In this sermon, the speaker recounts a personal experience of receiving a phone call early in the morning from someone demanding to be paid. Despite the interruption, the speaker opens the Bible and begins reading from the book of Romans. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the concept of justification and redemption through Jesus Christ. The speaker urges the audience to prioritize their relationship with God above all else, including education, business, and social life. He concludes with a prayer for obedience and a plea for God to guide their lives.

Your education is important, my young friend. Your fitness is important, sir, but my Bible tells me not local indigenous, but permanent parents serving the Lord. I believe indeed your social life is important. For a man is known by the prayer I present to you, that if you've never found your need to keep us tight, you've never found your need for the one who will make life worth living. You've acquired, with my dear friend Lincoln Clay, life with a capital L, and youth with a capital Y, and not just the Y of attraction, but the Y of life of function. So let me turn to you, little John, realize that these are the things He has promised to add to us if we put tight, or let the Lord have His way in your life every day. But if there is the first thing of salvation, there is the first thing of submission. How many times have you heard sermons on the ninth chapter of the Gospel of Luke? How many times, when facing the tremendous matter of Christian discipleship, have you been reminded of the Lord calling men to His path, asking that they shall give Him first place in their life? Do you remember some who dared to look into His face and say, Lord, suffer me first! Suffer me first to go and bury my father! And Jesus said, no, no, me first! Me first! Do you remember how some looked at Him and said, Lord, we will be Thy disciples, we will follow Thee, but oh Lord, Lord, let me first bid farewell to those in my house. And Jesus said, no, no, me first! It is important that we shall bury the dead. It is important that we shall have the respect and love of our home, but never let us forget that when it comes to submission, it is not submission to loved ones, or submission indeed to society, and to the things that acclaim my society. It is submission to Christ. Me first! Me first! Me first! I think you will grant me there is not only the first thing of salvation, and the first thing of submission, there is the first thing of promise. Why, what glorious words are those words of the eighth chapter of Centurion! My opinion, of course, again, you may disagree with me, but in my opinion, the eighth chapter of 2 Corinthians is one of the highlights of the New Testament. It seems to me there are so many verses in 2 Corinthians 8 that thrill and challenge our whole being. But you remember of those at Corinth it was said, is it not the fifth verse? It was said, they gave heart themselves to the Lord. Isn't it grand to give ourselves heart to the Lord? If you and I would know some things of Corinth, then surely our hands and our feet, our eyes and our ears, our heart and our whole being, our mind and it all, we give them heart to Him. Then we can serve the saints, then we can serve the sinner, then we can serve society when we give ourselves first to Him. But if there be the first thing of salvation, it is submission. If there be the first thing of service, there is here the first thing of supplication. Oh, let's go back to this glorious chapter again. Now we beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the coming of the Lord... I'm sorry, I did what our friend said he did yesterday. He blows back in the Thessalonians. What I say, it's rather interesting. Oh, I could almost have carried on there, couldn't I? But nevertheless, I exhort, therefore, that first of all, supplication, prayers, and then protection and giving of thanks. Oh, here it is. This is our great priority, the priority of prayer. Of course, the man that wrote this was the man who knew something about it. Isn't that true? Listen, brethren, sisters, you and I have no right to challenge others about things that we have no experience of. We may read these verses, but let me say this to you, that I have no right to emphasize this verse unless I personally have known something of it through. The Apostle Paul knew something of it. I often remind men and women when you think of the life of Paul, isn't it remarkable the first time he's mentioned in the Bible he's had a prayer meeting? That's not a bad place to go, is it? Of course, it was a peculiar prayer meeting, I know, but it was a prayer meeting. Stephen was being thrown to death, and as Stephen falls to the ground, he prays that God will not lay this darkness into their garden. And Paul, who's a servant of those that show Stephen at his feet, heard the prayer of Stephen, just as I heard a little Salvation Army Latin sing the old rugged cross, and could never get away from it. So he could never get away from the fact that