SPEAKER_01 0:06

So very thankful to be here with y'all tonight. I appreciate the wonderful copious meal and uh all the good fellowship and all the prayer and the wonderful song service and uh just so glad to be with you today. Uh Lord being my helper, I'm I'm I feel led to speak about something that I thought myself out of speaking about tonight. But if something's been on my mind today, and it hasn't left me. I'd like to go to the book of Jeremiah, and uh if I had to give a title to this message, it would be Well, I'm just nobody. I'm just nobody. And we're gonna read about one that is mentioned a few times in the book of Jeremiah, that you know you kind of read the book of Jeremiah and you see all that's going on here, and he's mentioned conspicuously in a few different places, but he's not a king, he's not a priest, uh, he's not uh a dignitary of any kind, he's not a wealthy man as far as we can tell, certainly not. He is the secretary or the aminuensis or someone who tends to and writes down the words and the prophecies of the prophet Jeremiah. And I'd like to talk about Baruch tonight, Lord being my helper. I've as I've read through the Bible many times, I've thought, man, I just I would love to preach about old Baruch because he's just a striking figure in the book of Jeremiah. And now, the book of Jeremiah, if you look at it, it's not it's not laid out in chronological order. So I'm going to kind of bring this in the order in which it was done, and how we see Baruch come on the stage, be first, be mentioned, and then go as he's progressed through his experience with Jeremiah. Now, as you know, as a Bible reader, the book of Jeremiah centers around uh some kings of Judah who had gotten very wicked and very off the mark. Judah had been blessed with some very great kings, but they also were blessed with some stinkers. Uh Israel was nothing but one big litany of stinkers, it seemed like. But Judah was blessed with some very able kings. But here it toward the end, uh, you had uh Jehoiakim and some of these other kings that were just very carnal, very worldly, very rebellious against God, very wicked, and the Lord knows how to break dogs from sucking eggs. He uh sent Babylon in unto them. He had sent Assyria first, and then the Babylons, the Babylonians came after them to subjugate them as had been prophesied, and now Jeremiah was prophesying of it. He didn't enjoy in prophesying about it. Uh he tried not to prophesy about it, but the Lord was just in his bones like an old fire caught up, and he couldn't help himself. He just had to prophesy. Okay? Well, we'll start about this quote unquote nobody of Baruch and how important he is, and what a wonderful, what things we can learn from his life. Lord be my helper, and you pray for me. Let's go to Jeremiah chapter 36. And Jeremiah chapter 36, and it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel and against Judah and against all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah even to unto this day. It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil, which I purpose to do unto them, that they may return every man from his evil way, that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin. Then Jeremiah called Baruch, the son of Nariah. This is the first mention we hear of him, and here Baruch, the son of Nariah, and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord, which he had spoken unto him upon a roll of a book. So here he's a type of scribe, as we said, an aminuensis, a secretary, who is just a servant of the prophet Jeremiah. So here Jeremiah is speaking this prophecy against Judah, against Israel, and here Baruch is copying it down, and Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up. Now what did he mean? He was in prison. He was imprisoned because of the things that he prophesied. And you don't have to read very long in Jeremiah to figure out that what he was prophesying, they didn't want any part of. They saw Judah as being untouchable, impregnable. They had Jehovah as their God, and they'd had wealth, and they had had prosperity. I mean, we're the people from whence David came. I mean, and Solomon, look at the wisest man that ever lived from us. And brothers and sisters, they forgot the Lord their God. And Jeremiah was coming and prophesying to them to repent, repent, repent, and uh warning them that the Babylonians were coming and that they were to subject themselves unto Babylon. Not at all a popular message, okay? He said, I am shut up. In other words, I'm in the prison for teaching and preaching and prophesying this very thing I'm getting you to write down. Okay? So what is this? Incendiary, dangerous stuff, right? He's saying, You write it down, but he says, I am shut up. I cannot go into the house of the Lord. I'm in uh incommunicado. I cannot go into the temple. Uh it's totally off bounds for me. They have imprisoned me here. They've made no bones about it. So he said, Therefore go thou and read in the roll which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of the Lord and the ears of the people in the Lord's house upon the fast, the fasting day. So here's a day when a large fast is called. We're not really sure exactly what this fast was about. Maybe it was because the encroachment of Babylonian power. Uh I'm not sure, but it was going to be a fasting day. It was going to be seen as a holy day, and there were going to be lots of people there. And so he says, You go on this day, and he said, and I want you to proclaim these things, the things that have gotten me into prison. Okay? How many of you would be too excited about that charge, right? He said, And the Lord's house upon the fasting day, and also thou shalt read them in the ears of all Judah that come out of their cities. It may be they will present their supplication before the Lord and will return every one from his evil way. You know there's a lot about God's determinate counsel. I don't know. But I do know this. The Bible is written for us, for us, even though we can't fully comprehend time set in eternity, and God's mind that is endless, ceaseless, boundless, omniscient, and his goings on right here in a time world in which we live. But I tell you this, when I read in the Bible where God tells someone, you go and tell them this, that it's a possibility that they repent and I will heal them, I tend to believe that. I tend to believe that. Now a lot of people say, well, he was just saying that for window dressing. I don't find God's commands coming forward from the Word of God just for window dressing, uh, just to uh as some kind of something to say. Now I know God knows the resolution of all things, but here it seems with earnestness, God said, you go and warn them to repent. And then he's saying, Baruch, you go and tell them to repent. I'll tell you, brothers and sisters, I believe prayer can change things. I believe obedience can change things. I believe our God is the God of the universe and beyond. He's God of time and timelessness, okay? But I also believe he's a strong enough and an able enough God that he is Lord over every potential uh universe that could be, as it were. Think of so many permutations of actions of all the people in this world. How many different ways could play out and go forth. Now, God knows the resolution of all of them, but I'll tell you, I have to believe what the Bible says, and so I'm going to believe that had they repented, that had they turned unto God, that he would have kept the word that he delivered from his prophet to give unto them. You may be saying, Brother Joe, that seems very simple of you. Well, that's exactly right. I'm a simple man. I simply believe what the word of God says, okay? So it says, It may be that they will present their supplication before the Lord and will