(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

If we could all please find the seats and grab the hymnal and insert that hymnal, the song number 409. We could begin this evening's service by singing the song number 409, The Fight Is O'er. ["The Fight Is O'er"] The fight is on all Christian soldiers, and face-to-face is heard already. With armor gleaming, and colors streaming, the right and wrong is today. The fight is on the lean of weary, be strong, and in his might all fails. The God before us is better o'er us. We'll sing the victor's song at last. The fight is on all Catholic soldiers, great and true, the hope of thee, the victory of the sheep. We'll love no other. The armor God has given to him, to give his strength forever and ever more. The fight is on all Christian soldiers, and face-to-face is heard already. With armor gleaming, and colors streaming, the right and wrong is today. The fight is on the lean of weary, be strong, and in his might all fails. The God before us is better o'er us. We'll sing the victor's song at last. The fight is on all Catholic soldiers, great and true, the hope of thee, the victory of the sheep. We'll love no other. The fight is on all Christian soldiers, and face-to-face is heard already. With armor gleaming, and colors streaming, the right and wrong is today. The fight is on the lean of weary, be strong, and in his might all fails. The God before us is better o'er us. We'll sing the victor's song at last. Amen, my brother. Let's turn to song number 165 in our hands. Song number 165, We'll Worship the King. We'll worship the king, all glorious above, and gracefully sing his wonderful love, a shield and leaf, and new the ancient old days, a bill and a splendor, and her head with praise. We'll tell of his might and sing of his grace, whose role is the light, whose care of his grace. They share in self and the deep like their clouds for more, and our peace is that on the wings of the storm, a bountiful kid once again we sigh. It breathes in the air, it shines in the light, it streams from the hills, it descends to the plain, and sweetly distills in the dew and the rain. The children of the sun and people as well will be to be trusted or by me to fail. Thy mercies I'll tender thou firm to the end, a maker, defender, redeemer, and friend. At this time, we're going with the announcement to be the following of the singing song number 164, so stay right there if you're ready to go. Number 164 next. All right, if you'd like a bulletin, go ahead and slip your hand around and bring you one. We've got our service time listed there at the top, the one on the left, as well as the church-wide solely and salvations. Go ahead and count up some of the numbers going back to the Friday or Saturday. And then today, was there anything out there today at the group? Two, all right. One Bible, right? Yeah. Everybody off to a good start in Operation Confiscation. All right. Good start to New Year. And then also, over on the right-hand side, Happy New Year to everybody. Thanks for making 2021 so great. We're looking forward to what's ahead in 2022. We've got the birthdays listed there below and the New Testament 90-day challenge. So I know we're already kind of into the second there, but there's a plan if you want to kind of get on board. I'll just kind of put those in there weekly. But you're also, of course, always welcome to do it however you want to do it, as long as you get it read by March 31st. And then on the back, don't forget the homeschool field trip coming up to Rooster Cogburn's Ostrich Farm. That's this Friday, January 7th. Of course, that's open to anybody with at least one homeschooling student at H-5 and up. So you can come on up next. And if you haven't contacted us, let somebody know. I know there's different groups the ladies are in and stuff like that. If you have anybody you know, please let us know as soon as you can. And then speaking of Operation Confiscation, anybody come up with a better name? No one wants to get shot down in terms of your name, right? Operation Bible Swap? Bible Swap? Yeah, that's kind of a word. It doesn't rhyme. It's got to be catchy. Oh, it's got to be good. It's got to be good. Kind of like a joke. It's only good if it's funny. So anyway, we'll go with Confiscation for now, but I have open suggestions. Maybe I shouldn't ask for that publicly, but you know it's going to be friendly. And don't forget how that works. We're replacing people's false versions with King James versions. Paperbacks are provided in the back. And if they're ever out, if they're not on the shelf, we've always got a box in the AD room there that we can always pull some more out. And by the way, you're doing this with real people, not just going and collecting false versions wherever you want. You have to put another one in someone's hand, okay? So when you get the version, you'll get their false version, sign your name in it, and there's the metal wastebasket right behind the wall there in the corner. Just go ahead and throw it in there. Hopefully by the end of the year, you know it's just flowing over with false versions for our Bible version. And we will burn them in Tucson. Yes, we will. We'll burn them this time next year about approximately. So it'll be, you know, it won't be such a fire hazard. It won't burn until like August or anything like that. But make sure you go ahead and sign that and then we'll count at the end of the year. That's another reason why you want to sign it. Because whoever has collected the most false versions and given out and replaced them is going to get a leather-bound Cambridge King James Bible. Those are great Bibles. Those are Bibles that will last you. You take care of them. You treat them well. They will last you a lifetime. You can put your notes in there and stuff like that. You know, I like that. You know, I have one myself. I have a nice one. It's just nice to have. It's kind of an heirloom, you know, if you make notes as you go. It's something you can pass down to your children. You know, they can see grandpa's notes later, you know, grandkids and everything. So it's worth, you know, it's worth doing anyway just to get the right word of God in somebody's hands. You're not going to get those false versions out. We'll go ahead and we'll just put some icing on cake. We'll put a cherry on top and say, hey, we'll give you a really nice Bible to fill in. So I'll probably order, you know, a version of what I want to get and have it up here. But the competition is year-long, so don't feel like, you know, you don't have time to do this. You know, I know we're getting into it right now, but stick with it and better get cracking. Brother Jamie's already got one in that basket. He's fixing to get some more. So he's already in the lead. He's giving it a run for his money. Don't forget, we've got the men's preaching night coming up Tuesday, January 25th at 7 p.m. This is open to men 18 years or older, no spectators allowed, so please be come prepared to preach. And you can repeat the last two days of your month. Don't forget, we've got the Mexico Monday tomorrow. If you're planning on going, please let me know. But that will do it for another session. Go ahead and sing one more song for the preaching tonight. So, 164, praise him, praise him. Praise him, praise him. This is the Lord. Praise him, praise him, Jesus our blessed believer. Sing, O Earth, his wonderful love prevail. Hail him, hail him, highest our angels we've ever been. Strength and honor lead to his holy name. Like a shepherd, Jesus will guard his children. In his arms he carries them all day long. Praise him, praise him, tells his excellent greatness. Praise him, praise him, ever-be-joyful star. Praise him, praise him, Jesus our blessed believer. For our sins he suffered and bled and died. He, our God, our hope, will return our salvation. Hail him, hail him, Jesus the crucified. Sound his praises, Jesus, who bore us all. Whose love unbound him, wonderful, deep, and strong. Praise him, praise