Is There Not a Cause? Exploring the Heart of Faith

There were three preachers that were enjoying a big fried chicken dinner at the home of one of the members in the church.

Three preachers.

And after the meal, the farmer took them on a tour of the farm and walked around the back.

And there was one rooster with his head held quite high.

And one of the preachers said, that's pretty cocky rooster you got there.

The farmer said, well, if you were a rooster, you'd be cocky too, because you would have just had three sons enter into the ministry.

I want to speak to you today from a topic, from a subject that you're very familiar with and probably one of the most familiar stories in the Bible.

But again, we know so many stories and we don't get the lessons, and that's why we have to repeat them so often.

I have to repeat them to myself.

And I think God would have me to share this with you today.

I prayed very hard and very long about this.

And before we jump right into 1st Samuel 17, you can go ahead and turn there.

Let me say a couple things you already know, but you forget, write it down and underline it.

There is no perfect church.

If you think you found one, then don't join it, because then it won't be perfect anymore.

A man on a deserted island for 30 years.

30 Years by himself.

And a boat was spotted, and he got the flag and waved him down.

And he was met on shore by the man on the boat.

And so they were getting ready to leave the island, and the man on the boat was talking to this poor man, 30 years.

Can you imagine?

And said, what's that building over there?

Where did it come from?

He said, oh, that's my house.

Said I built that house.

Said, you can learn a lot in 30 years.

Trial and error.

He said, what about that other building?

He said, oh, that's my church.

He said, church?

You're the only one here.

You've been on it for 30 years, nobody else.

He said, well, it's important.

That's my church, and I'm the pastor and the music director, and I make all the announcements and I take the offering and I dismiss in prayer.

And the man was puzzled, and he said, all right, what about that other one?

There was a third building.

He said, I don't want to talk about that one.

He said, why?

He said, well, that's where I went to church before I got upset with a few things.

You ever prayed this prayer?

Dear God, I have a problem.

It's me.

Oh, it's so easy to think it's them.

It's me, RG Lee, a great preacher of the past.

In fact, Adrian Rogers followed R.G.

Lee in Memphis, Tennessee.

And R.G.

Lee, I have some of his sermons, but I found this old quote.

He said, if all the sleeping folks would wake up, and if all the lukewarm people will fire up, and if all the estranged people would make up, and if all the gossipers would shut up, and if all the true soldiers would stand up, and if all the dry bones will shake up, and if all the church members will pray up, we might have revival.

Revival.

I love the word revival.

But I want you to look at 1st Samuel, chapter 17, and read it with me carefully and prayerfully.

And I want you to look for yourself in this story.

Look for Christ.

It's about one man, you know, probably, if you're ahead of me, in fact, he was a young man.

You all know him.

And this young man, he probably was a teenager.

Do we have any teenagers here today?

David?

A teenager?

Yes.

There was a big battle going on, and David went up to see how it was going.

And everybody's just kind of standing around kicking the dirt, hands in their pocket.

And this young teenager said, isn't somebody going to do something?

And you know the story.

They kind of made fun of him.

And David said, well, I'm going to do something.

I'm not going to just be a spectator.

I'm going to do something.

David was not a superhero.

He got upset, and so he had to do something.

He only had a sling and a few rocks.

Oh, and one he had God.

This giant, over nine feet tall.

Someone said maybe close to nine foot seven.

And this young teenager named David was just a boy.

But you know something?

Everything has perspective.

And you think about giant Goliath was a midget compared to God.

We like to compare things, don't we?

But Goliath, like the devil, was blaspheming God.

And David asks, after hearing him being mocked by his brothers, he says these five words that I want you to leave today.

And you know them, but I want you to think about them, and I want to try to embed them into your heart and mind.

After this little skirmish and little talk and going on, he said, is there not a cause?

Write it down.

Is there not a cause?

What are we doing here?

Is there not a cause?

Isn't there a reason?

A cause?

And there was a cause, and it's the same cause today.

Then you don't see it.

And some people don't want to see it.

Why go on?

Is there not a cause?

Why keep praying?

Is there not a cause?

Why give more in the offering?

Is there not a cause?

Why not quit?

Is there not a cause?

You don't have to say it out real loud, but say it.

Just say it softly with me.

Is there not a cause?

Say it again.

Is there not a cause?

Say it again.

Is there not a cause?