return every one from his evil way. For great is the anger and the fury that the Lord hath pronounced against his people. And Baruch, the son of Neri, did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the words of the Lord in the Lord's house. I want y'all to consider the courage of this secretary. This man who uh was a uh uh you know a scribe, this man who was a servant, and hearing being told by Jeremiah, I want you to go and tell these things, and what's very likely going to happen to him, what almost did happen to him. They sent for them, trying to throw them into prison, we're going to find later, and thank God because the Lord hid them, they were made safe. But I just got to stop and admire the courage of this man. The courage of this man. This man was devoted not only to the Lord Jehovah, but also to Jeremiah, whom he perceived this is the Lord's prophet. So therefore, this is who I need to follow. This is what I need to do. And friends, I wonder sometimes today in the church, do we have that courage that people have had generations in the past? And I'm gonna say this, I believe we do. I'm gonna say this, I don't believe we've exercised it, I don't believe we've had to exercise it up to this point in America. But boy, you look at the 2,000-year history of the church and you talk about some folks that had to really draw it up and be courageous and bold. You know, as the Bible says, quit ye like men, be strong. They literally had to do that. And friends, God will encourage us, God will strengthen us with the strength that we need in that day. I don't know about y'all, but I don't like the idea of being stoned to death. I don't like the idea of being thrown in prison, okay? I've always picked on my wife. I said, Well, I'm way too pretty to go to prison. I don't want anything to do with prison. I've got a very healthy fear of prison. But if it came to going to prison, okay, or ceasing to preach the Lord Jesus Christ, then show me which cell block I'm going to be on, right? Now it's easy for me to say that. It reminds me of that little kid I saw not long ago on the internet, and this little boy was approaching the chicken house, and they were recording him, and little bitty boy, and he said, I'm brave, I'm brave, I'm brave, I'm brave. And then the chicken started coming after him, and he turned and screamed, I'm being brave, I'm being brave. He was running like a scalded dog. Well, you know, that little boy, that little boy approaching that chicken house kind of like us now. But have you ever wondered that when hard times hit, are we going to have the courage to stand? Are we going to have the courage to take the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the word of the Lord, the breastplate of righteousness, gird our loins about with the truth, shine our feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, and stand in the day? You know, God gives us a lot of encouragement in his word. Just a couple of places. Psalm 27, verse 13 says, I had fainted, fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Now, he's not talking about the land of the living after a while. We know we're going to see the goodness of the Lord after a while, but wouldn't it be terrible if we didn't feel like we could depend upon seeing the glory of the Lord right here while we live? Now, we can't see him in the fullness of his glory. I don't even know if I'll ever see him in the glory that he exhibited on the Mount of Transfiguration. But I'm here to tell you, brothers and sisters, there's a cleft of the rock, and his name is Jesus Christ. And you can be placed in that cleft, and the Lord can show you his semblance of glory, and it'll make your face shine. And somebody may say, that just sounds too good to be true. Well, you ask 2,000 years of Christians if it's too good to be true. Those who were thrown to the lines, and those who were persecuted and lit a fire to light the flames of Nero's garden. I'm here to tell you, my friends, God will provide what we need. But what we need to be doing is praying and seeking the Lord in the land of the living while we're here. He said, Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart, I say on the Lord. There's a definitive shall, a promise in the Word of God. Psalm 31, 23 says, O love the Lord, all ye saints, for the Lord preserveth the faithful and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer. Now when he says plentifully rewardeth the proud doer, he's talking about bad people there. He's going to give them their comeuppance. Nowhere in the Word of God I've been able to find their proud refers to what we ought to be. Okay? He says there, he says, the Lord preserveth the faithful, but what else is he going to do? He's going to plentifully reward the proud doer, the high head, okay, the one who withstands you. He said, Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord. You know, Jeremia told them in this day very plainly. You know, they they thought everything was going well in Judah. And here he challenged them in Jeremiah chapter 12, verse 5. He said, If thou hast run with the footman, and they have wearied thee, no, I used to be a jogger. I used to love to jog. I'd jog about four miles every other morning, get up, really, really enjoyed it. But even if I had to run with some footman somewhere right now, I probably wouldn't make it about a quarter of an acre away. I'd be gone. I mean, I would just be gone. But here he said, look, if thou'st run with the footman and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? What's he saying? He's saying, you can always expect things to get worse sometimes. Sometimes they're going to get worse before they get better. He said, and if in the land of peace wherein thou trustest they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan? What's he telling them here? Something that you and I need to take to heart tonight is that we've been very, very blessed to live in a Christian nation, but we are now a post-Christian nation. What does that mean? This nation does not live for Christ anymore. If she ever did, and I believe there was a time she did, she does not live for Christ anymore. Now, Brother Joe, you're being a Debbie Downer. I'm not up here to be a Debbie Downer. Friends, I'm here to tell you and to warn you. Let me tell you something. Forewarned is forearmed. Amen? And so I'm telling you that times are going to get worse. Look at the news, look at things. And I want you to understand, though, my friends, you may look at it, and someone who's not a disciple will look at that and say, just the wheels have fallen off the entire world, and the word of God is telling you, get ready. God is going to strengthen you when you need it. But look to him, look to him and be prepared. And I'll tell you, that's what Baruch had to do. He was going to have to find some quick courage, some good courage in the Lord. Now in verse 9, it said, It came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoracim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed to fast before the Lord to all the people in Jerusalem, to all the people that came from the cities of Judah unto Jerusalem. So here all these people have come from all the surrounding areas, and who's right there in the middle, doing faithfully at his post, discharging his duty. What do you think it would have been like if Jeremiah, when the next time he saw Baruch, he said, Well, Baruch, how did the meeting go? And Baruch said, Well, you know, I had a little bit of a headache. I just, I just didn't go. Brothers and sisters, I'm gonna tell y'all, there are a lot of things, you know, if it if we run with the footman and they've wearied us, what does that mean? If you got a little backache, if you got a little headache, do everything