got to come be with me this morning. That's unusual since I'm all over the country, but I'm glad that they're here this morning. I want you to turn in your Bibles to Mark chapter 5. We'll get right into the message. Keep your finger there and then turn over to the book of Hebrews, the book of Hebrews chapter 4. Hebrews chapter four. I'm gonna read you a poem. I may have read it here before, but I may not have, so I love reading this poem. I think it'll help you. You know, I have found out that our lives through the years, that our lives affect everybody. No man liveth to himself and no man doth to himself. That's what the Bible says. So our lives affect everyone around us. And when we're dead and gone, it's still gonna be affecting them. It never stops until the Lord comes back and it's all over here on this earth. And so I want you to think real hard this morning about the message and about this that I'm fixing to read to you this morning because I really don't think we take it serious enough about the way we live, the lives that we affect around us. From our families and our homes to our relatives, to our coworkers, our neighbors, everyone we're around, our life's going to affect them, good or bad, but it's going to affect them. And those effects will last the rest of their life. And so it's vitally important that we understand this. And we think much about the way we live, the way we act, the way we talk, the things we do, our actions around others. It's so vitally important. Is it not? Sometimes, a lot of times, we just don't think about it that way, though. We just live our life. Let come what may. Take each day as it comes. But that's not the way we should live. Amen? We should not live that way. We should be so concerned about all those around us in our life, our testimony. This is called the dash. Now it's not the hundred yard dash. It's the little mark between the day you was born and the day you died. It's called the dash. I read of a man who stood to speak at the funeral of a friend. He referred to her dates on her tombstone from the beginning to the end. He noted that first came her date of birth and spoke with the following date with tears, but he said what mattered most of all was the dash between those years. For that dash represents all the time that she spent alive on earth, and now only those who loved her know what that little line is worth. For it matters not how much we own, the cars, the house, the cash. What matters is how we live and love and how we spend our dash. So think about this long and hard. Are there things you'd like to change? For you never know how much time is left that can still be rearranged. If we could just slow down enough to consider what's true and real, and always try to understand the way other people feel, and be less quick to anger, and show appreciation more, and love the people in our lives like we've never loved before. If we treat each other with respect and more often wear a smile, remembering that this special dash might only last a little while. So when your eulogy's being read with your life's actions to rehash, would you be proud of the things they say about how you spent your dash? That's something, isn't it? My preacher, Dr. Richard Sandlin, sent me this several years ago. Just to show you the effect other people has on other people's lives, some of these preachers you might know, some of them you won't. But listen carefully to this. A Sunday school teacher named Kimball won D.L. Moody to the Lord in 1858. D.L. Moody preached in England in 1879 and stirred an evangelistic zeal in the heart of G.B. Meyer. Meyer preached at a college in America, and a student named Wilbur Chapman was saved. Chapman got Billy Sunday started in evangelistic work. After Sunday preached in Charlotte, North Carolina, he could not return for another meeting, but suggested they call Mordecai Hamm. Hamm preached in Charlotte, and a young man named Billy Graham was saved. Under Graham, Hugh Powell was saved. Hugh Powell was instrumental in Peter Ruckman being saved. Ruckman preached in Middletown, Ohio and a 24 year old drunk named Richard Salmon was saved. And I was saved under the ministry of Richard Salmon. So you could see how lives affect other lives. And how it just continues to go and continues to go and continues to go. So I think we should be very, very careful about how we spend our dash. Right? I'm gonna preach to you a message this morning that it's not something you haven't already heard. It's not something you already know, but like Paul said, he said, I stirred you up by putting you in remembrance of these things. And we certainly need to be stirred up as Christians. As children of God, we certainly need to be stirred up. Amen? I'm seeing today such fear among Christians and such anxiety among Christians that I've never seen before. And it ought not be that way. It just should not be that way. According to the scriptures, our faith is not in this world. Our faith is in God, in Him alone. And this is where we come to the knowledge of God. It's through faith, believing Him. Amen? In Hebrews chapter 