This sermon emphasizes the importance of heeding the Spirit's message to the church, focusing on two key verses from Luke 11 and Hebrews 2. It highlights the need to give earnest heed to the Word, prayer, church fellowship, and sharing the gospel, while addressing the dangers of self-righteousness, humanism, and spiritual complacency. The call to repentance, confession, and surrender is central to experiencing revival and true transformation.

Good evening. Let's get underway. I'm going to ask you to take your Bibles and follow along with me on this most important. Two passages of Scripture that have, for the last weeks, months I should say, last two months, has been a weight on me. And most of the time when that happens, that these burdens come, verses come out of Bible readings or devotions or somewhere that I'm directed, I've got to come back to it. And I've got to either preach it, I've got to discern it. The Lord through the Spirit has tried to say something to me, something to the Church, and so I know what it has said to me. But as I present this to you tonight, it's one of those things that the Lord through the Spirit is saying to us. And we come back to this so often in Revelation 2 and 3. We have that same verse, that same address that's found many times, and we'll address it again here in the opening of our verses. He that has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying. And that's what we want to deal with tonight. What is the Spirit saying to the bride? So, as we get into the Scriptures, there's two verses that I'm going to have to deal with tonight. And they are painful verses. So as we deal with these two verses here, I want to kind of chop up the phrases that are here for us to identify and target, and as well as for us to pinpoint in our own lives things that the Spirit might be revealing to us on this. So, I'm going to ask of you to first of all take your Bibles and go ahead and open up to this passage of Scripture. Hebrews chapter 2. Hebrews chapter 2 verse 1. We have a passage here of instruction. And then I'm going to ask you to take your Bibles and hold your finger there and go over and find Luke chapter 11. These are the words of Christ in Luke 11. And it's a woe. We're going to identify that right off the bat. He's speaking to the Pharisees. And we're going to take a look at this. So, I'm going to read Luke chapter 11 first and then Hebrews chapter 2 verse 1. It follows that. And then we'll go to prayer over this. So, in Luke chapter 11, you go down through this passage of Scripture. There's dialogue going on as Christ was speaking to the Pharisees. Verse 37, it starts with that. This interaction going on. And as he spake, a certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him. And he went in and he sat down to meet him. And when the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that he not first washed before dinner. And the Lord said unto him. Now, in the Lord. There's very few passages of Scripture. Luke is more commonly with this. Is that he addresses not just Jesus or Rabbi or Master or Christ. But Lord. And the Lord said unto him. Now do you Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter. But your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness. You fools did not heed and make that which is without. Make that which is within also. But rather give alms of such things as you have. And behold, all things are clean unto you. But woe unto you Pharisees. Now this is the verse 42. But woe unto you Pharisees. For you tithe the mint and the rue and all manner of herbs. And you pass over judgment and the love of God. These ought you not to have done. And not. These ought you to have done. And not to leave the other undone. And he goes on in the following verse 43. And verse 44. To do two more woes after that. Any time you see this in passage of Scripture. Woe. Three letter word. It ought to automatically captivate your attention and your thought there. On this. Woe unto you. And again he said woe unto you Pharisees. These religious folk. And I think it's the same message that goes to the church today. On that. Now turning with that verse 42. That last phrase in this passage of Scripture. Verse 42. These ought you to have done. And not to leave the others undone. We're going to look at that and scrutinize that here this evening. Now the second verse over in Hebrews chapter 2. You can almost say marriage there. Here's the words and the warnings of Christ. Woe. And then over in Hebrews. The writer of Hebrews. Which for many they like to debate that. But we'll simply go to Paul. Right. As a matter of fact in my Thompson chain. It says here the epistle of Paul the Apostle. To the Hebrews. And so we have the writer of Hebrews stating this in verse 1. Therefore. Having proceeded. From what was declared about Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. Son of God. Messiah. The mediator. All the attributes. And all the description of his high priestly role. That is declared in chapter 1. Therefore. Because of that which has been pronounced in chapter 1. Therefore. Because of that. We ought to give the more earnest he. To the things which we have heard. Less than any time. We should let them slip. Let us. Let's father. We thank you now that as upon reading. Your word is that you wish. Desire for us to have ears to hear. What the spirit would say to the church. Father. It is that as we've congregated. It is to give our ears to attention to you and to the Holy Spirit. As he reveals and speaks. There are things that have slipped. There are things that are left undone. In our midst and in our time. Father we come to you. That we would seek of you for your favor. We would seek of you for your help. We would ask of you Lord that you would empower us. That nothing else slips. Nothing else is left undone. But that in fullness. That we would complete. All that you have required of us. Tonight. We ask of you that you as your spirit