I've done a lot of praying. Psalm 136 has meant a lot to me. The Lord turned again and kept Jephiah's eye on them. We're like them that dream. With our mouths filled with laughter. I told them we're singing. They said that among the heathen, the Lord has done great things for them. The Lord has done great things for us whereof we're glad. Turn again, I kept Jephiah, O Lord, in the streams of the south. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He had to go forth a week with a very precious seat, so that I would come again with rejoicing when he achieved with him. So I'm like one that dreams this morning. I got a strange phone call from Burk Keefer. He wanted to know how long it would take to fill the battery up. I told him a couple of hours probably, it's really less than that. I tried running it in kind of slow so it would be warm, but it's not very warm this morning. Like I told the candidate, I said, and I even sang it to him on the phone, I won't sing it to you, I'll spare you that. But God really said, Christian, if your heart can warm, I just know it'll do no harm. So, what happened today, and I want them to come talk about this, I want the Holy Ghost to be here today, so let's sing a song first, and then we're going to ask the Holy Ghost to lead us, okay? Two times we sing this. Holy Spirit, God our God, come and reign in this place. Holy Spirit, Thou art well, come up in this place. I'm a pilgrim and father of mercy and grace. Thou art well, come up in this place. Holy Spirit, Thou art well, come up in this place. Yesterday, Andrew Mitchum came to see me for a while. We had a good visit last night. that David was going to be driving him home. So I started to say, you ought to be talking to David a little bit. But I actually got to say that, but he busted his arse up anyway. Because they got halfway over Arkansas, and then decided to come back for David to be baptized. Well, I'll let them talk in a minute. But it brought back sweet memories. You know, you don't have to always do this, but I've been praying the Holy Spirit would move this way, because when I lived in Clinton, Kentucky, a sweet time in my life, The Lord used me and Jesus to start a church up here in Clinton, Kentucky. And one night, Serena Walker came to that profession of faith. And I was on fire back in those days. I'm going to get back on fire again. I remember the Acts of the Apostles, when the flicking jetter was converted, they baptized him that same night. So I said, you know, we need to baptize Serena tonight. So people might have thought I was crazy, but I'm not. That's Bible. We went down to T.C. Conner's pond. In the light of the flesh, and it's about to rain, somebody the hell will land over the wharf. Passing car lights, we baptize our friends at night. And I'm telling you what the Bible says about that, the look of Luke, the rejoicing among the angels of God in heaven over one sinner who converted. That's what the Bible says. And by God, if we get Joel Willem or something wrong with us, I want Andrew to come up here and tell his story. I want David to come up and ask for a home in the church and tell what he wants to tell. Let's have some spiritual education for him. Come on, Andrew, you come give me your side of the story here. And then I want David to make a profession. And then we'll see how God leads, okay? Y'all got me praying for the rest of the service? Y'all going to lead before you do that? Hallelujah! Don't tilt your heads. Hallelujah! The Lord God's on a different round. I asked Davis, about an hour into our trip, Davis, what should I preach on this morning? And after a classic Beecham five minute pause, he said, something like, material appertaining unto baptism. That's what he said, it's a direct quote. So, I played spiritual 20 questions with him because I did not want to put any words in his mouth. I did not want to act like I could draw him with a sovereign drawing like the Holy Spirit does. But I did ask him questions to give him an opportunity to gather his thoughts. And the crux of the matter was that he said he believed in Jesus Christ, that he was the Son of God. And he said that he died to save his people from their sins. And I said, Well that's interesting, but what does that have to do with you? And after about 10 minutes, and tears starting to come down his face, we started getting down to business. The problem with Davis, It's not that he doesn't understand that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. It's not that he gets the concept that he's Lord, which means that he has all authority, that his way goes. Davis' problem is that he just didn't want to obey. And we experience this in our relationships. We experience the challenge of living with sinners. And things not always going as we would like in those relationships. and maybe being done wrong, too. And we know that Jesus Christ has said, forgive, as I have forgiven you. We know that Jesus Christ has said, root out that bitterness. We know that Jesus Christ has said, be long-suffering. And He didn't give any