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

Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music The Fight Is On Song number 409 in your green hymnals, The Fight Is On Song number 409, let's sing it out on the first The fight is on, the trumpet sound is ringing out, the cry to arms is heard afar and near, The Lord of Hosts is marching on to victory, the triumph of the Christ will soon appear, The fight is on, O Christian soldier, and face to face in stern array, with armor gleaming and colors streaming, the right and wrong engage today, The fight is on, but be not weary, be strong and in His might hold fast, if God be for us, His banner o'er us, we'll sing the victor's song at last. Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Alright, next song is song number 405, Banner of the Cross. Song number 405 in your green hymnals, The Banner of the Cross. Song number 405, let's sing it out on that first verse. There's a royal banner given for display to the soldiers of the King, as an ensign fair we lift it up today, while as ransomed ones we sing, Marching on, marching on, for Christ counts everything but loss, and to crown Him King, toil and sing, neath the banner of the cross, Though the foe may rage and gather as the flood, let the standard be displayed, and beneath its folds as soldiers of the Lord, for the truth be not dismayed, Marching on, marching on, for Christ counts everything but loss, and to crown Him King, toil and sing, neath the banner of the cross, Over land and sea, wherever man may dwell, make the glorious tidings known, Of the crimson banner now the story tell, while the Lord shall claim His own, Marching on, marching on, for Christ counts everything but loss, and to crown Him King, toil and sing, neath the banner of the cross, When the glory dawns, tis drawing very near, it is hastening day by day, Then before our King the foe shall disappear, and the cross the world shall sway, Marching on, marching on, for Christ counts everything but loss, and to crown Him King, toil and sing, neath the banner of the cross, Be with Brother Dylan as he preaches the sermon today, Lord, form up with your spirit, we pray that you would bless this offering, Lord, bless both the gift and the giver, in Jesus' name, Amen. . . All right, good morning. If you turn with me to the book of Joshua. Book of Joshua chapter 24. Joshua 24. And this is a very powerful portion of scripture. So kids, listen up. You will enjoy this. Joshua 24. Sit down, please. And in Joshua 24 the Bible reads, and Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and called for the elders of Israel and for their heads and for their judges and for their officers, and they presented themselves before God. And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nachor, and they served other gods. And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood and led him throughout all the land of Canaan and multiplied his seed and gave him Isaac. And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau, and I gave unto Esau Mount Seir to possess it. But Jacob and his children went down into Egypt. I sent Moses also an Aaron, and I plagued Egypt according to that which I did among them, and afterward I brought you out. And I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and ye came unto the sea, and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen unto the Red Sea. And when they cried unto the Lord, He put darkness between you and the Egyptians and brought the sea upon them and covered them, and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt, and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season. And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, which dwelt on the other side Jordan, and they fought with you, and I gave them into your hand that ye might possess their land, and I destroyed them from before you. Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you. But I would not hearken unto Balaam, therefore he blessed you still, so I delivered you out of his hand. And you went over Jordan and came unto Jericho, and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Girgashites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, and I delivered them into your hand. And I sent the hornet before you, which draped them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites, but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow. And I have given you a land for which ye did not labor, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them, of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not, do ye eat. Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your father served on the other side of the flood and in Egypt, and serve ye the Lord. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your father served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods, for the Lord our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed. And the Lord drove out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land, therefore will we also serve the Lord, for he is our God. And Joshua said unto the people, ye cannot serve the Lord, for he is an holy God, he is a jealous God, he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. If ye forsake the Lord and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good. And the people said unto Joshua, nay, but we will serve the Lord. And Joshua said unto the people, ye are witnesses against yourselves, that ye have chosen you the Lord to serve him. And they said, we are witnesses. Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel. And the people said unto Joshua, the Lord our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey. So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone and set it up there under an oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord. And Joshua said unto all the people, behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us, for it hath heard all the words of the Lord which he spake unto us. It shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God. So Joshua let the people depart, every man unto his inheritance. And it came to pass after these things that Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being 110 years old. And they buried him in the border of his inheritance, in Timnath-sarah, which is in Mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash. And Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that over-lived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the Lord that he had done for Israel. And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred pieces of silver. And it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph. And Eleazar, the son of Aaron, died, and they buried him in a hill that pertained to Phinehas, his son, which was given him in Mount Ephraim. Brother Anthony, would you pray for us? Amen. Amen. All right. Well, thank you guys so much for coming in the snow. I did pray for the snow, so if you don't like the snow, I do apologize for that. But the Bible has a lot of good things to say about snow. If you look it up, you know, heat is the negative thing. It's called hell, all right? But the snow is refreshing. It's very good. But it's great to see you all again. This church seems so healthy. It seems like this church is doing so good. It's great to see that God has blessed you guys with a new building. It's an awesome building. Tons of storage, and it just seems like God is really blessing you guys. So, thank you so much for coming out here. And I'm glad to be here. Thank you, Pastor Thompson, for the opportunity to preach. I'm always praying for you guys. It's always good to see you guys again. So, thank you so much. And we're here in Joshua chapter 24, and if you're following along during the reading, this is kind of like Joshua's farewell address, in a sense. This is his departing. But unlike all the politicians that give their farewell address, he's not sitting here glorifying himself. He's sitting here glorifying the Lord and all the great works that the Lord has done for Joshua and for Israel. And he gives them a charge. He's basically charging them that they continue serving the Lord. But the Holy Ghost, after his speech, the Holy Ghost does say some positive things about Joshua instead of him promoting himself. I want to focus on verse number 31. It says in Joshua 24, verse 31, it says, And Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, in which had known all the works of the Lord that he had done for Israel. And this is the Holy Ghost giving us a really amazing testimony of Joshua's leadership. That when Joshua died, all of the people continued serving God the same way they were serving God when Joshua was alive. And all of the elders that overlived him, they continued to serve the Lord. It wasn't until there rose another generation that didn't see the works of Joshua, that didn't see the works of those elders until they forgot and started living wickedly again. And you think about this like, let's use a carnal example. Think about like a president, you know, President Ronald Reagan, for example. There's people still alive today that were in government at the time of Ronald Reagan. So imagine if the United States of America was serving God in the 1980s, and in the 1990s, and in the 2000s, and in the 2010s, and still the elders that are outliving Ronald Reagan. I'm not comparing Joshua to Ronald Reagan, don't get me wrong. It's just an example. But that's a long time, right? And it's a great testimony to the leadership of Joshua that these people continued serving the Lord for so long. And you know, our goal as Christians should be not just that we live a Christian life, and then Christianity dies off. It should not be that Sure Foundation Baptist Church is a great church in the 2010s, and in the 2020s, and in the 2030s, and then it just dies and goes away. How many churches used to exist in this country that were just absolute powerhouses of the gospel, preaching hard against sin, great godly churches to go to, and now they don't exist. Because they failed to pass it on to the next generation, and the goal of Sure Foundation Baptist Church is not just to have a great church in our lifetime, but to be able to pass that on to our children, and for them to actually preserve it. For them to actually take the great gift that is this local New Testament church, and to preserve it, and to keep it going, and not to forget all the great works that have been done here. And you know, if you think about all the great works that have been done in this church, just like the great works that were done in the days of Israel, there has been a lot of great works done here. There has been thousands and thousands of people saved through the ministry of this church. There has been other churches started. There have been people sent out. There's been marriages had, families that are rooted and grounded, you know, there's been battles fought, enemies destroyed, some of those enemies passed on to steadfast. Thank you very much for that, by the way. You know, this church has done a lot of great things, just like was done then. So the title of my sermon is Passing the Torch. Passing the Torch. Because I'm sure everyone in this room understands how important it is to pass the torch to the next generation. But if you look at the Bible, and you look at reality, you see that most people fail to do this. Even though everyone says, oh yeah, we gotta pass the torch to the next generation, we gotta make sure the next generation is serving God. But yet, we look at our country, and is our country more godly today than it used to be? No, it's not. Are there more soul winners today than there used to be? No, there's not. Why? Because the previous generation is failing to pass the torch. And you know what? Right now, we have a great gift. We have something great going here with Said Fast Baptist Church, with Sure Foundation Baptist Church, and other great churches like it. And we don't want to let that die off. We need to pass the torch to the next generation. How are we going to do that? Well tonight, or this morning rather, I want to look at some great things that Joshua did. Some great leadership qualities that he had that enabled the children of Israel to serve God for so long. That way we can model our lives the same way. Go to Joshua chapter number 3. Joshua chapter number 3. And so, if we're going to pass the torch to the next generation, my first point this morning is that we need to set up spiritual monuments in our Christian life. Set up spiritual monuments in our Christian life. And the context of this in Joshua chapter 3 is that the children of Israel are about to go cross into the Promised Land. And God makes a miracle happen where the Jordan River is opened up, split in two, and the children of Israel walk on dry ground through the Jordan River. Let's read in Joshua chapter number 3, verse number 15. It says, And as they that bear the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bear the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, for Jordan overfloweth all his banks, all the time of