Gospel House Ministries

Pastor Dr. Herbert Ward, Sr.: Our sermon lesson today is God can use someone like you. Look at your neighbor and tell them that. God can use someone like you. Amen. God can use someone like you. Amen.

The thought of it is that so many people don't believe God can use them because of their sinful past. I'm reminded of David Berkowitz. Does anyone remember that name? David Berkowitz was what they called the Son of Sam back in the 70s. He went around New York City killing, if I'm not mistaken, brunette-headed women or blonde-headed women. But he had a problem. He said a dog or something was talking to him.

So, he was sentenced to life in prison. He is still in prison, but he gave his life to Christ. They have put a documentary out on him. A lot of people are mad with him. A lot of people don't believe it. But I know God can turn anybody around. How dare we say that God isn't with that man after what he did? The people that say that don't understand God. There is nothing impossible for God.

If you touch heaven with your prayers and with your faith, God can turn any situation around you may find yourself in. His situation didn't get turned around for him to be free, but his heart is free from the sin of his past. God wants to bring this lesson to you today to let you know I don't care what you have done wrong. I don't care what people say about you. He can still use you. Don't count yourself out because God still counts you in.

All throughout the Bible, God used fallible people, meaning people with faults and flaws liable to error or be deceived. He used them to do his work on earth. These people were ordinary people born of ordinary parents, used by God for miraculous purposes. God, through his divine powers, thought it not robbery to use those whom he created in his image and in his likeness. Who else could be a better choice than those whom he made to reign like him?

Although they were imperfect, God has shown us through the Bible that he can use people who have been intoxicated from drinking, which was Noah. He can still use people who lie, which was Abraham. God can still use thieves and con men. He's using one right now in the White House. He can still use people who have deeply offended a family member, and this was Jacob the thief, the con man. He who deeply offended his brother to the point his brother wanted to kill him for stealing his birthright.

He can still use people who have murdered someone and those who have a very hot temper, which was Moses. God can still use people who have failed to lead properly, people who are filled with sexual promiscuity. You know, those who got to have it and can't control their desires, like Samson, whom he used to kill Israel's enemies, which happens to be God's enemies. Any enemy of yours is God's enemy too.

God is still using people who were born out of wedlock, whose parents were not married, who have gotten in bed with another man's wife, who had a strong sexual appetite for beautiful women and succeeded at accomplishing his desires, which was King David. The one who witnessed and said, "The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for my feet." David was so close to God. He was so intimate with God. One day he peeked in and heard Jesus talking to God.

That's where that scripture comes from. He is letting us know that he heard his Lord say, "Sit at my right hand." Isn't that something powerful, that you can hear God and Jesus conversing? David was that close to God. Many of you have seen that scripture, but you didn't know that's what it was. Yes, David overheard them speaking. You need to get to the place where you're that close to God.

Some of you say, "Well, that's in the Bible." What's in the Bible can still happen today. Don't cast it aside and act like that's impossible. There is nothing impossible with God. No, you can't do it by yourself, but there's nothing impossible for God. These six men God wants to use today to show us just how mistaken we are when it comes to sin and our availability to God because of it. These were men of the Old Testament who were under the law, with the exception of Abraham.

If God pardoned them, excused their sin, or forgave them, I say to you all, God can use anybody he wants to use. More so today because we are not under the law. Everything you see, he made it. Everyone you see, he made them. Who told us that there are commandments for God? I've heard of the Ten Commandments for man, but not for God. That he must abide by some commandment if someone sins, they are not useful to him? Well, that's far from the truth.

First of all, where sin abounds, grace does much more abound. I don't think people really understand that verse. It means that no matter how much sin and how much great the sin may be with a person, the grace of God is fully extended to them and to a much more of an extent. It supersedes the sin effect on a person. Grace opens blind eyes. Grace helps you to realize just how much you need Jesus.

Does anybody need Jesus? How much you need salvation? Grace brings you into the marvelous light. Grace shows you things right to think right. Philippians 4:8 says, "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things."

What have you been thinking about lately? Have you been thinking about your troubles? Have you been thinking about how the bills are so high now? What have you been thinking about? If I were you, I would focus less on the problem and more on the solution. The solution is Jesus. You must meditate on him. If you meditate on him, he will come and dine with you. He'll come and sup with you. He will come and see about you. Have I got a witness? He can take care of all of your problems.

Jesus was slain on a cross for you and for me. He died in agony to set you and me free from sin and shame. Because of his name, we can proclaim that we have the victory over the enemy. Just like Jesus died, you must die to self. Romans 8:13 says, "For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body..." You need God's Spirit to stay right with God.

In other words, if you don't allow your fleshly minded self to die, meaning to die from being motivated by selfish desires, sensual desires, controlling desires, which is a form of witchcraft. Proverbs 3:5 speaks in this manner, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and lean not unto thine own understanding." If you are someone who lives on your own understanding, you are not trusting Jesus. You live according to your flesh and not according to the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

Jesus was slain. He died and was used of God to save the world. You must die also and be slain from your past name, worthless. But worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise. You and I also must die to self to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise. You must give up what's cursing you, and that's sin.

Sin can curse your life, your worth, and your relationships, especially the one you have with Jesus. One thing I know for sure, people will be people, but you don't have to be like them. You're supposed to stand out and stand up for righteousness. The problem is many people think they can carry the torch of God without his Spirit. They've been deceived. There's no way on earth you can be righteous and do righteous things without Jesus as your motivator.

Look at your neighbor and ask them, "What are you motivated by?" What moves you? There are two things you should be moved by. Number one, the Holy Spirit. Second Peter 1:21 says, "For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." The second one is compassion. Matthew 14:14 says, "And when Jesus went out, he saw a great multitude, and he was moved with compassion for them and healed their sick."

