I like that. You know, I think a lot, I'm not a musician, but I think a lot about music. I like music that blesses my heart and does something for me. And that does. I noticed Brother Bill, last night, he was patting his foot while he was singing. I don't believe you can really get down and get it without patting your foot a little bit. And I like his singing. Now, that's Pentecostal singing. And that's what I like. I really do. I love that. Praise the Lord for it. I couldn't help but think of some of the great saints of God I've known in my lifetime, and I know one or two that have mentioned to me, On Zion's Hill was their favorite song. And I'm thinking of a great man of God this morning used to request that that song be sung many, many times. And that's where he is this morning. He's on Zion's Hill. Thank God for this wonderful music. I didn't mean to say this, but I enjoy hearing myself say things so much that I just go ahead and say them anyway. You know, music has ruined a lot of churches and the wrong kind of music. And I don't think you can have a revival in a church until you have the right kind of music. Music has a lot to do with the heart and with revival and with evangelism and soul winning. And thank God for this good music. My dear wife has led the music in our church. I don't recommend that. I don't say that's the way it ought to be, but that's the way it has been for 42 years at Emmanuel Baptist Church. Every once in a while, somebody comes along and wants to change the music. I tell them, well, you better have something good if you're going to change it, because I like the kind of music that we've been having and the kind you hear in this church. It's a blessing to my heart. I want us to look at the Word of God this morning to chapter four of 2 Kings. And I'm going to read quite a little bit of scripture to you this morning because I want to get an expression out of the Word of God before you this morning so we can think about it and pray about it and talk about it to you today. I sometimes jokingly say, yet not really joking, I sometimes say I read lots of scripture before I preach because I read until I get up courage enough to start preaching. And sometimes I read several chapters before that ever happens. I've been known to read a whole book in the Bible before I preached. And there have been a few times I think I've just read and never did preach. So I'm going to read this morning and just see what happens. I heard an old preacher say one time, read lots of scripture before you preach. then if you get in trouble in one verse, you can flee to another. And I found that to be good advice, too. But I do love the Word of God, and I know you do, and I just love to read the Bible. And I want us to notice in chapter 4, We'll begin reading there and I could start reading in a number of places in this section of the scripture and find the text. I think some 30 some odd places I could find my text in a few chapters right along here in 2 Kings this morning. But I want to read in chapter 4. And we're reading and talking to you this morning about what the Bible calls a man of God. And let's look at it together. Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant, my husband, is dead. And thou knowest that thy servant did fear the Lord. And the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. And Elisha said unto her, what shall I do for thee? Tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, thine handmaid hath not anything in the house save a pot of oil. Then he said, go borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbors, even empty vessels, barring not a few. And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her, and she poured out. And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There's not a vessel more, and the oil stayed. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go sell the oil, and pay thy debt. and live thou and thy children of the rest. And it fell on the day that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman, and she constrained him to eat bread. So it was that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread. And she said unto her husband, behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually. Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall. Let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick. It shall be when he cometh to us, he shall turn in thither. It fell on a day that he came thither, and he turned into the chamber and lay there. And he said to Gehazi, his servant, call this Shunammite. When he called her, she stood before him. And he said unto him, say now unto her, behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care. What is to be done for thee? Wouldst thou be spoken far to the king or to the captain, the host? And she answered, I dwell among mine own people. And he said, what then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, verily, she hath no child, and her husband is old. And he said, call her. And when he called her, she stood in the door. And he said, about this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thy handmaid. And the woman conceived and bared a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her according to the time of life." Now I'm not going to read further But I'd like to point out to you, even in this chapter that I'm reading from, chapter 4 of 2 Kings, you find no less than 11 times the expression, which is our text this morning, man of God. Thou man of God, thou holy man of God, were you to take the time to read through