From Vapor To Floods

Sermons preached in the pulpit of First Baptist Church, Hammond, Indiana

HYLES-ANDERSON PUBLISHERS 1974
Hammond, Indiana

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I: SERMONS TO SAINTS

 1. I Have Sinned
2. Pleiades and Orion
3. Strength and Beauty
4. I Am Not My Own
5. Seven Bible Valleys
6. When Absalom Burned Joab's Farm
7. When God Hides His Face From The Righteous
8. Saved But Not Converted
9. After His Kind
10. A Brook In the Way
11. His Mercy Endureth Forever
12. God's Peculiar Treasure
13. Dwell Deep

Foreword

        Someone has said that preaching is pouring back to the congregation in a flood what is received from the congregation in a vapor. The membership of the First Baptist Church of Hammond joins with me in sharing this volume of sermons that we have given to each other. It is my hope that the reader can feel both the flood and the vapor and will receive showers of blessings from these messages.

        At the conclusion of each sermon to sinners scores of people have been saved. During the invitation following the sermons to saints thousands of God's people have knelt at the altar, making decisions that deepened their Christian experience.

        Not only am I sharing with you, the reader, the great truths contained in these messages, but I am sharing with you thousands of hours of study, gallons of tears, and an immeasurable amount of love that was poured from my pulpit to my people through the spoken word and now to you through the printed page.

        I am especially indebted to Mabel Boardway and Gail McKinney, who typed the manuscript; to Elaine Colsten, the proofreader; to Jennie Nischik , Nancy Bewley, and Judith Anderson of the Hyles Publications Department who have helped in the preparation, and will help in the distribution of the vapor received from the congregation, the flood poured back from the pulpit, and the showers of blessing which we trust you will receive from our labors.

I. The Men Who Said, "I Have Sinned."

        "I have sinned," said Pharoah in Exodus 9:27 and Exodus 10:16, as he saw the hail mixed with fire running along the ground, as he saw the herbs of the field and trees killed and as he saw the locusts and the crops eaten by them.

        "I have sinned," said Balaam in Numbers 22:34 when he realized that he was out of the will of God for his life.

        "I have sinned," said Achan in Joshua 7:20 after taking the money and the Babylonish garment from the city of Jericho. He took of the accursed thing not to be taken by God's people. As the Israelites came near the city of Jericho, God said, "Do not take a thing!" Perhaps Achan said, "It will not matter if I take a little money and a little garment." He took the money and the garment and hid them in his tent. After the battle of Ai was lost, Joshua called the people together and said, "Who sinned?" The lot fell toward Achan, and he and his family were brought before the entire camp and were stoned to death.

        "I have sinned," said Saul in I Samuel 15:24, 30 when Samuel rebuked him for disobedience.

        "I have sinned," said Saul when David had spared his life though Saul was seeking to kill David. Saul went6 to sleep outside the cave. David and his servants came out of the cave, and there was Saul lying asleep. David could have pulled his sword and pierced the heart of Saul.

        Someone said, "David, here is your chance! There is your enemy! There is the man dedicated to your destruction. He is asleep. Kill Him!"

        David said, "I cannot lift up my hand against God's anointed."

        Oh My, that's a wonderful statement. I made that statement years ago: I will never lift up my hand against God's anointed. He may not be as good a preacher as I think he ought to be, but I am not going to let words come through these lips to try to tear him down. He is God's man. I do not want to hurt him. He may want to hurt me, but if he is God's man, I do not want to hurt him. He may criticize men, but I do not want to criticize him.

        Let no one from this church retaliate our critics. Let others criticizes us; let us not criticize them. Let others hate us; let us love them. Let others speak unkindly about us; let us speak kindly about them. Let there be no words in our vocabularies to criticize a man who believes this Book or to criticize a church that believes the Word of God.

        "I have sinned," said David in II Samuel 12:13 after his awful sin with Bathsheba and Uriah.

        Nathan said, "That art the man."

        David said, "I have sinned."

        "I have sinned," said David, in II Samuel 24:10, 17 and I Chronicles 21:8.

        "I have sinned," said Shimei. It was Shimei who hurled dust at King David. It was Shimei who cursed King David as he came toward Mahanaim. When David came back from Mahanaim to sit once again on the throne in the palace of Jerusalem Shimei said, "I have sinned!"

        "I have sinned," said Pharoah.

        "I have sinned," said Balaam.

        "I have sinned," said Achan.

        "I have sinned," said Saul.

        "I have sinned," said David.

        "I have sinned," said Shimei.

        "I have sinned," said Job in Job 7:20. Pride had crept into his heart. Job was the best Christian in the world. God said to the devil, "Hast thou considered My servant Job, that there is none like him in all the world?" Job was the best Christian in the world. Because he was, he became proud. He lost his health. He lost his money. He lost his children. He lost everything that was holy and righteous to him. He was sitting in the ash heap outside the city, scraping his body with a piece of metal, wiping off the corruption that came from the sores on his body, sitting in live coals to keep himself from hurting quite so much through the awful pain that accompanies the awful disease of elephantiasis.

        Suddenly Job began to think. "I lost my kids, but I did not yield. I lost my riches, but I did not yield. I lost my wealth, but I did not compromise. I lost the faithfulness of my wife, but I did not compromise. I lost my friends, but I did not yield. I am a pretty good fellow." Pride crept into his heart and he cried, "I have sinned!"

        "I have sinned," said Micah in Micah 7:9. He looked at his people and saw their wickedness and realized that they were a reflection of his own life. "I have sinned," said Micah.

        "I have sinned," said the prodigal son in Luke 15:18 and 21, as he returned home, having spent all. As he came to himself he said, "I will arise and go to my father." He arose and went to his father and the first three words he said were, "I have sinned!"

        "I have sinned," said Judas in Matthew 27:4 as he realized that he had sold the Saviour and his own soul for thirty pieces of silver. Judas looked at his little handful of money. He threw the money on the ground and hanged himself. Before he did so, he said, "I have sinned!" He had betrayed innocent blood.

        "I have sinned," said Pharoah.

        "I have sinned," said Balaam.

        "I have sinned," said Achan.

        "I have sinned," said Saul.

        "I have sinned," said David.

        "I have sinned," said Shimei.

        "I have sinned," said Job.

        "I have sinned," said the prodigal son.

        "I have sinned," said Judas.

        "But," you say, "Preacher, I am an alcoholic!"

        If you will say, "I have sinned," God will forgive you.

        "But," you say, "Preacher, I have killed a man."

        If any man say, "I have sinned," God says He will forgive him.

        "But," you say, "Preacher, I am a wicked man of adultery, sensuality and perversion."

        God will forgive you.

        "But," you say, "Preacher, you don't know what I have done!"

        A man walked into my office a few weeks ago and said, "Preacher, God won't forgive me."

        I said, "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Isaiah 1:18.

        "But," he said, "Preacher, you don't understand. With these hands I killed a man!"

        "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like
crimson, they shall be as wool."

        "You don't understand! You don't understand," he said. "These hands have reached around the neck of a little innocent girl, thirteen years of age. I forced her to lie down. I raped that little thirteen-year-old girl. God wouldn't forgive me!"

        "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."

        If any man says, "I have sinned," not "if any good man," not "if any non-murderer" not "if any non-drunkard," not "if any non-thief," but "if any man says, "I have sinned," it does not matter what you have done; if you will say and mean, "I have sinned," God will forgive! If any man who is in deep sin, any man who has killed someone, any man who is guilty of treason, any man who is a dirty drunkard, any man who has been a Communist, any man who has been a pervert, any man who has been a homosexual, if any man will say, " I have sinned," God will forgive him. You are just as near to God as the admission of your sin. "I will deliver him from the pit," says God, "If he says, 'I have sinned.'"

II. The Type of Men Who Said, "I Have Sinned."

        "David, do you mean that righteous people are supposed to say, 'I have sinned'?" Oh, yes. David, the man after God's own heart, the sweet Psalmist of Israel, the sweet harpist of Israel, the greatest king who ever sat on the throne in Jerusalem said, "I have sinned." If David, the man after God's own heart, can acquiesce and say, "I have sinned," don't you think I ought to be able to say, "I have sinned"?

        Who said, "I have sinned"? Saul, who was the first king of Israel, said it. He was chosen by God above everyone in Israel to be the king. Saul, who was chosen by God as the greatest man in all of Israel, said, "I have sinned."
        Who said, "I have sinned"? Job, the best Christian in all the world said, "I have sinned." God said to Satan, "Hast thou considered My servant Job? Have you looked at him? He is a mature and upright man. He hates sin. He reared his children for God. he stood up for God."

        Job found one day that all of his children had been killed at the same time. Yet he said, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him."

        See him as he sits in the ash heap at the city dump. See him as he scrapes himself with the piece of potsherd removing the corruption running down his body. See him as he hears his wife say, "why don't you just curse God and die?" See him as his friends come and say, "See what you get for your sins!" See him lose everything that is holy. See him as his riches, his cattle, his sheep, his donkeys and his oxen are taken. Yet Job said, "I know that my Redeemer liveth. Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." That is the kind of man who said, "I have sinned," in the Bible.

        Who said, "I have sinned"? Micah, the one who looked down through Heaven's telescope 500 years before Christ and say Bethlehem's manger and birth of the Christ child. Micah said, "I have sinned."

        Who said, "I have sinned," in the Bible? Balaam did. Balaam was a great preacher. Yet he said, "I have sinned."

        Let me ask you a question, ladies and gentlemen: Do you think Balaam was a great Christian because he could say, "I have sinned"? Do you think that it may be that one cause for Balaam's greatness was his willingness to say, "I have sinned"? Do you think that Saul became a great man because he could say, "I have sinned"? One of the reasons Job was a mature and upright man, perhaps, was that he was willing to say, "I have sinned."

        Let me say, my dear friend, you will never in the world be all that God wants you to be, you will never do all that God wants you to do until you have learned to quit talking about others and start talking about yourself. There is nothing so little, so wicked, so vile, so un-Christlike, so Satanic, so unscriptural, so hurtful and deadly as God's people criticizing each other. Away with that kind of garbage! What kind of Christianity is it that slanders others? Would God we would realize that as long as liquor runs like a river, we do not have time to criticize each other! Would God we had enough intelligence and spirituality to realize that as long as dope is in our schools, we do not have time to fight each other! As long as the dirty Communists are trying to destroy this nation as long as the hippie crowd is trying to destroy our freedom and our capitalistic society, we do not have time to fight each other. It is time we stood shoulder to shoulder and said, "By the grace of God we are not going to tattle, talk about and criticize fellow Christians." In God's dear name, learn to say, "I have sinned," not "She has sinned!" Learn to say, "I have sinned," not "He has sinned." Learn to say, "I have sinned," not "They have sinned." Learn to say, "I have sinned," not "You have sinned."

