In this sermon, the preacher shares a story about a group of sailors returning home from a ship. He describes how they were welcomed with fireworks and smiles as they crossed the threshold of the ship. The preacher then recounts a personal experience of being led to rest after a battle, emphasizing the concept of finding rest in God. He concludes by expressing the anticipation of seeing Jesus and the importance of responding to God's call. The sermon encourages listeners to stay faithful and obedient to God's commands, with the promise of a final discharge and the ultimate reward of being with Jesus.

11.7. By faith, Noah, being moved, being warned of God's things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his house, by the which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. By faith, Noah, being warned of God's things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his house, by the which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. I'm sure when God made this world, he made a wonderful world. Everything was perfect when it came from his fingertip. There wasn't a stem, there wasn't a faded leaf, there was no death. It was a tremendous world and God said it was good, even himself. But since a certain occasion happened in the gateway of that garden and that serpent, however, whatever form he approached in, as he stepped inside the gate of the garden, brought every sin and death and sickness and everything that's wrong in this world happened in the twinkling of an eye until God had to shut the gate and man wandered away from God. He didn't cease to love, man. There was never a time when the one who said, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. The love and the mercy and the longsuffering of God has never failed this earth yet. As they traveled far from God, it becomes so bad that God, even in his reverie as he prayed and thought about that world and saw the awful things that's taken place, said the sons of God looked upon the daughters of men and took to themselves wives, plural number, just as many as they wanted. Think about that today, too. They just married whoever they pleased and as many as they pleased. And the corruption that took place and the awful fall in morality becomes so nauseating to God that his Bible said he repented. That he'd even made man. He called the attention that is going to call humanity to judgment. He was going to destroy the world. He was going to destroy the things that he created. What an awful chaos that must have been. But he found a man out in that great generation who was perfect in his generation called Noah. And he spoke to him and said, you build an ark the way I want you to build it. The specifications that I give you. And I would God that this generation would realize that when God says something he means exactly that. We've got to replace them all in the world when we just wonder whether God means everything that he says or not. But he specified the blueprint to Noah and said, I want you to make it out of gopher wood. He didn't say, now just go out and help yourself to oaks and pine trees. But he said, you make it out of gopher wood. And make it and pitch it on the inside and on the outside. And God has a plan for every generation that's ever lived in this world. What a time we could have if everybody would mind that mind of God. But you know, God told Noah to build an ark and everyone that got in that ark, he could save his family. Everyone that got in that ark could be saved. And I'll tell you, Jesus Christ is a perfect replica. That's the object lesson that he's trying to teach us of the safety of the heart of the Son of God. It's a long way back in the dim light of life back there. But God was trying to approach man and get a little closer to him. He hadn't talked to him in very long back there. But I'll tell you, that crowd becomes so wicked that he said, we're going to destroy them. You build an ark. And I tell you, there's not a doubt in my mind but what the preacher in that day. Oh, brother Noah, as long whiskers he might have had, he might not have had. But I believe he was persecuted. I believe he had to fight the same tide of wickedness that men are fighting today to keep the blessing and keep the ocean. To preach this old fashioned faith today. I'll tell you, he called a perfect man and God never sent any man with a message yet that wasn't a perfect man. Some have gone, but God never sent them. Missionaries have gone, but God never sent them. God called men with a holy purpose and a holy heart to go out and preach and tell the story of Jesus. And warned men and called them to a realm of God that had taken away the sin of the world. But I believe with all my heart this faithful old man, some say he preached 120 years. I don't know for sure, but I know this. He was a preacher of righteousness. However long he preached, he never compromised. He held the things of the line. He kept nailing on those old planks and that old arch. And I believe with all my heart, just like a man preaches a sermon on Sunday or a camp meeting comes. Every time that happens, God's saying to the crowd to whom it's given, you better wake up, you better hurry up, this old arch is going to get finished one of these days. And it's going to sail away. But they paid no attention. They went on in their revelry. They never thought of that. Oh, the old gray whiskered fellow. He don't know what he's doing. He's an old fogey. And that's what they're saying about the old-fashioned preachers today. They're going from evil to evil today. They've lost their generation gap. It's all who we are now. And they just as well change to a program and do something else. But I'm in favor of sticking to the old-fashioned plan of God and preaching the old-fashioned truth that will deliver men from sin, the devil. God's plan doesn't change. God doesn't change. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. They never stopped the old carpenter. He put the planks on and drove the wooden plugs through and was preaching to them every time he nailed one on. They'd never seen a raindrop. They'd never heard a clap of thunder. They'd never seen a spork of lightning split the face of a black cloud. There were no clouds in the sky. God brought in the earth from beneath. But all of a sudden, like he's coming this time, all of a sudden the raindrops begin to appear. And the clouds appeared in the sky. And for the first time, they saw that lightning split that cloud. And the rain began to fall. And the reverberations of thunder rolled. And fear gripped that cloud. While you're listening, it's too late to fear then. It's too late when the rain starts to fall to make your decision for God. It's too late when the voice comes at the midnight hour. Behold, the bridegroom cometh. Too late then to make your amends to God. You'd better get in while mercy falls. You'd better get in while the preacher calls. You'd better get in while God is reaching out to reach you and pull you in out of a storm. But they paid no attention. But you know, one day the old fellow got the thing finished. He built the well and the ark so he could see God anytime he wanted to. You can too, that's why he put it up there. He went inside the ark and that cloud that was mocking and carrying on, they said he'll be back out. But he never came back. You know the reason why? God shut him in. God shut that door that day on that cloud. And as far as I've been able to discover and read, there was never another Andrew Rubin that got on in that old ark that was saved. But God saved that cloud that went in. He and his boys and their wives took them in the ark. And when God sent that old ark down on the earth, when it began to dry again, he's got a surprise for this cloud just like he surprised that cloud. He reached way down, I don't know where it is, in the bowels of his creation and broke up the fountains of the deep. And the Bible said the earth filled up with water. I can't describe it. Nobody else can describe it. But I'll tell you one of these days, just as sudden as that, he's going to do the same thing in a different manner than he did that day. The only difference is when the door shuts this time, it'll be the final shut. It's not going to open anymore. We talk about a lot of times that folks are going to get in and thousands are going to get saved during the tribulation. But I'll tell you the old Jews are the only ones that's going to have a chance. The Gentiles are going to get in now or they're going to burn forever. This is the Gentile age. This is our day and it's the time of salvation. But I'll tell you they never, he never built that old ark for beauty. He never built it to show off the architecture or the ability of his building. He built that thing so it'd ride the storm. Hallelujah. It did ride the storm. And I'll tell you the one that Jesus Christ, he, he'll ride the storm too. He's the rock of ages. He's the low of the valley. He's everything. He said, I am that I am. Jesus Christ is the ark most to get you and me in today. And when the battle's hot and the devil's mad, I'll tell you a wonderful thing. As I looked at Brother Sullivan up here this morning with God dying around him, wicked back yonder, most of us were. But now in this, under the shattering wings of God Almighty, what's safer than the mighty ark of safety through the blood of the Immaculate Covenant of Jesus Christ today? One of these days, I'll tell you, when the battle's on, I don't know whether you folks have ever had any battles in this life or not, but I know one thing. He's the shelter in the time of the storm. It's a mighty good thing to quote the 91st Psalm. It's a mighty good thing to say, isn't it? That man that dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide in the shadow of the Almighty. What a wonderful time to feel today in this awful hour in which we live that the wings of God hovered over that man or woman that dares to mind God. He's going to see us through too, friends. I've got good news for you. He's going to take us through to the end of the journey. But you know, I remember when the battle was on, there have been times in my life, even right today as I stand in this pulpit, there's tests you must stand. But I said to a crowd not long ago, they were having a little difficulty with the pressure that was on them, and their stories were told, and this was said and that was said. And I said, well, I said, if somebody would step up to me and say that I was some other color than I am today or I was this nationality or that, I said, that wouldn't bother me. I said, because God knows I'm not, and I know I'm not, so what's the difference? Hallelujah. We worry about a lot of things. Until a lot of the things that so stirred us up now, it's about wrecked the whole movement with a bunch of nonsense that a boy ought to shake off and go on down the road, mind the Lord. Hallelujah. I remember when, reminds me of the old ark that I came home on. I'm on one today, the ark, the old ark of the old ship Zion. I got on it 47 years ago. Well, I remember one time in 1918 when tired and sick and not wounded but injured, tired of 25 months of army and war, that one day the rumor came out that there was a ship in the harbor down at Brest. It was going to take the casuals and the folks that could pass the inspection. It was going to take them back to America. I'll tell you, my heart leaped and I wanted to go home so bad and I was tired and weary of war and tired of the whole arrangement. But you know, when that word came around that the ship was down there all right, it had become more than a rumor. It became an actual fact that when we gathered that day, every man, woman, every man had to pass an examination. He had to pass the inspection of the things before he could get on that boat. And I heard some fussing. I heard some