Well, it's good to be with you this
morning.
We had a great time in Sunday school.
And I just want to thank you for
praying for me the last several months.
I've sensed your prayers.
We were in a meeting last week in
a Christian school in Wise, Virginia.
And we saw God move in in mighty
power, but this is a new hour.
And this week could be the greatest week
of our lives.
Why?
Because if God decides, and I believe He
is, to move in, folks, we just are
in for some good things.
But we need to pray, and we need
to obey, and we need to believe.
Trust and obey, for there's no other way
to be happy in Jesus but to trust
and obey.
And would you just simply ask God to
speak to your heart today?
The preacher of my neighbor needs to be
spoken to more than me.
You might be surprised.
You might be surprised what you need today
and what I need today.
I get preached to when I preach, because
God often makes me live up to the
sermons I preach.
I never have liked that, but He does
it quite often.
He said, Preacher, you didn't preach that yesterday.
Now, here's the circumstance.
You've got to live up to what you
preach.
Now, I wish I could say every time
God's done that to me, I pass with
flying colors.
But I'm sure on that heavenly report card,
there are a few Fs, Brother Jules, that
this sorry preacher has flunked out.
But the good news is this, God never
gives up on His children.
He's more committed to us than we're committed
to Him.
And I'm grateful for that kind of faithful
God that wants to bless us in spite
of who we are.
I'm so grateful for that.
Now, this morning I have a message that
I believe is important for us to have
presented.
So let's turn in our Bibles to the
Gospel of Matthew chapter number 13, beginning at
verse number 36.
Matthew 13, beginning at verse number 36.
And I want to speak on this subject,
counterfeit Christians.
Counterfeit Christians.
We'll be looking at other portions of Matthew
and also the Gospel of John.
Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went
into the house.
And His disciples came unto Him, saying, declaring
to us the parable of the tares of
the field.
Notice, Jesus did not give this parable to
the multitudes, but to His disciples.
He answered and said unto them, So if
the good seed is the son of man,
the field is the world, and the good
seed are the children of the kingdom.
But the tares are the children of the
wicked one.
The enemy that sowed them is the devil.
The harvest is the end of the world,
and the reapers are the angels.
Therefore the tares are gathered and burned in
fire, so shall it be in the end
of the world.
The son of man shall send forth his
angels, and they shall gather out of his
kingdom all things that offend and them that
do iniquity.
And shall cast them into a furnace of
fire, and there shall be wailing and gnashing
of teeth.
Then shall the righteous shine forth as the
son in the kingdom of their father, who
hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Now let us pray together and then we'll
move right into the message.
And would you do this today?
Would you simply ask God if you are
a counterfeit Christian to show it to you?
You know, the Bible says our hearts are
deceitful, desperately wicked, who can know them?
And there are a lot of things that
sings right unto man, but the ends thereof
are the ways of death.
And I think one of the greatest needs
in God's kingdom today are for those who
are members of churches, those who have learned
to be faithful in the flesh, those who
have been studying the Bible in their minds,
who have never been truly born again, to
really have an encounter with Jesus for the
first time.
Where all things will pass away, behold, all
things will become new, and they'll have a
genuine birth into the kingdom of God.
Brother, you cannot have revival until there's a
resurrection.
And you might be surprised today, there could
be just one person, it could be two,
brother pastor, it could be as many as
five, it could be more than we can
expect, who really don't know Jesus.
And would you simply say, Lord, if I'm
deceitful, you show me today, if I truly
know you in an intimate, personal relationship.
I believe he'll do that today if we
ask him.
Amen?
Let's pray together.
Father, this is your time.
We simply want you to superintend this preaching
hour with an unction from on high, and
spiritual revelation in the heart.
And Lord, for those who could be here,
and they've been deceived by the God of
this world, their own deceitful hearts, God, pull
back the covers, and may conviction reign, and
conversion reign in this service.
Bring glory to thyself, in Jesus' name we
pray, with thanksgiving.
Amen.
Counterfeit Christians.
You know, they tell me in the banking
industry that quite often, bank tellers and other
bank officials are trained to try to find
out what counterfeit money looks like.
Now, I want to ask you a question
today.
Okay?
Which of these $20 bills is counterfeit?
Which one, this one?
Okay.
Anybody else want to guess?
Which one of these is counterfeit?
Neither one of them.
I want to ask this question.
How do we even know?
Do you know the only way to tell
a counterfeit from a real one?
You've got to know what the real one's
really like.
That's how they train bank officials.
They show them exactly what a real $20,
or $5, or $100 bill looks like, and
when they so learn what the real one
looks like when a counterfeit comes by, you
know it.
I don't think there's anybody in here that's
studied a $20 bill close enough to believe
both of these could be counterfeit.
Man, I'd be in trouble, wouldn't I?
I appreciate the fruit basket that you left
me over at my dwelling place, but you
know what I thought when I looked at
it?
I said, that's a beautiful artificial basket.
So I went over there and began to
smell it, and began to feel it, and
this morning began to taste it.
The only way I could find out was
to investigate to see if it was real.
There's a certain brand of watches that are
pretty expensive.
