In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of walking with God. He mentions various individuals and groups who need someone who walks with God, such as choir directors, mission men, and the congregation. The preacher shares personal experiences of how God has provided for him and answered his prayers. He encourages the audience to read, love, memorize, and meditate on the Word of God, stating that it is essential for walking with God. The preacher also shares a story about a lady in Texas who recognized the significance of loving the Bible.

The reason God made us, in the first place, was to fellowship with us. What the human race is really all about is that God wanted a people with a will to choose to fellowship with Himself. That's really what creation is all about. If a person never fellowships with his Creator, then he missed the entire purpose of life completely. Do you know why God gave His Son to die on the cross for us? He gave His Son to die for us because He loved us. But way, way beyond that, or before that, God gave His Son to die for us because God wanted us for His Son. The purpose of all of redemption is, first and foremost, a way for God to get us back to Himself. God wants us, God loves us, and God wants us to walk with Him, to fellowship with Him, to love Him. And far beyond God's desire to let us live forever for our sakes, God wants us to be with Him for the sake of His dear Son. It is said of two men in the Bible that they walked with God. Two men. Both of them are men who live before the flood. It is said of Enoch, Enoch walked with God. It is said of Noah that Noah also walked with God. Both of these men were saved from the flood. Noah, through the flood, a type of the Jews who will be spared through the tribulation period, Enoch was lifted out of the world before the flood, a type of the Gentile bride of Christ, lifted out at the rapture and spared out of the tribulation period. It is said of these two men that they walked with God. Across the country where I preach, and I preach somewhere, as you know, every week, usually in another state, almost always in another state, but across the country, we have question and answer sessions. In fact, last week in Wisconsin, I was asked this question up at your college, fellas. Dr. Hiles, what would you advise a young preacher, or young, yes, a young preacher, if you could only advise him one thing? And that question has asked me more than all the other questions put together by young preachers. And the answer is always the same. Very quickly, I answer it this way. Walk with God. Walk with God. Every week of my life, I walk up this aisle to this pulpit and kneel right behind this pulpit in an empty room here in this auditorium. And I pray, among other prayers, I pray this prayer. Dear God, let my people hear a man Sunday who has walked with God Monday through Saturday. You have a right to hear a man who has walked with God. Now, I've said this before. I make no pretense at being a good Christian. I make no claims to have apprehended. But there's one thing, honestly and truthfully, I can say. I do know God. I don't mean I've been saved. I have been saved. But I know God. I know God. Paul said that I may know Him. Now, Paul was already saved, but he said that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings. I may know Him. Ladies and gentlemen, all the church work that you can do will never take the place of your walking with God. Sing in the choir, beautiful numbers. Sing specials. That will never take the place of your walk with God. Be a deacon. Go to all the meetings. Help draw up the budget and guide the affairs of this church. But that will never take the place of your personal walk with God. Be in the school. Teach courses in the college. Be on the faculty of the grade schools, high schools. That will never take the place of your walk with God. God did not redeem you primarily so you could teach school or primarily so you could preach or primarily so you could be in the choir. First and foremost is God wants you and you and you and you and you and me to walk with Him. That's what it's all about. Young people, you're supposed to walk with God. Deacons, you're supposed to walk with God. Choir, you're supposed to walk with God. Enoch, walk with God. Noah, walk with God. Now I want you to notice several things about the walk. In the first place, I want you to notice the beginning of the walk. The beginning of the walk that Enoch took with God. The Bible says Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah. Who was Methuselah? He was the son of Enoch. Methuselah, who lived longer than anybody has ever lived in the history of the world. Methuselah was the son of Enoch. God came into the home of Enoch and He placed a little boy. And no doubt something like this happened. Enoch held that little boy in his arms. He named him Methuselah. The word Methuselah means, when he is dead, it shall be sent. What does that mean? God would not send the flood until Methuselah had died. When he is dead, it shall be sent. And God held off the flood. For one young man, one man. I say young man, good night, 960 some odd years of age. One young man, God held off the flood because of Methuselah. But no doubt Enoch looked at that little boy. God had placed in his arms, placed in his home. Enoch said, it is time I walk with God. I have a responsibility. I have a baby. I have a son. He is going to look at me. He is going to emulate me. He is going to copy me. Well, I can recall as a kid, my dad was a big fella. Bob Keyes remembers my dad? My dad was a big fella. And he had a big bay window. I am sorry to say it. We called it a beer belly. That is what it was. A big bay window. And dad wore his breeches way down like that. That is the way he wore his breeches. And dad would walk like this when he walked. Like this with his feet sticking out like that. And dad walked down the street like that. When I was two years old, I walked like that. And I can recall trying to jump right in where dad's footprint was. Like that. And why? He was my dad. He was my dad. And Enoch looked at little Methuselah. And he said, he is going to walk in my footsteps. What I am, he will likely be. What I say, he will likely say. My habits will likely be his habits. The kind of life I live is probably the kind of life he is going to live. I think I better walk with God. Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah. Hey, maybe you better walk with God if God has given you a son. Hey, maybe you better walk with God if God has made you a mom or a dad. Little leopards have stripes because mom and papa leopards have stripes. Every little crow is black because the mama crow is black. What you sing, your kids will sing. You curse, your kids will curse. You drink, your kids will probably drink. You smoke, your kids will probably smoke. If you don't go to church, your kids probably won't go to church. But if you live for God, your kids will probably live for God. And if you read your Bible, your children will probably read their Bibles. And if you walk with God, your children will probably walk with God. And so Enoch said, I've got a gift from God, I've got a boy, I'm going to walk with God, in God's name. If you're a mom or dad, walk with God. That's one reason you ought to walk with God. Somebody's looking at you, somebody hears you. You men, they get smart to curse at home. God pity your wicked mouth. God pity that kind of language when you've got a boy or a girl hearing what you say. Little eyes are on you, little ears are listening to you. Little eyes watch what you do. Little feet follow your feet. And so Enoch looked at that little bundle of flesh and he said, I'm going to walk with God. That's how he began to walk. Now let's go to the walk itself. What does it mean to walk with God? How can a person walk with God? In the first place, you've got to go forward to walk with God. It didn't say Enoch stood with God. It says Enoch walked with God. It didn't say Enoch took his stand for God. It says Enoch walked with God. Now walking implies going somewhere. Walking implies growing. If you are not growing in grace, you're not walking with God. If you're not a better Christian today than you were last year, you're not walking with God. If you're not going forward, you're not walking with God. I'm pressing on the upward way. New heights I'm gaining every day. Still praying as I onward bound. Lord plant my feet on higher ground. Lord lift me up and let me stand by faith on heaven's stable land, a higher plain that I have found. Lord plant my feet on higher ground. God needs people to go forward with him. I want to give more to God this year than I gave last year. I want to win more people to Christ this year than last year. I want to serve God more this year than last year. I want to do more for others this year than last year. I want to set out for God more this year than last year. I want God to have more of me this year than he had last year. I mean just keep on going and keep on going and keep on going higher and keep on doing more for God. You can't walk with God unless you're walking, moving forward. Let me ask you a question. Are you any less a Christian tonight than you ever were on your best day? Are you any less than you were at the best moment or hour of your life? Then you're backsliding. Backsliding is sliding back. You might be the best Christian in this room tonight, but be a backslider. You may be the best person in this room, but if you're less than what you once were, you're slidding back. You're a backslider. You're not walking with God. You're not walking with God unless you're growing in grace. You've got to go forward to walk. But the next thing I want you to notice in walking with God is this. You must include God in everything if you walk with God. Did you know the word in you, you college professors will know this, you Greek students will know this, you Moody students that take Greek, the Hiles-Anderson students, anybody that knows Greek knows this. The word walk in the Bible is the word in the Greek peripateo, P-E-R-I-P-A-T-E-O is about the way we pronounce it. It comes from the word perimeter. It means the whole round, the whole round. Walk with God means the whole round is with God. The whole round is for God. The entire life is given to God. So if you walk with God, you peripateo. That means God is in every part of your life. The entire life circle belongs to God. And that means that if you're going to walk with God, you must include God in everything that you do. Have no secrets between you and God. Keep nothing from God. Invite Him into every room of your house. Let God into every crevice, every spot. Let God in your business. Let God in your personal life. Let God in your play. Let God in your school. Let God in your living room. Let God in your dining room. Let God in your kitchen. Let God in your bedroom. Let God in every room. I was out here in Hessville visiting one day. And I went up to the door of the house, and all the doors were open. It was summertime. All the doors were open. You never saw such a messy house in your life. I'll tell you, papers were everywhere. And I looked through in the bedroom, and the bed was unmade, and the cover was on the floor. And I looked in the kitchen, and the dishes hadn't been washed, I'm sure, since Japheth got off the ark, I'm sure. And the dishes, I didn't, I never knew anybody could have so many dishes, and all of them were dirty. And the lady was saying to a little child, You little brat, you ought to wring your neck. And I rang the doorbell, and suddenly she looked, and the child said, Mommy, it's the God-man! And so I, I'm the God-man. And so the little child said, and the mother, she said, Go to the living room. Get all the junk out of the living room. And they threw it, they threw junk in the bedroom and the kitchen, and there was no room much for any more junk in either room, I'll tell you for sure. And the mother said, You little brat, if you squeal one thing bad, if you're not a courteous little thing, I'll, if I'm a preacher, I'll wring your neck. Hello, Pastor Glock! Come in! It's so good to see you! Liar! It's so good to see you! Come on in! She shut the door to the kitchen. She shut the door to the bedroom. And she said, and the living room was pretty nice within. And she said, it's so glad, it's so good to see you. And I said, You have a lovely home. Could I see through it? Oh, she said, You've seen, you've seen it all, and you've seen the living room. Well, I said, I'd just like to see the bedrooms and see how big they are. Oh, she said, You wouldn't be interested. Oh, I said, Yes, I would, too. I said, What kind of kitchen do you have? She said, Oh, you wouldn't want to see the kitchen. I said, I'd just delight to see the kitchen. And she said, Okay, if you must. And I said, I must. And one look at the bedroom, and I think, that's all I wanted to see. I just thank God there was a place where there was some order. And she didn't want, that's where many of you are. Dear Lord, come on in! My living room. Of course, I've