Matthew chapter 12. and over the reading of her summer 30 and only just start by saying this is gonna be a spiritual principal and fall of one so you'll OK. Matthew chapter 12, verse number 30. I'm going to draw some principles here out of a statement that the Lord makes. And I hope this is a challenge to you this morning, but also an exhortation concerning this statement that the Lord makes. And so we're going to be in Matthew chapter 12, verse number 30. The Bible says, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. Skip down to verse number 33. The Bible says, either make the tree good and his fruit good, or else make the tree corrupt and his fruit corrupt, for the tree is known by his fruit. Verse 34 says, O generation of vipers, how can ye being evil speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. , verse 35 says a good man out of the good treasure of the heart bring a fourth good things and an evil man out of the evil treasure and a war that you get the glory of everything the seven on and a war this burden I got on my heart of French and help me to get across and more that your people might be held this morning and will thank you more for what you're gonna do in even so, more Jesus in your precious name a priest and Which side are you on? And by way of introduction, let me just say that this statement that the Lord gives, gives you an idea into the way that God thinks. Amen? He said, He who is not for me is against me. He that gathereth not for me scattereth. And it gives you an idea into the way that God thinks. Let me say this about the Lord. He is an absolutist. Amen. His Word is settled. Amen. When He says something, it stands as a final authority. God is not wishy-washy. God is not carried about with every wind of doctrine. And when He makes a statement, it stands as final. And this verse and this statement that the Lord makes opens you up into the way that God thinks about things. Let me say this about the Lord. God sees things in black and white. Amen. God never muddies the water. I mean, that's the job of the devil. And I have learned in my Christian life, and I believe that you probably have too if you're paying any attention at all, but what the devil tries to do in the life of God's people is muddy the waters and create gray areas. If there's debate about something being right or wrong, you might as well assume the devil's right in the middle of that. Because that's what the Lord does. You see, the pages of this book are in black and white, or in red and white in some cases. But the point I'm trying to make is this. God always falls on one side of things or the other. Amen. Y'all with me this morning? That's the way that God operates. That's the way that God thinks. God operates in objective truth. Amen. The devil operates in subjective truth. The Bible speaks of a day when every man will do that which seemeth right in his own eyes. You see, we're not called to do what we think is right. We're called to do what we know is right according to what God said about things and the way that we live our lives. He deals in objective truth. That's what the Word of God is. You say, what has created so much conflict and so much division in the church today is the idea that every man will do that which seemeth right in his own eyes, and it's all according to who thinks what about what, whereas what brings unity in the body of Christ is when we all live our lives according to the objective truth of God's Word. The Word of God creates unity. Amen? But let me say this, just as much as the Word of God and God Himself creates unity within the body, the Word of God and living for God creates division in the world. It puts you on one side or the other. Amen. This world is not for you as a Christian. Did you know that? Amen. The world is not for our God and we're called into this world. We're not of this world. But we're going to lay out a principle this morning about which side are you on because we see this as part of the personality of God and it's the way that He thinks about things. Let me say this about the Lord. The Lord cannot stand fence straddling. And it seems like today we are living in a world where Christians cannot decide whether to go with the world or go with God about various subjects and issues and areas in their life. They continually want to have the best of both worlds. Amen. Brother Mark Wesley said they've got one hand in the world and one hand in the church and they're miserable in both worlds. because that's not the way God thinks or operates. You can't have God and the world. I'm not saying you won't be saved anymore, but I'm talking about your walk with God and serving God. You just can't serve two masters. You'll either love the one or hate the other. You'll cling to the one. And I'm talking about we need to make up our minds. And we're going to get to the message here in a minute. This was going to be a Sunday morning, Sunday night message, but I want all of you to hear it. So I'm probably going to preach all of it today. And if we go a little long, you'll be all right. Amen. I just came from church services going until 10 and 11 o'clock at night. Some of y'all can't imagine that. Amen, then we drove 1,200 miles home the last two days, so y'all can hang in there with me this morning, amen? I've got a lot of preach stowed up inside of me. If you go to Revelation chapter number three, we find that God hates when somebody is lukewarm. He said, I would that you were cold or hot, but you're neither, you're lukewarm and you make me sick, you make me vomit, I wanna spew you out of my mouth. The truth I'm trying to lay out here is this, God is not down the middle. He's one side or the other. And what's gotten the church in so much trouble in this modern-day world is we simply cannot decide which side we're on when it comes to a lot of areas in our life. So let me ask you, which side are you on? Now, those of us who are born again will almost be insulted by this question because we would, of course, say, I'm on God's side. That's a good answer to have. But I want to look