Let your praises ring, glory to Christ the King. One rugged tree. One sinless savior. What a sacrifice for me. No one could fathom the depths of such love. One million praises are still not enough. Cause he brought joy to the world. One silent night, as away in a manger Mary wrapped her child, a weary world Rejoiced as hark the angels sing O come ye faithful ones, let your praises ring Glory to Christ morning, one stone rolled away, revealing the grave was where Jesus was laid. Sin was defeated, death has no sting. Risen in power, behold my King! because he brought joy to the world. One silent night, as away in a manger, Mary wept. Her child, the weary world rejoices. Hark, the angels sing. O come, ye faithful ones, let your praises ring. rejoices Let's stand. We're going to sing it. Glory. Joy of the world ain't about his first coming, about his second coming. Joy of the world, Lord is come. Let heaven and nature sing. He rules the world. That's going to happen. General Douglas MacArthur stood on the shoreline of the Philippines, looked into the face of them brown people and brown eyes, and said, I, Douglas MacArthur, give you my word, I shall return. He was ordered by the United States military, Eisenhower, to leave the Philippines, take his wife and child, and go to Australia. That's where he went. And when Japan got defeated, and we bombed the devil out of them in Tokyo, and dropped the bombs, here he comes. Old MacArthur walks up there in them sunglasses, you've seen the pictures. Got on that naval attire. And he comes back and says, I, Doug Smith Arthur, have given my word, I have returned. They said, well, MacArthur, come on, show them that the Word got out. And all over the Philippines as it got out, said old men jumping up and down, and young women was shouting, holding their young'uns and picking up their grand young'uns, and just excited. Why? Because MacArthur come back. God, if you got a picture of this, that's the man Christ put down. That little old nation of Israel hid out in the wilderness. When they see him and the Word gets out around the world, he's come. It's real, just like he said. And the lion's gonna lay down with the lamb, the bear's gonna lay down with the lamb, and children's gonna play at the snake's nest, cobra's nest. And we'll study war no more. Why? Because joy to the world, Lord's coming. Y'all excited about that? I want you to act like it. You say, I don't feel like it. Well, thank you. Who said you gotta feel like it? God's worthy to be praised. You ain't gonna feel like it. You ain't gonna feel like it. Bless the Lord on my soul and all that's within me. Bless his holy name. If you waiting on feeling like it to shout, the devil ain't gonna let you feel like it. We got praise. God won't feel like it, nah. Amen, come let us adore him. You ready? Amen, you got that song. I'll wait you there, we good. Amen. Let the earth receive her king. Let every heart prepare him room, heaven and nature say. He gonna put the curse down. Y'all believe that? You ever heard of dispensationalism? You ever heard the premillennial coming of the Lord? And the white horse story? Yeah, he gonna be on one. When the Roman general defeated the enemy, he come through wrong on a white horse. Yeah. Praise God. He's coming on a white horse. You don't believe that? I believe that. The Bible said the horse is going to ride on me. I believe it. I believe what it says. I believe it literally. Amen. I believe he's going to be on a horse. Battle stand. Horse of victory. Let earth receive her King Let every heart prepare Him room Heaven and nature sing Heaven and nature sing Heaven, heaven and nature sing No more let sin and sorrow grow far as the curse is found, far as the curse is found, far as, far as the curse is found. He rules the world with truth and grace, and wonders of his love and wonders of his love and wonders and wonders of his love. Okay, throw up there victory in Jesus. We gotta get that in there. Amen. You don't hear the name of Jesus, don't come to his church. That's why we're here. I remember my college saying something years ago. in his last years of preaching. All he wanted to preach on was Jesus. I about feel the same way. Hope this ain't my last years. I preach on Christ more now than I ever have. I love it. I love it. Hallelujah. The Holy Ghost loves preaching, and he loves preaching on Christ. Now, we gotta deal with all this other stuff, too. Now, don't misunderstand. We just need to, if you're gonna err on anything, you're on preaching grace and Christ. Amen. Glory! Amen. You know his song, Brother Jason? You've heard this song? Thank God, the first one I've known since we've been here. Amen. I heard an old, old story. Oh, victory in Jesus, my Savior forever. He sought me and He bought me with His redeeming blood. He loved me ere I knew Him, and all my love is due Him. the cleansing flood. I heard a and he calls the blind to see. And then I cried, dear Jesus, come and heal my broken spirit. And somehow Jesus came and brought to me the victory. Come on, church. Victory in Jesus. He sought me and he bought me With his redeeming blood He loved me ere I knew him And all my love is to him He plunged me to victory Beneath the cliffs And I heard about ♪ Beyond the crystal sea ♪ ♪ About the angels singing ♪ ♪ And the old redemption story ♪ ♪ And some sweet day I'll sing up there ♪ ♪ The song of victory ♪ ♪ Oh, victory in Jesus, my Savior forever ♪ You can be seated. Amen. Gonna get Brother Richie tripling. Now, besides people in the church, how many of y'all that aren't members of this church has never heard Brother Richie preach? Okay. You in for a great blessing. I was sitting right there in Sunday school one Sunday, and God said, power conference, Tuesday night. I said, yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. You say, well, where's the big guns? He is the big gun. What you talking about? We used to hung up on these preacher cults. Sometimes we didn't get somebody that ain't got a big name. One time they strut in there, strut out. I love men like Brother Curlock. Amen. Praise God. Brother Jody Paulie. I love people like that. You're down to earth. And I love when God wants them to preach. I don't do no good if God don't want me to. But we've heard some preaching around here. Man, it's all good just in this morning, man. Son, it was glorious, wonderful. If you didn't hear them, go back and listen to it. Amen. Praise the good Lord. Brother Rich Stripley, you come. I'd say, young preacher, you ain't too young no more from church here. God really blessed me, sent him, he's over here years ago, sent him back over here so I could rest this Sunday school, hallelujah, I've been praying for that. Said, Lord, let me rest a while. Amen. Yeah. He's right, I'm not young. It's taken me a long time to find out what really worship is. Go ahead and turn to James, I'm here right now. But in the book of James you find Some people struggling, and I may just kindly talk. That's my goal. I told the Lord, I said, I just want to obey you. Because of all that matters. When you read through the book of James, you find the people that are struggling. You find the people that are, the early church, they're scattered abroad, they're in a foreign land. When God saved me, all of a sudden, I was in a foreign land. See, he said, he wrote that to the 12 tribes scattered abroad. See, when I see that, I think about they're all different, yet they're one. Tonight, we're all different, yet we're one. And we're in a foreign land. And as you read through the book of James, you'll find that you find some people that are struggling. You'll find as you go through the book of James, you'll find that the first chapter, you'll find there's some people there that are ready to quit. They don't understand what it is they're going through. But James, the elder, here he is, he's a man that has compassion. And He's trying to lead them to where they need to go. But you have some that are ready to quit. They don't know what to do. But He says, let the tribulation, let the patience have perfect work. God is in a process of taking us from one place to another. But you find in that chapter that many of them, their minds are confused. They're double-minded. They don't have any direction. What did he say? He said you just need to ask God. Seek God with all your heart. Because God said if you'll seek Him, not which will be had, but if you'll seek Him, He said you'll find Him. If you seek His treasure, you'll find the treasure. And as he tells them, as they're ready to discourage, he said, you'll find that, guess what? In chapter 2, actually in chapter 1, you'll find that they are only concerned about themselves. They won't look in the law of liberty. They're worried about the faults of others instead of their own. Why? Because they've been struggling. And as you go through this chapter, as you go through this, and I know I'm scattered, but I'm just going to try to obey God. But you find that James is trying to give them some instruction, but they won't listen. They're quick to speak, but slow to hear. Why? Because they think they know it all. May I say