[0:00] I'm thinking if something happened to him, surely Kamala Harris will pardon me, right? Amen. So, but thanks for praying anyway. That application got the gospel into places that it wouldn't have got in otherwise.
[0:14] So, you know, let me see. Be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, so as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. So if you prayed, you wrote a letter, any of that, it's not in vain.
[0:27] So, all right. So take your Bible now. Go to Matthew 17. Matthew chapter 17. It is good to be back.
[0:42] Praise the Lord. It's good to see you again. And let's see what God will do. Let's begin in verse number 1. Matthew chapter 17. In verse number 1, and it says this.
[0:54] And after six days, Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John, his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them.
[1:05] And his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias, talking with him, talking to Jesus.
[1:17] Then answered Peter and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here. If thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.
[1:31] While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
[1:43] I hear ye him. Verse 6 says, And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face and were sore afraid. Verse 7, And Jesus came and touched them and said, Arise, be not afraid.
[1:56] And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man save, Jesus only. Father, thank you, God, for the word of God. Help me to say something tonight from your book that will be, most of all, according to your will.
[2:10] And may it be a blessing to your people. May it be convicting, if that's what's necessary here tonight. And may it be a light pointing to the cross for that one that may not be saved. Lord, thank you for the liberty that we have to be here.
[2:24] And I pray and ask you just meet with us this night and for the next several nights. That is our desire. And we pray it in Jesus Christ's name. Amen and amen. So here you got it.
[2:36] You got these three men, Peter, James, and John. And they're on the Mount of Transfiguration. And they saw something up there nobody else ever saw, not before, not since.
[2:49] And we read it, and you know what I'm talking about. You got Jesus and Moses and Elias. But in verse 4, interesting to me, it said, Then answered Peter and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here.
[3:04] And you know what? Peter always seemed to be the one that felt a need to have something to say. A lot of times you'll say, and Peter answered. So I'll backtrack to find out what the question was.
[3:15] And he doesn't need a question. He just answers any, you know, whatever. And, you know, there's a crowd out there that they claim that Peter was the first pope.
[3:25] And, of course, we know better than that. He never even went to Rome. And he was married. And there's a million reasons why he wasn't the first pope. But when I look at his habit of talking when there's no need, I think it is possible he was the first Baptist.
[3:43] Sometimes, Peter, what he said was good. For example, in Matthew 16, verse 15, Jesus talked. And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
[3:55] And in verse 16 it said, And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And he nailed it, buddy. He got it right.
[4:06] That's exactly who Jesus Christ is. And sometimes the things he said got him in trouble. Later in that same passage in Matthew 16, it said in verse 23, But he turned, Jesus Christ, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan, for thou art an offense unto me.
[4:29] I'll tell you what, when you see the fact that it's possible to be an offense to Jesus Christ, you ought to look at that passage and try to figure out what it is that caused him to say that and purpose in your heart never to make that mistake.
[4:48] because that's the last person you want to offend. Not because of what he might do, but because of what he's already done. Amen?
[4:59] And the verse actually tells you exactly what the issue is. It said there in verse 23, For thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
[5:12] And I'm going to just confess to you here and now, I've been guilty of that. Since I've been saved, since I've been in the ministry, I've let my attention and my affections get caught up on things.
[5:24] And at the end of the day, you know, when the windows of heaven kind of shut down and you don't get an answer to the prayer and you do a little examining and you find out you got your priorities out of line.
[5:35] And that's why it's good to be in church and get under the preaching, come to meetings like this once in a while, so that you can ask the Lord to help you get your priorities lined back up with His.
[5:46] He knows we're in the world. He knows we've got to get cared. There are cares of the world. But, boy, we don't want to let anything get more important to us than the things of God.
[5:57] So Peter got that pretty stern rebuke right there and called him Satan. Man, I know Christians, you couldn't even imply that they're mistaken.
[6:10] They can't even take a gentle reproof, let alone that. But that book says somewhere in Proverbs, reproofs are a way of life. Peter is, Timothy is charged by Paul to reprove, rebuke, with long-suffering and doctrine.
[6:28] And then the next verse says, for the time will come. And, beloved, we're there. We're there. We're at a time where people don't want to endure sound doctrine. Sound doctrine will convict you that Jesus Christ is always right, and you might strike a lick once in a while, but you're wrong sometimes.
[6:47] You know, and we live in a time where that's just people can't handle that. So they go down the road to the church that won't ever offend them by telling them the truth.
[6:59] And they go on their merry way feeling good about themselves, saved or not. And even if they are, if that's the point in their Christian life where they can't take sound doctrine, they're sure not going to be a witness to their loved ones and their coworkers because they don't want to offend them.
[7:17] And it just spirals out of control, and indeed it's out of control. And that's why it's such a blessing that there's churches like this scattered all over America and indeed all over the world where people are interested in the truth because it says in John 8, 32, you should know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
[7:35] And it made me free. And now I got the message. And somebody else needs the message. I was reading a devotional by Richard Wurmbrand, that Romanian pastor that was in communist prison for 14 years, and he commented on another passage in Matthew 16, I think it was verse 18, I'm not sure, where he said unto Peter that he gave him the keys to the kingdom of heaven.
[8:00] And I got thinking about that, he gave me the keys to the kingdom of heaven too. I mean, I've got the key. I can talk to a person, I talk to them all the time, and tell them how to get their sins forgiven.
[8:13] And if you're saved in the night, he's given you the keys to the kingdom of heaven too. Now, don't lose them. And don't forget where they are. Amen?
[8:24] You know, interestingly enough, Wurmbrand pointed out that he didn't give any of us the keys to hell. He's got them. Revelation chapter 1, he's got the keys to death and hell. Because you and I, in our carnality, we'd put people in hell.
[8:39] He ain't taking that chance. We get mad. And he ain't risking that. But boy, I'll tell you what he'll let you do. He'll let you commit the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost sinner.
[8:53] If you're willing to open your mouth, if you're willing to look in your Bible and commit some things to memory, and get a hold of it, he'll let you tell somebody else about Christ.
[9:04] Boy, I'll just tell you, man, that's the most exciting thing I've ever been a part of. Amen? Amen. So we got Peter talking up there. And sometimes the things he says are real good, aren't the Christ.
[9:16] And sometimes he gets called the devil. Amen? And sometimes he says things that just make him look stupid. That's kind of part of the territory when you're doing more talking than listening.
[9:34] And we're guilty of that too often. And I said we. Amen. We answer before we've ever heard the conclusion of the matter too often. And we get in trouble.
[9:45] And at worst and at best we look stupid. Amen? So here you got Jesus Christ and Moses and Elias.
[9:56] They're on the Mount of Transfiguration. And then you got James and John. And there's five people. And here's Peter right there, extremely privileged to be there.
