And when they had bound him, they laid him away and delivered him to Pontius Pilate, the governor. Now, if you will look over with me at verse 19. When he was set down on the judgment seat, this being Pontius Pilate, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man? For I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him. But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas and destroy Jesus. The governor answered and said unto them, Whither of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas. Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified. And the governor said, Why? What evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified. When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing but that rather a torment was made, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person. See ye to it. Let's pray. Gracious Father, we humble ourselves before you this evening. O God, we so thank you for the privilege that you give us even yet today in this country, that we could come openly, Father, and worship You in spirit and truth without fear of what our own government may do to us. Dear God, we give You praise because we know You've given us this freedom. Father, tonight as I stand before these Your people, I pray You forgive me of my sin, that, Father, I might just open Your Word as You guide me in it, that, Father, I might share what You've put upon my heart. that, Father, we too might look toward Jesus and make our decisions. Father, I pray now that You just bless us, especially if there's one under my voice tonight that's not saved, not ready to face You. Father, I pray that tonight that one would come under conviction like they've never known before, that, dear God, they would come to that place of decision and acceptance of Jesus' saving grace. Father, now I pray Your blessing upon the world and these that are here that they might just be lifted up by Your Spirit, but drawn to a place to give You more praise in Christ's name. Amen. See, as we're looking to our text tonight, of course, it's a time of Jesus' betrayal. It's a time of His trial. And it's a time of decision. And friends, if there's anything tonight that we want to understand from our text, there's a place in all of our lives multiple times daily about what are we going to do. And tonight we're looking at a set of scriptures where Pilate personally had to make a decision. What was he personally going to do with Jesus? Now, see, there's a lot of us in here tonight that might be thinking to ourselves, I'm glad he had to make that decision. But friends, I want us to understand it's just not Him making that decision. Each and every one of us have to decide what shall we do with Jesus. Even we that are saved on a daily basis decide what are we going to do with Jesus. Because friends, He's either Lord of our life or He's not. Because this is the thing about Lordship. Lordship is ownership. And friends, we have a tendency to want to more or less use Jesus as a crutch instead of being a guiding light. And that's why we have to answer that question tonight in our own hearts. What am I going to do with Jesus? You know, when we think about Jesus first and foremost, there's all kind of controversy out there. Understand, just this week, there's a book coming out. talking about who Jesus is. And of all people, well, first and foremost, let me tell you this. All the media is all hyped up about the new book about Jesus. And encouraging all of us to go out and buy it. Friend, I'm going to tell you what, I already got one. And I tell you, if you want one, go down to the dollar store and get one. Still for a dollar. King James Version. One dollar. I didn't think you could still do it. And last year for Bible school, that was our gift to every child that came to Bible school. They went home with a brand new Bible. That's the best investment I think we could have ever made for those children, was sending the Word of God home with them. So friends, I want to share something with you. This book is not worthy for one dime out of a Christian's pocket. Because the book had been written by a Muslim. Now what would a Muslim know about Jesus Christ? Seriously. Anytime the media is lifting up something concerning Jesus, you can guarantee it's going to be negative. It's going to be probably a big lie. Or they wouldn't be promoting it. Because that same media are the ones that would give their eye teeth for one more commercial, whether it would be the local liquor industry or whether it would be the local abortion industry. And we're going to look to them for advice on buying material to study Jesus Christ? I don't think so. That's my decision. I'm not going to buy the book. I'm not going to accept the book on a gift. I won't plague my mind with reading such pray. I feel the same way about the other book. How many of y'all know about the other book? The one that the fellas come riding in on the bicycles with? Black pants, white shirt, black tie. That's