something? When God saved me, I was a baby. I did not know near as much as I thought I knew. And lots of times, to be honest with you, I'd come to meetings like this, I'd hear other preachers preach, and I'd think, I know more than they do. What are they doing up there? And I was there to nitpick and criticize. Do you know why? Because I was seeking something. See, when God saved me, I've been justified by faith. And I have peace with God. But the reality is God put something in me. He put a desire in me to want more. And when you find in chapter number four, you find this, that you have a people that are desiring more. But they're looking for it in the wrong way. They're looking at it through the flesh, their desire, and that is a fleshly desire. And as a young Christian, I did not know how to seek God, but I knew that God put a thirst in me to want Him. So you know what I did? I'd go to church. I would pray. I was trying to do everything that I knew to do. And you know what? What I was trying to do, I didn't know the secret yet. So what I did, I began to mimic all the preachers that I thought had it. See, that word lust means to covet, to desire something somebody else has. And see, I didn't know how to fight it. I didn't know how to get a hold of God, but there's a desire in me. So what I did, I began to mimic what everybody else was doing. And as I began to mimic everybody, have you ever seen some preachers begin to mimic other preachers? Sammy Allen? Hey, I was there. But guess what, I was trying to mimic everything. I was trying to put everything they said on me. And what it did, it made me critical. It made me self-righteous. Then when I'd come to the house of God, I couldn't even worship because I was picking everything apart. I was seeking for peace and couldn't find it. And as I go, as I went through this, but there was a longing in me. You'll find in chapter four, verse one, I'm just gonna, you'll find that there is a, a fruitless reward in verse number two. So you find in verse number one that it says there's wars and rumors of wars. There's wars on multiple fronts. But when you get to chapter, verse number two, you'll find that that war is now it's been flipped because now it says fight and war. See, because you have some people that are trying to find God and all it's doing is causing damage. The carnage is everywhere. And the reason for the carnage everywhere is because there's a struggle on the inside. When you get to verse number 2 it changes it to fight and war. It's flipped and it's singular. Why? Because we are in a war. But every war is won one battle at a time. But every battle is won one soldier at a time. And God desires us to be a soldier. But before we can ever be a soldier, God has to take us through training. And see, I didn't realize it at the time, but God was taking me through some training. Why? Because there had to be a lot of things brought out of me that was put in me. What is it? My flesh. My flesh was critical. My flesh is self-righteous. And though I thought I was doing right, but I had no peace. But there's a desire in my heart for it. So what did God do? He took me through a place of fruitless reward. Why? Because I was trying to find what God wanted me to give me in my own strength. Much like Moses. Moses had a desire, listen, he forsook all. So he could lead the children of Israel, but he tried it first, what? By the hand and by the arm of the flesh. And when he did that, he supposed that everybody would follow him and he found out otherwise. So what did God do? God put him on the backside of the desert for him to dwell there for 40 years. Now in the midst of that, God did not forget about him. But God had set him aside for a purpose. Why? Because you'll find in Exodus chapter 3, you'll find him there leading and feeding a flock. And while he was there, God was preparing him for what God wanted him to do. So God had to put some mercy and some grace in his heart. And God has to take us to a desert place, to a barren place. And may I say something? There are some barren places that God has providentially put in our lives. Before God ever called Abraham, you'll find in Genesis chapter 11 that Sarah was barren. Why? Because God had preordained a barren place in Abraham's life. And that barren place ended up being the greatest place that God ever touched him. Just like Moses, Moses on the backside of the desert. And while he's there, it was there that he ran into God. Ran into the burning bush. And while he ran there, he found that God was preserving him. God was molding him. And you'll find when you get there, Brother Keith, he's different. Now all of a sudden, he's not so boisterous. God had had to work some things in his heart. And now tonight, if we're really going to have to have the touch of God, God's got to get a lot of flesh out of us. He will take us to a barren place. To a place where we are miserable. Why? Because we have to learn that we cannot do this thing by the arm of the flesh. Listen tonight, our churches are full of flesh. But there's some things worth fighting for tonight. When I think about here tonight, I think about the blessing it is to have the presence of God. And while I'm here, I was thinking today, I want to thank the old soldiers that are here tonight. We're here tonight because there's some old soldiers that found the right way to serve God. and we're standing on their shoulders. They knew what it was to go through the barren places. Now tonight I cannot look inside of you, but there's many people in here who have scars from the battle. And those scars are from the hand of God to prepare us to be like Christ. Because here it is, Jesus is so unlike me. Jesus is so unlike me. When you get around him you see how unworthy you are. When Moses got in the front of the fire, what? He found out how holy God was. But he also found the grace of God. He found the grace of God. And then he realized how unworthy he was. He was no more worthy to lead. He realized he had no strength. Tonight the Lord has to get our strength out of us. Why? Because we're too strong. That is why God takes us to the backside of the desert to a barren place of seemingly fruitless reward. And after you go there, He'll take you this. You'll find a place of frustrated requests. When you look at chapter number two, he said, when you're reading verse number two, guess what? They weren't praying at all. Moses wasn't praying at all. But after Moses had gone through that barren place, it's there that he runs into God. There he is, he starts praying. See, the child of God, God will take you through a place that's seemingly fruitless. He will take you to a place of frustration. And when you get frustrated, you begin to seek Him. But the problem is that you're seeking Him amiss. See, that word amiss, it means that it's sick. It's diseased. See, I was desiring the touch of God. Why? So I could be elevated. I was on the touch of God so people could look at me. I was on the touch of God. No, I didn't realize it until the Holy Ghost let me see it. But I was wanting the touch of God so everybody would look up to me. A place of frustrated request. Why? Because God will not honor flesh. I was seeking, but he was silent. Why? Because I was asking amiss. But it brought me to the place I knew what it was to have peace with God. And I didn't have it. And I longed for it. So what is it? You begin to seek Him more. Now, we find in this chapter that you'll find that He teaches, He shows the key to the whole failure. He says you adulterers and adulteresses. When you find that, what is it? He said the friendship of the world is enmity. Now it wasn't that the world was the enemy, though it is, but he said it's the friendship. What is it? It is that which connects the two. See, the devil, when God saved me, he put a power in me. But as men have received him, to them gave he power, become the sons of God. My life completely changed when God took a boat in me. But there's a struggle. But this new power was struggling. Yeah, I had that old power, struggling. And it was that that was reaching out and grabbing. Why? What? Why? What is that? You adulterers and James is letting those children of Israel, he's going back to the Old Testament bringing back to something they would understand where the children of Israel played the harlot. But when you look at that, what is an adulterer? Someone who cares nothing about their family. It's someone who cares only about their flesh. They care nothing about the one they're committed to. They only care about themselves. And it was there, while seeking God, He let me see. All you do is care about yourself. I'll explain it to you this way, kind of how I saw it. It's as if I was walking across a battlefield, but I saw a young man leaning against a tree with his head bowed. I'm just how I seen it. And I seen someone walk up to him and all you could see was as if it was the whites of a robe. See, there's some things that got into my heart called unforgiveness. And that unforgiveness that got into my heart, that part about me drove me completely away to the place that I was completely despaired. And guess