In this sermon, the preacher recounts a trip to Times Square where he and his companion set up shop to preach the word of God. They were joined by young men who were eager to preach, despite their fear and trembling. The preacher emphasizes the importance of having a proper perception of God in order to express true praise and worship. He also highlights the dangers of having unworthy thoughts of God, which can lead to unworthy worship. The sermon touches on the issue of sexual immorality and the prevalence of pornography in society, urging listeners to guard their eyes and minds.

You know growth means change There will be no growth apart from change because growth means change Physical growth means change in appearance You know as you grow older things change hair color changes hair location changes for men You get what they call a receding hairline the hair stops growing out of your head And when you turn about 42 it starts coming out of your ears and nose, and you got to wonder what in the world is going on What is happening here must be a consequence of the fall but Growth means change well body mass location Changes as you grow older It's gonna Chest slips or something you know what I'm saying. I mean just things happen Physical growth means change in appearance when I was a young man. I used to watch those Older guys up behind the podiums And they all they all had goofy thin glasses And they always set them on the tips of their noses and of course they never put the Earpiece down like that it was always at this 45 degree angle like this And I used to sit out there and say to myself What what are these clowns trying to do what what and get them on this far on the end of their noses? And if you have a long nose Like some lady said to me one time. She said brother Harold. Do you know how you can make your nose 12 inches long? I said no she said cut off a foot But they put them they put them right on the end of their nose And then they'd get up there, and they kind of lean over like this you know and I always used to what are they trying? To do and then when I turned about 42 I began to understand that they were Simply trying to see what they were reading. That's all they that's all they were doing because their eyes didn't work You know growth growth means change physical growth means change in appearance intellectual growth means change in understanding and Spiritual growth means change in character There will be no growth apart from change. You know we're all Nostalgic and longing for the old days and all of this kind of thing and hallelujah for some of those points But I just want to say that life is not static and growth means change Why do you imagine the Bible says that we're to grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus? Why would that even have to be stated I? Don't have to tell my 11 year old son that he needs to grow I I don't need to take him seminars on the benefits of eating a lot. I don't have to do that I never have taken him to a seminar to get lectured on the finer points of growth He just kind of grows automatic, and you know something living things will grow I Believe people who are spiritually alive will bear fruit And I also believe that our spiritual growth is dependent upon our cooperation with God The prayer meeting just the other night that one of the brothers was put bread praying through that point where purge if a man purge himself From these things then he'll be a vessel under honor listen I want to tell you that our spiritual growth is dependent upon our cooperation with God and And David in Psalm 101 where I want you to turn tonight. He makes a host of I will statements It's very interesting to observe some of these I Events David had been through a host of experiences in his life many of them were good Some of them were bad and a few of them were tragic But when David gets to this stage in his life, he's ready to make some covenants with his God Psalm 101 Notice the I will statements tonight. I will sing of mercy and a judgment unto thee. Oh Lord will I sing? I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. Oh, when will thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes I hate the work of them that turn aside. It shall not cleave to me a Forward heart shall depart from me. I will not know a wicked person Who so privily slandereth his neighbor him will I cut off him that hath an eye look in a proud heart will not I suffer Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land that they may dwell with me He that walketh in a perfect way. He shall serve me he that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house He that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight I will early destroy all the wicked doers of the land that I might cut off all wicked doers from the city of the Lord Our father tonight we commit these moments to you God would you speak to us through the life of this godly man and father? May you have a word in season for every soul present tonight. We commit these moments to thee with expectation in Christ's name Amen, you may be seated the first covenant I want you to notice tonight is what I'm calling a covenant of worship in verse 1 a Covenant of worship notice. He said I will sing of mercy and of judgment unto thee Oh Lord, will I sing a covenant of worship? AP Gibbs said prayer is preoccupation with our needs Prayer is preoccupation with our needs Thanksgiving is preoccupation with our blessings, but worship is preoccupation with God I'll tell you to be something to be preoccupied with God. Would it not? The newspaper carried the story in a wealthy Boston suburb