Paul was here before King Agrippa. He was a bound prisoner who had appealed to Caesar. Before being sent to Rome, Festus brought him before Agrippa in order that the king might hear Paul’s case. Paul is here "…witnessing both to the small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come" (Acts 26:22). He would often preach from the Old Testament Scriptures, proving that Jesus was the Christ. The keynote of his message was the fact of Christ’s resurrection preaching, "That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles" (Acts 26:23). He has been preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. He has been preaching His death and His resurrection. He has also been preaching the hope that lies ahead.

Often when preaching, Paul would give some testimony of his experiences and especially of the time of his salvation. He would use his own personal experiences as illustrations, and then make appropriate application to his hearers. This style is seen throughout his epistles to the churches.

In the many years since Paul’s days, preachers have used this method, some with greater and some with lesser success. I have read and personally heard many preachers that have given these types of accounts. They usually give some account of their life and experiences and some of the things they had seen and things that the Lord has been pleased to do through them. These messages have been a great encouragement to me.

At the very outset of this message, I say that I am attempting to do something the Lord has laid on my heart and is a little unusual. I am not simply trying to mimic others nor am I trying to set myself on any kind of a level comparable to the preacher brethren that have gone on before. I do not hold a candle to these brethren’s life and work and I am not in any way suggesting it to be so. However, I do want to give some "Observations of a Young Minister."

I want to follow Paul’s pattern give something of my own experience and some observations that I have made in my life. I hope the Lord will use it and I give Him all the glory and all the credit for anything that has taken place. I have not accomplished much. I should have done a whole lot more, to this point in my life, but I give all the glory to God for what has been accomplished for His glory.

I was born in Charleston, West Virginia and grew up very near there in a hollow named Campbell’s Creek. I was born into a Christian home. I was probably no more than a few weeks old when I was in a church service. I was brought up in a home where God was feared, the Bible was read and respected, prayers were made, and the church was important. Around our home when it was time for the service, that is where you were and that is where you were expected to be. When the doors were open, was when we went to church. I was not raised believing in sovereign grace, as I do now. However, my parents are Christians and I thank God for them daily and especially when I see others that were not as blessed to be brought up in the same manner.

I was saved as a young boy of about 6 years old. I recall the time when the Lord saved me; of course, it is something that you never forget. I recall that how as a young boy I did not know much; I did not understand much. However, I do remember that I had a great sense and a weight of guilt that came upon me all at once. It is as if it just hit me. I was sitting there in a service on a Sunday night. As a kid, you are generally sitting in the seat writing on paper or doing different things. I recall that my attention was grabbed by something that was taking place. My father was singing. Singing is not exactly his gift and it was very rare to him singing solo. It caught my attention, now I had heard him sing before, but this was different. He was singing "He Touched Me." The Lord got a hold of me. I recall feeling that I was a sinner. It is hard to explain. I knew that if the Lord did not save me I had not hope. I was so fearful. I began to cry and I could not stop myself. I knew that I was going to Hell if the Lord did not save me.

Throughout the rest of the service, I was under this weight of guilt. After the service was over and many of the people had left, I was in the back corner with some family members and some other folks. I remember that is was right there in that very spot, the Lord saved me. I then prayed to the Lord and asked Him to forgive me of my sins. The Lord saved me and of course, I have never forgotten it. I thank Him for it.

Being saved at an early age is a wonderful blessing and sometimes a great temptation. I went for many years just like many other young kids and got into a lot of mischief, for which I would be ashamed. Early on, I had a great struggle within. I am not certain of the time, it probably started about the time that I was a young teenager and it continued really, until I was 25 years of age. I felt like that the Lord had something for me to do; something certainly more than what I was doing. I would just deny it and dismiss it and I would have some peace for a time.

