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Thanks for watching! You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You Good evening and welcome to Verity Baptist Church. Let's go ahead and find our seats this evening Find a seat find a handle close to you turn to page number 421 Song number 421 the first Noel we will open the service with song number 421 and let's go ahead and sing it out Born is the king of Israel song number 421 sing it out on the first The angel did say was to certain poor shepherds And feels where they lay in fields They keeping their sheep on a cold winter's night No Born is a king Of Israel song number 421 on the second That same star three wise men came from country far to see for a king What their intent and to follow the star wherever? Noel Born is a king Of Israel Number 421 on the third To the Northwest or Bethlehem They took its rest Stop and see right over the place where Jesus lay No Born is the king You guys are all warmed up. All right, so number 421 sing it out on the last On Is presence there go And see it out Born is Amen great singing welcome to Verity Baptist Church here on our Sunday evening service We are so glad to see everyone here this evening. Let's open the service with a word of prayer Dear heavenly fire. We love you. We thank you again just for the opportunity to be in your house Lord And thank you for a great day you've given us and thank you for these dear people would come Lord and sing praises to your Name and we just pray Lord that you bless the service We ask for the singing the preaching the fellowship and we hope Lord that everything that we said and done this evening with only green Glory in honor to you name. We love you and Jesus my pray. Amen Alright, it's now time for favorites. Where if you're selected we will sing a stanza from the song that You picked miss Irene God 427 son number four to seven We three kings Orient our son number four hundred and twenty seven Let's go ahead and sing it out on the first we three kings of Orient are Bearing gifts. We travel so far And mountain Star You'll be right Proceeding guide us to die perfect 188 on the last the love of God saw number 188 Not a Christmas song, but it actually is right saw number 188 Could be within sing it out on the last Goodly within the ocean Apartments made every song And every man To Train the ocean No stress from the sky Super sky Oh Just I got 432 So number four hundred and thirty two Angels from the realms of glory It's not number four hundred and thirty two Like this song so let's sing this one out. I saw number four hundred thirty two on the first Angels from the realms of glory playing your fight For all the earth Ye who sack Creation's glory now proclaim Messiah's birth worship worship Brother Josh guide three five six saw number three hundred and fifty six I Must tell Jesus saw number 356 this one you have to sing this one out with some passion saw number three five six on the first In my distress He ever I must I cannot Jesus can help me Jesus alone Let's sing one more song brother Graham good 423 This will be the last song for favorites. You all select the great songs this evening. So let's finish it strong with joy to the world for to see on the first And Great singing Amen and we welcome you to the Sunday evening service here at rarity Baptist Church. We're so glad that you are with us Let's go ahead and take our bulletins We'll look some announcements real quickly If you do not have a bullet and just raise your hand and one of our ushers can get one for you If you need a bullet and just put your hand up and we'll get one for you the verse this week Luke chapter 2 in verse 10 and the angel said unto them fear not for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy Which shall be to all people and that's a good verse there If you open up your bullets and you'll see our service time Sunday morning service 1030 a.m. We had a wonderful service this morning We're glad of course You're back out tonight for the evening service And we do invite you to be with us on Wednesday night for the midweek Bible study we call the Sunday night service the most exciting service of the week and For some reason I think you just sing more excited on Sunday night and then on Wednesday night it's the most encouraging service of the week and it's just a nice time right in the middle of the week to get with God's people and Pray and praise him of course and then listen to preaching So we encourage you to be here for that You look at our soul winning times our main soul winning time is on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. And we'll hope you'll join us for the Soul winning rally on Saturday morning And then we have additional soul ring times on Thursdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. As well and if you're a soul winner just want to remind you if you would not mind if you have any salvations make sure you mark those on your communication card and put it in the Offering plate so that we can get that in the bulletin and also if you have a map that you did not finish Please clearly mark what was done and what was not done and put it in the bin in the foyer so that we can get that recycled through and get that done and then also if you're running late to one of our soul winning Times if you would call us or text us at the number there nine one six eight six eight nine zero eight zero Let us know what your plan on being there But you're running late that way we can make sure Our team our soul winning captains can make sure they have a partner for you and a map and get you all Situated if you look at the announcements and upcoming events, of course on Sunday mornings We've been going through this Christmas series called the most wonderful time and we'll continue that of course through Christmas And then we just want you to be aware of some special things going on the Sunday before Christmas December 22nd for the 10 30 a.m. Service We're gonna have special music, of course from the orchestra from the choir the adult choir and the children's choir And then after the Sunday evening service, we're going to have a hot chocolate and Christmas cookie fellowship So we just want you to be aware of that We've got sign-up sheets in the main foyer if you'd like to sign up to bring cookies we would appreciate your help with that and then This year Christmas actually falls on a Wednesday and we're not canceling Church. All right, we'll have Church on Wednesday night Of course, you're welcome to to be here for that and I've never understood this idea That says let's celebrate the birth of Christ by canceling Church. I don't think that's something Jesus would want So we'll have Church at 7 p.m. So you can have Christmas dinner, you know five or whatever and and we'll have but that's we're not We're not gonna have a big Push for that day the big push will be on Sunday, but we will have a nice service on Wednesday night, of course I'll preach something related to Christmas and then nine chapters a day. We just want you to be aware of this and We I'm gonna be pushing this hard for the next few weeks Because we need it and we need to be in the Word of God and I want to encourage you to take the nine chapters a Day challenge don't let it scare you people are often when they haven't done it They hear that like nine chapters a day You can do it All right If there's lots of people that have done it and you're gonna be glad you did so make sure that this is Something you take on as a goal in January And what we do is we challenge the entire church family to read nine chapters a day in the month of January Every day and if you do that and from the New Testament You'll read the entire New Testament in the month of January and you've got the chart here You have two grace period days and the way the chart works is you can read through it two different ways You can do the straight forward or the straight through reading which is just nine chapters You know Matthew 1 through 9 10 through 18 You just go through the New Testament the benefit to this is That you get all the big chapters the beginning of the New Testament has the bigger chapters You get that all out of the way at the beginning of the month while you're still, you know exercising and you're all dedicated because the new year just started and then by the time you get to the end of the Of the month you get to those smaller chapters so it becomes easier the split reading The benefit to that is that it's it's balanced the entire time, but it is balanced the entire time So you got to make it past, you know, two weeks and still be motivated to do it So, alright, so just be aware of that We want you to read and to be in the Bible of course of you if you do the challenge and then we'll put your name in on a