They're called Rolex watches.
I don't know.
They say they run at least $2,000
up to maybe $30,000 for a watch.
I think that's pretty expensive.
They're collector's items.
They hold their value.
But, you know, quite often you'll find in
these magazines Rolex watches for $500 or $100.
You know by the price that they're counterfeit.
And if you look at them on the
outside, they look just like it, but it's
the inward works that makes the difference.
There was a TV program a number of
years ago when, you know, had these comic,
I mean, these programs.
It's called To Tell the Truth.
How many of you ever saw that program
To Tell the Truth?
You're going to tell on your age.
Amen?
Well, they had this program where you had
three people come out on the stage.
What is your name?
My name is John Smith.
What is your name?
My name is John Smith.
What is your name?
My name is John Smith.
John Smith wrestles alligators for a living in
Florida.
And he's been doing this for 20 years.
And then the panel asks them questions.
And then they cast a vote who the
real John Smith is.
And it's usually the skinny fellow that you
never think wrestles alligators.
Amen?
Listen, and many times that entire panel and
even my entire family, when we watched that
program, would be deceived because a man can
put on, but the real one knew who
he was.
Where are you getting to, preacher?
Why are you saying all that?
Because in the kingdom of God, we have
a lot of people that say they know
Jesus and say they're born again and have
been baptized in every creek and pond to
the frogs, know them by name.
Amen?
And have their names on church rolls and
teach Sunday school classes and they become Christian
leaders, but they have never had a real
encounter with Jesus because they did not change.
Now, there are three very simple points I
want to talk about today in my message.
First of all, let's talk about the sheep.
The sheep.
You know, you can tell a real Christian
because a Christian is a sheep and their
father in heaven is the great shepherd, Jesus.
And there are several things about a sheep
I want you to notice.
First of all, a sheep knows they belong
to God's flock.
They're members of the flock of God.
Isaiah 40 verse 11 says, He shall feed
His flock like a shepherd.
Luke 12 verse 32 says, Fear not, little
flock, for it is your father's good pleasure
to give you the kingdom.
Psalm 103, We are His people and what?
The sheep of His pasture.
What are you talking about, preacher?
Well, you know, when somebody is truly born
again, I become part of His flock, the
church.
And that means when I'm saved, I enjoy
being around other sheep.
Amen, brother Jules?
And I enjoy listening to my shepherd.
I know that I don't belong to myself
anymore, that I got bought out by the
blood of Jesus Christ.
And because I'm bought out by the blood
of Jesus Christ, I lose all rights to
myself and I belong to somebody else.
And that's good news because if I belong
to God, it's God's responsibility to take care
of me and you.
And when you belong to His flock, you
enjoy being in fellowship with God's people, don't
you?
And when God is my shepherd and I'm
His sheep, I know that God's devoted to
me.
He has devotion toward me.
Why?
Because a true shepherd watches his sheep real
close.
He knows when they get in the bramble
bushes.
He knows when they get in fast-moving
streams.
He knows when they're hungry.
He knows when the wolves come.
And my shepherd's taking care of me.
Hasn't he, you?
I'll tell you something else about our shepherd.
He delights in us.
One thing that God's been teaching me in
these days is that God's thoughts toward me
are good, not evil.
That my God today has a delight in
His child.
I'll tell you something else about my shepherd.
He likes to distance from me.
If God chastens those He loves.
That's one reason you know you're a Christian
because you can't get by with wrong anymore
and can't enjoy it anymore.
I used to enjoy doing all kinds of
wicked things.
I just loved it.
Ate it up.
I mean, boy, I loved to sin.
When I got saved, I decided to go
back and sin one day.
So I bought me a baggie of hashish
from this fellow named Burnout Robert.
And I was going to take me a
smoke of that hashish.
And I did.
And what happened?
I got sick.
I felt awful.
I felt guilty.
And I got rid of it.
Why?
Because God had given me a new desire.
God put conviction on me.
And I'll say this today, folks.
My God loves you and I We get
by well enough to get on our heads
when we're wrong.
A friend of mine was in a revival
meeting.
A pastor's daughter came down.
She was in her twenties and made a
decision for Jesus.
Supposedly got saved.
And the evangelist got happy and he said,
Praise God, hallelujah.
But he noticed the pastor didn't seem to
be too happy.
And so the pastor came up to my
friend and said, Brother, I notice you seem
to be upset with me that I didn't
get real excited when my daughter came down
and made a decision.
He said, That's right.
You should have been happy.
She got saved.
We've been praying for her.
He said, My brother, you'll see me shout
when I see God treating her as though
she was his young'un or child.
Can I say this today?
When God treats you like his young'un,
you'll know that you're his child.
Amen.
Number two.
We'd like to be fed by the shepherd.
He shall feed his flock like a shepherd.
The Lord is my shepherd.
I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures.
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul.
That means when you and I are saved,
we shall be saved and you shall go
in and out and find pasture.
John 10, 9.
His delight is in his law and in
his law doth he meditate day and night.
We shall live by every word that proceeds
out of the mouth of God.
You know how I know you and I
are saved?
