In this sermon, the preacher tells the story of John Griffith, a man who sacrificed his son for a train. John was working as a bridge operator when he saw his son fall into the gears that operated the bridge. With a train approaching, John had to make a difficult decision. The preacher uses this story to illustrate the sacrifice of Jesus and the need for individuals to let go of their sins and follow God's path. He emphasizes the importance of recognizing and confessing one's sins in order to receive God's forgiveness and find true rest.

Hello, welcome to Charity Ministries. Our desire is that your life would be blessed and changed by this message. This message is not copyrighted and is not to be bought or sold. You are welcome to make copies for your friends and neighbors. If you would like additional messages, please go to our website for a complete listing at www.charityministries.org. If you would like a catalog of other sermons, please call 1-800-227-7902 or write to Charity Ministries, 400 West Main Street, Suite 1, Ephrata, PA 17522. These messages are offered to all without charge by the freewill offerings of God's people. A special thank you to all who support this ministry. Two natures war within my breast. The one is foul, the other blessed. The one I love, the one I hate. The one I feed will dominate. One winter morning in 1917, two boys set out for the schoolhouse to build a fire. They were designated that month to go early to the schoolhouse there and light a fire in the stove so that when the teacher came and the students came, there was warmth there. Something happened that day. I don't know what, but something happened and that fire got out of control. Those two boys were badly burned in the fire. One of those boys, ten years old, died because of his burns. The other one, his name was Glenn, he was eight. And in the fire and in the process of these burns, the toes of his left foot were so badly burned, all the skin on his shins and his knees was completely burned off. The arch of that left foot was all but destroyed. The doctor said he'd never walk again, probably never walk again. In fact, they said, let's just amputate. This so upset this young man, so upset him, the parents said, no, we'll not amputate. For nearly two years, that young man, he had a determination. And his determination was that he would walk. Many hours were spent by his parents massaging his foot and feet, trying to get the blood vessels to grow and the muscles to grow and get that scar tissue limbered up so that he could use that foot. Many, many hours were spent massaging his foot, excruciating pain, trying to work that foot so that it could grow and it could develop. He was only eight at the time. Many tears and questions of why. Eventually, Glenn took his first steps two years later. His desire to walk kept him optimistic. He began to exercise day after day after day. His tendon and his muscles stretched, they became strong. And it wasn't just a get over it type of thing. He had to do this year after year. He did this. Massaged his foot and stretched his muscles and stretched his tendons. Much agony did that young man go through. He kept pushing. He kept limping. He kept trying. This young man had a vision. He wanted to walk. After he began walking, he realized he could. Then he had a desire to run. He would run. He would stagger. He would fall. He would get up. He would go again. Finally, at 18 years old, this man set a world record qualifying for a mile race. By the time he was through college, he had won 16 national titles, set seven world records in several distance races. At one point in his career, he was 20 races undefeated, international races. He raced with the best of them. He ran in two Olympic games. His great determination earned him the nickname Iron Man. I think it'd be safe to say this man was successful in the athletic world. All this was done with all of his toes missing on his left foot, and it took him many. I'm not sure about hours, but many minutes, much time to before he would run a race. He would massage his foot and his leg and and loosen them up and stimulate them. Could I dare say this man had a God, his God? No, I want to be careful what I say. But his God, I would dare say, little G, was running. His God was his races. And could I dare say this man served his God well? Well, let me tell you something. This is peanuts to what God can do to a man if we will let him massage our feet. No, it's less than peanuts compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. You know, men can do amazing feats when it comes to physical endurance and strength. The other day we were at a homeschool event and we we practiced the long jump. And we would get back and we would run and we would jump as hard as we could. Several of the young men jumped, I think, a little over 14 feet. I understand the world record is about 31 feet. We didn't quite make it. I would dare say I would give you a challenge this morning to all of us, maybe especially to the young people. These men who accomplish these things, they have a vision, they have a purpose and they have a goal. Do they put us to shame with their dedication to their God? Those men soar to heights that at one time men never dreamed possible. The