Wednesday Night Bible Study

praise the Lord everyone praise the Lord everyone Lord we greet you tonight in that wonderful name of the Lord Jesus Christ that great high and holy name that is above every name and I want to welcome brother Jimmy debus back home he's been out in Texas to see his family and out there and I understand he got into a nice storm out there got on in the middle of that hurricane so you better get back in these mountains so you can hide behind one of these Hills but anyway we are glad to see your brother Jim and and there's others that's been out uh on vacation what have you and of course we're always glad to have you back home and uh we've just enjoyed one of the greatest camp meetings we've ever had it was just so great great preaching great singing uh a house full of folks I don't know what we would have done well I know what we did before we got this Auditorium we had FK busloads of folks to have to leave because they couldn't get in the building when we were in the what is now the event center but I thank the Lord for the the new Auditorium that we have and uh we're looking forward to continued move of God he's the same yesterday today and forever and I'm so glad that I know him um I'm going to start a Bible lesson tonight um we all love good preaching uh and I I don't um I sure don't say one word negative about good preaching but uh sometimes we like to be entertained with preaching we like a man that can get us on the edge of our seat and stir us up and and we all love that that kind of preaching I do myself but I also love Bible study it's it's down to earth uh where we live and it's something that we all need um tonight um I I don't think I will finish and I watch my clock when I'm teaching and uh I know I know when to quit and uh we'll be watching that but uh actually tonight's lesson we've had so many special services uh this is a lesson that was supposed to been taught on June the 23rd and but it don't matter when you preach it it's it's all got to be preached or taught and it's the series Jesus teaches us to pray and tonight's lesson is intitled it takes all of us it takes all of us Jesus in the 17th chapter of St John verses 20 and 21 in fact the entire chapter 17 of John Jesus is praying for the unity of the church and uh these two verses basically tells the whole thing of his prayer that that that goes uh uh 20 SM verse is long but here's what Jesus was praying and he said neither pray I for these alone those that were present but for them also which Shall Believe on me through their word that they all may be one as thou father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us that the world may believe that thou has sent me Father we thank you for the Blessed word of God I pray that you will anoint the lips of clay with the spirit of God give what you would have spoken for this service tonight and I pray for every request that has come our way by telephone or word of mouth I I pray for those in the hospital those that are ailing in any way I pray for each one in Jesus name we do pray amen it takes all of us and then Jesus if you go back to the very first verse in this chapter he's actually praying for the unity of the church a few uh weeks or months ago I preached a message here and I made the statement that uh the U the title of my message uh was uh probably I mean I think I may of you started out with that word probably the most effective tool the devil has got to work on the church is the tool of does anybody remember what it was he forgot it haven't you all right it was the tool of being offended remember that for Jesus himself said that was impossible but that offenses would come but he said woe unto him from whom the offenses come I felt very strongly about that message and I still feel that the devil's greatest tool is the tool within the church not outside the church if he can uh if he can divide up the church this is a a big plus for him um here a while back I was uh getting a haircut and as it as it goes you sit there and wait your turn and and uh while you're waiting your turn uh there's a magazine right there and um you start flipping through magazines and I've always been a fan of National Geographic and um uh an article caught my attention and and it was a page uh great pig that showed a bunch of honeybees flying into a hollow tree that had been hollowed out by by woodpeckers and I'll read you just a little bit of it and then I think brother Derek uh possibly has a a video for us about a two and a half minute video but uh the they the the phot photographer and the person or persons working on this project had taken over 60,000 pictures of honeybees a and he wrote a they wrote an article I'll probably skip over the names because they're uh they're not familiar to for me at all but it starts out by saying almost as soon as the honeybee colony was installed it came under attack not from veroa mites pesticide colony collapse disorder or any of the many other perils now facing honeybee populations across the world but from Hornets each one a redey giant next to the her Little Bees each strick took just an instant the Predator snatching bees out of the air and then flying away with their victims which would be carved up later and fed to The Hornet's own renous larvey one onone a western honeybee is no match for a European hornet up to an inch and a half long The Hornet is equipped with powerful mandibles capable of shearing smaller insects to pieces for those first few days of The Siege the honeybees appeared helpless in the face of the Hornet Onslaught I thought oh God if this keeps happening they will kill my whole Colony says