Okay, we're singing that song again up there That's alright Yeah, I know bro, I'm yeah, I know It is that plug-in Yeah, that one's broke. It's been broke and it causes that back feet too Yeah I do too and you can't crawl under there the way they made that it's All right, that sounds good Sounds good. All right. Uh, we are in philippians chapter number three tonight philippians chapter number three amen philippians chapter number three And we're gonna start there in verse number one, Philippians three. And in verse number one, and when you found it, you can say amen and we'll know that you're there, amen. Another month or so, we're gonna start back with the Sunday night special as well. And so again, we're adding things as we go. And so, and then we'll be pretty much back to normal. Well, the only exception is how we're receiving the offering. Of course, we're going to continue to do it the way we've been doing just leave it up here on the uh, On the on the uh on the prayer branch and so but philippians 3 if you found it say amen I know you're there. All right philippians 3 verse 1 says this finally my brethren Rejoice in the lord to write the same things to you Uh to me indeed is neat is not grievous but for you it is safe beware of dogs beware of evil workers beware of the concision Uh, for we are the circumcision uh, which uh, i'm, sorry, we are the That's lost my place. We have the circumcision will worship God in spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh Though I might also have confidence of flesh if any man other if any other man think of that he have whereof he might trust in the flesh I'm more Circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel of the tribe of Benjamin a Hebrew of Hebrews is touching the law of Pharisee concerning zeal persecuting the church touching the rice's was in the law blameless and But what things were gained to me those I count lost for Christ yea doubtless and I count all things but lost for the ecstasy of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but done that I may win Christ and be found in him not having mine own righteousness which is of the law but that which is through the faith of Christ the righteousness which is by of God by faith I that I may know him in the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death. If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead, not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow after, that if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth on those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high going of God in Christ Jesus Let us therefore as many as be perfect be thus minded Excuse me, and if any and if in any thing you be otherwise minded God shall reveal even this unto you now, we're gonna take our text out of verse number 14 where Paul said I press I Toward the mark for the prize of a high calling of God in Christ Jesus I want to do it do a series for next few Sunday nights on on on the will of God is shooting at the mark of God's will and you know if you're gonna You know, if you're gonna shoot you got to have something to aim for right? You know, it's like they had they've had so many mass shootings the last few days and And people just taking a gun and just firing it discriminately. And just they had another one today, just this afternoon in Miami, another 25, 26 people were shot and another two or three people were killed. And it's just people pulling up, getting out of their car, spraying people with bullets, senseless killings, senseless. They had one in the mall on Saturday, senseless killings. Two or three people were killed, some 25, 30 people injured. And lawlessness is abounding throughout our society. And it is in all these liberal cities where it's happening, where they want to defund the police. And of course, if you're a criminal, you want the police to be defunded, right? So you can do your criminal activity with impunity, and that's what they're doing. But the child of God, we're not like the criminal. You know, we're aiming for something in our life. We're looking to go somewhere in our life where God has called us to do. And you know, if you're going to succeed in anything, you have to have a goal. You have to have something that you're aiming at. You say, well, what do I want to be when I grow up? Kids say, well, I want to be a fireman. I want to be a policeman. I want to be an astronaut. I want to be President of the United States. I want to be Madam Secretary. I want to be this, that. In America, you can be anything you want to be. Isn't that the truth? But you know, you'll never be anything if you don't aspire to be anything. Right? You say, what's your goal? You want to accomplish something in life, you know? And you want to do something with your life. And as a child of God, we want to do something that God wants us to be doing. And we want to be aiming for the perfect will of God in our life. There are many wills, but the perfect will of God is where we all want to find ourselves at the end of the day. And the Apostle Paul He was aiming for the perfect will of God in his life. That's why he says in verse 14 I pressed toward the mark for the prize of a high calling of God in Christ Jesus He's aiming for something and there was ever a man that ever attempted to do and find the perfect will of God It was the Apostle Paul It was him. He wanted