God's Mighty Men

[0:00] Because I'm excited about it, and I tell people I'm leaving and I'm going and they go, California. And this is why I love coming to California.

[0:13] And I tell them, I said, there's some men and women out there that are living for God where it's a whole lot tougher than it is in the Bible Belt. And it is a privilege to be here tonight to speak to you men.

[0:27] And it is a blessing to have heard what we already heard. If there's anything we need, and you get from my preaching, it's important for us to be about the Father's business in this late age.

[0:42] And we heard a good message about that. Now, the other message, I'm just glad my wife wasn't here to hear that. I've asked for a recording of that.

[0:53] I'm going to have to, you know, do some work before I want her to know I even heard that. Because she's not shy about it. She's a godly lady, and many of you know her, and she's not shy.

[1:05] All she has to do is give me a look, and I'm going like, oh, I'm under conviction. And that was well put. And I got a blessing already. And we got a blessing out of the food.

[1:16] I've got an advantage over you right now. So, I'm standing. So, if I fall asleep from that good food, I'll fall down and hurt myself. And you'll just slump over in the chair and drool, and I will point you out.

[1:31] Amen. But if you do your best. What? We don't want you to fall, sir. What? Who said that? Raise your hand. I appreciate that.

[1:43] You're right. Because, hey, yeah. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. I'm glad. Anybody agree with him? Eight of you? Okay. I will disappoint some.

[1:54] Amen. All right. Did we get this on? Is it on? Okay. Take your Bible tonight. Go to Joshua chapter 10. Men's meeting, huh?

[2:06] He said he was excited about the men's meeting. This is on. We did affirm that? All right.

[2:17] Joshua chapter 10. And let's look at what the Bible says in verse 7. Joshua chapter 10 in verse 7. The Bible says, so Joshua ascended from Gilgal.

[2:28] He and all the people of war with him and all the mighty men of valor. So it seems appropriate. So it seems appropriate. And I'm not disappointed with the leading I felt that the Lord gave me.

[2:42] By the turnout we have covering this area from all the way up to Rosemont, something like that. All the way to El Cajon. And many of you in between.

[2:54] What a blessing it is. We're going to try to preach on mighty men. I encourage you. Amen. Amen. It's a blessing that there's this many churches represented here tonight that have decided, like I preached last night, to follow Jesus Christ.

[3:07] Saturday night. There's people that go to church faithfully on Sunday. And there's some that don't. But that's another message that I wouldn't dream of going to church on Saturday night. So we appreciate the sacrifice.

[3:20] It says, it says, and all the mighty men of valor. And that's the subject. There's a great misconception in America today. I was guilty of being one that thought this way over 30 years ago.

[3:33] And I was in motorcycle gangs. Stuff like that. But the misconception is that Christians are a bunch of wimps. And there's a reason for that.

[3:46] And the reason is, so many are. But I'm glad tonight that Jesus Christ did not require my manhood when he allowed me to get my sins forgiven.

[3:59] Amen. Matter of fact, what I see from my Bible is that the bravest, most courageous, toughest men and women that ever lived had the guts to live for God.

[4:12] So I appreciate that. I appreciate you guys just being here. Encourages me to want to live for God. I hope the feeling's mutual. Amen. So we're going to talk about mighty men.

[4:24] And to go there, you've got to go to 2 Samuel 23. 2 Samuel 23. And in verse 1.

[4:37] And very familiar. All this is familiar. Better be. It says this. 2 Samuel 23 and verse 1.

[4:48] Now these be the last words of David. David, the son of Jesse, said, And the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of God, anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said.

[5:02] These are the last words of David. Now the last words, the last will and testament, if you will, the last thing a person remembers, there's books written over, you know, the last thoughts that pass through people's mind before stepping into eternity.

[5:21] By virtue of them being the last thought are generally significant. He said in verse 2, And what we're going to look at is what David chose to talk about in this last chapter.

[5:35] Let's pray again. Father, thank you for grace. Thank you for these that have come. Thank you, Lord God, for just giving men a desire to assemble on a Saturday night to hear from thee.

[5:47] And it is you we desire to hear from, Lord. So help me not to confound that purpose. Help me to say what you once said.

[5:57] May you be glorified. And may your people here get a blessing tonight out of these scriptures. I love you tonight, Lord. And I pray this in Jesus Christ's name. Amen.

[6:08] Last words of David. Look at verse 8. Now here's what he chose to talk about. Well, and these be the names of the mighty men whom David had. The Tacmonite that sat in the seat, chief among the captains.

[6:20] The same was Adino the Esnite. He lift up his spear against 800 whom he slew at one time. David had fought shoulder to shoulder with these men.

[6:32] And then he was the king of Israel and all the things that that entailed. But when he gets to the end of his life, these are the ones that he remembers. And I'll tell you what, if you ever was in a conflict and somebody slew 800, you'd remember that.

[6:46] The rest of your life. And he gives note of that in verse 9. After him was Eleazar, the son of Dodo. The Aholite. I remember Brother Gipp saying a long time ago.