Because we love the Word of God.
Eat it up.
Can't get enough of it, man.
I mean, the hotter and the heavier, I
mean, the more fervent the message is, the
more it cuts up.
Whoo!
Give it to me, preacher.
Boy, this crowd that says, Oh, boy, God
didn't do her another sermon.
Oh, boy, I've got to listen to another
hour's sermon.
Get me out of here at 12 o
'clock dull, preacher, so I can go home
and watch my TV program.
My ball team is playing at 12 o
'clock.
Get me out of here, preacher.
Folks, I want to tell you something today.
Somebody that's true to save loves this book
and they like good preaching.
They like good teaching.
In fact, they can't get enough of it.
I have trouble with this crowd that's always
picking apart the Word of God and picking
out the parts of the Word they want
and don't want.
Right?
I know of a crowd, all they want
to hear about is heaven and salvation.
Why?
Because they won't put you under conviction.
I get tickled.
These people like to watch these slop operas
as the stomach turns.
Day after tomorrow, my day was like theirs,
I'll be looking for tomorrow too.
The young and the shameless.
Reading True Magazines and National Inquirers and People
Magazine, reading all that slop.
Amen?
And you know, when you feel yourself with
that stuff, folks, you come to the house
of God, no wonder you're bored.
I tell you, when I got saved, I've
never read the Bible that much in my
life, but when I got saved, I got
the Bible, and that book fascinated me and
still does.
I got the book of Revelations, the first
one I got in after I got saved.
Man, I was through the tribulation, seeing those
demon-like locusts come out of the pit.
I was asking that preacher, what in the
world is going to go on?
Are we going to be around here?
He said, no, we're going up.
I said, hallelujah.
Hallelujah.
I'll let you know, folks, you ought to
love the Bible.
In fact, you know what they did in
Romania?
A man would preach to irons and they'd
get through preaching and they'd start weeping and
they'd say, give us more.
Give us more.
Now, brother, you can preach and people fall
asleep on you.
I went to one church one time, or
I could even get started.
I was a young preacher, three of them,
and one got caught back in snoring.
So, you know, I didn't have any better
manners.
I'd be like this.
Wake up!
I mean, they got right through your door.
And I said, hey, listen, I'm a man
of God and if you sleep on me,
I'm going to wake you up and embarrass
you.
First sermon I heard in years.
Old pruned up, gone puff up me.
You're going to hear a man of God.
I'm tired of people sleeping on me.
Saw those wives punching and these old bow
cats got bowed up at me and I
preached.
A couple old ladies walked to the church
and preached.
It was about time somebody woke those dead
heads up.
Now, if you're on medication, we understand that.
If you've had a long night and you're
tired, we understand that.
But, brother, if you can come in the
house of God and sleep, there's something wrong
with you.
Now, amen.
Now, if the preacher's born, we can understand
that too, but I don't think I'm that
born.
Hope not.
You'll want to be fed by the shepherd.
Number three, you're familiar with the shepherd's voice.
Familiar with the shepherd's voice.
My sheep hear my voice.
I am the good shepherd and know my
sheep and have known them mine.
All that ever came for me are thieves
and robbers and the sheep did not hear
them.
Can I say this?
Once you get saved, you'll begin to know
how God's voice sounds.
By the way, God's voice always coincides with
this book.
When I was growing up, I knew my
daddy's voice.
Boys, come on up for supper.
I knew it was my daddy.
Because I'd heard my daddy's voice from birth.
You know what God told me right after
I got saved?
First week I got saved, brother Jules, you
know what God told me?
And I'd never heard a sermon on tithing.
He used to give me a tenth.
I made 70 bucks.
I gave God $7.50 just to let
the devil know I'd been saved good.
That's Florida God.
I'll tell you this.
No one had to tell me that when
Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night came,
my place was in the house of God.
Amen?
No one had to tell me when revival
came I adjusted my schedule to be there
even though it was tiring.
Nobody told me that.
My father told me that.
And by the way, my father likes me
to obey his voice.
He doesn't want me to be a knothead.
By the way, it's known that sheep become
so familiar with their shepherd's voice that when
a stranger comes by and tries to call
them if they hear another voice, those sheep
will run from that stranger.
You know how I know people that are
saved?
That when the devil beckons them with hypocrites
and backbiters and liars in the church, they
don't want to listen to that junk.
Number four, they want to follow their shepherd.
They want to follow their shepherd.
John 10 3 says, He calleth his own
sheep by name and leadeth them out.
My sheep hear my voice.
I know them and they follow me.
John 10 27.
I want to say this, if you're really
one of God's sheep, when He calls you
and tells you to do something, you follow
Jesus.
Of course, God has led you to preach
to all kinds of places.
Why does He lead you?
Because He knows the best way for me
to go.
Now, I wanted to be a college basketball
coach after I got saved.
I wanted to go back and get my
master's degree and I wanted to be a
college basketball coach.
God wouldn't even talk to me about that.
He had designs on me to be a
preacher.
And on November the 17th, 1977 at Second
Baptist Church in Great Falls, South Carolina, God
put His hand on me and so convicted
me.
