8 tonight, Genesis chapter number 8. And listen, I am grateful that I've got to come because this church has become a home away from home. And every person in this church has been a blessing in my life. But also through this church, I've met some of the dearest friends. I've got a new one, Brother Gary, and then the Parson family. I consider them my friends, but Brother Melvin and Brother Billy Poe. What a hero in my life, and Brother Dean, and I get to be with him in October. And Brother Keith Webb, and Brother Mike Allison, he's like a daddy to me. And he and Mother Teresa, amen? And one of these days she's gonna whoop me. Brother Derwin, and I'm telling you, Sister Lisa, everybody, such a blessing. Genesis 8, if you found your place, and if you're able, for the standing and reading of God's Word. I do desire your prayers tonight, and I pray for God to help us. I want to be a help tonight and not a hindrance. I desire to be a blessing and not a burden in any way. And I just want to give you what God has laid on my heart. Very familiar passage of Scripture. The Bible says, And God, He remembered Noah and every living thing, all the cattle that was with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assaged. And the fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained. And the waters returned from off the earth continually. And after the end of the hundred and the fifty days, the waters were abated. The ark rested in the seventh month, that's God's perfect number, and on the seventeenth day, seventeen is the number of victory, of the month upon the mountains of Ararat. And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month, and the tenth month on the first day of the month were the tops of the mountains seen. I want to preach on this simple thought by God's help and the Holy Ghost trusting me. I want to preach on the mountaintop experience. The mountaintop experience. Brother Hensley, I love you. Hero in my life. Would you pray for me tonight, preacher? Lord, we need you tonight. Help us, Jesus, is our prayer. We'll do our very best for you tonight, Jesus. Everybody probably knows the story of Noah tonight. And I'll just give you a little bit of backdrop and use this as a springboard for the message tonight. For 120 years, God gave Noah an opportunity to do something for Him. For 120 years, the Bible says that Noah was a preacher of righteousness. For 120 years. Now, I don't want to get too far ahead of myself, but the Bible says that Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him to do. He didn't do some of what the Lord asked him to do. He didn't do half of what the Lord had asked him to do, but the Bible says that Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him to do according to his purpose. He told him to get everybody ready to get on the ark. He told him how to build the art, told him the materials, told him the size, how high it needed to be, how long it needed to be, how wide it needed to be, to be pitched within and without, the window, the door, all those things. Everybody knows the story of Noah's art. The Bible lets us know in the 7th chapter that for 40 days, and for forty nights that the rains came down." Now, Noah for 120 years, he warned people that a flood was going to come. He told them that rains was going to come. He said that the windows of heaven were going to open up. Now, I don't know much about it. A lot of the preachers here are a lot more educated than me. But the Bible only says around Genesis 2 and Genesis 3 that they were used to mist and they were used to dew. So a lot of people don't even believe that it had rained until that time. So they had not seen the heavens open up like that. And I believe a lot of people mocked Him and ridiculed Him and persecuted Him and left Him to scorn and all those things. And you say, preacher, how do you know? Because after 120 years, only eight people got on the ark. Noah and Mrs. Noah, Ham, Shem and Japheth and their wives. Eight people on the ark. And then of course the animals two by two. And so they get on the ark and the Bible says that when they got on the ark that God shut the door. How many is glad tonight to be in Jesus and Jesus is in you? Now how many knows that once Noah got in the ark, and listen, I mean, you can believe I'm crazy if you want to, but I believe as the rains came down, Brother Gary, and the waters began to come, the Bible says that they increased every day. And as it rained and rained and poured and poured, and I mean, as Mamaw calls it, a gully washer, and as it began to just rise up, the Bible says that eventually the hills were covered, and then the Bible says that the mountain peaks were covered, and the Bible says that everything that had breath in its nostrils died, the fowls of the air and the beasts of the field, everything, man, woman, boy, girl, everybody that was not in the ark, all the vegetation, the trees, everything that we know and we see and we feel and breathe in, it was all destroyed. I mean, there was doom on the outside, but there was deliverance on the inside. There was storming on the outside, but there was safety on the inside. I mean, the storms came, the winds blew, But I believe because of Genesis 6a, I believe that Noah stood in there and said, this one thing I