How to Grow in Grace — Jack Hyles

The Apostle Peter and the Need for Growth

I guess of all people in the Bible, the Apostle Peter would know as much as any the need of growth and grace. It seems like his growth was so spasmodic. Up one day and down the next, hot one day and cold the next, serving God one day and cursing the next, sitting at the table saying he'd never deny the Lord one day and denying the Lord the next.

So the Apostle Peter, realizing the problem of growth and grace, writes to the Hebrew Christians and admonishes them to desire the sincere milk of the Word, that they may grow thereby. He also admonishes them to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Don't you recall the Apostle Paul wrote the church at Corinth and he scolded them because they were not growing in grace? He said, you're babies, you ought to be eating meat when you're having to stay on milk.

And he admonished them, or scolded them, for being yet babes in Christ. And so now the writer of Hebrews, I think the Apostle Paul, rebukes the Hebrew Christians in Hebrews chapter 6. Brother Colston led us in reading it a while ago.

Now I'm getting it. So when we plan to stand. But we read a while ago about leaving the basic doctrines, the doctrine of repentance of dead works and faith toward God, the doctrine of baptisms and laying on of hands, leave the first grade, go on to the second grade and the third grade, leave the grade school and go on to junior high school and high school, leave the primary course and go on to something deeper and more advanced.

These are the admonitions of all the writers of the Word of God. Now one thing that's interesting is this. Our description in the Bible is that of something growing. Every figure, just about every figure that God uses to describe the Christian describes something that has to grow.

For example, we're called plants in the Bible. Now all of us know that a plant is first a seed, then a blade, then an ear, then full corn. There's the steps of growth from the seed unto becoming the full ear of corn.

And when the Lord likens us to plants, He likens us to something that ought to grow and continue in the growth of our Lord. He mentions the fact we must be born again. He likens us to individuals being born.

And in the process of life there is first the babe and then the child and then the youth and then the adult. Once again, growth. Just as we're called plants, the plant grows. We're born into God's family.

We're called children and the child grows from infancy to adulthood. We're called in the Bible runners. We're to run with patience the race that is set before us. And in running we are progressing. We're going onward and forward.

Progressing Toward the Next Blessing

I thought about this. The Christian life is like a progressive dinner. Mrs. Colston is having for our young people, juniors and seniors, a progressive dinner next Thursday evening. Now, at a progressive dinner, you go to one place and you have the salad.

You go to another place and you have the main course. You go to another place and you have the dessert. And you go from one place to the other. Now, if you don't leave the place where you are and go to the next place, you can't get the next blessing.

The Christian life is that way. Unless you keep going forward, you won't get the next blessing. God has blessings for you, but you've got to go forward to get them. You've got to keep on growing to get them.

You've got to keep on going to get them. The tragic thing, the tragic thing. I know people in this room tonight who have been members of this church ever since I've been pastor here. And honestly and sincerely, as far as external evidence is concerned, you're not doing a bit more for God than you were 13 and a half years ago.

Now, you're good people. You're nice people. You're faithful people. And you put your tithe in the offering plate. And you come to church on Sunday morning and Sunday night and so forth. And, Greg, you join us too now in the service, if you would please.

Put the stuff up. You're working all back there. And join us. And so, you're nice people. By the way, you can't grow unless you eat. And you can't eat unless you listen. So listen to what I'm preaching.

And so, you're good people. But you're not growing. You don't do any more for God. You don't give any more. You don't win any more souls. You don't win any souls in some cases. On the other hand, I know people that have just grown in grace.

My, my, my. In these years, you've just grown. And you can almost see you grow. Now, why should a Christian grow in grace? Well, that's easy. A Christian ought to grow in grace because God can enjoy you more.

God can enjoy you more. Now, every one of us remembers, those of us who have children, remember the early days of a child's life. It's not nice to have a little baby. It's very, very nice. It's nice to play with a little baby.

But you don't want to play with a baby forever. You know as well as I do that the older a child gets, the more you can enjoy a child. The more you can talk intelligently to a child, the more the child can talk intelligently to you.

My mother and I enjoy each other now more than we did when I was younger. When I was a teenager, I didn't have time for mother. But the older I've gotten, the more I enjoy being with my mother and talking with my mother.

We can fellowship together now better than we used to fellowship. One thing is I'm bigger than she is and she can't wail the tar out of me like she used to. And, but, so our Lord wants us to grow. That's the purpose of creation.