what? I had quit fighting altogether. But in my vision, if you will, I'm telling you, you may think I'm crazy, but that's okay. But I saw a young man sitting on a tree, leaning with his back against the tree. One walk up to him and he said, forgive them. And the young man said, I cannot. He said, forgive them. The young man said, I cannot. Then the voice went silent. It wasn't long, because he was no longer hearing the voice, that he fell down and he began to beg Him. And as he begged Him, he felt something dripping on his head. And when he began to look up his eyes, the tree that he was leaning against is now before him. And he looks up, and before he can get his head up, he hears, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. My heart melted. I said, Father, you have forgiven me. Peace. Peace. And then I began to feel something different. When I would go to pray it was different. I would bow my head and I would feel Him there. I now no longer care what position I'm in. I no longer care for a pat on the back, though I do appreciate it. But all that matters is knowing peace. Knowing peace. Here we find some people that are looking for peace, but they're looking for it the wrong way. So God took them through a place of fruitless reward, a place of frustrated requests. Then He showed them the folly of their ways. And finally, I could illustrate it this way. That war that was going on on the inside of me was my flesh just wanting to win. But I found like Jonathan with David. I had to come to David, take off the weapons, submit to God's choice and God's way in peace, calm. This night I think about, do you know why we don't worship? We're not only at war. We worship ourself. God wants to take us farther than we've ever been. But we'll never go there until we learn to die to self and worship Him. Really, really worship Him. To be honest, I got to the place, Brother Keith, I hate my flesh. I despise it. Not just the things outwardly, but I hate wrong thoughts. I don't want anything in my heart that grieves Him or quenches Him. Why? Because I want to keep the peace. And it's worth laying things down to have His peace. Pastor, I'm done. Thank you, sir. Only a broken man can be that transparent. Some of you will be way too proud to admit all that. He probably was at one time, too, and I would have been, too. Amen. Sister Lauren, come up here and play something. Amen. Praise God. You need this altar? You need it? You yield to God. Say, God, I'm sick of trying to work this thing out. I'm going to throw up the white flag and surrender and submit. Oh, they so few people will submit to God's authority anymore. That's why they'll never do nothing. Never will. You learn. Did you hear what Brother Rich said? He learned to yield to the one God chose. Of course, that's first of all Christ. That's Christ. Amen. Y'all just keep it coming. Who needs to come, come. Lord God, now we need this tonight. My brother Richie, he just testified tonight. He wasn't preaching, he's testifying, because that's what he's supposed to do. Would you have been willing to obey God if God told you to get up and just talk? Huh? You willing to obey God, do what God says? Put on some show of the flesh. It ain't worth nothing. Now, dear God, Moses was an exception. You had to take him through 80 years, what you had him to do. And God, these people in here, God, they don't seem like they've been promoted and pushed out fast as they wanted to. Because, Lord, you may have something for them to do so important that it takes such training for it, such preparation. God, may we be willing tonight to wait on you. Oh, Lord, to wait on you. And God, for you to get us where we need to be. Oh, Lord, great God. Oh, Lord, being able to pray. Being able, God, for you to burden us. God, give us, Lord, the prayer help that we need. Help us, God, get ahold of this thing, what it's all about. It's all about you and obeying you. God grant it. God grant it. Thank you. Praise you. Glory to your name. I'll tell y'all something. He taught that in Sunday school here. Of course, he'd do more preaching in than that. But he did what God said. And I told him, I said, I want you to tell that. And he didn't get a lot of it, but he got enough of it. You know what disaster that is. And I want him to tell that. You know why? He lived it. You can tell something you've lived. You can really preach something you've lived. You can't preach something you ain't lived. You can really connect with people that you live, what you lived. Amen. So Lord, now when this week's over, this night's even over, and the live stream's down, and people's going back to listen to what they've heard, and gleaning things they never even heard, that's the way it is. God, these things said, we don't get a hold of till later. And I pray, God, all these great truths that have been preached to us this day, oh Lord, God, they've been the truth preached to us today, set us on fire when Jesus comes. Oh Lord, I praise you for that message of Brother Winston on consistency. God, we know that's the secret above all things, just being consistent. Praying when we want to, when we don't want to, because it's the right thing to do. Just learning to be at church when we're supposed to, feel it like it or not, it's the right thing to do. God, be an encourager when we don't feel like it, because it's the right thing to do. Give Him when you tell us to, it's the right thing to do. God, live it in the hand of the Lord, denying our flesh, because it's the right thing to do. Help us, God. Oh, Lord, not that see-some burning bush. May we just obey, because it's the right thing to do. And we bless your name and praise you for it. And then what, Brother Jay, it's Jason Sparks, priest this morning. Oh, Lord. Get up there. That eagle gets up there, and the storm is what makes him go higher. Oh, the storm is a reasoning seal farther. Oh, God, these truths that, God, we've heard, and oh, Lord, that God up there, that storm gives us a power and a perception and a promise and a presence we ain't never had before. The storm doesn't. Thank you, God, for that. Then, Brother Tyler, preach it on, God, when you're silent. Oh, we heard it all, gladness, and we're better off for it. Oh, Lord, make this a part of us. We'll praise you. Amen. Hallelujah. Amen. Amen, Jesus. First, come up here, let's sing a heaven song. Amen. Might wanna sing a little bit of that heaven's jubilee. Amen. Let's all stand. That's number 110. We'll give Brother Ridge our time to finger through that keyboard up there. I know that's in that thing, surely. Some glad morning we shall see. Jesus in there, Lord God. Hey, like them words. We gonna see. You know what the Lord's gonna do? He's gonna descend from heaven with a shout. Shout. What's that? He's shouting in joy for his bride. Oh, yeah. You men, praise God. When you got married, did you give out a rebel yell or a shout of joy or something? Something, didn't you? Amen. The Lord's been waiting on us a long time. He can't wait till we see him like he is. Man, he's just waiting to see our face. Lord God, when we see him like he is, oh, what a morning that's gonna be. Amen. The devil's a prince in the power of the iron. He's stepping right out in the devil's domain. Pulling us up. I hope the devil's out. He probably done run and hid. I'd like for us to stick our tongue out of him while we going up. And say every word God would let us say. He gonna let us cuss, but let us say every word he'll let us say. Of negativity to him. Amen. Praise God. We won, didn't we? We won, didn't we? Amen, Jay, let's sing it. ♪ Oh, in some glad morning we shall see Jesus in the air ♪ Coming after you and me, joys ours to share ♪ What rejoicing there will be when the saints arise ♪ Heading for that jubilee, yonder in the skies ♪ Oh, what singing, oh, what shouting ♪ On that happy morning when we all shout When we meet our blessed Savior in the sky Seems that now I almost see all the saints of death Rising for that jubilee that is just ahead In the twinkling of an eye, changed with them to be All the living saints to fly to that jubilee Oh, what singing! Oh, what shouting! On that happy morning when we all shall rise Oh, what glory! When we meet our blessed Savior in the When with all the heavenly host we begin to sing, Singing in the Holy Ghost how the heavens will ring, Millions there will join in song, with them we shall be, Praising Christ through ages long, heaven's jubilee. Oh, what sound! Oh, what shouting! On that happy morning when we all shall Hallelujah. When I was a kid growing up and you never read your book, amen, you never pulled out a thought, why is he going to be in disguise? But he's in the skies, amen. Aren't you glad one day? Hallelujah. We're raising up to be with him, amen. And we're going to know who he is. We're going to see him face to face, amen. The one that died for you, you're going to get to look him in the eye, amen. And thank him with everything you got for going to that cross of Calvary and dying for your wretched soul, amen. Glory to God, I can't wait to see him, amen. And when with all the heavenly hosts we begin to sing Singing in the