Garnes, Arthur: Working Together

Now, is everybody ready? Good evening. Good evening. Not bad, but uh, you can do better than that. Good evening. Good evening. Thank you. Again, it's good to be present and to see so many. Now, I don't know what the habits are in this part of the state, but on the East Coast, people don't go to church on Thursday. It's so nice to see so many and see and hear the choir on a Thursday night. Thanks very much. Now, last night, our subject consisted of one word. Work. Oh, yeah. Tonight, the subject also consists of one word. I'm going to see if you can tell me what that word is. Psalm 133. Psalm 133. I dare say that most of us know this just as well as we know John three sixteen. Am I right? Sure. Psalm 133. And you tell me what the subject is. One word. Got some keen brothers here. Psalm 133. Behold. What does behold mean? Years ago, oh, I was quite young then, a brother said, behold means stop, look, and listen. Behold. How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. You know the subject? Together. And then when you put last night with tonight, work together. That's what we want to talk about. But let's read on. It is like the precious ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's bra- beard, that went down to the skirts of his garments, as the dew of Hermon and the dew that descended them upon the mountains of Zion. Now, if we dwell together, what's going to happen? There! The Lord commended the blessing, life forever. Do you want blessing, beloved? Work together. You please ask these chapter four, please. Now, last night you didn't get any relief from me when it came to turning scriptures. There'll be no relief tonight. Perhaps our brother Arthur Hart will give you relief tomorrow night. But we're going to turn these pages, and I want to repeat, young folks, this is the only way to learn the Bible. You don't just turn to one little verse, read it, run out in the morning, and by noontime you don't remember it. You'll never know the matter then. Time. Ephesians chapter four, Verse nine. Two are better than one because they have good reward for their labor. Next verse. If they fall, one will lift up his fellow. Does that make sense? Two together and one falls, so what's the other one do? He helps it. But suppose you were by yourself. We need to work together. Woe to him that is alone when he falls. He has nobody to help him. Again, if two lie together, they have heat. But how can one be warm alone? And when people are lost out in the mountains, in the midst of the snow and the cold, they huddle together. Verse twelve: if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him. A threefold cord is not quickly broken. Beloved, we need to work together. The story is told of a father. He had some sons, seven sons, always quarreling and fussing, and they never got along. So one day the father got a bundle of sticks and tied them together, and he called his seven sons and he said, now break that bundle. You know that story, don't you? They couldn't break the bundle, so he untied the bundle and gave each one a stick and say, break it. No problem, easy. But the lesson is, if we don't work together, the enemy will overcome us. We must work together. Again, the story is told, you know, there are some believers, they are like, uh, gypsies. See, they they don't want to stay with with everybody else. They're different. And there was this brother in the meeting. He never wanted to be with anyone else. He wouldn't work with anyone else. He was a, what they call, a loner. There is no room for loners in the work of the Lord. So one of the leaders, elders in the meeting, invited his brother to his home. Cold winter day, and he had a coal fire burning, and the room was nice and warm. And the brother invited him and sat down and told him, you have a seat, and didn't say anything. Brother, why did you invite me? He's not talking. Then this brother got up, took a towel, took out one coal, and put it over there by himself and sat down. Still didn't say anything. What happened to that coal? It went out. You know what that brother said? I got the message. We've got to work together. There must be no divisions. First Corinthians, please, chapter one. It's starting to turn now. Now, if I go too fast for you, you write down the scriptures, and when you get home, look them over. As a matter of fact, I know a sister, she's now in heaven, and a preacher came to the meeting, and she said, I couldn't understand him. I didn't know what he was saying. All I did was write down the scriptures, and when I went home, I read them. So if I go too fast, just write them down. They'll make sense when you get home. First Corinthians chapter one and verse ten. Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, that there be what? No divisions. We are to be together. We are to work in unity. No one divided among you, that you be perfectly joined, how? Together. Do you know that that's a matter of breaking up the brethren and the Christians? That's Satan's church. And ever since the cha- church started, he's been breaking up the church. That's why there's so many divisions and so many denominations. He's been breaking them up. Don't let him break up your assembly. No division. And NASA and space flight. From time to time, they're going to send a... a specimen, I call it, into the air, into the space. Now, sometimes they can't send up that particular flight because the weather doesn't permit, and that's real nice, because my God is in command. But other times, the spaceship doesn't go off. And when you ask them why, well, one little man, oh, there are hundreds of people, men and women, one little fellow down there, he found something that wasn't what it should be, and everybody had to stop. They work together, and when one thing is out of order, it affects the whole thing. Now, last night we read a little bit on that one nail. Remember that one nail that didn't want to work? And a whole army was lost because one nail didn't want to work with everybody else. Now turn with me, please, to the book of Judges, chapter five. Judges chapter five. Now let me give you the background, you see? There was the army called Midianites, cruel people, and they had God's people in bondage. And the time came when God said, this bondage, you must get out. And so they went to war. All the children of Israel. Uh, no, not all, that's the problem. Everybody didn't go to war. Judges chapter five and verse fifteen: The princes of Issachar were with Deborah, even Issachar and Barak. He was sent on foot into the valley. But for the divisions of Reuben, there was great searchings of heart. Why did you abide among the sheepfolds? To hear the bleating of the flocks? Reuben didn't go to war. For the divisions of Reuben, there are great searchings of heart. Gilead abode beyond Jordan. Why did Dan remain in ships? Why didn't Dan go to war? Asher continued on the seashore. He didn't go to war either. And several years ago, my wife and I had the privilege, while in Israel, of seeing that seashore where Asher was. Oh, I want to tell you, I don't suppose if I were there, I'd want to go to war either. Nice white sand, beautiful Mediterranean sea. Can you imagine Asher there bathing, taking in the sun, taking a dip from time to time? Not in that water that we have on the east, where you put your toe in to see if you, how cold it is. No, no, this is warm water, like you run for your bath, you just walk in. Asher said, I don't want to go to war. Why should I go to war? I'm comfortable. He wasn't together. Now what happened, verse twenty three. Curse ye Meros, said the angel of the Lord. Curse bitterly the inhabitants thereof. Why? Why was there a curse on them? Because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty. Beloved, we need to work together, and everybody is needed. Now, we saw last night that everybody has a gift. God has no ungifted children, and in the warfare, and by the way, we're in a warfare, did you know that? Yeah, we're in a warfare. And don't you be deceived by these people that are altering the hymn books and taking out Onward Christian soldiers, taking out Stand Up for Jesus. Oh, they're too fiery. We don't, we we want peace. We want to get along with everybody. My dear beloved, if you are a child of God, you cannot get along with the unsaved, and you're not supposed to, and don't try it. We are to work together, and these did not work. Nehemiah chapter three. Some who did not work together. Nehemiah chapter three. Now, I know you know the whole of Nehemiah because our subject and our text for this conference is taken from Nehemiah. So we're going to touch a few verses. Nehemiah chapter three verse five b. Now again, young people, next unto them the Tikaites prepared. Now, names in the Bible are important. And sometimes we say to ourselves, why all these long names? Does the Lord expect me to read all these names? Yes. Two reasons why you should read all the names. Number one, reading those names carefully and pronouncing them correctly will teach you patience. Is that right? It sure will. The second reason why you should read those names, if your name were there, would you want your name to be read? So when you come to these names, read them. See? So we come now to Nehemiah chapter three verse five. Next unto them the Tekoites. You said Tekoites, what about them? Now we're going to come to them in about two minutes, but meanwhile, look at the next sentence. Look at the next sentence. Their nobles did not put their necks to the work of the Lord. They're too big, too noble, too, too up in the world. We don't do that kind of work. Do you have any believers like that in this assembly? Oh no, we, we don't do that kind of work. We, we're above that. Oh, child of God, you are not above anything in the work and service of the Lord. Be sure you are working together. But let's go on. Now we come down to verse 4. Let stonkin them repair Nimron. My, my, who's he? Why did Lord put it there? The son of Uriah, the son of Kars. Why do you need to know all that? Now Are we we have afraid? read that the... the Nimroths worked, the Tekoites worked, but the nobles didn't work. Now come down to verse twenty six. Remember the Tekoites? After them, the Tekoites repaired another piece. That's why they're important. They had their assignment. The nobles wouldn't work, so the Tikoites did a little extra. And it's the same thing with the others that we