We now present Dr. Bob Jones, Sr., internationally known evangelist and founder of Bob Jones University, who during his earthly ministry was one of God's great warriors for the faith. You who have been listening to our message recently will remember we've been talking from the 8th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. This is a very striking and dramatic incident. And I'd like to have you remember that these things that we read to you are factual. They actually took place. You know, somebody talked to me some time ago about Job, whether Job was an imaginary character, why he wasn't. It's a true story of Job, a man of God. Now, there isn't any question about it. For instance, there are a good many things in the Bible sometimes that we may think are just illustrations that are real. Now, of course, when he said a farmer went forth to sow, some seed fell by the wayside, some in good soil, some on stony ground, Now that could mean just any farmer especially, there was no special one farmer, but some farmer did do it. But you know it's been argued that a parable of the rich man and Lazarus, that parable is an actual fact in history. It's not called a parable anyway. It's not called a parable anyway. And when the Bible doesn't call something a parable, it's probably not a parable. There's a certain rich man that was clothed in purple and fine linen, had something to eat every day. and a beggar named Larus laid his gate full of sowers, and some of the best Bible scholars believe that that's an actual factual story of a rich man and a poor man, and the thing actually happened just as he said, not just an illustration, not just a parable. Now this story is factual. Our Christianity is built on facts. It's a fact that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin. Nobody can change it. It's a true fact in history. In the town of Bethlehem, he was born of a virgin. It's a fact that when he was a boy, he was a remarkable boy, at the age of 12, in a temple talking to doctors of the law. It's a fact that he was baptized in Jordan. It's a fact that he was tempted to the devil in the wilderness on the mountaintop on the pinnacle of the temple. It's a fact that he performed his miracles. They are factual things. Let's remember that now. These are factual things. It's a fact that he died on the cross. He literally died on the cross, laid his life down, shed his blood for sinners. It's true, see? It's not just a figurative something. It's the fact that He literally, bodily rose from the dead. Now remember that when Easter comes around. Remember it all the time, because every day is an Easter day for a Christian. Jesus Christ literally, bodily walked out of the grave. It's a fact that people that knew Him before He died knew Him after He was raised from the dead. It's a fact, as I told you one time, a great lawyer told me, there was no fact in history more established, it could stand in the court of justice than the story of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He said it's not the kind of thing that could have been framed, it's a fact. Now these things we read about are true stories, they are true. Now here's a man, an angel of the Lord spoke to a man named Philip who was in the will of God. He is obedient to God, he is directed of God. And if you are surrendered to God, God will direct you just like He directed Philip. Now, he won't send an angel to talk to you like he sent an angel to Drake Philly, because you have the Bible now. We walk by faith and not by sight. We ought to look for signs now. Don't you bother about signs. You go right on down the road. Now, for instance, if you look for signs, you might see a prosperous man think he's a good man. You might see a poor man and think he's a bad man. And sometimes the best men are poor people, and sometimes the worst people are rich people. That's dangerous when you look for signs in this day and age. There were certain signs that followed the apostles in the writing of the New Testament. But those signs came to an end when the Word was sent. Now, that doesn't mean that God doesn't hear prayers sometimes for sick. He doesn't always do it. And it doesn't mean that God doesn't sometimes hear some mother when she prays for a baby, don't let my baby die, God, and God hears her prayer. He doesn't always do it. He didn't hear Paul's prayer when he went to the Lord three times and asked Him to take the thorn out of his flesh. The Lord says, well, if you'd have that thorn, I'll give you more grace and go ahead and bear it. All things work together for good to them that love God. Then we walk not by sight but by faith. So keep these things in your mind now. Now let's remember. Now we have a Bible. The Word of God. Wonderful Word of God. Now God tells us certain things. He told us to pray the prayer, Thy will be done, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done. All right. Now you haven't any right to pray Thy will to be done and work against the will of God. That's wrong. Now remember that now. You haven't any right to ask God to bless you as a preacher or a layman or anybody else unless you are working on the divine direction. Now, when God reveals his will in the Bible, wherever he's perfectly clear, no misunderstanding, I don't care what signs you see, if you're going contrary to what God told you to do, you're doing harm. You can't disobey God and please God and accomplish the eternal purposes of God. Now, just keep that in mind. Now, if I don't follow the Word of God, when it's clear and simple and direct. Now, the trouble of this day and time is we are so superficial, now, Christianity, we don't always understand. We don't always see. And so many people are blinded. They just go ahead, you know. But you better know what God says about things. And you better march under His will and direction. Now, the directed will of God for your life, you can have. Now, what God wants you to do, you can do. Where He wants you to go, you can go. Where He wants you to be, you can be. But don't step out now and then say, just look what we're doing. Look what's all this is happening. Now, don't you do that. Because the thing you think's happening may not be happening at all. You may be fooled and you'll find out someday you were. When you go against a clear, definite direction of the will of God, you'll always do harm whether you think you will or not. Now remember that in all things. We preachers need to remember that. We tell them that out here at Bob Jones University. Our first obligation is when we know what God says, is to do what God says regardless of what anybody thinks or may say. Now here's a man. The Bible hadn't been written. The angel of the Lord said, you go down that road. And he went down that road. Now God had a job for him to do and he has a job for you to do. Now what did he say to you? Commit your way unto the Lord. Trust also in him. He'll bring it to pass. He'll direct your path. You take the reins of your life and put them in the hands of God, He'll guide you. That's all you need to do. That's what Christians don't do. Now, when you came to Jesus Christ as a sinner, you came to Jesus Christ not to give Him something, but to get something. Now, for instance, we say, give God your heart. Well, that's addressed to Christian people. My son, give me thine heart. Now, that's addressed to people who are right with God, someone God calls His child. Now, when you came to Jesus Christ to be saved, You didn't come to Christ to give Him your heart. You came to Christ to get a new heart from Him, see? What you wanted was a new heart. A heart from sin set free. Now, the Bible says that natural heart, the kind of heart you had up until you were converted, the natural heart is desperately wicked. Now, literally, it's an incurably sick heart. Now, God didn't want your desperately wicked heart. He wanted to take that heart out of you and give you a new heart, you see. So when you came to Jesus Christ, you came to get something, and you didn't come to give Him something. All right? The gift of God's eternal life. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. So you become a Christian now, and you became a Christian now. You accepted Christ. He gave you something, as many as received Him, to then gave you the power to become children of God. He made you a child of God. Now you're a child of God. Now as a child of God, God wants you to give Him something. We read in, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice wholly except on the God which is your reasonable service. Now God's asking you for your hands, and your feet, and your eyes, your ears, and your tongue. And now He wants your heart. That heart He gave you, He wants you to give it fully to Him. That new heart, all that new life, you know, that new life, that resurrection life, the life He gave you, the sort of life He had. The gift of God's eternal life. He'd have the Son have that life. Now, he said, I want your heart. He told you Christian people. Now, what we need today is revival among God's born-again people. That's what this needs. I wish I could make this clear. You know, we have so many eyes, we all get it mixed up. Now, notice this. When Jesus Christ, sin don't hide, led captivity, captivity gave gifts unto man. He gave some prophets, some apostles, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers. What for? For the protecting of the saints under the work of the ministry. An evangelist is not given to sinners, he's given to saints. A pastor is not given to sinners, he's given to saints. Now, a teacher, a Bible teacher is not given to sinners, he's given to saints. You can't judge a pastor by the people he wins to Jesus Christ. You can't even judge an evangelist on that basis. You don't judge them that way. You judge a pastor by what does he do for his people. You judge an evangelist by what does he do for the body of Christ, the saints of God. Now, a pastor or a Bible teacher, any of these, that do not perfect the saints for the work of the ministry, they are failing. Now, let's remember that. The great meetings of Benny's son in the old days, and the other great campaigns of America, men sprang up with a hundred saints of God that had been no good and got on fire and went to work for God. Now, that's where we understand. Now, every Christian is given to sinners. Your business is to try to win people to Christ, that's everybody's business. And the measure of your responsibility is the measure of your opportunity. Now let's remember that, keep that in your mind. But on evangelists, a pastor, a teacher, they are given to the saints. So this morning I'm fulfilling my office of an evangelist. I've been fulfilling for 60 years. Since I was just a little country boy, I'm fulfilling. When I'm telling you Christian people that the need of this day and time is a need of consecration of life to God. You can be a good church worker and never be surrendered to God. You can go to church on Sunday and take a big party and they proudly church it out in America. And America is in the worst spiritual conditions ever been in its history. We are in the worst state in this nation today spiritually. Because it's a superficiality we have. There's no depth, there isn't the old time sacrificing consecrated spirit. It's a hippo-raw bandwagon. Everybody's going on. It's great. It's big. That's not Christianity. Jesus talked about a grain of mustard seed, a grain of wheat falling in the ground. Jesus talked about little things, little things, little things. Jesus spoke of his little flock. Those early days when the foundations of empires trembled, God had a little handful of people. But what did it mean, their will to die for him? They will go out and have their heads cut off, they will be thrown to the lions, little children, women, men, everywhere marched out, figuring this may mean death. But brother, they were somebody. And when they got them, they got somebody. And now today it's hoorah for this and hoorah for that, and hip hoorah and come along. Now what you Christian people want to do? You mothers and fathers and young folks, listen to me. You want to surrender your life to God. And you want to reach a point in your life where you can say, now, Lord, what you want for me, I want for myself. I'm not looking to be something big. If you want me to be little, that suits me all right. If you want me to be unnoticed, unknown, all right, Lord. I want to be what you want me to be. We sing it and don't mean it, most of us. We go along through the years. Ms. Joan and I talked last night about, she said, you know, it's strange. When you founded the school, you didn't expect to have a big school. Just going to found a little school, you know. He didn't have any idea of bigness. I never had any idea of bigness. They were in my mind. I said, that's right. Went out to have a little school and God took it over. If God makes it big, all right. But don't you try to make it big. You try to make it what ought to be. You try to make a thing like ought to be. You make your life under God what ought to be. Never mind what's going to happen to you. So he went down that road and met this soul. Led him to Jesus Christ. Had a revival on a dusty highway. And then took him down there and baptized him. And what a wonderful, marvelous thing God did. Many women listen. You can be what God wants you to be. You can do what God wants you to do. And God's calling you Christians today throughout this country to stand true to God and surrender your life to God and quit this child play stuff that we have so much of in this country. Going along with the age, it's drifting from God every moment. Our Father, help us to be faithful. We pray the Spirit of God may speak to all of our hearts. And we help us to be true in all things and lead us by thy spirit, we pray in the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. You have just heard Dr. Bob Jones, Sr., internationally known evangelist and founder of Bob Jones University, who during his earthly ministry was one of God's great warriors for the faith. This program is sponsored by Bob Jones University.