        May I fall on my face and say with Job, "I have sinned." May I say with Balaam, "I have sinned." May I say with Saul, "I have sinned." May I say with David, "I have sinned." May I say with Micah, "I have sinned." May I say with the prodigal son, "I have sinned."

        I go all across the country preaching and when I do, I hear others preachers preach. I kneel at the altar like you do. I would not ask you to do anything that I would not do myself. I kneel like you do. I have we[t at altars all over this country. I get so busy trying to raise money, building a Sunday school, taking care of the business of the church, building a school and taking airplane trips that my heart sometimes grows cold, not because I do not love the Lord, not because I do not believe the Bible, not because I do not pray, but just because I get so busy! Oh, time and time again I have heard a man of God preach, and I have knelt and said, "Oh, God, I have sinned." We never get too high to do that.

        May I say to the administration of the grade schools, high school and college, learn to say, "I have sinned." May I say to the professors in our college, learn to say, "I have sinned." May I say to teachers in the grade schools and high school, learn to say, "I have sinned." May I say to men whose signatures can sway huge business deals, learn to say, "I have sinned." I say to the 100 deacons on our board, Learn to say, "I have sinned." I say to the choir, learn to say, "I have sinned." Oh, if Job, the best Christian that ever lived; if David, the best king that ever sat on the throne; if Micah, who saw with Heaven's telescope the coming of the Christ child 500 years before He came; and if Saul, the one chosen as the first king of Israel, learned to say, "I have sinned," how much more should Jack Hyles learn to say, "I have sinned."

        May I never become so proud that I cannot say, "I have sinned." I do not care how many degrees you have, how big a preacher you are, how long you have been saved, how many Bible classes you have taught, how important you are in the church, there is not a person in this room tonight, including this speaker, that ought not come to God regularly and say, "Oh, my God, I have sinned! I have sinned! I have sinned!"

III. The Things That God Used to Lead These Men to Say, "I Have Sinned."

        Notice why they paused and gave recognition to their sins. Notice why they said, "I have sinned."

        In the case of David, it was preaching. I like David. Nathan was asked to speak at the "President's Prayer Breakfast." Nathan pointed his finger at King David and said, "That art the man!"

        Say what you want to say, but there is nothing that will put conviction inside the heart of man like Spirit-filled preaching. Someone has said, "Preaching is teaching with a tear in the eye." He also said, "It is pouring to the congregation in a flood what they have sent up to you in a vapor." May it ever be said, may it ever be true, that as long as there is a First Baptist Church of Hammond, from this pulpit there goes forth preaching!

        What else causes people to admit they have sinned? The dregs of sin do. The prodigal son got into the hog pen and filled his own stomach with the food the hogs would eat. He tasted the dregs of sin . Ladies and gentlemen, sin has beautiful lights at the front door, but the back door is a dark, lonely place. Sin has a pretty beginning but it also has an ugly end. The first day in sin is the nicest day you'll spend, so enjoy it. Every day in sin is worse than the day before, but every day with Jesus is better than the day before!

        A man sat in my office this last week. he looked at me across the desk and said, "Sir, I am a homosexual." His lips began to quiver as he said, "I don't want to be one." I talked to him for awhile. He pleaded, "Would you help me? I don't want to be one. Won't you help me?"

        I told him, "I will meet with you. I will talk with you. I will do all that I can."

        He said of his homosexuality, "I didn't enjoy it much after awhile. At first it was fun. The appetite is made, but it doesn't satisfy like it used to. It gets worse all the time!"

        Sinner, it does get worse all the time. Hear it, wicked man, it gets worse all the time! Hear it, dope addict, it gets worse all the time. Hear it, drunkard, it gets worse all the time!"

        Hear this, Christian people, it gets better all the time!

        The dregs of sin are what cause people to say, "I have sinned."

        Judas Iscariot held in his hands thirty pieces of silver, looked at them and said, "I have sinned." How pretty that silver looked to him until he got it. It is an amazing thing. When he saw the silver at first, he thought, "Boy, what I could do with that! I want it! I want! I want that money!" Then he got those thirty pieces of silver in his own hands and hated it.

        It is amazing, ladies and gentlemen, how much fun it appears before you get there, and how empty it is once you are there.

        The righteousness of God's people also causes some to say, "I have sinned." Saul saw the righteousness of David and said, "I have sinned." Shimei saw the righteousness of David and said, "I have sinned."

        The presence of God also causes folks to say, "I have sinned." When Balaam saw the presence of God he said, "I have sinned."

IV. The Sins They Committed.

        What were the sins of these men? One was the sin of hurting God's people. Saul, Pharoah and Shimei had done that. Let me just stop and say again, I don't know why any of us should want to try to hurt the rest of us.

        There is a famous preaching in this country who made a careless statement about a few other churches. He did not mean to hurt us. He just spoke carelessly. I wrote him a letter and said, "My dear brother, I am not writing in defense of myself, but I am writing in defense of thousands of young preachers who look to both of us as leaders. I am begging you, for the sake of those young men in our country, let's present a solid front." That famous preacher, the big man that he is, said, "I have sinned. I did wrong. I know it. Forgive me. I'll ask others to forgive me."

        I know the best preachers in America. I know the pastors of the largest churches in America. There is not a big shot among them. There is not a proud and cocky one among them. They are just a group of men who are sinners, who have learned to say, "I have done wrong. I have sinned."

        You have heard me tell about the day my second daughter, Linda, was about to bleed to death at Dyer Mercy Hospital. Her tonsils were taken out, and they couldn't stop the bleeding. The nurse picked up her little bloody body and ran down the hall calling, "Doctor! Doctor! Doctor!"

        I went in a room alone and said, "Oh God, what is it?" I saw the face of a man to whom I wouldn't speak. I said, "I will make it right." A few months later God gave me the chance to make it right. I met that man at the altar of a church and said, "Sir, I have sinned."

        What sins caused men to say, "I have sinned"? There was the sin of criticizing God's people. There was the sin of leaving the will of God. What other sins did they commit? Saul committed the sin of disobedience. Job committed the sin of pride. David committed the sin of a sensual life and murder. The prodigal son committed the sin of a wasted life. Achan stole from God. They all said, "I have sinned."

        "I have sinned because I have robbed God." "I have sinned because I have not tithed." "I have sinned because I have taken something that was accursed." "I have sinned because I wanted something for myself." "I have sinned because I have not given God what is His." "I have sinned because I have not kept a pledge." "I have sinned because I lived a sensual life." "I have sinned because I left the will of God." "I have sinned because I was stiff-necked and rebellious." "I have sinned because I have criticized the people of God." "I have sinned because I was proud." These are the sins of many of God's people.

        I was in East Chicago, Indiana, several years ago. I knocked on a door. A lady came to the door. I said, "I'm Pastor Hyles."

        She said, "Yes, I know who you are." Then she said these exact words (I'll never forget it): "I was in your church last Sunday. I have just got to say three things to you."

        I said "What are they?"

        She said, "Your pianist played too fast, and your singer sang too fast, and you preached too fast, and I couldn't get out of that place fast enough. And besides, if all I've heard about you is true, you're not much anyhow!"

        "Lady, they are all true."

        "What?"

        "They are all true. I am not much. Really, I mean it. I am just a sinner. Lady, I hope you will pray for me. I want to be better. I hate me worse than you do. If you will just let me come in, I will tell you some of my sins. I want you to pray with me that I will do better."

        She opened the door all the way, and tears began to roll down her cheeks. She said, "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." In fifteen minutes, she was a child of God. Then she came to our church the next Sunday and was baptized.

        Do you know why? It was because the preacher said, "I have sinned."

        "I have sinned," said Job.

        "I have sinned," said Balaam.

        "I have sinned," said Saul.

        "I have sinned," said David.

        "I have sinned," said the prodigal son.

        "I have sinned!" you say.

        What can you do? Confess it! I John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

        When Becky was a little tyke, she got in the chocolate brownies before they were cooked. She got a handful of that stuff and tried to get it into her mouth. A little of it got in! There were fingerprints and chocolate all over her face. She got another handful. It dripped down her neck, her dress, and her legs.

        I walked in. "Becky, have you been in the cookies?"

        "No, sir."

        That is the way most of us are, isn't it? Pride shows all over our faces and we won't bring ourselves to say, "I have sinned."
        You have not prayed five minutes today. Have you sinned? You have not read a chapter in the Bible today. Have you sinned? The first step toward forgiveness is confession. Admit it. Face up to it. Confess it.

        After you have confessed your sin, ask for forgiveness and forsake it.

        Wednesday night, thirteen years ago, I looked in your faces for the first time as your pastor. Do you know what I have tried to do from this pulpit? I have tried to get you to be the kind of people who are willing to fall at the old-fashioned altar and say, "I have sinned."

        I want to speak this morning on Pleiades and Orion. Now in order to understand completely we must understand the condition of Job. Job was the richest man in the East, and he was the best Christian in the entire world. Such a good Christian was he that God said to Satan, "Hast thou considered my servant Job? There's not a one like him in all the earth."

        Then calamity came to Job. He lost his wealth. He had ten children. Every child was taken in death. His health broke; he had the awful disease of elephantiasis, leaving him scraping himself with a piece of metal, sitting in the ash heap of the city dump. Job's wife failed him. She said, "Why don't you curse God and die?"

        So here's Job, our hero. All of his health is gone; all of his wealth is gone; all of his children are gone; everyone in his household is gone; his wife's loyalty is gone; everything bad has happened. The Lord says to Job in this hour, "Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?" I'll be quite frank. I could care less about Pleiades or Orion if I were in the condition in which Job found himself, but there is a spiritual teaching that God gave to Job that I want to leave with you in the message this morning.

        Pleiades is a constellation of stars in the heavens. Greek mythology says, however, that actually these were the seven daughters of Atlas. The seven daughters of Atlas were pursued by the giant Orion, and Orion was a great giant of a fellow. They were pursued by the giant Orion, causing them to come to Zeus to appeal to the great god for protection. Zeus changed them into a constellation of stars, so no longer were they the daughters of Atlas. However, during the destruction of the city of Troy, one of these daughters could not stand to see the destruction of the city and was given a leave of absence from the constellation. That daughter has not been heard from since, so nowhere are only six daughters shining in the skies as stars forever and ever. These remaining six stars are supposedly not as bright as they used to be because they too were humiliated at the defeat of the city of Troy.

