Okay this morning's teaching comes from the 35th chapter of Isaiah, the jumping off point to be the 8th through the 9th, I mean 8th through the 10th verse. And a highway shall be there in a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for those the wayfaring men, though fools shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go thereon. It shall not be found there, but the ransomed shall walk there, and the redeemed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and signing shall flee away. These verses talk throughout the scriptures, but they are for the church. Their father, thank you, their father church, their father church. And what we have to learn, there's a silver lining that he gives us. Everyone's, when you come in, as a preacher, you don't always wanna preach fire and brimstone or whatever. You wanna preach that joy and silver lining that gives us hope. And our hope is in Christ, he's our hope. That's why he's the way and the way to him is a way of holiness. This highway that he talks, talking about, not recapping what we did the other day, but we have to learn, learn of him. He says, take my yoke upon you and learn of me. So we don't learn of him overnight. It's a way of life. The holiness is a way of life. And as we look at all of the sermons and teachings throughout life, that's what it's about. Learning of Christ. And, um, I just talked to Deacon about something, and we were in his prayer, something he was saying. And I said, well, that's not possible. But for those that are spiritually blind, we're always thinking physical. For those that are physically blind, Those that are spiritually can't hear. That's what the ones they talked about in the lay of the sea in church. Those that you know that you're blind and naked and can't see or whatever come to me and I'll put on my side in other words. Those people in those positions, God has to come into their life. It's something that God does. It's a miraculous and a supernatural. Then they'll do what Deacon was praying about, and that's the hope of the person. that, you know, that couldn't see, that couldn't hear, that didn't have an understanding that God does something to him, like the blind man, that he said, now I don't know who he is or whatever, he says, but all I know is I can see now. So it says in that millennial reign, when Christ comes into our life, the fullness of it, he says, it shall blossom abundantly. Verse two, it says, it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, even with joy and sin. The glory of Lebanon is given, be given unto it. In other words, when Christ comes into our life, it should change our lives. There's a change in our life. It's a change in our way. And that's what we do. We walk in the way, the way of holiness. Only he could put us on the path of holiness. That's why what his teaching was, the apostle creed, the apostle teaching, the apostle doctrine, what they taught was central to mankind. Because it was the way, the way that Christ had made for himself. I kept using the word Wednesday night in just hearing the saying, the archipelagos. And you would say, what in the world that means or whatever? That's a Greek word or whatever. I'll tell you. And I told you I would tell you a little bit more about it suddenly, but I'll do that today. We have to learn of Christ for His way to become a highway to us. Because when we think of a highway, we think of the interstate. We think of something where everything has been cleared out. Well, that's what the Word does. It sanctifies our life. It clears out the obstacles and the weights and sin. That's what John the Baptist came doing. He says, prepare ye, make a way in the wilderness. He says, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Well, the more we travel along this highway, the more we cleanse and sanctify our lives, the faster we can walk, the better we can do, the more things, it's like traveling a super wavy, greater things we'll do. We'll start overcoming more. we'll start being able to overcome more, we'll be more joyous in life, and we'll hear it. That's why in the beginning with my grandchildren or with my children, when a child begins, Like we're talking about, we can't give them the meat of the word, we give them the milk of the word. So some of the lingo or the language, you have to do like this and say, well, what that word mean? Come back and ask for understanding. Let's try to assimilate this a little bit better. Because in Psalms, it says that he'll be a light unto your path. He'll be a lamp unto your feet. Well, that doesn't really pretty much sound like a highway or whatever. It sounds like he's threading something. But that's where the song comes from. I can tell you, Lord, be with me while I'm on this tedious journey. Because it's circumspect. You don't want to fall to the side or fall off the highway. It's a very narrow way that leads to life. It's a very narrow way. I don't know if you've seen some of the the library and some of those Indiana Jones pictures where they have all kinds of booby traps or whatever and they have a treasure on the other side there in this big room and they go run over there to get that treasure. But you see that it was a narrow way to that treasure and it was a glass that they had to walk over and that path to that treasure was very narrow that they had to get to it And if you deviate a little bit more, you'll step off and you'll fall off and kill yourself. You'll fall off and be plunged through with swords and things or whatever. So we have to be taught, just like little children. So in the Great Commission, what he told us, Matthew 28, 19, he says, and when they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. That's the Great Commission, right? That's what we're supposed to do. But when you teach someone, they should do it just like you do it. I remember, you know, my brother was working with lawnmowers, and I used to work with lawnmowers or whatever, and I was working on a weed eater, a chainsaw I had or whatever. But in working with stuff like that, it's a tedious job. There are very small screws and everything, and you have to be patient. You can't be an authority or whatever. You have to patiently work with it. And that's how we teach our children. Sometimes they have to go slow. Sometimes they have to be patient or whatever. And that's the same thing with