In 1st Samuel 17, it says, the Philistines gathered.

We know the Philistines.

They're pretty well known throughout the Bible.

And they were always a picture of God's enemy in the world.

And the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle and were gathered together at Shoka, which belongeth to Judah, and pitched between Shoka and Azekah, Ephesdumim and Saul.

And the men of Israel were gathered together and pitched by the valley of Elah.

I have five stones from the valley of Elah that was given to me by Phil Savoloski, a Jewish man, Jewish missionary, brought me five stones from that valley when he was there.

And I have them home.

And the Bible says they set the battle in array against the Philistines.

And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side, and there was a valley between them.

And then it starts getting interesting.

Verse 4, it says, There went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines.

You know, I got to thinking about this Goliath.

He might have been demon possessed, I don't know.

But he was their champion.

He was their superhero.

He was their best.

Six cubits in a span.

And he had a helmet of brass upon his head.

And he was armed with a coat of mail.

The weight of the coat was 5,000 shekels of brass.

He had greaves of brass upon his legs and a target of brass between his shoulders.

The staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam.

And his spear's head weighed 600 shekels of iron.

And one bearing a shield went before him.

I want you to.

The reason I take time to read that is because we're going to compare him to a little kid with a piece of leather they called a sling standing in the shadow of Goliath.

And the Bible says in verse eight, he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel and said unto them, why are you come up?

Why are you come out to set your battle in array?

Am not I a Philistine?

And ye servants of Saul, choose you a man for you and let him come down to me.

And if he be able to fight with me and to kill me.

Then will we be your servants.

But if I prevail against him and kill him then shall he shall ye be our servants and serve us.

And the Philistines said, I defy this Philistine, this giant, this Goliath, this emblem picture of Satan himself.

Just like today the devil says, I defy the armies of God.

I defy the church of Jesus Christ.

I defy your God.

I think sometimes we don't realize and take that as seriously as we should.

Give me a man that we may fight together.

And when Saul and all Israel heard the words of the Philistines they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

Now, David was the son of the Ephrathite of Bethlehem, Judah whose name was Jesse.

And he had eight sons.

And the man went among them for an old man in the days of Saul.

And the three eldest sons of Jesse went and followed Saul to the battle.

The eldest sons and the names of his three sons that went to the battle were Eliab, the firstborn.

And next unto him, Abinadab and the third, Shema.

And David was the youngest.

And the three followed Saul.

And David went and returned from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem.

So David was already there watching and listening.

And he said, oh, I gotta go take care of some sheep.

And the Philistine drew near morning and evening and presented himself for 40 days.

And Jesse said unto David his son, take now thy brethren an ephah of his parched corn and these tin loaves and run to the camp to thy brethren and carry these 10 cheeses unto the captain of their thousand.

And look how they how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge.

So he said, I fixed lunch, and I want you to take them.

Lunch, son of Cunningham.

Insignificant.

Yeah, take these cheese sandwiches to your brothers.

Now, Saul.

And they and all the men of Israel were in the valley of Elah fighting with the Philistines.

And David rose up early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper and took and went as Jesse had commanded him.

And he came to the trench as the host was going forth to the fight.

I like this, it says.

And he shouted for the battle.

We Baptists don't do a lot of shouting.

Maybe David wasn't a Baptist, I don't know.

But he shouted.

What do you think he said?

Oh, great.

No, he said, go do it.

You can do it.

We got this.

Don't you think probably there's something like that.

He shouted for the battle.

He wasn't looking.

Oh, he wasn't saying.

I got to Go home.

He shouted.

He was involved.

He was on the right channel.

He was noticing.

He was taking it all in.

He wasn't just a spectator.

Churches are full of spectators.

They don't want to make a commitment until they see how it's going to go and who's going to do this and what's going to happen this.

And they're just kind of sitting, you know, eating popcorn, watching.

Not David.

He shouted.

Have you done any shouting for the battle that this church has been in?

We can do it.

God, with your help, you can do it.

When I'm weak, I'm strong.

You ever feel weak?

Anybody feel weak today besides me?

That's good.

That's good.

His strength is made perfect in our weakness.

I think a lot of what happens in situations is God's trying to wake us up to how weak we are because we think we're strong.

We think we got it all figured out.

He shouted, for the battle for Israel.

And the Philistines had put the battle in array, army against army.

And David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage and ran, not walked.

