(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

I know whom I believed in. Go ahead and sing it out with me on the first. I know not why God's wondrous grace To me He hath made known Nor why unworthy Christ in love Redeemed me for His own But I know whom I have believed in And am persuaded that He is able To keep that which He committed Unto Him against that day I know not how this saving faith To me He did impart Nor how believing in His word Brought peace within my heart But I know whom I have believed in And am persuaded that He is able To keep that which I've committed Unto Him against that day I know not how the Spirit moves Convincing men of sin Revealing Jesus through the Word Creating faith in Him But I know whom I have believed in And am persuaded that He is able To keep that which I've committed Unto Him against that day I know not what of good or ill May be reserved for me Of weary ways or golden days Before His face I see But I know whom I have believed in And am persuaded that He is able To keep that which I've committed Unto Him against that day I know not when my Lord may come At night or noonday Nor if I walk the veil with Him Or meet Him in the air But I know whom I have believed in And am persuaded that He is able To keep that which I've committed Unto Him against that day Great job, everybody. Let's all pray together. Thank you, Lord, once again, for just allowing us to gather together here at Steadfast Baptist Church. We love you, Lord. We thank you for this wonderful church and this ability we have to praise you, Lord. We just ask you to fill this room with your spirit and bless this service. In Jesus' name, amen. All right, for our next song, let's go to song number 356. Song number 356. I Must Tell Jesus, song number 356. Everybody sing it out real loud together on the first. I must tell Jesus all of my trials I cannot bear these burdens alone In my distress He kindly will keep me Everyone loves me and cares for his own I must tell Jesus, I must tell Jesus I cannot bear my burdens alone I must tell Jesus, I must tell Jesus Jesus can help me, Jesus alone I must tell Jesus all of my troubles He is a kind, compassionate friend If I but ask Him, He will deliver Make up my troubles quickly and then I must tell Jesus, I must tell Jesus I cannot bear my burdens alone I must tell Jesus, I must tell Jesus Jesus can help me, Jesus alone Tempted and tried, I need a great Savior One who can help my burdens to bear I must tell Jesus, I must tell Jesus He all my cares and sorrows will share I must tell Jesus, I must tell Jesus I must tell Jesus, I must tell Jesus Jesus can help me, Jesus alone Oh how the world to evil allures me Oh how my heart is tempted to sin I must tell Jesus and He will help me Over the world the victory to win I must tell Jesus, I must tell Jesus I cannot bear my burdens alone I must tell Jesus, I must tell Jesus Jesus can help me, Jesus alone Great job everybody. All right, welcome everyone to Steadfast Baptist Church. Thanks for coming this evening. If you don't have a bulletin, go ahead and raise your hand and an usher will bring you a fresh bulletin. We have there on the front our Bible memory passage of the week, Revelation 1.13. If you can quote this to myself, Pastor Shelley or an usher, if you're 18 or under, you'd get an ice cream at the end of the Wednesday service. This evening, Pastor Shelley is not going to be here. He's in Georgia for the Stronghold Baptist Church camping trip. So make sure be praying for him that he gets to and from safely and that his family get the much needed, you know, fun that they deserve. Let's see here on the left side of the bulletin, we have our service times, our church-wide soul winning times that meet wherever our location is and our regional soul winning times. Those meet in various locations of the DFW area. So if you're ever interested in one of those, get with those respective leaders. We have there our soul winning stats for the month of April, which definitely, you know, is padded because of the soul winning trip in the Bahamas. That was a great time. It'd be nice if every country was that receptive, right? It was a great time to be in a Christian nation, at least in a sense, where people just respect the Bible and they want to hear the Bible. You have a Bible in your hand. They're ready to listen to what you have to say. They want to get saved. That was definitely refreshing. And even in comparison of DFW, which honestly, DFW, Texas, I've been soul winning many other places in the United States. Like this is one of the most receptive areas in all of America, to be honest. But even comparatively, like the Bahamas was just insanely receptive. So that was a really great time. We have there, make sure you're staying in prayer for our expecting ladies. It has the corresponding due dates there. And if, you know, a lady in here ever needs to be added to that, shoot an email. I know we get those all the time, so just shoot an email. Shoot an email to a steadfast Baptist, kjvajima.com. Also, we have our weekly prayer lists. We have many prayer requests this week. Rebecca Nogueira for her health. Ms. Lucy for her mother's tumors and health. Brother Cameron, ongoing prayer for his leg to be healed. Matt Pendleton, we're praying for his brain cancer to be healed. Brother Wallach's daughter is pregnant, so we have that prayer request. Mrs. Cooley, praying for her stepdad's cancer treatment. Brother Sue Hale for his fiancé's visa process and travel to the U.S. so they can get married. That's pretty important, right? You looking forward to that? Mrs. Restrepo down in South Texas, a good friend of ours, is asking prayer for her daughter, who's recently diagnosed with inflammation of the heart. Mrs. Gale, healing from her wrist surgery. Brother Kenton, be praying for Brother Kenton. He's doing a great work over in the Bahamas. I'm excited to hear that he's going to be planted there for a while. I think the last couple of years, he's just been going all over the world, the Philippines and Africa, and I think a little bit in the United States. But from what I understood, what he was saying is that he plans on staying there for a while and just discipling those people that we got saved. We got people's contact information for Brother Kenton to follow up on them. And he's going to a great church there, Liberty Baptist Church. So definitely keep him in prayer, just that he would do a great work in the Bahamas and be able to not just get people saved, but get them in church and get them to become soul winners themselves. Brother Goodwin is praying for his brother-in-law's health in upcoming trial. And he's also praying for his work's contract negotiations and praying that they would avoid a union strike. Man, unions can be some of the biggest babies. And they just want to not work a lot of times and complain about everything. So I definitely understand wanting to avoid a union strike. That could be very, very annoying. Faith and Ethan Miller is praying for health. Your Bannock family is praying for health. I think we have a lot of people in our church sick, so make sure we're praying for them. Let's go ahead and go to the Lord and have a word of prayer as a church at this time. Heavenly Father, thank you for this day. Thank you for our church and for all the people here. Pray that you'd be with Mrs. Rebecca and her health. I pray that you would just help her to have a strong body. Pray for Lucy's mother that her tumors would be healed, Lord. And pray for Cameron that his leg would heal. Brother Pendleton, a faithful word. Pray that you would heal his cancer if at all possible, Lord. And just pray that Brother Wallach's daughter would have a healthy pregnancy, that things would go according to plan on that. Mrs. Cooley, praying that her stepdad's cancer also would be healed, Lord, and that she would just work miracles in these health situations. Pray for Brother Suhail that things would go according to plan with the date they've selected for their wedding, that his fiancé would be able to get here and get her visa process completed, that she'd be able to travel safely to the United States. We pray for Mrs. Ophelia, for her daughter that was diagnosed with inflammation of the heart. I pray that she would please heal her body and that she'd be with them during this difficult time. Mrs. Gail, we pray for her healing from her surgery, that she would just have full mobility of her wrist and hand after recovery. And Lord, we pray for Brother Kenton in the Bahamas, that he'd be able to follow up on those safe people in the Bahamas and turn them into disciples, that they'd be able to go to Liberty Baptist Church and to grow in the Lord and to become soul winners themselves. We pray for Brother Goodwin for his work situation, for contract negotiations to go well according to your will, also for his brother-in-law's health to improve and for his upcoming trial. Things would turn out according to your will, Lord. And we pray for all the sick families in our church, that you would please heal their bodies and help them to be able to come back to church soon. And in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. All right, on the back there we have some church reminders, as well as the totals from our Bahamas trip, some upcoming events. On May 10th, which is next Wednesday, we have a guest preacher coming. You're not going to want to miss this. It's going to be a great time. May 13th is our Mother's Day tea. May 20th is our spring swap. And July 1st, Lord willing, is the wedding of Suhail and Lori May. And please send an email to Brother Suhail if you would like to go to that. I believe he's invited everyone in the church, so send him that email. It's listed there if you'd like to go to that. At this time, we're going to go to our Psalm of the Week, Psalm 147. Psalm 147 in your white handouts. Psalm 147. Psalm 147. Praise ye the Lord, for it is good to sing praises unto our God. For it is pleasant and praises comely, the Lord doth build up Jerusalem. He gathereth together the outcasts of Israel. He healeth the broken in heart and bindeth up their wounds. He telleth the number of the stars. He calleth them all. He calleth them all by their names. Great is our Lord and of great power. His understanding is infinite. The Lord lifteth up the meek. He casteth the wicked down to the ground. Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving. Sing praise upon the harp unto our God, who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass, grass to grow upon the mountains. He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry. He delighteth not in the strength of the horse. He taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man. The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him and those that hope in his mercy. Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem. Praise thy God, O Zion. Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem. For he hath strength in the force. Of thy gates he hath blest. Thy children within thee he maketh peace in thy borders and fillet thee. With the finest of the wheat he sendeth forth his commandment. Upon earth his word runneth very swiftly. He giveth snow like wool. He scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes. Scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes. He casteth forth his ice like more. Souls who can stand before his cold. He sendeth out and melteth them. He causeth his wind to blow. And the waters flow he showeth his word unto Jacob. His statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation. And as for his judgments they have not known them. Praise ye the Lord. Great singing at this time. Please turn your Bibles to 1 Kings, Chapter 5. 1 Kings, Chapter 5. 1 Kings, Chapter 5. 1 Kings, Chapter 5. The Bible reads, And Hyrum, king of Tyre, sent his servants unto Solomon, for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father, for Hyrum was ever a lover of David. And Solomon sent to Hyrum, saying, Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house unto the name of the Lord his God, for the wars which were about him on every side, unto the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. But now the Lord my God hath given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent. And behold, I purpose to build an house unto the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build an house unto my name. Now therefore command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon, and my servant shall be with thy servants, and unto thee will I give hire for thy servants, according to all that thou shalt appoint, for thou knowest that there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians. And it came to pass, when Hyrum heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed be the Lord this day, which hath given unto David a wise son over this great people. And Hyrum sent to Solomon, saying, I have considered the things which thou sentest to me for, and I will do all thy desire, concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of fir. My servant shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the sea, and I will convey them by sea in floats unto the place that thou shalt appoint me, and will cause them to be discharged there, and thou shalt receive them, and thou shalt accomplish my desire in giving food for my household. So Hyrum gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees, according to wall as desire. And Solomon gave Hyrum twenty thousand measures of wheat for food to his household, and twenty measures of pure oil, thus gave Solomon to Hyrum year by year. And the Lord gave Solomon wisdom as he promised him, and there was peace between Hyrum and Solomon, and they too made a league together. And King Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel, and the levy was thirty thousand men. And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses, a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home, and Adoniram was over the levy. And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bear burdens, and fourscore thousand hewers in the mountains, beside the chief of Solomon's officers which were over the work, three thousand and three hundred which ruled over the people that wrought in the work. And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, and huge stones to lay the foundation of the house. And Solomon's builders and Hyrum's builders did hew them, and the stone squarers, so they prepared timber and stones to build the house. And let's bow our heads for a word of prayer. Father in heaven, I pray now, Lord, that you would just give Brother Dylan Awes the fullness and power of the Holy Spirit as he preaches to us, and pray that you give him clarity of mind, Lord, and enable him to preach his sermon with boldness, and Lord, help us to pay attention this evening, help us to draw lessons from the message tonight that we apply to our lives, and Lord, be with everyone as we go our separate ways after the service, and just keep us safe. We love you, and pray for safe travels for Pastor Shelley as he comes back after his trip. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. Well, first, thank you, Pastor Shelley, for again giving me the opportunity to fill the pulpit tonight. It's a great blessing to preach the Word of God. Thank you all for coming this evening. And we're in 1 Kings, chapter number 5, and just to give you some context of what's going on in the story, King David had just recently passed away in this story. He had given his final charge to his son Solomon. Now King Solomon is the new king. His kingdom's firmly established in previous chapters. He had asked God to give him wisdom and understanding to judge his people, and now, you know, the nation is fearing King Solomon. They're respecting him. His kingdom's fully established. And that's where we're at at this point in the story in 1 Kings, chapter 5, and I want to read the first five verses of this chapter. Starting in verse 1, the Bible says, And Hyrum, king of Tyre, sent his servants unto Solomon, for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father, for Hyrum was ever a lover of David. And Solomon said to Hyrum, saying, Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house unto the name of the Lord his God, for the wars which were about him on every side, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. But now the Lord my God hath given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent. And behold, I purposed to build an house unto the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build an house unto my name. And the title of my sermon this evening comes from verse 5, where Solomon said this, I purpose to build. I purpose to build. That's the title this evening. And I think there's a lot of lessons that we can get coming out of just the first couple verses of this chapter. So I want to go over, have a few statements from this chapter that I want to preach about this evening. Number 1 is this, David fought so that Solomon could build. David fought so that Solomon could build. Read verse 3 again, it says this, Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house unto the name of the Lord his God, for the wars which were about him on every side, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. If you remember, it was actually in King David's heart to first build an house unto the Lord, but he could not do it. And why is that? It's because of all the wars that were about him on every side. And so David wasn't able to be the one to actually physically build a house of the Lord. God said, No, your son Solomon is going to do that. But what can we learn from that? Well, it's that David fought so that Solomon could build. Go to Psalm chapter number 18. Psalm chapter number 18. Let's start reading in verse number 34. This is a Psalm of David, and this is what he says. He says, He, referring to God, teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms. Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation, and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great. Thou hast enlarged my steps under me that my feet did not hold. I have pursued mine enemies and overtaken them. Neither did I turn again till they were consumed. I have wounded them that they were not able to rise. They are fallen under my feet. For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle. Thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me. Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies that I might destroy them that hate me. They cried, but there was none to save them, even unto the Lord, but he answered them not. Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind. I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets. Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people, and thou hast made me the head of the heathen. A people whom I have not known shall serve me. As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me. The strangers shall submit themselves unto me. So this sounds exactly like what we just learned in 1 Kings 5, that David was a man of war, right? He's constantly in war, and he's talking about how God has given him the ability to fight. He teaches David's hands how to fight. He gives him strength. He's allowing him to destroy his enemies. And in a way, King David is a picture of Jesus Christ, because when Jesus comes back to establish his earthly kingdom, just like David was stacking bodies, Jesus is going to be stacking bodies, right? But in the same way, Solomon's kingdom also pictures Jesus Christ, because, hey, Jesus is coming in, and he's going to be stacking bodies, but then it's going to be peace. Then it's going to be great. And that's kind of how Solomon's kingdom was. It was a time of peace. It was a time of prosperity. And so we see that David had to fight so that Solomon could build. Flip over to Psalm chapter 35. Psalm chapter 35. Psalm 35. Let's start reading. In verse 1, it says, plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me. This is David speaking. Fight against them that fight against me. Take hold of shield and buckler and stand up for mine health. Draw out also the spear and stop the way against them that persecute me. Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul. Let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt. Let them be as the chaff before the wind. And let the angel of the Lord chase them. Let their way be dark and slippery, and let the angel of the Lord persecute them. For notice this, without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit, which without cause they have digged for my soul. And again, this is another picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, because does it sound like King David is out just picking fights like he really wants to be in a physical battle all the time? No, these people are attacking him without a cause. Just like Jesus Christ was attacked without a cause. He came to bring peace. He wasn't trying to start some sort of physical fight, but yet he was physically killed. Though it wasn't his fault, it was without cause that they hid for Jesus their net in a pit. Same thing with King David. And this reminds me of 2 Timothy 3-12 where it says, yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. And so here's the thing. If you want to serve God, you have to get comfortable being in a fight. You have to get comfortable being in a battle, being in a confrontation. If we care about the next generation, if we want the next generation to be like Solomon, to have a time of peace, to be able to build, that means that we have to be the ones to fight. And you know, when we went to the Bahamas, it felt like we were stepping back in time 60 years. Obviously I wasn't alive then, but what I imagine America was like 60 years ago when you could have the Bible in public school, when you could pray to the Lord in public school. We're going to all these schools and there's just scripture on the wall. They're starting their classes by praying to God, singing psalms unto God, reading God's word. I mean, they have Bible class in public school. And you want to know why that's not the case anymore in America? And you want to know why that's not the case anymore in America? It's because Christians stopped fighting. Because if Christians had kept fighting and kept being in the battle, then we could be like Solomon and build and have peace. But that's not the case right now in America because the previous generations of Christians in America have failed to fight. So it is going to fall on our shoulders to be the David generation that fights. And some people aren't comfortable with that. And some people don't like the fact that we're always in a battle, that we're always in a fight, and it can cause people to get weary. But you have to realize that if you love your children, you must rise to the occasion and fight. It is a necessity in our lives. Christians in America have stopped fighting about the Sodomites. And that's why they're taking over our nation. That's why they're in the television. That's why they're in the public schools. That's why they're in every single institution in our country is because Christians have stopped fighting about it. But you go to the Bahamas, and people there are literally finishing Leviticus 2013 for me when I'm showing it to them, right? Because they haven't stopped fighting on that issue. But if they did, they would look just like America. And if they fail to fight for what's right, in 60 years, they will look like what America looks like today. And God will be kicked out of their schools. They won't be able to have evangelists come in and get hundreds of their children saved. That ship will sail if they stop fighting. Same thing with many different issues in our day. You know, Christians have stopped fighting for the King James Bible. And even churches that have been King James only for all of their history are now just throwing up their hands and giving up and just saying, well, let's go to the new King James. Well, let's go to the ESV. It's not that big of a deal. And they stopped fighting. And what are they leaving the next generation with? Trash. False Bible versions. Corruptions of God's Word. You know, people in America have stopped fighting today for traditional roles in marriage. And what's happening is the divorce rate in America is skyrocketing. Men are unhappy. Women are unhappy. Kids are growing up in broken homes. Why is it? Because Christians stop fighting for those things. Soul winning. You know, a lot of people think that we're some sort of Jehovah's Witness or Mormon. Or Mormon by going out and preaching the gospel. But it used to be common knowledge that if you're a Baptist, you're a soul winner. Why is that kind of fading away in many different types of Baptists? Because they stopped fighting for it. Hard preaching. This is something that's not normal in most churches in America. You are not going to just walk into a random church in America and find a hard preaching church. It's a very rare thing. Why is that? Because people stopped fighting for it. And so if we want to keep all these things, if we want to hand all these things to the next generation, we have to be the David generation that fights for all of these things. Go to Proverbs chapter number 23. I'll read for you 1 Timothy 6. 1 Timothy 6 verse 12 says this. Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life. Where unto also thou art called and how professed a good profession before many witnesses. Notice that it's important, the Bible says, to fight the good fight. That kind of implies that there's a fight that's not good, right? And I feel like a lot of Christians today in America, they may think that they're fighting, but they're not fighting the good fight. They're not fighting the fight that really matters. You know, I'll give you a good example of this. It's Steven Crowder. This guy wants to get up on his show and cry and whine and bemoan the fact that there's a tran on a can on this stupid Bud Light tranny on a can. And you know what his solution is? When he tells you, oh, look at this horrible Bud Light is promoting trannies, he says, you need to support local breweries. That's his fight. Is that fighting the right fight? See, he's mad. He's upset. He thinks he's fighting against the trannies. And he's telling you to go buy more beer from a different brewery, from a local brewery. That's not fighting the right fight. Look what fighting the right fight would actually look like in Proverbs 23 verse 31. It says, look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. You know, this is a good verse to prove that not all wine is the same in the Bible. There's wine which is just the old English word for juice, and there's wine meaning alcoholic wine. The Bible is saying here, there's a type of wine that you should not look at, and it's the type of wine that's red, that gives its color in the cup, and that moves itself aright. I've never just seen a bottle of grape juice just move itself aright. But you know what I have seen? Champagne moving itself aright. Wine moving itself aright. And is it any coincidence that the CEO of Louder with Crowder is this bozo named Gerald who owns another company that is a winery? Is it any coincidence that they're not fighting the right fight when you literally own a winery? And he gets up and promotes drinking alcohol to millions of people that listen to them. Millions of people. And in fact, this Gerald guy was even asked a question of what type of church should you look for, and he basically says, you know, you should be following the Bible. Any church that's preaching the Bible is what you should follow. You know, I don't really care what you call yourself denominationally, but he says, but if they're telling you to wear skirts and dresses, or if they're telling you that Jesus didn't drink alcoholic wine, that's the church I won't go to. Right? So what are these people doing? Fighting the wrong fight. That's not the good fight. To sit here and praise alcohol? To tell people to buy alcohol? It's ridiculous. Not only that, Steven Crowder recently made a little mini documentary on Muhammad Ali. And this was basically the whole premise of the documentary. It was, look, Muhammad Ali used to be a radical, violent, communist Muslim, and now he became a conservative, less radical Muslim. Isn't that just a great American story? Doesn't that just make you happy that Muhammad Ali converted from one sect of Islam to another? Isn't that great? No, it's terrible because he's going to hell. Why would I get excited about a foaming at the mouth terrorist becoming a less extreme Muslim? Why am I going to make a documentary about that and say, this is a great American hero, no matter where you line up on the religious scales, and Muhammad Ali taught that the only true religion is the religion of the heart. That's a satanic statement. You know? You can't trust your heart, according to the word of God. But yet this guy is not building his house on the rock. He's building his house on the sand. He's teaching people lies. He's telling people to drink alcohol. This guy's not fighting the right fight. You know, you've got these Fox News Baptists that are all upset about LGBT propaganda in schools, or, you know, the tranny being read to kids. And it's like, why don't we talk about if this should even be a crime? Why don't we talk about what the Bible actually says about it? But that's not what these people want to talk about. They just want to talk about the issues that are