Sunday Night
Sunday Night - September 1, 2024
Good evening to you folks here in the chapel. This is our regular Sunday night service here at First Baptist Church of Algiers. We're located in Walker, Louisiana at 9559 Florida Boulevard here in Walker, Ohio, 8190. And this has passed our Pandora's inviting you folks who hear us over the Internet and videos and the other means that you have, maybe this sermon audio we invite you to stay tuned now. We're going to open our service by turning to number 321 in our red song book and saying does Jesus care, verse 1, 2, 3, and 4. God is Jesus care, when my heart is made to deeply form her, and so has the word of distress, and the cares distress, and the way grows weary and more. Oh yes, he cares, I know he cares, his heart is touched with my grief, and the days of weary alone, I swear with I know I stay prepared, thus Jesus cared, when my way is stored, with a name with strength and fear, that's the day my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do a day came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do, my days came to do you give praise in the Lord for your blessings of the day and blessings of the night and blessings of being able to hear the gospel, how often do you thank the Lord for that? Is our Sunday night prayer meeting and praise service enough for you and the rest of your time is yours? I have a burden that you don't know anything about, folks, and I'm going to say there's a few things that might get up under you hide because I learned a long time ago you got to be upfront with everybody. We don't compromise God's Word, we don't abide our time. The Lord lays it on our heart. Listen, it's the Sunday night prayer service enough for you, the Saturday evening prayer service. Listen, I want to tell you tonight that I have spent time asking the Lord to show me why our folks are not being saved. Have you done that? Have you asked the Lord that you, you know, folks don't realize that you can speak to the Lord. You have a communication with the Lord in the bat of an eye, the twinkling of an eye, you can go there. Listen, why are our folks not being saved? I believe with all my heart that it's because it's because we're not concerned about their souls. Oh, I know this song. I know you name some in prayer meeting. I know that. But are you concerned enough to pray for them? I don't know if you hear the heard the voice of truth or hear it heard it this morning. I hope you did. Listen, I oftentimes tell you how the pastor speaks of those things that are to come, but he makes one statement that I'm always ready and I always knew it. But now tonight, it went this morning, it went home to my heart. Either in hearing the broadcast or reading earlier, never before, once before he said, God will punish sin. You ever think about that? Sin has to be punished. It's not something that you can throw off. Sin has to be punished. Why did the Lord create hell to punish sin? Why did Christ die to a tone for our sins that we wouldn't have to be punished, that we wouldn't have to suffer eternity loss, but sin has to be paid for. I like to go back and find that verse. I don't know where it is right now. When the Lord was baptized and you come up out of that water, the dove lit up on his head, and the Lord's God of heaven, his father. This is my beloved song in whom I am well pleased. Are you well pleased with the Lord? Or do you say, I don't know? I don't have no knowledge of the Lord. The average person believes that he's a good God. I won't punish anyone, but no, sin must be and will be punished. Look around. You, our homes are torn apart by sin, by idolatry, and we've been spoon fed over the years that God loves everybody, but no, God hates sin. I know what's out there. I know what's the average religious world is. I know, and I'm sure you do. Many of us, all of us probably have heard some modern day preacher ever now and then I hear one on television. Can't stay there long. You've got to go because it's so terrible, but they're all absurd, what they say. But listen, God hates sin. Every man who whoever gets saved will be held, who never gets saved. Every man, woman who never gets saved will be held responsible for sin, for sin, and also for the sin of his family, for whom he is responsible. Did you get that? Did you get that? Did you get that? We have folks, some who attend this ministry, radio audience, that never bring their children to church. We have some more, it has to be done to school every Sunday morning, and the young children. Do you bring yours? You leave your, you don't, you don't come and don't bring them or either leave them somewhere, you can be responsible. I think about my own grandchildren. They not being often heard in gospel, some of them are, but not all of them. Is it my fault? I haven't been honest about it. I want to see them here. I want to see you here. I want to see you here. But listen, listen, listen. I don't want to be sidetracked, but my man, you're responsible. If you, a woman who has no husband and has