################################################################################ START OF FILE: 2012-08-05 - The Present Truth Pt. 5 - Barry Coffey.txt ################################################################################ SERMON DETAILS ======================================== Date: 2012-08-05 Title: The Present Truth Pt. 5 Speaker: Barry Coffey Church: Hickory Bible Tabernacle Type: Sunday Evening Duration: 1h 37m Language: English URL: https://web.archive.org/web/20130926202729/http://hickorybibletabernacle.org/thepresenttruth/ ======================================== TRANSCRIPT ======================================== Praise the Lord, Amen. We're going to take our prayer request at this time. That's Brother Joe Drum. If he would come tonight and lead us as we pray. Let's remember again. And let's remember them tonight. We've also known for many years good friends, and we just want to remember them tonight in prayer. Also want to remember Paul Bridges with cancer. Also David Manuel. And also A with cancer. Amen. Also Jeff has so several there. People that maybe we don't know, but somebody does and it's concerned about them tonight. And so we just want to remember all these in prayer tonight as we praise Brother Joe comes. Amen. Let us pray. Our precious and dear Heavenly Father, we come to you this evening in the name of the Lord Jesus. Thanking you, Lord, for your love and mercies and grace. Lord, our lives sometimes, Lord, we the the battle of the Lord that goes in our mind. We feel like, Lord, that we're not worthy of this. And of this great calling you've given us, Lord Jesus. This election you've given us, Lord. But Lord, we know it's not us, Lord. It's you that have done the chosen that you've you've chosen us, Lord Jesus. And now, Lord, we're to take it and Lord, strive to be in thy perfect will. And Lord, just daily just be with us. And Lord, as these prayer requests has come forth this evening, Lord, we pray, Lord Jesus. If someone's taken time enough to write them down, Lord, and we're to speak out loud of these requests, you see them, Lord Jesus. And Lord, we ask you to just take it and your perfect will be done in their lives, Lord Jesus. And Lord, each and every one of us has prayers that Lord that's going up, Lord, for loved ones and different things, Lord Jesus. We pray, Lord, you just move. Move in that need, Lord. But we're Lord above all, don't, Lord, we want it in your time and in your season. Lord, not let us have the selfishness, Lord, that's in our heart that we want immediate reaction, Lord Jesus. But let everything be in your perfect will. We praise you, Lord. Continue to bless in the service tonight, Lord Jesus, and just uh have your own way. Speak to our hearts, Lord. Lord, then let us yield to it, Lord Jesus, as you bring forth that word, and let us, Lord, just let it drop in our heart. We give you all the praise and all the honor, all the glory for it all in Jesus' holy name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Shake hands tonight as you're being seated. Give a warm welcome, everyone tonight, especially our ministers. I want to sing a song that I don't know if we've ever sung it here or not, but it's the old one, and one I dearly love, and this song. I hope it's in the Jet Database. Will we never grow old? Amen. In a land where we'll never grow old, maybe we have still high. Speak to the storm, speak to the rain. You have the power to bring about the change. God has come in you. Now he speaks through you. Don't cry, my brother. Just speak in his name. Well, speak to the storm. Speak to the rain. You have the power to bring about a change. God has come in you. Now he speaks through you. Don't cry, my brother. Just speak in his name. Satan's coming at you like a mighty lion's roar. But you don't have to take what he's doing anymore. Put on your fighting armor. Be confident and sure. There's no need to fear him. Tell him who you're standing for and speak to the store. Speak to the rain. Well, God has come in you. Now he speaks through you. Don't cry, my brother. Just speak in his name. We're in a new season now. You have authority, and God commands the devil to set your love once free. The third pole is here now, and it can't be imitated. The power that's in the pride cannot be duplicated. Speak to the storm, speak to the rain. God has come in you. Now he speaks through you. My brother, just speak in his name. Whoa, speak to the storm. Speak to the rain. You have the power to bring about a change. God has come in you. Now he speaks through you. Don't cry, my brother. Don't cry, my brother. Don't cry, my brother. Just speak in his name. So many changes and toils of this life. He's given a promise in I'm gonna stay on every word his holy word and holding his hand every day. That is working everything for my God and spite of the goodness I've had. Sometimes my strength can fail. And though I have tried the very best that I could say, but then I remember the promise he made that in my weakness, and that's when I know what may come his steady hand me on He's already said that I don't trust me that he's working everything for my God and heaven is in my room, and heaven is all right. As I joined the last day unbelievable. God bless you. There to sing forever of his saving grace. On the streets of glory. Let me live my boy. Here's all that home at last. Ever to rejoice. When I valleys low, I look toward the mountain high. And behold my Savior there lean in the fire. I can see as I outward go I want to look upon his face. There to sing forever. On the streets of glory, let me live my boys. Here's all past home at last to rejoice. Sing it again. Oh, I want to see and look upon his face. There to sing forever of his saving grace on the streets of glory. Let me live my voice. Here's all past home and last, ever to rejoice. Oh why joy? Joy in the Holy Ghost. Jay, oh my joy, joy in the Lord. Don't let nobody steal your joy. Don't let nobody steal your joy. Don't let nobody steal your joy. Joy in the Lord. Oh Jay. Oh, why joy? Joy in the Holy Ghost. Jay, oh my joy. Joy in the Lord. Oh, don't let nobody steal your joy. No, don't let nobody steal your joy. Don't let nobody steal your joy. Joy in the law. Lord Jesus, we ask and pray. That you would be pleased with our gathering tonight. And that Lord, you'd quicken the word to every heart. Bless those who are being baptized. May you fill their hearts and souls. And Lord Jesus, we commit this service to you in the name of Jesus Christ and for your glory. Just take your Bibles if you don't mind. Let's look in the Word of God. Second Peter, there you go. Open that up. Chapter one. God bless you. And thank you for coming. Second Peter chapter one verse twelve. Wherefore? I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though we know them and be established in the present truth. God bless you all. Great to have you with us today. A couple of very quick things, and then we're gonna go right to it. Tonight I want to keep uh uh keep going to from this morning where we were. Good to have the Buchanans back. And uh good to have the Whitlocks back. Uh they were planning to go this morning, but. The food was good. And we're going to have a snack after church. So we've never been to a bad church dinner yet. A couple of dates that I wanted you to keep in mind. A couple of dates. Just for those of you that might consider doing this. Lord willing, October 26th, I will be going to the Czech Republic and holding a meeting over there again. And I'm not sure yet who's going with me. My wife may go. I'm not really sure yet, but that's one trip that they want me to come over and do that again for their annual convention in the mountains there. And if anybody's interested in going in that, that's a that's a kind of a neat experience, and they're a wonderful group of people there. Also, December 3rd. We are going over to Tanzania again. And I know some people have expressed an interest and they wanted me to let them know when I was going over there again. Lord willing. That'll be December 3rd. It'll be for about a week or so. We have a convention there. I believe Brother Burley's going to be coming over with us as well. So I think there's five