Oh, God forbid that we should
sing meaningless words. Let's sing from the heart. Oh, God. Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
bears all its sons away. They fly forgotten as a dream.
Oh, God. Our help from ages past, our
hope for years to come, be our guide while life shall last in
our eternal home. Let's sing it from the heart.
Everyone that does, God will hear you. Look at 1 Samuel with
me. I told you a week or so ago that
I wanted everyone to hear this, and I'm glad to see most everyone
here. old and young. This is a story,
1 Samuel 3, this is a story that took place over 3,000 years ago. But it's still happening today.
Exact same story. The title of this is When the
Lord Calls. When the Lord Calls. This is
a story of a dark and evil day. The story of a chosen few, a
man and his wife and son, knew and worshipped the Lord. The story of a young boy called,
the Lord actually called a young boy, and he served the Lord. He knew
the Lord from his youth. You know, today's my birthday.
I wish it wasn't. I appreciate your cards and letters
and all that. I appreciate it. I appreciate
your love and kindness and all that. But what I'd wish more
than anything in this world is that today would be someone else's
birthday. A new birth. This is how he does
it. It's up to him. This is a story
of a man and a woman and their son living in a wicked world. It was wicked. Jerusalem. Religious, but wicked. They worshipped
a goddess named Ashtoreth. They did. Balaam, god of this
world. Ashtoreth means love and prosperity. But it was wicked. It was wicked
because of religion, because of corrupt religion. The sons
of Samuel, of Eli, the sons of Eli were corrupt men. They were
extortioners. Wicked. And this day, this time
was evil. And brothers and sisters, there's
never been a darker day and a more evil time than now. You say,
it's always been wicked. Yes, it has. But not to the extent
it is now. Right before the flood, God said,
the whole world has corrupted my way. The truth. So the whole
world was populated. It was full of violence. And
the Lord said, as in the days of Noah, so shall the last days
be. The whole world. When this was
written, the whole world was unpopulated. Okay. It is now. The sound has gone
throughout the world. This is a dark and evil day. Verse 1 of chapter 3 says, The
child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. The Word
of the Lord was precious in those days. There's no open vision. The Word of the Lord. There's
no open vision today. The Word of the Lord. God's not
speaking out loud to anybody. I don't care what these fellows
say. They're liars. God speaks one
way through His Word. And you know, we're living in
a day when the Word of God is very precious. It's very scarce.
That means very rare. It's hard to find. Just the pure,
unadulterated, sincere milk of God's Word, the actual Word of
God. It's been translated away. explained away, it's been done
away. Places like Methodist and Catholic,
they don't even use a Bible. Our Lord said here, I'll send
a famine in the land, not a famine of bread or a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of the Lord. And he said they're going
to have to wander from sea to sea, from north to east, and
run here and there to try to find the Word of God. It's so
scarce, it's so rare. The Word of God during Samuel's
day was very precious. Is the Word of God precious to
you? Is it? Precious means valuable. What's the Word of God mean to
you? What you're hearing right now,
what does it mean to you? Beyond my highest joys, I prize
her heavenly ways, her sweet communion, and solemn vows, her
hymns of love and praise." The church, the gospel. A dark and
evil day. Israel was immoral, corrupt,
perverted, twisted, sick. Society was sick. Eli was an old man. The priests
and their sons were wicked and extorted the people. Religion
was worse than ever. Evil men, seducers waxed worse
and worse. Very dark. You know, very soon
after this story, right after the chapter four, read chapter
four for yourself. It was awful that the ark was
taken away. The ark is the gospel. It was
removed. It's gone. No more ark. No more worshiping
God. Lord, don't take the gospel from
us, please. But there was a chosen few. There
were a chosen few in the midst of this corrupt, dark day. A man and his wife. A few. And their son, Elkanah, Hannah,
Samuel. Three chosen few. A man, his
wife, and his child. They knew the Lord. They worshipped
the Lord. Why? Why did they know the Lord? Because the Lord revealed Himself
to them. Right? Some of you have never met my
brother. Okay? Some of you have. You've
met him, haven't you? He's appeared to you. He's been
revealed to you. You've known him. But some of
you don't know my brother, right? Never seen him, have you? Well,
you say, I don't believe you have a brother. Well, I don't
care. And he doesn't care. Right? What does it matter what
you think? He lives. And the only way you're
going to know him is if he reveals himself to you. Does he have
to? You say, I don't believe him. I won't believe him until
he reveals himself to you. Why should he? God is. Christ is. I don't believe it. I haven't
seen him. Let him show himself. Why should it? This hand is clear. This eternal power of God is
clearly seen everywhere. And he revealed himself to this
man and this woman, Elkanah, and his wife Hannah. There are few people, there are
a chosen few in this world, few compared to the general population,
but many, a multitude which no man can number. God is so merciful.
