Good morning, everybody. I'm going to hang out here, give this a few seconds here to see if people start showing up. We're going to... Give me just a second here. Had to turn off all my notifications, otherwise I'd be getting all kinds of stuff going on. Oh, welcome from the still frozen tundra of Dennis Acres.

We didn't have services again this Sunday. Our whole neighborhood area driving up to our house, we live in a neighborhood where our house is up on top of a hill, and you got to go down a steep hill and up a steep hill to get into our neighborhood. And, uh, we never did get up past, uh, uh, freezing this week, um, much. And while all the snow that we got last, uh, snow that we got last weekend, um, there was a little bit of melting and everything that happened, but it just kept refreezing because it never really got over freezing all week long. Then we had a little more snow that fell. Um, see, that was, uh, Thursday night or Friday night, I can't remember now, Friday night I believe. A little more snow that fell and then it's just been bitterly cold and so nothing has really froze. My whole yard, my driveway, all the roads and stuff around still have icy spots on there.

So I called the brethren and let them know that we wasn't going to have services because I was afraid that, sorry about that, I just spilled my coffee. That's why it started out the morning, huh? Do y'all ever have mornings where just kind of everything doesn't seem to flow right? Thank you, babe. I may have to do a little bit of editing on this video to cut out all the jibber-jabber here.

Well anyway, we didn't feel that it was safe for everybody to try to come in this morning because it's hard getting up my driveway. I have a vehicle that's got four-wheel drive and so I'm able to get into my four-wheel drive and get up my driveway. And even at that, I still slide around trying to get back up in my driveway. It's at a slant. And then all of our yard and everything is still covered in snow that has kind of frozen and slicked over.

And I just was afraid that people were going to fall and hurt themselves. And I didn't want that. So anyway, we called off services again this week. Lord willing, everything's going to start melting off. I think today is supposed to get above freezing a little bit. So hopefully, and it's sunny outside right now, so hopefully we'll be able to get some sunshine and some warmer weather to get all this stuff Um, clear it off, man. I tell you what, I just can't imagine for all you that watch and listen up. How did, if you live in a place that's like snowy all the time, how do y'all live like that? Man can't stand up. Can't stand the winter.

Well, Brandon, I'll just be honest with you this morning. I've really struggled. Uh, excuse my voice. I've been kind of under the weather, uh, since about Wednesday or Thursday. I started kind of getting a cough and a lot of head cold stuff and drainage started happening then and started coughing and my throat's been really raw and everything. And I think Brother Larry and his family there, they've been kind of experiencing some of the same things. But anyway, so bear with me if my voice kind of goes wonky, but they're really struggling this morning.

You know, the Lord doesn't always just give me things to think about and to preach about just right away. And sometimes he'll lead me in one direction and then change up directions. And sometimes he just leaves me on my own. I don't have anything to say. And I was thinking that that was going to be the case this morning because nothing had really kind of been sticking in my mind all week, really pointing to anything. And even this morning as I got up and began to study and prepare, I just really couldn't see where the Lord was wanting to lead me. and everything, and I'm always afraid, brothers, to just get up and just start talking just to talk. I really don't think there's any problem with a man that if he doesn't feel the Lord's given him anything to say, that he shouldn't get up and say it just because he has some duty as a preacher or a pastor to do it. Um, cause all he's going to do is get up there and talk in the wisdom of man.

And, uh, we don't want that. We want to hear from the, we want to hear from the Lord and, uh, but, uh, the Lord did give me something to look at this morning, uh, as it was coming down to the wire, uh, so to speak, um, turn with me. If you have your Bibles with you. If you don't, that's all right. Just kind of listen along.

I am going to read a few verses and everything, but look with me, if you would, over into the book of John in the third chapter. I was reading through here this morning, and one particular phrase kind of stood out at me. And I know I've spoke about this sometime in the past. I don't remember how long back and exactly what sermon it was, but, um, I was looking at, uh, third chapter, John starting in, uh, uh, where, uh, it transitioned from, uh, John or, uh, Jesus speaking with, uh, Nicodemus and it transitioned back into, uh, given the account of John the Baptist. And let me just, I guess let me just read this whole section here, and then I'll kind of point out the verse that I want to, and everything.

Hey, brother Adam, good to see you, brother. Got your email the other day and everything. It's good to hear from you again, brother. Hadn't seen or heard from you in quite a while. Hope you and your family are doing well. You still doing the trucking stuff? Are you back out on the road playing again? Good to see you there. And everybody else that's here, it looks like there's a few people on. Good to see everybody.

John chapter three and starting in verse 22, it says, After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judea, and there he tarried with them and baptized. And John also was baptizing in Anon, near Selene, because there was much water there, and they came and were baptized. Now there's a lot that could be preached on there, and especially as a Baptist, I could say a lot of things there, but we're gonna keep on truckin' here. For John was not yet cast into prison, Then there arose question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying. And they came unto John and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan to whom thou bearest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him.

John answered and said, a man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven. Now, brother, I'm going to pause right there because that right there is a very strong principle in scripture. Something that we need to always keep in mind, not just in the direct context here, John's ministry was given to him, but hey, Brother Mike, I see you coming in there. Not just that his ministry was given to him, but brethren, a man can receive nothing in this world except it be given to him, whether it be our natural life, whether it be our spiritual life, whether it be our natural learning and understanding, or whether it be our spiritual learning and understanding. Anything that we have in this life has come by the hands of an Almighty God who's given it to us.

John says the man can receive nothing except it be given to him. Basically, John is deflecting from these disciples who are somewhat trying to pump John up and saying, hey, what's going on here? This guy that you've been talking about, he's kind of stealing your thunder here, John. And John being given the humility that he was given, I said, listen, it isn't about me.

I only have been given what's been given to me. I only am doing what God's called me to do and given me the ability to do. He says, you yourselves bear witness that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. Now, John had been asked on many occasions, whether by his direct disciples as seen here, or whether by the religious leaders of the time, those Kabbalist Pharisees, they kept asking him, you know, hey, are you the Christ? Are you the Messiah? Or are you the one that was told about that was to come? Prophet Isaiah, Jeremiah, one of those, I can't remember now. But anyway, he says, you yourselves bear witness that I said I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him.

He that hath the bride is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. This, my joy, therefore, is fulfilled. So John here is outright placing Jesus as the bridegroom. And those John who had been sent to prepare was the bride. Now, I know there's a lot of different beliefs about these things. I'm of the school that believes that this is talking about the gathered assembly that John began to gather in preparation of Jesus coming.

