All right, I'm looking in the Word of God tonight in the book of 1 Corinthians chapter number 16. 1 Corinthians chapter number 16. I'm glad to be here. I thank God for saving power in this great gospel. You're saved tonight. God came to you. You didn't come to God until He came to you. It was God that makes the first step in everything God does. He always makes the first step. Man never makes the first step. God always makes the first step in anything God does, whether it be in salvation, consecration, sanctification. It's all that God makes the first step. Man's enabled by God to do what he does. And a man trusting in himself tonight would be a fool to think that he could get anywhere with God apart from the help of the Lord. Amen. We're looking tonight for God's help in preaching the Word of God. May He touch me tonight as we just look at a few verses in 1 Corinthians 16. May the Spirit of God speak to us, and may He get us where we need to be in this will of God. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 16, verse 15, I beseech you, brethren, you know the house of Stephanas, that is, the firstfruits of Achaia, and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints, that ye submit yourselves unto such, and to every one that helpeth with us, and laboureth." I'm glad of the comment of Stephanus and Fortuitous. And Achaicus, for that which was lacking on your part, they have supplied. For they have refreshed my spirit in yours. Therefore acknowledge ye them that are such. The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord with the church that is in their house. All the brethren greet you. Greet ye one another with a holy kiss. The salutation of me, Paul, with mine own hand. If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema." And then he said, amaranatha. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen. What a great way to end a letter here to the church at Corinth when Paul said, My love is with you all. in Christ Jesus, and then he said, Amen, the Holy Ghost of God, Amen, that great statement there, that talking about the love of God. But in verse number 15, the Bible said that the household of Stephanas, or the house of Stephanas, being the firstfruits of Achaia, that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints. Now, when I see the word addicted in that, there's much that goes with that, because we know that when somebody's addicted to something, that that is what controls them. And that's what dictates them. That's what's in their heart. And this house of Stephanus was addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints. You know, when we're in this race here, one thing we want to know we've done is we've done exactly what God's will was. We want to know that we've used the temple of God for exactly what God wanted us to use. I was just thinking yesterday as I prayed that God would take this temple and help me to use it as it would please Him. We can't never be addicted to the will of God and doing what God says. If we're a self-centered people, if we're dealing with ourself and the things of our flesh instead of the things of God and the things of the Spirit. When a man says, I'm going to addict myself, that thing, addiction, does come upon you. I'll tell you, when God saved me, I got addicted to the Word of God. I did. I couldn't get enough of reading this Bible. I couldn't get enough. of hearing the Word of God. The God of Heaven's Word was birthed in my heart, and there was a diction, there was a drawing power to the Word of God. And the night, my friend, listen, when Paul finished his race, he made this claim. He said, I finished my course. I've kept the faith. He said, I fought a good fight. In other words, I've been addicted. And I've been, thank God, hooked up to that what God wanted me to do. That living for God is not a part-time thing. Living for God, that's not on the Lord's Day and Wednesday when we come to the house of God. But this thing, it controls me. Anybody that's addicted to anything, and you know this, it's controlled by that substance or controlled by that what addicts them. Amen. People say, well, I'm not addicted to that. If they live a life that they say, I can't live without doing that, then they're addicted to it. And I want to say tonight that this was the appointment of God, that God used this man's house to minister to the saints of God. Then Paul said to submit yourselves unto such, and everyone helpeth us and laboreth. I've found this out. I'm not a writer under the sun, Solomon is. But I've found this out, that the fact of it is, anything outside the will of God, anything, my friend, that pleases me and not pleases God, will profit a man nothing in this life far as we've been. and with the life to come. And if a man tonight can get himself in that place that he's completely drove and controlled by what God wants for his life, then praise God, he's in a good place. Listen, a lot of people go through life as a Christian, as a church member, And they never find that place that God would have them to be. It's sad, friend. I've seen people now, thank God, that they wonder, what should I do? Listen, it wasn't no question to this house that they were addicted to that. But thank God, I want God to have them to do in ministry and unto the saints. I want to be the best. God helping me, my flesh, is a-fighting me a lot now in these days. And I don't know about you. But the battle's on, brother, and what's the battle over? It's over the things of God. It's over driving forth and doing what God says and letting the Holy Ghost rule and control me and help me I'm going to be the best I can for God. I'll tell you, when you decide to go with