him, tells his excellent greatness. Praise him, praise him, ever-be-joyful star. Praise him, praise him, Jesus our blessed believer. Then we, Lord, close, loud with hosannas real. Jesus, Savior, reign forever and ever. Crown him, crown him, prophet and priest and king. Christ is coming over the world victorious. Thou and glory unto the Lord be Lord. Praise him, praise him, tells his excellent greatness. Praise him, praise him, ever-be-joyful star. And at this time, we'll pass the offering play. As the play goes around, let's turn our Bibles to Ephesians chapter 6. That's Ephesians chapter 6. As always, we'll read the entire chapter. Please follow along silently as we read from Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians chapter 6. The first one in the Bible reads, Children, obey your parents and your Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment of promise, that it may be well with thee, and thou mayst serve them on the earth. And ye fathers, with all kind of children to wrath, will bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, and sinless of heart, and of Christ. Not with thy service as mentors, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God in the heart, with good will, doing the service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatsoever good thing the man doeth, the same shall be received from the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing thread, knowing that your master also in heaven is in heaven, neither is there respect or person or thing. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, with the power of his might, throughout all armor of God, being able to stand against the wiles of the devil, for rest are not against flesh and blood, but against principality, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in thy places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, being able to withstand in him the day, and having done all to stand, stand with him, having your loins heard about the truth, and having on the breast played righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, above all taking the shield of faith, who with thee shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked, and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication of the spirit, and watching everything with all perseverance, and supplication for all saints, and for me the other ones will be given unto me, that I may open them up boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds, that they are in heaven to speak boldly, as I have to speak, and that you also may know my affairs, and how I do it, in psychiatry, the beloved brother, and faithful minister of the Lord, shall make known to you all things, whom I center unto you for the same purpose, that you may know our affairs, and that you may comfort your hearts. Peace be to the brethren, the love of faith, from God the Father, to the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with them all, to the love of our Lord Jesus Christ, and sincere amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Lord God, for today, Lord God. Thank you for the salvation, Lord God, and thank you for all the business, Lord God, that you do for us, and back to the breath of the Spirit, Lord God, thank you for preaching, and feel good according to your spirit, and allow him to preach over to us, Lord God, and give us the heart, and hear the blood of Christ, Lord, and give him the praise. Amen. Amen. So let me just double check here. I've been not unmuting my mic. Okay. We're live streaming now. There's a lot of kinks I'm working out, so if you see me running up here last minute, that's why, but I want to preach a sermon tonight entitled Real Zeal. Real Zeal. And of course, a very familiar passage there in Ephesians chapter six where it says in verse 10, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. So Paul here is admonishing the Ephesians to put on the whole armor of God so that they can do what? So that they can stand. And having done all, to stand. Now keep something in Ephesians. We're going to be there throughout the sermon. But go over to 1 Corinthians chapter 16. 1 Corinthians chapter 16. So this admonishment to stand and to not back down is something that you have to be very deliberate about. This isn't something that's just going to happen in your Christian life. And you have to, you know, I'm preaching this because, you know, right now we're not really going through any kind of major persecution. Of course, people are always going through certain levels of persecution, maybe with their family or on the job site or wherever. You know, there always is some kind of level of persecution that comes and goes in our personal lives. But, you know, we as a church have never really faced a real persecution. But I know this much is that it will come. Is that as we grow, as we do more, as we get on the devil's radar, as we continue to preach the Word of God and go out and preach the gospel and, you know, put those King James Bibles in people's hands in people's hands, you know, we are going to encounter resistance and we have to be prepared to stand. That when that time comes, we've already predetermined, we've already deliberately thought about this and said, you know what? I am going to stand. I'm going to do all to stand. You know, this is why we're preaching this. But, you know, Paul often admonishes people in the epistles to do this, to stand and to not back down. This isn't just an isolated incidence. That tells me that this is important. This is something that we as Christians have to have in the forefront of our mind. This is something that we have to think about. This is something that we should address. This is something that we should look at, that we need to learn to stand. And there are several things we have to stand against. It's not just the persecution. You know, another thing that Paul admonishes people to stand against is against sin, you know, against temptation, to resist temptation. If you look at 1 Corinthians chapter 16, look at verse 13. He said, Watch ye stand fast in the faith. So there it is again. I beseech you like men. He's saying basically, you know, act like men. Be strong. Let all your things be done with charity. I beseech you, brethren, you know the house of Stephanus, that it is the first fruits of Achaea, and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints, that you submit yourselves unto such and to everyone that helpeth with us. So not only is Paul admonishing people to stand against temptation, but here in 1 Corinthians 16, you see that he's also admonishing them to stand, to quit themselves like men, to be strong, and to stand in unity, right, and to stand in labor. You know, and this isn't something our church is struggling with. You know, we have a very unified church. We have a working church. But again, this is something that you have to stand in, meaning it's once you occupy that space, you know, someone's gonna try and get you out of it. You have to determine that you're gonna stay in it. You're not gonna get pushed around. He's saying there, look, you have to do all things with charity, that you have to submit yourselves unto such and to everyone that helpeth with us and laborerth. You know, we should stand in unity with those that labor in the church. You know, we should be a unified body. And this is repeated again in Philippians chapter 4. I won't belabor the point. Another thing that we should stand against is false doctrine, false doctrine. So ultimately I'm gonna get to the fact that, you know, we need to stand for the word of God. We need to stand for truth. We need to preach the word of God and not back down. And this is something that's especially true for a preacher. You know, anyone that wants to be a preacher, you know, you have to be somebody that's willing to stand up and preach the whole counsel of God and quit you like a man and be strong. And, you know, we as a nation today are suffering because there's so many, you know, there's