know, it is well, it is well with my soul. I believe he got in there and I believe he said he never gave up. Amen. I believe he got in there and he went to the Mr. Giraffe and said, Mr. Giraffe, I'm blessed. I believe he went to Mr. Lion and said, I'm blessed. How do you know? I'm in the ark of safety. Amen. The Bible says that God, remember Noah, how many knows that when trials and tribulation and heartache and despair and doubt and discouragement and the storms of life come raging, how many knows there's a God up in heaven that'll look down and will remember you when everybody else forgets you? I've never seen a day Recently, we've had several storms in our area. And I can count, Sister Angie, in five weeks, in the last five weeks, not only after those storms do we see rainbows in the sky, but there's been one right over the other. I mean, I can count six different times, preacher, that there's been two rainbows in the sky, and one of them's not the gay rainbow neither. Just like, amen, I'm trying not to meddle or get on a soapbox, but I mean, that is God's sign, that is God's promise, and I'm glad that every now and then, God looks down, He remembers us, and He puts His sign in the sky, amen, that we can trust and believe on Him. Hey, I mean, I'm blessed tonight. You say, preacher, how are you blessed? Well, because for 30 years now, I've been saved by the blood of Jesus. As a 7-year-old boy, I got born again. 1203 at night time, June the 7th, 1987, I got born again. I got adopted into the family of God. I got regenerated from above. I know, preacher, that my name has been written down and the Lamb's book of life. And because of that Noah found grace in the sight of the Lord. How many has found grace in the sight of the Lord? Now the Bible says that it rained for 40 days and 40 nights. Then the Bible says that the windows of heaven were shut up and were restrained. And then the Bible says that for 150 days that the water stayed on the earth, but then little by little they began to be abated and they began to descend and descend and get smaller and smaller. And the Bible says that the ark landed on Mount Ararat. And the Bible says that it was on the mountaintop that they, well I'll be honest, it was at the mountaintop that they were delivered. And so when I was reading verse number five, that verse stuck out to me. And the Bible says, after the waters decreased continually to the tenth month, and the tenth month, the first day of the month were the tops of the mountains seen. I used all that as illustration. I believe with all my heart, Pastor Jeff, that there's some mountaintop experiences in our life. I'll say this, you'll never be able to experience the mountaintop of blessing until you've been saved. Hey man, I mean, you're just not blessed like a child of God. Hey man, I'm trying not to get ahead of myself. I just about got to help us now. And see, when I got here I had butterflies, but now they're flying in formation. I was coming down the road and I passed Sonic, you know, in and out fast. And then I pass Burger King, have it your way. At home we've got a Pals, sudden service now. But I don't want Burger King religion where you can have it your way. I don't want Pals religion, sudden service now. I don't want Sonic religion, in and out fast. I want Wendy's religion, old fashioned, hot and juicy. Amen. I wanted to stretch my legs on the other side of Old Fort and I stopped at McDonald's. And I got me a medium diet Dr. Pepper. That thing was flat. I mean flat, no fizz, no pop, no burp to it or nothing. Hey, I don't want no flat religion. I want something that's got a little fizz and not something that'll fizzle out. I want something that's got a little pop to it. Amen. Number one, the mountaintop experience of spiritual possibilities. Every day, every year, Every month, God gives us an opportunity to do something for Him. If you got up this morning and you was able to get on this side of the bed and get up and dress yourself and comb your hair and wash yourself and brush your teeth and fix you some breakfast and go about your day, God has blessed you. You say, well preacher, I wanted... Hey, every day is not the tremendous twelve at Perkins. Hey, all you might have had was some skim milk and fruity pebbles. But that's more than some people got. You might not have no new dresses or no new slacks or no new shirts or ties or no new suits, but hey man, if you've got something to clothe you up, you're blessed. You might not woke up in the finest home, but if you had a bed to lay down in, if you're cool in the summer and warm in the winter, you are blessed. If you's able to come to the house of God tonight and carry a Bible under your arm and shout and praise and raise your hand and know that you've been born again, you are blessed. You're blessed. And God has given us opportunities to do something for Him. You say, well, preacher, you don't understand the reason I am. You might say, preacher, I ain't no preacher, or I ain't no deacon, or I ain't no trustee, I ain't no Sunday school teacher. God ain't give me no voice to sing. He ain't give me no ability to play an instrument or something like that. I can't sing in the choir. I can't do it. Hey, if all you can do is sit in a pew and pray for the service and the man of