Turn your Bibles again to Colossians 1.18. I'll try it again tonight. See if we can actually preach the message that I was going to preach this morning. False Pauline Preeminence. This morning it was basically, charity, I am nothing. So that was, we retitled it. And 1 Corinthians 13 is really the emphasis. But in Colossians 1.18 it says, And He, Christ, is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He might have the preeminence. So, the whole point that we need to understand, is in every way, shape, form, or fashion, Christ gets the preeminence. There's nothing to compare to Him. And a lot of people in the world can't really fathom that. There are haters out there of Christ, of Christians. And what we've got to do is we've got to do everything we can to try to help them. I'm not going to turn people away. You say, well, what if somebody comes up here and they're two men? I'm going to preach as hard as I can to them. There are two men that are obviously living outside the parameters of Scripture. You know, what are you going to do? I'm going to preach, and I'm going to preach hard, and I'm going to preach salvation, and I'm going to pray for their soul, and I'm going to do everything I can. We are not going to be a church that says, listen, you know, and let me tell you something, my philosophy is if somebody is a convicted pedophile, they ought to give them the opportunity to be castrated, and say, look, you ever want to get out of jail? You're never going to get out of jail. You hurt children. You want to be castrated, that's your only chance for getting out of jail. And we'll let you out early. Why? They're not a threat anymore. But it has to be somebody that's convicted, confessed, etc. Not somebody where they're going to find DNA later on and found out that there's something planted or somebody lied or all the witnesses were lying. It has to be something like that. Because in our society, unfortunately, our judicial system only works with people and a community and a country that lives godly. Our system doesn't work when rebels rule or there isn't a judge that says, hey, I'm going to do right, I'm not going to be biased. That's the only way our system works. The Founding Fathers said as much, that our system only works that way. In our understanding, Colossians 1.18 Christ gets the preeminence. Christ gets the preeminence. This morning we looked at some things about what Paul thought about his works under the law and he just described them with one word, they're done. They're done. We looked at some things what Paul said about the law. We were going over into Acts and I was going to have you turn to Acts chapter 7. We're not going to go there. I want you to go to Acts chapter 9 instead. In Acts chapter 7 you've got Stephen being stoned. He's killed. At the very end, they laid their clothes at a young man's feet. His name was Saul. And Saul was consenting to Stephen's death. That is Saul's beginning. His name is later changed to Paul. We know him as the Apostle Paul, but his name was Saul. And then God gave him a new name. By the way, I wish we could all do that, but you know the name you make is the name you keep. You don't get to rename. Your word is your name. Your name is your word. If you ruin your name through falsehoods and things like that, you've ruined your name. There's nothing that can be done. You can go to the courthouse and say, I want to change my name. But you are who you are. And listen, there are people that have dug holes that they can't get out of. They'll never get out of because they just keep trying to crawl up, and by the time they get about a third of the way up, they fall back down, and then they've got all that dirt come tumbling. Listen, that is life. It doesn't mean that Christ can't change anybody and everybody because He can. And He wants to. In Acts chapter 9, look at verse 15. Here's Ananias concerning Saul. In verse 15, God says this, And the Lord said unto him, Go thy way, for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake. Do you see the order there? Gentiles, kings, the children of Israel. The children of Israel last on the list with the apostle Paul. Who was the apostle to the circumcision? It wasn't Paul. It was Peter. Peter was the apostle to the circumcision, that's the Jews. Paul was the apostle to the uncircumcision, that's non-Jews. That was Paul's ministry. That was Paul's calling. Paul said, look, I could wish myself a curse from my kinsmen according to the flesh. He said, I give up my salvation for other lost Jews. That's what Paul said. That's how much he loved souls. That's Paul. We ought to have the same love for others as Paul had for his brethren, his kinsmen according to the flesh. But Paul's ministry was, he was the apostle to the Gentiles. That is so important to see as we go through this because there are people that lift Paul up as though he's almost some type of sinless human being. There's only one sinless person that ever lived and that's Jesus Christ. Don't ever forget that. Look at Acts chapter 22. Paul was giving his testimony several times in the book of Acts. And Acts chapter 22 has one of the times that he gave his testimony in verse 17. It says, And it came to pass, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance, and saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem, for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me. What did God tell Paul? Make haste, get out. They're not going