2024-05-29- A Well Lit Tent

The speaker expresses gratitude for being in the house of the Lord and acknowledges that they have been brought a long way by God. They emphasize that their help comes from the anointing of the Holy Ghost and that they are there to help others through the power of the Holy Ghost. They read from 2 Corinthians and talk about the limitations and fragility of the human body, but also the longing for a better home in heaven. They encourage the audience to desire and groan for that heavenly home and to prioritize serving God over the desires of the flesh. The message is titled "A Well-Lit Tent." It's good to be in the house of the Lord tonight. Thankful for everything that's been said and done. Son, Brother Anthony should have just went on with that. But I feel like the Lord gave me something to help y'all with. I didn't come to get help from y'all. I'm not going to beat you over the head and look at you and tell you you're not helping me. I look for my help through the anointing of the Holy Ghost. And I've come to try to help you through the power of the Holy Ghost and praying that He'll help me. He's brought me a mighty long way. I'm thankful that He came looking for me, Brother Anthony. He's brought me a mighty long way. I might lose you right off the bat, but I venture to say that He's brought me further than anybody in this house tonight, Sister Andrea. You might think that sounds arrogant, and it might sound arrogant, but I'll say it again. He's brought me further than anybody in this house tonight. You might say, well, you're not a very good preacher. No, no, I'm not. You're not a very good singer. No, I'm not. You know, I know more about God than you do. You probably do. But you don't know where He's brought me from. You don't know where my starting place was. You don't know where He brought me out of. You don't know what He saved me from. You don't know the addiction that He brought me out of and the miles and miles and miles and the times that He came looking for me, Brother Tim. He's brought me a mighty long way. So when you don't think I'm a very good preacher, just hold your peace, because I was a really good sinner. I was far from where I am tonight, and I'm thankful for where God has brought me from. I was less than worth and less than a mite, Brother Anthony. I think a mite is worth an eighth of a penny, I think, nowadays. I was worth far less than that, but He came looking for me. And I'm thankful for that tonight. Turn your Bibles to 2 Corinthians 4 and 3. I got something maybe a little bit different tonight that the Lord had dealt with me before on, and I kind of try to keep something in my back pocket, and I'm not smart enough or mature enough or seasoned enough to work on a message, Brother Tim, and then work on a Sunday school message. So when I feel like God gives me something, I kind of keep it there and don't really work on it until I'm asked. But I feel like God had brought something out here tonight, and hopefully I can help you tonight. I really, really want to. It's my heart. It's my desire, and I'm going to give you my heart tonight. I will read, starting 2 Corinthians 4 and 3, and then we'll turn to 2 Corinthians 5 and 1. But 2 Corinthians 4 and 3 says, But if our gospel be hid, it is hid of them that are lost, and whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord. And ourselves, your servants, for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, He did, didn't He? Has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians 5 and 1 just a little further. It says, For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God and house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Oh, what a day that's going to be. Brother Tim, would you pray with the service tonight? Jesus, Lord, God, we love You, we praise You, God. We ask You for Your help, Lord. Oh, Lord, we're not dependent upon our help, God. Glory be to You, Lord. Help will come from You, Lord, not me. Not anything that I have to say, Lord. Jesus, would You have Your grace and will to thank God in some way, Lord, to be encouraged. Jesus, have Your way. Oh, precious Lord. I'd like to title my message tonight, A Well-Lit Tent. A Well-Lit Tent. I might not say that a whole lot because I can barely say it, but I would like to preach on a well-lit tent. Paul describes our natural body here, and he is speaking to the Corinthians, as a tabernacle, Brother Anthony. Our natural body, this body that you're looking at, Paul, Brother Joseph, describes it as a tabernacle, which means a tent. A tabernacle is a tent. It might be a little elementary, but it houses our very soul who man truly is, Brother Austin. David, acknowledging how great God is in Psalms 139 and 19, says, I will praise Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well. Charles Spurgeon once said concerning this, The psalmist had scarcely peered within the veil which hides the nerves, ligaments, and blood vessels from common inspection. The science of anatomy was quite unknown to him, and yet he had seen enough to arouse his admiration of the work and his reverence for that worker. How much more should we be in awe of God's mighty, knowing what we know now? I mean, we don't know everything either, Sister Andrea, about how the body works. There's people, I'd say Brother Austin could do a pretty good job. Brother