- 7/10/2024
Another beautiful message from brother Barry
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00:00It's indeed a privilege to be here tonight.
00:15This brother here, I love him with all of my soul.
00:21He's always been there for me and my family.
00:24Even when I was away preaching, pastoring, we'd have some tragedy, somebody in the hospital,
00:33and go to the hospital, and Brother Lawson would be there.
00:40He's not a hireling, he's a pastor, he's a pastor.
00:48As you're opening your Bible tonight to John chapter 9, I told a friend of mine, is that
00:57Kevin back there?
00:59I thought they had security here.
01:06I told a friend of mine, the Lord woke me up in the middle of the night with a message,
01:11and I was hoping I would get to preach that tonight, but it's kind of in between what
01:20I was going to preach.
01:23John chapter number 9, and I want to call your attention to something before we read.
01:29Paul said in 2 Corinthians 2.11, listen to this carefully.
01:33He said, lest Satan should get an advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices.
01:41And he has many, many, many devices that he uses to discourage, and to cast down, and
01:49to even sift the believer.
01:54And the Lord had said to Peter in Luke 22.31, he said, Simon, Simon, Satan has desired to
02:01have thee that he may sift thee as wheat.
02:05Keep that in mind as we're looking at John chapter number 9, because this is a classic.
02:11John chapter 9, and Jesus passed by, saw a man which was blind from his birth.
02:18And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that
02:23he was born blind?
02:26Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents, but that the works of God
02:32should be made manifest in him.
02:34I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day that not cometh when no man
02:39can work.
02:40As long as I'm in the world, I'm the light of the world.
02:42When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle.
02:49Now he's always been good at working with clay.
02:53That's one of his specialties.
02:55He's especially good with working at clay that's been broken.
02:59He doesn't throw it away.
03:01So we're dealing with a man that's very, very good and knowledgeable at working with
03:05clay.
03:07The fellow's blind, he don't have any eyes, it's no big deal.
03:10He made Adam's body out of clay, he'll just make him a new set, okay?
03:14Watch this.
03:16When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed
03:20the eyes of the blind man with the clay, and said unto him, Go wash in the pool of Siloam,
03:27which it by interpretation sent.
03:30He went his way therefore, washed, and came seen.
03:37I'm going to read this and I'm going to come back and preach on it.
03:40The neighbors, all the neighbors, the neighbors therefore, and they that before had seen him
03:48that he was blind, said, Is not this he that said and begged?
03:53Some said, This is he.
03:55Others said, Eh, he's like him.
03:57But he said, I'm he.
04:00Therefore said they unto him, now as we're reading this, I want to call your attention
04:07to all of the question marks, okay?
04:10You notice your Bible, this man has just received his sight, and I want you to look in your
04:16Bible at all of the question marks that come up.
04:20He answered and said, look at verse 10, Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened?
04:28And he answered and said, and here's where he gets in trouble, A man that is called Jesus.
04:37That's where he got in trouble.
04:39The religious leaders didn't like that name.
04:41The Pharisees didn't like that name.
04:44He said, A man that's called Jesus made clay and anointed mine eyes, said unto me, Go to
04:49the pool of Siloam and wash.
04:51And I went and washed and I received my sight.
04:54Then said they unto him, Here we go again, Where is he?
04:58He said, I know not.
05:00They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind, and it was the Sabbath day.
05:06Oh, no.
05:07Oh, no.
05:08Jesus has broke the Sabbath day by making clay on the Sabbath day.
05:13It was the Sabbath day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.
05:17Then again, the Pharisees also asked him, Here we go again, How he had received his
05:22sight.
05:24He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed and do see.
05:29Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, speaking of Jesus, because
05:35he keepeth not the Sabbath day.
05:37Others said, How can a man that's a sinner do such miracles?
05:41There was a division among them.
05:44They said unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him that he hath opened thine
05:50eyes?
05:51The blind man said, Well, he said, He is a prophet.
05:56But the Jews did not believe concerning him that he had been blind, Really?
06:01And received his sight, until they called the parents, Well, let's get them involved.
06:08They called the parents of him that had received his sight, and they asked him, Saying, Is
06:13this your son, who you say was born blind?
06:16How then doth he now see?
06:19His parents answered them and said, We know this is our son, and that he was born blind.
06:26But by what means he now seeth, we know not.
06:29Or who hath opened his eyes, we know not.
06:32He is of age, ask him, he'll speak for himself.
06:37These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews.
06:41For the Jews had agreed already that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should
06:46be put out of the synagogue.
06:48Therefore said his parents, He is of age, ask him.
06:51Then again called they the man that was blind, Really?
06:56And said unto him, Give God the praise.
06:59Now they're trying to coach him, here's what they're trying to do, and I'll come back to
07:02that.
07:03See, he got in trouble when he said Jesus.
07:06That's where he got in trouble with the Pharisees.
07:09Then again they called the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give God the praise.
07:13We know that this man, speaking of Jesus, is a sinner.
07:17Now this is, I want you to mark your Bible, if you're marking your Bible, mark this.
07:22If you don't need it tonight, you will need it.
