Boyd Hill Baptist Church Rock Hill, SC

voice of condemnation, remember that you needed mercy, too. Before you decide someone is not worthy, remember that God saw value in you when others overlooked you. Before you write somebody off, remember that God is still writing their story just like he is still writing yours.

Before you focus on someone else's flaws, ask God to reveal the areas in your own life that need his attention. Before you demand perfection from others, remember that you are still being perfected by God because the same grace you need is the same grace you should be willing to give. And when you look, remember this, you are not looking at someone God has given up on.

You are looking at someone God is still working on. You are looking at someone covered by grace. You are looking at someone with purpose.

You are looking at someone God is still shaping into he who he has called them to be. So, let God have his way in your heart. Let him remove the things that keep you from loving, that keep you from serving, and that keep you from that keep you from reflecting Christ.

Because when God fixes the person in the mirror, he can change the He can use that person to change the world around them. So, look in the mirror. >> [cheering] >> Praise the Lord, everybody.

Oh, praise the Lord, everybody. Amen. Amen.

Certainly, this is the day that the Lord has made. And I will rejoice and be glad in it. Amen?

Amen. Protocol has already been established. I would like to honor this pastor.

God bless you. Thank you so much for the invitation. Want to lift up just this verse, Matthew chapter 7 verse 5.

Matthew chapter 7 verse 5. And it says, "You hypocrite. First take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." For the short time that is mine in the Holy Spirit, so I want to speak from the subject the man in the mirror.

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, I thank you for another preaching opportunity. I ask now, God, that you would remove all of me and none of you.

Allow your people to see none of my sin, none of my flaws, none of my shortcomings, Father, but they hear they hear a word from you. Allow lives to be saved, delivered, set free, and transformed. In your son Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. Amen. It was the prophet Michael Jackson who penned these words.

He said, "I'm starting with the man in the mirror. I'm asking him to change his ways." He said, "No message could have been any clearer. If you want to make the world a better Come on, y'all ain't that saved.

A better place, take a look at yourself and do what?" I BELIEVE, PASTOR, THAT Michael was signifying that there was a change that needed to occur, but the change had to start with him. Michael realized that if he wanted to make a change, he couldn't judge nobody but himself. Family, we've made don't judge me one of the most quoted verses I believe in America.

We say it when somebody corrects us. We say it when somebody confronts us. We say it when somebody is telling the truth about us, but that's not what Jesus is talking about in the text.

Jesus is not talking about canceling correction, but he's correcting the people that's doing the correcting. And notice here what Jesus does not say. He does not say, "Young people, stop judging old people." He does not say, "Older people, stop judging young people." He simply says, "Judge not." Because the truth is judgment does not have an age.

Whether you are 16 or 60, you judged before. Mother of the church might say to the young girl with a short dress and a past that she's too fast. And a young lady of the church might say about the mother of the church that she's a hypocrite because she sees what she does on Sunday.

But she also sees what she does on Monday. But but can I Can I free the church of old tonight? There is a difference between being discerning pastor and being judgmental.

Judgment says, "I've already made up my mind about you." But love says, discernment says, "I want God to help you." Because the truth is correction without compassion becomes condemnation. And truth without love is just cruelty. And Jesus says, "Judge not that ye be not judged." But then he tells us why.

For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged. In other words, the standard that you use on everybody else is the same standard that will be used on you. And so Jesus here, he's warning us that uh before you become the prosecutor of somebody else's life, uh you need to become the investigator of your own life.

Uh Uh three uh three examinations real quick quickly that I believe the text teaches us that we must take to keep us from judging. Uh number one, before you judge, you should take the eye examination. Uh that single letter I.

Somebody shout, "Check yourself." Uh Jesus asked here, "Why are you so focused on the speck in your brother's eye when you ignored the beam in your own?" What I found is in my short 23 years of living is that some of us become experts at diagnosing everybody else. Uh we we we know who's messy. We know who's inconsistent.

We know who's fake. We know who's wrong, but we've become strangers to our own reflection. Jesus says you can know everybody else's business and still not know yourself.

Uh that's why I believe David prayed, "Search me, not search them." Because self-examination keeps pride from sitting on the throne. The reality is, pastor, the closer I get to Christ, the less time I got to criticize you. Because God keeps showing me me.

There's still work to do on me. And I can't focus on you if I'm focusing on me. But the old folks would say, "Sweep around YOUR OWN FRONT DOOR." Uh okay.

Can I Can I help somebody else up? People who who never examine themselves tend to always exaggerate somebody else's faults. And they eliminate theirs.

And that's the problem because we can go doing life all our life and die and go to hell because we never dealt with ourselves. Tell your neighbor check yourself, check yourself. Because if all you ever do is look outward, you'll never look inward.

Uh point number two, young or old, I need you to take the eye examination. E Y E, take the eye examination. It's in the text.

Jesus says, "Take the beam out of your eye." Notice here, he never said there was not a speck. The speck was real, but the vision was distorted. Here's the problem, church.

When my eye is unhealthy, everything I look at becomes distorted. A hurting person becomes a disrespectful person. An insecure person is going to read everything as rejection.

