Luke chapter 8 and John chapter 20. We start there in Luke 8 and first three verses that stand together and will honor the reading of the Word of God. Luke 8 verse 1. And it came to pass afterward that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and showing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God, and the twelve were with him. And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils, and Joanna, the wife of Chuzza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance." Lord, I sure love you. Lord, I pray that you'd help me to preach tonight, and I pray that you bless your people. Lord, you know that over the years, Father, that we have learned that, Lord, if we don't love you with all of our hearts, just about nothing else matters. And so, Lord, I really pray that you'd help me to preach tonight and help your people to get the message from the Word of God. And I pray you'd encourage them in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you. You may be seated. I've always admired Mary Magdalene and the scriptures because of her conversion. I mean, guys, you get seven devils in you. There's no telling, you know, what in the world kind of life that you had, the oppression, the depression, the degradation, the sin that you get in. And Mary was possessed, as the Bible says. Let's go to John. Now, keep your finger there in Luke eight, because I want to go back there. But I want to read John. Chapter 20. But before I do that, I want to back up to chapter 19 in verse 25. This is when our Lord was crucified. And it says in verse 25, now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother and his mother's sister, Mary, the wife of Cleophas and Mary Magdalene. There she is, guys, with our Lord to the end. No guys are mentioned there. Now, we know that John, the apostle John, was up there, but no other apostles were at Calvary. But those women that were there, and Mary, who had gotten saved from seven devils, was there. Now, let's go to John 20, verse 1. The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark. unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and saith unto him, Them, they have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him. Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre. So they ran both together, and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre. And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying, yet went he not in. Then cometh Simon Peter, following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, and the napkin that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. Then went in also the other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw and believed. For as yet they knew not the scripture that he must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again unto their own home. But Mary stood without the sepulchre, weeping. And as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the sepulchre. And she hath two angels in white sitting, and one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. And when she had thus said, she turned herself back and saw Jesus standing and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, said unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself and saith unto him, Rabboni, which is to say, Master. I think it's very interesting. All the Lord had to do was call her by her name. And at first, when she didn't recognize him, she knew his voice when she called his when he called her name, which tells you that he had she had spent a lot of time close by the Lord and had some intimate conversations with him where she would refer to him as Mary. And which is to say, Master, verse 17, Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not. For I am not yet ascended to my Father, but go to my brethren and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father and to my God and your God." If you study your Bible, this is the Lord's first appearance to a human after he is resurrected. He didn't appear to Peter and John who got to the sepulcher. He appeared to this woman that had got saved by the grace of God. and had dedicated and consecrated her life to the Lord because she loved him with all her heart. Verse 18, Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had spoken these things unto her. Now, Mary is mentioned in all four Gospels. The Lord Jesus Christ was truly Mary's Savior, but even more truly, she was His Master. As you read the Bible, I think there's something real special about Mary Magdalene. Let's go back to Luke chapter 8, and actually, if you would, look at Luke chapter 7. Now, Luke chapter eight, that was that was how I started. And it talked about certain women that had been healed of evil spirits in verse two. But if you start in verse number thirty six of Luke chapter seven, you have another story. And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisees house and sat down to meet and behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner. Pretty plain, isn't it? Doesn't leave a whole lot to the imagination. In other words, the whole city knew what? This was a dirty woman. This was probably a prostitute. Sold her body. And when she knew that Jesus sat at meet in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, and stood at his feet behind him weeping. Why is she weeping, guys? She has a broken and a contrite heart over her sin. Her heart is troubled by the word of the Savior. Her sin is a bitter, unpleasant experience