why I wore this color tie tonight. I'll wear my black one tomorrow night. Friends, I don't want the other book. I only want this book. This book tells me who Jesus is. Jesus is the Christ. If I don't know anything else, He's the Christ. He is the Deliverer. Friends, He is the Abnormality of God. And He is God. You know, this is something that sometimes we have a hard time putting it all together. Because God is three, one. Three equal parts, but all the same. And friends, when we have the Word of God, if you have a red letter edition, when you read it, yeah, it's the Word of Jesus, but it's the Word of God manifest in the flesh. That's who Jesus is. Friends, Jesus was born of a virgin. That's the point that trips a whole lot of folks. Friends, they can't understand. But with God, all things are possible. Friends, I'm going to tell you what. I know on a personal level all things are possible with God because He saved a wretch like me. He forgave me of my sin. And friends, I'm going to tell you what. I've never met Paul personally, but I've read a lot of his writings. Me and him are going to have a little discussion when I see him in heaven. He said he was chief of sinners. I believe I talked to him. Now I'm proud of it. It's a fact. I'm proud of my Savior that could forgive a sinner like me. That's the Jesus that we're talking about tonight, that so loved me while I was yet such a sinner, but yet He died for me. Friends, I'm not talking about Him going without a meal. I'm not talking about Him giving up a vacation. I'm talking about giving up His life for me. And friends, I'm going to tell you what, that's some fella, amen, that would give His life. You know, I worked rescue. You all know that. most all my life, and I've seen suffering. And I think about, you know, how many times have I witnessed suffering in my life that was self-inflicted, you know, or it was a selfish act from someone else. Just recently, I went to the home of an 82-year-old man. And his daughter was standing in the yard just holding her head, screaming as loud as she could scream. Her father decided he'd end his life. And she found him. You know, I think about that. And I think about how that pain was inflicted over onto his children. And I knew the man well. I knew he loved his children. But his death was not in consideration of those children. His death was selfish on his behalf because he was beginning to have the hardships of age. He had had a little accident with his truck on the 4th of July. He'd run into a man's fence. It was a big rainstorm. You know, older people don't use all that modern stuff on their vehicles like defrosters, air conditioners. And his window fogged up and he went through the fence and the car didn't see it. Well, the first thing he got on his mind, he's going to give his license up. They're going to take my license. They're going to take my truck. I haven't been feeling good. He visited his family all that afternoon. He went out to the graveyard where his wife was buried. He came back to the house, ate a half a can of iron and sausages, went out in the tractor shed and shot the side of his head off. And then his daughter walks in the next morning, 12 hours later, and finds him sitting there beside the tractor. And you've never seen four children wail like that in your life because they love their daddy. Friend, Jesus went to Calvary tree for my benefit. He gave His life for me. But you know what? He was so perfect, it was enough for you too. And when I talk to people about Jesus, I want them to know that You know, if we let the wrong folks share Jesus, they only want to share that He was a carpenter. They only want to share that He made His mother reproach in the community. Because you know, she was with child before she was married. You know how people run their mouths. Friend, Jesus came at God's back. God chose a time and God chose a woman that was of a pure heart and a pure body. And He chose that woman to bear His Son to the world. And friends, when I start thinking about that, it humbles my heart. What am I going to do about someone who would love me so much that they would literally lay down and allow someone to drive nails through the ribs, through their feet, Think about that just for a minute. How many of you ladies show? Don't you just giggle and laugh when you run a needle in your hand? Oh, it's not good? Could you imagine what it feels like to have a nail driven through your hand? You know how many nerves are actually in your hand, right? That causes us, you know, even in the dark, some folks have the ability, because of the love of money, they can tell whether a coin's heads up or heads down just by touch. And what denomination it is, I say, man! Now, when we were kids, our shoe soles were that thin. We could just about tell it, you know, by the time summer come. You think about this just for a few minutes. Jesus took it. Did He have to? He was God! He could have chosen at any moment and said, no, I have