the first time Jesus Christ was challenging him, he was at a prayer meeting. Isn't it remarkable the next time he's mentioned in the Bible he's at a prayer meeting? I say, how quickly he falls off! How quickly he falls off! First of all, he listens to a Stephen pray, but now he's praying. He almost imagines he is where Stephen was at the end of his life. He's seen a light surpass the brightness of the noonday sun. He has been smitten with blindness. He hears a voice, and he falls down to the ground, and he says, Lord, my Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? Listen, brother, when you pray, I'll let you into a secret. You'll find out that prayer is a sweaty thing. Someone else will be praying, too, when you pray. Isn't it remarkable the third time Paul's mentioned in the Bible he's at a prayer meeting? At a prayer meeting! Why, Ananias, the man who actually led Christ, or led the appall to Christ, Ananias is exhorted to go and speak to this man who's been stricken with blindness. And he says, why, this is Saul, the persecutor of the church. And God says, don't you worry about that. Behold, he prayeth. Behold, he prayeth. Have you noticed that every journey Paul started, it starts with prayer? His first missionary journey, it starts with prayer. His second missionary journey, it starts with prayer. Oh, I know he catches a vision. I know he hears and sees a voice that says, come over to Macedonia and help us. I only know this when he's talking to Macedonia. Where he went down to the water's edge, where some women had gathered, where prayer was wont to remain. Oh, I say, no wonder he writes and says, first of all, it was first in his life. May I ask, is it first in our life? Is it first in our life? I believe it to be a true necessity in the life of a Christian, that before any one of us talks to anyone else, we talk to the Lord. So, I know that that is sometimes difficult. I'll let you into a secret. Thursday morning, that's going to be difficult for me. You know, a wife's coming Wednesday night, and I got a calm feeling the first thing of a Thursday morning, there are so many things I want to know. And I know this, it'll be a bit of a job for us to obey that rule, you mustn't talk after 11 o'clock on Wednesday night. I know that, but I only know that it's more important that we speak to the Lord first thing of the day than we speak to anyone else. More important. First of all, then would you notice that if there is priority, there is peace. For verse 2 dares to tell us this, for kings and for all that are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. Now, I have a confession to make. Please, I have a confession to make. I have nothing to do with it, but I'm in England. We had the most wonderful services just recently in Augustus, Georgia. The Lord was very gracious and a large number made protection of faith. As a matter of fact, interesting little story, as a matter of fact, one morning, 10 minutes to 5, the phone went. At the other end of the phone there was a voice that said, I want to get paid, I haven't slept all night. And a man came round, he was there at 10 minutes, at 5 o'clock, at 10 to 5 he was phoning. And he came into the little study that I was in, and I opened the Bible and I started to read to him. You know, I read Romans 3 and 23, all of them. I read Romans 6 and 23, the wages of sin is there. I was just getting to Romans 5 and 8, when he looked at me and said, Mr. Ford, have you got to keep on reading? I want to be paid. Cool. That's the first time I've ever been interrupted like that. But that, by the way, just by the way. But you know, night by night, brother after brother used to open in prayer. And at the end of the week, please, I know I'm an Englishman and I do all sorts of queer things, but at the end of the week I felt I had to tell those brethren off. And as you know, I don't normally do it where no one can hear it. And do you know what I was concerned about was this? My brethren won't mind me saying it here, I told it to them to their face. What I was concerned about was this, that a week went by and every night someone led that audience in prayer, and not one of them prayed for your president, for your government, for your nation. Brethren, I believe the Bible teaches us that we should pray for kings. Now, I know on the 4th of July I wore a black band on my arm. Literally. But there we are. I know you haven't got a king. And my Bible says pray for kings and those in authority. And brethren, I believe the worst person possible is the person who criticizes his government, whether it be the party he voted for or not, and has never prayed for them. I believe that as a church, on our shoulders there rests a responsibility sometimes, and I think of an Englishman in my country, not of an American in your country, but speaking about my own country, that I believe that much of the trouble we're facing today is because the church has forgotten to pray for those in authority. I wonder how often we pray. How often we pray. I was reminding them in