I couldn't even take notes, Brother Jewel.
I was thrown into conviction.
I'd been saved about two and a half
years and I was convicted and weeping and
I threw up the white flag and told
God I'd preach the gospel.
Amen.
I didn't want to be a preacher.
Why?
Because preachers get a hard time.
Right?
I tell you folks, I wish some of
you would be a preacher for a week.
You'd thank God.
Amen.
All they ever do is sit around and
drink coffee and preach sermons.
Where's your head at, folk?
Where have you been?
Had to fight the devil and demons and
hypocrites and back biters and didn't have a
family and trust God?
Hey, listen folks, I know this.
I'm called a preacher.
I know I've got the right woman.
Why?
Because God hunted her up for me.
I waited on God for that baby doll.
Saved.
Raised in a Christian home.
Sings.
She didn't want to marry a preacher.
God had to ring her out to get
her to marry me.
Amen?
You know why?
Because God knew exactly who I needed.
And see, He led me to her.
There are a lot of girls who came
by, all counterfeits.
Nice looking.
Played the piano.
You know what happened?
Got around her and God said, don't even
date a preacher.
There's a trap.
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
for His name's sake.
God never leads me to sin.
He tells me when to get my hair
cut.
He tells me what kind of clothes to
wear.
He tells me the kind of people to
fellowship with.
Why?
Because He's my Lord and your Lord.
Isn't that good to have a God like
that?
All you had to do was walk with
Him.
There's a boy on this train station platform,
about eight years old.
He was just going around there going, woo
boy, good boy, just jumping around there.
And this old revivalist, James Stewart, saw him.
And he was just running around.
He said, son, where are you going?
He said, I don't know.
Woo wee, yippee.
He said, son, where are you going?
He said, I don't know, but there's my
daddy.
Ask him.
See, you don't need to worry where you're
going.
You just need to walk with Him.
I have a problem, Brother Jules.
These people are always trying to do what
they want to do and never ask God
what His opinion is.
That's the difference between Christianity and religion.
Christianity, God starts it.
Christianity, man starts it.
I mean, Christianity, God starts it.
Religion, man starts it.
That's the sheep.
We belong to His flock.
We're fed by the shepherd.
We're familiar with the shepherd's voice and we
follow the shepherd.
Now, is that you?
Number two, let's talk about the seed.
The seed.
What about the seed?
Well, over here in Matthew chapter number 13
and in verse number 3 through 9, it
talks about the seed and the soil.
And it says here, there's the first kind
of seed and the first kind of soil
that the seed can get on is the
stubborn heart.
Notice in verse 4 of chapter 13, and
he went and sowed and some seed fell
by the wayside and the fowls came in
to buy them up.
I want you to notice what else it
says in verse 5.
And they come to church and they hear
the word, but because their hearts are hard,
the seed doesn't last very long because the
demons come along and take the word of
God away.
Those are the stony hearts, the hard hearts,
the stubborn hearts.
And I always had a crowd, Brother Jill,
in my church that you couldn't move if
you dynamited them.
You know, they were the stumps in the
water daring you to move them.
Bless me if you can, preacher.
I've been here longer than you, I'm a
pillar in the church.
I could tell how stiff he was.
Never moved, but there, there, devil happened there.
Those are the people who have stubborn hearts.
Have you ever met people that go so
stubborn, rebellious, arguing with the word of God,
getting, bucking up on the preacher?
I've met them.
You've seen them.
Too busy to hear God running here and
there, rushing here and there, going here and
there.
Too busy for God.
That's our trouble.
We don't have time to wait on God,
no.
That's why we have so little comprehension of
Him these days.
We don't have time to wait on Him,
no.
Then also, the stubborn heart, number two, you
have the shallow heart.
Notice verses five and six.
Some fell upon stony places or little soil
where they didn't have much earth forthwith.
They sprung up because they had no deepness
in the earth.
When the sun was up, they were scorched
because they had no root and they withered
away.
Notice the explanation of that is found in
verse 20 and 21.
But he that received the seed into stony
places is he that heareth the word, and
immediately with joy receives it, yet he hath
not rooted himself, but lasts for a while.
For when tribulation or persecution arises because of
the word by and by, he is offended.
Here's somebody who has a shallow heart.
Here's somebody who makes an emotional decision.
Amen?
They're emotionally moved.
He hears the word.
It's planted for a moment seemingly.
But when the true test to walking with
God comes, when somebody makes fun of them
or tribulation comes, there's no root in it
and they don't last.
That's that crowd that'll make a decision emotionally.
They'll cry and thank God for the emotions
being moved.
But you can't find them after a month
and they say they're saved.
I always had a crowd on my church
row when I used to pastor.
I didn't know where they were.
If they showed up here, I'd have a
heart attack.
Yeah, but they've been saved.
Yeah, preacher, I remember when I got saved.
I walked down and shook the preacher's hand
and prayed a prayer and was baptized.
I know I don't go to church, but
I know I'm saved phony bologna friend.
Don't you let anybody fool you if somebody's
not in the house of God and is
not convicted about being in the house of
God and could care less about being in
the house of God.
