In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of giving one's all in service to God. He shares his own commitment to preaching the word of God with all his heart and soul. The preacher observes the dedication of young people in the church who give their entire Sundays to serving God. He contrasts this level of commitment with the half-hearted efforts of many church members who only give a little bit of their time and effort to God. The preacher urges listeners to serve God wholeheartedly, comparing their dedication to that of athletes who give their all in sports.

I'd like to encourage you tonight to take, make a covenant with God that a king made many years ago, and that I made a number of years ago, a covenant with God to do some things with all your heart. Jehu had taken over the throne of Israel. He was commanded to lead Israel in a great reformation. He set out immediately to obey the Lord and lead in this great reformation. He was commanded to destroy the house of Ahab. I mean to completely destroy the entire house of Ahab. So he did. Ahab decided to break down all the altars of Baal, and all the groves where Baal was worshiped, and all the places where heathen worship was performed. Not only that, he set out to completely destroy the house of Ahab, leaving no memory whatsoever of the wicked reign of Ahab and his wife Jezebel. Jehu did such a good job of all of this that he said in one place, come with me and see my zeal for the Lord. In other words, he obeyed God's commandment. He obeyed it to the letter. He did everything God had said to do. He destroyed everything God said to destroy. There's a but, however. But the Bible says, he did not follow the Lord with all his heart. He did just exactly what was commanded. No more. You know, years ago, I got this term, all your heart, all your heart, all your heart, again and again and again. You'll find it in the Bible. And I decided that I was going to list these things, and I'm just going to give you tonight a covenant I made years ago of the things that I promised God I would try to do with all my heart. A man, a doctor came to my office this morning after the service. It always makes me feel great when a doctor says this. It wasn't Dr. Peter, by the way. He walked in. He said, you feel all right? I said, I thought I did. When a doctor says you feel all right, all of a sudden you don't feel very well. He said, do you feel all right? And then he said something about like this. No use in telling you this, he said, but you're burning the candle at both ends. Now, a part of that's because I promised God to do that. I promised God with all my heart, I'd serve God. Now, Jehu did not do that. He took what God said and just exactly did it. He didn't go, oh, he'd overlap. He didn't do anything extra. He just did what he had to do. Here's the kind of fella he was. He's the kind of fella who, if he'd lived in our day, he would have, if he made $175.64 a week, he would have given Tithe $17.56 this week and $17.57 next week, because he's supposed to give God 10%. If he made $150.50, he would have given God $15.05 for his Tithe. Now, if he'd lived in our day, that's what he would have done. But God, now, and of course, the Tithe is the Lord's and everybody, Christian or not Christian, ought to Tithe. I mean, you folks have not saved, God feeds you too. You folks that aren't saved, you breathe God's air. You folks that aren't saved, you drink God's water. You folks that aren't saved and live down south, you enjoy God's sunshine. Now, everybody ought to Tithe. I mean, give God one dime out of every dollar. I recall when Joe Boyd was here one time, he was preaching and preaching and preaching, and he had made a terrible blunder before in the sermon, and he said, why, he said, you Yankees up here. He said, you make $100 a week, and you give God a dime. Why, he said, I may be a Texan. You may think I'm ignorant, but I'm not stupid enough. I'm not so stupid. I know that's not a Tithe. Why, he said, a dime is not a tenth of a hundred dollars. A dollar is. What do you think I am, stupid? And somebody in the choir said, amen. It's $10, brother. Check your envelope, by the way. But I mean, that's the kind of fellow Jehu would be. God said, I want you to give a tenth. He would have given exactly a tenth. I mean, but he did not follow God with all his heart. If he lived in our generation, he would have promised God, in some service, to read his Bible every day. And so he had gone to bed at night before his bed, and he said, I promise the Lord I'll read my Bible. So I promised that preacher I'd read a chapter in the Bible, and I'm going to read it if it kills me. And I hope it does. Okay, thus saith the Lord God, go down to the house of the King of Judah, and speak there his word, and say, hear the word, and you read it through. Well, I did that. I promised the Lord I did that. Now, that'll help you if that's all you do. That'll help you. I mean, if you don't know anything you read, it'll help you. You can, listen, you can pour water in a strainer. It won't hold water, but it'll make the strainer cleaner. And if you don't hold anything that you read, it'll still help you. But, wouldn't it have been a lot better for a person to say, I love the Bible. I want to read it day and night. Thy word is my meditation day and night. When I lie on the bed, I love to read it. When I wake up in the morning, I love to read it. As I walk by the way, I love to read it. I want it written on the doorpost