pornographer the uh photographer whose yard in uh langon Germany hosts the honey bees but as the week wore on the bees began gaining ground they started to swarm near the they started to swarm near the entrance of the nest creating a living carpet of guards each time a hornet flew too close some of the Defenders would leap onto the Invader and tackle it in an instant more honey bees would pile on and pin the Hornet down inside this bball something even more bizarre was taking place Western honeybees have a trick in which they can activate flight muscles so rapidly that their thoraxes or midsections radiate small amounts of heat when a dozen or more bees Rive their engines at the same time the cluster can significantly raise the ambient temperatures the bees were cooking the Hornets alive I find this ingenious says uh the person writing I a recently retired biologist who specialized in honeybees for about 25 years now we're talking about it takes all of us it you're important and um I I showed this to brother Derek and uh he went a step farther he found a A in the search for autumnal food a scout Hornet discovers y minutes but here is a video concerning what we're talking about right now the honeybees fan an alarm pheromone through the air you this alerts the whole Hive to The Hornet's presence all right this is just the picture of all the honey Scout smells the honey within PR this rich is worth scent Mark than the honeybee but the honey [Music] bees have over the period of time but unlike the European beans these Japanese beans do not attack instead is leading a scent that will show the other Hornets where this beehive is and then all the other still the bees Hang Fire and they will invade that that beehive and then one is C it's the signal the others have been waiting for the honeybees you see him there but now you watch what happens when he when he one of the honey bees this is the mechanism they've developed to defend themselves they they SW the part s numers they don't St him at all but there is a two de difference in the temperature that the hybe stand surrounded by vibrating bodies The Hornet at the core the ball begins to overheat be have the advantage tolerance 2° above that of their enemy at 46° C the aggressor is roasted is called Riven their engine when they started with their stomach they could expand and the vibration raises the temperature to 2° the wild be have spent millions of years they and they that's why they alone have developed this extraordinary survival alive and and they leave him there now then he has he has been disabled and been put out of commission he cannot go back to the Hornet's Nest and let them know where the honeybee uh tree is and I got something out of that to me that was so important and the first day God created the heavens and the Earth he created the Sea and the land and after everything God created he would say and it's good he created the sea it's good he created the sun that's good everything he created he said it's good and the last thing he created was man and he created man in his own image and his likeness but then he said it's not good why wasn't it good it's not good that the man should be alone it's not good that the man should be alone you and I need each other there are enemies larger with more money more power more uh uh to dangle before our eyes there's so many things the devil has got to to to lead people astray and the and I repeat my title of my previous message one of the greatest tools that the devil has is getting in among God's people and getting somebody offended at something it may be something small even with the with the apostles uh there was uh the mother of James and John came to Jesus and and and asked that he let one of them sit on one side of him and one on the other and this aroused a confusion because the other disciples resented that so much and there different times they ask him uh who is the greatest in the the kingdom and and everyone wanted it to be be them uh one time when Jesus had been warning them about uh what the the enemy was trying to do uh Peter said what about John well the reason he said what about John the Bible calls and and John wrote the book and in his book The Book of John he tells he said the disciple whom the Lord loved he didn't tell who it was but it was him that the disciple whom the Lord loveed and when Jesus was warning them about the perils uh Peter says Lord now what about John what about the man that lays his head on your breast and and Cuddles up to you and Jesus said what is that to thee if I let if he remains until U my I come again it's not for you to worry about and and in in laying the foundation of of this Bible study I want us to to think about the real meaning now we go to church for for worship and pleasure we go to church for the joy we love the we love the singing We love the music we love oh we have so many different so many different things uh and rightfully so and should be and must be and we've got things for all ages we've got things for the the elderly and the very young and and today I was showing some folks to the church uh Jo uh Jamie ball one of our daughters of our church she grew up here in the church you remember brother and uh brother brother ball and S Matthew and Jamie brother and sister fielden and U uh I was taking them through the church and showing them all the different things and the it was just so breathtaking it was just to to show them through it it thrill me and you got to you got to stop and look and just think about are you are you overlook it but it was just so tremendous and that it should be but the mo this building of block brick and mortar