Everybody there? Amen. Alright. Hebrews chapter number 2 verse 1 says, Therefore, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. Our Heavenly Father, Lord, we come to you humbly, Lord. In the name of Jesus, Father, Lord, we just pray that your Spirit meet with us here this evening at Danieltown Baptist Church. We know where your word says we're two or three together. There I am in the midst, Lord. We thank you so much for that promise. And Lord, in a day of decline, of moral and ethic decline, Father Lord, I pray that your words will just illuminate from these pages, Lord. Lord, I pray that you give me backbone to say everything that I ought to say. But Lord, give me wisdom. to shut my mouth when it needs to be shut, Father. Lord, I stood where the armor of flesh has failed me, Lord, and where the armor of flesh will fail me, but Lord, I'm calling on you now because I need your touch tonight from heaven, Lord. Lord, be with your people and bless them. It's in the name of Jesus that I pray. Amen. So on the way over here, really actually before that, I was talking to my wife because I've just got so much I got to say. There's just so much I want to preach. There's just so much that I wish I could just have three hours of your attention, but I won't do that to you. You see, this message right here has been on my heart, and I preached it some number of years ago. I couldn't tell you when, but whenever I went back this morning, actually this afternoon, and I watched the live stream, Brother Craig, of your message, that sealed it, because your message this morning is right here, it's part of my introduction. So y'all tell me, are we serving a God that's alive and well? I believe we are. I believe the Lord is not done with Danieltown Baptist Church. Although the world would like to see a church like this fail, although the world would like to see this church shut its doors and crumble, God is still moving here even tonight at Danieltown Baptist Church. I believe that the Holy Ghost is still alive. I believe the Holy Ghost has put a message in Pastor Craig's heart, just like the Holy Ghost has put a message in my heart, and you may find they may be similar messages. That's something that only the Holy Ghost can do, amen? See, I'm a Baptist that believes in the Holy Ghost. I'm a Baptist that believes in the power of the Holy Ghost, and I believe that all is vain unless the Holy Ghost is involved. I believe all is vain unless His power is present, amen? But here we're looking at Hebrews chapter number 2 and it says, Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed. I know that if any time in the Bible it says we need to give heed, that means we need to listen. That means pay attention, folks. But it doesn't say that. It goes on to say, to give more heed. Well, anytime the Bible says to give more heed, that means we really should pay attention. Well, folks, it goes even further than that. It says, give the more earnest heed. Now, earnest is something you would use in a transaction. For example, if I want to purchase some land, I'll say, here, here's some earnest money on a down payment that this is your money and I've got 30 days to close. If not, that's your earnest money, you can keep it. That's how serious I am about wanting to purchase this land, for an example. The Bible says that, therefore, we ought to give them more earnest heed. is talking about what it was just talking about in the previous chapter, in chapter number 1. And we're going to get into it. But it says, Therefore give the more earnest heed to the things which we have learned. Daniel Town, we need to pay attention to the things that we have learned here at Daniel Town Baptist Church. Why? Lest at any time we should let them slip. The Bible says in 2 Timothy chapter 3, Pastor Craig, This know also that in the last days, and I believe we're in the last seconds of the last days, in the last days perilous times shall come, for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. From such turn away, for of this sort are they which crept into houses, and led captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers' lust, ever learning. and never able to come to the knowledge of truth. Friday, it was just Friday, I went to a service call in the afternoon and I was talking to a homeowner and he had said something about, he used the phrase, well, they're ever learning. And we were talking about something completely different. I said, you know, that reminds me of the Bible where it says ever learning, but never able to come to the knowledge of truth. I said, I'm glad on December 17th of 2007, I came to the knowledge of truth. He replies, Amen, me too, back in, I forget the month, but back in 1987. That was a gateway to propagate the gospel. But let me tell you, that's the world that we're living in. We're living in such an apostate state. What that is, is the fallen way of the church. It's the fallen way of church folk. It's the fallen way of believers just no longer wanting to be involved in the church. We're living in that time, and that's why I say that we're losing our grip on the last day. Do you see it, church? Do you see it too? If you see it, then why are we losing our grip? Why are we letting things slip into our own walk with Jesus in these last