Capitol Hill or Calvary's Hill: Judgment Begins!
Focus On God's Perfect Judgement Rather Than On The Judgements of Culture.
Matthew Maher
Jan 17, 2021 39m
Do you find yourself struggling with the unrest and trials of today? If so, it is time to fix your eyes on God's perfect judgment rather than on the judgments of the ever-changing anti-Christian culture. Video recorded at Ocean City, New Jersey.
TranscriptionmessageRegarding Grammar:
This is a transcription of the sermon. People speak differently than they write, and there are common colloquialisms in this transcript that sound good when spoken, and look like bad grammar when written.
This is a transcription of the sermon. People speak differently than they write, and there are common colloquialisms in this transcript that sound good when spoken, and look like bad grammar when written.
Matthew Maher: 00:02 Alright, so a majority of my week is spent looking into the Word of God based on where I'm at in any given text. On Thursday nights, I'm in the Book of Daniel, which helps me stay on track in any given chapter through any given section of scripture. It's easier, I know where I'm at, I know where I'm going.
Matthew Maher: 00:23 Pastor Matt is in the Book of Book of on Sunday. He left off last Sunday, completing the seventh church, the church of Laodicea, which means Laodicea, the people make decisions, that's what that means. And they made decisions of course, to reject God in a sense, thinking that they were gold, good. And God's like, no, you're poor. They felt they were clothed, and God's like, no, you're naked. They were wretched in the sight of Jesus, and he came with a rebuke, and the rebuke came because he loved them. Remember correction comes because of affection.
Matthew Maher: 00:59 So pastor Matt knows where he's going next Sunday, and then here I am interrupting that flow. And I've got to go to the text and go, God, I don't know what to share with your church. I'm not in any given book, what do you want me to say? And in the midst of preparing my thoughts to prepare a message to deliver to the church, I am getting bombarded by emails and direct messages. All of which I appreciate, every last one, even the hate mail. Some of you send me videos, I do my due diligence to watch them, if I have the time and the margin. I've watched the podcasts that you send through, to makes sure that anybody that is entrusted to this flock is not listening to poison.
Matthew Maher: 01:47 A lot of the videos that come in lately have been politically oriented, different documents, maybe the declassification of this, and this is happening over here, and it's enough to make your head spin. And then to go on the socialist media and to see what's trending, and you'll see all types of hashtags trending. And let me just say this from the pulpit, that if it's trending, it's probably not the truth. And if it's the truth, it's probably not trending. And on January 6th, all the world's eyes were pointed at a geographical location, Capitol Hill. And by the end of January 6th on the socialist media, you saw all types of outbursts of rage, all types of opinions and perspectives. I was getting messages in private saying, what are you going to say to the riots at Capitol, pastor? Inciting me to make a response before one, stepping back prayerfully considered what's happening, to make sure I don't speak too quick. Because the person that speaks too quick, often it cannot reframe what they said, hashtag Capitol Hill insurrection. And then as the days unfolded, hashtag insurrection act, video prophets said Trump signed the insurrection act. And I had to take a deep breath spiritually and go, I'm not so much interested, nor do I care about the insurrection at Capitol Hill, or the insurrection act, as much as I care about the act of the resurrection. Because my hope is not going to be found on Capitol Hill, my hope is going to be found on Calvary's Hill.
Matthew Maher: 03:35 See Peter, he wrote to the early church, he said, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a, ready, living hope, a lasting hope. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, that is the greatest event in human history, and all of eternal life and eternal death hinges upon what the individual does with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So while I have my own hopes and wishes and desires of how things should play out, I need to reorient my heart and mind, and your heart and mind, around the one true hope. And that one true hope is not in a president, it's not in a podcast, it's not in a politician, is not in a publication, it's not in a prophet, it's not in a social media post, and it's certainly not in the propaganda. The one true hope, the living hope, is only found in a person, the Prince of Peace, his name is Jesus Christ.
Matthew Maher: 04:43 And while so many things in this world, presently are killing bodies, hopelessness is killing souls, hopelessness is destroying lives. Hope needs to be aroused, hope in the right place needs to be awakened. Remember we consider one another in order to stir up, stimulate, love and good works, to encourage one another. As we see the day approaching, the day of Christ' return, that we would be mindful of where we place our hope. And there's a reason why God, he will shake things up, is because he's trying to wake his church up. When he sees a Christian who's complacent, or worse compliant to a corrupt culture, God will shake things up to wake things up.
Matthew Maher: 05:46 I've received a question about judgment. Pastor, do you think God is going to judge America? And I say, no, I don't think God's going to judge America, I think God is currently and has been judging America. Who do we think we are, that we can not only from the foundation perhaps of our country, have people celebrate slavery and not expect God's judgment upon us. That we slaughter babies in the womb by the millions, and not have God's judgment fall upon us. That we have imbalanced scales in the judicial system, and not have God's judgment. befall us. How we have corruption in the highest places of government, and not have God's judgment fall on us. When we put his name on our currency, In God We Trust, yet we push God out of every public square there is.
Matthew Maher: 06:51 See the pattern of God's judgment upon his beloved people, Israel, when they rejected God's ways, God's law, when they chose their own way. God, he loved me them too much to leave them in the condition that he found them. And in case you think God loves you the way you are, I want to biblically correct you. God loves you where you are, Jesus Christ died so that you don't stay the way you are. He wants you to move from sinner, to a son or daughter of the creator. That you would recognize your identity in Christ, that you would go from grace to grace, that you would move from glory to greater glory, that there would be a progression, sanctification, in your spiritual walk with Jesus. So every time Israel, which is the pattern or blueprint by which we can look at and go wait, every time they rebelled against God, God gave them over to judgment.
Matthew Maher: 07:53 One of the most blatant judgements on the people of Israel was when they were in captivity, in Babylon, that's the Book of Daniel. And God, through the prophet Jeremiah, he sent a letter to the captives. And one of the staple verses of Jeremiah 29, which many of you know by memory says this, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." But you can't take that verse out of context, that verse is connected to a chapter, that chapter is connected to a captivity. It actually says, "After the 70 years of captivity are completed." Translation, after my judgment. I know what I'm doing, God is saying. I have a future and a hope intended for you, but you need to be purified by my judgment. Because God's judgment can be characterized by either purifying those that are his, and punishing that are not.
