Gospel House Ministries

Pastor Dr. Herbert Ward, Sr.: Our sermon lesson today is "Gambler or Investor". Gambler or Investor. Amen. Hallelujah. Glory to God.

When we open our Bibles right in the beginning, we find the family of Adam and Eve and their offspring Cain and Abel. You need to listen. Cain is short for "can't", and Abel is short for "ability". These two men were twins with different mindsets coming out of the same womb. Each had a different perspective of God. Cain was the oldest, and Abel was the younger.

Some time ago, I preached a sermon, "The Second Man". God always uses the second man. Adam was the first man, and Jesus was the second. Esau was the first man, but Jacob was the second. Saul was the first king, but David was the second king.

Cain, the word tells us, was a tiller of the ground, and Abel was the keeper of the sheep. Cain took on an occupation much like his earthly father, Adam. After Adam sinned, he was cursed by God. God said, "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying you shall not eat of it, cursed is the ground for your sake. In toil, you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field."

I want you to see the breakdown. Before they sinned, their food was on the trees, but after they sinned, their food was on the ground. Just look at this. What would you rather do? Pick your food from the tree or pick your food from the ground? One is back-breaking, but the other is easy picking.

Jesus said, "Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for my yoke is easy and my burdens are light." In this world, if you disregard these words and try to make it alone without Jesus, you will live a hard life full of burdens. You're a gambler, taking chances through your circumstances without God.

Abel was a keeper of the sheep. He took on an occupation much like his heavenly Father, Yahweh, who is the good shepherd of us all. Peter calls him the chief shepherd. In 1 Peter 5:2 and 4, he says, "Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly, nor as being lords over those entrusted to you." You know I don't try to lord over you.

"But being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away." Hallelujah. Abel had a view of heaven while Cain couldn't see the forest for the trees. He was earthly.

Abel was an investor. He had to invest his time, effort, and love into the sheep he was raising. Of course, he made a profit on earth selling the sheep. Abel was greater than Cain because he offered up to God what God wanted: a blood sacrifice, unlike his brother Cain.

Cain offered up to God what he wanted: produce or grain. He offered what he wanted, not what God wanted. We have people like that today in the church who want to give God what they want to give God. You can't give God what you want to give God. You give God what he mandated for you to give. You have to do it his way and not your way. We call that the Cain Spirit: the spirit that wants to do it its own way.

Cain invested in the earth, which was foolish. It was a foolish gamble. Seeing that God had cursed the ground, why would you want to give God an offering from that which he cursed? Hello, somebody. While Abel invested in heaven, which was a wise decision, Cain offered God grain and produce on the earth. Hallelujah. What if a storm or a strong wind came and destroyed it? What are you going to offer God? But those sheep are still going to stand. Hello.

Open your Bibles to Genesis, the fourth chapter. I have a lot today. Prepare your minds for it. Don't let the devil get you to sleep. I'm telling you, you're going to miss something good. Hallelujah. This will really bless you.

Genesis 4, beginning at the first verse. Are you there? Now, Adam knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain. She conceived one time and said, "I have acquired a man from the Lord." Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground like his father.

Isn't God your keeper? What Abel's doing points to heaven. In the process of time, it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but he did not respect Cain and his offering. God doesn't respect your will offering, giving what you will.

Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. Why was he angry? He was angry because God didn't respect his offering. I'm telling you, you see a lot of people walking around like pitbulls, upset, mad, and angry because they are not right with God. People are mad and they're angry.

You wonder why they're so angry. It is because their soul is not content. Cain's soul was not content because he didn't please God. So many people are wrapped up in themselves like Cain. They're not pleasing God. They're trying to find love in all the strange places. They're trying to do this and do that, but yet they're not content. You find them easily getting angry.

Anger that is not soon dismissed becomes hatred. We see that in our government, in high places. People are upset. These people have got it going on. They have money, but they're upset. The money is not pleasing them. They acquired all this money, but yet they're full of anger. Hallelujah.

The Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why has your countenance fallen?" I just told you why he's angry. People are full of hate because God has no respect for them. When you're in God, the joy of the Lord is your strength. You see that?

God has no respect for them, and they feel it. They don't know and they can't explain it because they don't know why they're angry. Have you ever gotten angry and then didn't know why you were angry? I know I have. Got an attitude and just angry about something and can't figure it out.

Look at God. Look how merciful he is. He says in verse seven, "If you do well, will you not be accepted?" God is giving him a chance. He's merciful. "And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door." I'm giving you a chance, Cain. God is giving you a chance and a chance and a chance. Hallelujah.

"And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it." Sin has no business dominating you. Sin has no business dominating your mind. You should rule over it, especially if you call yourself a Christian. Hallelujah.

Cain talked with Abel, his brother. It came to pass when they were in the field. I want to stop there. Cain talked with his brother. I wonder what he talked about. I dug and I found out what he was talking about. Cain, in the original words from Moses, said to him, "Let's go out to the field."

Cain is in the pasture. He invited his brother out into the field. The field represents the world. Abel worked in the pasture with the sheep. What happens to many Christians is they have friends that invite them out in the world. "Come on, girl, to the party with us. I know you're a Christian, but you can come. Come party with us tonight."

You go out in the world and you get your feelings hurt. You go out there and try to drop it like it's hot like you used to, and you find it ain't hot like it used to be either. Hello. When you go out in the world, the world takes from you. The world can steal your joy.

The world can take your finances. "Oh, let's go to the casino. I know you're a Christian, come on." You say, "I'm going to go out there and I'm going to behave myself." And you come home broke and sorry you went. The world can take your income by setting you up in trouble on the job, and now you get a demotion in your pay.

The world can take away your peace. The world kills you. It kills your joy. The world kills your peace. The world is there to cause you to die. If Abel would have stayed in the pasture, his brother would have never killed him. He went out in the field. He went when his brother asked him. You've got to stay under the covering of God and don't go back out in the world because the world will kill you. That's good right there.

Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is Abel, your brother?" You know when God asks you a question, he already knows the answer. Hello, somebody. He already knows the answer.

He said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?" He lied. He lied to God. You don't want to lie to God. He said that a lie shall not tarry before him. He had no respect for God, and no respect for God is to hate God. Hello.

God already knows what he did, but he wants him to tell him. So, God is giving him a chance to confess. If you confess your sins to the Lord, he is faithful and just to forgive you from all unrighteousness. God was giving him an opportunity. He gave him an opportunity back in verse seven, and now he's giving him an opportunity to come clean. But he won't come clean. Don't you be that person. You've got to come clean with God. He already knows what you're doing. He sees everything. Who do you think you fool? Tell him the truth.

