When your pastor, Brother John,
read that article by Brother Joe Terrell, I remembered
reading something along that same line. I think it was by
Brother Henry Mann. But he said, I'm afraid sometimes
when we come together to worship God, we forget the guest of honor. Lord Jesus Christ. God don't
allow that to happen today. I've been blessed. What a privilege when we meet
in his name, feeling our need of him. And he's promised to
be in our midst. May he manifest himself to us
in our hearts this day. I failed to mention this last
night, and I want to correct that this morning. I failed to
thank your pastor, Brother John and his dear wife Kathy. They've
treated us, they couldn't have treated us any better. John and
I spoke on the phone, but we had never met until Thursday. Last Thursday when I came down
to Escalator and he and Kathy were there to meet me, they treated
me like I was somebody. And I think it's been a delight. It's been a delight to meet with
you and to worship you. With you, rather. Would you turn
with me to Philippians chapter 3? Philippians chapter 3. We'll be working our way down
to verses 8 and 9 in just a moment, so you just hold your Bibles
open there to Philippians 3. When I was a young boy, that's
been a little while, but growing up in the hills, mountains of
West Virginia, We didn't have all these things young people
have today to distract them. Devices, I think they're called,
like iPads and cell phones. We hardly had any phone at all
for a long time. We played games that didn't require
anything but ourselves. Hide and seek. Now that wasn't just in West
Virginia, I'm sure, hide and seek. You've heard of that. I
don't know that children do that anymore. But it only required
yourself and your friends. The seeker would count to a designated
number with their eyes covered, no peeking, while we all went
and hid. And then when they reached that
number, they would turn and say, Ready or not, here I come. God, by the prophet Amos, said
this. Therefore, thus will I do unto
thee, O Israel. And because I will do this unto
thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel. Wow. That's some serious business.
Prepare to meet thy God, ready or not. But here's what I want
to consider to answer the question, how can a sinner, like myself,
like you, how can a sinner hope to meet the holy God in acceptance
and peace? What hope can someone like I
have? Remember what God told Moses
at the burning bush, or I'm sorry, it wasn't at the burning bush,
when Moses asked God to show him his glory in Exodus 33. The
Lord God said, behold, there is a place by me, a place, singular,
and thou shalt stand upon a rock And it shall come to pass, while
my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in the cleft of the
rock and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by." There
is a place, a place where God will accept a sinner, a place
where God will not refuse a sinner, a place where a sinner can experience
sweet forgiveness and pardon. a place where grace reigns in
righteousness. I want to be in that place, don't
you? I want to be found in that place.
Oh, point me to that place. There's a place where mercy and
truth are met together, where righteousness and peace have
kissed each other, where those seemingly opposite attributes
meet and so unite in the salvation of sinners, And that place is
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Nowhere else. Peace by the cross
satisfies every demand of God's holy love. Was there ever an
assembly of divine qualities so brought together and so illustriously
displayed for man's salvation as in the person of Jesus Christ? Oh, the grace that drew salvation's
plan. Oh, the love that brought it
down to man. Oh, the mighty gulf that God
did span at Calvary. In Ephesians 1, speaking of the
power of God, in verse 20, which He wrought in Christ when He
raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand
in heavenly places. Yes, there is a place by me,
God said. Hebrews 9, for Christ is not
entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the
figures of the crew, but into heaven itself now, now, right
now, John, to appear in the presence of God for us, for us. I'm sure Alabama doesn't have
a monopoly on lawyers, I declare I think 9 out of 10 commercials
on TV is about some ambulance chasing lawyer. Oh child of God,
we have an advocate, a lawyer with, you talk about being well
represented. Thank God we're represented in
heaven by the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Yes, there is a place
where God has prepared to meet sinners. Christ is that one. Oh, that glorious one. Brother
Rex Bartley, he arranges to have fellows come and preach in the
church there in Danville, Grace Baptist, where Brother Doug Fortner
was the pastor for 40 years. He was my pastor for 20 of those
40 years. But when I'm there, and I think
just about When any other preacher is there, Rex will say, as they
come to preach, come up here, Larry, and brag on Jesus. Yes. Oh, that's what I want to
do, brag on Jesus. Christ sits at the right hand
of God Almighty. Glorious, glorious. Christ alone
occupies that place of sovereign majesty and absolute power. That is the only place where
there is a mediator. The only mediator between God
and man. That place where there is only