read of. They had their assignment in building the wall and so forth. The nobles thought they're too big to work. So the others took on a little more. And beloved, when you find among the Lord's people those that will not work, don't look at them, don't get upset, you just do a little more. Work together. That's the important thing. Uh, read with me in Job chapter twelve. Now, I'm going to be good tonight. I'm not going to keep you overtime. Job chapter twelve, You know, the Bible is, is simply wonderful. Simply wonderful. And I say again to those of you in school, study the Bible. It'll give you a lot of clues, you'll learn a whole lot. Now look at verse seven. Job says, ask the beasts. See, those animals out there. Ask the beasts, and they will teach you. The fowls of the air, they'll tell you something. Speak to the earth, and it will teach you. The fishes of the sea will also declare unto you. You know you one thing you learn from the animals? They work together. Now, when you have a chance in the national Geographic puts on a display or a program, look at it. About ten days ago, I looked at the National Geographic. They had program there on elephants. Did anybody see it? The program on elephants. Oh, good program. And here was this little elephant, newly born, see? And the elephants went to a water hole, drinking water, and this little one went too. But coming out, the little one got into a mudslide, and instead of going forward, it was going back. And what do you think happened? Two big elephants got their trunks together behind this little one and got him up on dry ground. They worked together. That's right. What do you think wolves do when they get a, they, when they see a bear? Now, a bear can kill a wolf. There's no question about it. So what do the wolves do when there's a bear around? What's that? Sure, they get together. One group of wolves get behind the bear and nap at his leg, see, what they call the hamstring. And when he turns around, the other ones get him from the other side. And when they tear that hamstring, that bear can't walk. They work together. And that's what we need. Oh, there are many other examples. How about the bees? You know the story of the bees. They work together. Ants work. Termites work together. That's why they destroy your wood and your home. It isn't one termite. All of them get together so nicely. And I saw another nice one on the Geographic, oh, two weeks ago. Prairie dogs. We we all know what a prairie dog is. Little fellows. And they go out to eat and have fun, but one gets on a hike and he looks around. And if he sees a coyote coming or any other animal, he guts out a yell and a scream, and all of them scramble back to safety. They work together. Beloved, this is what we need to do, work. Have you heard the story of the two donkeys? They had a little card up when I was in training in the hospital. On every nurse's desk, there was this picture of these two donkeys. All right, there they are, tethered to each other by the neck. There's a bundle of hay over there, and a bundle of hay over there, and they're pulling, pulling, pulling, pulling, each one to get to the hay. Then the next line, they come together and look at each other, and they say, no, no, let's not act like human beings. You come over and share my hay with me, and when we're finished, I'll go over and share your hay with you. And then they see them, you see them in the middle, smiling. They worked together. You say, well, that's all you're saying. That's right. That's the subject. Working together. Now let me read you a little piece here. Oh yes. A A man man bro- broke his left arm. Left arm is broken. And then the left arm and the right arm had a dialogue. The left arm said to the right hand, to the right arm, I'm superior to you. The right arm said, I'm superior. Do you know that my owner cannot write a letter without me? I do the writing. But that left arm was shocked. Who holds the paper? Yeah. Who holds the paper? The left hand. The right hand said, who wields the hammer? The left one said, who holds the nail? Don't you see everybody is needed? We need to work together. And then the right hand asked, who guides the plane when the carpenter smooth the board? And the left hand said, who steadies the board? And you could go on like I could go on for, there are many more. But we need each other. Work together. I'm gonna give you one more, and then we're going back to the scriptures. One day, a peasant drove his sturdy ox through the village to work in the fields. And here's the peasant with his ox driving through. A flea sat on the ox's nose. At the end of the day, the ox and peasant trudged back through the village fields that they had plowed, and they worked hard, tired, barely able to make it. And the flea was still on the ox's nose. The peasant and the ox trudged by the villages in silence. They were tired. The flea, however, bowed grandly to everybody, proclaiming, we have been flying. He didn't do a thing. Beloved, we need to work together. Now let's get back to some scripture. First Corinthians one and ten, I believe we read that. But let's read three and nine. Three and nine. Take First Corinthians three and nine. Working together. This separate