speed at which they run, the strength that they have to jump, the coordination and the balance they have to do all the feats they do, the diving and all those kinds of things, they eat, sleep and drink their religion. It's what they do. No man ever set his foot in the starting blocks of an Olympic race, hoping that he would only win the bronze. Are you getting the correlation here? Do they put us to shame? I asked the question. Paul says, so run that ye may obtain. So run that ye may obtain. Those men, they give it everything they have. They have stepped over the line when it comes to physical endurance and stamina and pushing to the limit. Now, I don't want to hold up those men as being something special necessarily. I only want to make a point with this. That man, that man who had his toes missing, that said he'd never walk again. He said in his heart, I will walk again. And then he began to dream bigger and bigger and bigger to eventually he was the world renowned runner back in 1932 and 1936. He had a vision, he had a purpose. And I say with Paul, so run that ye may obtain, young people. So run. I watch you around here this week and I see some of you, dare I say it, are not running like those Olympic runners run and train. I would dare say some of you have not stepped over the line, have not committed your heart and your soul and your body to the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul was saying, so run that ye may obtain. He was saying, I have a purpose. I have a vision. I know where I'm going and I'm going there just like that man with his toes missing won those races. The other Sunday at Brethren, our church, he preached a message and he used the verse where there is no vision, the people perish. And he told us, they said that perish where there is no vision, the people perish means to go back or backslide. It means it gives me the idea that one time they had a vision and they lost it. That's what will happen. That's what can happen. One time you said, yes, I'm going to go all the way. One time you said that without a vision, the people perish, they backslide, they fall back. You know what sin is? There could be probably a thousand definitions given for sin, but I'd like to give you this one. It is no vision and no purpose, not a committed vision, a committed purpose. You know, you've come here, young people, you've spent a week here and you've got a couple more days, but you spent a week here. And when you came, you committed that your heart, your desire was to go on with God. That's what you said on your application. Every one of you, and I believe you all. That's why you're here. Sin separates, sin steals, sin steals. It does not satisfy, nor does it glorify. Sin will take away your resolve, your commitment, your desires. Sin will do that. Sin kills. Sin kills. It's just like putting water on a fire. It's a very dangerous addiction to play with. No, it's more than dangerous. It's devastating. One time I heard somebody say one time talking to a sinner, a very obvious sinner. In fact, that center was me. They told me they said, once you start, you'll never stop. I questioned that, but you know what? The more I thought about it, it's true. It's true. Once you'll start, you'll never stop on your own. Until you find the power to live above that sin, you'll never stop it. In fact, until you find the power to live above it, it will live above you. You know that dark cloud that hangs over you? That, that heaven of brass that's there and you can't get through? No sinner yet has ever gotten his heart clean by his own decision. Okay, I'm going to cleanse up my act. I'm going to be good now. No one has ever done it. You know, in that story of the rich man and Lazarus, that rich man, all he did, all it says he did was live sumptuously every day. It seems, according to the story, he didn't do anything else. Obviously, he didn't give to the, to the, to Lazarus there, to that poor man. It doesn't say he did things wrong. What it infers is that it's what he didn't do. Oh, the sin of doing nothing. Oh, the sin of doing nothing. And the sting of that sin. I have a question for you. When you lay down in your bed at night and when you get real serious about yourself, when you really face yourself and when you when you feel that, yes, there's something I need to think about. You know, I remember one time sitting out in the car with one of my best friends and I said, I said to him, I said, you know, there's something wrong in my life. I want to make it right. It was a start, but you know what I didn't do? I didn't do this question. I want to ask you. And the question is this, when you analyze yourself and you write down in your mind, this is me, this is Mark. And then you list underneath of your underneath of your name, who you are, what do you write down? My question is this, this is what I didn't fully do when I was, I suppose I was about 17 years old. I didn't call sin sin. My question is, do you call sin sin and maybe even worse than that? I don't know if it's worse than that or not, but maybe even worse than that. When you call it sin, what do you do about it? You know, young people. I stood up, stood back here. You were all up here singing a chorus today and I stood beside Brother