to listen to you. You know, I don't know if you're like me, but listen, I'd love to undo all the things, all the people that I ever influenced before I got saved. I would love to influence those that, I mean, to change some things that people I've influenced after I've gotten saved when I wasn't living right. I wish I could undo all that. But you know what my calling is? My calling is to be pastor of Faith Independent Baptist Church. That's my calling. Now, that entails many things. In other words, I'm fortunate in that my ministry doesn't have to be limited to Niceville like it probably used to be many years ago when you were pastor of a church, you came in, you preached in the church, that's it. Now we've got internet, we go out there, we go across the airways and there are people all over the world that are watching the broadcast right now. What is that? Well, that's just God. God can use that which the devil created to be the most wicked thing ever devised by man, doing the most damage to the most people worldwide. And He can use it to His glory. Just like He can use us to His glory. Praise God, glory, hallelujah. So he says, make haste, get out of Jerusalem. That's what God told him to do. Look at verse 19. And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on me. And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen, that's Acts chapter 7, which we skipped, was shed, I also was standing by and consenting unto his death and kept the raiment of them that slew him. He's trying to give his argument saying, look, I need to reach these Jews. They know that if I got converted, if I got changed, boy, there's hope for them. Are you kidding me? God is God. God knows what's best. And Paul's trying to convince God that his way is better than God's way. You ever do that? I have. I've gotten ahead of God. I've gotten in front of God. And I'm like, God, come on. Come on. This is what we need to do, God. Come on. Catch up to me. Where are you, God? You've probably done the same thing. You can't do that consistently and keep your sanity. One of the hardest things in life is patience. One of the hardest things is to let God do what God does best. And by the way, you know what that is? Everything. You know, I mean, I just said, let God do what God does best, and I asked you a question, what is that? Well, is it this, or this, or this? No, it's everything! God does everything best! But our problem is, we get ahead of God. Paul got ahead of God. Paul, listen to him, listen to him. Lord, they know I did all these bad things to Christians and now I'm one of them. Who better to tell them about Jesus than me? Sounds logical to me. I mean, you'd think, well, my goodness, if Paul got changed. Well, you've got to remember, they looked at Paul and said, boy, he was a great man. He was a Pharisee of Pharisees. They weren't looking at him thinking he was some type of bad rebel, like they might have looked at me or you before we got saved. 21, and he said unto me, look at this again, depart for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles. Paul gives his best argument and God says depart. God says make haste. God says these are not your problem. They are my problem. I have certain people that I've picked and asked and impressed upon with this ministry. By the way, you know the hardest thing to do is just get out of the way and let God be God. It is. We don't want God to be God many times. We want us to be us. And listen, we know what's best and we're the one that ought to be able to handle it. I mean, my goodness, do you realize that I should be the one that reaches this group or that group because I know what I'm doing. No, I don't know what I'm doing apart from God. I have zero clue what to do without God. You say, well, you're intelligent, you're smart, you know, you're educated. That means nothing and actually many times it works against being used of God. Because once you start depending on self and you become independent of God, then you start thinking, and by the way, it's like striking the rock twice and the water comes out and you get results. And you start going, I knew I was right. I knew I could do this. Listen, I can't pastor this church without God. You know where this church will get into its biggest problem? Besides you messing up. When I start thinking I can do it. If I ever get self-sufficient, I'm in trouble. Now look, I've been saved 40 years. I already know better. But that doesn't mean anything sometimes. Because we're all human. Don't ever get so self-sufficient you don't think you need God. Listen, that isn't how we look at it. We don't look at it. We just go, well, I can do it. I can do it. No, you know what I do? You know what I want to do? You know what I do? No, I fail. You know what I want to do? I want God to be in control. Just give God the reins. Give God the reins. Give God the reins. Look at Galatians chapter 2. Galatians 2. You know, an effective ministry is always God-centric. God-centric. Here's the ministry. You know who's in the middle? God-centric. Got it? Galatians 2, look at verse 8. The Bible says this, for he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles. You see what he's saying? He's saying, look, Peter, he was effective to the apostleship of the circumcision of the Jews. The same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles. But what we're going to see is Paul breaking his neck to get into Peter's ministry. Now, Paul was to go