1 00:00:00,360 --> 00:00:04,440 Forevermore, Amen we're going to be turning I'm going to read 2 00:00:04,640 --> 00:00:07,760 from the Old Testament and the New Testament tonight just 3 00:00:07,760 --> 00:00:13,360 because I am Exodus chapter 37 going to read from Hebrews 4 00:00:13,360 --> 00:00:17,360 chapter #6 as well. Amen. 5 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:21,120 So thankful for God's people, thankful for all of those that 6 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:26,840 diligently work around here to keep God's house clean. 7 00:00:26,840 --> 00:00:32,200 And those that show up for practices for for singing on 8 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:35,960 Sunday morning and Sunday night. Musicians that come to practice 9 00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:40,120 and teachers that prepare lessons throughout the week to 10 00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:42,920 teach children and invest in teenagers. 11 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:48,800 And Brother Alex and Sister Grace Mason that put together 12 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:52,480 things on Friday nights for those that will show. 13 00:00:52,480 --> 00:00:56,200 And just on and on and on. Amen. 14 00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:59,400 Exodus chapter 37. I'm just going to read the first 15 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:04,959 phrase of verse 17 and then skip down to verse #23 just kind of 16 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:09,040 give you an idea where we are. This is the listing of all the 17 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:11,280 different instruments and furniture that was to be made 18 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:13,520 for the Tabernacle that was in the wilderness. 19 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:17,400 And this particular section concerns the Candlestick. 20 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:19,520 And so that's reason want to read the first phrase it says. 21 00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:21,960 And he made the Candlestick of pure goat. 22 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:24,800 That's the phrase I want just so you know what we're talking 23 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:27,320 about. Verse 23 then says, and he made 24 00:01:27,320 --> 00:01:29,960 his seven lamps and his snuffers. 25 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:32,760 All right. This is King James language. 26 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:38,480 This is a little archaic tongs like type things like stuff that 27 00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:42,560 you would trim a Wick with and his snuff dishes. 28 00:01:43,960 --> 00:01:47,240 All right. And of of pure goat, of a talent 29 00:01:47,240 --> 00:01:51,080 of pure goat made he it and all the vessels thereof. 30 00:01:51,640 --> 00:01:54,280 So we have all with the Candlestick is made of a talent 31 00:01:54,280 --> 00:01:56,800 of pure goat, along with all those things that pertain into 32 00:01:56,800 --> 00:01:59,560 the Candlestick. I want to turn over to Hebrews 33 00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:04,800 chapter #6 and read a few verses of scripture starting with verse 34 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:13,520 #10 Bible says for God is not unrighteous to forget your work 35 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:17,920 and labor of love which you have shewed toward his name, and that 36 00:02:17,920 --> 00:02:20,520 you have ministered to the Saints and do minister. 37 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:24,600 We desire that everyone of you do shew the same diligence to 38 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:28,000 the full assurance of hope to the end, that you be not 39 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:31,640 slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience 40 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:37,840 inherit the promises. For a little while tonight I 41 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:41,640 want to preach this title and it's something that I say over 42 00:02:41,640 --> 00:02:46,200 and over to this congregation. I want to preach, God keeps good 43 00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:52,680 records. God keeps God keeps good 44 00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:56,320 records. Let's pray tonight. 45 00:02:56,320 --> 00:03:00,400 Father, I love you. Got to thank you Jesus today for 46 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:03,240 your spirit that we have felt in this building all throughout 47 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:06,360 today. God through every song, through 48 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:09,200 Lord, every key that has been struck on the piano or a beat 49 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:12,640 that's been laid to a drum. I pray, O God tonight that you 50 00:03:12,640 --> 00:03:16,440 have to encourage your people, strengthen them, God, empower 51 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:19,520 them, Lord, by your word. I pray Jesus tonight, God, do 52 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:23,400 your work your way, God, and we'll be satisfied and we'll be 53 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:25,040 comfortable, Lord, with the outcome. 54 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:29,520 Lord of it, the lovely name of Jesus Christ that I pray, Amen 55 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:32,600 and Amen in the church, say Amen, Amen. 56 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:37,720 You may be seated tonight, Amen. This minister here with me just 57 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:40,400 for a little while tonight. This, this is maybe not the 58 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:44,080 regular fair of what Pentecostalism calls a Sunday 59 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:46,760 night sermon to blow in, blow up and blow out. 60 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:50,120 All right, but I want to. This is what's been on my heart, 61 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:54,560 that God keeps good records. And if you have been here for 62 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:57,360 any moment of time in this church, you have heard that 63 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:00,680 statement come across this pulpit on several different 64 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:02,320 occasions. It's something that you should 65 00:04:02,320 --> 00:04:06,520 be acquainted with. Whenever I say that as OFT as I 66 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:12,080 do, I mean that even when no one else sees what you are doing or 67 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:16,279 what you are involved with, and perhaps even when they do see it 68 00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:20,480 and don't even acknowledge it, that God, that God keeps good 69 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:24,800 records and he sees and He knows the affairs and the involvement 70 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:27,160 of our life. I'd like to admit to you 71 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:30,960 tonight, after years now being in the ministry, that the joys 72 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:34,880 of ministry are immeasurable. Joys of ministry are 73 00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:37,960 immeasurable. But in my lifetime, I have 74 00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:42,480 understood that I can lay a yardstick behind beside the the 75 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:47,680 hardships of ministry. I can put it seems like I'm put 76 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:51,160 a measuring tape upon the hardships of ministry, have a 77 00:04:51,160 --> 00:04:56,560 good grasp on what it costs, but sometimes not as equally measure 78 00:04:56,760 --> 00:05:02,040 how it benefits me. We have ideas, no doubt, yet 79 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:06,480 even the extent of those ideas fall short of the reality of the 80 00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:09,320 benefits of ministry. Somewhere along the way, and 81 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:12,240 unless someone thinks I'm not talking to you tonight, I'm only 82 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:15,840 talking to preachers, ministry encompasses us all. 83 00:05:16,200 --> 00:05:19,680 Somewhere along the way, the passion, the love that that you 84 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:23,440 had maybe whenever you started in ministry, it's going to be 85 00:05:23,440 --> 00:05:27,120 challenged by struggles, it's going to be challenged by 86 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:29,800 difficulties. And when all the different 87 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:35,000 initial Pats on the backs become less and and, and the drive that 88 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:39,240 goddess into a place of ministry within the church, when that 89 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:43,400 start to wane, there's sometimes that ministry can start to feel 90 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:46,720 mechanical rather than purposeful in our lives. 