Gospel House Ministries

Pastor Dr. Herbert Ward, Sr.: Our sermon lesson today is spiritual reform. Spiritual reform. That means that our walk, our spiritual walk with God, at some point needs to be refocused, refilled, and fueled by our desire to get closer to God. Amen? Amen.

When we open the book of Genesis, we find that man had erred from God in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve had children and the two were not godly to one another, just like people today. At least one of them was not, as we all know, that was Cain. You judge a tree by the fruit that it bears. Ungodliness was in Adam’s family and families thereafter until now because Satan was given an inch and he turned that inch into a highway to hell.

God calls up Noah and said, "Noah, I want you to build me an ark because it’s gonna rain. You better get ready and you better get right." Noah honored God in the midst of a sinful and deceitful world and built that ark for him and his family and no one else. Noah preached 120 years warning people of the doomsday that was coming. None heeded the voice of Noah and only eight people were saved from that world—his family.

In the new world, along comes Abram, who becomes Abraham because he was obedient to God and God counted him as righteous. Abraham went through some testings. God was now ready to bring humanity in spiritual lockstep with Him, but this took time through several generations. He told Abraham that all families through him will be blessed, pointing to Jesus.

God began to share His plan with Abraham because he was His friend. Remember Sodom and Gomorrah? God destroyed it, but not without informing Abraham first. Isn’t it good to know that whatever God is doing in earth, He will inform you? He will inform us as His dear children.

Sometime later, God put Abraham on a higher plane by getting him to sacrifice his only begotten son, Isaac, as an offering to Him as a form of worship. Without worship, there is no spiritual reform. Because Abraham was obedient to God, he became a spiritual beacon light for God and thus his family had the Spirit of God with them but not in them.

Moses comes along and teaches Abraham’s family how to worship God with instruments of praise like tambourines and timbrels and etcetera. When the children of Israel brought materials for the building of the Tabernacle, God was reforming their minds about Him, but their obedience in response to His request was their worship to God. It took worship to build the ark, which was indeed a form of spiritual reform.

It took worship to build a church, which is a spiritual ark. If there's no worship in the building, then you're not really building the church. You're just coming together. Later, David comes along with a change in instruments. The string instruments were highly visible in their worship along with dancing. God throughout the Bible was bringing man up higher to Him via worship.

But on the day of Pentecost was when God said to Satan, "Checkmate." Once God’s Spirit indwelt man, God was closer to setting us up for His return more than ever. Man was always in need of a refilling of His Spirit. Ephesians 5:18 says, "And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit." Open your Bibles to Acts, the second chapter.

Acts 2:4 reads, "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance." Amen. Amen. Now go on over to Acts 4. Acts 4:8. Now, they were already filled, right? All right. Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit—but he already was filled. He got a refilling.

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means has he been made well?" I just really wanted to pump out that eighth verse. Now, go to 23.

"And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord—you see, we gotta be with one accord, not on the accord, with one accord—and said, 'Lord, You are God who made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them, who by mouth of Your servant David has said: Why did the nations rage and the people plot vain things? The kings of the earth took their stand and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ.'"

And that’s what’s happening now. The leaders of the world do not honor God. I just told you about those tech giants, right? They don't honor God. And you see it right in the rulers. And these people who are tech giants, they are rulers because they are ruling today with these devices. As the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ. Do y'all see it? Don't be given to these things. I'm telling you.

"For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done. Now, Lord, look on their threats and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word." That's right. That's your duty. "By stretching out Your hand to heal and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus."

If we don't preach the word, if we don't teach the word, how could God stretch out His hand? People won't know what to do. They won't know how to respond. But through the teachers of the leaders, amen, it helps to grow the church, to progress the church. The problem with the church is the leaders are not there bleeding the people. They're not feeding the people.

"And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they spoke the word of God with boldness." Don't you ever think you have arrived. You have not arrived. None of us has arrived. You need Jesus every day of your life. Amen. You need to stay up and close with Jesus every day of your life. Don't take it for granted. Some of you have dropped the ball at times because you wanted to drop the ball, because you just wanted to get a little dirty back in the sin the way you want, the way you used to. And then when you got over there in the sin, "Ooh, this don't feel good. Lord, let me go back to Jesus." What you go over there for in the first place?

Amen, but that happens to us, church. And sometimes we fall. You need a refilling, a refilling, a refilling until you die. Don't think you arrived. Don't think you got it all going on. Don't think you know it all, because you don't. One thing you need to know: you need to stay in the flow of God. If you stay in the flow, you're gonna be all right. Amen. Have I got a witness? Amen.

Today, there is a need for us all to get spiritually closer to God. Just like He readied Noah for the flood, God has readied His people through the blood. The blood of Jesus, which has granted us access to God’s heavenly throne by His Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, you are nothing to God. So you need to check yourself and make sure you have His Spirit. But every believer, He do give His Spirit to them.

You didn't have to pay for it. You didn't have to do no works for it. Because you believe, He gave you His Spirit. Amen. And you need to act like you have the Spirit on the inside of you. The problem with most Christians is they don't believe the Spirit of God is inside of them. They will quote the scripture, but they don't believe the Spirit of God is inside of them. Because if you really believe, you would start doing the work of Jesus. You wouldn't be fearful so much about things. God didn't give you a spirit of fear but of power, love, and what? A sound mind.

