and you never know what you're gonna feel like next day. Man, it's up and down. So many people's got that stuff now. Some of you got health trouble, and you don't always feel happy. That's right. So you just go ahead and force it. That's right. Nobody knows the burdens you carry. Nobody knows your health problems. But praise God, they're coming today. Man, we're gonna feel like we're on ecstasy about a billion times plus. I ain't never took ecstasy, but the word sounds good. Hey, man. Hey, God, gonna feel good all the time. We're gonna feel some good praise. God, that old boy brother, Mr. Excitement here is talking about. Amen, he's senior excitement, Jay Taylor's junior excitement, amen. Don't let him take your place, brother. Talking about that man carried that bed. Amen. That bed carried him first. Amen. Then the thing was carrying him. He carried back. Praise God. Amen. You can be seated. Hallelujah. Thank you, Brother Jason. Well, there's another Jason. Brother Jason, come on up here. Amen. He's from Sanford, North Carolina. Is that three hours from here? Yeah, a little over three hours. Tell a little bit about that when you went home last. By the way, we have Power Conference first week in January every year. Got the Women's Conference, 21st, 22nd. Is that right, Melissa? Okay, so you ladies, get you with the ladies in here. Have a great time. We emphasize prayer and living for God. Amen. Is that your notes? It is. You read them? Well, it's good to be in the Lord's house. And I was thinking all week long, seven months ago of this week, I left here filled and charged with the word of God. And I preached on that morning on, I believe God. And I did not realize that what I just preached, I was going to have to live it for seven months, starting with the road home. And I left here and I was riding down, I guess that's 18. near Boomer Fire Department and I had actually went back here. I said, I'm not going to eat. I told the ladies, I'm just going to get me something to drink and went down the road and I called brother Tyler. We talked about the service and called my wife, told her I was three hours from home. Then I called my daughter and I had my AirPods in and I was talking to her and she was in Ohio and all of a sudden a car lights went in my lane and when it went in my lane, it was like, All other times you think somebody's going to jerk it back. Well, they never jerked it back. And I turned at the last minute, hit me right in the door, pushed me up against the guardrail. I did a flip. I don't know how many flips I did in the air. But when I landed, I'll be honest with you, I was evaluating the situation in my life. I'm just going to be honest and am I bleeding? And my lower back was hurting and the breath was knocked out of me. My daughter was saying, what's going on dad? And I said, call 9-1-1 and she calls 9-1-1 while I'm on the phone. I can hear, I only had one air pod in and they said, sorry, we can't help you. You'll have to call North Carolina 9-1-1. And about that time, a guy come up to my door and he said, the vehicle's got gas coming out of it. He said, can you get out? And I said, I guess I can get out. And I opened that door and I walked out and sat in the guy's car and I looked back and I saw that my car's wheels, the axles, tore to pieces. And I go back in my mind in that wreck, I was flipping in the air. And I mean, I remember going upside down and there was total peace in the car. I felt like I was just held in the seat. I was hearing my daughter saying, daddy, are you okay? Are you okay? And I must be honest when I was sitting in that ambulance and I was thinking back, the last thing that happened before I got on the road was all the preachers gathered right here. And all you people gathered around here. And I can't help but to think that there was somebody that got to the throne room and said, you know what? Them preachers are going to be going back home tomorrow. Going back home tonight. And God, you send your guardian angels to go and surround that vehicles. And God, you be with him. And I'm glad he heard and he answered that prayer. Because when I got out of the car and I got to the hospital, they did all the tests and the doctor comes back in and he says, I don't see anything wrong. The only thing that I had was one scratch on this finger. I went back the next day. And right, it happened right at the Boomer Fire Department. I didn't realize that. And we're walking up the, my wife and I are walking up the guardrail there and saw where it was being in. And there was springs of the car laying on the grass. My whole wheel was laying out there. And the guy pulled in, he said, we were there last night. And he said, were you in that car? And I said, I was. He said, that was a miracle of God. He said, so many times we've seen wrecks and people don't make it out. He said, I cannot believe that you're walking. I said, you just don't know how big my God is. You don't know how big God is. And let me just say, God charged me even more that night to know that there was people here praying and called out on my behalf to know that there was a God in heaven that hears and answers the prayers of people. Hey, I'm a walking miracle. I shouldn't be here. God bless me. I'll say this, we were at the