is not the church you you are the church you are the church it was just as much a church at 123 West Columbia when we were worshiping on a dirt floor a and a string one string of lights down the middle with pigtails hanging down just light bubbs hanging down it was a church just as much then as it is now but thank God the Lord has allowed us to to come along and and uh reach more people and more needs fill and I was showing them the the lobby it's the most most uh comfortable and convenient building for a a public gathering I've seen so many doors and uh a group of restrooms down here and a group of restrooms down here and restrooms around the back and and on and on to go well that's tremendous but I want to tell you something it takes all of us you may think that in a large Church in a large number I'm not important you are important you are important every one of you and Jesus said I pray for these uh not for these alone but for them also which Shall Believe on me that they all may be one now what he's saying is he wants you and me to be in harmony to love one another and to to show such an a an atmosphere that others when they come around they're going to feel welcome and wanted uh have you ever G well I know you have we've all gone to uh places of business a restaurant most of the time uh if they're in Harmon with with each other and they're smiling and then and they're welcoming you uh you feel comfortable but I have been to restaurant you could tell that the waitresses or the waiters uh they were in to over something you know what but I I I I know I didn't like the feeling that was there I've been in car automobile agencies I've been in uh garages and and where there's not a a feeling of warmth well you and I need each other uh i i i t preached a sermon or taught a lesson back uh uh in ' 09 that's what uh 25 years ago this is two 24 and it was 09 uh anyway it was a uh 19 years it's long enough that maybe you've forgotten it 15 years so be it and and the I the entitle the lesson careless quiet and secure and my scripture was taken from from judges 18 starting at verse one in those days there was no king in Israel and in those days the tribe of the danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in For unto that day all their inheritance had not Fallen to them among the tribes of of Israel I never claimed to be a mathematician and the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their Coast Men of Valor from zor uh and from estol to spy out the land and to search it and they said unto them go search the land who when they came to Mount Ephraim to the house of Micah they lodged there when they were when they were by the house of Micah they knew the voice of the young man the levite and they turned in thither and said unto him who brought thee hither and what makest thou in this place and what hast thou here what are you doing here now the reason for this this man M the only thing we know about him is him and his mother lived together and that he had children had one son old enough that he made him a priest he now uh the the house of God was a shallow but he was far far from shallow they found them a place way away from everybody else and the Bible uh later on in these scriptures said the place was careless quiet and secure well one day now they already had a h a priest was his he' made his son a priest he wasn't a levite he wasn't a legal priest but they felt like they needed a priest so he he made him one uh it's it's bad when we I've heard folks say I I can serve God at home yes you can but woe to those that just make their house the only church the Bible said forsake not the assembling of yourselves together go God wants you and me to assemble together now uh this this uh Mah mic's mother uh she had 1,00 pieces of silver saved up we don't know from where but her son stole it from her a and and when she realized that her money that she had saved was gone she she pitched a hissy fit she started cursing she got in his ear and she pronounced a curse whoever stole this money I put a curse on him and it was so V that it scared him so bad he said Mama Mama I did it I stole it I got your money oh she said blessed be thou of the Lord I was saving that to make us a God I was saving that money and said I I want you to take this money and I want you to take it to the the the the the fellas that that make Idol gods and and have him to make us some some gods and we'll we'll have a some some Terin some some little images and some things and we'll have our own we'll have our own church right here well here Al comes a levite and uh he stopped in and and uh they said where did you come from he said I'm just just just looking for a place to land I I'm a levite you're a levite oh are you oh well how would you like to be our preacher how would you like to be our we my my my boy has been serving as a priest but but if you're are sure enough leave God God wants L us to be the priest I what about how I'll I'll pay you so much I'll give you two sister clothes a year and and you could be our priest well he said that sound like a pretty good deal to me so he took them up on it now we don't know why he was ambling around the country with no place to go we don't know but he was just the text wrer used to sing about the bo we looking for a home he's just looking for a home and and he found one in the house of Micah and now they were far now there was no King and there was nobody to rebuke them when they did wrong everybody did that which was right in their own eyes now when they were in the house of Micah they knew the voice they heard that fell and the there was something about his voice