of a family that had opened their home For their family and friends to come to celebrate the christening of their newborn son The guests were there that were eating and drinking and having a wonderful time when all of a sudden one of the guests spoke up And said to the mother by the way Where's the baby and when the mother heard that that word she jumped to her feet She ran to the master bedroom where she had left her child asleep in the middle of that Massive bed and there she began to dig down through the coats and the wraps of the guest Now the child was the main attraction he was the reason everybody was there he was the preeminent thing But as she dug down through those coats and dug down through those wraps there she found her newborn child dead Smothered by the coats of the guest My brethren does not the Bible say that on all things Christ is to have the preeminence by how often is he? Smothered as it were by the coats of the guest Now I want you to notice that David had a proper perception of God in verse 1 He said I will sing of mercy and of judgment unto thee Oh Lord will I sing David had a balanced view of God David properly saw God as a God of mercy and he also saw God properly as a God of judgment and David's view of God determined the choices he made in life and our view of God will determine how we live our lives as well It has been said that sin is the consequence of a low view of God Whereas repentance is the result of a high view of God David had an exalted view of God He'd been sent by a by his father as a teenager to the battlefield and there he found a giant cursing the armies of the Living God Ridiculing mocking and belittling God's people and there he found the Israelites having a seminar on bigger and better ways to kill giant But doing absolutely nothing about it and here David shows up and he asked the question. Who is this big mouth? It's coming out here and they said why he's a seasoned man of war by the name of Goliath He's come out twice a day for the last 40 days and challenged us to send somebody to fight him And I want to tell you that for 80 times Goliath had challenged the people of God and nobody stepped forward King Saul David's brothers and all the warriors of Israel were sitting around Absolutely intimidated with this giant Goliath Elias said to David what happened to the few sheep you're supposed to be looking after in other words What are you doing here? No, David said I've killed a lion and I've killed a bear and this uncircumcised Philistine is no match for my God I want to tell you that David saw God big and Goliath looked like nothing in his sight Well, they just Go is the only one that had the courage to take him on and they gave him Saul gave him his armor And his sword and he put all that stuff on and it just didn't fit and the lesson here He is when God gives you a sling and five smooth stones Don't worry about trying to act or impersonate somebody else Just be yourself and go what God has given you and David went out there in the power of the Lord and he said you come To me with swords and spears But I come to you in the name of the Lord God of hosts a teenage boy with an exalted view of God I believe the reason that Goliath looks so puny to David was because he would lay on his bedroll at night and he would Contemplate the heavens and he would contemplate and meditate upon the immensity of God and he said those words He said when I consider the heavens and the works of thy hands I say what is man that thou art mindful of him David has spent many a night observing the stars and Contemplating the greatness of God and when he came to the battlefield and he saw this nine foot nine midget It was no problem for David because he had this exalted view of God and he slew the giant Now I wonder how many of us sitting here tonight are intimidated with Giants Intimidated with Giants because we have an inadequate view of God Giants of life patterns Giants of besetting sins Giants of fear somebody said the reason there's so so much fear of man is because there's so little fear of God Giants of Pragmatism brethren every problem in life can be traced to an inadequate view of God Our problem is we just don't see God big enough Now, let me give a little timeout right here I was preaching not too long ago where the lights went out completely and they rigged up a flashlight. So Get a flashlight and the light goes light goes out. We'll be ready for that point as well. All is well Okay, well an inadequate view of God now listen because David had a proper perception of God he expressed his praise to God and God is looking for worshipers and John chapter 4 the scripture said The father seeketh such to worship But unworthy thoughts of God will produce a worship that is unworthy of God You recall when Moses and Joshua were coming down from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments as they drew near the camp They said what is that racket and one of them said why it's the sound of a battle and as they drew near the other One said no, it's not the sound of a battle, but it's the sound of singing. Do I hear can you imagine? the melodious harmonious praises of Jehovah had deteriorated into what sounded like a Battlefield and when they come in the camp there They found old Moses or Aaron rather and the children of Israel gathered around this of golden calf a forbidden representation of God and There you can tell that Aaron must have been terrified and Moses radiant countenance because Moses said to him where this calf come from and They said well, we put the earrings and by the way, I did check this out They got the earrings