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you you Well good evening everyone welcome back to Mountain Baptist Church Take your songbooks and turn to song number two Song number two and your songbooks will sing glory to his name if you would stand we'll sing song number two oh Yeah Down at the cross where my Savior died Down where from cleansing from sin I cried there to my heart was the blood applied glory to his name Glory to his name Glory to his name Hard Was the blood applied glory to his name I am so wondrously saved from sin Jesus so sweetly abides with them there at the cross where he took me and glory to his name Glory to his name Glory to his name Hard was the blood applied glory to his name Oh Precious fountain that saves from sin. I am so glad I have entered And there Jesus saves me and keeps me clean glory to his name Glory to his name Glory to his name There to my heart was the blood applied glory to his name Glory to his name Come to this fountain so rich and sweet Cast thy soul at the Savior's feet Plunge in today and be made complete glory to his name Glory to his name Glory to his name There to my heart was the blood applied glory to his name And let's pray Heavenly Father Lord again, we just want to thank you God for our church God Thank you Lord just for the the amount of people that serve and go out for you on a weekly basis Lord And thank you for the souls that were saved today and throughout last week And I pray Lord now that again we would just honor and glorify your name. We love you for it's in Jesus name We ask all of it. Amen. All right, you may be seated and take your mountain Baptist songbooks And turn to page number four Page number four in your mountain Baptist Psalms hymns and spiritual songbooks will sing Psalm 67 on page number four God be merciful unto us and bless us And cause his face to shine upon us that thy way may be known upon Earth thy saving health among all nations Let the people praise thee. Oh God Let all the people praise thee. Oh, let the nations be glad and seeing For joy, or thou shalt judge the people Righteously and govern the nations upon earth The nations upon earth see la Let the people praise thee. Oh God Let all the people praise thee. Oh Let the nations be glad and seeing for joy Then shall the earth yield her increase And God even our own God shall bless us God shall bless us and all the ends of the earth shall Fear him let the people praise thee. Oh God Let all the people praise thee. Oh Let the nations be glad and seeing for joy Amen so Welcome back to Mount Baptist Church on this Sunday afternoon and some announcements here first want to get the salvation's for the week So We had one on Monday brother Brother Denzel and then on Wednesday there were two right On Wednesday Yeah, so that yeah that was yeah, so three total yeah Any else during the week? and Then on Did he have to yeah, okay, so that'd be five and then eleven on the soloing marathon, right Right, okay So So sixteen and then today you guys have one that the only one for today So did we never get through their spots over there in bluegrass Okay, so there's still some that there's still some to hit over there Okay, we got through our area. Well, actually brother David and Tim got through our area Yeah, anyway So 17 Good job with the soul winning And then on announcements here as far as services this week we have Wednesday evening service 7 p.m Lord willing what we're gonna be continuing through the book of second Samuel and then As far as the sewing times this week just beyond the church group there Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday As far as times locations and everything there This Friday we had the men's prayer meeting so That be at 6 p.m. We used to have it at 7 now we have it at 6 so just remember that And so if you can make it out to that, that'd be great and then upcoming events We do have the soul winning marathon in Canonsburg PA. So that'll be on the 21st Saturday before our anniversary service. So That means on the anniversary service on 22nd We're gonna have a nice fellowship in between the services and so we're gonna have food and everything else We'll eventually have a sign-up sheet as far as if anybody wants to bring a dessert or anything like that Pepperoni rolls are always welcome just stating that to whoever wants to hear it Especially someone that I know But So that being said if you guys have any ideas for games and stuff like that on that day We have our typical kind of like games and stuff for the kids and everything But if there's anything specific Let us know But I don't having a good time. They're having a fun time eating a lot of food all of that And then on the back of your bulletin if you have one First John chapter 1 is a memory chapter for the month 1st Corinthians 117 is a memory verse for the week and We Got the birthdays anniversaries and on the pregnancy list every in prayer for Rachel Hiles be in prayer for Krista McCloy recovery process and all that as well Things about what I have for announcements. I'm again taking a break through my my overviews of the books of the Bible You guys keep bringing me sermon ideas and it's gonna be a while before I get back into the mode of that So I'm not against it but Doing another sermon tonight on Just a first that someone brought up to me and and just kind of made me think of a good sermon idea, so That being said eventually we'll get back to the overviews of Books of the Bible we'll get into Isaiah. I'm not I'm not dodging Isaiah. It's not like I have anything like I've done a whole series through the book of Isaiah. So I've already gone chapter by chapter through it It's not that I've never read it but But I just have this list of the sermons I've been wanting to do and then other people are bringing up other sermons and stuff like that. So anyway Good problem to have it's better than not knowing what to preach on or anything like that. So That's about what I have for announcements Brother Dave's gonna come sing one more song. I think brother Joseph you're reading tonight, right? So brother Joseph's gonna be reading John chapter 7 and then we'll get into the sermon All right, take your song books and turn to song number 43 Song number 43 in your song books will sing we're marching to Zion Song number 43 Come we that Love the Lord and let our joys be known Join in a song with sweet accord join in a song with sweet accord and the Surround the throne and thus around the throne We're marching to Zion Beautiful beautiful Zion We're marching upward to Zion the beautiful city of God Let those Refuse to sing who never knew our God but children of the heavenly king but children of the Heavenly King may speak their joys abroad may speak their joys abroad We're marching to Zion Zion beautiful beautiful Zion we're marching upward to Zion the beautiful city of God the hill Zion yields a thousand sacred sweets Before we reach the heavenly fields before we reach the heavenly fields or walk the Golden streets or walk the golden streets we're marching to Zion beautiful beautiful Zion we're marching upward to Zion the beautiful city of God Then let our songs abound and every tear be dry We're marching through Emanuels ground we're marching through Emanuels ground to fairer Worlds on high to fairer worlds on high we're marching to Zion beautiful beautiful Zion we're marching upward to Zion the beautiful city of God All Right take your Bibles and turn to the book of John chapter number seven John seven in your Bibles won't have brother Joseph come and read that for us John chapter seven And found your place there say amen After these things Jesus walked in Galilee for he would not walk in Jewry because the Jews sought to kill him now the Jews Feast of Tabernacles was at hand his brethren therefore said unto him depart hence and go into Judea That the disciples also may see the works that thou doest For there is no man that doeth anything in secret and he himself seeketh to be known openly If thou do these things show thyself to the world For neither did his brethren believe in him Then Jesus said unto them my time is not yet come but your time is always always ready the world cannot hate you but Me it hated because I testified of it that the works thereof are evil go ye up unto this feast if I I Go not up yet unto this feast for my time is not yet full come when he Had said these words unto them he abode still in Galilee, but when his brethren were gone up Then when he also up unto the feast not openly but as it were in secret, then the Jews sought him at the feast and said, where is he and there was Much murmuring among the people concerning him for some said he is a good man others said nay But he he deceiveth the people Howbeit no man spake openly of him for fear of the Jews Now about the mist of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught The Jews marveled saying how knoweth this man letters having never learned Jesus answered them and said my doctrine is not mine, but he his that sent me If any man will do do his will he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory But he that seeketh his glory that sent him the same is true and no unrighteousness is in him Did not Moses give you the law and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me the people answered and said thou hast a devil who goeth about to kill thee Jesus answered and said unto them. I have done one work and you all