For the course of my life, and especially my younger days, I have many regrets. I see a lot of time that I wasted. I see a lot of time where I was just involved in foolish things and not concerned so much about the Lord. I was involved and taken up with the foolish things of the day. I wasted a lot of time that I could have been putting to a lot greater use to serve God. I did not have a good testimony. I had not chosen a good name rather than silver or gold. I felt that I would have plenty of time later to get serious with the things of God; for the time I just wanted to enjoy life. I lament the great folly of my youth. I sorrow and repent to have been such a reproach upon my Savior. I do not have any satisfaction in these times. I sorrow that I was such a bad influence on many. I pray that these days shall ever be a beacon in my memory that these things will "not be once named" in the days that I have now to serve the Lord.

As I got closer to a senior in high school, I began to study the some things on the sovereignty of God and the doctrines of His sovereign grace. I had never really heard of them up to that point in my life. It was some time there and into my early 20’s that the Lord was working with me. He began to show me these great truths and the things concerning his church.

Around that time, I was married to my wife, which was a tremendous blessing from God. I look back and see that I believe Satan tried to hinder us. I am amazed at the graciousness of God concerning us. I believe beyond any doubt that it was the will of God for us to be together. I believe that God intended that and that he brought us together. There are many stories I could go into about our history and how we crossed paths, but for sake of time, I will not. God was working in all that and I am thankful for it.

In the year 1998, we had been attending the Heritage Landmark Baptist Church in Given, WV for over a year. I was beginning to learn many things. We joined the church and we were baptized into the church in September of 1998 just about 2 weeks after our first child was born. We continued there in the church, working in the church, studying, and learning. The struggle within was the greatest that it had ever been. I can recall being near despair and praying; asking God to tell me what He wanted me to do. I had a very heavy burden. The Lord was pleased to call me to preach in June of 1999. I do not mean to imply that the Lord was calling me to preach all those years. I do believe that He was working on me and preparing me in ways for His ministry.

I made that call known and I still do not understand it. I still do not understand why God selects some of the people that He does. All I can say is that I believe he called me and I made that known in June of 1999. I just could not do anything else, even if I wanted to. I still feel that burden to preach His Word today. I began preaching there in the church sometime after they had licensed me to preach. I would preach at the church there and go to some other churches.

In February 2001, the Indore Baptist Church called me as pastor. I was ordained in March of the same year and I have been here since that time. I have been pastoring this church a little over a year and have been preaching just about 3 years. This is where I am and how I got here. I have tried to give a short version. I feel like that my life is just like the life of all of God’s children, it is a testimony of God’s grace to an unworthy sinner.

I want to continue with the thoughts Paul had, "Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day…." I want to share some observations, some things that I have noticed some things that I have learned in the time that I have been alive, which has not been very long by a lot of standards. I am generally not one that sits around and reflects on the things of the past. I recall as a young boy at home many people coming around. Dad was one that was always fixing something. God has given him a great ability in mechanical things. He can fix anything that moves. Therefore, people were always bringing around their cars and things that needed fixed. I recall some of the things that they would say to me. One thing I heard a lot was, "You need to enjoy these days, because they are the best times of your life." In some respects, maybe I could see their point. However, I disagreed with that statement then and I disagree with it now. I do not believe that those days of childhood were the best days of my life. They were good days. I do not live in the past. I believe that the best days of my life are yet ahead. I really believe that. I enjoyed those days, I do not deny it, and I have enjoyed every stage of life that I have gone through to this point. I enjoy very much my life right now. If God allows as He has done in the past and I believe that He is going to be gracious out in the future, I intend to enjoy what is yet ahead. I am not one that sits around, lives, and reflects in the days of the past.

The types of reflections that I am giving are really somewhat unusual for me. Lately, I have been reading Bro. Cockrell’s book on "Death and the Hereafter." This has probably caused me to reflect on things a little more than I normally do. Now, I want to reflect on a few things that I have seen and I have learned.

