In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of worshiping God in spirit and truth. He shares a personal experience of surrendering his life to God and the profound impact it had on his relationship with Him. The speaker encourages listeners to prioritize knowing and walking with God above all else, even in their pursuit of becoming great preachers. He warns against allowing emotions to dictate one's spiritual journey and emphasizes the need for theological correctness in order to grow in grace and maturity as a child of God.

You may have noticed a little bit of difference in the voice today. This is Manly Beasley, Jr. rather than Manly Beasley making the introduction. The main reason for that is that at the time that we're making the master for this tape, Dad has just been in the hospital and went directly from the hospital to a meeting and we do appreciate your continued prayers. We're having to make some minor adjustments with regard to the dialysis procedure. They could become major adjustments and they could affect the travel schedule of Dad and and some of the future, his future as with regards to the way the Lord's been leading him to do these things. So be much in prayer. He will probably say a little more about it on next month's tape of the month when he has been able to evaluate a little more in depth. Let me say a word. Also, it's it's been a real blessing this month to just see that the way the Lord has done an incredible deliverance for us. We are very hesitant and have always been very hesitant to specifically share our needs for several reasons. One is we believe that that faith, a faith ministry is to be supported out of the faith of people who are praying for a ministry and are trusting God for a ministry and we believe our ministry is a faith ministry and so we believe that God is perfectly able and capable of speaking to your hearts and giving you leadership when there's a need in our ministry for you to partake in. And many of you have been I've been very sensitive but in this particular situation the Lord has used an outside source to get us over a very difficult hump financially. These finances, the crisis that we have faced has basically been related to several factors. One, it's this time of the year we are always facing a rather difficult situation for some reason. I'm not sure why but it seems to be true every year. And also because of the fact that with the convention and all of the participation that we have with regards to that we spend a certain amount of money that we don't normally have to spend during a particular month and so we just have to you know take that in stride and it's usually a significant amount basically depending upon where the convention is at a particular time. In this particular case as you probably well know the Southern Baptist Convention was held in Las Vegas. So that involved an abnormally high amount of airfare as well as the conditions all surrounding it were just a little more expensive than normal. But the Lord has really just done a miraculous work. He's really tested our faith in it though because we've just been praying and trusting him to come through in a way hoping that we wouldn't need to to share in a public way what was going on. Now that's not to say that there are not times where the Lord will have us ask you to pray with us about a burden that we're having and different things. But in this case we we really didn't feel good about broadcasting it. So we just want to praise the Lord. We're excited about what he's doing I tell you. As I said before there will be a lot that dad will have to say and want to say on next month's tape of the club or tape of the month club. Now another reason that I'm making this introduction beside the fact that that he's not handy right now is because also we are sending out a message that he he's been planning on you hearing for a while now and it just worked out where this would be the best month for you to hear it. We are going to try to stay with the approach of him teaching you in a personal month-by-month way. We feel like that's the best way at this point. But upon occasion there will be messages where he's gone into a church and preached a message and just feels like there's an anointing and there's a need for the message to be presented to you. And this is one of those cases. So prayerfully listen as he as he shares with you the message as God has laid upon his heart. Let me say one more quick word. I don't often do the introductions for the tapes when dad is well. But there are a number of new tape club members. We've added just an incredible number in the last year. Actually the last six months since January. But we do want you to know that the tape club is the real nucleus of this ministry. It's through the tape club that that we feel the heartbeat of where we believe spiritual Christians are heading in our day. We get input from you. We encourage input from you. If there are ever any questions or any problems or anything, please write us. Let us know. We do this by computer. So we realize that there are often typographical errors and all kinds of mistakes and things that take place there and we're happy to try to make those adjustments. Some of you need to realize that when you do send in letters or suggestions or even your payment for the bill, many times they cross in the mail. And so you may have sent something in and yet receive a tape that does not show the corrected address or whatever that you have sent in previously. But the chances are the next time they will reflect that that correction or whatever that you've commented on. So keep that in mind and we're we're just excited about all of you who are a part of the tape club. Those of you who've been with us for many many years and those of you who are new and are just now beginning to be a part of this. Please pray for us. We love you and depend upon you and and I trust that you're continuing to make this ministry a focal point of your prayer time with our Lord. Would you listen as Dad speaks to us? The relationship with