Dean, Dean Stump. So, brother, this just brings tears to my eyes to see. A beautiful. Beautiful young people up here, he said, you know, brother, it makes me emotional, too. I want you to know and I think you know this, but I'll just say it out loud and I'll say it to you and to your faces in front of you all. I love you. I do. You know, Jesus said one time, accept your righteousness, exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. You shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. And you know, those Pharisees, they had it all figured out. They knew what they were doing. They knew where they were going. On the outside. On the outside. They knew what they were doing. They gave an impression. They did all the things they knew to do on the outside. And that's my challenge to you this evening, also on the outside. But Jesus said their heart was far from him. It is a bit amazing there as he goes on. Later on in Matthew, he talks about the Pharisees and he says that God commanded saying, honor thy father and thy mother, and he that curses father or mother, let him die to death. But ye say, Whomsoever shall say to his father and mother, it is a gift by whatsoever thou mayest be profited by me. And honor not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have you made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. Thus have you made the commandment of God of none effect by your carelessness. By your refusal to call sin, sin. It is amazing to me. Yet at the same time. Maybe it's not. How the Pharisees could be so blind to ask to say completely against the spirit of the commandment and God and his own word completely against justify themselves. How can that be? What will you do tonight with that sin lying in your heart? Was that I'm going to get in this little farther on that, just that little thing. Brother John talked about last night about that little seed that he put in the soil and it grew and it just completely filled the whole pot. What Jesus told those Pharisees were he told them they were trying to justify sin by their own standards. They were trying to make it right in their own heart. Somehow they were trying to make it right. And they were able to do it in their own heart. You know, sin is like leaven. I think brother Dean alluded to that today. I have something I want to show you here. Sin is like leaven. Here it is clear. You put a little sin in and it doesn't take all that much. In fact, it's up to about this full right here. My fingernail right there. That's about how full this thing is. I'm going to pour this in here. And it spreads. Just like that. Just a little one. Very small. You know, when does a little mistake become a damnable sin? The fruit of the spirit is love. The obvious opposite of that is hate. We all know that hate is going to be a sin. That's obvious. What about jealousy or envy? When does that become a sin? What about just avoiding somebody? Just walking away? Just, you know, just because you don't enjoy them. When does that become hate? Or let's take another one. Joy, joy. Joy. Or let's say the opposite of that is just depression. Just depressed. And let's go down a little farther and let's just say discouragement. And let's go down a little farther, make it a little smaller and let's say just moody. Or just a little touchy. When does it become sin? It just takes a little. It just takes a little. It doesn't take all that much. Or let's go to gentleness and let's use it. Let's just use the opposite of wrath. You know, when somebody is full of wrath, they are. They're not very gentle. Or how about that? So let's say, OK, we're not full of wrath. Maybe we're just a little upset or. And it goes on down to just impatient. When does it become sin? When will we call sin, sin? That's the question. That's the question tonight. Peter says it is written, Be ye holy for I am holy. He doesn't give us an option. He doesn't say be as holy as you can be. He says, Be ye holy for I am holy. Or we could go on down. We could use temperance. You know, you could call it self-control. You could go down and on the opposite side of temperance. Let's just put that one over here. Rebellion. No self-control. Because, you know, that's a lot of what rebellion is. It's just simply my will getting what I want. Not willing to bend. Move on down to just being resistant. Or move on down to being undisciplined. It just takes a little bit and then it's there. Just a little bit and it's there. When does covetousness become thievery? Some questions here I have. When does impatience become anger? We all know those are sins. When does selfishness, what does selfishness have to do with giving? When does a desire for something that is not mine become a stealing? Stealing. Something that's not mine. Just a desire. Jesus said, just to look on a woman to lust after her, he has committed adultery already with her in his heart. What does rejection have to do with divorce? It's the start. What does a foolish word or an uncontrolled word out of your mouth, when does that become swearing? Jesus said, let your communication be yay and nay. When does a second glance become fornication? What does fantasizing have to do with adultery? What does taking the first thought captive have to do with