Thank you very much and a pleasant good afternoon, if I may say so, because after you have lunch, at this time of the day, we're all ready to go to sleep. I am, are you? Now you'll be honest, you're not supposed to tell lies in church, aren't you? All right. So if you take a nod, we'll pardon you, because, you know, you can't sleep. Turn to Philippians chapter three, where we were this morning. You know, I think something is happening. Our brother continued in the same vein where he was this morning about the second coming, rapture, the home going of the church. And I didn't share any notes with him, but I was thinking of talk about the same thing, not the raster of the church, but just keep on in chapter three and four into another message. But before I do, I have two commercials, not very long. Perhaps one of them is maybe too late for you to do anything about by coming, but you can pray for us. This Memorial Day will mark our twentieth year, two decades, that we have been having a conference for the family. Everybody knows that the family and America and all over the world are in deep trouble. And we have two outstanding men to come and speak to us. Dr. Robinson, Robinson McCorken is the president of Columbia Bible College in Columbia, South Carolina. And Dr. William Banks from the city of Broglie Love, some people call this a literally push. but they are coming to speak to us. Men of God. And we will go there. We're having people to come from the Bahamas and all over the United States, about eighty from the Bahamas itself. And we're glad. Now, you may not be able to come because the registration, suppose you're under fifteen, and if you register after the fifteen, you have to pay a five dollars extra. Not that you're all Scotchmen and you object to pay a five dollars extra. Okay. A conference like this is worth more than paying five dollars actually, but I know you had other plans made. The reason for telling you, I want you to pray about it, that God would indeed do something for us. The theme of the conference is strengthening the ties that bind us. The ties that bind us as workers together, as laborers together, as fellow soldiers, as families. And then sometime next year, if the Lord will not come in the spring, I think we want to begin building on our chapel in Decatur, Georgia. We have the property already, and we want to start building. If the Lord will not come, we are hoping to complete the building. And when we have our mission every conference, next year in September, we will have the dedication. Now, I said to our brother Bateman this morning, we have conferences, and he said, I was a conference speaker. No, we have two conferences. We are engaged in conferences. I am convinced that when it comes to the mission field, that's a bad word among our people. You folks know all about it. You'll be doing it for years. But it's a bad word when you come to missions in the black community. And this year, we are in our tenth year with a missionary conference. That held every third week in September. The United Family Bible Conference is always on Memorial Day weekend. Last year we commended our first full-time worker in the work, in the person of Curtis Jenkins, and sometime in June of this year, perhaps the last of June, he will be going to Balgastra where he is having Bible classes and God is blessing in a great way. God is at work, and brothers and sisters, I want you to rejoice that he is still on the throne. and he is just waiting for us to say to him, Lord, take my life, take my own. So let me invite you to pray for Brother Jenkins. He has four daughters, a beautiful wife, they're going down there, and we are going to learn how to pray for them and support them. Now I know that's a bad kind of concept in conferences like this. We don't talk about support. We are so heavily minded that we don't do much for Earth. So, I won't say too much about it, but I want you to consider that. I want you to consider the importance of us working together. And I don't mean that it cannot be done because, from what I've heard, this conference itself, as you heard earlier today, this conference is a demonstration of what the gospel should be all about. bringing people together of every strife of every experience of every level and demonstrate to the world the oneness of the body of Jesus Christ there are those who do not know their Bible very well and they think that they're the only body that's a lie that must be exploded everybody who comes to Jesus Christ are a part of the body no matter where they meet or how And the sooner we come to that realization and begin to put it into practice, the better will be for the body of Christ. Thank God for what we are in our denomination. But again, I know that's kind of walking on eggs. But don't tell me about this denomination. Tell that to somebody else. Tell it to the Marine. I'll read in