07:25He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not.
07:30One thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see.
07:39Then said they to him again, What did he to thee?
07:43How opened he thine eyes?
07:46You got to be kidding me.
07:48He answered them, I've told you already, you did not hear.
07:51Now watch this little dart, wherefore would you hear it again?
07:55Would you also be his disciples?
07:59Then they reviled him, yes, I expect they would, and said, Thou art his disciple, but
08:04we are Moses' disciples.
08:07We know that God spake unto Moses, as for this fellow, we know not whence he is.
08:14The man answered and said unto them, Why, and here's a marvelous thing, that you know
08:18not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes.
08:22My father, as I bow in your presence, I thank you, Lord, for this another day.
08:27I thank you for your mercy.
08:29I thank you for your longsuffering.
08:32My father, I'm the least of the very least.
08:36I stand only by the grace of God.
08:40There's nothing good about me except the Son of God that lives within me.
08:46I plead the blood tonight.
08:48The devil will not appreciate this message, but it's a message, my father, that helped
08:54save my life.
08:56I pray that you'd hide me behind the cross now, and if anything is spoken that encourages
09:02anybody's heart, may all the praise and the honor of God of Calvary, for it's in Jesus'
09:08name I pray, amen and amen.
09:12My, what a classic, what a classic thing.
09:17As I mentioned, Paul tells us that Satan has many, many devices, and we're not to be ignorant
09:25of those devices.
09:28Notice he mentions devices, more than one, that he uses to discourage, to tear down,
09:35and in Peter's case, even to sift Peter.
09:39And something that I'd come across that amazed me was the fact, in Luke 22, 31, the Lord
09:45said, Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired to have thee, that he may sift you as wheat.
09:51And of course, you know, Peter said, now, wait a minute, Lord, hold on.
09:54I'm ready to go with you.
09:57I'm ready to go with you into battle.
09:59I'm ready to go with you all the way to death.
10:02You got to understand, that's a strong statement that came from the Lord concerning Simon Peter.
10:08Peter had been with the Lord for three years.
10:10He'd watched him raised to death.
10:13As Preacher Lawson read this morning in Matthew chapter 16, when the Lord said, what's the
10:19word on the street?
10:21Well, what are people saying about me?
10:24And they begin to say, well, some say you're John the Baptist.
10:26Some say you're Elijah, and some say you're Jeremiah, and some say you're one of the other
10:30prophets.
10:31He said, whom say ye that I am?
10:34Simon Peter was the one that stood up, said, thou art the Christ, the son of the living
10:40God.
10:42And the Lord said to Peter, he said, blessed be thy Simon bar Jonah, son of Jonah, for
10:48that means.
10:49He said, flesh and blood is not revealed this unto thee, but my Father.
10:55So here Peter has received revelation from God the Father.
11:00Yet the Lord Jesus Christ said, listen, Peter, Satan has desired to have you that he may
11:06sift you as wheat.
11:09And what amazed me is just a few verses, just a few verses, and Peter is sifted as wheat.
11:18Man, what a thing.
11:20Does everybody understand the word sift?
11:23You know what that means?
11:24You go to Temple Baptist Church, you say, under this brother's teaching, I'd say everybody
11:28in this building understands sift.
11:30You remember when your mother or maybe your grandmother, you ever watched them sift flour?
11:37Some of you about to tell how old you are.
11:39Yeah, brother, when you was talking about a party line, that makes me and you look real
11:44old.
11:46Some people don't know nothing about a party line, but I remember that.
11:50Ours was two longs and a short, but the bad thing about it was when you answered, anybody
11:55could pick up and you could hear them pick up and they could listen in on the conversation.
12:02He said, Peter, Satan desires to have you that he may sift you as wheat.
12:11I'd watch Granny take that sifter and get the flour in it and just start sifting away.
12:19What it does, it purifies.
12:21See, the Lord has a way of sifting you, and when he sifts you, he takes away all of the
12:28bad and just leaves the good.
12:31But when Satan sifts you, he tries to strip away all of the good and leave nothing but
12:39the bad.
12:41So I asked the Lord, I said, what is it?
12:44I mean, my goodness, I know Satan has many devices, but Lord, what is it that he used
12:50against Peter to sift him and less than 24 hours, Peter goes from receiving revelation
12:58from God the Father to standing with the lost crowd, cursing and denying that he even knew
13:05the Lord's Christ.
13:08Whatever device he used, it was a powerful device.
13:12And I'm not telling you tonight I know exactly what that device is, but I want you to look
13:16at something with me in John 9.
13:18Jesus passes by this blind man, has compassion on him, and he merely looks at him and he
13:28makes spittle from the clay and he puts it upon his eyes and he tells him to go wash
13:33his eyes.
13:34And he goes back to seeing.
13:37And then the neighbors gets involved.
13:43When Mike was in law enforcement for a little while, we live in the same subdivision.
13:48So everybody knew Mike, but when he got a cruiser, he pulled it up in my driveway one
13:54day.
13:55And he walked in, he said, Dad, let's have some fun with the neighbors.