of the house. I want to hide it in my heart that I might not sin against God. I'm saying Jehu would have been a pretty good legalist Christian, but he did not serve God with all his heart. If Jehu lived in our day, he would have prayed a few minutes every day. He promised the preacher he was going to pray. And so he had gotten a little list, and he had prayed, dear Lord, as one fellow said, I betcha you don't know the Lord's prayer. He said, yes, I do. I betcha now you don't. He said, I do too. What is it? He said, now lay me down to sleep. Okay, you win the dollar. You knew it. But now he had prayed, but he wouldn't have prayed much. He wouldn't have prayed from his heart. He wouldn't have said, oh my God, I need the blessings of God. I need the power of God. Oh God, give me power. Oh God, help me when I'm sold. Oh God, supply my needs. There was not an opportunity. Jehu, he prayed because he's supposed to pray. He read his Bible because he's supposed to read his Bible. He tithed because he's supposed to tithe. If Jehu lived in our day and he was called to preach, he'd have preached. But he wouldn't have preached to the dying man, the dying people. It wouldn't have been life or death to him. He would have preached because God said to preach. And he'd have quit sin. He'd have said, okay, now how much can I do that's not wrong? I just want to quit everything that's wrong. He wouldn't have laid aside any weight. He wouldn't have quit anything that wasn't wrong. He wouldn't have given God first place in his life. He did not seek God with all his heart. If he'd lived in our day, in our day, he wouldn't have drunk liquor. He wouldn't have smoked cigarettes. He wouldn't have gone to dances. He wouldn't have played cards. He wouldn't have gambled. He wouldn't have smoked marijuana. He wouldn't have taken dope. He would have dressed properly. He'd have gotten a haircut, I think, to live in our day. But that's about all. Now, those things are right. But you know, there's something that God wants from all of us more than just to barely stay inside the rule, barely stay inside the boundary. Jehu, he did what God said. Boy, he got the sword and he destroyed the house of Ahab and he cut down the bales and broke the altars and broke the heathen gods of Baal. But Jehu did not seek God with all his heart. Not as the King Hezekiah. The Bible says King Hezekiah, when he took over the throne, he did all those things too. But he also sought the Lord God with all his heart. All his heart. That's why churches languish in mediocrity. People don't serve God with all their heart. That's why preachers wonder why their churches don't grow. They don't serve God with all their heart. That's why we live lives of failure. And that's why our country is going to hell. And that's why the liquor traffic's taking over. And that's why the hippie crowd's taking over. And that's why communism is about to destroy our nation. We as God's people have not come to place where we say we will serve God and seek God with all our hearts. Oh, we want to do all the rules. We want to be respectable Christians, but we don't want to be fools for Christ. All of us have seen rule keepers. You've seen them at school. A teacher in this room hasn't seen that kind of people at school. If a child, if you're forced to get your hair cut where it the skirt's got to be two inches above the floor, or when you're on your knees, you wouldn't dare wear one one and seven eighth inches above the floor. You want exactly two inches. And if the teacher says, sit up in your seat, you sit up just barely enough to where you're not slumped enough to get in trouble. You've seen them. You've seen them. But just barely keep the rules. You've seen them in, in work, at work. Here's a fella. He's supposed to do so much work. He doesn't do any more. He has disallocated, doesn't do any more. He's not an eager beaver. He has no hope for growth or for improvement and does just barely what he has to do. You've seen him in sports. You've seen folks in sports who just do what they have to do. They don't become the stars. They don't make the money. They don't become the all conference, all, all, all conference players. They just barely do. You know, students, they could make an A, but they make a C. They could make a B, but they make a C. They could make an A, but they make a B. But I'm passing. I'm passing. And I know Christians by the hundreds and hundreds who say, well, what's wrong with that? Boys, listen to me. What's wrong with that? What's wrong with this? Listen, if you are going to be serving God with all your heart, you've got to come to the place to where you say, there's some things that I won't do that there's nothing wrong with. Nothing wrong with. Now, let me give you the covenant I made. The first thing I said is, and we won't turn to it, but in Acts 8.37, you recall the story of Philip and the eunuch. Philip was down in the desert and the Ethiopian eunuch came riding by on a chariot on the road to Gaza. And he was reading Isaiah, Isaiah 53. And you recall the story. Philip said, hey, understandest thou what thou readest? And the Ethiopian eunuch, the Negro man, said, how can I accept some man should guide me? And so he got up in the chariot and Philip opened his Bible and he told him that Isaiah 53 was about Jesus Christ. Boys, Arroyo, and the boy beside him, I think it's Arroyo. You Reuben? Are you Reuben? Gabriel? Who are you? You watch me while I preach, and you be quiet with the boy