All right, let's go back to 1 Timothy again. 1 Timothy chapter number six. 1 Timothy chapter six, godliness and gain. The Bible talks about the gain, nothing wrong with gain. We ought to want gain. But the motivation and what we're pursuing and the gain we are desiring is quite important, don't you think? So that's what Paul gives us. And we talked this morning from verse number 11, and we talked about what to flee. That was the first thing. Well, sometimes that's the advice you need. I may not know exactly what you need to do, but I can tell you what you better not do, and what you better get away from, right? Sometimes, so. But thank goodness, the word of God is gonna give us what I've said in a prescription here. Taken once a day, every day till Jesus comes, and you'll have great gain. And so chapter six, verse number 11. But thou, O man of God, flee these things. And we talked about that this morning. So we know what to flee. We know we need to flee people, and we need to flee the desire that we have for temporal, worldly, tangible gain. Okay? That cannot be the substance and the reason that a person lives this life or they're gonna end up sadly pissing themselves through with many sorrows and utterly end in destruction according to Paul. So, and many of us have seen that kind of life. Now that does not mean that we don't have to work hard because he already said that in verse one and two. So keep working. and keep trying to do your best in those areas, but it's the motivation for why we do what we do and what we're hoping to gain from that that is being dealt with here. So that gets us to the next part that is kind of the crux of what God's put on my heart. So he said, follow, it's verse number 11. He said, flee these things, and follow after righteousness, and he goes on, he's gonna get a list. So, first off, we gotta flee these things, but that's not enough, right? It's gotta be, we got now preacher okay. You convinced me, you've helped me. I don't wanna live a life like that. I wanna flee those things. What do I do now? Well, the first thing you gotta do is you gotta follow after some things and that's what he's gonna give us. Now, I wanna give you this cause I believe it matters because we need to get the proper idea of what is being said and the emphasis that and why the Holy Ghost uses the words that he used. He said, follow after. Now, that really means when you look that up, that is the word that's used there, that is also translated in your New Testament as persecute. And now that doesn't sound like it fits, does it? But if you think about, yeah, it does. To pursue to injury. That's why someone would persecute you. They're gonna pursue you to injury. They're gonna see it through until they accomplish what they wanna do, which is injure you. That's persecution. Paul was wasting the church, persecuting the church, causing people to blaspheme God in pursuit to injure them and stop them from preaching Jesus. Saul of Tarsus, I should say. No longer Saul of Tarsus, he's the Apostle Paul, but God changed him, gave him a new name. So that means to pursue to injury, it means to harass, it means to chase after, to pursue as an object of desire, to endeavor to obtain, to obey, Here's the greatest sense that I feel like the Bible's given us. The Bible has given us this follow after, and I think it's primary teaching is this, to endeavor to obtain, to obey, to practice, or act in conformity to as to the teachings of another, such as as one would follow after Christ. You're a follower of Christ is what they would call them. That's what a disciple is, right? So the idea that he's given us here, the idea that the word picture ought to be, it ought to be like we're using these character traits here and these fruits, I should better say, I guess, as though they're teachers of ours. It's like I'm sitting there with my notebook, I'm in school and I'm trying to learn because I want to succeed, not because you want to pass the test necessarily, but something you really care about, something you really want to know because you want to succeed at it. And you're sitting there and you're like, okay, Dr. Love, teach me now, what should I do? And you're a follower of righteousness. Dr. Righteousness, instruct me, how should I live? Excuse me, Mrs. Godliness, can you explain to me how I ought to react in this situation? Because you're a follower of the teaching of Mrs. Godliness. Do you see the idea? You are to pursue after that to the point of attainment, to attain the goal that you're seeking to achieve. So, in my mind, what I've got to do is flee this life that's being lived for self. this life of gain in this world, and I have to follow after some things, and there's a purpose to all this now, but I have to set out to pursue after righteousness. Now, we don't need us to go through what all this means. I think most of us have a pretty good idea of what we're dealing with. Righteousness primarily refers to our actions, That describes our overall relationship, excuse me, that refers to our actions and our moral behavior towards others and in the world, reflecting God's character in our dealings with mankind, the quality of being morally right, adhering our life to the moral laws of God, right? Righteousness, living right. Right? It's not talking about your standing, your position in Christ as you've been declared righteous. It's talking about practical righteousness. Do right. Follow after doing right. Right? You ought to be living a life that's concerned about doing right. Why? Because that's what Christ is. And I don't want the world to see me. I don't want them to see my ungodliness. I don't want them to see my unjustness and my unrighteousness. I want the world to see, I talked to a young man this week, and he wants people to pray. And I want to be praying. I can't tell you the multiple situations I've had, the multiple conversations with people that somebody's tried to witness to, and they don't want nothing to do with God because of somebody who claimed to be a follower