Holy Ghost how the heavens will ring Millions there will join in song, with them we shall be Praising Christ through ages long, heaven's jubilee Oh, what singing! Oh, what shouting! On that happy morning when we all shall rise Oh, what glory, hallelujah, when we meet our blessed Savior in the skies. Amen. Number 110, that read Book 7 Jubilee. Number 120 is victory in Jesus. Number 130 is I never shall forget the day. So we might as well sing number 130. I never shall forget the day. Long years ago, went out and sinned. Had no hope, no peace within. Down on my knees, agony. The old people used to say I was in and under conviction. In and under. I know what that is. That's what I was. I was in and under it. Amen. Cried in agony, prayed to Jesus, and He gladly sent me forth. Amen. Y'all happy about that? I believe you might forget a whole lot of things I don't think you'll ever forget, too. I hope not. Amen. You get dementia, I hope you still remember that. You take people with Alzheimer's, you say Jesus, and perk up. Yeah. Amen. Hallelujah. What a day, what a day when the Lord saved us. God let us know him. Amen. We'll wait just a little bit. We probably know these words now that I have them up right on. Amen. You know his song? Yeah. I thought if you don't, you ain't no badness preacher. Amen. Long years ago went out into on my knees in agony. I prayed to Jesus and he gladly set me free. And I never shall forget the day when all the burdens of my soul were rolled away. It made me Glad and free I'll sing and shout it for he's everything to me Now I can feel him by my side My feeble step He comes to guide When trials come He comforts me ♪ Whether faith in him or sin, I have the victory ♪ ♪ And I never shall forget the day ♪ ♪ When all the burdens of my soul were rolled away ♪ ♪ It made me happy, glad, and free ♪ ♪ I'll sing and shout it for he's everything to me ♪ O sinner, come to Jesus now, at His dear feet. Just humbly bow, confess to Him your every sin. He'll save you, cleanse you, give you peace and joy within. ♪ And I never shall forget the day ♪ ♪ When all the burdens of my soul were rolled away ♪ ♪ It made me high, be glad and free ♪ ♪ I'll sing and shout it for he's everything ♪ Do that chorus again. ♪ And I never shall forget the day ♪ ♪ When all the burdens of my soul were rolled away ♪ It made me happy, glad and free ♪ I'll sing and shout it for He's everything to me I'm gonna ask y'all a question. See what we try to do at this church? We magnify the Lord, we magnify grace, and we magnify salvation. Now, there's a whole lot of preaching in between there. Be of that. Amen. Man, the grace of the Spirit to all men, teach us not ungodliness and worldly lust. Help me remember the day, the day of the month and the year when God saved you. That don't mean you're not saved. If you don't, some people don't remember the date. Amen. Everybody remembers the date. Don't you say it right now. July 13, 1969. Amen. Lord God, amen. Praise the Lord. I mean, let's sing that little old, it was on a Monday, Sunday. Do you know that? Yeah. And for all y'all don't remember what day it was, we're going to sing Sunday at the end. Where did God save you? Where? Where was you at? Say it out loud. I say to all the church, A.B. Chapel Baptist Church, amen. Praise God and all the burdens from my soul roll away. Hey, make me happy. Hey, man, let free. Oh Lord, you can't don't hate to remember that song, you in trouble. If it's your day, raise your hand. If you got saved on a Monday, raise your hand. Amen. On a Tuesday, somebody touched me It must have been the hand of the Lord me. It was on a Thursday. the hand of the Lord. It was on a Saturday, somebody touched It was on a Sunday, somebody touched me It was on a Sunday, somebody touched me It was on a Sunday, somebody touched me Hallelujah. You can be seated. We're gonna hear Brother Heath Williams gladly, gladly. God's got something for him to say. Boy, it's been good, ain't it? Tell you one thing, you squeeze every bit of juice out of this, you can. Amen. Like milking a cow, make sure you get it all. Make sure you get it all. Amen. That cow needs some relief, and you need the milk. Amen. Hallelujah. Praise God. I'll tell you something, young people, you don't know this, I'm gonna tell you. In the old days, people worked second, third shift, and lot. And the revival started out on Monday night. The crowd would start building. You'd start building, get to Tuesday. But your biggest nights were always Friday and Saturday night. Always. And nowadays, Monday and Tuesday's your biggest day. Nobody goes on Saturday night, and most of them don't go on Friday night. This whole thing's changed. I'll tell you one thing, the way it don't matter to me, just get in here and get all you can. Amen. Brother Heath Williams, you come? Is your mom and dad here tonight? Okay. Okay, Brother Richie's mom and dad, y'all raise your hand back there. I'm glad you're here. Brother Neil, stand up there and pray for us, will you? Amen. Thank you for the common man. Thank you, God, for the common man and common woman. It's the humble people of God. Lord ain't learn how to strut, just humble people. Well, God's still overwhelmed, he's being saved. Thank you, Lord. Richie being transparent. Give you praise, Lord. Amen. Amen, Brother Heath. Obey the Lord. Pastor. Well, if you love the Lord, say amen. Well, I thank God for what my ears have already heard and appreciate what that did in my heart. And if you come looking for something, you've already gotten at least part of it. because all of us need what Brother Richie just said. There ain't never a day in our life that we get over all of that and we ain't vulnerable to it. It's a daily battle. I appreciate the man of God and the message God gave him and how it's already challenged our heart and what an honor it is to be here. I said last night, I'll say it again, no place I'd rather be. Appreciate the man of God, always been like my pastor in my life. and my spiritual father. And I bless the Lord for that. 2 Kings chapter number six tonight. 2 Kings chapter number six. Appreciate all the good preaching this morning as well. And boy, they just tied together. And if you didn't watch the live stream yet, you really need to, I promise you. It'll change your life for the better. It'll do some eternal good. God really spoke through His men. So take time to hear those three men. How? I mean, none of them. Brother Sparks didn't even know he was going to preach. None of them talked to each other. And all three fit together like a hand in a glove around one theme of consistency. And when God goes silent in your life, what a blessing it was. Well, I told you last night, my heart theme this week centered around the theme of more. There's still more. there's still more. I told you I felt like the Lord would have us to look these first couple of nights about hindrances to getting to our more. I really thought we was going to look over in the Kings and Chronicles at being a spiritual sellout. and trying to make deals with the devil, but the Lord really worked on my heart early this morning, and then it stayed with me all through the day, so I've scratched out a few things today in the hotel here out of 2 Kings chapter number six, and I trust that'll be exactly what our hearts need. You stand with me if you don't mind. 2 Kings chapter number six and verse number one, just wanna give you what God has given me. Verse number one, the Bible says, and the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too straight for us. In other words, it means it's gotten too small. The Lord's been a blessing. "'Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, "'and take thence every man a beam, "'and let us make a place there where we may dwell.' "'And he answered, Go ye. "'One said, Be content, I pray thee, "'and go with thy servants.'" They wanted the man of God with them. "'He answered, I will go. "'And he went with them, and when they came to Jordan, "'they cut down wood. But as one was felling a beam or cutting it down, the axe head fell into the water and he cried and said, Alas, master, for it was borrowed. And the man of God said, what an important question tonight, where fell it? And he showed him the place. He cut down a stick, cast it fither, and the iron did swim. Therefore said he, take it up to thee, and he put out his hand and took it. By the help of the Lord tonight for just a little while, I want to preach on this thought, losing Your edge. The danger of losing your edge. Let us pray. Father, we do love you. One more time, we pray you help us now. Touch thy little servant. Take me well beyond what my little limitations are. God, clothe us in our calling. Let us operate in the gifts of man. Dear God, I pray tonight, help your people. Stir the saints, save lost people. Bind the devil, let us get all you have for us tonight. Thank you for the man of God. What has already been done in my heart, I give you glory. Help us now tonight, God. Guard our lips. God, we only want to say that which you want us to say. Nothing more, nothing less. God, give us the spirit and the heart tonight to have