safe. You know, it's safe to say that you're against, you know, LGBT propaganda in schools, but it's not safe to say that they should be executed after a lawful trial, even though that's what the Bible actually teaches. This guy, Gerald, also has a show called Gerald Apologizes Apologetics. And I watched his first episode, and the whole thing was about homosexuality. And he showed on the screen, he's like, here's every verse in the Bible. Of course, he doesn't actually show you the verse or read any of the verses. He just shows the reference. So Leviticus 23 was on there, but of course he didn't read that for his audience. He just said, all right, all the verses on the screen, here's what the Bible says about it. And he goes, actually, you know, it actually says even more about homosexuality in the New Testament. And basically, he's like, all right, so here's what the homosexual has to do. He says, you know, I have natural temptations as a man. As a man, I have to hold myself, you know, within the binds of marriage. And basically, if you're a homo, all you have to do is just be celibate for the rest of your life. That's what the Bible teaches. And that's how you can please God. And that's basically his answer. But is that really what the Bible says? Why don't you actually read the verse that everyone in the Bahamas was finishing for me? Leviticus 20, 13, if a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination, they shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. These fake Christians never want to talk about that. They always want to stay on what's safe and tell them, oh, don't do that. Don't be a homo. That's not what the Bible says. It says execute homos. Are we, I mean, what are we going to do? Are we going to get to the point where bestiality is a discussion in America, and it's like, hold yourself back from that desire. It's like, no, let's take them out back and execute them under the proper channels of the government, okay? Not sit here and hold the hand of Sodomites and people into bestiality. It's ridiculous. Go to 2 Timothy chapter number 2. 2 Timothy chapter number 2. And so, you know, another way that you could look at this, you know, David fought so that Solomon can build. This could also be looked at from a season of life perspective. There could be seasons in your life where you're fighting, seasons in your life where you're building. We're all going to have seasons where we're doing both. 2 Timothy chapter number 2 verse 3 says this, Thou therefore endure hardness as a good, notice, soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life, but that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. So the truth is, you know, we are in a real fight as Christians. We're going to go through seasons of life where we're in a fight. And on top of that, as Christians, we're referred to as soldiers. The Bible says we're supposed to endure hardness. So it's supposed to be hard, right? We're soldiers. It's supposed to be hard. And I think sometimes in our culture, this idea of being a soldier is really glorified. It's glorified in movies and video games. And people kind of think in their mind like, man, it'd be so cool to be a soldier. I thought that my whole life growing up as a child. I got up to the point where I was enlisting in the Marine Corps when I met my wife and decided not to go that route. So I understand that desire for a man to want to be a soldier. But here's the truth. Being a soldier in the Lord's army is just as real as being a soldier in any physical army. And we actually are in a real fight. And I talked about this recently in Pure Words Baptist Church. We are in a real fight, but the stakes are actually higher in our war. You know, this fight is way more important than any battle that's ever been fought by the U.S. Army or by the Marine Corps or by any of those armies. Our fight is a real fight, and serving God is going to be a fight. We are going to have to fight in our lives. But do we treat our lives often like we're actually in a war? Because if I were to grab the people in this room and tell you, hey, tomorrow we're strapping on our AR-15s and our body armor and our medical gear, and tomorrow we are marching into combat. You are going to see physical combat tomorrow. You would take that very seriously, wouldn't you? You would take that very seriously. You know, if I was a physical soldier, I'd be waking up super early every morning and training. I'd be reading the intelligence reports, trying to get skills so that I could get the edge over my enemy and win in combat, right? I'd be eating good to fuel my body. I'd be checking my gear. I'd be checking my ammo. You know, I'd know my mission and my plan. I'd make sure we have good teamwork, good communication, that we're following our leader's command, right? I'd be taking it really seriously if I knew tomorrow the bullets are flying. Wouldn't we all take that seriously? But how often do we take Christianity that seriously? How often do you wake up in the morning and train for the battle that we're actually in and realize that it's not just temporal lives that are at stake, but it's our children's futures that are at stake spiritually? How much more should we wake up and know the intelligence and know our plans and execute our leader's orders, right, and fight against the enemy and get skills and knowledge to give us the edge over the enemy? You know, it's possible that in our lifetime or in the lifetime of our children, we could be that generation that sees the great tribulation. And you better believe. You better be the best Christian soldiers that have ever walked this planet because there's never a time of trouble that's ever been like it or ever will be in the future. We're going to be in the most hot spiritual battle if we live through that time. And even if we don't live through that time, we're in a hot spiritual battle right now. Look at our country. Look at what's happening to our nation. It's being destroyed, and it's because of sin. Sin is a reproach to any people, but righteousness exalteth a nation. We're seeing that happen in our day. You know, we need to treat our lives like a battle because it is. Go back to 1 Kings, chapter number 5. So look, David fought so that Solomon could build. But what if you're Solomon? What if you're in a season of peace in your life? What if you're Solomon? Well, you must work hard even in times of peace. Number 2 this evening is you must work hard even in times of peace. Look at verse number 3. It says, And behold, notice what he does. Notice Solomon had the right attitude. David's fighting. David's warring. David's dealing with the enemies of God. And here's Solomon prospering in a time of peace. God has firmly established his kingdom. You know, he asked for wisdom and knowledge. God gave it to him. And people fear him. What is he going to do with that opportunity? Is he going to sit around and do nothing? No, he says, hey, I've got a time of peace. You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to build the house of the Lord. I'm going to work. I'm going to do something with my life. And you know, right now you could say that our church is in a time of peace, especially relatively speaking to what we've been through before, right? Hey, you know, the first part of this year has been great. It's been peace. But what has our leader been doing? Has he just not been working? He just got to the Bahamas to get almost a thousand people saved. Pastor Shelley said, hey, okay, we're in a time of peace. I will build. Let's go to work. Let's stay busy. Let's not get lazy because idleness is the enemy of Christianity. Idleness is the enemy of Christianity. Go to 1 Timothy, chapter number 5. 1 Timothy, chapter number 5. And the context of this chapter is talking about widows. Obviously, they've lost their husband. And the Bible gives some rules on what widows the church is and isn't supposed to be taken care of and when she's supposed to get remarried and when she's not. Notice in verse number 13, it says this. And with all, they learn to be idle. So these ladies, they didn't choose to build. They didn't choose to work. They didn't choose to stay busy. You know what they chose to do? To be lazy, to do nothing. They learned to be idle, wandering about from house to house and not only idle, but tattlers also in busybodies, seeking things which they ought not. So not only did they choose not to build and to get lazy, but that laziness has now led them into other sins in their life. It's led them into other issues that they would not have necessarily had if they were working hard. And we would save ourselves a lot of trouble, a lot of grief, a lot of heartache if when we're in those times of peace where we're not just warring, that we would still build, that we would still work, that we would still do something with our lives so that we don't fall into laziness. Verse 14 says, What does God say? Hey, here's the solution for the young lady that's idle and that's getting herself into trouble. It's work. And it's no different for men. You know, if we get lazy, we sit around, we'll get ourselves into trouble too. And what's the solution? And what's the solution? Work. So in life, you should either be fighting or working or both your entire life. That's what we should be doing as Christians, fighting or working or both. Proverbs 31, I'll read for you, verse 27 says, So the Proverbs 31 woman, the opposite of this, she's looking well to her house and what is she doing? She's not being lazy. She's not just sitting around doing nothing. No, she's the Proverbs 31 woman because she's building, because she's working hard. Go to 2 Samuel, chapter number 12. I'll read for you Proverbs 14, 1 says this, That goes along with what we've been preaching about, right? I purpose to build. Ladies too should purpose to build. This wise woman says, Men