On book page 212. I've been traveling here in this life, with its soaring trouble and strife. Sometimes Satan tries to tell me to turn aside. I say, Satan, get behind. No return in any of your fight. I'm too near my heavenly home where I abide. I'm too near to the Father, my Lord, too near home in heaven's reward. I am not returning to sin, I have made my vow. There is joy going this way He must say. I am. Just one glimpse inside the home game See the friends and loved ones who wait We'll be worth whatever the cost to make it through I would not give up in the race I'll continue by the Lord's grace Have to live and work for a home beyond the blue Brother Jeff, would you lead us in prayer, please? Hey. I want to tell everybody that's been coming out and working for the Bible School. Appreciate everything that y'all have done. Y'all have done a great job. For those that haven't seen, the upstairs is nearly completed, decorated. So y'all look at it. It's amazing what they've done. And I know Teresa and Mike appreciate that. And they're going to still need a lot more help when they get ready to do this down here. So y'all just be available for them. Page 53. I'm looking away Beyond the dark streams To Heaven's fair home Of which I all dream The pains I've known It's growing to sin The pain in my heart waiting for me waiting for me my We'll never be sold. We'll never live dead. And no one grows old. The city's bright today. The sun will not shine. With all of us sad. is waiting for me. waiting for me. Jesus. foreign No sorrow, no pain. All sin will be gone. is We'll do one more and Brother Tim's going to preach for us. Let's all stand page number 16. This world is not my home, I'm just passing through My dreams are laid out somewhere beyond the blue The angels that come in from heaven's open door And I can't fill it up with this hope anymore Oh, Lord, you know I have no men like you. If heaven's not my home, then, Lord, what will I do? The angels thank the heavens from heaven's open door. And I can't live in hope in this world anymore. They're all just fake to me. And last one thing I know, I say you're part of me. Oh, I'm weak and poor and I can't plan on being this strong anymore. Oh, Lord, you know I have no friend like you. If you're not my home, then no wrong will I do. The age of second day, the pavement's open door And I can't go back home in this world anymore You. All right, on that last. Closed up in glory land, we'll live eternally. The saints of every hand, pour a shot of wine for me. The sounds of sweetest praise drip back from heaven's shore. And I keep going on in this heavenly chord. ♪ Oh Lord, you know I have everything I need ♪ If heaven not my home, then Lord, what will I do? ♪ The angels welcomed me from heaven's open door ♪ And I came to lay me home in this holy place. Brother Carter, would you lay some prayer over the offering? Hey, you may be seated. One more announcement, don't forget Sunday is homecoming. We will not be having Sunday school and the service will start at record time at 10 45. So remember that. Ladies bring, I think they sent out a message, bring one dish, bring more, bring all you can bring. Amen. It's good to be in the Lord's house tonight. It's better to be saved. Amen. I'm grateful tonight for the house of God, for the people of God, for the Word of God, for a holy God. Amen. I'm grateful tonight. I praise the Lord. I want to just take a few minutes here just to praise my Savior and thank Him for dying for me on the cross and shedding His precious blood for such a sinner and a worm as me. I'm grateful that I've got hope and the only one that can give hope and that's Jesus Christ, our Lord. I'm grateful tonight, grateful for our pastor, Brother Jay. Brother Jay is a real special blessing to me, him and his wife and their family. He's blessing to me. I'm glad that God brought Brother Jay into my life. I told Brother Jay, talking to him, I've known Brother Jay all my life, but I've just met him here recently because the Spirit of God and the working of God works us together. And I'm so grateful for a pastor that believes the Word of God and grateful for his family. And we're praying for him for his return. Brother Jay, please come back home. We're glad to be in the house of God. Thanks for everybody who did all their hard work. If you have your Holy Bibles with you, that's your King James Bible. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians, please. 1 Corinthians. It's got a little thought on my heart. I want to share it with you. I hope it'll be a blessing to you. It might be an encouragement to somebody. I hope that I am. I hope I can be used by God. I've been going through some personal things in my life. Some of you know about it and health and whatnot. But hey, this thing's about not me and it's not about you. Jesus understands everything. And He's going to take care of everything for the children of God. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Look with me in verse 1. Paul called to be an apostle Listen, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ. Buddy, that is some confirmation. That is some high corn where I'm from right there. He was called by Jesus Christ himself to be an apostle. Amen. And look what it says with me. called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God. Notice that, that he's in the will of God in what he's called to do. You know, there's one great thing that we can find in our lives, and you know what that is after we find Jesus? That is the will of God. Me and Brother Terry were talking about that today, and I'm not up here to pretend that it's easy to find the will of God. But I do know the beginning of the will of God in your lives. The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 18, it says, in everything, give thanks. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. The beginning of the will of God, I believe, in a Christian's life is to be thankful. And the word thankful means it's self-explanatory, thankful. We are full of thanks back to the source, which is God, amen. And I'm thankful to God to be his child tonight. I'm thankful to God for what he's done for me. Look with me in verse number two, or let's finish verse one. The will of God and Sotheus, our brother, unto the church of God, which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus." Let me just stop a moment and say this. When you come across the Word of God and you see Jesus Christ, and the word sanctified with it when you're studying your Bibles, that's talking about positional sanctification. When you are saved by the grace of God, you are automatically positioned in Christ and you are set apart by God for a holy, specific use from God. Amen. Now, when you're studying the Scriptures and you come across the word sanctification with the Holy Ghost, I can't say this definitely, but most of the time, When it's sanctification with the Holy Ghost, it's practical sanctification. That means you are practicing your walk with God in Jesus Christ. One of them's positional, places you in there. You get all that you need when you're placed in Jesus Christ. There's no additives to it, but there is practicing. Sanctification in all of our lives, friend of mine, so that the world may see Christ in us. Amen. Look what it says with me, and let's read on. It says, sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints. Now, there's some religions today, and I'm not throwing off on religions, even though Jesus threw off on all of our religions, amen? That's what kept him in trouble, because he went off on all religions, amen? But there's some religions who try to make you a saint after you're dead. And I'm telling you, after you're dead, you're either a saint or you ain't. You're either going up or you're going down. Jesus Christ makes you a saint before you die. Amen. That's a wonderful thing there. We're saints tonight. Now, we might not act like it. We might not look like it. But positionally, as God sees us in Christ. He calls us saints. It's amazing. But what it says with me, with all that in every place called upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours, grace be unto you and peace from God our Father And from the Lord Jesus Christ, I thank my God always on your behalf for the grace of God which is given you. By who? By Jesus Christ, that in everything ye are enriched. By who? by Him in all utterance and in all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you. so that ye come behind in no gift. God doesn't want any of His children lacking, not knowing what they're to do by His calling and their gift that He's given us. We've all got a task down here for God, amen. And now look what it says. Waiting for the coming, waiting for the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ, who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful. Listen, I need to, boy, we can take a lap right there. God is faithful. God has never failed in anything or any of His promises. God is faithful, amen. And look what it says, by whom ye were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Let's go, Lord, Father, thank you for this day, for your many blessings. We pray tonight that Jesus might be exalted and looked at for a little while, that we might learn and put our gaze upon Him who's worthy. I pray tonight, God, that you would help me, Lord, in my physical, but more importantly, in the spiritual. so that, God, Your people can be, Lord, better soldiers, better athletes for the Lord Jesus Christ. Have Your way tonight. Help God. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We have a brief text that tells us the true source of all abiding riches for life on earth and in heaven. The riches are offered by the Lord Jesus Christ himself, listen, to all that will trust him as Savior and Lord, amen. And we know that these riches, go back with me in our text to verse 11. Number five, enriched. And that's what I'd like to preach to you with just a few minutes on some things that Christ wants to enrich in our lives while we're here. All the things, all the spiritual blessings are attached to Jesus Christ. I know that there's a lot of material blessings, there's a lot of wealth that people go after. And I was taught, you know, as a young preacher, that all the rich people are going to go to hell and the poor people are going to heaven, but that's not true. Abraham was one of the richest men you'll find in the Bible, but money didn't have Abraham, God had Abraham. And you see, there's nothing wrong with money. There's nothing wrong with wealth. It's just what you do with it and how you treat it. Amen? It doesn't say that money is the root of all evil. I'm tired of hearing people misquote that. It's the love of money. It's putting money in front of God. But we're not talking about material blessings here today. We're talking about spiritual blessings. And the Bible tells us in Ephesians chapter one, verse three, God has equipped the New Testament church with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. You want to be enriched tonight with the Lord Jesus Christ, follow Him. You want to be enriched with the Lord Jesus Christ tonight, follow the instructions that He gives us in the Word of God to follow, amen. Look what it says with me in verse number four. It says, I thank my God always on your behalf for the grace of God that is given to you by Jesus Christ. Oh, tonight, church, where would we be without the grace of Almighty God? The grace of God can't be preached long enough or loud enough or great enough, friend of mine, about what God's grace is, friend of mine. What is grace? The grace of God is something we didn't deserve, we don't earn, friend of mine. But it's exactly what we needed. It's exactly what God had to give us to save us, friend of mine. We are saved by the grace of Almighty God. Plus nothing and minus nothing. It's not Jesus plus you, Jesus plus this, or Jesus plus that. It's Jesus only. Jesus is the one friend of mine that has made us acceptable in the beloved and he done it by his grace tonight. Grace is spelled G-R-A-C-E. The G stands for brother God. The R stands for riches. The A stands for act. The C stands for Christ. And the E stands for expense. The grace of God is God's riches at Christ's expense. How is it brought out to us down here where we live? You see, if you've experienced the grace of God, you've been changed by the grace of God. Hey, there's no such grace in the Bible found, friend of mine, where you've experienced the grace of God that it hasn't changed you, friend of mine, to be conformed unto the image of Jesus Christ. There's no such grace as that. But grace, friend of mine, if you're not careful, friend of mine, is perverted in a lot of ways today. We're gonna talk about that in a minute. God, Christ, wants to enrich us in the experiences of grace in our lives. In experience after experience of grace in our life. You see, it's not a one-time grace deal in our life, but it's grace after grace after grace after grace in our lives, Brother Ron. It's the grace of Almighty God. It's the unmerited favor of God. I'll give it to you in shoe leather. What is grace spelled out? Grace. is an act of kindness to a hopeless, helpless individual for the sake of another. I don't want you to use this as your experience or in your testimony, but I'll tell you what happened to me many years ago. A friend of mine, I walked into an old church where there was an old preacher that used, a friend of mine, the old King James Bible, and he didn't know a lot, a friend of mine, about outlines, but he knew a lot about an outpouring of God on his life, amen. And I walked in there as a long-haired hippie friend of mine, a drug, alcohol-infested, no-good, hot-dirty sinner friend of mine. And I sat about the fourth row down into a church and still to this good day, I don't know how I got there other than God getting me there, amen. And this preacher got up and preached. Friend of mine, evidently Jesus told that man everything I was doing because he got up that night and he preached the Word of God and the Spirit of God separated my soul from my spirit and showed me that my soul was in an immediate danger of going to hell. And I'm here to tell you that night This old hippie was saved. I fell trying to get down to the altar. I was saved on the way down to the altar. I was saved by the grace of God before one man put his hand on my shoulder. Christ had done saved me that night. You know what it was? It wasn't friend of mine dramatics, it wasn't all of that. Christ convicted me of my sins and Christ drew me out with cords of love and I responded to Christ by faith. And the faith that I responded to Christ by was the faith that He gave me. And when I stepped out by faith, grace stepped in and saved me by His grace, amen. Hallelujah. I ain't never been the same. And I'll never be the same. And as long as God lives, I'm gonna be where He is. And not what I've done, but what Christ did for me at Calvary. You see, when you experience that grace, when you experience the saving grace of God, your life is forever changed because it's no longer yours. It's His. Grace. A kind act to a helpless, hopeless individual for the sake of another. Does that sound familiar to you tonight, church? It ought to. It's in the New Testament. It's