beside you. And so he said, this is about Jesus now, and Isaiah 53, this is about Jesus. And the fellow got converted. And then he said, the Negro man asked, what doth hinder me to get baptized? And he said, if thou believest, or the next three words, four words, with all thine heart thou mayest. And they say this, and I say it honestly, you've got to believe with all your heart if you get saved. You've got to believe with all your heart that you are a sinner. The fellow says, are you a sinner? I guess so. You'll never get saved. It changes that attitude. You've got to believe with all your heart that you're a sinner. You've got to believe with all your heart that you're lost. You've got to believe with all your heart that Jesus died on the cross to save sinners as your substitute. You've got to believe with all your heart that if you trust Jesus as your savior, he'll take you to heaven when you die. With all your heart. I'm talking to somebody tonight. Years ago, you went to hear a preacher. Preacher preached a sermon. You came down the aisle. Somebody said, have a seat on the front. And somebody came and filled out a card. And boys, listen to me now. I want you to hear what I've got to say. No taking notes while I'm preaching. You listen to me. And I want you to hear what I've got to say. And so on, you signed a card. What's your name? What's your address? Nobody prayed with you. Nobody took the Bible and showed you how to be saved. And you wanted to be saved. And you felt like maybe you ought to be saved. But you did not know with all your heart that you were a sinner. You did not believe with all your heart that you were lost. You did not know with all your heart that Jesus died to save you. And with all your heart, you did not trust him to save you. Let me tell you what faith is. I'll be flying out. Do you know if I'm going on United Airlines tomorrow? I don't know. I hope I'm not. But Ray Newton is. They've got a crummy bunch of pilots on United Airlines. But anyway, now they had a crash at Midway. Now I'll probably be going out tomorrow on United Airlines. Now you say, you believe that plane will get you to Williamsport, Pennsylvania? Yep, yep, sure do. Suppose I walk up there and they say, okay, flight so and so is loading for Williamsport, Pennsylvania. And I look at the thing and the lady says, come on in. I said, no, I don't think I'll come in. You believe this plane will hold you up? Yeah, I believe it'll hold me up. You think it'll get you to Williamsport? Yeah, I believe it'll get you to Williamsport. You want to go to Williamsport? Yeah, I want to go to Williamsport. Well, get on. I don't think so. You know, had a little bump out there at Midway, you know, and don't think I'll get on. No, no, I have to believe enough to get on. And I'll walk on that plane and I'll put my faith and my life in that plane to get me to Williamsport, Pennsylvania. That's faith, I believe with all my heart. Listen to me, listen. If you believe that Jesus plus baptism saves you, you're not saved. If you believe that Jesus plus good work saves you, you're not saved. The Bible says, believe with all your heart. Doesn't say believe with three-fourths of it and work the other four. If you believe that the communion helps save you, you believe that it's faith plus communion, you're not saved. If you believe it's faith plus ordinances, you're not saved. If you believe it's faith plus holding on faithful, you're not saved. You've got to believe with all your heart if you're saved. Now tonight, if you have not believed with all your heart that you're a sinner, if you have not believed with all your heart that you're lost, if you have not believed with all your heart that Jesus died and paid your penalty, if you have not trusted with all your heart what he did, not what you do, what he did on Calvary, then you come down this aisle and in God's dear name believe with all your heart, trusting Jesus to get you to heaven. That's the first thing, with all your heart. There's a second thing. I promised God years ago that I would heed the words of Deuteronomy 11, 13, Joshua 22, 5, 1 Samuel 12, 20, 1 Samuel 12, 24, which says, serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart. Serve him with all your heart. I watched a football game just a little bit the other day, just a trifle. I was in, I was in, uh, where was I, Louisville, Kentucky last Monday night. Got back in my room. It was late. Turned on the television and let's see, Los Angeles was playing San Francisco. And man alive, I got to watching those fellows on football. Those guys go after it. Great big old guy. Little old guy weighed about 185 pounds. Little old guy, 185 pounds. He took off through the line and a couple of fellows, one weighed 285, one weighed 265. They cremated that fella. And I want you to know, they hit him, one hit him high and one hit him low, and he wouldn't go down. He wiggled, and he wriggled, and he came around, and he ran around, and he, and, and they took him and they tried to, and they fought, and they started piling on, and a bunch of them piled on, and he wouldn't go down. And I thought, boy, if I could get a bunch of church members to, to, to serve God like those fellows serve a pigskin, wouldn't it be a wonderful thing? Here's a, here's a, stop and think about this for a minute. Now I'm a sports fan, you know that, but let's stop and think. Now here's a pig who gave his life. I mean, it may have been another pig that had some little pigs standing