I am, I've been doing conference work for a little while. And I've been asking myself, why do we have a meeting after we eat? Because after the meeting, eating time is sleeping time. And I hope you don't go to sleep because I feel like doing the same thing. However, I want to ask, I didn't ask permission for this, but I want to know if I can have a commercial. You should have one commercial and two meetings, right? All right. We have a paper called The Perspective. We are putting it out to inform the people in the area of what God is doing. I've put a few on the tables over there. We'll appreciate you reading it and, of course, the praying for us. Some of you may know that I am in the church planting business. And in forty years, God has enabled us to see seven meetings established in the South East. And on November third of last year, we started another class in Marietta, Georgia, about thirty-five miles north of Atlanta. So every Thursday night from seven thirty until eight thirty, we are having a Bible class in the YWCA in Cobb County. I covet your prayer for this, that this will develop to be assembly number eight. And I think you numerologists would tell me that eight speaks of a new beginning. But we want to stay on the same track. And if the Lord be not come, On the third of next month, four of us are leaving from the Atlanta area, and we are going to Kenya, Nairobi, East Africa. We are going to speak at the Easter Conference, and of course there's a connection there. The meeting, the place we'll be having the conference, the young man was saved through a missionary from our assembly in Atlanta, Georgia. So will you please remember to pray for Mr. and Mrs. Flowers, Mr. Lyburn, that's the fellow who edits this paper and put it out, and then Mrs. Sixto is the wife of one of our workers in Anniston, Alabama. I'll appreciate it very much if you remember to pray for us. Now, you've had two messages. One from an able Bible teacher, that's his gift. And I suddenly took capricious note of what was said. And I'm hoping that he doesn't mind if I use them again without any charge. But that is the beauty of what God has done. Our brother is a teacher. He catalogs everything. He puts them in order. And anybody can grab them. My gift is not teaching. My gift is to make trouble. That's my name. When I was in England, the people used to say, what's your name? And they thought, because I was black, that my name would have been a hoo-hoo-hoo. They say, what's your name? And I said, T.M. Flowers. And they weren't satisfied. They insist, what's your name? And I love to have fun. I'm enjoying myself. As long as I don't do anything crazy, you know, I like to enjoy myself. So they said, what's your name? I said, my name is Telegraph More Flowers. And so they thought that was the translation of my African name in the English, Telegraph More Flowers. Okay. Okay. So when I came, okay, when I came to Georgia, forty years ago, someone said, you're a troublemaker. So I said, well, that's my name, Troublemaking Flowers. But that's not really my name. My name is T. Michael Flowers, and I want you to know that I appreciate being here, and I want to just wrap up what I started to say this morning. I personally, after being in Christ for fifty-seven years, I personally am trying to make every possible adjustment to reality or to God's word, the revelation I see in this book of himself. And to do that, and in keeping with my gift, which is exhortation, an exhortation is to stimulate the faith of others. I just want to see Christian come and sit on us here. You know, I want to see them reaching for something, grabbing something and going over there. You understand that? Okay, but I'm not fighting with you. So, I have to ask different questions that other people are asked. I believe the Lord has blessed our ministry as an evangelist, but basically the motivating gift is exhortation. So, in my way of thinking, after thinking about the sovereigns of God and after hearing of brother Steve this morning I'm ready to jump over this building because you see he gives the orderly history of the thing and if you didn't see that you need to change your glasses so the exhorter takes the truth and he says now this is what you do with what you've heard now I don't need to tell you that you know it already but what I want to do I just want you to go over these things with me, so we will not sit back and says now, what must I do with that? Claire? Claire? Claire? Claire? Claire? Claire? Okay. Okay. Let me just read you one verse from Acts chapter fifteen. Don't change it because I want you to turn to another scripture in the lower. But Acts chapter fifteen and verse eighteen reads like this. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. Shall we pray? Our Father, we would borrow, as it were, the language of another servant of all, and ask that you would throw light into the darkened cell where passion reigns supreme, quicken our consciences till they feel the loathsomeness of sin, and may this compel us to come to you and know what it is, to be clean every whit, as we confess our sins, knowing that you are faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. O Lord, help us together to magnify your name. For Jesus' sake. Amen. Now, where I live and where I move, I am finding it important and necessary to keep saying to my brothers and sisters, as well for those who are not saved, we are serving a great God. And too often we say very little about His greatness. I was reading recently and I found these words you know read them over and over suddenly they jump over at you and here in Psalm one forty five the psalmist says great is the Lord and greatly to be praised and his greatness is unsearchable that's your father that's your father that's our father his greatness is unsearchable Now, if that's true, I think we have someone to talk about. We can talk about God and Jesus from now until, and we'll find no flaw, we'll find no fault in him. Now, if that's true, I am concerned about our indifference, about us not talking about him. Brothers and sisters, we have someone to talk about who is worth talking about. And I think we should do it, not arrogantly, but we should do it just in a normal way, because we want everyone to know who our father is. And having settled that issue as to who our father is, I think the next thing we should do is to get to know what our Father has done as the sovereign Lord. And in the last place, I think we should be saying, Lord, you did it yesterday, do it again. Do it again. So my idea of being here this afternoon is to say to you, if our God has done this, Hebrews thirteen it teaches us that he is the same yesterday and today and forever. He is the same person. He has the same power. He has the same purpose. And since he created us for his glory, he wants us to glorify him. And we do that when we tell the folks, look, see what our God has done. Now, you know, as well as I do, that the Babylonian Empire was a little old dinky empire. That's not true, is it? You could say wrong, preacher. I'm not above being wrong. Come on. Why? The Babylonian Empire was a little old dinky empire. Good, good. Bye-bye. Don't hurt my horse. And they took the... Israelite chapters, right? The two of Israel are chapters. And again, I don't want to go into the whole thing, but you remember how, what the king did in chapter one. You see there the method of dictators. They got the cream of the crop, the choicest men. And he says, train these men to be good Chaldeans. Teach them all that we know and get all that Judaistic ideas out of the system. And there were three boys there, maybe four. I think four. Mr. Hill says there was Shadrach, Meshach, and Abad Negro. What I think we'll correct him by saying is Abed Negro. Okay. But they were all there. And these men were involved and deeply involved with the God of their fathers. And they had the temerity, the goal, to simply say, well, we appreciate what you're trying to do, but I don't think we would like to have baked pork. We have an alternative. And remember, beloved, remember, I'm concerned about this. You know, you can object to something, but the way you object and the way you present your case make all the difference. Now, I don't think those barters, no, no, no, no, we don't, he talked about it. No, no, I don't think they did that. Because the scripture says they didn't do it. They came to a place, a point where there was agreement, and Daniel simply said, I'll not tell you what. We don't want you to lose your job. But all you need to do is to just give us ten days. And if we can make it on bean soup, then you give us bean soup. And you ever did it? They took the bean soup, and then they came before the king. They were ten times fairer than the rest of them, who ate the bacon and the other stuff. Don't worry about it. Now, I'm thinking... about something that the Bible speaks of in Samuel. It says, Them that honor me, I will honor. Now remember, these fellows are not interested in pleasing themselves. But they were concerned about the glory and the majesty and the standard of their God. And God gave them favor. Now the story is well known, so again, let me get to the point I want to make. If these men were conversant with the history of their God, they had to believe that their God was a mighty God. And so, they were simply saying, look fellas, we are here, we are captives, to use today's terminology, we're minorities. But at the same time, we are in touch with omnipotence. And if we are in touch with him, he can do anything he wants to do. For he is a mighty God. Am I stressing this enough for him? You remember what I'm saying? I am saying, my thesis is that most of us, we do not think of God as a sovereign who has all power in both realms, heaven and in earth. Somehow, I don't know where we get the idea from. God, you... I don't know. I mean, God... No, no, no. When you come to the Bible, and when you start talking about God, remember, He... is