Our Relationship With Christ — Bill McLeod

I want to read a couple of things, it's from a bible, and it has nothing to do with the message tonight, ok? Ecclesiastes 7 .29 says, The Lord made man upright, but they have sought out many inventions.

That's what it says in the KJ. Now look this up. And the word invention means mental fabrications. A fabrication is a lie. A mental fabrication is something you think in your mind that's not right, not true, and might even be evil.

God made man upright. But they've sought out many mental fabrications. Micah 7 .19 says, Micah 7 .19, he will subdue our iniquities. Now look that up in the Hebrew, you know what it says? He will stamp on them.

You got some things you can't handle, some sin that's plaguing you, ask God to stamp on them, because that's what it says. He will do. In fasting, Matthew 6 .16, we mentioned that before. And anyway, just some thoughts that I thought I would pass on.

Our Relationship With Christ and Salvation

This evening with God's help, I want to speak on the subject of our relationship with Christ. Religion for the person. In Christ, before the foundation of the world, which means before God made the world, he chose us.

Explain that satisfactorily perhaps to you. I believe it because the Bible says so. He did it before he made the world. You see, God doesn't have any last minute plans, you know? Or any backup plans. The Bible says, from the beginning.

In Christ. Okay. Then we're saved by Christ. 1 Timothy 1 .18, Paul says,. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all exaltation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. That's why he came.

If you're a Christian, you are a saved sinner. Some people don't like that word because they don't know that they're lost. If they knew they were lost, they would appreciate the word saved. And we appreciate it because we know what we were saved from.

In Ontario one time, I was driving and listening to a program, and there was a couple of guys, a couple of preachers apparently. And so the guy was asking, as I just turned the program on, he was just asking them, Now you're the guys that are telling us worldlings that we have to be saved.

Okay. Saved from what? And saved to what? And they couldn't tell them. I just wish I could leap into that studio, you know? They couldn't tell them either, you know? It was sad. Kids in Sunday school would know more than they knew.

Sealed and Anointed by Christ

Saved by Christ. Sealed. The Day of Redemption, Ephesians 4 .30, 2 Corinthians 1 .22. By the way, we have some copies of the scripture we'll be using tonight here in the front to help ourselves at the end of the meeting.

Sealed by Christ to the Day of Redemption. What is the Day of Redemption? The Day of Redemption is the day of the second coming of Christ. Our souls have been redeemed. Our bodies are not yet redeemed.

They will be redeemed. Our body will be redeemed at the coming of Christ. And we have been sealed to that event. By Christ. We have been anointed by Christ in 2 Corinthians 1 .21. Every Christian has an anointing on him or her.

There is something that only you can do. And many times Christians go through all their life, not even realizing they have been anointed by God, not thinking about it. And finding their Christian life pretty dull because they're not really walking with God.

And consequently, they never see anything happen. And they begin to wonder even if God exists. Then the Bible, you know, it has some references to Christ in you. I think you do not. Christ in you has got many, many references to us being in Christ.

He's in us. We're in him. Then the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 6 .17, He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit. Do you know that you're joined to Christ? You're part. He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit.

You become one with Christ. Revelation 21 .9 happened. An angel came to the apostle John and said, Come with me, come hither, and I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife. Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, referred to 31 times in the New Testament Scriptures.

29 of them in the book of Revelation. It means that the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, is in control of everything. The Most High God, it says in Daniel three times, The Most High God rules in the kingdoms of men, and gives it to whomsoever he will, and sets up over it the basis of man.

I can't explain that. But God's in control. Of all the so-called accidents in history is, remember, we are the bride. It only showed John not a big church gathering, but the holy city descending from God out of heaven.

The Bride of Christ and the Coming Kingdom

That someday we're going to be together, all of God's children, in a city called the New Jerusalem. It's written of Abraham that he looked for a city which has foundations. He means eternal foundations.

The Bible says in Revelation, the cities of the nations will fall, including Winnipeg. Every city in the world one day shall be burned up. Everything you have will be instantly able to say, you know, they're broken.

It says in Romans chapter seven, verse four, We are married to Christ so that we might bring forth fruit unto God. If you're married to Christ and joined to Christ, then we do the things that Christ wants us to do.

