In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of surrendering everything to God and not holding back. He urges the audience to examine their lives and identify any "stuff" that may be hindering their full commitment to God. This includes relationships, possessions, and even music choices. The preacher encourages the audience to forsake all and take up their cross to truly be disciples of Jesus. He also highlights the potential impact of a generation fully sold out for God, using the example of Noah and Lot.

Hello, this is Brother Denny. Welcome to Charity Ministries. Our desire is that your life would be blessed and changed by this message. This message is not copyrighted and is not to be bought or sold. You are welcome to make copies for your friends and neighbors. If you would like additional messages, please go to our website for a complete listing at www.charityministries.org. If you would like a catalog of other sermons, please call 1-800-227-7902 or write to Charity Ministries, 400 West Main Street, Suite 1, EFRA PA 17522. These messages are offered to all without charge by the free will offerings of God's people. A special thank you to all who support this ministry. Yes, Father, we come in the precious name of Jesus tonight, Lord. Father, we come with thanksgiving and praise upon our hearts, Lord. We thank you for that love wherewith you loved us that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Father, we thank you that that love reached down and touched even me. Oh God, tonight our hearts are full, full of joy, full of gratitude to our God for what He has done for us, Lord. Father, tonight we do give you thanks. We thank you for each of these dear young people. We thank you, Father, that you have brought them here, Lord. We thank you for the words that you have spoken to their hearts, Lord. We thank you for their love for you. We thank you, Father, for their desire to serve God. We thank you, Father, what they have been taught this week, Lord. And Father, we ask in Jesus' name that your Word would take root in their hearts and bear fruit upward to the glory of God. Oh, Father, that is our prayer. Father, here we are. It is Friday evening already. Father, we ask in Jesus' name, Lord, that you would visit us tonight. We pray that your Spirit would come and take charge, take control, Lord, of this vessel, this trembling heart of mine, Father, and each one of these dear young people, Father. Oh, God, we ask for a visitation. We ask for a season of refreshing from the presence of the Lord here yet tonight again. Oh, God, we pray you, by your Spirit, walk up and down these aisles. Visit with each of these dear souls that are here tonight, God. Father, do not pass any of us by. Have mercy upon us, Lord. Father, we just do pray in Jesus' name. Have your way. Amen. Amen. You may be seated. Well, I thank the Lord for this privilege, this opportunity to share with each of you dear young people tonight. You are richly blessed. I am so grateful to God that my young people get to be here. And they get to hear these things. And they get to be seated in heavenly places by Christ Jesus throughout these days. There is no greater joy to a father than when his children walk in truth and love truth. I am a glad father. Praise the Lord. God did not deal with me according to what I deserved. He did not deal with me according to my iniquities. But he dealt with me in mercy and forgiveness and grace. I thank God for each of you young people. Thank you for your hunger and thirst and your hearts after the Lord. Those that have come hungering and thirsting, I trust you're not going to go away empty. But that you have received much. Oh, God fills and satisfies the longing and the hungry soul with good things, does he not? Well, this evening I can't help but also believe that tonight there are some in this audience who have been a bit bored this week. They've been a bit disinterested. They've been holding out. They're glad it's Friday and the meetings are over. But they're not quite over yet. I pray that if you're here tonight and you're not right with God, that tonight you would see the loving Heavenly Father and the plans He has for your life and you would sense His wooing and His drawing on your heart tonight, that God would be merciful to you tonight and bring conviction of sin and of righteousness and of judgment to come. I pray that tonight you would hear His voice. And when you hear His voice, you wouldn't harden your heart, but you'd open your heart to what God has to say to you tonight. The title of the message tonight is, Ephraim is a Cake Not Turned. Ephraim is a Cake Not Turned. Hosea 7 and verse 8 says, Ephraim, he has mixed himself among the people. He is a cake not turned. The picture is, as I studied it out of a cake, we would probably have the closest thing we could relate to would be a pancake. You know, a thin batter that is really gooey and you dump it in the pan and the heat comes up from the bottom of the pan and in order to bake that pancake you have to turn it or it will get black and burned on the one side and it will still be gooey and unbaked on the other half. Tonight I believe that there are people in this room that are like Ephraim. They have mixed themselves among the heathen people. They have mixed themselves with the