this church in that I have got acquainted with you through your pastor in a hospital room and he he had a need and and the Lord obviously had designed a meeting time and it was in the very room where they announced to him he had cancer. And we didn't plan that. God put it all together. And so I got acquainted with you through him and I've come over several times and talked to you about the Lord and about the things of God and he's one of my special cases. Now you may not believe it but the doctor asked me if I would deal with him and then the doctor went and asked him if he would come and see me and the Lord put it all together. He really did. He really, it has amazed both of us how God got that together. And right now Brother R.B. I'm dealing with a young man possibly the greatest revivalist in the world. His name is Dale Fasienfeld and Dale has just had a tumor taken off of his brain and been given six weeks to six months to live. And they set up an appointment with him with me and him together on telephone for him to talk to me and I prayed, Lord, Lord, Lord, what in the world can I say to that man? And the Lord rebuked me and he said, now son, I've been preparing you for about 40 years to talk to that man and when you have the opportunity, you'll know what to say. And I got a word last night that he's rejoicing in the Lord with only six weeks to six months to live and I'm anxious just to see what God's going to do with that man. But what we're going to talk about these days is how to know God and walk with him. Now friend, I am expecting, I don't know what kind of a crowd to expect because we haven't really got out and worked for a crowd. But I do know I'm expecting God to show up and I'm expecting people get to know God in a way they never have and I'm expecting them to learn how to walk with him. And so you come, let me urge you to come. I mean you do all in your power to come because the old boy says I'm going to let all the stops out as far as preaching is concerned. Now I'm sort of weak when it comes to walking a mile, but when I come to preach, I can preach till you get tired. And I guarantee you and I can say more in 15 minutes than you can handle in a year anyway. And so I, so don't you worry about what you're going to get because you will get the truth and now we're going to see some mighty things this next few days. And I believe that this particular type of thing is the beginning of something that God is going to let happen for a few months in my life as I prepare some people. But we're headed for some strange days and we're in them and I'll tell you it's going to be tough. Now if you have your Bibles, I want you to turn to the book of Hebrews, the 11th chapter, this morning. Now, the message this morning and tonight will be relating to faith and it will fit into everything that I'm going to say Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. But I have found that reputation doesn't hurt a person. So there are a few things that you might hear this morning and to night that I might pass by again, but I will not deal with it extensively. But I am believing that God this morning will use this time to really help us. If I had a title for this message, it would be about how to grow in the Lord and you'll find that we have made some gross mistakes in our teaching people how to grow in the Lord and what we have taught them to do. When they get saved by the grace of God, one of the first things we do is we teach them how to be legalistic, not Christian. The first thing we do, right off, when a person gets saved by the grace of God, we'll tell them, you do this, this, this, and this, and this, and you'll make it. And the problem with that, that's just not so. And they come up in a crisis after they have done all these five things and the answers are not there and they don't know what to do. And it's because we have told them as newborn babes in Christ a legalistic way to handle and walk to know God and walk with him after they get saved. So this morning I'm going to talk to you about how to know God and how to walk with him, how to grow with him, how, what to do when you first get saved. What are the first things that you learn to do? And in this 11th chapter of the book of Hebrews, God has left us a pattern. Now, there is a way that a Christian can think, and to not think as a Christian should will get you in trouble. Now, let me just give you a little illustration. Here is a man walking on this wall, and before him is truth, and he keeps his eyes on truth. And they walk on this wall and feelings come along behind. But now if this man takes his eyes off of truth and turns around and looks to feeling, he falls off the wall. Now, that is a process of thinking that is absolutely necessary if you keep a balanced Christian life. And I want you to know you cannot depend on your emotions. But your emotions will become so much a part of you that they will dictate to you to such extent that you will take your eyes off of truth and look to emotions, and you will go down the drain spiritually, and you'll wonder why. And it's because you have not kept your thinking theologically correct. Because if you think correct, you're going to come out correct. Now, this morning what we're going to do is deal with an outline that outlines the correct way to grow in grace, to mature as a child of God, to know God and to walk with him. A few weeks ago a young man came up to me that had surrendered to preach, and he wanted me to tell him something profound as to how to be a great preacher. And I think he thought I was a great preacher, so he thought I would give him the answer. And so here's what I told him. I said if I had it all to do over, I would spend my life in learning to know God and how to walk with him. He said, is that all? I said, friend, that's enough. I said, that will get the job done. That will get the job done. Now, this morning we're going to deal with that. Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it, the elders obtain a good report. Through faith we understand that the world was framed by the Word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. My, my, my, my. Now, listen to this. By faith, Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts, and by it he being dead, yet speaketh. For by faith, Enoch was translated that he should not see death, and was not found, because God hath translated him. For before that translation, he had this testimony, that he pleased God. Now, without faith it is impossible to please him, for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Now, by faith, Noah, being warned of God of things not seen yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house, and by the which he condemned the world, and became heirs of a righteousness which is by faith. Now, by faith, I'm just going to read one reference to Abraham, because actually the next few verses, a number of verses, refer to Abraham. In fact, through the 19th verse, refers to Abraham and his family. So, by faith, Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should have to receive for an inheritance, obeyed, and he went out, not knowing whether he went. Now, in this pattern of message, our scriptures I've read to you, we have the pattern of spiritual growth that I believe God's people need to learn. And that pattern is the first thing that a child of God needs to learn, if he's going to walk, know God, and walk with him, is how to worship God. The second thing he needs to know, if he is going to know God and walk with him, and that is how to walk with God. The third thing he needs to learn is how to work the works of God. And the fourth thing that he needs to learn is how to reproduce with the Lord. Now, there's more to it than this, but this is the thing that I believe that will bring us to what we call a fruit-bearing life. It will bring us to a life where we are reproductive. Now, we have changed, at least I have, in my thinking, from when I first got saved. When I got saved in 1948, the philosophy of the Baptist in general was, if you put in the work, he will stay faithful and thereby grow in grace. Now, the only problem wrong with that is, the only thing wrong with that is just wrong. And so the fact is, the thing they did that day when I got saved, as soon as they could, they made me the church clerk. Now, that's very funny, because at that time I could not read or write like a person should. And I became the clerk of the First Baptist Church, Fort Natchez, that runs 6700 in Sunday School. Can you imagine a man that couldn't read or write becoming a church clerk to a church like that, and their business meetings, they'd have three or four hundred people there. And I had to take all that junk down. But their philosophy was, give him something to do and he'll grow in grace. Now, isn't that something? Isn't that awful? If it hadn't been for my sister, I probably would have had a nervous breakdown right away, because that was really something. But, beloved, listen. The Bible teaches the first thing that a child of God needs to learn is how to worship. Now, on your sign out there, I don't know, I didn't read it this morning, but in the, as you drive up to most churches and you see the sign, it says worship service at 11 o'clock, or 1030, or 930 in some churches. Worship service. And friends, what they mean is that we're going to meet and we're going to have some songs, some prayer, and an offering, and a sermon, and an invitation. And they call that worship. Now, in more recent months, we have had developed among Baptists, and it's come out of the Pentecostal movement, because they've been so visible on television, that we are going to worship God by singing praises unto Him. Now, there's just something wrong with that. That is not worship. That is praise. And there, I find that they have mixed praises and worship. And worship is not praise, and praise is not worship. Now, praise may mix in to worship occasionally, but it is not worship. The Bible teaches us that Abel worshipped God. And that is the definition of worship, that I want to leave with you this morning. What did Abel do? He brought to God a sacrifice that was acceptable to God. He brought it by faith. In other words, what he did was he discovered what God wanted. And he became persuaded of that. And he brought it to God and laid it at God's feet. And it was acceptable to God. And when it was acceptable to God, man had done his part. Then God did his part. And that means that Abel brought unto God a sacrifice and placed it on the altar. And when that sacrifice was on the altar, God consumed it with his presence. And my dear friends, because of that, forever Abel, even though he's dead, will preach and live and magnify God's gospel. Well, that's the results of worship. In other words, when a person worships, their life takes on the dimension of eternity. I mean totally, a total eternal dimension. It is amazing. Yet they die physically. They live on forever. And I'm just not talking about heaven. Their testimony lives on forever in earth, ever in earth. So worship my dear friends is a person recognizing their nothingness, recognizing that they have nothing within themselves that pleases God, but themselves and their nothing. And recognizing that God is everything, everything. And so they come to the end of themselves with all of their complexity, whatever that problem might be. They come to the altar and they lay themselves so completely on the altar by faith in God that my dear friends, when that all is on the altar, they have done three things. They have seen themselves as nothing. They have had a change of mind about their ability to be, do anything, be anything and do anything apart from God. And they have made the choice to lay themselves at God's feet for Him to consume as He wills and do with them what He wills. So here they come to worship God. My dear friends, that's not a praise. That's a living sacrifice. I beseech you brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present yourselves a living sacrifice unto God. And my dear friends, in some translations that living sacrifice, the word there is