changed my mind. You know, they're all sinners. Sometimes we have to have a little problem with that one, don't we? When we start looking at ourselves and we get to thinking about what did Jesus do? Well, Jesus died for sinners. And you know, I've had folks look me right dead in the eye and say, Brother Hartman, I'm not a sinner. Oh, really? Oh really? You're going to tell me that you have never sinned in your life? Well, I'm not as bad as they are. I'm not as bad as she is. I'm not like that bunch on the other side of the track. Not like them. I didn't say anything about them. I didn't say anything about her. I didn't say anything about those. I asked you if you had any sin that you would be embarrassed with with Jesus Christ. Because see, there's a different order of measure for righteousness. When we're talking about righteousness, it's Jesus. You know, when I want to measure a foot, I go get a measure that's one foot. When I want righteousness, I've got to take Jesus, because He's the only one without sin. Friends, that's what we've got to think about when we think about, what am I going to do with Jesus? And Jesus has given us certain words that we need to constantly have in remembrance. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. Laden for what? Well, he was referring to the law. How many of you all think you could keep the law, even now that you're saved, you could keep the law? None. None of us can keep the law. How many of us want to keep the law? I'd want to. I really want to. Why? Well, how many of you realize, if you're here tonight saved, that you are a mirror reflecting the Lord Jesus Christ? And folks, a lot of times, consider Jesus Christ according to you. So how many of us would like to be as stain-free as possible? Amen, we would. We want to be. Why? So someone would not reject Jesus because of something in our lives. But the point is, with that thought in mind, trying to keep the law will burden you down to the ground. It will wear you out. And Jesus said, don't let it wear you out. Come unto me. Come unto me. See, he fulfilled the law. How many of you know about the sin of nature? Guess who didn't have one? Amen. Because he didn't have a blood disease. He didn't have the Adamic blood in his veins. He had God in his veins. Couldn't you see some laboratory doing that job? Taking his DNA. They'd break the microscope up. Something's wrong with him. I can't find what I'm looking for. Here's, here's, you know, instead of 46 chromosomes, he only got 23 that I can identify. I wonder why. Amen. Because ain't nobody been able to compare God. Amen. And that's what Jesus has. And that's why He's saying, You can't do it, but if you'll come to Me, I'll cleanse you from all unrighteousness, if you'll come to Me. Now, He has outstretched arms. And I love that because you know why? I don't have to worry about how much money a person has in their bank account. I don't even have to worry if they have a bank account. I don't have to worry about what color their skin is. I don't have to worry about how tall they are. I don't have to worry about how short they are, how wide they are, like me. Don't have to worry about any of that! He said, come unto me all! Friends, that is opening the gate! Amen! That's opening the gate! That's what I think about when I say, what am I going to do with Jesus? You know what I'm going to do with Jesus? I'm going to love Him. I'm going to love Him. And I'll tell you another little something. He first loved me. He first loved me. How many of us like rejection? Don't you really love it when people treat you ugly? Won't speak to you, won't give you no respect. Don't you really like that? Have you ever went, you older folk like me, have you ever went to your grandchildren and wanted to love on them a name? Don't that make you feel wonderful? I had a granddaughter that way. Oh, about to kill me, my first grandbaby. Hated her pap. I come to find out after a while it was her nature. She likes to torment folk. She had to grow up a while before I figured that one out. But you know what? Every time she came in the door, I'd make a break out and try to love on her, and I think I scared her. I mean, I'm little, and I creep up on you quick, you know? And one day, I had a heart attack. And they took me to the hospital, and they had me laying up in the bed with tubes running everywhere. And they brought her in the room. And I looked over at her, and before I could say anything, she's squalling for all she was. I thought she was squalling because she was seeing something scared her. But she saw something that upset her. She saw her pack sick. And she was in the bed on top of me before I could even get my hands up to defend myself. Amen! And it all turned right at that point. See, that's when love has been accepted. All that time she rejected me. Just like stiff-arming in a football game, you know, when you've got the ball, you stiff-arm who's trying to knock you down. And every time I tried to