to do that. He wanted to find what God wanted him to do. And he knew exactly what it was that God had placed him upon this planet for. And you know what? God has placed everyone on this planet for a reason. People say, well, I was an accident. There are no accidents when it comes to life. God gives life. There's no accidents. God called you from your conception. He called you from your mother's womb to be something and to be someone. And God developed a plan for your life the moment that the spark of life was created inside of your mother's womb. And we call that plan the will of God. So let's pray and we'll ask for God's help and grace. Father, I do pray you bless the study tonight and Lord the next few Sunday nights as we're going to be preaching and teaching on this thought of the will of God. And Lord, the will of God is so important for everyone here to find it, to know it, to do it, to be obedient to do it. Lord you've developed us all to be a certain person for a certain time in a certain place in a certain thing And God may we all realize Lord that our life does matter and that you have a plan and we need to fulfill it Bless the word and help me to bring it in Jesus name. Amen. I You know, it's funny when it comes to the will of God, sometimes people think they're so insignificant and what they do isn't important. But the truth of the matter is, even the nobodies of this world play significant roles. If you look at the people that influenced the Apostle Paul's life, nameless nobodies, people that just let him down from the side of a wall in a basket and saved his life, and they played a significant role in propelling the Apostle Paul into the ministry God had given him. And they didn't even know that they had such a significant role. Though their names are not recorded in history and they're seemingly nobodies, what they did was significant. And you know, most people that are famous and did great things, there were always people on the sidelines who were the influencers in their life. I was thinking about Billy Sunday and that shoe salesman. Nobody knows his name. But he led Billy Sunday to the Lord. And he was a nobody who sold shoes. But he did something significant by bringing Billy Sunday to the Lord. That nobody, who was insignificant, who brought D.L. Moody to the Lord, brought him to the Lord. That person was an insignificant nobody. That person that brought Charles Haddon Spurgeon to the Lord. They're insignificant nobodies. Nobody knows their name. But yet they played such an important role. And what they did was no less important than what these other people did. because that was what God had given them to do. And when we start talking about the will of God, again, it's an important thing. He knew God's plan for his life, and he did his best to fulfill it when it came to the purpose in his life. God had revealed it to him. And I believe God reveals his purpose and plan to all of our lives. And most of the time when God reveals it, it scares us to death. Because we always imagine ourselves doing something else, right? And God's plan and God's purpose and perfect will usually run counter to what we think we would like to do. That's just part of it. If you look at Acts chapter number nine, when the Apostle Paul was on the Damascus Road, and again, he had papers. He was going to Damascus to arrest people, to imprison them, to torture them. to kill them and because he thought they were heretics. They were preaching and believing in Jesus, some other God, and as far as he was concerned, they had committed blasphemy and weren't worthy to breathe. They weren't worthy to live. So in Acts chapter 9, Paul and his zeal, he's off to do what he wants to do, and that's to kill Christians. Acts 9 and if you'll look there, let's find our spot acts 9 And let's pick it up there in verse number 1 and Saul yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord went to the high priest and Desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues that we found any of this way whether they were men or women He might bring them bound on Jerusalem now He's going above and beyond right because he done persecuted everybody in Jerusalem. There was no one left to persecute and And he says, well, there's got to be Christians somewhere else. And there was, because when the persecution started, they went everywhere preaching the word. Because God used Paul to disperse the church, because the church wouldn't disperse. So when he realized they've dispersed, now he wants to hunt them down. He's a zealot, if there ever was. You know and and and and there's always been zealous in the world. Uh, they're not they're they're not all about live and let live no Uh, uh, not at all. You gotta die because you don't agree with me now. We know there's something wrong with that, right? I mean But that's what a zealot does. That's what islam does that's what some of the crazy hinduism does that's what you know The the cults and and false religion, uh, they're ready to kill you if you don't agree with them That's what all these modern movements are today black lives matter if you don't agree with me, we'll kill you You know and and all the crazy stuff that we're seeing all across the world is crazy It says and as he journeyed he came near Damascus suddenly there shined round about a light from heaven and he fell to the earth and heard a