they knew they they' come across him before now Dan was the was the tribe that didn't immediately possess the land that Joshua said was theirs it was difficult for him and it was uh Dan that uh when uh God called somebody when when Cicero was ruling them with the Chariots of iron for 20 years it was Dan that stayed in the ships uh when Deborah and and and and those that God put with her when when when they overcame uh old cisar and later on uh she wrote a song and in that song she ched the danites because they stayed in their ships and they didn't come out to fight and didn't come come out to have they stayed to themselves they didn't want to get involved in the fight are you following me are you still hearing the story well this Levi they they recognized his voice now they sent five men out to spy out the land they were looking for a an easy place to go they didn't want to get involved in in in something that may be too much danger to it so they were looking for an easy place to land and and when they they the the five they they picked out five men to to spy out the land so now we cut in on the story uh Micah has already he now he took 200 pieces of the silver and there's something fishy about this she claimed she had saved 1100 pieces to to create something for God but they only used 200 pieces to make these little uh do gadgets and and call them their gods and they set them up in their house and now then they've got a priest now the priest didn't say one thing about God's against against images that's one of the first things God commanded in the law of Moses but this levite he didn't care so much how they lived as long as he got his two sets his two suits a year and the the the food that he ate and a little bit of spending money that's all he cared about well uh when they when they said uh they heard the voice of this levite and they turned in F and said to him who brought thee hither and what makest thou in this place and what else thou here and he said unto them thus and thus dealth Micah with me hath heard me I am his priest Beware of the preacher that goes to the highest bidder Beware of the man that's just looking for a paycheck The Story Goes of a of a preacher that was pastoring a small church and he got a call from a church twice as big paying twice as much and he said well I'm going to have to pray about it and he hung up the phone and told his wife said would you go be packing well I pray about this thing going to that news and that's the way some folks are if it's a financially advantageous I'll pray about it while you prepare to go and they said to him ask counsel we we pray thee of God that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous now these are five spies that's in this far off land that's careless quiet and and secure and and and and they dwell here at the house of Micah and what Micah didn't know they were spies looking for an easy place to land wouldn't have much of a fight and the priest said now they asked him said you're the priest let us ask you something they said to him ask counsel we pray thee of God that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous and do you know what that priest said you know what he said go in peace before the Lord your way go everything's going to be on that's the kind of preacher we want to take to preach to us we want one that say yes sir do what you want to do go where you want to go yes sir and and that's exactly what they wanted to hear then the five men departed and and came to Lees and saw the people that were therein how they dwelt and I get this how they dwelt careless after the manner of the zidonians quiet and secure and there was no magistrate in the land that might put them to shame in anything and they were far from the zidonians and had no business with any man now let's not go too fast let's examine what we're reading careless quiet and secure later on the scripture reveals I don't know if I have it in these notes or not but uh uh the the it was a the zidonians that it was a careless place the walls were were not kept in repair the doors were uh torn down and they didn't have any worry about anybody attacking them so they let the place run down they didn't take care of it they didn't keep things in order they didn't have Jamie mcco there to help keep make sure that everything stayed up clean and and in good in good order nobody was there so they let it just rot down and they came unto their Brethren to zorab and Estel and their Brethren said to them um what say ye and they said arise that we may go up against them for we have seen the land and behold it is very good and are yet still be not slowful to go and to enter to possess the land when you go you shall come unto a people secure and to a land a large land and then they said for God has given it to your hands a place where there is no want of anything that is in the Earth and there went from F of the family of the danites out of Zoro and out of estol 600 men appointed with weapons of war and they went up and pitched in carth germine in Judah wherefore they call the place m a h n e h DN unto this day behold it is behind kth gerain and they passed then unto Mount Ephraim and came unto the house of Mah now then these five spies goes back to the danites and said this is a pushover it's it's indeed a good land it's it's great I want to tell you something did you know if you start checking the background of many of the uh professional singers Rock and Roll On Down many many many many many of them got their start singing in church I I I I I I noticed this just just just the other day and in fact um I bought a book um um I can't think of the Fell's name