the God who has no equal. He is the God who is incomparable and might and power. You name it. He is alone in majesty. Now, beloved, don't just shake your head. I want to know, do you believe this when you're in a jam? I mean, when you are in deep trouble, when the sky is overcast, When the, what's called a tornado heading for your house, when the flood waters rising, what do you do then? And I believe there are times when God is testing us and he's saying to us, you stand still and listen to me. Let me give you an illustration. Suppose you were with the Israelites and you just came from under slavery. You were headed to the promised land. On either side there were hills, mountains, and you couldn't turn to the right or the left, and of course there was the sea in front of you, and behind you was the snorting enemy. Now, what are you supposed to do? And Moses came over with this little silly message, stand still. What do you mean stand still? I mean, Moses, have you lost? What happened to your thinking, chap? Stand still! Dear Moses, he's stand still. And if you stand still, you'll see something you've never seen before. And that's what God is still saying to us. If you want to discover who I am, stop where you are and listen to me. I am the God of the impossible. And I'm looking for men and women that I can take and cause them to stand out. And the world will have to say, these folks are different. I read the story of a girl called Mary Slesser. She went from Scotland, she went to some of those, I went to Africa and some of those islands. And she was able by God to tame the most violent prisoners simply because she stood fast and believed that God was able to bring any man with a suggestion according to his will. Now God doesn't grab a fella and say, now I do do this with you. No, no. God knows how to work it. And Mary fleshly believed God. And her biographer said, God did exploit through her. I suppose most of you know Daniel the eleven thirty-two. It says this, And the people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploit. And I heard of a young fellow going from the Sunday school with that as a memory verse. The mother says, what's the memory verse on? He says, the memory verse is, the people that do know, dear God, shall be strong and do exports. Now, that's what I believe God wants us to do. He wants us to know that he is strong and through us, he is going to do exports. The question is, can he really do it? Okay. Let's see what he can do. That's what it can do. The king made an image. And the king says, now everybody must fall down and worship this when you hear the band. Hip rock, high rock, whatever it is. Once you hear the music, go to it. And there were three captives there who heard the music and they stood and gave them bow. And some spy said, Your Majesty. There are three captives here. You know those folks that he conquered? He, he, he. Captives. They, they, they, they wouldn't bow to you. And the king said, Oh yeah? Listen, bring them to me. And the king says, Now fellas, I don't want to be unkind to you. But I want you to know that I am the big boy here. And when I speak nobody, I mean nobody says anything to me. The folk says, King. We are not careful to answer you in this matter. Now, if our God chooses, He can deliver us from that fiery furnace, but that's not our concern. Our only concern is to honor God, and we want you to know whether we go in the furnace or He keeps us out, we are about to bow down. Now, that's not being ruled. That's simply standing not on the premises, but on the promises. and the promises I will be with you. You know the story. The king was so furious he got them to heat the furnace seven times hotter than the manufacturer's guarantee would allow. And the king said to them, I mean, throw them into the fire. And they grabbed them and the men who threw them into the fire, they were struck into the fire furnace. And then the king said, What's happening? He said, Didn't we throw three men into the furnace? I see four. And the fourth is as a form of the son of man. And so the king went to the furnace and he said, Shadrath, Meshath and Abednego, come hither. Now, I want you to think of this. I know you know the story. I know you know it. But do you ever think in terms of what's involved here and the implications? Is it true? Is it true that fire and a furnace, I mean hot, I mean really hot, and people are thrown in, and there's no smell of fire. The clothes were made unburned. I mean, can you believe that? Is it true? Folks, do you believe that? You're crazy if you believe that. In the fire? And you don't even smell on them? Now, if you really believe that, have you ever said, honestly, God, you're wonderful. Don't say you're wonderful. Just say you're wonderful. Because this is what he is. And I am concerned that Michael Flower, that idiot from Georgia, doesn't see this enough to double themselves. Great God, you're wonderful God. Somehow we are excited about who our God is. And