Good to see all of you here this morning. A good crowd. First Sunday of the new year. If you would take your Bible and look at the book of Proverbs. Proverbs. Proverbs 29. Proverbs 29. For those of you that were here back in 2007, I came to Holy Hills Baptist Church the first Sunday in 2007. And it's been nine years ago. We started out with about 65 people on Sunday morning in a building on a hill on Reynolds Avenue. And now I don't know how many people's in here today, but it's a whole bunch. And a new building, looking to build another. I just hope we do it different than we did, I hope we didn't have to do a fire again. But I said all that to say this, it ain't got anything to do with me. But look what God can do. That's what it has to do with. That's a blessing. Proverbs 29 and verse number 18, one verse we'll pray and then we'll preach hour and a half, two hours. Proverbs 29 verse number 18, where there is no vision, the people perish. But he that keepeth the law happy is he. I want you to notice the first part of that phrase, or first part of that verse, where there is no vision, the people what? him the father i think you lord this morning for a lot of to be here once again god you've blessed as you woke us up this morning put our feet on the floor lord able to walk into this place god i pray that we walk out here different than when we walked in god because nothing that i have said or done i'm unworthy i cannot do this without you and god i pray that you'd had us behind the cross today forgive us where we failed yet LORD BLESS THIS CHURCH AS YOU HAVE IN DAYS GONE BY AND THE LORD WILL THANK YOU AND PRAISE YOU IN JESUS' NAME WE PRAY AND ALL THE GUNSPEOPLE SAID AMEN I WAS PRAYING FOR THE SERVICE TODAY AND I WAS PRAYING THAT SINNERS, LOST SINNERS WOULD COME IN AND I LOOKED OVER AND BROTHER STEPHAN IS HERE AND THAT'S A BLESSING AS ALWAYS ERIC TOLD ME THAT HE'D GIVE ME TWENTY DOLLARS TO DO THAT Bible says in Proverbs 29, where there is no vision, the people perish. Let me ask you a question, how far can you see? You say, well, I can see probably 100 yards. Well, is that all? Because if you look at the sun, that's a long way. It all depends, it really has nothing to do with distance at all. Eyesight is not required to have vision. Vision is more than meets the eye. King Solomon here knew that vision is not a luxury. Vision is a necessity. Here in the new year we begin the new year and at the beginning of the new year we always look back and then we look forward. Church is not supposed to be a drag race. We drag in at 10 and race out at 12. CHURCHES ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THAT WAY. CHURCHES SHOULD HAVE A VISION AND NOT TUNNEL VISION. CHURCHES ARE DYING. CHURCHES ARE CLOSING THEIR DOORS. WHY? BECAUSE WHERE THERE IS NO VISION, THE PEOPLE PERISH. HELEN KELLER, PROBABLY THE MOST RECOGNIZED BLIND PERSON Whoever lived said this, what would be worse than being born blind is to have sight without vision. Ladies and gentlemen, everybody in this room, we see right now what the Lord has done. But I can tell you this, it's gonna start right here in the hearts and lives of every person here, and it'll start with us, it'll start at Holy Hills Baptist Church, where there is no vision, the people perish, and we need a vision for 2016. I don't know when the Lord's coming, I have no idea, but until He does, the Bible says, occupy till I come. Occupied till I come the Bible says where there is no vision in other words a vision now I'm not talking about listen. I know a lot of people talk about visions. You look at Christian television They talk about having visions I saw a vision of a 90-foot Jesus and he come and stood on the bedpost of my of my bed No friend that's eating too much pepperoni pizza for you went to bed That has nothing to do with vision Oh, I had a vision. No, you didn't. You need to quit eating past six o'clock. We now, contrary to King Solomon, we now have the perfect Word of God in our lap. King Solomon, all he had was what God had told him, and he wrote that down in portions. But ladies and gentlemen, now we have a vision, and the Bible will give you a vision for 2016. The Bible, where there is no word of God, the people will perish. Where there is no Bible, the people will perish. Where there is no vision, the people will perish. Let me say this. Where there is no vision, number one, where there is no vision of lost souls. people perish. Holy Hills Baptist Church, we need a vision for Dyersburg, Tennessee. Contrary to what you may have been told, there's people in Dyersburg, Tennessee that need, they may not smell like you, they may not look like you, they may not have the house that