4, I'm going to read you a passage of Scripture, and then I'm going to come back to one verse in this passage of Scripture. Hebrews 4 verse 1. It said, let us therefore fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into his wrist, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them, but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith, and them that heard it. For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, as I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest, although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise. And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. And in this place again, if they shall enter into my rest, seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein. And they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief. Did you get that? Look at verse two. For unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them. That's the saved and lost, Jew and Gentile. The gospel was preached. But the word preached did not profit them. Did you see that? Because not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. Let me say this morning, folks, listen carefully. It bothered me, Brother Charlie, all the years that I pastored, the first several years that I pastored, I'm thinking, why aren't my people growing? I mean, they're faithful. They come to church every Sunday. They're at every revival meeting, every missions conference. They tithe. I mean, they're Sunday school teachers, deacons, but Many of them are not growing. They still facing the same things, dealing with the same sins in their life, still inconsistent in many areas of their life. And I'm thinking, what's up with this? Is it me? Am I not preaching the word of God? I mean, what's happening here? And it bothered me for several years. I mean, it really bothered me. And God brought me across this verse. And I know I've read it many times, just never stood out to me like God showed it to me. Look here, folks. If you don't believe what you read from this Bible, and if you don't believe what's being preached from God's word, it's not gonna profit you at all. You're not gonna grow. And it all stems from that one word, unbelief. You just don't believe it. If you believed it, look here, if we believed this book, wouldn't our lives be different? Wouldn't our walk with God be different? Wouldn't we be growing spiritually and maturing in the Lord? But many are not. And it's simply because they just don't believe what's being preached. They don't believe what they read. I mean, what's the sense in praying if you don't believe? I mean, what's the sense in coming to church if you don't believe? It's not gonna profit you anything. Do you believe the book of Jeremiah when it says, God said, I am the potter, you're the clay? Can the clay say to the potter, why hast thou made me thus? And yet everybody's trying to change what God did. And the reason that God's got you where he's got you and doing with you what he's doing with you is simply because he's the potter. Let him do it. But if you don't believe what you read from this book, it's not going to profit you and you're still going to struggle all through your life, trying to do things your own way, not worrying about his will, not being concerned about what he cares about you and how he made you and what he's got for a plan for your life. I mean, if you're not concerned, the reason we aren't concerned is we don't believe. If we believe this book, it would be different. And so if we don't believe, guess what? It's not gonna profit you at all. You're not gonna grow. You take the book of Job. I look here. I know we all, if I was to say, how many of you believe this book? Everybody would raise their hand and shout amen. Everybody. If I said, do you believe this is God's word? Infallible, inerrant, inspired word of God. God breathed book to Bible. Everybody would shout amen. But the fact of the matter is, we might believe that in mind, but not in heart. We just don't trust it. We don't believe it. If we did, our life would be different. In the book of Job, you remember the story, and I'm not gonna go through the whole thing, but you know that Satan came and talked with God, and God said, have you tried my servant Job? Am I right so far? And then God said, Satan said to God, I can't touch Him. Isn't that what it says? Why? Because you have a hedge about Him. Isn't that what it says? Okay, does God love Job more than He loves us? The answer is no. He loves us all the same. And He put that in there for our learning and admonition to let us know that He has a hedge about us. And the only way Satan can do anything to us is through God. Now I believe that with all my heart. I believe that. So nothing's going to happen to me, absolutely, positively nothing, until God okays it. Nothing. I believe that because of what the word of God says. I believe it. And so I'm not gonna walk around in fear I'm not gonna be worried about this and that and the other, what the government's doing. I'm not worried about COVID-19. I'm not worried about any of it because if I catch it and I'm on a ventilator