of his. And they're a stumbling block to others because they're not reflecting the character of a holy God. God forgave them, but they won't forgive others. God will wipe their sin away, but they won't let anything go. Right? So, So the purpose is, I'm not doing this for the sake, I'm not doing this for the sake of anything more than to, for my life to be a mirror in which to reflect to the world the holy God that we truly serve. And how many of us would like to go to those people and say, I'm sorry you've dealt with that, I have too, but not everything that claims the name of Christ is really of Him. and you find yourself having to apologize for everything that these people have been through, not by lost people in a bar, but by somebody sitting in a church. God help us, don't let that be me. And it could be. If I ever get distracted from my purpose of living, and it's not to get gain, it's not to have things, though thank God, God will give you things if he can trust you with them. And God trusts you with things. God's not going to give you something that's going to take your heart away. Right? God wants you to have things. God wants you to work hard. He doesn't want you to be poor your whole life. That's not what we're talking about here. We're talking about the motivation of the heart though. And my motivation is to do that because I want to do right. I want to work hard. And if I'm rewarded for it, praise God. But if not, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to keep working hard and doing right because that's what Jesus would do. And I don't want my boss to look and say, don't send me another Christian over here to this job. They're sorry. I want them to say, send me every Christian you got, because those are the hardest working people on my crew. Right? And when you get there, you're just humbly doing a good job because you serve a greater master. Right? So, so, I ought to concern myself with a whole lot less of gain for gain itself, but to really live for what is going to outlast me. You'll outlive everything you gain in the flesh. It'll all be burned up or somebody else will burn it, right? But man, God's program. If you'll live godly in Christ Jesus, if you'll just do right, if you'll pursue after godliness, if you'll follow faith, if you'll follow after love and try to love people, I'm telling you, God will give you great gain. You can have more than you ever thought possible. Maybe even in this life, I don't know. God's not limited from giving you stuff. God can give you anything. You got a lot of Old Testament saints in there, buddy. They were what we was called in the South, loaded. Y'all familiar with that kind of language? Old boys loaded. God had some saints, he loaded, buddy. He could trust them with it. See, God got to trust you. Can he trust you to suffer? Can he trust you with things? God knows down to the dollar what it's gonna cost him to get the gospel out. He knew that before he sent his son into this world to die for it. He knows every dollar it's gonna take to print a tract to get it around the world. That's not the church's debt. It's not our program. It's God's. And God's gonna pay his bill. And he's looking for some people that'll do right and live right that he can honor with things who won't take their heart away from God. And if you're motivated right and your heart's right, God'll do things, maybe he does it. Either way, when you get to heaven, you'll have all you ever thought you'd have. Right? And, cause I don't wanna put it out there as though that's, I don't know if that's gonna happen or not, but I can tell you God might just do it. Who can tell what God'll do? Right? So, so, so my life, is to be a life of pursuit, an active life of doing something. You ever feel like that? You young people are gonna reach a point where you're gonna feel like, what am I supposed to do with my life? What's my purpose? That's what I'm preaching to you tonight, your purpose. God wants you to concern yourself with following after righteousness. You worry about doing right. You worry about living right. You worry about being godly. Godly is different from righteousness in that godliness speaks to your entire relationship with God himself. That's the picture. He said, godliness with contentment is great gain. If you're godly, trust me, people know you've been with God. Right? You're a reflection of that God. That's godly. Hey, there's lots of people that may not say a bad word. These people, listen now, there's billions of people that'll wrap a turban around their head and strap a bomb to themselves and wouldn't dare drink a bottle of liquor. Don't make them godly. Listen, there's religions you and I know that'll dress and wear a skirt down to their toes and they'll burn in the same hell the drunk will go. Still right for them to dress that way. Didn't do them no good. They're not godly. Only way you and I can have godliness in our life. is to submit ourselves by faith to Jesus, casting all of our belief and trust in Him, being made a new creature, and dwelt by the power of the Holy Ghost, and a life that is, that itself has been, has been, oh, what's the word to use there? As a mortician does, you know, we reckon ourselves dead indeed unto sin, and alive unto God, right? and supposed to follow after righteousness. If you could get young people to pursue doing right as much as they pursue getting what they want, no telling what would happen in our communities. Right? Hey, mom and dad, if we'd be a whole lot more concerned about getting little junior to be godly and not rich, I want you to be a doctor, I want you to be a lawyer. Listen, I hope you do all that. Do none of it, I don't care. You better not miss godliness. And I see parents worried to death, where are they gonna go to? Listen, we all concern ourselves with that, but I'm gonna tell you what the most important thing we better make sure of is we're raising kids that are concerned with pursuit of righteousness, godliness, holy living, loving people, walking by faith. You're