Matthew 18:27 says, "Then the master of the servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt." Are you moved with compassion when somebody owes you money? I can't get no help in here. Are you moved with compassion when somebody owes you money? Don't mess with people's money. You rub them wrong when you mess with their money. But you got to overcome that because money ain't everything and money is not more valuable than people.

You should value people more than you do the money. But we got that back, and we value the money more than we do the people. That's not God, that's you leaning on your own understanding. Jesus sees all of that. He knows you gave it to them. I told you all what happened to me. The church asked for money to get us a church bus, a church van. I gave my hundred dollars, but the van never appeared.

You all know I've said it before, 420 Lexington Avenue. I went to work three months later, and a nice hundred dollar bill, brand new, spanking brand new, was lying on a high curb. Think I didn't take that money? Think soon as I touched it, God said, "Here's that money that you gave to church and they didn't get that van." Don't tell me God won't do it. It's all according to your faith.

I believe the Bible says God has given every man a measure of faith. All of you have faith, but sometimes some doubt rises up and causes you to look a little old way that you can't trust God in this. What God is saying is you got to trust me in spite of what you do wrong. You think every time you do wrong, man is not God. Man is going to hold you to something you do wrong. They're going to talk about it. They're going to gossip.

They're going to try to bring you through the ringer. They're going to put you on blast on the internet. But God is not like that. You got to stop looking through man's lenses and start seeing people through God's lenses because you get it twisted and you let what you see move you. We walk by faith and not by sight. So, we're listening to God. We raise our antennas to him, even though we don't use antennas no more.

We raise our antennas to God to hear what he has to say. We're to be a blessing and not a curse. If someone is less than, if someone is not pulling their full weight, if someone does not stand up when you and they're sitting down, you be one to encourage them. But don't go and whisper about them and talk junk about them and make them feel less valuable, as though they don't belong, as though you're better than them, because you're not.

Who told you you was better than them? You're lying to yourself. Don't place yourself above anyone. Keep your heart and mind in God. And God will make you a blessing to people instead of a curse to people. Amen, church. Glory to God. So we both have a debt to pay to Jesus, don't we? Amen. And it's called a sin debt. He pardoned your sins and you owe him your life. You have a contract and it's called the New Testament.

In this contract, you lay down your life and live the life of Christ. He indwells you and lives through you, not you yourself. Your old nature must die. Look at your neighbor and tell them your old nature must die. While a new nature, Jesus' nature, lives in you. You no longer work for what Jesus has already worked out on the cross. Your salvation, which is eternal life, that's what he worked out. You work out your soul's salvation, but not for it.

Jesus paid the price. All we must do is believe upon his work and resurrection from the grave. The problem most Christians have within themselves is when they sin, are they still valuable to God? The answer is yes, you are. Jesus is faithful and just to forgive you of all unrighteousness. I will say this, it's hard to ask for forgiveness when you are willfully sinning. You know you're just all in. You've jumped in like you jumped in a pool. You're all in sin.

It's hard to call on God. You don't even try because you think it's a waste of your time. You're not ready to let go of sin yet. You're still having fun. Anybody tell you that sin isn't fun, they're lying. We were having fun. But the problem is it doesn't endure. It doesn't complete you. There's a dead-end road to it. There's no fulfillment, no great satisfaction. If you do get satisfaction, it's just for a moment.

Just for a moment. That's why with crack and cocaine and all those things, you're trying to repeat the first high. The first high is the highest you're going to get. But after that, you ain't going to get no higher. So now you're trying to keep that same high all day, all day. And same time you're trying to keep that high, your pocket is getting drained. But guess what? Jesus knows your vein. He knows your name. All he wants you to do is call on his name and he'll make your name great.

If you are truly sincere and trusting in God, you will confess your sins. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Open your bibles to Romans the eighth chapter, beginning at the fifth verse. For those of you who are living according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh.

All they do is think about fleshly things, things that satisfy them, what they can do, how they can get over, who they can steal from. All they do is think of how they can mess up somebody's day, how I can gossip. Everything they think about is not unto God but unto self. But those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

When you're carnally minded, even though God can set you up in one of the nicest jobs on earth, he can set you up in a beautiful home, but when you're carnally minded, you can find yourself losing the things that God blessed you with because you didn't keep your mind stayed on him. And because you kept your mind on what you gained and what you got and you praise it and you talk about it and you brag about what you've done.

Time has passed and you're so happy that you got it, you're so happy time has passed and you lost sight of God. Next thing you know, those things are being removed from your life. You don't have them no more. Why? Because you took your eye off God. One thing I love about God, he's long-suffering. He can allow you to get away with something for years. But one day he draws that line in the sand and if you go any further in that sin, he's going to call you on the carpet.

You'll be wondering why this happened to me, why this always happens to me. You got all them excuses, but you know what you did. People are thinking you should think. But don't let sin cause you to sink. All you have to do is give it to Jesus. Confess your sins to him. He washes your sins away. He's faithful and just to forgive you from all unrighteousness. But somehow because of religion, a lot of us condemn ourselves already.

A lot of us just give up. And some of us just don't want to be free. We say we want to be free, but we don't want to be free because if you really wanted to be free, you would stop doing what you're doing. Amen, church. You say it but you don't mean it. When you mean it is when you're in dire trouble and when your life is about to be on the line and you may die. Now you mean it.

But when you know you got enough chance, not talking about you per se, but I'm saying in general for most people. But when you know you got it going on and when you know that it's all about the end, then you want to say, "Jesus is my friend. I know Jesus." But when everything was good and you were getting what you wanted, you didn't call him friend. You acted like you didn't know him.

And so, sin destroys you. Sin destroys your relationship with God. It says, "But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin." See, if he's in you, your flesh can't tell you what to do anymore. Your shell, your outer casing can't tell you what to do anymore.