qualifications for that. Yet we love to justify why we just can't forgive the way Jesus has commanded us to. And we come up with all these reasons to cloud the picture. Why it's just not the right time. Why if this and this would happen, or that person would do this or that, then it would be appropriate for me to obey. But the reality is, if Jesus Christ is Lord, He sets the rules. And when He says, forgive, it's really that simple. It's not hard, it's not easy, but it's really that simple. Now, part of Jesus Christ's authority is that he has power to give life. He has power to execute judgment. In John 5, he says that the Father has given him authority to judge all. In John 17, he says, the Father has given me power, which is the authority word, He has given me authority over all flesh that I would give eternal life to all those whom the Father has given me. And at the end of Matthew 28, in the Great Commission, he says, all power has been given to me in heaven and in earth. Go. Jesus Christ is Lord. He's sovereign. He also shows his sovereignty in revealing himself to those whom the Father has given him. He reveals himself to whomsoever he will. And this requires a sovereign work because we're dead in sins. And it is a work of sovereign grace that he would reveal himself to make himself known to be who he indeed is to a sinner. And this is what he's done in Davis' life. He has expressed his authority in Davis' life. And so Davis knows that he's Lord. Yet Davis has been walking for probably years by his own profession in unrest, in turmoil, in discomfort, because there's a big gap Jesus Christ has shown himself to be sovereign to Davis, but Davis is not walking like God is sovereign. Davis is not walking like Jesus Christ has all authority over him. And that's going to affect Davis in a way that's not going to affect someone who Jesus has not revealed himself to. There's another kind of unrest there, but we're talking about the unrest from someone who Jesus Christ has revealed himself to, but he is not coming under, he is not submitting himself under that authority that has been revealed to him. And Davis, if he walked the rest of his life like that, would walk the rest of his life in complete unrest. complete turmoil in his soul, because he cannot ignore a sovereign revelation from Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ said, obey. And just to emphasize Jesus Christ's sovereignty, Davis has heard all of the message I preached to him this morning on I-40, on more than one occasion, from this pulpit. So what's the difference? All I can say is God's sovereignty at work. At the end of Matthew 11, At that time, Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto me of my Father, and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father. Neither knoweth any man the Father. Save the Son, and He to Whomsoever the Son will reveal Him." And then He says, Come. Come unto Me. Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. And if that doesn't describe Davis's life, I don't know what does. Davis has been heavy laden. He's been laboring under a burden that he cannot bear. A burden that seeks to obtain and secure his own righteousness before God. He cannot bear that burden. It will crush him. on the Day of Judgment. But Jesus Christ has revealed Himself to Davis, and then He says, Come to Me, ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me. What is it to learn? Learning is inherently an act of submission, isn't it? It is an act of submitting to an authority that is outside of myself. Davis has been trying, unsuccessfully, to be his own authority. And he ain't gonna win. But when he comes to Jesus Christ, with that heavy burden. When he takes the yoke of servitude, sweet, sweet servitude under Jesus Christ and learns of Him, because Jesus says, I am meek and lowly in heart. Have you ever had a hard master? Have you ever had a meek and lowly master? For I am meek and lowly in heart, And ye shall find rest unto your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. I explained to Davis and I explained to you this morning that the burden, the weight of trying to hold on to all the things in your life that help create and maintain your own individualized, personal, sovereign identity before the world, it is a burden that will crush you. But, in coming into the waters of baptism, and being buried and raised again, Davis is going to profess that all those things which identified him, all those things that made him be distinguished from you, that he could take note of, take pride in, take glory in among men, those are weights that he's going to cut off. He's going to leave them behind, and he's going to take on an identity that has actually given him life. And he's going to picture this when he's raised again. So he's going to be dead to Davis, and he will be alive in Jesus Christ. And moving forward, Davis's identity will not be Davis the sovereign, it will be Davis, the servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. And there's a beautiful thing about being the servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm going to read this. It's going to take a minute or two because I read this to Davis and maybe he'll say something about it, but he may not get that far. So I'm going to read this to you. Because it is very important, Luke 15, verse 11. And he said a certain man had two sons and the younger of them said to his father, father, give me the portion of goods that follow to me." And he divided unto them his living, and not many days after the younger son gathered all together and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. He took the gifts of his father and he wasted them on himself. And when he had spent all There was a mighty famine in that land, and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country and sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat, and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough to spare, and I perish with hunger? I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. Make me as one of thy hired servants. Davis, you're going to rise up and return to your father and you're going to repent. But what if he just makes you a janitor? What if you're just the guy who takes out the trash for Jesus Christ? Well, he said that would be a great place to be. Because guess what? The hired servant has all of the food at the master's table. He has access to all of the security at the master's table. He has all of the provisions, all of the kindness, because he's a meek and lowly master. But this son, who decided to serve himself, would have been willing to eat the pig slot, but he couldn't even find anybody to give it to him. That's a miserable place. That's miserable independence, my brothers and sisters. And he arose and came to his father. And when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, we had a good time with this one. He said to his servants, bring forth the best robe. Bring forth the best. Now, what's the best robe in the whole scripture? Anybody want to take a stab? The best robe in the whole scripture is the white robe of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And the Father is going to come by gospel revelation. And he's going to receive this wayward sinner back. And he's going to go fetch the very best robe he has and he's going to put it on Davis. The white robe of Jesus Christ's righteousness. And put a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet and bring hither the fatted calf and kill it. Don't even get me started on that. And let us eat and be merry for this my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found and began to be merry. The half hasn't been told, but that's my version of it. Come on, Davis. I guess there isn't much more to say, but Andrew asked, what does that have to do with you? And that's really when I started thinking about it. And I don't know how long back or who gave this message, but someone I remember hearing preaching about how Jesus was pictured as this perfect, white, beautiful prince who comes down to earth to the mud and the grime to pick up his wallowing children out of the mud and dirty his perfect robe. But that, the realization that I'm a wallowing, worthless, dirty piece of garbage. And the joy is overwhelming that I can say that this perfect prince, Jesus, came down and dirtied his perfect cloak, his robe, and fetched this perfect robe of righteousness. We talked about how trying to sew your own robe of righteousness is not only vain and self-righteous, but it discredits Jesus's total power and authority to save you with his righteousness. And so there's no... not only is there no point in trying to sew your own robe of righteousness, my own robe of righteousness, but there is every point to drop it behind me and ask for his. His desire to be a member of the Church of Great Chapel, I'm going to ask for a vote, motion and second that we receive him into our church here after baptism with all rights and privileges of church membership. All right, everybody in favor say aye. Let's all say hallelujah also. Well, I think there may be some more here. Does anybody else want to make a professional faith this morning? If you do, come forward now. Yeah. You sit down now. I told Isaac this morning, I said, I'm not trying to twist anybody's arm, I'm not. I said, you bring your clothes, bring Luke's clothes too. You never, because God, we're working. So I want Luke to also, we've prayed for these guys a long time. And there may be some others, too, so I'm going to open the door and keep it open. When God opens, I don't open the thing anyway. But anyway, you can speak for yourself. Well, this wasn't exactly planned this morning. I got back from a trip last night, and I was pretty tired, so I was just lying in bed this morning, just not even really thinking about anything, just thinking about the day, going to church. And I looked at my phone. It was about 8.30 or so, and I looked at my phone, Uncle Noah had texted me, which he is, he has constantly came to me and just encouraged me. And he had texted me and says, I hope you bring a, or