you have, but listen, there's people dying and going to a place called hell, and we've got to reach them, it's our job, Holy Hills Baptist Church's job, to have a vision for those people. You say, preacher, they smell bad. Hey, where would you be if it wasn't for the Lord? Give us a vision. Over in Acts 16, Paul, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. In a Philippian jail, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. But before that, in verse number 9, and a vision appeared to Paul in the night, there stood a man of Macedonia and prayed saying, come over into Macedonia and help us. Ladies and gentlemen, there's people outside these walls, outside these doors, in the streets of Dyersburg, Tennessee, and across the tracks, wherever you want to go, there are people in a vision crying out to Holy Hills Baptist Church, please come help us. You say, well, they treated me bad, they had a bad attitude. Hey, they don't know the Lord like you do. Give them just a little leeway. Come help us. We need a church in this town. We need a bunch of them. All of them need to have one thing in mind, one goal in mind, and that is reaching lost people, reaching Dyersburg, Tennessee, for the cause of Christ. Jesus said this in Matthew 9, 36, But when he saw the multitude, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep, having no shepherd. He didn't see them as prospective votes. He didn't see them as a statistic. He saw them as souls that needed a Savior. What do you talk about the most? What do Christians talk about? You talk about missionary work, you talk about visitation work, you talk about revival. What do you talk about in your spare time? Now, I'm not talking about, listen, everything has to be Holy Roller Joe and all of that kind of thing. I'm not talking about that. I'm not talking about we shouldn't talk about sports and all of those kinds. Yes, those fine things. But listen, when's the last time you talked about somebody you needed to talk to about the Lord? We need a vision like David Brainerd. David Brainerd died at the age of 29. He had a vision for the Indians, and he went to those Indian tribes, and he knew they were lost and without God, and they were enemies. They were enemies. They tried to kill David Brainerd. There was one old Indian who used to follow David Brainerd around, seeking to do him harm, seeking to kill him, and every time he followed him around, he would find him kneeling down in the snow, lifting his hands up toward God, and his heart and say, Oh God, may these red men be saved. The age of 29, tuberculosis ate his body away. They laid his life down. But he had a vision for souls in the Indian people. There was a fellow by the name of David Livingston. David Livingston went to the continent of Africa. In those days, some had never seen a white man before. And those Africans said, we didn't know there was anything else. We've never seen a white man before until David Livingston came over here, and he preached to us, and his heart went out to us, and he told us about the love of God. They found him dead in his tent, kneeling over his cot in a praying position, praying, oh God, give me souls for Africa. They lifted his body out of Africa, took it back to England. He was going to be buried in Westminster Abbey. There he was buried where kings and important people of history were buried. The natives came over to his funeral and they said this, his body belongs to England, but his heart belongs to Africa. and they took David Livingston's heart out and they took it back to Africa and buried his heart in the center of Africa. Why? Because there's where his heart was. He had a vision, a vision for lost souls. Where, where is your heart when it comes to the souls of men? You've got people like Hudson Taylor. Hudson Taylor went to the continent of China, 20 years in China in 1880, where 70 missionaries, 70 preaching stations because of the work of Hudson Taylor. And Hudson Taylor, when he went to China, on every luggage bag that he had, he wrote in boxcar letters, God first in my life. You've got a vision like William Booth. William Booth, when he saw neglected people in the slums of London, he left the formal church in London and went out to the slums where he started a salvation army. Why? Because he had a vision. Holy Hills Baptist Church needs a vision. I need a vision. You need a vision. Now I'm not talking about a new house that you're going to get this year, a new car, all those kind of things. And if that comes your way, hallelujah for you. I'm talking about a spiritual vision for the things of God. Someone asked the family of Walt Disney. Walt Disney, they were walking