now but he was one of the Outlaws they called it a and I heard on the news that uh the woman he was married to her mother was a Pentecostal preacher and she was a piano player and I wanted to find out more about that and whan Jennings that was his name a and and it was true the woman he was married to of course some of them there's not many of them that has just one wife but one of his wives the the last wife he had before he died um he her mother was an evangelist and she played the piano until he came along and then got the I got the reading and this woman that still was his wife he was a he was a a a rough man and she was uh she had a housekeeper and lived in Nashville and she told her housekeeper about her husband she wanted him to be be saved she had enough still yet in her that that she wanted him to be saved and her housekeeper went to a wondess p Pentecostal Church in Nashville and she told him uh she told her that you just need to keep on and keep on serving God and living for God and and and and by and by I got to look it into it and and I can't think of her name but anyway uh she was going to up Jesus name Pentecostal Church in Nashville now I said all that to say this uh they saw a good land it's well known that Elvis Presley was uh uh uh out of the Pentecostal rank to brother Rex Dyson Brother David uh Atkins father a grandfather baptized Elis and Vernon prester both in Jesus name a and uh uh ion chared the lben brothers uh uh the I heard them interview Charlie Len before he died and of course Ira Len he was killed in a car wreck coming back from a a show date in Kansas City Missouri and Charlie said that Ira told his mother mom I'm going to this is my last show date when I get back home I am going to sell everything I'm going to buy me a tent and I'm going to preach like I'm called to and and I Charlie said I really believe he was called to preach another man that had a a a hit the only big hit I ever remember was uh was laara tell him tell me what he's got that I ain't God if there's time before I pull this Trier trigger tell me what has got that see see the curtains on the windows I bought them for you the clothes in your closet and and all and said you you made a You Took an off with chance to be with another man and anyway he made a big splash at one time well that was brother JT pay's son-in-law before him and brother Payne's daughter separated Bobby and I uh went up to his office and and his real name was scrub Walden His Radio name was Leon walon Leon but uh we went up and he was in a big highrise had a big desk and he' just come back from Canada now he was in church when we we knew him he he he was coming to church and and uh you you in fact he was a he got his start uh being the radio representative Bishop SC Johnson out of Philadelphia and I'm telling you a lot of history you may probably more than you want to know about it but anyway U he recently his desk and he pulled out a lot of money and he looked at Bobby and myself and he said boys said you remember the days that we used to uh go to church together at portale and you remember how the services we used to have yeah yeah he said I would give every bit of this if I could get back to where I was back there what I'm here to tell you now the world looks at the good land that they can the the entertainment the the the Showmanship and all of this but let me tell you something we have got it we have got it with the the the the great message of Salvation repentance water baptism in Jesus name there it is I'm in the middle of reading the vice president uh candidate uh JD Vance uh and one of his marriages uh his H his stepfather no was his father I guess it was it was actually his father Bowman his real name was was was Bowman and uh his uh real father and mother separated they had they lived a a terrible life and uh his father after they he separated from his mother he went and got into a p Pentecostal church and he became a Pentecostal convert and and even JD Vance even claimed that all the good things that he learned and his mother called him a holder roll and all now I'm telling you all of that to tell to say this they're looking the world is looking for an easy prey they're looking for a land that's easy to take over but down deep in the heart they know there's something more than what what they're they're getting into and you and I have found it and we need to keep it we're not careless and we're not quiet and we don't feel secure we're like the bees everybody hop on when the when we're attacked by the devil every one of us are going to go to prayer when one of us is sick we're all sick when one of us is hurt we're all hurt we're not the on that get up ourselves and and find fault we're here to support one another because we we are all the one family of God and they came un their Brethren dorum and estol and their brothers said to them what say ye and they said arise that we may go up against them for we have seen the lamb and behold it's very good and are you still be not slowful to go and to enter to possess the land when you go ye shall come unto a people secure and to a large land for God has given it unto your hands a place where there is no want of anything that is in the earth now God had not give them this but they said thought that their false preacher their F uh levite was telling them this and there went from then of the family of the danites out of zor and out of EOL 600 men appointed with weapons of war and they went up and pitched now let me skip over a whole lot they passed th and and to Mount Ephraim and came to the house of Micah then answered the five men that went to spy out the country to