so much weak preaching going on behind the pulpit. There's so many men of God that are just afraid. And I don't even know why I should call them that, men of God. There's so many men getting up behind pulpits today that are afraid to preach what the Bible says. And it's unfortunate because, you know, when the word of God is not being preached, when there isn't a real zeal behind the pulpit, you know, the nation suffers. The people suffer. God's chastening comes and we're going to see that here in a minute. Go to Leviticus chapter 26. But I'm just, you know, making the point that, you know, we are to stand in all these different areas. You might say, well, this doesn't apply to me. I'm not a preacher. Yeah, but you need to stand against temptation. You don't need to resist the devil. You need to, you know, stand against the wiles of the devil. You need to be able to stand with your church and those that labor. These are places that we all need to stand. But I'm going to focus in on here in a minute on the fact that men of God, those that preach the Bible, need to be people that have some real zeal about them, meaning that they have boldness. You know, that's what it means to have zeal. You know, zeal's not just arguing with a bunch of Sodomites on Twitter. You know, a lot of guys seem to think that's what it is. You know, they just get on social media and they're just so bold because they're out there getting up with a bunch of reprobates or something. You know, that's easy. Getting up and preaching to, you know, flesh and blood people, getting up and showing people their sins, you know, lifting up your voice like a trumpet and preaching the whole word of God, that takes boldness. You know, that takes zeal. And I'm not saying that to sound, you know, blow my own trumpet or anything like that, but I am saying that, you know, if you're somebody who desires that office to be in, you know, behind a pulpit preaching, you know, you need to make sure that you're willing to preach the whole counsel of God, to have that boldness, to have that zeal. Otherwise, people suffer. The body suffers. The nation suffers. And I believe that's why we are where we are today because there's just a dearth in this land of real zeal behind the pulpit. Oh, sure, there is some. We can find it. I mean, a lot, you know, I'm sure that there's even people that we don't know in the circles that we run with that there's even people that are, you know, out there that are preaching the whole counsel of God. But you know what? They're few and far between these days. It seems to me like I just see a lot of watered-down, weak, lily-livered preaching going on anymore. That's what's taking place in a lot of even independent fundamental Baptist churches. They're getting soft, and we need some men to get up and have some real zeal, and I don't just mean, you know, getting red in the face and spitting and slobbering and running around and taking their jackets off and jumping in the baptistry and doing laps. That's not zeal. I'm talking about getting up and actually preaching and getting sin and taking a stand in the word of God. That's the real kind of preaching. That's the real zeal that we need today in this country. You know, you've got to preach against false doctrine. You've got to preach against, you know, all these different things. Now, I had you go to Leviticus 26. Hopefully, you kept something in Ephesians chapter 6. In Ephesians chapter 6, you know, we'll come back to Ephesians, okay? We'll come back there, but if you notice, as Paul goes on there in Ephesians chapter 6, you can follow along if you got something there with me. In Ephesians chapter number 6, you know, he talks about how we are to be, to put on the whole armor of God. And as we go through that armor of God, as we will later, you'll see that there's a helmet, there's a breastplate, which is something that goes on the front. You know, there's the, to gird yourselves with truth, right? There's the sword of the Spirit. You know, these are offensive weapons. Yes, there's the shield of faith, but these are all parts of the armor that are what? Front-facing. These are things that are showing us that we are to be on the offensive as Christians, doing battle, right? Going into it. There is no armor for your back, is what I'm getting at. You never notice, he didn't say, make sure you got your backside covered in case you got to turn tail and run. In case you got to, you know, quit and be a coward. You know, that's not, that's not prescribed in the word of God. That's not in there in Ephesians 6. You won't find that there. There is no armor for the back because cowardice, you know, failing to preach the things that need to be preached, you know, that's not something God expects out of men of God. Those that are going to get up and claim to be a man of God and preach the word of God, he doesn't expect them to back down, to hold back. He wants all of it preached. The good, the bad, and the ugly. The things that people like to hear and the things they don't like to hear. He wants them to do what? Reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine. That's what we're prescribed to do. And you really, you know, the biggest that we see is a failure to preach the things that need to be preached. And I don't care how excited and how, you know, just, you know, drummed up some guy is about some, you know, something. And you see this type of thing going on where they just, they get like these camp meeting style preachings where it's just, you know, everyone's hooping and hollering, but you know what? There's no hard preaching against sin. You know, that's not a real zeal. A real zeal is a consequence of the consequences. That's the kind of zeal that we need today. But unfortunately, this boldness is lacking. You know, and the Bible says in Proverbs 28, I'll read to you, the wicked flee when no man pursueth, but the righteous are as bold as a lion. The righteous are as bold as a lion. That's what God expects us to be like, bold as a lion. You know, if you see these lions out in the wild, they're not, they're not timid creatures. You know, if you saw, you were out somewhere and you saw a lion, man, if you had any brains, you'd get out of there as quick as you can. Because chances are, you know, they are looking at you and thinking, that's what's for dinner. You know, they're thinking, there's the beef. You know, that's, that's what we're supposed to be. You know, we're supposed to be that bold where people look at us and they say, wow, this is somebody who's not going to back down. You know, the wicked that flee when no man pursue it, that's an attribute of wicked people. You know, they're, they're cowards. They just flee when no one pursues, right? You know, and that's what a lot of these sodomites are like, by the way. You know, they talk a big talk, but they never back it up. You know, they flee when no man pursue it. They're very fearful, right? But also, I want us to, I want us to notice that this cowardice, this fear, you're there in Leviticus, chapter 26. Look at verse 21. God gives them this very stern warning. He says in verse 21 of Leviticus 26, and if you walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me, I will bring seven more times more plagues upon you, plagues upon you, according to your sins. He's saying, if you disobey me, if you don't do what I say, I'm going to punish you seven more times worse than what you did to me. And you say, well, that doesn't sound fair. Yeah, but unto whom much is given of him also and this is him giving them these judgments before, you know, he's bringing his people into the promised land and they've seen the, you know, they've seen all of the plagues in Egypt. They've seen, you know, the Red Sea split. They've seen all these miracles. You know, they're accountable to, you know, fear the Lord their God and to not walk contrary and to hearken unto him. And look, I'm not going to take the time to read all this, but I mean, go home and read this passage