Hebrews chapter 12, if you'd open your Bibles, please. This morning, I enjoyed my stay in Lattimore last night. We stayed, the only problem was the loud taxi cabs and the subways going by and the honking of the horns. But other than that, it was a quiet night in Lattimore. Out at Turnage Hall, guest number six. If you boys live in that dorm, I heard you last night. And I'm going to report you to Brother Bill as soon as this is over. But anyway, we had a wonderful evening. Glad to be here. Glad to be a part of this ministry. Have been for a number of years. I've known your president since he was in college. And that goes back a long ways. But when Brother Bill was just a college kid, he would go out and represent the school and singing groups and whatever. I got to know him. They come to victory many times. A lot of kids from Ambassador have been to victory at different times over the years. And Brother Scovel, has been there many, many times. Our old folks like Brother Scoville, Brother Don Scoville, not Brother Todd Scoville, Brother Don Scoville. Our older folks love to hear him sing, The Storm Passes By. And so, in fact, so anyway, our folk enjoy the folk from Ambassador, and we're glad to be here this morning. I preach to you today, though, as a pastor of many years who has helped a lot of people get out of a ditch. I spent most of my time over the last 24 years in the mountains of North Carolina, trying to get people out of ditches, spiritual ditches, and sometimes literally physical ditches, but most of it all spiritual ditches. I'm going to tell you, it's easier to stay out of ditches than get out of ditches. It's a whole lot easier just to stay out of them. And if I had another title, the title of the message, if you want, I know a title is stay out of the ditch. But if I had another title, it would be how to stay out of trouble. I'm not going to ever be in trouble. I'm a student at Ambassador Baptist College. Is that correct? Is that right? You're never going to get in trouble. You're never going to get off the path. Well, I'm going to give you some illustrations this morning of people who got off the path. People who got in the ditch. We're in Hebrews chapter number 12. We'll read the first two verses. Very familiar verses. Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight that sin with us so easily beset us. Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus. There's the three key words right there. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Look at verse three. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your minds. Paul uses the analogy here of running a race and the Christian life is like running a race and we're confessed about what's so great. A cloud of witnesses and much has been said over the years about who the great cloud of witnesses is, but we're not here to split hairs over that this morning. He says, bottom line, lay aside all the weights, lay aside the sin that always so easily besets you. When my son was in high school, he played basketball. He was a pretty good basketball player. And he would walk around all day long at school and at house, whatever, wearing ankle weights. Now, my son was about six feet tall and weighed about 130 pounds soaking wet. He wore ankle weights all the time, except when they tipped off on Friday night. Then he took the ankle weights off so he could run faster. He could jump higher. It was always his goal to dunk the basketball. But he never dunked the basketball. Now he's 37 years old and he can't get up down the court. But anyway, but he wanted to dunk. He said, Dad, if I just wear these ankle weights, boy, when you take them off, you feel so light and you feel so good. But I guarantee he didn't wear the ankle weights during the ballgame. He didn't wear the ankle weights running up down the court, running full court press. He says, lay aside every weight. And then he says, lay aside the sin which does so easily beset us. I believe everybody has to be setting sin. I believe everybody has something in their life that they really have to pray over a whole lot. It might be a temper. It might be a gossipy tongue. It might be immorality in their thought life. It might be any number of things. I don't know. But I believe everybody's got a besetting sin. Might be a lack of faith. Might be fear. But people have a besetting sin. He says, lay aside every weight and that sin which so not hard but easily besets us. It just easily gets us off track. And then it says, let's run with patience. The idea is endurance here. The race that is set before us. And how do you do it? Verse two, looking to Jesus. That's how you do it. That's how you do it. You keep your eyes on the Lord. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in his wonderful face. And when you do that, what happens? And the things of earth will grow what? Strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. We get our eyes off Jesus. We get in trouble. I'm preaching today. I'm staying out of the ditch. staying out of the ditch. I don't believe you can ever lose your salvation. That's a Baptist distinctive. And I'm a Baptist from one side to the other. And this school is a Baptist college. We don't believe you can lose your salvation. I don't believe that once you've ever been saved, you can ever be unsaved. Once you're saved, you're saved eternally. And it's not because you're good. It's because God is good. It's not because of your works, it's because of God's grace. And that's the reason why once we're saved, we're always saved. We're in the Father's hand, no man can take us out of the Father's hand. He says in John chapter 10, you cannot lose your salvation, but we won't belabor that point because you know that, you've been taught that. But I promise you, you can lose the joy of your salvation. I promise you, you can fail spiritually. And I'm going to give you some examples this morning from the Word of God of people who fail spiritually. Go back to the Psalms. You know where the Psalms are. Go back to Psalm number 3, would you please? Psalm number 3. And we're going to cut a little trail for just a moment. You can put away your study notes for a few minutes for your exams and all your projects that Brother Bill was talking about. And look in the Word of God with me for just a moment. In Psalm 3. Look at Psalm 3. Look at verse number 5. In fact, go back to verse 3, But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. Verse 5, I laid me down and slept, I awaked, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people that have set themselves against me round about. David had great peace, did he not? Because the Lord was with him. He said, I sleep well, I get up, I'm not worried about all these enemies I have. He had great peace. Look at Psalm number 4. Look at verse number 7. Thou hast put gladness in my heart more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased. I will both lay me down in peace and sleep, for thou, Lord, only makest me to dwell in safety. Look at Psalm number 6, would you please. And look at verse number 1. O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger. Neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am weak. O Lord, heal me, for my bones are vexed. Look at Psalm 8, verse 1. O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth, who has sent thy glory above the heavens. Look at Psalm number 14, would you please. Psalm number 14. And verse 1, David says, the fool has said in his heart, there is no God. Look at Psalm number 16, would you please. And look at verse number 6, the lions are falling unto me in pleasant places, yea, I have a goodly heritage. By the way, I'm preaching to a lot of young people this morning who have a goodly heritage. You've been raised for the God, for the Lord. You've been raised many of you and the homes of preachers of the gospel and ministers and missionaries and other folks in the ministry and whatever. You have a goodly heritage. David said, I have a goodly heritage. Look at Psalm 17 and Psalm 17 verse three, thou has proved my heart. Thou has visited me in the night that has tried me and shall find nothing. I am purpose that my mouth. Shall not transgress David was concerned about every little part of his life that it would be right Psalm 17 15 as for me, I will behold I face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness then go to Psalm 19 a very familiar portion of Scripture is Psalm 19 and Psalm 19 the heavens declare the glory of God and The firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech. Night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Go down to verse 7. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean. Enduring forever the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous Altogether more to be desired are they than what then go David said I'd rather have these things and go Yay, then much fine go sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb look at verse 13 David says keep back thy servant from presumptuous sins Let them not have dominion over me then shall I be upright and I shall be innocent from the great transgression Oh look at verse 14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart, not just his words but his thoughts, he said, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. David, I believe we can surmise from these verses, lived in great victory most of his life. He lived in great blessing and God used him in a marvelous way. Is he not called the sweet psalmist of Israel? Is he not called God's champion in Samuel when he defeats Goliath and whatever? I mean, what a great man of God. Yet, in spite of all of what we've said, he's guilty of adultery. In spite of all we've said, he's guilty of murder. And you know the story in 2 Samuel 11. We won't turn there, but you know the story. And he covered his sin for about a year until God's man knocked on his door. Nathan came to see him and knocked on his door. By the way, you ought to be glad if God's man knocks on your door. You'd be tickled to death if your pastor, your youth pastor, or your teacher here at the college, or one of your leaders knocks on your door to talk to you about something in your life. Praise God somebody knocks on your door. Nathan knocked on David's door and told him a story and then of course said thou art the man and David is torn up by that Keep turning in the book of Psalms over a little bit further and you'll come over to Psalm number 50 51 excuse me Psalm number 51 Psalm number 51 after Nathan had come to see David David pours out his heart to God Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness, according to the multitude of Thy tender mercies. Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions. My sin is ever before me against Thee. Thee only have I sinned and done this evil in Thy sight, that Thou mightest be justified when Thou speakest and be clear when Thou judgest. He says in verse 7, Purge me. with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness. David just wanted something encouraging, that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins. He said, O God, don't look at my sin. Blot out all mine iniquities, creating me a clean heart, O God. Bring your right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence. What David feared more than anything else was being outside of the presence of God. He says, Oh, don't let me come out of your presence. Take not the Holy Spirit from me. Look at verse 12, young people, restoring to me the joy of that salvation. You can still be saved, but not be happy. You can still be saved and not have joy. And he says, Oh, I need to get the joy of that salvation back in. And when you read on Psalm 51, what a passage of scripture. But David, the same sweet psalmist of Israel fell into awful, horrible, wicked sin. He got in a ditch, did he not? Yes, he did. His son got in a ditch. Solomon got in a ditch. Solomon, the most unusual man. We won't read all the scriptures, but you read 1 Kings, it's full of Solomon. You read his prayer in 1 Kings 3. You read the example of how God gave him wisdom and two women came and brought the same baby. You know the story. And now he had to decide who was the real mother. And he didn't have any blood tests to go by. He didn't have any DNA evidence. He had none of the above. He said, bring me a knife. We'll solve this problem. I'll just cut this baby in two. Give you half of this. And the real mother would say, no, don't do that. And that's how he found out the real mother. And the world marveled at the wisdom of Solomon. Not only was he a wise man, he was rich. I mean, Brother Bill's rich, but this guy was really rich. I mean, this guy made Bill Gates like a pauper. Read, saw 1 Kings 8, 9, and 10 right in there. Look at all the holdings of Solomon. The navies he had, the gold trade he had, and the cedars. I mean, the guy had amazing wealth, and people came to see him. The Queen of Sheba, whoever she was. We can argue about that one for a while, but people argue about a lot of things they don't need to argue about. She came to see him, and she says, it's even better than what I thought. Your servants are happy, everybody's happy. Why? Everybody's got gold, that's the reason they're happy. But he was just, I mean, Solomon, he had it all going for him. But you go on down to chapter 11 of 1 Kings, and it says, but, first word in chapter 11 in the Hebrew is but, but Solomon loved many strange women. He had woman trouble. He had woman trouble, but he went downhill from that point on, it was never the same. He ended up with 700 wives, can you imagine that? I think one's enough, fellas. 700 anniversaries to keep up with. 700 birthdays. He had 300 minor league wives. That's what I call concubines. Not official wives, but in the minor leagues. I mean, that's a thousand women and he built altars for all of them. It's all in first Kings. I'm just not making you look at it right now. He built altars for all of them, for their gods, and they turned his heart away. Listen to me, young men. A girl can turn your heart away from God. Listen to me, young ladies. A boy can turn your heart away from God. And this man Solomon had it all going for him. Wealth, riches, honor. He couldn't have a better life. Israel was at rest because his daddy had killed all the enemies. But he went and he got himself into a ditch. We could keep going on this story, but I think you're getting the point. The point is that even the best of people, even the best of servants, even the best of Christians, even people who go to the best of Bible colleges can get themselves in a ditch. can go astray in so many areas of life. Now, how do people get in the ditch? And how could I possibly get in the ditch? Well, I'm glad you asked that question. You did ask, didn't you? Go to Hebrews. Go back to Hebrews, but this time go to chapter 2. And we'll quit turning here in just a minute. I'll let you out in time to study for your next class. I remember doing that. Hebrews chapter 2. In Hebrews chapter 2, I find out how people get into trouble in their Christian walk. In Hebrews 2, therefore, verse 1, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard. Notice that now. He says, we need to pay attention to what we've already been told, lest at any time we should let them, that's the things we've heard, let them slip. Or could I put it this way, lest we forget them. He's saying we need to pay attention to everything we've been taught, lest we forget. For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense or reward, so he says if every transgression, every sin, every disobedience gets rewarded in kind, then how shall we escape, talking to Christian people, if we neglect so great salvation? That was my first message I ever preached. when I was in college was Hebrews 2, 3 at a rescue mission in Chattanooga. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? I didn't have the take on the verse that I have today. I was just a kid learning how to preach and learning a little bit. I believe what this is talking about is that there are certain consequences we face if we neglect our salvation. There's certain consequences we face when we neglect our salvation. Now, if I've ever told you the truth, I'm about to tell you right now. So listen closely. The Christian life is a daily matter. It's a daily matter. It's daily Word of God. It's daily prayer. It's daily surrender to the Lord. It's daily faithfulness. It's daily witnessing. It's daily, daily, daily. Everything is daily. It's that way. It's not a once in a while at a revival meeting thing. It's not I'll hit the altar and get it all straightened out with God. No, no. It's an everyday thing. It's an everyday thing. And when we neglect these daily things, and you've heard this ever since you've been here, and you're going to hear it more until you get out of here. But if you neglect these daily things, you're heading for a ditch. You're heading for a ditch. True story. There was a man that I led to the Lord back around 1998. He had a son in our Christian school. He was a single dad. He was a little bit older than me. On the front porch of the old church building one afternoon, he and I were talking. I'd been visiting with him for a while. He'd been to church for a while. But I led him to the Lord that day on the front porch of the church. He came that next Sunday, made his public profession. I baptized him not many days hence down in the creek where we baptized all these years. And he was faithful to church for a good long while. And his son was right there in our Christian school, played on our basketball team in the high school. But then he started slipping and just gradually fading and I keep trying to keep up with him and couldn't find him much of the time. He didn't return calls. And when people quit returning the preacher's calls, you know where they're going. Well, eventually I just lost track of him and I didn't know where he was, what he was doing, where he was at until just about a year ago. About a year ago, somebody called me and said, I thought you'd want to know that so-and-so is in the hospital in Silva. He's got cancer and they tell him he's got a month to live. I said, how did he get over there? So I got over there to see this man, walked into his room, man, he looked different. He was nothing but skin and bones, frail, looking like a ghost. And I stood there and talked to him for a while, and he shook my hand warmly, and we talked about when he got saved, and I asked him once and again, I said, Lyndon, I said, did you get saved? He said, yeah, Brother Bagel, I know I'm saved. I know I'm ready to meet the Lord, and I understand I'm probably gonna be gone pretty soon, he told me. He says, I have one big regret, and tears started streaming down his face. I said, what is it? He says, I regret that I have neglected my salvation. I have neglected, and he died within just a few weeks. And I helped conduct his funeral later on. It's a serious thing, my friend, to neglect your salvation. And we get in the ditches of life when we neglect our salvation. We neglect what God has done for us. When I'm reminded every day of the cross, when you get a long ways from the cross, you're in trouble. When I get away from the cross, when I get away from the Word of God, when I get away from Jesus, when I get away from what He's done for me, when I get away from recounting all the times He's answered my prayers, when I get away from His faithfulness to me and whatever, I get myself in trouble. I get myself in the ditches of life. And you can be here this morning, you say, I'm going to go out and serve God, I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that. When I get out, I'm going to be a missionary, I'm going to be an evangelist, I'm going to be a pastor, I'm going to be a preacher, Christian school teacher, I'm going to be a this or that, whatever you're going to be. That's fine, and I'm glad you're fired up, but you're a candidate for the ditch if you're not careful. It's actually happened. About 15 years ago, a young man came to our church one Sunday morning, I'd never