["Pomp and Circumstance"]
You
Good evening and welcome. Let's find our seats take our song books turn to song 175
Song number one seven five
You
175 sing it out on the first
Oh
Just like
Welcome to the Sunday evening service
Let's go ahead and open up in a word of prayer
Let me father we thank you for this time that we have this evening to meet together
Pray that you bless this time the preaching and the fellowship afterwards in Jesus name we pray. Amen
So now it's time for favorites where if selected we'll sing one stanza from song you pick and but RJ go ahead
song number 10
Near the cross song number 10
Oh
Miss Ruby go ahead 427 4 to 7
On the first
Oh
And young sir, I don't know your name Isaac go ahead song number 84
So
Jesus is coming again
Oh
See my go ahead 428
4 to 8
Oh
428 on the first
Oh
See no, I go ahead 429
429
Oh
Miss Casey, go ahead
433 on the second
Away in a manger four three three
Oh
433 sing it on the second
By
Brother Luke go ahead 421. This will be the last one this evening
Four two one
First Noel 421 on the first
Did say
Is
Amen all right
Well, let's take our bulletins tonight
If you do not have a bulletin raise your hand and one of our ushers will get one for you
You know bulletin just put your hand up and we'll get one for you the verse this week. John 663
It is a spirit that quickeneth the flesh profit of nothing the words that I speak unto you
They are spirit and they are life and that's a good verse there
We like that. I appreciate all of you who are praying for me as I was traveling
Of course
I preached in Fresno this morning and I took four of my kids my wife stayed back with one of our kids and the puppy
So that was good and I had a good time with the kids and we drove back this afternoon
To be here in time to be in church with you
So I appreciate you being with us, of course for the Sunday evening service
If you look at your bulletin, you'll see our certain our service time Sunday morning service 10 30 a.m
Sunday evening service 6 p.m
And we invite you to be with us on Wednesday night for the Wednesday night Bible study
If you look at our so many times our main sewing times on Saturday morning at 10 a.m
And then we have additional sewing times on Wednesdays at 11 a.m
Thursdays at 2 p.m. And Sundays at 2 p.m
And we of course are a family integrated church children and infants are always welcomed in the service
We don't separate children from their parents for any reason. We do have mother baby rooms and daddy rooms available for your convenience
So if you have a child that's been distracting during the service
So if you need some privacy would encourage you to use those rooms as needed if you need to be baptized
Please let us know we'd love to baptize you if you look at the announcements and upcoming events
Of course, we we aren't in the celebrating Christ series
Today, but we're gonna get back into that next Sunday. And of course next Sunday is our big Christmas service
So we'll talk about that here in a minute Wednesday nights. We're studying through the book of second Corinthians
This is a busy week this Friday
There's the ladies Christmas party all the ways are invited to a Christmas dinner party on
Friday December 17th at 6 p.m. If you've not yet signed up to attend, please do so on your communication card
It's gonna be a great time for the ladies
They're gonna have a Christmas dinner served and then of course
They're gonna play the annual gift exchange game and it's a fun game where they bring gifts and then they they draw names to pick
A gift and then you can steal the gift and whatever they have a great time with it
You you have to bring a gift though to be able to do it. So it's it's a $15 and under limit
So we don't want you bringing some big expensive gift
All right, just something small so you can play and if you're not able to bring a gift let us help you
We don't want you to we don't want that to be a reason for you to not come so we'd be happy to
Help you with that and then please sign up on your communication card. And then of course this coming Sunday is
our celebrating Christ you should have one of these cards in your
Bulletin and it's our big Christmas service is a Sunday before Christmas
I'm gonna be preaching in the morning service about the birth of Christ and in the evening service about the presentation of Christ
From Luke chapter number two and in the morning
We're gonna have the children's choir singing for us and then in the evening
We're gonna have hot chocolate and Christmas cookies in the fellowship hall
so I want to encourage you to invite a friend bring someone with you next week and
Invite someone to come with you for the Christmas service. We do have a special thing
We're gonna give out to to the kids all of the kids in attendance on a Sunday are gonna receive this
Little coloring book that we produce of course many of you know that my wife and I
Made a couple of children's books called the adventures of Herb Meyer
And this is a coloring book that has all the pictures from the adventures of Herb Meyer
And we're gonna give this to the kids in attendance all of the kids
In church on Sunday are gonna get this small gift from us
So make sure that you are here invite someone bring them to church and we're gonna have a great day
And then of course, we have the nine chapters a day challenge coming up. You should have one of these also in your bulletin and
January is just right around the corner and January is Bible month that Verity Baptist Church every every month is Bible month
But January we emphasize it even more and what we do is we put a challenge out there to our
Entire church family and challenge you to read the entire New Testament in the month of January nine chapters a day in the month of
January and if you follow the chart
You can do that
You have two grace period days if you accomplish the challenge
You'll have read the entire New Testament in one month and we have a plaque that we put out in the foyer
You can go by and look at them every year
And see the people that have taken the challenge
So I want to encourage you you can sign up on your communication card and just get ready to start the new year
Right in the Word of God nine chapters a day challenge. Make sure you do that
Children's choir they have practiced today at 515
They are gonna have a quick practice a 15-minute practice on Wednesday night after the Wednesday evening service
So you parents make sure you're aware of that Wednesday evening after the service a quick practice for all the kids
to
Make sure they don't forget what they're supposed to do for Sunday upcoming cleaning crews there for you home school group
There's supposed to be PE class this Thursday, December 16th, but I'm gonna go ahead and cancel that so we've got
You know a lot of rain coming in the next couple days and on Thursday, it's gonna be very wet out there
So we're just gonna go ahead and cancel that for this this week
If you can make a note of that that this this Thursday, December 16th. No PE
Class and then there's other things there for you
Please don't forget to turn your cell phones off or place them on silent during the service
Distraction to anybody if you look at the back of the bulletin birthdays and anniversaries
For the month of December today is brother victor's and nigga's birthday, December 12th
And then tomorrow is Aldo's birthday on the 13th. Mr. Kim Borello's birthday on the 17th
Brother Eli's birthday on the 17th
Levi Taylor on the 17th as well and brother Scott miss Lisa sweet and have an anniversary on the 17th this week
Praise report money matters all those things are there for you to look at
I think that's it for all of the announcements. So let's go ahead and take our song books and let's go to page number
432 page number four three two and we're going to go ahead and
Sing angels from the realm of glory as we prepare to receive the offering
tonight
432
angels from the realm of glory
Let's go ahead and sing it out together
on the first
angels from the realm of glory
Win your flight for all the earth
Ye who sang creation's glory
Now proclaim us all your birth
Come and worship Christ the newborn King
Good 432 sing it out on the second
Shepherds in the field abiding
Watching o'er your watch by night
One with manner
No resigning
Yonder shines
The infant light
Come and worship Christ
Christ the newborn King
Sages lead your contemplation
Minor visions beam aboard
Seek the great desire of nations
We have seen His little store
Come and worship Christ the newborn King
Good, sing it out on the last
Saints before the altar then be
Watching, longing, hope and fear
Suddenly the Lord who's standing
In His temple shall appear
Come and worship Christ
Worship Christ the newborn King
Amen. Good singing. We'll have the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time
And let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer
Heavenly Father, Lord, we do come to you tonight asking that you bless the offering
Lord, we ask that you meet with us as we open up your word as we study the Bible together
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen
Amen.
Just keep your hand up. I'm not sure we'll come by if you need a Bible.
