It's certainly a great privilege to be able to be here with you this evening. I know as we've gone, each one of us has gone through our days, it just seems like it's so precious to be able to gather together with the Lord's people, close to the day. And just even though we may have realized the great power of the Lord this day and the surroundings roundabouts, And I've had the privilege of flying some today and being in the air and looking out over the earth and the patchwork of the earth. There's never been a place where I believe the power of God has ever been demonstrated more. And when his people come together and raise their voices in psalms and hymns and set on the proclamation of the glorious gospel. So tonight I trust that we've all come praying that God will bless this, our dear brother, in a special manner, that not only will we be fed from the Master's table, but that he himself will be blessed to receive the satisfaction to his own soul in proclaiming this precious gospel. May we go to the Lord in a word of prayer. Our merciful Heavenly Father, it's again that we have the grand and glorious privilege of being able to meet together with those of thy people. the children of God, Heavenly Father, who have had the desire and the privilege to hear more about the Savior. And Heavenly Father, we need to be reminded of the goodness and mercy of thine, how that thou hast delivered thy people all down through the ages of time, the experiences that we've read about in thy word, of thy mercy and thy grace upon the children of Israel in days gone by. But Heavenly Father, we trust that we know our own heart, right in our own midst and in our own lives, we've experienced those experiences of grace, when we felt the nearness of thy presence, when we've seen poor mortal man, weak and frail and unworthy, being lifted up so that he felt the very presence of thine and feeling the surety that he was in the king's court as he sat under the sound of thy gospel and as he's experienced the power of thy spirit in his own life. And Heavenly Father, in a special manner, we would pray thy blessings upon the little church here at this place and the ministers that go in and out among her, Heavenly Father, and we would pray that thou would bless each one that's gathered together this evening upon this occasion, that as we come as children, hungering and thirsting after the things of thy that thou wouldst be see fit, heavenly Father, according to thy will, to fill us, to give us those things that we stand in need of, to allow us to have hearing ears, but moreover, heavenly Father, understanding hearts, and that thou wouldst give us that measure of grace so that we would put those things into practice that we may hear this evening that needs to be put into practice in our own lives. And now, Heavenly Father, we would ask Thee to take this, our dear brother, who has been blessed among Thy people this many years, one that we've all come to know and to love and to appreciate and to be in his presence, but we know that he comes as an empty blank before Thee, except I would fill him in that special manner and enable him with our spirit and with our preaching grace to preach those things to us that we stand in need of this evening. Could it be Thy will, Heavenly Father, bless him according to the riches of Thy grace. We will pray, Heavenly Father, for our nation, for our president, that thou would give us God-honoring and God-fearing men to make our rules for us, that thou would give them, heavenly Father, that of thy divine wisdom, and that thou would guide them by thy grace, that we might continue to have a land where we can come together without fear of the authorities, meet together, admire our very souls to thee, and set hungry under thy glorious gospel, and enjoy the freedom that we have of this land. Heavenly Father, we would ask thee to forgive us of our wrongs, because we know their meaning, and that thou would help us by thy grace to be kind and tender-hearted one to one another. and that our lives might be an uplifting to those round about us, instead of causing them to feel downtrodden. Now, Heavenly Father, we ask Thee to go with us through this service, go with us on through the future scenes of life, stand by us when we come to death itself, and at last, in Heaven's wonderful and glorious world, receive us for which You've been able, to praise Thee with a perfect praise in a world that shall never end. For it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Certainly appreciate this opportunity to visit with you once again. Enjoyed being here in service the night before the inauguration. And I'm thankful to be able to come back at this time. Appreciate being once again with Governor Hunt. As I said in that message when here previously, We felt that we could see the hand of God in the whole matter of Elder Hunt becoming the governor of this state. I feel like there's been clear evidence since that time that the Lord is blessing him. I feel thankful that God's people of Many persuasions all over this state have found the desire and burden to pray for him and certainly primitive Baptist across the country as I've visited many states over the past few months Are very mindful to continue to pray for him and his efforts and further as we pointed out in that discourse we as primitive Baptist have a tremendous responsibility and opportunity at this time when there may be those looking at us and inquiring about What this simple order of worship is all about that we can establish the testimony which we're down to the honor and glory of God I Want to read to you from the 92nd Psalm beginning with verse 12 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. The righteous shall flourish. The righteous shall grow. Your season is a few weeks ahead of ours. When I was walking in the woods behind my house a few days ago, and was struck with the beauty of nature at this time of year. The dogwood trees had just come into full blossom. The red buds were adding their blush of color. Many little wildflowers along the trails. It just stirred my heart to think once again about the power of God Think about the inspiration that we somehow receive in the spring of the year because it speaks of life, of awakening, a time of growth, of anticipation. And I started thinking about how important growth is, what a positive and beneficial thing in so many areas. Walking through those same woods back in the winter, there was no sign of growth. Those trees had no evidence of life. But what a transformation takes place when the warm breezes of springtime begin to blow. And those trees that appeared to be totally dead begin to put forth a bud. And those little flowers lift up their heads and begin to bloom so beautifully. And not only do we appreciate that growth that we see around us in nature, think about what growth means to us as we observe little children. We hold that young baby in our arms and say how precious, there's just something special about that little baby. And we say we hate to see them grow up. But if they didn't grow, we'd be terribly alarmed. Growth is a sign of good health, and we want them to grow. And after a few years and they... past the stage of being the toddlers that are exploring and getting into everything and grow a little older and they're involved in many activities and we like to quote things that they've said