seen him. He was with a girl whose mother came to our church. He just came as a favor that morning. And he sat down in the seat there in front, several rows back, and I preached a message on there's one way to heaven. Just one way, and that's through Jesus Christ, John 14. That fellow raised his hand for prayer. Next thing I know, we give the invitation. He slides out, comes down to the altar. In those days, my associate was Brother Ed Frampton, and Brother Ed took him and led him to the Lord. He came back and made his public profession. I baptized him a few days later. This was a guy who was the party animal of Jackson County. He lived to get high. He was high every day. Drugs and alcohol and immorality. That was his life. That was his whole life. But boy, what a change came about in his life when he got saved. Oh, I'm here. It was just amazing. I was not. I'll never forget this. I'd preached that morning. I'd preached that night. He was there. And so we're talking. He and I and Brother Frampton are talking after the service. And all of a sudden, he sits right back down on the front seat like you are out there. He says, preach to me some more. I said, I called his name. I said, I'll give out. I've spoken three times today. Come back Wednesday night. I'll preach some more. He said, well, I want to hear some more. He was a serious heart attack. I was sitting beside him in church one night when the offering plate came passing by. If I'm lying, I'm dying. He reached into both pockets and pulled everything he had in his pockets out, which was bundles of cash. And he dumped every bit of it in the offering plate. And after the offering plate went by, I leaned over and I called his name and I said, What you gonna live on this week? He looked at me and said, I didn't even think about that. He was in love with Jesus. He was consumed with Christ. He couldn't get enough of church. I had one man in our church bought him an Unger's Bible dictionary. That's before the days of the internet when we use such things as Bible dictionaries. Remember that guys? And he was in, you know what this fella, he stayed up to four in the morning reading a Bible dictionary. Cause it was telling him what all these things were in the Bible. He couldn't get enough of the word of God. But then that was in July and September, Brother Comfort came to preach a revival in our church. Two months later. Well, this guy came every night. He wanted to know who's this Brother Comfort guy. He heard Brother Comfort talk about Ambassador Baptist College, he says. He started talking to me about where's this college at and what's it about? And I told him, he says, can we go down there and visit? I said, yeah. So about November of that year, I came down here and spent the day with him. I take that back. I spent part of the day on the golf course. I have to be honest with this man back here and with this guy back here. But there were some other good people who showed this fellow around here and gave him the information. I came back over here about five o'clock and we right out there at the information desk. And I said, well, what do you think about it? He says, I'm ready to sign up. I said, we didn't talk about this first. He had been saved by four or five months. He said, well, we'll talk about it on the way home, but I'm ready to sign up. I said, OK. So we got in the car, started heading back to the mountains. He was reading the forms that you fill out to come to this institution. And he was asking me, what does this mean? He didn't know. His whole life was drugs and alcohol before he got saved a few months earlier. And I hadn't taught him everything in four months. So he's still learning, but he said, what I put down right here? And I'm trying to tell him while I'm driving up the mountain. Here's what you write down here, you know. So anyway, he filled out the forms, turned them back in. He was so excited that he got a letter saying he'd been accepted. He could come in January. So in January of 99, on an icy day, there was a little bit of snow on the ground. I packed up a church van with his stuff and with his grandparents and his mother. We came down here. We came to where the boy's dorm used to be over here on the highway. When it was on the four lane. I got him out, got him unloaded, got him checked in, went in there to see where he was going to be living. And he was here. Boy, did he make an impact on this school. For good. For a good while. He couldn't get enough of Brother Child's classes. He loved Brother... He talked about Brother Childs all the time. He talked about Brother Surrett too, but it wasn't as nice as Brother Childs. He talked about all the classes, and he couldn't get enough of everything. He'd come home and talk to me about what had been going on at school, and he says, Brother Bible, I love every class, I love every chapel service, I love... He just... He couldn't get enough of it. He eventually became a neighborhood Bible time evangelist, and spent one summer traveling for neighborhood Bible