In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of preaching both the goodness and severity of God to produce a healthy congregation. He highlights the human face of God as seen in Christ, which is characterized by unconditional love and kindness. The preacher emphasizes the need for a personal relationship with God, where we are called to love Him above all else. He shares the testimony of Nikki Cruz, who attributes his long-lasting faith to his love for Jesus. The preacher also mentions that Jesus chose three special manifestations to reveal who God is to his disciples. Overall, the sermon encourages listeners to express their love for Jesus and acknowledge His faithfulness.

Heavenly Father, I acknowledge my need of the anointing of the Holy Spirit this morning, that the words that come out of my lips will not be mine, but they will be yours, touched by your Spirit, made life to us. Oh God, sanctify this vessel, pure and holy, to bring forth the word that produces life, because we know only life produces life. Oh God, open our eyes and our understanding to who you are. This is Father's Day, but we have a Heavenly Father who loves and cares for us. God, show us your human face. Show us your human face this morning, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. What is God like? We know he's a spirit, we know he's invisible, and we know the scripture says that no man has ever seen him. No man. Jesus told his disciples, I'm going back to my Father, and you know the way where I'm going. Thomas was shocked, and he said, but Master, we really don't know where you're going, we don't know the way. And you said no one comes to the Father except by me, and if you're going, how are we going to get to the Father? And Jesus answered Thomas, if you had known me, you would have known the Father also. From now on, you're going to know him, and you have seen him. And Philip is standing by, and Philip was overwhelmed, and he was absolutely shocked, he was befuddled, and he said, we, your disciples, are going to know you, we're going to see you, that we have seen you, that we know you? And he couldn't understand it, because you see, God is invisible. He said, no, if you're God, how can we see you? God's invisible. They couldn't comprehend how an invisible God could be in the flesh, veiled in the flesh. They were just, the disciples were dumbfounded by it. They said, how can we know God when we can't see him? He claims to be God, and we see him. Philip blurted out, Lord, show us the Father, and that'll satisfy us. Just show us who he is. You say we've seen him, but we don't understand. And Jesus patiently answered, he said, Philip, have I been with you so long, and you still don't understand who I am? Don't you know that anyone who has seen me has seen the Father? How can you say, show us the Father? And then his disciples, he addressed his disciples, saying, believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me. And then he gave them a glorious promise. Jesus promised them, at that day, that means after the resurrection, when he comes back, at that day, you shall know that I am in the Father, and you in me, and I in you. And he was telling them, you do not yet understand that I am clothed, I am God clothed in flesh, I am God incarnate. You can't comprehend that now, but he said, when I'm raised from the dead, I'm going to show you inconclusively, you're going to see who the Father is, I'm going to manifest, I'm going to reveal him to you. And we know that his whole ministry was a manifestation of who the Father was. You remember, Jesus said, I don't do anything on my own. Everything I do, I've seen from my Father, I've been sent by my Father, he has prompted me, he has led me, I do nothing. When you see me, you see the Father. Watch me, look at me, listen to what I say, you are seeing the Father at work, you're hearing the Father speak. I and the Father am one. God was manifest, revealed in flesh. Paul said of Christ, he's the image of the invisible God, a visible image of the invisible God. And he said, I came not of my own, and I can do nothing of my own. In John 12, 45, he that seeth me, seeth him that sent me. I am the Father in one. I proceeded forth and came from God, neither can I of myself, neither can I of myself, but he sent me. And here's what Jesus is saying, God sent me his own Son to show you exactly what the Father is like. That's been my role, that's my mission, to show you the Father. For centuries, artists have tried to put a human face on God. And that human face they put on God in their paintings and cathedrals and in stained glass is a picture, is a face of a scowling, white-haired, flowing-bearded man in the sky with nothing but vengefulness and wrath. In fact, in a South American cathedral they have a huge stained glass picture of God, depicting God standing over a mass of kneeling people with a huge club in his hand and a scowl on his face. Vengeance and wrath, severity. This is the image of many people in the land today and around the world. They picture God, and most religious, too. God is that vengeful, wrathful Ancient of Days. Now, please keep in mind that God does have a severe side. There's a face of God that's very severe. Paul says, remembering this, Behold, therefore, the goodness and severity of God, of them which fail, severity, but toward thee, goodness, if you continue in his goodness, otherwise thou shalt be also cut off. Jesus had very little patience with hypocrites and Pharisees. He had very little patience with those who would mock the Holy Ghost at work in him. That's why he announced the unpardonable sin. That is