days? Why are we looking around waiting for the next man to step up and do something when we ought to be the ones doing it? Why are we content and comfortable in our modern day 21st century American Christendom? These are questions that we need to ask ourselves in these last days. God has given us a warning in the Bible and He's letting us know that there's going to come a time where there's going to be a falling away that we need to give heed to the doctrines which we have learned lest at any time who should let them slip, we should let them slip. Amen. There's seven points that I'm going to hammer and then we're going to go to the house, amen. I want to say number one tonight, there's some things that we need to tighten our grip on. We need to tighten our grip on inspiration. In Hebrews 1, verse 1, the Bible says, Well, today we have a complete canonization of the Scriptures. Today we have the Holy Bible. I say that according to 2 Timothy 3, verse 16, that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine. for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. So right there in the Bible when it says profitable for doctrine, that tells me what is right. When it says for reproof, that tells me what is not right. For correction, that tells me how to get it right. For instruction in righteousness, that tells me how to keep it right. Amen. Look, I know the book of Hebrews is written to just that, to Hebrews, and I know we're not dealing with hyper-dispensationalists in here, but I believe that this has some great application. I think it's preaching pretty good right now. But we need to tighten our grip on He's the God of Inspiration. Folks, I can't tell you, just in the past 10 years or so, ever since I left that modern liberal crowd and come over to this side, just how many shots I've taken. I've been called a bigot. I've been called... you name it. I've been called a legalist. You name it. They'll attack me. They'll attack my family. They'll virtue signal towards my wife and say comments about her because she has chosen to be a stay-at-home mom. This is no joke. And they all say it comes because of our position on the King James Bible. Look, I'm not comparing myself to nobody, I really am. But I can say this, the more that I read my King James Bible, the more I know I have the whole counsel of God, the more I can walk in righteousness. You see? I've got confidence that this is the preserved and the inspired Word of God, and we're letting it slip. We're losing King James Bible preachers even in this very town, and it's so heartbreaking to see that. We got people that try to stay middle of the road, and God bless their hearts, but they're spineless. They don't have a backbone. They don't want to take a stand for the King James Bible. They don't want to take the stand for inspiration for the Bible. They don't want to do it. And it's so sad what's going on in this world. The Bible says this in Psalms 119, 140, Thy word is very pure, therefore thy servant loveth it. There are two types of people when they approach the Bible. They're the type of people that come to receive an answer by asking a question. Then the second type is that they come to the Bible, they'll ask a question just to ask another question. You see, I'm convinced, I'm convinced out there, if you look at the modern text, the Masoretic text and the Textus Receptus especially, you have from it all the way up to 7th Translation is the King James Bible. Then you have the New King James, which has been perverted with additions of the Nessalon and other type, and now they have the MEV. I don't even get me started on that. Well, it uses the same manuscripts of the King James, but if you actually go back and translate or even transliterate, it still changes stuff. There's an attack on the King James Bible. And let me say this. Let me just say this while I'm here. Let's say tomorrow. We wake up and we decide every King James only Bible believer out there, they don't only have to be Baptist, and we say, you know what? The 1995 version of the New American Standard Bible is in fact the perfect pure word of God. You're going to have everybody that hates us KJV only attacking the NASB, which they might use right now. Why? Because it isn't the King James that they're attacking. They're attacking the fact that the Bible is the authority over them. You see, they want to pick and choose what they like. They want to pick and choose the errors when the Bible should be picking and choosing the errors in their life. Instead of them trying to correct the Bible, they need to let the Bible correct them. There's two types of people. We need to tighten our grip on inspiration. Let me say secondly, we need to tighten our grip on He's the God of incarnation. Hebrews chapter 1 verse 2 says, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds. Let me tell you, in our multicultural society our nation was not found on Buddhist gods, it was not founded on Hindu gods, it was not founded on Arab gods, it was not founded on Egyptian gods. Our nation was founded on the God of the King James Bible. That's God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost. And in 2021, you're very popular if you believe in some form of deity. A preacher is fine. He's fine to preach on God as