time. Oh yeah, I bet you that guy's pastoring somewhere today. I bet he's on a mission field today. And I bet he, oh no, he's not. No, he's not. See, there's ditches out there for everybody. If you're not careful, you'll get in one of those ditches. He had a ditch. His heart got turned away from the things of God. And little by little, Bit by bit, piece by piece, not only did he get out of church and get out of Bible college here, he got out of church. Brother Kemp tried to help him. Brother Kemp's son-in-law tried to help him. I remember that well. But he just got in trouble with the law down here. Then he got in trouble with the law back there. He ended up moving back to the mountains of Benchley. And I sought after him for weeks and months and could never get him to call me back. You can always tell when a man's right with God, he'll call the preacher back. But when he won't call the preacher back, there's problems. And I tried to catch up with him or whatever, and the Lord, after several years, somebody came to me and says, I know where so-and-so's living if you want to go find him. And it wasn't about four miles from my house. But I didn't want to go the first time I sent two of my men over to see him and just see if you want to talk. I didn't want to press him. Make a long story short, he came back to the church and got right with God and we tried to help him. He got back to being like the old guy we used to know, but he had some scars already in his life. And every time I would see Brother Comfort, I'd see Brother Bill, I'd see Brother Scoville or whatever, that one of the first things they'd ever ask me after we said, how you doing? How's so-and-so? And they'd name him. Sometimes it was a good report, but most time it wasn't. He was up and down. He came back to the church about three different times. He ended up getting married and whatever. But his wife didn't love the Lord and whatever. And that's gone apart. Now he's living down in Georgia, as far as I know, with a brother of his and whatever. And I don't know what he's doing. I have no contact with him now. I couldn't find him today if my life depended on it. But there was never a fellow anymore on fire for God that I ever knew. And that young man, sitting in this place. But he got in a ditch. And I've never seen him really happy since then. Never. One night, he and I and Brother Comfort met at the Golden Corral. Remember that, Brother Comfort? We had supper out there. And this was after he was already out of Bible college and everything, but he was still living here. But we tried to talk to him and tried to give him counsel about what he needed to do to get back to where he could. You gotta go back to where you got out. And he didn't want to go back to where he was, but we tried to help him. And then I came down to a discipline committee meeting one time. You may remember that, Brother Scoville, you was in there. But I came down to a discipline committee meeting when I knew he was going before the discipline committee just to try to help him, just to be there as his pastor and sit there and listen to what these good men said to him and whatever. We did everything humanly we could do, but still he just continued to drift and go from one ditch to another ditch. And some of the ditches he'd been in before he got saved, he got right back in those ditches. When you get it and when you start neglecting your salvation. You'll end up in a ditch. And that's what happened to David. That's what happened to Solomon. That's what happened to this young man I'm talking about. It's not easy being in the ditch. Now, normally my message ends right there. But I have two tight pages here and that's the end of that type page. But you know what I did just for y'all. I put a PS on this message. called Ditches for College Students. It's because I'm here at Ambassador. This has never been preached before in the history of man. It's handwritten. See there by the child, it's not even typed. It's not copyrighted by anybody. What are some ditches that college kids get into, especially at this time of the year, and some of it at any time of the year? I have learned that college kids get into the ditch of improper priorities. They get their priorities out of sort. They start majoring on the minors and minoring on the majors. And they get their priorities out of sort. When you came here, your priority was to train for the ministry. Amen or not? And let's do that again, because that wasn't very good. When you came here, your main focus was to train for the ministry. Amen or not? Girls, when you came here, your main focus was to get a man, right? See, I thought I'd catch you right there, but I didn't. But you actually, you came here with a focus. Everybody came in. Is your focus still there? Or have you got your priorities out of order? Has something else taken the place of what you came here for? The young man I told the story of today, I used to tell him, told him on his first trip down here as we were driving down the road, his granddaddy