0:00:15.602,0:00:18.655
How dear and precious is the Lord!

0:00:18.655,0:00:22.738
Isn't He so wonderful?

0:00:22.738,0:00:25.290
And I tell you, to think...

0:00:25.290,0:00:28.973
right now, I could be in hell.

0:00:28.973,0:00:31.626
And God would not have to apologize to me.

0:00:31.626,0:00:32.637
I could be there.

0:00:32.637,0:00:34.271
I could be cut off from mercy.

0:00:34.271,0:00:35.764
I could be lost forever.

0:00:35.764,0:00:37.505
I could be ready to be resurrected

0:00:37.505,0:00:39.468
and stand before the Great White Throne

0:00:39.468,0:00:41.506
and to be cast into the eternal lake of fire.

0:00:41.506,0:00:43.380
And to think that God had mercy upon me

0:00:43.380,0:00:45.234
and saved me and brought me into a

0:00:45.234,0:00:46.941
relationship with His Son,

0:00:46.941,0:00:48.175
the Lord Jesus Christ,

0:00:48.175,0:00:50.201
and has introduced me to peace

0:00:50.201,0:00:51.379
that I never had in the world,

0:00:51.379,0:00:52.659
never could find,

0:00:52.659,0:00:55.128
a joy that is truly at times

0:00:55.128,0:00:57.457
inexpressible.

0:00:57.457,0:00:59.742
And life through the Scripture,

0:00:59.742,0:01:02.173
understanding,

0:01:02.173,0:01:03.833
God telling me and teaching me

0:01:03.833,0:01:05.241
and showing me the riches and

0:01:05.241,0:01:07.726
the treasures of what my life is about

0:01:07.726,0:01:09.581
and what the life of others is about

0:01:09.581,0:01:11.409
and where things are going.

0:01:11.409,0:01:15.310
To have these things to be given to you

0:01:15.310,0:01:17.825
and to know that you haven't paid for them,

0:01:17.825,0:01:19.495
you haven't earned them,

0:01:19.495,0:01:20.874
you haven't worked for them,

0:01:20.874,0:01:23.320
they've just been given to you.

0:01:23.320,0:01:27.360
All because He paid the price

0:01:27.360,0:01:29.194
for this gift to be given to you.

0:01:29.194,0:01:30.993
And I'll tell you again, how can we not be

0:01:30.993,0:01:32.269
passionate about this?

0:01:32.269,0:01:34.269
How can we not be giving ourselves

0:01:34.269,0:01:35.611
completely to Him?

0:01:35.611,0:01:37.004
How can we not be just

0:01:37.004,0:01:40.083
caught up every day in the glories of this.

0:01:40.083,0:01:41.459
Let's walk with God.

0:01:41.459,0:01:45.441
Let us strive unto death fighting against sin,

0:01:45.441,0:01:48.900
and turning our backs upon the world.

0:01:48.900,0:01:55.663
Because what else is there?

0:01:55.663,0:01:56.873
For us who are called?

0:01:56.873,0:01:59.571
What else could we do?

0:01:59.571,0:02:01.716
Let us follow on the know the Lord.

0:02:01.716,0:02:04.093
And this is the wonderful thing...

0:02:04.093,0:02:07.352
I'm thankful for the promises in the Scripture

0:02:07.352,0:02:09.044
that the Lord is not going to finish

0:02:09.044,0:02:10.462
until we one day rise

0:02:10.462,0:02:12.748
in the complete likeness of Jesus Christ.

0:02:12.748,0:02:14.451
I can't imagine what this will be.

0:02:14.451,0:02:16.827
It's really hard to think about it.

0:02:16.827,0:02:18.899
But one day, all the attributes -

0:02:18.899,0:02:20.804
I'm not talking about the deity attributes,

0:02:20.804,0:02:22.884
but I'm talking about holy attributes

0:02:22.884,0:02:24.553
of our Lord Jesus Christ,

0:02:24.553,0:02:26.943
one day in body, soul and spirit

0:02:26.943,0:02:28.157
it's going to be duplicated in us

0:02:28.157,0:02:30.306
and we're going to rise one day

0:02:30.306,0:02:31.818
and we're not even going to be

0:02:31.818,0:02:34.662
able to think a bad thought.

0:02:34.662,0:02:36.068
There will be no temptation,

0:02:36.068,0:02:38.767
and if there was temptation,

0:02:38.767,0:02:41.745
it'd be like a tick on the back 40,

0:02:41.745,0:02:44.599
it wouldn't matter to us.