one advocate that God Almighty will hear. Only one. Only one. Where there stands
the ever-living High Priest that is able. I like that. He's able to say to the uttermost. To the uttermost. All, every
sin that comes unto God by Him, O dear dying Lamb, thy precious
blood shall never lose its power till all the ransomed Church
of God be saved to sin no more. Oh, what a Savior. In the Beloved,
God's marvelous grace calls me to dwell in this wonderful place. God sees my Savior, and then
He sees me, into beloved, accepted, and free. With that in mind,
is it any wonder we read these words by a sinner who's been
taught of God, make this his hope, this his only desire? Look at verse 8 here in Philippians
3. And I count all things, not just
the former things that he had mentioned that we'll look at,
but all things, but lost for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss
of all things, and do count them but done, that I may win Christ
and be found in him." Be found in him. not having mine own righteousness,
that's what he had at one time, which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God by faith. The title of my message is simply
Found in Him. Paul, as Saul of Tarsus, wanted
to be found in anything except Jesus of Nazareth. Saul of Carthage
hated Jesus of Nazareth. He was convinced, he had no doubts,
that Jesus of Nazareth was an imposter. He was a deceiver. He was a threat to Paul's religion. And he had determined he would
spend his life, his last breath, stamping out the very name and
memory of Jesus of Nazareth. Paul at one time wrapped himself
in his robe of self-righteousness. He spent his whole life weaving
that robe. And he thought in that robe surely,
surely he would be accepted by the Holy God. Listen to Paul. He sounds so much like that other
Pharisee, doesn't he? That one who stands away from
sinners, looks down his self-righteous nose. Can you imagine? And says, I thank you, God, that
I'm not like other men. That's exactly what Paul thought,
Saul of Tarsus thought. Listen, look at verse 4 here
in Philippians 3. Though I might also have confidence
in the flesh. If any other man thinketh he
have whereof, he might trust in the flesh. That's what works
religion is. Mike and I talked about this
last night in the fellowship hall. Call it what you will,
but it all falls under the same umbrella. There's only two religions. The religion of man's free will,
man's merit, man's works, which is nothing more nor less than
trusting in the flesh. That's exactly what it is. Exactly
what it is. And then there's the glorious
religion of God's free grace. God's free grace. That's where
I want to be found. Though I might have confidence
in the flesh, if any other man thinketh that he hath word, he
might trust in the flesh. Remember this, Paul says. You
bring what you're trusting in and compare it to what I trusted
in. Circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel of the
tribe of Benjamin. And Hebrew of the Hebrews are
touching the law of Pharisee. Concerning zeal, persecuting
the church. Touching the righteousness which
is in the law, blameless. Oh, but something happened that
changed Paul's tune, didn't it? Tick, tick. Tick, tick, God Almighty
said, Paul, Saul, you're going no further. Oh, proud rebel,
self-righteous Pharisee, tick, tick, you're coming down. You're going to bow before my
son. You're going to bow before King
Jesus, and you'll do it willingly. You'll be made willing in the
day of my power. Something certainly happened
to change Paul's tune, to put a new song in his mouth. Oh,
he once hated Jesus of Nazareth, and now he stands and says, I'm
determined to know nothing, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I want to tell of nothing else,
I want to hear of nothing else, except Christ my glorious Redeemer. My father used to say that to
me. If I was foolish enough, and I was, to balk against something
he told me to do, he would say, son, I'll bet I can change your
tune. And he was good at it. Oh, he was good at it. Jesus Christ in mighty grace
said this concerning solid parcels. He was included in those he spoke
of when he said, Pastor John, you've mentioned it in your lesson
this morning. All that the Father giveth me
might come to me. That's not how it reads, is it?
That's not been used. Oh, listen to the voice of that
one who spake like never a man spake. All that the Father giveth
me shall come to me. And him that cometh unto me I
will in no wise cast down. And O my soul, wonder of wonders,
Saul of Tarsus was one of those." Who would have thought it? Who
would have thought it? Jesus Christ in mighty grace
said concerning Saul of Tarsus, he's one of those that the Father
gives me. He will come to me. Amazing grace. Brothers and sisters in Christ,
as you know, The loss of one soul that God
Almighty entrusted into the hands of His Son. If that one soul,
out of a multitude that no man can number, if that one soul
should be plucked from the Great Shepherd's hand, if He should
lose that one soul, it would tarnish His crown forever. And that just can't be. That
just can't be. That's impossible. Because this
blessed truth is founded in the covenant which is ordered in
all things and sure. We can trust in it. We can fall
down on that. Nothing can touch that. Listen
again to his powerful voice. The voice of the Son of God.