practices of the heathen. They have mixed themselves with the theologies of the heathen and the loves and the pleasures of the heathen. And they have a mixture in their heart tonight and they are like a half-baked cake. I believe that there is one of the things that is the greatest abomination and stench to God is a half-baked cake. A half-Christian, so-called. One foot in the kingdom of God and the other foot in the world trying to straddle the faiths and they are like a half-baked cake. It is not fit to eat. It is not good for anything. If it is laying there in the pan and it isn't turned, after a while the only thing to do anymore is to toss it out. Ephraim, he is a half-baked cake. Why? Because he has mixed himself among the people. He is trying to live a life of mixture. Mixing the world and mixing the gospel together. Mixing his self-life and his self-love with his love for God. Trying to serve self and God. You cannot do it, my friends. In Hosea 10, verse 1 and 2, it says, Israel is an empty vine. He bringeth forth fruit unto himself. According to the multitude of his fruit, he hath increased the altars according to the goodness of his land. They have made goodly images. Their heart is divided. Now shall they be found faulty or they shall be found guilty. Israel is an empty vine. He bringeth forth fruit unto himself. His life is consumed with himself. His life is consumed with what he is, his reputation, what people think of me, what I can get out of it. You know, I believe one of the greatest abominations of American Christians are that they're like Ephraim. They're a half-baked cake that has not been turned. They're not willing to go all the way with God. They're a heart divided. They're an empty vine. Jesus said, if you don't bring forth fruit, the branch is going to be taken away. But if you bring forth fruit, he'll purge you and you'll bring forth more fruit. An empty vine. Their heart is divided. Now shall they be found faulty or they shall be found guilty. Jesus said, no man can serve two masters. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Ye cannot serve God and money. Or you cannot serve God and your self-interest. Jesus said, he that is not with me is against me. And he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. Ephraim is a cake not turned. What does God say of you tonight? Could God put your name in there? Can God put my name in there and say Aaron is a cake not turned? Can he say Jonathan? Can he say Abram? Can he say Levi? I don't know who you are tonight, but is your heart divided tonight? Have you made a mixture of the Christian life, trying to mix godliness and virtue and purity and holiness with pleasures, with lust, with carnality? I believe a great deception upon the Christian church today is that you can have your cake and eat it too. You can go to heaven and you can live for yourself. Don't be so radical. Just be a nice person that everybody loves you and speaks well of you. Don't be speaking out against sin. Don't call sin, sin. Give it other names. You know, my failures, my faults, my shortcomings. The blood of Jesus Christ doesn't cleanse failures and faults and shortcomings. It cleanses sin. And when we'll agree with God and call sin, sin, then there's hope for us. When we see ourselves as a sinner and we see those things as sin, then the blood of Christ Jesus cleanses us from all sin. When we confess our sins, the burden of my heart tonight is a complacency that has settled down over the churches upon the people of God. God says, Woe to them that are at ease in Zion. Woe to them that are at ease in Zion and trust in the mountain of Samaria. Moab has been at ease from his youth and has settled on his lease. Moab. He's been at ease from his youth. He's settled on his lease. I mean, I'm just going to sit back, relax and enjoy life and have a good time. He's settled on his lease from his youth. Moab. Oh, God forbid that there be those among us here that they're just settled on their lease. Woe to them that are at ease in Zion. Rise up, ye women that are at ease. Hear my voice, ye careless daughters. Give ear unto my speech, Isaiah 32.9. Oh, that God would grant us an illumination and an enlightenment upon our eyes that we could see the seriousness and the severity and the hour upon which we live. Ephraim is a cake not turned. He has mixed himself among the people. And when you have a mixture, guess what happens? You're trying to please both crowds. Trying to please the Lord. Trying to walk with God. Trying to please your friends and not offend them. Complacency sets in. And lukewarmness and indifference and carelessness and a delusion and a deception upon the heart of one like that. A false security. A sense that all is well when all is not well. God's judgment is about to fall. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Open your Bibles with me to Revelation 3. Revelation 3. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Verse 13 of Revelation 3. And unto the angel of the church of Laodiceans write, These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. I know thy works. I know thy works. You know, tonight I can stand here and I can look out across this audience and I can see whether you're paying attention, whether you're interested and whether you're listening and you have your cup turned up or whether you're just waiting for it to be over. You know, I can maybe discern a bit of that, but I can't see much of anything. But God, He sees everything. He sees your heart tonight. He knows whether you're just going through the motions, riding it out, maybe putting on some pretense so your prayer group leader will let you go, let you off the hook, pretend a little righteousness, feign a little religion, feign a little love for Jesus or whether it's real in your heart. God knows. He knows your thoughts tonight. He knows what you're thinking while you're hearing these words. He knows your works. I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would that thou wert cold or hot. Oh, hear the cry of God. I would that thou wert cold or hot. Why, Lord? So then, because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth, because thou sayest, I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing. And knowest not that thou art wretched, miserable, poor and blind and naked. There is a deception upon the heart. There is a delusion. You say you are rich. You say you are increased with goods. You say you have need of nothing. But you don't know that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. What an awful condition! Ephraim, a cake not turned, half-baked, a profession of godliness, a profession of religion, but denying the power of it, a divided heart, a mixture with the heathen round about them. Lukewarmness. Oh, tonight, is there anything worse? Is there anything more? Is there anything more nauseating than a lukewarm Christian? Is there anything more of a stumbling block to the Gospel than those who say they are Christians, but they are lukewarm, they are complacent, they are indifferent? Revelation 2. Revelation 2, verse 1, unto the angel of the church of the Ephesians, write, These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, I know thy works and thy labor and thy patience, how thou canst not bear them which are evil, and hast tried them which say they are apostles and are not, and hast found them liars, and hast borne and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast labored and hast not fainted. Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent and do the first works, or else I will come unto thee quickly and will remove thy candlestick out of its place, except thou repent. Yes, the church at Ephesus, God says, I know thy works. I know thy labor. I know thy patience. I know your love for truth. I know how you cannot bear those which are evil. And I know that you have tried those which say they are apostles, those that say they are Christians and are not, and you have found them liars. You have borne and you have labored and been patient and have not fainted. A lot of good things going in this church, but they are sin. He says, nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent and do the first works, or else I will come unto thee quickly and will remove thy candlestick out of its place, except thou repent. You know, the only way I know to say this here tonight is just like it says it. You know, we may be doing a lot of good. We may have a lot of right burden, a lot of right heart, but you know you can get overcharged in doing and doing a lot of good and neglecting the place of worship and praise and adoration unto Jesus Christ and that love grows cool. You cool off. You know, it is not hard to do a lot of religious exercise and to keep on a religious front. But tonight, how is your love for Jesus? The first commandment is thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind, with all thy strength. Out of all these things hinges everything in the Christian life. To love the Lord your God with all your heart. This is the first commandment. Do you love the Lord Jesus? Is your love hot for Him or has it cooled off? Are you holding out tonight? Are you just holding out and hoping to get by? Just waiting till it's over. Where are you at tonight with the Lord? Are you a backslider? Do you have one foot in the world and one foot in the kingdom of God or trying to? I'll tell you, my friend, it doesn't work. You want to meet the most miserable people? A half-baked, half-hearted Christian trying to serve himself and the Lord. They're the most miserable people because you cannot do it. You cannot serve God and mammon. You cannot serve God and things. What about your things tonight? What about your stuff? You know, I thought as I was listening in to the teachings this week and I thought of Noah, how he built an ark to the saving of his house, how he was a preacher of righteousness and his family, his sons and their wives entered into the ark. What a beautiful picture of Noah by faith, walking with his God in obedience. I thought of another person. I thought of Lot. Oh, poor Lot. When the angel came and said, get you out of here because we're going to destroy this place, his own sons-in-law mocked him. He couldn't take his family out with him. But Noah, he saved his house. I thought of poor Lot, compromising Lot. I'll take the well-watered plains. I want the life of ease. I want the life of prosperity. I want the life that's good. I want the high-paying job. I want the best. Lot pitched his tent toward Sodom and his children went into that wicked city of Sodom and were defiled. Maybe they were like Ephraim, a half-baked cake. They heard the word of the Lord. They knew Abram. They knew what he stood for. But I believe Lot is the picture of compromise and he lost his family. And when the angel came in there and compelled him to come out and took him by force, he even lost his wife. She remembered all the stuff back at Sodom and she turned around and looked back and became a pillar of salt. And Lot, that compromiser, it's not the end of the story. His daughters, through incest and wicked immoral deed and drunkenness, his life is not a happy ending. What about your stuff tonight? You know, I have to take this opportunity. We have 600 plus young people here tonight. If God calls even just 90% of you to marriage, that's 500. 