Matthew Maher: 08:58 Daniel chapter 9, Daniel records this prayer, we'll get there eventually, probably in 2026. But if you read the prayer you notice Daniel, out of all the characters recorded in this book, there's not one mention of something that Daniel did against God. It doesn't mean he was perfect, it means he was blameless. Interesting, if there was ever a prophet, Daniel, who should not have included himself in the prayer of repentance [inaudible] on the people, Daniel 9, he says, "God, forgive us." And he includes himself in what the people deserve, God forgive us, and he sought repentance and forgiveness in the midst of his judgment. So the question isn't is God going to judge us? The question is, are you being faithful in the midst of the judgment? Why? Because like Israel, and like present day church, there is no great awakening without a rude awakening. God is seeking to humble us, and the way he humbles us is by exposing us.
Matthew Maher: 10:12 I want you to look back in your rear view. And if you're being honest with yourself, as the Psalms say, search your heart, you would come to the conclusion that in 2020, something happened that has touched your life or your livelihood, that has tested your faith. It has revealed the legitimacy or illegitimacy of your faith. You said God was capable, able to provide, and then there was no provision. Did you still trust them? You believe God is capable and able to heal, and then you got Coronavirus, were you're trusting Him there? He allows fiery trials to refine our faith. Calamity, globally, as we're experiencing is an autopsy on humanity. You have to see it through the lens of the scriptures, God is currently testing all of humanity to reveal what was inside, He wants to bring it to the outside so we can see it. I never really know what's in my heart until something tempts me or tests me and brings it out, and then I recognize I need to deal with that. I either do two things, I hold on to it, or I give it over to the Lord. His intention is to humble, to reveal where our priorities are, what our loyalties are, and this is why divine disruptions are allowed to happen.
Matthew Maher: 11:36 You can do your own Bible search, do cross-reference on pestilence. And every single time it's mentioned, you'll see that it is God that calls it, God that sent it, God that is using it as judgment. Go for it, Jesus even said it, in the last days, there will be wars, and rumors of wars, there'll be great earthquakes, and famines, and pestilence. And these are the birth pangs, contractions, as we're getting closer, to remind the church that this is not your home, you're citizens of heaven. Yes, while we're on earth, we want to make the largest impact for the kingdom of God. But I am not to grip tightly, anything in this world, my allegiance is to the King of Kings.
Matthew Maher: 12:22 Romans chapter 1, one gloss over of that particular chapter will reveal to you the trajectory of humanity. Romans chapter 1 verse 18, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness." Interestingly, the chapter tells us that the truth is revealed to us in our conscience, everybody knows in conscience that there is a creator. And if you say no, there's not. Then God goes, okay, how are you going to get past creation? Everybody knows that when you look at perfect creation, that it points to a perfect creator. And if you don't believe that, he finally brings down his commandments. And he goes based on your conscience and suppressing the truth, based on creation and you rejecting a creator, you can't escape the commandments. And yet, man who defies and rebels against God. God says, you want to rebel against me, I will give you over to that rebellion. And if you keep reading in Romans chapter 1:24, watch what happens, "Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves Jump to verse 26, "For this reason God gave them up to vile passions." Verse 28, "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge." When you don't retain God in your knowledge, watch what happens, God gives them over to a reprobate mind, debased mind. The terminology of giving over, is what happens when a prisoner is given over to a sentence. God is saying, you want to rebel against my knowledge, my wisdom, my way, and my will, I will bow to your decision that is free will, and I'll give you over to your judgment.
Matthew Maher: 14:16 And here's how God judges us, part of God's judgment over man, is him giving man over to his own judgement. Which means man, who's left to his own devices, his own decisions, detached from God's wisdom, man will become deviant. And man is not satisfied in being deviant in and of himself, no, the very next layer of being given over to a reprobate mind, is that man wants to make what is deviant, tolerant. And he wants to force something that is immoral, abnormal, bizarre, he wants to normalize it, and he wants it to be accepted. And we live in a culture of relativism, where that is made possible.
Matthew Maher: 15:08 Recently, at the highest level of government in our society, the house of representation, the house of representatives. That is the legislative branch of our government, they write and enact legislation, law. They made a proposal, which was accepted, that all gender pronouns need to be neutralized. You can no longer mention that you're a father, a brother, a son, it must be neutralized quote, so as to be about inclusion, not exclusion. Do you think that happened overnight, suddenly? Church, that's been in the works subtly over time, a complete devolution of our sexuality, a complete, blatant disregard for biology. At the local level here in New Jersey, they just passed through the assembly, a bill that lowers the age to indoctrinate our children with sexual orientation, education, and transgender identity diversity, curriculum. Because anytime you throw diversity, or equality, or justice in the lingo, it automatically becomes a human rights issue, and right now it's on governor Murphy's desk, to teach kindergartners. And we gasp, and we're shocked, but it happened on our watch.
Matthew Maher: 17:00 Are you paying attention? Church, are you paying attention, Christian? There are those who are using our freedom to destroy our freedom, that's their strategy, their desire is to de-Christianize our society. For example, holding to biology that there are two genders, male and female, is now considered bigotry. And since Christian values are accused of being outdated, it makes it easier for immorality to be legislated. But if you're paying attention, you will notice that being politically correct is often morally corrupt. And human rights may be the banner of the various movements, but human rights are wrong when they contradict what God says is for humans. Let me say that again. Human rights may be the banner of the various movements, but human rights are wrong when they contradict what God says is right for humans. It's been a slow fade that has increased rapidly these days, from the spirit of relativism to the glamorization of socialism, ours is a backwards land that puts the sin in paganism. So pay full attention to truth, lest your attention be paid in full by lies.