Lees and said unto their Brethren do you know that there is in these houses and ephod and teram and Graven image and a molden image now therefore consider what ye have to do now let me break that down for you the five men said to this 600 armed army said you know what's in that house said there there Terin that's the little images and and and uh there's a uh all these things that they use to worship an idol God and they're right there in that house now the damit who supposed to be worship shers of the one true God they fell for it the whole thing Lock Stock and barel and well notice here's what happens then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of leish and said unto their Brethren do you know that there is in these houses and epod there's there's there's a clothes that's for the priest and terap and a Graven image and a molten image now therefore consider what you have to do say here it is it's all there everything we need to do is for worship first of all if they had the right kind of teaching if they had the right kind of convictions this would have been the worst thing you could have said they had we don't need any Idol Gods he's already set for in the word of God that we're not to haveen and they turned thitherward and came to the house of the young man the levite even to the house of Mah and saluted him and the 600 men appointed with their weapons of war which were of the children of Dan stood by the entering of the gate and the five men that went to spy out the land went up and came in thither and took the grave and image and the EOD and the teram and the molten images and the priest stood in the entering of the gate with the 600 men that were appointed with weapons of war now preach sure what you're going to do they're taking all of your your gadgets of worship what you going to do and these went into Mah's house and fetched the carved images the epod the terapin the M image then said the priest said to them what are you doing what do ye what you Fells think you're doing and they said to him hold your peace lay thy hand on thy mouth and go with us and be to us a father and a priest is it better for thee to be a priest unto the house of one man or that thou be a priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel and the priest's heart was glad and he took the epod the her from the boy I'm climbing the ladder of success uh instead of me being the priest for one family I'm going to go with the danit because they're going to offer more money and they offered him and not only did he go with them he took with him the idol Gods now stay with me careless quiet secure they had no business with anybody and nobody had business with them now the Bible said it's not good that the man should be alone it isn't good for you to be alone in your Doctrine it's not good for you now this comes along and that comes along and you need a man of God to preach you the truth there was no King there was nobody to rebuke them there was nobody to tell them right from wrong and every man did that which was right in their own eyes it takes us all we need to stick together and hear the word of God from a called man of God that preaches for the souls rather than for money somebody that loves The Souls of men and will tell them the truth so they turned and departed and put the little ones and the cattle and the carriages before them and when they were a good way from the house of Mah the men that were in the house near Mah's house were gathered together and overtook the children of Dan and they Cried unto the children of Dan and they turned their faces and said to Mah what AE of the hey what's wrong bud what what you caring on for that thou comest with such a company and he said you've taken away my gods which I made ain't that something when folks think they can make their own God and and it's it's it's a sad thing when folks get to feeling like they compare themselves by themselves or with themselves that's not wise the Bible said you need to be in a family of God and you need men of God that's called of God anointed of God that'll preach you the truth and they cried to the children of Dan and they turned their faces and said unto Micah what ath thee that thou comest with such a company and he said you've taken away my gods which I made and the priest and you're going away and what have I more and what is this that you say unto me what a me what do you mean what ails me look what you've done you've taken everything I've got he they were taking the very basis of idolatry and they were going to all they did it it it just changed hands they're going to continue to worship Idol gods and the children of Dan went their way wait a minute verse 25 and the children of Dan said to him let not thy voice be heard Among Us lest angry Fells run upon thee and thou lose thy life with the lives of thy household and that was Sly way making a threat don't talk too loud there may be somebody in these soldiers here that they'll lose their temper and and kill you and your family made a made a threat on his life and the children of Dan went their way and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him he turned and went back unto his house and they took the things which Micah had made and the priests which he had and came to Le is unto a people that were quiet and secure and they smoke them with the edge of the sword and burnt the city with fire now we're admonished in the Bible to be careful for nothing and that's we don't live a a a a nervous life but let me tell you something we need to be on our guard every day we we we don't need to be quiet and insecure nothing's we need to to constantly be on