got a den that I want you to see. Don't you remember over there in the book of Ezekiel? God took the prophet to a hole in the wall down in the house of God. And He said, Drill a hole in the wall, and look through. And the leaders of Israel, the Sanhedrin, the priests, had all kinds of filthy things down in the chamber of their imagery. And the temple was beautiful, but down in the bottom, there was a wicked chamber, all kinds of dirty, creeping things in the chamber. Now ask your question, What's in the chamber tonight? That place where nobody goes but you. That place your wife never sees. That place your husband never enters. That place the pastor never goes, never, never, never sees. That place where your folks at work. I mean down in here, the inner chamber where you live and nobody else ever goes. That place where you go at night when you lie down to rest. What's there? The secret there. The inner chamber. The hiding place. The secret place. What's there? You're only as good a Christian as your chamber is. Your den. What do you see? Drill a hole tonight, and look at the chamber of your imagery. What do you see there? Pride? Get it out. What do you see? Jealousy? Get it out. What do you see? Hatred? Get it out. What do you see? Envy? Get it out. What do you see? Greed? Get it out. What do you see? Anger? Get it out. What do you see? Gossip? Get it out. What do you see? Evil thoughts? Get it out. What do you see? Dirty attitudes? Get it out. Listen, you will never know what it is to walk with God until you say, Dear God, come into every room of my life. My living room. My den. My bedroom. My kitchen. That inner chamber. That secret spot. I'll have no secrets. David. The 19th Psalm. David said, Cleanse thou me from secret faults. Now he goes on down to say in the same psalm, Let the words of my mouth, but more than that, The meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O God, my strength and my redeemer. Now when he said, Cleanse thou me from secret faults. David was saying, Lord, cleanse thou me from faults I don't even know I have myself. Reveal to me. Shine the searchlight of God's Word on my soul. Reveal to me faults that I have not even learned about myself. If you want to walk with God, now listen to me. If you want to walk with God, you'll have to let God in on every phase of your life. Young people, if you want to walk with God, you can have no secret places. No secret chambers. No room where God is not welcome. Nothing in your life where you could not welcome God. Men and women, if you want to walk with God, you'll have to say, Dear God, come in. Peripateo, walk with God. The entire circle with God. That's what it really means. Walk with God. The entire circle with God. There's a third thing. If you're going to walk with God, you're going to have to live with Him. Live with God. John 15, verse 4 says, Abide in me. Abide in me. John 15, verse 7, If ye abide in me. What does it mean? The word abide means live. By the way, listen, I'll teach you some Greek. The word abide there is the word mone. We've spelt it m-o-n-a or m-o-n short e. Mone. In John 14 too, Jesus said, In my Father's house are many mansions. And that's the word mino in the Greek. Now, you Greek teachers know this is true. The word mone and the word mino. Now, I don't mean mone like you didn't put in the plate tonight. But the word mone, Russell Anderson says, He doesn't know many long words. He knows two syllable words. Like mone, partments, divins, and such things as that. But mone and mino. Now, abide in me. That's the word mone. In my Father's house are many mansions. That's the word mino. Comes from the same root word. Now, I'll teach you something. It means manner. The word manner comes from the word mino, mone. Same root word. Though, you ever hear somebody say, Where's the manse? What denomination calls a passage of manse? Presbyterian. You ever hear anybody say, Where's the manse? That word manse comes from mino or mone or mansion. Mansion. The word abide and the word mansion are the same in the Greek. What our Lord is saying is this. Mansion in me. And He said the same thing. In my Father's house are many abodes or mansions. What's He saying? He's saying, I have a mansion for you. Someday, I'll go and prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself. That where I am, there ye may be also. But now listen, listen, listen. He says, until you come to My mansion, I'll let you live in one now. And what is that mansion? Walking with God. Abiding with Christ. That means if I can abide with Christ, that means that I have reached up to heaven and brought my mansion down to earth where I can live in my mansion temporarily while I'm waiting for the final mansion. I'm going to money someday with Christ a mansion in heaven. Until then, I can live in my mansion as I abide and live with Christ. Tis heaven to me, where'er I may be, if He is there. Blessed assurance. Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine. That's what heaven came down and glory filled my soul. What is it saying? It's saying that we're going to heaven. But while we're waiting to go to heaven, we can have heaven come to us and we can live in our mansion now. Listen, oh, let's see. Let's see, Brother Bob, what are the names of those Mexican restaurants down in Dallas? El Chico, El Phoenix. Let's suppose that I wanted to go to Mexico to get some Mexican food. I don't eat Mexican food anymore. I don't have an ulcer. I have a church. And they sort of affect you the same way. You can't, and I don't eat Mexican food. Enchiladas and tortillas and all that kind of stuff. Bill, you've been eating a lot of it, I can tell. But anyway, but let's suppose that I was in Dallas and I wanted to go get some Mexican food. So I'd go to El Chico. Now you go to El Chico, you walk in and a fellow meets you there with a Mexican sombrero he wears. And you walk in and a couple of fellows are playing guitars, or as Brother Bob says, guitars. Guitar is a Greek word, it means guitar. And guitar, and they're playing South of the Barter, down Mexico way. You couldn't do it that well, Doc, because you sing loud. But you can do that. But anyway, they're singing Mexican songs. And the lady comes up and she has on a Mexican outfit. And we have Mexican food. We have a Mexican menu. And what is it? Are we in Mexico? No, we're not in Mexico. But somebody has brought a little bit of Mexico up to Dallas, don't you see, over to Chicago. And that's what we can do if we abide in Christ. Now listen to me, you're not going to walk with God till