And other sheep I have which are not of this fold, Them also
I'm gonna try to bring. If they'll cooperate with me,
if they'll open their heart. Again, that's the religion of
fleshly free will. Oh no, the great shepherd speaks
so much differently. No, listen to what he said. Them
also I must bring. Could words be any plainer? And
the only person that has a problem with that, perhaps I'm speaking
to one this morning, The only person that has a problem with
God's sovereign grace is a rebel. Is a rebel. That's the only one
that kicks against it. Oh, the sheep rejoice when they
hear. Other sheep I have which are
not of this fold, them also I must bring. And they shall hear my
voice, and there shall be one fold and one I can't hear any
suggestion in those words that it won't be accomplished. Can
you? Not a hint that the great shepherd will do anything less
than to bring all his sheep back to the father's house. As Moses
said to Pharaoh, there's not going to be a hoof left behind. There's no compromise here. No
compromise. This is what happened to Saul
of Tarsus. This is why he changed his tune.
He that is mighty to save came to Saul and brought him down. Just as he did to me. Just as
he did to you. Just as he does to all his sheep
that he calls. Oh, as the old hymn writer expressed
it. Brother Moose Park sings this
and I'm sure you've heard it. Hail sovereign love that first
began. The scheme to rescue fallen man
held matchless, free, eternal grace that gave my soul a hiding
place. Against the God who rules the
sky, I fought with hand up left and high, despised the mention
of his grace. Yes, I did. Too proud to seek
a hiding place, but thus, tick, tick. But thus, the eternal counsel
ran. almighty love, arrest that man. Saul of Tarsus. Listen to Saul's
tune now. A new song has been put in his
mouth, even praise to God, but what things, verse 7, here in
Philippians 3, but what things were gained to me, those I count did for them what he did for
Adam and Eve when he removed their fig leaves of their own
making and put upon them what he himself provided. And the
eyes of them both were opened, we read in Genesis 3 and 7, again
joined up with this Friday evening. And they knew that they were
naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves
aprons. And their children have been
doing the same thing since that day. That was the work of their
own hands. It was the best they could do,
but God Almighty wouldn't accept it. Isn't it strange? What a strange person being God
must be according to man's concepts of him. Why, he'll accept anything. He doesn't require much. You
know, you're good-intentioned? Yeah, that'd be okay. No, not
the God of Scripture. Not the true God. The true God
of Scripture, He won't accept just anything. You know what?
He's hard to please. God Almighty is hard to please. I used to again think that about
my father. Man, not to his face, but I would
think, man, he's hard to please. God Almighty is so hard to please
that He won't accept anything other than absolute perfection. That's right. That's exactly
right. Now you bring your decisions,
your baptisms, your five points or whatever. Now you measure
it up to that. Unless it's absolutely perfect. Unless every thought you've ever
had, every word you've ever spoken, every deed you've ever done,
unless it's absolutely perfect, not by religious standard, but
by God Almighty's standard. Unless it's absolutely perfect,
God won't accept it. God won't accept it. Again in Genesis 3, we read,
Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of
skins, and he clothed them. And like Saul of Tarsus, who
once clinged to that robe of self-righteousness, he throws
it away, that robe of his self-righteous works, his religious tradition,
and did you read what Paul called it? That that he once treasured? He said it's done. Done. D-U-N, done. That's how Paul
looked at it now. Paul, how in the world If you
throw that away, if you throw that robe away, how do you hope
to appear before God without those things? And Paul's answer
is this, I found something better. I found something so much better. It's this, now, now, I want to
be found in Him. Oh, I like those words, don't
you? Found in Him. Not with my own
righteousness, oh no, but clothed in that perfect righteousness,
that absolute perfect righteousness of the Son of God himself, found
in him. Oh, and he shall come with trumpet
sound. Oh, may I then in him be found,
dressed in his righteousness alone, fought lest to stand before
the throne. Oh, on Christ the solid rock
I stand. Let the winds blow. The waters
rise, on Christ a solid rock I stand, all of the ground is
sinking sand. Several of you have asked me
about the parsonage that was flooded twice, and I appreciate
your prayers on our behalf. But in a span of six or eight
weeks between the first flood and the second flood, we were
within probably a week or two of moving back in after the restoration
from the first flood and the second came. You know what I
thought? Because we weren't home either
time. God didn't allow us to be there. When we walked in and
saw it, first thing I thought, the Lord said it upon the flood.
The Lord said it to King forever. It didn't take him by surprise.