marvel Moses there therefore gave unto you circumcision not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers and Ye of the Sabbath day circumcised a man if a man on the Sabbath day received circumcision That the law of Moses should not be broken. Are ye angry at me because I have made a man every whit whole on the Sabbath day Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment Then said some of them of Jerusalem is not this he whom they seek to kill But lo he speaketh boldly and they say nothing unto him do the rule rulers know indeed that this is the very Christ How be it we know this man whence he is, but when Christ cometh no man knoweth whence he is then Christ Jesus in the temple as he taught saying you you both know me and you Know whence I am and I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true whom ye know not But I know him for I am from him and he hath sent me Then they they sought to take him, but no man laid hands on him because his hour was not yet come And many of the people believed on him and said when Christ cometh will you do more miracles than these which this man hath done? Pharisees heard that the people murmured such things concerning him and the Pharisees and the chief priests and officers to take him Then said Jesus unto them get a little while. I am with you and then I go unto him that sent me You shall seek me and shall not find me and where I am that there ye cannot come Then said the Jews among themselves whither will we go and what shall not find him? Will he go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles and teach the Gentiles what manner of saying is this that he said ye shall seek me and shall not find me and Where I am thither ye cannot come in the last day that That great day of the feast Jesus stood and cried saying if any man thirsts let him come unto me and drink He that believeth on me as the scripture hath said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water But this he spake of the Spirit Which they that believe on him should receive for the Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified Many of the people therefore when they heard this saying said of a truth This is the Prophet others said this is is the Christ but some said Shall Christ come out of Galilee? Hath not the scripture said that Christ cometh of the seed of David and out of the town of Bethlehem where David was? So there was a division among the people because of him and some of them would have taken him But no man laid hands on him then came came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees and they said unto them why have you not brought him and The officers answered never man spake like this man then answered them The Pharisees are ye also deceived Have any of the rulers of? The Pharisees believed on him, but this people who knoweth not the law are cursed Nicodemus saith unto them he that came to Jesus by night being one of them Doth our law judge any man before it hear him and know what he at what he doeth They answered and said unto him art thou also of Galilee Search and search and look for out of Galilee riseth no prophet and every man went unto his own house Pray Lord father. Thank you for this time. We're able to gather again Lord I think you're pure and holy word would ask you be a pastor Robinson head of us this evening. Jesus name. Amen So you're there in John chapter 7 and I'm gonna preach in a sermon entitled your time is always ready. Your time is always ready and Look down there in verse 5 of chapter 7 here in John chapter 7 Look at verse 5 and this is a story where they're they're the feast of tabernacles Is going on and obviously the Feast of Tabernacles happens Towards the end of the year or towards the end of our year, I guess and so we're dealing with in the fall all of that, but It's states here His brethren are basically telling kind of kind of murmuring at him about whether he's gonna go up to the feast and show himself But it states here that his brethren these are his physical half brothers, okay, so Jesus had four half brothers And at least two sisters, okay, but it says here that they didn't believe on him yet Now they believed later I you know, I talked to obviously James the brother the Lord's brother is an apostle later on all of that But in verse 5 here, it says for neither did his brethren believe in him Then Jesus said unto them my time is not yet come but your time is all way ready The world cannot hate you but me it hate it because I testify of it that the works thereof are evil Go ye up unto this feast. I go not up Yet unto this feast where my time is not yet full come now. He says not yet now He goes up to the feast just not when they're walking up to the feast, right? But When it says their time is all way ready All right, well in their case obviously they need to get saved they need to believe on him So the first thing that I see when it comes to this is that salvation when it comes to salvation That is an immediate Thing that needs to be taken care of it's interesting because I was actually we're out soul hunting today and brother Anthony and I and I got the witness to an older lady and then he went to Gentlemen and both of them we got through the whole gospel with them they understood it, but they're still kind of stuck on like whether they really were ready to put their trust in it and and I used this next word go to 2nd Corinthians chapter 6 2nd Corinthians chapter 6 It's funny because I'm like this is literally in the beginning of my sermon and I'm using we're using this in both these situations And hopefully they'll they'll think about it and they'll get safe Some people do have to I think sometimes the verses kind of need to sit there and and and marinate a little bit with them to To just sure it up and and all that and obviously I want them to know for sure they believe it I don't want to just pray some prayer with them and then they don't really believe what they're what they're praying but but hopefully, you know, they they get it later on here, but Notice what it says here in 2nd Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 1 it says We then as workers together with him beseech you all you also that I'm sorry We then as workers together with him beseech you also that you receive not the grace of God in vain But he said I have heard the in a time accepted in the day of salvation. Have I suckered thee? Behold now is the accepted time now is the day of salvation and I love this verse because Well, not only is it showing you the immediate need of salvation and the fact that it's now And I always I always would miss I used to misquote this and I say today you probably you probably heard preacher say that That's probably why you misquote stuff because sometimes people just will state things and they'll say things the way that they're thinking of it But I've always heard like today is the day of salvation Which Sure, yeah, I mean yesterday today and tomorrow is the day of salvation right any day is But the thing is is that you may not have the end of the day So when it comes to salvation, it's really a now thing right now because you may not have tonight you know if it's if it's tonight, you may not have the morning and When it comes to salvation and especially, you know for Jesus's brothers in this case when he's talking to them at that time They didn't believe in him yet. He's saying your time is always ready Meaning like it's it's time for you to get saved at any any time right right now and when it comes to salvation That is something that is very true is that now is the accepted time and Go to go to James chapter 4 James chapter 4 because salvation We like I said, we don't know how long we have I think a lot of times people think they had you know They don't think that they're the ones that kind of better gonna die young or die in some accident or something like that And and you know anytime I'm ever talking to me, obviously, I'm hoping they live a long life and that they don't something doesn't happen to them, but you never know and It's always better to get Salvation handled get all that shirt up. So in case something did happen, I Mean isn't that what we usually say out solving though, you know, God forbid if you were to die today You know, would you know a hundred percent sure you want to heaven? But the truth of matter is we don't know we're not promised the next day. We're not promised today James chapter 4 and verse 13 says go to now so notice that call there go to now Ye that say today or tomorrow we will go into such a city and continue there a year and buy and sell and get game Whereas you know not what shall be on tomorrow for what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanish at the way We don't know how much time we have we don't know if we have the rest of today You know, we don't have we don't know if we have tomorrow. We don't know if we have next year. We don't know and so We need to be say and obviously the Bible says in the next verse, you know we ought to say if the Lord will we shall do this or that and so You know, I think someone someone sent me a message they're like are you gonna be preaching on October or something? You know and I'm like lord willing I mean and barring I'm not sick or something like that But you just never know right something could come up whatever. I'm not gonna be like, yeah, I'll definitely be there. It's like I Can't I can't like know that like