I thank the Lord for what we've already heard this evening. Been seeking the Lord today. Seems like these times it's quiet in my own life. Seems like these times I've wondered just what's been sung about, what's already been said. You find yourself in the valley. Go with me to Acts chapter 21 this evening. Begin to pray and seek the Lord, ask him what he would have us to do. My desire is just to obey Him, and it'll take the Lord this evening. I don't know how to preach, said it time and time again, but we sure don't. But I thank the Lord when He comes by and He gives us something. But it's gonna take Him to give the increase tonight. Verse 21, chapter X, and go with me in verse 10. Chapter 21, verse 10. of the book of Acts, and the Bible says, and as we tarry there many days, there came down from Judea a certain prophet named Agabus. And when he was come unto us, he took Paul's girdle and bound his own hands and feet, and said, thus saith the Holy Ghost, so shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. And when we heard these things, both we and they of that place, besought him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, want me ye to weep and to break my heart? For I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. And when he would not be persuaded, we cease saying, the will of the Lord be done. You may be seated. But tonight I want to preach on the thought of And he would not be persuaded. Now we've heard it preached on before that he was persuaded. But tonight I want to preach on the thought that he would not be persuaded. I'm talking about a man of God. that went through all the trials that he went through. I'm talking about a man of God. We know the Bible says that he was beaten five times, he was whipped five times, that 40 stripes saved one. We know that he was taken out and stole. We know that he was beaten We know that he was out in the sea, out in the deep. We know all the trials that he went through. But I read of a time when Paul said, I let no man trouble me. For he said, for I bear in my body the mark of salvation. of the Lord Jesus. Now listen to me. He didn't say, I bear on my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. But he said, I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. He said, let no man trouble me. What he was saying was, I don't care what man may say. I don't care what the enemy may say. I don't care what my flesh may say. But he said, it's him on the inside. He said, it's the mark of the Lord Jesus. He said, I'm talking about the one that saved me on the road to the masters. You see, he said, no matter what anybody else says, there's one living on the inside. Oh, there's one that loves us. There's one that bothers. There's one that paid for us. And Paul said, I will not be persuaded. Oh, he said, no matter what. He said, I'm going on to the Lord. Oh, he said, listen, I count it all that I may win Christ. You know, Paul's seen some trials in his life. He did. And I know all of us here tonight. He can say that our flesh comes up. All of us here tonight, we can say, and in my own life, it seems like lately, it's getting harder. In my own life lately, it seems like it's getting harder and harder. It seems like my own flesh is fighting more. It seems like the enemy's fighting more. It seems like they struggle in my mind. It seems like there's affliction everywhere. Oh my, but I love what Paul said. He said, I will not be persuaded, no matter what may come. He said he would not be persuaded. He was going with the Lord. I think about our Lord and Savior. He would not be persuaded. No matter what the devil threw at him. No matter what he said to him. No matter what he offered him. He would not be persuaded. He was going to do the will of the Father. And He was going after me and you. Why? Because He loves me and you. It didn't matter what the enemy thrown at Him. It didn't matter what was going on. I read of a time in the Garden of Gethsemane. I know we preached about it over and over. But we'll preach about it again. It's our lord and it's our savior. And there he was in the garden. And he knelt down and he began to pray. And the bible says he began to be in an agony. And he went out and he saw the holy spirit asleep. Now listen, like me and you, in our flesh you get tired. He got wore out. The enemy was in his ear saying, look, they're asleep. Why don't you go to sleep? You're tired. Why don't you rest? It's getting harder now. Why don't you take it easy? Why don't you rest? Oh, no. But he went right back and prayed. He would not be persuaded. He kept right on going. And it swept the king as it were great clumps of blood that fell to the ground. Oh, as he began to be in agony, the Bible says he prayed the Lord on his will. He was not going to be persuaded. No matter what the enemy said, no matter how tired he got, no matter how he felt, he was going to go on to the Father. He wanted to do the will of the Father. For me and you today, we've got to do the will of the Father. He would not be persuaded. And as Judas came with those men, one of the twelve, Me and you think we have hard times, we do. We think we go through tough times, and we do. I'm not making light of anything that me and you both do. I know there's trouble on every side. I know the world says this and the world says that. And I know today and the time that we're living in, thank you, Lord, it's the very church of God. It's