There's all kinds of things that are in that Bible that He tells me to do. I've got a list of them. I won't run through them. But the will of God is fine. First of all, I have fought. Now what am I doing? I finished. What am I supposed to do? Doing what God tells you to do at the time He tells you to do it. That's all that matters. It'll be different for little Peyton over here than it will be for some of you ladies. You say, why? She's in school. She's still a kid. She's still under mom and dad's control. She's got a brother to put up with and an older sister and things like that she has to deal with. What God wants her to do is different than what He wants you to do. What's God wants you to do? I don't know. Couldn't tell you. I know there's enough things written in the Bible if you read it. A preacher told me one time when he was listening, I was listening in on his conversation and the kid was saying, you know, what's the will of God? You know what his response was? You know what his response was? What's the will of God for my life? You know what his response was? He said, how many times have you read the Bible? And the guy said, well, that's not the question I'm asking. And he said, it's the question I'm asking you. He said, how do you expect to find the will of God when you're not even looking in the right place? How would you know if I'm lying to you or not? Have you read his word? Have you looked in there? You know that Bible sometimes, this is just as dull as it can possibly be. Whoever wrote the Bible, wrote the Bible in such a fashion to know how life is. Life is not always like a honeymoon. Life's not always like, boy, we're on a vacation and having some time and taking people gave us gifts and stuff like that. You come back to life and guess what? I still got to go to work. I still got to make a living. I still got to pay the bills. The roof's still leaking. The car's still busted. That's how some of that stuff's in the Bible. That Bible's written to test you sometimes. What does it take to make you put it down? Chronicles? What's it take to put it down? Numbers? You get to the last few chapters of Numbers, and the latchet, and the thingamabob, and the duma flitchie is connected to the main faringator rod, and this is this, and this is that, and the gold latchet, and this, and you're thinking to yourself, don't tell me that you're thinking, what a spiritual blessing, or what a great type picture. You're thinking, you know, speed read here, man. I get through this thing, and you know, I'm running my finger over it like I, it ain't in Braille. You know, I'm guilty, and the Lord's like, hey, every word. You know what He does? He tests me. You mean to tell me that if it's not always exciting for you, you won't read the dull parts? What's wrong with your heart, boy? He'll say to me. What's wrong with your heart, boy? You don't like it? Why don't you read that stuff in there? Maybe you're reading your name that's written in the Lamb's Book of Life. What are you reading in there? I don't know. So-and-so found so-and-so's asses underneath the mulberry trees running around doing whatever. What is all that? A test. A test. Just to see what it takes to stop you. That Bible is written in such a fashion to try your heart. to see when you come to that heart, when you come to that Bible, do you have the guts to stick it out? That preacher was wise when he told that guy. He said, I'm not gonna tell you what the will of God is. I know that you're supposed to give attention to reading how many times you read that book. Well, you could tell right off the bat, man, that guy looked like a kitty in a little box. If Michael Jackson was alive, he looked like Michael Jackson backing up from the table. Well, that's not what I asked you to do. And I thought, oh boy, he ain't read it. I hope he don't ask me that question. Suppose you're saying to God, what's the will of God? And God says, it's written right there. I already gave it to you. Lord, I hadn't found it. Have you read it? I found mine in Isaiah 61. It was written. I didn't get no burning bush, no voice from heaven. Found it in a book, reading, just reading. That thing stuck out, man, jumped on me like white on rice, boy. I jumped out like that and the Lord said, there it is right there. You don't need a voice when you got a verse. What if I hadn't of read? What if I hadn't of read? Every verse that my dad used was quotes from the Bible when he led me to the Lord. Suppose he hadn't of read and had no verses to give me. He wouldn't have anything to convert me to. I'm telling you that you've got to give an account. Are you ready to finish? Are you ready to get... I'm ready to be offered. Paul said, I'm ready to be offered. Look in John chapter number 4, if you would please look in verse number 34. Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work. That's a mouthful, wouldn't you say? Look in John chapter number 5. John chapter 5. John, the apostle whom Jesus loved. You know, what he's fixing to give you an idea or a thought of is that just starting is not good enough. I think it was Sunday night I told you that when my dad was passing away and spending some time with him there and some moments at the end and trying to get some sense of that and making sense of it, I was pretty bitter about it. I mean, I could think of a bunch of dirt bags that deserved to die. And I figured he was pretty young, and I felt like he'd lived his life pretty clean, at least in my eyes he had. And I didn't feel like it was kind of right of what was going on. And you know what he said to me? He said, boy, don't you understand that everything I've ever done doesn't amount to anything? All they pay attention to is how I finish, how I finish, how I finish. That's all they pay attention to. Look in John chapter number five, verse number 36. But I have a greater witness than that of John for the works which the Father hath given me to finish. The same works that I do bear witness of me that the Father hath sent me. Let's go again. Let's go to John chapter 17. John chapter 17. We're talking about some must-haves. I don't know about you, but I hate when somebody starts something and they don't finish. I mean, finish it up, sweep it up, clean it up, be done. It's finished now. I didn't leave something undone. There's nothing worse than somebody that comes and does work and then doesn't finish the work, and then you're trying to run them down, take 20 minutes or 30 minutes to finish the job, and they never do finish the job. It just left hanging there. It tarnishes the whole job, doesn't it? You know, you just lack one weld. They just lack one nail. They just lack a little bit of paint. It's not something you might not be able to do or get by. And then you seem like you're just being so silly when you're emphasizing one little tiny thing. Just finish it. Just finish it. Just get it done the right way. Just get it done the right way. I watched a guy setting a tree the other day and he brought out a big old tractor and brought that tractor out and pulled it down off the trailer and all that other kind of stuff to move a tree literally six inches. I said, hey man, can I talk to you for a second? And he said, yeah. I said, what are you doing? You got all that stuff going on? And he said, it wasn't right. I said, well, over time, you know, they probably get accustomed to it. He said, I never would. He said, it was off. And I said, you loaded up all this equipment and stuff to come out here to move that? He said, yes sir, had to be done right. For him, he didn't figure the job was finished until it was done right. John chapter number 17, you get a lot of amens on that one. Most people would say, well, hey, you know what? You're the customer. Just live with it, man. What's the big deal? Right? It's six inches. What's the big deal? It's off. Six inches may not mean much if I go from, say, here to where that chair is right there, but you ask Brother Roger or Brother Aaron or Brother Brian or some of these other guys that are builders in here that know anything about plum and about levels and that kind of thing. Ask Brother Larry, ask Brother Josh, ask these guys. Six inches may not mean much from here to that chair rail, but you get from there to there. Six inches being out right there, you've got a mess on your hands. You say, why? If it starts off six inches, the further it goes, the more out it is. Before long, you've got the leaning tower of Pisa. You know all the devil wants to do? Start you off just a little bit the wrong way, just a little doctrinally out of kilter. You say, why? Long as you continue, the further away you get from the real thing. Notice what he says in John, I don't think I gave you this one, John chapter number 17, 17 verse number four, I have glorified thee on earth. How'd you do that? I finished the work which thou gave me to do. People say all the time, glory to God, glory to God, I want to glorify God, glory to God, glory to God. Oh, okay, all right, relax. Have you finished what he gave you to do? Look at what it means, John chapter number 19, John chapter number 19. Come down to verse 30. This is Jesus on the cross. When Jesus, therefore, had received the vinegar, He said, It is. And He bowed His head and He gave up the ghost. Aren't you glad He finished it? You know why you're able to sit here in church tonight and be saved? And if the Lord were to allow Kim Jong-un or somebody to throw a nuke here and we all get turned to a pink mist, and we are absent from the body, we're present with the Lord, you say, Why? The finished atonement. Because he finished. Have you finished what God told you to do? I don't know if you have. It's a must have though. Paul said, I have fought, I have finished, I have kept. Paul said, I did what God told me to do. You say, what? He's following after Jesus Christ. I'm glad Jesus Christ did that. Take your Bible, come to Acts chapter number 20. Acts chapter number 20. I'm not getting on to you. I know I sound a little bit dogmatic. It's the same. Nowadays, you have to consider maybe giving people a kick in the pants because nowadays, second place is good enough. Nowadays, finishing whether you do or don't, it doesn't matter. Your boss ever give you a job and you do it and then time runs out and you're like, well, I'll get it tomorrow. He told you, I need it done today, I got a deadline. And you're like, is he going to pay me overtime? Well, before you start asking about overtime, have you applauded yourself to get the job done that needed to be done? Do you realize if he doesn't make his deadline, you may not have a job tomorrow? That you might have to step up? Did you finish? Sometimes you stretch out a little bit. Phone rings two or three o'clock in the morning. You'd rather be asleep. You're sitting in a bathtub in another room where it'll be quiet and all and listen to some demon-possessed woman fixing to take her life. Oh, well, it's inconvenient. Don't have time. You know what you better do? You better make sure when you hang that phone up, the next phone call you get is not from fire and rescue or from the police or somebody else