gonna die a rich man with a lot of stuff, and you're gonna burn it all up. When you stand before Jesus, it'll be tried in the fire, and you'll stand before Him who you pierced in ashes. And listen, you can give it all to missions. And God bless you if you do. We'll cash your check if you write it here. But if you ain't motivated right, if your heart ain't right, it'll burn up. So why am I doing what I'm doing? I gotta find a wife, I gotta do this, I gotta do that. What you better do, young man, is you better flee all that junk that you're pursuing, and you better stay on the course of living righteously and godly in this present world. And you won't believe how God will open up doors for you and help you. You know how hard it is to find somebody you can trust? The world even recognizes that kind of character. Find a man that you can leave in the office, ain't gonna take stuff out of there. Somebody you can leave over and do this and you know if he's gonna charge you for eight hours, he's gonna work eight hours, right? But they may not value it. They may take advantage of you, but there is one in heaven keeping a record book. Oh yeah. They may build a big company on your back. but God's building something bigger and he's got more resources than they got. It'll pay out for you in the end, don't worry about it, right? Come on kids, what about it? You wanna go down the same road a lot of these other kids are going, generation after generation, fewer and fewer. The offers before you, there's paths before you, what do you wanna take? You wanna pursue the life of gain? Or do you wanna pursue the life of godliness and let God give you great gain? You're gonna have to be godly if you want great gain. You have to be content with possibly not having nothing if you want great gain. You gotta go God's way. You wanna go God's way, it ain't gonna be easy. You're gonna suffer, you're gonna be made fun of, you're gonna be spit on, maybe even physically. Despised, ridiculed, rejected. Moses wanted that life, didn't he? We got saints in that book that wanted that life. And they obtained by it, the Bible said by it, the elders obtained a what? Good report. You know who was given the report? You know who had the record? It wasn't the CEO of Apple. It's the one who owns a cattle of a thousand hills. And like one preacher said, he owns all the gold under the hills too. Yeah. This ain't no fairy tale we're talking about tonight. This is real, buddy. I'm telling you what I said this morning. You can stand at the end of your days and we bury you in the only suit you own. We may go by your house and there wasn't even a gallon of milk in the refrigerator. But if you'll live godly and be content, you might be the richest man to ever leave out of this world. I believe it. I'm sold out on it. I believe that's right. As much as I believe anything else, I believe that's right. Now get all the education you can get, pursue after things, dream big, go for it. I'm not talking about nothing, but you better do it because you want to show the world that there's a great God in heaven that loves sinners, that died and bled and was buried and rose again to set men free. And yes, he's just, yes, he's holy, yes, he's righteous, but he's full of compassion and mercy and love. That's the God I serve. That's what Paul did. That God, I'm gonna declare him unto you. Not just by his words, but by his life. I fought a good fight. I've kept the faith. Got me excited. I don't know what all that great gain could be. Remember we went through first Peter, add to your faith. All those things we went through, and it said that you may have an abundant entrance at the kingdom. Never have figured out what that is. but that ought to whip you out of appetite a little bit. I want it. If a billionaire said, I got a present for you, I'd want it. If I say I got something for you, you might be able to do without it. Right? It's a limited, limited resource. The one who made it all. He's going to go on and say in a minute, I charge thee therefore before God, He is the author of life. How do you get any richer than that? Inherently has life within himself and can impart life to people. Said, I've got great gain to give you. Oh, it may not be in a check, but yet it might be. But I can tell you what I know for sure it'll be. He told his disciples, remember, Peter said, what shall we have? We've left houses and lands and mother-in-laws. Nobody should get a reward for that. Everybody ought to want to do that. Well, at least laugh. Your wife won't even let you laugh at a mother-in-law joke. Come on now. I said, Cam, that don't work for you. Don't laugh. He owns it all, said, I got great game for you, Chris. God, I ain't got nothing of good. That's all right. You don't have to have none. I will give you everything you need. He's given you everything you need for life, for godliness. He'll give you all you need for. The life He's called you unto, you are well-equipped to live it. You may not be well-equipped to be rich in this world to begin with, but God's well-equipped you to have great gain with what He's got to give you. You got what you need, Cyrus. You got all you need. You don't need nothing else. If you've got God, you got everything you need to have great gain. Right? Boy, that's exciting. I can't even put a number on it. You know, you see, you could say it's a million dollars. I don't even know that we understand that. Listen, people like me and you can't really understand that kind of money, really. For the most part, I can't really grasp that kind of money. And really, that's not much these days. They tell me now, in retirement, all of us that think, that are about my age, that we think, man, if I could just get a million dollars from my retirement, I'll make it. It may not be that way when we go to retire. A million dollars may not keep you alive very long, you and your wife. Just ain't what it used to be. I couldn't grasp the million in my mind, you understand what I'm saying? I couldn't even, I can't even, it's immeasurable. What