are the same way. We also get into trouble if we get lazy. Look at King David, which by the way, this is the guy that was fighting, right? This is the guy that was in the battle. This is the guy that was destroying the Lord's enemies. But look at 2 Samuel, chapter number 12, verse 1. And it came to pass after the year was expired at the time when kings go forth to battle. So this is when David should be fighting. Remember I said fight, work or both, right? That David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel and they destroyed the children of Ammon and besieged Reba, but David tarried still at Jerusalem. So it was the time for King David to go out and to fight, but instead what did he do? He just stayed home. He wasn't at the fight like he was supposed to be. Verse 2, So what's going on? He's not working. He's not fighting. So because of that, he's up late. He's bored. He's got nothing to do. He just meanders out into the roof. And what happens? He gets himself into trouble. Because he wasn't fighting, he sees a woman that's bathing herself and he doesn't, you know, take captive his thoughts and flee fornication, you know, like Joseph did. Instead what does he do? He's like, hmm, I'm going to stay out here for a while. He gives in to the flesh, right? And why did he do this? Because he wasn't fighting. But look what it says. In verse number 3, not only did he just lust after her in her heart, that would have been a sin, but he went further than that. In verse 3, David sent and inquired after the woman. Not only is he thinking sinful thoughts here, but he's like, hey, let me ask you about her. He's starting to inquire about her. And one said, is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliim, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? What are you doing, King David? You know, this is a little awkward that you would ask me about a man's wife. What's going on? And David sent messengers and took her, and she came in unto him, and he lay with her, for she was purified from her uncleanness, and she returned unto her house. You know, King David, a man after God's own heart, a man that's better than me or anyone in this room, didn't fight. He put himself in a bad situation. The flesh took over, and he ended up committing a sin worthy of death. King David committed a sin that, according to God's law, he should have been put to death for that. Now, of course, he was repentant. He was sorry. He asked for forgiveness, and God gave him mercy. God gave him grace, meaning it's not what he deserved. He deserved to die. But God did give him mercy and grace, but it just goes to show the importance of fighting or working or both, because he wouldn't have gotten himself in this situation. Here's an example of someone that did this the right way, though, is King Asa. Go to 2 Chronicles, chapter number 14. So, you know, unfortunately, David was a bad example in this aspect. He's a great example in many areas. But, hey, just because you were King David yesterday doesn't mean that you're King David today, right? Just because you were fighting and working yesterday doesn't mean that you're automatically gonna be fighting and working today. Every single day, we have to put on the new man. Every single day, we have to remind ourselves we're in a spiritual battle. Every single day, we have to get ourselves to work and to overcome the flesh, because it's not automatic. 2 Chronicles 14, let's look at a good example, though. Verse 1, so Abijah slept with his fathers and they buried him in the city of David, and Asa his son reigned in his stead. This is one of my favorite kings in the Bible. In his days, notice the land was quiet ten years. This is a lot like Solomon's situation, right, where he has a time of peace, he has a time of quiet, but he was in the same situation as Solomon, but what did he do? Did he get lazy? Did he do nothing? No, look what he did in verse 2. It says, and Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the Lord, for he took away the altars of the strange gods and the high places and break down the images and cut down the groves and commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers and to do the law and the commandment. Also, he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the images and the kingdom was quiet before him. Sounds like he was getting to work, right? He was getting there. He's getting rid of the idols. He's getting rid of the high places. He's commanding his nation to seek the Lord. He's commanding his nation to follow the law of God, to follow the commandments. He's identifying issues and he's taking care of it. He's working, right? What did he do? Look at verse 3. He identified problems and solved them, for he took away the altars of the strange gods and the high places and break down the images and cut down the groves. Hey, that's an issue. When you got false religion in your nation, you know, you should identify, hey, that's a problem. That can cause the next generations to stumble, to not be saved, to go to hell. Hey, I notice there's a problem here. I need to get to work on that and solve that problem. And hey, if you're living in a time of peace, if you're living in a season of peace in your life, identify problems and solve them. There's got to be something in your life that could be improved. There's got to be something in your church that could be improved or your workplace. Hey, if you're in a time of peace, notice issues, make them better. Also, he invested in others. Notice how he said that he commanded them to seek the Lord, right? You could think about that kind of as winning someone to Christ, commanding them to know the Lord. But not only that, it says he commanded them to do the law, right? So he's getting to work. He's saying, all right, let's get you saved and then I'm going to teach you to follow God's commandments. Asa's getting to work here. And then he was thorough. Notice in verse 5 it says, also he took away out of all the cities of Judah. The high places and images. So when he was finding work to do in this time of peace, he wasn't doing it half-heartedly. He was going through all the cities and making sure this was taken care of. He was being thorough. He was working hard. And you know, that's what we got to do in our lives when we're in a time of peace, when our church is in a time of peace. Let's make sure we're being thorough and, hey, let's knock every single door of this area. Let's have a plan to knock every single door in all of DFW and, you know, keep winning people to Christ and other nations and other states, starting churches. Let's be thorough. Let's command people to know the Lord. Let's command people to follow the law as well. Follow the commandments of God. That's something that we could be doing as a church while our church is in a time of peace. Look at verse 6. And this goes along with the theme of what we've been saying. Notice in verse 6, and he built fenced cities. He's building in time of peace, right? He's working. For the land had rest and he had no war in those years because the Lord had given him rest. Therefore, he said unto Judah, let us build these cities and make about them walls and towers, gates and bars, while the land is yet before us, because we have sought the Lord our God, we have sought him, and he hath given us rest on every side, so they built and prospered. Isn't that great? You see seasons where they're fighting, they're fighting, they're fighting, and then, boom, what should you immediately go into? Building. What happens when you're staying busy when you're working for the Lord? Prosperity. Prosperity. And that's why King Solomon's kingdom was so great at first is because King Solomon had the mind to work. He said, hey, my dad fought, let's get something done. Let's build the house of the Lord. And you could say arguably that King Solomon's reign was the most Israel had ever prospered. I mean, King Solomon is the richest man that's ever lived by far, not even close. Had the greatest sacrifices to the Lord as far as quantity goes. You know, God came and appeared twice to King Solomon. It was a time where the nation of Israel had peace from their enemies. They weren't fighting. You know, it was a great time in the nation's history, and why is that? Because he was working. Because he was building. You know, there's this saying about a cycle that societies go through, and it goes like this. Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times. And that last one is where we are right now. Weak men of our nation is creating hard times, and we have not seen the worst of it yet. In our nation, we are still reaping the blessings of our godly heritage when this nation was started, when fundamentalism is thriving, when Christianity is thriving. We're still reaping a lot of the benefits of having built our nation on the rock and on the word of God, on his statutes, his laws. If you don't know what I'm talking about, go watch the Sodomite deception. It proves beyond any shadow of a doubt that, hey, our nation was founded off of the principles of God's word. Now, was every single founding father saved? Absolutely not, okay? But Christianity was our nation's religion, no doubt about it. And that is why we have the most freedom that any nation has ever had. That's why we've had the most prosperity that any nation has ever had. That's why we've had the most preaching of God's word, the most missionaries, the most King James Bibles, the most churches. It's because of the foundation that our nation laid. But as we depart from that, what do we see? Do we see prosperity in our nation? No, we see us losing freedom. We see us getting more and more wicked rulers. We see the U.S. Navy promoting trannies. We see our military making recruitment videos with fags. Meanwhile, Russia is recruiting videos like this dude bench pressing, right? You know? We're going into hard times. And it's because we don't have strong men. And it's because those strong men didn't go through hard times themselves. And even if you're in a time of peace, you can make your life hard. And you should. Every single person in here should make their life hard by working. As Christians in America, if you wanted to, you could have such an easy life, it's not even funny. I mean, there's so many things in America that I take for granted. And then I go to another country and I'm like, wow, we have it so good here. Because honestly, the Bahamas is about as good as you're going to get in a foreign nation. And I tell you what, I am so glad I live in America and not the Bahamas. I'm serious. It's so much better. It's not even funny. You can't even walk into a grocery store in the Bahamas without some security guard buzzing you in. You can't just walk. You don't have the peace or freedom to just walk into a store. Someone has to buzz you in and there's gates and bars everywhere. And there's barbed wire everywhere. And you don't have the right to carry a firearm there. Right? You know, the thing is, it could be really easy to live in America if you wanted to. You could just have prosperity. You could just work a cush job and have your amazing American food and go on your vacations and live in prosperity and wealth and not really have a hard life if that's what you wanted. That's what a lot of people are doing in America. Why do you think both men and women work? So that they can both have an income and have the easiest life that they could possibly afford. But as Christians in America, if we want to be strong men, you must make your life hard. Because oftentimes in America, circumstances aren't going to do it for you. Now, not everyone is in the same situation. You know, if you're like, hey, I'm working 80 hours a week. I'm busy. Great. Praise the Lord. You need to make sure you make your life harder. That brings me to my third point is that you must purpose to build. You must purpose to build in your life. Go back to 1 Kings chapter number 5. 1 Kings chapter number 5. Verse 4 says, but now the Lord my God have given me rest on every side so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrence. And behold, I purpose to build in house unto the name of the Lord my God as the Lord spake unto David my father saying, thy son whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build in house unto my name. If you're living in a time of peace, if you're living in prosperity, if you have a pretty easy life, you need to do things that makes your life harder. Solomon noticed that he was in a situation, hey, I've got peace and prosperity, so you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to do something hard. I'm going to build the house of the Lord. Do you think that's easy? Do you think that's an easy task? I mean, this was an insane construction project that was done. I mean, they're putting all the pieces together outside of the temple so there's not a sound of any tools as they're building it. They're using really, you know, nice materials. They're working hard. They've got labors for this thing. He decided to do something big for the Lord, making his own life harder in doing so. Did Solomon have to build a house to the Lord? No, absolutely not. He's the king. He can do whatever he wants, right? And in America, can't you just do whatever you want? Pretty much. Right? So you need to make your life harder. What's one way to do that? Why don't you be like Solomon and build the house of the Lord? Why don't you build the house of the Lord? Why don't you dedicate your life to the house of God? Dedicate your life to the local New Testament church. I'll read for you Psalm 12 verse 1 says this, Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth, for the faithful fail from among the children of men. They speak vanity, everyone with his neighbor, with flattering lips and with a double heart. Do they speak? You know, church in America in general is on the decline. Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth, right? Most people in America are not going to church like they used to. That does not have to be the case here. That does not have to be the case for steadfast Baptist church. And thank God it's not. Our church is thriving. Our church is prospering by God's grace. But, hey, you should make sure that you yourself make sure that your life is dedicated to the house of God. If you're only going to church one time a week, make it three. You know, a lot of people drive really far distances to go to church. But, hey, you need to make your life harder because it's real easy to drive to the Baptist church that's five minutes away because we live in Texas and everyone has a Baptist church five minutes away. But that doesn't mean that every church is preaching hard. That doesn't mean that every church is soul winning. That doesn't mean that every church has the King James Bible as their foundation. So you need to do something hard called driving a little bit three times a week and going to church. Hey, you need to do something hard and make sure that you bring your family to church with you and that you're not only prioritizing yourself, but if at all possible, you're also investing into your children and investing into your wife. Because what's the point of fighting if there's no generation to give it to? What's the point of you going to church your whole life and your kids don't? You think that they're going to serve God just because you did? Not necessarily. Not necessarily. You need to teach them. You know, you need to be a great church member and not complain and not add more issues or add more work, but rather look for things to take work away. Look how you could be a blessing. I was really impressed with this Bahamas trip because everyone was so easy to manage. No one complained. Everyone's on time for stuff. That was great. That's how every local New Testament church should be. And then we need to set the example of, hey, we're church members that show up on time. We go soul winning where we're told and we don't complain about it. And we sing the song that we're told whenever, whatever, like Pastor Shelley preached, right? We're just on board. We just have the zeal of the Lord. We're ready to serve God and his house, whatever the sermon is. We're ready to listen to it, whatever the song, whatever. We're ready to give our lives dedicated to the house of Lord, you know, playing an instrument. It's great that we have so many instruments here. But it's also kind of weird that we have 200 plus church members and one piano player. You know, one person can't do that all on their own, right? There's got to be someone in here that can build their skills to play piano, right? So we could have another piano player. Wouldn't that be great? I'm just saying. You know, greet a guest when they come. Be a friend to someone. Be friendly. You know, that's not something that's necessarily easy to every person, if you're naturally introverted, to talk to people that are new, to be friendly, to be guests. That's a service that you could do for God's house. That's a way that you can make Steadfast Baptist Church a better church than it is today. And that's what you should do. Hey, make your life harder by just fully dedicating your life to God's house, working and serving in God's house. Go to John chapter number 2. John chapter number 2. John chapter number 2, verse 14. This is the story of Jesus here in John 2. He was found in the temple, those that sold oxen and sheep and doves and the changers of money sitting. And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple and the sheep and the oxen and poured out the changers' money and overthrew the tables and said unto them that sold doves, take these things hence. Make not my Father's house and house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. You know, that could be said of King Solomon. That could be said of King Asa. That could be said of Nehemiah. That could be said of the Lord Jesus Christ. Could that be said of you? That the zeal of God's house has eaten you up? You know, you shouldn't only dedicate your life to the local New Testament church if you have some sort of position, if you're an usher or a song leader or a sound person or a musician. Every single person, no matter what of your position in the church, should dedicate your life to serving God in the local New Testament church. That is what every single person should do. The zeal of God's house should be the first thing in your life. It should be what eats you up. It should be the most important thing to you. Here's another way you could make your, you could build, an area that you could build in your life. Titus chapter number two, flip over to Titus chapter number two. We talked about building God's house. Well, what about your house? Titus chapter number two. That's what Solomon did. He built God's house, then he built his house. Titus chapter number two, verse three. It says, the age of women likewise, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things, that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chase, notice, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. You know, just like as men in America, we could live a pretty easy life if we wanted to. Ladies in America can live a really easy life if they allow themselves to. And every single lady in this room should purpose in her heart to make her life hard by serving her family to the best of her ability. That is going to be hard, but that is what God has called ladies to do, to love their spouse, to love their children, and to be keepers at home. Think about how easy your life could be as an American woman if you just tried to have just the easiest life possible. I mean, all your household goods are delivered from Amazon. You don't even