and honor him and be a blessing. I want to read just the first five verses of the second chapter of 2 Timothy. I've said so many times, probably Paul's last writing, and it makes it dear to me, and then probably it wasn't a friend he had greater than young Preacher Timothy. Refer to Timothy as his son, of course, not fleshly, but probably in the gospel and also in the ministry. But I want you to hear him instruct this young man in verses one through five of chapter two. Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that's in Christ Jesus. I'm not going to reread these statements, but I trust you'll pay close attention. Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that's in Christ Jesus. The things thou hast learned, thou hast heard of me among many witnesses. The same commit thou to faithful men who should be able to teach others also. There, therefore, endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that woreth entaint himself with affairs of this life, that he may please him, for I chose him to be a soldier. And if a man also strive for masters, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully. Now, every verse I've read has some wonderful instructions. I realize in the main that at least he addressed this to a young preacher. Yet I think all of us know that everything that's in it was not just written just to preachers. I thought about a chapter in this that we usually read it and use it in preaching, I guess every preacher has, and preach it to all of us or to a mixed group and not just to young preachers. Now the thing that's on my mind this morning is contained in verse five. I want you to listen to it closely. If a man also strive for a mastery, Now, I don't know of any man that could have written about this and probably done a better job than the Apostle Paul. I could send you and give you several statements, quotes in his own writing that Paul always had his eyes on things above. He had his eyes set on the Lord. He wanted to finish his journey. In fact, he tells us in chapter four of the same book that he was able to do that. He wanted to finish his journey that God had given the course that God gave him to run. He told some people back in Acts early in chapter 20 that was one of his great desires. He wanted to finish the course God had given him, finish his ministry with joy. He told us in this book in chapter 4 that he did that. I believe if there was ever a man that wanted to stand for the faith or the principles God told us, I believe every Bible reader would agree this man did. Then by his statement by the beginning of chapter 4, he had done that. He said, I fought a good fight. I've kept the faith. I've even wanted to stand up for God in every way. I've never seen any man I've read about or I've known personally with a bigger change in his life than came in this man's life when he got saved. There was not a more bitter, dangerous enemy to the cause of Christ in his young life than this man was. He was able to be dangerous. I don't know, I've heard all these arguments pro and con about what relationship he had with the San Angel court, their court. I don't know. I've heard men that's far more knowledgeable on all that than I'll ever be in. Some said he was, others declared that he had been a man with a family to qualify to have been a member. I don't know. But whatever it was, he stood in with the authorities of his day. I don't know if he's a member of some court group that caused him to do that, The reason I say he did, probably not everybody could have gotten written authority letters from the officials that would have allowed him to go and bind people and put them in jail. But this man was able to do that. And he was able to really harm the people of God. And you know, he had a heart to begin with. It just really didn't matter what people thought about him or how much trouble it might bring if it meant to stand and watch a man like Stephen stoned to death. it seems that didn't affect him. And then whenever he became a saved man, I don't think any person you know I've read about, they come in and near of making a total surrender to God. And this man did. You know, while he was on the road to Damascus, his cry to God was, Lord, what would you have me to do? I think that was his words all of his life. Maybe he didn't often repeat that, But I think that was his desire. Now he's telling Timothy, if a man also strives for a master, you want to be worth something. And I don't mean it to be big or to be maybe in a place of great honor of men or to be praised or bragged upon by men. But I believe I'm talking to a lot of people that sit here this morning that you don't want your life to be a downfall. I don't believe that's what you want. I don't believe any of you could tell me, I just assumed to make a mess out of my life has had to profit. I don't believe you feel that way. I believe I've observed several of you over the years that wanted to do whatever it would take to be closer to God and to be a better child of God, not anymore saved, but more obedient, and above that, more useful in the service of God. Now, this man didn't say the man strived for masteries. Here's the other statement. Yet is he not crowned? He never will receive a crown for it, except he strive lawfully. Now, I don't feel like I'm doing any injustice to the Bible to change a word here just to get over a point. I believe when he said, except a man strive lawfully, I believe I could say, except he strive Bibly or scripturally, I'm saying the same thing. Now, what he's really told us, if I want to be worth something in the service of God, And I want to attain a height with God. And I told you before, I don't deserve being saved. I'd be one of the first ones here to tell you that. But, you know, I'm so glad I got saved. I will remember my salvation. I'm glad I know it. I have assurance of it. And I'm just so thankful that God saved me. I've tried to thank the Lord for many years that whatever reason it might have been, God saved me