[6:57] He said, are you sure? Are you sure that's pronounced Dodo? And he said, well, look at the alternative. Amen. Dodo the Aholite, one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines that were gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel had gone away, he arose and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto the sword.

[7:24] And the Lord wrought a great victory that day, and the people returned after him only to spoil. So one guy, boy, taking a stand. I'll tell you what, he earned his way into David's memory, and he made his way into that book that we're reading.

[7:39] Amen. And we're talking about mighty men. So there's some things said about him. Verse 15. And it says, And David longed and said, Oh, that one would give me drink of water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate.

[7:55] And the three mighty men break through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David. Nevertheless, he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the Lord.

[8:08] And he said, Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this. Is this not the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? Therefore, he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men.

[8:22] Amen. David just said it in passing, and boy, these guys took it seriously. And they went after it. I heard a story one time about in the Civil War.

[8:34] That's a thing that happened in American history back east. I don't know if you guys ever heard of it out here. But Robert E. Lee was encamped, and Thornwell Jackson was about eight miles away.

[8:46] It was winter, and it was cold, and they was plotting a battle. And he sent a messenger to Thornwell Jackson and said, I need to see you.

[8:56] I'd like to talk to you. And it's really his convenience. And the guy made it there. It took him over an hour. He's in enemy territory. He's on horseback. It's winter.

[9:06] It's cold. You know, by the time he gets to Jackson's camp, it's dark. He's got icicles in his beard. He gets helped off his horse and escorted to Thornwell Jackson's tent.

[9:17] And he gave him the message. He said, General Lee, I'd like to see you at your earliest convenience. And Thornwell Jackson didn't think nothing about it. He had summoned his horse. He summoned his coat.

[9:28] He got on his horse. And he made the eight-mile trip. Now, by the time he gets back to Lee's camp, it is very late, very cold. He's like the messenger. He's, you know, stiff and icicles.

[9:39] And he went into the camp. And as he approached his commander, his military demeanor kind of snapped back in. And he strode in. And he saluted. And he says, sir, you wish to see me.

[9:51] And Robert E. Lee didn't expect to see him that night at all. That's not what he asked. And he turned around and he said, General Jackson, this was not a command. I just instructed the messenger to tell you that I wish to see you at your earliest convenience.

[10:03] And Thornwell Jackson never blinked. He just stood there and said, sir, your wish is my command. And that's what I thought of when David's talking and passing.

[10:14] Woe that I had a drink of water from the well by the gate of Bethlehem. It was an enemy territory. But some of his men, they loved him. They were dedicated. And it says, they hazarded their lives to get that for him.

[10:30] And, of course, the thing is, I mean, if anybody deserves that kind of dedication, it's our Savior. Amen. These three men that went up against the superior force worked together as a team.

[10:46] And that's exactly what the local church is supposed to do. It's supposed to work together as a team to accomplish a mission. And it's his mission. It's his purpose.

[10:58] And we're to watch each other's back. We're not competing. We're not competing with other churches. We're not competing with each other in a local church. We're not jockeying for position.

[11:08] Shame on that spirit, that mentality. Because it goes on. But that's not Bible. Amen. We're talking about mighty men. David had some. And, boy, when he came to the end of his life, that's who he was thinking about.

[11:22] And the mighty men in the Word of God have some characteristics that are worth noting and worth emulating. Let me say this. Take your Bible. Well, verse 11.

[11:33] We're in 2 Timothy 23. The first one's in that same passage. After him was Shema, the son of Aege, the Herorite. And the Philistines were gathered together in a troop where was a piece of ground full of lentils.

[11:49] Everybody I ever heard preach that says beans. I don't know. Is that what a lentil is? I just like the Bible work. You know, I'm going to stick with the Bible work. It says lentils. And the people fled from the Philistines.

[12:02] But he stood in the midst of the ground and defended it and slew the Philistines. And the Lord wrought a great victory. You've got guys that work together in a team.

[12:13] You've got guys that work together in a superior opposing force. You've got a guy right here that the Bible makes a point to tell you he's alone. And I want to tell you it's an attribute of God's mighty man to be mighty even when no one is watching.

[12:31] Now listen, I'll be the first to tell you it's good to be around other Christians as much as possible. The Bible says iron sharpeneth iron, and so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friends. I'm glad that I've got some friends in this room.

[12:43] Amen. And so do you. Amen. But it's easier to do right when somebody's around. It really is. But a truly brave man is courageous even when no one is watching.

[12:58] Amen. It's easy to play the man when, you know. But I remember one time I took my little girl to some kind of little arcade thing. And I went out.

[13:09] They had a batting cage. And when I was young, wait, this was a long time ago. I was pretty good at baseball, could hit a ball. And they had a batting cage. I'd never been in a batting cage.

[13:20] And I put the money in the thing. And, man, I mean, this thing flung. I think it was a softball. I can't even remember. It was so fast. And I went, man, I didn't not hit it.

[13:33] I didn't even barely see it. And I thought, man, this thing's fat. And, man, here comes another one. Here comes another one. And they're zipping by. And then one hit me in the leg.

[13:45] And it hurt. This was 30 years ago. It hurt. I mean, it hurt. And I'll tell you what I did. I looked around. I was mindful that I'm not going to run out of that cage if anybody's watching.

