A.C. Valdez Sr. emphasizes the importance of prioritizing our relationship with God in his sermon 'First Things Must Come First.' He highlights that while many seek God's blessings, they often overlook the conditions required for receiving them, such as genuine faith and righteousness. Valdez encourages believers to come to Jesus early, establishing a real connection with Him rather than treating Him as a convenience during times of trouble. He stresses that true salvation and transformation come from a heartfelt acceptance of Christ, which should take precedence over all other desires. Ultimately, Valdez calls for a deeper commitment to God, urging the congregation to examine their hearts and ensure they are living in accordance with His will.

Honor in heaven, I pray. Honor in heaven, I pray. God is living and he will be Lord. Teach me and lead me, I pray. Love me, love me. With all thy faithfulness love me. Lord, in my house, down from above, Lord, love me. Honor in heaven, I pray. Honor in heaven, I pray. God is living and he will be Lord. Teach me and lead me, I pray. Save me, save me. With all thy mercy, Lord, save me. Lord, save my soul, my sinful soul, Lord, save me. Honor in heaven, I pray. Honor in heaven, I pray. God is living and he will be Lord. Teach me and lead me, I pray. Heal me, heal me. Loving, sweet and dirty, heal me. Lord, make me whole, everywhere whole, Lord, heal me. We are very, very, very fortunate this morning, I believe, to have such a man as Brother Valdez with us to bring us the Word of God. Why, he makes it live, doesn't he? A wonderful man of God, and we're thrilled to have him here for this week. We've been looking forward to it for a long time, expecting great things from God as he's come to minister unto us. God bless you, Brother Valdez, as you minister unto us. God bless you, Brother Mason. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. My heart is full this morning as I realize that we are in a position, spiritually, by the grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to draw, to partake of, from the fountainhead, all the blessings that God has promised to us. And we can be partakers this morning of something very beautiful for our own self as an individual. You know what you have need of, so do I. The Lord wants to supply that this morning. Now, my heart is just rejoicing in the fact that we're inside looking out instead of being on the outside looking in. What a wonderful day to be a Christian. What a wonderful day to be a Christian. These are dark days for the world, not for God's people. Jesus referring to this very day, he said, Man's hearts, failing them, and for fear, for looking for those things that shall come upon the earth, for the powers of this world will be shaken. And in respect to the very same time, period of time, he said of God's people, when you see these things come to pass, lift up your heads and rejoice, for your redemption draws nigh. Think of that. It's evident that he had reference to a different kind of a redemption than what we've already experienced. The redemption of our physical bodies when we shall be changed and made into his likeness at his coming. Right now at this moment while I'm speaking to you, the high echelon all over the world is trembling in their boots because they know that they're face to face with challenges that are colossal, gigantic, something different, something greater, something more challenging than this world has ever witnessed before. I don't have to argue that point, you know it already. We know that the world possesses the potential to destroy this present civilization and it would be done excepting for one thing. I'm going to mention that tonight. We know that as many as a third of the population will be destroyed at one time. And it's going to come. I'm not one that says it's possible. But I use the words probable and inevitable because I know that prophecy is going to be fulfilled. And I know that God is going to have his hand, his steady hand on the whole situation. And it's going to stop when he says stop. Tonight, by the grace of God, will be a prophetic subject in the light of what I am personally acquainted with where the trouble is brewing right now at the present moment in Vietnam. I've flown over that place. I have landed in that place. I'm acquainted with that place. My work for 50 years almost has been on the Pacific side. I've had a little ministry on the Atlantic side, but for the greater part my ministry has been on the Pacific side. So I'm acquainted with all of that country, Australia, New Zealand, since 1924. I've been traveling back and forth. And I've had a delightful ministry among the natives of those islands as well as among the white people of Australia and New Zealand. So I think that I'm in a position to give you some firsthand information because I was there last year and the year before last. I have the sentiment of the people that live in that area. And America is not well informed as to the gravity of the present situation. Remember, I tell you, they are not informed as to the gravity of