to her. She's under conviction, guys. And she weeps and she wipes them with the hairs of her head and kisses his feet and anoints them with the ointment. Now, when the Pharisee had been him, saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him, for she is a sinner." We got people like that today in the church. There's a fella, his name is Steve. I first met him years ago. Did you meet him, babe? He lived in that basement of the Harwoods, in that little room that they used as a nursery when they were meeting in the basement. So this had to be, oh, six, maybe seven years ago. I can't remember. Brother Harwood met Steve in prison. Steve is a drug addict. Steve was stealing and robbing to support his habits. Did time in jail. Made a profession of faith in the Lord in jail. Told Mark he didn't have anywhere to go. His family wouldn't do anything with him. He had robbed his mom of tens of thousands of dollars to support his drug habit. Treated her like dirt and all that kind of business. And so anyway, Steve comes in. Now, Steve is just as rough as a knight in jail. He's not as refined as you and I as Christians, if you understand what I mean. Steve had real problems. When he got out and he was living with Brother Mark, Brother Mark says, okay, you can't dope, you can't mess with women, you can't bring any women here, you can't do this, you can't do that. He agreed to all of that. But he'd sneak out and do things on his own and stuff like that. Steve was very up and down. When he was in, you just figured he was in, but when he was out, buddy, he was out. And after a couple of episodes, a man in the church came up to Brother Hartwood and said this. He said, either that Steve goes because of the kind of man he is and what he does and all this kind of stuff, or I'm going. So, Brother Mark said, well, brother, he said, there's a door. Don't let it hit you on the hind end on the way out. So, what did they do? They left. They're not in church today. Those three kids of that family are gone to the world, not living for God. This week, Steve and Melissa, his wife, with their little one-and-a-half-year-old baby, Anna, were in church every night. Had a tie on. He's been clean for a couple of years, or maybe a year, year-and-a-half, something like that. Him and his wife are doing as good as they've ever done. They're living down in Lethbridge at Brother Bishop's church, another church that's out of Solid Rock Baptist Church. Guys, you can't tell what God might do to somebody when they come in the doors of the church. And just because you don't like the way they look, or the way they talk, or the way they live, you're not giving God an opportunity. If you have that attitude, well, we don't want that kind of people. What kind of people were you when you first came? You understand what I'm saying? I'm sure glad they didn't kick that hippie out of that church down there, because he had long hair and fairy clothes on. Amen? And so, here's the Pharisee making a statement like that, and we have those kinds today. For she is a sinner, verse 40. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he said, sayeth smathers say on. He said there was a certain creditor which had two debtors, the one owed 500 pence and the other 50. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me, therefore, which of them will love him most? Interesting that the Lord asked the question about who's going to love him the most. And Simon answered and said, I suppose that he to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. And he turned to the woman and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet, but she hath washed my feet with tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss, but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil, thou didst not anoint, but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. Now, you know what? There's some people that believe, because they were raised in a Christian home, and because, you know, they didn't get out into drugs and liquor and adultery and fornication, that they don't have that many sins to forgive. I beg to differ with you. Your sins are going to send you to the same hell that a drunkard's sin is going to be sent. So I would say, Timothy, that you have as much to be forgiven as any fallen woman in the Scriptures would have to be. Do you understand what I'm saying? There's a perception people have that he's a great sinner and I'm just a little sinner. I got news for you, little sinner. You're going to go to hell if you don't get right with God. And she loved much. Verse 48, he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. And they that said it meet with him, began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? And he said to the woman, Thy faith has saved thee. Go in peace. Then chapter 8 goes right into that statement. So I really believe that there's a picture of Mary Magdalene. You know what that woman never, ever did? She never, ever forgot. what the Lord Jesus Christ did for her in saving her. Hey, I don't ever want to forget how wonderful, how magnificent it was that day I prayed and asked the Lord Jesus to come into my heart and save me. I don't ever want to forget how far down in the pit I was, how far down in that miry clay, how unhappy, how dissatisfied, how no peace and no joy in my heart, how that I was wondering about life and what's life about. I don't ever want to forget what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for me. She