the very people of God that will succumb one against another. And it's no different today. I'm talking about Judas Iscariot. One of the twelve. And the Bible says that he had part of this ministry. You see, he was one of the twelve. He was given the same commission. He was given the same instructions. He was told to go out and preach the gospel. And here we are today. And there's no difference. There's not a month off. I don't care who's in there. Brother, I say, I'm not going to be persuaded. As one of the twelve came to him, and there they was going to take him off. One of the twelve, and all those other disciples went away, and there he wasn't home, but the father was with him. And there he went on down, knowing what was facing him, knowing what was coming his way, but he was not going to be persuaded. You know, me and you can think about a beating. We can think about a whooping. But, oh, what they done to our Lord. How they stole him off the head. How they plucked the beard out of his face. How they put the crown of thorns down on his head. And they took that rod and smote it further into his head. They took him out to that whipping post. They took that can of nine tails. And they began to whip him, howling, I'm talking about with no mercy. They began to go after Erhord. And no doubt the devil was heard, saying, why don't you just give up? Your twelve disciples left you. They've all been away from you. I know there's times in your life you feel alone, and I do too. Oh, but he's with us. He said, I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. I'm with you always, even until the end. No trial that we've ever faced. No trouble that we've ever went through. He's already been through it. He's already went through it. All I'm doing tonight is holding on to him. I don't care what the world says. I don't care what the church says. It's Jesus that I want to die. It's him and him alone. And he gave his life to the spiders. Oh, how he loves me and you, kiddo. All that he went through, and he would not be persuaded. With every crack of the whip, he just kept on going. With every crack of the whip, he just kept on losing. Every time that the flesh was ripped off his bones, He wouldn't be persuaded. And as they took him off that whip and post. And he made his way to Calvary. Oh, but I'll back up a minute. Thank you, Lord. There was, there was a thief there. That was Omar Ramos. He was a thief. He was a murderer. He was guilty. And there was our Lord, He who knew no sin. I mean, perfect in every way. Perfect in every way. Oh my, listen, but He wouldn't be persuaded. He said, I'll take His place. He took my place and He took your place. Oh my, listen, we can't be persuaded tonight. There's nothing this world has for me here. There's nothing in this world that's worth anything. Oh, I just want the Lord. It's Him that I want to see. He wouldn't be persuaded. They took him and laid him to the cross with every drop of blood, every drop of water. It was for you. I'm talking about every drop. I'm talking about every pound. It was for you. Nobody else would have come to him. It was for you. It was for me. And he laid out his hands to him and they pierced through him. He gave him his feet and they pierced through him. Oh, and along comes the enemy again and says, if thou be the son of God, oh, save thyself and come down to me. Have you ever heard that before? Why don't you just save yourself? Listen, it's getting hard right now. It's getting tough right now. Why don't you just quit? I know I'm not the only one that's hearing that today. Why don't you just give up? Why don't you just quit? Hey, it's getting hard. It's getting difficult. You can go back to Moab. You can go back to Egypt. You can go back to the world and take it easy. Oh, no. But as Paul said, listen, I won't be persuaded. It's the Lord Jesus that I want. There's nobody in this world that loves you, my boy. Oh, listen. He wouldn't be persuaded. And as they took him off the cross, and he said, it's finished. And he gave up the ghost. And he's at the right hand of the Father, making intercession for me. When the Bible says he's seated at the right hand of the Father. Oh, but I read of a time. Me and Tim was talking about it the other day at work. But I read of a time when Jesus stood, and there was young Stephen as they took him out. Now this young man was preaching the Word of God. He was giving them the very truth of God. You see, this book that we have, this King James Bible, it is the way the truth and the life, because He is the Word. What you have in your hand, from Genesis to Revelation, every jot, every title, every word, every period, every number, is the Word of God. And Stephen was given on the Word of God. as he began to preach in the anointing of the Holy Spirit. He was telling them what they was doing. He was telling them their sins. He was telling them how that they was Pharisees, how that they was this and that. And just like today, when the truth comes to God's people, Lord, we don't want that now. It's getting too hard for us. They took Stephen out of the city, but I'm gonna tell you something tonight. It's no different. The preacher can preach the word of God, And God's very people were nice on him. God's very people will talk about him. God's very people will run the man of God's hand. Because he's given his hooves. And they took him out. And they stoned him. Poor Bob and