severity. He called the Pharisees vipers and snakes. He turned to Jerusalem before he died, or before he was taken into captivity, and he wept over Jerusalem. He said, I would have gathered your children as a mother hen gathers her chicks, but you would not. Your house is left to you desolate. That's severity. There is a severe side of God to those who are hardened in their sins, who rejected call after call after call of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And you can sit in a Holy Ghost church where the word is preached with fire and anointing very clearly laid out to you, the invitation given by the power of the Holy Ghost, and you can grow hard in church quicker than you can out in the Bowery. This is the worst place to go if you are not ready to surrender your heart to the demands and the call of the gospel of Jesus Christ, as loving as they are. Behold, therefore, don't forget both the goodness and the severity of God, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness, all unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. The scripture says he's come to honor those who seek him, but those who obey not the truth, but obey in righteousness, there will be wrath and indignation. Thus, there is a severe side of God. Many preachers of the gospel today have done away with the severity and they preach only a God of love and mercy. Nobody has preached more love and mercy than we have in this pulpit. But if I, as a minister of the gospel, do not stand here under his unction and expose sin in my life, in your life, by the power of his word and his convicting Holy Ghost, if I ignore that and I just flatter you that you're all right, we're all right, everybody's okay, if I don't deal with sin, I've taken away from you one of the greatest motives to holiness there is. I have robbed you of half the gospel. The scripture makes it very clear for fear of the Lord and you will depart from evil. Proverbs 16, six, by the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil. There's no fear of God in the land anymore. You can go to many churches and you go all year long and not hear one message that puts a fear of God in your soul. And that's why they've done away with hell. They've done away with the severity of God. There's a church. Now I got a notice in Los Angeles being built a five million dollar church open to everyone of all religions to come and choose a night and pick, and they've even allowed the witches to choose a night. And the man who's heading up the project, he said their services are beautiful. They've done away with the severity of God. You know, there's no penalty for sin anymore. There's no hell. There's no eternal life. So we have, this is resolved in taking away the message of the severity of God. Jesus said, well, one to the equation, but say that it should be more tolerable for tyrant's sight and on the day of judgment for you. Now that's the verity. Paul, the apostle said, preach the word. And what was that preach word comprised of? According to Paul, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. He said, that's sound gospel. And that word sound there in Greek is healthy. That produces a healthy congregation when you preach both the goodness of God and the severity of God. And by God's grace, I trust that's what we've been getting here in Times Square church. But now let me show you the human face of God is seen in Christ. The human face of God is the face of goodness, unconditional love. The entire minister of Jesus, everything he said, he did revealed this marvelous, wonderful, loving kindness of the father. I know how I want my children to conceive me. And God knows how he wants you to conceive of him. God's interested in what your opinion of him and how you conceive him to be his being, his nature, his character. I'm very concerned. I have four children, 11 grandchildren. I know what I want them to think of me. I want them to think that no matter what they go through, no matter how they fall, no matter what they do, I'll always be there with unconditional love. I will correct where it's necessary, but I will love them unconditionally. And I'm there for their blessing and their healing. I have nothing but good in mind for them. I want my children to think that way of me. And God is very concerned about your image of him and your concept of God, who your heavenly father is. Some of the children are saying, they can't conceive of a loving father. Many of these who have a drinking father, maybe they've seen only that angry man who when he drinks, turns over furniture and maybe beats up the mother. I don't know. They can't conceive of this heavenly father that I'm going to describe to you this morning. I trust by now that you're totally convinced that you can know the father by looking at Christ. You study Christ to know God. He said, if you know me, if you see me, you're going to know who the father is. Now, I've chosen three manifestations of Christ to his disciples after his resurrection that revealed the human face of God. There were three. In fact, the scripture makes it very, very clear that and I'll show it to you in the course of my message this morning, that he chose these three in mouth of truth, three witnesses of matters established. And he chose these three special manifestations, three appearances to his disciples to reveal who God is. Now, remember his promise. The day's coming. He said that you will know me conclusively with no question about it. Now, folks, listen to me, please. If you want to know who your heavenly father is and you want a right relationship with him, it's not enough to say I know God. It's not enough. You know, he is. Yes, he's, you know, his majesty, you know, his power, you know, his severity. But do you really know his human face? You know what he thinks of you? What is his attitude toward you as one of his children? We'll talk about the human face of God. The first manifestation was behind closed doors. Go to John 20, if you will, please. The 20th chapter of John. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John for new believers. We're going to stay in the 20th and 21st chapter of John. I'm going to ask you a question. How many this morning really want to know what God has revealed to us about himself? Raise your hand. I want to know God. I want to know what he thinks of me. I want to know. I want to have a proper concept of God. Hallelujah. Holy Spirit, open our eyes. The first manifestation is behind closed doors. Chapter 20, verse 19. Then the same day evening, being the first day of the week when the doors were shut or the disciples were sent, assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst and said unto them, Peace be unto you. Look at me, please. Christ has been crucified. They've been scattered. Now they come back together. This is Sunday, first day of the week. The disciples are huddled together. There are 10. Judas is gone. Thomas was not there. There are 10 disciples huddled together. The door is locked. In the Greek, in fact, if you read Luke, Luke says they were terrified and afraid. In fact, in the Greek it is they were mourning and weeping. They were mourning, they were weeping, they were frightened, and any knock on the door could have set them off. And a knock did come on the door, and it was Mary Magdalene, and she said, I've seen him. Can you imagine the fear in that room when that knock came? Is it the Roman soldiers coming to get us now? No, these men had no reason to fear. You would say to them, well, you've had three years of teaching. You confessed that he was Almighty God. He said he'd never leave you, never forsake you. Why are you so afraid of man? Why has the fear of man gotten a hold of you? They're huddled in the room. Mary comes knocking on the door. Mary Magdalene said, I have seen him, and he said he's going to ascend to his father and our father, your father and our father. He's going to ascend. These men didn't get it. It didn't register with them. They stayed in that room. They didn't go out proclaiming victory. They didn't go out proclaiming he's alive, he's alive. They knew he was alive. They could not comprehend his resurrection. They are mourning. They are weeping. They are terrified. It's an amazing thing. When Jesus comes into the room, the doors are locked. He comes through the walls. He just appears, and there's Jesus in their midst. There's not one word of rebuke. There's not one word saying, after all that I taught you, after all that you knew, after all the miracles you've seen, you professed that I am God. You said, to whom shall we turn? That I had the words of eternal life, and here you are. There was no condemnation. There was no guilt. Jesus was not in that room just to pay a visit, just to say, gentlemen, I was just passing through. I thought I'd stop and say hello. No, no, no. He had made them a promise, remember. He said, when you see me again, when I appear to you, I'm going to show you the Father. I'm going to show you what He's like. In other words, you watch me, listen to every word, because you're going to see the Father. You're going to know who He is and what He's like. And the first thing He says, peace, peace to you. No condemnation, peace. You're not walking in the light. You're living in fear, but I say to you, peace. God always begins with the offer of peace. Every time I go to God, He says, David, don't be afraid. Be at peace. Every time I pray, that's the first thing I hear from God. Don't be afraid. Peace of God rule in your heart and reign. He's a God of peace. Hallelujah. Folks, you can't expect these men to understand and remember the words of Jesus. You can't remember the words of Jesus without the Holy Ghost, because Jesus Himself said, the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name. He shall teach you all things. He will bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I've said unto you. So I can't blame those men for forgetting. How many sermons have you heard and forgotten? Years of preaching. Some of you have forgotten. But if you have the Holy Ghost, you say, Holy Ghost, I'm in need. Bring back your word to me. And the Holy Ghost is a rememberer. He brings the remembrance of everything Christ said. Jesus knew they're going to go to Pentecost. He knew that the Holy Ghost would come. And the day would come, they would remember every word He said, and they would live in the power of it. But right now, they didn't have the Holy Ghost fulfilled, fulfilling in them. So when I look at those men and I say, how strange. I said, wait a minute, that's me. I have nothing to complain about, because I've been in the same place. I've heard many messages, and I've forgotten, and I've not lived in the power of them sometime. And I need the Holy Ghost to plainly show it to me. Now remember, Jesus said, the time is coming when I shall no more speak to you in parables, but I shall show you plainly of the Father. And so there's something happening in this room now that has to do with the revelation of who God is. He's speaking to you and to me. We are living in the time after His resurrection. He said, look in the Word. Look at what I said in that room. Look what I did in that locked room, and you get to know what I'm all about. The same