God and do everything you want to do for God, you might as well go ahead and count on it that there's going to be a great warfare. There's going to be things come up you never have faced. There's going to be battles you never thought would come. There'll be thoughts cross your mind you never thought would. Hey, when you go with God and say, I'm going with God, and I'm going to be faithful to Him if God will help me, there'll be all kind of opposition. And the biggest opposition you'll have is yourself when you're running for God. Amen, brother. You better count on that. The closer you draw to God, the more battle you're going to have. Because the closer you are to Him, the more narrow it is. And the more, my friend, it puts you out and puts Him right in the will of God. Why do you think the Lord told that crowd in Luke chapter 9 when they said, Let us go through this and let us go through that." And the Lord said, the man having put his hand to the plow and looking back, is not fit for the kingdom of God. That's exactly what God said. He said, if you put your hand to the plow, a plow's a type of labor, a plow's a type of work, and you look back, you're not going to be fit for the kingdom of God. He's dealing there with service. He's dealing with labor. in the Lord. Hey, we treating God like a part-timer today. We'll serve God long as convenient. We'll serve God long as it's easy. We'll serve God when it don't have no opposition. Hey, I'd like to have that, would you? But it just don't come that way. It don't happen that way, friend. If you do anything for God, you're going to face it. There'll be people that not like what you're doing. There'll be all kind of opposition of your flesh, trying to get you out there to do other things. And I'm telling you, we're missing the mark. We've caught up in the world in this hour, and we're letting the fires of this life control us. More than addiction to the things of God and the will of God, than this man had. Brother, this time, I've gone to we as the people of God. I've said I'm going to follow with God and stay where I'm to no matter what. Amen. We live in a day of weakness. Now, we are weak. There ain't no doubt about it. In fact, look what he said in verse 13. Watch ye, stand fast in the faith. Quench ye like men, that means be a man, and be strong. Hey, thank God, Brent. Amen. Thank God for the battles. Thank God for the test. What's the test for? Show you where you're at. Amen. Thank God for the battle, brother. Thank God. Amen. Thank God for them nights that you don't sleep good. Amen, thank God for them times you put your faith to the test. Thank God for them times. Thank God for when you have to pray through and get God to help you. That's what's making you tonight. Hey, there ain't no such thing as Hollywood salvation. We're a Hollywood religion. Everything up here is beautiful. Hey, friend, I'm telling you, that's a life of lies. That's where people end up in a mess. I'm thinking that. I'll tell you, friend, when I entered into the ministry, God put me in. I didn't know what I was going to face. I just wanted to preach. I'd seen it, thank God, from the outside. And I thought, well, it looks like it's going to be pretty good. And don't forget to preach the Word of God. Amen. People like it. And some will get saved and be blessed. And happily, we'll live ever after. Amen. But the story doesn't go like that. I ain't going to tell you what I started. I thought everybody would like what I had to say. But I found out that it just wasn't like it. Amen? That's right. I mean, my own preacher at the time told me I needed to go to seminary and learn some puppet manners and needed to learn some things. Thank God that I could preach to big crowds. Amen? That's what he said. I mean, the old preacher at that time told me that. And I want to say, friend, thank God you've got to decide what you're going to do. Are you going to follow God? Amen. That's right. Are you going to do what man thinks you ought to do? I just thought I'd just go ahead and pray and seek God on it. I didn't argue with him. Praise God, I need a lot more than puppet manners, amen. That's right, I need God to help me. Amen. Thank God, I've heard my manners are not that great in a puppet. I wonder what he had thought about John the Baptist, amen. He had a pretty strong message. Jesus did in Matthew 23. I never got that rough. My friend, if I called him a bunch of serpents, I didn't know him anyhow. He did. And he said, you buy a first house till you escape the damnation of hell. But I thought, praise God, when I got saved, and got addicted to the things of God, and wanted to hear the truth, love the truth, wanted to be around it. But I thought it'd be, I ain't got a good paved road. But I tell you, friend, it ain't like it. You get addicted to it, and get controlled. Oh my God! And so I'm going, God, there's going to be some knocks and bumps and hardships along the way. And Paul told Timothy, he said, endure hardness as a good soldier. That means undergo hardships as a young preacher. You're going to face it. He said that many times. Be a good soldier. War a good warfare. Don't even be entangled with the fires of this life that you may please Him to be a good soldier. God chose you to be a soldier. And he said, don't get entangled with affairs of this kind. Hey, we do, because our minds are dictated by something today, and we get entangled with them things. What do you think, over in the Word of God, that Paul said in the Word of God, he said over there, he said, some have erred from the faith. Hey, friend, I'm telling you why, because they got entangled with the faith of this man. What did Paul, thank God, my friend, even