around saying, our mama's gone. It may have been some young pig, and the old sow saw her boy taken away at a tender age. Here's a pig. They take him, take his skin, sew it together, and blow up a balloon made out of pig. And a bunch of grown men get out there and toss that thing around. Boy, you've got a terrible physique, you know that? I'd never take my coat off if I were you, ever, ever, ever. I just noticed that. I ain't talking about a blown-up pig. But I mean, now what else? They take some plumbing, some pipe. They stick some, one pipe here and one pipe here and one across here. And twenty-two men, no, forty-four men, defense and defense, plus the special teams, I guess sixty-five different fellas get out there. And they get their legs broken, their knee ligaments ruined, they have surgery, they bash each other in the head, they get their teeth knocked out, they get their fingers broken. Why? To push a blown-up pig towards some plumbing. And they do it with all their heart. Every once in a while I get home on Sunday night and time to watch Abe Gibran tell how the bears lost again. It's the same old story. We just do what we do best. We just do what we do best. You give me some men, I'll give her all. Give everything they got. They ain't got much. But they do. Now what am I saying? I'm saying it's a tragic shame when you stop and realize what people give their best to. Now, here's eighteen men. And they build a wall around a pasture. And they get a stick and smooth it off. And they get a horse and kill him. I mean, something's got to die before anybody can play any game. They kill a baseball out of it. And they take this stick and try to hit this ball over that fence out there at the end of the pasture. And they break their legs. They get hit in the head with the ball. They get beamed in the head. And they slide and they dive with all their hearts. Why? So they can knock a ball out in the pasture. Here are men. I was in Seattle, Washington. There's a golf tournament on in the afternoon. And I had a few minutes between services. And I turned on the golf tournament. And Jack Nicklaus was putting. Well, listen. He knows every blade of grass on that green. Hit me down like this. And a stick. And a number two can down there and a hole in the ground about 400 yards away. He gives his all to put that ball in that cup in four strokes. Well, I'm a lot better golfer than he is. I can put the ball in a cup in twice that many strokes. But not only that, they show favoritism to him because where I play, they won't even mow the grass. They mow the grass where he shoots his ball. They won't even mow it out where my ball goes. But they give their all. All. Well, you say they're making money. I know they're collecting green paper. You stop and compare that. This morning in this church, the eternal, never dying souls of men, women, and boys and girls walk through these doors. Every one of those young people. Every one of those kids this morning who sat in that chapel. Most of them don't. Their parents don't care if they live or die. Most of them have dads and mothers who drink and take dope and curse and live like animals. Most of them have no hope in this world unless some godly person will come by on a bus and bring them to church and care for them. They're going to heaven or hell forever and ever and ever and ever and ever to live with Jesus in heaven and walk golden streets and gates of pearl or to burn in the lake of fire as long as eternity lasts. Forever. Their souls and bodies shall burn forever. Why in the name of common sense shouldn't we give all we have to that kind of work? So I said to God, I'll follow the word of Deuteronomy 11, 13 and Joshua 22, 5 and 1 Samuel 12, 20 and 24. And I got on my face and I said, and I mean this is true. You may not like my preaching and you may not think I'm a good preacher and I make no pretense to be a great preacher, but I'll tell you what I do. Every time I walk in this pulpit, I give it all I've got. All I've got. Most preachers preach 30 minutes this morning, 30 minutes tonight, some not even that long. And they'll be so nervous they got to go out and play golf tomorrow morning. As I've said across this country, they got to get out and play golf because it made them so nervous to preach on the peace of God yesterday. They get out and relax. Good night. Tomorrow night, for the time most preachers have gotten over a 30 minute sermon yet today, tomorrow night, I'll be pouring out my soul in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and I'll give it all I've got. All I've got, I'll give it. And then the next morning, I'll get up bright and early, eat a bite and go down to the church. And once again, all I've got, I'll give it. And then the afternoon and that night again, all I've got. Maybe again Wednesday morning, I'll give it all I've got. Why? Because I made young folks listen to me when I preach. Hear me, fella, right in front of that K-beam. You look at me. Put your head around that girl. Look at me. I'm simply saying that if God's people in this nation would make a covenant with God that as we serve him, we'll give it all we have, with all of our heart, with all of our mind, with all of our body, with all of our souls. Give it all. All of it. All of it. To teach a Sunday school class, serve with all your heart. If you have a department, serve with all your heart. If you have a bus route, serve with all your heart. If you have a job in the church, serve with all your