and talk about how much that little boy walks like his daddy or how much that little girl behaves like her mother. Then they reach those magic teenage years and All of a sudden, they really began to grow. It doesn't seem many times since they were just that little baby in arms, but my, look how tall that young man is now. Look how these young people are just growing like a weed, as it's sometimes said. It just appears that overnight they've gone from being a child to a young adult. And then the day comes that they graduate from high school, and though you say, I'm not going to be sentimental about this occasion, I'm going to go there and witness it and just observe it, in spite of everything, it looks like a big lump will come up in your throat and maybe a few tears are shed when you see that little one that just a few years ago You rock in your arms and there they are receiving that diploma and you say, my, how time passes by so rapidly. So watching that little child grow can be a beautiful experience in life, just as watching the things about us in nature. And so in this text, growth is presented in a positive vein. I know there can be some growth, That is abnormal. There can be growth out in nature of wild plants and poisonous vines and things of that kind that would not be positive. But in the vein in which this text speaks, growth is something to be desired. Growth is something that's positive and beautiful. The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree, not just hang on, not just survive, but shall flourish and shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Cedars of Lebanon are talked about a number of times throughout the scriptures and always spoken of as being those special unique trees that grew in that country known for their strength and their value and were used of God's people in a variety of ways. And so the Lord's people are described as growing, flourishing like the palm tree, growing like those tall cedars of Lent. Growth is viewed then as something desirable, something positive. And just as we observe it in natural things and appreciate the handiwork of God that speaks of his greatness and power. We want to see some other things occurring even as we observe the physical growth of our children. We desire to see them also grow in moral character, love to see the spiritual evidences of God's work within them, so that it might be said, as the psalmist declared in the 144th division and the 12th verse, that our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth, that our daughters may be as cornerstones polished after the solitude of a palace. The psalmist speaks then not only of reaching maturity, not only that natural growth that may be witnessed and observed, as one matures in life, but something that's internal, something about that individual that's special and unique, something that makes them a worthwhile citizen, something that gives them a positive place in life, that our sons may grow up as plants in their youth, strong, upright, that our daughters may be as cornerstones something that is useful, something that is positive. Oh, in this day and time, when there are so many distractions around us in this world, so many evil influences, we need to be constantly reminded about how many pressures our young people really face. Some of the temptations that we may never have encountered in the days of our youth are presented daily to young people. in the time in which we're living. I was visiting a home a few weeks ago, and the sister visiting there, who was a school teacher, said, you know, I just don't believe I can keep going much longer. the responsibilities that I feel, the burdens that I'm carrying in this position. She said, I've enjoyed teaching school in the past, but it just seems at the present time that there are so many other things that I have to be concerned about besides just teaching the subject matter, that it's just gotten to be a terrible burden to me, and I think this may be my last year, but she went on talking. And after she related the story, which I'll share with you, I said, please don't let this be your last year. We need some more teachers like you. She said that a high percentage of the high school students in her class are from broken homes. And it is very evident to her that many of these parents are so busy trying to put their second marriage together, trying to deal with a variety of problems in life, that there is little time and attention spent with their young people, that they are craving for affection, longing for somebody just to show some kind of interest in them and to try to guide them. And she says, I can't live with those kids every day and not get involved. I can't just go in the classroom and teach the subject matter. I'm concerned about them as individuals. I try and she says I may get in trouble with the school board before it's over but she said I just have to be outspoken when I feel like there's a need in their life and they've gotten to the place that they turn to me regularly for advice and counsel. She said it wasn't long ago when I had given them an assignment to do what was called free writing. They were just to write on any subject that was on their mind and hand it in. And when the students began to gather for class that day, she said this one young girl laid this assignment on her desk and she noticed it was about seven or eight pages. That kind of surprised her because she expected that, like many students, she might be trying to get by with as little as possible, but she'd written several pages. And she stacked it up with the other papers that came in. And a little bit, the girl came up and said, teacher, have you read my paper yet? She says, well, no, I haven't had time to get to it. I'm trying to get the class organized. I'll read it in a little bit. So she went on trying to proceed with the subject matter of the day. And a little bit, this young lady came up and said, teacher, have you read my paper yet? She said, well, no, but if it's that important to you, I'll just take time to read it now. And she read that paper. And this 10th grade girl said, my boyfriend has proposed that we ought to have sex before marriage. He says that everybody in our school Is doing that these days and so really shouldn't be anything that ought to be apprehensive about She said I asked my real mother the one she was Living with in this broken-home situation was not her real mother. I asked my real mother What she thought? And she said well if you really like him, I guess it doesn't make any difference. I And she said, teacher, I want you to tell me what you think. She said in a little bit, the girl came back and said, have you read my paper? She said, yes, I have. And she said, I'll tell you what I'll do. Since you wrote me a long paper, I'm going to take some time and write you a long answer, and I'll have it for you tomorrow." And she said, I wrote the best I could to try to give that young girl sound advice. And I told her of all the problems that she might encounter, and why it was best to save herself for marriage, And didn't hesitate to interject the fact that what she was contemplating was sinful and cited scriptural references as to how she ought to conform her life to the principles laid down in the word of God. She said, the next day, I gave it to her. And she hurried back to her desk and sat there and