[10:09] Just like you and I are extremely privileged to be children of God and have access to the throne of grace, etc., etc. We are definitely the most blessed people on the planet.
[10:20] So here you got these six men up there on this mount. And Peter opens his mouth and says that, Let us build three tabernacles.
[10:32] And I can just see, I can just see Jesus Christ, Moses, Elias, and Peter and John all turning to look at Peter and like, What?
[10:44] Sometimes you open your mouth out and turn and it just makes you look stupid. But Peter wasn't stupid. He's like us.
[10:55] He's normal. And, you know, he had his little issues sometimes, but he had enough sense to follow the Lord with his life. Amen. Do you?
[11:06] The Bible says, I'm teaching therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice. Not your weekend. Amen. Not your Sunday.
[11:19] Present your bodies a living sacrifice. Holy. That's with an H. Holy. Acceptable to God. Well, I think.
[11:30] See, that's your problem. You find out what's acceptable to God by getting in that book. Amen. And because the rest is opinion. Everybody's got opinions.
[11:40] Mine's not worth a plug nickel more than yours. And I just got to say, I'm almost 70, and I'm still not 100% sure what a plug nickel is. But I know this. That's the expression.
[11:51] I know this. We've all got opinions, and we're welcome to have them. But at the end of the day, what sayeth the Scriptures? It says, Holy. Acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
[12:02] We look at Peter and James and John and Andrew, the first four fishermen that were called, and it says they immediately left their nets and followed them. They left more than their nets. They left their family.
[12:12] They left their job. They left their religion and followed Jesus Christ. I wouldn't call anybody that did that stupid ever. Peter wasn't stupid.
[12:23] He had enough courage to take a stand when there was a cost. But he, in the garden, he pulled his sword. Amen. They were expecting to die.
[12:34] He already said it earlier in the passage. I'll die with you. Should I die with you, I'll not deny you. Yeah, you know, it's not a good thing to just contradict the Lord after he says something. But again, Peter was just human, and we do it too.
[12:50] And if we don't do it verbally, we do it right here sometimes. Amen. But I'll tell you what. He'll whack. I'll tell Marcus was, you know, pretty quick on his feet because I don't think he was aiming at his ear.
[13:04] Amen. But he was willing to die in the garden. He was willing to take a stand when it could have cost him his life then and there, and he thought he was doing the right thing.
[13:15] Jesus Christ doesn't ask us to present our bodies a dying sacrifice. I mean, he already did that. I mean, to the ultimate degree. He's not asking that of us.
[13:28] Amen. Man, I'll tell you, we live in a day and age where Christians won't take a stand if it's inconvenient, let alone cost him anything.
[13:42] Amen. And that's just the way it is. And it's not the way it's supposed to be, but the Bible tells us it's going to get that way. But, you know, we're Bible believers, and we're in the minority.
[13:53] And truth be known, we always have been. Amen. I don't know when the good old days was, but I'm pretty sure that during the good old days, they were talking about the good old days too.
[14:06] Amen. Because the current, this present world has always been wicked for the child of God. Amen. Unless you're trying to fit in and it's not, that ain't going to work.
[14:19] You'll be miserable and make everybody around you miserable. He had enough, I'll tell you something else, Peter, I can go and inform a lot of people don't. He had enough character to humble himself and get right with God and repent.
[14:37] Boy, think about that thing there by the John 21. Lord, thou knowest I love thee. And he got the drift. And Jesus Christ reproved Peter right there in the midst of all them other guys without making a fool out of him, without guilt tripping him or shaming him.
[14:59] But you read through that sometimes. But he got the message across. And Peter got the message. Thou knowest that I love thee. And he let him live for him the rest of his life. And he did.
[15:09] And I know Christians that have gotten crossways even when they knew they were wrong. And their stinking pride will keep them from ever admitting they were wrong. Even if they're willing to admit it to themselves. And that's where we are.
[15:23] So, yeah, Peter opened his mouth. There was no reason to. But, except for to give me some, you know, an intro to this message. Because, you know. But, I got a lot of respect for the guy.
[15:36] He said these words. And this is what we're going to preach on. He said, it is good for us to be here.
[15:47] And I say again. I mentioned it in the beginning. After the breakdown and the cancellations, it is good to be here. It is good to be back on the road. It is good to be back in the pulpit.
[16:00] Amen. Let me just say this. Number one. It is good to be in America. I really mean that. I noticed this. The communists, they hate America.
[16:12] They hate it. And the Muslims, you know. If they could take over, you know. With that. Okay. Jihad. What's that law thing they want to do? Sharia law.
[16:24] If all that ever went the way they wanted, they'd wipe America out and convert it. Convert it or kill it. You with me? Amen. And liberals hate America.
[16:37] I mean, they do. I mean, nothing makes no sense. Except one thing. They want to see the total. Well, they're ushering in the Antichrist. I get all that. But I'm just saying like this.
[16:48] The communists hate America. The radical Islamists, if that's better for you, hate America. The liberals hate America. I do not want to be associated with that crowd.
[16:59] And I'll tell you what, just to be honest, some of our Baptists brethren like to ride the American Bastion horse pretty hard to. And I just want to say that I'm not one of them.
[17:13] And I'll tell you something else I've noticed. The ones that ride it the hardest, they're not veterans. They've never sworn an oath. They've never put their life on the line so that you and I can enjoy the freedom that we enjoy and that they enjoy.
[17:32] I am a veteran. And without apology, I love my country. It does something for me to see a flag waving in the wind against the blue sky.
[17:44] It does something for my spirit. And I come over a hill sometimes out here and see a, I don't know why it's always a car dealership, but they got the biggest flags in the world.
[17:56] And, man, you'll see one up there and it's like big as a motorhome. I was going to say a house, but at least a motorhome. That brother down there in Bayview, brother Brian Waters, he runs that Seaborn Canvas Company and they make flags.
[18:12] And they make marina flags and golf course flags. They make American flags. Good, sturdy, outdoor, made-in-American flags. And I remember one year, yeah, I mean, this had to have been 20 years ago.
[18:24] He said, Brother Burton, I'll make you a flag big enough to cover your whole bus. And I thought about that for a second and I got a vision of a casket, you know, if I had a, I said, no, that's good.
[18:35] I don't need a, I don't need a flag that big. But it doesn't, listen, if it doesn't do anything for you to see that flag, I feel sorry for you.
[18:46] I do. And I love you and the Lord and all that. I'm not, none of that. I'm not one of them guys. That's not my campaign. You say America's got a lot of problems.
[18:57] I know. Just like I did. I still got too many for my liking. Again, but I know what, I know what brought me out.
[19:08] He brought me up, I was out of a horrible pit and out of the mired clay, set my feet upon a rock and established my going. And I put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God, many of us, see it in fear and trust the Lord. America's got a lot of problems.
[19:20] But we know the solution. Don't we? Don't we believe that? And so somebody will say, and they're right. I guess they're right.
