SPEAKER_00: Joshua chapter 9 tonight.
SPEAKER_00: Would you turn there?
SPEAKER_00: Joshua chapter 9.
SPEAKER_00: Just leave those microphones.
SPEAKER_00: I'll kick them over later, amen.
SPEAKER_00: Joshua chapter 9.
SPEAKER_00: And would you also pick up 2 Samuel 21?
SPEAKER_00: I'll try to give you some of your time back tonight as I realize where we're at, and it's a moral weekend.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you can have some fellowship tonight with family.
SPEAKER_00: Joshua chapter 9.
SPEAKER_00: 2 Samuel 21.
SPEAKER_00: You'll have to listen very carefully tonight to get the analogy of what I'm going to try to present.
SPEAKER_00: Joshua 9.
SPEAKER_00: If you know anything about the uh Gibeonites, uh, we'll read about them just a little bit tonight.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to equate it to something.
SPEAKER_00: Joshua chapter 9, would you look at verse 3?
SPEAKER_00: Verse 3 of Joshua 9.
SPEAKER_00: Holding your place in 2 Samuel 21.
SPEAKER_00: And when the inhabitants of Gibeon uh heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and Ai, they did work uh willily, if you would, wildily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old uh sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles old and rent, and bound up in old shoes and clouded upon their feet, and old garments upon them, and all the bread of their provision was dry and moldy.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says they came to Joshua in verse 8.
SPEAKER_00: Look what they say in verse 8.
SPEAKER_00: And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants.
SPEAKER_00: And Joshua said to them, Whence are ye, and from whence come ye?
SPEAKER_00: And they said unto him, From a far country, Thy servants are come, because of the name of the Lord thy God.
SPEAKER_00: For we have heard the fame of him and all that he did in Egypt.
SPEAKER_00: How he what he talks about in verse 10 is how they destroyed the Sihon and Og.
SPEAKER_00: And they all go on down and say in verse 11, Wherefore our elders and our all the inhabitants of our country spake to us, saying, Take victuals with you for the journey, and go to meet them and say unto them, We are, say it, your servants.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore now make a league with us.
SPEAKER_00: Now you know they deceived him.
SPEAKER_00: And verse 14, the the Israelites made a bad decision here.
SPEAKER_00: They made a decision not to ask counsel of God.
SPEAKER_00: And then they did enter into a league with these Gibeonites, and if you would, then they found out that the Gibeonites were next up on their list to destroy.
SPEAKER_00: Look, if you would, in verse 20.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 20.
SPEAKER_00: This we will do to them.
SPEAKER_00: We will even, would you say the next three words with me?
SPEAKER_00: Let them live.
SPEAKER_00: Say it again, let them live.
SPEAKER_00: Remember, the Gibeonites said and came and said, We're your servants.
SPEAKER_00: You know, the Gibeonites kind of figured this whole thing out and said, You know what?
SPEAKER_00: We got a choice here.
SPEAKER_00: We can either stay here and wait for them and die, or we can go and try to pretend that we're from afar away, and we can tell them we want to be their servants and live.
SPEAKER_00: So they made this covenant and they let them live.
SPEAKER_00: And look at verse 21.
SPEAKER_00: And the princes said unto them, Let them what?
SPEAKER_00: Live.
SPEAKER_00: But let them be hewers of wood and drawers of water unto all the congregation, as the princes hath promised them.
SPEAKER_00: Huh?
SPEAKER_00: So they're going to live, and they're going to be servants, and they're going to be hewers of wood and drawers of water, and they're going to serve that congregation.
SPEAKER_00: And look if you would, uh verse 24.
SPEAKER_00: And they answered Joshua and said, Because it was certainly told thy servants, how that the Lord thy God commanded his servant, Moses, to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, we were sore afraid of our lives because of you, and have done this thing.
SPEAKER_00: And now, behold, we are in thine hand.
SPEAKER_00: As it seemeth good and right unto thee, so do unto us, do.
SPEAKER_00: And so did he unto them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, that they slew them not.
SPEAKER_00: And Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation, and for the what?
SPEAKER_00: Altar of the Lord, even unto this day in the place which he should choose.
SPEAKER_00: They were about ready to be killed, if you would, by the Israelites, and they decided, we're going to go make a league if we can, and they were deceitful about it, and the children of Israel didn't inquire about what they should do, but they said, We're going to be your servants.
SPEAKER_00: And the end result of this situation was the Gibeonites did live.
SPEAKER_00: They became hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Now God took that pledge very seriously.
SPEAKER_00: Look at 2 Samuel 21.
SPEAKER_00: Stay with me.
SPEAKER_00: 2 Samuel chapter 21.
SPEAKER_00: Hewers of wood, drawers of water for the congregation, and for the altar of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: 2 Samuel 21, the Bible says in verse 1, there's a famine in the days of David three years, year after year, verse 1.
SPEAKER_00: And the Lord answered, It is for who?
SPEAKER_00: Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites.
SPEAKER_00: And the king called the Gibeonites and said unto them, Now the Gibbonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites, and the children of Israel had sworn unto them, and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the children of Israel and to Judah.
SPEAKER_00: You see, God honored the covenant that they made, even though it was done in an unusual fashion, God honored the covenant, and when Saul thought to break the covenant, God judged Israel and made them pay.
SPEAKER_00: If you know the story, the Gimeonites say that what they were like is for, if you would, a restitution, seven men of the sons of Saul are delivered up and they hang them.
SPEAKER_00: The idea is this, though.
SPEAKER_00: Even though the league, the covenant, the agreement was made unusually, God made them stick to that covenant, and God made them hold up that agreement, and when it was broken by Saul, God judged them for that.
SPEAKER_00: They gave them their word, and God heard it, and God said, You're going to keep your word.
SPEAKER_00: And the Gibeonites, who were going to die, they lived and became hewers of what?
SPEAKER_00: Wood and drawers of for the congregation and for the altar of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Look if you would back, and I should have had you stay there.
SPEAKER_00: Look back at Joshua 9 real quick.
SPEAKER_00: Back at Joshua 9 just for a moment.
SPEAKER_00: And also, would you pick up 1 Samuel chapter 6?
SPEAKER_00: Joshua 9 and 1 Samuel chapter 6.
SPEAKER_00: Stay right with me tonight.
SPEAKER_00: I don't think it'll be a long message, but I think you'll get the point in just a moment.
SPEAKER_00: Joshua 9 and 1 Samuel chapter 6.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to notice five cities in Joshua chapter 9, verse 17.
SPEAKER_00: Five cities.
