Glory be. Amen and amen. Well, well, thank y'all for helping us and leading us in worship. What a sweet treat, amen. To know that apart from His grace and His hope and His relentless pursuit of us. I was thinking of a passage while they were singing. Take your revelation and go to Isaiah chapter nine. I want you to see this before we get cranked up in here this morning. Isaiah nine, what a treat, what a treat. I was thinking on that, just that relentless grace of the work of our Redeemer, of Him coming after us, Him seeking us. You know, in that parable, the 99 of the sheep that were lost, that one was lost, and they had 99 that were safe. One parable with three different stories, and each story, there was a common denominator. Something was lost, something was searched, something was found, and there was rejoicing, amen. And that's the picture of that which is lost, he's gonna pursue it. But in Isaiah nine, in verse number six. Now, when you read the first part of it, you're gonna say, well, that's a Christmas verse there. No, that's an everyday verse, amen. That's a lifestyle verse. But he says in Isaiah nine, six, for unto us a child is born and unto us a son is given. And what's his name? Y'all say that one more time, what's his name? Jesus. That's the sweetest name ever given, amen. The scripture says when he told both Mary and Joseph that you will name him Jesus because he will save his people from their sins. So he says, and the government, the reign and rule will be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. And of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end. And upon the throne of David and over his kingdom to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. Now notice this last phrase. the zeal or the passion of the Lord of hosts will what? Perform this, amen. So every time you hear somebody testify to the saving work of Jesus, whether it be in a song or in their personal testimony or whether it be teaching and preaching or whatever it is, when God is in it, It's the zeal of the Lord of hosts performing it to do exactly what he promised he would do. And that is to rescue those that are perishing, bring them into his fold and then shepherd them, govern them, lead over them for the rest of their lives. Amen. So never take lightly the singing of those hymns or the singing of a song. Any message that glorifies, magnifies, exalts the name of Jesus is the zeal of the Lord of hosts at work in that message, amen? And that is never anything to take lightly and to God be the glory and the praise for it. Well, we have been looking forward to being with y'all and celebrating with you. I was talking on the ride up here of just how humbling it is to be part of this community revival with y'all. I'm the oddball in this. I'm the outsider coming in and what a treat it is to be with y'all these last three years and I'm so glad to have my bride with me this time. You know, last year we had a little incident that she couldn't make it. She's the best part of me, so I'm glad she is here. And I think many of you have been looking forward to seeing her over me, amen. I understand that. It's all good, it's all good. We take that with grace and glory at the same time. But what a treat it is to be with you today. So we're gonna jump into the Word, because I know some of your bellies are already rumbling. You're hungry. Brother Hal's done been down. I seen brother keep talking to him, wanna smell his breath. He's down there eating banana pudding before he came up. So if y'all would, turn to Luke chapter number 13. Luke chapter number 13. Anybody have a dog in here? I mean, you've got a real loyal dog. I mean, where you go, she or he goes. Whatever you're doing, she or he is doing. You know, it wasn't long ago, we had a little remodel take place at the house, and one of the guys in the community had come over and done a little work and was painting. We put some new brick on it, and we knew the brick work wasn't gonna match the old brick, so we decided up front that we would just have to paint the whole thing to keep it looking in harmony with one another. So we hired out a fella to come, and he'd done a little work. He brought his saws with him and brought his Horses with him and he also brought his dog with him Had him a German Shepherd dog and wherever rich was at that dog was at So when rich was cutting wood that dog was right there with him and you had watched that German Shepherd walk out He had wood shavings all over. He's covered with it then when he started pulling out that white paint and he started painting that brick and That dog had white paint all over him, because whatever the master was doing, the evidence of the master's work was on the dog. And the same thing is gonna apply with him who the government has placed upon his shoulders. He's the master, amen? And whatever the work the master's doing, that evidence of that work's gonna be on you and me too. when I'm hanging out with him, amen? Now, I gotta be in close proximity of him. I've gotta be involved in what he's doing, but when I'm involved in it, and I'm with him, the evidence of his work, is gonna be upon us. And the evidence of Jesus' work always points us back to the Father's work. Jesus said that was his life, to do what his