voice saying unto him Saul Saul why persecute us thou mean and he said who art thou Lord and the Lord said I am Jesus whom thou persecute us it is hard for thee to kick against the bricks now the great thing here. There's a great doctrine here because the church was being persecuted and And when you persecute the church, you're persecuting Christ. Amen. They say, when did the church begin on the day of Pentecost? And Saul of Tarsus began persecuting the church shortly thereafter. And when you persecute, when a Christian's persecuting, when I mean being persecuted, it's just as if they were persecuting Christ. Remember what Jesus said? When you've done the least of these, my brethren, you've done it unto me. When someone's doing something to you, they're doing it to Jesus Christ. And can I tell you, God takes care of his own. And thank God he does. Verse six, and he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what will thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise and go into the city and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless hearing a voice, but seeing no man, and Saul arose from the earth. And when his eyes were opened, he saw no man, but they led him by the hand and brought him to Damascus. And he was there three days without sight, neither did he eat and drink. He said, what's he doing? He's fasting. Sometimes you gotta fast to know the will of God for your life. And see, this is an extreme circumstance because he's blind. It says and there was a certain disciple Damascus named Ananias and to him said the Lord in a vision Ananias and he said behold I'm here Lord and the Lord sent him a rise and go into the street which is called straight inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus for behold he prayeth and have seen a vision a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him that he might receive a sight and Ananias answered Lord I have heard by many of this man how much evil he hath done to the Saints at Jerusalem and Here you have authority from the chief priest to bind all that call on my name But the Lord sent him go thy way for he is a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name before Gentiles and Kings and the children of Israel for I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake You say what's going on here? God is going to reveal his will his will to the Apostle Paul and That is that he's gonna be a testimony before the Gentiles Kings the children of Israel and he is gonna suffer greatly you say why the Apostle Paul caused many to suffer greatly and God said now Paul You caused me to suffer greatly and you are gonna suffer greatly We do reap what we sow do we not And what goes around comes around. And God said, he's a chosen vessel, I have chosen him. You know, it's funny, you and I wouldn't have chosen the Apostle Paul. Would we have chosen a murderer? And a blasphemer? I mean, you know, funny, we, we, we, the people that we would choose, God would never choose them. It's like when God, when Samuel went down there to choose a king. He wasn't the least bit interested in David. David was a nobody. He's out there with a sheep. I mean, he saw the oldest son. He says, this is the Lord's anointing. God said, no, he isn't. He said, well, let's see the next one. He's big. He said, this is it. And God said, no, he isn't. And they all walked in front of Samuel, all seven. And God said, I haven't chosen any one of these losers. And Samuel throws up his hands and says, well, He says, well, Jesse, you got another kid around here somewhere? I'm not seeing him. He said, yeah, we got we got a little run out there taking care of the sheep. He said, go get him. And of course, David comes in and this is the Lord's anointing, a man after my own heart. A little 14, 15 year old bratty kid, teenager, you would have never chosen him. But see, when it comes to God's will, it's God who does the choosing. And God always chooses best, and thank God that He does. When you think about choosing the Apostle Paul, and again, we know why God chose him, you know? He was equipped for the task. You know, God always called, I always say this, God equips the called, but God usually equips them before He calls them. You know, I had the gift of gab ever since I was born. And I liked everybody. There wasn't anybody I didn't like for the most part. I even liked to fight with the people I didn't like. And it was fun. Let's go outside and fight. There wasn't anybody I didn't like. I've never known a stranger. And when God called me to preach, it made it very easy to go into strange situations. It made it very easy to knock on a door and say, hey, can I tell you about Jesus Christ? It made it very easy to strike up a conversation and give someone a gospel track because God had already equipped me for public speaking from my mother's womb. You can imagine the frustration of my mother. I'd follow around and talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, ask a million questions. And mom's thinking, I can't take it anymore. But see, God already equipped me to do what he had what he knew he had called me to do. And that was to be a preacher of the gospel. Now, I didn't know it, but God knew it. And he was preparing me for my life's calling. You know, I've always been reckless, always been reckless. You know what? If you're gonna be a missionary, you gotta have a