Trust me From all harm's way and sheltering on, I'm living my faith and feel no alarm. The tempest may blow and the storm clouds arise, obscuring the brightness of life. I'm never alarmed at the overcast skies, the master looks on at the strife. Living by faith in Jesus above, Trusting God in ministry love. From a warm safe and sheltering arm, I'm living by faith and feel no alarm. I know that He safely will carry me through No matter what evils He tithes Why should I then care though the tempest may blow If Jesus walks close to my side Living by faith ♪ Jesus above ♪ ♪ Jesus above ♪ ♪ Trusting, confiding ♪ ♪ Confiding, confiding ♪ ♪ In His great love ♪ ♪ Yes, in His great love ♪ ♪ Come, oh, oxen ♪ ♪ Come, oh, oxen ♪ ♪ Come, oh, oxen ♪ ♪ Let us shelter in awe ♪ ♪ Let us shelter in awe ♪ ♪ My family, my family ♪ ♪ My family, my family ♪ ♪ Can feel no alarm ♪ ♪ Can feel no alarm ♪ Our Lord will return to this earth some sweet day. Our troubles will then all be over. The Master suddenly will lead us away, beyond that blessed heavenly shore. Trusting God in His great love From all our sins and sheltering on I may be my faith If you're glad to be in church, say amen. Amen. Praise the Lord. Amen. I'm glad the Lord sure is good to all of us, amen. Thank God for his grace, his mercy, and man, good to see you at church this morning, amen. Let's go ahead and go to Lord and pray. We'll go to Lord and prayer in just a minute and give you a couple announcements, but man, it's good to see you at church this morning, amen. Amen, good to see Brother John and Miss Amanda back, feeling better, amen. Good to, I didn't know you was even out, Brother Tony, but glad you're feeling better, amen. Pray, Lord, Brother Tony wasn't here on Wednesday, but Miss Tammy, and glad they feeling better too. Pray for, I know Miss Michelle ain't feeling well this morning, pray for anybody else that's sick that I don't know about this morning. It seemed like this was just a time of year for everybody to get sick. Amen, but let's pray for everybody to all get better and do well, amen? Amen, thank the Lord for youth camp. Man, I appreciate what the Lord did there. And we're gonna give them a chance here in a little while to testify and tell the church, thank you for sending them. Because man, if it had not been for you being willing to send the young people and have a desire to see young people get help, then man, the young people would not get the help they need. Amen, I promise you that, amen, so we're thankful. As a pastor, I'm thankful for a church that don't never fight me on trying to take young people to do something. Amen, you ain't never done that, and I'm so thankful for that. I believe that you believe just like I do. You gotta invest in young people, amen? And that's what we've tried our best to do, amen? And thankful for what the Lord done while we were gone. And again, appreciate the Lord helping us this morning already in the song. Man, I enjoyed that song this morning. We just got done singing. And I want to give this, Alex, if you can take this. And Ms. Christine, do you mind raising your hand? I appreciate you. We're glad to have you. She's right back on the left, brother. And this is our first time. We always give a gift out, Ms. Christine, for our first time visitors. And good to see Brother Stevie this morning. He ain't a first time visitor, but we're glad to see him this morning. We love you, Brother Stevie. Glad you're here. But we got a gift we want to give you, Ms. Christine, after service. Glad to have her with us this morning. Glad to have Brother Stephen, glad to have everybody this morning. Glad to have you at church, amen. And man, I appreciate you being here at God's house, amen. But as far as announcing, let me give you a few really quickly. January 17th and 18th, January 17th and 18th, Brother Seth Sisloff is doing a choir workshop at his church there, Little Elkin Baptist Church in Elkin. And man, that's gonna be a really good time there. Gonna be a lot of good singing. and a good preaching about singing, amen. They're gonna have some good lessons on why we sing, why we do all that we do. And so anybody that can go to that on the 17th and 18th, I won't be able to go on the 18th, but I do want you to know about the 18th. I'll be there on the 17th, so if you want to go with us then. But if you want to get with me on that, if you're wanting to try to go to any of it, as far as the 17th, we can figure out a way to go together. 18th, I won't be able to go, like I said, but again, if you want to get with Brother Tony's wanting to go that day or which way he's wanting to go, But whatever time you can go, it will be a great meeting, and I'll try to get it to where you can figure, I think it's two to six, is that right, on Saturday, right? So the 18th is two to six, on the Friday is seven. Starts seven, or six. You remember? I think it's seven. I think it starts seven. Seven o'clock on Friday, two to six on Saturday. So anyway, pray about that. And then also, February the, February, well, the first Monday in February, I didn't write the date down, but first Monday in February, we'll be hosting the Old Time, I think it's called Old Time Preachers Fellowship, I think that's what they call it. But anyway, so we're gonna be hosting that. We're gonna have a meal after service, and our church will provide the music, and they'll have a lot of preachers. I think they'll probably have about three or four preachers that night. They don't preach a long time, so I don't want that to scare you. They preach about 15, 20 minutes a piece, all right? Somebody said, four preachers. Goodness, I ain't coming, but anyway, you come on, amen. I promise you, it won't be that long. You won't be here till midnight, amen. This ain't a watch night service, but we'll have a lot of good, there'll be a lot of good preaching. I promise you'll enjoy it. And then, February the 8th, we're gonna have our Valentine's Banquet at 6 o'clock that evening. Brother Steve Pope's gonna be preaching our Valentine's Banquet. If you've never heard Pope preach on the home, on the husband and wife relationship, man, it is powerful. It is great, amen. And we're gonna have a great time that night. And I want you to be a part of it. Church will be providing the meal that night. We actually got a really special meal that night. I'll tell you about it later, but we got a really special meal that night we're gonna have. And excited about doing all that, amen. But February 8th is when we're gonna be doing that. Our theme for the year real quick, I'm gonna try to move quickly, I'm gonna try to get right in the service, but our theme for this year is making much of Jesus. Boy, I love that theme, don't you? Making much of Jesus. And this is our verse, John 21, verse 25. And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which if they should be written, every one I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. I like what the Holy Ghost told the writer to say at the end. He said, amen, amen. Like he just amened his own statement, amen. He said, boy, if everything is wrote about Jesus, it could be wrote about Jesus, the world itself couldn't contain the books, that could be written, amen. And boy, I thought it was funny. I told my wife, I said, we always get a four foot by two foot banner on both sides of this church. They've always been smaller. And these right here, are not that small. But I asked for four foot by two foot. They've always been four foot by two foot. And then I