1. In the first place, I have observed that the world has waxed worse and worse. The bible said that it would be that way. It says, "But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse…" (2 Tim. 3:13). There is a noticeable difference in the wickedness of men even from the time that I was a young child until today. I can see things now that I believe when I was a young child in a community it would more or less have been a shame. A person would have been an outcast.

It seems like today that the wickedness of men, in many cases, is celebrated in the world and in society. They are raised up and elevated, they are brought to the forefront, and wickedness has become more brazen and bolder. People are in open defiance toward God and open defiance of His Word. They walk in that way and men are sinners. I do not believe that they are necessarily greater sinners than they were in times past, but I do believe that they wax worse and worse. I am amazed when I think that God is restraining the wickedness on the earth today and yet it is as bad as it really is. Sometimes we look at the things that are going on and we realize that this world is waxing worse and worse. Solomon said, "…there is no new thing under the sun" (Ecc. 1:9). However, I do believe that men come up with different ways all the time to manifest the wickedness that is in their heart. All the time there is some different avenue that is found for displaying and making a show of their wickedness. I believe that this world is waxing worse and worse and I believe that it will continue to do so, just as the scriptures testify.

It has been noticeable and something I have observed. As I read the writings of godly men that have lived in past centuries and different times from today, I notice in their writing that the world has continued to grow worse and worse. If it was true in their day then how much more is it true today? Paul said that they were waxing worse and worse in his day. We believe it is truer today and we believe that these events are leading up to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. The world has grown wicked, in one place the prophet Isaiah said that people were pulling sin to them as a cart on a rope (Isa. 5:18). He was saying not only were people sinning, they were openly sinning and proud of their sins and they will go to great lengths to do wickedness. We see that in this day and time. Men will put themselves out of the way to sin against God.

2. In the second place, I have observed that this world continues to get busier and busier. I was reading something A.W. Pink wrote in the early 1900’s and he was commenting that in his day the world was getting busier and busier and faster and faster. He was not the only one, we can go back farther than him and men will testify to the same. The world continues to move faster and faster. Why do I bring that up? I notice that as we get busier and busier, the things of God get pushed aside. Our Christian service is what suffers. I have seen it especially as a curse among Christians. They will get busier and busier in the world and obviously, you find a place where you cannot do everything, something has to be cut. What is cut? The service of God is trimmed.

I have been amazed, and all down through my life I have seen it repeatedly, that people get busier and busier and they have so many things to do that they just cannot make it to the church service. They do not have time. I have known many that have young children and they will have their children in the boy or girl scouts, soccer, tee-ball, gymnastics, karate, band, horse back riding, basketball, and many other things, and they can run back and forth every evening to this practice and that practice and to the plays and games but then they cannot come to church because that is just too much.

On the other hand, some cannot come to the church because the next day the kids have to get up and go to school. I believe that this is something that I have noticed, that the world gets busier and busier and Christians are caught up in it if they are not careful. They get busy with the world and they push the things of God aside. If you are not going to do the things of God today when are you going to do them? Just when we think the pace of things cannot increase anymore, it does. Men keep pressing and pushing on. This has happened in my lifetime.

3. In the third place, I have observed that pride is a very terrible sin. It is something that is a great temptation to the young, saved and unsaved alike. Paul speaking to Timothy said, "Flee also youthful lusts…" (2 Tim. 2:22). Solomon wisely advised, "Remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth…" (Ecc. 12:1). When our life and our health seem to be strong, we are greatly susceptible to pride. We begin to think that we are never going to grow old and have these aches and pains that the old folks get. They will kind of laugh at Grandma and Grandpa sitting in there talking about their surgeries and their pills and they will get a good chuckle out of it. They go on thinking that I will never have to have anything like that. We think that we have all the time in the world. Pride is a terrible evil.