nice plaque and We will we have plaques for every year of our church we have last year's plaque as well. It's already made We just don't have I really don't want to hang these plaques up in these terrible looking hallways right now So we just want you to know we have them All right You may have to just do this by faith Believing that there's a plaque somewhere in a storage room with your name on it But eventually we'll get everything put up and it'll be nice. All right, so make sure you're aware of that choir practice They had good practices today. If you look at the back of the bulletin birthdays and anniversaries for the month of December this week we have brother I go to his birthday is on December 9th and Brother Aldo's birthday is this week on December 13th? Praise report money matters all those things are there for you to look at and then of course We just want you to be aware of the Christmas gifts for Jesus You should have one of these inserts there in your bulletin And if you could help us with that We'd appreciate it as you're out and about purchasing things for everybody else this Christmas season make sure you purchase something for the Lord Jesus Christ you give it to him through the local church and There's just some things there that we use on a regular basis and we've got a sign a drop-off area in the foyer there If you'd like to just bypass the whole thing and you'd like to just make a special Christmas kiss for Jesus donation There's a QR code and you can do that there as well. All right, I think that's It for all of the announcement. So we're gonna go ahead and sing the chorus of the week Which is this song beautiful star of Bethlehem We sang it here for the first time this morning and you did a very good job Alright, so let's say we can do as good of a job tonight. Maybe even better Oh beautiful star of Bethlehem sing it out on the first Oh beautiful star of Bethlehem Shining off our through shadows dim Giving a light for those who long have gone And Guiding the wise men on their way onto the place where Jesus lay beautiful star of Bethlehem Good let's sing it out. Oh beautiful star Of Bethlehem Shine Upon us until the glory Don't Give us my light to light the way into the land of perfect Beautiful star of Bethlehem Shine on I don't I don't know about you, but it just seems like we sing better on Sunday night Maybe you need the whole day to warm up, but you're singing Well, let's sing it out on the second beautiful star of Bethlehem on the second Oh beautiful star the hope of light guiding the pilgrims through the night over the mountain till the break of dawn And into the light of perfect day it will give out Oh beautiful star of Bethlehem shine on Oh beautiful star of Bethlehem Shine upon us until the glory Dawn Oh give us my light to light the way into the land of perfect day Beautiful star of Bethlehem shine on All right, we're gonna slow it down sing it on purpose on the third. Let's slow it down and sing it with passion. Oh beautiful star the hope of rest for the Redeem the good and last yonder in glory When the crown is won Slow it down for Jesus is now that star the vine brighter and brighter He will shine Beautiful star of Bethlehem Shine on goodness sing it out Beautiful star of Bethlehem Shine upon us until the glory Dawn Give us my life Into the land of perfect day Beautiful star of Bethlehem Shine on Oh Amen good scene We'll have the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time and let's go ahead and bow our heads and have A word of prayer Heavenly Father Lord. We do love you. We thank you for allowing us to gather together tonight Well, we pray that you'd bless the offering the gift and the giver We pray that you'd bless the time set aside for the preaching of your word Lord We ask that you meet with us tonight speak to our hearts through your word in Jesus name. We pray You You You You You Please open up the first Timothy for First Timothy chapter 4 if you do not have a Bible, please raise your hand And I'm not sure you can bring you a Bible first Timothy chapter 4 Just keep your hand up and as you will come by First Timothy 4 we were in the entire chapter as our custom First Timothy 4 being verse number 1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils Speaking lies and hypocrisy having their conscience seared with a hot iron Forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them Which believe and know the truth? For every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving For it is sanctified by the Word of God in prayer If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ Nourished up in the words of faith and a good doctrine whereunto thou hast attained But refuse profane and old wives stables and exercise thyself rather unto godliness For bodily exercise profit little but godliness is profitable unto all things Having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come This is a faithful saying and worthy of all expectation for therefore we both labor and suffer approach Because we trust in the Living God who is a savior of all men especially of those that believe These things command and teach Let no man despise thy youth But be that an example of the believers in word in conversation in charity in spirit and faith in purity Till I come give attendance to reading to exhortation to doctrine Neglect not the gift that is indeed which was given thee by prophecy with the laying on the on of the hands of the presbytery Meditate upon these things give thyself holy to them that thy profiting may appear to all Take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine Continue in them for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee. Let's pray. Heavenly Father Thank you for this evening. God I thank you for your word and for a church I ask you please give us all a tender heart to the message tonight and I ask you to be their pastor Please strengthen him and fill him with spirit. Lord we love you. In Jesus name pray. Amen Amen All right, we were there in 2nd Timothy chapter number 4 and Last week we came to 2nd Timothy chapter 4. I was preaching a different sermon on a different subject and We actually came to 2nd Timothy chapter 4 just as a reference in the middle of the sermon and we were looking at verse number 14 neglect not the gift that is in thee, but when I Was reading that last week last Sunday night actually, I saw these words and I They kind of captured me and they captivated my thought even in the middle of my sermon while I'm preaching something else these words captured my thoughts and I Thought to myself I'd like to preach this Herman just on this subject and just to give you a little bit of the context Look at verse number 13 1st Timothy chapter 4 and verse 13 the Bible says this till I come this is of course the Apostle Paul speaking To Timothy and he's giving him instructions These are the pastoral epistles where Paul is instructing these young men In the ministry and he says to him till I come give attendance and the word attendance there means give attention to pay attention to he says give attendance to reading and of course the reference there is in Regards to the reading of the Word of God He said I want you to give attention to I want you to give attendance to Reading and he's talking about reading the Word of God then he says to exhortation when the word exhortation or to exhort means to warn or to admonish and Exhortation is a warning and of course I believe that this is referring to preaching oftentimes when we preach what we're doing is we're admonishing We're warning and I believe the Apostle Paul here is telling Timothy I want you to give attendance to reading and he's referring to the reading of the Word of God and Then he says to exhortation and I believe he's referring to the preaching of the Word of God And then he says to doctrine the word doctrine means Teaching and I believe of course he's referring to the teaching of the Word of God He says till I come give attendance to reading to exhortation to doctrine verse 14 Neglect not the gift that is in thee which was given thee by prophecy With the laying on in the hands of the presbytery and then I want you to notice verse 15 He says meditate upon these things meditate upon these things and If you're looking at that passage and you're wondering what things is he referring to? He's referring to the things that he just got done telling Timothy to give attention to to give attendance to give attendance to verse 13 reading to exhortation to doctrine Then in verse 15, he says I want you to meditate upon these things What things the reading of the Word of God the preaching of the Word of God the teaching of the Word of God? He says meditate upon these things and then I want you to notice this little phrase and this is the phrase that