[13:57] But I remember looking around. And nobody said it. And I put that bat down. And I backed out of there. Amen. I was not courageous if nobody was watching. Amen.

[14:07] But God's mighty men are. And, you know, let me rephrase it. I said it's important to do right, to play the mighty man when no one's watching.

[14:19] Because, well, to rephrase it correctly, there's no days like that. Ever. Amen. So it's important to play the role when you think no one's watching.

[14:31] But the Bible does say the eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. Proverbs 15 and 3. So he's always watching. I wish I remembered that in the course of my Christian life more often than I have.

[14:44] Amen. And not only should our words and the meditation of our heart be acceptable in his sight, but he's watching everything we do. Amen. That'd help you to remember that.

[14:55] That's why it's in there. Amen. But he's not the only one watching. I think the devil's watching too. Amen. He's not omnipresent, but I got a feeling he's really fast.

[15:09] He can't be everywhere at once, but he can cover a lot of ground in a short time. Amen. Amen. Walking to and fro on the earth, you know. And it says in Revelation chapter 12, verse 10, and I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, now has come salvation and strength in the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ.

[15:26] For the accuser of the brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. How's he able to accuse us before God day and night? Because he's watching. He's watching.

[15:37] The devil's looking for opportunities to accuse you, maybe to that lost neighbor, co-worker, loved one. Amen. I think if we just kept in mind that we're, yeah, we're always being, I'll tell you what, if you haven't noticed, the world's watching.

[15:53] There are cameras everywhere. I got saved just in time. I mean, I was a criminal for a long time. I don't see how anybody gets away with anything. Amen.

[16:03] It was hard enough looking for cop cars. Now everybody's got a video camera in their hand. Amen. And everybody's got, everybody's watching.

[16:14] And for you and I, child of God, that's more important than ever, that we be mindful, that it's an attribute. You want to be a mighty man for God? It's important for you to understand God's watching, devil's watching, world's watching, and it better see the right thing.

[16:29] Now, again, it's good when we're gathered together. We provoke one another unto love and unto good works. But truth be known, man, you're going to spend a lot of time by yourself, and this Christian thing is 24-7, and there ain't no days off.

[16:44] And so I'm trying to encourage you. I'm looking at a Bible attribute of a mighty man. Let me give you another one. Go to Psalm 33. Psalm 33 says this.

[17:00] There is no king saved by the multitude of an host. A mighty man is not delivered by much strength.

[17:11] A mighty man of God remembers this. It's God that makes him mighty. Amen. And Zechariah chapter 4 and verse 6 says this.

[17:27] Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.

[17:44] Now, that's a mighty man of God is one that makes sure that it's God that makes him mighty. I mean, you do anything right, you do anything for the glory of God, You don't make the mess you could have, you better give God the credit.

[17:57] Your flesh isn't going to want to do that. The Bible says in Proverbs 20, verse 6, Most men, it doesn't say some men, it says most men will proclaim everyone his own goodness.

[18:11] That's how we're wired. Me, me, me. That's why social media has taken off. Gives everybody a platform to brag on themselves. Amen. But the verse goes out and says, But a faithful man, who can find?

[18:24] And what's the context? I'm the faithful that gives God the glory, Because it's God that lets any of us do anything right. You want to be a mighty man of God?

[18:34] I believe he's taking applications. But you're going to have to do it his way. And he's not going to let you in on this thing if you're going to brag on yourself. Matter of fact, he'll kick the slats right out from under you.

[18:45] And he'll do it for your own good. You can humble yourself, or God can do it for you. You know, I choose to, you know, try to stay down before I need to get knocked down. And the truth of the matter is, I've learned some things along the way, And so have some of you.

[18:59] And some of you might have some things to learn. Well, you're in the right place. You've got God's book in your lap. And you're around some other men. But I'm going to tell you what, we better be careful. Make sure God gets the credit.

[19:11] God gets the glory. Ephesians chapter 6, verse 10 says, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. And it was mentioned earlier, you might be physically strong or whatever.

[19:26] But I'm going to tell you, for the battle that's laid out right after that verse in Ephesians chapter 6, I'm going about the toughest, strongest, bravest man in the world ain't no match for. And God ain't worried about that crowd a little bit.

[19:39] You do well. Stick with him. Mighty man does right when he's by himself. And mighty man continually gives God the glory.

[19:53] Mighty men are loyal. If there's anything that's in short supply these days and even amongst our crowd, I'm not. This ain't a commentary on the world. What good would that do?

[20:04] There's something that's in short supply in our crowd is loyalty. We got too many people jockeying for position. Our position ought to be prone with Jesus Christ getting a preeminence.

[20:17] It says in 1 Kings chapter 1, verse 8, it says in this part of it, it says, And the mighty man which belonged to David were not with Ananias. They were loyal.

[20:29] They weren't tempted by a better offer. You and me can't die. We could never get a better offer than coming to me all you that labor and are heavy laden. But that doesn't mean the devil's not trying.