love her, she stiff-armed me. And then I got to thinking, for 24 years, every time Jesus tried to love me, I stiff-armed Him. Every time somebody tried to tell me about Jesus, I stiff-armed Him. Don't want to hear it. Don't want to. See, my perception of Jesus was totally off. I was raised in a captive home, half Catholic and half Drunken Methodist. I had no truth about who Jesus was. Last Monday, I was ordained thirty years. And I wrote a little something on my Facebook just to commemorate the day. And I mentioned a man's name called Donald Lee Johnson from Oklahoma. He was a Choctaw Indian, full of blood. And I'm going to tell you what, he had a story to tell. He told me about how when he was a little boy, about six years old, his mother, his daddy, and his grandmother got sent to federal penitentiary out of Oklahoma for making an illegal wedding. And they grabbed up a little Indian off the reservation, the federal government did, and they socked him in an orphanage in Dallas, Texas. And there's where he found the love of Jesus Christ. Every night, the matron of the orphanage would read the Bible to him and then explain to him what she had read to him And then she put all the other kids to bed except for Donald Lee Johnson that he got whipping before he went to bed, because he was a bad little Indian boy. And one day Donald Lee got sacked. And Donald Lee went to the Marine Corps. Donald Lee came back from the Marine Corps and went back to that orphanage and thanked that old matron for sharing Jesus with him. And then he signed up in, not any orphanage, it was Baylor Orphanage. So he thought he'd sign up in Baylor University. And he graduated from Baylor University with a doctorate in law. He was a full lawyer. And he came to Washington, D.C. with some government official by the name of Long from Texas. Some of you might know that name. The Long's been in politics a long time, but mostly from Louisiana. But this man was a Long from Texas. While in Washington, he attended one of our churches right outside of Washington, D.C. And the Lord touched his heart and said, Donald Lee, I have need of you. Donald Lee was knocking down a killing in Washington, D.C. as a lawyer. Don Lee fell down on his face before God and said, Lord, I'll do what you want me to do. That's what he did with Jesus. He left a three-figure job. I'm talking about three figures in front of Carmel. And went to work in a little mission there at Veers Mill, right outside of Rockville, Maryland, with no pay. Just whatever they might confine for him. Because the Lord asked him to do it. See, he wasn't just Jesus. He was Donald Lee's Lord. The Lord called him to preach. And he did. And somehow or other, he came to the same community where I live and started to mission work. And one of the first things he did was lock horns with me. And started sharing with me the love of God. Now my little girlfriend sat in the backyard. Her and I attended his service. We wanted to get married. I'd been drunk for two days. And he looked at her and he looked at me and he took her hand, patted her hand. He said, now honey, you sit down right over here. Then he swung around and he zeroed in on me and he said, how old are you anyway? Well, I am a little older than her, but I looked a lot older that day. But I tell you what, he had me cold stone sober by the time that meeting was done. Because he let me know that that wasn't cutting it with him. And then eventually he was able to share Jesus with me. The first time he told me about Jesus, I wanted to just go up there in the pulpit and slap him down. Because he told me I was going to go to hell without Jesus. And I'm saying to myself, I've been in hell all my life. They're married to each other. I watch them daily. And then he started sharing with me hell. And I said to myself, whoa, no, I haven't been there yet. You know, because there was an end to it. When Dad ran out of money, things got peaceful around the house. But I'm going to tell you what, there is no end to hell. It's as eternal as heaven. Sometimes we forget that. We think, oh, it ain't no big deal. Be there for a week or so and it'll be over. Just like going to school, you know, some of you young'uns getting ready to go. But it won't last forever. Next spring we'll be out again. Well, I'm going to tell you something. There's no end to hell. If you go there, you'll never escape it. And Don told me that Jesus didn't want me to go to hell. He told me it wasn't the Lord's will that any should perish, but all come under repentance. And I'm saying to myself, oh, I bet he's going to be just like that Catholic. He's going to get out the price list here in a minute. Because see, the priests used to come by Grandma's house. And see, my grandpa was a drunk too. And he'd start reasoning with my grandma. Well, Rosie, you know, $100, I think I can pray him out this time. I found out there was a whole bunch. And I'm not going to say what y'all put the rest of it. It was just a bunch. Ain't