But the Spirit is life because of righteousness. So when you're full of sin, you're not as lively as you should be. You know there's something wrong. You're not your same person. But when you are sin-free, you're walking around you skipping to my Lou and all that. You're all happy. You're very happy about life. You have peace within. It's easy for you to say good morning to people. It's easy for you to stop and talk to the older people and say nice things because you got peace within.

But when you're full of sin and you're in condemnation, you ain't got time for nobody. You walking around like a pit bull. You can curse real easy. Somebody step on your little toe, you just want to go all in with bad words. You see, you're carnally minded and you need the Spirit to enlighten you, to lift you out of this slow grave that you put yourself in because the wages of sin is death. The longer you stay in sin, it's a slow death.

Things are dying around you. Relationships are dying around you. You can't keep two pennies. And you wonder why? Sin. And you know what cracks me up with people? It's you sin, you messed up, and you want to blame other people for why you're where you're at. You did it to yourself. Didn't nobody do it to you? You did it to yourself. Be man or woman enough to admit and not live in denial that "I did this to myself."

Be accountable. Now when you come clean, that's when God can move on you. As long as you're in denial, God just, "I'll wait until you confess. I'll wait." You just wait. But when you come clean, oh man, you feel so free. There is a relief. You're happy. You love everybody now. You're so happy God has blessed you. You love everybody. You want to help everybody. But you got to keep your mind stayed on him to stay that way. Don't get to a point where "God help me now, I don't need him now."

Trust me, not long from then you will be running back to him. Oh, this is a touchy subject because everybody has sinned and I understand that. That's why you're kind of quiet and you're listening and you're thinking about your own self. But don't sit there in condemnation because I'm not preaching condemnation. God, for now there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. I'm trying to wake you up, trying to take you higher, help you to get over yourself because you are your worst enemy.

All right, go to ten. "And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit of life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you." Some of you sitting here may be wondering, "Do I really have the Spirit of God? Does he dwell in me?"

A sure sign is that if you hear God, you have the Spirit of God. If you hear God. See, Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice." A lot of people say, "I don't know when God talks." If I'm not going to tell you you don't know, I'm not going to tell you you're not a child of God. I can't say that. You got to know that for yourself. But what I will say, if you are truly his sheep, you can hear his voice.

Thank you, Jesus. That's not me saying it, it's in the word. And if you don't hear his voice, check yourself. Ask God, "Am I your child?" Now, if you really are a child of God, you wouldn't have to ask God. You know that you know that you know you are a child of God. Amen. To God be the glory. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors what? Not to the flesh, not to self, to live according to the flesh because the flesh can't do you no good. It can do you no good.

For if you live according to the flesh you will what? Die. You got to get over yourself. You personally, you the natural man, must die. But if by the Spirit you put to death—see it's only going to be by the Spirit that you can put to death the deeds of the body—you will what? Live. Not just today, but tomorrow with Jesus. Hallelujah. You ought to be happy about that.

Although God can still use you if you have sin, God can't use you if you remain in sin. You must surrender your life of sin to him. To be carnally minded is what? Death. Carni is the Latin root word for meat. A lion is a carnivore because he eats meat or flesh. By the way, so are most of you. You're a carnivore. You see, God put you inside of flesh, but your flesh should not get the best of you, the best of your mind or thought because your flesh is the external you.

It's the outer you. I'm here to let someone know God deals with the internal you, the inner man, to lead you to your eternal home. You are a tripod being. You live in a body, you have a soul, and you are governed by your spirit. You are governed by your spirit. If you live in a body, your spirit nor your soul, your soul should not be governing you. If they do, they are taking the place of the Holy Spirit.

He governs your life through what? Your spirit. And your mind is informed by whatever spirit you're of, but make sure it's the Spirit of God. Some people are being governed by the spirit of Satan. Turn to Philemon. Philemon is the book before Hebrews to help you find it. It's not even a book, it's a letter. Amen. Time.

Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother. If you are a prisoner of Christ, raise your hand. Do you all know what you all raising your hand to? Do you really know what you're raising your hand to? When you're a prisoner of Christ, you can't say no. That's why I'm asking you all, sure you're of Christ? You're of Christ. But there are some people who are prisoners of Christ and there are people who are of Christ.

A person that's a prisoner of Christ is totally sold out. Can't nothing come between them and their God. So you need to ask yourself—I'm not going to ask you to raise your hand again—you need to ask yourself if you really fully sold out, that you be gone beyond measure. Amen. Hallelujah. That's between you and God. Amen. To Philemon our beloved friend and fellow laborer, to the beloved Apphia, Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house.

They were having church in the house. And we, I believe, are going back to that in time. I believe within these next 20 years, there's going to be more church houses than there are places like this. In this city, it's hard to rent space for a church. The landlord will tell you, "We don't want no church in here." I've heard it told to me. It's hard to find real estate. The best thing for the church to do now is to get your own. Get your own because these people don't want you around.

Amen, church. We have a fight on our hand, but the problem is we have so much infighting we can't fight out of the church. We got too much infighting in the church. And so Satan has the church complacent at a standstill because they're too busy fighting one another. I was on a baseball team, church baseball team, and we never won a game. Want to know why we never won a game? Because we argued every game with one another and other teams kept beating us.

A whole summer we ain't lose—and the game that we did, we won one game and guess what? It was forfeited because we wasn't in the right field. That's how bad arguments can do you. You can't win from losing. Amen. So, what I'm trying to say is we must come together. And we must come together with a common cause to do the same thing, not you got your idea, he got his idea, they got their idea, and you expect things to work. No, we got to be with one accord.

He goes on to verse three, "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers." Who are you making mention of always in your prayers that's a part of this church? I'm saying that to you because you need to get in the habit of praying one for the other. That's right. Amen.

