Ordinarily I would, in response to what Elder Lillard said, just simply offer a prayer. But as I walked by him, I just mentioned to him that I would like to just have one little remark. He had already said something that wanted me to just make one little remark. It is true that I did tell Elder Lillard of Brother Bradley, he's not the only one I told. I'm pretty sure I was the one that told the Hawkins who are here now. The fact of the matter is, from the time I first heard him, I told everybody I saw. I told the congregations where I preached. I said, I don't know for sure what the outcome will be, but listen to him anyhow. because he's saying the things that need to be said. I do want to just share this with you. I view it, and I don't know what words to say it by other than just the providence of God. For one of those rare times in my life I was unable to go to church on a Sunday Third week in February, I believe it was 1957, might have been 58. But I wasn't able to go to church. I was down and out with flu, running temperature. At that time, doctors would still come to the house. Can't get that much anymore, but got one to come to the house doctor me some, and fill me up with some medicine. By nighttime, my spirits had revived a bit, but I was still down and out because I had missed being in church. There's only been about five times in my life that I missed being in church on Sunday, and that is one of them. And I was just heart sick for having a day gone by and I hadn't got to hear him preaching. 8.30 or 9, something along that line. I told my wife, I said, get the radio on. We're going to try to hear something. For the next good little bit of time, I just ran the dial. And directly a voice came over and the word predestination came out. And you all pardon the levity of this, but I'm just telling it like it happened. I just hollered, Ann, come here. Let's hear what this fool's got to say about predestination. And I listened. And the more he said, the more I was ready to swallow my words. I didn't know who he was, didn't even know what station I was listening to, but I sure did listen carefully to find out, as the program came to an end that night, to hear who was this fellow, and what station am I listening to, and am I going to get an opportunity to hear him again. Well, it came through. I'll be listening again next Sunday night, and next Sunday night I was listening. After hearing him the second time, I sat down and wrote a letter. He responded, and from then on we wrote some more letters. And I was telling everybody I saw of what I had heard and how thrilled I was. And I'm so thankful this evening that I've got another opportunity. to be in his presence, to hear him speak. I recognize, and I know you do, he's but a man. But somehow in my soul and in my heart, I feel he is a man that God has blessed us as a people to have. How much is ministering as men is invaluable, priceless. The old folks that have to set it home, how much his ministry has meant to them. How much his ministry has meant to those who didn't have the privileges and opportunities that we have had to be brought up on the benches of an old Baptist church. Just think of how many people he's reached to have the good things now that we've had all the time. I never have wanted to be selfish. We have something good and we need to be sharing it to a larger extent and we should take advantage of every means to share the good things which we have. You will pardon me for taking this much time. Let us go to the Lord in prayer. Our Father and our God, we call upon thee to supply our needs at this time. Bless us with thy presence. Take this out of your brother and give him the strength to speak in demonstration of thy spirit to bring to us thy message for this time. And as thou dost bless him to preach, bless us to receive the message. Help us to count it as being the word of God for this occasion. Help us to remember that our chief duty on an occasion like this is to recognize thy word and to be submissive unto it. Whatever thy word says, give us the strength and not only that, but the will and the courage to do according to the teaching. Bless, we pray, this church and the churches that have come together at this time. Bless each individual that's here. Bless those particularly that have burdened hearts. Bless those that love thy cause and kingdom and have a yearning desire to take up their cross and follow thee. Bless them if it may be thy will, if they see this and see their duty, and be responsive to it, even this evening. Continue to bless thy people, forgive us of our faults and our failures, in thy grace preserve us, and finally present us in thy eternal likeness, where we can praise thee perfectly forever. We ask in Jesus' name, and for his sake, amen. I certainly appreciate the opportunity to be with you here again tonight. I feel thankful for the prayer that's been offered, the words of encouragement by both Elder Lillard and Elder Thomas. The encouraging words that I received from Elder Thomas and other brethren back in those years gone by were very meaningful. And I would like to just make this comment before reading my text, that as I was making an effort in those days to preach the gospel of grace by means of radio, I had a number of people say to me, when I had expressed an interest and a desire to find a home among the Old Baptists, that I would probably have to give up any effort to preach on the radio, either by reason of the fact that the Old Baptists wouldn't allow it, or even if they did, they wouldn't support it. And I said to those who tried to discourage me from that standpoint, that what I had seen in the church was so desirable and beautiful to me, I wanted it desperately and was willing to give up whatever it took, and if it was no longer possible for me to preach on the radio, I would be willing to lay that aside. But I felt that the Lord was in the matter, that the way would continue to be made. And while there have been those who have not understood it, or appreciated it. There have been those who have prayed for us and supported us through the years. At that time, I was preaching on about 10 stations. And now for the last 25 years that I've been among the Old Baptists, we've been able to carry anywhere from 30 to 40 stations at all times through those years. And it's been very encouraging that the Lord's people have tried to pray for us and assist us in this effort of sending out the gospel. And I frankly admit it hasn't been easy all the time. There have been moments of discouragement and times when we felt like maybe that our labor was finished in that capacity and we'd best bring it to a close. But it seemed like every time I felt that way I'd get out making a trip such as this and somebody would come up to me and say, Elder Bradley, I've never written to you, I've never told you this before, but the first time I ever heard this doctrine was when you preached it on the radio, and now I've been a member of the Church for ten years or whatever, and that gives me a little encouragement to say, well, I think I'll go on a while longer if the Lord will enable us. So we feel thankful for the privilege that we've had in that capacity. I want to read to you from the book of Habakkuk, chapter 3. a prayer of Habakkuk, the prophet, unto Shiginov. O Lord, I have heard thy speech and was afraid. O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years. In the midst of the years, make known in wrath, remember mercy. The prophet Habakkuk says, I heard thy speech and was afraid. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. Consequently, if God's grace has been wrought in our hearts, we will fear him. It is not a dreadful slavish fear, but an awesome fear of honor and respect. And the prophet himself, being the servant of God, was struck with this fear upon hearing the speech or the word of the Lord. And then he prayed, O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years. Revive thy work, not my work, Not somebody else's work, but thy work. And revive it in the midst of the years. That's a significant expression to me. If it's in the midst of the years, there are some years that have gone before, and it's anticipated there are going to be some years following. Because it's in the midst, in the middle. noted a number of newspaper articles and books of various kinds written in recent years about the midlife crisis. People start out in days of youth with a lot of bright ambitions, a lot of hopes and aspirations, determined to go forward, accomplish some things of note, maybe even make some dramatic changes in the world about them. And if those desires and purposes are honorable, we would not in any way want to discourage young people who start out sometimes maybe even rather naive, rather innocent in their whole view of life. But in those early days, There may be a spark of enthusiasm, a spirit of determination about them that will enable them to be some of the great leaders of their time. But you know, as the years pass on, they seem to move more rapidly as they pass. A young person just can't wait till they're 16. Then they can't wait till they're 21. They can't wait till they get married. They can't wait till they get out of school. And then when all that happens, they'd like to put on the brakes and slow it down. Say, these birthdays are coming a lot quicker than they used to. I wish it wasn't going so fast. Time moves on. By the time they reach middle age, they're beginning to look back. They see where they've been. They see that the time ahead of them, by nature, is certainly not what it was once. Sometimes they become disturbed and discouraged. Say, time's running out on me. I'm not going to be able to fulfill all those dreams. I'm not going to be able to meet all those goals. I thought by this time in life, I'd have things a little better in order. I thought I'd have a lot of those questions that I had earlier, I thought I'd have them answered. But it looks like the more answers I get, the more questions come on. And now, maybe it looks like I've got fewer answers than I had a few years before. Some of them I thought I had before, I don't have anymore. The questions have come back. They got harder, more difficult. So, a person gets a little disheartened long in middle life. And sometimes if they are involved at looking at some of the attractions, entertainments of this world, they have some things that provoke thoughts in that direction. You hear now about a woman coming home someday and announcing to her family, I'm tired of doing what I've been doing these past years. I'm tired of washing dishes, picking up and cleaning dirty clothes. I'm tired of all this responsibility that's mine, and I'm leaving. And she just departs and leaves children, the husband, and everything behind and says, I'm going to go catch up on all that I've missed in life. They've been watching some of these soap operas and looking at all these attractive people out there that are supposedly having such a wonderful time wallowing in sin. And she decides, well, I missed that. My parents imposed some pretty strict rules on me as a youngster. And I never got to have all that fun these other people are having, so I'm going to go enjoy life while I've still got a few years left." Sometimes it's the husband. He just walks in one afternoon and says, I'm tired of the rat race, I'm tired of work, I'm tired of my job, I'm tired of family responsibilities, I don't want to be married anymore, I'm leaving, and off he goes. And that's not at all uncommon in this day. There are probably those in this congregation tonight that can think of specific instances where it's occurred. We see it happening more and more because people are not willing to fulfill their commitment and to recognize the responsibility that they have to one another and before God. So those middle years sometimes are a period of crisis. looking back to see what was expected, now being disappointed, feeling like there's not time to catch up, and all of a sudden running off the road and pursuing an ungodly course in an effort to satisfy some of the restlessness within this old Adam nature. Now, the prophet is praying a prayer expressing a need in a time of middle years, in the midst of the years, And even as we may observe this from the standpoint of an individual situation, let's think of it spiritually. Let's think of it from the standpoint of a church. How many here tonight, in days of your youth, from a gospel standpoint, From the standpoint of being enlightened with the truth, you may not have heard the truth and known the truth until you were already in middle life as far as chronological age is concerned, but from the standpoint of being enlightened, you were as a babe in Christ, and as a little lamb in the flock, as one newly enlightened and converted to the faith, you had that determination, You had that zeal, you had that first love, you had those aspirations and those dreams. And you said, by the grace of God, I'm going to serve Him faithfully and diligently. I'm going to really accomplish something in the service of God. I don't intend just to warm the bench. I don't intend to just go for a while and become carelessness and fall to the wayside like I've observed some others to do. God's been so good to me, enlightened me, blessed me with the gospel, given me a hope in His mercy. I'm going to try by God's grace to be the best member of the church if I possibly can. I want to seek the Lord and His kingdom first and foremost. I want to love Him above everything else. I want to not be selfish in my pursuits in life. I want to demonstrate love to others. When some of these dear old saints that come down to the end of the journey have no one to care for them, I'd like to be the very one who doesn't forget and goes there and speaks a word of kindness or offers a word of prayer. I want to be one that's going to support my pastor. I want to be one of those that holds up his hands. I want to be one of those who's diligent in praying for him. You are sincere about that. You have that determination. You felt so lonely that night when you first came before God's people. Maybe you weren't able to express any of this. Maybe tears streamed down your face. But your feeling was, if they'll just allow me to be in the house of God, I'll gladly take the position of doorkeeper. Just let me in. But years have passed by. And some of those promises that you made have been broken. Those vows that you made have been forgotten. That zeal that you