tonight if you haven't read this passage. It gets to a place where he says, if you, if I'm going to bring the plague upon you, I'm going to bring an enemy upon you. If you still won't listen, it gets to a place he says, and if you still won't listen, you know what? You'll, you'll end up eating your sons and daughters because there'll be a siege on your city. And that is exactly what happened. If you know the story of Israel, that is exactly verse 28. And you shall eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters shall you eat. And I will destroy your high places and cut down your bones. And God's not messing around here. But notice there, notice in verse, verse 36, and he's saying, and upon them that are left alive of you, I will send a faintness into their hearts and the lands of their enemies. And the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them. You know, that, compare that to what we read in, in, in Proverbs where he says the righteous are as bold as a lion. This is the complete opposite. Look, when a little leaf is getting across the pavement or whatever, and that, that scares you, you know, you're a coward. But this is something that is the judgment of God. And really what I think is going on, because you have to remember, this is, this is something that is of, that's going to happen to them that are left alive, meaning they've seen all these other things, right? They saw the enemy come in and lay siege. They saw the cannibalism. They saw these judgments of God being poured out. They're the ones that just made it through. And they shall flee as fleeing from a sword, and they shall fall when none pursue it, and they shall fall one upon another as it were before a sword when none pursue it. He's saying, you're going to, you're going to be afraid of nothing. You're going to have, you know, senseless fear. Really, you know, and I was reading this, I was thinking, that sounds like, you know, what I would call this as OT PTSD, right? Old Testament post-traumatic stress disorder is what this is, okay? Because remember, these people have seen a lot of things. There's no new thing about them. You know, they've gone through these horrific things, and now they're having these flashbacks, right? They're afraid. But this is the judgment of God. Fear is not something that should be in a Christian's life. Obviously, you know, we fear the Lord. We understand that, okay? But being afraid of nothing, you know, that's the judgment of God. You know what? A lot of people live their Christian life this way. They don't want to speak up for the Lord. They don't want to speak up for the Lord at work. You know, they don't want to be associated with that church. They don't want to be associated with that church. They don't want to be associated with that church. They don't want to be associated with that church. They don't want to be associated with that church. They don't want to be associated with that church. They don't want to be associated with that church. They don't want to be associated with that church. They don't want to be associated with that church. They don't want to be associated with that church. They don't want to be associated with that church. They don't want to be associated with that church. They don't want to be associated with that church. They don't want to be associated with that church. They don't want to be associated with that church. We're not always afraid of being associated with the man of God, or the church, or the word of God. Not be like these people that are afraid of a leaf, but people live their lives in fear sometimes as Christians, you know what, and they're afraid of nothing. They live their lives, and they're afraid of something, and it never comes to pass, but they just live in fear. I'm not saying that it's always the judgment of God, but sometimes we can look at this and say, well, maybe that is the judgment of God in some instances, but really what I want to apply this to the preachers. Because they're the ones that are ultimately responsible, as we'll see here. Go over to Ezekiel chapter 22, Ezekiel chapter 22. You know, fear is a curse. Fear does not benefit people. You know, fear is the opposite of zeal and boldness, isn't it? You know, we're preaching tonight about real zeal. And real zeal isn't just, you know, getting all excited and shouting amen and, you know, just running amok, you know, being a bapticostal or whatever. You know, it's preaching the word of God. It's standing for the word of God. It's having done all to stand. That's what real zeal looks like. Taking a stand for the word of God and not backing down. Preaching all of it. But fear, you know, a lack of zeal, a lack of boldness inhibits bold preaching, doesn't it? People, you know, preachers, you don't, I mean, you think it's far-fetched to suggest that there's preachers out there that get to certain passages in the word of God and just say, well, I'm not going to preach that. That's going to make people mad. That happens all the time. Look, there's plenty of sweetness and light and goodness and all of that in the word of God. You could spend, you could preach year after year on nothing but the love of God. You know, we could do 40 days of grace here. You know, we could do 40 days of amazing grace. And then we could follow up with 40 days of love and peace. I mean, we could just go on and on and on. But is that the whole counsel of the word of God? No. And real zeal preaches all of it. You know, but men of God, they pull back and they say, well, I'm not going to preach that because, you know, that might offend so and so. You know, and that they might stop, you know, they might stop coming here and then, you know, there's no tithe in the offering plate. Or, you know, that might bring the news van down here. That might get the protesters all riled up. And here's the problem with that is that the Bible says in Proverbs 29 that the fear of man bringeth a snare. It bringeth a snare. What's a snare? It's a trap. It's something, you know, a snare is like you would set for an animal. They would step into it and then they would be caught, right? It's like a, like a line or something. Okay. And that's what fear does to us. You know, there's some, we want to be somewhere else. We want to be doing something else. But fear has a hold of us and it keeps us bound. It keeps us in bondage. And that's what a lot of preachers are like up in the pulpit today. They're like little caught animals. They got a little, you know, they're afraid of man and they got a little snare on their ankle. You know, they're not going to turn to, you know, Judges 19. They're not going to go to Genesis 9. They're not going to go over to Leviticus 20. They're not going to go to Romans 1. They're not going to turn to these hard passages in the word of God. They're just going to, because why? Because they have a snare. They might want to go there, but you know what? They're afraid. So they have a snare. The fear of man bringeth a snare, but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe. You know, that's a great verse for a guy who wants to preach. And believe me, I mean that. You know, if you've got to get up and preach the whole counsel of God, it's not always easy to get up and rip face. All these guys think, oh, it's going to be so much fun for me to just get up there and tell everybody how it is. It's like it's another story when they're looking at you. It's another story when it's people that you know and love and care about. Okay? So keep that in mind. But it's still got to be preached. And you know, if it's someone that you're going to upset people, look, you just have to trust in the Lord and you'll be safe. And you know what? That snare, you know, and all you're doing when you hold back in the word of God is you're just snaring other people. You know, if I'm afraid to preach the word of God, the whole, you know, if I'm afraid to offend somebody, I've snared you in a way, haven't I? Now that you're not getting what you need, you