Matthew chapter number seven. We'll read the entire chapter as our custom.
Matthew chapter number seven beginning in verse number one.
Judge not that ye be not judged, for with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged.
And with what measure ye meet, it shall be measured to you again.
And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but consider'st not the beam that is in thine own eye?
Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine own eye, and behold, a beam is in thine own eye.
Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and turn again and rend you.
Ask and it shall be given you, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you.
For everyone that asketh receive it, he that seeketh find it, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
What man is there of you? If his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
If he then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them, for this is the law and the prophets.
Enter ye in at the straight gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in there.
Because straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth into life, and few there be that find it.
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do man gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire.
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
And many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?
And in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works?
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Therefore whosoever heareth these things of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock.
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock.
And everyone that heareth these things of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand.
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.
And it came to pass, when Jesus had entered these sayings, that people were astonished at his doctrine, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I thank you for this evening. God, I thank you for your word, and for our church, for everyone that's here.
I say please give us the tender hearts of the message, Lord. I say please be the pastor, strengthen them, and fill them with spirit.
We love you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Am I not on? Sorry about that. We're there in Matthew chapter number seven.
And normally we're going through the book of Luke in a series right now, but tonight we're going to take a break from that.
We're there in Matthew chapter number seven. And of course this morning I was at Hold Fast Baptist Church in Fresno,
and they were having their grand opening service for their new building that they just got into.
It's a beautiful building, and they asked if I would come and preach, and I was happy to do that.
I appreciate Brother Oliver, of course, stepping in and preaching for me this morning.
But tonight we're going to take a break from the book of Luke, and I'm going to preach to you the same sermon that I preached to them this morning.
And I found out a long time ago as I go around. I used to go around preaching,
and I'd preach different sermons to other churches than I would to our own church.
But as the saying goes, what's good for the goose is good for the gander.
And if it's good enough for them, it's good for you, and it's good for me as well.
And I want to speak to you on this same subject that I spoke to them this morning.
We're there in Matthew chapter seven. I'd like you to look down at verse number 24.
Of course, Matthew chapter seven is a famous passage.
It's the last passage or the third chapter in a famous portion of scripture known as the Sermon on the Mount.
And it's, of course, one of the most famous sermons that Jesus preached.
And there's a lot of well-known passages within that sermon.
And Jesus, as he concluded the Sermon on the Mount,
his conclusion was a parable that has gone on to be known as one of the most famous parables in the Bible.
It begins there in verse 24. The Bible says,
Therefore, Jesus said, Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them,
I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock.
This, of course, is the famous parable of the wise man versus the foolish man
or the wise man that built his house upon the rock versus the foolish man who built his house upon the sand.
Notice verse 25.
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell not,
for it was founded upon a rock.
And everyone that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not
shall be likened unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand.
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house,
and it fell, and great was the fall of it.
And of course, this is a very well-known parable, a very famous parable.
I remember growing up, we would sing a little song about this parable as kids in church.
We would sing about the wise man built his house upon the rock.
The wise man built his house upon the rock.
And we'd sing about the foolish man who built his house upon the sand.
And as we would go, we'd sing,
The rains came down, and the floods came up.
The rains went down, and the floods came up.
And it would end with us saying about the wise man that his house stood firm.
And we would shout the word firm.
But when you got to the foolish man, we would say that his house fell flat,
because that's what the parable is about.
It's about a man.
And if you remember, the idea of a parable is this.
It is an earthly story, an earthly allegory,
to help us understand a heavenly or spiritual truth.
And in a very physical sense, we can understand that if you're going to build a structure,
if you're going to build a house, you want to lay it upon a solid foundation.
Today, we lay buildings upon foundations of cement.
And in those days, they would find big boulders and rocks
and lay those rocks on the ground before you built a structure.
And Jesus teaches here that the wise man will build his house upon the rock,
upon the foundation of the rock, and not upon a foundation that is weak, that is shifty like sand.
Now, of course, we know that Jesus is using this to illustrate something.
I want to just point out to you what it is that he's illustrating.
Keep your finger there in Matthew, chapter 7.
We're going to come back to it.
But go to the book of 2 Corinthians, chapter number 5.
2 Corinthians, chapter 5, you've got Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians.
2 Corinthians, chapter number 5.
And we've been studying through the book of 2 Corinthians on Wednesday night.
We're actually in chapter 5 right now, so I don't want to spend too much time on this.
But if you remember, we talked about this earlier several weeks ago when we started chapter 5.
Verse 1, Paul says,
For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved,
we have a building of God and house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
And I don't want to re-preach that sermon, but we understand that when Paul references
the earthly house of this tabernacle, he is referring to our bodies, our mortal physical bodies.
So when Jesus says that the wise man built his house upon a rock,
the idea is that we would build our lives upon a rock, not just a physical structure.
That's the illustration, but the purpose of the parable is to say
in the same way that they would build a physical structure upon a solid foundation,
that you and I should build our lives.
The house is a picture of our lives, of our mortal lives.
So we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved,
we have a building of God and house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
We should build our lives upon the rock.
Now, what's the rock? What does that represent?
You're there in 2 Corinthians. Flip back to 1 Corinthians chapter 10.
1 Corinthians chapter 10, look at verse number 4.
1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 4.
This is a truth that is found all throughout the Bible.
I'll just give you one example, but we could look at many examples.
1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 4, the Bible says this,
And did all drink the same spiritual drink,
for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them.
I want you to notice this last little phrase there in verse 4.
And that rock was Christ.
The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is the rock.
We've got other passages that we won't turn to tonight
that tell us that the rock is God, that God is the rock.
Christ is the rock. Why? Because Christ is God.
All throughout the Bible, Jesus told his disciples,
I will build my church.
He said, upon this rock, I will build my church.
And he wasn't pointing at Peter.
Peter had just got done making a statement about Christ.
He said, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God.
And Jesus said, flesh and blood have not revealed it unto you, Peter,
but my Father which is in heaven.
And then he says, upon that rock, he says, upon that truth
that you just stated, I will build my church
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against us.
So we know that Jesus is the rock.
And when Jesus says here that the wise man will build his house upon the rock,
the idea is that you and I will build our house upon the rock,
the solid foundation of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, what is it exactly that that means?
Because you can make statements like that
and they just sound like a lot of spiritual lingo,
a lot of spiritual mumbo jumbo.
But I want you to understand that the truth is this,
that what Jesus is stating here is a very real truth.
It's a very applicable truth because we also understand
that Jesus is not only the rock, but he's also the word.
The Bible tells us that the Word was made flesh.
That's what we're going to be celebrating here next week
as we have our celebration in Christ,
the fact that God was manifest in the flesh,
the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.
Jesus is the Word and we understand that Jesus is the living Word,
he is the Word of God that is alive.
And then of course you and I hold a Bible,
hopefully you've got a King James Bible in your hand,
and we understand this is the written Word of God.
And what we know is this,
that Jesus is the embodiment of the written Word.
These words, the Bible says,
Jesus says the words that I speak unto you,
they are spirit and they are life.
We're not talking about the physical Bible
and the leather binding or the pages or the ink,
but these words are quickened, the Bible says.
They're spirit and they are life.
And these words are embodied in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the embodiment of the Word.
And the reason I'm making that point and I want you to understand
is because when we say that Jesus is the Word,
it's not just spiritual lingo.
When the Bible says, for example,
that Jesus is the head of the church
and that he's in charge of the church,
we don't just say that to have some sort of a nice feeling
that Jesus is in charge because Jesus is the Word.