obedience unto thee. May we squeeze out every ounce of the will of God that you have for us tonight. And it's in the lovely name of our bloodstained Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, we do pray. Amen. You can be seated tonight. Well, of course, when you come to chapter number 6, we find that the blessing of God is upon this school of the prophets. You understand tonight that Elijah, but more specifically even Elisha, had a burden for the next generation and what would come behind them. and teaching them in the ways of God, a lot like your pastor does. It's always been his heart and ministry to help young men like myself. And when Gehazi messes up and is exposed by God and he is put out of the way, most commentators, Jewish history says Gehazi was crooked and corrupt for much longer than the day that he tried to get some dowry and some money from after Naaman's healing. So when this corrupt preacher was out of the way, these young men started flooding back to the school, because it was once again a place where God was at, and some men of God they could trust. Could I say on behalf of all of us young men, do you know what one of the greatest things in our life we desire? It's some older men, not just men of God, but men and women in churches. My wife said many times to me, the Bible commands the older shall teach the younger. And when she's had deep questions about raising children and balancing ministry, she says, I'm not against it, I'm not too proud to ask for help, but where are those older women? I echo, where are those older men in the average church that you can trust that have been with God, that ooze with wisdom like Brother Daniel's daddy used to? When I'd go by their house over there, And you would just sit and be quiet. If you talked, you was an idiot because you really didn't need to talk. You needed to listen. He had something to say. They had this place and the blessings on it, and noise to broaden the young men flood he had. And so now they have a need, and they need a bigger place to grow in God, and to get ready for what God had in their life. And so we find that they get a word from God. God says he's going to bless it. God puts it in their heart. that they're going to be able to grow this place and have greater influence and to do something for the glory of God. They not only have the blessing of God, they have resources to get the job done. Borrowed axes, materials, they have the manpower, they have the men, they have folks that are willing to go the distance. They even have the man of God. Elisha says, I'm for it. They said, we'd like you to go with us and lead us so it's done well. He said, I'll go with you. Here's what I'm telling you tonight. Everything under heaven was lining up, going in the same way. for the glory of God. Listen to what one commentator said. They said that they left from Gilgal most likely and went to Jordan. That means they were willing to go six miles on foot back into the middle of nowhere. They wasn't looking to get out in front of people. They were actually looking to get hit in the dark place and really get a hold of God. I'm just trying to say this tonight. They had all the zeal in the world. They had all the passion in the world. They had the right passion. They had the right principles. They had a word from God. They were in the will of God. But hear me tonight, even though they had all this for them, they still find out that they're gonna have to learn some hard truths in serving God and seeing God give you more in your life. And they're the same for us tonight. preacher. Let me just relate it. I give you my points tonight. But hear what my heart is tonight. Hear how the Holy Ghost connected this for me. You have a man of God with a heart to train people and to put young people around the presence of God and to show them some things. That's why he likes Moses so much. Cause in our life he is our Moses. Led us out of a place of bondage of religion. And we knew there was more, but didn't know how to get there. So the Lord raised up a man, and God raised up a people. God prepared you for him, and he prepared him for you. And God turned this place that was in a mess around with a new name of new beginnings. Hedge in the dark for us. for a while, took us down to Myrtle. You got all the zeal at that time. You got all the passion at that time. You knew you was in the will of God. You knew you had the blessing of God. You knew you had the man of God. But how many of you know, there's been a lot of water under the bridge since those first trips we took many years ago now. Some of you's been going 15 years down there. Some of us have been going a long time. But you probably didn't know or anticipate then some hard truths. Oh, you're still in the will of God. God's still got a big plan. We still got more that God's going to do. He's just getting started around here. Probably 50, 60 preachers here tonight. Had probably 65 on the young preacher's trip. And all of them are connected because of what they've heard about you. how God's touched you, how God's using you, because your pastor couldn't do what he's doing if you wasn't behind him doing what you're doing. And God has put a big thing together, church, and put all of us together and rallied this whole thing together. But hear me tonight, there'll still be some hard truths along the way. Number one, I find this, a crippling reality. Verse number five. But as one was fell in a beam, the axe head fell into the water. Let me give you some typologies here so we're on the same page. That axe head is a picture of the Holy Ghost. We don't do the job, He does. I don't help anybody tonight. You understand that. I have to be available. I have to study. I have to obey God. Your pastor has to obey God. But at the end of the day, if he don't help me tonight, it'll waste your time and mine. I may be the, listen, we're just the stick. We're just something in the hand of God. But that accent's the Holy Ghost. He's the only one that can cut the trees down, bless hearts, save souls. Elisha's the pastor. The other workers mentioned in this story are the other church folks that are laboring together. Again, that handle is us personally. Those trees is the will of God, our dreams, our burdens, our desires. But we find here in the story that when everything's going good, all of a sudden it runs off the rails and everything begins to fall apart. Can I tell you something tonight? Just because it's running off the tracks, just because you can't track God anymore tonight, just because you don't feel Him like you once did, just because the passion ain't oozing like it once did, It doesn't mean that anything's wrong if there's sin, deal with it. But for a lot of us, here's the reality. It's part of the maturing process. Because serving God is much bigger and deeper than passion and emotions. If you're living on feelings, you cannot survive that way. You will ride a roller coaster that will destroy your life and mine. I'm not here tonight because I feel God. I'm not enjoying this tonight because I always feel 440 from another world. Sometimes you worship on credit. You worship because the words are right, the Bible's right, the things going on is right. You pray because God told you to, not because you feel like you should. And there's reality in this story that everything was going good, but then everything blew apart in a moment. but they were still slapped down in the middle of the will of God. They didn't miss anything. Not as a whole, this one man overlooked some things. But as a whole, they were in the right place, doing the right thing. So how'd they get in this trouble? What's this crippling reality, preacher? Here it is. Because we find that they got so excited and so zealous, whichever man was responsible for this acts did not take the time to make sure his tools was ready before he went to serve God. I don't think it's because he didn't want to talk to God, Brother Luke. I don't think this man said, I'm some cocky big shot that thinks I can do it all. That ain't in the text. It wouldn't even make sense. Here's what I believe because it's exactly how we are on a Tuesday night in power conference. Here's what that man probably said. Man, we've been waiting forever. to finally be able to build this place. I mean, we're out of room. God's on the move. Sinners are going to hell. We need preachers in this day. Elisha's on the move. The miracles are happening. God's doing things over here. God's doing things over there. We ain't got time to slow down and do things that are methodical. That'll take a lot of time. We just gotta run it on through because we gotta get after God. But hear me tonight, it cost them more to not take the time. What was they supposed to do? If you know anything about axes, you know that they put that axe head on. You've got to make sure it's tight. And you soak it in that water so it'll swell tight. And then you drive a wedge in it. And you've got to make sure that axe head is sharp. And you've got to make sure that the stick is good and tight in the axe head. before you can ever know that you're really ready, safely, and