Tim could do a whole lot. Most of my knowledge is post-mortem, which isn't very helpful to any of us here tonight. But I know a little bit about it. But I surely know way more than David knew at the time when he wrote those words, that I will praise Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. And marvelous are Thy works. A few little facts, and we could go on and on, but we won't. There's 206 bones in this tent, Brother Austin. There's 60,000 miles of blood vessels. That would wrap around the world twice, from what I understand. A heart pumps about 1,800 gallons of blood a day through our veins, through this tent that we have here. That's enough to fill a million barrels of blood in a lifetime. We could go on and on. But the point is that we can agree that we have an awesome Creator tonight. David surely didn't understand the complexity of this tent, but he knew enough to marvel at God's works, and he said, My soul knoweth right well. I might not understand it all, but I know enough to know, my soul knows enough to know that you are a great and mighty Creator. And nevertheless, how great this body is, and that we are surely fearfully and wonderfully made, it does have its limitations, Brother Tim. This tent, this tabernacle, Brother Ronnie, has its limitations. We're full aware of that. It's but a tabernacle. It's a tent. Even David saw the limitations of this tent. He told Nathan, the prophet once, Hey, I'm living in a house of cedar, and the ark of God dwelleth in curtains. A tent. The ark of God? This precious thing is in a tent? Well, I live in a house made of cedar. He wanted, his heart was to build God something better, something more permanent, Brother Joseph. We know the story. It wasn't for him to do it. He would do that later on. He was a man of war, a bloody man. But so this tent we are living in is very fragile compared to what it's holding. It is very fragile. I often see the fragility of a man's body at my job, of course. A guy I picked up just this week, decomposition had set in a mighty way. I could smell the fragility of this body after just a couple of days out in the heat. I could feel it. I could see it, the fragility of a body, the tenderness, and how it reacts to the elements of this world. It is a very fragile body that we live in. He'd only been gone a couple of days. We know that one false move in a vehicle, eating something that might be spoiled, an allergy to something, even a tiny tick bite can take down this tent and send it out into eternity. It does not take very much. But I'd still say that the largest drawback of this tent is that it has its own will that's contrary to God's. Psalms 51 and 5 says, Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Job in deep contemplation stated once that a man that is born of a woman is of a few days and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower and is cut down. He fleeth also as a shadow and continueth not. Life can be hard sometimes. Sister Andrea knows that life can be hard sometimes and seemingly too much for this tent. And someday there's going to be something that was too much for this very tent. And we're going to lay down. We're going to go back to the grave. After the fall of Adam and Eve, we were all plagued with this curse of death. From the moment that you were born, the time clock of life starts ticking, Brother Joseph, and you're headed for the grave. This earthen vessel will return back to the dirt. But it's not about the tent tonight. It's about what's inside of this tent. This tent is drawn to the world, but our soul is longing for a better home, for a creator, a house not made with hands, or it very well should be. 2 Corinthians 5 and 1 says, For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle was dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan earnestly, desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven. Are you groaning tonight? Do you long for that day? Oh, what a day it will be when we see our Master's face, the One who saved us by His grace, and He's going to lead us through that promised land. Are you groaning for that? Does your body groan for it? Do you want it bad more than anything? Do you earnestly desire that heavenly home? You must desire it. You must groan for it. Do you have a fire burning inside this tent that lights you up from the very inside? Have you been stoking that fire and feeding it? Or do you spend your time concerned for the tent, giving it what it wants? Are you under subjection to the tent, or is it under your subjection? Are you serving God, or is your flesh your Master? I heard a story a while back, Brother Don Rich, and most of you all have probably heard this. Brother Don Rich was preaching about the man who switched masters, and he was talking about this preacher in Siberia, and he had spent 18 years in jail, and the only thing he'd done wrong was he didn't register his church. He didn't register his church to the government, and they threw him in jail for that for 18 years. Brother Don Rich went and preached for this man, preached the revival for this man when he got out, and they finally let him out, but he told him that they would shock him, Brother Anthony, they would shock this man and bring him back down and try to get him to denounce God, and he wouldn't do it. And Brother Don Rich came with his translator and visited