He said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground." So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. Isn't it funny that he works in the ground? He buried his brother in the ground. He buries seeds in the ground. When you sow seeds, you expect fruit. You buried your brother in the ground, and you're going to reap what you sow.

"When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond on the earth you shall be." That's how some people are. They're a fugitive. A fugitive is someone that's on the run from the law. He's running from the law of God because he doesn't want to keep it. So, he's a fugitive. Hallelujah.

A fugitive means to waver in variety, a great variety of applications here, literally and figuratively. They continually go up and down. Remember when you were in the world? One day you were up, one day you were down, and it happened too often. You could never keep that perfect peace. You just couldn't get it right because you were living on your own strength. You weren't living on the strength of the Lord.

It also means to go up and down, be gone away. That's a fugitive. Removed, scatter, shake, to sift. Remember Jesus told Peter that Satan seeks to sift you as wheat? It means to stagger. When you're staggering, you ain't walking right. You're like a drunk. You don't want to be staggering through life.

It means to stagger to and fro, wander up and down. You don't want to be a fugitive from the Lord. A vagabond is similar. A vagabond is to waver, to wander, to flee, to disappear. Amen.

Cain said to the Lord, "My punishment is greater than I can bear." How many know the Lord won't put no more on you than you can bear? "Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground." God didn't drive him out. He drove himself out because you reap what you sow. You did it to yourself.

Don't say God drove you out. You were disobedient. He gave you a chance. He gave you more than one chance. He gave you a chance to come clean, but you still didn't come clean. You drove yourself from God. Don't say the church did it to me, them people. You drove yourself from the church. You drove yourself from God.

You wonder why you go through things in your body. You're hardheaded. You don't want to listen. You want to do things your way. Hallelujah. You wonder why sickness comes over you. When you stay under the umbrella of God because you're covered in the blood, sickness just can't walk upon you when it wants to.

God has given you a resistance. He's given you a stronger spiritual immune system to ward off sickness and disease. How many know sickness and disease are nothing but spirits? Thank You, Lord.

Cain says, "Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground. I shall be hidden from Your face. I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth." He could have changed that. He didn't have to say those words. See, you have what you say.

It happened that anyone who finds me will kill me. He said that out of fear. If he was in God, he would have faith, not fear. Some people wake up scared. Wake up in the morning and we're scared for the day, scared something will happen. "I don't want to go out there at that time. Somebody may rob me." You ever hear people talk like that? Yes, because you're full of fear. You don't know God. You're not content. You're on shaky ground. Hallelujah.

Cain represents the average man of the world. His religion was destitute of any adequate sense of sin or need of atonement. Cain had seven things against him. Number one: his worship was self-will. Don't let that be you. Do what God asks you to do. Never say no to God. I don't care if you don't understand it, don't say no. Everything with God is yes and amen. But never tell God no. You're not telling me no; you're telling God no.

The second problem was he was angry with God. Third, he refused to bring a sin offering. His fourth problem was he murdered his brother. Number five: he lied to God. Number six: he becomes a wanderer. You don't want to become a wanderer, wandering away from God, wandering away from the fire. How many know if you take one coal out of the fire, that coal becomes isolated and the fire goes out? You've got to stay near the fire to keep the coals burning in your soul. Hallelujah. Glory to God.

Number seven: Cain is no doubt the object of divine solicitude. You don't want to be alone because God has turned his back on you. Remember when Jesus was on the cross? He said, "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?" Why did he feel that? It's because sin was on him. Sin is on Cain. Now he's alone. Divinely alone is God's doing. God has given him a chance and a chance and a chance, and he refused to take the right chance because he's gambling, shooting the dice with his life.

Because he disregarded God's will and purpose for his life, he is abandoned by God, left to himself to rot and die in sin, never to see heaven, all because he was earthly-minded and not heavenly-minded like his brother Abel. Abel had the ability to do what's right to receive eternal life, while Cain had the "can't do right" to save his life.

Remember King Saul who invested in himself while King David made an investment in God and his kingdom? Every time David wanted to do something, he always referred to God for answers first, with the exception of Bathsheba. She was taking a bath, you see her name is Bath-sheba. Except for Bathsheba, which got him and his offspring in a world of trouble. Blood was spilled throughout his family all the way to Jesus.

Are you greedy or generous? If you're a gambler, you have the mindset of the world, but if you're an investor, you have the mindset of the kingdom of God. A gambler takes chances according to a moment of winning. Look at your neighbor and tell them, "Don't live for the moment."

An investor takes chances according to the future. He accomplishes and wins. The gambler wants things now. Remember the prodigal son? He wanted things now. He went out there and gambled, didn't he? He came back broke, busted, and disgusted.

The investor has the patience to wait. Hello, somebody. Luke 21:19 says, "By your patience, possess ye your souls." An investor has the patience to wait. Wait, I say, on the Lord, and again I say wait!

Gambling is worldly. It takes from you. It takes up too much time, and it takes away your heart from God and causes you to rely on self. Amen. I remember my father. When I would go to the Bronx, I was just in it. I would go where he'd go, and he was gambling. Being in a place all night long. I'd go sleep and wake up, and they're still there.

I'd ask, "How you doing?" He's mad. He's uptight, just like Cain because he's losing money. And then he didn't have sense enough to get up. My problem with my father was he didn't have sense enough to get up. He stayed there until he got broke. He wasn't providing for us right. My mother had to carry us by herself.

They rely on themselves. There are many losses in gambling. Investing brings about much gain. You gamble on one thing and lose all your things. But you invest in many things and lose some but gain more than you lost. Amen. You're invested in Christ. You lost your life, but now you gain an abundant life. You lost something, but you gained more.

Ecclesiastes 11:1-6. Solomon talks to us. Solomon says, "Cast your bread upon many waters. You will find it after many days." See, you've got to have patience. He's telling you you've got to have patience, church. The spirit will tell you what it's saying without seeing what it's saying. Thank God.

"Give a serving to seven, and also to eight, for you do not know what evil will be on the earth. If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth. And if a tree falls on the south or the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it shall lie. Amen. He who observes the wind will not sow." You're worried about it being windy because you know wind can blow the seeds away. Why are you worried about that? Just get out there and plant.

Even with the rain, if you say, "It's too rainy. I can't go out today," watch what he says. "He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap." You can't go by what you see. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. When you put a seed in the ground, you can't see it. You don't know what it's doing in there.