He ran into the army and came and saluted his brethren.

And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words.

And David heard them.

And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were sore afraid.

And the men of Israel said, have ye seen this man that has come up?

Surely to defy Israel is he come up?

And it shall be that the man who killeth him, the king, will enrich him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father's house, freeing Israel.

It sounds like a story, doesn't it?

Well, it's not a story.

This actually happened.

David spake to the men that stood by him.

Now, get this picture.

He looks at them.

He's standing right in their midst.

He's saying, what shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine and taketh away the reproach from Israel, the mockery, the people around town making fun and whispering and spreading things.

For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?

And the people answered him after this matter, saying, so shall it be done to the man that killeth him.

He's going to be rich.

And Eliab, his eldest brother, heard when he spake unto the Men and Eliab.

This is his brother.

Eliab's anger was kindled against David.

And he said, why camest thou down hither?

You think his brother would have something better to say than that?

What are you doing here, David?

And with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness?

See, he's not even thinking about the battle.

He's concerned about this David, his brother.

He should be down there taking care of his chores.

And then he goes further.

He says, I know thy pride and the naughtiness of thine heart, for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle.

He had already been seeing the battle.

He'd been watching the battle.

He didn't come to see anything.

And David said, what have I now done?

There's the words.

Is there not a cause?

This teenage boy.

Wait a minute.

Does anybody know what's going on here?

What's happening?

Is there not a cause?

And he turned from him toward another.

Some people won't listen.

They won't hear what you're saying.

They don't want to hear what you're saying.

So sometimes you have to speak to somebody else.

And he spake after the same manner.

And the people answered him again after the former manner.

So it had all spread.

And when the words were heard which David spake, they rehearsed them before Saul, and he sent for him.

And David said to Saul, let no man's heart fail because of him.

Thy servant will go.

I'll go, and I'll fight with the Philistines.

And Saul said to David, thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with them.

Thou art but a youth, and he's a man of war from his youth.

And David said unto Saul, thy servant kept his father's sheep.

There came a lion and a bear and took a lamb out of the flock.

And I went out after him and smote him and delivered it out of his mouth.

And when he arose again, I caught him by his beard and smote him and slew him.

The servants slew both the lion and the bear.

And this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.

You see, something's happening down in David's heart.

David's not thinking, hey, I can do this.

David's not bragging.

He's saying, look, God has delivered me before, and he'll deliver me again.

And David said, moreover, the Lord delivered me out of the paw of the lion, out of the paw of the bear.

He will deliver me.

He will not.

He might.

He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.

And Saul said unto David, go, and the Lord be with thee.

You remember the next few verses for sake of time.

Saul said, here, you can wear my armor.

It didn't work, didn't fit.

It was way too big.

It was kind of silly looking.

David said, I can't do it.

I've never warned him.

I don't even know what this is all about.

In verse 40, he took his staff in his hand and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook.

By the way, if we had time, we could show you that this giant had some brothers.

He didn't have four more stones, just in case he missed.

David wasn't thinking about missing.

He was thinking about God's able to do this, but he was thinking ahead.

And he put him in a shepherd's bag, which he had even in script, and his sling was in his hand.

And he drew near to the Philistine.

And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David.

And the man that bare the shield went before him.

And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him, he hated him, for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance.

And the Philistines said unto David, am I a dog that thou comest to me with staves?

And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

And the Philistine said to David, come to me, and I will give thy flesh and to the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field.

Then said David to the Philistine, thou comest to me with a sword and with a spear, and with a shield.

But I come to thee in the name of the Lord, the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.

Now notice verse 46.

This day, not one day, not sooner or later, not 24 hours or within a week.

He said, today this day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand.

And I will smite thee and take thine head from thee.

And I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that David is the greatest, that all the earth may know that there is a God in heaven.

Ladies and gentlemen, that's what you need to be praying.

Lord, I want you to turn this thing around and give us victory.

At Heritage Baptist Church so I can prove to everybody I was right, they were wrong.

That's not the reason.

It's not maybe a bad reason, but that's not the reason that people may know.

We serve the living God.

We take God serious.

The God of the Bible.

It's his name that we want to be cleared.

And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear.

For the battle is the Lord's and he will give you into our hands.

We see it again.

Not might not.

I hope not.

Maybe there's a good chance he uses the word will.