said, now, son, you need to listen to what the preacher's telling you. I said, listen, your main goal is not to come down here and fall in love. Your main goal is coming out here and train for the ministry and learn the Word of God. The fallen in love will take care of itself. But he got his priorities out of line. I find another ditch for college students is a lack of self-discipline. Some people just can't get out of bed. Some people just can't make the bed. Some people just can't eat to the trash. Some people just can't stay disciplined. One of the hardest things I had learned doing when I went to college was I didn't have English five days a week. I didn't have history five days a week. I had some things on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, some things on Tuesday and Thursday, whatever. But I had a lot of free time. And when you got a lot of free time, you got to have a lot of discipline. If you're still hustling about a project, you were told about that project weeks ago. Amen, Brother Bagwell. Preach it. Yes. You ought to be shouting right now. I'm telling the truth so big. You were told months ago, in some cases, I remember being told in August about projects that were due in December when I was in college, such as reading the Old Testament through for a survey class. But there would be kids, they were up there reading half the night long, the night before we had to turn in the statement saying we had read the Old Testament. They had had since August to do it. Can I keep preaching on that? Can we take extra time? We're doing good. I'm serious. I've been around this a long time. A lack of discipline is a ditch that ruins. A lot of kids don't graduate from college, not because they're not smart enough, but because they're not disciplined enough. A lack of self-discipline is a ditch for college students. Another ditch for college students is unbelief. A lack of faith that God's going to meet a need. I'm here to tell you, if God brought you here, he didn't bring you here so you couldn't pay your bill. He brought you here and where God guides, He provides. And if He led you here, He's bound to take care of you. He's duty bound to take care of you. He has to take care of you. His Word depends on it. You've got to have faith in Him and quit saying, I don't know what I'm going to do and crying out all the time. I just don't know what I'm going to do. He owns a cattle on a thousand hills. I think He can take care of your piddling school bill. My wife had no money. It's because she wasn't my wife at the time. She was my girlfriend. We were in college back in the old, old days at Tennessee Temple. I always say that to qualify it for what it is today. Her mother and daddy didn't pay her way to go through Bible college. She prayed it in. Stand up, sweetheart, just in case you don't know who I'm talking about. Here's the real preacher in my family. And you girls are going to be blessed tomorrow in the Christian womanhood class. She can preach. I wasn't a Baptist. I'd ordain her. But let me tell you something. I have seen that lady pray in school bills. We came out of chapel one day at Tennessee Temple, no days went across the street to the happy corner where the mailboxes were and got to see if we had any mail. I checked my box. She checked hers. We came back out and I said, you get a message. Yeah, I got something from she named a man in South Carolina. They went to church. I was raised in. And the man paid her school bill. I mean, just paid it. He owned the largest sausage company in South Carolina. He had it. God knows who's got it. God can put it on the heart of people who's got it. You just have to pray and be faithful and quit doubting God and let God turn him loose. But a lack of faith is a ditch. A lot of kids, they just give up. I'm I'm tired of this. I'm not going back. I'm not coming back next next semester. I'm just I'm tired of it. You give up that easy. You're not going to match anything in the Lord's work if you give up that easy. I got two more ditches and I quit. There's the boyfriend girlfriend ditch. Oh, have I ever seen that one? Oh, he's just so wonderful. Well, where was he got a job? No, he didn't have a job yet. I got news for his sweetheart. He ain't that wonderful. So it's the economy so bad he can't find a job. I got news for his sweetheart. He's lazy. Because he can get a job. You know where you can get one? McDonald's. They're always hiring. It's true, isn't it, brother? You got one? All right. I don't know who this guy is, but I like him. He got a job. You can always get a job, McDonald. You can always get a job washing dishes somewhere. They're looking for dishwashers in restaurants. I said, well, he said, so what? I saw a guy sitting in the Golden Corral last night, Shelby, if I'm lying, I'm dying. The back of his jacket said, no job lifestyle. Ask me how. And he had his phone number across the bottom of the jacket. The guy didn't have a job, but he was living without a job, and he wanted to tell everybody else how you can