this present situation. I hope that you'll be here tonight, and I hope that the unconverted will be present. And I pray God that someone will be smart enough to flee to the refuge, the hiding place, the strong pavilion where the righteous can run into and be safe. Our blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Try and be here tonight. All during this week, it's just going to be a short week of meetings, six days, from Sunday to Sunday, every day excepting Monday and Saturday. So try and be with me. And I'll promise you that I'm going to pour out not sermons. I'm not going to sermonize. I quit that years ago. I'm going to speak to you from my heart. I'm going to pray. I'm going to try and adjust my speaking and my heart to the atmosphere of every meeting, to try and find out just what the will of God is concerning each meeting. If I can do that, and I know I can by the grace of God, then I believe the Holy Spirit can supply every one of your needs, because it's God alone that's able to do that. Can you say amen? Now, my friends, if you have your Bibles and you wish to follow me in a short text, the last two verses of the eleventh chapter of St. Matthew. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavily laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Isn't that beautiful? The thought that God has given me this morning is first things that must come first. First things that must come first. We have many benefits in the Lord Jesus Christ, and I'm sure you can all say amen to that. Some claim as many as 32,000 promises in the Bible. I don't know how they found that out or who it was that counted them. Maybe it was while they were in jail, I don't know. But it is claimed that there are no less than 32,000 promises in the Bible. And I feel like saying right now, every promise in the book is mine. Every scripture, every verse, every line. But do you know, while that is true, everything that God has in store for you and for me is conditional? Do you know that? Did you know that? Everything that God has in store for you and for me is conditional. That could well be one of the big answers as to why a lot of folk coming to church to receive a certain benefit, never receive. I remember when Son and I were campaigning down in Florida, there was a young lady that said to a friend of hers, oh, I'll be so glad when the Valdez campaign moves into our town. Because they say there's no question about it, the paralytics are healed. The lame are walking. The blind are receiving their sight. The deaf and the dumb hear and speak. And here I am paralyzed from my hips down. And she said to her girlfriend, she says, you know how I love to dance. You know how I've enjoyed myself dancing and what a terrible thing it's been for me to be paralyzed. Oh, what a wonderful thing it'll be when I'm able to dance again. So I'll be so glad when the Valdez campaign comes down here because I know that when he prays for me, I'm going to be healed and that I can dance again and enjoy the good old days again. Well, of course, she was disappointed. There was another young lady, 13 years old, came to the afternoon service, instruction service, to receive a card for her mother to be prayed for. Her mother had some organic disease in her body. She was able to do her work and that's why she was home instead of being in the meeting like her daughter was, getting this card. And she said, the little daughter said, I want a card for my mother. Now, we had a certain ruling where we would give out cards where they were invalid and they were not able to come out to the instruction service. It was quite impossible. It wasn't convenient. And so we issued them cards and friends and they'd give them to them and fill them out and then bring them by ambulance at nighttime. That way they didn't have to make two trips. But whenever they were able physically to attend that instruction service, we expected them to come out and to get the instruction so that they would be able to intelligently come forward and be prayed for on Bible premises. Not just come to the service expecting a certain blessing because God was healing. Not because they just felt that they could make a convenience out of God. So I told this young lady, I said, Is your mother able to attend the service? Oh, yes. I said, Why isn't she here to get her own card? Well, she said, Mother was very busy today and she wanted to get the house cleaned up because she had friends coming and so she sent me over to get the card. So I had to send her back with this little message to her mother. Sorry, but we need you here personally to listen to God's Word. And I believe this, that there's an awful lot of wasted time for us and for the people themselves where we allow them to come forward in mass without first giving them opportunity to be oriented on God's laws and His conditions if they would receive healing or anything else. So what I have to say this morning, my brother, my sister, you can make it applicable to anything, whether it be salvation, the baptism of the Holy Ghost, divine healing, or anything that you may