He came to prepare a people for Christ and began gathering them out, baptizing them that believed. and was pointing them to Jesus, and I think that's the Baptist ministry. Whenever we talk about Baptists, we don't talk about a denomination. We talk about a ministry, and that's a ministry that the church has, the church that Jesus built, the church that Jesus gathered, the church that Jesus instituted. I don't believe in a universal, invisible church. I believe in a visible, local church, a gathered assembly, That's what the word means. It means a gathered assembly. It doesn't mean everyone everywhere. It just means a gathered assembly.

But here he says that the bride has the bridegroom. then John himself says that he's the friend of the bridegroom. He doesn't even identify himself as the bride, because from what I gather and understand, at least the way that I understand this, is John wasn't baptized. He wasn't part of that local assembly. Even though he was a saved child of grace, he wasn't part of that gathered assembly that was to go on to be a part of the ministry of Jesus. However, he was a friend of the bridegroom, and he says that he greatly rejoiced as a friend of the bridegroom, and he said, my joy therefore is fulfilled.

He must increase, but I must decrease. Again, that's another principle I think that we ought to take to heart, especially preachers. Whenever we come into the stand to preach, we must decrease and Christ must increase. We're not there to pump ourselves up. We're not there to pump our church up. We're not there to pump up any denomination or anything like that. We're there to pump up the Lord Jesus Christ and the things of God.

But John here, he said, it's time for me, my purpose has come for why I was sent. I was sent to prepare people for the bridegroom. And the bridegroom's here. The bridegroom has the bride. And the bridegroom is now head of the bride and is well capable of handling things on his own. But let's look at these next few verses, because these are the ones that I really want to look at. John goes on to say this about Jesus. He that cometh from above is above all. He that is of the earth is earthly and speaketh of the earth.

He that cometh from heaven is above all. Brethren, that right there is telling us that Jesus Christ did not originate here on this earth. Whenever he was born of a virgin in Bethlehem, that was not the beginnings of Jesus. Jesus is the man who came down from heaven. He is above all because he came down from heaven. The only one who comes down from heaven is God. Well, I guess you could say the angels came down from heaven, the fallen angels came down from heaven, but we're talking in reference to godly things here. He that cometh from above is above all. He's God. John's given and bearing testimony that Jesus Christ is God manifested in the flesh.

And he says, but he that is of the earth, and he's probably speaking of himself, but I would say that that translates to all of us. We that are of the earth are earthly. We're not from above. as we are in our Adamic state, and we speak of the earth. That's why I was saying this morning that sometimes whenever the Lord doesn't give me something to speak on or doesn't settle within my mind or in my heart, this is what He wants me to, it's fearful for me because whenever it's not from Him, then it's earthly. It's earthly. There's a lot of trepidation when it comes to coming into the stand and preaching to other people about what the Lord says.

He says, he that cometh from heaven is above all. Now, I take that to mean that not only is he above all because he's God, but what he has to say trumps everything. What he has to say is the final authority on everything. He that cometh from above is above all. He that cometh from heaven is above all. And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth. And no man receiveth his testimony. And that's true of the Lord. The Lord came and he testified of everything that he seen and heard. Now, what does that mean, everything that he seen and heard?

Was somebody a counselor to Christ up there teaching? Was Jesus in a teaching school somewhere up in some heavenly seminary where some theologian was giving him the rundown on the way he's to think about something so he could go out and make copycat theologians?

Or was he in some, you know, after he was born in Bethlehem, you know, there was many times, you know, whenever he went to the synagogue, there was one time that he went to the synagogue and was listening in to those religious leaders. Now, do you think he was getting all of his information from those guys? No. He, matter of fact, in that scenario, he's the one that began teaching them. And they was amazed at how much he knew from just being a little child.

He says, if he that has seen and heard what he has seen and heard, what has Jesus seen and heard? Anybody ever thought about that? What has Jesus seen and heard? Well, brethren, as we're talking about Jesus being the manifestation of the Godhead, the fullness of the Godhead dwelling in him bodily, whenever we consider Jesus Christ being the image of the invisible God, Father, Word, Holy Ghost, all being revealed in the man Christ Jesus, Jesus Christ being the mediator of that God, who in those relationships to his people, Father, Word, Holy Spirit, Comforter, mediates God to his people.

He's the one that mediates God to his people. Now, I have preached on this. You can go back and listen to some of those messages. Matter of fact, one of them is entitled, if I remember right, I think it's Mediator, Advocate, Substitute, or something like that. You can go back and listen to some of those things. But I've spoken about this quite often.

The Bible says that Jesus is the mediator between God and man. And as a mediator, a mediator is someone who is a go-between between two people. Christ is the mediator between God and he is the mediator between man. And I've mentioned on several occasions, I don't believe that he is just the mediator that mediates things. for us, but he also mediates to God.

He mediates on our behalf to God as the fact that he stands as our obedience, he stands as our sacrifice, he obeyed the law in our stead, and he took our wrath because of our sin in our place as our representative. Therefore, he mediated everything that was owed to God He mediated that on behalf of his people. But on the other hand, everything that there is to know of and to enjoy about God. Good morning, brethren. I see y'all coming in. Everything that is to be known about God and of God and his salvation is mediated by Christ Jesus to his people. Now, how does he do it? How does the father mediate to his children everything about himself. Well, he does it through his word, and he does it through his spirit.

See, we try to break God up into too many pieces, brethren. We try to dissect God when the Bible says that there is only one God. And there's only one mediator between God and man, and that's the man, Jesus Christ. God has chosen to reveal himself in a form so that he might be seen, and that he might be experienced, and that the testimony of God might be known to man. And he did that through the Lord Jesus Christ. That's how we as his children relate to him.

He is the invisible, holy, and righteous God, and cannot be approached by sinful man. Now brethren, one of these days this sinful flesh will be put off and we will be robed in a body that is without sin, that will be commensurate with the life that we have in us that was born from above, that is without sin. Therefore, that which is inside and that which is outside will all be without sin. And at that point, we will be able to be in the presence of a holy God. Now, we're still created, but that creation that we will be will be a divine creation, not of the earth. Earth is not going to be dust.

That's why I believe John is talking about these things. There's a difference about that which is spiritual and that which is physical. Physical people, physical understanding, physical mentality, physical things cannot understand and know spiritual things. We talked about that last week. I think I went on for an hour and a half last week talking about those things.

