In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the promise and potential that we all have when we start out in life. He acknowledges that there are times when we may feel hopeless and question the purpose of our existence. The speaker shares the story of a young man who found himself in a foreign place, feeling overwhelmed by the challenges he faced. However, the speaker reassures the audience that through the cross of Calvary, Jesus Christ has provided a way for us to overcome sin, death, and despair. He encourages the listeners to embrace the truth of the gospel and experience the abundant life that God offers.

Praise God, praise God, praise God. Thank you, Lord. Father, I thank you, Lord, for this moment of sharing from your word. I pray, Father, for the anointing to break everything that the devil has tried to do in so many people's lives. Expose the works of darkness and let the glorious freedom of Jesus Christ become known in every heart. God, don't let anybody perish tonight whom Christ died for. Give freedom, give hope, give liberty. I ask it tonight in Jesus' name. Amen. I want to share with you a little bit from Psalm 34 in the Old Testament. If you have a Bible, and if you don't, don't worry about that. I'll read it to you slowly and explain it to you. Now, this is a Psalm. It's written by a young man who eventually became a king. Now, in his youth, he was given great promise. He had been singled out from among his brothers. He was told that he was going to rule and reign. He had done things that had made him stand out from the crowd. And such promise, just the way you and I were when we begin in life. Somebody speaks maybe a good word or a good thought comes into your heart, and you begin to feel that your life is destined for a specific purpose. Can we turn that fan off, please, somebody? If you wouldn't mind, I'd appreciate it very much. I'm old, and it's cold here on this thing. And just like you and I, we start out with such promise. We all do as children. The world is wide open. The sky is blue. The sun is up. And there just seems to be so much for so many, not everybody. I know there are exceptions to this, but by and large, there's such promise and potential for everybody. And this young man, David, felt this way. Only to find himself in midlife as it is, according to this psalm, in a place he didn't want to be, doing things he didn't want to be doing. As a matter of fact, people who looked at him thought he was losing his mind. He had lost all confidence in himself. He had lost all confidence in the call that he felt was on his life. All of these things were gone. And I know that there are people here tonight, you know exactly what I'm talking about. But everything that you felt life was supposed to be, seems to be slipping through your fingers. And you don't know where to go and you don't know how to get there. And you're wondering, do I have a future? Do I have a hope? Is there anything before me that is more certain than the despair that I feel in my heart? And that's a legitimate question that you should be asking tonight. Is there any more than what I feel? And like you heard tonight from the first testimony, if it's no better than this, I'd rather die than go on living like this. And there are people I know tonight that are feeling this way. You'd rather be dead than carry on the way life is. If you don't see anything deeper or farther or more prominent or powerful or anything more than what you are experiencing up to this point in your life, you don't see the point of even going on. And that's exactly where this young man was. And he was at the gate of a foreign king. It was a place that he knew he wasn't supposed to be. These were things that he was supposed to be conquering that suddenly were seemingly conquering him. He's having to behave himself like a madman, just in a sense so that his life wouldn't be taken as he saw it. But out of this terrible experience, something came into the heart of David that has lasted and has been written down in the Word of God for even you and I who are gathered here tonight. And listen to the words he said. He said, I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make a boast in the Lord. And the humble shall hear thereof and be glad. David is saying, God did something so powerful for me that I can't do anything but praise Him. I can't do anything but boast about Him. I can't speak anything about other than what He has done for my life. And the humble, he said, will hear this and be glad. That means people who are just like I used to be, people who are at the same place that I was, people who know that without God they don't have a future. They've come to the place of the realization that in their own strength and in their own resources they're not going to make it through. They're humbled as it is in the sight of God and sometimes in the sight of man. They know there's no future without a divine deliverance. Oh, he said, magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt His name together. David calls to those that know they need a Savior. And those who had found Him perhaps or are going to find Him in the way that David had. He said, let's get together. That's what we're doing tonight, aren't we? Oh, let's exalt His name