Father gave him to do. That's what he came to do, and that's what he's doing. And you know what, whatever he was doing then, he's doing now. If he's doing anything, he's doing what he did then, he's just doing it now through his body, people like you and me, and to God be the glory, amen. So let's read this passage, think about that. And I may talk about some things today and here you may say, well, that really doesn't actually relate necessarily to me right now. But I want to tell you, if you're in the master's work, there's somebody that you know, and there's somebody God's going to put you before. in the next several days over the next week that this will apply to them. And therefore, if you want to do the master's work and you want his evidence on, you need to pay attention because he's going to give you something today that's not only going to help you, but it's going to help those little grandbabies. It's going to help your sons and daughters. It'll help your neighbor out in the coming days because everybody needs this. what he's gonna teach us today. And I couldn't help but think about that little boy. What's his name, Riley? Is that what y'all, Riley? Boy, he was full of energy, wasn't he? Y'all see him coming here, he'd like to run out the back wall back here. He was waiting, is that your son? He was waiting on Mama, he was looking up at Mama and saying, come on, Mama, you're supposed to come in right here, huh? And he was getting antsy, he was ready to get in it. Man, he was ready. We want that kind of anticipation. in the work of the kingdom of God, amen? So let's look at it. Luke 13 in verse number one. I'm gonna come down here with y'all today if that'd be all right, okay? I'm just gonna come now, might as well do it. Luke 13 in verse number one. Now there was present at the season some who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. Jesus answered and said to them, do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered such things? And his response, I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those 18 on whom the tower Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? And he says, I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. And then he spoke a parable. A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, look, for three years I've come seeking fruit on this fig tree and I find none. Cut it down. Why does it take up the ground? The keeper said, sir, let it alone this year until I dig around it and fertilize it and if it bears fruit, well, but if not, after that, you can cut it down. Father, we ask you today to help us. We've come to you once again I'm grateful today to be part of what you're doing right here in this church, right here in this community, among your people here. And we just ask now for your presence to be upon the teaching and the preaching and the touch of your message and your work among us today. We've asked that you would continue to magnify your way to us, that we would see it, that we would hear if you don't speak. If you don't help, if you don't release what needs to be released in here today, we'll walk out empty-handed. But Lord, we want you to touch us. We want you to transform us. We want you to change us. And we want to be those missionaries, those ambassadors that have your evidence all over our life of what you're doing in this day to touch lives for your glory. In Jesus' name. Amen. When I read this and been looking at it over the last couple days in preparation to come with y'all, I got to thinking about how easy it is for us to find ourselves always thinking in relation to how things relate to other people, but we don't necessarily put ourselves right in the heart of the situation. meaning we think about the people down the road, or we think about the neighbor that lives next door to us, or we think about the church across the street, or we think about the city in, say, Jackson or over in Laurel, and we always point the finger at looking at other people of where they are in life, and that's just a natural thing that we do. No different than them when they approach Jesus, and said, what about those Galileans who Pilate mingled their blood with the sacrifice? Now, the circumstance and the situation is a little obscure of what took place. Obviously, they had to be in Jerusalem if Pilate was involved. They had to be around a feast or worship where they were bringing sacrifices. There could have been a riot that took place and somebody rebelled and did something and the Roman government put a strong hand down and some people lost their lives along with the sacrifices that day. So they're asking Jesus questions and there's nothing wrong with asking Jesus questions. Matter of fact, he can handle any question you ever throw at him. We often ask, how many of you ever been through a few hard things in life? How many of you going through something right now? And if you haven't or you're not, eventually you are. It's just inevitable. Anybody that's got a little time on their hands in here knows life can be tough, can't it? And you can go through some things that you just don't have the answers for. A little tip here just to start maybe for you, instead of asking God often, why is this happening? Or why did this happen? Or why is this