used, worship. That's so beautiful. Why? Because the man of God, the woman of God, the child of God comes to that place and that altar and lays themselves at that altar before God. Oh my friends, they lay themselves so adequately before God at that altar that my friends, God consumes it with His presence and takes them up. And my friends, they are able to see things at that moment as God sees things. My, the first step in growing is learning how to worship God. Amen. Learn how to worship God. Brother Abraham gives us the great definition. He was asked of God to offer up his son Isaac. Now you have to remember that Isaac was the son of promise, the son of performance, the son of purpose, because Jesus would come through Isaac. I mean everything in Isaac could only be explained by God. And yet God said to Abraham, I want you to offer him up as a sacrifice. Isn't God contradicting himself? Well see, we are looking at that experience on a humanistic level. Let's watch Abraham as he works through this situation. Let's watch him as he works through this situation. Somehow, someway, he begins to work through this situation. And he saw his son in a figure, Hebrews 11 19. I do not know exactly how it happened, but my dear friends, it happened that Abraham was able to get, in a spiritual sense, Isaac on the altar. And God saw, showed him in a figure, Isaac alive. So one day God said to Abraham, get the fire, the wood, the knife, the cord, the servants, the animals, and go to a certain mountain. And when Abraham got to that certain mountain, at the foot of it, he turned and said to the men with him, you stay here with the animals. Isaac and myself will go yonder. Listen to me now. Listen to me. We will go yonder and worship. Yes, sir. We will go yonder and worship. Now, my dear friends, what is he talking about? He said, my God will provide himself a lamb, a sacrifice. But my dear friends, in the heart of Abraham, and the heart of those servants, Isaac was the sacrifice. And he goes up to the top of that mountain, and he calls this worship. He goes up to the top of that mountain. And you remember the cross is on top of a hill, a mountain. My friend, he builds an altar, and he sets a fire to that altar. And he reaches over and he tells Isaac to get on that altar. And there, my dear friends, on that altar, he binds Isaac to that altar with the cords. And he raises the knife to slam into Isaac's body. And God said, that's enough! That's enough. And Abraham calls that worship. Worship, my dear friend, is when you face life. And it's many different aspects, blessings, adversities, night and day, whatever it is, that is God's call to you and me to worship. And my dear friends, we, by whatever method we can, come to the altar that's been built. And that altar is called the old rugged cross. And we get on that altar. My dear friends, and when we are so completely on that altar, there's nothing left of us. The knife has been raised. We have come to the end, and we have said, whether live or die, all I'm interested in is I glorify God. God says that's enough. That's enough. And he consumes us with himself. And he shows us the lamb tied caught in the bushes. In other words, we see his provision. We do. We see his provision. Yes, my dear friend. We see the thing like he sees it. That's the result of worship. We see it as he sees it. One day, God said to me, I want the best thing you've got, the only thing you've got, and that is your life. And one night at one-third in the morning, I was able, after seven months, to get on that altar and say, God, whatever. And that night, earth and heaven met together, and God let me see. When I got to the place, whether live or die, all I wanted was that my life magnified, glorified the Lord. One-third in the morning, he spoke to my heart, and I saw the lamb. Thou shalt see thy children. That's enough, he said. That's enough. That's enough. And I know a man that I shared this with one time in a hospital room, and after weeks of struggling, he got to that altar and said, O God, whatever, as long as you are glorified in my life, whether I live or die. And God said, that's enough. That's enough. And he saw things as God, and he was able to say, I am not going to die. I'm going to live. And he's sitting right there. My dear friends, it came out of learning to worship God. And the first step in Christian growth is learning to worship, learning to worship God. Learning, my dear friends, when you are dealt with in any way, my friends, learning how to get to that old rugged cross. How that's the altar that's been built. And my dear friends, you know what the cross means? Death. And it's where you come to the end, and God steps in. Yes, it does, brother. That's it. That's it, brother. That's it. That's it. Glory to God, that's it. Yes, sir. It's where you and me come to the end of all of our chaos and confusion. And get it all on that altar where it's the end. And when we get to the end, he steps in. And then he shows us the things like he sees them. And my friends, our lives take on a measure of eternity. And yet, my dear friend, he died, yet he's speaking. Yes, sir, of earth. Tuesday of this week, I flew to Memphis, Tennessee. I've been dealing with two businessmen. Both of them were some of the biggest businessmen in Memphis, Tennessee. And one of them got to the place of worship just by talking by phone and correspondence. He got to the place and he got the victory. And I'll tell you, I wish I could tell you, that I'm trying to be so practical with this this morning. Because you have to work for a living. And I'm dealing with this man in business, and he's going broke. And he doesn't know what to do. But he learned that he could give up and give to Calvary. And there worshiped God. And God would bring him to the end of himself. And there he would see this thing as God sees it. And everything changed. So one man, though, had not seen this. And I went and spent four hours talking to him. And I said, sir, you have got to get to the cross. And get so completely on that cross that whether you