SPEAKER_00: Joshua 9, verse 17.
SPEAKER_00: And the children of Israel journeying and came unto their cities on the third day.
SPEAKER_00: The third day they came into their cities, meaning the Gibeonites' cities.
SPEAKER_00: Now their cities were Gibeon and Cherephath and Aberoth and Kirjath Jirim.
SPEAKER_00: Hold your place there in Joshua chapter 9, real quick, and look at 1 Samuel 6.
SPEAKER_00: 1 Samuel 6, if you would.
SPEAKER_00: And in 1 Samuel 6, if you remember the message of last week, if you remember where the ark stayed for a long period of time, look at verse 20 of 1 Samuel chapter 6.
SPEAKER_00: And the men of Beth Shemesh said, Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God?
SPEAKER_00: And to whom shall he go up from us?
SPEAKER_00: And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjithiram.
SPEAKER_00: It's one of the cities of the Gibeonites, saying, The Philistines have brought again the ark of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Come ye down and fetch it up to you.
SPEAKER_00: And the men of Kirjith Jerem came and fetched up the ark of the Lord and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill, and sanctified Eliezer his son to keep the ark of the Lord, and it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjith Jerem that the time was long, for it was how long?
SPEAKER_00: Twenty years.
SPEAKER_00: Please look up here.
SPEAKER_00: The Gibeonites were supposed to die.
SPEAKER_00: It was an unusual way that they got their freedom and were allowed to live.
SPEAKER_00: And after they were allowed to live, they said, We be thy servants, and they became hewers of what?
SPEAKER_00: Say it.
SPEAKER_00: Wood, and drawers of what, say it?
SPEAKER_00: Water.
SPEAKER_00: Unto the congregation of the household of the Lord, or unto the congregation and unto the altar.
SPEAKER_00: Now, isn't that interesting that one of their cities, Kyrgyz Germ, for twenty years the ark abode there, and I guess as I read this thing, those Gibeonites who were supposed to die, they got to be hewers of what?
SPEAKER_00: Wood.
SPEAKER_00: And carriers of what?
SPEAKER_00: Water.
SPEAKER_00: Not only to the congregation, but to the altar of the Lord, and the ark of God abode there.
SPEAKER_00: Look if you would a little bit further and go back to Joshua 9 with me and also pick up 1 Kings chapter 3.
SPEAKER_00: Stay with me.
SPEAKER_00: Hewers of wood and drawers of water.
SPEAKER_00: In Joshua chapter 9, and also 1 Kings chapter 3.
SPEAKER_00: You don't mind studying your Bible, do you?
SPEAKER_00: There's no way to get to where I want to go without telling you a little bit about this.
SPEAKER_00: In chapter 9 again, in verse 17, look at the cities.
SPEAKER_00: And the children of Israel journeying and came into their cities on the third day.
SPEAKER_00: Now their cities were, what was the first one?
SPEAKER_00: Gibeon.
SPEAKER_00: Look if you would in 1 Kings chapter 3.
SPEAKER_00: 1 Kings chapter 3.
SPEAKER_00: And notice verse 1.
SPEAKER_00: Solomon is set up, if you would, he makes affinity with the king of Egypt, takes the daughter.
SPEAKER_00: And uh look if you would down at verse 3.
SPEAKER_00: And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statues of David his father.
SPEAKER_00: Only he sacrificed and burnt incense is in high places.
SPEAKER_00: And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place.
SPEAKER_00: A thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 5.
SPEAKER_00: Look at it.
SPEAKER_00: In where?
SPEAKER_00: In Gibeon.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord appeared to who?
SPEAKER_00: Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that interesting that in one of the cities of the Gibeonites, one of the chief cities, Gibeon, Saul sacrifices, a great deal of burnt offerings, if you would.
SPEAKER_00: And that night the Lord decides to appear to him right there at that altar.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, by the way, the Gibeonites were still hewers of what, say it?
SPEAKER_00: Wood.
SPEAKER_00: And drawers of the what?
SPEAKER_00: Of the water.
SPEAKER_00: Not only to the congregation, but to the what?
SPEAKER_00: The altar of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm going to say to you, I believe probably somewhere around that altar is where God must have appeared to Solomon and asked him that great question, What shall I give thee?
SPEAKER_00: And Solomon gave that answer.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't it interesting that the Gibeonites, even though they came in in an unusual way, they were allowed to let live, they became servants, they became hewers of wood and drawers of the water.
SPEAKER_00: Not only did the congregation, but they were just happy to be alive, and they also served the altar of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: You know, God's mercy is something.
SPEAKER_00: And God's grace is something.
SPEAKER_00: And God's way of dealing with things is really, when you look at it, it's just amazing what God can put together.
SPEAKER_00: Look, if you would at Matthew chapter 15.
SPEAKER_00: Matthew chapter 15.
SPEAKER_00: And let me quickly give you an analogy.
SPEAKER_00: Matthew chapter 15, and I think you'll see that it's not a perfect fit, but in similitude, I think you'll understand where I'm going.
SPEAKER_00: Matthew 15, and would you also pick up Mark chapter 7?
SPEAKER_00: Matthew 15 and Mark chapter 7.
SPEAKER_00: And let's cross-reference a couple of scriptures here.
SPEAKER_00: Matthew 15 and Mark chapter 7.
SPEAKER_00: They were supposed to die, but they came and through an unusual way they were told that they could live.
SPEAKER_00: And they said, We just want to be your servants.
SPEAKER_00: And they said, All right, you will be our servants.
SPEAKER_00: You're going to be a hewer of the wood, and you're going to be a drawer of the water, and you're going to serve the congregation and the altar of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Not only did they serve that altar, they served in Gibeon, where Solomon sacrificed, and they served, if you would, uh, at Kyrgyz Jerem, where the ark came.
SPEAKER_00: Now, if you would, look at Matthew chapter 15.
SPEAKER_00: And notice, if you would, a verse of scripture, and uh I'll give you the lead into this.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus comes, and look if you would in verse 21.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus went thence and departed the coast of Tyre and Sidon.
SPEAKER_00: Behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coast and cried to him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David.
SPEAKER_00: My daughter is grievously vexed with the devil.
SPEAKER_00: But he answered her not a word.
SPEAKER_00: Interesting.
SPEAKER_00: Why wouldn't Jesus answer her?
SPEAKER_00: And the disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away, for she crieth after us.
SPEAKER_00: But he answered and said, and he's talking to the woman, and he says, This, I am not sent, but in the lost sheep of the house of who?
SPEAKER_00: Israel.