never forgot what the Lord saved her from. We were talking one night and Matt was testifying, Matt Harwood. He says, you know, he says, I wasn't in drugs and I wasn't in liquor, but God saved me from that life because I had a good mom and a good dad. That boy has grown spiritually at 25 to realize, OK, OK, I wasn't a drunk and I wasn't a dope head. But listen, I was just as wicked as a drunk and a dope head. And because of my godly parents, I didn't get involved in that stuff. And I'm better off for it. But I still. sinner that needed to be saved by the grace of God. And Mary just never forgot. She never forgot what the Lord saved her from. Never forgot the joy that He put in her heart. She loved the Lord. She gave herself to the Lord. She gave everything she had. And I want to say something. She gave it willingly. No preacher browbeat her into giving herself to the Lord. No preacher browbeat her into loving Jesus Christ. Guys, I am done browbeating God's people. Listen to me, you fall in love with the Lord Jesus Christ, there's nothing you wouldn't do for Him. I mean, keeping His commandments, they're not hard. It doesn't bring dissatisfaction. What does it say in John there? His commandments are not grievous. It's a joy for me to live for God. It's a joy for me to live a separated and a godly life. I like being a child of God. I mean, to tell you, there's no greater status, there's no greater position in all the universe than to be a son of God. I'm a joint heir with the Lord Jesus Christ. I like this willingly stuff. Go with me to First Chronicles 29. First Chronicles chapter 29. It's got to be your own free will. Young people, you got to do it because you want to do it. You ought to do it because you want to do it, because you love Jesus Christ. First Chronicles 29, verse number one. First Chronicles 29, verse one. Furthermore, David the king said unto all the congregation, Solomon, my son, whom alone God hath chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great. For the palace is not for man, but for the Lord. And so David's really getting ready for Solomon to build the temple. Do you understand? He's going to make a magnificent edifice for the glory of God. Now slide with me down to verse number five. The gold for the things of gold and the silver for the things of silver and for all manner of work to be made by the hands of the artificers. And who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord? So David asks the questions. The question, are you willing? Who is willing to consecrate themselves to help build this temple? You start in verse number 6 and you go through verse 17. Look at 6. Then the chief of the fathers and the princes of the tribes of Israel and the captains of the thousands and the hundreds with the rulers of the king's work offered what? Willingly. Look at verse 9. Then the people rejoiced for they offered how? willingly, because with perfect heart, they offered willingly to the Lord. And David the king also rejoiced with great joy. Guys, I don't know what happened to you when you got saved. I don't know if you ever got touched by the Holy Ghost to dedicate your life to the Lord. But I mean, I remember as clearly as I remember the day I got saved when the Holy Ghost worked in my heart about dedicating myself to the Lord Jesus. Listen, I didn't come kicking and screaming, OK? No preacher dragged me to the offer. No preacher was brow-beating me about dedicating my life to the Lord. That preacher just talked about Christ dying for us, and shedding His blood for us, and how He desires for us to consecrate our lives because He has a plan for us, and He has a will for us, and we'll never know the real will of God until we consecrate ourselves to Him. I wanted to do it. I was glad to do it. And as the Lord started opening doors for me, guys, I was not holding back. I wanted to get through any open doors that the Lord gave me. Now, that's not to say that I wasn't nervous and I didn't feel incapable of doing what God wanted me to do. But then there's the training and the teaching of the filling of the Holy Ghost of God and Him empowering us to do what needs to be done by the grace of God. And so I think that our love, I think that our consecration, it ought to be willingly. Mary's gratitude and Mary's love for Jesus Christ was manifested. in her devotion to the Lord. People didn't question Mary's devotion and love for Jesus Christ. She was wholly devoted. F.B. Meyer said this, and I don't know really where he got it, but I'm quoting F.B. Meyer. He said, a woman's love must always find something to do for her beloved. And I have just noticed ladies that are in love with their husbands, there's nothing that they won't do for their husbands. It's manifested that way. Do you follow what I'm saying? Well, you know what? I'd like to get a characteristic of a woman's love for the Lord Jesus Christ, and I want my love for Jesus Christ to be manifested, and I'd do anything that He wants me to do. I was walking around the mall yesterday, and I had a little iPod. I was listening to preaching, and it went dead. The battery went dead on me. And so I'm trying to get a free charge, okay? So, you know, and I struck out a couple of times, and then there was this Oriental guy, and it's some kind of computer place or something, and I said, hey, look, I said, can I get a cheap charge here for my iPad or iPod or whatever I got? I said, this is what I got. He goes, yeah, he said, I got a dock right