14:01He said, let me cuff you and stuff you in the back of that car.
14:04I said, you're crazy.
14:07What's wrong with you?
14:09I mean, our neighbors are nosy enough as it is.
14:12I mean, that look real.
14:13Can you imagine the phones?
14:14Hey, they've stuffed that preacher in the car over there.
14:17It's Anderson County.
14:18I said, no, no, I'm not going to do that.
14:23It's already going to raise enough questions, your cruiser's sitting in my driveway.
14:27Tongues are already going to start flapping.
14:30Cuff me and take me out and stuff me in the back.
14:33Watch this.
14:34He receives his sight, and then the neighbors get involved.
14:39Hey, ain't that that blind boy that used to sit over there?
14:45Ain't that him?
14:47Well, I don't know.
14:50It looks like him, but I'm not really sure that's him.
14:57Evidently, he heard the conversation, and he said, it's me.
15:03I'm the one.
15:04I was blind, and now I see.
15:09Now, stay with me.
15:10I want to help you tonight.
15:12The Lord used this to save my life.
15:14Listen to me.
15:16I have been sifted.
15:20I know what it's like to be sifted.
15:24My family has been sifted, so I preach to you tonight what I know.
15:32And guess where the Lord took me during the worst part of the sifting?
15:37To John chapter 9.
15:38You say, why, preacher?
15:39Well, stay with me, and I'll tell you.
15:42The neighbors start questioning.
15:45Who touched your eyes?
15:46Jesus.
15:48How did he do it?
15:51He just spit on the ground, and he made clay.
15:54Told me to go wash.
15:58Really?
16:00So they take him to the Pharisees, and the Pharisees
16:04go through the same scenario of questions again.
16:09And they say this to him.
16:10They say, how did he do it?
16:12He said, I've already told you.
16:15Why did he do it?
16:16I don't know.
16:17Where did he come from?
16:19I don't know.
16:21Where is he right now?
16:23He said, I don't know.
16:27Question after question after question after question
16:33that he could not answer.
16:35I mean, he's just received his sight, and immediately he's
16:40bombarded with questions that he cannot answer.
16:44And then the Pharisees try to coax him.
16:46They say, look, listen, son.
16:49We want to help you here.
16:52OK.
16:53Now, who was it that touched your eyes?
16:56I mean, now listen.
16:58See, they gave him a way out.
17:01If he'd have said this, if he'd have said, OK, the priest
17:04prayed for me, God in heaven touched my eyes, and I can see,
17:10man, a revival would have broke out.
17:13But it's about that man, Jesus.
17:17That's 100% God.
17:20They had a problem with the fact that he kept saying,
17:23Jesus touched my eyes.
17:25How did he do it?
17:26I don't know how he done it.
17:27Where did he go from there?
17:28I don't know where he went.
17:30I just know that he touched me.
17:33And man, I'm telling you, he is bombarded with questions,
17:39questions that he couldn't answer.
17:42And finally, you get the classic, verse 25.
17:46He said, listen, I don't know where he came from.
17:51Whether you think he's a sinner or not, I don't know.
17:56I don't know where he is now.
17:59But I know he's been here.
18:02Now, if I get in a shouting spell and leave the building,
18:05I'm not through preaching, so I don't go nowhere.
18:07He said, listen to me, this is all I know.
18:13This is all I know.
18:15A minute ago, I was blind.
18:18But now, see, people have this strange idea
18:24that preachers have all the answers.
18:28And I want to inform you that that's just not true.
18:32That's not true.
18:34The longer you live, the longer I've lived,
18:37the less I understand about life.
18:40Life is never going to do anything to bolster your faith.
18:45Life is never going to do anything to build your faith up.
18:48What life is going to do is bombard you,
18:52bombard you day and night with questions
18:58that there's no answers for, no answers for them.
19:03I spent eight hours, my wife will attest to this,
19:06when I was pastoring, I spent eight hours
19:09locked up, locked up in my room
19:13with a lady that had questions that had no easy answers.
19:18I've noticed through the years
19:20that the questions have got harder,
19:23and the answers are not simple anymore.
19:26And it was a life or death question.
19:30And we locked ourself up in a room,
19:31and we prayed, and we sought God's face,
19:34and we partied eight hours later with no answers.
19:38None.
19:40No answers.
19:42One of the devices that Satan uses the most
19:45against God's people,
19:48he bombard your heart and your mind
19:51with unanswerable questions.
19:54What do you mean, preacher?
19:56Okay.
19:57This is what I mean.
19:59Shannon said, when you get up there and preach,
20:01don't mention me.
20:02And I said, you're my sweetheart.
20:07I have to preach what the Lord give me to preach.
20:10Let me show you how he does it.
20:12He starts his sifting process
20:16by bombarding you with questions at night
20:18that there's no answers for.
20:21He'll sit down and reason with you.
20:23Yeah, brother.
20:25After four days of no food,
20:29and four days of laying in the closet,
20:32I prayed.
20:35I piled me up a bunch of clothes,
20:39and I crawled, it made me a little hole,
20:41and I crawled up in that closet.