what Paul gave the Ephesian church when he told us in Ephesians 4.32, he said, be kind to one another. tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. That's the grace that Jesus Christ wants you to be enriched in, that grace that he wants to be displayed through your lives to other people, the kindness. Where is the kindness today, friend of mine, in a lot of the churches today? Where we've lost, friend of mine, the sensibility of the kindness of God, friend of mine. One of the greatest attributes of a Christian is kindness and love. That's how we're distinguished from the world, friend of mine, and people today. are a bunch of grouches and old fuddy-duds today, friend of mine, and they want it their way today because they don't understand the grace of God. Well, it gets quiet when we preach like this, doesn't it? Listen. You see, The love of God alone couldn't save you, even though God loved you and that was the motivator behind what God did for us. The mercy of God couldn't save you, even though that was a motivator of God's love. It had to be grace. And the reason it had to be grace is because God is holy, and God is just, and God is divine, and God requires perfection. He won't settle for second best out of you, out of me, out of nobody. So the only one that could satisfy God was God. So God left heaven, He came to this earth, praise his name. He lived 33 and a half years. He never sinned. He could not sin and he knew no sin. And then he voluntarily went to a hill called Golgotha and he bowed his head and he gave up the ghost and he died and shed his blood so that you and I could receive grace and a pardon for our sins. Have you been pardoned? Haven't done it in a long time, but I used to preach to death row inmates. Brother Ron, there's one thing a death row inmate's interested in. It ain't a good sermon, it ain't a good song, and it ain't a good supper. He's wanting a pardon. And the reason he's wanting a pardon, because he's sitting there on death row, because he's done been proven guilty. And the cross, takes the blame and puts it on the sinner where it belongs. And God the Holy Ghost opens that up to him. And he sees his position by God. This is God's work. And that person responds, yea or nay, to that call. Amen. Did you know that grace is in a time zone? I didn't know this, I was reading, I told Kathleen, I'm about to come out of my chair, turn with me to the little epistle of Titus. I'm gonna read something to you. Titus chapter two, this is a wonderful epistle, it's a pastoral epistle. You have 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus. These are all pastoral epistles. These are, sets the order for the pastors on how they're to behave and how they're to run the church and for the people that are in the church, how we're to behave. You know, most of the New Testament's written to Christians on our behavior and how we behave. We're giving Christ out by the way we behave, not by so much of what we say, but by kindness and love. Amen. Some of you looking at me kind of funny. Look what it says with me in verse number two. It says, here's the time zone. It's in three time zones. It says in, well, let's look at the beginning of this so we know what we're talking about. Verse one, but speak thou the things which become sound doctrine. This is doctrine. This is not legalism. It's doctrine. Doctrine does not separate the church. Doctrine, when it's believed, holds the church together in Christ, amen. Sound doctrine. You know what the Bible says in these days? They will not endure sound doctrine. I was run off in a church for just simply getting up and preaching the way I preach with sound doctrine. They can't take it. They don't want to be led of the Lord. Amen. But look what it says in verse number 11. Talking about, for the grace of God which bringeth salvation has appeared unto all men. Now, when did the grace of God appear unto all men? You know that, and I know that. If somebody ever comes up to you and wants to belittle somebody else about the way they're living, here's what you tell them. They come up to, Brother Tim, you think that guy over there saved the way he's doing that? You know what I say? There ain't but one person I know that's saved, that's me, and I'm not so sure about you, amen. Christ once enriches in this experience of grace that we say that we've experienced. Look what it says, for the grace of God which brings salvation has appeared unto all men. That was when Jesus Christ went to a cross and shed his blood and died and was buried and was resurrected from the dead. That's grace in the past. You see, God's in eternity. Nothing, friend of mine, has ever caught God off guard because nothing, friend of mine, is outside the scope of God because God is in eternity and everything is in the presence with God. Okay? I know that's mind-blowing. I know that's hard to grasp. But everything's in the presence. But we're in time. And time is three phases. Past, present, and future. And notice what it says, for the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared unto all men. That's Jesus dying