know, and look, there's, church is a dime a dozen where you could just go get, you know, the nice, soft, gentle message. You know, people tend to come to this church because they expect to have, you know, some hard preaching. And amen, they should, you know, and unfortunately, they should be able to get that in any church, but unfortunately, they can't. Okay? So, you know, we need to not be afraid. We need to preach the whole counsel of God. We need to have real zeal. Because if you are afraid and you hold back, you know, you're going to have a snare. And people who are snared, you know, they don't preach the whole counsel of God. And if people don't end up hearing what they need to hear. So why does a preacher got to get up and preach all those hard passages and be that way? Because people need to hear it. You know, people need to hear the sermons about the sodomites. They need to hear the sermons on adultery and fornication and drunkenness. I mean, repeatedly, these things have to be brought up. You got to preach all of it. And if you don't, people don't hear what they need to hear. I mean, think about, I'll just remind us of 1 Samuel 3, right? When Samuel is first coming onto the scene as a boy, he goes to the temple. Remember how it comes after Judges. Remember how Judges ends? Every man did that, which is right in his own eyes. You know, and then you have, you know, Hophni and Phinehas, Eli's sons, are the priests, you know, doing the sacrifices. They're committing fornication in the temple and adultery because they're married. And they're, you know, they're stealing the sacrifices. They're taking that which is supposed to be roasted and eating it for themselves. They're taking raw flesh from the people. And the people are, you know, they're despising the offering of the Lord. The Bible says in 1 Samuel 3 that there was, and the word of the Lord was precious in those days. There was no open vision, meaning the word of God wasn't being preached. Do you think that's any coincidence that you had such a dark time spiritually in Israel and the word of God's not being preached? It's not a coincidence. Those things go hand in hand. When men of God are afraid to get up and have some real zeal and preach the whole counsel of God, everybody suffers. You know, spiritual darkness comes across land. How else do you explain where we are as a nation? And do I need to go on and on about the moral cesspool that is the United States right now? I think, I'm sure everybody in the room is convinced. You don't have to look very far to see how far down, you know, the drain we've gone morally in this country. And you say, well, I don't understand how that could be. There's just so much zealous, bold, face-ripping preaching out there, right? Wrong. There's a bunch of weak preaching out there. That's why we are where we are spiritually. You know, we might have a lot of abundance. We might have a lot of nice things. We might have a lot of stuff and money and wealth in this country. But you know what? Gain is not godliness. You know, spiritually, if we could see this country, it's dark and it's poor. And unfortunately, you know, it's because of the fact that there is an ignorance of God's word. Men of God are afraid to preach the counsel of God, so people are just ignorant about what the word of God even says. I mean, we're running into people out there now, kids, boys and girls, they don't even know who Jesus is. They've never heard of him. The resurrection, what? They never heard of the crucifixion. I mean, that's something everybody knew for a long time in this country. But now we're getting to a place where people haven't even heard these stories. Did I have you go to Ezekiel 22? Look at verse 27. He says, her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey to shed blood and to destroy souls to get dishonest gain. And her prophets have daubed them with untempered mortars, seeing vanity and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord God, and the Lord hath not spoken. So they're false prophets. They're saying, oh, this is what God wants. God hasn't said that. There's a lot of that going on today. The people of the land have used oppression and exercised robbery and have vexed the poor and needy. Yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. So he's just laying out these sins of this country. You know, and we can see a lot of parallels with our own nation, can't we? The shedding of blood, the destroying of souls. You know, think about abortion, right? There's just a lot of, I mean, to get dishonest gain, right? You could think about, you know, the unwarranted warfare where people are just, you know, people are just going to war to support the military industrial complex. You know, they're getting dishonest gain through destroying souls. And then you have, of course, the prophets, right? Who are saying, thus saith the Lord, and the Lord hasn't spoken. We're living in a land that's full of false prophets today, folks. They're everywhere. They're on every corner. We're surrounded by people who are getting up and saying, thus saith the Lord, and God hasn't said anything to them. So how do you know that? Well, a lot of them are getting up. They don't even have the right Bible in their hand. You're saying, thus saith the Lord, and they're reading out of an NIV or an ESV or some other corrupt version. It's like, well, the Lord didn't say that. The people of the land have used oppression. I mean, there's a lot of that going on. They have exercised robbery, IRS. They have vexed the poor and needy, right? Sorry, I had to clear my throat. Yeah, they have pressed the stranger wrongfully. I mean, think about, you know, I don't want to get all political, okay? But I mean, think about some of the practices we have when it comes to things like immigration. The stranger is talking about a foreigner, not the guy who's weird, strange. That's not what it means. It means he's a foreigner to the country. Now look at verse 30. So all these things are going on. You say, well, why is it? Why is this happening? Why is this going on? Verse 30, and I saw it for a man among them that should take up the hedge, should take up the hedge and stand in the gap before me for the land that I should destroy it not, but I found none saying that all this was going on. And I thought, well, maybe if I could just find somebody to go there and show my people their sins and preach to them and get them to get right, I won't have to destroy the land. You know what? I went looking for that guy and he wasn't there. He's gone. You know, and God can look at a lot of cities across this country, a lot of places in this country, yeah, even the world and say, boy, there's a lot of iniquity. There's a lot of oppression. There's a lot of bloodshed. There's a lot of wickedness going on. And there'd be nice if there was someone there that could preach, but there's no one there. That's what's going on all across the world today. That's what it's like in our country. That's why these people are in the same predicament that we find ourselves in today. And look, and the guy not being there has pretty bad consequences. Not just the sin running rampant, but it brings God's wrath. He said, I sought for a man to stand the gap that I should destroy it not. Meaning God gets the place and says, well, you know what? There's nothing else I can do, but just wipe these people out and start over and teach them a lesson. Therefore, I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. Their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, sayeth the Lord God. Oh, that sounds a little rough. Yeah, but that's what the Bible says. That's who God is. You know, welcome to the King James Bible. And look, that's why people need hard preaching. Go to Isaiah chapter 59. They need it. You know, the people in this room, they're getting it, you know, and I know hard preaching works. I've been around it long enough. I've seen it in my own life. It works. People get under hard preaching, you know, they