How to Stand Firm in the Lord

Father, we thank you for Alan, Lord, for a blessing he’s been to this place. I can see it listening to him, talking to him, knowing primarily his love for your word. What a blessing he surely has been to the congregation here. Won’t you restore his need quickly and get him back in ship shape, not just for golf, Lord, but for whatever you have and everything in ministry. He’s far from done in ministry, that’s for sure. So God bless him richly today.

Jeremy Simmons, Lord, he’s out there today, God, and he’s beginning now a whole new day for Sauldam Baptist and for Jeremy too. And we pray and believe this marriage was made in heaven, that you ordained Jeremy to be your man, to be the man you call to pastor Sauldam Baptist Church. We know, Lord, that it’s your call that’s most important. Man simply ratifies that arrangement, but it comes from you. So be it, Lord, that your anointing come upon him and his ministry here, that it will, Lord, be for the duration of time that you have in mind, that you will use him here as you speak from you to him, through him, to Sauldam Baptist, that God, men and women, boys and girls will come to know Jesus. Saints will be strengthened. And Sauldam ever since 1841 will go on strong, Lord, into the future, bringing the light of our glorious gospel of grace to the lost. And, Lord, being a rich blessing to all who come here. So would you let it be so, Father, we do also commit in a moment, Lord, our time to you here today, your holy word, that your anointing would be upon it, that you have word for all of us. We want to hear from you. What have you got for us today? That we will leave here having heard from you, Lord, not only just hearers only, but doers of your holy word. Won’t you let it be so, Father? In Jesus’ name we pray. And all God’s family said, amen.

Brothers and sisters, it was great. I had another brother who met me on the way in the door, and he said to me, he looked at me, I was out back here getting a coffee or something, and he said to me, you’re from the south, right? I said, you betcha. And then he looked at it as quick as lightning, said, southern Ireland, temporary. I said, yes, I’m a southern man. Believe you me, guys, it’s, I would like to say, joking aside, it is really an honor and a privilege to be here.

I love history. You know, since I made it to the south two years ago, I’ve been ever present searching and reading the history of the south, and, you know, I’ve always been fascinated, and I think the fact that this church was built in 1841, couldn’t help thinking of it. I stopped down the road looking at the building in the distance, and I thought, how about it, guys? The day that, I think it was Richard Furman, am I right? The day that the pastor, the first pastor of this church, arrived here back in 1841. I hope you know your history, 20 years before the Civil War, you know, and I’m 61, 65, if I’m not mistaken, and here this church has stood all these years proclaiming God’s holy word. It gives me chills to actually excitement to think that I have the honor of standing in this pulpit. I know this building, was that the one that was built in 34 back over here, that other building? Yeah, in 34. But on this very site, those people who gave their money and their property and the cemetery for this church, it still stands. And the word of God, I’m praying as I drove around the building when there was nobody here earlier today, I prayed, God, that you would fill this power park, that you would do a work of great revival, like in the days of Ezra, Nehemiah, and the book of Nehemiah, a revival will take place in this area. I will be praying to that end after I leave here today. It’s all damn grounded in the past, serving in the present, and building toward the future. How exciting that is. And Jeremy coming, I just think it is so wonderful. I pray that God will.

Now enough of all of that, and enough about me and everything. The most important thing we’re here for today, to hear in the time we have allotted to us, is to hear God’s word. And that’s not just to hear somebody spout from the Bible, but to hear God speak.

to us through His holy Word today. And I pray He will. You know, there’s a couple of things I would hope would be accomplished in the proclamation of His Word from this pulpit today. And that would be obvious. I’m mindful of the fact that a new man’s coming in here, a man with the anointing of God upon him, Pastor Jeremy Simmons, to take this pulpit. I’m mindful of Al Smith, who’s held it strong this past time while there was a waiting period, and for the pastors all the way from Richard Furman all the way back to 1841, that, you know, here we are today. What’s the word for Sauldam today? What’s the word from this Irishman? By the way, I’m an American now. And actually, since I moved to the South, I am Southern. Brother, there you are. I’m a Southern man, not just Southern Ireland. I love the South. God bless the South. God bless this part of America. I just, I don’t know why God has blessed it, and why there’s so many churches, and why there’s such, because there’s such love here. Amen. And believe you me, I know, I’ve lived in California for 30 years. I love the South, and the friendliness, and the warmth, and the kindness. And let me tell you something else, the genuineness, and the realness of the people. And I’m not trying to win accolades, or I won’t be passing around the hat for a donation, or anything, I promise. I have nothing to gain from this. I’ll probably never be here again. But I think you need to know it, and I think you need to hear it, because it’s from an Auslander, an outsider, that’s bringing you that piece of information.