hospital. My wife come up, she had to drive three hours. My dad, I'm laying in the hospital room and she walks in and She's happy that I'm well. And all the way home, she said, well, honey, I've been praying that God would give you a new vehicle. I said, honey, hold on one minute before you pray anything else, please run it by me. How all this is going to happen. But I just want to say God has been so good to me. I believe God. I believe God. This morning, I want to give you a word that I can't get away from. Brother Daniel's heart for this meeting is y'all young men. He called me months ago and said, really pray for this meeting. He said, I've got a real heart and a burden for young men. But I know the battle. And I think about what Luke chapter 22 says to us. We know that Jesus has been arrested. And we know that things begin to unravel in the life of the disciples. Judas has betrayed the Lord. When Jesus told them, said, one of you is gonna betray me, they all looked around and said, who is it? They didn't even know who it was. And then we see that the disciples fled away. They all forsook the Lord and they all went their own ways. You would have thought that Peter, James, and John would have been right there the whole time, but we find that the only one that was even at the cross was John himself. I find that it says here, we'll read verse 54, then took they him and led him and brought him into the high priest house. And Peter followed afar off. And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall and were set down together, Peter sat down among them. But a certain maid beheld him as he sat by the fire and earnestly looked upon him and said, this man was also with him. And he denied him saying, woman, I know him not. And after a little while another saw him and said, Thou art also of them. And Peter said, Man, I am not. And about the space of one hour after another confidently affirming, saying of a truth, this fellow also was with him, for he is a Galilean. And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew. And the Lord turned and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And Peter went out and wept bitterly. Lord Jesus. God, you know what's on my heart this morning, Lord. I pray, God, that you would speak to the hearts of these preachers this morning. God, these people have gathered, Lord. Lord, we know that Father, the devil's trying everything he can to pull us apart. Lord, to take us under this morning. But God, I'm glad you are praying for us, God. And we want you to take this Word that you put in my heart. off my lips the way you want it to, and Lord, may men draw unto you and follow you even closer than they ever have before, God. We love you, Lord. In Jesus' lovely name I pray, amen and amen. I find that many times in life, we see that Satan does not play fair. Peter has followed a far off and you wonder what causes people to follow a far off and we can think about some things. One is the lack of praying. If you're not praying this morning, you're a candidate for getting out of this thing. And I find that a lack of praying, we know that in society there is a lack of praying. In our churches there's a lack of praying, but I'm willing to say there's a lot of lack of praying right behind the pulpit this morning. Those that are the closest to the Lord. Also, there are pressures in life. Pressures will cause us to follow afar off. Let me tell you, what I faced in 22 weeks has been hard. What I faced in seven years has been hard. The devil has done everything he can to discourage me and defeat me, but I am determined by the help of God this morning to keep walking with him, keep my eyes set towards him, and to go on for the glory of God. I find that not only with a lack of praying and pressures, but pride. And I feel that Peter had some pride in him. Peter had some things he thought he could do it. You don't believe it? He got a sword just a few verses over and whacked Malchus' ear off. He thought he was the man. He even debated who is the greatest among us. I believe Peter put out that question because he thought he was one. Now, I thought about this this morning. Peter, James, and John were close. They got to see some great things. They got to go on the Mount of Transfiguration. They're the ones that got the invitation of the inner circle to come in the garden and pray. And they couldn't even stay awake an hour to pray. And the Lord came several times to them and said, could you not only pray for one hour? Peter and John, I believe they were buddies. The devil do everything he can to divide you from your friends. And once he does that, the undertow begins. I think about, we go down to the beach and I used to get out deep in the ocean and all that, but I've done seen too many big things come by me before. I'll stay out on the beach and when my kids get too far out, I'm like. There's been a few times I've been out there and they've got these red flags and they said there's rip currents out there. It's really not a good idea to even go swimming today. But yet people will get in the water and avoid the warning signs and the flags and they get out there and when they get in that rip current, it takes them out and a lot of people don't make it. Because you can't fight against the rip