taking every thought captive? When does peer pressure become idolatry? No, I don't idolize my friends. It's the start. When does laziness become backsliding? You know, it's got to bed late last night. You know what I mean? Just laziness, not seeking the kingdom. First, when does mediocrity become murder of your own soul? How easily do my experiences become my excuses for justifying sin? How easily do my experiences become my excuses for justifying sin? I think you know what I mean. The things I experience. Well, it's just the way I am. Well, it's the way I was raised. Well, it's because of this or that. So I can't help myself. It's just who I am. When does that become our excuse for justifying sin? At what point does carelessness make me a castaway? How quickly does diligence become negligence? When do life's luxuries become liabilities on the record of heaven? When does life's luxuries become liabilities on the record of heaven? When do possessions become passions that control me? It's just a little. It's just a little. What does one dollar have to do with a million? It has everything to do with it. You'll never have a million until you have that last dollar. And you'll never have a million until you start with one. It's the same thing. I'll tell you, it happens a little at a time. What will you do with that sin lying in your heart? What will you do with it? When we call sin by its rightful name, we will save a soul from hell. There's a path to heaven. There's a path to hell. There's a path to sin. There's a path to holiness. There's a path to self. There's a path to Christ. Could it be that we say one thing and do another? Could it be that in our heart we say, yes, I want to take care of this thing. I want to deal with this thing. I want to accept Christ. I do accept Christ. But in our heart, there's still that desire within to keep myself satisfied and controlled. Do you think that the way we look at sin has anything to do with victory? You know, it's kind of like a poisonous gas that's heavier than air. And it comes into a room and it's heavier. So it goes down here and it fills up down low and fills it up lower and fills it up and fills it up and fills it up. And for long, all the oxygen is gone and you cannot live. You never knew it until you say that's a poisonous gas. We must stop that coming in. You look in there and you see nothing. It's clear just like it is here until you say that's a poisonous gas that must be stopped. I wonder, do you think that the way you pray has anything to do with how many answers you get? First of all, praying at all. You know, I'm not speaking about prayer tonight, but I said this before and I believe it's very likely true. I don't know. One of the most powerful, one of the most one of the clearest access to God that we have through prayer. There it is. God says, pray and I will hear. But how much do we neglect it? How much do we neglect it? Really now? Really now? We say yes. We all say yes. Amen. Prayer. We pray. We believe in prayer and amen. I believe you do. But really, when you look at your prayer life, I would just ask you how full of prayer is it? Second of all, praying in faith. You've heard all kinds. Brother David did a beautiful job of expressing about explaining faith this week, praying in faith. And thirdly, or maybe praying amiss. Do you think there's any connection with the way we pray and the answers we get? There absolutely is. Absolutely. Do you think the way or the amount we eat with our mouth has anything to do with our spiritual health? It absolutely does. It's called gluttony. If we eat too much, you think covetousness has anything to do with our rest in Christ? You think contentment has anything to do with our peace? You think trust has anything to do with receiving the promises that he offers? You think obedience has anything to do with blessings? Does evangelism have anything to do with our final destiny? Do you think fasting has anything to do with the state of the heart? I think it does. I think it does. Does his spirit bear witness to ours that we are the sons of God, his spirit? Proving to us that we are the sons of God, not us proving to him, but him proving to us that we are the sons of God. His spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. Young man, young man, young lady, have you stepped over the line this evening? Are you willing? Have you taken the step that is willing to say, I am not turning back? I'll call sin sin. I'll do whatever it takes. I'll say anything, Lord, anything. That's my question this evening. Will you step over the line this evening? Will you so that when you go home, your parents and your coworkers, they say something happened to him? That's my challenge to us this evening. That's my desire for you. Young men, young ladies, step over the line. What does rebellion have to do with religion? What does prayer have to do with peace? What does truth have to do with trust? What does gossip have to do with the gospel? What does lust have to do with love? What does pride have to do with purity? What does sin have to do with salvation? What do temporal choices have to do with my eternal destiny? I'll tell you, brothers and sisters, I'll tell you by the power of Christ. It has everything to do with