Can God redeem our sinners? Don't we find it all alone? Is there hope for all the lost ones? Who's mercy has not known? Is an ear of God still open to the crimes of sinful men? Can God redeem a sinner? Yes, He can. God can, yes He can, all power is in His hand. If we seek Him, we will find He's always, always there. His mercy is most supreme, there is praise for every man. Can God redeem a sinner? Yes, He can. Can God revive a Christian who has wandered far away? When the fellowship is broken, there's no peace along the way. Can the Holy Spirit take him back to where the fire began? Can God revive a Christian? Yes, He can. God can, yes He can, all power is in His hand. If we seek Him, we will find He's always, always there. His mercy is most holy. There is grace for every man. Can God be kind, efficient? Yes, He can. Can God restore a nation who's forgotten whence it came? They have lost their love of worship, there's no reference of His name. Is the whole world made revival in a carnal, vacant land? Can God restore our nation? Yes, He can. God can, yes, He can. All power is in His hand. If we seek Him, we will find He's always, always there. His mercy is all-suffering. There is grace for every man. Can God restore a nation? Can God revive a Christian? Can God redeem a sinner? Yes, He can. Amen. Thank you, family. And we'll dismiss the little ones. Let's ensure the creche and the rest of us can take our Bibles in our hands. And if you want to look at 2 Timothy chapter 3, we'll start there with that one verse, verse 14. And at a couple different points today, it's a topical message, so I don't have a text for you to turn to, but at a couple different points, there's an extended text that I'm going to read, and I have made note of the page numbers if you have a church Bible to give those to you, as well as if you have your own Bible, you can look up, alright? Back... In, I think, 1998, or summer of 1998 or something, I was a counselor at the Wiles Cushing Camp in North Carolina. And down there, you've got the Smoky Mountains, a beautiful part of the United States. And it's lovely. The property that guys provided for this camp, it's surrounded by, I guess, natural reserves or something. There's no housing right around the camp. The camp acreage is huge, and it's forest around it. And they've got four waterfalls on the property. And the river runs right through the property and it's just a lovely place. But I enjoyed being a counselor there. It's great to get these kids to come. And we had 110 counselors. Each one would have eight campers. And so we have about 1,000 campers at a fundamental independent Baptist Christian camp that preach the gospel, preach the word of God, have good music, good standards, and a really good time. And you got these kids away from the world. And it's a blessing. Nowadays, especially, it's almost harder, isn't it? I mean, you've got so much connectivity. We're constantly connected to other people and things. But you get them isolated, like we were this past week, a little bit, under the word of God. And it's a great time. And the Spirit of God is speaking to their hearts day after day after day. And amazing, the number of young people that get saved at camp or surrender their life to God at camp. In my own life, camp was a very important part of my life. I surrendered my life to the Lord. as a junior at Camp Shitech here in Wisconsin. My family next summer has the opportunity to be the camp missionary for two weeks at that camp. And you'll be praying about that while we're there and minister with junior campers and teen campers at the camp where God called me to surrender my life to Him. That's great, isn't it? To have that decision that's made. But sometimes they call things camp decisions. You know, you go to camp, you get all excited, you get focused on the Word of God, and God's working in your heart, and you make a decision. A camp decision is something that you made, but you don't really intend to keep, kind of like a New Year's resolution. All right? But as he left camp at the Wilds, this verse, verse 14 of 2 Timothy chapter 3, was on the back of the camp sign, and in front of it was, Welcome to the Wilds. On the back was this verse, and I saw it frequently as I was there that summer and left camp many times. On the weekends, I would see this sign that said, But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned, and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them." Being reminded that it's God that has worked in your life this past week. It's great that you made that decision, but now continue in that. Continue means to persist in an activity or process. It means to recommence or resume after interruption. It means it was something trying to stop it, maybe. And it got back up and kept going. Or that it just purposed, I'm just going to keep going. That's the idea of continuing. It's what the saying means when it says when you follow a horse, you have to get back in the saddle, right? Why? Because otherwise, you're not going to learn to ride a horse. You're going to stop riding a horse. If you just quit, you get bucked off. And it happens to everybody that rides a horse. If you're going to quit and get bucked off, you're just going to stop. You're not going to continue. The saying, as well, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. What's it mean? It means just keep at it, be faithful, you're going to get there. Praise the Lord. I probably maybe shouldn't say this, but Sheldon got a driver's license, all right? And he persisted. Praise God, right? And I mean, there's things in life that we continue and God allows us that opportunity of succeeding if we don't quit. And it's good. for us to do that in physical disciplines. There might be a good New Year's resolution that you made at some point, that I'm going to exercise, or I'm going to do this in my life physically, this will benefit me, maybe just reading, or something like that, that physically would be good for us to do. That is good to continue in that, but how much more important for us to continue with something that's benefit, not just physically, but benefit to our soul to continue it. The Bible says 1 Timothy 4 verse 8, chapter 4 verse 8, for bodily exercise profit little, but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. I could have a physical discipline. Some of you know that I run, and I run to discipline