500 young people here tonight. And you're making choices for life. You're making decisions. And if 500 of you get married and have a family of only 4 children, do you know how many that is? That's 2,000 souls. Right? Now look at Noah. And look at Lot. What are you going to do with your life? Now take those 2,000 souls and they get married and they each have 4 children. And now what do we have? 8,000. But you know what? These are all going to have spouses too. So, probably won't all get married to each other in this room. So there's 1,000. You know, if you run these numbers out, this is phenomenal in what three generations will do. I cannot pass this by tonight. You get a vision and a burden for the heartbeat of God for your own soul, your own life, and for your future, and for your family? I'll tell you that's a great mission field. Don't miss this one. No, don't miss this one. The stuff. Jesus said, when He comes, don't turn around, don't go back and get the stuff. Do you have any stuff tonight that's holding you back? That's keeping you from 100% sell-out for God? That's keeping you like a half-baked cake month by month, week by week, year by year? Because you're not willing to surrender all to Jesus and sell out everything? Jesus said, if you're not willing to forsake all and take up your cross and follow Me, you cannot be My disciple in Luke 14. What about your things? What about your reputation? May I get practical here tonight? What about your girlfriend? Young man, what about your girlfriend? Is she on the altar? Are you willing to give her up for Jesus Christ? I see some grins out there in the audience tonight. But I'll tell you tonight, there is young men who are like a half-baked cake. They're not willing to give up their girlfriend. What about your boyfriend? Sister, do you have a giddy heart? A flirting heart? You know, where the most preached last night about the sin of fornication? What about the spirit of it? You know, you all thought, ha, ha, ha, I got free on that one. Hey, what about the spirit of it? Do you have the spirit of a harlot? Do you dress in such a way to draw attention to yourself, to your body? Are you a flirt? Do you want the attention of the boys? What about you, young men? Do you like to play on their emotions? Do you like to see if you can make them blush? Do you like to see if you can sort of make their heart do a double flip-flop? Don't do it! You're playing with fire! What about your friends? Your friends at work. Your friends you chum with on the weekend. What about those friends? Is their heart beating after God, or are they pulling you down? Evil communications corrupt good manners, you know. Are you willing to give up your job so that you don't have to mix with that mixture if you're not strong enough to win Him to Christ? Are you willing to give up your job? Are you willing to give up your friends? You know, we can talk about a lot of things tonight. We can talk about clothes. We can talk about hairstyles. We can talk about the way you carry yourself, the way you handle yourself. Are you touchable in those areas? Or do you say, this is my life? This is my image. This is who I am. I dress this way on purpose. Yeah, I know you do. You might say, oh no, it doesn't mean anything. Well then, what's the big deal? If mom or dad says, I don't care for that dress. Those clothes are casual. They're cool. I don't like those clothes. They're fashionable. Why do you want to identify with a world like that? Ye child of God! Why do you want to identify with a world like that? What about it? What about your music? What about those CDs and those tapes? Do they lift your heart to worship and adoration of the Lord Jesus Christ to obedience and love? And give you a burden to serve God and for souls? Or do they feed the flesh, the beat of the music? You know, all that sort of stuff. I don't have time to give you a whole lesson on music tonight. But examine it in this light. Does it feed the carnal flesh? Or does it feed and minister to the spirit? Maybe you can't discern it. Maybe you're deceived. Maybe you're deluded. Give it to mom and dad. Let them listen to it. Ask your elder, what do you think of my music? And I have to mention acapella too. All of this slurring and oohs and ahhs and boobops and whatever they do with their voices, is it for the glory of Jesus? Or is it a performance and entertainment? Mixture. Mixture. You know, if all we had were devilish rock music worshiping Satan, and over here we have holy, pure music worshiping God, it would be pretty easy. It would be pretty