it. But you cannot have one and have the other. I want to read you a story I found about a man who separated. He made a separation between his religion and his work. You know, we have that tendency. You know, it's pretty easy for us sometimes to say, OK, we get we soon as we we come home from church or we or we go, we go to our job. And, you know, I don't know if you know what I mean or not. But, you know, you step into a different world and there's a different spirit there. I've been there. I used to do construction and I worked in some commercial buildings and some commercial jobs. There's a different spirit there. I don't know if any of you young men know this, but it's different out there. And the pressures that come on you when you are there, there are pressures. There are some challenges there. There's some there's some, you know, you've got your subcontractors and you're working with them. You're obviously the purpose of the whole business is to make money. And so you're you're working with them and you're trying to make money at the same time. And you know how it goes for long. You begin compromise for long. You begin to not say, hey, I don't I don't appreciate those words. Hey, hey, I wish you you need to turn the radio off on my jobs. Maybe you need to say those things. I had a very busy day and experienced a delightful feeling of restfulness as I settled down into my comfortable armchair. Just before my children went to bed, they paused to sing their evening hymn as their sweet voices joined with that of their mother. One verse made an impression in my mind. It was a familiar one, but it came to me with new beauty and force. This is the verse, not a brief glance. I beg a passing word. But as thou dwelt beside disciples, Lord, familiar, humble, patient, free. Come not just to visit, but abide with me. My wife went away with the little ones to see them to bed. And I was left alone with this verse of the hymn repeating itself in my memory. The thought came to me, supposing he were to come to me as he came to his disciples. Am I altogether prepared to receive him into my house, to abide with me? As I meditated on this idea, I fell asleep and began to dream. The door of the room opened and in walked the one whom I knew at once to be the Christ. But he did not appear as the glorified redeemer that John saw on the Isle of Patmos. Instead, he had answered the prayer in our old about him and came in simple human form. Familiar, humble, patient, free. I know before him, but he laid his hands on my on me and said, Arise, I have come to stay with you here. My recollection of the dream grows somewhat confused. But when the morning seemed to arrive, I was gathering my children around me and telling them that Jesus had come to stay with us. The little ones clapped their hands for joy and my dear wife's face beamed with the rapture that seemed to transfigure her. Just then, the Lord himself entered the room and we took our seats around the breakfast table. What language can I use to describe the wondrous peace that filled our souls or how our hearts burned within us as he spoke? When the meal was over, we had our daily family worship, and this was like a foretaste of heaven itself. Yet afterwards, I was troubled as I wondered what to do with my strange visitor. Capital V, it seemed disrespectful or disrespectful to leave him at home behind. It would mean serious loss to me, though, to stay away from my place of business that day. Yet certainly I could not take him with me. Whoever heard of taking Christ to a business office? The Savior knew my thoughts, for he said to me, I will go with you. What did you ask of me? Was it not come, not just to visit, but abide with me. So whatever you're doing, henceforth, I will be beside of you, for I am with you always, even under the end of the world. Hallelujah. It seemed rather strange to me, but I could not, of course, question what he said. So I started off to work with the dear Lord by my side at my office. I found the man impatiently awaiting my arrival. He was a stockbroker who had transacted a great deal of business for me to tell the truth. I was not greatly pleased to see him there. I was afraid that he might bring up matters of which I would not feel inclined to discuss with Jesus. Listening to our conversation, it was as I feared he had come to tell me of a business deal he had arranged for me. Although it was a perfectly honorable transaction, according to the usual moral code of the stock market, it meant saving myself from loss by placing another person in person in danger of it. The stockbroker laid the whole scheme before me without even taking the slightest notice of the Lord. Perhaps he didn't even see him. I cannot tell you this man writes the bitter shame I felt. I saw how impossible it was to square such a transaction with the golden rule. I could not hide myself from the fact that the broker told me of it in a manner and tone that meant he had no doubt I would applaud him for his cleverness and eagerly close the deal. What did that mean to the Christ? Would it not tell him that I was in the habit of doing business with only one thought in my mind, how I could benefit myself? The broker was astonished when I rejected his business proposition