had has almost been lost. That determination that you had in those days has waned dramatically. You're in the midst of the years, spiritually speaking. You've got some years behind you, and hopefully you've got some ahead. But as you anticipate the years that are ahead, you say, well, I've waited so long now to try to fulfill what I thought I'd do one time. I don't have enough time to get it done, so I'll just drift along like I am. Or maybe Satan has whispered in your ear at some point in time and say, you've made such a mess out of it, why don't you just give up altogether? Remember what you intended to do. Remember what you intended to be in the church. Remember how diligent and faithful you had promised to be and you haven't done it. Why don't you quit? If Satan can entice you and discourage you and get you to quit, he's conquered you as far as this life is concerned. And that's the only place he can touch you if you're a child of God. He can't mess you up as far as heaven's concerned. We can rejoice in that. But he can certainly disrupt things for you here. And if he can get you so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so-to-so- There's no place to retire. There's no quitting place in the service of God, either as a minister or as a member of the Church. No matter how rough the road gets, no matter how heavy the burdens are, there's no place to give up. We have to go forward. But how many times we may get discouraged when we see our failings and our shortcomings and say, well, it's just not going to be any better. Or if we're not ready to quit, We at least make no determination for improvement. Say, well, I'm not really concerned about revival. All I want is survival. If I can just survive, just kind of keep it all together like it is right now, I'm not expecting any big things to happen, not looking for any big blessings. I just want to hold on. That wasn't tobacco sprayer. He didn't say, Lord, just help us to hold on like we are. He said, revive thy work in the midst of the years. We want it built up. We want the warmth of thy blessing and presence. We want better things to happen. Now you ask yourself this question. Do you really look for and expect any better things in the service of God than what you observe today? Too many times we really don't. We really don't. We pray, but we often pray just for little blessings because that's all we expect God's going to ever give us is just little ones. We say He's a big God, but He just gives out little blessings. Not so. This big God, this God of power, this God of great grace and mercy delights to shower down abundant blessings upon His people to the honor and praise of His great name, and we ought to be seeking such. How many times we drift into that spirit of indifference, we're lukewarm, And if we're in that condition, we're in grave danger because the Lord said to the church in that state, I'll spew thee out of my mouth. Oh, in the midst of the years, when we reach the place that we may look back, and even if we recall some great times that we have experienced in the years gone by, but personally have to acknowledge we haven't done all that we expected to do But we're just kind of satisfied with the status quo to stay where we are. We're in bad shape. We're in bad shape. And God's people need to face the facts. We're not very ready to do that. We don't really like self-examination. We don't really like to look at ourselves in the light of God's Word. We don't really like to confess our faults. We don't really like to acknowledge our shortcomings. We'd feel a lot better if somebody just tells us we're just in good shape, we're wonderful, we're just doing a fine job, we're just rolling right along like we ought to be. That's what people want to hear. As a matter of fact, the people advised the Prophet in the old days said, prophesy unto us smooth things. And said, as a matter of fact, if you see anything else, just don't even tell us about it. That's right. They came right out and said it. Said, don't even let us know. If you see anything bad, if you see any judgment coming, we're just going to kind of pull our head under the cover here and we don't want to even know what's about to happen. Now you think some of God's people aren't in that shape today? Just look around you. They don't want to even know what bad shape they're in. They don't want to even acknowledge their shortcomings and admit their slothful state. But a back of prey, revive thy work in the midst of the years. Now what is a revival? That term will make some old Baptists extremely nervous. They say, well, I didn't think old Baptists had revivals. And some of them don't. Some of them don't believe in a revival and they practice it. But my friends, Habakkuk prayed for one, and I think it's an appropriate prayer for us. Revive thy work. I grant you the term has been abused in the religious world, but if we quit using all the ones that have been abused, we're not going to be able to talk. Because just about anything good has been twisted and abused by somebody. Heard a man say on the radio the other night, said, summertime, said, I love the summertime because it's the season of revival. I thought, well, I believe God gets us into revival in the wintertime if it was his pleasure to do so. He meant it was a time when people have a lot of meetings, a lot of protracted meetings, when the signs go up around town, revival. You ever had anybody ever invite you to a revival? Say, come over to our church, we're starting a revival over there. How on earth can they know in advance they're starting a revival? You wouldn't know you had a revival until it got here. They can put up a sign, but that doesn't mean you're having a revival. A revival isn't something worked up, it's something sent down, it's something given of God. Now most, you see, attach that name to a protracted meeting of ten days or two weeks with the idea we're going to call in a big preacher that's got a great, well-known name that'll attract a crowd and the best singers in the country, and we're going to try to gather folks in from everywhere, preach some sensational subjects that'll excite people and stir them up, get this preacher that's really potent as an evangelist where he can come down to the end, say the right thing, sing the right song, plead with people and get them down the aisle and when people flock down the aisle say souls are being saved for heaven and we are having a revival my what a revival is going on over here come away and say souls were saved and won to Christ we had a revival now I'm not picking on anybody I've been in that you see so I'm just talking about experience I've been there I've been the very one that came down to the end of the service and said, now we're going to sing one more verse. We know there's somebody here tonight that needs to make the decision. This may be your last chance, and we're pleading with you. The Lord wants to save you, and He'll do it if you let Him. We're going to sing this one more verse, and sing that one. And then think there's still somebody standing back there holding on to the pew that's resisting the Lord, and the Lord wants to save him, and the sinner won't let him, and we're going to sing it just one more time and give you another