Thank you, Josh. Thank you. Very good. Everybody say happy birthday to Pastor Matt today. All right. Let's do this. All right. Just turn around. Point your finger and go. Happy birthday, Pastor Matt. All right. Very good. I like that. I like that a lot. OK, take your Bible. Turn to First Corinthians chapter 15. First Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You've been so attentive. Appreciate you very much. Your attentiveness to the word of God. And that was a good session, last session with Brother Young. I appreciate that so very much. And those are truths that will help you. You know, the devil, he's such a, he's such a stinking, sickening deceiver. You understand what I'm saying? I mean, he will try to get you to think that There's no punishment for sin, but there's always punishment for sin. How many of you have made a decision this week? Made a decision this week. Hold your hand up if you made a decision this week. Very good. Amen. Everybody say amen with me. Amen. Isn't that great? How many of you intend on keeping that decision? Would you sit up here and say, you intend on keeping that decision? Amen. Appreciate that. What can you do to help yourself keep that decision? To keep on keeping on. Well, that's what we're gonna look at this morning just for a few moments. I want you to stand with me and let's look at 1 Corinthians 15, 57 and 58. The Bible says, but thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's all read that together. Ready? Verse 57. But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abound in the work of the Lord for as much as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. So the Apostle Paul is saying, okay, now Corinthians, this is near the end of this letter, he said, I'm giving you some great truth now recognize you just heard again about the resurrection how wonderful the resurrection is and how there's great power in the resurrection and so you just need to keep on keeping on until the Lord returns keep on keeping on while you're serving the Lord you can keep on keeping on because God will give you the power to do so It's important for you to realize that. You don't have to keep that decision all by yourself. God will help you keep that decision you made or those decisions you made. Father, I pray now that you'd continue to use your word to challenge our hearts. Again, I thank you for these young people and their attentiveness to your word. Thank you, Father, for not only their attentiveness, but the way they've been comprehending the word and apprehending the word. Father, as they put the word into action, I pray, Father, you'd help them to keep on keeping on in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. The cause of Christ needs your energy and your enthusiasm. You are young people with high energy. We need that in our churches today. We need that for the cause of Christ. We need you to be excited about living for the Lord Jesus Christ. We need your enthusiasm for the Lord Jesus Christ in 21st century Christianity. We need Christian young people with tenacity and fervency that keep on keeping on, that keep on exercising themselves in godliness, that keep on keeping on. Several years ago there was a mother who wanted her son to really grasp knowledge about the piano and learn to be a great piano player. And so she took her son to a Paderewski performance. Paderewski was the prime minister of Poland, but was also a tremendous piano player. And I'm sure if we ask our pianist today that one Do you ever hear of Paderewski? Do you ever hear of Paderewski? Well, Paderewski, you have to read about him. He was something else. He was a very talented piano player. So she went to the concert hall to see and listen to this great piano player. And as they walked in, they eyed the giant majestic Steinway setting up on the platform. And she soon found some friends of hers and she was talking to them and unaware to her, her son ran up to the platform and sat behind the giant majestic Steinway and started plunking out twinkle, twinkle, little star. She turned and gasped when she saw her son on the platform behind Paderewski's piano, plunking out, twinkle, twinkle, little star. The stage lights went on. Paderewski came out before she could retrieve him. He was in the concert mode. He went behind the little guy, and he quietly whispered in his ear as he filled in with a part with his right hand. and said, keep playing. And then he said, as he went to the other side of the little boy, keep on playing as he filled in with his left hand. And together, the young novice and the great master held the crowd mesmerized with the latest rendition of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. I found in my life, as I've gone through life, Many times I've been, you know, all by myself it seems on the platform of life. And I've had to do more than I could ever