I don't care how many prayers they've prayed.
I don't care how many decisions they've made.
They need to be in the house of
God.
They're not there.
They're probably not God's child.
They had a superficial decision that didn't last.
See, the super soul winners have done us
that, you know.
I inherited a church where they sent out
50 or 60 people a week to soul
win, and they had 50 or 60 decisions
a night.
Here's what they say.
Brother, you're a sinner, aren't you?
Yeah.
You want to go to heaven, don't you?
Yeah.
I want you to pray this prayer for
me to save you.
Okay?
They pray.
Folks, there needs to be holy ghost conviction
where somebody is so convinced they're lost they
know hell's ready to swallow them up and
where they're willing to repent and get right
with Jesus any way they can, friend, and
have faith in a person who changed them.
And that's when a person gets saved.
And we birthed a bunch of illegitimate children
in the kingdom of God and we're trying
to get them revived and we need to
have them resurrected.
Endure it for a while and when the
calls come, they fold up.
Then you have those who have a sensual
heart.
Verse 7, some fell upon thorns and the
thorns sprung up and choked them.
And verse number 22 gives an explanation of
that.
He that also hath received the seed among
the thorns is he that heareth the word
and the cares of the world and the
deceitfulness of riches choked the word and he
becometh unfruitful.
Here's somebody who is unseparated and unrepentant.
And they receive supposedly the word of God
but see the world still has a hold
on them.
That's that crowd that loves the pleasures of
this world and loves the possessions of this
world.
What do you mean preacher?
Folks who have a better time outside of
there and rather than here.
And what we've done today in order to
get a crowd we've had to ruralize our
churches.
What do you mean?
Oh, we've got to have a ball team
and we've got to have this and we've
got to have that to get them.
I thought you were supposed to get them
with God getting them and get them where
they become disciples and cross bearers and true
disciples where they don't want to be entertained.
They just want to get into the presence
of God so they can meet their king
and worship and pay the price.
See, I had a bunch of men boy,
when deer season came around brother you couldn't
find them.
Up there four o'clock in the morning
freezing to death painted up trying to kill
a big buck.
And that big buck up there in that
tree freezing to death.
You couldn't get that crowd to have an
early morning prayer to meet and save your
life but boy they'll shift their schedule take
a vacation send those words starve to death
freeze to death they kill one old buck
and then they get mad because it's not
a big one.
Isn't that something?
I'll tell you I just wonder about that
crowd.
I'm not saying they're not saved but friend,
when they get more excited about killing a
buck than seeking God it's something wrong.
Another crowd bow down to slimy fish.
Amen?
Rather than hunting for men.
Ladies, you'd rather knit than crochet.
Amen?
People rather have green stuff than God.
There's nothing wrong with having money.
God gives people the ability to make money
and give to the kingdom.
That's amen.
As long as money doesn't have you that's
fine.
You can have all you want but you
got to be willing to let it go
whenever God tells you to let it go
too because it doesn't mean much to you.
You know what's happened to America?
We're materialistic and self-centered and pleasure oriented.
I went to a church.
God helped this church to visit it thinking
about joining it visiting it.
First Sunday we went there looked at the
bulletin Sunday night Super Bowl Sunday night.
Going to put up a wide screen TV
shoot the Super Bowl up there eat popcorn
and peanuts and Coca-Cola's and then at
halftime give an invitation get people to Jesus.
And the preacher said this is a great
way to get our lost friends because this
is a way of getting them to come
to church because I know some of you
wouldn't come anyway because you can watch the
Super Bowl.
How in the world can our God you
know try to compete with just spud the
dud?
My children are 10 and 7.
You know what my son did when he
looked at that little pamphlet?
He said, Dad, this is a liberal church,
isn't it?
And it is.
And we didn't go back.
Super Bowl Sunday.
I know of pastors that call Super Bowl
Sunday family night so they can go home
and watch it.
I know of two preachers that are friends
of mine that call Super Bowl Sunday family
night because they were afraid the crowd would
run short.
We had our biggest crowd Super Bowl night
in Maryland.
You know why?
Because I told them if they stayed at
home I was just wondering what they would
even say to watch that junk.
Nude cheerleaders and beer and all that slop
and cheering for teams that what they did
but boy you are bound down to your
God.
The God of athletics and sports and entertainment.
Bound down in front of that TV.
Amen?
Bound down in front of that softball team.
Football team.
Athletics.
Bound down to the God of sports.
Now we now we now you've got the
athletes that stand up and talk about being
Christian.
I'm sure there are some but I think
of all of them just shallow as can
be and doubt they are saved because listen
a lot of that crowd would not do
what they are doing if they were saved.
Christian movie stars God help us.
Christian beauty queens how in the world can
somebody say walk out on the platform dress
like a nudist and let men lust after
and say God let them do that junk.
Is that good preaching?
It's the truth folks and I'll tell you
I'll tell you why folks we've got people
in our churches who've had central hearts but
they've never been saved.
Let's have a softball team we'll get lost
people out there so we can win Jesus
on the softball field.
Follow me.
Below me.