Now don't say, "Well, the pastor has to do that." No, I do it, yeah. I was doing that even when I wasn't a pastor. Pray for people around me that I know going through something. Amen. Hallelujah. You can help people stand with your prayer. They may be wobbling, right? May be wobbling, may be about to fall, but your prayers can keep them what? Standing. Amen.

But you got to believe that. Don't just take my word for it, you got to believe it. And if you believe it, you are activated. Amen. So I thank God for making mention of you always in my prayers, hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus Christ and toward all saints. This is what all saints should be doing. That the sharing of your faith may be effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.

For we have great joy and consolation in your love because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother. And that's your job. You shouldn't be cursing people, you should be refreshing people. When you come in their presence, there should be a refreshing going on. They should be glowing the whole time they are around you and they should hate to see you go. Amen. Anybody experience that? Thank God a lot of you all said yes. Amen. That makes me feel good. Hallelujah. Amen.

So he says, "Therefore, though I might be very bold in Christ to command you what is fitting..." Listen carefully. He's saying, "Though I might be very bold in Christ to command you what is fitting, yet for love's sake I'd rather appeal to you. I'm in a position of power and I could command you to do something, but I don't want to do that that way. I want to use the love that we have between each other, the love I have for you. I want to use it to appeal to you so you can get and understand what I'm saying."

Hallelujah. Amen. I want you to understand. And so he says, "Yet for love's sake I'd rather appeal to you, being such a one as Paul the aged and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ." Paul is saying, "I'm a little old now, I'm older now. I've been through some stuff and now as a man of age I learned how to deal with people better. You can't browbeat people and expect them to listen. You can't just upend people and talk down to them and make them feel less than and expect them to carry out what you command."

I'm going to use the love that I have for you, Philemon, and I want you to hear my plea to you. I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains. All right? Who once was unprofitable to you but now is profitable to you and to me. Let me help you out. When you first came to Jesus, you was unprofitable to Jesus. But the more you followed Jesus, he made you profitable to him, not you yourself.

So you got to keep following him in order for you to be profitable and not only—well, I like to say valuable. Profitable, valuable, either one. Amen. So he says, "I'm sending him back. You therefore receive him, that is my own heart, whom I wished to keep with me. I wished to keep him for myself, that on your behalf he might minister to me in my chains for the gospel. But without your consent, I'm going to respect you now, I wanted to do nothing that your good deed might not be compulsion, might not be by compulsion, as it were, but voluntary."

I don't want to make you do this. I don't want to act like I can call—I got stripes, I got rank over you. I don't want to do that. I want you to do it from your heart. For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose that you might receive him forever. Sometimes you may see somebody doing—that have done something wrong, but you don't understand why they did it wrong. There's no excuse for doing wrong, but there are some things in people's lives that cause them to do some things wrong. And you may not understand it, so that's why it's not good for you to make judgment on a person. You pray for them that God will deliver them from that position. Hallelujah. You pray that God deliver them from that position.

It goes on to say, "No longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved brother, especially to me. But how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord? Amen. If then you count me as a partner, receive him as you would me." Amen. How many of you would do that? How many of you would do that, worried about—how many of you go through that? You worried about your reputation. If you do something to help somebody, you worried about your reputation.

See, Paul is saying, "Look, I've done this for the person, but I'm not really worried about my reputation per se, I'm concerned about you, Philemon. He did something wrong, but I'm asking you to forgive him. I'm asking you to take him back and I know now that he's profitable. You got to trust me as your friend." I'm here to tell all of you all, God don't throw nothing away. Hallelujah. Amen.

He uses everything. Amen. Even the crap that you did in your life, he takes that when he saves you, he take all that crap that you did in your life and he takes it and sprinkles it around you to fertilize you. Hallelujah. How you know dung make things grow? All that crap in your life, he sprinkles it around you to get you to grow. Hallelujah. So every time you smell it, every time you see it, it reminds you of where you're going. You're going up, you're not going down because that's what it does. That's what fertilizer does, it grows you. Hallelujah. Amen. Amen.

So he said, "If then you count me as a partner, receive him as you would me. But if he has wronged you or owes anything, put that on my account." Amen. We shouldn't be beholding no one to their past sins. We shouldn't be holding nothing of past sins over anyone. 19 says, "I, Paul, am writing with my own hand. I will repay, not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self besides." Amen.

So, I'm thinking about Paul said, "I don't want to do this by compulsion, I want you to do it from your heart." But Paul is now saying, "You know you owe me too, right? You know I've done things for you too. So now, do this good thing, brother. Do this good thing." Amen. "Yes, brother, let me have joy from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in the Lord." And you, as a Christian, should be going around refreshing people, blessing people, not cursing people. Amen.

Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. See, that's when you got a relationship with people. You know when you talk to them, they're going to listen to wisdom and they're going to do the right thing. Amen. The message in this letter is that you may not be profitable to God when you started, but he surely knows how to make you profitable to him if you keep on believing and following him consistently.

Onesimus is just like many people today. He stole from his master. God is our master. How many times have you failed to give unto God what's due him? When you fail to give God an offering or his tithe, which was practiced by Abraham before there was the law, you are robbing him. We are not under the law and neither was Abraham, but he still gave tithe to Melchizedek. You're supposed to give God your life. You belong to him, but you stole yourself away from him with your selfish and foolish ideas.

You know when you lean on your own understanding and when you believe in you and not in Jesus. Yet God can still use someone like you. But you must surrender to God and his will and forsake the past of sin. Your will, that's why you like to steal because it's of your will. Amen. Not God's will. Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed me. "Yes," he says. But you say, "In what way have we robbed you? In tithe and offering."

There are people who have robbed God of praise and worship. They fail to come into his house and worship and praise him. So they are not profitable to God. We enter his gates with thanksgiving on our lips and we enter his courts with praise. We will say, "This is the day that the Lord has made and we shall rejoice because he has made us glad." Hallelujah. God don't make you mad unless you're blaming him or hating him for telling you the truth.

But even so, he still can use someone like you. Amen. Satan's mission is to stop you from listening to God. Amen. Onesimus was connected to Philemon, his master, but was disconnected because of the sin he did towards his master. Now Philemon's name means affectionate and Onesimus' name means profitable. Listen carefully. You are profitable to God when you allow him to be affectionate to you.

I'm going to say that again because you all are still thinking about it. You are profitable to God when you allow him to be affectionate to you. Him giving you Jesus was a sign of his affection toward you. Satan's job is to keep you from being attracted to God. When you become attracted to his Son, Jesus, you yourself become affectionate and profitable. But without God, you can still be profitable but not under him. Guess who? Satan.

But with God, all things are possible if you only what? Believe. He can use someone like you despite your sins and your failure. You will never know unless you give him a try. When I was a teenager in the choir, in the youth choir, we used to sing a song titled, "If You've Tried Everything and Everything Has Failed, Try Jesus." And then it goes back, "If you've tried everything and everything has failed, try Jesus. If you've tried everything and everything has failed, try Jesus. Oh yes, he'll be your dearest friend, someone who will be with you until the end. If you've tried everything and everything has failed, if you need a helping hand, someone who will understand. If you've tried everything and everything has failed, try Jesus." Hallelujah.

Paul was Onesimus' Moses or deliverer. He delivered Onesimus out of bondage to Philemon. Jesus delivered us from slavery. Thank you, Lord. From the slavery of sin. You must, or at least try to deliver someone from slavery like Paul and Jesus did. If you don't, God can still use someone like you. We're to be more like Jesus as we develop a relationship with him. Hallelujah. Amen. Glory to God.

Paul was like Jesus. He said to Philemon once again, I'm saying again, "If then you count me as a partner, receive him as you would me. But if he has wronged you or owes anything, put that on my account." Jesus took all your sins and placed them on himself. Thank you, Lord. He did the same thing for you so God could not punish you and I for what we owe him. Hallelujah. Amen, church. Glory to God.

You see, God, he was so affectionate to us. And I want to get this straight now. I wanted to say this. He was so affectionate to us. Now, Onesimus means profitable and Philemon means affectionate. Satan do not want people to get together. So if you get Philemon who was affectionate and Onesimus who was profitable, that's who God wants you to be. He wants you to be—see together they was affectionate and profitable, but Satan separated them because of what? Sin.

So God uses Paul and bring them back together because that combination, affectionate and profitable, that'll work. That'll sell. That'll draw people to Christ. Amen. And so that's who you're supposed to be. You're supposed to be affectionate and profitable to God. And Satan will use sin so you could stop being affectionate and profitable to God. Do you all understand? These two were a powerhouse because one was affectionate and one was profitable. Amen. You can't lose with that, church. Hallelujah.

So that's why I say Paul was Onesimus' deliverer. Amen. So Paul was like Jesus. He said to Philemon once again, I'm saying again, "If then you count me as a partner, receive him as you would me. But if he has wronged you or owes anything, put that on my account. Amen." Go to Acts. And this is it. Acts the ninth chapter, beginning at the first verse. You're familiar with this story. Amen.

Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus so that if he found anyone who were of the way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Sound like Saul want to be ICE. Yeah. That's ICE. See, there's nothing new under the sun, you all. Stuff we see happening today, it already happened. Hallelujah.

Satan wants you bound. You can't get around, he wants you bound so you can't get around to help God. As he journeyed, he came near Damascus and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" Now know this that Saul heard of Jesus. He was there when they stoned Stephen. He know about this name Jesus.

And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" Then the Lord said, "I am Jesus." And I can imagine, just imagine now, he heard about Jesus, he know Jesus died on the cross, but now "I know he did, but this man talking to me now." So look what it says. He says, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. It's hard for you to kick against the goads." But look at Saul. So he's trembling and astonished.

I guess you would be astonished because the person you've been killing people because of this name and now this name is speaking to you. I would be haunted. I would be real scared because this man is really talking to me now and I thought he was dead. I thought he was of nothing and now he's trying to tell me that he's of God. Oh, I'm in trouble. I'm in trouble. So then the Lord said to him, "Arise." Anytime you're down, God is always going to tell you to arise. Amen.

Arise and go into the city and you will be told what you must do. And when God tells you what you must do to get out of sin, do it. That's right, do it. And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. That's haunting too. And then Saul arose from the ground and when his eyes were opened, he saw no one. He saw no one because he was blind all the time.

God just made it official. What he was doing was the work of a blind man who didn't know God, who didn't have sight for God. He only saw religion. And religion has put a lot of people in church hurt, in problems. And some of them don't even want to step in the church because so much has happened in the church to them that they just say, "I give up." But God hasn't called you to be a give-upper. He calls you to fight on.

For this race is not for the swift nor for the strong, but for he who endure to the end. You see, when you go through these trials and temptations, when you go through some things where people put a stumbling block in your way, that's God testing you. Satan is trying to get you to lose but God is always standing telling you you're going to win. Yeah, you're going to win. But you got to believe. You see that? You got to believe.

Now if you doubt God, you're going down. God don't want you to go down, he wants to lift you up. Have I got a witness? Amen. So now, but they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days, three days without sight and neither ate nor drank. God put him on a fast immediately. Hallelujah. One key thing about sin, if you're in a deep sin, go on a fast. Go on a fast.

So he was three days without sight. Why? To overcome spiritual blindness. Fasting is on the menu for you when you're in spiritual blindness. That's the only way. Fasting brings you closer to God. You may see blurry, but fasting will help you to see clearly. Amen, church. Let me help you out real good. We talking about the flesh, right? If it bothers you real bad to fast, that means your flesh has too much power in you. It does.

It has too much power in you. You supposed to tell your flesh what to do. Your flesh shouldn't be dictating to you, telling you what to do. "Oh, go get that Häagen-Dazs. Don't the Häagen-Dazs." That's the flesh telling you then. It's telling you go get the Häagen-Dazs. I did it for three months once. I was my stomach was out here. And I was just feeding my flesh, just feeding my flesh. "You want ice cream? Okay, I'm going to get it." And that's what I was doing.

See, anytime it's hard for you to fast, that's because your flesh is more dominant than the spirit man in you. And so you need to pray. You need to stay in the word. You need to weaken, you need to weaken that fleshly man in you. You need to break him down. You need to make him so weak he can't leap up in you no more. Because why? The Holy Spirit done come in and sat on him so he can't rise up in you. Amen, church.

God wants the best for you, saints, and you got to be willing to receive it. Amen. Hallelujah. Amen. So he was three days, and isn't it funny God put you on a fast and you didn't even know he put you on a fast? Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus. He wasn't a priest, he was a disciple. How many of you are disciples? That means this person was just like you and God sent them to people just like you. Sent people just like you. He's a disciple.

"Oh, you got to go to the priest, you got to go to somebody high in the church for that." We just members. Get that out of your mind. God can use anybody he wants. You his child, right? He can use you. Why are you his child if he can't use you? Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias. And to him the Lord said in a vision, "Ananias!" And he said, "Here am I, Lord." And that's what you supposed to do.

So the Lord said to him, "Arise." Everybody got to arise when it come to Jesus. "And go to the street called Straight and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying." You see that? Now, Saul is in the right position. He's praying. He's fasting and he's praying. And look how God got him in there. And look, we know what's going to happen to him. Look how fast he got his sight.

And see, some of you don't want to do what's right. You keep prolonging your agony. You keep prolonging your sin because you're not ready to give it up yet. You still want to dibble-dabble in it. And see, the longer you dibble-dabble in it, it makes you worthless. It makes you powerless. Hallelujah. Amen. So you have to be willing to let it go. You mean sin is such a good friend of yours that you want to keep it? Yeah, I'm saying it that way so you can see what you doing.

And in a vision he has seen a—now this what I love. In a vision God tell him, "He seen you already. I programmed him to see you." That's when God—look, this man is in a world of trouble but God is helping him out a lot. And so I'm here to tell you, I don't care how much trouble you in, God can help you out a lot. Stop thinking because of the trouble you in God don't want to help you. Stop letting Satan whisper that to you.

You are a child of God. He loves you beyond your mind, beyond what you can think. Amen. He wants you to be saved. He wants you to be right. He hates to see what Satan is doing to you and you are deceived by Satan thinking that God don't want you no more. But yes, he still loves you. He still wants you. He's in love with you. But are you in love with him? Hallelujah. That's the question. Are you in love with him?

And see our problem, we love some of us love ourselves more than we do God. That's your downfall. That's your downfall. You don't want to give him nothing. You give him pennies for an offering. You don't want to give him—you just give him a little prayer when you go to bed and when you get up in the morning. You do that every day or sometimes. You not really committed to God. You just going through the motion. But you not receiving your full portion. Amen. Speak, Holy Ghost. Thank you, Lord.

He seen them in a vision, his name was Ananias, coming in and putting his hand on him so that he might receive his sight. So Paul is prepared. Don't you see God can prepare you for your blessing? How he know he can prepare you for your blessing? Yes he will. And then you got to look at this whole thing where Paul is going through how God is, you know we say he intermingle in the affairs of man, how God get in there and do things.

Look at this whole picture. God was there all the time. He was the orchestra. He was the puppet master. Then Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priest to bind all who call on your name." But the Lord said to him, "Go." See, God don't want to hear that. "If I told you to go, don't worry about that." That's what God say.

"If I told you to go, that's going to heal you from that problem. Amen. Go, for he is a chosen vessel of mine." You see that? This man was killing people like John Gotti. He was walking around taking people's lives like he was ice. But God say he's a chosen vessel of mine. So why do you look down on you? Why do you think you're not capable of pleasing God? All you got to do is let go of you because you in the way of you and God.

If you let go of you, you can see more clearly. Hallelujah. And you can love God more dearly. Hallelujah. Amen. But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen vessel of mine to bear my name before the Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name's sake." Didn't Saul, didn't he suffer a lot of things? Yes, he did.

And Ananias went his way and entered the house and laying his hands on him, he said, "Brother..." see he called him brother. Now some of us Christians, "I ain't calling him no brother. He came, he just now came. He just got in church. He ain't really prayed, really saved yet. I'm just calling him by his name. I ain't going to call him no brother." You sick. Something wrong with you because you don't know God as you should if you got that kind of attitude. Like you arrived, like you ain't been through nothing.

"Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road as you came..." see, and when you prophesy, you prophesy accurately. See, nobody told him nothing. He didn't know what Saul was going through, but he's saying exactly what he went through and he wasn't there. Because God told him. He didn't have no outside information, God told him. "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road as you came—he wasn't there—has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."

And God sent me to tell some of you in this room that he wants you to receive your sight. You may be walking around like you all right, but he says you blind as a bat. He wants you to receive your sight and to be filled with his Holy Spirit. He says, "But I can do it for you, but you haven't given me your whole heart yet. You gave me a piece of your heart, and what am I to do with that? I just kicked that to the curb. That's nothing to me. I want all of you. It's either all of you or none of you." Hallelujah.

Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales. See, God will do a quick work in you. You make it longer because you won't totally surrender. "I didn't say, I didn't see nothing yet. God ain't moving." What did you do? Did you move toward him yet? Did you call on his name? Do you surrender your will to his will? Stop thinking you can just get on a merry-go-round and jump on and go for a free ride.