do. And as I've relied upon my God, he's whispered in my ear, Doug, keep on keeping on, keep on keeping on for me. And he's filled in a part that I could have never filled in. And he's filled in another part that I could have never filled in. And he has given me strength beyond strength that I never had because I've relied upon him. We need to rely upon our God. We need to rely upon our God as he will whisper in our ears, don't quit, keep playing. And as we do, he will augment and supplement until amazing, amazing beauty and worth is created in our lives. Young people, that's what we want for you. We want God's best for you. We want you to be able to leave here in victory and stay in victory. We want you to leave here recognizing that you have the power of God upon your life, and with the power of God upon your life, you can live a Christian life and not be defeated in your Christianity, but you can keep on keeping on for the Lord. I want you to notice, and again, I tell you, we need this mentality, don't we, Doug, in our youth group? We need this mentality, don't we, Pastor Tice, in our churches? We need it. And I tell you what, when young people are excited about the things of God, it is exciting to the entire church. One of the greatest revivals I was ever in. And I was just there, Brother Young, I was just there. I was the speaker, but I was just there. It was in my brother-in-law's church and Steve Pettit was a youth pastor. And I was speaking to the youth group at a Christian school camp, winter retreat. And God got a hold of hearts. And I remember the first service, the teachers came forward. I wasn't preaching to them. And then the second service, some of the adult counselors came, and then the next service, the teenagers, and then the next service, more teenagers. I'll tell you what, we were in a revival. And they took that back to their church, and their church had a revival. If you were to talk to Brother Petty, he'd tell you it's one of the best revivals he's ever been in his life. It's because young people left that place excited with new fervency and tenacity for the cause of Christ. Well, let's notice, first of all, three simple points. You know, I just have simple points because I'm a simple guy. First of all, the reason, the reason we need to keep on keeping on. All right, what's the first point? all of But thanks be to God which giveth us a victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore whenever there's a therefore you look what it's there for and it's normally pointing back to something we read before. So he says therefore the reason that we need to keep on keeping on for the Lord is what or who it is the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the reason. Now, I tell you what, in Hebrews chapter 12, take your Bibles and turn there. Hebrews chapter 12, Paul would often get his readers to think about the Lord Jesus Christ or consider Jesus. The Bible says in Hebrews chapter 12, wherefore, seeing we also are encompassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is before us, Ready? 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, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Jesus Christ was his inspiration. Jesus Christ was his motivation. Paul is not just reminding us of a historical fact, Jesus Christ went to the cross, but he wants us to recognize like Like like a war cry remember the Alamo remember the Alamo remember the Lord Jesus Christ So often we fail to remember what Jesus has done for us Guy in the orange shirt right there next to the pretty girl what Jesus do for you? Save me. What do you do for you? Save me. What do you do for you? Come on, what else did he do for you? Made it so I could live eternally for him. How about a guy right there? He died for you. How about you young lady? He bled on the cross for me. How about you Mountain Dew? He gave you a purpose in life. How about you pretty girl? He gave you family and friends. How about you? He loves us. Have you thought about what Jesus has done for you today? Huh? He died for us. He lives for us. He's given us life. He's given us heaven. We have so much to be thankful for, don't we, in Jesus Christ? It's so wonderful to recognize what Jesus has done for us. Jesus Christ has done so much for us. He left the splendor of heaven. He went to the cross and bore our sins on Calvary Street, shed his precious blood for you and for me. He went to the grave and came forth in three days, victorious over sin, victorious over death to give us the hope of eternity. In the Middle Ages, Robert Bruce, the King of Scotland, vowed to make a pilgrimage to Palestine. Seeing he could not make it, he pleaded with his general, General Douglas. I like that. He pleaded with his general, General Douglas, to remove his heart after his death and carry it into the Holy Land. Well, he died and General Douglas did as his king