thought it was funny, because our theme is making much of Jesus, and I went to go get them, and they're six foot by three foot. Amen. Evidently, God wanted us to make a whole lot about Jesus. Amen. It got a whole lot bigger. And I was going to take them back and give them a fix. And I thought, well, no, if I can make them work, praise God, we're just going to make these big old banners work. So hopefully they look good. We tried. Amen. But man, I'm thankful for the theme, making much of Jesus. Again, I stole this from another church, to be honest with you, in Georgia. And I like what they wrote. They wrote, we ought to make much of him in our worship, in our witness, and in our work. Amen. We ought to make much of Jesus. Choir goes to singing. We're to make much out of Jesus and worship Him. Amen. You get a chance to witness to your family or your friends or somebody you work with and tell them about Jesus, you ought to do it because He's worth making much of, amen? And we're to work for the Lord Jesus Christ and make much of Him, amen? And we're to make much in every way we can of Him, amen, because He's worthy, amen? But then let me give you two things I got on my heart as far as trying to get done the first of this year, amen? This is two things I want to see us do at church. And then we're going, like I said, we're going to pray and take up offering. is we're gonna close in the front of the church. We're gonna close it in, we're gonna put the door in the front, we're gonna make this more of a open area. If you ever, well, I say if you ever, if you go to Victory, you have. But when you go through that hallway right there, it is conglomerated. Anybody agree? Y'all agree? I thought you did. So we gonna make it where that front part gets closed in. And we're gonna try to do that first this year. Amen. So you pray about that. That's what we're gonna shoot for. And we're gonna get that accomplished. And that's my vision for the first part of it. But I'm looking forward to doing that. But then we're gonna do something different as far as ministry wise. Another thing I got on my heart is something called prayer tent ministry. Prayer tent ministry, it's different. And I had never heard of it, and I heard another preacher talk about it, and the Lord laid it on my heart. So what we're gonna do is, I've even got it in my Amazon cart. We're just gonna pray about it, and pray the Lord to bring in the funds on Wednesday night for the next few Wednesday nights. But what we're gonna do is, we're gonna get a tent. And it's gonna have a back and one side covered. But what it is, and then we'll have a banner that'll say prayer on the sides of the tent. And what it is, we're gonna start putting it in places. We're gonna go over here to Rinalda Road in the Food Line parking lot. We're gonna set it up in the middle of the parking lot, and we're just gonna offer prayer for people. and then we're gonna go to other parking lots where it's filled up and full, and we're gonna go over there and we're gonna put it out in front of there. We're gonna put 10 out and just pray with people as they come by about whatever they need prayer with. And if we get a chance to share the gospel with them, we're gonna take that opportunity too. We'll have free Bibles there, gospel tracts. I mean, we'll try to have some books there, maybe on different needs that people might have when they come through. But you pray about that. That's on my heart strong, because I wanna see the Lord do a great work this year. We're still gonna go soul winning. But this is a little different. This is not us going to them. This is them coming to us. Say, but we're just putting a tent up. Amen. And we're just letting them know somebody cares and somebody cares about what they're going through. And we want to pray with them. And we want to have compassion on others. If you want somebody to have compassion on you, you ought to have compassion on somebody. Say, amen. So let's pray about that. That's the two things I got really on my heart. There's probably more, but I'll tell you more when I get closer to what else I got on my heart. But for the first part of the year, that's the first two things I got on my heart. It's prayer tent ministry. And if you want to give to that, you give to that. Whatever the Lord lays on your heart, we're going to definitely take up on Wednesday nights for that, all right? But if you do wanna give to that, you tell Miss Amanda that's what it's for, and I'm sure she can put it to the side there. But we're gonna do that, so pray for that. Pray God will bless it. We're just gonna buy the tent. We're gonna have prayer on the side, and pray and God just works in it, amen? Pray God will do that, amen? Because we can have every ministry we wanna have, but if God don't bless it, it ain't gonna do anything. It ain't gonna do a thing. So we need the Lord to help us with that, and then pray about the front of the church getting finished on out there, amen? But let's go to Lord in prayer. Brother Randy, brother Alex, gonna help us take up offering this morning. Brother Daniel, why don't you pray for us, would you? Oh God, help us. Please help us. Yes, Lord. Yes. God is Lord and he's made different. Amen. All right, if you'll stand and get a hymn, we'll turn to page 205, 205, Wonderful Words of Life. We'll sing first and last verse. ♪ Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of life ♪ Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life. wonderful words of life. Sweetly echoes a gospel call, wonderful words of life. Honor, power, and peace to all, wonderful words of life. Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life. Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life. Thank you so much. All right, choir, page 64. I hope it's in the blood of the brave. of the precious name of God. There is no other fountain so sweet. It has washed away my sins and gave me peace and joy within. My Lord lives in His blood. Only one thing will matter when the tide shall come to die. The treacherous of this world will be his name, But the joy of loving Jesus will vanish from the ears. my sins Amen. Amen. Thank you. system has no second verse. God picked up a sparrow that could no longer fly He brushed off its wounds and then watched it soar into the sky If He's mindful of creation, on this I can depend. I am His child, and I can place all my trust in Him. I can trust Him. He is my stronghold, the strength and my weakest arm. I can trust Jesus, He takes care of me. I have prayed some prayers and felt they never were heard But I held to God's hand and kept right on trusting in His word My wants and God's desires don't always agree But I'll lean on His will, cause He always knows what's best for me he is my strong I can trust he ♪ He is my strong man ♪ ♪ The strength in my weakness found ♪ ♪ I can trust Jesus ♪ ♪ He takes care of me ♪ ♪ He is my strong man ♪ I can trust Jesus, He takes care of me. We're just going to sing this song. I'd like to thank the church for allowing us to be able to go on this trip, this youth meeting. It's the first time I ever went, and I was definitely blessed, and I got a lot of help from it, definitely. And I know the youth did as well, and some of them I want to thank the Lord for everything that he's done for me and the help that he's given me while I was there. I want to thank y'all for sending us. I'd say the main thing I got out of youth camp this year was making sure that I'm trusting in the Lord everything that He's done for