that line-up this morning. I don't know whether I ought to tell this story, but I will anyway. But, you know, away in Lucca, in South Wales, where the Welsh Revival broke out, there was a little fellowship there with a dear lady pastor of the Lord, and she was well over her nineteen, Mrs. Pugh. And you know what? She insisted on praying. I'll say nothing about it. I only know this, that every morning during the war, a crowd of the brethren and sisters, men who were minors, used to gather in the morning, and they prayed right through the war. And one morning, dear old Mrs. Pugh, she just couldn't hold it back any longer. She started to pray. I'll tell you about it. But this is what she prayed. She said, Lord, bless General Montgomery. Lord, bless General Montgomery. Lord, bless General Eisenhower. Bless General Eisenhower. And she went right through the army, you know. Bless them all. And then before she finished, she said, and Lord, there's that man Hitler. God gives him. Do what you like to him. I say, I'm not sure that that's what it means to pray for kings and those in authority. Shouldn't have told you that, should I? But there it is. I only know this, please. I only know this. The outcome of our prayer is this, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. Please, not just a peaceable life, but a peaceable life in godliness and honesty. Do we believe God answers prayer? Do we? And surely God is saying to us today, brethren, sisters, let's have our priorities right. Let's pray that there may be peace. May I say this to you? Please, may I say it to you in love? That I believe praying for kings and those in authority are not only those in authority in nations, but may I suggest, maybe, for the elders and the sisters that care in our local assemblies, that the outcome of our church life may be that with godliness, with godliness, you and I and honesty may find peace among God's people. Brethren, brethren, I've been thirty years in the service of God. In this and some thirty-two other countries. I am where I am as of complete and utter and absolute conviction I could not be anywhere else. And I want to say this. Sometimes I get tired of the petty little quolls that sometimes arise among believers. God forgives. I very infrequently find disagreement concerning doctrine. I do sometimes, but very infrequently it is mostly over personality. I like Brother So-and-so better than Brother So-and-so. God grants that we may pray that in godliness and honesty we may have peace among God. May we go further? First there is priority and then there is peace, but then there is a purpose. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God and our Saviour. This is not something, this is not something just to bring peace, just indeed, that we might be able to sit back and say what a lovely lot of people we are. But this is good and acceptable in the sight of God, our Saviour. Oh, I want to live my life for the glory of God. When I stand before Him in that day, I want to stand before Him and hear Him say, well done, good and faithful servant, don't you? Don't you? Brethren, let's not forget, the judgment seat of Christ is a very real thing. A very real thing. You and I, by the mercy and grace of God, as we see in a moment, will never stand before the great white throne, but we will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. And it will not be a matter of ten, for that was dealt with by the blood of Christ. That was dealt with in Calvary. But it will be a matter of province. It will be a matter of how faithful we seem to Him. And I don't know about you, but in that day I'd love to feel that in some way I have won a crown that I might cast at His feet. Oh, listen. I'm glad that the peep on the cross was saved. I'm glad. But I don't want to be a peep on the cross. Not me. To be saved and go straight to heaven. To be saved and be with me in paradise. One day to stand before the judgment seat of Christ and not have a thing to cast at the Savior's feet. Not a crown that He's won. Not a thing to say, Lord, You gave it me. If I want it, I want it because You lived Your life out to me. Lord, You're worthy of it. Take it back. To be saved and not a thing to cast at His feet. Oh, brethren, don't you come to me, please. And start talking to me about the peep on the cross who made it stand for Jesus Christ. He did that before He was saved. No, that won't come up on the judgment seat of Christ. He was praising with the glory. Not a thing to cast at the Savior's feet. Oh, brethren, listeners, God give us the place for Him. God give us to pray that there may be peace. But don't run that the purpose of it may be this, that we are bringing glory to God even in our prayers and our requests. You know I'm a father. I got one of every sort you can have. The Queen of England couldn't have more sorts than I got. But I got four grandchildren as well. And I'll let you into a secret. I get, just like you parents do, I get a tremendous joy when my son and my daughter, though they've been married with families of