As you do not know what is the way of the wind, or how the bones grow in a womb of her who is with child. Isn't that phenomenal how bones grow inside the womb? It is so amazing. "So you do not know the works of God who makes everything. In the morning, sow your seed, and in the evening do not withhold your hand."

If you're in God's kingdom, you've got to keep working at this thing morning, noon, and night. It's a constant thing. You've got to constantly sow seeds. You've got to constantly pray. You've got to constantly give. Can't be sometimey when you feel like it. Amen. How many know your feelings will fool you?

"For you do not know which will prosper, either this or that, or whether both alike will be good." Now let me read it from the New Living Translation. "Send your grain across the seas, and in time, profit will flow back to you. Amen. But divide your investments among many places, for you do not know what risk might lie ahead." You can't gamble on one thing. That's how people get broke, playing the lotto. Still ain't got no money.

"When clouds are heavy, the rains come down. Whether a tree falls north or south, it stays where it falls. Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest. Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother's womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God who does all things."

You don't know what God is up to. All you need to know is say yes. Amen. That's all you need to know. "Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you do not know if profit will come from one activity or another, or maybe both." You've got to constantly sow seeds to God, church. You can't be sometimey. You can't keep putting God on the back burner. You've got to keep God before you. Hallelujah. And if he's got to get behind you, it's because he's got to push you. Glory to God. Amen, church.

A gambler has a hard way of life because the ground he stands on can shift in a moment. A gambler stands on quicksand. He loses what he has quickly. Now, some of you heard me tell this story before. When I was a teenager and I was working in the city, me and my friend went to Delancey Street. We used to get them nice clothes on Delancey Street.

They were having 3-card Monte. And I'm thinking I'm so smart, I can win, I can win. Long story short, my friend and I both lost. We lost everything, and I couldn't come home to my mother without no money. My sin caused me to do another sin and go rob somebody to get money so I could have money to give to my mother when I got home. Hello, somebody.

As a pastor, you've got to be transparent. You can't be ashamed to show your dirt of the past. I ain't worried about it. I can share with you because I'm over that. Hallelujah. Amen, church. But I was gambling and look at what it brought about. It caused me to fall deeper in sin. So, you don't want to be gambling. My God.

An investor stands on a firm foundation because he places his money, efforts, and time in various places. It's hard for him to fall. There's always something he invested in coming up for harvest that's still standing. We invest in God's kingdom because he's always standing. He's standing with us, he's standing by us, he's standing for us, and he's standing in us.

The world is designed to make you toil. Didn't God say that to Adam? "In toil, you shall eat of it all the days of your life." That's why you must give up your life and die to yourself so Jesus can give you his life, which is the better way to live. With that investment, you will reap the abundant life.

When the children of Israel were in Egypt, they toiled because of sin. And when they were in the wilderness, they had the mindset of a gambler and wanted to go back to Egypt. Yes, they did. Back into a place of sin. Listen to what they said in Numbers 11:5-6. "Remember the fish we ate freely in Egypt?" You know anything about fishing? Fishing can be hard. I spent a hundred-some odd dollars and hardly came home with ten fish.

They ate cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. "But now our whole being is dried up." Sometimes it can seem like things are dried up, but when things seem like they're drying up, all you've got to do is look up, and the blessings will come down. Hallelujah.

They said, "There is nothing at all except this manna from heaven." Be glad that God gave you something. Stop complaining about what you've got. Be glad you've got something. Somebody is in worse position than you are. That's right.

Just like the gambler, they wanted it now. They did not have the patience to wait. Wait on the Lord, and he will renew your strength. I say to all of you, wait on the Lord. God was leading them somewhere to a land of milk and honey. Listen carefully. When the spies went to spy out the land, what did they bring back?

They cut down a branch with one cluster of grapes. They carried it between two of them on a pole because the grapes were huge. God, whatever he does, he does more than enough. He's a God of more than enough. Hallelujah. They also brought some pomegranates and some figs.

Now, you be the judge. Would you rather go back to Egypt and bend your back every day to get what you need to eat, or would you rather have easy pickings from a tree or a vine where you never have to bend your back and suffer pain for it? Do y'all see it?

Church, the world is a curse for anyone who chooses to invest in it. That's gambling in a quick fix which is full of tricks. That 3-card Monte was full of tricks. But he who invests in the kingdom of God, which is God's way of doing things, shall reap eternal life, which was taken from the original man, Adam, because he sinned.

In the world, you gain an ego. But in the kingdom of God, you let God flow because he knows exactly what you need. Now the acronym for ego, E-G-O, is Edging God Out. That's what your ego does. It edges God out. Hello, somebody.

Get rid of your ego so you can get to know God's way of doing things. Ego is nothing more than a person's sense of self-esteem or self-importance, which makes them conceited or self-confident. Look at your neighbor and tell them, "You need God." You can't make it by yourself. Amen.

Turn in your Bibles to Matthew, the twenty-fifth chapter. Are you blessed thus far? Amen. Hallelujah. This is a feast. Glory to God. 25:14. "For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country." Amen. God gave potential here. He gave faith here. I want y'all to understand that.

"Who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them." What is his goods? God gave them himself. God gave you his spirit. He gave you himself. That's value. God gave you his value. You can't make it on your value, but he gave you his value. And with his value, you can do almost anything.

There's nothing too hard for God. Amen. Didn't he say "I'll pour you out a blessing" in Malachi? And I told you that blessing is his spirit. Amen. "Where you will not have room enough to receive it." Hello, you're with me.

"And to one he gave five talents, and to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability." Ability. He gave them ability, like Abel, ability. "And immediately he went on a journey." Because he gave them what they needed. I can leave y'all now. Y'all are alright. Now, you've got to do something with what I gave you, though.

Like I said, God invested himself in you. And how dare you shame him? You're supposed to act like God, live like God, think like God. How dare you shame him? "Then he who had received the five talents went." Look at that word, "went". Y'all went to see Sister Delores, right? You went because he said "go". All right, stay with me. Amen.

"And traded with them and made another five talents." How many know little becomes many? Amen. "And likewise, he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went." There are two directions here. One went up, and one went down. That's life. You need to go up in God.

The other one, the last one, he went down. That's why he received one, because God knew what was in him. "Yes, but he who had received one went and dug in the ground" like Cain. Dug in the ground and hid his lord's money. He was earthly. Amen. He was earthly.

After a long time, the Lord gives you time. He gave Cain time, didn't he? After a long time, he delivered to you part of himself. Now you need to take what he gave you and make something out of it. And there are so many people who have listened to me. There are so many people we know. I hate to say her name, but I'll say it now: Whitney Houston.