he said, he didn't even say I hope, he said pack an extra pair of clothes today. I said, well, and I knew what that meant from him. That was before I found out about Davis. I hadn't, I didn't respond to his text. I just laid there and thought about it for about 30 minutes. And it got to the point where I needed to go get ready for church. And I went downstairs and that was the first time I saw mom since Thursday, I think. And I just asked her how she was doing. She said, well, I haven't been feeling too good, but I'm going to go to church today because Davis is getting baptized. And I said, mom, Davis isn't going to be at church this morning. He said, he's going to be in Arkansas. He said, no he's not. He said, that's what you think. And I just knew then, I went straight upstairs and texted Uncle Noah and I just knew then that it was time. I'd been thinking about it for a long time and had just recently realized that the only place I can put my dependence upon is in God. And that there's nowhere else I can't find it in myself. And that's the only place. And so I knew this morning, Davis is my best friend and I pretty much will talk to him about anything first before anybody else. And I've been meaning to talk to him about this for the last probably month or two and just never found that perfect moment like this, which really, when we're talking, there's never really a perfect moment. We just start talking. And so I knew this morning when I found out about him, I was like, well, it's time then. What he said was true and what Andrew said is that's where you can find your hope, is in Christ. Alright, he said he depended wholly on God for salvation, so that's a professional faith in Jesus Christ. I'm also going to ask for a motion and second that he be received in the church after baptism. Motion and second. Everybody in favor say aye. Aye. One more time, let's have another hallelujah. Does anybody else want to make a professional face? We got extra clothes, I got clothes. I've done it before. One time I ran out of baptizing clothes before I left Haven. You remember that Lynn? I ran out of baptizing clothes, had to borrow some. Do you remember that sister? Another time like that isn't it? You want to say hello to you again? Thank you. Alright. Here's what we're going to do. We're going to let the brethren, Idac and Andrew and Luke and Andrew, all of you guys, go back and get ready and we're going to say a little bit more. Okay, all right. Let me say something else first. But we're going to do what Melissa wants to do. Sister Melissa, that's her son. She told me one time, her brother said, actually, we don't we don't do things right on baptisms. She said what we need to do, so she used to be a country girl. And so they go down to the riverside and have a baptism. Well, immediately they have a handshake. So she said to me, it's kind of cold to have a baptism and then a sermon and then a handshake. So we're going to have a handshake after, and we'll just sing a while and have testimony if we want to while they're getting dressed. And then we'll see how God leads the service. Okay. Okay. Come on. You sit down now. I won't take long, but I did want to speak, um, from a parent's perspective. So, um, Every parent can attest to how much you love your child, your children. How that you have to fight to be balanced in your perspective of them. You glory in their victories, you glory in their successes, and you have to be careful not to glory too much. You have to watch what you praise because you can praise things that are going to perish. so much that they think that things are going to perish matter more than anything. And then you can agonize more deeply over their failures and their flaws and their faults. You have to be balanced about that, to try to be careful not to produce a child that will just reflect well on you. And so I've tried to be very careful with my children to not pressure them. I thank God for those who have talked to them. Sister Sandra, I want to thank you. Just recently, I think a few months ago, you talked to Luke, and I know that it was meaningful to him. And I love that, and I wish I could have been the one to do that, but I thought it's not right for me to do that. Because I don't want to produce a paper Christian. I don't want to produce somebody who sees God as a bigger burden then I want God to produce the burden in them. So it sort of leaves you in a helpless place, doesn't it? And it has struck me hard over the years that the thing that I have contributed most The guaranteed thing that I contributed most to my children is I contributed their sin nature. As much as you love your children, the thing that we have all contributed most is our sin nature. Conceived in sin, born a sinner, and then they get to watch you. And the thing that you want most for them, you're helpless to give. The thing you don't want to give, you're guaranteed to give. The thing that you want most to give, you cannot give. And so we can all probably, to some degree, fellowship with David as he says, oh Absalom, my