chance. I'm thankful to say the Lord delivered me from that and enabled me to understand that it wasn't my effort or the effort of any preacher that was going to save or help save a sinner. There's just one Savior, and His name is Jesus. And He's able to save and does save all that were given Him by the Father in the covenant before the world began. So a revival in the scriptural sense is not a protracted meeting for the effort of trying to raise the dead. You can't revive the dead. You can revive somebody that fainted, but you can't revive the dead. A revival is for the living. Now, some of God's people in a fainting fit may need to be revived out of that, and to look at them sometimes, they look like they're dead. It's said in the book of Ephesians, Awake, thou that sleepest, arise from the dead, and Christ will give thee light. I read the other day about a young lady that had already been carried to the morgue. And they looked at her another time, and she made some small movement, and they decided she was still alive. I'll tell you, it's dangerous to look dead. Now, you look at some of God's people today, and it's hard to tell what kind of shape they are in. He said, Awake, thou that sleepest! Arise from the dead! Come out from among the dead! Quit looking like the dead! Let's see some evidence of life! And so those that are living need to be revived, need to be awakened, need to be stirred up, need to recognize where they've been, where they are, and where they ought to be going. Admit their false failings and shortcomings and recommit themselves in devotion to go forward and serve the Lord, remembering the promises and the vows that they made to Him many years that are past. Oh, that we might pray for such a revival, for an awakening, an outpouring of the Spirit of God upon us. Now, seeing what a revival is not and seeing what it is, the next question to ponder is, do we want one? Do we want a revival? How many times have you ever prayed for that? How many times have you earnestly sought the Lord? Revive me, Lord. Let it start with me. Revive my church. Revive thy church and kingdom all over the land. The psalmist said, Blessed are they that pray for the peace of Jerusalem. And if we are praying for the peace and prosperity of Jerusalem, for the gospel church, and following the advice of Isaiah in chapter 52 of his prophecy when he says, Give no rest until established and make Jerusalem a praise in the earth, we'll be blessed in the praying of such prayers. But many times we forget the importance of seeking God in these matters. We just drift along, feeling like because we've been delivered from doctrinal error, because we've been delivered from some of the vain things about us in the religious world, that all is well. Let me tell you something. We can have the name Plummeted Baptist out over the door of the building, We can have the soundest doctrine in the country, we can have the strictest order, but if we don't have the presence and blessing of the Spirit of God, it's cold and empty and lifeless. We need the presence and blessing of God in everything that we undertake to do if it's going to be worthwhile. And, brethren and sisters, we're not going to have that if we're not earnestly and faithfully and diligently seeking the Lord and praying for it and praying that His Spirit will anoint us in our singing and our praying and our preaching and all that's done that the Savior's name may be praised and magnified. Revive thy work. Do you really want one? Are you afraid to pray that prayer? I really believe that some of God's people today would be afraid to pray that, because they said, if we were to have a revival, I'm too busy to get in on it. It would be a real inconvenience to me. That's why you find people there already too busy to come once or twice a month, much less if you got to having a good meeting and the Lord is blessing you had to meet every night. So I know what he could do all that. Well, I've got my obligations, particularly if it comes in the time of the school year. You parents, if you do everything they ask you to do at school, you'll run ragged all year long just trying to keep up. Not anything wrong with these little functions, but there's just enough of them when they finally pile up on you. And, you know, we've got certain of these good sisters' names on the list. of the poor old souls that don't know how to say no, and everything comes along, they dump it on them. And so after a while, they're just running, running, running here, running there, running. A lady came to me after service the other night down in Mississippi, and she said, I just feel like my life's out of control. I just don't, I don't have any control over it anymore. I've got, I've got all these kids, and they've all got this commitment and that, and I'm running this one to this ball practice, and this one to this game, and this one to this function here and there. I'm just running everywhere. I said, there's no time to even slow down and think or try to read God's Word or pray or anything else. Well, it's time to recognize those situations and stop short and say, we've got to get our priorities straight. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. No wonder we suffer coldness. No wonder we suffer spiritual barrenness and emptiness when we can't put first things first. Yes sir, I'm confident a lot of people would be afraid to pray for it because it would be a major inconvenience in their life if the Lord began to bless so abundantly they'd say, I've got some things I'd have to give up. Some of you men might have to give up not going to get overtime. You might have to make some adjustment in your work schedule. You know, there's a lot where we say, well, now I've got so many obligations. I've committed myself for so many things. You know, I've got to do this. No way. I've got to. What happens? We get our priorities out of place. And sometimes we're asking for all these material things, we're asking for all these things in the world, we're asking for all these positions and all the things that we desired after the flesh, and the Lord may at times say, all right, just like He did to Israel when they asked for the quail, the Lord had given them the manna, and they said, that isn't enough, we want the meat to eat, and He said, all right, I suffy to have it, He sent that, but He said, I also sent you a leanness of soul. And I want to tell you, my friends, that real affliction when you suffer leanness of soul. You can have other kind of troubles, you can have other kind of trials, you can have other kind of burdens, but in those trials and burdens, if you're able to pray and feel that the Lord is near and He comforts you and strengthens you, you're finding sweetness even in the midst of some of the darkest troubles of life. But when you suffer leanness of soul, When you've reached the point that you can't even get anything anymore out of reading God's Word, it's just like an empty book to you. You try to pray and you feel like the heavens are as brass, they're shut up and you can't pray. You can't get any relief out of prayer. You go to church and you just sit there like a piece of wood, just as dead as the bench you're sitting on. Just don't get anything out of it. Your heart's not warmed, you're