Stephen would not be persuaded. Stephen said, no matter how many stones may fly, no matter how many teeth may gnash, I see the Lord Jesus at the right hand of the Father. And He was standing for Stephen. I want to tell you something. Obedience is better than sacrifice. I want to go home to my Lord. I want to go home to my Lord. Oh, listen, I know we talk about the pearly gates. I know we mention the gold. But it's Jesus that I want to see. It's Him that I want to see. He's everything to me. And he saw him at the right hand of the father. And he stood. He stood. Oh, my, listen, I want to obey him. I don't want to be persuaded. I know there's a lot of people today. Oh, there's persuasion on every turn. We're living in a time when it's so lukewarm. We're living in a time when God's on people. You can hear cussing and this and that and they'll say, well, you hear that everywhere. It's okay, don't let that bother you. You're gonna hear that everywhere you go. I just wanna say one thing, those people have already been persuaded. If I don't vex our soul, we're in trouble. If my language don't vex your soul, you're in trouble. I don't want to be persuaded. Oh, listen, I want to stay with the Lord. I would not be persuaded. Stephen would not be persuaded. And there's those today that say, it's okay, thank you, Lord. You go back to Genesis. I'm going to tell you tonight, this very thing that's being preached, this very eternal security today, it started back in the garden, when the serpent said, you shall not surely die. All this time, you will be escorts. You'll live in and we'll have you with us. You will not die, you will be okay. But I'm here to tell you tonight, the word of God says differently than I am. I can't go away from you. I can't walk away from you. You don't lose your salvation, but you choose to go away from me. And I did too. I was backslidden. I didn't know God. Oh, but how he loved me. His mercy and his grace. I know people want to say, well, he never was saved. I've heard pastors talk about it and how true it is. But I want to tell you tonight, oh, I'm one that was out there I was filthy and I was dirty, but the Father was looking out the window. The Father kept looking. He was doing a deal. to him. Oh my. He drew me back. He brought me back. When I came back, he cleaned me up. I thank the Lord for that. What he's done for me is that song says that the choir son, I owe him everything. I owe him my whole life. I owe him all that I have. But I want to tell you today, they come a time, and I read in First Kings today, that Solomon over there, he went away from the Lord. He got those women. that God told him not to do. He took unto him all those wives. But the Bible said that Solomon done evil in the sight of the Lord. The Bible said he done evil in the sight of the Lord, for he went not fully after the Lord. Now I want to say something right now. The Bible tells me and you, that that was evil that he'd done. And he's not going fully after the Lord. But the minute in a time when you go fully after the Lord, brother, you went too far. You were a fanatic today. You were a fanatic today. But God said he'd done evil in the sight of God, not going fully after the Lord. I suppose. And it says the same thing about Moses. We don't know what's become of this man, Moses. He's been gone for 40 days and 40 nights. We don't know what's happened to him. He's a fanatic. He's been up there and gone and he's been away with God all this time. He's went over the deep end. When you start living holy, that's what's gonna happen. You're keeping your children covered up. Yes, I am. I don't want to be persuaded by what this man says or what that man says. I want to be fully persuaded by what Jesus says. It's evil. It's evil, God said so. Joshua and Caleb went holy after the Lord. We read of a time over there when they done the very thing they were supposed to do. And yet they had to go to the wilderness for 40 years, the same as everybody else. And I'm sure in Joshua's mind and in Caleb's mind, They was thinking, oh no, what are we doing? Maybe we ought to just quit right now. Maybe we ought to stop right now. I don't know. We done what was right. You may be doing what was right. You may be going with the Lord. You may be praying it in His Word. and it seems like everything's falling apart. But I want to tell you tonight, trust in the Lord. I know that we hear it, I imagine it too. But listen, when there's times you're praying, you don't even know what's going on. When there's times there's so much fog in there, you can't make that much of it. You get down on your knees and let the Holy Spirit come in and say, son, let him cry for you, let him cry for the Lord. You hear me, son? And it answers prayer. And Joshua and Caleb would not be persuaded. They went on with the Lord. I can't tell you, and nobody can, how long your willingness is going to be. I don't know, and you don't know. You may be in it for a while. It seems like it's really quiet. It seems like it's really dark. But I read of a time when Paul said, listen, he said, you obeyed when I was with you. But he said, now when I'm not in your presence, he said, now the much more obeyed. And that's talking about the Lord. Listen, that's talking about the Lord. When Job said, I'm looking everywhere, but it's like he's not there. He ain't left you. It may feel like it's tonight. But he said, now much more obey in my absence. It's a dark time, ain't it? It's a dark time. I mean, we look at the church world tonight, and everything's going on. They're letting the world into the church. They're going to do it at home. They're going to do it in the house of God. They're bringing those things in. They may be persuaded, but I want to go after the Lord. I want to wholly follow the Lord. And they kept going with it. It's important to obey him. Now much more, as dark as the world is right now, and I know we talk about it. We can't be on the mountain all the time. I love being up there, I do. But I spend more time in the valley than I do on the mountain. I spend more time in the wilderness, in a barren place sometimes. But he even told me that in a barren place, if I followed him, I would bear fruit. I want to tell you tonight, it seems like I've been there. I've been there for quite a while. But I'm going to follow the Lord. I'm going to keep seeking his face. I'm going to keep going after him, no matter what my flesh say. Thank you, Lord. I think about Peter over there. There come a time when Jesus seen those two ships, and they was empty. They was washing their nets. They said, you know what? I'm done. That's it. I'm done. I've been going. I've heard nothing. We've not caught nothing. I'm done. Jesus saw that and he said, cast out a little bit. He began to preach to the people and you find over there that he told Peter, he said, Peter said, We've called all night long, and we have not taken nothing. Now listen to me. Peter's flesh was coming over. That was Peter talking, saying, listen, we've called all night, and we've not taken nothing. But he said, nevertheless. At thy word, we will let down the nets. You know what he says? It don't matter what this says. It don't matter what the enemy says. It don't matter what the world says. It don't matter what the brothers and sisters in the church say. The one thing matters, at thy word, Jesus lives. He will find no fault at all in the word of God. You'll find no fault. Don't take my opinion for things, but read it for yourself. Paul said, I would not be persuaded. Peter said, it don't matter what anybody else says. I will be persuaded. Lord, I'll listen to you. And they went out there, and they caught so much fish, the other folk come in, and he begins to sing for them. What I'm saying is, listen, if we want the blessings of the Lord, we will not be persuaded. I think of Daniel over there. It's much like today. The Bible said there was those children of our sort, and Daniel and those other boys, they was not going to defile themselves with a portion of the king's meat and the king's wine. But now you'll find that the children of their sort, that was the brothers over there, and they says, hey, we'll go ahead and take this. This looks pretty good. But Daniel said, no. He purposed in his heart that he would not defy himself with a portion of the king's bread and the king's wine. And because he kept himself holy, Listen to me. If we want the power of god, we'll be holy for him. If we want the power of god, we'll obey what he says. That's right. That's an amazing thing. I think how much is going on in the world today. You'll hear this every word. Well, if you're letting that stuff in on your TV, you will hear it every word. And I want to tell you something tonight. Those kids pick up on a whole lot. And what a shame it is, I'm gonna be honest with you. You say, brother, you've gone too far. That's okay. I want the boys. But if I sit down, Watch this stuff. My kids are taking this in, your kid taking this in. And we could be giving them the word of God. I mean, here we are today, and we wonder why. But if we could sit down at the table, and I know we need time along with the Lord. We all do, we have to have it. But if we'll sit down with our kids and our family and break open the bread of life. You see, Jesus said, man does not live by bread alone, but he lives by every word. that proceedeth at the mouth of God. Listen, this is the bread of life. This is the way tonight. This is the instruction. Charlie mentioned it. Listen, if one nail had been out of place, that folk never would have fallen. He went by the instructions. Now listen, Paul said himself, He said, I'm not perfect. He said that, but I hate that I do. He said, and when I sin, it's not me that sins, but the sin that dwelleth in me. Listen, if a man says he had no sin, he's a liar, and the truth is not in him. I sin, but he said we have an advocate with the Father. I'm not saying I go to sin. I'm not saying I willfully do, but there's times in my life, things come into my mind, I don't understand it. But so what? I'm trying my best to up with it. I know it's a repent way. I know it is a way. I'm asking forgiveness. And that's not just saying I'm sorry. We can't say, lord, forgive me and go right back to that. We can say you're sorry. You better be. That's for all of us tonight. It's a repentant way. It is. He said, I would not be persuaded. He said, I'm going with The church in itself and the way that it is, you see people that said, well, I'm saved. I'm going with the Lord. You see the life. Paul said, he said, I bear the marks of the Lord Jesus in my heart. He knew the one that saved him. But more people was looking out on the outside of Paul. It wasn't the scars on his back. It wasn't the scars on his cheek where he got stoned. It wasn't the times he had been in the cold. No, he