read it right in class. She said, I didn't know what effect it was going to have on her. The weekend came. Monday morning she came in, laid a paper on the teacher's desk. A few minutes she came back and said, teacher, have you read my paper? She said, no, but I'll get to it in a few minutes. She said, please, teacher, read it. It's good news. And she read that paper, and the girl said, I told my boyfriend over the weekend, that I had a teacher that thought enough of me to quote scripture to tell me about what was right and wrong before God. And I've made a commitment that I'm going to keep myself pure until marriage. I said to that school teacher, please don't quit. We need some more teachers like you today. Here was a young girl who in her own mind and heart Knew really what was right and wrong and just wanted somebody to tell her don't And yet so often today we become intimidated and seem like we're afraid to tell somebody don't There are some things to which God's word says don't oh When we conform our life to the pattern of his word what a difference it makes I Sin is taking its toll in the lives of multitudes across the country today. We find some of the Lord's precious servants in olden times, such as the psalmist, whose writings we hear read that fell into great sin. But you could never read the writings of David and attempt thereby to justify a sinful course. By seeing the grief that he experienced, the heartache that he bore, the troubles that he encountered all in his life, you'd recognize that to go after this place would be a terrible mistake on the part of the child of God. Oh, he prayed, Lord, restore unto me that the joy of thy salvation may be returned, that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Agony that he felt was so intense that he felt as though his very bones were broken God's Word not only by declaration, but by many examples Confirms to us the sad consequences of sin. Oh How we need him this day not only to pray but to labor that our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth standing firm, standing strong in the principles of truth and righteousness. I tried to assist a young man recently who had been on drugs since the time he was about 15. And in our first conversations, he was very independent, was only there because his parents had insisted that he talk to me. And his attitude was, I can control this situation. If I decide I want to quit, I can quit any day. I've heard all this stuff about there being habit farming. He says, no, I'm in control. I can quit when I want to quit. But as time went on, he began to see the error of his actions, the sinfulness of the course that he had taken and the effect it was having in his life. Spending a couple of nights in jail helped to get the message across. But then he discovered that this habit he thought he had under control wasn't so easy to handle. When he decided that he ought to quit, he found out it wasn't that easy. That what he had decided wasn't really habit-forming at all had taken a hold in his life and was dragging him down. Now it's a struggle and a battle. And he sits there many times as we talk week after week and sheds tears. And we beg God to help him and give him grace to overcome. I want to tell you, the severity of these problems across the country today is tremendous. And we must not and cannot ignore them. There's not a time as I travel around the country making reference to any of these things we're facing today, but what somebody comes to me and says, we're trying to deal with a particular problem, In the life of someone that I know, somebody that's a friend of mine, what can you tell me about how to deal with it? These are the things that we're facing. But I believe there are answers in God's word, and when we turn elsewhere, we often will become confused in our thinking about how to deal with the matter at all. We turn to God's word and to God himself for his blessing and help. We can find answers to problems. We desire to see our young people growing up as plants in their youth, not growing today under the handicap of a life that's governed by drugs or other evil habits. Growth. Growth in grace. Are you growing in grace? 2 Peter 3.18 says, But grow in grace unto the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. How beautiful to see God's children grow in grace. Now you can't grow into grace. Grace is bestowed according to God's own sovereign pleasure. He bestows it upon whom he will. Never cease to be amazed when I hear somebody that'll say many wonderful things about grace. And I think that in spite of themselves, they're going to stick with the subject and get grace out there and leave it right where it is, and so often will then disrupt the whole thing that has first been conveyed by saying, now there's grace for you, sinner, and if you'll just let God have his way, he'll give you some. That's not grace. If you've got to let God do anything, if you've got to help God do anything, if you've got to accept or decide, if you've got to become involved and do something on your part, it's no longer grace. I even heard someone the other day quote from Ephesians chapter 2, You had the Quickened who were dead in trespasses and in sin, and then went on to instruct the dead as to what they had to do in order to get this life. Those who are spiritually dead obviously have not the capacity to move at all in the spiritual realm. The natural manner of seeing is not the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. Let me tell you something. If God, that purposed grace in the covenant before the world began, displayed it beautifully at the cross, and the death of his Son has bestowed it upon you by the sovereign operation of his Holy Spirit, you can now, by his mercy, grow in grace, and you ought to be concerned about that growth, growing in it. What is your spiritual state this evening? When you look back over the past weeks, months, years of your life, Can you say, by God's grace I am growing? I'm growing in understanding the truth, growing in appreciation for it, growing in love for Christ and his cause and kingdom. Is there growth? Or are you standing just about where you were some months or years ago? Grow in grace! and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And not only does there need to be that personal growth, but growth from the standpoint of the Lord's Church. Song of Solomon uses this language with reference to springtime, painting the picture of growth Saying, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone, the flowers appear on the earth, the time of the singing of birds has come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land. The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, the vines with tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. How beautiful is that picture. The flowers appear on the earth. The time of the singing of birds has come. The fig tree put it forth for green figs. Fruit is being born. The vineyard is not decimate. There's growth. And then the fourth chapter in verse 12 says, a garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse, a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. by plants are an orchard of pomegranates with pleasant fruits, camphor and spikenard, spikenard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all the trees of frankincense, myrrh and alloys, of all the cheap