at a few things in scripture this morning to put before you and you ask yourself and ask the Lord, which side do you stand on? Amen. This is just a natural part of life. You know, when you're born in Alabama, you are immediately faced with which side you're on. Alabama or Auburn. There's no choice. Amen. I am firmly on the side against Alabama. People say stupid stuff like, well, when Alabama's not playing Auburn, I want them to win. No. I want them to lose every game by 50. I'm not on their side. Are y'all with me? Amen. We can't rejoice over winning as an Auburn fan, so we got to rejoice in Alabama losing. Amen. But with that thought in mind and that principle in mind, I want to lay some things out before you. If you would, take your Bible and go to the book of Luke, chapter 23. Amen. God stands alone. God stands in one spot, and we've got to decide which side we're going to be on. Luke, chapter number 23. Luke chapter number 23. And we're gonna start reading in verse number 32. And this is the passage of scripture that lays forth the Lord being sentenced to death and sent to the cross. And then we get a happening here while the Lord is on the cross that I wanna present to you this morning. Luke chapter 23, verse number 32. Let's see if I can find my place. The Bible says, and there were also two other. male factors led with him to be put to death. Verse 33, the Bible says, and when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified him and the male factors, one on the right hand and the other on the left. If you jump down to verse number 39, the Bible says, And one of the male factors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be the Christ, save thyself and us. Verse 40 of the Bible says, But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing that thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds. But this man hath done nothing amiss. Verse 42 says, And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. The first thing that I want to bring up to you this morning that you need to examine yourself on is this. Which side of the Savior are you on? You see, there's only one side or the other. Amen. There's only two kind of people in this world, and that's saved and lost. There's only two kind of people in this world, and that's those who are dead to sin and those who are dead in their sins. And you've got to determine in your life, has there ever been a time where you got on the right side of the Son of God? Amen. I say one was on the wrong side, one was on the left, and one was on the right. And can I say that that truth remains today? You're either on one side or the other. Let me say this, church membership does not get you on the right side of the Savior. Amen. Good works does not get you on the right side of the Savior. Saved parents do not get you on the right side of the Savior. A good church does not get you on the right side of the Savior. I think you get the message of what I'm trying to say. Your good works outweighing your bad will not and cannot get you on the right side of the Savior. And the message and the question is simple with this one right here. And it's the question of, are you saved? Everything starts right here. You've got to determine which side you're going to be on. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. Which side are you on? We see two different sides in this story. Let me say on one side there was railing while on the other side there was repentance. Amen. On one side there was death, on the other side there was deliverance. On one side there was shame, on the other side there was salvation. On one side there was hell and on the other there was heaven. Which side are you on? This is the most important question you'll ever answer. The rest of what I'm gonna preach this morning does not apply to you and it cannot help you whatsoever if you don't get this one right. And listen, I pray that everybody's got this settled, but chances are most of the time when you get more than just yourself in a place, you don't know for sure. And I'm not trying to get up here and retread anybody or scare you into being lost again, but I will say this, if you're not saved, you need to get it settled and determine which side you're gonna be on. Let me say this, God's will is that you be on the right side of the Savior. God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. God's will for your life is to be saved. And, you know, Brother Mark McGehee, you know, he said, I hear a lot of people talking about how hard it is to live the Christian life. And he said, yeah, I believe the reason that it's hard for a lot of people is they're just not saved. You know, the Christian life gets a lot easier after you get saved. And there's a lot of people trying to do all they can and they just simply aren't on the right side of the Savior. They're not saved. No wonder you struggle with faithfulness. And no wonder you struggle with doing right. You might need to examine yourself and see if you be of the faith. Which side are you on? Now I'm not saying you'll never struggle with your flesh and never struggle with sin after you get saved. I'm not saying that at all. But I am saying that maybe you need to take a look at yourself and see which side of the Savior you're on. you say it's one side for the other can have both was selling on our paper bottles and other book of joshua chapter one memorial help me that the faster operation and I know you'll find that joshua chapter one first of all you need to ask yourself which side of the savior you all You ever been born again? You ever trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ to be your personal Lord and Savior? Which side are you on? Joshua chapter number one. Now we know the, if you know your Bible at all, you know the context of what's going on here in the first part of the book of Joshua. And this is when the Lord is put in God's heart, in Joshua's heart. And he tells him that as he was with Moses, so he would be with him. And he's about to take the children of Israel across the Jordan River into the