[19:30] I don't, I, I know they're right. And there'll never be a national revival in America. It's gone too far. Or the Bible points to the next phases. Doesn't include that. And I get it.
[19:41] I see it. But I still love my countrymen. And I know what they need. And it reminds me of the story of back in Florida. There's a period of time in the Gulf and on the Atlantic side.
[19:53] I have no idea about this Pacific Ocean side. But there's a time of year where, where the, where the shore gets, I mean, the starfish will wash up.
[20:06] And the tide will go out. And I've been on the, down on the Gulf, where there was maybe thousands of starfish on the beach.
[20:16] You don't go out there. I mean, there's no fun. They're dying in the sun. It stinks, you know. And, and, and this kid, there's a young, a kid, Christian kid.
[20:27] And he, he felt, man, this is terrible. And he goes out there and he grabs a stick. And he kind of wedges it under a starfish. And he flings it back in the water. And he's doing that.
[20:38] And there's thousands of them. And this old guy, you know, old skeptic, you know, like Rush. He goes out there and he tells the kid, he says, hey, kid, you're wasting your time.
[20:49] You're never going to save all them starfish. And the kid stuck that thing under another one and flung it back out in the water. He said, I saved that one. And we ain't going to get to everybody, but let's get the ones we can.
[21:03] I'm glad somebody came to a jail 32 years ago and told me. Amen. I mean, we've got an opportunity unless we just develop an attitude that it's too late and it doesn't matter.
[21:17] And America is too far gone. I just want to start the message by saying I'm glad to be here. I'm glad to be in California. You should see. I really enjoy the looks I get when I tell people.
[21:31] I left my home church the other day and said, yeah, on Monday I'm flying to California. People cringe when you say that. They wince when you say that. That or New York City, both of them.
[21:43] And I love going to both. Amen. And, well, because there's a lot of sinners, that's what we're in the business to reach sinners, right? But not just that. Not even just that by a long shot.
[21:56] I tell them. It's my privilege to tell them. I said, buddy, there's people in Southern California that are just as saved as you and love that book and are faithful.
[22:08] And there's little outposts down here. And they're not in a Bible belt. They're not in a place where it's popular or convenient. They got more guts to take a stand for what they believe than some of y'all do.
[22:22] And I'm the guy that goes church to church up and down the East Coast pointing that out. Amen. It's good to be here. Thank you for being willing to fly me out here.
[22:37] And I appreciate that. It's good to be here in America. All right. All right. Let's get back spiritual. It's good to be saved. I say that. We start even on the way to the pulpit.
[22:50] Maybe I got it from Sam Giff. It's good to be saved. You know why? That is like the understatement of the human language. Amen. What a thing. Isn't it good to be forgiven?
[23:03] Some of those hymns. I love the hymns that Russ picks out. I love the fact that some of those hymn writers were tapped in, man. There is more sound doctrine in those hymnals than it's coming across the pulpit in a lot of churches in America today.
[23:20] And I know, I know, maybe everybody there was an eternally secure, rightly divider. I get that. And sometimes, well, I hope I make heaven short. Well, if you're saved, you're going to make it. We know that.
[23:31] Just get off the critical bend and enjoy the fact that somebody is bragging on Jesus Christ, redeeming them. It's good to be forgiven. It's good to be redeemed.
[23:43] Redeemed. That means bought back. When I was a kid growing up in northern Ohio, redeemed is what you, well, pop bottles, soda pop.
[23:55] I don't know what you call it here in Florida. They call everything Coke. Root beers, Coke. Oranges, Coke. Mountain Dews. They call everything. We call it soda pop, where I come from in Ohio.
[24:08] In Jersey, they call everything soda. Yeah, you want a soda? I'll tell you what. I went to a restaurant in Rochester, New York with a pastor. And he looked over and the waitress was standing there.
[24:21] And he goes, carbonation? Carbonation? Carbonation? And I'm thinking, what is he? My kids are looking at me. What is he talking about? So that's what he calls carbonated Coke beverage.
[24:33] Amen? And that was so much fun to tell that. I totally forgot what I'm talking about. Okay, I got it now. When I was a kid growing up, number one, Coke came in glass.
[24:46] I know that's been illegal in California for decades probably. But it used to come, them little six and a half ounce bottles. Remember them little short Cokes? Amen. My dad would drink about six of them a week.
[24:59] A six pack. I mean, he was a carpenter, hard working. He'd drink one at night. And little David's job, seven, eight years old, my job. And he'd set that bottle down on the table or on the counter.
[25:11] And my job was to make sure that bottle got back in that little carton. And they were all, they were, I made sure that when we went to the grocery store, I'd go with my mom, that they were all there.
[25:22] I was in charge. And the reason I was zealous about it is because I got to keep the deposit. Of course, it was only two cents apiece. So from my dad, that was 12 cents.
[25:33] But my mom, she drank a six pack of Tab. Tab. How many of you remember Tab? I don't, you know why they invented Tab? So the kids wouldn't want any. Because you take one taste of that, it ain't good.
[25:45] That's probably why she went home 10 years before my dad. I think it was Tab. Amen. But I would go in there, a little kid with these two little cardboard, or you know, six packs of empty bottles.
[25:57] And I'd set them up on a counter. And the counter was higher than I was. And I'd set them up there. And they would hand me two dimes and 24 cents. And that was my money. As a matter of fact, that was my allowance.
[26:09] You try giving your kid 24 cents a week allowance, and they will get a lawyer and sue you. But that was my money because they redeemed those pot bottles.
[26:20] I didn't really know what they did with them. I listened. They didn't smash them. I would have smashed them. As a matter of fact, when I got old enough, I didn't take them to the store. I threw them in the creek and shoot them as there because the only way I could figure out how to get a moving target.
[26:34] And they'd be floating down the creek. So don't wait in Swan Creek because there was a lot of glass at the bottom. That was a good shot. Amen. But when I got old enough, old enough, like 10, I could see.
[26:47] And the guy would take those, and he would put them on the conveyor from wherever the check-in station at the grocery store. And it would roll down behind some, you know, thing.
[27:00] And I found out, and they would take them back to the bottling company. They didn't throw them away. They cleaned them. They cleaned them up, and they filled them up, and they used them again.
[27:17] And if you're saved there tonight, you've been redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, and God will clean you up if you'll let him, and God will fill you with his spirit, and God wants to use you.
[27:31] I am glad tonight to be redeemed. I want to be a vessel meat for the master's use because he deserves it.
[27:43] That's it. That's what motivates me. The Bible says the love of Christ constraineth us. Constrain means to compel. We don't live for God out of duty.
[27:53] We don't live for God out of fear. We don't live for God out of rules. And we live, we're supposed to live for God because we love him. I mean, he loved us.