on the grounds that it would not be in the best interest of the other party in the transaction. He left abruptly, probably thinking I had developed a mild case of insanity. Humbled, I fell at my Savior's feet and begged forgiveness for past sinfulness and asked him for strength in time to come. My child, he said tenderly, you speak as if my presence were something strange to you, but I have been always with you. I have seen and seen with grief the way you have dealt with your business associates and marveled at your unbelief of my promise that I would always be with you. Have I not said to my servants, abide in me and I in you? Just as he said these words, another gentleman entered the office. He was a customer. I could not afford to offend, so I had always been friendlier to him than what I really felt in my heart. He was vulgar, profane and often obscene in his talk. He had not been in my office long before he made use of an expression that brought a hot blush to my cheek. Although I had always felt repelled by his language, I met it with faint laughter in the past for fear of offending him. But now, as I felt as if I felt as embarrassed as if he had said in the presence of a lady, this feeling was only intensified by my realization of the absolute purity of the divine one who had also heard those vulgar words. I made strong verbal objection to this man's language. He looked at me and exclaimed with surprise. You seem to have suddenly grown very prudish. Then he turned and left in a rage. Again, I turned to Christ with a cry for pardon, only to learn that he had beheld all my former conversations with this man. I was now called into the adjoining office to find one of my clerks had made a foolish blunder in his bookkeeping, which would mean considerable complication and perhaps financial loss. I had once lost my temper and spoke to the clerk in a very harsh terms. But as I turned my head, I saw that Jesus had followed me out of my private office and was standing close beside me. Again, I was humbled and had to cry for mercy. Through all that strange day, similar incidents appeared. The constant presence of the master, which I would have thought to be a joy, instead a rebuke to me. It showed me, as I had never dreamed before, that I had lived my life as if Christ had little to do with it. But on the other hand, on the other hand, there were times that day when my son's soul was filled with rapture. There were times when he smiled at me in loving approval, or when he spoke with words of pardon, or when he opened before my wondering gaze some fresh beauty of his character and person. Such a time was a moment when on their toys, when on my return home, the children came crowding around to show him their toys and a brood of newly hatched chickens. I rebuked them, saying, Run away, children. Trouble not the master with such trifles. But he seated himself, took my curly-headed little boy on his knee, my two little girls at his side, and said to me, Suffer these little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven. Jesus sees everything. God sees everything. We hide nothing from him. But my question to us this evening is, do we tend to isolate, do we tend to isolate our temporal life, our carnal life from our spiritual life? It is not isolated. God sees everything we do. Jesus said to Paul one time, he said, My grace is sufficient for thee. My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Power. The title of this message tonight is The Deception of Sin and the Power of Christ. Most gladly, therefore, will I glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Paul is saying again, as Paul did, I have one goal, one aim, just one, one thing I desire, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. He was saying, in essence, again, anything, Lord, anything, anything, anything. Again, he says, Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus. You know what that word press, that word press comes from the same word as persecute in 2nd Timothy, where he says, Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. I press toward the mark. I persecute towards the mark. I slay towards the mark. I do whatever it takes. I subject myself willingly to whatever it takes to get to the mark. That's what Paul is saying. That's what God is saying. And that's what I say. Step over the line, young people. Step over the line. Make a choice. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. I wonder, I wonder what God could do, what the Holy Spirit could do. I wonder what he could do with a group of young people like you, 665 of you or so, if they hated nothing more than sin and loved nothing more than Christ. I wonder what could it be like? It would be beautiful. Talk about sowing seed. That's what it would be. Probably some of you have heard this before. I'm honestly not real sure where it came from. It's not my original, but let me read something to you. I am part, I have this hanging on my office wall, and underneath of it I wrote, is this really my commitment? I am part of the fellowship of the sanctified. I have Holy Spirit power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of his. I won't turn back, let up, slow down, back away or be still. My past is redeemed. My present makes