[20:41] And he is trying. And so it says in Joel chapter 2, verse 7, They shall run like mighty men. They shall climb the wall like men of war.

[20:51] They shall march everyone on his ways. And they shall not break their rank. Some of us are veterans in here. Thank you for your service. And we know how important it is that we are in our place, watching each other's back, not breaking our ranks.

[21:07] Our strength is in unity more than number. Amen. Mighty men are hard workers. It says so in, let me see, 1 Kings 11 and 28, And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor, and Solomon seeing the young man, that he was industrious.

[21:30] He made him rule over all the charge of the house of Joseph. Mighty men of God are workers. I heard Jack Wood say one time, old preacher from Houston, he said, God won't even save a lazy man.

[21:42] And he did this guy right here. I was a lazy man. But when I got saved, I learned how to work.

[21:53] And Brother Eric brought out a good point. The purpose of work, the importance of work. And some of us didn't get it at home like we should have. And I have no one to blame. My dad was a hard worker.

[22:04] But 60s, you know, rock music and all the protests. And I wanted to go do it my way. And by the grace of God and the praying mom and dad, I made it out of that mess.

[22:15] But I'm here to tell you, mighty man of God, you're ever going to do anything with God? Some of these pastors I've known for years. And I'll tell you what they do. Let me break something to you. Nobody I know in our crowd is in the ministry for the money.

[22:29] Evangelists or pastors. And a lot of guys work jobs and work. There's no greater full-time job that I know of than to pastor a church. I'm an evangelist. My job is to assist pastors.

[22:41] Amen? My job is to assist pastors. Not circumvent their authority. Not come in with my agenda. And an evangelist is a servant.

[22:54] Amen? Don't try to use a real evangelist against a pastor. You're out of order. Amen? Amen. But my hat's off to guys that aren't lazy.

[23:06] They've taught me not to be. Amen? And so mighty men are hard workers. He said they were industrious. Mighty men of God believe what God said.

[23:18] They don't question what God said. 1 Chronicles 11, verse 10. It says this. These also are the chief of the mighty men whom David had, who strengthened themselves with him in his kingdom and with all Israel, to make him king according to the word of the Lord.

[23:36] Concerning Israel. You're allowed to have your own thoughts, your own opinions. Thank God for the liberty that we have in Jesus Christ. But we don't need to have a brainstorming session to figure out how to do it better.

[23:47] What we need to do is go back to the old path. We need to acknowledge what's said in the scriptures. We need to do it God's way. Amen. And that's what a mighty man of God does. And at the end of the day, it's God's opinion that counts.

[24:02] So I'm talking about mighty men of God. You say, well, that was kind of shallow. That was the intro. I'm not even to the message yet. Amen? I learned at Bible Institute that if you have a real long intro, you better have a real short message.

[24:16] So I don't know how this is going to play out. We've been having a little bit of a marathon here this week. I've been broke down in Ohio for a month. And you guys have, you know, reaped some of that because there's been good liberty.

[24:29] And I don't have a goal or anything like that to preach long. But I hope you get something out of what's said. Let me say this. I am humbled to be able to say that I've known some mighty men of God.

[24:46] I've just been saved for almost 70 years old. I've only been saved 32 years. And there's guys that have been in the ministry longer than I have that are a lot younger than me.

[24:57] I acknowledge that. It has been an honor. It is an honor still to have served with some that have set a good example and then gone on. Now, my hero in the Lord would be a guy, not technically, he was a doctor.

[25:13] But, you know, he was Brother Mike. We didn't really, I'm not hung up on all that stuff. But Brother Mike Constine was my Bible teacher. Now, he's a Vietnam vet.

[25:24] He was wounded. He was paralyzed from the waist down. At 20 years old, six years later, he got saved. His wife got saved. And by the time I came along, he'd been dean of the Bible Institute for about 12 years.

[25:38] And we were contemporary in age and military. And he kind of took me under his wing. And he was a very patient man. I guess if you spend 28 years in a wheelchair, you learn to be patient.

[25:49] And he was patient with Dave Spurgeon. And he was my hero. He was the first guy that ever took me to the street. And he's in a wheelchair. And I said, okay, I'll go with you. You need somebody to push the wheelchair, no problem.

[26:00] You need somebody, you know, hand out tracks, no problem. And we get down on the street corner. And we're handing out tracks. And next thing you know, there's a guy. I had my back to him.

[26:11] There's a guy that kind of was getting in his face. And I was pretty newly saved. And that didn't sit well with me. And I came up from behind the guy and came up under his chin, just about picked him up off the ground, pinned him up against the wall.

[26:25] We were in downtown Dayton. And I was ready to let go on the guy. And because, you know, I'm with this guy. And you're not going to mess with my friends. And I look over and I can see Brother Mike going, no, no, no, no.

[26:38] And I pushed him away. I said, get out of here. I see her again. I'll kick your rear end all the way down to Third Street. And Brother Hansen's going, amen. But I appreciate him taking another.

[26:49] Then he did something really weird. Then he starts humming. He sat in a wheelchair. He had told us how to time buses and how much time it takes for a bus to unload and how much time we got for the people in the bus to have to get on the bus.

