I appreciate all the work that's been being done very, very much. Let's take your Bible and come to Nehemiah chapter, I'm sorry, Isaiah chapter number five, Isaiah chapter number five. I appreciate the prayers. Just real quickly, probably have recognized that Doreen hasn't been around some. She's been real sick. The side effects have been not very pleasant at all. And we've been to see, I think, six, five or six. Doctors are in hospitals or tests or whatever since Thursday afternoon, Friday to Monday, last Monday, last Friday, anyway, however many. But I think we're kind of narrowing down where we need to go and what needs to happen. And she had not been sleeping for 14 days, two hours on average a night. Go to bed around 10, get up at 12 or 1, and so you know how that can affect you across the board, but especially when you're trying to heal and then some infections and other things like that. So, which is not uncommon when you're taking this. particular medicine. They're trying to rule out a couple of things that they're concerned about that can be very, very serious, but the bright light is that at least the scans of her liver and all are looking good. They're not being hit as hard as normally for the medicine that she's on, but in the meantime, She's back around alive and kicking today, and she's doing pretty good, so I appreciate it. I give all the credit for that to God. I think it's the Lord that does that, and we're real close to Him right now. It is funny how it kind of keeps your attention. So in that sense of the word, it's a good thing. I'm not glad to see her having to go through that stuff, but it definitely causes you to keep your attention. Anyway, all right, take your Bible, look in Isaiah chapter number 5. Now, we've been talking about a weed-free garden. And now let's just say, for the sake of our conversation, let's just say that you now have the weeds out of your garden. Let's say that the ground has been torn down. Let's say that the seeds are planted and that you've done everything you can to nourish the ground and to allow the air to get in there, the sunlight to get in there so photosynthesis can take place. and get in there absorbed, the minerals can be absorbed. You got all those things done and you're keeping a watchful eye over it. Now one of the things that takes place then with a garden is once you have something and if you've ever planted a garden, never knew that you had deer or had varmint and you didn't know you had rabbits and all of a sudden you got something eating your stuff. And you didn't even know they had wild animals. And before long, the birds are coming down off the tree. And then before long, then the little squirrels are going in, and they're disrupting the growth when it comes. brand new shoot coming out. And then before long, you'll find rabbits will come in and start ravaging through the crops and stuff. And then deer will come in and can tear up stuff really, really quick, as cute and pretty as they may be to look at. Having a garden, they can become your enemy. And then you have to put up different things in order to protect what you're growing. And that's where we're headed here today. So I'm taking weeds out of my garden. I'm doing the best to keep things as clean as I can. I realize it requires repetitiveness. And that's the thing about Christian life that just calls to your attention, or I'll try to call to your attention to tell you, that the Christian life is often repetitive and routine. It's the same thing over and over and over and over and over again. That's how life is. You get up in the morning, you get your coffee, you do your reading or however your morning routine is, you get in the car, you drive to work, you work, you work for what, 30 years or so, 25 years, and then you retire, but you don't quit the routine. You still go through the routine, and then you replace the work with whatever else you're doing. Now, the problem with that is, is that when it comes, ladies and gentlemen, oftentimes what occurs is, is the individuals that are doing routine, whether it's school, or whether it's athletics, or whether it's work, to Christianity, if you talk about routine, they'll say, well, this is boring. Well, it's the same thing all the time. Well, every time I go to church, they just sing some hymns and a singer gets up and yells at us. And so it's just the same thing all the time. So they're looking on all the time to try to change things up, but life doesn't change up. More than five minutes to see your hand. Okay, now let me ask you, right after you got married, got back from honeymoon, and all of a sudden you realize, ma'am, that the man you married is not the man you dated. Can I get a witness? He'd leave his clothes wherever they were, and he would put his number 12 in the garbage can, and then when you get rid of it, the bottom falls out, because he never remembers to take out the garbage can, ever. It comes every week, but he never remembers to take it out. all of a sudden recognize that that submissive, meek, quiet woman that you dated, the second you started down the aisle, the first thing she said was, honey, could you stand up and walk a little straighter, please? People are watching you now. Honey, wipe that cake off your face. And all of a sudden, you're