Do You Know God?
Knowing God is essential for salvation and for living a life that pleases Him.
In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the desperate state of society and the need for prayer as the solution. He shares a personal experience of preaching on the radio in Mobile, Alabama, where people were convicted and saved through the message. However, religious people became angry and demanded the preacher be taken off the air. Despite the opposition, the preacher highlights the power of prayer and the conviction of the Holy Spirit in bringing salvation to individuals and transforming communities. The sermon concludes with a story of a farmer who initially disregarded God's commandments but later boasted about his successful crops, illustrating the importance of recognizing and honoring God's authority.
Full Transcript
Our old brother came to me on the side one day, and he said to the preacher, he said, could I say something to you? And I said, sure. He said, now I've been in, I've been serving the Lord a long time. He said, I'm an old man now, and you're young.
He said, I just want to drop you a hint. He said, you can catch more flies with molasses than you can with vinegar. You have to die.
We just need, in prayer, that we should, people have heard about that before. The people all over this community, is to kill people that need it. The only, is the giver.
Why, they said, that fellow believed in a citywide meeting. We agree on this meeting, to be saved from men and women that go to, being saved. I saw a man, and this man was bumped across, then forgot, and I read a few, and I lay hold on Jesus, saying, you ought to turn him loose.
Then the sinners, want to go to heaven, but he uses, Lord, let it take over. I didn't want to be saved, but I didn't want to be done with sin. I didn't want to be done with sin, and that's what salvation is, to be done with sin, that he'd do for others what he did for you.
He'd make them willing, to be saved on God's terms. Doing the best he can, is a labor. God will send them for your husband, and then they go right on out to the same hog pen, the bin and all, because salvation, that's incidental.
You don't know my Lord. He came to save people from their sins, and he's not wrong. Says I, he'd rather send men to hell.
I, I don't think they're fixing you. He'll send to hell, with everlasting destruction, from heaviest life. He's under the very prison.
Sermon Outline
- I. Introduction to the importance of knowing God
- A. The old brother's advice to the preacher
- B. The need to understand God's character
- II. God's nature and character
- A. God as a giver, not a taker
- B. God's desire to save people from sin
- III. The consequences of not knowing God
- A. The danger of going to hell
- B. The importance of being saved on God's terms
- IV. The role of faith in salvation
- A. Faith in Jesus Christ
- B. The willingness to be saved on God's terms
Key Quotes
“You can catch more flies with molasses than you can with vinegar.” — Rolfe Barnard
“He'd rather send men to hell, with everlasting destruction, from heaviest life.” — Rolfe Barnard
“You don't know my Lord.” — Rolfe Barnard
Application Points
- We must understand God's character and nature in order to have a personal relationship with Him.
- Faith in Jesus Christ is essential for salvation and for living a life that pleases God.
- We must be willing to be saved on God's terms, rather than trying to save ourselves.