91 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:50,280 When people who many times rallied around you like, yeah, 92 00:05:50,280 --> 00:05:52,760 let's be a part of that, That's a great idea. 93 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:56,240 That's no longer rallying around you or supporting you. 94 00:05:56,520 --> 00:05:59,640 And when there's more days than not that you're pulling up on 95 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:04,240 your own bootstraps, it's then that the medal of ministry has 96 00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:07,120 tried. And then you you heap on that 97 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:10,440 personal struggles. You have loss of loved ones, you 98 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:13,200 have broken relationships in your own lives. 99 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:16,600 You deal with disappointment. All these things begin to 100 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:20,520 surface and it leaves us as individuals as we are 101 00:06:20,520 --> 00:06:24,080 emotionally drained. It's then that serving God's 102 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:29,240 Kingdom and others at those such times, it feels like that we 103 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:33,760 many times are pouring from an empty vessel, pouring and 104 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:36,200 pouring of ourselves from just emptiness. 105 00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:39,800 It's it's hard during those moments to muster the strength 106 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:43,640 and the energy to care for others when we may be even 107 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:46,840 hurting ourselves. We attempt, of course, in this 108 00:06:46,840 --> 00:06:50,560 course of life we want to be a beacon of hope to someone else, 109 00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:53,040 but many times we're trying to be a beacon while we're 110 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:55,000 struggling with our own darkness. 111 00:06:55,480 --> 00:06:58,120 David described it like this in such a moment. 112 00:06:58,120 --> 00:07:01,760 He said in Psalm 6 and six, this is the voice of David now the 113 00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:04,960 great psalmist that's all the time encouraging uplifting 114 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:08,560 others with his Psalms. He says I'm weary with my 115 00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:13,320 groaning all the night make I my bed to swim. 116 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:18,080 I water my couch with my tears. The great psalmist who's put 117 00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:22,360 words and pen to parchment to encourage even the modern day 118 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:26,320 church that we're still revitalized by his words said 119 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:29,680 there were times that I went to bed with my groaning and my 120 00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:33,720 agony of life and I cried until I made my bed to swim. 121 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:37,360 There were many tears and I I let my pillow and my mattress, 122 00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:41,080 so to speak, become wet and we say things sometimes as 123 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:44,600 ministers in whatever capacity that we minister around the 124 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:46,680 church. We but the same that I often 125 00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:49,080 hear today is his. Well, thank you for the 126 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:52,880 opportunity to serve, but there's sometimes that just 127 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:57,760 continuing to or feels like a monumental task, even when your 128 00:07:57,760 --> 00:08:00,720 service feels like it comes from a place of weakness. 129 00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:04,400 Sometimes we're serving from weakness that the writer of 130 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:08,760 Hebrews tells us for God, it's not unrighteous to forget your 131 00:08:08,760 --> 00:08:13,440 work and your labor of love. Calvin Miller, he wrote a book 132 00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:17,360 to it was a book called the Letters to Young Pastors. 133 00:08:17,680 --> 00:08:21,960 And his answer to this spiritual depression, his answer to the 134 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:25,600 ministry doldrums, if you will, as they are, was this. 135 00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:27,400 He says, here's my answer for all of that. 136 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:32,320 More ministry. He says when you can't find 137 00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:39,200 Christ, he says then play the role of Christ to somebody else 138 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:43,640 in their life and you will have all the Christ that you desire. 139 00:08:43,880 --> 00:08:47,280 In other words, there's times that in ministry you need 140 00:08:47,280 --> 00:08:51,080 minister to. He said that in those moments it 141 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:55,480 seems like you couldn't put a pulse upon God in your own life. 142 00:08:55,480 --> 00:08:59,760 Just continue acting as God for somebody elses life. 143 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:04,080 He says the answer to the dilemma is more ministry and and 144 00:09:04,080 --> 00:09:06,640 then we have and they're not many of them not here. 145 00:09:06,640 --> 00:09:10,400 They watch by line faithfully and in service after service. 146 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:13,920 But then there's those that are the age that carry on another 147 00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:18,320 dimension and and their age adds them to their feelings of 148 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:20,440 insufficiency. Their bodies. 149 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:24,560 I'm not old, but I'm I'm I'm I'm on the slow process of getting 150 00:09:24,560 --> 00:09:27,240 there. But their bodies don't move as 151 00:09:27,240 --> 00:09:31,080 quickly or as easily as they once did. 152 00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:34,400 Simple tasks are more complicated than they were at 153 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:37,160 once. Fatigue sets in faster. 154 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:40,600 They they estimate that their physical limitations hindered 155 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:44,120 the same work that they once loved doing, even works that 156 00:09:44,120 --> 00:09:48,080 they used to do for the Lord. There's the aches and the pains 157 00:09:48,080 --> 00:09:51,640 and the chronic illness that causes them to feel as though 158 00:09:51,840 --> 00:09:54,760 their ability to serve has been diminished. 159 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:59,360 And the way that they serve is not identical to how they have 160 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:02,520 served in the past. And it frustrates them. 161 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:05,440 I tell you, I've talked to my dad more than one occasion. 