He gave you that mind to flow in the Spirit. Hallelujah. Amen. You can't flow in the Spirit if your mind isn't sound. So you're nothing with God. God gave Him to you so you can keep up with Him. You can't keep up with God without a Spirit. No, you can't. I dare you to try because you will never succeed. Never.

Let's look into these questions. I believe now more than ever that we as Christians need to investigate where we are in Christ spiritually. Are we pleasing Him in His sight? Do we understand Him right? Can we sit tight as He feeds us, forewarns us, and adorns us with His glory? Like I said, let's look at these questions. Are you pleasing in God's sight? Yes or no, don't answer. Do you understand Him rightfully? Meaning do you fully know who God is and do you know what purpose He serves in your life? Do you know why you're here?

To understand God requires you drawing nearer to God after you have surrendered to God. If you are full of religious ideologies, more than likely you don't have a full understanding of God. Know this: God never gave us religion. No. We gave ourselves religion as a way of pleasing God. God gave us Jesus. He gave us salvation.

Salvation provided a way for us not to fall into condemnation. It provided a relationship that was broken in the Garden of Eden. It can only be repaired when you become an heir of God’s throne. An eternal relationship between man and Jehovah God must, must occur. It is developed through the atoning death of Jesus Christ. Religion is man’s gift to God, but salvation is God’s gift to man. Hallelujah. Which one would you prefer? Religion or salvation?

All righty. If you have a hard time choosing, let me help you out. Never bet against God because He never loses. He’s a winner. He’s incorruptible. He’s a complete God. While man is a loser, never bet on him because his light is dim. Man is corruptible. He's not complete. He will cause you to lose your feet. Man can't stand unless he's holding God's hand.

God don't need man, but man sure does need God. Right now, we need Him so much. There must be reform to get back to the norms in Christ Jesus. He who has begun a great work in you is faithful to perform it. Hallelujah. Your spiritual inheritance is based strictly on your relationship to Jesus Christ. Galatians 3:26 says, "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus." Verse 29 says, "And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise."

What promise? The promise that God made to Abraham. What did He promise? That He would bless you and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. He will bless those who bless you and He will curse those who curse you. And in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

Through Abraham, Jesus came to earth. If you have Jesus, this means you as a Christian should not be cursing people out. It means blessings will follow you and you're to be a blessing to people all the days of your life and your name will carry weight. Meaning you should be influencing people toward God and not using people for your own gain. Remember, you're supposed to have the Spirit of Christ. Remember, you carry His name. You are ambassadors of Christ. Amen. Turn to Romans, the eighth chapter. Beginning at the 14th verse, and it reads: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God."

Are you led by the Spirit of God? Are you led by the Spirit of God? That's the key to your walk with God. That's the key to reforming your heart towards God. You gotta be led by the Spirit. Only the Spirit of God can lead you to truth. Your doctor can't even lead you to truth. No, he can't. Your horoscope can't lead you to truth. No. Only the word of God can lead you to truth. Hallelujah.

"For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear." See, fear puts you in bondage. It does. Fear puts you in bondage. You should have faith. "But you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father.'" Not just Father, but Abba. That means I'm close with Him. I'm tight with Him. "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God." Amen. The Spirit told you that you're a child of God? Alright.

"And if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together." Whatever Jesus got, you got. Whatever Jesus can do, you can do. Wherever Jesus gonna sit with God on the right hand, you gonna sit there too. You gotta believe that.

It took me a long time to get that, because we grew up and said Jesus sitting on the right hand of the Father and I'm very figured we would never sit on that seat. But no, we are joint heirs. If we're joint heirs, we gonna sit in that seat too. How many know the seat is spiritual? Hallelujah. So really, if Jesus is God’s right hand, right? He sits on the right hand of the Father, right? So in the spirit, you, God used you as His right hand in the earth. Amen.

Isn't that a blessing? Amen. Y'all should be more excited. We need to show God more excitement. Amen, church. When you're blessing someone or you're helping someone, when they show you excitement, that turns you on. That helps you to realize you appreciated it, right? Amen.

"The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs; heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer." See that? Look at that now. I want y'all to look at that. "If indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together." You gotta be willing to suffer. Amen. You can't be trying to find the exit door. Amen. You gotta suffer. If Jesus suffered, you gonna suffer.

And so when it comes to you and you feel like you're about to go through suffering, just call on the name of Jesus. "Jesus, help me to go through this." Because you gotta go through. Amen. You gotta go through because there's something on the other side just for you. But you gotta go through. Hallelujah.

Some of us don't want to go through nothing. If you don't want to go through nothing, you don't want nothing. You put together a cake. That cake gotta go through the fire. Don't put it in the fire, you don't want no cake. Don't put it in the oven, you don't want no cake. Because it doesn't become a cake until it bakes. God gotta bake you in His fire. Amen. That's right. And He sends you through trials. He sends you through these things. He sends you through trials to cook you in His holy oven so you come out new. So you come out appealing. So you come out with a sweet smell that makes people desire to be with you. Hallelujah. To God be the glory. Amen.

The key here is to be led by the Spirit. We need spiritual reformation because we have many leaders who are leading without God’s Spirit. And we have believers who are retreating from the truth, listening to hearsay and unfounded doctrine. 2 Timothy 4:3 says, "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine." I'm here to tell y'all that time is now.

"But according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables." So why should I listen, why should I get close to someone who's turned aside from the truth? What do they have to offer me? Nothing but truth. Jesus is the truth. He's the way, the truth, and the life. So if they are not about truth, why do I need to hang around? Right.