here, just stick it right in there. And so, friendly enough guy, probably about 24, 25 years old, and we just started talking about this, that, and the other thing, you know, so I asked him if he went to church. He goes, no, he says, I'm a shaman. I said, you're a shaman. He goes, yeah. I said, well, I don't know what that is. What's that? And so he told me what it is, you know, believe in the spirit life and identify with the spirits. And if you were good in this life, you'll be reborn into another human being. And if you were bad in this life, you get reborn to be an animal. I said, ooh, that doesn't sound too good. I said, do you all believe in God? He goes, well, you know, no, not really. I said, well, what do you believe in? He says, you know, I don't really know. He says, my mom and dad didn't tell me that. So it's obviously his parents' religion, you know. And I said, well, you know, I said, I'm a born again Christian. And I just took a few minutes and told him that I believed in an almighty God that spoke the world into existence. I believe He knew everything and didn't have any beginning. And I mean, He's just nodding His head, listening to me. So as long as He's nodding and listening, I'm going on. Amen. And so for about 10, 12 minutes I got to witness to him and then of course the devil sent a customer in, amen? That wasn't the Lord sent that customer in, that was the devil himself. But anyway, I am glad to be able to talk about my Lord, I love Him. And it's willing. She had owed much because of her past. And what the Lord did is he forgave her much. And so she in return loved much. But, you know, sometimes today's God's people are like Jacob. And they say, you know, Lord, if you do this, then I'll do that. And I think that is normal of a cardinal Christian, but I don't think that's normal of a Christian that really loves the Lord. So I ask you, let's go back to Matthew chapter 26. Matthew 26. In Matthew 26, I want you to look at verse 11 with me. Well, let's start in verse 6, Matthew 26, verse 6. Now, when Jesus was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, there came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment and poured it on his head as he sat at meat. But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, to what purpose is this waste? Isn't it amazing some people think you're wasting your life when you live for God? Wasting your talents or something like that. Verse 9, For this ointment might have been sold for much and given to the poor. Boy, that sounds mighty high and mighty, doesn't it? But we're talking about Jesus Christ here. Verse 10, When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? Who's he sticking up for? That woman. For she hath brought a good work upon who? Me. Who's me? The Son of God, the Savior. Verse 11, For ye have the poor always with you, but me ye have not always. Now, listen, if he's not who he says he is, think about that statement. If he's not almighty God, if he's not the son of God, if he's not the savior of mankind. He says, you got these poor with you always, but you don't have me here all the time. So what's he saying? Whatever you do for me now is way better than what you do for the poor, because you're always going to have the poor people here. But if he's just a man, he's an egotistical maniac. But he's God. Well, how long do you have the Lord? Whatever your life is on this earth. Whatever that passageway that God gives you, whatever the amount of years is, that's how much time you've got to pour the oil on His head and minister to Him by faith. And that's all the time that you've got. Because otherwise, you're going to be in His presence. So no faith will be involved then. So what's He doing to that woman? He's commending her because she did it for who? For Him. Now, listen to me, guys. There's a lot of different ministries. There's a lot of different things. You get up and sing. I think it is right to get up and sing because you want to make the pastor happy. You want to sing the kind of songs the pastor wants you to sing and you want to have it. And that's good. But that shouldn't be your first thought. Your first thought in whatever you do should be for the Lord. Mrs. Keenan working in the Christian school and doing all that work that she does and Lori helping her. They want to help those kids. Listen, they love your kids. They want to help your kids. But that shouldn't be their first motive. It's for the Lord. I've seen the Abbott girls many a time minister to Matt and Steph's kids, take time on their day off and take those kids out. And I know they love those kids. And that is wonderful to do that because you love the kids. But you ought to do it first because you love Jesus Christ. Whatever we do, we should do it because we love him and want to be a blessing to him. Now, listen, I want you all to get help from the message. I want you all to get blessed from the message. When I pray, that's how I pray. That's how I study. I try to gear my messages as much for you all as I can. It's sort of a limited audience, you know. But when I preach, I want to please the Lord. I want him to be blessed with my effort to preach his truth and help God's people. Do you follow what I'm getting at? I think that's how Mary Magdalene was. She didn't care what other people thought. She just wanted to live for God. She wanted to love the Lord. So I ask you, what does the Lord want from us today, tomorrow, this week, next month? Does he want our