SPEAKER_00: Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
SPEAKER_00: But he answered and said, It's not meat to take the children's bread and cast it to what?
SPEAKER_00: Dogs.
SPEAKER_00: You ever study the word dogs in the Bible?
SPEAKER_00: It's not a great term.
SPEAKER_00: He said, I'm not going to give the children's bread and cast it to the dogs.
SPEAKER_00: You know, the problem was she wasn't Jewish.
SPEAKER_00: And she said, truth, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: She didn't say it's not fair.
SPEAKER_00: She didn't say I thought God was a God of love.
SPEAKER_00: She just said truth, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: I understand my place.
SPEAKER_00: That's the truth, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table.
SPEAKER_00: You know what she says?
SPEAKER_00: Truth, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just a Gentile dog, and I don't deserve anything, but once the Israelites are done eating anything that falls to the bottom, I just want to eat it.
SPEAKER_00: Then Jesus answered and said unto her, Oh woman, great is thy faith.
SPEAKER_00: Be it unto thee even as thou wilt.
SPEAKER_00: And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
SPEAKER_00: Look, if you would at Mark chapter 7.
SPEAKER_00: Mark chapter 7.
SPEAKER_00: Mark chapter 7, if you would, look at the same story.
SPEAKER_00: And he arises in verse 24 into the borders of Tyre and Zion.
SPEAKER_00: And by the way, if you're tired of studying your Bible already, you need to start studying your Bible more during the week.
SPEAKER_00: If my giving you a few scriptures tonight gets it to the place where you sit there and they're kind of doing this, and I haven't looked in the congregation to find out, then you're not in your Bible enough during the week.
SPEAKER_00: If asking you to flip to a couple of scriptures gets you all bored and discontented, you're not in your Bible enough in the week.
SPEAKER_00: Just thought I'd throw that in.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 25.
SPEAKER_00: For a certain woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell at his feet.
SPEAKER_00: The woman was a what?
SPEAKER_00: Say it.
SPEAKER_00: A Greek.
SPEAKER_00: By the way, that's a non-Jewish person.
SPEAKER_00: That's a Gentile.
SPEAKER_00: That's a dog.
SPEAKER_00: Whoa, what do you mean, a dog?
SPEAKER_00: According to the book, it's a dog.
SPEAKER_00: The woman was a Greek, a Siophonician by nation, and besought him that he would cast forth the devil out her daughter.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus said to her, Let the children first be filled.
SPEAKER_00: For it's not meat to take the children's bread and to cast it under the dogs.
SPEAKER_00: And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs.
SPEAKER_00: And he had said unto her, For this saying, go thy way.
SPEAKER_00: Thy daughter is gone, or the devil is gone out of thy daughter.
SPEAKER_00: The idea is this she knew her place.
SPEAKER_00: She knew that she was just a Gentile dog, and the first choice of God was the Israelites.
SPEAKER_00: Look, if you would at Romans chapter 11 and pick up Acts chapter 10.
SPEAKER_00: Romans chapter 11.
SPEAKER_00: I hope your mind is starting to work.
SPEAKER_00: Romans chapter 11 and Acts chapter 10.
SPEAKER_00: Now, if you know anything about Romans 11, we Gentile dogs came in in an unusual way.
SPEAKER_00: Is that right?
SPEAKER_00: Come on, talk to me.
SPEAKER_00: We Gentile dogs, I mean, we got in in kind of an unusual way.
SPEAKER_00: You say, what do you mean, we Gentile dogs?
SPEAKER_00: I wasn't born Jewish.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not an Israelite per se.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody says, well, what about since you've been born again?
SPEAKER_00: I was born a Gentile dog, but I've been born again, and now by faith I'm a child of Israel.
SPEAKER_00: Is that right?
SPEAKER_00: But I was born a gentile dog.
SPEAKER_00: And by the way, most of you were too.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 7.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 7 of Romans 11.
SPEAKER_00: What then?
SPEAKER_00: Question mark.
SPEAKER_00: Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for.
SPEAKER_00: But the election have obtained it, and the rest were blinded.
SPEAKER_00: According to it written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear unto this day.
SPEAKER_00: What is that talking about?
SPEAKER_00: Israel had their opportunity, if you would, but because they were given, if you would, that spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and that their eyes were holding, the little God of this world probably blinded them, then God had a plan.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 11.
SPEAKER_00: I say then, have they, that's Israel, stumbled that they should fall.
SPEAKER_00: God forbid.
SPEAKER_00: But rather that through their Israel's fall, salvation has come to the Gentile dogs.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: For to provoke them, Israel, to jealousy.
SPEAKER_00: You know, God's using us Gentile dogs to make Israel jealous.
SPEAKER_00: And God's blessing our nation to make Israel jealous.
SPEAKER_00: Is that right?
SPEAKER_00: Now, if the fall of them be the riches of the world, diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their fullness?
SPEAKER_00: For I speak to you who?
SPEAKER_00: Gentiles, inasmuch as I am apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my office.
SPEAKER_00: Look what he says in verse 25.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 25.
SPEAKER_00: I would not, brethren, talking to those ones that he's, if you would, an apostle to, the Gentiles, that you should be ignorant of this mystery.
SPEAKER_00: That you should be wise in your own what?
SPEAKER_00: Conceits.
SPEAKER_00: Brethren, we better remember from whence we come.
SPEAKER_00: We better remember how we got in.
SPEAKER_00: We remember it's not of our own merit.
SPEAKER_00: We better remember that it's just because, if you would, Israel rejected him that he turned to the Gentiles, us, to provoke them to jealousy.
SPEAKER_00: It's an unusual way to get in, but it's a good way to get in.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's not quite the same as the Gibeonites, but I may say this: as unusual as there was, we haven't been deceptive.
SPEAKER_00: It wasn't something that God was fooled.
SPEAKER_00: But God have an unusual way of putting it all together to give the Gentiles the opportunity.
SPEAKER_00: And if all as we are ever is hewers of wood and drawers of water.
SPEAKER_00: And we're servants to Israel in some way, shape, or form.
SPEAKER_00: That's enough for me.
SPEAKER_00: It's just good to be alive eternally.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: He says this that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.
SPEAKER_00: And so all Israel shall be saved, as it is written, there shall come out of Sion the what?
SPEAKER_00: Deliverer.
SPEAKER_00: And shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob, for this is my covenant to them.
SPEAKER_00: When I shall take away their sins, Israel, as concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes.
SPEAKER_00: But as touching the election, they are beloved for the Father's sakes.