children, you're responsible for bringing those children. If you can't be here, set them on the couch, let them listen to the broadcast. That's right. I'm telling you, folks, we need, we need to get a, get a grip. I often tell you about my own. We, we listened to the radio 99% of the time because we couldn't, couldn't go to New Orleans early on. We could hear the broadcast by hanging on to a wire in the back of the old radio, hook it onto the screen, heard the early broadcast, but we got our kids up dressed them just like they were going to school, set them on the couch till the broadcast went off. And then when the 11 o'clock service come on, we'd had them back. And I'm not ashamed to say that. That's what the Lord laid on our hearts. Non-religious, most of you know that. But listen, you're responsible, my friend, my friend, the man, our woman, our both of you together. You neglect to bring them up, neglect to teach them God's word, and you along with them will suffer. You will suffer the consequences for eternity. Now, I believe that with all my heart. You can't smooth that over. The Lord has brought us under a true ministry. Many of us back there years ago, some of us not too long ago. I don't know where you'd go to find the true ministry under the, in our hearing area. I don't. But the Lord has blessed us. Now you can say, we're pastor. I'm concerned. But does the Lord know that you're concerned? Does the Lord know that you're concerned? I want to stop and get down where we live. Right where we live, you and I. You folks on the internet, if you're able to hear this ministry on a regular basis or if you're one of our regular listeners at the mission places and you hear over their internet, I want you to listen. Our church, our ministry, First Baptist Church of Algiers is dying on the vine. Dying on the vine. You know, I was raised on the farm in the fall of the year and everything, just about cropped out, cucumbers and stuff, just dying, a hot song. That's what's happening, happening to us. Dying on the vine, or tonight, or some of those that were here this morning, what about the ones that were here last Sunday? They're not here today. They wouldn't hear today and they're not here tonight. They died on the vine. I would be sure that they have an excuse. You'll have an excuse. I know that this ministry is a peculiar ministry. It was when I went there. I never had been in the church, so I didn't really know. But Brother Shelton had Ms. Grammar on Monday morning. If you wasn't there Sunday night, she called you Monday morning, eight o'clock. See if you were sick. See if one of you weren't in church. See if one of your children wasn't in Sunday school. I think we ought to do that. I think we ought to do that. If one of you all want to volunteer to do it, I'll let you do it. I'll give you lame names and all. Dying on the vine, where tonight are those who were here this morning, where of all our folks on Wednesday night? We have church here on Wednesday night. Some of you all didn't know that. Some of you folks who live not far from here, you come on Sunday morning, maybe Sunday night, but we have church on Sunday night, on Wednesday night. We play a recorded message that I brought many years ago and it's a lot better than I can do now. Folks say, "Well, I don't want to listen to the recording. You listen to the voice of truth, don't you?" Every one of those Internet things are recorded and then played. I had folks tell me before, "Oh, I wouldn't go up there and listen to no tape. We used to play a tape in Baton Rouge for a year, 30 years, 40, 20 years." I said, "Well, you must tell vision. Everything you see on there, except the local news, is on tape." Even Miss Kamala taped her little interview night before and then played it the next night. You watched it. You didn't have anything against a recorded message. So we come here on Wednesday night. We have our singing service and listen to the tape, listen to the Internet broadcast. And I'm getting rid of good results. Folks will call me and tell them they appreciate it. Yes, right. Listen, this ministry has always been known for not biting its tongue. And I don't start to not going to start doing it now. I know that I don't have long to stand here and sit here and be true to you. I know that. You don't have to tell me. Maybe you will be glad. I hope not. I say we are just drying up. No one is getting saved. Oh, no. We are sending out the gospel on a great way by the radio, by the Internet, by the printed page, by the terminology, but are we surveilling in prayer? Boy, we take pride. In fact, we own the radio all over the world. This ministry, the worldwide ministry. But are we praying for our folks? The foundation of any work of the Lord is prayer. Prayer. Prayer. Listen, are we surveilling? I think not. Before I go on, are you concerned about your family? You see, my position here is to be true to you. And sometimes you have to be pretty well told the truth. Are you concerned about your family, your loved ones? Will you answer yes or