Matthew Maher: 18:18 The goal of the Marxist mainstream media is to pull the wool over your eyes. 2020 was a year of numerical fabrications, which makes one thing absolutely certain, the enemy wants you to pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. Church, we are not in Kansas anymore, this is not the land our grandparents once regarded. When the celebration of sin replaces the confession of sin, God's presence has departed. God's presence has departed. And we are where we are, because the church doesn't preach against sin, the church doesn't preach against sin because we don't want to offend anyone.
Matthew Maher: 19:06 Woke pastors in the pulpit, virtue signaling against a dying world. You know what virtue signaling is? Virtue signaling, is basically finding whatever's trending online, the latest thread, and sympathizing it in such a way that you compromise the truth. Because you want to fit in with the culture, lest you be canceled by the vultures. You might know those pastors, it might be your family members or friends. And I would say to you, and I would encourage you to send them this message, because they're going to stand before God one day. And James chapter 3 says, "That everybody that teaches the word is going to be judged harsher." And I'll tell you what the fear they have can be reduced to, fear of offending is often rooted in fear of losing those attending. And if any pastor is fearful about losing people who are attending their church, newsflash, you've already lost them. They're already lost, if you're not willing to tell them the truth
Matthew Maher: 20:16 I wrote a blog recently, I centered down on the silent church of 2020. And how various threads, that I believe any minister that has spiritual context is responsible for providing a biblical response, whether it was Coronavirus, whether it was the multiple city riots, or whether it was politics. It is my responsibility to provide spiritual context, so to the person here, or out there, or anywhere, that says, God should not be brought up in the context of government. You're basically saying that you don't want God in government, and then you have no right to complain when you get a godless governor. I get comments, pray hands, applause hands, hearts, amen, keep up the great work, keep telling the truth. And then every now and then there'll be a hateful comment, criticism doesn't hurt my feelings, I can handle it. Well, one came in and it said, you're a pastor, aren't you supposed to preach to save, not separate. And I thought about it and I go, wow, first of all, my heart bleeds to see people saved from eternal damnation. I want to see people taken from the grips of the enemy and thrusted into the kingdom of God's love and grace, but they will never have conversion without conviction. And they'll never know they're sinners, unless you tell them about the judgment of God, and then the gospel. And I go, wait a second, my responsibility is to separate, every single time I rightly divide the word of truth, I am making a distinction and a separation between light and darkness, truth and lies love biblically versus the love culturally, I am supposed to make a separation. So I will not withhold the truth in a world where the jaws of hell are wide open. The reason why we don't preach what it is the prophets of old preached, repentance, what it is Jesus came to five of the seven churches in Revelation with a message of repentance, change your mind, is because we believe judgment is Old Testament. But that's not true, because judgment is not only telling the world what the judge meant, so when I stepped to the pulpit, I'm simply presenting to you, judgment, telling you what the judge meant about his judgment, his perfect judgment.
Matthew Maher: 23:16 Jonathan Edwards was a pastor in the 1700s, he preached a message that was entitled Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God. I would encourage you to read it, it's very long, the content of it is rich, biblically. Sinners in the hands of an angry God was said to be the catalyst, that sermon, to start or spur on what we know historically as the great awakening. Where people were instructed to wake up, where are you, where's your head, are you seeing what's happening, do you have any idea? And he talked about sinners who did not know the Lord, who are on their way to hell. And there's of course, a culturized cute Christianity that doesn't want to use certain buzzwords, because we don't want to offend. But they forget to read certain scriptures like Hebrews chapter 10, that says. "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God." It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God. But we don't want to offend anybody, we'd rather just keep our mouth shut, tolerate the culture around us. As every single person has a number that is counting down over their head, and one day when the Lord decides to take the breath out of that person's body, they will stand before God. And I don't want any blood to be on my hands as a watchman on the wall, warning the people of coming destruction. No prophet, after preaching repentance, came back the following week and was like, hey guys, I know that message last week was extremely harsh. I know I talked about repentance and God's judgment. Hey, you know what? Forget all that, I know I lost some of you as friends. You know what? I am apologizing for offending you amen and a women. Nope, it's no longer sinners in the hands of an angry God, it's now God in the hands of angry sinners, and we let them form and fashion an image of God that is not biblical.
Matthew Maher: 25:53 God sends judgment, and the worst thing of all, we let people under judgment, unaware of that judgment, actually make judgements. Translation, non-Christians telling Christians what it means to be Christ-like in the midst of a pandemic. What? "Woe, Isaiah 5:20, to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for better." This is the great exchange, this is what happens when you exchange the truth of God for a lie, you no longer have a filter to discern the between good and evil. And I don't care if the content comes after to me from the right or the left, I want to discern the difference between what's right and what's wrong.
Matthew Maher: 26:59 All summer long, there were riots and cities on fire, people were looting, behavior excused, nobody's accountable for the things they do today, and you're held accountable for the things that happened when you weren't even born. White guilt, white privilege, racial inequality, all this that has no biblical basis, because you can't get to true justice, unless you go through the true just one. Nobody was saying a word, nobody was condemning that, nobody dared come out, no politician, we all just watched it happen. And if you did condemn it, and you said you weren't for any type of violence, any type of anarchy, I'm certain that you were either canceled, censored, or criticized, for being intolerant, and you're the racist. What the heck is wrong with our world?