God, do it. Hey, God has given to every man a measure of faith. And I believe, listen, we overcome the enemy by the blood of the Lamb and by the Word of our Testament. If you have been saved out of the pits of hell, you've got a testimony tonight. But people say, well, preacher, I'd do this but. Preacher, I'd have done that but. Preacher, I'd witness and all these, but I'm afraid of failing. Listen, you fail when you don't do anything. Listen, I've had a hard time. I've testified to people that know me the best, know that I still struggle, dyslexia and things like that. I still see in words, I get the first and the last letter backwards and things, I still struggle. I'm thankful, listen, if I was to pick up a hunting magazine or a fishing magazine or even a home and garden magazine or anything, see, I have to really concentrate on reading that thing. You talk about entertaining, Sister Lee, when I try to help my girls with homework. One night Dawn came home with a headache. Ashley had just turned 13 going into 8th grade, and Abby's 9 going into 4th grade. Dawn came home, she said, I've got a headache, I just don't feel good. And I said, baby, I've got it all under control. She said, what do you mean? I said, I'm going to fix supper. She said, that sounds good. I said, I'm going to go upstairs and run your bath. She said, wonderful. I said, I'm going to put soap suds in it for you. She said, oh, that sounds good. I said, I'm going to do the laundry. She said, hallelujah. I said, then I'm going to wash the dishes. She said, praise the Lord. I said, and I'm even going to help the girls with the homework. They come running in there saying, oh mama, please. Please don't let daddy help us with the homework. I've struggled with math my whole life. Had a good Christian teacher, Dr. Dean Guffey. And actually, seven years ago, God called him home, passed away of cancer, and I had his memorial service. And I remember sitting across from him one day and he said, Nathan, listen to me. He said, you can get it down. He said, pi r squared. I said, no, they're not. He said, son, I've been teaching a long time, pie are squared. I said, pies are round. Mamaw bakes them all the time. Went to the principal's office. I'm going somewhere with this. I know sometimes I get a little silly. Went in the next day to class. How many remembers the desk that you had to slide into? And you put your books under here and you got your arm and you know you're writing down all that. And I slid into that desk and there was a hard test and I wrote all the answers down on it. And I was sitting there, and I got the answers from somebody in the previous period, you know. Mr. Guffey said, Nathan, I'm going to need you to move to the middle of the class. I said, no problem. I picked my desk up, and I walked right over there, and I sat down to the principal's office. I came in, he said, Nathan. He said, I know you love the Lord. I said, yes, sir. I was 15. He said, I know that you struggle with math. I said, oh, yes, sir. He said, do you believe in God? I said, oh, yes, sir. Do you trust God? He said, do you pray that God would help you in your test? I said, Mr. Guffey, listen, I'm going to fail the test. He said, I need you to be more positive. I said, okay, I'm positive that I'm going to fail the test. He said, let's pray about that thing. And he grabbed my hands, preacher, and we began to pray. And he said, Lord, he said, he needs an extra dose of knowledge right now because he ain't got just one dose. And he said, help him. And you know what? I did at least pass that one test. I've learned that I wish I'd have prayed more about them tests. But what I'm saying is I was already positive that I was going to fail when I hadn't even tried. Listen, you have failed as a Christian. Hey, God doesn't save you to sit. God saves you to serve. You ain't saved because you work. You've got to work because you're saved. Amen? Faith without works is dead. I'm not talking about Mormon trying to work to get into heaven. I'm not talking about Jehovah's Witnesses. Hey, can I just say something? In July, there was 8 point something million Jehovah's Witnesses that met throughout the United States. How many knew that? They meet every July. 8.5 something million Jehovah's Witnesses. Now they only believe that 144,000 are going. Now I ain't real good at math, but somebody missing out somewhere. Out of 800 or 8 million, only 144,000 going, I believe I'd look for something different. But my, hey, I ain't trusting in my work because my work ain't good enough. You'll never be good enough. You can't earn it. You can't buy it. You can't, hey listen, it ain't about your promises to Him. It's about His promises to you. I ain't going to heaven because of what I've done. But I'm going to heaven because of what He's done. The possibilities. Noah done all that the Lord had asked him to do. If I was to die right now, Brother Gary, and stood before the Lord, I've got to be honest with you, I can't say that I've done all, and neither have you. But you can't worry about what you haven't done. You can't worry about yesterday. You can't live in the past. Don't worry about where you failed. Amen. Pick up the pieces. Make up in your mind tonight that you want a mountaintop experience in your life. And you're