most likely, you know, I should be there But it's one of those things that we just don't know what what's gonna happen all of that and so when it comes to salvation, you never know if you're gonna if you're gonna die when you're gonna die all of that and so When it comes to salvation Specifically you want to get that settled. Okay, and now is the accepted time now is the day of salvation It's always interesting to me though Of all the different excuses people have to not get saved now go to Luke chapter 14 Luke chapter 14 And I'll say this I'm never angry when someone Doesn't doesn't you know like the people we talked to today I'm not angry with them at all. I'm just concerned I'm more so concerned because I want to make sure I want them to get saved before Anything ever happens to them or you know that or they're thinking about it and it you know, maybe they just Kind of lose that thought process and they're not really concerned about it anymore that they get it all they get it shirred up and but We probably all heard some different Type of excuses when it comes to getting saved The ones that are always getting me are the ones where I say well I don't want to get saved right now because I'm just not ready to really serve the Lord and I'm like What's that got to do with salvation right salvation is is believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and I think a lot of cases those that don't want to get saved because they're they're like I you know I want to be able to sort of Lord. It's admirable that they want to obviously serve the Lord But at the same time, I don't think they're really understanding the severity of the issue hell is a place of torment and punishment forever and if you knew If you don't know that you have the next day, right think about this You don't know that you have the next day and you're just like you're just in your mind You're like I may not even be alive tomorrow Right and I may be in eternity, you know as far as where my soul is gonna be Then what's that matter as far as whether you're like wanting to like, you know Like well, I want to get all this stuff in order first Okay, I need to do this or that and it's always when it comes to salvation. It's always kind of nonsensical I'm like, what does that got to do with anything? Right? What what is you know, like well, I gotta go do laundry I gotta do it's like what's that got to do with the eternity as far as what you're believing right and And So this this is a parable here, but it is like it is talking about people Accepting the Lord or getting saved. Okay. So this is a in Luke chapter 14 verse 12 here It says then said he also to him that that bade him when thou comest When thou makes the dinner or supper call not thy friends nor thy brethren neither thy kinsmen nor thy rich neighbors Lest they also bid thee again and a recompense be made thee But when thou makest a feast call the poor and the maimed and the lame the blind and thou shalt Be blessed for they cannot recompense thee for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just and this is just kind of talking about the fact that You know you get a reward if you're doing something for somebody that can't recompense you you know that that's just the idea there Same thing with loving your enemy loving someone that doesn't like you and treats you like garbage. You'll be rewarded With heavenly rewards and all that because of that, okay but it says In verse 15 it says and when one of them that sat at meet with him heard these things he said unto him blessed is he That shall eat bread in the kingdom of God then said he unto him a Certain man had a great supper and bade many and sent his servant At suppertime to say to them that were bidden come for all things are now ready, okay, so basically He this guy's talking about blessed his person that's eating bread in the kingdom of God And he's given this parable to talk about who's gonna be eating bread in the kingdom of God, okay? But it says he sent a servant at suppertime to basically bid these people saying come for the things are now ready And they all with one consent began to make excuse okay now This could be anything from excuse of not even one to hear When it comes to salvation or it could be an excuse of why they don't want to believe right now Why they don't want to trust in that right now But it says It gives an these examples of excuses, so here's the excuses, okay? They don't want to come to this feast it says The first said unto him I have bought a piece of ground and I must needs go and see it I pray thee had me excused and another said I have bought five yoke of oxen And I go to prove them I pray thee had me excused Another said I have married a wife and therefore I cannot come that's that's the most hilarious one to me It's like I'm married. I can't come it's like okay So but listen you know also winning we probably heard a lot of interesting ones were like why Someone doesn't want to talk about it Why someone doesn't want to or you've gone through the gospel with them, and they're saying well I'm just you know I'll get saved later You know I'll believe this later And I'm talking about people that know what it takes what the Bible says you've shown it to them They're like that it says believe that's all it is like well Do you want to you know pull the trigger on that you want to you want to put your? Faith in Jesus Christ right now. We'll call upon the name of Lord, and they're like no I need to do this first You know I need to do this or that and it's always kind of baffling to me when that happens But the Bible talks about people giving excuse when it comes to when you're being called You know and you say well. How's this you know? Waking up the salvation well they're being called to a feast well go to Revelation chapter 22 Revelation chapter 22 Because the Lord is obviously calling people to get saved Because God's not willing to any should perish, but it all should come to repentance So I have all men to be saved and come into the knowledge of the truth, but also we are ambassadors in Christ's dead And we are beseeching them in Christ's dead be reconciled to God right, so we are the preachers. We are the ones that are There with the Word of God to show them the Savior and in Revelation 22 17 it says this and the spirit and the bride say come and Let him that heareth say come so it's not you know the spirit saying come the bride saying come and Him that heareth meaning like if you're hearing these words right now. You're saying come right meaning like if you're a believer And you're reading this And it says and let him that is a thirst come and whosoever will let him take up the water of life freely And notice that free will there Okay, whosoever will let him take up the water of life freely go back to chapter 21 there in Revelation chapter 21 in verse 6 We're usually in 21 8 because we're looking at the bad news But in this case actually those that are saved are mentioned first Because it says in verse 6 here it says and he said unto me it is done I am Alpha and Omega the beginning in the end and I will give unto him That is a thirst of the fountain of the water of life Freely he that overcometh shall inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be my son And who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believe it that Jesus is the son of God And this is the victory that overcometh the world even our faith, and so when it comes to salvation you know there's a call out there for salvation and People give excuses as far as why either why they don't want to hear it or why they don't want to believe it you know whatever the case may be and The thing is is that when it comes to everybody that's out there that's unsaved their time is all way ready It's it's go to now right because you don't know if you have the next day And hopefully you know everybody that we talk to has a long life ahead of them all of that, but in the end the times now and here's thing the Holy Ghost is involved when it comes to salvation as far as You know working on you and reproving you of sin to where you realize you're guilty before God And there's not always that fear of God there When it comes to the things of God to where you're like I need to get saved I need a Savior right you know there's a problem here I need to make a choice here that that state of mind isn't always gonna be there so when if that is there You know that's the time okay, so When it comes to this passage I believe personally that when he's talking to his brothers He's specifically talking about They need to get saved right your time is all the way ready, but I think about this, and this is something that Brother Ritchie actually brought up a Bible verse to me This week, and it just made me think of this subject, and I was just like that's a sermon idea right there, so This isn't a sermon against brother Ritchie. This is just he brought a verse to me, and I'm like that's an interesting thought That's a you know something to think about there as far as this goes so when it comes to salvation obviously It's now right now is the accepted time now is the day of salvation, but when it comes to serving the Lord. It's now right now is the time and go to Luke chapter 12 Luke chapter 12 because In the case of Luke 14 you have this guy's talking about eating bread in heaven So we're just talking about being in heaven eating bread in heaven right so we're talking