service? Do you think angels would do the service of God better than you and I are doing the service of God? No, I'm sure of it. Does he want our money? I mean, when he builds a new Jerusalem, guys is using gold for the pavements, you know, the streets. Does he want us to be changed? Does he want us to be reformed? Does he want us to put some things off and put some... Certainly he does. But is that the most important thing he wants in our life? I don't think so. You know, I think we do sometimes. I think sometimes we substitute things for loving Jesus Christ. substitute things. I remember many, many years ago, it was the late 70s, early 80s, I went to a very big church in the state of New York for a meeting. And I was impressed with the church because they gave so much money to missions. But the more time I spent around the church, the more carnality I saw in the church. And the longer that I went up to meetings over the years, the more I found out about adultery and divorce and kids getting pregnant in high school and that kind of business. And here I am. I was trying to reconcile. They give so much money to missions. And there was five or six missionaries called out of their church, went to the field within a five-year period. And yet, it was a cardinal mess. The church was a cardinal mess, you know. And I was talking to a missionary to China. And we're just talking. And he brought up that church, said he had been up there. And this, that, and the other thing. And at one point, he said this. He said, Brother Kenan, he said, that church is trying to buy the Lord off with missions. And then they can live any way they want to live. Guys, listen, you can't be a great soul winner and then go live any way that you want to live and think that your heart is right with the Lord. And you can't just, you know, lock yourself up in a bedroom or a study and read and pray and read and pray and not go out into the world and give the gospel. Do you follow what I'm saying? And so the Lord's not a gypsy. You know what gypsies are good at? Trading. Well, here, Lord, I'll trade you this and give you this if you let me keep this and I can do that. That's not how the Lord operates, guys. And so really, if I had it to say, I think the Lord wants our love and I think I've got a Bible verse to back it up. Turn with me to the to the gospel of Matthew, chapter 22, if you would. Matthew 22. Do you understand that the Lord loves us unconditionally? In other words, you know, if we get cold or we get backslid, he still loves us, doesn't he? Do we love him unconditionally? That's the way we should love him, though. I think that's how Mary loved him. She loved him unconditionally. Look at chapter 22 in Matthew, verse 36. Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. You know what he wants? Our Lord wants our unconditional love. I think he wants our adoration. I think he wants our devotion. I think he wants our unfledged loyalty. You follow what I'm saying? I think he wants our worship. That's what I believe. That's the greatest commandment. I think that Mary gives us an example on how we can love the Lord. To love the Lord means sacrifice. What did Mary give? She didn't just give the ointment, guys. She gave her life. She gave everything she had. Do you remember Abraham? What was Abraham willing to give up for the Lord? His only son, Isaac. True, unconditional love means to sacrifice for the one that you love. Six times in four Gospels, the Lord says, if you lose your life, you'll find it. But if you find your life, you're going to lose it. You out there searching for your own will, you're going to realize. Jesus said, the Lord said in Romans chapter 12, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice. Holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is a good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Let's look at 1 John chapter number 4, just to give you a verse on sacrifice. 1 John and verse number 4. So to really love the Lord, there's going to be some sacrifice involved. Sacrifice your time and give them your talents and your abilities, maybe sacrifice some things so you can give more to missions or something like that. First John, chapter four and verse number 10 here in his love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. He loved us and gave his life a sacrifice for us. I'll tell you the second thing I think it is to really love the Lord is obedience. Let's go to John chapter 14, if you would, please. John chapter 14. And John 14, I want to look at verse 21. John 14 and verse 21. He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. And he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him. He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me." Guys, I didn't write that. God wrote that. If there's something you know God said not to do, if there's something you know God said to do, and you don't love it, you don't do it, you don't love the Lord. You're a rebel at heart. Verse 22, Judas saith unto him, not ascariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us and not unto the world? And Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me... See, Judas is trying to get off the subject. The Lord brings him. If a man love me, he will keep my words. And my Father will love him, and will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings, and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me. I remember many years ago hearing Brother Jack talk about one of his girls