        Now let's look toward Orion. Orion, in Greek mythology, was a great giant, the son of Neptune. He was a might hunter; and while out hunting one day, he noticed a beautiful girl. Her name was Diana. He wanted Diana and began to chase her. The day came when Diana's brother, Apollo, decided he was going to do something about this giant who was chasing his sister, Diana. Apollo took Diana down to the sea and found Orion swimming in the sea. All that could be seen was his black cap. "Now," said Apollo to Diane, "you're pretty good with a bow and arrow, but I bet you couldn't hit that black speck out there on the sea." It happened to be the head of Orion. She loved him, but she did not know that the black spot was his head showing above the water. She took her bow and arrow and shot him in the head. She killed him. (Don't cry about this; this is not a true story.) Orion was brought to shore with the tide, and the beautiful Diana came and saw that she had killed her pursuer. In so doing, she transformed him into a star and placed him in the heavens. From that day till this, Orion has been chasing the six daughters of the Pleiades.

        What was God telling Job? The story of the Greek mythology was not even known in the days of Job. The honest truth is this: The Pleiades is a small cluster of stars that make themselves more visible in the springtime. When the Pleiades become more visible, it is obvious to the ones who know the stars and know the bright cluster of stars that springtime is coming soon. Orion is a constellation that announces the coming of winter.

        So the Lord is saying, "Job, there is nothing you can do about the stopping of spring or the coming of summer. There is nothing you can do about preventing the snows of winter or the chill of the winter winds or the deadness of the autumn. Job, you're going to have to take the spring, the summer, the autumn, the winter. They're going to come. There's nothing you can do about them."

        Job was in springtime. He had a wife. He had ten children. he was the richest man of all the East. He was the best Christian of all the earth. He was a picture of health. Springtime was there. When the deadening of autumn and the chill wind of winter begin blasting upon Job's soul, he finds himself in wintertime. The children are dead; the riches are gone; his health is gone; his wife has forsaken him. All of the spring is gone, and now Job is complaining about the conditions of wintertime. He is no longer enjoying the balmy breezes of summer that have been beckoned and announced by the coming of the spring. Now Job is shivering and suffering in the chill in the awful hardness of winter. Job complains. God says, "Stop it. You can take it. You can't stay in the springtime always. You can't prevent the autumn and winter from coming the tough days are going to come." God is saying, "Job, canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades? Can you capture Pleiades, springtime, and keep it all the time? You're going to have to have some wintertime too, or you won't enjoy the springtime." God says, "Can you loose the bands of Orion? Can you stop Orion from coming? Can you thwart the chill of winter? You can't stay in springtime always. You've got to take it now. You've got to know that the sun doesn't shine all day; the darkness comes. You've got to know that the summertime doesn't last the entire year; wintertime must come. You've got to know that the flowers that bloom in the springtime must wilt in the fall. You've got to know that the grass that is green in summer becomes brown in the fall. You've got to know that the life of the springtime becomes deadness in the fall. You've got to learn to enjoy the springtime and know that the fall must come. You've also got to learn that when winter does come, spring is going to come back again. Job, you take it now, whether it's the chill of winter or the warmth of summer. You learn to take it." That is what God is teaching to Job.

        Now let me give you four lessons very quickly this morning.

I. You Will Face All Seasons.

        You, like Job, will face all seasons. Young people, you're still in the springtime of life this morning, but the autumn is going to come. Nothing is wring now; you have no problems. You have not spent much time beside the casket in the funeral home. You know not the name of an undertaker. You know nothing about the chill of winter yet, but winter will come; autumn will come; it won't always be springtime.

        I say to those of you who are in wintertime, if the chill of winter is causing you to pull your wraps around your chest this morning, if you are lonesome, if wintertime is here, blessed be God, winter always precedes the spring! It won't be long till warmth will come. It won't be long till life will come again. It won't be long till spring and the warmth of summer shall come. If you are in the summer, fall is coming. If you are in the winter, spring is coming. That's what God is saying to Job, "You will face all the seasons."

        I have been pastor of this church now for eleven years. Eleven years ago last night was one of the darkest nights, if no the darkest night of my life. Eleven years ago last night I got in my car and rode around the city of Garland, Texas. I had pastored there for a number of years. We had seen the church grow from 44 people to 4,000. Almost everyone there I had won to Christ myself. I knocked with these knuckles on every door in the city of Garland, a city then of about 35,000 people. Not a person had moved to our city in all those years I was pastor there but that I went by to see them, welcome them to the city, and try to win them to Christ.

        Suddenly God said, "You've got to leave." The chill of Orion came and the warmth of Pleiades left. I found myself in the dark hour. I came here and the winter got colder and colder and colder and colder! Then it wasn't long and we say a little ray of springtime and the Pleiades were coming. Orion was leaving, but just as sure as I am here, Orion is coming again sometime.

        You know, as pastor now for eleven years, many of us have been through Orion and Pleiades time and time again, haven't we? I was thinking last night as I was rehashing the message and thinking about some families in the church. There are many families here with whom we have seen many victories. We have stood at the wedding altar together, and in a few months we have stood in the cemetery together. We have ordained your young people; we have prayed for your babies; we have sent them to college when they became teenagers. We have counseled with them. We have seen the sun shining in the springtime; we have felt the warmth of summer. As pastor and people we have also felt the deadness of the autumn and the chilling winds of wintertime. It is all a part of life. People have to take it.

        We at First Baptist Church, felt the warmth at the dedication service, but we will never forget when Orion came, that cold, cold day, spiritually, when we watched our building burn. God said, "Job, you have had it well; springtime was awhile ago, but Orion, wintertime, is here now. Job, don't despair because the chill of winter is discomforting now. Springtime will come again, but don't get too comfortable in springtime, for autumn is going to come."

        So it is, you will face all seasons.

II. In the Springtime, Prepare for the Winter.

        You know winter is coming. Right now, get some snowshoes. Get an overcoat. Before I came to Hammond, I thought cold was 50 . I had a nice coat that cost me $10.95 at J.C. Penney Company in Texas. I thought that it would take me through the winter. I was driving over the bridge on Columbia and I ran out of gas on the top of the bridge. I had to walk to the service station. It was -5 . I was wearing that $10.95 coat, and before I got to that service station, I was crying. The tears were icicles by the time they got to my cheek. I was freezing to death. I said to the fellow at the service station, "I'm about to die." I was literally shaking.

        He said, "You're having a chill."

        I said "Having a chill, nothing! I'm having a freeze!"

        I got some gasoline, put it in my car, came down here to the Minas store, walked in, and bought a topcoat. I had not gotten ready for winter. You have to get ready for the wintertime. Put anti-freeze in the car. Get some warm clothes. Get long flannels or insulated underwear, but get ready. You folks who came here from down South to teach in our school, let me warn you now, buy them today. We have worn our overcoats on the Fourth of July and built snowmen on Labor Day. Get ready! That's what the Lord is saying to Job. He is saying, "Job, okay, look. In the springtime, you should have gotten ready for the Orion to come. You can't have Pleiades all of the time."

        The springtime is wonderful. Everybody loves it. You know, I have been here for eleven years, and now I would hate to live where there is no snow. I hate to say it, but I love the snow. You've got to prepare for wintertime.

        Last Saturday night when Becky was married, people said to me, "I didn't know you could do it so well. You didn't cry but one time in the entire ceremony. We thought you would break down. How did you make it?" I had learned something in Twin Falls, Idaho, a few years ago to help me make it. I always said, "I couldn't marry one of my children." I always said, "I couldn't stand it. I couldn't do it. I couldn't do it." I was with Dr. John Rice in a Bible conference in Boise, Idaho, and Twin Falls, Idaho. We had two conferences going at the same time. I'd preach one night in Boise and a doctor would fly me down in a private plane to Twin Falls the next night, and Dr. Rice and I would switch places. When the conferences were over, I flew from Boise to Twin Falls and Dr. Rice was there with his oldest daughter, Grace. At the airport I say Dr. Rice say good-bye to Grace and Allen (his son-in-law) and their children. he got on the plane and wasn't crying. I asked, "Dr. Rice, how could you do that?"

        He said, "What?"

        I said, "You probably won't see her for a year or more and yet you weren't crying."

        Dr. Rice looked at me and taught me a lesson I'll never forget. He said, "Brother Jack, 45 years ago I picked up that little bundle of flesh in my hands and realized the day would come when I'd give her away. I started preparing myself for that moment and for the good-bye at the airport awhile ago."
        I learned something. I learned that in the summertime you have to prepare for winter. I learned that when the warmth of the Pleiades is shining upon you and the joy and warmth of the summer is yours, you must realize that Orion is on his way. There will be days of loneliness, days of heartache, days of sorrow, days of travail, days of suffering and days when the chill, cold, snow and ice of winter make you wonder if Pleiades will ever return. If you check the skies, you will find that Orion is still chasing those daughters. You will find that Orion is there and Orion will come, but you will also find that the Pleiades will return again. Springtime will come again. So I say, prepare yourself.

        That's the reason why many parents come to the place in life where all is gone. They "place all their eggs in one basket" and before they know it, everything is gone. May I say to you, prepare yourself for the coming of winter. You have to learn to take it. Of course, you could take it back yonder when everything was well; your health was good, you were rich, your children were there at home, your wife was faithful. Job, you could take it then. Job, you have to learn to take Orion as well as Pleiades.

III. In Wintertime, Look for the Spring.

        Do you know how I take these winters here? I look to the spring. I look to the summertime. When you're snowed in, you're about to freeze to death, your ears have frostbite and you wonder if you'll ever live through it, you need to realize that spring and summer are coming. Yes, just as sure as there be a God, the warm sunny days of summer are going to come.

        God said to Job, "Job, I know you don't have much now. I know your health is gone. I see you there in the ash heap, in the ashes of the city dump. I see that potsherd which you are using to scrape your body. I see that, but Job, summer will be coming again."

        One day summer did come. Job was restored to his health. He had ten children again. you know, I've always laughed about that. I think that's one of the funniest things. I think justice was meted out there. Job's wife got mad at him and said, "Curse God and die." When Job got rich again, she had to have ten kids. To me, that is funny! That's good enough for her. That's ninety months of eating watermelon for breakfast and cucumbers for lunch!