spices, a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters." Now, when you read that language, you get the idea that it would be appropriate for the Lord's people to sit back and say, These are dark, perilous days. These are tough times we're living in. We can't expect any growth in the Lord's church today. We can't expect there to be any figs on the tree. We can't expect that there's going to be some glorious times of spiritual refreshment. Those days are behind us. We just have to expect that because the times are evil that the church is going to continue on a downhill course. until at last the Lord returns. I'm afraid that's the attitude of a good many people today. I grant you that there are a great many things to discourage us. There are times when we begin to wonder, are our efforts in vain? There are times that your heart can be broken when you find somebody who has walked with you in the old church for a period of time and have seen them turn aside. Be distracted by sin or worldliness or indifference and walk in that path no more. It's discouraging. But let me tell you something, in spite of the fact that times have changed and The evils of man are apparent and rampant in the world today. The Lord hasn't changed. He's the same, the same sovereign creator of the universe that works his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. He's still a God of power. The question was asked in Genesis chapter 18, is anything too hard for the Lord? Is the situation so difficult today that the Lord can't deal with it? Are people's hearts so cold and so hard that the Lord cannot melt them? Certainly not. Describes the church as being a garden enclosed. This talks then not about the little wildflowers that are growing along the pathway in the woods. This is a garden that's been planted. This is a garden that's enclosed. There's something protective about it. There are some things that are kept out. There are some things that are secured within it. This implies that there's somebody working at this garden The sister in our church I used to like the kid a lot because She'd be the most enthusiastic person you ever saw come springtime without putting out a garden I mean she she let everybody know she not only put one out, but she announced it She told everybody what she was planting and promised everybody what all they were going to get out of it When you go out there in the early part of the year, it really didn't look good. I mean the and she had a little seed package on the end of the stick, you know, to show you what was planted there, and it looked real neat and orderly. But as the summer got hotter, and the weeds began to grow, and the insects attacked, somehow she began to lose her enthusiasm. And you'd go over there kind of late in the summer and say, well, I want to look at your garden. And she'd begin to make excuses about why she didn't want to show it to you. And I'd always insist on looking anyway. And we'd kid her a lot about what that garden looked like at the end of the summer in comparison to what it did in the springtime. I'm afraid too many times Our attitude is such that we generate a bit of enthusiasm about this garden and the Lord's kingdom. We get excited and we get stirred up from time to time and are assured that surely the Lord is with us and great things are going to be done, but as the hot sun beats down, as we become weary and discouraged, we kind of give up. After a while, there's not much to look at, and you don't reap much of a harvest out of that kind of a garden. A garden enclosed. That speaks of growth. The plants are an orchard of pomegranates. Pleasant fruits. Fruits that are beautiful to look at and delicious to eat. Something that's beneficial and worthwhile. What is your attitude about growth in the Lord's Church today? Have you reached the point that you've allowed discouragement to take its toll in your life so that you just sit back and say, well, as long as we can hang in there, as long as we can keep this little band we've got, as long as we don't go down any farther than we have, we'll be all right. My friends, that's not the example I find in the Word of God. I find growth presented to us in a positive way, and I'm not talking about growing by Gigantic numbers those who have believed the truth have always been fewer in number And those who've observed and embraced other ideas when Jesus himself was here upon the earth He didn't make his doctrine popular and if we're preaching his doctrine, we're not going to improve on the situation So it's never going to be popular to receive But growth ought to be expected and prayed for and labored for Growth is presented then in this text as being something that is positive. The righteous shall flourish, shall flourish. Well, what happens when growth does not proceed? Growth can indeed be hindered. I was visiting in South Arkansas a few weeks ago and a brother took me out in the backyard and showed me his orchard. And you could just tell how downcast he was about the whole situation. He said, all these peaches are just just bloomed out and I thought I was going to have the best crop I'd ever had. And that freeze came here in South Arkansas. The temperatures got down in the low 20s and stayed there for two or three nights. And he said, I've lost it all. And said if things had been on normal schedule, if we hadn't had that freeze, I'd have had my first crop of strawberries and we'd have been eating them. But instead, you're going to have to eat some out of the freezer tonight. But that freeze had taken its toll. And you could see all over that country, there was a particular kind of tree that had suffered, especially from that freeze. And still a question in their minds as to whether those trees large as they were, were going to recover from the freeze. Well, just as a freeze in nature can hinder growth, let me tell you, wholeness is going to hinder growth as far as our own spiritual life is concerned or as far as the Lord's Church is concerned. Now, we generally don't freeze up all at once. It comes on as sort of a gradual thing. We start out when we first come into the church or when we first hear the gospel preached and boy we're enthused, we're excited, we say this is the best thing I've ever heard, this is the best news, I want to tell other people about it, this is wonderful. We love to come and sing, we love to meet with God's people. And then after being up there on the peak and just being so excited and so warm, then we start down and we kind of reach that state of being lukewarm. Not exactly cold, but you're not hot either. You know what the Lord said about those who were lukewarm? I'll come and spew you out of my mouth. Because already when you're in a lukewarm state, you're in a dangerous place. And after a while, through carelessness and neglect, neglect of spiritual duties and the proper application of the things that we ought to be doing as children of God, to become cold, not just lukewarm, but cold. And when a person becomes spiritually cold, they not only quit doing what they ought to do, but they're criticizing the ones that are. They're upset because they're cold and they think somebody ought to come warm them up. They never imagined that they ought to do something about it, that they need to confess their sin, that they need to apply themselves and the responsibilities at hand. And so if