So I said to God, what kind of, what do You want me to share? Well, Johnny, He said to me, how long, John Henry, have you been in ministry? I said, well, I’ve been serving You now, Lord, these 40 years, you know, as a pastor, these 35 plus years in ministry. What do You want me to share? There’s a new guy coming into this church, and so I felt God put it upon my heart, there may be something in this that might be your interaction with him. Can I share something? I know this is coming to the Word, but I don’t want to, this just came to my mind right now. Having been a pastor for 35 years, done 100, I was talking with John, we were talking about funerals, and 185 funerals, 125 weddings, and been in ministry in Ireland, Germany, and the United States of America, albeit with Calvary Chapel. Ministered with Pastor Chuck Smith right up to the night he died, was with him the night he died. Pastor at a church in the Bay Area of San Francisco. I want to tell you something, you’ve got a guy coming in, I want to share just a couple of thoughts with you, and I’ll go right into the Word. I want to share with you, love this guy coming in. I want to tell you, this is one of the toughest jobs on the planet. You say, what do you mean, John Henry? Ah, here comes, Pastor comes in on a Sunday, shares a few words, and doodles around during the week. Oh, no. No, a pastor is a CEO of a company. He’s the head man of the church under God. But don’t you know it, if you’ve got a CEO in a business, he faces the attack from all the, if he fires an employee, the people are upset with him. If something goes wrong, and they don’t want it, it’s not the way the old man did it, not the way the other fella, this is the way, we don’t like this. He faces all that, the guy working in the business, and in the company. But the pastor faces that, but uno momento, por favor. That’s not Irish, that’s Spanish. One moment, if you please. The pastor also faces the attack from hell. Let me tell you something right now, brothers and sisters, that the anointing of God, and the empowering of God, and the enabling of God, is upon this man Simmons. I’m going to tell you something, hell doesn’t like it. If we’re just going to wander in here, la-dee-da, and fill the pulpit, and do church stuff, and be churchy, well, he’ll be probably doing okay. But no doubt about it, the enemy attacks where the real thing exists. He needs your prayers. He needs your support, especially in the early days. You know why? Because that’s where the devil, the devil attacks the strongest, in the early days.

See, if He can wipe you out at the beginning, like any of those battles of the Civil War, those skirmishes that led on to the greater battles. I hate to share this, but you know well, that Gettysburg would never have fallen if the Little Round Top hadn’t been brought down. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain stood atop the Little Round Top, and he commanded his men—sad for the South, but he commanded his men—to hold that round top no matter what. They had only 200 men left up on the round top. There was 2,000 of Oates’ men coming up, General Oates from the South side, coming up the hill. Chamberlain commanded his men to fix bayonets, and he said, he screamed at them, “Stand firm, ye boys from Maine!” They fixed bayonets, they twirled around with no bullets left, and they drove the force from the hill. And it was because of what was done by standing strong together that that Little Round Top was held. And because of that, Gettysburg did not fall—or Gettysburg rather fell, and brought about the great victory.

So my point in all of this is, see, it was the skirmish on the round top that was the deciding factor. It’s the skirmish, the little things, and the devil will try to destroy you in the little things before you can get to the big things. Anyway, enough. Support him, be with him, love him. It’s not an easy job. And pray for him especially, and stand united together. And that’s what brings me to the message today. And I’ve already got ahead of myself in quoting the Battle of Gettysburg, because when I first read this scripture, listen carefully from Philippians chapter 4, verse 1. It says, “Therefore, my brothers, my joy and my crown, whom I long for, you should stand firm.” Uh-huh. Stand firm, ye boys from Maine. “You should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends. I plead with you, Yodia, and I plead with Yosinthica,” Paul says. I plead with you both, he said. “Agree with one another in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, loyal yokefellows, help these women who have contended by my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say, rejoice. Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God, and the peace of God that passes all understanding will fill your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is lovely, whatever is pure, whatever is admirable, whatever is appraiseworthy, or any of these things, think about these things. And whatever you have learned or heard or seen from me,” Paul said, “or seen in me, put into practice, and the God of peace will be with you.”

So he says here, what you have learned and seen. This is a message from Paul to the church at Philippi, and the reason I picked this particular portion is, there is no indication in this that he’s writing, correcting them for any flaws or faults. He’s writing a love letter to them. He loves them, and he wants them to grow, and he wants them to go on strong. And then I’m thinking 1841, Furman, 2023, is that 83 years later? Going on. What does God want to do in this new season? How can He do it? The only way He can do it is if you guys, the ecclesia, the people of this church, just like the people that Paul was writing to, calling on them, he said, “I love you guys. You’re my joy. You’re my crown.” Now listen, listen, listen, listen. You want to know greater victory? You want to go from victory to victory into greater success, from the skirmishes to the major battles and great success? Here’s how. Stand firm. Stand strong. Stand shoulder together. Do you know that in the Civil War days, in my reading, that when the soldiers would be lined up on the battlefield under Stonewall Jackson or any of the great generals, they would be lined up like as they faced Marie’s Heights, when the soldiers came wave after wave to take Marie’s Heights and were driven off, they were commanded by the sergeant who went up and down the lines. My grandfather Henry, where I got the Henry side, my grandfather Henry was a sergeant in the British Army and went to World War Berlin and World War I. The sergeant in Civil War days would walk up and down between the lines and he would shout, “Dress the lines, dress the lines.” That meant shoulder to shoulder. And those southern men, and on the other side too, I’m sure, stood shoulder to shoulder with guns and bayonets in hand and moved forward facing a hail of lead coming against them.

By the way, just a little footnote here to that. It was Stonewall Jackson who said that as he stood atop Marye’s Heights, he said he never… there were Irish fought on both sides, north and south, more on the south seemingly. And Stonewall Jackson stood up and he looked down and he said that, you can check this out, this isn’t a tourist board thing for southern Ireland. He looked out and he said he had never seen such bravery as he saw in the Irish soldiers. As he said, they came wave after wave after wave into a hail of lead coming against them as they approached Marye’s Heights.