you live with God. I mean, get up in the morning and live with Christ. And all day, live with Christ. And go to bed at night and live with Christ. There's no substitute for it in all the world. You can have heaven now, but you're going to have to live with Christ. Now listen to me, listen to me, listen to me. We have got far too much of the world in our lives. I don't mean drunkenness. I don't mean adultery. I don't mean just lewdness. I don't mean just hot pants. I don't mean just dirty songs. I mean materialism. We've got too much desire just to have the next dollar, or a nicer car, or a better house. Or we're more concerned about getting a promotion. Most of us are too cosmos-minded, world-minded, and not enough Monet-minded, or Mino-minded, heavenly-minded, mansion-minded. If you're going to walk with God, you're going to have to live in Him. If I wanted one thing for my people, you know what I want you to have? Honestly, I was thinking about the kids over a while ago. There's one thing I want you to have. I want you to know God. You know, in the dark hour, Bob, when you're facing the grim reaper, and when there's nobody there but you, it's an awful nice thing to look up and say, now God, I need your help. I need your help. It's an awful nice thing to know God. Abide with Him. You know, I've learned in these... When I first came to heaven, I learned to know God. I really did. I thought about those days. Saturday morning, I got up, walked out, and somebody had thrown a brick rat at my windshield, but we're broken into all the pieces. It reminded me of the days when they put a sign... A different real estate company every Sunday put a sign out in front of our house and said, for sale. They were giving us a hint. And back in those days, they got a petition up and said, sign the petition, a vote, a signature here, sign here if you want a house to go back to Texas. I got the petition. I signed it. I wanted a house to go back to Texas back in those days. But I recall, I get a phone call in the middle of the night saying, if you walk in the pulpit, we'll kill you. And I get a phone call the other night, and a female voice said, this is Bubbles. I'm waiting for you. Good night. I've forgotten all about the appointment we had. But she said, this is Bubbles. I'm waiting for you. And I said, oh, I'm sorry, Bubbles. But anyway, Bubby, sorry, Bub. And they set the house on fire. Our garage is hooked up to our house, and the garbage can's inside the garage. And they set the garbage cans on fire and so forth. And I didn't know anybody. And I couldn't understand you. You folks couldn't talk plain. And you still have a problem with that. Art Schneider will never learn. And you couldn't talk plainly. And I'd say, OK, buddy, let's go by and get somebody and carry him to Sunday school next week. And you'd say, carry him? Carry him to Sunday school? Carry him? You don't know English? And you'd say, meet out in the logee after the service. I'd say, logee? Logee? And you recall when I sang that solo by myself up here, all men were over there. And I myself sang a solo. You sang the all men at the end of the songs. And I sang one by myself. And made a fool of myself. No, I didn't make a fool of myself. I revealed I was a fool. And I was. But you know what? I learned to walk with God. I didn't know much of anybody. And you'd have your weddings. And so I didn't know anybody much. And I was homesick. And I was lonesome. Folks, did you know that for 16 months, I'd wake up in the middle of the night. And I'd be dreaming of one of you folks suffering in the hospital or having trouble. And I'd wake up crying. I want to get to you. I want to get to you. They need me. They got trouble. They need me. And I'd say, I've got to go. And I'd be up in the middle of the bed trying to go back to help you. And I'd wake up and find out that I really wasn't there at all. And but I learned to walk with God in those days. Oh, how sweet to walk with God. Why? How? Abide with him. Live with him. Know him. You want to walk with God? The next thing, always do what he says. Always do what he says. Amos 3.3 says, can two walk together except they be agreed? Always do what he says. Be willing to go where he says go. Be willing to be what he says be. Be willing to say what he says say. Be willing to do what he says do. Just at his command. If he says go to China, go to China. If he says stay here, stay here. Just go where he wants you to go. Always be willing to agree with him when he says do something. To walk with God means to agree with God. That means every word in the Bible you agree with. That means everything he says do, you do it. That means any time he says I want you to go, some folks say, I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord, as long as it's not out of the state of Indiana. I'll be what you want me to be. No. I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord, as long as it's not overseas missionary. No, that won't do it. I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord, as long as it's not out of Texas, Bob. That won't do it. I'll go where you want me to go as long as it's in the South. That won't do it. I'll go where you want me to go as long as it's close to home. That won't do it. I'll go where you want me to go as long as it's Florida. That'll do it. That'll do it. Oh, that won't do it. I'll go where you want me to go as long as it's California. That won't do it. I'll go where you want me to go as long as there's not any snow. That won't quite do it. I'll go where you want me to go as long as it doesn't get below zero. That won't do it. That won't do it. I'll go where you want me to go. It doesn't matter where. I think this is true. I hope it is. If the Lord said to me tonight, I want you to go to China. I think I'd go to China. The Lord said, I want you to go to Africa. I believe I'd go to Africa. Why? Because I want to walk with God. I want to do what he wants me to do and be what he wants me to be. You want to walk with God? Include God in everything. Live in him. Always do what he says. Number five. And I like this. If you want to walk with God, you've got to go soul winning. You've got to go soul winning. The Great Commission. Go ye therefore and teach all nations. Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things. Watch they are under the command of you. And what? Lo, I am with you always. Even to the end of the age. If you do what? If you go and teach all nations. And so if you go. Look, Mrs. Keyes. When I was a kid, somebody would come to my house. And mother goes, this is true. Every afternoon we'd go to the key. There's a Mrs. Keyes lived here. And there was a red brick house. Red brick house next to you. And then a vacant lot right next to that red brick house. And then Drexel Tolan. That his name? Drexel Tolan in the plumbing place is right next door there. And so what we'd do every afternoon. Baseball season. I'd run home. And take off my clothes. And change clothes. And put on a baseball hat. And run up to that vacant lot where Bob Keyes was. And we'd play baseball. And Bob Keyes played third base. He never. Look, here's the way he caught the ball. You know, most fellows catch the ball, you know, looking at it. And Bob Keyes goes, like that. Always what? Like that. And we'd play ball. Baseball. Now, when it got to be football season, we'd play football. But I'd always go to that same vacant lot and play football. And we'd get a little thirsty. Go over to Mr. Keyes and have us some lemonade. Or some beer. Some refreshment. Some kind we always had. And we'd go over and play football. And not only was Bob a bad ground ball catcher like that. But he always tackled above the waist. Always did. He had. Of course, he hadn't tackled you above the waist. Bob, you know, most folks that tackle, they go like this, you know. Get down here. Bob would. Like that. Thank you. Always would. Never learned how to tackle. In fact, we had a Sunday school teacher one time named Troy Jackson. Troy Jackson was a little bitty fella. And he was a tremendous guy. And so Troy decided to have a football league for us kids. So we had a football game. Practiced the first time. And Troy decided to carry the ball. Troy, what? 130 pounds. 135 or so. And he carried the ball. And so he came around. I can see it like it right now. What's that fella's name? R. R.L. Armstrong. Lived up on Britain Street. And so we, R.L. and I, hit Mr. Jackson low. And Bob got the usual headlock on him. And so he went down. And he never felt led to get up. He broke. We broke his leg. He's our Sunday school teacher. We absolutely broke his leg. Leg or arm? Arm. Shoulder. Shoulder. Okay, I'm sorry. That's in the Greek. But anyway, broke his shoulder. And the next morning, there he came to Sunday school in a cast. Why? Was it a low tackle? No, it was his leg. His shoulder got broken. Guess why? Bob got him! Watch this! He went down like that. And then when it was no baseball season or football, we'd play croquet. And we'd shoot the ball to the wicket. And one day, we were playing croquet. And I shot the ball right through the wicket. Didn't hit either side. Right through. And Bob said, you missed. And I said, no, Bob, I hit. Went right through. Bob said, no. No, Jack. He said, it went to the side. I said, now, Bob, you're a liar. And you know it. And Bob did not feel led to be called a liar. He was not very impressed with my appraisal of his character. And he said, it missed! And I said, it hit! And he said, it missed! And I said, OK, let's see if this will hit. And I took the mallet. You've seen a croquet mallet? I took the mallet and aimed it right at Bob Key's temple. He almost went to heaven before the heart attack came. I was never sure. He ducked. But I was always up there. Every afternoon. Every afternoon. We'd throw our paper out. We got older and take off to the vacant lot. Now, here's the story. If anybody came by my house after school and said to my mother, is Jack home? My mother would say, no, he isn't home. But I think I'll know where you find him. He'll be up at Key's house in the vacant lot playing ball with the gang. Because that's where I always was. And if you wanted to fellowship with Jack, you go up there. That's where he usually is. And I ask you a question. Have you lost fellowship with Christ? Do you know where you'll find him? You'll find him out soul winning. That's where he always is. That's where he always is. Have you lost your fellowship with God? Go soul winning! That's where you'll find him! I am with you always! Look, if I go soul winning, I know he's with me. He says he's there. People all over the country say to me, Dr. Howes, could I go soul winning with you? Every place I go, I've written some books on soul winning. Every place I go, people say, Dr. Howes, could you take me soul winning on Tuesday afternoon? Or would you teach me how to win a soul and go soul winning? I say usually, I'm sorry, I have appointments. I can't do it. I'll tell you what, Jesus will go with you. Jesus will go with you. He said, lo, I am with you always. You want to walk with God? Abide in him. Want to walk with God? Go soul winning. You want to walk with God? Then let him peripateo in everything. But there's something else. That is, you've got to walk in Romans 8, 4. Walk after the Spirit. Romans 13, 13. Walk in honesty. Romans Ephesians 2, 10. Walk in good works. Ephesians 5, 2. Walk in love. Colossians 4, 5. Walk in truth. 1 Corinthians 3, 3. Walk not after the manner of men. 2 Corinthians 4, 2. Walk not after in craftiness. 2 Corinthians 5, 7. Walk not by sight. Ephesians 4, 17. Walk not in vanity of mind. 2 Thessalonians 3, 6. Walk not disorderly. That means if you want to walk with God, you've got to walk according to these scriptures. By the way, let me pause and say one, and say we're about one of them. Not after the manner of men. Did you know when you walk with God, you're not going to be very usual? Something very odd about you. Did you know the more you walk with God, the more peculiar you're going to be? Um, Bob. I recall when Bob Lovell started going with the girls. He was in our gang. And when Bob started going with the girls, Bob was always a good guy. Remember? He'd shoot the back of the head. Hey, lad yay! Remember that? Or that's good. How's boo yay? Oh, I don't know. But that's our little language. Say yay. Uh, lad. And put a yay after it. Lad yay. Boo yay. You know, it's just typical. You know, let your yays be yays, and your nays be boo yays. And so, uh, but Bob Lovell started going with the girls. And Bob, he didn't have indesire at all. He was going with that girl, uh, I forgot her name. What was her name? Boy, think of stuff like that. Uh, but anyway. And we'd go down and play in the vacant lot, and Bob wouldn't be there. And I couldn't figure out what in the world has gotten into Bob. He'd rather be with a girl than playing ball. That's a foolhardy way to be. And you know, we'd have to play croquet, and Bob wouldn't be there. We'd have basketball down at, uh, Jeffrey Horne's house, and Bob wouldn't show up. And he'd live right next