the book now, the chief men among the brethren, I've read them all. And you are a denomination, whenever you have policies that excludes other people, you are a denomination. So face it to it, we love our denomination, we're going to plop on it, but don't exclude anybody else. I've got to say amen for it because I should have said that, but I've said it anyhow. I ain't mad with you, your my brother. And you know, I said, but the sooner we wake up to reality, the better we'll be for the ongoing ministry of the glorious, leveling, elevating gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's right. I don't have to read because we're in Philippians three. We're going to go into Philippians four. So you know we're going to be here all night. I want to kid you. I know that you're tired and you've been such a wonderful audience. I had a longer message, but since they decided to cut my check, I'm not going to give you all the messages. Shall we pray? Father, it is so sweet to trust in Jesus. And we pray that while we enjoy ourselves, oh God, help us to revel in the fact that you have honored us by calling us to be a part of your body. And as a member of heaven's aristocracy, you have left us here to show forth the excellency of him who brought us out of darkness into his marvelous light. write, O God, as with an eternal end, what we have just heard from our dear brother concerning the walk of holiness and our call to heaven as well as our call to holiness. O God, sometime we forget it. Teach us, we pray, and help us that what we hear may regulate our walk for Jesus' sake. Amen. I heard the story once from an Irishman, so if you can believe an Irishman, here is the story. He's my good friend, so I don't want to be kind. But an Englishman, most of you know, he likes something to boast about. He boasts about his fighting spirit. And the Scotsmen, they like to fight too, and they boast about how well they can fight. And the Irishmen, they're good singers, and they boast about how well they can sing, because they said that the Irish language is the heavenly language, maybe they speak in tongues, I don't know. But it says the heavenly language. And all of them were just blowing off steam as to what they are, Irish and Scots and... English. And so they saw a little old Paddy sitting down there. I think he lost all his friends. I wanted to look at him and say, now Paddy, what about you? And he kind of spruce up and said, if I was not an Irishman, I'll be ashamed of myself. And that's the way I feel this evening. If I was not a Christian, with all that I heard, I'll be ashamed of myself. But if it's a privilege to be a Christian, privileges bring with it awesome responsibilities. Now this morning, you may not have noticed it because I didn't emphasize it too much, but this morning I was talking about the conviction the man who was fully persuaded as to his relationship with God through Jesus Christ. And because of this, he was giving himself totally. He recklessly abandoned himself to the Lord Jesus Christ. And I try to tell you some about his profile, his priceless pursuit. I hear some sound, some praise. His consuming passion, his absorbing purpose, and then his singular performance. Now if you notice, everything, if you're aiming, I'm hearing an echo. Is it affecting it? Everything was I, I, I. Did you notice that? In other words, Paul is saying, this is where I stand. You now must say, where you stand. Paul says, this is where I stand. Now where do you serve us? And so this afternoon, as we continue, we want to change gears. And I counted them while I was sitting down there a while ago. Fifteen times from verse one through fourteen, he says, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I. I count, I do this, I do this. Now he's going to change gears. And he is going to make some appeals. And the appeal is not so much I now, but it is the corporate appeal to the corporate body. And did you notice our brother was saying, this is personal and this is corporate? Would you believe that I have that word written down here three times? Yes. So I don't know what God is trying to say to us, but at least if you are here and he's saying what he wants you to hear, then say amen. Because, obvious, God has something to say to us. about our responsibility. Now in verse fifteen we get these words. Let me just read verses twelve, thirteen, and fourteen, and then going to fifteen. Here's the last part of the I's. It's not as though I had already attained. Either were already perfect, but I. Not you now. You must come in yourself. I follow after it that I... may apprehend that for which I have been apprehended. Praise the Lord. I cannot myself to have apprehended. But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind. I wonder if you have forgotten the past. Have you? But that is what Paul is saying. Paul is saying, I am forgetting what I