So we need spiritual reform. We have more religious churches than we do spiritual churches of God. Without God’s Spirit, we can do nothing. We have more churches doing nothing and, as a result, Ichabod is attached to the name of such churches. And, of course, we see the result. They stand on nothing, they stand for nothing, and they sit when something needs to be done.

Another aspect to this scripture is the fact that we must suffer with Christ. But no, too many people want something for nothing. They want to win without fighting. They want God without believing. If you believe, why don't you read? Read your Bible. Study your Bible. Reformation starts when you receive revelation from God. It is He who turns the heart to good, not we ourselves. It’s impossible for you to receive revelation if you’re not in position to study and receive God’s education. God educated us through the Law.

Galatians 3:24 says, "Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith." We now walk by faith and not by sight because we found out how to live right with God. We found out we can't keep the Law without Jesus, His Son. We need reformation because there has been a falling away from the truth. Jesus is the truth. 2 Thessalonians 2:3 says, "Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition."

Hallelujah. 1 Timothy 4:1 says, "Now the Spirit expressly says"—now, now, expressly says—"that in latter times," which is now, "some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy." Now, I had to pause there. Speaking lies in hypocrisy. In other words, that tell me they ain't got no business standing behind this desk. They lying about their walk with God and because they're lying about their walk with God, they're living in hypocrisy. Profane lies. That's what that says to me.

So we have to realize that we need to give our all to God. We cannot, we don't have time to be distracted by anything. No. Amen. You need to lose your patience with distraction. Just tell distraction, "You stay over here. I've had my share of you through my life. I don't need no more of you right now. I'm on my way somewhere. I'm on my way to a good place. And I'm not gonna let you get in the way of where I'm going. I'm headed to my Father. I'm like the prodigal son. I want to see my Father. I want to be with Him. I don't want to be in this world when everything is over. I don't want to be left down here."

I want to be caught up. I want to be caught up. I want to be caught up to meet Him in the air. Hallelujah. There’s no better place for me to go. We're going up, we're going down to hell. Hallelujah. Because it wasn't made for us. It was not made for us.

So we need spiritual reform, church. Amen. We need spiritual reform because we have more religious churches, right? Amen. Now, it’s impossible for you to receive revelation if you’re not in position to study and receive God. Amen. It’s very impossible. Hallelujah. We found out we can’t keep the Law, right? Can't keep the Law. So if we can't keep the Law, why do we go to law against one another? You ain't keeping it yourself, but you going to law against somebody else. How can you see the little toothpick in your brother's eye when you got a big old two-by-four in your eye? Get yourself straight first before you try to clean somebody else up.

So there’s been a falling away. Amen. We now walk by faith and not by sight because we found out how to live right with God. We found out we can't keep the Law without Jesus, His Son. We need reformation because there has been a falling away from the truth. Jesus is the truth. 2 Thessalonians 2:3 says, "Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition."

And I wanted to go there again because we see the times how they are and we see who's in the White House. And this son of perdition has an influence on these so-called leaders. Amen. These leaders have gotten into position where they don't care. I don't need nobody leading me that don't care. Come on and preach. But I've heard a scripture say that, "Cast your care upon Me, for I care for you." I'd rather follow Jesus than to follow these fools who pretend to be gods when they're really demons. Yes, they are. Have I got a witness? Amen.

So we now must look at ourselves and say to ourselves to God, "What is it that I'm not doing right? What is it about me that You don't like? I know You love me. But what is it about me that You don't like? Show me, Lord, what it is. Help me to see what it is. And if You show me what it is, help me to receive what it is and don't—so that I don't live in denial." Hallelujah. Amen.

So the scripture says again—I want to read this again—"Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition." 1 Timothy 4:1 says, "Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared." So when your conscience is seared, can’t nothing go in, can’t nothing go out.

Seared with a hot iron. Instead of the truth being preached, a truce has been reached. It’s called compromise. We, the church and the so-called body of Christ, have chosen to let the devil have his way as we walk away from the truth and watch him devour those who be a part of us as his prey. Now, trust me, there are churches doing the will of God. No doubt about that. Amen. But there is an overwhelming majority that have a form of godliness but denying the power thereof. This is why we need spiritual reform.

Reformation is the act of reforming. Correction or amendments of life, manners. Okay, I'm gonna read it again. Reformation is the act of reforming, correction, or amendments of life, manners, or of any vicious or corrupt as the reformation of manners. Amen, church. So reformation has a lot of getting right with God, getting correct with God. Amen. Your manners. Some of us have lost our mannerism. We've hung around the wrong people too long. Now we're back to cussing. I'm not talking about anybody in this room, but I'm saying in general. Amen.

So reformation again is the act of reforming, correction, or amendment of life, manners, or of anything vicious or corrupt, as the reformation of manners. It is the change of religion from corruption of Popery and of Popery to its primitive purity. Now, let me explain what Popery is. Popery has to do with the Pope and his system. Popery. Amen. Go back home and look it up. It has to do with the Pope and his system, doctrines, and authority. Amen. So in other words, the church had went, went after the Pope.

But look what happens. Look what happens. This began with Martin Luther in AD 1517. All right. Through him, you have the Protestant movement. This movement moved many from the Catholic Church, which was a protest of its doctrine and ways. The Protestant church labeled the Catholic Church with this word Popery because of their practices were not scriptural. Have I got a witness? So we don't want to be caught up in Popery.