going to do better tomorrow. Oh, the spiritual possibilities. Number two, there's mountaintops of sacred promises. I feel for our generation today. Our generation today, they really don't know much about the promises. Back in the day, my papa told us that you could go in a bank and your word and your handshake was good enough. But now you have to have a contract to back up the contract, to back up the contract of the contract that says you're telling the truth. Can I say something else and you all not get mad at me? Even if you get mad at me, I'm going to tell you. Prenuptial agreements. Is that what it's called? I try not to use big words. My wife told me, she said, don't use big words when I'm not with you. I'm just kidding. She didn't say that. Well, she kind of said that, but in a nice way. Now this is what happens. And somebody help me. Especially if you've signed one, you can help me the best. But they say, I'm going to get married to the love of my life. But if it ain't going to work out, I'm going to make sure I got my home, and I got my car, and I got my money. That's pretty much what it is, ain't it? So I'm going to go to the lawyer's office, get my paper signed, then I'm going to stand in front of the preacher and say, I'm vowing a vow. I promise to love you, better or for worse, sickness and health, rich or poor, till death do us part. Hey, belogna, amen. Amen. People treat marriage anymore like trading horses. Amen! I mean, am I right about it? They don't tell you. The Bible says it's better to have never made a vow than to make a vow and break it. But how many has made promises to God and broke them? Oh Lord, if you'll just do this, I promise you that. Lord, if you'll do this, I promise you that. Boy, we break them. But because, Billy Poe, the life that we live in and how people are being raised up and taught, they don't believe in the promise. When you start talking about the promises of God, they think that's tomfoolery. They say, oh, the promises of God, Brother Keith. They say, hey, can I tell you, there are some things. How many believe God can do everything? The Bible says in Luke 1.37, with God nothing shall be impossible. But I want to tell you, there are some things that God cannot do. How many knows that? Some things God cannot do. See, I didn't get as much with me on that. You'd say, well, here, see, he's a false prophet telling... Hey, listen, God, number one, He can't break a promise. I mean, He saved me from the gutter most to the uttermost. He took me out of a pit and He put me in a pew. He took me out of the mire and put me in the choir. Hallelujah. Praise God. I went from sour to sweet, praise the Lord. I went from pickle to preserve. Hallelujah. Praise God. I feel like preaching a little bit, Brother Dan. I mean, I just do, Brother. I know it might not be that good, but I'm having myself a time, put you. I was at the hospital visiting today and I was watching the services online on Facebook Live. I mean, I was getting the can't help it's why I was in the waiting room. Couldn't wait to get here and get in on it. But God cannot break His promises. Hey, I'll give you Titus 1-2 for God who cannot lie. He can't lie. So if He made a promise, He ain't going to break it because He can't lie. Amen. He saved us. He's preparing us a place in heaven. John 14, let not your heart be troubled. If you believe in God, believe also in me. He said, in my Father's house are many mansions. He said, if it were not so, I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again receiving myself that where I am there may be also. How many knows He's the great burden bearer? He's the God of all. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 3, He's the God of all comfort. The Bible says in 1 Peter 5, 10, He's the God of all grace. Amen. I thank God for His promises. Hey, Matthew 11, 28, come to me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, I'll give you rest. How many is glad that you can rest in His arms? 1 Peter 5, 9, casting all your care. 1 Peter 5, 7, casting all your cares upon me, for He careth for you. He can't break a promise. He cannot lie. He cannot change. Boy, everything's changing. Worship styles are changing. Hey, man, I mean, we've got churches back home that, I mean, they're going from something, something Free Will Baptist to just the gathering. I mean, it ain't even fellowship church. I know you say now he's went to meddling. And if I ring your number tonight, I'm sorry, but I'm telling you right now, it ain't even something fellowship. Now it's just the gathering. Let's all just come in. Let me tell you why I'm feeling this. I was in Lifeway Christian Bookstore the other day. And I came out and there was, hey man, there was, you know when you go somewhere and somebody has put a pamphlet or something under your windshield wiper? There is a new church that is starting, and I've already called the preacher and told him how I felt. There's a new church starting in Johnson City in a theater and it's called Resurrection Gathering. and said, we want you to come as you are. We want you to be comfortable in the house of God. You know what? People don't like getting convicted anymore. Amen. Now the Holy Ghost makes me feel comforted. If you want to feel comforted, then you've got to