does. You know the very intent. Of our hearts and our attitudes. Father we would be pure and undefiled before you tonight. That as you speak. We would listen. As you command. We would obey. And that we would surrender all. Oh Holy Spirit. Come and do thy best work in the midst of us here. Bring honor and glory to the Father. To the Son. And to the Holy Spirit. And be glorified in this place. Be glorified in your work. Accomplish exactly what you intend for it to do. Here in the midst of us. Lord we are yielding to you. Now Father let the spirit glow upon us. May we be the vessels that you would have of honor. For your kingdom's sake. In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior we pray. Amen. Now again. I want to take the two verses. And kind of combine them. Because they're both kind of saying the same thing to us here. Tonight. And there are things that need to be identified. Now the first thing is. Is that in Hebrews chapter 2 verse 1. That is a verse that I committed to memory a long time ago. I can't get through my Bible readings. And that verse not jumping out. And speaking to me. Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed. To the things that we have heard. Now that is the identifying process right there. Give heed. Give earnest heed to the things we have heard. And we must stop right there. And ask the question. One. What is it that we have heard? Now again. I already identified in Revelation 2 and 3. He that has ears to hear let him hear what the spirit is saying. So often we have prophecy in Isaiah. We have eyes to see but we can't see. We have ears to hear but we can't hear. Christ comes along and he says the same thing. About the Jews. About the Pharisees. He gives warning to them. You got those things on the side of your head. But you are not using them. You got these eyes to see the marvels. The wonders of the miracles. But you can't see. So he says. Now. We ought to give earnest heed. Earnest. Is a word. A description. An adjective there. That is implying. Is that he cannot just be listen. Or hear. There has to be an attention. Of our passion that goes with it. It is like that scripture over in the book of James. Where so often many people like to quote. Where they say. The fervent prayer of a righteous man. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. And everybody always centers in. The righteous man praying. But the effectualness of that. The effectiveness and the fervency of that. As the adjectives that describe the righteous man's prayer. Are left normally. Undone or untouched. But it is. Is that if you're just saying. The righteous prayer. The righteous man saying prayers. There are many righteous men saying prayers. But it's not with effectiveness. And it's not with fervency. And when you leave those two kinds of things out of a prayer. Is that you just got a modernized prayer. When you add those two things. It is the prayer that moves mountains. It is the prayer that prevails in that. Now it's the same adjective. The description of the declaration here for us. Give earnest keen. Sit up. Pay attention. Take note here. God speaking. We've got a listening problem. We've got a listening problem in the church today. We've got a listening problem in our hearts today. How often it will be revealed in eternity. When we get home. That God will say. Do you realize how often. I sent my Holy Spirit to speak to you. But you would not hear. Isaiah 59. One tells us. Is that the Lord's ear is not deaf that he cannot hear. But it cannot be said the same thing about the church today. It cannot be said the same thing about our walk with the Lord today. Because so often he's touched us on the shoulder. So often he's spoken to us in the word. So often he's spoken in a church service. I've seen that struggle. I've seen that battle go on. When I'm preaching the word of God. I'm sitting and talking with somebody about eternity. About their soul. About the walk with God. And they're listening to me. And there's a battle going on. Because Satan is trying to silence me. Satan is trying to deafen them. He doesn't want them to give earnest heed to those things. And that's exactly what he does to the church today. And because of that. Because of this listening problem. You did not give earnest heed to the things that you heard. Because of that we have gone decades now in the church. And the things that we have been instructed. And the things that we have heard from the gospel. We have had all kinds of saints come. And declare great preachers. Wonderful preachers. Powerful preachers. Spiritual preachers. That declared the word of God. We heard. We are without excuse. But the warning of this. We let it slip. We let it slip. You realize how awful that's going to be when God calls us out. Why? Why did you let this slip? It's the same thing that he said to the Pharisees. Woe unto you. These are the things that you should have done. And not the other things undone. You realize how much today in our atmosphere of religion. Our atmosphere of church. Those things that have been left undone. Woe unto the church of North America today. It is an awful thought. When you start looking at these two verses. And putting it down. And the spirit begins to reveal to us just how much we've fallen. Now I want to identify a couple of these things. There is no possible way that I can possibly identify all these things. That we ought to give earnest heed to. And that we should be doing. To him that knows to do good. It does not do it to him that has sinned. James 4 verse 17. And he speaks here to the Pharisees. These are the things that you should have done. Now he had just got done saying there. Do judgment. And love the Lord God. Now it is that command. That we come and we start going down through the scriptures. And we start identifying just what it is that he is saying to us. About our priorities. What is it that a Christian is to do? Now we know that as a Christian we are to be Christ like. We have that marvelous miracle over Colossians. That tells us Christ in you. The hope. That's our power there. That's our dying to self. And living to him. It's no longer I that lives. But it is Christ who lives in me. And so therefore we are to be Christ like. Do it. Do what Christ did. And you start to mirror that. And you start to examine that. In Matthew, Mark, Luke and John we have the gospels. And in the gospels they tell us the accounts of Christ. What did Christ do? And when you start looking at that. And you start examining that. And you start mirroring that. In the church today. Is it that we have done it? Or is it that we have left it undone? Now the first thing that he marks there. Passover judgment. Judgments that need to be spoken and declared. These things are wrong. There is a balance. And when the balance is set forth. We have that in the book of Daniel. That the king of Babylon that night. When the hand, the mystery hand of God. Come out and wrote on the wall. And he said thou have weighed in the balances. And found one thing. And tonight thy soul shall be required of you. We are weighed in the balances. And judgment has been set forth. What is the judgment? Upon the church. What is the judgment upon this nation? What is the judgment upon our homes? What is the judgment upon my own personal walk? Is that not a fearful thought? It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Scripture tells us. And it is that any one of those four areas of our life. Our nation, the church, our families. Our personal lives. When we fall into the hands of the living God. He is going to judge us. He is going to judge us for the things that we did do. And he is going to judge us for the things that we did not do. He is going to judge us for the things that we heard. And he is going to judge us for the things that we let slip. And I don't know about you. But when I started examining my life. And when I start looking at the church today. And I start categorizing the things in the church today. It is woe unto us. You ought not to have left these things undone. There are four pillars that I have always leaned upon. We go back to the book of Jeremiah. That tells us these are the old paths. And you start looking at saints. And you start looking at Christ. It is the intimacy. With the Father. It is the intimacy with our Savior. You go back to the song of Solomon. He reached forth his hand to the hole of the door. And my bowels were moved. My soul cried out. It is my beloved has come. You can't find a whole lot of Christians anymore. That their inwards get moved because Christ has come. That they can go days and weeks without the presence of God. They can go days and weeks without reading His word. They can be out of prayer. They can be out of fellowship. And they have no remorse about it. You ought not to have left these things undone. You let them slip. And now all the byproducts. That comes for our broken intimacy with Christ. It is because of these things. A warning. Woe unto you because you let these things happen. You start looking at Christ. He ministered to the crowds. He had compassion on the crowds. He told them the truth. I have the way of the truth and the life. He healed their sicknesses. He delivered them from their captivity. He delivered them from their captivity of demonic possessions. He spoke to them. He declared who He was and what He was about. He gave them the words of eternal life. I am the way. I am the door. I am the shepherd. They would not hear. And you have people like Judas. Who heard. But he didn't give earnest heed. You have the Pharisees. Art thou. Art thou the son of God. Art thou Christ. Thou sayest it. They heard but they didn't give earnest heed to it. They tore themselves and they said crucify. Crucify. They didn't want to hear it. And even from the cross. But forgive them. They know not what they do. My God. My God. Why hast thou forsaken me. And even an old Roman sitting over to the side. Recording and documenting all these things. As he watched into hell. Saying truly this was the son of God. But not the Pharisees. You see they heard it. But they didn't give earnest heed to it. The old paths. The old standards. The old ways that the saints taught us. And the scriptures have mimicked it. That you go back to Genesis. And Adam walked in the garden with God. And Enoch the seventh from God. Walked with God. And he said come on home with me. And it says he was not. Because God took him. And you got Noah. And he walked with God. And you got Abraham. And he walked with God. And you got David. And he was the friend of God. He was the apple of God's eye. And you have those saints that declared it in the New Testament. That they loved the Lord. And they spent time with God. And it's in those ways. These things ought you to do. And not to leave them undone. I have always preached. And declared it. That there are four pillars in the church. Of these things that ought to be done. There is. The Bible. The word of God. There is prayer. There is the fellowship of the body. There is the witness. That we bear. That we tell others about Jesus Christ. Those four things. When you look in a Christian's life. Declare the things that we ought to be doing. You ought not to leave these things undone. You shouldn't have left this alone. I take a loaf of bread. And I open it up. I can remember. Some of you can. Go with me on this. You are a little bit older than I am. So you might remember more. You remember when they used to bake the bread. Grandma used to bake rolls and bread. Every morning. She'd send those rolls home with us. Now in a sealed bag. A plastic bag. You open that up. You get in it. You have a roll. You put some jam on it. You put some apple butter on it. And you enjoy it. You leave those rolls for a couple of days. And automatically. The bottoms of them turn green. And it starts to decay. I opened a bag of bread. Growing up as a kid. Even up to the last couple