Hebrews chapter number 12. I appreciate the Lord this morning. Hebrews chapter number 12. I begin reading verse number 1. Hebrews chapter 12. And verse number one, the Bible says, wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which does so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Looking unto Jesus, the author, finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has set down at the right hand the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Father, we love you, thank you for this opportunity again to stand in this place. Lord, I pray that you, God, take the message this morning, use it to help hearts. God, stir our heart today and do something for us, Lord. We've spent a lot, come a long ways, and folks have given of themselves, God, to try to get something this week in this meeting. And I ask you, God, to honor it, please. Lord, do something special for us. We'll love you for it in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Well, I'm interested in verse number two. The Bible says, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was sent before him endured the cross. I want to talk to you about what kept the Lord on the cross. I don't know about you, but I'm glad that he did. And I think about what he could have done, amen? Do you realize this morning that he didn't have to do that? He didn't have to hang there and take all of that that he took. He didn't have to put up with all the things that he put up with, brother. He could have called 12 legions of angels and set him free, amen? and forgot about man. I'm not worth remembering anyway, amen? If we got what we deserve today, that's what we get, amen? God would just turn his back on us and forget about us because that's what we're worth, amen? I realize that man likes to think that he's good for something, amen? But the truth is, we're good for nothing, amen? And God, God has blessed us with his Salvation. Amen. I don't know about you, but Jesus Christ humbled that cross for my sins in spite of me. Amen, I thank God for what he did but but can I just get you to look at something just for a minute Can I help you for a minute? He just he endured the Bible says he did listen Jesus Christ did not enjoy the cross He endured the cross he put up with it. Amen for your sake and for my sake he put up with the cross Bible says he he despised The shame. He didn't enjoy the shame. He didn't like it. Hey, how many of you like shame? Amen. How many of you? I enjoy it. I beat it. I enjoy it. I spit it. Amen. I enjoy it. I smack it in the face. I enjoy it. I pluck it out the beard. Hey, you wouldn't enjoy it. Jesus didn't enjoy it. The Bible says he endured it. Amen. He put up with it for you and for me. He dealt with it for you and for me. He suffered it for you. And for me, I don't think you understand what he's saying. I mean, I mean, brother, listen, he didn't, he didn't do it for somebody that was lovable. He didn't do it for somebody that deserved it. He did it for you and me. Are you with me? on our best day. I said our best day as a child of God, we're filthy. On our best day as a Christian saint of God, God said we're filthy rags. Everybody all right? God died for the unlovable. He died for the ungodly. He died for the wicked. He died for me, amen. I like that right there. I appreciate the Lord, amen. I thank God that he took my place. I thank God that he paid my sin debt. Hey, hey, hey, hey, he stood in my place, amen. But he didn't enjoy it, he endured it. He put up with it, amen. He suffered it to be so. He accepted it because he knew that's what it would take to save mankind. He didn't like being made fun of. He didn't like being mocked. He didn't like being laughed at. He didn't enjoy all the torture, amen? But he put up with it for your sake, amen? Why in the world would he do that? Why not just come back? Why not just call angels? Why not just get out of there? Why not just leave it all and say, forget it? They're not worthy. Can I tell you something? Can I help you this morning? You're not worth it. We're not worth it, amen. You're not what you think you are. You're not worth saving today. Hello? Y'all hit me a minute, okay? I'm telling you, I'm telling you. You know what? There's something about a man. Brother Ted, there's something inside of a man. that likes to think that he can please others, that he can appease God, that his works are accounted for something. Come on, I'm just trying to help you. There's something about, there's something about, listen, you know what that cross does? It insults Hollywood. It insults this crowd. Can you imagine when these famous men like John Wayne, somebody going up to them and saying, you're good for nothing, Amen. I mean, some of these fancy movie stars, we make gods out of football players. Come on, I'm telling you the truth. We've made absolutely gods out of these NFL stars. And they're so great now and so wonderful. They can do no wrong. They can make no mistakes. And even when they do, they wipe it off. Hello. Everybody all right? I want to hear, I want you to listen to me. Can I help you? I'm telling you that on your best day, not, not, not your worst, the best you'll ever be is, is