the word of God as it unfolds. But here's the part that a lot of people don't like or enjoy, because it's the Old Testament. They like to say, oh, those laws are done away with. But how can we write them upon somebody's heart? Through the grace of God, how are those laws written and engraved upon the heart? He has given us laws, statutes, judgments, reflections throughout the Book of the Old and New Testament, proverbs, praise, prophecy, and history. All of that's part of the highway. All that's part of what we should know. It's very important, the Book of Numbers. It's very important. has all of those baguettes and numbers and figures and everything. You want to zoom through it. Psalms is just as very important, but ask how many people have read the Book of Lamentations? The Book of Psalms of Solomon? The Book of Obadiah? Not many, but he gave us every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God. And he said, this is the road, eat the whole road. Paul said he hadn't shied away from teaching the whole gospel because this is important along the way. And I was talking to Brother Parker this week or whatever, and you realize as you get older that everything is important and it's in there somewhere. And if we dependent upon God to pull it out of our mind or make it readily available or whatever, he could make that mind just as sharp as knives. He could make that mind to where you can recall things and bring it up. if we're fully depending upon Him and not ourselves. That's why we meditate in His Word day and night. He has given us specific principles, all of which can be used to help us consider our ways. And you remember I said what we're doing, we're considering our ways. It's meant to help us get that beam out of our own eyes. and those words so that's why we're to meditate in his word day and night he's told joshua to meditate in his word day and night to be strong of a good courage turn not to the left not to the right okay to consider whether a word or action is sin, we have to have something to use it by, and that measure is the Word of God. That standard by which we measure sin is the Word of God, because sin is the transgression of God's laws, or transgression against God. That's why David said he had sinned against God and God only. Because sin is against God. It's not against man, it's against God. Now we can wrong man and do something wrong, but sin is against the laws of God. God has those things there. And if we etch those up on our heart, we start laying aside those ways of sin. It makes us conscious of more aware of sin. Whether we are asserting our will against another's will, Because it's not that our will be done, it's his will be done. So when I'm telling some of y'all are teaching principles to my children or somebody else, is this my opinion or is this the will of God? So that's what we have to have. I'm not trying to get my opinion over what I think about something. And that's what Joseph had with his family and his brothers and things. He was a righteous man, and so when they did things wrong or whatever, it was against God, and he was God's representative, and that's what we have to be, the achepagos for our family, only that one in our family that's blazing the trail, that's scouting. Let me say, may take one from a family, or one or two from a family or something, we have to be the ones that stand up. If nobody else in our family stands up and tell each other what's right, was true. We have to blaze that trail. We have to be the one to stand in the brief. We may not be liked for it or whatever, but they didn't like Jesus. And he came and gave us his example. We're to follow him. No other person should we be following but Jesus. But Paul said, you could follow me as I follow Christ. So where he gets off the path following Christ, you stay on the path. When Eve got off the path, Adam should have stayed on the path and not sinned against God. That's why it says in your household or whoever it is, you stay right, stay in submission to God. Don't get off just because somebody else did it. As your parents said, just because everybody else jumped in the river, you would do it too? The thing is, everybody else was doing it. Just because everybody else is doing it doesn't make it right. That's a way of holiness. We have to follow Jesus. His pathway. Whether something will make our path to the kingdom more difficult. Some things may not be sin, but it's a weight. It's a weight, and it may make it a little bit difficult to us. In the book of Hebrews, it says, laying aside every weight and sin is perceptionless from running the race. Well, Deacon Hubbard has got mine a good way about him or whatever. And I understood that it would be all right. I said, well, Deacon, you gonna watch the Super Bowl? I said, I'm watching the Super Bowl. You gonna watch the Super Bowl? He said, well, I wasn't gonna watch it or whatever. Well, I didn't press him on it or whatever, but I know how I am. But I think he would be a better person to watch it with than some people that get involved. called my son during the game. He didn't answer or whatever, but I talked to him about it this week. I brought him home yesterday. I talked to him about it because he has too much skin in the game with the game. In other words, he loves the game too much. He loves the team too much. Remember I said the only way to enjoy football is to enjoy football. If you have a team or whatever, you will be competitive and worldly. And the love of the world makes the problem. So I ordered, you know, I got peacock or whatever it is. It was five dollars to get it and start watching the game or whatever. It was supposed to be a good game. See, and I liked it that because I didn't care who won. I just wanted to see some football. You know, just like if you like boxing, you want to see some good boxing, man, you know, when a team play and everybody did their all and after the game, they're going out and shaking one another's hands. And man, that was a good game. You know, you hit me hard, you do this, that, you know, into the game. And right there in the third quarter, Soon as they kick off, Cincinnati gets the ball. They come out, very first play, they throw a 60 or 70 yard touchdown strike. The quarterback throw a touchdown strike. The man goes into the end zone and I'm like, I said, man, he held his face bad. And