disrespect for the army and so forth and so on. But it's according to how bad a fellow wanted to get home as to whether he'd be careful about his examination and careful about that inspection. And so it is now why we had to lay those things out on our cot just so, and things that they said they'll discard this off in the junk and this. They separated it. The army separated it. We didn't. And I tell you, if you're going to get on this old ship Zion that I'm talking about in the midst of the battle now, most of us are tired of the old battle anyway. But we're going to have to pass some inspection too. We're living in a day now when they about do it, done away with repentance. They don't bother about that much anymore. It's a sort of a believism business and it's kind of an acceptance business of Jesus Christ. But I tell you, old-fashioned repentance is still real. Jesus Christ said, you'll repent or you'll all likewise perish. I believe that He's the one that gives them the power to repent. As many as received Him, not accepted Him, but as many as said, I want Him. He'll take a little old woman so weak, she couldn't find anything. She'd cried 12 years, she was dying, and the physicians couldn't help her. She spent all she had. But when she wanted Jesus and heard His name, Jesus Christ got that little weak, anemic woman until she could touch the hem of His garment. And I tell you, if we want Him badly enough and receive Him, He'll give us power to repent. He'll give us power to make our restitution. He'll give us power to go over our backtrack. He'll give us power to say that eternal yes to God. I believe that's the way that I got in, and I still believe it's the way. I don't believe there is any other way. I don't believe in this believism-ism. I don't believe in this that's trying to believe God is born, now I'm struggling with your head. I believe there has to be a transformation. On midnight that night in Jerusalem, when He met that lawyer, when Jesus met him at midnight by apartment, Nicodemus said, Oh, that teacher comes from God. He never changed a word. He said, Yes, but you must be born again. There must be a transformation. Nobody gets on this old ship, Zion, that hasn't been transformed. Hallelujah. There has to be a going down before God. And you may get rid of the things that God wants us to get rid of, and they're going to be for His inspection too. Hallelujah. I'm glad you'll never know the emotions in a soldier's heart. Some of you are here soldiers, of course. But I'll tell you, when that big old square-shouldered officer went along, I think this fellow was a colonel. Stopped right in front of me and kicked his heels and looked at me like he could look clear through me. He looked at my cart and looked at what I had on there, so I thought he never was going to leave. I don't suppose he was there for a minute, maybe a minute and a half, but it seemed to me like it was 15 minutes. My knees were knocking together. I was afraid they wouldn't pass the inspection. I wanted to get home. Some folks don't worry about much at the order anymore. They just kind of go to the order without a tear. They just kind of think, well, I'll go because everybody else is going, God's convicted me a little, and I'll get a little ease of conscience. But they never, they never pray true. They never, they never put their stuff out there for God to look at to mind Him. But we're not going to get in until we do. I wish God that Holy Ghost conviction could come one more time until we see some folks that revolve when they go to the order and seek God with all their heart. We'll never mind God till we realize we're lost. You'll never tell God the truth until you realize you're lost. If there's anything else that can help you, if there's a power on earth you think you can go for refuge, you're not going to get saved. But when everything vanishes but God and His mercy is all that's left, whether you do anything to mind God, that's the only trial that ever got in. Praise the Lord. You know, I'll tell you, I remember when that old colonel moved over one and clipped his heel. Something went out of me, a big sigh. I knew I'd made the inspection. You remember that time? You remember when God didn't tell you about anything else? And that load began to lift. Hallelujah! I'm not talking about salvation. I'm just talking about old-fashioned conviction. When you're willing to do anything in the world He wanted you to do, and you got to run, you didn't care what He told you to do. Hallelujah! I'll tell you, when he walked through and got the inspection of that car, he wasn't through with us yet. He said, the officer said, now fellas, follow me in. He said, we're going down here to the wharf to get out to the big ship that'll take us home. But he said, there's a few things we've got to take care of down there yet. He said, we've got this all taken care of here. So we went down there. March was in a couple of big sheds. Had us to pull out and stack arms and said, now fellas, we want you to take your uniforms off and we're going to send them down here to the Kootieizer. How many of you know what a Kootie is? That's just an old-fashioned louse, that's all. But we called them Kooties in the Army. He said, now we're going to take those uniforms and send them down here to the Kootieizer and turn the heat and the steam on them and get rid of the Kooties that's in there. Not going to take any Kooties on the ship. And he's not either. But you know, when we got our uniforms off in there, we were standing in a couple of big sheds and they had about four troughs for that brigade that was there. Said, now we want you not only to get your uniforms, the Kootieizers, but we want you to wash yourselves. We want you to cleanse yourselves. Well, you can see two works of grace there or not, but I can. But you know, it looked to me like they put everything in that solution carbolic acid and lye. I don't think