out this morning, I want to tell you this, God tells you not to be proud and God tells you not to love yourself and God gives you a number of other things he tells you, but don't make the mistake of thinking that if God gives you the command to do it that he won't enable you to be able to do it. Too often what happens is, is you get this idea in your mind or this thought that well God's given me something to do that I don't have the ability to do. You can do all things through Christ that strengtheneth you. God will enable you to do whatever he's called you to do. And he's called you to do these things, and these things are important for you to do. You say, well, preacher, that was a really hard message. Yeah, it got all of us. There's not anybody in this building, not a single person at all, and if you said you were, then you're lying that doesn't have a problem with being a lover of yourself and being proud. Not a single person in here could say, well, that ain't me, man. I don't know who he's preaching that at, but it sure wasn't me. I guarantee you it applies some point in time somewhere in every one of our lives over sometimes the silliest, stupidest things you could ever imagine. Sometimes that's the underlying issue in our Christian problems with other people. It's our own pride, if the Bible's right. Does the Bible say only by pride come with contention? Have you ever wondered why there's so much contention in your life? It couldn't be because you're proud. It's got to be the other person that's proud, right? Isn't that how we usually view it? A lot of times our pride is something we kind of keep under the mattress or we keep it under the pillowcase. We keep it where nobody can see it and we act like we don't have it, but we're eat up with it. We're eat up with wanting our way. We're eat up with, you know, wanting things the way that we want things to be and we're not satisfied unless we get our way. Sometimes we are the most baddest Christians you've ever seen in your life. Because we get mad. We take our doll baby and go to the house and suck our thumb and we're mad because somebody did it different than we do it. Somebody took longer to do it than we did it or somebody didn't ask you about it before it was done. Like the lady that went up and painted her Sunday school room up in Tennessee. She painted the whole thing a sky blue and then the superintendent came in and about had a cotton picking meltdown. I was about nine at the time. And I remember she's screaming at the lady in there, and the lady's like, well, I didn't know, well, I didn't know, and you should have checked with me, and I'm the superintendent of this department, and next thing I know, my dad's standing there and going, ladies, ladies, ladies, we've got all these kids in here, let's go into my office. And that lady was upset, not because the lady was excited about teaching a new Sunday school class, but because somebody didn't ask her first before they put paint on the wall. Now maybe the lady shouldn't have took it on herself to paint the wall without asking somebody. I can understand the reasoning behind that. But the lady honestly didn't know. But what the other lady was upset over and above the kids coming in there and the Sunday school teacher coming in there and all that other was the fact that somebody did something without asking her. That's pride. That's arrogance. That's like how dare you do it without running it by me stuff. And we all get infatuated with that stuff and infested with that stuff at times. Amen. Amen. Come on. It'll be faster if you just say amen. It helps kind of clear the indigestion. All right. Now I want you to look at this thing here in Philippians. Philippians chapter number three along these lines. Am I proud? I don't know. Are you thinking that you're something? Maybe you do. Or are you thinking of other things other than the things God would have you to think on? Philippians chapter number three, and look in your Bible if you will, please skip down to about number, verse number 17. Brethren, he says, be ye fathers together of me. Mark them which walk so as ye have, I'm sorry, mark those of them which walk so as ye have us for an example. In other words, the people that are going the right way Mark them, watch them, follow after them. If they're going the right way, learn something from them. Well, we don't follow a man. Yes, you do. You're lying. You follow the man in the mirror if you don't follow anybody else. And you want your wife to follow you and your kids follow you, but when it comes to you following God, well, I ain't following no man. Okay, well, then you're too proud. Nobody can tell you anything anyway. He says to mark them. That's biblical. Paul says, follow me as I follow Christ. There's nothing wrong with that. Well, we don't worship a man. I don't expect you to worship a man, but the Bible clearly tells you that there are certain individuals that you ought to pay attention to. That's why you got the Bible. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and I'll tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ. So there are certain individuals that you mark and stay away from. Romans 16 tells you mark them which calls are which teach you doctrines and offenses that are contrary to what we've taught you and avoid them not straighten them out. You sit down with somebody across the table. I'll let you sit down just a second. You sit down across the table somebody and they're trying to talk you out of your Bible or they're trying to talk you out of a biblical doctrine. You know what the Bible tells you to do avoid them. He doesn't say contend with them. He doesn't say fuss with them. He doesn't say get there and try to work it out with a Catholic or a Charismatic or a Jehovah's Witness. He says, given a heretic, mark them up by this after the first and second admonition, reject them, knowing they're subverted because they got a heart problem. So leave them alone. All right, notice what the Bible says, whose end is destruction, their God is their belly, whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things. Father, bless your word. Thank you, God, for the folks that are gathered here. Thank you for the visitors that we have down from way up north. And we pray, God, that it might be a blessing to them and not a boredom to them, that they might be able to get something from you tonight, we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. Now, I've got these things that I wrote down here just to go along with the message this morning about whether or not you have the signs of pride in you, whether or not you think that you're something. Let me ask you this, what do you think on? Do you think like Esau? Esau thought that minding earthly things was more important than minding heavenly things. You know what the Bible says? He despised his birthright. He wasn't interested in the eternal things. He wasn't interested in what pleased God. He was interested in what's in it for me. What do I get out of it? Where's my physical inheritance? Where do I get food for my belly and so on and so forth? Or Reuben, who was as unstable in water. Or half the tribe of Manassas, who'd rather stay on the other side than to go where God wanted him to go. Or the rich man in Luke chapter number 12 that says, you know what? I'm doing so well, I'm going to build bigger barns. Always minding earthly things. One of the ways that you know that you're selfish-minded and pridefully-minded is that you're consumed with earthly things. So I wrote these things down, and I got them from another individual, but I think that they apply. A love for publicity and recognition. A love for publicity and recognition. If you're full of yourself, if you're full of pride, you cannot do anything without somebody telling you thank you, appreciate it, boy that sure was good. And it'll irritate, here's a good check for you, it'll irritate the stew out of you if you do ten times the work somebody else does and the person that did one thing or came in on the tail end or something and they got recognition and you didn't get any, it will fire you up beyond nobody's business. You guys go out on the street and you're standing out there and you preach week after week and week after week and week after week and somebody shows up for the first time and leads a string of them to the Lord. And then the next thing you know, the guy's up there, boy, he led ten people to the Lord yesterday. Boy, it's a real blessing. Boy, he gave out more tracts and all that. And you're thinking, I've been doing it for over a year. Where's my recognition? You say, what is that? Pride. Pride. That's me. That's I. I