So therefore, the Word of God, the Bible,
is the head of this church.
This is why we say that the Bible is a final authority
of all matters of faith and practice at Verity Baptist Church.
I'm the pastor of the church.
I'm supposed to rule and oversee,
but as a pastor I must submit myself
under the authority of the Word of God.
So when we say Jesus is the head,
in a very practical sense,
what that means is that the Bible is the boss.
The Bible is in charge.
So when Jesus said,
I want you to build your house,
or the wise man needs to build his house upon the rock,
the practical teaching, the application,
are you ready?
It's very simple,
but it's just a statement that I want to preach about tonight
and I want you to understand it is this.
The teaching that Jesus is saying
when he says the wise man build his house upon a rock,
what he's saying, if I may say it this way,
is this, that your job and my job
and our goal ought to be
to build your life upon the Bible.
To build your life on the Bible.
I know that's a simple statement.
I know that's not complicated.
I know that that's not maybe the most interesting thing
you've ever heard in your life.
Matthew chapter 12, if you would,
keep your place there in 2 Corinthians,
2 Corinthians or 1 Corinthians,
and go back to the book of Matthew,
Matthew chapter 12.
I'm all for preaching deep sermons
and really digging into the Bible.
I recently did a series out of the book of Joel
and we dug into end times prophecy and things like that.
I'm not against that.
I do think it's good every once in a while
to be reminded of just some basic things.
And there's a basic statement
that I want you to walk away with tonight
and it is this, that you ought to build your life on the Bible.
You ought to build your life on the Bible.
Now, when it comes to building your life on the Bible,
and here's the interesting thing to me, is this,
that as a pastor of a church,
I would stand up behind a pulpit
and I would get up and say,
hey, tonight I'm preaching a sermon
on the idea that we must build our lives upon the Bible.
And people will roll their eyes, not physically,
hopefully not too many of you did it physically,
but in their minds they'll roll their eyes and say, really?
You showed up here, you drove all the way from Fresno
to come here on a Sunday night to preach to us
some sermon about building your life on the Bible?
Don't we all know that?
Here's what's funny, you would think we all know that,
but yet as you pastor people for 11 years
and you watch them and you're a part of their lives,
you begin to realize that the average Christian
is actually not building their lives on the Bible.
The actual Christian is actually not
living out the Bible in their lives.
The actual Christian, you'll roll your eyes and say,
we know we're supposed to build our lives on the Bible.
Okay, then why aren't you doing it?
Then why isn't the average Christian doing it?
Then why is it that most Christians
are actually doing the opposite
of what the Bible says to do?
So don't roll your eyes.
Don't say, oh, well, it's time to check my phone.
That's your problem.
I don't need this sermon.
I'm above this sermon.
No, no, no, we all need this sermon
because every once in a while we all need to be reminded.
We just build our lives on the Bible.
You say, well, how do I do that then?
What does that mean?
Well, there's several things, several reasons,
in my opinion, that we don't build our lives on the Bible.
The first one is this.
We don't build our lives on the Bible,
or let me say it this way,
you will build your life on the Bible, number one.
If you're taking notes, you can write this down.
By knowing what the Bible says.
You know what the average,
what the main problem of the average Christian is?
Quote, unquote Christian, and I use the term loosely,
is that they know a whole lot of things,
but they don't know a whole lot of the Bible.
If you're gonna build your life on the Bible,
you must actually know what the Bible says.
Matthew 12, are you there?
Why don't you notice that Jesus
had this recurring theme in his ministry?
We spend the whole night tonight
looking at this all throughout the Gospels.
I'm not gonna do that.
I'm just gonna show it to you
from a few passages in the book of Matthew.
Matthew chapter 12 and verse 2.
Notice what the Bible says.
But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him,
this is the Pharisees speaking to Jesus,
they said, behold, thy disciples do that,
which is not lawful to do upon the Sabbath day.
I always think it's funny that Christians,
or so-called Christians,
will look at people like us and accuse us
of doing things that are wrong
when we're actually doing exactly what the Bible says to do.
They'll look at us and they'll say,
well, you know, you're supposed to hate the sin
and love the sinner.
And it's like, newsflash, that's not in the Bible.
You just quoted Gandhi.
And they'll look at us with this judgmental,
God loves everyone.
Actually, the Bible says there's some people God hates.
They'll look at us, and this is what the Pharisees,
they're looking down at Jesus and they're saying,
behold, thy disciples do that,
which is not lawful to do upon the Sabbath day, verse 3.
And he said unto them,
you oughta underline this in your Bible,
he says, have you not read
what David did when he was in hunger?
And they that were with him,
how he entered into the house of God and did eat,
the shewed bread which was not lawful for him to eat,
neither for them which were with him,
but only for the priest.
Notice verse 5, he says,
or have ye not read in the law
how that on the Sabbath day the priest and the temple
profaned the Sabbath and are blameless?
Go to Matthew chapter 19, look at verse 3.
Flip a few pages over, Matthew chapter 19.
Look at verse 3.
He says, here, the Bible says the Pharisees
also came unto him, tempting him and saying unto him,
is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?
You don't think pastors get this question asked of them now?
You don't think over the years people have came to me and said,
pastor, can I divorce my wife?
Pastor, I really feel God's leading me to leave my husband.
You say, what do you say?
Have you not read?
Look at verse 4.
And he answered and said unto them,
have ye not read that he which made them at the beginning
made them male and female?
And he goes on to explain that what God has joined together,
let not man put asunder.
Matthew 22, look at verse 24.
Flip a couple chapters over.
Matthew 22.
Actually, look at verse 28.
I won't take the time to read the story,
but these people are trying to attack Jesus
on the doctrine of the resurrection.
And they come up with this silly example
that's never going to happen about a lady
who married a man and he died and they had no children.
And the law of Moses says that in that case,
the brother was supposed to marry the wife
to raise up seed unto his brother.
But she ends up marrying seven of these brothers.
They all died.
And now they're asking, you know, in verse 28,
therefore in the resurrection whose wife
shall she be of the seven?
And this is one of those questions.
People want to ask you these, like,
what if questions that could never happen?
Look, this would never happen.
If one lady marries seven brothers
and they all wind up dead,
somebody needs to open an investigation.
Okay?
There's something seriously wrong.
There's a good 2020 episode in that story.
But they ask this silly question.
And they're like, gotcha.
Because they're going to say, because they're saying, like,
well, in the resurrection,
because they don't believe in the resurrection.
And they're saying, in the resurrection,
who is she going to be married to?
And, you know, they made sure to say
that she didn't have any children.
Because let's say she would have married the first guy,
he would have died.
Married the second guy, he would have died.
Married the third guy and they had children.
Then they would say, like, whoa, you know,
she's going to be married to the one they had children with.
But they're like, he married seven of them.
And none of them have, and had children with none of them.
So in the resurrection, whose wife shall she be of the seven?
You cannot, you see them standing there
with their little smug smile on their face.
Verse 29.
Jesus answered and said unto them,
Ye do err not knowing the scriptures,
nor the power of God.
For in the resurrection they neither marry,
nor are given in marriage,
but are as the angels of God in heaven.
He says, haven't you read that marriage is till death do us part?
Haven't you read that marriage is only upon this earth?
He says, ye do err not knowing the scripture.
He says in verse 31,
but as touching the resurrection of the dead,
he says, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God saying?
And he goes on to correct them.
And I'm making the point that I'm saying that today,
many people are not building their lives upon the Bible
because they actually do not know what the Bible says.
