Sunday Night
Sunday Night - June 30, 2024
Well, good evening to you here in the chapel. This is our Sunday night service here at the First Baptist Church of Algiers. We're located at 9559, Florida Boulevard, here in Walker, Louisiana. We're here in the chapel this evening. I'm glad to be here. There's a few of us gathered together. We have a lot of sick folk, a lot of folks out of town. So, but there's still a few of us gathered here together. I thank the Lord for it. Let's open our service in the selected hymns page number 20. Come on to me, verses 1 and 3. Come on to me, Jesus, come on to me. Come on to me, Jesus, come on to me, Jesus, come on to me, Jesus, come on to me. Come on, come on to me. Come on to me, Jesus, come on to me, Jesus, come on to me, Jesus, come on to me, Jesus, come on to me, Jesus, come on to me, Jesus, come on to me, Jesus, come on to me, Jesus, come on to me, Jesus, come on to me, Jesus, come on to me. Amen, our dear Father, we thank You for bringing us back here. I thank You for all the blessings through the day. Thank You for all the services. Thank You, Lord, that the gospel has went out one more time. Thank You, Lord, that You haven't left us to ourselves. Bless us one more time, Lord, today, tonight. At this time, Lord, we look at the help, Lord, I do ask You to bless us, bless Brother Mel as he stands, give him words to speak, Lord, hold him up, give him strength, give him power to call, to send out thy word and call sinners to Christ, O Lord, help us meet with us in Thy Spirit, Lord, don't leave us to ourselves. Help us. I do ask You, Lord, for our pastor, Lord, did You bless him, heal his body, raise him up. Lord, you know all the problems and needs that He has, we ask You for Him. Thank You for Brother Freddie, Ms. Shirley, Lord, Lord, there as they deal with the doctors and those things, we ask You for them, bless and heal, Lord. And all we ask You for others, though, all those on a sick list, Lord, heal, raise up. We ask You, Lord, for our lost folks, Lord, help, turn hearts, open hearts, cause them to believe, Lord, help us. We look to thee, Lord, I can do nothing. I don't have anyone else to call on, to look to, no other place for me to hope. My hopes in thee help us, Lord. Meet with us here, bless us according to thy will. And I ask it in Christ's name. Amen. Amen. Well, I know you that came in here tonight, y'all saw all the digging on the highway there, they're digging up the shoulder, they've got one driveway closed. We have to use one, they're going to fix this little section and they'll close off the other driveway and let us use the one that's closed now, but they're working on the roads here and hopefully it'll only be a few days. But if we judge that by the way they do most work, we might be six months, but it seems like a small, simple job they're doing. And so maybe the Lord will bless them and they'll be through. I also want to mention that pastors in the hospital, he went to the doctor this morning, they said that he's right on the verge of pneumonia, so they carried him over to the hospital. He's supposed to be having, I think, the pneumonia treatments, where they inject the IV of antibiotics, strong doses and all those things. So pastor is in the hospital. I don't think it's a serious problem and I know pneumonia is a serious problem in itself, but let's do pray for him. And then brother Freddie is there with Ms. Shirley, Ms. Shirley's in the hospital, Freddie's there with her, she's got COVID and I think maybe some other problems. Not sure what, but let's do pray for Ms. Shirley. And brother Freddie. And then there's others of our people out with COVID. It seems like COVID's making another round. I don't think we'll ever be rid of COVID again. They say it's kind of like the cold and the flu, it's going to come around every year, but hopefully it won't be these extreme cases like we originally had. So let's do pray for our people, pray for pastor, especially that the Lord will heal him up, raise him up, restore him to us and let's pray. Pray for our sick folks, pray for our lost folks. Let's not neglect calling on the Lord. Let's take our selected hymns now. According to number 69, morning will come versus one in three and then brother Mel is going to come up and bring the message. [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] I'd like to welcome everyone here tonight and it's a blessing to be able to come and talk about my Lord and may the Lord give us grace to speak and grace to hear and we do have a lot of sick folks so let's keep them all in prayer I know in our family we have a number of folks that are not doing very good right at this time so let's go to the throne and grace our gracious heavenly Father we come to the throne and grace as needy creatures needy Lord because as brother Glenn said we need you we need you Lord and we need thy for you to go before us and prepare hearts prepare the way and Lord that tonight someone might be able to say the Lord is passing by and saved their poor lost wretched soul was a blessing that would be the Lord is passing by father we thank you for the blood that speaks better things than the blood of bulls and goats we thank you Lord for thy righteousness Lord we have none of our own we thank you Lord that we can come to you with every need whether it's big or small all things are in my hands and Lord thou art sovereign and so we ask for these things to raise our pastor up all according to thy will and we do pray for those in the hospital and the nursing homes and those that are struggling hard with sin we ask all this in Christ Jesus name amen multitudes multitudes I would say believe in in a God and the Apostle Paul and his journeys went through the Ephesians tomorrow's hill and when he walked through the hill and through the devotions that was going on the people were had all types of gods idols raised up to worship their own particular God of their choice and he come across one that caught his eye and he said and as I pass by this is an Acts the 17th