too short for God. You come up short of His glory. On your best day, we're just filthy rags. Come on, is everybody all right? I'm not preaching yet. This is an introduction, stay with me. Can I help you this morning? I'm telling you, why then? Why would He do it? Why would He stay on that cross? Why you wouldn't do it, amen? I'm just being honest with you. I can't thank anybody here I'd die for. I hope that maybe if I was pressured, I hope I'd do the right thing, but I don't know that I would. Come on, is everybody all right? I'm not sure I'd do the right thing. I'd like to think I might, amen. But you never know. Amen. But listen, he knew what he was getting into. He knew what we were. He knew we were good for nothing. And yet he went through with it, and he endured it, and he despised the shame, and he did it for the joy that was set before him. What was the joy? Amen. What was it that kept him on the cross? Can I help you? Can I give you a few things? I want to show you. I want to show you what it was that kept him there. Is everybody all right? What if it was so great? Listen, why did he stay? I wouldn't have stayed. You wouldn't have stayed. Amen. You might give your life for somebody you love, but would you die for somebody who don't love you? Everybody all right? You might give your life for your son or your daughter, but would you give it for a stranger? Would you give it for the ones you cussed out coming in this morning? Everybody all right? I'm just saying, why did he do it? Why did he stay there, amen? Hey, the Bible said for the joy that was set before him. What was it? What was it? Can I help you? Can I give it to you? I'll give you about three or four or ten. I want to give you the joy. I want to show you what it was that kept him on the cross. Can I show you real quick? Number one, write this down. The first thing, the first thing that kept him on that cross was Sunday morning. Amen? Hey, he stayed there. He stayed there, he endured the cross, he despised the shame for Sunday morning. Hey, hey, hey, hey, don't you, hey, thank God for church, amen. I like going to church on Sunday morning. I enjoy church on Sunday morning. Man, I go there early, I go at five o'clock in the morning. I want to get there and get excited, get prayed up, get ready for folks when they come in and fellowship. I like faith, amen. You know why Jesus stayed on that cross? He did it for Sunday morning. Are you with me? Hey, hey, hey. Think about this now. All of these folks that had their idol, Judas, Jesus said to him, he said, go ahead. This is your idol. And the power of darkness. He said, Judas, you can do it now. You can, you can, you can lie now. You can, you can betray me now. It's your turn. Amen. Hey, listen, go ahead and judge me now. Go ahead and help yourself. Go ahead and do it your way. It's your turn. You can do it now. Amen. It is your honor. Go ahead, Anderson. Go ahead, paladin. And wash your hands of me, amen. Wipe the blood off her. You can do it now. This is your hour. This is the hour of darkness. It's your turn. It's just Wednesday. Yeah. Come on. Come on. Yeah. Come on. Woo! Everybody all right? Yeah. Yeah. Go ahead, soldiers. Put a crown of thorn on his head. Go ahead and put a robe of mockery on him. Go ahead and give him a Roman staff or a walking cane he meant for a scepter. Go ahead. It's your turn. You can do it. This is the hour of darkness. You mark this down, as sure as it's Wednesday. That Thursday's gonna come. Friday's gonna go by. Saturday's gonna move out the way. And Sunday morning is gonna come. Let's go, everybody! I'm getting up! Amen! Go ahead. Son of a bitch. March on, Washington. Go ahead, Hollywood. Go ahead, press, NBC and ABC and CBS and FOX. Help yourself. You can do it. This is your turn. This is your hour and the power of darkness. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, but mark this down. Sunday morning's gonna come and God's gonna get his turn. God's gonna have his chance to have the last say, amen. I said he died. He stayed there for Sunday morning. You can't have life, brother, without death. You can't have positive without negative. You can't have heaven without hell. Come on, I'm just trying to help you. And you can't have victory. You can't have resurrection without a death. And he had to die, amen. That joy was Sunday morning. It was the resurrection that he was looking forward to. Everybody all right? Listen to me. He suffered, and he stayed there for the chance of getting out of there on Sunday morning. and being victorious over death down on the ground. You okay? He said, go ahead. Go ahead, NFL. Go ahead, superstars. Help yourself. Go ahead, daddies, and drop your youngins off at church and go raise hell in the honky-tonk. Go ahead, help yourself, this is your hour. Go ahead, mamas, and sleep around with every Tom, Dick, and Harry in town. Run all over, swap motels every week. Go ahead, help yourself, this is your turn, it's your hour, it's your opportunity, amen. Go ahead. Listen to me, hour's in. Ain't they still coming? Just because God don't pay off on Friday don't mean he don't pay off. I said, Sunday's coming. Amen. Jesus is getting up. Go ahead, devil. Do