like, did I get the wrong one? Where did this come from? And then you know what you settle into? You settle into a routine. Let me ask you a question. If every time you have something that you disagree on or things don't go the way you think it ought to go, do you go change for another one? Why do we do that spiritually? If our life in Christ is supposed to be representative of a marriage, why is it that as soon as the Lord does something we don't like or we don't understand or somebody at the church does or says something, preacher included, then all of a sudden we want to change? Right? Christian life is routine duty. It's a lot of the same thing all the time. It doesn't change. That's what requires character on your part. And that's why I think faithfulness is not played up enough because I think God rewards faithfulness. I think he appreciates the fact that you hunker down and you lean into the plow of routine duty. In Isaiah chapter number five, now you've got the seed in there, which is perfect and it's pure, and it's gonna grow and produce the right kind of fruit. He said, now while I sing to my beloved, touching his vineyard, my well-beloved hath a vineyard and a fruitful hill, a very fruitful hill. Look at it in verse number eight. Now this is important for you to get. Now come to the book of Nehemiah. Ezra, Nehemiah, go back to the front of your Bible and look into it there. It's right before Job. Nehemiah chapter 3. Now it's interesting, he uses a vineyard here. And for you to grab a hold of that. So it'll go, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job. And look in Nehemiah chapter number 3, it's interesting that he uses a vineyard. In the New Testament there in the book of Matthew, he said he's using a parable. And he says in that parable a strange thing. He said, I went to get two boys to go work for me, and one of the boys said he'd go and he didn't go. And the other boy said, going but then he turned around and went and then he hits the Pharisees and he said now which one of them is in God and they all said the first guy because he said he would but he didn't go I've known a lot of people that said they would do something for the Lord and didn't do it. I've known a lot of people that said, I'm not going, I don't want to be called, and I don't want to do anything, and I don't want to hear what anybody says, and something has taken the place, and what they do, they wind up staying out. I'll go, I'll go, because they don't have anything else to do. But then life comes along, doesn't it? The thorns and the thistles and the briars and the weeds begin to grow up, of a sudden you kind of lose that same tenaciousness that you had to begin with. You didn't have anything. You had an empty bank account. You didn't have, you know, a place to go to the bathroom or a window to throw it out of and that kind of thing. You didn't have anything to lose, right? Our idea nowadays is, if you read chapter number 15, you have to recognize this first gate that we're going to talk about, we're talking about the perimeter, setting a perimeter up, and then there's ways to get through the perimeter, ways to get through a certain gate. You can put a watchman at the gate. And it's interesting to me how people have said, I'll do something for the Lord, I'll do this, I'll do that, and I'll do the other. You can't find them there, you can't find them I promise I'll go, I'll go, I'll go, I'll go. And then guess what happens? As the time comes, they don't go. And then I've seen other individuals who said, I'm not going to do that. I don't want anything to do with it at all. And then God ring their bell and they jump in and they do something. The two is the most important. Now, I've known a lot of people that are well-meaning and they intend and they even accept a call to preach or a call to the mission field or a call to whatever else it is. There's dozens of things you can do for the Lord. You can be a healer for that matter. And said, I'll do this and if I dedicate my work to the Lord, I'll do everything for you and this and that and the other. And then all of a sudden, the deceitfulness of riches and things like that come in. And then it's, well, when I get this done and when I get this done and I get this done and I get that done. And as soon as I get that done, but first we've already talked Now you have to protect against that. So I'm using the gates here that are coming into the city there with Nehemiah. Nehemiah chapter number three, look in verse number one. He says in chapter three, verse number one, then Elisha, the high priest, with his brethren, and they builded the sheep gate and sanctified it and set up the doors of it even unto the tower of Aenea. They sanctified it under the tower of Haniel. Now, why is that important, a sheep gate? Why would that be important? Look in Psalms 51 and I'll show you. You see, protecting your field, protecting your garden, protecting your crop comes without a price to pay. The number one lesson you have to learn about Jesus Christ and serving Him is a sacrifice will often be required. I'm going to talk about it for you. Paul said, I may know Him and the power of His resurrection through the fellowship of His suffering. Paul writes to you in 2 Corinthians 11 and 2 Corinthians 12 