Well, that was good, wasn't it? Brother Ben was testifying a while ago, and he was talking about the Gospel. He said that people have muddied it up. And that's true. The Gospel is very simple. But I thought what he said, which is also true, There's too many nowadays have moneyed it up. Amen. Amen. They've learned how to make a good living, and they don't even preach a true gospel. Amen. And I'm telling you, God help us. Amen. I'll be honest with you, I really kind of intended tonight to preach out of the book of Luke, chapter number 15. And you know that the majority of that chapter is a parable that's got three divisions. One is the sheep, and then the other one's the silver, and the other one's the sun. And I started to preach about that woman and that one piece of silver. And a few weeks ago, the Lord began to deal with my heart. I preached a message out of that, and I preached on the night Mama tore the house apart. And I compare that to that lost silver is that lost sinner. And that woman is a seeking servant. And can I tell you something? It amazes me the things that we get aggressive about. Amen. I mean, you can go into a restaurant, and you say one thing about politics, and Lord, I'm telling you, everybody's all fired up and wants to talk and fight and tell their side and give their solution. It's about like in our town, we've got a Hardee's there in town. I don't care. I guess they open it at 4.30, I think. By 5 o'clock, there'll be 10 and 12 men and women sitting over in the corner, gumming their biscuits and gravy, chewing on their sausage and biscuit, and solving the world's problems. And, I mean, really, if you just listen to them, I mean, we could fix the world in just a matter of moments, amen? Everybody's got a solution, amen? But a lot of folks don't want to do it God's way. Amen. And I'll tell you something, I've come to this understanding long enough in life to figure this out. We're going to either do it God's way or we're going to waste a whole lot of time. Amen. Amen. Take your Bibles, if you would, tonight. Go to the book of 1 Chronicles, chapter number 4. First Chronicles chapter 4, it's been a good week, been good to be here and it's always good to be here at Pleasant Valley Church. Thank you for your faithfulness to the meeting and thank you for being in your place and your sacrifice. And I hadn't said nothing all week. Pastor told me I could, and I just hadn't taken the time to do it. But I have got our CDs set up outside and our USBs. I've got USBs now for everything, every one of our CD projects. And if you want any of those, just see me after the service before I pack them up. All of our CD and music sales, it all goes to help our Hands Across the Nation work. We've got one more project that we're going to do this year as soon as I can get back home. I'm supposed to be home on, I think, the 11th, and I'm going to try to have it done by that weekend. I've got gift boxes that we're mailing out to 10 different missionary families. They're kids, not the parents. I did this last year. We did it for the kids. We send the kids a gift card, and of course, I'm a granddaddy, and so there's a box of candy that goes along with it, amen? Enough candy to rock Evertooth out of their head, amen? And I don't even feel bad about it. And so anyhow, so we'll try to finish that up, get those mailed out so those families will all be able to receive those. I think this year, last year it was close to 40. This year with the 10 families that we're helping, I think we've got 34, 35 kids. And so that'll be our last Hands Across the Nation project this year. And you have a part of that. And as you mail those checks out on a monthly basis and help us and support us. And so thank you so much. And I will say this, I know you have prayed and asked God to give us wisdom and direction and we were able to get a newer vehicle that'll be able to pull the trailers. and the things that we need to do, and now that door is open, now that I can start carrying and transporting Scripture. Brother Tim Gibson, up in... Thank you. It's like having my wife here, amen? But you sure don't look as good as her, amen? In Huntsville, Missouri. And her beard's not as developed as yours is. But anyhow, he's opened the door for us to be able to help them transport scripture. And then they're close to home, the school where our grandkids go, they have a printing industry there. And the man that's over there, his name's Brother H.B. Carney. Brother Carney called me the other day, and he said, I need 50 boxes of of Bibles delivered to a church in Texas. Can you take them?" And I said, I said, Preacher, I'm sorry, I can't. And I said, but if you'll help me pray, I said, I will be able to. And so now I'm able to start helping them as well as make these transportations and help these churches to alleviate some of the expense and stuff like that, and to help give it to them in a little bit more of an expedited manner. And I want to chime in on what Brother Jonathan said. Brother Jonathan made that statement. And y'all know, Hands Across the Nation is based on Galatians 6, 10, as we therefore have opportunity. Let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. There are opportunities there. And I'm going to say this, because it's kind of what I'm going to preach to you about tonight. Don't look around and say, well, I think we're doing enough. Can I tell you something? The death of a church is complacency. And I want to tell you something. Like I said, I've not been in it long. I've only been preaching 34 years, but I can tell you this right now. Every church that I have known through the years that have got content and complacent on God, most of them are not even in existence now, and if they are, they had to convert to some other non-biblical entity to be able to survive. Oh, you might. And so, yeah, so don't ever look, don't ever, don't ever set you a cap off place and say we've reached our goal, now we're done, man. Because it's a very dangerous thing, amen. And so it's good to be here, and I appreciate you, appreciate your church, appreciate you loving us, loving our family, and praying for us, and praying that God helps us and does, and he's done good to us. I mean, he's been very good to us, amen. Good to see a very long time friend, Brother Seth Johnson. And I'm telling you, I really, I'm really, really, really, really feeling old. I'm just going to tell you. I knew Brother Seth's family before there was Brother Seth. What year were you born? 96, oh yes. Me and my wife had been married six years. But I can remember him and the youth meetings there at Victory Baptist Church. Mom and Daddy loved God, still serving God, still faithful, still doing what God called them to do all those years ago. I sure am thankful. Because sometimes you feel like there's more horror stories than there are victory stories. But him sitting on that pew right there is just a reminder that there are still some that have given themselves to stay faithful to the Lord. Amen. And I sure am. I was picking at him. I told him a lot. I showed him Miss Danette. It was last week or the week before. His wife had posted a picture of the of them and the kids and all that kind of stuff. I said, I said, I said, look at that right there. And she said, you got to be kidding me. And I said, no. And I said, don't that make you feel old? And she didn't talk to me for three days. I'm kidding. I say that she didn't talk to me for three days after she told me to shut up. So anyhow. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Maybe I'm kidding. I might be kidding. I might not be kidding. Anyhow, we're to the point now that we don't talk to each other. We just accept it as normal because we can't hear good anymore. She said something the other day. Used to, we'd say stuff like this, I told you that. No, you didn't tell me that. And then she'd say, I told you that. I'd say, no, you didn't tell me that. But now we're at the point where maybe you did tell me that, and I didn't hear it. Amen. That's kind of where we are. Amen. Take your Bible and stand up with you, if you would, to 1 Chronicles chapter 4. And please pray for us tomorrow. I've got to try to leave fairly early in the morning. I've got about 9 or 10 hours of driving to do tomorrow to be in Georgia. Lagrange, Georgia, and then I will be Monday through Wednesday. I'll be in Carrollton, Georgia, and then I'm going home for the holidays. And so you pray for us. It's a wonderful time to get to be with my family and to get to celebrate and get to be in my church some. But also in the same vein, it's a hard time for an evangelist because whenever you're home, everybody loves it. except your bank account, amen. And so anyhow, so that's the reason why, that's the reason why the support that we have and our personal support to our family is very crucial during those winter months, amen. All right, let's read these two verses and then I'm gonna preach to you what the Lord's put on my heart tonight. Verses nine and 10, these will be familiar verses. I wanna preach to you tonight about a man that very little in the Bible is mentioned about him. Matter of fact, only one other place will you find his name mentioned and identified, and I think it's only maybe one verse, and there's two verses here. But in these two verses, we get a depiction of a man that we see two things about his life. Number one, we see his character, but then number two, we see his conduct. And can I tell you something? The Bible said this, a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches. And I know I've said it already this week, that's the reason why I'm still old school mentality and some people tell me I need to catch up. I'm just not changing. Can I say something? If you are a member of this church, Brother Jonathan, y'all understand this, because you leave and you go travel, and everywhere I go, I am in that church, I'm in this church this week to preach this revival, but I am a representation of Lighthouse Baptist Church in Wartburg, Tennessee. Amen, everything I do bears a semblance upon my home church, amen. And just like you, as you go about your day, as you do your duties in place to place. The pastor and I have been out a few times this week and we've been places and I stopped at a roadside vendor up there, was getting some stuff. was walking away, and he hollered, he said, come here, come here, come here. He said, here, and he handed me a bag of pork skins. He said, here, give them, is that Brother Andy over there? And I said, yeah. He said, well, give them to him, and tell him, I said, have a good day. Amen. You know what that meant? There are two things. Number one, that meant that that man knew him, and that man liked him. Amen, amen. And I want to say this, sometimes we have this depiction in our mind that it's only important that the pastor have a good testimony. But can I say this, that you and I, as members of the local assembly, we ought to understand that we represent not only Christ when we leave this place, but we represent this place. Amen. The Bible said this, in verse number 9 and verse number 10, the Bible said, and Jabez was more honorable than his brethren. And his mother called him Jabez, saying, because I bear him in sorrow. And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, O that thou wouldst bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldst keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me. And look at this last statement about Jabez's life. This is the clearest depiction of his life we have. And God granted him that which he requested. We've got a story of a man by the name of Jabez and a very minimal picture of his life, but yet a very clear picture of his life. And I want to make a comparison to him and to you and I and to us as the body of the church And I want to preach to you on this thought tonight, and just let me build a few things and I'll give it to you. I want to preach to you on this thought, on this. Are we going to go and grow or are we going to stay and play? Are we going to go and grow or are we going to stay and play? Father, I love you, and Lord, I'm thankful to be in this place, and I'm honored, God, this week to be able to stand in this pulpit. I do not take it lightly that a man of God would entrust me from Sunday morning until Friday night to stand in the place that you've given him authority over and leadership in. And God, I'm thankful for the people that have come and assembled, and I know some have had to work, and things have providentially hindered people from being here, but to the best of most people's ability, they've been faithful, and Lord, I sure am thankful for it. Now, God, I pray, as I prayed every night that you'd take this service and you'd speak to our hearts, you'd help us, And I pray for this church, God, that you would continue to strengthen them, help them. God, grow them. And God, I've said it every night, so here I am again. I want you to do just what Jabez asked, enlarge their coast. And then God, whenever you do, help them to be faithful over what you entrust them to. God, I pray over the Ellis family. God, I know they're fighting sickness, and God, they gotta pack up, they gotta get in that van, they gotta leave for several weeks. Tomorrow, God, they need your touch, they need your help. I pray whatever Breanna's fighting, that you would touch her. Tonight, that fever would break, it would dissipate, and she'd not have to deal with it anymore. God, she'd be able to go and do what you've gifted and talented her to do, and touch this family as they go and preach and sing. God, I pray over Brother Andy, Miss Wendy, I pray you'd touch them. God, touch their family. I pray a hedge of protection right about them. And I pray you'd guard them, God. I pray you'd set guard around them. God, bless these families of this church, the visitors that have come and supported this meeting. God, I pray you'd touch everyone. And God, you help us tonight. Lord, we need you. We desperately need you. God, I'm telling you, I'm telling you, you're enough. You are enough. God, I pray sometimes in our flesh we try to add to and we try to supplement, God, but