about people getting saved and people Being called to the supper being called to eat bread there right But they give excuse and all of that and then later on he says they will not those that were bitten that refused They will not eat bread at the king of heaven okay, so But what about the case of someone that's a believer though? Well after you're saved obviously you have eternal life, and you're there's nothing that can change that But now when it comes to being in that category When it comes to serving the Lord your time is all the way ready Okay, whether this is you just got saved whether this is you're you're in it Well, yeah, it's still time to serve whether it's you've been in it, and you got out of it the times now right and I think about this too because Listen we're all busy There's no doubt that everybody's got you know they got jobs. They got problems. They got issues whatever. They're dealing with in life, right? that it is hard to basically pull time away for anything when it comes to I mean the things of God all of that and There's always going to be an excuse not to serve the Lord Okay, and that's what I want to get out here. Is that there's always going to be excused, but the time is still now okay? because I think about this when it comes to soul winning, and I'm kind of getting ahead of myself, but some people say well, I don't want to go soul winning until I had the verses memorized and I get that right because you want to be prepared prepared to go so anyway. Here's thing you can go with a silent partner You don't say anything Right you can just go and just be there and be emotional support for your partner That's act that that's preaching the gospel, and you don't have to memorize anything you don't need to know where the verses are at or anything like that and But here's the thing I've heard people say why I don't want to go unless I memorize the verses well you have the Bible though Mark the verses and then when you go out there Just go to where it's marked and read it right and you say well, but I want it to be fluid and all that listen It's only going to be fluid by experience of just doing it over and over again to where it just becomes second nature But know this as well that some people will actually more That will actually get saved off that person. That's stumbling around That's not fluid that's struggling because the person sees that person be like this must be important to them to go to like take the time to do that and so like Obviously struggle he must actually believe what he's talking about here You know I remember going so winning when it was like a blizzard One time out and out in Clarksburg, and I I come up on the door and the guy's just like what do you do? And it was funny because this guy probably wouldn't have listened to me otherwise, but he's like I gotta know what's on your mind Like what is on your mind that you're out here in this weather, right? And so sometimes you'll have those cases where you think like well This isn't a good time or whatever and don't get me wrong Don't go out into a blizzard and like go kill yourself on the road like be safe Don't be ridiculous, but at the same time like You never know in a lot of cases where someone might actually be more likely to listen to you In a case where you didn't think it was the right time for you to be there or whatever okay? So Luke chapter 12 here is dealing with a man that the whole premise here is covetousness, okay? in verse 16 here So Luke 12 verse 16 it says he spake a parable unto them saying the ground of A certain rich man brought forth plentifully and he thought within himself saying what shall I do? Because I have no room where to bestow my fruits And he said this will I do I will pull down my barns and build greater And there will there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods and I will say to my soul soul That was much goods laid up for many years take thine ease eat drink and be merry So you're looking at this like okay? this guy's like got a retirement plan here going on and he's just like I'm just gonna live it up and Then in verse 20 here says, but God said unto him thou fool this night Thy soul shall be required of thee then who shall those things be which thou hast provided I mean talk about That sucks okay, so that's the that's the biblical term there right now That's horrible right you like basically have all this stocked up, and you're like. I'm about to just like Just live just kind of live the the luxurious like easy life here It's like then you die This is like. This is like Ecclesiastes in a nutshell right here, right? Ecclesiastes is all about like vanity vexation and spirit you work all your life for all this stuff and then you give it to someone else when you die and But it says in verse 21 so is he that layeth out treasure for himself and is not rich toward God and It's not saying that it's wrong to have riches It's just the fact that your priority should be seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness And all these things shall be added unto you right so you think about food Raymond all that stuff You know it's God knows that we have need of those things But seek ye first the kingdom of God go to now to that and all that other safe stuff will take care of itself right and You work hard you do what you should be doing you're trying to serve the Lord the Lord will make sure those needs are met and And obviously we shouldn't be covetous people that are just all about material things and just all about the things of this life It's not that it's wrong to have material things, but if that's all you're about Then you can end up being like this guy that basically hoards up all this stuff and then dies Has some illness and dies or whatever and and I believe we're talking about believers here, okay, because We have believers have a choice Okay, you have the choice to just live For the pleasures of this life and be chucked choked by the cares of this life. You have that choice Or you have the choice to serve the Lord and be fruitful and and and labor for the Lord Okay, and what you'll find is that yeah in that short term you'll maybe maybe you'll get that boat Maybe you'll go out to the lake on Sunday and have a good time, but it's all temporary All that stuff's going to be gone eventually anyway But the stuff that you do for the Lord has eternal value and that's what it really comes down to is that if If you serve the Lord, let's say you're this guy, right? Let's say you guys die at the same time You're the same age, but you die at the same time Okay, and you maybe you die prematurely and you die at a young age But this one guy just lived for the things of this life and he and he was like getting all these goods and he's trying To stock up to live the good life, but the other guy over here is just like I'm just I'm eating I'm drinking I'm I have sustenance, but I'm trying to serve the Lord and I'm really trying to build up, you know Doing things for the Lord. Well in the end that person That is living for the Lord is going to have rewards in heaven that will never fade away and So when it comes to this your time is all the way ready and go to Luke chapter 9 Luke chapter 9 This is the passage that kind of brought this about as far as this thinking process here Is that there's always going to be an excuse to not serve the Lord. There's always going to be an excuse To not want to get into church to not read your Bible to not go soul winning Okay, and No this none of us are perfect in this okay when it comes to going to church reading our Bibles going soul-winning but I Just want to see you to see here that this is not there's nothing new under the Sun It's not like right now like this is the thing where you know They never dealt with this where people who gave excuses for not serving the Lord, but in verse 57 here Luke chapter 9 and verse 57 It Says and it came to pass that as they went in the way a Certain man said unto him Lord. I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest and Jesus said unto him foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head So the first guy is basically saying I'm gonna go wherever you want to go And he's basically like it may not always become I mean think about it. We may not be live we may not be staying at the Ramada you know we may not be staying where you're gonna have like a nice bed So you got a cat are you ready for that? Are you ready to kind of go down that path? It says in verse 59, and he said unto another follow me But he said Lord stuff me first to go bury my father Jesus said unto him let the dead bury their dead but go thy thou go thou and preach the kingdom of God and another also said Lord I will follow thee, but let me first go bid them farewell Which are at home at my house and Jesus said unto him No, man having put his hand to the plow and looking back as fit for the kingdom of God And so at first you can see here. You could be like man This is a little harsh right like he's wanting to go to his father's funeral He's just want to say goodbye all of that, but I want you to think about this first of all on an immediate present Application of what's going on here Jesus is on a mission. He's walking somewhere right? He's going somewhere, and these guys are saying hey wait until I go bury my father If Jesus had the weight just I'm just talking immediate present like where he's at If he had the weight on this