Being Good

Introduction

Well, good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I must retire and overwhelm almost overwhelming compulsion to start over here with Dr. Harold Byers and say something good about everybody that I’ve known in years past. I knew Dr. Byrs under the old law. That’s been a while back. And uh there are several preaching brethren here. I shouldn’t certainly forget I was in a meeting somewhere and Mary Preacher was introducing me, and there were about twelve or fifteen preachers in the audience that night and he said, We have lots of preachers here. He said, in fact, I think we have more preachers here than we do Christians.

So I recognize my preaching brethren, and uh I know that you’re pulling for me. At least I hope you are. It’s good to see you folks here by me and be with Robert and Arlene, whom I’ve loved a long, long time, who’ve been very close to me. And your new preacher and his wife, I’m proud of them. It’s just a joy to see you doing so well, and appreciate so much of the opportunity of having some association and intercourse with you as we try to strive to serve God. Take your attention to uh the sixth chapter of Galatians, please. The reading is follows. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, you which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, insuffering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.

Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every man prove his own work, then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another. For every man shall bear his own burden. Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. Be not deceived. God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh root corruption. But he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season ye shall reap if you faint not.

In Acts the 17th chapter, Paul making a defense of the gospel. Talks about God. And he says, in whom we live and move and have our very being. I’m interested this morning in that passage of Scripture because it introduces what I want to talk with you about, and that is being who you ought to be. When I was a kid growing up, I never left the house, what my mom didn’t say. You kids be good now. Be good. What does that mean? Well, it means what it says, it says what it means. Be good. Find out what’s good and then emulate it. Find out what’s good and then do it. I believe in the sixth chapter of the book of Galatians, we have some of the most practical, simple, be good statements that can be made.

I love this passage. I go to it frequently because it helps me every day nearly to find my way and to know which way I’m going. So I want to take a few minutes of your time this morning and talk with you about being good. In him we live and move and have our being. God has given you what you are. You are what you are. In him you be. You have your being. So we need to be what God wants us to be. There are some things we’re going to be that are the same. He that believeth and is baptized is for everybody. Preach the word, be urgent, in season, out of season, reprove, review, rebuke, exhort is for everybody, but it has a special application to preachers.

We have to determine who we are. We have to determine what our talent is. The Southside Church where I preach has trained preachers for many years. Brother Jarrett Ferguson is one of those. He’s in the audience. And one of the things that we’ve tried to get the young preachers to see is this. Preaching is the gospel in personality. When you understand that, it takes all the competitive spirit out of preaching. I cannot be, Brother Francis. I cannot be anybody but who I am. But I can be the best who I am that I possibly can be. So I am what I am. And that’s true with every person. Use what you have to glorify God. Whatever gifts God has given you, you use those gifts to glorify God.

You bring honor to him when you do so. That doesn’t mean that everybody’s going to have this great uh ability to preach the gospel before they’re all through. That’s not so. Some people have that ability, others don’t. But those that don’t are just as important as those that do. And the fact of the matter is they say they have something that the preachers don’t have. They have something that an error may have. They may have an association with people that is peculiar to them. They may have some special talent that they can use in the kingdom of God. In him we live and move and have our very being. I be who I am. I am who I be. We need to understand that. Well, let’s look at the passage with your kind permission.

First of all, I’ve just in time to say good. And we ought to be good, shouldn’t we? That means that we need to understand what good is. Good is kin to God, and God is kin to good, and God is good, and good is God. So we need to get right with God right off. That’s the first thing. If you’re going to be good, you’d be right with God. If you’ve never obeyed the gospel, he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. That’s being good. Take the things that you’ve learned. The things that thou has heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men who’ll be able to teach others also, you can do that. Take the gospel of everybody. We need to find out where we fit and fit where we can.

1. Be Careful

So then he says, Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself lest thou also be tempted. You know what that says? Be careful. Be careful. We’re going to have association with brethren. We come together on the first day of the week. That means that we’re going to be together at times. Personalities are going to bump into personalities. Sometimes somebody that we love is overtaken in a fault. We need to be very careful about how we treat that. We in the first place need to understand that we have our faults too. Maybe they’re not as obvious as this one that we’re talking about. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, here’s a man that’s overtaken in some kind of difficulty.

