and stars, they're everywhere out there. Billions of them. I mean, I'm not just saying that, you read about it. And all have their own course. Sun, moon, and stars and their courses above join with all nature. Down here, going on down here, and we're talking about some intellect. Not only just great theology in that song, there's a lot of scientific truth in that song. I just love it. I've never been a night person because I read a great bestseller that said, work while it's day. If you haven't read it, I can recommend it to you and tell you where to get. Fact is, if you don't have enough money, I'll raise the money and make sure you have a copy of it. Because God, He births a new day for me every morning. And if He's gonna go to that trouble, I'm gonna see it. And I love it. Man, you can get me off on stuff, Brother Mulder, you shouldn't get me started on something. I've got my own sermon tonight, Brother. But you know, in the morning, that rooster cuts loose, and get out of that bed, you sluggard. And you think the rooster's intelligent enough to know he's supposed to do that? No one's ever looked at a chicken and said, now how brilliant is that? Anything that looks at you through one side and then looks at you through the other side, something's wrong. But you work all day and at night, you're tired and the sun goes down in a cricket. Now if man put together the rooster to be at night, you're trying to sleep and he's going crazy out there on the fence post. I mean, I just think people never look at the genius of God's creation. I'm just moved by it. Can't imagine. And can you imagine a new heaven and a new earth? An earth that was in the state this one was in before it got messed up by man. Can you imagine? How could we not want to work ourselves to death for the Lord? You know, those kind of opportunities. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be texting tonight. Anyway, I'll do 1 Corinthians chapter 15. It's sure been good to be with you this week. It's like being at home. And we're primarily gonna deal with verse 10, 1 Corinthians 15, but I think we should read from verse one down to 10 and give you the context for it, and it's good. So if you can stand in honor of God's word, that'd be wonderful. Not for me. And I'll begin in verse one, but remind you, and we'll look a little at some other verses close to 10, but primarily verse 10 tonight. Verse 1 of 1 Corinthians 15, Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also you have received, and wherein you stand, by which also you are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. Now, what we just read is the Gospel, plus or minus nothing. It's just very succinct, and it's right there. Verse five, and of course, people question the resurrection. You gotta realize now, people are put to death with a witness or one or whatever the case, and people say, did he really resurrect? And he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve. And so, after that, he was seen of above 500 at once, of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep, or they've passed away. After that, he was seen of James, then of all the apostles. Isn't that enough? You could convict anybody anywhere, you know, but people wanna question it. After that, he was seen of James and all the apostles. And last of all, he was seen of me also as one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles that am not made to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. but by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Heavenly Father, thank you for the privilege we have to be together. I want to just thank you for this church, family, what precious people. And for each one, from those who you've had as servants for many years, those of us that most of our years are certainly behind us, all those in between, the little ones, what a joy to see the little children have fond memories when I myself, just a little tyke, Would be at church and maybe after the service is over, if the sun was still shining or something, go outside and play with my friends. What great memories we have in the house of God. And I pray now that you would illumine our hearts and minds to understand Bible truth. But then, Lord, I think the rub comes when we realize we need to apply the Bible truth to our lives. Scripture makes it so plain. You are not pleased at all when we are just hearers of the Word and not doers. So, God, help us to be doers of the Word. Whatever can be accomplished, we're never going to make a reputation of ourselves. Give you all the glory and the praise. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. I think most of you know since I've been here so much. In 1973, I had the privilege to be called as pastor of Eastman Baptist Church in Tulsa. The church was three years old and running 50 to 60. It's kind of a story about me getting there because I'm a Texas boy and I never had any interest in anything in Oklahoma. And I still don't like Oklahoma. But I do like Okies. They're just regular old straight people. I love them. I really do. But anyway, I was supposed to just go down and fill in for a Sunday, because they just said the pastor needed, the word that came to me through Baptist Bible College, I never talked to him, and he just needed a Sunday off, and so I thought, well, I can do that. I stayed there for 30 years, but you know how it goes. Sometimes some of those sermons get long, you know. So the Lord did call me as pastor there and the church was in good doctrinal shape, that's good. Church was in good moral shape, that's good. Financially, I don't know how it could have been worse, pastor. A lot of people don't know what bond programs are anymore. That's really popular in years gone by where church would sell bonds because the banks maybe wouldn't loan them money to finance their property or whatever. And Eastland had had three, and I think each one of them by itself almost was as much as what we had was worth. And so now, you know, the first one's been due for a little while, but it's not paid, and the second one was in its way of coming due, and the third one, all of it wasn't sold, but was coming due. It had come full circle, just almost everything was due. And no wonder the other, the founding pastor, I think he was a good man, but I think the pressure just nearly killed him. because it just wasn't all coming together. And that's kind of the situation I sort of walked into. I didn't try to raise any support. And I don't know if that's wise or not, but I just felt in my heart I shouldn't do it. I would have been really bothered since, now I'd never pastored a church before, you understand, this is new ground for me. And I can stand a lot of things, but I couldn't stand the thought that someone would invest quite a bit of money in me over a year or two, maybe 50, 70,000, 50 or $70,000, and then nothing to show for it. I can't stand that brother Abel, I just can't stand it. Now I can go a little bit hungry. I can do a lot of things that just affect me. You know, but to have that kind of money invested in me and then nothing to show for it. So that's the reason I didn't raise it. But I had three friends that decided to support me, $50 a month each. And I used that money to go to the fellowship meetings, which I really needed. And I would go to the fellowship meetings. I had a question I wanted to ask every pastor there whose church was larger than mine, which I think was every church in Oklahoma. And my question was, how did you do that? It's okay to ask questions, but let me caution you. Don't ask questions if you're not gonna take the information and utilize it. You're wasting a good man's time. And as soon as they figure it out, they're not gonna answer your questions anymore. And they ought not. As a matter of fact, we all become more guilty before God when he gives us more information and we don't use it. So I would ask these guys how you did that. And then time rolled on and And then Eastland began to grow. It finally began to grow. It finally became a good, solid, strong church even as it is today. It never was a mega church, but it would be up in the 600s by the time I resigned and so forth. So now the table has turned just a little bit and someone says, How did you do that? Well, pastor, there was a time I'd look back and say, you know, we had this campaign and that campaign, and we visited, we were visitation freaks, and I mean, we're out visiting all the time. I mean, we worked hard, but now to look back on all of it, and I know we should have done that, all those were good things, but the truth is, it was God's grace. It was God's grace. And I don't understand, and you'll probably often hear me say this because I don't understand it, and I'd like to, and I won't until we get to heaven. I don't think anybody does. I don't understand how the free will of man, that was our free will to work and do what we thought was right. And then the sovereignty of God, and I'm not talking about Calvinism, I'm talking about God's knowledge and God's power. I've just mentioned those two. When those two come together, I'm telling you something will happen. It'll happen. And I don't want to spend time on it except just to say that it would happen. But I think the Apostle Paul is the one who answers it here when he tells us it is by grace. So if we could learn from him just a little bit, then let's try to do that. And I say one of the first things, it is good for us at some time to look back and to remember what we were at one time. And we've been told to remember the pit from which we've been dig. Remember the rock from which we've been hewn. And if we're not careful, we don't look back and to see where we were and then we're a little bit hard on other people that we're not giving them time to grow. And it took us a long time and none of us are through growing yet. If we were, then God take us on out. If he didn't want us to grow anymore, he just take us on home. And I think there's more. for us to happen, so we need to remember what we were. You get to thinking about it, all of us probably were a bad testimony at one time or the other, maybe in our early Christian life, maybe before our Christian life, whatever the case, but we look back and we need to think about that. Now the other disciples had already been on board for a good while, but not Paul. and they'd been trying to do the things that were right. But rather than being on board, Paul had resisted their efforts. And I would like to say that the only trouble that God's people have in trying to do God's work is from the world, but that absolutely is