kind of captured My attention last week and I want to preach a whole sermon on it tonight And in fact, if you don't mind marking in your Bible, I'd like you to underline this little phrase in your Bible He says give thyself holy to them Give thyself holy to them give thyself holy to one well to these things. He says meditate upon these things Referring to reading exhortation doctrine and then he says give thyself holy to them that thy Profiting may appear to all When Paul tells Timothy to give himself holy to these things He's referring to the things of God to the reading of the Word of God to the exhortation of the Word of God to the doctrine Of the Word of God, but what he's really saying is I want you to give yourself to God I want you to give yourself to the things that God has told you God has communicated with you through his word He's communicated with through the preaching of his word He's communicated through the doctrine of his word and he says give thyself Holy to them. I like to speak on this subject for just a few minutes tonight I'd like to give you three thoughts and maybe you can jot these down I always encourage you of course to take notes and on the back of your course the week There's a place for you to write down some things and maybe you can jot these things down The first thing I'd like you to notice tonight from this little phrase give thyself holy to them is the resolve To give thyself The resolve to give thyself. See what Paul is telling Timothy is that this is a request This is something that he's asking Timothy to do he cannot force Timothy to do this Nobody can force you to do anything But he says give thyself He tells Timothy that I want you to consider giving yourself to these things Giving yourself to the Word of God to the preaching of the Word of God the reading of the Word of God the teaching of The Word of God he says give thyself Holy to them and if you and I are going to be Christians and this morning when I spoke about tonight's sermon I talked about the fact that we're gonna be learning about the maybe second most important spiritual decision You can make the most important decision you can make spiritually or any decision period in your life is with regards to Salvation you make the choice to be saved you choose to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to call upon him for salvation That's the most important decision. You're ever going to make whether spiritually or non spiritually. That's that's it That's the number one thing. I think I'm of the opinion that the second most important decision you will ever make in your life is who you choose to marry and I'm not preaching on marriage But I can tell you this choosing to marry the wrong person can and will ruin your life So be mindful of that and I've preached on that in the past as well But when it comes to spiritual decisions spiritual decisions The second most important thing after salvation that you can decide is to make this decision to give thyself Holy to God to give yourself Completely to the Lord and you may think well aren't all Christians haven't all Christians decided to give themselves Completely to the Lord and to that I would say you must be new around here Because the truth is that most Christians have not given themselves completely to the Lord I'd like you to keep your place there in 1st Timothy chapter 4 that's our text for tonight But go with me real quickly to the last book of the New Testament to the book of Revelation Revelation chapter number 3 and of course if you're familiar with the book of Revelation, you know that chapters 2 and chapters 3 deal with the Message of the Lord Jesus Christ given to the seven churches in Asia He gives them all these different messages and I want to highlight for you Just one message given to one church the church of the Laodiceans in Revelation chapter 3 and verse 15 the Bible says this this is Jesus speaking by the way. This is Jesus He's already ascended up to heaven. He's in his glorified body He appears to John on the Isle of Patmos and he's giving this message to these churches and though these churches are literal physical Churches that literally exist in the first century I think we can all learn from all of these churches and there's lessons for us to learn and in Revelation 3 and verse 15 He says this I know thy works. He's speaking to the church of the Laodiceans He says I know thy work and then he says this that thou art neither cold nor hot He said here's what I know about you. You're not fully Holy completely on any one side of this thing. He said you're neither cold Nor hot then he says this he says I would The word would there it's used in an older way that maybe we wouldn't use a lot today But it means I will or I desire what I want. Jesus is saying here's what I know about you I know that thou art neither cold nor hot and then he says I Want what I want what I desire what my will is. He said I would thou were cold or hot that's Jesus way of saying I wish you would choose a side He said at this point and you know There's debate as to which one's the good side the cold side or the hot side I've heard arguments for both now. I don't really think it makes a difference I personally think the hot side is the good side that he's referring to in the cold You don't want to be a cold Christian. You want to be a hot Christian? You don't want to be a cold Christian you want to be a Christian that's on fire for God either way Whichever side is the good side or the bad side. The point is this Jesus actually says I'd rather you be a hundred percent on the wrong side or 100% on the right side. He said I would thou work cold or hot so then verse 16 because thou art lukewarm And he says here's the problem I have with you. This is Jesus speaking. This is not me speaking to you This is Jesus speaking to the church of Laodiceans But it applies to all of us if it needs to apply and he says this the problem that I have with you And I think the problem that Jesus probably has with most Christians is that they're neither cold nor hot They're just kind of somewhere in between They're lukewarm So then because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot I want you to notice what Jesus says he says I will spew thee out of my mouth and the idea is And it doesn't say it but the fact that he's saying to spew you out of your mouth whenever I read that I think of you Know picking up a little just think about picking up a lukewarm Not really cold not really hot Coca-Cola or whatever it is you like to drink as long as it's not beer, okay? And some sort of drink you like to drink and and it's meant to be cold or maybe it's meant to be hot You know they cold coffee they make hot coffee, but there's just something about lukewarm coffee They make cold sodas But there's just something about lukewarm soda that when you drink it you just kind of want to Spew it out of your mouth, and this is what Jesus is saying he says look. Here's what I know about you I know that thou art neither cold nor hot He said I were not were cold or hot so then because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot I will spew thee out of my mouth What Jesus is saying is this he's saying Christians that cannot choose a side make me sick You Said I I wish you'd just pick a side. I would not were cold or hot And then I want you to notice in verse 17. He says this he says because and here he gives us the reason He says here's here's the reason why? You're neither cold nor hot. Here's the reason why you've not chosen a side. You've not taken a stand Here's the reason why you're just kind of riding the fence you're at one foot in you said We're talking about being one foot in the world and one foot in the things of God We're talking about being one foot walking with the Lord and one foot walking with the devil We're talking about just kind of you know I kind of do this church thing and I do this worldly thing and here's what Jesus says Jesus says the reason That you live that way. He says because verse 17 Because thou says and I think this applies so well to Christians in the 21st century and especially living in the United States of America He says here's the problem. He says because they'll say is I am rich and increased with goods I Want you to know it's a little phrase. He says and have need of nothing and That's really the reason What are we talking about tonight? We're talking about the reason that Christians don't sell out We're talking about the reason why Christians don't just get 100% in We're talking about the reason why it is that Christians feel this need to kind of be half Christian and half worldly We're not talking about salvation. We're talking about how you live your life and and the way that you Live the lifestyle of your home and your Personal