God is merciful in revealing Himself to one, let alone many. You know, this is a blessed church. Don't get in the numbers game,
people, okay? Don't judge the Lord by feeble
sin. Don't judge Him by numbers. There
was a church years ago that had eight members. And it was the
most blessed church on the planet. Noah and his ark. And Noah was so happy, brother. He was so happy his family was
in that ark. And he thought, we're so blessed
over all the people on the earth. Don't get in that numbers. God
has blessed this church. If you find two or three people
met in the name of Jesus Christ and where the gospel is, what
a blessed people. The Lord sure is blessing that
place. Chosen few. This man, his wife
named Hannah, that means a gift of God. The grace of God. Samuel. A gift of the Lord. Added. Chosen man. They were worshiping the Lord.
They were worshiping the Lord. Look at chapter 1, verse 3. It
says this man went up out of the city yearly to worship and
sacrifice unto the Lord. Israel wasn't doing that. Remember,
they were worshiping Ashtoreth and Balaam. But this man, he
went to worship the Lord Jehovah, the true and living God. He knew
the living and true God. That's salvation. And the Christ. Verse 19. They rose up early
in the morning and worshiped. What are we doing here this morning?
Why did you come here? Why did you come here? Really?
To worship the Lord? True people of God. You know,
God seeketh such to worship Him. They worship Him in spirit. They
rejoice in Jesus Christ. And no confidence in the flesh.
No flesh. Get the flesh out of here. No confidence in the flesh. True
worshipers. They were praying. Hannah prayed. Look at verse
10 of chapter 1. Hannah, she was in bitterness
of soul. She prayed unto the Lord and
wept soul. Anybody? Sin and the world make you bitter.
Anybody? Sin within and without. Does
anybody make you bitter? You weep. Has your laughter been
turned to mourning over your own sin, over the sin around
you, over your lost children? Anybody? Anybody weeping? What do you do? I haven't yet decided on the
verse for tomorrow morning. I'll think about that ahead of
time. I want it to be a blessing. Thought about 2 Chronicles 20. They all stood before the Lord,
their little ones, their wives, their children, and said, Our
eyes are upon you. We don't know what to do. What a message that
is. We don't know what to do. They're
praying. Hannah was praying. What was
she praying for? Verse 11. She vowed a vow. She
said, Lord, if you give me a child, I'll give him to you all the
days of his life. You give me a child, I give him
to you. Verse 22, she went up. She said, I'll not go with the
child. The Lord gave her a child. She said, I'm going to bring
him before you. I want him to appear before you forever. Verse 27, she prayed for the
child. The Lord gave it to her and said,
Lord, as long as he liveth, he's yours. What's she praying for? That
the Lord will give her a child and that child will belong to
the Lord. What are we praying for? You
have children. What's your prayer for your children?
What do you hope for your children? What are your dreams, your hopes
for your children? What do you want for your children
more than anything else? Come on now. If the Lord has
given you a child, or hasn't given you a child, what do you
want in a child? You know, there's one thing. One thing they need for them.