myself Physically, okay? And that's a good thing. Bodily exercise profits little. If you're doing something physical, that is good. But it goes on again to say, but godliness is profitable unto all things. The benefit of a spiritual discipline is far greater than any physical discipline that we could do. Did I say that correctly? Any spiritual discipline is far better than any physical discipline. Last week, we had a great time sitting nightly under the Word of God. And I know there are many people that came to the meetings and sat in the meetings, and the Spirit of God spoke to your heart about something, and you said, right, I need to do that. And in your heart, during the invitation time, you might have surrendered that to God and said, right, God, you spoke to my heart about that, and I am determined that by the grace of God, I am going to do that thing. That's a great decision. But I want to challenge us today as you've made that decision with a message that is just continue. Continue. Now that the Spirit of God has brought you to that point, continue. Or that decision means nothing. Alright? And so are you going to continue and keep that soul discipline that God intends you to keep so that you can be what God wants you to be? Let's pray as we come to our message here this morning. Father, I thank you for the grace that you give. And Father, again, we're very thankful for the ministry of Evangelist Barry Webb this past week. And Father, there were great decisions that were made. There were some salvation decisions, as indicated by an uplifted hand during the invitation time, saying that they had prayed that prayer of asking Jesus Christ to come into their heart and save them. There were some other decisions about sin. There were decisions about maybe surrender. And Father, I just pray with the message today as we look at texts that speak about continuing. Father, may the Spirit of God speak to our hearts about being the disciplined servant of God that we need to be so that we keep these spiritual things in our life that have so much more benefit than any physical discipline we could ever have. Father, I can't speak without your help. I need the Spirit of God to guide me and guard me and help me. I pray that he would guide my heart, my mind. Lord, I pray that you give me the right words to convey the truth of the Word of God. Father, I often pray that you help me to preach biblically. Father, help me to preach practically. Father, help me to preach lovingly. And Father, by the grace I get by the Spirit of God, help me to preach powerfully. And Father, be serious to hear this morning. And so that it's not in vain that we listen to the Word of God in this time. But I pray that in our hearts we have our running shoes on saying, God if you speak to my heart I'm going to run in that direction as you see fit to open my eyes to your truth. Thank you for your help now. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. And so our text this morning, as that introductory verse had that idea of continue thou, our text this morning are verses that have that same idea of continue in, or continue to, and you'll see it as we go along. And the first spiritual discipline that we're going to start with, and these aren't in any special order this morning for any reason, but the first is continue to fast. Continue to fast, continue to have a spiritual appetite and desire for God that would even set aside your physical needs so that you can have opportunity to meet with God. And so the Bible says in Matthew chapter 5, in verse 32, that Jesus called his disciples unto him and said, I have compassion on the multitude because they continue with me now, three days. and have nothing to eat, and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way." There was such an appetite for the Word of God that these people had that even though they didn't have proper provision for them as they got out into that wilderness area in that time with the Lord as He's teaching them, there was such a desire in their heart that they thought, yeah, right, I could do without food for a little bit. This is so good that I can set aside my physical needs so that I can just depend upon God and I can just seek God. They continue to fast to continue with Jesus. And, you know, considering spiritual disciplines this morning, would you fast, if need be, to continue with Jesus? Would it be worth it to you to set aside food so that your heart could just be tender to God and just focus it upon God that you say with all integrity and heart before God, God I'm so interested in drawing close to God and I so desire you that I'm willing to set this aside. When's the last time that you set aside something else to seek God? Maybe it was sleep. You decided, you know what? Preach about prayer. I'm going to get up early because I need that time with God in prayer. You set aside sleep, maybe set aside friends. You know, they're all going to do something else. But you thought, you know what? Church is important. I desire to be with God today, and I want to give God first place. And I'm seeking God, so I'm going to set aside my friends. Maybe a hobby, or a plan, or television even, to say, hey, you know what? This week, I'm going to set aside that time to seek God, instead of just taking in the world, because I so desire to meet with God. If you turn your Bibles to Daniel chapter 10, Daniel had a heart like that. If you have a church Bible, the black Bible, it's page 9, 3, 4. The black Bible is page 9, 3, 4. But Daniel became so desirous in his heart of seeking God that Daniel set aside everything else just to give himself to seeking God. And so Daniel chapter 10, in verse 2, It says, in those days, I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks. I ate no pleasant bread. Neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth. Neither did I anoint myself at all, till three full weeks were fulfilled. And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hitticoke, then I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, a certain man, clothed in linen, whose lines were girded with fine gold of Uphaz. His body also was like the barrel, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in color to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude." And you get an idea as you're reading this, Daniel is not speaking to just kind of an ordinary person. This is God that Daniel