A bitter person is going to read everything as offense. Can I help somebody tonight? Maybe they weren't ignoring you.

Maybe your vision was just injured. Maybe they aren't against you. Maybe your eye just needs healing.

Sometimes it isn't the people around us, it's the lens that we are looking through. Uh sometimes our prayer needs to become God heal my vision. Uh before YOU LET ME EVALUATE SOMEBODY ELSE, HEAL my vision because dirty eyes always produces dirty opinions.

So, b- before we judge, we have to take the eye examination. We got to check ourselves. Then we have to take the eye examination, our vision, we got to how we see things.

And then we've got to take the heart examination. Take the heart examination because church, the real problem was never just your eyes. It was always your heart.

Because Jesus is not trying to change what we see, he's trying to change who we are. Because whatever is in my heart eventually affects how I see you. Whatever is in my heart eventually affects how I speak to you.

Whatever is in my heart eventually affects how I treat you. But that's why Jesus didn't start with the speck, he started with the beam because the beam wasn't just blocking vision, the beam was revealing his condition. Listen, a heart full of pride will always find something wrong with somebody else.

A heart FULL OF BITTERNESS WILL ALWAYS LOOK FOR A reason to be offended. A heart full of insecurity will always FEEL THREATENED BY SOMEBODY else's success. A HEART FULL OF JUDGEMENT WILL ALWAYS FORGET THAT IT WAS grace that kept them too.

But when God changes your heart, he changes your perspective. Because a healed heart can see PEOPLE DIFFERENTLY. A HUMBLE HEART CAN CORRECT without condemning.

A loving heart can tell THE TRUTH WITHOUT TEARING SOMEBODY ELSE DOWN. A MERCIFUL HEART CAN REMEMBER I'M NOT WHERE I used to be, BUT I'M NOT HERE BECAUSE I'M PERFECT, I'M HERE BECAUSE GOD HAD mercy on me. He had mercy on me.

The reason Jesus tells us to remove the beam first is because he wants to heal the person holding the lens. Because sometimes the reason I'm so quick to judge you is because I haven't allowed God to deal with what's on the inside of me. BUT WHEN GOD WORKS ON MY HEART, I DON'T HAVE TO TEAR YOU DOWN TO FEEL TALL.

WHEN WHEN GOD WORKS ON MY HEART, I DON'T HAVE TO EXPOSE YOU TO MAKE MYSELF LOOK BETTER. I DON'T HAVE TO CRITICIZE YOU TO CONVINCE MYSELF THAT I'M RIGHT. CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT OUR CHURCHES WOULD LOOK LIKE IF WE DIDN'T JUST ASK GOD TO CHANGE WHAT WE SEE, BUT WE ASK GOD TO CHANGE our hearts?

Because a changed heart creates a different church. You want a different church? Change your heart.

A changed heart listens before it labels. A changed heart loves before it assumes. A changed heart prays before it makes THAT POST ON FACEBOOK.

A CHANGED HEART RESTORES BEFORE IT REJECTS. A CHANGED HEART IS YOUNG PEOPLE ENCOURAGING SEASONED SAINTS AND SEASONED saints pouring INTO YOUNG PEOPLE. BROTHERS WALKING WITH BROTHERS AND SISTERS PRAYING FOR SISTERS BECAUSE THE CHURCH IS THE STRONGEST WHEN WE'RE BUILDING ONE ANOTHER UP INSTEAD OF TEARING EACH OTHER DOWN.

I'm getting ready TO GO TO MY SEAT. But there has to become a MOMENT WHERE YOU HAVE TO STOP ASKING GOD to fix everybody else and start asking him TO FIX ME. LORD, FIX ME.

BEFORE I JUDGE SOMEBODY ELSE, FIX ME. BEFORE I CRITICIZE SOMEBODY ELSE, FIX ME. BEFORE I CONDEMN SOMEBODY ELSE, FIX ME.

BEFORE I PUT SOMEBODY ELSE'S NAME IN MY MOUTH, FIX ME. LORD, FIX MY MOTIVES. LORD, FIX MY ATTITUDE.

FIX MY PRIDE. LORD, FIX MY JEALOUSY. COME ON, ARE WE GOING TO BE REAL TONIGHT?

LORD, FIX MY MOUTH. LORD, FIX MY SPIRIT BECAUSE IF MY THE GETS RIGHT, THEN MY EYES WILL SEE RIGHT. IF MY EYES SEE RIGHT, THEN MY MOUTH WILL SPEAK RIGHT.

AND IF MY MOUTH SPEAK RIGHT, MY RELATIONSHIPS WILL LIVE RIGHT. COME ON, IS THERE ANYBODY IN THE HOUSE TONIGHT WILLING TO SAY, "LORD, WORK ON ME." COME ON, IS THERE ANYBODY IN THE HOUSE TONIGHT? COME ON, [screaming] THE OLD SAINTS WILL SAY, "IT'S ME, IT'S ME, OH LORD, STANDING IN THE NEED OF PRAYER.

IT'S ME, IT'S ME, OH LORD, STANDING IN THE NEED OF PRAYER." COME ON, LORD, WORK ON MY MIND. ANYBODY SAYING, "LORD, WORK ON MY HEART. WORK ON MY SOUL." BECAUSE WHEN GOD WHEN God fixes me, I know how to love people without looking down on people.

Because if God fixes me, I I'll see differently. If God fixes me, I'll speak differently. If God fixes me, church, we'll forgive differently.

I'll start extending grace instead of gossip. >> [cheering] >> I'LL START SHOWING MERCY INSTEAD OF SHOWING MESSINESS. I'LL START PRAYING FOR PEOPLE INSTEAD OF POINTING AT PEOPLE.

I'LL START RESTORING PEOPLE INSTEAD OF REJECTING PEOPLE. COME ON, ONE MORE TIME, IS THERE ANYBODY IN THIS ROOM WHO KNOWS [screaming] I STILL NEED GOD'S GRACE. IS THERE ANYBODY IN THIS ROOM THAT KNOWS I'M GRATEFUL FOR THE GOD OF GRACE, WHO DOESN'T GIVE US WHAT WE DESERVE AND GIVE US WHAT WE DON'T DESERVE.

IS THERE ANYBODY GRATEFUL ON TONIGHT FOR A GOD [screaming] WHOSE GRACE IS SUFFICIENT. ANYBODY GRATEFUL ON TONIGHT FOR A LOVE THAT COVERS A MULTITUDE OF SIN? COME ON, IS THERE ANYBODY IN THE HOUSE TONIGHT, YOUNG [screaming] OR OLD, WHO SAYS, "WORK ON ME, LORD.

I DON'T DOT EVERY I. I DON'T CROSS EVERY [screaming] T, BUT WORK ON ME, LORD. I KNOW I GO LEFT WHEN I'M SUPPOSED TO GO RIGHT, BUT WORK ON ME, LORD.

WORK ON ME, JESUS. COME ON, ANY SURRENDERED HEARTS IN THE HOUSE TONIGHT? LORD, I NEED YOU TO WORK ON ME.

MAKE ME OVER AGAIN. SHAPE ME AND MOLD ME." When he works on us, the church becomes stronger. Families become stronger.

Friendships become stronger when he works on us. The youth and the elders become stronger. Because when we listen, we stop assuming.

Well, when we listen, we stop condemning. When we listen, we start to love. And when we start loving, we stop judging.

Because we listen, and we don't judge. God bless you. >> Amen.

Standing on the protocol that's already been established, I give honor to Pastor Barbara, to my pastor, the Reverend Britney White, and to you, Boy Hill Baptist Church. I'm nervous. Cuz these some good preachers, amen, and you know, amen.

But, I won't be before you long. I just need you to help me preach this message on tonight. We going to go to the beginning.

If you would turn with me to Genesis, the 50th chapter. And we're just going to look at the 20th verse. And it says, "You intended to harm me, but God intended for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." That's the word of God for the people of God.

Pray with me. Lord God, we thank you for allowing us to come back into this sanctuary to give your name all the glory, honor, and praise. God, as we go in this preaching moment, I ask that you decrease me and increase your Holy Spirit.

Have your way in this place in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.

Just for a few minutes, I want you to look at your neighbor and say, "Neighbor, my testimony speaks for itself." Can I tell you one of the biggest problems we have? Not just in the world, but sometimes in the church. We've become quick to make conclusions without taking the time to have conversations.

Somebody walks into the church and we notice how they're dressed. We notice tattoos. We notice their attitude.

We notice they're quiet. We notice they're emotional. We notice they don't look like everybody else.

And before we've ever learned their name, we've already created a narrative. We've become so good at noticing people that we've forgotten how to know people. We've become so quick to diagnose, but slow to discover.

Quick to criticize, but slow to care. Quick to judge, but slow to listen. And can I be honest?

Every person sitting in this sanctuary has a testimony that everybody doesn't know. Uh some struggles are visible. Some struggles are hidden.

Some are grieving people they have never even had a chance to bury emotionally. Some are carrying family pain. Some are wrestling with anxiety.

Some are recovering from choices that they wish that they could undo. And some are even smiling on the outside while praying on the inside, Lord, just help me make it through today. And and the danger is if we judge people before we hear them, we may miss WHAT GOD is trying to do through them.

Because people see your flaws, BUT GOD sees your future. People see THEIR YOUR FAILURES, BUT GOD SEES HIS FAVOR. PEOPLE SEE YOUR SCARS, BUT GOD SEES SURVIVAL.

People see your mess, BUT GOD SEES A MESSAGE. People see your brokenness, BUT GOD SEES THE blueprint for his glory. And that's why that's why we've got to stop making permanent conclusions on temporary chapters.

Because because one one chapter isn't A WHOLE BOOK. ONE MISTAKE ISN'T A WHOLE STORY. ONE FAILURE ISN'T the final verdict.

And can I prove it to you real fast? There was a young man by the name of Joseph. And had you met him in Genesis 37, you would have called him spoiled.

