Now Moses smoked that rock twice when God told him to smite at once, and the second time speechless. And when he smote it twice, God was angry. And because of this, Moses did not go into the promised land. What was implied in Moses smiting that rock twice, because that rock was right? He implied that the one sacrifice of Christ, his dying once, was not sufficient. Therefore, the way Moses presented it, Christ died twice. His first death was not sufficient. And these people who think you can be saved and lost again, such a thing as a second chance, the first death was not enough. But Hebrews makes it plain, there is one supreme sacrifice of Christ, no need of a repetition, that one death suffices, Christ need die no more. Once in the end of the age Christ appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice himself. That's why God was so angry when Moses spoke the rock Christ, inferring that Christ would be threatened Christ. No, he did not. died twice. He died once, only once. And if Jesus Christ didn't suffer for your sins on the cross when he died that once, he'll never suffer for it, because he'll never die again. And so you see how the Old Testament or the New Testament helps the Old Testament. And you find lots of things in the Old Testament you wouldn't understand in their fullness unless you have other scriptures, scriptures in the New Testament to throw light on these scriptures in the Old Testament. So we are told plainly to compare scripture with scriptures. It's a lovely verse tucked away in Isaiah. I didn't think about it till yesterday morning. I remember when I went down south with Mr. Nugent, forty-two years ago, I heard him quote a text in his prayer one day. And it never left me. And for years I thought about it. I'd never broken on it. But it floated back in my mind yesterday morning. And so I turned it up. And it's over in Isaiah. It's a lovely text in Isaiah thirty-four sixteen. I'll read it to you. Seek ye out of the book of the Lord. And read. No one of these shall fail. None shall want her meat. For my mouth For my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them. None shall want a mate. There's no promise in the Bible that doesn't have a fulfillment. Every scripture has a mate, something suited to it, and that nevertheless, showing that no scripture is isolated and of any private interpretation, There's always a scripture somewhere by your Bible that will illuminate and elucidate a difficult text. And that's why you have your concordance. You find a text, you don't understand exactly what it means. You look up a reference, and another verse in the Bible will throw light on it. And by comparing scriptures is the way you understand the Bible. And so I think it's essential that young Christians get this fundamental training. Whenever a ball player or a coach going down and have their spring training, they deal in fundamentals to begin with. And I think we need these fundamentals, scriptures that throw light on other scriptures. This is the proper way to explain and to understand your Bible. This is the way of not following this principle. You have so many cults. These cults, they'll take a verse out of its context. and they build a doctrine on it. If they were to look at that text in the light of the whole Bible, it would knock all the wind out of it. But they just get an isolated text and they build their doctrine on it. But we got to use a text that the whole Bible will support. Now the Lord Jesus said, He opened unto them in all the scriptures a thing concerning Himself. And from Genesis to Revelation, Scriptures refers to the Lord Jesus Christ comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But if there's another rendering that I like, and I've never read much after Javi, but I must say that it was last week or two, I've been looking up a little, and he gives this slant, and I think it's very good. In other words, we understand spiritual things by spiritual means, and that's We understand spiritual things by spiritual means. Now, he didn't give any references in the Bible, but I think here are some that throw some light upon that. In other words, you take preaching. What are the means God used to understand the Bible? By the foolishness of preaching, now there are the means, the method. It pleased God to say then that believe that method. Here is one of the means that God uses to convey spiritual truth. Spiritual truth. Spiritual things are understood by spiritual means and methods. That's why men are called of God to teach the Bible, to preach the word that they might open up the scriptures and through it through preaching. That's one of the means, that's one of the methods, and also by personal words. Here you have this young couple, Aquila and Priscilla, and they take Apollos into their home, and personally, they expound to him the scriptures more personally, more fully, and more correctly. And that's another means God will use one Christian, go to another Christian, an older Christian, a more mature Christian, and go to another in a personal way, in a personal way, and have a little Bible reading, and thus, feats the way of God more perfectly. That's another spiritual means of expounding the Scriptures and teaching the word a right. And also there's another, and that's by searching the Scriptures in Acts chapter eleven, the Bereans. They