By the way, the only time that you can really, honestly, confidently use that word will is if you know your Bible.

Because if God said it, it's done.

God says, we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

God says the battle is the Lord's.

God says, just be faithful, be obedient.

Wait, watch, take a stand.

God will take care of the rest.

And it came to pass when the Philistines arose and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted.

He wasn't just shuffling along, he hasted and ran.

Underline that word.

Ran, not creep up on him.

Wasn't a showdown in the cowboy movie.

He ran to meet the Philistine.

David put his hand in the bag and took thence a stone and slang it and smote the Philistine.

Looks like it didn't take long.

Does.

Doesn't.

When you got God working in you and through you and he smote the Philistine in the forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead and he fell upon his face and to the earth.

I bet you from that moment you talk about silence.

I don't think there was any applause.

I don't think there was any wows.

I think it was just like in a Baptist church.

Total silence.

But nobody was snoring.

They didn't fall asleep.

And the Bible says so David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone and smote the Philistine and slew him.

But there was no sword in the hand of David.

Therefore David ran, he's always running, and stood upon the Philistine.

Imagine that picture, that he's standing on top of the body and took his sword and drew it out of the sheath thereof and slew him and cut off his head therewith.

And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they what?

They fled.

And the men of Israel and of Judah arose and broke the silence.

They shouted and pursued the Philistines until Thou come to the valley into the gates of Ekron.

And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shearem, even unto Gath and unto Ekron.

And the children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they spoiled their tents.

And here's something interesting.

David took the head of the Philistine.

Remember, he already told him, he's going to have your head.

And he brought it to Jerusalem.

But he put his armor in the tent.

And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistines, he said unto Abner, the captain of the host, abner, whose son is this youth?

Who's his father?

And the king said, inquire thou whose son this stripling is.

And as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.

What a picture.

And Saul said to him, whose son art thou, thou young man?

And David said, I am the son of thy servant Jesse, the Bethlehemite.

Now, listen, you may, as unfortunately, happens so often in sermons, we go, okay, time.

Sometimes we.

Well, so what?

What in the world?

That doesn't have anything to do with me and my life and my giants and my problems, really.

You see, that's the problem.

That's why we get stuck, because we read it, but we don't apply it.

We don't connect the dots.

We don't see.

It's not just about something that happened thousands of years ago.

It's about what's been happening here and happening in your life and in your family and in your friends.

It's about what's going on.

God hasn't taken a siesta.

God's not still trying to figure out, what in the world am I going to do?

God is waiting for his people to say, this is enough.

It's time.

It's time to stand up.

It's time to speak up.

It's time to give up.

It's time to show up.

That's what this is about.

It's about you and me and Heritage Baptist Church, if I may say so.

This church has been in a battle, been in a war, for five months.

Is it going to go on another five months, you say?

I hope not.

Why hope?

David never said, I hope this works out.

There have been some casualties, as you well know, and sometimes we like to dwell on that.

And I'm not being pessimistic, but the battle's not over yet, okay?

It's not over yet.

Say, well, then I'll come back Later.

That's what some have chosen to do.

I'll come back later.

What if David had said that I'll be praying for you?

You ever heard anybody say, well, I'll be praying for you?

Praying.

I need you to be with me.

I need you to stand beside me, not behind me.

Beside me, Goliath is still breathing out his cursing and threatens and his hatred for the Heritage Baptist Church.

And he's not going to stop until he's been defeated.

Is there not a cause?

Isn't there more to it than just listening to a sermon?

Isn't there more to it than just your schedule and what you do every Sunday?

Isn't there somebody say, wait a minute.

Why do we keep have to play this game and pretending I don't want to do that?

A cause?

Is there not a cause?

It's a rhetorical question, which means?

A rhetorical question means the answer is obvious.

Is there not a cause?

Yes, In the next few weeks, maybe days may determine the future, your future, or the future of the Heritage Baptist Church, but not.

But now is the time.

It's time to decide.

It's time to declare your allegiance.

It's time to count the cost.

Because there is a cost.

And you've got to decide is it worth.

May cost you some of your own blood kin, your own family.

It may cost you some of your good friends that you're used to eating and fellowshipping with.

It may cost you time.

It may cost you money.

Some of you may need to give more because there's a cause.

You may have to give up your comfort.

Is this church worth it?

Many have already decided to leave.

But not all have left yet.

You say, I'm just telling you like it is.