going on in my life right now? Maybe you can turn that around and start asking it like this. How can I glorify you in this situation right now? God may not give you an answer of why it's happening, but if you ask him how you can be used in this situation, I'm willing to say he's gonna talk to you and he's gonna use you in the midst of it. So we may not know why we are in a circumstances. We may not know why somebody has gotten sick or why somebody passed away or why this is going on in your family. How many of y'all have troubles with your family? We got a bunch of liars that need to repent here today, huh? How many of y'all got relationship troubles with people in your life? Anybody have any? Do y'all know anybody? Is Jesus in the healing business? Does he reconcile relationships? Is he the answer to everything we have in life? Oftentimes, we asking the why so that we can have some kind of temporary patch to put on a thing, but if we start asking God, how can I glorify you in the midst of this, through it and give you what you need when you need it, when you're asking it the right way. It's like, does he have to fix every problem I have? Can he fix them? But oftentimes the best thing is not to fix them, the problem, the best thing is him to be fixing who? Me. I don't need him to fix it, but I do need him to fix me, what? For it, whatever that is. Well, you see, They, just like you and me, approach life in very similar ways. Why? Because we live in a world that is fallen. And a world that is fallen approaches everything in life with a fallen perspective. approach everything, every standard in a fallen world is a crooked standard, no matter how you look at it. And we, like currently in our situation, even from a political and national standards, our standards have gotten so out of whack, we are comparing people with people, and the people we're comparing them with are so far off of what is rightly designed by God, that we've lost the ability to rightly judge a thing or discern a thing. And we'll get with something or stand beside something that Jesus would never stand beside or stand upon. Why? Because the standards have been so far shift. You take one of these little boys in here. Is one of them named Dylan? What's the little boy right here? Keith? How old is Keith? If I had Keith come up here and take a marker, Draw a straight as line as he can draw on this wall right here. What y'all think that line would look like To him it would be straight wouldn't it? Now if I asked grandma to come up here and draw her line beside it y'all think her line would maybe be a little straighter She says no But if we took a measuring line and we took a straight ruler, whatever it is, and measured it up, both of them, we'd see they were both off. You see, with maturity, your lines get a little straighter, but even the straightest of straight lines are still off from Jesus. He's the only standard that God's gonna judge men by. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. God doesn't have double standards. When men stand before the throne of God one day, he's gonna ask the question, or he's gonna look at them, and if they don't look like his son, if they don't measure up to Jesus, there's no life there. They don't measure up to Jesus. But you see, God's standard for eternal glory is the same standard he operates in upon this earth. And that's why we put faith in the Lord Jesus so that the life that he lived then will actually be lived out in us today when we operate live by faith in him. That is Jesus living himself out of our life, doing what he did then, doing it now, amen? But these Galileans came and said, What about these men? And Jesus knew what they were at. He knew what the question was, because he knows all of our questions, even when we don't ask it as clear as we wanted to ask it, because we might be intimidated on asking it. He already knows your heart, amen? So all you do is come before him and open your heart up to him and ask him. Well, he got to the heart of the issue, and he said, do you think that because this happened to them that they were worse men or women or sinners than others? And Jesus said this, he says, no, but unless you repent, you shall likewise, what? Perish, why? Because everybody is going to die. But you don't have to perish when you die. Everybody is on a crash course with death. Everybody's gonna die. But you don't have to perish when you die. You don't have to perish when you die. Somebody mediated and stood in the gap for us, and that's why Jesus said, unless ye what? Repent. Unless ye repent, you will also, you're gonna die. You're gonna die. just like they died. But the tragedy in the death comes when you don't have room for repentance before you die. I have a little saying that I like to use to help people, and sometimes they grab it, sometimes they don't, but I use phrases like this. If you don't die before you die, you'll never live when you die. Think about it a minute. If you don't die before you die, you'll never live when you die. The Bible talks about it is appointed on the men to die once and then face the judgment. And when those haven't been covered in the grace of the life of the Lord Jesus, forgiven because of his precious blood that was spilt on our behalf. The scripture