what our God can do, what He has done, what He will yet do. I said to someone recently, God has going to reserve a time where you're going to send your father the devil to hell for one thousand years in the dungeon. And after that, you're going to put him into the lake of fire with the beast and the false prophet and forever and forever. Now can you with a good conscience follow a leader like that? Nothing most people are doing. And we have someone we can follow because he is gracious, he is powerful, he is not arrogant. You know, we don't say we want to go up. You believe God did that. Now as a result of their signs, you know what the king said, I don't have time to read it. You know what the king said? He says, yes, gentlemen, I want everybody to know this. There is no God. like the God of Shadrach, Meshach and the Bednego. I believe our churches, I believe our assemblers should be producing quality men and women who by the very demeanor will cause men and women to know and to say, those people, those folks, are God's own children by the way they walk, by the way they talk, by the way they do things. But the sad truth is, it's not always like that. But this should be our air. And that's why I'm telling you this story. I want you to aim for it. Because we have a sovereign God controlling everything. And none under him are all his works. From the beginning. Now do you think God really knew that these boys were going to follow for us? I don't think so. Because the St. Louis Daily Paper didn't inform him about it. So he didn't know. See folks. God is not looking for information. God, you hear that? God is not looking for information. God is not looking for counsel. God is declaring things that nobody else knows. Do you know what our God can do? I have five or six verses, but I think I must read one. Turn to Isaiah forty-four for a minute. You see, oh my goodness. Our God, our God. Forty-four. Listen to these verses. Well, better not read these verses. Get about it. Forty-four, twenty-four and twenty-five. Just let me read two verses anyhow. Listen. Daniel, I mean, Isaiah forty-four, twenty-four and twenty-five says, Thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that maketh all things, that stretch forth the heavens alone. that spread it abroad the earth by itself. Now listen to this. That frustrated the tokens of the liars. I think he messes up the United Nations with us, don't you think so? Now remember, I'm not against what it is in the United Nations. That's not the point. But I'm trying to tell you that in the highest counsel of man, God can refuse them. Like it is a Bible. Can your God really do that? And yet he asked you to trust him for peace of brotherhood. Oh, come on, beloved. Come on. What kind of God are you serving? Is he for real? Is he trustworthy? Let's generate his business, live by faith. And faith is stupidity. Faith is nonsense. Faith is having confidence in the God who cannot lie. Trusting him. frustrated the tokens of the liars, make it diviners mad, and turn it wise men backward, and make it their knowledge foolishness, utter nonsense. But listen what else he does. That confirmed the word of his servant. and perform it the council of his messengers that said to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited. And to the citizens of Judah, ye shall be built. In another place he says, My council shall start. We can go and do this? Folks, look at the empires in our world. Look at the parliaments in our world. And in Psalm two he says, the heathen are raging. and they're gathering himself against the Lord and against his anointed. And he says, but God shouldn't the herald just have a good laugh at him. See that something? And he says, I have set my key, and he is the one I have set on my holy hill. Folks, do you fear what's going to happen to America? I fear for one thing. I fear that some of my relatives may get lost before they get saved. But don't worry about America. Now, you said, Brother Flowers, how could you be so unfaithful? I don't mean in the way it's done. What I mean is this. Don't waste all your time as a Christian who's informed about biblical prophecy and know that Americans know that all the nations. Don't waste your time. Try to reach some people who are nearer to hell. Try to get the Christians from their low state of infirmity and try to lift them and raise them and challenge them to be stalwarts for God. Get going. Because God's going to do it anyhow. My council shall stand. I love America. I gave up my citizenship as a British subject, I mean object, to be an American citizen. I love America. America has been good to me. America has been good to my family. But thank God I'm trying to pay my debt to America by doing what Paul says. Pray for your leaders. I'm going deeper and beyond to tell the man, come, come, come. And come now. Don't worry about the land. It's going to continue. There is coming a day. And I don't know when. But God alone knows that. I'm going to go to whom