no? Oh, my friend, listen, have you told the Lord lately that you are concerned and you want to see your family saved? Have you told the Lord then? Are you concerned over those lost souls in this church, not necessarily your family? Are you? In your own family, all of your friends, do you long to walk? Do you long to walk and God will? He says, pray along. There's a whole lot there that I don't have tonight. Does it ever cross your mind that you may be a hindrance to someone getting saved? Will you ask the Lord to keep you from being a hindrance? I want you to listen. My text, as I said, is found in Isaiah 66. It's the latter part of that verse, verse 8. "For as soon as I unveiled, she brought forth her children." I know all of you have heard that before. You may wonder some of you, like I used to do what is trivial. I didn't know what that meant, but I soon found out. Getting honest with the Lord, Lord, you know, I know of no greater verse or instruction than this. This is God's Word, telling you and me as soon, as soon as we get serious, as soon as you and I become concerned about our loved ones, their soul and where they will spend eternity. Listen, the Lord says He will save our folks. Listen, that's our Lord's Word, just as sure as we get, as soon as we get serious. That's another verse that I quote sometime, "If my people, which are called by my name, is that what we are?" I consider us to be God's people. You and I, if we, as Scripture said, as soon as we pray, He will heal from heaven. Isn't that something? As soon, that's a stipulation, that's a condition, as soon as we pray. Listen, I had written down that every person whom the Lord has saved has begun to trail in prayer for the lost, but I had to change that, for we have not all been travailing. I can't give credit where there's no credit due. Not all of us, including me, have been travailing in prayer. There were a majority of folks I know don't pray. And I know this because we don't see folks being saved. When we begin to pray, honestly, earnestly, sincerely, travailing in prayer, for it cost us something to pray, we'll see our folks saved. We will. Isn't that something to strive for? You Lord said, Lord, He says, You pray and I'll save them. Isn't that something? You pray? First Baptist Church of our years, you all go to pray and I'll go to save it. I've been blessed to see the Lord save a bunch of folks years ago, years ago. I want to see it again. I want to see you save. If it ain't but one, I want to see you save. If it ain't but two, I want to see you save. I do. Listen, if my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves. Have you ever been humbled? Have you asked the Lord to humble you? Shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face. Seek my face, folks, and turn from their wicked ways. That's part of the equation. Pray and turn. If you go to pray and you turn, the Lord will turn you. He will take away the desire for foolishness. Take away the desire for laziness. Take away the desire for being just unconcerned. Then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now, my friend, this is God's sure promise. That's one of God's promises. That's not idle talk. That's not trash talk. That's God speaking. God speaking. We say, oh, I wish the Lord would save our people. Then I tell you to begin now tonight, tomorrow, to pray specifically for a lost soul. Leave all of the stuff off. Pray for the sick, of course, to breathe, of course, but pray for the lost. Call their name to the Lord. That's what I do. That's what I do. Listen, pray and believe and He will answer our prayers. I don't want to be critical, but every one of us have lost loved ones. Can't we spend time in prayer for them? Aren't they precious enough to us to pray for them? I'm not talking about lip service. No. So much of our religion is Hail Mary, full of grace and all that stuff. That's not praying. That's not praying. The world is gone so far from the truth. I used to sit in the office down upstairs at the office on the second floor and I could see the tabernacle across the street. I've seen half a dozen guys come by. We're women to come by, look up, see the sign, first baby's church and make a sign across. That's the average religion. That's important to those folks to make a sign of the cross, whatever it means, I don't know. But can't we spend some time in prayer? Is that too much to ask of you and me? Think about those whom we love, spending eternity separated from us and separated from God. It's difficult for me to even speak of being separated from God. It's difficult. Now you listen. As soon as first Baptist Church of Algiers and all her missions and all of those who called themselves a part of this work, as soon as we travail, as soon as we come to the Lord in prayer, fervent, effectual prayer. The Scripture says the effectual prayer of a righteous man, a veil that's much. Listen, you'll see folks saved. Don't you want to see folks saved? Don't you want to see folks saved? We've got folks that we all love, honest and