It is also especially evil and temptation to young preachers. Something that Satan uses and uses mightily to tear down preachers is pride. As I have read the works of some of God’s preachers that have gone on before, I noticed that they have made comment on it. They struggled with it. Robert Murray McCheyne was one that died at the age of 29 and one of the things he consistently refers to in his journal was the fight that he had against pride in his life. For young Christians, those that have been blessed and those that it seems have been given some sort of a special gift from God, it is very easy to get prideful and lifted up and think that we in ourselves are something. I mean if God has enable someone to sing or play an instrument, whatever gift that God has given you, it ought to be employed in His service. We also must realize that God has given it and it has come from Him. Paul asked the Corinthian church, "For who maketh thee to differ from another…" (1 Cor. 4:7)? Why would you glory if you have something more than another does? Who has given it to you? It is a ridiculous thing to think that we are something because of what that God has given us. Pride is ridiculous and preposterous when we think about it.

We see that it is a terrible evil and great temptation that comes upon us. We must fight against it and fight to overcome it in our life. Pride has a lot of the root of selfishness. The thinking of self, how that I’m important and I’m somebody, really being more concerned about taking care of ourselves and everybody else can just do whatever it is they want to do. Pride is something that hinders us and can ruin a Christian testimony very quickly. I have observed that pride is a terrible evil.

Pride is something Satan can use in many different ways to destroy. Pride can sometimes destroy friendships. It will destroy relationships. It will destroy churches. One church member will say, "I’m right and everybody else is wrong and you got to agree with me and it has got to be this way." Then, another church member says, "Well, I’m the one that’s right and everybody else is wrong and you have to go along with me." Then you will see before long the fellowship of a church and the unity in a church is destroyed and many times people will just be scattered. Pride is so destructive. It will destroy preachers. It will destroy homes. It will destroy marriages. A husband will say, "Well, I’m the head of the house and what I say goes and its going to be this way and it isn’t going to be any other way." Sometimes a wife will say, "Well, I’ve got a mind and its going to be this way and it isn’t going to be any other way." We will see it will destroy homes.

Pride is a terrible thing. It is greatly used of Satan in trying to destroy and hinder the work of God. I have seen it in my lifetime. I have observed that pride can destroy all the things I have just mentioned. Pride is a terrible sin that we need to fight against at all times and all costs. When you think about it, God’s people, especially those that believe the truths of God in salvation, really should be the most humble people on earth. God’s grace is not something that should lift us up in pride; rather it should humble us. It is something that I began to see as I began to learn more about the Grace of God. I began to realize how much that God had done and how little and nothing that I had done. I began to realize more fully that it was not my merit, that I had not earned this salvation from God. I had not worked to get this salvation. I had not worked to keep this salvation. The Bible says that man is just a worm. He is just as the dust of the earth and just as the flower of the field. We begin to realize, we should keep in mind our position. Solomon said, "…when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear…" and to remember "…God is in heaven, and thou upon earth…" (Ecc. 5:1-2). I have seen pride enter and destroy repeatedly. It will hinder us in our work and testimony for God. I have observed pride being very destructive in this world. It is something we need to fight against as God’s people.

4. In the fourth place, I have observed that God’s preachers are often misunderstood. That was something that I did not really understand until I was a preacher. Many times, preachers are well meaning and their good intentions are misconstrued. It is hard for a preacher to have delivered a message and have tried to do his very best in preaching the Word of God and someone has misunderstood that message completely. Sometimes folks will make comments to me after that I have preached and they took everything that I had said 180 degrees opposite of what I meant. I know I am not exclusive in that. In some of Paul’s writings to the Corinthians that happened. Probably all of God’s preachers have had that to happen.