the next few chapters in the second book of Kings, you'd find the chapter has this expression four times. You'd find one that has it five times. and some 30 odd times about the same man in these Old Testament scriptures, you read the expression, the man of God. When years ago I began to read and study this part of the Bible, For the Lord in His Word, the Word of God speaks of a man as the man of God. I begin to search my heart in the scriptures. What is a man of God? I think that's what God wants us to be. I think that's what a man, a preacher, or any Christian man ought to be, is a man of God. We sometimes hear preachers referred to in various ways, man of the cloth, man of the book, man of the pulpit. The Bible speaks of the man of God. When Paul wrote to his young friend Timothy, he said, but thou, O man of God, flee these things. I want to know this morning, what does God say about being a man of God? Not a man of renown, Not a famous preacher, not a man of popularity, not a man of the people, not a man of the ministry, but a man of God. What does the Bible say about it? It's an interesting and wonderful thing. I read, first of all, that a man of God must be divinely called. It's a wonderful story how one day when Elijah became discouraged and sat under the juniper tree, the Lord sought to encourage him, but God also gave him a serious message. He said, I want you to anoint a king, but I want you to also to anoint a prophet who shall serve in thy stead. And I might say unto you in passing this morning, God never wants one of his men under the jumeirah portrayed. That is the worst place in the world for a man of God to be found. The Lord said, I want you to anoint a prophet in your stead. One day Elijah came along. There was plowing in the fields of his father's farm this young man named Elisha. And Elijah came and dropped his mantle. That mantle was the mantle of the Lord. That mantle represented a call from heaven. And he dropped that mantle on Elisha. It's an interesting thing. You see, Elisha was not of the school of the prophets. He had, you read of his name up until this time, in no connection with the schools of the prophets. There were at least three of them, where some 50 odd young men were training for the ministry. But you do not read of Elisha's name in connection with the schools of the prophets up until this time. Plowing out in the field, Hey, fire my boy! One day the call of God came from heaven for him to be a man of God. I believe what the old-fashioned people believed in our country, that in order for a preacher to be a preacher and to be a man of God, he first of all had to be called of God. I mean, he had to know that God had called him to be a preacher. I've had a lot of people ask me the question, how do you know when you're called to preach? I've never had the answer to that. I never have. And I've said, I don't know how many young men in my ministry. I've said, I don't know how to tell you how you know when you're called to preach. But I'll tell you this much, when you're called, you will know it. And when you're called, God will not call you because you're fit to be a preacher, but he will fit you because you're called to be a preacher. He didn't call Elisha out on the fields because he was talented and personable and brilliant. He called him and then fitted him to be a man of God. You know, I never will forget my ordination service. I guess no preacher should ever forget his ordination service, but I never could forget mine. It's one of the funnest things I've ever attended in my life. There were seven of us being ordained to the ministry. One of them was a fellow who spoke the Mexican language far more fluently than he did the English language. My, he was a smart fellow. There were all these theologians. They literally gathered by the hundreds. There were seven of us being ordained at the same time. All these theologians came. You know, if you want to see somebody trying to exploit their intelligence, you go to an ordination service. There's always a lot of preachers there that have these great profound questions. They think they know the answer. And they're dumb enough to think that trembling little candidate might know some of these profound things. That's the way it was at my ordination. My, when they questioned this Mexican fella, he'd answer in Spanish and speak just as fast as he could. No one knows to this day whether or not he was even saved, let alone called to preach. They said to a young fella standing, they lined all seven of us up. You're talking about an interrogation. My friends, we went through it, literally. They lined us all up and they said to a fella, suppose this ordaining council did not vote to ordain you, what would you do? This fella had a little habit of sucking his teeth. I don't know where he got it. I often wished, I preached with him a lot of times, often wished he'd get rid of it, but he just, sucked his teeth a little bit, and he said, well, I'd just go on preaching like I was preaching before I came in here. And I looked around, and he looked like he was nine feet tall to me. I said, thank God there's a giant here. They said to another one in the line, said, young man, how do you know that you're called to preach? He gave the best answer I've ever heard. I've heard theologians and PhDs and great profound minds try to answer the question, but I never heard an answer better than this, and I don't think I ever will. He just with the tears streaming down his face, he just shook his head and slung the tears and he said, I just know that's