heart. Whatever you do, with all of your heart, serve. Oh, that's what our country needs. That's the great difference in First Baptist Church and Hamlin and other churches. We have a few folks, thank God, to whom Christ is real. We have a few folks, thank God, to whom the Bible is the greatest book on the face of the earth. We have some folks in this room, blessed be God. You put a Cosmopolitan magazine here and a Ladies Home Journal here and a Reader's Digest here and a Playboy magazine here and a modern movie magazine here and a Bible here, we have some folks, blessed God, who will take the Bible and rather read the Bible than all the other magazines put together. With all of their heart, they want to serve God. Walked around this place today. I couldn't help but stop and thank God for a bunch of people to whom Christ means enough to give it everything. Young men, young people in that chapel this afternoon, talented. The devil would love to have every one of them. I watched three or four of our boys lead in that service, and I said to myself, those boys with that talent could go anywhere in this country and write their ticket for money. This man right here, Jim Vineyard, could stand with his talent to lead these kids. You ought to come in here and watch this fellow sometime. I mean, listen, there is not a cure. I mean, Captain Kangaroo has jumped his last jump compared to this fellow. Ding-dong school has done ding-dong compared to this fellow. I am simply saying, I walk around this place, and I saw those kids this afternoon. I looked in this door and saw this room. Realize what's going on around here. Looked out and saw these people gathering these little kids up on these buses, giving their entire Sundays, their entire Sundays, to serving God. Why? Because the Bible says, serve Him with all your heart. And you folks are just serving a little bit, but just enough to get by. You J-Hoos, you just do what God says and nothing else. Give a tenth, but that's all. Give Sunday, but that's all. Pray a little bit, but that's all. Either chapter a day, but that's all. God stirs us to give all of our hearts in service for God. You know, if the average church member would work as hard as the average salesman, the average Sunday school class teacher would work as hard as the average vacuum cleaner salesman. Had a man come to my house, my house in Texas. He walked in, he said, I'm selling vacuum cleaners. I said, I couldn't care less. He said, uh-oh, let me demonstrate. I said, man, we don't need a vacuum cleaner, don't you demonstrate. He had a box of dirt, I didn't know it. He started to walk out and spill that dirt all over the carpet. He said, oh, oh, I must clean that for you. He took that vacuum cleaner, plugged it in. He just said, dirt, come over here. And that dirt just flew up. And I said, I'll take two of them, two of them. Why? I mean, he was going to sell me, that's all. He was going to sell me. Oh, would God, we had some Christians who would say with all my heart, I'll serve God. I made that covenant to God years ago. All of it, all of it, all of it. People say, you're going to ruin your voice the way you holler and scream. A lot of the wear out and rust out any day. And if I can holler and scream, it takes a lot of hollering and screaming to keep you folks right. Heap of it. There are people in this room, there are young people in this room right here tonight. If you would give God as much as you gave on the football field, if you give God as much as you give on the basketball court, if you would just stop and realize that only one thing in this world counts and that's eternity. We're going to be here three score and 10 at the most forever and ever and ever and ever and ever will be with God or in hell. There's a third thing that I promised God. David said this, and I'll not go to the scripture, but David said, I will follow the Lord, my God, with all my heart, with all my heart. And I got on my knees years ago and I said, I'm going to make the covenant that the King made. I'm going to make a covenant with all my heart. Young folks back next to the cave in, with all my heart, I'm going to follow the will of God. Not just, not just as little as I can, but all of it. There are people in this room tonight who think that the only thing you've have to do God's will is just get in the town where God wants you to live. There's 10,000 times more to it than that. I'm living in Hammond, India and that's where God wants me to live. And so I'm in the will of God. You may be in the town where God wants you to be, but you're supposed to be in the place where God wants you to be. You're supposed to live in the house God wants you to live in. You're supposed to, you're supposed to have the job God wants you to have. And you're supposed to get up in the morning when God wants you to get up. And you're supposed to eat when God wants you to eat. You're supposed to take the route to work that God wants you to take. And you're supposed to read the books that God wants you to read. And you're supposed to watch the programs that God wants you to watch. And you're supposed to listen to the radio programs that God wants you to hear. And you're supposed to drive the car that God wants you to drive. And wear the clothes that God wants you to wear. And say the words that God wants you to say. And hear what God wants you to hear. And go where God wants you to go. Every moment of our lives we ought to say with all of my heart, I'm going to follow