out of the women and the young men. That's what it says there in the scripture So don't be mad at me brother, but they had earrings back in those days and they plucked them out It's interesting what they did with them and old Aaron said he threw him in the oven and out popped this calf so you can tell you can tell he must have been terrified and intimidated by this this Holy countenance of Moses what kind of ridiculous statement is this and the Bible says that they had risen up to play Now they had a wrong conception of God They had wrong music Hallelujah for the good music you have here in this place. I'll tell you what I appreciate it very much They had they had wrong music. They had wrong worship. They had golden calf religion Now we've moved from amazing grace in the churches in America to amusing grace So I rewrote Wesley's hymn to accommodate our current plight amusing grace Amusing grace how contemporary the sound that attracted a seeker like me I once was bored, but now I found at church what I watch on TV So here we are in a day of amusing grace now brother what we have in a lot of places is music about theology I'll be in a lot of places that praise and praise worship and worship and they've got faith and faith and God's nowhere to be Found we've got confession without conviction. We've got response without repentance We've got grace without change and faith without fruit But David said I will sing of mercy and of judgment unto thee. Oh Lord. Will I sing? I want to ask you friend. Do you sing to the Lord? Personally, I'll tell you something therapeutic and beneficial and something that God honoring about that Does your family sing to the Lord now? Most of you folks down here are talented I don't I wouldn't know what that would be like, but you're very talented so you can do a good job at it But in our home, we just go ahead and give it a shot anyhow because none of us have any talent at all Matthew Henry said these words. He said they that pray in the home do well They that pray in the home do well they that pray in the home and read the scripture do better But they that pray in the home read the scripture and sing do best Do you understand there can be no meaningful public worship on Sunday unless there's meaningful private and family worship Monday through Saturday There's nothing magical gonna happen when we come to the house of God We are the house of God in the truest sense of the word and there can be nothing happening here that if it's not Preceded by something going on before we get here When I was in high school, I used to play baseball back in those days did okay High school then for about 12 years. I had not even looked at a baseball and had not played and I decided one year I was gonna play Church League slow pitch softball and the coach said well you need to come to practice I said I can't come to practice. I'm out of town. I'm gone all the time He said well, you better go to the batting cage at least if you've not played in 10 or 12 years I said don't worry about I'll be alright. By the way, I did go to the batting cage You know, you know how fast 40 mile an hour is when you had been stood at a plate in about 12 years You know how fast of 40 mountain, you know how fast 70 mile an hour is and something is approaching the speed of light I mean now you can barely see the thing man. I mean it's value before you can react Well, I showed up at the game. We had nine players nine players and Coach said brother Harold, where can you play play? I said I can play anywhere He said can you play first base? I said sure I play first base Now the only consolation is that the pocket on the baseball glove is a bit smaller than the pocket the glove Mitt on the softball glove. So here am I my baseball glove or warm first and our team is excited I mean they aren't charged up. They are revved up. Here's the first time I've been on the field in 12 years Well, they did a routine ground at a short stop. So I'm over there on first in the stretch That's why you put a tall guy on first base. He's closer to the ball and The guy did a pitcher perfect throw right in the glove and you would have thought it was spring-loaded it bounced right out on the ground My teammates what they backed me up. Shake it off brother Harold. Shake it off. Don't worry about it They said I shook it off and then they did a routine ground at the second base I'm over there man in the stretch at least at least the stretch look good and I was in the stretch and Right in the glove it bounced right out the team the team went dead silent Just like a lot of the church services. I've been in lately I mean brother went dead silent and they knew they're in trouble got this clown on first Well, they did up a line drive down the first baseline and I stumbled I didn't fall but it would've been better if I had I mean, I just stumbled over there and missed it. They got a triple score two or three runs Well, finally, we got out got him out. We go in and the coach comes over rather sheepishly. He said brother early He said can you play? Can you play behind the plate now if you know anything about slow pitch softball, you know That's why you're likely to do the least amount of damage is behind the plate and I said Yeah, I can play behind the plate. So we we got out and we took the field So I go back behind the plate get ready to squat down in the catcher's position growth means change and brother when I Commenced to squat down. Would you believe? My pants split out the whole way around the whole crotch went out man. It went out We got nine players We got no safety pins. We have no we have no substitute pants Here