that was a penalty on the play. That's something that couldn't be rectified. It couldn't be changed, but it would change the outcome of the game. There are principles in which you play a game, and if you violate those principles, you disqualify. That's why Paul said, run the race that's set before you, but you must run and not be disqualified. So they broke the rule, but the referee wasn't watching. They didn't throw a flag. One of my sons had said, he called me and was talking about it. He said, well, Daddy, if they'd have thrown the flag, they at least could have came back and reviewed the play and seen whether it was a penalty or not. If it wasn't a penalty, then they could have gone and made a touch about it. But if it was a penalty, they could have called it back. I said, well, you know, as the people in Buddha say, that's karma or whatever, because I said that's the same thing that happened with the Rams against the New Orleans Saints years ago in the playoffs. They didn't call the penalty for holding the Rams. Hell, one of the Saints interfered with one of the Saints receivers. Well, that's what happened. One of the Cincinnati, the offensive, and interfered with the defensive man. He pulled his face back and pulled him down. So that came back to haunt him, but I say, well, I'm not watching the game anymore. Right in the middle of the game, I'm glad you wasn't there. You'd have been upset at me, but I says, this changes the game. You can't rectify it. Luckily, the Rams had a better team, and they came on back and won anyhow. but we can't make mistakes in life and that's why God put us down here and gave us rules and regulations say these are the rules and regulations you must obey to get to heaven this is the way now he's not legalistic about this and in other words After we are converted and we transgress God, that's chastening and suffering for the things that you do wrong, for the violation. That's the way he gets you back in line. You know, the punishment of chastening, he says he chastens every son he receives. So we have to pay for our sin. The book of Hebrews say every sin transgression will receive its just recompense or reward. So don't let people think, oh, Jesus Christ came to forgive sins or whatever. No, he came to save you from your sins. So we shall not continue in sin that grace shall abound. We should get away from sin. We should stop sinning and we should know what sin is and that's why it says laying aside every weight. So to me football is kind of a weight sometimes because as I was telling my Son, don't let it stress you out, son. When you can't go to work, and you foaming, and you can't talk to others, and you're crying all upset, and you know, about to go ballistic or something, and you're worried about it too. That stress entering into your life, and you have to realize the things that stress you, that makes you bitter and upset or whatever. All of this pulls off the old man, puts on the new man. That's part of the way to holiness is loving not the world or the things of the world because the world is always to do things to upset you or whatever. So he says using the world. So it's nothing's wrong with watching football. Nothing's wrong with God created all things for good. But it's the way we use them, our attitude, where we lay aside holiness and the presence of God for those things when they intervene and come in there. So that's our guideline. That's what should be etched upon our heart, is that we in the presence of God and we children of God, and that he doesn't save us and take us out of the world or take us to heaven right away. He's building character in you. He's building a character in you. He's making you in his image, in his likeness. So you have to do it the way Christ did. So I was telling him yesterday on his way home, I came and got him and took him home or whatever, and something was going on. My daughter's truck had broke down or whatever, and he was murmuring. I said, stop murmuring and complaining. Whatever happens in life, we have to learn to deal with life. Well, no, not really. I know you don't understand this. You can say I'm wrong. I'm not looking at it right. But I'm talking to you biblically and spiritually. Christian has no business if we're walking in the way and that's where the word way came from it was to Christians because that's what Christianity was before it was called Christianity was called the way that was walking in the way Jesus walked well you didn't hear him going around murmuring and complaining when people do you something don't go around murmuring and complaining and talking and all this under your breath and saying this when reviled he reviled that again all that's part of the way everybody can't get on that highway because spirit places have to break you again and that's the way of holding it it's a narrow way it's God pruning and trimming you So what it does, it gives us those principles where we see whether our attitudes or approaches or activity will make us someone else's path crooked. In other words, is this the attitude or the temperament or the way I should approach that as a child of God? All of those are part of the way. So we're not looking at this physically. I told you, Winston, that was a metaphor. But this is a way of life. The highway of holiness is a way of life. Another thing that God has given us in his word is hope, because we can read about the future. If we're reading the Bible, and I was talking to my nephew that I told y'all to pray for the other day, and I want you to consistently pray for him, that puts a nexus on his life to where he has to straighten up But if he don't straighten up, things get worse and worse. And I was telling him the other day about some things. My expectation is on the God, but that God would do what we say he could do, what we pray. But what happens, happens. But stay in prayer for him, because he's feeling this kind of miserably at the time. We know that when God's plan is complete, nothing will be crooked. So I said, look, if you go in your forties, if you go straighten out your life or whatever, there's certain things you have to do. And it's just like God's word is sure. His word is sure. We have to start being in what we do. We have to watch the words we say, watch the vows we make. No liars enter into the kingdom of God. No liars. So don't say things