It's the sin of ignorance.
It's the sin of not knowing,
not being aware of what the Bible says.
Go to the book of Hosea, if you would,
Hosea chapter 4 in the Old Testament.
The Old Testament you find all the major prophets,
they're all together.
You've got the big prophets,
Isaiah, big book of Isaiah,
Jeremiah, big book of Jeremiah,
small book of Lamentations,
big book of Ezekiel.
After Ezekiel you have Daniel and Hosea.
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations,
Ezekiel, Daniel, and Hosea.
I was driving this afternoon up from Fresno,
and I was talking on the phone with my wife,
and she told me about,
just this afternoon she told me about this idiot
on social media going around telling people
that women should not be sole winners.
Women should not be sole winners
because that makes them a woman preacher,
like Joyce Meyer.
And I'm thinking to myself,
you know, people who don't know the Bible
should really just shut their mouths
and not try to teach the Bible
when they don't know the Bible.
You're like, well, what's wrong with that?
Well, apparently, you know,
have you not read,
we're actually going to talk about this next week
in the Christmas story.
It's Christmas time.
Maybe this guy should open the Bible
and read the Christmas story
because at the Presentation of Christ
there's an elderly woman named Anna,
I'll just read it for you, Luke 2.38.
The Bible says,
And she, Anna, coming in that instant,
gave thanks likewise unto the Lord,
and spake of Him to all them
that looked for the redemption in Jerusalem.
Here we have an elderly woman,
a senior saint,
a woman who spake of Jesus to all them
that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.
Paul said this,
And I entreat thee also, true yoke fellow,
help those women which labored with me in the gospel.
You ever read the story of the woman at the well?
She goes back and gets the whole town changed.
She goes back and preaches Jesus,
brings Him all over
so that they might hear the message of Jesus.
And here's all I'm saying,
we'd stop messing up so much
if we actually knew what the Bible said.
And here's the point that I'm making
and here's the application for you.
You say, well, I'm not a preacher.
Okay, here's the application for you.
Please don't miss this.
What you don't know?
See, this is what the world says,
What you don't know can't hurt you.
Uh-uh, wrong.
What you don't know is hurting you.
What you don't know about the Bible,
what you don't know about what the Bible teaches about marriage,
what you don't know about what the Bible teaches about child-rearing,
what you don't know about what the Bible teaches about finances,
what you don't know about what the Bible teaches of working and having a career,
what you don't know about relationships,
what you don't know about how to live your life,
what you don't know.
What you don't know can't hurt you.
No, what you don't know is hurting you.
What you don't know is affecting you.
Hosea chapter 4, you there? Look at verse 6.
Notice what the prophet said.
This is God speaking through the prophet.
He said, my people are destroyed.
Why?
For a lack of knowledge.
Because thou has rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee,
that thou shalt be no priest to me,
seeing thou has forgotten the law of thy God.
What is that referring to?
The Bible.
I will also forget thy law.
People often say to me, go to 2 Peter if you would,
2 Peter chapter 3, towards the end of the New Testament,
you start at Revelation and go backwards.
You have Jude, 3 John, 2 Peter.
Revelation, Jude, 3 John, 2 Peter.
2 Peter chapter 3.
People often say, over the years, people have said this to me.
Many of you in this room have said this to me.
And I'm not bringing this up to make you feel bad or anything like that.
It's a common thing and I understand what you mean.
I'll get done preaching a sermon and people will walk up to me
and they'll say, I wish I would have heard this 10 years ago.
I wish I would have known that 20 years ago.
I wish I would have known that before I had children.
I wish I would have known that before I got married.
And if that's you, then the Bible says,
forgetting those things which are behind
and reaching forth into those things which are before,
I believe that God can restore unto you the years that the locust has eaten.
I believe that you can still live and begin now
to live in the will of God and do what God tells you to do.
But you know when somebody says that when they say,
I wish I would have known that 10 years ago?
Here's what they're saying.
What I didn't know hurt me.
And I'm here to tell you that what you don't know can hurt you.
You say, well, what should I do?
Start knowing.
Are you there in 2 Peter 3? Look at verse 18.
You ought to grow in grace. Notice these words.
And in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
To Him be glory both now and forever. Amen.
God says you ought to grow in grace and in knowledge.
You ought to grow in grace and in knowledge. Why?
Because my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge.
Because people cannot build their lives on the Bible.
The way to build your life on the Bible is to actually know what the Bible says
is by knowing what the Bible says.
You can't partake in the sin of ignorance where you say, I didn't know.
Well, let me tell you something. Maybe you didn't know.
But your kids are going to be raised without that knowledge.
It's going to hurt them.
What do I do?
Shut off the stinking hellavision and read your Bible.
Take a break from that stupid Facebook and open up the word of God and read it.
And grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior. Why?
Because what you don't know is hurting you.
And years later you'll hear a sermon and you'll read something in the Bible
and you'll say, man, I didn't know the Bible said that.
I wish I would have known that.
And I'm not mad at you if that's where you're at.
Learn it now. Go forward. Serve God. Love God.
But look, I'm telling you now.
Learn the Bible.
You ought to build your life on the Bible.
You're there in 2 Peter 3, flip back to 2 Peter chapter 1.
2 Peter chapter 1.
Look at verse 1. The Bible says, Simon Peter, just to get the context,
Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
to them that have obtained like precious faith.
I love that little phrase there. I'm not preaching about that.
But I love that phrase. I love the fact that I went down to Fresno today
and I met with a group of people.
Some of them I didn't know, but I can fellowship with them
and have sweet fellowship because we've obtained like precious faith
with us through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ.
Look at verse 2. Grace and peace be multiplied.
Doesn't that sound nice?
Isn't that what you want for your life?
I mean, I don't know about you, but that's what I want for my life.
Grace and peace be multiplied.
Notice you say, well, how can I get that?
Keep reading.
Unto you through the, notice the word, knowledge of God.
I'd like to have grace and peace in my marriage, get more knowledge of God.
I'd like to have grace and peace in my career, get some knowledge of God.
I'd like to have some grace and peace with raising my children,
get some knowledge of God.
Grace and peace is available to you through the knowledge of God
and of Jesus our Lord. Look at verse 13.
According as His divine power hath given us, don't miss this, please don't miss this,
hath given us all things. Do you see that?
All things that pertain unto.
If you don't mind writing your Bible, you ought to underline these words.
Life and godliness.
Do you know that God, through His word,
I mean, I don't know if you ever think about this.
I don't know if you ever thought about this. Maybe I failed as a pastor to communicate this to you.
Have you ever stopped to think that the God of the universe gave you a Bible?
And in this Bible, He told you everything you need to know for life and godliness.
The Bible can tell you anything you need to know about anything.
It can tell you everything you need to know about everything.
Every problem you have in life can be solved right here.
In this book, it's the solve, it's the solution, it's the answer that you're looking for,
it's the answer that you don't have, it's the answer to the question that you're looking for,
and oftentimes it's the answer to the question you don't even know to ask.
He's given to us.
He's given to us all things that pertain unto life and godliness.
Don't miss it. Through the knowledge of Him
that has called us to the glory and virtue.
I'm just telling you that what you need to do are your problems.
We're not minimizing your problems. We all got problems.
I am telling you this. All your problems and all my problems
would be resolved if we would build our lives on the Bible.
But the reason that we cannot build our lives on the Bible oftentimes
is because of the sin of ignorance, because we don't know what the Bible says.
So what do we do? We need to read the Bible.