requested. His heart was encased in a golden vessel and he carried it into the battle of the Moors of Spain. Can you see this? Can you picture this? Are you following along with me? As they went into the battle with the Moors of Spain, it looked as though they were going to lose. But then General Douglas rose up in his saddle, and he took the vessel with the king's heart in it, and he took it off his horse, and he flung it as far as he could into the crowd of the Moors. And he said, there goes the heart of your king. Who will follow? And that's exactly what the Apostle Paul is saying here, as he's saying, will you follow the broken, bleeding heart of your Savior and keep on keeping on, always abounding the work of the Lord. Hey, people, it's wonderful to know that we have a Savior who went to the cross for us and died for us. Let's remind ourselves of the great reason why we should keep on keeping on. It's because of Jesus. Jesus is the reason. He made life worth living. We must always be abounding, consider Jesus. Well, secondly, I'd like you to notice the responsibility, the responsibility. We see in verse number 58, a threefold responsibility and always abounding or keeping on for our Lord Jesus Christ. First of all, he says, notice if you would please, therefore my beloved brethren, be steadfast. Now, steadfast is not a word we use a lot today. So what does steadfast mean? Well, it means loyal. It means unchanging. There's the thought of stable purpose. And so we need to be steadfast, loyal, something that will not be easily disturbed, something that is wholehearted. You're wholeheartedly involved in it. Some of you guys, you're playing on the balls. I saw a guy who had a hurt hand. Where's he at? A big guy with a hurt hand here, right there. And I talked to him last night. Actually, I bought him ice cream last night, didn't I? Yeah. Was that good ice cream? Yeah, that's good. And I said, man, how'd you hurt your hand? He started telling me, I'm not sure. He said, but it's not gonna stop me from playing tomorrow. I'm gonna play tomorrow. He's a sinner. A sinner, that's C-E-N-T-E-R. You're a sinner too, aren't you? You're a sinner and a sinner. What? The pain from his hand is going up to his head. It's cramping his brain right now. It's cramping the brain. He says, I'm going to play no matter what. You know what I'm saying? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? I was a little guy. My mom said, Doug, everything you ever did, you did wholeheartedly. I said, really, Mom? She said, yeah. She said, I remember a time. My mom's going to be 80 years old this year. She said, as I mentioned, I'm the oldest of six. I'm her favorite. And anyway. She said, when you were just a little guy, you weren't quite five yet. She said, you were playing marbles next door on the side of our house. The next door neighbor, Dennis Pettis came over and he was playing marbles with you. And you had a whole thing of Quaker old marbles. How many ever played marbles? Good. How many ever played jacks? How many ever played jacks? How many ever played pickup sticks? How many ever played chicken and trucks? Okay, no, no, okay now. So anyway, Dennis Pettis was a couple of years older than me and he was cheating me. I was only a little guy. I didn't understand the rules but I'd hit his marble and he'd take two of my marbles. And so, he'd hit my marble and he'd take five of my marbles. And then I hit his boulder and he'd take my boulder. And he was bigger than me so, you know, I couldn't really, yeah, I was smart. I was smart. This guy is bigger than me. I'm not going to wail on him. You understand what I'm saying? at least not while he's looking at me, okay. And so, I'm thinking to myself, he's cheating me, what can I do? And I looked over there, he wore glasses, I looked over there and there's a hose. And the old kind of hose is they had a brass nozzle, you know what I'm talking about, with a little bead, sprayed out. I mean, you know what I'm talking about, you know what I'm talking about, yeah. And so, I got the hose and I went over there and just kind of backed up to the house, turned the hose on, as much as I can turn the hose on, and then I took that thing, And I'm over there, hey Dennis, you've been cheating me, man. Right between the eyes, those two glasses, just like that. And his eyeballs are, he's crying because I'm hitting his eyeballs. Spraying it right in his eyeballs. I mean, you ever had a bead of water sprayed in your eyeballs? I had no compassion on him at that point in my life. I wanted to punish him for cheating me. And so, I'm, and all of a sudden, his mom comes running out of the house. She had glasses. Back in those days, if you had glasses, she had what we called Coke bottle glasses. How many remember it? You remember Coke bottle glasses? And she said, Douglas Jackson, what are you doing to hurt my little