has been brought into his presence. God of very gods. And we'll see this as we go along in the reading. And so verse 7, I Daniel alone saw the vision. For the men that were with me saw not the vision, but a great quaking fell upon them so that they fled to hide themselves. Therefore I was left alone and saw this great vision. And there remained no strength in me, for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength. Yet heard I the voice of his words. And when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground. And behold, a hand touched me, which set me up upon my knees, and upon the palms of my hands. And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright. For unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling. Then said he unto me, fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasing thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days, but lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, and I remained there with the kings of Persia. Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people the latter days, For yet the vision is for many days. And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb. And behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips. Then I opened my mouth and spake, and said unto him that stood before me, O my Lord, by the visions my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength. Now notice what he says. For how can the servant of this my Lord talk with this my Lord? For as for me, straightway there remained no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me. Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me and said, O man greatly beloved, fear not, peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened and said, let my Lord speak, for thou hast strengthened me. Dan met with God. He read a story about a man that set his heart to seek God and he set his heart so to seek God that for three weeks he disciplined himself physically by doing without and doing without and doing without and seeking God. He continued to fast until the Lord met with him. You know how important is your walk with God? Where's the believers today that would set aside something and say, you know what, the thing is, I just need to seek God, and I need to find God. I would encourage us this morning as we speak about spiritual disciplines, is continue to fast. Continue to take that time and set it aside and say, you know what, it's important that I seek after God. Then secondly this morning, continue to pray. Continue to pray. Colossians chapter 4 verse 2 says, continue in prayer and watching the scene with Thanksgiving. Don't stop praying. What's your prayer life like? You know, this is between you and God, so you don't need to answer out loud, but when do you pray? What is your place of prayer? What time of day do you pray? What's your normal routine? We had our challenges this past week, I think. about getting a prayer journal. Maybe that's something that would benefit you as something that you do or something that you need to do that would help you. But regardless of whether you use a prayer journal or not, you don't. That's not the main thing. The main thing is when do you pray? Do you sense in your heart that need to seek God through prayer? My grandma on my dad's side, Grandma Shore, was known to her kids and her grandkids as a woman of prayer. My grandma was a dairy farmer's wife out in Colorado. But my dad and my aunt, as they speak with fondness about Grandma Shore, one of the things that they'll speak about is her prayer time out in the woods and hearing Grandma out in the woods just talking to God and seeking God. I know as a young person coming to their house in the summertime, you didn't get to see Grandma and Grandpa Shore very often. Our family was in ministry. Every summer we'd have two weeks that we'd take summer holiday. We'd spend about a week, week and a half out in Colorado. We'd get to spend that time with Grandma and Grandpa. I remember Grandma Shore just weeping in prayer. She's just a lay person, and she's a woman. She's not a preacher. She's not a man of God. But a Godly lady that had a tender heart to God, that knew that she needed to touch the throne of God. And you think about that generation, and I praise God, I was a little bit in touch with that generation that prayed, but I feel like today, in modern Christianity, modern church, where are the people that pray? I'm talking lay people. I mean, I hope today, as you think about your pastor, that one thing that you'd expect me, as a ministry, that God's entrusted me to do, is that, pastor, you need to pray, and you need to spend time in prayer. I challenge you to challenge me with that, I need that. But what we need, is people in our church that touch the throne of God for the people that are up here in the pulpit, for the kids that are sitting out in the auditorium, for the neighbors that are unsaved and refuse to come to church, and refuse to come to church, and refuse to come to church. We need somebody that will touch the throne of God. Do you need to pray? Jesus prayed. Luke 6 verse 12, so it came to pass in those days that he went out into a mountain to pray, and he continued all night in prayer to God. The Lord just would have those times and those special seasons of renewal in his heart with God the Father that he just go out and he would spend that time in prayer and yet he was the son of God. But he needed God. Mark 1 verse 35, in the morning, rising up a great cloud before day, he went out and departed into a solitary place near Prague. If we could walk with the Lord on that journey, whether down into the Mount of Olives or wherever he was walking through that garden, I mean, the sun's not even up yet, it's dark, and yet there was an earnest desire in his heart to get to that place and to seek his Father in prayer. The early church prayed. It says in Acts 114, these all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication with the women, Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. As they prayed, they had been told, tear ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from behind. Listen, if we had that promise today, and God said to us, church and longhead, if you'll spend days in prayer, if you'll get on your knees and seek the face of God, I will send the glory of the Holy Spirit upon thee. Can you imagine? I hope today that, I