thing, every man going his own way, we get nowhere. We have to work together. First Corinthians chapter three and verse nine. I like this verse. I like this. We are laborers, workers. Now, some of your Bibles say with God. That's not the best translation. We are laborers under God. He's boss. We get our orders from him. I ask you, child of God, are you a laborer under God? Now turn to the book of the Acts for me. We're going to stay in the book of the Acts for a while. Book of the Acts, and we're gonna see there some of the meetings that the early church held together. Acts chapter four, verse thirty one. Acts four and verse thirty one. Are we all there? Now the word together is going to recur. When they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together. They had prayer meetings in those days. At church, they had prayer meetings, and they met together. Chapter eleven, please. Verse twenty six. Start at verse twenty five. Chapter eleven, verse twenty five. Then departed Barnabas to Saul, to Tarsus, to seek Saul. When he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. It came to pass that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church and taught much people. They were together. Came together for a teaching meeting. Do we have them today? They came together for teaching. Chapter fourteen, verse twenty seven. Chapter fourteen, verse twenty seven. Again, Paul and Barnabas are reporting. When they were come and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles. In those days, they had missionary meetings. Do we have them now? Too bad. Missionary meetings. The church came together to get a report. We are to be together. Chapter fifteen and verse six. The apostles and elders came together to consider this matter. You know, let me tell you something. When you are ready to criticize the elders, get on your knees and pray for them. That is a difficult job. And here elders came together, and from time to time the elders of the church must come together. Difficult problems to be solved. Please stop criticizing them and pray for them. They have a difficult job. I remember back in New York, sometimes we would meet. Problems before us, don't know the answer. Several times we said, brethren, let's just pray about it and come back in a week. And sometimes it was six weeks before we got the answer. Don't you think it's easy leading the Lord's people and seeking to build them up and so forth? That's hard work. Reminds me, not quite the same thing, but along the same lines. I told you last night that you shouldn't retire. You remember that? Don't retire, folks. Mm. Re-fire. Don't you retire. And so, I came to what they called retirement, see? And somebody asked me, what are you doing now that you're retired? I said, well, I'm engaged in Bible study. And the person looked at me and said, is that all? That person never studied the Bible. Bible study is hard work. Don't you let anybody see it. A brother comes up here and speaks for fifteen minutes, he probably spent two weeks on that message. Oh, he wasn't so good. He made a mistake. Well, of course he made a mistake. Don't you? Oh. Chapter fifteen, verse thirty five, and I have ten minutes, finish minutes. minutes. Verse thirty five. Paul, that same chapter, verse thirty five. Paul and Barnabas continued in Antioch teaching and preaching the word of the Lord with many others also. That's what they did, teaching the word. And let me tell you something, before you can teach it, you better understand it. You know you've had teachers in school didn't teach you a thing. You remember that? Especially at college level. They don't teach you anything. They give you an assignment, and then you work out the assignment, and they take the information and get a master's degree on it. Oh, I know what goes on. Yeah? Tell me this. How many fingers can you raise indicating how many real teachers you have? Real, I mean, genuine teachers. Not many? I can't think of five. But you know something? I had to pass the test. Interesting, isn't it? And people come to the meeting, oh, the brothers don't preach, and they don't, and they don't, and they don't. That doesn't excuse you. It's the word of God, and if you listen carefully, you'll learn from the most feeble brother. Now you're going to tell me that his, his English, his English isn't so good. Uh, let me tell you something about English and preaching. I've got a lot of notes here, and I want to finish on time. Let's see, where is this? My, my, my. It has to do with D. L. Moody, you know. He was a great man of God, and somebody approached him, a sister, and she didn't like, she said, you make too many mistakes in English. You split infinitives. Now, of course, those of you with higher education, you know you don't do that. Am I right? Well, Moody says, well, you know, I admit that I, I, I didn't go far in school. I admit I, I don't know very much, and I don't speak well, but I do the best I can. Then he said to her, now what do you do? Nothing. Oh, beloved, work together and don't criticize. But we have a couple more, and then we're going to be through. I have six minutes now. Oh, Acts chapter twenty. Oh, here's a delightful one. Acts chapter twenty, coming together. Acts