need from the hands of Almighty God. I say first things must come first. The very first thing we've got to realize is this, God heareth not sinners, the Bible says. God heareth not sinners, but in every nation under heaven, he that feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted of him. You know that's a wonderful scripture? In every nation under heaven, he that feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted of him. And indeed the scripture says, the just shall live by faith. And that scripture is quoted wrongly most of the time with the emphasis in the wrong place. Most people, I don't know why it is, quote that scripture this way, the just shall live by faith. And they put the emphasis on the word faith. But the emphasis should be on the word just. The just, and then drop your voice, shall live by faith. Glory be to God. And so Jesus said, Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Glory to God. And so my brother, my sister, those that are wise unto salvation are the ones that become new creatures in Christ Jesus. That are translated out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of God's dear Son. Oh, this is the difference between nominal professors and those that have the experimental knowledge of the truth as it is in Christ Jesus. Bless the Lord. God saved me in these last days from just being a nominal Christian. The word nominal, of course, meaning none real. If ever we needed something that's real, my friends, in these days, in these dark days, in these challenging days, in these days when all things that are written shall be fulfilled, just preceding the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, if ever we needed the real thing, my brother, my sister, it is today. So, we need to preach that first things comes first. Now, some people are under the impression that they can make a convenience out of God anytime they want to. When disaster strikes, they're under the impression that then they can call out and say, Lord, help me now. But do you know, four of my boys were in the service, and two that were really baptized with that terrible fire of war and got the worst of the deal, among the four that were in the service, told me this, that just before they landed, everybody was praying. Everybody was praying. Catholics were making the sign of the cross. Protestants had their heads bowed and they were praying. And even boys that had no church connections whatsoever, they had their heads bowed in reverence because they realized that they were just about to go into real live fire and they were going to need help from Almighty God. But do you know what my boys told me? They said, Dad, when they got into it and the bombs began to explode in the midst of them and boys began to fly into the air and disintegrate and shells were coming in from all directions and you couldn't hardly see each other a lot of the time because of the debris and the smoke that was in the air. He said they forgot all about their prayers and all you could hear was cursing God, devil and man. That was the end of the prayer. That was the end of religion when hell broke loose upon them. So you see my friends, there is the superficial and then there is the reality. And this morning let us say thank God for the reality. What a wonderful thing to come to Jesus early when the waters are placid, when there is no trouble, when there is no disaster, no holocaust, no trouble. Come then and accept the deliverance that God has provided in the death of His Son through Jesus Christ our Lord. And accept Him as your personal Savior. And then my friends, having been born of the Spirit of God, having passed from death unto life, having been made a new creature in Christ Jesus, having been translated out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of God's dear Son, having the experimental knowledge of the reality of God Almighty in your life, then when disaster strikes, He said when you call, according to Isaiah, He said when you call, I will answer. What a wonderful thing to be in a position spiritually where you can arise to the occasion at any time of the day or night and say Father with confidence in the name of Thy Son Jesus. Glory to God, a faithful Christian. See? Because you see the promise is this. Jesus said to His disciples, He said if you witness before man for me, when I get to the right hand of my Father, I'm going to testify to Him in your behalf. As a matter of fact, brother, if you study your Bible analytically, you discover that it's on that basis that Jesus becomes your mediator. Hallelujah! Because we're children of God, because we're letting our light shine, because we're the salt of the earth, because we're doing His will, because we're real Christians and have the experimental knowledge of this wonderful reality. Jesus knows all about it. And when we look up under those conditions and say Father in the name of Thy Son Jesus, Jesus turns to His Father and says, Father, I have an agreement with Him. I promised Him already before I left that if He was faithful in testifying for me on this earth, I