SPEAKER_00: For the gifts and the calling of God are without repentance.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't it interesting the way we got in?
SPEAKER_00: We got in kind of by default.
SPEAKER_00: Now you say, no, God knew the plan.
SPEAKER_00: I know God knew the plan from Alpha to Omega on the whole thing.
SPEAKER_00: But as I read this thing, it looks like we kind of got in by default.
SPEAKER_00: Kind of an unusual way.
SPEAKER_00: You mean God didn't just just love the Gentiles?
SPEAKER_00: Sure He did.
SPEAKER_00: But if you would look at Acts chapter 11, or Acts chapter 10.
SPEAKER_00: Stay with me.
SPEAKER_00: Acts chapter 10.
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of unusual the way this came about, if you know the story.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you've read Acts chapter 10 in a while.
SPEAKER_00: There's a devout centurion man named Cornelius.
SPEAKER_00: And he's a what?
SPEAKER_00: He's a Gentile.
SPEAKER_00: He's of the Italian band.
SPEAKER_00: And uh he goes up and he's fasting uh one day and he's praying.
SPEAKER_00: And verse 3 of Acts chapter 10, he sees a vision.
SPEAKER_00: About the ninth hour of the day, the angel of God coming into him and saying, Cornelius.
SPEAKER_00: When he looked on him, he was afraid and said, What is it, Lord?
SPEAKER_00: And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.
SPEAKER_00: He tells him to send some men to Joppa and to go down and see Peter down there, who's lodging at Simon, a tanner's house, if you know the story.
SPEAKER_00: And so uh they take off and they head for the place where Peter is.
SPEAKER_00: And while they're on their way, verse 9, on the morrow as they went on their journey and drew nigh into the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour.
SPEAKER_00: He became very hungry and would have eaten, but while he made ready, he fell into a trance.
SPEAKER_00: And what he sees is the heaven opened, and a certain vessel descends, and there's a great sheet and four corners are let down in the earth, and on that sheet there's all manner of four-footed beasts and wild beasts and creeping things.
SPEAKER_00: And verse 13, a voice comes to him and says, Rise, Peter, kill and eat.
SPEAKER_00: And Peter said, Not so, Lord, for I've never eaten anything that is what?
SPEAKER_00: Common or unclean.
SPEAKER_00: A voice spake unto him again the second time, what God hath cleansed.
SPEAKER_00: That call not thou common.
SPEAKER_00: This was done thrice.
SPEAKER_00: Three times.
SPEAKER_00: Kind of like when Peter denied him three times.
SPEAKER_00: And the vessel was received up again into heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Now, while Peter doubted in himself with this vision, what is meaning?
SPEAKER_00: There's the ones that Cornelius sent, and they knock on his door.
SPEAKER_00: And look at verse 19.
SPEAKER_00: Stay with me.
SPEAKER_00: While Peter thought in the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee.
SPEAKER_00: Arise, therefore, and get thee down and go with them, doubting nothing, for I have sent them.
SPEAKER_00: So here's these three men show up that Cornelius, the Gentile, has sent according to God's plan.
SPEAKER_00: Do you see how great God is?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, you read this thing, you say, Well, that's a nice story.
SPEAKER_00: No, that's God working on one nation, and God working on another nation, and God's mercy and grace, and he's got a plan.
SPEAKER_00: So they all go down and they go down to Cornelius' house.
SPEAKER_00: And Peter's with them.
SPEAKER_00: And verse 24.
SPEAKER_00: And the Maurer, after they entered into Caesarea, and Cornelius waited for them and had called together his what?
SPEAKER_00: His kinsmen and near friends.
SPEAKER_00: And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius falls down, and he wants to worship him, and Peter says, Stand up, I myself also am a man.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that interesting?
SPEAKER_00: The first Pope saying, Stand up, don't fall down before me.
SPEAKER_00: I myself also am a man.
SPEAKER_00: You read it right there, amen?
SPEAKER_00: Didn't ask him to kiss his ring or anything, amen?
SPEAKER_00: Come on.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you are smiling too much right now.
SPEAKER_00: And they talk with him and everything.
SPEAKER_00: And verse 28, look at it.
SPEAKER_00: Peter says this.
SPEAKER_00: He said unto them, You know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company or come unto one of another nation.
SPEAKER_00: But God hath showed me that I should not call who?
SPEAKER_00: Any man common or unclean.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore came I unto you without gainsaying as soon as I was sent for.
SPEAKER_00: I ask, therefore, for what intent ye have sent for me?
SPEAKER_00: Here's Peter.
SPEAKER_00: Here's Peter, if you would, I believe the leader of the church of Antioch, certainly very, very Jewish.
SPEAKER_00: And he's saying, All right, why am I here?
SPEAKER_00: Why have you sent for me?
SPEAKER_00: And Cornelius rehearses the matter.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Four days ago I was fasting until this hour.
SPEAKER_00: About the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and he says, A man stood before me in bright clothing.
SPEAKER_00: Tells him his prayer is heard, and he tells him to send these men to Joppa.
SPEAKER_00: And verse 33, immediately therefore I sent to thee, and thou hast well done that thou art come.
SPEAKER_00: Now, therefore, are we all here present before God to hear all the things that are commanded thee of God?
SPEAKER_00: Now please look up here.
SPEAKER_00: Here is Peter saying, Here I am, why did you send for me?
SPEAKER_00: And here is Cornelius saying, Well, I was fasting, I was praying, a bright, shining man showed up to me and said, Send three guys and bring Peter down here.
SPEAKER_00: And then Cornelius says, So we're here right now present to hear whatever you got to say to us.
SPEAKER_00: One is saying, uh, okay, what do you want from me?
SPEAKER_00: Why am I here?
SPEAKER_00: The other is saying, well, uh, what do you got to say to us?
unknown: Come on.
SPEAKER_00: Is that right?
SPEAKER_00: And God's got the whole thing planned.
SPEAKER_00: All Peter has to do is break through his prejudice and preach God's word.
SPEAKER_00: Then Peter opened his mouth and said, Of a truth, I perceive that God is no respecter of persons.
SPEAKER_00: But every nation that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody says, What about that country over there, you know, and all that?
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says, every nation that feareth him, not Buddha, not some Muslim God, Mohammed.
SPEAKER_00: Every nation that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody says, Well, what about those ones?
SPEAKER_00: If they're worshiping some stone image, they're not fearing God.
SPEAKER_00: Mark it down.
SPEAKER_00: But every nation that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him.
SPEAKER_00: The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And then he says in parentheses, he is Lord of all.