hope, would we be so carnal as to say, you know what, I've just got too much to do. I'm just too busy. Well, I really need my sleep. Or would there be an earnest desire in our hearts to say, you know what, right, we need to pray. When Peter was imprisoned, The Bible speaks about the church continuing prayer. In Acts 12 verse 5, Peter therefore was kept in prison, but prayer was made without ceasing, they continued, of the church and the God for him. And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, down with two chains, and the keepers before the door kept the prison. And behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison, and he spoke Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly, as chains And the angel said unto him, gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, cast thy garment about thee, and follow me. And he went out and followed him, and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel, but thought he saw a vision. When they were past the first and the second word, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city, which opened to them of its own accord. And they went out and passed on through one street, and forthwith the angel departed from him. And when Peter was coming to himself, he said, now I go to assure you that the Lord has sent his angel and has delivered me out of the hand of Herod and from all the expectations of the people of Jesus. And Peter, at first he thought he was dreaming, he thought it was a vision, he didn't realize it's really happening that he's been set free. Why? Because it's incredible. The gates are opening. He's passing, I mean, he's just, he's being set free miraculously and he stops and he thinks about it and he goes, why is this happening? When he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying." Peter Thotten goes, right, the church is praying. God set me free. Why? The church is praying. You know, in our day, I mean, that's incredible. Prison doors opening. I mean, we really struggled to have faith that God was going to set Peter free. We know even that early church struggled. Dorcas, is that her name? Rhoda, that comes to the door. You know, it's a surprise that Peter's there, they're amazed, they're praying, right? So we understand that there's an incredibly miraculous aspect to this, but there ought to be in our hearts a desire to say, if God set people free from prison, then surely God can do something today. You know what I think, we gotta stop and go, you know what, right, we have not because we ask not. Because we don't pray. If we're really to evaluate our lives and we say to God, why aren't we seeing the things that God alone can do in our family, in our church ministry, in our neighbors, in our community? Why aren't we seeing, well look, how much time did you spend this past week in prayer? Seeking God. We were challenged this past week to pray. I challenge us today, let's continue to pray. Let's not make that decision in our hearts today and think, right, I know I need to pray. Let's make that decision and say, so therefore I am going to pray by God's grace. Let's continue in prayer. And then third, continue in God's word. Continue to fast, seek God, see the importance of seeking God, continue to pray, and then continue in God's word. It says in John 8, 31, Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Jesus said, if you're my disciple, then there's going to be an appetite that you have for what? My teaching. Why? Because the master is the one that instructs the disciple. And so, if you'll continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed. Again, this past week, there's going to be so many things today that we consider that we heard this past week, well presented by Evangelist Gary Webb. He challenged us with Bible reading. Remember, he talked about maybe getting a plan and speaking even to a pastor and saying, I'd like an annual Bible reading plan. And look, you can find those online as well. And they're out there. But you know, you don't have to necessarily have a plan. I'll just tell you, I've met some guys that have a plan and that's what they do and they follow that and that works great for them. My personal, just me, I just like to read the Bible just as much as I do. You know, I pick it up and I read it daily. I spend real time in the Word of God consistently. And I do read this book more than once through. every year as I just do my normal thing. But what are you reading? Would it embarrass you today if I, as pastor, called your name and said, you know, Sir, Ma'am, Child, would you please stand and just tell us right now what you've been reading in the Word of God this past week? Would that embarrass you? You know, because shouldn't we, just as a student of the words and a disciple of God's, and we're in church today just testifying that we are part of the body of Christ and that we have a desire for God, it ought to be a part of our normal daily routine. That we pick up the word of God and we say, what does God say? By the way, we have a great message on, was it Thursday night? on John 3.16, or it was on James, was that the one on the paper? He got to John 3.16 at some point in his message. And as he spoke about John 3.16, I was just reminded of how precious that verse is to us as believers. It was what was speaking to my heart. It's a very common verse that is very familiar. But when's the last time you just opened up this book and it was just like a breath of fresh air? That words were found and I did eat them and they were unto me the joy and rejoicing in my heart. By the way, there's something that this church has that a lot of churches don't have. And that is this truth. And I was thinking about this last night. A lot of churches you go to today, people go, I want a drink, I want a drink, I want a drink. And they give them a cup and it's empty and they go, and it's nothing to it. But there's something about sitting under the preaching and teaching the Word of God this past week that was more like this, a full glass, and it's like, oh, that's exactly right. Why? Because it's the water of the Word of God. It's what we need. It's partaking of Christ. Christ is the living Word. Everything is from Him. This ought to be the sole satisfaction for us. You know what? It's what our faith is based on. Just talk about continuing in prayer. How can you pray if you don't know this book? This is what our faith