        Summer came again. Job got twice as many camels, twice as many sheep, twice as many donkeys, twice as many oxen as he's had before, and as many children. It used to worry me. Why didn't Job have twice as many kids? He had twice as many asses, oxen, sheep and camels; why didn't he get twice as many children? Then one day it dawned on me that when camels die, they are dead; when sheep die, they are dead; when oxen die, they are dead; when asses die, they are dead; but when children die, they yet live! Job did have twenty children; he had ten on earth and ten in Heaven. Once again the Pleiades were back. Spring and summer were back. God said, "Job, while you are in Orion, don't forget, the Pleiades will come again."

IV. There Is Joy in Winter.

        There's the comfort of a cup of hot chocolate beside the hearth in the wintertime. There's the popping of the corn, the games on the floor, the warmth of the home in the wintertime. I don't know so much about winter that is so bad. I've lived a long time. I have preached a long time for a fellow who's 43. I have been preaching for almost 25 years. Twenty-three years ago this month I became a pastor for the first time.

        I look back over my life. I can recall the sunshine. I can recall the Pleiades, the warmth, springtime, flowers, gaiety, laughter, fun, joy, frivolity, victory, success and mountain peaks. However, as I look back over my life I can also see Orion. I can recall the chill of the wintry blasts. I can recall the discomfort of the ice and snow. I can recall lonely hours and the times when it seemed like the Pleiades would never return. Yet I'm not so sure as I look back but that the hot chocolate of Orion was better for me than the sunshine of the Pleiades. So wherever you are this morning, if you're in the Pleiades, springtime, laughter, gaiety, success, victory, mountain peaks, sunshine and cloudless days, start gathering for the Orion. Winter is coming. Get your spiritual coat. Prepare yourself. Don't be knocked off by the coming of the chilly blasts of Orion.

        Maybe this morning you are in Orion. Maybe there is no victory for you but defeat, no warmth for you but cold, no joy for you but sadness, no laughter for you but tears, and that is your lot in life this morning. May I encourage your heart? Orion has never come without the Pleiades being around the corner.

        There is coming a place where there'll be no Orions, only Pleiades!

                Oh, they tell me of a land far beyond the sky;
                Oh, they tell me of a land far away.
                Oh, they tell me of a land where no storm clouds rise.
                Oh, they tell me of an unclouded day.
                Oh, the land of cloudless day.
                Oh, the land of the unclouded day!
                Oh, they tell me of a home far beyond the sky;
                Oh, they tell me of an unclouded day.

        There is a place where we who are saved are going. There we will have no clouds, only sunshine; no chilly blasts only spring warmth; no dying flowers, only blossoming blooms. There is coming a place where we will never grow old. We will never say good-bye to Mother, never feel the pain of a heart attack, never feel the eating away of cancer, never feel the tear on the cheek of a sad good-bye. There the shoulders shall never stoop, brows shall never furrow and the skin shall never wrinkle. Oh, they tell me of a land far away!

        I hope this morning that you are prepared for death. I hope that Heaven is yours because you have put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Address delivered at Fall Convocation of
Toronto Baptist Seminary-October 14, 1968

Text: "Honour and majesty are
before Him: strength and beauty
are in His sanctuary." Psalms 96:6.

Dr. Slade, Faculty, Trustees, Student Body and Interested Friends:
        This is my second visit to your fine institution and to this famous church. I am delighted, honored, and thrilled to share with you the blessing of this occasion. The last time I was here, I brought the Commencement address, and this time I will start you off, and I trust God will meet with us and speak to our hearts. it was a real joy today to renew fellowship and communion with the brethren here. I often think of Dr. Slade and this great church and the School and faculty members, and very often one of your faces will cross my mind and I will think positively and gratefully of this place and the work that is being done here.

        Now notice the 96th Psalm, verse 6, "Honour and majesty are before Him: strength and beauty are in His sanctuary."

I. Strange Combinations

        Strange companions are these walking together in the 96th Psalm, "Honour and majesty are before Him." Think for a moment how seldom you see honour fellowshipping with majesty. In political offices, people of high estate who have majesty so seldom have honour. When we think of honour, we do not think of majesty. When we think of majesty, we seldom think of honour.

        In the Word of God there are several such pairs that are seldom seen together. For example, the Apostle Paul speaks about "zeal and knowledge." How rate it is to find in the same package both zeal and knowledge! Somebody has said, "Scholarship and fire seldom walk together." How wonderful it is to find some scholar who has the fire of God in his soul. As he secures his education and training and gains his scholarship, he keeps the same zeal and fire of his youth.

        There is still another pair that seldom walks together. It is said of Jesus in John 1:14, that He was "full of grace and truth." Did you ever stop to think how difficult it is to mingle grace and truth? Dr. Slade, you are a great defender of the faith. You and I know what it is to fight the battles for the truth. Have you noticed about the time you get enough of the truth, you lose your grace? Just about the time that I get courageous enough, I get mean. Do you have that problem, Dr. Fletcher? About the time I take the stand that I ought to take for this blessed old Book, I find myself losing my warmth and love. I have truth, but not grace. So I work on my grace, and I become a sweet, gentle preacher. Then I find I have lost the truth; I want to join the National Council of churches! (Ha) The Honest truth is, these seldom go together.

        Now here is another pair, just as rarely found together as grace and truth, or majesty and honour, or zeal and knowledge. "Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary." What a strange combination! The Psalmist looks at the temple and lists two qualities he sees that seldom travel together. The entire Psalm, I think, is a picture of the Psalmist looking at the temple, the center of all Jewish life. As he looks at the temple, he says, "Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary." We think of the strength, with its solidity, and find it difficult to associate with it grace and loveliness. When we think of strength, we think of someone who has few manners or little ethics. We oftentimes disassociate anything lively with anything strong. Conversely, when we think of the beautiful we think of it as fragile and delicate. We hardly ever think of anything beautiful being strong. I am advocating this evening strength AND beauty, honour AND majesty; zeal AND knowledge, grace AND truth. I am saying that I do not believe one need sacrifice grace to have truth; one need not sacrifice honour to have majesty; one need not sacrifice zeal to have knowledge; and one need not sacrifice beauty to have strength or strength to have beauty. The Psalmist looks at the strength of the marble pillars and sees the undergirdings of the temple and the strength of the pillars, and then he looks at the exquisite carvings and says, "Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary." I look around this lovely building tonight, and I see the strength of this building and the delicate carving and beauty contained therein, and I say with the Psalmist, "Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary."

II. Strength and Beauty in the Temple

        The Psalmist looked at the great porch upheld by the two famous pillars of bronze, cast by the most skillful workers, and on the top of the pillars was lily work. How beautiful! Realizing the strength of these two bronze pillars of the porch and viewing the delicate, dainty needlework at the top, the Psalmist said, "Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary."

        The Psalmist looked at the massive stones and cedars of Lebanon. Then as he compared them to the delicate carvings of cherubim, he said "Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary." He looked at the immense stone foundations, and at the same time, at the interior overlaid with pure gold, and said, "Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary." He looked at the immense size of the temple, and then at the figures of cherubim, palm trees, and flowers and said, "Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary." He looked at the beautiful architecture and the strength upholding the great massive building. At the same time he noticed precious stones gleaming midst the gold, and said, "Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary." He looked at the high walls and compared them to the woven tapestry that was hanging on every side. As he say the strength of the walls and the beauty and loveliness of the tapestry, he said, "Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary."

        Now all of this is to say this: We face a generation that does not compare strength and beauty. We face a generation that says, "You must be strong, you must stand, you must fight, you must not yield, you must not give." On the other side, we see there are other people who believe in the arts, who believe in the beauty of nature, who believe in beauty as opposed to strength. What is wrong with fundamentalists having strength AND beauty? What is wrong with fundamentalist having zeal AND knowledge? I was in Canada, in your capital city, preaching at a series of holy week services for the local Fundamental Evangelical Ministerial Association and the churches that they pastored. A pastor who was up in years came to me and said, "Dr. Hyles, I admire you; I admire your zeal. When I was a young man I, too, chose between zeal and depth." That spoke volumes to me! He said, "When I was a young man, I looked on one side, and I saw the depth of teaching the Word of God, and exposing the Scriptures. On the other side, I saw those who had zeal; they passed out tracts, and they had fervor and fire and zeal, and I decided I would choose to be deep instead of zealous."

        I said, "My dear sir, if you will forgive me for being a little bit rude and a little bit unkind, I would like to say, if I could have talked to you for five minutes back then, I could have saved you from having to make that decision."

        "Well," he said, "I am not the hollering type. I just expound the Scriptures and expose the Word of God."

        I said, "All right, if I had talked to you, I would have reminded you that you could read the Scriptures, then stop and say 'Glory to God!' and then read the next verse."

        Now, I am simply saying this: Why should there be a choice for a young man to make? Could not a young man have the zeal of youth and the wisdom of age? Could not a young man have a compassion for souls and a zeal for the Word of God and the work of God, and at the same time, experience what it is to know the Scriptures and teach the Word of God? I commend to you, and I recommend to you that you consider strength and beauty.

        So the Psalmist looked at the sanctuary, at the beloved temple, and as he examined the strength on one side, and the loveliness on the other, the strong pillars with their lily work at the top, the strong sides, the walls, with their exquisite carvings and interior covered with gold, the Psalmist shouted, "Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary!"

III. Strength and Beauty in Our Ministry

        Now there is a temple today. In 1968 there is another temple. It does not stand in Jerusalem on the site of Solomon's temple; it sits in this auditorium this evening. This temple of today will be walking the halls in this Seminary, sitting in the chairs provided by the Alumni, studying at the feet of you professors, for this temple of today is the body of the Christian. If you check the New Testament very carefully, especially Paul's writings, you will find that the temple of today is the body of the believer. Now this body, this temple, should have in it both strength and beauty. Maybe there is some young preacher in the student body who this evening is trying to decide what he ought to be-a Bible teacher or an evangelistic, compassionate preacher. I commend to you: Be both! Have both strength AND beauty. Have both grace AND truth. Have both honour AND majesty. Do not trade one for the other, or the other for one, but rather combine in your ministry the depth of the Word of God and the zeal that God would want you to have in the propagation of that blessed Word.