God. Will I follow God? Oh, these will-to-fires. These will-to-fires. I counsel with young folks a lot. They come to my office, I talk with them. Hardly a week passes. Some young person says, Brother Hiles, I feel like I'm going to follow this profession. I ask, Why? Well, because I like that. Sorry, that's not a good enough reason. Sorry. Brother Hiles, I'm going to do this with my life. Why? Because I think I'd enjoy it. Sorry, that won't do. That won't do. Well, why don't you say, Dear Lord, what should I do? I'll do what you want me to do. And they say, Well, it's my life. It's my life. You've got a hole in your head. No, it's not your life. No. A little girl came to my office the other day, and she had on shorts. And I said, Next time you come, you wear a skirt. She said, It's my body. I said, It's not either. It's not your body. It's God's body. And it's God's life. And you have no right to go where you want to go. You have no right to be what you want to be. The only right you have is to say, God, I belong to you. I'll be what you want me to be. I'll say what you want me to say. Listen, years ago, I wanted to be a sports announcer and a sports writer. If I had done what Jack Hiles wanted to do, I'd have been a sports writer. When I was a kid, old enough to breathe. When I was five years old, I was playing football with seventeen-year-old boys. And I just, I played tackle. And all I'd do just when they'd come in, I'd just stand up and they'd trip over me as they walked. And I was playing, before I was old enough to even hardly walk, I was playing baseball, basketball, football, anything marbles, ping pong, anything where I could beat somebody or try to beat somebody, I was playing. I wanted to be a sports announcer. My mother recalled this. One day I read in the newspaper, an old paper that my aunt brought over to our house. I was about twelve years old. I read the newspaper. It said Fordham Ram football team is coming to play in the Cotton Bowl on New Year's Day against Texas A&M. Sports writer, Grantman Rice, remember Grantman Rice, most famous sports writer who ever lived, is having a contest. To the boy that writes the best essay about an imaginary interview with the captain of the Fordham football team, Lou DeFillipo is his name. I got an old piece of paper that had printing on the other side and began to write, longhand, an article. I was twelve years old. My mother didn't even know that I'd done it. Nobody in the world knew I'd done it. Just old scratch paper and leftover paper, garbage paper. And I wrote an essay. Went down and worked a bit in Mowry Yard down on Idaho Street and got some money and bought some stamps and put them in the mailbox. About three o'clock one morning, somebody knocked on our door. Folks across the street said, as long as it's called, New York City for Jack Hines. I was twelve years old. My mother said, who in the world's calling you, son, at three o'clock in the morning, New York City? I said, I've got a lot of folks. Poor kid, my dad was a drunkard. Mama worked for half a dollar a day. Went across the street and it was Grantman Rice calling long distance, New York City. He said, is this Jackie Hiles? I said, this is Jackie Hiles. He said, you have won the national essay contest. You are going to be the mascot of the Fordham team. Lead the parade down Main Street, the Cotton Bowl Parade. I mean, I was there where the Majorettes are now. I wore short breeches, too, by the way, like they do. I was on the top of the fire truck and led the parade. I sat on the bench with the football players as a mascot. I was on 169 radio stations. Mr. Knox, Jim Knox of Knox Gelton Company, gave me a sweater, said to Jackie Boy from Jim Knox. Gave me all the jello it'd take. I wanted it to last me the rest of my life. One box is all I need. I don't like anything that's flimsy. When I bite something, I want it to stay bent. You bite it and it bounces back at you. I wanted to be a sports writer. They had a contest in Dallas, Texas for a professional ball team. All the boys wanted to come down and enter a contest to broadcast a ball game for the Dallas Steers professional team. Come down. I went down, entered a contest, won the contest, got to broadcast a baseball game when I was a kid about 12 years old. I wanted to be a sports announcer. I love sports. Doesn't matter what I want to be. Doesn't matter. All that matters, God wanted me to be a preacher. That's all that matters. Follow the will of God with all your heart. You high school seniors planning your life, what he wants is what you must do. With all your heart, follow the will of God. David said, I will follow God with all my heart. All my heart! There's something else. Deuteronomy 26 says we're to obey and observe and read this book with all our hearts. It was a great day in my life when the Bible began to live to me. The Bible began to live. I love to get on an airplane. A stewardess comes by. I put a Bible over here underneath a magazine. And a stewardess comes by. She says, you know how they have these magazines here you know? And says, like something to read? Magazine? I said, no, I've got one I haven't finished yet. Oh! And I pull a Bible out from under that magazine. I've had them drop their whole arm load before. Now, I'm not trying to be smart to them. I just want to, I want to let them know, this is my book. This is my book. Sing them over again to me wonderful words of life. Let me more of their beauty see. Wonderful words of life. You've