and I die tomorrow, it's all part of God's plan. It couldn't have happened to me unless it passed through God first. And I believe that. I'm not concerned about the presidency. I'm not concerned about our government. I'm not concerned about any of this. Now, you know what I mean when I say not concerned, right? I mean, I'm not going to let that rule my life. You understand? Of course I'm concerned. I'm an American from the top of my head to the toes of my feet. And I love America. Don't get me wrong. I love America. I'd bleed and die for America. I'd fight for America. I love America. Don't get me wrong. I love the Constitution. I love the Bill of Rights. I love all of that. I love those guys that wrote it. They had great knowledge from God, I think, to write that. Thank God for it. Amen? But I don't live by the Constitution of the United States. And I don't live by the Bill of Rights. that I don't live by what my government says. I live by this book right here. This book is the one, it's better to obey God than man, and I'm going to obey God if it hair lips the devil. I'm going to obey God. I'm going to do what he said. I got news for you. Here's a news flash, folks. Listen carefully. Now you might think, look here, I'm just giving you the scriptures. I'm just showing you what the Bible says. Might as well smile, it's gonna get worse than this. But I'm just giving you what the Bible says. If all that happens to me, it's part of the plan of God for my life. I live by this book, it never changes. God has never punished his people for keeping his command. And his command is to be in the house of God. I'm glad somebody agreed with that. But according to my Bible, it says, forsake not the assembling of yourselves together. And that means every time the church is assembled, that's where we ought to be at. And it's a command of God. It wasn't a request of God. It was a command of God. And we're to obey God. God's never punished his people for being obedient to him. You need to listen to this. It's not something we don't already know. It just needs to stir us up and say, hey, you know what? We need to get back to this. We need to get back to believing God and trusting God. Because if we don't, this book right here is not going to profit you at all. Not at all. We need to get back to believing the book. Now, all of us have a different measure of faith. That's what the Bible says. Some have been saved just a little while. Some have been saved for years. And the only way you're going to get stronger faith is to exercise your faith. And how do you do that? You do what he says, whether it looks like it's gonna work or not. And I got news for you. There ain't nothing in that book looks like it's gonna work. And that's where our faith comes from. The more we obey it, we see that it works, God shows up and shows himself to us, and our faith gets stronger and stronger and stronger each time we obey that book. Each time we do what he tells us to do, it makes our faith stronger and stronger and stronger. But it looks as if though, Brother Charlie, that the faith of Christians are getting weaker and weaker instead of stronger and stronger. Does that tell us anything? That tells us that we're not really being obedient and believing God's word. If we believed it, our life would be different. Our walk would be different. God said that without faith it is impossible to please God. without faith. So the message is either fear or faith. Which one do you have? You can't have both. You can only have one or the other. You can't have fear and faith. Now the Bible talks about us having a fear, fear of the Lord. Amen? Fear of His punishment. There are some things we ought to fear, but we're not to fear this world. We're not to fear the way this world is and the way we're in this mess altogether. We're to show our faith and believe God and trust God. That's the way we're supposed to live. Others around us ought to see our faith. We're Christians, they ought to see our faith. I remember the fellows over in Mark chapter two, verses one through five, they brought their friend to Jesus. You remember, he was on a stretcher, right? And he brought their friend to Jesus. Now, in this day and time in 2021, I mean, somebody'd be hollering, who's gonna pay for the gas? And they talk about tearing off a roof. Well, who's gonna pay for that? I ain't getting up there and tearing that man's roof off. That's the way we live today because our faith is very small. This is the way we live. This is the way we act. because our faith is so small. But they had an intent of taking that man to Jesus. They didn't bring him in a van. They toted him there on a stretcher. And they got there and couldn't get in. You know the story. And they said, well, we'll have to get him in somehow. We've come this far. And the only way he's gonna get healed is for us to get him in there. And one of the fellas said, well, we have to tear off this guy's roof. They said, well, let's get to it. So they jumped up there and started tearing the roof off. I mean, it's simply what it says. And all that stuff started