[27:02] And I'm like, wow, this is like intricate. And so we got like a two-minute window to give a message. And it was pretty intense. And he's like doing a throat warm-up exercise, which took me totally by surprise.

[27:18] We won't stay there very long. But, man, when that bus stopped and those people stood up and those people came off and you had everybody on the street for about 60 seconds, he held that Bible up and he went, how shall you escape if you neglect so great salvation?

[27:35] Amen. And, buddy, to me, it's circle the wagon time. We are going to be in the middle of a rumble. And nobody charges or nothing. You know, people had tracts.

[27:46] I've been out giving them tracts. And I thought, I'd never seen anybody do that. I'd never heard anybody do that. Street preaching. Amen. Amen. And I said, wow, that was really something, you know.

[28:00] And he said, oh, that's nothing. See that bus? And I said, yeah. He said, no, it's your turn. I've been saved, I don't know, a year or so.

[28:11] I said, whoa, wait a minute. Brother Mike Honstein was the kind of guy, he'd sit in that wheelchair and he'd cross his arms. And I'd never seen anybody talk him out of anything. Once he made up his mind, once he'd said something, he wouldn't argue.

[28:23] I'd never heard him argue. He would smile and look right through you. And I knew it was fruitless. And I'm going, look, man. I said, what a great opportunity. Come down here first time on the street.

[28:35] Hand out track. Thank you so much for letting me, teaching me about the buses. And, you know, that was really awesome. And maybe next time. And, you know, and he never said a word.

[28:46] He just sat there looking at me. And I knew it was futile. And I looked at him. I said, what am I going to tell anybody? He said, tell them what happened to you. I was scared.

[28:59] I have been. I don't even want to go into some places that I've been. I was terrified. And I took my little Bible. And I went over to the corner. And I waited for that bus.

[29:11] I held that Bible up. I said, therefore, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. All things. Behold. That's my life verse. Can I? Can I?

[29:21] Behold. No. All things have passed away. Behold, all things will come new. Is that close? Did I get it? How close was it? NIV close? No. Amen. And I said, last year.

[29:34] I'm going to look now. I'm embarrassed. But, you know, after Brother Stevenson doing such a great job on that song, and Brother Eric won, losing his notes, I don't feel so bad because, you know what?

[29:48] We're just human. I'm going to quote that verse nine times in a row. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. There are old things that pass away. Behold, all things will become new.

[29:59] You knew I had it right. You were just kind of dangling me. Amen. I said, last November, in cell two, up on the third floor of the county jail, I bowed more than mine.

[30:10] I bowed my heart to Jesus Christ, and I asked him to save me. And I came in. He's just smiling, and I came back over. And he was a mighty man of God. He got Lou Gehrig's disease five years later.

[30:22] And I watched that hero, my hero in the Lord, go through the most horrific death I've ever witnessed over that two-year period of time. And he served.

[30:32] And on his headstone, it says, I fought a good fight. I finished the course. And I've kept the faith. And I thank God that we've got some men in our lives that did that, that served, that went home.

[30:46] Dr. Ruckman, Brother Jack Wood, Dr. Estab, Dave Gilbert. God put some men that just took that thing right to the grave, walked it, just like they taught it, just like they taught us to live it.

[31:02] That inspires me, man. You know, you read on history. You read about some of the generals. You read about some of the military men in American history. That ought to inspire you.

[31:12] Tell you what, the most inspiring, most inspirational men that I've ever read about were right here in the pages of this book. Because this isn't just something that happened.

[31:23] Oh, that's cool. This is laying the groundwork for how we're supposed to be today. I want to be considered a mighty man of God. Don't you? So, number one. Like I said, all that was intro.

[31:34] Number one. Some have served and gone on. They finished their course. It's time for us to finish ours. This ain't a phase. This ain't something cool to do. I was almost 38 when I got saved.

[31:47] I'm too old to just try something new. And besides, this is the most fun I ever had anyway. And I want to finish. I want to finish right. Don't you? Mighty men do.

[31:58] They finish right. Number two. I'm happy to report there's plenty of mighty men in the battle today. I don't care what people say. It says this in Judges chapter 6 and verse number 12.

[32:08] And the angel of the Lord appeared unto them and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor. A couple of years ago, and I've been on the road 25 years, and coming out here for 20, and just about three years ago, something hit me, and maybe it was just the churches that I was at.

[32:31] I'll name their names. I was at Brother Dominguez in Oroar, Colorado. He's about 40. And I was with Nathan Gipp in Lewiston, Idaho, and he's not quite as old.

[32:41] And I was with John Robinson in Portland. And then I came back over and preached for someone else, Daniel Habman in North Dakota. And I realized that there's some young man, and to me that's a young man, Josh Stevenson in El Camino, El Cajon, something like that, some Chevy.

[33:00] Anyway, and that are sold out, strong on the book, purposed in to live for God in their heart. That inspires me. We like to think, oh, man, all us old soldiers are dying and going by the wayside.

[33:14] Surely the Lord's coming back pretty soon. And then I realized that God's still raising men up, which might mean he's not coming back as soon as I hoped. But I'm glad that my confidence is that he knows what he's doing.