and not do them. You have to go to the utmost, even if it's going to cost you, if it was going to make you make a sacrifice for your word. A lot of people go out of their way to make their word right. Now, it may not be possible sometime or whatever, but you need to start practicing that, not vowing things and just saying things just to be said, because other people may be depending very heavily on what you have said, what you have done. God will wipe away every tear and there shall be no more death, no sorrow, no crying. Well, that's wonderful. That's a great hope. But isn't And if y'all, I know your lights had been off, it should have came on by ten or eleven o'clock that night. That's when I looked and see that they emailed me, I seen it the next day around ten, eleven, the lights should have been back on ten minutes after eleven or something, eleven minutes after ten. But anyhow, a tree or something had fell on the line, they were saying. That's what they said. But anyhow. But anyhow, that's conditional because you remember I told you about reciprocal? It's a reciprocal relationship. It's not just that Jesus Christ died for us and we just live any kind of way of doing it. What are you doing for Jesus? Are you living for him? He says, for sake not to assembling together yourselves. Are you making it to assembly, to church services, whenever you can, as hard as you can? As in Deacons Proud is saying this morning. It's cold, but we are here. A lot of people say, oh, it's too cold. It's raining to get out there. Oh, you gonna let those be obstacles to you? And granted, it was freezing the other morning, and we did change it from that time to another time. That flexibility there, whatever, we did enjoy that. Hopefully, we didn't sin against God in changing that. We have to see that you can't just preach that to people on Easter and Christmas, that's whenever they do come to church or whatever, and then that that's a legitimate hope or whatever, just like I was trying to tell him the other day. I'm counting on you trying to get you to line up. But if you can't be counted on, you can't be trusted or whatever, it's no use keep saying Jesus Christ is your savior and no more crying and no more, and heaven's gonna be there. You're not gonna make it there. Because you're not on the highway, you're on the Broadway. This is a very narrow way. Everything about you has to change. There's a change. A converted person changes. If your brother's in a religion that's Christianity, which is the same as you, would he live a different way? Wouldn't you say, well, something's wrong with one of our Christianities? There shall be no more pain, for to paraphrase Revelations 21 and 4, it says, the former crookedness will have been straightened out. So for the come up to that promise where God says he's gonna straighten the crooked ways and everything that is crooked, we have to live a certain way or that promise won't come unto us. Now I'm not gonna make it to where I told you I was today because I'm kind of getting off the path here. Let me try to be a little bit more direct in these. There will be a new heaven and a new earth. In other words, the kingdom of God has come down to us. But that's gonna be when this come true that we talked about in the 35th. Chapter 8 through the 10th verse, but it's a lot of us that won't be here, but it will be on this earth It's like this was passing away. It says heaven and earth shall pass away. That's Metaphorical or that's stating in a way that the old way the old earth and the old heavens appear In other words, this is satan's world, but there'll be a new world the new heaven in the new earth It says a new heaven a new earth because his will will have been done. It will be done the same way on earth as it is in heaven. Because you get a new earth, you have to have a new heaven. So when we're talking about heaven, we're talking about the celestial beings, the celestial states are being wiped away because we're not fighting against just flesh and blood, just earthly people and earthly things. We're fighting against powers and principalities, rulers in darkness and high places. in those heavens that satan is the god of this world and that's going to be vanquished that's going to be changed that's going to be moved away that's why it says no ravenous beast shall be on it now that means a ravenous lion now a lot of people say okay now this is contradictory because you're saying well a lion an animal doesn't have a pathway to heaven and the kingdom of god right but there will be lions in animals there because it says the lawn will lay down the lamb. We know that could be metaphorical in a way or whatever, but it seems as though there will be an animal presence, but God would take the ferocity out of them. That's a telling for an animal to be a ferocious Beasts to kill and destroy there's no more killing in my all of my holy mountain in the earth is the mountain of the lords Well, there won't be anything to kill in that mountain because when he talks about Serpents and things being there and the child playing on the adder's hole Which is the one of the most poisonous snakes it is That meant that no more death nothing that will kill you that it will be just like eden was a garden of paradise The serpent that was there that was harmful to him won't be there anymore. God will vanquish that away. He will take the ferocity. So all of nature, it says in Romans, all of creation is waiting for the manifestations of the sons of God. Because creation wants to go back to its purpose, what it had in the beginning. You know, leaves weren't meant to die. We weren't meant to see things dying. Death, it says death in it, the world through sin. So we're wanting to see the Garden of Eden like Adam was put there to keep the garden. Right? So if he was put there, so it was blossoming and we see where we see the deserts blossoming where creation is turned around. It says the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them. and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose." So we will see rivers running through the deserts and everything. In other words, we will see a change in creation and that doesn't take just mankind out there getting out there to change. It takes God restoring the earth back to a new heaven and a new earth the way it should be. Edenic Earth. Okay? It takes the