clear. But the devil knows that subtle serpent hasn't changed. He mixes a little bit of poison with truth. And you know, the scale goes from the far right to the far left. From the pit of hell to the glories of heaven, and then you have this mixture there in between. I would encourage you tonight, be safe rather than sorry. See, I'm not quite sure where to draw the line. Get down on your knees and pray, and ask the Lord, and ask your parents, and ask your pastor, and maybe go on a fast for three months. Boy, you're radical. Yes, go on a music fast for three months. Put it all away. And worship the Lord God in hymns and songs and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord. And then get it back out, and take a look at it. You might be shocked. You know, what's your attitude tonight? Is everything on the altar? Are you totally surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ? Or do you have the attitude, don't tell me what to do? How's your relationship with Dad tonight? How's your relationship with Mom tonight, sister? How's your relationship with your authorities tonight? You know, God gave you a tremendous blessing if you have a spiritual mother and father who love God. Don't you despise your mother and father. I thought of it that perhaps tonight it's possible that there's some under the sound of my voice who the foundation has never been laid right. Maybe you're wrestling with sin, and you're wrestling with the world, and there's bad fruit coming out of your life. The only fruit that ever comes out is self, pride, arrogance, and you keep trying to chub it down. You keep trying to do right. You keep repenting and repenting, but you just can't stop sinning. Well, it may be because the whole tree is corrupt, and you have never truly repented of your sins, renounced and forsaken them. Maybe you had a three-year-old conversion, and you're holding on to that thing tonight, but your life and the fruit coming out of your life is showing otherwise. Every tree is known by His fruit. You know, I considered that. There be many of those here tonight who just added Jesus to their life. You just accepted Jesus. You know, accepting Jesus is not even in the Bible as such. What message did Jesus come preaching? He came preaching, repent! John the Baptist came preaching, repent! The apostles after the Holy Ghost came upon them. Peter came preaching, repent! Have you just added Jesus to your life? Or have you repented of your sins? But I always was a good person. I never really was that bad. I never really sinned. You give yourself away. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Everyone! There is none righteous, no, not one. I remember the Lord had to get to my own heart on this one. I remember one Sunday afternoon, the preacher was full of the Holy Ghost and preaching to me when I was a young person. And I later walked out of that meeting and I said to some of my friends why He preaches to us like we're sinners. It hadn't dawned on my heart yet that good little Mennonite boys need to repent! And they're sinners! Good little Amish boys and girls, good little Mennonites, good little Baptists, good little whoever you are, whatever label you want to put in there, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And by the works or the deeds of the law or by all kinds of righteous actions shall no man be saved or justified. You know, all of your righteous deeds tonight are like a filthy rag before the Lord. It's a stench to Him. The only righteousness to be had is in Christ Jesus who took upon Himself your sins. Yes, your self-righteous sins. I'm not like other people are. I'm a good person. You know, you might be too good tonight to be saved. Do you know that? Jesus died to save sinners. He didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners. So God have mercy on you tonight if you've never seen yourself as a sinner. You know, I pray tonight if you're standing on false securities, the Lord would just knock those props out of your life. And you could see your wretchedness, your poverty before the Lord tonight. It's possible that tonight in a crowd like this size, you know, there's those with one foot in the world, one foot here tonight. You know, it's possible there's sin being covered. The Bible says very clearly, he that covereth his sins shall not prosper. You know, it's under that nice smile, that nice cloak, but you just never could get really real and open up your heart. There's nothing covered that shall not be exposed. There's nothing hid that shall not be revealed. Oh, my sinner friend tonight, Jesus died to save sinners. Jesus receiveth sinners. But hypocrites and liars and pretenders who cover their sins, they're not going to prosper. And someday when they come before the judgment, all those sins will be coming, following after them, and they'll be judged. Tonight, oh, my dear sinner friends, are you lukewarm, neither hot nor cold? God says, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Are you tonight settled on your leaves, you know, and you're just sitting back enjoying life, and you're just settled on your leaves? Woe to them that are at ease in Zion! You know, this is not only for you young people, but it's for us older ones too. Amen? What about the stuff? Materialism, prosperity, bank