SPEAKER_00: And then he goes on to preach how Jesus uh, what he did, and how he was hanged, and how he rose again the third day and showed himself openly.
SPEAKER_00: Huh.
SPEAKER_00: And don't you know something interesting happened?
SPEAKER_00: Verse 44.
SPEAKER_00: While Peter yet spake these words.
SPEAKER_00: By the way, in parentheses, to the Gentiles.
SPEAKER_00: The Holy Ghost fell on them which heard the word.
SPEAKER_00: Huh?
SPEAKER_00: Now Peter has to go back home.
SPEAKER_00: And when he goes back home to verse 11 to Jerusalem, look what the first thing these Jewish people leaders say to him.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 2.
SPEAKER_00: And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they were of the circumcision, that's Jewish, contended with him, saying, Thou wentest into men uncircumcised, Gentiles, and did east with them.
SPEAKER_00: But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning.
SPEAKER_00: It spout in order.
SPEAKER_00: And he tells them the whole story about how this whole thing came about again.
SPEAKER_00: And then he says in verse 15, look at it, brethren.
SPEAKER_00: And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning.
SPEAKER_00: Huh?
SPEAKER_00: Verse 18.
SPEAKER_00: When they heard these things, they what?
SPEAKER_00: They held their peace.
SPEAKER_00: And glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to those Gentile dogs granted repentance unto life.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know about you tonight, but it's nice just for Him to look on us and let us live.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I feel a little bit like the Gibeonites in that we didn't deceive God and we didn't make this thing out, but it was an unusual way that the Gibeonites got in.
SPEAKER_00: But it's good for us Gentiles just to be able to come to God and say, We be thy servants.
SPEAKER_00: Just let us live.
SPEAKER_00: Well, okay.
SPEAKER_00: Tell you what?
SPEAKER_00: You're not uh of the house of Israel.
SPEAKER_00: Um I wonder if God came to you and said, tell you what I want you to do.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to be a hewer of wood, a drawer of water, under the congregation.
SPEAKER_00: Please look up here and uh to the altar of God.
SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm I'm better than that.
SPEAKER_00: I got more talent than that.
SPEAKER_00: I think you owe me more than that.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, the Gibeonites were gonna die.
SPEAKER_00: And so were we.
SPEAKER_00: You know where we were heading?
SPEAKER_00: Hell! The lake of fire, away from God forever.
SPEAKER_00: Man, I don't know about you tonight, but as a Gentile dog, and even if you want to say, well, man, doesn't that mean that we're kind of in second place?
SPEAKER_00: Well, in heaven, I don't think there's gonna be any second place, but we want to say, because of their default, we got in, I'm just glad to get in.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody says, Well, you're not Jewish.
SPEAKER_00: Well, spiritually I am.
SPEAKER_00: Because I'm of the seed of Abraham by faith.
SPEAKER_00: You tell that to a Jewish person, though, and he'll look at you.
SPEAKER_00: We be of Moses.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because they're still blinded.
SPEAKER_00: But that's not the end of the story.
SPEAKER_00: Look at Romans 3 now, and here we get to the message.
SPEAKER_00: But the message won't take long.
SPEAKER_00: Romans 3 and 1 Peter chapter 4.
SPEAKER_00: I figured tonight the only people would be in church on a Sunday night, Memorial Day weekend, would be people that want to study their Bible and learn something.
SPEAKER_00: I figure the rest of them be at home asleep and saying it's a holiday weekend and they don't have to go to church tonight.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: So I figure if you're here tonight, you don't mind studying your Bible just a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: Now look what it says in Romans chapter 3, verse 1.
SPEAKER_00: And you're holding your place in 1 Peter chapter what?
SPEAKER_00: Chapter 4.
SPEAKER_00: Romans 3, 1.
SPEAKER_00: What advantage then hath the Jew?
SPEAKER_00: Or what prophet is there of circumcision?
SPEAKER_00: Much every way.
SPEAKER_00: Chiefly.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the main reason.
SPEAKER_00: Because that unto them were committed the what?
SPEAKER_00: What's an oracle of God?
SPEAKER_00: They were uh God's mouthpiece to propituate, if you would, perpetuate his word.
SPEAKER_00: Is that right?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, what he said to the Jews is, I want you to take this and I want you to, if you would, first of all, in the Old Testament, write it down and teach it to your children, and write it on the doorpost, and write it on those altars and tell your children about it.
SPEAKER_00: And then he, when he chose those who were going to be, if you would, the apostles, he chose Jewish men.
SPEAKER_00: And he could committed to them the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: He was a Jewish man that gave, if you would, the Gentile.
SPEAKER_00: The word of God, Cornelius.
SPEAKER_00: Unto them were committed the oracles of God.
SPEAKER_00: Now wait a minute.
SPEAKER_00: Please look up here.
SPEAKER_00: But the Jewish people didn't believe.
SPEAKER_00: But God didn't let his oracles fall to the ground.
SPEAKER_00: God didn't let his word fall to the ground.
SPEAKER_00: God had a plan.
SPEAKER_00: Look at 1 Peter chapter 4.
SPEAKER_00: And in 1 Peter chapter 4.
SPEAKER_00: Look if we're with me and I'll give you a run-in.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 7.
SPEAKER_00: But the end of all things is at hand.
SPEAKER_00: I think we're there.
SPEAKER_00: I think that's a good statement.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody says, What time is it?
SPEAKER_00: The end of all things are at hand.
SPEAKER_00: And ye therefore, be therefore sober and watch unto prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Above all things, have fervent charity among yourselves, for charity shall cover the multitude of sins, using, use hospitality one to another without grudging.
SPEAKER_00: As every man hath received the gift, even so minister to the same one to another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
SPEAKER_00: He's talking to the ones that are.
SPEAKER_00: Well it says now wait, Peter, what if any man speak, let him speak as the what?
SPEAKER_00: The oracles of God.
SPEAKER_00: If any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth.
SPEAKER_00: That God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom he praise and dominion forever and ever.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Now somebody may say, no, you see, 1 Peter, that's to the Jews.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, you know what?
SPEAKER_00: 1 Peter is, if you would, you say, well, divide it out dispensationally and all that.
SPEAKER_00: I know this.
SPEAKER_00: I've got the Holy Spirit of God in me, and those Jewish people don't.
SPEAKER_00: They're still going to the wailing wall.
SPEAKER_00: They're still looking for their Messiah.
SPEAKER_00: But Messiah has already come.