there's any of that in there, but I'll tell you, if it smelled, it didn't smell good. And when you got in there, it didn't feel good either. But I'll tell you, we went through those tubs and on down to the end. And when we got through, they gave us a shower and went back and by the time we got back, our uniforms were all back and they were all cleaned and pressed and we could put them on. But he said, now boy, he said, if we hadn't had this second dip here, this going in this tub, said the egg that made that Kootie in the first place would have still been alive on you and we're after that egg that made the Kootie. And that's what Jesus suffered outside the gate for, which destroyed the works of the devil. He wants to get rid of that thing that made you a sinner in the first place. Hallelujah. And you're not going to get on the boat until you do get rid of it either. I'm not talking about testimony. I'm not talking about testimony. I'm talking about an actual experience that God can take that whole kind of thing out with all of his strength and destroy it. Hallelujah. With his blood. We don't priest hold as much anymore across the country as we ought to, I guess. I'm guilty too, I guess. But I'll tell you, there is a second depth of work of grace that destroys the sin business. You can live a holy life if you want to. But I'll tell you, there's a lot of comfort when you put the uniform back on and wasn't any, didn't have to scratch and all that. That's why folks get uneasy in a wholeness meeting. So I believe to get rid of those old Kooties and all those, those transmissions against God Didn't care to run around on the fellow's coatsleeves. But they said, now boys, we're falling again, and they're going to take us down to the wharf and get on the boat to take us out to the big ship. And they said, now you're going to have to go full pack, once you put your overcoats on that you couldn't get in the pack. And the overcoats back there weren't like the overcoats are today. They were clear down to our ankles, and you had to have every button buttoned and every pocket buttoned. Well, if you want to go home bad enough, I'd have put three of them on, but I had to. Hallelujah! I tell you folks, you don't have anything, you don't have to worry about the dress questions if you want to go home. If you really want to make it into heaven, the dress questions don't bother you much. The hair questions, the jewelry questions, the dress questions, it just don't bother you at all. You just do anything. I want to go home. It's according to how bad we mean, how bad we want to go. And so whether we'll walk in the light of my God or not. But I'm going to tell you this, you're not going to get on the boat if you don't. You may say you are, you may try to think you are, but you know good and well you're not. We got down there, and again they fell out and took the guns and got us on that little old flat boat, and we marched on there with those packs weighing about 65 or 70 pounds, and there was quite a bunch that got on that old boat, a big old side wheeler over here that was ready to blow the water and take us out to the big ship. Got on that old thing, kept going down, going down, and going down, and going down with that weight on there until it looks like it's going to go clear down the water. And I said to this fellow by my side, I said, this will never make the Atlantic. This will never, this will never go across that whole ocean like this. And the big old sergeant over there, he said, don't worry Greg, he said, this is just getting it out to the big boat that will take us over. You know, folks don't make much of regeneration anymore, but I'll tell you it's going to get you out. You're going to have to go on that first. You're going to have to be alive under God before you can die out to yourself. Hallelujah! You're going to have to get on that old boat anyhow with your pack and your overcoat on, whatever God tells you to put on, and whatever He tells you to take off. Hallelujah. So we got on there, and about the time we got there it was all fixed, and the old wheels started to go, and the water began to go. Well, it started to rain. And it just, I don't mean it just sprinkled like it did down here last night, but it really rained. And those packs that weighed about 65 pounds got to weighing, it felt like they weighed 100 pounds. Pouring down rain, and rain was running down our faces, and all over our nice uniforms that had gotten cleaned and pressed. But you know, I never heard anybody groaning about it. What do we care about rain? Praise God, we're on our way home. Hallelujah! Which way are you headed anyway? Glory to God. Let it rain! Praise God, we're going out. Out there's a silhouette of that old ship, and we were trying to get out there. We got, by the way, parked along the side of that big old ship, and they let the gate break down on that old flat boat, and the boys began to march up that old gangplank. I noticed when they went in the door, that second door of the ship, not the first door, the second door, when they went in that second door. We'd already had that first trip, you know. When they went in that second door up there, I noticed when the boys crossed the first hole, they had the biggest smile. They were looking back and smiling at us. You know, I wonder what in the world do they see anyhow? But when it come my turn, I got on the old gangplank and went up there, and just when we were over the first hole, I smelled wheatage and sauerkraut. Well, you know, you folks can laugh at that all right, but I tell you, wheatage and sauerkraut, we had everything to eat but bully beef and tomatoes and canned sard. I don't know what all, until wheatage and sauerkraut tasted like turkey and dressing with all its remnants. Hallelujah! You'll be so easy, you'll be so hard to satisfy if you just get on the boat. I tell you, I'll eat hard tack if I can stay on the boat. Oh, man, I've