Spiritual reforms require worship. Y'all learned something just then. Never cease from worshipping God because the steadfast love of God never ceases. His love and His mercies never come to an end. They are what? New every morning. We receive His love with our daily bread, so we worship Him for it. Your worship to God says a lot about God’s worth to you. Amen. When you see people coming to worship they hardly, they hardly want to worship God. They want to sit down real quick. God is not that worth to them. He's not of great worth to them. But when God is of great worth to you, you let yourself go. You don't care who looking at you. And when you really, really, really in it, you don't care if your wig fall off your head. You are in.

Say about it. I never forget years ago we was on Two Avenue and the spirit was high. We had a friend from out town and she was so happy to be with us. And she began to do that jump. "Whoa Jesus, whoa Jesus." And her head went back one too many times. She stopped that shout and grabbed that wig so fast. She didn't shout no more.

See, let me tell you. When you all in, you all in. You don't care about that wig. And see, when the spirit is really in control of you, look, you don't even know the wig fell off. No, you don't. Hello, you don't even know it fell off. I remember when I was caught up in the spirit and when I was a deacon. And they said, "Brother Herb, you don't know what was coming out your mouth." I said, "It was?" I don't remember none of that. None of that. But those are spirits leaving. Yes. Those are spirits leaving. When any fluid leaves the body, the spirits leaving. That's it. Hello, somebody. Hallelujah. Amen.

So I truly believe there needs to be another reformation that deals with morality, equality, but more so spirituality. In such a dark time, we need more truth about God and then life would not be so hard. Truth brings light and light gives understanding. Darkness will never comprehend the light, which makes things right and us pleasing in God’s sight. Spiritual reform requires worship to God. Amen. Never cease from worshipping God. Amen. People who hardly worship God hardly value His worth to them. People who really love the Lord really worship Him daily. They don’t wait until Sunday to begin to worship God.

If you are the redeemed, you should worship God with your life in total surrender to Him. If you are the cleansed, you should worship God with your life in total surrender to Him. If you are the anointed, you should worship God with your life in total surrender to Him. Look at your neighbor and ask them, "Are you totally surrendered to God?"

There is a need, and that need is for you to heed the word of God now. We must have spiritual reform because the enemy has armed himself handsomely through the recruitment of non-believers, and they have multiplied in recent years. But where sin abounds, grace does much more abound. Jesus is recruiting souls at a much faster pace. Do you believe it? We walk by faith, not by sight. It may look like that's not happening, but my faith in God tells me otherwise. Remember Satan is the loser and Jesus is the winner, man.

Yes, Satan has armed himself handsomely while we, the church, have harmed ourselves dreadfully through doubt, worry, compromise, unforgiveness, and repeated sins. When will you learn, prodigal child, that you will burn if you don’t yearn for God? God said a house divided cannot stand. There are people who’re supposed to be spiritual ambassadors of Christ who are divided from the truth because of their religious views. They are more given to religious organizations than to God Himself. They promote the Law more than they do grace. Their work is so loud that they can’t hear God.

I can just imagine God looking down from heaven upon earth and saying to Himself, "There is a religious group here and there’s a religious group there. There’s a cathedral down the block, a temple around a corner, and sitting right there on the edge of town is a mosque. And just before the intersection, there is a storefront church with sounds of worship in it." If you were to ask Him, He would say that looks like a bunch of confusion.

Man is confused about who God really is. We need to come together in Jesus’ name and let Him explain just who He is. Unity is needed to defeat the devil. A house divided cannot stand. Do you recall when the disciples were talking about Jesus after His resurrection? He appeared before them. We must unite with the same goals and the same intent and get rid of our differences by trusting in the power of God to show up when we worship Him, when we pray to Him, when we sing to Him, and when we’re learning of Him to unite us so that we are one with one accord.

Now, the natural man tells me that’s likely not gonna happen. That's like trying to find a needle in a haystack. But my faith in God tells me that’ll work. It can happen if only we believe. Hallelujah. Trust me, it’s hard getting a group of people together to believe the same thing. But with God, all things are possible. Hallelujah. We are all believing in the same God with different beliefs about Him, but that shouldn’t make us enemies. The church must get from just bringing themselves to church. The church must now strongly engage in bringing someone else to church with them on a regular basis to the point that when you don’t do that, you feel bad that you are unable to do so. We’ve long been comfortable doing nothing when it comes to go you into the world and make disciples of nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Ghost.

This sermon is not about reforming the institutions of the church. No. This is about reforming you, the individual who happened to be the church. This reformation begins in your heart. You, the believer, is the true church. You, the believer, must examine yourself to find out if your heart needs reformation. Because there's too many Christians whose get-up-and-go has got up and gone away from God. Go to Titus. Preach. Go to Titus. Amen.

Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God—see, according to the faith of God, not according to your faith. It doesn't say according to his faith, do it? No. It says according to the faith of God. You need the faith of God, not your faith. Hallelujah. "According to the faith of God’s elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness." Without the truth, there is no spiritual reformation.

"In hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began, but has in due time manifested His word through preaching." Praise the Lord. "Which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior; to Titus, a true son in our common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior."

Now, I want to tell you, a lot of people use this book here for to tell you about the qualifications of the elders and the deacons and all that, the pastor. But when I examine this as God showed it to me, and I never thought I'd be using it in this manner, God showed me this. I use the leader, see, the reformation starts where? At the top. And if the leaders get right, the believers, the church will get right.