search the Scriptures daily. The sea of these things were so. Now they were doing this very thing. They'd go from one verse to another verse, and they'd try to find out what this means. And if you have three or four verses dwelling on the one subject, it's going to open up. And here's a spiritual means, and a method by which you can understand the Word of God. They searched the Scriptures daily. The Lord Jesus drove this point home. to the scribes and Pharisees that were criticizing him. And he said over in John five, thirty nine, he says, Search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life. But they are they which testify of me. He said, If you want to know the spiritual truth about me, search the Scriptures. That's the method. That's the me. And you'll get the truth about me. Still is another means. And this is something for the ladies to consider. And you know in the Bible this speaks about ladies being able to win their husband without the Bible. You can't use this method. A lot of men don't want the Bible. They don't appreciate the wife sitting down with their Bible and telling them, preaching to him and telling him where he's wrong. That kind of ruffles their feathers. But there's something you can do. And the Bible tells you exactly you can employ a spiritual method to win a husband without the word. And it's right here in Peter, you have it. Likewise ye wives, second Peter three one four, likewise ye wives be in subjection to your own husband, but if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives. while they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear, whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plating the hair and of wearing of gold or putting on of apparel, not this outward show, this Hollywood stuff, but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and a quiet spirit which is in the sight that's gone of great time. Now here's a spiritual means and a spiritual method by which you can get spiritual results, and it won't be. For here you have teaching spiritual truth by spiritual means and methods. One could go on and refer to other ways in which you can use the word of God. The more spiritual means you use, the more solid your work's going to be. You just give a text and spend the rest of your time talking about experiences you had and illustrations about this, that, and the other thing. There's not going to be a very solid work. The more of the scripture you can bring into your message, the more solid that work is going to be. And that's plainly thought in the Word of God. And we cannot afford in any way to delude God's method of preaching His Word. That word that has in it the Holy Spirit of God. And when the word is preached in the energy and power of God's Holy Spirit, it's going to be effective. And if it's not preached in the power of the Spirit, it will not be effective. Now, entertainment may appeal to the emotions of flesh, but it won't accomplish much in the way of spiritual blessing and death. God wants us to use his word. spiritual means enable the spirit to witness to the hearts of men talented to salvation and growth in grace you know God through his spirit must interpret the scriptures that's the only way he does of interpreting the scriptures because the spirit of God is the author of this book it was the spirit who used holy men of God and through them the spirit of God gave us the scriptures. So he's the author, and he ought to know what the scriptures mean. Remember Joseph, and he was accused of something he was not guilty of, and he was cast in the prison. Joseph got up one morning, and he saw the chief butler and the chief baker, and he says, why is it that you're so sorrowful today? Now, if anybody had a ground or a reason to be sorrowful, it was Joseph. Falsely accused? passed into prison. He had previously been sold by his brethren, the Ishmaelites, and here he is in a foreign country, foreign language, and all this. And yet he's in prison. You'd have thought if anyone had a right to complain, it was Joseph. No, he must have been of a happy, joyful spirit. He saw these two men downcast. He said, what is the story of the story of the story of the Bible? Well, we've had a dream. Oh. Joseph said, to interpretations not belong unto God? Tell me your dreams. And so they told their dreams. And Joseph interpreted their dreams. The chief butler, he was restored to his office again, and the chief baker was hung. Well, as time passed, the chief butler went back to his job serving the king, and the king had a dream. And Pharaoh, when he had this dream, it was double. First of all, the seven fat kind came up upon the land, and then seven ill-fed kind came up and devoured the seven fat ones. And then there was a stock of corn came up with seven ears upon it, and there were good ears, and then seven ears of corn came up on another stock, and there were ill heads of corn, or pieces of corn. years, of course, blasted with the wind, and these skinny horn, they tore the fat one. And what does this all mean? Dearest Pharaoh and his puzzle about these two dreams he had, about the cattle and about the corn. Then the butler said, I do remember my fault this day. I was in the prison with the chief baker, and there was a Hebrew in there, and we had dreams, and he interpreted our dreams, and they came true. And