we don't have to. You are sufficient for the needs of our life. Now, Father, you help us, I ask it in Jesus' name. Amen, amen. You can be seated. You'll find the Word of God. I've said that I've given you a very clear picture, a very minimal picture. but a very clear picture into the life of a man by the name of Jabez. Let me say this just in a way of introduction. There's three things we'll identify. Number one, we see his position. His position is this, that he was more honorable than his brethren. Now that word honorable, if you take a good old I mean, it's just hard to do it, but if you take an old 1828 Noah Webster dictionary and look up the word honorable, you'll find it means this. It means to be one of dignity. It means to be one of great character. But then if you'll read on in that dictionary, it means this. It means to be, not only is that you're standing, but in and of others, when you're honorable, it means to be respected. It means to be honest. And here's a good one. It means to be without hypocrisy. But then it means this, it means to not be disgraced. So there's a lot about the word honorable that we find, but the one factor that we find about Jabez being written that God saw fit to allow to be recorded is God wants us to understand he was a man of honor, he was honorable. The number two, we see not only his position, but then we gotta examine his past a little bit. And it amazes me how quickly his past is identified, because I believe this, I believe that, thank God, I'm glad that he did not allow his past to overshadow his present, amen? And the Bible said this, that, and his mother called his name Jabez, and the word Jabez does mean sorrow, because she bare him with sorrow. And so we see not only his position, but we see his past, and his name means sorrow. He was a place, a point of sorrow in the wife and mother. But I want to say this, there's not a person in this room breathing air that hasn't got a past. Can I tell you something? I said it earlier this week, if you knew me now, like God knows me, you probably wouldn't want to have no fellowship with me. And the same thing if I knew you like God knows you, I'd probably want to be cynical and critical. Somebody say amen right there. Why? Because the fact of the matter is this, we have a sin nature, we fail, we're frail, we're weak, and we fall to temptation, and sometimes we allow Satan to get the advantage, and he only gets the advantage because we give place to the devil in our lives. But Jabez did not let the fact that his entire beginning meant sorrowful. He chose that he'd live a life where he could be identified, and I'll say this, not by others, not by himself, but by others that he was a man of honor and that it was honorable. But then we see his priorities. Number three, we see this, not only his position, he was more honorable than his brother in his past. His name was Jabez because his mom bore him in sorrow, but then we see his priorities, and the Bible said this, because I bear him with sorrow, but in verse number 10, the first part, and Jabez called on the God of Israel. Can I say something? Jabez obviously had a very clear understanding that, brother Ben, that God's enough. Amen. because he didn't ask anybody else. He did not ask anybody else. Can I tell you something? It amazes me, and it took me a few years when I began to first start in evangelism over where Brother Sennett's from. I preached for his grandfather and his father over there, but I preached before I ever went on the road in full time. His granddaddy had me over there, and I was just so young and so ignorant, and God was having to teach me so many things. But it didn't take me long to find out that if I put my confidence in men, I was going to be sorely let down. Now, I'll tell you something, you're looking at a problem. Listen, you all have never heard me ditch on God's people. I believe God's people are the best people, amen? The clothes on my back, the shoes on my feet, everything I have is because of the kindness and the graciousness of God's people. I filled my vehicle up today, and it's only the second time I've had to fill that thing up, and it took my breath just a little bit, amen? but I filled it up. You know why I did, Brother Jonathan? Because of the goodness of God's people. Amen? Do you know why I'll travel down the road and I'll be able to do what God's called me to do? Because of God's people. But this is the fact of the matter is, there's nothing wrong with understanding that God's people are good, but can I tell you something? If we ever find anybody, whether they're good or bad, and put more confidence in them than we put in God Himself, then we are setting ourself up for failure. Amen. Bible said this over in 1st John chapter 5, this is the confidence that we have in Him. That if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us. And if we know he heareth us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we've desired of him. Can I tell you something? There's nothing wrong with asking a buddy. I've got pastors, local supporting pastors, and I've got a prayer team of people that when I have a burdensome prayer request, I drop a text message to them, and they've given themselves and committed themselves to pray over situations in my life. But can I tell you something? I don't talk to anybody. before I talk to God. Amen. And Jabez had his priorities right. Jabez understood if he accomplished anything, he understood that his honorable character didn't come from him, but it come from a God that was good to him. There's four things he identifies here in his prayer, and I want to look at those quickly. Then I'll move on to the last little thought that I've got, and then we'll be finished tonight. The Bible said this, and Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, I don't even know, really and seriously, other than the Lord Jesus Christ, this is probably the clearest picture that we have inside the personal prayer life of another individual in the entire Bible. Now, in John 17, if you want to call something the Lord's Prayer, in John 17, it's the Lord's Prayer. You know, not our Father which art in heaven. That's his example of prayer. But if you want to hear the Lord's Prayer of John 17, But other than Jesus Christ himself, we've probably got just no more of a clear picture inside of a man's personal prayer than right here, even with Paul on the ship. The Bible said this after the shipmaster and the owner didn't believe Paul and did what they wanted to do. He just disappeared. He went to the prayer place. We don't even know what he said. We know a little bit of what he said. But all I know is this, whatever he said got the attention of God. And I mean out of 276 men, not a single one of them lost a hair off their head. Somebody say amen right there. I was in church the other day in a youth meeting down in Tennessee, in 10 Mile, Tennessee. I don't know why they call it 10 Mile. It ain't even one mile wide, amen? But 10 Mile, Tennessee, and it was so many people there. Brother Brady Rochester and his family were there. They