or six at least five or so people who are wanting to go and uh just letting you know those dates. If you can do that, you're interested in going, need to let us know, and we can give you some of the details. Good to have Paul and Heather. Yuckala. Eucala. Good to have them with us today from Gibson, Missouri, out that way, Brother Bill Ivey's church. And uh we're honored to have them with us tonight. They're passing through and on their way up through Virginia Way. And I guess, did you get to go see the coast? Good. And the kids never seen the ocean before, and so this is the first time, and uh they were delighted to be able to go see the Atlantic. Now, what's also special, too, gotta say about Sister Heather, she is from Newfoundland, Canada, where I'm from. You moved. You're from Saskatchewan. Sister Heather is not where I'm from. Why did I think you were from Newfoundland? Sister Heather's from Saskatchewan, but she can still be a part of the bride. Even if even if she's not from Newfoundland, she's alright. Sister Heather, good to have you. Sorry for all that. And uh that's my information givers playing tricks on me. But we're glad to have you with us. Just a short stay and uh just passing through, but we're honored to have them with us tonight. We're going to have a baptism tonight at the end of service, and uh so I want to jump right into it and pick up where we left off this morning. Lord willing, I'll give you just a very, very brief review. We've been talking about uh this principle that Peter gave us in the uh in the scripture here where he says that I I will not be negligent. He says to always remind you of this. He said to put you in constant remember of this. Good to have the prices with us tonight, Brother Mike. Uh good to have you here. Didn't know you were coming. And uh Peter says that this is his responsibility as a minister to put the people in in uh in in remembrance of the truth and the principles of the truth. He said, even though you're established in it, he said, even though you're grounded in it, he said, it's my job to, you know, to to remind you and to go over these things again and again. And he said, that's what I intend to do. Now, we find that uh in doing that, of course, that Peter held to an absolute, and that's what we have to hold to. Thank God we have an absolute. We'd be drifting like everybody else if we didn't have one. The absolute has been articulated for us. It's been clear. One of the things that we the reason why we're doing this, just to explain it to you folks, is that we uh we realize now that there are many, uh there are many questions about what we believe, and there's controversies that are associated with it uh that are created, and so therefore we want to respond uh apologetically. We want to respond with biblical truth to the questions that are asked of us. And so it's important for us to do that. But remember now, it's not okay for you to answer based on what you want things to be like. It's not okay for you to answer uh because that's the way you believe it, or that's the way you feel very strongly about it. Brother Branham said it must be according to his word that has been spoken. It must. And he said, I don't care how well you say this ought to be, or that ought to be, or this ought to be, it's gotta be according to his word. It's gotta be the right time, the right season. Again, he says an Easter seal, watch the actions of those disciples. He said they were scared, they knew Jesus was the truth, but you see, it was against the popular idea, the popular religion of the hour, the most strictest religion, the Pharisees and Sadducees and so forth, their cults and clans and denominations, they were against that heresy. But Jesus was the identified word. Now, Paul said that he worshipped in the way that uh was called heresy, but he didn't back away from the truth that he believed, right? And we went over that this morning. And Paul was not afraid of the standards. He was not afraid of the commandments and the word that had been given to him, and he stood by that, even though people misunderstood really what he was saying and what he was doing. Paul was not afraid to identify with the truth and with the people of God and with Jesus Christ, who was the identified word of the hour. And even though it was against the popular idea and everybody's opinion about uh how things should be, for instance, how people today uh they have very strong feelings about the Trinity, right? Lots of people feel very strongly about the Trinity, and we don't believe it. And so we we teach against and we believe things that are against the popular idea, the popular religion of the hour. Hence we are considered sometimes sometimes, excuse me, heretics. But nonetheless, we believe the truth. Right? Not ashamed of it. We stand for it. And that's important for us. Now, uh, the next uh on the bottom of the page here, Brother Braham said now the great thing, he said, all the word of God, it fits right together. This is the message why it had to be shepherds. The great thing is that all of the word fits together. The great thing is the way God constructed it, no matter how people have it interpreted, no matter how they try to put it together, all of God's word goes together, just like a great jigsaw puzzle. And if it doesn't fit together, it's not God's word that's misfit, it's your thought that's misfitting to the word. It all goes together. It makes a complete picture, and it makes a picture where you don't have to force anything. It comes together in the way that it's meant to be. It's all going to work together and fit together in the great analysis. Isn't that right? But remember now, if intellect could do that, if intellect could put it all together, hey, uh, we would not have needed a prophet in the last day. Brother Bram didn't put the word together by intellect, he put it together by revelation. He took those loose ends and he paced, pulled pulled them together and said, This scripture belongs over here, and this one ties together with this one, and he put that complete picture together for us, and uh that's how it happens. It's not by intellect at all. And what I read here, Brother Braham said is his word, it will never change, it'll never pass away, it's eternally right. Isn't that wonderful? God's word is eternally right. If you got a revelation of truth, it'll be with you for eternity because God's word's eternally right. Baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ is eternally right, isn't it? Nothing wrong with it. It's eternally right. I believe that uh serpent seed is eternally right because it's according to God's word. Election and predestination is eternally right. Mine, Brother Braham said, my words failed because I'm just a man, speak like any other man, made mistakes and everything, but when he speaks, mark his words, it's the truth. How many can say amen? Brother Braham's words were not infallible. So now, where we got to this morning was this place here in Luke chapter 11. And uh Jesus now was speaking to the uh he was speaking to the scribes and Pharisees here, and he was talking to them, and I wanted to just drop down here uh to verse 52. He says, Woe unto you, lawyers, woe unto you. For ye have taken away the key of knowledge. And ye entered not in yourselves, and then them that were entering in, ye hindered. And Jesus had his most scathing, his most harsh criticisms for these people who were not only taking away this key of knowledge, but they were hindering those that were entering in. Now, I went back and I found in John Wesley's writings where John Wesley defined it this way. He said, and I want to read the uh the definition here, he says, the key of knowledge, it was not just the key to open knowledge, but he said it was the only key that opened heaven. And so it was that which unlocked the promises and the graces and the virtues and the power of God's word. It was that which unlocked that so that the believer could benefit from that. He could be shaped and molded and impressed by that word, and he could be guided along the right path and make it into heaven and be outfitted with the right character that belongs in heaven. There are things about