The reason I bring it up is this, even though there have been times I have been misunderstood; I have really purposed it in my heart to not try to defend myself. Now, I will defend the truth. I do not want the truth to be misunderstood. However, if my manners or something else is misunderstood, I just pray to God and I am going to leave that in His hands. This is a part of the struggle of getting self out of the way. I am not setting out to defend myself. I do not believe that is why God called me to preach. I do not believe that is why He wants me to stand before people and proclaim the truths of His Word. David said to His men, "Fight the LORD’s battles" (I Sam. 18:17). I do not believe that I have been employed or given a position of God to carry out my own battles and defend my own self. I do not believe the pulpit is a platform for the preacher to air his grievances and to enumerate his pet peeves to people. God has called me to preach and not to politics. I believe, as Paul said to Timothy, we are to "Preach the word…" (2 Tim 4:2). In another place, he said, "For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord…" (2 Cor 4:5). I have determined, by God’s grace, not to spend time in defending myself. I do not want to get sidetracked into politics and trying to smooth-talk others into agreeing with me. I will defend the truth. I will "…contend for the faith…" (Jude 1:3). Nevertheless, if I am misunderstood, I will just pray to God and leave it in His hands. I do not believe as a preacher of God’s Word that I am called to make a defense or an apology for my life. I simply just want to preach His word and if I am misunderstood then so be it. God will sort that out. I think that many times that does happen. I am not preaching this message in any way trying to accuse anyone of anything but I am just bringing out things that I have observed and noticed.

5. In the fifth place, I have observed that older folks are a tremendous blessing in the Lord. Every time I go to say this, I hesitate because you really do not want to try to be offensive to someone but this is just the truth of the matter. At the beginning of the message, I admitted I was young, so if you are old here today you are going to have to confess and admit that you are old.

I am referring to older folks that have been serving God a long time; that have been on that road and been through many ups and down. You can just get a sense from them that sometimes they seem so feeble physically but their faith is just like a giant rock that will not be moved. They trust in God. They have been delivered too many times not to trust in God. Over the many years of a long life, that one has been a Christian and they have served the Lord in his church and have witnessed his goodness repeatedly. They have a tremendous advantage over those of us that are younger because we may not have seen the goodness of God as much as they have. We can draw from their experiences. We can draw from the experiences of older folks in the church. I thank God that older people, that are godly people and that have been on the way a long time, they have experienced many things.

I have also found out that they are usually very willing to share their faith with those of us that are younger. However, sometimes it seems that those of us that are younger are not quite as willing to listen, as they are willing to share.

I was raised as a young boy to respect my elders. Looking back on it, there were some that were not worthy of that respect but that did not matter. I was taught that you respected those that were older than you were. That is something I do not see a lot of in this world today. It seems that society in general moves more toward worshipping youth and idolizing and obsessing over youth. The Bible says that in the last days children would be "disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy…" (2 Tim 3:2). I believe we see that in this day. I have observed that there is not the respect for the older folks in society, and in the church especially, that there ought to be by younger people. That is something that I hope, by the grace of God, to teach to my children as it was taught to my wife and me, as we were young children growing up. I believe that those that are older than us are to be respected. Paul said to Timothy, "Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father…" (2 Tim 5:1). We must be very careful how we conduct ourselves toward those that are older than we are.

I have observed that older folks in the church are a tremendous blessing and encouragement. Sometimes maybe you do not think so. Maybe sometimes, you feel that you are useless and just let somebody that is younger and more able to do something but that is not true at all. The older folks in a church are a tremendous strength and blessing and an encouragement to all those that are there. Those that are younger usually comment about how they like to see older folks in church and those that are older comment about how they like to see folks that are younger in the church. I am thankful for those that have gone before. When I look at my life, I believe I am one that has benefited greatly by the labors of others. I do not proclaim myself a self-made man at all. I believe God has given me much grace and He has put me continuously around Godly influences on my life. I am very thankful for that. I believe that I am a tremendous debtor to those that I have been around in my life and even to this day. My ministry, especially, has been built on the labors of others and will continue to be as long as God allows me to continue.