have to go shopping. You can get your nails done all the time because you're not in the field doing any physical work. You don't need to use those hands for anything. You don't need to milk the cow. You don't need to gather, you know, the wheat. You don't have to do any outdoor activities, right? I mean, you have a dishwasher that cleans everything for you. You got a robo vacuum, for crying out loud. You don't even have to sweep or vacuum. The thing does it itself. Hey, find some ways to get to work. God didn't create you to just sit down all day and play on TikTok. You can still work, even in America, with all these modern amenities given to you, you can still work. And hey, I've got three young kids. I understand life is crazy, and I don't expect my house to be perfect, especially when I have three little kids. But when my three girls are teenagers, I will expect my house to be perfectly clean at all times, because you're expected to tell me that I have four women in my home, and my house can't be clean. No way. No way. That is a joke. If there are four women living in a house and that house is dirty, that is a shame. Should not happen ever. That's ridiculous. God has told you you're supposed to keep the house. That is your job. And look, I get it. There's other difficulties that comes with being a mom and being a wife. That's why it's called work. It's not easy. But hey, a lot of American women, their life is easy, and they need to get to work and not be idle, but actually serve their family, cook some good, healthy meals, invest into your children, teach them the Bible, love them, sing with them, play with them, be a good wife to your husband, you know, be ready for him when he gets home, like the old 1950s school pamphlets, have the children quiet, have the house clean, take his shoes, take his coat. Why not? Why not? You just want to play on TikTok all day? That's no fun. Same thing with dads. Ephesians 6, 4 says, any fathers provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. You know, that's not easy either. That's hard work, bringing up your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. You know, kids need a mom and dad. Kids need a mom and dad that both love them, that's both invested into them, that's both committed to teaching them God's word, and if you're doing it right, it should be a lot of work. It should be something that's not easy. It should be hard. Proverbs 22, 6 says this, train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it. You know, training implies a lot of work, and when you see someone whose kid grows up that knows the Bible and someone's kid grows up to be a soul winner and someone's kid grows up just to be a squared away human being, that took a lot of work from mom and dad. And you should be willing to invest that type of work into your children because, hey, it's not all about us, it's about the next generation too. We don't want to just fight and not hand it off to a Solomon. No, we want to give it to a Solomon for him to build. Here's another thing you could build is your community. Go to Acts chapter number 1, Acts chapter number 1. Finding ways in your life to make your life harder so that you can build in your life. Acts 1 verse 8 says, but ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And let me tell you, there's no better way to build your community than by soul winning. No better way to do it. You know, we can go to the Bahamas and we can do like a lot of churches do where they build a house or they build a school or they start a soup kitchen. But, you know, that doesn't serve people as well as getting them saved. That doesn't serve people as well as helping them escape the fires of hell. And when it comes to, hey, let's build God's house, let's build our house, let's build our community too. Let's bring the Bible back to the Bible Belt in Texas because it's the Bible Belt in name only now. Let's make it the real Bible Belt again. Let's get a King James Bible into the hands of everyone here. Let's give them a preserved Bible. Let's give them a Sodomite deception. Let's serve our community by giving our community God's word. Righteousness exalted a nation. How is it that you serve your country? You know, serving your country is not just joining the military. Serving your country is preaching God's word. That's the best way to serve your country. I'll read for you Psalm 119 verse 9. It says, Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word. How are we going to clean up this area? How are we going to clean up Texas? How are we going to clean up America? It's only by the word of God. It's only by the King James Bible. And if you love America, if you love Texas, you want to build your community, you love your community, you love your neighborhood, this is how you build them. Is by giving them the words of God. Here's another thing you could build in your life. Go to Proverbs chapter number 7. Proverbs chapter number 7. Another thing you could build in your life is your education. Now, for educational purposes, I've recently been reading Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler. And he talks a lot about education and his philosophy on education. And he very clearly states that his goal for education is the indoctrination of racism and the hardening of the physical body. Physical training and racism is why public schools exist in Germany. That's what he wanted the little kids to learn. Make sure that they realize who the master race is and never to mix with inferior races and to become physically strong. That is what he wanted. But that is not what the Bible teaches. This is a stupid, wicked ideology. This is what the Bible says. Proverbs 4. 7. Wisdom is the principle thing. Meaning, hey, wisdom is the most important thing. Not your physical body. Not your race. No, wisdom is the most important thing. Therefore, get wisdom. And with all thy getting, get understanding. So, the Bible does not agree with Adolf Hitler here saying the only thing that matters is racism and your physical body. No. The most important thing you could get is wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. How are you going to get that? You're going to get that through the word of God. Psalm 119, 104 says, through thy precepts I get understanding. Therefore, I hate every false way. You want to get understanding? Read the word of God. You want to get knowledge? Read the word of God. You want to get wisdom? Read the word of God. Hey, but don't stop there. Read books, too. Because reading books is like a secret weapon in our society. Because almost no one does it anymore. And it will give you an edge over other people in so many areas just by reading books. People don't know anything about history anymore. People are completely just uneducated. And the reason why is because our society is set up on a 60 second TikTok reel just going over and over and over and over. And people don't take the time to read God's word anymore. Let alone read things other than the Bible. And here's the thing. I hope everyone in here already has a great habit of reading the Bible. It's really easy to take someone that reads the Bible already and turn them into a reader of extra things rather than the kid that just graduated high school who doesn't read anything. Right? So, it's not really that much harder for us just to be like, hey, let's read a little bit of something extra. Get smarter. Learn about history. You know, in all labor there is profit, the Bible says. Don't only focus on the Bible, though if you're not reading that, then please start with the Bible. But I think you should also read other things. You know, as far as education goes, I think it's great to take classes of specific things you want to learn. You know, the problem with college is not learning. I mean, hello, the Bible says that knowledge is the principal thing. Wisdom is the principal thing. The problem is when you're not learning anything there. When you're being taught lies there. When you're being indoctrinated there. When you're spending your time drinking and partying and committing fornication. That's the problem with college. The problem is not taking a class. Look, if you could take some sort of class and learn something, you should do it. That's great. It's great to be educated. There's nothing in the wrong, nothing in the world wrong with getting educated. Here's something else that you should build. Your career. I'll read for you 1 Timothy 5, 8 says, but if any provide not for his own, especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith and is worse than an infidel. The Bible says that someone that wouldn't take care of their own family is worse than someone that's not even saved. And so if that's something that you're struggling with to do, then hey, that's an area in your life that you should build. That you should purpose to build. Hey, I'm going to build a career. I'm going to get the education I need. I'm going to get the skills I need. I'm going to put in the work to get a higher paying job. That's maybe something that people need to do. Now, hey, there's some people that are taking care of their family just great. And that's awesome. Focus on the other areas that we talked about. This is where they need to invest their time, is in their career. You know, looking forward 10 years ahead and thinking, am I going to be able to provide for my family with this job in the future? Thinking about the future is very important. And another area we could build, this would be the last one I talk about. And notice it's last because unlike Adolf Hitler, I don't think this is the most important thing. But it still is important. And that is building your body, okay? Now, this is not something that is even close to the most important. But notice what the Bible says. Go to 1 Timothy chapter number 4. 1 Timothy chapter number 4. 