to glory. Being that, as my friend used to say, I'm going to take a nine-star flight to glory through space. And then I'll be traveling from planet to planet, exploring the wonder and the mystery of our world. Whoa! Yeah, all that can start for me. And you don't worry about America. No, no, don't listen to what I'm saying now. Well, what do you see, folks? If there's something good, go through the best. Don't stop for the better. Go for the best. And God surely has nothing better than this. You've heard the history of what happened in our world today. In our world. But remember this. God made man. And men are called to be partners with him. Adam, I created you in my image. And if we get this message. It will transform our outlook. Because we won't see people as merely black and white. Rich and poor. We'll see people are those created in the image of God, and God has an undying interest in them. And to demonstrate how much He loved us, He sent His Son, and the Son gave Himself. Brother, does He love you? Oh, yes, He does. Does He have great love for you? You bet He has. But why go into secondary things when you can have the best? Well, of course. Let's cut it off. But I want you to tell me who is you. My God is a mighty God. We have said already he is a sovereign God. We know that. But my God is also a merciful God. Now what I want you to see is God revealed to a pagan monarch by the name of Nebuchadnezzar the plan of the ages. Is that true? God revealed it to him. And God allowed this fellow to eat grass like an oxen. Do you know who I'm talking about? I'm talking about a king. And I'm not talking about a two by two king. I'm talking about an egg by ten king. But my dad has the power to reduce him to eat grass like an oxen. until seven years pass over him and then my God restore him to all that he has. What mercy! Wow! Mercy. Now I'm just showing you this to see what God has done to some big folks. Well, it looked like me from inner city. You know, you could understand that. But this is the king! This is King Nebuchadnezzar! And God cut him down. Then God raised him up. Brothers, you have brothers who were once in these assemblies and now he's outside. Can't you push around him and tell him that God love him? Can't you sit with him? Can't you plead with him? Can't you brother? I know, I know, I know. After the kindness of God, our Savior appeared toward man. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us. And what is mercy? Alan Redpath said this. Mercy is God withholding judgment that's just. Folks, do you realize the people that we look at and they are his personal property? By creation? By regeneration? Are we nice to them? Are we nice to them? Are we nice to people who once professed? You know something? There was a man called Peter. And they talked with him this morning, remember? And he said to him, Peter, you're going to deny me before I called Peter. You ain't talking to John now, Lord. You're talking to me. You're talking to me. You're talking to Peter. After all, I can understand John may do it because he's a wimp. But God, this is Peter. Jesus, this is Peter. Jesus, okay, Peter, but what a cockroach? And the Bible says, the cockroach says, go on, brother. Peter, no, no, they didn't work. They wept bitterly. Now, if Peter was in our day, he'll never get to preach the sermon on the death of Pentecost. Because we'll write letters from a Sunday to a Sunday says, that boy denied the Lord. Sure he denied the Lord. And do you know the extent to which is the Night of God, as much as the Lord knows? And listen what he's saying. My grace is, is, is sufficient. I'm going to suggest that this mighty God and this merciful God wants us to be like him. Be merciful, even as your Father, which is in heaven, is merciful. Is that true? And then the king did... God did some marvelous things. He restored the king. And I'm not going to read his testimonies in chapter four. You read what he said about God. He says, there is no God like this one. Maybe you can't read it. Okay, let me read anyhow. I don't have, I can stop any time, they clock the stuff. Listen, I'm not preaching any sermon with one, two, three, four points. I am just trying to drop some things in your thinking that I want you to think about, don't it? No, I want you to think about these things. I want you and I want Michael to prove to think of this great God that we are united to. Did you know that humanity is united to the deity? I don't believe that. You believe that? Here. God sent his son who became our liberator. The son came and liberated us and now he stands between God and men as our mediator. And then they send the Holy Spirit to liberate us to be our educator. Are we learning from the Spirit? Is the Spirit trying to bring us to the place where His fruit in larger measures can be seen in us? Love and joy and peace. And the one I need is love, supper. Do I stand alone? The Spirit wants to, what do you think of us brothers? So that the fellow on the next machine to