through the Disney World and out in California, out in Florida, and they were walking through looking at all of that and Walt Disney, he doesn't die. And his family, they asked his family, said, oh, wouldn't it have been wonderful for Mr. Disney to see all of this? And they looked at him and said, he did. That's why it's here. before it was ever built, he had a vision. Ladies and gentlemen, you need to get a vision, not of what you can see. But ladies, far beyond what you can see, far beyond what you can ever imagine, there is a vision for God and it's based upon the Word of God. And there's people out there in Dyersburg, Tennessee that need Holy Hills Baptist Church. They need the families here to reach out and say, we'll come and help you. Number two, where there is no vision of the judgment seat of Christ, people perish. Where there is no vision of lost souls, people perish. Where there is no vision of the judgment seat of Christ, people perish. The Bible says, for we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. He's not going to deal with you if you're saved. He's not going to deal with you as a sinner. He's going to deal with you as a son. Boy, I tell you, there is a difference. I remember, no, daddy told me not to talk about them days anymore. He said, you're always talking about me beating you. He said, them people are going to think I was a child of you. I said, you was. And my brother, Jamie, when I start all them stories, he's back there going. Cause he thinks he got more. But God the Father deals with His children as sons and daughters. If you mess up, you say, Preacher, I'm saved, but I messed up. Listen, your mom and daddy didn't kick you out of the house, and when you tripped and fell, they didn't kick you out of the house. They picked you up, put you back on your feet and tried again. God loves His people, but He'll deal with you as sons and daughters of God. The judgment seat of Christ is coming. The Bible says, and you say, Hey, listen, you said, well, I tell you, I'm going to get back. So I'm going to, Hey, vengeance is mine. Say if the Lord, I will repay, but I like to say, I'm just here to do the Lord's work. 2 Corinthians 5 says we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ for we labor that whether present or absent we may be accepted of Him. We need to make some changes in 2016. 2015, you say, boy, I tell you, it's just, hey, let me ask you this, 2016, what about reading your Bible more? What about praying more? I mean, you know, stay in your seat, okay, it's all right. First Sunday of the new year. But do you have a vision? Do you have a vision for you, yourself, personally? You have a vision for this church. I read a story about a man in London. He was working the subway. He was working the ticket booth in the subway in London. And there's people everywhere. There's people knocking on the window. I need a ticket, I need a ticket. And boy, they was just, I mean, just all over this man. There wasn't but one man in there. Worked sort of like Walmart. Got 27 aisles and three people working. And this man, everybody said, I need a ticket, I need it beaten on the glass window. Somebody walked up to the tenant and says, hey, does that bother you? He said, nah, that don't bother me. He says, I'm only concerned about one thing, pleasing him. And the man looked up and the guy was pointing up to the boss's office. He said, all I'm concerned about is pleasing Him. I'm not concerned about pleasing these people beating on the glass. As long as He's happy, I get paid. Hey folks, why don't we go through life, quit worrying about everybody else, and say, as long as He's happy. That would be a good motto for 2016. WHERE THERE IS NO VISION OF THE JUDGES SEAT OF CHRIST, PEOPLE PERISH. NOW, HOLD ON TO YOUR SEAT, HOLD ON TO YOUR SEAT, BUT HERE'S NUMBER THREE, WHERE THERE IS NO VISION OF HELL, PEOPLE PERISH. I BELIEVE THE CHURCH, THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST, CHURCHES ON EVERY CORNER. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE DO NOT HEAR ENOUGH PREACHING ON HELL. including myself. I don't like preaching on hell. The Lord puts it on my heart. I say, no, let me preach something. I want to be happy. I want to encourage the people. No. And he says, preach on hell. I don't like preaching on hell. I'd rather preach on heaven. But God, Jesus Christ preached more on hell than he did on heaven. Why? Because where there is no vision of hell, people perish. I heard an old-fashioned preacher say one time, if we had more preaching on hell in the pulpit, there'd be less hell going on in the pew. Whoo! Boy, that was good, wasn't it? That woke some of you up. Say, preacher, where is hell? The opposite of heaven. If heaven's up, hell's down. Amen. You say, where is it at? It's in the center of the earth. Who was hell made for? Matthew 25 says it wasn't made for anybody. It was made for the devil and his angels. God never intended for anybody to go there. But in Luke 16, two men, one a beggar, one a king, one that knew Jesus Christ, one didn't, one went to heaven, one went to hell. The Bible says, and in hell, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment. There is a place called hell. You say, well, we don't hear much on TV. No, friend, you can't build big buildings and drive Lexus and have your own personal jet if you preach on hell. Oh, that's good, ain't it? Matthew 25, depart from me. You curse it into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. You say, preacher, God would never, never send anybody to hell. You're exactly right. You're exactly right. But if you go to hell, you'll send yourself. Because everybody, people all over the world say, oh, God would never, oh, he just loves, he would never send anybody to hell. Well, let me ask you this. God looks at it like this. How can anybody reject the love that was shed on the cross? That's how he looks at it. You may look at it as, how could God send anybody to hell? God says, how could you reject somebody that loves you this much? How could you say no to someone who loves you that? You say, preacher, who's all going to hell? Well, Revelation 21 says, but the fearful, unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and the whoremongers, and the sorcerers, and the adulterers, liars, all have part in the lake which is burned with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Five different times God says this, where the worm doth not and the fire is not quenched. He said, preacher, do people go to hell for drinking? Do people go to hell for smoking? Do people go to hell for dipping? Do people go to hell for whatever? Listen, somebody asked me one time, said, can I dip and still go to heaven? I said, sure. You have to go to hell to spit. i don't get it how you can have a problem with that still mad if you're open again in front of me i love it well why anybody will smoke some it takes a good hallelujah i got victory over that you'll pray for me or was it all What sends people to hell? Let me ask you, ain't but one thing. You say just one? Ain't but one thing. Sends people to hell. You say, well, it's gotta be murder. No, that doesn't send nobody to hell. You mean murder don't send nobody to hell? I got a question for you. Paul, before he got saved, he murdered a bunch of people. And he ran into the Lord on the road to Damascus and got saved. Guess where Paul is today? In heaven, a murderer in heaven. One thing and one thing only that sends people to hell. You know what it is? Rejecting Jesus Christ. When you walk out of these doors and say, no, no, I do not want that. I do not want the love of God. I do not want it. I do not want to ask him to come in my heart and save me. You are rejecting Jesus Christ. And friend, that is sending people to hell. I pray to you all, you don't need to preach your own hell. You're scaring my kids. It's no worse than what you let them watch last night on television. We tell our kids, the stove will burn you, don't touch it, it's hot. We tell them that poison kills. We point to the street, say, don't go out into the street, cars will hurt you. We point to the water and say, stay away, if you can't swim, you'll drown. But the Bible, the word of God, points to a place called hell. And it says, stay out, stay out, stay out. We warn you this morning, without a vision, the people perish. Let me say this, where there is no vision of the importance of church, where there is no vision of the importance of church, people perish. See, I'm telling you, listen, if y'all don't believe the devil's in the sound, I started to say sound booth, but anyway. What's that song, devil's in the phone booth, dialing 9-1-1? Where there is no vision of the importance of church, people are perishing. You say, preacher, I don't need church. I don't need you. I ain't going down there with all them hypocrites. I say, come on, we got room for one more. Hey folks, you ever thought about this? I'm not at church this morning because I'm perfect. I'm not at church this morning because I'm Holy Roller Joe. I'm not at church this morning because I do everything right. I'm at church this morning to tell the world when they drive by and see my car in the parking lot, they'll know that Jeremy Ballinger needs to be in church because he needs a Savior and he needs help and the reason I'm here is because I'm not