# Witnessing in the last days

Category: Grace
Speaker: Paul Chisgar
Date: March 2, 2024

Well, we have had great testimony from everybody so far. I was really touched by Brother Frank’s Wednesday night, and I was going to say something about that, but then Brother Marlon mentioned it this morning. Oh, that’s what I was going to say tonight. Brother Marlin did a good job, too.

But I told the pastor when he asked me to give a brief testimony, I said, well, you know, I said, I think most people there have heard how I got saved. And he said, well, just kind of fill in with what God’s been doing in your life and your family’s life, you know, just recently.

So I think I’ll go back about nine months. Last September, as most of you are aware, Mary had to have really serious, life-threatening surgery. She was in the hospital. We didn’t even know if she was going to make it or not. And it kind of really humbles you because when you get in positions where there’s nothing that you can do but God, then you just have—all you can do is trust him.

And God did answer our prayers and the prayers of the people of this church miraculously. Mary’s here tonight. And I can say tonight she’s got almost all her strength back. Everything’s almost back to completely normal, just like it was before she ever went in the hospital. So that’s a blessing.

And that brings me, I think, about Brother Glenn. I can relate a lot to him. You remember, I was out of church for quite a while while Mary was in the hospital and in rehab. I was staying with her.

So now Brother Glenn is going through something similar with Ritha, and I even think it’s a little bit harder on him because they’ve been giving him a hard time. You know, they didn’t want to let him in the hospital right away to visit because of all this stuff about the virus and quarantine. They finally let him in, and I guess now, as far as I know, since she’s been in the rehab, they transferred her. They haven’t let him in over there. So it’s got to be really tough on him, so pray about that.

But when I think about how God did for Mary, I’m sure that God’s able to answer prayers. I know everybody’s praying, so I’m looking for good things to happen.

But it’s how God’s been working in my life about the last four or five months with this virus deal. Let’s see, here. I like to use this iPad because it’s so much quicker to find a verse or something. But anyway, when this virus hit, you know, we know that there’s no signs. The next thing on God’s calendar is a rapture, and that nobody knows when it’s going to take place. There’s no signs. Nothing has to be fulfilled for it. But God is so good.

You know, the rapture’s going to be a global event. It’s going to affect the whole world. The tribulation period is going to be a global event and affect the whole world. And then when this virus came out, it’s affecting the whole world. It’s a global event—two people in every country being asked to stay home, be in quarantine. And then this thing about the mask.

I just started thinking, I thought, you know, maybe they’re using this to condition people. Maybe people aren’t aware, but maybe the devil’s using it to condition people, you know. If the government can tell you you’ve got to wear a mask and you can’t go to church and you can do this or that, can the mark of the beast be very far off? I’m thinking that’s what they’re conditioning people for.

And as I started thinking along those lines, I thought, well, what am I going to do? I’m not going to become an activist and get on the internet and start socially blogging about telling people that. Because the most important thing is—and I’m not going to read every one of them—but the Bible says, “He that winneth souls is wise.” And then in Matthew and Mark and even Luke, Jesus gave us the commission: going to all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. So that’s what his command is. That’s what he wants us to do. And I’m thinking, you know, okay.

I think the rapture could take place at any time. If they’ve gotten this far and they’re pushing for global government, they’re telling people when they can come and go and all. This is to me like a foreshadowing. I can see these events coming. They’re conditioning people and getting ready with this. Whether the leaders or governors know it or not, I believe Satan is behind all this.

So what I started doing is just trying to witness more. I can’t say, as I told the pastor, I’ve seen a lot of results of people getting saved. But besides the church tract, I had a couple of these in English, but I don’t know what I did with them. I misplaced them, but I got these Chick Tracts. I ordered them. For the longest time, I just ordered this one: “This Was Your Life,” and used that. I have it in English. This is Spanish. And also I got a few in Arabic.

But in light of what’s going on in the world recently, I got this new one called “The Beast.” I mean, it’s not a new tract; it was written probably decades ago. It’s about the Antichrist, the last days, and I thought—and it’s amazing, I’ll tell you—people are really receptive to it. I have had, I’d say, nine out of every ten people that I offer a tract to have taken it, and a lot of them have even said, “You’ve been right.” Well, thank you. I really appreciate that. They really like it. And the ones that have turned it down have been polite about it, you know, or just something like, “Oh, I’m good,” or “That’s okay, I’m not interested in all that.”

