In this sermon, the preacher describes a service where there were several distressing incidents. One woman was found dead, another person had an epileptic seizure, and there was confusion about what was happening. The preacher emphasizes the consequences of not being truthful and faithful to God, using the examples of Ananias and the woman who misused God's money. The sermon also warns about the temptation and allure of sinful behavior, particularly focusing on the dangers of immorality and the ultimate consequences of such actions. The preacher concludes by highlighting the importance of fulfilling pledges made to God and the accountability that comes at the end.

We're at the last month of the year. We have come to the last week of the month. We have come to the last day of the year. We have come to the last service of 1972. And we're now in the last few hours of this year. In our text we have these words, at the last. I want to call to our attention tonight and shine the lamp of these words upon the events of life, the temptations of life, and the sins of life, and let us realize the light that is shined upon what we do by the words, at the last. Satan rarely shines this lamp. When Satan points us toward his sinful wiles and toward temptation, he gives, he shines the lamp of, at the first. Check your newspaper ads and the ads of cigarettes. It does not show the cancer of the lung or the patient at the hospital under the oxygen tent. He does not shine the lamp of, at the last, upon his temptations and upon his sins. He shines the lamp of, at the first. He shows that beautiful young lady reaching into a pack of cigarettes and taking that first cigarette and hitting it and then smoking it. But it does not show, at the last. Satan does not show the last of liquor when he advertises liquor on television and entices our young people and our older people alike to partake of the bottle and go into that kind of sin. And by the way, let me say again, I never like to speak on or even mention liquor without making it very plain that we're not just against drunkenness here at First Baptist Church. We're against every form of alcoholic beverage at all. Every form of alcoholic beverage. I read about a church the other day over in England. The pastor said they're going to start having liquor served after the service. It's going to have an informal discussion and I expect it will be informal. And going to have liquor served. He said, after all, he goes down to the bar himself occasionally and he wants to serve liquor. He thinks it would make the folks be more relaxed. I'm sure it will. And the only thing about that fellow, he ought to be out of the ministry and he ought to get some kind of honest profession. Picking cotton in Texas or pulling peaches in Georgia or some honest profession and get out of the ministry. But we believe we're against every form of alcoholic beverage. We're not just for temperance. We're for complete abstinence from liquor. We hate the wine bottle. We hate the whiskey bottle. We hate beer. We hate martinis. We hate Bloody Mary's and we hate every kind of alcoholic beverage at all. You say, why do you mention it so often? Because if we don't mention it often, we won't believe it as strongly as we do. The apostle Paul wrote and said that sin ought to be exceeding sinful. Exceeding sinful. I said to my preacher boys, when you go out and preach, don't just say that you're against liquor. Stop your foot and holler and say, I hate the dirty, rotten, filthy stuff. Our country was righteous when we had some men to holler and stop against liquor. Then Sunday used to say, come on old devil, come out of hell for a while. Let's go a few rounds. And we had some people when they talked about wickedness, they stomped and they beat the pulpit and cried aloud. And our country had some righteousness. We got to a place where we very sanctimoniously said, we're not in favor of transgression. Folks don't understand that. Or we lean against doing that which is harmful to the anatomy. Folks don't understand that. When you say liquors of the devil, folks don't understand that kind of language. When you say, thou shalt not, then it's wrong and it's sin. But when the devil advertises the wine bottle and the whiskey bottle, the liquor bottle, he doesn't, he doesn't turn on the lamp of at the last. He turns on the lamp of at the first. He shows you the first night in sin, not the last. He shows you that beautiful dress and he shows you that nice car and he shows you the bright lights and the beautiful play and the lips, the smooth lips of the flattering woman and so forth. He doesn't show you that the alcoholic and the broken life and the broken home and the children who are shipped off and formed out and adopted by somebody else. And he doesn't show you the murder and the car wreck and the blood and the heartbreak that's caused by liquor. He doesn't show you at the last. He shows you at the first. And that's why if you'll check back for 53 weeks, you'll, you'll check back and hear my sermons. You'll think you'll find time and time and time again. I simply say at the last, I simply say, here's how it turns out. And so the devil doesn't use that a great deal. In the fifth chapter of Proverbs, the wise man, in fact, in Proverbs chapters five and six and seven, the wise man is telling us a warning, the young man about the temptation and lure of the wicked woman, uh, the, uh, the, the, the bad woman. And he's in the casement of his, looking