Remember Ezekiel? He saw a strange apparition, a wheel in the middle of a wheel. The wheel is Christ. He's the big wheel. The wheel in the middle of the wheel is you and me. We're little wheels. You've got to stay with the big wheel or you'll get in trouble.

Stay with the big wheel. The road will be rough with the big wheel of Christ, but you're joined to the big wheel with him. 2 Corinthians 3 says that we are living epistles of Jesus Christ. The world doesn't read our Bible.

I heard somebody say one time, A Bible in the hand is just two on the shelf. That they never read. The Greek word is theophron, from which we get the English word theater. We're made a spectacle of theater to the world and to men.

We are on some spectacle. The word has the idea exactly what the translation says. Carefully be caught. And the world and angels and demons and men to see how we do it. And he has put a new song in my mouth.

Even praise unto our God. And the result? Many will see it and fear and trust in the Lord. His kingdom. It says we have been delivered. He has delivered us from the power of darkness. And translated us into the kingdom of his dear son.

The kingdom of Christ is already here. And we're in that kingdom already. If we're one of God's children. The kingdom of Christ is here. When Christ returns in Matthew 13. He's going to send his angels.

Blasphemy will be heard around the earth. And they will gather it says our kingdom is already here. It's got a lot of other junk in it. That shouldn't be here. And stuff that shouldn't be here. So they will gather out of his kingdom.

I put it this way. They're going to dry clean the world. The angels are going to dry clean the world. And everything that's offensive to God. Will be taken up and incinerated and burned. And those who are not believers we hurl it says.

Into the lake of fire. And that says this. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun. In the kingdom of their father. Are you going to shine brightly in that day? If you haven't been shining now you may not.

But the righteous are back numbers. They don't even know we're here. That day we will not be back numbers. We'll be the only ones. Here members and the object of his love. Galatians 2 .20 we know the verse well.

But there's something about it we maybe didn't notice. I have been crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live yet not I. But Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the son of God.

And here's the part we neglect. Who loved me and gave himself for me. That verse was a great encouragement to me many years ago. Because I used to think well I'm only one of millions. So it doesn't really matter.

I mean God doesn't really need me. There's millions of Christians in the world. And a bombshell one day many years ago. Christ loved me. And gave himself for me. As I said in one of the other sessions.

The nails did not keep Christ on the cross. In a quarter of a second or a hundredth of a second. He could have been off that cross. Had he wanted to. It was his love for us that kept him nailed to the cross.

Having loved his own who were in the world. He loved them unto the end. And we know what the end was. Witnessing in Christ before God. I wasn't afraid to witness the poop tomb. And then all these other books you have to read.

Spent hours with them. And read the Bible how much? Maybe a chapter a day. You've heard me say. Some of you have heard me say this before. But as a pastor in Saskatoon before the revival. I passed out little sheets one Sunday morning.

Nobody had to sign their name. So everybody was on. And that's what I wanted. Questions like how much time a day do you spend reading the Bible? How much time a day do you spend in prayer? Do you ever witness about Christ to others?

How many people have you led to Christ? Do you attach your income? And questions of this nature. I got them back. I wish I'd never done it. I couldn't believe it. How much of people in our congregation were Bible school graduates?

Everybody loved God and the gospel. But nobody was talking of it. Everybody loved missions and nobody was doing it. That was a shocking thing to me. People. Five minutes a day. Pray. Five minutes a day.

Reading the Bible. One guy put down reading the Bible 30 minutes a day. And then his conscience smote him. And he stroked it off. And he put a big zero on the paper. That's when I started praying for revival.

He needed it desperately. I couldn't believe it. You know. They were good people. They loved me. They were kind to my wife and me. You know. Our family and all this. They loved to hear good preaching and all this stuff.

You know. But that's often the way it is. And that's why we need an awakening in the power of the Spirit of God. We speak before God in Christ. And then we are His workmanship. Ephesians 2 .10 says we are His workmanship.

Good Works as the Fruit of Salvation

Because we're not saved by works. Our works. We are His workmanship. Created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Not just created in Christ. But created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Every Christian should be involved to some extent.

Somehow. Somewhere. In some of the work of God. There's something for all of you. We said it before. I say it again tonight. There's something you can do. There's something only you can do. Nobody can do the thing that God has in mind for you as His child.