        I heard a beautiful story about Dr. George W. Truett, who served for many years as Pastor of the great First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. (I think he served for over forty years in Dallas, my home town.) One day he was in his study preparing his message for the next Lord's Day. His little five-year-old granddaughter was bothering him, as most five-year-old granddaughters do well. "Grandfather, I want a drink," she said. As most grandfathers do, he spoiled his granddaughter. He got her a drink. He sat down to study his sermon, when suddenly, just a few moments afterwards, she said, "Grandfather, I am thirsty again, may I have a drink?" He got up again and gave her a drink. In just a matter of five minutes she said, "Grandfather, may I have a drink, please?"

        (That reminds me of a little girl who said, "Daddy, may I have a drink?" He said, "If you ask me for a drink one more time, I am going to get up and spank you." She said, "Daddy, when you get up to spank me, would you bring me a drink, please?")

        Dr. Truett got her a drink, and then he said, "Honey, leave Grandfather alone. I am busy. I have to preach Sunday and I need to be alone." So he happened to think-there was a jigsaw puzzle of a map of the world in his office. Dr. Truett got the box that contained the puzzle, and he said, "Honey, do you like jigsaw puzzles?"

        She nodded her head.

        He asked, "Would you like to put a jigsaw puzzle together?"

        She said she would. Dr. Truett put her in the outer office, gave her the jigsaw puzzle, the map of the world. He thought, "That will take care of a five-year-old for awhile."

        Five minutes passed, and she said, "Granddaddy, I am through with the puzzle, and I want a drink."

        "You're through?"

        "Yes, I am through."

        Dr. Truett said, "How could it be that you could get the world all fixed up? You do not know where all the countries are." He walked to the outer office, and sure enough, every country was in place. She had taken hundreds of pieces and put them perfectly together in five minutes. Dr. Truett said, "How did you do it?"

        She said, "It was easy, Granddaddy. On the back side was a picture of a man's face. I didn't work on the world. I worked on the man. When I got the man right, the world took care of itself."

        That is what you need to work on, my young friend. Great societies and poverty programs may or may not be well and good, but those will be unnecessary when preachers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ return to preaching the Gospel to men. The need of our day is to reach men. As Dr. Slade said awhile ago, we need men! If only we had the intelligence and sense of the little girl, who at five said, "I worked on the man, and the world took care of itself."

        Faculty members, those who lead these students, I commission you not to use these students to build a school, but use your school to build these students. It is so easy to use patients to build a hospital, or use members to build a church, or use students to build a school, but our job is to use buildings, faculty, trustees, administration. books, and all the rest of it to invest in the lives of individuals, that they may have grace and truth, honour and majesty, zeal and knowledge, strength and beauty.

IV. Strength Comes First

        Now I want you to notice this. In the first place, the Psalmist said, "strength." He did not say, "beauty and strength," for beauty without strength is worse than strength without beauty. The first thing he said was "Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary." It's better to be strong than ornamental. Do not do wrong rightly; do right wrongly if you have to make the choice. I would rather do right rightly. If I could, I would like to take the Word of God, Dr. Slade, and stand on it, and say, "I believe it, I will fight for it, I will die for it," and do it with beauty, grace, love, kindness, meekness, and humility." If I had to choose between being cantankerous and hard to get along with and standing for the truth, and being sweet and kind in denying the faith, I would ten thousand times rather stand on this Bible wrongly, than stand off this Bible rightly. Strength comes first!

        Character is more important than talent, for character will seek talent, and talent oftimes will flee character. True character, when it is instilled in the lives of young people, will find the talent necessary to perform a task. Oftentimes excessive talent makes one think he needs not character, and so he runs from character and loses the thing that he needs the most, when character is far more vital to success than his talent.

        I have often made this little statement: I do not care who hates me because of my position, but I do not want anybody to hate me because of my disposition. Now, if I had to choose, however, between the right position and the right disposition, I would choose the right position. I am simply saying, strength and beauty should adorn every Christian, but the first thing that ought to adorn us is strength, character, and standing for the truth, the Bible, Christ, and soul winning.

        I recall a Texas farmer whose boy went off to college. Nobody had ever been to college from that area. Everybody was impressed because one of their own farm boys had gone off to college. Well, the boy came home from college the first time, and the dad was ploughing in the field. The neighbor at the next farm said, "Hey, Zeke! How did your young'un do in college this year?"

        He said, "You'd never believe it. Why, it used to be when my boy ploughed a row with the mule, he would look at the mule and say, 'Whoa, Red, turn and giddap.' Do you know what he says now? He says, 'Halt, Rebecca! Pivot and proceed!'"

        Now, I think it is best to say, "Halt, Rebecca! Pivot and proceed!" but I think it is better to get Rebecca turned around than to know how to speak good English. Dr. Bob Jones, Sr. used to say, "I would rather a fellow say 'I seen' that seen something, than say 'I have seen' who ain't seen nothing."

V. Strength and Beauty in Creation

        I suggest to you, and I recommend to you, that you get all the Christian grace, charm, ethics, and principles you can, that you adorn the Gospel of the grace of God, but let me say before you do get the polish, you be sure you get the merchandise. You be sure you have the strength before you work on the beauty. You decide you believe the Bible is the Word of God! Every word of it, every page of it, and every line of the Bible is inspired by God. You live for it, die for it, live by it, die by it, stand for Christ, stand for the Bible, have no patience with error, stand for the truth that is in the faith; and once you get that, then you can look at the next word, which is beauty. "Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary." Someone has said, "Never mind about the beautiful; give us the useful and the durable." Let that one look at the yellow gold of the grain field, the emerald green of the meadow, the silver white of the lake, the purest blue of the sky, the fresh green of the spring, the snowy white of the winter, the glory of the sunset, the sevenfold beauty of the rainbow, the towering mountains with their ceaseless lights and shadows. Let him look at God's creation; the strength of a mountain range, and yet the beauty that is incomparable, strength and beauty. God has a wonderful way of adding the beauty to the strong. Look at a tree sometime. Look at the strong, durable, sturdy trunk of that tree; then at autumn time, look at the fading of the leaves and the foliage, and notice how God blends the strong and the beautiful in the same tree. Look sometime at a hill. Look sometime at a river-the beautiful flowing river with its strength, power, and potential.

        Once you have gained the strength may you then add beauty. Once you have become a fundamental believer with the zeal of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, then add love, grace, gentleness, kindness, and all the Christian graces, but be sure the strength is there first.

VI. Strength and Beauty in Character

        Faculty members, out there waiting to come here, is a young lad. He is a farm boy. He is spiritual and he is strong. He has strength, but his English is atrocious. He hangs his gerunds, splits his infinitives, dangles his participles. He comes to you. He has strength, he has character, but he needs beauty. I charge you: Give him beauty, but don't tamper with his strength.

        When I was a young preacher, I had two sermons: One was on cigarettes and the other was on movies. I would preach to my little church on cigarettes on Sunday morning and on movies on Sunday night. I wanted to be varied in my subjects, and so I preached the next Sunday on movies in the morning and cigarettes at night. I guess I was the crudest preacher that ever came off the East Texas sand hills, but I had conviction. I believed this Book was the Word of God, and I believed that Jesus Christ was God's Son. I knew I was born again, and I belonged to Jesus Christ. I knew right was right and wrong was wrong. I knew black was black and white was white, and I was dedicated not to make it gray. I thank God for my teachers and helpers and those who prayed for me and tried to lend a little bit of beauty along with it. Still my beauty fades oftentimes when compared to my conviction. I thank God for those teachers who gave me a few of the graces and taught me you could hold a teacup on your knee, do it properly, and still be a fundamentalist. I thank God for those that tried to make something out of me, and taught me that proper English could robe fundamentalism. I thank God for those who helped me and taught me that a person could say, "Good morning," and smile and still be a fundamentalist. you do not have to trip old men when they walk across the street to be a fundamentalist. I thank God for those people that taught me that love, grace, beauty, honour, and majesty are important. At the same time, they did not tamper with the strength.

        Faculty, out yonder waiting to come before you some day is a high school lad. He is intelligent, and he is spiritual. He is gentle and he is kind. he has love and he has charm, but he needs intestinal fortitude. He needs strength. He has the beauty. Don't steal his beauty. Let him keep his kindness, let him keep his gentleness, let him keep his goodness, but when he comes here, instill in his heart strength for the Word of God and the work of God.

        Out yonder is someone who will be before you, a young lady. She is lovely and talented, but she needs conviction. She comes to you to get it. Out yonder there is a preacher lad who has conviction and potential, but he needs love. Don't cast him aside. Add love to his conviction, add kindness to his courage, and make him full of strength and beauty.

        As I look to you students this evening, most of you are far younger than I. As I look in your eyes and think about the potential for the future, I exhort you to earn a degree while you are in Toronto Baptist Seminary. We shall call it the S.A.B. degree: Strength and Beauty! As you walk across this platform and receive the diploma for which you are working, as you walk out the doors, take off your caps and gowns, go out to your place of service, may people know you are someone of strength. May they always say, "There is a man who believes the Bible; there is a man who has convictions for which he would live and die," but at the same time, "There is a gentleman; there is a man who pays his debts, and pays them on time, there is a man who has the love of Christ in his heart, there is a man who walks with God, there is a man who has strength and beauty."

        Maybe it is like the Quaker who kindly said, before he killed a man, "I would not hurt thee, nor harm thee, nor lift up my hand to do thee wrong, but thou art standing where I am about to shoot."

        Dr. Frank Norris said of Dr. John Rice, "He is the kindest, gentlest man that ever scuttled a ship or slit a throat." There ought to be some of that in God's people. There ought to be that as we teach our students.

                Stand up, stand up for Jesus,
                Ye soldiers of the cross;
                Lift high His royal banner,
                It must not suffer loss.
                From victory unto victory
                His army shall He lead
                Till every foe is vanquished
                And Christ is Lord indeed.

        As you stand for the truth, may you have grace, and as you seek grace, may you never leave the truth. As you have strength, may you have beauty; but as you add beauty, may you never lose your strength. As you have zeal, may you have knowledge; but may your knowledge never dampen your zeal. As you have majesty, have honour; but may your honour never take your majesty, nor your majesty rob your honour. May it be said of you that you are simply "Strength and Beauty."

        That is what this old world needs tonight. The world is dying for the Gospel of Christ and preachers to preach that Gospel. It does not take a brilliant person long to find that we are in dire need of the Moodys, Sundays, Jonathan Edwards, and Charles G. Finneys. It does not take this old world long to find that we need some Wesleys and some Spurgeons. It does not take this world long to find that we need some George Whitefields, some Sam Joneses with their strength, some R. A. Torreys with their culture and refinement and yet spiritual zeal.