promised land. Now, as a Bible typology, we know that we can apply this to the Christian life. And this is a picture of the abundant life in Christ, crossing Jordan in your life, going on with God, having a relationship with Him. And in Joshua chapter number one, the Lord is exhorting Joshua here. In verse number nine he says, Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage, be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with thee, whithersoever thou goest. Man, what a great promise that is. And then you come to verse number 10. The Bible says, Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, Pass through the host, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals, for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan. to go and to possess the lamb which the Lord your God giveth you to possess it. By the way, let me say this, this was God's will for every Israelite there was. This was God's promise to Israel is that they would make it to the promised land. And let me emphasize this for a minute because we're about to read some verses that I believe will help you. This was God's will for every tribe of Israel. This is what God wanted for them. is to go into the promised land and possess the land that God had promised and God had given. Let me say this, God's will for your life is to be in the will of God, live in the abundant victorious Christian life. That's the will of God for everybody who's saved. Amen. God does not always want you constantly just struggling and struggling. Man, God wants you to get some victory. He wants you to live the victorious, abundant Christian life, and you can. And let me just emphasize, that was God's will for all of them. But look at verse number 12. The Bible says, And to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, spake Joshua, saying, Remember the word which Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded you, saying, The Lord your God hath given you rest, and hath given you this land. You say, what was this land? This was the land that was on the east side of Jordan before they crossed the Jordan River. Reuben and Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh did not go across the Jordan River. God gave them the land on this side. Y'all see that? Verse number 14 says, Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side, Jordan. but ye shall pass before your brethren armed, all the mighty men of valor, and help them." So here we see that God gave these three tribes, or two tribes and half a tribe, and I'm going to go somewhere. We're going to turn to the book of Numbers here in just a minute to show you some truth here. God gave them land that was not on the side of Jordan that was part of the promised land. Y'all understand that? God gave them the land on this side. Let me go back and say this. God's will was that for every Israelite to cross the Jordan River and to go into the Promised Land. So for them to get this land that God gave them meant that it was not in the will of God for their life. Now let me say this, there's a lot of things that I do that are outside of the will of God just from being in a body of flesh and I'm glad that God can make the best of things and God can have mercy and God can give grace and God can still bless you even when you do mess up. I'm thankful for that. Amen. But let me just lay forth the principle that the will of God for Reuben and Gad and the whole tribe of Manasseh was that they go into the Promised Land and they didn't. why go back to numbers 32 Which side of the Jordan River are you on? The first point was, which side of the Savior are you on? And let me just, for my second point, I'd like to say, which side of the shore are you on? I needed an S, amen? Which side of the shore are you on? What is this a picture of? Look at Numbers chapter 32, verse number 1. The Bible says, Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle. And when they saw the land of Jazar and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle, the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spake unto Moses and to Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the congregation, saying, Adoroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Eliela, and Shebam, and Nebo, and beyond, even the country which the Lord smote before the congregation of Israel is a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle. Verse 5, the Bible says, Wherefore said they, If we have found grace in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession, and bring us not over Jordan. You know why Reuben and Gad didn't cross the Jordan River? Because they asked for that to be the case. They made a choice about which side they would be on. And this is a question of God's will for your life. And it's an issue of sanctification and separation. You see, this side Jordan represents captivity. This side of the Jordan River represents wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. And they come to the place to cross the Jordan River, and Reuben and Gad say, we think we'll just stay here. Y'all get the picture? Which side do you want to be on? You say, what's the principle? Notice why they didn't want to go. They said the land of Gilead is good for cattle. And Moses, if you haven't noticed, we've got a lot of cattle. We've got a lot of stuff. And it would be better for our stuff if we just stayed here. Y'all go on without us. I would rather have my stuff. I would rather have my cattle. I would rather dwell where it's more convenient for me than to go where God wants me to be. Which side of the shore do you want to be on? You want to be with Reuben and Gad? Or you want to go to the promised land, live the abundant life in Christ, be in the will of God for your life? You know what a lot of God's people are doing nowadays? They're paying attention to all their cattle. Lord, I've got a lot of cattle. And I know there's something for me you've got for me in the future, but I'll be honest with you, I'd rather just stay here where it's a little bit more comfortable for me and my cattle. You see