Had you seen him in the pit, you would have CALLED HIM FORGOTTEN. HAD YOU WATCHED HIM BE SOLD into slavery, you would have called him defeated. HAD YOU WALKED PAST HIS PRISON CELL, YOU WOULD HAVE CALLED HIM GUILTY.

BUT BY GENESIS 50, GOD HAD the final word. Let's look IN THE TEXT. BUT BEFORE JOSEPH COULD SAY the words that he said, he had to live through them.

Joseph's story begin in Genesis 37. God gives him a dream, a promise that one day he'd be elevated. But instead of celebrating the dream, his brothers became jealous.

They threw him into a pit, sold him into slavery, and convinced their father that he was dead. In Egypt, Joseph faithfully served in Potiphar's house until Potiphar's wife falsely accused him. Though he had done nothing wrong, he was thrown into prison.

Even there, Joseph remained faithful to God. He interpretated dreams, served others, and waited on the Lord. Then one day, everything changed.

Pharaoh had a dream that no one could interpret. Joseph was brought out of prison, interpreted the dream by the power of God, and was promoted from prisoner to governor over all Egypt. Then then years later, during a severe famine, the very brothers who betrayed Joseph came to Egypt looking for some food.

THE DREAM GOD GAVE JOSEPH AS a teenager had finally came to pass. Standing before the men who had wounded him, JOSEPH COULD HAVE chose revenge. But instead, he chose grace.

That's That's when he declares these powerful words, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." Do you mind if I preach right here? IF JOSEPH'S BROTHERS had listened, they would have understood the dream. If Potiphar had only listened, he may have discovered Joseph's integrity.

If people had listened, THEY WOULD HAVE REALIZED JOSEPH wasn't guilty. But instead of listening, they judged. They They judged THE DREAM.

THEY JUDGED the pit. They judged THE PRISON. THEY JUDGED THE ACCUSATION.

THEY JUDGED THE DELAY. But here's the good news. People can judge your chapter, BUT THEY CANNOT CANCEL GOD'S STORY.

AND THAT'S WHY YOUR TESTIMONY MATTERS. THAT'S WHY YOUR TESTIMONY SPEAKS FOR ITSELF. BECAUSE THERE COMES A MOMENT WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE TO ARGUE WITH EVERYBODY WHO MISUNDERSTOOD YOU.

YOU DON'T HAVE TO ANSWER EVERY RUMOR. YOU DON'T HAVE TO DEFEND EVERY SEASON of your life. If you keep walking with God, YOUR LIFE WILL EVENTUALLY SAY WHAT YOUR MOUTH NEVER has to.

>> [cheering] >> Joseph never had to tell HIS BROTHERS, "I TOLD you so." His testimony did. He never HAD TO CONVINCE POTIPHAR'S HOUSE THAT GOD WAS WITH him because his testimony did it. HE NEVER HAD TO EXPLAIN the pit or justify THE PRISON BECAUSE BY THE TIME GOD WAS FINISHED writing his story, his testimony spoke for itself.

Because if God did IT FOR JOSEPH, I SURE enough know he can do it for you. And that brings me to my first point cuz I wouldn't be a good Methodist preacher if I didn't have it. And the first point I got for you is don't judge the story.

Before Joseph ever made it to the palace, he had to survive people's opinions. The Bible tells us that Joseph was only 17 years old when God gave him a dream. He didn't ask for the dream.

He He didn't create the dream. God gave it to him. Yet, instead of instead of celebrating what God was doing, his brothers started criticizing him for who he they thought he was.

Uh they looked at the coat and missed his calling. They saw favoritism. They saw arrogance.

They saw a dreamer. But, isn't that just like us? We became experts at judging what we can what we can see while missing what only God can see.

Joseph's brothers assumed that they knew the whole story, because they had seen one chapter. They thought they could throw him into the pit. They thought they could throw away God's promise.

But here's what they didn't understand. You can't throw a person into a pit. You can throw a person into a pit, but you cannot throw away God's purpose for their life.

Some of us know what it exactly how that feels. People judged you for your worst decision. They judged you by one mistake, one season, one failure, one relationship, one rumor.

They hadn't met you after the heartbreak and assured that they knew who you were, but they didn't know what God was bringing you through. They didn't know the MANY NIGHTS YOU CRIED YOURSELF TO SLEEP. They didn't know how many prayers you prayed when nobody else was around.

They didn't know how many times YOU ALMOST GAVE UP, BUT GOD KEPT HOLDING YOU TOGETHER. Can I encourage somebody today? Stop trying to explain your story to PEOPLE WHO HAVE ALREADY made up their minds.

If they only knew one chapter, they don't know the whole book. Because one chapter doesn't determine the ending. One failure doesn't cancel your future, and one pit doesn't erase God's promise.

Look at somebody and tell them, "Don't judge my story." The pit wasn't Joseph's destination. It was only the beginning of his testimony. Which brings us to our next point for this evening, and it's simply your struggle is not your identity.

After the pit came slavery. After slavery, came false accusations. After the accusations, came prison.