falling down around the folks and they all started backing up and Jesus was sitting right there in the middle and they let him down with ropes in front of Jesus. Is that what happened? It's what the Bible says. And Jesus looked at him and the Bible says that he was healed by their faith. Not his faith, their faith. I wonder whose faith we are. Neighbors, friends, co-workers, children. Wonder whose faith we are. What are they seeing in us today, Christians? What kind of faith are they seeing in us? Or are they just seeing fear? We're walking around in fear. You know, here's some real good suggestions to you. Cut your stinking TV off and quit watching the news. Just get in that book and believe God and do what God says and trust Him. Everything will be just fine. Because nothing is going to happen to you but that God allows it first. If we really believe this book. over in 1 John chapter five. We'll get there in just a minute. Let's go to Mark chapter five. This is a story. Jesus has just healed, cast the demons out of the maniac of Gadar, and he's crossed the waters now, and here he is, he's coming on shore, and there's a man by the name of Jarius there. He was a ruler of the synagogue, ruler of the Jews. And Jairus, at this point in time in his life, it didn't matter that he was a ruler. It didn't matter that he had an entourage with him of men, I'm sure, with him. It didn't matter what people thought about him at this time. He had one great purpose in coming to Jesus. Didn't matter about his wealth, his prestige, his popularity. None of that mattered. None of that mattered that he held a position. There was one great thing that mattered to him. Look in verse 21, and when Jesus was passed over again by ship into the other side, much people gathered unto him, and he was nigh unto the sea. And behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and when he saw him, he fell at his feet and besought him, notice the word, greatly, saying, my little daughter lieth at the point of death. I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed and she shall live. And guess what? Jesus said, I'll go. So they started down the road. Now do you think for a second, just for a second, that if Jairus didn't believe that Jesus could do what he said he could do, do you think he'd be asking him if he didn't really believe? He really believed that Jesus could heal her, and that's why he was there. And so they started off down the road. Down the road they went. And as they went, people thronged him. And now there's a woman with an issue of blood that comes to him. She said, if I could just touch the hem of his garment. You reckon she believed that? Notice the word believe here today, folks. She said, if I could just touch the hem of his garment, I could be made whole. She doesn't spend all of her living. She has none the better. She was dying. And so she fought her way through that crowd to get to him. What about Jairus? What do you think he's thinking now? Same thing you and I would think. We ain't got time for this. My daughter is at the point of death. We don't have time to stop, but it doesn't say anything about Jairus saying anything. Not a word. Jairus just stood by. She got to Jesus, touched him, and she was made whole. Look in verse number 33. But the woman, fearing, trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, look at it, thy faith hath made thee whole. Because she believed, she put some feet to her faith. We can say we believe all we want to, but until we put some feet to our faith. What did it say in James? Faith without works is dead, being alone. You say you have faith all you want to, where is it at? Show me your faith. This is what God says we're lacking in. We all say we have faith. We preach about faith. We thank God for faith. We do all this about faith, but where is it at? Jesus said, when I come back to earth, will I find faith on the earth? Look around you and see if that would be true. Look at the fear. Look at the anxiety, people. I mean, for heaven's sakes, there's a Walgreens and CVS on every corner. Everybody's taking pills to get up and pills to go to bed. Pills during the day just to stay awake, just pills to keep their nerves down. A world full of anxiety and fear. And look here, verse 35. While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, thy daughter is dead. Why troublest the master any further? What do you think Jairus felt like? If we just hadn't have stopped, we might have made it. It doesn't say he said a word. It's not recorded about anything he said, but Jesus knew how he felt. Look at the next verse. As soon, notice those little words, As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, be not afraid, what? Only believe. I say to you this morning, folks, be not afraid, only believe. Just believe God. You say, yeah, but preacher, people are dying. People die every day. They've always died every day. People's always died of the flu. People's died of cancer, heart attack, car wrecks. Do we like death? Absolutely not. Preacher, you don't think this stuff is real? Yes, I do. But look, folks, it ain't