1 Timothy chapter number 4 verse 7 says this, For bodily exercise profiteth little, but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. So, hey, we talked about building your church. We talked about building your family. We talked about building your community and your job and your education. All those things are more important. But, hey, the Bible says that bodily exercise profiteth, but it profits little, okay? It's not the most important thing. But, hey, our society has taken this to way too much of an extreme, okay? Where people are just obese. They're just unable to do basic tasks because of how unhealthy they are. And, look, when it comes to serving God, it takes your physical body to do that because you have to walk to preach people the gospel. You've got to go up the apartment stairs. You have to endure the Texas heat standing on you, right? So, there is a level of physical fitness that is beneficial to your service for God. And you ought not just to neglect that. And some people neglect this and think that they're more spiritual. Like, oh, I would never go to the inside of the gym because I would just be memorizing scripture all day. I would just be reading the Bible all day. And it's like, cool, bro, but how about in 60 years, like, when you're 500 pounds overweight, you can't go up the flight of stairs. Hey, don't make it your whole life. Don't obsess over it. But being physically fit is a virtue. And not being physically fit is not a virtue. It's not something to be praised. You know, a lot of people in our culture are just saying that you should never be judged for being unhealthy. That tells me you hate someone. I mean, someone's super, super overweight. They're super unhealthy. They're having issues and you're never allowed to tell them that. It just means that you hate them, that you don't care about them. No, no, no. Don't make it your life. Don't obsess over it. Don't freak out about having an 8% body fat, okay? That's ridiculous. But you should be healthy physically. And what are we talking about? Ways to make our lives harder, right? Because, hey, you don't have to exercise. You can sit around and do absolutely nothing with your life. But if you want to make your life harder and make your life better, you should put the time to exercise. Men are supposed to be strong. And it is not a virtue to be weak and to pretend that you're more spiritual because you're not strong. That's not cool. You need to get strong. Spiritually, most important. Emotionally, more important. But physically is important too. Don't let yourself go physically because it will eventually affect your spiritual life. In conclusion here, let's go to Ecclesiastes chapter number two. Ecclesiastes chapter number two. What happens in your life if you don't purpose to build? What will the consequences be of not building? You know, we saw at the beginning of Solomon's reign that he purposed to build a house unto the Lord. But that is not how Solomon finished his life. He started off working hard, but he did not stay that way his whole life. And let's look at the consequences it had for King Solomon. Let's start in verse one of chapter two in Ecclesiastes. It says, I said in mine heart, go to now. I will prove thee with mirth. Therefore, enjoy pleasure and behold, this also is vanity. So Solomon just said, hey, I'm just going to do what makes me happy. I'm just going to do what's pleasurable. He's living that American life. He's living it on easy street. The most easy path he could possibly take. That's what Solomon is going to do. Let's skip down for sake of time to verse nine. It says, so I was great and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem. He had the biggest bank account. Also, my wisdom remained with me. And whatsoever mine eyes desired, I kept not from them. Which is pretty obvious when he had a thousand women, obviously. I withheld not my heart from any joy, for my heart rejoiced in all my labor and this was my portion of all my labor. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought and on the labor that I had labored to do. And behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit. And there was no profit under the sun. And I turned myself to behold wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do that cometh after the king, even that which hath been already done? Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly as far as light excelleth darkness. The wise man eyes are in his head, but the fool walketh in darkness. And I myself perceive also that one event happeneth to them all. Then said I in my heart, as it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me. Why was I then the more wise? Then I said in my heart that this also is vanity. He's pretty black-billed here. Verse 16. For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool forever, seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dyeth the wise man as the fool? Notice verse 17. This is the most important verse. Therefore, I hated life. That's the end of King Solomon right there. Started off inheriting peace, prosperity, a secure kingdom from King David, and he started off saying I'm going to build a house of the Lord. I'm going to work hard. But eventually he said, you know what, I don't want to work hard anymore. I just want to give my heart whatever my eyes desire. I'm not going to hold back any pleasure from me. I'm just going to live my best life now. I'm not going to focus on working anymore. And at the end of all of that, you know what he said? I hated life. There's a lie out there that people want to tell you that people that work hard are miserable and you got to get out of that state so that you're just only having this residual income coming in so you don't have to work anymore and then you'll be happy. No, if you're not working, you know what you're going to do? You're going to hate your life. You are going to hate life. Because the whole reason we even get pleasure in this life is because we can't get everything we want all the time. The reason why a ribeye steak tastes so good is because you don't eat it every single night, right? The reason why going to the Bahamas is so fun is because you don't go swimming in the ocean every single day, right? But if you went swimming in the ocean every single day, you know what would happen? You'd begin to hate it. I'll give you a good example. I love shooting. But it's expensive, so it's not something I can always do. My brother, for his job, has to shoot like 60,000 rounds a year and he's like, I'm done with this. This is annoying because he has to shoot so much, right? Well, Solomon, you've got all the wealth of the world, giving yourself everything your heart desires. You know what that creates? Emptiness, loneliness, sadness, despair, hating life. And so there is a consequence in your life if you decide not to build, if you decide not to work hard, you will end up hating your life. But what if you choose to work? Go to 1 Corinthians, chapter number 15. This is our church's verse here. 1 Corinthians, chapter number 15. Regardless of how easy your life is, if you're not working, you will be miserable. But on the converse, regardless of how hard your life is, regardless of how much you're fighting or how much you're working, if you're serving the Lord, you will be fulfilled and you will have a meaningful life. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 58, says, therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Why? For as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Notice Solomon saying, hey, it's all vain, it's all vanity, it's all worthless, it all means nothing. But when it comes to doing work for God, the Bible says that our labor is not in vain in the Lord. So no matter how hard of a life you have, no matter how much you're constantly fighting and you're saying, Lord, am I ever going to stop fighting? Am I ever going to have to stop working? Hey, all of that stuff at least is not in vain. It's meaningful. It's something that you could pass on to your children and invest in the next generation. It's souls getting saved. It's rewards in the kingdom of God. Those things are eternal. Those things matter. You know what doesn't matter? Your car, your house, your vacations, your meals, your easy life. Those things don't matter. What matters is the eternal, the spiritual things. So in our lives, hey, realize that we're going to be in times where we're fighting both in our church's life and in our personal life. God has called us to be soldiers. We should take that fight seriously. We should not get tired of fighting because we care about the next generation. But, hey, when we're in times of peace, let's make sure that we're not getting lazy. Let's make sure that we're building, building the house of God, building our families, building our community, our education, our homes, all of these things, building things that matter so that you don't end up like Solomon saying, I have hated life. Let's have a word of prayer. Lord, thank you so much for this day. Thank you for our word, for your word that gives us so much wisdom and knowledge and warnings in your word, Lord. I pray that every single person here would dedicate their life to serving you and to doing things that have eternal value so that none of our labor can be in vain. I pray that you would strengthen our pastor to continue leading us in the right direction. We love you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. All right. In closing, let's go to song number 131. Song 131. Christ is all I need. Song number 131. Song number 131. Everybody sing it out on the first. Christ is all I need. Christ is all I need. All I need. Christ is all I need. Christ is all I need. All I need. He was crucified. For me he died on Calvary. That's why I know he loves me so. He's all I need. Great job, everybody. You were all dismissed.