no getting out. If you're not in heaven, you've got to be in hell. There ain't no third place. So I figured we're going to get a Christ tag on heaven. He's going to lay it on me in a minute. And he kept talking to me. And he shared with me that Jesus died for me. He paid the price. Now you know why I think what I do about Jesus. He paid my bill. All I had to do was accept the payment. Accept it. You know, I was raised up prideful. I had a father that was quite prideful. He told the whole community one time, he said, You know, he'd been hurt. He was a decorated veteran from World War II. And he had hurt himself, his back. He'd been in the veterans' hospital for months. And we came home and there was a box of groceries sitting on the porch. And my father's pride was such that he told my brother to throw it in the canal. He said, I don't take charity from nobody. He said, I'd rather be criticized than sympathized. You know, at that time, it just broke my heart, because I was hungry. And I saw sweet taters in that box. And I tell you what, I was going to fight my brother if he was going to throw those sweet taters away. Now, all that other stuff, I didn't know, because we didn't eat out of cans. We ate out of jars. I didn't know what was in them cans, but I knew what a sweet tater was. And finally, Daddy come to his senses, and we got to eat that food. And that was out of the kindness of someone's heart. that they gave us that, but that was the way we were raised. And I'm thinking to myself, the whole time this preacher's trying to tell me about Jesus, I don't need Jesus. I can do this myself. How many of you all have tried to clean up your act by yourself? How many of you quit smoking 25 times? How many of you quit drinking 50 times? I heard my dad one time out beside the house. He was so sick from being drunk. And that was the first time I ever heard him pray. And it was so foolish. He told God, he said, Dear Lord, help me get over this drunk. I'll try to get over the next one by myself. Now you talk about foolishness. That's foolish. But that also said he won't quit drinking, didn't it? But see, when the Lord come into my life, when I talk about what Jesus is to me, What can I do with him? I can trust him. I can trust him, because when I got saved, the Lord put me to work right away. Friends, I became a Sunday school teacher. And I'm eating cigarettes, three packs a day. I'm a bricklayer by trade, and I never put one out. Just in case a mosquito goes by, I want to smoke it. That's why I smoke. You know how it goes. Friends, I'm going to tell you what, I had a problem. I quit, I quit burning. I said, well, if I roll them, I won't smoke them anymore. And then I quit, because I get tired of rolling. And I'm down in Gainesburg, Maryland, right outside of D.C., back in the day now, and I'm rolling one. And by the time I put the calicum to it, to roll it up tight, the law man stepped up on the job and said, son, let me see that. I'm saying to myself, he thinks that's one of them left-handed cigarettes. I never smoked no dope. I didn't need it. I dope enough. I didn't need none of that. And he looked, he said, that's not marijuana either. That's Prince Albert. It didn't help. It didn't help. But one day I got under such grief about it that my testimony was so messed up that I went to another brother And I said to him, I got a problem. I said, I can't quit smoking. He said, have you prayed about it? I said, yes, I've prayed about it. He said, well, you ain't never prayed with me. He said, I believe what God said, where two or three are gathered together in His Name, He'll be in the midst. And we held hands together, and those days you could do that, and there wasn't a lot of talk. And we pray. And God's Spirit come upon me. And friends, He set me free. That's what you can do with Jesus. Amen? You can trust Jesus. You can tell Him things you don't want to tell nobody else. You can share with Him the weaknesses that no one knows. But He already does. See, this is the thing about Pilate. See, Pilate had to make the decision, but you did too. What am I going to do with Jesus? Am I going to let Him be Lord in my life? Maybe you're here tonight and you're at ground zero. You've never took your first step. You've never accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. You've been dealing with that your whole life since the first time you heard the Gospel. Friends, I'm going to tell you now, don't tempt God. God will not strive with you always, okay? There's a time that God knows, not me, but God knows I'm done with you now. No message. Accept His gift while He's given it. What can you do with Jesus? Accept Him. Accept Him as your Savior. You can't save yourself, friend. You can't argue the bill. Because there's only one item of trade that is sufficient with God for sin, and it's blood. And it has to be righteous blood. It can't be my blood. My blood can't. It can only be Jesus' blood. God won't accept righteous blood. And