SPEAKER_00: And Messiah has already convinced that he came, he died, he was buried, and he rose again from the dead, and those who will believe can receive the Holy Spirit of God and become the oracles of God.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't it interesting that right now, presently, in this dispensation of grace, somebody says, I don't believe in dispensations, read your Bible.
SPEAKER_00: In this dispensation of grace, which the Bible says, that right now he's putting his spirit in non-Jewish people and expecting them to be the oracles of God.
SPEAKER_00: What does that mean?
SPEAKER_00: That means we're supposed to be carrying the word forth to other people and other nations.
SPEAKER_00: Now you know what's interesting?
SPEAKER_00: You tell me, where are the missionaries coming from?
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I know they're I know they're in different countries and everything like that.
SPEAKER_00: But where have many of the missionaries in the last 200 years come from?
SPEAKER_00: Right here.
SPEAKER_00: Right in America.
SPEAKER_00: A Gentile nation.
SPEAKER_00: The Gibeonites started out and they just wanted to live.
SPEAKER_00: That's all.
SPEAKER_00: They did something deceivable.
SPEAKER_00: It was unusual.
SPEAKER_00: Very unusual.
SPEAKER_00: And they said, yeah, let's make an agreement with them and we'll let them live.
SPEAKER_00: And then they found out later and they said, well, we're going to make them hewers of what?
SPEAKER_00: Say it?
SPEAKER_00: Wood.
SPEAKER_00: And uh they'll serve the congregation and the altar of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Wasn't it interesting that Kyrgyz Jerem got the ark of God for 20 years?
SPEAKER_00: And for 20 years, those Gibeonites evidently took the wood and took the water, not only to the congregation, but they took it up to the altar of the Lord so those priests could minister.
SPEAKER_00: Also interesting that one of the cities, Gibeon, was a place where Solomon went and God met him there at that great altar, if you would, and the Gibeonites were the hewers of wood and the what?
SPEAKER_00: And they brought it not to the congregation, but also to the altar of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And they decided that it was better to live and just be a servant, whatever shape or form.
SPEAKER_00: And God honored that pledge.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, when Saul broke it, God judged Israel.
SPEAKER_00: Did you ever look at yourself and say, I'm not worthy for eternal life?
SPEAKER_00: Did you ever look at yourself and say, you know what?
SPEAKER_00: If I was if I was just sawing some wood and carrying some water for God in some way, shape, or form, and I was going to live forever, that would be enough.
SPEAKER_00: See, sometimes in a church, people get this idea that, you know, I should be more recognized.
SPEAKER_00: I should have better status.
SPEAKER_00: Don't they see my talent?
SPEAKER_00: Why am I being chosen for this or charged for that?
SPEAKER_00: May I say to you, if you're just a carrier of some wood and some carrier of some water in this congregation of just doing your job, praise God, you're gonna live forever.
SPEAKER_00: You're gonna just do that job as unto God and forget about what you think people think about you.
SPEAKER_00: Look at the situation.
SPEAKER_00: We weren't even gonna be saved.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, well, I know God knew we were gonna be, but the Jewish people didn't know.
SPEAKER_00: They looked at us as dogs, and when Jesus appeared and that woman came, he wasn't even going to talk to her.
SPEAKER_00: And the disciples didn't think anything about it because she was a Gentile.
SPEAKER_00: But she said truth, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: You know, but the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from the children's tables, and you know Jesus knew exactly what she was talking about.
SPEAKER_00: Make a statement.
SPEAKER_00: I don't think those apostles did.
SPEAKER_00: I don't think they got that statement.
SPEAKER_00: I think that was something that Jesus understood, and the woman evidently had some understanding, and God knew what was going to happen.
SPEAKER_00: Brethren, just the fact that we get to be a church tonight, and just the fact that we get to be, if you would, now instead of the Jewish, the oracles of God, just the fact that we get to go out and take the gospel message, and we get to preach it, and we get to take it to the doors, and we get to stand on the preach uh street corners, and we get to hand out tracts, and we get to send out missionaries.
SPEAKER_00: We ought to thank God that we get to serve the congregation and the altar of the Lord in whatever capacity it is.
SPEAKER_00: If Prince of Powers have been telling you, you know what, I'm not appreciated around here.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just, you know, you know, they just got me doing this and got me doing that, but they're not letting me do anything else.
SPEAKER_00: May I say to you that uh why don't you just be content being a hewer of wood and a bearer of the water?
SPEAKER_00: And thank God you're not going to hell.
SPEAKER_00: And thank God you're not going to be separated from God forever.
SPEAKER_00: You know, I could do the same thing.
SPEAKER_00: I I could, I guess I could say, well, you know, look, Lord, look how much I've studied.
SPEAKER_00: Look, look at my this, and look at this, that, and look how much I fastened, look at all this stuff, and look what I've done for you, and and look, that guy over there, look what he's doing in comparisons to me.
SPEAKER_00: You know what God says to me?
SPEAKER_00: Now, he may deal with you differently, but he just looks at me and says, Shut up.
SPEAKER_00: Now I know he probably says to you in a different way.
SPEAKER_00: But if I ever murmur and complain about some of that stuff, he says, Yeah, just shut up.
SPEAKER_00: Look at yourself, Doug.
SPEAKER_00: Don't you remember from whence I found you?
SPEAKER_00: And from where you came from.
SPEAKER_00: It's only by my grace that you're even doing what you're doing.
SPEAKER_00: It's only by my grace that I'd even let you preach.
SPEAKER_00: It's only by my grace that I'd let you open up the word and talk to some people.
SPEAKER_00: It's only my grace to let you witness to somebody.
SPEAKER_00: It's only my grace to let you pray to me.
SPEAKER_00: It's only my grace to let you be what you are.
SPEAKER_00: And why don't you just get the mindset done?
SPEAKER_00: Be a humor of water and a bearer of a humor of wood and a bearer of water and be content with it.
SPEAKER_00: I know this.
SPEAKER_00: Well, somebody says, certainly you have goals.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I have goals, but make sure God's in the goals.
SPEAKER_00: A lot of men, they get this idea that they're gonna be something.
SPEAKER_00: If they think they're gonna be something, may I say this?
SPEAKER_00: I've watched it along the way, and I've watched the ones that said, I'm gonna be something, I'm gonna do something, I'm gonna be this, I'm gonna be that, I'm gonna be this.
SPEAKER_00: And I look at them and I don't say a whole lot.
SPEAKER_00: I just think they're about ready for reality to sit in.
SPEAKER_00: I remember a guy when I first got saved, I led a guy to Christ back in South Carolina, and he got going for the Lord and everything, and about six weeks into salvation, he came to me and said, God showed me I'm gonna be a great evangelist.