through the casement of the window of his house and the wise man, Solomon, he sees the young man going toward her house and he sees him as he turns in and he sees him as he knocks on the door. He sees the wicked woman, the strange woman, as she's called looking out the window. And she sees him come in and says, the bed is made for the good man is gone on his journey. And you were called in Proverbs chapter seven and about the same thing as in Proverbs chapter five. And so the wise man snatches the lamp of at the last and holds it high and says, wait a minute, young man, wait a minute before you go in. It looks good at the first, but at the last, it'll lead your soul down into the pit of disease and heartache. And young people, let me say, I'll say it again and again and again, and again, sin, when it is finished, always brings forth that always does sin never turns out right. Wrong. Never turns out. Okay. Sin never turns out properly at the last. It's always bad. The devil paints it beautiful, beautifully at the first, all the bright lights at the first, all the fun at the first, all the thrill at the first, all the enjoyment at the first, all the excitement at the first, but our Lord shines the, the, the light of at the last and says, young man, turn away from her house, leave the strange woman and flee youthful lust for at the last, he says it, uh, it leads into awful, horrible destruction. If it works so well in this case, why not turn that same light or all that same lamp on other sins and other wrongs of life, like ethereal sphere of Milton. Milton wrote about ethereal, ethereal had a sphere. And every, when you would touch the toad, Satan appeared in his true colors. And that sphere was used to transform the toad into the true colors of Satan. Tonight, I'd like to hold up the lamp of at the last before you and let you see how it turns out at the last you men to go out to taverns and so forth. I'd like somebody out in the vest view, please. While I'm preaching, I think we shouldn't, folks are going to other churches and coming into the watch night service and tell them they cannot come in now because we'll, we'll be overflowed here with people coming in and so on. Uh, man, it goes out the tavern. You better, better think about where they turn out. They march in my office like a mighty army. One by one, they come into my office. Is anybody out there? Okay. One by one, they come into my office and they sit with the high elves. I didn't listen to you. Oh, the young people, the young people like a mighty marching army. They come to my office and they sit with the high elves. You hollered at me and you warned me and you begged me not to do it. And I did it. And they come in. Young lady came to the day. Her eye, her eye was twice as big. I mean, it, uh, all around, it was all beat up and, uh, it was black and blue and it was almost shut. And she came in and she had two little babies in her arms. And she, one of our girls used to sit right over here in this section and used to do what the preacher said. But one day, um, a boy tempted her and she went out and did it wrong. And she, she was, he was an athlete and she thought that he was the only thing in the world for her. And she left for the house preaching. And I called her in my office and I begged her. I said, don't go with that fella. He's not good for you. You're not supposed to go with the unconverted. Oh, but she said, I love him. And he said, you'll go to church with him when, when, when, when we get married. And I know. And what happened? They had a baby and another, and now he's gone and he comes back. He beats her up. He gets drunk. She, she spends day and night holding those little babies in her arms. And, uh, he comes in at night and, and he comes in and she, he'll curse her and he's usually drunk and he beats her and he busted her eye and it was swollen shut and twice as big as its size. And she came in and she said, brother house, tell all the young people to listen to you. Tell all the young people to listen to you. Young folks, listen, that's one reason why you're not as smart as you think you are when you're 16, because you don't know the last, like we do. You may know, you may, you may know algebra, algebra better than we, and you may know geometry better than we, and you may know English better than we, and you may know history better than we, and you may know government better than we, but you don't know the last better than we do. We've seen the last we've seen folks turn out. Now, if you'll listen to us, and if you'll heed what we say, sin, when it is finished, bring us forth then. I say again, at the last, wrong always turns out, sin always turns out wrong. And so the wise man said, at the last. He said, young man, young man about to go in our house, don't do it, at the last. It won't turn out right. It won't turn out right. He enjoyed his drunken party. He was the king of Babylon. He enjoyed his drunken party. He had called princes and leaders and governors from all over the great Babylon empire, for they were going to have a feast, and to conquer, to launch a campaign to conquer new empires and, and, and conquer more countries. He had all of his people lined up there. His name was Belshazzar. And Belshazzar had all his people. What a big time he had. And they took the vessel to the temple, and they, they put their liquor in the, in the vessels of the house of God, and drank from those vessels, those holy vessels, and had their drunken brawl, and had