friends, Jesus is the only one that has it. And He says, I'll give you eternal life if you'll believe on Me. Thou shalt be saved, not maybe. I get agitated when I ask folks, are you going to help me? I hope so. Hope what? I know I am. Jesus saved me. And I will say this, if you want to argue the point, if I don't, nobody's going. Okay? If I don't go, nobody's going. Because the Bible says that if we'll repent and accept Him, We were there. You know what I found out? There's no eraser on the pencil that writes names in the book of life. Amen. They were carved into stone. Have any of you ever been in the graveyard and really looked at grave markers? This man I was telling you about the other day, they took his body. I helped load him up on a undertaker's truck that was taken to the morgue up in Roanoke. Well, the next morning, of course, it should have been a simple thing. The next morning, they wouldn't release the body. And I got to inquiring why, and they said, well, there's a mix-up. They said, he's not who they think he is. Is he an alien? Well, has he got antennas or what? No, his name was, everybody thought his name was Alex. A-L-E-X. His name was Alex. E-L-E-X. They wouldn't release the body because he cleared it up. I thought it a little ridiculous myself. The time that man was going in the country I live in, probably two percent of reading rock. Okay? When we got to the graveyard, guess what was cut on his stone? Already had it cut. Alex. Can't erase that either. Amen? It's cut in the rock! And this is the point that I'm trying to make with us tonight. This is what we can do with Jesus. We can trust Him. We can trust Him in the good days. Anybody can. We can trust Him in the bad days. Friends, I've seen so many people in their hours of question, if you will, in that shadow of death, get to a foolish place. I heard an obituary a couple of weeks ago about a gentleman that I've known for 20 years. He'd been a Sunday school teacher in a certain church for 60 years, and he had become recently a member of a such-and-such church. Well, such-and-such church has healing services. You know where I'm going, don't you? Out of desperation, he throws his faith of a lifetime down and goes to this church for healing. Now, how many of us know That God don't need none of that to heal somebody. If God wills, He can heal you with nobody's help. Don't need nobody. Don't need no old news. Don't need no jumping up and down talking crazy neither. But sadly, folks decide at that time sometimes in their life what they'll do with Jesus, lay Him aside and trust the preacher. I thank God for every pastor I've ever had. I try to be a blessing to every lamb that I've ever had the privilege to shepherd. But I'm an under-shepherd. I'm an under-shepherd. Jesus is the shepherd. And if I come to you and you're sick, me and you together are going to Jesus. We're going to ask Him for His will to be done. And I've seen Him do it. I've seen Him healed. And there was nothing that I did except have faith that He could. And he chose on Sunday. I've seen folks with a complete diagnosis of a humongous tumor in the liver. Open them up, go in, the liver just looked like it was brain spanking new. And we're talking about people 50 years old. God did that. Doctor came out shaking his head, disappointed! Because he couldn't find the cancer! And I guess he all thought we were crazy, especially that fat one over in the corner jumping up and down saying, thank you Jesus. That's what I'm going to do with Jesus if I come around and you're sick. I'm going to take you to Jesus. Amen. We're going to pray. Now what are you going to do with Jesus? That's going to be our decision question tonight. What are you going to do with Jesus? Are you going to let Him be Lord in your life? Or are you going to let Him be your Savior? Question one, is He your Savior? If He's not, He wants to be. He wants you to accept Him. He's paid your bill. He's got it paid. He wants to give you eternal life. But you have to accept it as a gift. Just accept it. Thank Him for it. Now, we that are saved, what are you going to do with Jesus when He touches your heart? Because He's going to touch your heart. If you're saved, you're one of His. He's going to touch your heart. Have you followed Him in baptism since you've been saved? You noticed how I said that, didn't you? I talk to people all the time about things like that. And one of the things that I'll ask them is, do you know Jesus as a person of faith? Oh, I've been baptized! I didn't ask you that. I asked you to be saved. Because you can't be baptized until you're saved. You know, this is the thing in the world that you and I have to deal with. And when we have the truth and the rest don't have that, we're going to have to deal with it. And sometimes it's a hard place to stand. Will you stand with Jesus? That's the question tonight for you. Only you can answer that. Will you stand with Jesus on that doctrinal truth? You must be born again. And after