in the world you can to still get up and faithfully go to the house of God. Faithfully go and see about folks in the nursing home. Faithfully go to your bower of prayer. Faithfully crack your Bible and read out of it every day that you can. Why? Because friends, that's how we fortify ourselves. All right? Baruch was at his post discharging his duty. How many times I've heard that prayer? I remember from a young child here in Elder James Oscar Easterland and his agent, preaching, and just preaching. Uh, but before he preached, he'd get down, he'd pray, and he would always pray, Lord, help me to be at my post, discharging my duty. Now, there are a lot of people that have a lot of goals in this life, but mine is to be at my post, discharging my duty. If I if I can die, and people say he never turned tail, he never fainted, uh, he was he was a man of right passions, like as we are, but yet he stood, then my life will have been well lived and honoring to the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And I want to encourage that the same faith that enabled Baruch and Jeremiah to withstand the things that they withstood. Hebrews chapter 11 gives you a great, my friends, cloud of witnesses as they were referred to in Hebrews chapter 12. And all of them had the exact same faith then that is existed in 2026 today. The same mystical, wonderful, supernatural God sense that causes you to desire after righteousness and seek after God and to stand when you want to wither, and to speak when you want to be mute. It's the same God today, and it's the same God given faith today. The thing is, are we going to do what is necessary to work out our own salvation, which God hath worked in you? God, give us that strength, Lord. He said, He would then read Baruch in the word, the book, the words of Jeremiah, in the house of the Lord, in the chamber of Gemariah, the son of Shathan, the scribe, in the higher court at the entry of the new gate of the Lord's house, in the ears of all the people. For time's sake he went and read it. And some people heard it. And what happens when some people hear it? They're gonna go tell it. So they went to some princes. They said, Do you know what this boy is out there saying? Y'all shut Jeremiah up. Now he's teaching this to the same people who've imprisoned his master. And here he is standing. This little nobody. But I'm gonna tell you what, he's living like somebody at this time, standing in the name of God. And my friends, I'm telling you, uh Baruch was not some superhero. He's a man just like you and me. But I'm telling you, we can do the same thing, and we need to have the same devotion. And they went and told it, and then they said, Well, go and bring him here. He read it for them. And then they decided they were going to take it to the king, okay? And so they took the scroll from him and they took it into the king, Jehoiakim, and he was sitting by the hearth of the fire, and Jehoiakim didn't like the word of God. So what did he do? He took a pen knife, he cut it all up, and then he burned it. What is it? That is someone who has utter disdain for the word of God. Utter disdain. It would be enough, it would be bad enough to cut it up, didn't throw it on a fire. But even worse than cutting it up and throwing it on the fire is just absolutely saying, I'll do my way, I'm not gonna have your way, oh God. Okay? And we're living in a time now where people have an utter disdain for the word of God. One reason I think that there's such a disdain for the word of God is because so many people are trying to pass off so many entities as the word of God. Another reason is people just like to give their own opinion as the word of God. Uh, people have family gods. They have uh, you know, churches have their own different God. They just teach whatever they they kind of think. And there's a great disdain for the word of God in this life. You know, there are a lot of biblical scholars out there. They call themselves biblical scholars, they're really just critics. And they tell you, you know, you really can't depend upon this word to be infallible because we don't have the original copies of the manuscript when it was written. They said we don't have any, and that's true. We do not have any of the original letters that were written by any of the apostles or the prophets or Moses. We don't have any of that. But let me tell you something, brothers and sisters, that don't bother God, none. God is able. That doesn't bother God at all. He cut the word of God up and threw it in the fire, and what did God say to it? Okay, let me tell you something. Write it down again. Write it down again. Kidd, let me tell you something. We see that again later in the Word of God, where we see that the original autograph, that's what they call where it was first written down for the first time. The original autograph should not be that important to us when we're deciding whether or not we are going to trust the word of God. You can have utter trust in the word of God because God has shown you that even He doesn't carry that much weight in the original autograph. He had them write it down again. And then later in the same book in Jeremiah 51 63, he gave a word to Jeremiah. It was written down, and it said in Jeremiah 51 63, and it shall be when thou hast made an end of reading this book. Now, this is a book God gave them, God told them to write it down. Now, somebody will say, well, that book's got to last forever right there. I mean, if that's going to be the word of God, and anybody's ever going to be able to trust it, we've got to keep that. No. He said, It shall be when thou hast made an end of reading this book, thou shalt bind a stone to it and cast it into the midst of Euphrates. See, even God's not worried about any original autograph. Why? Because we read the word of God, my friends, heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. See, God's not interested in the original autograph. God is interested and capable and has preserved his words. He has preserved his words. Psalm 12, 6 through 7 says, the parchments of the Lord, the pages of the Lord? No. He said, the words, the words of the Lord are pure words. A silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord. I believe that. How about y'all? Do you believe that you have the word of God today? If you don't, then I feel so sorry for you. And I enjoin upon you to repent in the name of Jesus Christ and have the same confidence in the Word of God that Jesus and the apostles did. Jesus said, search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, but they are they that testify of me. You can have all confidence that Jesus believed in the Old Testament. You can have all confidence, my friends, that the God man and the words that he spoke when he said his words would not pass away, that we have his words. You can have all confidence that his apostles, when he told them, I have much to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now. But when the Spirit of truth shall come, then shall you remember these things. And they did, and they wrote them, and you know what God did? God did his part in inspiring them. They did their part in writing them down, and then God, my friends, has watched over it and preserved that word all this time. I excite myself when I go to the word of God, realizing it's the word of God. And you can have all confidence in that. Alright, let's look at another. Jeremiah chapter 45. Next on the timeline of Baruch. He said, Jeremiah 45, we're going to read verses 1 through 5. The word that Jeremiah the prophet spake unto Baruch, the son of Neriah, when he had written these words in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah. Now, this was given way toward the end of the book of Jeremiah, but it