We need to be like the Bereans who search the Scripture daily, whether those things were so.
I'm here to tell you, we need a group of believers here at Mary Baptist Church.
We need a group of people in this church that will say,
I'm not just going to show up to church and have the Bible preached to me.
I'm glad you do that, but I'm also going to go home like the Bereans
and I'm going to search the Scriptures daily whether those things were so.
I'm going to open up the Word of God on my own and for myself.
And I'm going to read the Bible because it has all the answers to life and godliness.
And I'm just here to tell you what you don't know is hurting you.
What you're missing out on is hurting you.
My people are destroyed, God says, for the lack of knowledge.
You've heard me say this before, but I'm going to say it again.
You say, how can I become a daily Bible reader?
Number one, choose a place.
You need to just pick a place where you're going to go to tomorrow and read the Bible.
You've got to choose a place. You've got to choose a time.
You've got to make an appointment with God.
Now, that may be first thing in the morning. It may be before you go to bed.
It may be on your lunch break. I don't know what works for you.
I always recommend people, if they can, do it first thing in the morning.
My wife and I, I've told you this before, we get up.
The first thing we do is go downstairs, sit at our dinner table.
My wife makes two cups of tea. She has a cup of tea.
I have a cup of tea. And we sit there and we read the Bible.
That's our time to read the Bible. We've made an appointment with each other and with God.
You've got to choose a place. You've got to choose a time.
You've got to get on a plan. You've got to get a chart and chart your Bible reading.
Oh, by the way, there's a nine chapters a day chart on your bulletin.
You say, why would you do the nine chapters a day?
Because we are destroyed for lack of knowledge. That's why.
We encourage you to read the Bible. We encourage you to study the Bible.
We encourage you to memorize the Bible. Why?
Why have nine chapters a day every year for the last 11 years?
And try to encourage God's people to read the Bible. Here's why.
Because you must build your life on the Bible.
You say, how can I do that? By, number one, knowing what the Bible says.
You need to know what the Bible says. The sin of ignorance.
But let me say this. Some Christians partake in the sin of ignorance.
Go back to 2 Corinthians, if you would.
Their lives are destroyed for lack of knowledge. They don't know what the Bible says.
Well, what should they do? They should get to know what the Bible says.
Now, that means they ought to come to church Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night,
and have the Word of God preached to them so they can learn it,
but then they go home and search the scriptures daily whether those things were so.
But there's a second group.
There's one group that doesn't know what the Bible says.
But just because you know what the Bible says does not mean that your life is going to be built upon the Bible.
I said, number one, we must build our lives on the Bible by knowing what the Bible says.
Here's point number two. We must build our lives on the Bible by trusting what the Bible says.
It's not enough to know what it says. You've got to trust what it says.
2 Corinthians 1, are you there? Look at verse 12.
For all rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity...
You see that little phrase right there? I love these little phrases that God gives us in the Bible.
Simplicity and godly sincerity.
That ought to be the phrase that characterizes your life, especially you men.
You say, what should be the characterization of my life?
Ladies, here's your goal biblically in life.
The Bible says to have a meek and quiet spirit.
And you men, you ought to live with simplicity and godly sincerity.
And let me tell you something. You cannot have a meek and quiet spirit,
and you cannot live with simplicity and godly sincerity while you're a drama mama.
And some of you are drama papas.
Your goal ought to be in life. You say, what do you want my life to be characterized as?
Simplicity and godly sincerity. What does that mean? It's simple and it's real.
I want my marriage to be characterized by this phrase, simplicity and godly sincerity.
Let me tell you something. The Christian life is not complicated.
It may be difficult at times. I'm not going to sit here and tell you it's not difficult, but it's not complicated.
So what do you want this church to be characterized as? Simplicity and godly sincerity.
Notice, you don't walk in here and we've got 10 billion screens and all sorts of lights and fog machines.
It's not that complicated. We sing a few hymns, we open up the Word of God, we preach the Word of God,
we apply it to your lives, we learn it, we go home, we apply. It's not that hard.
Simplicity and godly sincerity. Here's the problem though. Not with fleshly wisdom.
You know what your problem is and my problem is? That we think we know better.
God says, do it this way, and we say, well, I know what the Bible says, but...
I know what the Bible says, but... I know what the Bible says, but...
Go to Proverbs chapter 3. Proverbs chapter 3.
You open your Bible just right in the center. You're more than likely to fall into Psalms.
After Psalms, you have the book of Proverbs. Proverbs chapter 3.
Our major problem is we think too much in our flesh. God wants you to be wise.
Our problem is, you know, it's interesting to me, Jesus talking about finances says, take no thought.
Take no thought for the morrow. The morrow shall take thought for the thing of itself.
The vision of today is the evil thereof. Jesus says, stop thinking. You're not good at it.
You're not good at it. It's not your spiritual gift. Just stop it.
Look, can we be honest? We come to problems in the Bible, in our lives, and the first thing we do,
the first thing we do, we start making plans. Well, if I do this and if I do that...
I mean, your tongue's sticking out. You're like...
I'll fix my husband, fix my husband, fix my wife, and get that pastor.
You make your plans, carry the remainder.
Hey, you know what? How about you get rid of the fleshly wisdom and just do what the Bible says?
Proverbs 3 and verse 5, trust in the Lord.
Let me ask you this question. Whatever happened to God?
We've got all these ideas and all these plans. We've got all these thoughts how we're going to do it.
Hey, whatever happened to God? Trust in the Lord with all thine heart.
Lead not unto thine own understanding, and all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy path.
You want to sit there and say, well, I know the Bible says that I'm supposed to be,
but I'm smarter than my husband, and I'm just going to make all these plans.
Why don't you shut your mouth and just do what the Bible says?
You husband, well, I know I'm supposed to lead, but I'm so wicked and worldly and lazy that I'm not going to...
Hey, how about you quit making all your plans and just decide I'm going to do what the Bible says?
Here's the truth. You'll never say it. I'll never say it. We'll never admit it.
But why won't we just be honest and say, we think we're smarter than God.
We think we know more than God.
Every time, I know the Bible says but. I know the Bible says but. I know the Bible says but.
Why don't you just say, I know more than God. I'm smarter than God.
He's omniscient. He's omnipotent. He's all-knowing. He's the creator of the universe, but I'm smarter.
I'm not going to let him tell me what to do.
Fool! I don't think you should call us fools. I didn't. Jesus did.
We build our lives upon the sand of our own fleshly wisdom, and then we wonder why it all falls apart.
I'm just here to tell you how to build your life on the Bible.
How do I do that? By knowing what the Bible says.
How do I do that? By trusting what the Bible says.
Go to 1 Thessalonians chapter 2.
Find the t-books. They're all clustered together. 1 Thessalonians chapter 2.
We've read this verse a lot. I think it's good for us to see it.
1 Thessalonians chapter 2. I tell these young people, hey, the Bible says it's good for a man not to touch a woman.
Here's what they respond. Well, you know, we're in love.
I know what the Bible says, but. Stop saying that. Just say the truth. I'm smarter than God is.
I know that's what the Bible says, but I don't think that. Nobody asks what you think.
Just do what the Bible says. You'll be fine.
Do what the word of God says. 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. Look at verse 13.
The Bible says, For this cause also think we God without ceasing, because when we receive the word of God, which ye have heard of us, you received it, not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God.
Don't miss it. Which effectually worketh also in you that believe.
You know the Bible says that the word of God is quick and powerful and sharp with a two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints of marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
You know that God wants to do a work through you through the Bible, in you through the Bible.