on the cross. But not only does the grace of God that saves us, this same grace teaches us and admonishes and teaches us. Look what it says in verse number 12. Teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly, righteously, godly in this present world. That's grace present. Not only does the grace of God in the past for man, but the grace of God is present with us today. And what does this grace do? It teaches us. It teaches us to deny ungodliness, worldly lust, things of this world, friend of mine. And if there's one thing that needs to be preached in the last days that we're in, is that the church, friend of mine, is a called out body, like Brother Jay has preached, to be different than this world. Amen. So that means you ought to dress right, you ought to look right, you ought to smell right on Saturday evening. And I know there's Baptists, instead of having their feet shot with the preparation of the gospel of peace, they're wearing sneakers, Brother Terry, and they're sneaking around doing a lot of things today. But I'm telling you what, you ain't pulling nothing past God. In fact, to the matter of a friend of mine, you can't fool God, so you better not fool with God. He'll let you beat your own music out and he'll name that tune for you, buddy, when you stand there, amen? Listen, we serve a holy God. Listen what it says, teaching us to deny ungodliness and worldly lust. We should live what? Soberly, righteously. That's living right. Whatever happened with doing right? You watch the news and everything's all wrong. You watch the news and they'll get you thinking wrong. You don't need to be watching that stuff. Hey, you need to get off Facebook and like Willard told me, put your face in this book. This should be our Facebook right here. Put your face in this book. This book already knows what they're saying on Facebook. One day, science, maybe, will catch up with this book. Maybe. Teaching us. the denying godliness and worldly lust. You can tell I'm from the old school, amen? I sat under old men of God who believed this Bible, and they, listen, they taught me some things, friend of mine, that I'm never gonna ever step aside from, friend of mine. And I'm telling you to live right, friend of mine is right. If you can live right, Brother Grady said, you know how to die right? And I said, no, I'm a young man. He said, I know, you don't think about that. You're a young man. He said, I'll tell you how to die right. You live right, and you can die right. Boy, that's deep, isn't it? I remember as a young Christian, I shared this with you right quick, not to put any light on me, but Brother Grady told me not to go down to the beach, and if you wanna go down to the beach, that's your business, I don't have no problem with that, that's you. But Brother Grady said, you better not go down there and take your clothes off. I went down there, and I was gonna go deep sea fishing, and we was on the beach, you can ask my wife about it. And I was down there, and people was coming up to me that I didn't even know. Brother Ron, man, you better put your shirt on. I'm saying, what is all these people telling me this for? Well, I got sun poisoning and liked to die. I thought I was going to have to die to get better. And the whole time, friend of mine, that sun poisoned me. I didn't even know I was being poisoned. And I would have never got that if I'd have kept my clothes on. Amen. I told Grady when I got back, he chuckled. I said, he burned everything off me but my name. Amen. I think I ended up, didn't I end up in the hospital, Kathy? I had to take another week vacation to get over the vacation I took. Grace is in three. Grace is in past. It's in present, and look with me in verse number 13. Looking for Jesus, the blessed hope and glorious appearing of the great God, great God it says, and our Savior, Jesus Christ. That's future. Grace. covers all the areas that man needs it covered in, friend of mine. There's grace for the past. There's grace for the present. And there is grace for the future, friend of mine. And the grace for the future is looking for the blessed return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Now, I'm gonna give the church just a little warning here today. If you want to study how the church and the church age is mapped out, you can do a study on Matthew chapter 13. Start studying the seven parables that Jesus laid out. That's all related to what's woven in and be woven in and out of the church. And in the middle of those parables, He tells a parable about a woman who took leaven and hid it in the three measures of meal. And that leaven, friend of mine, is corruption. You know what leaven is? It's yeast. You know what leaven does? It corrupts. It goes inside and it permeates all of the rest of the dough and it starts a decaying process in that dough, which causes the dough to rise, puffing up. I found this interesting too, Brother Ron, that one of the ladies was writing about this. She said that it works best with lukewarm water. Jay's been preaching about lukewarmness around here for a couple of months now. You can't make this