an eternal life giver has to give you is immeasurable. All he could say to you was, when they asked that question, we've left lands and houses and families, we've turned our back on everything to follow you, what shall we have? He said, nobody's ever done that and I'm not restored them a hundredfold at the kingdom. Whatever a hundred times what your life would have been worth living it for the world, you've got at least that much coming to you. Woo! Don't worry about turning your back on it. I'd turn my back on it in a minute if you knew you'd spend the eternity with a hundred times that. I don't understand all that. Do you? Now, so why I'm sold on it? What I gotta do? Follow after righteousness. Let righteousness teach you some things. Quit living off of what you feel like doing or what you think or what you live godly. Mary tells us all right here, godliness is a more encompassing term that describes our overall relationship with God, including our thoughts, desires, and actions as we seek to please him and live in a way that honors him. Faith that just shall live by faith. Believe God. Faith which worketh by love. We still do things, right? Because we believe, we got faith. Love, love men, love God. How about patience, young man? Oh, I tell you, I was liking a lot of stuff before I got married and patience was probably at the top. I wanted everything and I want it right this second. And I believe if everybody left me alone, I could probably get it. What an idiot, wasn't I? Ain't got much more in Cincinnati now. But I know this, I ain't got nothing to get nothing with. I know that much. And I know who's got it all, who said he'd give it to me if I'd obey him. I know that. But having a little trouble obeying it sometimes. But we're gonna deal with that too in just a second. All right, preacher. You got me, I mean. Follow after righteousness, godliness. Faith, love, about being patient. Well, that ain't easy for a young man to do, is it? You know what you young men need? A big old dose of patience. Most bad decisions that I've seen made have been made in a hurry. You know why they don't want you to leave the car lot and not buy it? You know when you tell them, let me sleep on it, they'll go back, let me get my manager, see what we can do. They ain't gonna change the deal. They're gonna reword it to where it looks a little better for you and you sleep better at night, but you're gonna leave just as messed over as you was before he went and got his manager, that I promise you. The last thing they want you to do is walk off that lot. Because they know if you go home and realize what they're doing, you're gonna say, call them back and say, cancel that deal. Right? Patience. Oh, what a virtue. Let it have its perfect work in your life. That's what the Bible said. That is so hard. But if you've got people in your life, listen to me, if you've got people in your life that are trying to help you to be patient, you better value those people. Because they're trying to see you not make bad decisions and be rushed to do things. Right? The only thing that's impending that you ought to really be worried about is Jesus is finna come. Everything else can wait. Right? Be patient. You wanna follow after that? It's gonna be hard for you to tell your flesh to be patient. Promise you that. But you better do it. You better follow after patience. How about the rest of it? How about meekness? How about a young man being softness in his temper? Not that he's a weak person, but you ought to be meek. Well, that don't sound as alluring as getting out here and making it big and making the big bucks. Well, I think I've dealt enough with that, surely. Psalm, September, mildness, gentleness, forbearance under injury and provocation, humble submission of one's will to the divine will of God without murmuring or a bad attitude. It's opposed to pride and arrogance. It's the power of a person's will under control. You have to follow after some things. How about this? How about verse 12? Not only do you have to follow after it, well, that don't seem all that important. Just keep living a little while. It's not, this ain't something you just do one time and you hit it big. This ain't the lottery. What does he say next? Not only do you have to follow after these things, look at what he says in verse number 12. Don't just follow after them. Don't just vehemently pursue these things, but to fight for them. I'll say something now. You follow after, you'll be following after, and the moment you do, here comes the opposition. The world's not going to impose you to make money. The government loves for you to make money because they want to take about 40% of it. And that's just for now. The moment you say, I'm going to live for God, and I don't care what it costs me, I'm going to follow God, you're going to begin to suffer and face opposition. You know what you're going to have to do? That all sounds good. I'm gonna follow you God, I'm gonna live right, I'm gonna do right. I don't care if I die with nothing but the clothes on my back. I'm gonna do my best to show the world Jesus. Praise God for you. Make a commitment. I'm forgetting on altar and making commitments to God, believe that. But you better know when you get up that that ain't solved your problem. You're gonna wake up and the fight's on. And these things are so highly valuable to your life, you gotta fight for them. You gotta oppose everything in your life that pops its head up to oppose you from being godly. If you can't be godly on an iPhone, you better smash it with a hammer. It's gonna rob you of your game. If you can't talk to that young man without being godly, you better lose his number, tell your daddy and get away from him. He's not worth what it's gonna cost you. The game that's laid out before you is gonna cost you. You gotta fight against it. It's a fight. It's not when you win one time either. You'll fight till we put your body in the dirt. You start fighting now, and my advice is to keep fighting till we do bury you. Because it won't