long as he just doesn't speak the name of Jesus. Psalms 2 verse 1 says, Why do the heathen rage and imagine a vain thing? I'll tell you why. They don't like that name Jesus too much. It works, and I can use this as an example. I can talk to the girls in the office about God. I can talk to them about the Bible. I can talk to customers about God. I can even mention the Bible. Those are fine because those are religious terms. But when I say the Lord Jesus Christ, It offends people. Well, the gospel is offensive. I don't mean to offend people, but the gospel is offensive. When I say Jesus, well, let me get some of that Jesus. You said the name of Jesus. Even the devils know, even the demons know the name of Jesus. Jesus is what separates us from other religions. Because let me tell you something, and y'all know this, I'll beat this like it's a dead horse. Our God is the only one that got up from the grave. Muhammad's dead, Buddha's dead, but ours is alive evermore. And He's interceding for us on behalf of us. He's up there at the right hand of the Father. He's alive and He's doing well. He's the God of incarnation. He was up in heaven and He wore a crown, a diadem and then He wrapped Himself in humanity. He was born of a virgin and He came and He lived a sinless life. And He went and He died for you and I. And on the third day He rose from that grave and He ascended into heaven and He's coming back again to rapture out the church. I believe in the last days, the last seconds of the last days He is coming very soon. Brother, I look around And it's almost miserable. It's so discouraging sometimes just to look around and just see the attack that Satan has on the churches. It isn't just Danieltown Baptist Church. I'm here to tell you, it's every church that I've come in contact with in just the past few years, especially since COVID. And I understand things happen, but especially since COVID, I've met many, many preachers in Western North Carolina in just the past few months. They're so discouraged because everybody's falling away. Nobody's holding fast to the doctrines of the Bible. Nobody's looking to evangelize the sinner. Preachers are getting so discouraged sometimes they don't want to go equip the saints. I don't know about you, Pastor Craig, but this is how I am. If I meet someone and they're like a sponge and they just want to soak up what I have to say, well, that gets me excited. I'm invested. I am all in. I will do everything I can do to help you in whatever capacity I can help you. But I'm afraid that even the church has hardened their own hearts. They're waxing colder and colder. And it gets so discouraging even doing what I'm doing, evangelizing, even going from church to church and preaching the gospel. It gets discouraging because you see the people are discouraged. Let me tell you. Jesus said, if my name be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me. Let me tell you what's going to help you in this time. Let me tell you what's going to help you in these last days. Remember that man named Jesus. Remember that he is God incarnation. But just put your eyes back on Jesus. Don't even look at the church house. Don't even look at the preacher. Don't look at the deacon. Look at Jesus. Look at Jesus. Give me Jesus. All I need is Jesus. He is the God of incarnation. And that's something we need to tighten our grip on. Let me say this, we need to tighten our grip on salvation. Hebrews 1, verse 3, "...who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself..." Let me read that again, "...when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high." Hollywood has done their best to depict what it was like whenever Jesus went up on the cross, but I've got to tell Mel Gibson something. It wasn't the Roleman soldiers that nailed my Jesus to that cross. And contrary to some of the popular hymns which we love, it was not my sins that nailed Him to the cross. No, Jesus willingly by Himself put Himself up on that cross for you and I. By Himself. He did it. He is the only way to salvation. It was by Himself. Acts 4.12 says, Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is none other than the name of heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. He is the power of God unto salvation. You see, Jesus does not need your baptism to help Him. Jesus does not need your church membership to help Him. Jesus does not need your good works to help Him. Jesus does not need your tithe to help Him. You see, Jesus is permanent salvation. I know that's going to hair limp a lot of them Pentecostals and Free Will Baptists, amen? But my Bible says that no man, that includes myself, no man can pluck me out of his hands. He said, I am the father of one. My father who is greater than all giveth to me. That's what the Bible says. I'm so saved it's pitiful. Brother, I couldn't go to hell if I wanted to. That's the grace of God tonight, amen. Even if I wanted to, amen. That is the God of salvation. That is what sets us free. That's what gives the lost man hope. Amen. Oh, this is beautiful right here. John 3, 16. Let's just take a moment. For God so loved the world. Oh, this is love. This is love. That's you, by the way. The world is you. The world is I. The world is the drunkard. The world is the drug addict. The world is the