chapter twenty, verse seven. Everybody has it? Twenty and seven. yeah. When the first day of the week, upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together, what did they come for? To hear a sermon? To break bread. Do you break bread? Do you come together with the saints to break bread? These are some of the things that the early church did. And thank the Lord, there are those among the Lord's people who are still seeking to follow this pattern. The first day of the week. Some don't do it at all. Some do it once a year. How often do you do it? You mean the Lord Jesus Christ who died to save you from sin, and you can't come once a mean- a week to think on him? Well, that's lack of gratitude. That's a disgrace. And a shame. Now there's one sad one. First Corinthians chapter five. A very sad coming together. But it has to be done. Chapter five, verse four. Now, you know the chapter. I'm not going to read the whole chapter. You know the problem there. First Corinthians five, verse four. In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, delivers such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Discipline in the church for certain disorders among believers. Oh, we, we don't want to hurt anybody's feelings. Oh, you don't, don't you? How about God's feelings? That's where it counts. And while it's a sad thing, I've had to do it. I want to tell you there's one occasion there. I almost broke down in tears. Sad thing to do. But remember, beloved, this discipline is not the end. The object of the discipline is restoration. So you're not throwing the brother or sister away. You want them to come back. Two minutes? John chapter fifteen, please. If we work together, what can we expect? If we work together, what can we expect? John chapter seventeen. Now, I know a brother now with the Lord, and John seventeen, you know, I know you've been taught, I know you know. This is the Lord's prayer, not what you get in Matthew, that's your disciples' prayer. This is the Lord's prayer. And this brother claimed you should never just read a verse or two, you should start at verse one and read all the way through. Now, uh, that's good. So you do it when you get home, because I'm just gonna take a couple of verses. The Lord is praying, verse twenty one. what does he say? That they may be one. The Lord wants us to be one. As thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us. And what will happen when we are one? The next clause, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. You know why many of the folks out there don't believe and don't want to come to the meeting? You know why? Because we are not one, fighting with each other, talking about each other. And they say, well, if that's what they do, I don't want to belong to that, and I don't believe them. If we want to win people to the Lord, we better be one. Verse twenty three, I in them and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them. Do you want the sinner outside to believe that God sent his son, that God really loves him? Then be one. But the minute I start fighting with you and they look up, oh no, no, I don't want that. I'm going to read you one more, and then I'm going to close with a little summary. Helping each other. Oh yes. A rider on horseback came across a squad of soldiers who were trying to move a heavy piece of timber. Get the picture? Trying to move this timber. A corporal. He- he's up there, he's not a cop. A corporal stood by, loudly giving orders to heave. Heave, men, heave. But the timber was too heavy for the squad. A rider on has- horseback came by and he said, why don't you help them? Me? I'm a corporal, sir. I don't do that kind of work. Dismounting, the horseman took his place with the soldiers. Now all together, boys, heave, he said, and the piece of lumber went into place. The stranger mounted his horse and addressed the corporal. The next time you have a piece of timber too large for your men to handle, corporal, send for the commander in chief. He was George Washington. Too big to work? I'm concluding now. Eight sixteen. I'm over one minute. God has tempered the body together. 1 Corinthians 12. He has quickened us together, Ephesians two. He has raised us up together, Ephesians two. He has framed and joined us together, Ephesians two. Therefore, let us dwell together. Psalm 133. Strive together. Followers together, workers together. The result is we will be comforted together. We will commune together. We would, by the way, there are scriptures for all of these, I'm not quoting. We will rejoice. We will be knit together. We will be, oh, I like this one. We will be caught up together. All right. Caught up together, and beloved, we're gonna live together for all eternity. So we might as well start now. God bless you. The best is yet to come. Isn't that wonderful? If I didn't believe that, I'd get out of this business post haste, especially when you have to do as many funerals as I've had to do here lately. The best is yet to come. Thank God for that. Workers together. Last night work. You know, when you would think, when you were talking, uh, Dr. Gerns, in terms of work, uh, the last funeral that you had was for Brother Hilton Christopher, is that right? And