His workmanship. Created in Christ Jesus. Unto. And the word means motion to work. Unto good works. Which God has before ordained that we should walk in them. When Paul was praying to Titus. Who was tasking a church.

He said Titus. Be careful to exhort the people who have believed in God. That they maintain good works. Good Christian works. You know. Sometimes there's things going on in the community. For the good of the community.

And Christians back off. They don't have anything to do with that. It's not Christian. It doesn't say just Christian works. We should be involved in anything that's going on in the community. That's one of the big beats you know the world has.

About evangelicals. They never get behind anything going on in the community. If it's something good. Get in there. Let them know you're concerned. Do what you can. It would help the testimony of the gospel.

I'm sure. Now 1 Corinthians 2 .12 says. Salvation. With fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you. Both to will and to do. Of his good pleasure. To all things of murmurings and disputings. That you may be blameless and harmless.

The sons of God. Among whom you shine as light. It's not working for your salvation. You have salvation. But you're working it out. On the moral and the spiritual level. To the glory of God. Get busy.

Not buzzy. Busy. For God. Unmovable. You're serving a living God. Then we are circumcised. By hand. The hand of God. It says without hands. In Colossians 2. And what did he do? He circumcised. And he took that body.

All that sins of the flesh. That we were guilty of. And he took it away. And so. You do always resist the Holy Ghost. Which the prophets have not your fathers prosecuted. And they have slain them. Who said before about the coming of the just one.

Of whom you have been now the betrayers and murderers. Who received the law by the disposition of angels. And have not kept it. Then the stones began to fall. Uncircumcised in heart and ears. Yeah we need to have circumcised ears.

And circumcised eyes. To be careful. So. As to what we watch. And what we listen to. As children of God. Because. We are unsaved. Then it says in Colossians 3 .4. He. That's not exactly what the Greeks said.

The Greeks says. He. I got it wrong for a minute here. It sometimes happens. In you. You may not know that. You may not show it. Because you don't know it. That's why it says in James 1 .5 -8. If you lack wisdom.

Let him ask of God. I mean you got the wisdom living within you. Ask of God. That gives to all men liberally. And does not break them or reproach them for asking. But let him ask in faith. It says. Nothing wavering.

For he that wavers like the wave of the sea. Driven when the wind then tosses. Let not that man think that he shall receive anything. Of the Lord. Then it says. He is our righteousness. You know some Christians don't know.

Righteousness as a Gift Through Christ

That righteousness is a gift from God. The gift of righteousness. In Romans chapter 5. It's a gift from God. Isaiah knew about it. Because he talked about. Putting on the robe. It's not your righteousness.

It's his. In the Old Testament. The Lord. Our righteousness. In Jeremiah. Jehovah said king. You don't have any of your own. Righteousness. Put to our account. And that's the only way. Remember the parable Jesus told about a king.

And he made a wedding and a marriage for his son. And later on the king came in. To see the guests. Who didn't have a wedding garment on. In those days. In some countries. And even today in some countries.

I understand. When you go to a wedding. You're handed on at the door. Everybody has to do that. They provide it. You're supposed to wear it. When the king came in to see the guests. He saw a man there.

Who didn't have a wedding garment on. And he said to him. How did you come in here. Not having a wedding garment on. I hear people saying boy. When I get up before God. If there is one. I'm going to shake my fist in his face.

And tell him off. No you're not. You know what happened in this account. What did the guy say. It says. He was speechless. The king said to the servants. Bind him hand and foot. Throw him out into utter darkness.

Righteousness is a gift of God. Through Jesus. It's his perfect righteousness. He lived a perfect life. Remember. Over and over. The New Testament tells us. He had no sin. When they said to him. And they were insinuating.

He was born of fornication. They said we are not born of fornication. He handled that in a kind of a neat way. He didn't talk about that at all. He just said. Which of you convinces me. Of fornication.

No sin. He was separate from sinners. And made higher than the heavens. Put to your account. And mine in the bank. And what you're doing. We should be doing for God. But not thinking that's going to put us in some.

Special relationship with God. Or maintain our salvation or something. That's just not it. Righteousness I say. Is the free gift of God. 1 Corinthians 1 .30 says. He is also our sanctification. Salvation comes first.