current. It'll take you under, it'll wear you out, and you'll die. What's amazing about that is those rip currents are only 50 to 100 feet wide. And they say it don't take much to swim out of them, but what happens is you panic. And fear fills your soul. You know why fear is filling the souls of people today? Because they're not feeding their self with the faith. Faith coming by here and here by the Word of God. Now, we say, well, that's good for somebody else. This was the inner circle. These were the disciples. Peter was the man that God would use to preach on the day of Pentecost with power. But before he could get to that power, God had to show him it wasn't of himself. It was all about him. And he had to get the pride out. He had to get the lack of praying out of his soul. He had to get him to look to him and to lean on him in the pressures. and you're not gonna make it this morning. Matter of fact, before this ever happens, the Lord said in verse 31, and the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan had desired to have you. That he may sift you as wheat. Thank God for verse 32. But I have prayed for thee. Thank God He is praying for us. And He says here that thy faith fell not, and when thou art converted, He said, you're going to get brought out of this, but when thou art converted, this thing's not about you, Peter. He said, it's never been about you, Peter. You see, that was the problem. Peter thought it was all about him. And when you think it's all about you, let me tell you, we oftentimes think we're going to get Go to that church, and man, it's gonna bust at the seams, and you've made it all about you. Let me tell you what's gonna happen. You're gonna get there, and you're gonna see that there's a real devil, and he's got a target on your back, and you're gonna be so discouraged when the church don't grow like it's supposed to. Hey, it's his church. Those pressures. And here's Peter. He says, when thou art converted, he says, strengthen thy brethren. And that's what I want to do this morning, is to strengthen my brethren. The devil wants you, just like you wanted Peter. Now think about Peter has seen the miracles. Peter has seen the blinded eyes open. He's seen people healed. He was the part that distributed the bread. I mean, he saw it multiply. He saw the thousands that were fed. He saw the hands that broke it. He saw the compassion. He walked with the one that had called him there to be a fishers of men, to leave that old scene behind and to walk with him. Peter was the one that saw demons cast out. He saw, he was on the boat when God said, peace be still in the storm. Some of you have seen God do some miracles. You've seen God do miracles in your family, in my family, in the church house. We've seen God do those things. Peter walked on water. I mean, we always get hard on Peter sinking, but he was the only one that got out of the boat. When he was sinking, I'm glad the Lord didn't let him drown. He lifted him up. He did this for three years. He was on the Mount of Transfiguration, saw the glory. He said, let's just build us some houses here. Let's just stay here. It's good for us to be here. This is the same Peter that now has denied him three times. The same Peter that is down there with the enemies. What's so hard right now in ministry is to see how many the devil's taken out one by one. I'm not talking about people that nobody knows their name. I'm talking about the Peters. I'm talking about those that God has done miracles and they've seen miracles and they're going out one by one. It's sad when people call, Brother Tyler has this too, they call you and say the church needs a pastor and you can't even give them a name. There's someone here this morning, you are walking far off. Nobody else may recognize it. Before Peter, Peter just didn't walk away from God right here. You start looking at Peter's life and you start seeing some things that he did. He began to slack. He stopped praying. He was letting pressures get to him. He was responding in his flesh instead of walking by faith. That's easy to do. Let me tell you, the pressures are going to be on you, preachers. You take that church, there's going to be some pressures on you. There's going to be some Sanballas and Tobias that are going to prod you. And if you're not careful, you're going to react in the flesh. You're going to come off the wall. You're going to get your eyes off the Lord. And you're going to be out of ministry before you even get started. Peter's only been in it three years. Right here, three years. Gone. They say most preachers don't even last five years anymore. There's no longevity. I don't have the statistics with me, but every time I read it, man, it grieves my heart. Because let me tell you, take heed lest you fall. There's been a lot of bigger people than me that has failed. There's a lot of people out of ministry that I never thought would be out of ministry. There's a lot of church people that I thought, man, they'll be with you all the way to the end, and you can't even find them anymore. We're fighting a devil that has power to take you out. But I'm glad the story doesn't end there. You see Peter's path to power, he was one of the closest disciples. No doubt Satan come after him. No doubt the Lord