Matthew Maher: 28:03 But you might not have saw this, on the edge of all of these instances, there was a young man named Sean Feucht, a worship leader. And he decided to go into all of these cities, the very same cities that the previous day or week were lit on fire. And he decided to start concerts with the hashtag, let us worship. And all he wanted to do was bring people together around the gospel of Jesus Christ, and inspire hope in the midst of hopelessness. And what you might not have been aware of is while he was doing that, and while the city councils and the police departments and the governors and mayors of those particular areas were telling the police to stand down, do not confront the rioters, let them tear it up, let them burn it down, even to the point of them throwing gasoline bombs at the police, nobody do anything. But they sent the cops into the worship and shut it down, and told them that they are responsible for spreading the Coronavirus. All these crazy, zealot, radical, Christians, look at them, all they want to do is inspire hope because people are being killed by hopelessness, all they want to do is see soul saved for eternity, yet they're the bad ones. And oh yeah, by the way, gathering together and burning down. Cities is not a threat to Coronavirus. Thousands of medical professionals signed a decree saying that. Is this Bizarro World, are we in an alternative universe? If you want to write me an email, my email address is mattStokes@gmail.com. I read the article about Sean and what he's accomplishing, and I'm like, wow. And it dawned on me, like this is exactly the blueprint that God works with, how the rhythm of revival often comes after a flood of evil. And Isaiah 59:19 says, "When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit lifts up a standard against the enemy." And the standard is not a resolution made by man. It's not a new initiative, a new strategy, a new endeavor, it's not more political activism, the standard is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And when Jesus said, "If I'm lifted up, I will draw all peoples to myself, and I will draw them to myself by the power of my Spirit."
Matthew Maher: 30:46 So I want to take a page out of Second Chronicles chapter 20 verse 12, and do what King Jehoshaphat did. When the enemy was coming in like a flood against Judah, the Moabites, and the Ammonites, King Jehoshaphat, he petitioned the Lord and he said these words, "We have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.” And with the people's eyes and their attention on Jehovah, guess what God does? God provides his word, a prophet, who says guys, guess what? Your eyes are on me, the battle is not yours, the battle is mine, stand still, be still, surrender. The very next morning, King Jehoshaphat, he sent out his worship team and the worship team just rallied the people up to say, praise the Lord, his mercy shall endure forever. And it says, that the Lord ambushed the enemy because of their praise. Every Sunday, every Thursday, when we come together, we should be exploding in praise to our God.
Matthew Maher: 31:59 Let me move on. With our eyes on the Lord of course, not the world, we're going to begin to see things differently. We're going to see every crisis as a lens for us to see who Christ is. Translation First Peter chapter 4 verse 12 and 13, "Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy." Translation, the fiery trial that is trying you, God sent it, so you need to stop praying away the very trial God sent your way. And I'm not saying don't pray about everything, but I am saying that when something touches your life, instead of trying to get out of it so quick, begin to pray, God, your will, not mine. Begin to pray what Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego prayed, "Lord, we believe you can deliver, we believe you will deliver, but even if you choose not to deliver, we still won't bow down, we still won't doubt, we still won't be paralyzed by fear, we will trust you for the outcome."
Matthew Maher: 32:57 We need to begin to see every single trouble as God's crucible, and the crescendo, for the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God. Peter wrote this after inviting the Christians to suffer for their faith, "Suffer as a Christian he said, not as an evil doer, not as a gossiper, not as a murderer, suffer as a Christian for what you stand for, what you believe in, be willing to be persecuted for your faith." Paul told Timothy, "For all those that desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. And God allows judgment to purge his church, and punish the non-believing world." That's what the word judgment means here, it means a verdict that comes from the judge who has perfect knowledge, to test the character of those on trial. And if you're a Christian, we know the final judgment, Jesus took the wrath of God when he went to that cross, which meant he appeased the wrath of God. And when you stand before God, it is the righteousness of Christ that you will hold on to.
Matthew Maher: 34:09 But until then, God's not finished with you yet. Remember he loves you too much to leave you in the same condition he found you, he doesn't love you the way you are, he loves you where you are. And he died so that you don't stay the way you are, and he enters your life and he begins to do reconstructive surgery on your soul, and that's the judgment that we need to receive. Why? Because just as gold cannot be refined without fire, neither can you and I be refined or perfected without trial. I've received trial. For judgment begins at the house of God, and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel o God? What will be the end, if God is willing to fiercely deal with us, his children, because he loves us, what do you think the end is of those who reject his pardon?
Matthew Maher: 35:06 In 1830, US versus George Wilson, who committed multiple crimes against the US postal system. He was responsible for stealing mail, he was responsible for endangering the welfare and life of a postman, and of course he was sentenced to death. You can look it up, George Wilson, US postal service. His friends lobbied and got to the ear of president Andrew Jackson, where they were able to convince him to provide a full pardon for George. When the pardon was sent to the prison, George read it, and he sent it back, he did not want it for whatever reason. They went to the Supreme Court, never has this happened, somebody turning down a pardon, who would do such a thing? So the Supreme court had to make a judgment, and this is what they wrote, "A pardon is an act of grace, proceeding from the power entrusted with the execution of the laws. But delivery is not completed without acceptance, it may then be rejected by the person to whom it is a tendered, and we have no power in our court to force it on him." Ladies and gentlemen, the pardon of God has been delivered, and you can choose to receive it or reject it today.
Matthew Maher: 36:22 Hebrews 10:29 says, "How much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot?" Translation, God says, I am unwilling to allow you to step into hell eternity, unless you're willing to do so over my dead body. How many people are willing to step right over the dead body of Jesus Christ on that cross, the very pardon that was extended for us. See, Jesus went through a greater fire than we can ever comprehend, and he shielded us from the fires of hell. A farmer's barn lit up on fire after the remains and the fire was put out, he inspected the results. He Came across a burnt corpse, which turned out to be a mother hen, and as he flipped it over, he was surprised to see the mother's chicks alive, and they began to scatter and run away. Remarkable, the mother hen instinctively shielded her children, and she went down with the flames in order to give life. Perhaps that's what Jesus meant when he said, "Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her, how often I wanted to gather your children together, as the hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing." This is the heart of our God, calling people to come back to himself, but they were not willing.
Matthew Maher: 38:01 And I don't know where you're at this morning, you might've made the decision when you were a child at camp, you might've made the decision 10 years ago, last Sunday even. But are you willing to recommit your life to Christ and recognize that he took the fire of hell, he absorbed you from it, he appeased the wrath of the Father. And any judgment that falls on your life to date, is to purge you and purify you for eternity. Would you receive that fresh and anew? See, our God gave us hope not on Capitol Hill, Calvary's Hill. We need to learn to see every single trouble as God's crucible, there will never be a great awakening without a rude awakening. And when the celebration of sin is replaced by the confession of sin, God's presence is gone.