accounts, possessions. Tonight, don't be careless over your soul. Rise up, ye women that are at ease. Hear my voice, ye careless daughters. Give ear unto my speech. Many days and years shall you be troubled, ye careless women. Tremble, ye women that are at ease. Be troubled, ye careless ones. Strip you and make you bare and gird sackcloth upon your loins. Sackcloth! Mourn! Repent! Ephraim! He hath mixed himself among the people. Ephraim is a cake not turned. How about you tonight? Have you mixed yourself among the people? Is your heart divided? Are you like a cake not turned? Half-faith, half-hearted Christian, half-hearted commitment. O ye Corinthians, our mouth is open to you. Our heart is enlarged. O ye Bible school students, our heart is enlarged. Ye are not straightened in us, but ye are straightened in your own bowels. Now, for a recompense in the same, I speak as unto my children. Be ye also enlarged. Enlarge your heart tonight to what God is saying. Open your heart tonight to what God is saying. Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness? What communion has light with darkness? And what concord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has he that believeth with an infidel? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God. Ye are the temple of the living God. Ye are not your own. Ye are bought with a price, the precious blood of Jesus. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which is Christ. Ye are the temple of the living God. As God has said, I will dwell in them and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore, stop fooling around. Stop playing games. Wherefore, come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you. Oh, hallelujah! Jesus receiveth sinners. Make the message clear and plain. Christ Jesus receiveth sinful men. Tonight you can be changed. Tonight your life can be turned around if you are willing to repent and confess your sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and to come out and separate yourself unto the Lord. And God says, I will receive you and will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Oh, my dear brothers and sisters, my dear sinner friend, tonight, having these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Turn ye at my reproof, saith the Lord. Turn ye at my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my Spirit upon you and make known my words unto you. But I have called, and ye refused. I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded. Ye have said it not, O my counsel, and would none of my reproof. I tell you, it is a very dangerous thing for you to walk out after a whole week of teaching like you have heard and to hear none of the counsel and the reproof of the Lord. If you harden your heart and you stiffen your neck and you rebel against God tonight, I'll tell you, it is a very serious thing for you to do tonight. God says, if you hear none of my reproof, I also will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your fear cometh. When your fear cometh as a desolation and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. It's coming! If you do not repent. If you walk in your own way and after your own heart and your own carnal lusts, a whirlwind and a destruction is coming. Tonight there would be many who could get up here and testify, if only I would have heeded when I sat in the place where you sit tonight. Now here I am and my life is ruined and wrecked. Divorced. Hatred. Deceased. Depressed. Discouraged. Oh, if only I had turned at the reproof of the Lord that night! Awesome words they will call upon me and I will not answer. Why? Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord. They want none of my counsel. They despised all of my reproof. Therefore shall they eat the fruit of their own way and be filled with their own devices. Do you really want to be your own boss? Do you really want to be your own Lord and master of your own life? Do you really want to sit on the throne of your heart tonight? You're going to be filled with your own way. You're going to be filled with your own devices. And the turning away of the simple shall slay them. And the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. Ah, but whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely and be quiet from fear of evil. Tonight, we want to give you an opportunity. The Spirit and the Bride say come. And let him that heareth say come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely. Today. Today, if you hear his voice, harden not your heart, but be saved tonight. Ephraim. He hath mixed himself among the people. Ephraim is a cake not turned. Tonight, will ye turn? Will ye turn? I want to give you an opportunity tonight to respond to the Lord, to deal with God. No more compromise. No more holding out. No more one foot in the world. No more half-hearted. No more covering of sin. No more hanging on to girlfriends and boyfriends. No more lording in my own life. This is mine. My image, my clothes, my hairstyle, my music, my free time. I'm my own boss. Don't tell me what to do. Oh, my sinner friend tonight, this is your opportunity to get right with God and to turn. Let's stand together and pray. Father in Heaven, O God, we pray that you would, by your Holy Spirit, take your word, Lord, and use it like a hammer that