together. Isn't that a profound and powerful experience for those that have never known this, to be in a place with people who are worshiping God, and it's not churchy. It's real. It's very, very real. Now, you may not fully understand it, but you know this, it is real. You are hearing a song that's not choreographed. It's not learned. There's nobody cheerleading anybody in the sanctuary tonight saying, come on, folks, sing a little harder, sing a little harder to God. No, it's coming from right inside, just like David said, His praise shall continuously be in my mouth. I sought the Lord and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears. See, that's the key to this song of victory. When I couldn't do it myself, I came to God. I didn't know what the response was going to be. A lot of people don't know. They feel that they come to God and they're just going to get this huge dynamic finger, come down from heaven and point out all their flaws and all their failings. And look at the mess you've made. And look at the way you're living. And why should I let you into my kingdom? But David said, I was a mess. I was behaving like a madman at an evil king's gate. If I had any potential, even in God, I had blown it by that point. It was all gone. But I sought the Lord and He heard me and He delivered me from all of my fears. He set me free from that which had gripped me and was governing me and was leading me and guiding me and destroying me and making me so much less than God had intended me to be. They looked unto Him and were lightened and their faces were not ashamed. Now, David is talking about not just himself, but everyone down through the ages of time that have had an honest encounter with God have found that He has not rejected them, have found that He's not turned His back, have found that He's not walked away, but He's been there for those who have needed Him. This poor man cried and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around about them that fear Him and delivers them. David said, I cried out to God and immediately I found Him was all around me. His presence was around me. It's as if He delighted to deliver me. He came down when nobody else could help me. And suddenly I found myself surrounded by not just an exterior, but an inner strength. Because in the next verse, David says, Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Not just an outside Savior, but a very real present inside God. Not just the one who encamps around about me, but the one who fills my all in all, gives me a reason for life, gives me hope in the future, lifts me out of my weakness and brings me into an incredible strength that could not be found anywhere but in the life and presence of Almighty God. And David found that God, when I cried out to you, you didn't reject me. You didn't turn your back on me because I made a mess of things. But oh God, you were just waiting for that cry. And when you heard it, you came down and you surrounded me and delivered me and filled me. And for those of you who know the story, you know that David became a great, great king of Israel. A great triumphant warrior, a great psalm writer, a great man of God. As a matter of fact, the Bible called him a man after God's own heart. Now David had a taste of God. Oh, taste and see. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Now I want to bring you now to another gate. This was a gate of a foreign king. But in Revelation chapter 21, the apostle John said, I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and first earth were passed away and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold the dwelling or the tabernacle of God. We sang about it tonight. It was the last song. He's with men and he shall dwell with them and they shall be his people. And God himself shall be with them and be their God. That's a day coming for those that have turned to Christ as their Savior. God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. You know, folks, there's a day coming for those who trust in God that you can't cry anymore. You can't cry forever. You can't cry. You don't have a memory that will bring tears to your eyes. There's no more pain, the scripture says. All tears are gone. There's no more death, no sorrow, no cry. Neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are passed away. Elsewhere in the scriptures it says you can't even sigh there. You have a body that never gets tired. You have a mind that never grows dull. You have a heart that never gets weary. You live in complete victory forever. There's an explosion of knowledge comes into your mind because the Bible says even as we are known, we shall know. In the presence of God, there's an ever-increasing knowledge. There's an ever-increasing joy, an ever-increasing victory. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said to me, Write, for these words are true and faithful. He said to me, It's done. I'm the Alpha, the Omega. That means the beginning and the end. And I will give to him that is thirsty of the fountain of water of life freely. He that overcomes shall inherit all things. And I will be his God, and he will be my son. There's a day coming of total complete victory. When you can't even be afraid anymore. There's no stock market in heaven. There's no bad guys in the street. There's no muggers on the subway, folks, in heaven. As a matter of fact, there's no subway in heaven. No backstabbers living next door. Nobody you got to watch in the workplace. Everybody tells the truth. Now, David said, Oh, taste and see. You see, let me put it this way. A banquet starts with a taste, doesn't it? There's that first mouthful. You don't just go to the table and just scoop it all into your arms and somehow just cram it down your throat. It starts with a taste. And there's a banquet prepared for the people of God, but it starts with a taste. Paul the Apostle said it this way, God, when he comes to a man, he puts a deposit of the Holy Spirit in our lives, which is the deposit of our inheritance. And we begin to taste and see this victory. We begin to grow, the Bible says, from strength to strength by the presence and power of God within us. We begin to realize the purpose for which we were born. We are lifted out of weakness and brought into an ever-increasing strength. We are tasting this victory that will one day fully be realized that is already ours in Christ, but it will be fully realized one day in heaven. Taste and see, David said. Taste and see. And once you taste, you'll want more. Your mouth will be filled with the praises of God. Your heart will explode with the reality that you were created for a divine purpose. And that purpose can only ever fully be realized when the life of God is being fully lived out inside of you. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. I'm speaking tonight to people who are at the gate of despair. I'm speaking to those who know they need a helper. I'm speaking to those who without God you don't know how you're going to get through tomorrow. Somehow the devil comes to you and tries to tell you your condition, your affliction is different than other people. Somehow it's deeper, it's worse, it's darker. It's more captivating. Yet the Bible says that you're not going through anything that is not common to all men. The devil doesn't have the capability of attacking you in a deeper way than he has attacked others. And yet God in his mercy has triumphed over everything that this world and death and sin and hell could ever throw against you. God in his son Jesus Christ, when he went to a cross and paid for the wrongs that you and I have done, he broke the power of sin. He broke the power of fear. He broke the power of despair. He broke all of the power that would try to keep you acting insanely at an evil king's gate. He broke it. David said this is a message that the humble will hear and be glad. And you can join with me and begin to sing. You don't have to be on the outside looking in anymore. There are people here tonight, you've been sitting in the sanctuary and you hear the choir sing, you hear the testimonies, you even hear the person on your left or on your right, and you're outside looking in. But the good news of the gospel is because of the cross of Calvary where Jesus Christ died for your sin, after tonight you don't have to be on the outside looking in anymore. You can come in. You enter into this marvelous victory that God has won for you. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. In Revelation he said, if you're thirsty, I'll open to you the fountain of the water of life freely. The price is paid. It was all done on the cross. The victory is won. Sin is defeated. Weakness and hell and death are under the feet of almighty God. You can have life tonight. You can have life abundantly. You don't have to die in your sin. You don't have to live in your fear. You don't have to worry about tomorrow. God has all of this in his hand. And he says, if you'll come to me, Jesus said, I'll seal you in the Father's hand and nobody will take you out of the Father's hand. He said, I go to prepare a place for you that where I am there, you may be also. What a day that's going to be. Hallelujah. Until then we taste and we taste and we taste and we taste and we taste and we taste and we taste and see that the Lord is good. I've been walking with God for 32 or 33 years now. I don't know if I've ever had more of an appetite for the things of God than I do now. The more you taste, the more you want. The more you know, the more you want to experience even more. God is so good, so faithful. Two thousand years ago, God Almighty came to the earth as a man, walked among us and the Bible said he experienced our failings and our frailties. And then in the human body, he took all of our struggles and failures to a cross and paid the full price for the wrongs that we have done. To break the power and the penalty of what comes to every person through the fallen nature we have and the wrong we do called sin. And he says, if you come to me, it's all he ever asked us to do. If you will acknowledge that you're a sinner, if you will open your heart and ask me to come into your life, I will come. And I will give you what you long for and I'll give it to you freely. You and I will begin to walk together. You'll know what it's like to have a clean mind. And a clean heart and a clean slate. And hope in the future. Not just for time, but forever. You'll know where you're going when you die. You'll know what your destiny is. And while you live