chapter 13th verse I think and as I pass by and beheld your devotions I found an altar with the inscription to the unknown God therefore ye ignorantly worship him declare I onto you and that's what we're going to do tonight is title of the messages the unknown God multitudes upon multitudes if you go to any church and area you're going to find people that readily believe that there's God and but to most people to most people to the multitudes that we run into and speak to God is their imaginary friend to them God is their store basket Jesus is a store basket to him Jesus is their physician to get him off the bed of sickness Jesus is is their spare tire when their life when their life goes flat and obstacles and problems array rise in their life and they call on their Jesus God is an imaginary friend who who winks his sin and who declares to their hearts that he loves everybody and to go to to go to heaven requires some tears saying a prayer and getting baptized and is about all that that is required with this imaginary God that they serve and this my friends is the God that most people serve the unknown God and I want to declare tonight what the Bible brings forth because that is the only source of information that we have that we can share one with another is the only source of information that we have that will show us the way the truth and the life the Lord Jesus Christ God is an imaginary friend winks his sin and requires a minimal amount of devotion that ever suits the person's life and responsibilities I was sitting one day in a truck stop and I was talking to a young man and he the conversation came around to the Lord asking some questions and he said oh me and the man upstairs have a good relationship and this is what I'm talking about an imaginary friend who has no power and no ability because he is imaginary in the mind but over in Colossians here we find a most gracious verse in the book of Colossians and it says it starts out here and it says to whom God would make known and this statement to whom God would make known speaks about the mystery that had been hid from ages and from generations speaks about the coming Messiah speaks about salvation and he says to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery and wherever you see a word like mystery it means it must be revealed because it's hidden from the eyes of natural man to whom God would would make known the glory of this mystery amongst the Gentiles and what is this mystery which is Christ in you the hope of glory now there are multitudes in churches they will readily say that they believe in Jesus they believe in a Savior they'll readily say they believe in heaven they believe in hell but what is missing is that they have no experimental knowledge in other words a work of grace a work of the Holy Spirit upon the heart and life that has brought forth a knowledge that's beyond the grasp of of natural man multitudes believe in the Savior multitudes believe that Jesus come into the world most of them revel in the thought of a baby Jesus and they'll take the Lord Jesus Christ in the storehouse they'll take Jesus Christ in the healing of their bodies by the by the great physician the Lord Jesus Christ they'll take God as a helper when they're in trouble or in sickness or in afflictions but they will not take Christ Jesus the Lord in His sovereignty and in His ability to save or destroy to save or to send to hell according to His will and where it's missed and why it is no salvation to believe all these things is found in two little words which are easily to run over I've heard people quote quote this verse and they they'll say Christ is my hope of glory but I'm going to show you tonight by God's grace the difference between head knowledge and experimental knowledge the difference between life and death the difference between a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ is found in these two words little words Christ in you Christ in you the hope of glory there is no other way it must be Christ in you everything else's head knowledge Jesus Christ is not a imaginary friend to a true believer Jesus Christ the Lord Jesus Christ when the Lord was dealing in my life and I come to the knowledge of of of the wretched sinner that I was and that all my sins were against the holy God and I readily accepted the fact that I not only should go to hell I should be in hell right now was my thoughts and I I did not demand or command God to do anything in my life but I begged him as a beggar on a downhill I begged him Lord that you would have mercy that you would have mercy upon this sinner who deserves to be in hell Christ in me is my hope of glory nothing more nothing less that that means that Christ is not an imaginary friend to me that doesn't that means that all the things that the Lord is capable of doing are in his hands to dispense the provisions just to the raising up off of the bed of affliction the trials and tribulations that come because he is my only hope Christ in me my hope of glory and this is what Paul says after he makes that statement he says in whom not in what not in head knowledge he says in whom we preach in whom we preach warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present you perfect in Christ Jesus in Christ Jesus the salvation is not in the hands of man it's not in the preacher's hands it's not in the denomination's hands it's not in anything or anything of man making it is a sovereign act of a holy God who says not by works of righteousness which he have done but according to his mercy is saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost now this is how Paul speaks in Galatians 220 in Galatians 220 I want you to listen to the pronouns in this in this verse he is speaking about an experimental in other words a work that has taken place in his life that's beyond any religion he had all that religion could give and that was to wake up in hell he had all that religion could do make himself righteous and wake up in hell he had all that his effort could