Sister Carrie, this man's house. I think his name was Kobolinski. Yeah, Kobolinski I think is his name. He went and visited him at his house, and he walked in the door and greeted him, and the guy, Kobolinski, spoke to the translator, and the translator told Brother Don, he said, Brother Don, he wants you, he said, I'm sorry, he wants you to take your shoes off. And Brother Don said, I looked around at this place, and he thought, okay, you know, you want me to take my shoes off, that's fine, I'll take them off, you know, to be respectful, but he thought, I don't know, you know, why you'd want me to take my shoes off in this house, but he took his shoes off, and that guy disappeared. Brother Kobolinski disappeared for a little bit, and he came back with a bucket of water, and he said, I want to wash the man's feet that come to visit me, the man of God. And that's why he wanted him to take his shoes off. And he went, and at some point during the revival, Brother Ronnie, the man asked his translator, he said, go get my discharge papers from the prison. He said, I want you to read them to Brother Don Rich. And he went and got them, and he read them to Brother Don, and at the bottom, he said there's many things on it, but at the bottom it said, it stated, we find this man's beliefs are so deep-rooted, it is impossible to alter him. He had a made-up mind. They shocked him over and over again for 18 years, Brother Ronnie, trying to get him to denounce God, and he would not sell out. He had a made-up mind. He wasn't serving this tent. He didn't care about it. He didn't care about the pressures of this world. He didn't care about the shocking. He didn't care about relief. He cared about getting home to his permanent home. And we've got to be like that. There's chances, more than likely, we'll never have to go through anything like that, Camden. But if we had to, we have to be sold out to God. I saw on a photo circle the other day, Brother Anthony, I think you and your boys went camping, and Sister Michelle said something about me, and me and James said they're camping, and me and James went back home. And why did they go back home? They had a far better home than that tent. It was so much better. They had enough sense. I go camping every once in a while. No more than I have to. But there's a far better home waiting on them, and they knew it. Sure, it's fun camping. You've got hot dogs. You've got marshmallows. You've got s'mores. All I know about camping is food, but you've got fishing and different things like that, and it's great. But then after a while the sun goes down, Sister Lily, the food's gone, you're just left with a bellyache, the temperature drops, and you retire to that cold, hard ground, and the tent doesn't give you much comfort. And you start groaning, oh my, I wish I was home. God's plan is to one day call His children home to wrap this whole thing up. That's the entire plan. Where we can behold His face, the one who saved us by His grace. It's in my notes. What a day that will be. Free from sin and dying, eternally praising Him in all of His glory. This tent, though, is not capable of beholding God in all of His glory. We cannot stand in the presence of our Almighty God in this current dwelling. Moses said to God in Exodus 33 and 18, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. And God said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee, and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and wish you mercy on whom I will shew mercy. And he said, thou canst not see my face, for there shall no man see me and live. So we know that we cannot behold God's face in this current tent. But Paul, who was once blinded at the appearing of Jesus on the road of Damascus, tells the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 15 and 53, for this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. Are you groaning for that day? Do you long for that day? Do you find yourself in your prayer closet saying, God, I'm ready to go home. I want to leave this world. I've got a home that's far better. Are you looking for Jesus to come back in all of His glory? Are you groaning for that day? Can you feel the glory of the Lord shining in you, groaning for that day? Or have you been distracted by the sufferings and the temptations of this world? Constantly having a concern for this tent. We were never called to be tent makers, Brother Tim. Paul was a lot of things, and he was a tent maker. He happened to be a tent maker. That was his occupation. But I can poll each and every one of y'all. I can poll a thousand Christians, and I could say, tell me one great thing about Apostle Paul. I don't think one person would say, oh, he could really build a tent. He was a tent maker. Nobody would say that. That was not what he was about. He told the church at Philippi in Philippians 1 and 20, according to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. He had an earnest expectation and a hope to be with His Savior, magnifying Christ in His body, illuminated. He did His adorning on the inside. His tent was well lit for others to see Christ magnified in Him. And we have to have that tonight. His tent, yes, was badly battered, but Christ was sufficient to get Him through. Romans 8 and 18 says, For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity. If you're not reading along with me, listen to that. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him who has subjected the same in hope, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travails in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit. Even we ourselves groan within ourselves waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our body. We have an adoption experience here. Sister Lily was adopted. Do you know how much mercy it would be? How greatly Sister Lily's life would change if Brother Tim and Sister Carrie seen her face in a magazine and said, I'm going to start sending her money. I'm going to start providing for her from here. That's not what the plan was. They wanted to bring her home. That's the spirit of adoption. But what Paul says here is amazing. All of creation and us as the children of God are anxiously awaiting the coming of the Lord. But why all of creation? Brother Quentin, why would creation be anxiously awaiting the coming of the Lord? When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, there was a curse of man on all creation. Not just us. Genesis 3 and 17 says, And to Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it. Cursed is the ground for thy sake. In sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. There was a curse on this earth, Brother Austin. Romans 8 and 20 says, For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly. It wasn't its fault. It wasn't creation's fault. Not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope. Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. It wasn't creation's fault, but it was made subject to vanity, which translates to a Greek word meaning uselessness. This creation that we're looking at became useless. Doesn't that paint a beautiful picture in your mind? God is so magnificent. Inanimate objects, trees, flowers, and all of earth grown anxiously awaiting that glorious manifestation. Not just us. The coming of the Lord where we can fulfill our purpose. And this world can fulfill our purpose. There's coming a new heaven and a new earth. We're not the only ones getting a makeover. This earth is getting a makeover. The coming of the Lord where we can fulfill our purpose of fellowship and worship of Christ our Lord. Let everything praise the Lord. Read Psalms 148. We don't have time here tonight. I want to keep that light burning inside of me groaning for my heavenly home. Wild light. Why do we need a well-lit tent? Because we can't forget what Paul said. The God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not. He's talking about Satan. Lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ who is the image of God should shine unto them. There's many souls blinded by the God of this world. Small g. Who is the image of God should shine unto them. There's many, many souls blinded by the God of this world dwelling in dark tents. It's up to God's people. You and me. To shine a light in this world from the inside. A well-lit tent. To have our tents right. To have it illuminated. Showing Jesus Christ to this world. Brother Anthony says it a lot. We may be the only Bible some people ever read. But many have made adjustments thinking that they can make improvements to this tent. Some of those used to have it right. There's backsliders that have left God's church, this church, maybe not this church, but different churches that we fellowship with. And it bothers us, Brother Ronnie. What can we do about it? They've altered God's plan. They've changed this tent. They've started adorning this tent. They've made changes, alterations to it. They show up to family events and our heart hurts for that. And they show up and you say, what are you doing? Why does your tent look like that? You was raised better than that. You've read your Bible. You know better than this. Why does your tent look like that? And you say, you don't even have the top on. You don't even have the top on anymore. You're unzipped. You don't even have the stakes nailed in the ground. What are you doing? You was raised different than that. And they say, oh, Dad, Mom, that's old time thinking. That's old time thinking. You don't have to do it that way anymore. I used to think that too, but you haven't read it right. There's a thousand YouTube videos telling you how to really do it. And you say, well, do you still have the instructions? Yeah, I still have it, but I've got an altered version, an easier version. This is a pop-up tent. It's a new age tent. This is different. But I'm still doing God's will. I still have my tent. I just made a few alterations. This is easier. That's not what God meant. I would ask you to keep coming up here to this altar. Keep reading your Bible. Keep praying for those. Stay illuminated. Get your stakes nailed down deep in the ground. And look the way God has told us to look. And have it nailed down right. Let's stay in God's Word. And let's make sure we have it just right, because there is a storm coming for these people that have left Christ. And you know what? Our only hope is to pray to God and to show them have a well-lit tent so when they see us, Brother Ronnie, they'll know when the storm comes. They'll say, you know what? Dad told me I should probably put those stakes in the ground. Mom told me I should probably put the top on. I'm getting a little bit cold. I wish they had a fire burning in here like I used to have. And