So I haven’t really had anybody, you know, blow up or get mad or anything. And I kind of like—I don’t know how you do it—but I kind of do it apologetically because I’ll be with somebody. We’ll be in a store. And it kind of depends. If I see somebody that looks like they might be Hispanic, but I’m not sure if they’re Arabic or not, I always ask them first, “Do you read Spanish?” And I hold up a tract like this. And if they say yes—say, say—and a lot of times they’ll say yes. So I say, “So I hand this,” I said, “I think you’d like to read this.” And they look, “What’s this?” you know. And I tell them, “Well, it’s an illustrated tract. It’s got a storyline, but it tells you how you can be saved, how you can go to heaven.” And I said, “Under each of the illustrations, you’ll find a verse from the Old King James Bible. That’s the one the Pilgrims brought over 400 years ago. So that’s the Bible we use at our church.” And I give them one of those.

Sometimes I’ll just, for the English, I’ll just say, “Say, has anyone ever offered you one of these before?” And some people say, “Oh, I haven’t seen one of those in a long time,” or some people say, “Oh, what is this?” And I’ll tell them. And I always say, “I’ll let you look at it for a second, and you decide if you want to read it or not.” You see, this way, I’m not like forcing it. I always tell them, “All I’m saying is, I’m not forcing this on you. Now, if you don’t want to read it, you know, if you’re not interested in this sort of thing, just tell me. I won’t be offended if you give the tract back to me.”

In a way, that’s kind of efficient because these things cost about 15 cents apiece. And if somebody’s not—why, he’s just going to throw it in the garbage anyway. I’d like to know about it. I’ll take it and give it to somebody else. But I know a lot of people put these—they take rubber bands, they put them on gas pumps, they put them in bathrooms and stuff. I don’t do that that often because they’re kind of expensive.

What I do, I just keep in my pocket. And everywhere I go, I’ll just approach somebody, hand it to them. Every now and then I’ll offer somebody one of these tracts. “You read Spanish?” And I’ll say, “No, no.” I say, “Oh, did you read English?” “No, Arabic.” And so then I pull out one of the—this is “Your Life” in Arabic. And so far, the Muslims that I have offered it to have been very friendly and taken it.

But I just tell people, and there’s a verse that kind of speaks to me, Revelation 7:9. John writes, he said, “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.” So salvation is for everybody.

And it’s like the pastor starting to point on charity. One of the things I told the pastor, I’ve been concerned about—I’ve got to try to make sure sometimes I catch myself giving these tracts mostly to men or mostly to women or sometimes mostly to Spanish speakers. I’ve tried to remember to give them to everybody because salvation is for everybody.

And I even tell some people this: I’m often—like, I’ve had some people like of other nationalities, ethnic groups—look at me like, “You’re a Christian? You’re inviting me to come to church? You’re giving me a tract?” Like they can’t believe it. And I’ll say, “What?” And I’ll say something like, if I see that look on their face, I’ll just say, “Well, you know, salvation’s for everybody. I’m trying to get these out to everybody because God wants—the Bible says God would have all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” So that’s how God’s working in my life right now.

And I just want to encourage everybody. I think when this is going on, people are more receptive than ever, and I think God is showing them things. I’ve had several people—I just got this tract in about “The Beast” several days ago, and there’s been several people I’ve given it to already that have said, “Oh, you know, me and my husband, we were just talking about that this morning at the breakfast table.” Of course, they were Christians. They said they go to Franklin Road. She said, “We go to Franklin Road,” but they said, “We were just talking about that this morning.”

So I believe the time’s getting close. And the reason—one reason why I’m doing this—the guy kind of like spoke to my heart and said, “You know, if you’re going to get people saved, and all, you better get busy and get at it.” And another thing, sometimes I’m slack on that. I don’t always do this. I thought of a verse the other day where Jesus said about who will the Lord allow, I guess, in the future in the kingdom to give food to his household in due season. It said, “Blessed and happy is that servant whom when the Lord comes shall find him so doing.” So I believe Jesus comes back, so I want him to find me trying to get people saved. And that’s my testimony. I’m really happy about it.

The sermon continues, beginning with the pastor’s introduction to 2 Peter chapter 1.

Turn your Bibles, if you would, to 2nd Peter chapter number one. Second Peter chapter number one.

We’ve had some—I don’t know what’s different. I don’t seem like one of these monitors were loud early. It’s down, but I’m not here. Of course, maybe just cause pastors getting old. Maybe that’s what that is. You’ve seen that text going around with the monkey, and he’s got these big old ears sticking out, you know. And the caption is, this is what we’re all going to look like after we’re done wearing these masks, all these bucks, you know. I just put my little ear thing in. And I thought, I’m just going to have one ear sticking out from this thing here. That one’s going to be flat. You know, that’s even worse, you know, one sticking out the other not.