God wants to do a work for you through the Bible. But let me tell you something. It will not work.
You cannot build your life if you don't know what the Bible says. And you cannot build your life if you don't trust what the Bible says.
I understand. I understand that sometimes following the Bible requires faith. Go to Matthew chapter 7. Matthew chapter 7.
Look, I get it. I'm not stupid.
You don't think I understand? You know, I think about these young ladies, these young ladies getting married, right? What do we do? We tell them, don't go to college, don't get a job.
Amen, by the way. Don't go to college, don't get a job. I don't know if you ever read that in the Bible. Have you not read?
I will, therefore, that the young women marry, bear children, guide the house, give non-occasion to the adversary, speaking proportionally. Last time I checked, that was in the Bible.
We tell these young ladies, don't go to college, don't get a job. Find your knight in shining armor and then they show up with the guy they choose and we're like, good knight, aren't you listening?
Find some guy and he's supposed to provide for you, protect you, he's going to impregnate you with six kids. You don't think we understand we're telling ladies, hey, you're going to be extremely vulnerable here.
You're putting all your eggs in that one basket, so maybe find something that's a little more than nice hair and a nice smile and find something with some substance.
And by the way, let me just say this, we're putting a lot on these guys. Are we not? We were telling these guys, you got to go get a job that will support your wife, support your six children, homeschool them, and we put a lot on them.
Look, I'm not telling you that doesn't require faith. I'm just like, you can sit there and think it all out and say, well, I can do this, I can do that, get your tongue out, I got it all figured out, got it all figured out.
Why don't you just do what the Bible says? And type while you're at it. Yeah, that doesn't make any sense. Just do what the Bible says. You're not smart. You're not smarter than God. Just do what God tells you to do.
Stop coming up with your own ideas. Just do what God tells you to do. Why don't you just trust the Bible? Why don't you just trust the Bible?
Why don't you just trust the Bible? 2 Peter 1, if you would. I apologize. I told you to go to Matthew, and I do want you to go to Matthew, but I'd like you to go to 2 Peter real quickly. I think you're supposed to keep your place there. 2 Peter 1.
In the context of 2 Peter 1 and verse 19, we have Peter referring, I won't take the time to read it, but he's referring to an experience he had, the mount of transfiguration. He calls it the holy mount.
When he went up, Peter, James, and John went up with Jesus, he was transfigured before them, and they heard a voice from heaven, the voice from God, saying, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.
Peter says, I was an eyewitness to those things. He says, I heard that. He said, but let me tell you something about my experience. He said, let me tell you something about my experience. Though I have that experience, he says, we have also a more sure word of prophecy.
Now, as King James' Bible-eating Baptist, we love that verse, and we go there a lot, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I preach an entire series called A More Sure Word of Prophecy.
What's interesting is that when we normally go to 2 Peter 1 and verse 19, that's the phrase we focus in on, and there's nothing wrong with that. We have also a more sure word of prophecy.
What's interesting to me, and I didn't, this phrase, I've read this verse many times, I've preached out of this verse many times, I don't know that I've ever noticed this verse.
In fact, it wasn't until last Sunday night in this pulpit I was reading that text, and this little phrase jumped out at me. He says, look, we have a more sure word of prophecy.
We receive the word of God, not as the word of man, but as it is in truth, the word of God. We have a more sure word of prophecy. Don't you believe that? That God gave us an inerrant, inspired, preserved word of God.
He says we have also a more sure word of prophecy. Then he says the application, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed.
And the Greek says shut up and do what the Bible says. Just shut up.
Every time we come, the Bible says but, the Bible says but, the Bible says but, you do well to take heed to the word of God, to the fact that God has given us a Bible that tells us all we need to know for life and godliness.
Oh no, but you're smarter, and I'm smarter. Supposedly we got it figured out, and then our lives fall apart.
And the hypocrites that we are, we get mad at God. God allowed this in my life. God allowed that in my life. God didn't allow anything in your life. God gave you all the answers to the Bible. You didn't read it, and you didn't trust it.
Go back to Matthew chapter 7. I'm just here to tell you we've got to build our lives in the Bible.
You say, Pastor, were you this mean to them in Fresno? No, I actually know you. I'm just here to tell you we've got to build our lives in the Bible. It's a simple message.
It means to build our lives in the Bible. You say, how do I do that? By knowing what the Bible says. How do I do that? By trusting what the Bible says.
Number three, you've got to build your life on the Bible. It's not enough to know what it says, and it's not even enough to trust what it says.
To build our lives in the Bible, we need to do what the Bible says. You build your life on the Bible by doing what the Bible says. Are you there in Matthew 7? Remember our parable?
Notice what Jesus said, Matthew 7 verse 24. Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, these sayings of mine, his words, the Bible, notice these words,
and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock.
Look at verse 26. And everyone that heareth these sayings of mine, here's the key, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand.
Go to James chapter 1 if you would. James, I'm not sure if you kept your place in 1 and 2 Peter, but right there you have Hebrews in the book of James. James chapter 1.
Let me explain something to you. The Bible, the Bible, I think I have to explain this to people because I don't know that people understand this. The Bible is a spiritual book.
It's a spiritual book. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. It's a spiritual book. It's not a magical book. I hate to break it to you.
See, some of you think, well, I'll bring my kids to church, I'll bring my kids to church, I'll be a terrible parent, I'll be lazy, I'll leave them to themselves,
I won't actually spank them, I won't actually love them, I won't actually do anything with them, but I'll bring them to church every week and then they're going to turn out right, right? Wrong, no.
This is a spiritual book, it's not a magical book. Well, my marriage is falling apart, I'll just go to church.
And then people show, they come to church for like three weeks and I've literally had people say to me, it's not working, I came to church for three weeks and it's not working.
No, no, it's not that church isn't working, it's not that the Bible's not working, it's that you're not working.
It's not a magical book, you're not going to get spiritual through osmosis, you're going to use this as a pillow, go to sleep and come out looking like Jesus Christ. No, you've got to put some work.
You've got to actually do it. It doesn't help you, Lord, can I just be honest with you? Preaching doesn't help unless you walk out those doors and do it.
The Word of God doesn't help unless you walk out those doors and do it. It's not just going to be, this is not, you think we've got some magical building next to the methadone clinic?
You walk in and all of a sudden everything's fine. No, no, no, not everything's fine until you start doing what the Bible actually tells you to do.
And we're the hypocrites that sit there and say, oh God, let this happen. No, God didn't let anything happen, you let it happen.
Excuse me, when people say, my marriage sucks, my children suck, my life sucks. Well, of course it sucks, you're not doing anything God told you to do.
You don't go to church, you don't read the Bible, you don't follow what the Bible says, you get the Word of God preached to you, you sit there and roll your eyes and walk out these doors, you live like hell, you live like the world, and then you wonder why your life is messed up.
Don't blame God. Don't blame God. Have some integrity and say, I'm just a fool. You ought to do what the Bible says. You ought to follow what the Bible says. You ought to trust what the Bible says.
You ought to build your life on the Bible. You ought to build your life, you say, how? By doing what the Bible says.
Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man.
And everyone that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man.
Are you there in James 1? Look at verse 22. Be ye, don't miss it, be ye doers of the Word and not hearers only.
You know what the problem with most church members? They're hearers only. They show up and they hear a good sermon. Good sermon? I hope you think it's a good sermon. I don't know if you think this one's a good sermon.
To be honest with you, I don't really care. You need to build your life on the Bible.