20:43And for four days and four nights,
20:45I prayed for my wife.
20:48For four days and four nights,
20:49oh God, please touch her.
20:51Oh God, please give us some answers.
20:55We've been to the Mayo Clinic,
20:56we've been to Vanderbilt,
20:57we've been to every doctor in this country,
21:00and there's still no answers.
21:02I've gotta have her.
21:03She's my sweetheart.
21:05See, when I would go preach, I'm not stupid.
21:09They would call to hear her sing,
21:10not to hear me preach.
21:11Quit laughing, Kim.
21:14Because I would go into the church,
21:16hey, Brother Barry, Sister Shannon here.
21:18No, but I've got a message.
21:20Oh, Sister Shannon's not singing?
21:23Well, no, why don't I sing,
21:24and you can call her and have her preach to you on the phone.
21:28And I remember going up,
21:30I remember I had to preach way up in the country.
21:33And this precious pastor,
21:35I love him with all of my heart,
21:38he said, Brother Barry,
21:40he said, I know Sister Shannon's been sick.
21:43And he said, we want her to come and sing.
21:45And I said, Mama, they want you to come up there
21:47to Reagan's Chapel, and they want you to sing for them.
21:51And we planned this, like, I don't know,
21:53what was it, sweetie, two or three weeks in it,
21:56and so I'd be in there studying,
21:58and I'd hear her singing.
22:01On the hill, far away,
22:07stood an old rugged cross.
22:10And I'd say, thank you, Lord.
22:12Thank you, thank you, thank you.
22:15Made me want to study even harder, boy.
22:17And she'd be in there in the back room singing.
22:20She sung all week long, all week long.
22:23Sunday came, was excited,
22:26God had given me a message.
22:28And bless her heart,
22:28she comes walking out of the back room with tears.
22:32She said, I can't do it, honey, I can't do it.
22:35I'm sick, I'm sick, I can't do it.
22:39I said, I'm not going, I'm not going,
22:41you gotta go, you gotta go preach.
22:43That was a long drive.
22:45That was a long drive from Clinton
22:47to where I went to preach.
22:49The devil says, how you doing, preacher?
22:52I'll ask you a few questions.
22:56Hey, how's that prayer closet deal working out for you?
23:01I mean, what'd you go, what'd you go, man?
23:03I mean, as much as you like food,
23:05you went, you go four days,
23:07and you piled clothes up,
23:10crawled up under them,
23:12and you cried, and you squalled,
23:13and you bled the blood,
23:15and is she any better?
23:17Huh, huh, none of that.
23:20Matter of fact, she's got worse, hasn't she?
23:24Just what I thought.
23:26Who, you really think somebody cares?
23:30I mean, do you really think you went through all of that,
23:33and anybody, anywhere had an open ear to it?
23:37Hey, good luck, preacher.
23:41How many's listening to me?
23:44It's worse when the lights go out.
23:47It's worse when the lights are out,
23:49and the questions come.
23:51Questions that don't have any answers.
23:53There's no answers to them.
23:55No, no, listen to me.
23:57You'll leave this world with unanswered questions.
24:01Yeah, yeah.
24:03And so, he started working me over.
24:06Well, I don't know.
24:07I think, I think they're listening.
24:10I think they are.
24:12I know somebody's listening.
24:14I know, I know the Lord hears me,
24:18and I'll pray again.
24:19Guess who I met every time I went in the prayer closet?
24:22Guess who was waiting on me every single time?
24:24Oh, you here again, fat boy?
24:28You gonna, what are you gonna pray this time?
24:29Three days, four days?
24:31Think it's gonna do any good?
24:34She's not better, she's worse.
24:36Let me say something to you.
24:38During this sifting process,
24:40Shannon's sister come to this church, Shelly.
24:43Shelly wanted to be anointed in place of her sister, okay?
24:48We was at home with the phone during that service,
24:52and the devil had his grinders,
24:54his sifter out in that house.
24:57He said, you think that's gonna do any good?
25:00Do you think God's gonna hear that church?
25:02And let me say this to you.
25:04Don't judge the message till I'm through.
25:06After that, she got worse.
25:08We ended up in the emergency room.
25:11Yeah.
25:12You mean she didn't get better because of that prayer?
25:14No, and my son said,
25:15Dad, that prayer brother lost and prayed.
25:18If that don't shake, if that don't shake heaven,
25:21nothing will.
25:25What happened?
25:27We ended up in the emergency room.
25:31Guess who else was there?
25:35I'm talking about the devices of Satan,
25:37and I believe it's one that he used to take Peter down.
25:41That's a different message.
25:43But when we got to the emergency room,
25:46and they took her back like they always do.
25:47She's been poked, and I mean,
25:50she had more needles stuck in her than a pincushion.
25:54And there's nothing that rips your heart out any more
25:57than to hold the hand of somebody you love
25:59with all of your soul.
26:01And every time they let out a groan,
26:05it just drives a dagger through your soul.
26:08I become Satan with questions that I couldn't answer.
26:15Questions that I had no answers for.
26:18And he just hammered away, hammered away, hammered away.