[33:28] And I'm inspired by the fact that not only have we had good examples, mighty men that stood for God in our age, there's still a bunch of them still doing it. Brother Walski is a good example right here.

[33:40] Amen, amen. And I'm happy about that. It's less popular than ever to take a stand for Jesus Christ, and less people than ever are doing it, but some are still doing it, and they have my respect.

[33:52] Now I'm happy to say that there's some men that are still in training for the battle. Amen. They're still in training. It says in 2 Timothy 2, in verse 2, Thank God for the places that are still teaching the truth.

[34:18] There's some Bible schools in this country that are still shooting straight. And, you know, one of our favorites is Pensacola Bible Institute. And everybody can't just drop everything, go to Bible school.

[34:30] They never could. They can't now. I went through Charity Baptist Bible Institute. It was a correspondence school. It was very convenient because I was on federal probation at the time.

[34:41] Anyway, but Brother Peacock down there in Jacksonville, Florida, has got, I can't say it, T-D-B-I, T-B-D-I.

[34:52] I got a granddaughter. I make fun of her. T-B-D-I, whatever. I can't even say it. But I'll tell you what. Tell me what it is, Brother Eric. Loud. T-B-D-I. Say the whole words.

[35:03] Do you know them? T-B-D-I. The Bible Doctrine Institute. The Bible Doctrine Institute. I highly recommend it. Correspondence, right?

[35:14] All right. I'll tell you what. Let me see. I had another one. Where is it? Where is it? Oh, come on. Okay. Maybe I don't. Maybe I don't. Oh, here's my notes up here.

[35:25] There's a Bible Institute in Treasure Valley in Idaho, Meridian, Idaho. Brother Gipp went up there. My wife said 20 years ago, Brother Gipp should start a Bible Institute in Ohio so that there's another option.

[35:37] Amen. So, you know, obviously he missed the will of God and went to Idaho. But thank God there's a couple places that are training men straight. But I'm going to tell you something else I know.

[35:51] There's pastors all over this country that take that verse in, I don't know why I did that. I'm confusing myself. So, 2 Timothy chapter 2 to heart. And they labor in the Word of God.

[36:03] And they bring a lesson, a teaching lesson. You're not going to get one tomorrow from me. But they commit the faithful men, the Word of God, systematically week after week.

[36:15] And then on maybe sometimes usually on a Sunday night and a Wednesday night. And I tell you what, there are more solid, mighty men of God being trained in their local church, men that are faithful to come, than all the Bible schools that I just named put together.

[36:36] So what we got going on in a Sunday school or as Bible study in your local church is very, very important. And again, maybe it's because I was confined to federal paper and I just, anything I ever got involved in, I got all the way in.

[36:53] And when I got saved, I just applied that mentality to Christianity. And learned some things. When I got saved, I came in, I was 37 when I made bond.

[37:04] And I mean, the 8-year-olds knew more Bible than I did. Amen. I didn't know, Abimelech, what is that? I heard some kid, what? So I tell you my secret for kind of get up to speed a little bit was I shut my mouth and I opened my ears.

[37:22] Now some of us, we always got something to say. And you're spinning your wheels. You do well to learn when to shut up and listen. I'll use Brother Andrews as an example.

[37:35] Him and I are friends. Him and I are peers in many ways. Age-wise, well, he's a lot older, but other than that, we enjoy doing things. We've enjoyed doing things together for many years, right?

[37:49] But when we start talking Bible, I shut up. And I listen. And I learn. And I'll call him and I'll text him.

[38:02] And on a carnal level, where we both live most of the time, we're friends. But on a spiritual level, amen, he's one of my teachers. Amen?

[38:14] Thank God for men that love the book and not just love the book, but take seriously the commission to commit the faithful men. Amen. Amen. That's the difference between us and some of the religions around where only the grand poobah knows anything.

[38:31] And you're just supposed to swallow everything hook, line, and sinker. That ain't Bible Christianity. You got the same book in your lap that he's got on the pulpit. Lord willing. Amen.

[38:41] Amen. And if he don't have the, you got the right book in your lap and he don't have it there, you need a church. Amen. And if he's got the right book, we're talking about the King James 1611.

[38:52] If he got the right book on the pulpit and you're reading along and yours don't line up, well, you need to take a little visit somewhere. I hesitate to send anybody to a Christian bookstore anymore.

[39:02] You might come out with a yoga exercise tape or something. I don't know. But amen. There's a bookstore. Google it. It's a verb. All right.

[39:13] So, yeah. Mighty men. We're talking about mighty men. Thank God some are being trained. But I got to say this too, and some of you know it's true.

[39:24] Some have defected. Now, there's a verse in 1 Timothy 4 and verse 1, sad verse. Now, the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times, that's where we are.

[39:38] I do believe, don't you? Some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits. Seducing spirits and doctrines of devil.

[39:49] You give heed to seducing spirits. Amen. Draw you away. Doctrines of devils are right around the corner. Yeah. Amen.

[39:59] These people were of the faith at one time. But the Bible records now they're out. And I'm sad to report. I know that's true about some people. And I wouldn't mention names, but you know some too.