God made us for fellowship with himself. Now, if we have fellowship with himself that is perfect fellowship, then we must grow in grace and become more like him. I've said this before. I think one of the hardest things, if not the hardest thing, about the Savior's life on earth is the fact that he had no one with whom he could talk on his own level.

No one understood him. His own family thought he was nuts. His own people thought he was crazy. They said, much learning, no, Paul said that. They said he's mad. He's beside himself. They couldn't understand him.

Why? Our Lord was so far above anybody else. Every once in a while I'll talk to somebody about Blue Denim and Lace. My book on Blue Denim and Lace. And they'll say, that chapter, and I mentioned some chapter that's pretty deep in Blue Denim and Lace.

And they'll say, let me ask you a question about it. And they'll ask me a question. And boy, my antenna goes up, and I reckon they understood all I had in mind when I wrote that chapter. Boy, that's tremendous.

And so we'll sit down and have a chat about it. Why? I did like to do that. That's why I want to grow in grace. That's why you ought to grow in grace. Your fellowship with God can be sweeter the more like him you get, and the more near his spiritual level you can get, and the deeper you go in Christ, the more God can enjoy you.

And that's the main reason, I think, for spiritual growth. Look, if God made us for fellowship with himself, then spiritual growth would be that we might fellowship better and more intelligently for God's purpose.

We have this strange idea that fellowship with God is all for us. Oh, I love to talk to God in prayer. I do, but God loves to talk to me, and God loves to have me talk to him, and God loves to be with me.

Prayer, I'm sorry, fellowship with God is more for God than it is for me. As far as enjoyment is concerned. And so I can be more like him if I grow in grace. Thereby, I can enable him to enjoy me and fellowship with me more.

Examining Yourself to Grow in Grace

Now, how can a person grow in grace? How can I become a better Christian? How can I grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ? In the first place, look at yourself. Look at yourself.

How can you grow in grace? Look at yourself. In the second place, look at the Word. In the third place, look at God. In the fourth place, look at the right crowd or the right kind of people. Now, in the first place, if you want to grow in grace, look at yourself.

Don't you recall the Apostle Paul wrote to the Church of Philippi? He was talking about pressing on toward the mark of the high calling of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And the Apostle Paul said, I count not myself to have apprehended.

Now, the word count there is a word that means I have investigated myself. I have taken inventory of myself. I have taken perspective of myself. I have had an introspective look at myself. I have looked at me, and I count not myself to have apprehended.

Look at yourself. Hey, be honest with yourself. Step on the scales. See how much you weigh. Let them measure your height. See how tall you are. Look at yourself. Well, most of us spend too much time looking at each other.

You know what I can do? I can get thinking about Dr. Billings, and if I look at him long enough, you know, I can find a lot of things wrong with him. I can get thinking about Brother Fisk, and if I look at him long enough, I can find a lot of things wrong with him.

By the way, I can look at old Jack Hiles, and if I look at him long enough, I find a lot of things wrong with him. So I'd rather look at Dr. Billings. See? I'd rather look at Brother Fisk. You know why?

Because I'd rather find things wrong with him than with me. A person who's always finding fault, a person who's always gossiping, a person who's always criticizing, a person who's always judging somebody else is one that doesn't look at himself enough.

Now you say, well, what's wrong with that? You're robbing yourself. You can't grow in grace if you look at others. You can't grow in grace if you don't look at yourself. Look at yourself. Look. One of my books has this in it, and Greg, I'm serious now.

You put that stuff down and listen to me, and I'm serious. And so I'd rather for you listen than to make a theological outline. I want you to hear me, and I want everybody to hear me. I've got some things to tell you, and I want you to hear what I've got to say.

And I don't want to have to ask you again now. So consequently, you look at yourself. Now in one of my books, I have these things written. Something like this. As a person climbs up the Christian ladder, don't look down to see how far you've come.

Look up to see how far you have not gone. Not a one of us. Not a one of us in this house tonight. But if he looked down and said, boy, look what I used to be, and look what I am now, could become proud of himself.

So the best thing to do is look up and say, boy, look where I haven't gone yet, and look where I am now, and you become dissatisfied. Looking down from which you come. Boy, I thank God I used to be this, and now I'm this.