somebody is interested in growing, they may have a tendency to oppose it. They may have a tendency to oppose anything that's positive and worthwhile to go forward in the direction that's going to be for the comfort and edification of the Lord's people and the upbuilding of His cause here. Hopefully tonight we're not talking to anybody that's suffering a 20 degree freeze from a spiritual standpoint But maybe you've been there once or twice in your life May have been a few times when you've tried to read God's Word and it seemed like a sealed book and you just didn't get much out of it. There have been times you've tried to pray and it seemed like the Lord was far from you and you know how miserable an experience it is when you're cold far from the Lord, feel that he is far from you. How do we get warmed up? The Prophet That if we walk in darkness and have no light, let us stay ourselves upon our God, because the one that kindles his own fire is going to lie down in sorrow. In other words, instead of seeking the work from the Lord, if we try to work it up in the flesh, then we're going to miss what we really need, and we'll suffer some additional negative consequences. How many places today, where the Lord's people meet, it becomes a mere formality. Well, it's meeting time, and here we are, and we're going to sing our 30 minutes. We'll put it in. We'll sing 30 minutes whether we feel like it or not. It may be rough and just look like we can't quite get it together today, but we're going to sing anyway. We'll talk about somebody else's formality, but we get a little of our own, you know. We're going to sing 30 minutes or else. Wouldn't be anything wrong once in a while, but cutting it a little short if it wasn't working out too well. Just like a preacher sometimes, you wish he'd sit down sooner than he might. Things aren't going that well. And it wouldn't hurt sometimes to sing a little longer. If it's such a good warm song service, we don't have to go just for the clock. Oh, how much we have to recognize that the source of the warmth that we need is from the Lord. And pray that he even bless the song service. I've enjoyed immensely the song service tonight and the one I've enjoyed here back a few months ago. Because I think it means something. We can tell that people are enthusiastic when they're singing. They're enjoying it. They're singing, making melody of the heart unto the Lord. Not only singing the letter of what's in the song, but in the spirit of it and rejoicing. But the song service itself can become a mere formality. And certainly that can also be the case as far as the preaching hour is concerned. Preachers go through seasons of wholeness and barrenness. Let me tell you, when they are in that state, they very much need your prayers just as they need it at all times, because no man is going to be able to effectively feed the flock of God unless the Lord empowers him and gives him the unction from the Holy Spirit and the boldness to say what needs to be said, and yet the love and kindness and concern That's going to reach that little struggling child in the midst of his adversities in life. Wholeness will hinder growth. And disease will hinder growth. Look at the little plant, look at the tree that has a disease. It may die. It may become unfruitful. That's a beautiful big ole elm tree around our church in Cincinnati. Generally when a tree has a problem, you can kind of notice that it's a gradual thing. But we drove into church one Sunday morning, and I said to my wife, I said, look at that big tree. We've got to call the emergency tree surgeon over here. I mean, that thing's not just getting in bad shape in a week's time. It's in trouble. It's in bad shape. All the men over there said, I love that tree, and if it's within reason, I'll pay you whatever it takes to try to save that tree's life. And I mean, he worked on that thing, and he had little things sticking in all over it. It looked like it was bandaged up and being fed medication and everything else, but it was too late. The tree didn't survive because it was suffering a disease. Well, we sometimes suffer spiritual diseases. that hinder our growth. We sometimes have grown sick in a spiritual sense. Maybe we haven't fed on the right diet. Maybe we haven't fed on the word of God like we should have. Maybe it's worldliness that's invaded our lives. instead of spending time in communication and meditation and fellowship with the Lord and the reading of his word and prayer whereby we may grow and stay strong and healthy in the spiritual realm. We've been so distracted by all of the worldly pursuits and interests around us that it's taken its toll and sometimes we're sick before we realize it. And I'm afraid there's many a little child of God that's in that state today. One of the prophets talked about that one that had gray hairs but knew it not. Sometimes we can be sick and know it not. Because there has been a steady decline, going farther and farther away. As the apostle said, demons have forsaken me, having loved this present evil world. How many of them today that at one time were committed and dedicated to serving the Lord and loving his church and kingdom and being present every time the church convened? But now they have their excuses, they have other things. And it's so easy to try to justify what you want to do. What you want to do. Now you think about it, how do you really plan your scheduling life? We can all talk about certain things that we love to do and just can't find the time. Talk about how many things that we really plan to do, we just never quite get to it. But what are the things that you really do? They're the things you're sure enough want to do. How many times we say, well, I'm so busy, I've got such a rush schedule, I'd like to be at church, I'd like to spend some time with God's people, but I just can't do it. I doubt that any of us are any busier than the man trying to run this state, and yet he wanted to be here tonight, and he's here. We can generally do what we really want to do, but little by little, step by step, we let other things interfere, get our priorities, in an improper position, and before we know it, we're neglecting that which is spiritual. And then sometimes insects will invade plants and trees and crops out in the field and take their toll. The Lord said to Israel of old that I'm sending my army of the palmy worm and the canker worm and the caterpillar. The Lord sent those insects as a judgment upon his disobedient people and they destroyed the vegetation. Now sometimes we may be attacked by the evil forces of this world and by Satan who is our great adversary as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. You might have said the other day, oh, I don't think that Satan is really out there constantly trying to assail God's people like some of you preachers suggest. My friends, such a notion is totally contrary to what's in God's words. We may take our times of rest and vacation, but Satan never does. He's always there, constantly trying to confuse and ensnare us and lead us away after the evil course of this world. And yet the promise of God is that with every temptation there is made a way of escape. But if we've been constantly attacked and we haven't put up the shield of faith and we haven't depended upon the power of God to deliver us, we may be suffering because of that attack from the evil one and therefore growth has been hindered. And then sometimes growth is hindered out of pure neglect. The wise man Solomon talked about such an individual when he spoke of the slothful man. There was a man that had a field. By the picture that's painted, we would conclude that he probably didn't buy the field, maybe. He just inherited it because he doesn't appear to be the man that was going to work and apply himself. His attitude was, if God wants me to have a crop, he'll raise it for me. I don't have to be worried about it. The Lord will just take care of it. He'll handle everything. I'm a man that walks by faith, so all I've got to do is just sit up here on the porch and fold my arms, and it'll all work out. The results of that attitude were that the walls of the field had fallen down, and the field was grown up with briars and nettles. And Solomon said, a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands, and so shall my poverty come. Now that's true as far as natural things are concerned. The Apostle Paul said, the man that won't work ought not to eat. That's a responsibility that we have in the natural realm, that if we're going to have something, we've got to labor for it. And that's true in the spiritual realm. If you're not growing spiritually, you can't blame it on somebody else. That's human nature. Right from the very start, as Adam and Eve sought to blame things on others, Adam blaming his transgression on the woman and on God for giving him the woman and Eve blaming it on the serpent. There's always that inclination in us to blame it on somebody else. So if we come to the conclusion that we're not growing spiritually as we ought, the first inclination is to blame it on somebody else. Well, if my wife was more spiritual, if my husband was a little more interested in spiritual things, if somebody else was like they ought to be, if our preacher preached a little more to suit me, and, you know, if somebody else would just do something for me, I'd be in better shape. But God's Word always puts the responsibility right back on us. never allows us to lay it on somebody else. And so if we're not growing, we can say it's because of our own neglect. And I believe that's true also as far, not only as our lives individually, but the church itself. Now that might sound a little peculiar to some people when we start talking about growth in the Old Baptist Church. Because we haven't seen a lot of growth in recent days. I feel like back in the early 60s, church enjoyed something of a revival. I saw many places around the country where new churches were constituted and numbers of people were baptized. But indeed, many times today, it seems, have been willing to accept the status quo, or to just come to the conclusion that growth is not to be expected in this time. But don't you suppose that there sometimes is a lack of growth because of neglect, just like there may be a lack of spiritual growth in our own life because of neglect? There's a lack of growth in the Lord's Church because of neglect? Ezekiel chapter 34 puts the responsibility upon the shepherd to feed the sheep, to labor with the sheep. But not only upon the shepherd, later in that chapter it talks about the responsibility of the sheep themselves, some of whom, after they had eaten out of the fat pasture, had nudged others aside with the shoulder, and after they had drunk from the cool flowing waters, they had muddied it up with their feet. rather than leaving the testimony intact for the benefit of those who came along after them. I'm not talking about trying to put on some kind of a campaign for growth in the Old Baptist Church. I'm not talking about altering our doctrine. I'm not talking about changing our practice. I'm not talking about trying to entertain the world with some kind of religious involvement that is contrary to the principle that's laid down in His Word. But I'm saying this, that if there is the proper concern If we are laboring as we ought, if we are not neglecting our duty, we can anticipate and expect that there is going to be some God-given growth from time to time. And that brings me to say in the third place that growth can be encouraged. Growth can be encouraged. The Book of Ecclesiastes He said, sow thy seed in the morning, and withhold not thy hand in the evening, for thou knowest not whether shall prosper either this or that, or whether they both shall prosper. Cast thy bread upon the waters, and you'll gather it after many days. Now there's a lot of people out there looking on the water saying, where's the bread? But they haven't cast any out, so they're not getting it back. If you want to gather in the bread, you've got to cast some on the water. If you want to gather in the seed, you've got to sow it first. A few years ago, Elder Paul Trautner from Lexington, Kentucky, was filling an appointment out in the state of Missouri. And some of the folks out there gave him some Missouri wonder beans and they had told him that these were the finest beans anybody ever ate and he certainly would want to plant these beans and he got back home to Kentucky and so Church there has rather large piece of property and some of the folks raised a little garden on the back part of it in the summertime and he had a little segment where he was raising the garden He kept going out there after he'd gotten back home and Telling the folks about these Missouri wonder beans and just couldn't wait till they came up to Show them to have a body and let them see what they thought of these Missouri beans Well, of course the folks give the preacher a little hard time about his Gardening anyway And so they they began to get him after a while when they weren't coming up right and he thought they should have and then maybe he didn't plan them right and wonder what the problem really was and Several more days went by and he was beginning to be quite concerned about what the problem was that these beans weren't coming up Until one day he opened the trunk of his car and there they were still in the sack Now that may be hard for somebody to relate to but preachers once in a while get a little absent-minded And he really he had talked about those beans so much. He thought he had planted but they were still in the back of the car and Now, my friends, you can't gather the beans if you haven't planted them. You can't gather the harvest if you haven't sowed the seed. And they say, sow the seed in the morning and sow the seed in the evening. Oh, we say, I don't want to sow it if I'm not sure it's going to come up. I think I'll just sow the seed in the morning. Somebody else said, no I don't think that seed does too well to sow in the morning, I'm going to sow mine in the evening. He said, sow it both times because you don't know which is going to prosper, either this or that. You just don't know. There have been times when I've tried to label preaching the gospel and sowing the seed, and it just looks like there never would be any results, never would be any of it come up. And maybe months or weeks or years later, here was evidence that something that was said a long time ago, the Lord had used in a person's heart and life, and it was finally way down the way that that benefit was seen. Sowing the seed. Growth can be encouraged if we're sowing the seed. If we're laboring in the gospel vineyard. What am I supposed to do? Well, what about