immediately Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and Joseph came in before the king. And it's nice to notice what Joseph said, and I'm going to read it to you. Then Pharaoh sent them called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon. and he shaved himself and changed his raiment and came in unto Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream. And there is none that can interpret it. And I have heard say of thee that thou canst understand a dream and interpret it. And Joseph answered Pharaoh and said, It is not in me. God shall give Pharaoh an answer of thee. In other words, Joseph drove home to the chief, but in the chief baker and the sailors. It's not indeed. God is the interpreter of dreams. He is the expounder of his purposes and his plan, if not in man. And so Pharaoh told his dreams, and it was a twofold dream, and Joseph tells him, well, he said the reason the dream was doubled. The one concerning the cattle and the other concerning the corn is because it's established. And Joseph said to the chief Butler and Baker and the Pharaoh, this is the dream. Not this may be it. There's a possibility this is it. He knew what he was going to say. He knew his interpretation was right. He says, this is the dream. And this shall come to pass. That's how much Joseph was in fellowship with God. It was an instrument that God used to interpret God's plan and God's purpose. How wonderful to know that God does use human beings to expound and to interpret the scriptures. Here is Joseph and his enumiliation. Down there, the enumiliated, cast in prison, accused of something he didn't do. And here you find Joseph, and he's expounding, and he is interpreting the very counsels of God. But then Joseph is exalted. And when Joseph was exalted, back to Pharaoh with Pharaoh, and became vice president, what happened to Joseph? In exaltation, he carried out, he executed those very things that he told Pharaoh. would take place. Now the Lord Jesus, while he was here on earth, he was God's prophet. The prophet is God's representative to man and the priesties. The prophet and high priest, read that in Hebrews three, one. As prophet, Christ was God's representative to man. As high priest, he's our representative with God. While he was here, he prophesied. He told what was to happen, what was to come. He used the Old Testament scriptures and he spoke of God's plan and God's purpose. He's now in exaltation, executing and carrying out God's plan and God's purpose upon the earth. How wonderful to think that God's word is available to all of us. Here are the very purposes and plans, the counsel of God. And if I go by this fundamental rule, to study his word and compare scriptures. I know it takes time, but I'll tell you it pays off. And if you do that, you'll get a knowledge of God's holy word. Some take God's word apart. They tear it apart. The Holy Spirit of God can interpret God's truth by putting God's word together, and so you'll understand. An isolated text doesn't make sense. But get another text or two and put alongside it. There's a lot of sense in it. You understand it. So here is comparing spiritual things with spiritual means, a method. That's how you get light and knowledge from the scriptures. I was thinking this week walking down Flappy Drive about the machines we have today. We have these computers and adding machines and what have you. and they can add and multiply, subtract, and compare. But none of those machines can interpret the Word of God or compare scriptures in the Bible. They can't do it. You can't feed a number of scriptures into the Bible and want that computer or that machine to come up with the answer. That is not possible, but there is a machine known as the human brain Just like that computer, it has to have a certain power fed into it, electricity, or some other power. And let me say this, Christian, the power that you can use, call upon, is the power, the charge of the Holy Spirit that will use your mind to compare Scripture with Scripture and come up with the answer. That's the only way it can be done. The power, the cord that links you with God, is the Holy Spirit, and he can help you study the scriptures, and you can do something, the human brain can do something that all the computers in the world can do. They may give answers on other questions, but this is one place, one area where all the computers and machines of man are stored. That is explaining the Bible. That's left up to the human mind. A person saved by grace and in touch with God and the power of the Holy Spirit will expound to him the scripture. I trust you will abide by that rule and you'll profit much in your Christian life. Now I want to get into the contract. Let's turn over to Corinthians chapter three and verse twelve. Three and twelve. Now we have received not the spirit of the world. No, I have chapter two. I want chapter three. But chapter three and verse ten. According to the grace of God which is given unto me as a wise master builder. Now no other man can use that language. Only the apostles would speak of himself as a wise master builder. No man since can use that language. Although many can use this language, according to the grace of God which is given unto me, I have laid the foundation. When a man establishes a church or lays the foundation, he can use that language. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, I have laid the foundation, but only Paul could say as a wise master, there was only one apostle. I have laid the foundation and another build is thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth along. Now here you have the contractor, a man who is able to build and lay a foundation. We've been noticing and speaking on the judgment seat of Christ, you have six things mentioned. You have gold, silver, precious stone, wood, hay, and stubble, but really there are only two things. You can catalog them as two things. One is they're combustible, the other they're incombustible. One is destructible. The other is indestructible. The gold, silver, precious stone is indestructible. The wood, hay, and stubble is destructible. One is usable. The other is useless. You see, Paul speaks of this. Now there's a verse, and it puzzled me for a long time. But I think just recently I saw the true meaning of it. And here it is in Second Corinthians five. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that everyone may give and receive the things done in his body. According to that he has done whether to be good or bad. Now what is the bad there? I believe the point is here, what would I have been mentioning? If something that's not usable is destructible, like the wood, hay, and stubble. Whatever does not stand the pest of the presence of God, it's useless. You wouldn't say it's sinful. No sin can enter the presence of God. But God just can't use it. It's destructive. That which is which cannot be destroyed. The gold, silver, and precious stone that is abide. It will abide forever. It's indestructible. It's useful. And you'll get a reward for that. And soon we have the foundation being laid by the Apostle Paul. You might look upon others who helped them, such as Apollos, and also Priscilla and Aquila were there, and Peter came along as subcontractors. Paul says, now I've laid the foundation. And he says, let other men take heed how they build thereon, what the material is that they use for the superstructure. And that's where the trouble comes. This whole situation you have here in Corinth was brought about by the apostle receiving a letter. And as he read that letter, he thought in his mind, well, my, what a mess there is in thought. What a mess. It wasn't that way when I left. Someone has slipped some material into this construction, into this building of a device of nature. Yes, there was a trouble. Therefore he says that every man take heed, how he buildeth and on, and in verse eight he makes it plain that he that builds, planted the planteth and he that waters he that layeth a foundation he that is the subcontractor be one agree in what they're doing so here's the apostle and he's laying the foundation and he's telling us about the superstructure and how it's to be built it has to be built just the way the foundation walks and that foundation is Christ Jesus that same element is to be introduced into every inch of construction in the superstructure of that assembly, that church. He says we ought to be workers together with God. You know, in verse sixteen, I must confess, in my forty-two years or near fifty years of studying the Bible, I never saw the force of this verse like I did this last week. In verse sixteen and seventeen, and I want you to read that verse with me, it says, If any man's work shall abide, if any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer long. But he himself shall be saved as so as by fire. The man will be burned up, but his works will, his life gone. He's saved because he trusted Christ, but his life was wasted. know ye not that ye are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. Now he's not talking to the individual here. Over in chapter sixteen he's referring to the individual Christian as your body being the temple of the Holy Spirit. But here is referring to the church. The church here is the temple. And this is very searching. And I'm going to give you what two men, men who are scholars. And this is exactly J.M. Davies and W.E. Vine. I haven't looked to see what I understand. I'm confident he would go along with this. But I want you to see this. Ye are the temple of God or the assembler. And here's an exact quote from these two men. The temple of God here. In verses sixteen and seventeen is the assembler rather than the individual in chapter six and nineteen. The word temple is the word for the holiest of all, the sanctuary, the dwelling place of the Shekinah Goli. Now that's something you ought to start with. In the tabernacle and temple, God dwelt in. the park, the where the mercy seat was, that's where the almighty God, the Shetana glory was. Here is God right there. That was the Shetana. And this word temple, referring to the church at Corinth and every church that's based upon scripture, God says, now that's a temple, my temple, that's where I'm going to dwell. That's where I'm going to dwell. And he says, further, even so, The Spirit dwells in the assembly and is to preside over its worship and its ministry. When I read that this week, I'm going to tell you that really search my heart. Is there any wonder he gives that solemn verse, the next verse, verse, verse, verse, if any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy. And the word defile and the word destroy are the same in