Then sanctification follows. Sanctification is the outworking of our salvation. And Paul prayed in 1 Thessalonians 5. The very God of peace. Sanctify you holy. And I pray God. Your whole spirit, soul and body.

Be preserved blameless. Unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calls you. Who also will do it. We should be concerned. About our sanctification. Christ prayed in John 17. Sanctify them.

Through thy truth. Thy word is truth. And for their sakes. I sanctify myself. The word really means set apart. Sanctification. Or redemption it says. In the same chapter. 1 Corinthians. Redemption. Verse 30.

Salvation Is a Person, Not a Plan

Verse 42. May I say it again. Salvation dear people. Is not a plan. It is a person. Sometimes we try and get people saved. With a plan. It never works out well you know. You are saved by a person. And that person is Christ.

It is called the gospel of Christ. Right. And if Christ is not in it. It is not the gospel. I hope they have reruns in heaven. They let Spurgeon preach a couple of sermons. And maybe Whitfield and some others besides.

They said to Spurgeon. You know he was such. He had such a gift for speaking. The people who studied this. They always advised the student to hear Spurgeon as often as they could. They weren't thinking of the gospel at all.

But he had such a tremendous command of the English language. And political love. On behalf of different organizations. And he would do that with one proviso. That they would always let him preach the gospel at the end.

For at least five minutes. And almost every time he did. So strong Christ. One of his brothers you know. Arranged for open air meetings for Charles Spurgeon. And as I was reading what he was saying. I had a good reading.

I mean the tears were just flowing. I couldn't believe it you know. 10 ,000, 15 ,000, 20 ,000 people in the open air. A living preacher could do that today. I mean some preachers get big crowds. With 150 or 300 buses bringing people in.

And Spurgeon said they all walked you know. And if they knew he was in an area. Everything stopped. The stores closed. The schools stopped. Everybody got out as quickly as they could. To hear him speak.

He preached the gospel. And his brother said. At times. The power of God was so great. He had to stop. So many people were falling on their faces. And calling on God for forgiveness. And for salvation.

He said it was incredible. The things that went on. He stood there and he talked about Jesus. There was a guy sitting with a friend. He was not a Christian. And he said he's talking like Jesus standing beside him.

I don't see anybody standing beside him. And they criticized him. And he said. Listen. Jesus is real. Jesus is real. And when he died. What did he say to Suzanne as he was dying. Oh wifey. He said. I've had such a great time with my lover.

Muslim tourists came from the states. They wanted to hear Dr. Parker. This famous London preacher. And they wanted to hear Spurgeon. So they heard both. They were asked their opinion. Oh. He said. Parker.

What a preacher. Man. What a preacher. What about Spurgeon. Spurgeon has a great savior. That was the difference. Some elections in England were settled by what Spurgeon said. From the pulpit. He didn't get involved in politics and all of that.

But when some big moral issue was before the public. He let the public know what he thought. And they'd go to what he thought. You know. Often times. Our wisdom. Our sanctification. Our righteousness.

Our redemption. And then. He's our peace. Ephesians 2 .14. You know. There was a time. Described that way by Paul. In Ephesians chapter 2. When we are Gentiles. We have no relationship. We have no God.

It says. And no Christ. And no promises. And no country to live in. No spiritual country. We really have nothing. He says. But now. But now it's different. He is our peace. Who has made both one. That is both Jew and Gentile one.

Jew and Gentile United in Christ

You know. When you become a Christian. You actually become. A spiritual Israelite. Did you know that? A lot of people don't believe that. It's very clearly taught in the Bible. Very clearly. He is not a Jew.

Which is one outwardly. Neither is that circumcision. Which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew. Which is one inwardly. And circumcision is that of the heart. In the spirit. Not in the letter. Whose place is not of men.

But of God. And other places. You know. God only has one olive tree. Did you know that? He doesn't have two families. He just has one. The Bible speaks about the whole family of God. In Ephesians chapter 4.

In heaven and earth. So. He has one olive tree. And if you become a Christian. As a Gentile. You are grafted into that. Jewish Israelite tree. Did you know that? Well it is in the Bible. You better know.