not true. As a matter of fact, I would say maybe backslidden Christians or those who name the name of Christ but aren't really saved cause more grief to the work of God than the world ever thought about causing. I think sometimes it's just there. Just kind of read the Bible and you see that. Abraham and Lot, you know, when you think about those two. And lots of his daughters and some of the children that came from that, some of the enemies of the children of Israel. So we have to think back when we look at Paul, and I've never known a man personally that was a worse man than Paul before he got saved. I've never personally known anyone that wanted to come into a church and take men and women and children out, either lock them up, stone them, whatever, or hold the clothes of others who stoned it and just watch it for the enjoyment of it. You gotta remember, because we think about all the good things that Paul did, think about what he was. I don't think it's fair to think about what Paul was and not think about what we were. all the way back when we were children with a good mom, maybe, and a good dad, or whatever the case, and opportunities in life, and what an egghead or something that maybe we were at that time. So I think Paul probably here really realizes his case. He said in verse eight, and last of all, he was seen of me as one born out of due time. That word in the original, ektroma, and you know what it means? It means that Paul should have been stillborn. That's what he's saying. Knowing who he was, Paul said, I should have never seen him or had anything to do with him. I should have never lived to see this day. Probably some of us could feel the same way about our own life, that we never would have that right. through exactly what, and Paul knew what kind of situation he had been in all those time. But Paul also saw God's work as a complete rebuild, and that's the reason he, in 2 Corinthians 5, 17, that he said, you know, if any man's in Christ, he's a new creature, old things are cast away, behold, all things are become new, and somehow he'd begin to learn these things. But then he finally just says, you know, but by the grace of God, I am what I am. That's reminiscent of something in the Old Testament when Moses said, who am I going to say sent me? And he said, you say to him that I am, that I am sent me. And you know, we are what we are by the grace of a God because of I am was what he was. God couldn't be any more. He couldn't be any less, but because of who and what he is, Then it doesn't take a whole lot of God to do something in a life like mine or one like yours. So Paul recognizes that. And we need a clear view of God's unfettered grace. You know the word fettered means to have chains or to be in stocks so you can't go any far. You're limited as to how far you can go. So I just want to kind of say it appears to me in the Bible that there is no limitation on God's grace. It is unfettered. And some of the songs that we sing, is it not true? People were in such a sorry case in their life in God's grace. Now we always say God's grace, we use the acronym G-R-A-C-E, and I've got to spell that right because of the Bible and because my wife is sitting right there and her name is Grace. She reminds me, you know what grace means, don't you? I said, I've heard it a few times. I've heard it in theology classes and I've heard she says, it's getting something you don't deserve. You know, it's something good that I don't have the right to, you know. But God's riches at Christ's expense, that is correct. But even though we know that that's correct theologically, it's a good acronym and so forth, but it's not a working definition of God's grace. I don't think it helps us to understand what it really does. Now there was an old Scottish preacher by the name of Alexander McLaren. A lot of preachers have his set of commentaries. in their study, and I've got the whole set of it, and I enjoy reading him when I can. But he made this statement so many years ago, and he's been deceased, I don't know how long I could have looked it up, I guess it doesn't matter. But he said, God's grace is the root and the product of a fruitful Christian life. Now think about it, the root and the product of a fruitful Christian life. Now all of us like to eat, we all know about vegetables and you're processing it, so whether you're thinking about a tomato plant, whether you're thinking about corn or beans or whatever else, you're starting with a seed in the ground and you get a root. And then that pops out and then the sunshine and everything and it grows and you finally get the product. Well, if grace is the root and the product of the Christian life, it is the Christian life. It's the beginning of it. It's the base of it. And it eventually provides the product that we need. A little bit later on, he changed that just a little bit. He called it the motive and the power of the Christian life. Now think about that. A lot of times we don't do things because we're not motivated to do it, or someone eventually said it this way, and maybe this is more up to date for us understanding it, the desire and the power to do God's will. Now think about that for a moment. There's enough people living around here to fill this building up several times over every Sunday, aren't