26:24If there's a God in heaven, He don't care anything about you.
26:27You're totally forsaken of God.
26:30That's what they've done to this blind man.
26:32Yeah, yeah.
26:34There's people sitting here that I know some of your lives.
26:38You've had things to happen in your life,
26:39tragedy above tragedy, that you'll never get answers for.
26:44There's no answers for them.
26:46They're not to be found on this side.
26:49There's no answers.
26:51You say, well now, preacher, I just don't believe
26:53that there's a question that can be answered
26:55that there's no answer.
26:56Okay, hold that thought.
26:57Hold that thought.
26:58I went and preached for a good friend of mine
27:00that I used to work with.
27:01Newest family, good people, good, good godly people.
27:06I had a phone call one night and his wife, Janice,
27:11walked into the bedroom to wake their 19-year-old daughter
27:14up, Stacey, I mean a godly young lady.
27:18Went in there to awaken Stacey and get her up
27:20and she was cold in the bed, yeah, already cold.
27:30At the funeral, Janice got me.
27:35You think that there's some questions I've had
27:38that there's no answers for?
27:41If you don't think they are, just sell on.
27:44Just sell on.
27:45You're gonna find some questions there's no answers for.
27:49She grabbed me and she pulled me up to her
27:52and she said, Brother Barry, why?
27:57Why?
27:58Why would he take my daughter?
28:00Why?
28:02You know what I said?
28:06I don't know.
28:11I don't know.
28:16I wish I could tell you something but I just don't know.
28:23During the sifting process, I got a phone call
28:27about Brother Marion Stanley, a good man.
28:31Something terrible happened to Brother Stanley
28:33and I cried, I cried.
28:36I said, why, why?
28:39I got a phone call about Brother Randy Pike.
28:42Bad news, broke my heart.
28:46I said, why?
28:47And Satan was there and he said, well, I'll tell you why.
28:51Because they followed the same god you're trying to follow.
28:54You know, the one that you've been praying to
28:55all of this time, locked up in a closet?
28:58Listen, man, there's nobody hearing you.
29:02And then I got to call that Brother Lawson was sick.
29:08That was part of my sifting.
29:11The devil said, there you go, there you go.
29:14You couldn't even walk behind him
29:15and hold his Bible as he preached.
29:18Well, he's more man you'll ever be.
29:20Look at him, he's sick.
29:23I think went to the emergency room three times in one week
29:27and he used that on me to grind.
29:29Why?
29:30I don't know why.
29:32I mean, that church needs him.
29:34I know they do.
29:35Why?
29:36I don't know why.
29:39And then he finally hit me one night.
29:42You're gonna laugh at me.
29:43I told Roger, I'm glad you're gonna be out of town
29:45because I'm gonna hammer you.
29:47I said, Lord, I need somebody
29:50that I can just bombard with all of these questions.
29:53There's no answers for them.
29:54They'll keep their mouth shut.
29:57There's times you don't get super spiritual.
29:59You listen to people and you say, I don't know.
30:04That's what you do.
30:05And I said, I need you to put me with somebody for a while.
30:08You know, somebody don't have a whole lot of top, you know.
30:12And he put me with my brother-in-law, Roger.
30:16And we would go down the road and I'd say,
30:18you sat there and you drive and you keep your mouth shut.
30:22I'm bigger than him and can whip him so he listens to me.
30:26And I started saying, Roger, listen to me.
30:29Man, question after question after question
30:33after question after question.
30:35And I say, keep your mouth shut.
30:37Don't tell me you know, you don't know.
30:40He said, you didn't talk like that.
30:41Ask him when he comes back.
30:46I said, now you can talk.
30:49He said, I don't know, Mike.
30:51I don't know.
30:52I don't know.
30:54And he said, you need to keep your mouth shut.
30:58Who do you think you are?
31:01You think you're the only one the devil's trying to sift
31:05with questions that can't be answered?
31:08You've sat and listened to me for a while
31:10and keep your mouth shut.
31:13And he started pouring his heart out
31:16with questions, hard questions that there's no answers for.
31:23None.
31:27He got quiet in the truck.
31:29Just got quiet.
31:31Nothing to say.
31:33We got a truck full of questions, hard questions.
31:38No answers.
31:40And he was driving.
31:42I was sitting on the other side, quiet.
31:44I said, but, Roger, I don't know about any of this.
31:50I don't.
31:52But I know that there was a young man
31:55that used to smoke pot and drink hard liquor.
32:00That meant the Lord Jesus Christ at a watchdog service.
32:04That was him.
32:06I said, that's all I know, Rog.
32:09Man, he started, thank you, Lord.
32:13Thank you, thank you, thank you.
32:15I said, oh, look out, you're gonna kill us.
32:17All over the road.
32:18See, listen to me.
32:20There is a trump card you can play at night
32:24when you can't sleep.
32:26And Satan's hovering over you, saying,
32:28hey, what about, how come your kids are out of church?
32:32And you raised them right, didn't you?
32:34You don't even know where they are tonight, do you?
32:37How come your grandkids are on drugs?
32:41I mean, what's, it's at night.