I am more concerned about trying to be modest, you know than Embarrassing and humiliating a Miserable experience and listen that lesson there is if you don't have time to In public because you're likely to make a fool out of yourself That's the lesson that you learn here and listen friend when it comes to public worship There can be no meaningful public worship unless there's meaningful private worship. First of all, I Mean going to a ballgame doesn't make you a player I mean it really doesn't and you know something worship is not only a noun. It's a verb. It's something you do Joseph worshipped leaning upon his staff Isaac went out in the field at eventide to meditate No man is any greater than his prayer life No woman is any greater than her prayer life No local church will ever be any greater than his corporate prayer life and David made a covenant to worship his God Somebody said that men today worship their work They work at their play and tend to play and worship But if the ultimate priority in life is worshiping God We need to make a covenant of worship Spurgeon said if we're ever privileged to receive Jesus Christ under our roof Let us make haste and bar the door Let's Christ apart and I'll tell you how to keep Christ in the house You worship God in spirit and in truth and I'm telling you God is attracted to people that worship him a covenant of worship but notice the second covenant a covenant of walk in verse 2 a covenant of walk I Will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. Oh, when will thou come unto me? Now read this next statement with me. I will walk within my house with a perfect heart Notice that I will walk within my house with a perfect heart One man said your talk talks and your walk talks But your walk talks louder than your talk talks. I like that Notice, it's personal. I will notice it's practical in my house. Notice. It's powerful. He said with a perfect heart It's personal brethren. We all have a personal responsibility to walk uprightly before our God You know prior to salvation. We had no choice All we could do was sin. I Said all we could do was sin. The best we could do was sin. That's all we could do but after salvation Friend, we're not just saved from hell as more to salvation than than hell insurance We have a freedom to live above sin You say how we're gonna pull that off. I heard one time Oh Spurgeon was teaching a homiletics class and and that's where they teach the young ministers how to how to preach Can you imagine being a student and having him critique your sermon? I mean, can you imagine? I mean who would even open their mouth and this young guy got up and Had worked up this sermon on how to do battle with the devil out of the book of Ephesians Chapter 6 on the whole armor of God so he meticulously theatrically dramatically he acted out this whole thing of putting on the entire armor of God and breastplate of righteousness the shield of faith and the helmet of salvation the whole thing and the whole idea of the sermon was how to Do battle with the devil? So the young man after he got all the armor on and in place and the sermon was how to do battle with the devil He yelled out at the end of the sermon and he said when you get on the whole armor of God He said where is the devil? When you get on the entire armor of God He said where is the devil and they say Spurgeon cupped his hands around his mouth and said he's inside of the armor He's inside the armor Well that man knew something about human nature that there's not only an enemy without but there's an enemy with enemy within called the flesh But listen to what the scripture says sin shall have no more dominion over you Boy, that sounds good doesn't these things right on to you that you sin not but if any man sin But if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous So we continue in sin that grace may abound God forbid How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? Knowing this that our old man is crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth We should not serve sin likewise reckon You also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body that you should obey it in the lust thereof walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh Have you ever noticed those New Testament admonitions about walking walk in truth walk in the light Walk in love walk Circumspectly walk worthy listen brethren greater is he that's in us than he that is in the world We're going up to New York City Bob Barton and I about four or five years ago And we were going up to scope out preaching points We took our young man up to Times Square and we called it preach 2000 and we told them that if they came along on this Expedition they'd be preaching three times a day on Times Square Now these guys had never preached in a nursing home and we said you're gonna preach three times on Times Square Would you believe we had about 20 takers? We had about 20 takers and you should have seen these guys as we got there on Times Square We set up shop right across from MTV Moron television right across the street there under a marquee of a theater that was closed down and You should have seen these young guys thundering out the judgments of God now. They were terrified I mean, let's be and they were they were they were shaking, you know But I want to tell you they wanted to do it and they did it and I want to tell you they had a captivating A captivating presence as they as they as they preach but all the way up We both took our computers so we could preach to each other I'll be so we could do our studying but we didn't do any study and we never cut the