dead evening, the first day, He appears and He stands in their midst. And in Luke, He amplifies it. Luke said they were frightened as though they saw a spirit, and He said, no, touch me. You see that a spirit doesn't have flesh and bone like I have. He was God, but he was flesh and bone. In fact, Jesus now in glory is still flesh and bone. There's a man in glory. He's not just a spirit, he's a man. And you get to glory, you can see him, you can touch him, you can feel him. He looks just like you. He looks like me. He's a man. He's still in glory. He's God, but he never gave up his humanity. Hallelujah. That's why when I pray, I know he's touched with the feelings. He still has those feelings. Hallelujah. Jesus opened the scripture to them, according to Luke, that repentance. And here's where we get a picture of who God is, that repentance, remission of sins might be preached in His name among the nations. That's Luke 24, 17. And it's what Jesus told them in that room. He said, you can look at my nail scars, you can see. He showed them His nail scarred hands. He showed them His wounded side. And they cried, my Lord, my Lord. And then He sits down and then teaches them. Now, remember, Jesus said, every word I say is coming from the Father. I'm revealing who the Father is. He said, all of this, my death, my burial, my resurrection, all that I've taught you, everything I've said and done is pointing to this one thing. Repentance and remission of sins preached to you and every nation. Folks, that's reconciliation. It's reconciliation. Reconciliation means restoration and removing every obstacle, removing everything between you and the Heavenly Father. What is Jesus saying in this room? Your Heavenly Father sent me to reconcile you to Himself. He's a loving Heavenly Father who has lost His children, and He sent me to bring them back to Himself, to remove everything that is between you and Him. God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. That's what this was all about in the room. He said, this is about forgiveness, this is restoration. Father, listen, if you want to know who your Heavenly Father is, your Heavenly Father is wounded by those who leave Him, by those who hide from Him even when they commit sin. He's saying, be reconciled to God. Come back to my grace, come back to my mercy. Some of you here this morning have been running from God. You failed Him, you did something to His brother. If you knew what I'm talking about, if you knew what I did, you couldn't talk about reconciliation. I don't care what you have done. In the Old Testament, a Manasseh was forgiven for shedding blood all over, more blood than any man in history, and yet he repented, and the blood of Christ hadn't even been shed. Folks, can you imagine what the Lord will forgive under the blood? Hallelujah! There's nothing impossible for Him. You can't know the Heavenly Father until you know that He wants you to be reconciled to Him. He wants nothing standing between you and Himself. He wants you to be one with Him, and all you have to do is see it and believe it. That's why Jesus gave us that parable of going after the lost sheep to reconcile that sheep back to the flock. If you think God pulls away from you every time you fail, you don't know God. These disciples were sitting against the light. They were full of doubt and fear. They had no power in them. There was no grasp of Scripture. They were defeated. They were full of unbelief. They were ready to quit, but Jesus comes in and says, You're forgiven. You're reconciled. My blood has paid the price. Be reconciled to God now. Hallelujah! The second manifestation happened eight days later, and this is for the sake of one single doubting disciple by the name of Thomas. Thomas was not in the room when he made his first manifestation, gave his first manifestation of the Father, but he's in this gathering now. This is the second manifestation, chapter 21, verse 25. Chapter 20, I believe it is, chapter 21, is it verse 20? 20, verse 25. OK, chapter 20, verse 25. Let's start at verse 24. But Thomas, one of the twelve called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. He's not in the first manifestation. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord, but he said unto them, Except I see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger in the print of the nails, and thrust my hand in his side, I'll not believe. And folks, that word thrust means violence. And what he's saying, until I jam my fist in his side. It's a, almost a, I can't, there's no way you're going to get me to believe this unless I can put my finger in his nail holes and push my fist in his side. It means violence. And after eight days again, his disciples were within. See, they're shut in again, and Thomas was with them. Then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst and said, Peace be unto you. Then he said to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands, and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side. And that word thrust there saying, he says violently, he's answering, Go ahead, jam your fist in my side. Be not faithless, but believing. Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus said unto Thomas, Because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed. Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. Now, I want you to see the revelation now, the second manifestation of the face of God in this. My human nature rises up and says, Why, you ungrateful, unmindful disciple, how could you not believe after all that you have heard, all the testimonies of your friends and disciples around you, how could you still not believe? But folks, that's the problem with the Church of Jesus Christ, the problem with all of us. After all we've seen and heard, after all the miracles he's done for us, the next crisis we come to, the doubt and unbelief floods in. And how many of you said, God, I have prayed and I see no evidence, I don't see you answering my prayer. How many of you said, God, at least give me one sign, give me some evidence anywhere that you've heard me, that you're with me. Lord, surely you don't expect me to go on in darkness. Surely, Lord, you can just give me a little, give me a little something, give me evidence that you, there. Now, folks, God is merciful. The Lord did that in this room. He's interested in every, he does this for one man. And again, Jesus doesn't come there just passing by. Jesus knows exactly when to move in and he's moving in right now. He doesn't want this doubt to spread through the body. And he lovingly rebukes this man for his unbelief. There's no question about that. There's a rebuke here, but he's not saying to Thomas, how could you do this to me? How could you speak of violently thrusting your fist into my side? No, no, no. First of all, he said, be at peace. In other words, what I'm going to tell you now is not going to hurt you. Don't be afraid of what I'm about to say. Have you ever had God tell you that when you know you've done wrong and you deserve a spanking and you go into his presence and he says, peace? Don't be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you. What you hear is not going to damage you. I'm going to bless you. See, we're seeing the human face of God. God's trying to show us how he looks at his disciples, how he looks at his people. And here's the lesson. By nature, our heavenly father takes pleasure in those who trust him completely because Jesus said to him, Oh, now that you have seen, you say, my Lord, my God. But he said, Oh, Thomas, when are you going to come to the place where you don't need signs? You don't need evidence that you have just like, like I have done. You've seen my life. I have, I never made a move. I never did anything till I consulted with my father. You saw me go to the mountain and pray. I prayed before I chose the disciples. You saw everything I did. I did under the guidance and the leading of my heavenly father. And he's your father. And now he's saying without faith, Thomas, it's impossible to please your heavenly father. And everything you do, all of your works, if you don't trust him wholly and folks, Jesus lived out a full manifestation of the meaning of faith. The meaning of faith is whole dependence on God for all things, wholly dependent on the Lord. Folks, I want to tell you, this is something God's been drilling into me. This is something that God will not let me let go. That if I am going to trust him, if I'm going to say that I believe him, if I'm going to go to the prayer closet and say, Lord, I trust you. I believe you that I'm not going to carry another burden the rest of my life. I'm not going to care. I'm going to cast my cares. I'm going to cast my burdens on him. I'm not going to make a move until I asked him. I don't have to kneel down in time square. If I can make a decision in time square suddenly, but I would have been praying that morning. I would have been praying the night before. And I would be saying, Lord, you whisper by your Holy spirit direction all through this day. You know, I'll obey you. I'm going to do exactly what you tell me. I will not make a move. I get invitations from all over the world and I lay them before God and I pray and the Lord will say, no, they're not ready here. Yes. Well, Lord, this doesn't appeal to me and it appeals to me. You go, this is my work. Do you, you want to know what pleases your father? You know what he's like? God is a being who not only demands, but loves, takes great joy in being trusted with everything, everything. Some of you about halfway there, you trust him with some things, but other things you don't trust him at all. Do you trust him with your health? Do you trust him with your family? Do you trust your children to him? Do you trust your future to him? Do you trust everything? Are you willing to take a step of faith and say, Jesus lived that way. Jesus is saying that this is exactly blessed of those who seeing God yet believe in Jesus saying, if you're, if you're going to know your heavenly father, you're going to please him. You're going to please him by trusting him with everything in your life, casting every care and every burden. You remember the message I preached the Sabbath. The Sabbath is the laying down of all burdens on Christ, for Christ is our Sabbath. Everything, I fully trust him. The human face of God is the face of one who smiles, takes great joy and pleasure. You don't have to know theology. You don't have to know doctrine. Say Jesus, I don't understand what I'm going through. This is beyond me. And that's what he's trying to tell the disciples. You're not understanding. You're here in fear. You're not understanding my death. You're not understanding the resurrection. You're not understanding this, but will you trust me? Just trust me now. Thomas, trust me. Disciples, trust me. Put your confidence in me. You'll see it soon. It's coming, but I'm going to my father and my father is going to be your father, but I want you to have a right relationship. I want you to have the relationship with him that I had. I gave him everything. He met every need. He gave me direction. He'll do the same for you as I'm in the world. So are you. Folks, I'm getting so excited in my life more and