not edified, you're not lifted up. And then sometimes parents get in that kind of a cold state, and the first thing they do when they get in the car on the way home from church is start criticizing. And they'll criticize the preacher, and they'll criticize the church, and they'll criticize the deacons, and they'll complain about this and complain about that. And then after a while they say, I can't figure it out. My kids don't want to go to church. No wonder! No wonder they don't want to go to church. All they ever hear is something critical and negative. But it started right back when the parents slipped into this terrible state of coldness and indifference and suffered leanness of soul. Leanness of soul. And when you get in that predicament, you don't even think straight. You get so full of self-pity sometimes, you begin to feel so picked on, you decide nobody loves you, nobody likes you, nobody treats you like they used to, nobody's as friendly as they once were, nobody cares about your burden, they just dump burdens on you all the time. You're just the most mistreated soul that ever came walking down the path. Oh, brethren and sisters, I'll tell you what'll change that, is when we have a spiritual awakening and revival and we become more concerned about lifting the burdens from others than we are trying to dump our burdens on them, that'll change our whole perspective. We've got a whole different attitude about other people. Instead of feeling like they're against us and we're picked on, all of a sudden we're filled with so much love for them, we're praying for them and trying to assist them and encourage them and admonish them, and it changes the situation for us. Do you really want a revival? Do you really want one? Well, there are several things I think we can observe about what has generally taken place as we look at the Old Testament scriptures and see what occurred in the various times that there were such awakenings, times of great blessing and spiritual uplift. First of all, I believe that you can observe in every instance, if I'm not mistaken, when there was a time of spiritual revival, there was greater emphasis Given to the Word of God greater attention to the Word of God the Book of Nehemiah chapter 9 Said on that day they appeared before the people and for a fourth part of the day. They did nothing but read the law of the Lord Read the Word of God in the hearing of the people God's people need to know the book Find the apostle saying that this gospel has come to you not in word only, but in power and in the Holy Ghost. But it did come in word so the people could understand it. Too many times people have gotten the mistaken idea that preaching is just making a lot of racket. And as long as somebody's got a preacher tone, it doesn't matter what they're saying. Somebody will say, oh, that's wonderful, that sounds good. I don't know what the man said, but it must have been good. That's not preaching. Preaching is feeding the flock, it's edifying, it's setting forth something that God's people can understand and take home with them and it's going to do them some good. God's people need to know the Word and they're not going to know it if they don't understand it, if they don't hear it, if they don't read it. Now you just ask yourself this little personal question tonight. How much time do you spend out of every week reading this book? I dare say that if the figure could be flashed here tonight for everybody, there'd be a lot of red faces in this house. As to how much time you really spend reading this book, unless this is the most unusual place I've preached recently, I dare say that there's more time spent reading the daily paper, reading the funny page, the television schedule so you know which one of these soap operas to tune in so you can become stirred up with some of the ungodliness going on around you in the world, reading some of these other things that are going to distract you and confuse you and disturb you rather than to read the Word of God. And you can sit down and read some of these other things and just read right on, burn the midnight oil until you get to the end of whatever you want to read about. You find you pick up this book and read about a half a chapter and your eyes start getting heavy. After a while you say, well the Lord will understand, I've worked hard today, I'll pick this up tomorrow night, I'll start back here. Supposedly read over a few verses and all of a sudden you realize you were in such a day is just about to fade out You didn't know what you'd read Absolutely didn't know what you'd read. So what did I read here anyway? I did not understand much go back looking over or maybe you come on a passage here that really really gets to you It really describes you like you are See the Bible is pretty specific. It doesn't mince any words. I Bible wasn't designed just to make you feel good and certainly wasn't designed just to smooth things over and tell everybody they're just wonderful people, everything just going fine. The Bible describes us just like we are. And so you read one of those passages that describes you like you are and you're saying, well, you know, I'm not feeling too good tonight. I don't believe I'm ready for that. Let me turn over here and find one of those comfort passages. Where's the 23rd Psalm? Let me read that a little bit. I don't want this thing. Some of this stuff depresses me. Sure does, because if you're walking in courses of ungodliness or if you're negligent in your spiritual duty and you're not praying and serving God as you ought, you're going to be rebuked by it. Going to be rebuked. God's word is important in every category. Thy word have I hid in my heart, says the psalmist, that I might not sin against God. That 119th Psalm that talks so repeatedly about the statutes of the Lord, the law of the Lord, the word of the Lord, the truth of God, puts emphasis upon how important this book really is. We need to know what it teaches. Not just to depend on what the preacher tells us from the pulpit, but to have read it for ourselves, that we are properly instructed and guided in it. And what a blessing it is when you've been doing some reading on your own, and then the preacher comes along and preaches on that very portion of Scripture. And that's a double blessing. But if you hadn't read it before, you couldn't get that kind of blessing. You might have gotten a blessing out of what he said, but it wouldn't have been that double blessing that comes when you've read it first. And you've got a question. And I've had people come up to me sometimes and say, Preacher, you must have read my mail. How'd you know so much about me? How'd you know what I was thinking? How'd you know that text was on my mind? I didn't know that, obviously. I hadn't been following them around. Sometimes people, you know, get so close to somebody, I travel on the road and say, did the pastor talk to you about me? No, I hadn't said a thing. But what was it? It was the truth, the truth of God's Word was reaching that individual and so much described in their case, they felt like they were being singled out and picked on. That's when preaching is really doing you good. When you get kind of nervous and afraid, everybody's kind of looking at