is based upon. Romans 10, 17 says, so then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. There's probably no better modern example of a man of prayer than, you might guess, George Mueller of Bristol, right? A man that would take his request to God and God alone would testify to the world of what God had done. But one of the things that you're struck with as you read about George Mueller is that he would always find a promise of God upon which to base his prayer. Why? Because if God said it, I believe it, right? And I can claim it. So don't neglect what God has for you. What a privilege. I mean, think of all the things that we could do. We've got the telly, we've got internet, we've got friends, we've got hobbies, we've got things. But think about this, the most important of all things that God's given to us is his precious book. We gotta say, by the grace of God, today on, there's not gonna be a day that goes past that I don't take time to spend in the word of God. So continue God's word, continue to fast, continue to pray, And they continue in the love of Jesus. John chapter 15 in verse 9 says, As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you. Continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father's commandments. and abide in His love. And there was a sweetness that Jesus had. My need is to do the will of Him that sent me. Every day Jesus got up and Jesus lived in perfect obedience to God the Father. And so Jesus dwelled completely immersed in the love of God. And Jesus challenged His disciples, continue in my love. Then He said, if you can keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love. There's a reality today that as we desire to walk with God, that it's a walk that is maintained by our obedience to God. That we need to have that obedience to walk with God. We've had this past week. even some people that have trusted the Lord as their Savior. And often as I lead somebody to the Lord and speak to them afterwards about the decision that they made to trust Christ as their Savior, I'll explain the difference to them of relationship versus fellowship. And sometimes I use an illustration that, you know, say I have a a neighbor kid that comes up to me and says to me, Dad, I'd like to borrow five pounds. I look at the kid and I think, well, he's kind of a cute kid, and because of my graciousness, I might hand him a five pound note, but I have no obligation to do so. Why? Because I have no relationship. But if it's my son, then I'm obligated. If my son has a need, I'm obligated. Why? Because I'm a father. We talked about this morning in Sunday school, when somebody gets saved, they're adopted into the family of God. Relationally, they're brought to being a child of God. But if my son has disobeyed me, then my son's not going to feel comfortable coming up to me and saying, Dad, I'd like to borrow five pounds. Why? Because they have a broken relationship that can't be broken. I can't maintain that. I can't continue the relationship because the relationship is continued without me doing anything, right? But I need to continue in fellowship by dealing with the sin that is coming between God and myself so that I'm rightly related to God. That is what this is talking about when it says continue in my love with God. It really has to do with this today. If I were to come to you, or God the Father was to come to you, would you be able to say, as best I know, 100%, there is nothing in my heart that dishonors God or displeases God. My heart is rightly related to God. By the way, Kent, is that possible? Yes it is. Why? Because if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. And to what? cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But on the other hand, the Bible speaks about, if I regard iniquity in my heart, that means to treasure, then what? The Lord will not hear me. Right? And so there's a need that I have, there's a need that you have today, by the grace of God, to search our hearts and say, right, is there anything God wants me to do that I'm not doing? Or is there anything that God does not want me to do that I am doing? And his son confesses. See, continue my love. Why? Because isn't that what we need? Abide in me and I in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit of itself except you abide in the vine. No more can ye except ye abide in me. So we've got to maintain that relationship with God. Elisha Hoffman asked a good diagnostic question in her hymn, Is Thy Heart Right with God? Here's what it says. Have thy affections been mailed to the cross? Is thy heart right with God? but loss? Is thy heart right with God? Was Elisha Hoffman setting too high a standard? Was she just giving a hymn, a very spiritual idea, or was she right on? Listen, she's right on. She's right on. No, I can't pat myself on the back or anybody on the back today and say it's okay if you love something more than God today. We heard about it this past week, didn't we, on Tuesday night or something, as he preached through the law, that the law number one is God's first. Right? And so, that's biblical. Dost thou count all things for Jesus but lust? Doesn't God expect that? He loved father, mother, child, or wife more than me, you're not worthy of me. Whosoever forsaken that, all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. That God's expectation for every blood-bought, born-again person in this room today would be that you have set that aside to say God whatever you want. I think she's right on. It says, is thy heart right with God, washed in the crimson flood, cleansed and made holy, humble and lowly, right in the sight of God? You know, it doesn't say right in the sight of your spouse. It doesn't say right in the sight of your parents. It doesn't say right in the sight of your pastor. It says right in the sight of God. That's maintaining that love of God thing, walking in the love of Jesus. Hast thou dominion or self and or sin? Is thy heart right with God, over all evil, without and within? Is thy heart right with God? Is there now no more condemnation for sin? Is thy heart right with God? Which, by the way, when she says that, it's that what we've been looking at in Romans chapter 8, that there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit, that if I'm living my life for God, that that judgment won't come, that chastening. because I'm rightly related to God. Does Jesus rule in the