says that the great white throne of judgment, when the world will stand before God and give an account to him for their life, for not putting their confidence and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says God will sentence all those to the lake of fire And the lake of fire is considered what? The second death. So men will die twice. That is, they were born dead, they die dead, and they'll be cast to the everlasting lake of fire in the second death, unless, unless they are made alive in Christ Jesus while they still live. But to be born again and made alive in Christ Jesus, you gotta die. Jesus said, when a man puts their trust in Him, that is, they repent in faith, trusting Him. And when you trust Him, you inevitably turn from another way of thinking. When that happens, there is a death that takes place. You die with Jesus on the cross. You're buried with Jesus into that grave. You're resurrected unto new life. So that's the death that you have to die so that when you die, you will live with him forever, amen? If you don't die before you die, that is you don't die to self, you'll never live when you die. And Jesus said, every man's gonna die, but you don't have to perish. But for that to take place, you got to turn, you gotta repent. You gotta repent. And repentance is evidence of trust. It's a trust, you trust in Him. For an example, if I had jalapenos in my hand and I took those jalapeno seeds and I gave them to brother Leo and brother Leo put them in his hands and he went to rubbing his eyes, would those jalapenos affect his eye? they would affect his eye. They'll change the color of it. He'll start acting funny in here. He'll start acting out of character. And if he ain't sanctified, he'll say things he regretted. And he'll act in ways that he regretted. Why? How many of you ever been hit with pepper spray? Anybody ever been sprayed with pepper spray? What was you doing to get hit with pepper spray? Anybody else? Now they won't admit it, right? What was you doing? Getting trained with it. Brother, how you been trained with it? I had to be trained with it. Does it affect you? Yes, it does. I've watched grown men couldn't walk five feet to a water fountain and women because of that pepper spray in their eyes. It affected them. And I know it ain't intended to be in your eyes. That's why they make it. That's what it's for, to subdue somebody so that you can get a control over them. And it don't work on everybody. I've seen people get sprayed with it and it not bother them a lick. That's dangerous, isn't it? But I've seen people sprayed with the gospel and it ain't bothered them a lick either. And the gospel's a whole lot more powerful than pepper spray, amen? And the gospel'll change you. That's the thing, the word repent means an afterthought. It means to think, we put the word together, this is the idea. think in a mindset afterwards, or we can say the change of a way of thinking. God plants a seed in you, or he puts his word upon you, gives you a word, and when somebody truly trusts that word that he gave, it changes. It changes how they think about him. It changes how they think about themselves. It changes everything that you think in that situation. It's a change of mind. You think of it differently. It affects you. You're affected by it. You're moved by it. So when he issued the call to repentance, it's based on who he is, it's based on what he said, and it's based on the power of God making the change in somebody's mindset that then they go from going their way to say, Lord, repurpose my life, refocus my life. And Jesus said, if a man never comes to the place where they come to him and say, Change how I think about life. Change how I look at life. Repurpose and refocus me. Salvage me. I'm headed for ruin and I need you to do something nobody else can do. And if that doesn't affect somebody's life and they die, Jesus said, that's a tragedy. You will perish. You will perish. We don't wanna perish, amen. Nobody wants to perish, but also nobody wants to give up how they look at life or how they think about life, their perspectives on life. And matter of fact, we can't give those things up unless we have an encounter with a supernatural God, amen. and he speaks his life into us. He plants life into us that we see him in faith, trust him in faith, and it's inevitably you turn from. And that's the picture of what salvation is. Salvation is the salvaging work of God. In 1997, Both Stephanie and I were living life the way we wanted to live it, doing life the way we wanted to do it, going the course we wanted to go. Yes, Stephanie grew up in the church. I didn't grow up in the church, but I, because I courted her and went after her, I went to church services with her. I sat about right here on the pew. Every Sunday I would go with her as a teenager and listen to the preacher and I don't ever one time, not one single time can I recall a gospel invitation being offered to me to come to Jesus. And all those services that I sat in. Now here's the thing. The message was preached. The invitation was given. The pastor pleaded with men to come to Jesus, but I was like a man who got hit in the face with pepper spray that it didn't affect. I can't, I've sat and asked God to show me, let me see it in my