to my knowledge, he didn't own a car, did he? Never owned a car, and yet he was the most faithful among the elders in visiting the sick and the shut-in. He took the subway and never missed a meeting. Sometimes two and three subways. And I wonder how many of us would come to meetings if we had a flat tire, or if we had to catch the bus, or if we had to walk. I remember when we, uh, started the, the in the assemblies in nineteen forty three, little people, we walked down Hastings Street from Watson and Hastings all the way to Theodore, to that little converted house that was made into a church. We walked. Thought nothing of it. Didn't have enough money to catch the streetcar many times, so we walked. And some of us old enough to remember walking to school. Now kids, if they can't drive to school, they won't go. They don't want bus fare. Boo, you don't catch no bus. Wait, give me the keys. That's the attitude. Working together, working together. You know, sometimes I think that, uh, there are some people who actually, they must believe, I mean, blacks and whites. Blacks, there are some blacks who believe this, and there are some whites who must believe because of their attitude and their behavior in this crisis critical hour that there's going to be a heaven just as segregated as the church is today. Evidently, there are people who actually believe that. People who actually believe that. And every chance I get, I'm going to hit the Million Man March. You know it was coming, don't you? You know what they're saying? They're saying that when people ask them, say, what, what do you, what do you need to have a Million Man March for? Because you know what they're saying? They're saying because we need to make a statement of unity as black people. Is that right? The Lord has made us one in himself, and he has disallowed color and race. He has no respect of what? Of persons. Our unity is in him. That's what we're talking about just now. Irrespective color differences. And any so-called Christian in that march is certainly bankrupt of this truth, no question about it. And can you imagine they're closing the Detroit public schools? In other words, this is en- this is encouraging the kids to get involved in this type of thing. And then the blasphemy of it all is that they're calling it a Day of Atonement. Now that's blasphemy. There's only one Day of Atonement, and there's only one person who made it possible, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. And anything that robs him of that glory, we have to talk about it, so that the Lord's people will not be deceived. I'm thankful that the National Baptist Convention failed to endorse it, the Progressive Baptists failed to endorse it, the NAACP will not endorse it. I'm thankful for that, that some of these groups have taken a stand, taken a stand, but believe me, there will be bus loads of churches who will be leaving Sunday night or Sunday mo- early Sunday, so they'll be on time for the Million Man March. And don't you forget this, it's only a sinister way of trying to legitimize Louis Farrakhan into the mainstream. He's never been in the mainstream. He's always been seen as on the sidelines, but now this is going to bring him into the mainstream. And remember this, he still hates the Jew. He despises. And you know what that would be like? That would be like white people having a march with, that David Duke organized. The counterpart to that. So, saints, I'm just, I know you know these things, but I want you to make sure you understand that this is where the church should stand. Let's pray. Father, thank you again for Doctor Garns and for bringing him safely to us and for using him as an instrument in your hand to minister to us these two days, to assure us of what our responsibilities are to you, to work, and then tonight to work together. And then we thank you in advance for what you're going to see tomorrow. Thank you for bringing the hearts safely to us, and we know that we'll hear from heaven again on tomorrow evening. So be with us now as we depart from this place. Give us a good night's rest. Be with us on tomorrow, and we'll love you for it in Christ's name. Amen. Just one thing as you depart, and that is this, is that Sunday we're going to have, um, both speakers, obviously, again, but at one thirty there will be a fellowship dinner, and all are invited. Sister Brian is going to have an old-fashioned, uh, country. Where are you from, Sister Brian? What, what's your, I don't want to leave out your hometown. I didn't mean that. I mean, where's your mother born? All right. Okay. But we're gonna, that's at one thirty. and then, um, now listen, you want to see this because Ozzy, Brother Ozzy Pruitt has worked diligently. I only furnished the material, but Brother Ozzy Pruitt has put together a review of what we've done since our last anniversary, and that's going to be nice. And you're going to see, as I stand at each of the six sites of where the Lord has brought us, from, uh, Milford and Van Court, where the tent meetings were, to Milford and Woodrow, where our first meeting were- was, and you're going to meet a lady there. Her name is Mother Yarby. Her name is Mother Yarby. It just so happened that while I was