[40:13] And all I know is this. I don't want to be in that list. I don't want to be part of that. I don't want to be somebody. Yes, Virgin used to do this. I don't want to be a used to be Christian. Amen.

[40:24] I want to set a good example right to the end. I prayed that God, before I ruin my testimony, please take me home. Take me out of here one way or another before I bring reproach on the name of Jesus Christ.

[40:39] That ain't some spiritual thing. I know me. I don't trust me. I don't like me. Amen. I know what I'm capable of.

[40:51] It disgusts me. I need to stay around mighty men. Amen. I sure don't want to go down as somebody that fell.

[41:02] Amen. I don't. I've done enough wrong in my life. I want to finish for Jesus Christ. Don't you? But by virtue of the fact that that verse being there, I could have said all that to you.

[41:14] Logically, yes, that makes sense. Hogwash. That verse says that it happens. That means it's possible. That means it's possible to happen to you.

[41:25] Amen. I told my preacher one time, I said, the more I learn about the Lord, the more I'm afraid I'm going to fail him. He said, hold that thought and you probably won't.

[41:35] It's the people that think they've got a handle on this thing. That end up getting the wrong spirit and getting seduced and criticizing everything.

[41:46] I don't want to be that crowd. And I'm not. I'll tell you how I keep from it. I don't hang around that crowd. You start talking bad to me about something I know ain't right.

[41:59] I mean, I'm cutting you off. Not because I'm better than you. Not because I'm more spiritual than you. Maybe because I'm less spiritual than you. But you ain't going to infect me. I'm not going to let it happen.

[42:12] Amen. Say, well, I don't like you. I don't either. So what? I don't like me either. I like Jesus, though. How about you? Amen. The Bible says, be sober and be vigilant because your adversary, the devil, has a roaring lion walking about seeking whom he may devour.

[42:30] You better keep your guard up, mighty man. My preacher gave me some advice. I mean, maybe the first year or two. I don't know. But I like it simple. And he said this.

[42:41] He said, you want to make it? He's not talking about make it to heaven. That's done. If you're saved, you're washed in the blood, you're born again, you're going. Some of you, I wouldn't want to be behind at the judgment seat of Christ because you'd probably be there a long time.

[42:54] And you might feel the same way about me. But I'm telling you, you're going to make it. But what he said, do you want to make it? He's not talking about make it to heaven. He's talking about making it to where you can have I finish my course on your headstone.

[43:08] And so he said it's simple. And it just, stay in the book. Stay on your knees. And stay in church. Now that's the formula.

[43:21] Very simple. That will keep you from being like the ones that we just read about in 1 Timothy 4. That folks that have departed from the faith.

[43:34] Talking about mighty men. I'm almost done. Say you're an evangelist. I know. You don't believe that, do you? All right. Don't matter. Some mighty men just need to wake up.

[43:46] It says this in Joel 3 and 9. Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles. Prepare war. Wake up the mighty men. Let all the men of war draw near.

[43:58] And let them come up. Some need to wake up. We've been lulled to sleep. And Paul addresses it in 1 Corinthians 15. And I'll try to get there and read it to you.

[44:12] And you know the verse. Some of you can quote it. But don't. Please. Because it's my turn. And hopefully, if I can't find it in five seconds, feel free to quote it.

[44:22] 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 34. Awake to... Just made it. Awake to righteousness and sin not. What? For some have not the knowledge of God.

[44:34] Boy, would you amen that? Amen. California? Are you kidding? More don't have the knowledge of God than have it. And truth of the matter is, it's that way all over the world. But sure a lot of them like the sunshine, it looks like.

[44:47] For some have not the knowledge of God. Do you? Do you? You know, when Jesus Christ said to Peter, I give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. He gave you the keys of the kingdom of heaven when he gave you the gospel.

[45:03] Amen. We've got the knowledge of God. But a lot don't. And here's what Paul said about it. Well, let me say it right. I speak this to your shame.

[45:15] Say, well, I'm doing the best I can. That's all God ever asks anybody. But truth of the matter is, and I've said it the other night, and I've probably said it in all y'all's churches. Christianity in this age has gone so far toward apostate that us Bible believers have convinced ourselves we're way more spiritual than we really are.

[45:33] Amen. It's time to get back in the fight. Amen. It's mighty men of God. This ain't a preacher's conference. Amen. I'm not just talking about it.

[45:43] This book is written to all of us, born-again believers. Amen. Amen. Some need to wake up. You remember the story of Eutychus. Somebody asked me about it. I know Alan Jones.

[45:54] I remember Alan Jones preaching about uterus falling out the window. And I'm laughing, and I think several of the people didn't even catch it. And I'm laughing.

[46:04] Oh, that's funny. Amen. And so he's leaning the wrong way. Paul, unlike me, is a long preacher. And Paul was long preaching. He fell asleep. He was leaning the wrong way.

[46:14] You know you'll fall the way you lean? Yeah. Come in weary. You come in weak. You come in tired. Thank God you came in. Come in smelly. We don't care. Sit in the back.