mind, let me hear it, take me back and let me see times that I heard you and seen you or was pleaded with by others to come. You know, I wasn't there to have an encounter with the Lord. I was there because I wanted to encounter with this pretty girl. And I wanted to please her mama. And I wanted her to trust me so I could corrupt her, and I did. I did. She fell for me. And I just brought her down. But God confounded us where we were. Our lives were headed for ruin. They were headed toward the dunghill, if we want to be specific. They were headed for ruin, to perish. But Jesus sent messengers to us. And He brought a gospel to us at 26 years old, and we both realized, Stephanie a month or two before me, but realized that though she grew up in church, though she went through all the stuff that church people go through as young people and as kids, and she went to the vacation Bible schools, and she did all that, had made a profession of faith, she come to the conclusion that she had not trusted Jesus with her life. And she was under such conviction and tore up. And I was thinking, if anybody had a relationship with Jesus, it would have been her. Though, see, our standards were so what? Out of line, we didn't know how to rightly judge a thing and see a thing from God's perspective. God got a hold of her, even her mama had trouble with it. No, Stephanie, you made that profession of faith back then. No, you was baptized back then. No, you did all this back then. Her mama wanted to fight her on it, and her mama's in ministry. And Stephanie said, no, mama, I've repented of my sins and I put my trust in Jesus. And no, I didn't really dedicate my life. No, I trusted Jesus and he's done a work in me. Back then, Stephanie made everything about herself as far as her decisions and her faith and these things and that thing. Everything about salvation was in the past. Nothing in the present. God got a hold of her, then eventually got a hold of me. And I can remember in North Crest Baptist, because I made a profession of faith too. And I got into the baptism tank as well. And I, a couple months later, come down on that altar and I said, God, people are telling me you've already saved me. People are telling me that I can rededicate my life. I don't know what I'm doing today other than I give you my life. You take it and do whatever you want with it. I trust you with everything. And I want to tell you, God changed who I was from the inside out. Amen. He began to give me a passion for His message, which I never, I didn't know anything about His Word. I couldn't tell you Bible stories. I couldn't tell you any of those things. I didn't know who Jesus was. I didn't know anything about Him. But when He changed me from within and I turned from my way of living and I put my confidence and trust in Him, He began to work in me and gave me a hunger for His message. He gave me a hunger for His people. Man, I wanted to be with the family of God. I wanted to grow. I would sit around people like Brother Hal, Brother Keith, Brother Leo, and men in here and women in here. We went to Sunday school, and I'm thinking, man, they know everything. They know everything there is to know. I'm just this little quiet guy in the corner thinking these are spiritual giants here. I don't know nothing, but I'm asking God, teach me, Lord. Teach me. Show me who you are. Show me what you want me to do. Show me who you want me to go to. Give me what I need to be a messenger for you. And he began to teach me and began to show me and began to pour into me. He began to plant his message in me. Matter of fact, go over to Isaiah 51. Let me show you this, Isaiah 51. This is what happens. For the people of God, when God goes to work within them, He plants things in us. Repentance is that work that I had to be like these people that was asking about these Galileans and about their people. They had to be wounded. Their understanding had to be scarred. How many of y'all got gardens out there? Anybody planted a garden? Y'all still got stuff coming up? What you still growing, brother? Got peas coming up. They've come in. Still picking them. Anybody still got tomatoes? I was just doing a revival up in your poor area and a man brought us a pile of tomatoes, huh, Stephanie? Ooh, them things were mighty fine. Still growing tomatoes. Now when you planted your peas, did you plow that ground up? You scarred it up. See, every time the ground, for you to produce something out of that, you had to wound the earth. You had to scratch it up. You had to stir it up. You had to break it up so that it would get air, it would get moisture, get everything that that ground's intended to get. You get the weeds out of it, the grass out of it, and then you planted a seed in it. Now, when you planted those peas, was you expecting watermelons? You see, when you plant a seed, you reduce all other odds of what that possibly can be, right? Whatever you plant, what you... So whatever you sow is what you're gonna reap likewise. We see God's a sower, he plants. And when he plants, he's got an expectation out of that. So when somebody repents, it's because God planted something and he expects something out of that heart. Y'all know the parable of the seed and the sower and the soils, how there was four types