what happened there? They stepped out of the will of God. Which side are you gonna be on? Amen. Not only that, this is so relevant. If y'all are not getting this, I hope y'all are. Verse number 6 of the Bible, this is Moses' response to them. He said, And Moses said unto the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to war, and shall you sit here? And wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord hath given them. So we see that Reuben and Gad not only are more concerned with their physical things rather than spiritual things. Y'all get that, the picture here? That's the picture. Amen. More attention to the physical, carnal things of this life other than what God has. That is the spiritual, victorious life in Christ. We would rather have our cattle. We would rather have our things than the will of God. We'd rather live a carnal life than a spiritual life. We'd rather serve ourselves than serve God. And Moses' response to them that the Lord gave him is, listen, you're going to stay here and let everybody else go across? Don't you know how much that's going to discourage everybody to think that they're in the will of God and see a bunch of their brethren sitting over here saying, we're not going? You say, what does the carnal life do? I'll tell you what the carnal worldly life does. It discourages those who are trying to live for God. And somewhere along the way in your Christian life, you've got to determine which side you want to be on. Y'all with me this morning? I know I love y'all. Amen. Y'all expect a bed of roses when I came back from New Mexico. You're wrong. That's a joke, amen. But you've got to determine which side of the shore you want to be on. Do you want to stay with Reuben or Gad? Do you want to have all your cattle? Or do you want to go forward and see what God's got for you? I mean, I can think of example after example after example of people that left the things of this world to pursue God's will for their life. Amen. Today, we'll barely even get up and go to church if it means that our, because our big toe hurts. Amen. Brother Charles has told me story after story. You know, back, he was a mechanic, so he could get a job anywhere, but he said they'd hear about a camp meeting to determine they wanted to go because that's where God was going to be. And he said he'd quit his job. He said, I can get a job when I get back home. You say, what, what? That was his pursuit of spiritual things, overworldly things. Today we have injected so much common sense into the Christian life that it's unbelievable. And we think that somehow God gets our plans. No, you need to get in God's plan. Which side are you going to be on? that in all this is helping all this morning the more convicted me with this before you ever convicted you about it so let me say this may be a couple reasons they didn't want to go to the promised land may want to stay where they're all they were as because first of all of mission is already because of how much they had to lower we got a lot of what are we gonna do all this, You know what they were instructed to do when they crossed into the Promised Land? To drive out the inhabitants of the land. There was a fight on the other side of the Jordan River. And you know why so many Christians have settled down for the nominal, worldly, carnal Christian life? They don't want to deal with the fight. Amen? They that live godly in this present world shall suffer persecution. You know, we are so friendly with the world And so against wanting to put up with a fight with the world, that we're just okay with staying on this side of Jordan. Y'all with me this morning? And the question is, which side do you want to be on? Amen. Which side of the shore are you on? I got two more things. Can y'all endure two more points? which side of the savior this is a picture of salvation which side of the show where this is a picture of separation sanctification and being in the will of god for your life which one you Joshua said this way to choose you this day and you'll serve that's for me in my house we will serve the war John 21. Look at verse number 1. John chapter 21, verse number 1. The Bible says, After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and on this wise showed he himself. There were together Simon Peter and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. Verse number three, the Bible says, Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, we also go with thee. They went forth and entered into a ship immediately, and that night they caught nothing. But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, no. Verse 6, the Bible says, And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. The next thing I see is which side of the ship are you on? This is a type of your service for the Lord and selling out to God. You say, where do you see that? Well, Peter indicates in the first couple of verses that he was going back to the lifestyle that the Lord had called him from. Y'all see that? I mean, they're all gathered there. You know what just happened. The Lord's been crucified. They're probably all sad and sorrowful. And Peter has determined at this point in his Christian life that I'm just gonna go back to fishing. You know what, guys? This has been hard enough on me. I'm just going to go back to what I know to do and get on the fishing boat again and do what I've always known to do. I'm going to go fishing. Let me just say this. When he went out on that boat, he was on the wrong side of it. Amen. He was on the wrong side of the boat trying to serve himself again. But thank Lord that the Lord showed up. Don't y'all love how merciful God is? Now, if the Lord was a Baptist preacher in this passage of Scripture, He would have showed up on the shore and said, You dummies! What are y'all doing out there? But no, you know what the Lord does? He asks them a question that makes them feel about this big. He says, children, I know you're out there toiling on your own strength and doing all you can to be successful. Let me ask you something. Have you any meat? You