young in life. And I'm glad he did. I imagine knowing my nature, I probably got involved in everything if he hadn't saved me as a young man. He kept me out of a lot of evils that no doubt I would have gotten into. I'd have probably indulged in things that would have disqualified me for anything, but God took care of that. He saved me early, and I thank Him and praise Him for it. And you know, as much joy as I got out of salvation, if there's something better to be obtained from God, I want it. And I don't leave the wrong impression with that. I don't mean by the gym I deserve it. I don't deserve any of it. But if there's something better, I'd like to have it. I'd like to enjoy it. I believe there's something greater, and I think you know my conviction about that, but I want to walk with God here. I'm going to tell you a day is just plain miserable to me when I get out of fellowship with God, and I don't walk with God through the day. Nothing goes right. I'm sure that nobody does right. It just, it makes me ill a lot of ways. I get upset. I get really down and get bothered, get depressed when it's that way. But you don't just turn the other side of it. Let me spend the day that I feel like the day is over that I walk with the Lord. And I've been right with him all day. He's been with me and he's guided everything that I did and I said, and have a feeling to close the day that I pleased him. That brings a lot of joy. That just brings untold joy to my heart. Well, now what he said here, if I expect to amount to anything in the service of God and be crowned by God when I meet him, then I've got to do it biblically. Now, the thing I want to try to get over, and I try not to tax your patience with too much of this to begin with, but I want to get the lesson before you. Now, we've come to a day that you're so much, you don't make any difference. I'm hearing more of that than I ever have before. And the thing that kind of disturbs me a little bit, I'm hearing a lot of it among our own people. Well, does it make a difference? Does it matter? Does God have a certain order or something go by? You know, what we're going to do is get our life about over if we don't watch. We're going to wake up to the fact that if we listen to God, things could have been a lot better. I got that in my mind the other night. The sound read pretty good while. Everything was quiet and I could spend some good time reading and being with the Lord. And I got to looking back on my life, not yours. But Thomas had that in mind this morning when he was going back through Deuteronomy. That's what you're going to have for about 34 chapters, is a man carrying people's thoughts back to what they had done, good or bad. And a lot of it was not good. And reminding them and trying to get them stronger that they wouldn't make the same mistake again. They'd be different when he got out in life. Well, I know that man at my age. I'll soon close mine out. I've got enough knowledge to know that. Many of you sitting here have the same feeling. You know, I'd like to close it out and have a feeling that I fought a good fight. You don't know how many times I've read to myself, quoted the words of Paul in chapter four. He said, the time of my departure is at hand. I fought a good fight. I finished my course. I've kept the faith. Now I thought about a man being able to say that. How many of you, though you're not all preachers, and again I'm trying to apply this to every one of us, how many of you, if you have time, what we call press your dying pillar or lie on your deathbed? I never have been there, no you haven't either. We're all still living. But I want to think there'd be some real sober thinking about a man about that time. I think you relive a lot of things. I've heard the statement made that it wouldn't take long facing death to almost reflect on your whole life. Well, I wouldn't really doubt the truth of that. I wouldn't doubt that being right. Wouldn't it be a great comfort to lie on your deathbed, we might call it, knowing it's just about over, and go back over your life, reminisce over all of it, and come up with this conclusion that I sought to serve God. I sought to please Him. I tried to follow the scripture. I tried to follow the Bible. Now I've never heard anybody just make those statements, but I've heard some make on the opposite side of it. And I tell you, it's miserable. I've stood with some, and I've mentioned some here to you, not calling names, but I've gone through the account and not going to do that now. They come up to the end of life's journey and say, I've messed it up. I've thrown it away. I haven't lived like I should. I've never stood by but one preacher that I heard make those statements. And he called me to his house. I didn't know a great lot about the man. I knew some of his brothers. I'd pastored some of them, but he was one of the family that I really never had been real close to. I just didn't know a lot about him. I knew he was a preacher. I never had the chance to hear him preach, but about one time, he was an old man about to quit preaching or finish his preaching. Whenever I got started, met the family. But he told one of his brothers, I'd give your pastor a call and tell him to come by. I want to talk to him. And I went by wondering, what in the world, the more I knew about him, why call me to talk to me? Well, he was a blessing to me. When I got there, he said, you don't know me all that well. I don't know you. I probably know you better than you know me. But he said, I've got a lot of concern about you. He said, I'm finishing mine, and you're starting yours. He said, I've lived a long time as a preacher. I don't know how long you'll live, probably more years than that. But I want to, for just a few minutes, show you how I failed. And I want to use that to be a blessing to you. And I'm going to be honest. I felt like I'd been to a funeral when that man got through. He just kept telling what I did. And he said, I guess I was the most self-willed feller that