God is through with giving people free rides. He done drew the line in the sand because he's about to crack the sky soon. So he's telling the church, "Get right, get right, let's go home. Get right, church, and let's go home." He's telling us to love one another. He's telling us to get with our family members and warn them of his coming. He soon to come. He's telling us to be like Noah and make sure your family get in the ark. Hallelujah.

So immediately there fell scales from his eyes, something like scales, and he received his sight at once. And he arose and was baptized. He arose, he didn't stay down. And so when he had received food, he was strengthened. He received spiritual food first, did he not? When God get you straight for good, he strengthened your faith. And then Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus.

And if you read further, Saul even went into Arabia for three years before he came back to be Paul. Amen. Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord. God used the light to reveal to Saul just how dark his soul and mind was. He had no idea he was so deep in sin. Why? Because he was deceived by the law of man because God had already come in the form of Jesus to enlighten us that there has been a change, not by law but in the way we believe and receive him.

We believe him for what he has done on the cross and we receive him for what he did with death. He destroyed our last enemy, death, by getting up from the grave to save you and me. God knows what's in your heart. Do you believe that? God knows what's in your heart right from the start. It's up to you to part from your wicked ways. Amen. Proverbs 20:27 says the spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all inward parts of the belly or of his heart.

God wants to lead us by our spirit and help guide us when we can't see with our natural eyes. Saul was blind. That's why God used the light of Christ to correct him. Light corrects, light reveals the truth. The light showed up and showed Saul that you're not as powerful as you think you are. Even if you were granted power by the high priest to bring people bound to Jerusalem. Saints, the law causes you to be bound, but grace came that you may be found. Hallelujah.

Jesus, the great high priest, has released his favor upon you so that you can overcome any temptation that tries you. Don't ever count yourself out and never, I mean never, let someone else count you out. Because they have not a heaven or hell to put you in. We serve a God who is the God of another chance. He doesn't glance at your circumstance. No, he looks into the heart of man and sees what's right and what's not right.

You must hold on tight when you go through your darkest night and he will make it all right as he holds you tight in his arms because God can use someone like you. Thank you, Lord. Do you believe that? God can use someone like you. But let me say this, God is not mocked. Whatsoever man sows, that shall he also reap. You better believe that. Don't play with God. Not at all.

You need Jesus to undo what you did to yourself. You've sinned and you must admit it. Confess your sins every day even as you pray. Amen. In conclusion, Satan, although he was persecuting Saul, although he was persecuting Christians, God knew and saw what was in Saul. Paul was in Saul. Amen. Paul was in Saul. Yes, he was. And Jesus knew how to bring the Paul out of Saul by shining his light on him.

Didn't he do it? He can do the same for you if you let him. God saw that he could use someone like Paul, who was committed to God. Saul was deceived by Satan to kill Christian believers. He thought he was in the will of God, not. Saul was working through a lie, through deception, not through truth, which blew up his proof that these people were offending God. When in fact, he was offending God by persecuting his people.

You see, you see how deceived he was. The law is not a lie. The law is not a lie, it is the foundation of God by which we live. The law could never save us, but it can teach us the ways of God. If we let Jesus be the head of our lives and not just quote those words because it sounds good. You know how people say that? "I be giving honor to God who's the head of my life." We just say that so loosely and we don't live it as we say it. That's right.

And also let him be the anchor of our souls and the captain of our ship, our worship. There's no demon in hell that can resist us nor haunt us because we got Jesus. Have you got Jesus? Amen. He's all that we need. Hallelujah. He should be the only one we see when we're in trouble and lost in sin. God sent me to tell you God can still use a person like you. Thank you, Lord.

Take a lesson from Saul. God can't use you if you can't see spiritually the things not seen with the naked eye. God does not measure you by your sins, but man does. God measures you according to his grace. God looks to see if you believe upon his grace. He looks to see if you have his grace in your heart. Not sin, for you were born in sin. Jesus came to see if you wanted to be born again. Yes, he can use someone like you. Look at your neighbor and tell them God can use someone like you. Amen, everyone. Amen.

Somebody once said, "Can we all just get along?" No. We couldn't. And we can get along if we stop looking down on one another. If we stop looking at faults with one another and we realize that none of us is perfect. All of us have come short of the glory of God and I don't care who you are, God still loves you. He still has a desire for you. He won't throw you away. Thank you, Lord. Amen.

He came to sup with you to stay. He didn't God don't come to you for a visit. Yes, right. When he come, listen to what I'm saying now. You know how you see in the Bible God gave Adam and them a visit. No, God doesn't come to you for a visit, you in the New Testament. He comes to live in you. Thank you, Lord. And when someone come to visit, to live with you, they not visiting, are they? No, they not.

Yeah, people come from out of town, come down south, you wish they'd go back home, they've been with you too long. That's right. You thought they was coming for a visit, they came to stay. Well, let me tell you, Jesus come to stay. He come to live in you. Amen. Isn't he wonderful? Hallelujah. So show love to your brothers and sisters. You don't know what they going through. You don't know what mountain they have to climb.

But you pray for them every time. And I'm telling you all, if you, we all would get in that position to pray for one another on a constant basis, you'll see a greater change in this church. How it's changed, but you'll see a greater change in those you worship with. Yes. You should want to see people worship. You should want to see people ahead and not behind. You should want to help people to get ahead and not just watch things.

Be active. Be useful to God. Let God have his way with you. Amen. And if you be busy for God, you ain't got time to sin. Yes, that's right. Amen. See, the idle mind is what? The devil's workshop. You get in trouble when you take your mind off Jesus. If you keep your mind stayed on Jesus, he'll keep you in perfect peace. And see when you got perfect peace, you ain't worried about sin because you kept your mind on Jesus. That's right. Amen. How many of you love the Lord? Hallelujah. Amen. Tell him, "I love you, Lord!"