don't know why I'm not getting recognition. Number two, a lack of interest in prophecy or eternal things. Don't care about heaven. Don't care about hell. Don't care about the judgment seat of Christ. Not really interested in what God thinks about what I'm doing in the here and now. Not worried at all about the hereafter. Could care less. I just want to know what's in it for me now. A lot of us want our reward in the present instead of in the future. Amen. Faith and knowledge, education and science, intellect. You like the preaching that appeals to your mind, not your heart. You like stuff that makes you learn stuff to make you smarter in the eyes of people, but not closer in the eyes of God. You can know a lot about the Bible and miss God altogether. You say, what is that? That's selfishness, that's pride, that's self-love, that's lifting yourself up, that's thinking yourself of something when you're nothing. No matter if you learned everything there was to know in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, you still wouldn't know a thimble full of what God is. The Bible tells you to esteem others better than yourself, to revere others better than yourself, to not look upon your own things, but to look upon the things of other individuals. Well, are you obedient to that? You know what you figure? You figure, well, why should I do that? They ain't done nothing for me. You say, what is that? That's pride. That's something we're all guilty of. What's in it for me? You give a gift and you expect something. I'll bet you there's some of you here that feel like every time somebody gives you a gift, you gotta send them a thank you note. And it's not because, you know, it's just the right thing to do and you're really thankful. What you're trying to do is, well, I ain't gonna be beholden to them and they sent me something, so I'm gonna let them know. I bet you write that thank you note because of your reputation. It's expected of you. Praise the Lord, aren't you glad that we came to church tonight? I'm just being honest with you. The brother said be real, I'm being real. Somebody gives you a gift, can you say thank you? Then say thank you, but then you know like, well, I've got to send out all these cards and I've got to send out all this and I've got to send out all that. What would they think of me? So the real reason you're sending it out is you're worried about what they think about you. All right, number four, you have an optimistic view about human beings or fallen man. You always look at man and think, well, you know, he'll work it out eventually. He'll fix it up sooner or later. He'll get himself out of the mess sooner or later. Most of Hollywood movies, at the end of the movie, the guy comes riding in. Nowadays, it's whether the white hat or the black hat, it doesn't matter. But sooner or later, man figures out some kind of way to work out the cotton-picking mess, and all of a sudden, man rises to the occasion and solves the problem. No mention of God, no mention of anything else, and Christians have gotten that way. You have too high a regard for yourself when it comes to things. You think you can make it without God. You know what you do? You run through life all the time. You rely on yourself. I'll work it out myself. You don't ask God, like I mentioned to you this morning, to come in to help you until you've made a cotton-picking mess that nobody can clean up. And then all of a sudden you holler out to God and say, hey, God, help me. And you've already made a giant mess. And the Lord's like, well, I'm going to help you, but I ain't going to clean up your mess. You reap what you sow. You sow to the flesh, the flesh you reap corruption. And then you want to turn around and blame God for the mess you made. You probably end the mess because of what you did. You thought, I'll work my way out of this. You better ask God about whether or not he wants to. Number five, failure to ask God his blessings on what it is you're doing. Just assuming without talking to God that it's okay with God. Because you know you know God so much and so well. You're so positive that you and God are so close together that you got it down pat. You don't have to ask God because you know God would approve of whatever you do. You better back up. The Bible says in everything with prayer and supplication. The Bible says that you're to always be praying, right? Men ought always to pray. What am I going to do? Where am I going to go? But you know what man wants to do? I don't have to ask God about that stuff. Says who? I bet you'd be in a lot less messes if you asked God more often about those kind of things. I don't mean to be rough with you. A pulling away from anything emotional connected with real worship. Well, that one stung just a little bit. I'm just not emotional, really. Well, in the Bible, they're shouting. In the Bible, they're singing. In the Bible, they're praising. In the Bible, they're worshiping. In the Bible, their tears are flowing. In the Bible, they get emotional. Every time somebody comes to the Lord, they get emotional. They worship. You know what? You just cut off that emotion. I don't want to be emotional. Well, you're an emotional being. Don't tell me you're not emotional. You experience love. You tell your wife you love her. Why don't you show the same emotion toward the Lord? You're too proud. Well, I don't want to do that. I've watched men, grown men, who won't shed a tear. Well, be careful. God can squeeze tears right out of your eyes. He can do something to you and make you cry like a cotton-picking little schoolgirl. No emotion whatsoever, just this mundane, zombie-like Christianity, which I got a whole thing I'm working on right now. This no emotion, not excited about nothing, don't amen nothing, don't shout about nothing, don't be glad about nothing, don't be sad about nothing, just zombie, just a constant, Just this state of, you know, you're happy? Yes. You're sad? Yes. Well, we can't tell which one you are. It's the same expression for both. None of your business how I feel. Pulling away from anything emotional. That's feminine. That's charismatic. That's the, no, it's not. It's Bible. Every now and then you ought to get mad about something. Every now and then you ought to be happy about something. The Bible talks about joy. I'm not talking about you always going around going, oh, I'm happy, happy, happy, happy, happy. I'm not talking about that all the time. But I'm talking about there ought to be some emotion in you. But when you get to living for yourself, you're more worried about what somebody would happen to see you during a weak moment and an expression of that emotion that you actually sort of let go of your emotions. And you're more worried about what somebody might think about you than whether or not it pleases God. And that Bible over there, a fellow comes up there to the Lord and the Lord tells him, you know, he doesn't come up to him. He comes up to him and he says, take up your bed and walk. And the guy grabs up his bed, runs into the temple. The Bible says he's leaping and shouting in the temple of all places, an Orthodox Jewish temple. And he's running through there leaping and just disrupted the service, all pieces and things like that. And you know what? They're all sitting there going, what's he shouting about? Because he got to walk. He got to walk physically, you get to go to heaven eternally. And you know what, it's kind of like, I just ain't emotional about them things. Okay, you get emotional. I heard of a fellow one time, he said, listen, he went to church and the guy said the church was dead and things weren't going well and all that and he called him in there to preach and he said he preached and he said him saying that they were dead was a compliment, he said, because it was beyond dead. And he said right across the way they were having the regional championships and they were using the gym that belonged to the church. And he said he went in there and there was a bunch of people that had been in the same church service that were over there and their kids were playing ball for the regional championships. And he said you were thought they were two entirely different people. And he said, I don't care if they shout and scream and holler and everything else in a ball game. But he said, you're going to tell me a ball game is more important than spending time with the Lord? It's funny how you are when you get full of pride. You know how you get when you get full of pride when it comes to a church service? You won't show your emotions. But you'll show your emotions. You want to find out whether or not you're selfish or you love yourself. You