sense. My future is secure. I'm finished when done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, worldly talking, keep giving and dwarf goals. I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotion, plaudits or popularity. I don't have to be right, first, top, recognized or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on his presence, walk by patience, am uplifted by prayer and labor by faith with power. My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven. My road is narrow, my way rough, my guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the enemy, ponder at the pole of popularity or meander in the maze of mediocrity. Or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I will not give up, shut up or let up until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up and preached up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I must go till he comes, give till I drop, preach till all know and work till he comes for me. And when he comes for his own, he will have no problem recognizing me. My banner will be clear. Is that your commitment? Is it possible that something is missing? Might it be? We need to face reality. We need to say this little thing in my life that is sin, that is preventing me from going where God wants me to go. That's my question to us tonight. Might it be that? Might it be our refusal to say anything? Lord, anything, anything, Lord, anything, anything, you know, I'll be honest. I have I admit I've had trouble praying before some certain prayers because I was just a little afraid of what might happen if I prayed them. You ever had that experience? Just a little afraid of what might happen if you prayed them. And I'm not saying I still don't have some struggles with that sometimes, but I'll tell you, I believe. I believe that God in all of his in all of his righteousness, in all of his wisdom, in all of his his his love. He brings nothing upon us, but what he will give us the power and the grace to bear it. We believe that, do we not? We believe that. Might it be our our refusal to say that is sin, that is sin, that little thing. And as you sit here tonight, I ask you already, what will you do with that little sin lying there in your heart? Might it be Christ in you or not in you? Might it be something you're missing? Is that the power of Jesus Christ in your life? I mean, the power of it. Nearly 2000 years ago, there was a child born contrary to the laws of nature. He didn't have an earthly father. He assumed his conception was by no man. It was a miracle. He was born in a stable in some far off corner of the earth. Yet the most celebrated baby of all time. Hallelujah. He grew up marveling the doctors and lawyers of his time. He lived in poverty, was raised in obscurity. He received no formal education, never possessed wealth or rank while he was alive. He never traveled extensively, only crossed the border of his country one time where he lived. But this man's life changed the course of all history. In infancy, he challenged the king. In childhood, he puzzled doctors. In manhood, he ruled nature, walked on the waves, hushed the sea to sleep. He healed multitudes without medication. Never wrote a book, yet his life inspired more books than any books any man ever wrote or ever will write. He never wrote a song, yet he has furnished the theme for more songs than ever could be written, than ever were written. All songwriters combined, he has furnished more inspiration. He never founded a college or university, but all the schools together could not boast of having as many students. He never led an army. He never drafted a soldier. He never fired a gun. Yet no leader had more rebels surrender to him without a shot fired. Hallelujah. Amen. He never practiced psychiatry, yet has healed more broken hearts than all the doctors of all time, past, present and future. Multitudes of people live and die by his teachings. Though time has spread nearly 2,000 years between the people of this generation and his birth, he still lives on. Enemies could not destroy him. Grave could not hold him. Devil could not deceive him. This man stands forth on the highest pinnacle of glory. Amen. Honored by angels, adored by his people, feared by devils, he was dead and is alive forevermore. He is our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. That's who he is. The power of Christ in your life. He's the devil destroyer, the sin purifier, the soul purifier, the sin cleanser, and the list could go on. That's who this man is. That's who this man is who sees that sin lying in the bottom of your heart. This man does this to that sin in your heart. OK, excuse me. There you go. That's what this man does to sin in your heart. You see that he took the blackness of sin out of your heart and he made it clear he made it clean. That's what he did. This man, Jesus, who has the power to do this to your heart and life. He has the power to when you step over the line to take you on your friends, your association, your cars, your trucks, your hair, your clothes. I know all these things have been mentioned before, but it's so it's so it's so much a part of what hinders us. All those things, all those things, they cannot cross this line. They must be left behind all those little things, that little sin lying there in the bottom of your heart. Whatever it is that cannot cross this line. Maybe some of you have heard this story before. I'm going to read it to you again. John Griffith's childhood ambition was to travel. He fantasized about it frequently, but that ambition crashed with the Great Depression of 1929. As the howling winds that turned Oklahoma, his native state, into a dust bowl. This young man with his wife, a small child, packed his belongings into an old car and headed out to try to find a life somewhere else. They made their way to Missouri. John finally found a job as the controller of a great railroad bridge spanning the Mississippi River. Each day at certain hours, this massive bridge was raised so that the barges and other ships might make their way down the broad Mississippi. At other times, the bridge was lowered so that the great freight and passenger trains could cross over. John found some delight in this because he often wondered what far places these people were visiting, or so he had some joy in their experience. In the summer of 1937, John Griffith took his eight-year-old son, Greg, with him to work for the first time. Little Greg was understandably thrilled at the great railroad bridge and the stirring and exciting trains that roared across it. He marveled at the control house filled with all sorts of levers over which his daddy had absolute and sovereign control. His father took him to an observation deck and told him that out here he could watch the boats and trains pass by. At noon, John Griffith put the bridge up to allow for some ships that were coming. Since there would not be a train for some while, he made his way along the catwalk to the observation deck. There he opened his brown bag and he and Greg had lunch. As they ate, John shared with his son some of the stories of various ships that had gone by and of the time the great flood had overflowed the banks of the Mississippi. Just as John was telling his son this story, he heard the shrieking of a train whistle in the distance. He quickly looked at his watch, 107. He had forgotten the express from Memphis. With 400 people on board, it would be roaring across the bridge in only a few moments. He leaped from the observation deck to the catwalk. John raced back to the control tower, placed his hand upon the massive iron controls, and started to close the bridge. He glanced down under the bridge to see if there were any ships beneath it. His eye caught sight that brought his heart leaping into his throat. Greg had slipped from the observation deck and fallen into the great gears that operated the bridge. Greg's left leg was caught in the cogs of the two main gears. John knew if he pushed that lever, his son would be ground between four tons of whining, grinding steel. His mind whirled in panic and desperation. There is no way to free his son before the train would be upon the bridge. Again, the train whistle shrieked. He could hear the clicking of the locomotive wheels and the rapid puffing of the approaching train. There were 400 souls on board that train. Now, John was a father, and this was his boy. This was his son. He knew what he had to do. He heaved the lever of the massive gears. The Memphis Express thundered across the bridge. John lifted his face, smeared with tears, looked into the passing windows of the train. Businessmen were reading their afternoon papers. Conductors were looking at their large vest-pocketed watches. Finely-dressed ladies sipped coffee in the dining car, while children pushed long spoons into dishes of ice cream. With wrenching agony, John cried out to the steel train, I sacrificed my son for you. Don't you care? I sacrificed my son for you. I think of the words of Jesus. He said, Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Yet lackest thou one thing. He goes on there. In Luke, this is the account. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. Then he tells that rich man, he says, Yet lackest thou one thing. One thing you lack. Sell all thou hast. Distribute it unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven. Come, follow me. That was the cry. That was the cry of Christ. That was the cry of God. Will you call sin, sin this evening? What will you do with it? And I'd like to invite you here this evening to give you an invitation from God Almighty to look at your life, to look into your heart, and look at that little thing laying there. That's there. And you know it's there. That is separating you. That is what is keeping you from going where God wants you to go. It's what's keeping you from going where you, where I believe even in your heart, maybe you want to go there. And yes, you pray and you pray and you pray. But you never seem to get there. So I invite you this evening. Come, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. You come. You come before God and you lay down here. You lay down your heart and your will here before God this evening. You confess your sin. That little thing that's there. I invite you. Could we have a song? 371. Just those little sins. Let's sing. It can be a small one. Just come. Let's sing. Lord, have I no way. Weary surely is such me. And heal me. Hold o'er my being. Fill with thy spirit.