Just for Youth

Continue Thou

Pastor Richard Way

Richard Way is the pastor of Heritage Baptist Church in Houma, Louisiana

I got a few cards and notes, so I want to address some statements and questions I received. Sarah said she loves her church. Paul made me a maze. Santiago drew a picture of me preaching, and I found out I have lost weight! Chase said that first grade is the best. I agree, it was the best three years of my life!
      Estelle drew a picture that looked like she might have been soulwinning, a wonderful thing to do. I was very convicted a few weeks ago while out soulwinning with my seven year old daughter, and our assistant pastor’s daughter. The last door we knocked on, I said, “Hello, we are from Heritage Baptist Church. We are just out talking to people about the Lord and inviting them to church...”
      She said, “I’m not interested.”
      I honestly didn’t hear her, so I said, “Excuse me...”
      She said louder, “I’m not interested.” Just very blunt.
      I said, “Well, okay. Will you take this tract as a record of our visit.” You know, I really didn’t think much about it. We got to prayer meeting a little later, and my daughter said, “We need to pray for that lady who’s not interested.” She was concerned for that lady’s soul.
      When I was on church staff I did a lot more preaching in Junior Church, but now that I’m pastoring I don’t get to do that as often. It can be humbling, but you know what, it’s also fun. I walk in there singing, “Fried ham! Fried ham!” Those kids are the future.
      Kinsley asked if I am a missionary. I’m a pastor, not a missionary. But if you ask Brother Gomez, he will tell you that everything south of I-10 in Louisiana is a mission field! I enjoy hearing from these children, and as a preacher, I don’t want to get so busy or think I’m so important that I lose touch with these future members and workers in our churches.
      It’s good to see many friends in the ministry. The greatest thing that’s ever happened to us is being saved by the grace of God. Next to that, the best thing that ever happened to me was being born into the home of Garry and Julia Way. Without a doubt. As Brother Anglea was talking about child training, I was thinking of some stories my mom could tell you about me. They weren’t perfect parents, but they were perfect for me, and I’m thankful.
      Young folks, I hope if you have the privilege of growing up in a Christian home, and maybe even like me, growing up in a pastor’s home, you don’t take it for granted. It’s the best thing that happened to me.
      And the most outstanding decision I ever made after getting saved was asking that lady right there to marry me, my wife, Stephanie. She’s my closest friend, and we labor together. Sometimes I don’t even realize all that she does for the ministry and for us. She gave me three beautiful kids and they love the Lord. I’m just so thankful. I know every one of you pastors who get up here feel the same way, but the best people in the world are the ones at Heritage Baptist Church who call me “Pastor” and I’m praying for them today.
      I want to give you a little update. August 20, 2021 Hurricane Ida came through, category 4 storm. As a matter of fact, we never went back into our auditorium. Somebody pulled up and saw blue tarps and we still have blue tarps throughout our city two years later. We literally met under some pop up tents for a couple of weeks, smaller crowd since some of our folks had to evacuate and displace for a while.
      A preacher who I had never met said, “I have a 60x40 tent that I will loan to you if you want it.”
      I thought, “What else am I going to do?” Having never gone through that experience, I first thought, “We will just rent something temporarily.” But then you start looking around and everything is torn up. There’s nothing available. So we met in that tent for a year. Brother Gomez preached for us during that time. He showed up in a suit coat, but by the time the service started, he was out of that suit coat. It was hot and humid!
      But the Lord grew our church under that tent. During that year we saw people saved and baptized, folks added to the church, visitors regularly. It really was a time of miracles in our ministry.
      Then the Lord allowed us to purchase a 20,000 square foot building and 12 acres. We spent weeks getting it cleaned up and prepared so we could get moved in. It’s been incredible, to God be the glory. It’s nothing about me, it’s all about Him.
      I was talking with Missionary Ben Anglea, and I said, “You know, what we did for a year, most missionaries do for their entire ministry. We have become so spoiled and so comfortable in our Christianity. The best thing that ever happened to us as a church was for the Lord to tear our church up and get us out of our comfort zone.
      We just had our Homecoming Sunday and our largest crowd ever, and the Lord just keeps blessing. Two weeks ago we were having revival and I got a call from a lady in our church. Her sister was in the hospital and had to be revived. That lady had been saved at our church but wasn’t coming real faithful, but her sister is one of our core people. She called and said, “Preacher, would you come to the hospital and pray with us?”
      I said, “Yes, I’m on my way.”