gave him the warning signs. He told him, he said, Peter, verse 33, he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee both into prison and to death. Peter was not ready. One thing that I find in a lot of young preachers, they think they're ready. And they're not. And the devil loves you to jump ahead of God. Because when you jump ahead of God, you expose yourself that he takes you out. And that's why a lot of young preachers do not make it. Years ago, probably eight, nine years ago, I had a good friend of mine, good preacher. He reminded me of you, brother. He had some zeal, I loved him, get up, and man, I'm telling you what, he just bragged on Jesus. And he was serving the Lord, saved out of drugs. Man, I'm telling you what, he had a tremendous testimony. Had the power of God on me. He's a great preacher. And all of a sudden, there's a church down the road, pretty good-sized church. They call him, said, we want you to be our pastor. He come to the office, he said, preacher, he said, I know that you're wizard. He said, I want you to tell me the truth. I said, you're not ready. He got mad at me. Never even called me no more for any kind of counts or anything. He took the church. lasted just a few years. Not only did he leave the church, but it's got his whole family out, lost his marriage and everything. You see, the devil knows where our weaknesses are. That's why it's so important to go on God's timing. Peter thought, man, I can do this. Verse 34 said, and he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me. He said, you're not gonna deny me just one time. You're gonna deny me three times. And there we find that not only does he walk away and he follows at a far off, we're talking about a Peter that was almost stepping on the Lord, he was falling so close at one time. Now he goes all the way, he's sitting with the enemy. The ones that are gonna say crucify him. That's who's Peter's crowds with now. He's walked away from his buddy, John. It doesn't say that in the word of God, but the devil knows how to divide those relationships and you can see it. He's sitting down, he's no longer walking. When you're sitting down, that's exactly... Pastors, you know how it is in churches. You can see people get a far off and all of a sudden they're gone and you can't even find them. You call them, they don't answer. You know what's going on. Exactly. That's where Peter's at. God begins the work in Peter's life. I really believe things turned around, verse 61. Cock crowed, he denied him three times. And look at what 61 says, and the Lord turned and looked upon Peter. You know what I found out, that God knows how to get your eyes. One thing that my dad could do, he didn't have to say a word, all he had to do was look at you. And I knew if he was happy with me, I knew if he was mad at me, I knew that I better get right here as soon as I could. I knew what his eyes said. And Peter has walked with the Lord so many times, he knows what the Lord's eyes are saying to him. And there in his failure, there in his denial, there when he's sitting, the Lord got his eyes. But I believe not only was it the Lord saying, Peter, you know where yet? but I believe the Lord was saying, I still love you, Peter. Just like that father looking down that road. God helped me to have those eyes of compassion. The next time that you see Peter or read about Peter, the Lord dies on the cross, buried, Third day, hallelujah. Isn't that wonderful? God gets up. You know what it says? Then arose Peter and ran unto the sepulcher. Peter's no longer sitting down. Peter is now up. And one thing that I find about Peter, let me tell you, God, you may fail the Lord, but it's not final. He got ahold of his eyes. There had to be some kind of repentance there, and we know that the Lord's gonna ask him three times, do you love me, Peter? Feed my sheep. He was getting him back to that place that he could use him again. My message this morning is, where are you standing with the Lord? Are you far off? Are you right where you need to be? Has he got ahold of your eyes this morning? Peter, the next time we see him, he's up. But Peter, there was a path to the power. We like to talk about the Peter that God used on the day of Pentecost and that's where we all want to be used. But we need to realize this flesh will lead us away. Satan will take us out and we need to realize the tactics that he uses. Peter rose, went to that sepulcher. I think about when you go through the Word of God and you get to, he goes back fishing. He gets discouraged. Peter, he was all caught up in his self. And preachers have a tendency to do that with comparison. It was already mentioned the other day. If it ain't happening the way we think it ought to happen, God's using our buddy more than he's using us. God's using this church more than us. Things are happening down there, we start looking. That was the biggest problem in Peter's life. You see, Jesus loved John. It was no secret how he loved John. Did he love Peter? Yes, I believe he loved all of them. He loved us, he died for us. There was something about the Lord Jesus and his relationship to John. And instead of trying to let God use, Peter's saying, God use me how you want to use me. He got his eyes looking and it was a big