life and the reason that Christians choose to kind of live this half in half out half cold half hot Lukewarm Christianity is because they think they have need of nothing He says because I'll say is I'm rich and increased with goods and I've need of nothing he says that's the reason you don't sell out That's the reason you don't sell out But here's the reason why you should sell out. I want you to see it Here's the reason why you don't sell out because I'll say is I'm rich and increased with goods and I've need of nothing Here's the reason why you should sell out and no it's not and no it's not Jesus said you think you're rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing That's the reason you choose not to give yourself completely to the Lord Jesus Christ He says but here's what you don't know and here's what you need to know He says and no it's not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked He says you don't know your true condition And what we see in this passage is that many Christians have not Given themselves completely to God and I believe this what Paul is trying to tell Timothy. He's telling Timothy He's expressing to Timothy and he's inviting Timothy. He's saying give thyself. Holy to them Don't be half in half out. Don't be this Christian. That's neither cold nor hot They're just kind of halfway in between lukewarm. He said give thyself completely continue to keep your place there in 1st Timothy and if you would go with me to the book of 1st Kings in the Old Testament 1st Kings chapter number 18 in The Old Testament if you can find these the one and two books are all clustered together 1st 2nd Samuel 1st 2nd Kings 1st 2nd Chronicle 1st Kings chapter number 18 And Let me ask you this question and I think I'd like for you to answer it honestly And obviously you don't have to answer it out loud. Please don't answer it out loud. I'd prefer you not But if the Lord Jesus Christ Were to look at us If he were to judge us how he judged the church of the Laodiceans would he say of you? And would he say of me? Thou art neither cold nor hot I would thou work cold or hot See we as Christians need to decide That we're going to give ourselves completely to God It's a resolution that must be made you must choose to give thyself. This is not salvation at salvation You got a hundred percent of God, but he did not necessarily get a hundred percent of you And though you got salvation and you're saved and you're eternally secure in Christ No matter how you live your life and praise God for that God still wants us to give ourselves Completely to him and I think that this is a theme we see throughout the Bible. There's a frustration I think there's a spiritual frustration you you you see in Scripture about it. We just saw it in Revelation 3 where Jesus is frustrated He says thou art neither cold nor hot. He said I would I would I would not work cold or hot He said I I wish to just choose aside. I would not work cold or hot So then because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot I will spew thee out of my mouth Can you sense the spiritual frustration coming from the Lord Jesus Christ? Because I wish you'd choose a sign Once you notice in 1st Kings chapter 18 We we find the same sort of spiritual frustration this time not from the Lord Jesus Christ from a but from a great prophet of God the Prophet Elijah 1st Kings chapter 18 just to set the story for you This is of course right before the great showdown at Mount Carmel and Elijah is about to show show that God is God. He's about to face off with the prophets of Baal in 1st Kings chapter 18 and verse 20 the Bible says this so Ahab this is a bad King the Wicked King Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel and gathered the prophets together unto Mount Carmel They're gathering everybody together for this big showdown And I'm not preaching on this story But I want you to notice in verse 21 the Bible says this and Elijah came unto all the people and said and I want you To feel see see if you can hear the frustration in Joshua and in Elijah's Voice as he speaks to the children of Israel the Bible says Elijah came unto all the people and said notice the words notice the question He says how long? How long halt ye Between two opinions He said how long are you gonna straddle the fence? How long are you going to be neither cold nor hot? Neither in or out not making a choice He says how long halt ye between two opinions? And I think there's a question that we should wrestle with tonight And there's a question that every single one of us should answer tonight. How long will you halt? Between two opinions How long Before you and I give ourselves holy to God holy to them And I think it's interesting what Elijah says here because he then gives he gives a reason and I think it's you know It's easy for us to just read these Words and we read these stories and we like the stories we read them and we just kind of read over them but keep in mind that this is a real man talking to real people and He says how long halt ye between two opinions and then he says this and I think this is where I really sense of frustration He says this if the Lord be God He doesn't state to them that the Lord is God now Elijah believes the Lord is God He's about to show them that the Lord is God the Lord who is God is about to rain fire from heaven and prove that He is God, but before all that happens Elijah says this if the Lord be God if God is who he says he is He says of the Lord be God follow him And I know that sounds simple and maybe it's a little more simple than I should be on a Sunday night But doesn't it just make sense? I mean think about what Elijah is saying If you and I are Christians and we're supposedly saved we put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ We ask him to save us. We believe in God. I mean we're I'm not talking to a secular audience here We're talking to Christians who say they believe that God exists They believe that this King James Bible is the Word of God is the inspired Inerrant word that God literally gave us his Bible gave us his word and what Elijah is saying is this if you actually Believe there's a God and you actually believe that the Lord the God of Israel He's talking to the Old Testament nation of Israel is that God if you believe that there is a God and that God has given You the King James Bible. He says why would you not wholly give yourself to those things? Doesn't it make sense? I mean if the Lord be God doesn't he make him smarter doesn't that make him smarter than you? I mean if the Lord be God Doesn't make his will better than my will if the Lord be God Doesn't it make sense that we would then just say well, yeah, I mean you're God and you're telling me what to do So I'm just gonna go ahead and follow you He says how long hall ye between two opinions if the Lord be God Follow him and then Elijah say he's making a logical argument. He says but if bail Because in this story, they're they're trying to decide between the Lord and bail He says how long but by the way bails the devil How long are you between two opinions of the Lord be God follow him, but if bail then follow him And then I want you to notice the response that Elijah gets It's kind of the response that a lot of Christians give and the people answered him Not a word The question for you tonight is this how long halt you between two opinions I Mean if God really is who he says he is If this Bible really is what we say it is And why not give yourself wholly to it? Why not give yourself to reading to exhortation to doctrine? So I want you to notice that we see the resolve It's a choice that needs to be made It's not something that just happens. You don't just wake up one day, and you're a super Christian you have to give thyself wholly To them so we see first of all they're the resolve. I'd like you to keep your place there in 1st Kings We're gonna come back to that part of the Bible, but go with me if you want to the book of Psalms Psalm 63 keep your place in 1st Kings, and if you open your Bible just right in the center You're more than likely following the book of Psalms Psalm 63 I Said number one tonight. We see the resolve to give thyself Holy it's a decision that needs to be made The request from Paul to Timothy is this give thyself Give thyself Then I want you to notice secondly the requirement the requirement Because I think if we were to ask most Christians if we were to take you aside and say hey Do you want to give yourself to the Lord you want to give yourself to the things of God? I think most Christians would probably say well. Yeah, of course But the thing about it is this that there is a requirement for this and The requirement is found in this one little word You're there in Psalm 63, but I'll just read the verse