their sex orgies. At the, and oh, what a big time they had. All of a sudden, there was something that appeared on the wall. It was a hand, and that hand was riding on the wall. Meanie, meanie, teckle, a parson, the kingdom is divided and given to another. And he called and said, what does it mean? What does it mean? And he said that this night, your kingdom shall be destroyed. At the last, he ended up in awful, awful defeat and death. It was fun for a while. Drunkenness is always fun for a while. Revening is always fun for a while. But Belshazzar, at the last. I recall, Dr. Bob Gray has a big old dog. It's a, it's a, not a great name, but another kind. Huh? St. Bernard dog. It's the kind of thing, it looks like, it looks like Max Palmer on all fours. And, and I don't think it's the first time I ever saw it. I just couldn't believe anything like that could exist at all. And so Bob Gray and his family were on vacation one year down in Houston, Texas at Thornton Street Baptist Church one Sunday morning, and the pastor preached on Belshazzar. And he said, Belshazzar was there at the party, drinking liquor. And the little boy looked over and said, how come Belshazzar drinking liquor? That's the name of the great, great St. Bernard dog, down in, Bob Gray's St. Bernard dog, and he's named Belshazzar. And the preacher said, Belshazzar was drinking liquor! And the boy said, Daddy, how come Belshazzar was drinking liquor? And the fella kept on preaching and said, Belshazzar had a drunken party! And the boy thought, good night. What's Belshazzar doing, having a drunken party? Our dog is going into sin. And, and so finally, the preacher said, and there sat the Gray family out there, and the preacher said, he said, but the day came when Belshazzar died! And the boy said, oh, no, Belshazzar's dead. And he began to scream and cry, and Belshazzar's dead! They had to hold up the service for, for, for the poor little kid, and take the boy out, and explain to the boy that Belshazzar was a king named after that dog. And, and, but it's fun for a while. It looks good for a while. Sin's always that way. Ask Arnold Vandermude, and you'll hear his story tonight. Ask him how it turns out at the last. Ask him how seeking for money and fame and popularity and wine and wild women, ask him how it turns out. Always turns out bad. They come to my office. They come to my office. By the way, some of you smart-aleck young people, you let your hair grow long like hippies, and you don't listen to Brother Hiles. You know smart. You're so smart. Some of you college students got mustaches on. I'll tell you what, if you don't shave it tomorrow morning, you won't go to college Tuesday. I'll tell you for sure. And in fact, you're forced to keep the rules of the college when you're not in school during the holidays, just like you do when school's on. Some of you girls decide to wear your miniskirts during the holidays. You mark it down. You won't be in school if I see you in them. And I'm not kidding either. The very idea of going to college and obeying the rules and taking a little while off and acting like heathen act. You kids, you think you're pretty smart. You think you're pretty cute. Ah, Brother Hiles old-fashioned. You wait. You just wait. You wait. Smart-alecks like you aren't new around here. We've had folks before around here that wear their hippie hair and go toward their communal life and look like hippies and dress like a bunch of heathen. You wait. You parents, you parents that don't crack down on your kids and say you're not going to dress like hippies. You're not going to act like heathen. Go ahead. Say, well, the preacher, Brother Hiles, he gets excited about long hair. You better know I do. You know why? I get excited about any, any sign of communism. And Jerry Rubin said, wear your long hair young people as a symbol of your stand for revolution and for narcotics. Okay, go ahead, parents. Go ahead and say, well, I think my boy looks so nice in his long hair. Why don't you get him a skirt? He'll look pretty in a skirt too. Why don't you put earrings on his, on his ears? He'll look very sweet. Darling, put lace on his trousers. I am. You say, well, we have a preacher that's a little bit of a rabble rouser. You listen to me. You hear me. There's not a hippie who walks the street of Chicago tonight. There is not an evolutionary who walks the street, but someday he's going to find it at the last, saying, buy it like a serpent and sting it like a cigarette, like an adder. It's going to come. It's going to come. Don't you think it's not? You wait, you wait. We've got some young folks that go away to the state universities and they decide they want to act like the folks at state universities, but you mark it down. They come back and you parents don't know, but they've been to my office. You don't know it, but they come back and they find at the last, at the last, at the last. Oh yeah. You may have fun for a while. You may enjoy it for a while. You may go on a trip for a while. You may be high for a while, but at the last, it'll be heartbreak and disease and sin and ruin and broken dreams and a heart. I haven't got a few things that I just simply am against and I crusade against. I know what'll make you happy. I know what'll make you turn out, turn out right at the last. I know what'll give you joy. I know what'll give you a fulfillment in life. I'm alarmed. I'm alarmed deeply about the fundamental churches of our nation that in an effort to get big have