of years. And I would open that bag from the store. And I'd leave it there. You only got a couple of days. And the mold is going to set in. And it's going to start to be contaminated. And it's going to be ruined. Unless you like to eat that stuff. And kind of sell it. But that's what I remember. I've been marveled the last couple of years. Is that we can buy bread. We can buy hot dog buns. Hamburger buns. And open them up. And they can sit for a week. Over a week. And still nothing. I said something's not right here. It's not the same stuff. And there is no misunderstanding. When I say this among true saints today. We are not the same stuff. As the saints of old were. We are not the same. As the New Testament church. Now we look across. In other nations. And we see fire burning. We see the Chinese. Growing by leaps and bounds. We see in Africa. That there are people. Swarms of people coming to Christ. We see that there is a. Real salvation taking place. That men are not only willing to live for Christ. But they are also willing to die for Christ. You can't find that here. In the United States. You can't find it. In the local assemblies. I can't find it. Among many of my Baptist brothers. They work one hour on Sunday. And the rest of the Sunday. The Lord's day is theirs. No Bible. No prayer. No fellowship. They can come to church one time a month. And not have any remorse. That they missed the other three Sundays. I like those that miss church service. On a weekly basis. When we have three or four hours of church services. On Sunday in the middle of the week. And they miss. My day didn't go the same. My week didn't go the same. Because I was out of church. Because they were sick. Or they couldn't be there. Or they were on vacation. Or they missed church. These things ought you to have done. And not leave them undone. I want to dissect these quickly. Because my time here on this. I want to give regards to. But the word of God. How precious. Is this book. I cannot express to you. Why. I can't. Grasp it. I just know how thankful. I am. That God put a love of the word. In my soul. I don't know. I don't know when it happened. I don't know how it happened. I'm just glad it happened. I used to sit as a child. And listen to my dad preach. And he would declare. That scripture out of Timothy. Over and over and over. Study to show yourself. Proved unto God. We need not to be ashamed. Rightly dividing the word of truth. And here comes Paul. Telling to Timothy. The parchments. The letters. The instructions. The gospels. The songs. Study. I think about those 80 North Koreans. Just a couple weeks ago. That they stood them up. And it says that out of those 80. That there was a multitude of them. I never got a clear number on how many of them. That was shot and killed. Because they had a Bible. Not because they read it. Not because they studied it. Not because they knew it. Not because they believed in it. Because they had it. I don't know all the details about it. It will be revealed in eternity. I just know they got shot. Because they possessed a book. You realize. How many North American. Supposedly Christian. Religious Pharisees. That have the book. And they haven't touched it all week. You know that you've sat. With the Bible on your counter top. In your car. You've sat all week long. And you've not opened the book. Give not study. To show yourself approved. They gave their lives for it. We won't give a second to it. You ought not to have left. These things undone. That one little old scrawny. Contrarian. Cantankerous. Atheist woman. Staying up down there in Baltimore. Back in the 60's. And say I don't want my children. To hear the word of God. It's an infringement on my freedoms. To do it in the public schools. And so they took the Bible out. You tell me what have we reaped. What have we reaped. In the public school system. What have we reaped in the two generations. That have preceded since 1963. When the Supreme Court. Ordered that the Bible be removed from the schools. You tell me. What things did we not give earnest heed to. The things that we let slip. And what it's cost us in our generation. You tell me what the evidence. And the proof is of the drug culture. And the sex problems. And the issues of our young people. Now which are middle aged adults. Now to their teenage years. And the next generation coming up. And every generation after that. They don't know what to do. And they don't know what to not do. According to the scriptures. Because they have not given earnest heed. To the things that they have earned. They don't sit in Sunday school classes. They don't sit in a Bible school. They don't sit in the church. They don't have parents that open the book and teach them. Or train them. They don't know those verses about thy word. Have I hid in my heart. That I might not sin against God. They don't know any of those things. The word of God is being removed. From our society. And that's understandable. When you're talking about heathens. Why in the world would a heathen want the Bible. Why in the world would a heathen. Want the scriptures. Why would they want the word of God. To be preached and proclaimed. How awful is it. When the church doesn't want it. How awful is it. When the Christians don't want it. Blown to you. You ought not to have left these things undone. But you should have been doing them. Doing what? Studying to show yourself approved. Reading the word of God. Rehearsing the word of God. Knowing the word of God. Because there is no other way. To know God. Other than what he has revealed by himself. In the word of God. You ought not. To have left these things undone. Give earnest heed. That the Bible is a cornerstone. A pillar. For our walk and our relationship of intimacy. With Christ Jesus. In these things you ought to be doing. And not leave them undone. The second one is prayer. You know that I could spend the night on this one. You know my heart. You know my desire. And