I know. But if you can say, I should be this, and now I'm this, you'll become your growing in grace. Did you know that a lot of testifying is, how to put this, a lot of testifying is unspiritual, and is complacency, and is carnal?

I just want to thank God. I used to be, like Mr., what's his name, fellow that, oh, Mrs., Mary Brown, your dad's name, Bolin, Mr. Bolin, who stood up one night and testified, and he's 70 years old or over, and he said, I've been saved just a little while, and I thank God.

Used to, before I got saved, I used to drink liquor and cuss. And he said, thank God, since I got saved, I haven't taken a drink of liquor, and I cut down on my cussing quite a bit too. And now what's he doing?

He's looking back, you see. Looking down. Well, praise the Lord. I used to be a vile sinner, and now, thank God, I've been delivered from all of that. That's good. But be sure you look up and say, I'm still in a vile sinner.

I've got a lot of ground yet to cover. Don't look down too much and see. Paul said, forgetting those things which are behind me. What's he talking about? Forgetting my spiritual growth? Forgetting how far I've come?

And pressing forward. No, nobody can win the race. You get 50 yards down the 100-yard dash, and you're about two yards ahead, and you look back and say, boy, so far I'm ahead. Yet, so far, you're getting behind too.

You look behind. You'll never get ahead. Always looking forward. Looking to what? The ground you've not covered. Looking to the place, area you've not conquered. Looking to the height you've not reached.

Looking to the Bible as the Mirror of the Word

If you want to grow in grace, look at yourself. Number two. You want to grow in grace? Look at the Bible. Look at the Bible. The very things the Bible calls itself reveals to us that no one can grow in grace properly unless he looks at the Bible.

For example, the Bible is called a mirror. The mirror of the Word of God. The Bible is called a plumb line. Now, let me ask you a question. Anybody here look in the mirror before you came tonight? How many ladies in the choir looked in the mirror before you came tonight?

Would you? The others said you could well have done so. But now then, you know why you didn't look in the mirror? You thought you looked okay. You said, I'm pretty as I am. I'm bound to look lovely tonight.

And you thought you looked okay. Those that looked in the mirror thought you might need some help. But every one of you looked in the mirror to find out where the help was needed. When Becky was a little baby, just a little baby, I carried her on my shoulder.

And I was, I forget where I was going to go, but I was going to preach. And I had a, maybe it was to a funeral. No, no, a wedding. And I had a dark suit on. It must have been navy blue or black. Oh, I was a handsome dude.

You never saw anything like it in your life. And so I had a dark suit on, and I thought I looked so nice. But I carried Becky somewhere before I went. And she decided that she had more room in the world than she was in her stomach.

She's very good about deciding that. And so she decided to deposit on my left shoulder, back here, what was in her stomach. Except she gave me no warning that it was. Now, I won't go into anything like that.

But anyway, she gave me no warning. And the girls on the front, hey, girls, sit up straight. Close your book, young lady, close your book and listen to me now. And in case anybody else has a book open, you'll close it too, and I won't have to call you down.

But I want you to hear what I've got to say. Listen, when I spend all week and a part of the week studying to give you something, I want you to get it. If I've got to cram it down your throat, I'd like you to give medicine to a dog.

Ever give medicine to a dog? Open his mouth, pry it open, hold it open, stick a spoon in there, put it out, squeeze his jaws. He has to swallow it or die, one or the other. And that's where you're going to get my sermons too.

You're going to swallow it or die. And I'm going to open your mouth and pry it in. That's why I make deacons wake up and young folks listen and teenagers quit talking because I worked awful hard. It may not seem like much, but I worked awful hard to get it.

And so you're going to get it before I go. So I thought it looked so pretty, and I went to the wedding or whatever it was, and everybody kept looking at me and looking at me. And I thought, they got to look at me.

And everybody wanted to speak to me. They'd look at me and, ah, hi. And it wasn't until I got home and looked in the mirror that I found out that I had regurgitation all over my back, all over my back.

And there I was saying, dearly beloved, we're gathered together in the sight of our Lord and this assembled witnesses and to unite this man and this woman in the holy wedlock. And everybody's laughing and so forth.

You know my trouble? I didn't look in the mirror. That's one reason you're dirty and don't know it too. That's one reason you've got sin in your life and don't know it. You say, you're a pretty good Christian.

Well, yes, I'm a pretty good Christian. Look in the mirror and you find out you're not such a good Christian at all. You won't grow in grace until you look in the mirror. I was, I've got to remember where I was.

