Category: Sermon Excerpts

“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy”

Don’t call my God a thief or one who does things that are not right.  I think I have the grace to handle it, but I hope no one gets in my face anytime soon and tells me that sickness is a wonderful blessing from God.  You ought to live with it for a while before you call hand to hand combat with what comes from the very pit of the enemy a gift. 

We must have the foundational understanding that life, health, blessing, forgiveness and salvation are gifts of God.  Someone might imply to you that an automobile accident or incurable disease is a disguised blessing from God. Before you go down that road put yourself there and see how it feels when you can’t sleep or do anything that you did at one time and tell me that sickness is a blessing. 

Having preached this all of my life and ministry, today I am more solid in my belief than I have ever have been.  I do not accept the works of the devil as being the works of God.  You say, “But God brought good out of it.”  Sure, God can bring good out of anything but I have news for you, God was not the originator and God didn’t send it. It would go against the very nature of a loving Father to bring harm to his children. Our God is not a child abuser. 

I have spent countless hours with oppressed people, depressed people, abused men and women, people who have lived their entire lives with someone’s finger in their face saying you can’t do it, you are no good, you don’t measure up. Until one day, like a hunting dog that has lost what it takes to hunt, they loose hold of who they are in Christ and the truth that they are loved by a good God. I thank God for the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I thank God for the understanding that there are two forces at work in my life. Satan who comes to steal, kill and destroy. And God, whose very nature is to bless his children. Father God, who is the giver of all good things, the God who loves you and me.

John 3:6-7 (KJV) That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

Jesus said it best, “Ye must be born again”. This is the cornerstone of our faith and the hope of a new beginning to this lost generation. I would not attend, nor put my tithe in a church that would not tell people how to be born again and then give them the opportunity to come forward and accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. 

I have had people tell me, “Well Brother Nichols, at our church once a month we have a social gathering and then we kind of spring it on them.”  What these people don’t understand is that you don’t have to bootleg salvation or put Jesus in the back room. You don’t have to have a little social gathering and trick people into possibly getting saved.  You can just put it out there in front of God and everybody else and allow them to receive the precious gift of salvation.  I thank God for the altar calls we see in every service and I prophesy in the name of Jesus that the strongest altar calls and the greatest harvest of souls are yet to come. 

I thank God for every drug program and any incentive to keep people from doing those things that should not be done.  But there is only one thing that can break the habit of cocaine, marijuana and alcohol. It is the power of rebirth and the transformation that takes place as the Sprit of God dwells within us. Folks, the devil is after you, me, every child, and every grandchild. He is after our families. But thank God for churches like Calvary Cathedral International that will make sure that every person who comes into any of our meetings will hear the clarion call of the Gospel as spoken by Jesus himself, “Ye must be born again.”!

Numbers 13:30 (NLT)
But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. “Let’s go at once to take the land,” he said. “We can certainly conquer it!”

Deuteronomy 31:6 (NLT)

So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”

Nothing works until you believe the promise. This is what we learn from the verses above. When you get an unshakable word from God, don’t let go.  You see, real faith keeps on believing even when things appear impossible or fail to go your way.  The greatest enemy of our faith is fear and we must be on guard against it at all times. 

The command is to be of good courage and “good courage” means to live without fear dominating your life. I believe that has God instructed us not only to call people to be born again but to challenge the body of Christ to, by the grace of God, lay hold of life and that more abundantly.  We mustn’t think we can pet or tolerate the demons that whisper doubt and unbelief. You may think it will go away or is simply a result of our humanity but the fear, the phobia or weakness that you tolerate today will one day destroy your faith. Folks, if there is a fear in your life, it is not a disgrace.  But stand up today in the name of Jesus and say fear will not rule or dominate me and fear will not steal from me God’s best.  This stance will place you in what I call the faith minority. 

Few people understand mountain possessing faith.  When you share it with them some folks will look out the window or at the ceiling. They will clear their throat or pat their foot until you go on to something else.  We must remember that not everyone is tuned for God’s best.  But I am willing to be in the minority, because the faith minority becomes the majority.  If you have mountain possessing faith, you will be a faith leader like Caleb who always had a good report. You will be able to look at the impossible situations and giants that stand before you and say with confidence, “We are well able to possess the land.”  You can be convinced because you believe the promises of our God who never fails. The God who says to you today, “Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”

2 Chronicles 7:14 (KJV) If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

I believe in this year to come we must call not only this church, but our city and nation to prayer. Folks, it is time to pray for this nation like never before. I believe in righteous candidates and righteous leadership but you cannot war against spiritual wickedness through politics alone. There are things in this nation that can only be broken through faith, humble prayer and calling upon the name of God. According to the verse above, this action on our part will bring healing to our land which is in desperate need of a touch from God.

God called us to prayer, daily prayer, when it was not happening. Many have started since then and it has fallen by the wayside. God called us to 24 hour a day prayer and we are approaching over 722,000 prayer requests that have been received. Try to embrace the magnitude of this my friend, it is a huge undertaking, but God did it and it’s influencing our city.