If there was ever a man who had a reason to quit, it was Joseph. Think about it. He honored God.

He refused temptation. He did the right thing and still ended up in prison. And can we be honest?

Sometimes, the hardest part about following God it is when you expect your obedience to make life easier, but sometimes obedience makes the journey harder before it gets better. Joseph lost his freedom, but he never lost his faith. He lost his position, but he never lost his purpose.

He lost his reputation, but he never lost God's presence. And do you notice what the Bible keeps repeating? It says the Lord was with Joseph.

Not just in the palace. Not after the promotion. Not when everything finally worked out.

The Lord was with Joseph in the pit. The Lord was WITH JOSEPH IN POTIPHAR'S HOUSE. THE Lord was with Joseph in prison.

His surroundings CHANGED, BUT GOD'S PRESENCE never did. And somebody needs to hear this. What you're going through is not who you are.

You may be struggling, BUT YOU ARE NOT YOUR STRUGGLE. You have made You may experience rejection, but you are not rejected by God. YOU MAY BE FIGHTING DEPRESSION, BUT DEPRESSION does not DEFINE YOUR IDENTITY.

YOU MAY HAVE FAILED, BUT FAILURE IS AN EVENT, NOT YOUR IDENTITY. The enemy The enemy wants you to wear your pain like a name tag. BUT BUT GOD SAYS THAT'S NOT WHO I CALLED YOU TO BE." SEE, JOSEPH wore prison clothes and still carried palace purpose.

And I believe somebody walked in this room feeling defined BY WHAT THEY'VE BEEN THROUGH, AND THE LORD SENT ME TO REMIND you that your situation HAS CHANGED, BUT YOUR IDENTITY IN HIM HAS NOT. SOMEBODY SHOUT, "MY STRUGGLE won't define me." Because my struggle is temporary. But God's purpose is eternal.

I'm getting ready to get out your way. I feel like I'm boring y'all a little bit. Uh uh but there's one more point for us tonight, and it's simply somebody needs your story.

After years of waiting, God suddenly changed everything. Joseph went from prison to the palace, from forgotten to favored, from overlooked to over Egypt. But here's what amazes me.

The palace was never the point. The purpose wasn't simply to bless Joseph. The purpose was to bless others through Joseph.

When the famine came, Egypt wasn't sustained because Joseph had a dream. They were sustained because God gave the dream. Joseph trusted God through the process, and when the appointed time came, God turned the dream into provision.

Uh if Joseph had quit in the pit, somebody would have gone hungry. If Joseph WOULD HAVE GAVE UP in the prison, a nation would have suffered. If Joseph had allowed bitterness to take over his heart, his own family would have perished, but his testimony became somebody else's rescue.

And that's why the enemy fights your testimony so hard because he knows your survival has THE POWER TO STRENGTHEN SOMEBODY else's faith. Oh, I think somebody missed that. He knows your survival has power to strengthen somebody else's faith.

There is somebody watching how you can handle disappointment. Somebody watching how you keep worshipping after the loss. SOMEBODY WATCHING HOW YOU FORGIVE AFTER you've been hurt.

Somebody watching HOW YOU KEEP SHOWING UP WHEN LIFE KEEPS KNOCKING YOU DOWN. THEY DON'T NEED A PERFECT PERSON. THEY NEED PROOF THAT GOD IS STILL FAITHFUL.

PROOF THAT GOD STILL HEALS BROKEN HEARTS. PROOF THAT GOD STILL RESTORES FAMILIES. PROOF THAT GOD STILL OPENS DOORS THAT NO ONE CAN SHUT.

PROOF THAT GOD CAN TAKE WHAT PEOPLE MEANT FOR EVIL and turn it around for good. Joseph looked AT THE SAME BROTHERS WHO BETRAYED him and said, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good." In other words, you didn't write my story. God did.

And that's a word for somebody today. Don't hide your testimony. Don't be ashamed of what you survived.

Don't apologize for the scars THAT PROVE GOD KEPT YOU ALIVE because somebody needs to hear your story. Somebody needs TO KNOW THAT IF GOD BROUGHT YOU THROUGH THE PIT, HE CAN BRING THEM THROUGH THEIRS. IF GOD SUSTAINED you in prison, HE CAN SUSTAIN THEM, TOO.

IF GOD TURNED YOUR PAIN into purpose, he can DO THE VERY SAME thing for them. Look at your neighbor one last time AND TELL YOUR NEIGHBOR, "SOMEBODY needs your story." And when I LOOK BACK OVER JOSEPH'S LIFE, I don't remember the pit without remembering the promise. I don't remember the prison WITHOUT REMEMBERING GOD'S PRESENCE.

I don't remember the betrayal without remembering the breakthrough. I DON'T REMEMBER THE TEARS without remembering the triumph. CAN I TELL YOU WHY?

>> [clears throat] >> BECAUSE EVERY PIT BECAME A PLATFORM. Every prison became preparation. Every setback became a setup.

EVERY DISAPPOINTMENT BECAME DIVINE APPOINTMENT. OH, AND I FEEL LIKE PREACHING RIGHT ABOUT NOW. BECAUSE IT BECAME A DIVINE APPOINTMENT TO SOMEBODY WHO HAS BEEN CARRYING the weight of other people's opinion, trying to explain yourself to people WHO ALREADY DECIDED WHO YOU ARE.

STOP EXHAUSTING yourself trying TO DEFEND EVERY CHAPTER OF YOUR LIFE. IF THEY MISUNDERSTOOD YOU, keep walking. IF THEY TALKED ABOUT YOU, KEEP WALKING.

IF THEY LEFT YOU, keep walking. IF THEY LIED ON YOU, KEEP WALKING. BECAUSE ONE DAY GOD WILL DO THE TALKING.

ONE DAY THE SAME PEOPLE WHO COUNTED YOU OUT WILL HAVE TO COUNT WHAT GOD HAS DONE IN YOUR LIFE. ONE DAY YOUR SURVIVAL WILL PREACH LOUDER THAN THEIR CRITICISM. ONE DAY YOUR FAITHFULNESS WILL OUTLIVE their falsehood.

ONE DAY YOUR SCARS WILL BECOME A SERMON. YOUR TEARS WILL BECOME A TESTIMONY. YOUR PAIN WILL BECOME YOUR PURPOSE.

YOUR STRUGGLE WILL BECOME YOUR STRENGTH. YOUR PRISON WILL BECOME YOUR PLATFORM. AND I HEAR THE LORD SAYING, "DON'T STOP IN THE PIT.

DON'T STOP IN THE PRISON. DON'T STOP THE PROCESS. BECAUSE IF GOD KEPT JOSEPH, HE CAN KEEP YOU, TOO.

IF GOD BROUGHT JOSEPH THROUGH, HE CAN BRING YOU THROUGH. IF GOD TURNED EVIL, HE TURNED IT INTO GOOD. HE CAN DO IT AGAIN.

SO WHEN THE ENEMY REMINDS YOU OF ALL THE THINGS IN YOUR PAST, REMIND THE ENEMY OF GOD'S PROMISE. WHEN PEOPLE TRY TO DEFAME YOUR NAME IN THE WORST WAY POSSIBLE, GOD WILL REMIND THEM OF HIS PROMISE. WHEN PEOPLE TRY TO DEFINE YOU BY YOUR WORST DAY, YOU LET YOUR LIFE BE THE ANSWER FOR YOU.

WHEN THE CRITICS START SPEAKING, YOU JUST KEEP ON SERVING. WHEN DOUBTERS START SPEAKING, KEEP ON TRUSTING. WHEN HATERS SPEAK, KEEP ON WORSHIPPING CUZ YOU AIN'T GOT TO ARGUE WITH NOBODY.

YOU AIN'T GOT TO DEFEND YOURSELF. YOU DON'T GOT TO ANSWER NO LIE. JUST KEEP ON WALKING.

KEEP WALKING WITH GOD AND AFTER A WHILE YOUR TESTIMONY WILL SPEAK FOR ITSELF. >> [laughter] >> IF YOU KNOW THAT GOD BROUGHT YOU THROUGH SOMETHING, IF YOU KNOW HE KEPT YOU WHEN YOU SHOULD HAVE LOST YOUR MIND, IF YOU KNOW HE MADE A WAY WHEN THERE WASN'T A WAY, IF YOU KNOW YOUR TESTIMONY IS STILL BEING READ, OPEN UP YOUR MOUTH AND GIVE GOD PRAISE. COME ON AND PRAISE HIM.

BECAUSE MY TESTIMONY SPEAKS FOR ITSELF. WHEN I THINK ABOUT [screaming] WHERE I WAS, MY TESTIMONY SPEAKS FOR ITSELF. WHEN I THINK ABOUT WHAT SHOULD HAVE BROKEN ME, MY TESTIMONY SPEAKS FOR ITSELF.

WHEN I THINK ABOUT THE BATTLES I FOUGHT IN SILENCE, MY TESTIMONY SPEAKS FOR ITSELF. WHEN I THINK ABOUT THE NIGHTS I CRIED AND NOBODY KNEW ABOUT IT, MY TESTIMONY SPEAKS FOR ITSELF. WHEN I THINK ABOUT THE TIME I ALMOST GAVE UP, MY TESTIMONY SPEAKS FOR ITSELF.

WHEN I THINK ABOUT THE DOORS GOD [screaming] OPENED THAT NOBODY COULD CLOSE, MY TESTIMONY SPEAKS FOR ITSELF. WHEN I THINK ABOUT THE PEOPLE THAT COUNTED ME OUT, MY TESTIMONY SPEAKS FOR ITSELF. WHEN I THINK ABOUT EVERY TEAR I CRIED, MY TESTIMONY SPEAKS FOR ITSELF.

WHEN I THINK ABOUT EVERY PRAYER I PRAYED, MY TESTIMONY SPEAKS FOR ITSELF. WHEN I THINK ABOUT EVERY TIME GOD PICKED ME UP, MY TESTIMONY SPEAKS FOR ITSELF. WHEN I THINK ABOUT THE FACT THAT I'M STILL STANDING, MY TESTIMONY SPEAKS FOR ITSELF.

BECAUSE MY HOPE MY HOPE IS BUILT ON NOTHING LESS THAN JESUS' BLOOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS. I DARE NOT TRUST THE SWEETEST FRAME BUT JESUS' NAME. MY TESTIMONY SPEAKS FOR ITSELF.

>> [music] >> COME ON, CLAP CLAP YOUR HANDS AND GIVE GOD PRAISE. IF YOU KNOW YOUR TESTIMONY SPEAKS FOR YOU, COME ON, RAISE THE ROOF IN THIS PLACE. COME ON, THIS THE LAST NIGHT.

PRAISE GOD. COME ON AND PRAISE HIM. MY TESTIMONY YOU CAN'T TELL THE STORY.

ONLY I KNOW THE STORY. BUT ALL [screaming] I KNOW IS GOD KEPT ME SO I CAN TELL THE STORY. COME ON AND PUT YOUR BLESSED HANDS TOGETHER AND BLESS THE NAME OF JESUS.

>> [clears throat] >> HALLELUJAH. >> [music] [cheering] [music] >> LET THE CHURCH LET THE CHURCH say amen. Let the church say amen again.

Let the redeemed of the Lord say hallelujah. Man, can we give God a great praise for these three powerful preachers on tonight? Come on, y'all can do better than that.

Let's give God a great praise for the women and the men of God that poured out their hearts on tonight. We thank God for you. We thank God for what you have deposited into this house on this evening.

There may be somebody here today who after hearing these three powerful messages, you find yourself out of the ark of safety. Today is the day of salvation. You may come by letter, Christian experience, or candidate baptism.

However, the spirit the Lord lays upon your hearts, because he's willing and he's able to save you. I don't care what you did last night. I don't care what you did last week.

I don't care what you even did today. God's grace can pick you up. The hymn writer said he'll reach on down and pick you up if he has to reach way down.

So, are we standing around the place, would I be one who wants to come and give their hands to the preacher, but give their heart to the Lord? Would I be one? Would I be one?

If not, anyone that's in need of prayer, you may come now. The altar is open. And with it being a youth revival, I'm asking all of our youth to come to the altar on tonight.

Ladies and gentlemen, >> Let us pray. Dear God, we thank you upon tonight for what our ears have heard. We thank you for what our eyes have seen.

We thank you for what our hearts have felt. But most of all, God, we say thank you for being a God who listens to us and you don't judge us. So, God, we pray now, God, for these your children who are gathered around this altar.

God, as we come holding the hand of our neighbor, God, we don't come selfishly on tonight. But God, we come interceding on behalf of our neighbor. So, God, we ask you tonight, God, don't just bless us, God, but bless our neighbor.

God, bless those to our left, to our right, to our front, God, to our back. God, in the name of Jesus, let breakthrough be the order of the day. God, right now, in the name of Jesus, we pray, God, asking you, God, that you will put a hedge of protection around these young people, in the name of Jesus.

God, we ask you, God, that you will cover them with your love, cover them with your grace, and God, keep them with your mercy. God, we pray right now, in the name of Jesus, God, that as we leave this place, God, we won't leave the same way we came. But God, we'll leave feeling better.

We'll feel feel leave feeling empowered. We'll leave feeling inspired by your word on tonight. God, we pray now, God, for these preachers who have poured out unto us.

God, we ask you, God, to pour everything back into them, God, that they have poured out unto us. God, we thank you. God, we pray right now for the sick and the afflicted.

God, for we proclaim in your word, God, that all sickness is not unto death. So, we thank you right now for being a God who heals. God, we ask you God to look inside of us right now.

God, if there's anything unlike you, God, we ask you to remove it right now in the name of Jesus. God, we say create in us a clean heart. And God, we ask you to renew a right spirit within us.

God, we ask you, God, to make to help us to love, right? Help us to treat our neighbors right, God, in the name of Jesus. God, we thank you.

God, we thank you for your son, Jesus, who hung, bled, and died upon Calvary's cross. God, we thank you that Jesus did not come into the world to condemn the world, but he came to save the world. God, we just say thank you.

God, as we prepare, God, to close this prayer on tonight, God, we pray that you have been glorified. God, we pray that your people have been edified. God, we pray that the saints have been sanctified, the sinner has been justified, but most importantly, God, we pray that the devil in hell is terrified.

God, for this is our prayer in Jesus' name we do pray. Amen. >> All right.

So, as our youth revival comes to a conclude, I want to thank you all for coming out. I hope that you had a wonderful time last night, but especially tonight. And now we'll have our remarks and benediction by Pastor Barbara.

And then we'll have the blessing of the food downstairs. There's food in the fellowship hall. >> Let every heart say amen.

Say it again. First of all, we want to thank God. Let's give our coordinators of this REVIVAL A GOOD AND LET'S GIVE THE PREACHER FROM LAST night and tonight.

After hearing all of this good preaching, that means we ought to live better. We ought to act better. And uh every message was good.