But Second Peter, chapter number one in God’s Word. This morning we preached on what is charity. I thought it was interesting. I was standing in the back of the auditorium after it was all over, and little Charity scooted up to me. And I got to pick her up and hold her. I said, well, she knows I’ve been talking about her all day long, you know, so that was good. But then tonight, how to have charity.

Now, it’s a very informational message. And sometimes you can get so much information that you just kind of zone out. And you’re like, yeah, whatever, you know, type of thing, or just so much, nothing really sticks, if you will. I’m not always one. And I can mess up. I have messed up many a time over the years by just giving too much information. And so I want you to really just listen intently. God, what do you want for me? There will be a lot of information. And don’t just, well, kind of get that glossed over, and then nothing’s really going in deep. Ask the Lord, what part is for me, all right?

And there’s some steps to this thing of how to have charity, all right? We’re just going to a little bit of a Bible study, a word study tonight. And can you believe we’re studying the Bible in church? What in the world’s going on? You know, I tell you what? In Second Peter chapter number one, we’re going to start verse number five. Would you please stand as we read God’s word together, Second Peter one and verse number five?

Verse three and four talks about you can get the divine nature by all the wonderful promises of God, all right? That’s kind of the foundation. Then verse number five: “And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith; and to your faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity.”

I think a lot of people would think charity would be on the lower rungs, but actually, as you read this, charity’s on the top, if you will, in this growing cycle, if you will. Notice what it says about verse number eight: “For if these things be in you and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” That’s amazing. You won’t be unfruitful, you won’t be barren. You’ll have an effective ministry for the Lord.

Verse number nine: “But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see far off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.” Some say, is it possible for someone to be saved and not know it? Well, according to that verse right there, they never ever grow. And they just backslide, and they get to the point—the worst of this thing is they forget that they were purged of those sins. They don’t feel saved because they’re so backslidden. There’s so many things between them and their Heavenly Father. They’re so convicted and miserable, they don’t feel like a child of God.

Let’s talk about these things, these building blocks here, and the top thing, charity. Just briefly tonight. You pray and ask God to point some of these things out that you need, that I need. Would you do so tonight? I like to grow in charity. I need it. You ask God to help us grow in charity tonight.

Father, Lord, we come to you this week. Lord, I don’t know. It seemed like maybe it was Wednesday, you convicted me, Lord, about this thing of charity. Lord, I need to—I want to grow in this matter of charity. Help us all tonight. And, Lord, I’m trying to just rightly divide your word and preach it like you wanted. So, Lord, would you grow us in these things you gave us? Lord, you speak those things deep in the hearts of those that need the one particular one they need greatly. Bless the folk on YouTube, Facebook, the people here. Meet with us, Lord, wherever we may be. Father, we thank you for what you do. And we do love him. And in Jesus’ name we pray to you, Father. Amen.

I’m excited about building a building on that property over there. I mean, can you imagine just getting off the interstate coming this way? You pass by McDonald’s there—not McDonald’s, McDonald’s are passed by that there, you know. And then you go by Legend Steakhouse. You can stop in there, get some food by you there, some chicken fingers, amen, you know. And then the O’Reilly’s and then the bread store. Boy, then that 15 acres right there. Can you imagine coming around that corner and a big beautiful church there? I mean, it’s so big it makes those warehouses dwarf. Well, okay, not that big, all right. Any church that looks small compared to them. We’re trying to keep it away from them. But just a beautiful building there. By the way, it’s not about us looking good, but it’s about our Lord looking good, you know. We want the Lord to look good in this thing. But, man, you just see a beautiful, well-kept, well-manicured building, and it looks first class. Not contemporary at all, but it looks modern, looks right. And you see a big, beautiful church steeple.

I mean, Miss Wanda, don’t shout there too loud, but Miss Wanda’s into church steeples. In fact, our church didn’t have a steeple for years, and Miss Wanda took it on as a burden; she was going to get us a steeple. And her and Brother Frank mugged about four people, found a rich one—they got enough money. They really did. They did all the work. They really did. They didn’t, for the most part, get any money from church people. They raised the funds, and they ran it all by the pastor. They really—God used it to put the steeple there. But so if they don’t have—we don’t have a steeple on the new building—they’re leaving the church, is what I’m trying to say. So we’re going to have one there. But can you imagine just a beautiful steeple on that building?

Now, all these things, these eight things God lists here, but the thing on top is this thing of charity. We’re going to try to use that scenario a little bit of a building, and we’re going to use charity just at the top. If you’re going to build a good building, you’ve got to have a good foundation. Amen?