There’s a guy called Patrick Maher. No, sorry, he wasn’t Patrick Maher, he’s a different guy. Patrick Cleburne. He fought at the head of his troops in Virginia. Robert E. Lee said of him that he was a shining meteor in a cloudy sky. He came from 50 miles from Tipperary Town, a place called Cork City, Ireland. Patrick Cleburne died. Unlike many major generals, he died at the head of his troops in a battle of the Civil War close to the end.

Unity. John Henry, where are you going with this? Stand firm. Stand behind Pastor Simmons. Stand strong with Pastor Simmons. Don’t let any stuff in.

Did you notice when we were reading there, he said to them, Euodia and Syntyche, get together, stop fighting. There were obviously two women in the church. They were having a bit of a trouble. You can see it there in the first few verses. Now, he didn’t, if you like, there’s no doctrinal dispute or anything going on. It doesn’t seem to be anyway. He just tells them to get together because he knows that if disagreement begins, it can go on to whisperings within the church and break up and cause division. Stand against that.

If there’s anything, okay, so aligned with what’s happening next week, this message. If somebody comes to you and says in the weeks leading on from here, “Well, there is something. I like our new pastor, but not the way the old person was doing it,” or but, then you tell that person, go talk to the pastor. Don’t let anything in because you know what? The devil in the Civil War days and again, actually, Alexander the Great. I’ve always loved history. Alexander the Great, you know, always, how did he win? How did he win all those battles with less men than the other side? Always, because he always looked for what he called a hole in the lines. What’s that, John Henry? A gap somewhere where he could get through with some of his men, go around the back of them and take them out from both sides.

The devil’s going to be looking for a hole in the lines here. You guys are in the lines and the ones that are not here today. You guys are standing in the gap for Sauldam, for Jesus Christ, for God here in this place, in these, the last days, and we need to stand strong. If he gets a hole, some weak person who comes with all the, now we may have disagreements, we might agree with the person, and you go to the pastor. I’ve been a pastor for many years. That’s why I’m sharing this with you. I’ve seen the damage it does, the destruction, when people start wagging the tongue, and the division comes, and God hates it.

So, again, guys, no time to deliberate longer over that. There’s a lot I could have said on it, but again, time’s sake today. Actually, I love it. Anybody ever hear of J. Vernon McGee here? I got some. Well, you should have heard of him. He’s a southern preacher, one of the greatest. J. Vernon McGee’s Through the Bible series. Check it out on YouTube. J. Vernon McGee. He calls Euodia and Syntyche, they were fighting, he calls them you odious and soon touchy. Euodia and Syntyche. You odious and soon touchy. Don’t be odious. Don’t be soon touchy. Get together.

Now, second thing. I’m going to hop off these, because I know I’ve got limited time. But the first thing I want you to get, if Sauldam is to go on strong, out into the years ahead, oh, what did it say? Building for the future. If Sauldam is truly going to fulfill that and build for the future, it can only be done by unity within. And then people will be attracted and come, but they’ll be attracted by a little more than that.

Second point. He says, rejoice, the Lord. Again, I say rejoice. Do you see that? People are attracted by joy. People love to see joy. Oh, thank you, Lord. I tell you, it just came into my head right now. Another Southern man for you. Civil War man. E.M. Bounds. Have you never heard of him? How about that? An Irish man educating Southerners today. Well, I’m a Southern Irish man. I’m going to tell you, E.M. Bounds wrote a great book on prayer. Check it out. But he made a comment I never forgot when I read it years ago. He was a Civil War chaplain, and he said, love. No, sorry. Joy. Joy, which this book is all about, is love’s consciousness.

If you have love in your heart, man, that joy should be radiating from your face. Sometimes when we greet people, we tell them about Jesus, we look like we’ve been sucking lemons for a month. They ain’t going to turn. They’re not going to respond if they don’t see the love of Jesus in you. Do you know that Jesus was nothing but nice? Nice is a word that isn’t even hardly thought of in the world today. Nice. What’s that word? Nice. Jesus was kind, loving and nice. Grace. Hebrews 1, it says, Hebrews 1, it says, He was anointed with the oil of gladness above all His fellows. That means He had more joy than anyone.

There are so many Christians today. We’re never going to bring people to church if we don’t act and look and show them that we’re the happiest people on earth. I walked into this church today and every single person I met, I felt, it doesn’t mean having a big smile from ear to ear. And that could mean nothing. But when you engage with somebody, you can feel, you know that heart of love is there. And the consciousness is the joy. E.M. Bounds got it right. He was, by the way, chaplain for the Lafayette Richmond Brigade, but also fought other battles as well, but he, well, other areas as well, but the Lafayette Richmond Brigade was, he was chaplain for that. He wrote marvelous books.

But you know, joy, guys, listen. So again, time-wise, trying to, I got up here, I said, Holy Spirit, I’m gonna ask You just to take this, okay? I won’t even go with the notes. Whatever You give me. Joy. Usher this guy in with joy. Let him see there’s joy here. When you meet him, encourage him. Building each other up, we are told, in our holy faith. Building each other up. And remember what I said. Not an easy job. Be with him, to strengthen him, to encourage him. Don’t ever come with second-hand information to him. Excuse me, pastor. So-and-so said, and I heard this. And what I loved sometimes was people would come to me when I pastor the church and say to me, Oh, pastor. I said, what? People are saying. I said, okay, who? You know, I never got anybody to answer that question for me. You know why? Because I would pull out a notebook from under my desk, and I’d put it on the desk, and I’d say, write their names down, please, will you? I’d like to meet them. Oh, I’m just saying.