they can look at us, and they can look at Brother Tim. Brother Tim, you know, Angie Fritz, and I prayed for her today. She testified, and we've talked about it a couple of times. And she joked that she thought that the rapture might have come. And she said, I called my brother just to make sure. And that's funny. And I've heard stories like that before. And I'm not getting on her. I thought it was a wonderful testimony. But we do have that thought. You know, if I thought the rapture was coming, Brother Tim would probably be my first phone call. But we just, you know what she was really saying? My brother's got it right. He's got it right. I know that's the right way to do it. That is the right way to do it. So, you know, I want to make sure he's still around because he's got it right. That's really how I should be doing it. And we've got to live the right way because they are looking at us. They tell on themselves. They know that they don't have it just right. We've got to uphold God's standard and have this tent just right. Because there is a storm coming. There's precious cargo in this tent. We are headed for a better home. It's worth protecting. God will get us there if we just stick to his plan. We don't have to worry about the fragility of this tent if he's inside of us. I've been to many funerals, and people will claim, I've heard it over and over, Sister Carrie. People say, oh, they'll talk maybe in the ranger's room or wherever I'm at, and they'll say, oh, that's not mom. She's done gone home. That's nothing, you know. That's just a shell. That's just a shell of mama. She's not there anymore. It's no big deal. But as a funeral director, we stayed behind, and we closed those doors when the public has went out. And those very last moments, and those people that was talking a big game and said, I ain't worried about that, they look at mom, and they know that that casket's getting ready to come down, and they're going to look upon this tent for the very last time that they love. And they were very bothered by it. They dropped their guard down. And they want to see that tent as long as they can. You can see that they'll touch it one last time. You start to close the casket and say, wait, wait, wait. They'll kiss them one last time on the forehead or on the cheek, and they'll grab their hand. I'll see you in a little while. I'll see you in a little while. And it changes because we do love this tent. We have to. I miss my dad. I talk about it all the time. I miss his tent. I miss his big hands. I miss the brute cologne that he'd wear on a Sunday morning. I can still smell it. I love it. Sometimes I'll wear it. I like it for myself. But I'll wear it just to smell it every once in a while, brother, because I miss that tent that my dad's soul was in. I miss that red uniform that he used to wear. I miss everything about my dad, everything about that tent. It was precious to me. But we are headed for a far better home. And I'm groaning to get there. God hears our groans. It's important that we groan. It's important that we're looking, watching, waiting, groaning for that day, longing for that day. He heard the groans of the Israelites as they were enslaved in Egypt. Exodus 2 and 23 says, And it came to pass in the process of time that the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage. And they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. I'm coming to an end. Sister Michelle, if you'd come to the piano. God hears our groanings as well, and he remembers the covenant that he has with us as well. He sent Moses to save the Israelites out of Egypt's bondage, and he sent a man named Jesus to save us, to lead us to a better home, a far better place, a permanent dwelling. Just yesterday, and I know everybody's had it on their hearts, and I don't know how much was said here Sunday, but a lady asked me if I knew Davy and Natalie, and I told her that I didn't. And she went on to try to start telling me details of everything that went on. I didn't know Davy and Natalie personally. I didn't know them. I know some of you all did, and some of you all knew some of the family. But I did see pictures of them, and I'm thankful at how they kept their tents, Brother Ronnie. I've seen many pictures. I believe it's all over the world, a picture of how God's children keeps their tent and how you're supposed to keep that tent. And I'm thankful for that. I don't want to hear the details of what happened. It's too much for this tent, Brother Tim. I don't want to hear it. I can't hear it, because you know what I start doing? I've got kids their age, and I start thinking about their tents, and I start thinking about their desire to serve the Lord and what it would be like if it was them. My mind quickly goes there, and I can't handle this tent. It's fragile. It's probably more fragile than most people's tents, and it's not even me going through that. But I heard David Lloyd quote it. He said, Serving God is still the greatest privilege in this world. How can he say something like that? That's a man with a well-lit tent. That's a man that knows God. That's a man that knows where his children have went. That's a man that knows where he's going. That's a tent that has peace going on on the inside. But I like the way Paul puts it. 2 Corinthians 5 and 1 says, For we know that if our earthly house, if