you've ever seen in your life. He said, I preach the Bible. And I'll tell you in one way I wanted to go by it. But he said, I had my mind made up. He said, I was about as self-willed as you're going to find. And now I regret it. He said, I walked over God's word in a lot of different places. Preach it and turn around and not even do it. And he said, I messed up my life. He said, I'm dying with a life that very little of it is going to be accepted before God. And I really felt sad when I left that. And what he told me, he said, let me tell you, as a dying man that's throwing away most of his life, please don't do that. Please listen to that. I told my wife some time ago, Lee Missouri was talking together and I said there's a few statements that me and him made to me that I never will forget as long as I've got my mind. And one was that Brother Hamilton made to me the night I was ordained. He was going to present me with a Bible that the church had bought for me and he handed it to me because I just reached and took a hold of it and he held on to it. And what it was, it was to get my attention. And according to me, the four chapters of 2 Timothy, the first couple of verses, a charge of Paul Gator Timothy. And he looked at me real straight and about as solid as I'd ever seen by the Hamilton and said, preach the word, preach the word. Never have forgotten that. Then to stand by an old man lying on his deathbed and hear him tell what I listened to that minute, a tale, and said, don't throw your life away. Don't walk over the book. He said, God knew what he was talking about. listening to what God said. I never have forgotten that. I can't stand here and tell you that I made a hundred doing it, but I can tell you this much. I probably over the last years had a greater desire in my heart to do it than ever have had before. Now, I've been a bad person not to read the rules on a lot of things, and I may have mentioned this here before. I'm not going to make a long story, but to show you how we can come up at the end and we can't undo it like we can something else. We're going to be, it's going to be done and over. If you remember years ago, my children were just real small. We're not able to get for them what people can now for children, but we saved up throughout all the year. They kept seeing these little swings and slide boards that a lot of children had. And I'd hear them say, you know, I'd enjoy that. Well, I kept that in the back of my mind, and I priced one way before Christmas. And the wife and I found out we could manage enough to kind of give up this and the other. We could buy it for them. So I bought it for him and got out in the house, had some of them take the children, me, my daddy, or someone, carried the children off for a while. Well, my plans was put all that together. And whenever they came back, let them come around the backyard and find what they had. Of course, I did. But I had to send for them to keep them longer. I didn't get together as quick as I thought I would. I just got out there and got me a box by the name, and pulled all those little screws and bolts out of here. I didn't read anything. And I went to stick in pieces that fit together and put the screw in. And of course, I didn't have weights. I don't know how to get them all pretty good tight, and so I went. And in this list it had, it told what length bolt went where. And there's all kinds of lengths. And you know, when I got about halfway through, I began to run up with bolts like about 3 eighths of an inch reaching through what they're supposed to. And the wife just made a suggestion. Might even look at that paper. They might tell you where to put it. I said, I'm afraid they did. And I began to read it and 90% of what I'd put in there would be taken out. And then I sorted them fellows out. I read the directions. Well, I thought I might have had it all put together, but learned I didn't. Now I've been just about that careless with the Bible. And I want to ask you three questions about yourself. How many of you all can look back this morning, over your years as a Christian life, and be happy with it. Just be honest. I'm not trying to put pressure on anybody. I'm not putting down on anybody. I'm not answering the question for you. How many of you could go back this morning knowing what you know now and relive your life? You'd be a lot more careful. It'd be a lot easier about what you're more careful about what you're doing. I would. I'm not going to tell you I want to relive mine. Not in the day we're in. I think just go ahead and finish it like it is I think that'd be the better end of the deal. But if I went back knowing what I know this morning, I heard Brother C.P. Tony preach one night, and I heard him preach a lot of wonderful messages in my life, and many of you he pastored here. I know many of you old as well remember him. He was a man right to the point. The majority of the time he preached, you got his thought loud and clear. Before he got through, he didn't fail to drive his point home. And I never heard him preach a better message. He went back and took tithes in the Old Testament of as simple a thing as killing a bird to offer. And told how God said to do it. And what he was stressing was, Brother Gerald, God told them they rang the neck for the pudding. If they plucked the feathers, there were pudding. And he stopped. He said, you want a wine? Well, the answer is, I don't know. He didn't. He said, I don't. But he said, am I not to do it because I don't know? or go ahead and listen to what God said. And I mean, he preached about an hour strong along that line, and he just said, a lot of us are doing a lot of something. And he'd repeat that. But he said, whether it's what God wants or not, it might be a different story. He said, how many of us doing something, and how many of us following God? Well, he evermore got my attention. I can guarantee you did. I never will forget the message. I couldn't repeat all of it, but the theme of it, the real gesture of