trimmed their messages and trimmed their standards. I'll tell you one thing, brother, if we'd go down to 150 in Sunday school, we're going to preach the same thing from this pulpit we preached all these years, all these years. We'll never let that board back there intoxicate us to where we won't take the stand we've taken all these years. At the last, he enjoyed his broken party and he had a big time as he was the king of the land, but at the last, a handwriting on the wall. He had everything his heart desired. He built him houses, every kind of a house that he could want, he built for himself. Every kind of an entertainment that he want, he chose for himself. Every time he wanted a woman, he brought her to himself. Everything he wanted in the way of servants, he got them for himself. In fact, he said there was not one thing that my heart desired. I did not get for myself, but at the last, at the last, at the last, the old man with his hair long and white and his face wrinkled and his brow furrowed and his shoulders stooped, he called a meeting of all of his kinfolks and all of his servants and all of his workers, employees. He gathered an entire crowd together and he said, folks, I've got something to tell you. I've had it all. Everything I wanted, I got. I got gold. I got silver. I wrote books. I had pleasure. I had musicians. I had fame. I had women. I had liquor. I had everything this world thinks will make it happen. But let me tell you something, folks. The answer is not in the world. At the last, it's vanity. It's vexation of spirit. He said, remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil years draw nigh and thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them. At the last, King Solomon found that the lamp of at the last shined upon his sinful life, left him with only bitter dreams of things he wished he hadn't have done. He felt the thrill of riches. He had at his table all the delicacies that his appetite would crave. He was the richest man in his city, perhaps. In fact, he was the kind of fellow who let the poor man, Lazarus, come to his table and take the crumb that fell from his table. He was wealthy. He had ridden the road, the trail of wealth and money. Money didn't cost. Money I'll get. Money I want. Let me tell you, there's nothing in this world so overrated as money. Nothing. Nothing. Oh, you people that save for a rainy day. I hope it floods. You people that save and no thought of serving God and no thought of giving to God and money I want and more money I want and more money I want. At the last, this rich man was in hell lifting up his eyes and he saw that poor beggar Abraham. He said, that fellow used to sit under my table and eat the crumbs that fell from my table and now he's in heaven and I'm tormented in these flames. At the last, Father Abraham, send Lazarus that he would dip his finger in water and just touch water and touch my tongue with water, one drop of water for I'm tormented in this flame. Oh, Father Abraham, just one drop of water. No, remember that thou in thy lifetime receiveth good things and Lazarus that bad things, but now he is comforted and thou art tormented. Oh, but would you send, would you send him to dip his finger in water and cool my tongue. At the last, at the last. Oh, what should it profit a man if he gained the whole world and at the last lose his own soul. If I could, young people, I'd get on my knees and plead with you. I'd cry. I'd do whatever I had to do. I'd plead and cry and beg and say, listen to me, listen to me, listen to me. At the last, at the last, you'll wish you'd live for God. He sat greedily on Israel's throne. He sat as the greatest king that Israel ever had on the throne in Jerusalem. He sat on Mount Zion as the king, the greatest king that ever sat on Israel's throne. Looked out the window one day and saw a lady bathing. By the way, if that lady hadn't been bathing, he wouldn't have seen her naked. And let me just stop and say this. A lot of the rape that goes on and a lot of the adultery that goes on in our land and a lot of the men that are in penitentiaries and other men that should be there wouldn't be there. If you ladies would put your clothes on and lower your skirts. I'm wary of people coming to First Baptist Church looking like a bunch of hippie harlots. I'm going to get me a roll of material one of these days. And we'll have the deacons back there with thread. We're going to just, just sew a hymn about three feet long on all you nudist colony folks that come to our services. Why do you say I won't ever come back again? That's why I let you have it while you was here, honey. I thought you might better need it while you were here. You may never come back again. Well, you're saying I won't hear you again. I plucked your tail feathers while you came though, didn't I? God pity this heathen generation shows their thighs to every old, lustful man in the whole country. God pity you young girls that the day that school is let out, you let out, take your skirt up and look like a bunch of heathen thighs showing knees. Listen, as I said not long ago, most of you girls that show your knees, you ought to cover them up just for the beautify America campaign. But he saw that woman bathing. I want her, he said, I'll get her. He brought her to himself, sent to the battlefront and brought her husband Uriah back from the battlefield. Later sent him on back to the battlefield and told Joab to be sure he was killed in battle. David said, I want