live without a job. Listen, my friend, if he's so sweet and wonderful, but you have to pay for the food every time you go out to eat, he's not real sweet and wonderful. Well, Brother Bagwell, my girlfriend, she really loves the Lord. She just hasn't found the right church yet. I got news for you. There's right churches all over the place. She's just not looking hard enough. There's right churches, even in the most remote areas of the United States, there's churches. But this idea of that my boyfriend's OK, date and marry somebody who shares your love for God, who shares your zeal for the ministry, who shares your ambitions and your desires for the Lord's work. I'll be married 42 years to my wife in February. I'm here to tell you we've been on the same path and the same course all 42 years. And one reason I stand here today is because I have a faithful wife. Here's the last ditch that many college students fall into. And I fell into it at one time. Homesickness. See, I was a homebody. I was a homebody. I was such a homebody that in August of 1969, when it was time to leave home in South Carolina, and I'm a son of the South. I sell these northern tags out here, and I feel like I'm in another world. I'm a son of the South. I'm glad Brother Alton's from Yadkin County. That's real country. But I'm here to tell you, I remember I walked around the backyard of my mother and daddy's house and said goodbye to all the trees. Brother Charles used to live not far from where I was living in Liberty, South Carolina. He lived in Six Mile Central. Not far away. I said, I cried. My daddy was coming down I-85 toward Georgia. And he said, Benny, here's the last South Carolina exit. You want to turn around? And one part of me said, yes. The other part of me said, you better keep going. Let me make a long story short. I got to college. Things went well. Nobody in my family ever graduated from college. Had 63 first cousins on my daddy's side because my daddy had 15 brothers and sisters. Yeah, get over that one. I'm the first one that's going to ever graduate from college, but I got homesick. So one day I'm sitting in the living room in my daddy's house in Liberty, South Carolina, and I said, Dad, I think I'm just going to come back home. And and finish some schooling down here, maybe get a job and whatever that is, is that right? I said, yeah, well, that's interesting. He let me talk for a little bit, and then my daddy who had a sixth grade education, by the way, is still living, he's 88 years old. A D-Day veteran. My daddy looked at me and says, where are you going to live? We need more parents to ask that question today. Where are you going to live? I said, well, I thought I'd come back here. He said, oh, no, you can't live here. He said, remember, you moved out. We've already changed your room around. And they do that, by the way. Once you go back home at Christmas, you just think the house is the way you left it. They cried until you got out of sight. Then they said, yes. And so. He said, and he said, I tell you what, he says, now he said, you're going to need money to rent something. You can need money for the power bill. You need money for groceries. You can need money for car. You can need money for gas, for the car insurance, for the car. He just kept on naming things. I'm going to need money for. And I'm sitting there going, wow, I'm about 20 years old. He said, but he said, I'll be glad to. I'll come up and help you move it all down here in Chattanooga. But after you get in South Liberty, you're on your own. You know what I did, don't. The dormitories looked a whole lot better after that, because as long as I was going to go to college and my daddy didn't have much money, but he was helping me pay the school bill, I worked and paid for a lot of it. He helped me. And you should have been there the night I finally graduated in 1974. He came from his cotton mill job in Liberty, South Carolina to come to that auditorium to see me graduate that Monday night, 1974. He couldn't have been a happier man. I'm glad my daddy kept me out of that ditch. Homesickness. Grow up. The Bible says, endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Hey, deal with home. Have a good time when you go home, but get back to school when it's time to come back to school. Serve God. Don't stop because you're homesick. Don't stop because you're facing a little difficulty financially. Don't stop because there's a boyfriend or girlfriend who loves you and wants you just to stay there. Don't stop for any of these others. Don't get in the ditch. It's easier just to stay out than it is to get out once you get in. Stay out of the ditch. Father, help us stay out of the ditch. Lord, please, I know you changed my heart on this message this week. I told Brother Bill the other day I was going to preach something else. But you changed my heart yesterday for a reason. So God, I leave that in your hands, but this is the message you told me to preach today. I pray that it helps some young person to stay out of the ditch.