and shows you what the ministry is like. But people don't want to accept that. Your sheep gait's in need of repair. We've gotten comfortable where we are in America. We've gotten comfortable. We've gotten rich compared to the rest of the world's standards. And the church has gotten rich and the church has gotten comfortable. We've lost our desire to see souls saved and realize people are not all. And then church becomes just something we do instead of who we are. And that's not a good way to protect the sheep gate. Look at David in Psalm 51 to verse 17. or a broken spirit, broken and contrite heart, O God, that will not despise." Now see, you thought I was talking about monetary sacrifices or reputation or anything like that. You know what it requires? It requires you to be broken on the inside. Sometimes God lets you go through things to break you down. You get the benefit of it if you don't get bitter. If you learn, as the old preacher used to say, if you learn to get better, you don't wind up getting bitter. Isaiah chapter 53. I'll just show you a few of these. You say, why? If there was anything that our movement, our group of individuals, our independent Bible-believing church needs to get back to, it's the willingness to sacrifice. In Genesis chapter number 15, Abram there before Abraham and before all the stuff happens with Isaac and so on and so forth, knowing that Isaac is going to be born and how that whole thing is going to go, you know what he says? He goes over there to the Lord and he says to the Lord, he said, I want to know. The Lord said, well, you see the stars? He said, yes, sir. He said, you see the sands of the sea? He said, yes, sir. He said, I'm going to make you as the stars of the heaven and as of the sand, And Abram says to him in Genesis 15, he said, Lord, how will I know? You know what that thing starts with? It starts like you're started. You started Christianity because of a sacrifice that was made for you. Jesus Christ died on the cross, was buried, raised again the third day, right? Okay, so your relationship with Jesus Christ began with a sacrifice on his part, right? So what does he say to Abram? He said, if you want to know, go ahead, take a lamb, a ram, a he-goat, a turtle dove, a pigeon. There's one more that's in there. And he said, offer them there. Well, I hate to tell you, a lamb and a he-goat take a lot of time. You've got to divide that in quarters. I don't know if you've ever done that before. I've had the privilege of doing it on more than one occasion. And that takes a little bit of time to skin those out and quarter them up the way they're supposed to be. And then they have to be laid in order. on the altar and Abram gets up there and God doesn't answer until he's completely exhausted, completely worn out and then once he gets all those things on that altar and gets everything in place and then ask God to bless the offering there, all of a sudden some black man comes down and try to take the thing off the altar. And that's what happens today in Christianity. Your sheet gate's broken down, and you say, Lord, I will. Lord, I will. Whatever you want, Lord. You had to. Absolutely. Yes, sir. Come to the altar. And by the time you get out the door, some buzzard's gone. You see him. Do you see they got a new car? Do you see they weren't there? Do you see who was there? Do you see who wasn't there? I wonder where they are. I wonder what happened. This and that and the other. And those buzzards take that right off the altar. And then you wonder why you don't hear from God, because the sacrifice isn't on the altar. The first one, chapter number 11, is a man by the name of Abel. Abel, offering a more excellent sacrifice, was accepted of God. Your relationship with God begins with a sacrifice, but we don't offer just the sacrifice of God and Him crucified. The offering that you and I have now is, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercy your body, which we all have, a living sacrifice, a living what? A living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which your reason will serve is. You won't serve Him without a broken and a contrite heart. If you have that spirit of man that hasn't been broken and you have that heart that's never been bruised and battered and broken, you can't make a living out of anybody. 2 Corinthians chapter number 1 tells you that God allows us to go through any trouble for one reason, and the only reason that we do that is, is because we're for people who are in any trouble. Your divorce has merit. The pain you're in, the living situation you're in, or the pain of losing a child, whatever else has happened in your life, you say, well, all things were together for good, then they were called according to purpose. Yes, absolutely they do, but it's on the behalf of somebody else. It makes you be able to minister. Aren't you glad that can be touched with the feelings of your infirmity? Aren't you glad he came down here and put on eyelashes and fingernails and put on feet and walked around down here and knew what it was like to be hungry and knew what it was like to be thirsty and knew what it was like to sweat? Aren't you glad you had a Savior that came down here and knew what it was like to be despised and rejected and spat upon and made fun