But look what he says here. He that hath seen and heard, that he testifyeth, excuse me, and what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth. Jesus is testifying of all the things of God. He is here declaring all the things of God, the truth. He's bringing in the gospel. John is the one who was preparing the way, and now Christ has come and is confirming the things that John has said.

If you remember, John was looked at as a strange person. Matter of fact, he was kind of a strange person. He's out in the wilderness, camel's hair, and eating locusts and honey. I don't know, that may have been a delicacy to them guys. I don't know, brother. But anyhow, Jesus has come to give the testimony of God. Look what he says there, verse 32.

And what I have seen and heard, that he testifies. I believe that Jesus, and you've heard me probably say this on many occasions as well, in the book of Revelation we see one vision of Christ on the throne. We see him in different aspects throughout Revelation. I believe that the Revelation is a signifying, John says that at the very beginning, that all the revelation of Jesus Christ that was sent and signified, okay, so I believe that all revelation is signification. showing signs and wonders or signs and pictures and symbols. Sorry, brother, not my chair is messed up here and I can't get it to sit right. It keeps trying to lean over on me.

The revelation is a signification of Christ. It's a revelation of Jesus Christ. And I believe that all through the revelation, it's a revelation of the work and the completed work of Jesus Christ and the salvation of his people. That's what the revelation is about. And in that revelation, we see a picture of Jesus Christ on the throne.

And the Bible says that in one of the revelations that is shown, one of the vigenettes, if you would, I believe that Revelation is several vigenettes, several different segments showing the same story, Jesus Christ and his work and what he has done for his people and his salvation of them.

And I also believe it deals with the destruction and the end of the Old Covenant. and the bringing in of the new covenant. And so that's kind of my thoughts. I'm not an end-time prophet, and I'm not a prophecy person. I'll just be honest with you. My church has heard me say this many times. I'm just not very versed on a lot of stuff in Revelation, but what understanding I have in life that I've been given, that's how I've been given to see it.

But in that, one of the vigenettes that we see in the Revelation is that there was a scroll that came down that had writing on the front and on the back. And that writing on the front and back in Jewish understanding always signified a legal document. As the vigenette was being explained there in Revelation, we see that there was none that could open that thing.

And there was a lot of heartache because nobody could open that scroll. And then someone said, there is one that can open the scroll. And that scroll was handed to the Lord Jesus. And the Lord Jesus is the one who began to open those seals and unfurl that scroll and begin to declare and bring about the things that were written in.

Now, my understanding of that is, and I may be wrong, brethren, and if I am, I'm welcome to correction if you have some scripture to correct me on it and show me and the Lord will give me a little more light, but I believe that that scroll is the whole purpose and decree of God.

And I believe that only Christ Jesus is the one who can bring about everything that God has decreed. And so that's why it was given into him. That's the purpose for why God indwelt a body, is so that not only could he be made known, but that he himself would be the one to bring about his own purpose and decree.

It has been given into the hands of Jesus to do everything. It has been given into his hands to create. It has been given into his hands to redeem. It has been given into his hands to mediate. It has been given into his hands to judge. And it'll be given into his hands to receive all the glory that's gonna be given to God.

Sorry, brethren, my voice is going out pretty quickly. Babe, if you're watching this in the other room, if you can bring me one of those Ricolas from up there, I would much appreciate it. Or one of the girls, whoever's up there. Brethren, I'm sorry. I'm just not used to doing stuff this way, and distractions get me pretty quick whenever I do things like this. Pardon me, my wife's bringing me some goodies here.

Thank you. Brethren, if you've got a sore throat, recola. It's just not a fancy commercial on TV. It really does work. Pardon me. Jesus Christ, I believe, has given that scroll to bring about everything. The testimony of God is bound up in that decree. God has given a testimony. Look, if you would, with me over to one John. Verse six, 1 John 5, verse six. Well, let me back up. Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is, whosoever that, now this sheds a little bit, I didn't read this verse last week, I should have. It sheds a little more light on that. if you believe you shall be saved, phrasing, whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God already. And everyone that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.

But this we know, by this we know, by this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world. This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Jesus is our faith, by the way, brethren. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

This is he that came by water and blood, Jesus Christ. Not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the spirit that beareth witness, because the spirit is truth. Now, it just came to my mind reading that, we're also told that Jesus is the truth, right? And the Father is the Father of truth. The truth comes down from Him. So we have the Father, who is the truth. We have the Word, who is the truth. And we have the Spirit, who is the truth. And all these are in Christ Jesus, who is the truth.

If you also remember, Jesus said that he was the comforter in John chapter six, or excuse me, John chapter 14, where he said that he would be the comforter that comes back to lead them into all truth. But it says here in verse seven, it says, for there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in the earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood, and these three agree in one.

If we receive the witness of men, or that word witness can also mean testimony, if we receive the testimony of men, the witness of God or the testimony of God is greater. For this is the witness or the testimony of God, which he has testified of his son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the testimony in himself. He that believeth not God hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record, or the testimony, that God gave of his Son. And this is the record that God hath given to us, eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life. Not that you might get eternal life, that you may know you have it already, and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God. that it might be something that this testimony is something that we continue to tell each other to remind us and to encourage us in the faith. Let's go back to John. Remember, it was that testimony.

He that cometh from above all, he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaking of the earth, he that cometh from heaven is above all, and what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth, and no man receiveth the testimony. What he testifies is the testimony of God, that he is God manifested in the flesh, and that he is the savior of his people. Yes, brother. I agree with you there, brother Tito, Gabriel. And he that has seen and heard that he testifies, no man receiveth his testimony. He that received his testimony, now this is a verse I really wanted to get to. He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true.

For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God. Well, why does he speak the words of God? Why does Jesus speak the words of God? Well, it's very simple, because he is God. He's not just a harbinger of God, although he is. He is the harbinger of God.

Remember, brethren, these brethren at this time, all they knew of is the invisible God. These brethren only knew of the invisible God. that no man has seen. And it hadn't been revealed to them in those Old Testament sites that all those appearances of Jesus during the Old Testament was God himself. They all viewed it as a messenger of God, a prophet of God, an angel of God, which was the word messenger. They all viewed that as someone, you know, as a messenger of God. They didn't realize The unveiling of that is that this was God manifested in the flesh to them during their time. And here Christ manifested in the flesh, or God manifested in the flesh to us at this time.

He comes with the testimony of God and men don't believe him. And brethren, that goes on today. Whenever we come with the testimony of God, men don't believe it. Why? Because they are earthly. We are of the earth, earthly, and we believe the things of the earth and we reason with the things of the earth. We understand and speculate because of the earthliness of our mind and understanding.