harvest. That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zeratan, and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed and were cut off, and the people passed right over against Jericho. And the priests that bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground until all the people were passed clean over Jordan. So here, God is having this amazing miracle happen, and a lot of times we just read the stories in the Bible and we're like, yeah, you know, God parts the Red Sea, yeah, God parts the River Jordan, but when you actually slow down and think about it, this is a seriously amazing thing that's happening. This is God confirming that he is with them, and it's actually confirming the leadership of Joshua, if you look in the same chapter, verse 7, it says, And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee. So God commits this great work, why? To validate Joshua's leadership, and to validate that God is with the children of Israel. And if you've been at this church for any length of time, you have seen God do great things in this church to validate that this is a great church. You have seen families grow, you have seen people come in here and they're unchurched, they're of the world, and you've seen them become soul winners. You've seen them obey God's commandments to be fruitful and multiply, and we have children in this church that are a result of hard preaching that would have never been brought into this world otherwise. We've seen God do great things in this church, just like we've seen in the Bible. But after God performed this miracle, it's not like the children of Israel just forgot about it, like, okay, God just split the Jordan, time to move on with life. No, they actually did something so that they would remember it. Look at Joshua chapter 4, verse 1, And it came to pass, when all the people were clean past over Jordan, that the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying, Take ye twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe of man, and command ye them, saying, Take ye hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests' feet stood firm twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place where ye shall lodge this night. Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man. And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of Jordan, and take ye up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, that this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? Then ye shall answer them that the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off, and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel forever. So notice, one of the things that Joshua had the people do, yes, God had this great miracle happen for them. He split Jordan River, but Joshua did not want the people to forget the great works of God. And so what happens, he tells the elders to go into the river Jordan, and take twelve stones, and he's going to build a memorial so that our children in the future generations will see that memorial, and ask their fathers, What mean ye by these stones? He's setting up a monument for the next generation to remember the works of God. Now look at verse number fourteen of the same chapter. Verse fourteen, it says, On that day the Lord magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they feared him as they feared Moses all the days of his life. Now these stones weren't necessarily important for the generation that's alive right now, because they feared Joshua. They feared Moses, and they served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua. But why did Joshua want to build this? For the next generation, not for the current generation, for the next generation. So that they would see those stones and ask, What mean ye by these stones? So even though these people had a good attitude, they had the right heart. Joshua knew that people will forget, and what ended up happening eventually, they forgot didn't they? Sounds like the fathers stopped teaching what those stones meant. They stopped taking it seriously, the importance of passing the torch to the next generation. Look at verse nineteen of Joshua chapter number four. And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month and encamped in Gilgal in the east border of Jericho. And those twelve stones which they took out of Jordan did Joshua pitch in Gilgal. And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye these stones? Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. For the Lord your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until you were passed over, as the Lord your God did, to the Red Sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over. That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty that ye might fear the Lord your God forever. You know, our job in this generation is that all the earth may know about the Lord, that all the earth may fear the Lord. But when we die, it ceases to be our job to do that. We cannot do that anymore. We have to entrust the next generation to do that. And if we fail to pass the torch to the next generation, then we will fail to let all the world know about the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, like I said, everyone knows this. Everyone knows we need to pass the torch to the next generation. But this is an extremely important sermon because this actually can change the world if you actually do it. Because people fail to do it in the Bible. We see people fail to do it in our country. But if we actually do it, the whole world can know about the Lord. Sounds very important to me. So what kind of spiritual monuments? You know, Joshua, he set up a physical monument so that his children, in time to come, would ask their fathers, Dad, what do you mean by these stones? What are some monuments that we need to set up in our lives for our children to see that are spiritual monuments? Go to 1 Timothy, chapter number 3. The first spiritual monument that we need to set up is church. Going to church is a spiritual monument that our children should be able to see that we are building for them. 1 Timothy, chapter 3, look at verse 15. 