You know the problem? I want a good sermon. Preach me a good sermon. Hey, how about you do? Be ye doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
For if any man be a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like unto a man, beholding his natural face in the glass. I brought this up to you in the past. You know I've showed you this.
Here, James uses illustration. He says, you know, the Word of God is like a mirror. It's like a man beholding himself, his natural face in the glass.
The Bible is illustrated as a mirror here. What is the purpose of a mirror? You ever thought about that? I mean, you got one, right? Some of you, I can tell by the way you look, I can tell you don't look in the mirror much.
I mean, you have a mirror, don't you? You know how it works? If you're anything like me, you get up in the morning, you look in the mirror and you think to yourself, that ain't right.
There's something. That needs to change. We got to do something. Now, unfortunately for me, there's not much I can do. Some of you ladies spend a lot of time in the mirror making sure, you know, you fix it.
What's the point in the mirror? What is it? There's one purpose for the mirror. If you're actually, unless you're just vain and, you know, just completely filled with pride, the purpose of the mirror is self-assessment. Isn't that true?
You look in the mirror and say, oh, my hair is messed up. I've got broccoli in my teeth. My tie is not straight. And by the way, a lot of times my tie isn't straight because I don't really look in the mirror as much as I should.
The purpose of the mirror is self-assessment. Please understand something. I'm trying to help some of you out. What's the purpose of church? Self-assessment.
You come to church and I open up the mirror of the word of God and I say, look, it ain't right. It's not right. You got to fix it. That's what it looks like and this is how it should look like.
You got to fix it. You got to do something about it. Your kids are going to grow up in a home that's not godly if you don't fix it, if you don't do something, if you don't change your heart and change your ways.
We're going to ruin the next generation if you don't fix it, mama. You're going to ruin the next generation, dad, if you don't actually take the reins and take the lead and become spiritual.
The purpose is self-assessment. The purpose is to look and see there's something wrong. I need to fix it.
Verse 24, James 1-24, for he beholdeth himself. Here's the problem. When somebody behold himself and goeth away and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
What's the point of looking in the mirror and seeing you got broccoli in your teeth just to walk away and be like, whatever. I mean, right?
What's the point of looking in the mirror and you're like, my tie's messed up, my hair's messed up, I've got stuff in my teeth, and then you're like, and you just go on your merry way.
You say, that's silly. That's what many Christians do when they come to church. The mirror of the word of God is open and we say, it's not right. You got to fix it.
And they go, eh, and walk out. And they're hearers only. Look at verse 25.
But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of, notice the word. It's that four-letter word. We don't like it.
A doer of the work. You know, raising well-behaved children requires work. You know, having a marriage where you actually like each other requires work.
You know, living a Christian life and having a Christian home requires work.
But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
Is that what we want? We want the, this man shall be blessed in his deed. But we're not willing to put the work in. It is required to have it.
I'm just here to tell you. It's a simple sermon, I know. You need to build your life on the Bible.
Say, how do I do that? By knowing what the Bible says. How do I do that? By trusting what the Bible says. How do I do that? By doing what the Bible says.
You understand the purpose? The purpose of Bible knowledge is application. I'm all for knowing the Bible. I'm all for reading the Bible. I'm all for nine chapters a day.
I'm all for memorizing scripture. I just taught a lesson to the guys in our spiritual leadership class about how to memorize scripture, and I'm all for all that.
But let me tell you something. Joshua said, this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night.
You say, why would I do that? Here's why. That thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein.
Thy word have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against thee. There's always an application to the word. There's always a due to what we know.
What are you doing with the Bible? What are you doing with what the Bible says?
I mean, could you imagine? Could you imagine? Go to Ezekiel, if you would. Ezekiel chapter 33. You've got those Old Testament books there.
Could you imagine what would happen if we had a church filled with people?
Could you imagine what would happen if we had a church filled with people who not only knew what the Bible says, trusted what the Bible says, and did what the Bible says?
I mean, I'd be out of a job. I mean, what would happen in your home if you had a mom and a dad, a husband and a wife who knew what the Bible says, believed what the Bible says, trusted what the Bible says, and actually did it?
Everything would change. We'd build our lives on the Bible. Ezekiel chapter 30, verse 30.
This is such a sad passage of scripture for me.
Ezekiel chapter, excuse me, I said chapter 30. I meant 33. Ezekiel chapter 33 and verse 30.
We're almost done. I know some of you don't like the Bible.
You shouldn't say that. Well, you live like it.
You can't even find it on a Sunday morning because you haven't touched it since the last Sunday morning.
I'm trying to help you. I don't need to be your friend. I'd like to be your friend. I love you. I pray for you. My wife and I pray for you.
I'm trying to help you. You don't believe me. That's between you and God. I'm trying to help you. You need to build your life on the Bible.
You need to quit being so stinking lazy and pick up a Bible and read it and then believe it and then do it.
Quit showing up to church and saying, that was a good message. I appreciate it being a good message.
I say these things and people are like, I don't know. I appreciate you liking the sermon. It's great. It encourages me.
But you know what I want? Here's what I want. Pastor, great sermon. I'm going to go home and apply.
Great sermon. I'm going to go home and read my Bible tomorrow morning. Thank you.
Ezekiel 33 verse 30. Also, this is God speaking to Ezekiel.
Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the house and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, come, I pray to you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the Lord.
Doesn't that sound good? I mean, that sounds good. They're excited. It's like the Red Hot Preaching Conference.
They're like, come in. You got to check out this preaching, man. Check out the things these guys are saying.
Here's the problem in verse 31. And they come unto thee as the people cometh and they sit before thee as my people and they hear thy words, but they will not do them.
For with their mouths they show much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness.
You know what the problem is? You come to church like this and you say, wow, that's really good preaching. I've never heard preaching like that. And then you walk out of here and do whatever you want.
Follow your own desires. Follow your own covetousness.
Verse 32. And lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument, for they hear thy words.
Here's the problem. But they do them not. I'm just here to tell you. You must build your life on the Bible.
How do I do that? You read the Bible. How do I do that? You trust the Bible. You stop saying this. I know what the Bible says, but stop saying it.
I know what the Bible says and it's hard and I'm afraid, but I'm going to pray and ask God to build my faith and I'm just going to go ahead and do it.
Because God is smarter than I am. Because God knows more than I do. Because I'm just going to do what the Bible says.
Matthew chapter 7. Matthew chapter 7. You heard me say this many times. It's not original with me.
My goal is not to preach to be heard. It's to preach to be repeated. Why?
Because the greatest thing that you and I can do is build our lives on the Bible. I hope some of you will walk out of here and tell somebody.
Tell somebody. Some co-worker you have. Some Christian co-worker you have. Hey, you know, I heard this sermon. You got to build your life on the Bible.
I hope some of you die, you know, six months from now, once everybody has forgotten this sermon. You'll sit your kids around and say, kids, let me teach you a lesson, something I got from the Lord.
You got to build your life on the Bible. Does that bother you? Brother Oliver recently, he told me about a guy he knows. I hope it's okay for me to say this. I said it in Fresno already, so it's done.
He told me about a guy he knows. And he knew this guy was preaching in a certain place and he saw the title and he was kind of like, I know that title.
And he clicked on the title and he listened to the sermon and the guy had completely ripped off my sermon. I mean, every point, every illustration, I think even the jokes, you know.
Which is weird because you're making jokes about a beagle puppy and it's like, no, I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding.