there? Well, then why are they not here? Well, the first reason is they don't wanna be here. So desire's lacking, right? THE DESIRE IS LACKING IN THEIR LIFE. WELL THAT WOULDN'T SURPRISE ANY OF US ESPECIALLY IF THEY DON'T KNOW THE LORD AND ESPECIALLY IF THEY DON'T KNOW THE BIBLE OR THE CASE BUT LET'S JUST BRING IT BACK TO US AND THE OPPORTUNITIES WE HAVE AND WHAT WE COULD DO FIRST OF ALL SOME CHRISTIANS COME TO THE POINT I THINK THEY DRAG INTO CHURCH THEY DRAG OUT I DON'T MEAN TO BE UNKIND BUT WE'RE NOT HERE TO SIT WE'RE HERE TO SERVE And it doesn't make any difference how old we are. We cannot do some of the things that young people do, but we can do some things they can't do. You know, God has a way of equaling those out. But I don't want to come to the place in my life where I sit down and say, I am done. I am through. I'm just going to sit down on a porch and swat flies. I'm not going to have any desire to do anything. I want the Lord to take me home before that day ever comes. Well, if I don't make it through tonight and I fall right over there, I asked for it, I'm not going to take it back. If I'm going to be down here and breathe air and drink water and take up space, I want to do something. You just remember the vineyard that was planted and everything and he came looking for fruit on it and so forth, didn't find it, was going to take it up and The other guy says, no, could we just have one more year? Well, we're gonna give it one more year, but then if it doesn't, why are we gonna let it encumber the ground? Well, you know, when you see an orchard, you don't just have random stuff. You've got just like in a row right here. Isn't it? I love looking at, you know, orchards. That's really neat. And that guy went by and looked at every one of them. Shaking it out. So if someone's going to take up the space, maybe somebody else ought to be putting that space. I'm not trying to be unkind. We do that with an orchard and it's fine. Yeah, we think that's great. If we have an orchard, that's great. But you're going to do it to me? We're so unfair. I was reading one time about an apple tree. I didn't know that much about trees. I don't know why. I remember now. I'll be quick. We were going to go on vacation the following Monday, and I wanted to get out of town really early. And my wife says, oh, remember, I got a doctor's appointment. And I said, what side of town is it on? It was on the right side of town. I said, what time is it? She said, it's the first one. I said, that sounds good. I'd never been in a doctor's office that was for women before. And I ain't going to be there the second time. And a man goes in looking for something to read. Popular mechanics? No. Field and stream? No. Car and driver? No. And besides, you feel weird in there. There's nobody in there but women. So I finally found a southern living and I thought, I know how to live in the south. I was born and raised there. I don't need anybody telling me how to do that. He had an article about ranching, so I settled back in my seat and raised that magazine up real high, you know. And I got to reading on it about them burning off the weeds and things. I said, they need to burn them off. Those things are ugly. You know, you go out there and see this crop, and then you got this stuff that doesn't belong there. I thought that's the reason they burned them off, because it's ugly, but it's not. It's because of all, those weeds have a fantastic root system. It takes all kinds of nutrients out of the ground, so get back to the apple tree. I read that every size apple tree brings 3,000 gallons of water a month. Well, who wants the apple tree drinking 3,000 gallons of water a month that's not gonna produce any apples? So we need to be productive, and I think everybody wants to be productive. What's the point? You're not gonna be productive without God's grace. You're not gonna do it, and I'm not gonna do it. And God wants us to do it, so he'll make it possible for us to do that. So, the desire and the power to do God's will. And Paul said, you know, his grace, verse 10, but by the grace of God, I am what I am. And his grace, which was bestowed upon him, was not in vain. Now, vain means empty. Some people don't realize this, but busyness does not translate into productivity. Some people are so busy it's every time you talk to them they're busy. You can't figure out what they've done. I mean running all over the place doesn't necessarily Bruce Anaheim of a product. Well, that's what Paul was saying here. And remember he said at some other place, I therefore so run, not as uncertainly, so fight I, not as when it beateth the air. Paul said, I'm not into shadow boxing. If I'm getting into it, there's gonna be a row. And he was in plenty of them, was he not? You think about this for a moment. I think I'm on course here. You understand that Paul was primarily the apostle to the Gentiles. NOW WE ARE NOT GOING TO MOVE OVER THERE BUT IF YOU WANT TO JOT IT DOWN GALATIANS CHAPTER 2 VERSES 7-9 PHESANS CHAPTER 3 VERSES 7 AND 8 AND MANY, MANY MORE AND YES HE DID SPEAK TO SOME JEWS AND SOME OF THE OTHERS SPOKE TO SOME GENTILES BUT BASICALLY IF YOU WILL READ IT YOU WILL FIND OUT THAT PAUL WAS TURNED OUT TO BE THE APOSTLE TO THE GENTILES AND HE CAME BACK TO JERUSALEM TELLING ABOUT ALL THE THINGS THAT WERE