have the Holy Ghost. He said in John 14 and in John 16, He said, I'll send you another comforter and not leave you comfortless. So if you're not comfortable tonight, then maybe you need to see if you've got the Holy Ghost. Now, I'll tell you something. He said, we want you to feel comfortable. Come any old way you want to. Okay. You know, used to, see, everything's changing. Used to in the 60s, 70s is the bell bottoms. Now it's skinny leg jeans. Skinny. Everybody, they got, they got, I mean, they got, they got jeans that look like jogging pants. I mean, everything's... No, thank you. Everything's changing. And here, they said, come as you have a cup of coffee on us, fine. If you want to have a Starbucks in your church, have at it. And make some new friends. Hey, I'm all for making new brothers and sisters. But here's, Brother Dean, where it rubbed me wrong. They said, bring your kids. We promise you that we'll not bore them to death with Jesus. God help us. So I called him. I said, brother, you don't know me, and I don't know you. And I said, I'm a pastor in Elizabeth. And he said, well, how wonderful to hear from you, my friend. Brother, you pray for him. I mean, if you've ever prayed, you pray for him. He said, God bless you, my dear brother. And he said, and he was using all these fancy words. He said, and what can I something this call or afford this something this call? I said, I got one of your brochures. He said, brochure? I said, out in the parking lot of Lifeway. He said, oh, me and my associate pastor. He said, that wonderful dude of mine, we came and we put that brochure on your window. I said, wonderful. He said, are you going to come be with us sometime? I said, probably not. And he said, well, I hate to hear that. Why not? And I said, I've got no beef with your coffee. I said, if you want to have coffee before service, I said, have your coffee. I said, I'd like for you to be my friend. That'd be all right. I said, if you want to wear your flip-flops and all that, fine. I said, but when you say that you ain't going to bore kids with Jesus, I said, you might as well get out of it. Hey, we don't come to feel good. Without Jesus, we are wasting our time. Parsons family, without Jesus, park the buses. Hey, without Jesus, don't study men of God. Without Jesus, don't worry about studying. Hey, without Jesus, everybody just go to Walmart on Sunday morning or sleep in. By the way, it ain't about none of us. It ain't about me. It ain't about you. It ain't about that preacher with skinny leg jeans in Johnson City. It's all about Jesus. So, he said, well, my friend, we're just going to learn to disagree, agree to disagree. And I said, do you believe the Bible? He said, yes, I do. I said, which one do you preach out of? He said, well, I use them all. I said, okay. And I said, I'm a King James man. He said, oh, I use that from time to time. I said, I just want to give you about 19 verses right off the top of my head. And all of a sudden, we got disconnected. I was like, hello, Verizon, you've dropped my call. Hello. You know, I think it's sad. I know you all probably think, boy, he's through that preacher under the bus and that church. No, it breaks my heart. It breaks my heart because you know what? I had a brother in our church. I said, I want you to go. I found this out two weeks ago. I said, I want you to go on Sunday at one of their early services. And I said, I want you to see. He said, all preachers packed out, packed out. He said, oh, I said, how was the worship? He said, oh, it was good. I'm sorry. If you all like that, great. But I'm telling you, I like what you all do. I like heaven's jubilee. I mean, that's just what I was raised on. I can't help it. It was good for my great granddaddy. It was good for my granddaddy. It was good for my daddy. It's good for me. And bless God, it's going to be good for my great granddaddy. I mean, all this other stuff just makes me want to act gag. Sacred promises. He cannot change. He cannot lie. He can't go unknown. I mean, how can anybody go to the beach and see the ocean come in and go out and see the trees and everything come to life and die and come back to life another season and snow and rain and not believe in God? I just don't understand it. I don't understand it. Sacred promises. Every promise that He's ever made you, you can take it to the bank. Mountaintops of spiritual possibilities. Mountaintops of sacred promises. Then there's mountaintops of sacred privileges. There's privileges sometimes that you can only have by being part of a family. Maybe a grandfather passes away, a rich uncle passes away, a mom or dad passes away, and they leave something in their will, or they've got a home here and a beach home there, a mountain home there or something, and they will it to you, and it's a privilege because you're part of the family. I can raise my hand because I'm part of the family. I can shout cause I'm part of the family. I can pray to God cause I'm part of the family. I'm an heir and a joint heir to Christ Jesus cause I'm part of the family. Brother Keith, this story come to my mind. I was reading a story in a book of my papa's a while back. He was a war buff. Special World War II where he was a prisoner of war in World War II. has all these books and I was reading