guy to bury his father He had this guy to go back home and say goodbye to everybody Do you see how like he wouldn't get anything done? If he just had to halt everything for everything that they had to do, okay? This isn't saying it's wrong to say goodbye to your family. This isn't saying it's wrong to go to a funeral but what you have to understand is that When you're serving the Lord there's gonna be times we're gonna be away from family you're gonna be away from certain things and Your time is gonna be Delegated to the things of God okay, but think about this It's definitely not saying not to go to a funeral actually Ecclesiastes says that's the best place to be when it comes to Life and death and dealing with dealing with the gospel go to Ecclesiastes chapter 7. I don't have this in my notes, but Ecclesiastes chapter 7 and So sometimes when you when you read this you don't want to take things too far right where you're just like Jesus is saying don't go to a funeral No, he's basically what's going on here. He's not gonna wait on a guy to get done with a funeral We don't even know if his dad died yet He's not gonna stand around and wait for him to go do that before he Keeps moving forward. He would never get anything done. There were thousands of people that followed Jesus so And notice too is that There Were people that wanted to follow Jesus personally and Jesus said no go back to your town and tell them what God did for you Okay, so when it comes to serving the Lord, it's not always being like right there on the mission trail With the Lord it could be at home. It could be other places so think about this Why can't you serve the Lord going to a funeral? That makes sense like why why do you have to wait until that's over to serve the Lord? Why don't you serve them while you're there? Why don't you you know follow the Lord wherever you're at? Okay Now look at what it says here in Ecclesiastes chapter 7 It says a good name is better to be better than precious ointment in a day of death than the day of one's birth Okay So we're talking about day of death It said it is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting For that is the end of all men and the living will lay it to his heart Sorrow is better than laughter for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of myrrh so when it comes to You know funerals Obviously it's a good place. I mean Jesus went to a funeral didn't he go to Lazarus funeral now. He raised him from dead he kind of Upended that whole funeral you know obviously a good thing So it's not like Jesus never went to a funeral. It's not saying don't go to a funeral don't say goodbye And go to speaking on that as far as saying goodbye to family go to first Kings chapter 19 first Kings chapter 19 These don't contradict the idea here is that there will always be an excuse there And it's not like the excuses are always lame It's not like and I think that's the reason that these are brought up right It's not like the guy that's just like I have a wife therefore. I cannot come that's a lame excuse okay, so But there are excuses where you're like that's a legitimate excuse of why Like I can't follow right, but the idea here Is that obviously we need to love the Lord more than anybody else? we need to be willing to follow him more than anything else and You know what's more important. You know it's kind of like priorities. What's more important and On The surface I just see the fact of Yeah, if Jesus waited for everybody to get everything they need to set an order before they started serving him nothing would ever get done More so let that happen and then come follow me after you're done with that But in the end that same person may have another excuse down the road to be like well I got to go do this I got to mend the fence I got to do this I got to Do that you know it's there's always going to be something to where you're like. I can't go because of this In the end you got to you got to set the priorities you be like no I'm gonna go and I'll get to that eventually Right I'll take care of that eventually right It's not like let me think about this did Jesus never come back to an area ever again If you're gonna follow him and be like I'll never see my family again. It's like this whole ministry was in Israel You know that right they literally were not going outside of Israel the closest. They got was Galilee, right and So it's not like I'm never gonna see my family again It's just the fact that no I got to go now and say goodbye to them. I can't go with you right now You know that's the idea that's getting across here, but with that in mind look at 1st Kings chapter 19 verse 19 It says so he departed thence and found Elisha the son of Shaphad who was plowing with 12 yoke of oxen before him and he with the with with the 12 and Elijah passed by him and cast his mantle upon him, so this is where Elijah is told to go find Elisha And when he finds Elisha he's basically plowing a field with a yoke of oxen And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and a mantle is just like something you wear like kind of like on your your chest Anyway, so he basically Elijah puts his mantle on him, which is pretty much a sign of like Come with me. You're my apprentice kind of thing Is they left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said let me I pray the kiss my father and my mother And then I will follow thee and he said unto him go back again for What have I done to thee and he returned back from him now. This is what's interesting about this is that He goes back And he's like you know what have I done? You know basically go back and in verse 21 it says and he returned back from him and took a yoke of oxen and slew them And boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen and gave unto the people and they did eat Then he arose and went after Elijah and ministered unto him so when he went back. He literally burned that bridge Essentially right he just basically took all his equipment his oxen and just just basically Just cooked him up He basically if you think about it took the yoke and made that the fire that he cooked the oxen on and then he fed It to everybody. It's like well. There's no turning back now Right so the idea there is that yeah, he went back and said goodbye, but he literally went back to to basically Destroy any semblance of returning back to what he was doing okay? I've decided to follow follow Jesus No turning back. No turning back, and so when you're looking at what Jesus says here You don't want to take it too far to where it's like It's wrong to say goodbye to your family before you go out on a mission trip or something like that, okay? Like no can't look back the idea here is not having an excuse to not follow the Lord and there's always going to be one and These ones I think are brought up because they seem legit right any person would be like you know I'd like to say goodbye to my family you know I would want to bury someone that my dad you know someone that I care about and you Know the idea there is that don't let anything hold you back from following the Lord serving the Lord and I think what it comes down to is that a Lot of people think in their mind. I have to do this before I can Why can't you do it while you're doing it right? Why why can't you just follow them now and go to the funeral and kiss your your family goodbye, and then go you know and And again, you're dealing with that immediate kind of I think where Jesus is like I'm gonna have to sit here and wait For everybody to get all this stuff done before we even move forward anywhere. We're going it's just not gonna happen I'm I'm going where I'm going if you want to if you want to if you want to come with me You got to go you got to go where I'm going right now Like go to now your time is all way ready go for it right now and You know some people aren't going to necessarily be on the front lines You know when it comes to Maybe traveling and all that stuff. I mean think about it put this on a personal level, right? Jesus is up in heaven right now Is there any reason that there would be an excuse to not serve the Lord because you haven't kissed your family goodbye Like think of a modern example where this would apply Okay, where you're like. I can't serve the Lord now what this would come down to is sometimes Family members you may have to kiss them goodbye because they're not going to want to be around you because of what you believe But what this really it entails is that there is a cost for serving the Lord and you have to count the cost You know when I got saved years ago I Had friends that you know the one friend that won me to Lord And then we had other friends that got saved and we had kind of a nice group there But I also had other friends I had other friends that weren't saved I had other friends that were saved, but they weren't exactly you know trying to get into the things of God So it's kind of like a mixture of all of that and what ends up happening is They purge themselves Okay Meaning that I thought like I went up there be like I can't be friends with you anymore Because you're not wanting to do what I want to do It's just the fact that I'm not doing what they're wanting to do so therefore. They don't really call me up anymore They don't really ask me to do it anymore right and then you end up losing friends because They just don't want to hang out with you anymore And that's a cost you