it. I want it. I'll get it. It wasn't long until the baby was born. David paced the hall of the hospital as the doctors worked frantically on the little baby. David washed himself, fasted, looked before God and asked God to spare the baby. And finally one of the nurses came and said, the baby's gone. At the last, at the first, David killed Uriah and took Bathsheba. But at the last, he's out in baby land at a cemetery. A little box about that long is being lowered in the ground. David stands there beside Bathsheba. Why don't you show that as you advertise your products? At the last, that isn't all. It wasn't long until they had another child. Her name was Ammon, Ammon, Ammon, Tamar, and had a son whose name was Ammon. And one of the wickedest things took place. Ammon loved his sister and raped his own sister at the last. And word came to King David, the sword never departed from his house. And word came to King David, David, your own son has raped your own daughter. David throws his head in his hands and says, at the last, at the last, oh, at the last, sin when it is finished bringeth forth death at the last. But that isn't all. Absalom, another son of David said, I'll get vengeance on my brother. I'll get vengeance on Ammon. He'll not touch my sister and take her purity without paying for it. He had a party. Absalom had a party. And while he was at the party, he tricked Ammon and killed his own brother at the last, at the last, at the last. David said goodbye to a little baby boy. David heard of his own son raping his own daughter. David heard of his own son killing his own brother at the last, at the last, at the last. That isn't all. You recall the story, how that Absalom rebelled against his father, decided to cause insurrection and take over the throne. And the forces of Absalom fought against the forces of David. And David left his throne, went out to Mayanael. And there he looked and saw the dust of the battle in the city of Jerusalem. And the word came from Cushiah, the faithful servant. The son is dead. Absalom is dead. And David throws his head in his hands and begins to cry, O my son, Absalom, O Absalom, my son, would God I had died for thee. At the last, at the last, servicemen, go ahead, drink your liquor, go to the wild parties, go to those wicked places and get those girls and live like beasts, go ahead. But at the last, at the last, at the last, David at the last is beside the grave of a baby lamb. At the last, he sees his own son rape his own daughter. At the last, he sees his own son kill his own other son. At the last, he sees his own son rebel against his dad. At the last, he says, O Absalom, my son, would God I had died for thee. O Absalom, my son, my son. At the last, at the last. They enjoyed their shopping spree. One day the pastor stood up and said, we're going to have some, we need some money for a campaign to do God's work. They took the money, Ananias and Sapphira, they took the money and they enjoyed their spree. And they went down and bought some Christmas presents with it. And they enjoyed shopping and they spent the money they'd promised to God. The plates came by when the day came, final day, like tonight, the final night for the budget that you made, the plates came by. Ananias and Sapphira placed the money in the collection plate, but not what they'd promised. Oh, they enjoyed it, no doubt. Sapphira had a new fur coat, no doubt. Ananias, Ananias, who was the man, Ananias, Ananias had a nice new suit, a new overcoat, and no doubt they had a new car. And they enjoyed it while they spent the money they'd promised to God. But at the last, all of a sudden, all of a sudden, there's a pain go through the chest of that woman in church. She falls over and the ushers come down. Can you imagine how the service was? I had a service in Texas one night where a speaker was speaking for me and dropped dead. I had a speaker who was about to speak, sitting out, he wasn't speaking yet, about to speak. All of a sudden he fell over, touched his heart. He took off his tie and took off his shoes and they came and laid him on a stretcher. Can you imagine how the service was that night? Huh? There was that lady, dead. Somebody said, what's wrong, what's wrong, what's wrong, what's wrong? We had a little lady the other day that had an epileptic seizure over here and folks were wondering, what is it, what is it, what is it? He took Sapphira out. She was dead. At the last. It was fun to use God's money and spend it, but at the last, she paid an awful price. It was fun for Ananias. Ananias came to church and somebody said, Ananias, have you given your pledge? And he lied, he did not give God what he said he would. All of a sudden the pain came through his heart and he too dropped dead at the last, at the last. I have spent twenty, let's see, I have spent twenty-six years or twenty-seven years spending most of my time talking to people at the last. Up there tonight we have some rescue mission men. Many of the men who have come to our rescue mission this year have children back at home, wives and families back at home. They couldn't, when Christmas morning came, they found themselves at the rescue mission and while others were sitting around tables across America eating well prepared turkey. These poor fellows were eating the turkey that Lou slaughtered. Lou cooked it. I don't mean Aunt Lou either. I mean Lulu. It was the Lulu of a turkey I bet. But those men at the last, watch them as they stumble down these aisles. Watch