had to sit in the choir, and I had to sit up behind the piano. And anyhow, I was sitting there, and there's a man sitting next to me, which I thought was kind of odd whenever the woman on the piano, she had hair hanging off her back. And he reached up, and while they're praying, and he moved, it caught my attention, yes, I was looking, amen? And he grabbed that hair off her back, and I thought, leave it alone. And he took it, and he dropped it on the floor. They quit praying, I nudged him, I said, do not drop any more of those on the floor, hand them to me next time, amen? What's bad is he didn't get it for about five minutes. And then all of a sudden, Brother Brady and his family's up singing, and he goes, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. And I looked over at him like he had four heads. I said, freak, what are you doing over there, amen? He said, I just got that hair thing. That's why I'm bald. I'm working with idiots, amen? J-Best said this. Four things he asked for, and he called on the God of Israel. This is what he said. He said, thou wouldst bless me indeed. Can I tell you something? This is the fact of the matter. You and I didn't understand. Jabez wasn't asking for deep pockets and his cupboards to be full, his coffers to be full, and his silos to be full. But Jabez was asking God to give him what he needed to do what he wanted him to do. The Bible said in Ephesians 1, 3, it said, "'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, "'who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings "'in heavenly places in Christ.'" Can I tell you something? God is not against blessing his people. Now, I want to tell you something. I am 135% against this prosperity gospel that's being preached. And I want to say this. I used to point the gun and shoot that, and all I hit was the Charismatics. But now when I shoot that, I'm hitting independent Baptists. Because, like I said a while ago, they've moneyed the waters. Amen, amen. I was in a church just the other day, and there was a fella told me, he said, there was a man spoke to him, and he said, preacher, I love coming here, and y'all are always, it's great to be here. He said, but you're gonna have to start doing more for me if I come back. Amen. Independent fundamental. I'm not talking about Rod Parsley and Benny Hinn and all that crowd that we've been shooting at for years. If I call his name, some of y'all know him well. But the fact of the matter is this, it's become a money thing. It's not, hey, I need this, I need this to help me to extend my gospel reach. No, I need this for me. Jabez said it, and this is how I dealt with this. He said, give me. He said, bless me indeed. But the reason why he's asking for these blessings is because that's the only way he's going to be able to do what God's called him to do. He can't do it with himself. He doesn't have the power to muster it up. And I want to say this, I thank God for my support. Y'all are one of my supporting churches, and I thank God for my supporting churches. that I call this church by name because I feel like I'm obligated, and I don't do it because I'm obligated. I do it because of the commitment you've made to support us and to help us, and so I've made a commitment to support you and help you, but can I tell you something? You listen to me. I understand. I'm thankful. I do what I do because of the giving and the graciousness of God's people, but you mark it down. I know where my resource is, and it's much higher than a church or a congregation. Amen. He said, give me. Then number two, look what he said. Verse number 10, he said this. He said that thou wouldst bless me indeed. And look at these conjunctions. You know what these conjunctions are. They're adding thoughts. They're building a foundation and adding thoughts together. And then he said this, and enlarge my coast. Number one, he said, give me. He said, bless me indeed. But then number two, he said, grow me. He said, enlarge my coast. I want to ask you a question. Don't just jump up and holler, amen, because it fits right here. But when's the last time you really asked God to give you more to do? Now, I'm going to be honest with you. By nature, most of us are living our lives trying to figure out what we can go through a day and get by with not doing. If I can put it off till tomorrow, amen, Somebody said, man, you go home, get you some rest. I said, that's a pleasant thought. But when I go home, everything that I've had to let go while I've been gone is still there waiting on me. I have been earnestly seeking the Lord and asking God to empower my wife to get all that Christmas trees put up before I get home. I have prayed for a supernatural touch from heaven, amen. I pray she gets up in the morning, amen, and I mean, it's like the flash has just moved inside, amen. You say, why? Because I'm telling you, I'm dreading. I mean, if you just put one tree up, it'd be okay. We put eight up last year. I said, it's like a forest inside our house, amen. And so going home and resting is a pleasant thought, but there's responsibilities there. But can I tell you something? I don't want to let a day go by that I'm not looking for, Brother Andy, another opportunity to do more for God than what I'm doing right now. But Seth, you've been doing this long enough to understand the road life is wearisome, it's hard, the hours are long, and we don't do what we do because it's free from any kind of obstacles or hindrances or anything like that. There's the parts of that that are taxing and wearisome. I mean, you get a vehicle going and it'll tear back up. You get this fixed and it'll tear back up. I mean, there's always something going on, but the reality of it is sometimes the temptation comes whenever the adversity's there that we start saying, I tell you what we do, we just need to put her in neutral, amen? We just need to put her in neutral, and we just coast along a little bit till we sort of get caught up a little bit. Can I tell you something? J. Best looked at what he was doing, and he thanked God for it, and he was praising God for it. He asked God, he told him, he said, God, I want you to give me. He said, I need your blessings. I need provision to do what you call me to do. And he said, then when you make those provisions, give me more to do, and then I'm gonna have to have some more blessings to get it done. Amen. I heard Brother Earl Hughes say this years ago, and I've never forgot it. He said, Christians are like water, always looking for the path of least resistance. And that's so true. The Bible said this, Psalm 92, 12, he said, the righteous shall grow like a palm tree. And he said, he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. You say, what's the significance of that? Well, number one, the palm tree, we find the palm tree is a picture and a type of strength. and the cedars of Lebanon, they're a picture and type of stability. Can I tell you something? If God grows you and gives you more to do, he'll strengthen you and help you give you the strength you need to be stable enough to fulfill it. Number