162 00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:08,800 It frustrates them. It almost creates a sense of 163 00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:12,600 guilt in their life. And so they cling on to verses 164 00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:17,880 like Second Corinthians 416 that reassure that though our outward 165 00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:23,200 man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 166 00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:26,040 Let's just get just playing tonight. 167 00:10:26,360 --> 00:10:32,680 Our elders cannot do as much as they once did, cannot do as much 168 00:10:32,680 --> 00:10:35,480 as they once did, and it can cause them to feel as though 169 00:10:35,680 --> 00:10:40,160 they've lost their usefulness. But God values, let me say it 170 00:10:40,160 --> 00:10:47,000 like this, our service at every stage and ladies season of our 171 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:50,800 life, even in our physical weakness and in our heart, that 172 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:54,400 God values it. And so you might sometimes even 173 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:58,520 in your ministry, Amen, entertain the idea of quitting 174 00:10:58,840 --> 00:11:03,240 or entertaining the idea of discontinuing to serve because 175 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:06,680 you feel inadequate or you feel less than. 176 00:11:06,800 --> 00:11:10,360 Hey man, but let me tell you this tonight we don't need to be 177 00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:13,480 at total capacity for God to use us. 178 00:11:15,280 --> 00:11:18,000 Amen. He works even through our most 179 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:21,880 feeblest of efforts. The writer of Hebrews is 180 00:11:21,880 --> 00:11:26,480 addressing the believers in that day, the early Christians of 181 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:30,840 that moment, those that had moved from just Judaism to 182 00:11:30,840 --> 00:11:34,640 Christianity, right, who is identified with Christ. 183 00:11:34,880 --> 00:11:38,920 And the same believers that have been set on fire by the gospel 184 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:42,440 message of the Apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost have 185 00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:46,400 finally reached a point in their journey of ministry where they 186 00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:49,280 have underwent some severe trials. 187 00:11:49,520 --> 00:11:54,280 They are in a place now that the revival fires of Pentecost still 188 00:11:54,280 --> 00:11:58,280 exist, but they don't feel the heat of it as much as they did. 189 00:11:58,560 --> 00:12:01,120 And they're at a point where they're needing some 190 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:04,560 encouragement. They've been involved in acts of 191 00:12:04,560 --> 00:12:07,920 service since they started their life for the Lord. 192 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:11,240 They have honored the Lord. They have served the Saints. 193 00:12:11,240 --> 00:12:14,800 They have served people. They have observed the unsaved. 194 00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:19,360 Their work and their labor of love, the Bible says, had been 195 00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:24,560 shown toward His name. Meaning this, that their service 196 00:12:24,560 --> 00:12:30,800 to others was ultimately an act of devotion to God and an act of 197 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:34,480 devotion to His name and to His glory. 198 00:12:34,680 --> 00:12:38,440 Please let me comfort you with this tonight, that when you 199 00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:42,480 minister to the Saints, you minister to God. 200 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:47,640 That elevates then every endeavor that we have a hand in 201 00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:50,640 around about this church. Everything that we involve 202 00:12:50,640 --> 00:12:53,280 ourself in around about this church. 203 00:12:53,560 --> 00:12:57,760 If the purpose is serving the Saints, then note well it serves 204 00:12:57,760 --> 00:13:00,640 God. Cleaning a mirror at the church 205 00:13:00,920 --> 00:13:05,080 becomes a sacred service. Trimming the lawn becomes a 206 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:08,920 sacred service. Align the letters on the sign 207 00:13:08,920 --> 00:13:11,560 out front becomes a sacred service. 208 00:13:11,920 --> 00:13:15,880 Teaching, making food, organizing events, playing 209 00:13:15,880 --> 00:13:19,080 music, counting money, all of those things. 210 00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:21,680 Corralling children in a Sunday school class. 211 00:13:21,840 --> 00:13:27,360 When you minister to the Saints, you minister unto God. 212 00:13:29,320 --> 00:13:33,560 My sermon really stems from one of the lesser used words of the 213 00:13:33,560 --> 00:13:37,680 Bible in the King James. Aversion of the Bible and the 214 00:13:37,680 --> 00:13:43,120 Word is snuff dishes. You're probably not going to 215 00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:48,040 find these in your dishwasher. Snuff dishes each of the three 216 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:50,960 times, and it's only mentioned three times in Scripture. 217 00:13:51,280 --> 00:13:54,520 They're associated with the Tabernacle or the temple, and 218 00:13:54,520 --> 00:13:58,440 particularly with the article of furniture of the Candlestick in 219 00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:02,240 the temple. These were shallow vessels. 220 00:14:02,640 --> 00:14:07,720 The Bible says they were made of pure gold and their purpose was 221 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:15,800 this to receive the burnt used up fragments of the Wicks from 222 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:19,560 the lamps. You're just going to have to 223 00:14:19,560 --> 00:14:21,720 this is my this is going to be a journey tonight. 224 00:14:21,760 --> 00:14:28,400 OK, welcome to pastor here. It seems almost extreme this 225 00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:36,200 evening that a charred Wick with seemingly no purpose left. 226 00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:44,360 God would have a priest enter in and meticulously handle that 227 00:14:44,360 --> 00:14:50,920 burnt out Wick and carefully place it into a invaluable 228 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:59,000 container made of pure go. I'm just telling you, tonight we 229 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:02,680 have Wick trimmers at our house, Sister Sheila and Wick dippers 230 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:05,760 to put, you know, Wicks out. My wife's got all those fancy 231 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:08,560 things for all the candles in the house and we got plenty of 232 00:15:08,560 --> 00:15:12,320 candles to burn and I have trimmed a Wick or two in our 233 00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:13,480 house. Amen. 234 00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:17,520 And when I trim it, the excess either falls in the candle 235 00:15:17,520 --> 00:15:22,560 course that leaves a black spot, or it comes out and it goes in 236 00:15:22,560 --> 00:15:26,880 the trash. If I were responsible, I'd 237 00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:31,200 probably drop that wig that's burnt out and charcoal stained, 238 00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:33,880 probably on the dirt floor of the Tabernacle. 239 00:15:34,080 --> 00:15:38,120 I just scraped that thing off that lamp into my hand and cast 240 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:40,400 it up into the wind to take it away. 241 00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:45,880 But not God. He ordered that the snuff dishes 242 00:15:45,880 --> 00:15:50,800 to be made because when the wigs are trimmed and when they're 243 00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:54,000 burnt out, they're not going to be thrown away. 244 00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:58,640 They're going to be saved in a snuff dish. 245 00:15:58,640 --> 00:16:02,040 Am I right, folks? I don't know. 246 00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:03,920 I've read the scriptures over and over. 247 00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:07,360 I don't know how many snuff dishes there were. 248 00:16:07,560 --> 00:16:10,520 They are stated in the plural. Snuff dishes. 249 00:16:10,560 --> 00:16:12,240 I don't know how many snuff dishes. 