0:02:44.599,0:02:47.104
What I'm saying is, thank God for

0:02:47.104,0:02:49.790
the inexpressible and glorious joys

0:02:49.790,0:02:52.014
there are in the present life

0:02:52.014,0:02:53.630
of knowing Jesus,

0:02:53.630,0:02:55.128
and the treasures and the wealth

0:02:55.128,0:02:57.192
and the riches and the glory that is to be yet

0:02:57.192,0:02:59.841
revealed to us who are children of God.

0:02:59.841,0:03:04.299
Beloved, I tell you again,

0:03:04.299,0:03:07.103
how wonderful God is!

0:03:07.103,0:03:08.397
How loving He is!

0:03:08.397,0:03:10.731
And let us spend our days from now on

0:03:10.731,0:03:13.430
praising Him, honoring Him, thanking Him,

0:03:13.430,0:03:15.404
serving Him, living for Him,

0:03:15.404,0:03:18.070
doing all we can for His glory.

0:03:18.070,0:03:22.974
Seeking Him.

0:03:22.974,0:03:25.165
And the wonderful thing is

0:03:25.165,0:03:28.862
the provisions are there on our side.

0:03:28.862,0:03:30.801
We're not going to be short-changed when

0:03:30.801,0:03:33.056
it comes to having the grace, the Spirit,

0:03:33.056,0:03:36.020
the Word, the help that we'll need

0:03:36.020,0:03:38.956
to make it to the end.

0:03:38.956,0:03:40.814
Amen.

0:03:40.814,0:03:44.638
So let us press on, beloved.

0:03:53.186,0:03:54.334
My mom and dad,

0:03:54.334,0:03:57.631
my grandfather was a Baptist pastor,

0:03:57.631,0:03:59.509
my dad was a deacon in a Baptist church.

0:03:59.509,0:04:05.739
I was raised to know the Gospel.

0:04:05.739,0:04:08.152
And from an early age,

0:04:08.152,0:04:10.013
I can remember when I first began

0:04:10.013,0:04:11.919
to realize I was lost.

0:04:11.919,0:04:14.448
I was six years old.

0:04:14.448,0:04:16.243
I came under conviction.

0:04:16.243,0:04:20.149
My mother had given me strict orders.

0:04:20.149,0:04:23.189
I had a new BB gun.

0:04:23.189,0:04:26.698
And she said, "You can shoot the sparrows out there,

0:04:26.698,0:04:28.934
but don't shoot any red bird."

0:04:28.934,0:04:30.702
Well, I was out in the backyard,

0:04:30.702,0:04:32.202
and I can remember so clearly

0:04:32.202,0:04:34.912
a red bird lit in a cedar tree behind our house.

0:04:34.912,0:04:36.406
And I raised my BB gun.

0:04:36.406,0:04:41.031
My mama told me not to shoot this bird.

0:04:41.031,0:04:44.187
But it was too big a target and too tempting.

0:04:44.187,0:04:45.204
And I shot that bird.

0:04:45.204,0:04:49.787
I said, well, I can't hit him anyway.

0:04:49.787,0:04:52.159
But anyway, I shot the bird dead.

0:04:52.159,0:04:54.006
He fell out of the tree.

0:04:54.006,0:04:57.594
And when that bird fell out of the tree,

0:04:57.594,0:05:01.267
I felt like God in heaven was looking down upon me,

0:05:01.267,0:05:04.331
and I felt right then immediately

0:05:04.331,0:05:06.792
a sense of sin and lostness.

0:05:06.792,0:05:08.553
I had done wrong.

0:05:08.553,0:05:10.226
I had sinned.

0:05:10.226,0:05:11.944
Disobeyed my parents.

0:05:11.944,0:05:13.625
I knew that not obeying

0:05:13.625,0:05:16.389
my mother and father was a sin.

0:05:16.389,0:05:18.065
And from that point on, I labored

0:05:18.065,0:05:20.481
under conviction.

0:05:20.481,0:05:23.613
Really strong conviction.

0:05:23.613,0:05:31.110
And again, being taken to church...

0:05:31.110,0:05:35.488
I have a somewhat complicated testimony.

0:05:35.488,0:05:40.408
But my first entrance into the life of faith

0:05:40.408,0:05:43.965
was when I was 11 years old.

0:05:43.965,0:05:47.990
In what Southern Baptists used to call

0:05:47.990,0:05:50.434
Vacation Bible School,

0:05:50.434,0:05:53.441
As I said I had been under conviction,

0:05:53.441,0:05:55.025
and even in that week, the Lord

0:05:55.025,0:05:57.104
had been dealing with me.

0:05:57.104,0:06:00.784
The pastor had been preaching some very simple

0:06:00.784,0:06:03.197
and very strong sermons to young people

0:06:03.197,0:06:05.690
about salvation.