son, my son, went to God. I had died. David who loved his son so much, who gloried in his son, yet watches his son be what David had given, a sinner. So friends, it all comes back to leaning upon Jesus Christ and doing what we can to point our children to Jesus Christ. Because it's in Jesus Christ that we find that God gave His only begotten Son. We're talking about the Trinity on Wednesday nights. And the whole basis for understanding the love that we have for our children comes from a small, in a small way, glimpsing the love in the Trinity. We think we love greatly. God loves His Son greatly. And the love in the Trinity is pure. It's perfect. And from that pure and perfect love, God gave his son so that today I can have my son. That's amazing. That's amazing. And it's true. And so the many times we'd be called to say hallelujah today is not inappropriate. It's really not. You can leave the service and go, well, that was nice. Let's get back to regularly scheduled business now. But friends, we're talking about eternity. Eternity. God gave his son so that we might live. Praise the Lord. OK, I want you to hear what we're going to do. Y'all go back there and get ready. And I want some strong guys, like Kendall, for instance, to come move this pulpit out of the way. And I want all the kids that want to, get down, all the kids that want to come down here and say they're baptized in. I'm going to let Roy lead singing because he's his brother and the Harris has already done it. But I want to make a little talk here while I'm getting, come on Ken, let's move this thing. What you're going to see is what Jesus Christ himself and God the Father and God the Holy Ghost established. They knew what they were doing when they had water baptism. And what this is, is a picture of the death, burial, a glorious resurrection of the Son of God. So you think about that, you preach the gospel and you're getting baptized. Jesus Christ died for our sins, according to the word of God, 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians. He was buried and rose again the third day, a victor over death, hell, and the grave. But there's another aspect, it's a practical aspect of this, it's a subjective aspect. Davison, Luther's saying, I'm dead to sin. That doesn't mean they won't ever sin again. But they're dead to sin in the sense that they're born again. They can't sin and like it. They're saying, I'm dead to sin. I'm going to rise to walk in the goodness of life. Now, I was baptized when I was 13 years old. I've made a lot of mistakes. But I thank God for the move I've made. And I'm asking these boys, these young men, to put their hand on the plow and never look back. So come on, and Roy, lead some songs. And you guys get ready. And Kendall, you and some other guys, you can probably do it by yourself. But you probably need some help. You'll show up. All the kids that want to come down here up front and see this, y'all come on. You can just get out here if you want to when they move the pulpit, okay? Take a good look at what you're seeing. And if anybody else wants to get baptized, just let me know about it. Don't fight the Holy Spirit. We believe word and they're baptized all day long. If you don't get baptized tonight, you get baptized tonight. My brother Davis, do you surrender all of your rights and claims to your Lord Jesus Christ? and trust Him completely for salvation from your sins. Yes. Our Heavenly Father, we praise Your great and holy name. We thank You for calling sinners out of darkness by Your sovereign love, according to Your sovereign pleasure. And we praise You for anointing and choosing Davis to be your indulgent son and drawing him into a true relationship with you. Please grant him the grace to live faithfully the rest of his days in service to his Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Based upon a profession of your faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. My brother Luke, do you renounce all your rights and claims? the life to wholly follow and trust in Jesus Christ for your salvation. Let's pray. Father, from before eternity, you have your own purpose and grace called Luke. Lord, you know all the stars by name. You've named them all. But this was a different calling. It was a calling born out of love and a kindness that we cannot fathom. And Lord, you place Luke and his care and his keeping into the good, safe, perfect hands of your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Father, we believe that when Jesus Christ, upon that cross, in great pain and agony, said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do, that He had Luke in mind. That when He said, Father, it is finished, that He gave up the ghost, and then rose that third day from the grave. Lord, we believe that Luke was in Christ. Father, how do we thank you enough? How do we praise you enough? We just say thank you. In the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, amen. My brother, I baptize you in obedience to Christ, in the name of the Father, and of the Son and the Holy Ghost.