you because they know. You just figure that everybody else knows the preacher's really talking about you. Well, the Word of God, the truth of God, the inspired record is something that needs tremendous emphasis among us in this day. When people are groping, people are confused, people out in the world today are disturbed, I was talking to Elder Sonny Pyles on the telephone the other night, and he had just come back from a preaching trip as I had myself, and we were sharing the thought that there's never seemingly been a time when we've observed any more unrest than there is seen in the world around us today. And find God's people that are trying to cope with the situation and struggle on and do what's right. They're burdened, they're groping, they're looking for something. And the encouraging thing about it to me is that I have never seen a time in the years I've been among old Baptists when the Lord's children are any more ready and willing to receive a message of warning and rebuke than they are today. And I appreciate that. And I think it's because the need is so great. They absolutely know if they don't get serious about this situation and pay attention to some of these things, my friends, that the judgment that we're going to suffer is going to be severe. So there must be attention given to the Word of God. Now, the second thing that you'll observe every time there was a great awakening and a revival was that after the reading of God's Word, there came a time of confession. After they read the Word for a fourth part of the day, then another fourth part of the day, they confessed. They not only said, this is the truth, they said, it's for us. You've hit us. It's described us. We've come short. We've missed the mark. If I didn't believe that the old Baptists have the truth, if I didn't believe that they have the identity of the Lord's Church, I'll promise you I wouldn't be here tonight. Because when I was looking for something, the old Baptists, in order of preference, were on the bottom of the list. As a matter of fact, they weren't even on the list to start with. I was determined to try to find something somewhere else and wasn't even considering the old Baptists. And it was only because I ran out, there just wasn't anywhere else to look, that I finally decided, well, I'll look there. And discovered what I'd been looking for all the while. And I believe with all of my heart, that old Baptists have, that ended the church. And a statement I hear periodically that I very much disagree with, is when somebody will say, well, back in 1832, When the division came in the Baptist family, you had the new school movement went to one side and they fell in the ditch, and the old school of primitive Baptists went to the other side and they fell in the ditch. I don't believe that. If I believed that, I'd have stayed where I was, wasn't in a bit of need to get out of one ditch and run across the road and get in the other one. I believe that the old Baptists have the identity of the gospel church, and I thank God for it. And in my first years among the Old Baptists, being a young minister in those days, and young in the church, the great burden of my ministry was to come along and tell those who were in the church, God bless you, I'm thankful for you, you've been contending for the faith, you've been blowing this old trumpet a long time before I was ever born, and I rejoice with you, and what I found. But I think after 25 years now, it might be all right to be just a little bit bold to tell you, brethren and sisters, at this point in time, I can see some things where confession is in order. I can see some things where we have to admit our failings and our shortcomings. I'm not saying this because I'm negative about the church. I'm saying this because I love the church. I'm not saying this because I don't believe old Baptists have the identity, I'm saying it because I believe they do have it. I'm saying this because the Lord said to Israel, of all you only have I known of all the families of the earth, therefore I will punish you for your iniquities, teaching us that God's people are responsible for the degree of light they have received. Old Baptists have more light than anybody, they have more responsibility than anybody. And I want to tell you in great solemnity and sorrow this evening, I've been burdened to travel more this year than I have in quite a number of years. And as I travel around the country, and as I observe things in various other places, I have to say to you today that the church is not in as good a shape today as it was 25 years ago when I first came into it. Now don't misunderstand or misquote me. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the doctrine. I don't want to see that change one dot. I don't want to see anything altered about that. The old baptists have got the doctrine. They've got the truth. And I don't even want to see any lit up and trying to preach it. Sometimes people act like it was just been preached so much. We about worn it out. We better go on and preach something else. Better not ever quit preaching that. That's the foundation. You don't even know what the rest is all about unless you start with the starting place. You got to start the house of the foundation. That's what it is. Salvation by the grace of God has got to be preached and preached. It's there. We don't need to change that. We don't need to change the practice. Not a bit. I know just as sure as anything, somebody comes along and says, well the old Baptist, I believe they're just so mossy-backed, they've been in the rut all these years, it's about time we do something. I know they got about to kick out of the traces. They're wanting to come up with something where they've decided that, yeah, the old Baptists need to go uptown and try to be like somebody else. We need to try to get in this competitive race and see if we can outdo somebody else. Have more ball teams than somebody else have. Have more knitting circles than somebody else. Have a bigger, finer building than somebody else. You know, do something with all these functions and activities and auxiliaries and so on to go on out there in the world. I'm not talking about that. That's the last thing in the world that we need in the Lord's Church. Anybody you're going to attract by all of these entertainments and attractions you can do without anyway. You don't need them. That may sound blunt, but I mean it just that way. Anybody, my friend, that you want in the church ought to be coming in there because they love the Lord and His gospel. Now, if you bring them in with attraction after they get tired of the first ones you've got, you're going to have to think up something else. And that's the way most of these religious orders today, they got a whole team that has to spend all their time thinking about what to come up with next. And they'll just outdo themselves. By the time you think they've thought of everything, they'll come up with some other big show to attract people, tell them to come out, come to church so you can... A while back up there in our country, they had a church that said you can come out here and have a dip out of the biggest ice cream sundae in town. And another day, they're going to give them a ride on an old