        Dr. John Rice, as a young preacher, went to the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas, one afternoon to hear the famous Gypsy Smith. At that time, Gypsy Smith was in his heyday and in demand all across America and all across the world. He spoke on soul winning. he said, "We ought to take every advantage to witness to others about the Saviour." Then he said, "We ought to leave this building this afternoon to cover this town with the Gospel of Christ."

        Dr. John Rice said, "Dear Lord, when I leave this building, I am going to witness to the first person I see." The service was ended, the benediction pronounced. Out the back door went this young preacher, John Rice, in his early days. Around the corner from the First Baptist Church of Dallas, was a taxicab, with the driver standing beside his cab. "Taxi?" he said.

        Dr. Rice said, "No, I do not want a taxi, but I want to ask you a question, 'Sir, are you a Christian?'"

        The cab driver moistened his eyes and quivered his lips as he said, "Yes, I am."

        Dr. Rice said, "Good. When did you become a Christian?"

        The taxi driver said, "Just a minute ago. A Gypsy fellow walked out the speakers' door and led me to the Lord Jesus Christ."

        Emerson Wrote the following:

                So nigh is grandeur to our dust,
                So near is God to man,
                When Duty whispers low, "Thou must,"
                The youth replies, "I can."

        Oh, for revival of fundamentalism! Oh, for revival of old-fashioned hell-fire and brimstone preaching of "Ye must be born again" with the altar call, the mourner's bench, the sawdust trail, and sinners repenting; and the old-fashioned Gospel of Christ where hundreds are saved, buildings are filled, the power of God comes, people repent, mourners mourn, folks turn to God, and we have real genuine, old-fashioned revival back in America and in our country! But-it will come only when we have Christian people who mix genuine grace with the blessed truth.

        May God give us, may God give me and you a knowledge burning with zeal, a majesty built on honour, a grace founded by truth, and a beauty built with strength.

        The second man said, "Wonderful, wonderful."

        The third man said, "Good."

        The fourth man said nothing. One of the fellows said to him, "Would you like to play cards?"

        The Christian layman said, "Yes, I would." The cards were shuffled and dealt. The Christian just sat there motionless.

        He was asked, "Aren't you going to play?"

        He replied, "I can't."

        "Well you said you wanted to."

        "I do."

        "Well, why don't you play?"

        The man said, "I have no hands."

        "Oh," said one of the men, "I did not know that you are an amputee."

        "I'm not," was his answer. "I'm a Christian. I'd love to play cards. I'd like to join you, but these hands are not mine. They belong to Someone else, and He does not want to use them to play cards. I have no hands of my own."

        What a truth! Do you know that all unhappiness is caused by one word-anarchy? When a person does not yield himself to God he is unhappy. The unhappy child is one who is so unfortunate as to grow up in a home under Dr. Spock's philosophy. Happy is the child who is taught that what Dad says and what Mom says is what goes! Why? He is not his own.

        You say, "Brother Hyles, I am little child. How can I belong to God and my mom and dad? How can God own my body and my mom and dad own my body?

        God does own you when your mom and dad own you. You obey God when you obey Mom and Dad. The happy child is the child who says, "I am not my own. I belong to those who are over me."

        The unhappy bride is that young lady who does not want to give herself in complete obedience to her groom. The unhappy citizen is that citizen who says, "I will do what I want to do. I will disregard the laws. I will have nothing but my own convictions reigning over me."

        The unhappy student is the student who will not obey the teacher. The unhappy Christian is the Christian who will not obey his God.

        Listen to me tonight. Listen to me, beloved. You will never be happy in the Christian life until you come to the place where you say, "Dear Lord, I have no eyes; they are your eyes; they are not mine."

        A Christian should say, "I have no ears; they are His ears. My eyes are His eyes. My hands are His hands."

        I got this truth years ago before I went into the army. One time they called me up and said, "Hyles, listen, would you like to go down to the dance at the armory?"

        I said, "I love to."

        They said, "We'll pick you up."

        "No, I'm not going," I said.

        "Why?" the fellows asked.

        "Because I don't have any feet."

        "Oh, what happened to your feet?"

        "I haven't had any feet for seven years. My feet are His. I am not my own. I am bought with a price."

        Kids, you will never be happy until you take your hands off of your life and say, "I am His. My feet belong to Him. My eyes belong to Him." That will solve your bad literature. That will solve your dancing at school. That will solve your cursing. That will solve your dirty language. That will solve your suggestive speech. That will solve your rock music. That will solve it all. You ought to say, "These ears are not mine; they are His. I have no right to hear what I want to hear. I must hear what He would want to hear. They are His ears. I have no right to say what I want to say. I want to say what He would want me to say. My tongue is His. I have no right to go where I want to go. I must go where He wants me to go. My feet are His. I have no right to take what I want to take. I must take what He would want to take. My hands are His. I have no right to say what I want to say, be what I want to be, do what I want to do, go where I want to go or see what I want to see. I belong to Him. I am not my own!"

        All your problems tonight, men, women, teenagers, boys and girls, revolve around one thing: You are taking Somebody else's members and using them for your own pleasure.

        Suppose I said tonight, "You are going to drink whiskey."

        You say, "But, Preacher, I have never tasted whiskey. I don't want any whiskey."

        "Well, you are going to have it whether you want it or not. I will pry your mouth open and pour it down."

        Let me ask you a question? Is that right?

        You say, "Of course, it is not right! This mouth is mine and this stomach is mine."

        That is the reason the Apostle Paul could say in I Corinthians 10:31, "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." Why? This is His mouth, not mine. These are His eyes, not mine. These are His ears, not mine. These are His hands, not mine. These are His feet, not mine.

        All of your problems, your unhappy days, your frustrations, your nervous breakdowns, your burdens, the things that make you unhappy, and all of your maladjustment is wrapped up in one problem: You are using Somebody else's members and doing what you want to with them. You are a thief!

        I have given just enough of myself to Christ that I realize that I belong to Him. I am His. I am not my own. I have no right to choose what I do. I have no right to decide where I go. I have no right to decide what I eat or drink. I have no right to decide what I read. I have no right to decide what I hear. I must hear only that which He would hear; these are His ears. I must see only that which He would see; these are His eyes. I must go only where He would go; these are His feet. I must take only what He would take; these are His hands. All of my problems and all of yours are wrapped up around the rebellion of taking the members that belong to Him and using them for ourselves.

        I was on maneuvers one day in the army. We had to walk 26 miles. We were 13 miles our and had 13 miles to come back. I was so thirsty, and my canteen was dry! A man came with a big truck and said, "We have something for you to drink: a big case of beer." There was no water, only beer.

        I looked at that beer and said, "You sure look good. I sure would like to have you."

        You say, "Preacher, have you ever wanted to take a drink?"

        Sure, I wanted to take a drink.

        "Why didn't you?"

        I didn't have a mouth. I don't have one now; the one I use is His.

        Sometimes I would like to criticize people, but I can't; I don't have a tongue. I would like to make money, but I can't; I don't have any hands. Sometimes I would like to fight, but I can't; I don't have a fist.

        Beloved members of First Baptist Church, grasp this truth tonight: You are not your own. YOU ARE NOT YOUR OWN.

        A young lady came into my office not long ago to talk about her future. She was a senior in high school. She said, "What I want to do is this!"

        I said, "You have no choice in the matter. You cannot do what you want to do."

        She said, "I can do what I want to do!"

        I said, "You have no right to do what you want to do. You are not your own."

I. I Am Not My Own Because He Created Me.

        I am His because twice He created me. In Genesis in the story of creation we find that He created our bodies. He took the dust of the earth and from that dust He created man. He spoke and we came into existence. He made these eyes; they are His. He made these hands; they are His. He made this body; it is His. He made these feet; they are His. He made this mouth; it is His. He made these ears; they are His. He made me, and I am His because of creation.

        I am His because of another creation. In II Corinthians 5:17 it says, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature (creation)." So I am His twice.

        Years ago I made a slingshot. I went out to a big tree. I found a limb that had a fork in the branch. I sawed it off. I got my knife and whittled it. Then I took some sandpaper and sanded it. I found an old inner tube and cut off two rubber bands. I tied some string on the ends of the rubber bands. I put a piece of leather on the end of the twine. I tied a couple of strings to the ends of the branch and put the rubber on the end of the strings. Then I put the strings on the back of the rubber and I put leather on the back of the strings. I went down to the gravel pit and got a sack full of rocks, and I had a slingshot!

        Across the street from me there was a kid named Robert. He was the meanest kid I ever met. He say my slingshot. He took it. I saw him with it the next day at school. I went to the teacher and said, "Teacher, Robert has my slingshot."
        She asked, "How do you know its yours?"

        I said, "I made it. It's mine!"

        Robert said, "Finders keepers; losers weepers." Big bully!

        I said, "Robert, that's mine. I made it."

        The teacher said, "What proof do you have?"

        I said, "Well, I..." Then I said, "Robert, whose is that?"

        He said, "It's mine."

        I said, "You know it's not yours! I made that!"

        After school, he got me and beat me to a pulp. (The big bully was three or four years older than I was.)

        It wasn't long until I made a scooter. Did you ever make a scooter? First, you find an old pair of skates. Then get a two-by-four. Attach the skates under the two-by-four making a set of wheels in the front and a set in the back. How many of you ever made an old scooter like that? God pity you young folks who buy scooters. Then you put a one-by-four in the front, build some handles, and you have a scooter.

        One day I saw Robert on my scooter. I said, "Hey, Robert, that's my scooter!"

        He said, "No, it's not. It's my scooter!"

        "No, it's mine. I made that."

        "Finders keepers, losers weepers."

        "Robert, that's mine." I went in and I told my mother. "Mama, Robert has my scooter!"

        Mama said, "Why don't you just go get it?"

        "Because I can't! He's bigger than I am."

        "Well, how do you know it's yours?"

        "I made it myself; it's mine."

        Robert beat me up again!

        It wasn't long before I made what we called a "roller coaster." I got some old tricycle wheels, built an engine hood, and made a soapbox car. Down the hill I would go. After spending several weeks building my car, one day I looked out and saw Robert in my little soapbox car. I said, "ROBERT!"

        "WHAT?"

        "That's mine."

        "Finders keepers, losers weepers."