of and laughed at? And then when you come to him and say, well, they don't really love me, Lord. And the Lord said, I understand that. I know how it feels. Why, the individuals that I came to save are the ones that hung me on the cross. You say it was Rome that hung him. No, Rome was the tool that was used. The Jews are the ones that said, crucify him. We don't want him. We'll have no king but Jesus. Okay, the Lord said, okay, who put him up there? The Jews were behind that. Now that doesn't mean you're anti-Semitism. That's just a fact. And the Bible says the day comes, the second advent, they'll look up there at whom they pierced. Paul said to the Jews, pierced him. Peter said to them, Acts chapter 2, the one whom you crucified. That's what Peter said. It's a missing responsibility. You can be behind the conspiracy. There's been more people murdered with a pen and a word than have ever been murdered with a gun or a knife. So the sacrifice begins, and what's the willingness there that you see in Genesis 15? We're in Isaiah, just hold on. The willingness you see is, is make repetitive trips until God says, okay, that's enough. How many times have I in my own personal life stopped just short of where God wanted me to stop? Because it got uncomfortable, or because it was taking too much time. You've been there, you're really tired of something, and the Lord's really dealing with you, and then all of a sudden, the devil says, you better get so-and-so, and you better get such-and-such, and you gotta watch over your testimony. You've been looking for an answer to this thing, and any other time, if you were sick or whatever, you pick up the phone and call and say, I'm late, but when it's something spiritual, it's kind of like, well, that can wait, it'll come back around. I have to keep a piece of paper and a pen by my bed at night. And you say, well, why do you do that, preacher? Because you're, you know, infinite about Alzheimer's or dementia, all that may be true, I wake up in the middle of the night sometimes, and I think, man, that is really something. That's good. I'll forget that. I'm not talking about a dream or a vision. I'm kind of like I'm thinking about, meditating on something, and man, it'll come through there at two or three o'clock in the morning, and I'll wake up and go, whew, man, that is really good. That's what I'm thinking. And I'm thinking, won't forget that. Six o'clock rolls around, I peel out of bed, I'm getting my coffee, I'm getting my pen, There's still a whole bunch of unknown knowledge that's floating around that I got in the middle of the night. You may not be that way. Maybe you wake up and you remember all that kind of stuff. Remember, I have to know and I have to discipline myself to roll over there even if it wakes me up and write a note and wind up jogging my memory about that. But ladies and gentlemen, there is a definitive need in the book of Christ today to check the sheep gate. Because you're not going to serve Jesus Christ without it costing you something. It comes up after horrible slaughter of individuals. About 70,000 individuals have died over there in Chronicles and Kings. And he's coming up there to meet the Lord and to offer a sacrifice there. The Lord's talking about staying off the execution of the others and so on and so forth. And he's going to make a sacrifice, and he runs into a fellow by the name of Ornan. He's on the threshing floor there. And he runs into him, and he said, hey, King, how are you? It's good to see you. He said, we came here to offer a sacrifice. And he said, King, you can have it, man. You're the king. Whatever I got yours, it don't matter. Just take it. Take the animals. Take everything you need to take. You remember the story? Be around 21 or so. You know, it's an odd thing about that. David says something profound. David said, I will not bring anything to the Lord that doesn't cost me something. That's David, a man after God's own heart. Jesus Christ didn't even expect God to accept you without a sacrifice. He says, I can accept you, except I give something first. I'm not coming empty handed. What's the sacrifice? In Jesus's case, it was himself. Now you have to read to the next chapter there, but the beginning of the next chapter, David offers that sacrifice in the very place where God gives him the blueprints for the temple, and it's exactly where the temple's built. So all the trouble in David's life and all the trouble and the mess he made by numbering the tribe of Israel and so on and so by the people of Israel and all the 70,000 people, he goes up there and he offers that sacrifice and the Lord stops the thing and he gets a drink offering there. And instead of him taking it, he pours it out to the Lord. He said, I'm not worthy to have this. And in the next chapter, God reveals to him, this is where I want my temple built. You say all that bad? Yeah, all that bad to bring him up there to do what? Offer a sacrifice. before he got the vision. All. All. I don't know. It's up to you. Do what you want. I'm just saying. The Lord looks down there and the lady throws in two mites. That's less than two pennies in today's economy. Looks down there at that and he said, man, boy, there's a real offering right there. He said, well, it cost her something. It cost