to the Jews. He was to go to the Jew first. Romans 1.16. So he goes into a city. Acts chapter 9, he goes into the city, goes into the synagogue, preaches to the Jews, and then he says, hey, you're rejecting it, I'm turning from you and I'm going to go the way God wants me to go. He did it in Acts 13, Acts 18, Acts 28. You'll see Paul go into a city, first place he went was the synagogue. Why? Because God gave him that much. and said, I want you to go to the Jew first, but when they reject and they blaspheme, you just wipe the dust off your feet and you go to those Gentiles where I called you to go. But Paul says, no, I want to go to Jerusalem, I want to go to Pentecost, I want to go to where the Jews, I want to go to my kinsmen and go against the will of God. God is telling him over and over again in the book of Acts, don't go there, don't go there, don't go there, depart, make haste. You know what Paul did? The words are, he made haste to go to Jerusalem, to be there in Pentecost. And you know what happened from a man's perspective? Paul's ministry was shortened because of that. He ended up in a Roman prison. Cut off. Dejected. Probably in that prison, he's thinking, what have I done? What have I done? Now you've got to realize, he wrote seven epistles while he was in that Roman prison. He struck the rock twice and the water still came out even though he was disobedient. That's Moses. He went against God, ended up getting in prison, goes to Rome and still writes Seven epistles. Why? Because God is God, and God is gracious, and God is long-suffering. Galatians 2 verse 9, And when James, Cephas, Cephas is Peter, when James, Cephas, and John, the three pillars, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship that we should go unto the heathen, and where were they to go? They were to go to the circumcision. Paul and Barnabas in Galatians 2.9 were to go to the Gentiles, the heathen. Paul, Cephas, James. James was the pastor in Jerusalem. They were to go to the Jews. Now Paul doesn't like that. Why? Because Paul is as human as me and you. You know what you have to do sometimes with family members? You've got to let somebody else reach them. You say, well, no, wait a minute. I am the best one to reach Him. They saw me the way I was and how bad I was and how Christ changed me and how everything about me is different. I am the one. You know what you ought to do with family members that you aren't able to reach right now? You ought to pray that God will send somebody in their path. That's the best thing you can do. It doesn't mean you give up. You just don't break your neck to go against the will of God to be in a place. Listen, if we would just back up and give God the opportunity to reach our lost loved ones, He'll do it and He will use us in His timing. If you're like me, you just get impatient. You want to take that Bible and just shove it down everybody's throat. It's the way I did it 35 years ago. 30 years ago, 25 years ago, I hope at some point I did stop, and I actually did. I started praying more. That's what I had to do. Now, go back to the book of Acts. Let's look at this thing. By the way, sincerity is never a substitute for obedience. You can't say, well, I'm sincere. You're sincerely wrong. You're sincerely disobedient. Earnestness is never a substitute for obeying God's commands. Man, I am earnest. No, you can't substitute that for obeying God. Paul takes a legalistic vow. Look at Acts 18.18, "...and Paul, after this, tarried there yet a good while, took his leave of the brethren, sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila having shorn his head in Shencriah, for he had a vow." He had a vow. This was a guy that said, all those Old Testament ordinances are nailed to the cross. He took a vow. Why? Because he wanted to reach those Jews. You say, well, he was becoming all things to all men. Listen, that's fine and dandy, but you can never do that in disobedience. You can't say, well, I'm going to become all things to all men, all right? Become a drunk to go reach the drunks. See, it doesn't work. There's a line somewhere. Oh, I'm going to become a drug addict to reach the drug addicts. I'm going to become a fornicator to reach the fornicators. You see, well, that's preposterous. Well, Paul can't take a vow to reach the Jews because he's being disobedient to it and to the Bible. You can't do that. You can't justify and go, well, I'm going to do that because I know that if I take this vow, I'll be able to reach them more. No, they're going to be looking at you and saying, you're a hypocrite because we know what you said. We know what you wrote. Look at 1 Corinthians 9. I'll show you the verse that people will use to justify a lot of sin in their lives. 