got to heal up, brother. I'll tell you, there's one thing about this, plenty of it. They had plenty on the inside, and some of the fellas ate too much, and they spilled it off through the windows out over the deck. But it's an overflow blessing anyhow, you know. Don't need to be afraid of running out of holes. There's plenty of it. I'll tell you, we got home there, and those folks, we ate until we were full, and some of us fuller. But a big old sailor come along and got me with an arm. I don't know why he jumped onto me, but I was a sergeant. He led me back and said, now, Sarge, here's bed back here, four high. He said, now, we want you just to come back here and get in bed and rest. There remaineth a rest for the people of God, you know. The battle was over. Hallelujah, the war is over. The obstacles are signed. And we were on our way home on the old ship's isle. We just got in the only, the only thing you had to beware of was not get too far out from the bunk because somebody might get an overflow blessing up there, and you'd have it all over again. But he said, you, all you got to do is just stay on the boat. You don't have to stand another formation. You don't have to go through manual of arms. You don't have to attack an enemy. He said, all you got to do is just stay on this boat and rest. But you know that there's some silly fella, I never did see him, but he, he'd been shell shocked over there. And he got so afraid that he wasn't going to make it back to America, they put him in the brig up there. But he got out of there somewhere and jumped overboard and drowned. There's a lot of folks that are doing that today, committing spiritual suicide. Why don't you stay on the boat? Hallelujah. Why don't you mind God and stay on the boat and take the things as they come, the hard places with the good, and they're all going to stay on the boat. But I'll tell you, he said, you just stay on the boat. We're going to make it here. All right. We hadn't got out of the harbor hardly. It was like a big old storm. Oh, the waves were high and that, out of my faith, that old boat kind of squirmed and creaked and groaned. And I don't know, I don't like water anyway very much. And I was just a little bit worried about that. I didn't know whether we were going to make it or not. Did you ever get worried whether you were going to make it or not? You know what dark place you went through, you know? Hell, I saw it come around again. He said, now, now, now, Griff, he said, don't worry, he said, we've got a pilot on this ship. It's never going to be the old ship dying out of the water tonight. I tell you this, our captain, he not only knows where all those places are, but he made the ocean. Hallelujah. He's not going to fail to get us home and get us in the harbor over there if we'll just stay on the boat and mind the Lord. I tell you, let the storms come and go. He'll take you through the storm if you'll cuddle up close to him. I remember one time years ago at midnight, my little wife and I were sitting in the district parking there. I got in off the district and midnight it was, and I got a telephone call from my dear friend, the pastor of the first church where my oldest boy lived there, and he'd just gotten home from the Second World War a little while, and he was in there. They were going to put on an international air show. He was captain in the Air Force. They wanted him to lead the fighter group, and the voice on the other end of the line said, Brother Griffiths, he said, the message I have for you tonight is not an encouraging message. He said, it's bad news, and I listened. I kind of felt that his voice trembled a little, and he said this afternoon on Saturday, it showed to be on Monday, he said this afternoon at 4.30, Quentin was coming in leading the fighter group. He dove down from his high level, from the hard maneuvers to make, leveled off him, was supposed to make the barrel roll and go on in and land. He said, Quentin dove down, came out and started, he got that far in the barrel roll, and said going 450, 500 miles an hour, and only a thousand feet off the ground, said the second he was gone. My little wife sat there. She was trembling. She hadn't caught the message. She didn't know what was in my heart. She could tell my face was white, and I was trembling. But you know, she got over close, and I took my wife over on my lap, and I told her the story. And there together, we went through that darkest moment of our lives to that day. But you know, in the midst of the darkness, God spoke to me. He said, I'll make it all plain one of these days. Don't worry. I don't care what kind of a storm you go in. Or this old ship dies. If you stay on the ship, God will take you through the storm. He'll take you through that test. He'll take you through anything that never could have happened to me before you. God will take you through. You know, we sailed on and out across there. It took us about 18 days to go into France. We only took about 12 to come home. And we got away out there. The folks were singing, and they were on their way home, of course, and rejoicing. But all of a sudden, you know, I saw the crowd wave. It went up there in the crow's nest. That's way up there at the top of the stack where you can get up there and look around if you want to. And I saw them clapping their hands and waving their arms and looking down below, and I wondered, what in the world did they see anyhow? And somebody passed a word down and said, somebody said that they see the skyline of the city of New York under. What a thrill it was. But you know, about that time, they started singing, My country, tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of his pilgrim pride. But I tell you, they're not singing that on the boat I'm on this day at noon. They're singing that old song, In the sweet by and by and all. By faith, I can see it afar, for my father waits over the way to prepare