one, give me, bless me indeed. Number two, grow me, enlarge my coast. But then number three, look what he said right here. In verse number 10, he said, that thou would enlarge my coast, he said, and that thine hand might be with me. Number one, he said, give me, bless me indeed. Number two, he said, grow me, enlarge my coast. Then number three, he said, guide me. that thy hand might be with me. And we talked about this, Brother Jonathan, we talked about this, me and you and Brother B and Miss Missy last night. And Brother Seth, you've experienced this, I'm sure. It amazed me when I stepped out, when I wasn't out on the road full-time and living by faith and all that kind of stuff, nobody cared, but then when I stepped out and did it, everybody had advice. And can I tell you something? I'm going to go back to what I said last night. Sometimes I think people really had good intentions. But when it all comes down to it, when it's all said and done, I've got to do what God tells me to do. Amen. And I'm thankful I had a preacher, and I'm going to say this again, because I think I had a preacher that taught me that, listen, if somebody comes up, wants to give you advice, just listen to them, be kind. And he said, if you take one thing from what they say, you've bettered yourself. He said, but if you can't say nothing they've said, he said, tell them thank you and walk on. because when it all comes down to it, I'm going to stand before God with how I've responded to His voice. Amen. And I was very blessed to have a pastor that said, I want to tell you something. He said, Brother Stacey, you do what God tells you to do, even if I don't understand it. That's what you call a pastor over the heritage and not a Lord over the heritage. Amen. And I'll be honest with you. I said it scared me to think about doing something that my pastor didn't understand. But whenever he gave me that liberty, because he said this, he said, God's going to speak to you in a way you'll understand. You follow him. I said, yes, sir. Can I make a statement right here? How much trouble would we stay out of if we just yielded to his leadership? Psalm said this in Psalm 31. He said, for thou art my rock, my fortress. He said, therefore, for thy name's sake, lead me and guide me. Can I tell you something? I don't think the Lord fussed at you. If you tell him, Lord, I don't want to give my ear to anybody but you. Amen. I tell young couples that are looking for a spouse, I tell them this all the time. I said, you get the ear of God, and God will give you the heart of a mate. And I said, then when God gives you the heart of a mate, he's gonna also tell you, that's right right there. Because he's got your ear, and you've got his. Psalm 73 verse 24, he said this, he said, And I'm not trying to be funny here when I say this, but it amazes me what idiots people will listen to nowadays. I mean, and we've all took our pot shots from the pulpit as preachers against Oprah and Dr. Field and all the, and I mean, somebody can come out with a new, modern, fangled way and then, boom, everybody's just like a catfish with a hook in their mouth, just they bite it. But I want to say this. The Holy Ghost had to really deal with my heart about this. In a lot of people's defense, a lot of people are desperate. A lot of people just need some relief and they need some help. I've shared it with you all week, I've talked to you. We've got some desperate situations in our life right now. If my wife and I, if we didn't have the knowledge of the Word of God and have been taught through the years like we have been, I could see how easy it would be to want to gravitate to something that looks like a quick fix. Amen. Maybe I'm getting a little soft and tender in my old age. But then sometimes people are just stupid. I mean, people try to give you solutions and not even factor God inside of it. That's dumb. I think, Brother Jonathan, by him what, all things what? Consist. He's going to have to have his part in it for it to work and be right. Jabez, He said, Lord, I want you to give me, I want you to grow me. He said, I want you to guide me. And I want to say something about guidance. And the thing with guidance is it's not the fact that Christ doesn't want to guide us, but it's the fact that we sometimes are not willing to submit ourselves unto Him. I'm gonna do it again. I didn't convince myself I wasn't gonna do it, but I'm gonna do it again. And we all use that word, and I'm not telling you to rip it out of the songbook. I love that song, I surrender all to Jesus. I surrender all to him, I freely give. I love it. But you won't find in your King James Bible where we've been called to surrender anything. It's not there. Brother Seth, I made this statement the other day, and as a generation of fundamental Bible-believing Baptists, we learned how to force people to do things, and then when they didn't have our domination to keep them accountable to that, they went another way. But yet, if they had submitted themselves to God, it wouldn't have been a force of men, it would have been a will of themselves. And that's what the surrender is. Surrender is something that I force you to do. I mean, in all seriousness, I was picking at Trenton earlier this week. I said, man, you've grown a foot since last year. And, you know, ain't no kid, little kids, they all love to hear that, man, you're bigger, you're stronger, you know, and all that kind of stuff. But in all seriousness, if I was to pull Trenton up here, really, him compared to me, I could make him do anything I wanted him to do. He's here, I'm here. I could force him. But this is the issue. No army that's ever fought a battle that had to wave the white flag of surrender wanted to. You know what the white flag of surrender is in a military stance especially? It's a last-ditch effort to save what life is remaining. That's all it is. to try to stop them from killing them. Do you think there's ever been an army that with pride and joy waved the white flag and said, we give up? No. Really, in all seriousness, surrender is not a pleasant thing on the military stance. It's not. That's why in His Word, He doesn't tell us to surrender ourselves to God. He tells us to submit ourselves to God. Surrender is an action that is forced upon us by the domination of a greater. But you know what submission is? Submission is an act of my will. And when I go to the feet of the Savior and I say, Lord, here's my life, because the fact of the matter is this, and I'm thankful I had people in my life that taught me that, because that's the reason why all those things that as God through the years has whittled on my life, and He's taken the chisel, and He's cut here, and He's filed here, and He's taken me to the potter's wheel, and He's molded here, and He's taken this little edge off, and He's taken that bump off, and you know the reason why all those things are still in my life? because those were placed there by the hands of my potter, not by the domination of some greater power. I got a friend of mine, one of our supporting pastors over in North Carolina