fits in the timeline right after what we just read from the 36th chapter. So what did God tell? Notice, God has instructed this word to go to Baruch. And Baruch says, Who am I? He must be pretty special to the Lord. Amen. Who am I? Who are you? You may be saying, you know, I get old, I get sick, I get arthritis. Oh Arthur, the older I get, the more I realize old Arthur is a terrible bedfellow. I mean, he just gets up on you, I hurt so bad aching and creaking. And sometimes I wonder, I'm just in a constant state of entropy. I'm in a constant state of decay. What am I? Who am I? I can tell you who I am. I've been given a hope in Jesus Christ that makes me a child of God. I don't deserve to be a child of God, but I sure do rejoice in being a child of God. I'm telling you, love from the foundation of the world, chosen in Christ by God the Father, quickened by the Holy Spirit. But the Lord Jesus died for me on the tree of the cross, hung between heaven and earth, as if he didn't belong either place. He did that for me. He did that for Job. And as the apostle Paul said in the book of Galatians, he said, Who loved me and gave himself for me? Don't you tell me I don't have a personal Savior. I'm telling you I got a personal Savior because he loves me, and I don't know why he does, but I'm thankful that he does. He loved Baruch. He sent a word to this little quote-unquote nobody, this little aminuensis, this little secretary. Now the word that Jeremiah the prophet spake unto Baruch the son of Nerah when he had written these words in the book at the mouth of Jeremiah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel unto thee, O Baruch, thou didst say, Woe is me now, for the Lord hath added grief to my sorrow. I fainted in my sighing, and I find no rest. What's he referring to? This word that he has been commanded to read to these people. This word that makes, brings out the worst vitriol in these people, the malice in these people, the hate in these people. Friends, have y'all really paid attention lately to realize how badly people who claim the name of Christ hate the word of God? Do you realize that? We got a big debate in one of the largest religious organizations claiming the name of Christ about whether or not clear, concise, multiple places given Scripture should be heated or should just be cast out because contemporary wisdom says women should be able to do everything that man does. Let me tell you something. Our God's a God of order. He said order in the universe, he said order in the home, he said order in governments, and he has set order in the church. And I'm telling you, some of the best preachers I've ever had heard have been women, but they didn't dare try to get up at a bookboard and do it. They did it at the supper table, they did it at home, they did it on the porch. Sometimes they preached a sermon on my backside. You understand that? I've been corrected, I've been edified, and I've been preached to by sisters in my life, and I thank God for every one of them, and I thank God not one of them said, I think I want to get up and introduce services today. Why? It's not that there's a lack of ability, love, fervor, devotion, or spirit. And we should humble ourselves like Baruch and accept that. Right? So here, he's grieved because of this word. He's grieved because of it. He knows it's true. He loves his homeland, he loves his people, he loves his own life. But here he is in this predicament. He said, Uh, I fainted in my sighing and I find no rest. Thus shalt thou say to him, Jeremiah. Okay? The Lord saith thus, Behold, that which I have built will I break down. And that which I have planted, I will pluck up. Even this whole land. In other words, I think the Lord's telling him, look, if you're upset about what you see in a sin-cursed eye, imagine seeing the rebellion of man through the glorious eyes of a God who's given everything for his people. People like to think, well, I'm offended at God. Well, let me tell you something. Have you ever stopped to think how offensive you are to God? We have no right to say, I'm mad at God, I'm offended at God. You have no right to shake your gnarly little crusty fist at God. God is God and we are not. And when we come to realize that and embrace that and say, Yes, Lord, I am thine, I will serve you, that's when your life really starts making sense. Child of God, and that's when everything starts falling into place. He said, Look, you think it's bad from your perspective. Think about what I've had to deal with, in other words. And seekest thou greater things for thyself. I don't know whether I rude at all. Well, Jeremiah bring me in here and tell me to write this word down, and he wants me to take it to the temple. Maybe he thought, well, man, maybe he's prophesying some real good, happy thing, some joyous thing, some exotic thing, and it'll really make me look good. Well, he learned real quickly that wasn't the way it was. I don't know if that's the case or not, but he said, Seekest thou great things for thyself, seek them not. Seek them not. You want a higher pay? Don't be worried about that. You want more fame, don't be worried about that. You want more respect in the workplace, don't be worried about that. You want people to pat you on the back more at church? Don't you be worried about that. What do you need to be concerned with? He said, Behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the Lord. But, this is what you need to focus on, the goodness of God. But thy life will I give unto thee for a prey. That means a prize. He said, You have served me. I'm going to serve you. Our God is not faithless. He's not forgetful. He doesn't forget the work and the ministry of love that you carry on to other people. God takes note of that. My friends, uh, look, are not thy tears in his bottle? He tellest all your wanderings. Are they written in his book? Yes, they are. You know, people say, well, you primitive Baptists don't believe in rewards in heaven. No, we don't believe in rewards in heaven, but we believe in heavenly rewards down here on earth. And we also believe that the reward we'll have in heaven, we'll have not because of anything we've done. Okay, but because of what Christ in Christ alone did. Right? So here he says, look, he says, uh, I will bring evil upon all flesh, but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey, for a prize. Notice this, in all places, whether they're goest. That probably made him. I don't know about this. We moved to North Mississippi about 13 years ago, 14 years ago. And I hope and pray I get to die in North Mississippi. I don't want to move again. I I love the folks I pastor, I love the area I'm in. But you know what? If God says get up and go, Sister Laura's already learned we got to get up and go. Okay? Y'all may be saying, Brother Joe, you say that to yourself. Don't you say that about my pastor? Oh, yeah, the same thing pertains to him. Same thing pertained to him. Oh no, he'd never leave uh Brother ML and Sister Sheila. Well, I'm gonna tell you what, if God impresses upon you that you've got a different field, a different measure to serve, brother and sister, let me tell you something. Woe unto you if you don't take heed unto that. Okay? Now he said here, I'm gonna give thy life for a prayer or a prize in all places, whither they're goest. And look, Baruch wound up being cast all the way, dragged where? To Egypt. To Egypt. But even in Egypt, God was right there, preserving him, blessing him. And you know, if we'll get our perspective right, you know why so many people are so sad in this world? Because their perspective is all wrong. They want to spend all their time looking at what they don't have, and they won't spend five minutes looking at what God's blessed them to have. I want to