So God showed me the scripture. He says, "Read this to them and show them if they want spiritual reform, here is the guideline for spiritual reformation." It’s telling the bishops how they were supposed to do. It’s telling the pastors of how they were supposed to do because they're responsible, we're responsible for your walk. Amen, church. Your blood is on our hands. So it starts with us first. I said to you about the oil running off what? Aaron's beard. Amen. So it's the same thing. It starts from the top. And it runs down. It runs down. Preach.

Amen, thank the Lord. So this reads in 5: "For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order, set in order, set in order the things that are lacking." Now, what is lacking here is that they had elders but nobody appointed them. So you know a whole lot of mess was going on. They had a lot of qualified people, but nobody appointed them to office. They had very few, when they had an overwhelming amount. But there so that’s why he sent Titus there. That’s why he says, "For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders." That's what's lacking. The appointment of elders. Do you see that?

So how a head, a body without a head can’t move, church. Amen. "Appoint elders in every city as I command." In what? Every city. So the problem first begins at the top. And if leaders would really commit themselves to Christ and stop chasing that dollar, the church would be in a better place. Amen. Amen. That's what's wrong. See, I told you earlier about distraction. Money distracts some people. It does. Because they haven't overcome money yet. They were so poor so long that when money come to them, they want to worship it. But it’s a tool. It's a tool. It's not a tool to take you to school. It's a tool for you to use. Hello. Amen. You let money take you to school, you gonna end up broke. Now, y'all figure that out. You put all your trust in that dollar and you really gonna holler. Oh my God. Glory to God. All right.

"If a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination. For a bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God." Not—and you know I was checking these things, checking my list and checking it twice. "For a bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed." Doing stuff because it's your will to do it. No, we do things according to God's will. And you should too, not just bishops. Amen.

"Not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled." And that is a big one. It should be at the top of the list, I guess, for these days. But self-control is so key. You know, self-control has a lot to do with how you get along with other people. If you get along, if you got a bunch of friends and they are sinners and you bend their way when you're with them, then you don't have self-control.

If you have something going on and you want to entertain people, you gotta figure out how you gonna entertain, especially if you have people who don’t go to church like you go to church. So you have to figure out how am I gonna do this? Put your trust in God. Always keep God first. Don't hide God to get along with them. You put God in the forefront. And if they're not for you, God will remove them out of your life. But don't you dare put God on the back burner to please them. Amen.

You better remember who you belong to or maybe you don't belong to Him, that's why you did it. You better find out and find out soon. Very soon. Amen, church. Amen.

"Holding fast the faithful words as he has been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict." You gotta say it. You will have that. You gotta speak. And what I found today, many of us leaders are scared when people challenge us with their ideologies. We tense up. We compromise. Well, maybe some of what you saying—no, no, no, no. What do the word say? If whatever they saying is not backed up with the word of God, then what they saying shouldn't be said.

"For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision." The people who are Jews is the worst problem, that's what he's saying. "Whose mouth must be stopped. Stopped." You don't compromise. "Well, they nice." I don't care if they is nice. If they not telling the truth, I'm not gonna accept it. I'm not gonna compromise because they nice. I'm not gonna compromise because they give handsome offerings. The truth is the truth. I don't care what you give. The truth is still the truth. Amen.

See, I've seen the church I grew up in and I've seen people come in. I've seen—y'all wouldn't know what I'm talking about anyway. But I've seen them come in with a—the wife came in with a mink coat their first Sunday to the church. Came with a mink coat, came gave their offering, went on back to their seat. After that, next thing I know, they above the church. They in high places in the church. And their influence got stronger. And the stronger their influence, the more the devil came out. The more the devil came out to the point where the pastor sort of got afraid of the daughter because the daughter knew his dirty stuff.

So what does that do? That cramps the church. That gives place to the devil to come in the church and mess with people. And I've seen in my church that I grew up in, many of—not many, a good portion of those I—I can name five on my hand that were my age or a little above my age today in the ground.

I'm supposed to be your covering. Death shouldn't come to your family if I'm—but to your children, hear what I'm saying carefully. Especially when it's not that death should happen. Death shouldn't come to that family. Not to say that it won't, but what I'm saying is because I'm your covering. Jesus is your covering, but I'm your covering here in the church. Amen. And if because I'm under Jesus, then I pray that peace be well. Peace be still in your home. I pray that things can’t attack you as easily and it doesn't happen. See, you under a covering. You have come into the ark. And because you have come into the ark, you are not supposed to drown. You're supposed to survive. See, the water is the problem, but you're above the problem. You're in the ark. You're above the problem. The problem isn't over your head. You're not drowning. That's why He put him in the ark.

Listen, God put Noah in the ark because the problem of the world was not Noah's problem. God made a way for him, so the world's problem was not Noah's problem. And the world's problem shouldn't be your problem. The world's problem is Donald Trump right now. And Donald Trump shouldn't be your problem. You should look past him and see Jesus. As long as you got Jesus, I don't care what the devil is up to. As long as I got Jesus, I'll be all right. He’s my protector. He sees what I can't see. He sees what they doing when I'm sleeping. So my trust is what? In Him. In Him. That’s why you need spiritual reform so you can get closer to Him to collect those benefits.