did when I persecuted the church. I am forgetting the fact that I persecuted them. I caused them to blaspheme. I am forgetting that. That's unprofitable. That's nothing to write whom about. I am forgetting the past, but I am reaching for, I am as it were, on tiptoe and I am reaching. I am reaching. I see glory in my vision. I see a Lord who is glorified. I see him beckoning to me. And I see myself as a pick and chosen representative of the new humanity. Send forth to gather those who would dare and come under the banner and authority of Jesus Christ. And I want to reach forth. I'm not on a strike. I am not going to sit down and do nothing. I want to reach for. And then he says, I am not only reaching, brother, I am pressing the battle against the enemy. Now, you're not going to go into those words. I just want your attention. Now, I'm doing all that. I'm doing that. I'm doing all that. Now, he says, yes. He finished with the I now. Now, watch when he came. He says, let us therefore... this is corporate action and the corporate action has to do with what we are going to do with what we know we must be of the same mind chapter two teaches us in chapter two and verse two and chapter two and don't turn here because of just reference and verse five but we must be of the same mine. Now brothers, having been with their families for fifty-two years, I have to confess that we make some tremendous claims about our distinctives, and thank God for them. But isn't it sure that those same claims, those same things we call distinctive, have been a means whereby we've been a splintered group? Now don't shake your head. Let me take responsibility for all that. But what I want to say, but I want you to acknowledge the truth, not loud, but the Holy Spirit ruled out. The mere fact that we claim all these truths, we fight at the drop of a hat because somebody didn't cross an eye and cross, you cross an eye, you dot your eye and cross the key, which suggests that we do not have the mind of Christ because the mind of Christ was not an kind of mind. There was nothing haughty about the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me read the verse again and tell me if you see haughtiness in this. Let me read verse two, sons of Elijah, chapter two now. Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord. Harmony, brothers. Don't go in for this harmony. Go in for harmony. And because you're seeking to work harmoniously with other members of the body, it does not mean in any way that you are not contending for the faith. once delivered to the same. Well, look what he says in the next verse. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation. Does this apply to us then anyway? Do we have the same mind when it comes to how we think of ourselves? Isn't it true that sometimes we think of ourselves too highly than we ought to think, and we do not think soberly toward ourselves, nor righteously toward others, nor godly? And isn't that the message you heard from my brother in the first message? We must think soberly, self-worth. Who are you? What a sinner saved by marvelous grace. Who cares that you came over on the meadow? It doesn't make any difference. You're the sinner. You are from the root of Adam. And that Adamic nature is the heritage of all humanity. It doesn't matter that Rockefeller is your great, great, great. Well, folks, when are we going to get this thing firmly established in our thinking? That all have sinned. All have consured of the glory of God. and what I achieved and what I have attained and what I have accomplished has nothing to do with salvation. Salvation is a gift and a take on the mercies of God. And yet we throw all these things into it. I remember when I came from England in nineteen forty nine, this sweet little girl said to me, take you now, I am from an old Scotch family. And I said, yeah. I said, you know, Opal Hawk came from England, and he brought an Englishman, an Irishman, and a Scotsman, but it came from Gentile's prison. See, folks, let's be honest with ourselves. Aren't you glad you're a Christian? Glad you weren't a Christian. What else would you be, but a sinner? You may be a rich sinner, a flamboyant sinner, even a white or a black sinner. You're still a sinner. And if you're a sinner, you need a savior. But thank God he provided a savior for us. And now the word of God is there. Let us think soberly. Let us be of the same mind. We are what we are now by the grace of God. Sinners saved by grace. And God Almighty cannot make anything better than we are. Hallelujah. Look at me, I'm a black prince. In Christ. And the prospect is, as you've been hearing, I'm going to be like him soon and very soon. But don't, I can't boast about that. But far be it from me, there's the Apostle Paul that I should boast, say, in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who, with any sense would boast in the