1 Corinthians 9.20. He says, And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law. You say, well, that's all he was doing. No, you cannot. You can't be disobedient. Paul circumcised two men. One was a matter of being able to get the Gentile into the city of Jerusalem and not have people question it. And the second one was for salvation. And when they wanted... I'm sorry, he circumcised one. They wanted him to circumcise the second one. He said, no, I won't do it. Why? Because the matter was salvation. He would not compromise on that. Look at Acts chapter 20. I guess I could just take a drink of water. Look how bad it got. Acts 20 verse 1, After the uproar was ceased, Paul called unto him the disciples, and braced them, and departed for to go into Macedonia. When he had gone over those parts, he had given them much exhortation. He came unto Greece, and there abode three months. When the Jews laid wait for him as he was about to sail into Syria, he purposed to return through Macedonia. The chapter later reveals Paul's motive for speed. He hasted Jerusalem for the Jewish feast day in Pentecost. Look at verse 16. And Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus because he would not spend the time in Asia And he hasted, if it were possible for him to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost. What did God say? Make haste, get out. What did Paul do? He made haste to get back to Jerusalem for Pentecost. Why? Because Paul was being disobedient. One of the greatest Christians in the history of the world, if not the greatest Christian that you and I could ever read about, right here, is disobedient. He's disobedient because he wants his will his way. At the beginning of Paul's ministry, God told him to make haste to get out of Jerusalem. Now Paul hasted to return. In Colossians 2.14, he says, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us and that was contrary to us, took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross. You know what Paul wrote about? He wrote about those ordinances and that Christ nailed them to His cross. Then why would Paul, who knew better, put himself under a vow, shave his head, make haste to go to Jerusalem to be there for Pentecost. You say, well, because there were a bunch of Jews there and he could preach to them. No, he was going to make a mess of things. In fact, James and the others were going to tell him, you better compromise because they've heard about what you're preaching out there. You're telling them they don't have to keep the law. You're telling the Gentiles they don't have to be circumcised. You've got to tell these people that's not true. That's what James, the pastor in Jerusalem, is going to tell them. What a mess. When you and I get outside of the will of God, there is no telling what we're capable of. Back to Acts chapter 20. Paul starts skipping opportunities. Look at what he says, Acts 20, 22. And now, behold, I go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that befall me there. Look at verse 23. Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. Now look, that's okay. You say, well, bonds and afflictions abide me. But wait a minute, not if you're out of the will of God. It's okay to suffer for the glory of God. It's okay to suffer for doing right. But when you're suffering outside the will of God, you can't take that upon you and go, well, I'll tell you what, look at me, look at me. By the way, you'll start saying that. Look at me, look how I'm suffering. You and I have got to be within the parameters of what the Bible says we're supposed to do. And He'll lead us. The Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city. That makes it very clear it was God that was speaking through these prophets to him. Look at verse 24. Look at what he says. But none of these things move me, not even God. Neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy. And the minister which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify of the gospel of the grace of God." Sounds laudable. And now behold, I know that ye all among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God shall see my face no more." Why aren't they going to see his face anymore? Because he was disobeying God. Now I am not trying to dog Paul. I just want you to understand that we are all human with human frailties, and Paul had his own human frailties, and there are people that lift Paul up to such a high degree that he is almost equal to Jesus Christ. What I want you to see is that he is not. He is not equal to Jesus, that he did fail, and because he failed and God still used him, God can still use you. in whatever capacity He has called you to be in. Look at Acts 20 verse 37, And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck, and kissed him, sorrying most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him into the ship. Listen, it's hard to say goodbye. I think about us saying goodbye tonight. I know you guys said you'll come back, not very far away. You used to drive it a long way, ought to drive it every weekend. No, there's a good church in Milton. I encourage you to find a church close by. I do. And listen, I want you to be in the center of God's will. That's it. And if that's somewhere else, that's where you need to be. Even though I don't want you to be... No. I want you to be in the center of God's will. But you see, it's sorrowful to say goodbye to people. Look at Acts 21, verse 1. It came to pass that after we were gotten from them and had launched, and we came with a straight course unto Cuz. And the day following unto Rhodes, and from thence unto Potara. Notice it was a straight course. Man, he's not veering off at all. He's got something in mind. And finding a ship sailing unto Phoenicia, we went aboard and set forth. Now when we had discovered Cyprus, we left it on the left hand and sailed into Syria and landed in Tyre. For there the ship was to unload her burden." Listen, the emphasis for the stop was not a spiritual stop. It was just to unload the burden. Why are they telling us this? Why is God putting us in the Bible? Because the point is, Paul's not preaching like he used to. Paul's not starting churches. Paul