one the other day with my girls and me. We was over at my mamaw's and she was cooking dinner. And I was reading and I read a story about these two men. And they was from different sides of the track as the old saying. And they hooked up in war and they got real close to one another, become comrades, companions. One come from a rich family, one was poor, had no family at all. One was educated, one was not educated. One loved life, happy about life, one was bitter. It felt like he got a raw deal all through life. I mean, one from the city, one from the country. So different. But they took up to one another. Every night, they ate their meals together, they sung together, they worshipped together at chapel, all these different things. One day, they're out there, and in the heat of the battle, brother of mine, one of them gets shot. The other one goes out, Pastor Dean, and he goes to rescue the one, and he brings him to safety, and he realizes real quickly he's not going to make it. And as he's dying, he looks to his friend, he says, remember the promise that you made me. Months goes by, this one fellow dies, months goes by, and he is standing on the doorsteps of a mansion. He knocks on the door, and here comes this father to the door, and he welcomes him in. He said, sir, I served in war with your son. And he said, we were real close and I made a promise that if anything ever happened to him and I lived and survived, that I would come and visit you all and I would bring his bloody shirt that he died in. And the father took it and he held it close to his chest and he said, thank you, son. And that soldier, he turned around and he began to leave. And sister Angesi began to leave. The daddy said, hold on son, wait a minute, come back. He said, you don't know. He said, but my son and I, we wrote back and forth time and time and time again. And he told me about you and your fellowship and friendship and everything. And he told me that you had no family. And he said, if anything ever happened to him, he said, daddy would, for my sake, he said, daddy, would you reach out and would you receive him as another son? He said, the brother that I... Would you reach out and bring... And he said, so son, I want to welcome you home. And they loved and they embraced and I read that story and I shouted all over the living room, the dining room, the kitchen and the bathroom. Scared my nine year old to death. She's mini me. She's little Nathan. She said, Daddy, what's wrong? Daddy, what's wrong? And Ashley said, Sis, don't you know by now Daddy's in the Spirit? She's the dignified one, like her mom. And I never did tell him, but I was thinking about that and I thought, Boy, I had an elder brother that 2,000 years ago went to battle for me. He died on the cross of Calvary. And because of a bloodstained garment, I found myself one day at the door of the king, and he welcomed me in, and Jesus said, Daddy, for my sake, would you welcome Darwin in? For my sake, would you welcome Jeff in? For my sake, would you welcome the person in? I'm glad tonight I can sit down at a table of royalty, all because I've got a friend in Jesus. Sacred privileges tonight. Amen. because of the elder brother. I've experienced some mountaintop experiences, some possibilities that only God can do. I've experienced the mountaintops of God's promises. And boy, there's been some privileges afforded my way because I'm a child of the King. And if you've been saved, you've experienced these things as well. Now to close, you say, preacher, how can I? Preacher, how can I have a mountaintop experience? Well, first off, you've got to get in the ark. The ark is a picture of Jesus. You've got to get saved. You've got to get born again. John 15, 13, Greater love hath no man than this, than that a man would lay down a life for his friends. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. For when we were yet without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man would one die, yet perventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God, He commendeth His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 1 John 4, 8, God is love. 1 John 4, 19, we love because He first loved us. He loves you. You say, preacher, you don't understand. My daddy didn't love me. My mama didn't love me. I don't have nobody love me. God loves you. He loves you so much. You know what? If you say, how much does Jesus love me? He'd say, you used to die for Him. He loves you that much. He gave His life for you. He bled and died for you. He loves you. You've got to be in Jesus. He's got to be in you. Amen. Second, Mount Ararat means holy place. What is it? Hebrews 12, 14 says, Have peace with men and holiness. He said, Be ye holy, for I am holy. Listen, I don't believe you can be saved and just live in the old way. I mean, I'm not talking... To be a Christian, you've got to live the Christian life. You've got to walk the walk, talk the talk. You can't just shout it out on Sunday and live like the devil Monday through Saturday. Well, I was listening to a TV preacher the other night and he said, the Christian journey is a bed of roses. Well, mine's had a lot of thorns along the way. I mean, it's hard. It's hard. That wide road, that easy road. Hey, a lot are on that one. Amen. Which will take