cross? Paul said, I did. So, are you listening to me, Robin? No, you know, I not only do evangelistic work in church planning, I am supposed to be an elder. You understand that language, don't you? We are talking our language. I am supposed to be an elder. And it's so difficult sometimes when you meet with the elders. And so I am giving this remark to you, fellow elders. Okay? I know you fellow elders are so holy. You have never made a mistake. But remember, if you have been growing, you have only grown because you have come through tribulation and God has been pressing you here and pressing you here. You've been in distress. You've been knocked down, but you're not forsaken. And God has been doing all this to develop you to be a radiant, delightful, humble Christian. So that when you see a brother or sister who's going astray, you can put your arms around, Mr. Lokey, brother. God hates him, but God loves you. And God wants us to restore that person. And when the world can see that, the world will be amazed and propagated that God's love can reach the lost and destroy and bring them back. Watch what the Lord Jesus Christ did to Peter. Peter said to Peter, you'll really, really, really love me. Peter said to the third time, you're welcome. He says, Lord, you know better than I do. I love you. Now folks, it's noticeable we love the Lord and don't love other people. The old commandment was, Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself. But the new commandment is, you must love as I have loved you. Can you measure that? Can you measure how much God, for Christ's sake, has loved us? God, what's the little of that word? So, measure it. How much does God love us? God, so loved me. When I was a crook, yeah. When I did everything, yeah. Yeah. You see, God great. is given and is not with hell because of sin. Did you really know that? Father, look at me. Build up the same mind and respect you, the grace of God. And that grace is not with hell because of sin. You don't believe that. Read Romans five through eight. Where sin abounded, grace did super abundantly abound. Amen. So anyway, tell me, I can't bother with that for all the heck. Hey, when you put people out of the meeting, make sure, as William McDonald says in this book, Christ loved the church, you excommunicate with a view to restore. And bless your heart when I live in the Bahamas, when those elders put you out, even God can bring you back. And brother, let me tell you, that doesn't say much for elders. Lord, if I get the qualification right, and I'm not picking on your elders, I'm an elder. I have the same headache you have. I know what it is to spend night, get crying and wonder why. God says, good. Shed them tears. My son shed them and take, get them, and he too. And don't forget that God had pains about Jesus. Don't you mean to tell me that God stood in heaven? And he didn't experience pain when Jesus Christ. Father, it's in no other way. No other way. In eternity that has been settled. Oh, my. I wonder if you're following the trend. God wants us to be of the same mind in these areas. Let us, let us. And you know, the more leaders sit together and get to know each other, the better we'll be. You know what we have discovered in our area? We don't know one another. So what we have initiated... We have the first full week in June, one full week for the leaders to go to fast and pray together. Now, don't put me on the fellowship of God. I talk about fastening and praying. It doesn't go wrong with it. It's just you don't believe it. But it's biblical. Now, what I'm saying is simply this. By going down there together and the brothers meet together, do you know we're beginning to communicate to each other? And they'll be saying, hey, hey, hey, hey. Now, you don't know what I'm talking about because this don't happen in your community. I don't know what I mean. But in one sense it happens to all men. For let me say, it's just human. Now the plea is, in the light of all this that we can forget the past, we can reach, and I'm going to follow, and he says, have the same mind. Be of the same mind. And if there's any contrary mind, God will reveal it to you. Okay? And then he says, let's walk. You see that there? Yeah. He says, verse sixteen. Let's walk. by the same rule. Your assembly is it governed by the dictatorial diographies attitude? Father, you don't win people like that. I've been learning at the hard work, but thank God I am beginning to learn it. And I am suggesting if we can come and follow Paul and learn to do this and learn to know him and why I know him and begin to see all these things, then as I am individually committed to Jesus Christ, then corporately we will be committed to the same reward. And Jesus calling for corporate action, walk, have the same walk. Let us mind the same thing. are going to go into. Just pass it off now. Verse sixteen. All right, that's