So this first thing, if you look at that verse number five, it starts off with, “And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your…” What’s the next word? Faith. It’s your foundation. Really, your Christianity starts with that. Someone spoke the Word of God to you. They may have lived the Word of God to you. And that word planted created some faith in you. So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. And you took that faith and you placed that in Jesus Christ. You were saved. As far as you get into heaven, you put all your faith in Him and you said, “Hey, He’s my only hope. I’ll never be good enough. I’m going to put all my faith in Christ.” And you put your faith in; you’re born again. That’s what the Bible speaks of. It means in 1 Peter 1:23: “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” You put your faith in Christ. Your Christianity, your Christian life, you being a child of God began. You got the foundation laid. “No other foundation can any man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ,” 1 Corinthians 3 says that.

By the way, if you want a big building, you’ve got to build a big foundation. And just talk about faith. Your faith—I believe I’m lacking a little bit there. By the way, you can’t have the steeple unless you’ve got a foundation. Maybe.

I was listening to Brother Bobby Robertson. He’s in heaven now. He was one of our heroes. And he was talking about he was going through a tough time in his life. And he said, “I didn’t really know what to do.” And he said, “God spoke to me. I started reading more Bible during that time.” And he said that was really—I think he was talking about a mid-life crisis. And I remember he said, “Boy, some people say it’s not real. It’s real. He said, I was going through it.” And he said, “The answer for me is I needed to read more Bible.” Now, give you more faith.

One of the fruits of the Spirit, the nine-fold fruit of the Spirit, Galatians 5, one of those is faith. Sometimes just us yielding to the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit gives you more faith. Sometimes you exercise your faith. God gives you somewhere to put your faith into action, and you begin to pray for something or seek after something, get involved in administering—you’re praying, you’re exercising your faith—and that’ll grow your faith. But the foundation here is faith.

All right. Now, you get a good foundation laid, then you’ve got to put some walls up, all right, and you’ve got to get those walls together. Wall number one—let’s get wall number one. The foundation, help me out, the foundation is what? It’s faith, good. All right. Wall number one, he says, “giving all diligence, add to your faith.” What’s the next word? Virtue. Virtue is one of the walls, virtue. What is virtue? Virtue is mentioned seven times in the Bible. By the way, the best commentary, dictionary of the Bible is the Bible.

The first three times virtue is mentioned in the Bible, it’s actually Jesus healing someone. Remember that lady that she said, “I’m just touching,” and she touched the hem of his garment, and she was healed? And he said, “Virtue went out of me.” The first three times virtue is mentioned, it’s always Jesus healing someone, and he says, “Hey, virtue went out.” It’s mentioned one time in Philippians chapter 4, verse number 8, which talks about these six categories: “Think on these things: good and honest, and pure and loving, and all the…” and then he says, “If there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” And then in 1 Peter, this passage is right—three times it’s mentioned here.

So what is this thing about virtue? It’s strength. I believe I’ve added a little bit to my definition of it, but it’s strength given to others. The first three times it’s mentioned, it’s always Jesus, virtue going out of him to touch someone, to help someone. Let me try to put it in practical testimony or practical shoes. Brother Marlin gave his testimony this morning how God saved him a couple years ago. Man, he’s gotten involved. I don’t know, a year or two after he was saved, he began to teach the boys’ Sunday school class. And a year or so later, he started working the media ministry. And he’s been busy winning souls, been part of their soul-winning ministry. Now, here’s the thing: he began to grow, and he began to give out strength to others. See?

And virtue has to do with strength, but it’s always, if you study it—let the Bible define it—it’s always Jesus giving out and somebody’s getting; virtue went out of him. See? And I get my faith, I get my Christian life started, but now I get busy serving others. It may be the nursery. It may be my neighbor. It may be a bus ministry. Get involved with a bus ministry somewhere. It may be part of ushering in the church. It may be the choir. It may be a burden someone has, and God just wants you to be a blessing to. But you’re giving out. You’re giving strength out. See? And these things are just growing in the Lord.

We got the foundation. What is the foundation? Help me out. It’s faith. Good, good. We got wall number one. What is it? Virtue. All right. Let’s look at wall number two here. We’re just going along quick. We’ve got a lot of things to cover tonight. He says, “And to virtue, knowledge.” Boy, I’ve got to look it up. I’m forgetting it. “Beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith, virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge…”

All right. This thing of knowledge. The first time—and I’m big on let the Bible define itself, you know that if you’ve been around here very long—and so often the first time a word is used, the Bible’s so good at giving a definition of that word. First time the word knowledge is used in the Bible is Genesis 2, verse number 9, where it’s talking about the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And think a little bit: if I have to put a biblical definition on the word knowledge, it may have to do with when I learn what is good and what is bad. I gain knowledge.