32:44And he bombarded your mind.
32:46You don't have any answers.
32:48But you've got one if you're saved.
32:51You know what I hit him with, brother?
32:53Tell you what I hit him with.
32:55Mike, when he was little, Shannon dropped him on his head.
32:57Kim, you know that, he's never been right.
32:59And he was a hulk-a-maniac.
33:01How many knows what I'm talking about?
33:03Okay, hulk-a-maniac, man.
33:05He wanted to be like the Hulkster, you know?
33:08And he'd do them pose downs like the Hulk,
33:10you know, and all that stuff through the house.
33:11And I'd just look at him, you know,
33:12arms about that big around.
33:14But Mike would watch that stuff.
33:16He wanted to be a hulk-a-maniac.
33:19And they would get Hulk Hogan in a sleeper hold.
33:21I thought that was the funniest stuff, man.
33:24They'd get him in a sleeper hold
33:26and take him down to the mat, okay?
33:29Stay with me.
33:31They'd put him all the way down to the mat
33:32ready to count him out for a three count.
33:35And they'd take his hand and lift it up
33:36and he'd just drop, yeah.
33:38Big boy's down.
33:40Yeah, it's all drama.
33:42It's all drama.
33:44And they'd lift it up the second time and it was,
33:46I mean, this guy's got him in a choke hold
33:48and he's out of it.
33:49And he lifted it up a third time and he'd,
33:52and all the crowd would go crazy.
33:54Oh, they'd erupt and go crazy, yeah.
33:58The Satan had me down one count, two counts.
34:04I said, I don't know.
34:06I don't know, but I do know this.
34:09Whew.
34:11I do know this one thing.
34:13In 1963, at Third Creek Baptist Church
34:17as a 10 year old boy, I heard a voice.
34:23I heard a voice I've never heard before.
34:27A voice that spoke to my heart.
34:29That's the trump card.
34:31You know what he does?
34:32Ha!
34:34You get that one right
34:35and the rest of them will take care of theirself.
34:38I'll have him drive you into the ground
34:41and sift you like wheat with giving you questions
34:44there's no answers for.
34:48Answer, Sandy Hook.
34:50Answer that.
34:51Little children getting mutilated.
34:53You got answers for that?
34:55Oh, somebody could quote some scripture.
34:58The bottom line is you don't know.
35:01And I don't know.
35:04But when he gets you down for the count,
35:08that's the trump card.
35:09I don't know why she's sick.
35:11I don't know.
35:13I don't know.
35:14I don't know why seemingly the Lord
35:15hadn't heard my prayers.
35:16I don't know.
35:17I just don't know.
35:19I don't know.
35:20I don't know why this is going on in my life
35:22and this is, I don't know, Satan.
35:26But I do know this.
35:29In 1963, as a 10 year old boy,
35:33I heard a voice.
35:35I heard a voice.
35:39Satan, it was a voice I'd never heard before.
35:43He called my name.
35:45I remember, you remember little Josh
35:47down in Harriman when I pastored down there,
35:49little Josh Jones?
35:51Oh, something special about that boy.
35:53I mean, he was real little.
35:54Josh was real little.
35:55He wanted to play football.
35:57And Josh was lost.
35:59And the whole church was praying for him.
36:02And they put him out there playing linebacker, man.
36:06And he, you know, he just a little frail thing,
36:07but he wanted to play football.
36:09Well, them 300 pound pulling guards
36:11was just making mincemeat out of him.
36:13I mean, you know, they'd get up
36:14and they'd have to pry Josh up out of the ground.
36:17And the coach called him to the side
36:18and said, you're gonna have to set this one out.
36:20Boy, he said, I don't want you to get hurt.
36:23Josh walked up to him and he said,
36:24it's not about size and strength.
36:28He said, it's about heart.
36:31Get back out there, boy.
36:33Get back out there.
36:35Josh got under conviction.
36:37Whole church was praying for him.
36:39I kept my eyes on him that Sunday.
36:41I was preaching.
36:42And I could tell God was working with him.
36:45God was working on him.
36:46Give the invitation.
36:47And Josh, he was a young man of few words.
36:50He stepped out and he walked down to the front.
36:54I got down beside him.
36:55I never will forget what he said.
36:57Never will forget it.
36:58I got down and I said, Josh.
37:00I said, what is it, son?
37:02He looked up at me and he said,
37:05I'm not your preacher.
37:08Somebody's talking to me right here.
37:12That's what he said.
37:14That's what he said.
37:17That's a good one, ain't it?
37:18That'll get the job done right there.
37:20He said, somebody's talking to me right here.
37:24Not here, but here.
37:28I said, Josh, that's him, son.
37:30He said, is it?
37:32I said, that's him.
37:33What should I do?
37:34Answer him.
37:36Answer him.
37:37Answer him.
37:38Say yes.
37:40Come on in.
37:41See, that's what he did.
37:43That's something, that's a question Satan can't answer.
37:47He can't figure that out.
37:50And when he bombards you and tries to sit you like wheat
37:52and destroy your life and destroy your family
37:55and destroy your home,
37:56question after question after question after.