their own, still come to their dad and ask their dad for something. You still feel that you're useful to your family. I get my grandchildren now jumping on the knee, the four of them, you know, all trying to stay there at the same time and say, Randy, tell us a story. The same old stories I told their mums and dads. Well, it's the stories of the Bible I tell my grandkids. And I get a great thrill when I feel somehow I'm wanted. There's something they want from me. Please let me say it again. By grace, by faith in Jesus Christ, God has become my father. And I thank God that his delight to be inquired of. Let's remember, we bring joy to him when we pray. Never forget there's not a prayer that's lost. John dared to say he saw vials full of odors, which were the prayers of saints. And I don't believe those are just the prayers of the saints in the tribulation. But then would you notice, please, not only our priority and our needs, would you notice not only our purpose, but would you notice our, would you notice our pardons. For therefore then, who will have a unifying, who will have all men to be saved. There's the will of God, who will have all men to be saved. Come to the knowledge of the truth. I'm glad of that. I'm glad that my Bible tells me that the pious repenter who truly believed that moment on Jesus' part in the living, I'm glad that whosoever will may come. Oh, I thank God I can present Christ the man of the day. The will that all men shall be saved. Oh, what a salvation is this. A past, present, future salvation to be saved. Would you notice the person who does the saving, though? I like this, don't you? I like this. Oh, how can the verse lie? For there's one God and one mediator between man and God. The man-type Jesus. I like that. Gee, I'd better not stay there too long. But isn't it wonderful? It's the man-type Jesus. A man who was tempted in all points, such as we, yet without sin. I love the words of the prophet, don't you? He hath borne our grief and carried our sorrow. Oh, glory to his name. Where men labored, he labored. Where men suffered, he suffered. Where men have been misunderstood, he was misunderstood. Where men died, he died. He's borne our grief. He's carried our sorrow. He understands it all. There's a man in the glory. Blessed be his name. There's one God and one mediator between man and God. The man. The man, the one with nails pricked in his hands. The man. The man-type Jesus. Oh, what is it that you think so often? Are there crosses too heavy to carry? And burdens too heavy to bear? Are there heartaches and tears and anguish and nobody seems to care? Standing somewhere in the shadows, you'll find Jesus. He's the only one who cares and understands. Standing somewhere in the shadows, you will find him and you'll know him by the nails pricked in his hands. There's a man in the glory. A man in the glory. Oh, I say, let me quote my favorite hymn. May I? May I? Most of you know my favorite hymn. Dear old Alfred Macy's All leads me to the man who doth To all God's nature glorify Descending to the depths of woe And for our sanctuary Every heart of brethren, sisters There's a man in the glory Let you and I keep company with him But if we have seen priority And if we have seen purpose and pardon If we've changed into the face of a pattern Then for a moment let us consider This propitiation who gave himself A ransom for all To be testified in Utah Oh, I thank God there's one who took my faith I thank God there's one who died for me I thank God he is the propitiation For our sin And not for ours only, But the whole world. The whole world. Friend, what a thing. What a thing. But may I draw your attention to one other thing. And I think this is important, don't it? For if he brings before us priority and peace And purpose and pardon, If he tells us of that person And his propitiation, Then he reminds us of the preacher Whereunto said verse seven I am ordained a preacher And an apostle. Mind the ordination. The Nell Pierce Hand. Isn't it grand? It was no man to take all life's preaching. Isn't it wonderful? His was the ordination of the Nell Pierce Hand. It was the Christ of God who dared to say That he had ordained that he should become a preacher to the Gentiles. Oh, that you and I may know something from that ordination, The Nell Pierce Hand. For to every one of us, he says, Why, go, go, witness for me. But if there is prayer for all men, There is prayer by men. Conversate. I will therefore let men, And please, I'm sorry ladies, Not guilty. I didn't write the Bible. But that word men is masculine. It is not the word that is used to include all people. I word therefore that males, Men, Pray everywhere. Here are the people to pray, men. Here is the place to pray, everywhere. I like that, don't you? I like that. I say, do we develop prayer life? Do we develop, I mean pray, going along in the car? You know, I meet folk who take the next portion lit first. There he brings before not only the place to pray, But the posture to pray, lifting up holy hands. Now you can't pray