Ye which are spiritual restore such a be careful. Be careful, first of all, that you’re spiritually inclined. That’s the key to so many things with relationships, is to be spiritually inclined. We need to be careful about our criticisms of one another. We need to be careful about how we treat one another. We don’re not always going to agree with who’s the best preacher, who’s the best elder, who’s the best teacher, who’s the best song leader. That doesn’t matter. Somebody’s doing what he can with what he has where he is. And he needs to be doing that. And that’s the way it is. So if we criticize somebody, let’s do it with great love and affection. That’s hard. That’s not easy. My wife, I have to criticize her every now and then.

It’s really hard. I give her those three little words. I really can really give her those three little words though. You’re not fat.

But you have to be careful, even in your relationships with those that you love. Even with somebody that you really care for. If they’re overtaken in something, be very careful about condemning. He says, if any man be overtaken in fault, you which are spiritual. That’s the first requirement. Spiritually inclined people are people that are in tune with the book of God. Spiritually inclined people are the people that have the word of God so fixed in their hearts that it controls their lives. People that are spiritually inclined are in tune with the spiritual things of the gospel. So that’s the prerequisite. You which are spiritual, restore such a one, bring them back in the spirit of meekness, lest thou also be tempted. Meekness is a wonderful thought.

It really translates to strength under control. Strength under control. I saw a little uh horse show up in Houston one time on television, and this little girl was going to get on a horse. She was about four feet, four feet and six inches tall or five feet, just a kid. She walked up to this big great big fella, and he put her boot shoes, had all this garb on, and she looked so cute. She had a little hat and a little knob at the back of it. So cute. And he took her boot and hoisted her up on the back of this huge daffo-gray mesa hippus. Huge horse. That thing was, I don’t know what it weighed, but it was huge. And this little bitty girl was able to manipulate through dressage all of the things that the horse could do.

Run and hop and she did everything she took. But but it was meekness that caused the strength is there. But the strength was under control. That’s how we have to be. That means that we’re in love with God. If you have meekness, it means you’re in love with God. You understand that you might be the next one overtaking the fall. You’d use your strength and bring it under control. You lovingly, you lovingly coax somebody back into the fold. You lovingly condemn somebody. You lovely make a criticism of somebody. With a spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Do you have any idea, ladies and gentlemen, how many church problems, end of quote, would be solved if we just pay attention to that passage of scripture.

2. Be Concerned

It’s just amazing to me that we can get so separated that we have all kinds of problems. And all we need to do is consider one another with meekness and love and forbearance, forgiving one another, honoring one another, being good. And that means being careful. So we need to be careful in our relationships with one another. Be careful with your relationship with your wife when you criticize. Be careful with your children. Criticize in a high way. Criticize in a great way. Criticize in a loving demeanor, and you’ll always have right relations with those with whom you have contact. Secondly, verse 2, bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law. You know what that says? It says if you’re going to be good, you’ll have to be concerned.

Be concerned. I fight this all the time. I guess everybody does. It’s easy to be concerned about my ideals. You ever notice that? It’s easy to be concerned about my financial woes and my uh situations at the school or the factory or wherever I work. It’s easy to be concerned. We need to be concerned about one another. And concern is a is a vital thing. Bear ye one another’s burdens. Bear ye one another’s burdens. Bearing indicates there’s a difficulty involved. It means you’re going to have to pick up something. It means you’re going to have to lift something. It means you’re going to have to carry something. Bear ye one another’s burdens. We need that so desperately. Do you know if you have problems and difficulties and you have somebody who really cares for you?

That’s the most bl exalted blessing almost you can have. The fact of the matter is, if you have a wife or husband, who really is concerned about you and concerned about all that you are and all that you can become, and cares about when you feel bad, and props you up. That that’s you know what that is? That’s help meekness. Help meekness. That’s what a help meet is. And the head of the house, the head of the house, it is his job to help the one who’s not at the head. He functioned as a head. And that means being concerned with one another. Being concerned with one another means caring. Being concerned with one another means loving. Means kindness. Are you a key are you aware, ladies and gentlemen, that our word kind is akin to our word kin?