was living holy. That was one on the inside. And just like Moses, people said, brother, that man is a child of God. That man is different. He said, I bear the marks of the Lord Jesus in my body. That has to be us today. It's not a way of halfway in and halfway out. It's not a way of walking in the world and then walking with Jesus. That's not what it is, buddy. That's not what it is. That's a lie of the devil. The word of God says that loving with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, it's gonna heal everything that you have. And the enemy wants to take God's people. He doesn't want to. He offers the goods to Abraham over there. He said, take all the goods, but give me the persons. That's what he says to us tonight. And he would not be persuaded. Paul said, no matter what may come, he said, I'm going after Jesus. Paul said that I may know him. I know we get excited and we should about the coming of the Lord. But we ought to be just as excited about his presence with me. We ought to be just as excited that we can go to our birthplace and call out to the Lord Jesus. We ought to be just as excited that he walks with me and you today. It's a holy way, it is. We can't keep ourselves, I know that. Paul said, it's the sin that dwelleth in me. And I want to say tonight, you're hard-pressed to find many Christians that's in need of repentance. Paul was a new man. The Lord Jesus saved him on the road to Damascus. Paul said, O wretched man that I am. Paul did not say, O wretched man that I was. He said, O wretched man that I am. Now this is a man of God that walked with Jesus so close. The demons even said, Jesus we know, and Paul we know. But who are you? Well, who are me and you? Listen, Paul said he was wretched. Brother, that's me and you. We're wretched tonight. Saved by the grace of God. Saved by the love of Jesus. And I have to have repentance tonight. It's hard to find any. I say, oh, I'm a sinner. Listen, there's none of us good, no, not me. I have to repent. I need the Lord. I don't want to be persuaded tonight by the world. I don't want to be persuaded by my own flesh. Our flesh wants to come up and say, why don't you quit? And we're living in high, brother, look around you. Surely the coming of the Lord is very close. Surely the coming of the lord is not at the door right now. If we knew how close we would be praying lord. If we knew how close we would be in the word of god. We're going to give we're going to give an account for every idle word. That's not what I said. That's the word of god. We've gotten so far from the word of God. I'm gonna say this tonight, it come to mind, so I'm gonna say it. My wife told me something the other day. She said there was a local preacher that said, if a man is truly seeking the Lord, he'll preach no longer than 30 minutes. I read up in the Bible when Paul was wrong in preaching that a man, a boy, fell out of the window. And I also listen. It don't matter if it's five minutes. It don't matter if it's 10 minutes. It don't matter if it's 45 minutes, if it's an hour and a half. If God's with you, the Holy Spirit is with you. God's with you. Man gives his opinion today. You need to be in the Word for a second. Paul said he would not be persuaded. I'm almost done. In verse 13, Paul answered, what mean ye to weep and to break my heart? For I am ready not to be bound only, but listen, but also to die. He was talking about laying his life down. But Paul said, I die day. Now we're going to talk spiritually. It's a crucifying our flesh every day way. It's dying to this old man every day. He wants to come up in my life every day. There's times it seems like it's harder than ever. There's times when I say, oh Lord, help me. All these things are going on. All this stuff is going on. I know who I can go to. I know the one that I can run to. The very same one, that woman with the issue of blood, she knew she had to give to Jesus. What are we doing today? Run to Jesus. Go after him. Don't be persuaded. The reason the enemy is fighting so hard today, he knows he has but a short time. The reason our flesh is coming up more and more, I believe we're drawing nigh. You cannot eat at the table of the Lord and the table of David. You cannot drink of the Lord's cup and drink of the cup of David. Be careful what you put before your eyes. Be careful what you're listening to. Be careful what you're letting your kids listen to. Be careful where your kids are going. You need to know where they're going. They need to know what God says. And it's up to the men of God. It's up to the dads of the house to get open the word of God. It's up to me and you to set those kids down and read the word of God. Amen. We're living in a time where people say, I don't need to go to church. He said, not forsaken, be a sinner of yourselves together. As a matter of summing, by exhorting one another. And so much the more, as you see the day approaching, obey so much the more, be in the house of God so much the more. We need Jesus. Don't be persuaded by the world tonight. All that He does for me and you. All that He gave for me and you. I don't want to be persuaded tonight by anybody. I want to go with the Lord. I want to make it home to my Savior. I want to be pleasing to my Lord. I want to do what's right. I want to please Him. I've given you my heart tonight. I pray it's been a help to you. I want to be a help to God's people. I'm open to that.