this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, and a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. They were just a couple of kids doing a mighty work for God. Shining a light in a dark place. Well-lit tents where there wasn't a whole lot going on. For we know that if our earthly house, if this tabernacle was dissolved, we have a building of God. How many knows that now you have a building of God coming? How many knows that Davy and Natalie has a building of God right now? But first, the sad fact is their tabernacle had to be dissolved. I looked up that word, dissolved, Brother Tim. The Greek word for dissolved is kataluo. Kataluo. And what that means, Brother Ronnie, is to loosen down and halt for the night. To loosen down and halt for the night. Sounds so casual. It sounds so small. It doesn't sound like chaos. It doesn't sound like confusion. It doesn't sound like a chaotic phone call. It doesn't sound like murder. It doesn't sound like a lot of bad going on. To loosen down and halt for the night. I love that. It's terrible to us. It's unimaginable to us. But to God, it's just the loosening down of a tent. It's just halting for the night. Whatever happened that night, I hope the perpetrators get their due justice. But in the midst of all the confusion and all the chaos, God is in control. And He says, hey, you've shined My light. You've grown for Me. You've grown for that eternal home. Let's loosen down that tent. Let's halt for the night. I've got a new home and a new day prepared just for you. I'll tell you my heart real quick. And I'm afraid because it comes with an obligation of myself. And it puts myself out there. But we've been throwing around the number 48 for a while. Brother Tim said he wanted to see 50 souls. And every time I hear it, I cringe a little bit because I know I'm not doing hardly anything to make a difference. I'm not hardly doing anything myself to make sure those numbers come to pass. Do we honestly believe that 48 people are going to walk into those doors and just give themselves to God? We've got to compel them to come in. We have to have a well-lit tent. We have to go after them, brother Ronnie. We've got two kids that died in Haiti. And I'm a 43-year-old man that worries about knocking on an American door right up the road and saying, hey, we're having church right down here at Gospel Light and Holy Church. Why don't you come and be with us? That scares me to death. As a preacher, it scares me to an American door. But why? What excuse would be enough if I didn't try? I mean, I'm backwards. I'm afraid I'll fail. I'm afraid of rejection. I'm afraid of a closed door in my face. I am. I'm afraid that I'll fail and Brother Kim could have made a difference if I didn't waste that one invitation. But it's time for us to do something about it. What can we do to get the 48? Paul is speaking to the Corinthians about giving. And it might not be a clear example, so I'll explain. He has heard that they talked about giving a year ago. The Corinthian church talked about giving a charity a year ago. But they have yet to do it. And in 2 Corinthians 8 and 10 it says, and herein I give my advice, for this is expedient for you, who have begun before not only to do, but also to be forward a year ago. This is something y'all talked about a year ago. Now therefore, perform the doing of it. Don't just talk about it. You talked about it a year ago. Now therefore, perform the doing of it. That is, there was a readiness to will. Yes, you have the will. Now go do it. So there may be a performance also out of that which you have. For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath. And not according to that he hath not. Let us come up and pray tonight. And let us ask, what can we do to have a well-lit tent? To go after those 48. What can we do? What more can we be doing? He's not asking more than we can't do. For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath. And not according to that he hath not. What do you have? Come on up and ask God, what do I have to offer to get a soul saved, to see a soul saved in this country, right here, right down the road? I can knock on a door, Brother Ronnie. I can. I can do a lot more than what I'm doing right now. Let's come on up and let's ask the Lord, what can we do? I don't want to look back. I don't want to look back a year from now and say, well, he didn't throw 50 people in our lap. There's a will. Let's do the performing of it. Jesus. Oh, I can't see. My father's standing at the door. This world has been a wilderness. I'm ready for deliverance. Lord, I've never been this homesick before. Oh, see, the right lifetime is just about home time. I can't see. My father's standing at the door. This world has been a wilderness. I'm ready for deliverance. Lord, I've never been this homesick before. There's a light in the window and the table's spread in splendor. Someone's standing by the open door. I can see a crystal river, so I must be near forever. Lord, I've never been this homesick before. Oh, see, the right lifetime is just about home time. I can't see. My father's standing at the door. This world has been a wilderness. I'm ready for deliverance. Lord, I've never been this homesick before. I can see the family gathered, sweet faces all familiar. No one's old or feeble anymore. This lonesome heart is crying, think I'll spread my wings.