It overwhelmed me and my dear wife, but it didn't overwhelm
God. And like your pastor talked this
morning from Romans 8 and 28, I don't know how that's going
to work for my good and His glory, but by faith I trust that it
will. Why? How can we know? Because God
said so. He doesn't say you'll figure
it all out. He said you know because I said so. And God cannot
lie. God cannot lie. So it must be
for our good. Paul says that he now stands
before God dressed in a perfect righteousness. Oh, he's now like
every other sinner, like that starving, returning prodigal
in Luke 15. His father, his father who had
been watching for him, had been looking down that dusty road
day after day. Oh, he looked before the prodigal
ever left that pigpen. And when he came home, his father
took off those stinking, filthy rags That's a picture of our
righteousness, our self-righteousness. And he commanded his servants
to do this for that rebel. Bring forth the best robe. The best robe. And put it on
who? That prodigal. That rebel. Cover
his stench. Put on the best robe and put
a ring. reconciliation on his hand and
shoes on his feet, and bring forth hither the fatted calf
and kill it, and let us eat and be merry. Oh, that lesson you
brought the other night, John, and Friday evening from Zeppelin
Island. My, so I thought about that so
much. God shall rejoice over thee with singing. God's people
give him joy. Joy, isn't that, that's hard
to imagine, isn't it? For this my son, the father said,
was dead, and he's alive again. He was lost, and he's found. And they began to make Mary the
best robe. This is it. For God had made
Jesus Christ to be sin for us who do no sin, that we might
be made the very righteousness of God in him. Oh, no wonder
Paul says, I want to be found in Christ. because that is the
place of no condemnation, the only place. There is therefore
now, Romans 8 and 1, there is therefore now no condemnation
to them who are in the church, them who are in the water, them
who are in the doctrine, oh no, to them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Believers
by their virtue, their union with Him, are secure. They are in Christ Jesus as in
the city of refuge. So the avenger of blood can't
touch them. Can't touch them. There is therefore,
because we're in Christ, because we're justified from all sin,
because we've been crucified with him and risen with him and
are sitting now representative with him in heaven, no condemnation. Oh, blessed be God, the verdict
is in. For God's people, the verdict
is in. Not guilty. Not guilty. Oh, I like that. Blessed be God. No condemnation. Where there's no guilt, there
can be no condemnation. His righteousness so completely
is ours that we are made the righteousness of God in Him.
No condemnation from all my past sins. No condemnation from my
present sins. I hear people talk, religious
folks usually talk this way. Drunks and harlots don't. But
religious folks do when they say, well, I did that when I
was a sinner. I went there when I was a sinner.
We are still sinners. I'm sorry to do this. Oh, no,
I'm not sorry at all. No, let me tell you, we are still
sinners. I mean, you've heard it said,
and I hope it's not a mock humility. I hope it's not that wicked weed,
John, that grows anywhere, pride, and it flourishes in pulpits.
Oh, but I hope it's not a mockery when I say to you, there is enough
sin committed by me this morning trying to preach this message
that without Christ would doom me to hell forever. There's enough
pride mixed with this. You know, I mean, I can say,
oh, I'm so humble, I'm so humble and proud of it. Oh no, no, no. No condemnation for my present
sins. And no condemnation, oh my soul,
for all my future sins. Jesus Christ washed all my sins
away. They're gone. They're gone. In
Christ, our text declares complete absolution from guilt and freedom
from all possibility from condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. because we're in Him. We who
trust the Son of God are in Him, and therefore, because we are,
we can never be condemned. In Christ is our federal head
and substitute. In Christ by a vital union. In Christ by a marriage union.
I am His, and He is mine. Christ is our ark. Oh, the believer
is in Christ as Noah was in the ark. enclosed in the ark with
the heavens darkening above him and the waters heaving beneath
him. Yet not one drop of the flood
penetrated that vessel. Not a blast of the storm touched
no one. Jesus Christ is my ark. He's
my ark. God's wrath fell on my ark. The Lord Jesus Christ, therefore
I'm free. Now, now the text tells us This
is how old Thomas Brooks put it, better than I can. The law
cannot condemn a believer, for Christ has fulfilled the law
for him. Divine justice cannot condemn
him, for that Christ has satisfied. His sins cannot condemn him,
for they are in the blood of Christ imparted. And his own
conscience, upon righteous grounds, cannot condemn him, because Christ
that is greater than his conscience has acquitted him, oh again,
in the beloved, how safe my retreat. In the beloved, accounted complete,
who can condemn me? In him I am free, savior and
keeper forever is he. Here's another thing, to be found
in Christ is to lack nothing God requires. Your pastor in
the Bible class this morning already read the verses expressing
that blessed thought But of him are you in Christ Jesus, 1 Corinthians
1 and 30. Who of God has made in us wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Did he leave
anything out? Sounds like we're complete. That
according as it is written, let him glory in the Lord. Glory in him. In Christ Jesus. Our being in Christ Jesus is
altogether God's Word. Only He can put us in His Son.