could muster up of trying to be a keeper of the law when his eyes were opened he saw that in me he says dwelleth no good thing but sin listen to what he says I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live I the eye in me the eyes crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ live within me the life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me the whole of the gospel is in that verse eight short pronouns he uses to describe what has happened to him it isn't a big long discourse of theology it is simply I've been put to death with Christ when Christ died I died nevertheless I live yet not I it isn't me it's Christ living in me you see that's why God the imaginary friend group have nothing they're gonna wake up in hell all they have is a little head knowledge of religion all they have is is a little go to church and sit on a pew and and hope and your imaginary friend that that you'll go to heaven they have nothing because it isn't experimental and it's not been done by the spirit of the living God I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ live it in me oh that my friend is what your prayer should be Lord I want to know you here in this in this heart I want to know you inside I want I want Christ in me to be my hope of glory not not a head knowledge of of Jesus not a I don't care how much you read the Bible I don't care how much you go to church I don't care how many tapes I remember one time going to pick a unit I we were taking a young man with us and and we were going in his car he wanted to take his car and he played he played Shelton trailblazers over and over gone and and coming back and I said how are you going to get anything out of all that it isn't is it how much but it's Christ you want Christ alone Christ and those two words in me my hope of glory and the life which I now live I live in a flesh I live and the life that I now live in a flesh I live by the faith not his faith listen it isn't Paul's faith it wasn't Paul's crucifixion these were accomplished by the spirit of the living God when he when he dashed all of the apostles the apostles religion he dashed it through it down and he said I'm lost I'm lost I'm blind I can't see I don't I don't know the way and cried on to the Lord and he says I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me you want to know you want to know if if if you're living by the faith of the Son of God who loved you do you want to know how to know did he save a lost center when he saved you that's how do you know because only the spirit of the living God can do that work man can't do it the preacher can't do it reading going to church sitting on a pew putting into the bucket no works of righteousness are you able to do to accomplish that work it has to be done by the Lord's the spirit of God the Lord Jesus Christ in you who loved me and gave himself for me you see Christ came into the world to save sinners lost centers not whole centers not hoping to get better centers not out doing somebody else because you think you're more religious or got more going for you than than the public in the back of the church no no there's no there's no foundation there the hope is Christ in you the hope of glory this is the faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners nothing more nothing less not to build temples and cathedrals not not to do any of those those religious things that people do he come into the world to die for sinners are you a lost center do we have any lost centers here tonight that is the only one that will look to Christ and Christ alone as long as you're trying to dig up some good works as long as you're trying to perfect some some religious religious knowledge and religious deeds I've always been amazed at Pat one one funeral pastor was there preaching and there was some nuns and one of the priests and he started he started by saying there is no purgatory there's no chance of salvation after death and these four nuns and their doting priests all hit the trail hit the sawdust trail I mean they just hit the trail and pastor went on speaking the truth if they never repented if they never came clean and came clear they have only held a look forward to this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom Paul says I am chief I am chief and that's why the scripture says here I'm crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I Christ live within me and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me and the only one he does that for is lost sinners lost if you was never lost you don't have Christ in you as your hope of glory no salvation he didn't die for righteous people for that which that which cause I suffer these things nevertheless I am not ashamed for I know whom this is why God the imaginary friend of of religious people will fail in that day because it isn't whom whom is a living person resurrect crucified buried and resurrected the third day and ascended into heaven for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed on to him against that day I know whom I have believed and I know that Christ in me is my hope of glory won't you have him once you cast all everything else to the to the dung heap and come to Christ as a lost doomed and damned sinner who rightly deserves to be in hell and he doesn't have to save you because he is sovereign but he will save you if you come to him lost not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost I'm not going to keep you long tonight I just want to leave you enough to meditate on tonight did Christ die for you he died for me he died for me a father thank you thank you Lord thank you for calling me out of darkness one day thank you for opening my blinded eyes up to see that I was a hell deserving worthless sinner who deserve nothing but hell but Lord you didn't have to save me but Lord you did because I had nowhere else to go just like brother Glenn said tonight we have nowhere else to go Lord you're only hope you're my only hope Christ in me my hope of glory amen [BLANK_AUDIO]