[28:04] We love him because he first loved us. Amen. It is good to be saved. Again, that's the understatement. And I've got to say this, and I've got to be careful.
[28:17] Are we live streaming or anything? That's good. That's good. Not that it matters because, like, I only got one speed. So anyway. But God, I've just got to say this.
[28:29] I hope you can understand. God is not a very good businessman. I know some Christians and they're thrift store shoppers or they're car wheelers dealers.
[28:41] And they're good businessmen. I lose money on everything. I can't. I just, I never have been able. I can't catch a fish. I can't make a buck. I can't.
[28:52] I can't. But God is not as good a businessman as you would think. Say, what? I know that's bordering blasphemy, isn't it? What do you mean, Brother Spurgeon?
[29:03] Well, I'll just be honest. I wasn't worth what he paid for me. I wasn't worth it. I got the better end of the deal. And so did you.
[29:16] Because you weren't worth what God paid for you neither. Not on your best day. I'm saying tonight that it is good to be here. And when I say that, I'm talking about in the body of Christ, amongst the believers, I'm glad to be born again.
[29:36] It's good to be born again. I saw a little sticker or something, whatever, poster, postcard, whatever, when I first got saved. And if I ever saw one before that, I was almost 38, so I don't know.
[29:49] I wasn't hanging around Christian bookstores. Of course, they're not very Christian, so I wouldn't recommend it now. But it said this. It said, born once, died twice.
[30:01] Now, I would have no, before I got saved, I would have no idea what that even meant. And I wasn't all of a sudden a spiritual giant because 32 years later, I'm still not.
[30:16] But I knew what it meant. I got it. I probably heard somebody say, preach John chapter 3, and it said, born once, die twice. Born twice, die once.
[30:29] I just got to tell you, dying once is enough for me. We got an appointment with death. I'm good with that. I don't, man, that morning in that jail cell, I put my faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
[30:41] It wasn't to impress any prosecutor or judge. It wasn't because I expected not to finish out my sentence without probation. God was good. It was because if hell was what that Bible said it was, I was going there.
[30:55] I knew I was a sinner. That's why we like preaching to convicts. Juvenile delinquents. They know they're sinners. I did that for seven or eight years. I figured I'd be in a prison ministry. I'd fit right in.
[31:06] That's my crowd. I preached in a maximum security prison in Ohio back in June. They brought 125 men out. They usually get about 12. But they passed out flyers telling them that I was going to be there.
[31:19] And 125 men came. Now, a bunch of them were saved. But a bunch of them weren't. I had a guy come up to me about six, two. And about 40 years old, he says, you knew my dad.
[31:34] And I hear stuff all the time. And I said, really? What was his name? He said, he said, bozo. So, in 1975, I joined an organization called the Mongols.
[31:48] You might have heard of it. In Ohio. And Randy Gonzalez, his nickname was Bozo. And he had red hair, long red hair.
[31:58] He was a Polack. We got any Polish people around? Okay. And, I mean, he was the guy that you want with you in a fight. He was wild.
[32:09] He was crazy. And he was my friend. And this guy comes to me and says, Randy Gonzalez is my dad. And he always respected you. And when I heard you were going to be here, I got your book.
[32:23] He told me to read your book. He's in prison. And he read the book. And he said, I came to meet you. And shake your hand, all that stuff. And I'm going, really? And I said, his name was Dustin.
[32:35] I said, are you saved? He goes, I have never been to church before in my life. He just came for that to meet me. And I said, well, I said, you need to listen real close to what I'm going to say.
[32:49] And I had good liberty. And I probably went about 50 minutes talking to them men. And when I got done, seven of them got saved, including him. Now, that's God.
[33:02] God did that for me. Amen? It is good to be saved. Again, that is the understatement. You know, an expression, and we saw it in, I think it was in one of the hymns tonight.
[33:19] What we refer to being saved is being washed in the blood. It says in 1 John 1, verse 7, but if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another.
[33:30] And the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us. Jesus Christ, his son, cleanses us from all sin. Amen. Amen. It is good to be washed in the blood.
[33:40] And people say, you got a bloody religion. And I was raised in a little Methodist church and got away from it as a teenager and got saved 20 years later. But my mom and dad would tell me, he said, yeah, they're redoing the hymnals.
[33:54] And they already threw out the King James Bible. And they're redoing the hymnals. They're taking out all them war songs and all them violins. Who do you think is behind that? It is the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses us from all sin.
[34:08] Without the shedding of blood, there's no remission. Amen. I wish he wouldn't have had to done that. I wish it wouldn't have took that. I wish I wasn't so wicked that Jesus Christ had to do that.
[34:23] That God had to give his only begotten son. And I'm sorry that I was so bad in order to get redeemed. He had to do that. But, man, I'm sure glad he did.
[34:33] It is so good to be saved. The last 32 years of my life have been the most fun. The best. And it ain't been without some heartache. And it ain't been without some trials.
[34:43] And my biggest problem is me. So I'm taking the blame for a lot of things.
[34:54] But I'm still glad to be saved. You know, somebody had a sticker on a card said, A bad day fishing is better than a good day at work. I must be related to him.
[35:06] Amen. But I'm going to tell you what, a bad day as a child of God with heaven secured is better than, I mean, whatever, anything. I struggled to remember before.
[35:16] Amen. I got mixed up in all that bad stuff that I got mixed up in because I wanted to have fun. The joke was on me. I've been having fun as a child of God. Without the hangovers and the warrants and the jail cells and all that stuff.
[35:33] It's good to be saved. It is good to be here as part of the, I don't know who came up with this the first time, but they said they were on the hell-bound train.
[35:43] I was on a hell-bound train. So were you. If you're not saved near tonight, you're still on a hell-bound train. I mean, right from a church pew. I was on a hell-bound train. They said, Brother Berger, what do you do?
[35:56] I changed trains. I mean, you get to the train station. I was all over Europe for a while. And you get to the train station. You get off the train. It's going the wrong way.
[36:06] And I'm glad I got on the train. It's going to end up in heaven like we sang. Amen. How about you? Are you saved tonight? Is it good to be saved?
[36:17] You might not have a smile on your face or joy in your spirit right now. You might be going through something. I get that. This isn't some phony baloney thing.
[36:29] We got trials. That's why we're supposed to pray for each other. I'll get to that in a minute. But I'm going to tell you what. If you're saved, it's good to be forgiven. All this is going to end.
[36:41] Amen. It's good to be. I'll tell you where it's good to be. It's going to be right there. It's good to be a Bible believer.
[36:52] It's good to be in your Bible more often than you are. That's just a safe bet. Amen. The devil is keeping us busy and he's good at it. Amen. And you can be a Bible believer, but there's more to being a Bible believer than just tucking it under your arm.
[37:08] Amen. So we need to endeavor to get it in our heart because the more Bible I read, I'm thinking, what an amazing book. And I'm reading through again.