that got in trouble as a teenager and got churched and left her daddy's house because she wanted to live wicked and all that stuff. And she was in her late 20s or early 30s and had gone the way of the world and married some lost guy and raising lost kids and all that kind of business. And one time she got in her daddy's face and she accused him and she said this. She said, you love Marsha more than you love me. And Brother Jack looked at her and he said, that's not true. He said, Marsha, it's just easier to love than you are. You know what our Lord is? Our Lord is holy. When you seek to live a holy life because you love the Lord, we draw nigh to God. And what does he do? He draws nigh to us because he's holy. You want to live a flippant, a cardinal, a worldly life? I mean, that's your choice, guys. But that doesn't mean that he's going to draw. He's still your father and he still loves you. But He's just not going to seek to have close, intimate fellowship with you. Was Lot a saved man? He's a saved man. Did Jesus go down there into Sodom and Gomorrah and visit with Lot? He sent the angels. He didn't go. Did He go into Abraham's tent and have a meal with Abraham? He sure did. Sounds like the Lord chose to fellowship with one and chose not to fellowship with the other. Why? I tell you, because of the testimony of holy living. and unholy worldly living. Say Amen right there. Study your Bibles now. So it's submission, it's willing, it's a willing obedience. Listen, it's right for you kids to obey God. But you know what? Until you come to a point in time in your life that you realize it's really important to God that you are submitted to your parents, and you obey your parents because that's the right thing to do, and you have a good attitude about it, then it just perfects your own obedience. It doesn't really mean anything to the Lord. And really what you're doing is you're hiding rebellion in your heart. And it will come out eventually. And so with God's people, you know, the preacher can preach against this or the preacher can preach against that. And, you know, because it's a small church, you know, you know, you don't let preacher find out you're doing it. You don't let other church people. That's not the right reason to do things, guys. You should you should quit sin. You should separate from the world because you love Jesus Christ. And if you don't do it, it's because you don't love him. If you don't do it, who do you love? Love yourself. You want to tickle your flesh, you want to satisfy your flesh. Well, you're all getting quiet on me tonight. I hope it's because you're tired. No, if you're really going to love the Lord, it's going to take some sacrifice. If you really love the Lord, it's going to take submission and obedience in your life, a willing desire to please the Savior. You know, when God told Abraham, take Isaac up there and offer him to me, you don't read in the Bible, he argued with him. You know, another thing that I really appreciate about Abraham, he didn't tell Sarah about it. I know we don't think about it much, but what do you think Sarah would have done if Abraham said, listen, I'm taking Isaac and we're going up to Mount Moriah. The Lord told me to offer him up as a sacrifice. I'm going to slit his throat and then I'm going to light the fire and we're just going to offer him up for sacrifice. What would that mother have done over my dead body? Submission or no submission. Who do you think you are? Are you out of your mind? I was 90 years old when that happened. I went down to the depths of hell. I waited forever for that boy. And you're going to take him up and slit his throat and burn him? Are you out of your mind? But you know, that Bible said that Abraham believed, not Sarah. Abraham believed God would raise him up again that day. And so he was trusting his faith. He knew how much that mother loved that boy. That was the joy of her life. But he was going to obey God. The Lord just raised him up sooner than he thought he was going to raise him up. Amen. So why did he do it? Because he loved the Lord. I remember Sam Gipp giving the testimony, I heard this so many years ago, I can't even remember how long ago, when Sam got saved and after his first year of Bible school, he started praying for a wife. And he said this, he said, Lord, please give me a wife that will understand that I'll love her, that I'll love you more than I'll ever love her. I'd say the Lord gave him a pretty good wife, wouldn't you? And see, guys, there's not a conflict there. You love the Lord Jesus and you'll love your wife like Jesus loves the church. Gave himself for it. So there'll be some sacrifice. There'll be some submission and some obedience. Guys, faith without works is what? It's dead. What's dead? It doesn't exist. It's dead. In other words, you say you believe something. Hey, I'll believe what you believe when I see you live in what you say you believe. Willingly, I tell you something else, I believe it is to really love the Lord. Faithfulness, faithfulness. First Corinthians four, two says what it's required in stewards that a man be found faithful. Going to have to be faithful. I remember I was preaching out of 1 Peter to the husbands and the wives, and I was really preaching to the men a lot last week. And I said this to them, I said, the Bible says for you to dwell with them according to knowledge. I said, guys, you need to keep living with your wife. I said, we're living in a day and age, the