son, Dennis? Your little son, he's a head taller than me. He's been cheating me to death. He probably learned the cheating from you. Wah! Wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah. My mom comes out from behind me. She hears the commotion on the side. Mrs. Pettus is crying, I can't believe you squirted me. Can we put that hose down right now? Wah! Wah, wah, wah, wah. My mom came behind me. She said, Douglas, and went, wah! I held everybody down for about a minute. You know my mother, she's determined. I know where I got my determination because she ran right through that hose and grabbed me and wailed on me. I had to apologize to Dennis and Mrs. Pettis never liked me after that day. I've never got a card from her, a nice note or anything of that sort. But enthusiasm, you know what I'm talking about. How many of you know what I'm talking about? Come on, say enthusiasm, the best you can possibly say enthusiasm. Go ahead, say it. I want to hear it. I want to hear it. I want to hear it. I want to hear it. I want to hear it. I want to hear it. I want to hear it. I want to hear it. I want to hear it. I want to hear it. I want to hear it. I want to hear it. I want to hear it. I want to hear it. I want to hear it. I want to hear it. I want to hear it. I want to hear it. I want to hear it. I want to hear it. I want to hear it. I want to hear it. I want to hear it. I want to hear it. I want to hear it. I want to hear it. I want to hear it. I want to hear it. I want to hear it. I want to hear it. I want to hear it. I want to hear it. I want to hear it. I want to hear it. I want to hear it. I want to hear it. I want to hear it. I want But I gotta tell ya, I gotta tell ya, stiff rules at my church. You get married in my church, you ask my wife, stiff. You gotta dress right, it's gotta be the right music. I meet people all the time, I hand them this little, I have more rules to get married in my church than I do to get baptized in my church. I have my daughter write up this little thing. I don't wanna have to be marrying somebody and go like this, will you take this, I can't do it, I just can't do it. I'm in the house of God. You don't need, you don't need to show all that flesh, by the way. You can do that in your honeymoon night, not on the platform, you know? And then I always think it's funny, big girls getting the little girls' dresses. And they're miserable, because they can't hardly walk. They get up to the platform and go, And then they get ready to go off the platform, and they go. You know, I just know one time they're going to explode. Anyway. By the way, you want one of those packages for marrying? You can go to my church's website and request it, and I'll send you one. And it'll be good for you. You should look over that. But you want to get married someday. All right. All right. You want to get married someday? You do? You'll make a great bride. You will. What's your name? Yeah. Who? Hey, he's a little short. He's a little short, but he'll grow. How old are you, Jeremiah? 12? How old are you? How old are you? 16. He'll grow. OK. You're all right, Jeremiah. You're all right. And I can tell you're not the weeping prophet. I can see that. All right, now. All right. You want to get married, all right? You're looking for a tall, strong, muscular man like my wife looked for, aren't you? Huh? Huh? Or you want to marry some wimpy-looking thing that looks like he dates some boy. What do you want? Huh? What do you want? The first one. All right. You want the first one. Strong, tall, dark, handsome. I love you, I love you, I love you type guy, huh? All right, let's say you get to the wedding, you get to the wedding and you're at the wedding altar and the pastor says, you take this woman to be your wedded wife to have and to hold from this day forward. And he says, well, I do halfheartedly. What are you going to do? I'll tell you what you're going to do. You're going to take the bouquet of flowers and you're going to cram it down his throat. You're going to take every hat pin that everybody's got and you're going to just jab him. Then you're going to go look for a hose with a little brass nozzle and you're going to... That's what you're going to do. You don't want nothing to do with that guy, do you? No, you're going to take your high heel off and put it right in the middle of his head. All this is godly, righteous indignation, of course, but no. No, you want somebody that wholeheartedly loves you. How many girls want to get married? How many girls want to get married? Rebecca, you want to get married? Yeah. You want a half-hearted love? You want a wholehearted love. Why do we want that? And yet we live, many teenagers live for God half-heartedly. God deserves our best, doesn't he? wholeheartedly enthusiastic, we ought to be loving our God. And what shall we do? Do it heartily as to the Lord and not unto men. Jesus said