us. I want to thank God for sending us. I'll thank the Lord for giving me to come to the winter challenge because last time someone canceled and I got that and that was where I got saved last year. Thank you all for letting us go. I want one year as a camper and this is my first year as like a leader. So it was different but also a very blessing to see what the Lord is doing in the youth. I just want to thank y'all for allowing us to go, for everything, the hard work that was put in. Not only this church but other churches. It has a burden for our youth as well. God was moving from the very first note that was hit in service and he was there the whole time and really made a huge, huge difference in every life that was there and even those that were watching online, I'm sure. Thank y'all again. I want to thank the Lord for allowing us to go. Every service that was there was amazing. I got a lot of help from it. Thank y'all for sending us. helping us to get through our challenge. It helped me. I think it helped my time too. and wonder how he could love me ♪ How marvelous, oh how wonderful ♪ ♪ Is my Savior's love for me ♪ It's always nice. Hey. Do you want to do more than one verse? Hey. Hey. It was for me and for him He prayed, not my will, but mine. In the fields, forest, low of grapes, My spirit drops the blood for you. Oh, how marvelous, oh, how wonderful is my Savior's love for me. Oh, how marvelous, oh, how wonderful is my Savior's love for me. Amen. Amen. Amen. Praise God. Praise God. If you enjoyed that, say amen. Amen. Amen. I'm thankful for what the Lord's doing in our young people. And I'm thankful. I have the Lord blessed in a great way, amen. Appreciate Brother Stormy this morning. Miss Hannah, appreciate Miss Dina, appreciate Brother John, appreciate everybody that went. Appreciate all the young people, amen. I like how Brother Stormy just handed on the microphone. He didn't ask nobody to testify, he just said, here, praise God, amen. I like that, amen. Here, testify, amen. I like it, amen. Amen. You ought to always have something to testify about, shouldn't you? I mean, he's too good to us not to testify about how about his greatness. Amen. Go ahead, Bill Randall. We can bring all our faults and all our troubles before him and ask him to forgive us. And then he don't remember it anymore. I'm glad that we've got a God that loves us so much and so wonderful towards us that he will forgive our past and he will not be raised up again against us. that loves me more than we can even imagine. I always told my wife, I love you, but I don't love you like I love you. I'm glad he shows up. Amen. Amen, brother. Rich in true love towards us all. Amen, brother. It's his name, his salvation. Praise the Lord. Amen. Amen. He's absolutely worthy. Amen. All right. If you are five and under this morning, five and under this morning. Amen. Ms. Amber's teaching this morning. You pray, Lord, bless Ms. Amber as she teaches to the five and unders this morning. Amen. Praise the Lord. Amen. All right. If you are six to 16, amen, six to 16 this morning, you pray for those strong men she preaches in youth church this morning. Pray, Lord, bless there. Amen. Wonderful, young people. Wonderful saved, amen. Wonderful testified, amen. I enjoyed that too, amen. Amen, if you're an older person and you're stuck with me, amen, if you take your Bible to John chapter number five, amen. John chapter number five. I have absolutely enjoyed already studying through the book of John last year, and we're just gonna continue right on through the book of John, amen. I've enjoyed going verse by verse through this book. And I prayed about trying to preach a message along the lines of making much of Jesus, but I promise you, these verses right here make a whole lot about Jesus, amen? What we're getting ready to look at here in these verses, they make a whole lot about him, and that's my desire. this morning, amen. So let's pray together. But I wanna give you these verses right here. Verse number, John 5, verse 31. He says, if I bear witness of myself, this is Jesus speaking. If you got a red letter Bible, then you notice they're in red letters there. This is Jesus speaking. If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. And what he's referring to is over in Deuteronomy. And then he's also referring to the book of Matthew, where Matthew, he's already told them in Matthew, he said that let every witness be established by two or three. Two or three people's got to testify for it to be true. And that's what he's already told them. But right here, the Bible says, if I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. In fact, the truth is, if Jesus said something, it's always true. But what he's saying is, according to you, according to what you're going to believe and what you're going to listen to, there's got to be confirmation of it. You've got to have more than just one person saying it. But right here in verse number 32, it says, there is another that beareth witness of me, and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true. You sent unto John, and he bear witness unto the truth, but I receive not testimony from man, but these things I say that ye might be saved. He was a burning and a shining light, and you were willing for a season to rejoice in his light, but I have greater witness than that of John for the works. which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do bear witness of me that the Father hath sent me. And the Father himself which hath sent me hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time nor seen his shape, and ye have not his word abiding in you. for whom he hath sent him ye believe not. Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me. Then down there in verse number 46, for had ye believed Moses, And by the way, when he says, had you believed Moses, it's not that he's just saying, if you believe what Moses said, he's saying the books of Moses, Matthew, I mean, not Matthew, but Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, all five books that Moses had wrote. He said, if you believe Moses, you would have believed me, for he Lord help me for a little while. I was reading through his verses and thinking about the word witness. He said in verse number 31, if I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. Verse 33, you sent unto John and he bare witness. And then he says that in verse number 36, he said for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do bear witness. So Lord help me, I'll preach on this. Witnessing for Jesus. There are some things in this chapter that witness to who Jesus really is. That word witness, if you look it up, it means somebody who has heard something, seen something, or knows something. If you go to court, they pull a witness up, it's somebody that's heard something about the crime, seen something about the crime, or knows something about the crime that has been committed. I was thinking about this last night as I was reading over this, The fact that, I'm thinking about a courtroom case this morning. If we had Jesus standing in the court this morning and was trying to prove that Jesus was who he said he was, these are some people that you'd call to the witness stand to tell who the Lord Jesus really is. And to give witness, because they've heard something, they've seen something, and they know something, for Jesus Christ, amen. So if the Lord will help me, I wanna give you some, just what the Lord put on my heart, on witnessing for