our guard and there was no deliverer because it was far from zodan and they had no business with any man and it was in the valley that Li by Beth reob and they built a city and dwelt there now we've just finished a great week Apostolic churches all over this end of the country when sister M and I came here in a tent we had to drive a 100 miles for youth rally we went to the brother Peter's church and they would come here we'd go there and then we'd go as far as Rich lands Virginia I that's 150 miles we've even taken a bus up there to Richlands Virginia very few places to Fellowship but now then after these years did you see all the pastors and and all the people that were here and we' got a church we got a church in in in mville we've got one in Clinton we got one in laal we got one there on the brother Miracles and and we got a new one that's in in just below uh Cleveland thank you in Cleveland and another one starting here and there we got missionaries going every let me tell you something we're not sitting and just waiting for the Lord to come we're he said occupy till I come and we're going to occupy till he comes all right the danites unable to take what they had been assigned they sought easy prey when Israel was unmercifully bullied by cicora for 20 years who had 900 Chariots of iron it was Dan who stayed in his ships instead of helping in the fight judges 4 and two and the Lord sold them into the hand of jabin king of Canaan that reigned in hazor the C captain of whose host was cicara which dwelt in horth of the Gentiles and the Deliverance by the leadership of Deborah the tribe of Dan was chided judges 577 Gilead Abode Beyond Jordan and why did Dan remain in ships Asher continued on the seashore and Abode in his breaches some are not searching for lost souls but are scouting out churches of their own faith for members it seems easier to invade friendly surroundings than fight for lost souls that's a pretty straightforward statement but there's a whole lot of Truth in that no it's all truth I'm just saying everybody I'm not saying everybody but we're not here to proelite people from other churches we're here to find lost souls and see them come to God that's what it's all about Romans 15:20 Paul said yay so have I strived to preach the gospel not where Christ was named he said I strived not to preach the gospel where Christ was named lest I should build upon another man's Foundation it takes us all we need to have a a church and we need to be loyal we need to be faithful we need to be prayerful we need to be supportive and and we need to know who we are and where we are and and I've got one minute my personally assigned time um let me read this and this this may be where I'll start next time and in Nehemiah 4:15 now Nehemiah was the cup Bearer for AR tuxis King and he he gave him his wine and one day he went to giveing wine and and the King said before now you've always been a jolly fellow been happy said You Look so Sad there's something wrong with you and he said how can I be jolly how can I be happy when Jerusalem is trotten down and the walls are torn down and the doors have been burned CH and and he said I have a burden to go and rebuild the walls and rebuild Jerusalem and God put it in artax's heart to let him go you go and he gave him a soldiers to help guide and protect and there a whole lot involved what the king did because God had dealt with his heart Nehemiah 4:15 and it came to pass when our enemies heard that it was known unto us and God had brought their counsel to not that we returned all of us all of us to the wall everyone to his work I'm going to leave it right there because we'll we'll probably continue on this vain because of what Jesus Takes a whole chapter to pray for the unity of his followers and we need to follow in in that footstep of preaching unity and we must not be the kind of folks that the least little thing hurts our feelings if I don't get to do this or if I don't get to do that if if Pastor don't call on me to preach or Pastor don't call me or just listen this business of working for God is is too important for us to let little childish things get and I don't want them bar uh don't want to minimize anything but what is what is's telling us is that that he wants us to be one he wants us to have Unity he don't want us to be easy to get our feelings here those that love his law the Bible said and nothing shall offend them would you stand here feet with us please we need to be like the honeybees when that that demon tries to invade our territory I don't mean physical violence but I mean we need to pour on the prayer and fasting and seeking God's face and and and overcome the power of the devil it's not good to be alone uh we need each other we I need I need you brother M don't listen it sister M sometimes she'll tell me honey you did a good job tonight boy that sure does feel good somebody somebody enjoyed it you know and when Pastor preaches I I want to tell him I enjoyed it because every time he every time brother Whitley preaches every time brother every time and what preaching we heard during the camp meeting day and night it was wonderful and we need to express it father we thank you for your goodness we thank you for the Blessed word of God and Lord we do realize and we do know that we need each other there is not a soul that attends this church that is not important God we are all precious in your sight and I thank God for it may we realize that more tonight than ever before dismiss us from this place not from your presence bring us back at our next appointed time in Jesus name amen shake hands and be friendly you're dismissed in Jesus name