little bit of reckless spirit in you or you would never go. Because it's dangerous on the mission field. And the situations you get put in are reckless situations that you cannot control. That you're just all of a sudden, you're there. And man, it's happening all around you. And you gotta have something inside of you that you don't freak out. And as a child, we were in all kinds of situations because God was preparing me for my life's calling. And that was to be a minister of the gospel and a preacher of the gospel. And so was Paul. In Philippians chapter three, look at verse number four. He says, it says, he was circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews as touching the law of Pharisee, concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness, which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gained to me, those I counted lost for Christ. Now remember, Paul sat at the feet of Gamaliel, the greatest teacher in Israel, and he was in line to take his place. Why is that important? Because Paul wrote 14 books in the New Testament. Do you really think Peter, James, and John were equipped to write 14 books in the New Testament? I mean, they were unlearned and ignorant men. Probably never read a book in their life until they wrote one. Do you think they understood all of the Old Testament law and doctrine? That they could write foundational, doctrinal books? I mean, the reason John was able to write the book of Revelation, I mean, John was equipped to write 1 John, 2 John, 3 John. Look how small they are. Right? Peter was equipped to write 1 and 2 Peter. Look how small it is. But I'm telling you right now, and even the Gospel of John is a record of what he saw. But he didn't have an understanding of Old Testament doctrine. But the Apostle Paul did. And God had called him for a special calling that we still enjoy today. It's called the New Testament. That was a special calling. And he had special training so that he could fulfill the will of God in his life. And again, that was so important that he could fulfill the will of God in his life. And he was a Pharisee of Pharisees, Hebrew of Hebrews. He had perfected holiness. He knew what it was. He was not one of these guys who went around cussing and stealing and cheating and lying and committing adultery. That was not who the Apostle Paul was. No, he was a righteous man who lived godly and holy. and didn't make a lot of personal errors in his life. A Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee of Pharisees, touching the law blameless. People said, brother Chris, how come you, why don't you write a book? I have trouble reading a book. Let alone writing it. You want to torture me, make me write a book. I mean, that's like, you know, I'd rather get a spanking than write a book. Right? I cannot stand. The one brother said, Brother Chris, you don't like to write, maybe you don't like to read either. I said, you got that right. I can't, I hate to read. A book? I didn't learn to read till second grade. And I was in the special readers class. They said, you're in second grade. You don't know how to, you can't spell the word, what? W-A-T. I failed every spelling test. Every spelling test. They go around the room, and everybody had to spell. I'm thinking, please let me get the word is or the word was. You know, is, I-S, was, W-A-S. They came around the room, and I got the word white. And I just wanted to die. I said, uh, uh, uh, W-I-T-E. Everybody's laughing. You know, that was great training for the ministry. Because in the ministry, you're gonna face humiliation all the time. Now, thank God I know how to spell white now, W-H-I-T-E, I know how to spell white. But I was as dumb as they came. And, you know, and so, of course, God wasn't gonna ask me to write a, you know, a, to write some, you know, what are you gonna, what's that thing you call, a commentary? You know, I'm not Matthew Henry. I don't have qualifications to be Matthew Henry, right? I got other qualifications, not that. And so God equips people to do what he's calling them to do. And there's nothing wrong with that. And again, Peter, James, and John reached their potential. And after Acts chapter number 12, the Apostle Paul runs with it till the end of the New Testament because he had a special calling and God was with him. And again, that is demonstrated in his life. He practiced what he preached. He obeyed it to the letter of the law. He was all about, this is what it says, and this is what we're going to do. Now, Peter wasn't like that. Peter was all about, this is what it says, but we're going to do whatever we want to do. That's how John was. That's how these guys were. You know, it's like that we used to joke around about the school of, how you wanna, we call that the, oh, what's those guys that do, they design things, what are they called? The School of Architecture in Georgia is, it's good enough. It's good enough. I guarantee if you got a square out and went all around this church, you'd find out that nothing in this building is square. You know why? Because it was good enough. Does it look beautiful? It looks beautiful. The only problem is when you have to fix something. And you realize that nothing is square. That nothing is the way it's supposed to be. Right? And that's okay. That's okay when the whole world, I mean, I think the walls can hold up the ceiling. But can