of soil. The word of God, there's nothing wrong with the word, amen. But the problem was is the different conditions that were in the heart of men. And out of those four hearts, there was only one heart that was good and noble, as Luke would refer to it. And y'all know none of us was born with good and noble hearts, right? None of us. We were all born, what were we born? Sinners. Making life about who? Us. We made life About us. We got a little baby in here. How old's that little one? Still in a diaper? Y'all know what I refer to them, right? Y'all have ever heard me say it? That's a viper in a diaper. Did I call it? A viper. Now they precious, we love them. But the scripture says these little ones are serpents, aren't they? They make life about who? themselves. Now, if he's not fed, what does he do? Everybody knows. If he's tired, look at him grinning like a briar-eating ewe. He knows we're talking about him, right? If he's tired, what is he going to do? Let everybody know. If his bottom's dirty, what is he going to do? To be changed. He's close. He's getting close. You see what he's got in his mouth right now? Y'all, everybody look over there. What's in his mouth? Look. Granted, he knows we're talking about him, huh? I keep pacifiers in my pocket. I use these pacifiers, and the reason I do that is what we just illustrated right here. Just like Jesus illustrated in Luke 13, unless you repent, you shall likewise, what? Perish. See, if your life's never been interrupted, the evidence of an uninterrupted life is the fact that this little boy and his brother, as they grow up, that pacifier's gonna get traded out for a little toy. And then that little toy is gonna turn into a tricycle. And that tricycle is going to turn into a bicycle. And then that bicycle is going to turn into maybe a four-wheeler or a side-by-side or maybe another gun or another shotgun or maybe another girlfriend or maybe a couple wives along time. Maybe a hunting camp or a new boat. Our pacifiers as we mature at age, they just get more expensive. They just get more expensive. And if we live a life having never repented in trust to Jesus, that is being interrupted and invaded by him, we shall all likewise what? Perish. You see, but God wants to do a work in me. So as he said to them, you're gonna die. But you don't have to perish when you die. But you do have to repent before you die. If you don't want to perish when you die. And repentance is a wound. He comes in on that sin, on that self-centered living. He wounds us that we're not everything. That this is not all about us. That life doesn't revolve around me, myself and I. He has to wound that he's got to break that up So that he can put seed and that seed is light and that light is life and notice what he says in verse number 15 of Isaiah 51 But I am the Lord your God who divided the sea, whose waves roared, the Lord of hosts is his name. Now what historical reference are we talking about there? What sea is he referring to that he divided? He did what nobody else could do. He controlled the uncontrollable, as he does with everything. Does he still control the weather? Can he change the weather? Does He can still control the world we live in? Can He change it? He can control the uncontrollable. That's who He is. That's what He does. He does that which is out of our hands. We don't have the ability to alter nor change or do anything with. Now watch though the tenderness of Him who deals with the uncontrollable in His delivering work. Notice what verse 16 says. Not only have I done that, but I've also put my words, where? In your mouth. I covered you with the shadow of my hand that I may plant, what? The heavens. You hear that? You see, the work of God's grace when He grants us repentance, and repentance in the Scriptures is a repentance unto life. It's a turning unto life. That life is the Lord Jesus. You turn to Him in trust. and therefore you turn away from a life that is opposed to Him. But for that to happen, something supernatural, God's got to do what man can't do for themselves so that He can what? Break up, scar up our lives so that He can plant life into us that He could expect life out of us. As we looked in Luke, remember the next, the parable that went along with that thought about trusting him, turning to him. He then gave a parable about a fig tree. That for years, that fig tree sat there with no fruit on it. And the master said, cut the tree down. But the vine dresser said, give me a little bit, let me work with it because I believe it's got something in it to produce fruit. He said, just give me another year to work with it. Aren't you glad God's been patient with us, amen? You know what Jesus was telling those Galileans? God's gonna require fruit out of your life. It's fruit you can't grow, but it's fruit he can put in you, seed he can put in you. Now for that to happen, you gotta be broke up. You gotta be changed. You gotta be in a place where it affects you. It changes the way you think about life. It changes what you think about how you do life. And only he can make that change in you. But when he does and he plants that seed, he's gonna expect something out of it. That fruit ain't blossoming out. It's inevitable the fruit's gonna be, the tree's gonna be what? Cut down, and