saying, weren't you just on the phone with so-and-so? Well, you didn't finish what you were doing. She's gone. See, it can't be that way. I look over here at Marcus, he's over here, he takes care of people, respiratory therapist and things like that. I can see him in there giving somebody a breathing treatment, especially with what's going on right now, and he comes in there and he goes, time for me to get off, I gotta go, and stops the treatment before he's done. You wouldn't appreciate that at all, would you? By the way, I appreciate the text. But anyway, I'm thinking to myself, he's in here in his scrubs. You say, he didn't have time to go home, take a shower, get cleaned up. He came straight from work. Who in the cat hair would do that? Somebody's just trying to finish, right? I look at you people, you're amazing to me. I look at you, I'm thinking to myself, what are you doing here? I'll do it on a Wednesday night. It's kind of chilly-willy the penguin outside. It's not like Ohio, but it's kind of chilly-willy the penguin. They're back there looking at each other. They think this is cold. Florida, it's cold, and it's wet, and we don't like it. We like sunshine and 90, 100% humidity. Yeah, baby. That snow and all that earth, mm-mm, you can have it. But I'm sitting here thinking, I know you've got trouble and problems. Lake City over here and Fernandina over here and Hilliard over here and people driving from all over the creation and St. Augustine and all that. What are you doing? You're trying to finish. That's the only way you can make any sense of that. I don't even know now anymore how far Jerry and Sandy have to drive. Brother Jerry, I mean no disrespect when I get going this way, how far they have to drive from down there around the lake and stuff like that. It's better in an hour. It's better in an hour. Why would somebody do that, people ask? Because they're trying to finish. Because they're trying to finish. That's why you being here when you live ten minutes from here is important. You say, why? You encourage other people. Y'all come from the other side of town out yonder on the north side, probably 45 minutes, especially at the time of day you have to come, 45 minutes or an hour, at least in that parking lot that you've got to come through out there. That's impressive to me. That's encouraging to me. See this little one here works all day down in St. Augustine, sitting down here tonight. She's a kid. Where's she at, church? See these kids? You don't think these kids have other stuff they could be doing? What are you now, an hour away? 45 minutes? Okay, 47.5 minutes. You've been working all day, haven't you? What are you doing sitting here with your daughter on the second row? Trying to finish. Trying to finish. Trying to finish. That's impressive. You don't get enough recognition for that. That's impressive to me. You old people, your bones are aching. Your hind end's hurting. Your hemorrhoids are giving you a fit, man. Your back's hurting you. Your ankles are hurting you. Your corns is bothering you. You had to squeeze to get your shoes on because you swole up, your ankles are swole up. You got on your socks up past your knees and hoping it'll knock it down. You're walking in here thinking, man, you look like you're about to fall over and you plop your hind end down on the seat and it's like, oh man! And the Lord looks at that and said, what is that? Trying to finish? Trying to finish? Trying to finish? It's impressive to me. What? Your loyalty to him. That's impressive. You say, why? I don't take it for granted. I know you're working against a stacked deck, but if you could grab the principle I'm trying to show you tonight and keep your eye on the prize, keep your eye on the finish line, keep your eye on the author and finisher of the faith, it'll make sense all the hell you go through to try to get here. Don't you have, don't answer, this is rhetorical. Don't you Christian people have trouble in your families? Don't you have problems in your marriages? Don't you have problems with your kids? Don't you have problems with your finances? You're not immune to it, neither was Job. And you're sitting here, you've had your heart broken, hadn't you? Trying to get a prayer through, hadn't got a prayer through. You're still here, you're still trying. You're still trying to finish. You say, what is that? That's impressive to me. You're as impressive to me as somebody in special ops on the front line. It's impressive to me, coming to a place like this. Hey, Big John, look, if you will, please, in Acts chapter number 20, Acts chapter number 20, come down to 24, 23. Save the Holy Ghost, witness it in every city, saying bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God. You know what Paul's job was? Paul's job was to preach the gospel. You know what he said? Look at verse 23. We got afflictions and bonds. You ever read 1 Corinthians chapter number 11? Why, the apostle Paul's going over there and he's saying, all these people say they're a ministry, in the ministry, and he says they say they're ministers. He said, I'm more. And then he goes down through there a day and a night in the deep and shipwrecked, and being in prison, and being in bonds, and being naked, and being hungry, and being this, and on top of all that, the care of all the churches. And then you go to 1 Corinthians chapter number 12, and Paul said, of the tribulation. I'm going to finish. I'm going to finish. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9, he said, I don't fight as one that beateth the air. Why? I want to finish right. I want to make the blows count. As a matter of fact, turn if you will over there, 1 Corinthians chapter number 9. I don't take it for granted. I'm not mocking you. I'm not belittling you. I'm not making fun of you. It's not an easy road. If it was, everybody would be doing it. The reason so much compromise in the pulpits nowadays is to try to make the road easier, to try to make everything positive, to try to make everything, it's going to be okay, it's going to be okay, it's going to be okay. I'll tell you when it's going to be okay, ladies and gentlemen, when you die or get raptured. Until then, I can't promise you tomorrow is going to be okay. I can promise you that God's still good and finish in spite of the conflict. Just get done what God... You don't know the value of what you're doing until you get to the other side. But if God gave it to you to do, it matters to Him. Doesn't matter if you reach the whole world or reach Duval County or reach your next door neighbor. It matters. I did what Thou has called me to do. Raising kids and taking care of my husband, taking care of my wife, learning to have my fellowship right. Why? It matters to Him. So what are you trying to do? Just finish right? Just finish right? I'd like to be able to be there. I get scared sometimes thinking about it. If I could go right now, I could say, you know, I went out on a high note. Really. I'm out there and I'm listening and talking to Brother Sam out there, and I'm looking at Brother Coker out there, and looking at all that mesh laid out there. I've been talking to Brother Holland all day today, and different things going on and stuff, and I'm thinking, my goodness, Lord, cut my suspenders, let me go. I'm about ready to stink and turn loose and fly. You say, why? I'd just love to see that finish. You say, what? To pass it on to you. To pass it on to you. To have something left behind that matters. That's why I'd like to just finish, that's all. What'd you do? Died while it was going up, but I didn't quit. I didn't quit. I get worried about it sometimes. I see some of these old guys dying now and passing off the scene and stuff, and I'm thinking, would I make it that long? Would I make it that long? You think you could make it that long? You think you could make it over 65 years in the ministry and never quit after you go through all the stuff that old man went through? You think you could make that? I don't know if I could do it or not. lawsuits and people laughing and mocking and making fun of you and writing you up on the internet and lying about you and doing all that other kind of stuff and just keep plowing and just keep plowing and just keep plowing and just keep plowing and just keep plowing and just keep plowing. Every reason in the world to quit. Called everything in the book. People you're trying to help turn against you and I'm sitting there watching them go. I watch Jim go. I watch my dad go and I'm thinking, could you do that? Can you do that? Time will tell. Time will tell, but if you don't make your mind up right now to finish, you're not gonna finish. Moses is over there in Deuteronomy at the very last chapter there, and the Bible says, and Moses was still going up the mountain there, and his natural force wasn't abated, neither was his eye dim, but what was he doing? He finished going up the mountain, going against gravity. You say what? Everything's trying to pull you down to be happy with right where you are. I'm wore out with that mentality. I don't want to be around people like that, the naysayers, the people that are always questioning, the people that are always doubt, the people that are always, well, I just don't think and I just don't feel and I just don't see the vision and I just want, get away from me, man. I want to finish going out, going against gravity. I want to go against the pull. Now ain't the right time. Good, we're going to trust the Lord. Probably somebody said that to Noah, I guess. I don't know, but I know this. I know what I've been told to do. That's all I'm required to do. Whether you're convinced or not, I'm supposed to do what I'm supposed to do. And I'd like to do, as the old preacher used to say, I'd like to die with my boots on. I remember years ago when Preacher Roloff died. He died in a plane crash. And people make all kind of fun about him and he shouldn't have been flying and somebody sabotaged his plane and him and the honeybees went down because he shouldn't have been flying in the storm and he was full of himself and this and that and the other. Another group says, well, the devil killed him because he was kicking up such a dust and all this other kind of a thing. I don't know what he was thinking all the way when he was headed down, but I think that maybe he might have thought this, I sure am glad I was still busy doing what God wanted me to do when I left. And that plane hit the ground, and as the body and present with the Lord, and him and the honeybees step out of that thing, and they step up there in front of the Lord, and the Lord said, good to have you, we're looking for somebody to sing a special right now. Y'all come on up here and sing a special. And Brother Roloff would say, okay, girl, sing it. You say, what do you think about that? I think God knew exactly what He was doing. You say, what do you blame Him for? Nothing. Well, it would have been safe if He had stayed home. Yeah. Maybe God made an example there and said, boy, He went out. Boy, He went out in a blaze of glory. He went out trying. He had somewhere to go. They make a bigger deal