door. You know why? There was some little old stupid girl. I wish I had Kaiser or something. I can't think of her name. She, and you know what? He'd rather be with her than with us. I've been watching lately, some of you young people. You'd rather be George Vandermuden. The mighty has fallen. She met him on a blind date. She's bound to have been blind when she met him. But, but you know, strange thing. And Bob was peculiar to us all of a sudden. Why? He just wanted to be with one person all the time. All the time. And, and we'd choose up sides, and Bob wouldn't be there. And we'd play ball, and Bob wouldn't be there. Play football, and Bob wouldn't be there. Play basketball, and Bob wouldn't be there. Why? I'll tell you why. Of course, Bob was interested in somebody. And we thought he was so peculiar. Because you know, ladies and gentlemen, whenever you get to a place where you really walk with God, folks are going to say he's so peculiar. Oh, he'll be your sufficiency. And oh, there'll be times when you'll just want to get away from the world, and get away from everybody, and get alone and say, oh dear God, I just want to be with you. Just with you. Nobody quite understands that. You know, sometimes somebody really wants to spend time with God, they seem so anti-social. You know why? Because He is their sufficiency. That's all they need. And they want to walk with Him. They're not like others. They don't walk after the manner of men. Nobody quite figures them out. Jesus is their fun. Jesus is their recreation. Jesus is their relaxation. Jesus is their spare time. I can recall when Mel Brown, that young man over here on the north side, Mamie Brown's son, I can recall when Mamie used to pray for Mel. And I can recall we'd go over to the house to eat, and Mel wouldn't even come at the table and eat with us. And he'd get in the kitchen and look around and see what kind of a nut that fellow was in the dining room table. And Mel was almost an atheist and agnostic. And he didn't... Oh, he hated me. He told me, he said, if I hated anybody in this world, I hated you. But his mother prayed, and she kept going soul-winning. I can recall when Mrs. Boling, Mamie's mother, said that when Mamie would go soul-winning, Mamie's here tonight, I'm sure, would go soul-winning. Young people, I can recall that Mrs. Boling would have to... Mamie would go in the morning, and all day she'd go soul-winning. She'd get back in, and Mrs. Boling would have to dress her for bed because she was so tired. Just fall across the bed, just worn out. Oh, she'd pray for Mel. Oh, she'd pray for God to save him. And one night, it's funny, one night, New Year's Eve night, Mel was going to go out night clubbing with one of his buddies, a Catholic buddy. And Mamie had gotten a bunch of my sermon tapes and brought them home. And Mel was upstairs getting ready, and this buddy came by, and Mamie had one of my tapes playing. And, oh, I was hollering and screaming, you know, and, Hey! And hollering. And this fellow, and Mel wasn't ready. And this fellow asked Mamie, he said, Mamie, or Miss Brown, what is that? Who's that fellow? He was a Catholic. Not me, but that fellow. And she said, that's my pastor. He said, your pastor? He ain't like my pastor. Blessed be God. But he ain't like my pastor. One reason I don't like his pastor, I wear britches instead of skirts. And but anyway, you don't like the word britches? James Stewart said one day, use the word britches. Dr. James Stewart, the lady walked up and he said, she said, you know, Dr. Stewart, use the word britches instead of pants or trousers in your sermon. Oh, he said, I, oh my, britches. He said, oh, when was it? Well, she said in a sermon. He said, what did I say right before that, so I'll know when. Well, she said, I've forgotten. Well, he said, what did I say right after that? Well, she said, I don't remember. He said, it's a good thing I said britches tonight, or you wouldn't have gotten a thing out of my sermon, would you? And so anyway, so what happened, Mel, this fellow, this fellow, Mel was a little late and this fellow kept hearing me preach, they're going to go out tonight, club. And so when I got to preaching that one sermon, this fellow said, you got any more? Well, she said, as a matter of fact, I do. She played another one. Mel came down, said, I'm ready to go. And this fellow said, I want to hear this, I want to hear this preacher a little while longer. And he heard me holler another sermon. And they never went out at night clubbing. They stayed and they heard me preach. And soon Mel got under conviction and he got converted. And Mel walked up to that old platform over there in the old building and he stood up and he said, folks, I'll tell you why I got saved. He said, I used to hate Brother Hiles. I used to hate him like I hated no man in the world. But he said, at my house, it was Jesus for breakfast. It was Jesus for lunch. It was Jesus for supper. It was Jesus at bedtime. It was Jesus all the time. He said, my mother lived Jesus before me. It was Jesus in the morning and Jesus in the afternoon and Jesus at night and Jesus always. My mother lived Jesus. She walked with Jesus. She loved Jesus. Always it was Jesus. And he said, I had to get saved to leave home. He got saved. Now he's pastor of a church running 7800 and Sunday school over here in Rock Island, Illinois. You know why? Somebody walked with God around him. Somebody walked with God around him. Walked with God. Why? Not after the manner of man. Not like others. 1 Corinthians 3. There's some other way to walk with God. Meditate on the Bible all the time. Ladies and gentlemen, there's no secret to this matter of walking with God. It's just spending all the time with God and living with him. But one thing, meditate. Oh, blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodliness, standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful, but is in the light, is in the law of the Lord. And in his law doth he meditate day and night. He should be like a tree planted with the river of waters that bringeth forth its fruit in the season. His leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. This is trite but true, but, Doc, nobody's going to walk with God unless they love this book. I was thinking, I was up in Minnesota, I'm sorry, Wisconsin, last week, and it was bedtime, and it was late, and I was tired, and I opened the Bible, as I always do. This book, when I'm on the road like that, it's the last thing I look at at night. And when the alarm goes off in the morning or they call me