them as they come to Christ. Watch them as they come from sin. Their lives are wrecked and ruined. They once were young people like you. They once saw the advertisement flash across the screen and they fell and they yielded like you. They once felt the touch of a wicked vile lustful hand on their precious body. They once saw the advertisement of cigarette. They once yielded to sin and yielded to temptation. But at the last, look at it, choir. Look at it, choir. At the first. At the last. At the last. He loved the feel of silver. He loved the feel of money in his hand. He wanted money more than he wanted anything in all the world. And one day somebody came and said, we'll give you 30 pieces of silver if you'll just let us know which one that Jesus is. And he said, I'll kiss the one that's Jesus. I'll kiss the one that's, I like that. That right there proves that Jesus didn't have long hair. Now listen, I'll prove it to you. In the time of Jesus, they had short hair. If you don't believe it, look at the coins or the pictures of the Caesars and see what kind of hair the Caesars had. Look at every kind of statue of people that lived in Jesus' day in the first century. You'll find they had no long hair. Now if Jesus had long hair, all Judas would have had to have said is, he's the one that has long hair. But he had hair like everybody else did. And Judas had to kiss him to point him out. And there's our Lord praying and gets him in his garden, praying so fervently that his perspiration is as of great drops of blood. He's saying, Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done. All of a sudden, in the still of the night, that dastardly act of betrayal by the selfish, mercenary Judas Iscariot was performed as he crept through the night with his fiendish eyes and saying, you come, and his hands held out, holding thirty pieces of silver for which he betrayed the Savior. He comes up and of all things to do, couldn't he have said, that's the one? Couldn't he have put his hand on his head? Couldn't he have touched his back? Couldn't he have stood beside him? Why did he have to betray him with something so sweet as a kiss? And he kissed him. Ah, that silver felt mighty good. Ah, the thirty pieces of silver, he looked at it and said, it's mine. Did you hear about the Pollock, who won the gold medal in the Olympic Games? He wanted to keep it, so he had it bronzed. You'll get that after a while. Judas Iscariot looked at that thirty pieces of silver. They're mine! They're mine! They're mine! But you see him at the last. You see him at the last. Don't you look at the picture while he's spending that money. Don't you look at the picture while he's letting that money run through his fingers. You see him at the last. You see Judas Iscariot as he brings the money back and throws it down and says, I don't want it. I don't want it. It's driving me nuts. See him as he goes out and hangs himself. I've seen that hill down which he fell. And see him as he falls down the bottom of that hill and his innards, his insides, gush out. Walk up and look at him. Stir him with your foot and see his blood and insides all mixed up as he has rolled down that hill. And look at his eyes as they gaze in death. And look at his mouth as it's open in death. At the last. At the last. It's fun for a while, but at the last. It's exciting for a while, but at the last. You ask the young lady who sits in this room tonight. I won't embarrass her, but you ask her. You ask the young lady who yielded to the touch, tender, exciting touch of a young man a year or so ago. Young girls, be quiet on the front. You ask the young lady who gave her body and sin to that young man. And one day she found she was carrying this baby. She came to my office and wept. And I tried to help her. God knows I've tried to help her. We had meetings for weeks and weeks and months. But finally she went to the jaws of death right here in this town to bring forth a baby she's never seen. She's here tonight. You ask her how it is at the last. Before you spend some time parked on a dark country road, you look at the last. At the last. At the last. Before you go out and set your body in the sand, look at the last. At the last. At the last. She's one of the sweetest girls in this church. I believe that God is going to use her mightily. But she'll go to bed many a night and wonder where the baby is. And wonder what the baby looks like. And wonder if the baby's alright. It'll always be that way. God's going to use her, but at the last. At the last. At the last. He loved to disprove God. He loved to stand before great crowds and say, The Bible is not true and there is no God and Jesus is a hoax. His name was Voltaire. But look at the last. He came to his deathbed and they said, Mr. Voltaire, you're dying. He looked up and his eyes got big and his voice began to shriek and he said, Oh Jesus Christ, I wish I'd never lived. Until now I did not believe there was a God or a Christ. But now I know there's both. Oh Jesus Christ, it is hell to be left alone. The nurse who was employed to attend Voltaire when he died, looked at him die. She walked in, resigned her job and she said to her employer, As long as I live, I'll never attend the death of an unsaved man again. He laughed at God, but at the last he went to hell. He said there's no God, but at the last he knew he was wrong. He mocked this Bible, but at the last he knew it was true. He laughed at Jesus, but at the last he knew that Jesus was real. At the