So once you got the worst players in
the city they used to go out to
the best so they can win the trophy.
Then they got there and get in fights
like my home church they got into a
fight down there and had to call the
police.
They did.
Mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law
got in a fight and then all the
daddies and in-laws got in a fight
and had to call the police to break
it up.
And then that's the first Sunday I joined
my home church I'd only been saved about
nine months.
Went there and they had a business meeting
to keep the softball team out of the
church because if we're going to act like
that we're not going to have it.
And two men stood up one old boy
stood up and said Preacher I'll let you
know if you keep the softball team out
I'm going to have something to say about
it.
And I said there's nothing wrong we just
made a mistake.
Both those fellas back slinging as a donkey
getting up there after the church butting bellies
with the preachers wanting to fight with them.
Preacher I'll tell you what I'm going to
whip you right here.
I said Lord did I join the right
church?
I used to see this down in ballrooms
every Friday night.
Lord what's going on here?
Isn't that something folks?
The sensual heart.
Hey but the last thing is if somebody
has the right kind of heart in which
they have a spiritual heart.
Verse number eight But some fell on good
ground and brought forth fruit a hundredfold sixtyfold
and thirtyfold then verse number twenty-three says
but he that receiveth the seed into good
ground is he that heareth the word understands
it which also beareth fruit brings forth some
hundredfold sixtyfold thirtyfold Here's somebody that really gets
saved.
They receive the word of God their spiritual
conception and then their spiritual fruitation.
You know can I tell you somebody that's
saved somebody that's saved beareth fruit.
Somebody that's really saved and walking with God
they beareth fruit.
What you mean?
I haven't been saved over a week and
I was telling people about Jesus and I
never had a course on soul winning.
First fellow I ever witnessed to was a
friend of mine that went to school with
me I called him up and you'd have
to know the circumstance I was in and
told him I was in a lot of
trouble but I've been saved and the fellow
had some church background and it didn't turn
him off too much he came down and
helped me out and I told Bobby about
being saved then I got on a bus
to move in with the Baptist preacher I
got saved and a sailor sits next to
me and the Spirit of God told me
tell him what happened to you and I
said friend I got saved yesterday he said
from what?
Were you drowning?
I said no Jesus saved me he found
him another seat in the back of the
bus Why?
Because see God was in my life and
God was living through my life and I
suddenly saw that my life was not my
own I wanted to be different for Jesus
sake I didn't want to be ugly anymore
I didn't want to be nasty anymore I
wanted to have something that people could have
Amen?
And see when you get saved my friend
you get the goods In fact I'm finding
out this Brother Joseph people really soundly converted
they act more mature than most people who
have been in the church for 30 years
because they just love Jesus and have childlike
faith and do anything God tells them to
do Hello God gave me about two rows
of street people in Maryland God wanted to
himself I'm talking about crack addicts harlots I
mean son girls with tattoos boys with hair
down to here and of course they got
that stuff cut off or baptized Amen?
Why you do that preacher because that's their
sign that was their glory and that was
their God and I said I'm not going
to baptize you because that's going to confuse
other people because they'll still think you're doing
dope and in every case when they were
soundly converted the hair went and they were
glad it went That's right What would they
do?
That crowd when I preached cheered me on
They'd never been in church they didn't know
how to act They'd go That's good Amen
Beat on each other Girls out there I
know this isn't right but when they sang
Amazing Grace they'd be in the bar and
they'd wiggle a little bit to the music
A bunch of them all stiff dead heads
what you going to do about all those
girls that are wiggling on the front row
I said nothing God tell them it's wrong
and he did They'd go preacher that's good
I said lay it on us preacher Remember
old Chad old crack addict played thrashed rock
music had twenty thousand dollars worth of rock
albums and memorabilia that he burned with five
gallons of gasoline after he got his hair
cut that long scalp held that scalp up
and sang Jesus saved while he was burning
his rock albums took a picture of it
Old Chad said shared her testimony said preacher
lay it on us I like it hot
and heavy before you put me on the
pew because I need it Yet I had
a crowd that had been saved thirty years
every time I said something they looked at
each other like prune faces That's that crowd
and I know this crowd is a good
crowd but they just happened to be on
my left in my church It's a little
old group I call it the devil's seat
They all congregated together Amen They sat together
you could see them Isn't that something?