standing in front of this location that they purchased from us when we moved on, that she came up because they were having an evening service at that time, and uh, she recalled uh, Brother Mosley and the early saints. She's in her late eighties and she's still doing well, and she inquired regarding how were, were, was this when Brother Judge, and I informed her that they are, all of them are in heaven except Mother Alexander. Well, you're going to see that little interview, and you're going to see some other things too. Even Fourteenth Street, there was a lady that came up that accepted the Lord Jesus Christ when I first came to Fourteenth and Antoinette. She's on the tape, and so you're going to really enjoy this. And then we do have our blinds, they're back in time, and we certainly thank the Lord for that. Brother, um, Floyd, if you see anyone pulling on those cords, you cut their right and left hand off. Work together. Not like that, though. Don't pull those cords. We'll only bring those down because it was a month. Uh, actually, there was a defect in the first order, and I think they sent lightweight pulleys. That's the reason why. But they promised us, JCPenney's, they promised us that they would send heavy-duty pulleys so that that shouldn't happen again. But there's a certain way that you have to bring those, um, room darkener shades down, and Brother Floyd is responsible for that, so no one else will be involved in that because, first of all, we have to move the decor that's in the windows too. So I know you'll be obedient to that. Thank you so much. So we have full day Sunday. We plan for you to be here all day. If you come to the early service, come back in time for the dinner. Thank you so much. We're dismissed. Greet each other in the Lord. Now, when Elijah revived that child, was that child face down or face up? up. Face Face up. Mouth to mouth resuscitation? The Bible said that he put his mouth in the child's mouth. Cardiac massage? Every time he breathed out, he massaged the child's chest. You know where that is? In here. And you have it in your hand. Do you value it? Does it have meaning for you? Uh, one day in the will of the Lord, we're going to talk about evolution, some of this nonsense they talk, and see what the scriptures have to say. Oh, this is painful. But, Genesis forty, Physical disability is no excuse. Verse eight, Israel beheld Joseph's sons and said, who are these? And Joseph said unto his father, these are my sons whom God hath given me in this place. And he said, bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them. Now, it is true that verse eight says that he saw these sons. Now read verse ten. The eyes of Israel, that is Jacob, were dim for a so that he could not see. Everybody reading that? He brought them near unto him, and he kissed them and embraced them. Israel, that is Jacob, said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face. Verse twelve. Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bound himself with his face to the earth. Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand, that's the older one, toward Israel's left hand, rather than the young guy, sorry. And Manasseh, in his left hand, taught Israel's right hand. Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger, he put his right hand on the head of the one that was on his left. Why did Joseph put the older one on his right hand? Because that was the custom, the older one was to get the blessing. But Jacob put his right hand, he crossed his hand and put it on the younger one, and he put his left hand on Manasseh's hand, and it says, guiding his hands within. He knew what he was doing, but he couldn't see. How about it? He couldn't see, he didn't know which boy was with, but he knew where to put his hands. That's what I call spiritual. He didn't have natural vision, but at this point he had spiritual vision. We read on. Verse um seventeen. when Joseph saw his father lay his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him because he was the young. And he held his father's hand to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh. Joseph said unto his father, not so, my father. This is the first part. Put thy right hand upon his head, and his father refuses it. I know it, my son, I know it. I know what I'm doing. That's that. I like that. That just thrills me. He had spiritual vision. The new man was being renewed. And so, in spite of arthritis and other myositis and fibrositis and all the other sicknesses, you can still serve the Lord. Have I proved it? Well, you want another proof? First Kings chapter fourteen. I must confess to you, I'm enjoying myself up here. I hope you are. But these things tell me. This is my God. This is how he works. Disability. First Kings chapter 14 and verse one. Please for everybody to find. This one you'll like. Disability. I can't serve the Lord because disability. Utter nonsense. All ready? First Kings chapter fourteen verse one. At that time, Abijah, the son of Jeroboam, fell sick. He's sick now. Right? Jeroboam said to his wife, Arise, I pray thee, disguise thyself. Please note that. Pretend to be somebody else. That thou be not known to be the wife of Jericho. Get thee to Shiloh. Behold, there