Oh, I'm trying to teach you. I ain't trying to speak to your emotions. I'm trying to teach you so you can get this thing down pat so you can have confidence so that when trouble and sickness occur, when things get lost, you still got Holy Ghost boldness to trust in Jesus and you're still standing and you're not worried. Why? Because you know the word of God. You can't say you come in here and you don't get taught the word of God. With as much word is taught here, you should be stronger by now.

You should be able to speak things—speak those things that be not as though they were. You're supposed to speak life and not death. What is coming out of your tongue that’s defeating you? What’s coming out of your tongue that’s defeating you? Let your "yes" be yes and your "no" be no. Let your "amen" be amen. Hallelujah. When you're in agreement with God, God makes things easy. He said, "Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for My yoke is easy and My burden is light." And you don't want to read the word of God?

Come on and preach the word. Let me tell you something. If you had corns on your feet, right? Oh yes. You ain't gonna keep putting on them tight shoes. No. You ain't gonna keep putting them on. You gonna find something—back in the day, they would cut a hole. They cut a hole right so you can see that little toe. You see that little toe sticking out? I remember, Lord. Yes, yes. So whatever is ailing you, you should let it keep ailing you. Hallelujah. Glory to God.

Where was I? Crete? "Whose mouth must be stopped." You see that? "Who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain." They want attention. "One of them, a prophet of their own, said, 'Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.'" This testimony is true. When I said, "Ooh, look at that." This testimony is true. In other words, that man spoke the truth.

"Therefore rebuke them sharply," if they in here, rebuke them sharply, "that they may be sound in faith, not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn from the truth. To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure." They don't believe nothing either. "But even their mind and conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him." They talk, see, they talk a good talk but you don't see it in their walk.

"They profess to know God, but in work they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work." You need to go sit down somewhere. "But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine." God is saying to all of us here, "Speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine; that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience." So he's saying to the pastors, "If you want people to prosper, you must teach them the right way. You must say the right things that will bless them."

I've learned, you know, some things that we have to tell you, we don't want to tell you, but the Lord said you gotta tell them. And I've learned to overcome people. If they don't take it, receive it, that's on them. I wasn't called to be blessed by people. I was called to be blessed by God. And I gotta say what He tells me to say whether you like it or not, whether you spit on me or not. I still got saved. And if you spit on me, that don't mean I'm gonna come back and still tell you the truth anyway. Because my reward is in heaven, not here on earth. And man don't have a heaven or hell to put any of us in. Amen, church.

So it says, "the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things, and that they admonish the young women to love their husbands." You admonish people today, they look at you like you crazy. But when they've been taught, they won't look at you like that. No. So that tells you about those churches. When people get—when you've been really been taught by God, you can receive constructive criticism. Amen. And if you want to try to say that was destructive, you lying to yourself. You know it was constructive. It wasn't destructive.

If anything, it’s destructive to distract you from walking in sin, that's what it did. "That they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children." And when I read that, I said, "Yeah, because some people they one way at church and they another way at home." So He said this: you gotta be Christ-like at home too. "To be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed. Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded."

And this how we get spiritual reform. It starts at what? The top. "In all things showing yourself to be a pattern," showing yourself, showing yourself "to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you." How you like me now? Can’t say nothing evil of you.

"Exhort bondservants," talking about the slaves, "to be obedient to their own masters, to be well-pleasing in all things." Paul didn't miss a beat. He coming all bases. Because he know there are people who are slaves to other people. So He, God is for everybody. Don't care what position you are. I don't care how low you are or how high you are. God is for everybody and especially those who will receive Him. Amen.

So, "exhort bondservants to be obedient to their own masters, to be well-pleasing in all things, not answering back, not pilfering." You know, people can work for you, you can have a job or business, and you got people working for you robbing you blind. Every evening they go home, they taking something. Some of us has been guilty. Some of us has been guilty. All right.

"But showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age." In 2026. Hallelujah. This is informative. This should help you. Amen.

"Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purity for Himself His own special people." Are you His special people? "Zealous for good works." And you gonna see good works is talked about a lot here. Several times. Yes, it is.

"Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you." Now, I thought about that. Someone despise you, you must not be doing something right. Someone despise you, you irk somebody the wrong way and you didn't do it in the grace of God for them to really look at the word used: despise. That's a hard word. Despise is different. You know, so you—you know, that’s why the Bible talks about parents don’t bring your children to anger. Well, leaders shouldn’t bring the flock to anger. Because they’ll rebel against you. And they’ll try to set you up for a fall.

Can't do it in your house, but in the church, they can. They get their cliques together and they whisper. Next thing you know, "Uh, we need to have a meeting. Can we have a church meeting?" And they got it all planned out. And then, especially if you didn't start the church, they want to give you the door. You don't want to be despised, want no one to be despised of you.

Amen. Third chapter. "Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one." Watch your mouth. Watch how you put your mouth on people because when you put your mouth on people, you could be putting them on yourself or your family or your children. Keep your mouth off of people. And if you want to talk about people, talk about people to God by praying for them. How about that? Amen.

"For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward men appeared," which is grace, "not by works of righteousness which we have done," because we know we ain't done nothing right, "but according to His mercy He saved us." Aren't you glad? Aren't you grateful that He saved you? Hallelujah.

"Through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit." Now, regeneration is spiritual rebirth. Amen. It's the state or the act of spiritual renovation. Y'all know they be renovating buildings? Well, some of us need spiritual renovation. How about that? Messianic, hallelujah, restoration. You need God, you need Jesus, you need the Messiah to restore you. Amen.

"Whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior." Amen. "That having been justified by His grace we should become heirs"—did we talk about that earlier?—"become heirs according to the hope of eternal life." Anybody here got eternal life? Hallelujah.

"This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful, be careful to maintain good works." There it is again. "These things are good and profitable to men." He's saying if you maintain good works, then it's gonna be profiting people around you. It's gonna be profiting people in the congregation. It's gonna be profiting people in this building. It's gonna be profiting people because you're hearing from God and everybody wants something from God. That's right. Hallelujah. Amen.

"This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful again to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men. But avoid foolish disputes." You gotta choose your fights, church. Don't try to just—"This is me, I ain't taking that." Look at you. You already messed up right there. Still messed up right there. Come on and teach.

"This is me." What about Jesus? This is me. You been played before though. And now you big and bad. Big and bad. You gotta take humility. You gotta be able to let people cuss you out and don't say nothing. Jesus said if they smack this cheek, turn the other one. We want Jesus, right? Well, you gotta want what Jesus want too. He wants you to live right and peacefully with people. Amen, church. You say you want Him, right? You gotta want what He wants. He wants peace. He wants love to abide. Hallelujah.

It says, "9, but avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and striving about the law, for they are unprofitable and useless. Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition." You can go to a person and tell them about what they're doing. And you see that you have gone to them and sometimes it's over two times. And they still is remaining the same way, they still provoking problems. You gotta bring that person before the church. That's what this is right here.

It says, "Reject a divisive man after"—see that?—"after the first and second admonition." Listen, listen. There is another scripture that says if there’s an ought between you and your brother, sit down and reason together. Now, if he won't listen to you, you take it before the elders. And if they still don't listen, then you take them before what? The church. That's in order, church. Yes, it is.

"Knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned." You could condemn yourself with your foolishness. And I just want to read this part. I wasn't gonna read it, but I want to bring it out. "When I send Artemas to you, or Tychicus, be diligent to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. Send Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey with haste, that they may lack nothing. And let our people also learn to maintain"—there it is again—"good works." God's House, I can say that about you. And I'm not bragging. we got good works. Amen.

"Maintain good works to meet urgent needs." Maintain good works to maintain urgent needs. How many times do we have been there for people who are in urgent need? Every time you go to that shelter, you going to people who in urgent need. "That they may not be unfruitful. All who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen."

So it says that they may not be unfruitful. This cannot be done without the Holy Spirit. Most Christians are maintaining their attendance to church without having an apprehension of God, who God is and who they are in God. Spiritual reform is needed. I'd rather have great intentions with God than great attendance to shine. Amen. I'm gonna say that again. I'd rather have great intentions with God than great attendance to shine. It's one thing you come to church and you just shine, but you ain't gaining nothing. But see, when you come to church intentionally to get some, to receive some, and to be a blessing, now you worshipping. Now you're ready for spiritual reform.

Amen. All of us at some point or another need spiritual reform. And so with this ministry, we—and I was sharing this yesterday with the brother—with this ministry, we have guidelines to keep you in line. Every three months we fast. Amen. And you, most of you in here know that when we get close to that fast, you at one time or another say, "Boy, I'm glad the fast coming. I need it." Because you know you erred away in some kind of way. Not badly, but just—"I need this fast." See, it keeps you—what happens with the fast, it keeps you in line with God.

You know, people take their cars for wheel alignment. So fasting gets you back in alignment with God. Thank You, Lord. And this is how we get spiritual—one of the ways we get spiritual reform. Amen. Don't you be ducking out of fasting. And there’s times God showed me, not everybody. I didn't say nothing this last time. You can't shuck and jibe God. No, you can't. Who you fooling? Who you fooling? If you come to be a part of an organization, you ought to do what the organization is doing.

And if they say do that, how many know that there's blessings when we do it together? But you, you, you not participating and blocking our blessings. Yeah, I said it. Because we gonna get blessings. Listen to me carefully. Don't misunderstand what I'm saying. We gonna get our personal blessings, right? But as a church, you hindering some stuff. You, you, you causing stuff to not fully come to fruition with your ways and your thoughts. You gotta be surrendered. Look at your neighbor and tell them you gotta be surrendered. Amen. You must be surrendered. Amen.

Now, you and I both need to be constant, be in constant contact with God. When you have not for a long period of time—when you have not for a long period of time, spiritual reform is required of you. You have been saved from the guilt and penalty of sin. The Christian is being saved from the habit and dominion of sin. The Christian will be saved at the Lord’s return from all bodily infirmities that are the result of sin and God’s curse upon the sinful world and brought into entire conformity to Christ.

Yes, we are no longer conformed to this world. Romans 12:2 says, "Do not be conformed into this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." Conforming to this world certainly is not spiritual reformation to God. That’s like trying to mix oil with water.

I want to say to you who have not really given your life to Christ: you listen to sermons and teachings from time to time, but you still have not given Jesus all of you, not even most of you. Your name is even on the church roll, but you’re not all in and you know it. God is not attempting to scare anyone here today into salvation. Nor is He daring anyone to follow Jesus. He’s simply telling you to let Him reform your heart because right now you’re no good to Him without His Spirit.

Or with little of His Spirit, you need a refill. But if you would let Him show you another way, a better way of living through a change of heart by spiritual reformation, which only He can do, but you must surrender to Him. Give up trying to run the show of your life. Give it up. Let's go and give God a chance. Let's go and give God a chance to show you how it's done.