You get saved, faith, and then you begin to serve the Lord, and the Lord will lead you to serve others. You start serving others and giving out strength there. And then you begin to grow. You learn what’s good for you, what’s bad for you. Oh, I got to change my music. Can’t listen to the devil’s music. He’ll put you to sleep with the tune of it so he can pump in his filth, you know. And also he’s got his tune also, the world’s too. And you learn, wow, what’s good for me, what’s bad, what’s right, what’s wrong. Can’t listen to that music. Can’t hang around those friends. By the way, that’s part of church. You get good friends in church. That’s why one thing that hurts so many across America: they’re not able to be in the house of God. And a big part of that is fellowship, and you get good friends you’re hanging around. And you’ve got to have good friends. It’s a necessity. It’s important. Whatever you hang with, you can become like.

And so knowledge, you learn what’s good and what’s bad. And so I can’t have those friends. I need some good friends. And I can’t watch that movie. I don’t need to watch that. And all these things, learn what’s good and bad. Can I say, and there’s so much to this we’re not covering, but I can say about this negative knowledge, sometimes is you learning what’s good and what’s bad for you. You’re learning a little bit more about yourself, maybe how you tick, your strengths, your weaknesses. It may be a little bit, you have to go back to your past, maybe even to develop years, your childhood, and you find out maybe a little bit more why you are what you are. Not to make an excuse so you can do whatever we want to do. No, no, no, no. So you can grow and overcome those things in your life. That’s part of knowledge. You learn how you can build yourself up on your most holy faith, as the book of Jude says. But you get some knowledge about you. You begin to grow in this knowledge of what’s right and what’s wrong and what helps you become a good Christian.

So help me out. We’ve got the foundation of… Yeah, good, good, good. We want to give you a test at the end. If you fail, you’ve got to stay till you pass. I mean, I might be here at midnight, you know. We’ve got the foundation of faith. Wall number one is… Virtue. Wall number two is knowledge. Good, good.

What’s the next thing? “And to knowledge, temperance.” Yeah, well, what the world is temperance? I don’t know. Anybody know what? No, I’m joking with you. Temperance. It does not mention a lot in the Bible. Actually, four times the word temperance is mentioned. Twice in this passage, one in a list of things. The first time, look over, if you will, in Acts chapter 24. The first time temperance is mentioned in the Bible. Look over in Acts chapter number 24. And I know it’s a little bit more of an informational message. Stick with me, don’t lose me. I ask the Lord to speak to your heart about one of these things here.

Look over in Acts 24 and verse number 25. This is Apostle Paul. He’s standing before Felix in a court trial. Second time he’s done it before Felix. All right, cool. Paul, he witnesses everywhere he goes, man. He’s just a soul-winning machine. He’s on trial before the judge, and he starts witnessing to him. I love it. I love it. That’s what’s going on in this verse right here. Acts 24, and look at verse number 25: “And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled.” That old boy was under conviction. I mean, God got a hold of it. Felix trembled and answered, “Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.”

Now, here’s the thing: three things he was talking about: righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come. Now, righteousness, how y’all live, what’s right. Judgment to come, this is what’s going to happen if you don’t get things right. Temperance. It has to do with self-control. It has to do with, all right, you know it’s right, but now you control yourself from doing wrong. You grow in some control over yourself. You know, and I’m not talking about anybody in our church, and I mean that, but it’s a shame. It’s a shame when you have to meet with a man in public sometime, and not that I’m trying to just watch a guy, but it’s just sometimes very obvious when the guy can’t control his eyes when a lady walks by. That’s a shame. He’s got no temperance. He’s got no self-control.

Temperance has to do with when you’ve got control where you can keep yourself. Satan’s always going to be trying to tempt you somewhere, try to draw you somewhere. And he got a little control. I’m not going to go there. It’s when you learn to pull back on your tongue, as the Bible says. You’re pulling the reins. The Bible says, well, if I can’t control my tongue, God can control it. Man can’t, but if you don’t have any, you can’t pull the reins back on your tongue. The Bible says your religion is in vain.

But I grow in this thing. I get control over it. No, I’m not going to grab a hold of that thing. I’m going to let that bitterness go. I’m not going to let you have some control in my life. It’s temperance. Not going to go, though. Satan’s going to do his best to get you go the way. No, I’m not going there. I’m gaining some strength and controlling myself by the grace and the Spirit of God. And I’m just not going to go there. There’s some control. It’s temperance. See? And you begin to grow in these things.