I tell you, when you're building a 50-story skyscraper, that's not okay. That thing will fall down. Because that thing has to be architecturally right. Because of how much weight is being bound up in it. Now, to build a church building is no big deal. I've always wondered why church work is always, what do you call, the work that's done at churches is always less than perfect, or less than right. It's always inferior. Work that's done at churches is always inferior. And people say, well, it's good enough, it's the church. It's good enough, it's the church. It's good enough, it's the church. You know when they were building the temple, everything had to be right at the temple? And there were two men that were called to build that temple, and to prepare all those things for the temple, and even for the tabernacle, because God said, this thing's going to be right to the millimeter. They built those blocks, and they built the temple, and they were prepared in a quarry hundreds of miles away, and they fit in place exactly right. Or they were thrown away. Now, when God's preparing people to do things, again, He's equipping them to do it. And the Apostle Paul was equipped to be the writer of the New Testament. He was equipped to give us the prophecies of the coming of Jesus Christ and the great doctrines of the Bible, because he was completely literate when it came to the Old Testament. Remember, the New Testament is simply a restating of the Old Testament in lieu of God's prophecy. And only someone who understood it completely could write the book of Hebrews, could write the different books in the New Testament, the book of Romans, and the different epistles that the Apostle Paul wrote. Again, he had a special calling. And from the day that God chose him, he endeavored to do and to aim at the target of God's will. Look in Acts chapter number nine again, Acts chapter number nine, Paul gets saved. And very few people get saved and start preaching the same day. You understand what I'm saying? Usually you gotta be taught and you gotta be learned. But wasn't the apostle Paul already taught and already learned? He did sit at the feet of Gamaliel, the greatest teacher that Israel ever had. And so, the day he got saved, God called him to preach, and guess what? He was able to do it. because God had already equipped him for what he had called him to do. Look in Acts 9 and in verse number 17, and it says, And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house, putting his hands on him, and said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way, as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately it fell from his eyes that it had been scales, and he received sight, for with it he arose, and was baptized. And when he had received meat, he was strengthened, then saw certain days with disciples which are Damascus, and straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues that he is the Son of God." Now, was Paul a stranger to the synagogue? No. There had been many times he had led the worship in the synagogue. There had been many times he had opened the book and gave the sense in the synagogue, though he didn't understand all the prophecies of the Old Testament. This is something he had done hundreds, if not thousands of times before. Except now he has the knowledge of Jesus Christ. But all that heard him were amazed, and I'll bet they were amazed, and said, Is not this he that destroyed them which called on his name in Jerusalem? And came hither for that intent that he might bring them bound unto the chief priest. But Saul increased more in strength and confound the Jews which dwelt Damascus, proving that this is very Christ. Paul took the book of Psalms and the book of Isaiah and the book of Ezekiel and the book of Genesis, and he proved that Jesus Christ was the Son of God. The very Christ. Verse 23, And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him. That didn't take long. But their laying in wait was known of Saul, and they watched the gates day and night to kill him. Then the disciples took him by night and led him down by the wall in a basket. And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples, but they were afraid of him. but he believed and believed not that he was a disciple but Barnabas took him and brought him to the Apostles declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way and that he had spoken to him and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus and he was with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem and he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ And disputed against the Grecians but they went about to slay him which which when the brethren knew they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him forth to Tarsus then have the churches rest throughout Judea Galilee and Samaria were edified and walking in the fear of the Lord and comfort of the Holy Ghost were multiplied Now Paul's pressing toward the mark of the prize of the high going of God in Christ Jesus But you got to start somewhere And he began preaching, and everywhere Paul goes now, he's going to be persecuted. Does Paul know about persecution? You better believe he knows about persecution because he instituted it. And now everything he did to others, they're going to do to him. But God has prepared him for this, because he's heard the Christians cry. He's