breaketh a rock in pieces. O Father, that your word would be like a fire that burneth, Lord. Father, that your word would be like the dew, the small rain that comes down from Heaven and softens the hardened heart. Father, that your word, like a pierced, sharp, two-edged sword, would pierce to the dividing asunder of that which is soul and that which is spirit. O God, tonight we pray that with your Holy Spirit, you would go up and down these aisles and you would rest upon every soul here tonight, God. Father, we pray you would remove the props, Lord. You would remove the walls and hindrances, God. O Father, have mercy upon the unsaved tonight. Have mercy upon those who are deceived and deluded, Lord. Have mercy on the lukewarm and the backslidden, God. O Father, the complacent Lord. Father, we pray that tonight you would visit us. O, visit us in the spirit of revival. Father, upon this, your people, we ask it in Jesus' name. What song shall we sing tonight? 610. I just want to clarify this invitation tonight. We're not asking you to join this church. We're not asking you to join with us here and become a member here. I remember one time I was at a meeting and God was dealing with my heart, but I didn't want to respond because I didn't want to join that church. We're not asking you to join the church. We're asking you to get right with God. We're asking you to do business with God tonight. We're asking you to bring your burden to the foot of the cross. Shall we sing? And you come to this altar. Someone will pray with you. When in our hour of utmost need We know not where to look for Him When these nights of anxious songs Nor help nor counsel yet approach Then this our comfort is alone Save me before I cry out faithfully For rescue from our misery To Thee we raise our hearts and eyes Frequenting sore with bitter sighs And seek Thy pardon for our sins And respite from our grief within Lord Thou hast promised graciously To all those who cry to Thee Through Him whose name my loneliness grieves Today I seek Thee for healing For tried afflicted lowly stand Her own foes on every hand Unafold through Thy boundless grace Be with us in our anguish still Free us again With all our hearts, O Lord, may we Once more with joy give thanks to Thee I sat through many, many invitations in my lifetime. God speaks to your heart. You either put it off in your pride and say, No way. You sit there agitated and you can't hardly sing and your mind isn't on the words at all because you're wrestling in your heart as to whether you should go out, but you're too proud. That's the bottom line. And we don't have altars up here like this because it saves souls to come to an altar. But, oh, it's a beautiful opportunity to make the first step towards God which is down. Humble yourself. Step out in front of a crowd of people that you're trying to impress, to please, trying to look good to, and get honest with God and honest with yourself and honest with everyone else. Just get real and step out and walk to the front and say, I have a need in my life and I'm going after God tonight. Are you going to go away and miss that opportunity? Jesus looked over Jerusalem and He said, How often, how often I would have gathered you to Myself like a hen gathers her chicks. It's a place of warmth and security and a place of safety, but ye would not. Ye, I am the mother hen. I'm calling to you from the dangers that are upon you to run to the safety of My arms. I would spread My wings over you. And ye will, but you will not. Will you not? That's the question. Are you going to go away from this meeting tonight and say, No, I do not want to be brought under the wing of Jesus Christ. I know you're standing there. And I'm not trying to make you uncomfortable, but it's your pride that's in the way. You're too proud to get right with God. I'm not talking to all of you. Let's bow our heads and pray. If you are still staggering there, in decision, would you please just step out of your seat and come and ask for help. Thank You, Lord. Father, I bless Your name for the grace and the mercy, the sober wisdom and the warning that You give to us by Your Word. Thank You for the preaching of the Word of God. Thank You for the blessed message that Aaron brought to us today, God. Oh, God. We ought to love You as we ought. Father, I pray for every trembling soul here, trembling and shaking, wrestling with guilt, wrestling with their pride. I pray, God, would You strengthen that heart to seek Thy face and put away the thought of men. Thank You, Lord, for this Bible School week. Thank You for all You've done in our hearts, Lord. Thank You for Your love and Your mercy that You've shown upon our sins and our iniquities. Thank You for washing us, Lord. Thank You for all the clear faces in this room, Lord. Thank You for a week of edification and up-building, teaching and challenges and direction and wisdom for the future. I bless You, Father. You're a good God. Thank You, Lord Jesus. Amen. Alright, if you've responded here in the front, you men, if you'd like to go out of the doors to my right here, there are counselors waiting there. I encourage you to get some counsel, open your heart up and share your need. Sisters, you do the same. Young ladies, go out here to my left. Find a counselor and open up your heart and seek God.