If the Lord doesn't reveal Himself to them, they don't know the
Lord, and serve the Lord, and worship the Lord. They're just
another person cumbering the ground. Just another person living
for themselves, living in sin. You know that? This whole world
lives for itself. Self. Well, they brought their
son. The Lord gave them a child and
they brought that son to worship with them every time. They brought
that son. They brought Samuel to worship
with them and serve the Lord. Look at chapter 2, verse 18. It says, Samuel ministered before
the Lord. I want young and old to listen,
and I want you to read this with me now. Everybody, all you young
people, I want you to look at the Bible and read it with me.
Verse 18. Samuel's just a child. He's just
about six years old now. Six! Josh's age. Josh, six? Seven? Eight? Okay. Sorry about that. Anyway, verse 18, Samuel ministered
before the Lord, being a child. He ministered before the Lord.
Chapter 3, verse 1, the child Samuel ministered under the Lord.
What do you mean he ministered under the Lord? You know, it says down in verse
7, chapter 3, Samuel did not yet know the Lord. He didn't
know the Lord, but he ministered under the Lord. Are you reading
that? Did you read it? Young people,
did you read that? Did you? Samuel didn't know the
Lord. But he's ministering unto the
Lord. He's serving the Lord. What's that mean? What's that
mean? Well, listen to me now. All creation
was created to serve God. This whole universe was created
by God to serve what? His glory. That's why He made
it. To serve His glory. To please
God. For thy pleasure they are and
were created. Everything was created to give
God the glory. Man was created to serve God,
to serve His glory. It was His creation. Oh, Romans
1 talks about He didn't give glory to God, but worshiped to
serve man instead of the Creator. He came lifted up with pride. There's never been a more selfish,
godless, self-serving, ungrateful, unthankful, spoiled, demanding,
useless generation than the one we're living in now. 2 Timothy 3 says we're living in
the last days. The first thing it says, lovers
of self, heady, high-minded, proud, boasters. Everybody's
got something to say. The biggest forum for social
media is Facebook. Look at my face. And it's an abomination to God
Almighty. Cover your face. Look at me. Ain't I something? Pride is a
thing God hates more than anything else. You know that? Six things
the Lord hates, yet seven are abomination. I can't say this
with enough gravity, because these are the last days, and
the thing that typifies that more than anything else is, number
one, lovers of self. What's the picture people take
more than any other? God hates a proud look. Young
people, get the proud look off your face. If you're tall, if
you're handsome, if you're strong, do you have anybody in your school
sitting in a wheelchair? Do you? Are you an athlete? Is
there anybody that can't walk in your school? Who made you
different? Huh? Are you pretty? Are you
popular? Is there anybody in your school
people scoff at and laugh at? Sitting in a wheelchair disfigured?
Why? God hates a proud look. Hates
it. Get that look off your face now.
Come before his presence in meekness and humility. Be done with your
face. You got pictures of yourself
all over there? Get them off. You don't want people to see
your face. You want people to see the face of Jesus Christ.
That's the only purpose or use that's any good for that forum,
is to proclaim the gospel. I'm telling you the truth. Would
you listen to me? Adults alike. It's just generations. Selfish. We come out of the womb. You
know what we come out of the womb doing? Mine. Mine. And parents indulge that. Parents
end up giving what he wants, so he quit crying. No, you need
to correct that right now. It's not about you. This world's
not about you. Life's not about you. It doesn't
revolve around you, and you're nothing. You're just one of billions
just like you. And you're worthless unless you're
a son of the Most High. Unless you're serving His glory
and His honor, you're cumbering the ground. Am I telling the
truth? This generation needs to hear
what I'm saying right now more than ever. This young boy, he
was taught to worship. He was brought to the house of
God and he was taught to fear the Lord. Fear the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom. He was taught to reverence the house of God. He was dressed in a linen ephod.