that was very hard hit by the storm. Him and I were talking one day, and his wife is a potter. She throws pottery. And he said, whenever they're out, especially if they go over to Pigeon Forge or something like that, and he said, they're walking through them stores, and he said, he said, I watched Rachel, and he said, she'll go grab those pottery pieces, and she'll pick them up, and she'll look on the bottom of them, and he said, I got to noticing, Brother Ben, he said, I got to noticing she'd run her hand down in them. And finally, he said, one day, he said, I couldn't take it, he said, why in the world are you poking your hand down in there? She said, that's how I can tell whether it's a real piece of pottery or not. He said, what do you mean? She said, because on the inside hidden part of that pottery is where you feel the potter's fingerprints. They smooth them out on the outside, but they have to be on the inside because that's how the molding is done. And she said, and if I feel fingerprints on the inside, I know this is a real piece of pottery. And see, the reality of it is this, yours and my submission to God is not something we just do in an altar in front of everybody. It's a moment-by-moment, day-by-day, situation-by-situation, hour-by-hour, month-by-month, year-by-year thing. Amen. Amen. Because I'll be honest with you, I can guarantee you, Brother Andy's not going to be over knocking on my door at the cabin in the morning, saying, now you need to get up, get on down there, get up, get up, now get your truck packed, get on down there to LaGrange and his place. But see, there are fingerprints inside of me. that'll motivate me to get up and go. Amen. Number one, he said, give me. Number two, he said, grow me. Number three, he said, guide me. But can I tell you something? That guidance only comes through sincere submission. Then number four, I want to say this, look what he said. He said this, and he said that, thou wiltest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me. Number four, I want to say this, he said, guard me. He said, God, I need your help. And here I'm gonna go back to what we started with earlier this week. He said, God, would you put some protection around me? Can I tell you something? One of the most dangerous things in a young person's life is when they get filled with pride and think they can handle whatever comes their way. Amen. Amen. Because the reality of it is this. The Bible said it, and you've heard it for years, and we'll hear it again. Wherein you think you stand, you got to take heed, because that'll be the place that you fall. Amen. So you need to understand something. This is just your first go-around at life. Satan's been doing this a long time. And he's got tricks, and he's got traps, and in all seriousness, what's really bad about that is he hadn't changed his tactics a whole lot. Amen. It's just a new day, but it's the same old devil. Amen. Amen. Hey, I'll be honest, and I ain't being ugly, but I'm telling you, that's the reason why when I'm out on the road by myself and my bride's not with me, there's some safeguards I put in place that there's lines I don't cross. Amen. Amen. I had a pastor one time. I had a pastor one time. I was staying in their house, and I wasn't opposed to that. It's awkward. It's hard, but I did it. I get up at 3 o'clock in the morning, go take my shower, do my thing so I'm not in nobody's way. I come back, go back to bed. I got up about Whatever time, got ready, got dressed for church. I come out, sat down on the couch, waiting for the pastor. I was in their bedroom. They went to sleep in the basement. And I'm sitting there, and all of a sudden, here comes his wife up for church. Here comes his teenage daughter up for church. And I said, Where's the preacher? She said, Oh, he left two hours ago. I said, What? She said, Are you ready? I said, Yeah, I'm ready, because I think I'm fitting to kill that preacher when I get to church. So anyhow, so then his daughter piles in the back seat, and she said, Brother Stacey, you can ride up front with me. So here I pull up into the church parking lot, the pastor's wife driving me, sitting up in the front seat, King James. I got my Bible clutched to my chest like this right here. You say, what are you saying, Brother Stacy? I'm saying this. You don't give place to the devil. Amen. You don't give place to the devil. Some of you are fighting battles with things in your mind right now that the reason why you're fighting those battles is because you gave place to the devil. Amen. But if you won't ever give place to him, he won't have that ground to gain on you. We got to the church, and I said, Preacher, we need to talk. And I mean, it's hard to chew the preacher out that you flew halfway across the country to preach for, but I said, Preacher, don't ever do me that way again. He said, I ain't thinking nothing about it. I said, you probably don't. I said, but I can guarantee you everybody in your church ain't like you. And I said, I've given my life since I've been saved to build a testimony. And all it would take is one statement to cause doubt and shadow. Amen. Can I tell you something? You listen to me. That's the reason why our conduct, and I know everybody just, you know, they want this, what I call this hippie Christianity, just peace, love, joy, and flowers and buttercups and all that kind of stuff, but can I tell you something? Our conduct as Christians, that needs to be biblical. I'm not saying you got to be harsh and mean and cruel and all that kind of stuff, but I'm telling you what, I'm telling you, our conduct needs to represent and be becoming of a Christian. Amen. He said, guard me. Can I say this? Church, I want to ask you a question. This is the last night of revival meetings, scheduled meetings. I hope and pray to God the revival doesn't end. But I want to ask you a question. Do you want to go and grow? Or do you wanna just stay where you're at? I mean, I know Sunday, everybody roll in, we'll sing a few hymns. Sunday school teachers will teach. You'll still go through the routine. I mean, I preach places all the time, they just play in church. Amen? I mean, it's so scripted, God don't even have a part till the end chapter. Earlier this week, there's something I've done, I haven't done in a long time. But sometimes when I'm in a town, I'll find out where City Hall is. And I'll just go up to City Hall and pray for God to send revival to that town. I don't know who, I don't even know if y'all have a mayor. Y'all have a mayor? Ooh, y'all, Calico Rock got a mayor? Ooh, thank God. And I don't know who your sheriff, y'all got a sheriff? County, ugh. Well, there's somebody in jurisdiction or something like that. Deputy, stuff like that. And have you ever thought about this? Instead of criticizing your county leaders, have you ever thought about praying for them? Say, I don't hit a vein. I mean, some of y'all went to pray, and I didn't call for prayer. I mean, and I said this earlier this week, I know this is a small community, small town, everybody knows everybody's business, and everybody