again I say. With brokenness. Why? Why did God step down? And say. Miracle within many of us. Miracle within the remnant. Miracle within those that God has put in my circle. That I have come to know. Respect and love so much. Is that there was a man of prayer. A woman of prayer. They could say the psalms there. I give myself unto prayer. This thing of prayer. This is what you ought to be doing. And you ought not to have left it undone. Do you realize. Do you realize. That it is. Is that because the church. The Christians in North America. Who have been so sinful. So neglectful. That they heard. They heard. They heard the prayers brought in the Bible. They heard that it was prayers. That brought them into the kingdom. They heard that it was prayers. That moved mountains. And made the forces of hell to shake and to quake. And to tremble and to retreat. They knew these things. But they did not do these things. You ought not to have left these things undone. Why would we ever let this slip? Why would we let prayer. Become a religious duty. I grew up that way. And I learned to pray. At the dinner table. I learned to listen to them pray. Over the offering in the church. They opened in prayer. They closed in prayer. I listened on Wednesday night. The cyclist. The organ recital that some people talk about. I listened to all that. I was an observer. I saw it. I heard it. It stored away in my mind. I didn't see mountains move. I didn't see miracles. Let it slip. Then God started feeding me. One of the most moving biographies. David Brandon. I read that thing. Just blown away. With this man. Went out into the wilderness. Faced what he faced. In such a short life. Such a short time. He was in his 20s before he went out. Into the mission field. In those places in the mid-Atlantic. Up into the northeast there. He only had a short years. Of ministry that he preached. But what did he see? What did his life diary in his journal. That he wrote to the missionary council. That he had to report to. When you put his diary. In that journal together. You read it the way I did it. I would copy it off. I would read the diary in the journal. I would go a couple of pages a day. I read through that short account. Of that life of his. Mild with an impact. But it was prayer. It was prayer. I would read about Charles Finney. In his prayer. I would read about the two. Intercessors that he would have. That would go and pray before him. Then I read the biography of John Hyde. I prayed for John Hyde. I read about Bertha Smith. And how Marie Monson prayed with them. Things changed. The reason I say Bertha Smith. Is because that circle of people. That God and I started looking for. That was still alive. That could agree with this. These are the things that you ought to be doing. Don't leave these things undone. God put them in my life. They all prayed with Bertha Smith. They all knew about Bertha Smith. They were forever changed by her. That's exactly what we need today. Those that realize the two truths. That are here. Give earnest heed to the things. That you have heard. And don't let them slip. If prayer is a key. To the very foundation of the endowment. Of the power of the Holy Spirit. If the word of God is a pillar. To our foundation and our walk. And our intimacy with Christ. Then do it. Don't leave it undone. But you know the reality. You know the reality. So many of you have confessed it. I have had to confess it. Is that when the altar call is given. And when the invitation is brought. And when a moment of reflection is upon us. Is that we must cry out woe is me. I'm undone. I have let these things slip. I haven't been faithful in the word. I haven't been faithful in the prayer. It is our neglect. It is our unfaithfulness. God breaks our heart. The third thing that he says. I've got to move. Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together. Come together. It is the body. It is those that are followers of Jesus Christ. It is those that come together under his name. For his purposes. You say I have such an enjoyment. In my secret cause. Praise you. I can sympathize with you. And agree with you. But it was the church that came together. On the Lord's day. It was the church that came together. And it was the church. That it is. That is continually promoted. Throughout the new testament. When the brethren come together. Paul said. Have my letters to be read. At the Laodicean church. When they come together. Make sure that these things are declared. I'm getting ready to come to you. At Corinth. I'm getting ready to come to you. In Rome. I'm getting ready to stop by and visit the church. We have structures. We have staples. We have buildings. We have storefronts. We have school cafeterias and auditoriums. We have personal private homes. It is in so many different fashions. But come together. You have a church body. Woe unto you. Because you won't come together. I know. I know those old Pharisees. Who doesn't like to come. They don't want to submit to authority. They don't want to submit to the word of God. They've got their own theology. They've got their own doctrine. They've got their own ideology. About what they're going to do. But you better give earnest heed. And don't let this slip. Christ died for the church. Christ started the church. Peter, upon you I will build the church. And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. What did he build upon Peter? And that 120 that were in the upper room. He built the church. And it is in that body. When they come together. Oh well their doctrines are wrong. Oh well I don't like the way I worship. Oh I don't like their times. The service times. It doesn't matter what you like. You ought not to leave these things undone. And that has been one of the culprits in the North American church today. Is that you've got people trying to tell God. I don't mean to church. I don't have to go to the church. I don't have to surrender. I don't have to submit. And you, my