That’s the reason the scripture says Adam produced after his own kind. They’re kin to one another. We’re kin. And that’s what kindness is all about. Bestowing kindness is on one another should not be a difficulty because we’re kin to one another. And if we really feel this high and noble attitude of kinship, we’ll not have trouble being kindness kind to one another. We need to stress be concerned about one another. Be concerned when somebody seems low. Be concerned when somebody seems high. Be concerned when somebody needs your help. Be concerned as brethren. Be not overtaken in the fall. You which are spiritual restore such a one if one’s overtaken? Don’t be overcome yourself. Be concerned about them, be concerned. Bear ye one another’s burdens. What did Jesus say about that?

Come unto me, all ye that labor, heavy laden, and I’ll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly at heart, and you shall find rest for your souls. You ever wonder why he called that a yoke? Well, we have to pull a load, ladies and gentlemen. That’s what he’s saying. We all have to pull a load, but we need to bear one another’s burdens, and he says he’ll take my yoke upon you. You know why he tells you that? Because it fits. Take my yoke. It fits. It won’t rub you raw. It won’t give you blisters. It’ll help you bear your load. And when you bear your load, you bear the burdens of other people. And that calls for concern.

3. Be Humble

It calls for dedication to one another. It calls for simple love and care for one another. Thirdly, in verse three. For if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. You know what that says to be? If you’re going to be good, you have to be humble. I’ve said for years. Humility, humility is an odd thing. The minute you say you got it, you lost it. You ever notice that? We had a guy at one of the plants there in Houston where I live. Got honored. They give him the award for being the most humble man at the plant. And then they took it away from him when he accepted it. I made that up, but it works. Do you see what I’m saying, though?

That’s what you what is humility? Humility is not shrugging your shoulders in like this and walking around pious looking. Humility is saying, I am what I am, and I’m going to be the best I can be. Speak, Lord, thy servant hear it. Command and I will obey. A man cannot, who thinks himself to be something is nothing. Luke the 18th chapter tells us humility is a part of God’s plan. Become as little children, he says. That is saying, speak, Father. Tell me, Father, which may I need to go. This humble spirit is absolutely necessary until you get to the point that you open up your mind and let God in. Until you get to the point that you open up your ears and let his word come in.

You just can’t be a real humble disciple of the Lord. You have to say, Lord, I don’t know what I need, but give it to me. Let me have it. If I need criticism, let me have it. And you, you fellas that are going to preach, please be aware of the fact that you’re a humble servant. That’s your job. That’s your responsibility. Yea, that is your opportunity and your privilege. So we need to make sure that if we’re going to be what we ought to be, we’ll try to be good. My mom used to say, you kids be good now. And she had some of the strangest things about being good. You she’d you’d get up in a tree and she’d say, son, if you fall off that tree and break your neck, I’m going to wear you out.

Well, it’s kind of a contradiction, but you knew what you meant, didn’t you? She was caring. She was concerned. She didn’t want you to fall out there, and she’s going to break your neck, or you’re going to break your neck, and she’s going to weigh you out both. So you’re in trouble on both ends. So be good. Be concerned for one another. Let me ask you a question. How’s your concern for the elders here? Could I challenge you to be concerned for them? One day this week, just take a minute and walk out on your back porch and say, Lord, I want to say a few words for the elders at Bumby. I want to say a few words for the deacons at Bumby. I want to say a few words for the preachers at Bumby.

I want to have this kind of humility that says, I put myself at your disposal. I’m yours, you’re mine. Send me which way I need to go. Tell me where I need to go. Tell me where to turn. Be humble. That’s hard. It’s just a spirit of saying, I am what I am, but I need to be what I can become. And if you don’t have that spirit of humility about the leadership, you won’t have it about the persons in general. We need to be aware of one another, be caring of one another, be loving of one another. So we’ve already had three things in the lesson. First of all, be careful. Second, be concerned. Now be humble. See what he says next. For if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth his own heart.

4. Be Yourself

But let it a man prove his own work, then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another. You know what that says? If you’re going to be good, you have to be yourself. You know what you can’t be? You can’t be somebody else. You can mimic somebody else. I was telling somebody, I was telling Brother Harker, I believe it was. I used to laugh at Tim Conway. Some of you remember old Tim Conway’s where he walked like an old man like that. I used to laugh at Tim Conway. Now I am Tim Conway. But you are what you are. You are what you are. And you have to live with what you’ve got to go. And I I told Brother Harkwright yesterday, my dulcet tones have disappeared.