stuff up, amen? And I'm here to tell you, friend of mine, lukewarmness is causing this. Now, what did Jesus say about the yeast? What did he say about the leaven? You go to Matthew 16, and Jesus tells his disciples. He said, take heed. You know what take heed means? It means be aware, be warned of the leaven of the Pharisees. Now what is the leaven of the Pharisees? What does that represent to warn the church by? It warns the leaven of the Pharisees is legalism. It's somebody who's operating under a set of laws and rules without the love of God. It was the Pharisees who had the letters but did not have the love of God in their lives, friend of mine, who did not know the love of God, but operated under a bunch of rules and regulations. When I first got saved, I got hooked up with a bunch of legalists, and God helped me. I'm not knocking them or anything like that. They did help me in certain areas, but I don't see how anybody could stand me, friend of mine, when I started trying to perform to please God. When I tried to start doing things, friend of mine, to say that I've arrived, because you can never arrive, friend of mine, because Jesus has done it, for us. He's right. You know, they're legalist, Brother Ron. I was told by one pastor, he's dead and gone, you can have a mustache, but you can't have a beard for each ear. Now you figure that out. One guy said, you can't do this and you can't do that. Stop this, stop that. Jesus said, take heed of the leaven of the Pharisees. And you know what? These men are cunning and crafty. And they don't walk up front and tell you what they're gonna do. They creep in as unawares. And we need to be aware. We need to be aware, friend of mine, of the leaven of the Pharisees. Hardly. This is what perverts the grace of God. This is what complicates the simplicity of Christ. It's people coming in and injecting their law and their system of belief. What did Jesus also say in Matthew 16? He told his friend of mine, beware of the leaven of the Sadducees. The corruption. of the Sadducees. What was their corruption? Well, the Sadducees, they didn't believe in angels. They didn't believe in miracles. And they didn't believe in the resurrection. And you know, you've heard this, this is why they were sad, you see. And they're liberals. They're liberals who have a Bible under their arm and don't even believe what they preach. They're liberals in the pulpits today that try to explain away the miracles of God and the deity of Jesus Christ and the virgin birth and the Holy Bible and they're all over this country and they're in these churches today because people have not taken heed of what's crept in. Yeah? They perverted God's grace. You better not die without God's grace. You better not dare try to beat God, a holy God, without Jesus Christ, friend of mine, being your Savior. Never, ever try to do anything. Because if you meet God without Jesus, this is what you're saying. You have got something better to offer than what Jesus did, and you don't. And that will make God angry. You don't hear about God getting angry no more. It's all happy, happy, clappy stuff. But God doesn't change. I'm like this old preacher, preached up in the mountains one time in revival. He said, you better not get around God when he gets in a killing mood, amen? He went through the Bible and preached it, buddy, everyone he killed. And then he went back and said, I'll never forget it. He said, I ain't found no apology in here nowhere for it neither. Listen, we need to be aware. The Bible tells us to be vigilant, to be sober, to be vigilant. because your adversary goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. I'm grateful to God that we've got some men of God, some elders in this church, and a pastor friend of mine that's aware of this, but I'm beware of you and your own lives in a personal matter. Beware, take heed. Next thing you know, you'll be in another church. You'll have another Bible under your arm. You won't even be able to find the God you say you love. The Pharisee, the Sadducee's Lebanon, and you've almost endured to the end. Amen? Jesus said, take heed of the leaven of Herod. who was Herod. He was a wicked king who lived the life of lust and luxury and pleasure. And the Bible tells us in Jude, there's only one chapter, verse number four, that certain unawares have crept in. He goes on to explain what they do. They take the grace of God and they turn the grace of God into lasciviousness. And lasciviousness is the word we get license from. And that's the word, friend of mine, like the state of Georgia gives you license and tells you how to drive. We got these guys today that have taken lasciviousness and they turn to the grace of God and they say this, I can live anywhere I want to live. I can do anything I want to do. I can be as sinful as I want to be. And I'm still saved by the grace of God. You ain't no such a thing. Amen. That's right. You can do it, but you won't last long if you're a child of God. There's a sin unto death, amen. God ain't playing around with this stuff, church. And in the day that we're in, Jesus warned us