more as I give everything to him. I am feeling his joy toward me. He expresses that to me in this secret closet. The Lord speaks. Now folks, if you, I don't hear an audible voice, but I sure do hear that still small voice. And he, he'll tell me, he said, David, because you trusted me here, I'm going to work a miracle because you didn't take it in your own hands. You didn't make calls. You didn't try to manipulate because you trusted me here and Lord will show me all the points where I trust the Lord. See here, you're, you're, you're getting a little ahead of me. Back up a little bit. Do you really trust me here? And I said, okay, Lord, I back off. I'm going to trust you there. And what about over here, David, that when you get those stomach aches and you're afraid your colitis to come back, will you trust me with your colitis? I said, yeah, you're not going to call the doctor. No, I'm just going, I'm going to trust you here. I'm going to trust you with everything. I'm not against doctors, but Lord said, I want everything under my control. I want you reconciled under my rulership. All right. There are two words, reconciliation and rulership. All right, let's go to the third. And boy, I'll tell you this third is what really blesses me. Such joy to my heart. After these things, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias. That's chapter 21, verse one at the sea of Tiberias. And in this way, he showed himself. And if you look at verse 14, it says, this is now the third time that Jesus showed himself to his disciples. After that, he was raised from the dead. Now here's the setting. Look at me, please. You remember this story, uh, Peter and six other disciples had gathered together. They are directionless still. They're reeling under the events that they've just seen. It's so over Peter's head. He just brought up, I'm going fishing. Now folks, when he said, I'm going fishing, didn't mean he was going for the night. He said, I'm going back to what I know best to do. I'm going back to my career. I'm going back to the fishing nets. Remember, they'd forsaken them for Jesus. He said, I'm going back. Six other disciples said, we're going with you. So Peter, how excited he must have been. He said, I'm going back. This is over my head. How can you live like he did? How can you take everything to a father? This, this, this business of this doctrine of his is so beyond me. I can't figure it out. Peter said, I'm going fishing. That's it. Peter quit. He loved the Lord. These men all loved the Lord. This was not a one night affair and they fished all night. And as you know the story, they got nothing. I imagine Peter said, this going back doesn't work too. It doesn't bring you joy. Folks. Hadn't he said to him, shall we go? For you have the words of eternal life. And in the morning they're still sweating. How many times they'd cast that net and pulled it in. Struggled all night. They're hungry. They're thirsty. And they're about 300, there's about 300 yards from shore. And there's a voice from the shore that says, in the Greek it's lads, have you got anything? They said, no, we haven't caught anything. He said, just throw the nets on the other side. And they were dumbfounded. We've been here all night. If there any fish, they'd have been, what's the other side of the boat? There's no line here. And John, as soon as he sees the fish swirling the water and the nets packed and he says to Peter, that can only be the Lord. Nobody can do that. That's the Lord. Peter jumps out of the boat and swims 300 yards to the shore. And the disciples, the other disciples came by boat. When they came, they saw Jesus cooking bread and fish. I heard a marvelous message by a little country preacher in Alabama last week. A God who cooks biscuits and goes fishing. It was a marvelous message. How God is so concerned about his children, he cooks them breakfast. That was God. I shouted in the car, listening in the car. Yes, he's a God who cooks biscuits. He's interested in my welfare, my job, my family, everything about me. Well, you see, well, Jesus is giving one last manifestation, the most important manifestation of who the Father is and where is the manifestation. Peter had to have been lost in contemplation, because remember when Jesus said three times, Peter, do you love me? He kept saying, you know, I know you're reading my mind. And evidently Peter's saying, I literally, I see he, there's no question, this is God. He's not just man, he's God. This is a manifestation of the heavenly Father. And I have denied God. I have cursed God. How can I ever make it? He says to himself, I have a charade. I look bold on the side, but inside I'm a jellyfish. I have nothing in me. And he's, he's trying to say, how can I make it? I can't go back to being a fisherman. I can't leave these nets because I'm not worthy. And a voice interrupts him, Peter, do you love me? And what Jesus is saying, there's only one issue. It's not an issue of you being worthy. It's not an issue of you bringing good works to him. The issue is, do you love him with all of your heart? Peter, do you love me more than anything else in the world? He said, yes, you know it. You're reading my mind. And evidently Peter's mind is still wandering. He said, but oh Lord, the doctrine I can't conceive. This, my mind, others are getting it, but I'm not getting it. It's beyond me. It's beyond me. And in his contemplation, the voice again, Peter, do you love me? Yes, Lord, you know I love you. I love you with all my heart. And again, Peter gets lost in his thinking. How can anybody live this life with all of the demands and all that's pressed upon