wait until somebody cuts in front of you in the line in traffic out there, or jumps in front of you at Walmart, or jumps in front of you like a lady did to me. You know, we're getting ready. I've been standing there in this thing and holding my stuff, getting ready to get on a plane. And all of a sudden, this lady comes in there and she comes in front of me like that. And I'm thinking, lady, look, they're not going to leave. Everybody's got a seat. It's already spoken for. It's not like first come, first serve. And she comes in there and pushes her way through the thing like this. And I got to get on there and I got to get on here. And I'm and I'm and I'm thinking to myself, of course, is before I preach this, I'm thinking to myself, get in the back of the cotton picking line. Who do you think you are coming through here? I've got to get on there. I've got to get on here. And then she gets up there for the lady to hit the little deal for her to go through. And she says, ma'am, we haven't called your zone yet. I don't care. I'm not in a zone. I've got a seat. I've got to get on the plane. And I said, just let her go. She's so upset about getting there that she shoves everybody out of the way. And you say, well, what, the problem was her? No, the problem was me. The Lord said, well, why don't you let her out of the way anyway and let her sit and go ahead and let her get there. that pride. Yeah, well, I got a ticket ahead of her ticket. I got a zone ahead of her zone. Let her take her place in line. The Lord's like, What's the big deal? You get to sit down sooner or later. The longer you stand, the less you got to sit. What are you so worried about? That stuff happens along the way, Christian, not because of those other people. It's to show me and you who we are. When it comes to that emotional stuff, don't tell me you're not emotional. I had a fellow tell me one time, he said, you always talk about people shouting in church and praising the Lord in church and, you know, getting excited about singing and singing to the top of their lungs and all that kind of stuff. And he went on and read me the right act about being emotional in church and you shouldn't be appealing to appreciable emotions and trying to get people all emotional. excuse me, come to the altar and all that kind of stuff. It's the most ridiculous. And I've seen that same guy get so caught and picking mad over somebody that owed him some money. And I said, Hey, man, what are you showing all that emotion for? You know what they did to me?" I said, yeah. I said, I know what they did to you. They didn't pay you the money they owe you. But let me ask you a question. How come you're so upset about it? Because they disrespected you? Because they didn't pay the bill that they owe? Because they didn't treat you? How come you don't do that with the Lord? Never would think that that might have something to do with that, would you? But that's a little too straight for you. That's a little too straight for you. You get mad, you get upset, you bawl and squall and weep and cry because there ain't enough money or food in the cupboard and you get all tore up or tore out of the frame when somebody does something crazy with your property and then you come and hear the Lord. Whatever Somebody shouts and sometimes they shout too loud, but sometimes they shout They sound like a praying donkey and sometimes they do that kind of stuff But you ever stop to think about this you ever stop to think that's the Lord checking you and say well listen What's wrong with you? Maybe he's got them shouting just to irritate you Maybe if you wouldn't be so irritated, then they'd quit acting the fool. But I'd rather them act like a fool than act like you. A fellow said to me one time, he said, well, I just don't, I don't get that. I said, listen, brother. I said in the Bible, the Bible says every time the Lord showed up, the Pharisees were trying to keep the other people from shouting. And I said, the Lord told him when he came riding in the temple over there or came riding into the city there, he says, if these people don't shout and raise a cane for about me, I'll have the rocks cry out. I said, that's most independent Baptist right there, the rocks. We take up the rocks. He said, why? Because we ain't going to have that unless somebody kicks us. Amen. Good preaching. Well, preacher, I want it straight. Well, there it is for you. You're emotional about what you love. And because you love yourself, you're upset when somebody does something to you and some of you get so mad you could spit nails, but you don't care nothing at all about what God thinks about what you're doing. You don't get that mad at yourself when you sin. Well, why not? You get mad when people sin against you. Am I telling the truth? How come you don't get upset when you sin against God? Luke chapter 18. Pharisee, I go to church, I read my Bible, I study, I pray, I fast twice a week. My God, think I ain't like that publican over there. I mean, who'd want to be like that? I mean, over there, head bowed, beating his chest and saying, woe is me. I'm just a sinner and that kind of a thing. I don't do that kind of stuff. Getting all emotional like that. He needs to get right with God. You ever see the passage over there where the fellow comes in and he says, you owe some money and you owe some money. I tell you what I do, I'll forgive you. And the guy begs him to forgive him. You got to get that. He doesn't get forgiveness until the guy asks for him because he can't pay his debt. He's going to send him to a debtor's prison and he asks him to forgive him. And he says, okay, I'm going to forgive you. And that bird goes out and grabs a guy that owes him about a penny or so comparatively to the money that the guy's been forgiven and grabs him by the throat, pins him up against the wall and says, pay me what you owe me. and throws him in a debtor's prison. Had every right to do that. And then the people that are around there saying, you know what? It's a strange thing here, Master. You gave that guy, forgave him of all that stuff. This guy owed him a pittance, and he should have been passing down that forgiveness to somebody else. But you know what? When you're proud, you take it personal when somebody don't pay you. You think it's all about you. That's what happens. You think, God forgive me, but I ain't forgiving them. I didn't say forget. Don't go do business with them again. They don't pay their bills. Don't do business with them. You don't go in there just automatically, but the guy asked for forgiveness. The Lord, the Master in that story forgave him. He wouldn't go forgive others? Well, that sounds like a bunch of prideful Christians to me. You forget what God's done for you? Guess what? People make mistakes. Imagine that. Guess what? Sometimes people are stupid. Imagine that. Guess what? Sometimes they say and do hurtful things. Imagine that. Well, can you forgive them? How many times do you think you've hurt the Lord and He's forgiven you? But we get past all that, don't we? We get kind of uppity and get kind of proud of ourselves. Well, I don't mess up like that. And we take an affront to it when somebody does it to us. You know why? You think too much of yourself. You think too much. How dare somebody sin against me? All right, I'll give you another one here. Not only pulling away from things that are emotional when it comes to worship, but a constant desire to hear or tell some new thing, whether it's a Bible doctrine or whether it's gossip. Got to dig something out. You say, why? Let your light so shine among men. I'll show you a type. I'll show you a shadow. I'll show you a figure. I'll show you something I learned. Nobody else knows. I'm the only one that knows. The Bible says that the Bible is a lamp to your feet and a light to your path. That means you keep it pointed in the direction you're going. It's never supposed to turn back on you. I got this degree and I got that degree and I learned this and I learned that and so on and so forth. Look at me, look at me, look at me, look at me. I did this, I did that. Listen, I've seen every kind of cotton-picking contest you can imagine when it comes to church. I've seen them have contests over who led the most people to the Lord. I've seen them have contests over who knocked on the most doors, who filled up the most buses, who gave the most money, who did this and who did that, and all this contestant stuff. Let me just tell you this. First of all, when it comes to little kids, you say what you want, but little kids ain't spiritual and neither are teenagers. Amen. Well, I just want them to learn, oh, listen, man, they do things