We are dead in this Adamic man spiritually. We have no spiritual life in us. We don't understand spiritual things. We don't have spiritual faith. We don't have spiritual love. We don't have spiritual sight. We don't have spiritual ears. All those things are absent from the Adamic earthly man. That's why we have to be born again. That's why Jesus, right in the passage before this, told Nicodemus, we have to be born again. We can't see these things. We can't enter into these things. We can't know these things because they are spiritually discerned.

And so Jesus, when he comes with his testimony, he comes and the Bible clearly says, no man receiveth this testimony. You'd say, well, some men do receive that testimony. Why do some men receive that testimony? Those who have received that testimony, as we've seen back here in 1 John again, let me not misquote it, turned away from it already.

He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on him, those who have the Son hath life. And if you have life, you have faith to believe on these things, because faith is given in the giving of life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life. He doesn't tell you to believe so that you can get eternal life, but because you have eternal life, you can believe that you have eternal life.

I know that that sounds dumb, and a lot of people even ask me that. As a matter of fact, I had a guy ask me that just a couple of days ago, whenever I was talking with him. He said, so you're telling me that we have to be saved to believe so that we can be saved? I said, well, no, not to be saved. Well, to be saved from ignorance, yes. But you're telling me that you have to be given life to know that you already had life? Yes.

You have to be given life to know of spiritual things. that the spiritual life that was given to you wasn't something that came because you asked for it or you deserved it or you bowed your knee to God and he granted it to you because of your obedience and reverence to him. He gave it to you because of his sovereign will to give it to you. He gave it to you because he loved you before the foundation of the world. He gave it to you because Christ is united to you as your head, and as your head, he died for you, and in that death secured all spiritual blessings that was already granted to you in heavenly places.

So yes, the testimony that Jesus has is the testimony of who he is, and what he has accomplished. And it says, no man received this testimony. He that hath received this testimony hath sent to his seal that God is true. Now let's think about a few things here, brethren. Look, if you would, at these verses here. He that cometh from above is above all, and he that has seen and heard, that he testifieth, and the old man receives his testimony.

Whenever Christ speaks, he speaks of what he has seen and heard, not as some distant man, not like I have. I speak the things that I have seen and heard, that spiritual eyes has been given to me, spiritual ears has been spoken, you know, words have been spoken in my, ears that have been given spiritual life to hear. Not on this account. Not on that account. No. Christ has spoken the things that he has seen and heard because it is the first-hand account. It's his account. Known unto God are all his works, the end from the beginning. And so Christ knows these things.

So Christ isn't down here offering us an opinion. Whenever I stand up and preach and teach, listen, you need to take that stuff and you need to hold that to the word of God and see what the word of God says, because unknowingly to me, and maybe even sometimes knowingly to me, And if you're honest with yourself, you can say the same thing about you. But sometimes we offer our opinions. And sometimes there isn't a strong, thus saith the Lord. But Christ doesn't give us an opinion. He declares eternal truth to us, brethren. That's eternal truth.

And he's the one sent from heaven. He's the word. made flesh. The Word of God, that scroll that was rolled up, no man can deliver that message, the Word, except Christ Jesus. Whenever He took on flesh, He came down and He delivered that Word to us by His Spirit. My Word is truth. The Spirit is truth. The spirit has come and given that word. The Bible says that all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable. Well, how has that inspiration of God come that men wrote down this word? By the spirit of God, who is the spirit of truth, who is the comforter, who is the man that God inhabited in flesh.

Now, so our problem isn't a lack of evidence. I mean, there was plenty of evidence here. I mean, even John the Baptist, who was a friend of the bridegroom, there was enough evidence around just John that all those people at the time was saying, whoa, wait a minute. We're picking up on Old Testament preaching here that when Messiah comes, that there'd be a forerunner that come before him.

They were picking up all the vibes that was coming from the Old Testament. But yet they didn't believe it, did they? They couldn't grasp it. And even whenever it was laid out clearly, whenever Jesus was baptized by John, there was a voice that came out of heaven and said, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.

Brother, you can't get more pointed than that. They did not believe. So, it's not the problem that there's a lack of evidence, brother. It's not the problem that there's a lack of exercising faith on your part. It's the fact that natural man has no ability to receive divine testimony.

I know this kind of follows up with what we talked about last week, but this is what we're talking about. This is what John is saying here. The ones who are following the bridegroom are the ones who have been given eternal life and they hear the voice of the master and they follow him. They already were given life. They were given life to believe. And what do they believe? They believe the fact that Christ has given them life, that he's the only one that can give them life, and that life must come in before they could have ever believed, or they never would have believed they would continue believing earthly things. So the problem isn't lack of evidence. The problem is natural inability.

Now, I want us to look at a few things. Turn, if you would, to John chapter 8. John chapter 8. Man, it's already been 49 minutes. I've done a lot of messing around today. John chapter 8. And look with me, if you would, down to verse 26. Well, hang on, let me, let me back up, give us some context here.

Verse 21 says, then said Jesus again to them, I go my way and you shall seek me and shall die in your sins. Whether I go, you cannot come. Whether I go, you cannot come. Then said the Jews, will he kill myself now? Don't you think, some may say, well, wasn't that a little presumptuous of Jesus to say that these men would die in their sin? Well, how does Jesus know that these men won't eventually come to the faith later after he dies and goes back to heaven?

I mean, isn't there a chance that they can be saved? Isn't there an opportunity that these men could be saved? Isn't there a possibility, preacher, that these men, after Jesus goes away, I mean, even Jesus said that they're gonna seek him. What if good old brother Paul, with that good testimony that he had, hey, I was one of you guys. Hey, I was just like you and believed the same way you did, but look now, I believe on Jesus. Don't you think that maybe possibly that these men could go away? How is it that Jesus could say that these men are gonna die in their sins? Have you ever thought of that? He says, and whether I go, ye cannot come. You cannot come.

Do you think it's maybe because Jesus knows beforehand all those that are his? I think he said that in one place here in John, whenever he says, I know my sheep, I think there's another place in John that says, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me.

Well, if Jesus knows, if Jesus knows that these men are not his sheep, when did he know that? When did Jesus know that these men were gonna die in their sins? But with all that, I would say Jesus knew that before the foundation of the world, before Adam was created, before Adam ever transgressed the law of God. Right? He knew before the foundation of the world, these men would die in their sins. How did he know that? How did he know that before the foundation? How could he have known that before the foundation of the world? I mean, to some people, the plan hadn't even been laid yet because sin hadn't even come into the world, because God doesn't predestinate sin. God doesn't predestinate evil.