her everything. She gave all she had. You get Mary over there in John 14, 15, 16 through there. And Mary comes in there and she breaks open that alabaster box and pours it on the Lord. The Lord says, let her alone and builds a memorial to her and said she had done what she could. She just gave up everything that she had and the security that came with having that to prevent her that if there's no males between her and her sister, then she could be sold to anybody and everybody. There's no way to make an economy for them to survive. You know what she said? Lord, I'd rather you have it than me have it. That's why the Lord said, let this be a memorial to her. She had done what she could. She gave everything. How's your sheep gate? I don't know. Does it need repair? No. Pretty sure it's in great shape, man. The hinges are oiled. It's swinging. It's hanging level. We're doing good. Sheep ain't getting out. And we ain't bringing them in until we're ready to bring them in. We got a guard on it, latch on them, and keep the wolves out and that kind of stuff, which we'll talk about in a minute. No, we're in good shape. But you know what's really strange about animals? They seem to have enough sense to know to find the easiest way. They're like water to find the easiest way. Your wall can be in great shape. You know what they'll do? They'll find the way to the gate. They tunnel under the gate. In real cattle farms and stuff where they have a problem with coyotes and that kind of thing, if they put cattle to get ready to take them to the slaughter, underneath each gate they pour a slab of concrete. Because animals know that under that gate there's no fence underneath there. So they can dig down under the gate and get in under the gate and drag their prey back out on the other side of the gate. So they pour a slab of concrete up underneath that gate right there to keep the animals out. You got concrete under yours? Or can just anything and everything tunnel its way under your gate? They ain't gonna try to tunnel under the wall. They know there's a foundation down there. They dig and dig and dig and dig and dig and dig and can't get to the bottom of it and they gotta dig a tunnel to get up underneath that thing. But a gate's a different thing. It's just a thin sheet of wood or a thin sheet of material there and it's easy to dig underneath that gate. John chapter number one, look in verse number 29. I intend to put you under conviction. Verse 29, the next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah. That's not where it begins. Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. Isn't it interesting, the first gate in that they deal with in Nehemiah's time is a sheep gate, and the first references you find about the Lord in Isaiah 53 are a lamb to the slaughter, a sheep before a shearer is dumb. Isn't it interesting that John, of all the things he could say about his cousin, behold, the lamb of God. Why? Your relationship begins with a sacrifice. How much like your maker are you? In the book of Acts, chapter number nine, you get to reading through there. Take your Bible and come on over a little bit further to Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13 and Acts chapter number nine, the Apostle Paul is going through some, he's headed out, I guess you might say, to go persecute some believers because they're not Jews and he's gonna go kill them. He's gonna bring them to trial and if they're not doing what he says that they ought to be doing, he has all power, then he's gonna see them killed like he did Stephen. The Bible said, and they were all with one consent, and Paul being in consent, held the coat of the stoners of Stephen, and he held there while they're splattering his brains out. That's Acts 7. Paul's the witness. He ordered the execution of Stephen. Well, ain't that something? Right before his eyes, somebody willing to die for his relationship with the Lord. There's a perfect example sitting right in front of him. Acts chapter number eight, unbeknownst to him, Ethiopian eunuch gets saved. In Acts chapter number nine, the Lord says to Saul, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks, and knocks him off of his beast there, down to the dearth, and takes his eyes. And he's blinded now and he has to have a little boy lead him. And he takes him down to a street called Straight and puts him up there in a hotel there. And Paul's trying to figure out what in the cat hair is going on, man. He knows he's heard from the Lord and this and that and the other and he can't figure it out because it doesn't fit the books he's been reading and taught and enforcing. And then all of a sudden the Lord says to Ananias, come here, I want you to go over there and baptize that boy. And Ananias and him probably have a conversation about it. And Ananias is obedient and he goes over there, goes in the door. And the Lord said, when you're going over there, just be aware of this. I have yet to show him what great things he must suffer for my sake. Paul got saved knowing that there's gonna be suffering associated with his Christianity. Now, you know what that would probably do? That would probably sequester a lot of people from getting saved, because that overrides your fear of hell. Because you're thinking, well, why would I