man walking up and down 221 with tracks in his arms. The world is the man on the gas station trying to bomb to get a crack rock. The world is the least of these that Jesus came for. For God so loved the world. The world is the religious person that thinks that they can do better to earn their way to heaven. For God so loved the world. The world is the single mother that thinks that she's not going to make it by herself. For God so loved the world. The world is absolutely anybody. Anybody. It doesn't matter if you're a black man, a white man. It doesn't matter your race, religion, your creed. For God so loved the world. That is every tribe of every nation specifically. For God so loved the world. What did He do? He gave His only begotten Son. Not His only Son, because brother, when I was born again, I become a son of God. Amen. Amen. And whenever you were born again, you become a son or a daughter of God. He didn't give His only Son. I'm one of His sons. He gave His only begotten Son, the only heir to the throne. He gave His only begotten Son to whosoever. That's absolutely anybody. Anybody can come to salvation. Whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. I get it from both sides, brother. I get accused from preaching this easy believism. All you got to do is call on the name of the Lord and thou shalt be saved. I don't know about you, but believing on the Lord was hard for me. But I will say also, I believe in conviction before salvation. Well, some people say, do you believe in progressive salvation? Well, if you call conviction before salvation progressive salvation, then Joshua K. Waters is right beside it, because I sure do. I believe it takes the conviction of the Holy Ghost. You see, you've got to be lost before you can be found. That's the way it is. Salvation is to every man that believes on the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. But see, that word everlasting, brother, that means forever. This world can strip me away from everything that I've ever gotten, that I've ever worked for, and it's okay because I have my salvation. God's been so good to me. If He doesn't do another thing for me, I can still stand and praise His name. God is so good to me. He has blessed me and my family. But let me tell you, it isn't what I've worked for, it's what He's given me. He's given me a good bill of health so I can go out and labor. He has done that for me. Everything I have is because of Him. But I'm telling you this much, I know we don't talk about it as much, but you have an abundant life in some kind of capacity whenever you are saved. You are protected in that salvation come hell or high water. We were reminded that this world is not even our home. We have what the world is looking for and His name is Jesus. But I want to say also we have been bombarded with false doctrines. We've been saturated with lies of modern day Christendom. And Paul warns us out here of the preachers that are preaching false doctrines. 2 Corinthians 11 verse 4 says this, For if he that cometh preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit which ye have not received, or another gospel which ye have not accepted, ye might bear well with them. I couldn't even begin to start to explain to you. what I mean by the false doctrines. But I'll make it simple this way. Some folks say that you got to simply come up front and sign a card and you're saved. Just go step in the baptistry. That's it. There's one example. That's one example. Y'all don't believe me? I took a youth group to Hearts on Fire. Was it last year, baby? And that's all it was. They had big-name pastors, Clayton King, Greg Laurie. My goodness, there's a few other big-name guys up there just popping chewing gum, telling the stories. Come down, get your confession card. That's what they consider salvation. And I'm not saying that all of them were false converts. I'm not saying that because I believe the Spirit will draw. I really do. But I think some people just have a head knowledge. I wonder how many people they sent straight to hell because they're believing in that confession card and they're believing in a baptism. It blows my mind. There's some out there that says, it's by grace through faith that you're saved, not of works, it's a gift of God, lest any man should boast. They believe that salvation is by grace through faith, but once you're saved, you have to keep it. Your good works have to outweigh your bad. And I can name denominations and I won't attack them tonight. But there's only one way, there's only one standard of goodness, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. That's it. That's the Lord Jesus Christ. We're moving on. Number four tonight. I say we need to tighten our grip on the fact that He's a dominant God. Hebrews chapter 1 verse 4 says, Being made so much better than the angels, as He hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. You know, the Catholics, they'll worship them angels. But the Bible says that even God has a more excellent name than they. You see, it's quite simple tonight, church. Jesus is holier and he's higher. He's the only begotten. He's the heir. Philippians 2, 9 says, also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name above every name, that at that