His mother made him a little coat every year because he kept
growing. Does it matter how you dress? Yes, it does. Yes, it does. You're coming in
the presence of God. You approach Him unlike any other
with reverence and fear and respect and protocol, dignity and honor. If you don't dress, then let
it be sackcloth. Sackcloth. This young boy was
taught to sit. He was taught to listen. Boy,
that's an unheard of thing today, isn't it? He was taught to sit,
be quiet, listen. This is the Word of God. This
is the worship of God. This is our life. I want you
to hear this, son Samuel. Listen. Hannah was a woman that
prayed unto God with all her heart. She had a burden for this
child. She prayed. What's our burden
for? Brothers and sisters, these children
are our children. Let's pray for them. Give Him
no rest. Give Him no rest until they know
Him, until they serve in Him, until they're singing these songs
from the top, from their heart. Samuel was told to sing. So I
want to ask this question. Should I make my children sing?
Do they have breath? Do they have breath? The last
verse in the Psalms, the last line says, Let everything that
hath breath Praise the Lord. Yes, make them sing. The birds
sing. Everything. The clouds sing. The trees clap their hands. The
ocean sings its praise. How much more should we and our
children? Tell them. Sing, son. Sing, daughter. Sing. You know what may happen
like me? I was told, I was forced to come
My parents loved me so much, they forced me to come hear the
Word of God. My parents loved me and cared for me so much,
they forced me to hear the Word of God, to come to worship. You know what happened? God called
me, like this boy, one day, and I answered Him. This really is the power of God.
This really is how God speaks. Sit and listen. Sing. You know, it could be these songs. Don't you love these songs? Don't
you love... I told men the other day I woke up singing a song.
I said, I love when that happens. It doesn't always happen. Don't you love when a song of
Zion or a spiritual song comes up in your mind and it's good
for you? It will drive the demons away.
Don't you love when that happens? Or if it doesn't, start singing.
These are songs. Speaking to yourselves in songs
and hymns and spiritual songs. Making music and melody in your
hearts unto the Lord. Sing. Tell our children. And
it may be... I remember singing these songs.
And there were certain songs when I was a child that I loved.
I loved to hear it. I loved one that we don't sing
anymore. Over the Sunset Mountain. Oh, I loved that song. and others. Some of these young people used
to send me requests to sing songs. I loved that. But it may be,
when they get older, it may be that song, that song, you know,
God, the Word is in these songs we sing. The truth is in these
songs we sing. It may just be, sister, that
in their older days, if they don't know the Lord, that song
will come up in their heart. and arrest their mind and arrest
their heart and tell them that prodigal, bring that prodigal
back and sit them in the pew and make them hear the gospel.
Sing! You'll be glad you did. He served the Lord. What did
he do? He helped Eli out. He swept the temple. He washed
dishes. He cut the grass. He washed the
windows. He took out the garbage. A boy,
a young person, We all benefit from this building,
though. We all benefit. Are you glad
we have this place? Well, somebody's got to take
care of it. Somebody's got to pay for it. Somebody's got to
clean it. Do you enjoy the food and things
when we get together? Do you enjoy it? Somebody's got
to cook it. Somebody's got to wash the dishes. Somebody's got
to pay the light bill. We have church workdays. Should our children come? Do
they use the facility? It's our reasonable service.
And oh, you know what may happen? If the Lord speaks to you and
reveals Himself to you, that you'll get to be old like me,
and you'll get a work day. Good! Oh boy, the people of God
will get together. And it's not work, is it? It's not work when God's people
meet together. A drudgery? There's nothing on
earth like that. They forced Samuel to come. And
he did. He served the Lord. He helped
Eli happen. And you know what? God called
him. God called him. Your children don't want to come
on their own. And they will not come unless you bring them. Should
you? The Lord shall not come and call
them otherwise. And Samuel did it willingly.