us that God doesn't want to have in heaven, and that's why he deals with us. That's why he convicts us. That's why we need to repent from time to time. And that's why God is always constantly molding us and shaping us and making us better people than what we were. It's because there's certain things about us that God doesn't want to have in the kingdom, and there are certain things that uh that God provided to help us to become the kind of people that he wants when we enter into glory. And so that power of transformation and that process is an ongoing one. And the keys, the keys that help us along that way, along that journey, uh, are found in God's word. Isn't that right? Found in God's word. And and Jesus criticized those lawyers and those religious people for keeping that key away from the people. Here they here, there is a way. God's provided a way. God's put it in your hands as ministry here and as elders in the land of in the tribe of Israel. And you're preventing, you're hindering people from entering in. Here's The word made manifest right here in your midst. Here's the word made flesh, the promised Messiah of all the ages is standing here, and you're pulling people back away from him. You're hindering people from moving into the kingdom. And Jesus criticized him for that. That's no different than somebody going out to preach false doctrine or present some false idea today. That's based on their interpretation or their idea. That's no different today. They're trying to divert people away from the entrance that God has provided and the way to that entrance. And Jesus would say the same things today. And he says they were accused of in Matthew 22, they were accused of shutting heaven here of taking away the key, which was worse. A right knowledge of God's word is eternal life, but this they took away from the people, substituting it for their wretched traditions. And that's what they absolutely did. Now, this is life eternal, Jesus said in John 17, that they might know the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. Now, this key is a very important thing. You can see that in the scripture here in Philippians, Paul was willing to give up everything to attain to the resurrection of Christ. He knew that the only way that he was going to make it in was not because he was a Jew and not because he was born in the tribe of Benjamin, and not because he was schooled under Gamaliel. He knew that he was going to make it in through Christ. Because no matter how much he knew, he was still a sinner, and he had to be saved from his sins, right? He had to be justified, as though he never did it in the first place. So he could stand spotless and virtuous before God. And he knew that there was no way he could make it under his own scholarship, under his own ability. He knew that he could not do that, so he was willing to surrender and experience the loss of everything that he might gain Christ. And Paul was willing to do that. This key, this key of knowledge that Jesus talks about is a very, very important thing. And it is it is that that which allows us to enter into that kingdom itself. Now, as I said to you this morning that when we talk about this, and sorry for going fast here, but I got a short amount of time, and I'm just really reviewing, that this key, the knowledge that we have and the absolute we hold to influences our behavior. There are a lot of people who, you know, are just uh going through the Olympics now, and they're going through the Olympic Games over there. Their absolute has been the gold medal. That's what they look to. And they believe that they're going to win a gold medal. That's their that's their aim and their goal. And they they have practiced, and you listen to the interviews that are going on, you read the stories about these athletes. They train 365 days of the year. They miss no days. They they swim or they run or they lift or they hit. You may not even think that all those games belong in the Olympic games. But nonetheless, those athletes, in order to get there and to become the gold medalist in their field, they feel like, they feel like that they have to practice every day, and that's their absolute, because uh the the gold is the prize to become that gold medal holder and or a medal winner for their country. That's an extraordinary thing. And uh that that absolute, my point is that the absolute that we hold in life, the thing that we value, and the thing by which we judge everything, that regulates your conduct. If you believe the message, you hold the message dear, and you look at that as an absolute, God's word, right? If you hold that as an absolute, it's gonna influence your behavior. It's gonna influence a lot of things in your life, right? It's gonna influence how you conduct yourself in church. Because we believe conduct order and doctrine. It's gonna influence how you uh approach marriage and divorce. It's gonna influence how you approach courtship and dating, right? It's gonna influence how you how you spend your money, how you spend your vacation, how you treat your wife or your husband. All right. It's gonna influence how you respect your your uh parents, right? As Jackie and I talked about this morning. It's gonna influence everything in your life. It's gonna become pervasive because it actually becomes your life. Isn't that true? You look at people out there that uh I was looking at a uh guy the other day was walking in a mall somewhere, and I was watching him, and he had this t-shirt on, and the t-shirt was a singer, and the singer had blood running out of him, and I mean, I I I didn't want to be rude, but I was just I was kind of am I seeing this right? And I'm kind of, you know. I'm just trying to make sure that I'm seeing this right and I'm following this guy around, you know. I was gonna say, can you stop for a second? I just need to. I'd like to take a picture of this. Not that I would show my congregation, but I'd like to take a picture of make sure I got it right. It was unbelievable what he had there. And he had that kind of look on his face that that's the kind of music he enjoyed. It was a singer, obviously. That's the kind of singer they enjoy. And that's the kind of thing that he would hold important, right? This kind of a singer, this kind of music, this kind of a lifestyle, and that influences the behavior. He dresses a certain way, acts a certain way. And we see that all over the place, right? People are influenced in their outward actions by the things that they hold dear as an absolute. So the key of knowledge is Jesus used. It is the general knowledge of Christian principles, the deeper and more perfect and large knowledge of this religion or faith, such as belongs to more advanced, especially things lawful and unlawful for Christians. The moral wisdom that a person has, the moral absolutes that a person has, such as is seen and right living. And I wish I had a little bit more time on this, because I believe we are more than just matter and you know, flesh and chance. I believe we're more than that. There's a lot, there's a lot of scientists and there's a lot of great minds that believe that in their arguments for life and their arguments for morality. They believe that morality simply is a feeling, uh, a feeling about what you uh hold to be true. And I will tell you this, that that becomes illogical pretty quickly because there are some people uh in the world who uh like their neighbors and they will communicate with their neighbors. There are other people, like in Tanzania, who eat their neighbors. And to them, the head hunters in Tanzania, they look at that as very normal. They they eat their neighbors all the time. If they fall into traps, they'll eat them, and they're they're head hunters. So they that's just kind of the way they look at things. Morally, uh morally acceptable. Hey, it is for those folks in Tanzania. They they just kind of think that's the way we treat one another. That would be reprehensible to you, because there really truly is a moral standard, right? There is a moral standard. We know that it's not right to take another person's life. We know that. Why do we know that? Because there is a higher power that has instilled in