to please you because they are kids. It has nothing to do with them being spiritual. And if you think they're spiritual, you've lost your marbles. You give them a little bit of time, they get a little bit older, you'll find out they're not spiritual. Your spiritual little angel right now will turn into the devil incarnate in a matter of time. The hormones start bouncing around like a BB in a boxcar, and all of a sudden they find a guy they like or a girl they like, or they run into somebody doing this or somebody doing that, and they'll walk out the door one day as an angel and come back in, and you'll think they're a fallen angel. What happened to you? Something happened. What tripped your trigger? So there's a way that you teach individuals. The Sunday school teachers teach them, and they say, here, here's just something for learning the Scripture. That's how kids learn. You get something good for doing that. Well, I just think, you know, they ought to do it. You've lost your, you think that kid's going to do it on their own? A kid doesn't know that I do it on their own. So what do you do? You do that on your own. I earned a Bowie knife years ago when I was in the fifth grade. Say a verse of scripture and you get a Bowie knife. I'll tell you right now, I learned a verse of scripture to get the Bowie knife. You think I'd have learned it without it? Yeah, probably not. I was about as spiritual as a gnat. And so I came my time, they gave us a whole month to learn a verse of scripture. And so I picked John 11, 35. I said, Jesus, where's my knife? You say, well, you're the preacher's kid. Yeah, I was the preacher's kid. I was around church since nine months before I was born. I wasn't spiritual at all. I wanted a knife. But I learned some things. If you learn these verses, you get to go to camp. If you don't, you don't. I learned the verses. I wanted to go to camp. The things took place. Well, I'm going to let them choose, okay? Go ahead, modern Christian, prideful Christian. Go ahead, full of yourself Christian. Think your kids are going to get it unless you brainwash them? You are a fool. You gotta change them. They are born into sin. They don't know to do right. They know. They hatch out of the womb knowing how to do wrong. You don't have to teach that kid how to do wrong. You gotta teach that kid how to do right. And you know what you do? You reward them when they do right when it comes to the things that please you. Hallelujah, I'm doing good so far. You do right, you make up your bed, here's your allowance. And if you come to the table and do this, here's this. And if you get this privilege, and if you don't, you don't. But when it comes to God, well, you know, I just don't want to really, well, you know, I don't really want them to be doing it for the wrong reason. A kid doesn't reason. You've learned too much psychology stuff. You don't apply it across the board. Apply it across the board. Give it to them if they do right and don't give it to them if they do wrong. Well, preacher, that's just what we have to do. That's called school. You get a good grade if you do right and you get a bad grade if you don't. Well, we should stop that because kids should just be going to school because they want to. You see how fickle you are? That's that pride. Why don't you lay it out and tell it like it really is? You just don't want the pressure of applying spiritual pressure to the kid, and then you want to make it look like your Sunday school teachers and all the other people are doing something unspiritual because your children are so spiritual. Well, we'll see. Time ain't over yet. I'm an old man, but I've lived to watch some of these kids that grew up, and they did pretty good. And then when they got older, hmm, my Lord, they went buck wild. Some of mine, too. Now, I don't like it. They were raised right, taught them right, had them in church all the time. So what happened to them now? I don't know. They decided not to do it. But that don't mean that, you know, well, you must have done something wrong. Probably did a million things wrong, but I did the best I could. So did she. Y'all are back there going, golly, man, what brought all this up? Pride. I'm wowed with that stuff. People, you know, hyper-pharisaical, well, you know, I just believe that, you know, if you turn the kid over to God. Listen, man, I didn't want to go to church. I went to church because I didn't want my butt, pardon me, my backside beat. My daddy didn't get up and down, do you feel like going to church? No. He said, you're going to feel like it in a minute. Get up and get ready. He'd come by in his bedroom and all their bedrooms at the end of the hall. Mine and my brother's were first and my sister's was down here. He'd come by the hall Sunday morning and say, all right boys, get up, meet you at the breakfast table, let's go, get ready for church. God help you if he came back down that hallway and you were still laying in that bed. Because he wouldn't say anything. He would help you get up out of that bed. And then you would, the first thing you did was you would be in the prone position and he would teach you why it's important for you to get up when he said, get up. Not angry, not frustrated, nothing wrong or out of the way, done the proper way. And he said, when I tell you to get up, boys, it's time to get up. You understand? I do now. Yes, sir. But you know what you think? You think, well, I'll give my kids the choice. A lady told me one time, she said, preacher, I'd love to be at Sunday school, but I can't get my kids out of bed. Now, that's what she said to me. It was in a meeting, and it was back in January or February of this year. And I said, ma'am, I'm really sorry to hear that. I said, are you going to apply that same principle when it comes to school? Oh, that's different. I said, well, so can I ask you this question, just being up front with you? And she said, well, sure. And I said, are you sure it's because you couldn't get the kid out of bed or you didn't want to get up? And the preacher goes, Well, I would have said that, but I wouldn't wanna say that. And I said, well, I'm just a visiting preacher, so you don't have to worry about it. And he said, well, but that was, and I said, you really think that kid, if you leave it up to that kid to go to church, he wants to go to church? When they're little bitty teeny things, they like to come to church. You say, why do they like to come to church? Because they're spiritual? No, they like the candy and to play with other people. Not my kid. My kid comes, okay, well, with the exception of an occasional angel, with the fourth part of the Trinity. Some of you are mad enough now you can spit nails. You know why? You can't take a rebuke. You say, why? Because you're full of yourself. You think your kids are something different than everybody else's kids. I'm tired of that hyper-pharisaical nose-up mayor. Not my children. And here come the little ducks, you know. And they think they're doing it because they're... No, they're not. They're doing it because you're either beating their hind end if they don't do it or because you're not going to let them have ice cream after supper. Don't try to make it something it's not. Accept it for what it is. All kids are brats. Amen. Sooner or later, they're going to be brats. Let me give you another one. A constant desire to hear or tell something new. That's doctrinal or gossip things. A refusal to believe that there's anything wrong with contemporary games, fads, fashions, customs, dress, etc., etc., etc., of their age. You say, what is that? That's an individual right there that is an example of verse number 19. They're tied up with themselves. They're worldly. They're line walkers. What's that guy that used to sing, that guy in that black suit all the time, Because You're Mine, I Walk the Line, or whatever that thing is like that? They're line walkers. You know what they say? Well, preacher, I don't really see that there's a problem with that. And I know what you're saying, but that's old-fashioned. You've got to catch up with the times now. What's wrong with contemporary music? And what's wrong with going to those kind of places and doing those kind of things? I just don't really, I mean, yeah, they're playing the wrong music and doing the wrong stuff there. I don't really see that there's a problem. Yeah, they do that kind of stuff. How come you're justifying that? You know why you're justifying that? Because you're full of yourself. You're a self-lover. You love your pleasure more than you love God. I'm going to do what I want to do and nobody's going to keep me from doing it. And now what you're trying to