name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. You see, He is God and He will be bowed to, even those that are mocking His name right now, even those that are making fun of us Christians still. They're going to bow one day and they're going to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. They may think right now, with everything going on, that they're winning. And let me tell you, they just might be in the moment. I'm convinced, brother, I'm convinced. The devil is, for lack of a better term, the god of distraction. He's going to bring distraction. I believe distraction, I can't speak for you, but for me, distraction is my biggest thing. Whenever distraction comes into my life, that means the devil's playing around. That means he's trying to get my mind and my eyes off of Jesus. And let me tell you, the devil has got this world by the throat and he's playing a fiddle. He's got everybody distracted, looking this way, looking that way, blaming this side and that side, dividing, dividing. That's what he does. He divides and then he conquers. That's what he's trying to do. But even now, even now as though we get mocked, and we get made fun of and we get ridiculed, even though that's what's happening now, we're gonna have treasures up in heaven, we're gonna have crowns, we're gonna have rewards for what we're doing. He's a dominant name, so in the end, just know that he's gonna win. You see, there's only one Jesus, and every now and then, he's gonna flex his muscle and he's gonna remind us that he's in control, because one day, he'll be coming back on a white horse. One day we won't be saying, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world, but instead, Behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah. In the book of Revelation it says when He comes back He's going to judge and He's going to make war. I want to say that we need to tighten our grip on He's still a dominant God. They make God out to be some kind of sissified, needy Jesus. I like what Brother Votie Bauckham said one time, Oh, God loves you. God needs you. You're hurting him. Don't make him cry. No, if you reject him one day, he's going to break you. And he said it just like that. I like what he said. And don't get me wrong. It does hurt our father whenever he sees us do wrong. That's true. But we've watered him down. We've taken the masculinity away from him. I want to say number five, we need to tighten our grip on He's the God of indignation. Hebrews 1 verse 9 says this, Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity. Therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. We need to tighten our grip on He's the God of indignation. What is that, Preacher Josh? Well, that just simply means anger and annoyance. Well, you know, love the sinner, hate the sin. Do you know where we got that from? It's not in here. Gandhi. Gandhi said love the sinner and hate the sin. The Bible says love not the world. neither the things in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but of the world. The Bible says love not the world, the world is the lost man. Love the sinner, hate the sinner. That's not my Bible. The Bible says to have compassion on them in the book of Jude. Have compassion. That's where you have hurt in your heart. You're broken over their sin. You're broken over their lack of relationship with God Almighty. You're broken, you're burdened because they're lost and they're headed straight to a devil's hell where there is torture, where there is torment and where there is flame. Well, there is flame. These modern virgins want to take that flame. They're trying to take fire out of hell. You say, preacher, you sure are a hellfire preacher. No, no. I'm a heaven's sweet preacher. But to get you to heaven, I've got to get you to turn from hell. You see, you should have compassion that you don't want them to burn in hell. And see, there's no waiting room, there's no lobby that they just come down and they sit in and say, okay, well, I'm going to do my time. I know what's coming. No, they're in hell. There's no warning. They're breathing on this side of eternity. They take the last breath and immediately they're burning in hell forever. In Luke 16, in the passage there, you know what, I think I'm just going to turn there. We've got a little time, don't we, Pastor? We've got a little bit of time. Turn with me in your Bible. This is not my notes. Turn with me in your Bible to the book of Luke real quick, chapter number 16. Luke 16, I'll be as quick as I can and we're moving on. Luke 16, 19, And there was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day. And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores, and it came to pass, and the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torment and seeing Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tongue of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivest thy good works, and likewise latterest evil things. But now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great goal fixed, so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot, neither can they pass to us that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, Father, that thou wouldst send him to my father's house. Pay attention here, folks. For I have five brethren, and