properly prepared to efficiently do the job to which the axe head is called. What are you saying, preacher? In your Bible, when water's still, that's the Word of God. When water's moving, that's the sweet Holy Ghost of God. You better make sure, no matter how exciting it is, No matter how long you've waited for it, no matter how much you think God's in it, we better make sure that in our life before we go out, we're soaked in the Word, we're covered in the Holy Ghost, and we're wedged in with a promise from this blessed old Bible. Because if not, there is a crippling reality. that you can cut for a while. It'll take you forever. The axe head's dull and it's loose. And eventually it came off. Somebody could've died. It could've fell in somebody's heart, not in the water. It could've costed more than time. It could've costed precious souls. We better understand tonight, it takes a while to soak it. It takes a while to wedge it in. But it took much longer to get to the place where they had. Cutting with no bite. to get to the place where they lose it and have to call everybody to a stop, bring the man of God over, figure out where it's at, go through the entire process in thee and our flesh is lying, the devil's behind much of it. As Brother Daniel always tells us, God will make you a promise, typically the devil will put a timeframe on it. We live in a microwave society. But God ain't changed. God don't operate in this microwave society. He ain't in a hurry. God is methodical. We're driven by quantity and speed. God is all about quality and getting it right. One of the greatest things Brother Daniel ever helped me with. I had a burden. I forget which time it was. I always confide everything in him. I'm telling you what I knew. I said, God, I know God's in this. I know we're supposed to do this. He was for it. He was excited about it. But he made this statement to me and it's always helped me. He said, now slow down a little bit. He said, God, make sure you get the timing right too and make sure you're ready. I said something like this. I said, but preacher, we got to go. I'm fired up about it. And there's people going to hell. Listen to this. He said, brother, he'd hear me. People tragically, but still truly have been going to hell for a long time. He said, if God would have needed you to hurry to the degree that you're not prepared, he would have started in your heart a lot quicker. So if God ain't in a hurry, you don't get any more of a hurry than God is. God knew their building was out of space. God knew that they were gonna grow. God could've put it in their heart two months earlier to get started on that building. It was a lie of their self with the good intentions. It's like what Brother Richie was just preaching. They meant everything well, but they still missed the mark because they did not take the time. Can I tell you something tonight? The most important task for God is not the public part with visual results. It's taking time in prayer and study and scripture to make sure your spiritual tools are sharp and ready. I'll leave you with one of my daddy's favorite quotes and we'll move on tonight. My dad has told me all my life, it's good wisdom. He says, son, measure twice and cut once. And I said, Dad, we got plenty of wood. Let's just shoot at it. We're taking forever. He'd always tell me this. He'd say, we do today, son. But he said, there'll be a lot of places in your life where there won't be no extra wood. And if you cut it wrong, some people may never recover. If you cut it wrong in your life, you may never recover. We better make sure we measure twice and cut once with God. We find a crippling reality. Number two, we find a crucial request. Look at the beginning of verse number six. And the man of God said, where fell it? Boy, this is a big part of my heart tonight. I love when God asks questions. Because everything in my spiritual life, at least, has always been a God that likes to ask me questions. God will say things like, why are you without your joy? Why are you struggling to pray? Why do you seem burnt out? Why are you this way? Why have you gone over to this? So the man of God, under the inspiration of God, he looks over at this man. He doesn't drop kick him in the teeth. He doesn't jerk the rug out from underneath him. He doesn't condense sin on him and rip his guts out and strut like a Pharisee. But you can hear the tone of compassion in Elisha. How do you know a preacher? Because I know when he heals him. I know when he brings the axe head back. I know when he helps this man. He has mercy in his heart because he knows he didn't mean to. He knows there wasn't no ulterior motive. There was nothing dirty going on at all in his heart. He was literally just trying. to get busy for God, and he made a simple mistake, just like many of us, but he did have to ask Him a crucial question. Where did you lose it? Can I ask you something tonight? Many of us, if you're struggling tonight, it's probably because you've lost the axe head somewhere. That's just the truth. God don't just dull our axe and jerk it off the handle when we're doing everything right. Sometimes God will let you swing without seeing the trees fall. But God don't damage our equipment and blame us. He's not playing mind games. So if something's off tonight, it ain't God, it's us. As the old saying goes, if you feel like there's distance between you and the Lord, God hadn't moved, so we had to. And many of us, you can come to however many power conferences you want to. You can go to however many prayer rooms you want to. You can listen to preaching daylight to dark and everything in between. But until you or I, either one, when we're in a mess and when we're struggling, we better realize that until we answer the question, where fell it? Where did it go? Until we get honest with God, we're wasting our time. Boy, this feller, he could have took that axe and he could have went without an axe head and he could have beat on that tree, beat on that tree and said, I ain't telling the man of God. I'm embarrassed. I ain't confessing that. I ain't humbling myself. And listen, he could have beat that tree until all he had was blistered hands and busted bark. but he ain't gonna be not a narrow bit closer to that tree hitting the ground. Sticks don't cut down trees. It takes what we ain't. We ain't the ax head. It takes the sharp edge. And so you gotta ask yourself the question tonight. If trees ain't falling in my life, and forget the result-driven society we live in where the tree has to be on the ground and everybody's shouting and 400 are getting saved. That don't happen anywhere. Well, social media says so. Well, go on evangelism like us and go by and see their church and you'll find out something ain't adding up. Preach to 100 and 400 got saved. You gotta watch what the devil puts in our minds. Well so and so's family seems so happy, go to their house and you may find out different. But I will say this though, if there ain't no visible wood flying as God is leading you to swing the ax, if you preach and you know God ain't on it, something's wrong. B.R. Lakin used to say it this way. He said, I always would find private prayer requests in my life. Hear what I'm telling you tonight. He said, I would find something that God had in my heart that nobody else would even know, so I knew I was the only one praying. And he said, if I went a season at a time without hearing anything from God on it, he said, that was my measuring stick to know. that there was something in my life I needed to do business with God. Because if we're right with God and we're praying in the will of God, honey, something ought to be happening. Either God doing it, God promising you He will do it, or God showing you another better way to pray about it. But he said, when I ain't hearing from God, I know something's wrong with my ax head. In so many words. And so if you ain't seeing the wood fly, and if you ain't seeing the hand of God on things, and you knew it once and you don't have it, if you don't have a thirst to pray, if you're methodical, if you're dull, if you find yourself going through the motions, if you feel empty tonight, if you feel a little hopeless, If your faith is down, there's a lot of different ways. I don't know what your place is tonight, but I do know this. If the wood ain't flat, there is a place somewhere in your life and mine where we have lost the ax head. And until we get on this, we can't get help. Maybe it's a place of disobedience to something that was the will of God and the call of God. Maybe it was a place of seeing. Maybe it was a place of complacency. Maybe it was a place of hurt. Some things we hadn't let go of. That bitterness that we talked about last night. There's a lot of ways the axe hit. comes off, there's a lot of places where it dies in the waters of this world, but may I just say tonight, it does not have to stay there, but it will stay buried, and you will stay barren, and you will stay frustrated with bristers and no results until you get honest with God, not just about that the ax head's gone, but where it's at and how it got there. You say, well, I