enough for that. Now here's another thought. Here's appeal now. He says, I want you, brethren, verse seventeen. Brethren, be followers, be imitators. Now what's the word? What's the word? What's the word? Together. What's the word? Together. I am wondering why Christians object to togetherness. Do you know we have been raised and we are seated together? Do you know that God sees us as worker together? Do you know that we will be caught up together and for all eternity we are going to live and worship together? But why shouldn't that begin right here? As a matter of fact, the world are expecting something from us. And when the world see us squabbling and strife-ridden and deceitful and all like I said, well, they don't have anything. But when they see us loving people, even people with glaring flaws, We can communicate with them. We are not in the least bit condoning sin of any hue, any kind. But we are saying there is grace for sinning saying if they come back to Jesus Christ in repentance. And as God wants, we've been received, He wants us to receive them. And Paul even said of that man who committed the sin that even the Gentiles didn't commit. Restore our brother. Let he be swallowed up with sorrow. I came from an assembly, not in London now. We're going to settle in the Bahamas. You're spiritual. When you're telling the world about the world, brethren, I say to you on your own terms, please, for God's sake, quit that stuff. You're dealing with people. They are precious to God, created in His own image. And He loved them. There can be no mistaking God's love for us. And if they have gone astray, you who are spiritual. Now that's the real problem. Who are the spiritual folks? And I'm about to touch. I'm only asking questions. You supply the answers. Who are the spiritual folks? But if they are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of making. Now there's nothing slack about this. Recall Paul said this. Now mark those who follow our example. The people who are separate from evil, the people who love sin, even though they must judge sin and are kind to them. He says watch those people and mark them. But listen. There are others, I want you to mark them also. And these others are the enemies of evil. the cross of Christ. And you must be of the same mind about this. There is no attempt to gloss over sin. There is no attempt to say, if it's our faith, if it's false, doctrine is false. You see, I have some beef against Christianity. For instance, you've heard people say that there are people who do not preach the gospel, they preach a social gospel. Well, now, I would like to know where to get that from. Did you ever read Galatians recently? You read what Paul says. Paul says they preached another gospel. And then he says, I beg your pardon. They didn't. You read it again. You check it again. You understand that? And if you are not preaching the gospel, you are not preaching the gospel. Don't give me any false to it. Or social to it. And I'm going to suggest that the gospel takes on social implications. Don't you tell me that Jesus Christ doesn't care about people who are hungry. Don't you tell me that Jesus Christ, the black and sun, who are people who are unclothed and unfed? Don't you tell me that he isn't sympathetic towards them? He is. And he said to his disciples, give him something to eat. And I don't want any backtalk. Give him something to eat. May I ask you a question? Did you appreciate the dinner, the lunch and the six for us today? I'm surprised at you. That's being social. They fed the, what man you call that, the old man, right? What makes you think the old man look like the cared for physically? If you don't have any meal in the next six months, I'll know what happened to you. Don't you let anybody kid you that is wrong to feed people. But if you're going to feed people, don't think that because you feed them, you can't tell them there are sinners and God love them. People who are not preaching the gospel, the death, the burial, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the way that Jesus Christ is through faith in them, they're just not bringing any gospel. It's not a social gospel. I want this to be stamped in terribly upon your mind. There is no such monster as a social gospel. It's the gospel or it's not the gospel. It's a prophecy of the gospel. That's what Paul says in Galatians one. Check it out, you Bible scholars. Social gospel. We are social beings. Aren't you? Don't you look at me there? Aren't we social beings? We're social beings. God loves us. Be of the same mind. But remember that God's people. Remember God loved them. Reach them. Teach them the truth of separation. And when they come to know that God loves them the way you are saying and you are showing it, man is a lie. Wouldn't they come alive to that? Love has a melting quality. You don't believe Jesus Christ. Believe