all. And I looked around and I said, there's a giant on this side of me too. Let me tell you, my friend, it ought to be as real in a preacher's life as the breath in his body that God has called him to preach. You know, people talk about the attrition rate in preachers in the ministry. I don't know whether there's much of an attrition rate in the ministry or not. There may be some folks going out of the ministry who never should have been in it in the first place. But I'm saying to you, as I've said to dozens of young men, if God ever calls you, there is nothing in this world you can do but preach if God has called you. and ever be happy and ever be successful in the Lord's work. You can never do anything if God has called you to preach, but to preach. I'll tell you, I just feel so honored that the Lord, when I was 19 years old, in a little old country church, saved me and called me at the same time. When they got through dealing with a whole mourner's bench full of us, that weekday morning, they had us stand and turn around and tell the folks what had happened to us. And I stood up and said, I've been saved today. And I said, I know what God wants me to do the rest of my life, and that's to preach the Word of God. I believe there is a divine call that comes from God. And I'm saying to you, if the Lord calls a person to be a preacher, there is no place on the face of God's earth where you'll ever find happiness and peace and prosperity except in the will of God, preaching the gospel. This man was divinely called. Here's a man that believed in the supernatural. Now I'm not spooky, but I want to tell you I believe in miracles. I believe in the supernatural. So to this man, why when old Elijah got ready to go up to heaven without dying, by the way, that's the way I want to go. Now, if the Lord lets me have any say about it, that's the way I'm going. I want to go without dying. Now, some of you folks talk about being homesick for heaven all you want to. You go ahead. That's up to you, but not me. I'm not all that homesick for heaven. I'm going. I'm kind of like Dr. Lakin was. The lady said, I hope to meet you in heaven. Oh, Dr. Lakin said, well, it's up to you, honey. I'm going to be there. And I'm going, just as sure as this Bible's true. But listen, I'm not all that homesick. You say, well, brother, I'm homesick for heaven. I'll tell you what to do. Next time you get sick, don't take any medicine, don't see any doctors, don't go to any hospital, don't let your name get on the prayer list. Maybe you'll just go on and go. But not me. No, I'm not that homesick for heaven. Why, when I think about Tom Malone, being hemmed in, in a box. Well, that's terrible. Well, when I get ready to go to bed at night, I tear the bed all to pieces before I ever get in it. I get everything loose. I don't want to be bound down. And to think about being in the box, and then I think about what folks are going to say. I think about folks come by and they always say the dumbest thing. They're going to say, don't he look nice? Eyes closed, not even breathing, stiff as a board, can't say a word, can't see a thing, can't feel anything. Oh, doesn't he look natural? Now that's gone. That's stupid. And somebody's going to come along and say, oh, Brother Tom, how we loved you. That's when I'm coming up. And I'm going to argue with some of them. Oh, no, not me. I'm not looking forward to being put in a hole in the ground, but bless God, I'm looking for the glorious day when the trumpet shall blow and the Lord shall come. And I'm standing on my tiptoes, reaching, because I want to be like him. And I've never been really like him. But old Elijah, I didn't mean to say all that, but man did I enjoy saying that. Old Elijah went to heaven without dying. The Lord put it in Elisha's heart to ask for something before he went. And Elijah said to him, now I'm going to Gilgal, you wait here, not me. I'm going to Bethel, you wait here, not me. I'm going across Jordan, you wait on this side, not me. Elijah said, when you go, I'm gonna see you go. And when you go, there's something I want more than I want anything in the world. And when Elijah said, what do you want? Elisha said, I want a double portion of thy spirit to come on me. What he was saying is, I want the portion of the firstborn. I want the double portion. I want the Holy Spirit's power. I want that supernatural element in my life. That miracle working ministry I've seen you have. I want God to give it to me. I'm saying to you this morning, a man of God is someone who enjoys supernatural power. And we need that today more than we need anything else in the world. More than we need new methods. More than we need more buildings. More than we need more buses. More than we need more carpet and more instruments to play. We need the power of God on our ministry until people will say, O thou man of God. This man, Elisha, believed in the supernatural. I have a lot of folks say to me, preacher, do you believe in miracles? I think they mean some kind of spooky something or some kind of imitation of the miracles of the Bible. But I always say, yes, I believe in miracles. Because my life and yours started with the greatest miracle this world will ever know anything about. The miracle of the new birth. The miracle of a new creature. A miracle of a new life. And I believe today that God can work miracles. I see these people on television trying to imitate the miracles of the Bible. One night in my home, my wife and I were sitting on the couch. I sit on one end, she sits on the other. Frenchy sits