you, who you look at and all that, yes. No, no, no. You want to say to him, bro, maybe you don't know this. You'll know this perhaps. But God made you like himself. The image was marred. But Jesus Christ came to restore it. And Jesus Christ came to bring you back to the family of God. And you're now seated with him. You come to seat with him in the heavenliness of Christ Jesus. And one day, as the bride of Christ, you're going to be married to the prince of the universe. Now! You will tell me, yes. Now, don't tell me anything about it. I'm only telling what the Bible says. And if the Bible isn't true, then free for the Bible. But I'm still going to believe the Bible. I'm going to believe the Bible above anybody else. The Bible says that church is the pride of Christ. And one day, among that innumerable company of saints, there will be a foolish Michael, dressed in garments with a body of glory. just by Jesus. Folks, and I think he wants me right now to start talking about him, radiating his joy, radiating his peace, and saying to all foreigners, listen to him and be saved. And he is the only one who can save you. Folks, don't you think we should love him? The testimony that Nebuchadnezzar gave, and we're going to close. I had five or six other things. I'm going to close. But I'm going to close with something I want you to know. Some of you may remember a magazine called Our Hope. Any of you here young enough to remember that? Our Hope. Thank you, young ladies. Thank you. Thank you. Our Hope. Well, this article appeared in Our Hope a few years ago. And I like to cover all kinds of junk, not junk, all kinds of good things. And here is what I want to leave with just be closed. Now, I didn't get you to meet what I'm going to say, but one of these nights, someplace I'm going to finish what I was saying. So, when Andrew Murray, most of you have heard of Andrew Murray, right? Listen, he says here, when Andrew Murray visited England in eighteen ninety-five, he was suffering from a week back, the result of an accident in South Africa some years earlier. When he was thrown violently out of a chastising cart, Mr. Murray was due to speak at Exeter Hall one evening, and it seemed as though he would be unable to fulfill his appointment. Then, too, Certain expressions that he had used in an earlier message had given offense resulting in adverse criticism, so that Mr. Murray was enduring mental suffering in addition to his physical weakness. On the particular morning of this engagement, his biographer tells us in his life of Anzu Murray, Mr. Murray was eating his breakfast in his bedroom in the home of some of their friends. His hostess informed him that there was a lady downstairs who was in sore trouble and who was seeking a word of advice from the minister. Just give her this little advice that I am writing down for myself, Mr. Murray said. It may be that she will find it helpful, and he handed his hostess a sheet of scrap paper containing the following. in time of trouble say first he brought me here it is by his will I am in this straight place in that I trust you understand that fiery furnace lions dance no matter where he brought me here stand with him second next He will keep me here in his love and give me grace in this trial to behave as his child. Watch that because we are talking with us more. We must do more than believe, we must behave, which is evident that we believe. Then he will make the trial a blessing, teaching me the lessons he intends me to learn, and working in me the grace. He means, to me, to bestow. You see, what happened to us, we are not allowing God to develop us. And he developed us through trial. But we are running from it. And let me remind you of this. If you refuse to take the lessons in grade one, when you come to grade six and seven, the same lesson will be there only harder. My advice, take them now. Last, in his good time, he can bring me out again. How? And when? He knows. Did you hear that? I didn't say your counselor knows. I didn't say your husband knows. I didn't say your wife knows. I didn't say the elder knows. I serve it, Mr. Murray. God knows. And beloved, please hear me. There isn't anything God wants to do greater than make you like it, son. Romans verse twenty-nine. That you be conformed. To the image of the Son. And that only comes through buffeting and squeezing. You understand that? Developing us. Now listen to this. Say, I am here. Number one. By God's appointment. In his keeping. Number two. Under his training. And that's what I want to take on with you. Under his training. For this time. God. Desperately needs. Men and women. like Moses, like Joseph, who can say, you sow them. Then, fellows, brothers and sisters, let me say again, God is waiting. And God is expecting us to say, He is the Almighty God. He is my parent. He is my provider. He is my possessor. He is my preserver. And I want to show that, not merely in words, I want to do it. Indeed. May God stir a heart to do it for his namesake.