250 00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:14,440 And folks, we're not talking about chewing tobacco either, in 251 00:16:14,440 --> 00:16:16,880 case anybody wonders. Hey, man, that they, they, they 252 00:16:16,880 --> 00:16:18,920 are not. I don't know how many there 253 00:16:18,920 --> 00:16:21,640 were. We're not told the explicit 254 00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:27,160 details of what listen, of what was even done with the contents 255 00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:31,400 of the snuff, different dishes after they became full. 256 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:36,080 But what we do know is this. They're just storing old burnt 257 00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:42,280 out Wicks who have completed their service for the 258 00:16:42,280 --> 00:16:45,120 Tabernacle. If the Bible says that the 259 00:16:45,120 --> 00:16:49,000 Candlestick and all of the vessels that pertain to it were 260 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:57,520 made from a talent of gold, a talent equates to about 100 lbs 261 00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:02,800 of goat. So the lamp with its branches 262 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:05,440 and knops and flowers and all the things that you read in 263 00:17:05,440 --> 00:17:09,680 Exodus, and the tongs, or the snuffers and the snuff dishes, 264 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:12,839 all these things that pertain it are made from the solitary 265 00:17:12,839 --> 00:17:17,040 talent of pure goat. I know things have different 266 00:17:17,040 --> 00:17:19,560 between now and the value of gold, but just give you an idea 267 00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:23,880 for yesterday's standards. When I looked it up, the value 268 00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:25,520 of a talent of GOAT is tremendous. 269 00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:29,920 By yesterday's gold market rating, gold was rated at 270 00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:40,960 $2561.00 per oz as of yesterday. That means that's $40,976 per 271 00:17:40,960 --> 00:17:46,840 pound by yesterday's value. Have the same Candlestick been 272 00:17:46,840 --> 00:17:50,440 made yesterday? That value of that pure goat 273 00:17:50,440 --> 00:17:53,920 Candlestick with all of its vessels that pertain to it would 274 00:17:53,920 --> 00:18:03,000 have been 4,097,600 dollars. Just fall with me a little bit. 275 00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:08,920 And so Brother Mason and I don't know, but if the snuff dish is 276 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:15,160 just even amounted to a pound of gold by today's standards, they 277 00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:22,680 would have been worth $40,976. And again, for the Fred, I don't 278 00:18:22,680 --> 00:18:24,560 know how many of them there were. 279 00:18:24,680 --> 00:18:28,560 And so just for easy math, that 40,000 is almost 41. 280 00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:30,600 Let's just say there was 41 of them. 281 00:18:30,800 --> 00:18:35,360 By today's standards, that would be about $1000 per snuff dish. 282 00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:40,400 What do you get that pastor? I'm getting that this and I know 283 00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:43,720 value may increase now, but back then it's all things are 284 00:18:43,720 --> 00:18:45,760 comparable, right? They're in proportion. 285 00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:51,600 All I'm getting that is that they were of great value even 286 00:18:51,640 --> 00:18:55,320 then. And God said, I want you to put 287 00:18:55,320 --> 00:19:02,240 that blackened brittle Wick and store it in that treasure 288 00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:06,040 container. I know maybe you're not like me, 289 00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:12,680 but I'm thinking that is unbelievable, a burnt out Wick 290 00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:17,440 in such a valuable container. Someone saying that. 291 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:23,600 But when we realize that the blackened Wick that's placed in 292 00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:29,720 that snuff dish, that precious snuff dish, started out as a 293 00:19:29,760 --> 00:19:37,000 fresh garment on the backside of a priest, things start to shift 294 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:41,000 a little bit. Because the Bible bears out that 295 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:46,920 the priests were dedicated and consecrated unto the work of the 296 00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:51,760 Lord while they were dressed in their vestments and they were 297 00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:55,640 dressed in their garments. The Bible tells us that Aaron 298 00:19:55,640 --> 00:20:01,000 and his sons, and by implication every other ordinary priests. 299 00:20:01,360 --> 00:20:06,120 We're touched by the anointing oil and by the blood in their 300 00:20:06,120 --> 00:20:10,080 garments of service, and they were dedicated to the work of 301 00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:11,800 the Lord. Look at Leviticus 8 and verse 302 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:14,400 30. And Moses took of the anointing 303 00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:18,480 oil and of the blood which was upon the altar, and sprinkled it 304 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:22,960 upon Aaron, and upon his garments, and upon his sons, and 305 00:20:22,960 --> 00:20:27,160 upon his sons garments with him, and sanctified Aaron and his 306 00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:30,720 garments, and his sons and his sons garments with him. 307 00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:33,600 Do you understand understand what is happening right here is 308 00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:37,720 the initiation of ministry, not just for Aaron and his sons and 309 00:20:37,720 --> 00:20:40,880 other priests, but for the ministry of the garments that 310 00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:44,000 are upon the Aaron and his sons and the other priests. 311 00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:47,240 We read in the Bible, in the book of Chronicles, we read 312 00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:51,720 where the priesthood expands to the place of containing 24 313 00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:55,560 courses of priests with thousands of thousands of 314 00:20:55,560 --> 00:20:59,560 priests, every one of them serving at least a two week. 315 00:20:59,960 --> 00:21:04,400 Amen stand in the temple out of the year, serving in a function 316 00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:08,720 of ministering unto the Lord in some type of function around the 317 00:21:08,720 --> 00:21:12,040 House of God. It's quite possible that after a 318 00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:15,200 priest served in one function, he would never serve in that 319 00:21:15,200 --> 00:21:19,200 function again for the entirety of his life. 320 00:21:19,440 --> 00:21:23,440 What he did, he did it for once in a lifetime. 321 00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:28,200 And what was laid then in that snuff dish, We must understand 322 00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:34,880 Amen had been at some previous in season, anointed with oil and 323 00:21:34,880 --> 00:21:39,280 dedicated to God by blood. If I'd say it like this, that 324 00:21:39,280 --> 00:21:44,240 which was taken in place in the snuff dish didn't look like it 325 00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:47,320 once looked when it first started ministry. 326 00:21:47,560 --> 00:21:50,720 It did not look what it once looked when it was first 327 00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:53,280 dedicated. It didn't look like it once 328 00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:56,400 looked when the blood and the oil touched it. 329 00:21:56,560 --> 00:21:58,640 Hey man. When it was initially employed 330 00:21:58,840 --> 00:22:03,240 in the service of God, but nonetheless, it's still precious 331 00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:06,800 at this stage of its life in the sight of God. 332 00:22:17,560 --> 00:22:20,600 Beams of the old, the old man wrinkles and Harry's life. 333 00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:23,240 You know, I love ministry. I've been in it for 10 years. 