      She said, “You need to hurry because the priest is on his way.” At least half the family was Catholic, and they had a priest there. I know some of my preacher friends are extroverts and outgoing and they enjoy going to hospitals and talking to a lot of people, but I’m the complete opposite. If I never had to step inside a hospital again, it would be okay with me! So I wasn’t really looking forward to the hospital. They asked if I wanted to go back and see her, but I knew she was sedated and not conscious, and I said, “I came to be with you all. Can I share some scripture with you?” I turned over to I Thessalonians where it talks about those that are asleep in Christ, that we will be reunited with them. And we which are alive and remain will be caught up together with them at the Rapture, and I just gave the Gospel through that whole passage.
      We prayed together and I had no sooner said “Amen,” and one of the sisters said, “I need to be saved!” So I went over and sat down beside her and took her through the plan of salvation and she trusted Christ. We were rejoicing about that and I was getting ready to leave when the daughter of the lady who was hospitalized said, “I need to talk to you in private.” We went into a waiting room and during that conversation I was able to take her through the plan of salvation and she trusted Christ.
      So I walked out of the hospital thinking, “Well, we have already seen two souls saved, maybe I just need to come back to the hospital tomorrow!” We were having revival and that sister and daughter who had gotten saved, they were in the service that night. The next night another sister came. The sister who is a member of our church said, “My sister is here and she needs to be saved!” Before church started another sister had gotten saved.
      Oh, it gets better! On Saturday it was time for the funeral service and there were a lot of Catholic people there. I got up and said, “I’m going to preach on the saddest story in the Bible.” My wife looked at me like, “What?” But you’re dealing with religious people. What did King Agrippa say? “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.” So I preached the Gospel and asked them, “How many of you are going to face God like this man, almost saved, but lost?” Fifteen people bowed their head and trusted Christ.
      Sunday was coming up, and I think there were nine siblings in this family and one passed away. Another sister came to church on Sunday morning. I came out of the teen class and headed for the preaching service. Another sister that I hadn’t seen said, “I just got saved!” Praise the Lord. That whole week was amazing to see how the Lord worked. I told Miss Mae, “Your whole family is experiencing revival! Over 20 of your family members have trusted Christ this week!”
      We are currently launching Pioneer Baptist Ministries in a very needy area of south Louisiana. There are more than 100,000 people and not one good, independent KJV Bible preaching church that is reaching people. We are planning to start churches in this area.
      I want to say thank you to all the men who have preached, and especially thank you for confirming things in my heart that I was taught, that I believe. I am an independent fundamental premillenial King James Bible old time Baptist preacher and Bible believer. I was one before I even knew what it was.
      I took a picture of these notes in my Bible from when I was a teenager. It was April 16, 1995 and I was almost 15 years old. My dad preached a message “Are You Ready?” Are you ready to live right? Are you ready to do right? Are you ready to tithe? Are you ready to dress right? Are you ready to be right? And here’s where it gets good. Be ready to be called narrow-minded. Be ready to be called a legalist. Be ready to stand against sin. I was 14 years old, and I didn’t really know what an independent, fundamental, KJV Bible Baptist was, but I knew what my dad was and what he believed and stood for.
      Can I say something to you young guys? When these men get up here and preach, don’t have the attitude like you might be smarter. “Well, I just think...” No, it’s already been tried and proven. Every denomination or group you want to bring up, they all have some issues. Do you know why? Because they have humans involved.
      A friend called and said, “I think I’m going to lose my son to one of these, as Brother Grimaldi calls them, non-denom happy-clappy churches. I said, “Make sure to tell him that they have issues and problems too, and some of the same things are going on there that he doesn’t like at your church. It doesn’t matter if it’s the Baptists or the non-denoms or the Catholics or the Presbyterians or the Southern Baptists. Whatever. There’s a group of people and where you have people there will be problems.
      We were standing in Israel and my good friend Daniel was there. If you’ve ever seen the Western Wall, you see all those Jewish men praying for their Messiah to come, praying for deliverance. Man, the Lord just started tugging on my heart, and I thought, “I’m glad I didn’t grow up like that!
      I said, “Dan, I know what we have isn’t perfect...”
      He said, “But it’s right.”
      You young men need to understand that the men of God that you got to hear preach here, their lives have spoken volumes to me, even after the sermon was over. They didn’t stand up here and tell you that they are perfect men, but they are standing for what is right and trying their best to do right. We have the truth. Another preacher said, “Some of these guys and their denominations and movements, they don’t even know which Bible to use.”
      Turn with me to II Timothy chapter three, verse 14, and I want you to read the first three words aloud with me. “But continue thou..”