and see in people. Well, if Jesus doesn't, God does. In my quiet time, I've read this this morning. When Israel turned aside from God and grumbled and complained, God had every right to wipe them off the map. You know what God did? He gave them manna and gave them quail. Now what kind of a God has that given these people saying to us to meet the body needs and not the soul? Okay. So long as you're following me, I don't remember. Folks, God is getting a bad press from us Christians. God is getting a bad name from us Christians. God is concerned about people from the cradle to the grave. And look what he says here. Now these people, what's their destiny? You see it? In verse nineteen. Their end is destruction. Their God is their belly. and their glory is in their shame, and they don't mind, they do mind only earthly things. Now, this is the path we must not follow. Okay? But here is the path we should follow. You get it? Here is our destiny. Our citizenship is in. Oh, come on. I'm not supposed to say, but say it anyhow. Our citizenship is in. Amen. Don't you say. Are you proud about that? Amen. You know, some years ago, I was a British. Well, I thought it was a subject, but I just thought it was an object. But I had the opportunity to become an American citizen. And the reason, one of the reasons, my wife is an American. And I felt that if God wanted me to labor in this country, I could become an American citizen because becoming an American citizen would not affect my citizenship in heaven. Are you glad about that? I'm glad about that. I'm a citizen of the great country of America. I'm a citizen of the better country, heaven. And the Apostle is saying, your citizenship is in heaven. Now, if your citizenship is in heaven and you are allied to God, if you are adjusted to his thinking, then your walk should be in the light. and you should show forth the excellency of him who brought your darkness into his marvelous life. You know, many Christians are very unethical practices. No, we're not going to them. No, no, no, we're not going to go into them. But you're unethical. As a matter of fact, one fellow says it like this. Well, that business. Well, let me suggest you be more than a businessman. Be a Christian businessman. Is that good enough for you? Yeah. I worked as a grocer, shop in a grocery store one, and I worked for a Greek. And he took out the little thing and he gave about fourteen ounces for the pound, instead of sixteen. So he always had something on the scale, so the scale is never, you know, and you put down in the end and say, a pound of this ain't no pound, only fourteen ounces. And he thought he was smart. Do you know that's an ethical? Do you know he may amass a million or millions but... the unchanging, inescapable truths of God, words remain, you will reap. Say it aloud. Yes, sir. I'm in our nation. We have done some damnable things. All nations have done it. And brothers, I don't know about you, but I'm concerned about my nation. I don't know whether right is right or wrong. I don't know. All I know is seem to be in trouble. But do you know who he is? He is the speaker of the house. Is that a small position? And when we see a high official becoming involved in all these practices that are pagan and wicked, isn't it time did the Christian have an alternative lifestyle? Isn't it time we stand out like a rock of Tripoli when it comes to morality and purity and honesty and godliness? Isn't it time? What's the purpose of having the church? If all the church ministers are crooks, Michael will become a part of the mafia. We have been cleansed. We have been redeemed. We are seated with him in heavenly places. We are called to holiness. Be ye holy, for I am holy. My citizenship is in heaven. Are we walking like children? of the heavenly king. You know what's going to happen? Look at the reverse there. A citizen who lives in heaven. Now, I've got to check on this already. From when we look for a democratic government or a republican. No, no, no. Folks, get this out of your system. I know it's in my area. Every time things go wrong... Here are some Christian broadcasts coming on the earth. Sorry brother, I don't even do this, but if I do, and here I broke, I'll tell you about it. These Christians, write to your congressman, write to your congressman, and those congressmen have as much purity and love and honesty as that. And yet they want Christians to become involved in that bondage where they're alive to dishonest men and to become involved in them instead of talking to God about the situation. When last did you call upon God in your crisis at the time? Right, your congressman. That's the call of humanism in some areas. Right. Man has the answer. Women are good through legislation. Let me tell you something, folks, brothers and sisters. If us human beings could find a way to come back to God, then God would have been an