in the middle. That's my four-year-old poodle. I'd like to tell you about him, but we'll pass Frenchy up for the moment. But he was sitting in the middle. Here's this woman it was. Now, excuse me, ladies. Maybe you will not agree with this, but I think the Bible says, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desires a good work. And I don't think it's a generic term. I think it means man. You say, well, I knew a woman once that sure could preach. Yeah, I've been married to one 46 years. I know all of that. But let me tell you, it's a man's place. Here's a woman on the screen. She said, now there's somebody in this audience, some woman in this audience that's having trouble with her nerves. Hundreds of people in the audience. I looked down at my wife and I said to her and to Frenchie, I said, honey, you've had trouble with your nerves, haven't you? She said, sure. I said, I've never known a woman that didn't sooner or later have trouble with the nerves. Have you? She said, no, I never have. And I never have either. He doesn't take any wisdom of God to say there's a woman here somewhere having trouble with her nerves. Then she went further. She said, there's a man in this audience somewhere that's having pain in his back. When he raises his hand, he's going to be healed. I started to put mine up. I always have that. I said to her, to my wife, honey, you know, I've had lots of trouble. pain in my back, don't you? Yes, you have. I said it didn't take any wisdom to find that out. No, listen, I'm not talking about that sort of thing, but I'm talking about a miracle working power. I'm talking about something supernatural. I'm talking about a ministry where things unusual, extraordinary, beyond human means take place. That's what happened in the life of the man of God. A man of God, according to the Bible, is a person who's touched by human needs. You read the first seven chapters of 2 Kings. It is absolutely astounding how this man's whole life is given to meeting the needs of other people. He was touched by human needs. Preacher said to me, not too many years ago, he said, you know, I don't know why the Lord called me to preach, knowing how much I hate people. Let me tell you, friends, if you don't love people, and if you can't sit where they're sitting, and feel where they're hurting, then you are never gonna be a man of God. Here was one who felt the needs of people. Oh, I think of old Pappy Reveal. They said before he died, he had some money in his pocket. And no one knew exactly what happened to it. After he died, they were wondering what happened to Pappy Reveal's money. And one day, a lady came, poor lady, and said, when Pappy Reveal and Mrs. Reveal were in the restaurant that day. He reached in his pocket and gave me all that he had. That's what happened to it, to feed my children, to take care of my home and my needs. Oh, I say unto you this morning, we need to be looking for people who are in trouble. We need to be looking for people who have a need that needs to be met. And we need to be able to show them God can meet that need. Here was a man touched by human needs. Oh, I like what the Bible says about this man. You see, he ministered to a poor woman. He ministered to a prophet's wife, preacher's wife, who had just died. She said, the creditors come. That'll be true of a lot of preachers. But she said the creditors come, she was poor. But he passed along the road and through the little village of Junum, and there was a rich woman, great woman. She had everything, but she didn't have everything. She had all this world could ever desire. But she'd never held in her arms a child of her own. When she saw Elisha walking along the road, she said, I perceive that this man is a holy man of God. Listen, she could see it. Holiness is visible. Don't give me this kind of holiness that is unseen and preached about. Give me the kind of holiness that you can see. Oh, she said, as she watched him walk, I perceive this is a holy man of God. You know, I like for a preacher to even walk like a preacher. I had one come to my church many years ago and I nearly got sick. He carried his Bible like this. like a woman carrying a purse. Everything he picked up, he carried it that way and walked with little short steps. I wanted to go and bend him over a little bit so he'd walk kind of on his shoulders. He walked like a man of God. And I want to say to you this morning, I don't believe America has ever needed more than America needs this day. Men who walk like men of God. You know, it's a strange thing. So many preachers want to be like everybody else. I like to see a person be themselves with the power of God in their life. Usually when preachers try to imitate somebody else, they imitate their weak points. I remember a time in this country when everybody was trying to look like Dr. Rice, all the preachers. That was a weakness. He couldn't help doing it that way. This man walked like a man of God. I believe a preacher ought to be himself. God never made but one of you, and God means for you to be yourself with the power and the blessing of God upon you. He conquered materialism. Materialism never gripped his life. I do not mean by that God is no enemy to you having your needs met as a man of God. But materialism never controlled him. And when materialism controls a preacher, he loses the power of God in his life. That's not the trumpet blowing, is it, brother? I just wanted to be ready if it was. I didn't want to interrupt anything if that was the Lord coming. I thought maybe he'd taken me at my word. But