heard the Christians scream. He's heard the Christians refuse to deny their faith. And now he's on the other side. And he knows what to expect. Because God has prepared him for this very thing. And see, the will of God is an amazing thing. And as God prepares Paul to do the will of God for his life, all Paul's life, he's pressing towards the will of God. That's why he wanted to go to Jerusalem. And that's why he wanted to go to Rome. He said, I can't wait to talk to Caesar about Jesus. But that is a death sentence. And Paul knows it. But he knows what God has told him to do. You're going to testify before King. King Agrippa. Felix. Right? Festus. Hey, the different rulers in these different cities. Paul's going to have his day because this is the will of God for his life. You know, people say it's not the will of God for you to suffer. That's a lie. It is the will of God for you to suffer. Not everybody. Some people go through life and they're never touched with anything, and they'll reach the shores of heaven with never a care or a problem in their life. Because that's what God's will for their life was. Did you ever read over there in the book of Hebrews where it says, and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance? They were sawn asunder. They were fed to the dogs. They were dismembered. They were disemboweled. Hey, they were burned at the stake. Everything happened to these people because that was God's will for their life. You know, sometimes, you know, I wish I could be the Apostle Paul, do you? I mean, he was whipped five times with 40 stripes save one. I don't think I want to be the Apostle Paul. I just think I want to be Christopher. I don't want to be anybody else. I want to be what God wants me to be doing what I'm supposed to do and not worry about what God's want you to do. We all gotta run in our own lane and figure out what that is. Look in Galatians chapter number one. You say, what are you doing? I'm setting the stage for talking about the will of God in your life. And we're looking at that through the will of God and by the example of the will of God and the Apostle Paul's life. In Galatians chapter number one, you know, sometimes we think when it comes to the will of God, we all gotta be like the Apostle Paul, but that's, you know, we don't always understand What happened to the Apostle Paul? Yes, he preached Christ. Yes, he was let down in a basket over the wall, right? Someone held the ropes and let him down. But you know what happened after that? He went up to Jerusalem and they were going to kill him there. And then they sent him away to the backside of the desert for three years. They sent him away. Galatians chapter number one and look at verse number eleven and it says but I certify to you brethren that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man for I neither received it of man neither was I taught it but by the revelation of Jesus Christ for you have heard of my conversation in time past of the Jews religion and how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God and wasted it, and profited in the Jewish religion above many mine equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers. But when it pleased God who separated my mother's womb and called me by his grace." When did God call him? From his mother's womb. To be the great apostle. Now, he didn't reveal it to him until he was in his thirties. Late twenties, early thirties. He revealed it to him. You know, they think, you know, hey, God reveals things to us. But that doesn't mean you're going to do it tomorrow. Understand what I'm saying here? "...to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the heathen. Immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood, neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were of the apostles before me. But I went to Arabia and returned to Damascus. Then after three years I went to Jerusalem to see Peter, and I bowed within fifteen days." Paul went to the backside of the desert, and for three years God instructed him now to understand the Old Testament perfectly. God called me to preach when I was 18. I did not begin full-time ministry until I was 30. You understand what I'm saying here? God had been preparing me my whole life to do what I'm doing right now. But He revealed Himself, revealed Himself in me slowly, what He wanted me to do. I knew when I got saved, man, that I wanted to do something for Jesus. I just wasn't aiming high enough. I said, I could be a deacon. I could be a trustee. And the Lord said, you're aiming a little too low, son. I can ride a bus. I can teach Sunday school. And I did ride a bus and I did teach Sunday school. I just didn't know that that would be forever. You know, I envisioned climbing the ladder and said, yo, you climb, besides, you're going to go. But the Lord began to reveal himself in me. And we preached in nursing homes, we preached on the street, and then we went to the mission field and preached in a foreign country. And then we came here, where I pastored the last 18 years. You say, what was God doing? He was revealing His will in me, one thing at a time. You know, I never dreamed when I got saved when I was 17, that this is where it would take me. I was thinking something altogether different. But God, December 6, 1962, said, I got a plan for your life, and this is what it is. And I'm gonna begin