human nature and abhorrence for things that are evil. There are some things that happen that we are repulsed at. There's another shooting today in a temple in a religious temple out in Wisconsin, and a guy came in, seven people died, and a policeman took out this gunman there. And uh, you know, we we look at it again, and your reaction is typical. Everybody's, oh, and not again, and you know the the pain and the horror and the and the evil and so forth so forth, that's personified. People are in a church, in a in a Sikh church, S-I-K-H. They're Indian uh Indian worshippers. They're the folks that wear the turbans and uh lived over near uh Brother Anwar's uh place in Pakistan. They live in India and they have a temple. There's about 400 people or so in that temple, and a gunman came in for whatever reason they don't know yet, and this just happened today, and he came in and he shot up a bunch of people, and uh the the leader of the congregation jumped and tried to prevent that uh that uh gunman from going any further, and he was killed himself. Just a re and all of us have the same reactions, a reprehensible and evil thing. Why do you feel that way? Not because you're in the message, but because God made human beings in such a way to be repulsed by certain things that we would refer to as evil. And no matter what church you go to, there are certain things that we all would agree were considered evil. Isn't that right? It doesn't prevent people from doing it, but it is it is a more morally reprehensible thing because there is a moral standard. So now we and again now, let me say, like I said this morning, we we know that there is a true morality because there is a true immorality. And there cannot be an immorality, there cannot be a false or a hybrid of anything unless there's a true thing to uh to to pervert. Right? There cannot be a thing called adultery if there's not the right kind of a uh marital relationship, right? You can't have adultery if there's not the right thing. You can't have a fake dollar bill if there isn't a true one. You can't have immorality unless there is truly a morality. Now, for us now, the morality is very clearly defined in God's word. And that's where we find the standards of that morality. And that's what Jesus is saying right here, that there are things lawful and unlawful for Christians. There are things that are right, there are things that are considered pure and holy and virtue and full of goodness and so forth. And we use the scripture and we use the word of God uh to be able to determine those things, and that is what we refer to as moral wisdom. And this moral wisdom will affect what you have in your house. We can say it in message language if you like, rather than apologetic terminology, but we can say that in our house we apply the token. And when we apply the token, we keep the things in there that God would approve of, and we get the things out that God does not approve of. That's why somebody, some young person said this morning, I'm fine, glad Brother Barry finally, you know, uh drew the drew together a good conclusion about Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings. Thank you. But this moral wisdom that God gives, it helps us to regulate our conduct every day that we live on this earth. God knows you need it. Just like we need to know what the boundary proper boundaries are for living husband and wife, we can live together and live in harmony together and live in a way that pleases God. That's what we want to do. Now, brother, let's let's use an example here for a moment. Brother Williams Carl Williams is Brother Bram's in the platform here in 1916. He says, God ever be with you and your son in this great work, and brother here, the missionaries and so forth. How I appreciate this. Never, never get away from it, friends. Don't never let the spirit of worship And the clean holiness ever die from among you. That's a responsibility that not only Brother Carl has here, but everybody has. And let me just draw this down to HBT here. We have a responsibility to make sure that that spirit and that quality of the spirit I mentioned on Wednesday night, it has it never ceases to be here when we assemble here. And one of the ways that we do that is that we who come, we regulate our conduct continually. We check our conduct continually by God's word. Are you still with me? It's like I told you about driving in Ireland. You're driving on the other side of the road ahead of standard shift, doing that with my left hand, driving with my right hand. And it's a it's a constant thing. You can never ever take your mind off driving on the other side of the road. Because you don't want to lean back on instinct. You want to go with the rules as they are. And you can never ever relax your guard. You've got to stay right with it. Can't be on, it can't be texting. I had a chuckle the other day when they had a news story about this guy who was texting and went right over the cliff, and he went right down this uh this valley. I thought, I'd never do that. But you can't be distracted at all. You gotta be you've got to be focused on the job at hand. And Brother Bram says, don't never let that spirit of worship and clean holiness ever die among you. We had to maintain that. How do we know what's right and wrong? How do we know what's holy? How do we know what's pleasing to God? It's not because of what somebody says. It's we got to be able to track it back to God's word, right? We've got to be able to track it back somehow. Now, in talking about holiness, let me give you a very simple definition. I've shared this with you before, years ago. When we say that something is holy, it's divided off, it's marked off from other things and other people. It's different, it's distinct, it's not common. We we guard this church here, we guard the sanctuary as a holy place. We guard it because it is a place that we do extraordinary things here. We we don't play bingo in here, right? We don't have church dinners in here, uh, we don't play bean toss, we don't do that in here, right? Even if it rains out there, we don't move all of our activities in here because we look at the sanctuary as a place, believe it or not, that God visits. And we respect this sanctuary. We don't open it up to any other kind of activity except doing what we're doing tonight because it's a different place. Brother Bram said the Mount Transfiguration was not a holy mountain itself because of the mountain, it was holy because God visited it. It's the place that God comes, and God doesn't come everywhere, but he comes to a place that is divided off, it's marked differently. Let me tell you something. We practice holiness and we teach holiness because we believe that God separated us and we've been cleansed by his spirit and the washing of the water by the word. Come on. Because God has visited us, right? Therefore, we don't mix in and do the things that other people in the world do. Not at all. We separate ourselves from that. Now, again, Brother Bram said in 1963, again in the message why, the same God lived one time, still lives today. His same doctrine of holiness just lives tonight the same as it ever lived, just the same thing. Holiness lives the same. He said, the people has just got away from the doctrine of it. That's all. Now, just because, let me add this part, just because people get away from it, doesn't make it wrong. I said, just because people don't preach it, maybe the way maybe uh, you know, the way that uh as often or as commonly as what it used to be, that doesn't mean that holiness is now out of a sudden all of a sudden out of sync. It's not out of fashion or it's not politically incorrect or something. That doesn't mean that at all. Brother Branham said, your job is to make sure that the quality of the spirit remains the same and that holiness still remains the same here. And he said that doctrine is still the same, just the same thing, but the people has just gotten away from it. Our responsibility now is to maintain it, but we have to understand it before we can we can. We have to understand it before we can apply it. Now, let me draw back to this morning here, just very briefly, just this one screen. Paul