You know the first thing that a farmer does? One of the things that he does anyway, I'm no farmer. But he takes a plow and he breaks up the earth. Well, a plow is just a sword that's cutting open the heart of the earth. Why? It's in order to make it possible for the seed that is put in to produce fruit. If the seed is merely thrown upon the hard ground, it is not going to be productive. The ground has to be broken up first. I remember a brother, Virgil Hollingsworth, of Augusta, Georgia, telling me years ago this story. He said that Mordecai Ham, the preacher through whose ministry, Billy Graham, came to know Christ as his Savior. He said he'd preached there in Augusta for about two or three weeks. And Mr. Hollingsworth went up to him. He said, Brother Ham, he says, you've been preaching here for about two or three weeks now? And he says, and you haven't given the invitation yet. He said, I'll always remember what he said. I've got to get them lost first. I've got to get them lost first. First of all, there has to be the sword, and then the seat. Joshua Bean's name means the people will return. God says if the people do return, he'll have mercy, and he will abundantly pardon. And in that confidence, we can preach the gospel. And we can say with absolute assurance that the gospel is the power of God and the salvation to everyone that believes, not to everyone that works, not to everyone that prays, not to everyone that gives, but to everyone that believes. Joshua B. His name means of the wise one because it takes wisdom to win. The Hakmanite means of the wise one. It takes wisdom to win so. Well, then there's Eleazar and Shama, and they fought for the food. There was a field full of barley, and that was really the food for the poor. You remember in the Lord's Day we read concerning that young lad in John chapter six that says he had five barley loaves and two small fishes, the food for the poor. And isn't it interesting that God in his word says that in large part the food is for the poor? He came to preach the gospel to the poor, those that realize they're poor, at least. God has chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom. And it is a fact in the early church, the vast majority of those who were in the early church were poor people. It is easier, said the Lord Jesus, for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. And it's not without significance that the word of God, the New Testament scriptures, was written in the common Greek, not in the classical Greek. It was written in the Greek of the average person on the street. And it was simply saying this, that God wanted people, no matter how low they were, to have the gospel of the grace of God. Whosoever will may come. Now it says that Eleasia was with David at Pass Daman, because that's where the battle is fought. When it comes to the truth of God, that is where the battle is fought. Pass Daman means the vanishing of blood. Not so many years ago, one of the leading denominations in the United States of America saw to it that every mention of the blood was deleted from the hymn books. There's no mention of any hymn that has a mention of the blood in the hymn books. Quite a few years ago, my father was out in Wisconsin, and the Christians there were interested in having some gospel meetings, and it was out in the country. And so they went to find who owned this particular church building was vacant, and they discovered that it was one of the leading denominations, Protestant denominations, and my father went to see him. the pastor of this particular church. And he asked him, well, what do you folks believe? What do you teach? And he said something like this. We believe that the Bible is the word of God. And Christ died for sins. And it was the result of his shedding his precious blood that we could be redeemed or something like that. He said, we don't want that around here. That's butcher's doctrine. That's what he called it. Butchers' doctrine. And my dad looked at him and he says, what kind of shoes do you have on there? Leather, I don't know what these are, probably not leather, but leather shoes. Yes. Your belt, leather belt. What did you have for dinner today? Chicken? Roast? Pork? What did you have? And then he said, you believe in butcher's doctrine for your body and for your belly, but you don't believe in it for your soul. They call me old-fashioned because I believe that the Bible is God's holy word, that Jesus, who lived among men long ago, was divine and the Christ of God. My sin was old-fashioned. My guilt was old-fashioned. God's love was old-fashioned, I know. But the way I was saved was the old-fashioned way through the blood that makes whiter than snow. And if you shut the blood from your hymn book and from your life, you part company... with the Apostle Peter, he says, we're not redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish and without spot. You part company with the Apostle John, who says the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin. You part company with the Apostle Paul, who said, ye who were sometimes afar off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Three men, with one objective, to please their king. It was no command that David gave. He didn't say, all right, you fellows line up. You, you, and you. I want you to go and get me some water. He didn't do anything of the kind. I guess he sort of was speaking to himself. He