Jesus. He's got some great witnesses on his behalf. Let's pray. Father, thank you for everything you do for us, God. Thank you for your grace, your mercy. Thank you for the love of God shed abroad in our hearts, God, by the Holy Ghost. God, abundantly, the Bible said, God, I pray, God, you'd help me this morning, God, fill me with the Holy Ghost. God, let me not get, I don't wanna be in the flesh, I wanna be completely, in the spirit of God, in the power of the Holy Ghost, and the ability of the Lord, and not my ability, because I have none this morning. I pray to God you'd help me as I preach. Give me Holy Ghost unction, give me Holy Ghost boldness. Help me be a help to you people this morning, that we might make very much of the Lord Jesus, who alone is worthy of all glory and all praise. Help me this morning as I preach, in Jesus' name, amen. Witnesses, let me say it this way. I said witnessing, but witnesses for Jesus. Witnesses for Jesus. I believe he has five. I believe he's got more than that. He's got me too. Amen. He got you too, don't he? I can witness this morning to who he is. I can tell you how wonderful he really is. But according to this chapter, he's got five that he named specifically in this chapter. Look at John 5, look at verse number 32. There is another that beareth witness of me, and I know that the witness which he witnesses of me is true. You sin unto John, and he beareth witness unto the truth. I believe, and most writers believe what you read behind about this verse 32, that he's not talking about John in verse 32. Because it's almost like he switches gears and said, hey, you sin unto John for a witness. It's almost like he's talking about somebody else in verse 32, so I'm gonna give you who I think he's talking about. I'm not gonna be dogmatic about it. A lot of times people get a thought in their mind, they say, praise God, that's just the way it is. That's exactly what it says. I'm not gonna do that this morning. I'm not 100% sure about it, but I believe in my heart that it's talking about the Holy Ghost. You say, why do you say that? Well, later on in the verses, not these verses, but in John 16, same book of the Bible, John 16, he goes on to tell you what the Holy Spirit of God thinks about the Lord Jesus Christ and what he does about the Lord Jesus. This is what it said in John 16, verse 13. Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth. For he shall not speak of himself, but whosoever, or whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will show you things to come. Listen to this. He shall glorify me. Amen. Can I tell you the Holy Ghost is just as much God as Jesus is God. Holy Ghost is just as much God as the Father is God. But the job of the Holy Spirit of God is to glorify and magnify and give glory and praise through our hearts to the Lord Jesus, amen. His job is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. That doesn't make him less God, he's still God. Amen. His job is to create worship and praise and glory in your heart and mine for Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. But John 5, again it said, there is none that beareth witness of me, and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true. I believe it's talking about the Holy Ghost in that verse. I believe the first person you can bring to the stand to witness on the behalf of the Lord Jesus that he is who he says he is is the Holy Spirit of God. When you got saved, you remember that night you got saved, felt like you was about to die? I mean, your heart's beating at your chest till your ribs want to go on vacation. I mean, you are having a very rough time at church. Amen. I remember that. I remember I felt like my soul, I am miserable, man. I need something. I needed to get saved. I did not realize how bad I needed God. and got saved, amen. Know what that was? That's the Holy Ghost bearing witness in your heart who Jesus was. And you said, I believe the witness that you've put in my heart. I believe that truth, amen. And you put faith and trust in what the Holy Ghost witnessed in your heart. Amen. Listen, that's not where the Holy Spirit's brought the place of the witness stand to tell you that Jesus is who he said he was. But John the Baptist is brought. And listen, and I like what Jesus said. I like everything Jesus said, but listen to this. He said unto John, and he bear witness unto the truth, but I received not testimony from me. You know what he said? I don't need John to tell you that I am who I am. And he didn't. He didn't need John to tell you he was who he was. Can I tell you this morning? He didn't need the choir to sing about telling about who he was and about his blood saving sinners. He don't need I can trust Jesus. He doesn't need any of that. He doesn't need the song we just sung about how that he's wonderful and marvelous. He doesn't need any of my glory, any of my praise. But can I tell you this? I need to give it. Hey, listen, he doesn't depend on me. Listen, me worshiping him don't make him any more God than he already is. Me worshiping him and believing what he said to be true does not make him God. He's already God, I just believe it. It doesn't make him more of that brother Mickey, he just already is that. I'm just believing what he already is. Your belief don't make him more. The whole world can become atheist and he's still God. The whole world can become atheist and he's still the Son of God. He's still the God Almighty in the flesh. Amen. He doesn't depend on my belief or your belief. It depends on a fact of truth. Amen. That's what it says. Listen to this. You say, what kind of witness was John? Well, look at verse 35. I believe me and you ought to get an example out of John. Listen to what it said. He said in verse 35, he was a burning and a shining light. Amen. Can I tell you, can I ask you this morning, are you a burning and a shining light for the Lord Jesus Christ? You ask your family or you ask your friends or ask people you hung around or people you know, would they say that you are a burning and a shining light for the Lord Jesus Christ? I want to be that. I desire to be that. I don't know if I'm there, but I really desire to be there. In fact, I know that I probably ain't there, but I wanna be there. Instead of burning in a shining light, And you're willing for a season to rejoice in his light. So evidently they had believed some things that John had said. They had believed some things that John had said. Listen, I'll give you this. You say, what did John say? If John up in the testimony stand this morning, if I brought him up and said, John, tell us who Jesus is. Listen to John one, that's how he begins to testify who Jesus is to John. John chapter one and verse number 26. First thing you see in these verses is that he sees Jesus as worthy. If you brought him up, put him in a stand, the first thing John would say, he is worthy and I am not. He's worthy of glory and I'm not. Look at verse 26, John answered them, saying, I baptize with water, but there standeth one among you, one among you whom you know not, he it is, who coming after me is preferred before me. He's better than me. By the way, he's better than you, and he's better than me, and he's better than anybody else that's ever been alive. Nobody compares to him. preferred before me. I know it's not simple, but it's true. Amen. Whose shoes latch it, I am not worthy to unloose. Amen. You say, you know what? I'm not even worthy to stoop down and take his shoes off. I'm not even worthy. I'm