said to Felix in front of Felix in chapter 24 of the book of Acts, he said, that in the way that some people refer to as heresy, he said, that's the way we worship. Heresy means a dissension that arises from a diversity of opinions and aims. Therefore, it's possible that everybody else might believe something. But if I dissent from that, if I choose to believe differently, then I'm going to be referred to as a heretic. It also is defined as any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs. As I gave you an example this morning, serpent seed would be a good example. There's a lot of people who have the same Bible as you and you and I do, and they go to church and they have the preaching of the gospel and so forth, but there are certain beliefs that we hold. We hold dear to them because we see them in the scripture, and a prophet brought Brought us to them in the last day. But they're at variance with a lot of a lot of teaching out there. But it doesn't make that wrong. It doesn't make the teaching on serpent seed wrong. We're not a Trinitarian people. We're not a oneness people. We're at variance with a lot of people. For the people who believe in one, you're going to have trouble as soon as you go beyond Father. We know there was a son, right? We're not Jehovah's Witness either. We're not Mormons. Okay, let's say we're three. Well, what do you do with Melchizedek? Now we got four. You know what you got? You got a problem when you try to limit God or define God in such absolute terms. So now, let's just go on to number three. Although less common in the medieval period, formal charges of heresy within Christian churches still occur. So we have to we had to agree that we we probably fall into the category of all three descriptions here of a heretic. But and I'm only dropping that in because I want to say that when it comes to holiness, there may be things that we teach because the scripture teaches that people might disagree with. For instance, I often tell people, you know, when we're out, maybe, and somebody remarks my wife, or uh as they often do, and they wonder, are we Christians? And and uh, you know, they start asking you questions, and we say, uh they say, what kind of a church are you? And I always tell them we're a fundamental Bible believing church. We're not connected by any denominational uh hierarchy at all. We're just an independent Bible believing church. Oh, yeah, really we are too. And I always say, well, for instance, my wife has never cut her hair. Oh, really? Wow, that's different. That's a good place to start right there. I said we don't own a TV. And I said my wife's never had a pair of britches on. And uh like, whoa, hey, yeah, well, I hear my wife calling. See you later. God bless you. Good to see you. And uh, and and again, now, if we just limit that to a definition of holiness, we've really limited the definition. Because it's not simply a dress code, it's not simply a dress code. If it was a dress code, we could just kind of hand out the the sheet, have everybody tick off what they're wearing and what they're supposed to be wearing and what they're not, and uh we can all kind of pass the grade and that'd be it. Then you can be a rank sinner and be dressed right. But then you've departed from the definition of holiness because humility and purity are a part of this. Humility and purity are a part of this, they're always connected to holiness, and thirdly, the presence of God is what brings it. So God is very interested in this because it it it it actually will uh change the way you look, it'll change the way you conduct yourself. But but remember now, God wants to come among you, and it it is not just a dress code. And by by the way, here's the definition of a dress code. It's a set of rules specifying the garb of or type of clothing to be worn by a group or by people under specific circumstances. We have a dress code. We have a dress code. But it isn't like this. And no offense. No offense, but it isn't like this. That's a dress code. And that's a dress code where on the outside they're easily identifiable, readily identifiable, but I will guarantee you the people that subscribe to the faith that dictates they dress like this, are a long way from the light of this hour. By God's grace, God can deal with any one of them and bring them out. But I've gone to them. I used to live up there next to Amish Country in Ohio, and uh and uh I've met many of those people and gone through their farms and stores and all the rest of it, and ate in the restaurants and all the rest. And I will tell you something, that the moment you come and talk to them about present truth, they will shut you off in a heartbeat. Because they are still back there and they believe it's absolute heresy for anybody to depart from the writings of John Ammon and all the other people that establish those things, uh those rules and traditions back there in the 1500s. They look at Martin Luther as a heretic, a modernist. I kid you not. And the moment that you start talking about anything beyond their light back in the 1500s, they'll just draw the curtain down, have nothing to do with it. But they're very self-righteous when it comes to this kind of dress, because they say, We're much holier than your women. And I will tell you something, that is a real spirit. Now, I better not get worked up here too much. But this is what we call a dress code. This is imposed upon children from a very early age. Uh, and and it is something that is uh you know very pervasive in the communities there. And uh I personally I just I just have a real objection to the to the holier than thou attitude that will go with this and this idea that we're better than you because we dress this way. I like to tell people that's the one case where you're allowed to tell people it's not what's on the outside, it's what's on the inside that matters. I better quit. Here's another dress code. And the Hasidic Jews uh in in in Israel and the ones who live in other parts of the world dress the same way and have a Very specific code of rules and so forth that dictate to them how they will dress, the reason they have the side curls is uh scriptures that are in the Old Testament, which says that they shall not trim the corners of their fields, they'll leave it for the poor, and they'll also not trim the corners of their beard. And uh they couldn't wear shirts that had cotton and flax in them and so forth, they had lots of different rules. That's a dress code that that Moses gave them in the law. We are free from that law. But we have a dress code. We know there's an awful lot of people, an awful lot of women dressed like this. The habib uh that they wear, and you'll find it in many different forms, different colors, different ways. It's really interesting, though, to watch a woman who's wearing one of these to eat spaghetti. I've seen it in restaurants. It is a riot, I'll tell you that. Here's another dress code, the Catholic one, they have a very strong one, and they are quick to call people who disagree with them heretics. You'd be surprised at how many young girls in the world have to dress like this every day of their lives when they go to school or when they go out in public at all. It's just amazing. I sat next to women who are dressed like that on airplanes, you know, traveling around, and they say they would say to me that I don't have to dress like this. I want to dress like this because I want to do my part. And whatever their motives or whatever their reasoning is, uh, they are all dress codes imposed one way or another. But let me say this again that holiness is not just simply a dress code. Because Jesus said to the people in his day, he said, if you love me, you'd keep my commandments. And and the obedience that we exercise towards God's word is not based on rules and regulations, it's based on a love for him. Right? Based on a personal commitment that we have to him. Humility and purity are always connected to holiness, and his presence brings it. Now we have a dress code. How many would agree? You do? Alright, here it is. I'm going to show it to you. In like manner also, women adore themselves in modest apparel. Comes from two words, modest comes