discouragement. That's one of the things that are taking so many preachers out. Let me just take a time out right here. If that's every time you get on social media, you're starting to compare yourself and you're feeling that discouragement. Cut it off. Don't look at get rid of Facebook and all that. Because the devil will use that every single time. Because discouragement is taking so many people out of the pulpit. Discouragement is taking so many people out of the pew and the devil is laughing about it. Why? Because he desires to sift you. So we know the story, and I'm skipping some of this, but the story here that Peter goes back fishing. He goes back to the old lifestyle and catches nothing. Don't even think about going back that way. Now say this. in the midst of the pressures that I faced over seven years. I'm gonna tell you, I was in parks and recreation, and that's where the Lord took me from, to full-time in pasturing, and I had a desire to follow God. I had one of the best jobs that you could ever have, but I had no fulfillment in it. But when the pressures come, I can remember one night, Brother Terry, getting on jobs. and a job right there in Raleigh, making more than I was making at the church. And man, it looked good. I had all the qualifications to get it. And the Holy Spirit said, you better not. He got my eyes. Notice this and I'll be done this morning. Chapter 21 of John, it says in verse 20, then Peter turning about seeing the disciple whom Jesus loved following, which also leaned on his breast at supper and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? And Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? He's talking about John. He's worried about John. And Jesus saith unto him, if I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me. Peter's biggest problem was he had his eyes on everybody else. And that is the biggest problem I believe in churches and in preachers today. We're too worried about everybody else. The Lord looks at him and says, follow thou me. Verse 23, then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die, yet Jesus said not unto him, he shall not die, but if I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? This is the disciple which testified of these things and wrote these things. And we know that his testimony is true. And there are also many other things which Jesus did with the witch. If they should be written, everyone, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. The Lord looked at Peter and he said, get your eyes off everything else. You let me deal with that other man. You let me use that other man the way I want to use that other man. And he said, I'm going to use you the way I want to use you. Just follow me. And I love what it says there. He said, there's so many testimonies that can't even be written in the book. You know what he was saying? The way he used Peter, the way he used John, the way he used James, boy, it was such a big story. It was something extraordinary that the book, you can't even write it all in the books. And if we'll be honest, boy, God's doing work in my life. God's doing work in Tyler and brother Heath and brother Daniel and all you men in here. What does it matter what my other brother's doing? Hey, if God's for you, who can be against you? If God's got his hand on you, hey, just follow after him this morning. We gotta keep our eyes on the Lord. We gotta follow him. You go over to chapter, 1 Peter chapter five, he talked about strengthening the brethren. I'm not gonna read it. You go and read it when you get home. But there in Peter's last few years before he dies, and he's crucified upside down, you know what Peter's doing? He's trying to strengthen the brother. He's telling them about how Satan wants to take them out. And he's telling them how you ought to keep your eyes on the Lord. Some of us men need to invest in these young preachers and encourage them to keep their eyes on the Lord. Don't let the devil take you out. Don't let the rip current drown you this morning, but just follow him. Follow God this morning. Lord Jesus, I thank you, Lord, for every man of God in this place. Lord Jesus, I pray God. Lord, we're no match for the devil, but Lord, greater is he that's in us in this world. Lord, thank you for praying for us, God. Lord, I know that I was about to go under, but Lord, I'm glad I looked to the one that rescued me. And Lord, I pray God you put something deep in our soul that will follow you all the days of our life. God, bless these men, bless this church. Lord, put your hand on Brother Daniel. God, use him in greater ways in the days to come. God, put your angels around him, God. I pray, God, you protect him, Lord. God, let us finish well, Lord. Let us not be a casualty in this day. Lord, may you ever be the glory for it in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. we have in Jesus. Amen. Oh, that's awesome. Hey, brother Jay, give him his different mind. This one says lapel. Goes on your lapel. I'll tell you something about that story. I like great preaching because it makes you think. Tell you something about that story. Here's what Peter didn't do that John did. So John may be 16, 17, 18 years old. Simon Peter, he's oldest of the bunch. That's what history says. And when John got.