      “But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;” I pray that the Lord will work in our hearts and minds and allow us to be challenged by the counsel of His Word and allow Him to take full control.
      Thinking of all the things that have been said, and also all the things that need to be said, I couldn’t help but keeping coming back to this verse in my mind. If there’s ever been a time when we desperately need God’s men and God’s people to continue, it is now. We believe that we are living in the perilous last days the Bible speaks about. The first verse in this chapter says, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.” I looked up the word ‘perilous’ and it means troublesome, dangerous, difficult, hard to bear, stressful, strength-reducing.
      For all of us who are in the ministry, one of those descriptive terms just hit you square in the face. Some of you are going through trying times. Some of you are experiencing trouble, and your strength has been reduced. People don’t argue with the fact that we are living in the last days; in fact, many lost people will tell you that something is going on in this world. They believe we are living in the last days because these are dangerous times, difficulty all around, stressful circumstances that are hard to bear. Sometimes it seems like we have no strength to continue.
      Hear the charge to young Timothy from his father in the faith, the Apostle Paul. “Timothy, just continue. Keep on.” Think back to 2020 when all the Covid started, when the media and law enforcement was trying to shut down churches and keep businesses closed. That was right around the time of Mardi Gras in Louisiana and for a good long while Louisiana was a hotspot. In large cities like you folks here, there was a lot of pressure put on you.
      There was a lot of unknown, a lot of stressful times because we didn’t really know what to do or what to expect, what might happen next. I was praying through some of those situations and saying, “Lord, I need Your help and Your guidance. I need You to lead me during this time.” I felt very strongly the Lord taking me back to this passage of scripture, and saying, “Richard, just continue what you have been doing.” Wouldn’t that be good for all of us to do?
      But the next year Hurricane Ida hit us. Can I tell you this? As a pastor, your life changes when you don’t go back in that auditorium anymore. What do you do? I know that’s happened to many churches along the gulf coast because hurricanes abound every year. I mentioned earlier that I thought, “We’ll just rent a building,” but there was nothing to rent. “Okay, so put up a tent.” What are we going to do? Continue! We are going to continue.
      Just continue. Continue singing the old hymns. Continue preaching the old Book. It doesn’t matter if we are in a tent or in a beautiful building like this, because it’s all the same job and calling of what we need to accomplish.
      In this chapter we see the problems of the last days in verses two through five. We see the people of the last days in verses six through eight. Verse eight says, “Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.” Look at verse 13. “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.”
      We see the pattern of the last days in verse 10. “But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, Persecutions, afflictions...”
      We see the persistence of the last days. In verse 14 he exhorts us, “But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;” All of these things are going to come -- the people of the last days, the problems of the last days, but Paul has given us this pattern and tells us to be persistent. Continue. Keep doing what you know to do.
      We see the personal challenge and responsibility. He says, “Continue THOU...” May it be a challenge to all of us just to continue. Just to stay with it.
      Then we see the profit from the Word of God during the last days. Verse 14-17 talks about it. “But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”
      So much confusion today. Continue. So many problems. Continue. So much chaos going on. Continue. Instability and unrest abound in the world. Continue. Christians wavering. Continue. Prodigals wandering. Continue. Downright wickedness in our country. What should we do. CONTINUE!
      You know, the Bible teaches us to continue. It says to continue in the Word, John chapter 8. Continue loving, John 15. Continue in the grace of God, Acts 13.   Continue witnessing, Acts 26;22. Continue in the doctrine, I Timothy 4:16. Continue in prayer, Colossians 4:2. Continue in the faith, Acts 14:22. It’s as if the Lord knew what we would be facing, and what we should be doing and continuing in, and He laid it out for us here.
      Friends, I wonder what we are suppose to do in these perilous last days? I wonder what we are suppose to do when trouble comes? I’ll tell you what God wants us to do. Just CONTINUE!
      Now is the time to continue preaching the Word. Now is not the time to quit on God. Now is not the time to give up, Preacher. Now is not the time to throw in the towel. Now is not the time to abandon the faith, young men. Now is not the time to quit pressing on. Now is not the time to vacate our position. Now is not the time for a ceasefire.
      What are we to do? Carry on with loving people. Continue preaching the Word. Continue to stay in the grace of God. Continue to stick with soulwinning. Continue to proceed with things we’ve learned, the things we know. Continue to persist in prayer. Continue to soldier on in the faith. Continue thou.
      Three quick reminders.