You know, be careful. Stand by your man, Tammy Winnett. Stand by your pastor. Stand strong by him. Don’t let division in. I believe this is a word. I believe it’s a letter of the Spirit. So, if it’s not, you can discard it. But I’m telling you, I’m 35 years in ministry, and I’ve seen the destruction when people come whispering, maligning, wanting to get together with others. Now, it may never happen here. This may be the perfect church, and I’m wasting time. And if it is wonderful, marvelous, I’ll read the book when it comes out for sure, and I’ll pass it around. But I’ll tell you one thing. The devil attacks where the real thing exists.

Rejoice in the Lord. Again, I say rejoice. I always say, quick comment on this, start practicing a little joy. You know why? All of us, by the way. I ain’t preaching at you. I hope that’s clear. This is exhortation. I need it too. Let me tell you, if we don’t start practicing some joy here, we’re going to have a real problem when we get to heaven. You know why? Because the Bible says heaven is fullness of joy.

and pleasures forevermore. Do you know what that means? There’s no room for any more joy. It’s full of joy. There’ll be some people, they’ve sucked so many lemons. When they get to heaven, they’ll be shunning joy. Oh, too much joy. I can’t handle it. And they’ve been such complainers. They’ll be saying, it’s really nice. I like heaven. It’s marvelous. Oh, beautiful. Oh, look at that. Scenery’s fantastic here. Oh, oh, that’s beautiful. Oh, it’s shiny and lovely. But I don’t know about, you know, I’m always finding something. And I’m telling you, if we’re complainers and we’re finding something to complain about, you’ll always find somebody that will join in, chirp in, and it just is so destructive.

Ah, what did Al do here a couple of weeks ago? I’ve been watching on the internet, you know, to get a kind of a feel for this church. You remember, what’s the guy’s name again? Bob Newhart? Stop it. Woo! I thought, hey, Al, that’s not fair. I’ve been using that one for years. He obviously found it way back as well at the same time that I did. But really, you know what? Stop it. Don’t do it. If you come to the place where you’re going to do that kind of thing, just stop it. Don’t do it.

This book, Philippians, just very quickly gives you, it speaks 15 times. 16 times joy. 15 times the mind. 10 times remembering. Remembering and the mind. Change your mind. That’s what we got to do. I’m not going to do this anymore. That was given to you. That message was already done by Al. I don’t want to go back over any ground that he covered there. Let’s go on with a couple of these things while we have time. Just to see, who should we be? Who should you be? As a church, welcoming in Pastor Simon. Okay. United. We got it, Johnny. Absolutely. We’re going to stand strong together. Yeah. Got it. Joy. And that being the consciousness of real love. Want to love one another and love Him and grow in love in this church and then bring people into this church. Yes. Got it. What else have you got? Oh. John Henry, I’ll never remember all this. You will because I’m going to give you the notes going home. Okay. Oh, sorry. I’ve already given them to you if you have a Bible. Philippians 4, one and following. They’re all here. Next one.

He says, be gentle. The Lord is near. I got ahead of myself. Be gentle. Be kind. What happened to kindness? You turned on the television. You listened to stuff. Politicians, people, everybody discussing stuff. And the kindness seems to be very rare in our world today. He says here, Paul to the church. So what’s he saying to Sauldam awaiting their new pastor? Be kind. Be kind to one another. Be kind to the pastor. Be kind and work together. You know why? Be gentle. Because the Lord is near. Quickly. That’s a kind of a double-pronged attack here. The Lord is near. The Lord is near in two ways. He’s right here with you right now and here with me. He was here before we came. He’ll be here after we leave. He’ll be with us on the way home. He’ll be with us at home. He’s watching us all the time. The Lord is near. So in everything that comes up, if we had a consciousness and awareness of that, the Lord is near. Watching. Maybe there’s somebody listening right now. There’s something going on in your life that’s not right. God brought you here today and you’re going, oops, wow, some area of your life that’s not right and nobody knows. The Lord knows. Stop it. Repent. What’s repent mean? Metanoia in Greek. Burn away. Walk away from it. Stop doing it. Stop it. Again, new hat sketch.

The Lord is near also in the fact that He’s coming back soon. My goodness. You know, when you think of it, you think of, when you think of it and you think of, you know, the Gaza Strip, you know, and you think of what’s going on there. In Calvary Chapel, we had, well, it was about 20,000 people. So we had about maybe, we had nine buses went every year to Israel. We took nine buses, a pastor for each bus and Chuck Smith, who was the overseeing pastor of it all, spoke at every site and we went around to all those sites over the years to Israel. So I’ve been to all these areas and know them all and I’m thinking of, you know, the Gaza Strip right now and all that’s going on and The frightful things that are happening out there. Hey guys, listen, He’s coming back soon. Say, John Henry, are you going to put a date on this now? Are you one of those fellas? No, no, no, no. Oh, no, no. Only the Father knows. He hadn’t told us yet what He did say. In Mark, He told us that we would know the beginning of sorrows. What are the beginning of sorrows? You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes and the turmoil all over the world. And in actual fact, in that verse in Mark, it speaks of, Mark 14, I think, it speaks of viruses. Virus, the same word viral, goes everywhere. Speaks of that, right in the gospel. That’s happened, has happened. May need to happen more, worse, who knows. Wars, what’s happening in Israel right now. There are many things. The Lord is coming back.