unto him, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind. How much? All. That's all. You got it? Keep on keeping on. Steadfast. And then we're to stand. You see that? We're to stand. The Corinthians were prone to fickleness, shifting from one position to the next. He says, steadfast, unmovable. Paul says, get a firm grip on what you have. and become unmovable, which means to endure if necessary. Actually, the word is picturing a pearl diver. The Arabic word is picturing a pearl diver that can go down the deepest and stay the longest to get the best pearls. Stamina. It's called stamina. It's like the Packers against the Steelers. And the, huh? That's disgusting you're wearing that shirt. I'm a Steeler fan. I'm disgusted in that shirt. Should take that shirt off and put it on the altar. Stamina. Oh, how easily we go back to our churches, we go back to our friends, we go back to our room that's full of the wrong music, our room that's full of the wrong DVDs, or our MP3s, or whatever, whatever. The devil just dangles it for a second and you're right back. There should be a stamina. You should stand. For no other reasons because of Jesus and what he did for you on the cross of Calvary. Stand, endure. To stand, well, to stand in the face of the enemy. The devil is alive and well. How many knew that? The devil, the world, and the flesh, they're after you. So we need to stand in the face of enemies. We need to make sure that we put on the whole armor of God. Take your Bibles and turn to Ephesians chapter six. The Bible says, Ephesians chapter six, take your Bibles and turn there please. Ephesians chapter six, Brad, would you please come? Doug, Pastor Doug, would you please come? I need you two men for just a moment. Ephesians chapter six, Ephesians chapter six. The Bible says in verse number 10 finally my brother be strong in the Lord and the power of his might put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to That you may be able to what? That you may be able to what everyone Stand against the wiles of the devil for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities against the powers against the rulers of darkness of this world against Spiritual wickedness in high places. Hey, you know what pastor Tice that first scares me. I Because I believe the devil's alive and well. And he's just as much after you as he is after me. He's just as much after me as he's after you. He's just as much after you as he is me. Although I do like my hair color a lot better than yours. All right, now. I want, I should try that? I would try jumping off this building first. All right, now. I want you, very simply. How many are like Pastor Doug? How many are like him? Your wife did not raise her hand. All right, now. I want you, just so simply, come over here and hit me in the arm. And I want you, my strength and power. How many are like Brad? Your wife did raise her hand. All right, now, I want you to stop him from hitting me. Okay, go ahead, hit me. Grab him. Well, there's a bad illustration. All right, now. It's an illustration that went bad. Truth of the matter is, there was power there, wasn't there? You can see that power? And there was wrestling there. And there was a lot of energy expended there. And that's exactly why we need God fighting for us. That's why we need God's power. You guys can be seated. Thank you very much. Doug, you're much stronger than I thought you were. I was looking for a wimpy, no, I like Doug. He's a Celtic King just like me. All right, that's what her name means. All right. Wherefore, let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. Stand in his power. The word strength there in Ephesians chapter six means strength outside ourselves. But secondly, we need to stand instead of feigning. You know, I find a lot of young people that are very depressed today. You've got so much and yet they're depressed. I talk to young people all the time. They're discouraged and depressed. They're going through depression at such a young age. You don't have to be depressed. You don't have to be discouraged. Claim the victory that Jesus Christ has given you. Notice if you would please remember Paul in Nero's prison. Take your Bibles and turn back to Philippians chapter 4 and verse number 4. Rejoice the Lord always and again I say rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing but in everything By prayer and supplication with all thanksgiving let your request be made known unto God and the peace of God which passes to all Understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus Will you listen to the Bible? Hey, did you know that? Jesus said lo I am with you always Did you know that Jesus has told us the Word of God has told us that he will never leave us nor forsake us. I Is God with you now, is he? If he is, say amen. Amen. The Lord Jesus Christ will never leave us and never forsake us. His name, Emmanuel, means God with us. 1 Peter 5, 7, the Bible says, casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you. I remember, it's been several years ago now, 26 years ago, My little son was born. He was born on my wife's birthday. I was so excited. We were 11 years without children. I never thought God was gonna give us children. Honestly, I just thought, well, that's fine. There were several people that had willed their children to us if something had happened to them. At one time we had 27 different children willed to us. I was praying for those people because I knew their kids very diligently so they would not die. But God gave us a special package and twin daughters. And then two years later, another special package, Clint. Clinton Douglas Jackson. And when Clint was born, he was just the most beautiful baby. I'm serious. You could not tell anything was wrong with him. He was much prettier than the girls, if I could say prettier. He was a handsome little guy. We heard the nurses talking, we knew there was something wrong, but they really couldn't tell by his facial features that he was Downs. But with a blood test, the old doctor, who was the pediatrician, came in and said to us, your son has Down syndrome. I think I know about that Down syndrome. Actually, he did not say Down syndrome. He said, your son is mongoloid. Mongoloid was the term they used for Down syndrome for a long time. It was about the time Clint was born, they started switching that term. And the more up-to-date doctors started calling them Downs or Down syndrome. I can tell you young people, I, Wept with my wife for a few moments. And then I remember driving home from Saginaw General Hospital and saying, Lord, if you want me to have a Down syndrome son, I'll have a Down syndrome son. Now, will you help my wife? I remember weeping. so profusely had to pull off the side of the road. And then I started saying to myself, you big dummy, you're feeling sorry for yourself. Yeah, you were looking for your boy to be a ball player like you were a ball player, your boy to be a witness in school, your boy to maybe take your church someday. It's not your church, it's God's church. It's not your plan for his life, it's God's plan for his life. So the next morning I went in and I told Kathy, well, God's helped my heart. Has he helped yours, honey? She said, yes, he has. We're gonna rear this boy to be the praise of his glory. I tell you, and I say this with joy, I couldn't have a better son. I couldn't. He's such a blessing. He is a wonderful blessing. But I want to tell you the devil was after me that day. For about 24 hours there, a little less than 24 hours, he had me where he wanted me. But I don't want that position. I want to be back in the center of God's will. People, I wanna tell you, you're gonna go through tough times, you're gonna go through valleys, and you need to realize that your Jesus knows exactly what you need, and he'll help you with that need. That's why he came to planet Earth and walked on this planet. That's why he went through some of the infirmities he went through, some of the trials he went through, some of the troubles he went through, so he'd experience those things, so there'd be the compassion for you that was needed from him. I remember reading the story. Brother Young, I know you've heard this story. I think it was Phil Schuller, first time I ever heard this story, about a little paper boy who was delivering papers and he noticed on the front porch of a house, puppies for sale. He straddled his bike and he wrapped that paper a little tighter and he threw it up against the back door and he hollered for the man of the house. And the man came out and said, son, I just paid you last week. He said, no sir, I saw the sign, it said puppies for sale. I was wondering, could I see them? And with that, the man of the house whistled around the corner of the house came a mama dog and a bunch of little puppies, three puppies, cute little puppies. Don't you girls like puppies, huh? How many girls like puppies, huh? I'm telling you what. How many boys like puppies, huh? Aren't puppies cute? Yeah, girls, and that's why girls, that's why some of the girls are so nice to you boys, because you remind them of little puppies. Just remember, girls, puppies turn out to be dogs, and you can turn into a dog's life real quick. But anyway, out of the corner of my eye, I also saw another little puppy. That other little puppy was dragging his back leg behind him. And he was really focused on that last puppy as he was straddling his bike. He said, how much are these, sir? He said, they're $25. He said, could I pay you like 50 cents a week for like 50 weeks? He said, son, you can pay me any way you want. He said, I like that puppy back there. What's wrong with that puppy, sir? Well, we're not sure. We took him to the vet and there's some