know that's a cost that you have to count You know as far as knowing that hey, you know what I may lose friends Just because they're not gonna want to hang out with me because what I'm what I'm doing or what I'm not doing I guess you know it's really the case and And Go to Luke chapter 14 Luke chapter 14 and This chapter is really dealing with being a disciple and again This is like I said your time is all the way ready to get saved But your time is already all the way ready to be a disciple and these are not one in the same Salvation is being born again being a child of God being a disciple is Something that takes work that that you have to take up your cross daily. It's something that Costs you something now. I'll say this You have to count the cost and there's a lot of cost when it comes to serving the Lord But the reward will always outweigh that cost you know when it comes to The the toils and the in the in the the persecutions and tribulations that are gonna come from serving the Lord The reward we can't even it can't even enter into our mind how much it will outweigh That cost that you paid down here So that being said, you know, but that takes faith because you don't have that immediate reward That's in front of you to know like yeah, there it is. Yeah, it definitely outweighs it You don't see it and it takes faith to be like, yeah, I believe the Bible when it says that it will you know and Luke chapter 14 verse 25 here Luke chapter 14 verse 25 It says in there there went great multitudes with him and he turned and said unto them if any man come to me and hate Not his father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sister J in his own life Also, he cannot be to my disciple now. That's that's a harsh saying isn't it? Now The thing is is that there's another passage in Matthew chapter 10 that says this Matthew 10 37 Says he that loveth father or mother More than me is not worthy of me and he that loveth son or daughter more than me It's not worthy of me and he that taketh not his cross and falleth after me is not worthy of me. So When you're looking at this you're like what in the world I need to hate my father I need to hate my mother and all this and I personally believe it means hate. It's not like loving less It's hate now what you're dealing with I believe here are two different circumstances Matthew 10 is Most of the time right whether your parents or your wife or your sister your brothers or whatever are saved or unsaved You need to love the Lord more than them. Okay. It's okay to love it. You love them, but you love God more. Okay but in Luke chapter 14 is a case that What if you're Abigail and your husband is the son of Belial Which is a child of the devil. Okay, and They're a hater of God and the Bible says do not I hate them Oh Lord that hate thee Okay, and am I not greed with those that rise up against thee I hate them with perfect hatred, right? So That case and you're like that's an extreme case. Well, we're talking about extreme cases, aren't we? So let's talk about those cases well in most cases just love the Lord more than that person right You know, like my wife wants to do this, but God, you know wants us to do this Well, we're gonna go with what God wants to do. I Want to please my wife, but I want to please God more. Okay, I want to please my children But I want to please God more like that's most of the case. But what if you're dealing with a reprobate? What if you're dealing with someone that is a hater of the Lord? Well if you love that person You're still safe, okay But you're not Jesus's disciple We're talking about being a disciple. Okay, we're talking about being a friend of God And you can't be God's friend if you are loving those that hate him right think about that I mean if you're he that has friends must show himself friendly, right? Am I gonna be really good friends with somebody that just loves someone that hates my ever-living guts, right? You're probably not gonna be on good terms with that person when it comes to like you're like, yeah We're supposed to be friends. But why do you like that guy so much that guy hates me That guy like wants me to die in a gutter somewhere. Like why are you hanging out with that guy? Right. So when it comes to Luke chapter 14, that's a hard saying but if you had a family member that was a Child of the devil someone that hates the Lord Then in order to be a disciple you need to be you need to hate that person And that's a hard thing and listen Christians don't like hearing that today But you know what? Jehu the son of Hanani rebuked Jehoshaphat for loving them that hate the Lord He said shouldest thou help the ungodly and love them to hate the Lord therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord Jehoshaphat's a saved man like he's he's a good king, but he's getting rebuked sharply for loving them that hate the Lord and Again Saved people love haters of God all the time, but should we? the Bible says no and Actually, I believe this is another place where it's saying that we should hate somebody that you know, it's like well, you know That's Old Testament. We're in the New Testament doesn't say that we should hate anybody Luke 14 and Not only is it hating somebody it's hitting someone really close to you That is a cost right there Because that is personal it's eat listen it's easy to hate someone you don't know right or you're not close with Like if someone's like that person's a hater Lord like you think about these celebrities right think about like I don't know like these these god-hating atheists like Richard Dawkins and different people like that It's it's like kind of easy to like hate that person. What if that person was your brother? What that person was, you know, what if that woman was your wife or something like that? It's like that's another level okay to where if you're gonna be a disciple you have to hate that person because in order to be Friends with the Lord and to be that disciple you need to love what God loves and hate what he hates and The Bible says that the Lord hateth all workers of iniquity. That's a special group of people there he those that love violence it talks about the Lord triath of the righteous, but It talks about those that the wicked and those that love violence his soul hated and This is a hard saying for sure But when it comes to being a disciple listen, you have to be willing to love God more than your family and in some cases Praise the Lord. I don't have to deal with this on a like a very close basis with like friends and family Of course friends and family friends you choose friends just so you know that right family you don't choose so Everybody here could probably talk could speak about someone at least in their extended family that has gone down the path of like Homosexuality or some other path like that to where you know that person like hates the Lord To where this becomes real if you're like, okay am I willing to hate that person and and all that now That's a hard saying but keep reading there. It says And whosoever does not bear his cross so your verse 27 there and come after me cannot be my disciple For which of you intending to build a tower sit is not down first and count count at the cost Whether he had sufficient to finish it Let's happily after he had laid the foundation and is not able to finish it all that behold It began to mock him saying this man began began to build and was not able to finish Or what King going to make war against another King sit it down not down first sitteth not down first and Consulted whether he had able with ten thousand to meet him that count that cometh against him with 20,000 or else while the other is yet a great way off He sent it an ambisage and desired conditions of peace So likewise whosoever he be of you that forsaken not all that he hath He cannot be my disciple and you know people will take this would be like we need to forsake everything Listen, you only need to forsake something that is hindering you from following the Lord right That makes sense. Listen, why would I need to hate my wife if she loves the Lord? Right, why would I need to forsake family if they're following the Lord Does that make sense like forsaking all when it's Necessary right when it make when you need to okay, and what what this really comes down to is that There's a lot of cases where people are just not willing to do that and then they just don't follow the Lord But this is something that is Now listen, let's say you're that person Let's say you're a person where you were following the Lord But then something like this came up and you're just like I just wasn't willing to let that go I wasn't willing to cut off that relationship or whatever and therefore I got out of the things of the Lord Well, listen, your time is all way ready to get back into the things of God It's not like you got off the train and the trains gone Okay You can jump back on anytime You can jump back in there and get on the things of God and listen I'll say this there are so many Christians that are not serving the Lord If you serve the Lord for one year you've done more than most Christians have when it comes to getting into the things of God and and and and Going soul-winning or you know all that if you read through the Bible one time you've done more more than most Christians out there Sadly Okay, the the bar is really low Okay On on like if you're but here's the thing we are not to compare