from the office and wake me up, I reach over and take the book. And I began to sing, way in the night, sing them over again to me, wonderful words of life. Let me more of their beauty see, wonderful words of life. Oh, how blessed is this book. Ladies and gentlemen, learn to love this book. I don't mean read it because you've got to read it, I mean read it because you want to read it. Oh, learn to make its truths your food and your strength and your bread and your water, and make it, hide its words in your heart that you won't sin against God, and let it be a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your path. I marvel, I marvel at this book. How precious are its precepts. Oh, I read the entire psalm one day last week, every psalm I read. And I got over there, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. And over there David said, Oh Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth, who has set thy glory above the heavens. And I got over and it said, and it said a thousand shall fall at thy right hand, and ten thousand at thy side, it shall not come nigh to thee. For he shall give his angels charge concerning thee to keep thee in all thy ways. And over there where it says the Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, hence even forevermore. And I read every psalm. By the time I got through with the psalms, I was clapping my hands and praising the Lord. Why, young people, the word of God, the word of God, the blessed word of God. Read it, love it, memorize it, meditate on it, read it, love it, memorize it, meditate on it. Make it the first thing you read in the morning and the last thing you read at night. If you walk with God, you're going to have to love his book. There was a little lady down in Texas, lived out near Mesquite, Texas. And one day a young man came by our house, knocked on the door. And he said, I'm selling books. And she said, what's the name of the book? He gave the name of it. She said, I've already read it. He said, did you like it? She said, no. It's the worst book I ever read. I hated it. He said, well, I wrote it. Oh, she said, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, but I did hate the book. And so, but she liked the fellow. He was sort of a nice guy. So after the fellow left, she went back and dug that book out. And she read the book the second time. And she said, still not very good, but not as bad as I thought. The fellow came by a little later and visited her again. And after he left, she read the book the third time. And she said, not a bad book. One day, he asked her for a date. And she had a date with him. And oh, she liked him a lot. And she got back in. She read the book over again. She said, that's a good book. On the honeymoon, she read it another time. And she said, that's the best book I ever read in my life. You know how much you love the book? According to how much you love the author. If you walk with him, you'll love his book. If you walk with him, you'll say, here's a Christian. Get saved. He says, I can't understand the Bible. So he learns to walk with God. And he abides with Christ. And he reads it again. And he says, not bad, not bad. And then after years, he walks with God and reads it again. And says, that's a wonderful book. And finally, one blessed day, when he's walked with God all these years, he says, that's the most wonderful book I ever read. Listen to me. It is the most wonderful book I ever read. You know why? Because I know the one who wrote it. And I try to walk with him and live with him. Well, I know I'm peculiar. I'm peculiar. I was up at Maranatha College last week, fellas. And some of the students got around me after a service. And one of them said, hey, is it true that you don't drink coffee? I said, don't drink coffee or whiskey. And they looked at each other and they said, is it true that you don't drink Coca-Colas? I said, Coca-Colas or wine. I think it's a sin to drink Coca-Cola. Yeah. Did you know you can get six more ounces in a Pepsi-Cola? Anybody that's in sin that doesn't get the best bargain, he can. Said, don't you drink carbonated water? No, I don't drink carbonated water. Somebody said, you don't eat pizza. I said, unless it's turnip green pizza, I don't. Or sprinkle with carrot juice. One fella said, is it true you work seven days a week? I said, yeah, I work eight if there's eight days in a week. One fellow leaned over and said, he's peculiar. He's peculiar. I know. I know I'm peculiar. I know folks would like to bash my window in. I thought this Saturday morning, I don't hate anybody in the whole world. And I mean this is true. If the bitterest enemy I had in this world was in trouble, God knows I'd help him. Now, God knows that's true. I'm not a good Christian, but I'd help my bitterest enemy. And that's the truth. If you don't believe it with a fist, tell me you need some help. And just see if I won't help you. But I would. And I don't hate anybody. I love everybody. And I thought, why would anybody hate me? Somebody said to me the other day, he said, I wish I were like you and didn't care what folks think. I do care. I do care. There's something I care 10,000 times more, and that's to walk with him. Yeah, yeah, I'm peculiar. I'm a nut. I told you three folks spit on me the other day out in Montgomery Ward Shopping Center. I mean, spit. I'm a nut. I was walking down St. Margaret's Hospital several months ago, and three nuns met me. And one of them said to the other two, that's him. That's him. I'm a screwball. Fellas rode up beside me going home today. I was going home after the service. Fellas rode beside me. One of them said to the other, that's High House. And they gave me the dirty vulgar sign, one of their fingers, right there beside me. And one of them said a four-letter word to me and then used my name, pronoun for me after it was over. He said, I wish I didn't care. I do care. Nobody ever gets mad at me when I don't cry about it. Nobody ever leaves our church when I want it. Nobody ever curses me when I'm happy about it. I never get a dirty, nasty letter, but it doesn't hurt. I'll tell you what. If I can walk with him, that'll be enough. Oh, he is our sufficiency. I recall when Bob first started going to the girls, Bob Keyes. The little girl he started going with, he forgot about everything else. And in the hallway, he acted a fool. And we thought, what's happened to Bob? He didn't much care. He didn't much care. You know why? Because he had found somebody that meant more to him than a whole shooting match of us did. That's what Jesus