That was something that happened by the hand of man, and God had nothing to do with that. Well, brethren, if God didn't have anything to do with sin and evil, and that being a part of his purpose and decree, his eternal purpose and decree, and part of, by the way, I put out a article this week dealing with this very subject of God receiving glory in sin and evil. I posted that on my Facebook page. It's also on our sermon audio page under articles. and our church Facebook page, and I think Welch Track Publications is supposed to publish it later on as well.

But how could Jesus know that if God doesn't predestinate evil, if God doesn't predestinate sin, how did he know that before the foundation of the world? Well, the Bible says, Number one, that God called the people to himself before the foundation of the world and loved them with an everlasting love. And those people that God loved with an everlasting love, the Bible says in the book of Revelation that there is a book of life, if I can find the passage here, Those whose names were not written in the Lamb's Book of Life, or in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain. Well, if there was a Book of Life before there was ever any life, then Jesus wrote those names down, because it says there are names that were not written down.

Now, again, I've said this on many occasions, brethren, I don't know whether or not Jesus physically wrote those names down or not, or whether it's just symbolic. I can take it as just symbolic that those names are written down because God doesn't need to write names down. He doesn't need a book of remembrance because he knows everything. I think those things are anthropomorphical. I'm probably butchering that word. See there, that's what happens when I try to sound smart. And I'm not smart. He says that for our understanding, for man's understanding.

But those things the Bible says were known before the foundation of the world. If they were known before the foundation of the world, then part of the testimony of God is that he had a people that he had already sanctified or set apart to be his people, and those people would come to believe because he would give them the faith to believe in him. But anyway, it goes on to say this, then the Jews Then said the Jews, will he kill himself because he saith, whether I go, ye cannot come?

And he said unto them, ye are from beneath, I am from below. Ye are of this world, I am not of this world. I said therefore unto you that ye shall die in your sins, for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. Then said they unto him, whom art thou? And Jesus says unto them, even the same that I said unto you from the beginning. Jesus has been preaching this from the very beginning.

We're going back to John, at the beginning of the ministry of John. The bridegroom comes, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. The bridegroom now has the bride. The bridegroom is now taking that bride and beginning to lay down the foundation of the church, the apostles. And then with those apostles, other disciples, and he's beginning to lay his doctrine down into the church who would once be delivered to them.

And therefore, from then on, the local gathered assembly would be the place that God has chosen to be the pillar and the ground of truth. Wait a minute, preacher. I believe in a universal, invisible church, and don't everybody who is born of God have the truth? Absolutely, I believe that. Everybody in the world has the truth that is born of God whenever the Holy Ghost gives it to them. But God has chosen the gathered assembly to be the place where his truth is proclaimed.

I don't mean that we can't proclaim it all everywhere we go, but he has ordained that his brethren gather together when possible. Notice I said when possible. I know there are those that are out there, that there are no true churches of Jesus Christ around you. And the Lord has not afforded you the means to be able to move to a place where there is.

But brethren, I'm telling you, the Lord Jesus' church is the pillar and the ground of truth. That's where the truth is. That's why it's important to find a true church of Jesus Christ and to fellowship there. Because that's where the Lord promised to meet us. That's where the Lord promised to empower us. is whenever we come together in those ways. But I digress, that's another sermon.

He says, then said he unto them, who art thou? And Jesus said unto them, even the same that I said unto you from the beginning, I have many things to say and to judge of you, but he that sent me is true. That's why I said a while ago, the Father is the truth. So the Father's truth, the Word's truth, the Spirit's truth, right? and all the truth is in Jesus.

There's only one God and there's only one man who is the mediator of God. Not you, not me, not the Pope, not your mama, not your daddy, not your uncle, your grandpa, not any preacher. There's only one mediator between God and man. That's the man Jesus Christ. I have many things to say and to judge you, but he that sent me is true, and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him. So Jesus speaks those things which he has heard of him. Hey, while you're in John still, go to John 18. Go down to chapter 18. Look at verse 37. That would help if I'd get into 18. Pilate therefore said unto him, Jesus, art thou a king then? Jesus answered, thou sayest that I am a king.

To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness or testimony unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice. Who hears the testimony of God? Those who are of the truth. What does that mean to be of the truth? Those who believe the truth, well, yeah, I think that that can mean that too. Those who hold the doctrine of Jesus, absolutely. Absolutely. I believe that that's what that means.

Those who are born of God, I think that's mostly what it means because whenever you're Born of God, you are of God, meaning that your life proceeds from him. My children are of Michael Smith. They have the life of Michael Smith in them. Now, remember what we just read back here, brethren, and this may be jumbled. This may come across jumbled today. I apologize.

And this is the record, the testimony, that God hath given to us, us, us, us, eternal life. And this life is in the Son. The life proceeds from the Son. So, did God have life before Christ was manifest? Absolutely. God is the source of all life. But this life has been placed in the Son. God is life. He is eternal life. But where is that eternal life, which is God's life, placed? In the man Christ Jesus. In Him. It's in Him. All the fullness of God is in Christ Jesus.

He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God hath not life. If Christ is not in you, you know, he's not some little man living in your heart. He's not some mystical cloud that's come in and dwelt inside of you. No, it's his life. My children doesn't have a little me living in them. No, he has the life flow of my life in them. This natural life that is within this person flows within my children. The divine life of God has manifested himself in the man Christ Jesus.

Therefore, Christ has God's life in him, and if we are in Christ Jesus by union, all of the life of God is in us if we are his children. Yes, brother, it is our seed. It is a seed. We are his seed. If you have the life, if you have the life, He will have the belief.

They come to me. They follow me. They hear my voice and follow me. The bridegroom has the bride. They have left. They don't follow after the preacher. Notice they quit following John. John was a good man. Matter of fact, Jesus spoke more highly of John than any other man on the face of the earth. Jesus said that John was greater than any man and that his mother's, any man that had ever come from a woman's womb, except Christ, but speaking of natural men, that John the Baptist is greater than any man that ever come. Moses was great, David was great, Isaiah was great, Joshua was great, Jeremiah was great. Paul was great. But Jesus said John the Baptist was greater than all these.

And guess what? He said, I must decrease, he must increase. Why? Why must he do that? Well, number one, because God must be given the rightful place that he is owed. But second of all, brethren, How do I want to say this? The reason he must decrease and I must increase is because of this. And I'm saying this from a preacher's perspective, by the way. I must decrease and he must increase because the true child of grace is going to listen to him. And the more I pump up myself, the more I speak in my philosophy, the more that I speak in my wisdom, the true child of grace who is being taught of God is going to find issue with that.