from two words. Well behaved and let down. That's what the word modest means. Shamefacedness with sobriety and so forth. That was the scripture that Brother Bram often referred to. You want a couple of quotes? Brother Branham. COD. Brother Branham, what do you think about our sisters in the church wearing short dresses? Doesn't it mar our testimony and set the wrong example for our young women in this our church? Oh, it seems so to see a grown woman wearing a dress so short that it shows her knees when she walks. Ever who you are, sister or brother, whoever it is, I agree with you a hundred percent. It's a disgrace. But tell me what to do about it. I preach it just as hard as I know how to preach it. They do it the same. Same answer. So it's their judgment, because the words went forth. Let me assure you, it doesn't matter what Brother Bram's family wore. Because the words went forth. Hello? It doesn't matter what they do in Johnson City. It doesn't matter what they do in Florida. It doesn't matter what they do in Alaska. The words went forth. Then you have to regulate your conduct against the absolute, which is God's word, not what some other church does. Or not what I've always done, or not what my husband likes. What if your husband is wrong? What if your husband's got a dirty mind? What if your husband's not correct? Let me tell you, we are, we as Christians, we operate by a higher law, which is the law, the Spirit in Christ Jesus. Hang on now, as we look at this. Yes, he said, I'm certainly against them little skin tight dresses. I constantly fuss at my kids. I've heard people say, they've told me to my face. I saw a picture of Brother Bram's family, and they were this way. Brother Branham said he constantly fussed at them not to dress that way. I'm only telling you what he says. I don't care how little they are, Mita takes Becky apart every day. I don't see how a person can consider sleevelessness modest. It isn't. By any stretch, it isn't. But I've had people say, well, I saw a picture of so and so. Listen, Brother Bram's family, he said, I meet my wife takes my daughter apart for that every day. Because kids, you can expect that in kids. You have to correct them. Listen, you only correct people that are wrong. If they're right, you don't correct them. If they're wrong, you correct them. Right? But when it comes to a woman, there's something wrong there. Why is it something wrong there? Because, look at what he says. The word's already been given, and that's their judgment. When the word's already been given, that's the order that we live. By. I asked you if you wanted a couple of quotes, and everybody said amen, but you didn't know what was coming. Can I go a little further? A little weaker. Now, he says, 1958. Now, in the Bible, we always try at our church to follow the rules and regulations of the scripture just as close as we can. Did I read that right? We always try at our church to follow the rules and regulations of Johnson City just as close as we can. It don't say that. We're going to follow the rules and regulations, or whatever church. I don't mean to pick on Johnson City. Although they're not in church now, are they? Someone might be listening. I don't know. Sorry about that. You understand the principle. He's trying to get the people to operate by. We try at our church to follow the rules and regulations of the scripture. Because they're the scripture. Because that's our absolute. Some people sprinkle little children, infant baptism. I don't find that in Scripture. So we don't practice that. We follow things that we can find in Scripture because that's obviously going to be blessed by God. Here's another thing, Brother Branham said in 1964. It was a dunkered girl who just received the Holy Ghost, and she said, Brother Branham, do you think it's wrong for a Christian girl to wear a scandal skirt? It shows the underskirt. He'd never heard that term before. And I said, What is in a woman that would make her want to show her underneath clothes to some men? What business has a Christian girl got doing a thing like that? Could you imagine a Christian? I think that's pretty self-evident, don't you? But now it's okay to you know photograph yourself in those kinds of clothes and put it on Facebook because that's what everybody seems to do. You're in church like a believer and on Facebook, like a you know what? It doesn't make sense. It just doesn't make sense. I'm not sure where the disconnect is. If you wouldn't wear it, maybe I should just roll on. I'm here as a gospel preacher, he says, to let you know what's truth. And then you do with it whatsoever you wish to. And then when you go to doing things, you'll begin. When you go to doing things, you'll begin to reason. And if this woman can do it, she's well thought of. She goes to church, why can't I? That's reasoning. Anyone unclear about how Eve got in trouble in the Garden of Eden? She reasoned, didn't she? Satan caused her to reason over God's word. And here's people, I'm sure that's probably this is probably not confined to Brother Branham's ministry, and I'm sure it's not confined just to the Garden of Eden. But Eve said, or this woman said to Brother Branham, if this woman can do it, why can't I? So and so can do it, why can't I? I went to a convention, I saw this. Why can't I? He said, that's reasoning when your soul tells you it's wrong, and God covered women and men up in the Garden of Eden and never stripped them, and you'll reason it out and say the rest of them are doing it. Younger girls, you take heed this morning to the gospel. The gospel said, let the woman dress themselves in modest apparel, not immodest. Modest apparel. And he said, It's getting dot dot dot. It's a disgrace. No one's happy about it. I'm not. I'm not happy about it. I don't think, I don't think, for me personally, I don't think that holiness is out of season. I don't think it all of a sudden now, because we're this far away from Brother Branham, it's all right for boys to wear shorts or men to wear shorts. I just don't see where it's appropriate. Because I don't find where Brother Bram's comments and Brother Branham's teaching ever changed on the subject. He never said, Don't wear it now, up the road, maybe, but not now. He didn't do that. Brother Branham took his standard from Paul's standard, which happens to be about 2,000 years old. And even if his kids didn't fully comply with it, he wasn't happy with it. We just read that, right? So therefore, it seems to me like it would be appropriate not to take his kids as a standard. God bless them, no offense intended here, with all due respect. Bless their hearts, as you say in the South. But I'll say this, they're not my absolute, they're not my standard. Hey, folks, Brother Branham is not my standard. You alright? Can I go on a little bit further? Yeah, I know what you're saying. You're all saying, yeah, but yeah, but we don't know where you're going. Influence. Look at what effects of the vision did to the prophet. There's no holiness with us. We can't be holy. Holiness is of God. It ain't a holy church. It ain't a holy mountain. It's it's a holy God. Not holy people, it's God in the people. But it was a holy God there. The presence of God is what made it holy. You follow me? Here's a very important statement. It's the presence of God in our midst now that brings. Brings holiness, not my holiness, not yours, but his holiness, his presence is what brings holiness. His presence is what brings it. His abiding presence, that's what brings it. It brings it when you come to church and you enter into that presence and in your own personal life in your walk with God. It's that presence that convicts you when you got something that you ought not to wear, or you ought not to listen to, or you ought not to read, or you ought not to click on. Whatever it is, his presence brings that holiness and lets us know what we should not be doing and what we should be doing. It's that moral guidance. That the key of knowledge unlocks for us. Do you understand? You would not have moral guidance if you didn't have the Holy Ghost and you didn't have that key of faith that unlocks the word of God and allows you into the full blessings of