[46:25] And you couldn't change clothes. All right. That's a good excuse. Don't come in in your casual clothes if you don't have to. We ought to give Jesus Christ a little extra acknowledgement.

[46:37] Don't dress better for Pharaoh than you do for Jesus. I couldn't help myself. That just comes out. Somebody's got to say it. Amen. But I'm telling you, let me see.

[46:49] You might be weary. Just make sure you're leaning in. Eutychus was leaning the wrong way. And he fell out the window. And he died.

[47:01] Amen. Some Christians I know are just like him. And they're leaning the wrong way. Amen. I hope that's not you. Well, I'm here on Saturday night.

[47:11] Yeah. So are the Catholic Church full tonight too. I'm not impressed. You hear me? All right. One more. One more. One more characteristic.

[47:22] Just a real quick one. 2 Samuel chapter 7 verse 8. Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I took thee from the sheep coat, from following the sheep, to be a ruler over my people.

[47:37] You know what? A real mighty man of God understands that before you can ever be a leader, you've got to learn to be a follower. And it was brought out very aptly by Brother Eric that all men are called to be leaders in some capacity in the home.

[47:52] Amen? Amen. But you're going to have to learn to be a good follower of Jesus Christ before you'll ever be really able to lead anybody.

[48:03] Amen. And I read a book one time, believe it or not, besides this, and Civil War. Did I mention? Yeah. And here's Robert E. Lee, man.

[48:14] His troops are getting overwhelmed. And here he rides up on a ridge. And somebody turned around and points at him up there, and he's sitting on his horse, out of rifle range, let me just add.

[48:27] And they saw their general, they saw their commander up on the ridge, and it inspired them. And they took heart and they fought, and they won that battle. I just want to close by saying this, the mightiest man that ever lived is still very much in the battle.

[48:42] Amen. It says in Isaiah 42 and verse 13, the Lord shall go forth as a mighty man. Let me tell you something tonight, and I'm happy to report, the Lord Jesus Christ is still on the field, and still reaching way down into this horrible pit, and pulling folks like you and me out.

[49:01] Amen. Amen. Moses said in Exodus 32 and verse 26, who is on the Lord's side? Well, let him come unto me. I guess if they didn't come, I guess that meant they were on the other side, right?

[49:16] Let me ask you something, then. Are you a mighty man for God? I'd give you things to think about, wouldn't even acknowledge a show of hands. But I want you to think about it. And I'd give you some attributes here, and maybe there's something that you'd say, amen, I've got a hold of that, I've known that, and maybe there's something I've never thought of that way, and maybe I need a little adjusting to my walk.

[49:37] And maybe there's some things that you know, good and well are out of order. And ain't nobody going to in here front you out, but the Holy Spirit may be impressed with something on your heart that needs some spiritual attention.

[49:50] That's the way the Lord likes to do it. He'd rather deal with you on a personal level while it's just you and Him. And don't make Him, don't make Him reveal a sin in your life or something going on in your life to your preacher or your wife or your friends.

[50:06] Don't make, He'd rather just deal with you. He'd rather your heart be tender and be sensitive. If there's something that the Lord dealt with you about, let's have a word of prayer. Heads bowed and eyes closed. I don't care if you stand up or not.

[50:18] I just know there are no, there's no better place to do business with God than in a place like this where we've sang about Him and we've preached about Him and we're bragging on Him and we're acknowledging Him in all our ways and we need Him way more than He needs us.

[50:35] In our country, our families need us, men, to play the man for the cities of our God. Amen. Amen. And Brother Kim pointed out, you know, masculinity, it was God's idea.

[50:51] And you know that we live in a time and an age where, and it's been going on for a while, but it seems like they're fighting harder than ever to remove masculinity. And femininity too.

[51:04] And just mix it all up and mess it all up. And we see from the Word of God, that wasn't God's idea, that wasn't God's plan. And I don't have a political strategy other than, you know, live for God until He comes back.

[51:20] But I know this. Between you and me, we can do what we're supposed to do. We can be who we're supposed to be. We can fight the good fight of faith.

[51:31] We can surrender to be vessels under the Master's use. And regardless of what anybody else is doing, you're not giving account for anybody else. You're going to have to stand before the Lord Jesus Christ and give an account of yourself.

[51:48] If you need to come, there's some at the altar. If you need to come, it's open. You want to pray where you're at. But do business with God for a few minutes tonight.

[52:00] God put me with some mighty men of God in these last 30-some years. And I'm humbled by it. And now I realize, one day I kind of realize, that in my upper 70s, I'm one of the guys that some of the younger guys are looking toward.

[52:18] And that provokes me not to slow down, not to back off, not to lighten up. I'm not giving up convictions that the Lord gave me 25 years ago just because it's become popular easier.

[52:34] Brother Spurgeon's been at it a long time. We'll cut him some slack. I don't want any slack. I want to fight. The good fight. Till the Lord comes.

[52:44] Don't you? All right. We got something on the altar. You pray where you're at. We get done praying. I guess Russ will probably come. Will you? You got a song?

[52:55] Is that what we're going to do? So let's give him a few minutes to pray, for sure. For sure.