don't know. Well, then ask God. But I'll be honest with you, most of the time, we're just lying to ourselves. We know. There's been some times that gods went silent as they preached about this morning, and it was for a heavenly purpose. But most of the times when I find myself with no wood flying, Brother Ethan, it's because I've done something, but I don't wanna talk about it. So God says, well, I ain't gonna talk to you until you wanna talk about it. And you tell God about something else and God don't listen. And you want to go over here and talk about this, no matter how good or important it may be, and God seemingly says nothing. Because it's kind of like me and my boy. If y'all met Parker, you know what a good kid he is. My daddy said it like this, it's a good thing he's cute. He's all boy. He'll do this all the time, especially to my wife. She will directly tell him something. And he'll say, what'd you say? She will get closer and say, I said to get in the bathtub, son. What'd you say? And then, when you're about to take him to the spiritual woodshed, if you will, He'll smile and say, oh, so what mommy meant was she wants me to get a bath. I fell for that as a new father of my first child. And then I found out that at six months old, they ain't angels like you think. There's some devil in there already. They know exactly what they're doing. And God will tell you spiritually, I want you to take a bath in the word of God, wash yourself in the word, make this right, do this. It could be something good you're supposed to do. It should be something bad you're supposed to get rid of. And you know what we do? We act just like our children that we get so mad at. What'd you say? What'd you say? God lets things happen. He says, are you listening now? What'd you say? God lets more happen. I don't know why God's putting me through all of this. I just don't understand it. And the whole time, we got our ears clogged. And we're saying, what did you say, God? Because the reality is, we know exactly what he's saying. We know where the axe head is. We know how it got there. And we're pretty sure about what it's going to take to get it back. but our pride don't like it, our flesh don't like it, our ego don't like it, and we're banking on the fact that if we pray enough other stuff, and if we listen to enough other things, and if we're faithful enough in church, somehow we can talk God into bypassing it, and we can get what we want, and we think God'll be okay because he's getting something he wants, but hear me tonight, until we answer God's question right where we're at. We ain't getting nothing else. Crippling reality, a crucial request. But number three, I find a convicting retrieval. Look at the end of verse number six. I like to tour up the foyer over at the hotel today. I saw this. He cut down a stick and cast it in feather and the iron did swim. How many of you remember 2,000 years ago, outside the city walls of Jerusalem, hung a bloody Savior that was dying for your sins and mine. But He didn't die on metal. He didn't die on the ground. But He was stretched between heaven and earth on a wooden, old wooden cross. Heaven wasn't ready for Him. and earth didn't want him anymore. So he hung between the two for six long hours, three hours without the fellowship of the Father. But ain't you glad tonight that after that tree was cut down, after the Lord was slain, after he gave his life for you and me, there's some iron that can swim. There's a miracle that's happening in your life and mine. That's why you could be saved on a Sunday or a Thursday or a Friday like me, because there was some wood that was cast down in our life of sin and mass, where our ax head was gone, where our hope and purpose was gone, but because he fell, we could rise again. Boy, Jesus died for us to be conquerors, not just little old defeated wooden handles with nothing. Brother Daniel was just talking about it this morning. These wacko charismatic preachers on TV have scared us out of our heritage. Just because they're preaching false doctrine, abusing the Holy Ghost and stealing social security money from poor little grandmas does not change what our Bible says. God can still speak. He spoke to me when I got saved. And I'll be bold enough to tell you this tonight. If the Holy Ghost didn't speak to you when you got saved, you didn't get what I got. You don't need to get saved if you ain't lost. And how are you going to know you're lost if God don't say so? Well, if he can talk the day you get saved, how come he's got to go mute the rest of your life? I'm not talking about having extra visions that don't match up with the Word of God. But we do have a God that'll talk to us. We have a God that'll use us. We have a God that has a side that we can't understand. There is a mystic side to our God. If I understood and could explain it all, honey, He wouldn't be much God tonight. I'm glad there's a God that can do things in your life that is unexplainable. Most of us, if we were to be honest tonight, we can't even comprehend how in the world we're here, how God has had such mercy, how God has put up with us, how God has returned the axe head in our life over and over and over. But we better make sure tonight that we don't wind up callous and careless. and turn into a bunch of sticks, whacking trees and making noise, but get nothing done. You know, it's amazing to me, these arrogant young guys my age today, that'll rebuke an older man of God. I can't even, but I made me wanna get mad. You say, well, sometimes they're wrong. I have seen a time or two where they were wrong. I've seen an older man of God that had no education preach something out of context. I have. So what'd you do? Kept my mouth shut. If I was going to do anything, I probably should go polish his shoes and tell him, thank you for paving the way. But all these guys now talking about, this guy's wrong, this fella didn't have it right, this ain't gonna be right, they missed all of this. But I'll ask you a question. For all this new age on both sides, we got this new dead isms on this side and we got this dead liberalism on this side. If either side's so right, how many of you tonight believe God blesses truth? He's a God of the Bible doctrines. He blessed us. It's His heart. He gave us His word. Doctrine matters to God. So if they're so much better and more right than we are, how come they ain't seeing God move? Why ain't they had an awakening that's changed us and taught us ignorant people some things? If what we're doing about preaching and praising and glorifying God, if that ain't the right way, then how come God don't put his seal of approval and blow the socks off and turn America around like he has time after time the way that we're doing it? Honey, as Granny says, the proof's in the pudding tonight. And we better make sure that we're not just a bunch of empty wood whacking on bark and getting blisters, making a lot of noise, but getting nothing done. Them old timers had no education. They had no technology. They had none of these comforts of church. They was poor in Job's turkey. They couldn't hardly afford to come. They walked, they rode, they paid a dear price. They knew very little, but how in the world did they get so much done and we can't even hold a candle to them because they knew it had to be God and they valued the ax head because they knew their handle was nothing. Boy, it might be good tonight if we got back to the place where we quit spending so much time worried about our little self, the handle of the mechanism, and we started putting all the emphasis on the cutting edge. And we said, God, I can't, but you can. God, I ain't a big deal, but you are. God, I just want to be available. If you want to swing and you want to use an ax head, God, let me be the handle that you swing with. Let me get in on whacking the devil. Let me get in on seeing you do something big. We've got to come to the place where we say, if Christ died for me, the least I can do is live for him with all I got. If he died on an old wooden tree, the least I can do is get in on the power that is available to us. After he resurrected from the grave, he said, greater works than these shall you do, because he's praying on the right hand of the Father, and the Holy Ghost is praying in us. We have a privilege that we better exercise. Listen to these quotes. God's grace can thus raise the stony iron heart which has sunk into the mud of this world and raise up afflictions naturally earthly to things above. Matthew Henry. This is my favorite, listen to what F.B. Meyer said. Hearts may be heavy as land at the bottom of the stream, but when a splinter of the cross of Calvary, could I say tonight, He has so much power, He has so much authority, ladies and gentlemen, and it wouldn't even take the whole cross, it just takes one splinter. He said, just one little splinter of the cross of Calvary is inserted. They shall rise to the surface and swim. I'm just trying to tell you tonight, the same God that could do the miracle of the iron swimming again is the same God that can let the iron swim in your life. He died for you, not just to save you