Almighty God. You wouldn't have it, folks. You'd be thinking it's alright to, you know, do mixed bathing, and you'd be thinking it'd be alright to hang around the movie theater and watch the dark night. You would. I'll tell you, I'm glad, I'm glad for where God has brought me. But just because I feel that way doesn't make it right. I mean, I'm thankful for what God has done in my life. You've seen some of the pictures, but you don't know half the stories. I'm glad for where God has brought me. I'm glad of what He's done in my life. But just because I say it doesn't mean that everybody ought to just do things the way I say it. I'm just your pastor. I think you have a higher calling and a higher standard based on God's word. What if you followed me for a number of years and then I backslid, God forbid, or I went somewhere else, or I moved out to Arizona. Heard that before, haven't you? Or moved out to Arizona. Alright. Now you say, well, Brother Barry, I can wear whatever I want as long as I check it out with my husband and my husband says it's okay. Let's deal with that for a moment here. And if you don't mind, let me read this quote to you here. I'm not going to be much longer. In the restoration of the bride tree, Brother Brandon gives us a couple of really good principles by which we can we can really learn from. And this is what he says. Forgive me now for reading, but just stay with me here. I got a couple of screens. He says, the law of the Spirit of God is to force Satan to give up that which he has unrightfully, deceitfully taken from God. The law of the Spirit of God in Christ is to force Satan to give up what he has unrightfully and deceitfully taken from God. The souls of men he took from God, souls of women, children, sickness of the body, where God made them in his image to be like him. And the church is given the right. The church, look at it. The church is given the rightful legal rights by the Bible to take the Holy Spirit and enforce this upon them. Therefore, there was a law in Christ, and that law is in man. If there was a law in Christ, because all God was he poured into Christ, and all that was in Christ, God poured into the church, right? Right? So if this law now that he's referring to is in Christ, then he said that law is in man. You can bury him in the grave, the deepest sea, the lowest hell. There's a law of the Spirit of God that'll raise him up again. It's the law of life, right? It's a resurrection life. Now he said, a bird has a law also. And its body, the material of its body, it's earthbound. He said it sets on the earth here, but it has a law within it, and the way it spreads its wings, it can fly, plumb out of sight. That's against science. But it can defy gravitation and lift itself right off of it off the earth and go right on out because it has to put that law that's in it to work. And it's built to possess that law. So this bird now, he's made of material just like you are. Uh, but but he has he has this other law that operates in him that he can get out there and spread his wings and he can fly and take off. And it's it's a wonderful thing. We were out the other day fishing. A couple of us are out fishing on Clay or Lake up in Virginia there, and we heard the scream above us, and here was two eagles that were there. We're just watching them swoop around. They're beautiful, young, bald eagles there, and they were just kind of horsing around and you know, going off into the trees. There's beautiful to watch them fly. If you've ever seen birds fly, it's a wonderful thing, except cardinals. Hate cardinals. Still hate cardinals. If you want to come up and go cardinal hunting, all you gotta do is just it's in season. Believe me, it's in season. You just come on up to my place on my property, cardinal season, and it's always open. Okay. But eagles, when you watch most other birds fly and you watch eagles fly, it's a beautiful thing. But that's the way it's built. Now, he says, now, we have a law. The law of the life, capital L, the law of the The life in us. Your man and born and placed here in the body of Christ, the sons and daughters of God. You don't have to knock down to the devil. You don't have to bow down to the devil. We got a law, and that's the law of the Spirit. So, in the same way a bird can he can step in into a channel and use those wings and use the air currents and so forth. He can just take off and he can fly and he can he can defy gravity, looks like he can just maneuver around there because he's got that higher law that's in him besides the law that is that affects material like gravity. Everybody's affected by gravity, right? If you don't believe that, just go up on the peak of the church after church and jump off and find out whether you're subject to that law. We all are. But there is a higher law that will allow a bird when he falls off, he'll just fly and move around. It's a wonderful thing. A little while ago, a couple of weeks ago, Lucas was uh down around up there and his scout troop went off, and they were flying gliders. It was fascinating. And if I had time, I'd show you the pictures. It was fascinating. They had a plane, a tow plane that took those gliders up in the air, and it had a pilot in the plane, and then the uh Lucas was in the other one and just flying around, and they were, you see him up there way up there maneuvering. And all they did was they knew that if they get over there in the mountains, these uh these updrafts come up those mountains, and it's just the heat leaving the earth. It's just the heat rising because heat rises, and this wind comes up the side of those mountains there and hangs those gliders up in the air, and they were swooping and flying around, and Lucas got the controls, and he's just flying around and and uh then come right in and land on the ground. Hey, that's a pretty heavy dude. That that glider is actually pretty heavy, it's pretty big. It's wider than this church here with the wings and so forth. But up there, it looked like it was weightless. I mean, it was just beautiful, just simply because it was built to catch and enter into that channel where those wind drafts are, and it operated perfectly. It was just a wonderful thing to watch. So now there can be something that's affected by one law, but if there's a higher law, it will allow that thing to rise above the earth. And that's what that's what the birds do. Now, Brother Bram's letting us know that as sons and daughters of God, we we're all earth-bound, naturally speaking, we're all human beings in this human body, but the spirit of Christ in us represents a higher law that's allowed us to be able to rise above normal human reasoning and normal human thinking and normal human ways. We have been lifted up in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, we're still in the same body, but spiritually speaking, God's allowed that law to come to life in us so that we can rise above the natural carnal things of this world. And then he says, the only thing you have to do is know how to let go and let God. You keep fighting at it, and it would never work. And if the fish said, wait, I'll breathe up a little oxygen in me and see if I can go down. No, he doesn't do that. He will, you know, he does that, he will burst open. You gotta know how that law can control him. And the same way a bird will utilize the law and go up, a fish will also utilize a different law and go down into the sea. And the same way it is with us, it isn't what we fight and pull, that's not it. It is to know that the law of life is in you and just let go and let God, and then he takes you to your healing, he takes you to the baptism of the Holy Spirit, or anything that he's promised, any claim that he's given is yours, and by letting go and letting God come on, let's say amen. By letting go and letting God, he'll take you to your promise, he'll take you to that place, isn't that right? It's not you, it's that higher power, it's that greater law that's in us that allows us to rise above the natural elements of this earth. We don't have to rely on things on this earth, we don't have to rely on our retirement, we don't have to rely on the government, we don't have to rely on our banking