climate to be back what it was, not ferocious storms that are destroying mankind and hurricanes and floods and all of this thing. The Earth now is in birth pains, changing back to what God wanted it to be. There will be a new spiritual bodies and most importantly, new hearts. Those new hearts that God gives us, we are helping, where God's helped me, we're helping change and create those new hearts. He's writing his laws on our hearts, so even the thought of killing don't come into your mind. The thought of sin does, because that's what pain, what's in our memories, that's the thing that we're putting to death. That's the way of holiness. We must learn to put to death those things that's in our memories, that's in our lives. And Jesus showed us that way. He told John, he says, I am the way, I'm the truth, and I'm the life. So we must walk as he walked. He's our pattern. He said, you've seen me, you've seen the father. And we know the word of God says, only the pure in heart shall see God. That means holiness. Holiness is purity. So we must pull off the old man and put on the new man, which is Christ Jesus. We can't stand before God with any filter dirt before us. The presence of God would burn us completely out. We have to be robed in Christ's righteousness, not our own righteousness. God tells us and shows us how to be part of the future that he's talking about. To be part of that future right now, our responsibility is to make our past straight as possible, not just for our sakes, but also for the effect it has on others. So when he says, in verse three of the 35th chapter, strengthen you the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees. He's not just talking about physically, he's talking about spiritually, straightening out your lives, your walk, your way of life, the things that you do. I wanna go ahead on and at this point, add to that from the book of Hebrews, the 12th chapter of Hebrews. Okay, so in that third verse, it says, strengthen you the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees. We will go over this twice, I know, but I need to give it to you right here. When he says, for they verify Hebrews the 12th chapter, wherefore lift up the hands which hang down in the feeble knees and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way, but let it rather be healed. Follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. So we have to repent. We have to take out of our lives. You remember I said it's a pathway. It's very important that you go back and read when we talked about Wednesday about clearing the path of kings and presidents and things. We have to dig up our fallow ground. All of those things in our lives, bitterness, envy, strife, all those things is in the pathway that doesn't make it smooth. We're trying to smooth out our lives, and it says, make smooth pathways. So we have to put to death the members of our body. We have to mortify those things in our lives. And that would strengthen us spiritually. He said it, and we see it physically. We can see that. But just think of someone being strengthened. I was telling you about my knees and everything. But think of God strengthening my knees while I have strength as I used to have a greater strength, but the Spirit strengthens, it gives life. The reason I'm not looking at the physical, because we would have to pull off the physical anyhow, that's corruptible. We would have a new body, a spiritual body, one that never breaks. One that won't be in pain, one that won't cry, one that don't have those sorrows or whatever. So that's what we're doing with being strengthened spiritually. You remember Moses saying that he could see and he was able to see from one mountain into the promised land. He was able to climb up that mountain, but that he had transgressed God. You remember I said, we must follow the rules and the laws, all of the rules and the laws. see that we be circumspect, do it the way God says. Don't have no penalty. You see in football, when a person runs a hundred yard, he could get that ball in the end zone and run it back and run it a hundred yards in the other direction, a hundred and two yards in the other direction. But then, everybody's looking, what the announcers say, let's look, is there any flags on the play? Because if there's a flag on that play, Though he did all that and all that action come back, and you can review it if you want, but you can see where he stepped out of bounds here. He made one step or somebody was holding on the plate. It all comes back. So it's necessary. God can correct errors, and that's what he does in our lives. His chastening and his punishments of us that he talks about his children, that's why we don't sin, because we know transgressions and sins has to be paid for. That's why Joseph says he didn't sleep with Potiphar's wife. He said, how can I do this and sin against God? When Job was requested in the presence of God and a council with God because he had lived the way God had requested, or the way God had, he thought God wanted him to live. He was living by faith. You know, it wasn't called faith then, but he was living by the way of God. He was walking in the way, just like Enos followed God. Job was walking in the way. He says, just show me my sins. Show me what I had done. And so that's what we want because the Bible called Job a sinless man. He was a perfect and upright man. So we must hold to what God's word teaches us. And that's in our lives. Okay, and that's what strengthens us. The more we get spiritually strong, the better I will walk and the more people come to us or whatever, but the greater the balance will be. the greater the balance could be. This comes from Nath's topical Bible about the way. It's the way of holiness. When it says the highway of holiness, a way and a wayfaring man. Psalm 16 and 11 says, you will show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy and in your right hand there are pleasures evermore. So we know that God will show us the path of life in hope in his word. That's what it's saying. A highway of holiness, it is the way. Isaiah 35, 8, 9 says, the main road will go through there. At once deserted land, it will be named the holy highway. No evil-hearted men may walk upon it. God will walk there with you. Even the most stupid cannot miss the way. A fool can err therein. In other words, you can't go