ourselves among ourselves because that's not wise Okay, so but if you compared yourself to to the crit to believers out there then we We might as well just pack up and go home. We've already attained way above what most Christians do. Okay, but we're not ourselves among ourselves You know who we should be comparing ourselves to it's the Lord We are to follow his steps. We're to be like him and Listen, I don't know about you, but I haven't tamed into that Nor will I ever attain? but you know what Paul said that that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his stuffings if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead and He says not as though I'd already attained either were already perfect But I follow after if that may apprehend that for which also I'm apprehended of Christ Jesus and He's saying, you know, I haven't attained unto it, but I'm striving for it. I want to know Christ as he knows me But I haven't right I haven't I don't know Christ like he knows me You know, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling God in Christ Jesus and That is what we're what we're looking at now Go to Romans chapter 13 Romans chapter 13 And obviously I'm preaching to the choir when it comes to those that work and that are serving the Lord and all of that and but know this is that Wherefore let him that thinketh he stand to take heed lest he fall. We can all fall out of the things of God We can all easily get out out of soul winning. Do you know how easy it is to get out of soul winning? Just don't go for one week and Or go for don't go for two weeks and it's just so easy to be like, you know, I'll I Just don't you know it for whatever reason it is like it is really hard to get back in and Then you get back in you're like, what was I doing? Why did I take so long to get back into it? Like all of that But know this in Romans chapter 13. It's high time. You say well, is it time? Yeah, it's time. It's not only time It's not always all way ready. It's high time, right? Because notice what it says here in Romans chapter 13 verse 11 It says in that Knowing the time but now it is high time to wake out of sleep for now is our salvation nearer than when we believe Listen, the Lord Jesus is coming back eventually, right? May not be in our lifetime, but I'll say this it's closer today than it was yesterday Right and It says in verse 12 the night is far spent the day is at hand Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light Let us walk honestly as in the day not in rioting and drunkenness not in chambering and wantonness not in strife and envying But put G on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof This is talking about putting off the old man and putting on the new putting off the flesh putting on the new man Which is the inward man soul and spirit to walk in the Lord and listen it is high time It's not only time it's high time I Don't know when you think about this are things getting better in the world today. I Know the DNC wants me to say hey, I'm happy and you should feel happy right now like that came out a camel Kamala is Like running for president or whatever. I'm supposed to feel happy about that. I don't feel happy But getting better right now morally in our country Do you think more people need to get saved or less? Do you think that you need more people out there to go still winning or less? Do you think we need more church or less? The Bible says not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner some is and so much the more as you see the day Approaching I mean as we get closer to the end Actually churches probably probably need more. I'm not saying I'm adding a service. You say no, okay But You don't burn yourself out but at the same time like at say do you need more church or less church? Do you need more so only less only? Now it's high time as we get closer go to Ephesians chapter 5 Ephesians chapter 5 The whole point is it's always time to serve the Lord Listen you can serve the Lord at your house, but don't take it too far and be like well I can serve the Lord of the house therefore. I don't need to go to church It's like it's like people. They're just like well. I can talk to the Lord at home. It's like yeah, you can but How about both? How would you come to church and you talk to the Lord while you're at home? Why don't you come to church and hear a sermon and go read at home? You know you can do both right right? It's not limited It's like well, I can I can't read it home. I got a shirt. It's like It's like that false dichotomy, right? I remember being in engineering school and You know pretty much people walk on their knuckles in engineering school But it's like here when you're in engineering school. There's like. There's this this mindset that we all need to be nerds and not cool and Whether I accomplish this or not my goal was to come out and be an engineer and not be a nerd and not be like some backward type of person that can't hold a conversation, okay, and Whether I accomplish that or not you can judge that but the idea is I'm like you don't have to fit that mold Right you you know you can have both where you can be an engineer, and you can be normal you're in a conversation Okay, but that's just an example of like this false dichotomy. It's like you know I can only do one thing I can't do the other why can't you do both right? How about this other category where we do all of that? You know so anyway Ephesians chapter 5 verse 15 it's high time listen your time is all the way ready to serve the Lord It is high time to serve the Lord But also know this is that there's limited time So The the the the wind is like now right the urgency is high But there's also a limit on the time there's also a short amount of time Okay, so look at look at what it says here in Ephesians chapter 5 verse 15 It says see then that you walk circumspectly not as fools, but as wise Redeeming the time because the days are evil Wherefore be not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is There's only so much time the days are fleeting. It seems like as we get older the time just goes faster and We have to redeem the time that we have we only have You know what 70 80 90 100 years on this earth we only have so much time and What is that time you know, what is your life it is even a vapor that appear for a little time And then vanishes away so when it comes to that Think about that in comparison to eternity, and how much time do we really have? And we need to redeem it and here's thing there needs to be a balance because I can't neglect my wife and my kids To serve you know serve the Lord, but here's thing why can't I serve the Lord while I'm Doing that right. Do you know that the Bible commands me to love my wife and to Bring out my children in nursery or not mission Lord. Do you know that? I'm serving the Lord by doing that I? Can do all that while I'm still Spending time with my family and doing things with them doesn't mean that everything I do with my family is a Bible study Right there are a lot of things that I do with my family that is not Bible related Okay, I think that's healthy okay, you need to have You need to turn turn the biblical brain off a little bit to where you're like all right We're just gonna talk about like the trees out here or something like that. You know you're talking about the chickens You don't want to be like you know talking about you know the Bible says that that Jesus would have like Gathered all the chickens under his wings as a brood you know and going into like Israel And then like rip it on Israel when you're talking about chickens, it's like No, we can just talk about chickens, and how they're hilarious and you know eggs are awesome like all this stuff And just have fun with that okay so But you need to redeem the time with your family you need to redeem the time with When it comes to work think about efficiency right you you work a job Well get the job done right, but get it done in a timely manner, okay? Because you do that then you have more time to do other things okay, this is where you know just having a regiment and just you know having a Routine I think about this was working out We go to I go to the gym, and I have routine and if I didn't have the routine. I just wouldn't do it And you just have this regimen where it's just like all right. I get up. I get up at like 5 30 in the morning I'm reading I go I go to work On my commute to work. I'm listening to the bible. I go to work I work a certain amount of time I go on go to the gym go to gym and just kill it at the gym and You know get big Then after the gym, you know I go back to work get my stuff done, then I go home Spend some time with family eat some dinner You know like all the sudden there's like all these things that I like this is what I'm doing and I only have a short amount of time But I need to get it done Now's the time to do it and the urgency is high You know when it comes to writing sermons. It's pretty much an hour before I go to bed on Saturday night, so just kidding most of the time, but But understanding what the will of the Lord is when it comes to this Listen this isn't complicated and what the last thing I kind of want to mention here because I'm out of time is That serving the Lord really isn't complicated You know Ecclesiastes the whole book of Ecclesiastes it concludes in this fear God and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man It's