he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them. He said, Nay, Father Abraham, but if one went up unto them from the dead, they would repent. And he said unto them, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose. You say, Preacher, why did you pull that out? I want you to notice that right here the rich man is in hell and he's saying, Look... He said, If I can send somebody from hell up there to earth to tell them, He's been five seconds in hell to tell them how bad it is that they'll all get saved. And what does He say back? Nope. Nope. If they're not going to hear the man of God preaching the word of God, they're not going to repent. You see, the man of God's got more power to change those that don't believe. Why? Because he's empowered by the Holy Ghost. He's a vessel of the Holy Ghost, and the Holy Ghost speaks through the man of God to quicken the lost. Even somebody that spent five seconds in hell, even though he wants to change those that are on this side of the earth, he don't have the power to save. It comes through the foolishness of preaching to save those which don't believe. That's not in my notes, but by God I want to say it, amen. That's what preaching is. Sometimes you just move on, but I want to say He's the God of indignation. God's millstones of justice may grind slowly, but they sure are grinding, friend. It won't be long before He's absolutely fed up with everything that's going on. He's going to be fed up with Trashville up the road here. He's going to be fed up with modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah. He's going to be fed up with miniature California just right up the road here. And I've got customers, bless their heart, that live up there. And praise be unto God, I get the opportunity to minister to them, to tell them about the man named Jesus. And believe it or not, it isn't that they hate Jesus, it's just the churches are not telling them about Jesus because they don't understand who He is. They don't know the gospel like you know the gospel. They don't know that there is a free gift of salvation, that He comes to even the reprobates, even the sodomites. For God's love of the world, He loves those up in Asheville too. God's trying to see them saved. You say, Josh, are you loving the sinner and hating the sin? No, I have compassion. I have compassion. I want to say that we're trying to do things in a secular way. You see, it doesn't please God through the foolishness of having a coffee shop. in your church. It doesn't praise God through the foolishness of just doing little ministerial activities, such and such of ministries. It pleases God through the foolishness of preaching. Preaching. And let me tell you something, brother. It's a burden. It's a burden to get up here every time. God, don't let me fail. Don't let me slip up. Don't let me say something I ought not say. Lord, tell me, give me the words that you have your people to hear. It's a burden unlike any other. And let me say this before I even move on, because I'm just going to get hung up here. I've been praying for so long for Danieltown Baptist Church. And I'm just going to go ahead and throw this out. I have given to the church the best that I can because I don't want to see this church go down. I don't have much to give, but I've been giving it via PayPal. Why? Because we need this church. I've been thinking about the testimony that Creighton has had on my life, the testimony that this church has had on my life, and I'm here to tell you, brother, if it wasn't for Daniel Town Baptist Church, I wouldn't be standing in front of this pulpit right now. I would have quit the ministry while I had the chance. I would have quit the ministry when the potpourri of the Southern Baptist Convention decided to try to kick me out. Why? Because I was preaching on the book of Daniel. And all I preached was it doesn't matter what our government says, I'm not going to back down. I'm going to serve my Lord. Jamie Murphy and Lon Chenoweth and a few others, some of y'all may know those names, literally held me over for an hour. My family went home and said, we're stripping the video down and you're not gonna preach like that again. You're not preaching for us again. It's what they told me. And I said something very similar, but maybe in a more tactful way. I said, I understand. I said, thank you for your wisdom. Thank you, thank you. I may need to know this. I may need to know my audience. I appreciate that, but I need you to understand something. This Bible is my final authority on all matters of faith and practice. The Bible says we worship Him in spirit and in truth. I believe I have the truth right here and all I did was preach the truth and I was led in the spirit and backed by the truth to preach what I preached. They just ran, they circled back to what they said, they had nothing else to say. That's right. If it wasn't for this, even up until that point, if it wasn't for this church, I would have gave up. Because like I've heard him say, for whatever reason, The pastors around here are scared to share a pulpit because they're scared I'm going to take their ministry or their pulpit. Brother Craig knows my heart. That is not my desire. That is not my desire. My desire is to equip the saints, to evangelize the sinner. That is my