the original. For the temple of God is holy. And the word temple of the last is in the italics. So you can leave that out. Which ye are? For the temple of God is holy. That's the Shekinah glory. That's where God dwells. Which ye are? Paul says, if any man destroy that, I'll destroy him. Now that's solid. And that's right in your book. Here's a church, and God has such pleasure and such delight in a church that gathers in his name. He thinks so much of it. It costs him so much. It costs him his son. He says, that's my dwelling place. That's what I'm going to make my presence know. And if any man destroys that, I'll destroy that man. That makes you walk on your tiptoes. Mate you slow down and change gears into low gear when you come in to the worship meeting. God is there. That's the shakana glory. That's where God dwells. Now we get over to something else. And I might say in using this, what I just mentioned about the glory of God and the presence of God, it says about the spirit presiding. I love that verse. that expression. There is where the Spirit of God presides. He's in control. He overrules. He overrules. He presides in ministry and in worship. You know, you can prove these things. I got a letter this past week from a couple up in Huntington, West Virginia. There's a young man in the assembly here who's got a warm spot for Huntington, West Virginia. He's going to get married up there sometime around Labor Day. And he's going to commit matrimony. So anybody, anyway, I got a letter from a young couple that were saved up in Huntington, West Virginia, thirty-some years ago, Ruth and Walter Irby. And they were saved when I went through one year, the next year I went back, and we were able to perform the wedding. And I haven't seen. Ruth since then. But now and again she writes a letter. That girl has grown. Well, I got a letter from her, and there's only a small assembly of about twenty or twenty-five in Huntington, West Virginia. So this is part of the letter. And this shows how the Spirit of God can preside in an assembly that's being operated by the Holy Spirit of God. She says, the morning worship service was a blessing to me. As I listened to three of the brethren who spoke, Brother Jim revealed the heart of the love of the Son of God, our Savior. On the night he was to pray how he took bread and gave thanks and the cup likewise. He was revealing his love for the church. Then she says, and he just wanted to let the young ones know the meaning and significance of the remembrance feast, how the heart of the Son of God was made manifest. When he sat down, another brother spoke of the heart of the mother of the Lord Jesus at the cross. In John ninety, and another brother got up, and he spoke of Abraham in Genesis twenty-two. of the heart of the father giving his son. So the three men speaking there was the whole family of God, the father, the son, and the mother. Now this wasn't rehearsed. One didn't know the other was going to say quack, but here are some men who studied their Bible. And the Spirit of God was able to lead this brother to Stasel. And it brought something to this other brother's mind, and he could open up and link it right up with what had been proceeded. Another brother sitting there was so well acquainted with his Bible that he brought out the third one. And you'd have thought it had been rehearsed. Now here's an assembly of about twenty to twenty-five people. That's the Spirit of God presided. And I wouldn't mind saying this. I question if there are some big congregations of two thousand men. If one brother had the privilege to get up. If it's not in the program he could. But if God the Spirit laid it upon his heart to get up and read the scriptures. And another man was there and he knew his Bible so well he was able to get up and make something on to that. And to elucidate it. And another man got up. He had the liberty and ability to say something else. Read another passage. It should have all glued together. That's the presiding of the Holy Spirit in the assembly when God is there. To me, that's for me. And yet it's true. I've seen it time and time and time again. I've sat in meetings that I've never visited before in my life. I sat so thrilled. I must say, in some of these cases, there were a lot of gifted men there. And the way they opened up the scriptures, some of the very hymns, and all the prayers and all the scriptures that were read, were on one theme, and before they went, they had no idea what theme was going to be taken up that morning. Maybe a theme, the love of God, another the blood of Christ, another Sunday, the second coming. Now this is the Spirit of God presiding in that place where you have the Shekinah God-bellied in the midst of His people. Now I want to see lastly on the athlete. Turn over to chapter nine and verse twenty-four. Chapter nine and twenty-four. It says... know ye not that they which run in a race run off but one receiveth the prize so one run that ye may obtain and every man that striveth for the mastery or strives to win is tempered in all things now they operate now they do It's to obtain a corruptible crown, something that saves, but we an incorruptible crown. I will be on the crowns next Sunday night, Lord willing. I, therefore, so run. In chapter three, he says, I am the contractor. I laid this foundation. Here is Paul. He's