knows everybody's business, and then everybody knows, and some people will make up business about everybody. Welcome to small-town USA, amen? But I just went up there last night and pulled after I left church, just went up there and pulled, and if it hadn't have been 30-something degrees, I'd have got outside and done it, but I sat in my truck and prayed. I thought, God, this town needs revival. And what could God do in a community if the mayor got born again? What could God do in a community if the people who enforce law and order were born-again Christians? Amen. And I said, I don't know, I don't know, you know, in our little county, we got a, you know, a person who does this, a person who does that, and, you know, election time, everybody's like, I don't vote for them, they sorry's a day as long, their back's slid, and I mean, they're crooked as they are. But I thought, man, we're so quick to criticize. I wonder what would happen in our county if we were just quick to pray. Amen. You say, Preacher, what are you saying? I'm saying this. You gotta understand, if you want there to be difference, then be part of the change. But can I tell you something? A lot of people will choose to just stay and play. I wasn't gonna tell you, but I am. We had a revival meeting one time. Went for five weeks at our home church. And Sunday to Friday, Saturday was a prayer day. We met at the church, prayed on Saturdays. And I had meetings booked as an evangelist, and I was grieved because I wasn't going to get to be there. And I mean, in about a two-week time, Brother Jonathan, every meeting I had canceled, those five weeks. And I thought, God, help. I mean, I wanted to be at church, But I'm just going to be transparent. I know if I'm home that there's no financial income for my family. So I said, God, you're going to have to do something, and He did. Five weeks we went. And one night, I was in the altar praying. And I was asking God to work in our county and turn things around. And anyhow, the Holy Ghost spoke to my heart and said, That's a good idea. He said, why don't you take a group of folks from the church and y'all go up there to City Hall and pray. I was like, I just thought I'd pray right here. Just, you know, I mean, you know, you know. Cable lines run all the way to here to there too, amen. And I said, in my heart, in my heart, I didn't tell God no, but I just sort of thought, well, that wasn't God. So I went ahead and tried to pray for my county, my mayor, and all that kind of stuff. And I'll be honest with you, if you really want to get committed to it, what about getting their names and putting them on a prayer list? What about that? And so, anyhow, we got up at church, everybody's fellowshipping and all that kind of stuff, and all of a sudden, my pastor was standing there talking, and I started to leave. And the Holy Ghost said, You going to go ask your pastor if you can do it? And I thought, Oh, he's so busy talking to everybody and trying to do all this. I said, What I was trying to do is I was trying to get myself out of a hard place. And I even grabbed one of the kids and headed to the door. And the Holy Ghost never said a word, but he shamed me all at the same time. So anyhow, I told Ned, I said, I'll be right back. Go ahead. And I went over and I said, Preacher, I said, I really think, if it'd be all right with you, that we ought to get some people together. We ought to go up to City Hall, and we ought to get on the door there and pray for God to do a work in our town. See, I'd been quick to criticize everything I didn't like. But that day, God said, won't you be part of a change instead of just being part of a complaint? And my preacher looked at me, brother said, tears swelled up in his eyes. He said, dear God, brother Stacy, that's a wonderful idea. And I didn't mean right then. Brother Wendell, you know brother Doug, you and Miss Rose know brother Doug. He said, hey, we fixin' to go to City Hall if any of y'all wanna go with us. And everybody's like, City Hall? We're gonna go up to City Hall and pray for revival in our county. I think it was all said and done, about 15 of us went up there. I took the girls home and drove up there, and we all gathered there, and it had a little old walk-through thing, little glass windows and doors and all that kind of stuff. And we all got up there, and I backed in there, Brother Andy. I was just standing there and keeping my eyes to see who might come down the road or see us or something. Anyhow, brother Doug said, brother Stacy, you got anything you want to say? And I said, no. I said, I just want to say I'm sorry for being a complainer and not doing anything about it. He said, won't you lead us in prayer? Brother Andy, I started just to bow my head and pray. The Holy Ghost said, no, you get down. And I laid out, when I did, several other men did too, we laid out on our faces on the front porch of City Hall. God sent revival to our church five weeks. We saw God do some miraculous things. Things that scarred my life, I'm still affected by them today. See, the fact of the matter is this, we can stay and play, but it'd be a whole lot better to grow and to go. Let me say three things and I'm done. If we're going to do this, we're going to have to do it this way. If we're going to go and we're going to grow, three things have got to take place. Number one, this is what's got to happen. There's going to have to be a dismissal of the past. And I love you, church. You know I do, and I'm not being hard when I say what I'm fixing to say. Some of you will never be able to go on till you let go. And I don't want you to think I'm trying to preach myself, be myself better. Can I tell you something? Through the years of ministry, there's been some hard things that's happened. But you know what God taught me? If I don't let them go, I can't go on. Amen. You young people, listen to me. Sometimes when we preach like this, we think that just the adults fight that, but no. I'll be honest with you, if you just really want to know my heart, my heart's really leaning more towards you young people than anybody. You say, well, I've just had a short life. I know you have, but there are things that can happen in a short life. And I'm not going to go into detail and all that kind of stuff, because everything's on social media and Facebook and all that other stuff. And I wouldn't dare say anything that would be detrimental or harmful. But can I tell you something? I didn't get saved until I was 15. But in those 15 years, there were some things in my life that happened that I didn't realize until after I got saved. I had to forgive some people for some things. Amen. I had to get to a place, and some of the people I couldn't even talk to and ask for forgiveness and ask them to forgive me, but I had to be willing to let some things go. Are you listening to what I'm saying? I'm going to be simple, I'm going to be quick, but the reality of it is this right here. If you're tied to something that you can't go on from, you will not grow. You will not go any further. You will not grow until you deal