334 00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:29,880 It's all the truth to that. You don't look like you did when 335 00:22:29,880 --> 00:22:33,120 you started. The Jewish rabbis have writings 336 00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:36,360 around the 12th century. They wrote some things down that 337 00:22:36,360 --> 00:22:39,440 were oral traditions that they even carried on through them 338 00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:42,600 orally from the 2nd century. It can be found in the Toll 339 00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:46,680 mood, which is some some old Jewish writings, that the old 340 00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:52,240 priestly garments were cut into strips and used for the Wicks of 341 00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:55,280 the lambs. To qualify for such use, and I 342 00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:57,840 preached along this lines a little bit before, but to 343 00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:01,200 qualify for such use, the garments had to be tagged. 344 00:23:01,800 --> 00:23:04,480 They had to be frazzled, they had to be worn out. 345 00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:07,640 In other words, they had to be on the back of a priest for some 346 00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:12,400 time as he served at the incense altar, as he sacrificed. 347 00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:16,280 Amen, animals, Amen. They had to be regularly worn 348 00:23:16,280 --> 00:23:18,080 out. They had to be used. 349 00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:21,920 These consecrated garments, though, once they were wore out, 350 00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:25,440 had hose him in, if you will, fraying on the edges. 351 00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:28,720 They weren't thrown away. They weren't discarded. 352 00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:30,880 They were repurposed for what purpose? 353 00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:34,560 For the purpose of making wits for the Candlestick. 354 00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:39,320 Because God is like, this is the practical yet respectful way 355 00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:43,520 that I can continue using an item that's been dedicated. 356 00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:47,920 Amen to God and his service. I'm telling you tonight we have 357 00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:51,240 some elders that in their younger years served in 358 00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:55,280 positions and capacities and they become worn and they become 359 00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:58,960 frazzled and they become tired. But God says, I'm not going to 360 00:23:58,960 --> 00:24:01,520 disregard them. I'm not shoving them off to the 361 00:24:01,520 --> 00:24:04,160 side. I'm going to repurpose them in a 362 00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:08,360 practical yet respectful way where they can be continuing in 363 00:24:08,360 --> 00:24:11,720 their dedication for the service of the Lord. 364 00:24:12,120 --> 00:24:14,720 Those garments were not discarded. 365 00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:18,840 They could no longer serve as the priest various functions, 366 00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:22,960 but they could keep the light burning in the Tabernacle. 367 00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:27,200 Why? They've been dedicated. 368 00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:33,400 They've been consecrated to God. Their work was for the people 369 00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:38,720 and therefore for God. There's a sanctity to their 370 00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:43,560 service and God, as Hebrew says, was not unrighteous. 371 00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:48,760 To forget they have been on the back of a priest as he was a 372 00:24:48,760 --> 00:24:51,960 doorkeeper. They've been there as he baked 373 00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:55,000 bread. They've been there as he offered 374 00:24:55,000 --> 00:24:59,200 in, since you've been there, as he managed the sacrifices. 375 00:24:59,520 --> 00:25:04,600 And now it keeps lit, Amen, In that holy place that would 376 00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:06,440 otherwise be filled with darkness. 377 00:25:06,440 --> 00:25:10,280 It keeps it lit, Amen, along with the lamps, along with the 378 00:25:10,280 --> 00:25:13,280 oil. The Bible says in Exodus 27 and 379 00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:17,080 20, And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they 380 00:25:17,080 --> 00:25:22,280 bring the pure olive oil beaten for life to cause the lamp to 381 00:25:22,320 --> 00:25:24,520 burn always. I don't know. 382 00:25:24,880 --> 00:25:27,440 I don't know if there's a way to do the math or figure it out, 383 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:31,120 but imagine for a moment the light of the Candlestick was to 384 00:25:31,120 --> 00:25:36,000 burn always. Imagine the number of Wicks that 385 00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:40,280 was used for the light that was always to be kept burning. 386 00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:43,600 And know that they trimmed them. We know according to Scripture, 387 00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:46,840 they at least trimmed them in the morning and they trimmed 388 00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:49,240 them in the evening. There are some that even 389 00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:53,600 postulate that every half hour that they had to be trimmed. 390 00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:58,200 If so, that means every time the trimming happened, that's stored 391 00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:01,120 away in the snuff dish. Every time there's a trimming of 392 00:26:01,120 --> 00:26:04,440 the charred Wick, that's stored away in a snuff dish. 393 00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:07,680 Someone say man, give me a moment. 394 00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:11,120 I really only have something to say and it'll be at the end. 395 00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:17,360 The Old Testament, when you read about the garments of the 396 00:26:17,360 --> 00:26:21,480 ordinary priests, you read about linen breeches and linen pontics 397 00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:24,480 and linen girdles and linen coats and linen tunics, and 398 00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:27,320 there's a great difference. I know today we call cotton and 399 00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:31,280 linen sign like, like they are just a synonyms for one another, 400 00:26:31,280 --> 00:26:34,280 but not so in biblical times. They were not interchangeable 401 00:26:34,280 --> 00:26:36,320 then. The linen that they were 402 00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:39,040 Speaking of, the Old Testament came from a flax plant. 403 00:26:39,560 --> 00:26:41,840 In the garments of the priests were woven flax. 404 00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:44,680 It was flax that was worn together, and therefore when 405 00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:48,800 that woven flax garment wore out, they became Wicks. 406 00:26:49,400 --> 00:26:51,280 A whole garment, if you will please listen to me. 407 00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:58,560 Well, a whole garment is reduced to several Wicks until they are 408 00:26:58,560 --> 00:27:04,400 reduced just to brittle charred Wicks in a snuff dish. 409 00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:13,040 And I say reduced, but in reality each step is a 410 00:27:13,040 --> 00:27:20,160 multiplication of the original. One garment becomes several 411 00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:26,720 Wicks becomes several remnants and fragments of a charred Wick. 412 00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:31,840 And God is attentive to the Wicks purpose, though it may be 413 00:27:31,840 --> 00:27:34,760 weak, though it may be small, though it may be thin, though it 414 00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:38,920 may be feeble, though it might almost be ready to go out. 415 00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:42,920 Isaiah said. And Isaiah 42 and three, if you 416 00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:44,720 can throw it up for me here tonight. 