Some are still living and pretending and playing the hypocrisy game, acting.

They're play actors.

Nice to your face, but there's a dagger behind their back.

Many are still informing the enemy of every move this church makes.

That's their calling.

Quote, unquote.

Play both sides.

And this isn't new.

Ladies and gentlemen.

What Heritage Baptist Church has gone through and is going through is not new to New Testament churches that believe the Bible and live the Bible and preach the Bible and teach the Bible and sing the Bible.

Paul in the early church warned the church.

I have at home, a missionary gave me years ago from Brazil a poison arrow.

You've heard of poison arrows?

It's about this long.

It has an extremely sharp point on it.

But they would dip that into dead animals who were diseased and poisoned and they would dip the tip of the arrow into that before they would use it and shoot at the enemy.

The Bible says, the tongue no man can tame, it's a poison, a deadly poison.

There's some people who have their motto.

Their motto is rule or ruin.

That's their motto.

Either we're going to rule or we'll ruin everything for everybody.

I'm talking about war.

I'm talking about battles.

I'm talking about Goliath.

I'm talking about David.

I'm talking about, is there not a cause?

I'm talking about so what?

I'm talking about, who cares?

I'm talking about what does it mean to you?

Do you have any involvement?

Do you have any investment?

Their motive?

Submissive spirit is not in a lot of people's vocabulary.

Let me say that again.

You're never more like Christ when you have a submissive spirit, a humble spirit.

We're never more like the devil when we're puffed up with pride and say, I'll show them.

Submissive spirit is not in the vocabulary.

My final Sunday at this church as interim pastor.

Stand up, stand up for Jesus Ye soldiers of the cross Lift high his royal banner it must not suffer loss from victory unto victory his army shall he lead Till every foe is vanquished and Christ is Lord indeed Stand up, stand up for Jesus the strife will not be long this day the noise of battle, the next the victor's song.

To him that overcometh a crown of life shall be he with the king of glory shall reign eternally I ask you again, is there not a cause?

Is there not a cause of reaching Hazlett with the gospel?

Isn't that why you came to Hazlet?

Isn't that why you met and prayed and thought and looked over the map and said there's not a gospel?

Preaching, teaching, living, church and hassling?

Oh, there's churches, quote, unquote.

They're not in God's vocabulary.

An understanding of the definition of a church, a New Testament church.

They're not churches according to the Bible.

And so that was the cause.

It's why you came here.

Churches, another church like this, dogmatically, doctrinally sound churches who preach the pure gospel, they're getting fewer and fewer and fewer.

And people are giving a false gospel, a counterfeit gospel, in their own church roles, and they're going to wake up in hell because somebody didn't mixed the gospel up with some other things, and they weren't dogmatic.

What's wrong with being dogmatic about the Bible and About the gospel and about the teachings of Christ.

When you get sick and go to the doctor and they're not sure, this could be serious, don't you want the doctor to be dogmatic?

When you get on an airplane and take off, do you want the pilot to be dogmatic?

When you have a church, do you want a pastor to be dogmatic or just say, well, you know, that's not.

That's just not.

We don't want to do that?

Is that the kind of pastor you want?

The cause.

There's still a cause.

Who's going to reach this area?

Haslett?

Who is going to reach this families, these people in this town?

Who's going to do it if Heritage doesn't do it?

Can you honestly answer that question?

You say, well, there's others out there.

Can you name one?

I'm talking about Haslett.

I'm not talking about down there.

I'm talking about right here.

What about the cause of fundamentalism?

The fundamentals.

Those things that cannot and must not be compromised.

That's what it means, the fundamentals.

Doctrine is truth.

It's synonymous with truth.

It must be preached, it must be preserved.

It must be protected.

It must be passed down.

What about the cause of your family?

Isn't that worth something?

We want this church to stay together and to win a victory and to go forward for.

For the sake of my children and my grandchildren.

Isn't that a cause?

Isn't that worth something?

Isn't that worth some time and some discomfort and some money and some people?

Our family's future rests upon the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help us God.

What about the cause of this country?

You say, well, I've given up on America.

Is there not a cause?

America's not going to see a great mighty revival.

Everybody get on their knees, turning back to God.

That's not going to happen.

But what can happen is the salt of the earth.

We are the salt.

We can't stack up the blocks of salt inside this building.

The salt has lost its savor.