not worthy to take his shoes off and do anything. I am unworthy. I tell you this morning, John, if he's in the witness stand, he would say, I'm unworthy, but he's worthy. I tell you this morning, that's how I feel this morning. I'm absolutely unworthy. I'm undeserving. I am absolutely nothing. I'm a zero with a ring knocked out from around me. I am absolutely nothing. Hey, but that night I got saved, I met the one who is worthy, hey, the one worthy of glory, the one worthy of praise, the one that's better than me and better than anybody else, amen. I believe John, if he got to the stand, he'd say, I gotta tell you, first thing, he's worthy, he's worthy, he's worthy. He's better than me, that's what he's telling them. He's preferred before me. People like him better than they like me. People want him more than they want me. And John was okay with that. Because John wanted him more than he wanted himself to, amen. Amen. Not only that, but if you brought John to the stand, I believe he wouldn't just say he was worthy, but I believe he would say he gave his life for me. For me, look at verse 29. Verse 29 of John 1, it said this, the next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him and saying, behold, the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin. That's really a, ain't that a different, that's really a different greeting, I guess. He doesn't say, hey, how you doing? He doesn't say, hey, how's everything going today? Hey, you're him, he ain't even talking to him. He looks at him and begins to brag about him. Amen. He begins to see him, I'm gonna tell you. And when it comes to heaven, you ain't gonna talk about anything else. It ain't gonna be shooting the breeze with other people or even shooting the breeze with Jesus. I hear people say, well, I'm just gonna hang out with you. No, I tell you what's gonna happen. You're gonna be like John the moment you see him. You can't do nothing but brag on him and give him glory. of God, I was taken away of the sin of the world, amen. You won't be able to help it. Like the preacher that led me to Christ, you gonna get to can't help it. You gonna get to can't help it. You gonna get to where you gonna try to hold it back, but you can't hold that back, you can't help but worship him. You can't help but say hallelujah. You can't help but say he's worthy. John said, I looked at him and I couldn't help but say, behold. The Lamb of God. The Lamb of God, that's a good statement. All through the Old Testament, they've been killing lambs, they've been killing oxen, they've been killing all the goats, they've been killing all this stuff in the Old Testament. They've been killing turtle doves to sacrifice Nocta, and by the way, none of that took away sin. It all looked forward to the day when Jesus would shed his righteous, holy blood that would save sinners, because all the rest of that could not do it. It wasn't able to do it, amen. And that when he died at Calvary and shed his blood, that would be what saved sinners. But I'll tell you what, John didn't say this statement by accident. He was letting them know that is God's lamb. You might have laid a lamb on the altar. You might have killed a lamb and sacrificed looking forward to the one who would come, but he's the one who's to come. He's the lamb and he's gonna give his life for the sheep. He's gonna lay his life down on a cross, bleed and die for sinners, amen. Can I tell you, in 2025, me and you ought not get over Calvary. We ought not get over that he died for me. and died for you. You can get real deep in the Bible. Ain't nothing wrong with that. And you can get a rip. I'm telling you, you ought to get deep in your Bible. And you ought to love this book. But I don't want to get over the fact that I was a sinner. I was on my way to hell. And Jesus died for me. He died for my sin. He died to cleanse me of all my wickedness. He is the Lamb of God. Amen. I believe John, he brought my testifying stand this morning. He would say, he's worthy. and he'd say he died for me. I believe he brought John to the stand, John the Baptist to the stand. I believe he'd also say he takes away sin. Ain't that what he said in that verse? Behold the Lamb of God that does what? Which taketh away the sin of the world. Can I tell you what the good news is? The gospel's good news because it's for everybody. Gospel would not be good news if it was not for everybody. I could not go soul-winding and knock on the door and say, hey, let me tell you what Jesus did for you. Because listen, if he didn't do it for everybody, he might not have done it for them. Ain't gonna tell him how to get him by knocking on the wrong door. Ain't gonna tell somebody how to be saved if he didn't do it for everybody. If he didn't die to take away the sins of the entire world, ain't gonna tell him how he died for their sin. You can't do that. Hey, listen, brother John, I'm glad he died for everybody. Ain't nobody didn't die for him. Ain't nobody so wicked he didn't die for their sin. Ain't nobody so self-righteous Jesus didn't give his life for them. He gave his life, a ransom for all, amen. He died for every man. And he died not just for every man, but he died to take every single man's sin away, amen. Listen, I'm glad they're not behind his back. Isaiah said in the Old Testament, he hid the sins of man behind his back. It said he sealed them up in a bag, brother John. It said he cast them as far as the east is from the west. But God tell you, I got something better than that to tell. It's not behind his back. It ain't in the depths of the sea. It ain't sealed up in a bag. It ain't as far as the east is from the west. It's gone, it's gone, it's gone, amen. When you get saved, the Bible said the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanseth us from all sin. It doesn't cover them. It doesn't cover them. It cleanses them. Takes them away. There's rejoicing in that. I'm going to be honest with you. Me and Stormy was talking about this the other day. I believe we're raising a lot of churches. We're at the point. of no worship when it comes to talking about salvation, it's because they have never seen their self a filthy, wicked, hell-deserving, hell-deserving sinner. Why would you ever worship if you didn't really see yourself as far down and deep as you really were? and as I really was. This tie don't make a lick of difference in how wicked I was and how wicked my sin was. You can put a tie on anything you want to put a tie on this morning. I can put a tie on and die and go to hell, but I needed more than a tie. I needed more than a dress shirt. I needed more than a suit on. I needed Calvary. I needed the blood. I needed to be saved, amen. I needed more than church membership. I needed more than baptism. I needed more than good words. I needed the red blood of Calvary to cleanse my sin. You did too? You did too? I'm just telling you, a lot of times the reason why people are not, and I'll be honest with you, a lot of times people don't get saved. It's because they see no need to get saved. If I told you to throw a parachute on and you was blindfolded and didn't know where you was, you'd say, you big dummy, I ain't putting no parachute on. What are you, crazy? I ain't got a need for no parachute. But if I took your blindfold off and you saw you was on a plane about 1,000 feet in the air, you'd say, praise God, give me that parachute. Amen. And let God tell you what people are doing. They're walking around with blindfolds on because they don't know how sinful they