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SPEAKER: Bishop Dr. Robert A. Merriwether, Sr.

SCRIPTURE: Acts 5:20

Behind every powerful sermon stands a preacher who masters the art of connection!   They don’t just voice the Word of God; they exhilarate it! Our beloved pastor is surely among such orators!

The above text is of great power and popularity which caused the Jewish leaders to rise up against the apostles--putting them in prison! But, the Lord sent an angel to deliver them; thus, the theme of this story (5:20) is: “Go your way, stand and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this Life!”

We see that the apostles were bold & confident when proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ! During that time, men were quick to deny Him but after hearing about the Deliverer, they were willing to die for the Redeemer! The enemy certainly wants us to not serve the Almighty!  

They (apostles) continued professing the resurrection from the dead (our Risen Lord) are for believers! The declaration was offensive to the Sadducees. Provoking Thought: Their name fitted them (Sad, you see)! They were trying to shame the apostles! Luke 24 brings the Gospel narrative to a victorious conclusion concerning Jesus' resurrection and ascension; also reassuring advocates of the Supreme One being over death and eternal life!

The disciples (or apostles) were living proof that the same Jesus whom they were with can save people from their sins! Acts 1:8 backs up the aforementioned:   “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

“…And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day: for it was now eventide.” Many heard the results that 5,000 folk embraced faith! The imprisonment was the catalyst that led the 5,000 to not doubt!   The enemy wants to break you! Sometimes, you can be broken by the ones you least expect!   His/her evilness can backfire on you! That’s what humans try to do!  

Satan wants to backfire with sickness, hurt, betrayal, schemes, etc.   Everything that you done unto me, God has undone! Those who are down, be encouraged/strong! God will undo what COVID, damaging words, relationships, drugs and other things that you’ve experience. The Lord will restore the years that were not favorable! Realize that “All things work together for the good to them that love God & called according to His purpose!”

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, they perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, but marveled. Moreover, they took knowledge of them, that they had been with the Lion of Judah! (Acts 4:13). Does your life reflect the Good Shepherd through your walk, talk, dress, attitude, love & other positive things? The ones who had discredited you, will come back & give you laurels due to your Christian characteristics! As stated in Matthew 27:5: “Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.”

Survive your season of discredit! Claim your anointing/victories/happiness! It’s yours for the asking (praying/submitting yourself to The True Vine)! Since you did not break or quit, you have a season of extra credit on the way! “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”Your boss is coming back; family business; ex-spouse, finances, children, et al that have departed from you! Having the Provider on your side, the enemy, doctors, science, etc. won’t be able to deny you! Remember: “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and He delighteth in his way.” (Psalm 37:23).

“No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord!” God can allow the ammunition form but not execute or destroy you! Comprehend that “He must increase, but I must decrease.”  “He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: He that cometh from heaven is above all.” Reiterated: Without fail, we don’t want the tricks of the deceiver to embarrass, shame or control you or anybody! Despise the shame…it’s weakening! Jehovah is preparing you to be steadfast, unmovable…always abounding in the work of the Lord!   Repeat: Go, Stand & Speak!” As the song goes: “Lord, Send Me, I’ll Go!  

Don’t forget how he rescued you from being homeless, jobless, hopeless & helpless! As the lyrics goes for this melody of praise: “I went to a meeting one night and my heart wasn’t right but something got a hold of me…” Also: “I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore. Very deeply stained within, sinking to rise no more. But the Master of the sea, heard my despairing cry. From the waters lifted me, now safe am I.” If I can’t talk, “I’ll just wave my hands.” Recall the following hymn: “How I got over?” How I got over? My soul looks back & wonder how I made it over!” The Holy Writ asserts: “I once was young but now I’m old and I never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread.” God wants you to testify how He picked you up out of the miry clay!

There’s no other name under heaven whereby we must be saved! Keep in mind that holy boldness is a vessel of honor! O Father: We need Your righteousness! “If I ever needed the Lord before, I sure do need Him now!” Law Giver: We praise You for who You are! You’re yet working miracles & showing signs. Let us all be ready to Go, Stand and Speak—reaching out to others in a favorable manner!

SPEAKER: Bishop Dr. Robert A. Merriwether, Sr.
SCRIPTURE: St. Luke 16:19-23

Today, our pastor didn’t “shrink the story” but said his message is for a mature audience to receive the gospel in its entirety—not just the love of God but His wrath as well! Certainly, we should faithfully proclaim this Glad News in its totality so hearers might repent, believe & escape the torment to come!  

The rich man and Lazarus: Jesus told the people a story about two men, one wealthy and one poor. On earth, the former lived in luxury while Lazarus lay in poverty outside the gate of his house. Eventually, both of them died. Lazarus’ soul was taken to Paradise while the rich man’s went to Hades (or hell)!

God told Moses to take off his shoes for he was standing on holy ground! The Lord’s instruction was also an art of humility (bare feet)! The request also indicated that meekness and faith are inseparable!

Worn shoes symbolize walking in “mess” from the streets, working, etc. The Almighty doesn’t want garbage or debris in His presence! Paul articulated in I Corinthians 9:27:  “But I keep under my body and bring it into subjection; lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”

We are living in a time where healing, grace, prosperity, the love of God are preached but not too much concerning hell! Hades (again, a spiritual realm of evil and suffering) is under & in the earth! Preachers do believers a disservice in these last days of stressing giving (money) but not living right!