system, we don't have to rely on any earthly remedy. We have got a higher power that takes us into the heavenlies and gives us a confidence in the things of God and know that we can rest. Whenever God says so, it's gonna come to pass. It's not gonna fail. God's word is eternally true. How many can say amen? Then let me tell you something, saints of God. If your husband says, I want you to do this, let's just say your husband says to you, I think you'd look nicer in cut hair. Why don't you trim your hair? Why don't you cut your hair? Would that then be a you know, would that then be okay then for a woman to say, Well, that's what my husband likes, so I should do it. I would have to say no, because there's a higher law that she is obedient to. Right? She cannot satisfy one scripture, which is to reverence her husband and violate another scripture which says that she couldn't cut her hair. It would be inconsistent with God. God could not be leading her to do that, right? We've talked about the warring between different scripture verses and so forth. You can't do that. So therefore, a woman has to say, Listen, husband, I uh I love you, and I'll uh you know we're together and so forth, and our vow is always. Is good till death do us part, but let me tell you something. I operate by a higher power. And I there's a higher law of God's word. So when it comes to dress, and when it comes to holiness, when it comes to coming to church, and all those things that regulate our conduct, it's the absolute that regulates the conduct. The absolute is God's word. You understand? So it's not just, it's not just because that's what everybody does. It's not just because that's the style. Let me close with this example. Jeremiah chapter 35 is a little story here about the people call the rechabites, and I'll tell you the story because we don't have time to read it all. Rekabites were all the descendants of Rechat. And he was a man of God who had been told generations ago, don't drink wine at all. And don't live in tents. That's what the prophet had told him years ago. Prophecy came forth, and he told this this character, Recab, don't drink wine and don't live in tabernacle. Don't live in tents. And so now, three generations later, the Bible says the word which came unto Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Joash, king of Judah, says, Go into the house of the Rechabites, go down to the grandsons of Rechab and speak unto them and bring them into the house of the Lord into one of the chambers and give them wine to drink. Wow. And so they come down to church. And you imagine now if the prophet called you to go to church, right? So they're sitting in the church, and all of a sudden the prophet comes along and says, Hey, thanks for coming. Appreciate you all being here today. Here. And he pours them a glass of wine each and sets it in front of them and says, Here, drink it. I mean, that's what the Bible says, right? And I'll tell you what the Bible says after that. They said, No. We've been told not to. And here's a prophet telling him. Go ahead and drink. And they said, No, we can't. Because we've been told through our grandfather back there to never to drink wine. So we can't do it. Sorry. And then the word of the Lord comes to Jeremiah. And Jeremiah uses this. He's to use this example for all of Israel. And he says to the children of Israel, see these folks. Do you see these rebites? They're all sitting up here in the front row and they're refusing to drink wine. Because that's what God told them to do. That word doesn't change in another season. That word doesn't change in another generation. And God said, Jeremiah, I want you to bless them and their generations from now till the end of time, because they have adhered to my word. They have obeyed me and they have listened to me. And circumstances doesn't change it. Time doesn't change it. The famousness of the prophet who tells them to drink doesn't change it. God's word is God's word. So Jeremiah, I want you to confer upon them a blessing. Because they did what I want all Israel to do. And that is just simply obey me. Let's stand to our feet. Do you understand? If Brother Braham said it 30 years ago, or if he said it 3,000 years ago, it wouldn't matter. If it's God's word, it's God's word. And Peter says, I'm not going to be negligent in stirring you up. He says, even though I know you, I know you know the truth. He said, but it's my job to stir you up all the time and let you know that the standards are all still the same. Marriage and divorce is still the same, right? Holiness is still the same. Brother Bram says, don't ever get away from it. You stay with it. What's God gonna bless? God's not gonna bless your application of anything. God's gonna bless your obedience to his word, right? And it isn't because my husband said, or my this other church, hey, those things really don't matter. Hey, folks, the present truth is the present truth. God's standard is God's standard. We had to be very careful, even though in the land there might be a departure from things. That departure doesn't mean that things are right. It doesn't mean like Brother Brahm says, Well, that woman did it, you know, why can't I? It doesn't make it right. What is right is God's word, and that's what God blesses. I'll tell you what, I'm glad he's given us such a such a wonderful operational key, the key of knowledge that allows us to be able to open the full understanding, the full value of God's word. Think about his love, think about his grace, think about his mercies now that sees us through. Let's Sing it tonight. Think about his love together. Think about his love. Think about his goodness. Think about his grace that's brought us for as high as the heavens above. So brain is the measure of our father's love. Of our father's love. Yes, think about his love. Think about it now. Oh, and think about his goodness. We're gonna think about his grace that's brought us through as high as the heavens above. So great is the measure of our father's love. Give them with a great fart. Jesus Christ his son. Oh give thanks with a grateful heart. We give to the holy one. Give thanks because he's given Jesus Christ his son. Let the weak say I am strong. Let the poor say because of what the Lord has done for us and now let the weak say I am strong and let the poor say I have raised because of what the Lord has done for us and the weak say I am strong and let the poor say I am raised because of what the Lord has done for us. Sing it out now let the weak say I am strong and let the poor say I am raised because of what the Lord has done for us, we give them we give them we give them there is love like you no one else can touch my heart like you do I could search for all and find there is none none like you there is none there is none like you Lord And no one else can touch my heart like you. I could search for all eternity, Lord. And find there is none like you. Singing again now. There is none. There is none like you, Lord. For no one else can touch my heart like you. I can search for all eternity, Lord. And find there is none. None like you. Aren't you glad you know them? You know, when it comes to talking about absolutes and being established in the present truth, I think it's reasonable for us to say that if we're going to talk about and defend the faith, and I think we should also be practicers of that faith. I think we should be ones that practice the faith and believe it, hold to it before we can say to anybody else outside that it is the right way to go. We have a responsibility to follow the right way before we say to anybody else, come follow me. And that's why preaching the standard and the absolute, it's an important thing. It's an important thing. That's what's important. If anybody else tonight desires to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, you're certainly welcome to come and do that tonight. We're gonna ask them if they're ready to come, they can go through this door right here. I'm gonna join them in just a moment here. Brother Wayne's gonna take over. We have a meal afterwards for everybody who's desiring to stay, and we got plenty of food. Let's sing it one more time as we pray tonight.