Our saving union with Christ is not the result of something
we've done. It's not the result of something
we've done. We're not in Christ because we were wiser or better
or made a better choice than others. No, we're in Christ because
God put us in Christ. He did it before the foundation
of the world. When people kick against that,
and they will, and they do, I sometimes wonder, How else could God act? People here would, you mean to
tell me God chose the people? Well, that's not fair. That's
not fair. How else could God act? I mean,
does he wake up in the morning like I do with a new idea? Does
he have to back up and punt? I mean, if he does something
today, his brother Mike's saying, And since He is the immutable
God that changes not, He must have had determined to do it
before today, all the way back before the foundation of the
world. That's what free grace does. It puts the crown upon
the Lord Jesus Christ. It gives the glory to the one
from whom we receive all the grace. And it's a glorious message,
is it not? The gospel of God's salvation. Free grace. Salvation is God's
Word. that according as it is written,
again, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. And of
course that's taken from Jeremiah 9. Thus saith the Lord, let not
the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory
in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches. Let
him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth
me. I don't suppose it would shock
you at all to hear this hillbilly tell you and confess, you could
fill up this building writing down on paper all the things
that I don't know and that I don't understand. Oh, but I know this. I know this. I know whom I have
believed. I know who's able to keep me
from falling and to present me faultless before the throne of
God. I know my Savior the Lord Jesus Christ, and like Simon
Bar-Jonah, I only know this because flesh and blood didn't reveal
it to me, but my Father, which is in heaven, God Almighty, how
in the world can I ever get over this? God forgive me that days
and weeks and months glorious thought that God Almighty
revealed His Son to this sinner, Larry Criss. I've got two first
names. Nothing distinguished about that.
If I told you I'm the son of James Criss, he was a coal miner
back in West Virginia, you wouldn't have a clue. Nobody ever heard
of him or me. But God Almighty knew me. He
knew my name. And He revealed to me Tick, tick,
tick, rebel, the day's the day. You've gone far enough. Come
down, come down, and He revealed His Son in me. Blessed, blessed grace, in the
beloved accepted am I, risen, ascended, and seated on high,
saved from all sin through His infinite grace, with the redeemed
ones afforded the place. This is the last thought. To
be found in Christ is to be accepted and to be loved. Ephesians 1
and 6, that the praise of the glory of His grace were in He,
that is God, have made us accepted and to be loved. There is an
everlasting, indissolvable, immutable union between the Lord Jesus
Christ and His people. We're married. We're married. And what God put together No
man can put a sun down. We are one with Christ. One with
Christ. When Christ suffered and died
under the wrath of God, we suffered and died under the wrath of God.
We were one with Christ. When He was buried in the earth,
we were buried in the earth. When the Son of God arose from
the dead, we arose with Him, triumphant. Isn't that what we
read in Ephesians 2? When He ascended into heaven,
and took his place at the right hand of the majesty on high,
and we ascended with him, and sat down with him in his father's
throne as the rightful possessions of heaven and earth." I hear
people talk, and strangely enough, by some strange logic, they think
such talk honors God, and it does the very opposite. Folks
say, oh, my dear, dear grandma, All they ever heard out of her.
Oh, I hope I make it. I just don't know if I'm gonna
make it. She professed to be a believer, one of the few that
I was aware of. And honestly, I think I told
y'all this the other day, that was the only contact I had with
anybody that professed to be a Christian, and she just looked
like she was sucking on lemons all the time, or like her shoes
were too tight. She was just miserable. And I
thought to myself, but that's what being a Christian is. You
can have it. You can have it. Oh, but thank
God it's not so. And it's no wonder. No wonder.
People who think they're working their way to heaven, they're
miserable. They must be unless they're insane.
They have to be miserable. Oh, but I hope on her deathbed,
my mother called me to And this was the talk of my poor grandmother,
oh Larry, what if when I get before God, there's one sin that
I forgot about, that I didn't repent of. Works, works, it's
no wonder she didn't have any peace. She wasn't looking to
the prince of peace, the only one that can give a sinner peace.