clean and sincere and support to work with us. They're just, but then I saved. None of that will save them. It's only the blood. Talked about it in prayer meeting. Only the blood can wash away our sin. What can wash away our sin? Nothing but the blood. I know that we are peculiar people. This ministry, always, what boy was peculiar when I went there. When I first saw it, I knew it was peculiar because they stood up in prayer meeting and praised the Lord one after another, one right after another, one right after another. Pastor Sheldon called the work David. Do a little work on the tabernacle. Saturday morning, we farted me in there. I know we don't have that kind of crowd no more, but we could have the same spirit. We could. Pastor, what can I do? Listen, you'll see folks saved when we begin to pray. You'll see your wife's saved or your husband's saved, your children's saved, and your grandma and grandpa's saved, they're not already. You know, I used to think that all the old people would say, if that's not true, that's not true. Some are, I hope. As sure as I believe that the sun will rise in the morning, let's face the facts. We must prevail. We must be in earnest. Pray that the Lord will save our people and that the people of this church, let's ask ourselves a serious question. Are we praying for lost souls? Am I now concerned enough to be called a travailer? Do you know what we mean, what it means to travail? The dictionary says it means to labor hard, hard labor. One way of travailing is to be here on Saturday afternoon at four o'clock, men and women, we meet to pray. We could use a more travailer. There's a lot to pray for, folks. I will be the first to admit that I'm guilty. I want to be honest with the Lord, and I confess openly to the Lord that I'm ashamed of my own prayer life. I believe this. You need not be in a group to pray. You need not be on your knees to pray and to labor. I believe that it's a spirit of prayer. I believe you can pray while you wash in dishes. Anybody still wash dishes? This washer took over, huh? I know you could pray cutting the grass. There's a lot of that going on. I can sit on my carport and march my grandson and go out and graze and pray, especially if it's raining a little bit. The Lord wants to hear our prayers. You'll ever consider what the Lord would have us to do. It's a lot of things the Lord tells us to do. That's what He wants from us, our hearts turn to the Lord in prayer. And I'm here now as your pastor, concerned about our folks. Oftentimes I take much courage and feel good as to how the Lord is providing for the work supplying the needs and money for the radio stations and all of those things, solving every problem that we face each day. They're in the office. I rejoice in those things, but then I stop and say, "You know, not many people being saved. Not many people being saved. All of this is good to know that we send the gospel around the world, but listen, would you listen? What about your grandkids and minds? Are we neglecting them?" I could throw these notes that I have here down and speak what's on my heart. Our ministry, our church, as I said, is dying on the vine. We're sitting idly by watching it. Is this what you want? Every one of us, this old and young, are we ready to give up? Join the religious world. No, no, no one would ever get saved. No one would ever get saved. Lately, this throws me on my face asking the Lord for mercy. He leads me to a text like this, "As soon as Zion prevailed," she brought forth her children. I bring it to you. It's God's Word, not mine. As soon as God's people look to the Lord in sincerity, as soon as we bear down in hard labor, in prayer, as soon as you put your loved one's soul before your own desires, then the Lord will hear you and deliver. It came to me while I was thinking about this message. Many of us think more of ourselves of our comfort than the lost souls of our family. Oh, I just don't feel like praying tonight. I just don't feel like going up to the church on Saturday evening or Sunday night. I just don't feel like writing a letter to some poor soul, one who is not saved. Let them know we're still praying for them. I don't feel like picking up the phone and calling some poor soul and cheering them up. I don't feel like going to the service. I don't. I don't. I don't. My friend, that's our trouble. We want our own comfort. We want to keep our own pleasures, even in our giving unto the Lord. Oh, I could buy a new truck with that money. I could buy a new automobile with that money. Oh, I could buy a boat with that money. I can't sacrifice and give to the Lord more, Pastor Shelton often said, that our folks would ever get, listen now, that if our folks would ever get their want to fix, it would be in good shape. Listen, we would be a lot better off than we are now. We're going to have to bombard the course of heaven, my friend. We're going to have to be as a widow woman who pestered or worried that unjust judge until he granted her request. You know, you can't worry, the Lord. He