he conquered materialism. Oh, when they sent to him the hundred loaves. This is what this man said. Give to the people that they may eat. I remember the first church I pastored. You know, I reminisce a lot. They say that's your age. I don't know whether it is or not. But when I'm preaching, the things just go through my mind like covers of birds flying back and forth. And I just reach out every once in a while and grab one. And I never know what I have until I get it and look at it. And that one just started through and I grabbed it. I remember my first church. My wife and I had just been married a few months. When I went to Bob Jones College, I was going to be an evangelist, I said. I didn't even know how to spell the word. And the Lord came and the Lord called me to a pastorate. My, what I learned in that pastorate. I was there one year before the Lord took me to Pontiac, where I'm in my 43rd year as the pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church. But in that one year, I remember so many wonderful things. My wife and I had a little one-seated 1935 Chevrolet car. We had everything we owned in it, and in the front seat, I think, as I remember. We got out of that little old Chevrolet car and went in this seven-room parsonage with not a stick of furniture in it. Seven empty rooms. We made one trip out of the car into the house. Someone had put some hooks in the wall. Each had our Bible. Had a little radio about the size of that Bible, about that high. Took that little radio and two Bibles, and I hooked my finger in one of two clothing hangers, and my wife did the same thing. And we went in that same room, empty house, and she hung her things on a hook, and I hung mine on a hook, and set the radio down empty on the bare floor and put two Bibles on it. And I said, well, honey, we're all moved in. And she said, yes. And we're all settled, too. Everything's in place. Seven rooms. Went to church that first night. And there were a tremendous crowd. You know, I thought when folks heard Tom Malone has been called to be the pastor of this church, well, I thought they'd have to have the policemen out and everything to take care of the crowd. I went that night, there were two sweet old elderly widow ladies, and then there was a man and his wife, and my wife and I. We just got back on the isle, in the isle of the little old little old church, and there were two or three on one side and one or two on the other, and I stood back there and preached. When the man was through, or when I was through, the man, the only other man there, came to me and he ran back like a Philadelphia lawyer, and he said, I'm happy to tell you that I am the treasure of this church. I had never thought about it. He said, furthermore, I'm happy to tell you that while you are the pastor of this church, you will receive $14 every week as your income. I'd never thought about salary. When he told me how much, I thanked God I had never thought about it. He handed me a little roll of money with a rubber band around it. My wife and I took it, went back to seven empty rooms, in a parsonage with bare floors. Took that little rubber van off and laid out 14 $1 bills down in the floor. We got down in the floor and we prayed and we cried to the Lord. And we said to God, we can't live on $14 a week, but we can live from your hand to our mouth. We put our hands together and reach down and rake out the portion that must always belong to God. And from that day to this, I've never known what it means to have a need unmet. Now, I'm not talking about once. I tell you, my wanderer's not near as sanctified as my needer. My wanderer needs a lot of work done on him. But my needs have always been met. And I say unto you this morning that a man in the will of God, he doesn't have to worry about how many bedrooms does a parsonage have? What are the benefits? What is the salary? He needs to worry about but one thing, and that's being in the will of God for his life, and God will meet his needs. Oh, listen, when I think about the Lord meeting the needs of his people, I just think of so many things. My wife and I were getting ready to go on one of about a half a dozen vacations we've taken in the 46 years we've been married. We were getting ready to go on a vacation, and our youngest daughter was still at home. She was going with us. We drove up to a new bank. and to a drive-in window. And we put our check in the little drawer they push out to be cashed. And while the cashier was cashing the check, I said to my wife, you know, I wish we had another $100. But I said, we'll be all right. I know we will. The Lord will meet our needs. But I said, I'd feel better if we had another $100. We were sitting there. My wife's sitting on the passenger side. I'm sitting over here by the window. My wife said to me, I see something. My wife doesn't say that very often. This lady is not spooky at all. She said, I see something. She's the cleanest woman I've ever seen. I said to her the other day, I took one of our dinner plates. It has flowers on it, beautiful roses. I said, honey, those were meant to stay on there. You're going to wash them off. You wash those plates, but when you put them in the cupboard, you take them out and wash them again, you're wearing the flowers off of them. They're supposed to stay there. I've watched her go around the house looking for something, that speck of dust or something crooked. I've literally seen her take something that's straight, make it crooked, then straighten it back up again. She won't straighten it so bad. She