Matthew Maher: 38:54 Let's pray. Father, what more can be said from your word, except for the fact that we're going to do business with you right here, right now, symbolically with communion. In our hands, we look upon it, contemplate your blood and your body, and go deeper in our faith. Lord, move some of yours right now to action, that they would explode and praise and remembrance of you, they would get on their knees in the aisles at the altar, that they would surrender their lives fresh and anew, that you would be our sole and only hope. Father do that in the name of Jesus'. Amen.
Recorded in Ocean City, New Jersey.
Matthew Maher: 00:23 Pastor Matt is in the Book of Book of on Sunday. He left off last Sunday, completing the seventh church, the church of Laodicea, which means Laodicea, the people make decisions, that's what that means. And they made decisions of course, to reject God in a sense, thinking that they were gold, good. And God's like, no, you're poor. They felt they were clothed, and God's like, no, you're naked. They were wretched in the sight of Jesus, and he came with a rebuke, and the rebuke came because he loved them. Remember correction comes because of affection.
Matthew Maher: 00:59 So pastor Matt knows where he's going next Sunday, and then here I am interrupting that flow. And I've got to go to the text and go, God, I don't know what to share with your church. I'm not in any given book, what do you want me to say? And in the midst of preparing my thoughts to prepare a message to deliver to the church, I am getting bombarded by emails and direct messages. All of which I appreciate, every last one, even the hate mail. Some of you send me videos, I do my due diligence to watch them, if I have the time and the margin. I've watched the podcasts that you send through, to makes sure that anybody that is entrusted to this flock is not listening to poison.
Matthew Maher: 01:47 A lot of the videos that come in lately have been politically oriented, different documents, maybe the declassification of this, and this is happening over here, and it's enough to make your head spin. And then to go on the socialist media and to see what's trending, and you'll see all types of hashtags trending. And let me just say this from the pulpit, that if it's trending, it's probably not the truth. And if it's the truth, it's probably not trending. And on January 6th, all the world's eyes were pointed at a geographical location, Capitol Hill. And by the end of January 6th on the socialist media, you saw all types of outbursts of rage, all types of opinions and perspectives. I was getting messages in private saying, what are you going to say to the riots at Capitol, pastor? Inciting me to make a response before one, stepping back prayerfully considered what's happening, to make sure I don't speak too quick. Because the person that speaks too quick, often it cannot reframe what they said, hashtag Capitol Hill insurrection. And then as the days unfolded, hashtag insurrection act, video prophets said Trump signed the insurrection act. And I had to take a deep breath spiritually and go, I'm not so much interested, nor do I care about the insurrection at Capitol Hill, or the insurrection act, as much as I care about the act of the resurrection. Because my hope is not going to be found on Capitol Hill, my hope is going to be found on Calvary's Hill.
Matthew Maher: 03:35 See Peter, he wrote to the early church, he said, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a, ready, living hope, a lasting hope. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, that is the greatest event in human history, and all of eternal life and eternal death hinges upon what the individual does with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So while I have my own hopes and wishes and desires of how things should play out, I need to reorient my heart and mind, and your heart and mind, around the one true hope. And that one true hope is not in a president, it's not in a podcast, it's not in a politician, is not in a publication, it's not in a prophet, it's not in a social media post, and it's certainly not in the propaganda. The one true hope, the living hope, is only found in a person, the Prince of Peace, his name is Jesus Christ.
Matthew Maher: 04:43 And while so many things in this world, presently are killing bodies, hopelessness is killing souls, hopelessness is destroying lives. Hope needs to be aroused, hope in the right place needs to be awakened. Remember we consider one another in order to stir up, stimulate, love and good works, to encourage one another. As we see the day approaching, the day of Christ' return, that we would be mindful of where we place our hope. And there's a reason why God, he will shake things up, is because he's trying to wake his church up. When he sees a Christian who's complacent, or worse compliant to a corrupt culture, God will shake things up to wake things up.
Matthew Maher: 05:46 I've received a question about judgment. Pastor, do you think God is going to judge America? And I say, no, I don't think God's going to judge America, I think God is currently and has been judging America. Who do we think we are, that we can not only from the foundation perhaps of our country, have people celebrate slavery and not expect God's judgment upon us. That we slaughter babies in the womb by the millions, and not have God's judgment fall upon us. That we have imbalanced scales in the judicial system, and not have God's judgment. befall us. How we have corruption in the highest places of government, and not have God's judgment fall on us. When we put his name on our currency, In God We Trust, yet we push God out of every public square there is.
Matthew Maher: 06:51 See the pattern of God's judgment upon his beloved people, Israel, when they rejected God's ways, God's law, when they chose their own way. God, he loved me them too much to leave them in the condition that he found them. And in case you think God loves you the way you are, I want to biblically correct you. God loves you where you are, Jesus Christ died so that you don't stay the way you are. He wants you to move from sinner, to a son or daughter of the creator. That you would recognize your identity in Christ, that you would go from grace to grace, that you would move from glory to greater glory, that there would be a progression, sanctification, in your spiritual walk with Jesus. So every time Israel, which is the pattern or blueprint by which we can look at and go wait, every time they rebelled against God, God gave them over to judgment.
Matthew Maher: 07:53 One of the most blatant judgements on the people of Israel was when they were in captivity, in Babylon, that's the Book of Daniel. And God, through the prophet Jeremiah, he sent a letter to the captives. And one of the staple verses of Jeremiah 29, which many of you know by memory says this, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." But you can't take that verse out of context, that verse is connected to a chapter, that chapter is connected to a captivity. It actually says, "After the 70 years of captivity are completed." Translation, after my judgment. I know what I'm doing, God is saying. I have a future and a hope intended for you, but you need to be purified by my judgment. Because God's judgment can be characterized by either purifying those that are his, and punishing that are not.