be any different when you're 90 than it is now. There's still great gain on the horizon. Jesus hasn't changed, your master is no worse, he's no better even. The life you've got left to give him at that age is just as valuable as what you've got to give him at 20. It'll be just important to fight at brother George's age as it is for Caleb to fight at his age. Because God deserves every month, every day, every hour that you've got to give him. Godliness with contentment. It's a great game. Follow after it. How about it, young people? You're concerned about making money, living the dream, wife, house, all this, blah, blah, blah. It's wonderful. but I hope it's not distracted you from wanting to live for God. I hope you're still just as concerned and just as in hot pursuit of godliness as you are a woman. You listening to me? I told you that before you ever dated my daughter. She better not distract you from what your real goal is. That's hard, ain't it? That ain't easy. It ain't gonna be easy, because it's a good thing. It's right. But you can't ever let it get in between you and God we live in. It can't get in between you and following righteousness. Can't get in between you and real Bible love. Can't get in between you and faith, you and patience. If they're robbing you of patience, I want it now. Oh, that may be all the more reason you need to wait, sir. Now, if I'm taking anything out of context, you tell me. That Bible said, follow these things. You better be in hot pursuit. I've seen a lot of young men, even some young ladies, they've been in hot pursuit of one another. I'm glad, I'm glad we've got normal people that pursue the opposite sex, aren't you? Glad they ain't pursuing each other. But, young people, young ladies, better listen to me. Ain't no man worth it. None of them. But there's one, the real lover of your soul. He's worth it all. You can trust him with all that you are and all that you have. You can't let him in front of that. You can't let a man get in between you and your pursuit to follow after these things. The reward is too great. And what he brings to the table ain't enough. I don't care how much money he's got in the savings. I don't care if his car's paid for. I don't care if he's got a house. I don't care what he's got. He ain't got nothing compared to what God's promised you. Now that ought to make you want to run a lap. That's good, ain't it? It makes me feel better. It sets the bar pretty low. Amber, she's just happy if I make it home on time. She's happy if I figured out which shoe goes on which foot. Brother Reed was worried to death that Miss Prayer Breakfast, Amber, wasn't gonna be there to cook for me, make my meal. Set the bar low, Cam, they won't expect my. Now listen, what God's promised you, young ladies, I'm not giving that to you. God said to wait till I get married to give you that. That's godly and right. There's great gain that comes along with doing the right. I can't give that to you. You're not worth it. But God is. He's promised me great gain. Hallelujah. Is that right? Godliness will continue, great gain. Flee these things, but follow after these things. Not only do that, but what you better do is fight. Is that what the Bible said here? So he said, fight for them, overcome anything that comes in between you and Christ's command to live an entire life in pursuit of these things. You find you somebody that's on the same trail. You find you somebody that's following righteousness and you'll end up in class together. You'll end up taking a course from Dr. Love and you'll find each other. Is that right? Why worry where I'm gonna find them? You keep pursuing godliness, God will bring you together. You're in pursuit of the same one, the same thing. You'll bump into each other. Oh yeah, isn't God good? Fight for it. Young people, it's worth fighting for. What God's got for your life, it's worth fighting for. You're gonna have to fight. Cause your own flesh is pulling you in a total different direction. You gotta fight it. You gotta fight against it. I'm not looking at that. Start fighting yourself. Now if I see one of y'all over there in the corner punching yourself in the head, I'm gonna be like, he ain't crazy, he's fighting. But that's the picture, that's the way. Sometimes you're the one that needs fought. It's not always external. My greatest battles are with myself. Caleb, fight for it. Chris, fight for it, buddy. Young ladies, fight for it. God's got great game for you. Fight the good fight of faith. I think he's talking about the same thing there. Living a life that is purposed to be conformed to an image because that glorifies him. Other people can see that. There's no difference. Can I just help you? I don't wanna say, I know there's a rare one out there. Most of us, I don't wanna shoot somebody down. But can I say, good looking young men are a dime a dozen really. Well, it's hard to say because I see most of them in skinny jeans and man buns and they look a little weird, you know what I mean? But they're out there and they're a dime a dozen. Sometimes it's hard to even notice them. Young men, good looks, probably a lot of good looking girls out there. Kind of hard to shine. Look how pretty everybody is. I've heard young girls say that. And they feel so bad about themselves, like, well, what do I have? Look how beautiful this girl is. And my hair, you know, if it's curly, they want it straight. If it's straight, they want it curly. If it's red, they want it blonde. Am I telling it right? Well, look at this. She's so beautiful. She's got dark hair, and I got blonde hair. She's really thin, and I'm not. How am I going to shine? I'm going to tell you how you're going to shine. You're going to follow after righteousness. You're going to follow after godliness, because those are special jewels. Those aren't easy to find. You think these young men, just because their flesh is affected by it, you think any young man really loves God, that's what he's looking for? You know what he's looking for? He's looking for a young