charge each and every one of you this week. I want you to spend some time counting your blessings. You will not exhaust them. You will not exhaust them. I'm telling you. Uh, I got to spend time with my family last night. I got to eat sirloin steak, okay? Uh I mean, I got to eat some good food. I got to eat cream corn straight out the field, man. I got to eat. That's a handful of blessings right there. None of them which I deserve. Somebody said, how's your ride up here today? My ride was just fine. I had fine company. I was thinking about the Lord, and I had the prettiest thing on this planet. No offense to you ladies, but y'all need to catch up with her. Okay, I mean, I had great company coming up here. Am I deserving of that? No, I'm not. God has been good to me. God has been good to you. And I'm telling you, times may get tough. House may burn down, cancer may pop up, money may run out, but I'm here to tell you your God will be there with you. Yea, for I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. I'll fear no evil, for thou art with me thy rod and thy staff. They comfort me. I'll tell you, your God will be right there with you. He'll not leave you comfortless nor alone. If he'll get right down in the fire with Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, He'll be right there in the hospital room with you. He's the same God today he was back then. He's giving you the same faith. And my friends, he's even giving you greater promise. Because even what Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego didn't know, you know today. Count your blessings. Count your blessings. Oh, I'm telling you. And lamentations. Here, Jeremiah's he's looking over the utterly destroyed Jerusalem. Said what? He said, remembering mine affliction and my misery. The wormwood and the gall. Now I'm gonna say, if you just sit there and dwell on your misery and your affliction, your wormwood and your I I don't really know what wormwood is, but I don't want none of it. I don't want none of it. It don't sound good, does it? Sounds bitter, it sounds bad. Wormwood and the gall, my soul hath them still in remembrance, and is what? Is humbled in me. I sit here and I've been wallowing in my own self-pity, and then what happens? My heart gets convicted. Oh little child of God, when God whoops you, when God chastens you, that means you're his and he's yours. And we need to repent and we need to do the first works and we need to seek his face and appreciate what we've got. He said, It is this I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. What did he say in Romans chapter 12? Wherefore I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. And here, this is what Jeremiah is saying. He said, Look, I had to get my mind right. I was walling in the wormwood and in the gall and in the bitterness and in the sadness. Here, staring out over Jerusalem in flames and tatters, people dead and rotting corpses everywhere. He was still able to focus on the goodness of God. He said, It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. And notice what he said here. The Lord is my portion. The Lord. Friends, listen to me now. You've got a Lord who's lived forever and always will. He'll never leave you, he'll never forsake you. If he is your portion, nothing else really matters, does it? If you have a hope in Jesus Christ today, you have all evidence that the Lord is your portion and rejoice in that. And that will rejoice your heart. Later on here in Jeremiah chapter 32, moving along. Jeremiah said, Jeremiah 32, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Behold, Hanamel, the son of Shalom thine uncle, shall come unto thee, saying, By thee my field, that is an Anatoth. This is a problem here. Anatoth had already been taken. Okay, Jerusalem had not fallen yet. And here's Jeremiah in the prison. His cousins coming to him because he has the right of the kinsman redeemer. Okay? He is the near kinsman. That's a picture of who? Jesus Christ, right? And so here his cousin comes saying, I want you to buy the family field down in Anatoth. But the problem is, my friends, Jeremiah's in prison. Anatoth has already fallen to the Babylonians. It would be like you saying, hey, I want to sell you a piece of property in the forbidden city in China. There's a little corner of that forbidden city that I've got and I'd like to sell it to you. None of y'all are going to buy that thing. You know it don't belong to you. You'll never get to inhabit it. It'll just be wasted money. And here Anatoth had already fallen. The people of Anatoth earlier in Jeremiah had threatened to kill Jeremiah because of his prophesying. And God had already told them, Because you have persecuted my prophet, I will bring judgment down upon you. And when God brings judgment down upon a city, it ain't pretty, is it? Remember Sodom and Gomorrah? So here he's in prison. The land is taken. Okay? My friends, judgment hangs like a cloud full of lightning over Anatoth, and here he's being told to buy this property. Somebody said that doesn't sound like a good business transaction. Woo, but it sure is a good prophecy transaction. It sure is fine for prophecy. So let's look at this. So Hanamil, my uncle's son, came to me in the court of the prison according to the word of the Lord and said unto me, Buy my field, I pray thee, that is an Anatoth, which is in the country of Benjamin. For the right of inheritance is thine, and the redemption is thine. Buy it for thyself. Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord. And I bought the field of Hannah. Oh, but let's do a financial. No, he knew this is the will of God. This is the word of God. Give me my purse. I'm fixing to give this man this money for this land that I'll tell you by all the world's standards is a waste of money. But the difference is, my friends, that God had promised that there will be homes built again. There will be families living in Jerusalem and in Judea. They will live in liberty and in joy at some time in the future. And so his faith was in the word of God. And he gave up his money. He gave up his money. You know, Brother Blake was telling me about, he was wrestling with the idea of some money earlier, you know, about spending it on something. Let me tell you something, brothers and sisters, there's a lot of things I've wasted money on in my life. But any money I've ever, any effort, any prayer, any exertion I've ever made toward the good and the encouragement of God's house has never been wasted, and it's always come back a hundredfold. God loves a cheerful giver. Amen. But I'm gonna tell you, nobody can outgive God. Nobody can outgive God. And so I'll tell you, brothers and sisters, here, he said, I'm gonna buy it. I'm gonna buy it. And he said, Weigh the money, even 17 shekels of silver. And I subscribed the evidence and sealed it. So here the receipt is written. The contract, the transaction is written out and sealed it. An official stamp on it. Today it would be a notary public doing that. Okay? And took witnesses. See, that was necessary for a covenant in those days, still is today. Why do we have who is standing with the bride? Who is standing with the groom? This is wholly biblical. You need to have witnesses. A marriage in the Bible are two people who uh devote themselves to each other in the name of Christ, and they proclaim it openly, and it's heard in witnesses, and then it is subscribed, it's written down for the record. That's what a marriage is in the Word of God. And it is the same way with a contract, just like this. It was written down, money was exchanged, okay? And took witnesses, witnesses, and weighed him the money in the balances. So I took the evidence of the purchase, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom and that which was