Let's open our Bibles to Mark chapter number two tonight. Mark chapter number two. I won't be long tonight, but I do have a burden on my heart and I hope I can be a blessing to you. Mark chapter number two and verse number one. Mark chapter number two, verse number one. And the Bible says, and again he entered into Capernaum after some days, and it was noised abroad that he was in the house. And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door. and he preached the word unto them, amen. Don't you ever believe the lie of the devil that preaching doesn't work anymore, amen. God chose it, it still works, amen. And he preached the word unto them. And they came unto him, bringing one sick of a palsy, which was born of Thor. And when they could not come nigh unto him for the prayers, they uncovered the roof where he was. And when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of a palsy lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of a palsy, son, thy sins be forgiven thee. But there were certain of the scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts. Why does this man thus speak blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God only? And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, why reason ye these things in your heart? Whether it is easier to say to the sick of the palsy, thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, arise, take up thy bed, and walk. but that you may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins. He saith unto the sick of the palsy, I say unto thee, arise and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thy own house. And immediately he arose, took up his bed and went forth before them all, insomuch that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, we never saw it on this fashion. Heavenly Father, help us for the next few minutes, Lord, to be an encouragement to your people. And God, may this not just be a meeting tonight, but may this be a meeting that makes a difference in our lives for your glory. And in the life of the church, Lord Jesus, help me, God, to preach the truth in power and in love, and we'll thank you and praise you. In Jesus' name, amen and amen. God began to deal with me just a few days ago about this portion of scripture, and I had a preacher friend call me, and he said, he said, I heard a preacher say a phrase in passing, and he just kind of went on, and he said, it struck a chord in my soul, and he said, I asked God to give me a message on this thought, and God wouldn't do it, but he told me to give it to you. And he said, the old preacher was preaching, and he said these words, do what you can, and he'll do what you can, amen. Do what you can, and he'll do what you can. When he said that, my mind immediately went to this passage of scripture, and if God will help me tonight, I want to preach on this dog. Do what you can, and he'll do what you can, amen. I want you to see, first of all, in our passage, there's the recognition of a problem. Before men realize, we have a friend who is sick of the palsy. Now I need you to understand something. In the condition that he's in, where he cannot walk, I'm a rich man and a blessed man tonight in comparison to where he was. There was no wheelchairs in those days. There was no welfare system to keep somebody up. There was no social security. Listen, if you were lame in those days, if you were physically impaired, Brother Donnie, you were destitute, amen. You were deserted, most people believed. You were cursed of God and you were left to fend for yourself. had his friends recognize this man's got a problem. He can't provide for himself. He can't make himself well. Oh, my soul. More than likely he had no family. Amen. No finances. Had no future. Amen. He's in a mess tonight. Had his friends recognize the problem. May I tell you, and we need to recognize there's a problem. Amen. We're surrounded by people that are spiritually lame and they cannot help themselves. Amen. They have no body or no means to make things better tonight. There's a problem tonight. And his friends recognize there's a problem. I said it, I alluded to this this morning, but I think one of the greatest problems of our age is that the church has lost her burden as a whole for the plight of the world. Hey man, we've gotten used to lame people being lame. Hey man, he was bound to that bed. He couldn't get up. We've gotten used to people laying in their bondage. Somebody help me. Hey man, we've gotten used to lost people being lost. Oh, God help us. But his friends recognize he's got a problem and we've got to do something. But glory to God, they didn't more than recognize the problem. Somebody realize the potential. Somebody said, what if we can get him to Jesus? It's been noise abroad, down the road somewhere. Jesus is in the house and I heard that he can heal. I heard that he can restore the broken and make them whole. And what if we can get them to Jesus? Oh my, what if we can get our friend to the Lord, amen. That some of us need to look at our lost friends, help family, help co-workers, help begin to dream, help say what if I could get them to the Lord, help Jesus could change their life, amen. We need to