for you from 1st Timothy you you go to Psalm 63 1st Timothy 4 15 says meditate upon these things give thyself And here's what makes it difficult And here's where the decision really needs to be made he says give thyself, holy Holy By the way the word holy there is W-h-o-l-l-y not h-o-l-y Although it'd be good to give yourself. Holy h-o-l-y to the Lord as well We've got other references that tell us that as well, but here the idea is to give thyself. Holy The word holy or whole means entirely fully completely meaning Not leaving anything out Giving it all surrendering it all Yielding it all He says give thyself. That's the request give thyself. That's the resolve give thyself That's the decision but then here's the requirement. He says holy You know what God wants let me say it this way God doesn't want partial gifts He doesn't want half of you He wants the whole thing entirely fully completely Give thyself holy to them Like you know Psalm 63 if you would Psalm 63 in verse 1 I was actually just reading this this week in my own Bible reading. I thought it was interesting Psalm 63 in verse 1 because we could go to a lot of passages about giving yourself Holy to the Lord and when we'll look at some This is one that I hadn't thought about In Psalm 63 in verse 1 the Bible says this a psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah Notice what it says he says Oh God Does this sound like Elijah Oh God thou art my God I Mean isn't that what the argument that Elijah was making if the Lord be God follow him Well, David made the decision that Lord the Lord really is God David said Oh God thou art my God You're not just God you're my God I've made a decision that you are who you say you are and as a result David says Oh God That weren't my God notice. He says early. Will I seek thee? I've got to ask you the question. What do you seek early? I Mean, let's get real practical first thing in the morning. What do you do? Turn on the radio Listen to talk radio. I got to catch up on the news Immediately. I mean talk radio. What is it the 80s grab your phone and Begin to do this What is it that you and I early are seeking? He says Oh God thou art my God Early will I seek thee? He says my soul thirsted for thee my flesh longeth for thee is In a dry and thirsty land where no water is He says he says God my desire for you it's like when you're in a dry and in a desert in a dry place and There's no water and you desire you ever been Dehydrated or just real thirsty and you desire to have a drink. He says that's how I feel He says my soul thirsted for thee my flesh longeth for thee This is the speech of a man who's given himself holy to the Lord and The idea is this and look I understand that what I'm saying Maybe just sounds like spiritual talk and preacher talk and people come to church and preachers are supposed to speak this way and I understand That to an extent but I'm telling you what David is saying is there's nothing else that I desire but God There's nothing else that I want There's nothing else that I desire First thing in the morning what I want what I want is God What you and I need to do Is make a decision Whether we will wholly give ourselves over to God. Oh God thou art my God Early will I seek thee my soul thirsteth for thee my flesh Longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is Look down at verse number 8 same Psalm Psalm 63 verse 8 He says my soul followeth My soul followeth now, I want you to notice this word. He says my soul followeth hard Now the word hard there is being used. Obviously our Bible is translated in the 1600s The word hard there is being used in an archaic way That's not something we use a lot today in our vernacular The word hard there the way that it's being used is it means to cleave or to stick to When something is stuck to something he says my soul followeth hard After thee he said I'm stuck to you I cleave unto you and if we want to use the word hard in our modern vernacular, it would be this I'm not following you softly. I'm not following you just kind of a little bit I'm not in this thing is that I'm in this thing a hundred percent my soul followeth hard after thee my right hand uphold me And I'm saying to you tonight that not only is there a request to give ourselves to the Lord There's a resolve to give ourselves to the Lord, but there's also a requirement and the requirement I think is what disqualifies us The requirement is holy completely entirely fully Let me give you a reference. There's lots of verses about this in the Bible I'll just give you one go with me if you went to the book of Luke Luke chapter 10 In the New Testament of course you've got Matthew, Mark, and then the book of Luke Luke chapter 10 And I'd like you to look down at verse number 27 Luke chapter 10 and verse number 27 And look I know we read these things and I know we know these things you're a smart crowd. I know you know these things But Do we believe these things and Do we actually do these things? Luke chapter 10 and verse 27 the Bible says this and he answering said This is a great command is found multiple times throughout the Bible. I'm just showing you one example of it in Luke old and New Testament Here's what God wants and here's what God desires. Here's what God commands of you and I He says thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart That's not half in half out that's not Thou art neither cold nor hot. I would not work cold or hot so then because thou art lukewarm I will spew thee out of my mouth. He says thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all my heart Then he says this with all thy soul Then he says this and with all thy strength Then he says this and with all thy mind, and then he says this and thy neighbor as thyself and when he says I want you to give yourself completely to God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your Strength and with all your mind you might ask the question well, then what's left and the answer is nothing Nothing's left He wants us to give ourselves Ourselves Paul would say it this way to Timothy give thyself, holy Holy What does that mean? To give yourself holy well you're there in Luke chapter 10 if you would flip back to Luke chapter 9 just real quickly In Luke chapter 9, and I'm not going to take the time to do this I thought about doing it But I don't want to at least not tonight In Luke chapter 9 though if you'd like to read it on your own you have a whole story there of Followers people that are trying to come to Jesus, and they've got all sorts of excuses and Jesus is kind of dismissing them based off Their excuses, I'm not going to develop that tonight But I want you to notice there in verse 62 Luke chapter 9 in verse 62 you said What does it mean you know exactly? What does it mean to give yourself? Holy? And if I'm going to give myself, holy There's a couple of things that we cannot do the first is this there can be no doubts There can be no doubt This is why Elijah said if the Lord be God He says look I get it. I understand Doubt if you don't believe that God is God then why would you tie if you don't believe that God is God then why would you? You know raise your children the way that God said if you don't believe that God is God Why would you risk yourself and do some of these things he says you've got to believe this, but if you believe this Then he says there can be no room for doubt There can be no doubt Luke 9 and verse 62 and Jesus said unto him No, man Having put his hand to the plow That's a tool to work Someone has decided I'm going to get in I'm going to get in the fight. I'm going to get in the trenches I'm going to get in the work. He says no man having put he gives us an illustration here He says having put his hand to the plow you've taken the tool you're ready to work He says no man having put his hand to the plow then he says this and looking back and looking back He says it's fit for the kingdom of God That doesn't mean you lose your salvation That doesn't mean you don't go to heaven The word fit there means you're not suitable for the kingdom of God see the kingdom of God is done both in heaven and on earth And what he's saying is this if you and I are gonna be used by God We're going to have to give ourselves holy and it can require no doubt No doubt You have to give yourself. Holy If you're here tonight, and you're saying yeah pastor But if I actually submit it to my husband the way that the Bible says then you no no there can be no doubt If God is God Why don't you follow him? If God is God Why don't you do what he told you to do, but you don't understand pastor If I did what you're saying to do then no no there can be no doubt You and I have to get to the place where we decide do we believe? What the Bible says? Do we believe in the God of the Bible and