Father God, yes Father. You are awesome. Hallelujah. You are mighty. You are altogether lovely. Yes, Lord. You are just what we need. Yes. Sometimes we look over here and see people got this and we look over there, Father, and we see people got that and then we want it. But Father, all we need is you. We need you because you are truth. Everything else around us is a lie. Yes, sir.

You are truth, you are the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to you but by the Son, comes to the Father but by you, Jesus. And so Father, we thank you. Hallelujah for your word today. It made us look inside ourselves, it made us to see where we are with you. Are we right with you or are we wrong in ourselves? Help us to answer that question, Lord. Are we right with you or are we wrong in ourselves?

Saul was wrong in himself, Lord, but you showed him how to get it right. Thank you, Jesus. You sent him to a street called Straight Street. Somebody needs to be straight now. Somebody needs help right now. Hallelujah. Help them, bless them, help them to surrender their life to you. Help them to know that we don't have much more time here on earth. And you are now sending out, you are casting out your net. Thank you, Lord.

Your spiritual net, and you grabbing all who are willing to get in your net and bring them in. Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. And I pray, Father God, that this sermon was a spiritual net to grab people who are listening right now wherever they may be in the world. A spiritual net has been released to bring people to Jesus, to you, Lord. And I pray that these people will be effective for your glory in the precious name of Jesus.

We thank you, Father God, for victory over the enemy. We thank you for giving us a mind to serve you. Yes. Father God, where will we go and you not find us? Where can we be and you not see us? You see everything, you know everything. So why do we think we can sin and get away with it, Lord? Hallelujah. Help us to know we can't live in sin, we have to live by grace.

And we thank you that no matter what we do wrong, you can never do too much, do so much wrong that you will not love us except blasphemy against your Holy Spirit. So now, Father, have your way in the minds of these people. Hallelujah. Cause them to meditate on what you're saying. Help them to see themselves for where they are now. And if anyone in this room see that they not right with you, help them, help them, help them to get right with you now.

Yes, Lord. Help them to turn their hearts towards heaven. Yes. And live this heavenly life, they can live in heavenly places. They don't have to drown with the rest of the world. Jesus. But you have provided a spiritual ark for them to come and live in. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Until you crack the sky. Thank you, Lord. So Father, I bless you. And I pray that no one in this room will deny that they need Jesus.

And those who are listening on YouTube and WMCA, you have your way, Lord. We bless you this day. We thank you for what you do and how you do what you do. You refreshed us today. Father, have your way for the rest of our lives. Have your way. In Jesus' name we all pray. Amen and amen.

Guest (Male): We thank God for that wonderful word coming from the man of God on today. Hallelujah. That was some word. I'm going to do a summary, but I'm going to do a summary according to what struck my heart. That's good, yes. God can use a person like you. Like me, like you, like you, like you. He can use all of us. You better go ahead.

Like Pastor was saying, if he could use a liar like Abraham, if he could use a thief and con man like Jacob, if he could use a murderer that was hot-tempered like Moses, I know he can use us. Amen. David was promiscuous, we won't talk about that. If he could use King David, he can use us. Amen. That's right. I like when he talked about Saul in Acts 9:1-19.

We look at people with our eyes. We see people with our eyes. We don't even know what's in ourselves. Right. Saul didn't know Paul was in him. Saul didn't even know Paul was in him. The people that saw Saul killing the Christians did not know that Paul was in there. So how could we look at our brothers and sisters and say what's in them, say who they are, say what they're going to be?

You don't know what another person is going to be. You don't even know what God can use you for. So, I thank God for that word. Paul was in Saul. Amen. And we have to remember that, especially when we go to outreach and people come by us, some are clean, some are not so clean, some are torn out their head. But only God knows the heart of man.

That's right. That's not for us to judge. God told us to just go out and preach his word. That's it. So that his word can convict the person, so that his word can change a person's heart. Yes. So let us remember that going forward. Look at man not with our eyes, but try to look at them with God's eyes because like Pastor said, God can use a person like you.

He could use a person like them. You don't know what God is doing with anyone at any time. That's right. So, let's try not to think ourselves highly above other people. That's right, that's right. No matter what their condition, they could be homeless today and living in a castle tomorrow. It's not up to us to decide. That's right. That's right.

I also like when he said that Saul went into Arabia for three years before he returned to be Paul. You come into the church and you all on fire, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus." You very zealous, but that doesn't mean that you delivered right then. That's right, that's right. It took Saul three years to come back as Paul. But in those three years, he was consistent, he was doing God's will, he was walking with God, he was letting God use him, he surrendered his life to God.

And then he came back as Paul. He didn't just walk in the church and become Paul. It took him three years to become Paul. That's right. So be a little patient with yourselves, okay saints? Amen. That's good. Philemon was a prisoner of Christ, meaning that he was totally sold out. Yes. I know a lot of us think that we are totally sold out and maybe we're not.

We may just really know God and we know him well, but we're not totally sold out. So don't be too hard on yourself. God could still use a person like you. That's right. Philemon meant affectionate and Onesimus meant profitable to God. Philemon had an affection because his name meant affectionate. We have to be affectionate towards one another. We must love one another.

Onesimus meant profitable to God even though he started out stealing. He started out stealing, he was still profitable to God. God can change you at any time. Don't think that you can change yourself. God will change you at the appropriate time. Amen. Let us remember that sin disconnects us from God, but God tells you if you fast and if you pray, you'll be drawn closer to him. Yes.

It won't hurt you to put down that hamburger. It won't hurt you to leave those French fries alone. And even as Pastor said, it won't hurt you to not buy that Häagen-Dazs. All right. It won't hurt you. If God is telling you what to do to get out of sin, if he's telling you to fast, fast. Amen. It's for your good. Yes. God want this for your good. Amen. And he doing these things in us and through us because he wants to use a person like you. Amen. Amen. Amen.