And okay, you say, well, I don’t know, you know, heard all that and this and that over the years. And yeah, well, of course, you know, be careful because the day you think, hey, it’s never going to happen is the day it may very well happen. But I always love, the one thing that sums all this up for me is, listen to me, if you have any problem with this, let me make it real clear. We’re one day closer to the end today than we were yesterday. And we need to be right. And we need to be ready. And that’s why it’s exciting. There’s a new man coming in here. Pastor Jeremy Simmons is coming in here to pastor this church to take it forth into the building for the future, into great and mighty things being done. God is not done with Sauldam. God is not done with the man Saul and the dam and the everything that gave its name to this place back in 1841 and the people that gave the land for the cemetery and the people that gave the land for this church. And they’re resounding around the throne in heaven right now with the angels in heaven. They are resounding and praising God and excited for what God might be wanting to do in this new season. But it’s not up to the guy coming in here. It’s not up to Simmons who will stand here. It’s not all up to him. Will he be a good one? Will he be a bad one? Will he make it? Will he live up to our expectations or will he not? No. Unity. The church united with Pastor Simmons. The church moving in love. The church with gentleness and kindness to all. That’s what will foster the new day. Will unity. Rejoice. Have joy. Be gentle.

Would you look with me. Would you look with me at verse 6. Another way to go forward strong. We’re thinking again about the soldiers in battle. The soldiers in all those battles of the civil war that stood strong shoulder to shoulder on the battlefield and went on no matter what for victory and fought to their last drop of blood. Standing strong, Sauldam. Standing strong today and out into the future. Here’s another one for you. To stand strong with your pastor in the coming days. Do not be anxious. And this could be a specific word for somebody right now as well in all of this. I know I’m gearing a little towards what’s happening here. But remember, the Lord is speaking to each and every one of us today. Listen, do not be anxious about anything. But in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. This is a powerful portion of scripture. Don’t be anxious about anything.

Do you know where the old English word anxious, you know where that word is? Back in the English dictionary, my father was an educator and wrote books. He spoke Scotch Gaelic and he spoke Irish Gaelic. His mother was from the outer Hebrides in Scotland. They talk lovely in Scotland. They got a nice accent. You know, Scottish are gentle people. They talk a little bit like this, you know. My father had a bit of the Northern Irish in him. They’re different. They talk like they’re giving you a lecture. They don’t talk gentle like the Scottish. Liam Neeson, you know him, the actor. I’ll find you wherever you go. I’ll be looking for you. You kidnapped my daughter. I’ll find you. He’s got very sophisticated now. He doesn’t sound as rough as that. He’s got smoothened it out a little bit for the American audience. You know, Scotland, England, my dad’s old King’s English dictionary. In there is written. He was a student of languages and everything. But in the thing is written, you know, to be anxious is the same word as to strangle. If you’re anxious about something today, hyper anxious, you’re strangling yourself. It’s ruining your life. Can’t even move forward. Talk about building, going anywhere, going forward. You can’t go anywhere. You’re held back in the past because of something back there. Something might happen in the future.

Paul tells us in Philippians, another place, forget the past, go forward. Forget those things that are behind. Go forward into the future. Now you say, John Henry, that’s all fine and dandy, but how can I? This worry thing really cripples me. I’m struggling with it. I’m going to give you the antidote to worry today. Write this down if you never got it before. Matthew 6:33. You worry about something? Seek you first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. And everything else will be taken care of. You can go this way and that way, battling the situations with Him. Now you may have things you have to deal with. Don’t get me wrong. Me too. But if you’re focused on them all the time, they’ll obliterate you. They’ll wipe you out. They’ll strangle you. But when you say, I give it to You, God, whatever You want in this.

Because here’s one for you that I got years ago that I have got to tell you today. And I heard this from Chuck Smith, my former pastor, many years ago that I worked with right up to the night he died. Started 1,500 churches worldwide. We had about 20,000 people at one time in Costa Mesa. And Chuck said to me once on a tape in Ireland long before I came to America, it revolutionized my thinking. Whatever you’re facing today, nothing comes into your life. Nothing comes into your life as a child of God that He hasn’t allowed to happen. What? The situation I’m dealing with that I’m so anxious about. God allowed it to happen. What do you mean? He did this to me? No. He allowed it. He’s got a purpose. He’s got a plan. And when I give it to Him and seek Him first in it, no matter what, He overrules for victory.

Read in your own time, Matthew 6:25-34, because it’s powerful stuff. I haven’t time for it today. But the crucial, the most important, the scripture I want you to get is seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. And everything else will be taken care of.

Winston Churchill said, he’s an Irishman quoting Winston Churchill. How about that? Winston Churchill, we shall fight them in the air. We shall fight them on the battlefields. I won’t do the Winston Churchill. I haven’t time. Winston Churchill said, he’s a great writer. Actually, my father read all of his works. If ever you want to improve your English, my dad used to say to me, read the history of the English-speaking world by Winston Churchill. And he believed the English, the writing is so magnificent, you see. Winston Churchill said, when I look back on all these worries, when I look back on all these worries, I remember the story of an old man who said on his deathbed that he had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which never happened to him. Your very own Mark Twain said, most of my disasters never happened. Most of my disasters never happened to me.