what he's preaching, I got that. And I've never seen more grown men and grown women go for a prayer in one service anymore in my life. In fact, I think I'm safe to tell you that there was 90%, a good house full of people, but 90% of the grown men and women that were there went and lined up waiting to make a prayer request. Whenever they got through, they stopped, the pastor did, called on someone to lead a special prayer in their behalf. And every one of them's statement was about the same. I wish I'd have listened. I wish I'd have built by the book. Has your life been built by the book? Have you ever considered what you're doing just being no good? God not having you. Now, you know, I spent most of my life been active. I'm glad God gave me help and strength and a place to preach. But I'll tell you what's going through my mind. Many a time, how many times have I done this or that? Put forth effort, left home, left the wife, left the children, burned the gas, spent the money church had gave me. How many times have I done it? Not the order that God wanted. How many times he asked you that? You know, you could come here and support the church, pray for the church, sing in the church, lead in prayer in the church. And there's a possibility that none of it be done in a manner that God would have. Or on the other hand, we could do it in a place that God would accept. I wonder what yours has been, how happy are you about it? Now I want to mention two or three in case these are far out. Now they are more far reaching than the other things I'm going to preach to you. Back in the Old Testament day, God gave some very strict orders, and the couple I'm going to mention, they had a lot of tact to them, I'm sure. I think I know I can take the Bible and set that up, but I just want to show you that God means business when he says a thing. There's not a one here that hadn't heard preached or read the 17th chapter of Exodus and found where God ordered Moses to go out and told him they were hungry or thirsty. He said, I'm going to stand up on a rock that's in horror. I want you to take the rod, you guys, and smite that rock. And I'm going to water this nation of people." Well, God did exactly what he said. Moses went out, smoked the rock, he inhaled it like God taught him. God sent out water, and I don't know how much water, how long it ran, but when you would think about the multitude of hundreds and thousands of people that were there, and all the cattle they had. Why, it took an ocean of water to water all that, but God watered it. Well, it rocked on later, And they became thirsty again. When they got thirsty the next time, believe Mount Numbers chapter 20, God gives us a record of it. And he told him a different story that time. He said, I'm going to water them, but don't smite the rock. You go speak to it. That was God's order then. I think I can give you some of the reasons why, but we're not dealing with that so much. Well, I know they got activated because of the people being rebellious. Moses referred to him as a lot of rebels. Well, I think he told the truth. In fact, I find the word of God, brother Billy, taught about the same thing, but Moses let that irritate him. And he took the rod that he had and smoked the rod twice. The word of God said don't do it. And God warned the people, but had a little conversation with Aaron and Moses. And they shortened their life. They didn't get to go over to the promised land because of it. Well, you don't look at the view I see today, what's the difference? Why worry about that? Well, the difference is God sent. That's all the difference you need. Well, I find back in the days of Eli, whenever they all ascended against God, Israel got in trouble, and I won't go through all the story. The ark of God was captured. Later on, I find it was brought back, and we know some of the story lies behind all of it, but in David's day, He built a tent for it before the temple was ever built and wanted to bring the ark back to its place. He said, all the days of Saul, we didn't inquire of God out of the ark. We only bring it back to its place. Well, it seemed like the people were in agreement about it. And I see them go, well, you know, God, for a reason, Brother Thomas, I don't know why, but God was very choicy about how you remove that thing. He told him he had certain men set aside to cover up the ark with his other vessels. And then he had the stays in the side and he gave all the others wagons to haul their part of it on, but the sons of Levi was putting these stays on their shoulders and carrying the ark on their shoulders. I don't know why. You may have an idea. I don't. The only reason I have, God said it. God said, don't touch it now. You move it like I told you. Well, I find they had done that before and God blessed that. Well, they went to a man's house and got the ark. Well, they got the ark and started to move it. They carried on a new cart. I'm not sure I can give you some ideas about it, but I'm not sure where they got that pattern, but they didn't care. Like God said, build a cart. Well, I'll build them all a cart. That's not handy. You know, if you're going to carry anything on your shoulder, that could get kind of common after a while, but put an ox to a cart, got it pretty handy. Well, that's exactly what they did. They got to a threshing floor, and Uzzah reached out and touched the ox for the reason to stabilize the ox so he wouldn't fall off. Ox stumbled, and God killed him right on the spot. They got to have the ox in a man's house and left it for a little while, but David got upset. and said God brought a breach on what was done. Well, I find that later on in chapter 15, that was 1 Chronicles 13, chapter 15, David goes back to reality. And he said the reason, and get this in verse 15, or 13 of chapter 15, he said, here's the reason we sought not God after the new order. We got a man killed, got ourselves in trouble, and the reason was we didn't follow God's order. I go to the New Testament time, and I know