She was blessed by God to sing with that melodious angelic voice ever. But she went out in the field. Yes, she did. She went out in the field. And you know the story. Amen. You can't go out in the field, church. When God had blessed you so much, he blessed you for his glory, not for you to get glory in the world.

If you do get glory in the world, don't forget about him. That's why Stevie Wonder is still around. That's why Gladys Knight is still around. Amen. That's why Diana Ross is still around. That's why Smokey Robinson is still around. And they give reverence to God. Yes, they do. Don't you ever forget who put sugar in your tea.

Won't he make your life sweet? Hallelujah. Amen. After a long time, the Lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. He gave them enough time, didn't he? So, he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, "Lord, You delivered to me five talents. Look, I have gained five more talents besides them."

Obedience gained him a gift because it multiplied. Now watch this. God sends you out into the street to witness to people. Amen. He gave you himself to witness to the people. When you go out in the street, you trade. You trade the word of God for the word that they learned in the world.

You give them the word of God that's so profound, it causes them to lose the words of the world and they gain the words of God. Amen. And then they're added to your harvest, and now you've multiplied. You've gone to this person, you've gone to that person. When time comes for you to leave from this world, God looks at all those people behind you that listened to your word and they came to Christ.

He put something in you for you to go out and multiply it in others. Amen. If you're not taking the gospel because he gave you the power, you can't witness. Yes, you can. You've got a mouth, don't you? You know how to talk on that phone? If you know how to talk on that phone, you can talk to somebody's ear. Hello, somebody. You know how to hold a conversation. You're not mute, deaf, dumb, and blind. Amen.

Carry it on. Stop with the excuses, because that's what's robbing the church of its joy. The church is too full of excuses. Yes, they are. We've been comforted, and now God is making things a little edgy. People know how to cry out now because trouble has hit the land.

His lord said to him, "Well done, good and faithful servant. You were faithful over a few things." You learn a few things of the word of the Lord. Because you went out and got some fruit, now the word will multiply in you. See, this thing is tremendous. It's more than you can see. It's even more than gaining other fruit. It's even you gaining more power in God.

God is not going to give you but so much what you can handle. But if you keep exercising your faith, he gives you more power. But if you ain't exercising your faith and your faith is lying dormant in your pocket, how can you expect to receive more power from God? You want this, you see other people flourishing. You want it, but you don't want to work for it. Help us, Jesus.

His lord said to him, "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things. I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord." Amen. See, you're trying to work it. When you're trying to work it, you have no joy, like Cain. Cain tried to work it. That's why he didn't have no joy.

When you do what God says, look what he says: "Enter into the joy of the Lord." What is the joy of the Lord? Rest. Look at your neighbor and say, "Rest." Cain wanted it, he didn't have no rest. He didn't have no rest. That's why you see people angry and upset. They can't get no rest.

Why we can't sleep? It's because we can't get no rest. We're not trusting in God as we ought to. God will give you rest. Don't tell me you can't rest. If you keep your mind on him, he will give you rest. Amen. When you've got that rest, you wake up with joy. Amen.

He also who had received two talents came and said, "Lord, You delivered to me two talents. Look, I have gained two more talents besides them." See, obedience. Your obedience is your ability to gain more. See, obedience gives you ability. Abel, he was obedient, so he had the ability to bring God the right offering.

Cain didn't have that. He couldn't bring God the right offering. And he can't. If you've got the Cain Spirit, you can't bring him the right offering. Jesus. You do not have the ability because you're not like Abel. Amen.

His lord said to him, "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things. I will make you ruler." See, it's the few things. God gives us a small thing and we want the big thing. "I want that, I want that over there." You ain't did nothing with what he already gave you.

That's covetousness. It can be covetousness because you see somebody else and you want what they have. I'm getting ahead of myself with that one. "I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord." You want the joy of God. See, the world can't give you joy.

The world didn't give it to me, and the world can't take it away. You can get happiness in the world, but happiness is for the gambler. Happiness is for a moment. Stay with me. Amen. Happiness is only for a moment. See, something's got to happen outside of you to get happiness.

But when you've got the joy of the Lord, it comes from within. Even when things are falling down around you, you've got joy within. If you've got joy within, you've got peace within. You can rest real good. Them things ain't worrying you down. Amen.

What did he give the children of Israel? He gave them rest. They were in Egypt. He was leading them because they were toiling and tossing and turning in Egypt. But he was leading them to the promised land where they can get rest from all their toils and their turns. Amen.

God is leading you somewhere from your toils and your turns if you would just let him. If you get out of the way, stop being stubborn like a mule. God knows what to do! He knows what he put in you. Some of us don't even know ourselves, but God knows you better than you know yourself.

You don't even know what you're capable of until pressure comes. Amen. When you squeeze a fruit, you squeeze that orange, what's coming out? The best. So sometimes God's got to squeeze you to get the best out of you. That's what's happening to America. America's getting squeezed right now so the best can come out. Hallelujah.

Then he who had received the one talent came and said, "Lord, I knew You." That's the problem with the world today. You know too much. You know so much you don't know what to believe now. You looked into this and looked into that, went online and searched this and went online and searched that. Now you're confused.

You know a whole lot of stuff, but you ain't got no wisdom. Amen. Knowledge plus wisdom equals understanding. You know something, but you don't have understanding. You've got all this information in your head, but you're still ain't happy. Here he is, the one talent. That's why he got one talent: "I knew." You ain't know nothing.

"I knew You to be a hard man, reaping where You have not sown." Didn't he sow into you? Didn't he sow into you? Amen. "And gathering where You have not scattered seed." No, I called you to scatter the seeds. I gave you a part of me for you to sow. I sowed myself into you for you to go out to sow.

I'm the boss here. Don't try to tell me you know me. I know you before you was in your mother's womb. You going to tell me you know me. Yes, sir. Thank You, Jesus. "And I was afraid." Look at that. "I was afraid." Where did that come from? The devil. You're carnally minded. Yes.

See, when you're heavenly bound, you're not earthly, and you're full of faith, not full of fear. Amen. "And I was afraid and went and hid your talent in the ground," just like Cain. Hid it in the ground. "Look, there you have what is yours."

Cain had the ability, but he put it in the ground. The gambler. Cain had the ability, but he put it in the ground. What has God given you? Some of you have got gifts and talents, and you don't even want to share them. Some of you take them for granted, and it's nothing to you because it comes easy to you, so you don't think it's nothing.

But God gave it to you, and you hid it in the ground. What man has a light and put it under a bushel? God gave you light, and you don't shine the light like you're supposed to shine the light. And you wonder why you're not happy, wonder why you go through ups and downs.