going away. It's going to be here like influenza flu and pneumonia and AIDS and cancer. It's not going away. We're going to have to learn to deal with it. We don't like death, but we've come to accept death. But I'm not walking around my life with fear, thinking it might happen to me. We need to trust God and believe God. instead of walking in fear. 1 John 5 verse 4 says this, for whatsoever is born of God, that's a Christian, right? Didn't it say in John, you must be born again? For whatsoever is born of God, overcometh the world. The world's not supposed to overcome us. We're supposed to overcome the world. We're not supposed to act, smell, think, talk, go the places they go, do the things they do, dress like they dress. We're supposed to overcome the world. The world is not supposed to overcome us. I'm just reading your Bible. It's what the word of God says. It surprises me how Hollywood can come out with a style and in two weeks it's in our churches. That bothers me. This is not the way it's supposed to be, according to the scriptures, according to the Bible. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world, and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. If you don't believe this, it's not gonna profit you at all. You're not gonna grow. You're gonna stay right where you're at. You're not gonna mature as a Christian. You're not gonna walk with God. You're not gonna have the power of God upon your life. You're not gonna see your prayers answered. The word of God's not gonna mean anything to you even when you pick it up and read it. Even in your devotions. None of this is gonna matter if you don't believe what you read from this book. And this is where we're at today, folks. You can agree or not agree, but this is the way we're at. We're supposed to mature and grow in the Lord. God said that we were supposed to do that. Ephesians chapter two, verse eight and nine. For by grace are you saved through, what? Faith. And that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should bow. Man, we love to quote that verse, don't we? This is, when we go soul winning, we give it out, don't we? You say, yeah, but preachers, one thing I don't quite understand, how can you have faith before you get saved? I'm glad you asked so I can explain that to you. You know, you probably heard the gospel many times before you got saved. And it didn't affect you at all. Matter of fact, you got up out of the service and walked right on out the door, It didn't affect you at all, but there was one day, there was one day that you heard the gospel. And all of a sudden, the light come on. And all of a sudden, great conviction set in your heart. And you knew that if you didn't accept him, that your place would be in hell for eternity. And that he paid your sin debt. And all of that became real to you. And you knew that he loved you enough that he died for you. And you knew you were a sinner, lost and undone. There was that one day. Can you remember that day? If there never was that day, you're sitting here lost this morning. And hell will be your eternal home without accepting him. I don't care how long you've been a church member. I don't care where you come from. If you can't go back to that day, that hour, that moment, that place in your life where that happened to you, and your life changed, it didn't stay the same, your desire changed, your want to changed, your direction changed, everything changed. Preacher said to me one time, you preaching lordship salvation? I said, I don't know, what is it? He said, well, how much do you think a person's got to change for their save? And I said, according to the maniac over there, according to the woman at the well, according to the Philippian jailer, that much. According to everybody else that got saved in the Bible. Their life changed immediately. The direction changed. Everything changed. Well, you gotta give folks a chance. The Bible says that you gotta give them a chance to grow in the Lord. In the Lord, not out of sin. In the Lord. That means that you'll grow more in his word, and things will get better in your life, and the things will start dropping off in your life, but it's because of the word that was preached unto them. You don't have time to quit your smoking and drinking and cussing and running around and committing adultery and fornication. You don't keep going in that direction. I mean, the woman at the well was shacking up, folks. And when she got saved, she didn't go back to her shack up lover. She went to the city and the town where the men were at and the gates of the city that knew what kind of woman she was and said, come see this man that told me whatsoever I did. Is not this the Christ? I would think that there was a change in her life, wouldn't you? But we're preaching a salvation today that says there's no change that has to be made. And if your life didn't change, you better check it out this morning. You might have come and tasted the good word of salvation, but you never experienced the spirit of salvation. And that's a changed life. This is the Bible I'm preaching to you this