SPEAKER_00: I said, Well, that's nice.
SPEAKER_00: I'll pray for you, brother.
SPEAKER_00: He said, No, you don't understand.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna be a great evangelist.
SPEAKER_00: He was young in the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: He said, I'm gonna be like Billy Graham.
SPEAKER_00: I said, I hope not.
SPEAKER_00: Don't be offended by that.
SPEAKER_00: He said, No, I'm gonna be a great evangelist.
SPEAKER_00: You know what?
SPEAKER_00: He didn't last in church another six months.
SPEAKER_00: He said, Well, did he really get saved?
SPEAKER_00: Well, I think he did.
SPEAKER_00: Seemed like he had zeal.
SPEAKER_00: Problem was he didn't just want to be a hewer of wood and bear of the water.
SPEAKER_00: He wanted to be somebody.
SPEAKER_00: Nothing wrong with wanting to do something for God in God's timing.
SPEAKER_00: Most men that I see, though, that shoot themselves in the foot.
SPEAKER_00: Is that a they do it to themselves?
SPEAKER_00: They get this, they get this, they get this idea of what they're gonna be, and they're they're not willing to just stay at the wood and stay at the water and just just do the simple things, and if God raises them up, fine.
SPEAKER_00: But if God doesn't, fine.
SPEAKER_00: A couple years back.
SPEAKER_00: Almost resigned in church.
SPEAKER_00: I just was overwhelmed with some of the growth and thought, well, Lord, I'm probably taking it as far as that I can, and maybe I'll bring someone else in.
SPEAKER_00: My confidence in what I could do was gone.
SPEAKER_00: And you know I've preached on it maybe once or twice, but it was almost like God had withdrawn his strength from me.
SPEAKER_00: It wasn't that I was heavily backslidden or anything, it was just like God took his strength back.
SPEAKER_00: I didn't even think I could be a good dad or a good husband.
SPEAKER_00: But I remember saying to the Lord, Lord, it probably won't work out, but if you if you want, I'll just stay here.
SPEAKER_00: And I'll just I'll just be an usher again.
SPEAKER_00: Nothing wrong with being an usher.
SPEAKER_00: I'll go back to my old duties when I first started here at the church, and I'll be an usher.
SPEAKER_00: And I'll amen the preacher.
SPEAKER_00: And I'll support him.
SPEAKER_00: And I knew when I was telling him that, I thought, well, probably it won't work out that way.
SPEAKER_00: But I said, Lord, if if that's what you want, and I meant it, I'll just I'll just do that.
SPEAKER_00: And I thought at least I can I can still do that.
SPEAKER_00: Now God gave me some scriptures to show me what he wanted me to do next, but it was a period of time when I think the Lord was just taking me through a little testing period to say, let's let's see you there, Lieutenant, if you still remember what it's like being out in the foxhole when the rain's coming down and the heat tab won't light.
SPEAKER_00: You gotta eat your beans cold.
SPEAKER_00: Now that you're up at the command post and someone's fixing your meal for you and all that.
SPEAKER_00: Someone's lighting the heat tab and someone's making your meal because you're on that radio so much and you're you're just taking it and eating it real quick, but Let's just remember, Doug, what it was like out there in that foxhole with the with the mud coming in.
SPEAKER_00: You still willing to do that?
SPEAKER_00: I kind of like it in the foxhole when there's not a bunch of radios and they're not pinpointing who's talking.
SPEAKER_00: You're just kind of out there by yourself and wallowing in the mud a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: Life was much simpler then.
SPEAKER_00: See, you look up here sometime, and some of you men say, that's what I want to be.
SPEAKER_00: I want a pulpit like that.
SPEAKER_00: I want a church like this.
SPEAKER_00: That's what I want.
SPEAKER_00: Better for you to say, you know what I want?
SPEAKER_00: I want to be a good hewer of wood.
SPEAKER_00: And a good drawer of water to the congregation.
SPEAKER_00: I want to be a good servant to the congregation.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to be a good servant not only to the congregation, but when I get to go up to the altar and be a servant there and carry some water there, I want to do that too.
SPEAKER_00: And just be as unto the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Because you see, I was just a Gentile dog.
SPEAKER_00: I was just a Gibeonite.
SPEAKER_00: I got in kind of unusually.
SPEAKER_00: Now I'm just happy to be alive.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just happy to be a part of the congregation.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, when the marriage supper, the woman comes, I don't care if I sit next to him as long as I'm at the table somewhere.
SPEAKER_00: Can my son sit next to you in heaven?
SPEAKER_00: Which one of you is the idea?
SPEAKER_00: Which one of us do you think should be the greatest?
SPEAKER_00: Well, then sometimes God's got to take us down, just remind us of something.
SPEAKER_00: And I hope he continually does it with me and all our leaders because humility, being abased, is the key to God exalting someone.
SPEAKER_00: And when he says to a congregation, to a church, to a to a leader, here's what I want you to do.
SPEAKER_00: It's not pride that wells up, it's humility that says, okay.
SPEAKER_00: I'll do it with your help.
SPEAKER_00: Take not thy presence with from me.
SPEAKER_00: If you carry us up there, I want your presence to go with me.
SPEAKER_00: You getting adrift tonight?
SPEAKER_00: Ladies?
SPEAKER_00: Well, I think my husband ought to be this.
SPEAKER_00: He ought to be more recognized.
SPEAKER_00: He ought to be more of this.
SPEAKER_00: He ought to be more of that.
SPEAKER_00: Look at him, look at his palates, look at him, look at him, you know.
SPEAKER_00: If he was a humor of wood and a drawer of water and the congregation front, you ought to shut up and be thankful.
SPEAKER_00: Don't put him in that position at home.
SPEAKER_00: I think you ought to be more.
SPEAKER_00: Let him be what God wants to be.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, push him along.
SPEAKER_00: Encourage him along.
SPEAKER_00: Build that man.
SPEAKER_00: But don't force him.
SPEAKER_00: I think my husband ought to be a Sunday school teacher.
SPEAKER_00: Why hasn't he been asked?
SPEAKER_00: One reason.
SPEAKER_00: He hasn't told Doug Jordan he's available.
SPEAKER_00: That's it.
SPEAKER_00: He just hasn't made himself available.
SPEAKER_00: Well, I I think my preacher ought to be, my husband ought to be asked to preach on a Sunday night.
SPEAKER_00: Your message?
SPEAKER_00: I want to tell you, it probably won't ever happen because my wife has three years of messages planned for me already.