1 Timothy 3, verse 15, it says, Which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. You know, the ground is a foundation, right? And last time I checked, this is Sure Foundation Baptist Church. This place should be the foundation for the truth. This whole world is full of lies. You send your kids to the public school, they're going to be taught lies. You go to work, you're going to be taught lies. You go watch the television, you're going to be taught lies. There should be one place in this world where the truth is taught. And that is the local church. It's the pillar and ground of the truth. It's the foundation of the truth and it's the pillar, it's what lifts up the truth. That should be important in our lives. And you know, even when kids are babies and toddlers, when you're taking them to church, you're showing them that that pillar is important in your life. And of course, they're not going to be able to understand every word the preacher is saying. They're not going to be able to understand every verse in the Bible. But you know what they are understanding? They're understanding that church is important to mom and dad. They're understanding, wow, there's this place that we go three times a week and my parents don't miss it for anything. It's an important pillar in their lives. And the goal is that someday, someday they will understand. And someday they might ask you, hey dad, what mean ye by these stones? Hey mom, what mean ye by these stones? Hey dad, why do we go to Sure Foundation Baptist Church? Why don't we go to the Catholic Church? Why don't we go to just any Baptist Church? You want your kids to ask you someday why you do the things that you do. And so when you set up a pillar, when you set up a monument, they see that monument and it reminds them of the Lord. They see you going to church three times a week. They see that you take church very seriously. And someday, even though they don't understand now, they're littles right now, they'll want to know someday. And you'll be able to actually have their heart and explain to them, hey, here's why we go to a fundamental Baptist Church. Hey, we have the King James Bible here, the other churches don't. Hey, we have soul winning here, most churches don't. Hey, we have hard preaching here, most churches don't. Hey, we have the right gospel here, most churches don't. Even most Baptist churches don't. It's important that they care and that they ask us someday. Go to Psalm chapter 23. Psalm chapter 23. Psalm 23, verse 1, it says, The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemy. Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. If you would say of yourself that the Lord is your shepherd, would you not also say of yourself that you want your children to have the Lord as your shepherd? And you know what's a great way to do that? To be in the house of the Lord all the days of your life. To dwell in the house of the Lord forever. If you want your kids to have the Lord as their shepherd someday, you know how you do that? It's actually going to church when the doors are open. Not just going to church whenever it's convenient for you. Not just going to church whenever it fits your busy schedule. But no, rather that you would show your children that the most important thing in life is serving God. It's more important than money. It's more important than family. It's more important than anything in your life is serving the Lord. And so if you want your kids to go to church their whole life, you need to go to church your whole life. You are the model. You are the spiritual monument that they can look at and see, hey, my mom and dad go to church. They make it a priority. And you know, if you want your kids to grow up and respect church, you know what else that means? It means not going home and just talking crap about the church. Not going home and just belittling the pastor when you're not at church. No, it means highly-esteeming church in front of your children and making it real. And not being a hypocrite in front of them. I'll read for you Hebrews 10, 25. It says, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching. You know, as the day approaches, the day of Christ, as that day approaches, going to church is more and more important. Going to church this Thursday is more important than being in church right now. And going to church next Sunday is more important And going to church next Sunday is more important than being in church right now. And guess what? Your children going to church 20, 30, 40 years from now is way more important than going to church right now. But if you want them to do that in the future, you know what you need to do? You need to be in church right now. You need to be in church on Thursday. You need to be in church on Sunday morning. You need to be in church on Sunday night and show them that, hey, we're not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. This is important to me. This is my life. If you want that to be the life of your children, that's what you'll do. Send them a strong message. What's another pillar we can rear up for our children to look at? How about reading the Bible? Go to Hebrews chapter number 1. Hebrews chapter number 1. Hebrews chapter number 1. Let's start reading in verse number 1. It says, God who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son whom he hath appointed heir of all things by whom also he made the world. Who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person and I want you to notice this next phrase and upholding all things by the word of his power when he had by himself purged our sins and sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high. Notice the Bible teaches that all things are upheld by what? The word of God. You want to know why this building is standing right now? Because God has not told it to fall down yet. You want to know why this earth has not been burned up with fervent heat and destroyed yet? Because God has not commanded it to be done. You want to know what upholds your life? The word of God. You want to know what upholds your health? It's not garlic drops. It's not all the essential oils. It's not even working out. You know what it is? The word of God. Because there's one thing that upholds you. The word of God. You know what upholds your finances? The word of God. You want to know what upholds your marriage? The word of God. Your success in life is directly tied to one thing and one thing only. The word of God. If you fail to read the word of God, you will be a failure in life. In every category. And if you look at successful people in this world even people that are not saved. You know what they do? They model their life off the principles taught in the word of God. They do. You look at a guy like Elon Musk. Love not sleep. The dude works 16 hours a day. And I hope the guy gets saved before he becomes the Antichrist because he's making some weird technology. But I'm saying like people that are successful even secularly it's because they