GOING ON AND ALL THOSE MISSIONARY JOURNEYS THAT HE TOOK. NOW IT SAYS, BUT BY THE GRACE OF GOD I AM WHAT I AM AND HIS GRACE WHICH WAS BESTOWED UPON ME WAS NOT IN VAIN But now look at this, I labored more abundantly than they all. Now what's the antecedent for they? He's talking about the other apostles because that's who he was talking about earlier. That's in the context. So just for sake of illustration, and I'm not pulling any tricks, anybody here really that's Jewish in the congregation? Anybody? Not one? Okay. Then based on, he was the apostle to the Gentiles and the others, to the Jews. This is the labor of Paul. The most Jews I've ever had in one service by the household was three. And with those three, there were 200 Gentiles. Are we talking about performance? Are you getting this? Those other guys, other 11, whatever, 10, because Paul himself is one of the extra later on, but they have maybe zero to show right here. And it could be, there's no doubt, if you read what all the other, and God knows I'm not trying to put those men down, but you can't argue the point. The apostle Paul was the apostle of grace. Paul talks about grace more than all the other apostles combined, I believe. I haven't tried to do that exact study, but over and over, every letter Paul wrote, if you read the first few verses, you'll see grace. When you read the last few verses, you'll see grace. It's grace, grace, grace, and grace. And he's talking about it right here. It's such a great thing, and I'm thinking, I'm glad I married one. If I get a little bit of God's grace that goes with that and everything, I'm taking all that I can get of God's grace. Now, really, it is so powerful. Now, I don't know if you've seen this before. First of all, let me just give you a few points here. We're gonna move right along. But grace is not just a New Testament thing. So first of all, grace is sufficient for leadership. Don't lose your place, but just turn back to Exodus chapter 33 right quick. I just wanna say that grace is equal to leadership. You're thinking, can I do it? That's what I wondered when I went to Eastland Baptist Church, can I do it? Well no, in my own strength I realized I couldn't. So we're Genesis chapter 33, I'm gonna start reading at verse 12, we'll read real quick here. Verse 12, and Moses said unto the Lord, see thou seest unto me, are you with me? Chapter 33 verse 12, and Moses said unto the Lord, see thou seest unto me, bring up this people and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me, yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast found, what? grace in my sight. Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace, hey, that's not a bad chapter in the Old Testament, is it? In thy sight, show me now thy way, that I may know thee, and that I may find, oh, grace in thy sight, and consider this nation as thy people. And he said, my presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. And he said unto him, if thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. And I would say amen. Verse 16, for wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight, look at this, is it not in that thou goest with us? If God's grace means God's presence for God's sake, what could we want more than God's grace? To know when we set out to do something, God says, I'm right here, son. I'm going with you. We're gonna get this job done. God's grace is also equal to physical hardships. And I think then probably over to 2 Corinthians, and you're familiar with this, chapter 12. And remember Paul had a thorn in the flesh, and there's all kind of debates about what that was. So I don't think it's important that we know for sure what it was, but it was enough that it really hindered what he was doing. You remember he prayed three times for God to take it away. And if I can just paraphrase, he said, I'm not taking it away. but I'm gonna give you grace. So I just wanna pick up at verse nine, 2 Corinthians chapter 12, and he said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness, most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest on me. Look at the change in verse nine, all the way up to you get before that, God, please take it, three times, please take it, Lord, please take it. Now, no, Lord, don't take it, I glory in the infirmities. Bring them on. Because he's saying I'd rather have God's grace and have the infirmity than not have the infirmity and not have God's grace. Now I think we have God's grace a lot of times and we don't have an infirmity. I'm just using Paul. If we're gonna understand how this man loved and cared so much for God's grace. And I think I referenced this verse already but God's grace is equal to sin. Cause in Romans chapter five, verse 20, it makes it very plain, where sin did abound, God's grace did much more abound. I love that because it levels the playing field. I kind of thought about that, I guess, one time when I was thinking about a lot of our young people, the kind of culture they had to live in. My heart goes out to you for that. And I was actually thinking, you know, Pastor, I mean, what hope do they have? until I really got a grasp of God's grace. And I want to say to young people, it's tough, but God knows it. And when sin abounds, he knows you need more. And if you do what you should, and