get right with God. You know, but there's not enough of it. That's what I'm getting at. You know, there's two, there's not enough of it. We need more. We need more people. We need more men of God behind pulpits. What about when I, you know, when I grow old and die, you know, Lord willing, if I make it that long, and I'm still in this. Who's going to take up the mantle after me? Who's going to be the next guy that stands up and says, thus sayeth the Lord? Or is it just going to be one less preacher, one last man of God, one more empty pulpit? Or is it going to get filled with some guy who's just going to say, well, you know, I don't want to preach that. I don't want to offend anybody. That's not what we need. We've got plenty of that. We need more hard preaching because when people don't have the hard preaching, they suffer the consequences. And part of the consequences are not just being overrun by sin, but God actually pours out his wrath. Look at Isaiah 59 verse one. He says, behold, the Lord's hand is not short and that it cannot save. Neither is his ear heavy that it cannot hear. It's not like God is just, you know, twiddling his thumbs oblivious to what's going on. You know, God still wants to help. God still wants to do something. You know, I personally don't believe that we can bring this whole country back away from the wrath of God, but we can definitely stay it off. You know, we can definitely put that day off for another time by getting, if people wanted to get right with God and do the works of God and save souls, I believe that. God's still in heaven. His hand is not shortened. It can still save. Neither is his ear heavy that it cannot hear. God's still listening. He's still seeking for a man to stand in the hedge. But verse two, but your iniquities have separated you from you and your God and your sins have hid your face from you that he will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity and your lips have spoken lies. Your tongue hath muttered perverseness. I mean, I could just go on and on. There's so many parallels with our own nation. Verse four, none calleth for justice nor pleadeth for truth. Jump down verse eight, the way of peace they have not known. There is no judgment in their goings. You know, God wants hard preaching. God wants justice. God wants somebody getting up and pleading for the truth. That's what he wants. That's what he's looking for. And he wants somebody to get up and to preach judgment. Now judge not, you know, that's the cry of the liberal Christian. Judge not, lest he be judged. Yeah, but if you go on and read, he goes on and says judge righteous judgment. Judge not after the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. God is a God of judgment. God is a judge. He's got a book called Judges. God's for judgment folks. In fact, he's showing us here that a lack of judgment, it leads to wickedness when people are, no one wants to offend anybody. No one wants to judge anything. No one wants to stand up and say, no, actually you were born a man and will remain a man no matter how much you butcher yourself or what bathroom you chose to go into. Right? But look, there's guys and that's easy for me to get up and say, cause I'm used to saying it. Right? But there's a lot of guys, a lot of preachers today, you know, they'll tell you, oh, you, you better show some, you better be nice to the homo when they come into church. You better have a right spirit and we're going to love on them. No, we're not. We'll have a right spirit, but not according to what they think is a right spirit. They'll get shown the door and then they'll get shown the parking lot and they'll get shown the street. Anyway, but look, that's what God is looking for here. He's looking for judgment for people to, to, call for justice, to plead for truth. There is no judgment in their goings. Look at verse nine. Therefore is judgment far from us? Neither doth justice overtake us. Well, what a coincidence when no one's preaching judgment, when no one's preaching justice, when no one's pleading for the truth, it's far from us. Yeah, that makes sense. One plus one equals two. If there's no one preaching it, it's not happening. That's why I can look at what's happening and say, well then it must not be being preached. There must not be any real zeal behind the pulpits today. Jump down to verse 14 and judgment is turned away backward and justice standeth afar off. For truth is fallen in the street and equity cannot enter. Yea, truth faileth and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey. That's an interesting verse right there. He that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey. You know the guy that says, gets up and says, you know what? That's wicked. He becomes the next victim. He becomes the prey. Right? The guy that starts calling it out, the guy that departs from it and says, no, you know what you're doing is wicked. That philosophy is wicked. That way of life is wicked. Whatever. He himself becomes a prey. And look, again, that goes back to fear. A lot of people, they, they, they, they would agree with what the Bible says. They just are afraid to say it. And look, I can understand that to some degree when it's just, you know, an average, you know, just the, just the guy in the, in the, in the pew. There's not, it's not really his job to get up and to boldly proclaim the word of God. Well, look, and when your job is, when you're a preacher, when you're a pastor, when your job is preaching the word of God, you cannot be afraid of being made a prey. You have to make yourself a prey. You have to depart from evil and say, that's wrong. That's what real zeal is. He said, and the Lord, he, he, he that maketh, excuse me, and he that departed from evil maketh himself a prey and the Lord saw it and it depleased him, displeased him that there was no judgment. So is God for judgment or not? God's for judgment. God wants people to preach judgment. He wants them to call evil, evil, lightness, darkness, and love bitter and sweet, sweet. God wants someone to judge and discern and say, thus saith the Lord. And when it doesn't happen, it displeases him. And he judges. Verse 16, and he saw that there was no man and wondered that there was no intercessor. And that word wondered wasn't like, Hmm, I wonder. It was like in awe, like shocked. Like he, he was wondered, you know, he wondered that there was no intercessor. He's looking down there and it's just like Ezekiel. I saw it for a man. Where are they? How come there is nobody that's going to preach judgment and there's no one that's going to plead for truth? Where have they gone? I mean, what more can God do? He's given us the Bible. We've got King James Bibles, you know, in every dollar store in America. They're all over the place. It's not like, it's not like we don't know what judgment is. It's like we don't have access to what God thinks about things and God's just shocked that no one's actually getting up and saying, thus saith the Lord anymore. You know, he did it back then. I'm sure he feels the same way now. Have places called, you know, where there are actual Baptist churches that claim, you know, even King James Baptist churches that use the right Bible that are still like, are still afraid to preach the whole counsel of God, that have no real zeal. God looks at that and let's just wonder what's going on. Say, why do you call yourself a man of God? Why do you call yourself a pastor? Why are you even showing up and collecting a paycheck if you don't have the, the, the backbone to get up and preach the whole counsel of God and to judge. God wonders. He's shocked. You know, God wants us to stand because we have to judge. We have to do what? We have to engage the enemy. That's what Ephesians 6 was all about. He's saying, stand, put on the armor. Why? Because there's a fight. You have to engage the enemy. And when people don't stand, when people don't judge, when there, you know, there is no real zeal, the enemy advances and he gets, and they get