temple within? Is thy heart right with God? Are all thy powers under Jesus control? Is thy heart right with God? Does he each moment abide in thy soul? Is thy heart right with God? Paul even challenged his preacher 4, verse 16, it says, take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine, continue in them. For in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and men that hear thee. Continue in the doctrine and take heed unto thyself. What is that? That's that idea of walking in obedience to Jesus. You know, this morning, again, are you continuing in that right relationship with God? that is rightly related to God. And then fifth, continue in church. Continue in church. Continue in the love of Jesus, that's obedience. Continue in God's Word. Continue in prayer. Continue in fasting. And then continue in church. Acts 2 verse 42 says, and they continued steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers. And as it speaks about that, you stop and think, oh let's see, there's preaching taking place, doctrine, there's fellowship taking place, there's breaking of bread, that's the Lord's Supper, there's prayers taking place, what is it? It's church, okay? It's the body of Christ coming together and meeting together. And they continued together. And again, we were challenged with that this past week, weren't we? And some of the things that are in my notes, which I wrote this message before Brother Berrywell came, all right? Some of the things that he shared are here for us again this morning. with one accord, in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart. You know, I talk to unbelievers, and as I start to witness to them, and I say, I'd just like to invite you to visit my church, and a lot of times they'll say this, you don't have to go to church to worship God, alright? And they'll say that. You know, and obviously we understand that that is not correct. The Bible does speak about the body of Christ, but I think there's a lot of believers that think that you can not be in church and be rightly related to God. That the church has no significance. I say this, the body of Christ has the greatest of all significance. That there is a great need to gather together as we were challenged about in this past week. And so when did they meet? They met on Sundays, Acts 20 verse 7 tells us that. And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow, and continued his speech until midnight. 1 Corinthians 16, 2 says, Upon the first day of the week, let every one of you lay by him in store, as God has prospered him. that there be no gatherings when I come, and that verse is speaking about tithes and offerings that we give to God on the first day of the week, that we look at how God has blessed us, and we take of that which God has given to us, and on that day that the church meets, we give back to God. Now, you remember, this is, again, very similar to what Brother Barry preached. He preached both those verses, and then he dealt with this third verse as well, which says, not forsaking, Hebrews 10, 25, the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." See, Christ is coming soon. Jesus is coming soon. I mean, stop and think, where do you want to be on the Lord's day? When Christ comes. See, He's coming soon. So much the more, as ye see the day approaching. We've been reading as a family about the Welsh Revival and how God used a preacher, Evan Roberts, in South Wales and then up a little bit into North Wales as well. A revival that shook the world. I mean, people came from internationally to see what was taking place as this country just was spiritually brought to life by the power of the Gospel and the power of God. But the author of this, which the title of the book is I Saw the Welsh Revival, he's a man that got saved in the Revival and later God called to preach. He says about Lahore, the home village of Evan Roberts, as Roberts went back there, he said, the revival in Lahore must have received a new impetus with the return of Evan Roberts, not that there was any evidence that the fire had been banked during his absence. Night and day, the meetings had continued with little, if any, abatement Years later, when I was preaching the district, I was assured that the chapel now famous throughout the world had not been closed night or day for months. Where's the power that can extinguish the fire that has been kindled by the hand of God? So we understand that. It was a revival taking place. You say, Pastor, that was a revival. Those were special times. God was meeting with those people in special ways. And they were burning to seek God. So night after night, day after day, it was the most important thing that was in their life. Seek God! Let me ask you, where's the modern church? Closing Sunday night services. Why? Because no one will come. Closing midweek services. Why? Because no one will come. It's hard to keep Sunday morning services going. Why? Because no one will come. Listen, a church that does not meet together ceases to what? Exist. You say, Pastor, you're pretty fired up about it. I am. I am. Why? Because as a group, God will still work in our hearts that we say, by the grace of God, if church is on, I'm there. You know what's going to happen? Visitors are going to come and go, wow, this church is serious about God. They have a real interest in the things of God. It's not just lip service, oh yeah, I go to church, it's kind of my extra thing. No, their life is about church. Their life is about seeking God, and they want to meet with God. Continue in church. And then, continue in God's grace. Acts 13, verse 43, continue in God's grace. Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul in Barnabas. Continue in the grace of God. Paul had just preached a gospel message and some people had resisted that. The Jews, they were hard-hearted against God, but there were some people that sincerely wanted to receive Christ, and so they came and they got saved. They embraced the message that Paul had given them. Paul exhorted them and said, hey, continue in the grace of God. What is the grace of God? What is grace? Undeserved favor. Right? Unmerited favor. It's that, wow, God is so good to those that respond to his goodness. Right? I mean, God is good to everybody. God is standing in heaven today with a gift of everlasting life to reach out and give to anybody that desires it. If somebody here today looked in their heart and said, right, I'm not saved, I need Jesus, God in his grace, would say, hey, come into my loving favor, I want to meet your need. Right? We're talking about staying in the love of Christ. What's that? Continuing to walk in his grace. Continuing to walk in that place where you have the blessing of God strengthening you, the blessing of God helping you, just think about how many hands that we have in our kennel that have this idea of grace. One of them is Grace Does a Charming Sound by Philip Doddridge, and Ira Sanky put it to music. It says, grace does a charming sound, harmonious to my ear. Heaven with the echo shall resound, and all the earth shall hear. Grace first contrived the way, to save rebellious man. In all the steps that grace displayed, which drew the wondrous plan, grace first inscribed my name in God's eternal book to his grace that gave me to the Lamb, who all my sorrows took. And it's talking, the first verses are talking about saving grace and the goodness of God that brought us to everlasting life and how wonderful it was and we received that from God. But then it speaks about continuing in grace. As it says, grace taught my wandering feet. to tread the heavenly road. That's getting the path of righteousness, the way that God speaks about in his word. And new supplies each hour I meet while pressing on to God. Grace taught my soul to pray and made mine eyes overflow to cause grace which kept me to this day and will not let me go. Grace all the works shall crown through everlasting days. It lays in heaven the topmost stone and well deserves the praise. Oh, let thy grace inspire my soul with strength divine. May all my powers to thee aspire, and all my days be thine. See, continuing in grace is continuing with that understanding of, I need God. You know what I mean? Just like when I got saved, I need God. And so, as I go to prayer, I'm not just praying on a form. I'm not praying on a ritual. I'm praying because I need God, and I'm asking God for God. Right? and God meets my need. Continue in grace, continue to receive from a loving God by all those other things that we always already considered about continuing to fast and to seek God, continue in prayer, continue to study God's Word, continue in the love of Jesus by obedience, continue in church, continue in God's grace, continue to receive that blessing, and then continue in faith. Continue in faith. You know, some of you may be thinking, that's right, Pastor, why wouldn't we continue in grace? Why wouldn't we continue to experience that goodness from God? And that would be this, we don't continue in the faith. Continue in our dependence upon God. The Bible says, for by grace are you saved. Through faith, that's our part. The grace is from God. Faith is our part that accepts that, receives that, and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God. It's anchored in God's word, Colossians 1.23. It says, if you continue in faith, grounded and settled. That idea of grounding, praise God. Every time we pick up this book, or preach this book, or study this book, this book lays a foundation. That grace builds upon him, we continue in faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, which was preached to every creature which is under heaven, whereof I, Paul, made a minister. Okay, so be not moved away, continue in the faith. What would move us away? What would it be today that would take us out of that path of following after God? Let's think about the parable of the sower, which again I think we heard about this past week. What about when someone persecutes you for being a follower of the faith? And somebody opposes you? The Bible says in that passage, But he that received the seed into stony places, the same as he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it, yet hath he not root in himself, but doerth for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, by and by he is offended. They didn't continue in the faith. They didn't continue to follow after and trust God. They let their heart be offended by whatever took place and say, well, I'm not gonna, you know, I'm not willing to suffer that way for Jesus. Acts 14, 22, Paul said, as they confirmed the souls of the disciples, he exhorted them to continue in the faith, that we must, through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God. And we need to encourage each other to stay, to stick with it, to stay faithful, to continue to depend upon God, even if your family opposes you, even if the world opposes you. What about when you really care more about this world than the next? Again, the parable of the sower, it says in verse 22, He also that receives seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word, and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he become unfruitful. They didn't continue the faith. Why? Because it wasn't profitable. Immaterialism pulled him away, and we are reminded of Demas again this past week, who had forsaken Paul, having loved this present world. There's a man, George Mensick, that was a gangster in Al Capone's gang in Chicago. He actually went to the church that my dad went to in Chicago when my dad was an assistant pastor. And Dad was challenged by the pastor to interview him and write a biography about him, but George would not speak about his former life because it was that wrong. He got saved after he put a gun to his daughter's head after he found her praying for him in his house. His wife was praying as well. He put a gun to her head. It scared him so much he ran down to the church and got saved. But as he came out of the gang, the gang would come by. He couldn't get a job anywhere. And so he was a street sweep on the city streets in Chicago. And the gang would come by, and they'd mock him and say, oh, George, hey, God's treating you really well. He got into prison. He started prison ministry, preaching in prison. So many prisoners got their life right with God that they took the record against George Vincent. And they had a public ceremony. They took that record, and they burned it. Why? Because George Vincent continued in the faith. He didn't take the pressure from others or the desires for the things that he had before he got saved. He continued in faith. Are you? Are you letting things stop you? Jesus said to his disciples in Luke 22-28, Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations, in my trials. We stuck