37:59And buddy, when he gets you down on the mat,
38:02he does not let up.
38:03He'll bring back stuff that happened to you 30 and 40 years
38:06ago that you never got answers for.
38:09And he'll wear you out.
38:13What do I do?
38:14Tell him what you do know.
38:18Yeah.
38:19Tell him what you do know.
38:21I don't know.
38:23I do know this.
38:241963, there's a 10-year-old boy.
38:27I've told him that so many times, he could quote it.
38:30And I heard a voice, a voice I've never heard before.
38:36My, my, my, my, brother.
38:39You remember the old Jubilees we had down in Cleveland?
38:44You remember those, Preacher Lawson,
38:46going down to Jubilee?
38:49Man, they loved Preacher Lawson.
38:52Some of the best services I've ever been in down there.
38:56And I'd go down, you know, all excited.
38:58I'd take a week off and go down and they'd come running out
39:01and they'd sing my car, oh, Brother Barry,
39:03oh, Brother Barry, guess who's gonna be here?
39:04Guess who's gonna preach Friday night?
39:06Well, I don't know.
39:07Dad, I'm preaching tonight.
39:10Oh, but Brother Barry, Brother Lawson,
39:12oh, Brother Lawson's coming down Friday night.
39:14Oh, what do you think he'll preach?
39:15Oh, he's such a wonderful preacher.
39:17No, well, you know, he'll do in a pinch.
39:18I'm preaching tonight.
39:25Oh, but you, oh, Brother Barry,
39:26you remember last year when he preached?
39:28Oh, oh, the Holy Spirit came to, oh, everybody in this,
39:31oh, you couldn't even see.
39:33You'd have to have a seeing eye dog to find a back door.
39:35Oh, he's gonna be here Friday night, oh.
39:37Yeah, well, I'm up preaching tonight.
39:39Boy, the Lord's really giving me my message.
39:41Is Sister Shannon singing?
39:42Ah, pfft.
39:47You remember Brother Ed McElbee?
39:49Remember him, Preacher Lawson?
39:52Me and Roger went down there and stayed a week.
39:53Now, I'm coming to a close.
39:56I'm gonna leave you with something.
39:57I've preached to people tonight,
39:59and your life has been bombarded.
40:02Bombarded with questions you've got no answers for.
40:05Yeah, and you wear yourself out.
40:08You're not getting any sleep.
40:09You're not getting any rest.
40:11Wearing yourself out trying to answer them, hey.
40:14You only need to answer the one.
40:18Try to tell the devil what you do know.
40:19Watch how quick he runs.
40:21He'll be back.
40:22He'll be back.
40:24But you tell him about the day you met Jesus.
40:27He'll leave you for a while.
40:29He'll come back.
40:31He'll come back.
40:32We got down there, and I'd never met this brother.
40:36They said, I wanted to hear a young preacher
40:37get up full of the Holy Ghost.
40:39Man, I was pastoring.
40:41I had been drained.
40:42I mean, there was nothing left in me.
40:44And I just wanted somebody to get up there that,
40:47and I mean just preach.
40:50And they announced the keynote speaker.
40:53And I'm not making fun.
40:54Oh, I'm not making fun at all.
40:57This little feller, older man got up,
40:59and he walked up there like this.
41:11And I gotta be honest.
41:12I was the first one on the altar that night.
41:14I looked at Roger and I said, wow, you better hurry.
41:19I think he's got long.
41:21I said, Roger, 15, 20 minutes.
41:24Oh, he's gonna be able to go.
41:25And I said, you know, poor old feller
41:28needs to be on oxygen now.
41:31And he opened his Bible with that old head down.
41:35I said, man, did he ever preach?
41:39I've never heard such preaching.
41:41Holy Ghost anointed preaching.
41:45When the service was over, my white shirt was soaked.
41:48Soaked from tears.
41:51I never heard such preaching in all of my life.
41:55I went down and preached about a month after that
41:57for Brother Bobby Blue, Brother Ed Blue's brother.
42:01I went down to preach for Bobby,
42:02and Bobby said, let me talk to you a minute, preacher.
42:05He said, you remember Brother McAbee?
42:07And I said, oh, Brother Bobby.
42:09Oh, oh, do I remember Brother Ed McAbee?
42:14He said, something I found out that I didn't know
42:17when he was down here.
42:19I said, what's that?
42:21Just before he left to come back here and preach,
42:25he had to sign his wife into a state hospital.
42:29He never mentioned a word of it.
42:31He'd come back here and preached.
42:35And he said, preacher friend of mine in North Carolina
42:40traveled back with Brother Ed,
42:42and said as soon as he got back home,
42:44he went straight to the hospital to see his wife.
42:49This preacher accompanied Brother Ed McAbee in
42:51to see his wife.
42:54Now, let me ask you a question.
42:57How many unanswered questions do you think he had
43:00when he left North Carolina?
43:04How many?
43:06When he's leaving North Carolina
43:07to go to Cleveland, Tennessee to preach,
43:10and he has to sign his wife into a state hospital.
43:13You reckon the devil made the trip with him to Cleveland?