Matthew Maher: 08:58 Daniel chapter 9, Daniel records this prayer, we'll get there eventually, probably in 2026. But if you read the prayer you notice Daniel, out of all the characters recorded in this book, there's not one mention of something that Daniel did against God. It doesn't mean he was perfect, it means he was blameless. Interesting, if there was ever a prophet, Daniel, who should not have included himself in the prayer of repentance [inaudible] on the people, Daniel 9, he says, "God, forgive us." And he includes himself in what the people deserve, God forgive us, and he sought repentance and forgiveness in the midst of his judgment. So the question isn't is God going to judge us? The question is, are you being faithful in the midst of the judgment? Why? Because like Israel, and like present day church, there is no great awakening without a rude awakening. God is seeking to humble us, and the way he humbles us is by exposing us.
Matthew Maher: 10:12 I want you to look back in your rear view. And if you're being honest with yourself, as the Psalms say, search your heart, you would come to the conclusion that in 2020, something happened that has touched your life or your livelihood, that has tested your faith. It has revealed the legitimacy or illegitimacy of your faith. You said God was capable, able to provide, and then there was no provision. Did you still trust them? You believe God is capable and able to heal, and then you got Coronavirus, were you're trusting Him there? He allows fiery trials to refine our faith. Calamity, globally, as we're experiencing is an autopsy on humanity. You have to see it through the lens of the scriptures, God is currently testing all of humanity to reveal what was inside, He wants to bring it to the outside so we can see it. I never really know what's in my heart until something tempts me or tests me and brings it out, and then I recognize I need to deal with that. I either do two things, I hold on to it, or I give it over to the Lord. His intention is to humble, to reveal where our priorities are, what our loyalties are, and this is why divine disruptions are allowed to happen.
Matthew Maher: 11:36 You can do your own Bible search, do cross-reference on pestilence. And every single time it's mentioned, you'll see that it is God that calls it, God that sent it, God that is using it as judgment. Go for it, Jesus even said it, in the last days, there will be wars, and rumors of wars, there'll be great earthquakes, and famines, and pestilence. And these are the birth pangs, contractions, as we're getting closer, to remind the church that this is not your home, you're citizens of heaven. Yes, while we're on earth, we want to make the largest impact for the kingdom of God. But I am not to grip tightly, anything in this world, my allegiance is to the King of Kings.
Matthew Maher: 12:22 Romans chapter 1, one gloss over of that particular chapter will reveal to you the trajectory of humanity. Romans chapter 1 verse 18, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness." Interestingly, the chapter tells us that the truth is revealed to us in our conscience, everybody knows in conscience that there is a creator. And if you say no, there's not. Then God goes, okay, how are you going to get past creation? Everybody knows that when you look at perfect creation, that it points to a perfect creator. And if you don't believe that, he finally brings down his commandments. And he goes based on your conscience and suppressing the truth, based on creation and you rejecting a creator, you can't escape the commandments. And yet, man who defies and rebels against God. God says, you want to rebel against me, I will give you over to that rebellion. And if you keep reading in Romans chapter 1:24, watch what happens, "Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves Jump to verse 26, "For this reason God gave them up to vile passions." Verse 28, "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge." When you don't retain God in your knowledge, watch what happens, God gives them over to a reprobate mind, debased mind. The terminology of giving over, is what happens when a prisoner is given over to a sentence. God is saying, you want to rebel against my knowledge, my wisdom, my way, and my will, I will bow to your decision that is free will, and I'll give you over to your judgment.
Matthew Maher: 14:16 And here's how God judges us, part of God's judgment over man, is him giving man over to his own judgement. Which means man, who's left to his own devices, his own decisions, detached from God's wisdom, man will become deviant. And man is not satisfied in being deviant in and of himself, no, the very next layer of being given over to a reprobate mind, is that man wants to make what is deviant, tolerant. And he wants to force something that is immoral, abnormal, bizarre, he wants to normalize it, and he wants it to be accepted. And we live in a culture of relativism, where that is made possible.
Matthew Maher: 15:08 Recently, at the highest level of government in our society, the house of representation, the house of representatives. That is the legislative branch of our government, they write and enact legislation, law. They made a proposal, which was accepted, that all gender pronouns need to be neutralized. You can no longer mention that you're a father, a brother, a son, it must be neutralized quote, so as to be about inclusion, not exclusion. Do you think that happened overnight, suddenly? Church, that's been in the works subtly over time, a complete devolution of our sexuality, a complete, blatant disregard for biology. At the local level here in New Jersey, they just passed through the assembly, a bill that lowers the age to indoctrinate our children with sexual orientation, education, and transgender identity diversity, curriculum. Because anytime you throw diversity, or equality, or justice in the lingo, it automatically becomes a human rights issue, and right now it's on governor Murphy's desk, to teach kindergartners. And we gasp, and we're shocked, but it happened on our watch.
Matthew Maher: 17:00 Are you paying attention? Church, are you paying attention, Christian? There are those who are using our freedom to destroy our freedom, that's their strategy, their desire is to de-Christianize our society. For example, holding to biology that there are two genders, male and female, is now considered bigotry. And since Christian values are accused of being outdated, it makes it easier for immorality to be legislated. But if you're paying attention, you will notice that being politically correct is often morally corrupt. And human rights may be the banner of the various movements, but human rights are wrong when they contradict what God says is for humans. Let me say that again. Human rights may be the banner of the various movements, but human rights are wrong when they contradict what God says is right for humans. It's been a slow fade that has increased rapidly these days, from the spirit of relativism to the glamorization of socialism, ours is a backwards land that puts the sin in paganism. So pay full attention to truth, lest your attention be paid in full by lies.
Matthew Maher: 18:18 The goal of the Marxist mainstream media is to pull the wool over your eyes. 2020 was a year of numerical fabrications, which makes one thing absolutely certain, the enemy wants you to pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. Church, we are not in Kansas anymore, this is not the land our grandparents once regarded. When the celebration of sin replaces the confession of sin, God's presence has departed. God's presence has departed. And we are where we are, because the church doesn't preach against sin, the church doesn't preach against sin because we don't want to offend anyone.