And you know. When he talked about in Revelation 21. About the bride. The Lamb's wife. And the holy city coming down. The holy city had twelve gates. Now remember. This is the bride. The Lamb's wife. Of which you are a part.

I hope. I mention that because. There were twelve gates. And each gate was a name. Of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. So. Which gate are you going to go by? If you don't believe in a spiritual Israel.

Are you going to be airlifted in somehow? No. You have to go. You are going to have to go through one of those gates. With a name of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. Dear people. There is. I know. But many writers.

They fall right against this idea. They are ignorant of what the Bible is really saying. I can't. This should be a message. All by itself. And I can't do that tonight. He is our peace. We are at peace with God.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ. Everything comes back to Christ. Everything comes from Christ. All those promises of God in the Bible. Of which remember there are 7 ,487. They were all the promises of God in Christ.

Are yay and amen to the glory of God. He came to ratify the promise. Romans 15 says. Christ ratified those promises. And made them real. For Jew and Gentile alike. And he is our peace. Romans 2 .10 says.

In him. That ring your bell. You are what? You are complete. In Christ. You are right now. You are complete. The Greek word there means. You are made fullness. You are full, full. In Christ. Some Christians go all their life.

Trying to get complete in Christ. The Bible says. We are complete in Christ. And it is because of all these things. We have been looking at here today. Colossians 3 .11 says. Christ is in all. He is all I need.

We sing that in one of our songs. He is everything I need. And he is all I need. If you are thinking of being filled with the spirit. Remember. He is often called the spirit of Christ. I hear people say.

Christ and the Authority of Scripture

Jesus Christ never talked against homosexuality. I say yes he did. Many times. Where is the Bible? 1 Peter 1. Christ said. Or the Bible said. Peter said. That the spirit of Christ. Was in all the Old Testament prophets.

So when Moses wrote about homosexuality. That was Christ speaking. And all those references in the Old Testament. Homosexuality. None of them flatter me. Kindly. It was Christ speaking to the prophets.

You need to know that. They say ignorance is bliss. When ignorance is bliss. It is fine to be wise. But. I tell you. To be ignorant of the things of God. And what the Bible really said. We need to get into this book.

Find out what it said. Read it by the hour. When I was first converted. I was 22 or so years old. No. I was younger than that a little bit. I am not sure the exact time. But I know. It was in June. The month of June.

I could not find steady work. I did get a job. For 21 cents an hour. One place. And then I got a job working for a dollar a day. And then the boss used to take a buck a week off all the workers. When I found out.

I just quit. You know. Anyway. When I got converted. I started reading the Bible. And God gave me. I take no credit for this. God gave me such a love for the Bible. We did not have any books in the house.

To begin with. We did not have any tapes. And all this stuff. You know. I had nothing but the Bible. I read. Six. Eight. Ten. Twelve hours a day. Sometimes the mother called me for dinner. And said forget it mother.

I am not coming. You know. I am just going to leave the Bible alone. And I raced to the back. Read it all. Then I went through it the second time. And at the top of every page. I wrote something. I thought of the Gospel of Mark.

It was. Have faith in God. I started the Bible somewhere at home. You know. Have faith in God. Have faith in God. Have faith in God. So when I read that Bible. It would just stare me in the face. Every page of the Bible.

Have faith in God. You know. It was a tremendous help to me. But God did that. I am only a Christian a year. And they asked me to become a pastor of a church. I never baptized. I was not even baptized myself.

I never baptized anybody. I had never married anybody. I had never funeraled anybody. I had not run a business meeting. I did not know anybody. But you know what. They were all up. And so they got me.

And then. God did something that first year. And about 70 people got converted. Including some who went to the mission field. Just something God did. Show us his power. Christ. Everything you need. Get something.

Christ Our Life and the Spirit's Work

Apart from Christ. It is all in him. Everything is. In you, one day, God is going to sing to you. That's in the Bible too, you know. Anybody know where it is? That's right. And it's going to be a trio.

Father, Son, Holy Ghost. It's got to be a trio. And after they sing their song to us, we won't have any soloists trying to sing in heaven. Because, you know, a soloist, in comparison to the Trinity singing, it'll be like a bull moose in the bad cold, his foot caught in a dirt trap.