we'll talk about that more in a moment, he'll give it to you. You will not make it on your own. I'm not gonna make it on my own. The pastor of this church is not gonna make it on his own. None of us are gonna make it on our own. What did Paul say? I labored more abundantly than all of them, but it wasn't me that did it. You know, it was the grace of God, you know, that was with me. But then we have to think about, since God's grace is a must, how do we get it? So I'm sure you're familiar, but let's just turn to James chapter 4 right quick. In verse six, and we could turn to others, but I don't think we really do need that. Verse six of James four, it says, but he giveth more grace. I like that. I just want to say to you, God has no shortage on grace. It's not like a little thimble where he gets a little drop in and puts a little here and puts a little there. God has plenty of grace. God wants to give out his grace. He wants us to have grace. But he giveth more grace, but listen, here's the rest of it. Wherefore he saith, and we got to pay attention to this, God resists the proud. You say, I'm not proud. But if you said that, you are. If you thought that, you are. I don't think there'd be anybody here with any maturity would raise their hand and say, I've never been a proud person. God resists the proud. He gives grace to the humble. I think about America. She's in trouble. Is America a humble nation? No way. I think there was a time she was. Most of that was probably even preceded my birth nearly, but there was a lot more of it back then. Not only just to be humble, but to be humble towards someone, towards the Lord. I would hate to try to build a church, and I'm probably in some of my ignorance, Pastor, I can't say, you know, I was a hard worker and energetic, and I'm thinking, we will, and what I didn't mean to be proud about it, I just meant, we're gonna work, we're gonna just pay the price, whatever it is, we're gonna try to do it. But you know, if we do have pride, I can just see, I'm gonna get her done, and God is going. Yeah, but that's a preacher. God resists her prayer. This missionary's going over there and turning everything upside down. I hope he can. Well, God wants those souls won, so I'm gonna do it. You just watch me go. But God resists pride. Doesn't make any difference whether a pastor, a missionary, doesn't make any difference who it is. God hates pride. Pride is the original sin. And most of us I have to be honest and say it creeps in, creeps in all the time. It's almost impossible to keep it out. I don't think it would be possible for me to be a good husband without God's grace. I don't think I'd be a good father without God's grace. I don't think I'd be a good grandpa, papa without God's grace. In fact, as I get thinking about it, God just pulled it all right now. I'm not sure I'd get out of the building. I don't know. In Him we live and we move and we have our being. But when He gives us a great permission, all power is given to me in heaven and earth. Therefore, we're going to all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, I mean, nation, you know. Just to paraphrase that. But how does God transfer His power? It's not electricity. It's not wind. I got a suggestion. Grace. It's His grace that is His power. But He resists the proud, He gives grace to the humble. Peter also said, we're not turned there in 5 5a, all of you be subject one to another, be clothed with humility for God resists the proud and giveth grace to the humble. Peter said the same thing. One of my closest friends at Eastland Baptist Church was a man named Frank Rhodes. I know that pastors met him and some of the others here probably have met him. And he was a senator out of Oklahoma for eight years. And we lived out close together. We rode to men's prayer meeting together every Sunday. That's at seven o'clock. And so we left early usually, about 6.15 or be there about 20 or 30 minutes early. And one time we were driving in and he said, you know, you're really defensive. That sure made me mad. And I could just see the Lord going. He was absolutely right, but he was a good enough friend to tell me. I knew he loved me. He wasn't trying to hurt me. He said, you're defensive. I'm glad he said that. You say he got it all taken care of? Probably not. But I can sure see its ugly head better now when it tries just to kind of rear up like that. So we think about we want more grace. Now, how do we get it? Well, we're humble. Moses referred to as the meekest man of the earth back in Numbers 12.3. I've got to use an illustration like this. When I was in the Navy, they never asked my opinion about where I was going to live or, you know, when they transferred me to different duty stations. And they never asked my opinion about it. They just moved me. I hate moving. Is anybody else with me? I literally despise moving. And I especially hated it way back in the old days. You'd move and throw everything together and jump in a bed and one of them slats would pop out of there about midnight, you know. Sounded like a gunshot. I know the rest of you youngins don't have any idea what I'm talking about. But you seem like you always get moved in late at night when you're doing something like that in the military, and I wanna go to bed, and I wanna go to bed now, but