simple desire. But it's getting even worse and I can name names. It's just going up into the mountains. One of my preacher friends that I was telling you about, he's gotten so disheartened because now you have to be an intern. And you have to go to a seminary of their choice. And even then you might not make the cut if they don't like you. And my wife knows exactly what I'm talking about because we dealt with some of that because we met two groups, two interns. One got the job, one didn't. They saw each other, we happened to be together, and it was almost like two chained dogs. They could have beat each other's throats out. That's not ministry. That's not what God has called us to do. We're doing things in a secular way that God never intended. And we wonder why our churches are failing? Because God ain't within a hundred miles of that. It's a secular way. I got called this week an old soul. Brother, I didn't even know what that meant. I said, explain that to me. Well, you act older than what you are. You believe things should be a certain way and that's it. And I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah. I was like, is it a bad thing? He said, no, no, no, it's a good thing. A man in their 20s, I just don't expect that. I said, well, you know, I guess I'm also the salt and light of the earth. I said, maybe I'm a dinosaur. I said, I think I know why you see me that way, because I believe in the King James Bible. I believe in a man named Jesus. I believe the blood of atonement for salvation. That answered all the questions they had that they were going to ask me. I figured you was one of those, yeah. One of those is probably peculiarness that the Bible tells us to be like. You know, if you want to mark me off as a weirdo for Jesus, praise God, I am. But I'm here to tell you, listen, that is something we need to tighten our grip down. I'm moving on. Number six tonight, we've got two more points. Hang in there with me, church. I say we need to tighten our grip on He's the God of creation. Hebrews 1, verse 10 says, And thou, Lord, in the beginning has laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens and the works of thine hands." I was talking today with Raylan. I said, Raylan, you remember going up to the mountains when Daddy was preaching in the mountains a little bit ago? He says, yeah. How'd those mountains get there? He said, Jesus. I said, right. I said, we're going to the beach here this week. The waves, how do the waves do that? Jesus. That's right. That's right. He's five. No, it does not make sense to him like it does you and I. But come August 18th, he's going to step foot in the TJCA, and he's already going to be a light. No, he hasn't confessed salvation. However, he will be a light. Because some people are not going to see that. Even there, which we like TJC, I went there for a little bit. It's a good school. Even so, we're starting them young. That's what I'm getting at. You see, we don't need a bunch of theistic evolutions. And I love my Schofield, I really do, but Dr. Schofield got it wrong. We don't need a bunch of gap theories to accommodate what the world has to say about some things. We don't need that. I believe in the six literal days. In six literal days He created everything, and on the seventh He rested. I say that we need to tighten our grip on He's the God of creation. I had the opportunity to get into a discussion one time at lunch a few months ago with probably one of the most intelligent minds I have ever met. The young man is 22, 23 years old. Taylor knows who I'm talking about. One of the most intelligent minds. And he's looking for truth. He's looking for light. He's looking for answers. And he's read all kinds of books. There's a certain book called The Art of War. I'm actually reading part of it now. It's an older book. about the Samurais back in the day. He's read all kinds of things, all kinds of different religious books, and he says they seem to have all the same variables, the same common denominators, and this, that, and the third. He said, what separates the Bible? Now, mind you, he grew up in church. What separates the Bible from all of them? I said, well, that's a really good question. I said, how in the world can 66 books throughout thousands of years, throughout so much time, all coordinate with each other. How can so many authors have the same thing to say? How is that even possible? And we're talking about Jews, we're talking about Greeks, Gentiles, we're talking about different people from different backgrounds. They all say the same thing from different time periods, from different eras. They all said the same thing. The Old Testament talks about a coming Messiah. The Gospel according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John talks about the Messiah. The New Testament points back to the Messiah. It's all about Jesus Christ. That's the difference in it. And I believe that the very same God in the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus was around before the creation of time. He was there in eternity past and He will be there in eternity future. Our last point, I say we need to tighten our grip on He's the God of continuation. And you can read that for yourself from verse 11, verse 14 on down if you'd like. But I'm reminded