it's maybe things we think that are lesser, but yet it's still God's order. And I hear some contention and trouble in the Corinthian church. A lot of it's about tongue speaking, about prophesying, and using the gifts that God gave them. Whenever he said all that straight through the Apostle Paul, God had got them straight on what they should do. I found the last verse of 1 Corinthians 14. He said, I told them they would do all things decently, Now over the years, our churches have overlooked some little things. I'm not fixing to deal with it this morning. Don't get scared of that. But I want it pleased all my heart. You can call it whatever you please. That the nearer that I can do exactly what God said, the more I'm in line for a blessing. I believe the nearer that a church can do exactly what God ordered, the more they're in line for a blessing from God. reverse the order of God or leave off God's order, we get ourselves in trouble. Now, how about your life? Let me give you a little thing I think I've mentioned here before, but several years ago, I guess I was kind of down and maybe get in no shape sometime and I'd been busy every week and I told you maybe the children thought about Daddy being out with them a little bit during the summer and so I wasn't going to get to be it. It kind of hurt their feelings a little bit. Of course, they took it real well and it really grieved me at heart. Well, I was coming in one night, and I had some lost children then. I wanted to see them saved, and it looked like mine never would get saved. I'd been off in a meeting. We'd had a few professions, not many, but I just sat driving the road wondering, why is it others get saved and mine can't? Here I am going for miles and preaching to somebody else standing by the gym, and there's some of them getting saved. And yet, on the other hand, my children are still lost. They've got just no way. that I can reach, and they get disturbed and bothered, but he stopped there. Looks like they never could give up to God. And driving in that night, he began to hit me real strong. I thought, well, I'm spending the money the church gives me. I'm wearing out a car they bought for me. I'm wearing clothes, and by their money, I bought that. I left the wife. She's hardship on her. She's trying to raise the family and carry them on right. And I see the children in bed, the breakfast table, and that's about the limit to it. And I just began to think, Wouldn't it be a terrible thing to do that and not do it right? But all that much trouble with Richard and God not accept it. I'm going to be honest, it worked on me. It made me go back and relook what I was doing and think, God, if I'm doing everything wrong and I'm not pleasing you, I'd be better off changing the whole setup. Why? I run my life, waste my life, spend everything we can get. or leave the family and go here and yonder if I'm not going to be doing it right and I'm convinced, I repeat again, that it be in my life, my home, your life, your home, or your church that the nearer that we come to God's order, the greater blessing we get. You can live your life out, no crown when you meet Jesus. I don't want to be talking about salvation now. I'm talking about being crowned for your faith. Now then, several things I want to just mention to you. I don't know how time to go through. Have you ever thought about as common a thing as praying? Am I the only one in this building that ever wondered how many of my prayers reach God? Anybody else ever thought of the same thing? You know, I'm not going to tell you I pray as much as I should, but I'm going to tell you this. I try to live a prayer life. I don't want very long to go by I don't talk with God. I want every day to be one that I open the day and close it and all the time between times that I talk with God. Well, I'll admit sometimes I feel nearer to him than to others. You know, the Lord taught some great lessons about prayer, but he taught us how we could pray and get no answer whatsoever. Now don't take this to be critical. I don't mean it that way. I'm throwing little rocks at anyone. How many prayers do we pray? that seem in the way. You're praying in it. I know where to weigh on God, I understand that. I know where to pray without ceasing, I understand that. But how many times do we really hold on God in a manner that God hears us? I mean, I was in shape to talk to you. I'm not going to deal with the condition we're to get in. I'll do that some other time. I ain't got time now, but I'm going to make this statement and leave it. The way you live, the way you act, the way you dress, the way you conduct yourself based on the Bible will affect, for good or bad, your practice in reaching God. The way a man and wife treats one another. Go read the third chapter of 1 Peter. You men can treat your wives wrong, your wives can treat your husbands wrong, and not work together this thing, and God makes a statement in 1 Peter 3 and verse 7 that it can hinder your practice. Those things can have effect on our prayer with the church. But you're not going to read in the book of James that you might consume it on your own lips, and you're praying a selfish practice. You ever went to God and you say, well, I will. I repeatedly prayed, maybe you did, I've done it. Were you praying amidst? And he told them what it was, that they might consume it upon themselves, their own selves. I'll be very simple. In fact, I'm going to put it this way. Anytime I go to God and I'm praying and trying to reach the throne of grace to get help from God, that I am unwilling for God to have his way. I just want to You're unwilling for God to have his way. I think we ought to pray, Brother Bennett, with this in mind. You could ask for things you don't need. You could ask for things that wouldn't glorify God. You could ask for things that wouldn't be best for you. God knows what I need. God knows what you need, even before you ask. And we're taught that we're to pray that God's will be done. If I hadn't got that