CONTINUE TO STAND FOR RIGHT.

      One. Continue to stand for right. “But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned..” You’ve been informed. You have been apprised of these things. He adds this, “...and hast been assured of...” Firmly persuaded of, established. Can I tell you, I’m thankful for the heritage that we have. I’m thankful that one day as a young man I decided to make it mine.
      Some of you here, you’re wavering on what you’ve been taught. Some of you are wavering instead of standing firmly and unashamed for what is right. The Apostle Paul is pleading with us to continue standing for what is right. We are at a crossroads in our churches and in our country that challenges all those who will take a stand for what is right. It appears to me that we are more concerned over offending people because of truth than we are concerned about offending God because of sin.
      A few weeks ago I told our church, “Some of you just need to study what nakedness means in the Bible.” I said, “Let me just say that from here to here, neck to knees, if you expose any of it, it’s nakedness. I’ve got Bible on that. But the reason some of you won’t study that in the scripture is because you’re worried about what God might say and you don’t want to give up your shorts and your tank tops.” Some of you preachers might have to, also, if you were to study it out and be honest with yourself about what the Bible says.
      Hey, the Bible says it’s sin. It’s wrong. I’m going to double down on it in these last days. Now I’m not going to tell you that everyone in my church is living right or doing right, but preachers, when we stand in the pulpit, we better say, “Thus saith the Lord,” and give them the truth and continue standing for what is right and what honors God.
      Standards of holiness and biblical separation are still right. Perfecting holiness in the fear of God. The Bible says, “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (II Corinthians 7:1) I thought about that. The Bible says, “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:18) Can I tell you, if there is no fear of God, then we can’t expect much holiness in lives. We must continue standing for what is right regardless of who it offends.
      If we are going to stand for right, then we will have to stand against some things. Ephesians six talks about it. “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”   It’s still right to stand against what is wrong.
      We are also going to have to stand alongside some things. What? The truth. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” (II Timothy 3:16) We need to stand alongside this Book. Doctrine - what is right. Reproof - what is not right. Correction - how to get it right. Instruction in righteousness - how to stay right.
      But sometimes we will have to stand alone. Continue thou. Twenty-five times in First and Second Timothy, Paul challenges Timothy to stand alone. Thou. He points him out. Continue thou. Paul wasn’t just telling Timothy that. He was living it himself. Remember? “For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed ...” (II Timothy 4:10) “Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works:” (II Timothy 4:14) But it doesn’t stop with who quit and who forsook him and who turned against him. It goes on and says, “At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me;”
      Can I tell you, Preacher, if there are times you think you are standing all alone, just know that the Lord is standing right there beside you. You are not alone. That’s why we need to come to some conferences like this and get around some good men of God, because there are still some that haven’t bowed the knee to Baal. There’s some that have not compromised. There are some who are still standing for right. There are still men who are standing and continuing.
      We must stand anointed. Isaiah 61 says, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings..” We need the touch of God upon our lives. Young men, beg for the power of God. Plead for the power of God upon your life. Be led by the Spirit of God. Walk in the Spirit. Be filled with the Spirit. Beg God for His presence in your life. When we stand and preach the Word of God, we need the anointing of the Spirit of God.
      I enjoy the stories of the old days. I love hearing the messages that were preached in a mighty move of God, but can I say, that same God that moved in those services is the same God that can move today if we will just yield our lives to Him and keep standing for what is right and continuing down the old paths. They’ve been tried. They’ve been proven. There is no need to leave them.
      Young men, you better sit up and take notice of these men of God who are standing for the old paths and the old time religion. You’re going to miss it. You’re going to run into one of these guys who intends to transition you to some other perversion of the Bible. You’d better be very careful before you start following someone, even following online, someone who intends to lead you in a wrong direction.
      “Well, we are going to try this new way.” There’s nothing new under the sun. In that same book, Solomon says that all is vanity and vexation of spirit. You know what? These guys that are going to try some new path and some new way, do you know what they’re going to find? It’s all vanity and vexation of spirit. Because if you don’t have God’s Holy Ghost’s filling and anointing, you’re not going anywhere. Let’s continue to stand for right.