0:06:05.690,0:06:08.149
And I remember, the night before I was saved,

0:06:08.149,0:06:10.770
I remember I got in bed

0:06:10.770,0:06:14.915
and I was thinking somehow this little prayer I'd heard,

0:06:14.915,0:06:17.229
"Now I lay me down to sleep,

0:06:17.229,0:06:19.187
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,

0:06:19.187,0:06:21.499
and if I die before I wake..."

0:06:21.499,0:06:23.063
And I got to thinking about

0:06:23.063,0:06:24.713
"if I die before I wake"

0:06:24.713,0:06:26.986
I'll go to hell.

0:06:26.986,0:06:28.615
I'm lost.

0:06:28.615,0:06:30.829
I remember knowing I was lost,

0:06:30.829,0:06:32.418
just feeling under condemnation.

0:06:32.418,0:06:35.047
But I went back to church the next day

0:06:35.047,0:06:37.055
and to Bible school and this was back in

0:06:37.055,0:06:40.298
an Arminian church where they gave an invitation.

0:06:40.298,0:06:42.863
And the Lord was dealing with me,

0:06:42.863,0:06:44.956
and the pastor said any one of you children

0:06:44.956,0:06:48.392
would like to receive Christ as your Savior?

0:06:48.392,0:06:52.425
Would anyone like to turn to the Lord today?

0:06:52.425,0:06:53.721
And I can remember this,

0:06:53.721,0:06:56.584
I turned to a friend of mine beside me,

0:06:56.584,0:06:58.150
I told him, I said,

0:06:58.150,0:07:02.252
"If you'll go, I'll go."

0:07:02.252,0:07:05.665
And he said, (shook his head no)

0:07:05.665,0:07:07.047
And I said I'm going to go

0:07:07.047,0:07:10.039
whether you go or not.

0:07:10.039,0:07:11.685
But anyway, I can remember this.

0:07:11.685,0:07:13.155
I had to come to the Lord.

0:07:13.155,0:07:16.003
I moved toward Christ.

0:07:16.003,0:07:20.079
It was a simple repentance and a simple faith.

0:07:20.079,0:07:21.621
And I was opening my life to the Lord.

0:07:21.621,0:07:22.960
I can remember this.

0:07:22.960,0:07:25.099
It was somewhere between the

0:07:25.099,0:07:28.557
first and second step,

0:07:28.557,0:07:30.801
the Lord gave me peace

0:07:30.801,0:07:33.322
that my sins were forgiven.

0:07:33.322,0:07:36.296
In a Southern Baptist church,

0:07:36.296,0:07:38.386
I was not discipled very well.

0:07:38.386,0:07:39.799
And I'm not blaming the church,

0:07:39.799,0:07:41.542
but I didn't grow much.

0:07:41.542,0:07:45.060
The concept is you get saved,

0:07:45.060,0:07:48.435
now what else is there?

0:07:48.435,0:07:52.707
But I came to learn that salvation

0:07:52.707,0:07:56.088
is not just a one-time step.

0:07:56.088,0:07:57.927
It's not just a one-time decision.

0:07:57.927,0:07:59.593
It's a daily decision.

0:07:59.593,0:08:04.585
And it's a lifelong commitment,

0:08:04.585,0:08:07.694
a daily commitment to lay down our lives

0:08:07.694,0:08:09.592
and to seek the Lord

0:08:09.592,0:08:11.586
and yield to Him.

0:08:11.586,0:08:14.685
And like I said, during my teenage years

0:08:14.685,0:08:18.520
I drifted... the Lord never would let me go.

0:08:18.520,0:08:19.925
In fact, I can give you testimony

0:08:19.925,0:08:21.617
of how the Lord chastened me.

0:08:21.617,0:08:23.183
I got some good spankings.

0:08:23.183,0:08:25.157
Heavy spankings from the Lord

0:08:25.157,0:08:26.897
when I was away, out of fellowship.

0:08:26.897,0:08:28.131
And let me tell you

0:08:28.131,0:08:30.355
whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth.

0:08:30.355,0:08:32.365
And scourges every son whom He receives.

0:08:32.365,0:08:34.195
If you're not obedient as a Christian,

0:08:34.195,0:08:36.000
not doing what you ought to be doing,

0:08:36.000,0:08:38.570
God's rod will be upon you some way.

0:08:38.570,0:08:42.101
And His spankings hurt.

0:08:42.101,0:08:43.336
And they're effective.

0:08:43.336,0:08:45.212
And the Lord spanked me back into line.

0:08:45.212,0:08:48.932
Praise the Lord!

0:08:48.932,0:08:51.061
Amen.