bolder and they get bolder and they get bolder and they've gotten pretty bold today, haven't they? Go back to Ephesians chapter 6, Ephesians chapter 6, beginning in verse 14. I should have had you keep something there, Isaiah, but just forget it. I'll read it for you. No, you gotta, you gotta keep something there. You gotta, I'm sorry. Isaiah 59. We gotta look at this in a minute. So I apologize. Keep saying Isaiah 59. But God wants us to stand and say, why is God, you know, looking for something? I mean, well, God doesn't expect us to. Why is the Bible talking about in Ezekiel and Isaiah where he's, he's wondering that there was nobody, when he's seeking for a man, he's looking for somebody to do it. You know, he wants us to do this so that we can engage the enemy so that somebody can stand for truth today. Ephesians 6 verse 14, stand therefore having your loins girt about with truth and having on the breastplate of righteousness and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, taking the shield of faith wherewith you may be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. You know, a shield is not, and he's not saying, you know, put that shield on your back so you can run away and let the darts hit you there. He's saying you're in the fight. The darts are coming at you. Someone's accurately firing at you. He says in verse 17, and take the helmet of salvation, the sword of spirit, which is the word of God. Keep something there in Ephesians chapter 6. Go back to Isaiah 59. So we see there's all this armor that's listed here, right? There is, you know, the loins being girt with truth. There's the breastplate of righteousness. There's the feet shod with the gospel of the preparation of peace. You know, you've got to have something on your feet when you go to war. Above all, taking the shield, right? And you've got to have the helmet of salvation, the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, okay? Now if you notice in Isaiah 59, there's a similar warning. My opinion, I don't think this is a direct quote, but I think it's Paul kind of, as he's writing Ephesians, these things are coming to mind. But look at verse 17. He, speaking of the Lord, for he put on righteousness as a breastplate. Doesn't that sound familiar? He put on righteousness as a breastplate and a helmet of salvation upon his head. And he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing and was clad with zeal as a cloak. Now I don't think Paul like forgot to include zeal there. I just think that, you know, the cloak, I just think that, you know, it's just not listed there for some reason. You know, anyone who has actual zeal would already know these verses. People were actually zealous about reading their Bible. They go, oh, that reminds me of Isaiah 59. And they would remember that there he talks about being clad with, you know, the zeal as a cloak. So you've got to have all these other instruments. You've got to have all this other part of the armor, right? You've got to have the sword. You've got to have the shield. You've got to have the helmet. You've got to be girt about the sword. You've got to have your feet shot. You've got to have all these things. But you know what you need more than that, or excuse me, what you need to have in addition to that is you've got to have zeal. There's got to be zeal. I mean, what good does it put on that honesty? Like, oh, I guess I'm going to war today. I mean, think about that in the army. You know, they put the body armor on you. You get the fatigues on. You know, you've gone through boot camp. They put the weapons on. You've got the grenades hanging after you. Eclipse here, eclipse there. You've got the radio, the helmet, the boots. You're all laced up. And you're just kind of, oh, OK. Just kind of stumbling around on the battlefield. You know, not really get anything done. You've got to have zeal, too. You've got to be willing to pick out that gun and look down the sights and pull the trigger. That's, you know, that's what we need today. And this is what I'm getting at is that there's so many guys behind pulpits in this country, and yeah, even the world, they have everything except zeal. They have no real zeal. They're saved. You know, they've got their loins girt about with truth. They've got the helmet of salvation on. They've got the sword of the spirit. They've got a shield. They could fight off the enemy if they wanted to. But you know what? They lack is a cloak of zeal. So they don't get anything done. You know, they don't grow. They don't reach their community with the gospel. They don't preach hard against sin. People come to church and it's just another lame sermon about whatever. You know, it's whatever's in the, you know, what was in their news feed. Whatever they saw tick across Fox News. I'll preach about that. You know, whatever Rush, Rush Limbatomy spoke about. Of course, he's dead now. I met Sean Insanity. You know, or one of these other guys. All these, whatever talk radio. That's what they want to preach. They're zealous for the Republican format. You know, the talking points. Their platform. Who wants to hear that? You know, if you've got cable at home, you don't even have to come down here to hear that. Well, he wants, what God wants is guys to put on some clothes. Guys who have all this other armor. Great. Why don't you put the cloak of zeal on and actually get something done for God and actually preach hard and actually, you know, stir things up a little bit. That's what real zeal is. And again, if we don't have the zeal, we will suffer as a consequence. According to their deans, he said in verse 18, accordingly, he will repay fury to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies. To the islands, he will repay recompense. And here's what I want to close on is this thought is that, you know, it's one thing to know the word of God. It's another thing to live it, isn't it? It's another thing to know what the Bible says. It's another thing to actually live it. It's another thing to actually preach it. It's another thing to actually flesh it out in your life. There's a lot of people, they know what the Bible says and they completely ignore it. Say, yeah, I know that's a sin. I'm going to ignore it. Oh yeah, I know I should be doing that, but I'm just going to ignore that. Oh yeah, I know as a preacher, I should get up and preach that passage, but I'm just not going to do it. Well, then don't tell me you have any zeal. And I don't care how good your music program is. And I don't care, you know, how, what big name preacher comes or what circles you run in. If you hold back on the word of God, you have no zeal. And you might have a sword and you might have a helmet and you might have everything else, but you know what? You might as well just give it to somebody who's actually got a cloak. Will actually do something with it. Because it's another thing to know the word of God. It's another thing to live it, to get up and to preach it. I mean, that's what Paul did. You know, and I was trying to think of other examples. I thought of Esther, you know, when she was supposed to go in, you know, Mordecai is telling her, look, you got to go into the king and tell him that, you know, the Jews are going to get slaughtered if he doesn't do something. And she was afraid of what might happen. You know what she said? If I perish, I perish. That's the attitude we ought to have as Christians. That, you know, if living for God is going to cost me my life or whatever, then so be it. You know, that's the attitude Paul had. He said, yeah, doubtless and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ, Christ Jesus, my Lord. He said, well, that's big talk. Of course you would just count everything loss. That's easy to say, Paul. But he goes on and says, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things. Paul, that wasn't just flowery speech with Paul. Paul actually had suffered the loss of all things. I mean, he actually suffered but look who got more done than any other