perfect. The reason you ought to be here is because we're not perfect. separation i don't need to charge well you heard me tell about the band who said it didn't make sure she left and uh... and the preacher come back three four sundays went by he went back he visits a man visit with man was out there grillin uh... states hallelujah that's when you need to go visit uh... that's what i do i drive down a row row down the one let me pull in right here sat there approaches talk purchase all in hot burning coals on the on the grill there and the pressure just while it are not a lot of picked up one and one in coles hot-burning cold at all the state and just set it on the side of the steps where they're talking i talk for a four uh... minutes or so and ten twenty minutes went on the purchase started looking at cole said the senate it was read in that don't turn and cooled off or turn back whatever color it is and uh... the guy said well I noticed preacher you did that what what would you do that for he said did you see how when I took them that one coal away from everybody else it got cold the preacher picked it up with his hand he said it's cold and got cold cause it left everybody else preacher threw it back into the fire there, and it wasn't too long, son, it started turning red again. He said, yep, you need the heat of everybody else. Hey, think about this. The banana that got eaten is the one that left the bunch. You better stay together with the bunch, hallelujah. You'll get eat. You say, preacher, what is the purpose? What is the purpose of Holy Hills Baptist Church? I'm almost done. Hang on. What is the purpose of Holy Hills Baptist Church? Three things. I'm gonna give them to you. Number one, to evangelize the sinner, to exalt the Savior, and to encourage the saints. And that's our goal. That's what we ought to be doing every Sunday. We're to evangelize the sinner. We're to exalt the Savior. And when you get in here, we ought to encourage the saints. Amen. That's our job. That's what we ought to do. Feed the church of God, which he has purchased with his own blood. Now I got one more. Where there is no vision of Jesus Christ, people perish. They said this in John chapter 12, Sirs, we would see Jesus. And that, my friend, is what we need to say today. We need to see Jesus. See Him in our church, see Him in our family, see Him in your life, in our kids' life. Hey, Holy Hills Baptist Church, I want to have a place here. I want to have a place here. Yes, this place is packed full. I want to have a place, a larger place. Not, not, no, not where they say, oh boy, Brother Jeremy's got a big old church. No, no, no, friend. We need to reach and raise our kids to where there is a place where we still serve a risen Savior and He's in the world today. They still need to know there's an old-fashioned hellfire and brimstone church somewhere where they say, how many times have you heard? Well, we just, you know, listen, I shake hands with people every Sunday and you know what? First time they'll walk out and say, man, we ain't heard preaching like that in a long time. And that, my friend, is a sad commentary for churches all over America. Because used to, that's everything you heard. And now preachers are preaching for a partage of paycheck and a pension. And they're worried about the deacons calling a meeting together if he goes past 12. Well, I'm sitting here looking at the clock, thinking of stuff to say so I can go past 12. Hallelujah! I had a deacon walk up just a few minutes ago and said, we need to have a meeting. I said, oh Lord. They said, we saw pictures on Facebook of the young adults' night, playing cards and stuff out here, and we saw money on the table. I said, I just hope Brother Phil don't see them pictures, hallelujah. We would see Jesus. Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing, ladies and gentlemen, Holy Hills Baptist Church. I'm not talking about everyone. I can't, I don't, I ain't got time to worry about what everybody else is doing. I'm worried about what everybody's doing right here. And I want this place. I wish all churches, but like I said, can't concentrate on that. Concentrate right here. We'd focus. It's not about me. It's not about you. It's not about the person sitting next to you. It's all about Him. He said, Noah, what'd you see? He saw rain coming down because God told him. Moses, what'd you see? He said, I saw the Red Sea part. David, what'd you see? No giant too big for God that God can't defeat. Elisha, what do you see? Open his eyes that he may see. What kind of vision do you have? And I close with this, how far can you see? Heavenly Father, I thank you Lord this morning.