And rightfully so. And it's hard for me to say this, but even as a preacher, If I begin talking and preaching in my own wisdom and my own understanding, which I'm very susceptible to do, but if I begin doing that and I begin to go off into weird things and unbiblical doctrines, brethren, I would hope that people would begin to leave and not stay. The Lord Jesus will call his people out of those false places.

Now, let's look at Matthew chapter 11. Man, it's already been an hour. Are y'all still with me? I still see comments are scrolling. I'm sorry guys, I can't keep up with reading your comments as you make them. I will go back and reread them later though. So all comments are Brother Ed Snyder, if you're still on here, I asked last week and I think you had already gone.

Where are you from, brother? Where do I know you from? I don't know if we've ever met in person, but we, I think Brother Tito there, Brother Gabriel, says he thinks it might've been on a Zoom meeting with Brother Lackey. I can't remember. I might remember your face, but I don't remember the name. But anyway, I'm just wondering where we know each other from. Anyway, sorry about that, brother.

Matthew chapter 11. Preaching like this is kind of weird for me in this situation, but I kind of like it, I kind of like it. Matthew chapter 11, and I'm gonna read, I'm gonna read verse 27. Jesus says, all things are delivered unto me of my father. And no man knoweth the son but the father. Neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son. Here it is, one mediator between God and man, the only one who can give this testimony to us and it stick, if you'll allow me that terminology. Neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. What does that mean, brother? No man can understand or know God without it being revealed.

That's why I say, if I start preaching something contrary to God's word, if I start preaching something contrary to the doctrine of Christ, the children of God, if they are being taught of God, they're gonna hear that and they're gonna say, whoa, wait a minute, that's a strange sound. That's an unfamiliar sound. I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not digging what he's putting down. So Christ speaks exactly what he has heard and whatever he hears and what he has heard is the testimony of God. And he has seen and heard eternal truth about God, about salvation, about his people. And he is delivering all that to us.

Now, what about the second part? I guess I could break this up, preach about this again next week. You guys still with me here? You want me to go on a little bit further for those who are tuned in? I've got a few more points to make about our passage back in John. If I can get back there. Okay, back in John chapter three and verse 33.

He that receiveth his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true. Well, again, I just spent a long time talking about God is true and we know he's true because God is truth. And Jesus is bearing testimony that everything God said is truth. But what about this part about he that hath received his testimony?

Let's go back on that. I've spoke a little bit about that already. Receiving Christ's testimony is the fruit of the new birth. It's the fruit of quickening. It's the fruit of being given that life. It's not the condition for it. We spent a long time about that last week. Some of the verses that I thought of this morning on that is John 1, 12, through 13, which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, but of God.

The one we looked at last week, 1 Corinthians 2.14, the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolish unto him, neither can he, for they are spiritually discerned.

John 6.44 and 65, no man come to the Father except he be drawn or given of the Father. So faith doesn't give life, life always gives faith.

So this receiving the testimony, brethren, is the consequence of divine quickening. We have to be born again. But notice the phrasing here. I say to our church all the time, Pay close attention whenever you're reading your scriptures, because every word does count. Look at the phrase hath received. He that hath received. He that hath received.

It isn't somebody who dug it up. It isn't somebody who studied it up. It wasn't somebody who had it transferred over to them in a seminary. You guys know my thoughts about seminaries. We don't receive because of the truthfulness of your preacher. We don't receive because of the truthfulness of a commentary.

Listen, I love commentaries. I got a bookshelf over here. It's got a few on there. And I've got a storage building. It's got about 15 times more books written by men. And a lot of them I love. A lot of them have been very encouraging and edifying. But brethren, they're not the truth.

And reading all those books is not gonna convince me and caused me to receive the testimony of God. It says here, he that hath received. So that tells me that the testimony is something that has to be received, and that receiving says, he that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true. So there is no setting to the seal that God is true, and I'm gonna eventually talk about that, whether it's today or next week or whatever, I don't know. But the setting to the seal, you have to first receive the testimony. Now, I look throughout scripture and I find that the scripture tells me that this receiving, or believing, it has to be given by God.

Look with me if you would, well, it's there already. Y'all don't have to turn here if you don't wanna keep turning. But John chapter five, whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is, and remember, Jesus Christ is the testimony. That's what we read over here.

And this is the record that God has given to us eternal life, that's Christ. That God has given to us Christ. He's given to us eternal life in the form of His Son. He's given to us eternal life in the form of His Spirit. Look, if you would, back into John again. One, whosoever believes that Jesus is Christ is born of God, is born of God. Act 1348 just come to my mind. All that have been ordained from eternal life believed. As many as, as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.

Yeah, you guys are throwing out a lot of scriptures there. I tell you what, let me entertain those. But as many as received him, brother Tito, John 1, 12, excellent scripture, to them gave he power to become sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.

John 17, eight, let's look at that one. That's brother Darrell. Oh man, I know what that one is, yeah. That's a good one too. Come on, Mike. For I've given unto them these words which thou gavest me, and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. Excellent scriptures, brothers. It's given by God.

But here's the thing I want us to look at. The believers receiving comes from an accomplished work already preceding the believing. I guess this is part two of last week. It's accomplished work, and I would say accomplished from the foundation of the world, but it's an accomplished work. It's not an ongoing human effort.

The believer's reception flows from an accomplished work, and the ongoing effect is an ongoing effect not because of your effort, but because of God's revealing it to you. See, you have to be born again first, and then you have to grow in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, right? Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God.

He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. Yeah, absolutely, brother. He has both the Father. Why does he have the Father? Because he has the Son. If you have the Father, you got the Son. If you got the Son, you got the Father, because he and the Father are one.

So, hath received is a perfect action That's quickening and faith given and a growth in that. And that growth comes by the revelation of Jesus Christ. What was Jesus doing whenever he took over the bridegroom here in our passage? He was taking those brethren and he was teaching those people all things whatsoever God hath commanded. He was teaching those brethren and he was teaching them, or as the scripture says, he was delivering unto them once the faith delivered to the saints. He was revealing those things to them. And brethren, we as his children are delivered to those things. We see in a glass darkly. And only as the Lord grows us in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, do the things of the scripture become more and more known, as God becomes more and more known.