They’re not what they are. But I still have something to give, and I need to give it as long as I can. Listen to me. You have something to give, you give it as long as you can. I don’t care who you are. And you give it with concern for the brethren. You be humble, but you be yourself. If you’re just dragging yourself, you drag yourself as best you can. If you’re happy and healthy, use it to the glory of God. Be yourself. You can’t be somebody else anyway. Look in the mirror. See who you are. Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. If any man be a hearer of the word and not a doer, he’s like unto a man who beholdeth his natural face in the glass, for he beholdeth himself and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man that he was.

But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty and abideth there, listen to it. He being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. There’s a spiritual mirror for the soul. You look into it. You see your imperfections. You be a doer of the word and not hearer. Or else you’re like somebody that looks in the mirror and sees a big blob on his cheek and walks off as if he saw nothing. That won’t work. Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only. Look into the mirror for the soul. Do you do that? It’s hard. We look in there and then turn away. We need to look in there diligently and faithfully and regularly.

That’s what the word of God is all about. Paul said, Examine yourselves. Prove your own selves. Examine yourselves whether you be in the faith. Prove your own selves. Know you not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you except you be reprobates. Did you ever notice how many times he says yourself there? Be yourself is what he’s saying. But be the best yourself that you possibly can be. I tell you, we can make lots of things out of the gospel. We can do all of these clever things and tell how this came to be in the hermeneutics and this, we’ll do spiral harmeneutics and we’ll do uh this kind of hermeneutic. We need to get back to what the word says about the person.

It’s talking to people, it’s talking to person. Be yourself is what it says. Be the best yourself you can possibly be. If you’re not a Christian, you can’t be the best self you ought to be. You need to cleanse yourself of the old sins and put yourself into a right relationship with God. Take his yoke upon him and on you and learn of him. For you he is meek and lowly, you’ll find rest for yourself. It’s up to me. It’s up to you. Be yourself. You ever known anybody that was faking it all the time? It’s uh it’s uncomfortable for me to be around somebody that’s trying to make themselves into something or not. Let me let me say something to you. There is no place in the kingdom for pomposity.

There is no place in the kingdom for proud men. There is only a place in the kingdom for the humble, default, devoted servant of God who’s trying to be the very best self that he can be. And if he preaches in the way it’s a little bit different, then so be it, let him preach. And if he preaches in a way that’s very appealing, so be it, let him preach. If he leads in certain certain ways and you don’t like it, so be it. Find out what’s wrong. Consider yourself. Look at yourself. Be yourself. That’s what God expects. If you’re going to be good, you’ll be yourself. And you know why? It’s the only thing you got. It’s the vehicle for being good. You can’t be good if you’re not being yourself.

And if you’re going to be a good yourself, it means you’re going to have to get in touch with the word of God. So many familiar passages could be cited. All scripture is inspired of God. God breathed. And is profitable. For doctrine, reproof, correction, instruction, and righteousness. I want to focus in on one word. Profitable. Profitable. The word of God is profitable. But do you know why you get a how do you get a profit? You get a profit when you invest something. That’s how you get it. And you don’t get it any other way, I’ll tell you that. So, in order to be who you ought to be and be the best you can be, you need to invest yourself in the word of God.

5. Be Responsible, Be Generous

Invest the word of God, invest in the word of God and let it speak to you. It’ll speak to you in all kinds of different ways. So be good. Be careful. Be concerned. Be yourself, be humble. Then, verse five. Every man shall bear his own burden. We’ve said that already, haven’t we? You know what that’s saying? If you’re going to be good, you have to be responsible. Every man must bear his own burden. What we’re involved in is a burden-bearing procedure. And what this is saying is if you’re going to be good, you have to be responsible. I’ve sought in vain to find an etymological connection between the word responsibility and respond to ability. It’s not there. But the concept is absolutely so. What responsibility in the ultimate reality is all about is responding to your ability.

Obligation is the same way. You’re obliged to do certain things. You have certain abilities and certain talents. You have to be humble about them. You have to be responsible though for them. They’ve been committed to your responsibility. In him we live and move and have our very being.