with it. Pray God help us continue in faith. And then continue to preach Jesus, okay? Continue to preach Jesus. Another spiritual discipline is getting out the good news as Jesus commanded when he said, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. The early church, as they received that, they continued daily, they continued weekly to get the gospel out. Acts 15 verse 35, It says, Paul also, in Barnabas, continued in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord with many others also. Acts 19, verse 10. These continued by the space of two years, so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord, Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. They continued. Do you like those illustrations that take things, line them up, and stretch them out, and tell you how far they go? You've seen those. Here's one for you. The human genome. The genetic code in each human cell contains 23 DNA molecules, each containing from 500,000 to 2.5 million nucleotide pairs. Alright, don't think too hard or you'll get an headache. DNA molecules of this size are 1.7 to 8.5 centimeters long when uncoiled, or about 5 centimeters on average. You have about 10 trillion cells in your body. So if you stretch the DNA and all the cells out end-to-end, they stretch over 744 million miles. The moon is only about 250,000 miles away. So all your DNA would stretch through the moon and back almost 1,500 times. The sun is 93 million miles away, so your DNA would reach there and back about four times. And we all go, wow. That's amazing. I got that much information. Which, by the way, is great proof that there's a creative designer that put all that information there. But if I were to ask you today, let's do a different thing. Let's line up this instead. Let's line up those to whom you've given the gospel. How long would the line be? Would the line this morning reach from here if they're queued up just in front of me? Would it reach to that divide in the middle of people that you personally shared Christ with? Would it reach to that wall? What would be the length, what would be the population of people that you have expressed the gospel to? If we could snap our fingers and they could all be here, a person that you've handed a tract to, a person that you've verbally shared the gospel with, someone that you've prayed for their salvation, somebody that you've impacted by giving to missions. If we did that and we saw that, how many would it be? Because we have around us, outside these walls, people that need to hear about Jesus Christ. And the only people that they're going to hear from are seated here. It's the body of Christ. If we stretch out your week, your year, your month, what part of that is given to evangelism? These things about the early church, they didn't stop. Everything against them, they said, no, we're just going to keep on keeping on giving the gospel. Are you? And so, I think about that sign now. As I left camp, I thought, you know what, a great sign. What a great sign for us this morning. We're out of the week of meetings, we've made decisions, right? The Spirit of God has spoken in our hearts, and we've got to anchor that down and say, right, for that to hit the rubber meets the road, I've got to continue. And so this morning, are you continuing to seek God above all else? Fasting, if need be? Are you continuing in prayer? How's your prayer life? Do you need to get on your knees this morning and say, you know God, my prayer life is maybe non-existent. Please forgive me. I haven't prayed as I pray. I need to pray. Are you continuing in God's Word? If a Bible study plan would help you, talk to me. I'd love to get you going on a plan that'll help you read through the Bible. But you need that time daily in the Word of God. You can't exist without it. What about in the love of Jesus? Is your heart right with God today? Is there anything the Spirit of God spoke to you about this past week or is speaking about to you today and you're just in your heart saying, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, But, you know, it's not about the pastor, it's about honoring the Lord, honoring the Lord's name, giving God first place, and showing that we really have a desire for God. Are you continuing God's grace, continuing dependence upon Him, saying, God, I need you, I need you, that I want to continue your grace? What about in faith? Have you let anything stop you, or, you know, materialism, or people opposing you? Are you continuing in faith? and then in evangelism. Are you continuing to share in Christ? And are you purpose today? We've got tracts in the back, flyers in the back. We've got opportunities for you to get out with our church to do evangelism. Are you willing to say to God, okay, right, I need to continue to give the gospel. May God help us to continue in the things which we've learned. Let's pray. Father, I thank you for the word of God. And Father, Because of the Spirit of God's faithfulness, we know this morning He spoke to hearts. And Father, I just pray that the Holy Spirit would help us not to just go, yeah, God spoke my heart. Help us to stop and think about what He said. We need to have a daily prayer time. We need to have a daily time with the Word of God. We need to continue in the love of God. We need to have the grace of God. We need to continue in the faith. We need to continue in church. We need to continue in evangelism. Father, this is the Word of God. So Lord, in the quietness of our hearts just now, as we take a minute before we sing, Father, I pray that we would really do business with you, and nail things down, and change things. Or it might be, if we're going to continue to love God, it might be getting rid of something. A telly, or getting a filter, or getting rid of a mobile, or filtering a mobile, or setting aside time with friends, or other things, or things that we need to change in our life. And so Father as we just take a minute to pray silently I pray spirit of God that you guide us in this time. Father, I praise you for your grace. I thank you for the word of God. We thank you for the spirit of God helping us to understand your truth. Father, I pray that you would continue to bless us as we stand and sing this invitation to him now. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. Let's stand, please. We'll sing 400. Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee. 4-0-0. 4-0-0.