no, my wife is a neat freak. She wants to do laundry at 11 o'clock at night, midnight. I never moved one time in my life where the plug on the dryer fit the receptacle in the wall. Not one time. Now, I remember one time I had it right there. It was a little piece of plastic about 164th of an inch thick, and behind it, 220 volts that I needed desperately. And it wouldn't match. And I really thought about putting it right there and taking the palm of this hand, and a still, small voice rescued me. If that didn't line up, it probably wasn't going to be good. Now, think about how close it was. And I couldn't get it because I didn't have the receptacle. Now the Bible told us what the receptacle is. Grace is close. Let me show you the receptacle. This is the configuration. Why do you have so much trouble getting to the altar when a pastor preaches a message? Why? Well, tonight you go home and look in the mirror and then write this on there, P-R-I-D-E. How many of you would wanna stand up and say, I never have any problem about the scriptures and stuff he preaches. I'm meeting all of those. Now, I remember, I think it was after a sermon like this or something on grace. I think it was also our worship series. More people kept coming down to the altar, just nothing different about the preaching. I said something to one of the members and they said, well, pastor, don't you understand? If grace, you know, is the desire and the power to do God's will, you preach a sermon, we're not living up to it. We're never going to live up to it unless we get more grace. We're coming down here to get more grace. You could almost say this is a service station for grace, right down at the altar of God. There was a time in the old churches. I've been up in New England places years gone by and America was first founded. There was a little thing right in front of your pew there where you could put your knees on because they spent time on their knees. Over and over and over. But we're just kind of not that way anymore. So last thought is, what's a great revival verse? I hope you love America, I do. 2 Chronicles 7, 14. If my people, revival is not dependent on President Trump or anybody anywhere in politics. It's dependent on people just like you and me. If my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves, pray, seek my face, turn from their wicked ways, I'm gonna hear from heaven. I'm gonna forgive them. and I'm gonna heal their land. Now notice the order. All of those are important. Seek his face. Turn from their wicked ways. All of those are important, but which is the first one? If my people are called by name, we'll what? Why is that first? I'll tell you why it's first. Grace is the desire and the power. No grace, you'll never have the desire and the power to seek His face. No grace, you'll never have the desire and the power to turn from your wicked ways. If we don't have the grace which we get from that humility, we cannot ever do the rest of what that verse says. But we can't get past first step one. Because we just don't like coming to the altar. You say, well, can I bow other places? Of course you can. But altars are made for sacrifice and for worship, and there is no greater form of humility than worship. Prayer is great, but prayer is asking God what we can get from Him. Praise is great, and that's thanking God for what He's already done, but worship is when we're just taking it with God and who He is and what He is, not what He gives. It's just good stuff. It's up to you. God wants us to have it. He wants you to have it. This is how you get it. This is how it's done. Heavenly Father, thanks for your goodness, your watch care, the faithfulness of your people tonight. Thank you, Lord, for all your provision, for your grace, your wonderful matchless grace. Oh God, America needs you so much. And I'm an American, that means I need you so much. I'd give my life for America to have revival if that would do it. I don't see anything written in a word that would guarantee it. But if we would humble ourselves and pray, seek your face and turn from our wicked ways, we can do that with God's grace, with your grace, we can meet all that criteria. And without it, I don't see how we possibly could. So just have your way in the hearts of your people tonight. And I do pray for these dads out here. longing in their heart, and for mothers longing in their heart for their sons and their daughters to be godly. We better want your grace. And then those of us that get to be a grandparent, and oh, how we love those grandchildren, and how we want them to serve you, Lord. We better have grace. and then, Lord, our friends and people we work with and all of that, our church, our country. God help us in Jesus' name, amen. We have a verse of invitation. You don't have to come here to kneel. You can kneel wherever, but if you just have a problem kneeling unless you're physically impaired, you better think, you better think. Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt. Yonder on Calvary's mount outpoured. of a Somewhere I wrote in my Bible several years ago when studying about the grace of God and preaching on grace, this is just me personally. The working definition of when we say God's grace, what we're saying is, I need God's help. God's help. God help me. God help me.