never started another church after this point. You don't even read of Paul preaching. Verse 4, "...and finding disciples, we tarried there seven days," not because he wanted to minister to them, but because he was waiting for transportation. "...who said to Paul through the Spirit," look at what it says, "...that he should not go up to Jerusalem." There's no arguing the point. Paul was out of the will of God for going to Jerusalem to be there on the day of Pentecost. You say, oh, but he was trying to win souls. Listen to me. You and I need to win souls, but not outside the will of God. He said, we need to go knock on every door around here. Yeah, during coronavirus, go ahead and do that and see what happens. Listen, there are people that have not been able to come back to the church or those that were out for quite a while. If there were people in the church knocking on your doors, when you feel like you're vulnerable because you have a propensity to this coronavirus, you are going to look at them not as somebody accepted, but somebody that doesn't care and is not concerned about you as a person. You say, well, wait a minute. We got to go out and knock on all these doors and win souls. And yeah, we got to win souls, but we've got to do it wisely. Listen, we may have to just start doing some mail outs. I don't know. I'm going to get some signs made. We're going to have banners. We're going to do whatever we can. But it's a weird world we live in. You just can't do what you want to do because you think you're right and everybody else is wrong. It's God that we need to ask about things. and let Him guide us, and let Him tell us, because He knows best. Paul wanted to go to Jerusalem. Why? Because he was just nostalgic? No, he wanted to be there at Pentecost because the Jews were going to be there at Pentecost, because he wanted to tell them about Jesus Christ. whom he thought was the best one to do that. And God was saying, no, I've got it handled, Paul. You need to be doing this and going to the Gentiles, planting churches and witnessing to the Gentiles. And Paul says, no, I'm going to do my own thing. And Paul sent people that he knew were speaking directly from God to him. You know what's encouraging? Paul was still used by God. Paul failed. I failed. You failed. Just don't think it's the end, because it's not. We have a gracious and merciful and loving God that can still use us no matter how much we fail. Look at Acts 21.11. When He was coming to us, He took Paul's girdle and bound his own hands and feet and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, so shall the Jews at Jerusalem find the man that owneth this girdle, Paul, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. God sends another witness to warn of his fate. And when we heard these things, both we and they of that place besought him not to go up to Jerusalem. You say, well, why would they do that? Because God led them to tell him not to go. Others tried to convince him. Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? For I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." Listen, it's okay to want to die for the Lord, to be willing to die for the Lord, but not outside the will of God. Fortunately, they're not going to take Paul's life because God didn't finish with him. The day following, Paul went in with us unto James, and all the elders were present. Remember, James is the pastor in Jerusalem. Peter is not the pastor, by the way. Isn't that funny? Peter is under James. The first pope is really under James. Just saying. He's not the first pope. They backtracked in 432 AD, yada, yada, yada. Verse 19, And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry. He's saying, look at what God did amongst the Gentiles by us. Yeah, that's where your ministry is, Paul. And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord. Yes, that's what you ought to do when somebody gives you a statement about what's going on in the ministry. You ought to glorify the Lord, not the man, not the woman. And said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews. There are which believe, they're believing Jews and they are zealous of the law. That's a problem. You can't be a believing Jew and be zealous of the law and be right with God. There's a contradiction because we are not under the law, neither were the Jews that were saved. And they are informed of thee that thou teachest all the Jews, which are among the Gentiles, to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs. What is it therefore? The multitude must needs come together, for they will hear that thou art come." What are they saying to him? Paul, tone down your message. Paul, compromise. Verse 23, Do therefore this that we say to thee. We have four men which have a vow on them. Them take and purify thyself with them. Why are they telling them to do this? To abide by the requirements of the law and be at charges with them. In other words, he needs to pay his share of the bloody sacrifice to be offered in the temple, that they may shave their heads and everybody may know that those things whereof they were informed concerning thee are nothing. But what they were told was true. But that thou thyself also walkest orderly and keepest the law. Paul was the one who repeatedly wrote that believers are not under the law. Verse 25 is, "...touching the Gentiles, which believe, we have written and concluded, that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, from