me? And I don't figure it out. I'm just an unlearned fisherman. I have no education. I have nothing. And in his emptiness, he hears the cry again, Peter, do you love me? This time Peter got the message. This is not only about reconciliation and rulership, but this relationship. Who is God? He is one who is love, who wants you to receive his love, and in turn wants to be loved back. And I'll tell you, if you want to see the hard guy, you listen to Jesus again. Look at that scene and listen to Jesus. He's speaking. That's God speaking. Do you love me? Come on. There's only one issue. Do you love me? I don't care what you go through. Do you love me? I don't care what battle. I care how many times you fall. Did you, do you love me? Do you love me with all of your heart more than anything in the world? More your husband and wife and children, your job, career, everything. Do you love me? This is relationship. This is the face of God saying to you, I love you. I give you my son. I've not come to condemn you, but to save you and reconcile you rule your life so that you can have a full life. But will you receive my love and will you love me? I told you once of talking to Nikki Cruz after 20 years of ministry, say from the mile mile gang right here in New York city. And one day I said, Nikki, what's the key? I've got a lot of young men that are getting saved just like you. What can I tell them? How, what's the secret of living so long for Jesus on fire? And that was before he spoke good English. Like he does now. He looked at me and fire came in his look and he says, I love Jesus. He said, I've been to hell and back, but I love Jesus. He said, that's what's kept me. I'm in love with Jesus. That's that's God. That's my heavenly father. I'm not mad at you. I love you, but do you love me? Hallelujah. Scripture says God is love. And this was revealed the love of God toward us because the God sent his only begotten son into the world that we might live through him. We have known and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love. He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him. And we love him because he first loved us. Hallelujah. If you want to remember this message in three words, reconciliation, rulership, relationship, love. Folks, if you think your pastor or pastors haven't figured out you've got it all wrong. I look over some of my sermons I preached over the past 10 years and they get me convicted. And I said, Lord, I preached that 10 years ago or eight years ago, and I've forgotten it. It didn't register with me. I preached it, but it didn't register with me. Oh, folks, I just go and appeal to the love of God and to the Holy Ghost and say, Lord, bring it all to my remembrance. Will you stand please. Now, if you want to remember this message, remember the Holy Ghost. Jesus promised that when the Holy Ghost comes upon you, he'll bring to remembrance all the words that he spoke. And if he has spoken this morning, he'll bring to remembrance all those things that have to do with him. His nature is being. Hallelujah. Everybody, the sound of my voice. I don't care what you've done. I don't care where you're at spiritually. God is not mad at you. He's shown his human face. In other words, his face is that which he chooses to reveal about himself. Those things that we need to know so that we can have a living, loving relationship with him. That's what he's revealed in part to you and to me this morning. And because of that, I've learned to love him more because he chooses to show me how I can work with him and please him and what I should think about him. Hallelujah. I think well of my father. Do you? I think well of him. Not only that, I received his love this morning. Heavenly Father, I thank you for the truth because only truth sets men free. Lord, I have preached your mind. I've given your heart. I pray, Holy Spirit, you come and make this word life. You bring forth now the manifestation of truth into our hearts. And Lord, for those that are listening to me this morning, we're having a very difficult time. Some have been running from you. Some, Lord, are confused. Just like Peter, they're saying, I can't go on. I'm going back. I'm not going to forsake God. I'm just going to do my own thing. I can't be a Christian like so many are saying. It has to be lived. I can't live like that. Lord, you said your yoke is easy. Your burden is light. If we come and accept who you are, if we come to you and just love and repentance, then Lord, you'll lift the burden from us and you'll show us what a joy it is to live for you. Now, water heads above, I'm going to give an invitation this morning for those in the annex, those in the balcony, here in the main floor, wherever you see or hear me. The Holy Ghost is here. I have told you about the love of God for you. I've shown you his human face. Now, you've got to examine your heart under the anointing and the presence of the Holy Ghost this morning. Do you want to walk out of this church this morning the way you walked in? Do you want to carry out of this church the burden that you brought in here, whether it's a burden of sin, guilt, condemnation, fear, just depression? Do you want to go out the way you came in, or do you want to say, no, I want God this morning to reconcile me. I feel like there's something between me and the Lord that's not right. Now, maybe you don't even know Jesus. Maybe you've never received Him as Lord and Savior. I invite you to come right now. You that are in the annex, you go to the back doors of the auditorium. They'll show you the door into this auditorium. You come right down the stairs to