when Timothy, amen, my friend, when he came into the ministry, thank God he said he's a son after my own faith. But I'm going to tell you what he did. He charged him to preach the Word. He said to me yesterday, Caesar, now this Caesar, how many times, friend, I thought when you get addicted to what God's told you to do, and you're controlled by it, that there'll be some hard knocks, but I'm telling you this, just stay with it, Timothy. Just stay with it, thank God. It ain't easy sometimes, God doesn't say it be. But I'll tell you this, it's worth it all, because there's no other way to go tonight. Amen. Praise God. That's right. I got addicted to the ministry of the saints. We can't do it today. We're too busy. We're too busy for God. You know, they met in the house here, and I thought about this the other day. That church in the house couldn't have been a big crowd, but it was a church. And they met together. They had a collection given in the first verse of this chapter to the saints. They went with the stuff, and they stayed together, and they were believers. This thing is not optional tonight. It is not optional whether you serve God or not. It is not optional tonight. And if God saved you, He birthed that in you that you have a desire to live for Him and serve Him. And I am going to say this tonight. Be addicted to the ministry of God. Now listen to me. I don't know what all they did here, but they were addicted to being a blessing to the saints. Whatever it took, they were addicted to do it. Amen, it didn't mean friend, everything was good. You know what? When somebody says this, it makes me check their motive. All that I've done, all that I've done, and it don't seem like, hey, I see the fruit, or it don't seem like, huh, that I get all the gratitude, huh, hey, who are you doing it for? Thank God. I mean, you're not going to see everything at once. If your motive's to do it for God, you'll learn to praise your God more than to praise the man tonight. That's what drives you. That's what drives you. What gets me up to preach again? The Holy Spirit. The drive of God. It's something that I'm appointed and addicted to within my heart that I must incur in the God of Heaven's truth. This is the will of God for me until He tells me otherwise. This is exactly what God wants me to do. I have no doubt about it. Amen. Me and Brother Hanley talked this afternoon, talking about the ministry and the day we're living in and the effect of preaching in this hour. I'm telling you this, brother, we're living in the last days. We're living in times where people don't like this way, don't want to hear this way. Amen. That's right. We're not going to have big crowds. We'll have who God wants, and God will say, put some along the way and plant them. Amen. Put some in the house of God. But they're not going to be overflowing crowds for this time. Hey, it don't appeal to the flesh. It don't appeal to the natural man. It don't appeal. I ain't going through other programs and all this just to get up and say this. Sometimes I ain't go to them because men say, you really think that them people like you to get up and preach like that and holler and walk around? He said, and I'll tell you, friend, sometimes it's more of a mental battle than what you'd think. And I know everybody goes through it, but one thing is, when you get addicted to something, controlled by something, ain't God as the ministry of God's? that saw Jesus and preached in the Word are doing what God says. As a servant of Christ, there's going to be opposition. And I'm telling you, there's times that you get like some of the baddest and say, where's he at? Where's he at? Where's he at? Where's he at? Is this the Christ or do we look for another? Amen? But, brother, there's something within a man that appoints him to this way, and addicts his heart to be consumed by the will of God, and to say, that's my life, and that's what I live for, and that's what I desire. Amen. Listen to me tonight. If you think that living for God is going to get everybody to like you and agree with you, Then you've got a wrong thought. If you think tonight, if you think tonight that when you get addicted to the things of God, and you get to go after God, that there's not going to be some things that come your way, sit there by the temple. Yes, sir. Even though the head of God's about us, God's allowed them things to come our way. There's going to be all kinds of ways to try to get you off course and get your mind and your eyes diverted from what God wants you to do. That's exactly right. That's there all the time. People find it all the time. But I'm telling you this, there's something within me that pulls my heart and says, go on, child of God, go on. You know what that is? That's the addiction of God in my soul put there by God the Holy Ghost. And I'm telling you this tonight, if you want to do anything for God, it ain't a part-time deal. It don't come, I do it a while, I quit a while. People are fed up with that. Hey man, they have no confidence in Him. You can't say this one day and say, I'm going to go with God. And then the next time you see them, they don't even go to the house of God. of God and don't do what God says. I'm telling you that's a bad testimony. It'd be better that the Bible said not to vow a vow than to vow one and not keep it. Stay with what you say. I'm telling you that God helped us all with compromise. some in our life and we're not sure we ought to be with God. And the honest part, the fact of it is, we was in love with Christ when the joy of God was in our soul. We didn't have no problem coming in here praising God and going back out with confidence in God and live for God. But