Look at chapter 2, verse 26. It said, The child Samuel grew
on and was in favor with the Lord and also with me. The word,
the gospel, the truth has a restraining influence. Oh, my. You know, if you'd be
willing and obedient, you'll eat the good of the lamb. That doesn't mean the Lord will
save your soul. It just means you'll eat the
good of the lamb. If not, rebels, you're going to have nothing
but trouble. The way of the transgressors, it's going to be hard. Hard. God's promise. Okay. This man and his wife,
godly parent, they taught their son in the Word. They taught
him by example. They brought him. They talked
to him. They lived by faith. They walked by faith. Hannah
wanted one thing for Samuel. One thing. And she brought him.
She brought him. And that's what we want for our
children. Well, look at this. The call of the Lord. Look at
verse 1 of chapter 3. The child Samuel ministered unto
the Lord before Eli, and the word of the Lord was precious
in those days. Now, open vision, it came to pass at that time
Eli was laid down in his place, his eyes began to wax dim, he
could not see. Now, old man, the lamp of God
went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.
You see what happened? The lamp is the light of God's
Word. We just looked at that. The lamp
went out. This old man got careless and old, and his sons were supposed
to be doing it. His sons were supposed to be
burning the light. You know that? He's an old man. He's a high priest. And they
were to keep the lamp burning with that beaten olive oil, and
they let it go out. Do you lament the fact that there
aren't any real young preachers coming up to preach the gospel? Huh? You know there's some churches
without a pastor and they can't get anybody to go there. Young
men have good jobs and a home and a family and they're not
willing to leave them. They're not. And they won't go there. Got a good lifestyle, everything's
just fine, rich, increased with goods, and churches without a
pastor, they won't go there. Does that bother you? What does
it tell you? This is the last days. Laborers
are few. It was, the field was white with
harvest. Not no more. Here a little, there
a little. That's sad, isn't it? Sad. 12 or 15 of us just 40 years ago
who would, here am I, send me. And several of us left everybody
and everything, houses, jobs, lands, families, and went. The
Lord blessed. The Lord blessed those blessed.
Still blessing them. And the lamp went out. The lamp went
out. You know, For a while there, Josh back there was turning our
little lamp out. That little lamp back in the
foyer, I put that in there. And I wanted to burn all the
time. I wanted light to be on all the
time. Symbolic. Well, Josh was, you
know, he's trying to save on electricity. I know. You turn
the light out when you're not at home. Well, that's good, Josh.
That's good. But from now on, don't turn that
lamp out. Anybody. It's symbolic. Let not the light of the gospel
leave this place ever. Let it always be burning. Always. Well, verse 4, the Lord called
Samuel. And he answered, here am I. Is
the Lord calling you? Samuel answered, but he didn't
know it was the Lord calling him. Verse 5, he ran to Eli and
said, Here am I. You called me. You know what? I am standing
before you and I'm issuing a call. The gospel is a call. God chose
a people. Blessed be God. Thank God always for you, brethren,
He's chosen us for the foundation of the world to be His own. He's
called us by the Gospel. Okay? And I'm up here calling
by the Gospel, telling you, come to Christ. Come to Christ. Preaching
like God on the throne. Preaching like Christ on the
cross. The only way, the only hope, the only salvation of sinners.
Preaching it. He's coming back. He's coming
back. He came once to save sinners.
Anybody a sinner? Anybody need a Savior? Anybody?
I'm not telling you to make Him Lord. I'm telling you He is your
Lord. Right now. And bow before your Lord. And
repent unto this Lord. And call on the name of the Lord.
If you don't call on the name of the Lord, you won't be saved
from that Lord. But if you do, He'll save you. He'll save you. He'll speak to
you. He'll speak to you personally. Did Samuel and Cain tell Samuel
to pray? You reckon? Son? Whosoever calls on the Lord will
be saved. Some call on the Lord. Get it? The Lord wouldn't have called
him if he wouldn't have called. You know that? He wouldn't have
called unless the Lord called him. You say, I don't understand.
I do. From God's Word and from experience.
Is the Lord calling you? He went to Eli. He said, did
you call me? He said, no. I called you not, go lie down."