caught anything? You know what they had to do? They had to look around and say, you know what? No, we haven't. We haven't caught a single thing. We've been out here all night. We're toiling in our strength. We're doing what we know to do. And we're getting nowhere fast. You say, why was it? They were on the wrong side of the ship. So many Christians today, man, they're toiling in their own strength, trying to do everything they can in their own power, trying to live in the world and live in the Christian life, and they cannot do both. Which side will you be on? Who are you going to serve? Who are you going to sell out to? Who are you going to let have your life? You? Golly. Let me just say, God can do a lot better with your life than you can. He can do a lot better with my life than I can, and you've got to determine which side of the boat, which side of the ship you want to be on. Let me say this about which side of the ship are you on. On one side, it was destitute, and on the other side, there was a multitude. Amen. On one side, it was barren. On the other side, it was breaking the nets. On one side, there was frustration, and on the other side, there was fish. This is a picture of your life and a picture of my life on our own and with God and the difference between the two. and I don't know about you, I wanna be on the side that God operates in now I think this is not in the in the passage so it probably didn't happen, but don't you like just thinking about maybe this happened to you ever do that with stories in the one And they take the net and throw it on the side that the Lord did, and they couldn't even contain the multitude of fishes. But you know, I imagine there's probably one of them. Still on the other side of the ship. Saying, hey boys, I think I just felt a bite over here. While the multitude of fishes is in the net on this side, buddy, they think they've still got something over here. I mean, they got their little cane pole, and the bobber starts moving because of the wind, and they think there's a fish on. When God says, why don't you just get over here where I'm at? Why don't you take hold of the net, man, where I'm operating? Let go of your little fishing pole, and let God have your life. Amen. I feel something. Yeah, no, you don't. You know why? Because all the fish are over here. There ain't no fish over there. you'll get a message this morning you can serve you can sell out to let me let me give you a string you're serving something or somebody when you realize that are not you're sold out to something or somebody whether you realize that are not let me just say this your life will be a lot more happier more happier that's proper English and in your life will be a lot more abundant if you just sell out to god Peter was concerned with his physical needs, obviously. He needed some fish. Right? Y'all see that? I'm going fishing, I'm hungry. And so he goes without the Lord and he's going back to what the Lord caught him from. And he's not having any luck at it. I can think of so many people right now that are in this shape. The Lord has mercy on them and gives them a draw to fishes that they cannot even contain. Let me just say this about serving God. He's the one who does it anyways. It's not you. He's the one who gives the fruit and he's the one who gives the fish. And after all that, you know, we're not gonna read all the verses, but man, Peter, man, he's just like us. John looks up and says, It's the Lord. They didn't know who He was. And John has to look up and say, guys, that's the Lord. And you know what? Peter obviously knew he was not where he needed to be. Why? Because he jumps into the water and starts swimming back to shore. He knew he wasn't where he needed to be. He knew he wasn't where he was supposed to be. And he needed somebody to point out that the Lord was present so that he could get back to where God was. And you know what he found? When he got back on the shore, I mean, the Lord has a sense of humor. You know, when he got back on the shore, what was happening? The Lord was cooking some fish. When Peter got back to the shore, the Lord already had some fish on the fire and bread. And you know what he says? Whoo! Says, Peter, come and dine. , she has come over here on that you sit down of us and fish are any union of doing thing you just take this fish that I've already prepared stay in my own and in the work and it's me after this y'all know these verses the war looks at me says. Now, I've been asked the question what the bees were. I think I know what they were. I think they were those fish. Peter, lovest thou me more than these? Yea, Lord. You know I love you. Lying sucker. Lord ever ask you that? Lord ever brought up something in your life and ask you pointedly, lovest thou me more than these? Now, this is a picture of physical needs being met, which is what we're all so enticed by, what we're all concerned with, especially if you have a family at all. Lord, don't you know what I've got? No, the Lord does know. The Bible says your heavenly Father knoweth before that you have need of these things. And God's the one who provides them anyways, and he's saying come and dine. There's so much you're missing out on. Come and dine. Get off that boat. Get on the shore. He's got fish on the fire and bread in the warmer. And he says, Peter, lovest thou me more than these? And Peter has to stop and ask. And I'm trying to gather this all in my mind right now to get it across. But what Peter was concerned with was his own physical need and his own hunger. And the Lord turns around and uses that on him. He says, if you love me, feed my sheep. Give out, give out. Make your life about others. Which side of the ship do you want to be on? You may fish for three days and you might catch something. But man, it'd be better if you just get in the will of God. And it don't matter what it's doing. It doesn't matter if the will of God for your life is to be a preacher or a pastor or if it's not. That's no more important than what God has for your life anyways. We've created these prestigious