do is make it look like the preacher's being unreasonable to tell you to get off the line. Get off the line. I'm standing there out there, you know, and I play a little ball, not a lot, but I play a little ball, and I'm up there, I was one of these kind of guys, I've played football, so they made me play basketball to keep me in shape in the off season. So, you know, when I bounce the ball, it was like, boom, boom, boom, you know? And then throw it, and the backboard would, you know, shake. I had the touch of a sledgehammer. And so, you know, you know, you stand up there like that, and I get there, and I finally make one of them things. And the way I, and I'm like, I didn't do nothing wrong. And he points down like that. And he said, your foot's crossed the line. I'm like, it's my toe. What's the big deal? I made the basket. No good. It's just my toe, preacher. What's the big deal? You start reflecting stuff from the other side. You know how I know? When the preaching gets a little bit hot and it gets a little bit hard, you know what you do? You start reflecting that world and it's showing up in your face. Well, now, wait a minute, preacher. I don't see the problem with playing these games, you know? Yeah, I know. I know about the games. What do you know about the games? I know about the auto theft games and all the other kind of stuff. Not because I play them. Run over homeless people. Run over policemen. Have shootouts with individuals. Steal people from cars. Run over an old lady with a shopping cart. And you're wondering why your kids don't have any compassion. Because you don't want to babysit them. You don't want to put up with them. And they wind up doing that stuff. And it desensitizes them to what real compassion is about. And you could care less. And all you're saying is right now, how dare you say my kid's doing something wrong. Well, they are. Well, it's just good clean fun. It ain't clean. The people on them things are dressed like prostitutes and they're doing drugs and drinking and they're stealing cars and saying, get in the car and steal the car and get away from the police. And one day when your kid really does it because he's an expert at doing it on a video game, you'll think, man, I can do this and I'm going to do it for real. And then he winds up wrapped around a telephone pole or up in the wire somewhere or shot by the police. And you'll be going, when did they do that to my kid? It was his first time. He's been practicing. You don't want to hear that. That's contemporary stuff. That's modern stuff. Modern stuff and how you dress. Modern stuff and how you walk. Modern stuff and how you talk. I'm sick of modern. If God had let me, I'd be so far back up in the mountains somewhere you couldn't find me with a flashlight. I'm sick of modern, and I'm sick of being made to feel like there's something wrong with me when I tell you, get me away from that junk. I don't want nothing to do with that. Preacher, you just don't understand. Yes, I do. It's damning this nation. Well, you know, but Preacher, let them. You think a kid's got to know something? They can't control their tongue. You think they can control their thumbs? sexting when they're in elementary school and junior high school, anytime for that matter, but where does that happen? Because it's available. Well, they gotta have that. What if there's a school shooting, so I let them have a phone? Go to a pay phone. You hear shots, get under something, hide somewhere, run out the door. I don't know how I ever grew up without my mom and dad having a leash on me and not knowing where their precious little child was. All I know was is that when it came time for practice to be over, I better be standing where my daddy came by and when he pulled up, I better have my hind end out there. Where are you supposed to be? Where my dad told me to be when Tom comes. I know when the sun went down, it didn't make no difference what time it was. He knew that I knew that I was supposed to be at the house. Where have you been in the meantime? I better be able to tell him where I was at. I didn't have no drone follow me around. Where's he at? Have some GPS stuck to my hind end so he can follow me all over the place and try to wind up. We got to track our kids to find out. My dad catched me lying one time. He wouldn't have to worry about where I was at. I'd be locked in my bedroom. You ain't going nowhere, boy. I got enough work for you to do. You're going to be busy till now to the millennium because you can't be trusted to act like a man. I can't trust you because you're a liar. You talking about grounded? I mean grounded forever. So, well, that's just unreasonable. You know how kids are nowadays. What's the matter? You ain't got the backbone to be a parent? Or a grandparent? What do you have kids for? It comes with responsibility. Didn't you read that? It's tattooed on the back of their head when they come out. With this package comes responsibility. You have to learn to tell them no. You've got to spend time with them. Hallelujah. Well, preacher, they're getting in my way. Okay, well, you know what? Guess what? I tell you this. I am really wore out nowadays with people saying, preacher, I just don't really see the wrong in that. I'm a preacher. I've had people sit in my office and say, I don't think there's a problem with me having a mistress. Oh, you're shocked. Really? Yeah. Some of you got mistresses right here. But I've had them. Hallelujah. Let's get everybody in here. What do you think it's going to be like when you get up there in front of God? You think God's going to sit there and just go, oh, well, you didn't. Well, you didn't. You didn't. The Lord's going to peel your brain open and go, what about that? As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. They come back there and say, well, you know, you just don't understand the stress I'm under and the pressure I'm under and all that. You married? Yep. What are you doing running around? The Bible says it's wrong. Well, but preacher, but see, the circumstances, uh-huh, it's adultery. It's wrong. Well, I know that's what the Bible says, but preacher, you've got to understand. How do you explain that? You know what they want to tell me? Something's wrong with me for telling them, listen, man, you need to get right or get left. And you know what they do? They come out and tell you, well, that preacher, he just don't have an understanding heart. He just doesn't care. He has no compassion for people that are caught up. You want to quit? I'll help you. You want to keep doing it? I'm going to tell you, you better stop. And you can keep coming, but I'm going to preach the tar out of you. It still ain't right. Well, I don't like, oh, well, go somewhere else. Go join the Catholic Church. You can just say some Hail Marys and everything's fine. Maybe if you give enough money to the church, they'll give you a few, what do they call those things they give you to let you go ahead and do the indulgences. They still sell those over there. You just have to have enough money. Will you give me some indulgences and allow me to have that relationship? Well, it's a big deal. Nowadays, what it is, is it's this idea of, well, you know, I don't really, that's loving yourself. God says it's wrong, it's wrong. Well, you know, if God said it, I believe it. Don't put I in there. If God said it, it's true. Whether you believe it, that's inconsequential. You think too much of yourself. Like, you know what you're saying? Well, I read that. I'll let you know whether or not it has any authority or not because I'll determine whether I want to believe it. So you just made yourself God. No, God said it. You know what He said? My position as God doesn't change whether you believe it or don't believe it. Listen, you should be behind me on that stuff. Even if you're doing it, you know what you should say? Well, He is telling the truth. It is wrong. You live in a society nowadays where it's just condone everything, don't condemn nothing. Just kind of let it go. Compromise, compromise, compromise, compromise. There's a cotton picking line running down the middle of the church and it's just great! There's nothing black and white anymore. There's nothing absolute anymore. Nowadays it's, I don't even know if you're saved by grace through faith. I think maybe possibly, it could maybe be, but I'm not really sure. It's the blood that I'm just, I'm so confused. I'm not, I ain't confused. I know what the Bible says about it. Nowadays it's back up, back up, back up. I'm tired of backing up. I'm gonna jack up. I'm not gonna back up. Refusal to believe there's anything wrong with contemporary things. I'm wore out with it. Number eight, the dislike for hard preaching and sermons on hell, heaven, the judgment, and judgmency to Christ. You lock a preacher down. You know, if you say, well, if he's gonna preach like that, I ain't coming. Building full this morning and tonight. I'm gonna preach on pride. Boy, that should have been the greatest opportunity for us as a whole church, to be down here all afternoon long, weeping and crying, saying, me, Lord, me, Lord, me, Lord. And some of you wouldn't get your backside out of that pew for nothing, because you're thinking, somebody's gonna think I'm guilty of pride. Well, what's the problem? You must be. Even if you weren't, you just convicted yourself. I don't need to get resaved, and I don't need to go down there, and I don't need, what's the problem? Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God. Who cares what somebody thinks? That's what you tell other people when it comes to them coming to you. You better do what I tell you to do, boy. I don't care what your friends say about it, but when it comes to you and God, well, that's different, ain't it? Dislike for hard preaching. Number nine, a hatred for the perfection of the Bible. Always, yea, hath God said. Yea, hath God said. Yeah, a better interpretation. I just believe that what he really meant to say. You're full of yourself. Pride. Intellect. Smart. You know what happens in Genesis 3? When you start questioning God, you start listening to other voices. And you better believe they'll show up to take your Bible, if you will, and turn to 1 Corinthians chapter number 8. First Corinthians 8. So you seem mad. I'm not mad at you, but I'm mad at the condition of where church is nowadays. It's proud of itself. It's boasting. That preacher, he's behind the times, man. He needs to catch up. I mean, this is crazy, this stuff, acting like that. We don't live in a rigid society anymore. So, does that change the Bible? It's still wrong in the Bible. The Bible doesn't adjust itself to contemporary society. Where'd you get that? Joel Osteen? Well, if I was you, I wouldn't say that. Okay, well, when you're me, you don't have to say it, but I'm going to say it. That guy runs 30 or 40,000 people, plus I don't know how many millions that listen to him all the time. We're lucky to get 100 or so listening all over the thing or whatever the numbers are. I don't know what they are, but you know why? Because it's not positive all the time and telling you, well, we're just glad you're here and you're doing good with what you're doing. I think you can do better. And I think some of you are stagnant, you're stunted in your growth, you're not growing any further because you love yourself. The Bible teaches that, and you're proud of yourself, and you're proud of your accomplishments, and you're proud of your job, and you're proud of your wife, and you're proud of your husband, and you're proud of your kids, and you're proud of your image, and you're proud of your strength, and you're proud of everything. Your ability to sing, your ability to teach, your ability to lead, your ability to do whatever. And the Lord says, wow, how do you know you're proud? Well, if they don't recognize you, how is it? Preacher, you know what? A lot of people are involved in helping and supporting and all that other kind of stuff. Okay? Now, what did you just say? What you just said was, is, hey, bud, you didn't get here by yourself. I know that. You think I can stop every Sunday to thank everybody along the way? There's people in here that helped me along the way you don't know nothing about. Who were the ones that helped David when he was over there after he took back when Ziklag came back and was burned? Who were the ones that helped him that he sent gifts to? You don't know. They're not mentioned. David just said, send them some of the spoils. They took care of me when I was a little sprout hiding in a cave and they were sending stuff down there and I wouldn't be where I'm at if it wasn't for them. So send them some of the spoils. Who are they? They're not mentioned. They're the unnamed, unsung heroes behind the scenes doing stuff before all the little warriors come along there and get their name for killing people. They're the ones that paid the price before anybody was around to pay a price. supported something before somebody was something, put their money on a good horse long before he ever became the king. The shepherd boy killed Goliath. Pretty good guy, just send him some help down there. I heard he's down there at Zikla, I heard he's down there in the cave of Adullam and he ain't got nothing but a bus of mince fits around him. He's gonna need some help. Send him some corn and send him some bread and send him some dates and raisins and send him in a sheep every now and then and do something along those lines. Who are they? They're not mentioned. Why is the church so interested in being recognized? Why is there always this pressure to be appreciated? I deserve it. Well, how about this? How about when you get up there and the Lord says, well, I recognize they didn't recognize you. Well done. They didn't even recognize Jesus. Hollering Hosanna one day and three days later they're hollering crucifying. Fickle people. I'm saved, I love the Lord, and talk about God's people, and talk about God's bride, and talk about God's church, and you're just consumed with trying to wreck what somebody's trying to do. Nobody ever does it right, nobody ever does it right. Just contentious, just conniving, just can't stand it. It must be frustrated ambition or something. Maybe God tried to call you to do something, you wouldn't answer it. Maybe you didn't have the backbone for it. I don't know, but it's like you can't be happy anywhere. Somebody's always doing something wrong, because it's not the way you do it. And my preacher said, what is that? That's pride. Won't you pray about it? Maybe God's got them being all whacked out like that because of who you are. 1 Corinthians chapter number 8. I love you folks, but I'm telling you this is tiddlywinks compared to what God's going to do when we hit the judgment seat of Christ. I shudder to think what will happen to our church if we get away from the old-time, old-fashioned ways. I had a preacher that called, what was it, last Sunday I did the thing about the line. He said, man, I want to ask you a question. I said, yes sir, what's that? And he goes, how do you preach something like that on a Sunday morning? I said, well, what do you mean? You just get up and preach it. And he goes, yeah, but it's a Sunday morning. and I said yeah but you just preach it I wasn't I really I wasn't getting I wouldn't be an option I was kind of like I said I what do you mean he goes well you know you like you have visitors there and and you know like you want them to hear you and you want them to come back and I said hold on a second brother wait a minute to me that's like false advertising It's like, let me get you in and get you committed. I said, I've been in those churches where the second you join the church, they put you in service somewhere so that now you're committed. And then they reveal what they really are. It's all about your money and your attendance and where you out like a cotton-picking slave or something. It has nothing to do with God at all. They put on this nice veneer out front like they're concerned about soul. They're not concerned about soul. They're concerned about getting people in there because it's a marketing scheme. And he goes, well, I said, listen, brother, I just do what the Lord wants me to do. I said, I have a group of people there, they'll be there Sunday morning, they'll be there Sunday night, they'll be there Wednesday night. I said, I don't adjust for the people that come in and readjust for them and otherwise. I said, I'll take care of the ones that are always there and always faithful. And the rest of them get on or get off. Why should I take the time to feed them when I got people that have put their sweat and tears and their money and everything else? Why should I let them get passed up? I don't believe in that. I don't think that's right. I feed the loyal. I said, Brother, I got old women in my church that have more backbone than most of the people in most of the churches I know and can take straighter preaching than most men I know. It's a real tragedy when you got women that can take harder preaching than men can. Men get so easily flustered. We had a fellow come here one time. He was a sergeant in the Marine Corps. And he came up right there after it was over and he said, I've never had, I've been to boot camp and everything else. I've never had a preacher try to dress me down like that. I said, I wasn't dressing you down, brother. I don't even know who you are. He said, well, I'm sergeant so-and-so, USMC retired. I said, okay. Nice to meet you, sir. I felt like, should I salute or, you know, I said, nice to meet you, sir. Pleasure to have you in the service today. Appreciate your service for our country and that kind of thing. He goes, well, I'll just have you know, I don't think that's what church is supposed to be about. I said, well, let me ask you a question. I said, you pushing troops when you were in the military? He says, yeah. And I said, did you really care what they thought? See, some of you think I'm being smart. I'm not being smart. I said, did you hear what they thought? And he goes, no. And I said, why? He goes, because I'm trying to get them ready for going overseas to get shot at. And I said, well, the way I see it is, is I'm trying to prepare Christians for what they're gonna face on Monday morning when they walk out the door, and they need to wake up and realize the world's not gonna be kind to them. And I said, you happen to walk in on a day where it got pretty rough. I'm not that way. all the time. You hurt my feelings. 