Guys, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

I have time for one story today in all of this. I had more stories at the beginning. But I want to tell you a story. Actually, my wife’s, Hillary Potter was her name, but her great-great-grandfather, or maybe one more great in there, was the first member of the House of Commons in England. First Irish member. Actually seeking home rule. He wasn’t like a bad guy. He was fighting for home rule for Ireland. But he went there, I discovered, at the same time he was in the House of Commons at the same time as another Irishman called Baron Fitzgerald.

Baron Fitzgerald had a son. Help me, Lord, with this one. I’ve got to tell it quickly. Baron Fitzgerald had a son that he loved very, very much. And the son died. Baron Fitzgerald was an extraordinarily wealthy man. Our wealth today may be billions. Who knows? But Baron Fitzgerald had a son he loved. He was an art collector. He collected art from all over the world. From the Louvre in Paris. From the Prado in Madrid. From the Hermitage in Leningrad. From all the great painters. Ruben. You know, Picasso. All of them. Michelangelo. He had stuff. He had so many wonderful works. Van Gogh. And Goya from Spain. He had all these artworks collected. And that was the mainstay of his life. But then his son died that he loved so much. And he was destroyed. He continued on, but his life was empty. And eventually when he died, he had this incredible collection of art. And all of the curators. All of these guys who ran the art. The Prado. The Louvre. They all came to this location. For the solicitor, as we would say. The lawyer was to read from the will. With regard to auctioning off the paintings. So the lawyer, the solicitor got up. And he said, you know, the first painting. Now all of the collectors from all the famous museums were all present. This was going to be millions upon millions of dollars. They were all present. And he got up and he said, the first painting I have for you today. First painting listed here in our listing today. Sotheby’s or whatever. Our first painting is that of the Baron’s son. It was done by an unknown artist. But here it is. It was absolutely ridiculous. It was the worst quality you could imagine. It was a childlike drawing. Painting. Terrible. The art collectors looked at it. It was ridiculous. Nobody would buy it, you know. Nobody did this. And it was of his son. But there was an old servant over in the corner that loved Baron Fitzgerald. And he absolutely loved the Baron’s son. And he was the valet to the Baron. And he loved the boy. And he offered five dollars, two dollars, whatever. American and today money. He offered a pittance. And nobody else challenged it. So it was sold to him. And he got the painting. The ridiculously bad painting of Baron Fitzgerald’s son. The art collectors were all, come on, come on, come on. We want to get to the end of this auction. And he looked down to read. He said, I will continue to read from what Baron Fitzgerald has his will here. And he looked down and he said, the final, the final, turning over now to all these great paintings that were about to come up. And he said, whoever buys my son gets all. The auction is over. And all the paintings of all the great masters went to the servant, standing by the side, holding the painting of the son. He bought the son and he got it all.

As you move into the new season in Sauldam Baptist Church, buy the son. Hold tight to the son. Don’t be pulled away by the stuff of this world or looking at what glitters. As Shakespeare said, all that glistens is not gold. Often you have heard that told. But my outside to behold. It’s empty. This is where the real life is. I was so excited to see the children and the plans for the future on the screen this morning. And I thought, oh, I wish I was young again. Starting out like this guy. Going out into the future. A new happening. Brand new day. Anyway, guys, we’ve got to wrap up here very soon. So I have to move on, but I’ve marked that one down.

In your life, seek first. By the way, if you’re anxious too, you might say, okay, I get it, I’ll seek the Lord, but how? Hey, prayer. Look at the scripture. Prayer and supplication. Let your requests may be known to God, and the peace of God that passes all understanding will fill your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. You’re anxious, seek the Lord.

Hillary and I were driving through Belfast during the Troubled times. We’re good, we’re doing well. I’m getting there. I think I’ll do it, Johnny. We’re getting there time-wise. I’ll tell you, we were driving through. Time for this one quickly before you were driving through Belfast. I had spoken for the Holy Week services for Dr. Samuel Miller in Coleraine, Northern Ireland, during the height of the Troubles. I was from Southern Ireland, and I was driving a southern red car. My wife never came to the North with me because you had to drive through Murder Mile, where more people were killed. Actually, the most bombed hotel in Europe, most bombed hotel in the world outside of Beirut, was in Belfast. I actually got to stay there through amazing circumstances one time, but anyway, that’s another story. I haven’t time for that. But we’re coming out of Belfast. I had spoken on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and Saturday night.