computer on Marathon fellowship eight hours up eight hours back We never even cut the computers on and we were trying out all our new sermon ideas on one another and he came up with One that I thought was great out of James for that text that said adulterers and adulteresses Don't you know the friendship with the world is enmity with God? And you know what he said? He said when our hearts and minds are taken up with thoughts and desires and things other than God We're guilty of spiritual adultery He said when our hearts and minds go out after things more than God. We're guilty of spiritual And you know that thing so struck my heart and I thought to myself that's exactly what it's saying Adulterers and adulteresses don't you know friendship with the world is enmity with God? Can you imagine a marriage ceremony taking place here in this auditorium? Pastor teepees up here on the platform along with the groom and all of a sudden the back doors open up and they crank up some sort of a wedding song and lo and behold everybody stands and looks back and here comes the bride and Down the aisle she comes every eye is on her and five pews from the back of the church She stops and whispers down the pew. Hey, Tommy call me later and Comes down a few more pews and stops and waves at a fellow over here and comes down a few more pews and Waves at a guy over here and the pastor is standing up here Buffaloed and the group is standing up here in a state of shock watching and finally she makes her way to the platform so here the pastor standing up and the bride and groom was standing like this and every now and then the bride will turn around and wink at a guy over on this side and then she'll turn around and Wave at a fellow over on this side and probably the groom is standing there wondering if all the candles on the platform Represent all her old flames. He's probably wondering what in the world he has gotten into and to get to the point where the pastor reluctantly says sir, do you take do you take this woman to be your Lawfully wedded wife and you know what that fellow's gonna say Absolutely not You know why? Because her head just kept on spinning to where her heart was at Let's be honest about it brethren Sometimes there's some people when they come to services that can hardly wait to get out so their heads can spin back to where their Hearts have been all the while and God says we're guilty of spiritual infidelity Now brethren this evening we need God I mean we really need God and the psalmist knew that he said Oh, when will thou come unto me? He knew he needed empowerment brethren in the flesh We're capable of committing any sin don't doubt it. But in the spirit, we're capable of living And doing all things through Christ that strengthens us. I Want to tell you something night friend. You don't have to live a holy life. You get to live a holy life You don't have to pray you get to pray. You don't have to come to church. You get to come to church You don't have to read your Bible you get to read your Bible You don't have to go out witnessing Sunday. You get to go out witnessing Sunday It's not a have to it's a get to and I want to brethren I want to tell you there's a place for duty But I want to tell you we need to get beyond duty and get into some delight and enjoying the things of God and there's Something right about enjoying God and enjoying serving God. There's something right about that It's a get-to situation. I Will but notice the practicality of a spirit filled walk. He said within my house Well, I will walk within my house You know, they say a hypocrite is someone who is just not himself on Sundays It's just not himself You know, I thought your church members have a higher opinion of you than your family members. You may be in danger of being hypocritical Anger is a major problem of most men Let me ask you fellows where you're more likely to blow up in the church auditorium or in the car on the way to the church auditorium Where are you more likely to clear off a space and have a spell as they say down in Georgia Where are you more likely to do that in the restaurant or in your home in public or in private? He said I will walk within my house with a perfect heart It's a sad thing, but it's possible to treat strangers better than you do your own family. I think I've been guilty of that We have a salesman in Ohio stand in one of our meetings and he said I've determined he was a he was a salesman He said I've determined I'm gonna treat my client. My family is least as well as I do my customers He said I've determined before God I'm gonna treat my family as least as well as I do my clients Sometimes you need to go home and pull out those ten words. I was wrong. I was wrong. I am sorry Will you forgive me? I'll tell you that'll do a whole lot to regain respect and set things right and get an atmosphere. That's conducive You know, everybody's standing up for their rights, but very few are willing to take responsibility for their wrongs The old Englishman prayed. He said Lord help me to sink deeper that I might rise higher. I will walk within my house. I Wondered tonight are things right in your house are things right in your house Sir, do you need to say those words to anybody in your home? Ma'am, do you need to say those ten words young people? Do you need to say that to anybody brothers and sisters included? I was wrong. I'm sorry. Will you forgive me? I will walk within my house. It's practical. It's personal, but notice it's powerful He said I will walk within my house with a perfect heart You know The Bible says the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth seeking for those whose hearts are perfect toward him Blessed are the pure in heart One time a fella came to a prayer room and he went to the lady said sir I've come tonight to give my pipe to God He said brother. I think God's gonna take my pipe. Don't you and the prayer room leader looked at him and said no brother He said I don't think God's gonna take your pipe He said I don't think God wants your pipe He said I think what God wants is you God doesn't want our habits sinful habits. He doesn't want our wicked. You know what? He wants us. He wants our hearts in the book of Acts The Bible says with great power the Apostles gave witness of the resurrection and it says this that great grace was upon them all Boy, I like that great grace was upon them all that's a revival atmosphere great grace upon them all Brethren, I think we ought to be crying out for a day of great grace upon us all and seeking God for things We've never seen I still say we can believe God for a better day And don't let the sinners the systematic or the cynical or the sarcastic Unbelief that's been drilled into us since birth get you down. We can believe God for great grace great grace in these days He's doing great things all over the earth. Why can't he do great things here among us? He can my friend, but he's limited through unbelief We've got the greatest master the greatest mission and the greatest message the world has ever heard And I want to tell you a Christian is somebody who just makes it easy to believe in God You know Gandhi they said he said he would become a Christian if it hadn't been for Christians That's a pathetic statement to say but dear brethren We shall it says in the book of Acts you shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you You shall receive dynamite power Dynamite power, you know what's missing today? Holy Ghost conviction is missing and dynamite power is missing and brethren You shall receive it when the Holy Ghost has come upon you and The Bible says that when the Holy Ghost has come upon you you shall receive power power and My brethren, this is the crying need it must be a sin to live a pop cracker Christian existence when we've got dynamite power at our Disposal salvation is not just a landing gear. It's a launching pad Salvation is more than a ticket to heaven It's our birthright to a meaningful and abundant life and David said I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. It's powerful but notice this third covenant of Watching that this man David made in verse 3 a covenant of watching notice what he said I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes a covenant of watching I'll tell you you don't have to go looking for sin in our culture It'll come looking for you You don't have to go to the mall to witness immodesty, I mean you find it in most churches One fellow one pastor said he described a young girl came to his church and modestly clad He said it looked like to him to be about five pounds of sausage stuffed into a three-pound bag That was his description of that immodest apparel and I don't have to preach to the choir here about this But let me just say this that modesty is not a cultural relative It is a biblical principle that the women adoring themselves in modest apparel. There's a personal responsibility for modesty Because God says that when we stir up these desires that that lead to wickedness brother. God is the avenger of all such There's a parental responsibility for modesty How often do we hear well, you know, we just want it to be their choice now And we don't want to impose our standards and and we just want them to come to it on their own and and you know What I always feel like saying and and I think I've said it a few times Maybe sir You just need to get a hormone shot and get with the program and have a little backbone and take the responsibility God gave you the point being what you see affects you a covenant of watching I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes. You've got to go out of your way To do to fulfill this one. The Bible says that lot lifted up his eyes and he went and he pitched his tent towards Sodom Lot looked he left he landed and became a leader in Sodom Lot lost his witness. He lost his wife. He lost his wealth and he lost his respect his worth as a father He lost his witness. His sons-in-law had no respect for him when he came to warn him. He lost his wife She turned into a pillar of salt. He lost his wealth everything he had got burned up He lost his worth as a father his daughters committed incest with him. Listen lot was ineffective in his witness Absolutely ineffective in his witness lot was defective in his parenting and lot was affected by his culture You would never know that lot was a righteous man Except the scripture had said that he vexed his righteous soul All my dear people lots demise started when he lifted up his eyes it began it started with a look What about that man David? He's out there one night when all the men are going to battle and there he is at home and he goes out on the Roof and here he finds a woman taking a taking a bath on the rooftop I don't care if you got an indoor plumbing or not There's some things are right and some things are not right and let me just say this that David was to blame But Bathsheba was not innocent in that transgression David was to blame but Bathsheba was not innocent at all. It all started with a look What about Samson when he went to Timnath and he saw this woman and he came home and he told his parents get me This woman for she pleaseth me. I Want to tell you Samson was sensually driven. He was temporally