us a dwelling place there. I tell you, there's a harbor waiting for us over yonder. You can say what you please in that crowd. We're told on your way home, God hasn't forgotten. He's going to take you through, beloved. That old ship sailed on. We come in view of the old Statue of Liberty. Just a few months before, 25 months before, there she stood out there in the harbor with a torch lighted, and she was standing there when we got back. The birds had fallen against her and broke their necks and the hail and the storms had come, but that old Statue of Liberty was still there with a torch guiding the ships into the harbor. But I tell you, that's not the thing I'm looking at this afternoon, this morning. I'm on the old ship, Diana, and there's a cross that stood there for 2,000 years. The storms of hell and atheism and everything that hell could belch out has stormed against the cross, but thank God, in spite of the infidels and in spite of the immorality, in spite of all the things that's going on today, that old rugged cross, so despised by the world, has the one exception for me, for it's on that old cross Jesus suffered and died to pardon and sanctify me. I tell you, the old cross is going to be here when the last infidel is dead, and in hell a million years, that cross will still be standing. Don't you be afraid to try to go with God. Don't you be afraid to get on the boat. It'll take you home. But you know, it got awful quiet on that ship, but when we saw the old Statue of Liberty, I watched as I left, went over there, watched the two ships clear out of sight. Now as we, just as we passed by and got on the inside of the harbor from the old Statue of Liberty, those fellas threw away everything but their appetites. They yelled and screamed and shouted. You know why? We were home. We were in the harbor! Hallelujah! The storm was over, the ocean had passed, and we were home in the harbor. I'll tell you, as we sailed down, we sailed down the old East River, and somebody looked down and saw a boat coming up the river and said, it's got a very big sunflower on the prow of the boat, Sarge. And he said, he said, the governor's on there too. And just as, just as those two boats passed like this, them out there and us over here, just as the prow passed, there was the governor and the, and the other, the vice governor. The old band began to strike up, hail, hail, the gang's all here! But that's, that's not what they're singing on this ship I'm on today. They're singing, they'll be shouting, they'll be singing when the saints go marching home in Jerusalem, in Jerusalem, waving palms of white hosannas as the king shall take us home in the new Jerusalem. Hallelujah! I'll tell you, you can, you can compromise and drift to the wall and cry if you want to, but I'm looking for that entranceway. Hallelujah! Praise God, brother, when we, they took us on down the, on the river there, and the boat did meet us out. It got shallow right there in the mouth of the river, and the big old engines went down and they shut them off in our ship. And, uh, I got excited and I said, man, that's awful to get right home and then break down like this. And that old sailor said, never mind, sorry, he said, it's shallow here and the big old wheels can't go here. He said, there's going to be a pilot boat out here to take you. So me, my father's house and many mansions were not so I would have told you, I go and prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am there you may be also. Hallelujah! I'll tell you, it took us down to the, we, we sang and shouted and praised everything. None of us were Christians, there might have been one or two, but I'll tell you, we got down to the dormitories where we were supposed to stay, and we were so excited we couldn't sleep. And I saw when they got off that old boat and they put the gangplank down, I saw two great big fellas bigger than I am. I saw them get down over there and drop their old packs and lay right down on the ground and kiss the ground. Do you know why? Home. You know, they think we act up ridiculous down here some, but this is the quietest world we're ever going to live in. I'll tell you, I saw a couple of other fellas walk over to a great big old cottonwood tree, put their arms around the thing and kiss the tree. Well, that's silly, isn't it? But I'll tell you, they were glad they were home. And I was too. I didn't kiss the tree, but I was just saying amen to what they were doing all the time. But you, we got to, and that's where we got in that old, got in the train, went up to Washington, D.C., and there was a capsule and we paraded out before it, and I'd never seen it before. And we got back on the old train and started out across the state, Maryland and Illinois, and out across there, and farmers were out there, some of them driving mules and some of them driving tractors and some of them driving horses, some of them were cultivating, I don't know what all they were doing. But across our long train, we had a great big screamer on there that gave the 137th Infantry, coming home! And I saw those farmers out there stop their old tractors and their teams and get up on that little old spring seat of that thing and wave their hats till we got past, and the old train had rattled on down the road. Do you know why they did that? They were glad the boys were coming home. You just wait one of these days. There's going to be a reception over there. Hallelujah. There's going to be some folks. They're going to be glad you made it. There's going to be some mothers glad when the son comes in. There's going to be some dads glad when their boy makes it in. Hallelujah. But you know, we were a little awkward there, and I said to our boys, we're going out to be discharged up at Camp Funston. And on the way we stopped through Lawrence, Kansas. That's where we, that part of our company came from. H Company was the first, and our company was H Company