But when you get saved folks you'll start
bearing fruit and you'll want to bear fruit
Don't you want your life to touch as
many people as it can for the glory
of God and you be changed from glory
to glory and have God bear eternal fruit
that you'll pay off up in heaven Yes,
I hope so Well, the last point is
this Let's talk about what Satan can do
as I close I read in chapter 13
beginning at verse number 36 about Satan sowing
the seeds Let me tell you three things
that Satan will want to do to you
today Number one He has opposition by deception
The very word devil means diabolos liar and
the devil works in secret and in darkness
and he can be an angel of light
Now I'll tell you what the devil will
do The devil will give you false salvation
experience if you're not sensitive Now I'll tell
you what the devil will do The devil
will move you emotionally The devil will let
you pray a prayer and the devil will
even back off you enough where you can
act halfway decent and still be lost Now
I want you to listen to me that
the devil can keep you in the dark
about you really not being saved He'll give
you a position in the church let you
even act like you're doing right and keep
you in the dark but when you die
Jesus said depart from me ye that work
iniquity I never knew you because many will
come to me in that day and say
Lord, Lord didn't we do many wonderful works
in your name didn't we preach and didn't
we even cast out demons Well how can
somebody not save cast out demons Well if
the devil knows they're not saved he'll just
let the demons go and it won't be
under the authority of God it'll be under
deception of Satan There was a man in
Oklahoma who was a deacon in the church
and the pastor said his best man that
taught the Sunday school class and sometimes even
supposed to lead people to Jesus he said
every time he heard a message about false
salvation experience a demon would whisper him and
say now look at all the good works
you're doing look how faithful you've been look
how much money you've given and look how
your family's living but one night the spirit
of God showed him that when he prayed
that prayer as a child it wasn't under
the Holy Spirit conviction it wasn't under the
Holy Spirit conversion it was under the guise
of demonic counterfeiting and he came and got
saved Number two opposition by imitation See it
talks about here he plants his tares now
it's something unique about a tare a tare
is illegitimate wheat and when they grow together
do you know the only time you can
tell the difference between a wheat and tare
is when the wheat matures do you know
why Brother Jules we don't see more lost
church members exposed because the wheat is so
immature it can't expose the tares hello the
phone rang didn't it there's not enough maturity
in Christ likeness to expose the rest of
the crowd so in many churches I go
in you had to backslide to get in
fellowship with the crowd you do carnal selfish
don't want to seek God you talk about
a prayer meeting they look like a calf
at a new gate do you know what
I mean I mean you talk about the
deep things God said what's he talking about
they're just showing how immature they are boy
the devil has got his counterfeits oh Judas
was the devil from the beginning but the
only person that knew that he was one
was Jesus now listen folks God's talking big
time this morning then it's opposition by destruction
you know what he wants to do he
said he's going to take that sickle one
day separate the wheat and tares and the
tares are going to burn do you know
who the saddest people in hell are going
to be those who were in church all
their life that prayed a prayer that went
through the motion and when they take that
last breath and you say how many of
you right now heads bowed eyes closed if
you're for sure for heaven as if you
were already there raise your hands and brothers
inadvertently most of them go pffft that doesn't
do any good folks is Christ in you
the hope of glory by the way if
someone is great and is powerful and is
lovely as Jesus is in your heart don't
you think he can make a better difference
in how you act see somebody that's true
to say brother you don't have to beg
them to come to church you don't have
to beg them to give you don't have
to beg them to sow why because they
got the goods and their God's at work
and my God has never left me alone
since I've been saved and I'm glad of
it he's been on my head every day
of every week every moment every hour even
in the dark times he's talking to me
even in his silence man alive what a
God and the old devil why because he
tried to counterfeit with me when I was
growing up I was sprinkled as a 12
year old boy didn't miss a Sunday in
Sunday school for 6 years and even in
spite of me sinning I thought I was
a Christian because I'd asked God in my
life but it wasn't until 1975 when God
put conviction all of me and the little
house in Charlotte North Carolina right at the
brink of suicide I saw myself as a
rotten good for nothing sinner and I knew
I couldn't save myself and I was sick
and tired you will never be saved to
get sick and tired of liking it sick
of it don't want anymore of it gotta
change that's when God will change you my
friend when God brings conviction on your soul
and you feel like a dirty stinking worm
a scumbag you know God I'm amazed you're
even talking to me that's the crowd that
gets saved in my church I pastored my
associate had a wife that was a pastor's
daughter and she never could get victory she'd
get mad at me when I was preaching
she'd let me say this and she resented
me because she felt like I was trying
to make her husband do more than he
was supposed to and I really didn't I
slacked off on it because she fussed so
much may have been wrong in doing that
but I did it anyway and she stood
up one Sunday night and said I just
want to thank God I got saved at
the age of three now right then the
spirit of God pushed the button and said
there's no way in the world a three
-year-old gets saved preacher they can't have
any conception of centership and they can't have
any conception of who I am at three
now at most three years old or four
years old I'll pray a prayer and I'm
not saying they can't but it's hard because
how in the world can they even remember
what they did most time they pray because
mom and daddy wants them to and God
I just checked my spirit and I called
Terry and said you know your wife's really
had struggles with submitting to authority submitting to
the word submitting to you and submitting to
her Lord and I said it just might
be you've got a lost wife and I
said how would you like to go to
heaven and look down in hell and see
her screaming knowing that you might know she's
lost so he got under the burden of
it and began to pray and fast I
began to pray with him and fast and