really are. And you're trying to give them a parachute called Calvary and what Jesus did for them. And they don't know what to do with it because they never have seen their self well, stay made. I'm gonna tell you that somebody said, pray this prayer, repeat after me, do this thing. You can do this thing, do that thing, you repeat this prayer and die and go to hell. There's got to be a day that you realize you are sinner on your way to hell and call out to God from your own heart and be saved. Amen. Amen. Takes conviction. I said it earlier, but y'all know what I'm talking about. You remember feeling miserable, don't you? I'm here before I got saved. Here's a few months before I got saved. I'll never forget this. I had to be a pallbearer for my friend, and he had no testimony of being saved. I'm not sure if he was or not, but as far as I knew, he had no testimony of being saved. And I'm gonna tell you something down deep inside of my soul, said, as I carried his casket to the grave, said, man, said, that could be you. And if you did this, you'd die and go to hell. If this was you, You'd die and go to hell. Not long after, I had a car wreck. Went around in the middle of the road over and over and over again in circles. That car hit the grass. It started to flip up like it was going to flip over. I was listening to some very wicked music that night. I'm just telling you, blasphemous. I'm not talking about just blasphemous like it was just bad. I'm talking about blasphemous. I'm talking about against God. hate God, don't want nothing to do with God, talking about how hell's a good place. I'm telling you, wicked music, blasphemous music. I ran in that car, flipped up, and come back down. I turned the music off, and that boy beside me said, what's wrong with you? I said, nothing, man, nothing. But what I thought in my soul, that was, man, I'm going to die and go to hell. If that thing would have flipped, I'd have died and went to hell. And it wasn't long later, I went to a youth camp. God dealt with my heart. I couldn't take no more. I gave in, threw in, surrendered. Have God saved, amen. I'm saying this, the Holy Ghost of God will wring your heart out, make you miserable, and bring you to salvation. Amen, and you know what he'll do when he does that? He'll remove your sin. And you beat yourself up the rest of your life with your sin if you want to. Hey, but God has forgotten it. And if he has forgotten it, why are you remembering it? Amen. Ain't no use in bringing it up. Ain't no use in trying to remember. Ain't no use in going back. When he forgives, he forgets. Listen to this. It ain't just covered, it's gone. John the Baptist would testify all that. Holy Spirit of God would testify. Let me say the works of Jesus will testify. Look at John 5, look at what it says. John 5, again. John 5, right here in verse number 36. But I have greater witness than that of John. He said, well, John's a good witness. But I got some better stuff than John. Hey, John's all right. Hey, John's got some good testimony. He realizes he's worthy. He realizes he's a lamb of God. He realizes he can take away sin. But I got one better than John. His works, here's what he said. He said, but I have greater witness than that of John for the works which the Father hath given me to finish. The same works that I do bear witness of me that the Father hath sent me. Listen, he done some great works. They all testify about it. You could ask some of the works to testify this morning. Say, could you come on Lazarus, tell us about it. Well, I was dead for four days and the Jews believed that after three days, there's no more hope. So Jesus let me lay in the grave for four days to make sure they knew that he could do anything he wanted to do, amen. I wrote down a few here, but then you can let Bartimaeus come forward. And you can say, Bartimaeus, what happened? He said, well, they told me to shut up, but I was asking for mercy from the Son of God. I said, oh, that Son of David, have mercy on me. And he did. And he gave me sight. Amen. You could go to the woman with the issue of blood, and all she did was touch the hem of his garment, and she was healed completely from her issue of blood. Amen. He turns water into wine. You could bring them servants forward and say, I don't know when it happened. And listen, we're not talking about alcoholic wine. We're talking about unfermented wine. You get all that. But anyway, them servants, if you brought them to stand this morning, they would say, you know what? I remember grabbing water out the bucket, but somewhere between grabbing water out the barrel and putting it in the cup, it turned into something else, amen. Hey, listen, cause he's amazing. How he can do anything? I believe, listen, John chapter six, ain't it amazing? I ain't gonna preach on John six this morning, but it's amazing to me that following the fact that he says, I got five witnesses to tell who I am, and one of them is his works, and John chapter six, he just goes ahead and does another one. and he feeds 5,000 people with five loaves and two small fish out of one little boy's lunch. One little boy has come, brought a little lunch maybe from his mama, and Jesus grabs that lunch, and as Brother Todd said, I've read the same thing that God created. You say, how'd he create? Because there ain't enough food there to feed everybody. So as he breaks fish, they get more fish, and more fish, and more fish, and more fish, and more fish. As he breaks bread, they get more bread, and more bread, and more bread, and more bread. That ain't hard for him, he's creator anyway. He's the creator, he can make anything he wants to make. And the creator made more fish, and more bread, and fed 5,000 people! Oh my. This and this and all of that, but then, He raises a man who's been paralyzed in John 5, been paralyzed on a bed for 38 years he's been paralyzed on a bed. And now, Jesus arrives, take up thy bed and walk. And he did. He got up. He got up after 38 years of paralyzation. He got up. I thought about that the other day. I'm 39 years old. Could you imagine 38 years of never moving off a bed? You want to tell me he just got up and said, well, that was good. Well, that was a big deal. That was great. I'm glad I got up. No, no. He goes home and said, hey, you ain't going to believe this. I was on the bed 38 years. And I got up, baby. I got up. He ain't bored about it. He's glad about it. Not only that, but then he walked on water in Matthew 14. Bible said that Jesus is walking on the water to go to disciples. That's what it said in Matthew 14. I'm heading somewhere and I'm about done, I promise. Matthew 14. Matthew 14 verse 25. And the fourth watch of the night, by the way, that's the darkest part of the night. Ain't you glad the darkest point of your life, the worst times of your life, the most awful times of your life, that's when Jesus will come in walking on all of your problems. It's been killing you, it's been burdening you, it's been bothering you, but it ain't nothing to him. that bothers you and troubles you and distresses you. I'm glad he can do anything he wants to do, amen? Amen. That ain't in the message, but I got help out of it. And in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went up to them, walking on the water on the sea. Listen to what Job said. You say, what's the big deal about that statement? Well, listen to Job nine. Listen to what Job had to say about walking on the water. He said, why is that such a big deal? Because can't but one person