the second from Winfield. But when we got to Lawrence, they said, now we're going to go down to the park. They're waiting down at the park. We're going to parade. When we got off the train off the platform out in the street, every telephone pole and every window on top of the roofs of houses, it looked like every place they could a human being stand or sit. There they were. And they were all waving their white handkerchiefs. I never saw as many flags in all my life. Do you know why? Boys are coming home. The battle's over. The storm's over. They made it in. We got down and hiked out of tension. We couldn't move. We had our guns on our shoulder, and we were marching out of tension down to the little park. And just as we got through, there was a tremendous crowd down in the park. We were marching there and catered, you know, and all at once I heard a little old mother squeal over there, and she just waded right out through that bunch of soldiers and grabbed her boy around the neck, and he dropped his gun. Do you know why? Because her boy, he was home. He was away from the war. I'll tell you, they were waiting for us over yonder, folks. You can say what you please. What did she care for? Cadence. What did she care for? Orders of a colonel. What did she care for? Marching into tension. Her boy had made it through, and they all went home. I saw sweethearts and mothers and wives. I'll tell you, it was a sight on earth. And finally the old captain said, rouse that boy, there's no need to try to walk into tension here. And while we were gone, they filled our old pullman up, they put ice cream and donuts and sandwiches in there, and we didn't get back quite as quick as they thought we would. The ice cream all melted, and a lot of us ran down the aisle, and the colored porter and our brother, he was whispering red, white, and blue, and whopping up that old ice cream. Do you know why? He was glad the boys were home. He was glad they got home. What did he care about? Washing up a little ice cream on the floor of a pullman car. Well, maybe that doesn't mean anything to you, but I'll tell you, there's going to be a time when we're all going to be one side. Hallelujah! We made it on out there. We went out to Topeka, the capital of the state of Kansas. And we got off again, and there that crowd was. And I'm not up here exaggerating today. But there, we walked for however many blocks it was from the Santa Fe Depot to the capital building in Topeka. We walked on roses and flowers. But the people on the sides of the street, there was just room enough for our squad, a column of squads to go up the street. And on the clear over the sidewalk and up on the buildings, there they were throwing flowers, waving flags. I never saw anything like it. You know, I wish we had some of that today. Could I tell you something? If we don't wake up and pray more, we're not going to have any flag after a while. My father and grandfather were in that war. I was in the First World War. I had four boys in the Second World War in the Navy and the Army. You mean to tell me that it gives me peace to see some smart aleck, I don't care what they called his name, put a patch on the seat of his britches with a part of the flag. They ought to put him in the penitentiary. I'm a Christian all right, but I'm an American too. Hallelujah! Are you an American? God help us folks. I do want to get off on something else here. It was marvelous when we got up there and the other thing all happened again. Mothers and fathers and wives. I tell you my heart was fluttering because my mother and dad weren't in Topeka. But you know when we went on from Topeka, got back on the Pullman and went to Camp Funston, they said to our fellows the next morning, that night they filled out our discharge papers and they handed me mine and everyone was there. Character excellent. Because I wasn't a Christian then, but I'm thinking as I stand in this pulpit, when I cross the great divide and go home from this battle, I'm living every day with the only ambition I've got. I want that infinite hand to write on there, character excellent. And they gave us an honorable discharge. They said now boys, the war's over. Throw your rifle over there in the junk pile, your gas mask and all. They said the war's over and you're home now. You're home to the folks. Take your place as a citizen and be an old fashioned American. I'll tell you, when you got that load off, when we went by the last one there, he was smiling. He said, just a minute boys. We all stopped at that last. I think he was a major general. He was grinning at us. And he said, we've got a little something here of appreciation for you. And they handed each one of us a check for $650. And said this is just a bonus to let you know that we appreciate you and the service you rendered. We said on the way back to the depot from the park in Topeka. I forgot that. We went by at every intersection. You know we think so many times that folks don't appreciate us. They forget us. But every intersection they had a great big arch, four ways. And every battle we were in, the name was on there. They remembered us. And God knows every battle we fought too. He knows that dark night. He knows all about that battle you had to keep the faith. He's not going to forget it. And I would God that we'd get down close to God. He knows every burden you carry. He knows every disappointment you had. But the big thing is to be true to God, you're going to get anywhere these days. Hallelujah to the Lord. And I'll tell you, when we started out for me, when we got a discharge, the first sad note came to me. I heard a voice. It must have been a mother's voice. Do you know Bill? Where's Bill? I didn't know her. But I knew a man by the name of Bill. He was my closest buddy. He got blown to all to pieces with a 155 millimeter shell. I didn't know the mother. It might not have been his mother. But I yelled back and I