income of the first magnitude to send Jesus to die the way he died. There is no operative plan. Jesus is the answer. Jesus is the weight of God. Jesus is the life of God. Jesus is the truth of God. Did you hear that? No man comes unto the Father but by me. Now what are you going to do? Listen what are you going to do. He's going to change these bodies of our humiliation. You can't believe I can you? You mean the time is going to come, He's going to give me a new body, right, Jesus? A body can come through walls. A body can make ourselves through space faster than sound. Is He really going to do that? I can't believe it. Is He really going to do it? I wonder if I can believe that. I wonder if I can believe that. I wonder if I can believe that. He's going to give me a body, and that body is going to be acceptable anywhere in the universe. It has to be, because as the bride of Christ, we are engaged to marriage to the prince of the universe. And wherever he goes, we are going to go with him. He ain't going to leave his bride in the kitchen. Some people may think so. I like it. We ain't going to have no kitchen in heaven. We are part of him. Is that true? And how are you going to do it? According to the working of this mighty power. That's right. Change these bodies of ours. And brothers, then there'll be no more headaches. No more problem with cholesterol, the good kind or the bad kind. No more problem with cancer. No more problem with crooked teeth. See, I can't see unless I put this stuff on. Just like Jesus in a body of glory. Folks, can you believe that God's going to do all this for us? Now I've got to go. But let me finish it. Look what it says. Therefore, chapter four says, Therefore, my brethren beloved, in view of what God is going to do, therefore, my brethren, beloved, and long for, look how he addresses us. My joy, my crown. So do what? Stand fast in the Lord. My dearly beloved. What do I see in that? the need for steadfastness the need brothers and sisters to walk orderly the need to allow the word of God to regulate our conduct and then he says in verse verses four and five of the Horeon rejoice in the Lord when you get a raise rejoice in the Lord when your horse come in and hit the daily doubles Is that what he said? Now, brethren, I have some problem with this deal. You mean to tell me your lamb beggar is acting up and it's time to rejoice then? That must be go all the way. You mean to tell me the children have nothing to eat and he says rejoice in the Lord? Hey, you mean to tell me they're coming to foreclose on the house and he said rejoice in the Lord? But he was ready from prison. And it was a dank, foul prison. And he says rejoice in the Lord. Now he just said rejoice in the pocket and have the money. Rejoice to the Lord and do it always. Unless you think I've lost my marbles again, I say. Come on, Paul. What do you have to drink last night? Please, come on, Paul. I mean, what's wrong? Oh, no, no, no. Paul is all right. Paul got a level head. Paul had nothing to drink but water. Not even soap. Coke, you go. Coke, go, go. You have rejoiced to the Lord always. And here's what he said. And believe me, beloved, this passage, these verses now, as I close, has been such a bulwark of strength to me in the last thirty-four years. In nothing, be anxious. Now you mean to tell me where the flowers fall to right after the straight face? I think you can. Did you hear what he said? In nothing, be anxious. He says in Matthew six, hey, don't worry. And he must name it because he said it three times. Don't worry. Well, God, if I don't have anything to worry about, I don't have anything to worry about. You must have something to worry about. No, no, no, don't worry. But God, have you heard what's going on in the school? Their drought? Their abusiveness? But, but I said, don't worry. God, what do you mean? Then we don't have to complain about. Have you heard about people who go to the doctor's waiting room? and the ladies all talked about what happened to them and they tried to outdo each other as to what they have had and how many sticks did they have had. What Paul is saying, hey, look folks, I want you to remember, I want your vision to be focused and centered on him. Your moderation is known to all men, the Lord is at hand. But in everything, by prayer, and supplication with thanksgiving. And let me tell you this. That's the solution to ninety-nine and nine-tenths of our problem. Prayer with thanksgiving. Brothers, I don't support you. You're giving thanks for a flat tire, how do you? Absolutely, John. You tell me the story. If we could see the things the Lord saves us from, brothers, we'll never stop giving thanks. And let me suggest to you, God knows more about you and me than anybody else, and God knows all those holes and alligators when they snipe you and bite you and said, you follow me, and he gives you even to the