when it's cut down, where's it cast to? Cast into the fire. So I have to come back to the question, well, if I've repented, if I put my trust in Jesus, turning unto Him and turning away, there's going to be evidence of the Master's work and fruit in my life. Amen? It's going to be there. Why? This God who controls the uncontrollable took time And he takes brother Leo and he overshadows us so that the wind can't blow the seed away, that the enemy can't come in, the birds can't come snatch it away. Isn't it a wonder that the largest and the vastness of a God who controls it all would be so gentle and tender and intimate with somebody like me? Who as the song you sang which says, when I was a foe, yet you died for me. When I was an enemy, lost in my trespasses and sins, he died on my behalf, amen? Knowing that I would push and reject and go against, but he was relentless in pursuing me. Why? Because his aim is to transform me, to salvage me. And my life needed to be salvaged and recycled for the glory of God, amen? Ain't it a wonder he can take a mess like you and me and make it into a vessel of his mercy. How many of y'all ever collected recyclables? Y'all ever do that and turn them in? Country folk don't always do that. Anybody ever live in the city where you put your stuff out for to be recycled? Some of you do. Some of you, do you still take things in every once in a while and turn them in to be recycled? Well, I wanna tell you, that's a picture of what the saving, salvaging work of God is. He had to take that which was no longer good for its intended use, brings it in, and in His hands, He refurbishes, restores, renews, recycles, repurposes, and refocuses it for His glory. Man, boy, I need Jesus, amen. You need Jesus. Now, you sitting in here today, and you may say, well, preacher, I belong to Him. He's mine, I'm His, I trust Him. Well, when's the last time Did you carry His message to somebody that you know that don't trust Him? When's the last time you let somebody dog out something that you really believed in and stood for, but in God's wisdom and meekness and mercy, you didn't bruise a broken reed? or try to quench a smoking flax. But you in a gentle and meek spirit loved on them, blessed them, because you knew life didn't resolve around you nor them, but you wanted to be faithful to the master, amen. You see, we're talking about what? The fruit of these seeds being planted within us. I want to tell you Jesus has so much more not only for me and for you, but he's got much more for those that you know that ain't walking with him. I haven't always walked with him. Have you always walked with him? Do y'all know people right now not walking with him? You know people right now rejecting him and not living for him and mocking him? But those that you know and where they are, you need to have them on your prayer list where you're praying for them that God would send people, send you, send others. Wow, we're in the master's work. But they don't have to perish, amen. But they've got to repent before they die. And the evidence of repentance is gonna be evident. in their life. Let's close with this before we go to lunch. Go to Revelation chapter number nine, I believe it is. Revelation nine. Let me give you this picture real quick. Brother Keith, I need him to plant things in me, brother. I need it. I ain't the only one though, am I? Revelation nine. Yes, Revelation 9. One of the most horrific times that are gonna come upon the planet. Unbearable times. When God is sending out these plagues with these trumpets that's gonna be sounded and the angels at the Euphrates are released. And notice in verse number 19. For their power is in their mouth and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents having heads, and with them they do what? They do harm, they create damage, devastation, tragedy. But the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues, what did they not do? They did not what? They did not reconsider Use that phrase, repent, has the idea of reconsidering, taking another look at, thinking differently about. They did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, wood, which neither see nor hear nor walk. And an idol is anything in life that you put before the Lord. Anything. Y'all know nationalism? and patriotism can be an idol. I know that'll cut against the grain in here because look, I spent 10 years with the Navy and I'll defend our country today and go to fight if I have to, but I wanna tell you, I serve a king. This ain't my home, amen. I'm passing through this world. Patriots are on both sides. Why? Because patriotism is to a set of principles that you believe in. The liberals believe in theirs. The conservative believe in theirs. And I want to tell you in liberal and conservative politics ain't the same as being biblical and conservative in your theology. Amen. It's two different worlds and all God's people said. And this world we live in is going to keep trying to push you into a box and do things that God wouldn't lead you to do. So you got to be careful. Who are you most loyal to? Is it Jesus or America? Jesus or my community? Jesus or my family. Jesus or my church. Now, if Jesus is, you're gonna be a better citizen, amen? You're gonna be a better brother, sister, friend, neighbor, church