I once received a report from Brother Dave Wilkerson. He was saying that crime was down in, of all places, New York City and no one could figure it out. It wasn’t a mystery to him though because he knew that his church was praying. There was a similar report that came out in the Fort Worth Star Telegram saying that crime in the city of Fort Worth was down, the lowest rate in over 20 years. And while I know that other churches are praying, there is one thing I know personally and that is that this church, for over 10 years, has been crying out to God for our city.

Let us never forget that the same power that got us here is the same power that will keep us here. It is not time to back up or let up but I believe God is calling us to get a new grip on this thing, our calling at Calvary Cathedral International. I want you to know that we are a people of destiny. A people called to humble, powerful, nation changing prayer that will be heard in heaven, bring forgiveness of sin and healing to our land.

One night I was walking and praying for a minister friend of mine who was going through a very difficult time. A record breaking snow storm had come to their city and the weight of snow on the metal building where they worshiped caused the roof to cave in. One of the many problems that arose out of that situation was the lack of sufficient insurance to cover the damages. I as lifted my friend up to God he spoke to my heart and I would like to share His wisdom with you today.

When faced with difficult situations we have to remember the basic character of the forces at work in our lives. God is the giver, Satan is the thief, and the Holy Spirit is the restorer. Let me add one thing to this list, the victory you seek is a choice, it is a faith choice.

This is not the power of positive thinking though I do respect that far more than negative thinking. This is the power of faith believing. Now you know that there are some people that still have that old world theology and think that God is sometimes righteous, sometimes a con artist up in the sky who is just following you, waiting for you to make a mistake. They think He gives you things just so He can take them away or He withholds what you need to teach you a lesson. God has a terrible reputation in many parts of religious community because they really don’t understand the truth about him.

If anybody ever had a chance to change their theology, I have had mine time and time again. But since I received the revelation of who I am as a born again, Spirit filled believer in 1952, I have never strayed away from that and I assure you, there have been many opportunities to do so. You know, some people believe something until it doesn’t work temporarily, or until something goes wrong and then they change their doctrine. But I pray that this becomes the bedrock of the faith of your heart. The revelation that God is not only a good God, but He is a giver.

I don’t know why it is but we always want to see somebody else change. We want to see our boss change, our husband or wife change, we may even want our neighbors to change. But I have discovered that when I find myself desiring change in others the first step in witnessing that change depends on me.

Change begins with the one who wants to see change. If I wait for others to change I might be waiting until hell freezes over. But when I begin to change, when I begin to love, forgive, when I begin to soften, whatever adjustments need to be made, then I will see the things around me begin to be affected. The secret is to allow the Holy Spirit to reveal to you what part you have in the process of change and many times it involves love and forgiveness on our part. Proverbs 28:13 says, “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” And I will tell you, there is no one who knows how to give you mercy like God.

I have counseled with couples who say they have never said I’m sorry or acknowledged being wrong throughout their entire marriage. Repentance is so important. This is especially true in the healing of relationships. It is an opportunity to see the power of God move on your behalf when you make the decision to walk in love, when you choose to do things His way. The best advertisement for Jesus is when people see a changed life. You can hit them in the head with a 15 pound Bible and get no response, but when people see a change in your conversation, a softening in your attitude, when people see Jesus in you then it will draw them.

Supernatural change is the result of allowing God to move in you first which will release His power in your situation. So the next time you desire to see change take place in another ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and to let change begin in you.

I will never forget a man I met down in West Columbia Texas named Dan Smith. They called him the meanest man in town. His face looked like a road map from being cut by so many beer bottles. But, God gave a pastor named B. B. Hankins a burden for that man and he just kept loving that man. He would go into the bar, sit down beside him and talk to him about Jesus until he would leave.

Then one day, the meanest man in West Columbia Texas got saved and do you know what he did? He got after his boys and began to bring them to church. He told them he would whip them if they didn’t go to church with him so they did because they knew the old man could whip them. He was mean.

See they didn’t know about all the transformation that had taken place, all they knew as that he was still capable so one by one they came to church. I remember the week he brought all of his family in and he wasn’t nice about it. And he brought them in and told them to sit down and then he took the aisle seat so they couldn’t get out. When the altar call was given he would say, “Do you want to accept Jesus?” One by one they would come down and get saved, bawling and squalling and hugging each other. Mean old Dan Smith, that’s the only life he had ever lived. He didn’t know any different.

Dan Smith was a soul winner for Jesus. He thought it was a sin if he came to church without bringing somebody who needed Jesus. You may say, “I wouldn’t want that old man in my church.” Hey, I wish I had a thousand of them. You can build churches with folks like that. Dan Smith was not a nice man but thankfully churches aren’t made for nice people because none of us were nice before Jesus found us. Church is for sinners who have found the saving grace of Jesus Christ. People like you. Well I think you get the essence of the message, it’s time to win some people to Jesus.