least little thing, people are separating over nothing. And I said, it is wrong for you to separate. You stay in the house, you stay together, you keep living together. You need to get two people that love God, two people who believe the Bible, two people that will have a repentant and a humble heart. And then with the help of God and the help of the Word of God, and if you need your pastor to intervene, the help of your pastor, you work some things out in your life. You just keep living together and you work it out. But that's foreign today. And I was driving home, or maybe it was the next day, I was driving with Mark someplace, and he said this, he said, you know preacher, you hit that, you said dwell with them, I really never thought of it. He said, but you know, he said, Michelle and I, he said, we had rough times in our marriage. Look up here, everybody has rough times in their marriage. Guys, you put two sinners under the same roof, there's bound to be a little bit of conflict somewhere along the line, amen? And he said, but we stayed together and we worked through the problems that we had. That's an old time thing, but that's what needs to be done there. And when it comes to our Lord, we want to be faithful to Him. Hey, there's going to be problems in our lives. There's going to be problems in our families. There's going to be problems in the church. We don't get up and run for the hills. We need to be faithful to the Lord, no matter what comes down the trail. I ask you this. Is God faithful to you? Does he leave you hanging? You ever come to him and say, Lord, I got some sin I need to get right. And he said, no, you know what? I'm sick and tired of listening to you. And, you know, I'm sick and tired of you sinning. So, no, I ain't going to forgive you no more. No, he's faithful to us. And so we should be faithful to him. And then another thing about really loving the Lord is being consecrated to the Lord is the Lord having our attention. I know you guys have never, ever done this, but there's been times that my wife will be talking to me and my mind will wander just a little bit. And all of a sudden I hear this, you're not even hearing what I'm saying, are you? And you know what? She didn't have my attention. You know, the Lord ought to have our attention on a regular basis. Why? You know, it says in Luke chapter 10, Mary heard his word. She sat at his feet. She wasn't cumbered about with much serving. Remember when God was calling Samuel as a little boy and he heard that voice and he jumped up, thought it was Levi, Eli, I mean. And he ran in there a couple of times and Eli finally figured it out. And he said, Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth. How about Isaiah chapter number six, when the great prophet Isaiah saw that great vision in heaven and the call to go preach. And what did he say? He said, here am I, Lord, send me. Why? God had his attention. Guys, what I'm trying to say is we should be sensitive as we read our Bibles. We should be sensitive as we pray. We should be sensitive as we walk to and fro for that still small voice of God that will lead us and guide us, that will help us, that will use us for his honor and for his glory. So to really love the Lord, I believe there's some sacrifice involved in submission and obedience and faithfulness. And faithfulness is proven over what? Time. Over time. Good night, guys. Been saved. If I live to March, I'll be saved 39 years. If I live to June, I'll be preaching for 38 years. If I live to August, I'll be pastoring 38 years. Sure would be stupid to start being unfaithful now, wouldn't it? With the Lord's return so close. He's a lot closer than you think he is. I want to close with this thought. If you remember, God had made man and put him in the garden. And so Adam named everything and everything was there and everybody had a mate except Adam. And God said, it is not good for the man to be alone. I'll make him a help meet for him. So what did he do? He put him to sleep, took a rib out of his side and made woman and brought Eve to Adam. And they lived happily ever after. Can I say something? It is not good for the Lord Jesus Christ to be alone. So you know what he did? He went to the cross and out of his side went water and blood, and he shed his precious blood to buy himself a bride. The church of the living God. And today the Holy Ghost is seeking that bride taken out of his side. You know what the Lord wants? Wants us to love him. You know what Ecclesiastes says? Love is stronger than death. I want to love Him with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul." I said, how do you do that? Well, that song those kids sang tonight, He's so much God, and yet He was so much man. Why? Because He loved us. I love Him. I'll confess it to you tonight. I do love the Lord. There's times I don't love him as much as I should, and sometimes I drift and get cold. Sometimes I just really need a revival of my love for Jesus Christ. I don't ever want to forget the pit from whence I was dug or the miry clay. I don't ever forget how good my Lord has been to me. You with me? I want to love him. Nobody can make you love anybody else. That has to come up. from the very depths of your heart and soul. And if you're really saved tonight, if you'd catch a picture of what Jesus has done for you, it's hard not to love somebody like that. Let's pray together. Our heads are bowed. We're going to take a few minutes and pray. Y'all mind the Lord tonight.