do that. They can't but one person do that. And Job tells you who that is. Led by the Spirit of God, he said, verse number eight, Job nine, verse eight, what's alone? He's talking about God. What's alone? God alone, only God, nobody else but God. What's alone? and treadeth upon the waves of the sea. You know what Job said? Can't but God walk on water, amen. And the moment Jesus steps out on the boat, he puts his foot on water, he begins to walk on it, he declares to everybody, this is not just a man, this is not just a prophet, this ain't just another person, this is God Almighty in the flesh. He declared, that word declared, this is him. This is him. It's the one you've been looking for. This is him. Amen. Listen to this. Not only the works of Jesus, John the Baptist testifying, the Holy Spirit testifying, but the Father testifies or witnesses. Listen to what Matthew 3 and verse 17. I like how the Father just can't help himself. It's almost like the Father just said, I've got to say something too. You know, John has just got done bragging on him. If you read about the baptism, but Daniel John has just got done saying that he's preferred before me, better than I am. I'm not worthy unless it's you. He's the Lamb of God. He takes away the sin of the world. And listen, he's already testified. That wasn't enough. The Father said, I've got to say something. I got something I'd like to say, and Jesus gets dipped in the water. By the way, baptism doesn't save. You say, how you know that? He went in the Son of God, and he came out the Son of God, amen. So you don't get saved by baptism. You get saved by grace and mercy and the love of God, and what he did at Calvary, amen. That's how you get saved. Baptism's what you do to show the rest of the world you already got saved. That old life's buried and you're a brand new person. You're just showing what Jesus did. I don't save. Matthew 3, verse 17, listen to this. And lo, a voice from heaven saying, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. It's like the Father just couldn't help himself. John, John Baptist done talked about him. Hey, listen, all of us watch him get baptized. All of us heard what Jesus had to say. Hey, the Father's just, it seems like he just pulls back the clouds. I gotta say something, too. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. God said he wasn't pleased with me. He ain't pleased with you. He was pleased with him. Amen. And by the way, he wasn't just pleased with him. He was well pleased with him. By the way, what that means is he never done anything against what the Father said do. Jesus had never sinned. Jesus had never done anything wrong. He never thought a bad thought. Never done a bad deed. Never said a bad thing. Never went to a bad place. Never had unforgiveness in his heart. Never done anything bad at all. No sin whatsoever. And yet he died in our place. He died in our place! And the Father said, I've just gotta say something. I'm well pleased with him. I'm well pleased with him. And don't it make sense for him to make that statement of being pleased? You say, why? Because in the Old Testament, when they would make a sacrifice, Bible said it would come up into the nostrils of God and it would please God, amen. What he's saying is this. He said, that Old Testament, that might have pleased me for a moment. And with this Jesus, he pleases me always. He's always right. He's always perfect. He's always holy. He's always who he said he was, amen. Amen. Oh my goodness, man, thank God for the Bible, amen. Thank the one time Jesus spoke, or the Father spoke about Jesus. Listen to Matthew 17. They're on top of a mountain. Peter gets all excited while they're on top of a mountain. He said, let's make some tents. Let's have a tent ministry. They wouldn't have a prayer tent ministry, they just wanted to have a tent ministry to sleep in. Said, what do you mean? Well, Elijah was with them. Elijah was with them, and Moses is with them, and Jesus is up there, and the three disciples, Peter, James, and John are up there, and Peter makes a statement, let's just make tents for y'all. That sounds pretty good. But you know what he did when he said that? He put Elijah and Moses on the same plane as Jesus. He said, let's do the same thing for Elijah as we're gonna do for you. And let's do the same thing for Moses as we're gonna do for you. But Moses don't compare to Jesus. And Elijah don't compare to Jesus, amen. You say, well, what did the father have to say about that? Well, here's what he had to say. Listen to Matthew 17. Have a look down here at verse number five. Here's what the hat in the Bible says. While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. And behold, a voice out of the cloud which said, this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. He makes the same statement, but he adds one statement to it. He says, here, You, him, Elijah's been talking, and Moses has been talking, and he tells them, he said, listen, you ain't gonna listen to Elijah, you ought not be listening to Moses, they the ones speaking right now that you need to be listening to, and that is my son! Amen. Now listen, if you read about what the Bible talks about Moses in the Old Testament and about Elijah, yes, that's the Holy Spirit of God leading them in what to say. And yes, you ought to listen to him. But at that moment in time, there wasn't but one they ought to be listening to. Elijah wasn't the one. Moses wasn't the one. Jesus was the one. And his father made the statement, he is perfect. That's what he pretty much said, I'm well pleased. And then he said, hear ye him. He said, you're listening to him. You're listening to him. Listen to this, not with the father. I'm gonna give you this and I'm done. The scripture. The fifth witness, you bring the stand. The father come to stand. He'd say he's perfect and you ought to hear him. Bring the scriptures to the stand. Bible says there in verse number 39, search the scriptures. For in them you think you have eternal life and they are they which testify of me. Verse 46, for had you believed Moses, you would have believed me for he wrote of me. Listen to what he said in that statement. He said, man, just read the Bible. I'm in there. He's in there. He's in there. He's from one end to the other. Genesis 3 and verse 15 where the Lord gives promise to the woman, said the seed that you're gonna bear one day will crush the head of the serpent, but the serpent will crush his heel, will bruise his heel. Jesus at Calvary got his heel bruised. But at Calvary, Satan also got his head crushed, amen. At Calvary, that's what happened. That happened in Genesis. That was in Genesis. Genesis 22, Abraham and Isaac are walking up one side of the mountain, and a ram is walking up the other. Because God has told Abraham to sacrifice his son. By the way, before you get too upset, God didn't let him do it, amen. And he walked up the side of the mountain, and he got to the top, and the Bible says while he was getting ready to slay his son that God stopped him and said, Abraham, Abraham, and tells him not to slay his son. And then he hears a ram calling a thicket, and he breaks that ram and puts him in the stead of Isaac, in the place of Isaac. Ain't that just like the Lord? And Jesus took our place. I was getting ready to die. I was getting ready to go to hell. I was getting ready to face condemnation, but he took my place. You go on and on this morning and look at what the Bible said. When they smoked that rock in the Old