ought to be to us. Oh, to walk with him. Dr. Billings, our college needs a man who walks with God sitting behind the president's desk. Brother Fisk, our people need an assistant pastor who walks with God. Brother Colston, when you go to the hospital and you do such a good job of it, when you go to the hospital or when you go to the rest home or go to the room where the person is convalescing and they sit there and you're a sun ray in a dark, dreary world, they need somebody sitting beside them who walks with God. Brother Vineyard, those little boys and girls that give you sugar, they need somebody who walks with God. Brother Bordway, the people need a choir director who walks with God. Brother Perkey, those mission men down there, they need a man directing them who walks with God. Brother Hyatt, these people need a man who walks with God. Oh, to walk with him, to know him, to love him, to be with him. Okay, so I'm a nut, but I get to spend some time with him. So I'm a fool, but I get to spend time with him. Across this country, he's always there. He's always there. The other day, the other day I was in my room. I asked the Lord, it was raining. I asked the Lord for something to eat. Somebody knocked on my door. I went to the door. The fellow said, Dr. Hiles, you warned me to Christ years ago. He said, I understand that you like a certain kind of food. He said, I've been down to the health food store and gotten you some food. I sat there and ate the food. When I got through, I told the Lord, I said, I sure would like to have something sweet within two or three minutes. So I knocked on the door. The other fellow said, I brought you a piece of candy from the health food store. The Lord gave me dessert. I was up in Winnipeg, Canada preaching several years ago. And I stayed in the home of two school teachers. Nothing wrong with school teachers. I just don't like staying in their home. But two school teachers. And I'm kidding about that. But they were. And lovely hall. And so they were so nice to me until I preached. And after I got through preaching, oh, they didn't like me. Oh, they hated me. And so time came to go to bed. You like it when folks don't like me, don't you? You like that, don't you? And time came to go to bed. And so they said, your room isn't here. I went in the room. And there was no bed. You like that, too, don't you? As far as I'm concerned, you can go back to Lynchburg, or on to Marietta, wherever you're going to go. Where all our rejects go. Mike Palmer, nice to have you with us tonight. But. So. The children went in their room. And there's a nice bed there. And the husband and wife, they went in their bedroom. Beautiful bedroom, too. And I walked in my room. Honestly, scouse honor. There was not one stick of furniture in my room. All there was. Have you ever seen an exercise mat? A little half mattress kind of a thing? There's a little bitty thing on the floor. And it had a couple of sheets. And a blanket. And a pillow. It wasn't even made. It was stacked up. And they said, that's your room. I was a guest. Dr. Jack Ives. I've seen the Mamertine prison. It was nicer than that. So I went in. Next morning. I slept on the floor all night. Next morning. Boy, they had bacon cooking. The smell of bacon. It's a bit sinful. But I like that. That much sin I can take. And eggs. You could smell the scrambled eggs. And the toast. And they said. Children, breakfast. Wife said, honey. Breakfast. And I thought, next it's going to be Dr. Ives. Breakfast. But nobody called. Well, the night before. I told the boys up in Winnipeg, Canada. I said, hey, fella. I said, Bobby Hull's the best hockey player in all the world. He said, Bobby Hull's not. He said, Gene Beliveau. I said, Gene Beliveau? Who's he? What do you mean, who's he? He's the best hockey player in all the world. I said, he can't even carry Bobby Hull's stick. Little kid about that tall. Five years old, I guess. Oh, he liked me. We talked about hockey and baseball and football. And so the next morning. They all had breakfast. And I was in the room. And I smelled. Even the coffee smelled good. And I. And they ate. And suddenly. I heard a. On my door. And I went to the door. And. He didn't open the door all the way. Because he didn't want his parents to know it. But that little boy loved me. And he stuck a hand. Came through the door. And in the hand was a little two-cent. Baby Ruth. And I took it. And he ran away right quick. So Mom and Daddy didn't see him. And I got on my knees. And I said. That little boy loved me more than anybody. And I had a prayer meeting. And I walked with God. He walks with me. And he talks with me. And he tells me. I am his own. And the joys we share. As we tarry there. None other. Has ever known. Whatever you give up for Jesus. Dear friends. To walk with him. Is worth it. Enoch walked with God. And then. The end of the walk came one day. And the Lord said. Enoch. We have been walking a long ways haven't we. Won't you come on home. Come on home. And Bob. It may be that you will go before me. It may be that I will go before you. But the walk is going to end down here one of these days. And the end of the walk. Will be that day. When the curtain is pulled back. And we shall see. Face to face. The one who loved us. And gave himself for us. It will be worth it all. When we see Jesus. Life's trials will seem so small. When we see him. One glimpse of his dear face. All sorrow will erase. So out loudly. Run the race. When we see Jesus. When we see Christ. I want to walk with God. I want you to walk with God. Let us pray. Our heaven and father. Teach our people to walk with God. May every little boy and girl. That sits in a classroom at Hammond Baptist School tomorrow. Have a teacher that walks with God. May every little child. That sits in a classroom at Baptist City Grade School. Have a teacher. Who walks with God. May every child that is called to the principal's office. Find a man there behind the desk. Who walks with God. May every student. At Hiles Anderson College. Have a professor. Who walks with God. May every child who sits in a Sunday School class. In our Sunday School on Sunday morning. Have a teacher. Who walks with God. May those that sit in the rescue mission. Chairs. Have a man directing them. Who walks with God. May those dear people. In hospitals tonight. Who have a visit. Have a man to visit them. Who walks with God. May our deaf people have a leader. Who walks with God. May our retarded people have leaders. Who walk with God. May our choir have a director. Who walks with God.