them right to hell, but narrows the way. Straight is the gate. Amen. Forgetting those things which are behind. I press toward the mark, the high calling of God. Hey, thank you, Holy Ghost. Hebrews 12, verse 1. We're foreseeing that we can pass about with so great a cloud of witnesses. Let us run the race with patience that is set before us. Amen. Laying aside every weight, and the sin was thus so easily beset us. Looking unto Jesus, the Arthur, and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross, despised the shame, and He sat down at the right hand of God the Father. I want to get to Him, don't you? I like what the sister said. I don't want Him just to take me by the hand. I want Him to embrace me. Now for you all that knew my Papaw, you all know I love my Papaw. And I miss my Papaw, I'm ready to see him. My mamaw is 91 years of age and she tells me all the time, she's outside the other day, mowed five hours with the push mower. She came in, she said, whoo, I'm ready to give up the ghost. And I said, ma'am, I'll worry about you. She said, honey, if I just drop dead doing what I want to do, that's the way I want to go and I'd be satisfied. She said, I'm just ready to go on and be with Papa. Married 66 years. They dated all through high school. The only time they separated was when Papa went to Deacon's meeting and Mama went to Ladies Auxiliary. I'm serious. They did everything together. And she said, I'm ready to see Papa. And I said, me too. She said, but I want to see Jesus more. I mean, I've got dear loved ones that I've pastored and family that have went on. Listen, can I tell you, I love Camp Meaton, but at the same time, Camp Meaton's sad. I mean, you all know what I'm talking about. You all come and you come in and you hang out and you stay with your friends for two, three days a week and then you got to say goodbye. You all go to the... I mean, can I just be honest? You probably got churches that are just some of your favorite places to go and see some favorite preachers and stuff like that. And you meet, I mean, Brother Jeff, I eat it up. When I'm around any of you, Brother Keith, we went all over Shelby, didn't we? We got Pop Tarts, I mean, we had a time, ate Mexican food and all that. And that last night I come home and I cried. Brother Billy Poe, and one of the lowest points in my ministry when I was so discouraged, ready to quit. I know I say this all the time. And I say it when you're present and when you ain't present. But she was there at three o'clock in the morning just to listen to me. And I'll never forget it. I love you. We're gonna say goodbye tonight. I may never get to come this way again. I may get called home to heaven. Any of you could get called home to heaven, but I'm telling you what, a day glorious today that's gonna be. There'll be no sorrow there. No more sickness, no pain, and no more parting over there. Then forever I will be with the one who died for me What a day, glorious day that will be I'm going to tell you, you've got to be in the ark You've got to live the holy life. Yeah, you're going to stumble. Yeah, you're going to mess up. Yeah, you're going to fall and falter because you're humans. But I'm telling you right now, keep your eyes on Jesus. Get saved. Put your trust in Him. Lean on Him. Amen. Have your hope in Him. And I'm telling you, you'll make it to the mountaintop of heaven. You can only see one mountaintop. from another mountaintop. And can I tell you one more thing and then I'm, you all have preached me to death. You can't get to another mountaintop well unless you got a helicopter that'll drop you off. You can't jump from one mountain to another, am I right? You gotta go through the valley. You're up on this mountaintop, might be here on this mountaintop for a day, two days, might be up on the mountain for a year. Then all of a sudden you start walking down. Battles. Battles. Things start going out on the RV. Amen. Sometimes equipment messes up. All that. Sometimes things just don't... Sometimes y'all just sing to dead churches. And it's hard. Amen. And preachers, sometimes we feel like we're preaching to the wall. And sometimes, can I be honest, Brother Mel, sometimes we don't feel like preaching. I mean, if everybody else says, well, bless God, if you don't ever feel like preaching, something's wrong. Hey, I woke up yesterday morning, and I didn't feel like preaching. I mean, I was called out to hospital on Saturday night at 11 o'clock, and I got in at 5 o'clock, and I laid down for about 30 minutes, and Don said, you got to get up and got to get ready for church. And I said, call Brother Jack to preach. She said, and listen, I said, Dawn, I'm just tired. I don't feel good. I said, I've got a headache. And I said, I'm just tired and I ain't in the right spirit. She said, you need to go to church today. And I said, no, I don't need to. She said, you go. And I said, okay, let me get my suit on. See, I always get the last word, yes, ma'am. Amen. You get it? Yes, ma'am. Amen. Listen to me, listen to me. I got in, it got on during Sunday school, and it's one of them, everybody knows what I'm getting ready to say, it was one of them where the big preacher showed up. I didn't even get to preach. Amen? Everybody's excited about that. People got help. And I'm saying