said, Bill. The Bill that I know will be home right now. He died a brave soldier. But he was a Christian. He's got to make an end. And I did. But we get to that place and it's sad. There they are looking, looking for their boy. I wonder, I wonder how many boys and girls and young people and folks are out here that they were called out now, that the folks would be wondering why they hadn't showed up, wondering why they hadn't made it in. You'd be surprised at the prayers that's gone up for boys and girls in camp meetings like this. They're looking for us over there. I said goodbye to my mother and my dad and my brother. And just a few years ago I kissed my little wife goodbye. She slipped away. But somewhere behind the curtain up there. I don't intend to go anywhere. That'd be a well. I'm going to be true to God by the grace of God. I'm not going to wait for us over here. They're going to meet us at that day. I'll tell you, when that old train that got around the little old town where I live, I'm going to tell you, they called it out loud, the old brakeman did, and I couldn't hardly wait until I got off that old train. All I had in the depot then was just an old coal oil lamp with one of those reflectors behind it on the wall. But you know, there's a big old fellow standing just outside the depot door. Nobody had to tell me. All I could see was just a silhouette. But I knew that was my big old dad, about six foot one. I knew that was him. And my little mother weighed about 130 pounds, 40 pounds by his side. You know, I forgot about my pack. I forgot about everything else. I told mother, this last trip she went on, I said, Mother, I'll meet you over there by the grace of God. But you know, I picked my little mother up. I'd seen her stand in my vision in the dining room gate, looking for a boy to come home, waiting for a boy to come home. And I made it to that home. I haven't made it in here yet, but I'm on my way. You know, if you stay on the boat, you stay on the prayer, and you mind the commands of your officers, and you do what God tells you, one of these days we're going to make it in that final discharge station. Hallelujah! They're going to write out the final discharge. You can talk about all about it, but the first you want to talk about, I'll tell you, it'll be worth it all when we see Jesus. It'll be worth it all when the old Lord's lifted. I don't know how you feel about it, but I wouldn't miss it this morning. I wouldn't want to be somebody that was just not going through in order. If I was in this crowd and I was all of a sudden, I don't know how to be. It'd take three men to keep me from becoming this order if I ever needed it. I'll tell you, we can pass inspection here this morning. We can meet every need. God will say yes, as He looks at us. But I'll tell you, there's some mothers and fathers, and loved ones just waiting and praying, and this camp meeting is praying, hoping that you get in this camp. Hoping that you stay on the old boat. That you stay with these people till you can get a discharge in your own heart. Honorable discharge. You'll be able to meet the Heavenly Father on that day. And we're going to settle up on these days. God help us today. Noah being moved with fear, by faith prepared in art, to the serving of his house, by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. He saved his family. What about you? I want us to stand together a moment. I don't know what time it is. I'm afraid to look at my watch. But I'll tell you, one of these days we're going to cross the boundary of home. I saw my brother cross that boundary. They didn't have airplanes. When I got the phone call back in Gary, Indiana, they just had trains. But I got on the old train, and they sent a telegram and said, your brother wants to see you before he goes. I hurried. Got that old train. Got back to La Hunter, Colorado. They had a car already moving. They took my suitcases. I jumped in that car. Went up to the hospital, the Midnight Hospital. Walked down a big old aisle, where an infidel said, I want to see a Christian die. Tripped over to the bedside of my brother, who was breathing through oxygen tubes in both nostrils of his nose. He said, Ben, I didn't think I could wait for you. But I wanted to see you so bad. I wanted to tell you, it's a good way. And I said, Ben, you've been preaching for 25 years or more. I said, would you do it over if you had a chance? He said, therefore, the Lord knoweth them that are his. The foundations of God stand assured. The Lord knoweth them that are his. Gripped my hand and said, I'm going over. And slipped out into eternity. I want to meet him over there one of these days. I expect to meet him by the grace of God. I'm on the old ship Zion this afternoon. I've been there for 47 years. I've been down to Hope Sound to tell this story for 11, for 12 years, this very sermon. And I know there's some folks out here today. Would you bow your heads a moment? Father in Heaven, if there's somebody that wants to come right now, somebody for whom you're talking to. They're not on the boat yet. They haven't passed the inspection yet. But they want to come this morning. They want to pass the inspection. They want to get on the old ship Zion this morning to go home. Blessed Holy Ghost, can you find somebody here this morning? You know, this is not a real evangelistic message. But oh God, we're glad we got on the old ship. We're glad we got on board and got home. We're glad we're on this boat and almost home. Our little star, Lord, will soon be set. We'll be looking across the boundary. Can you find some precious soul in this crowd right now, dear Lord, that will listen to the call of the Spirit? See, I don't know what others are going to do. But I want God to check me up. I want to get in this morning. I want to be saved. I want to be sanctified. I'm coming home to Jesus, if you're possible. Are you out there? Everybody pray just a moment.