[37:18] And I write notes to verses that I've read 20 times. And now I'm connecting dots. I didn't see last. And this book isn't inexhaustible or unexhaustible.
[37:31] One of you scholars can correct me, please, later. And not right now. I'm in front of everybody. But I'm thanking God for the Bible. Amen. I mean, I come from a world of con artists.
[37:42] And I don't want to have to worry about being conned by some slick religious guy in a suit. I want to know what God's book says. And I got it. I got God's book.
[37:53] It says this in Proverbs 9 and verse 10. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. I was afraid of going to hell. I'm not ashamed to admit that. And I trusted the Lord Jesus Christ.
[38:06] And that was the beginning of wisdom in that. That's the smartest thing I ever did in my life. I wish I'd have done it much earlier. Amen. And not adding the end of wisdom. That's the beginning.
[38:16] Because you get saved and then the Holy Spirit moves in. And man, we have access to so much. But you're going to have to spend some time in your Bible. You're going to have to spend some time where your Bible is being preached.
[38:30] It says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And the knowledge. That's Proverbs 9 and verse 10. The knowledge of the holy is understanding.
[38:42] We were talking earlier. There's some college professor. I don't know where it was. Was it back east? Where he kind of condoned his little, I don't know if they're medical students or chemistry students.
[38:53] But they have, I don't know what point they're trying to prove. Other than they're full of the devil. They've come up with a Wuhan type of COVID types. Whatever. Yeah. What are we calling it these days?
[39:03] I love, personally, I love the Kung flu. I thought that was great. They hated that. Why? That was so appropriate. But anyway, they come up with some strain of some virus that's like 80% more deadly than COVID.
[39:18] They say, well, COVID was a government hoax. Now, I got a list of people you don't want to be saying that to. Because across the country, I've had to weep with some that wept.
[39:32] Because I loved them. Hey, you hear me? I had it. Okay, we survived it. But I know some people that changed their life. I know some people that put them in eternity. Amen.
[39:43] And Lord is in charge of it. And he always has been. And I didn't freak out about it. And I'm not freaking out about it now. But just think about it. We got institutions of higher learning.
[39:58] Institution. That's what they call prisons. Isn't it interesting? That's what they call colleges, too. Because there are many similarities, a bunch of convicts. And supposedly, they're there to impart knowledge.
[40:13] But I'm going to tell you something. That book says knowledge of the holy is understanding. And there's only one place you're going to get knowledge of the holy. And it comes out of God's holy book.
[40:25] And it is good to be. Well, there's places that do not have the Bible in their own language like we do. And we've got it in our own language.
[40:38] And, well, we take, just like everything else, it's abundant. We have a tendency to take it for granted. I want to provoke you not to. Amen. Amen. Like you probably get provoked to every time you come to church.
[40:51] Amen. Knowledge of the holy comes from God's book. Not from Google. How did that become a verb is what I'm trying to figure out. I knew it. It was like some weird old liberal California.
[41:03] You're welcome. Company up north. You know, we're all the liberal. No, that's not true either. But anyway. But now it's a verb. Oh, just Google it.
[41:13] Google it. I was familiar with strangle, but not Google. Amen. But knowledge of the holy doesn't come from a web search. It doesn't come from YouTube.
[41:25] But I'll tell you what. It is fractional how much stuff that's on YouTube that's worth the time you waste. And it's amazing how the devil uses that thing. You follow me?
[41:37] And that's now our knowledge of the holy. Quit looking for a shortcut. Just get a Bible and spend some time alone and open it.
[41:48] And you need more Bible than you get during the preaching hour. Amen. Well, I'll get to that too sooner or later. Because I'm just bragging on the fact that it's good to be here. Amen.
[41:58] It says in John 15, in verse number 3, the Lord's speaking and he said, Now you're clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
[42:13] Now, I don't want this to come as a shock to anybody, but my 15 years as a one-percenter motorcycle gang member, I didn't bathe as often as I do now.
[42:26] It just wasn't high on the priorities. As a matter of fact, keeping the utilities on wasn't even high. You know, whiskey was high in the prior. Dope, but not, you know. And so, and I'll illustrate like this, you know.
[42:39] My mom would give me two black T-shirts every year for Christmas and two pair of blue jeans. And I wore them until the following Christmas. Amen. And so, I just said, I'd say this.
[42:51] When somebody says, you got ring around the collar. How many of you remember that commercial? You know, it was selling some kind of whatever. When you got ring around the collar and you're wearing a black T-shirt, they're not talking about your dress shirt.
[43:05] They're talking about your neck. I mean, when, in the old days, I would try to find somebody that hadn't had their water cut off. You know, when it got, see, you got the hair.
[43:15] But then, you know, it gets a little greasy and itch. And the solution, of course, is to tie it back in a ponytail and you're good for another week. I know, that makes you cringe. My wife hates to think about it.
[43:26] But it just gets to the point where you can't take it anymore. And you got to find somebody that's got their water turned on. And inevitably, I would stand in there in the shower.
[43:37] And, man, I would never sit in a bathtub. The water, it looks like the river back east. It's so polluted. And they're dirty. And I'd say, man, this feels good.
[43:49] It feels good to be clean. Amen. I'm talking about my before Christ days. And I'd say, I need to do this more often. And then I never would.
[43:59] I'd just wait. Oh, what's that? Oh, bugs. Okay. And amen. So Jesus said, you're clean. When I got saved, I didn't really have a skill.
[44:11] When I surrendered to God, I said, Lord, I'm supposed to get a job. The federal judge said I'm supposed to get a job. And everything I'm good at is illegal. So, you know, I'll work for you if you'll let me.
[44:25] And he's letting me so far. But I had to, while I was going to Bible school, I worked construction. So here I am, like 40 years old now, and trying to keep up with 18-year-old laborers for $6, $57 an hour.
[44:40] How does anybody, I could, well, I don't want to go there. How does anybody live on that? And this was 30 years ago. And the only edge I had, because I was a paratrooper in the Army, I could get up 30 feet in the air and walk a six-inch truss to the other side of the building.
[44:55] I'd get there quicker than the teenagers because they'd have to climb down the ladder. And I could just walk across there. No, I'm not afraid of heights. At least I wasn't. But I'll tell you what, man, I would be wore out.
[45:08] These young guys that talk about when they get home, they're going to do this. And I'm thinking, oh, but I don't pass out driving home. I am wore out. And I'm tired. I'd pull up to my little apartment. I had an upstairs apartment.
[45:19] And there were days where I was so tired, so dirty, just, I mean, exhausted. The thought of going up the stairs just, like, I thought, well, you know, I'm just going to go to work tomorrow.
[45:31] I'll just sit right here and sleep in the car and go on to work. But I had Bible Institute, so I would drag myself up the stairs and drag myself in the shower. And I would end up standing there.