last. Hey fella, go ahead and say to the soul winner, Ah, not now. Go ahead and say to your son or daughter who wants to see you saved. Or your wife or the soul winner who wants to. Say not now, but at the last. Your soul will wind up in the pits of hell forever and ever and ever. At the last. At the last. Take me to the starlet. Take me to the Marilyn Monroe's. See her as she flips her body across the screen, stirs the unholy passions of wicked men. See her as she goes across the screen in her nude scenes. And see the glamour of her gowns as she strolls gracefully across the camera screen and lures men. See her, but at the last, see her. At the last. See her as she lays on her bed, a slave. And see her as she reaches out and takes the bottle and takes the poison that takes her own life. And see her beautiful body as it lies still. And see her beautiful lips as they'll never move again. And see her lovely eyes as they stare into eternity. At the last. At the last. At the last. At the last. Take me to the bartender down the street. Who tonight, young girls walk in that dirty, leap in, limp out, dark, heathen joint down the street. And all the rest up in this area. And God pity you fellows that frequent dirty, rotten places like that. But you wait at the last. A man in Dallas, Texas was a bartender. I tried to win him. He lived on East Grand Boulevard. I went out to his liquor store he owned. Tried to win him. I walked in the liquor store. And I said, Sir, I wouldn't come in here if I didn't love you. I want to tell you about Jesus Christ. And he said, Reverend, I like you, but you're not going to talk about Jesus to me. I've got to make a living and I couldn't be a Christian and keep my business. And I said, but Sir, God loves you and God wants you to do something better than this and greater than this. Finally he got so upset he asked me to leave. That was on Thursday afternoon. Saturday evening they called. Said, would you rush to Vader Hospital? I rushed to Vader Hospital. And there was that man lying under an oxygen tent. Heart attack. It was the last. He looked up and he said, Reverend, God won't have me. God won't have me. And I said, but God loves you. Oh, but I said, if you'd come to Christ, He'll forgive you. She loved the society of Sodom. She loved the luxury of the city of Sodom. Her husband was one of the leaders of the city. He was the mayor perhaps. He was the alderman. One of the leaders of the city. She was a social butterfly. Ah, she was the one who broke the ribbon at the flower show. She's the one who sipped the cocktail at the local antique show. She was the one who was at the debutantes coming out party. These Moses coming out parties. The ladies are about to come out of their dresses, I've noticed. And she was the gracious hostess at the coming out party. And at the great dances and all the times of revelry and sin. She loved it. She loved it. But one day the message came from God by the boat to angels that God was going to destroy that city. She laughed and said, I don't believe in that old time religion. But her husband said, listen, we better go. We better go. Let's tell the kids. They went and told the kids, God's going to destroy this city. God's going to rain fire and brimstone down on this city. And they mocked. Yeah, yeah. God's going to destroy this city. God's going to rain fire and brimstone down on this city. Yeah, old dad's getting religion. Yeah. But he said, please listen, God is going to destroy the city. God is going to destroy the city. Please come out. Please. Please come out. Please. And they mocked him and they made fun of him. And that wicked woman that was called his wife, he had a pull her out of Sodom. She turned around and looked back. And as she looked back toward the city, she never moved again. She was turned to a pillar of salt at the last. At the last. At the last. The handwriting on the wall. At the last. A pillar of salt. At the last. Hell. At the last. Bowels gushing out of Judas. At the last. Sin never turns out right. At the last. Somebody came to me yesterday and said, your boy Dave preached a sermon Friday night. It was a great message to the young people. Some teenager said it. One little girl said to me, I've never heard a better sermon than I heard Friday night. It's your son preached. I'll fire anybody that outpreaches me on this church. I'll disown any son who preaches a better sermon than his dad. I went to a young person today, and I said, What was the sermon about? And the young person said, He preached against sin. I said, Well, so what? But they said, He just got crazy almost. They said, He just screamed and hollered, and he said, I hate it, I hate it, and he stopped it, and he said, Devil, I hate you, sin, I hate you. Oh, he's getting the idea. He's getting the idea. At the last. At the last. It may seem fun now, but at the last. It may be exciting now, but at the last. He enjoyed the flattery. He enjoyed the flattery. He was handsome. His hair was long. He was a first full-fledged hippie. And by the way, the only long-haired person in the Bible, the only long-haired man in the Bible, was a revolutionary and rebelled against his mom and dad. Long-haired or a boy has always been a symbol of rebellion against his parents and rebellion against his government. Always has been. He said, I'll tell you what, I came and I brought my friend, and he had long hair, and you embarrassed him. What an idiot like that ought to get embarrassed. Good night. The first