we've grown up a little bit now, and we know the ropes, so to speak. And at this end, it's important to us and somebody else to do it anyhow. That's right. Amen? Yeah, the older you grow and the older I grow in Christ's will, the wiser. And we ought to know more. But it ought not never take away our zeal. And that's what's happened. That's what's happened in the addiction of God. I'll be honest with you, and I'm telling you the truth. God's been in my heart in a great way in the marriage of my life. There are some things I used to do that I don't do now. I'm going to tell you what a few of them are, and that's being a help to other people. If all this life, if this life is consisted just in me, If that's what I live for, if I live for high, if I live for everything I want, if I live to march, do what I want to do every day, I do what I want to do. If I live for me, I'm telling you, I'm controlled by me and it has no eternal effect in other people's lives. I'm telling you tonight, there's so many open doors and opportunities for other people like God to be able to help us and other people. And we're squandered away. We're worse than the particle that went in a far country. Because the word prodigal means squander, and when we waste what God gives us, then we're wasting them valuable things. And one thing, we're wasting time. And I, of course, the Bible says redeeming of time because days are evil. And one thing God's been telling me about is about the people that need help. I used to go to the rest homes. I used to visit older people that couldn't get out. I still do on occasion, but not as fervently as I used to. used to go out and visit people. I'm just going to tell you this tonight. You know I'm telling you the truth. If you do something for God to be a blessing and help to other people, there's an edification in your heart that God will build you up and help you through them kind of things you're doing for other people. Well, I don't want to get too rough, because I'm getting rough on myself tonight. But the fact of it is, folks, God helped me. to be quick being so stinking selfish. God help us. It's me. I mean it's me. It's me. I mean what? I won't ever think my way. I won't ever think for me. As long as it's my way. As long as I've got what I need. And if I've got what I need, then I can help somebody. I'm going to tell you what, boy, I'm glad Christ wasn't like that. He gave himself. I don't want to go through the worry. I don't want to go through the heartache. Welcome to the race, friend. Anytime you invest your life in the work of God and try to invest your life in helping other people, welcome to heartaches. Welcome to disappointments. Welcome to, I thought they loved me and I thought they was telling me the truth. Welcome to it. Just remind yourself of one thing. Where would you and I be without somebody that's standing in the arm of hell? I ain't God like this crowd was doing to this people here. Isaiah's addicted to helping others in the ministry. That's right. I read that little article today about that little old boy up there. Folks, I mean, this is as much your responsibility as mine. I don't know why I'm not the pastor. I don't even know them people. I know his grandpa, Brother Robert lives right up there at him, Brother Edmund and them, Christopher, some of y'all live up there. I wonder how many cars we sell. Oh, we don't have time. What the hell have they done for me? That's not the attitude we take today. We don't have time to do nothing no more. I've always wondered how these older people had seven and eight children. They washed their clothes on a scrub board. They cooked on a cook stove. And they had time to sit down at night and pray with their children. And they had time to go to their neighbor's house and give them what they needed and help them. You know, the Word of God don't change. You know what them old people was as addicted to doing right and helping others? We don't have time now. We don't have time for it. If I find time, I'll help them. And this is attitude. You know what? You let me take James and I, we can take James just as a scripture. And he said, if a man has need of something and you have it and don't give it to him, he said, you're You don't have the love of God in you. What kind of love do I have for Brother Keith tonight? If he said, if he had the need, and I have it, and I say, Brother, I love you, God bless you. What kind of movement is that going to be on his heart if I say, yes, sir, Brother, I've got two coats. Here's my other one. That's right, ain't it? That's what the book teaches. If a man has two coats. See, I'm going to tell you what's happening this day. This is what our mentality is. He ain't gonna appreciate it. Why don't he get it for himself? You know what? God didn't say whether they appreciate it or not. And God didn't say whether he ought to get one himself. God put me to the test. The thing is, it's not what he does what I give him. It's what I do what God tells me to do. That's right. I mean, the book teaches that. He said over there in the book of James, he said that right there. Then over there in John, he said, if you shut up your bowels of compassion, how doth the love of God end you? And sinners, surely. And I believe in separation. I believe we ought to be separated from the world. But sinners, surely, we don't want to be talking to them and trying to get into trouble. Somebody might just talking to a sinner. We got so much self righteousness in us, we wouldn't want the Holy Ghost to reveal it. I'll say this tonight. You know why a lot of our young people ain't saying? Let me tell you. I'm going to tell you. Because we ain't right with God. That's