417 00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:49,640 The Bible says these words. Bruce Reed shall he not break? 418 00:27:50,480 --> 00:27:54,720 And the smoking flax he shall not quench. 419 00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:59,000 He's referring to a Wick in a lamp. 420 00:27:59,640 --> 00:28:04,440 He's saying it's expiring this, this lamp Wick is expiring it. 421 00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:08,360 It doesn't have the ability like it used to, to draw the oil 422 00:28:08,360 --> 00:28:11,320 through its capillaries. It's, it's almost finished. 423 00:28:11,320 --> 00:28:14,240 It's it's dying. But God says I'm not going to 424 00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:16,720 snuff it out. I'm not going to quench it 425 00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:20,280 because it's still working. It's still laboring. 426 00:28:20,640 --> 00:28:24,080 I'm not going to forget it. It's fighting for its diligence 427 00:28:24,080 --> 00:28:31,080 to the end. God, God recognizes that, ladies 428 00:28:31,080 --> 00:28:33,720 and gentlemen, and that's exactly what happens in death. 429 00:28:34,520 --> 00:28:38,200 But there are times that even before we die, there are times 430 00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:40,120 in the life of ministry. You're going to struggle. 431 00:28:44,400 --> 00:28:48,120 You're going to struggle with a consistent flame in this life. 432 00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:52,840 You're going to struggle. You're going to have a hard time 433 00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:58,840 performing ministry. You're going to shake your head. 434 00:28:59,920 --> 00:29:01,880 You're going to throw your fist up to heaven. 435 00:29:02,840 --> 00:29:05,320 Hear me? I'm not talking about something 436 00:29:05,320 --> 00:29:07,160 that I read to you about. I'm talking to you about 437 00:29:07,160 --> 00:29:09,800 something I've experienced. You're going to shake your head 438 00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:13,240 to the heavens and say, why is this going on? 439 00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:15,440 God? Where are all those that were 440 00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:17,240 for me before? Where are they now? 441 00:29:17,240 --> 00:29:21,360 I'm going to say, God, I spent countless hours preparing or 442 00:29:21,360 --> 00:29:25,040 doing this and this. You're going to sometimes just 443 00:29:25,040 --> 00:29:29,040 be along the line of almost bitterness with ministry and God 444 00:29:29,040 --> 00:29:33,120 sitting idly by and he sees the smokering of the smoke and he 445 00:29:33,120 --> 00:29:35,440 says don't quench them. Don't quench them. 446 00:29:35,840 --> 00:29:38,200 Don't put them out because they're trying. 447 00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:40,040 They're putting forth some effort. 448 00:29:40,400 --> 00:29:42,640 Not yet. I know they're in a struggling 449 00:29:42,640 --> 00:29:45,120 mode right here, but I'm not giving up on them. 450 00:29:45,360 --> 00:29:48,200 There's going to be a time that you won't want to teach the 451 00:29:48,200 --> 00:29:50,640 class. There's going to be a time you 452 00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:52,120 won't want to prepare the sermon. 453 00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:54,880 There's going to be a time by the Reese, you're not going to 454 00:29:54,880 --> 00:29:59,560 want to use a rag on the Pew. But I'm telling you this that 455 00:29:59,640 --> 00:30:04,720 God in our moments, even of doubt and inconsistency will say 456 00:30:05,040 --> 00:30:07,840 don't quit it because I see they're still working. 457 00:30:08,160 --> 00:30:27,080 I see they're still pushing. I yes, from a priestly garment 458 00:30:28,640 --> 00:30:32,880 to a Wick to a blackened fragment. 459 00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:40,160 God has the priest go in there at some of those final stages, 460 00:30:40,960 --> 00:30:43,880 and he's like, handle that with care. 461 00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:49,880 God, I get it. If it's the newly linen garment 462 00:30:49,880 --> 00:30:52,840 that's been handed to the priest, you understand the 463 00:30:52,840 --> 00:30:54,520 caution. And you almost want white 464 00:30:54,520 --> 00:30:56,800 gloves, you know, to handle something like that. 465 00:30:57,040 --> 00:31:00,400 I can almost guess, God, Even a Wick that's going to burn long 466 00:31:00,680 --> 00:31:02,920 through the night in a lamp. I understand that. 467 00:31:02,920 --> 00:31:04,760 But. But God did the end of the 468 00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:09,200 matter. This, this charred piece. 469 00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:13,120 Yeah. Handle it. 470 00:31:13,520 --> 00:31:21,600 Handle it carefully because it's had devotion at each stage of 471 00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:28,280 it's service. It has been connected to me from 472 00:31:28,280 --> 00:31:34,960 being a priest garment to a Wick to even now it's the fragment of 473 00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:38,960 some rebane. Because hear me, today, nothing 474 00:31:39,120 --> 00:31:45,000 in God's service is wasted or treated carelessly. 475 00:31:48,720 --> 00:31:52,880 Where garments ain't thrown away, their sacred purpose is 476 00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:57,520 extended by becoming the Wick. And when that brutal charred 477 00:31:57,520 --> 00:32:02,080 piece of garment that's just a fraction of what it once was as 478 00:32:02,080 --> 00:32:06,680 being a fragment of a piece of Wick, and it's finished and it 479 00:32:06,680 --> 00:32:13,520 lays there though in a pure gold, priceless snuff dish. 480 00:32:14,360 --> 00:32:18,760 Why? Because God does not. 481 00:32:29,050 --> 00:32:32,930 To think of the hours. That you spend the time, that 482 00:32:32,930 --> 00:32:36,850 you invest your own financial obligation, that you give. 483 00:32:38,130 --> 00:32:41,290 Sleepless nights. That you live prayers that you 484 00:32:41,290 --> 00:32:43,650 pray when no one's in the prayer room but you. 485 00:32:45,290 --> 00:32:48,050 People that you've reached out. To make contact with and you 486 00:32:48,050 --> 00:32:51,760 went out of your way to meet with and hear their concern to 487 00:32:51,760 --> 00:32:56,120 through the ages of life from the novice of it to be and if 488 00:32:56,120 --> 00:32:58,920 you will pretty well settled with it to the point that we 489 00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:02,320 give our last breath and which seems like we have nothing else 490 00:33:02,320 --> 00:33:04,480 to give. God says I'm going to take care 491 00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:06,400 of it even in that moment. Why? 492 00:33:06,560 --> 00:33:11,080 Because it may not seem like much now, but I remember when it 493 00:33:11,080 --> 00:33:14,200 was a priest garment and I remember when it was a Wick in 494 00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:16,720 the Lamb. And I remember the dark nights, 495 00:33:17,040 --> 00:33:20,840 and I remember the bitter tears, and I remember the obligations 496 00:33:20,840 --> 00:33:24,080 they said we got to throw away. Because this is more important. 497 00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:27,960 God does not forget. Oops. 498 00:33:39,930 --> 00:33:45,970 I've stood at various caskets of Saints, some made of just wood, 499 00:33:45,970 --> 00:33:50,410 grandeur, ornate decor, others that were just cardboard that 500 00:33:50,410 --> 00:33:54,530 was covered in fabric. All of it just equalling. 501 00:33:54,530 --> 00:33:56,890 According to their means here below or what they have planned 502 00:33:56,890 --> 00:34:02,280 for, but no sure certainty that whatever the casket was here on 503 00:34:02,360 --> 00:34:05,520 earth, God took their service in mine. 504 00:34:09,120 --> 00:34:11,760 Rather Sheila, Sister Sheila, they might have been in a pine 505 00:34:11,760 --> 00:34:15,679 box here, but God said bring that pure goat's nut dish. 506 00:34:18,520 --> 00:34:21,239 He might have been in some. Some rudimentary things right 507 00:34:21,239 --> 00:34:25,320 here, but God says, I told you to make that gold Pierce snuff 508 00:34:25,320 --> 00:34:28,040 this, you bring that because I'm going to take that life of 509 00:34:28,040 --> 00:34:30,520 service and I'm going to store it right here. 510 00:34:30,679 --> 00:34:32,480 I'm going to put the remainder right here. 511 00:34:32,639 --> 00:34:38,080 I'm going to shelter it right here because God keeps good 512 00:34:38,480 --> 00:34:47,040 records. You may not think it's much, my 513 00:34:47,040 --> 00:34:48,080 wife just recently told. Me. 514 00:34:48,080 --> 00:34:51,560 When she's got back home and I'll mention no names of another 515 00:34:51,560 --> 00:34:55,159 pastor that we know, friends of ours who's had to close down 516 00:34:55,159 --> 00:34:57,840 their church. It's probably the fifth one in 517 00:34:57,840 --> 00:35:01,840 my ministry that I know of, in my ministry that's had to do 518 00:35:01,840 --> 00:35:06,920 with such a thing. Membership fall can't support 519 00:35:06,920 --> 00:35:08,640 the bills or anything that's going on. 520 00:35:10,640 --> 00:35:14,200 Everybody's just pulling the. Straws not talking about other, 521 00:35:14,200 --> 00:35:16,960 I'm talking about Apostolic churches had to close their 522 00:35:16,960 --> 00:35:19,040 doors. You know what that pastor's 523 00:35:19,040 --> 00:35:20,720 wrestling with right now, tonight? 