would remember Him to you. So Father, fulfill that agreement right now. Heal that man's daughter. Heal that man's son. Heal that man's wife. Supply their need, Lord. They're having a hard time financially. Father, undertake for that wayward son down there. I have an agreement with Him. Praise the Lord. That's why I'm praising God for the reality of salvation. And that's why I'm glad that when you receive this so great a salvation in the Bible way, it's real. Praise the Lord. There's nothing superficial about it at all. It's real. It's genuine. It's experimental. It's tangible. Living, throbbing, vibrant, pulsating. Let everybody say amen. Hallelujah. Aren't you glad you're saved this morning? Aren't you glad you're under the blood? Aren't you glad that you've been taught the born-again experience? But listen. This is the thought that I want to give you. People can't make a convenience out of God and cry out just when they need Him and expect Him to help them. Well, that's what a lot of folks are trying to do. Just make a convenience out of Him. As a matter of fact, according to my Bible, you can't come to God anytime you want to. Oh, brother Val, that's steady now. Steady. Well, let's listen to the words of Jesus. No man can come to the Son except the Father draw him. I believe that because Jesus said so. And I'm ready to accept any Scripture or premise that's in the Bible. Can you say amen to that? No man can come to the Son except the Father draw him. So it becomes necessary for the unconverted man to have the disposition to expose himself to the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in power and demonstration of the Spirit. And if that sinner has a disposition towards God, and if he's called, brother, he will. He will. There came a time in my life where there was no resistance. And I heard the voice of God in my heart just open up and said yes. Do you know what I'm a strong believer in? Romans 8, 27 and 28. You ever read it? Whom he hath predestinated, them he also called. Glory be to God. Oh, you believe in predestination, brother Valdez. Listen, brother. This is what I believe. And don't associate this with the strict teaching of Calvinism. I believe that because God is God, he knew the end from the very beginning. Because God is God, he knew who would have a disposition to accept him and who would reject him. And that's why there's some people, brother, you can preach till you're black in the face, and they absolutely have no disposition towards God. Never did, never will. Why then, brother Valdez, don't you believe the whole world could get saved? Indeed, I do. If they only would. Because Jesus, the Son of the living God, died for the sins of the whole world. And if the whole world would accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, the whole world could be saved. But the whole world will not. Jesus said, broad is the road that leads to destruction. Many there be that go in the right, because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way that leads to life. And few there be that find it. Few, few, few. But I like to think that God adds to the church daily such as should be saved. Hallelujah! And all my friends, if you happen to be in this meeting this morning and you're out of the arc of safety, if you feel that tug in your heart, if you feel a disposition towards God, and you open your heart, not just merely your mind, but if you open your heart, the Word of God will have an entrance into your heart. And having fallen into the soil of your heart, that's exactly where it begins to germinate and produce soul-saving faith. That's the way we're born again. Did you know that? The clearest explanation of the new birth is through the Word of God. Born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth ever. So when you hear, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have life everlasting, and you have a disposition towards God, and you open your heart to God, and let the seed of God's Word, which is quick and powerful, get into your heart, my brother, it will begin to germinate in all of its mighty power. And that's what makes you a new creature in Christ Jesus. That's what translates you out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of God's dear Son. Hallelujah, hallelujah. That's what we call regeneration. Transformation of the mind. Glory to God. A new heart. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. And listen, my friends. When I say a new heart, I mean a new heart. The old heart that used to produce terrible things. Because, you know, the Bible says from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. I used to tell and love and enjoy to tell filthy stories before I was converted to the Lord Jesus Christ. But oh, brother, I can truthfully say after the Son of the living God, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, came into my heart and washed my black heart white, regenerated me, and transformed my mind, gave me the mind of Christ. It was a different story altogether. Praise the Lord. One of my converts up in the state of Oregon, I shall never forget, after he was saved and filled with the Holy Ghost, he was a taxi driver. And he used to curse and swear, you know, and tell filthy stories. And it used to just flow out of him. That's all he had in his heart. And it just used to flow out of his heart, cursing and using the name of the Lord in vain. After God filled him with the Holy Ghost, he said the first trip he made down to the railroad station to meet the passenger trains, he said as the people were coming towards him, you know how they, do they stretch out their hands and he said, when he went out there for the first time after he was filled with the Holy Ghost, he said, Hallelujah! Before he knew it. Well, from the abundance of the heart, and I'll speak. Glory be to God. Amen, amen. And you know, I just like to see folks so full of the Holy Ghost that they make all kinds of mistakes like that. Amen. It would be wonderful if everyone from the mayor of the city right on down was filled with the Holy Ghost this way. Filled with glory and praise and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, wouldn't this be a wonderful world to live in? Now, what am I trying to say this morning? I'm trying to say this, that I pray for people. And I notice this, that God answers my prayer and I can feel it. I just feel the answer is right here. But for some reason, down here, they don't receive it. And that bothers every minister that believes in a deliverance ministry. We would like to see everybody healed. Jesus wanted to see everybody healed, but everybody that Jesus prayed for wasn't healed. I know you've read that. He couldn't heal everyone because of their unbelief. And Jesus said, no prophet is without honor save in his own country. Why, they said, this is Jesus, the son of Joseph. Why are not his brothers and sisters around here? Who is he? See? And Jesus could not do many mighty works because of their unbelief. But he prayed because that's the way he discovered that he couldn't heal them. Because he prayed and nothing happened. No mighty works were done. And listen, my friends, quite often we pray for people because it's our business to pray for them when they come forward for prayer. But altogether, too many times, no results. And that makes us feel bad. But I've got to the place where I say, Lord, you know all about it. I'm going to take care of my business that you commissioned me to take care of, and then I'm going to leave the results with you. But listen, my friends, if you have a divine capacity to receive, that's when things happen. Glory to God. And that's what I'm talking about when I say first things comes first. I believe that even God's people that are born again need lots of orientation before they're praying. We need heart examination. Can you say amen? Let a man examine himself. Oh, thank God for those old-fashioned examination meetings when we used to come together on Monday nights and examine our hearts and of our own free will. We would make confessions with tears streaming down our cheeks. That was the beginning of this glorious outpouring 56, 57 years ago, my friends. We had an appointed Monday night when folks came to church. It was unannounced. The pastor didn't say come Monday, but for some strange reason, they used to flock together on Monday night after Sunday and just sit in the church and the tears coursing down their cheeks all of a sudden. Somebody would stand up and say, folks, I want you to pray for me. I know I'm coming short in my prayer life, and I can feel the leanness in my soul. I'm not praying like I used to. I used to get up 30 minutes early so I could put in 30 minutes before God in reading a chapter and praying before I went to work. But I've been letting up on that, and I feel a leanness in my soul. I want you all to pray for me. Great, big, strong, husky fellows. The first thing you know, you can hear sniffles all over the place. Other great, big, husky men making their confession, pray for me. I'm letting my business take first place away from Jesus. I want Jesus to forgive me. I want to get back on the right track. I want to know that I'm giving Jesus His rightful place. Glory to God. Listen, my friends. We have little mottoes in our house. Jesus is the unseen guest. See? Jesus is the head of this house. That's beautiful. The unseen guest. That's the trouble. He's only a guest. And you see, a guest has no authority at all. Absolutely. And no authority under those conditions if he's just a mere guest. Jesus wants the best room in the house. Glory to God. He wants first place in your house. He wants to be the head of your house. And that's why we say in everything, if it is the Lord's will, we'll do this or that. Glory to God. And so, let us give him his rightful place. Can you say amen, folks? Glory be to God. And so, if we are in the right place, my friends, if we're born again, if we are filled with the Holy Ghost, if we're walking in the light of God's Word, and we're in the proper position spiritually, then we can come in confidence to ask God for the things we have need of and we need and fear. I think one of the