blood, things strangled, from fornication. Then Paul took the men, and the next day, purifying himself with them, entered into the temple to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them." Willful disobedience. Paul. Listen, don't elevate any man above what God says to elevate him. Even Paul, the greatest Christian that ever lived. The guy that is responsible for more souls being saved than anybody that ever lived apart from Jesus Christ. How do you know that? Because when you take him to the Romans road, God had him write Romans. And when you take them to Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, God had him write Ephesians and Galatians and all those other epistles that are used to see souls saved and to convict hearts and bring them to Christ. That gets put to Paul's account. But Paul was human. Glory to God. Don't give up. Don't think God's finished with you. He's not. He didn't put Paul on the shelf. Wait until you hear the end of the story. This is one of the greatest things that I have ever seen when we get to the end of the story, which is coming up pretty quick. Look at Acts chapter 21, verse 27. And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews which were of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people and laid hands on him, crying out, Men of Israel, help! This is the man that teacheth all men everywhere against the people and the law and this place, and further brought Greeks into the temple and hath polluted the holy place." Verse 31, they went about to kill him. Verse 32, they left beating of Paul. You say, boy, man, Paul got beat up. Yeah, I don't think he was supposed to get beat up. I don't think Paul was in the will of God for being there. In fact, I know he was not in the will of God. And yet there are people that will look and say Paul gets the preeminence because of how God used him. Nobody gets the preeminence that belongs to Jesus. There are all kinds of men looking for the preeminence today. Women too, I suppose. But there's only one that gets the preeminence, Colossians 1.14, and Jesus Christ, He gets the preeminence and nobody else. Nobody else. That's the point. You know, Acts 23 talks about it and says they almost pulled Him in pieces. I'm going to tell you what, when you have Jews under the law that believe the law and you break the law, listen, they'll stone you, they plucked out Jesus' beard. Just imagine, these are religious people. By the way, you've never been hated until you've been hated by somebody religious. It's just the way it is. Religion condemns. Christianity is the only thing, the only hope for this world. And look how the world is turning against Christ. It's the only thing that makes sense, but to a lost person, it makes no sense. I got saved 40 years ago, and I'm telling you, I'm like Paul in some way. You know, here I was, cussing, carousing, yada, yada, yada, and now the next time, I'm carrying my Bible into work. And I'm just, well, my goodness, I'm the one that ought to be reaching these people. They ought to listen to me. I mean, they knew what I was then, and now they know what I am. And you know, I'm the one. You're only the one if God says, you do this, you do this, you go here, you say this. You know what we need to do? We need to pray. You have somebody you want to witness to? You know what you ought to do? You ought to say a word of prayer before you do it. Say, no, we just need to give everybody the gospel. Just shove it down their throat. Try to do that with a mask on. Try to do it at a table with a waitress that's got a mask on, that's more concerned about whether you're going to give her something that's going to cause her to die and see what happens. Listen, I do believe at some point if the rapture doesn't happen, like, you know, in the next four months, things will go back to normal eventually, especially after the election, depending on which way it goes. It'll probably go back to normal somehow. I mean, you know, I don't know. Maybe they'll find a shot you can take, if you take it. if you trust it. You take that shot and then, you know, we'll just... I mean, how many things in your life you look back and you go, boy, I sure took that for granted. You ever take for granted actually coming out of the house? Getting up in the morning, going to work, and now you can't even go to work? Seeing people, talking to people, being less than six feet apart. I go by people Every day, when I do my five, every day, and I watch them, when they go by me. There's two or three especially. Some I've talked to, it's glories. I tell them where I'm at, pastor and all that, just a few, not many. But there are other ones just... And then, oh, I'll tell you what, if you're going this way, they get off into the grass, up on the road. I mean, listen, there is social distance going on. And then there are people that are out there doing their running or walking with masks on. I'm like, whoa, I can't do that. But if it gets back to normal, I mean, would it be amazing if we look at 2020 and we forget? Now, I don't know about you, but it's going to be hard to forget this. And you know what else? Let me just prophesy for it, and I'm not a prophet and I don't believe in it, but let me just prophesy for a minute. If they threaten to lock us up again, they're going to be people that will do anything not to get locked up again. I heard some politicians said that he'll do anything to save lives. You know, I