Now, it starts off with the foundation of faith. You got the wall number one of, and you got the wall of—now we’re getting temperance. All right, good man, you’re doing good. Let’s just go. What’s after temperance? What is the next thing? Patience. Wall number… About the walls, patience.

It’s very interesting, and it’s just a word study tonight, so don’t lose me, all right? Patience. The first time the word patience is mentioned in the Bible, it’s actually Abraham. And he went down to Gerar—how do you say that word?—and his backsliding, he’s going away from Canaan where God doesn’t, and he’s not there. And he’s talking to his wife. He did this twice. Boy, just seems pretty sorry of him. He told his wife, “Now, look, you’re a good-looking woman. They’re going to be after you.” And so, “Don’t say you’re my wife. Say you’re my sister.” You remember that? Half-sister. But boy, that’s pretty sorry, the guy, in my opinion, you know. That’s what it is. And this is a passage where he’s doing it. If you want to look over there, it’s in… Friend, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Please forgive me. We’re going to get to that passage in just a moment here. We’re in patience is another thing. My mind’s getting turned around.

Look over in Matthew 18. Matthew 18, and we’re going to get to patience here. I’m sorry. That right there, save that thought about Abraham and his wife and all that for another thought. Then we get to brotherly kindness. All right. I apologize. Look over here, Matthew 18, and verse number 26. And we’re going to talk about patience for just a second here. And I’m getting them out of place. I’m about to put a roof where a wall is supposed to be. Amen. That wouldn’t look good on the building. I’ll tell you for sure. You know, we have an all-looking building, you know.

Let’s get this wall of patience here. Matthew 18:26. And here’s the first time patience is mentioned: “The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.” Actually, the fellow ended up having compassion, just forgave the debt. But this servant’s coming here. He said, “Look, I know I owe you something, but would you be patient? Would you give me more time?”

And patience, just pretty simply, is just allowing more time. It’s in your prayer closet, you understand. You might have to pray for some things over the long haul. It’s sometimes, parents, when you have a real strong-willed child, it’s not going to be boom; it’s going to be over the long haul. You stay right in this thing. If you get some patience, you’re not so demanding when justice needs to be served. “I’ve got to have it right now.” No, “Give me some more time to pay this debt.” It’s allowing more time.

“I’ve got to see somebody saved, and if I don’t, I’m going to quit witnessing.” No, you realize sometimes you’ve got to stay faithful when God in his time brings the fruit. You just allow more time. You say, “I’m not going to give up on this sin and just say, well, that’s the way I am. I’m just that type of person.” You know, you say, “No, I’m going to keep after this. They’re going to try to grow beyond this thing. It doesn’t make it take me some time. I’m going to keep out of this thing.” And you had some allowing of time to your life. You’re not so just—been out of shape of it—but it doesn’t happen in your time frame. You allow more time for things. It’s just simply patience.

So, we got the foundation of faith. We got the wall of virtue. We got another wall of—now we got over here. Now we got this. There’s supposed to be a wall. I was about to put a roof on, but it is. Now let’s get one of the roof. We’re going to divide it in two. We’ve got one roof side over here: Godliness.

Godliness. Can I just say it this way pretty quick into this thing? It’s when you begin to lose your resemblance of the world and you begin to gain a little resemblance of God. It doesn’t look just like the world anymore. You look a little different. Sometimes it can cause you to be a little odd in this old world. It’ll cause you to sing a song, “This world is not my home; I’m just a passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.” You lose—you don’t fit in here quite so much. And to begin to gain a little bit of resemblance of God. Can I just, on this point here, can I just ask you: Is the world holding on to you in some area? Is there an area made with the world that it just—it’s holding on to you, and you’re not really becoming godly there because the world’s got a hold of you there? Just think about that.

We’re getting a structure up. I’ve got the foundation, walls. We’re getting one of the roofs here, but this is here, it’s godliness. And I’ve got to have a little godliness in there, and I’m beginning to have a little bit of the characteristics and the love of God. And it began to resemble him a little bit. And I don’t resemble the world so much. I’m separated from the world under God. See?

So we got the foundation of faith, and we’ve got—oh, knowledge, and we’ve got temperance, we’ve got patience, and we’ve got godliness. Let’s get this other thing here. Now you can look over in Genesis chapter number 20. I apologize. I was going all to town at the wrong time, you know, earlier. This is where Abraham is talking to his wife and saying, “Hey, would you say you’re my sister?” And look and see what happens here. I want you just kind of see it because this next thing, side number two of this roof, is brotherly kindness. And I think we understand brotherly. In fact, the only time in the Bible where brotherly kindness is put together is here in Peter. So we just want to look at this word kindness. Here it is in Genesis 20, verse number 13: “And it came to pass when God called me to wander from my father’s house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt show unto me: at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.” Actually, Sarah did it.