524 00:35:20,720 --> 00:35:22,360 You know what he's wrestling with? 525 00:35:22,760 --> 00:35:26,720 Guilt, shame, failure. What more could I do? 526 00:35:27,080 --> 00:35:28,760 What, what? What more could I accomplish? 527 00:35:29,560 --> 00:35:32,120 But while he's saying all those words, you know what God's 528 00:35:32,120 --> 00:35:33,800 saying? Bring the snuff dish. 529 00:35:34,880 --> 00:35:37,800 Bring the snuff shed. I saw him when he was on 530 00:35:37,800 --> 00:35:40,400 outreach knocking doors, and it was only him and his family 531 00:35:40,400 --> 00:35:42,200 doing it. Bring the snuff dish. 532 00:35:43,520 --> 00:35:46,280 I've seen whenever he was a Wick and he went from a bigger 533 00:35:46,280 --> 00:35:48,720 building to a smaller building just trying to keep their head 534 00:35:48,720 --> 00:35:50,040 afloat. Bring the snuff dish. 535 00:35:50,200 --> 00:35:52,440 You know why? Because God keeps good records. 536 00:35:52,720 --> 00:35:55,400 They might not have all five of them do not have a church today 537 00:35:55,600 --> 00:35:59,280 upon this earth, but I tell you, well, God will not forget their 538 00:35:59,280 --> 00:36:04,280 work or labor of love that they did minister and minister unto 539 00:36:04,320 --> 00:36:07,040 the Saints. God keeps good records. 540 00:36:23,200 --> 00:36:24,920 I'm trying to encourage someone. Here tonight. 541 00:36:25,240 --> 00:36:27,200 Because if you've not met it, you will meet it. 542 00:36:27,520 --> 00:36:30,040 You'll have your struggle. You'll have your dismay. 543 00:36:30,200 --> 00:36:33,040 You'll have yourself down. You'll deal with the demons of 544 00:36:33,040 --> 00:36:33,920 hell. Amen. 545 00:36:33,920 --> 00:36:36,840 Speaking lies into your life, telling you there's no use. 546 00:36:37,080 --> 00:36:38,720 There's no reason to keep doing that. 547 00:36:38,880 --> 00:36:40,280 There's no reason to keep paying. 548 00:36:40,280 --> 00:36:42,360 In that flame. Why don't you just give up? 549 00:36:42,600 --> 00:36:44,200 Why don't you just lay down your armor? 550 00:36:44,400 --> 00:36:46,960 Why don't you just lay down? Hey, man, your ministry. 551 00:36:47,120 --> 00:36:48,640 Why don't you just tuck that aside? 552 00:36:48,760 --> 00:36:51,600 Why don't don't you do something else that seems to have a better 553 00:36:51,600 --> 00:36:53,440 pay off? Why don't you just do something 554 00:36:53,440 --> 00:36:55,360 else that has more notoriety to it? 555 00:36:55,640 --> 00:36:59,480 But I'm telling you today that God sees it at every stage, and 556 00:36:59,480 --> 00:37:04,240 God sees it at every season, and God keeps good records. 557 00:37:12,850 --> 00:37:13,410 You hear? Me. 558 00:37:15,290 --> 00:37:19,970 No one was there. When my wife and I were flea bit 559 00:37:19,970 --> 00:37:24,720 every night holding revivals. Nobody was there when stray 560 00:37:24,720 --> 00:37:28,000 animals you could see Hey man, the the petition and the ceiling 561 00:37:28,120 --> 00:37:31,600 hang down from animals in the night being above us as we 562 00:37:31,600 --> 00:37:32,880 slept. Nobody seen? 563 00:37:35,320 --> 00:37:38,360 Nobody's seen. The mirror having a dollar in 564 00:37:38,360 --> 00:37:41,800 our account and trying to get to the next revival, nobody's seen. 565 00:37:42,200 --> 00:37:45,040 But I tell you who did see. I tell you who didn't know. 566 00:37:45,280 --> 00:37:48,040 He says the garment that's on the priest is turning to a wig. 567 00:37:48,320 --> 00:37:51,400 And even if it's burnt totally out, I'm not going to forget. 568 00:37:51,640 --> 00:37:55,040 I'm going to remember. Nobody's seen the prayers that I 569 00:37:55,040 --> 00:37:59,120 prayed in my trailer at night. Nobody's seen the 3:00 AM and 570 00:37:59,120 --> 00:38:02,200 4:00 AM morning. Nobody's seen the struggle. 571 00:38:02,480 --> 00:38:07,160 Nobody's seen the heartache. Nobody felt the but God. 572 00:38:17,070 --> 00:38:17,750 This all. Right. 573 00:38:21,310 --> 00:38:23,190 Oh, but Brother McGee, look at you now. 574 00:38:25,390 --> 00:38:28,230 My God, you're busy. And they're calling you to come 575 00:38:28,230 --> 00:38:30,310 preach this camp meeting, that conference, and this camp 576 00:38:30,310 --> 00:38:31,670 meeting. Let's pause. 577 00:38:33,760 --> 00:38:36,000 I know it looks. Like all the flamboyance, right? 578 00:38:36,320 --> 00:38:39,360 4 camp meetings in the summer. Hoorah 3 back-to-back with 579 00:38:39,360 --> 00:38:42,240 anniversary service. Hoorah you. 580 00:38:42,240 --> 00:38:46,400 Know what comes with that? Physical exhaustion You. 581 00:38:46,400 --> 00:38:49,200 Know what comes with that? Living under the burden of 582 00:38:49,200 --> 00:38:51,960 seeking God. You know how many times in those 583 00:38:51,960 --> 00:38:55,440 weeks I went to a pulpit of a camp meeting and they were 584 00:38:55,440 --> 00:38:58,040 blowing and going and licking this paint off the ceiling and 585 00:38:58,040 --> 00:39:00,680 God had dealt with me something quite contrary to the weight of 586 00:39:00,680 --> 00:39:03,080 the spirit was going at that moment and there's good old 587 00:39:03,080 --> 00:39:05,680 Pastor McGee honey, they're flopping in a rolling and the 588 00:39:05,680 --> 00:39:08,480 kicking in a bucket and I just entered that pulpit. 589 00:39:08,720 --> 00:39:11,640 I don't raise my voice to a scream, but I'm like, let's turn 590 00:39:11,640 --> 00:39:13,880 to such and such. And I began to preach what I 591 00:39:13,880 --> 00:39:17,240 felt like God gave me. And God would reach sometimes 592 00:39:17,240 --> 00:39:20,560 just one individual in particular in that place in 593 00:39:20,720 --> 00:39:23,720 stories would come back. But everybody thinks it's grand. 594 00:39:27,680 --> 00:39:29,760 But Trevor, they. Don't see the 330 mornings of 595 00:39:29,760 --> 00:39:33,200 trying to hit an airport and it'd be in 24 hours before I 596 00:39:33,200 --> 00:39:35,080 went to bed because I preached the same night. 597 00:39:39,000 --> 00:40:02,120 But God keeps good records. Nobody sees. 598 00:40:02,120 --> 00:40:04,760 The investment that you as individuals made to get us in 599 00:40:04,760 --> 00:40:07,720 here town. Nobody's seen the hours that 600 00:40:07,720 --> 00:40:10,880 these men worked in this church to construct the walls of that 601 00:40:10,880 --> 00:40:13,480 Parsonage. No one's seen the work days in 602 00:40:13,480 --> 00:40:17,080 order to get that middle church up the snuff or this church up 603 00:40:17,080 --> 00:40:19,120 the snuff. Only those that were a part of 604 00:40:19,120 --> 00:40:22,280 it see it and Noah. But know this well that when you 605 00:40:22,280 --> 00:40:26,720 lay down to rest in your life of ministry has somehow begotten 606 00:40:26,720 --> 00:40:29,560 more narrow because your health and your strength just can't 607 00:40:29,560 --> 00:40:31,880 propel you. God's going to say bring the 608 00:40:31,880 --> 00:40:34,040 snuff dish. Bring that thing which is 609 00:40:34,040 --> 00:40:35,040 valuable. Why God? 610 00:40:35,280 --> 00:40:37,400 This is just something in charge, He says. 611 00:40:37,400 --> 00:40:40,360 No, you don't see like I see what I'm putting in it. 612 00:40:40,640 --> 00:40:44,040 It's just as valuable of what it's going inside of. 613 00:40:44,040 --> 00:41:11,880 God, yes. Everybody's looking at that. 614 00:41:12,080 --> 00:41:15,360 Great developed church, but they didn't see it when that pastor 615 00:41:15,360 --> 00:41:18,520 entered that rented building. Had to set up chairs every 616 00:41:18,520 --> 00:41:22,240 Sunday and a sound system and get the guitars going and the 617 00:41:22,240 --> 00:41:24,760 piano going and they'd have service for their hour and a 618 00:41:24,760 --> 00:41:26,240 half. But they had to tear everything 619 00:41:26,240 --> 00:41:28,760 back down after it's all over because it's going to be used 620 00:41:28,760 --> 00:41:30,520 for another purpose. They didn't see that. 621 00:41:30,520 --> 00:41:33,400 They did that for seven years before they could go from that 622 00:41:33,400 --> 00:41:36,880 rental property to property that they bought and then even had to 623 00:41:36,880 --> 00:41:40,720 ask for money to fix the AC. Nobody sees that now that the 624 00:41:40,840 --> 00:42:14,170 running 100, but God does. People don't see the. 625 00:42:14,170 --> 00:42:18,930 Opportunities you turn down. Because you felt like God. 626 00:42:18,930 --> 00:42:20,610 Had you right where he wanted you. 627 00:42:24,320 --> 00:42:29,280 But he does so whether you serving. 