what you can. Keep him down. Beat him down. Do all you can to kill him before he gets there. But you mark this down. Your hour's going to end and Sunday morning, he's going to come. Stay on the cross. He stayed on the cross for Sunday morning. I'm trying to hurry, amen. I feel like I've been pushed. I wouldn't preach for 20 minutes if you'd leave me alone. Amen. What kept him there? I'll tell you what kept him there. Sunday morning kept him there. That resurrection kept him there. That was the joy. that he was looking for. Amen? Sunday morning kept him there. Can I show you something else? Can I help you real quick? Let me show you something else. Can I tell you? Look at me. Shepherd moments kept him there. Shepherd moments. Look at Luke 15. In Luke chapter number 15, watch it. Bible says in Luke chapter number 15, I said shepherd moments. kept him there amen what kept him on the cross sunday morning and shepherd moments chapter number 15 Look at verse number four. The Bible says, what man are you having a hundred sheep? If you lose one of them, do not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after that which is lost until you find it. And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders and rejoiceth him. Amen. When he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with me. Amen. What is that? That's the joy that was said before him. Amen. He said rejoice with me. Why? For I have found mercy which was lost. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Verse seven. I say unto you that likewise. What's the next word? Joy shall be in the presence. Listen to me, that book did not say that angels would have joy. God said that joy was in the presence of the angels. Is that what it says? Well, who's in the presence of the angels? Jesus. Amen. And he said, y'all have rejoiced with me. Have joy with me. Amen. I don't understand why in the name of God, we can have people get right with God, sheep get right. Amen. I mean, God do things in people's life, save souls if they all pray. Amen. And God's own sheep can't even rejoice. Where's our joy? Why aren't you happy? Why aren't you glad God's done something for people? Why aren't you stirred up that God's helped people, amen? You ought to have some joy. You ought to be glad, amen. He had joy. He was glad. He said, rejoice with me. Why? I had a hundred sheep in the fold. And one of them old lambs, he went out trying to run out. He's bad about running away from home. I know that's like them backslid ones, you know? And he said, he'll get out there. He'll get caught in the crevice somewhere. Next thing you know, I found him in the clutches of the lion's jaws. He said, I'll go and beat him on the head and take that lamb back. And I'll put him on my shoulders. And I'll bring him back to the house, back to the fold. Amen. And he said, y'all come rejoice with me. Y'all, hey, let's celebrate. Amen. I got one of them back. Devil didn't get all of them. I got one back home. Amen. Turns his back, and there he goes again. We don't have him like that. After camp meeting, there they go. Back out in the world again. And you know what my shepherd will do? He'll go looking for them. You know what the Bible says in Isaiah 62, 12? The Bible says we are the sought out ones. Not the sought ones. He didn't just look for us. He sought us out. Amen. I would have sought out one. Amen. And that lamb got a chance. He turned his back, and the lamb went again. And out in the world he went. And you know what the Savior did? That good shepherd, he left him 99, and he went out there again. Little sheep! Little sheep! Where you at, little sheep? And he sought us out. And he found us. And you know what he did? Say, well, he took a stick and beat the devil out of you. No, that ain't what he did. Picked you up and put you on your shoulders. And he went back to the fold and he said, rejoice with me. God said, there's joy in the presence of the angels. For one sinner that repented. More than over 99 just purchased. I said, hey, you know what kept him on that cross, folks? shepherd moments. For that opportunity when he could come to where you are. When mama couldn't help you, and daddy couldn't help you, and the preacher couldn't do nothing, and the deacons in the Sunday school class couldn't reach you. Jesus said, I'm gonna come to you. I'll find you. I'll seek you out. This time he finds him out there again. in some old back alley somewhere. He walks up to him and tears is dripping off his chin. And he picks up that little lamb. And this time he says, I'm sorry to have to do this. I love you so much. I'm scared you're going to get killed out here. And he takes his hand and he puts it over his little leg. He says, now turn your head because it's going to hurt a little bit. And he goes, snap. And he breaks his leg. And then he puts him in his arms. He takes him back to the fold. And he says, hey, rejoice with me. Let's have joy. I found my son. It went astray. I sought him out. I found him. Everybody all right? Can I tell you something this morning? I wouldn't be here today if it had not been for Shepherd moments. I wouldn't be standing here this morning if it hadn't been for a Shepherd