if so then we must give ourselves holy? completely entirely unto the Lord if the Lord be God If the Lord be God now if bail is God then I understand Then serve him Then go to him Then follow him, but there can be no doubt no man having put his hand to the plow looking back Is fit for the kingdom of God? In Hebrews the writer of Hebrews said these words you don't have to turn there Hebrews 11 15 He says and truly if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out They might have had opportunity to have return, and I'm here to tell you Christian that you and I need to stop looking back We just not being mindful of that country from whence you came out We have this tendency to look at the past in a rosary way and say oh, yeah, things weren't that bad No, they were they were pretty bad They weren't that bad you mean when you were in prison. They weren't that bad when you're in prison Things weren't that bad. You mean when you're on the verge of divorce. Is that what you're talking about? That's it you when when CPS showed up and your children that is that what you're telling me with the dual gaze We have this ability to look back, and it looks better than it actually was And you and I need to get to the place where we say there's no doubt no doubt no doubt. No looking back I Have decided to follow Jesus No looking back Some of you young people you say well. I never lived that life Stop looking back stop looking over wondering. I wonder how it is over there. There's nothing good over there It's just misery and pain and death and trauma Give yourself Holy Holy to what? To the reading of the Word of God the preaching of the Word of God the teaching of the Word of God There can be no doubt But I want you to notice not only can there no not be any doubt you're there in Luke 9 flip back to Luke chapter 10 there can be no distractions I Think it's interesting because in Luke chapter 10 and again we could prove this from other passages I'm not going to take the time to do that tonight But I just think this is interesting that Jesus here has the 70 apostles, and he sends them on a mission strip He sends them by two and two the Bible says to go out and preach the gospel And then he gives him these instructions and to be honest with you in the past when I've read this I've kind of thought to myself. That's kind of rude, but whatever you're Jesus So you know well whatever you say it goes But when you understand what he's saying you you you realize it's not rude and Luke 10 in verse 4 He says this he tells He tells the 70 that he's sending and I know we usually equate the 72 going soul winning And they definitely are going so winning that applies, but this is more like they're going on a mission strip They're going away for a while They're gonna preach the gospel and they're gonna come back and they're gonna give a report and Jesus says to them He says carry neither purse nor script. He says don't take any money And and and this is something he's telling them just trust me. I'm gonna take care of you I'm gonna we're going to miraculously care for you during the strip. He says carry neither purse nor script He says nor shoes, and then he says this and this is the part that seems a little rude when you read it He says and salute no man by the way Some of you that's how you come to church you so this is your life first when you come to church you salute no man by the way Never say hi to anybody. He don't greet anybody But what Jesus is saying is he's saying look I don't want you to get distracted You're on this trip to go preach the gospel and get people safe and as you're on the road There's going to be people and of course in the first century people were a little more hospitable. I think then in California and the 21st century And this idea if you've read other portions of the Bible especially like judges 19 if you're familiar with the story there With the father-in-law when someone saluted you and began to speak to you They would often offer you food and and and and try to be very hospitable and you end up spending a lot of time there And what Jesus is telling these people he's telling them. I have you on a mission He says salute no man by the way what he's telling them is people are going to try to get your attention Nice people with good intentions not trying to do anything bad not trying to derail you but they'll derail you if you allow them to And the idea is this That to give ourselves holy to God there can be no doubts and there can be no distractions Nehemiah said it this way. I love it. I've referenced this a lot When they tried to get him to come down off the wall as he was building the wall He said I'm doing a great work. I cannot come down There can be no doubts and there can be no distraction Why is it that most Christians don't give themselves holy to God well we saw it in Revelation remember? because thou sayest I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing and No, it's not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked when God looks at you That's what he sees when God looks at me That's what he sees, but you and I say well, I'm rich and increased with goods and in need of nothing Don't you don't understand I'm busy And I've got things to do I've got places to go and I've got things that need to be accomplished And I'm here to tell you that's why you can't give yourself completely to God Because you have too many doubts, and you have too many distractions too many shiny things too many distracting things getting you off course And what I'm submitting to you tonight And what I'm trying to do my best to communicate to you tonight is that we need Christians that have given themselves a hundred percent to God And look I understand why we live in this world and when we we got to work And we got to make money you got to pay bills. I understand all that and There's nothing wrong with that to an extent Let me tell you something if the things of this world are distracting you from giving yourself completely to God There's a problem there And you might say well pastor you don't understand I can't go to church on Wednesday nights, or I can't go to church on Sundays Or I can't do this I can do that because I you know I'm a plumber And and we're just busy and and I and I have to work well listen to me listen and I'm look I'm not mad at you, and I don't even know that we have a plumber here, so I'll just use that as an example You say I'm a plumber now that makes perfect look that makes 100% Perfect sense if you're a plumber that happens to be a Christian that makes perfect sense But if you're a Christian Who happens to be a plumber that's a different story You understand what I just said to you Well, I mean you understand. I'm a carpenter, and I got to go to work, and I got to make money no Yeah, I get it trust me I understand if you're a carpenter who happens to be a Christian if you're a plumber who happens to be a Christian if you're a mechanic who happens to be a Christian if you're an accountant who happened to have to name all of them just so nobody gets offended or everyone gets offended I don't really know how it works sometimes. I just offend people that I didn't know it If you're a whatever you are who happens to be a Christian then that makes sense when that whatever you are Gets in the way of Christianity, but when you're a Christian who happens to be Whatever you are That's a different story That's a different thing See when I'm a Christian who happens to be in a league then when the league Has games on Sunday. I don't play When I'm a Christian who happens to fill in the blank how about this let the Holy Spirit fill in the blank When I'm a Christian who happens to be XY and Z and XY and Z tries to take the place of God That's different than The people who kind of dabble in this thing They're not really cold. They're not really hot. They're just kind of lukewarm See there's the resolve to give thyself holy and there's the requirement To give thyself holy and the right requirement is this there can be no doubts You can't doubt it look. I'm not look. I'm not I'm not gonna sit here and tell you that There are there are many times that this is difficult the Christian life is a difficult life But you and I have to be convinced that if God is who he says he is and I can trust him I can trust him with my marriage. I can trust him with my children. I can trust him with my finances I can trust them with my time. I can trust them with my energy I can trust them with my health I can trust them all of you so How much can you trust them if with I don't know maybe with all your heart and all your soul? And all your strength and all your might and all your mind Maybe I can just give him all of it Maybe I can just give myself wholly to him So we see the result, and we see the requirements, and I want you to notice thirdly tonight, we see the results. If you can make your way back to 1 Timothy chapter four, I'd just like you to see these words. 