attitude about it, it's not gonna work. They'd be hurting to run through one little thing, but yeah, I can't take too much time. I've told the whole story of Lincoln before, but I went to be in a meeting several years ago and I was far enough away from home. I told the wife I might come in one time during the week, maybe the middle of the week, but it was far enough I was gonna stay off. She wanted me to stay. She wanted me to be on the road all night. So they told me they had a man in the family there that always had a place for the bishop and preacher to stay. I didn't even know who it was. Didn't know I had a dozen church members when I got there. When I got through preaching, a man came to me. And he said, I'm the man. He told me his name. He said, they've arranged for you to stay at my house. He said, I know you don't know where I live. He said, I'm going to tell the wife and family to go ahead, and I'll ride with you. And I said, sounds good to me. We got in the car, and he said, I want to talk with you. Drive slow. I want to talk with you. He said, we've gone through some terrible things in our family the last year or two. He told me about a little child being born. And he said, it just looked like no way for us to live. He said, Preacher, I tried to tell God there was nobody had a boy like that one. That mine just had to live. He said, I tried to tell God how much I loved it. He said, God knew how much I loved that kid. And he said, I just tried to make it work. God was doing me totally unfair if he didn't let that kid live. He said, I prayed, I cried, I lay out in the parking lot in my car seat. And I begged God to help me and have mercy. He said, listen, you couldn't have been more sincere, but I was wrong and mad at you. He said, every time the doctor came by, he said, well, it's going back. He said he came by one night about 11 o'clock. He told me, he said, yup, the boy is still living in the morning. I'll be back. He said, brother Bruins, if you'd have hit me with something right in the chest, it wouldn't hurt no worse. He said, I just turned around and looked at the wife and the boy. He said, when I haven't gotten my start. He said, if ever a man cried to God, I did. He said, I cried and told the Lord of God, I've been wronged. Other men love their boys just like I love mine. Other men want theirs to live just like I want mine. If there's a reason that this child cannot live, I want you to give me grace to accept it. But he said, if it can be in your will and you can be honored, let him live, I want you to do it. He said, I went over and over, saying, God, by your grace, I'm lying right here in my car, resigning my will to yours. If I'm praying the wrong thing, forgive me, and your will be done. He said, when I got up and left out of my car, I didn't know whether the boy would live or not, but I knew I felt better. He said, I went back in. He said, the boy's still living. The next morning, he said, the doctor came in. I followed him out the door. He just shook his head and said, I have no confidence. He said that night he came back by and he's better. He told me, he said, there's no medical reason for it. He said medically he's supposed to be dead. But that kid's living. He said, I have no answer for it. I'll see you in the morning. He said about a week later he took that kid home. He said, he's still praying to God to have his way. And he said, in so many days, I forget how long, maybe two weeks or less, he came back to the doctor's office. And he said, the doctor just pushed his chair back and propped his feet on top of the desk and sat there and looked at that little kid. And said, I can't believe my eyes. It ain't supposed to be. He said, I have no understanding. He said, I came back in a few days. When he said, come back, he said, the kid is still better, getting stronger. He began to notice everything. Things going on pretty good. He said, the doctor did the same thing the next time. He said, I have no idea what's going on. He told me, he said, doctor, I do. He said, I don't know what you know about the Lord. But he went through the order. He said, when I surrender to God, and I begin to pray to God like a man should, I begin to ask God to have his way. If I'm praying wrong, give me grace to be what ought to be. If it's true, we'll take the baby. I don't want you to talk about it. I don't have any idea. I can't relate to what you say. But if at all I can tell you, something happened. And we got this house about that time, and this had been a big part of a year. So the kids learned to run and play. And they had kind of a sunken living room, I guess maybe 10, maybe 12 inches, sunk down lower in the living room there to a man who went in and sat down in that. And after a few minutes, here come a little boy through. And he run up the edge and jumped off of it about like I would the stage and run across the other side. And then up the steps he went and around the circle he made it. And the man wrote down with a cry and said, preacher, there goes the boy. He said, the trouble was not in the kid. It was in me. Now we say what we please this morning, there's a mini of prayer going through to God's throne. We're trying to reach him, and no doubt we're getting no answer from God because we're asking a miss for our own advantage, our own will. If I want God to hear me, I'm in no shape to get a prayer to God unless I'm able to say, God, have your way, whatever you want. Are you free? Matthew 6, give us another speech. You know, I love public prayer. I've encouraged you men to try to speak loud when you're leading prayer. Now, I'm not trying to be hard about it, but I like to hear it from you. In fact, I'm going to make a statement. I don't want to be offensive, but it's true. If you pray a prayer in this church, leading in prayer, and the church can't hear you, the purpose will defeat you. The reason for public prayer is identifying in the body. When the body can't hear you, the body wants to identify. And I'm being honest, when you