Matthew Maher: 19:06 Woke pastors in the pulpit, virtue signaling against a dying world. You know what virtue signaling is? Virtue signaling, is basically finding whatever's trending online, the latest thread, and sympathizing it in such a way that you compromise the truth. Because you want to fit in with the culture, lest you be canceled by the vultures. You might know those pastors, it might be your family members or friends. And I would say to you, and I would encourage you to send them this message, because they're going to stand before God one day. And James chapter 3 says, "That everybody that teaches the word is going to be judged harsher." And I'll tell you what the fear they have can be reduced to, fear of offending is often rooted in fear of losing those attending. And if any pastor is fearful about losing people who are attending their church, newsflash, you've already lost them. They're already lost, if you're not willing to tell them the truth
Matthew Maher: 20:16 I wrote a blog recently, I centered down on the silent church of 2020. And how various threads, that I believe any minister that has spiritual context is responsible for providing a biblical response, whether it was Coronavirus, whether it was the multiple city riots, or whether it was politics. It is my responsibility to provide spiritual context, so to the person here, or out there, or anywhere, that says, God should not be brought up in the context of government. You're basically saying that you don't want God in government, and then you have no right to complain when you get a godless governor. I get comments, pray hands, applause hands, hearts, amen, keep up the great work, keep telling the truth. And then every now and then there'll be a hateful comment, criticism doesn't hurt my feelings, I can handle it. Well, one came in and it said, you're a pastor, aren't you supposed to preach to save, not separate. And I thought about it and I go, wow, first of all, my heart bleeds to see people saved from eternal damnation. I want to see people taken from the grips of the enemy and thrusted into the kingdom of God's love and grace, but they will never have conversion without conviction. And they'll never know they're sinners, unless you tell them about the judgment of God, and then the gospel. And I go, wait a second, my responsibility is to separate, every single time I rightly divide the word of truth, I am making a distinction and a separation between light and darkness, truth and lies love biblically versus the love culturally, I am supposed to make a separation. So I will not withhold the truth in a world where the jaws of hell are wide open. The reason why we don't preach what it is the prophets of old preached, repentance, what it is Jesus came to five of the seven churches in Revelation with a message of repentance, change your mind, is because we believe judgment is Old Testament. But that's not true, because judgment is not only telling the world what the judge meant, so when I stepped to the pulpit, I'm simply presenting to you, judgment, telling you what the judge meant about his judgment, his perfect judgment.
Matthew Maher: 23:16 Jonathan Edwards was a pastor in the 1700s, he preached a message that was entitled Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God. I would encourage you to read it, it's very long, the content of it is rich, biblically. Sinners in the hands of an angry God was said to be the catalyst, that sermon, to start or spur on what we know historically as the great awakening. Where people were instructed to wake up, where are you, where's your head, are you seeing what's happening, do you have any idea? And he talked about sinners who did not know the Lord, who are on their way to hell. And there's of course, a culturized cute Christianity that doesn't want to use certain buzzwords, because we don't want to offend. But they forget to read certain scriptures like Hebrews chapter 10, that says. "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God." It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God. But we don't want to offend anybody, we'd rather just keep our mouth shut, tolerate the culture around us. As every single person has a number that is counting down over their head, and one day when the Lord decides to take the breath out of that person's body, they will stand before God. And I don't want any blood to be on my hands as a watchman on the wall, warning the people of coming destruction. No prophet, after preaching repentance, came back the following week and was like, hey guys, I know that message last week was extremely harsh. I know I talked about repentance and God's judgment. Hey, you know what? Forget all that, I know I lost some of you as friends. You know what? I am apologizing for offending you amen and a women. Nope, it's no longer sinners in the hands of an angry God, it's now God in the hands of angry sinners, and we let them form and fashion an image of God that is not biblical.
Matthew Maher: 25:53 God sends judgment, and the worst thing of all, we let people under judgment, unaware of that judgment, actually make judgements. Translation, non-Christians telling Christians what it means to be Christ-like in the midst of a pandemic. What? "Woe, Isaiah 5:20, to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for better." This is the great exchange, this is what happens when you exchange the truth of God for a lie, you no longer have a filter to discern the between good and evil. And I don't care if the content comes after to me from the right or the left, I want to discern the difference between what's right and what's wrong.
Matthew Maher: 26:59 All summer long, there were riots and cities on fire, people were looting, behavior excused, nobody's accountable for the things they do today, and you're held accountable for the things that happened when you weren't even born. White guilt, white privilege, racial inequality, all this that has no biblical basis, because you can't get to true justice, unless you go through the true just one. Nobody was saying a word, nobody was condemning that, nobody dared come out, no politician, we all just watched it happen. And if you did condemn it, and you said you weren't for any type of violence, any type of anarchy, I'm certain that you were either canceled, censored, or criticized, for being intolerant, and you're the racist. What the heck is wrong with our world?
Matthew Maher: 28:03 But you might not have saw this, on the edge of all of these instances, there was a young man named Sean Feucht, a worship leader. And he decided to go into all of these cities, the very same cities that the previous day or week were lit on fire. And he decided to start concerts with the hashtag, let us worship. And all he wanted to do was bring people together around the gospel of Jesus Christ, and inspire hope in the midst of hopelessness. And what you might not have been aware of is while he was doing that, and while the city councils and the police departments and the governors and mayors of those particular areas were telling the police to stand down, do not confront the rioters, let them tear it up, let them burn it down, even to the point of them throwing gasoline bombs at the police, nobody do anything. But they sent the cops into the worship and shut it down, and told them that they are responsible for spreading the Coronavirus. All these crazy, zealot, radical, Christians, look at them, all they want to do is inspire hope because people are being killed by hopelessness, all they want to do is see soul saved for eternity, yet they're the bad ones. And oh yeah, by the way, gathering together and burning down. Cities is not a threat to Coronavirus. Thousands of medical professionals signed a decree saying that. Is this Bizarro World, are we in an alternative universe? If you want to write me an email, my email address is mattStokes@gmail.com. I read the article about Sean and what he's accomplishing, and I'm like, wow. And it dawned on me, like this is exactly the blueprint that God works with, how the rhythm of revival often comes after a flood of evil. And Isaiah 59:19 says, "When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit lifts up a standard against the enemy." And the standard is not a resolution made by man. It's not a new initiative, a new strategy, a new endeavor, it's not more political activism, the standard is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And when Jesus said, "If I'm lifted up, I will draw all peoples to myself, and I will draw them to myself by the power of my Spirit."