morning. This is what God's word says. This is not a fairy tale story. This is serious, as serious as it can get. You better know that you know that you know this morning that you're a child of God. You better know that. You say, well, look here, let me help you this morning. You remember in the tabernacle in the wilderness, the Shekinah glory of God, with a cloud by day and a fire by night, that was the Holy Ghost of God. You understand that? I mean, cloven tongues of fire and axe came and set upon each one of them. That was the Holy Ghost of God. You do understand that, right? And so now in the New Testament, guess where he dwells? In every Christian? Our bodies. Our body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. Am I right? It's what it says in 1 Corinthians. Our body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. Now you tell me that you don't know that he's in there? You tell me you think you're saved, you might be saved, but you don't know you're saved. Look here, from the day I got saved, I never enjoyed my sin again. Whenever sin came in, I mean that old sin nature, I mean the Holy Spirit was quenched inside of me, I couldn't stand myself. There was such conviction I could not stand myself. And it still happens the same way today, every day, when I do something wrong. It quenches the Holy Spirit, and I know it does because he lets me know. Sears my conscience, works on my heart. That never happened to you? It still doesn't happen to you? You sure need to check things out this morning. You better know that you know that you know. Cause it says it's by faith. That day that you were convicted of your sin, that's the day he offered you faith enough to believe. That's the day. God offered you that faith. He offered you that belief. He offered you that. And either you accepted it or you didn't. And if you did, all of what I just said to you will happen, according to the scriptures. Faith cometh by hearing. Isn't that what the Bible says? Romans 10, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 5, you're justified by faith. Isn't that what it says? Okay, well if you don't believe, how can any of that happen to you? You have to believe. Let me bring it to a close. We always like to hear these stories. I could tell them all day. But over in 1 Kings chapter 17, the widow woman at Zarephath. We always like to hear that story, don't we? Where Elijah was by the brook Cherith and the raven was feeding him twice a day and he was bringing, boy, he was fat and sassy. Right by the brook Cherith. I mean, nothing was wrong with him. I mean, everything was fine. God came to him though and said, look here, I want you to go to Zarephath. He said, Zarephath, he said, yeah. He said, isn't that where they're having the famine, the great pestilence, and people are dying? He said, yeah, that's where I want you to go. Don't make no sense, does it? And Saul and Elijah said, okay, I'll go. And like us, we say, okay, I'll go, but he had to give him a nudge. So he dried up the brook and stopped the raven. Look here, when He drives up your brook and stops your raven, you need to ask Him, which way do you want me to go? Don't just sit there and die. There's a lot of Christians that just sit there and die, because they won't go preach like God told them to preach. They won't go to the mission field like God told them to go. They won't take a Sunday school class. They won't run a bus route. They won't do anything God's told them to do. When God stops your raven and drives up your brook, all you're going to do is become a problem. That's all you're gonna be. And you'll die on the vine. And so he said, I'll go. So he went. Got there and he said, asked her, he said, you the widow woman that's there fast? She said, well, I guess I am. Just me and my son here. He said, okay, God sent me and said that you would sustain me here. Isn't that what the Bible says? And she said, well, all I got's this little bit of meal and a little cruze oil. We're gonna eat it and die, because we don't have anything left. Now understand, I'm not gloryizing this, I'm not doing that. Look here, she probably had a bloated stomach, he probably had a bloated stomach. They were rationing this food all this time. Husband was dead, they're on their own, people's dying around them and all they got's just a little bit of meal and a little crucible of oil. Would you agree with me that it was real bad? I mean as bad as it can get, that's how bad it was. And he said, that's fine, go fix it for me first. He's got his nerve. I mean, little boy and a widow woman and you're gonna show up fat and sassy and say, fix it for me first? How's that gonna work for you, Christians? What would we do in that situation, Christians? How would our faith fare if we was in that situation? But somebody had taught her faith long before that day. She had met God long before that day. Her mom and dad, her preacher, had taught her and taught her the scriptures and taught her to trust God. Her faith could not have started that day. And so she went and fixed it and brought it back out there. He said, now go fix you