One of the great men of days gone by could not go to sleep at night unless he had won somebody to Jesus. One night over in London, he had laid his head on a pillow after a long day of preaching and it dawned on him “I haven’t won anybody to Jesus today”. He got out of bed, changed out of his night clothes went out to the street corner and found one lonely soul under an umbrella and won him to Jesus then went back to bed. You say that is fanaticism. No that is new testament Christianity. Do you have to win the city? No, but by all means win some and whatever it takes, bring them in.

Back around in 1970, we had worked real hard in our church and had built it up to about 125 people whom we loved dearly. After spending five years of hard physical labor, there wasn’t a part of the old building that didn’t have some piece of my hide nailed to it. I said, God I don’t mind doing this, but it’s time for a harvest, I’m hungry for a harvest. It was during that time that I got the vision of the great feast which I want to share with you today.

As Christians we have such a wonderful thing that is available, but there has to be people to enjoy it. Restaurants close because people don’t come. I mean there have been some very fine restaurants that have opened with great promise; they were going to be famous! Everything about them was good. They looked good, the sign looked good, the food was superb… they just had one problem, the people didn’t come. You see that will close down any steakhouse. Or close down any house.

So here I was preparing the house for a great feast, and I began to cry out, “God I will do anything that is right and I will do anything that works”. I never have examined the theology of that, it was just my heart crying out to God. It has got to be right and it has got to work. Some things are right, but they just don’t seem to work. Some things work but, unfortunately, they are not right and we must be people of integrity and people of honesty. I wanted Calvary Cathedral to always be subject to change, God’s way.

So what did God do in response to my prayer? He sent in a group of hippie young people! They didn’t look like I was accustomed to folks looking and they brought drums and guitars with them to worship. We had never had those in our church before because as you know, Jesus didn’t have drums in his church. But we have come a long way baby! So we started doing a lot of things differently but you know what, young people began to come, lives were being changed and we decided we would continue do some things differently.

Throughout that time we did not compromise the Word of God, but how many know that there are different baits that you put on the hook to catch different fish. We learned through that experience that the harvest is ready, the people are hungry and we stand ready to serve a great feast. The meal has not been altered. But in the presentation, if we want to see a harvest, we must be willing to change – God’s way.

John 3:16, “God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

I was thinking about how beautiful it is that every sin can be forgiven. That we are not only are forgiven, not recycled sinners, we are new creations in Christ Jesus. I mean, God didn’t just clean us up a little bit and then push us on out the door. You are not an accident looking for a place to happen. You are a new creation in Christ Jesus. You may have had many issues in the past but the old things have passed away and behold all things are becoming new.

So where do I stand as a believer? I’m not all that I want to be but I’m not what I used to be and I am on my way to being everything Jesus died for me to be. That’s what it is all about. Every sin forgiven and the chance for a new beginning. I’m a new creation in Christ Jesus. I’m justified – just as though I had never sinned.

Jesus made a way so that none should perish. It is a beautiful transformation we experience as we walk in daily relationship Him. From lost and broken sinner to beautiful new creation. All because God so loved the world.

A young man, 16 years of age, came into the revival in June of 1993. They said he had learning disabilities and could never function in a normal classroom setting. And he was, by his own admission, a social misfit, whose life was a disaster. His mother talked him into coming to church one night, and he was touched by the power of the Holy Ghost. He went to the floor and God did a work in that young man’s life.

You may say, “I don’t believe that”, well that’s okay, pass on by. You may think that most folks fake it, well some of them probably do, but not all of them. I will tell you there are people that get off of the floor and God’s done a work of surgery.

I will never forget the grief that was in my wife’s heart when her youngest brother Rex was killed by a drunken driver. It was such a senseless tragedy. All that people think about is who does or doesn’t go to jail. But people don’t realize the pain and heartache of the tragedy. He was twenty eight years old with a beautiful wife and brand new baby. My wife was hurting; I saw her hurting and Dr. Kenneth Hagin prayed for her one night. The power of God put Joy on the floor and when Joy goes on the floor I can go get several hamburgers before it is going to be all over. She and God negotiate so it’s going to be a little while before they get through. But she said afterward, you know when I got up the hurt was healed, God had touched me. During that special time God had taken away the sting of her loss and given the grace to go on.

You know, we need to be very careful about judging the things we see in the church. Occasionally somebody may be doing something ugly or ungodly, we know that is wrong. But what I am talking about is judging someone else when you don’t know what God is doing in their life. There may be a reason why they cry or laugh so much. A little laughter would probably help you too. There may be a reason why they come to the altar so much. Listen to me, I’m talking to you out of a pastor’s heart, leave them alone and let them come to Jesus. Let God do a work of grace in their lives.

God said don’t make a big deal out of why they come, just receive them as they come. Minister to them and help them because this could be, just as it was for that misfit young man and my precious wife, their day of turnaround.