I have observed that older folks are a tremendous blessing. Their faith and their godliness should be followed. Those of us that are younger should emulate it. Those that have a lot more experience and a lot more knowledge than we do and their faith has grown and increased and they have been through so many things are worthy to be followed. The Psalmist talks about those that have done business on great waters and said when they have been out there and seen the waves and seen the hand of God displayed that they come back with a little bit different perspective on the power, goodness and deliverance of God (Psa. 107:23-30). I believe that is an area where older folks hold an advantaged over those that are younger, because we have not been through the things that they have endured. They have a different perspective on the things of God than we do.

I believe that the faith and the godliness of older folks is something that should be followed. In Hebrews, it mentions those elders in the church, "whose faith follow" (Heb. 13:7). Paul told Timothy, and Paul was a more aged man at the time, "But continue thou in the things that thou has learned and been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them" (2 Tim 3:14). I believe that we do well as young Christians to take for our patterns the godly, faithful lives of those that are older than we are. I believe it is most commendable. I believe as a younger preacher that it is most commendable to pay attention to those older preachers that have been preaching many long years. The older folks are there as a great source of blessing and encouragement. A saying in the world is, "Old tongues love to wag". That is true. You ask an older person and they will most likely be willing to share their experiences. I hope that maybe we will be a little more willing to listen.

6. In the sixth place, I have observed that personal godliness and holiness of life is a real possibility in this life. It is not something that is a "pie in the sky" ideal. It is not unachievable. It is possible in this life and on this earth. I am not saying this because I have achieved it but I am saying it because I know and have seen some that have achieved a great measure of godliness and holiness in their life.

I believe that "The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy" (James 4:5). The flesh that we have lusts against the spirit and the spirit is contrary to the flesh and a real warfare exists, but the Bible says, "He giveth more grace…" (James 4:6). I believe a holy life is something that is achievable in some measure. I hear an excuse that we will never be perfect in this life and it is just an excuse not to even try. I believe that is a real shame. I believe that we have been commanded and in order to achieve godliness and holiness in life that it is going to take something that most of us lack and that is discipline. Paul told Timothy, "For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come" (1 Tim 4:8). "Exercise" has been translated from the Greek word gumnasia, which is the root from where we get our word "gymnasium" and it has to do with the training of the body. The training of the body "profiteth little" compared to training ourselves unto godliness. Paul, writing about athletes, said, "Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things" (I Cor. 9:25). Those athletes realize that there are certain lifestyle choices that they cannot make if they want to achieve their goal of winning the race. They will train their bodies and discipline themselves in order to achieve their goal.

To the child of God Paul says, "Exercise thyself rather unto godliness" (I Tim. 4:7). We are admonished to train and discipline ourselves unto godliness. Paul said, "I keep under my body and bring it into subjection" (I Cor. 9:27). Godliness and holiness of life does not happen by accident. We do not wake up and have a holy, godly life. You cannot just fall off a log and live a godly life before God. It is going to take discipline, work and effort. You are going to have to get up every day with a determined purpose that you are going to serve God and glorify Him. You are going to have to realize how the decisions you make in life affect your service to God. Many times, we make decisions on what would be best for our physical situation and then we figure that we will sort out the things with the Lord and the church later. Whatever is going to make us more money and happier is how we usually make our decisions. But, if you want godliness and holiness of life you are going to have to be moderate in all things and everything else is going to have a to take a backseat and is going to have to take a position of second importance to serving God and serving him faithfully. Discipline is required. Many times, we give it a pass and say it is not possible. However, it is possible and we should strive for it "…pressing toward the mark..." (Phil. 3:14). If it was achievable for others, it is achievable for us as well. Paul had achieved a lot of holiness and godliness. I am not saying he was perfect. I am not putting anyone on a pedestal. However, I am saying they have achieved a whole lot more godliness of life than I have. There must be something there. Peter said that God "Hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness…" (2 Peter 1:3). God has given us what is necessary, so I believe it is possible to achieve. I believe we should strive for godliness of life.