everywhere lifting up holy hands, can you? If you do, please tell me when you're going to do it, And I won't ride in the car with you. You'll be the last person I ride with. Now, of course, I think there is a time when we would lift up holy hands. I often think in prayer meetings, I wish brethren would hold up holy hands. I mean, literally. It would stop a lot of long-winded prayers. I mean, if they could only pray as long as their hands were up, Wouldn't last too long. Away in Tasmania, There was a dear brother who used to pray very lengthily. He'd go on and on, you know, go down so deep, And come up so drop. It was like a cook's tour. And this occasion, he started to pray, And he started off in Tasmania, he went to Australia, He came over to the Solomon Islands, He went on yonder to New Guinea, And up to Fiji, and round to America, And round he went for about 20 minutes in Spandau. No, please, he didn't go to the Solomon Islands, I suppose I've upset the story now. But he went to New Guinea and right around, And when he sat down, a quaint brother rose to his feet, And in a very curfew, high-pitched voice said, Dear Lord, our brother has forgotten the cannibals in the Solomon Islands, Left the cannibals in the Solomon Islands. And he said, You know, I take, don't you? I take, brethren, the truth, That we need those tough hands like that, But of course it is not the little hands we need, no. Because you can't pray everywhere lifting up holy hands, But you can pray everywhere. But praise God, what he's saying is this, That if we regard iniquity in our hearts, The Lord will not hear us. Oh, but there may be holiness in the house of God. But I must come, I must come to a close. I'm sorry, ladies, I had so much to say to you. So much to say to you. Please, if there is the prayer for men, There is the pattern for women. Propriety. Let your women be dressed in modest apparel. I wish that word, women, was the same word for all men. Especially in America. Did I? No, I didn't hear anyone say amen to that. No, please. Someone has rightly said, And I want to tell you this, there's more in my Bible than to use just these verses. I am teaching Timothy, and so I've got to use them. I can think of better things to talk about than this. But someone has well asked, What sort of clothes is it, a personal choice? And someone has well said, An elder in our fellowship used to say it, But I'm sure hundreds of others have said, That the correct attire, whether it be for a brother or a sister, Is the attire that is so acceptable that afterwards, Because of their outlandish attire, You don't remember them. Or because of their old-fashioned attire, You don't remember them. You see, I've been saved long enough, I've been saved long enough to remember when I was first converted in our fellowship, Of course, it was a little more rigid than some. You know, it's one of those fellowships where you have a board, Those in fellowship sit in front. But I can remember the time when a dear sister took my wife aside and said, You know, Mary, I don't think it's the coming that you should wear silk stockings. Black stockings are the right attire for a Christian sister. Today, black stockings are the absolute height of modern fashion. How things change. But this is what he's saying, Let's dress for the glory of God. It doesn't matter, whatever it may be. Dare to remind us of this, Hank. Who doesn't? Not with palaces. Not with gold or pearls or cochlear-ads. Oh, please, please. I don't suppose there's anything wrong with pearls. I don't know. I don't think there's anything wrong, indeed, with seeking to look smart. If my wife didn't, I've got a feeling I might speak to her. But I do know this, What's being talked of here, surely, Is that that would make poorer Christians embarrassed When someone marches in and there are others in the assembly Who are unable to have such things. You walk in and pray to see, This is what God wants either among men or women. And then, surely, he goes on and speaks of this, Of piety, but with good work. Then he speaks of press. He says, I suffer not a woman to teach, nor you perpetuality, But to learn and fight, brethren, sisters. What a chapter! Oh, that you and I, men, put God first in our lives, And these things will fall into their rightful place, won't they? There'll be no need for anyone to say anything When Christ is first in our lives. God, may I quote it again, please? Let the Lord have his way in your life every day. There's no rest, there's no peace, Until the Lord has his way. Place your life in his hands, Just as you're in his plans. Let the Lord, let the Lord have his way. Shall we close, friends? O God and Father, we come to thee this morning With a realization that thou hast somewhat to say unto us. And we would say, as the Pharisees said long ago, Most first they are. Give to us, we tiny listening ears, Give to us obedient lives, That we may be hearers and doers of the word of God. Grant that we may know how to behave ourselves In the house of God, for Jesus' sake. Amen. Thank you.