Our country is on death row because the salt is in the church, the cause.

America, we're the light of the world.

But people are hiding their lights.

And, oh, they blow them up real big and shine them right inside the church.

When you get to church and the choir sings and this happens and that happens, and, oh, let our light so shine.

But we go outside the building.

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance, Righteousness, exalteth, a nation.

But sin is a reproach to any people.

The wicked shall be turned into hell.

And all the nations that forget God.

God says, I've always had a remnant.

If my people 2 chronic 7:14 Someone said, those who watch the news know what is going on in the world.

And those who read the Bible know why.

People say, why is God turning his back on the United States of America?

We turned our back on him, that's why.

This is what the world looks like without God.

This is what it looks like.

We haven't quite seen it.

Some of us have little bits and pieces.

But our nation now is being overrun from people that are not even citizens, false religions and false this and false that, and the gates are open.

A nation that cannot control its borders is not a nation.

You say, well, let's sing God Bless America.

Can God bless America and still be holy and righteous and just?

Why don't 99% of us who aren't offended by everything quit catering to the 1% who are offended by everything?

That's our first thought.

Now, we can't do that.

What do they think?

1%?

Well, we don't want to offend them.

The government is not the solution to our problem.

You know that.

Government is the problem.

Now.

I take that back.

Christians is the big problem that are not really having any influence.

It's us four and no more.

The real threat to our freedom is not from men hiding in caves in the Middle east or wearing turbans.

It's from men wearing suits and ties in Washington D.C. who are working behind the scenes to change everything they can that made this country great.

I'm old enough to remember when mentally people were mentally ill, people were put in hospitals.

Now they're put in Congress.

Will we ever create enough laws to control evil?

No.

Evil does not obey laws.

The hope of America is the crystal clear gospel of Jesus Christ.

And the modern churches today are not preaching the gospel.

They're preaching how to succeed and how to overcome your emotional problems and how to get along and how to do this and how to succeed and how to have a positive mental attitude.

If we lose our freedom here, there's no place else to escape.

America is the last stand on earth.

Is there not a cause?

Is there not a cause?

Can you remember those five words you say?

Well, that wasn't much of a sermon.

Well, forget that.

Just remember those five words.

Is there not a cause to you?

Not to us, not to them, to you, directly to you young people.

What have you got to do with anything?

You're just gonna ride and watch or are you gonna say no?

If nobody else is gonna do anything, I will.

If nobody else is gonna say anything, I'll say it.

What's wrong with that?

God's used a lot of young people in the Bible.

A lot of young people, a lot of teenagers in the Bible because the adults were failing.

Is there not a cause?

You've got to decide that.

The sooner the better.

You better hurry.

Time's running out.

The devil is still belching and cursing and mocking and mocking God and mocking the church, the news, the people of the world.

There are people out there that aren't Christians.

We're just going to hide.

Is there not a cause?

One with God's a majority, you say?

But my friends, there's not a friend like the lowly Jesus.

No, not one.

No, not one.

But we don't want to be alone, do we?

We can't handle that.

We can't handle this thing of rejection and people not liking us.

We can't handle going to that church that everybody's talking about.

There's no way I'm going through all that.

I'm going to go place where there's some peace and quiet and where I can blend in.

That's the mentality.

Not just here, but in a lot of churches.

That's the mentality.

Just go with the flow.

Water doesn't flow up, flows down.

There's enough people here.

Ladies and gentlemen, before I step out as interim, there is enough people right here this morning for God to use to bring a victory like never before.

Get your mind off yourself.

Quit worrying about what people are going to think or say about you and start worrying about what they're thinking and saying about your God.

I'm not saying put your strength and your faith in yourself.

Put your faith in God and stand for the the cause.

Amen.

Heavenly Father, we thank you that you just didn't fill the Bible with stories for us and for our children to read, that you filled things in the Bible for us to learn so that we could live a life that matters and a life of victory.

Lord, I pray that these five words could get ahold of us and not let go.

And we could get ahold of them and not let go.

Lord, we pray before youe that search our heart, Know us, try us, see if there be any wicked way in us.

Lord, help us to focus on, first of all on you, but then to realize that, yeah, we have a problem and it's us.

I have a problem and it's me.

Help us.

We pray in Jesus name.

Heads are bowed, let's stand to our feet.

Everyone's standing.

Heads are bowed, eyes are closed.