an Olympic. He's an athlete. He says, therefore, I, therefore, so run. Not as uncertainty, so fight I, not as one that beat at the air, but I keep under my body and bring it into subjection less than by any means. When I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway or disapprove put on the shelf. Now this is chapter nine, and we're going to do in that more in detail when chapter nine comes up. But I just want to link these together. I've never known of them being linked together before. How you have Paul the contractor and Paul the athlete. And yet the principle is the same. If you're going to be able to be a builder like Paul and an athlete like Paul, you're going to have to go into that fundamental principle and work of studying your life. You'll be a builder. and you'll be an athlete. Now when you stop to think of this, just as there are specifications, exact statements, figures, and facts, and constructions, so there are in connection with a race. There are rules, and you've got to go according to the rules, and those rules are very strict. The Olympics are coming up, and I'm going to tell you, those athletes They trade. Some of them have trained all their life for one crack at the Olympics. And those rules are very strict. What is the book of rules for the Christian in this race, the Bible? We've got to run according to this book. This is the book of rules, and they must be kept. A man is not crowned except he strive lawfully. That would lawfully mean according to the rules. The man who may be the swiftest athlete, he may break the tape first with his chest. He didn't win the prize. He was disqualified. He stepped over the line in another man's lane. Or he brushed another runner with his elbow disqualified. He broke the rule. He may have been the best out of it, but he lost the pride. He was disqualified. He broke the rule. I don't care who the man is. He can be preached like Gabriel. That man may be gifted and talented and have evidence that he doesn't go according to the rule. He's not going to get the pride. He's got to go according to the rule. And our book of rules is what we have before us in our Bible. They don't change. Those Olympic rules don't change. And you can't make your own rules. When you go to those Olympics, you can't make your own rules. You've got to go according to the rules set out even before the Olympics stop. And they don't change. I mean, there they are. God's word doesn't change. And I've met men. He said, I don't believe the Bible. Well, I'll tell you, those men are a long, long way from even being in the tracks, let alone winning the race. You can't brush aside the word of God. Here are the rules for the race. And you'll never win anything unless you go according to the rules. You must qualify to be in this race. Like you mentioned, you've got to be on the foundation if you're going to build. You've got to be qualified to get on that track. The qualification is to be born again. That's the only way you can qualify. I want to say this. You must be in shape. The doctor's going to give you a thorough examination before you get out on that track. You've got to be in shape. I believe there are a lot of Christians today, and they're not winning, they're not truthful, they're not spiritually in shape. That's a sad day. God wants us to be in shape, and if we are in shape, and abide by the rules. I'll tell you, these athletes, they watch their diet. They've got to, they're going to be in shape. They've got to have endurance. They've got to train. They've got to discipline themselves. You're going to win the race. It means discipline. It means to keep yourself in shape by reading the word of my prayer and keeping the rules. You know, when you think of the coaches, the coaches are very important. The coach, too, has got to be schooled in the book of rules. He's got to know everything about that book of rules that he's going to coach an athlete. Here's where the elders of an assembly come in. A coach can be responsible for an athlete winning, and he can be responsible for an athlete losing. What responsibility. And the best coaches are ones who were athletes and Olympic runners themselves. They had that experience and they could lend it as they coached another man and show how they did and what they did and how they won the race. The best teaching is example. And here's the coach. And he's coaching this runner ready for the race. What Paul said to Timothy. And this has happened many times in the sport world. A coach trains a runner. That runner wins, and he becomes a coach. And he passes on the same information, the same rules. What does Paul say to Timothy? Second Timothy, two, one, two. Thou, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, that the thing that thou hast heard of me, among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men that they shall be able to teach others also pass on these same truths coach to runner and runner to coach he becomes a coach and he trains others this is God's principle that's what Paul carried out the same book of rules and this is our Bible you know it's a team effort That's found in the building. It's found in the Olympics. If the United States were to win the Olympics, it would come out in the paper, the United States wins the Olympics. Oh, hold on here. There were only a handful of men there. That