want to get saved if I'm not escaping the turmoil I'm in now? There's no guarantee you escape the turmoil you're in now. Your forefathers that came up, and you look at church history, and you study church history and those kind of things, you know what you'll find out? Your forefathers realized that a commitment to be baptized after salvation, just that statement alone, and not believe in an infant baptism, They knew when they made that statement it was just a matter of time before they would be caught up and put in prison and torn apart and have them tie horses to one of their neck and one of their arms and one to their legs and pull them apart in the middle of the street. because of their commitment to Jesus Christ. And they hid in the catacombs, gave up their residences and things like that, sewn up in sheepskins, here in Hebrews 11. And the Bible says, whom the Lord said, the world is not worthy of them. That's your ancestors. They knew when they got saved, it was gonna cost them. Stop the mouths of lions. How do they stop them? The lions bite into them and stop them, eat them. Bears eat them, entertainment. I have a picture in my office over there, and it'll be a while before we move here, but in that office over there, right as you go out the door, you look up there, and there's lions and stuff coming up out of the pit, and there's a little group of Christians and women and children down there, and down there claim to be singing is what they're saying, and all around in that is crosses hanging up there with Christians burning on them. And they're not rejecting their faith. They're not recanting is the word they use. Recant will give you a swift death. Recant will leave your loved one alive. Recant and have their children boiled in oil before them. The soldiers went and found a man who was plowing his garden out there one day and they brought him up in front of the ports with his wife who was snapping beans there and getting stuff ready that had come out of the garden. And he knelt down there and they got a blunderbuss, one of those big long like a shotgun, but it looks like a trumpet on the end of it. He's got that thing pointed at him and said, we're going to take his head off. And she said, oh, he's got such a beautiful head. He's been a good man, and this, and that, and the other. And the guy, without even laughing, the woodcut, as he grimaced on his face, and he pulled the trigger, and he blows the guy's head all over the woman's lap. And he said to the woman, or said to say to the woman, what do you think of him now? How beautiful is he now? And without hesitation, the woman said, he's more beautiful now than he has ever been, for he is in heaven with a crown upon the head that you took from him here. Could you please leave the body? I'd like to bury it in the garden. You're going to sit here in heaven, willing to sacrifice, have everything taken from him, willing to give that up. I'm supposed to give my life for his, for others. Is that right? My life's not my own. I'm bought with a price. If he wants to kill me, he can kill me. If he sees fit, whatever. Is that what you say? Isn't it funny how sheepish we become when it's just the slightest of things? I mean, nothing big, doesn't have to be something big, just something that costs you some time. Don't tell me you wouldn't rather be sitting at a ballgame this morning instead of feeling bad right now. I look at people like David Ring. David Ring was an old Southern Baptist evangelist. He's been around for years and years and years. He's still going a little bit. He's getting old up there in age and cerebral palsy is messing with him. He's twisted up like a pretzel. I remember coming in from the midnight shift one night and I got home and to my apartment unlocked the door and came in and I'd walk in and I'd go just to the left and I'd turn on the TV and that hour of power I can't remember the thing it was the big church up there that Falwell had they used to have some decent preaching I can't remember the name of the thing they had a little bit of singing they'd have some some pretty decent preaching whenever he wasn't preaching and so I went back to the back and I'm Sorry, slip of the tongue there. I went back to the back and I'm taking off all the stuff, you know, and kind of getting ready to take a nap and go get me a glass of water and lay down for a little bit. And I hear this guy, he's leading this song, Victory in Jesus. But he's all tongue tied. And I thought, I recognize that guy's voice. About a month or so before that he'd been sitting in my daddy's living room and he had been in there bawling and squalling and crying talking to my daddy about wanting to be married and wanting to have children and whether or not this terrible disease he had was going to wind up causing his kids to have that if he ever was able to be married. Nobody wanted anything to do with somebody as grotesque looking as he was. But if he ever could, I remember, because I had gone by there to eat a sandwich, and I said, I gotta go. And he's sitting right there on the couch, and Dad's sitting right there in the chair, and they're going, and he said, no, come on in. And I said, no, sir, I'll leave you alone, this looks private to me. And that's the same guy. And he's sitting up there, and