lady that's willing to fight with him, to fight against the flesh and the world and the devil, to serve God and honor God and have a home that'll honor God and be righteous and godly and be full of love and faith. And if he don't want that, I'd tell him, hit the road. If you don't wanna tell him, you tell your daddy, if you don't wanna tell him, I will. Right? You're too valuable. What you have from God is too valuable. And what he's placed at the finish line is worth too much. Fight the good fight of faith. And this is what he said, not only fight for it, Oh, I gotta, oh, we gotta, okay, I gotta finish this. Verse 12, fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life. Not just fight. Not just follow it. Not just fight for it. Force it. Take hold of it. Listen. When he talks about this right here, I gotta go faster. What he's talking about right here in my opinion, and I'm not the smartest man in the world, but I'll just give you my opinion of the matter. When he says lay hold on eternal life, I think me and you, what we believe about the gospel, it'd be hard to say we's working for it. Wouldn't you agree with that? For by grace are you saved through faith in that not of yourselves. It is the what? Gift of God. For we see them, brother, you are saved by grace through faith, right? Clear as day, okay. So what's he saying here? Seize upon it, lay hold of eternal life. I already have eternal life. To as many as receive him, in those same verses, it talks about, what about John? John talks about eternal life, which was promised unto us, and this life is in his son. He promised eternal life. You know what you have right now if you're saved? You have eternal life. You're not waiting to get it to see if you're a good boy. It was given to you by the resurrection of Christ from the dead. And they sang about it because he lives, you live, and you'll live as long as he lives. Right? So what's he saying? Lay hold on eternal life. Well, In my opinion, what he's saying is, from my position that I have, same one, reckon. Reckon yourself. This is what you are in heaven. If you're saved by God's grace, you are justified. You've never sinned. You are righteous, you are godly, you are holy. That's what you are. And what I think it's saying here, that's the eternal life that you have and possess. You gotta grasp that, make that reality, grab hold of that now. Cast off the old man and put on the new man. Where's the new man? The new man is renewed inside of you, sealed and cannot sin. Now lay hold of that man and bring him on the outside and live like that man is declared to be. Lay hold of it. Force. There's many times you're gonna have to force yourself. It's gonna be more than a fight. You know how hard it is sometimes to force yourself to even get out of bed? That's the way the flesh is with the spiritual life. Kick yourself and get going every now and then. They hold of it. Listen, the most important thing any person breathing air in here has got to do next week is to show this world who God really is. There ain't a job you got to do this week more important than that. I'm pretty sure you don't understand, I gotta get this house built. I understand that, I hope you get it. I'm gonna tell you what, if it's at the expense of your godliness, good luck with it. I'm pretty sure you don't understand, I got big decisions, I hope you make the right one, but if it's at the expense of you living righteous and godly and full of love and faith and all that, then you've chosen the wrong path. Get it done, but show them who God is while you're doing it, right? Lay hold on it. All those promises of what you're — minding your life, a resurrected body that never sins against God, why don't we reckon that now? Let's lay hold of it now! You know who God's making me and you like? When we get that new body, we're gonna be just like Christ. Can I give you some verses, lay hold on this eternal life? Listen to these verses. 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 14, where unto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's what you've been called unto. Look at what it says in our verse. He said, fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, where unto thou art also called. I don't think it's saying that you're called — whereas before ordain you should walk in them — what you're called unto is glory and virtue. What you're called unto — that's the life over there. The obtaining of the glory of Christ. You know what His glory is? That's His radiance, His beauty, all that He is. That's what you're going to be when you get resurrected. Get a new body, right? They hold on that, not to get it and attain to it. They hold of it now, reckon it, realize it, show it. I don't belong over here with this boy holding hands, fooling around, coddling, kissing, all that bunch of junk. That's not what I'm called unto. Why are you living like that? That's not who you are. I shouldn't be sitting here drinking this. This ain't me. This isn't what I'm called to. I shouldn't be cussing like this. I shouldn't be listening to this music. That's not what I'm called to. I've been called, I'm as glorious as Jesus seated in the heavens. That's why sin is so ruined for you. Cause that's not what we are anymore. You know what I am? A child of God, a new creature. And nothing short of that is right for me to live in. Right? God help us. I gotta quit, but how about this one? But the God of all grace who has called us unto his eternal glory. That's what you're called to. Eternal glory. How's that sound? Sounds good to me. Can't find that out there on the job pay. Monster.com ain't gonna have that out for you. God does. He said that you would walk worthy of God, who had called you unto his kingdom and glory. So he said, lay hold of eternal life, whereunto thou are also called. And he said, you have professed a good profession before many witnesses. How terrible it looks to claim something before all these people, and now you're out there living like that? Is that what God does when he saves