is Ahijah the prophet, which told me that I should be king over this people. Take with thee ten loaves, crack nails, a cruz upon it, and go to him. He shall tell thee what shall become of the child. And Jeroboam's wife did so and arose and went to Silo and came to the house of Ahijah. Please note the next sentence. Ahijah could not see. Because of age. All right? A man can't see. Next verse. The Lord, oh, he can't see, but the Lord can talk to him. The Lord said unto Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam comes to ask you a thing of thee for her son. He is sick. Thus and thus shalt thou say unto her, it shall be when she cometh in, she shall pretend to be another. Now, now look, look at this, beloved. You're going to a man that can't see. Why in the world are you going to pretend to be somebody else? He can't see you. Do you see how foolish people can be? It's like the Buchanesi, you know. He was going to put these three boys into the furnace. It was burning. Yet he made it seven times hotter. Why? Was he afraid that they wouldn't burn? I kind of think so. He knew that God was the door throwers. That's why he made it seven times hotter, but they still didn't burn. Oh. Now we come back. Verse six. It was so when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet as she came in at the door that he said, come in, wife of Jeroboam. Don't pretend to be somebody else. I am sent with heavy tidings to thee. Couldn't see with him who she was. Oh, beloved, I know as you get on in age, you're not feeling and don't have the physical ability that you once had, you can still serve the Lord. If no more than Anna, you can pray. And I'm thinking of some other people. We all heard Fanny Crosby, wrote many hymns, never saw the light of day. I think, you know, many of her hymns have to do with seeing the Lord. Isn't it amazing? Handicaps don't prevent you from serving the Lord. Milton was a blind poet. Oh, there's some others. But let me give you one, one good one. Now, my wife and I are lovers of music. I believe the sister will remember the last time I was here, I told you I like the keyboard instruments, organ, and piano. You might remember that. And there were some outstanding artists that would visit in New York City at that time, and we heard many of them. And one was a harpsichordist, Ralph Kilpatrick. Oh, he played, young man. Hadn't heard of him or about him for years. And about two years ago, there was an announcement that he was going to play the harpsichord. Oh my, I have to hear this. Haven't heard him in years, and he was good as a young man. And so there was the harpsichord TV, and out came Mr. Kilpatrick, but he walked in a different way. He walked in a sort of a stilted manner, and he came over to the harpsichord, and he sat very carefully, but he played. You know what I learned the next day? For the last two years, he was totally blind, but he was playing the harpsichord. So don't tell me that I have arthritis and the other itis and this, that, and the other. Serve the Lord, regardless of age, regardless of health. There is something that each of us can do. Beethoven. Beethoven. There Yeah, we. we've all heard of Beethoven. I take it that our sister plays Beethoven. Sure. The man was totally deaf. How does a totally deaf man write music? And when they played the music, they had to have him stand up and look at the applause. He couldn't hear it. And I heard very recently of a man in our neighborhood, totally deaf, yet he writes music for the choir, and he conducts it, but he can't hear it. Now, I don't know just how it's done, but I do know that handicaps are no excuse for not serving the Lord. If I make only this one point that we are to work regardless, that that's the whole message. Just a few more on. Oh yes, F. Remember him? Governor of New York, president four times, and couldn't walk. Didn't stop him. And then I'm a lover of music. Itzhak Perlman. How many of you know of him? Sure. Master. Polio at age four, unable to walk to this day, but he plays the fiddle. So please, beloved, let's not make these excuses because of disability. I can't do, and the Lord knows what you can do. Go ahead and do something. A few years ago, there was a track star named Wilma Rudolph. Anybody remember her? Yes. She won three gold medals in the nineteen sixty Olympics. Had scarlet fever at age four, affected her kidneys, lost the use of her left leg, had to learn to walk again at age seven, but she won four medals. Disability? Hold you back? How about that wonderful Christian girl, Johnny Erickson, I think the name is. Paralyzed from the neck down, no use of the arms. She prints postcards. You know? Paints postcards, and I mean beautiful ones. Disability. I can't, I can't. Now I'm gonna stop, uh, in less than five minutes. At eight o'clock, the public was to hear Mr. OJ. Oh, beloved, please pray for him and his family, and the lawyers, they need prayer. There is no other hope for them. As a boy, he suffered from calcium deficiency, and he had to wear braces for several years. You see, he didn't know that. They don't tell you that. This left his legs affected, but he won the Heisman Trophy, didn't he? And he's elected to the Hall of Fame. Disability is no