place, what do you do having friends like that? But he had fun. He was handsome. Of fair countenance. But at the last. At the last, his hair got caught in a tree. And it was his death. At the last. He's dead. But such a young man. But he's dead. But such a promising young man. But he's dead. But such a gifted young man. But he's dead. But such a handsome young man. But he's dead. But such a dynamic young man. But he's dead. At the last. He thrilled to the touch of delight. His name was Simpson. Boy, he looked at her and said, she sure is pretty. And she looked back at him and she said, big boy, you are a good looking guy. You're a little old shelf. Bad women always have southern accents. Always do. You check it very carefully. Always do. She said, ah, you little old. You big old hunk of man, y'all. He said, thanks. She said, I'd sure like to get your hair. Her skin was as soft as milk. Her touch was as fresh as the dew of the morning at the first. But wait a minute. See the same fellow a little while later. Grinding at a mill. Around and around. Grinding. Grinding. But he's blind. He's blind. He's blinded. Grinding at a mill. Life is gone. Power is gone. At the last. Where's Delilah? She's gone too. At the last. At the last. Young person, before you go into sin, you hold high the lamp of at the last and see what it shows. Tell what you do. When you get to the place you think you know more than Brother Hiles knows about life, and you decide that you want to just kick up traces, you better take a poll of all the people who've done the same thing in the past and see what it was like at the last. At the last. At the last. Man headed for the tavern. Check the end of the road at the last. Couple parked in a dark car on a dark road. Hold up the lamp of at the last. Youth attracted by the hippy crowd. Look at the last. Satan is used, his lamp. Pick up the average newspaper and you'll see the lamp of Satan. His lamp is called at the first, shining upon sin. But lift up the lamp of the word of God and see how it turns out at the last. But wait a minute. He only got the crumbs. He sat or kneeled at the rich man's table and got the crumbs that fell. What a way to live. You poor idiot, you. You don't have very much, do you? No, I don't. But check and see at the last. At the last, he was comforted. At the last, he was in heaven. At the last, he was with Jesus. She could only give two nights. Our Lord stood one day by the offering plates. His offering plates were passed and saw the rich men give their thousands. One little lady timidly reached in her pocket and pulled out all that she had. Two nights. That's all she had. She looked one way to be sure no one was looking. Looked the other way to be sure no one saw her. Probably she held her hand over the plate like many of us have done. We didn't have much to give. She dropped it. But someone was watching. Just as someone watched you tonight when the plate passed you. And that someone was Jesus. And Jesus stopped the offering and said, wait a minute. Somebody just gave the biggest offering that was given today. Someone thought, I wonder how much. A thousand dollars? Two? Three? Five? Ten? A hundred? How much? Our Lord pulled two little coins out of the offering plate and said, she's given all that she had. When her coins hit the offering plate they made so much noise they've been heard around the world for two thousand years. At the last. At the last. He was stoned outside the city. Just a deacon in a church preaching to the Sanhedrin. They picked up stones and said, kill him! Kill him! Kill him! But look at him. As he dies. At the last. He looks up and he sees Jesus. Standing at the right hand of God. Jews, they were the highest. That's not true. The Bible, Jesus couldn't have stood at the right hand of God. Stephen was in a, he was a little bit drunk. He was high when he said that. Because the Bible says that when Jesus finished the work he sat down at the right hand of God. And he sat down. But as he was sitting there one day he looked down and saw one of his deacons dying for the gospel. He saw the deacon about to come to heaven and Jesus stood up to welcome his deacon. At the last he saw Jesus. At the last. He was exiled to Patmos. By himself. What a terrible life he had to live. Hated, persecuted, stoned, alone on Patmos. No fun as we call fun. No money as we call money. No hope as we call hope. One day he looked up and he saw the rapture of the church. He saw the judgment seat of Christ. He saw the marriage of the Lamb. He saw Jesus on a white horse coming back to earth. He saw the great kingdom age when Jesus ruled as king of kings. He saw the holy city with the gates of pearl and the streets of gold. He saw a place with no tears and no pain and no sorrow. He saw a place with no sin and no night and no sea. He saw the holy city. At the last. At the last. He was hated. He was hated. His mother was a lowly Nazarene citizen. She was a simple, pure little girl of the hills called Mary. He was placed in the home of a fellow who was an humble carpenter whose name was Joseph. One day, being carried in the womb of Mary, he decided it was time for him to be born. They tried to find a place for his lovely body. The hospitals were all filled. They had no room for Jesus. The satin of the hotels was graced with the bodies of other little babies, but no room for Jesus. Finally, they took him out to a stable. There in a manger, they placed his precious little body on the hay and the straw of a manger.