people? That's what they're thinking. You're no different than me. You got up there and claimed, cried, told everybody you love Jesus, he saved you from your sin, and then the next day you go back to it like a dog after vomit? That's not what happened to you, is it? Is that what God did for you? He just cleaned your sins off while you're up here crying? And they were back again before you got home? No. When God forgives you and washes your sins away, they're gone forever. We ought to live like they're gone forever. That's what we owe God. You have to force yourself sometimes to do it. It ain't always easy. Fight for it, follow after it, fight for it. Sometimes you're gonna have to force yourself to do it. It's one of the hardest things you'll ever do. When you get to that place, you're so low, you gotta force yourself. It's easy to do when things are all going well, the camp meeting and the shouting. Man, you get down there pretty low, you gotta force yourself to pray. How crazy is that? Oh, you gotta force yourself to go talk to God who owns everything and can do anything? And He loves you and wants to listen to you and wants to hear your cries and He wants to answer your prayer? And that's something you gotta force yourself to do? How wicked is our flesh? Yeah, you gotta force yourself to do it. All the great truth and wisdom, it's in that book. Tell you something, the wisdom that's found there, they'll never recreate it. I don't care how many AI things they come up with, they'll never be able, that's the unsearchable riches of Christ. And that thing will only be as good as a human mind, and it'll never go any further. But that book has been given light and revelation to men for thousands and thousands of years, and it'll be going on long past us. And I have to force myself to read it. Yeah, you gotta force yourself to read it. Now listen, that's pretty key, isn't it? Must mean the enemy's pretty worried about some things. The things you have to force yourself to do, I have never had to force myself, never had to force myself, never had to force myself to entertain myself, not once. Pretty natural. But there's been plenty of times I've had to force myself to do right. I've had to make myself read that book. Had to make myself talk to my wife. Had to make myself get in front of church and admit things. I've had to make myself do some uncomfortable things. Force yourself to do it. You better do it, it's that important. There's a lot on the line. And it's more than just my name, more than just yours. It's who we represent. And who this world thinks you represent. And I represent. Force, I give you this and let you go. And so he said this, I give thee charge. He said, I lay this upon you. If you look that word up, it's a debt. When you charge somebody, it's a debt that's owed. He said, I'm gonna lay this on you as a debt that you owe God. It's a charge. I'm gonna charge you before God. And here's why I'm gonna charge you in the sight of God. In the sight of God, who quickeneth all things. Don't forget he's got life in himself, by the way. Who's here witnessing this charge. Who's here witnessing the debt that's owed. He's the author of life. Remember, he's the one who gave you life when you were walking in sin and dead, right? The Bible said you were dead in trespasses and sin, and you had to be quickened. Don't forget that. before God, the author of life, and before Jesus, look at this part, Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate, witnessed a good profession. Now, confession. Well, I don't do it because I got to quit. But if you go to John 18, I'll tell you what I think he's saying. In verse 38, Pilate says, I find in him no fault at all. You know what he said about Jesus? Jesus, before Pontius Pilate, bore witness to the true statement that he made. They could not find one single thing to charge him with. Nothing. They even tried to pay people to witness against him. They tried to come up with things, everything they could think of. They could not find one person that witnessed Jesus do one thing wrong they could charge him with. So before the author of life and before the one who stood as a perfect lamb was slain in the hands of wicked men for you, I'm gonna reckon a debt to you, I'm gonna charge you before God and before Jesus. That carries some weight, doesn't it? I come to you and I said, I'm gonna tell you this, and I bring your dad into it, that's gonna carry some weight, isn't it? You care for your dad, don't you? And nothing else you might be afraid of, some fear, you know? And he brings in God and Jesus and said, I'm calling you before them and I'm gonna charge you with this right here and I'm done. This is where I'm gonna charge you. He said, in verse 14, we gotta fulfill. We gotta keep this commandment. Listen to what's being said, I gotta stop. To practice, to perform, to obey, to observe, not to neglect or violate a commandment to lay hold on eternal life. That's what I think's being said. That's the last thing that's said in those verses. And that's why I think fight the good fight of faith, follow after these things. In general, they're talking about the same thing. That's why I think they hold eternal life. And he said, you have got to fulfill this one thing in your life. You've got to fulfill it. This is the most vital, most crucial thing. And I'm calling Jesus and God to record before you. And I'm gonna tell you, you owe God to live a life worthy of what you're called to. Now I believe that as much as I believe anything. And any church out here that's lowering that down to make you feel better about not doing it, ain't a church at all. Cheapen the Christian life to just do the best you can, just fully on that. God's charged us before God and Jesus to lay hold on eternal life. Lay hold on it, seize upon it. That's what I am, that's how I'm gonna live, that's what I owe this world, that's what I owe God. to shine forth his lights. Now, if you'll live in pursuit of that, there's a great game coming. You gotta fulfill this. Gotta keep this