don't know about you, but I remember back in our history, give me liberty or give me... Yeah. What happened to that? Paul's freedoms cut short. Look at verse 11 of Acts 23. And the night following, the Lord stood by him..." Oh, wait a minute. Let me go to verse 10. "...And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down and to take him by force from among them and to bring him into the castle. He has now lost his liberty." What's God going to say to him? Done with you. That's not what he does. Verse 11. And the night following, Paul had to wait for a whole night, the Lord stood by him and said, Be of good cheer, Paul, for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou witness also at Rome." Isn't God good? God doesn't say, Paul, you shouldn't have gone to Jerusalem, you're wicked, you're out of the will of God, I'm finished with you, you're on the shelf, I'm not going to use you anymore. No, He says, look, as you witness the Jerusalem, He just overlooks the whole thing by grace. That's God. What did God do when He saved you? Did He go and bring up everything in your past and smack you upside the head? And every time you mess up, He just slaps you upside the head and says, remember how it was? No, He doesn't. He just says, hey, remember how... He just overlooks the thing and says, hey, let's move forward, let's move forward. The biggest problem you have on your past is your memory. What you think about, that's your biggest problem. I wrote down, God's grace exceeds man's blunders. I've signed my name literally 10, 20,000 times. I don't know. And I always put a verse underneath it. 1 Corinthians 15 10. That's my life verse. 1 Corinthians 15 10. But by the grace of God, I am what I am. That's the part of it. His grace which was bestowed upon me, I labored, you know, so on. But here's what I want you to remember. But by the grace of God, I am what I am. Grace is in that verse several times. Grace, grace, grace, grace. I look at life that way. If it were not for grace, I would not be here now. I talked to the pastor up in Crestview yesterday at the luncheon, the day before I went up to their meeting. I told him, I said, I want to start a pastor's group. I said, listen, up in upstate New York, Buffalo and Hamburg and Rochester, those guys are like that. And it is the most amazing thing to see that pastors 5 and 10 and 12 miles apart from each other, independent, Bible-believing pastors can get along. Listen, I can get along with anybody. I really can. Somebody leaves the church and goes to another church, water off a duck's back. I'll do everything I can to help anybody. But I'm not going to hold it against that. I'm not talking about people that move away. Just going to make sure we understand. I'm talking about people that leave and they get mad. They leave and they go to another church. Listen, so what? If that's where you need to be, that's where you need to be, number one. But number two, I'm not going to be mad at that pastor. Now, you know what I'm going to do if somebody comes from another church and wants to join here, and they are faithful members of another church, I'm going to call the other pastor. I'm going to say, hey, let me talk to you. Or I'll make sure that they talk to the pastor. I remember I talked to one couple, and I said, well, do you want me to call the pastor? Oh no, he'll have a heart attack. Because they were changing churches because they live in Niceville, and they were going to Fort Walton. And so they didn't have a problem with the other pastor and they didn't want me to call him because he'd have a heart attack that they're leaving the church. Listen, that's okay. I understand that. I'm not talking about that, but I'm talking about somebody that comes in out of the blue and I don't know who they are, you don't know if you can trust them. I'm going to call the other pastor. I'm going to try to have a rapport with him and say, look, I'm not looking to build... I don't want to fill up this church with people that bounce from church to church. It's just, why? Because all they're going to do is bounce again when they get mad at me. And they are going to get mad at me. How do I know? Ask my wife how many things I've ever said that are bad and wrong. No, do not ask her. Have I ever said anything wrong, honey? Don't be so adamant about it. No, I'm kidding. It's exactly what I wanted her to do. Let me go ahead and close with this. This is what I was leading to in the whole thing. So Paul's not supposed to go to Jerusalem, right? He goes. God's met with him the next night and says, Hey, don't worry, Paul. I'm with you. The Lord stood by him and said, Be of good cheer. Here it is. Here it is. Here it is. Ready? I know I'm ready. I'm getting chills. You're not yet because you have no clue what I'm getting ready to say. I got chills because I know the end of the story. What did Paul want to do? I already told you. He wanted to go to Jerusalem. He wanted to reach who? The Jews. Do you know who got the greatest opportunity to reach Jews over the last 2,000 years? It was the Apostle Paul, but it wasn't in Jerusalem limited to the first century. How? He wrote the book of Hebrews. He wrote the Magna Carta addressed to the Hebrews, the book of Hebrews. So here's Paul, now watch this. All along, Paul's saying, I've got to go to Jerusalem, I've got to go to Jerusalem, I've got to reach the Jews. And God says, I just need you over here doing what I want you to do