on this earth, I'll put a new song in you. And many will see it. They will be stunned when they see it. Your testimony will be, hey, come and sing with me. That's what David was saying. Come and sing with me. Let us sing together. Let us give God glory together. You don't have to sing that old song any longer. I've got a new song and you can have it too. Come sing with me. Let us make our boast together in the Lord. Let us glorify the name of God. That's called church. It's called congregation. It's called worship. It's where we get together. We've all dispersed through the city all week. But we come together because we're still walking in the victory that God gave us on Calvary. And we still can sing the songs that God plants within our heart. There's some people here tonight, you desperately need a new song. And God's saying to you tonight, I'm willing to give it to you. If you will come and admit that you need a savior. If you'll have it in your heart to turn from that old gate and follow me because I'm leading you to a new city. A new way of living. A new life. A new hope. And a new future. I know I'm speaking to somebody tonight. And if in your heart you can say, Pastor, you've just spoken my life. This is where I'm living. This is how I'm feeling. And if this is true, I want what this Bible has spoken to me tonight. What the testimonies have said. The songs that have been sung. My heart is open tonight. And I'm ready. I'm ready to give my life to Jesus Christ. If that's you tonight, would you raise your hand? All over the sanctuary. Just raise your hand unashamedly. God bless you. God bless you. Over here. God bless you. Over there. Up in the balcony. Don't be ashamed. God bless you. Just raise your hand. Now I'm going to ask you to take a step of faith. We're going to stand again and we're going to sing in just a moment. And as we do, for those who raised their hand, would you come down here and would you meet me at this altar? We're going to pray a simple prayer. And you can know in your heart that when you leave here that you're not going to have to go back to that old way of living again. You're going to have a new life, a new heart, and a new song. And maybe you want to turn to your neighbor if you brought somebody. Or just turn to the person beside you. Say, if you're afraid to go down, I'll go with you. Sometimes people just need some encouragement. Same for those that are in the annex tonight. And as we sing, and you want to surrender your life to Jesus Christ, come, please, and meet me at this altar tonight. Join these that are coming right now. Let's stand together. Balcony, go to either exit. Come to this altar. We're going to pray. And all heaven is about to rejoice. For those that are at this altar tonight, I want you to know that this is the beginning of eternity for you. This is the beginning. This is the first day of what your life was meant to be. Not what it became. It's what it was meant to be. This is the first day. The first day. All you have to do in your heart is admit that you need a Savior. Understand that your ways have not been God's ways. But God, in His mercy, died and paid the price for every wrong thing you have done. Paid the price. And in that broke the chain of despair that sin and death and hell would want to put on every life in the human race. He broke it and brought you in to a whole new life that He provides in Himself. And I know I'm trying to make this as simple as I can, but I'm telling you this is the greatest truth you've ever heard in your entire life. If it's the first time you've heard it tonight, you've never heard a greater truth than you're hearing tonight. The Lord will not disappoint you. He will not fail you. Every promise He makes to you, He will keep His word to you. You will not be triumphed over. You will not be defeated. You have a future now and a hope that only God can give. I want you to pray a simple prayer with me. Just open your mouth. We're going to pray together. Just repeat it after me. Lord Jesus, I am a sinner. I have not walked in Your ways. And I'm sorry for my sin. And I don't want to live in sin anymore. Jesus Christ, Son of God, I thank You for dying for me, paying the price for the wrong things that I have done, and breaking the chains that have so tried to destroy my mind, take away my heart, and destroy my life. I believe that Your death on the cross has set me free from all the power of evil that has tried to dominate my life. Jesus Christ, Son of God, at this very moment, I open my heart to You. And I invite You into my life to be my Lord and my Savior. I put my future into Your hands. And I ask You to show me the pathway that You have for my life. Help me to walk in truth and to be the person that You have called me to be. And to live the life that You have destined for me. Jesus, I am so grateful. I believe that tonight my sins are forgiven. A way of life has been made known. And one day heaven is my goal. I'm going to live in that place that I heard about tonight. Till then, every day, I'm going to taste of the goodness of God. And be changed into the person that God designed me to be. I am so grateful. I am so thankful. I will live for You, Jesus, all the rest of my life. Thank You for saving me. I am saved. Amen. Hallelujah.