        "Robert, that's mine." I went back home and told my dad. I said, "Robert has whipped me three times because I wanted things that I had made. I made the slingshot, the scooter and the soapbox. They are mine. I made them!"

        Dad said, "Why don't you sort of let Robert know who's boss?"

        I said, "He already knows, and I do too!"

        Dad looked out in the backyard. There was a good-sized two-by-four. Dad said, "That might make you the boss." Though my dad was not a Christian, he always taught me that a man will not let anybody push him around. He wanted me to keep my manhood, anyway. I got that two-by-four and carried it behind me everywhere I went. One day Robert got my bicycle. That did it! He said, "Finders keepers, losers weepers" long enough! He came by the house, looked at me and said, "Hey, I got you now!" he decided he was going to get off and whip me for the fourth time. I took that two-by-four and threw it at Robert. As he turned around, it hit him right in the back!

        That is sort of crude, but you know, that is exactly what God does. God says, "You are not your own. I made you. Those are My hands; I made them."

        "But I'll play cards, and I'll gamble, and I'll grasp the liquor bottle and I'll have my hands touch things that are unholy."

        God says, "I made those hands."

        "Finders keepers, losers weepers."

        We use them like we want to use them. We trod unholy paths and go unholy places.

        God says, "I made those feet. They are My feet. They are not yours."

        We say, "Finders keepers, losers weepers."

        This is why you ladies ought to wear your skirts down to your knees. Those are not your thighs you are showing. They are His. He has a right to tell you how to dress. You have no right to expose your body to the lustful eyes and evil minds of wicked men. Your body is His. You are His. You are not your own.

        The day will come, ladies and gentlemen, when He will say, "Okay, I'll get a two-by-four and knock the fire out of you." You will hear the squeaking of brakes on the pavement or you will feel a pain in the chest, and you will be rushed by ambulance to the hospital. Then the Lord will say, "You have used My hands long enough; I will take them. You have used My feet long enough; I will still them. You have used My tongue long enough; I will hush it. You have used My eyes long enough; I will shut them. You have used My body long enough."

        You won't get by, Christian friend, on being your own. You are His!

        I am not my own because He created me.

II. I Am Not My Own Because I Was Born to Him.

        I was born to God's family. That which is born to you is yours until it is grown. So I am His until I mature. I am His until I am grown. I am His until I am no longer a minor. That means until I become grown in the Lord I have no say-so over what these ears hear, where these feet go, what these hands do, or what this tongue speaks.

        "Well, you say, "I'm already grown in the Lord."

        Nobody becomes mature in the Lord until He becomes like Jesus. In Romans 8:23 God talks about "the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." There came the time in the life of a Jewish boy when he became a major and was no longer a minor. His father took him to what was called a "Bema," the great public place, the judgment place, the announcement place, the community place, etc. He took his boy there when he became an adult. He would call all the neighborhood together, put his arm around his son, and say, "Ladies and gentlemen, I have some declarations to make. This is my son. Today he becomes a major." The son wore what was called a "toga virilis," which was a coat showing he was a minor. He would then give his son the coat worn by adults. A little boy looked forward to the day when he could exchange coats so all the people would know that he was a grown man.

        Then the father would say to his son, "Son, before all these people, inherit my name. Son, before all these people, inherit all my wealth." The son then was no longer under his father. His eyes ceased to be his father's eyes; they were now his own eyes. His hands ceased to be his father's hands; they were now his own hands. His feet ceased to be his father's feet; they were now his own feet. Now the son could decide what he would see. Now he decides what he hears. He decides where he goes. He decides what he speaks. He decides what he feels. Why? He is an adult.

        When do we become adults? The Bible says we are "waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." We are not called the adults in the family of God until we "rise and seize the everlasting prize, and shout while passing through the air, 'Farewell, farewell, sweet hour of prayer.'"

        I am not an adult tonight. I am Pastor of this church but I am not an adult. I am one of God's little ones. He calls me in the Bible a little child: "My little children." (I John 2:1) Now there will be a day I can decide what my own eyes see, what my own ears hear, where my own feet go, what my own hands feel and what my own tongue says. That will be on the day when I am grown. That day will come when I shall wake in His likeness and my body shall no longer be bent to sin. Then Jesus shall say, "You decide." Why? I will be like Him. Until the day when I cast aside the flesh, until the day when I am not tempted to see that which I should not see, I must look up to Him and say, "I am not my own. I am one of Your born ones."

        I can recall years ago when David was a little fellow and I tried to teach him how to play ball. I said, "Now, son, you put the bat in your hand, like this. Hold the bat." David would get the bat, and I would say, "No, son, let Dad put his hands on yours." I would get over in front of him, put my left hand over his and my right hand over his, and I'd say, "Now hold it like this. When the ball comes, swing the bat." The only time he got in trouble was when he would swing it like he wanted to swing it. Time and time again he would swing that bat around and keep on swinging until the bat came right around and hit him on the back of the head. Why? He would say, "I want to do it myself!"

        That is where you get into trouble too. "I want to do it by myself." That is where you get into all your trouble.

        I taught David how to box. I put the gloves on him, put my hands around his and said, "Now, box like this...and like this...and this! Let him have it!"

        I taught David how to drive. Time and time again he would say, "I want to drive. I want to drive all by myself."

        Now listen to me. Until we awake in the likeness of Jesus Christ, and our bodies are perfected and we are like Him, we had better let Him tell us where to drive. We had better let Him tell us what to see, where to go, what to say.

                Oh, be careful, little eyes, what you see,
                Oh, be careful, little eyes, what you see;
                For the Father up above is looking down in love,
                Oh, be careful, little eyes, what you see.

                Oh, be careful, little ears, what you hear,
                Oh, be careful, little ears, what you hear;
                For the Father up above is looking down in love,
                Oh, be careful, little ears, what you hear.

                Oh, be careful, little tongue, what you say,
                Oh, be careful, little tongue, what you say;
                For the Father up above is looking down in love,
                Oh, be careful, little tongue, what you say.

                Oh, be careful, little feet, where you go.
                Oh, be careful, little feet, where you go;
                For the Father up above is looking down in love,
                Oh, be careful, little feet, where you go.

        The happiest Christian in this room tonight is the one who has said, "I will not go where I want to go; I will go where He wants me to go. I will not say what I want to say; I will say what He wants me to say. I will not see what I want to see; I will see what He wants me to see. I will not hear what I want to hear; I will hear what He wants me to hear.

                Only to be what He wants me to be,
                Every moment of every day.
                Yielded completely to Jesus alone,
                Every step of this pilgrim way.
                Just to be clay in the Potter's hands,
                Ready to do what His Word commands;
                Only to be what He wants me to be,
                Every moment of every day.

        Why am I not my own? He created me.

        Why am I not my own? I was born to Him.

III. I Am Not My Own Because He Purchased Me.

        I am bought with a price. What price? The price was His own dear Son. He ransomed me. He purchased me. He paid the penalty for my sin. These hands are not mine; they have been purchased by Him. He owns them. He paid the price.

        If Dr. Billings were to come to me and say, "Give me that suit of clothes!" I would say, "Hold it, Doc. This coat would be an overcoat for you. You could walk a half block in these trousers and they wouldn't move at your size. Doc, this is mine. This is my suit."

        Why? I paid for it. That is why it is mind. I went down to Jack Fox and Sons and I paid for it. It is mine.

        Jesus bought you.

        You say, "Well, it is my business what I do."

        No, what you do is the business of the One Who purchased you. If you are saved, you are saved because you have been purchased. A young man sat in my office not long ago and said, "I want to get married now!"

        I said, "It isn't right to decide whether you're getting married now or not. What would He have you do?"

        "Well, I'll run off and get married."

        "Go ahead, but you'll come back to my office one of these days wishing you had done what He wanted you to do."

        You girls may say, "Well, I'll tell you, I'm going with an unsaved boy, and he's the star of the football team. He's my 'dream boat.' Oh, those broad shoulders! That bushy hair! That countenance! Those strong arms! What a man!"

        "I know, but he's not saved."

        You say, "It's my business whom I marry."

        It is not your business whom you marry. It is His business. You have no right to marry whom you want to marry. You have no right to go where you want to go. You have no right to say what you want to say. You have no right to hear what you want to hear. You have no right to be what you want to be. You have no right to live where you want to live. It is His business what you say, what you hear, what you do, where you live, where you go. It is His business! He purchased you. He owns you. You are not your own. He created you. You were born to Him. He purchased you.

        The result of realizing you belong to Him is real peace and joy. Check back in your life for a minute. Relive it. Think of the bad times. Think of the times when you absolutely could not face the next day. Right now, think about the times when you thought you could not live another day. Think of the times when you wanted to die. Those were the times you refused to let Him use you as He pleased.

        My son, Dave, said last night, "Dad, out soul winning in the ghettoes in Chicago the kids say, 'We're having hell right now.' We'll ask them, 'What if you die?' They'll say, 'I'd just as soon die as live.'"

        That is why they have the gang wars. Life means nothing to them. They are in hell anyway. Death would be a relief to many of them, they think. Why? I'll tell you why. All of the frustrations of life are a direct result of the times that we decide to take over the reins of our lives.

        One night an old preacher, near eighty, said to me, "Dr. Hyles, would you pray with me?"

        We knelt at the altar of a big tent; nobody was there but the two of us. He began to pray, with tears falling in the sawdust. He prayed, "Dear heavenly Father, I hate flour."

        I thought, "That's not in the Westminster Catechism."

        He said, "Dear Lord, I hate flour. Oh, I hate flour!"

        I thought, "Good night, the fellow is senile."

        He said, "Dear God, I hate baking powder. Oh, I hate baking powder."

        I looked at him while he was praying. His eyes were filled with tears; tears were dropping on the sawdust. He kept on praying.

        "Dear Lord, I hate shortening. Oh, I hate shortening. Dear Lord, I hat salt. Oh, I hate salt!" I watched him while he prayed. I didn't bow my head any more. I figured that somebody ought to watch.

        Then all of a sudden, he lifted his hands toward Heaven and a smile came across his face while his eyelids were still shut and he said, "But, dear God, You put them all together, mix them up, and put them in the oven, and I sure do like hot biscuits."

        I understood what he meant. He was giving me a lesson in Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose."