about, what's the group here from Jacksonville that winds up getting in a gigantic plane crash? Yeah, Leonard Skinner. Leonard Skinner. Southern rock and roll guy. They make a bigger deal out of that plane going down, the Lester Roloff plane going down, and he's in the perfect will of God, and they're talking about a rock and roll died with them. Johnny Van Zandt. Lester Roloff. Bring him up to the judgment and let's see. Did you do what God called you to do? Finished? Did you finish? Suppose God cuts it short while you're going. He sure cut off John the Baptist's head. I guess he was done. You know what John did? He went out in a blaze of glory. He went out, never backed off of it. I think before he went down there, they probably had to put a muzzle on him and he said, I done told y'all. I done told y'all. You can cut my head off, but I'm telling you right now, you ought not be with him. You're shacking up with your brother's wife. Boy, you're wrong. You shouldn't be doing it. Somebody cut his head off quick. Tell him to shut up. Quit talking. You can cut my head off. Your conscience ain't gonna quit talking to you. He went out in a blaze of glory. The Lord said, John is dead and I'm glad. That's what he said. Why would he say that? You say, well, no, preacher, it's just the way that the thing's written. No, you missed it. He went out in a blaze of glory because he finished. He finished. Will you finish? I don't know if you will. Hope you do. You won't finish if you don't plan to finish now, if you don't make plans for it, if you don't know where you're going. You won't finish. You better make plans for it. First Corinthians, excuse me, chapter number nine, look in verse number 24. Man, time's flying. Know you not that they which run a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run that you may obtain. That's an order. I talked to a young lady today, and you know what she said? She said, I was in a church that always taught that trying to work for rewards was wicked or ungodly. I said, why? It's an order. God told you that you're supposed to get rewards at the judgment seat of Christ. He tells you to do that. He tells you to suffer for the cause of Christ. Paul said, go forth, he says, run that you may obtain. Obtain what? Gold, silver, precious stones. He told you to do it. You're following orders. Let me ask you a question. When you work, don't you get a paycheck? Ain't that a reward? You say, what do you do with that reward? Don't you take care of your family and other things with it? All right? Know what the Lord does? He tells you to run the race. You say, why? So that you can finish and get a reward. Look, if you will, in verse number 25. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now ye that do it to obtain a corruptible crown, we an incorruptible crown. So I'm writing the Bible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainty, so fight I not as one that beateth the air. But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection, lest that I by means when I have preached myself should be a what? Paul said, I want to finish the right way. Come to Philippians chapter 3. Philippians 3. Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians. And again, that may sound like I'm rebuking you. I'm not rebuking you. I'm trying to encourage you. I trained with some guys. My days are long gone and things like that, but I trained with some guys. And those guys were always pushing me. They're always pushing me. They weren't listening to me. They weren't much on listening to excuses. You say, why? They were trying to help me obtain a goal that I asked them to help me obtain. They pushed me sometimes beyond what I thought were my limits. A good spotter is worth a million dollars if you're trying your best to accomplish something. How come it is when a preacher tries to encourage you in spiritual things, it comes across more as a rebuke than an encouragement? It's not intended to be a rebuke. It's intended to encourage you to finish what God called you to do. What did He call you to do? I don't know. Have you read the book? Do you know what He wants you to do? If you're a husband, do you know what He wants you to be? If you're a wife, do you know what He wants you to be? If you're a kid, do you know what He wants you to be? If you hold down an office or you happen to be an employee, do you know what He wants you to be? Do you know what the book says? It's written. I'm just trying to tell you that He wants you to finish. He doesn't want you to start something and not complete it. Sometimes people just sort of float along. They get saved and they just kind of hang out for a while. They never have any point of purpose in their life. That doesn't apply anywhere else in life. But when it comes to Christianity, you all of a sudden kick it up in neutral and just coast. That's not biblical. and it's not who you are because you don't apply it anywhere else. You're always trying to get a newer car, and you're always trying to get a better job, and you're always trying to get a raise, you're always trying to get a promotion, you're always trying to get better clothes, and get a better house, and get all this, and unless you're a bum out here, you're always trying to obtain something. Why not in spiritual things? No, preacher, you know, that just doesn't... Oh, stop! Listen, you know how I know you're lying, your mouth's moving. This only applies to church stuff. A preacher, you know, you shouldn't be that way. He told you to run that way. He told you to fight that way. He told you to strive