opened, and I gave the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch. Why? Because Biruch was one of the witnesses. He was there witnessing this transaction. And it said, In the sight of Hanamil, mine uncle's son, and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribe the book of the purchase. So what is this little nobody serving as now? He is a witness to a precious interaction, a transaction that is prophecy in the making. Okay? He subscribed the book of the purchase before all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison. And notice this, he said, and I charge Baruch. Why? Why charge Baruch? Who is he? He's a secretary. I mean, there could have been a priest there. There could have been any other people in that jail there that were Jews that probably had higher esteem or whatever. But he said, I charge Baruch before them, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both which is sealed, and this evidence which is open, and put them in an earthen vessel that they may continue many days. So here, what do we have? We have, my friends, silver being paid, the medal in the Bible of redemption. You have here land being bought in the what? The promised land, my friends. You have a situation which by man's standards is completely upside down and nobody would have anything to do with it, but spiritually, it's a hundred percent great and wonderful. And here, my friends, you have it written down. You have evidences, my friends. One that was to be sealed up in a jar of clay, and one that was to be opened. That means Baruch was to have it ready. If anybody asked about it, what about that land? What about that transaction? Baruch could say, here's the evidence. Here it is. I've got an open evidence. And just in case something happened to that, it was sealed up in a jar and it was kept safe. So if anybody had any questions, there was more. More than one copy. Now, brothers and sisters, let me tell you something. Baruch was a witness, told to send forward, go forward, and to proclaim the evidence of what he had witnessed. Kendrick, let me tell you something. That is emulative of what God's people have been doing now for 2,000 years in the name of Jesus Christ. Are you a witness of Jesus Christ? Today you may be saying, Well, Brother Joe, I've never seen a bright shining light in Saul of Tarzan, but are you a witness? I mean, I never saw looked up and saw it hanging on the tree of the cross, but are you a witness? I wasn't there like Simon and John racing to see who could get there and see the empty tool that I asked you tonight. Are you a witness? Has Jesus saved you? Has he done for you what you could not and would not have done for yourself? Do you want to give your life to him in every way, in every aspect? When you think about it, is he all the more lovely? When you speak his name, is it just that sweet on your tongues? When you think about it, does it make your heart palpitate? Oh my beloved, I want to see him, I want to dwell with him. And I'll tell you what, I can't draw anybody a picture of what I've witnessed. I can't weigh it on a scale. You can't do an MRI of me and see the witness. But friends, let me tell you something. I've seen things. And I've seen the things of the Lord. I've been a witness. And I'll tell you, if you're a believer in Jesus Christ today, my friends, I trust you are a witness. And let me tell you something. There are some open evidences. Open evidences for anybody to see. Creation around us. For somebody who says, I don't believe in miracles, you're standing in a miracle. You're walking as a miracle. You are something that even science says had to have come from nothing. Now they're still trying to figure out excuses for how something could come from nothing. They've never seen it happen in a telescope or a microscope. No one's ever viewed that happen. But here you are, a witness that you've been created after the image of God. Oh, this Bible, my friends, is an open witness. Oh, people have it in hotel rooms. They have it collecting dust, and many people are wearing it out, just seeking the Lord in it. I'm telling you, witnesses exist in this life. But I like that it's also sealed up in that jar of clay. In that jar of clay. Friends, do you have the witness in you? Do you feel Jesus Christ in you? Do you have the faith, the hope of a child of God? Friends, let me tell you something. That witness was supposed to go forward. And let me ask y'all something now. If you love your Lord, who have you told about it? Psalm 107 says, let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Are y'all saying so? Are we trying to find opportunities to invite people to church? Are we trying to find opportunities to speak good, profitable, kind, encouraging words in Christ unto them? Are we being the witnesses that we ought to be? Now I'm telling y'all, brothers and sisters, there are a lot of people out there that are hungering for what you take for granted, you and I take for granted every single day. Okay? And if we believe there's salvation in it, and there is, I'm telling you what, I feel so saved right now. I feel like I could charge hell with a water pistol. You hear me? I feel saved right now. That ain't, I didn't just get my redemption right now. My redemption was in Jesus Christ's blood. But I'm telling you, I get saved more every day when I consider what my Lord's done for me, and I want to be a witness. I want to be a witness, my friends. Hear this witness, these humble and servile people just like Baruch. Nobody's in this world, but they're the only thing in this world that matters, that gives top and light and flavor and style and preservation to this world. It's you. Don't lose sight of who you are. Don't forget of your importance in your community, in your home. Oh, certainly in your church. Don't lose sight of it, friends. You're eternally important to God, and you ought to see your place of importance right here in this temporal world in which we live, being a witness in the name of Jesus Christ. Oh, in Acts chapter 10, it said he commanded us to preach unto the people and to testify that it's he which was ordained to be God of God to be the judge of quick and dead. That's Jesus. Quick and dead, that's the two types of people. Either you is born again or you ain't born again. Okay? Quick and dead. To him give all the prophets witness. I'm telling you, Jeremiah witnessed. Baruch witnessed, Isaiah witnessed. These people witnessed something they couldn't even see clearly. How much should we be a witness? Oh, friends, over in Acts chapter 15, there at that council in Jerusalem, and when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God which knoweth the hearts, bear them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as He did unto us, and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. He said, God which knoweth the hearts. You know what that know means? It doesn't just mean something in gray matter. If you look at that word know means, it means have a relationship with, in touch with. In the familial way, a man knows his wife. You know what that means. There's an intimate relationship there. There's a knowledge, a special knowledge and connection there. And my friends, here he says, God knoweth the hearts. For all those who heard and believed and rejoiced and served as witnesses of the Holy Ghost. Why? Because God already had a connection with their hearts. God knoweth their hearts. And he said, which knoweth the hearts, bear them witness. See, he already knew what he put in them. Now he is giving them a special witness of the Holy Spirit. That is going to be an experience that they can't deny. Life-changing, sweet, precious. And he said, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us, and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now