that loved me beyond salvation. I'm not talking about just getting saved. I'm talking about after you're saved. I'm talking about when you leave God, and you come back, and he brings you back, and you leave him again, and he brings you back again, and you leave. Hey, we're bad about that. Don't sit there with your halo on. A lot of you sitting here this morning, your mind's gone and your heart's gone. Thank God for shepherd moments. Listen to me, those shepherd moments are why he died. That was the joy he was talking about. The joy of shepherd moments. Everybody all right? I'm hurrying. I said, hey, listen, you know what kept him on the cross? Sunday morning kept him there. Shepherd moments kept him there. Can I tell you something else? It's right here. Sweeping moments kept him there. What are you talking about preacher? Well, it's there, you can read it. And that woman lost that silver in the house. You know, that's just like, that's just like we are. Do you realize every one of you, listen to me, everybody under the sound of my voice, you are valuable to God? But he can't find you to do nothing with you. You're valuable, but you ain't worth nothing. Everybody all right? You see, you see, you're in the house. You're not like your friend or your brother or your sister that's out there in the world, and they just blatant. They're just doing it, you know, because that's what they do. But not you, you've learned how to do it in church. You've learned how to be a Christian. You've learned how to go through the motions. Learned how to have a form of God. Everybody all right? And so, and so, and God loves you just as much. And so you're in the house, but you're lost. And he can't do nothing with you. He can't use you for anything. Because he can't find you. Even though you're in the house. Everybody all right? Those are, listen, and you know what he does? He says that, well, I gotta get the broom. And he'll come, and you know what he'll do? He'll go through the house, and the preacher will get up and preach, and the Holy Spirit of God will start on one side. And you know what he's doing? He's going through the house. and he's sweeping, and he's trying to find that one that's precious, that one that's worth something to God, that one that's valuable, that one that he loves, that one that he cares about, that one that kept him on the cross, amen! Then he'll, oh, there they are. And he'll grab that one up, and he'll bring it back, and he'll say, hey, hey, hey, hey, rejoice with me. I found my coin. Amen? You know what that woman did? That woman put those coins had holes in them. And she put them on a frontlet and put them on her head. And when she'd wear it outside of her house, that was to let everybody know that she was about to be married. Leave her alone. And she's lost that coin and now she can't go out. Amen? Everybody okay? I'm just saying, you know what kept him on the cross, folks? Those sweeping moments. Can I tell you something? I don't know what time, so I think I got a few minutes left. I think it breaks God's heart, the way we treat him. I could talk to you about some moments. But I want to talk to you about sure mercies. Do you realize when David committed adultery? When David had that man murdered? You're right, the Hittite murdered. Do you realize there's no Old Testament sacrifice to cover that? There wasn't nothing he could do. There wasn't no animal he could kill. There was no payment could be made. He had to throw himself in the court on the mercy of a holy God. And that's what he did. Nathan came and pointed his finger in his face and he said, thou art the man. David said, Lord, I was wrong and I'm sorry. That's in the Hebrew. And God said, you go tell David, I forgive him. But the sword's never going to depart from his house. You hear me this morning? And we've done worse than that. We're just as, you know what we need today? We need the sure mercies of God. We need some sunny moments, amen? We don't deserve to come back home. God ought to throw us away. I think about all the times that God should have broke my neck, brother. I think about all the times when the grace of God was there when I abused him. I think about the times when God should have killed me and thrown me away. Amen. That's right. Amen. Amen. Amen. Yeah. But mercy was there. Yes. Grace was there. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Talking about son moments and sure mercies. I ought to be in hell right now with my back broke. Amen. Amen. Right. God even was merciful, the Father was even merciful to that son that stayed at home. They thought he was clean and holy. And he had an attitude. Oh, he was a good son, but he wasn't much of a brother. And God still loved him. The Father still loved him. Hey, listen. You know what kept him on the cross? You did. Just you. You're the reason that he died. You're the reason that he gave his life. And I think there couldn't be anything more horrific, more sad, that in all the world, then for God to love somebody that much, and for them to hear about it as much as you've heard about it, and leave this world and die and go to hell from a church pew, a Bible-believing church pew, that's sad.