for the mastery. He said, listen, they strive for a regular corruptible crown. We're striving for an incorruptible. So fight! Get after it! Don't die till you get it! And if you die, die getting it! It's a difficult thing sometimes. We're like, well, preacher, you know. Why is that? Why is that? That it's okay to coast but nowhere else. Listen, you teach your kids when it comes to sports, to compete, and you want them to be the best. You teach them when it comes to grades, you want them to be the valedictorian. Yes, you do. Yes, you do. Yes, you do. Yes, you do. You want them to get the best job they possibly can get with the education that they have. You'll pull every string you can get to put them in the right position in order for them to get it. Amen, preacher, good preaching, you're on it now. How come when it comes to things in church, you got no goals whatsoever? Preacher's not right to set goals. Really? Where'd you get that? If gold, silver, and precious stones are not gold, what is it? He told you to go after them. Do you know what to do to get them? Why would he tell you about them if he doesn't want you to get them? You think it's just, well, you know, you get it after the Lord gets up there. No, you got to go after it. You got to go after it. Are you thinking about how you're going to finish? Preacher, you know, I think probably when I get old, I'll get busy about doing that stuff. Who says you're going to get old? Philippians chapter number 3, I believe I gave you. Yeah, 3. Look at verse number 13. I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize and the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Pretty stout. That's the Apostle Paul. He's our Apostle. Is that right? Look at Hebrews chapter number 12. Hebrews chapter 12. I'll give you this one. We'll go to the barn. I'll give you this other one on... Well, you won't get it Sunday, Brother Donovan will be here. Let me encourage you to make an effort to be here for the meeting. If you don't make an effort, you won't be here. I'll tell you right now, you're going to have pushback. I'll tell you right now, you're going to have all kind of trouble at home and all kind of trouble at work and all kind of trouble... You're going to have all kind of trouble. You say, why? The devil don't want you here. You know what you ought to do? You ought to come hear another voice. See, what's he got? I haven't talked to him, but I guarantee you I have something. But whether he does or doesn't, could you just be here in case he does? Your job is not to be here if God shows up. Your job is to be here if God shows up. So what'll happen? He'll come in here and he'll preach and you'll say, boy, I sure wish so-and-so was here and so-and-so was here and so-and-so was here. You won't be here if you don't make plans for it. You won't do it. Something will come up. Well, preacher, I was planning on being there, but yeah, something more important. Oh, no, it's not really more important. Yeah, it was, or you wouldn't have been there. You'd have been here. I'm not being rude. I'm not being harsh. I'm saying it matters more to you to not be here than to be here or you'd be here. That's just the truth. I don't mean to be so harsh with you, but that's the truth of the matter. You're not here because you don't want to be. The old preacher used to say this. He said, if somebody tells you, no, you want to go fishing. Yeah, I want to go fishing. I'll go anytime you want to go. Okay, I'll see you at the boat ramp at 5 a.m. 5 a.m. comes and you don't show up. You know why you don't show up? You didn't want to go. I realize there can be certain times, extenuating circumstances, like one fellow told me, he said, well, preacher, you know how it is when the ox gets in the ditch? I said, yeah, but brother, I also know that when you kick him in the ditch, you can't use that for an excuse. Because you have a pattern that every time God begins to work on you, you always come up with this ox in the ditch thing. I said, you must be leading that ox off into the ditch, Ahayo. You know who Ahayo was? Do you ever pay any attention when they're bringing up the ark there of the covenant? And the ark shook? You ever get that? And Uzzah gets popped because he reaches out? Did you ever look at who was leading the ox? It was his brother. A-H-I-O, not Ohio, Ahio, was leading the ox. I wonder if he'd have paid attention and got the sticks and the stuff out of the way if maybe the ox wouldn't have stumbled and his brother might not have got killed even though they were bringing it up the wrong way. The ox stumbled. Who's leading the ox? Well, preacher, the ox is in the ditch. Who led the ox in the ditch? You really think if God tells you to be here that He puts the ox in the ditch? Why are you quoting an Old Testament passage? And the ox stays in the ditch every Sunday and every Sunday night and every Wednesday? That ox camps out there? Is he dead? You need a forklift to get him out or something? Check it, ladies and gentlemen. You think I'm kidding you? Look at who's leading the ox. Nobody preaches on that. He shouldn't have touched the Ark of the Covenant. He should have known better. Okay, the ox stumbled. Why? The guy leading the ox wasn't doing his job. Well, preacher, you know, the way that thing is, I know you got it all figured out. Boy, do I know you got it all figured out. You get to the judgment seat of Christ, half the arguments that you have and half of the excuses that you make, I want you to write them down on a piece of paper. When you get up there to heaven, I want you