and have this baggage with you. You have to. It has to be called off. You're not a fool God. You're not a deceived God. There must be a conversion in your life. Jeremiah 6 and 16 says, Yet the Lord pleads with you still. Ask where the good road is. The godly path you used to walk here, the days of long ago, travel there, and you will find rest for your souls. But you replied, no, that is not the road we want to go. That's from the Living Bible. You can read it at your own King James. Most people have a King James. But you looking for the old ways, the old paths, and like I said, We're getting too modern. I don't have anything against being modern, but being liberal, in other words, getting away from God, we need those old pathways. We need to honor our parents. We need to be respectful to our elders. That needs to be taught or whatever. See, because I understand some of the people in a knowledgeable way, but Do you know even employers and people do it? But I didn't do it with this lady I used to work for. She said, let's call me Clary or whatever. But I says, no, I'm going to call you Ms. Majors. See, we always want to be on first name basis or whatever. But in this society, calling someone sir or uncle or mister or business or whatever is a sign of a symbol of respect. We must be respectful to one another. My children, they're not called outlaws by their first name. You say mister or whatever. The guys used to work with me or whatever. They would call him Uncle Will or Uncle Sonny or something like that or whatever. But just because I'm calling him Will, you don't have to come up here and call him Will. So we're not teaching our children respect for their elders. Just like these teenagers that killed this lady the other day, shooting all across there, whatever. We have to respect the older people, and if that's not taught, we are veering away from those old pathways. So for the church to cast some of these things aside, It's not biblically correct, and it's not part of the way. They're saying, oh, you old fool, and everybody wants the megachurches, but that's the broad way. We have to go this narrow path. You have to respect the gray hairs of those elders. That's necessary. Thus says the Lord, stand by the roads and ask for the ancient paths where the good way is, then walk in it. That's what you walk in, that old way. You call me old fashioned if you want, that's the way. Put your dress on, put a long dress, cover yourself up. All of this showing what only your husband or your wife should see, it needs to be covered up. Call me old fashioned all you want to. stop dressing with all that stuff on you so tight and everything, that's not the way. You can tell me what you want to talk about, but that's narrow. If it's just going to be a few in here or whatever, you will go that narrow way. God's going to force you into that narrow way. Hosea 14 and nine say who is wise and he shall understand these things who is prudent and he shall know them for the ways of the Lord are right and the gesture walk in them. but transgressors shall fall therein. Those fools, those that err away. But we will walk in the paths of God. He is the way. Jesus didn't do these things. We will follow Jesus. Take up your cross and follow after him. We have to deny ourselves. They will say these things or whatever, but the way of holiness is following in that path. Whoever is spiritually wise, let him understand these things. Whoever is spiritually discerning and understanding, let him know these things. For the ways of the Lord are right, and the righteous shall walk right. there so it shouldn't be any question about that if you're spiritual and that's why I say These things are to the church and even in the Old Testament. It was to the church That's why they err it out of the way because God didn't give him an understanding He hadn't birthed him into the kingdom The only way into this is to be born again because we're talking about making a spiritual man in the image and likeness of Christ and That's what we're doing in the image and likeness of Christ, of righteousness. You remember I said narrow? If he imputes us with his righteousness, our righteousness is as filthy rags. Matthew 7 and one through four, it says, do not judge and criticize and, do I have the right thing here? and condemn others unfairly with an attitude of self-righteous superiority as those assuming the office of a judge so that you will not be judged. And when we're saying that, we have to make those judgments, but listen to what it says. When it says do not judge and criticize, it says unfairly with an attitude of being self-righteous or superior to that person. We're not a judge. God hadn't made us a judge over there, but we have to evaluate what's going on. Without that, we're not spiritual. Because 1 Corinthians does tell us, he that is spiritual judging all things. so that we will be judged fairly. We're being judged by the word of God. That's how we walk. We're being sanctified. The word of God sets us apart. That's what holiness is. He says, keep them in the world, but keep them away from the evil in the world. So his word sanctifies us. It sets us apart. We are peculiar people, a royal priesthood. Yes, it may be strange to you, But God had commanded that we do these things and we keep his commandments So we will not be in accordance with your uh, where am I here? Why do you look at an insignificant speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice and acknowledge? The specter see so this is how narrow that way is that i'm going around looking at myself judging myself but not being critical to others in a way that's ungodly or unfair or whatever, but that we all sin or do things that, man, when I say his righteousness, that it's not me. I don't have anything to boast of, but I'm trying to teach you what the principle is. So you may do wrong. I may do wrong. I may do something and I repent and I go to God or whatever. But I'm not telling you I don't sin. But I try not to sin. I try to walk as Christ had given me to walk in that. That's the conflict. Do you have that conflict and doubt yourself sometimes and go back and say, Lord, was I right in this or what did I do in this or whatever? Man, I was telling my wife last night how hurt I was or whatever because That was a mirror against a wall in the high doctor's office yesterday, and