you've been born again, you become a candidate for baptism. And you become available, or if you will, scripturally fit for membership in a New Testament church. See, this is the whole thing. We have an order of things. And Jesus is asking you, what are you going to do? See, we've got churches all over the country, including Kentucky. It doesn't matter! Anything goes! But it doesn't in the Lord's church. It doesn't in your church here, does it? And that's why we ask the questions that we ask from this pulpit. What are you going to do with Jesus? Suppose tomorrow on your job, or even tonight if you're going to work a late shift, the Lord speaks to your heart and says, that guy beside of you, he ain't sad. What are you going to do? Hit your thumb and cuss at Blue Street? Or are you going to be extra careful about your testimony around him or her? Extra careful! Is it going to send you to hell if you cuss at Blue Street? No, but it may sure keep him on his road to hell. So, slack up on that cussing. Swallow it. You can do it. For Christ's sake. That's what you can do for Jesus. What can you do with Jesus? Well, when He says, sick Him, I hope that you're going to be a mad dog for Jesus. Because He will say, sick Him! He's told me many times. Nobody heard it but me. But I heard it just as true in my heart. Not through the ear, through the heart. Actually, through the brain. Get in. You know, one of my good friends was a blacksmith. When I first met Daddy Brogul, I was reminded of my friend, because he had an arm off, too. He said, you know, God can bless you and everything, Brother Eddie. I said, He can? He said, yeah. He said, when I lost my arm, I thought the world had come to an end. He said, I was a blacksmith by trade. He said, the next time I held a punch and smacked that artificial hand, he said, Thank you, Jesus! He said, because if I had my real hand, I would have been a hootman and a holler. See, he could find something to praise the Lord. And you and I can. We can do that in front of lost people. That's what we can do with Jesus. We can praise Him in front of lost people. We can share with them what a difference He's made in your life. I'm not talking about being some kind of nut now. I've been around folks who try to talk to you about Jesus. And every other word is, Thank you, Jesus. Amen. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Praise the God. And you know what I say at that point? I got us a nut here. Because that might sound spiritual, but a lost man knows that ain't true stuff. So what can I do? Do what He wants you to. Our invitation moment is coming right now. And that is the moment where you really and truly will decide, what will I do with Jesus? See, Pilate washed his hands of the whole matter. I hope you don't. I hope you accept whatever He's asked of you. Whatever it is. Some of you men in this very congregation, God could have very well laid His hand on to preach the Word of God. You know, when God touched me to preach, I got smacked down in the corner. I went to my pastor and I said, Brother, I believe the Lord's called me to preach. He said, Oh no, I've known this congregation. He ain't never called nobody out of here. Well, God called somebody out there. He called that preacher out there. We got another preacher, and I went to him, and I said, Brother, I believe the Lord called me to preach. He said, Thank you, Jesus. You're about to preach me to death, getting him to come out. Well, but he didn't know the other story. I got thrown back. I was poofed in the corner. See, this is the point. You've got a pastor here that recognizes what God's doing. And He's going to help you to deal with what God wants you to do. To make yourself just available to the Lord is a wonderful step. And that can be your step tonight right in this altar time. It's to make yourself available so that you really can be a vessel of service for the Lord. And I know that that's spooky because you don't know what He's going to ask. But the point I want you to understand is, He knows you better than you know you. And He won't call on you to do something you're not able. He'll call on you to do what you do best. So, Pastor, brother, you call. that we already asked what we're going to do with Jesus. Well, it's not as simple as washing our hands. In order to do so, we've already made a decision. Lord, you want us to follow you in everything and trust you. Lord, thank you for the words that's been given to us tonight. Thank you for your spirit this evening. Lord, I do believe in the priesthood. for those who need to step out for the year. Lord, it's between you and them. Lord, help me to just continue to do what I'm supposed to do as well. Lord, help us in this invitation time not to hold back, but to respond. Lord, it could even be visited as a service to respond to this message tonight. Help them understand this is the time of their lives. Lord, I promise tomorrow, We'll have you weigh this invitation in Jesus' name. Amen.