But the first time the word kindness is used in the Bible is where Abraham is saying, “Show me this kindness.” Can I just put it this way? I think biblical kindness has to do with us treating someone better than they deserve. Abraham did not deserve for Sarah to say, “All right, I’ll call you my brother.” Not at all. I see Miss Wanda shaking her head, and, uh-huh. Miss Wanda said, “Brother Frank better never do that to me,” you know. And I get that. But it’s maybe giving something to someone—a kindness—they don’t deserve it.

And when I begin to grow in the Lord, and I get this final side of the roof there, it’s being better to those I’m close to, whether the household of God, brother there, maybe even my family—I’m better to them than they deserve. It’s no longer, “Well, I’ll be good to you if you’re good to me.” No, you’re better to them than they deserve. You treat people better than they deserve. “Well, they didn’t treat you—they didn’t deserve you to treat them like that after what all they did do.” No, it doesn’t matter. You’re better than they deserve. Brotherly kindness. You treat people always, just simply put, better than they deserve. And you’re being so good to them they don’t deserve all that. It doesn’t matter. They deserve all that. Abraham sure didn’t deserve for his wife that she should have said that sorry right over there saying he’s my brother—that’s my husband, that sorry, lazy, scared, wimpy, chicken husband over there—that’s what he deserved, but she was better to him than he deserved. So kindness and brotherly kindness, you’re just better to people than they deserve.

Now, we’ve got the foundation of faith, we’ve got wall number one of virtue, and we’ve got wall number two of knowledge, and we’ve got temperance, we’ve got patience, and we’ve got godliness, and brotherly kindness. Let’s get the steeple on there. We’ll talk about it all morning long. We’ll be done. We’re going to go home, amen. And we’re going to stop by McDonald’s and get us an ice cream over there, you know. But here’s the last thing: charity. We’ve spent all morning long preaching on what is charity. We used 1 Corinthians 8:1: “Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.” It’s no longer about you. It’s love in the graduate course. It’s where you’re focused on the other person. It’s not all this, “Well, I’m doing this so I look good. I’m doing this so me, me, me, so they’ll be good back to me.” No, it’s all about you’re building them up. You’re about them what they need. Charity. It focuses on the object being loved. It’s not got selfishness all tangled in there. It’s focusing on the needs of them. Charity.

Now, here’s a wonderful thing. Look at verse number 8. We’re back over here. Second Peter 1. Look at verse number 8. “For if these things be in you and abound.” Boy, you got this building. You got this steeple of charity on there. They make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. These are the Christians that make a difference in the world. Satan, he’ll try to keep you from being one of these Christians. These are the Christians that the world can’t change, so they change the world. These are the Christians that you can put them in an old factory of a bunch of dirty, smelly, old guys, physically and spiritually, and yet they’ll make a difference there. These are the Christians that they’re not out there for their name and for their glory and so everybody see them and talk about them and all the rest of that. They’re out there to make a difference that people take note, and when they need somebody, “I’m going to go talk to so-and-so.” These are the Christians that work when they’re having trouble with their marriage, “I’m going to go talk to so-and-so.” They’re pretty sincere about it. They’re not Holy Joe, acting like they’re better than their body, but they’re sincere Christians. I’ve seen them live it over the years. They’re the Christians when somebody says, “My aunt’s so-and-so, she’s about to die, she’s got surgery coming up, so-and-so.” I’ve seen them at work, they don’t spend all their time all about them. They truly care about people. They got the steeple on, if you will, and they say, “I’m going to talk—I’m going to go get them to pray for my aunt.” These are the Christians that make a difference in the world. He said, they won’t be unbarren; they won’t be unfruitful. God will use them. Satan don’t like Christians like that because it makes a difference in the world.

Hey, where are you at? Maybe does your foundation need to grow? You can’t have a big building unless you’ve got a good foundation. One of these walls? Knowledge? Have you grown in what you need to be and do and what you don’t need to be and do? Knowledge. Are you adding temperance? Are you gaining some self-control? Are you just indulging, and you say, “Well, I’ve been doing this forever. I’ll probably never change,” or are you trying to grow through the grace of God and getting some control over things in your life? Maybe your mind, your critical thoughts, whatever may be. Are you adding? And by the way, these things, it’s all a process. By the way, you’re not going to get there overnight. Never has been a Christian got there overnight. It’s a process. Add to your faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience. How about that? Or are you just impatient? You need to add some things in your life where you just, “I can allow some time there. I realize God doesn’t work on my timetable, and I’m willing to stay in there for the long haul and allow more time.” Maybe with your prayer life, or maybe for someone that did you wrong, maybe for justice to happen to a situation. “God, if you don’t do something right now, God…” God’s not going to listen to you. Not so. Yell all you want, but it’s on my timetable. But I’ve had to learn that the hard way. You’ve got to have the wall of patience. Where are you at?