read the scripture, and I'll sit down with you, I don't want to be offensive, but I'm telling you the truth. I believe any man or woman here that knows God and prays will tell me your prayer life alone with God is far richer and greater than your public prayer life. I enjoy reading the prayer when it's my time to do it. But I'll tell you the other hand is, if you want me to really enjoy my prayer life now, let me be alone with God. I'm not worried about what you say, what you think about what I say, or what you understand or don't understand. You're not in the picture, dear friend. I want to get in the shape to do my Lord and Savior's name. I can reach the golden grace and talk directly to God. But he said if we pray, considering what others thought about it, pray to make a show of you succeed about the Pharisees, then get on the street corner. He didn't say you couldn't pray on the street corner. I guess I made a joke. They might have been here one time. Somebody said something about it's good to pray going down the street. That's the way the Pharisees did it. They said, well, you haven't been in New Orleans lately. I was running those street prayers about that time. I said, you learn to pray on every street corner, going down every street. You go there, I said, you're gonna pray you get killed or get run over. I spent about 20 years running those streets. I know kind of how it got to be. I just kind of made a joke out of it. But listen, God didn't say where you couldn't pray. It was the motive that you had what made the difference. They got out here where they could be seen of men. Listen, I want you to know I'm a praying man, but if you never do see me pray, if you never do hear me pray, you don't even ever have witnesses, it does not affect my prayer of preaching God. It's not a matter of what you think about my prayer or I think about yours. It's not a matter of maybe how you feel about it, good or bad, or you approve of it or don't approve of it. That has nothing to do with it. If I'm right with God and I'm talking with God the right way, God will hear me. He told him, he said, you know, somebody say, well, I give to the poor. How'd you do it? I got kind of a dutch with the church several years ago, and it'd be a few years before it was. But they had a man there, and I don't ever seen a bigger foot all my life. And they took an offer, or had an offer, and said, can I ever serve you? Please have this night service me. And the last night, my daddy was present. I will never forget the reaction he had. This man wanted to make a show. They called him Kingfish. The rest of us didn't know where he was in. And he wanted to make a big show, had a big house full of visitors. He got up that night and mentioned the offering. Brother Joseph, he just walked up to the plate and kind of turned around sideways and just raked it out like he measured his. I didn't give a dime. I thought the church had taken up all the week. I knew what he did. Oh, he made a terrible big show. Now, if you're going to make a show, I told them, I said, listen, I'm not sure God got on out of anything you've done. Anything I'm doing for a show, whether it's supporting a cause or having somebody in trouble, If I'm after your attention and I want you to be that sure you know what I do and how much I give and what extent I went to, I just will to quit. As far as me getting a blessing from God, listen, I'm going to hit the needy if I have to, brother Jesse, on my eyes on God. God knows what I've done. What do you ever know what God did in secret that he would reward me openly for it. The same way with church giving. I'm not fixing to go through all that this morning, but We're in a guild because we love God and love the cause of Christ and a purpose of heart to guild, but unless we do it with the right motive, we lost what we've done. You ever seen anybody come up to a guild? I haven't seen that here at home, I don't. It's like they kind of want to flag the public for what they have, but you don't even know what they do. That might buy just too much game for the one-head people. I just touched on the hurricane. They give God the last of their lives. Now I'm set on this. If you can change me biblically, I'll accept it, but don't think I can't change with it. God comes first in my life. You say, oh, look what I've done. Where did you put God? Look at all the effort. Where did you put God? In every act of our life, God deserves and requires first place. I believe that's where he put his worship on the first day of the week, the resurrection of Christ. We put Christ our God ahead of everything else. in our worship service. Now, what the people of Israel did, rather than get a little first thing to the flock, that was in real good shape, of everything else offered to God, they took the toads, the scraps, the vines, the cripples, the lame, the sick, and offered that to God. I'll tell you what, you can work hard to try to serve God and please God, unless we put God in the proper place God deserves, requires, We're still missing a blessing. I'll tell you, I've seen a few revivals near or so by where men shut everything down and put God first above any doubt and put God where he's supposed to be. And I don't recall one that God didn't want to bless. I believe God obligated himself to bless you or bless me. When I love God, the point I put God first is not to It's not the scraps, it's not the leftovers, it's not the blind, the sick, the sheep, the torn, it's not those. I'm putting God where He ought to be. God wanted the best flock going, the best out of their flock, a sheep there's no blemish about. The first year of them, they offered that to God and yet they got the things they didn't want and gave it to God. And God in so many words refused what they had. We're putting God first. A little bit harsh sometimes, isn't it? I haven't got time to turn and read the scriptures. Are we serving God with all we're living? I listened to a good man a few days ago, and I don't reserve, I don't mind