If it is, you’re still responsible for it. Every man shall bear his own burden, there’s no doubt about that. And you’re responsible for bearing your burden. Take that seriously, that responsibility. And respond to what ability you have. Your obligations are several. I worry about people that don’t see fit to attend Bible classes. I worry about, and I’ve had this said to me time and time again through the years, and it still won’t work. They say, well, uh I uh the Bible doesn’t say you have to be at the Bible class on Wednesday night. Yeah, it does. Where? To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it’s sin. You think it’s good to be there on Wednesday night? Then you better do something about it.

You better fulfill your responsibility. We have wonderful assets in this church at Bumby. Wonderful opportunities to learn and profit from the Word of God. Our brothers taught such a good class on numbers this morning. Such interesting information and well applied to the new law and well substantiated by the scriptures. And I can’t imagine somebody not wanting to participate in that. It thrilled my soul. I enjoyed hearing what he had to say. And that’s the way you ought to be. How do you feel about the preaching? You can’t be anxious to get here? Be responsible. Open up your mind. Invest in the word of God and say, I’m going to be responsible. If you’re going to be good, you’ll have to be responsible. Okay, where are we?

Well, we have to be careful. We have to be concerned. We have to be humble. We have to be ourselves. We have to be responsible. And then in verse 6. Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. If you’re going to be a disciple of the Lord, you have to become generous. Support. Can be financial. Support can be just in terms of encouragement. But support is necessary. Be supportive. Be generous in your support. How much does it bring you down to go and say to the young preacher, boy, you’re making a good preacher. I’m sure proud of you. What does that take? You don’t know what that’ll mean to a young preacher starting out. You don’t know what that’ll mean to an old preacher who’s been preaching as long as me and Brother Harkrider have.

6. Be Honest, Be Wise, Be Involved

Fact of the matter is we profit from that. Now I’m not trying to beg for that. I’m going to, you’re going to whip me on the back today, aren’t you, right? I don’t, I’m not trying for that. I’m just saying that we ought to encourage one another. If you’re going to be good, you have to encourage one another. Keep one another pumped up. That’s how the work does. There’s fuel. There’s fuel in encouragement. There’s fuel, there’s energy in it. So keep keep on keeping on. I have to hurry because I’m about to run out of time. Be generous. And then he says in verse 7, be uh be not deceived, God is not mocked. For whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap. You know what that’s saying.

Be honest. Be honest. Be not deceived by your own deals. Be not deceived by your own excuses. Do you know that it is an excuse is not a reason, is it? An excuse is something that’s given in place of a reason. If an excuse is not a reason, what is it but a lie? You want to explain that? An excuse given origin uh uh originally to explain the facts, in reality conceals the fact. It’s not the fact itself. We need to be careful about that. Be not deceived. God is not mocked. Boy, that’s strong language by Paul there. God is not mocked. Whatever a man soweth, he reaps. What is that man? Every man is not, it didn’t say whatever a church sows. The church is an adjunct to the individual, not the other way around.

Whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap. That doesn’t make any difference who you are. That is an irrefutable and unchangeable kind of disciplinary statement of fact. It’s a statement emphatically clear to all of us. What a man sows, he reaps. We feed we see that with crops, we see it with everything. Why don’t we see it in a religion? If a man sows, he’s gonna reap what he sows. You have to be very, very careful and be honest about your sowing. Be honest with yourself. I think probably the hardest honesty of all is trying to be honest with yourself. Seeing yourself for what you really are is hard. Your prejudices get in the way. You ever take the Lord’s Supper and find yourself well, your mind wandering away out here in the left field?

That drives me crazy. And if you’re a preacher, you’re going to get up and preach right after you have the Lord’s Supper. So you’re thinking, well, what am I going to do for an introduction here? Well, the Lord died for your sins today, you not head. Get your mind focused where it’s supposed to be. Don’t you understand this? We’re trying to consecrate God’s death, Christ’s death, by celebrating his death in his elements. You need to do that. That’s hard. It’s hard to be honest with yourself. Be not deceived. But what you sow is what you’re going to reap. If you put your whole heart into the observance of the Lord’s Supper, you reap from it. If you put your whole heart into the things that you’ve heard of me among many witnesses, you commit to other people.