SPEAKER_00: I just want to remind you of something at this church.
SPEAKER_00: If you're new here, you've been here for a while.
SPEAKER_00: This is not a church where the pastor and his wife are untouchable and think themselves something that they're not.
SPEAKER_00: I know pastor and Miss Fisher, but to us it's still just Doug and Patty.
SPEAKER_00: Jollers of water.
SPEAKER_00: We just have to do it a little more publicly.
SPEAKER_00: That'd be a good place for all of us today.
SPEAKER_00: And if God raises us up, we'll just look and say, Well, I'm sure glad some of the crumbs fell off the table.
SPEAKER_00: And I was there to get a little bite.
SPEAKER_00: Have a little part.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm sure glad when those oracles fell off that table that I was there and I could pick up a little bit of it and be a part of it for a while.
SPEAKER_00: I'm sure glad I got the opportunity to go out and witness for the Lord Jesus Christ before I died.
SPEAKER_00: I'm sure glad that when he turned from the Jews and came to the Gentiles, then he saved me and I had the opportunity to go out and present the gospel to somebody.
SPEAKER_00: One woman and what's them receive Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Sugarglad I had the opportunity to run those buses.
SPEAKER_00: Sugarglomet I had the opportunity to be in that convalescent home.
SPEAKER_00: Sugar glad I had the opportunity to bring that Spanish revival.
SPEAKER_00: Sugarglomer had the opportunity to bring it to that military work.
SPEAKER_00: Sugarglamada had the opportunity to work down in that prison.
SPEAKER_00: Sugar glad I had the opportunity to work with the deaf.
SPEAKER_00: Sugar glad I had the opportunity to work in the nursery.
SPEAKER_00: Sugar glad I had the opportunity to work with the teen group.
SPEAKER_00: Sugar glad God gave me the opportunity.
SPEAKER_00: And I took it and received it and used it.
SPEAKER_00: We all feel like quitting once in a while.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it's just our pride.
SPEAKER_00: We just need to remember from whence we came.
SPEAKER_00: And the fact that it's just good to be alive and live forever.
SPEAKER_00: And be part of a congregation that's doing something for God.
SPEAKER_00: Tonight.
SPEAKER_00: If you just think that we haven't recognized your talent yet, we're looking.
SPEAKER_00: We really are.
SPEAKER_00: But may I remind you something of this, sir, ma'am?
SPEAKER_00: It's God who lifts up.
SPEAKER_00: It's God who puts into positions.
SPEAKER_00: And if my role was to be an usher, military director, now pastor of the church.
SPEAKER_00: And I never got to go out and do anything, speaking anywhere, anything like that.
SPEAKER_00: And God took me back to where whatever I was and whatever I could be, you know what?
SPEAKER_00: I'd just be content that I had the opportunity to carry a little water.
SPEAKER_00: And to cut a little wood for the altar of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Don't quit, don't give up.
SPEAKER_00: We need more hewers.
SPEAKER_00: More drawers.
SPEAKER_00: And more people that realize, you know what?
SPEAKER_00: Only by the grace of God am I doing what I'm doing.
SPEAKER_00: I better just stop murmuring and complaining and be thankful that I'm doing what I'm doing.
SPEAKER_00: And be faithful at it.
SPEAKER_00: And in the end, just for him to say, Well done, thou good and faithful what?
SPEAKER_00: You see, the Gibeonites came and said, We'll be your servants.
SPEAKER_00: We'll just be your servants.
SPEAKER_00: I think Cornelius when that Holy Ghost fell, he was very humble about the whole thing.
SPEAKER_00: Brethren, tonight, it's good to be a Christian.
SPEAKER_00: And it's good to be doing something for God rather than fighting and contention and arguing.
SPEAKER_00: It's good to have a little hospitality and grudge not one against another.
SPEAKER_00: And it's good tonight to be in a congregation where people are still getting saved.
SPEAKER_00: Lives are still being changed.
SPEAKER_00: Marriages are being put back together.
SPEAKER_00: Bust children are being reached.
SPEAKER_00: Convalescent center people are being ministered to.
SPEAKER_00: Prison people are being helped.
SPEAKER_00: Street people are being preached to.
SPEAKER_00: We need to stay that way.
SPEAKER_00: Wouldn't hurt tonight for a few of us to get around the altar and say, you know what, Lord?
SPEAKER_00: I just want to take a moment and thank you for my job that you've given me.
SPEAKER_00: I work the nursery.
SPEAKER_00: Help me to be a hewer of the wood and bearer of the water right there.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I want to thank you.
SPEAKER_00: I'm a bus worker.
SPEAKER_00: And I just want to thank you for letting me work a bus route.
SPEAKER_00: Oh Lord, I watch children on Thursday night, and I just want to thank you for letting me watch children on Thursday night.
SPEAKER_00: Oh Lord, I'm a mechanic and I get under the buses and I try to keep them going.
SPEAKER_00: And I just want to thank you for letting me be a mechanic.
SPEAKER_00: Oh Lord, I clean a few restrooms at the church, and I just want to thank you for letting me clean those restrooms.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I get to teach a Sunday school class, and I just want to thank you, Lord, for letting me be able to teach that Sunday school class.
SPEAKER_00: And if you're sitting here and you say, Well, I don't do anything, then let me ask you a question.
SPEAKER_00: What are you waiting for?
SPEAKER_00: Well, there's nothing available.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, come, come, come.
SPEAKER_00: Do I hear leaders stand up and say, we need this and we need that, and we could use a little bit of this, and we could use help there, and I could use something over here, and we could use this over there, and I could use that.
SPEAKER_00: Well, don't ever be above.
SPEAKER_00: Being a hewer of wood and a drawer of water.
SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm waiting for God to show up to me at midday.
SPEAKER_00: And you're gonna wait for a while.
SPEAKER_00: And don't be surprised in the twinkling of an eye, you see him and you go, finally you've come, and God says, No, it's over now, your time's up.
SPEAKER_00: You missed your chance.
SPEAKER_00: This is the rapture.
SPEAKER_00: Time's up.
SPEAKER_00: See you at the judgment in a few hours.
SPEAKER_00: I should say a few years.
SPEAKER_00: Don't wait.
SPEAKER_00: Take a small job.
SPEAKER_00: Take a seemingly little job.
SPEAKER_00: And do it right and do it well.
SPEAKER_00: Faithful in the little thing.
SPEAKER_00: And be careful about getting too heady and thinking we're something that we're not.
SPEAKER_00: And go out and shoot yourself in the foot and blame Christianity for it.
SPEAKER_00: That's all stat.