really that simple fear the Lord keep his commandments And his commandments are not grievous, but go to Romans chapter Romans chapter 12 and People over spiritualize the will of God you know what the will of God is to keep his commandments Right and so one place that says the will of the Lord is this even your sanctification that you avoid fornication well guess what? That's just keeping the commandments of the Lord So It's not complicated, but it doesn't mean it's easy okay obviously following the Lord is hard But it's not complicated and people get too complicated be like well is this the church I'm supposed to be in or am I supposed to be over here, and you know they get too often It's like well, maybe the Lord really wanted me to be over here Do you know that you could be just as effective here as in some other church That you can be serving the Lord just as much here as somewhere else that it's not like people get into this mode of like well, I I I feel like I'm missing the boat on Where I should be it's like no you can serve the Lord anywhere listen. There's people that need to get saved everywhere you can read your Bible anywhere and Listen find a good church obviously find the best church That's obviously right on salvation and all that but the thing is that there are a lot of churches that are right on salvation There are a lot of churches that go so winning and I know that there's a lot of churches that have fallen by the wayside On this, but we're not the only one There's one up in Morgantown there's others that go soul winning and there's other churches in other states that go soul winning and that believe right on salvation and Don't get into this mode of this this special will of God right where it's like this Mystical like God has to talk to me in an audible voice on what my what the will of my life is should I be a Pastor should I be this or that how about you just? You just read your Bible go to church. Go sewing and figure it out And you know what will happen is doors will open and you have a choice because we believe in free will On which way you want to go You know, but be prepared, you know You prepare yourself and listen those doors will open and you have the choice where you want to go and listen I believe God will be happy with whatever door you pick Because we can serve the Lord in many different capacities not just as one spot that we have to be It says in Romans chapter 12 and verse 1 it says I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you That you present yourself that you present your bodies a living sacrifice wholly acceptable unto God Which is your reasonable service and be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God and Really what it comes down to is just do what you need to do do the simple tasks And eventually, you know what other things will open up But it's not like this like you need to know right now. What am I supposed to be? Where am I headed? Where am I going? No, you don't you don't need to now there's nothing wrong with saying like hey I want to be a pastor one day or hey, I want to strive to do that nothing wrong with that Okay, but you know what your desires might change in a couple years you may say you know what instead of doing that I'd rather do this and There is nothing wrong with that. You know you may say you know what I? Want to be a pastor, but I would rather maybe just maybe just get into missions You know maybe I want to maybe I want to do that. You know or whatever Nothing wrong with that. It's not like one is just like wow you you demoted yourself. Yeah, because you pick this one over the other So another thing too when it comes to the will of God don't pigeonhole yourself Okay Meaning don't like don't make it have to be like it has to be this it's like no it doesn't And praise the Lord if it is you know I mean like if someone wants to like do a certain Job or something like that or they want to strive you know some people want to just be it they want to be you know They want to be an evangelist. You know which I consider like a missionary, okay? The evangelist of the old I be is like to go around and just preach the same sermon every Sunday at a different church and just do that and evangelist to me is pretty much a missionary where you're going out and preaching the gospel and that could be locally, but that could be abroad and You know I believe that's that's great And that's needed and people have different personalities that are going to be more suited for those type of things and you may find yourself saying you know what I actually feel more suited for this job right here and As you grow and as you learn and as you do the work of the Lord and all that you tend to figure out What your strengths are what you like? I? Don't believe the Lord is just like I want you to do everything you don't like Like I want you to be a pastor even though you hate public speaking And you hate being in front of people and I want you to just be up there Just dying inside every time you go up there. It's like I don't believe that for a second. That's what God wants so You know so don't force yourself into those type of things and all that but know this is that listen I Believe that if I step down right now as pastor and just sat in the pews and just listen to preaching and went soul winning I can serve the Lord and be blessed of God and do great things for God I'm not doing that so I'm not that's not my plan right now, but I'm just saying like I don't have to be a pastor I don't have to do this or that and Do I believe that God wants me to do this yeah, I do I Believe that the fruit that the the the the proof is in the pudding. There's been a lot of Blessings that's come out, and it's not because of me necessarily. It's the church right. It's everybody, but I believe that Our church has grown and just all the the fruit that's come from it I have to believe that God wants me to do that right and wants me to go forward with it and But if I but if I thought like the Lord is it like this is everything's falling apart And it's me, and I'm messing everything up, and I need to get out right and let someone else figure it out so The last thing I was going to mention is Sometimes you just need to be the person like Peter to have the courage to get out of the boat and the passage is in Matthew chapter 14 and you're in your homework where Jesus is walking on the water and Peter says if it's you Bid me to come out on the water as well Now he ends up failing meaning that he starts sinking because he's afraid sees the boisterous wind and all that and Lord saves him physically from drowning, right? But I look at that and I look at someone that was willing to take had the courage to step out and Failures just gonna happen and you need to know that you need to know that when you're serving the Lord you're going to fail You're going to mess up It's inevitable and when it comes to counting the cost I think that if you just know from the beginning what you're in for you can handle it I use the example of the DMV if someone just punched me in the face before I went to the DMV I Would be better off because I'm ready for it And just kind of getting hit in the face with like here's what you're getting into Alright, at least I know you know, I'm not gonna be blindsided By what's gonna happen here. Let's go for it. I'm gonna fail at times Hey, you know what? There's gonna be cases where I'm gonna have contentions with family and we have to deal with that You know, I just know these things are gonna happen. Let's go for it. See what happens Well, I fell off I fell off the wagon get back in Get back in trains still moving jump back on and Listen, the laborers are few The harvest is plentiful. The laborers are few and that will always be true You're like, well, are there enough labors now? No There wasn't in Jesus day. There isn't now It will always be that case There will always be the case that few are saved and it will always be the case that there are few among the same That serve the Lord But the call is be the few that serve the Lord Time is now your time is all the way ready It is high time and our time is short. Let's end with a word of prayer the only father we think of it today Thank you for your word. Thank you for the souls that were saved today, but also Throughout the week Lord just think for all the efforts when it comes to soul winning and and just pray to you to be With us as we we try to serve you Lord and Lord we know that we come short all the time But Lord just help us to be soldiers for you and to stay in the work and and Lord just help us To be what you want us to be and bring glory to your name and Lord We love you in Paris in Jesus Christ name. Amen. My name is gonna come sing one more song and then we'll be dismissed You all right take your songbooks and turn to song number 13 Song number 13 and your songbooks will sing must Jesus bear the cross alone if you would stand We'll sing song number 13 must Jesus bear the cross alone And all the world go free No, there's a cross for Everyone and there's a cross for me The Consecrated cross I'll bear till death Shall set me free And then Go home my crown to air for there's a crown for me Upon the crystal pavement down at Jesus said feed Joyful I'll cast my golden crown at his dear name Repeat Oh Precious cross Oh glorious crown Oh Resurrection day Ye Angels from the stars come down and bear my soul away You are dismissed