member. He'll make everything better when he's everything. But if you put all that before him, you're gonna wake up one day with a rude awakening, amen? Why? Because those Galileans and those Jews that Jesus was talking to, they were patriots and they were loyal to their country. But you know what they did to Jesus? What did they do? They put Him on a cross, didn't they? Because He didn't line up with their agenda. In this world, America will put you on a cross too when you choose Jesus over them. But you stand for Jesus, you know what? You'll be for all people. because everybody needs Jesus, amen? The Jew and the Gentile alike, everybody needs him. So what did they not do? They didn't turn, they didn't reconsider. Verse 21, and they did not repent or reconsider of their murderers, of their sorceries, or their sexual immoralities, or their... These people got hit with pepper spray and it didn't affect them. They got hit with a time that none of us have ever seen, more than likely will never see. Potentially. But what they saw, and what they heard, and what they did, did not give them a rethinking on how they were to live life. You know what they kept doing? They kept doing life the way they always done it. And it was evident that they had not what? Trusted the Lord. by turning to Him and turning away from all those things that were opposed to Him. So that right there, just a little tool, a little help you with about the idea of repentance. Repentance, it's obvious in it, you rethink everything. You rethink Jesus, you rethink your life, you rethink everything. Why? Your life gets repurposed. Gets repurposed for Him. And Jesus said, if it don't get repurposed, you'll perish. Don't get interrupted, you'll perish. If he doesn't invade you with his grace, you'll perish. And if I don't have the master's work on me, really consider, do I have life or will I perish? Because I wanna tell you, Jesus is worth everything, ain't he? He's worth everything, everything. You can give Him everything you can lay on the line. Everything. He said it so much is, what if a man gained the whole world? And his loser soul, he loses what? Everything. Who loses everything? Those who want to play it safe and control their life. You see, to come to Jesus, you lose everything. Why? You give it to Him. He becomes master of it. He becomes master of your life. He becomes master over your next steps. He's gonna shepherd you. He'll deal with the problem, you. He'll deal with the sin that separates you from Him, because He's gonna deal with who? You. He's gonna deal with it. He'll deal with it. And I don't know any shepherd that'll lead you, feed you, or meet your need better than Him, amen? He'll take care of you. But you gotta come to Him. His way. He'll save you. He'll salvage you. He'll repurpose you. So in this invitation today, I'm gonna ask those that's never been saved to respond in faith to Jesus today. Give Him your life. Trust Him with your life. For you that are sitting in here today, you say, He's mine, I trust Him. Well, ask Him to put somebody in your heart that you can go tell what He's done for you and what He's done for others and what He's done for them. That you'll become those missionaries who are fruitful to the glory of God. And if there's things in your life that are hindering you from Him, lay it down. Give it to Him. Repent. Amen. Ask Him to give you an afterthought that you think like He thinks about it. That you see it the way He sees it. Because in essence, that's what faith is. Faith is seeing, agreeing, and acting on what God reveals to you. You see it how He gave it. You agree with Him how He revealed it, and you act on it in obedience to what He gave you. You don't have to see everything, but you need to see what He's showing you. Amen? And you can trust Him with it, and He'll save you. So, I'm going to ask if our musicians will come. Brother Leo, Brother Hal, Brother Keith, Brother Dean, whoever else is going to respond to this invitation. Y'all just ask the Lord to lead you. Do as the Spirit of God will lead you. I'm sure this altar will be open if you need to pray. These men will be here to counsel with you. I'll help you any way I can. They can't save you. I can't save you. If I could, I would, but I can't. There's only one Savior, amen? And He's the only one that can Do that work in your life. So I encourage you, trust Him, trust Him, trust Him. Trust Him with your life. Trust Him with your life. Trust Him. Would you stand with us and pray? Father, we bless you, thank you. We know everybody in here is gonna die. But none of us in here have to perish. You've made it possible through your grace, through your life. You lived the life we couldn't live. And your life qualified you to die the death that you died. So that by faith I can trust you with my life so that you can now live your life in me to the glory of your Father. We're asking you to salvage and repurpose lives in here today, and then burden us to carry your message to the world that we live in. For we know that your zeal will see it through. We just want to be part of it. We want to be part of the work. So we're asking you to save the day. We're asking you to set your people apart and send us out for your glory. In Jesus' name, amen.