right. If they ain't seen us weep over them, what kind of judgment passing on them is going to affect them? If they don't see humility in our life, what are we addicted to tonight? Man, I'll tell you what, I've got to get as much money as I can. Now, we need money to live. God put it that way. He made it that way. And what God entrusts us with, then He's responsible for it. But if our life's gold, is to get all we can get, then you don't really have life. That ain't life. I don't know if y'all heard Brother Mathias say on the radio when we was going home, I played that message and I want to bring a part back that he said in that message. When he was at Myrtle, Mississippi, do you remember him going and said that woman saved up money all year to feed preachers? And when he got over there, they had been in the yard preaching. Remember that time he talked about that? They were in the yard preaching. The police come over there and check them out. And what'd he say? He said that woman's furniture in one end of it didn't even have a flag on it. But she'd stand up and say, worship him, boy. Worship him. Worship him. Worship him. What could them little old saints live in quote, a lesser comfort that you went in their house and they just had something that you ain't had, or have, called love. That they loved you, and it affected the sinner's lives. You know why? Because they were addicted to the love of God. That's right. Love comes in multitudes. See, the way the Bible says, That's why the Bible said the four barrens wasn't other than love. We can get along if we love with truth and right. And I'm not talking about going along with sin and going along with error and mixing up with the world. I'm talking about loving people the way Christ loved them. I read bishops' words. I like reading them. I read every one in the paper every day if I get time. There it goes again. But I read what people say about them. But you know what? Wouldn't it be a blessing if somebody else said, that's their family right now. I said, old Christopher, man, he was a friend. He loved me. He prayed for me. He helped me. Old brother Hyde, thank God. He didn't think he was better because he was a preacher. He thought he was obligated, thank God, to help people. And he helped me. He extended his arms out of hell. He was addicted to the ministry of the saints. He loved me. He cared for me. That's what they were, and they was addicted to it. The ministry of the saints. You ain't going to change the world, but I'm going to tell you this, you can have a part in changing some people and helping them. God didn't call you to change the world anyhow, even though that crowd turned the world upside down. God called you to be addicted to the will of God and the work of God and the ministry of God. And that's what God wants out of you tonight. When you get through in this course of life, praise God, you've been consumed with that one thing, and that was the will of God. And that's what meant something to you. Even when I was out of town the other week, There's something in my heart calling me back to this place. Why? Because of addiction. Amen. When I'm going down the road and God calls your name in my heart and He says, pray for them, there's something that boils up in my heart of love that says addiction. I'm addicted to that ministry of prayer and praying for them people and asking God. And I come in this church yesterday when them men worked out there and walked these aisles and prayed and felt the Holy Ghost and was called and named. And you know why? Because there's some addiction in me. And on the carnal end of it, there's addictions people have. There's some things that just pull you and me. is not necessarily good, and some of them not necessarily bad. But if it takes you away from God, then you need to not be addicted to it. But I'm going to tell you this, it's hard to be addicted to two things. To give your whole self for one thing, and one thing only, and that's the work of God and the ministry of the Lord. You know, when I started in this thing, and I'm about through, I got so carried away with doing the will of God. My wife will tell you this. I wanted to be in everything. I wanted to be there first. I didn't pay. I didn't pay this and that. My wife will tell you this. We worked 10 hours a day. I'd run in the house, took a quick shower, ate supper like a madman and got to church and I was there at 6.30 just to talk the Bible to people. I was addicted. But I want to tell you something. In addiction, you must remember there's balance. I didn't have much of it. And in addiction, sometimes it can cause you to forget some other priorities you ought to have. And I'm telling you what, if you ever get Christ in the center and pray in the Holy Ghost and find the will of God and do it, I'm telling you what, it'll balance out. And that wife will say, hey, that man loves God. That husband loves God. If she's right with God, I'm going God. Whatever He wants to do, I'm going God. That's right. My wife never said, don't go on visitation tonight. She never said that. She always backed me up. But I'm going to tell you this tonight. If you ever decide to be addicted to the ministry of the saints or addicted to something for God, you might as well go ahead and count on it. It's going to make some rough bumps along the way. I'm going to tell you what, thank God it's a paved way window up from the cemetery on. Amen. Because when you leave out this life, brother, that's going to count something. If you've done it for the honor and glory of God, your motive was right. Lord, help us. Let's stand tonight. I appreciate you being here. I love you in Christ. You need to come pray, doctor.