Christian throughout all of history. He was used more by God. You can't name anybody else. You know, they're unknown. But I mean, it came at a price, didn't it? He had to have some real zeal. He had to be willing to put himself out there and preach hard against the, you know, the Jews of his day and go out there and preach hard and, you know, be beaten and whipped and everything else that happened to him and suffer the loss of all things. Paul had to do that. But you know what? He's willing to do that because he had some real zeal. Go back to Ephesians 6. Paul said, let no man trouble me for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean, he had some real zeal because, you know, Paul understood something. It's one thing to know what the Bible says. It's another thing to live it. It's another thing to know what the Bible says. It's actually another thing to get up and preach it. Real zeal, real boldness is going to put itself in harm's way. I mean, what's the point of all the armor in Ephesians 6? Put on all that armor and then head over to that playground and get on a swing and just stay safe and secure and go down the slide. You know, and mommy will be there to hold your hand. Put on all that armor and find a safe space. Put on all that armor and go down into your basement and lock the door, turn off the lights, and shiver in the corner. No, he's saying put on this armor because there's a battle to fight. There's an enemy to take on. Have some real zeal. Go out there and fight. Put yourself in harm's way. And that's why Paul told Timothy, endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. You know, real zeal puts itself in harm's way. Ephesians chapter 6 verse 18. Ephesians 6 verse 18. Praying always with all prayer and supplication of the Spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. And for me, that utterance may be given me that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel. He said, hey, pray for me that I'm bold in my speech, that I'll open up my mouth and say that things I'm supposed to say. You know, he's asking him to pray for that, saying, hey, you know, we guys pray that here all the time. You know, right before I get up this pulpit, they pray for their service. They help the deacon to preach. That's a good prayer. That's biblical. You know, it's something I pray. Help me to get up there and just whatever you want me to say, Lord, let it rip. Whatever needs to be said. If it's in the word of God, I'll preach it. And, you know, Paul here is saying the same thing. He's saying, look, pray for me that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in bonds. I mean, here he is suffering again. He's an ambassador of Christ, but you know what? He's bound because people don't like to hear what he has to say. That therein I may speak boldly as, you know, I prefer to speak. Is that what he says there? Well, you know, you preach like that because that's just, you know, that's just the way you are. You just preach like that because you just, you know, you're sensational. You preach like that because you just want to get views on YouTube. You know, you're just an internet preacher. You know, you just like making waves. No, you preach boldly. You preach with some zeal because that's how you ought to preach. That's what needs to be preached. That's what God's looking for. God's looking for people to preach like that and make that stand. And I'm preaching this tonight because, you know, our zeal needs to be challenged. Now, we have zeal as a church, but you know what? It needs to, and I'm not saying that we're lacking zeal so we need to challenge. I'm saying, what I should say is our zeal will be challenged. You know, you don't really know if you have zeal until it's challenged. And look, all they live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Your zeal will be challenged one day. And I'll just read to you from Jeremiah chapter 12. He says, if thou hast run with the footmen and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with the horses? Look, if some little persecution comes into your life and just knocks you all off course and you just don't know how you can go on, it's like, well, that's the footmen. What are you going to do when the horsemen show up? When the real challenge comes? What are you going to do when, you know, they're thronging at the door? You know, when, you know, the boss is calling the office and saying, you know this church? When the relatives are pulling aside and say, you're in that church? You listen to that guy? That's your pastor? That's your preacher? You know, I have to remind myself that, oh, you know, that's kind of a, that's kind of a hard saying, and it's not even the hardest thing in the Bible. You know? Well, Romans 1 is kind of, hmm, but what are you going to do when you get to Leviticus 20? What are you going to do into Leviticus 2013? You think, oh, you think the footmen of Romans 1 is hard to preach? What are you going to preach when, you know, when you get on something that's actually going to step on people's toes? Well, you know what? You've got to learn. You've got to have your zeal challenged, because it will, and it's going to be challenged. And if in the land of peace that where now has trusted they wear thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan? Look, it's going to come, you know, and it's going to come one way or another, and we're going to be challenged. You know, I just want it to be because we're doing something for God. You know, I want it to be because, you know, we're making the enemy mad. That's how I want our zeal to be challenged in this church, because we're actually shaking things up in Tucson. You know, we're actually getting on Satan's radar. And not because God is saying, you know what? You're lukewarm, and you're cold, and you've got no zeal in that church. I'm going to just start chasing you and judging you and maybe see if you'll get some zeal that way. That's not how I want to get it. Let's just go ahead and have the real zeal now, you know, and then God will be pleased with us. Let's go ahead and pray. Dear Lord, again, thank you for, Lord, the opportunity that we have to serve you every day of our lives, and Lord, I pray that you would help us to be a zealous people that are zealous of good works, and Lord, that we would just understand that, Lord, you desire for us to do great things for you, and that we would never back down from what the Bible says, that we would always embrace it and love it, and we will just bless you for it. In Jesus' name, amen. All right, we'll sing one more song before we go. We'll sing one more song. I have found more than my feet on higher ground. My heart has no desire to stay. Where doubts will rise and fears will stay. Though some may dwell where these are found. I bear my hand is higher ground. You lift me up and let me stand. I claim no man of this stable land. A higher plane than I have found. Lord, my feet on higher ground. I want to live above the world. Though Satan's God sent me unheard of. Though faith has cut the joyful sound. The song of sins on higher ground. You lift me up and let me stand. I claim no man of this stable land. A higher plane than I have found. Lord, my feet on higher ground. I want to scale the upmost high. Though Satan's God sent me unheard of. The song of sins on higher ground. You lift me up and let me stand. I claim no man of this stable land. A higher plane than I have found. Lord, my feet on higher ground. I claim no man of this stable land. I claim no man of this stable land. I claim no man of this stable land. I claim no man of this stable land. I claim no man of this stable land. I claim no man of this stable land. I claim no man of this stable land. I claim no man of this stable land. I claim no man of this stable land. I claim no man of this stable land. I claim no man of this stable land. I claim no man of this stable land. I claim no man of this stable land. I claim no man of this stable land. . . . . . . . . . . . . .