of the leaven the Pharisees, he warned us of the leaven of the Sadducees, and he warned us of the leaven of Herod. That came out of our Lord's mouth. And I can take you to churches in this county, in White County, and Habersham, and Dawsonville, Brother Terry, and you know them as I do. that used to be lighthouses for the Lord Jesus Christ, that used to be powerhouses for the glory of God, and they did not take heed to what Jesus said, and these unawares have crept in. I have met some of those unawares, and those have crept in, and you know what? They creepeth me out. Christ, I ain't going to preach all that I've got to preach, but if you're going home tonight, I want you to look at this. In verse 4, verse 5, He said in everything, ye are enriched in Him by the utterance. Utterance. What is utterance? It's not babbling in some unknown language like a lot of people want you to think it is. Utterance is a heavenly talk that you get when you get saved and you become a child of God. I remember shortly after I got saved, Brother Terry, I didn't hardly know nothing. I can tell you everything I know probably now in 20 minutes anyhow. But I was sitting there and Grady was preaching something or another, and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, I said, amen! And I don't know, it was in me and it just come out of me. It was a heavenly language. Have you ever been around somebody, a friend of mine, that had something to say? Because you can be around other people who just want to say something. But some people that's got something to say has got something from the Lord and it fits what's going on in your life. Brother Jay said something, several things to me already that I've heard said to me all my life, but it did not echo in my spirit and in my soul until I heard Brother Jay say it to me because I knew it was in his heart and in his soul. And it echoed, it vibrated back into my spirit and into my soul. Utterance. He wants you to be enriched in the utterance of God. You know what that is? Use your own language with a heavenly talk for God. You see, Jesus didn't save you to keep you from going to hell. That's just part of it. He didn't save you to get you to go to heaven. That's the other part of it. He saved you so that you'll stay down on here, on earth, and you'll be able to speak about Jesus' name to a lost and a dying world. And when you say it, it'll have salt and light on it. That is, friend of mine, if you're following the Lord Jesus Christ. Makes a difference, doesn't it? Utterance. Hey, he wants you to be enriched in, he wants you to expand in knowledge. Look what it says in verse number five, the end of verse five, in utterance and in all knowledge. Now what is knowledge? Knowledge is what you study to obtain it, brother Warren. Wisdom is something that you say to God you don't have and you get it from God freely. But what is the difference between this knowledge, if you study the Bible just to find out some facts, and you don't obey the Word of God, and you don't put faith into what you're reading, all you've got is a head full of knowledge. And this is why Paul warned us about knowledge puffeth up. But if you study the Word of God, to see Jesus Christ, and you're wanting to follow Him, You're studying for the right reason. And by the way, the Bible's got a whole lot more to say about studying the Bible than 2 Timothy 2.15, where it says to study to show thyself approved unto God. A workman needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. That's one of the main scriptures that we do use, but it's woven in and out all through the canon of scripture, that you're to get into this word and stay into this word until that word stays into you, amen. And you are to operate by what the word of God is instructing you to do, amen. That's all I'm gonna say about that. God wants you to be rich. in that knowledge. Lastly, look with me in verse number seven. It says, so that ye come behind in no gift. Listen, waiting for the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Christ wants you to be enriched in the expectation that any moment, the intimate return of Jesus Christ. Any time now, Brother Terry, we was talking about that. Hey, this world is not gonna go on. Your CDs are not gonna matter in the bank. My retirement ain't gonna matter in the bank. Social security ain't gonna matter, friend of mine, in this bank. When we leave this world, we leave it behind. And I say praise God for it, amen. I ain't got no stakes tied down here, very deep know-how, amen. But you see, there's a difference, Brother Ron, in loving that doctrine. Now I'm gonna say something here and I promise you, I'll be done. I know Jay says that, I learned that from him. I promise you, amen. The doctrine of the catching away of the church, which is known as the rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4, 16 and following. That doctrine is not to be used as an escape mechanism to the body of Christ. Now let me explain. I heard a young preacher get up in a pulpit And he told everybody that he didn't have no money to pay his bills, that he got bills in the mailbox that he left. He owed people this, and he owed people that, and he owed people this. But he said, in one day, I'm going to be raptured out of here, and I'm going to leave that mailbox and all the bills behind. And I thought to myself, you will, young man, but you're going to meet a debt collector. All the investment that Jesus Christ placed in us when he saved us, God will be looking for a return in that investment. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Give an account. Not for our sins, the blood of Jesus, thank God, took my sins away. But for my works, as he has occupied this temple, I will give an account to him, whether it's good or bad. But the Lord wants us to be looking for Him. You see, it's one thing to go around and argue that you're a pre-Millennius, or you're an a-Millennius, or a post-Millennius. I like what one preacher said. He went to one church and said, which way do you want me to preach the second coming? He said, are you post, what are you? He said, I'm a pan-Millennius. He said, pan-Millennius? What's that? He said, have her hot pans out. I believe that's the way it's gonna be, amen. So now we got preachers that'll preach it any way they wanna preach it, depending on where they're at. Phony preachers, amen. Now let me say this. It's one thing to love the doctrine of the second coming of our Lord, but I want you to turn with me to 2 Timothy, and we're through. In 2 Timothy chapter 4, Paul's swan song. He's about on his way out. He's about to lose his head from his body. He's carried out of that prison. In verse number 7 in chapter 4 of 2 Timothy, he says, I fought a good fight. Now what's Paul saying? Paul's saying, I've been a good soldier. I have fought a good fight. The Bible declares the children of God soldiers, amen. We are in a battle. We have an enemy. I'm not your enemy, the guy sitting next to you is not your enemy, the people around you not your, even listen, friend of mine, if you get spent around fighting your own flesh, you'll spend all your time trying to fight yourself. We don't wrestle against flesh and blood, that's including yourselves. We wrestle against principalities, against powers, against rulers of darkness, spiritual wickedness in high places is what the Bible teaches. Look what it says. Paul said, I fought a good fight. And then look what he says. He says, he said, I fought a good, and I finished my course. What does finishing my course means? Paul said, I've run the race. In the Christian life, we're known as athletes, amen? There's a starting point and finishing point, and we're running a race, amen. But look what else he says. He says, and I've kept the faith. That's outstanding. You know what Paul said? Even though that God inspired me to write most of the New Testament, It came from the Lord Jesus Christ by revelation, and I had to study it over and over again for myself to keep the faith. Amen. It's wonderful. But here's what he says, and I'm closing. Verse 8, Henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, to which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day. and not to me only, but unto all them also, that love his appearing. You see, it's one thing to love the doctrine of the rapture of the church, but it's another thing to love the person that the doctrine is speaking of. And if you love the Lord Jesus Christ, and I love the Lord Jesus Christ, like we're supposed to, His appearing doesn't frighten us at all. It does not frighten me at all for the Lord to come back tonight, sis. I'm ready. Hey, listen, I'm ready to go up. I'm not packed up, prayed up and ready to go up. I said it one time, a preacher said, you might as well unpack, you ain't taking none of it with you, amen? but I'm ready to go up. This will solve a lot of problems in our personal lives tonight. If we, down in our hearts, down in our spirit, down in our soul, will love the Lord Jesus Christ at His appearing. Paul wants you to be enriched in the experience of grace. He wants you to be enriched in the expression of the grace of God, telling other people about it, showing other people about it, being kind. He wants you to be enriched of the expansion of knowledge, learning more and more about Jesus, and incorporating that into your life and applying faith. And Paul said Christ wants to enrich us, our life, in the expectation of Jesus' return. I'm so glad that I serve a God who gave me not what I deserve. I ought to be in hell. I ought to be in hell with my back broke tonight, burning in the regions of the damned. But God's magnificent grace changed my life, changed my heart, changed my being, and come on the inside of me and made me a new creature. in Christ. Are you saved tonight? Are you ready to meet God like you are? This may be the last time that I even get to preach. Maybe the last setting as a church collectively together that we have. We don't know what this world's up to, but I'll tell you what, it's up to no good. We could be out on the street in the morning. wondering who bombed us. I'm not kidding you. Are you ready to meet thy God? Would you come, Brother Terry?