does that sound familiar brother Richard when people come to church in debt distressed discontented nameless but when you get into second Samuel 23 there is the list of David's mighty men 37 men in all whose names are written for the ages in this Bible the very same men that just chapters before are in debt and discontented they're losers but they align themselves with David and guess what you'll read about a guy named Eleazar who had to pry his fingers from his sword after he killed 800 Philistines you will read of a guy named adeno who killed hundreds with a spear you'll read about a guy named Shama who defended a pea patch and said this is as far as it goes why would you defend a pea patch Jannah it's worthless because sooner or later you're just gonna have to decide this is as far as I'm gonna let you go you're not getting anything else of my family you're not getting any other part of my life this may mean nothing to you but it's all I've got left and I'm gonna defend it you will read about a guy by the name of banana and if I can tell you anything I would preach to you about courage with cold feet because Ben and I went into a pit when there was snow on the ground knowing there were lions in the pit his feet were cold but the guy had courage and God used him mightily men who used to be losers meaning loners lunatics are now called by their name the Lord knows your name Abraham Abraham Jacob Jacob how many times in this church do we say Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus and we put so much emphasis on us knowing his name do you think he puts any less emphasis on knowing your he knows you and you are not to be identified with your past mistakes and errors any longer Jesus is calling you tonight to the kingdom way of life something greater something more magnificent but I have a man in my church that is a he's a hunting fanatic and he gave me a magazine by the Matthews bow company in Wisconsin and I'm laying in my bed at night and I pick up that little thing my wife's asleep and I opened up that brochure and there it is the Matthews new beau the switchback it's got 80 percent let off it'll shoot 310 feet per second it's quieter than any beau ever built in the history of mankind it costs $1000 and I realize I just bought a bow two years before I don't need another bow but night after night while my wife's asleep I'm just thinking about it you see but the more and more I watch and the more and more I think about it when I get home Sunday I will sneak a new box into the back of my truck that has a Matthews switchback bow in it I didn't need it I just kept thinking about it again and again and again and thoughts became actions and if you pick up this brochure you say I really don't think I need that the more you read about that and the more you see that you're gonna go well I'd like to have one of them and my good pal brother Richard be reading it here see you get weary in his preaching business you get tired doing it folks you just do you say you got to wear a lot of hats when you're responsible for a congregation and all of a sudden you're reading through this book and all of a sudden you it's a great church see nice people here lots of established folks but you're reading this Bible about this new thing called revival we had one of them a couple years ago in Sydney I don't really think I need to pay the price for that but the more and more you read about that and the more and more you keep thinking about that I promise you friend you think about it long enough and you're gonna want one real bad [Applause] [Music] he is able to do exceedingly abundantly above what you are thinking and what you are asking I'm just here tonight to challenge you to start at the very minimum would you at least start thinking that it could happen because if you'll just start thinking about it it won't be much longer before you'll start talking about it and whatever you ask and whatever you think he'll do more would you stand see if you just want to be a bogey golfer fine Jesus I'll shoot a couple pars but if you want to be a great church you got to understand that there's a God that is appealing to you right now I believe he can do everything that's in this book but I refuse to believe that everything that he can do is in this book he's bigger than this book I passed her a lady named Dolores Hill she's been my secretary for 19 years she had two children Stacy and Todd Stacy is the one girl that every pastor would love to have in their church Stacy Hill is the most perfect girl that I ever will be permitted to pastor in my life she was magnificent she was student body president she was National Honor Society president she was the senior class president she was the homecoming queen now in my little church she never went to the prom because they danced there you know and you can't dance and she came to me and she said pastor I've been elected to be the homecoming queen and if you say I shouldn't go I won't go and I said oh no you're going I'm getting gonna go to the prom yeah you're going we're gonna buy you the most beautiful elegant modest dress anywhere we can find and they found her a beauty man youth director took her to the prom captain on the basketball team comes up and says would you like to dance and she says let me pour you some punch open up the prom and she cuts the ribbon and she goes over by the punch table he comes back again would you like to dance now let me pour you some more punch and he laughed and he said you don't dance do you and of course no girl no she said I do dance but it's usually in church and he said do you think I could go out and she said oh sure but I'm only permitted to go out after church with our youth group and you have to meet my pastor and he said okay and he came to church and he introduced himself to me wonderful kid daddy was wealthy he's got a full scholarship for basketball to college he's the big deal in Warren consolidated schools and he likes this Pentecostal girl in our church it comes to church on Sunday power God starts moving it's shaken he doesn't know what to do Tuesday starts the senior high camp meeting without me