I just said God knew their hearts. God already had a relationship with their hearts. God had already come into their hearts. He'd already written his law in their hearts. They never could have believed the gospel. But I'm going to tell you what, brothers and sisters, when you believe in the Lord with the faith that he's put in your heart, when you hear about Jesus in your mind and it agrees within your heart, I'm going to tell you, brothers and sisters, it's a purifying experience. Because no longer are you toting around the woulda, woulda, coulda, shoulda. No wonder are you toting around wondering, going to bed, wetting your pillow at night, wondering, am I going to tap it open if I die tonight? And let me tell you something. You all may die tonight. I may die tonight. But I'm going to tell you what, if I come, if my name is called to go up yonder tonight, I thank God I can lay my head down, trusting that Jesus is my Savior. He's given me something that he only is his children. And I don't ever want to take it for granted. And I want to be a witness to that. A witness to that. 1 John chapter 5. Here he talks about a witness. He said, look, if we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. The witness of God is always greater. Okay? You know, if somebody doesn't give me the words that I want to hear so that I can feel confident that that's a believer in Christ, you know what? I judge him not. He's in the hands of God. Because I tell you what it all comes down to is there's a witness, my friends, that's greater than anything I can perceive that ever comes out of anyone's mouth. It's a higher witness, a more powerful witness, a 100% successful witness. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. For this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. Peter said, Look, we witnessing things. We heard the voice of the Father come from the excellent glory. And you may be saying, Wow! That must have been really something. Well, brothers and sisters, let me tell you this. You've got that same voice speaking in you today. Elijah, in the days of Elijah, it was called a still small voice. It doesn't have to be loud and woolly boogie like I am. I get excited. And you know why I get excited? Because He's put a witness in me. He's put a witness in you. Something mystical, something man that's in his nature can't understand. Only a child of God, given the Spirit of God, can feel and know and have this witness in themselves. He said, He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. He's not getting it. He doesn't have to invite it into his heart. He's already got it. It's already there. He that believeth not God hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his son. And somebody doesn't believe. It's not my job to put eternal hope in Israel and just leave him alone. I adjure you to repent in the name of Jesus and believe the name of Jesus. You have a great day. And I'm going to leave that person alone. Well, Brother Job, what's your opinion on that person? What does it mean? My opinion don't matter. My opinion ain't never wrote a name in the last book of life. And I guarantee you, my opinion can't take a name out of it. Okay? I'm looking for the witness. I want to feel the witness. I want to see the witness in others. And I rejoice in that. And he said, and this is the record. What is the record? What is the record that this witness tells you? And this is the record that God hath offered to us eternal. No. God hath given to us eternal life. And this life is in his Son. You know, 2 Timothy 2.13, if we believe not, yet he abideth faithful, he cannot deny himself. There's a lot of comfort in that. But friends, I want you to understand something. There's no reason for you not to believe in Jesus Christ. Now, if you're dead in trespasses and sins and void of the Spirit of God, there's still so much evidence of Christ in this world that wicked man ought to believe, but he won't. But the thing is, you believe that God has worked in you a witness of himself supernaturally, powerfully, that transcends heaven and earth. Live to be that witness. Being that witness is worth devoting your life to. It's worth devoting your money, your prayers, your mental energy, your encouragement. It's worth your travels. It's worth putting a smile on your face when you feel like your face ought to be as long as a mule. The witness is worth it. And we live as that witness. Baruch went forward to be that witness. And I rejoice in this. Oh, he told them on the Olivet Discourse. And he said, This gospel shall go forth into the whole world as a witness, and then the end shall come. I don't know everything I'd like to know about that, but I do know this. It sounds mighty good to me when I see the witness of Christ spreading across the continent of Africa. And I'm not talking about some fake paganistic perversion. I'm talking about, my friends, primitive Baptist doctrine, the preaching of the doctrines of grace. I'll tell you, brothers and sisters, from the time it started in Judea and it went into Samaria and it went into those other countries, brothers and sisters. It has had an eastern uh reach. I'm sorry, a western reach. It has gone toward the West, my friends. It overcame over in uh through Asia and over into Egypt. I'm sorry, over into Europe, excuse me. I do know my geographies. Over into Europe, brothers and sisters, and came over to America. And now, my friends, it's gone, swept through America. And now we've come to the point, my friends, in Canada, they're arresting people for preaching Jesus Christ. And you buckle up, it's fixing to come down here. But I can tell you what, God ain't finished yet. That witness has now crossed over the ocean, my friends, and it is uh spreading itself throughout Africa. Oh, I hear wonderful things about the underground church in China. I would to God we get an opportunity to get over there and preach. I've been over there in China when we adopted our child. And I'll tell you, if you were going to talk about Jesus, you had to hide in the corner. Oh, but brothers and sisters, there's nobody can hide in the corner to outrun the Holy Spirit of God. He has his children wherever they are, a people of every kindred, nation, people, and tongue. And I love to be a witness of that. Baruch, this little nobody, served as a witness. And let me tell you something. You may be saying that all sounds pretty good, Brother Joe, but you know, I'm just me. I'm sure Baruch said that many a day, too. I'm just me. That little maiden, we don't even know her name, who went to naming the Syrian and said, Ha, if you could just see the prophet, we got that gone. We don't know what her name was. She probably got up saying, Well, I'm just little biddy, I'm just a little slave girl. I got no reason to help this man, but you know what? She did what she could. And we're still talking about her today. Little widow had two mites. That must be a mighty little amount of money. But you know what? She gave more than all the people who gave of their excess because she gave her penny. She did what she could. And I want to encourage y'all tonight. Brothers and sisters, you've got, if you get up tomorrow, you've got another day, another opportunity to do what you can. And you know what you can do? You can open your mouth and brag on the witness that God has put within you, Christ Jesus, his son, the hope of glory. Let us be faithful to do that. And I promise you this. I promise you this, based upon the word of God. If you want to see Bethlehem Church grow in the way she should grow, it'll only grow the way the church has only grown for the last 2,000 years. By giving the witness. I love y'all. God bless you. Thank you. I hope y'all got some better time.