1 Corinthians chapter number 8, look at verse number 1. Now as such in things offered to idols, we know that we have knowledge, knowledge puffeth up, charity edifieth. How about that? If any man thinketh he knoweth a thing, he knoweth nothing, yet is he ought to know. I can pull over there and park. You think you know something? The Bible says if you think you know it, you don't know it as you ought to know it. You don't know how it ought to apply. You should underline that verse. Right when you get to thinking you really know something, you better back off and hush up because you don't know it like God says you need to know it. Verse number three. But if any man loved God, the same is known of him. Let's read that again. But if any man loved God, the same is known of him. Well, do they know that of you or do you have to tell them about it? My daddy used to say this. I'm so tired of hearing about your daddy. Okay. My dad used to say this. He used to say if people are talking about it, they're not doing it. And he said if they're bragging on it, they probably never have. I didn't get it back then. I get it now. That's what I listen to Christians do all the time. You know what I know? I know that there are certain individuals, they're always telling everybody, well, I went on this mission trip and I did this on the street and I went and so and so to the Lord and I brought so many and I had so many fish on the stringer and I gave this much money and I did this and I did that and I did this. Mr. Lottie Moon back there, you know, how many lights remain up there, Pastor? I don't know. I'll cover the remaining amount. Everybody, oh, thank you, brother so-and-so. No, he's just waiting for everybody else to get done so he can make a big show. I've seen it, boy. I know what I'm talking about. And such for some of you. You say, why? You're trying to prove so hard you're a Christian. What's the matter? You got a guilty conscience? You're doing stuff and talking about, I'm going to school, and I'm going to Bible study, and I'm doing this, and I'm doing this, and I'm doing this, and I'm going here, I'm going here, I'm going here, I'm doing this, I'm doing this, I'm doing that. What's the problem, man? Are you trying to prove something you're not? Guilty conscience? The Bible says if you're a Christian, people know it. You don't have to tell them. You don't have to ask them. They know. There's something about you that clicks different without you opening your mouth. Is that true of you? Not if you're a self-lover, it's not. Not if you're proud, you're not. You're always running around barking about yourself. Let me give you one more tonight. I'm not going to get to Revelation, but that's okay. Look in Isaiah, Isaiah chapter number 6. Or do you have the tendency to boast on yourself all the time? Be proud about yourself? Before you hit Isaiah, stop at Ezekiel. I'll give you the passage. Somebody asked me about this this morning. Not in a bad way, in a way. I never saw that about the devil before, so let me show it to you in the passage. Ezekiel chapter 28. The Lord didn't create the devil as a robot. And he's not an angel, he's a cherub. He was the fifth cherub that covers. Ezekiel chapter 28. Let me ask you a question. If the Bible says if you're a Christian, other people will know it. Is there enough evidence to convict you in a court of law? Are you your own witness? The Bible tells you in the book of Proverbs, you know what he says? Let another man praise thee, because your own praise stinks. That's paraphrased. You bragging on yourself, it has no, it don't mean nothing. So let somebody else talk about what you are. You have to go around, did you see what I did? You see how I did that? Is that the best you've ever seen? Can't nobody do it like I do it. Did you hear how I sung? Did you hear how I preached? Did you see how I handled this and handled that? Ain't nobody do it like me. Man, I've seen them brag over digging a cotton picking hole. That's the best hole I've ever seen in my life. You had an auger. How hard is that? It's perfectly symmetrical. Look at that hole. All you did was go. Wow. You didn't sweat. The thing did the machine. The machine did it. Look at all them holes laid out like that. Somebody pop the chalk line. And all you did was just go... It's funny what we find to brag on. But ladies and gentlemen, when it comes to Christianity, all joking and kidding aside, if you're the one bragging on yourself, it means you got a problem. The Bible says in the last days, proud and boasters. If you're bragging, you ain't. I've had a few every now and then, not often. We don't have it happen here very much, but I've had a few altercations with individuals, and they usually will start off when the altercation goes, I've been coming here this amount of time, and I've been giving this amount of time, and I've done this, and I've done this, and I've done this. Okay, all right, what's the real problem? If you've done all that stuff, how come it is that everybody thinks you're mean as a snake, and you're not any more spiritual than a gnat? Because you think of yourself when you're something when you're nothing, that's why. and you deceive yourself. You think all the doing of that makes you spiritual. Well, let me ask you a question. Then why would you have to be bragging about it? Don't that wear you out? But when it comes to church, well, you know, boasting about things I've done for the Lord, that's okay. Really? Find that for me? Jesus goes around. See that blind man I healed? You see that? Man, that's something, man. Man, I'm out there, storm clouds billin' up 8,000 feet in the air, big anvils on the top of them, look like they're fixin' to come. Man, I mean, the wind is howlin', the waves are washin' over the sides of the boat, and I said, peace, peace, to hell, and whack, them things fell down on the ground, the waves laid flat down, and it was just as smooth as a baby's hind end out there. Boy, wasn't that somethin' I did? See that devil possessed man of Gadarene? Jump down there, cross there, come running out there. Everybody else runs from him because they're afraid and they're scared of him and all that kind of stuff. Do you see me knock the tar out of him and set him straight, cast out all them devils sitting there at my feet, clothing in his right mind? Boy, ain't I something? Look at the work I did. He don't even tell Pilate, you're accusing me. Do you know what I've been doing? I've been helping you, man. I've been taking sick people off your hands, hungry people off your hands, dead people off your hands. I mean, I gotta be honest with you, ladies and gentlemen, if I was a person that went around and Jesus raised me from the dead, and I got the privilege of sitting down with a corpse at dinner, I probably would remember that. Right? Lazarus comes up, he comes and sits down and eats. And yet when they're trying Jesus, not a cotton picking one of those individuals that claim to be so great is saying, wait, wait, wait, wait, I was an eyewitness. I saw him raise the dead. I saw him heal the sick. I saw him feed the hungry. I saw him cleanse the leper. Not a single one of them spoke up. And you've seen God do more than that. That's all physical ailments. God's done stuff for you eternally. And you know what? Crickets. except when it comes to what you've done for the Lord. The Lord says, let another man praise thee. He doesn't say that it's wrong to get the praise. He says, let somebody else