At Hazel Bank Presbyterian for the Holy Week services, and the minister Sammy Miller was taken over on Saturday night and leading into Easter Sunday morning. And I drive back to Tipperary out of Northern Ireland. We were leaving Northern Ireland, we were heading towards the border to cross the border to get out of the North, but we took a wrong turn and we wound up in the center of Belfast. Suddenly, at this time, only a couple of weeks earlier, a whole group of singers were all taken out of a bus, lined up on the side of the road, a machine gun by the UFF, the Ulster Freedom Fighters. People were killed indiscriminately. They’re about the Gaza thing, whoa, blown to bits, sitting around having dinner in restaurants and bars and places, all kinds of things. So we’re driving out of Belfast, but this time, Hillary, Carl, Eric, and Gary came with me to Northern Ireland because it’s a special treat. Now we’re driving and we’re lost in Belfast. I see a sign that says Tiger Bay. I knew that was a UVF, Ulster Protestant enclave, and the minute they would see my car with the Southern registration, that would be Catholic, that would be dead, the other way around too. So I looked in the back mirror and saw a car behind us with four guys in it, 1:30 in the morning, somewhere in Belfast. And so I, I said, Hillary said, “What’s wrong?” I said, “These are terrorists. You know, there’s nobody out driving around like this. They’re not cops, they’re terrorists.” So she said, “Well,” she said, “What’s wrong?” I said, “Well, what’s wrong? They’re very likely to kill us. You know, this will be a great catch for them tonight, as they do this all the time, whole family from the South.” So Hillary looked at me, my wife, you haven’t met Hillary, you know, she’s very calm, cool, and collected. Actually, it was her great-great-granduncle that sat down with Winston Churchill in 10 Downing Street to divide Ireland back in 1922. She’s very calm, perfectly calm. I’m not all that calm, I’m pretty excitable, let me tell you. So anyway, I looked at Hillary as she’s sitting there beside me, and she says, I said, “These people could kill us, Hillary. I’m sorry, the boys are asleep in the back of the car, seven, five, and two.” So I said, “They could kill us.” And Hillary said, “Well, if they do kill us, at least we’ll all go together. I won’t be at home in Tipperary without you. We can all die tonight.” I looked at her and I said, “Excuse me, what planet are you from?” I didn’t, but I felt like saying that. I looked at her and she said to me, “John Henry,” I said, “What?” “Are you trusting the Lord?” I said, “Well, of course I’m trusting the Lord. I’m a pastor, I always trust the Lord.” Well, she said, “It sure doesn’t look like it.” Now, I want to tell you that story, it’s, it’s kind of praising Hillary a bit there, isn’t it? But in actual fact, that’s true, this is what happened. But it taught me a really valuable lesson. I was ready to start screaming, kicking, freaked out. Peace that passes understanding. So you’re going to say to me today, “Oh, okay, if I pray, what am I going to do? Seek first the kingdom.” Okay, and then what? Stop thinking about all this stuff and be praying, give it to God, and He’ll give you a peace. Hope you don’t know what’s going on, it’ll pass your understanding. So powerful, guys, we’re going to bring it in, here we go. Last thing today, standing strong, okay, last one. “Finally, brethren.” Now again, a good preacher, when he says finally, he should mean finally, right? So I’ll try to stick to that for you today, finally. But I think we’re still doing good, I got some minutes, I’m fighting the clock here to keep everybody, all, all right, fulfill all righteousness and keep everybody happy, and I know you’re used to a certain time, and I pray, I said that to the Lord getting up here, “God, You’ll have to do it, You know, if there’s something for somebody, You take care of it, I’ll give it, and off we go, and I’ll stop when the time comes.” Okay, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true,” and He says noble, “whatever things are lovely, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, with good report, and think about these things.” Listen to this quote, you want a great quote, and watch me, I’ll act it out for you: “A man is not what…”

He thinks he is, but what he thinks he is—a man—is not what he thinks he is, but what he thinks he is. It’s what’s going on in here, in your mind, that’s who you are. And if you’re letting these negative, fearful, doubtful thoughts come in, they’ll destroy you. And if you let them come in when the new pastor comes, they’ll destroy him and you and everything. Allow me to assure you, I’ve seen it. Dan Strong, the message of the day before the new pastor comes, he says here, you know, all of these wonderful things. There were all kinds of quotes I got; I haven’t time for them there today. But so, in good thoughts—thoughts that are true and noble and lovely and beautiful and pure. Martin Luther said, “You can stop up—you can’t stop a bird flying over your head, but you can stop it nestling in your hair.” Sir Thomas More: “Occupy your mind with good thoughts, or the enemy will fill them with bad ones. Unoccupied, your mind cannot be.” My old mother, Greta Henry, her father from Tipperary, Greta used to say, “Johnny, Johnny, the idle mind is the devil’s workshop.” Again, guys, so what do you do to combat that? In our last moments, I want to give you another Baptist name, and not a Southern name, actually an Englishman, but a Baptist, my favorite preacher, and if you haven’t heard of him, shame on you. Sorry, but as a good Baptist, now you know you got to look him up. His name is Charles Haddon Spurgeon, and I want you to look up a book called Morning and Evening. It’s the greatest daily reading you can do by us—by a Baptist preacher in England, Charles Haddon Spurgeon. I think the greatest preacher since after Paul, and more. You can read the Morning and Evening when you get up in the day. Be in the Word, be in prayer, be reading the Word, be coming to church—not coming to church, “What can I get? I’m coming to hear Pastor Simmons today. What can I get from this now?” And I hope it’ll be good. Remember, every poor old pastor, he’s as good as his last sermon, right? But God help us in church, sometimes we become connoisseurs of fine sermons. “I liked that one. I didn’t like this one. I felt he missed this. I have certain points.” Hey, guys, get behind this guy. I keep saying this: unity, unity, unity, because you know, again, here, what was I saying to you there? Get into the Word of God every day, make it a part of prayer, a part of the church here. Coming—oh yes, come here, not just to get, but you know, something like John when I met coming in, and Donnie back there, and the ladies that I met, and everybody that I’ve met here—I’ll leave out names if I start giving names—but I felt encouraged, I felt a warmth, I felt a welcome, I felt love. Let’s be people like that. You really need that from next week on. Really don’t have the mentality just to come to church to hear what he’s got to say and see if you really like it or you don’t. Come and say, “What can I do? How can I be a part of this?” We’ve got to work together if we want Sauldam Baptist Church to go on strong, to go out into the future, building strong as it did on it when it was first founded in 1841 by Richard Farman. It needs to go on, it needs to go strong, and I believe—God help me, that I dare and say it because I’ll stand before the throne of grace one day and be answerable—but I believe powerfully and absolutely and completely with all of my heart, my soul, and my mind that this is the Word from God for you through me today, by the power and the anointing of the Holy Ghost. So be it. If you don’t agree with it, fine, but I believe it, and if you do too, there’s a call on your life today to step up and be strong. Paul wraps up the whole thing, and I wrap it with this for you right now, with five minutes to go, I close with this. He says, “Whatever you’ve heard”—I won’t even look here, time’s sake—“whatever you’ve heard, learned, seen, or whatever in me, these things do.” That’s the King James, by the way. I’ve never kind of left the King James; I still love it. I believe the scholarship behind it was great.