You may be in the church and need spiritual reformation of your heart. Don’t feel bad because you’re not alone. You see, you are supposed to die daily. You're a new creation in Christ. Old things have passed away; behold, all things become new. His mercies are new every morning, and we’re to eat our daily bread, which is the word of God. When you die daily, Jesus renews in you the right spirit.

You don’t know what spirit you came to church with this morning if you have not had your morning bowl of scriptures and your cup of prayer. So when we enter into His gates with thanksgiving, we are summoning God with our thanks that we belong to Him and He belongs to us. We acknowledge we need His help to worship Him. For we are in allegiance with Him and not with the devil. And when you enter His courts with praise, no devil in hell can hold onto you or press down onto you nor afflict you as long as you’re praising and serving Jesus by faith.

Because at the name of Jesus, he's got to flee. He's got to bow. Spiritual reform can shake the devil off of you. How bad do you want it? Aren’t you tired of half-stepping with God? It’s time to be all in away from sin. Amen. Glory to God.

Guest (Male): Amen. What a blessing to be able to hear from the Lord. Hallelujah. Thank You, Lord. Hallelujah for seeing about the rain of word. Hallelujah. Amen. And for the right-now word, the prophetic word. Come on, let’s bless Him. Oh, come on, come on, come on. Glorify Him. Hallelujah. Amen. I know there are some people that would pay a whole lot of money to hear just what you heard and still won’t get it all. But God has been patient with us today. He has been patient with us today to give you just what you needed. Did He not go right to the heart of the matter? Come on, did He go to the heart of the matter? Then let’s bless Him. Hallelujah. Bless Him.

Holy God, I thank You, Lord. Hallelujah. Thank You, Lord. Blessed be His name. Hallelujah. Thank You, Lord. We got to act like we believe the word of the Lord. Hallelujah. Don’t we want blessings on our families and on our lives? Hallelujah. This is why we come together. Hallelujah to hear what thus saith the Lord. Amen. Y’all know y’all couldn’t have gotten this sitting at home. Amen. But God had a word for you. Hallelujah. A transforming word. Hallelujah. A word to help your situation. Hallelujah.

Sitting on a psychiatrist’s couch for six months or six years could have never given you what God gave you today. Come on here. Sitting on a psychiatrist’s couch for six years or 60 years would have never matched up to what God gave you here today through this man of God. And so we thank God. We thank Him. He’s taking us higher. We thank Him. We glorify Him. Hallelujah. God is doing something and we’ve got to act like we got it. Amen. Amen. Amen. Hallelujah. I rejoice for you. I didn’t get a word like that personally, but I rejoice for you.

Oh my God, for what He’s doing. Hallelujah. That was a word of hope, a word of peace. Hallelujah. A word of confirmation. A word to push you into your destiny. Oh, that was good, that was good. I’m sorry to get excited. That’s all right. My God, I know to rejoice when I get a word. Amen. Because I believe the word. That shows God that I believe what He said. Hallelujah.

Come on now, He done got real personal. He ain’t give y’all no general word. He went on in there by the grace of God and giving God the glory that we have one among us who He can use, who He will use to help us. Amen. Amen. We thank God. Spiritual reform. Y’all stay remain standing because y’all getting ready to come and give your seed offering. Start getting your seed offering together. Amen. Amen.

He said that too many have a form of godliness denying the power thereof. He asked the questions, "Are we pleasing in His sight? Are we pleasing in God’s sight?" He said you can’t keep up with God without His Spirit. He said show me what it is. We ought to ask God, "Show me what it is about me that You don’t like." Some of us don’t want to hear that part. But that’s what we need because we want to be pleasing to God.

The question he asked is also, "Do you understand Him right? Do you understand God right?" Some people say, "I understand God," but do you really understand God? Do you know why you are here? He said God never gave us religion, He gave us salvation through Jesus the Christ. Amen. And He reminded us that we’re supposed to be in the ark. Therefore, the problems of the world shouldn’t cause us to drown. Amen. And spiritual reform can shake the devil off you. Don’t y’all know that?

And it’s time to be all in away from sin. And I just added this little part because it kept coming up in the book of Titus, and I want to encourage you as you go through your reading this week to—I’ve never been in the service where the preacher read the whole book. But he went through Titus 1, 2, and 3. That’s the whole book of Titus.

And when I went back, it was talking about so much good works. In fact, I counted five. Five times that the book of Titus mentioned good works. Right. So we know that that’s the number of grace. Amen. It said when you have been spiritually reformed, you will do good works. And your good works will not be evil spoken of.

Amen. In Matthew 5:16, Jesus said, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven." So we can sit here and act like good works don’t matter if we want to. It matters that you use, after you’ve received salvation, that you put your hands to the word, to good works. Amen. Because that’s how the Father gets glorified.

And the reason why we came here is that we are to give God the glory. Our lives ought to give God the glory. Our worship ought to give God the glory. Amen. To God be the glory. Amen. We was created to praise Him and we do that once we’ve been spiritually reformed. Amen. Let’s thank God again for the word.

And although Titus is talking about the spiritual leaders, the pastors, the bishops, etcetera, guess what? It trickles down to you. It trickles down to me. We are the church. Amen. And it’s time for people to see that the church is alive and well and doing what God has commissioned us to do. Amen. Let’s raise our seeds to the Lord. Come on, give your best offering, give your best seed, whatever God has placed on your heart and in your mind. Amen.