and go to heaven. We're here to display His power and to give Him glory and to show a lost and dying world how big God is, what God can do in our life. There is still more, but some of us have got to answer the question, where fillet? I'll leave you with a Brother Ray story. Miss Lauren, you come. While she's coming, I'll leave you with a Brother Ray story that has helped me so much. But you know, he's probably the most anointing man that has probably walked since any of us have been alive. Boy, there was a time in his life that he had the anointing, but there came a time in his life he lost it. He was in one of them deadhead, up church, First Baptist. As Billy Kelly would say, it was so cold in one of them churches, if you walked a cow down the aisle, he wouldn't have made milk, he'd have made ice cream by the time he got to the altar. Y'all go with me, I'll show you a few. There across this land, nobody cares, nobody looks. Preachers discouraged, defeated. It's terrible. He's in one of them dead churches, nobody believed in shouting, you know, that's too prim and proper for all that. A whole lot of guys, Brother Ethan, our age, they're too big now for shouting and snotting and weeping and crying. They got it too put together to tell what Brother Richie did, because, you know, they don't have none of them thoughts. They're just all about Jesus all the time, and they never do struggle with their self. They're a big deal, you know how you know? Just ask them, they'll tell you. They're so proud, they'll even correct people that have been at it twice as long as them. Boy, he's in one of them dead atmospheres where they lost it all. And God said, stand up and shout. And he didn't. And then he tried to preach. He tried to preach. You read the story, it's in the book. Brother Luke, people started elbowing each other in the pews. They said, what's happened to Brother Ray? He said, he can't preach. He ain't the same. Cause see it wasn't a stick. It was an edge. A touch of God, a sharp edge. He got to waltering and wrestling with God. He's telling God he was sorry. He's begging God for another chance. Then he got in another dead church. And God didn't tell him to stand up and shout inside that church this time. He said, you get up and run out the doors. And in the middle of the night, during this night service, you stand out in the middle of the road, and you shout like a Comanche Indian until I tell you that's enough. Some of us, we say, I ain't doing that. That's why you ain't got no edge. That's why you lost family, ain't been prayed for. You think you've prayed for them, but you haven't. You've busted bark, but you ain't cut no wood. If God told me to jump in ice-cold water at 32 below zero, and if I was willing to do it, my boy could be saved, I wouldn't say, God, I ain't sure if I will. Brother Tim, you know what I'd say? How long you want me to stay, God? The glory of God's worth it. Our loved ones are worth our edge. Brother Ray started to argue with God, and God said, well, I'll be done forever. Oh, no, God. Oh, no. And he did what God said. And that edge, that iron swam. God put that edge back on him for the rest of his life. By the grace of God and by the power of God, he cut a lot of logs for the glory of God. Listen to me tonight. There's too much at stake. to lose your accent. For some of us, it's preventative preaching tonight. You have it right now, but you better make sure you keep it tuned up in the water. And you let that word grind on that edge and keep you right. Keep me right. Because we could be a whole lot closer to that accent. It may not just hit water, it may hit somebody first. There's too much at stake to lose it. But ladies and gentlemen, there's too much at stake that if it is buried in the water somewhere, there's too much at stake to leave it there and play games with God at the foot of the cross. What if you say, well, I'm going to give it 30 more days. It'll be easier on me then. What if the things that you so dream and desire What if those things I mentioned in the introduction, their dreams was the new prayer house and the new school study house? But what if ours is lost loved ones? You say that's pressure preaching. It is. We need some pressure. Christianity is pressure. It matters what we do. You don't pray for your lost loved ones, they go to hell. It's partly your fault. It matters if we pray. It matters if you put your children in church. It matters how you talk about the man of God around them. It matters whether you pray. Don't tell me tonight you did everything you could to raise you young. I've heard people ask me to pray, and I do. Brother, my heart's for them. But I preach, and I watch them back there yawn and nod off. They don't at the ballgame. Now they can't figure out why their boy's a die-hard Panthers fan, and he wants to go to the ballgame, and he don't have no appetite for church till the offseason. Maybe because daddy couldn't stay awake when the preacher was up, but he sure could when the quarterback was throwing. The edge. I'm not preaching at you, I'm preaching with you. We all better evaluate in our life and say, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. If I got any bark flying, if I ain't seeing the bite, if I'm not seeing the hand of God, if nothing's happening in my life, I better take some evaluation. We ought to all at least be this humble to come say, God, is it me? And if it is the ax head, if you don't know, say, God, when and where I'll do anything you want me to do. Because there's too much at stake. to leave it. If that man would have lied, it would have cost the entire brotherhood that was building that house. He might have messed up and got a little too fired up and got ahead of God and not took care of things. But he got the main thing right, Brother Jason. And that was when things went wrong, he went to God's man. This may be old fashioned, but I'm going to tell you this and I'm quitting tonight. Most of you have fixable problems, but most of the things in your life that fall apart and you're not able to fix them is because you waited too long to go to your pastor. Amen or oh me, I'm preaching truth. Why you got a church and a pastor if you ain't going to use them? He's there for a reason. God said he's the under shepherd, not you. There's things God will tell him on your behalf, he ain't telling you. You better soak in that word, and then you better, when there's trouble, when it first starts. Friend, if I have a health ailment, I'm not gonna wait till I'm pretty sure I'm six months dead with cancer before I go ask the doc. That's crazy. I like living and I want to live as long as God will possibly let me and I ain't going to play in road traffic to see if I can die. If anything's wrong, Doc, when can you see me? Spiritually, at the first onset of something's loose, something's dull, get in that Word and ask the man of God for some help. And if you can't trust your man of God for that, you need to get a real one. Not one that makes you feel good. Not one that always appeals to your flesh. Not one that always does the meetings the way you want it. One that knows God and can keep the axe head grinded sharp. Too much at stake for anything less. He got it right. He asked the man of God. And when the man of God spoke on behalf of God, he got honest, humble, and desperate. Yes, sir, I've lost it. It's right here in the water. Whatever we need to do, sir, I'm willing to do it because it's borrowed. And I don't want to let down my master. That's the heartbeat tonight. Your ministry ain't yours, it's God's. Your church ain't yours, it's God's. Your marriage ain't yours, it's God's. Your babies ain't yours, they're God's. Your life ain't yours, it's God's. Your salvation ain't yours, it's God's. Every single thing inside of your life tonight, it is not yours, it's God's. It's borrowed. It's precious. We can't pay the price for it. We can't buy it back. So we better go to the right places and do what the Word of God says and honor what God says. Get desperate, humble, and honest and say, God, whatever it takes. But I don't want to let you down with the things you've entrusted to me. There's a lot at stake. As a matter of fact, there's too much at stake. Some of you tonight it might be sin, disobedience. Some of you it's God wants you to do something good and you ain't done it. It's time to reclaim your axe head by the grace of God. Some of you might be like Brother Ray and God's telling you the only way you get in the back is to do a particular thing and you're refusing. But the longer it stays in that water, the longer it's hurting you and it's hurting other people. How many people would have died and went to hell if Brother Ray would have let his axe head stay in the bottom of the water of his pride. Pressure, because we need it. You fail, how many others are not going to ever trust God? You quit on God, how many people look up to you may never get started? We better find out tonight if we got blistered hands and busted bark, or if we're really cutting for the glory of God. Losing cutting edge. Let's stand all over the building tonight. Appreciate your patience