positions. There are no prestigious positions in the will of God. You stay where you are and do what God's called you to do. He's got fish on the fire. and you are already heard. Terry priest of 1215 last Sunday when you preach about all know the priest of 1215 a member. And that incurred that I thought I told you I just came back from a Bible and the guns are blazing in ways last of all the looped in Luke chapter number 10, we'll get our last one this morning. Which side are you on? Luke 10 verse number 30. Man, the Bible says, and Jesus answering said, a certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves. which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead." Verse 31, the Bible says, and by chance, there came down a certain priest that way, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at that place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. Verse 33 says, But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an end, and took care of him. And on the morrow, when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him, and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now these three thinkest thou was a neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves. Verse 37, and he said, he that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, go and do thou likewise. Last of all, let me just ask you this question. Which side of the street are you on? Which side of the street are you on? You say, what principle applies here? This is the principle of seeing the needs of others. We have a perfect picture here of the average person in the religious crowd. The Bible says he was half-dead. I don't know how you measure that. You know what I mean? But I believe he was because the Bible says he was. He was half-dead. And then this pious priest comes down the road, looks over there at him, passes by on the other side. The Levite comes down, goes over there and looks on him, and then passes by on the other side. And you know what Christians have a hard time doing today? Seeing other people's needs. This is all related, by the way. When you stay on this side, Jordan, and you stay on your side of the ship, And God knows if you never get on the right side of the Savior, you're gonna have a very hard time seeing anybody else's needs besides your own. And so then the ministry becomes just something else you have to do. You get what I'm saying? You see, I know I get up here and talk about Honduras. You know what Honduras is? That's meeting the needs of others. That's a ministry. And I'll tell you what will help you in your Christian life if you're not doing it already, is to start trying to see other people's needs besides your own. I mean, my goodness, me and Brother Terry were talking about before church today. I mean, it seems like every other week I'm hearing about somebody else with cancer. Somebody else was some sort of marriage problem. Somebody else was some sort of trial. And you know what God's looking for? Somebody who will get on that side of the street. The Bible says He went down to where He was and He got out oil and wine and He poured on His wounds. And the Bible says that He set Him on His own beast. He was willing to prefer, help me out here Lord, somebody over Himself and put Him on His beast and I guess He walked. Y'all get the picture here. I'm saying somewhere along the way, you've got to get on the side of seeing the needs of others. Look not every man on his own things, but every man on the things of others. Serve somebody besides yourself. This, by the way, is the perfect picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is somebody who served others. And you know what the joy of the ministry is and the peril of the ministry is? Serving other people. Y'all with me this morning? You're quiet, but I hope you're getting it. You see, there's a lot of areas in your life that you've got to determine which side you're going to be on. Amen. even within our chairman , she's here for the time is there a man they've been through storms like we know that she's a face that Mr. Still just serving just like she always has puts me under conviction of You know what that is? That's being on one side of the ship or the other. That's serving God. Some of these things that we assume people are always going to be here to do, they may not always be able to do it. This is a ministry. Your life is a ministry. So I'll ask you the question, and you think about these areas of your life. And I hope you have a good answer. Which side of the ship are you on? Which side of the Savior are you on? Which side of the street are you on? which some of the spare has this one, given invitation missus human, plan a song of attention , as teachers just consider these things see where you stand open my eyes, open my heart. I want to serve you. I want to please you. I want to serve others. I mean, you've got to determine which side you're going to be on. I'm not concerned with having all this cattle, Lord. I want to be in the promised land. the Lord spoke your heart this morning, the invitations open. Amen, wherever you are, you do business with God. And there's some praying this morning. I ask you to just keep your head bowed in respect to those who are praying. New business with the Lord this morning. As you do. and you can look this way this morning thank you all for hanging in there and I pray that somebody got some help this morning and we pray that the Lord got the glory from it and so I mean I love you all and I don't say that enough I really don't how much I appreciate our church and everyone here and I need to open my mouth more about that but truly I appreciate all of you love you and , and I was a more working life of the understand that not only shares but among two and one see what god has for church and in what he can do, we can do , and we say enough of what we can , but what god can do so , will listen or fake this morning will be dismissed and , will be back at 530, for prayer this evening and even services six o'clock and I would encourage all of you may hear some