developing you to do my perfect will. And he did. And that's why I didn't die all those close calls I had. I have had more close calls than you can possibly imagine. And how in the world I survived is only because God had a plan for my life. And God says, nope, you're not gonna die. I'm gonna let you live. Divinely let me live. Every crazy thing you can think of has almost happened to me. I mean, I almost got run over by a car when I was two years old, standing in the street. Thank God traffic stopped. They used to fly up and down Cornell Road. And I'm out there in the middle of the street. Mom and dad don't know what I'm doing. They just look out the window and traffic stopped. And they said, where's Christopher? I was out in the street. You know? Going down the road, got the door open, because I'm a Christopher, you can't trust Christophers, man, I got the door open. Mom don't even know I got the door open. She goes around that curve 30 mile an hour, and man, out I went. I didn't have no seatbelt on. And I went out with the door, and the door slammed back, and I didn't fall out. Been in car accidents, you name it. Lightning almost hit me a couple times. I've had lightning strike within three feet of me and hit the ground. And I would be the tallest thing standing there. And by all right, it should have landed on my head. But God said, no, no, no. I got a plan for your life. I got something I want you to do. I mean, all these brushes with death that I've had over the years. You know, that given me more confidence than anything in the world. I said, God, you got a plan for my life where I wouldn't be here today. I'd have never made it to adulthood if you hadn't had a plan for my life. And I can't tell you the confidence that's given me in Christ Jesus. Because I said, God, when it's my time to die, I'm for certain gonna die, but if it ain't my time to die, nobody can touch me. When lightning comes in the window and stops right in front of you, and goes back out, And I'm telling you, if you've ever seen a show, a lightning bolt come in and it is, you're seeing it. It came in the window and literally stopped in front of me. I think the devil did that. The Lord said, uh-uh, angel of war was there, you ain't killing him today. I am telling you, the amazing things that, and that is, those experiences give me more courage. He said, you're afraid to die, are you kidding me? I've been had so many close calls with death, it's not funny. Paul, so Paul wasn't worried. God told him, Paul, nobody's gonna touch you. Remember when he was there in Ephesus? He said, I got a lot of people in this city, Paul, and no man's gonna lay hands on to hurt you. Nobody's gonna touch you. You're talking about giving a person confidence when, hey, when you're in the perfect will of God, nobody can touch you. And unless the perfect will of God for you is to die. Because when it was time for Paul to die, he did what? He got his head cut off. But Paul, God had done told Paul, you're going to Rome. So Paul knew nobody could touch him. Because he had God's promise. The will of God is such an exciting thing. It's a high, holy calling that God gives us. And you know, it's a precise calling. It's a prolonged calling. But it again, it's a progressive calling. God revealing his will for our lives. I believe everyone ought to know what God's will for your life is. What it is, where it is, and to whom it is. And everyone in this room ought to be able to answer that question sooner or later in their life. Look at Romans 12, in verse 2, and we'll close tonight. This is the introduction. In Romans 12, and notice what it says, and be not conformed to this world, be transformed into your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Now, you ought to be able to prove and know what God wants you to do. You say, well, I don't know what God wants me to do. Then do what you know is right until he reveals his will in you. I knew God called me to preach. The one brother, I got half mad one time, Brother Phil, and he said, well, Brother Chris is here and we don't know what he's going to be. I thought, what do you mean? I'm called to preach. What do you mean that you don't know what I'm going to be? But you know what? He said it right. Because I didn't know what I was going to be. I was working at John Harlan Company. I knew that wasn't my calling to be a check printer, to run a printing press. My calling was to preach. But where, how, and when, and to whom, I had no idea. And when I worked for that 11 years at the check printing place, I knew that one day God was going to reveal to me what I was supposed to be doing. And when he revealed it, I knew what I was supposed to do. I was supposed to go to Trinidad. And we all got in the car and went. Got in the plane and went. You know, Rebecca and Sarah thought Dad lost his mind. Dad's crazy. He's off the deep end. And here we are in this God-forsaken land. You know? What they didn't realize, it was paradise. You know Trinidad's called paradise? You can take a branch off a tree, stick it in the ground, and it will grow. Had a plum tree, cut the branch off, stuck it in the ground, in two weeks that thing bloomed. Had taken root. Miss Lisa would take a flower, stick it in the ground, and it would grow. Try that in Chattanooga. Can't do it. Walk down the road, someone's got fruit on the trees. Guess what? You're allowed