deformity in his hip and we're just not sure what we're gonna do with that puppy. But these other three puppies here. Now, this one, look at how cute that one is. Look at that one, look at that one, look at that one. They're biting the tail of each other and they're biting the ears. But this little puppy, he's all by himself. Sir, I want that puppy. Son, you don't understand. We're not sure what we're going to do with that puppy. We're not sure. Sir, that's the puppy I want. And he reached in his pocket, and he pulled out 50 cents. And he reached over, and the man held out his hand, and he put the 50 cents in. He said, I want that. But son, you don't understand. He said, sir, I think I do. And with that, he pulled up his pant leg, and around his pant leg was wrapped steel and leather. He knew exactly what that puppy needed and said, sir, I think I know exactly what that puppy needs. I want that puppy. Now Jesus knows exactly what you need and he'll give you the best that he can give you. So keep on keeping on. Stand. And then he says, super bound. He says, If you'll notice here, he says in verse number 57, take your Bibles and turn them, we're almost done. He says, therefore my beloved brother be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding. He uses the word abounding, which literally means to go beyond what's necessary, to keep on keeping on. Go beyond what's necessary in Bible reading. I ask you, some of you young people, you need to make a decision right now if you want to keep those decisions you made to have daily devotions every day. Stay in the word of God. I was talking to one of our young men who was in the military, and I said, now, man, how come you're backslidden? I remember a day when you went to camp, and he said, Pastor Jackson, let me stop you right there. The reason I kept those decisions is camp, because I had counselors that helped me, and I had the Bible. I was in the Bible every day. Everything was centered around the word of God. And then when I got out in the world, I forgot that stuff, and, Pastor, I've ruined my life. Keep on keeping on. Abound in the word of God. But I want you to see a third, we're done. So we get ready for lunch, the reward. Your labor is not in vain in the Lord. We have so much, but how much will we have in heaven? How much we have in heaven? You know, the other day I read this, Pastor Matt, Bill Gates is worth $52 billion, $52 billion. If you made $100,000 an hour and worked eight hours a day, 40 hours a week, at the end of one week, you would make $4 million. At that rate, if you work 52 weeks a year, at the end of the year, you would make $208 million. If you wanted to make $52 billion, you would have to work 250 years at $208 million a year. If Bill Gates lost a million dollars, he wouldn't even know it. Brother Tyson, I'll give you an idea. He wouldn't even know it. If he donated a million dollars a year, it wouldn't even faze him. You can have Bill Gates type money, but if you're living your life without Christ in control, you are bankrupt. You're done. You're cooked. You're finished. Oh, you might have a little fun with money, but that's not the thing that's gonna bring you great joy in life. It's always a bounty in the work of the Lord. 1972, I close with this. 1972, it was the Olympics in Montreal. The last event was the marathon, 26, 27 miles. The race started, the runners went around the stadium a few times in the arena. Then they went outside the arena on the countryside. Finally, the first three runners came back. A troop of runners were bearing down on them. These first three runners were awarded the bronze and the silver and the gold medals, respectively. The stadium emptied. Ground crews started taking down the equipment. And through the gate, they see one lone limping runner. He was disoriented. They realized that he was looking for the finish line. He was bleeding. He had cuts and bruises all about him. So one of the workers tried to help him and he pushed him out of the way. And so they realized he was looking for the finish line. So they picked up the tape that was now pushed over the side and a couple of the workers, ground crew, they held the tape and the runner went through the tape and fell into the arms of one of the grounds crew. Bleeding, coughing, wheezing. One of the workers asked the Tasmanian runner, why did you continue running in that race, suffering the injuries you suffered? Why did you keep on keeping on? The Tasmanian runner said, my country sent me 7,000 miles and a great price was paid for me to be in this race, not just to start the race, but to finish. The race of life may get tough and there'll be trials. We need to keep on keeping on because our Jesus has paid a price greater than any price that could ever be paid for us to be in that race. So keep on keeping on. Father, I thank you for this time you've given us today.