really... Tonight. Oh, glory to God. A gospel track don't look like much. But evidently, Brother Brian, hey, hey, hey, when my uncle laid that track on our coffee table, he realized that there was potential for God to get a hold of mama's heart and change everything. Well, bless the Lord. Hallelujah. Oh, I wish you'd realize the potential in that. But you know what most of us do? Well, it is what it is. They are the way they are. Now we don't know for sure, but he could have been the way he was under the judgment of God. I'm not saying that's the case, but did you notice that the first thing Jesus said to him was, son, thy sins be forgiven thee. It could have been because of sin. And if it was, suppose it was, most of us good Bible-believing Bible-built Baptists would have said something like, well, he made his bed. He made His bed, let Him lay in it. Oh, you made yours, but the Lord refused to let you lay in your bondage, in your sin, amen, in your depravity, in your helplessness. In your helplessness, Jesus still came to where you were. Bless the Lord! Hallelujah. I made my bed and you made yours. I've been sinners, but glory to God, he didn't just leave us to lay there and die. Amen. And the Bible said, and they picked him up, he was born of four. Well, this word born in other places in your King James Bible is translated reach. I'm glad somebody wanted to reach me for Jesus. I'm glad somebody, hey man, wanted to reach my family for Jesus. And so they did what they could and the Lord showed up and did what they could not. Oh, bless his name. Oh, bless his name. Somebody realized the potential and brought us to Jesus. Oh, bless the Lord. My daddy's told me before, he said, hey man, the first time God ever let me preach this the other day, that preacher Jack was in the building, the preacher that done what he could. And we've been watching God do what he could. But he said the first time the preacher ever come to the house, Brother Brian, he said, I entered the door in a pair of car home shorts, no shirt with a Budweiser in my hand. And he said, I didn't even know enough to be ashamed. And he said, I walked down on the porch and I didn't know what to say or do. with the preacher standing there, and I felt uncomfortable, so I just made some kind of statement, it's a pretty day, preacher. And he said, preacher said, yes, son, it's a pretty day, but I'll be honest with you, I didn't come to talk about the weather. He said, I came out of concern for your soul, and to tell you that the Lord loves you, and He died to save you. and he wants to change your life. Say, why'd you tell us that? Because the old preacher man did what he could and God did what he couldn't. Amen. You do what you can and he'll do what you can. Amen. I want to say not only do we see a recognized problem, do we see realized potential, but we also see a resolve to get that person to Jesus. There's no way, Brother Brian, that these folks was Baptist. Because if they were, when they got to the house, and they couldn't get through the door, because of all the people. Can I call Tom out and say, that's most people's problems, they're gonna miss the Lord, because they can't get beyond people. Hey, man, one fella told me a while back, he said, I can't go to church. That church is full of hypocrites. And I was on visitation, and I said, you're right. I go to that church, we got a church full of hypocrites, but one more Lord heard us, you come on and join us, hey. Hey, man, a lot of people are dying to go to hell. or they'll quit serving God, because they can't get beyond people. If it's about people, Brother Brian, man, you'd have quit a long time ago, if all we had to see was people. But glory to God for the day that I got beyond people, and I got to his feet. Amen. He makes all the difference, friend. Thank God we not only see a recognized problem and realized potential, but they have resolved to get this man to Jesus. When they saw they couldn't get him through the door, the Bible said that they uncovered the roof. Best I can tell by reading this text, Brother Brian, it was not their house. Y'all thought about this? Which means it was not their roof. And I don't see, Brother Donny, where they ask permission to tear the roof off to get this man to Jesus. So what are you trying to say, preacher? Sometimes, if you're gonna get somebody to Jesus, you're gonna have to do what's uncomfortable. You're gonna have to step out of your comfort zone. Now, I've already told you I believe in gospel tracts, but you better be careful that you don't use a gospel tract as a spiritual compound. to keep from doing what's uncomfortable, to get somebody to Jesus. Well, I don't wanna push them away or I don't wanna offend them. I don't wanna embarrass them. If we'd be real honest, that's more about how they see us than it is about them. That's self, friend. God, if you're gonna be used to God, you're gonna have to crucify yourself. I believe Paul said, mortify your members. Amen. Did you know that these roofs, most of the time, these tile roofs were made of clay? You know what they had to do to get this man to Jesus? They had to get the clay out of the way. Guess what we are? Oh, old flesh made of clay. And