[45:43] And same thing, that dirt, that filth would just wash off. And something else happened, too. I mean, you almost be regenerated by getting clean.
[45:54] It feels good to be clean. Jesus said, now you're clean through the Word. You know, if you don't shower, you start to smell. I wonder if you don't spend any time in your Bible, you start to smell to God.
[46:09] Amen. I'm just glad for the book. I am. It says, wherewithal shall a young, Psalm 119, verse 9, wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto unto thy word.
[46:23] Amen. We, we're in the world. We're not of it. You know, we come to church. You need to come to church faithfully. That'd be a good place for an amen. Good.
[46:34] I'll help you. Don't worry. I'm here to help. And, you know, we get exposed to stuff, music, language, everything else. And it's part of it. And the Lord left us here to be a witness.
[46:46] So be a witness. But, man, isn't it good to get in a place where nobody's taking the Lord's name in vain? Devil's music's not. You follow me?
[46:57] It's good to be in a place wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto unto his word. Amen.
[47:09] It's good to be in the Bible. All right. Luke chapter, go there. Luke chapter 18. Luke chapter 18. I haven't been in the pulpit for a couple of weeks.
[47:24] I'm having more fun than some of you. I just noticed that, but it's okay. Luke chapter 18 and verse 1. And the Lord speaking, and he spake a parable unto them to this end.
[47:35] That men ought always to pray and not to faint. Amen. It's good to be in prayer. It's good to be in prayer more often than we are.
[47:47] The purpose of the parable there in Luke 18 was the Lord was emphasizing the importance of prayer. And if you're saved, I mean, think about it. If you're saved, you have a direct line to God.
[48:00] Man, I call places, whether it's an insurance company, medical, whatever, man. You go through, I mean, one set of press one, press two, and then you get another menu.
[48:14] And, I mean, how do you get a human here? Amen. I get frustrated or get put on hold, and then they disconnect you and like, oh, sorry. All that, man.
[48:25] And I just say all that. That's life. I get it. But, man, God doesn't even have an answering machine. He doesn't have a busy signal. I don't get it how he does that.
[48:36] But I know this. If you're a child of God, you have a direct line to the throne of grace. And I want to encourage you to take advantage of it.
[48:46] But our righteousness wouldn't get us before the throne of God, but his will. And that blood we were talking about earlier, that imputed righteousness because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ is what gives us access.
[49:00] Let us, therefore, come boldly on the throne of grace that we might obtain mercy. When you mess up, you know what you want from the judge?
[49:11] You want mercy. And I'm telling you, you can get mercy. But you've got to ask for it. And then it says to find grace to help in time of need. And that's like often.
[49:22] And you can get it. You can get grace to help in time of need. You can pray for other people. Matter of fact, James chapter 5 and 16 says, confess your faults one to another.
[49:35] We're not famous for that. I don't know why. I've been to big meetings. And everybody's walking around like, I have got this thing figured out. I hope someone gets some help here this week. And nobody's willing to admit that they're for that.
[49:47] I go to the meetings. I'm going, God, it's me. It's me. It's me, oh, Lord. Standing in the need of prayer. The Bible says in James 5, 16, confess your faults one to another. And pray.
[49:57] Make sure I say it right. Pray, pray, pray. Pray for one. Pray one for another. That ye may be healed. Take a prayer request at our home church in Dayton.
[50:10] Wednesday night. And you probably do something like that here on occasion. You take a prayer request. You bring prayer requests. Somebody's in the hospital. Somebody's sick. Somebody's whatever. And when somebody says, you know, a loved one's in the hospital or got something going on, you should take that seriously.
[50:30] You should write it down and you should pray. It's not just some ritual that we go through. And I'm going to tell you what will drive that home. Because when it's you and your loved one, some soul you've been witness to do that's this close and somebody asked for prayer, you're going to want others to take it seriously.
[50:50] It says, pray for one another that it doesn't say that they may be healed. It says, the ye, the secret for maybe not needing as much prayer as we would is if we'd pray more.
[51:10] Most of us, like I say, it's me. It's me. We pray. God, help me to get all my ducks in a row and then I'll do something for you. How about praying for other people and then let God minister to you? My Bible teacher told me, he said, we need less prayer for ourselves if we spent more time praying for others.
[51:28] Pray one for another that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. The key to that verse is not fervent or even effectual.
[51:39] The key to the end of that verse is righteous. To get a prayer through, you've got to stay right enough with God so that you'll hear your prayer.
[51:50] Because you get out of sorts. He said, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. If you're not, well, you might be saved, love Jesus, believe the book. But you've got something going on in your life and it's not the way it should be.
[52:01] What God is waiting to hear from you is I'm sorry, I'm wrong, and I'm confessing it. And then that opens it all back up again.
[52:14] But you're not going to have it your way. This ain't Burger King. It's going to be God's way. It says the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. That's why it's important that we stay right with God as we can.
[52:28] And that may be easier for some than others. I found it to be a big struggle. My flesh is like, doesn't like to do right. Even still, even now, I can pretend, oh yes, my son, how are you?
[52:42] Man, I am wicked. But man, I know where to go and I know what the answer is. And this book is precious. And that time talking to God is more precious than ever.
[52:53] And it's good to be in a place where you can be on praying ground for your family. And be on praying ground for others. If a request comes up and somebody's asking his church brothers and sisters to pray, he's counting on or hoping that you're right with God, not just playing a game once or twice a week.
[53:15] He's hoping you can get a prayer through. And if not, then this is just a bunch of phony baloney religion. And it's not. Because I've seen God move.
[53:27] Amen. And it ain't a secret. All we got to do is follow directions. And I just want to say it's good to be able to talk to God. Amen.
[53:38] And here's what some of you want me to say last of all. And I just want to make sure I'm not lying if I do. Okay. It's good to be in church. Amen. It's good to be in a place where the word of God is believed.
[53:52] And preached. Not used. Believed. And preached. And if you think that's not precious, you don't get out much. And I got a feeling you do. And some of you have been from some different places.
[54:05] And, man, they don't value what you've got in your lap right now. And the Bible says faith comes by hearing. Hearing by the word of God. Amen. Thank God for the Bible. But it says by hearing.
[54:16] Faith comes by hearing. And hearing by the word of God. It's important. God sent this up. God chose the foolishness of preaching. It's how God, again, set this up for us to assemble ourselves together.
[54:29] Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. To be in a place where we can't. Well, there's a lot of things going on when we gather. Amen. Well, we are not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.
[54:39] But exhorting one another. And so much the more. Follow me. An empty pew don't exhort anybody. As a matter of fact, it might cause them to. Might just open the door for the devil to say, see, you know, it ain't that big a deal.
[54:54] Well, it is. It is that big a deal. I'm trying to encourage you. It's good to be in church. Amen. Many miss the blessing. It says in Galatians chapter 6 and verse 2. We're to bear ye one another's burdens.