heard me say this. This book stays beside my bed when I'm out of town. Stays beside my bed. Right before I go to bed at night, I read it. Treasured truths. The last thing I do before I turn the light out is read this book in the morning. When I wake up, I reach over and grab the book. You say, you must have promised somebody's going to read the Bible every day. No, no, no. I promise God is going to follow his word with all my heart. With all my heart his word. What does the Bible mean to you? Huh? Oh, you'll say it's a pretty decoration on my coffee table. In the first place, you ought to have a carrot juice table instead of a coffee table. What does it mean to you? What does the Bible mean to you? Huh? Oh, you'll say, I am, I'm a deacon in this church. But what does the Bible mean to you? Let me ask you a question. Do you spend more time watching television than you do in this Bible every week? Huh? Young people? Do you spend more time reading a newspaper than you do reading this book? Why don't you make a covenant with God tonight? Why don't you say, Lord, I am going to believe in you with all my heart. I'm going to serve you with all my heart. I'm going to follow your will with all my heart. And I'm going to stay in your word and believe and observe and do your word with all my heart. There's the next thing. We're to love the Lord with all our hearts. And that's really what's behind all of it. Deuteronomy 13.3, Deuteronomy 30, verse 6, Matthew 22, 37, says, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy mind, with all thy soul, with all thy body. When they came to Jesus and said, Lord, what's the, what's the first and greatest commandment? And our Lord said, this is the first and greatest commandment. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, mind, body, and soul. That's the first one. If I ask you, do you keep the commandments? Oh, yeah, yeah. I keep them. But how about that loving the Lord with all thy heart, with all thy mind, with all thy body, with all thy soul? Don't you think you all made a covenant tonight? The other day I told this story, but it fits in perfectly here for you unsaved folks. I want you to hear it again. I told them on radio. To me, it's one of the most moving stories ever told. David Livingston, one of the great missionaries that ever lived. David Livingston left luxury in England, and crossed the world, part of the world, and buried his life in the jungles of dark Africa with a black man. He gave up conveniences, gave up luxuries, and gave his life to the black man. He served there until he was sick, and loved ones died. David Livingston, time and time again, was tempted to quit, but he never quit. He kept serving with all his heart. He kept loving with all his heart. He kept reading the Bible, observing with all his heart. He kept seeking God's will with all his heart. And finally, David Livingston literally served himself to death. He was famous in England. The King of England sent for the body of David Livingston. You've been to Westminster Abbey, haven't you? There in Westminster Abbey, you'll find buried the body of David Livingston. In fact, you'll see it, big square marker there, said David Livingston, the famous missionary to Africa. The King of England sent to Africa and said, we'll bring his body back to England and bury him here. The black men got together, and they went to the King of England and said, let us have him. He gave his life for us. He loved us. He loved us. Let us bury his body in Africa. And the King of England would not allow it. He said, no. David Livingston was an Englishman. We'll bury his body in Westminster Abbey. We'll place him beside kings and poets and authors. We'll place him with a royal funeral in Westminster Abbey. The black men of Africa said, but he loved us. He was ours. Let us have his body. And again, they refused, refused. And finally, the black men looked to the King of England and said, all right, you can have his body. But his heart was in Africa. Let us have his heart. Let us have his heart. And they actually took the heart from the body of David Livingston and buried that heart in black Africa. His body is buried to this day in Westminster Abbey. But his heart is in African soil. That's what I'm talking about. All of my heart, God wants. All of it. I am to believe in him with all my heart. I am to serve him with all my heart. I am to love him with all my heart. I am to seek and to do his will with all my heart. I sat down yesterday for a while and just thought, I'm going to close now. Listen carefully. Brother John, I began to think, did you know that in these last 13 and a half years, we've just about turned over a generation. I got thinking about deacons meetings. I can recall going to deacons meetings when Burley Fields and Bill McKegan and Harley Dunsworth and Mr. Tudor. And I could just keep on. I began to think of names. They were the men that ran this church. They were the men who led this church. Mr. Kaufman on the pulpit committee when I came. They're gone. I got thinking about people of all ages who sat in these pews. Hundreds of our people are gone. Folks, it won't be long that all of us are gone. It won't be long. I mean, it's just a little while we're here. I know you hear that, but it's true. It's true. Listen, you pastor like I pastor. You watch them pass off the scene like I do. It won't be long. Don't, don't, don't let me frighten you. But it won't be long till some pastor's phone will ring and they'll