Have you ever went to someone’s house and you constantly knocked on the door? Have you knocked so hard that your knuckels began to sore? Or, have you ever knocked so hard that you just wanted to go in?
Well, I have! In order to open a door, you must use some energy to open the door. A door just can’t open itself. In understanding this you must understand that in order for God to come it, you must open the door of your heart and let him in.
Revelation 3:20 gives us meat to what we need today. "Behold I stand at the door and knock..." We as believers must understand that is it not the will of God that any should perish, but that all come to repentance.-{II Peter 3:9} For so long people have misunderstood salvation. People think that because they sing in the choir, or because they usher or even a minister, they feel that they are prepared for heaven. I must submit to you today that that is a LIE! I know you took grandmother’s position on the usher board as president, honey, that just don’t get it with God.
In John 3, we find a character by the name of Nicodemus. Nicodemus was wandering, how must a man be born again. Jesus quickly led him to understand that is you’re not born again, you shall not enter into the kingdom of God. If we would stop letting our feelings and emotions control our focus, we can be better christians. How can you help me to Christ, when at twelve o’ clock every night, I peep out of my window and see Johnnie tipping from your house.
In this world today, people think they are getting by. They think because the pastors, or ministers are not looking, they are getting by. Honey, I must report to you today, there is not getting by in God. The bible says, "The eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the good and the evil.-{Proverbs 15:3} Rev. Nick and Bishop Taylor don’t have to know what you’re doing, the Lord knows and he’s the only one that counts. For the bible lets me know that he is the only one who judges.
There was a poor preacher who had just began in the ministry and he would ride his bicycle to church every Sunday. One particular Sunday his bicycle had gotten stolen by one of the members. He told the Bishop, "Bishop, someone has stolen my bicycle." The Bishop said, I tell you what to do, "On Sunday morning you make sure that you preach the best message you have ever preached on the Ten Commandments and when you get down to THOU SHALL NOT STEAL, I want you to stress that.
After church the preacher asked the Bishop, "How did I do?" The Bishop said, "You did a great job, it’s just when you got down to THOU SHALL NOT STEAL, you didn’t stress it enough. The preacher replied, when I got down to THOU SHALL NOT COMMITT ADULTERY, I realize where I left my bicycle at."
That preacher realized that he was not living the life that God had called him to live. People today are eager to use the Bible as there way of escape when they are saints who are living a sinners lifestyle. I don’t know about you, I’m not a SINNER. As a christian you must understand, a sinner is one who practices sin. For if we look in the English language, we would find the suffix -er means to do again. In other words something that is done over and over or superflously, you have to consider that as an practice. Basketball players have practice all week before game time so that when game time comes, the player has gotten a feeling of shooting and dribbling. This leads me to my point, a sinner practices a life of living a sinning lifestlye. Christians practice righteousness. I am a minister and there are times I do things that are displeasing to God (we all do), that still does not make me a sinner.
As Christians sometimes, we like to use the bible as our sin escape. Galatians 6:7 says: "Be not deveived, God is not mocked, whatever a man sows that is what he is going to reap." Honey, I don’t care how many degrees you may have or how well your dialect and intellect is, if you don’t know God, you’re going to "HELL!" It is time for people to stop playing church. I am tired of believers falling and using God. It is sad that many of you can’t live right for a day. I understand you falling two or three times, but when it becomes habitual, you need to go back to the altar and seek God and tell God: "Lord, deliver me for I don’t know what I am doing>" You need to REPENT!"
As we go back to our text, we find that God is knocking on your heart. He is trying to get in and open up those gifts that he has placed inside of you. It is something, God being who he is, will stand at your door, he wants you to live right. God wants us to go back home and live the life wherever we may be. If you don’t want to live the life, stop wasting people’s time.
We can call on many witnesses who will let you know that, I open when God knocked. Let’s call on my friends: Shadrach, Medshac, and Abinedgo. They will tell you, we knocked on the heart of God when we were singing praises to our Lord. That is why a fourth person was seen in the furnace and it confused the jailers because they only remember placing in only three. That is how it works when you open the door and let the Lord come in.
God will always confuse the wise with the foolish things of this world.-{I Corithians 1:21} It is amazing how God will show you his power with foolish things. God will show his power by having you to do things that are crazy, but they all work out for the good to them that love the Lord-{Romans 8:28} I don’t care what you think about me and I don’t care how you look at me, if God said, that’s enough for me.
In the word of God, we will find that God is seeking for someone who will open up there heart. Our people hear me, God is wanting to take back his people and the bible let’s us know that it is not the will of God that any should perish. God wants all of us to live with him in eternity. God does not want us to be left behind and spend the rest of our lives in HELL! Why would you try and fool God all of these years and when you get to the gate his response is: "Depart from me for I never knew you>" If you was a faithful usher, wonderful, if you was the best singer in your church, good, if you could preach a sermon that made the world go crazy, awesome. If you’re not saved, you’re going to HELL! I don’t care what you think about me and I don’t care about how you view me, if you’re not saved, you’re going to HELL!
It is time for us to come to God and live the life that we sing, preach, and pray about. It is time out for phonies and fakes. Let’s be real with ourselves. There are a lot of preachers whose mouths are profane, who lives an adulterous life, and many whom are not in connection with God. How can you minister to me when you are not in connection with the connector? Or, how can you sing in the choir and sing your heart out and you’re not saved? Aren’t you afraid of God’ wrath?
I couldn’t do it, I would be afraid of what God may do to me if I had done something like this. I couldn’t preach on Sunday when I have had sex with my girlfriend on Saturday. I respect God enough to get back us and clean myself off, ask for repentance, and stay out of the pulpit. If many minister had this mentality that I have, our church sizes would increase, and the anointing upon our lives would be some amazing that in the midst of praise and worship people would come and give there lives to come. Backsliders would return to God, Homosexuals would change there lifestyle, Whoremongers, Alcoholics, and drug-users would become addicted to the Word of God and not the devil’s handbook.
If we would focus our attention on Gideon. God call Gideon and told Gideon he would have to battle some angry soldiers. Gideon questioned God and said, "Lord, who me?" God responded to Gideon and led Gideon to know that he would prepare him for the battle. To make a long story short, God commanded Gideon to get some men to fight with him. I want you to understand that these were not trained soldiers, they were some men from off the streets. Gideon obeyed God and he got 22,000 men to follow him. God later commanded Gideon that he had too many men fighting with him. God gave Gideon these instructions: tell the men that you have chosen the task that lies before you all and then see your results. The bible records 12,000 men fleeing, leaving Gideon with only 10, 000 to fight with. God came back and led Gideon to uderstand, you still have too many men fighting with you. God said, I want you to take them down to the river and those that laps like a dog, keep them. The bible record 9,700 fleeing, leaving Gideon with only 300 to fight with and remember they are having to fight 32, 000 Midianites.
I said all that to get you to understand this. God then led them out to battle and when they were face towards the Midianites, God gave them three trumpets and told Gideon to divide them into three companies and give each company a trumpet. Gideon obeyed God and in the midst of them blowing there trumpets, lives were delivered and souls were saved.
I want to let you know that there is power in praise. If you would only let God come in and sit with you, I promise you, our world would be a better place. I also gurantee you that in the midst of praising God, souls will be saved, we won’t have to wait the the preacher does altar call for lives to be changed and souls to be saved, it can happen in the midsto of our praise.