What about that last section? Hath set to his seal. That's kind of weird. What does that mean? I'm actually kind of curious. There's several of you guys that I respect quite a bit that's on here. Well, as a matter of fact, everyone I see scrolling. I shouldn't say some of y'all, because then you're going to ask me, well, who are the ones you don't respect? Everyone that I see scrolling on here, I respect.

What do you think set to the seal means? See if it's what I think it means. I swear to the Lord, as long as he is upon me. There's definitely verses that go to that, brother. I think that's part of it. As I understand set to the seal, the word set to the seal, just in human terms, I guess, or in layman's terms, I don't want to say that because I might offend somebody if I use that term. I'm not preacher, me preacher, you layman. I don't mean it that way. I'm talking about in redneck terms.

Divine authentication. I think the scripture uses when something is sealed or set to the seal, It is a confirming of the authenticity of something. It is divine authentication that this is true. I also believe that when something is sealed, as in whenever we believe we are sealed with the spirit, It could mean actually all these things, but I do believe it confirms our authenticity.

Whenever someone believes, it confirms the authenticity that this person is a child of grace. Because as we've already read several times in 1 John 5, he that hath the son hath this testimony, believes this testimony, right? And preaches this testimony, right? So our believing, our receiving the testimony, believing it, and are delivering this testimony, are holding this testimony, and declaring this testimony. It's a confirmation of authenticity.

But brethren, I also believe that there's a connotation in scripture that this setting to the seal also means a mark of ownership. It means a mark of ownership. Do you remember, uh back in the olden days back in the olden days um they used to write letters and uh they would take those letters and they'd drop off an old piece or old uh dollop of wax where that letter would come together and that person would have a seal and they had smash that seal down in there as that wax would begin to harden. And so that wax did one thing. It sealed that envelope up of all the truth that was, or all the information that was contained within it. It marked that envelope or that letter as being authentic And then that seal itself was proof to somebody on the other end who was receiving it that this letter come from the owner of the letter.

So if it would be Mike Smith, whatever my seal is, I don't know what our family seal is. People have these family seals in their houses. I don't know what ours is. Maybe some fancy cursive writing that says Smith, I don't know. Maybe an anvil and a hammer because we all come from blacksmiths. I don't know that either.

Anyway, whatever the seal would be, that seal would be something that signified that this is coming from this person. But it also says this is truly being delivered from that person. hath set to the seal marks ownership. Whenever God puts it within the child of grace, his testimony, it marks his ownership of us. But also, whenever someone puts a seal upon something, It marks the finality of something. Do you remember back when I was talking about the scroll? The scroll was written on the front and on the back and it was sealed. There's nothing that is added to or nothing that is taken away from that testimony. Isn't there a Bible verse that talks about that? Nothing can be added to and nothing can be taken away. What God has done, nothing can be taken.

Can't remember where that's located off the top of my head. Whenever Jesus was handed that scroll, And again, I believe that this is just vivid imagery and signification. But whenever John was able to see that divine scroll being handed to Christ, Christ didn't open those seals and begin writing more stuff into it. Brother Larry always talks about this song in our services that they used to sing back whenever he was in some of those false churches, and we used to sing it, too, in the false churches that I was a part of in the past. There's a new name written down in glory, and it's mine. Yes, it's mine. Jesus doesn't take that scroll out and start writing down new names. The book of life isn't having names added to and scratched out.

No, that scroll was sealed, brethren, because God, once he declared all things, once his purpose was written down and declared, the king of kings, the God of gods, the creator of all things, the almighty sovereign, stamp that with his seal, that this is the testimony of God, and nothing is to be added to it.

It is final. Nothing's gonna change the course of history. Nothing is gonna happen by chance. Nothing is gonna happen by fortune. Nothing's gonna thwart his plan. God's not gonna have to step back and punt. He's not a goalie that's having to block off shots that's coming in that he don't want to happen. No, it's final.

He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true. It confirms the authenticity of what God has said is true. It confirms the authenticity that this is the child of grace because only a child of grace can believe it because he's the only one that has the lifeblood of God living in him. It sets a mark of ownership. that I belong to Christ Jesus and my testimony is only of Him.

And it's final. My final words is only what He said, not what someone else said. My words is what does He say. I was asked last night, there's a Facebook page that I see stuff on. I don't even think I'm a member of it, to be honest with you. Anyway, I made a comment on there and a guy come on and he said, he said, are we born saved? I said, well, in a sense, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely we are. We're born saved.

He said, well, how does that work? He said, so explain to me what your thoughts are on this, that, and the other. Anyway, he went on, conversation went on, and I said, it doesn't matter what I think. What does the scripture say? Brethren, it doesn't matter what I say. It doesn't matter, all these brethren, and listen, all these men that are on here right now, Brother Ty and Brother, Gabriel and brother Daryl, brother Larry, brother Ed, they make a lot of good comments on here. And a lot of them, I've read a lot more stuff on Facebook and YouTube and telephone calls and emails and text messages back and forth. These men are wonderful men, but all of us, have nothing to say unless we say what the scriptures say. Don't take our word for it. Don't take my word for it. Take God's word for it. What does God say?

He that hath received his testimony hath said to his seal that God is true. And if God is true, then everything that he has said about himself about himself being manifest in Christ, because that was part of it, right? This life is in his son, and everything that he has said about what his son has done, and who he has done it for, that's the testimony of God. And it says right here that the testimony of God is not received except for the child of grace. For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God, for God giveth not the spirit by measure unto him. Christ came and had all the words of God and the spirit wasn't given by measure. Brothers, the spirit is given to me if it is given to me, it's given by measure.

One of you guys has said something that's offended. Brother Gabriel, one of your things got blocked. I'm going to allow it to be shown. There you go. Guess you calling all men liars. That's why it blocked it. YouTube blocked that and said that I needed to view that message to let it go through. If more of those has happened, I haven't noticed it. But anyway, I'll go back and change that. Sorry, that broke my train of thought.

Oh, for he whom God has sent speaketh the words of God, for God giveth not the Spirit. I have the Spirit of God in measure. And a lot of times, brothers, I feel that it's in very small measure. And while I feel blessed and honored to be able to stand before men and proclaim the truth of scripture, if it be the truth, I'm really nothing. Man, I fail at a lot of things.

But I'm glad that there is a testimony that cannot be scarred by infirmities such as I have. I'm glad that there is a truth that is being taught by a teacher that never fails in his teaching, which Christ is. And I'm glad that whenever he does teach us, that nothing can stop that revelation, that nothing can stop that understanding.