brothers and my sisters. That have that mentality of unfaithfulness. And neglect. Have let these things slip. And it has been a reflection on the next generation. That children was raised. When they saw a parent skip a church. I can remember as a teenager. Those that would not come back Sunday night. Those that would not come Wednesday night. Their children were swept out into the world. Their own lives were in havoc. They went through the divorces. They went through the sorrows. They went through the trials and tribulations. Because they did not give earnest heed. To the things that they have heard. Where it said be faithful. At all times. In all seasons. In all ways. These things you ought not to have left undone. And now read what you've sung church. And the fourth one. About the word of God. Precious. Precious color. Prayer. Oh how dear. How sweet. Sweet hour of prayer. For sake not the assembling of the body of Christ. It is that which glorifies Christ. It is that which he comes in the midst. And it is in revival. That it is always. That he shows up in the church. In the assembling of the body. He comes. And he is glorified in the midst of them. But the fourth one. Is the sharing of the gospel. It is the proclaiming. Of the name Jesus. To those that are in darkness. Do you remember. Do you remember. The soul that came to you and asked. Can I talk to you about your eternity. Can I talk to you about your relationship with Christ. Can I talk to you about that thing inside of you called a soul. Precious. Precious. Precious are all those in my life. That stopped me and said. I have to speak to you. Precious. Are those that said. If anyone ever asked you. Where are you going to spend eternity. How few. How few they are. But all that they did to me. God used them in his eternity. To say. I want to send them your way. You realize that in eternity. You will know all those that prayed for us. All those that wept over us. All those that took time for us. All those that interceded for us. All those that presented the gospel to us. I so often. Would stop with someone. And I would say to them. Can you tell me one person in your life. That was concerned enough about you. To talk to you about your soul. Because I want to start there. I want to start on the first base. That someone took time to ask them. About what they know about Christ. Those ones that look back. 40 years old. 60 years old. And I have not personally dealt with it. But I know the people in their 80s. No one ever told me. About eternity. We sing the old song in our hymn book. I love to tell the story. Nobody is telling them the story. So often I will ask among you. So often I will ask in my prayer groups. I ask this almost in a shameful way. Woe unto you. These are the things that you should have done. And not let them undone. These are the things that you should have given earnest heed to. And not let them slip. Who was the last person. When was the last time. Somebody stopped you. And asked you about your soul and eternity. And I say for a month like this in December. At the close of the year. 12 months have passed. Has one soul asked you. In 12 months. And all so often you have answered. I answered. Nobody has given me a tract. Nobody has given me the gospel. Nobody has stopped me on the street. Nobody has come to my house. Nobody has done anything to say. I need to know where you are going to spend eternity. That is a shameful thing. Woe unto you. Woe unto us. Because then I flip it. And I ask that same question back. Who was the last person that I talked to. Who was the last person that you talked to. And woe unto you. Woe unto me. And say it has been 12 months. Since I talked to anybody about their soul. As responsible as we must be. To study to show ourselves approved daily. To be in prayer daily. To be continually in prayer. To be in the church every time the doors are open. We ought to be just as intended. That we are taking the gospel every day. Every week. To souls near and far. Those that we love. Those that we know. And those that are complete strangers. Woe unto you. These are the things that you ought to have done. Those are the pillars. That I declare that these are the things that we ought to be doing. And not left them undone. Because exactly what's happening today. In this nation. In our families. In the church. Is because we're guilty. We did not give earnest heed. We have let these things slip. And now it is. Is that because we have done this. Is that an entire floodgate of evil and wickedness. And forces of hell have come sweeping in. And they have done damage. Because. We did not give heed. To these things. We come. Now I've got to address this quickly. Before you say how did this happen. What is it that we must recognize. That has caused such things of this. That we did not give earnest heed. And we let these things slip. Well the first thing is that you know. Satan is not a tactic. Out there among the body of heathens. He already has them. He's not worried about Washington D.C. He's not worried about Hollywood. He's not worried about the entertainment world. He's not worried about the sports culture. He's not worried about the nations. Without the gospel. Un-Christian nations. He's worried about the church. He has a venom. He has a passion. He has a fierceness. That he is coming against the church. Because we are servants of the most high God. That he hates and deplores. But he will still answer. And bow before him. He comes against us. When we look at those four pillars. And we'll say I'm going to give myself to do these things. You can testify to this. You can bear record to this. You can give a testimony about this. To those that are struggling. Is to say every time. That I say I'm going to sit down and read my bible. Something comes up. Every time that I say I'm going to become a man or a woman of prayer. You know that Satan sends something. To disrupt and upset. Every time you work up the confidence. To