But you know, just completely ripped off. And you know, Brother Oliver, and of course he's our deacon. He's the second man, you know, so he's jealous over his pastor and I appreciate that.
So he's all irritated about it. He's like, you know, he's like, forbid them from prophesying, you know. And I appreciate that.
You know, I told Brother Oliver, hey, well, you know, I don't preach to be heard. I preach to be repeated. I hope they'll rip off every sermon.
John said, hey, what do you think about people following Jesus now? They used to follow you. Now they're not. And he said, he must increase. I must decrease.
John said, I am a voice crying in the wilderness. Our lives ought to be an echo of the Word of God, of the Bible. I hope that these sermons will be taught and resonated.
Look, I just recently preached a sermon about tenacity and I've heard a lot of jokes, people kind of using the word tenacity.
I'm glad it's stuck. I hope you'll go home and this phrase will resonate in your mind. Build your life on the Bible, build your life on the Bible, build your life on the Bible.
Can I be honest with you? I stole that phrase.
You know, Pastor Anderson told me this years ago. He said, do you ever don't know what to preach? Just go on a bunch of old IFB sermon websites and just look at their titles.
Because those guys, they preach really lame sermons, but sometimes they have some cool titles. And I saw a guy preach a sermon called Build Your Life on the Bible.
I actually listened to the sermon. It wasn't that great. I wrote this sermon. I didn't steal his sermon, but I did steal the phrase because I thought that was a great phrase.
Hey, you ought to build your life on the Bible. Here's what I'm telling you. Nothing we have is original with us. There's no new thing under the sun. Just build your life on the Bible, why don't you?
Read the Bible and trust the Bible and love the Bible and live the Bible. You ought to build your life on the Bible. You ought to do what the Bible says.
You ought to do it even if you don't want to. You ought to do it even if it makes you nervous. You ought to just build your life on the Bible.
Go to Matthew chapter 7. We'll finish up Matthew chapter 7.
I've been encouraging you to build your life on the Bible tonight. Maybe you've had the sin of ignorance and you don't know what the Bible says. Well, you ought to change that.
You ought to develop a devotional habit of reading the Bible every day, studying the Bible. And you ought to know what the Bible says.
Maybe you have the sin of arrogance and you think you know more than God. You ought to repent, get right with God, and say, I'm going to do what the Bible tells me to do.
Maybe you have the sin of laziness. Oh, you know what the Bible says and you believe it, but you're just going to not do it.
You ought to decide, you know what, I'm going to begin to apply the word of God to my life. You ought to build your life on the Bible.
But I do have to end this sermon with a warning. And the warning is this, Matthew chapter 7. Are you there? Look at verse 26.
And everyone that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand.
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew. By the way, I won't take the time to show it to you, but this same passage in Luke, I like it in Luke because in Luke he says, when the rain descended.
When the floods came. When the winds blew. Let me tell you something, it's not if, it's when. The storms of life are coming.
You're either coming out of a storm, you're living through a storm, or you're getting ready to go into a storm, but in life we have storms.
And oftentimes what happens, what happens in a church like this is a storm comes and people get backslidden, they quit church, they quit.
And people say, people say, oh, you know, that trial. No, they're going through that thing, whatever that thing is. And I'm not minimizing it.
And they'll say, that's why they got backslidden. That's why they quit church. That's why they, and that's not true, my friend, it's not true.
Because many a Christian goes through trials and heartaches and they come out like, Job, I shall come forth as gold.
See, the trial does not cause you to quit. The trial does not cause you to fall. The trial only reveals what was already there at your foundation.
That your foundation was on something other than the rock. That your foundation was on the sand and it was weak.
The trial didn't cause your house to fall apart. You did. It's just a matter of time. It's just a matter of time.
Look at verse 27. And the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell. I just want you to notice, I just want you to notice these words.
And great was the fall of it.
Look, people come to this church and get mad at me all the time. I get that. I'm the one that gets up and preaches.
But mark my words. Please, please remember this ugly face. The mirror doesn't help me much. You mark my words. You will find out one day that God knew best.
Some of you young people are going to wake up some day 30 years from now and realize, I should have done what the Bible said. I should have done. The pastor is trying to, that guy's smarter than he looks.
You will wake up one day and realize, I'm not smarter than God. God knew best. God knew best when he told me how to raise my kids and I chose not to. God knew best when he told me how to be a good wife and I chose not to. God knew best when he told me how to be a good husband and I chose not to. God knew best when he told me to live the Christian life a certain way and I chose not to.
Look, I'm just here to tell you. Great was the fall of it. I've been doing this for 11 years. I've seen many instances that could be classified as great was the fall of it.
I've seen kids go astray and it was great was the fall of it. I've seen marriages fall apart and you could say great was the fall of it.
I've seen Christians who at one time loved the Lord, were faithful, were serving God, are now back-slitting, are on drugs, are blaspheming Christ and great was the fall of it.
I'm just here to tell you. Mark my words. The day will come when you will say, I wish I would have built my life on the Bible.
And I'm trying to warn you that you can change that now. You can change that today.
You can go home tomorrow morning and say, I'm going to quit being so stinking lazy and selfish and worldly. I'm going to pick up a Bible and I'm going to read it and then I'm going to trust it and then I'm going to do it and I'm going to change my life.
So that it's not said of me or my wife or my children or my church or the people I influence or the people I work with or the people I live life with and great was the fall of it.
Here's what I'm telling you. You've got to build your life on the Bible. Let's bow our heads in our word of prayer. Heavenly Father,
Lord, I don't know what these people think about me. I don't know what they think about my wife.
I know that we've given our lives to these people, these people right here. We love people in another state. We love people in another city. We want to help people in other ministries.
But these are the people we've given our lives to. And we can stand up and preach and we can sit there and tell them and counsel them and say, do this. This is what the Bible says. This is what the Bible says.
And it will not help them until they actually do it and believe it and trust it. And Lord, I just pray you'd help us.
If nobody here makes a decision, Lord, I pray you'd help me to decide in the areas that I'm failing, help me to build my life on the Bible.
Help these dear people to build their lives on the Bible. I pray, Lord, there'd be some husbands that would go home and say, I need to be the husband that God's called me to be.
I pray there'd be some wives that would say, I need to go home and be the wife that God has called me to be.
I need to raise our kids the way that God. We need to get back to soul-wording. We need to get back to Bible-reading. We need to get back to just living the Christian life.
Lord, I pray you'd help us to build our lives on the Bible. In the matchless name of Christ, we pray. Amen.
We're going to have Brother Matt come up and lead us in the final song. Let me just give you some quick announcements, if you don't mind.
First of all, don't forget that we've got the Ladies' Christmas Party this Friday, so don't forget about that, please.
You'll have a great time there in the Fellowship Hall. And then, of course, this Sunday is our Celebrating Christ Sunday, so please make sure you show up, invite a friend.
And we'll have cookies and hot chocolate after the service. We have a sign-up sheet if you've not yet gone by.
And then get excited about this nine chapters a day. Why are we doing it? So you'll build your life on the Bible. And I hope you'll do it.
I hope you'll say, I'm going to do it. I'm going to read it. I'm going to stick with it. I'm not going to be lazy. I'm going to commit to it.
Because it'll change your life. And I hope you'll open up the Bible tomorrow and read it.
I hope you know my wife and I love all of you. We pray for you. By name, we love you. We want you to build your life on the Bible.
I'd rather Matt come up and lead us to the final song.
Turn to song 427.
Song 427.
427 on the first.
On the first.
On the second.
On the third.