driven and Samson who was called by God Empowered by God did exploits for God I want to tell you he paid a mighty high price for his low living when he got a haircut in the devil's barbershop Listen friend it all started with a look when he saw this woman Samson was the strongest man in the Bible Samson was the strongest man in the Bible David was the most spiritual man in the Bible Solomon was the most why the wisest man in the Bible and they all three committed adultery They all three committed adultery You know what? That means brother. We're only one step away from tragedy at any given time one decision away from tragedy Heard about a word well-known pastor up our area that Got found out after his retirement that he'd lived in adulterous relationship for years And you know, it came to me when I heard that you know what I thought to myself how in the world Can I do this? That's what my initial thought was the next day. You know what I was thinking I'll tell you how he could do it the same way I could do it if I don't watch him and guard my heart And I got off my high horse of looking down and condescension and begin to understand he did it the same way Multitudes he did the same way David did it same thing Started with the look What about all he saw he sold his birthright for a mess of pottage And he came in from hunting and had taken nothing I Could tell you some exciting deer stories that we had this year But I'm not gonna break the train of thought here, but this man came in from hunting and had taken nothing and he was starving He was famished He comes in and sees this pottage. You know, he must have been starving I don't know what pottage is, but it don't sound too good to me and And Let's all Allah said that Vegetarian is Indian for lousy hunter So I don't know about that But he comes in from hunting and he's taken absolutely nothing and there he begins to look and sniff this Pottage that his brothers got cooking over here and here this man who was privileged to be the firstborn Who became profane in his heart bitter in his soul immoral in his life? And then the Bible say to look indeligently lest any man fail of the grace of God lest any root of bitterness Bringing up trouble you and thereby many be defiled lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau Who for one morsel of meat sold sold his birthright for you know? How that afterwards when he would have inherited the blessing he was rejected. He sold his birthright. He lost his blessing It started with a look. I Verse four verse four wicked people. I will not know a wicked person verse five wicked pride He that hath a high look and a proud heart will not I suffer You know Job said I made a covenant with mine eyes. Why didn't you and I think upon a maid? Can you imagine a man making a statement like that in a non? Non-technological society I made a covenant with mine eyes Why didn't you and I think upon a maid Lou Harrison associates estimate the prime time Afternoon and evening hours on the three largest television networks in the states include 65,000 acts of sexual activity every year Prime time that's an average of 27 per hour Men are visually stimulated it doesn't take a rocket scientist or a theologian to figure that out and The lust industry has been booming the Dow Jones may have been unstable But the lust industry is on is on is on a skyrocketing chart They say pornography was a ten dollar ten million dollar business. I think in the 60s now It's a ten billion dollar business in the United States sixty percent of the traffic on the Internet is point Pornographic in nature twenty five million hits every week in the United States on pornographic sites ranging from one to twelve One to ten hours per week and we wonder why what about all these perverts? What about all these child molestations? It can only get worse as the sodomization of our culture is nearing its completion You know what? We got tonight. We got Sodom in the sanctuary I just got a Baptist publication the welcoming and affirming Baptist and you got some of them down here in Georgia and they're having youth camps for Openly sodomites and they were bragging about the fact how the tears came to their eyes when male Boys were dancing with other boys at their dance. We got Sodom in the sanctuary It's where we're at it's where we're at in the culture It's where we're at in in the apostasy and nobody seems to be even alarmed at it because we've gotten so used to the dark I'll tell you brother. It's so pervasive. It's hard to be alarmed at it anymore. You get desensitized a pastor had a six million dollar budget in this particular church and he went in the office on Saturday night got on the net and he had an image that he sent down to the full-color printer and got under conviction and Cut the thing off and the secretary comes in on Monday morning and cuts the printer on and guess what pops out Of course, they had to come in and trace it and they traced it back to him and this characters out of the ministry today Nobody's immune from this kind of stuff a pastor called me the other day and told me about a woman in his church who got on a chat room Yeah, I've never been on a chat room Well, what does that say about the fellowship with God and fellowship in the local church when people are so desperate for intimate fellowship? They'll spill their guts to potential murderers And told me how the woman in the church Got on the net Started writing a fella in two weeks. They were sending photos in four weeks She left her family and shacked up with a guy four hours from home that happens every week and may I say in churches like this It