I want every day to be wonderful. I want every day to be peaceful. Yes, trouble can come my way, but that doesn't mean trouble's going to get in my way. Amen. I've got to keep on moving. I can't let trouble stop me. God's been good to me. Hallelujah. I can't look at what's happening on the outside. I walk by faith, not by sight. I just believe God anyhow. Hallelujah. Amen.

Look, you have yours. Amen. So, he refused to work in the vineyard. He refused. You don't want to refuse God. Stop refusing God. There are some of you listening to me, and you have refused God, and you wonder why you go through what you go through.

You wonder why you don't have peace like you want peace. You see everybody happy but you, because you still trying to do you. Get rid of you! You're in the way! Don't you get it? You're in the way!

But his lord answered and said to him, "You wicked"—look at that—"and lazy servant." That's the problem: you're lazy, you don't want to do nothing. You want stuff to come to you, but you don't want to go get it. Ain't that what Mary Mary said? "Go get it." Didn't they say go get it? Yes.

"You knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed." But I gave you power, didn't I? "So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest." Amen.

When you invest even in the stock market, that is God. That's kingdom principle. Hello, y'all. I don't care if you say, "But the stock market ain't in the world, Pastor." But it's a part of God. God wants you to take that chance. Trust him. He'll help you out in the stock market.

We are not educated about the stock market. We need to be more educated about the stock market. You put a little in there, put a little this year, put a little next year. Amen. And watch your money multiply. Talking to somebody in here. Amen.

"Therefore, take the talent from him and give it to him who has ten talents." To whom much is given, much is required. So if God gives you a lot, you can expect and believe that he gave it to you because he knows you can handle it. Amen. He's not going to give it to a fool. And sometimes he will give it to a fool to show the fool how much of a fool they are.

"For to everyone who has"—who has what? "Who has more will be given." Who has what? For everyone who has faith! Faith! Put faith in there. Y'all should be writing stuff in them places. Amen. Yes.

For everyone who has faith will be given, and he will have abundance. But him who does not have faith—see that?—even what he has will be taken away from him. You need to put faith there. Amen. You need to understand what God is saying. I keep telling you it doesn't have to be printed out for you; the Holy Spirit will show you what he's saying.

"And cast"—look at that. To cast something means to throw. You throw garbage in the garbage can, don't you? Amen. You don't want God to throw you nowhere. You want God to plant you, but you don't want him to throw you. Hello, somebody.

You were planted in this ministry. He didn't throw you in here; he planted you in here. So you ought to be growing. Thank God. I've been praying for spiritual gifts in all of you. Hello, it's coming. I'm seeing it bubbling up. Amen.

You've got to take what I'm saying and run with it. Don't sit in osmosis and expect it to fall out the sky in your lap. No, you've got to go get it. Go get it! Thank You, Lord. "And cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

You don't want to be that person. This stuff is true. See, you know what makes people in trouble? They don't believe God. "I believe in God. I know God and he rose from the dead. I know he gave his son." But if you know, if you believe God, why you stay in sin?

You stay in sin because you don't believe what he said. He said the wages of sin is death. If you believe him, you stop sinning so much. Hello. See, you don't realize that. You think you're getting away, "I got time." Stop thinking you've got time. Young people are dying faster than old people. Hello, somebody. Amen. If you believe what he said, then you should stop sinning on purpose. Because it feels good. And that feel-good is only for a moment. You're gambling with your life. Hello, somebody.

In the 40s through the 70s, gambling was something like cancer that ravaged families, destroyed families. It hurt families tremendously. Yes, it did. Men gambled their hard-earned money on a Friday night after getting paid and would not come home until Sunday night or Monday. Trust me, I witnessed it with my own father.

After work, after losing every cent. No groceries were bought, no bills were paid, and quite often the rent was past due. What was a woman to do after her man had left her and the family down time and time again? Let them down time after time.

There would be arguments and fights because the man was setting the children's teeth on edge. See, he's drinking from a bitter cup, and now the children got a taste of that cup too. But God said that won't happen in the New Testament. We're going to get there. Thank You, Lord.

Then men had no faith in God. They did not believe in God enough to invest in his kingdom, in his way of doing things. See, the kingdom of God is God's way of doing things. You can't live according to the kingdom of this world. You're gambling with the world. You need to invest in the kingdom. Hallelujah. Amen.

They leaned on their own understanding, having no direction out of poverty. They kept themselves in poverty. They thought they were trying to get out of poverty by gambling, but they kept themselves in poverty. Amen. They gambled their money away in the ground, having nothing left to go around instead of investing in heaven.

Investing is deeper than just money. What are you investing your time in? What do you do during the day? How much is going in your ear gate that's of God? How much is going in your eye gate that's of God?

What have you invested your heart in? What's in your heart? Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. What have you been talking about lately? Have you been talking about Jesus or you've been gossiping?

What do you invest your thoughts in? So a man thinketh, so is he. So when you see people act a funny way, that's what they've been thinking. Let me help you out: whatever you've been thinking about yesterday, that's what you've got today.

See, your life. You grew up and you had all these dreams, these things that you wanted. You kept your mind on that. You went to school, you got your education. You kept your mind on that. Some of you gave your life to Christ, some of you gave it later, but everything that you thought about yesterday is the results of today. That's where your mind was at. See, wherever the mind goes, the body follows. Amen.

What is your walk invested in? Who are you walking with? Are you a cougar? Walking with that young man? He's your sweet thing. Who are you walking with? You walking with people that curse all the time, causing you to curse?

What you walking with? Are you walking with Jesus? Amen! Hallelujah! See, you've got to invest that walk, you've got to invest that walk in God too. Can't be walking with the devil and then think you're going to come over and walk with Jesus. Hello, somebody. Amen.

What is your talk invested in? Is your talk invested in foolishness, evilness, hurtfulness? Do you invest your talk in constantly lying or hurting people's feelings with harsh words? I heard—what's her name, the actress Monique? She said, "I love to curse. Oh, I love to curse."

Steve Harvey said it too. "I love to curse." I don't love cursing. What's the joy in cursing? See, that's a worldly mind. I love to bless. I don't love to curse. I love to bless. Hello. Amen.

What have you invested your children in? Is it the internet, video games? That's the babysitter, the modern-day babysitter. Yes, it is. Have you invested them in the world, hoping they would become an athlete or entertainer of rap music or dancing, or even a comedian?

All these things are good, but without God in the midst of it all, it will come to naught. It will all be in vain. You ought to have faith in God and train up your child in the way that he should go, and when he gets old, he will not depart from it. Amen.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. If you're hoping for the best for your children, hope in God. Amen. Seek you first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you. Amen.