So you’ve got to add. You add these things: patience, and to patience, godliness. Is there a world part of the world just hanging on to you, and you don’t look real like God because the world just has got you in that one area, and you have to let go of that so you start resembling God more? And God is brotherly kindness. You say, “Well, they don’t deserve—they deserve for me to treat them like a dog because the way they always treat me.” I’m going to let that go. I’m going to treat them better than they deserve. No longer about, “I’ll do this if they do that, how they treat me.” I’m going to be better to them than they deserve. Brotherly kindness. And you get that steeple. You’ve got to add. You can’t—we want charity. All morning long, preach about the importance of charity. And I want that. I need to grow in that. I can’t get that steeple that’s got the building. You add and get this thing of charity. It’s no longer about you, what you look like, and everybody thinks about you and all that, what’s going to do for you. It just cares about people. You like to help them. God said, those people there, they won’t be unbarren; they won’t be unfruitful. God said, “I work through those people like that.” This whole world needs Christians at the foundation, walls, roof, and steeple.

And stay, but would you bow your heads and close your eyes, would you please tonight? We covered a lot of territory very quickly tonight. I don’t really know how to get to the questions, but maybe you’re there tonight. You say, “Preacher, God spoke to my heart somewhere along the line, one of these points, God spoke to my heart.” You slip your hand in, “Preacher, God spoke to my heart.” God bless you. Me too, me too. God bless you. Thank you for letting the Lord work in your heart. Thank you so much. God bless you. You say, “Preacher, before God, I’m asking the Lord, would you help me to grow? Get this foundation, the walls, the roof, and the steeple. I like to grow. I get this thing of charity. God, would you help me to grow? Whatever area maybe I need to grow in, I want to add these things. I want to get to charity. Lord, would you help me to grow?” I’m asking you, Lord, would you take me on this journey? I’m asking you, Lord, would you take me on this journey? I’d ask you, Lord, would you take me on this journey? Would you grow me in these things? I’d get this steeple on there—charity. God bless you. God bless. Wonderful, so very important. God bless you. Thank you so very much.

Would you please stand tonight? We’re going to have word of prayer. Altars open. You’re welcome to come down here if you want to know where you’re at. That’d be fine. If you’re on YouTube, Facebook, wherever you’re at, would you just kind of get along with the Lord? And let’s grow. Oh, God, God needs Christians. He uses—this whole world needs Christians like this tonight. Would you pray and ask the Lord to work in your heart? Father, thank you so much for your word. Lord, you know I rightly—I tried to rightly divide your word. And Lord, it just seemed—I hope it didn’t jumble it all up. Lord, you take it and just drive what needs to be driven home to each heart. Would you grow us through it? Father, help us to be Christians that have the foundation, walls, roof, and steeple, please. Bless our people tonight, Lord, in what they need. Jesus, we pray. Amen.

As our instruments play, would you come? Would you spend some time with the Lord? Would you do so? It would be a sad thing if I had maybe the foundation in three walls, got the roof ready to go, but I’m missing one of the walls. You’ve got to add. It’s an idea of faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance—you’ve got to add. So maybe if there’s one area, God spoke to your heart about it, hey, let’s focus it on that. Because it’d be good if we had it all there. God said, “You won’t be unbarren.” And what awesome truth. So glad you’re here tonight. Appreciate you being here. You too, Facebook, you folks too. I love your mission. I understand where you’re at, but good to have you all. Great to have visitors with us tonight. Thank y’all so very, very much. That’s a blessing. Love to see all the young people in church. That’s awesome. That’s great. And praise the Lord for it. It’s a good thing. And excited about getting Sunday school back. Camps—looks like we can be able to do camps, maybe out of the—not on the church calendar of time—but we’re having camps, and everything’s looking so. Praise the Lord for that. Glad we’re able to do these things in the Lord’s time, and I’m so excited about that. Looking forward to the Constitution study on Sunday. That would be a blessing. Let’s use that. Maybe get somebody in church over. That’ll start out this Sunday with the next Sunday. So that’d be a good thing. Glad you’re here tonight. And I’ll be back Wednesday night at 7 o’clock. Look forward to that.

Original File: ＂How to Grow in Charity＂ Pastor Chisgar [vtZHRfIeUXU]