And he went and laid down. Verse 6, the Lord called yet
again unto Samuel. I keep preaching this gospel.
The Lord has told me to do one thing. The Lord didn't tell His preachers,
now you go make sure those children have fun. You preach the gospel, Timothy.
Preach the Word. One thing. I preach this Gospel. I keep
preaching this Gospel. It's the Gospel call. The call
of God that commands men everywhere to repent. Young people. I'm not asking anybody. I'm not
begging anybody. And I'm issuing this proclamation. Who God is. Who Christ is. What
we are in our desperate need of God's mercy and grace in Christ. His blood. His righteousness.
And I call you. I call everybody in here. I'm
not preaching to the air. I'm talking to people. I meet
every one of you. I see people sometimes hide behind
the person in front of them. Man, oh man. Man, oh man. The gospel is the
power of God. I keep preaching it. I'm going
to keep preaching it until it's over. to the last elect. And then we're out of here. Preach
the gospel, the call. And the Lord called Samuel again.
You know, our Lord keeps calling. The Lord calls everyone by creation. Several calls of God. He calls
by creation. It's Psalm 19. He calls by the
heavens to declare His glory. Well, if God had just shown me
Himself, He has. Clearly seen, men are without
excuse. Look! Every day, that big ball
of fire in the sky that we live by speaks of the Son of Righteousness. Every day, clouds the dust of
His feet. The whole creation declares His
glory. The whole creation declares believe. The whole creation declares God
is. His power and wrath of God revealed
from heaven. The whole creation declares God
is holy. God is just. God is righteous.
God is consuming fire. God of the Bible. Providence
declares Him. Providence is the call of God.
God feeds. God provides. Oh my. Looking back over my life at
all the times my Lord spared me and I didn't know it. I look
back now and I see the hand of God in so many things. Right
here, right there. Look, that happened to me. I
didn't know it. That declares, that's a call
of God. Look how I spared you. Look what
I've done for you. Look what I've given you. The
Word of God. Proverbs 8. speaks of the word
of wisdom which is Christ. He's the word of God. He said,
All my days I've stretched out my hands unto you sons of men.
He said, Oh, you fools, listen to me now. Don't fall in with
that woman over there. Come to me, Christ said. He calls. He keeps calling. The gospel is the power of God,
the call of God, the voice of God. This gospel that I preach,
You know what? It's able to say to the uttermost,
the wildest, the wildest as this cult. Able, I know from the Word
of God and from experience, the Gospel, this Gospel gives life.
This Gospel opened the blindest eyes, the hardest heart. I ain't
listening to that. I'm out of here. You just might
if God says so. Oh, that's what I'm praying and
hoping. This old-fashioned same-old, same-old is the power of God. Oh, God, exert Thy power. We got some dead people in our
midst. We got some blind children in our midst. We got some people
walking in darkness. May they see a great light. We
got people that don't care about Jesus Christ. Oh, God, make them
care. Don't give a care. Oh, why should
God care about you? Why should He? Oh, but God is merciful and gracious. He doesn't need you. I'm here
to tell you. I'm here to tell you. You need
Him. Call Him. Call Him. The Lord was calling
him and he didn't know it. He came to the preacher. Oh,
I wish one of these young people or old people for that matter
come to me and just ask me something. No, we'll find it on Facebook.