Hear the parable of the grandmother who wanted to be called "Glam-mother" or "Glam-ma". See, that's the new thing now. She's glamorous. Oh, she's glamorous. She felt like she was too pretty and cute to be called "Grandma" or "Grandmother".

She spent very little time with her grandchildren. She took them nowhere and acted as if she didn't care. And she shows them nothing. All she knew how to do was correct them when they were wrong and always bringing up their wrong.

She did not want to babysit because her grandchildren didn't fit into her plan. As she got older, her health declined, and it came to her mind that her grandchildren didn't give her any time. They rarely called and didn't come around at all.

Then her son said to her, "Mama, how can you expect them to give you when you never took the time to invest in them? When you were able, you didn't invite them to your table. And now that you're old, you wish this was a fable. But it's all true because you did not do what you were supposed to do.

And you act like they owe something to you. But you can't reap where you have not sown. And this you cannot bear when you know you was not there. You was not there for them. You were supposed to be the matriarch and harden not your heart.

You wrote this story, and now you want them to give you the glory. You gambled your time away. Now today, what can you say that can wash it all away? They never got to know you because you refused to show you as their grandmother. You wanted to be called something other."

When we gamble with life, we can never make up for lost time. But if you invest your time wisely, things will come out best. Amen. Look at your neighbor and tell them, "Life is full of tests." Gambling is investing in the wrong things which brings sorrow. Cain lived in sorrow.

Turn to 2 Peter, second chapter. Here the word of the Lord. "But there were also false prophets among the people." That's the problem today. You've got false prophets all on the internet confusing people, teaching backwards gospel. And people coming and running to the church trying to tell the pastor about it and not knowing they following a fool.

"Even as there will be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in destructive heresies." See that? It's happening right now today. Somebody's at home listening to that mess right now. "Even denying the Lord who bought them." See, you were bought with a price. You were bought with the blood of Jesus Christ. Hello, somebody. Amen.

"And bring on themselves swift destruction." You see that? Swift, because you're listening to heresies. You listen to unfounded truth and you bring it to your breast, thinking you know best when you don't know nothing at all. Hallelujah. Amen.

How many know time is filled with swift transition? "And many will follow their destructive ways." Yes, they will. That's why we've got the fool in the White House. "Because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed." Taking the right for wrong and wrong for right.

Hurting people that do right and making them turn out like they are wrong, when you are the one that's wrong. But because you're so wrong, you want to make them look wrong and you want to look right because you live by the night. You're not the children of the day because you don't know the way. That's right.

"By covetousness, they will exploit you with deceptive words," as is going on right now. "For a long time, their judgment has not been idle." See, God's really saying, "I see what they doing. My judgment isn't idle, it ain't gonna sit still. It's going to come on them one day. May not make them four years."

"And their destruction does not slumber. For God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved for judgment. And did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah." See, I don't care what the world is doing. The world is headed for self-destruction. Don't you be in it too. Amen.

"One of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly, and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example." We're seeing cities burning right now, are we not? Amen.

"Making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly." So God is warning people. Yes, with these fires and all these things, plane crashes, because you don't know what your day may hold. You better know me! Hallelujah. Amen!

Because you've got fools in leadership right now, and they'll lead you down a rabbit hole and you won't be able to come out. They'll kill you like Cain did his brother Abel. Yes. "And delivered righteous Lot"—now I want you to hear this—"who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked."

"For that righteous man dwelling among them tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds." He hung around them. What are you around them for? You're a righteous man. What you keep hanging around unrighteous people?

Because you want to be seen. Because you've got the thirst for authority. Hello. And like I said, Abel shouldn't have gone in the field. Abel should have stayed where he was at, in the pasture. Hello. So you go out in the world, the world will jack you up.

You're around these ungodly people, they will torment your soul. You're trying to keep up with the Joneses. You better try to keep up with Jesus. Amen. "Then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation." So he'll do it if you let him.

"And to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment." So God sees what they doing. God sees what's going on in this government, and he's reserving them for the day of judgment. Don't worry, they ain't getting away with nothing. Look at your neighbor and tell them, "They ain't getting away with nothing."

"And especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority." See, they despise authority because they wanted to get in authority, and now they want to be respected and now they want to be held as king. King my foot, they doing.

They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries. Oh, we get that every day. And it's only been two weeks. "Whereas angels who are greater in power and might do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord."

See that? Even angels have got sense enough not to talk bad about you. Got more power. They understand God. They know how God operates. So we have to watch our tongue, how we speak about one another. You bless with your tongue. You don't curse with your tongue and then you are going to try to shout hallelujah. Blessings and cursing can't come out of the same mouth. No, no, no, no.

"But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand." Amen. So much is going on because somebody don't understand. People are hurting and crying and running because somebody don't understand.

If they did, they wouldn't do what they do. "And will utterly perish in their own corruption." Do you see it? It's in the word. So that's why I said, trouble doesn't last always. Don't worry, trouble will be gone soon. You've got to speak this thing.

You've got to pray these things, church. You've got a tongue. You've got to speak it! Speak it! Stop complaining about what you see them doing and start speaking against what they're doing so they can be gone soon, however God chooses. However God chooses.

"And will receive the wages of unrighteousness as those who counted pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you." And what makes me sad is some church folk following that foolishness.

"Having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls." And that's what's going on: that's why they follow, they was never stable in God. That's why they were easily deceived. Because they wasn't stable. When you stable in God, you—what do we sing?—"I shall not be moved." That's right. Amen.

"They have a heart trained in covetous practices." See, they rich, but they want what you got. They got everything. Billionaires! Billionaires, but they still want to take from the poor. Mess is that! Covetous!

"Trained in covetous practice and are accursed children. They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness." There are people who love the wages of unrighteousness.

"But he who was rebuked for his iniquity, a dumb donkey"—see, you can't hear the word of God, God gets a dumb donkey to speak to you—"because you're dumb, speaking with a man's voice, restrained the madness of the prophet."

"These are wells without water." Amen. "These are wells without water." Amen. Didn't Jesus say he gave you rivers of water, living water? Not just any water. Rivers of living water. Amen. Glory to God.

"These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lust of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error."

"While they promise them liberty"—see that, it's going to be free, it's going to be a golden age—"they themselves are slaves of corruption, for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage." See, these people you listen to, they going to bring you down into bondage.

You're following the way of the world. You following the way of Balaam because they love the way of unrighteousness. "For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning."