and your boy some. She said, you must have misunderstood me. I told you, that's all there was. And he said, well, go over there and look in the barrel. Who do you think was the first one over there? That little boy took off running over there, and he looked in there, and he said, hey, mama, there's some more in here. And they fixed it and ate it. Next morning, they got up. He said, go fix us some more. She said, we ate it all last night. Little boy ran over there, said, no, mama, there's some more in here. Now, I know what we're thinking. Because we're 2021 Christians, and we've been blessed so much, and we've got so much, and God's just been so good to us. Our mindset would be, why didn't he just fill the stinkin' barrel up? I'll tell you why. He wanted them to trust him every day like they trusted him that day. We're far, far away from that. but there may come a day in the not too far future that God's gonna separate the sheep from the goats and your faith will be tested. I wonder if it'll fare very good. He said, if you don't believe it, it's not gonna profit you anything. You must believe. Over in the book of Ephesians, we've read it over and over again about the armor of God, you know, armor of God, helmet of salvation, sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, breastplate of righteousness, loins girt about with truth, feet shot with the preparation of the gospel of peace, how we've heard it, and we've heard it preached on. And there's not anybody in here that's been saved any amount of time that hadn't heard messages on the armor of God. But he said, above all. Are you listening? He said, he said, the word of God said, above all, taking the shield of faith, that you may be able to quench not some, but all the fiery darts of the wicked. That's what my Bible tells me. You say, well, preacher, so many times we're shot down by our temptations and our, yeah, that ought to show us where our faith is at. Where's our shield? Where's it at? How are we trusting God? Love the book of Hebrews. That great faith chapter, Hebrews chapter 11, by faith, by faith, by faith, by faith, and it just goes all the way through there. But you know what I like, Brother Charlie? Down there at the end of that chapter, it says, of whom the world was not worthy of these people. I wonder what God thinks about our faith. I'd love to write it in a book. I wonder what, how are we living Christians? How's our faith fair? How much faith do we put in our faith? Every head bowed, every eye closed, personal time of the invitation. If you're here this morning and you say, preacher, I really can't say, I can't go back to that place in my life where that salvation was real to me. I just, I just can't, there's just not that place where he changed my life. And I've struggled with my salvation. But preacher, I want it to be real to me today. The Bible says, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. There must be that day and hour and moment in your life where you come to believe him. and trust him and call upon him and ask him to save you. You say, well, preacher, I can't go back to that place. Maybe there's never been that time in your life. I would like to pray for you this morning. I would not embarrass you. No one's gonna come to you, I promise you that. I just want to pray for you. Preacher, I'm just not sure if I died today I'd go to heaven. Would you pray for me? Just slip up that hand and put it down, and I'll pray for you. I promise you that. Is there one like that this morning? I'm waiting on you. Preacher, I just don't know if I died today. I don't have that assurance in my heart that if I died right here, right now, Jesus is coming back soon, folks. You'll be left behind. you'll be left behind. Are you sure? If you're here this morning and say, Preacher, I'm a Christian and I know I'm saved, I can go back to that day, that hour, that moment. I know I am. I've trusted Christ as my Savior. But my life's not what it ought to be. My faith's not what it ought to be. Preacher, I'd like for you to pray for me as a Christian. Would you slip up that hand? Let me see that. Is there something like that? Amen. Yes, hands. You know, maybe it'd be good if Christians would just come to the altar and say, God, I believe, help my unbelief. You know, that which is not a faith is sin, according to the Bible. I wonder how much we've sinned against God. Would you be obedient to him this morning? I'm gonna ask the pianist to come, if he will, and play this morning, and ask God, as I pray, to do a work. in your life. Heavenly Father, help us this morning. Do what only God can do. Save the lost, reclaim the backslider, and encourage Christians this morning. God, may they not hinder the Holy Spirit, but Lord, may they be obedient to you. Lord, if there's one here not saved, I pray you'll save them today. Do what only God can do and you'll get the glory for it all. Let's stand together with heads bowed, eyes closed. You do what God tells you to do this morning. The altars are open. How's the Lord dealing with your heart this morning? Be obedient to him. Would you do that?