Testament, they were supposed to smite it once and talk to it every other time. The reason God got upset at Moses is because he smoked it twice and it was supposed to be a picture of the cross. Jesus doesn't die more than once. He only had to die one time, once for all, amen. Now we just speak to him to get water out of him. I got something out of Jesus by speaking to Him. He don't have to die again for me. He's already done enough at Calvary. It covered everybody. As long as they ask Him. And in a blanket, salvation just saves everybody, period. You gotta ask Him. You gotta ask Him. Amen. But listen, I wrote this down. I thought about the Scriptures this morning. Let me tell you what the Scripture says about Jesus and who He is. It says He's the Lamb of God. It says He's the Alpha and Omega. He's the beginning and the end. He's the Savior. He's the Master. He's full of grace and truth. Isaiah 9-6 said He's wonderful, counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace. He's the King of Kings. He's the Lord of Lords. He's the Holy One. He's righteous. He's the Great. He's the potentate, which means He's just the highest of the high, amen. He's the propitiation, which also means mercy seek. He's the place where the wrath of God was pleased. Had the wrath of God fell away from my life because of what He did and away from your life because of what Jesus did, amen. To the banker, He's the greatest treasure. To the banker, He's the bread of life. To the dead man, he is the life, amen. And to the sinner, he's the savior, amen. He's a whole lot more than what I just said. But I'm telling you, this Bible speaks about it. He's on every page. Herald B. Seidler said, if you don't find him on one page, you'll find him twice on the next page, amen. He's from one end to the other. Our Bible right here is a hymn book. It's all about him, from one end to the other. That's all. about him. Every bit of it is about him. But what did they do with it? They got so much testimony from John, the Holy Ghost, the works, the Father, the scriptures, and brother John looks like if you stand in a court case like that and five people stand to testify that you would say, praise God, I believe it. I mean, he's got so many witnesses, why wouldn't I believe it? Not a witness won against him. Why wouldn't you believe it? But listen to what they've done. Here's what the Bible says the Jews are doing. The Bible said, I received not honor of men, verse 41. Verse 42 said, but I know you. Can I tell you that? That's the same truth this morning. He knows me. He knows you. You ought not worry what the preacher knows about you, because that really don't matter that much. Y'all not even worried about what everybody else knows about you, because that's not that big a deal. Now, I believe you ought to be a testimony. I'm not saying that. Don't take me wrong this morning. But I'm saying the biggest deal is this. God knows you. God knows you. God knows everything he is to know about you. There ain't nothing in your life hidden that God don't know. There ain't nothing that you've done that God don't know. Ain't you glad that even though he knows everything you've done, he was still willing to forgive you? Amen. Bless his name for that. Amen. Listen to this. He said, but I know you. that you have not the love of God in you. That's made them mad. I guarantee it's made them mad. We find later a lot of times they get mad and Jesus speaks to them. He said, you don't have love of God in you. You don't know truth. You can't have love that God wants you to have. You don't have truth. This is what it said. It said, I'm coming in my father's name and you receive me not. If another should come in his own name, him you will receive. He said, man, I've got testimony after testimony after testimony after testimony of people who can tell you who I am. And yet, if somebody comes up and just tells you who they are, you just automatically believe them, because you want to believe them. Jesus has got all the kind of proof in the world to prove who he is. Can I be honest with you? Ain't a lot of atheists that say, well, if God would just show me who he is. Can I tell you, they don't care. God could show who he is, and they still wouldn't care. I'm just being honest. Because they want to do what they want to do. Period. Whether they know who he is or don't know who he is. I'm not being mean to this one. I'm being truthful. They ain't really looking for God to show them nothing. That's just a way to have a cop out to be able to say, well, he ain't going to show me who he is, so I don't want to believe him. Because then they hope one day when they stand before him, they can claim that that's the problem. You didn't tell me who he was. You didn't show me who he was. When you die and go to hell, that ain't an excuse. He gave enough witnesses that people ought to know who he is. He said this, in verse number 44, how can you believe, believe if you come here and I'm done, I'm just reading these verses really. How can you believe which receive honor one of another and seek not the honor that cometh from God only? He's saying man, some people will tell you they are who they are and you believe them automatically because you want to believe them. And he said then a lot of you just want the honor that come from men, you don't want God's honor. But Jesus had God's honor because he was God, amen. And they still didn't believe him. You say, hey, time out. You know what I just said? People wanted to see him. And if they saw him, they'd believe him. Well, how come all these people that saw him didn't believe him? How come all these people that saw him didn't believe him? They wanted to see him. They wanted proof he existed. He proved he existed. And they still didn't believe him. Because they didn't want to believe him. Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There's one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom you trust. You know what he's saying? The law of God, the word of God, will accuse you and judge you come judgment day. This Bible's going to be open come judgment day. And it's going to accuse the sinner for who they are. It is. It's going to accuse the sinner for who they are. There's one that accused even Moses in whom you trust for had you believed Moses, you would have believed me. For he wrote of me, but if you believe not his writings, how shall you believe my words? He said, Moses told you I was who I am. He told you who I was. Before I ever got here, he told you who I was. But you don't believe Moses. And if you don't believe Moses, you ain't gonna believe me. You know what he said? If you don't believe this book, you wouldn't believe me if I stood here and told you about it. You'll believe Him if we stood here and told you about it. I don't know about you, but I take Him at His Word. I'm going to take Him at His witnesses. I believe what He said is true. I believe who Jesus said He was is who He was. I believe who John declared Him to be is who He is. I believe who the Holy Spirit of God declared Him to be is who He is. Who the Father said He was, that's who He is. What His works declare Him to be, I believe that's who He is. What the Bible says He is, brother Tony, I believe that's exactly who He is. That's how you get saved, by the way. It's finally deciding he is who he said he was. He done for me what he said he'd do for me. And he said if I asked him, he'd save me. When you come to that conclusion and you call on his name, he saves and he forgives.