628 00:42:29,280 --> 00:42:32,280 In the spotlight or in the shadows, please never forget the 629 00:42:32,280 --> 00:42:34,600 power of the truth, that I stayed over and over across this 630 00:42:34,600 --> 00:42:38,880 pulpit. That God keeps good records. 631 00:42:39,560 --> 00:42:44,440 He sees every effort, no matter how small or how unnoticed it 632 00:42:44,440 --> 00:42:47,560 may seem to you or to the greater world. 633 00:42:47,800 --> 00:42:51,840 Listen when you wipe down pews, when you greet a visitor, when 634 00:42:51,840 --> 00:42:55,280 you prepare meals, when you're mentoring a young believer. 635 00:42:55,480 --> 00:43:00,200 Every act is a sacred service unto the Lord, and your labor of 636 00:43:00,200 --> 00:43:04,480 love is recorded in heaven, not because it's glamorous, but 637 00:43:04,480 --> 00:43:14,040 because it's done to His name. You can stand with me tonight 638 00:43:16,040 --> 00:43:18,400 when your ministry. Feels draining and. 639 00:43:20,160 --> 00:43:24,920 When your strength. Is faltering and when you wander 640 00:43:25,240 --> 00:43:29,680 concerning your efforts, whether they matter, take heart that God 641 00:43:29,680 --> 00:43:36,040 is not unrighteous to forget. What you do may. 642 00:43:36,040 --> 00:43:42,080 Go unseen, but God never forgets. 643 00:43:43,360 --> 00:43:48,160 It's just a old worn. Priest garment repurposed into a 644 00:43:48,160 --> 00:43:52,160 Wick to keep the Tabernacle lamps burning and. 645 00:43:54,080 --> 00:43:57,080 No matter how. Diminished or weakened, it feels 646 00:43:57,080 --> 00:44:02,160 at times. God says it's precious in my 647 00:44:02,640 --> 00:44:06,040 sight, He. Said so I'm going to. 648 00:44:06,040 --> 00:44:11,200 Take these charred Wicks, the most fragile. 649 00:44:11,600 --> 00:44:13,800 You realize you have a Chard Wick in your hand. 650 00:44:13,800 --> 00:44:17,200 It breaks so easily. I'm going to take that. 651 00:44:17,200 --> 00:44:22,760 Fragile, exhausted effort. And I'm going to handle that 652 00:44:22,760 --> 00:44:26,560 with care, and I'm going to store it in a golden snuff dish 653 00:44:27,360 --> 00:44:33,440 because nothing that is dedicated to God's service is a 654 00:44:33,440 --> 00:44:40,000 wasted something. I encouragement to you if we. 655 00:44:40,040 --> 00:44:42,640 Bow our heads. Is this Sir or ma'am? 656 00:44:43,160 --> 00:44:46,640 Keep going. Stay faithful. 657 00:44:47,720 --> 00:44:52,400 Let your flame burn, even when times it's doing more flickering 658 00:44:52,400 --> 00:44:56,760 than it is burning. Because God is not done with 659 00:44:56,760 --> 00:45:00,520 you, Sir. God is not done with you, ma'am. 660 00:45:01,160 --> 00:45:04,240 Age Saints sit in their house listening to me tonight. 661 00:45:04,520 --> 00:45:08,760 God is not done with you yet. When you feel like you're at the 662 00:45:08,880 --> 00:45:14,400 end of your strength, remember that your work has eternal value 663 00:45:14,680 --> 00:45:19,240 and in God's hands, even the smallest act of service is 664 00:45:19,240 --> 00:45:23,720 handled with reverence and will never be forgotten. 665 00:45:23,760 --> 00:45:26,360 And so I stand on this Sunday night. 666 00:45:26,360 --> 00:45:30,160 I know this isn't a typical Sunday night Amen message, but I 667 00:45:30,160 --> 00:45:33,760 stand on this Sunday night and I challenge each individual that's 668 00:45:33,760 --> 00:45:36,720 involved in ministry around this church. 669 00:45:37,080 --> 00:45:42,480 Recommit to the work of the Lord, even in serious seasons of 670 00:45:42,480 --> 00:45:45,560 weariness. Seasons when you feel helpless, 671 00:45:46,040 --> 00:45:50,160 don't stop serving. Even when you feel like your 672 00:45:50,160 --> 00:45:54,360 flame, it's barely burning. Don't worry, God won't quench 673 00:45:54,400 --> 00:45:56,480 it. God won't snuff it out. 674 00:45:56,680 --> 00:45:59,880 He honors your efforts, although they may be feeble. 675 00:45:59,920 --> 00:46:16,040 He honors your efforts. It's hard sometimes to. 676 00:46:16,040 --> 00:46:18,760 Go on when it feels. Like you're going by yourself. 677 00:46:25,400 --> 00:46:28,400 And I want you to. Stop right now whether you work 678 00:46:28,400 --> 00:46:32,000 on the clean team, whether you do the sign where you play a 679 00:46:32,000 --> 00:46:35,200 musical instrument, where, whether you sing, whether you 680 00:46:35,200 --> 00:46:38,160 sing specials, whether you teach, whether you preach, 681 00:46:38,360 --> 00:46:42,080 whether you cook food or manage a kitchen or over a pantry here 682 00:46:42,080 --> 00:46:45,680 at the church, I want you to stop and reflect on where God 683 00:46:45,680 --> 00:46:52,840 has placed you today and. What has he entrusted? 684 00:46:52,840 --> 00:46:56,720 To you. And you need to reaffirm. 685 00:46:56,720 --> 00:47:01,560 Your commitment to those things and offer it up to him knowing 686 00:47:04,720 --> 00:47:07,960 that he keeps. Good records. 687 00:47:09,040 --> 00:47:13,800 So I'm going to press on God, not for the recognition of man, 688 00:47:13,800 --> 00:47:16,520 but for the glory of God. I'm going to press on. 689 00:47:18,520 --> 00:47:23,120 For the glory of God. The one that even treasures the 690 00:47:23,120 --> 00:47:26,480 burnt Wick that he. Places. 691 00:47:26,520 --> 00:47:30,160 In pure goat snuff dishes, pastors trying to tell you 692 00:47:30,160 --> 00:47:34,200 tonight with all the love in my heart that your work matters, 693 00:47:35,840 --> 00:47:39,120 that you matter and. That God. 694 00:47:39,680 --> 00:47:49,200 Does not. Work in I've been with my dad. 695 00:47:49,200 --> 00:47:53,560 When I first started pastoring, we went through to three 696 00:47:53,560 --> 00:47:57,360 hospitals in the same day, one in Vincent's, one in Fairfield 697 00:47:57,360 --> 00:48:04,440 and one in Evansville. This man has lost. 698 00:48:04,440 --> 00:48:08,960 His ever living mind. And I tell my dad often. 699 00:48:09,160 --> 00:48:11,560 I said, Dad, I think you'd be in better help today if you didn't 700 00:48:11,560 --> 00:48:14,320 expend yourself so much in ministry. 701 00:48:15,640 --> 00:48:18,880 That's me as a physical. Son telling him something that I 702 00:48:18,880 --> 00:48:22,640 observed in this temporal world. But you know what? 703 00:48:22,640 --> 00:48:26,400 I. Know now, Sister Brenda, in 704 00:48:26,400 --> 00:48:29,200 spite of it. God. 705 00:48:29,200 --> 00:48:51,230 Saw it. These altars are open. 706 00:48:51,230 --> 00:48:55,350 Tonight for somebody that might feel at a different season of 707 00:48:55,350 --> 00:48:59,070 life right now, maybe you're transitioning from a priest 708 00:48:59,070 --> 00:49:03,040 garment to a Wick and maybe you're a Wick that is flickering 709 00:49:03,040 --> 00:49:05,880 and you're struggling to keep a flame upon you. 710 00:49:05,960 --> 00:49:09,120 But God is watching with a diligent eye and he's saying no, 711 00:49:09,120 --> 00:49:11,160 don't sniff it out, don't quench it. 712 00:49:11,160 --> 00:49:12,880 I think it's going to come out of this I. 713 00:49:14,680 --> 00:49:16,640 Think it's going to come? Out of this, I think it's going 714 00:49:16,640 --> 00:49:19,760 to start burning with a consistency and a purity here. 715 00:49:19,760 --> 00:49:22,720 Don't, don't, don't touch it. Let's just let's just see what 716 00:49:22,720 --> 00:49:26,520 happens right here. I don't know what. 717 00:49:26,520 --> 00:49:29,720 Stage you may be in right now, what season you may be in, I 718 00:49:29,720 --> 00:49:32,400 don't, I don't know the doubts that may fill your mind. 719 00:49:32,400 --> 00:49:35,280 I don't I don't know the things that you might go to bed with 720 00:49:35,280 --> 00:49:38,400 with your spouse and talk about at night concerning where you 721 00:49:38,400 --> 00:49:41,800 serve in ministry, the load or the burden or it seems like the 722 00:49:41,800 --> 00:49:46,200 thankless task that you're in. But please understand that God, 723 00:49:47,080 --> 00:49:51,040 he's keeping good notations, every sacrifice, every 724 00:49:51,040 --> 00:49:57,840 investment, every word, every act, every hand, every voice, 725 00:49:58,440 --> 00:50:01,840 every word. This alter is open tonight for 726 00:50:01,840 --> 00:50:06,880 anybody. God keeps good records.