to have it. Now, what they tell you, because they don't, you know, they're superstitious, and they think, you know, they think you've got blight. They say, you can have it, but don't touch the tree. If you touch the tree, it'll dry down and die. Don't touch the tree. Just ask for it, and we'll give it to you. Now, I didn't have to do that, because I was the white man, and they thought we were blessed. We stopped by, hey, can we have some fruit? You can have it all. Glory to God, we can have it all. You can walk by someone's house. Hey, you want some water? Yeah, I'll have some watermelon. Hey, I got some duck. I got some sheep. I got this, I got that. Come in and have it. They work two days in Trinidad because they can't live on one. Because it's paradise. I mean, where in the world can you go where it's never too hot, never too cold, and you can live on the beach? Now, Sarah's saying it's too hot because she's not acclimated to the place, but the high is 86 degrees and the low is 76. I think you can survive at 86 and 76. Comfortably, you can sleep on the beach. You can go and pick coconuts. You can catch fish. You can stand around and beg and people will give you food. It was paradise. But it wasn't paradise to them because that wasn't God's calling in their life. You know, Sarah likes to take care of wounds and nasty stuff. She gets that from Lisa. You know, I see a cut, it's nasty and infected and got worms in there. Oh man, I don't want to look at it. I don't want to look at it. I don't want to look at it. They're picking it apart, and they're looking at it, and they're touching it. I said, oh, I'm ready to lose my lunch, right? Because I was called to preach, I wasn't called into the health field, right? Now, I thank God every day for nurses. Thank God for nurses. They do nasty stuff. But see, is her calling any less than mine? Not even a little bit. Thank God people are called to do different things. I'm glad people, Brother Butch makes things. I've never made anything in my life. The only thing I've ever done is broke stuff. I don't know how to make anything. But what is it God wants you to do? You see, when you find your calling, that's where the happiness comes in. Because you know you're doing what you're supposed to be doing. It was as simply as raising children. Susanna Wesley, I mean, she had so many kids it wasn't funny. But what did she do? She raised preachers. And they preached and brought revival to Europe. But she was just a simple housewife who gave birth to a bunch of children and raised them to know the will of God for their lives. She was insignificant to everybody else except to Jesus. Because she was the vessel. What was Mary? Was Mary anything? She was nothing. But she was the vessel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. That brought him into the world. And nothing is said about her. Hardly nothing is said about her in the Bible at all. You say, why? Because what they did was significant to God, but not to the world. We don't even know what happened to Joseph. It's not recorded. But was his role any less? He obeyed God and did not put away Mary. And then he gave birth to all those, he was the father of all those other children. You see, the problem is we compare ourselves by ourselves, we're not wise. Whatever God's called you to do, no matter how insignificant it is, it's important. And it's important to God, and it's important to you that you fulfill it. Whatever that may be. Remember, there's not many superstars on a baseball team. But you need people to catch the ball and get outs. You need people that can get on base. They can't hit home runs, but they can get on base. The home run hitter gets all the glory, but they can't win without the rest of the team. And whatever part you play in God's ministry, And in God's work, I can assure you it's very important. Because all you've got to know is don't do it, and then you find out how important it is. And I assure you it's important. What if no one took out the trash? Can you imagine a world with no garbage men? It'd be one nasty place. Can you imagine a world with no sewage plant? Think about that for a minute. Can you imagine a world with no water treatment plant? You said these are nasty, insignificant, nobody jobs. But what happens if they don't do them? The whole world comes to a standstill. Never think what God's called you to do is not important. Because if God called you to do it, it has to be important or he wouldn't have called you to do it. There was only one Apostle Paul, but there were a lot of people that helped him along the way. Right? Or he'd have never got there. Thank God for those guys that held the rope. Who we know nothing about. All we know is they held the rope. So the Apostle Paul could live to preach another day. Maybe all you're doing is holding the rope. Can I tell you? That's important. That's a great study on the will of God. And I pray as we go through this and look at it, that we'll understand and everyone will understand that you have a part to play and the part you play is important. And the most important thing, whatever part that is, is that you do it well. And that you give it your all and that you be your best. Let's stand for prayer. Miss Susan, come play that song, Our Best, and we'll pray, and we'll be dismissed, and then shake hands, and in five minutes, well, less than five minutes...