saying that, no, it's just unreserved to say he is a good man, a good clean man. I don't think he knows God. Was not even talking to me, but I was in the presence of somebody talking to me. And when I was a preacher, they helped membership in the church where he goes. He began to tell about how regular he was. He told why he was. He said what got him started being regular, he was tired of being told that he ought to be like that. He was tired of being criticized by other members. He went on to say that his pastor made right or wrong, I don't know. If the pastor slurred at him, I'd agree the man was wrong in doing it. The pastor shouldn't have done that. I don't know what he did. I'm not charged with knowing the man I contacted. But he went on and said, I've got the place. I just made up my mind. He said, Tom, whatever. I'm going to be there. I'm tired of being talked about by others. I just couldn't listen to him. And finally, he looked up and said something to somebody else. I still didn't say anything. He finally pointed and asked me. I said, well, I don't know what you've done. I don't know what you are doing. I don't know what the members have said, I don't know what your pastor said, but I know what God said about it. If you're not going to church and worshiping God because you love Him, then I won't send you home. You lost all the good. If you don't love God enough to serve Him, you missed it. It's my love. Paul told the Grantham church again in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 14, he said, the love of Christ constrains us. Well, with us, judge, if Christ dies for all, then we're all dead. I'll tell you what ought to be our motive for being here, that above everybody I know, I love God. I want to worship Him, honor Him. I love daddy, I love mother, I love wife, I love children, I love brother, sister, whoever. But God did something all of them together can't do. And I want to tell you what, it'll move me when nothing else will. I've gotten up and no doubt everybody else the same way when you felt bad and felt like they wonder if you could make it today. But I'm going to tell you this, so far, I've never seen a day if I can't go because I love God, things get better as the day progresses along. Do you love Him? Are you serving God because of Him? Would you serve Him more if you loved Him more? Read the 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians. It wouldn't matter what you do. It wouldn't matter how great it looks, how great it sounds. Unless we do it because we have love, it's no good. Go read Paul's writings. Search your cards. In the book we're studying, from the Bible study, we'll get to it a few weeks later studying more, but in verse 5 of the 2nd chapter of 1 Peter, I hear him tell us concerning our guilt, He told us how we ought to do things except offer spiritual sacrifice acceptable to God by Christ Jesus. A spiritual sacrifice. You know, I believe I've got to be spiritual to offer spiritual sacrifice. I believe in that. Is that what we're doing this morning? Whatever we're saying, we're doing it because we're offering spiritual sacrifice. Worshipping God, we're doing it like God taught us. That's the only way God's going to help you. Paul made a statement in Hebrews. I referred to him as a Hebrew writer in some different way. But it says in verses 28 and 29, wherefore see we receive a kingdom. It cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and God's appeal. For our God to be saved by. I want to ask you a question, Warren. I've got one other scripture to leave on your mind. What do you do with what you're doing, Paul? without exception. Have you ever noticed a little statement I've called your attention to at different times? First verse is 3. Somebody tells me to see the cross. Our works are triumph of God as what sort they are. What sort they are. Not necessarily how many. Not what the public thought about them. But what sort, what kind, what manner is our works. I'll make this statement again. I'll give you two enclosures. In 2 Corinthians again in chapter 5, verse 9, he said, We labor that whether present or absent, that we might be accepted of him. The next verse, verse 10, records the record of the judgmency of Christ with whom faith is. This morning, has God accepted what I've done? We're closing out 2004. A lot of us saying we'll close out several years. Has God accepted what I've done? I don't guess I've missed a service, I don't recall as far as the weekend or as far as where it meets you. Has God accepted what I've done? Would I have been just as well off for you and me to have stayed home sometimes? Or has God accepted me? How much of you has He accepted? How are we going to enter a new year if we want God to accept us? Ephesians 3, verse 21, unto him be glory in the church, by Christ Jesus, throughout all the ages of the world. God's designed plan is that we're glorified God, a part of the church the Lord lives. That's where we're glorified God. Sinners, you've tried, you've tried, you've tried, you've tried. You're still not saved. Why don't you try what God says? Why don't you believe the Savior? Why don't you trust Him? You can cry, you can pray, you can do all you want to, but God's way is that you believe the Lord Jesus Christ. and thou shalt be saved. If you try everything else but to fail, you'll never get saved. But listen, the moment that you put trials and believe that it's Christ's time for you, He was buried and He was raised again the third day for you. When you believe that and stake your soul to Him, God will hear your cry. God will save your soul this morning. Don't just put trials for this year or another. We'll do the next year the same way. Why not this morning come God's way? You can't get somebody to say, well, we're all trying to get there the same way we're not. And I'm not really trying to get there anyway. I believe what Jesus did for me, and that's to die in my state. He took my place, paid the price. Sinners, you'll believe it. God save us all.