value of the shadow of death. And if the shadow, there must be light. Is that true? If there's a shadow, there has to be light coming someplace. So even in the valley of your shadow of death, there is light. And if you follow him, you will not walk in darkness. You'll step over the crocodile. You'll miss the snakes. And you'll miss the potholes. And he says, I'll lead you and guide you by my counsel. I tell you, as Christians, us now. And this is where leadership comes in. This is where we need to have leadership. Where we can sit and communicate to each other. Not dominating leadership. Not where I'm the big boss and I do everything. Oh no. And brothers, there are lots for us to learn from each other. Some brothers are very quiet. Some are very talkative. But sometimes those same brothers come up with one thing once in a while and it's a real jewel. But we'll miss it if we don't give them a chance to say it. All of us don't have the same gifts. But all of us I'm needed of a healthy, vibrant body. In nothing, be anxious. And the brothers stole my thunder again because I had birthday. And he said, finally again, the focus of things that are lovely, things that are honest, things that are good report. Now here's the whole thing. This morning it was I. This afternoon it's us. Now Brother Cloud, what do you want us to do as we go from here? Look, here's what I want you to do. I want you to go to sleep on verse eight. Is there something lovely? Is there something honest? Is something of good report? Think about it. Don't jump to conclusion. What has stood me in good stead for thirty-four years pioneering the South is I have adopted the policy of Go forth of China. Who said this? Always. the best instruction on the action of others. And there's a brother or a sister, and you don't know what's going on, but you have some little... Don't say it. Get the information first. Chuck Swindon. I heard him last week. I don't know when I heard him, but I just happened to heard him last week, and I was... I was going to the chapel, and he says this. He was speaking at a conference. And there was a man in the conference and he was just sleeping. Every time you get up to speak, you sleep. And the captain didn't bother him, but after the third day, he began to think, well, now that man should be able to go to bed at night and why would you come in here to sleep? So the last day, his wife came to him and said, he says, my husband wants me to tell you this. He says, he has cancer and he is dying. But his last wish was, before he died, he'd like to attend a conference where you were speaking. And I wonder if you know how Chuck fell when you heard that. Brothers, may I suggest to you, God knows what's happening. I could get them to see the price of beam or everything over my head, Claire. Work together, brothers. Yes, there might be misunderstanding. I quite bit my tongue recently. Sometimes my wife, I have to talk to you until I love her. You know what I mean? So you're alone, no, no, no. I can tell you I love her. But you're the nicest woman on two feet. But we are so constituted that the devil takes the smallest thing, magnified out of all proportions, because he wants to ruin your effectiveness. Yaw, say it. Bite your lip. Go to the yard and sing to the top of your voice. Praise God for whom all blessings go. Go ahead and do it. Then come back and say, honey, that was the best soup you ever cooked. The practice of it. Oh, my goodness. Folks, I say to you, We need this personal conviction, and then we need this corporate act of responsibility where we are accountable to each other so the work of God can go forward remembering none of us are perfect, but bless your heart, we're going to get there. We have people come to our assembly. And some of them come from assemblies that have been established for fifty-five years. And we just are young group. And I can hear them say, I'm looking for a perfect assembly. And stupid me says to them, well, I'll tell you what to do. Don't stop here. Now if you're looking for an assembly, stop here. If you're looking for a perfect one, it's somewhere down the road. Don't ask me where. And I guarantee you, my bottom dollar, where those people came from, they were the most hellish state ever. People are looking for perfect assemblies, they're devils. And their own conscience is licking that perfect assembly. There never was one and never will be one until we get to heaven. I say to them, I'm sorry, if you want to grow or live on the cutting edge, come here and show us how to do it. But we'll have a bunch of imperfect rascals moving on to perfection. If you want to help, come join us. May God help us all as this comes and close. To continue what you're doing, learn to communicate, learn to talk, learn to know what God wants. And brethren, do it together. Do it together. Do it together. Do it together for His name's sake.