Where was I? I was in a conference and it was out in Washington, Washington State. It's just been a couple, three weeks ago. And I saw the cutest little baby and I wanted to pat the little baby. And right before the service, and so I said, let me carry the baby, let me just hold the baby in my arms.

And the baby said, like that, and I, come on. And I talked to the baby and they're like, I'm going to put the baby on my arm. I know how to carry a baby. By the way, this also is one of those regurgitating kind too.

And it was also a Betsy Wetsy, I found out. But anyway, I, I, but it had all, it had all that stuff that you want when you go to the, to go to the get it off. And so I, I patted the baby on the arm and I went to the pulpit to preach.

And everybody went, did you know I'm as dumb as I was 20 years ago? Still, why, I didn't look in the mirror. Anytime you put a baby on your shoulder, look in the mirror before you go anywhere. That's your trouble.

The Bible says that the Word of God is a mirror. Look at it. The person who reads the Bible most will grow in grace most. Not only because the Bible's food, because the Bible reveals your need. The Bible reveals what the need is.

You, you look in the mirror and you see a spot on your nose and you, you wash the spot off. Or you see your nose is shiny and, and you, you, you powder your nose. And you look in the mirror and you see your hair's messed up, you do this twice.

That'll straighten any kind of hair in the whole world. Like that, twice. And so, but how do you know? You look in the mirror. The Bible's a mirror. Want to grow in grace? Look at yourself and look at the Bible.

Look, listen to me. I don't care who you are. You can quit all you want to quit. You can start praying all you want to pray. You can go to church until you, until you live at the church. And you can, you can start everything that you ought to start.

But you are not going to be the Christian you ought to be until you live in this book. You've got to live in it. And look at it all the time. It reveals the needs of the Christian. It's the mirror. All of that.

The Bible's called a plumb line. Now you young whippersnappers don't know what a plumb line is. But back on to years ago. And with the couple over here, quit talking, please. Folks behind you are trying to hear.

And so, years ago, the, we used to take a plumb line. What's a plumb line? You get a string and you put something heavy on the end of it. You hold it from the top of a building. It reveals the crookedness of the building.

And the Bible's called the plumb line. It reveals our crookedness. Holding it up. And as this straight plumb line comes down, it reveals our, where we're wrong and where we're crooked. And so if you want to grow in grace, you must look at the Word.

Looking to God’s Perfection

Now let's get down to the main thing. You want to grow in grace? Look at yourself. Want to grow in grace? Look at the Word. Want to grow in grace? Look at God. Look at God. Matthew 5 .48 says, Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Now, nobody can live above sin, but everybody can try. Nobody can live without sin, but everybody can try. Nobody can become perfect as God is, but everybody can try. You know what? I think that's so wonderful.

Suppose that the Bible had said, Be ye therefore perfect, even as Dwight L. Moody was perfect. Aren't you glad it didn't say that? Because then when you became as good a Christian as Dwight L. Moody, you couldn't grow in grace anymore.

Or be ye therefore perfect, even as John the Baptist was perfect. Wouldn't it be too bad? If anybody ever became as good a Christian as John the Baptist, they wouldn't grow in grace anymore. So, be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.

That means the best Christian in the world still needs to grow in grace, doesn't it? The best Christian in the world still needs to grow in grace. A great painter one time painted a beautiful, beautiful painting.

And he got through, and he said, I shall never paint again. I shall never paint again. And someone said, What did I ask? What did you say? I shall never paint again, he said. And they came and they asked, Why?

Why will you never paint again? And he said, Because that painting I just finished satisfies me. It satisfies me. It's what I think a painting ought to be. And because it is what I think a painting ought to be, I shall never paint again.

Now listen to me. Do you know why many of you folks do not grow in grace? Because you look at your life and say, It satisfies me. It satisfies me. Now the reason is, you're comparing yourself with man and not with God.

Listen. Did you know the best Christian in this house tonight might be the biggest backslider? Girls, hey, listen to me. Did you know the greatest Christian in this house tonight could be the biggest backslider?

You say, wait a minute. Wait a minute. The best Christian in the house could be the biggest backslider. That's right. That's right. Let's suppose that the best Christian in this house is that far ahead of the second best Christian in this house.

And let's suppose that he slides back and he's still better than the second best Christian, but he's less than what he used to be. He's a backslider. He has slidden back, but he's still the best Christian in this house.