ain't them anymore A brother these are things that are so so universal and their scope it's touching the best of churches I used to call me the other day and she had a 14 year old girl addicted to internet pornography a girl Bible says you can't take fire to your bosom without being burned The Bible says make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof. I Will set no wicked thing before mine eyes. I'm telling you takes a lot of effort here To obey this one Can I say that early exposure to pornography sets a pattern that is difficult to break but hallelujah, it can be broken It can be broken Soon she'll have no more dominion over you. It's high time. We learn to believe the Word of God Elvis Presley made his debut on the American scene back in the late 50s Understanding was on the Ed Sullivan show and they they would not show Elvis below the waist because the sensual gyrating was too much for public consumption back in those days And we come a long way now when we got the leotard and praise dancers in the Independent Baptist Church doing a hoochie-coochie in the Name of Jesus. I want to tell you it's a whorehouse and it doesn't honor God and You know shot legalism, I know y'all on the same page with this I'm preaching to the choir, but most places I don't get a lot of a lot of amens on that point But the point being that brethren, there's something wrong about this situation The last song that ol Elvis sang before his death in Las Vegas Was he got up on the platform that night and with tears and sweat streaming down his drug puff face He's saying I did it my way. I Did it my way and went out into eternity that night a drug addict Wouldn't we be better off to get on our knees and cry out have thine own way Lord have thine own way I Get a report just about every week of some brother somebody. I know somebody I preach for that's gone down the tubes, man I'm not condemning anybody. I'm just saying it It makes you wonder about Jesus statement when the Son of Man returns Will he find anybody will he find any faith on the earth? Anyhow, it makes you wonder is anybody gonna make it you know, yeah, I mean, but brother we can believe God in these days What you said before your eyes is vitally important The day gaze gets the downward progression going but listen the gaze gets the upward possession looking better all the time One man said we need to gaze on God glance at our problems and look on the fields that are white on the harvest a gay covenant of watching But notice a covenant of wisdom in verse 2. I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way Wisdom is the principal thing With all you're getting good wisdom wisdom and priorities loving God with all your heart soul mind and strength Wisdom in prayer if any man lack wisdom let him ask of God who gives to all men liberally and outbraideth not wisdom in purity Blessed are the pure in heart wisdom in possessions the firstfruits belong to God. It's time to make some covenants with our eyes. I Will set no wicked thing before mine eyes Covenant with our feet. I will walk within my house with a perfect heart a covenant with our own souls I will sing of mercy and of judgment unto thee. Oh Lord. Will I sing? walking watching Worshiping I'll tell you what. I believe I don't think the watch walking and the watching will ever be right until the worshiping is right first You know the greatest most profound fact in the whole universe the most profound fact God the most profound thought God is the most profound experience God is here and if Campbell was right that revival is an awareness of the presence of God a Holy awareness of the presence of God Brother that's as good as it gets on this side. And that's what eternity is gonna be all about a constant realization Holy presence of God being near, you know, they prayed in the old days. They prayed that God would draw feelingly near That God would come among his people all my dear people The Bible says we're to grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus You know what? You know what that says to me spiritual growth is not automatic It's intentional Spiritual growth is not accidental. It's on purpose and it requires a cooperation with God Can I say this before there can be any spiritual growth? You've got to have a spiritual birth There will be no spiritual growth until there is a spiritual birth And it's almost like we I think that ideas come in now that we can all kind of have an osmosis Into salvation through training principles without any regeneration and this is a myth Hallelujah for training principles Hallelujah, we were all doing it We believe in it but brother the fact the matter is God the Holy Ghost has got to get in the hearts of every human being and God's got to take the field There's got to be something going on on the inside That's why when small children under deep conviction of sin They've never committed any heinous crimes or atrocious sins and minds out there not under conviction about what they've done They're under conviction about what they are. Their nature is just as bad as the homosexual Suicide the maniac and in the prison somewhere. It's the same old flesh It's got to be saved by the grace of God before you can have spiritual growth. You've got to have a spiritual birth. I Ask you have you been born again of the Spirit of God? Our dear people David made some covenants covenants covenants of Worship covenants of walking covenants of watching covenants of wisdom Tonight how many of us has God spoken to about these very things? Watching walking Worship I say the worship will determine the walking and the watching Let us pray