athlete who won the gold crown, the gold medal, he could say I won that race. One man a few years ago, he won seven. Most has ever been won. He could say, I won all those gold medals. No. United States wins the Olympics. There are those personal individuals. They have been personal actors, individual actors. But they're representing the United States. They're giving it all they've got. The coach is giving all he's got. They've got to work together. And in this situation, by comparison, only a few are competing. The majority of spectators. The majority in the grandstands and looking on are just spectators. And the whole thing boils down to this, Christian. Are you a competitor? Are you a spectator? Are you leaving this running the race in this building up to a few, or are you in on the game? I don't want to be a spectator. I want to be involved. I want to get into the race. I want to have a towel on my hand and do some business. It's a wonderful moment when a young man has that gold medal handed to him, the whole world looking up. What a moment when the whole world will look on at the judgment seat of Christ and you get your reward. And you will get it. If you like these athletes or this builders, if you build within the compass of this blessed book and run according to the rules, to the glory of God, and many of these young men are doing it for their love of their country, we do it out of love for our Lord. And in closing... I may have mentioned this one time before. George Young of Canada came from Toronto, and I remember it very well, although it happened about thirty-five years ago. George Young, the young fellow brought up in a very poor home with a very sickly mother. She was a widow. George Young and another young fellow saved their money and they bought a motorcycle. He used to swim in Lake Ontario and climb across Lake Ontario two, three times with his icy waters. And he and his fellow drove all the way out to the west coast, to Canada. They would go to swim in the Catalana Channel, Catalana Channel. Twenty-five thousand dollars given by the chewing gum people. And he drove, he and this other fellow, drove all the way out there to win twenty-five thousand dollars. And back then, that's like a hundred thousand or more today. George Young won it. And he said that I was in those icy waters, Catalana Channel, and they're icy. He says, several times I was numb. I felt I can't walk. He said, what spurred me on? My eyes began to get blurry. I don't know where my strength was coming from. He said, I kind of had a mirage, a vision, and I saw my mother standing on the shore. Come on, son. Come on, son. He said, I thought of my poor mother. I know how she worked in slaves to give me clothing and food in the house night and day. And that's one reason he trained to see if he could win that race to help his mother. And just the sight of her and the thought of her, she wasn't there, of course. She was back in Toronto. But he said, I could see my mother. standing there saying, come on, son. And he said, I wonder if that's what buoyed me up as I got to the end. I pulled them out of the water, went all over the country. I suppose they heard it down here. George Young Trotto win the Catalina race sooner. The times when we as Christians feel like giving up. They're just getting too hot, looking off onto Jesus. the offering finish of our faith. He's standing at the end of the track. Come on, son. Just give it a little more. Don't throw in the towel yet. Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking off onto Jesus. Only when we've got Christ before us are we going to run this race, according to the rules. And in the end, get the prize. And when we get it, We have cast it at his feet. Lord Jesus, if it hadn't been for you, encouraging me and giving me the strength that I've never done. So he gets all the glory. Shall we pray? Our Father in heaven, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we come unto thy presence. We ask thy blessing upon thy word. We trust that we will become good dildies and good athletes for God. Those who win these prizes today have forgotten a matter of a few years. But, O Father, when we receive our prizes in glory, our rewards shall last forever. We thank thee for being qualified by knowing Christ the Savior. May it be ours to study the book of rules that we may run lawfully on thus win the prize. We ask you in our Savior's name. Amen. shall we sing in closing hymn number five oh six five oh six for eyes that are weary and hearts that are sore look off unto jesus and sorrow no more the light of his countenance shine us so bright that on earth as in heaven there need be no night if anybody's not a christian here tonight You're not even in the race. You haven't even started. You're not even a born-again person. You're a group qualified. You can become a Christian tonight. I trust you will receive the Savior. You will be. So we stand and sing. Five hundred and six. Eyes that are weary and hearts that are low, The coffin to date us and love. The light of his cannon and shine is so bright. On earth as in heaven, there need be no night. The last words. Soon, soon shall I know the full beauty and grace of Jesus, my Lord, when I stand face to face. And you know how this love went before me today. This wonder that ever my life turned away. Just meaning of it.