Matthew Maher: 30:46 So I want to take a page out of Second Chronicles chapter 20 verse 12, and do what King Jehoshaphat did. When the enemy was coming in like a flood against Judah, the Moabites, and the Ammonites, King Jehoshaphat, he petitioned the Lord and he said these words, "We have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.” And with the people's eyes and their attention on Jehovah, guess what God does? God provides his word, a prophet, who says guys, guess what? Your eyes are on me, the battle is not yours, the battle is mine, stand still, be still, surrender. The very next morning, King Jehoshaphat, he sent out his worship team and the worship team just rallied the people up to say, praise the Lord, his mercy shall endure forever. And it says, that the Lord ambushed the enemy because of their praise. Every Sunday, every Thursday, when we come together, we should be exploding in praise to our God.
Matthew Maher: 31:59 Let me move on. With our eyes on the Lord of course, not the world, we're going to begin to see things differently. We're going to see every crisis as a lens for us to see who Christ is. Translation First Peter chapter 4 verse 12 and 13, "Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy." Translation, the fiery trial that is trying you, God sent it, so you need to stop praying away the very trial God sent your way. And I'm not saying don't pray about everything, but I am saying that when something touches your life, instead of trying to get out of it so quick, begin to pray, God, your will, not mine. Begin to pray what Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego prayed, "Lord, we believe you can deliver, we believe you will deliver, but even if you choose not to deliver, we still won't bow down, we still won't doubt, we still won't be paralyzed by fear, we will trust you for the outcome."
Matthew Maher: 32:57 We need to begin to see every single trouble as God's crucible, and the crescendo, for the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God. Peter wrote this after inviting the Christians to suffer for their faith, "Suffer as a Christian he said, not as an evil doer, not as a gossiper, not as a murderer, suffer as a Christian for what you stand for, what you believe in, be willing to be persecuted for your faith." Paul told Timothy, "For all those that desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. And God allows judgment to purge his church, and punish the non-believing world." That's what the word judgment means here, it means a verdict that comes from the judge who has perfect knowledge, to test the character of those on trial. And if you're a Christian, we know the final judgment, Jesus took the wrath of God when he went to that cross, which meant he appeased the wrath of God. And when you stand before God, it is the righteousness of Christ that you will hold on to.
Matthew Maher: 34:09 But until then, God's not finished with you yet. Remember he loves you too much to leave you in the same condition he found you, he doesn't love you the way you are, he loves you where you are. And he died so that you don't stay the way you are, and he enters your life and he begins to do reconstructive surgery on your soul, and that's the judgment that we need to receive. Why? Because just as gold cannot be refined without fire, neither can you and I be refined or perfected without trial. I've received trial. For judgment begins at the house of God, and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel o God? What will be the end, if God is willing to fiercely deal with us, his children, because he loves us, what do you think the end is of those who reject his pardon?
Matthew Maher: 35:06 In 1830, US versus George Wilson, who committed multiple crimes against the US postal system. He was responsible for stealing mail, he was responsible for endangering the welfare and life of a postman, and of course he was sentenced to death. You can look it up, George Wilson, US postal service. His friends lobbied and got to the ear of president Andrew Jackson, where they were able to convince him to provide a full pardon for George. When the pardon was sent to the prison, George read it, and he sent it back, he did not want it for whatever reason. They went to the Supreme Court, never has this happened, somebody turning down a pardon, who would do such a thing? So the Supreme court had to make a judgment, and this is what they wrote, "A pardon is an act of grace, proceeding from the power entrusted with the execution of the laws. But delivery is not completed without acceptance, it may then be rejected by the person to whom it is a tendered, and we have no power in our court to force it on him." Ladies and gentlemen, the pardon of God has been delivered, and you can choose to receive it or reject it today.
Matthew Maher: 36:22 Hebrews 10:29 says, "How much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot?" Translation, God says, I am unwilling to allow you to step into hell eternity, unless you're willing to do so over my dead body. How many people are willing to step right over the dead body of Jesus Christ on that cross, the very pardon that was extended for us. See, Jesus went through a greater fire than we can ever comprehend, and he shielded us from the fires of hell. A farmer's barn lit up on fire after the remains and the fire was put out, he inspected the results. He Came across a burnt corpse, which turned out to be a mother hen, and as he flipped it over, he was surprised to see the mother's chicks alive, and they began to scatter and run away. Remarkable, the mother hen instinctively shielded her children, and she went down with the flames in order to give life. Perhaps that's what Jesus meant when he said, "Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her, how often I wanted to gather your children together, as the hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing." This is the heart of our God, calling people to come back to himself, but they were not willing.
Matthew Maher: 38:01 And I don't know where you're at this morning, you might've made the decision when you were a child at camp, you might've made the decision 10 years ago, last Sunday even. But are you willing to recommit your life to Christ and recognize that he took the fire of hell, he absorbed you from it, he appeased the wrath of the Father. And any judgment that falls on your life to date, is to purge you and purify you for eternity. Would you receive that fresh and anew? See, our God gave us hope not on Capitol Hill, Calvary's Hill. We need to learn to see every single trouble as God's crucible, there will never be a great awakening without a rude awakening. And when the celebration of sin is replaced by the confession of sin, God's presence is gone.
Matthew Maher: 38:54 Let's pray. Father, what more can be said from your word, except for the fact that we're going to do business with you right here, right now, symbolically with communion. In our hands, we look upon it, contemplate your blood and your body, and go deeper in our faith. Lord, move some of yours right now to action, that they would explode and praise and remembrance of you, they would get on their knees in the aisles at the altar, that they would surrender their lives fresh and anew, that you would be our sole and only hope. Father do that in the name of Jesus'. Amen.
Recorded in Ocean City, New Jersey.
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