most beautiful examples is the cottage meeting that Jesus held in Capernaum. What a beautiful subject. The man that was paralyzed, born afore. I've thought so much of the man that bore him there. They must have been real good friends and they must have had an awful lot of faith in him. But I can hear him say to them, I've heard quite a bit about this Jesus and there's no question about it. He's healing the sick. And I know anything that I have to do, any conditions that I have to meet, I'm ready to meet them and I know Jesus can heal me. I know it. Because I know of others. So will you please take me there? Will you please take me there? It's a blessing to help others to get there, isn't it, folks? It's a blessing. Did you ever try that? Look around for people that need to be taken there and you take them there and let them receive a benefit from high heaven and it makes you feel good the rest of your life. It's just wonderful. Oh, I can see these four men packing him into Capernaum and after they arrived at the house it was packed as suffocation. They were packed into that little cottage like sardines in a can. And it looked so impossible. But not to this man. This man had determination. He had the disposition towards Christ. He had the desire to get to Him. Glory to God. And let me see any man with that kind of a will towards God and I'll show you somebody that's going to receive what God has in store for him. Don't solicit people for me to pray for, brother, sister. Because I've gone to pray for people that have been solicited for me to pray for. And they've just looked at me this way. Yes, I told the member of your church that you could come. So it's all right. If you want to pray for me, go ahead. That's all right. Well, you can imagine how far I got with a case like that. I knew they weren't going to receive anything to start with. But, oh, brother, that's why the Bible says if there be any sick among you, let them call. When people begin to call, brother, when people come in the right spirit, when people feel needed, when folk realize that they're lost and doomed and damned and need a Savior, you cry out, God, help! Something's going to happen, brother. There's no question about it. Something's going to happen. And this poor man, he looked up at them and he said, Listen, that's no obstacle. I know you can't get through the door, but there's one thing you can do. You can get up on top and break up the roof and let me down through the roof. And evidently they believed in this man so much. He inspired them so much. I'm giving this man all the credit. He wanted to get them done. And he got to God. And they crawled right up on top of the roof and the Bible says when it was broken up. When it was broken up, they let him down. What do you suppose Jesus was saying? He knew what was going on because of His divinity. He knew what was going on outside, on top of the roof. What do you suppose Jesus was thinking about? Do you suppose He was saying in His heart, Shame on these people. After this man has been so kind, so charitable, as to let us use His home for a cottage meeting. That they would come here and break the roof up this way. Pull him up. Get him out of here. Oh no. My friends, I don't care how awkward you are in your attempt to get to Jesus. When Jesus sees you trying to get to Him, it pleases Him. If you stumble and fall and get up and stumble again because of your awkwardness, I don't care what kind of a prayer you pray. I've heard the lumberjacks of Northern California and Oregon and Washington pray some of the craziest prayers you ever listened to. And God Almighty came down and answered them. Hallelujah. I remember one lumberjack up there. I told him, I said, Now when the temptation to smoke comes, I said, Just look up and say in the name of Jesus. And the Lord will come right to your rescue. And one of his friends that was standing right next to him, he said, In the middle of the day, suddenly, the temptation struck him to smoke. And this lumberjack looked up and says, Alright God, do your stuff. Do your stuff God. Do your stuff. And he was delivered. Huh? That's alright. It wouldn't do for me to talk that way to the Lord. But this man did according to his faith. And God answered his prayer and he was delivered. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. And so my friends, they let this man down into the presence of Jesus. He didn't say, Son, great is thy faith, you're healed. Go your way. Uh uh. No, he never. No sir. First things came first. He said, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. You see, that's the important thing. Is to come to Jesus. To get under the blood. To be his disciple. To be washed in the blood. To be regenerated. To be a new creature in Christ Jesus. To be a follower of Christ. To be on his side now. That is why Jesus died my friends. And we should make that the most important thing of all above healing. Or anything else. I would rather see one soul saved in this meeting than a thousand blind eyes opened up. Did you hear me? I mean it. I would rather see one soul pass from death unto life and be saved forever than to see a thousand blind people healed in this meeting. Now you know exactly the way I feel about it. I want to see souls saved, don't you? Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. Then, the next step arise. Take up thy bed and walk. And he arose and took up his bed and walked. He was healed. Glory be to God. Oh my friends, let's not try to make a convenience out of God and not serve him. Let's serve Jesus. Let's come to Jesus. Let's surrender our life, Pentecostal people. Don't be satisfied with being saved and filled with the Holy Ghost. I know of a lot of folk that were baptized with the Holy Ghost 20 years ago and today they're drier than a last year's bird's nest. That's right. And still saying, I'm Pentecostal. Brother, there's no indication of it. There's no fire. Ichabod is written across their forehead. Dry as a Kansas wind, brother. And you know how dry that is, some of you maybe. God wants us to go on. He wants us to be progressive Christians if you walk in the light. As he is in the light, we have fellowship one with the other. And the blood of Jesus Christ, God's son, cleanses from all sin. And that word cleanses is in the present tense in the Greek. And it literally means that only as you walk in the light, as you respect God's word, and walk in the light, is there a continuous flow of the crimson tide upon your soul. Hallelujah. So my friends, the Holy Spirit and the word of God and the blood of Jesus are inseparably working together to save us and to keep us saved. So when the Holy Ghost reveals the word to you, have that consecration to say, Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. And when you say, Yes, the blood of Jesus continues to flow upon your soul. And I'm going to tell you something that may sound a bit distasteful because it's personal. I don't know why, but many years ago after I started in the ministry, in my meetings, the Lord let me look down and see a light in the eyes of those that are walking in the light and are under the blood. He let me see a shadow over the eyes of those that are not walking in the light of God's word. There's a difference, brother. Don't say that there's not. Those that are walking in the light can enter right into the meeting and be partakers of the Spirit. Those that are not walking in the light, the meeting is abhorred to them and they're just waiting for the service to come to an end and to hear the benediction so they can go home and have dinner. That's right. Those that are drinking at the fountain, brother, those that are hooked up with high heaven, oh, they're just basking in the sunshine of glory. And as they listen to the word of God, the Spirit is bearing witness. And they have the mind of Christ. And divine revelation is just filling their minds and hearts. Glory to God. And they're just basking in the sunshine of heaven. Those are normal conditions. I want to talk about that all during this week, my brother. Maybe we can find the thing that's been in the road that has been keeping the blessing back from you. Maybe we can discover it. Glory to God. Come out. Let us pray that God will do some searching work in my heart and your heart and see if we can't get closer to God this week. Oh, God bless you. I see we're going to have the wonderful communion service this morning. I'm not going to carry this thought on any farther. I just wanted to emphasize this point, brother. First things first. If we want God's blessing, let's just be right up to date with him. Can you say amen? Let's brush up and get right and ready so that he can work in and through us to will and to do of his own good pleasure. God bless you. I'm going to ask my pastor to come forward now. And while he's coming forward, shall we bow our heads in just a minute or two of prayer just to see if there might be somebody here this morning that needs the Lord Jesus Christ and has a disposition to say yes to Jesus. While our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed, let me ask, is there such a person here this morning that will raise their hand signifying, Brother Valdez, I'm not in the arc of safety. I'm not saved. I'm backslidden. At any rate, I'm not saved this morning. I want to know Jesus. I want to get back. I want to brush up. I want you to pray for me. Is there such a one? If there is, will you just lift your hand and let Jesus see it? Because after all, he's the one that we want to see. Praise God. How many are there here this morning? Since we're coming into the communion service and in that wonderful 11th chapter of 1 Corinthians text, he says, let a man examine his own self. How many, by the grace of God, before we partake this morning, during the prayer time, how many, by the grace of God, are going to open up your heart and say, Jesus, examine my heart. Examine my heart, Lord. And Lord, if there be any evil way in me, reveal it. Reveal it, Savior. And let Calvary's stream flow upon my soul. How many will do that this morning? Let me see your hands. God love you. God love you, Pastor. Will you come forward now, my brother?