Whether rich or poor, black or white; educated/uneducated, et al., all must be saved! If not, both can end up in heaven or hell! Regarding Lazarus, we must understand that when he went to Abraham’s bosom, it was a holding place! It was not the lake of fire nor heaven but again “holding place” until God decides his/her destiny, according to a righteous or unrighteous life!

If you don’t die right, you won’t lie right! Because of man’s disobedience, he has completely taken residence in hell!   “…My people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.” Isaiah 5:13.

“Therefore, hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.” Isaiah 5:14. Purgatory increases on a daily basis! It will never run out of space! It has no limit to get to you!

Proverbs 27:20 warns: “Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.” Proverbs 30:16 also addresses: “The grave, barren womb, land is never satisfied with water and fire, which never says, enough!” There is no “cap” or seal of how many can come in!

God gives us freedom! He doesn’t want us to serve Him like a robot or zombie! Lucifer took a third of his angels with him when He was kicked out of heaven! As testified in Psalm 121:1-3:  “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.  He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: He that keepeth thee will not slumber.”

The scriptures dispel that there will be no more free turning up with your cup…intoxication, loose living, partying, etc. “Weeping may endureth for a night but joy cometh in the morning.” You have to decide where you want to be! Will it be “This side of the grave” or “That side of the grave?”

The “heaven” (or good times) that you create on this side won’t compare to what will happen when Judgement Day come—if unholy! St. John 14:2-3 denotes: “In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you . I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

Many people believe that you are no longer conscious after death! Not so, you are still conscious after you expire! It is not “out of sight, out of mind.” We can see the beggar’s place & nothing could be done about it! Also, “and he said also unto His disciples: There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.”

Among the last things that an individual (who do not know God) is when he/she is confronted with “You refused to forgive or ask for forgiveness.” Or, doing something evil that you did not get straighten out!   When you could, you wouldn’t. Now, you want to but can’t!

The Savior doesn’t send you to hell; you send yourself because you refuse to comply accept His commandments! Remember, God is plentiful in mercy, truth & love! Don’t play with your soul!

Lamentations 3:21 reveals: “This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore, will I hope in Him.”

If you dance, don’t be a “dancing devil” but a “dancing deliverer!” Be glad for your conviction…the Holy Ghost is real!” “ For the good that I would, I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.  Now, if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me” Derived from Romans 7:19-20.

Unquestionably, God’s Word is the Truth…whole Truth…Nothing but the Truth! Bear in mind the following verse:   “Then shall they call upon Me, but I will not answer; they shall seek Me early, but they shall not find Me, Proverbs 1:28. There will be a time that the Messiah will not answer you! You may seek but will not find Him!

Micah 3:4 acknowledges: “Then shall they cry unto the Lord, but He will not hear them: He will even hide His face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.” Be careful how you treat people! You may eventually need him/her! The tables then can turn on you. Relief is not spelled r-e-l-i-e-f but J-E-S-U-S!  

“But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime received thy good things and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now, he is comforted, and thou art tormented;  and beside all this, between us and you, there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us that would come from thence.” St. Luke 16:25 & 26.

Revelations 9:6 uncovers: “And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.”

Luke communicates: “Abraham saith unto him: They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham; but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent; and he said unto him, if they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead.”

If you choose that dreadful place, you will hear people echo: “Don’t come to hell! There is weeping and gnashing of teeth! Souls are engulfed with eternal flames!” What will it take to cause you to believe? How can you be convinced that your soul is at stake?

If you can’t be satisfied by a dead man, how would you be assured by a living man? God has spoken, shook & scolded you and still you sit in your seat and don’t respond to the invitation of salvation! “The day you hear my voice, harden not your heart.” Avoid the “pain & the flame!”

Souls are asleep and paralyzed! “Get right with God and do it now…” “Who shall ascend into the hills of the Lord or who shall stand in His holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.” Psalm 24:3-4.

I Peter 4:18-19 discloses: “And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?  Wherefore, let them that suffer according to the will of God, commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.”

Somehow, I got to make this journey somehow! Satan on my track & he’s trying to turn me back, but I got to make this journey somehow! Come hell or highwaters, you have been deceived by the enemy! Make up your mind that you want to see the “I that I Am” in peace!!

“O when the saints go marching; when the saints go marching in. Lord, I want to be in that number, when the saints go marching in…” Don’t sit like a “lump on a log.” Make up your mind that for God I live & for God, I will die! Repent of your sins! Soon, the trump will sound and the Lord Himself shall descend from the heavens…” He’s coming back!

The church needs to repent (that includes everyone)! Romans 8:38-39: “For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, angels, principalities, powers, things present, nor things to come…shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

It is dangerous not to be baptized in Jesus’ Name and filled with the Holy Ghost! Quit playing church & surrender! As the song goes: “On a hill far away, stood an old rugged cross; the emblem of suffering and shame; and I love that old cross…”

“Salt and not Sugar” -- The message today from our orator was symbolic of salt—representing purification, cleansing & sanctification! It (salt) has the power to absorb negative energies, purify spaces & ward off evil spirits!   It was NOT “sugarcoated” – at all!!!

We also honor First Lady Shania Merriwether (FLOTA) for her services which have stamped an impressionable mark in our lives!