if we're gonna get people to Jesus, friend, we're gonna have to get the clay out of the way, amen. We're gonna have to turn through the clay, dig through the clay, amen. Now let me say that took some time, amen. It took some time to carry that man, and it took some time to dig and get the roof off. And if we're gonna make a difference for Jesus, it's gonna take time. He was tall, amen. Yet they dug it out. It wasn't easy, amen. There was some perspiration. There was some blood, sweat, and tears. Went in to get that man to the Lord, but they were doing what they could, hoping that the Lord would do what they couldn't. They couldn't get him up, but they could carry him to the house. They couldn't get him up, but they could tear the roof off and let down the bed. God's just looking for you to do what you can, and he'll do what you can't. Oh, bless the Lord. And because there was a recognized problem and realized potential and a resolve to get that person to Jesus, there's a revelation of his power. The text said, and when he saw their faith, oh, we don't know if the man in the bed had any faith at all. But when he saw the faith of the ones that carried the man to Jesus, he spoke to him and said, first, son, thy sins be forgiven thee. Notice that he first addressed the sin before he addressed And the problem with our day and age is everybody wants their situation addressed, but nobody wants to address sin. We want to get rid of the fruit of the problem without ever tending to the root of the problem. Sin, friend. Amen. It's sin. Jesus addressed both, by the way. Thank God he don't leave you like he finds you. Oh, bless the Lord. I wonder what kind of a revelation of God's power could East Georgia Road see if just everybody in this building said, I can't do everything, but I'm gonna do something. I'm gonna do what I can. No. Listen, y'all. I ain't hardly able to travel international anymore because of my health. I can't do that. But I can ride a track. I can be shipped around the world to tell somebody. You may not can physically turn off a roof, but you can pray to the one that makes people able to turn off roofs. Oh my. If you'll do what you can, God will do what you can. Before we come to church, Mama was talking to Jesse about the radical change that's took place in one of my cousin's lives. And we prayed for her for over 15 years. A couple of months ago before he got right, Brother Brian, God told me to call him. And I said, listen friend, I ain't trying to be awkward or make you feel uncomfortable, but the God of heaven told me to call you. I see a lot of your daddy in you. You've got the same heart and the same compassion, and your daddy loves God and he prays for you, and I believe the Lord wants to use you just the same, but you're gonna have to surrender and get right with God and realize your God-given potential. and we prayed together. I couldn't fix it. I did what I could. And Lord, we're watching God do what we couldn't. We didn't do it, God did. By the way, if you live to get people to Jesus, when they're trying to get to Him, they know who to come to. When God started dealing with him, he'd come to hear me preach. And the service was over and he, oh Lord, he hugged my neck and he said, pray for me because I've got to get in. I ain't got time to tell you the miracle that's been wrought through all this. But I'm telling you this, his praying mama and praying daddy, amen, and the rest of us that prayed for him, we couldn't do it. I hope we did for him. Bless the Lord. My uncle's been praying. And he started carrying a Bible to church by faith and setting it in the pew so that if one of them came, there'd be a Bible sitting there. And a lot of Sundays and Wednesdays went by with nobody sitting there to read that Bible. But now, There's not a Bible sitting beside him in that pew. There's a Bible. Oh, glory to God. Do what you can. When he saw their faith. He said, Lord, look at me and look at you and see our faith. If your faith is what's dependent on God moving in the life of your loved one. How probable is it? If my faith, oh God help me, is what hinges on whether or not God moves in the life of my loved one, what kind of chance do they have? He didn't move out of response of the man in the bed. We don't even know if he had any faith. He moved because he saw the faith of the four men that carried him. I have a question. They had faith enough to get under the load. Do you? Do you have faith enough to pick up your corner of East Georgia Road? Tell somebody. Hey, hey, hey, hey. What is the church? Well, one thing the church is, in this text, is the bed we carry to get people to Jesus. It's how we carry people to Jesus. Who do you know that needs to be carried to Jesus? And are you carrying your corner? Did you know that 10% of the church in most places carries 100% of the load? You say, well then why are you preaching to the Sunday night crowd, the faithful ones? I'm not being ugly, but I will be honest. I'm preaching to you because we know that that crowd that won't come back ain't gonna pick up a corner. It's on us. We live in an age of consumption instead of contribution. So how do you know that? Because everybody's first question