[55:07] And so fulfill the law of Christ. We're to bear one another's burdens. You can't do that if you're AWOL. The law of Christ is found in John chapter 13. He said, a new commandment I give unto you that ye love one another.
[55:19] Even as I have loved you that ye love one another. That's a commandment. That's the law. That's the law of Christ. We're to bear one another's burdens. When my Bible teacher got Lou Gehrig's disease back in 1995, and I had been saved about five years, and he was a friend.
[55:39] He was a Vietnam vet. He was in a wheelchair from Vietnam. We were, he took some time with me because I needed somebody too, buddy. I know this. You could never picture this now.
[55:49] But I was a little rough around the edges in the beginning, you know, before I got smooth and stuff. And Brother Hanstein got Lou Gehrig's disease, and I watched that family go through that for two years.
[56:03] And that's my wife's first husband. Amen? And I never dreamed I'd be married to his widow, but I'll tell you what, I married his widow and raised his orphans. Amen?
[56:18] And I watched that church rally around that family. And Susan will tell you about the time where she came back from the VA because of some horrendous medical emergency, and there were many come home, and the ladies, some ladies from the church are out in the front planting flowers.
[56:36] Men were up on ladders painting trim while she's at the hospital, while somebody else is homeschooling the kids, taking up the slack. She's in tears.
[56:46] She walks in the house. A couple guys in there repairing some things that needed. And that church rallied around that family. In a way, she said, if we would have went out with the last split, if we would have got crossways with the preacher over some stupid thing, when the hard time came, when the tragedy struck, we wouldn't have had our church family.
[57:10] That's when it gets real. It isn't just a little click, a little club. It's good to be in church.
[57:20] It's good to be part of somebody, part of something that stands for something, where Jesus Christ is the head. Amen? The book says, iron sharpeneth iron, and so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friends.
[57:35] We need this. We need each other. Amen? We need to pray for one another. We need to be preached. That book, we need each other.
[57:48] Amen? Amen. All right, so I was out in Colorado, and I went into this store, leather store, and there's a lady back there, and they'd always have some kind of contemporary Christian music.
[58:00] But I would give her tracks. She'd put my track on the counter. And that went on for a couple years. And then the last time I was in there, I said, there was a bunch of people, and I was kind of witnessing and talking about, oh, it's good to be a child of God.
[58:17] And I said, where do you go to church? You know, so that maybe some... And I was really surprised. She said, oh, I don't. She is from Memphis. Oh, I don't. But it's all right.
[58:29] God knows my heart. What in the world does that even mean? Amen. He knows... He knew her heart.
[58:39] He knows your heart. That Bible says the heart is deceitful and desperate. Above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? Yeah, he knows it. Our problem is we don't know it.
[58:51] Amen? It's important to be in church. If you can be. You know what I've noticed? I've noticed it's about me. All my adult life, if I wanted to do something, I figured it out.
[59:04] I figured it out. I do what I want to do. I go where I want to go. Amen? Except for that jail thing. That was kind of an exception, but even there.
[59:17] Amen. Americans are very resourceful. They'll come up with... They have no money until they want something. And somehow...
[59:28] I mean, maybe I'm just giving myself away. You come up with a way to get it, way to do it, way to go there. And I'm just trying to encourage you. You need to put church way up there on the list with reading your Bible and prayer.
[59:40] And just purpose in your heart that you're going to be there. Here's a conversation my wife and I have never had. Mostly because I'm afraid of her. I've never said, honey, you feel like going tonight?
[59:53] And she would throw something at me. See, that was an agreement we had. We were going to encourage one another to stay in church. And she's never come to me. I'll watch her. She's a better soldier than I ever was.
[60:04] I've watched her have a migraine. I've watched her fight to get dressed and go to church. She said one time, I would be afraid that God would let me get as sick as I pretend to be when I stay home.
[60:19] Think about that for a minute. I just don't feel like it. Okay, well, God can make you really not feel like it. Somebody said one time they wrote a letter to the aspirin company and said, Could you guys make an aspirin that works on Sunday?
[60:35] Nobody misses work because of a headache. Nobody cancels their vacation because of a headache. But, boy, people will stay out of church over a headache. You get my drift?
[60:47] This is important. Amen? This is definitely important. Amen? So, it's good to be here. I mean on a bunch of levels.
[60:59] All right? Let's see if we can land this plane. Like I said, I was a paratrooper, so I don't know anything about landing planes. So, you're about to find out. It says this in Colossians chapter 118.
[61:09] We're talking about the church. It says, and he is the head of the body. The church. We're the body. He's the head. Who is the beginning? The firstborn from the dead. Dead and all things he might have.
[61:20] The preeminence. This is a place where we come. Boy, you spend much time on listening to the news. Any of it. Any of it. Amen? You spend any time listening to politicians.
[61:31] Even the ones you like. And boy, it seems like they're fighting as hard as they can for the preeminence. And only Jesus Christ deserves that.
[61:42] And Jesus Christ is the one that's going to fix things. And you better keep that in mind. It'll help you keep your priorities straight. Amen? It's good to be somewhere where Christ is exalted.
[61:55] Not people. Not buildings. I've been in places where all they talk about is a building. They get a building. They pray. They get a building. They build a building. They buy a building. And then it became all about the building.
[62:06] Oh, God, thank you for this building. And I'm like, I mean, I'm hearing Twilight Zone music. Because the glory has departed. Amen? There's no program as important as Jesus Christ.
[62:18] He's the answer. Amen? It says in Proverbs 20, in verse 6, Most men will proclaim everyone his own goodness, but a faithful man who can find.
[62:33] And it's good to be in a place where people are bragging on the Lord instead of themselves. Amen? Because that's what we do. It says in 2 Corinthians 12, in verse 9, And he said unto me, Paul talking, My grace is sufficient for thee.
[62:49] For my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. It's good to be in a place where you can be reminded.
[63:02] You can know it. I read my Bible 20. You can know it. It's good to be in a place where you can be reminded that his grace is sufficient. You might hear it preached.
[63:13] You might hear it referred to. You might see examples of it in your brothers and sisters in Christ. And true, sure enough, his grace is sufficient. Amen? Let me say this.
[63:26] It's good to be in a place where you get reminded that God really hasn't been fair to you. So I know some people, I'm glad we're not live to him because somebody's going to leave this message.
[63:40] They'll hear this message say, Brother Burton said God is a terrible businessman and he's not fair. And I did say that. And I do mean that. He didn't get his money's worth when he got me or you.
[63:52] And I'll tell you something else. God ain't fair. Because if he was, we'd be on our way to hell right now if we weren't there already. You better be glad he's not fair. Amen? Man, I need to be reminded of those kind of things.
[64:06] Here's what happens when you skip out, when you stay at home, when you don't come. Hear the truth. Amen? The devil will remind you that he's not been fair.