and doing what you're calling is. You're calling is to go to the Gentiles. You're calling is to do this and do that. And Paul's saying, no, you don't understand God. I am peculiarly able to do it because they know I persecuted. the Christians. They know I had Stevenstone. They know I was there. They know me. They know that if I change, they can change. And if I needed Jesus, they needed Jesus. I was a Pharisee of the Pharisees. Oh, I can do it, God. I can do it, God. God said, I got it handled, Paul. I got it handled, Paul. You know what God says in your life? I got it handled. I got it handled, Ava. I got it handled. I got it handled for every single person that has ever trusted me. I've got it handled. I've got it all figured out. I already know. I already know the end from the beginning. And if you'll just trust me, Paul, I'm going to have you write the Magna Carta of all epistles to the Hebrews. And that book, has not only spoken to the church, but has spoken to Hebrew believers and unbelievers for 2,000 years. That's exciting to me. Because no matter how much of a mess I make of my life, and I have made messes, God's always been there. He'll be there for you, He's been there for me. He'll be there for us. He'll be there for this church. This church has been through a lot. I mean, kaboom number one, followed by kaboom number two. And the devil wants nothing more than the kaboom number three and four and just cause all kinds of turmoil. Listen, must be something important about this place. And there is. There is. Because as long as one of us is here, God cares. And God wants this place to be a haven for sinners. A haven for saints. And we're gonna do everything we can to welcome people in whenever we can. Listen, it is a weird environment where I talk to people that go, I just wanna watch online right now because they're concerned about COVID. The signs I'm gonna put out there are gonna say, listen, come social distance with us. I can't even, I'm like, wow, does that sound hokey? But you know what? I want people to know, look, we're going to do everything we can to protect one another. Listen, if you don't feel comfortable going over to the fellowship hall, to the hall of faith, you guys don't have a problem with that, right? I mean, if people feel like they can't, you know, they're susceptible, listen, you go home. Do not feel any pressure, except for you young people. You have to go because we have cake and you'll eat a lot. and you're not as susceptible as us oldies. But if you, listen, just you, listen, everything's okay. We're gonna be fine. The thing we have to do is we just gotta stay together. You know what the most important thing we can do is have unity. I don't stand for disunity. I just, I meet it head on and I, listen, I have managed many companies. I have very rarely ever fired anybody, but I have had many people come to a meeting and quit on the spot. You know why? Because I document all of it. I take all this and I just have, by the time I meet with you, listen, You're going to want to quit by the time I go over what all you've done, how bad you've messed up because you are, you're causing problems in the office. Listen, I'm thinking of specific instances. They come in the meeting, I meet with them and they go, you're right, I'm gone. I don't have to fire them. You know what? If I have a problem in here, I'll meet with you. I'm not going to go, yeah, yeah. Two rules of mine. I do not counsel over text and I do not counsel over social media. I meet with people. Do you know what people don't want to do? They don't want to meet face to face. Why? Because men aren't men anymore. Christians aren't Christians anymore. I'm just that way. Why? Because I've never been job scared, and nobody intimidates me. You know why? Listen, I will be as close to him as I can, and I'm still going to fail, but when I fail, I'll just admit it, and I'll move on, and I'll get over it, and I'll go, wow, that was dumb. But look, so what? So what? I've done dumb things and I'll do dumb things in the future. What I'm saying though is this. Let's just pull together as a group. Love each other. Pray for each other. Pray for those that have gone out. I'm looking at the pictures on the front and the pockets. Boy, I tell you, you talk about a family. You know, he was preaching for us, he was doing the reading up here, and I had, man, okay, you know, I got somebody I'm going to be able to, you know, get more involved, and the family's already involved and clicked in, and we're going to North Carolina. What did I do? I hate you. I got them the biggest basket I could ever find. And we filled it up with everything. Why? Because if they're right with God, in the center of God's will, I want them in North Carolina no matter how much it hurts. Same with you guys. Same with anybody in here. Now look, I got to tell you, We need some pluses here soon, okay? Whenever it happens, whenever it happens. I even think about the situation with Carissa in Alabama and the whole situation and it's like, oh, why can't it be Florida? You know, and it's just, it's tough. I told somebody I need a break. I heard about a break today and you'll see next week. It's encouraging. It's encouraging, really encouraging. You'll see. Next Sunday morning, I got a break. I asked somebody, I said it verbally, I need a break in the pastorate right now. And I got word that I got one today. Let's all stand together. I'll keep you guessing on that one.