live or die, it doesn't make any difference. You just want God to be glorified. And when you get there, then God will consume that sacrifice. And you will see things as God sees things. And it won't make any difference anymore. What you think or want, it'll all be what God thinks and what God wants. And that's the only way out of your dilemma. He said, but brother, mainly five years ago, I was worth eight million dollars. I own nine, or no, excuse me, seven car dealerships. One of the most successful men in this town. I said, that doesn't mean anything to me. I said, what means something to me is that you have got to learn to worship. He said, what do you mean? I go to worship service every Sunday morning. In one of the best churches in this country. And he does. But I said, friend, that doesn't mean you worship. Because, friend, for you to worship means you're going to have to take your business, your faults, your sins, your life, your mettle, your difficulty, your being, everything. And you're going to have to get all on that old cross to where there's nothing left. All you want is for God to be glorified, whether you live or die. Whether that business goes down or not, all you want now is that God be glorified. And I said, when you get there, then God is satisfied. And God will consume that offering with his presence. When you come to the end, God steps in. And then, folk, whew, you see things as God sees things. I'm in one of the most unique tests of my life. I have not been in this test that I'm in right now. Whether I'll be probably in 15 years, I've not been in the test I'm in right now. And night for last, I couldn't sleep. And I need rest. But I couldn't sleep. And I got up. And I walked all over my house, up and down the stairs, in every room. And I just kept going. And finally, I got to the end on the old rugged cross at the altar. I got to the end and I said, God, if it will magnify you to let her sink, let her sink. If it will magnify you to raise it up, whatever, God, whatever. And I got it all. And I got to the end. And I said, too, Lord, I have a daughter-in-law that's down in MD Anderson with cancer. And I got her. I got that situation to the end. And when I did, God stepped in. Phew. He consumed that sacrifice with his presence. I saw things like God could see things. And I saw. And it's mine. Oh, yes, it's mine. And I don't know how. Then you can walk. Then you can work. But I'm going to tell you, and you want to walk with God, you're going to have to learn. Now, let me say this, before I finish. If you will be sensitive to God, God will not have to work desperately. And God will not have to work drastically is the word I'm looking for. Shut you up. Wanted to do with my life. Sensitivity. God has had to work drastically. And in most people, so he has to work. So let me invite you today. Well, I've said enough. I mean, put it all on the altar. You may have to do it five times a week. I don't know. In fact, I am not so sure that God hasn't designed worship to be a day-by-day, a hour-by-hour thing, a moment-by-moment thing. But I know when you do worship God, when you really do worship God, you prove to the world what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. You see, friend, they see that you know God and that you're walking with God. And I'll tell you, there's nothing greater. You know what? That not of what you did for God from a prostitute. Amen. You check it out. They uh, they didn't have all the modern methods. Church houses without God and ingenuity and our ability. And we can be explained. You can be assured. Amen. You get saved by God. You see yourself as a lost sinner, wretched and undone and miserable, having never been saved. You see yourself as you are. And in that condition, seeing yourself as such an awful sinner, there's a change comes in your mind about your ability to do it and God's ability to do it. So you have a change of mind. And you know what else? There in your heart, you make a choice to come for the Lord Jesus that died on the old rugged cross. And when you make that decision to Jesus, very likely throughout the ages, 30 something years, 40 years as a preacher, as I've watched people, they're doing legalistic things to worship God. They read their Bible, they pray, they give, they go to church, they witness and they do that because do you know what? And you get out there and then you start failing. You start failing. My friend, what you need to do is come and learn. And when you learn to worship God, you find God in spirit. So the word of God is read definitely. Amen. And one of the best places to hear about God is church. Amen. The things of God and the church should be a worship service. And it is for some when they come to the end of themselves and lay themselves totally on the altar. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. That is worship, but they go out, change people forever. So this morning, let me invite you to come to this altar as a child of God and worship God. And as a lost sinner, let me invite you to come to Jesus and worship him as Lord and Savior of your life. And you better hear today that a God's people, if this church is the place where you need to be with the people of God, you are impressed that God wants you there. Or here, you come. You come this morning. I want us to stand for prayer. The choir is going to sing the invitation hymn. Lord Jesus, have your precious way this morning. And oh God, have your precious way. Lamb of God, you have shown us what you're going to do this week. Lord, I can see the mountain peaks, but I can't see the valleys. Now Father, I don't know whether people really see that the way to really walk with God is learn how to worship him. Now Father, many of them through drastic measures of difficulty in the past have worshiped you over an issue in their life. But today, I pray that you'll add understanding to what they know. And oh God, that they'll learn to walk and worship you in spirit and in truth. In the name of Jesus, I pray. And for thy sake, Lord, you ask it today. Would you come?