7. In the seventh place, I have observed in my life apathy and complacency on the part of some Christians. I hear folks say that people are just not interested in coming to church anymore and that people do not want to hear the gospel. Usually, it is said in a way that seems to imply that we just should not try. I have observed that they are right in saying people do not want to hear the gospel and they do not have a burning desire to come to church, because if they did the house would be full. This says to me that the world is in a great need of the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. They need to hear the Word of God and they need to see holy, godly Christians serving God and a holy, godly church. They need that example. They need to see real Christianity. They need the gospel. The world needs the gospel more today than they ever have.

It is foretold of this age, "…the love of many shall wax cold" (Matt. 24:12). Iniquity and lawlessness abounds. What do we see in our nation and our country, even in our community you see that people feel like you just do whatever you want to do. Whatever is right for you and your family that is what you do. Lawlessness abounds because the love of many has waxed cold. I do not believe we need less preaching of the gospel, we need more. We need more godliness and more holiness.

I have observed this in the church and it has been a great disappointment to me. I was not brought up in sovereign grace churches believing the truths I hold today. As I began to study and the Lord revealed these truths to me, I came to Sovereign Grace Landmark Baptist Churches, and, in some ways, I was a little bit disappointed. I was expecting that people that believed, understood, and knew these wonderful truths would be the holiest people on the face of the earth. I believed that they would have the highest of standards. Of the people that believed these truths and were in the Lord’s church, I was expecting to see something that was far above me. I do not say that because I was something, but I was really expecting that these truths would be so precious and so dear that these folks would be the holiest of people. I am not saying that there are not people in Sovereign Grace Churches that are not godly and holy; I believe there are. However, I believe there are also many that are not. I just was not expecting to encounter Antinomianism, worldliness and low moral standards, but I did in some. It is a real shame and reproach to the Lord’s church. I believe that it gives the enemies of God an occasion for reproach. I believe that people that are in the Lord’s church ought to have the highest of standards. They ought to have the holiest of lives on the face of the earth. One summer when I was a teenager, I was working at a maintenance garage. Anyone that has been in that kind of situation knows what kind of ungodliness exists in those places, with all sorts of ungodly, filthy language and other things going on. A few there would be Christians. I had a fellow there tell me something I have never forgotten. He told me that out on a job, if a man is a Christian, he ought to be the very best man that is on the job. That is true. If people hear that you are a Christian or you tell them you are a Christian or that you go to the Lord’s church, they generally intend to expect something of you. They tend to expect something in your life more than what is in theirs. If you are just going to wear the same things they are going to wear, you are going to go to the places that they are going to go, you are going to use the exact same language that they use then "…what do ye more than others?" (Matt 5:47). That is what Christ asked his disciples. If you are not living in a higher place than they are, then "what do ye more than others?" I agree with that man, if there is a Christian there, he should be the best man there. I am not saying that he is the smartest or more able, but I am talking about his character, his holiness, his integrity ought to be the highest. There should not be a better neighbor than a Christian neighbor. There should be none better in the community. Christians ought to shine as lights in the world, in the midst of a dark, crooked, and perverse generation. Until there begins to be a radical difference between the church and the world, we cannot expect to see great progress.

8. In the last place, I have observed that the return of the Lord is very near. This is because of things I see happening around me all the time. We can see events unfolding all the time that point to His return. More and more are days are becoming as "the days of Noah." It is something we should hold in mind as we are going through our life that His return is very near to fulfillment.

Paul said, "Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day…." (Acts 26:22) It is a tremendous testimony of God’s grace that I am where I am today. Because I believe that what lies within me is just as the Bible says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jer. 17:9). Except God would have His hand upon me, I know not where I would be today. I believe that it is a great testimony of God’s grace to save an old sinner like me and use me in a very small way in His service. I give him all the glory for it.

(Author’s Note: This sermon was transcribed from a message the author preached on April 28, 2002 at the Indore Baptist Church in Indore, WV.)