antique car and all kinds of foolish things just to try to attract people to get them to come to church. The purpose of coming to church, obviously, is to come to worship the Lord and carry his gospel. And I grant you that the gospel being preached in the old Baptist church today is not going to be attractive to everybody. A lot of people are going to be offended by it, but that's not new. You listen to the words of Jesus and see how blunt he was about situations and described those Pharisees as being white as sepulchers outside and said, yeah, you make a good appearance, you're white under me, but inside you're full of dead men's bones. He wasn't trying to make them feel good, was he? Obviously, we don't want to be offensive just to be offensive, but if the truth offends us, so be it. Now, when I say that the church is not in as good a shape, I'm saying this. Number one, I observe in my travels around the country that the attendance is not what it was 25 years ago. I observe in many cases that there's not the same kind of zeal and enthusiasm that I have observed in years past. I find that there's often not the diligence and dedication on the part of God's people to faithfully and regularly be present in the services. Because there's so many other things to do, so many excuses to be made. You know, well, we got to go visit family, got family coming in. That's about one of the worst excuses I ever heard. What kind of a testimony is that anyway? Let family know that they're more important than the church is. Just advise them if they're going to come see you on church time, they need to meet you at the church house or sit on the front porch and wait on your back. And that'll be the kind of example and testimony to give to let them know what comes first. The Lord comes first. Somebody says, I've got to go down here to a family reunion, I've got to go up here to an all-day sing, I've got to go here, there, and elsewhere. And a lot of times, you know, the come-around kind of sheep is likely going to try to explain this all to the preacher. My friend, you better explain this to the Lord. This is the Lord's church. This isn't the preacher's church. You explain it to Him. It's the Lord you're to be serving, and the Lord you're to be following, and the Lord you're to be obeying. And if you don't, you're His child, and He's the one who's going to use the rod to correct you. And He knows how to get your attention. Some of God's little children are like these little kids you see every once in a while, you know, some little kids, you can just kind of slap their hand one time and say, don't, and they quit. And others, you can just slap their hand, slap their hand, slap their hand, and it looks like they just sit there and wait until somebody's not looking, and they go and pop the lamp over, just like they planned on in the first place. Now, some of God's little children are just about that way. Looks like the preacher can preach to them and warn them, and the Lord can put the rod on them and show them the air, and they'll just go right back and do what they want to do anyhow. But I'll tell you one thing, my friend, the Lord will make you wish you hadn't. He knows how to knock the props out from under you. He knows how to get your attention. He knows how to wake you up and to show you where you are and where you're headed. Confession. I believe before things can get any better, we have to confess what they are at the present time. We have to confess personally and individually what our shortcomings have been. We have to confess that from the standpoint of the church. We have to confess that we have not been as zealous and as diligent as we ought to be. Now, maybe you say, well, I preach that over here. Brother Bradley, you know how many visiting preachers we have and all the good meetings we have, and we got a lot of zeal, and that's all wonderful. But I haven't seen any place yet as wonderful as that is. I haven't seen any place yet that's met the standard to perfection. And just as sure as we get the attitude, well, you're not talking to us preachers. Too bad all these other folks couldn't have been here. I don't have the opportunity to talk to them tonight. I'm talking to you. Talking to those of us that are here that we might. make the application of it ourselves, that we might apply ourselves in confessing our shortcomings and our failings. Say, Lord, I want to admit them, I want to acknowledge them, and I want to serve Thee more faithfully. Not only was there greater attention given to the Word of God, not only was the confession that followed the reading of that Word, but there was more diligence in prayer. That 9th chapter of the book of Nehemiah is a beautiful example of it when they went on to pray, and what a prayer it was! That wonderful example that said, as they began to pray, Lord, Thou art the God that didst create the heaven and the earth. Thou art the God that didst call Abraham out of the air of the Chaldees. Thou art the God that didst roll back the waters of the Red Sea. Why, as they began to talk about the greatness and power of God, they weren't informing the Lord. The Lord knew all that, but they were praying that, that they might build up their own faith and be encouraged and believe that a God who did all that, He can do whatever needs to be done right now. After praying that kind of a prayer, they can say, now, Lord, behold the threats of our enemies. Look at our circumstances. Look at our situation. Send down the blessing. We trust Thee to do it. They prayed. They earnestly and diligently prayed. Just as we see oft times so much neglect when it comes to the Word of God, and neglect in confession, how much neglect there is in prayer. How many times have you found you're right in the midst of trying to solve some kind of a problem and work out a situation and all of a sudden you're condemned to the fact that, well, I hadn't even prayed about this. Here I've been wrestling with this thing, trying to come up with an appropriate decision, trying to solve this problem, I haven't even prayed about it. The promise of God is in all our ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct our steps. Oh, that we might acknowledge Him. that we might pray and expect that God can do miraculous things for us. I know that some of these hucksters on television have made a mockery out of miracles, but my friends, that doesn't change the fact that our God in whom we believe is able to perform a miracle. He's able to send miraculous blessings upon us in His church. He's able to bless His ministers to preach in the power of demonstration of the Spirit. He's able to bless us with such joy and filling of the Holy Spirit that others will be attracted to see what's going on in our midst, that they'll come in inquiring minds. That's going to be the thing that builds up Zion. It's not bringing the world in the church, but having such an abundant blessing of the Spirit of God that others hear the report of it and say, I want to come find out what's going on over there at that old church. I want to see what's happening. Want to see what God's doing in the place. And don't you know there's many little child of God out there in the world and they're experiencing some of the things we're talking about