If you put your heart into it, your mind into it, and your energies into it, you’ll bring souls to Christ. The disciples went everywhere preaching the word after the gospel. That’s what we have to have. And you have to do it on a personal basis. If you’re going to be good, you have to be honest with yourself. Be not deceived. God is not mocked. The theory is just not a theory, it’s a fact. Whatever a man sows, that’s what he’ll reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall love the flesh, reap corruption. He that soweth to the spirit shall love the spirit, reap life everlasting. If you’re going to be good, you have to be wise. If you’re going to be wise, you have to make a distinction between the flesh and the spirit.

The spirit is that part of the man that’s going to dwell forever. It’s amazing to me that we spend so much time to doctor the body, and boy am I doing that anymore. But we need to be doctoring the spirit all the time. We need to be getting spiritual ready because the time’s going to come. Be not deceived. God is not mocked. Whatever a man sows that he shall sow so reap. He that sows to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption. This mortal put on immortality. This fleshly must put on the unfleshly. Then we’ll be brought to bear the saying, death is swallowed up in victory. We’re trying to get rid of this old flesh. I’m not saying it’s not important. It’s the residence of the spirit.

But we’re looking after the spirit. Let me say something to you. I’ve said this in hundreds of places. I don’t care how much money you make. I don’t care if the stock market moves at your behest. I don’t care how popular you become. I don’t care if you become so popular that your visage is recognized in second, third, and fourth world countries. I don’t care how powerful you become, how popular you become, or how armies and navies even march at your behest. Let me say something to you. If you miss heaven, you just missed all there is. We better think about that. He that soweth to the flesh, depart from me into everlasting corruption, shall reap corruption. He that soweth to the spirit shall love the spirit.

Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of thy Lord. Whatsoever a man soweth as he also reap. Then finally, he says, Let us not be weary of well doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. That says, be involved, be in love. If you’re going to be who you are, be involved, get ready, get everything prepared. Look around you, see what’s going on. I don’t know about you, but I can look around and see deterioration everywhere. But God has something else. When you’re in the services on the Lord on the Lord’s Day, you see all kinds of wonderful things. Things that don’t fade away, where there’s no tears in heaven, where there’s no sorrow, no pain, no sorrow, all that.

You want me to tell you how you’re going to get rid of heart trouble, diabetes, cancer, and a hundred and other other items. You want me to tell you how to get rid of them? You ain’t gonna.

Conclusion

So let’s say there’s the conclusion of the whole affair. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every work into judgment with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil. That is the duty of all men if you want to be good. Now, a recapitulation quickly. If you’re going to be good, you have to be careful. Be concerned. Be humble. Be yourself. Be responsible. Be generous. Be honest. Be wise. Be constant. And be involved. Be constant. Don’t give up. Keep on keeping on. That’s the hard part. Well, that’s the sermon this morning. Thank you for listening. I love you guys. I’m proud of you. I’m proud I’m part of you. I’m proud you’re part of me.

I’m proud we’re together. I’m proud that we serve a common Savior. I’m glad that we aspire to a common hope. I’m glad we have everything together. Let’s keep on keeping on. So that one day we get to heaven, everything’s going to be alright. We’ll be joyfully responding to one another. Be responding to Jesus. Would it be good to I tell you what I’d like to do? I’d like to hug Jesus’ neck. I don’t know what that means to you. And maybe that’s kind of worldly. But I just need to say thanks because I’ve gotten so many things from him. I’d like to just walk up and hug him as hard as I can and say thank you, Lord. It’s so important. Thank you for listening. There may be somebody who’s not started on their trick toward heaven.

If you want to get the spiritual man in tune with God, come and confess your faith in Jesus Christ. If you’ll repent of your sins and be buried with him in baptism, he’ll forgive every sin that you’ve ever committed. But let me hasten to tell you, that’s just the start. You’ve got a rough road ahead. You’ve got to learn to be good. And that’s hard. I’ve been at it a lot of years, and I’m still working just hard. As hard as ever, as a matter of fact. It doesn’t ever get over. But one day it will get over when it is, it’ll be good. Would you come to Jesus this morning if you owe a duty to him? While we stand while we sing.