"For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than having known it to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: 'A dog returns to his own vomit'"—anybody ever see that? I have—"and a sow having been washed, to her wallowing in the mire."

The major problem with our world today is that our leaders, both political and spiritual, have not invested in the unadulterated word of God. Amen. They've become selfish and greedy. They are certainly not generous, looking out for their own needs while the people they lead bleed.

They gamble with their position, and now nobody wants to listen to what they have to say. That's why churches are empty. The people have been led astray. They are like sheep without a shepherd. Last one: Jeremiah 31. Go to Jeremiah 31. You getting it thus far? Amen.

Jeremiah 31:27-34. Amen. "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast." In other words, I'll allow men to produce more men and I'll allow men to have more beasts: cattle, goats, and sheep.

There is going to be some prosperity there. "And it shall come to pass that as I have watched over them to pluck up"—see, I've watched over them to pluck up, to break down, to throw down, to destroy, and to afflict. "So I will watch over them."

He's saying, "This is what I did to Israel: I plucked them up, I broke them down, I threw them down. I did it to destroy them and to afflict them." "So I will watch over them to build and to plant." See, God plants you, he doesn't throw you. Amen.

"In those days, they shall no more say, 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes.'" They won't know that no more. See, it's changing. He's talking about a new covenant here. "The father has eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge. But everyone shall die for his own iniquity."

I'm not going to let this happen no more, God is saying. What you've done wrong, I'm not going to allow it necessarily to come on your children. If you don't know me and you're in the world, yes, it's going to come on your children.

But those of you who know me, the sins that you did in the past because I forgave you of those sins, I'm not going to allow them sins to come on your children. Do you get it? Thank You, Lord.

"Every man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be on edge. Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel" in verse 31, "with the house of Judah."

"Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them." Don't forget that: a husband. We are the bride. Amen.

His bride shall be adorned in glory. "Though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel in those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds."

That's why the battle is in the mind. I just told you earlier, you think bad because you're doing bad, and you think bad things are going to happen because you think bad. You're having bad thoughts. Change them thoughts! Stop thinking things the worst is going to happen. Amen.

"And write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people." How is he going to be our God? By allowing him to write his word on our hearts, for us keeping his commandment. That's how he becomes—you can't say you're a child of God, you know good and well you don't give God nothing, you don't study, you don't even give him time.

You lie to yourself. You've got to spend time with him. Amen. Just like you needed to sit under Grandma's table and sit before Grandma to learn wisdom from Grandma, you need to sit before God. Hello. Yes.

"No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they all shall know Me." See that? If you want to know me, I'll tell you myself. You ain't got to wait on your mama, your brother, your sister, nobody. You ain't got to wait on Auntie or Grandma. If you really want to know me, ask me. If you ask not, you receive not. Amen.

"From the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." So stop bringing up your sin. If God has forgiven you from your past sin, why do you keep bringing it up? He says, "I forgot it, why do you keep remembering it? Why you keep remembering it?"

In conclusion, a true investment, a good investment, brings joy for tomorrow. Your investment in God gains you eternal life. Now you need to listen because I'm going to tear down something Satan put in our mind. I'm going to tear something down.

Your investment in God gains you a mansion. You better listen to me. Right now, you have a house. You are a spirit that lives in a house. Your body is your house. But because you live in the way that you love the Lord, you have kept his commandments.

What did he just say to you? He said, "I will put My laws in their minds." Anybody have their mind stayed on Jesus? If you don't, I urge you to let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus. Amen. That's how you obtain your mansion. Listen to me carefully.

He says that he will write his law in your heart, but you must let him so that he can be your God. He says, "And they shall be my people." He's only going to give mansions to those who are his people. Alright, stay with me.

Jesus said in John 14:1-3, "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions." Now, that word "mansions" means dwellings. It means dwellings.

"If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you." Where is that place? I'm preparing a place for you. That place is the mansion. Thank You, Lord. Stay with me now.

He's not going to prepare a building for you. He's not going to prepare some building for you. And we've been taught that, we thought that. It's not a building. He's going to prepare a body for you because the body you have right now cannot dwell in heaven with him.

You're going to have a body like Jesus that can walk through walls or just appear in the room. Eat food and not have to go to the bathroom. Remember heaven will be on earth. You will have deity in you.

You will be 100 percent man and 100 percent God, just like Jesus. 1 John 3:2 said, "Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." So you're going to be just like Jesus. Amen.

In John 14:1-3, he goes on to say, "And if I go to prepare a place for you." You need a place in heaven. "I will come again and receive you for myself; that where I am"—see, where he is, you'll be also. You're going to be just like him. He's seated on the right hand of God, you're going to be seated on the right hand of God. Hallelujah.

Jesus lets us know that he will go and prepare a place for us. Matthew 25:32-34 says, "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations"—that mean all the people—"will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats."

You know goats are always bucking, bucking against the truth. "And He will set the sheep on the right hand." See, I told you you're going to be on the right. "Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."

You're going to inherit the kingdom, but you're not going to inherit a building. You're not going to inherit a building. Hallelujah. Glory to God. Hallelujah. Amen.

Now, the mansion is your spiritual body. All your life you thought it was a place you were going to be inside something. No, the mansion is your spiritual body. On earth, you have a house; in heaven, you're going to live in a mansion. Y'all better stay with me. Amen.

Jesus is going to be seated on the right hand of God, and so are you. Why would he give you a mansion edifice to dwell in when heaven is your home? Hallelujah. Right now, you are seated in heavenly places. That's what it says in Ephesians, second chapter.

We live in houses to protect us from the cold, the rain, and the storms. In our house, we have a stove to cook food and a refrigerator to store food. Food is for the body, the human body. But you're going to receive a spiritual body. Amen.

In your house, you have a bathroom. What will you need with a bathroom in heaven? You see that? So what is he going to put you in a building for in heaven when buildings are on earth? Amen.

When Jesus resurrected, he ate food with the disciples, but when he went through the walls, the food didn't stick to the walls, did it? No, it didn't. He ate food with them in the house. But when he went through the wall, it didn't stick on the wall. My God.

The mansion that you receive is nothing but the fruit of your investment. The fruit of your body while you're down here. Your body right now is a house. But when you get to heaven, you'll receive a mansion. That's why you can't be gambling down here on earth. You need to make an investment in heaven. Amen.

What's the difference between a house and a mansion? It's called capacity. Capacity. When you receive a new body, you will have greater capacity than you had on earth. Your body right now does not have the capacity to handle heaven. No. It's an earth suit.