43:16Oh yeah, I'd say he did.
43:19Bombarded his heart and his mind and his soul
43:21with questions that have no answers.
43:24As soon as he got back, Brother Ed, they said he went in.
43:27Brother Bobby Blue was telling me this,
43:28and said he went in and said he got his wife's hand
43:33and picked it up and started rubbing it.
43:35See, there's still a few folks that love their wives.
43:40I'd die for that one sitting right there.
43:43I begged God in the prayer closet, take me and leave her.
43:47I begged him with all of my soul,
43:50put what she's got on me, she's a better person than I am.
43:54Brother Ed picked her hand up and he started stroking it
43:58and he said, Mama, I don't have any answers
44:02and I don't understand none of this.
44:06You know what that godly old pastor's wife said?
44:09Said, Ed, Ed, Ed, Ed, Ed, Ed, Ed, Ed, Ed, Ed, Ed, Ed, Ed, Ed,
44:13he said, Honey, when we get on the other side,
44:18the Lord will reveal it to us.
44:21And she said, Ed, Ed, Ed, Ed, Ed, Ed, Ed, Ed, Ed, Ed, Ed,
44:25when we get to the other side, I expect it won't even matter.
44:29Amen.
44:30Amen.
44:31Amen.
44:31Amen.
44:32Amen.
44:33Amen.
44:34Amen.
44:35Amen.
44:36Amen.
44:36Amen.
44:37Amen.
44:38Amen, Brother.
44:44You ever been sifted?
44:47You say, never me, preacher.
44:48You speak as a fool.
44:51You speak as a fool if you think
44:52you can't be sifted by the devil.
44:55And he starts his sifting process with questions,
44:59questions you can't answer.
45:01So many times, we played in the bed
45:03and held on to each other and cried and squalled and prayed.
45:08I tell Shannon, I don't know, honey, I don't understand.
45:13I hate going and preaching without you
45:15and I have canceled so many meetings.
45:17I've got more preachers mad at me
45:18than you can shake a stick at.
45:20But when I was supposed to go preach
45:23and she'd say, I'm sick, you can't leave me.
45:25Most of the time, we'd end up in the hospital
45:26before the day was out and I'd have to call them.
45:29I said, Brother, I can't come, my wife's sick.
45:31Some of them got mad at me.
45:32It's all right, it's all right.
45:35But I've told her so many times,
45:37one day down the road, we'll get some answers.
45:42We'll get some answers.
45:45And now, after I heard that from Brother Michael B.
45:48Sometime back, she'll just say,
45:52I expect it won't even matter then.
45:55When you step through that gate,
45:58the last thing on your mind
46:00is gonna be some unanswered question you left back here.
46:03Amen, amen, amen.
46:09Well, how do I survive, preacher?
46:11How do I get any sleep at night?
46:14Tell him what you do know.
46:17Tell him what you do know.
46:20Yeah, agree with him, I don't know.
46:21I don't know, I don't know, I don't know.
46:23But I know this, 1963, as a 10-year-old boy,
46:29I heard a voice, where's he at right now, preacher?
46:31I don't know, I can't always track him in my life.
46:34Heard from him lately?
46:35Well, there's times that there's a dry spell
46:37when I don't hear from him, but I know he's been here.
46:41My father, I thank you tonight for the truth,
46:44the precious, blessed, righteous,
46:47infallible word of the living God.
46:50You used this to save my life, my father.
46:54I'm telling you, the devil bombarded me.
46:57One of his devices is question after question
47:00after question that I could not answer.
47:05He drove me into the ground.
47:08He sifted me.
47:11He sifted my family.
47:13Oh, and I was down for the count
47:18until I realized that I did have a trump card.
47:22I still don't have any answers.
47:24I may never get any answers, but that's all right,
47:26that's okay, that's okay, that's all right.
47:30I don't have to have, but there's one thing I do know.
47:34I do know in 1963, at 10 years old
47:36at Third Creek Baptist Church, you called my name.
47:41You called my name.
47:42I pray, my father, that there's not a person
47:46in this building tonight that cannot go back
47:49to a time when you passed by.
47:53I pray with all of my soul that there's not a person
47:57in this building that cannot go back to a time and place
48:02where they met the Lord's Christ.
48:04I pray for those tonight that I know without a doubt
48:07that I've preached to that's on their last leg.
48:11They have battled night after night after night
48:15after night a bombardment of questions,
48:19hard questions with no answers.
48:23I pray tonight on the very first verse, Lord,
48:27that I'll come to this altar and play that trump card
48:30and say to Satan and the demons of hell,
48:32there's one thing I do know.
48:35There's one thing I do know.
48:36You may stump me on the other ones,
48:38but there's one thing I do know.
48:39In 1963, 10 years old, Third Creek Baptist Church,
48:47I met someone.
48:49I ask it in Jesus' name.
48:50For his sake I pray.
48:53Amen.
48:55Let's stand up tonight.
48:56What do we got, brother?
48:57Page 124 in your All-America.
49:00Boom.
49:04Oh.
49:05Oh.
49:05Oh.
49:06Oh.
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