And sometimes whenever that happens, men whom we love, women whom we love, and respect, and we begin to find disagreement with. And sometimes, you know, that can lead to disfellowship in some places. But I just pray that we understand the truth of this principle that we just seen this morning. And with loving, long suffering, bear with them as i pray that you that you know god would have you bear with me that god would peradventure give us all uh repentance and to the acknowledging of the truth well brother i really don't have a lot more to think about on this there's a few verses i wanted to I wanted to read, but man, I've went a long time already.

I went an hour and a half already, again today. All I can say is Romans chapter three and verse three says, let God be true and let every man be a liar. And if I don't speak according to the things of God, then let me be a liar. Take what I say as a lie, and you look to Christ and look to his word, let that be your rule of faith. All right, brethren, I think that's gonna be all for the day. Glad y'all joined in. Lord willing, we'll be back to gathering next Sunday.

Wanna remind anybody that's within our area The fifth Saturday fellowship that we were supposed to participate in yesterday was postponed due to still the ice and the weather over in Delaware, Oklahoma. They're going to attempt to have that again on February the 28th. So if you're in the area, our area, and want to attend that, it's in Delaware, Oklahoma.

It's just a little bit south of Coffeyville, Kansas. And just, it's north of Tulsa, straight north of Tulsa, but it's north of Nowata, Nowata, Oklahoma. When all that snow melts, they'll have a lot of water. Just north of Nowata, Oklahoma, a little bitty community out there, First Baptist Church, Delaware, Oklahoma.

Dear church there, a lot of good brethren that meet there. Love the pastor who pastors there. I've known him for quite some time now. That church, my uncle Tom Tanquer used to pastor that church, and they believe the doctrines of grace. They believe absolute predestination of all things, and it's always a blessing to get to go fellowship with them. They're going to be hosting this fifth Saturday fellowship.

If you want to attend that and you're in our area, I invite you on behalf of them, I'm sure that they wouldn't mind me saying that, I invite you to come join us. They'll be preaching throughout the morning, then lunch will be provided for everybody. We'll have time to sit around, visit, talk, and then there'll be some preaching in the afternoon. Usually we break out of there sometime around between three and five. There's also hymn singing that goes on.

So if anybody's in the area on February 28th, we'd love to have you and any of you, you brethren that are ever coming through Joplin, uh, on a weekend, you're more than welcome to join us. We do have services in our house. Uh, and, uh, uh, we can get you the, no. Tells the king, no, he doesn't come. uh if he comes you get to hear some good preaching i'm sure um but any of y'all that's ever coming through joplin really uh give me a holler and uh love to have some coffee and dinner with you.

My wife's a great cook. I'm sure she would be glad to whoop something up for you. Hopefully she don't come down and beat me on the head for promising that to you without asking her, but my wife is very hospitable. That's one of the gifts the Lord has given her, is the gift of hospitality, and it's very evident if you know my wife. But anyway, she and my kids, and especially my girls, Anyway, if they can whip up something for you to eat.

But anyway, if you're coming through, I'd really love to meet you guys. And Lord willing, hopefully one of these days we will get to meet again. I am looking forward to, there's a meeting out in West Virginia. in May and I'm hoping to get to go to that again. I started off for that last year to go to that and my stepmother passed away. while we were on our way out there. Me and my wife had to turn around and come back, and we didn't get to go out for that, but hoping to get to go to that again this year.

It's a blessed time of fellowship, which reminds me, be praying for Brother John Napier. He's having some health issues going on right now. I think they had to take him in to the hospital a couple of days ago. He's gonna have some procedures done here. soon, but be praying for that dear brother. I love him and the Lord and Brother Mike and that church. Bless the group of folks out there.

But anyway, they're going to be having a meeting the weekend after Memorial Day. So whatever that week is, it's going to be during that week and Friday, that Friday and Saturday. I don't have my calendar with me, so I can't pull up what days that is. I forgot. Let me pull up my deals real quick here. I believe that is the. 29th and 30th. Lake Resort. They've rented a place there, and so that's where they're going to have it.

So any of these places where you guys might be able to come and join us in fellowship or here in Joplin, we'd love to meet you guys. I'd love to meet all you guys in person. Brother Ty, and Brother Ed, and Brother Tito, and Brother Darryl. I know you guys are on here a lot. Yeah, Huntington, West Virginia is where they meet on a regular basis in Brother Mike's house, and they always rent a meeting room in like a hotel or something.

The last time I went, it was at like a Hampton Inn at one of their big meeting rooms. They rented that. This time they're doing it at Greenbow Lake Resort. You can Google that, look at it. If you want to come, they've reserved some rooms there. They've got 34 rooms total at that resort, and they've, I think, reserved like 15 or 20. And there's a code that you can give them, the church code that you can give them, and you can get the room for $99 a night there. which I have to stay in hotels a lot for work, and $99 is pretty cheap, especially for a decent room.

So, yes, yes, it's the Welch Track Church in West Virginia, not the one in Newark, Delaware, where Brother Dan O'Dell pastors now. It's the one in West Virginia. They're a church that was gathered and constituted out of the Welch track in the historic Welch track church.

But anyway, they're having that meeting and it's in Greenbow Resort Lake in Kentucky. It's actually in Kentucky. But all the brethren that live right around that area, West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky, they all come together right there and meet in Huntington, West Virginia. But if you're over anywhere close to that area, brother, it's just right outside of Asheville, Kentucky.

And I know a lot of brothers on Facebook that are Sovereign Grace believers that go to 13th Street Baptist Church there. They live within earshot of that resort lake. Anyway, any of y'all that are in that area, they're gonna be having a meeting. If you're old school and predestinarian like we are, I think you'll enjoy it. There's other churches that come to that meeting as well.

But anyway, all right. Anybody else got anything that you'd like to say or any comments? I haven't scrolled through any of the comments. Well, there's a lot of comments. Well, Brother Gabriel, you are talkative, sir. I love you, brother. I appreciate all these comments, too. You got to be watching this whenever you're on here, making these comments to know why you're saying what you're saying. Because when you go back and watch it after the fact, you don't know. But anyway.

All right, brethren, love you guys and the Lord. Brother Larry, hope to see you guys. Sister Heather, hope to see you all. Brother Dan, if you're watching, I don't know if Dan ever watches these or not, he's never said, but if you guys are watching, I look forward to seeing y'all, Lord willing, next week as Lord brings us back together. Hopefully there won't be no more winter weather. But anyway, gonna end that for today, brothers, and we'll see y'all next time.