One of the sad things, a couple right here, one of the sad things about our Christian lives, we compare ourselves with somebody else. Oh, we look around and say, boy, I don't work. I guess I'm not the best Christian here on the job.

In my Sunday school class, I'm the best member of my son. Listen, you'll never be what you ought to be for God. Could you look to God and say, I'll compare myself with God. Isaiah. In Isaiah chapter 6.

Let me just read it to you. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord. You know why I think Isaiah saw the Lord? Listen, I'll tell you. Isaiah loved dearly King Uzziah. King Uzziah was his hero.

Isaiah was reared to the feet of King Uzziah. King Uzziah was all that Isaiah wanted to be. And all of a sudden, King Uzziah died. And Isaiah said, My idol is stripped out from me. And my model, my example is gone.

And Isaiah said, Then I saw the Lord. I saw the Lord. And Isaiah saw the Lord. And what did he say? Woe is me. In fact, I have it right here. He said, In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up.

And his train filled the temple. And above it stood the seraphim. Each one had six wings. With twain he covered his face. With twain he covered his feet. And with twain he did fly. A fellow came to me one time and said, Brother Hiles, He said, With twain he covered his face.

And with twain he covered his feet. And with twain he did fly. What does that twain mean? What does a twain mean? I said, With twain one's on a twack. That's what a twain does. And with two he covered his face.

And so forth. And his feet. And one cried to another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. I wonder why he said, Holy, holy, holy. Why did he say, Holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. Or, Holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.

Because there's three in the Godhead. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. Let's go further. The whole earth is full of his glory. And the post of the door moved.

It's the voice of him that cried. And the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Isaiah, Then said I, Woe is me. When I look at Dr. Billings, I say, Woe is he. When I look at Jesus, I say, Woe is me.

I look at Brother Helton, I say, Woe is he. When I look at Jesus, I say, Woe is me. When I look at Brother Fisk, I say, Woe is me. When I look at Jesus, I say, Woe is he. When I look at Jesus, I say, Woe is me.

I don't mean the kind of woe you said to the mule down in Alabama now. And Dr. Rice said when he was a kid, he used to say, When the roll is called upon her, and the mule thought he was saying woe, and it always stopped when he was saying when the roll is called upon her.

When I say, When I look at you, Brother John, I say, Woe is Brother John. Woe is Brother John. I look at him, he says, Shall we plan to stand, please? I get up, while I'm looking at him, what do I do?

I make the same mistake, same dumb mistake, and use the wrong words, get my tang all tangled up, just like he did. And I look at Jesus, and I say, Woe is me. I look at Jim Vineyard, and I say, Woe is he.

I look at Jesus, and I say, Woe is Jim Vineyard. I say, Woe is me. I look at Ray Bordway, I say, Woe is Ray Bordway. I look at Jesus, I say, Woe is me. The critic doesn't look at Jesus. The gossip doesn't look at Jesus.

The one who complains doesn't look at Jesus. The slanderer doesn't look at Jesus. Isaiah didn't say,. And I saw the Lord high and holy and lifted up, and His train filled the temple, and the whole building of earth was filled with His glory, and the post did move.

And I said, Woe is my neighbor. He is a terrible kind of fellow. I get so sick of him. No. Isaiah said, Woe is me, for I am undone. And then the Bible says,. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar, and laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips, and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

You get your sin purged. When? When you look at the Lord and say, Woe is me. The woe of conviction, and then the low of cleansing. And then down in verse 9,. And he said, Go and tell this people, hear ye indeed, but understand not, see ye indeed, but perceive not.

Now what is it? Woe, lo, go. Woe is me, I have seen the Lord. He said,. And now then your sin is forgiven. Why? You've seen the Lord. Isaiah looked up and he said, I've been looking at King Uzziah. I didn't know that I was so bad.

I thought I was pretty good. I've been looking at King Uzziah. But now that King Uzziah is dead, I see the Lord high and holy and lifted up. Oh, I'm not what I ought to be. Listen to me. You want to take pride out of your life?

You want to take pride and boasting out of your life? You get up every morning. Now listen to me. Listen to me. Listen to me. You get up every morning and you take this book and you read its pages and you fall on your face and look up to God and say, Oh God, I want to see you and talk to you and fellowship with you.