go witness to somebody. Something happens. Every time that you've been faithful to church. He sends something there to disrupt that pattern. To keep you out of church. And it's the same tricks over and over. Satan comes to cause us to leave these things undone. Satan causes us to let these things slip. He is our number one target. And we must be vigilant. We must be diligent. To understand that our enemy has come. We must be always scrutinizing. What is it that is keeping us from this. And because we went to sleep. While we was asleep. You remember that parable where Jesus said. That at night the enemy come in. And it sowed the tares among the wheat. What happened? When did this happen? It was when the church fell asleep. Our enemy come in. And he sowed tares among the wheat. We have pharisees in our presence. We have lost people. Who think because they were baptized. Or because they joined church. Is that they are on the same side as we are. What it is. Is that we have renegades. We have Judas's in our midst. That thou doest good do quickly. What is it that is going to betray us? They will betray the brother. Satan has come. He has sent his minions. He has sent his servants. He has orchestrated it all. So that he can undo. The things that we should have been doing. Not let these things undone. And it only takes. He says a little leaven. Leaven the whole lump. Oh I will send a little. I will send some people in there. Hey you don't have to be so. Hey you don't have to be so diligent on that. Look I am getting by on all of this. And we forgot the warning. We forgot the warning. Don't leave these things undone. The second thing. Of warning how this happened. Is not just Satan has come. But the second thing. Is that our own flesh has failed us. It doesn't require Satan to come in here. And strong arm us. It doesn't require for Satan to come in. And whisper lies to us. The spirit is willing. But the flesh is weak. We see the disciples. Peter James and John. There they are in the garden. Jesus agonizing. Jesus burned. Jesus broken. And they are all fast asleep. And it is because of our flesh failing us. Is that we lose heart. It is because we take our eyes off. Looking unto Jesus. And we forget that we become content. And the church in North America. Has become content. You know how sick it is. You know how sad it is. Is that when the church would rather have a movie on the screen. Than have the gospel word preached to them. Is that they rather have a fellowship supper. Than they would a prayer meeting. You know how sick we are. And that these are the things that we should have been doing. And not left them undone. But we let them slip. Because our flesh was weak. And we gave place to those things. That should never have taken place. Inside the house of prayer. And the third thing. My greatest. Wrestling against. Humanism. Now I know that there are many other isms. As old Oliver B. Green used to preach. Isms, schisms and spasms. Inside the church. That caused us to have fallen away. But humanism is where I see everything is today. Judgment to be passed on these things. That glorifies men. Judgment to be passed. That takes us away from the love of God. When you have a survey goes out. And it says what are you looking for. When you go into a church today. And they say we want 50 minutes of worship music. Standing clapping our hands. And hooping and hollering. And dancing all over the place. But we only want a 10-15 minute sermon. You know that humanism is at it's best. I've seen it all my life. I just never knew exactly what it was. We know in the scriptures. That Christ said if any man will come after me. Let him deny himself. But it is today humanism. Where we exalt ourselves. It has been our greatest undoing. These things ought you not to have done. He said those of you that would be greatest among you. Let them be your servant. That that I have do. So also will you do. You don't have a lot of people today. Willing to get down. Humility on their knees. On their faces. And wipe and wash the feet. Of their brother that are in the midst of the bar. Don't ask me to lower myself. It is that same mentality. If Satan has come. Our flesh fails us. We're weak. But humanism. It has come into our thoughts. It has come into our forms of religion. It has come into our practices. It has come into our traditions. It has become inundated in our ways. Of worship and our ideals. And it has attacked. Specifically those four pillars. That we don't need those four pillars. Because we can do it. Without those things. And it has been the masterful thing. Of Satan. That he has allowed for the forces of his hand. To generate and to guide. To decimate the church today. That we lose our interest in the bible. We lose our heart for prayer. We won't come to church. And we won't tell our people about Jesus. Because I have justified myself. And that leads us. To the last part of this. That I want to address with you. What is the final result of this? Well I said it earlier. In the book of Daniel. That our weight in the balance is unfounded. You have a body of believers. In North America today. That are self righteous. Humanism leads us. That we cannot stand. And condemn ourselves. Woe unto me. For I am undone as Isaiah said. But we will say woe are they. Because they are undone. It is a personal thing. Our nation is undone. Because we are self righteous. We are a Christian nation. We are not a Christian nation. We believe the bible. Oh I believe that book. But they never read the book. Oh I pray all the time. And when it is opened up. In the oracles of heaven. And the books are opened and declared. It will show that they never prayed. And they were never heard. And their prayers were never answered. These are the things of self righteousness. That we all must break our back. Declaring how righteous we are. How faithful we are. And we are as guilty as those that Jesus pronounced. Woe unto you Pharisees. We are the biggest