we had a youth camp with brother Lou
Rossi and brother Lou got under the burden
of it too and by Wednesday that girl
was so miserable she was snorting like a
bull upset and mad most time the people
are the maddest are those who are most
convicted that's just the way of covering up
for them being convicted so they had to
lash out at somebody else they can't lash
out at God so they're going to lash
out at the preacher or somebody else or
brought conviction on I just looked through that
she got mad by Wednesday she was so
miserable they took her down to the basement
of this great big camp and God smote
her and she fell on her face and
said God I thought I was too good
to be lost God saved me and that
girl got saved and stood up in our
church the next Sunday and said I've been
deceived because my mother and daddy taught me
how to be a Christian folks you make
a mistake when you teach your kids how
to be a Christian apart from the indwelling
power of the Holy Spirit let me make
this statement you check it out it might
be a mistake to teach your kids to
love somebody they don't know how can your
kids love Jesus when they don't even know
him you don't know him apart from the
divine revelation you might want to teach your
kids who he is they don't love sinners
but teach them how wicked they are and
they can't know God just think about that
a minute and she got saved she's been
changed I recently met with a preacher last
Sunday Hurricane Baptist Church little old wind blowing
but Hurricane Baptist Church he said I've been
preaching for three years and God showed me
that I didn't have it and got saved
and quit preaching for a year to make
sure he was really called and then he
knew that God divinely called him after he
had been saved now if God saves preachers
wives and God saves preachers I wonder if
there might not be a church member here
today that you have a counterfeit and you've
been hanging on to your religion and your
church membership and your goodness and you've never
been truly convicted that you're so rotten that
you deserve hell and by God's grace God's
speaking to you today and God loved you
enough for Jesus his son to die on
a cross and take your sins and my
sins upon him he was buried and rose
again the third day and ascended and he
loves you enough to open your eyes to
the fact that you don't know him you've
never been saved if you're saved today you'll
never know him in fact I want to
ask you a question does Jesus know you
I didn't ask you if you knew Jesus
but you said I never knew you does
Jesus know you as his child do you
find it easy to sin do you find
it easy to miss church do you find
it easy to rebel do you find it
easy not to understand the Bible the question
is have you been handed a counterfeit the
good news is this you can have the
real thing today you meet our Lord but
you've got to come and humble yourself and
repent and believe in Jesus a person so
you don't get saved by a plan it's
not the plan of salvation it's the man
of salvation you meet a person you don't
have to pray some long prayer if God's
convicted you you can cry out say God
be merciful to me a sinner come in
and take over you're saved on the spot
but you've got to be willing to submit
to him and let him save you and
I wonder how many of you Christians right
now know you're saved but you haven't been
following your Lord now he's been whipping you
he's been talking to you even this morning
how many of you haven't even learned the
simple lessons of faithfulness some of you already
made up your mind you're going to stay
at home if you can find it easy
to stay at home on a Sunday night
prayer then you're not even saved in the
Hebrides Awakening you know what they consider a
lost person to be somebody who didn't come
to Wednesday evening prayer meeting if you were
to die right now friend would you go
to heaven if not you can meet Jesus
today let's bow together in prayer now
this morning here's what I want you to
do I'm going to pray we're going to
ask you to remain seated and the music
is going to play after I pray but
if you need to meet Jesus today I
want you to step out of your seat
and your pastor is going to be standing
here in a moment I want you to
grab brother Jill's hand and say brother I
believe I need to meet Jesus and they'll
lead you to a prayer room if you're
a Christian and you know you haven't let
your lord be your shepherd you need to
slip out and go to the prayer room
and meet with him that's two fold invitation
if you're lost you come and talk to
the pastor and they'll have somebody take you
to the prayer room if you're saved and
you need to meet God you slip out
to the prayer room who would say today
preacher God has spoken to me and I
want you to pray for me that I
would obey God today God has spoken to
me and I'm under conviction and I want
you to pray for me that I will
not miss what God is saying to me
would you slip your hands up if God
has spoken to you young man thank you
dear lady God spoke to me preacher and
I don't want to miss him I want
to obey him I sense him dealing with
me now let me tell you what's keeping
some of you from raising your hands it's
a five letter word called pride that's going
to keep you in your seat because you
are more concerned about what people are going
to think about you than what God already
knows about you and you got to throw
away your pride here's a preacher pride is
really giving me a fit but I want
to admit I have a need God spoke
to me and would you pray for me
someone else just be honest today thank you
God's dealing with me preacher now
I'm going to you know you need to
meet Jesus just come and grab your pastor's
hand Lord Jesus every need is bare before
you by thy spirit do thy work thy
way spirit of God do your office work
today come
and tell Brother Jules Pastor Jules I need
to be saved Slip out and come won't
you come home there's
a verse in the bible says seek the
Lord while he may be found Call on
Him while He may be near.
If God is near today to speak to
you, respond.
It may be a day that you'll come
and God won't speak to you anymore if
you're a lost person.
What is God telling you to do?
Is your obedience up to date?
Just a moment or two more, we won't
prolong this invitation.
The seed has been planted.
And I feel like God will move quickly
or you'll need to go home with this.
But I sense there's one or two of
you, you're really having a struggle with the
fact that you're counterfeit.
And you're having a hard time because the
devil is bringing up everything you've done for
Jesus.
And it's just like a report card telling
you all the good things you've done all
your life.
And how good people say you are, what
a good Christian lady, a good Christian person
you are.
And listen, the only thing God will show
you is the only reason you're saved is
because of His Son.
Jesus is calling.