        Beloved, when you give you hands and your eyes to Him and you do what He wants you to do with every member of your body, it all works out okay. There are kids who come to my office and say, "I'll do whatever God wants me to do. Brother Hyles, if the Lord tells me what to do, I'll do it. I'll do what you say if God speaks to your heart." They never come back again with broken hearts. They never come again wanting to die. Why? They have found that the secret to the Christian life is doing what He would have them do and being what He would have them to be. Everything then works out right.

        That is one reason why I don't fret a great deal. I am going to Detroit after a while. Tomorrow morning, tomorrow night, and Tuesday I preach at the Midwestern Baptist College in Pontiac, Michigan. The streets will be glazed outside, I guess. As bad as the weather is, I'm sure the runways will be glazed. I will be taking off before midnight, God willing, from O'Hare Field. I do not fret about it. If He wants to still this body in death, that is His business. This is His body. If He wants to hush these lips and still these eyes, that is His business. I am His.

        I was flying to Detroit one day, and a lady beside me said, "Do you fly often?"

        "Yes, I fly often."

        "Do the engines always look like the one here on the right?"

        I looked out and it was on fire. She said, "Is that the normal way they look?"

        "No, ma'am. Do you see the one on the end that is not burning? That is the normal way."

        "Is something wrong?"

        "Yes, something is wrong."

        The stewardess came running down the aisle of the plane and locked herself in the rest room. The pilot came on the P.A. and said, "Engine #2 is on fire. We are going to land just as soon as possible in the Metropolitan Airport." I looked down and there were fire engines lined up along the runway.

        I said to the fellow on the other side of me, "See all those fire trucks down there?"

        "Yeah, yeah, yeah!"

        "They have us in mind. They are going to free us."

        "Why aren't you nervous?"

        Now, I will be honest with you. I would rather live than die. (When we finally landed, I had enough strength for them to carry me off!) I told him and I will tell you, once you give your life to Christ, you are His. It is up to Him to take care of you. Because your body is His, you are not your own.

        I can also find life's purpose when I let Him have what is His own. I want to fulfill my purpose in life. I want to say with Paul, "I have finished the course." When I lay down the Bible, walk out of the pulpit for the last time, and somebody else stands where I stand and somebody else sits where I sit, I want to be able to say, "I have finished the course. He had something for me to do while I was there, and I did it." What else matters?

        You knelt at the altar or in your living room and said, "I want Christ as my Saviour." From that moment forward, you have not belonged to yourself.

        You say, "Well, I haven't decided yet whether I ought to get baptized or not." I have news for you. It is not your choice.

        You say, "I will decide soon if I will get baptized." You do not have a right to decide. He has already decided for you. If you don't obey and get in that water, you will be rebelling against the will of God. That is not your body, it is His. It is not your right to decide; it is His right to decide. Get out of your seat, get down the aisle, get up in the baptistery and follow Christ! Why? He said do it! It does not matter what you think about it.

        "Well," you say, "I haven't decided whether to join a church or not." Join anyhow, whether you have decided or not. Why? He has decided it. It is not your business; it is His.

        You say, "I can't decide what church to join." You don't have a right to decide.

        I often hear some entertainer say, "Tomorrow is Sunday. Go to the church of your choice." His talking is unscriptural! You don't have a right to go to the church of your choice. You have to go to church of His choice. Let me ask you some questions: Have you been driving your own car? Have you been deciding what you read? Have you been deciding what you say and where you go? You are a thief! You are not your own.

        "Brother Hyles, wouldn't you ever like to curse?"

        "I might, but I don't have a tongue."

        "Do you ever think you would like to dance?"

        "Maybe so, but I don't have any feet."

        "Do you ever think you would like to hear some dirty music?"

        "Maybe so, but I don't have any ears."

        "Do you ever think you would like to read a dirty magazine or watch a dirty television program?"

        "Maybe, But I don't have any eyes."

        "Do you ever think you would like to play cards?"

        "Maybe, but I don't have any hands; they are His! I am not my own!"

        I met a lady on the airplane several years ago. I was flying, as I do every week. I was coming from Cleveland, Ohio, to Chicago. I sat down in a seat next to the aisle. The seat next to me was empty, and a lady was sitting in the next seat. I guess she was about my age. I spoke to her, and then I got out my Bible and began to read. When she saw the Bible, she began to weep. She said nothing for awhile, but when she saw the Bible she began to weep. She said, "Mister, when you get through with that Bible, can I read it?"

        "Lady, I have two others in my briefcase. You can have one of them." I took out a Bible and gave it to her. She began to thumb through it. I could tell she couldn't find what she wanted. I said, "May I help you?"

        "I want to read the twenty-third Psalm."

        I said, "Let me read it to you." So I opened my Bible to Psalm 23 and began to read it, as tears streamed down her face and her lips began to quiver. I said, "You have a broken heart, don't you?"

        She said, "Yes, my father is dying in Houston, Texas. I don't know if I will get there before he dies. I love the twenty-third Psalm."

        In just a few moments, I told her about the Shepherd of that Psalm, and she received Him as her Saviour.

        I guess of all the passages of the Bible that have comforted the hearts of troubled souls, strengthened the backs of weary travelers and encouraged the spirits of broken hearts, the twenty-third Psalm has done it the most.

        "The Lord is my shepherd," as the little girl said, "and that's all I want."

        The Psalmist goes on to say, and here is the text, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil." Why? "For Thou art with me."

        There are seven great valleys in the Bible: Siddim, Eschol, Kidron, Elah, Achor, Gehenna and Jezreel. I want you to look at each of these. I want you to notice this morning that in each of these valleys God is with us. "Yea, though I walk through the valley...I will fear no evil: for Thou are with me."

I. The Valley of Siddim

        This is the valley of the slime pits. Why? The valley of Siddim is on the very spot where the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were. You recall the awful story in the Bible of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. God looked down and saw the wickedness of those wicked and vile cities and said, "I am going to rain fire and brimstone on them." This is a valley where sin abounded. This represents a valley in our lives, the valley of sin.

        Do you know that when you go out to the nightclubs and the pubs and go into the depths of sin, God still loves you and God is still there? Do you know that when you go down to the very bottom of sin and taste the last drop in the cup of the dregs of sin, God is there? Do you know that when you have gone to the bottom and no one else cares and you have spent all and have begun to be in want, God is there? When you come to yourself and have nobody to go to and you arise and say, "I will arise and go to my Father," God is always there.

        God is here this morning. If you are not saved, He knocks on the door of your heart. He wants to be your Saviour. He wants to forgive every sin. He wants to come into your life. He wants to write your name in Heaven. He wants to make you His child. He wants to take you to Heaven when you die. God wants to make you a new creature. God wants to send His Holy Spirit to indwell you. God wants to say to you, "Your sins are forgiven." God wants to come into your life.

        When I finished preaching recently, a little lady came to me and met me at the office. She was a lovely girl. As the world counts attractiveness, I think she would have been called beautiful. She said, "Could I see you for a minute, Mister?"

        I said, "Yes, come in." She came into my office, was seated, and said, "I am what you call a 'call girl.' I wear the nicest of furs." She said that several men had gone together and rented an apartment for her. They bought her nice clothes and a Lincoln Continental. They would give her anything she wanted. When those wicked men would want her, they would come to her apartment, one after the other, to commit sin. She said, "I'm on dope. I don't have anybody that loves me. I heard you preach and I heard you say that God loves everybody. Brother Hyles, do you think that God could forgive me?"

        I said, "Why, of course, He will forgive you. He loves you. He gave His son for you. God gave His Son for sinners. He died for you. Jesus went to the cross for sinners. Jesus came to earth for sinners. Jesus dipped His own soul into hell for sinners. Jesus gave the Holy Spirit for sinners."

        It does not matter where you are this morning or how deep in sin you have gone; He is there. Are you in the valley of Siddim? Are you in the city of Sodom this morning? Are you in the city of Gomorrah in deep awful sin? Have you gone to the bottom? Is your life empty and friendless? Are you without anybody who seems to care? He says, "I am there."

        This morning He knocks on your door and says, "If you will just trust Me as your Saviour, I will forgive you your every sin. I will make you My child. I will write your name in Heaven." Oh, dear unconverted friend, if you are in the valley of Siddim, come to Christ this morning!

II. The Valley of Eschol

        Eschol is located just inside the Promised Land. Do you recall the grapes of Eschol? The Israelites came to the door of the Promised Land at Kadesh-Barnea and they appointed twelve spies. Those twelve spies went over into the Promised Land. They said it was a land that flowed with milk and honey. They brought back some grapes that were so big that it took two men to carry one bunch. Those were the grapes of Eschol. They were gotten in the valley of Eschol, one of the seven great valleys of the Bible.

        What is the valley of Eschol? Eschol is where the Jews made the decision of their life. It was at Eschol where they had to decide, "Shall we go forward or shall we go backward?" It was in the valley of Eschol where they decided, "Shall we obey God, or shall we go back into the wilderness?" It was at Eschol that they decided, "Shall we be at our fullest or shall we be less than we ought to be?" The Valley of Eschol is the valley of decision. Yea, though you walk through the valley of Eschol, He is there in that valley of decision!

        This week 103 people came by my office. Of those, at least 50% were young people with decisions to face. Oh, my young friends, right now you are in the valley of decision. Oh, God wants to make your choices! A young girl came by the other day, and I knew what she ought to do. I knew that she ought to give her entire life to God, but I was afraid she would not do it. I got on my knees by my office door and I said, "Oh, God, don't let her make a mistake."

        Whenever you come to the valley of Eschol, the valley of decision, always do what God wants you to do. Ask God to help you. Ask God to lead you. Do His will!

III. The Valley of Kidron

        The valley of Kidron is called now the valley of Jehoshophat. It is the valley just outside the east wall of the city of Jerusalem. It is the valley between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives. The valley of Kidron is a big, deep valley.

        How many of you have been to the Holy Land? Several of you have. Do you recall what is mainly in the valley of Kidron between the Mount of Olives and the city of Jerusalem? There is a cemetery there. Ever since the time of Josiah, it has been a cemetery. Samson is buried there. Samuel, I think, is buried there. James is buried there. Absalom is buried there. Many others are buried there in this cemetery in the valley of Kidron. This is the valley of suffering. David says, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou are with me."

        God is in the valley of Siddim, the valley of sin. God is in the valley of Eschol, the valley of decision. He is also there in the valley of suffering.

        This morning, in the service, there are people who think the sun will never rise. There is a young man in this service this morning who has cancer all through his body. He is taking radium treatments. He is a fine young man who grew up in our church. He has a wife and a little baby. As I was saying, there a