with that thing. Amen. I don't know what it'd be. It could be a hundred different things, but I know this. God knows your heart, and you can't hide it from him. This is what Paul said to the church at Philippi. He said, "'Brethren, I count not myself to apprehend it, "'but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, "'and reaching forth unto those things which are before.'" You say, what did Paul have to forget behind him? He had to forget the guilt. that he had over killing the church. How would you like to go to bed every night being saved, knowing your way to heaven, and knowing the God that saved you, that you killed a multitude numbers of his servants, that you did everything in your power and authority to oppose the cause of Christ? He had to let it go. I'm not being cliche, and I sure ain't pulling no frozen thing right there, but there's some things you may have to, and I want to say this, you may have to forgive yourself. That's what Paul had to do. I'm going to say it, I'm moving on. If we're going to go and we're going to grow, there's going to have to be a dismissal of the past. Number two, I want to say this, if we're going to go and we're going to grow, there's going to have to be a desire for the future. Can I say something? If you're sitting here tonight and just waiting till the end of the service so you can go home and thank God for you one day that you ain't got to do nothing till you have to come back Sunday, I'd venture out to say you probably don't have much desire for the future. Amen. When God birthed in my heart about doing our Hands Across the Nation work, I seriously thought, and I even seriously told God, I don't see any way I can do anything else other than what I'm doing. But guess what? Here we are, 2014 to 2024, or 2017, 2024, and we've done it, and it's grown every year. You say, why? Because I had to make the things of God a priority and the things of me not a priority. I'm going to go back to what Paul said to the church at Rome. He said, brethren, my heart's desire, there it is, and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. He said, for they being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. What kind of desire you got? Amen? What kind of desire? I know it's hard for you to believe, because we come here, and everybody's happy we're here, and everybody's excited, but guess what? These times, Brother Jonathan and them were standing on a platform somewhere and sang their heart out, and everybody's not excited they're there. And I mean, stuff like this really happens. I was in a church preaching, and I stand at the back by my table, and there's a man come up, and he starts picking up on my CDs and turning them over and looking at them, and he said, he said, I tell you what, he said, I sure love your singing. I said, thank you, I appreciate that. He said, I don't care if you're preaching at all. I thought, did he just say what I thought he said? And I said, well, he said, that's OK. I said, because I don't like it either. And he just sort of chuckled and went on. Somebody else heard it and went and told the pastor. He was hot. I said, brother, it's okay. It's all right. I said, I've listened to my preaching CDs. It's really not that much right home about it. Everybody's not always excited, but you got to understand, I'm not doing what I'm doing for everybody. Amen. Hey, don't get me wrong. I mean, we're flesh. We're flesh and blood. We like it when somebody says, I appreciate it. They pat you on the back and tell you that was the best message they ever heard. I mean, all that stuff, it's complimentary, but you take it with a grain of salt, because that's not what we're doing, what we're doing. You don't do what you do as a member of a church to be recognized in the bulletin. I'm serious. I've known of churches that have church splits, because somebody's name was left out of a bulletin. Amen. Because somebody didn't get recognized. Their birthday wasn't put in the bulletin. And I'm not being ugly. I'll be honest with you. I told somebody, I said, one of the first things I did when I started pastoring, I quit that birthday mess. I mean, we come in, the choir's singing. I mean, they sing the rafters down. We're worshiping God, and we're praising God. People already in the altar praying for the preacher that never took place. And then all of a sudden, now let's sing, all right, let's sing happy birthday. Happy birthday to you. And then we got to try to turn it around to an anniversary. Happy anniversary to, and God's just like, I'm out of here. Amen. Nobody sung happy birthday to me. I'm serious, brother. I've been doing this long enough. I know of churches that have splits over stuff like that. People set with contention in their hearts. Where's your desire for the future? What is your desire? What do you want to see God do here? What do you want to see God accomplish here? How many more missionaries do you want to take on this year? How much more coastline do you want? I understand what Jabez was saying when he said enlarge my coast. When he said enlarge my coast, I know exactly what he was talking about. He's saying God grow me, but you don't understand with growth comes more responsibility. It comes more work. There's more labor. Not less, more. Last thing and I'm finished. Not only do we gotta have a dismissal of the past, we gotta have a desire for the future, but I'm gonna say this right here, and there will have to be a dependence on the Savior. Can I say this? You got a good pastor. You got a good pastor that loves you, loves people. Kind, gracious young man. Him, just like Brother Seth, I've known him for years, and I've watched him and Miss Wendy grow and mature, and God's hands on them, and God's using them. But I won't say this, but it'll take more than a good pastor to get a work done in Calico Rock. Amen. Because he does not have the pure ability himself to get this work done. It'll take a congregational effort to get this work done. And it's going to take a group of people that's willing to work and labor together and get accomplished what God wants accomplished. So I'm going to ask you one more time, and I'm done. Are we going to grow and go? Or are we going to stay and play? I mean, if you choose just to play church, you wouldn't be the first one to get by with it. Amen. You wouldn't be the first one that God just lets you go through the routine. But it's more than a routine. It's more than a routine. I don't know about you, but that young lady walking the aisle Sunday morning getting born again, that just whet my appetite. I wanna see somebody else get saved. Amen. I'm gonna go to that church Sunday, and I'm gonna expect somebody else to get saved. Amen. I'll go to the church Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday. I'm going to look for somebody else to get saved. You say, why? Because God likes saving people. It's lost. Amen. Amen. And I'll be honest with you, church. There ought to always be an atmosphere in this place that a sinner can get saved. Amen. Heads are bowed, eyes are closed. Brother B and you come.