of what the Bible says, I'm the Lord and I change not. Therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. The Bible says Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever. You see, tonight He's an immutable God. He's a steadfast God. He's an always the same God. He's an always on time God. He's not going to change with the trend. He's not going to change with the times. He's not going to change with temptation. And let me say this, if it has ever been right It's still right. If it has ever been wrong, it's still wrong. I don't care what the White House says, what the propaganda machines say. If it's ever been right, it's still right. If it's ever been wrong, it's still wrong. Some people just call that common sense. But going back to what I say, we can joke all around about it, but I really believe people don't have common sense because we're so distracted. We're just looking in every single direction, and that is what he's trying to do. That's what the devil's trying to do. In conclusion here, we are living in the last days, church. And let me tell you, and I believe this with every fiber of my being. Let me step back, I ain't gonna use my nose. I believe this in every fiber of my being. We serve a sovereign God. and He chose you before the foundation of the world to have you here at Daniel Tom Baptist Church August the 1st of 2021. He could have picked a different time frame. You could have been around with Charles Haddon Spurgeon and you could have sat and heard about him. Or He could have put you back with George Whitefield and all them in the Great Awakening. He could have had you born and living through that era, but no, He chose you to be the Charles Spurgeon. He chose you to be part of the great awakening here and now. He has picked you. Church, if you want to see, let me just be real, if you want to see Danieltown Baptist Church thrive, it counts as soon as you go out that door. As soon as you go out that door, it's wartime. It's game time. How do you do it? You show the love of Jesus. You show it to this world. There are times, and I'm still a hick from Henrietta, okay? I'll get my flesh, my redneck side wants to fly out in just a minute. My wife knows, especially when somebody cuts me off in traffic. With that being said, there are times I just have to swallow that, folks. And I gotta remember, I am a Christian. And I know I might sound pious by saying that, but I realize on the authority of God's words that He's commissioned me to go. He has chosen me August 1st, 2021 to go. He's commissioned you. It is now or never. It is make or break. We will be the ones that break it if we don't do nothing, but we will also be the ones that make it if we do something. Now you say, preacher, I know all this. I've heard all this. You don't impress me. I didn't, I wasn't trying to impress nobody. I just wanted to give you a reminder tonight of what we're even, what are we even doing here on earth? What are we even doing here? I think about, brother, I know I circle, I'm circling the stump, I'm about to pull off. But I, church, I really do. I think about, I think about Pastor Craig often and how much he gives to this church. how much he loves this church. And brother, you know I'm not praising that man. Y'all know I'm not praising this man. But I'm telling you, he has come to me in my darkest midnight. There have been times, and I don't want to get into too much detail, to where I'm staying at a place and I don't even have a bed to sleep on. Me and a friend of mine, he wanted to come over one time, this was years ago, years ago. I said, brother, I got a room, but man, you can't stay the night, I ain't got nowhere to sleep. He said, what do you mean? I was like, well, you'll see. He come over there, he was telling me a little bit more about God, teaching me how to play guitar a little bit. I literally had to give him some laundry to lay down on for him to sleep because I had no bed. That is where I was when Craig met me. And I was just a little freshman at Fruitland. It had no money, had a very terrible home life, but all I knew is that I was called to preach. And he come in and swept underneath me and said, you know what? I'm gonna put you underneath my wing, and I'm gonna love on you. I'm gonna be like a daddy to you. He's been more of a daddy than my own daddy has been, and I thank God for him. He's been more of a big brother than I could ever ask for. Let me tell you, he does that for everybody he comes in contact with that I know of. That is the most loving man of God that I have ever met. And let me tell you, he puts Jesus first in all. So church, I'm asking, and I'm not saying that you're not, but I'm asking you to try to liken unto your pastor and do the same. Just do the same. In seminary, you talked about Brother Michael, one of our alumni at Slidell passed on. Brother, I got the news when I was watching the feed. I was just in shock. It's that quick, folks. It could happen to you. It's that quick. What are you doing? Don't waste your time. Hold fast. Hold the line. Tighten your grip because the world's trying to strip it from us right now. Look at Jesus. It's all about Him. For this Invitational, Mother David, if you'll come, I'm going to ask Pastor Craig to come up here, and I'm going to ask the church