 Fail to look behind the wheel. If God's gonna bless you, you got to get ready. You got to anticipate. You got to move so that when it happens, you got to be able to move. Important thing is, I might be old, but I live, bro. Is it wrong to use props or gimmick when preaching? Well praise God, I'm glad you got saved. I'm also filled with the holy spirit. I'm glad you're filled with the holy ghost. Well I think the duck is too much. When trying to give the word of God, the most important thing is to convey the word, to convey the message in such a way that people will receive it, but not only receive it, but they will retain it and to make it relevant to their understanding of the word and apply it to their life. So the question is, can a preacher use props or have a gimmick in his preaching? Is that okay? Well, in and of itself, that's not unbiblical. There's no passage that says that you couldn't use a particular prop. The issue comes into why are you using that prop, and then also, does that prop, does that gimmick distract from the word of God? Is that what they're coming to see? In the Bible we have an example in Acts chapter 8 from Simon who he says, according to the word of God, there was a man named Simon who formerly was practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great. That is, he was the one claiming to be someone great. Not so much the people, but he was claiming to be someone great. Why? Because, again, his issue, his interest was himself, and he says, and they all from the smallest of the greatest were giving attention to him saying that this man is what is called the great power of God, and they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astonished him with his magic arts. We see a lot of that today, the kind of sleight of hand, impressing people by what they see you do on stage. When we look at the word in the Bible, what we talk about signs and wonders and so forth, oftentimes that word does mean miracle, something supernatural, but it also just simply means a mile marker, a sign. It can be something that is actually not divine, something that is not supernatural, something that is not spirit, but just basically again sleight of hand, like a magic trick, or just something that you just see. Now we know Simon's heart because, again, this was about him because once he sees the Holy Spirit given, what does he want to pay for the ability to do the exact same thing. Why? Because his interest is not in helping the people, but his interest is in making himself look good for the people. Think about another example, a proper example that we see in John the Baptist. The Bible says that when he's coming to prepare the way for Christ, what does he say in John 3.30? He says he must increase that is Jesus, but I must decrease. Notice the attitude that John has, it's not about me, and we do give accolades to John. He's well spoken of as a matter of fact, even by Jesus. But John's attitude is that he, Christ, must increase. It's not about me, it's about God. When I was younger, we would go to see the circus, Ringland Brothers, Barnum Belly Circus. We would love to see the High Wire Act. We would love to see the Dancing Monkeys. We would love to see the Clowns juggling and performing. Those things were captivating, but after about a week, a week and a half, Ringland Brothers and Barnum Belly Circus or any other circus would have to pack up and leave. Why? Meanwhile, people get tired of seeing a monkey dancing and a clown juggling. They want something new, and they don't have the ability to do something new, so they leave and go to the next town, and we'll wait to see them next year. Well, in the same sense, you see preachers doing the same thing. The problem is, though, they have to one up themselves every week. What they did last week or the week before, that's not sufficient. The people want more and more and more, and you've got to keep performing. Otherwise, because it's the bait that you use to catch your audience, otherwise, they'll go to the next stage performing. Jesus Christ is on his way back. We have people in Pulpiz today who are more about a gimmick than they are about the gospel, who are better at using props than preaching the gospel. That's a problem. When you think about some of these people who are known for using props, Stephen Furtig, Mike Todd, people like that, and there are many others who will use a prop often to kind of convey their message, which, again, in and of itself is not a bad thing, but if that's what you're known for, then you have to keep out doing yourself. You've got to make your stage that you're preaching from into some sort of theatrical stage. You've got to have the lights. You've got to have all the different props. You've got to set the thing up every week. Wait on you. Something to make me feel comfortable. Well, a lot of y'all got a bunch of pillows. Have you noticed that most of these people, if any, they rarely, if ever, break down the word. They're not known to be great exeges. They're not known to be great expositors of the Word of God. Rarely will you hear them breaking down the nuances of the languages. Rarely would you hear them speaking about things such as what the book of Hebrews is about, why was it written, what is the theme of 1 Corinthians, why was the Holy Spirit given, why was Israel put out of the land for 70 years, and why are they going to be brought back? These things are important and irrelevant to understanding the Word of God, but they don't care about that. They tend to be more concerned with just simply giving a message that helps them, that tickles the ears. Remember, Paul says, preach the Word. Why? The time will come when people will not endure sound doctrine teaching because a pastor has to be able to teach, but rather than enduring sound doctrine, what they would rather have is their itching ears tickled, and there's always someone there who is ready to tickle their ears, not with any substance, but to give them something to dazzle them, to make them smile, to make them ooh and ah, because they saw something, they saw performance, they saw performance rather than hearing the preached Word. Paul says, though, that the gospel is power. He says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. Why? Because that very same gospel is the power of God unto salvation. The attitude that a preacher must have is found in 1 Corinthians 10, 31, where he says, whether you eat or drink, whatever you do, do it to the glory of God. If you're preaching and it is to the glory of God, if you happen to use a prop, well, then amen. Why? Because the point is that you're not seeking your own property, says in verse 33, but so that the many will be saved. Oftentimes, however, we see that the person who's up preaching isn't so concerned with the people being saved as much as he is about his brand being noticed, about his name recognition increasing, because it's about him. Remember, though, if you have to put on performance this week and you've captivated the audience's attention that way, you've got to do it again. Otherwise, they will find another audience, another preacher, another performer, another stage to give them what they're looking for, to give them what you can. But if you are what you're supposed to be as a preacher and you give them the Word, well, then you make them hungry for the Word. If they come back next week for what? More of the same thing. The only thing that can outdo the Word of God is more of the Word of God. When you can make someone thirsty for the Word, you have done your job. You will make them like babies desiring the Word of God like babies desire pure milk. That's the goal and to give them more, to give them an appreciation for the Word of God. But when you devalue the Word of God and you inflate your performance, your theatrics, well, then you've done nothing more than what demons have done. And so in and of itself, using props, using gimmicks, it's not a bad thing, but if it becomes what you're known for rather than giving the people the Word of God like all of the preachers did in the Bible, well, then that's when it becomes a problem. Amen.