tells us, come unto me and I'll give you rest. But he also said, I misquoted that other, come now, let us reason together. Did you know you could sit down in your chair and reason with the Lord? A lot easier than you can come sit in my office and reason with me. You can reason with the Lord. Lord, you said and quotes scriptures for him, remind him what he said. Is that sacrilegious? No, sir. He says, come, let us come now and we'll sit together. Listen now, I don't believe that you can disturb the Lord. I don't, no matter the hour or the day or the night, not with your prayers for his ear as we speak, tuned to hear. Do you believe this, my folks? I do. Any church, any group, any pastor that can be satisfied without souls being saved, we'll see no one saved. Now, I know what's out there. Being saved in so-called in the average ministry is not prepared much, but I'm talking about here. Are we happy with nobody being saved? Oh, my friend. I guess I have to be honest. I guess I was maybe a sport, you might call it, because I saw folks being saved. I saw folks. I remember one time in Fellowship Day, I'd already gone to bed. People were still outside. We're playing around and talking. Some fellow come in there and jumped on me and my parents said, "Lord, save me." And we just set up there and rejoiced in for the next hour or two. That's what I want to see. Throw caution to the wind. Throw your feelings to the wind. Not pray. Call a name. Tell them you pray and fall. Not just because they're sick or feel good bad or got a headache. That's good. That's good to pray for them. We do. Listen, I think often with that verse in Jeremiah 8 that says, "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we're not saved." That's the most frightening scripture in God's Word. The harvest is past. Gone. Gone. This is our condition here at this time in this church. This year is going by. We're already in September, not long till Fellowship Day, not too long. Many have been the trials. Many have been the blessings. We've seen some go to be with the Lord. We've buried several, but it's not to them that I speak. It's to you who are yet in the bondage of Satan. I know that the Lord calls on his say once to pray. I know that. And we should. For we know what your status is. You who are not saved. We know that you're in danger of hell's fire. You're skating on the thin ice. On the thin ice. I never had much thinking about that. We were up in Minnesota by the J.B. Michelle and me and Mama to the Indian Mission. They have a lake there that they race cars on it in the wintertime. They have car races on this big lake. I think they call it Red Lake. But the lady that we went to see told me, said, "Now when spring comes, you don't get out there because that ice will, you'll fall through." In fact, when we were there, it was de-icing. Your ice was about all melted. Because I'd like to see them car racing on ice. But you skating, if you're not saved, you're skating on that little edge there. I know you probably heard Brother Shelton tell this story about the man crossing the Mississippi River back there years and years and years and years ago. He got there and he froze over. He got out on his belly. Each and across the river spread his body out as far as he could spread arms and legs. Each and across the river got about halfway across. He heard something coming. "Here come a man with a wagon load of logs with six horses pulling it. Come right out on the wall, right out on the spice." Don't you know he felt terrible? But he wasn't on the thin ice, but you are. Listen. Listen now. Let me say again to you who are saved, how can you and I sit still? How can we be complicit and don't say that we are not? How can you or I handle those things, my friend? If we were told tonight that one of our children or one of our grandchildren were killed in a serious accident, can we make Mary? Could we make Mary? Could we laugh? Could we carry on, not on no one, but what's happened? We need to prevail, my friend, for our lost loved ones, for our friends, for our congregation, just not wait until they're gone. Once those eyes are closed, once that heart is stopped, no more opportunity to call on the Lord. Oh, tonight, my friend, I'm going to stop, but I'm afraid for you. Our father, we thank you tonight, that you've been true and faithful to this ministry for many, many years. You haven't left us, our spirit is still available. It is us that's faulty. It is us that need jarring up. It is us that needs to be stirred up. Oh Lord, give us grace to do that. Start our work in each one of our hearts anew. Those who are not here tonight, maybe they're hearing it in the net. Lord, set a fire in their belly. Let's just get honest with the Lord. Lord, I'm lost. I want to be saved. I'm going. We make resolves all the time. Lord, let them resolve. Let me resolve. Be true and honest. Have mercy upon us, O Lord. Take charge of each one of our hearts and lives. Go with us now for Christ's sake. Amen. Good night, folks and God bless you. [BLANK_AUDIO]