commandment. Follow it, fight for it, take it by force, any means necessary, do not fail in your pursuit of living for what you have in eternity. May we all practice what our possession is, our position is, when we put that as our practice. Live for no other reason than to please him by accurately reflecting his whole person in this life. And he said, I want you to do that, that thou keep this commandment without spot. Well, we gotta stop. Somebody's calling me on my phone. Makes me want to smash it. I try not to wear the watch, because it started bugging me up here. And now my phone's going off. This is serious. And we've got stuff fooling with us all the time. The serious matter is you and I living for God. That's the most serious thing we've got to do, right? We've got to fulfill that. And we've got to be so concerned with it that we keep it so pure, that we so guard what we've seized upon, that I live for God. I can't let somebody come by and spot it. Too much to risk. I can't let you do that to me because that's not the picture of who God is that I want them to see through me. You get it? And listen, if you have let it down, here's unrebukable, here's blameless. You better take care of it, clean it up. get it repented of, you've got an advocate with a father, you may have to make some apologies to some people. I'm sorry I didn't forgive you, God's forgiven me, that ain't right. Maybe you owe some apology, I don't know, maybe I owe some apology. All of us, we gotta reflect God's character. You know, I shouldn't have laughed at that joke. I laughed in front of that joke, you men, I shouldn't have laughed, that wasn't right, that wasn't a good joke. Oh, don't worry about it, no, I am worried about it, because God didn't think it was funny. I shouldn't have said that about that person. God ain't going around here, tattle-telling on people. You know who he is? The accuser of the brethren. And I have not depicted who God is very accurately, and I'm sorry I should've never said that. Maybe we didn't make some, I don't know, but that's unrebukable. So when somebody tries to come back and say, well, you say so-and-so, uh-uh, I fixed that. I apologize, I cleaned that up. See, it's not perfection, but that's what Paul meant when he said, it's touching the law blameless. It wasn't that he had never seen. But he didn't ever not get it cleaned up and get it right. Okay, I'm done. Take it by force, fight for it, follow after it. Most important thing that you've got. You gotta fulfill this. Live for no other reason. Get this to the end. Be faithful. You gotta be faithful here until the appearing. who in times he will show, listen to this, unrebukable until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. I've got to keep living on reflecting God to this world until Jesus comes and accurately reflects who God is himself to the whole world. You show forth who he is until I come. That God would let me and you be a part of that kind of business. No greater sinners, no more violent offenders than you could find in the county. God said, I'm gonna let you be the one to show forth who Jesus is, to show forth who God is, the character of his person. You and I have the ability to do that. And you keep doing it until Jesus comes and when he appears, they'll have no problem getting what he's all about. It was hard for him to see a little bit when he was riding in on a lowly coat, remember that? He said a coat of folds, you know, and kind of hard to see. They couldn't hardly tell who he was really. The demons had a better time of picking him out. But they'll have no problem when he comes in his glory at the second revelation. He'll show them who God is. But my job is to do that until he comes to do it himself. Remember, he said, the only blessed day, which in times he shall show, which in his times he shall show, who is the blessed and only potent day, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light, which no man can approach, unto whom no man has seen, nor can see, to whom be honor and power everlasting, amen. Oh man, this could just, And this is, we gotta fulfill this, and you gotta be faithful, and we gotta, here's the last part, until the fullness. And that's when he comes to do it himself. The self-existent God, who only inherently has life in himself, and no chance of death, who dwells in the light, which is so glorious, our eyes can't even behold it. Hallelujah. Who men cannot see nor have seen, one day they will see him. But until then, you and me better show forth who he is. So, who will have everlasting amen, I'm done preaching. So, if you really want gain, you'll have to have godliness. If you want great gain, you'll have to be content in your pursuit of godliness. For according to verse five, gain for the sake of gain itself is not godly, nor is it gain at all in the end. Hallelujah. But God has well equipped us to do the job he's called us to do. And he is well able to reward us for doing it. You stand with me, brother. He's coming. Our musicians are coming. I'm going to let you go. I know it's been a little bit long today, but get that off of me. I felt like the Lord wanted us to have it. And so get your mind refocused. Get back to business, what God's called you to do. Let him work out the details of all the rest, you and me. Let's concern ourselves with showing forth to the world the glory of God, like Jesus did. Lord, we love you. It's a great task that you've entrusted us with, and a very important one. And Lord, how I failed at it. When you said fight, Lord, there is something in me that's willing to fight. Thank you for letting men like us even fall seven times and rising again. Thank you for letting these sinners rise again to go at it one more time, to show the world the great character of God. Lord, help us in this great task. We love you, help any sinner, especially if it's unsaved. Help them, Lord, to repent, believe the gospel. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. If you need to come, altar will be open, Brother Reed's singing.