even knowing it our young people took him to the camp meeting it's wild and wooly kids that don't even know him are grabbing him and shaking him and speaking in tongues and the power God hits David and he falls on the floor and that old dusty camp building God miraculously fills him with the Holy Ghost we bring him back to church baptize him he goes to Scala CH full ride scholarship thousand tens of thousands of dollars I didn't say a word to him he's just out playing basketball and he gets convicted of wearing shorts and he tells his coach I'd like to wear them long practice pants in a game and and the coach says okay and they win of course because he's a redshirt freshman he's a magnificent fellow player and and then the leader of the school says he's got a dress like everybody else and David Meyers looked at his coach and said well that's the way it is uh I guess I won't be playing basketball anymore and his coach said but David if you don't play basketball you don't get any money to come to school and he said I understand and he left his father became so angry at me I thought his dad was gonna sue me because his dad didn't have a clue what was going on and I watched AC and David I watched him promoted again and again he makes a lot of money now they have three wonderful children it's a magnificent family but in that very same family was a boy named Todd same parents same pastor same church environment somehow Todd lost his way I can't begin to tell you how many thousands of dollars they spent bailing him out of jail I don't know how many letters I wrote to judges asking for leniency I don't know how many times Todd would come on the back of the porch of his mom and dad's house and just regurgitate all over the porch and they'd find him the next day in his own filth and moment I would watch my secretary day after day in the office never say a word but I could tell when she hadn't slept and her eyes were puffy and I'd hear prayers in the prayer room and I would watch them in church and her husband was never a really spiritual man he was a good man but he wasn't a spiritual man and I challenged him one day you need to become a worshiper you need to become a worshiper and I watched Jack Hill in his 50s get out of his old patterns and start moving across that church clapping his hands raising his hands speaking with tongues all of a sudden Todd showed up then he showed up again he's at the altar three months later he wants to marry a girl in our church I marry him did Jamie this great girl in our church before I came here I was in my truck with Todd and he said I think maybe you'll be able to tell this story in Australia pastor if it'll help you he said I was at the bank and the other day and he said I met this lady at the bank and she said all son we're just so glad you're in the neighborhood you and that you and that beautiful blond-haired girl that she's married to I can't tell you how how grateful we are in the neighborhood to have you live in there do you know son that there was a man that used to live in that house where you're living he looked kind of like you but he was a drunk and he was a drug addict and we find him laying out in the grass and lay it on his porch and they had wild parties and we're so glad that guy doesn't live there anymore we're so glad that you moved into that house and he said all the while pastor I didn't want to tell her I'm the guy that was thrown up on the grass that collapsed on the porch and I said Todd what in the world happened to you what made you change he said I just kind of read that story about the prodigal son that was in that pit and the Bible said he came to himself and he said one day brother Hovind after money was gone and I have thrown up again I just said you know what I don't want to live this way anymore I believe the Lord can changed my life he said I was always intimidated by my perfect sister and was always ashamed of the grief that I brought to my family but I had to get beyond my past and my grief and my mistakes and I had to be convinced that the Lord that I had served when I was a boy still know me and still loved me and if you go tonight into Sterling Heights I promise you Todd Hill will be right there with Jamie worship and magnify and God he's got a great job I assume they'll have babies she's finishing college to be a teacher in Jade December and I've watched God just change all of that I can tell you story after story after story after story I'm in this for more than Jesus name baptism I am in this for more than seeing people speak with tongues I am convinced that there is a kingdom way of life that we have a choice tonight as to whether or not we're going to enter into that you've got to be convinced there's more to this than Jesus name baptism and speaking with tongues we need to see a display of the Magnificent power of Jesus Christ hallelujah [Music] hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah I have been preaching since I was 19 years old and in the last 30 years I don't remember being more tired and more nauseous than I ever was but his service started the night I was worn out and sick but made up my mind I'm gonna go preach the word I'm gonna bleed God will do the yes I can tell you right now that even though my voice is hoarse I am strong the nausea is gone the fatigue is gone the weariness is gone just in the time of my being here ministered to you by your music ministering the power of the word of the Lord God has touched my body if you are here tonight I'm asking you to come to this altar and believe that God would touch you and change you and rearrange your life believe that he can touch your family believed that he could touch your marriage believe that he could touch your mind believe that he can affect your boy your girl your husband your wife your job your tomorrows your yesterday's

Channel: POSydney

Views: 929

Rating: 4.7777777 out of 5

Keywords: Harold Hoffman, Turning Point, Gospel, Miracles, First Church, Sterling Heights, Michigan, Sydney, Pentecostal, Preaching

Id: 3R_HQy21s14

Length: 62min 51sec (3771 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 11 2019