this, again, preacher, I know you don't really know me. I'm not saying it. I've never seen it like this. We had 39... I mean, God just moved in. One of our dear sisters started singing, Your cries have awoken the Master. You know the song? You've prayed all night. You've held on with all of your... My child, your cries have awoken. And people started coming to the altar. And these coming out of the choir and praying with one another and all that. Before we knew it, 39 people was anointed. We had one lady that had a big old tumor on the inside of her leg. She called and she said, Preacher, you don't know this? She said, just my family. And she might be watching. Some of our church folk are watching. And she had this place inside her leg and she said, I just need a touch from God. She called me at three o'clock yesterday afternoon and said, Pre-Trap Place is the size of a pea. Amen. I'm telling you what. Amen. I know I put eight muscles in my body, praise God. And listen, it ain't nothing that any of us done. It is that God decided to show up, visit His people, remember His people, and guess what? It is a privilege to call on Him. And listen, I just enjoyed the mountaintop. I got up this morning. My dad had been in the hospital through the night. I got a young man in our church, 23, just had cancer removed and a skin graft, and I said, Lord, that mountaintop then in the valley, but guess what? I'm kind of feeling like I'm climbing back up right now. I got here and I felt like I was climbing that mountain, and preacher, I'm feeling pretty right good right now. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God. I'm always stupidly honest. I've never been good at giving invitations. I just don't feel like I'm real good at it, so I'm just going to tell you this. With every head bowed, every eye closed, I don't know. Folks, would you all... I wish I could remember your first names, but I love you all. You're my sisters and brother. Just sing whatever God puts on your heart. And I'm going to tell you, if you need to get saved tonight, you need to get saved. You know what? If you know you're lost, you know you're lost. Why don't you get saved? Be the best thing you ever did. If you need to rededicate your life, come rededicate your life. If you need help from God, amen, come get help from God. You need physical touch, spiritual touch, financial help, whatever. Hey, I mean just come to God. Come to God. If you're saved, it's a privilege. Trust in His promise. Man, the possibilities are endless. Lord Jesus, we love You. It's always great to be here. Lord, this church just lets me be me. When I'm serious and when I'm just silly, Lord, they look over me. Lord, I'm just a happy person. Lord, I don't know what everybody's going through tonight, but You do. Lord, I'm going to ask them a few questions tonight. Lord, I pray God you search their hearts as they look into their heart as well. If there's any that are lost tonight, never been saved, would you slip your hand up and say, Preacher, I've never been saved. Is there a one? Is there a one? Now, is there any that say, Preacher, I've been saved, but I'm just not where I need to be with the Lord tonight? I'm not asking if you've been perfect or anything like that. We're not perfect, just forgiven. You ain't gonna be perfect till you get to glory. But you might just say, Preacher, I've just failed the Lord and I need to get a closer walk. Would you raise your hand tonight? Bless you. Anyone else? Anyone else? Now how many of you just say, Preacher, I'm saved, on my way to heaven, I'm doing all I can, but I just need a touch from God. I just need help from God. Would you slip your hand up? You just need a touch. And then you might say, preacher, my hand's not raised, but my heart is. Listen, it ain't about the position of your body or anything like that. It's not even about the place. It's about the position of your heart. We'll sing that old song sometimes, Is Thine Heart Right With God? I'm gonna pray what's on my heart. My new friends are going to sing. And while they're singing, if you need to come, you come. I'm sure any of these preachers will help pray with you. A brother or sister next to you will come with you. Lord Jesus, we love you. I've done my best for you. I've tried to say everything, Lord, you want me to say. And I've tried to not say anything that would not bring honor to you. Lord, I love you, and I want to tell people about you. Lord, I pray, Father, for if somebody needs to get saved, I want them to come. Today's the day. Salvation now is accepted time. The Bible says it's high time to wake up out of sleep, and Lord, I'm trying my best to sound the alarm. If they need to be saved, I pray they come. Then, Lord, if someone needs to rededicate their life, I pray they come. If somebody just needs a touch, I pray they come. Lord, I pray for the Parson family. Bless their socks off. Bless their ministry. Lord, thank you for giving the new RV and touch the one they've got so they can have two. Touch my brother's body. Touch their voices, everything, God. Give them souls for their labor. Bless Brother Jeff, his ministry here and his family. Bless everybody. We'll give you glory and praise. Bless all my preachers. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.