being just exactly what the book of Acts continually talks about, a good witness of what you have seen, of what God has done for you. I'm not talking about trying to put pressure on somebody to agree with you, believe what you believe, and using the various tactics that are sometimes seen around us in the religious world. But I'm talking about, in your own station in life, trying to be an influence for good and right. Just like that school teacher that took the opportunity to help a young student. in whatever role you fill in, whatever neighborhood you live in, whatever group of people you make contact along the way, you have opportunity for sowing some seeds. If you allow yourself to develop the attitude that we're living in such dark days, the seed isn't going to come up anyway and you're not going to sow any, you're not going to have the blessing of gathering the harvest. But if you're sowing some seed in the morning and some seed in the evening, Just a little bit here and a little bit there casting your bread upon the water. It'll return after many days You may have the opportunity to see What one little testimony what your witness your example what it meant to somebody else. Oh How necessary? That we follow that kind of a pattern of God's kingdom today furthermore, I believe that growth can be encouraged through prayer and Isaiah says give him no rest and establish and make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. He's talking about us calling upon the Lord with such importunity. We just don't give up. We say Lord, we need thy blessing. Rain down the showers in their seas and we're desperate for it. We need thy presence, the anointing of thy spirit in all that we undertake to do. Lord, establish and make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. How many times are we ready to pray like that? When Jesus gave that lesson about the widow that went to the unjust judge and said, sir, avenge me my adversary, we find that that judge finally granted the request, not because he was a good man and not because he respected the woman and not because he feared God, but because of her importunity, because she kept coming and he wanted to get rid of her. And the conclusion was that God will avenge the cry of his elect that come up before him both day and night. We're not praying to an unjust judge. We're praying to the just judge of heaven and earth, our heavenly father. But do our prayers ascend unto him both day and night? Are we persistent? Are we continuing in prayer? Are we praying for a great blessing in his church and kingdom in this day? Even as I'm sure most of you in this audience tonight have continued in some measure at least to pray for your governor. It would be very easy to feel a very strong burden about the matter in the beginning of his efforts. And then as time goes on to neglect to pray for him. Our prayers for our leaders, for our country, for our church, for our brethren, for our neighbors, for all of those that need help, need to be a consistent thing. Give him no rest, either day or night, to establish and make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. Furthermore, I think that growth can be encouraged by expecting it. If you don't expect growth, you're not going to get ready for it. There's probably not going to be any because you don't expect it. You know the psalmist said, open thy mouth wide and I will fill it. That mother bird goes out and pulls a worm out of the ground to bring to those little baby birds in the nest. You think she has to hunt to find an open mouth? Have you ever looked at those little birds in that nest, and every mouth in there is wide open, ready, waiting in expectation. Oh, if God's little children had their mouths wide open today by faith, expecting, anticipating a blessing. If we were going to church, not just because it's our duty to be there, but because we're expecting something. I can't wait to get there to see what great things the Lord has in store for us today. To see what subject matter may be on the preacher's mind. I've been praying that the Lord would direct his mind and burden him and give him something that would be a benefit for the honor and glory of the Savior. Gentiles, and there was among Israel the married wife. Sing in anticipation of that great day. Enlarge the place of thy tent. Let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitation. Spare not. Lengthen thy cords and strengthen thy stakes. Enlarge the place of thy tent. Some of our people might get a little nervous when you start even using words like that. Enlarge, grow, expand. Wait a minute, wait a minute. That's not language for us old backers. It ought to be. ought to be. Think about some of the spiritual revivals that occurred when our forefathers were first traveling, even in the pioneer days, and didn't have the comforts of life that you and I enjoy today. But they had some power, as the Lord meted out great blessing in that time that they went forward sowing the seed. As he says, to enlarge the place of thy tent, he says also to lengthen thy cord and strengthen thy stakes. You know, too many times if we find the stake of divine truth written down, instead of us lengthening our cord to fit it, we get in the mind that it would be best to move the stake. We're going to adjust it just a little bit. I had a little experience with a tent some years ago. Before I came along to the Old Baptist, I held several meetings in a tent, and I discovered that I needed help when it came to putting a tent up. I mean, when the ground is absolutely baked and dry in the summertime, and you're trying to drive down a pretty good-sized tent stake, I was glad that I had a deacon brother back in that day that was a powerful stake driver. I mean, when he was there, there wasn't any problem. He could put them right where they needed to go. I was off on a trip once and he wasn't with us. And those of us trying to put the tent up that day were doing the best we could, but there wasn't anybody who could swing that sledgehammer like he did. We finally hit one spot there. It was so hard, I said, there's no way we're going to ever get the stake in. I know where it's supposed to go, because I've been watching the tents put up and up, and I've been told if you don't put the stakes where they belong, you can have trouble. But I don't see anything else to do. We'll just move the stakes this time and move over here to where the ground's a little softer. Sure enough, that night there came a terrible storm. We had a little fellow that stayed in the tent, tried to watch it. When that storm came, it began to draw up those ropes, and the place where we had to put the stakes, where they belong, it just popped them out of the ground one after another, and the whole side of that tent fell in on that little brother, and he had to go to the hospital and have his ribs tied up with all the pain and misery he was in. We discovered from that experience that it just doesn't work And you try to move the stakes to accommodate what's easiest for you. When you get over here on the soft ground, when you get over here where it suits my notion, you need to lengthen your cord to reach the stake. And if we find that our thoughts and our attitudes and our walk is not in harmony with the divine states, the divine principles of the year, instead of trying to change the principle, we need to lengthen