the chair was up against the mirror or whatever. But when I sit down, the chair popped the mirror. Man, probably a $300 mirror or something like that. It popped it, and the woman said, don't move or whatever, don't move. And she came over there, she held it. She got the other nurse to tape it up or whatever. And I'm like, man, I'm sorry, man, I'm sorry. I don't know what happened or whatever. I said, I bumped up against it. Now, whether the chair was moved out of the way and scooted back or whether it was against it, my weight just too hard, I leaned against it. And I do like I said with my knees and everything sometime. I dropped down I could have just dropped down in it or whatever I wasn't that conscious and I should have been more Circumspective of it because after they taped it up I sit back in the same spot in the same chair against that or whatever But I wasn't conscious aware enough the first time about this But man, it hurt me all last night. I'm thinking and hurtful about it. So yes, man, I the things that we do or whatever but you those little things we are conscious of and aware and sorrowful of but we can't help it because we're human we're fallible so we do do things things do happen to us but in Christ's righteousness, they will say, don't worry about it. So we don't want to go that broad way and say, oh, I'm a Christian, this happening, and explain things the way that you can do anything, as the insurrection on January 6th, and they trying to make excuses for things. Don't make excuses, just say, okay, I did this and I'm sorry about it or whatever, because I've done things. I told you I was telling my nephew the other day, I said, would you lie to my face or whatever? I said, you said you would do this and you didn't do it or whatever. But by me calling him on that, sometimes people have called me on certain things. And if God had me approaching that way and try to approach him in a way that was offensive to him or whatever. When I left or whatever, I stood outside and talked with him or whatever. I said, well, I appreciate you talking to me, Uncle, and I understand him or whatever. I want my nephews, I want to be the archer that goes to tell them, look, Uncle, who else tell you this or whatever? If you tell somebody something, you do it. Don't lie about something or don't walk away or forget it or whatever. It's important. Praise God. It's important, and I love him with all my heart. Anybody say something against it, I'm like, no, don't talk about him, leave him alone or whatever, because I have sinned, but for the grace of God, I have sinned and I have weaknesses myself. So there are problems, but we have to get ourselves straight, but we have to let people know, well, you shouldn't do this, you shouldn't do this, this is not right or whatever. And that's what Jesus does. So, and Oh, the broad way. Matthew 7.13 says, enter ye in at the straight gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be that which go in therein. Because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Few that go in this narrow way. So we want to go through life apologizing where we should apologize and being courteous and circumspectful, but we must consider others before we pick that beam out of their eye. We must pick it out on our own eye. Jesus is the way. John 14 and six, Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life, no man coming under the father, but by me. He's the only way. When people tell you there are more ways to God, this way or that, Jesus made a statement, and that statement says He's the way. So we have to follow Him to get there. That's the path that leads to life. What He did. Hebrews 9 and 8 says, and the Holy Spirit uses all this to point out to us that under the old system, the common people could not go into the Holies of Holies as long as the outer room and the entire system it represents were in use. But by this, the Holy Spirit signifies that the way into the holy place, the true holy place, is not yet disclosed. But Jesus, when he came, he set that pattern to now we can boldly go into the holiest of holies. We can go before the throne of grace. We can go and petition God. He says, if you go before my father, ask anything in his name that he will do. But we have to think of what things we are asking. Are we asking the right thing? It says, don't ask amiss. Don't ask certain things or whatever. I was listening to John Wright and Bob yesterday preaching on holiness or whatever. But there are certain people designed for certain things. And we have to learn those, and that's what teaching does. And I know teaching like this is long and it may not cash in much, but hopefully you're understanding that this has to be done. And that's why I told you the church met daily in the apostolic time. In other words, it wasn't, no, let's go watch TV and do all this or whatever. It was learning about God and learning the way to life. Once you get that hunger in your life, You would want to meet an hour or two each day to hear about God and to change your life and what's changing you. the doctrines that was taught by Christ. In Acts 9 and 2, it says, and Saul, breathing out threatening and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went into the high priest and desired him of letters to Damascus, to the synagogues. And he say, if he found any of this weight, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. That was the apostle Paul who was Saul before he was converted. He was saying of that way. In other words, that's what Christians was called before they were called Christians. It was called people of the way. They did the same thing Jesus did. They tried to imitate Jesus. That's what we should do. Try to imitate Jesus. That's the way to God. He's the only one that went to God. In the Bible, when people talking about people in heaven looking down and this and that, well, the Bible doesn't tell us that. The Bible tells us in the book of John, there's no man that has ascended up who hasn't ascended down. It was Jesus Christ. But when we die, we dead and in that grave. The spirit going under the God. Spirit going back to God. But without your body, you're not complete. He puts our spirit in a spiritual body in the resurrection and in the change when we've changed into incorruptible. But that's what he does, he gives us a different body. So what body