And before you get off your knees, you'll be saying, Oh, I'm not what I ought to be. Oh God, forgive me. Oh God, I'm so unlike you. I'm not like what I ought to be. Why? Look at God if you want to grow in grace.

You look at man, you'll never grow. Look at God. Compare yourself with Him who never sinned and who never had an evil thought and through whose lips never came a foul word and into whose mind never came a thought of criticism or a dirty thought and into whose path never came a wicked step.

Oh, you look at Him who raised the dead and healed the sick and cast out devils and caused the lame to leap and the blind to see and the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak and still the wave and calm the storm and the One who blessed the little children and the One who was the perfect Son of God.

The centurion who wanted to find something wrong with Him said, Surely this was the Son of God. And Pilate who wanted to find enough wrong with Him to condemn Him to die said, I'll find no fault in this man.

And Pilate's wife said, Have thou nothing to do with this just man. Why? They looked at Jesus. That's why. Oh, my dear beloved members, walk with God. Walk with God. Walk with God. Far too many of us spend too much time with each other and not enough time alone with God.

Look at God. Look at God. That's one of the reasons to walk with God. Did you know what? Dr. Billings, did you ever play golf with Cotton Nails? Cotton Nails is six foot seven. He can hit a golf ball so far you can hardly see it.

Now I used to play golf a little bit and haven't played in years now but I used to play golf a little bit. In fact, in Texas I used to play every week. That's back when I was nervous on Monday morning.

But I used to play golf. And one thing I can do. Now I can't putt. The ball is always bigger than the hole I'm shooting at. And I can't putt. And I can't chip. I call chipping like crocheting and knitting.

Anybody can do that. Chip the ball up. Before I can hit the ball. I hit it. I can drive the ball. I mean on a good day with wind in my back in Colorado 8 ,000 feet above sea level with a little squirrel to push the ball along while it's rolling.

I can drive the ball sometimes 275 to 300 yards. And boy, I tell you. Now that's in Texas. That's 100-yard drive and it rolls downhill a couple hundred yards. But I've always been a little proud of myself because I can hit the ball a long ways.

Now when you get close to the green, I've got to sort of ooch a little bit. You know what ooching is? You play marbles? Ooching. That's what it is. Ooching is a Greek word. It means fudging or cheating.

But I played golf one day. I was down in Florida. And Cotton Nouns was pastor of the church where I was. He weighs about 250. He's 6 '7". And I mean he's a giant of a fellow. He was the state champion in Florida and the Tampa City champion for several years.

I didn't know it. And I thought, now, boy, here's a chance for a little guy like me to show this big fellow how powerful I am. And so he said, you hit first. I said, no, you go on first. I thought, get this guy out of the way, you know.

And he hit that ball. And we watched and watched and watched and watched and watched. It was 325 yards. It rose and rose and rose and rose until it got right over the green. And like a dead duck, it fell right on the green.

He said, what do you want to say? I said, is there a ping pong table around here anywhere? Now, I played with Elmer Lord one time, and my drives looked like cotton elms compared to his. Do you know what?

When you compare yourself to little puny Christians, and you look at people all the time, and then all of a sudden you look at the Lord and you say, I know what I thought I was after all. Oh, my soul.

You know, I never forget it. When I was a kid preacher, I thought I was going to be a great preacher when I first started out. Little did I realize I was going to end up like this. But I thought I'd be a great preacher.

And I got me a sermon or two that waxed eloquent. I mean, boy, I used some alliteration and all that kind of stuff. And waxed eloquent. And I thought I was getting pretty good until one day I preached right after R .G. Lee preached.

And I wanted to quit the ministry. In fact, I thought I already had after I heard him preach. Oh, listen, when you walk with God and every day you look up and say, Oh, look, I've got a... Here's an example.

This is a perfect example. Here's a picture of me, Max Palmer, and Phyllis Tenton. Huh? Now, let's take the picture and do it like that. Just like that. That's just me and Phyllis right there. Boy, what a man.

What a man I am. Look at there. Huh? What a big fella. But then if I put her out and leave me with Max Palmer, I say to myself, What? A man? Good night. Look at that little rock. Huh? Looks like you beside me.

And all depends on which one you look at, doesn't it? Huh? All depends on whether you look up or down. When I look down at Phyllis Tenton, I say, Boy, I must be Charles Atlas. When I look up at Max Palmer, seven feet, eight inches tall, I say, Good night.