SPEAKER_00 59:29

We were both still in college. And one of our first apartments that we had was uh Pinehaven apartments at uh the University of Southern Mississippi. And they were built back in the 50s. Uh cinder ball construction, probably the safest buildings in Hattiesburg Mississippi. I had big old thick doors on them. Um they had a bedroom that was big enough to accommodate about a full-size bed with a little bit of walk room around it, and it had a little bitty tiny bathroom. The living room was probably the size of some of y'all's bathrooms. The biggest thing in the place was the kitchen because back in those days people actually used to cook. And uh it was a galley-style kitchen, big enough for a little bitty table. And I remember that when Sister Chloe and I were both working part-time jobs and both going to school full-time, and I remember our television went out, and it took us three or four or more weeks to save up for a new television that cost a hundred and nine dollars. And uh we were looking for the sales, but I remember one evening sitting in our apartment, that little merry dorm, and looking around our apartment and thinking, there's not a thing before we bought the TV, there's not a thing in this apartment that we paid for. It had all it was all hand-me-downs, it was all second-hand furniture, that mama and daddy, or uncle, or aunt, or friends, or a gift from our marriage. Every single thing in that entire apartment was given to us. And brothers and sisters, it just struck me as a 20 21-year-old married man that Lord, I didn't provide any of this. You provided all of this. And all of a sudden, it just made me so thankful that Lord, I didn't, again, and and brothers, you realize that's the smallest place Sister Chloe and I ever lived. That was when we had less money than we ever had before. I mean, we were literally living not even paycheck to paycheck, uh, as best we could, just happy as clams. But but we were so thankful. You know, uh I uh I'm a coin collector, and uh I follow the market, and y'all know that gold recently uh is hovering around five thousand dollars an ounce. Uh I mean something the size of a little silver dollar. Five thousand dollars in your hand, one little round. Psalm twelve, verse six. The words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Brother Joe talked to us about how that God has preserved his word. Brothers and sisters, the fact that the Holy Spirit lives in your life, that you and I are a witness, that you and I, we whether we are a preacher or not, does not matter. I've heard some of the best witnesses by people who aren't preachers, because all you're doing is telling about all the stuff in your apartment that the Lord provided for you that you didn't do, that you didn't buy, that you didn't pay for, that you didn't earn, that he gave you by his grace, and you're just telling everybody, I'm just so thankful of what the Lord did for me. Let me tell you what he did for me. And you know this word that we share with other people, it's more valuable than that piece of gold that men covet so much. But the Lord has preserved his word throughout all the ages, brothers and sisters. I mean, it's more valuable than the gold, and you know what? He implanted it inside of you and me. And the fact that no offense, us two men are here tonight hollering at y'all tonight, but and y'all are smiling about it. What's wrong with you people? You love the Lord Jesus Christ because he has done a work in your life. Brothers and sisters, please just go tell everybody else about it. And what you understand is that you're not going to save anybody to heaven, but what you are gonna do, you are gonna connect with those other people who are God's children, who in them you spark them, you spur them on, you prick them because the Holy Spirit lives in you and lives in them. They say, I recognize that.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:04

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:08

And they may want some of that. They might be ignorant of what you might know. Doesn't mean you're better than they are. You know, I uh Joe, I are a praying battle's preacher. Okay, and I have known preachers of other faiths and orders, and one particularly in my life was of another faith and order. And to this day I believe he's a better man than I ever have been. But he he doesn't he he didn't know what I know, but that doesn't matter, brothers and sisters. He loved the Lord Jesus Christ into his dying day, he tried to serve him. He might have been ignorant about a few things of the Lord, but that doesn't make me a better man than I am. But Lord, but you understand that when I think about him who weren't even a primitive Baptist, and I are one, it makes me want to be a better Christian because of the knowledge the Lord has given me. I'm even more accountable. I should be working harder than he was.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:11

Amen.

unknown 1:06:14

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:16

The words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in the furnace of earth purified seven times. When you and I share our little witness, our little testimony, and it comes from a position of truth, you're literally just blessing other people with those pure words and with the word of the Lord. You and I go do I want to I want to read for you one more verse, we're done. It's found in uh y'all believe that, don't you? Preachers never lie about length of time or when they're done. Brother Joe, my favorite quote about preachers, and I've shared this with my congregation many times, that a good preacher, like the I'm sorry, a good preacher like the a bad preacher like the good reign that never knows where to leave off. And I I are that too sometimes. In Romans chapter 8, verse 12, we read, Therefore, brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh to live after the flesh. We don't owe this world anything. For if we live after the flesh, ye shall die. But if ye through the spirit capitalists do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba Father. Brothers and sisters, we don't owe our old fleshly fallen nature anything. We owe the Lord, who's placed in us the Holy Spirit, that we cry daddy daddy, and you know what? We are debtors to our brothers and sisters that we would go and share the word of God. Aren't you thankful that He's put it in us a spirit where we whereby we cry daddy daddy?

SPEAKER_01 1:08:10

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:12

The greatest blessing you and I have in our life is the Lord Himself. Just so thankful to be in this place. I hope this has been a blessing to you tonight, Brother Joe. Thank you for being with us. We're going to close in a word of song. We will have a handshake tonight. Uh if you feel led, please come and extend the right hand of Christian fellowship to Brother Joe. Uh, Brother Don, you have one on your mind. The church doors are always open if you desire to unite with membership of our church. After the first verse, we'll ask Brother Joe to come up.