We'll ask Google. Is there a man of God amongst
us? Is there a man that can tell us what God says? Is there somebody
that's not out to pacify you and make you feel good. We're
going to tell you the truth. That's who you need to ask and
talk to. Tell me the truth. What does
God's Word say? I came to Eli. Are you calling
me? Well, yes and no. Eli recognized. Somebody's calling me. Eli had
seen some people called by the Lord, and he'd been called, and
he recognized, God's calling him. Just maybe somebody in this
room, God's calling him. That's generally recognizable. Well, look, it says, Samuel did
not yet know the Lord, and I quit, verse 7. Neither was the word
of the Lord yet revealed unto him." What's that? That's crying. Paul said this, you know when
a person will be saved? Let me tell you when somebody
will be saved. Not when they decide. Not when
they give their heart to Jesus. Not when they accept Him as their
personal Savior. Not when they let Him be Lord. It's when the
Lord is pleased to save them. when the Lord is speaking, in
the fullness of time, if God reveals His Son. Paul said, when
it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and
called me by His grace, by His Gospel, to reveal His Son in
me. He said, did I come? Did I come? So young Samuel, verse 8, the
Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and
went to Eli and said, Here am I. Now just call me. And Eli perceived that the Lord
had called the child. And therefore Eli said unto Samuel,
Go, lie down, and it shall be. If He called thee, thou shalt say, Speak, Lord,
thy servant here. If He calls you, you call Him. You answer. Okay? Is He calling
you? Here's what I want you to do.
I want you to go home and lie down and call Him back. Can you hear me? Speak, Lord. Speak to me. Get it? I'm at the service you
call. Am I dramatizing it? Am I trying
to get somebody? Yeah, I'm trying, but I can't.
But this has happened, and it still happens. So old Samuel,
young Samuel, He went back and laid on his bed. The Lord came,
verse 10, and called Asat other times. And what did he call? He called him by name. He called
him personally. Christ said, My sheep, hear my
voice. I know their names. And I called,
Samuel. Samuel. Samuel knew he was speaking to
me. Oh, my God. Please, call these young and old alike.
Say unto their soul that you're their salvation. Call them by
name. Oh, may they hear the preacher
preach this gospel one more time and say, sinner. And they're
going to say, that's my name. Sheep, that's me. And you know what? He said, Speak,
thy servant heareth. I'm your servant. And it says
in verse 19, this is the last verse, I promise. It might be
the last one I ever read to you. It would be a good one. Verse 19 says, Samuel grew and
the Lord was with him. And he let none of his words
fall to the ground. Precious. Oh, my. The Lord was with him. I want
the Lord to be with you. I want the Lord to be with your
children. I want the Lord to be with us here. I don't want
the word of the Lord to fall to the ground. I want it to fall
on good ground, that is, prepared by the Lord. You know, I was
thinking about this. It's a miracle when God saves
anybody, when God speaks to anybody. You know, He uses means, He uses
the gospel, He uses the prayers of His people. He does. And if we don't come here, you
men, we meet back there in the study, what are we meeting there
for? To see each other and have a big time? No. We might as well quit meeting.
unless we have a burden. I'm serious. Unless we have a
burden for these people I'm about to come out to preach to who
don't know the Lord. It's a useless time. We all need to have a burden
for the Word of the Lord. Not just the preacher. Everybody. It's a miracle. You know, God's
so merciful, he'll bless the preaching anyway. He's so merciful. But we want to see people saved.
We want to see our children saved. We want to see the Lord bring
people to hear the gospel. We didn't have a burden then.
All of us. All of us. Don't give Him silence. Don't give Him silence until
He's brought these kids and these people in His kingdom. It's just that serious. Let's
treat it seriously. You ladies, when you come here
before me, what are you talking about? It's not over. I don't want to
dampen you, ruin your fun or anything, but you know why we're
here? We're here to hear from the Lord, and we want these people
who never heard from Him. And it's serious. Let's call
on the Lord. Men, women, What would we do
if the Lord sent a revival in His place? Bring our daughters
and our sons to Him. What would we do? Is there anything you can think
of better than that? Anything? Just one. If the Lord
brought one prodigal son back to this church. What? We'd be... You're talking about singing
these hymns. What if it's your child? What if it's my brother's child
that we keep praying for? Her daughter. What if it's that
daughter that... What if the Lord brings her back?
Woo! Praise the Lord to high heaven. Right? How's that happen? Prayer. Preaching. Pray for the preacher. Preacher's getting carried away.
Oh, man. It's just that serious. Let's
sing a final hymn, okay, Brother John?