that's almost starved half to death. Not only are they experiencing some of this emptiness, they haven't even got any place to get anything to satisfy them, anything to fill them up and feed on. Going to hear about a God whose hands are tired, a God who's continually disappointed and defeated, can't be any real comfort in that. Oh, that we might pray for the outpouring of the Spirit of God upon us in a mighty way. And following those times of prayer, the fourth thing that accompanied a true spirit of revival was an outpouring of special blessing. Whether it was the power to overcome the approaching enemy, whether it was the answer for the raining down of fire upon the altar of Elijah, that the people might see that the Lord was God, And cry, the Lord, he is God, the Lord, he is God. Whatever the need was, the answer was given. The blessing was bestowed. It says in Malachi chapter 3, verse 10, that he's able to give and open up the windows of heaven and bestow upon us blessings that there not be room enough to receive it. Wouldn't you like to get blessed that much? Say, just blessings coming up so much, there's just not even room to handle it all. And even when I say that, some of you are sitting there thinking, you know, that sounds nice. That sounds nice, but that's not going to happen. All you're praying for is survival. You're not even asking for revival. Habakkuk prayed for revival. Lord, open up the windows of heaven and send down the showers in abundance. Send down the showers of blessing, and when the Lord blesses, great and mighty things can be done. Some of those who have fiercely opposed the gospel have been the chief critics and persecutors of the church, can be humbled and brought to it by the grace of God. Where would you have found a more unlikely candidate to be a gospel minister than in the person of Saul of Tarsus? persecuting the church, holding the coats of those that put to death those that were the followers of Jesus Christ. And a little while, the news goes out and says, guess who's preaching for us now? Old Saul of Tarsus. Can you believe that? Oh, I'll tell you, when the Lord blessed, it was a wonderful thing. Ananias, being director to the Lord to go there, was satisfied after the Lord said, Behold, he prayeth. Everything's all right. He's been humbled and subdued. He's a praying man. And Ananias goes in and lays his hand on him and says, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, has sent me to thy house. He wouldn't want to have been near that fellow a few days before. He prayed to God and his head cut off. But he'd come in there now, and he could bless and pray for him because God had done a work for him. And you can find some people today, some of the best candidates we've got to be primitive Baptists, and some of those who think they would never be one. Just would never be one. Some of them that even says that. There might be some of you here tonight that have said that at one time or another. There's a lot of people today, good old Baptist members, that said that one time. That's not fatal. You can repent of that. You can repent of that right here tonight and straighten that whole situation out. When the Lord begins to bless and pours out great mercies upon His church, I want to tell you the miraculous can take place. And it's evident that God is doing great things for us, and that's the need of the hour, not to see the little puny works of man. Now, you get tired of that quick. But you see what God is doing. And that's an attraction and that's a revival. That's a spiritual awakening. That's something to get stirred up about and excited about and enthusiastic about. And it's because the attention is focused upon the Lord. And I want to say in conclusion, while there may be some here tonight who haven't gone so far as to say I'll never be a primitive Baptist, you've just about said that by your conduct. You may have been hanging around the church for a long time, and you know where the church is. You say, well, preacher, you pretty well raked them over there tonight. You told those folks in the church about some of their needs and duties. Do you think that just because you've stayed out, that makes you better? No, sir. You're in worse shape than those that have been in and haven't been doing their duty after they got there. Because you haven't even taken the first step. Some of them haven't taken the second, you haven't even taken the first. You can't even start on the journey until you discharge your duty and follow the Lord in gospel baptism. I say, well, preacher, you may sound like you want to urge somebody. I do, I confess it. I came down here on a fishing trip, and I'd like to fish in some of God's little children out there. The Lord said, I'll send fishers to fish you. And I just feel sure there's some out there that need to be attracted and brought in to the house of God. And sometimes it just takes blunt language to tell you the fact of the matter. Before I became a member of the church, there were some people who said some nice comforting things to me, and there were other things that some of them said that just plain old hurt my feelings, just laid it right on the line. Why don't you go on and discharge your duty? Why don't you come on and do the thing that you know to be right? I made all kinds of excuses, and sometimes just got downright aggravated about it, and sometimes made up my mind I would never be back. I wasn't going to put up with that. But the trouble was because there was a lot of conflict going on down inside here. I was preaching up in Kentucky a few weeks ago and the young pastor said to me, he said, you know brother Bradley, I thought sure brother so-and-so was going to join the church during this meeting. I just had that feeling he's just getting closer and closer but said you know he's just been downright unfriendly today. Said he hadn't even gotten close enough to hardly speak to me. Stays off to himself just quiet as he can be. He called me up the next night and said, well, he joined the church the day after you left. He had gotten quiet because he had gotten mighty close. He was feeling that burden. He knew what he needed to do. Oh, little child of God, if you know what the truth is, you know where the church is, you know what the gospel is, you discharge your duty. You walk in the way and you can have your own personal revival. You can have an uplifting and an upbuilding in the spirit and you may be the beginning of a greater awakening in the church as a whole. Revive thy work in the midst of the years. May God bless you. 292, Brother Bradley, please open the door to the church for us. We want to publish an open door to the church. If there be one here tonight with that burden upon their hearts, If you feel like the Lord has been kind and gracious to give you a hope in his mercy and you know where the church is, you come on to your friends while we stand and sing. What's your number again? 292. 292, let's stand and sing. We're traveling on to that blessed home where St. Jemarja lives. We'll join in song with loved ones there, and make our voices heard. Oh, you will come and go with us, and you must sing that song, the song of hope. O say can you see, by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's