say, Mr. Mock passed away through the night. It won't be long till some pastor will pick up the phone and they'll say, Bob Klepack, Louis Shoaff, Jack Hiles. It won't be long till across this country preachers will say, have you heard? Have you heard? Dr. Jack Hiles on that plane. Dr. Jack Hiles had a heart attack. Dr. Jack Hiles had cancer. It won't be long, just a few days at the most, till all of us will be gone. I wish I could impress that on your heart. Young people, do you think it's a long time before you have to die? It's not long. Life is so brief. I wish we could get to the place to where all that matters is eternity. All that matters. Doc, when I was a kid preacher, I went to preach at a conference. I'd heard about Dr. Lee Roberson. I'd heard about him. I wanted to meet him. I drove to Longview, Texas to preach. Somebody said, that's Dr. Roberson sitting back there next to the... I'd never seen him. I went back and boy, I said, that's Lee Roberson. I said, Dr. Roberson, did you shake my hand? Whenever he caught it, he shook it. Somebody said, you know how old he is? I said, how old? He said, he's 43. 43. That's three years younger than I am right now. Do you know that Dr. Roberson's voice has given him so much trouble he's having to go to Mayo Clinic to have his voice checked? He's now in his 60s. It doesn't take long to go from 43 to 63. Not long at all. We're not here for long. Not for long. It just seems like we ought to serve God with all our hearts, and to do his will with all of our hearts, and to love him with all of our hearts, and to read and obey his word with all of our hearts. That's all that really matters. That's what he wants. He wants all of your heart. He wants you to serve him, love him, obey him, follow him, with all your heart. All of it. All of it. All to Jesus. That's all he wants. All your heart. I made that covenant. I haven't been a... I know I'm no great preacher. I know that. And I know that I'll not be listed in eight years to come with the Spurgeons and the Moody's. I know that. But I hope that dear Lord can say to me when I have preached my last sermon, Jack, you were no R.G. Lee. You didn't have the eloquence of an R.G. Lee, nor the brilliance of a John Rice, nor the flair of a Bob Jones. But you did serve me with all your heart. All your heart. All your heart. All. Let us pray. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart. Thou shalt serve the Lord God with all your heart. I will follow after thee with all my heart. I will keep and remember thy statutes with all my heart. All my heart. All of it. You say, well how? That'd make me a fanatic. I know. I know. Folks will think I was a fool. Yes, I know. I know. I've come to a place in my life where I believe that folks don't think you're a fool. There's something wrong with your Christianity. Brother, if this old heathen, godless world doesn't think you're odd, then you're not right with God. All your heart. All your heart. All your heart. All your heart. All your heart. All your heart. All your heart. All your heart. All your heart. All your heart. All your heart. All your heart. All your heart. All your heart. All your heart. All your heart. All your heart. All your heart. All your heart. All your heart. All your heart. All your heart. All your heart. All your heart. All your heart. All your heart. All your heart. All your heart. All your heart. All your heart. All your heart. I wonder how many of you would say, Brother Hiles, I'll be honest with you, I don't serve him with all my heart. I'm like Jehu. I just do barely what I got, barely what I have to do. I give God ten percent and no more maybe. Just barely what I have to do. Just enough to be a halfway decent Christian, that's all, but I don't serve him with all my heart. Or Brother Hiles, I don't follow his will with all my heart. Or I don't love his word with all my heart. Or I don't love him with all my heart. I never forget. I never forget. Day after day I think about what Spurgeon said when he prayed, Dear Jesus, help me to love you so that when I look up to heaven and say, I love you, Jesus, you will look down and say, I know it, Charles. I know it. I wonder how many would say, Brother Hiles, I'm a Christian, but I've not served, nor loved, nor done the will of God, nor stayed in the book, with all my heart. I confess it, and ask God to forgive me. Would you lift your hand, please? All over the building. All over the building. God bless you. You can lower your hands. Are there others? I'm saved and I know it, but I'm not serving with all my heart. Please take the baby out immediately, right quick like. That's good. Heads are bowed, eyes are closed. Who else would say, Brother Hiles, I'm saved and I know it, but I've not served God with all my heart. I'm my heart. Would you lift your hand? Who else? God bless you. Are there others? Are there others? God bless you. You can lower your hands. Our Father, I pray tonight you speak to the hearts of all of us. Help us realize that life is but a fleeting moment, like the cloud that appeareth and vanisheth away, like the grass that greens in the spring and dies in the fall, like the flower that blooms for a season and its leaves and petals fade, like the tree that's made green in the spring, whose leaves die and fall in the autumn. Give us an awareness of the brevity of life and help us to serve Thee and obey Thee and love Thee and follow Thee with all our hearts. Our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed.