I want you to pray for her. I want to ask you to pray for her and that God's will be done. He'd give grace. She's 68. She's been blessed. But I know her husband, Jerry, is really hurting. He's real fearful. They've been blessed with a good home and a good marriage for many years, but they have seen their share of heartache. They've buried one great grandchild. two grandchildren to either illness or tragedy and now here he is faced with this with his wife and he's really hurting. He's a good man and he's hurting and he's praying and my family's praying and I want you to help me pray. Remember my Aunt Mickey that God would help her and her daughter and nieces and would bless them. His grace is sufficient for whatever we face. And without that, we know we'd lose our mind, but the Lord can give us peace, and even in times when we don't understand, He can give us a comfort that we know whatever the outcome is, it's gonna be all right. I'm glad there's a hope beyond this life, ain't you? He said if in this life only we had hope in Christ, we would be of all men most miserable. But there is a hope that lies beyond the grave. That's the ultimate hope. None of us are going to be here forever. James said our life is but a vapor. It appears for a little time and then it vanishes away. I live on the creek and you can look out at the fog and I rarely have ever looked out and just watched it dissipate. But I have got up and went out and noticed it was there and in a little while looked back and it's gone. And life is like that. The old timers would tell me, you'll turn around and you'll be 40. I remember when they was turning 40 and my daddy turned 40. I thought, man, he's getting up there. Well, I'm 42 and it don't seem like it's been that many years. So they was telling me the truth. And the Bible's been telling us the truth always. But this is a good journey, ain't it? It's a good journey. I appreciate the meeting. I appreciate the preaching that I've heard and the brethren. I appreciate their faithfulness and the strength we gain from hearing God's Word. I appreciate again all of you brethren, this church, Brother Owens, his pastor and his family and all the ladies and men and the work here at the church. and all that they do, feedin' us and takin' care of us for the nice room over there. I've been able to rest over there. I thank you for that. I always kinda like drivin' it, have most of the time, but I told Brother Milby I believed I'd stay over, and that's been a blessing, gettin' a fellowship with some of the men, and it's just been all good. I was really lookin' forward to it, and it's been a help to me already. We ain't topped out yet, we know that. Let's keep diggin' and prayin'. Amen. And keep on goin' for God. And he's a special blessing, no doubt, for those who will stay with him and stay faithful. If you've got your Bible, Psalms chapter 6. Psalm 6. I was kind of hoping something would get stirred up there a while ago when Brother Hanley was talking about what was on his heart. I wasn't sure kind of everything was being fully done, even though I definitely, I'm not the moderator, ain't got no business of doing that. But I was hoping that everybody would just get free. It's the only way to have church. Just to get free and obey the Lord. Obey the Lord. I told you Psalm 6, Psalms 3, I'm sorry. Knew it didn't look right. Psalms 3. Lord, how are they in Christ that trouble me? Many are they that rise up against me. Many there be which say of my soul there is no help for him in God, Selah. But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill, Sila. I laid me down and slept. I awaked for the Lord sustained me. That means He got me through the night, thank God. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people that have set themselves against me round about. Arise, O Lord, save me, O my God, for Thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheekbone. Thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly. Salvation belongeth unto the Lord. Thy blessing is upon Thy people, Selah. You can be seated. I trust tonight that you would lend us an ear, that you would listen to us as we attempt to and endeavor to preach, do what we believe that God has called us to do, do what I believe my main purpose of living is to do. to preach the Word of God. I remember God's dealings on my heart as a young man knowing that He was wanting me to carry this message to preach this Word of God. I had a funeral Friday. My neighbor passed away just across the holler and it was his request that I preach his funeral. His wife and daughter came down to the house I somewhat suspected it. They came down to the house, walked up with tears, stopped at the walk and said, Would you preach? She said, My husband's funeral. I said, I'll do what I can, ma'am. It's an honor. I'll be praying for you. She said, I just want to go home. I'm tired. There was an honorable feeling about it. I knew there would be an opportunity to preach, to preach the Word of God, to be of help to somebody, but there was a nervousness that set in on me. And I sat there in a little kind of a quiet place in the funeral home and was feeling just somewhat nervous. And as I sat there and pondered about it, I thought of so many times that I've had that. There's been times that the number of people somewhat shook me a little. A different place. But really, most of the time, it was that overwhelming responsibility of handling the Word of God in front of an eternity-bound people and the seriousness of it. And as I began to preach and I told them how I'd experienced that a little, even as I prayed before I preached, I said, Lord, calm me a little. Calm my nerves a little, Lord, and touch me. And of course, they heard me praying, and I told them I wasn't going to apologize for that. It was not that I was scared. It wasn't that I was afraid to speak the truth, even though a man could be in a different atmosphere. But I said it's the responsibility and the seriousness of it. And if that really ever left me and I became so comfortable and nonchalant about delivering God's Word and it was just another time, then I might ought to be put on the bench for a while. And I'm glad tonight to be saved by the grace of God. I'm glad tonight to be able to stand here, that I do have the well-being, that I do have the health, that I do have the sense, that I do have the opportunity. I'm glad to be in church tonight with you, in camp meeting at New Freedom Church, among people that know God, that are looking and needing the same thing and the same help. You're people just like me. As the old saying is, if you're a man, you put your breeches on just like I do in the morning. In some ways we come from different areas, different backgrounds, different cultures, different work, trade, certain things. but there's not that much difference in any of us. Some have different fears, but we all have fears. Some fight different battles, but we all fight battles. But I want to say this in confessing a little as I begin to get into the scripture that's upon my heart tonight that I have went through some things and experienced some things in the last year, year and a half, that I had never actually went through. I've had emotions, and as one fella said, I have experienced every emotion that I believe could be experienced in the last while. I was preaching over at Brother Ken's, I guess, in another place, on about how we are to be glad in the Lord. I said I've been sad and mad a lot more than I've been glad. but there is a God that can make me glad. He wants me to be glad. David was glad when they said unto him, let us go up unto the house of the Lord. And so I'm glad, there's many reasons to be glad. There's gladness in this way and I'm glad that there is joy and gladness and rest, the writer said. for the weary soul. But I've experienced a lot of down time. I'm not proud of it. My wife and I have prayed together. I've left in the morning and said pray for me. I have felt very little as a father, very little as a husband, very little as a man of God and found myself before my God praying. for strength, for him to help me to stand in such a time as this. I know the grace is there, I know the power is available, but for some reason, how to process it all and to get it right, I've had a little trouble. I can't explain it, but I've had it. I know there is, no doubt, a purpose of God go through these times. He refines us and takes us through the fire and will bring us out no doubt better than we were when we went in. Burn off all the things, knock off all the rough edges. We're in this thing for his glory and if we're not, we're in it for the wrong reason. But I can say as David said here in the psalm, a psalmist said here in the third division of psalm, that the Lord, he said, is a shield for him. He said that the Lord is, he said, my glory and the lifter up of my head. I wanna preach about that. He is the lifter up of my head. That's what's on my heart tonight. Been on my heart for a day or two now. Been looking at it, been pondering it. I thought about how David cries out, Lord, they that are against me, how have they? increased. There's many, he said, they're gaining, they're piling up. It was personal to this king, this man of God. He took it personal and it affected him in a personal way. I'm going to tell you what's going on in Washington has affected me personally. I've took it personal. things that they are trying to do out of this great country. I've took it personal, I really have. It's hurt me deeply. People who, and things that's going on, I took it personal. And I've said, how is it, Lord? It was almost like that they was doing it unto me. I mean, it just seemingly got that way. And David felt that way, and truly it was personal to him. I mean they hated him, but God gave him grace and God helped him and God strengthened him and he says later on in the text that he was not even be afraid of ten thousands. I mean God brought him to a place of victory in his heart and oh how we need that again. Now He said the Lord is the lifter up of my hand. Now the way I'm looking at this and the way I'm feeling in this and being drawn to this is somewhat of a man who is down in spirit and a man who is down in heart. and he's cast down maybe in his countenance. But he said, the Lord, I can't pick my chin up. Y'all understand? The Lord can cause me, he lifts up my head. When a man's looking at the ground, it don't look too good. Looking around, it don't look too good, even looking out. But if he just can look up, it looks a lot better. He said, the Lord is the lifter up of my head. Now, I looked in context and studied this scripture, and it could mean this, that the Lord was gonna lift him up in restoration back into the kingship. I mean, you read that phrase, lift her up of mine head, you sort of could get that thought, even in the text with Joseph and the butler and the baker, and the dream interpretation was this, both of them was gonna get their head lifted, but one of them was literally gonna get lifted. It was gonna cut it off. It was gonna be lifted that way. But the other's head was gonna be lifted, and that meant that he was gonna be restored back to his former position. And so in the text, it could mean that. David could be saying, there's gonna come a day that God is gonna take me back, really, to where I belong. and that is true, and I'm glad the Lord, in that sense, is the God of restoration. The brother said today that the devil will lie to you and tell you you'll never get back there again, or it'll never be like it was again, but it can be with God, and it will be with God. He said I am thy God, I change not. He said about the men of God in Hebrews, considering the end of their conversation, Jesus Christ, The same yesterday, today, and forever. The message has not changed. It never will change. The touch of God, the Holy Spirit, never has changed, never will. Never be a new gospel that'll work. Oh, there's other gospels, false gospels. There's other Christ, false Christ. But I'm glad there's only one Jesus Christ. The Lord. There's only one Jesus, the Savior of the body. There's only one Jesus, the head of the church. There's only one Jesus, and that same Jesus is the same one that got up from the tomb, the same one that walked, the one that went away on the cloud, and the same Jesus is coming again. How about the word of God said, David said, thou art the lifter of. of my head. And so I've had experiences lately with my head bowed low. I've had some experience, and I'm sure you have, kind of walking around kicking the ground, kicking rocks. But I've had the experience of God lifting up my head. Now I think about in the Word of God some people who I feel like have got their head lifted, got their spirits lifted. I mean, do you need a lift tonight? We've needed every message that we have heard that God has spoken to us. And I've been in camp meetings when there was almost so much preaching that you couldn't hardly, you know, you hear the word of God and then you live it out and you rehearse it, but after about 10 sermons, you know, it starts bleeding together and blending together, and you just get bits and pieces. But we've needed everything we've heard, and I believe God's put this on my heart tonight, and somewhere in the crowd, there might be one, two, three, or four, or 120. about how he's here that needs a lift tonight. I mean, needs a special touch, needs to be reminded how much God cares, needs to be reminded that he's not going nowhere, needs to be reminded that he neither slumbers, thank God, nor sleeps, but is eyes in everywhere beholding the evil and the good. Bow the knee and say, God, you know what they're doing up there. I can't do nothing about it, but I'm glad you can. Thank God he can. And we can lift up our heads and we can go on for God in confidence and believe him and take him at his word again. Oh yes we can. He said thou art the lifter up of my head. I think of some people in the word of God that got their head lifted up. I have to think of people, first of all, as sinners. You know sin, when you get preached under conviction, you'll drop your head most of the time. You won't hold her up. You know those old timers where I come from, back in the day, about all of them criticized the Billy Graham crusades. They said, you'll not get saved walking down in front of a million people, popping bubble gum with your head in the air. They believed that conviction would make a man hang his head. Now understand that all the workings of God are not noticeable on the outside, but they do work their way to the surface. I've been in church many a time. I've seen young people reared in church. They'd be singing on Monday in revival, singing just like everybody else on Tuesday, but by Wednesday or Thursday, for some reason, I even experienced it myself, for some reason, I wanted to hang my head. It was conviction coming in on me is what it was, but I remember when God lifted up my head. Do you, Lord? Can you go along with me while in this? Put yourself there. Do you remember when your head hung low? I thought of a song of today. It's called Where No One Stands Alone, but it's talk about once I was in the darkness, as black as a night, and my head bowed low, and I cried, oh Lord, oh put me where no one stands alone. Hold my hand all the way, every hour, every day, all the way in, unto the great unknown. Oh yes, we need God. And I remember when I saw, I really needed God. I remember just like the story of Ruth and Naomi. You know, she said, you're God, be my God. and thy God, my God, and where you go, I'll go. I remember when I went to church and they sung about their God. I remember when Mama worshipped her God. But I remember when Mama's God become my God. I remember when Brother Eugene King's God become my God. He become personal to me. And I remember when he lifted up my head for the first time. There ain't nothing like it. We sang in the little country church, love lifted me. I was sinking deep in sin. Oh yes, but love lifted me. I think about the woman. And the word of God, brother Ken, she was in adultery. He's caught in the very act. And they brought her to the Lord. They said, what should we do? Oh yes, the law says she should die. Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground. And no doubt, I can see her there, condemned, friend. with her head bowed low, and the other men's head was high, really. Amen. But the word of God said, and he wrote on the ground, and talked a little while, and he said this, he that's without sin cast the first stone, and they walked away. They didn't walk away. with her head up. I believe they walked away with her head down. But it wasn't that way with her. She was there with her head down. He said, doesn't quote it exactly like this, but here's what he said. Woman, look around you. Where's those thine accusers? And she lifts up her head and she looks around, probably a little reserved, she looks around. Well, Lord, I don't have none. He says, neither do I. Condemn thee. Go and sin no more. I believe she come in with her head down, but I believe the grace of God lifted it, amen. I think about the woman at the well. She was a half-breed, friend of Samaritan. Half Jew, half Gentile, come by herself. I mean, down in the dumps. I mean, we know the story. She'd been married five times, doesn't give up on it. I mean, what y'all would say if you want to use the phrase shack up, but she wasn't living the way God planned for her to be. and there she is, thinks nobody knows, but she's been taught there's one coming that'll tell all things, and she goes to the well, and Jesus had went there, and he was weary, and he's thirsty, and he sits by the well, but we know there's a divine appointment that took place that day, and the word of God said that she came to the well, and they begin to talk, and back and forth converse, and he tells her about some real water that a man could drink and never thirst again. And the longer he talked, the more thirsty she got. And she said, oh yes, I want this. She said, he talks about true worship, he talks about the Jews, he talks about the Samaritans, he talks about the mount she does, and then Jerusalem. He said, we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. You worship what you know not. And the word of God says as they converse, it's revealed to her who he is. And I believe when she went in the city, I don't believe she went in like this. I think I found the Christ. No. She got a lift, friend. She held her up high. And remember this, friend. The disciples had went into the city to get some meat, and they didn't know meat and break out. But when a little sinner found out the Christ was and had found him, forgot the water pots. I mean, I believe she found hope, don't you? She ran in the city with her head held high and said, come and see a man. I found the Christ. This is He. Oh yes. He is the lifter up of the sinner's head. You believe that? I read in my Bible about two men, a Pharisee and a publican, who Jesus used them to teach a lesson. He said they was two men and they was praying. One of them lift up his head real high. He looked right up to heaven and said, God, I thank you that I'm not like this other man. I fast, I tithe, I do all these things. But the other one, oh, he was a Pharisee, but the other one was a publican. They didn't like publicans. They didn't like Zacchaeus. They didn't like tax collectors. But the Lord loves sinners. Thank God. We was driving cattle the other day, Brother Ken. Delivered some cattle to the market for my uncle. And my little cousin Kenan got in there. I said, you wanna sing a church song? He said, yeah. He started singing about a Sunday school song about Zacchaeus. About Jesus going down that road. And looking up in that tree. And he acted like he didn't know what he was gonna say, but he's just a hyper little fella, and it built up in him so strong, he said, Zacchaeus, come down from there. I about had church over that. It felt right in my heart. I said, thank you, God. Thank God. But the word of God said, where am I at? I've lost my place. But I'm glad that the Lord is the lifter up of a sinner's head. Here he is, the publican. There he is, thank God. The publican. He wouldn't even lift up his head toward heaven. And he said, God, I'm telling you how to get help tonight. God, if you'll come with yourself bowed low. And James said, humble yourself in the sight of God, and he'll lift you up. Amen. He said, he wouldn't even lift up his eyes toward heaven. God, be merciful to me a sinner. And Jesus said, which one do you think went down to his house just to fight? I thank the one who come clean and honest with God, got his head lifted up. I was 12 years old when the Lord started talking to me. Spent three days, just three days, troubled about my soul, conviction, scared, dying, hell became real. I was a sinner. That was a consequence of my sin. I was going plunged off into a lost eternity without God. And I didn't want that. There'd been enough reality around me, and I thank God for it. I don't know how to express, neither do you, how blessed we are that this has been revealed to us. Seeming like, according to the Word of God, it's hid to some people, but God's revealed it to us, thank God. He opened our eyes, thank God. But anyway, I remember my mom asked me under the clothesline just a day or so prior, two days prior, revival was going on. And this would have been a Thursday. She had asked me a day or two prior, was I lost? Was God dealing with me? And I lied to her. And as far as I remember, that's the first time I ever lied to my mama. But I didn't want to admit what I was. And that was very customary to talk to your children. than the culture I grew up in about that. Parents were sensitive, and they'd pray, and I don't see a thing wrong with it, and God's in it. How could it be wrong when God's in it? But anyway, she asked me, and I remember as a child, as a depraved sinner, even yet at 12, I ran, and my nature was to do something to occupy my mind, something to get it off my mind. I'm glad I didn't have as many things as they have nowadays to accomplish that, even though that was just in 1990, but it's so much different now. It's so different now. But I remember as we got dressed and went to the church house and meeting began to start, my little heart began to flutter and I hung my head. Oh, I hung my head. And I thought I'll get through tonight. I barely made it out of last night. but I believe I'm strong enough, I can get through tonight. Now why is it that we won't bow? It must be, again, our nature. It just must be of the pride of man. And that's so powerful, many, no doubt. But I'm glad the hammer of God's word, the convincing work of the Holy Spirit can absolutely break the will of man and make him desperate. As I heard Brother Larry preach, he's gonna get saved, cause he's gotta get saved. Thank God. But I remember my head was bowed low, and my Uncle Donald, who's I think with the Lord now, he was a touch. I don't want to elaborate too much, take up too much time. I'm bad to tell the whole story when I get into things, but he had a way about it. He didn't know nothing but blunt, you know. And a lot of people didn't like that. He was different, you know. He was so different than most people. And when he was born, they even told my grandparents that he's not really altogether right. So he was babied in different things because of that. And I'd say that hindered him a little, but he knew God. He knew he was saved and he knew God and he had a prayer life and he was praying and God showed him that I was lost. And we were sitting in the service and my uncle turned around. He said, Jeremy, are you lost? And I said, yes, I'm lost. And he said, well, why don't you go to the altar and pray then? I'll go with you. and we went to the altar and I knelt down a squall and well, he and my mom, and my mom's here, you know, in the past, you know, you had to almost babysit him at times, and as I said, he was very forward and he would do things that you would think probably shouldn't have been said or done, too open, didn't know when to keep quiet, and so I was up here on the altar praying, and trying to call upon the Lord, trying to get relief from my conviction and my burden of sin, and my mom was behind me, the altar was full, dad was there. I remember that, but I do remember I heard my mama after I kind of quit praying, and she was scolding my uncle. She said, why'd you say something to him? He told me the other day out there in the yard he wasn't lost. Why'd you do that? Because if they ain't under conviction, they don't need to be up here. If they ain't lost, amen. Is that okay? If the Holy Spirit ain't drawing you, there's no business transaction spiritually going to take place. If you go to pick blackberries and you grab one and you pull it and it pulls back, leave it alone, it ain't ripe. When it gets ripe, you touch it and it'll fall right off in your hand. That's what I believe. And I was ripe for the taking. Yeah, it was. And if you'll just let God work right then, victory's close, I believe. And there I was there. And I raised up as a little old boy and looked out under my arm. And I said, Mama, I lied. Just like that. Son, she hit the floor, went to squalling, said, help me church, help me pray, my baby's lost. They went down in prayer and I went to Calvary. Brother Eugene said, son, you'll have to trust him. If you'll trust him, son, he'll save you. If you'll believe on him with all your heart, he'll save you. Believe on him, son. And they exhausted every effort that they had and they prayed and they labored and they prayed. It seemed like a long time but it probably wasn't all that long. Someone else over here makes a profession. They shout a while and rejoice a while and it begins to die down. Something's different in me. When all the quietness and calmness came over, I could breathe better. I felt different. I can't explain it. The burden had been lifted. Condemnation was gone, but I said, I've got to know. How does a man know? So I reset myself and said, Lord, save me. And it didn't even sound right. I knew the work had been done. The witness had came in, Brother Larry, and there was peace with God in my heart. I felt no longer condemned, no longer guilty. This experience that I had, I understand there are feelings, some can be deceptive. In your Christian life, there is understanding who you are in Christ and the battle with Satan and the flesh and all of that. And there are times that you cannot pay attention to your feelings. It'll mess you up. I believe in faith and facts and the feeling does come. And the feeling did come, relief. Peace is an experience. How is peace known if peace is not experienced? With the salvation experience, there is an effect on the inner man. Take that out of it. All you've got is head knowledge. And many people, and I know it's not the heart that pumps blood. It is the seed, the very seed of affection. But an old man testified with tears in his eyes back home and said a lot of people are going to miss heaven this far. Y'all know what he's talking about. Just this far from the heart and the head. They had it in their head, but there was never no dealing in the heart. And the pie runs out as Brother Jones says, there's no victory and perseverance involved there. But he lifted my head that night. I remember my profession at first, if you want to call it a profession, I know the Bible says with a mouth confession is made, but my initial profession was not verbal. I just got up, my legs were asleep. I rose from the altar and finally got up, and I looked around, and I seen Miss Rachel, who I dearly loved and still love. She's 95, I think, and she's kind of slipping a little, In her clear conversation in the past few years, she'll just stand and look off and say, I don't know why the Lord hasn't come to got me yet. She's ready to go, but she was the first person I saw. and I had my head lifted. It went like that. That's all I done. They knew what that meant. They knew what that meant. Yes sir, when he lifts the head, oh yes. When that head's lifted, usually that shame is gone. I believe Adam's head was hung, don't you? Way back in the trees that day. I believe in his heart he could never really hold his head up, especially when he heard the voice of God. I believe when they made them fig leaves, I believe he knew deep down, I just ain't sure this will do. But when he heard that voice of God that he so was drawn to for so long, all of a sudden he was fearful. And no doubt he hung his head when he come out. I believe Abel and Cain, you know they offered the offering. I believe, Cain, if you understand the gospel, and now that you're saved, we can approach the throne of grace boldly with our head up. Amen. Not in pride. but that we're approaching a place that we have rightful access to. Amen, there's an open line. I understand that we still feel beggars. I understand bowing our knee to God. I understand approaching God in humility, and I do many times with my head bowed low. But in my heart, I'm a looking up. In my heart, I am lifted. I'm going to my Father for some help, and I'm a looking to Him. I believe that Cain hung his head when God says to him, Cain, if thou do us well, shalt thou not be accepted, but if thou do us not well, then sin lies at the door. Have you seen this on people? Have you seen this shame? Have you seen this on people? This bowing of the head, this lowering of the head. But there's nothing any greater than seeing the Lord lift the head of a sinner in victory. Rise them up from prayer. Rise them up from the pit of sin. David said, He lifted me up out of a horrible pit and put my feet on a solid rock. I'm glad there is the lifting of the head for the sinner. Did you experience that? What about just our walk here? There's been many times in the scriptures that somebody, you can find many applications, many places, but just comes to my mind as I pondered on it, the scripture there in Luke, I believe it is, where they was on the road to Emmaus, and they was walking, and they was sad. And the Lord scruiced up and walked with them a while, but they didn't know who it was. But He asked them, Why are you so sad? They says, Well, you must not be from around here and know what's took place. There was a man Jesus that we really trusted in. We believed He was our Redeemer. We had hope in Him, but they crucified Him. He's been, this is the third day. Now they said there's some women that's been of our company. They went down to the tomb and they said His body wasn't there. And they've even said that they seen Him. But they said we went ourself and went through the tomb. And we saw it was just like they said, He ain't there. But we didn't see Him. So we don't know If there's any hope, it must be gone. I'd say their head was down as they walked and was sad. But all of a sudden, he says, oh ye fools, slow of heart to believe. Alton, did you not know that the Son of Man must first suffer before he goes into glory? And then they talk with him and something begins to take place. They said, hang around a while. talk with us, stay with us. And they begin the fellowship and talk with the Son of God. And he broke bread, and all of a sudden their eyes was opened. And the Word of God said that he left them. They wanted him to stay, but he went on. And the Word of God says as they begin to talk about their experience with the Lord, they said, as we walked and talked with him, that man, Did not our hearts burn within us? And they told others, they said, What she said is true. He is alive! And He was made known to us in the breaking of bread. Thank God, if that don't get your head up, there ain't no hope. But I'm glad the message still rings true, that He got up the third and appointed morning, and that He's still alive. And if I ain't got that to tell you, I ain't got no good news. Paul said if a dead rise not, we believed in vain. If the resurrection's passed, there's no hope for us. Eat, drink, for tomorrow we die. But there's a future event, and the same spirit that raised our Lord up, brother Ken, on the third appointed morning is gonna raise me and you up too. I mean, thank God. If that don't get our heads up, want nothing. I'm glad that lifts me a little. That lifts my head a little. When I was a young preacher, I preached sometimes with my head down, you know, shine backwards. But I believe the gospel needs to be preached not in a proud spirit, but in confidence. The voice needs to elevate and thunder out over the crowd. and the voice needs to be lifted up like a trumpet, and the alarm needs to be sounded. Brother Wayne says kick, scream, Brother Jeremy, do whatever you can. The rock's through the windows, the house is on fire. And yet there's those out in sin-seeking, out on the ocean of life. There's a lifeline, thank God. Throw out the lifeline. When the lost at any cost is what they sung as a boy. Tell sinners, there is a God, there is a Jesus. There is first the holy law that condemns you and you're condemned in sin without hope. Amen. If Jesus had not come, we were doomed. No hope. But God committed His love toward us and while we were yet sinners, Christ came and took our place. He who knew no sin was made sin for us that we, the guilty sinner, could be made the righteousness of God in Him and we've been given this ministry of reconciliation and as Paul preached, he said it is so that God beseeches you by us. He said God is speaking through me as a messenger to you and telling you how to be reconciled with God in Christ's stead. That's how we preach not ourselves, but Christ and Him crucified. I'm glad we can get our heads lifted. Now in this world, the worst is yet to come. Has to be. That's not a prophecy of doom. That's just a prophecy. Prophecy of doom for the world. Prophecy of doom to those who are without Christ. But that prophecy doesn't end. There's another prophecy. There's another word. There is a word from the Lord for us in these days. There is a word for the Lord. Now, I could get in this, I asked Brother Belcher, sir, are you a prophecy preacher? He said, no. And if we all be honest, it would about pay us all to say, no. There's a lot of things I don't understand and I know there's a lot of things you don't understand. But I do know in the book of Luke, he said it's going to get bad before it's all said and done. He said you'll hear wars and rumors of wars. I think he's talking, of course we know he's talking to Jews then. He tells them Jews, he said you'll be hated of all nations for my name's sake. He said you'll see signs and wonders, you'll see darkness, blackness, smoke, he goes on everything. You'll be betrayed. It's in the Gospels. Matthew 24. You'll see this. You ever think? Tribulation. Then it'll be great tribulation. He said you'll see this. He said some of this starts happening. You know the ends now, but it's not yet. There'll be yet more to come. He speaks of this woe and that woe. You can read Revelations. You see this seal and that seal. But in the midst of all that, Jesus said when you hear these things come to pass, Go ahead. Hang your head and cry. That ain't what he said, preacher. That's right. He said, lift up your head. Redemption draweth nigh. Lift up your head, church. Redemption draweth nigh. They sang the song, signs of the time are everywhere. There's a brand new feeling in the air. Take your eye, set your eye toward the eastern sky. Lift up your head. Redemption, wrath nigh. Victory lies ahead for the child of God. Victory lies ahead. I need this. I need when I'm preaching to you, I need it. I need my head lifted. He's a lifter up of my head. I told a brother today, and I want to be real careful here, but I said, you know, I used to be so full of joy, and I still am at times, but I just had this constant joy through my children but something happened and I was losing some of that and I'd look at them and then people people would walk up to me and I've heard them say this about my children and your children and say what are they going to face? What are they going to see? I said if that's how you feel and I understand here's what I need you to do I need you to go to your prayer place and pray for my children. And when you come to me, I want you to come to me with your head up. I ain't trying to be mean. I'm just telling you what I need. I need you to come to me with your head up and say, Brother Jeremy, I love you. I'm praying for you. Look at me, Brother Jeremy. The Lord's going to be with us. Is that not the right way? Brother Jeremy, I know it's going to get bad, but remember, He said, I'll be with you all the way, even until the end of the world. The same God that went with Daniel and the lions then is the same God that will be with us. The same God. See, faith comes by hearing and not just saving faith, but living faith. Faith to go on, faith to walk by must come by the Word of God. The same God that was with them. Y'all know old brother Shaver, y'all love him and you know he's not felt well. But brother Ken told me one time, or brother Milby told me one time that the school kids loved him. And you know he's always preaching rough, but one time he got up here and looked at them kids and here's what he said to them. God said to Joshua, as I was with Moses, so shall I be with thee. Amen. That's what we need. That's what we need. Not a prophet of doom, but a prophet that will preach the Word of God in power and tell us what's right. Tell us how to do, but tell us there's reward for the faithful. Tell us that it will be worth every mile. Tell us something that will cause us to get our head up as I am preaching, not in pride, but something that will cause us to get our head up in confidence. And when we do have that old mourning spirit that is necessary and that broken contract spirit that drives us to God and we feel poor and needy to understand that God will lift up the head. of the poor and needy. That we can go before a God and we don't have to seek and wallow in defeat but we can get at the foot of the cross where victory was won at Calvary and we can find grace to help in a time of need. That old time religion is not dead. He said, Shall I find faith when I come? Somebody, I don't know where, but somebody, a young man in our church announced his call to preach about a month ago. My cousin in Tennessee, Lucas Shoulders, announced his call to preach about two months ago. And if they're really called to preach, if they really are, and I'm not saying that I doubt them, because I'm not doubting God in these last days. But if they are, God's got to work from the dew. And I said this about the young man in our church. He spoke his first message, preached his first message. and he was talking about a young man in the community who was abandoned somewhat by his father and it was sad and I remember that day that mom said they saw him walk down that old farm road and sat down on that piece of machinery and two 13 year old boys and the little boy who felt so forsaken by the people that ought to love him most put his little old head over on my nephew's head and wet his shoulder with tears because he was so broken hearted. I said if God lays his hand on him, I was raised 26 years, I lived in a place that many of you have laughed about and heard about, Bug Tussle. I was born and raised in Bug Tussle, saved by grace in Bug Tussle, Kentucky, called to preach in Bug Tussle, Kentucky, and I said if God got a voice in Bug Tussle, Kentucky, it's just as important as Brother Andrew is on the northern Iraq border over there preaching to those people who've been told that Muhammad is the prophet and Allah is God, and I'm closing, and I'll say the new freedom in the people that live in this area You're the light of the world. And there's a Muslim right down there at the marathon. I talked to him earlier. I said, are you from India? He said, no sir, Sherlock or something like that. I said, are you Muslim or Hindu? He said, I'm Muslim. You got a chore, but if you'll do what you need to, God is able to take the light of His church and show them who the real God is. And listen, I understand in foreign missions, but America's in trouble and we need help in these hills and hollers and up and down the side of our road. And I'm for you of putting money and sending it to Africa with Brother Mike. I'm for you. But it's somewhat easier to do that than it is to get to praying about the lost boys and girls on Highway 61. Oh, we need God again. We need to get our head up again. Get it out of the sand. I'm not worried about my land much no more. I've been guilty of worrying about things that are vain. But there's souls in the palace. There's a Jesus to preach. There's a name that's wonderful that needs to be thundered out over the land. There's a high, friend. I thank God that you can get. Them boys at the Valero, them boys at the Valero told me that I needed to, I said, I ain't never tasted a beer. I said, you don't know what you're missing. They don't know what they're missing. He said something about marijuana. I said, do they still grow that stuff? He said, you want some? I said, I ain't got no need for it. That one said, you couldn't afford it. I said, I bet I could. I just don't want it. That feller said, look at him in that white shirt in that truck. I mean, that's hiring a tree and drunk. Me and my wife stayed on the Maryland line, up there in Hagerstown, Maryland. I call it hell on earth, but it's somebody's home, friend. I smoked dope every night. The last night, Brother Ken, there was a vaping in the bar, I don't know what it was. My body shook, I think it was some kind of drug. in there and I was so ready to get out of there, but just right below that and Fallen Waters, Virginia, there's a little people that Sister Rutherford knows and these people know. There's people that love God that's praying, that are holding on and trying to fight for this way. You ain't getting this alone. There's a God that's, hey, oh, glory to God. Let's get our head up again. Oh, we need it. Let's get our head up, church. Oh, Lord. I said, I said, this is awful. My wife, she'll care for me saying this. She cried, and then she just pulled her in and toughened up. She knew I had a meeting to preach, and we've got a calling and a job to do. And I walked in there one night, and there's a Mexican boy walked by me, and I knew something, but I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to it. He got down the hall, and he stopped like this right here, and he just stood there. and he scratched his head and he turned and he come back and I had my Bible he kept doing that pointing at this Bible and talking I tried to talk to him but I couldn't I couldn't understand what he was saying I said it's late but I got Samuel Garrett's number and I called I said can you talk to this boy he's a needin' help and it was sister Garrett and sister Elizabeth got on there And the best I could do, I said, you listen to her. And she said a few things to him and talked to him. And I went back in the room and he said, thank you. I said, was it any accomplished? She said, well, we don't know. We've got to put it in the hands of the Lord, Brother Jeremy. I had her on speakerphone, just me and my wife. She said, but he said when he walked by you that it ain't me. No, it ain't me. And it ain't you. We better remember that well. I'm scared to even hardly say that because it draws attention. I want it to be Him. It is Him. If it ain't, it ain't nothing. But He said, as I walked by, I felt something. And I knew there was something there. And of course, He's referred to that Spanish work down there and to Samuel. He's got the number. We've done all we could do. But she said, Brother Jeremy, He says He's in a predicament that He sees no way out. but I'm glad there's a way out. I'm glad there's a way out. He walked away with his head hung low, but I'm glad there's a Jesus that can lift it up. Sister Garrett testified, I hope I ain't going too long, but Sister Garrett testified at your church, Brother Keehan. She said, when my dad, Brother Garrett, Pastor Garrett, Brother Bob died, she said, it was the darkest day of my life. Do your mercy now. She said, there was a cloud that came over me so gloomy and dark when my dad would draw his last breath. She said, we walked back out into a meeting area or a commons area or whatever the room was, and there stood those Spanish people that he had ministered to and preached to. And she said, Pastor Garrett has gone to be with the Lord. And I believe the song that they began to sing was Victory in Jesus. You know what? It lifted her head. God can lift our heads. Are you down? He can lift your head. Do you need to get in this altar and say, Lord, I need you to lift my head up. King Uzziah died and Isaiah was sad. But he looked up and he saw the Lord high. and lifted up, sitting on his throne. Do we need to see him again? I believe we do. God bless you. Thank you. Obey the Lord. I'm done. Preacher, you come on.