1 Timothy chapter four and verse 15. 1 Timothy chapter four and verse 15, the Bible says this, meditate upon these things. What things? He said give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Meditate upon these things. Give thyself holy to them. And then I want you to notice these words. Here's the result. Here's the promise that God gives. He says, that thy profiting may appear to all. That thy profiting may appear to all. The word profiting there means your advancing, your furtherance. He says meditate upon these things, give thyself holy to them, that thy profiting may appear to all. Now there's an explanation of this in the book of Psalms. I'd like you to go back there if you go to Psalm 1. You're familiar with these words, but I just want you to see them. Psalm 1, if you open your Bible just right in the center, you're more than likely to follow in Psalms. Psalm 1. That thy profiting may appear to all. Now let me just say this. God does not promise to give us a life that does not have difficulty. In fact, God promises that we will, if we give ourselves completely to God, that we're going to have persecution. Yea, all that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. That's a promise from God. That's not usually the promises we like to claim, but it's a promise. So God does not say that you and I will not have difficulty, but here's what he does say. When we give ourselves completely to God, our profiting may appear to all. That doesn't mean that there might not be setbacks. That doesn't mean that there might not be times when things aren't going well. That doesn't mean that there might not be times when it looks like things aren't going the way they're supposed to, or we're losing, or whatever. That doesn't mean that, but it means this. In the long run, in the long run, your profiting will appear to all. Because the Christian life is not a life of weeks and it's not a life of years. The Christian life is measured by decades. Don't tell me how long you've been, I've been soul winning for this many weeks. Great, God bless you, but we want decades. We want decades of soul winning, decades of Bible reading, decades of prayer, decades of church attendance. And what happens is when someone actually gives themselves completely to God, there will be ups, there will be downs, there will be ups, there will be downs, but though there are downs at times, there are downs at times. In the long run, your profiting will appear to all. So your children grow up, and people will say, wow, you have family members, you usually make fun of you because you raise your kids in church, and they'll say, hmm, maybe they did something right. They're not perfect, no one's perfect, we understand that. That thy profiting may appear to all. Are you there in Psalm 1? Look at verse 1. I know you know this, but let's just look at it. Here's the explanation. Here's a man in Psalm 1, 1, we have a man who's wholly given himself to God. We know he's wholly given himself to the Lord because he's denied everyone else. Psalm 1 and verse 1, blessed is the man that. Blessed is the man that what? Then we get three things that this man does not do. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. This man is 100% God, he's given himself completely to God. He's not taking the counsel of the ungodly, he's not standing in the way of sinners, he's not sitting in the seat of the scornful. Notice verse 2, but his delight is in the law of the Lord. That's the give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. By the way, have I mentioned nine chapters a day? Maybe you should consider reading nine chapters a day. Nine chapters a day in the month of January. Why wouldn't you? What's it going to hurt you? How's it going to hurt you to read the Bible? But his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law does he, does this sound like 1 Timothy 4? In his law does he meditate day and night. See this individual, all he thinks about, he's almost obsessed with the word of God. His delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law does he meditate day and night. 1 Timothy 4.15 says this, meditate upon these things, meditate upon these things, give thyself holy to them that thy profiting may appear to all. Here he says, and in his law does he meditate day and night, here's the profiting, verse 3, and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season, his leaf also shall not wither, and here's the profiting, whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. That's not a prosperity gospel, that's not you're going to be healthy and wealthy, you might have difficulties, you might have trials, you might have temptations and tribulations, we understand all that, but in the long run your profiting will appear to all. That's what the Bible says. It's the results of giving yourself holy to God. Now someone gives us the explanation, let me give you some examples, maybe in examples or illustrations of this in the Bible. If you would go to 2 Chronicles 26, I'm not sure if you kept your place in 1 Kings, remember we're in 1 Kings, how long, how between two opinions? If the Lord be God, remember that? 1 Kings, if you kept your place there after 1 Kings, you have 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles chapter 26. 2 Chronicles chapter 26, the most important decision that you will ever make after salvation, I'm talking about spiritually, is this, will you give yourself holy to God? Will you give yourself holy to God? And if not, then I've got to ask, how long halt ye between two opinions? Because if the Lord be God, why wouldn't you give yourself holy to Him? We saw the explanation, notice the example, 2 Chronicles 26, look at verse 5. 2 Chronicles 26, 5, we have the story of Uzziah, Uzziah is the king of the nation here, 2 Chronicles 26, 5, the Bible says this, look at these words, the Bible says, And he sought God, I like that, that's what you and I need. And he sought God in the days of Zechariah who had understanding in the visions of God. Nothing in the Bible is incidental, coincidental or accidental. I believe the Bible is telling us here that he sought God in the days of Zechariah because Zechariah the prophet obviously had something to do with this man seeking God. Zechariah had understanding in the visions of God, he was preaching the word of God, and as a result, Uzziah sought God. Now notice verse 5, notice the second part of verse 5. Look, this is in the Bible for a reason. And as long as he. This isn't eternal security. The blessing of God is not eternal security. Your salvation is eternally secure. I don't know if you're understanding what I'm saying to you. Your salvation is never at risk. But the blessing of God, the favor of God, the help of God upon your life is. And as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper. Do you know what I get tired of seeing in ministry? Is people who get a little too full of themselves. And they start to think, I'm pretty good at this. I'm something special. No, you're not something special, God is special. And the only special thing that you and I have in us is what God has done in us and as long as we seek the Lord, he will make us to prosper. But don't confuse the blessing of God with eternal security. You're not going to die and go to hell. But God doesn't have to be on your side. He doesn't have to be on my side. As long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper. Verse 6, and he went forth and warred against the Philistines and break down the wall of Gath and the wall of Japneh and the wall of Ashtad and built cities about Ashtad and among the Philistines. Verse 7, and God helped him. Look, you and I are going to have to get to the place where we want God's help more than we want anything else. And God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabians and dwelt in Gerbal and Mahuman. Look at 2 Chronicles 15, you're there in chapter 26, just flip back to chapter 15. Here's the story of Asa. 2 Chronicles 15 and verse 2, the story of Asa, the Bible says this. 2 Chronicles 15 2, and he went to meet Asa and said unto him, Hear ye me Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. Notice what he says, he says, The Lord is with you. That's good. I want that. Sometimes I wish God would send a prophet to me and say, God, are you still with me? Are we still good? The Lord is with you. But that's not it, that's not all he said. Look at what he says. The Lord is with you while you be with him. You know what James said? James said, draw nigh to God and he'll draw nigh to you. I take a step towards God, God will take a step towards me. But you know the reverse is true as well. If I take a step away from God, God will take a step away from me. The Lord is with you, he says, while you be with him. And if you seek him, he will be found of you. But if you forsake him, look at it, I didn't make this up, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. That's not talking about losing your salvation. That's talking about losing the favor and the blessing and the help of God upon your life. Because when you give yourself holy to him, thy profiting shall appear to all. Let me give you another example, 2 Kings chapter 18. 