said, I see something. I said, honey, what do you see? Said, I see a bill. This is a new bank. There's a weed field. Just a little narrow passage to go by the open, by the window. And over here, weeds this high. Said, I see a bill. I said, where is it? She said, over there. I said, honey, get it. See, I can't get out. I'm pinned in over here. So this nice, clean lady gets out, and she takes about three steps, and she parts these dusty, dirty weeds, and she modestly bends down, and she picks up something, and she gets back in the car, and she's holding her hands like this. I said, honey, what do you have? She said, gas. I said, I don't want a gas. I want to know, what do you have? She said, what did you ask the Lord for a moment or two ago? I said, I didn't ask him for anything. I just said, I wish we had another $100. She just reached and handed me the dirtiest $100 bill I've ever laid my eyes on. But I want to tell you, I cleaned it up until you'd never know it'd been a speck of dirt on it. I sat in the car. I wasn't thinking about a $100 bill. I wasn't thinking about the fact I had $100 in my hand. I was thinking of the fact there was a holy God who read my mind and heard my words. And a God on His throne said, He's thinking about it, I'll give it to Him. Oh, let me tell you, I believe that a Christian in the will of God can conquer materialism and yet have every need supplied. I'm not going to finish, but here's a man of God that could see the poison of falsehood, and it takes a man of God to do that. Do you know there are people by the hundreds and thousands in the ministry in America today who are compromising with denominational falsehood and liberalism and compromise, and that's not of God. I want to tell you, if I couldn't wholeheartedly support something with my money and my heart and my soul, I'd get out of it. A lot of folks say, well, we're going to stay in it and clean it up. If you do, it'll be the first time in the history of the world it's ever happened that way. I want to say to you, here's a man, when they said there's death in the pot, he knew what to do about it. Oh God, give us some preachers that'll stand for something if they have to stand alone. This is a man of God-recognized falsehood. He was faithful to the Word. I like to read in the Bible where he said, thus saith the Lord. And I like to read of men like Elijah and Elisha where he said, and the Word of the Lord came unto him saying. You study the life of Elijah in the Bible. He never made but one move. One move he made when you do not read, and the word of the Lord came unto him. And that was a move he made when Jezebel said, I'll have your head by this time tomorrow, as you had the head of my prophet Zebal. He who ran splashing through the mud 14 miles under the Spirit of God from Samaria to Jezreel, Now runs in the woods and said, I'm the only one speaking out for God. And discouraged under a juniper tree, God had to deal with him. That's the only time he ever moved that the Bible didn't say and the word of the Lord came unto him saying. You know, it doesn't matter about anything in the world except one thing. What does this book say? That's the thing that matters. I don't mean what some big preachers do in so-called. What does this book say? That is the only thing that matters in the life of a man of God. I had the privilege to hear some of the great men of the past. I heard many times Dr. Ironsides, Dr. William Edward Beterwoof, old Dr. R.E. Naber, of course Dr. Bob Jones Sr. I heard many great men of God in my younger years who now have gone to be the Lord. I used to hear a man who was a brethren preacher. He wasn't a Baptist, and you'll forgive me for using him as an illustration, but he was a great man of God. His name was Louis S. Bowman. Dr. Bowman could really preach and teach the blessed word of God. He had a habit. He'd preach along in the Bible, and he'd say, it's in the book. What are you going to do about it? It's in the book. And he went visiting one day and a lady said, Pastor Bowman, I want you to see something. When you come back out of the house and out to the driveway, I want you to see what's going on in the backyard. They went out into where they could see the backyard. Here was a little boy, her little boy. Here were some children. They had some little old crudely constructed benches. They were playing church. Her little son was up. He was being Dr. Bowman. And he said, you must be born again. Then he'd say, it's in the book. What are you going to do about it? Oh, Dr. Bowman stood there and cried. And he said, I'd rather have seen this than have seen a cathedral filled with people. Oh, listen, it only matters about one thing. What does God say? A man of God is one who is faithful to the word of the Lord. Let's pray. Our Father, with all of our hearts, And you know our hearts. Lord, I could not fool thee. I can't even fool people well. And we know we can't fool you. And you know our hearts. You know the hunger and the thirst and the longing. You know what we're reaching for. Oh, how we need thee this morning. We want to be men of God. We want to be a man that as we walk through this world, people can see a visible holiness and purity about our lives. Lord, help us with it. Oh, speak to hearts this morning. We preachers need the breath of heaven upon us. We need to be inspired and motivated. We need to be moved and broken and made. Oh God, help us this day, I pray. And may thy blessed Holy Spirit do that which would honor and glorify the Lord Jesus in our lives this moment. For Jesus' sake, amen.