is, what does the church have for my family? What can the church offer my family? I've always found it odd that nobody wants to stay because of things that aren't offered when they won't stay and labor where it can be offered. I don't understand that. When I was an associate pastor, we had a man call that had been to every church in the county, it seemed like. And he'd ask the same questions. What do you have for my kids? What do you have for this? And what do you have for that? And he called the church one morning, and the pastor looked at me and said, guess what? I'm the pastor and you're the assistant, and I believe the assistant ought to take this call. I said, I'd be glad to. And so he called Miss Joanna, and he had those same questions. Oh, what are you gonna do right here, and what can you offer us right here, and what can you give us right here? And I answered his questions best I knew how, and I said, wait a minute. Before you hang up, I got a question. I said God's moving in our church, people are being saved, and we don't want anybody to hinder, so I need to know, you've asked me, what can you offer? What can we offer your children, and what can we offer your family? But I wanna know if you're gonna come and join with us, the way God's moving, reckon what you're gonna offer our church. He said, what do you mean? I said, well, you're all the time asking about the things you could get. I wanna know what you're gonna give. He said, well, what do you mean? I said, well, you wanna know what we can do for you, but I wanna know, somebody's got to give for these ministries to go on and these missionaries to be sent out, so are you gonna tithe and give the missions? It got quiet. I said, you wanna know what we can do for your youngins, but are you gonna faithfully bring your youngins to church so they can learn? Do you want us to just give them pizza, or will you be faithful so they can learn the precepts of the word of God? I said, do you wanna know, we'll be faithful to visit you if you're in need, and we will, but who will you be willing to visit? We're in desperate need for people on the visitation team. Wouldn't you be willing to go? And he said, well, preacher, I'm real busy. I said, wait a minute. You mean that you're too busy to help, but we better not be too busy to help. He said, I don't know if this will be the church for my family or not. And I said, the way God's a moving, we need people that are looking to serve and not be served. And so if all you're looking for is to be served, sir, you're probably right. This ain't the place for you. I said, but by the way, you've been in church for 30 years and not yet serving. What are you waiting on? He said, well, you think it's just easy? I said, oh yeah, friend. I said, I'll leave you alone because I have no idea how hard it would be for an able-bodied person to serve God. He said, you was being a smart addict. No, God told me this time somebody got honest with that man about the intent of his heart. By the way, he still ain't settled. He's still looking for a church to this day. and that's been 10 years ago or more. Listen, if all you're looking for is what you can get, you're not gonna settle anywhere because your flesh is always gonna want more. But if I'm looking for a place to give and to serve, by the way, Can I call time out? I'm about done. Can I call time out and say, church is not a place for you to be satisfied. Church is a place for God to be glorified. And if you're right with God, you'll be satisfied when he's most glorified. Amen. You say, why would he preach this to the Sunday night crowd? Because just because we're willing to come back on Sunday night does not mean we're willing to turn off the roof. God help us. If you'll do what you can, he'll do what you can. Can I say this to you seasoned silver-haired saints? You know what I see in most churches? Well, I've gotten older now and I've put in my time. It's time for the younger ones to step up. I'm just gonna sit down. I hear that all the time. In the name of the Lord, don't do that. Because we need your wisdom. You say, well, they need to serve. We don't know how. My generation don't know how to serve God. Somebody's gonna have to teach them. Miss Maury, there's a young lady somewhere in this church that needs to be under your wing to learn how to pray and how to serve. You say, why would God keep her here over 90 years? Because there's a shortage of godly saints. She's got to be able to pick up the mantle if God calls her home before the rapture of the church. I hope she gets to stay. If we stay, I hope Miss Maury gets to stay, if she's at least 150. I love her. It ministers to my soul just to see her. Unto God, when you retire, don't think it's time to retire on the Lord. Amen. You say, well, I've got a family and I'm so busy. If you wait till you're not, you'll never serve God. But if we'd all just do what we could, we'd see a revelation of his power and he'd do what we could. My pastor that I grew up under that I mentioned earlier He's writing the foreword to my new devotion. You know why I did that? Because I wanted to honor the man that did what he could. You say, was he a perfect man? No. Was he a man without