to pull that thing out and go, okay, Lord, here's what my excuse is. I bet you won't open your mouth. I bet you the excuses that you use down here for the brethren and for the preachers and for your husband and for your wife and other people, the hypocrites in the church and all that kind of stuff. The Lord says, y'all, the hypocrites are up here now. You don't want to be in this church either, I guess. Don't pull that hyper-spiritual card. You're not here because you don't want to be. That's all it is. I understand people work. I understand that. I may not have been much of a policeman, but I knew a little bit about some stuff along the way. And we developed things and learned to develop and solve cases by looking for patterns, for looking similarities, for what they call MO, method of operation, especially in the stuff that I did in the detective division. You got to look for similarities and stuff like that. Sometimes you get a big, huge board like that board and write stuff up there until you find something that does that. And there's a lot involved in that kind of a deal. Well, after a while, the ox is in the ditch where it's a little thin, ladies and gentlemen. That may be unacceptable for a carnal Christian, but you think it's acceptable for him? Okay, good, lay it on him. Lord, out of 52 Sundays, the ox was in the ditch better than half of them. Okay, maybe you should have killed that ox and burned it with your plowshares and bought you another ox or gone in another business. Maybe you had the wrong business if your ox wound up in the ditch that much or maybe you're walking too close to the ditch. If he gets in a ditch that much, we're talking about finishing. Talking about finishing. Hebrews chapter 12, just pick it up in verse number 1. Verse 1, Paul said, Wherefore, seeing we also are encompassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and sin that doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. You know what he says there? God finished, why can't you? You know what one of the greatest passages in all the Bible is? The passage that says, let me give you one more, let me check this, I think I've got one in Luke here. You know one of the greatest passages in all the Bible that the Lord quotes to you? He said, I've done that which the Father commanded, that's it, Luke chapter 14. I've done that which the Father commanded me to do. And we work hard at finishing everything else. But when it comes to our Christianity, pretty much happy where we are, aren't we? I mean, aren't we? I mean, really. Do you ever wonder why there's not improvement in your spiritual life? If God wants you to improve, do you ever wonder why you don't improve? Do you know the hard answer to that? The truth is you don't want to improve. Do you ever catch yourself running through the same test on a regular basis? The same things trip your trigger and you wonder, why is this happening to me? And the Lord is going, you think it's all them people. And you're back in this classroom again because the problem is you. You don't want to finish right. You want to finish with that anger and wrath and bitterness on you. You want to finish going out, I'm right. Okay. He's pretty right. It's ready to do. It's finished. I did what God wanted me to do. I did what the Father said to do. I finished it. Look, if you will, please, we'll close with this one. Luke chapter number 14, pick it up in verse 28. Well, let's make it 26. It's a great multitude with him. I like that in verse 25. And the Lord's trying to get him a crowd here, Brother Mitch. He's trying to get a bunch of followers. He's going to give him a positive message now. So he's got a whole bunch of people following him. See the multitude that's here? It's not just a multitude. Look at it. It's a great multitude. That's a bunch of people in verse 25. And here's the Lord's sermon to him. If a man come to me and hate not his father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters in his own life, he cannot be my disciple. What? That ain't a crowd pleaser. He got all this great multitude of people. You know what he said? You want to come after me? You got to hate everything else. I got to be number one. Look, listen to me. I'm going to be maybe a smidge sarcastic here. You can listen to all these Bible expositors who try to make God the God that's only of love and not of hate. No, he said exactly what he means. Well, it's comparative love and what that really... No, no, no, no. That's that God loves the sinner and hates the sin. No, He doesn't. No, He doesn't. No, He doesn't. You're reading the wrong version of the Bible. God's angry with the wicked every day. You're condemned already as far as God's concerned until you're born again. God loves you. No, He don't love you. You're a sinner. You're wicked. He loves you when you come to Jesus Christ. Oh, that's harsh. You know what he just said? What a crowd pleaser. I mean, if he was the pastor of the downtown big church and that kind of a deal, and had a whole congregation of people there, and the guy said, you want to follow me? You've got to hate everybody else and hate everything else. Man, there goes the cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching, walking out the door. He ain't talking to me that way, man. I mean, I came here for ping-pong and pool tables, man. Popcorn and pizza, man. What in the world? I ain't putting up with that. What do you mean, hate everybody else? Yeah, me first. Everybody else last. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and my righteousness. Who do you think you are? I'm the creator of the universe. That's who I am. I'm first. Want to follow me? Got to hate everybody else. If it comes to me or them, it's me. You're quiet. You want to finish right? There's a decision. God says it, that settles it. Whether you believe it or not, it doesn't add anything like a curl on a pig's tail that don't add no lard to the pig. Well, you know, but the way I see it in the modern vernacular, you're no better than a regular scholar that rewrote another Bible nobody can understand. You're changing it to fit what you want it to fit. You want to finish right? You've got to get God's mind. Let's finish, hurry up. And whosoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Now, you've got to understand, ladies and gentlemen, when he's talking about a cross, they're crucifying somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 to 400 Jews a day. They're putting them on the cross, leaving them all along the highway coming into Jerusalem to show them Rome was in power. They are literally crucifying. So when he says, you have to take up your cross and be willing to die, that resonated with them. That's like the time I was talking to them over there in the province over there where Vlad the Impaler was, that's where Dracula was, that's Transylvania. And man, when I mentioned Transylvania and Vlad the Impaler, man, they were like, And the interpreter looks at me and he's like, uh, we don't talk about him ever. I said, well, that's where this thing came and it got past and this and that and the other. And man, I mean, there, you say, wow, that was right across the mountain from where we were. That was real to them. You know what he's saying? Take up your cross. They're like, you mean we're going to die? The Lord said, yeah. Yeah, that's what it is. You want to follow me? You want to finish right? You got to die. Yeah. Get your cross. Come on. You're going to crucify yourself, not wait on them to do it. You're going to do it yourself. Take up your cross. Watch, let's see how it comes out. Verse 28, For which of you intended to build a tower, so that it is not down first, and counteth the cost? Whether he hath sufficient to… Less happily after he hath laid the foundation, is not able to… Look at it. Come on, help me. We'll be done quicker. What does it say, Brother Larry? Verse 29, to do what? To finish it. All that behold it began to mock Him, saying, this man began to build and was not able to... To God it matters if you finish. But He just gave you some prerequisites for finishing. You say, what is it? God has to be first in everything to the point that when it comes to your love for God and other people, it's compared to being hate. Anybody that tries to come between you and God, you despise them to the point of, hey, why, they're trying to get between you and God. That's rough. And then he says, to cap all that off, and if you want to follow me, there's a cross that's your size right there. Pick it up and bring it with you and let's go. Just drag your cross around with you. Whenever you get ready to do anything, just put yourself on it. You say, what was that? Crowd finner. That thing's allowed today. Paul said, I have fought. And you know what he said? I have finished. Are you going to finish? I hope you do. You say, well, preacher, go ahead and tell us about have kept. Well, we'll talk about that maybe next week. But right now, would you think about this? If life were to be over for you tonight, have you finished? Have you even started? Could the pathway be improved upon? Could the commitment to the pathway be improved upon? Could you kind of make a recommitment tonight and say, Lord, you know what? I need to get my mind back on what's really important and what's really right and stop putting everything else ahead of you and getting everything else in the way. I need to make sure that I understand that I'm going to finish with you and get that right first and then I'll worry about all the other stuff. You still go into heaven because you're saved. Thank God for that. But would you be able to say with the Apostle Paul, I have fought. I have finished. Father, bless your word tonight. Thank you for these folks coming. Prepare our hearts now if you would please for the meeting coming up on Friday. We ask a special prayer also now, Lord, for Brother Holland and all the stuff that's going to go up here starting tomorrow night around 11 o'clock or so, midnight or so, running out the concrete and those kind of things. We realize, Lord, that a lot of things can happen, a lot of things can occur. I pray you'll be with everybody that sets foot on this property, be with all the people that are driving the trucks and all the people that are blocking the traffic and all of the stuff that has to go on for something that big to take place. And without your hand on it, without blessings on it, Lord, a tragedy could strike. We'd ask, Lord, that you'll help everything to run smoothly. and everything to go the way that you would have it to go, that there'll not be a ripple in it that you wouldn't have to be put in it. And bless him and keep him alert and keep him alive, keep him awake, help him to be able to do what needs to be done. And we thank you for him, Lord, specifically helping us to do something for you and bless the work of his hands and pray, Lord, that when we gather here on Friday evening, that we'll be able to look out there and see what a great and marvelous and wonderful thing you have done for us here. We'd ask these in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.