the cord to reach the state. He says, enlarge the place of thy habitation. See, that speaks of growth. That's not talking about people just taking an indifferent, complacent attitude and saying, well, this is all you can expect in this day. They're looking for something. Growth to be desired What are you doing? To assist in the spiritual growth of the Lord's Church Are you using your gift? So I don't know if I've got one if you're a child of God, I believe you do Gave some one talent some five But too many times the person with the one talent does just exactly what that individual did of whom Jesus spoke. They bury it. They say, well I haven't got just a little talent. If I've got any at all, I don't want to lose it, so I just keep it to myself. I don't know very much, so I dare not tell anybody what I believe. In fact, I don't know if anybody really want to hear me. I just kind of keep it to myself. But if you want to see growth in your own life and in the lives of those that you influence and in the life of the Lord's Church, you need to use what God has given you. You need to tell what great things He has done for you. Grow spiritually. We need to grow as far as learning what the book really says, not just the letter of it, but the message of it, how it suits our case, how it applies to us. Growing in love. Love for Christ, first of all, to love the Lord our God with all our mind, heart, soul, and strength, and then our neighbor as ourselves. This is the real test of whether or not you're growing spiritually. How much do you love Jesus Christ? Do you love Him above everything else? Do you love Him more tonight than you've ever loved Him before? That's really all that counts. is magnifying his name, obeying him. Seek ye first the kingdom of God. Let a man deny himself, take up his cross and follow Jesus. Are you growing, growing in self-denial, growing in love? Ah yes, the psalmist has spoken here of growth that is positive and beautiful. The righteous shall flourish, not just survive, but flourish like a palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age. They shall be fat and flourish." Now sometimes the term fat is used in the scripture to speak of the complacency of God's people when they become indifferent. But here it speaks of being fat from a standpoint of being spiritually prosperous. It talks about the palm tree. Have you ever seen some of those palm trees that are big and fat, they're strong, they're able to stand the fierce winds that may blow upon them? It says that the righteous shall flourish and be as the palm tree, and still in old age they'll still be flourishing. Somebody may be saying tonight, well, I know what you're saying is right, Preacher. I'm in favor of growth, and I pray these young people be blessed to grow, but I'm too old to talk about growing. Nothing much I can do now. My life's almost spent. There's nothing I can do worthwhile. No, this says even unto old age. You can still be growing and flourishing in spiritual things to show that the Lord is upright, he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. Growth. Growth is viewed in this text as being positive, as being desirable. How is it in your life? Are you growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? How beautiful to observe? Growth In the lives of others To see the evidences of grace to see the fruit of the Spirit You know the Lord who keeps this vineyard, has his own way of dealing with this matter of growth. It says, every branch that beareth fruit, he purges it. Isn't that strange? Looks like if it's bearing fruit, he'd leave it alone. But he doesn't. He loves his people so much that he wants them to grow to their full potential and bear an abundance of fruit. So the one that's buried fruit, he begins to purge. He takes out the pruning vine and begins to cut off some of those dead branches and cut us back through afflictions, through trials, by humbleness, bringing us down to know how weak we are that we find our strength in him. And how do we react? And the Lord starts using the pruning knife, what do you say? That's wonderful, Lord. I know that there's a good end in view. We generally say, Lord, go just as easy as possible on me. I know afflictions have to come. I know that burdens must be moored. I know that heartaches must be experienced. But oh, Lord, I can't bear much. Make it easy. Make it easy on me. We'll sometimes get way down in the valley, and we say okay, Lord. I'm ready to come back up now I've learned my lesson, but we haven't we thought we thought we'd hit bottom But the next day we found out there was a knot under that We still had to go down a little deeper Because, you see, the thing that really gets in the way of our spiritual growth is this old carnality that's within us, because we have such a desire to please self. And Jesus said that if we're going to serve him, we have to deny self. We must do everything possible to keep from putting self on the cross. So this husbandman, this one who keeps the vineyard, takes out his knife of affliction, and he begins to purge, and he begins to prune. But you think back over your experience of the long life journey, where have you learned some of the most significant lessons that you've ever learned? Has it not been in the deeps of the valley? Has it not been when you realized that there was no other friend to whom you could turn? No one who could rescue you, no one who could help you, no one who could heal your broken heart, but Jesus Christ himself. And when you've come through an experience like that, when it seemed that your heart was broken beyond repair, but the Lord comforted you, when it seemed like your trouble was so severe you couldn't get through it, but you survived, and you learned some things that you could never have learned anywhere else, what are you supposed to do about it? Tempt it. Share it. Give it away. Because that's the design of the Lord. He purges us, not because he despises us, but because he loves us. And because he would have us to bring forth abundant fruit. When you pass through the valley, don't you want to talk to somebody that's been there? Don't you like to read the writings of some of these old patriarchs that knew what it was to go down into Baptist Vale? Would you like to know that even a man like Jeremiah got down and said, my hope has perished? And all but gave it up, but the next verse describes his joy in saying, but this I recall to mind, it's of the Lord's mercies that were not consumed. As God dealt with that old prophet to teach him how weak he was, he blessed him to record some things that we can feed on. The psalmist that was blessed to write the text that we use tonight, and said after the Lord had dealt with him, even as a result of his sin, then will I teach transgressors the way I'm going to teach others what I now have learned. And if we're filling that role in that place in life, We will be growing ourselves, and our influence will have a positive effect on those around us. I realize that seed can be sown, and labor can be put forth, but the Lord must give the increase, and we must never forget that. But all my friends, if we are praying and seeking his face, We may yet realize a growth in our own life and in the Kingdom of God that we never thought possible. God's on the throne, and he's able to bless us abundantly for the honor of his name. The Lord be with you.