So when Jesus says, "I go to prepare a place for you," he's actually saying, "I go to prepare a body for you that can handle the place of heaven, which is my Father's house." Listen to what he said. "In my Father's house are many mansions." Who puts mansions in a house? Who puts many dwellings there?

Who puts a mansion in a house, not to mention many mansions in one house? No, you become the mansion. Instead of your body, the earth suit, you will have a mansion, a heavenly suit. Just think about it.

When Jesus came to earth, he told a man who wanted to follow him, "The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." Yes. Why would he need a house here on earth when the earth is his footstool? He didn't need a home here because this is not his home, and it's not your home either.

We're just pilgrims. Hallelujah. Sojourners here. Amen. Jesus didn't even need a job here because he was on his job. He didn't need to earn wages here because his wages were with his Father in heaven. Amen.

Hebrews 11:13-16 talks about all who had faith in God. It says, "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland."

Truly if they had called to mind that country from which they came out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better. Somebody say "a better". A better home! That is a heavenly country.

Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. Your mansion, you're going to be living in that city. Amen. We will be the mansions in this city he has prepared for us because he has now given us the capacity to live there in that city. Thank You, Lord. Do you get it? Hallelujah.

John says in Revelation 21:2, "Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.'" Hallelujah!

We will be the mansions in the city. We will be the mansions in the city! We will not be living in mansions in the city, but we will be the mansions in the city! Praise God! Hallelujah! Thank You, Lord.

You're down here on earth making your investments to live in that city. Yes. So don't gamble your time away chasing the wind when the old earth that you're working so hard for is going to pass away. People working so hard to get something here, get something here, worked so hard, don't even have time to come to church.

They ain't got time for their children. They working so hard and die and go straight to hell. Yes. If you do, you are living a fruitless life. Are you a gambler or an investor? Now that you have heard these words from God, repent! For the kingdom of God is at hand.

Repentance is your first step to redemption. Repentance is your first installment towards your investment. Are you a gambler of this world or an investor of the kingdom of God? Now listen to this. Listen to this.

This old building keeps on leaning. I've got to move to a better home. Do you get it? The old folks knew it. They put it in their song. They said, "I've got to move to a better home." They knew they were going to get a mansion. They're not going to live in a building but be the mansion.

This old building keeps on leaning. I've got to move to a better home. This old building keeps on leaning. I've got to move to a better home. This old building keeps on leaning. I've got to move to a better home. This old building keeps on leaning. I've got to move to a better home. This old building keeps on leaning. I've got to move to a better home.

Are you moving to a better home? Hallelujah. Are you a gambler or an investor? Don't gamble your life away. This is not where you want to stay. You want to make it up to see the Father. You want to hear him say, "Well done." Hallelujah. Let us pray.

Father God, I bless You. I praise You. I thank You for Your word. Your word is light. Your word opens us up. Your word gives us more faith to believe. We just thank You for Your goodness. We thank You for this feast of a meal.

It was beautiful. It was delicious. It was sweet. And so I pray Your continued blessings upon this flock. I pray that You continue to bless them, give them a greater thirst for You, a greater desire for You. Help them to invest in Your kingdom.

Help them to not live to be stingy. Help them to be content with You where they're not worried about their finances because they know You've got them. Help them to use their finances wisely, not as a fool. Help them to consult with You when they want to do something concerning their finances.

Help them to invest in time, time in You, so that time won't be wasted because You are redeeming the time for them. I just bless You, Lord. I praise You, and I thank You for Your word hidden in my heart that I might not sin against You. Bless these Your people.

Bless those who's listening on YouTube. Let this go forth. Let this go viral in the name of Jesus. Many people need to hear this word, Lord. Many people are confused. They don't understand the time that we're living in.

Time is winding up and You're soon to come back. You're coming back for a church that You will present to Yourself without spot or wrinkle. We are the bride. Hallelujah, that will be adorned in Your glory. We're going to meet You in the sky, Lord.

We're all looking for that day, that great day of reckoning. So we thank You, Father, that we walk by faith and not by sight. You are our keeper. You are our maker. You are the lover of our souls. You are the lifter of our heads.

In You, we live and move and have our being. Without You, we are nothing. We're simply nothing. Help us to understand that. Let Your word go forth now. Bless each and every one under the sound of my voice. Let no one forget what was said here today.

Father God, let them know that they've got to go back home and watch this again to get the fullness of what You're saying. Your will be done, Father God. I thank You for this word. Bless Your people. Keep us in good health, Father God.

Protect us wherever we may go this week. Your will be done in us, and help us to carry this gospel wherever we go. Father God, help us, those who know our families are in trouble. They're in trouble like Cain was in trouble, and we need to pull them out of the miry clay.

We need to tell them what the Lord had to say today. So Your hand be with us as we talk to our family members. You planted this in us. You gave us talents. You gave us the ability. We don't want to be like Cain and can't. We want to be like Abel and have ability to take this word wherever we go. Your will be done, Lord. I thank You. Thank You, Jesus. In the precious name of Jesus. Amen and amen.

Guest (Male): Hallelujah. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Was that a meal? Was that a meal? Hallelujah. You can be seated in the house of the Lord. Thank God for that meal. That was not any kind of frank and beans by no scope of the imagination.

That was prime rib, y'all. Praise God. That was prime rib. That was a lobster with all the fixings. That was a five-course meal. That wasn't no snack, no little appetizer. That was a meal. My God. Something we can feast on that'll take us from here to eternity.

Are you a gambler or an investor? That's a decision for you to make. He explained everything. Cain, understanding that Cain is earthly and it was short for "can't", and Abel is an investor and it was short for "ability". God has given us the ability to please him. Isn't that wonderful?

We have no excuses. To God be the glory. Cain asked "Why offer to God what God cursed?" God wants our heart. Cain was angry because he wasn't right with God. When we find ourselves angry, we need to find out: are we in right standing with God?

The scripture says to be angry and sin not, but if you linger in that anger, it will soon, if it's not dismissed, become hatred. That's what we're finding in this earth, more and more hatred. God is love. He encouraged us not to be shooting dice with our lives.

Gamblers rely on self and it is a hard way of life. A gambler stands on quicksand. But how many know on Christ, the solid rock, I stand? We're an investor. He says we invest in many things. We might lose some things, but guess what? We're going to gain more.

That's the thing, because if we give up family, we give up mother, we give up father, we give up houses, God told us we're going to gain more. Not just in the sweet by and by, but right here on earth we're going to enjoy it. Amen. Standing on a firm foundation. Church, Lord God Almighty, that was something else. Yes, it was. That was a lot to digest.