2 Kings chapter 18. You're there in 2 Chronicles if you go backwards. You'll go past 1 Chronicles into 2 Kings, 2 Kings chapter 18. Here's the story of Hezekiah. I just want to highlight this for you because I think it's interesting that God says this so many times. He said about Uzziah and he sought God and as long as he sought the Lord, the Lord made him to prosper. He said about Asa, the Lord is with you while you be with him. He said about Hezekiah, 2 Kings 18-7, and the Lord was with him and he prospered whithersoever he went forth. Why did he prosper? Why? Because the Lord was with him. But the Lord was with him as long as we're with the Lord. That thy profiting may appear to all. Thy profiting may appear to all. So I want you to consider this little phrase tonight. Give thyself holy to them. Give thyself holy to them. Because here's the thing, I'm going to try to get you to read 9 chapters today. I am. And I'm going to do everything I can to, you know, I mean, people say like, I'll guilt trip you to read the Bible. I'll bribe you to read the Bible. I'll whatever, you know. I'll pray imprecatory prayers on you. I'm just kidding. I'll do whatever I can to get you to read the Bible. Because reading the Bible is good. And I'll do everything I can to get you to show up to church on Sunday and show up to church on Sunday night and show up to church on Wednesday night. Why? Because I'm special? Because you're special? No. But because the preaching of the Word of God is special and you need to hear the preaching. We need to despise not prophesying. You need to read the Bible. You need to know what the Bible says. You need to do all of it. But here's the thing. It's not going to help you unless you actually give yourself to it. Give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Meditate upon these things. Think about it. And then he says, give thyself wholly to them. Give thyself wholly to them that their profiting may appear to all. Here's a question I have for you. Why are you holding back? Why not just jump in? Get in the deep end! Stop living half in, half out. You're not really cold. You're not really hot. You're cold and sometimes you're hot. I don't know. You're bipolar, I guess. Why not just get in? Why not just say, no doubts, no distractions? I believe it. Even when it's not comfortable, I believe it. The foxes have holes. The birds of the air have their nests, Jesus said. But the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head. That's what he told the follower. He said, you want to follow me? It might not be comfortable. That's okay. No doubts. No distractions. Let me give you one last verse. We'll finish up. 2 Kings chapter 23. 2 Kings chapter 23. This is a story of Josiah. Several weeks ago, our deacon, brother Oliver, preached this sermon about Josiah. And he read this verse and this verse was something that kind of struck out at me. Obviously, I've seen this before. Every time I see it, I think it's an amazing verse about this man. Because we see this in 1 Kings 23-25 and it's kind of an Old Testament version of what Paul is telling Timothy, Give thyself wholly to them. In 2 Kings 23 and verse 25, the Bible says this, And like unto him, talking about Josiah, was there no king before him. Look at it. He was special. Here's why. That turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might. According to the law of Moses, neither after him arose there any like him. Josiah was mightily used of God, but the Bible tells us that there was no king like him. He was special because there was nobody like him that turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his might. It's been said that the world has yet to see what can be done when one individual gives themselves wholly, completely to God. I pray that in this church, there would be a young person, I pray that there would be a not so young person, an old person, I pray that there would be a pastor who would say, Lord, let it be me. Give ourselves wholly to them. Give ourselves wholly to them. So I ask you the question, how long halt ye between two opinions? I understand it. If you don't believe in God, you're not saved and you're just, I don't know what to think about this, I get it. But if the Lord be God, why not give yourself completely to him? That's by our heads in our world of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord we do love you and Lord we thank you. And Heavenly Father, we ask that you would help us to be people that give ourselves completely to you. And Lord, I'm not standing up here pretending like I've got it all figured out. I don't. But I want to. And I pray that there'd be people in this church that would say, you know what, I'm done. I'm done standing between two opinions. I'm done being half in, half out. I'm done being cold and hot. But I pray there'd be some young people in this church who say, I'm done trying to act like the world and be like the world and keep looking over at the world. I'm just going to give myself completely to God, see what he does. Lord, I pray that there'd be a sweeping of the Holy Spirit that comes through our church. And people stop complaining, stop living in the flesh, stop living for the world. And that we would answer the call from Paul when he said, give thyself wholly to them. Lord, I pray you'd help us. In the matchless name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. I'd like to sing a song with you if it's okay. I'm going to ask Brother RJ if he doesn't mind. Say right there because I'm going to have you lead the last stanza if that's okay. But if you don't mind, I think it's appropriate to sing a hymn along these lines. I'd like you to take your song books and go to page number 308. This is a beautiful hymn of invitation. We're not having an invitation, of course, but I think you should have an invitation in your heart. In 308 the song book says, I surrender all. 308. I'd like for us to sing this song and I want you to sing it not just as a song but as a prayer. All to Jesus I surrender. All to him I freely give. Let's sing it out on the first. All to Jesus I surrender. All to him I freely give. I would ever love and trust him in day. Sing this out. I surrender all. I surrender all. All to thee my blessed savior. I surrender all. I hope it's more than just a song to you. Let's sing it out on the second. All to Jesus I surrender. Humbly at his feet I bow. Worldly pleasures all forsaken. Take me Jesus take me. I surrender all. I surrender all. All to thee my blessed savior. I surrender all. Listen to these words. All to Jesus I surrender. Make me savior wholly thine. Let me feel thy holy spirit truly know that thou art mine. Let's sing it out on the third. Let's slow it down just a little bit more. Sing it with purpose with passion. All to Jesus I surrender. Make me savior wholly thine. Let me feel thy holy spirit truly know that thou art mine. Sing it out. I surrender all. I surrender all. All to thee my blessed savior. I surrender all. We're going to sing it out on the last. Brother RJ come and lead us on the fourth. All to Jesus I surrender. Lord I give myself to thee. Fill me with thy love and power. Let thy blessings fall on me. I surrender. I surrender all. All to thee my blessed savior. I surrender all. Amen. Great singing. Of course before we dismiss if anyone here has questions about salvation, baptism or church membership, pastor would be at the door. And we would love to talk to you directly to someone who's trained to do that. Let's close in a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father we love you again. We just thank you for everything you do for us and thank you for the blessings that you've given us and we thank you for that sermon that we heard Lord and pray that you'd help us remember these things and if there's anyone here Lord that we all need to make these decisions Lord and just pray that you'd help us make this decision every single day of our lives Lord to seek you and to love you with all our hearts Lord with all our strength and all our with all our might. We just pray that you bless the week and pray that you bring us all back to church on Wednesday. Again we love you and Jesus I pray. Amen. You're dismissed.