do it. And if they take it and run off the deep end with it, then that's their problem. It's funny. I'm not trying to puff you up, but. But then when they say that to you, it's kind of like, well, I wouldn't be puffed up. Why wouldn't you just tell me how great I am? I mean, you know, about time, baby. You should be recognizing me. Glad you realize the best thing that ever happened to you, honey. Let another man praise thee. I'm sorry you're not liking this, but it's still true. verse fourteen, Ezekiel twenty-eight verse fourteen, Thou art the anointed cherub that covered, I have set thee so. Thou wast in the holy mountain of God, and hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned. Therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God, and will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Heart was lifted up because of thy beauty thou hast corrupted by wisdom by reason of thy brightness I will cast thee to the ground. I will lay thee before kings that they may behold thee And you know what he said? He said I will I will I will I will I will five times You know what the Lord said? No, you won't You think you're something, you're nothing. You know what his problem was? His heart was lifted up in pride. He's bragging on himself. Look how pretty I am. Look how good I sing. Look how great I am. A fella got ready to sing one time and he stood up and he got ready to sing one more, Isaiah. I told you Isaiah, and I'll be done, Isaiah. I promise you, I really will be done. Isaiah chapter number, excuse me, six. Isaiah chapter number six. And he got to singing. And he was in front of the mirror and he was singing, Oh Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder, and so on and so forth. And this kid came in there and said, Daddy, why are you singing to yourself? He's singing in the mirror. Then sings my soul, my Savior God to thee, how great thou art. Nobody sings like you. Nobody in the world can preach as eloquently as you. Or lead like you lead. Organize like you organize. Teach like you teach. Or whatever you want to put in there. How great thou art. Know how great he is. Church is full of that. Full of pride. People angry and mad and upset and leaving church because they don't get recognized or quote appreciated end quote. What a childish, babyish thing to do. How wicked is that? I quit. What's the problem? Taking my doll baby and going home. Give me my bottle. Go suck your thumb. We're out of milk. Isaiah chapter number six, and I'll be through. The Bible says this, in the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. Sitting upon his throne, Hind lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims, each one six wings, twenty covered his face, and twenty covered his feet, and twenty did apply. One cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord, host, the whole earth is full of his glory. And the post of the door moved, and the voice of him that crieth in the house was filled with smoke. Bless you, and then notice what it says, verse number five. Then said I, What was me? God shows up when Uzziah dies. Now all of a sudden Isaiah is there, and Isaiah has an opportunity to see the Lord. And he doesn't say, Lord, woe is them. You know what he says? That's Isaiah. You don't find a place in there where Isaiah messed up. You don't find a place in there where Isaiah is disobedient. You don't find a place in there that Isaiah was not doing what God told him to do whenever God told him to do it. Is that true? You know what he said? Woe is me. I know me, God, like you know me, and woe is me, not woe is them, and I dwell in the midst of people of unclean lips. Lord, I want to see you, but I ain't about to brag on all I've done and all I am and how clean I am and how pure I am and how perfect I am. I appreciate the fact that you're showing up now, and I want to spend some time, and I realize the way that I get to spend time with you is I have to confess what I am. I'm arrogant and I'm proud and I love myself and I love my comfort and I love everything about me, me, me, me, what was me. Stay around a little while. And then the Lord says, okay, here's your message. And burns his lips there with the coal from off the altar and gives him a message and all that stuff. Preacher, what are you trying to say? It's time we get back to the days of Isaiah. There's two reasons we don't see the Lord working like we used to. Number one, Uzziah ain't dead. He's still alive. You know what Uzziah did in 1 Chronicles 27? He went in and said, I'm great, I'm powerful, I'm profitable, I'm everything to everybody, I'm all things to all men, I'm the greatest king that ever walked this earth, but there's something I want, I'm going into that temple. And he goes in there and the preachers say, get out. And he says, you ain't telling me what to do, I'm a king. He says, go find, be a good king, but you're not supposed to be in here. Don't tell me I'm wrong. You know what happened to Uzziah? He was wrong and instead of repenting, God hit him with leprosy right between the eyes. Why didn't he repent? I don't know, why don't you? You know what Uzziah's problem was? Lifted up in pride. Look at all I've done. Oh, you missed it, Uzziah. If you read that when you were serving the Lord, God made you to prosper. It's all in that passage. Read it tonight. Read about Uzziah the king, and read how many times, and God made him to prosper, and God gave him victory over his enemies, and God made him powerful, and God did all this. You know what Uzziah started thinking? Huh, whew, man, God got something when he got me. I mean, look what I've done. I'm great. You'd think he was Muhammad Ali or something. And the Lord said, you messed up, now why don't you repent? He didn't ever repent. You know what happened? The Bible says he wasn't even buried in the city, he was buried outside the gate. Fellowship broken, he dies a broken man and a broken king, but it's a bigger impact than that. The Lord didn't show up in his Shekinah glory and his holiness didn't fill that temple until that man died and got out of the way. One of the ways you know you're not dead is when that preaching on pride and self-love comes down and lands right square in your heart and it bothers you and you don't do nothing about it, you're Uzziah, you're not dead. That's number one why you don't see God. Number two, if Uzziah is dead, you refuse to admit your condition. Woe is me. You live in a day and age where it is, woe is the president. Woe is the queers, and woe is the drunks, and woe is the drug addicts, and woe is this one, and woe is that one, and woe is this one, and woe is that one. And you think, I haven't seen God in a long time. Yeah, you forgot something. Woe is... And God don't show up. He gives you an opportunity when He shows up. He says, how do you like that? Here I am. What do you got to say about that? Lord, I'm glad you finally got here. Brother so-and-so needs to get straightened out. and finished up in Tennessee not long ago and got done walking out in the gravel parking lot and we were walking along there and just jawing there with the preacher and getting ready to go get something there and we were walking out toward his car like that and I heard somebody as they walked by, man, I wish Brother So-and-so had been here, he needed that message. I just looked at the preacher and I went, I guess I laid an egg, what a dud. And he said, what do you mean? And I said, he needed that message. I said, how about the guy that just said that needed that message? He's sitting there the whole time thinking somebody else needs that. You know what we need? We need to hear from God. Not this one and this one and this one and this one and this one. It's I, me, me, me, me, oh Lord, standing in the knee of prayer. All right, that's enough. And I hope that helps you. And if it convicts you, I hope you respond correctly to it. Don't go out of here and say, well, the preacher thinks he's got it all right, and he got on to us and all that. No, no, no, no. The Lord had to preach that stuff to me before you ever got it. Only the Lord is a lot rougher with me than I am with you. I'm a long way from getting it down pat. But I did tell him this. I'm gonna try. I'm not striving for perfection. I'm gonna try. But it's not like I got a safety net underneath me and Lord I'm trying the best I can I'm said Lord I'm going to I'm going to do it I'm going to I'm not going to preach it and then not try to do my best to change and live it. Otherwise I'm just nothing but a mouthpiece just a sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. All right let's stand together we'll be dismissed. Is that Brother Daniels up there?