CONTINUE TO SEND THE LIGHT

      Number two. We must continue to send the light. “But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.” (II Timothy 4:5) Continue spreading the Good News of the Gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. Preacher, continue knocking on those doors.
      A couple weeks ago we were out knocking on doors and a young man named Kane came to the door and he was high as a kite. I presented the Gospel to him. He asked me, “Does your church welcome dope smokers?”
      I said, “It sure does, because ya’ll need Jesus!” Hey, if there’s any hope of getting them off the dope, they need Jesus Christ.
      We had a family of five visit this past Sunday because of knocking doors. We met them a couple months ago, and we just kept stopping by, and they showed up on Sunday. This younger crowd says that doesn’t work any more. Brother Corle says it doesn’t work any less either, you just gotta work it!
      We’ve become so comfortable in our Christianity, and unfortunately, we’ve become kind of Calvinistic in our theology. Lord, help us! It’s still in the Book. “And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.” (Luke 14:23)
      Continue to send the light. Door to door confrontational soulwinning is what I was brought up on, and I will continue doing it. Continue follow-up visitation and encourage and disciple baby Christians. Continue going to the mission field and supporting our missionaries on the field. Continue reaching children and their families through the bus ministry.
      Continue passing out tracts. We had a guy show up a few weeks ago. I said, “How did you hear about our church.” He said, “I was at a gas pump and saw where somebody had stuck one of your advertisements (tracts) up there on the pump.” He pulled that tract off and thought, “I’ll just go visit them.” If you want to hear some amazing stories talk to some of these guys from Bible Tracts Inc. You know what I love about Gospel tracts? Nobody gets the glory except the Lord. We don’t know who left it there. But when they show up and hear the preaching of the Gospel, God gets all the glory.
      We have to continue having a burden for souls and continue sending the light of the Gospel. “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.” That’s what my little girl does. She convicts me so often, leaving tracts when I have my mind on something else. It sure would be good for some of us to get back to that. “There’s a call comes ringing o’er the restless wave, Send the Light! Send the Light! There are souls to rescue, there are souls to save, Send the Light! Send the Light!”

CONTINUE TO STAY IN THE FIGHT

      Lastly, continue to stay in the fight. Stand for right. Send the Light. Stay in the fight. Look at verse six. “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:” Stay faithful in the fight. I love what was written to the church at Smyrna. “... be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” I know that some of these men who are retired from the pastorate are busier now than they were as a pastor. You know why? They’re still in the fight. They’re just continuing to do what they have always done.
      Stay fervent in the fight. It thrills my heart to see an older man of God get up here and preach with passion and fervency. Boy, it does my heart good as a young preacher. Can I say to you preachers who are older than me, please stay in the fight. We need you. Can I tell you younger men, stay in the fight. Don’t start to compromise. That’s a dead end road. Don’t throw in the towel in hard times. “Perilous times are going to come. What are we going to do?” Just continue faithful in the fight. Be fervent in the fight and fight to the finish. When is that? Until the Lord calls you home.
      Fight to the finish. “But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus,” and here’s what the ministry is “...to testify the gospel of the grace of God.” (Acts 20:24) Keep sharing that eternal story of amazing grace that never gets old. Fight to the finish! Stay in the fight! Continue thou.
      I can see that old man named Paul as he sits and writes this letter to Timothy. “Troublesome times are going to come. There are going to be people who leave the faith and are shipwrecked. Timothy, stressful circumstances are going to come. Pain and heartbreak is going to come in the ministry. Tragic things are going to happen. People you love are going to turn on you. People are going to depart from the faith. They’re going to stand against you.
      And he’s just saying, “But here’s what you need to do. Just continue.” Simple, isn’t it? I didn’t say it was easy though. But we all know what we need to do, don’t we? Continue. Keep on.
      Young preachers, testify of the grace of God. Hey middle aged preachers like me. Testify of the grace of God. Older preachers, keep testifying of the grace of God. Stay in the fight until the finish.
      But continue thou.