where I'm standing, and we will pray with you. Now, on the balcony, you go to the stairs on either side. Here in the main auditorium, you come forward. Look, the Holy Ghost, if He's put His hand on you, He's told you, said, this message is for you. You have the wrong concept of me. You're just living in fear of me, but you don't have the righteous fear of God. You don't have the fear. You don't have the loving kindness of God. You have only the severity of God. Now, come. Lay your sins and your burns down this morning. Bring your sins. Bring your failure. Bring everything to Jesus this morning. If you're backslidden, you're running from God, and you're not right with God, you don't know Jesus, come with these that are coming. Please move in close because there are going to be a whole lot of people coming. Move in as tight as you can and appreciate it. The Lord bless you. As they sing, open your heart. And in the annex, just right now, go to the back of the auditorium, out into the lobby, and the ushers will show you the way into this auditorium. You come down, and I'll pray with you right here. The Lord bless you. Don't come unless the Spirit draws you. You feel the Spirit tugging, pulling at your heart, then and only then do you respond. Now let me talk to you that came forward right now. There's nothing, absolutely nothing, that needs to stand between you and the Lord, because Jesus removed all the barriers. He took down all the walls. There are no ordinances against you. There are no walls against you. There's nothing against you. But do you love Him? Did you come this morning to tell Him you loved Him? Did you come this morning to give Him every burden, every sin, every bit of depression, everything that is crushing you, you lay it on Him now. You do it by an act of faith. You do it by an act of faith. What else do you have to give Him? Look at me now. What else do you have to give the Lord but your faith? You say, well, my body? Yes, but by faith you come to present that even. Without faith, there's nothing you have to give Him. The only thing you have to give Him is the fruit of your lips, and that comes from your heart, and that's faith. Lord, I believe you. I'm going to give you my sins. I give you my heartache. I give you my problems. I give you everything, and I'm going to trust you right now to take it. Right now, you know what the Lord says? He said it through Haggai, to Zerubbabel and Joshua the high priest. He said, from the moment you begin to seek Me again with all your heart, He said, from that moment, even though you may not see the fruit of it immediately, from that moment you can know that I have begun to work in you and for you. I am now favoring you. I am blessing you, and you can mark it down right now, that when you walk out of here, whether you feel anything, whether you feel anything at all, you may not feel a change, but God says you can mark it down on your calendar. You get a pen and pencil, write it down, that on June, whatever it is, 21, June 21, at Times Square Church at 1155, I stood at an altar, and I gave Him everything. I laid everything on Him by faith, and I gave Him my love and my pledge to just love Him with all my heart and to receive His love for me, and I've laid my sins down, and I'm going to walk by faith, and I'm going to even trust Him for the faith. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! The Bible says, no man comes to the Father except through Me. No one comes unless the Spirit draws him. So the reason you came is because the Spirit's at work, or you wouldn't be here right now. The Holy Spirit drew you here right now. That's proof enough that the Holy Ghost is at work in your heart right now. So you give Him thanks, and when the Holy Ghost comes, He will even give you faith. Take the little faith that He's given you, that seed now, and say, Lord Jesus, just water it. I don't have it figured out, but I'm going to just give you everything right now by faith. Pray this prayer with me right now. You don't, you don't, even if you don't close your eyes, what it is right now is faith that He wants. He's not looking at some pious look. He's looking for faith. Pray it with me. Jesus, forgive me my selfishness, my stubbornness, my lust, the things of this world, the love of this world, the pride of life. Forgive me for carrying my own burdens and doing my own thing, my own way. I want to do it your way now. I lay my burdens, all my fears, my sins, I lay them on you, Jesus. Take it all. By faith, I will walk with you, and I'll trust you to lead me and guide me. By faith, I give you all that I am, all that I have, and all that I fear. Now let me pray for you. Father, you said, out of the abundance of the heart, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. You heard this spoken word, but Lord, it's poured out of the heart. God, show us your love this morning, and then let us just love you back. Now when everybody came forward, in fact the whole building, my Bible said I wouldn't, every man, men everywhere, lift holy hands. They made holy by the blood of Christ. Will you just tell him you love him now? Tell him about your love for him. Lord, I do love you, or I wouldn't be here right now. I love you, that's why I'm calling on you. I love you, Jesus, because you've been good to me. You've not forsaken me. You're still with me. Come on, folks, tell him you love him right out of your heart. I love you, Jesus, with everything in me. I give you my praise. I give you my love. Now let's sing with our hands, raise that faithfulness. Great is thy faithfulness. He's been faithful. This is the conclusion of the tape.