I don’t necessarily think it was the Bible that Paul used or anything like that, but I do believe the scholarship that went into it was marvelous. There were really godly people behind it, and I love it for that reason. But I read other ones as well. I want to give you the King James says, “These things do.” If I walk out here today, I have a greater, I have a huge responsibility. If I walk out of here having preached this and shared this and I’m not doing it, it would be a frightful thing to fall into God’s hands, you know. Preacher has a huge responsibility. It’s a big job. You’re representing God, proclaiming His word. But you have a responsibility too, brother and sister, to do it.

You know what the NIV, some say the nearly inspired version. Others call it the new Irish version. I’m not getting into version debates or anything like that. But sometimes I find it very good. I don’t use it all the time, but I use it. Let me give you an example. King James says, “These things do.” I’m going to tell you something. Sometimes I have a hard time with the do. But I looked at the NIV and it said, “These things put into practice.” And it reminded me of 1978 when my dad and I, Bill Corcoran and I, were in St. Andrews, Scotland, the home of his birth. He was born in the Outer Hebrides. And we were in Scotland at St. Andrews. And Jack Nicklaus won the British Open in 1978. And my dad looked at me and he said, “John Henry.” He was a tall, lean machine, Scottish-Irish, sharp as a razor blade and bright man. And he looked at me and he said, “John Henry?” I said, “Yes.” “Stand up straight.” Okay. I was trying desperately. And he said to me, “John Henry?” I said, “Yes.” He said, “You have just observed and witnessed today the greatest golfer of all time, Jack Nicklaus, win in the home of golf.” Of course, Tiger Woods hadn’t been invented back then. But anyway, the greatest golfer of all time, win.

Now, when we got home, my dad was practically a scratch golfer. He used to teach golf as well as other things. He would be out in the golf course. He actually got to meet up with Tony Jacklin, Jack Nicklaus, all of them. And he was actually showing Aoki, the Japanese golfer, some putting moves on the green. I was going, we’re really keen golfers. And we got back to Tipperary, to the golf course in Tipperary. My dad and I went out. Woo, two minutes, six o’clock in the morning. We went out. And we stood in the course. He threw out a big bag of balls. And he said, “Go for it.” I said, “What do you want me to do, Dad?” “Do what you saw in Scotland. Put into practice what you saw Nicklaus do. Now do it. Chip or close the seven iron a little and run it in. All these different moves that you could do. Put into practice what you’ve seen.” We need to do. We need to put it into practice.

And guys, here you go. If we put it into practice, avoiding quarrels, staying united, staying strong behind the new pastor, standing firm together on the battlefield for Christ in these last days, avoiding quarreling and disputes and getting into all kinds of nonsense stuff, dealing with everything up front and not behind the scenes and not whispering and maligning and attacking and destroying, but right, everything up front, thinking about good things. And like Paul said, put these things you’ve seen in me into practice, putting into practice the things we learn from godly people that we look up to, all of these things. He is saying to us here in this portion of Scripture that if you do that, then Sauldam Baptist, that began in 1841 and is now 2023, will go on if the Lord tarries for the next 83 years. Out from this state, strong, being used by God, being powerful.

But again, we’ve learned today what Paul has told us, how to do this, what we need to be, where we need to be, the attitude we need to have. And if we do this, we will see amazing things happen for the gospel, and this church will be going on strong for your children. When John, you said you were here for all the years, you’ve been here 70-something years, for your children and your children’s children. If the Lord tarries, we’ll one day be sharing and continuing to share the gospel here in Sauldam Baptist.

Church. 12:30, let’s pray. Heavenly Father, thank you so much. Lord, I didn’t want to rush it. I didn’t want to take away from Your Word. But I asked You so sincerely, Lord, as You and I know, to be in this time today to prepare, to hear Your Word that we all need today to go forward today, but also to prepare us, Lord, for the new day at Sauldam Baptist. Again, bless Pastor Jeremy Simmons. Just all we prayed in today, God, all that we’ve talked about today in the Word, and right behind him, this church is going to go forward in a mighty way. We look forward. In fact, watch this, Lord. Thank You for the Word from You through Paul, through this pulpit today, to this church today. Thank You, Lord. We actually thank You now in advance for what You’re going to do. Really excited at what You’re going to do with this place. And be it known to You, Father, always. We give You alone all the glory. In Jesus’ name we pray, and all God’s family said. Brothers.