faults? No, but neither am I. But I believe he did what he could. He helped missionaries get around the world. He exposed me to brothers in it below. Made me fall in love with getting people to gospel. He did what he could, and I've been watching God do what he couldn't ever since. Won't it be a good day when we get to the judgment seat and treasure grabber gets to see all the fruit that abounded to his account because of all the people that he won to God and all the people that they won to God. My daddy's never been to India, but his boy has. And one day, I believe the Lord, I'm saying, come here, Tommy. Let me show you all these people from India and Africa, Utah, Cincinnati. Let me show you all these people that got the gospel and were saved because you did what you could for your boy. Some of you parents, your greatest contribution to God's kingdom may not be what you do, it may be who you raise. I don't know nothing about raising kids. Nothing. And I'm realizing, Brother Brian, now that I'm a husband and a daddy, I need the Holy Ghost just as much to be a husband and a daddy as I do to preach senior testifying. I don't want to think about raising kids or being a husband, but I have been raised by a godly mom and daddy, and I know what a godly husband looks like because of my daddy. If all your youngins go astray, Brother Donnie, they want me because they didn't have an example of parents that stayed faithful in spite of adversity. And Mitchell's here, and God forbid you ever do. But if you ever chose to go another way, you'd have to give an account for that example. And God forbid we ever do, but if we ever went another way, we'd have to give an account of the example that was laid before us. But if we'll follow their example and do what we can, God will do what we can. I'm not trying to edify them, but you need to know. It's good for people to know the impact they have on people's lives. I was talking to Michael Allen. before church today and he said, you're preaching for Brother Brian, aren't you? I said, yes sir. He said, they sure are an example of faithfulness. He was doing what he could And it's impacting people in ways you don't even realize. This morning I watched Dr. Aitken faithfully fill the 4th Pyramid just a few weeks ago. How old is Dr. Aitken? Just turned 80. Still doing what he can. And God's still doing what he can. 72 years of faithfulness. If he's here tonight, Still doing what he can and watching God do what he can't. I watched him preach by the bride and this is what I said to the Lord. I want to finish like that. I want to go out faithful. You're saying, is it so you have a good name? No, I want to go out faithful because of how faithful he's been to me. He don't deserve any less than my faithfulness or your faithfulness. If we'll do what we can, God will do what we can. He did in this text. I'll say it again to close, they couldn't get him up, but they could tear off the roof. and carry him and lower down the bed. Amen. This much I know. More than likely if I ever moved down the mountain again, God would have to make me move. I love the hills. But if I ever did, I'd probably drop anchor at East Georgia Road, because I know there's a man of God that's just doing what he can, hoping to watch God do what he can't. Amen. I'm done tonight. Maybe the dear sister can come to the piano, just play him an invitation. I know you're faithful to Sunday night service because you're here. But are you doing what you can? Are you doing all that you can? There goes one of the reasons I want to do what I can. His life, the life of that lame man was dependent on those four men doing what they could. Hey, daddy, can your youngest depend on you? Hey, young person, can your friends depend on you to do what you can to get them to Jesus? Hey, church member, I just want to know, are you doing all you can We can get people to Jesus. I'm just gonna say this, we're not gonna beg people to come, but young or old, if God spoke to your heart, would you come to this altar and do business with God? I feel like I'll have to do this again, this morning, don't always do it, but I do it when God tells me to. This much I know about today, Jesus has been in the house. He's here. And maybe tonight you're here and you know you're in God's presence. You might say, preacher, I know that I'm in God's presence, but I'm not sure that I'm saved. Pray for me. If that's you, I know one's looking around, would you raise your hand and let me pray for you? I won't come to you, I won't embarrass you, we're not gonna drag you down an aisle. I don't believe in none of that. God's salvation is a divine work of God that I cannot do. Maybe you say, Preacher, I'm not sure I'm saved. Pray for me. If that's you, would you lift your hand and let us pray for you? Maybe you say, Preacher, I know I'm saved, but I don't believe I'm doing all that I can do for the cause of Christ. and see God get glory out of East Georgia Road. Maybe I'm doing something, but I'm not doing what I can. Pray for me, preacher. If that's you, would you lift your hand? Thank you. Thank you for your honesty. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I got a question. Are you just gonna say it is what it is, or are you gonna do something about that? Your first step might be coming and talking to the Lord and being like Paul and saying, Lord, what would thou have me to do? If you raise your hand, I challenge you to come. Quit waiting on somebody else. That's what we do during invitation. We wait on somebody else to be the first to move. Then we'll move. Somebody's gotta be the first to move tonight. But you come. You raise your hand, you know you're not doing what you're supposed to do. What are you gonna do about that? What you're doing is with the Lord tonight, I challenge you to come while she plays. Just mind the Lord. You say, well, I can pray in my pew. You can, but there's something special about caring enough to come down to an altar that God appreciates. Some have already come. What about you? What if that little lad with the lunch had said, there's too many people, the need's too big, it won't do any good for me to get my basket. But thank God, Brother Brownie did what he could. He put it in the hands of the Lord. And the Lord did what he could. I met a widow woman with a barrel of meal. Was fed for many days. She couldn't put more meal in the barrel, it was a famine. She couldn't fix one cake for the man of God. She did what she could. And God, day after day after day, did what she couldn't. I like to use my sanctified imagination. I often wonder, Brother Brian, what it was like to be in a famine, and everybody's starving to death, and she's a winner with no help at all. And somehow every day when they went by to look in her window, she was sitting at the table, eating warm bread. I wonder if somebody asked her, what happened? I don't know, I understood what the man of God said. Made him a cake, and he's been milling the barrel ever since. Amen. Sometimes if you're Moses, all you gotta do is stand there with your hands up. Just doing what you can. God does what you can. Preacher, I've obeyed the Lord, you come on. Lord sent a message to us tonight to our church. I believe personalized for us. But we all can realize where we have, where we can do more. I think we all could say we could do more. But we need to use the message that was given because we need to recognize the real problem behind people's lives. And we need to have a burden of vision the great thoughts he gave tonight. We get used to people being lame in our families, at work, school. We need God to help us recognize that problem, realize that potential. You didn't finish your message, you probably got another part of the outline or something, but I couldn't help but think about the rejoicing of the people who never saw it. Just pray. I'm sure everybody here, there's somebody that you could reach. And I've preached a message, I'm sure many have, many pastors have, carry your corner. But if those other three corners get dropped down and you're dragging it by yourself, now you know why there's so many empty corners. He said, why so many preachers quit? Why families quit? They fell out. They carried it on their own. So if you picked up one somewhere back in the day, go back and find it. Pick that corner up again. That thought born of four. Boy, four people could just bind together. Some of you got more than four in your family that could pray for that one person in your family that needs to be brought back to the Lord. Maybe you can make a pact together. Our four people in the church. But as my pastor said, even if you feel alone, there's always God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. So if you know you're faithful, keep on doing what you can. Well, they got the other three corners, they'll do what you can. I sure would like to have a vision and a hope and an expectation to see God could save some souls and add to our church. We've got a lot of potential around here. I've mentioned that many times. We've got a lot of land and a lot of ways we can minister through this facility and this land, get the gospel out. But we don't have enough people to really do it. We don't have enough funds to do it. I'd love to see so much money flowing through here that some of you could become full-time working in the ministry here doing things. But that money ain't flowing through here to do that. But it could. It could. We need to just do what we can. I pray that you will. I hope you receive that challenge this week to start off tonight or tomorrow. And so I'm going to do what I can today. I'm going to do what I can and expect him to do what he can. Thank you for the message, Brother Jonathan. And you be praying for his expanded ministry now. He's writing books and tracks. He's going on. Pray for him he won't get too high for his lowly people he knows like us around here. I know he won't. I'm just aggravating him. Just pray these things will come to pass. He'll get to see the desires of his heart and that stuff will get to go out across the world and be able to spread the gospel. Amen. Brother Don, if you would dismiss us in prayer, we're going to dismiss and head on to the house. Let's take these messages today and let's apply them, amen? Put them to work this week. And hopefully something will be more than just temporary, but it'll be long lasting in our lives.