remembered as a boy. It was his hometown, Bethlehem. And he had played around that area as a child growing up, and he remembered that delicious cold water from that spring that water that was by the well, in the well by the gate. Oh, if I could have some of that, oh, that someone would give me the drink. And these three men at the risk of their lives, they break through, and they got the water, and they broke through the Philistines ranks again, and they brought it to David. And when David looked at that water, it didn't look like water to him. It looked blood red. He said, this water has been brought to me at the jeopardy, the risk of this man's lives. As he looked at that and appreciated that sacrificial love of his men, he said, I can't drink this. True, I'm your captain. But he says, I'm not worthy of such devotion as this. And it says he took it out and poured it unto the Lord. He says, there is one who is deserving. I'm not the one. They fell down before Paul and Barnabas, and they wanted to worship them because they had healed this lame man at Listera. And they said, why, we're men of like passions. Get up on your feet, and they tore off their clothes the idea of anybody worshiping them. We're not worthy, they said. Peter goes to see Cornelius, and Cornelius falls down to worship them. Stand up on my feet. I'm not worthy. The last chapter of the Bible closes with John falling at the angel's feet, and he's told, see thou do it, and not I'm thy fellow servant. But seven times over, in the Gospel of Matthew alone, we read, they worship him. Jesus, thou alone art worthy. ceaseless praises to receive. For thy love and grace and goodness rise are all our thoughts conceived. Many years ago, an English lady, well versed in seven different languages, was standing in a German museum, and she saw a picture, a picture depicting the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. Underneath of it in German were written something like this. All this I did for you. What have you done for me? She grabbed a scrap of paper from her purse and she started to scribble some lines on it. And after she had read it, she wasn't satisfied with it. And she took it and balled it up and threw it in the direction of the fire. And a draft blew it out and it was just charred in the edges. And she felt that it should be preserved. And she took it home and showed it to her father who was a preacher. The lady was Francis Ridley Havergill in the words that she wrote with these. I gave my life for thee. My precious blood I shed, that thou might ransom be, and quicken from the dead. I gave my life for thee. When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Lord of glory died, my riches gained, I count but loss and poor contempt on all my pride. Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, save in the death of Christ. My God, all the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to his blood. See from his head, his hands, his feet. Sorrow and love flow mingle down. Did air such love and sorrow meet or thorns compose so rich a crown? Where the whole realm of nature, mind, that were present far too small, love so amazing, so divine, demands my heart, my life, my heart. We sing it now as we shall one day sing, to his eternal praise, thou art worthy. Thou art worthy, for thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred and tongue and nation and people. May God help us to recognize that we have three jobs to do. Three jobs to hasten that coming kingdom. We have the job of going out and witnessing, seeking to win others to Christ. That's the job of Jasher being the evangelist. We have the job of defending the food for God's people, pastoring God's people. And we have the responsibility of teaching by our example that he is worthy. of our everything. May God help us to do so for His name's sake. I wonder if our brother Ernie would lead us in that closing hymn number five, hundred and eighty-four, I think it is. Who is on the Lord's side? Who will serve the king? I wonder how many of us know this one. The chorus is a challenge by thy grace divine. We are on the Lord's side, Savior, we are thine. Five eighty-four. Now we have to stand to sing this one. Let's rise and sing. Who is of the Lord's life? Who will serve as king? Who will be Israel's mother life to bring? Who will be the world's life? to his face of hope. For when now the Lord shall look for him, we'll go. By thy call on mercy, by thy great delight. We on the Lord's side, make your way your mind. Not for prayer of glory, not for power of love. In turn we may be ready when the warriors come. But for love and dreaming, life shall rule be done. Thank you, Jesus, Jesus, that be of the day and night. By thy love and strength, by thy grace divine. We are on the Lord's mind. Savior, make our God. Jesus Christ, Lord, not with gold or gold, and with mine, oh, thy love, for thine eye abyss. With thy cleansing filling, need to come to thee. Thou hast made us willing, thou hast made us free. By thy victory engine, By thy grace divine, we know the house by the Lord's light. Take the freedom of God. She may be the prophet, but may be the fool. Not the king's own army can't get overthrown. Rounding, standing, raising, is finishing good. For his will not take his place, but try not to show Joyfully his kissings. By thy grace divine, we are on the Lord's side. Saviour is our cause. This remains standing for the closing.