are you in if you in heaven looking down? Nobody the spirit has to be in case it about that's why the the demons that was in the swine says Command us to go into the swine because they can't be just subjected. That's what hell that's what eternity to be They'll be subjected to vanity. They can't inhabit a body, but that's what they're doing now They that's what they demonic possession of something. He's trying to possess your body He's trying to possess you because he don't have a body of his own They're a disembodied spirit. No, you didn't hear the terminology of a disembodied spirit that's doomed to wonder. Acts 19 and 23 says, and the same time there arose no small stir about the way. That was the people in that village saying, well, the apostles and this teaching is taking over the way of holiness and it's the only way. So as we see that highway of holiness, we're talking about a path of life, the way we walk, the way we live. But it's what makes it straight, what makes it smooth, what makes it a highway, is that we're in the process of clearing it out. I don't know if you've ever seen them make a highway. Plank Road used to be with just wood planks down there. But somebody had made a path along there. When you go through the woods, you can see pathways through the woods. After that path is formed, after you walk it down and compress it, you could get the stumps out of it, cut the trees and things out of it. But to make a highway, it takes a lot of work. to make your life holy, it's gonna take a lot of work. You have to dig up your fallow ground. When it says dig up your fallow ground, not just that shallow stuff on top, going to church once or twice a year and saying you're a Christian, but you got to get down where it cuts you deep, to where you're sacrificing, to where the suffering comes in. to where people starting to hate you. And because it says, if they hate you, it's because they hated me first. When you start walking away, the world's not gonna like you that way. Chapter 22 of Acts said, Paul was confessing, he says, I persecuted people that was of this way unto death, binding them and delivering them into prison. chapter 24 and 14 says, but I confess to you that according to the way which they call a sect, I do worship and serve the God of our fathers. So there's Paul saying that he followed the way now. He was persecuting people that followed the way, but now he's following the way. So what I'm drumming in here, that holiness is a way of life that you live the second you walk out that door, but you should be living it the time you walk in here. Now God's gonna purge you out of the church if you're in the church and you're not living that way. That's when he says, I'll fight against the church. There's a purge, and when he says no food, In other words, a fool don't believe in God, or believe that you have to follow God, or the things of God. The devils believe in shalom, but they don't repent. Following the way requires repentance. That's why John says, bring forth fruit, meat for repentance. It requires a changed life, but keep in mind what I told you earlier about Matthew 7 and 1, You have to judge yourself. Judgment begins at the house of God. When you start seeing how revolting you look, you could do something about it, how wicked that you look. I was walking by something, and I seen myself the other one day. You remember I tell you I seen myself? And I was talking to my doctor or whatever. But he says, you got to do something radically or something that's good. And you know, I've been following this Weight Watchers diet. I'm in Weight Watchers now. But you only get so many points a day. So that means you can only eat so many things and such portions and everything. Some things carry different points or whatever. Now, Weight Watchers, we know that it do work. It do work. But those that get in Weight Watchers and unite Examining yourself, being honest to yourself and true to yourself. In other words, true to the program. In other words, you have to account for everything that you put in your mouth. So don't skip and do anything because you're only hurting yourself. You're only lying to yourself. But by keeping track of what you're eating or whatever and stay within those guidelines, They guarantee weight loss. It's a proven fact. Alcoholics anonymous work. It's a proven fact. It does work. But all of those things are physical things. All of those are physical things. So herein is a proven fact. Holiness is the only way it works. But you have to do it just like it's shown here. You have to follow God. You have to be circumspect. Do it just like it says. As he told Moses, do it just like I tell you. We hate to follow directions. We want to do things our way, or we want to change things up. God says, cursed is he that added anything to this book, and cursed is he that taken anything away from that book. Don't add to it, don't take away. Now this guarantees to heaven if you're born again, if you believe in Jesus Christ, if you walk this way. You have hope in him, you shall not be ashamed. But you remember I told you, was it last week or was it Wednesday when I said that's where faith comes in? You have to have faith in this. Faith is something that's unseen. So without holiness, no man shall see the Lord. That's why the churches aren't preaching holiness. One of the reasons they don't preach holiness, just imagine a church the size of Joel Osteen had what, 25, 30,000 people or more there. If he's preaching that you can't have girlfriends and boyfriends, if y'all not married, you can't live together. How many would have to do as the adulterous woman, the man that was accusing the adulterous woman, walk away? If we start preaching the word of God, that's why he charged Timothy to preach the word. Because it's a narrow way. You remember he says, you must eat of my flesh and drink of my blood? And he said, it's a hard say. Preach the word. Preach holiness. It's a commandment. It says, go ye into all the world, teaching them what I have taught you. Teaching them and baptizing. So let's do the work of evangelists, live a holy life, and teach holiness. Hold to holiness. It's the only way. That's the highway. It's not gonna be any foolishness on that. We have to be consecrated on that. Heavenly Father, as we come before you this day, Lord God, strengthen us in your word and in your