The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty, he will save you. He will rejoice over thee with joy. He will rest in his love. He will joy over you with singing. That's what it says in Zephaniah chapter 3.

I'm really looking forward to that. Somebody say, listen, listen. Man, what a voice. Jesus said, Out of the mouth of babes and sufferings, God has perfected praise. As far as God is concerned. We can never impress God with our preaching or our singing.

Impossible. This God is our God forever and ever. He will be our guide even under death. The Bible said, are you letting him guide you? He wants to guide us into truth as well, you know. The Bible speaks about the present truth.

That's before the Bible was completed. It talks about the present truth. The truth happened until now. There's other truth to come. And Christ said, I have many things to say to you. It's not until the twelfth, but you cannot bear them now.

But when he, the spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth. And he's done that. We have a completed Bible now. God, who at so many times in different mannish spoken times passed under the fathers by the prophets, has in his last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom also were made the worlds, who being the brightness of his glory, and the expressed image of his person, when he hath by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high.

And he's our Savior. And we're joined to him. And we're married to him. And we're the object of his love. Calvary was for you. Calvary was for me. We must never forget it, dear people. Say, Ephesians 5 .18, be filled.

Praying for that certain man who became a very well-known American preacher, who was in a meeting, and they were preaching about the Holy Spirit, and they invited anybody that wanted to be filled with the Spirit to go forward.

So he went forward. And after praying a few minutes, went back to his seat. A friend of his sitting behind him said, Why did you go forward? I went forward to be filled with the Spirit. Oh, were you filled?

Yes, I was. How do you feel? Yes, the people are waiting for something fancy, you know, something great to happen, big things. I don't know why people who bread like a donkey think they're filled with the Spirit.

It doesn't make any sense to me. Make any sense to you? You know? Were they loyal to one another? That's supposed to be the line in the tribe of Judah? Ooh, I better stop before I get in trouble. All right, what do we do with all this?

Living as Part of Christ's Body

What do we do with it? Does it make any change? That we're so joined to Christ in all of this? He could never forget us. We're part of him. Part of his body. Part of his kingdom. Part of him personally.

He can never forget us, and he never does, no matter what happens. You know, Sam Jones was a famous American preacher. He was a contemporary of Moody's, and they were both in the same city at the same time by reason of bad planning.

He always got a bigger crowd than Moody did, so he used to trick Moody. He said, Moody, you're going to have my overflow. They loved each other. They were good pals. He came to Sacramento, California, which in his day was the number one hell hole in America.

When he got there, the pastors in the area had a meeting with him. They said, Now, Sam, listen. You can't preach here the way you've been preaching the other place in America, because if you do, there will be a riot and people will get killed.

He didn't make any promises. The first night on the platform, the pastors were all behind him on the platform, and he said to people, Now, these men sitting on the platform behind me, they told me I can't preach here what I've been preaching in the rest of the United States of America.

If you think Sam Jones is scared, you don't know Sam Jones. So he preached the way he always did. At the end of the week, a revival broke. Underworld characters were getting saved. Priests were getting saved.

Moot Lakers were finding Christ. So the underworld got their hands together and hired five men to take pistols and go down to the hotel and buff them off when they came out for the meeting. That makes nine.

Somebody tipped the preachers off, so they went down in the body to the hotel and got into his room and said, Sam, we're ending it all. Ending what? The meeting. No, you're not. Yes, we are. How can you?

Why? What's this all about? There's five men in the fire right now, each man with a pistol in his hand, waiting for you. Oh, really? He said. Gentlemen, goodbye. Walked out the door. Next time, come to the altar ready with the pistols.

He walked straight from. Here's what he said. You know what? I got them. You know what happened? They split like the Red Sea split for the rod of Moses, and I walked right through them and pulled the trigger.

It got so hot in Sacramento, finally, that the sheriff closed it down. So many people were being converted. The other one was really in trouble because they were loosing all kinds of their people, you know.

But John said, I love God with all his heart. He used to be an alcoholic, and years after, in the ministry, one night in a hotel, they all glossed for liquor and turned. And he had to battle for hours.

He said he knelt on the bed praying and he ran to the door. Because there was a beer parlor down the hall. Back to the bed, back and forth, six or eight times. And finally, he threw his body across the bed and he said, Hey God, can't you do a better job with this?