he's singing Victory in Jesus, and then all of a sudden he stopped. They got a full robed choir that would fill this whole thing up. and they got an orchestra going, and they got several thousand people singing, you know, and the guy's up there, and he's up there flopping around like a fish. It bothers me when somebody leads singing like this. Get with it, man. You're the cheerleader. Get on it. Really, get on it. Y'all don't like that. You know, I don't like to be stirred up to sing. You're too self-conscious. At any rate, he's up there, man, and he's, duh, duh, duh, duh, you know? And I'm thinking, man, what in the world? So I went running there, I said, I gotta see this circus, man. I won't say my heart intent was a good one. I went in there, I thought, what in the world's he doing, man, on nationwide TV? They had a big television audience in those days. That's one of the big churches, you know? And I go in there, and he said, he leans over like this. I can see him, he puts his hands over here. And he said, Agathe, what's your problem? Man, there went my nap. I was like, man, that thing stirred me to no end. I'm looking at a fellow there in the mirror who's in relatively good health and God's taking good care of, and I got really no complaints. I got a good job that I like to do, love to do, and that kind of thing. I'm thinking, man, and then he's twisted up there like a pretzel. And I'm thinking, yeah, what is your problem, peacock? And that guy's still praising the Lord. And some of you are bitter because you lost a boyfriend or a girlfriend. And I'm not for divorce, and don't say that I am, but some of you are better off since you got rid of the old bat or the ogre. And the second time around, you did a little better, didn't you? I don't care what the brethren say. God doesn't intend for you to be miserable the rest of your life. I don't believe in it. I got you right there, boy. You self-righteous people. That's the unpardonable sin, isn't it? You know what I've learned about those people? I've learned those people are more willing to do anything for the cause of Christ because they've already been stripped of their reputation and they don't care. And the only ones that look down on them are the ones that aren't doing anything. That's what I've learned. I've learned they're tenderhearted towards sinners. And you don't generally find Pharisees around them. They see through the smoke screen real quick. Anyway, lest I digress. How's your sheep gate? Look at Hebrews, if you will, please. Chapter number 13. Look at verse number 15. By Him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually. That is the fruit of our lips complaining, griping, and murmuring." Oh, I'm sorry, that must be a New Living Translation, English Standard Version. What does he say? The fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name. You ever realize what that means to God? That means I'm thanking God for whatever occurs. Giving thanks always for all things, he says, right? Always for all things. Was that the testimony people have of you? If we're gonna convict you this morning of being thankful, would there be enough evidence to convict you? If they followed you around with a tape recorder for, let's say, oh, I give you 72 hours, that's three days, I'll take off 24 of that 72, that'll drop you to 48 for sleeping, if you sleep eight hours a night, which as you get older, that's unheard of until you're ready to kick the bucket and then you sleep half a day. but I'll give you down to 48. And then if you work eight of those hours, and you work, let's say, five days a week, you take off another 48 hours. During that 40 hours you're working, are you known as a griper, a complainer, or a given things? He said it's a sacrifice, and God hears it. Is it praising God when you're complaining all the time? Notice what he says in verse 16, but to do good and to communicate, forget not, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. Praise, thanksgiving, doing good, and giving to other people for the right causes. What is that? That's maintaining your sheep gate. Now we'll get into a little bit more of this tonight. I'm running out of time here, but I want you to consider this. Your relationship with Jesus Christ begins with a sacrifice being made on your behalf. That Old Testament Jew, when he came up there under the law, he had to recognize that there was an animal that was completely innocent, that had done nothing wrong, and could be in no way culpable of being responsible for the sin that he committed. You have an innocent lamb that can't sin anyway. And what does it do? You come, you put your paws on that lamb, and that priest walks up while you've got your paws on him, cuts him from ear to ear, and that blood splatters out, and you help the priest set that thing up on the altar, and then he quarters him and cuts him open, and you watch him burn right in front of you. Man, I don't know about you, but you talk about, that puts somebody under conviction. You had any conscience at all. What are you killing an innocent lamb for, for what I did? The lamb didn't do anything wrong. Right. Exactly. And now what the Lord's done for us, he's given us an opportunity. the privilege of sacrifice. How's your sheep gate? Father, bless your word.