And I won't even start saying which one was the best, but you know which one fitted you. Every one of us knows which one actually fitted us. And when you go to talking about a clean heart, that's always strikes my attention because I realize if you got a clean heart, you can have the right spirit.

If you got a good heart, then you won't judge as much. A- As long as you live, you going to judge. And I don't care how holy, how sanctified you are, somewhere along the line, you going to point your finger at somebody.

Uh so, we just want to thank you, every preacher, from the very depth of our heart for a job well done. Let's give them another hand. LET'S GIVE THE MUSICIANS A HAND.

They've been able to give us music each evening, and we say to all of you, "Thank you for your presence here this evening." And let me just say that this is the younger generation that's coming up. It has nothing to do with the old generation because we are moving off the scene. They are coming where we have been.

And as you see them, that's where we were at one time. And when you look at the young, it is it the one said, "Look in the mirror." If you don't believe time is changing, look in the mirror. I was laying in the bed this afternoon, and the wife throwed a young picture on the bed.

I don't know what her motives were throwing it on the bed, but I looked at the picture. And then I went to rubbing my head. And then I got up and looked in the mirror.

And there the great change had taken place. At that time, I had the rabbit speed. But now, it's the turtle speed.

That lets me know that time is winding up. And I say often, "Do what you can while you can." The evening sun is going down. And if we make a survey tonight, what you done yet, the speed you had yesterday, you may not admit it, but it's not as great today as it was yesterday.

In other words, each every day we lose something. We may not admit it, but every day we getting closer to the grave. And so we thank you for your attendance.

And certainly, if there's any preachers in the house, wherever you are, would you stand? We'd like to acknowledge all preachers in the house tonight. We thank you for your presence.

And when another preacher can't support another preacher, that's a blessing all by itself. And then it once talked about jealousy. That is one of the major problems in the church today is jealousy.

If we could do away with jealousy in the church, I guarantee you the church would be much better. I'm jealous of you, you jealous of me. But I always say, if you stay in your lane, I stay in my lane, things ought to be better.

We we should not have we should not have we all going in the same direction. We shouldn't have no head-on collision. So we say, may God bless you and heaven smile on you.

Again, you you want to say something? Again, we want to We No, I tell you, come on. Obedience is better than a sacrifice.

Amen. >> I just want to thank everybody for coming. Mr.

Hopkins Mr. Tashaun [clears throat] Hope, Miss Trout, thank y'all. My ministers from last night.

Miss Lee, Mr. Mitchell, and um Bush. I'm sorry, brother.

I'm sorry, brother. I want to thank all them for immediately saying yes. I didn't get any no's from any of them.

And to the musicians, thank y'all for stepping in. You had your sticks in the car, you was ready. Thank y'all.

Pastor for entrusting me to do this youth revival this year. Thank you. >> WHEN SHE CAME TO ME SOME MONTHS ago and asked if we could they have a youth revival, I said, "Yes, put it together, let me see it, and we will go over it, and I'll let you know whether I accept or reject.

I'll let you know what can be and what is not. And certainly we put it together and brought it to me, and I always say to anyone, "If you got a good idea that you can't get to work better than what we have, uh don't give it to me and you go on about your business. If you stay with it, I'll stay with you.

But don't give it to me and you don't even support it, don't even do nothing about it." So I and we sit down and we went to breakfast, we went over it, and I said, "I approve of it." So, we thank the Lord again for JOB WELL DONE. I KNOW A LOT OF YOU SAY I'M HARD TO deal with. Some say I'm set in my own ways.

But, I'm set in the way that God has me. And I always say you have to understand sometimes what you want to do is not the time. Not wrong, but it's not the time.

And so, that's why I sometimes you get turned down for the time being. You see, if you go back and listen to the message this week, and a lot of thing was in the mind at that time, it wasn't the right time. But, as time went by, then he said, "Now is the time." God anointed many as a child, but they wasn't ready for it.

But, as they grow into it, then God said, "Now is the time." Just like sometimes I've been been asking for something for many years, I'm just not getting it. And I realize if he had a gave it to me then, I couldn't even handle it. And a whole lot of us now are asking for something now, we are not even ready for it.

God is not not turning his back to that. He's telling you it's not time yet. And as you grow older and older and God see that you're ready for it, he'll give it to you.

And sometimes we asking for something and we not doing what we supposed to do. And he said, "Why am I going to give you more and you ain't doing nothing now?" But, if you know that everybody God called, were doing something. So, I say to you again, may God bless you, heaven smile on you.

Thank you from the very depths of my heart for a job well done. Thank you for your present cuz without your present all of these preachers going to come to preach to the seats. But because he laid it on your heart to come out, they were able to preach.

And let me say this again again and again over and over. Sharing it is one thing. Doing it is another.

Last but not least, I hear people tell you all the time I read my Bible. But your action says different. In my prayer my closing prayer always help me to live the life that people would not see me but see you in me.

God bless you and heaven continue to smile on you. We're going to ask uh Minister Hope to come and give us the benediction as well as blessing and refreshment on the lower level. Now, give yourselves a hand as he comes.

>> Amen. If I'm