[64:19] Amen? And he'll start singing the blues. And he'll provide the backup music. This is important.
[64:31] That's what I'm trying to say. All right? So if you're in here tonight and I've hit the key things. And nothing new and nothing you didn't already know. It is. Whatever you think about the country, that's your business.
[64:43] I just got to vent a little bit. And without apology. I don't want to discuss it. Let's brag on Jesus Christ. Let's talk about salvation. Is it good to be saved? Are you saved?
[64:56] Maybe you're in here and you're not. Praise the Lord. You can be. Amen. Say, well, you make a lot about being saved, but I've got loved ones or coworkers. They still can be if they're alive.
[65:07] Amen? So let's do our job. Amen. Let's let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father, which is in heaven.
[65:18] There's still plenty of time. Doesn't it seem like the darker it gets? You went outside and lit a match at noon and you probably wouldn't even see it. You go light one right now. Well, maybe not in L.A.
[65:28] There's a lot of lights here. But I'm saying the darker it gets, even people like us ought to be able to shine brighter. Amen? And maybe you haven't been.
[65:39] Maybe you know you've taken it for granted. And you ought not take it for granted. It's the greatest thing that ever happened to you. It's the greatest thing that ever happened to anybody. And nothing costs more.
[65:51] And it's a gift to you, but it wasn't free to God. And it wasn't free to Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that he might redeem. There's that word again. Redeem us from all iniquity. Amen?
[66:02] And, well, you got in on that. You got in on salvation. And God gave you something else. He gave you his book. He gave you access to the throne of grace. He's given you a church where you can assemble and hear the truth.
[66:18] Now, that's a big deal. Some of you know it's a big deal. Some of you, this is an oasis in the middle of a desert. There's a drought. A famine in the land for the word of God.
[66:33] Isn't it good to see a palm tree and a little pool of water when you're out in the dead? I don't know. Maybe you never did that. I never did that. But that's what this is.
[66:45] Amen? Maybe tonight we're starting a meeting. It's Wednesday. And maybe some of you are faithful every Wednesday. But out of the ordinary, we're going to be here tomorrow. Lord willing, 630.
[66:56] Friday, Lord willing. 630. Friday, we're going to have a men's meeting. Saturday, my wife's flying in L.A. in two weeks. And Saturday, if you ladies, you come down to the Bayview Baptist Church, San Pedro, and you can get, you can get, she's rougher than I am.
[67:13] But, you know, I still recommend go. But the men will get together and try to give you something. This is a big deal. So don't just, okay, check mark, I came Wednesday, I'll go back Sunday.
[67:25] If you can come, I want to encourage you to come. Not because of me. Lord knows. I know better than that. This is scriptural. It's important. Maybe you haven't been, maybe you've been taking your salvation for granted.
[67:39] It's time to get it back on the top of your priority list. This is the first and great commandment. And he said, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy soul and all thy mind.
[67:49] Not fit him in. Put him at the top. And we're prone to let the issues, the cares, the affairs of this life take precedence in our lives, in our heart, in our conversation over the lovely Lord Jesus Christ.
[68:08] And, okay, maybe you're there. Maybe you've been dealing with something. Well, how about coming to Old Fashioned Alder and say, Lord, tonight, thank you for giving me some encouragement to get the main thing back to being the main thing.
[68:21] Maybe you haven't been reading your Bible like you should. Amen. How about let's start the meeting with an altar call. I'm not making it mandatory. I can't.
[68:32] But I would sure encourage it. Let's pray for our church. Let's pray for one another. Pray for our church. Pray for the light that needs to go out, out of this place.
[68:44] It's exciting to be in Southern California and be a Bible believer. There's a lot of work. Amen. It's like special art behind enemy lines.
[68:55] And truth of the matter is, it's that way everywhere. But really here. And things just depend on how you look at it. Amen. Let's all stand.
[69:05] It's good to be here. It's good to be in church. It's good to be saved. Blah, blah, blah. If you're in here tonight and you're not saved and you die before you trust Jesus Christ with your heart, you may know more about it in your head than me.
[69:19] I'm not the smartest guy in any room I've ever been in yet. But I put my faith and trust in Jesus Christ when I saw him on the cross saying, Father, forgive Dave Spurgeon for he's on his way to hell.
[69:32] And I love him and I hope he gets it. And I'm glad I got it. Now, that's how personal it is to me. If you're in here tonight and you've never been scripturally saved, born again, redeemed, I could go down the whole list.
[69:47] You're on your way to a place that it will not be good to be on several levels. First of all, the torment and flame forever.
[69:58] But then, if there's any way to add insult to that injury, to spend all eternity knowing that Jesus Christ made a way for you not to go there.
[70:13] And God put you in a place, and chances are more than once, where somebody said, you don't have to go there. Why would you go there? I made decisions that I regretted.
[70:26] Amen. Amen. That's not one you want to make in regret for eternity. That's not the example you want to set for others in your life. Say, Brother Spurgeon, it's Wednesday night.
[70:38] We're all saved. I don't know. If you know that, I don't. And I'm not taking it for granted because there's no more important issue than getting your sins forgiven.
[70:49] And if you got them forgiven, it's reasonable. It's reasonable to read your Bible. It's reasonable to pray. It's reasonable to be part of the body of the living God.
[71:02] And, man, I'm excited about it. And I hope you are, too. Now, I'm going to say it like this. Now the altar's open. The Bible says about your pastor, Hebrews 13, who's faithful.
[71:15] Now your pastor's down at the altar. Is he praying for you? Is he praying that he hoped that something was said that was gun barrel straight right toward one of you?
[71:26] Is he hoping that it got home? You know. I mean, I don't know. But you do. If you need to do business with God, let's get this meeting started right.
[71:38] So head by and eyes closed. Maybe that will make it easier when the song leader's done praying. I guess he'll come and we'll do all that because we've got to do all that stuff.
[71:49] But we don't have to wait for anything. If the Spirit of God has dealt with your heart about your prayer life, about your Bible reading, about your church attendance, say, you're kind of hitting the basics.
[72:01] You ever wonder why? I've been doing this 25 years. And this is what we're failing at. And we wonder why we're not making an impact, why our country's such a mess.
[72:13] I don't know. I can't figure all that out. Bible says it's going to be that way. But I know this. My orders are clear. Your orders are clear, too. Let's live for God while we can.
[72:27] Head bowed and eyes closed. You need to come, come. You're in here and you're not saved. Why don't you come down here and let me open my Bible. Show you how to be. You got a song there, Brother Russ? Why don't you come along? This is the way to get tracted 24.
[72:39] The Bible says it's going to be little. So Jeff that you use. How to view it and theamamus. The Bible says how to be successful. Stop hearing in old�려, bullets wide. God lust's問ers that Are you waiting for sure?
[72:56] We don't believe anything.