picture of Pharisees. In the church of North America today. And it is because we didn't heed the warning. We didn't give earnest heed to this warning. You ought not to have left these things undone. It's our place. To give ears to hear. It is our place. To scrutinize in our mind. What does God think of my worship? What does God think of my heart? What does God think of my life? Am I pleasing to Him? Are these pillars an evidence of my life? Are they an evidence of our family? Are they an evidence of our church? And we know that they are not an evidence of our nation. And we come before the Lord. Crying out. Oh God. Oh God. Look what we've done. Look where we've come. I believe that just as He says. In the book of Revelation. He gives a declaration there. That we ought to give them earnest heed to these things. That we ought to sit up. And we ought to be addressing to these things. Lest any time that we should let them slip. So we recognize that. We own up to that. We confess that. I've let it slip. I haven't been the man of God that I should be. I haven't been the woman of God that I should be. We haven't been the church that we should be. We haven't been the family that we should be. That's confession. Ownership. But repentance. Requires of us that we change. These things ought you to have done. You better start doing them. If you're not doing them. Do them. If you start tracking yourself and you get a week. You get a month. You get two months down the road. And you're still not doing them. Blow unto you that you left these things undone. And it is the product. It is the result that we're seeing today in our nation in the headlines. It is the result that we're seeing in the midst of our families. It is the result of the churches closing their doors. It is the result of the pulpit. Which is no longer a pulpit. It is a stage. It is a theatrical stage where the word of God is not preached. It is not proclaimed. Prayer. The house of prayer. It is not a house of prayer. It is a den of themes. It has become commercialized. It has become materialistic. It has become entertaining. It has become a jovial place where you can come in and prop your feet up and come any old way that you want and sit down with a cup of coffee and be entertained and never meet God. And never hear from God. And go an entire life justifying yourself. When I was in church I heard the word. I bowed my head in prayer. But you never met God. And you never gave evidence that Christ was in you. Christ will say what? Unto you, Pharisees. Depart from me, you work of iniquity. I never knew you. But Lord, we preached in your name. We talked in your name. We gathered in your name. And He'll say, I never knew you. You are the terror among the weak. Woe unto you. And it is the scrutiny of this hour that if God does not make men, women, and children to be born again by the Spirit of God from on high, there is no man, there is no institution, there is no denomination that can save any man, woman, or child. It is only by God and God alone that men are saved. That men are drawn. That men are convicted. That men, the faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. It is by the Word of God that when it goes forth it accomplishes the purposes as a two-edged sword. Piercing the soul and the spirit. Piercing the joint and the marrow. Dividing them asunder so that the Word of God can complete exactly what God intended for men. No man can do that. No philosopher can do that. No teacher can do that. It is only by the hand of God. And that's what we need today. These things ought you to have done and not left them undone. So I appeal to you. Give earnest heed to the things that you have heard tonight. To the things that you have read. To the verses that have come alive to you lest you let them slip. Now here's the danger. Men hear this. This Word goes out. These two verses are impacting minds and hearts and souls. It's on a video. It's on a blog roll. It's on paper. It's presented to people. And they see it. They hear it. They respond to it. But they never change it. And they just continue with it. And Satan continues to gain the day, the time. He continues to take the land. He continues to take souls. And all of it is lost. What good does it do if God doesn't do it? See, revival. When revival come, it undid the things that were undone. And it made them to be done. Men started to pray. Men started to love the Word and devour it. Men started to flock into the church. Men started to tell their fathers about Jesus. When revival comes, all those pillars are done faithfully. And they give earnest heed. And they don't let anything slip. That's why we need revival. That's why we need the power of God to come and the presence of God to come. But you see, the religious Pharisees will say, we can't do it without that. It is only when we humble ourselves to say, we can't do anything. As Christ said in John 5, I can do nothing. But what the Father allows for me to do. We're not there yet. Because we still have a spiritual pride that promotes humanism. That still promotes our flesh over the spirit. And it still allows for Satan to manipulate us with lies. We're okay. We are not okay. We are dying. And souls are perishing. Do you realize that out of 7 billion souls that are on this planet today, is that 5 billion are lost and without Christ. And that's with 1 billion children that are under the age of accountability counted into that. It is a sad, sad day. And it all comes back to these two verses of why we are in this place tonight. A cry to go up from you. A cry to go up from me. A cry to go up from the church. Oh God! Confess Confession. Forgive us. Repentance. We will not do this anymore. We will not allow for this to happen anymore. And a yieldedness. A surrender. Hear my own word. Send me. That is the response from Luke 11 in Hebrews chapter 2. Upon us as God's Holy Spirit speaks. He that has ears to hear. Let them hear what the Spirit has said.