Thank God, he is our peace. Brother Lindsey Campbell, your
pastor said for me to ignore the clock. So if I go a little
long in your opinion, and we all got one, you take it up with
your pastor. But I'm drawing to a close. Brother Lindsey Campbell, he
was a faithful, faithful man in the church that Brother Don
Portner pastored for 40 years. And a year or two after Don went
to glory, Lindsey followed him. But every year, Lindsey would
have his family reunion. He had several brothers, and
they would come to Danville. And included in their reunion,
they would have a golf outing. And the Campbells would take
on whoever they would invite to play in the outing. And on
one occasion, we were going to meet. He asked me to play. And
we were going to meet at the Danville Country Club. That's
a private club. I'd never been there. They don't
let riffraff in. But I went and was standing in
the clubhouse waiting for the other people to come. And I got
there early just looking around. And this guy I noticed kept kind
of eyeballing me. And a little bit, he swallowed
up to me and said, do I know you? I said, no, I don't think
so. He said, are you from around here? I said, I don't live too
far away. He said, are you a member of this club? I said, no, sir,
I'm not. He said, you know this is a members only club. You can't
play here if you're not a member. About that time, Lindsey came
through the back door and I said, I'm with him. Oh, it's okay then. Oh yes, Lindsey, if he invited
you, it's all okay. Brothers and sisters, when that
time comes, tick tick, and time shall be no more. And all mankind
are ushered before a thrice holy God. And the dead, small and
great, stand before God, and they're being judged out of the
books that are written according to their works. And the sea is
giving up the dead, and death and hell deliver up the dead
which is in them, and they're being judged every man according
to their works. And death and hell are being
cast into the lake of fire, and whosoever is not found written
in the book of life, will be cast into the lake of fire. Oh,
what a joy it's going to be for this sinner to point to Jesus
Christ and say, I'm with Him. I'm with Him. And God the Father
will say, enter into the joy prepared for you from the foundation
of the world. The only hope a sinner has is
to be found in Him. Let me give you one more West
Virginia story. And I'm done. How many other
preachers come around here that have stories about West Virginia?
I'm probably the first. But when I was a young boy, my
friends and I, we caddied at a golf course. It was the only
way, really, to make any spend of money. And in the summer after
we caddied, we would go to the theater. We'd walk, four or five
of us. Nobody can pick up four or five
people. young fellas, but we go to the movies and the mummy
or Frankenstein, the werewolf, and then we walk home after dark.
And I live up a hollow. We called it a holler. I was
preaching in Danville several years ago and I mentioned the
hollow of West Virginia and this young fella sat next to me after
the service over lunch And he was from California. I don't
remember his name or what part. But he asked me, he said, I enjoyed
your message. But man, my soul buddy, what's
a hollow? A hollow. I said, you don't have
them in California? But anyway, we at that time lived
in the last house in the hollow. The road dead ended in our house.
So if we saw a car coming around the bend there, we either knew
they're coming to see us or they're just lost. Couldn't be any other
reason. But my buddies and I would come
to the mouth of the hollow. And they lived over the hill
in what was called the coal camp. That's where all our daddies
worked in the coal mines. But I had to walk up that hollow
by myself. Man, before I took the first
step, hey Larry, don't let that worm get you. Look at that full
moon. He gonna get you. Watch out.
I'm not afraid of no werewolf. I can give him one of those.
But man, just as soon as they were out of sight, and I started
walking down that road, an old red dog road, I was scared to
death. I was scared to death. Oh, that's
the werewolf. That's the werewolf. And man,
there'd be a rustle in the leaves, and I'm laying them down. I'm
picking them up and laying it down. And the next thing I know,
I'm ramming that bin, that last bin in the road. And there's
our house. And Mom's got the porch light
on. And I go in, go upstairs in the attic. I had my bedroom. And Mom would come up. And she
would tuck me in. And she would take that old bedspread
and throw it up. And it would just come floating
down around me, tuck it in, and I wasn't afraid anymore. I wasn't
scared anymore. And that's exactly what Paul
told us, didn't he? In that day, I want to be found
in Him, wrapped up in Him. Oh, brothers and sisters, with
His holy garments on, we are as holy as God's own Son. And me and his son, we have every
right. God's given us a right to enter
in through the gates into the city. Oh, what a day that will
be when my Jesus I shall see. When I look upon the face of
the one who saved me by his grace. Oh, what a day, glorious day
that will be. God bless you.