leverage principles taught in the Bible. And you know if you want your kids to grow up and have a successful happy life serving the Lord you know what they're going to have to do? They're going to have to read the Bible. Why? Because all things are upheld by the word of His power. Their lives are upheld. Their future is upheld by the word of His power. So you know what that tells me? It would tell me that you would be wise and I would be wise to show our children the importance of the word of God. And to set up a spiritual pillar in our life showing them, hey, we read the Bible every day. Would to God it would be said that your children grow up and say, hey, I saw my mom and dad reading the Bible every day. Or they read the Bible to me every day. It wasn't something that they just had to look for on Sunday morning because they haven't picked it up since the last time they were in church. No, they actually know where their Bible is at because they're reading it every day. You know, and thank God we have phones now so some of you read your Bible on your phone. Okay, and you always have that with you, right? But hey, we should be upholding the word of God in our life. We should be showing our children that it is the most important thing. Why? Because there's a serious danger. Go to Hosea chapter number 4. There is a serious danger in our lives and in the lives of our children of what will happen to them if they do not have the word of God, if they do not follow the word of God. It's something that they will be punished for and I'll prove that to you. Hosea chapter 4 verse 6. The Bible says, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. And we know the Bible says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. We know the word of God is what gives us knowledge. And it says, Because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me. Why? Seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God. What's that? The word of God? And then it gives a very chilling warning in the next phrase here. It says, I will also forget thy children. That is a scary thought. And let me tell you what. Your children will not be blessed. Your children will not have a good life. They will not be successful in this life. And you will not be successful in this life unless you highly esteem the word of God. Unless you obey the word of God and read the word of God every day. I don't want God forgetting my children. I want to make sure that's a really strong pillar in my house that they see. That someday, they may not understand the Bible now, but someday I want them to say, Dad, what mean ye by these stones? Why do we read the King James Bible, Dad? Why don't we read the message? You know, I want to be able to make sure that they ask that question and that I'm prepared to answer that. Why? Because their future's dependent on it. Their future is dependent on reading the King James Bible. Look at verse seven. You know, if you don't read the word of God, if you don't know the word of God, you're not going to know what type of church to go to. You're not going to know what a church that actually is modeling the word of God. And you know what you're going to get? You're going to get a bunch of stupid people that go to a bunch of stupid priests. Like people, like priests. And you know what? You're going to be punished for your ways. And let me tell you, going to a bad church is a punishment from God. A bad church is a punishment of God. You're going to Crossroads Church with a dude that doesn't even understand what nature itself teaches you, that a man should not have long hair. Hey, that's a punishment, being taught the word of God by that idiot. What a punishment that is. You want your children being stupid, like the people that go to Crossroads? Guess what? They're stupid. They are. They don't know the word of God. Look at verse eight. Or I'm sorry, verse number 10. What's a stock? Remember Jeremiah was in the stocks, right? These people are asking advice. They're asking counsel from a piece of wood. But that is the level of stupidity of our world right now without the word of God. People think that Joe Biden is smart. People think that we need communism in America. That is just about as dumb as asking advice from a piece of wood. But that is how dumb your children will be if they do not know the word of God. And let me tell you, I'm for teaching our children about math and history and reading and writing. And I believe that we should heavily emphasize education and being smart and being intelligent. I think that our generation is a mere shadow of the intelligence of the previous generations. And it's like even myself, I try to like read something hard just because I feel like I'm not even close to the level that I should be at. But you know, if we don't teach our children the Bible, they're going to be stupid. Because this world is stupid. You talk to people out soul winning that don't believe the word of God, that believe this whole world was created out of nothing, by nothing, and that we evolved from a rock. Those are some stupid people right there. And it's not a very nice thing to say, but it's reality. And I would rather say things that are not nice so that our children don't grow up believing in evolution. So that our children don't grow up being Bernie Sanders supporters and communists and a bunch of idiots today like this world is. I'd rather just give them the hard truth of the word of God. Go to Matthew chapter number seven. We want our children's lives to be built on church and built on the word of God. Look at Matthew 7 verse 24. Therefore whosoever hear these sayings of mine and do with 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. That's what I want my kid's life to be like. Founded upon a rock, the storms and trials of life hit them and they stand. They stand through it. Why? Because they're upheld by the word of God. I don't want them to be like verse 26 and everyone that hear these sayings of mine and do with them not shall be likened unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand and the rains 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 today sadly you look at people even that come to a good church like this and they decide not to take the preaching seriously. They decide not to read the Bible on their own and you see their family destroyed. Great is the fall of their family. You see it happen over and over and you will continue to see it happen in the future. You know it makes me think this next month you've got the January New Testament challenge coming up. Hey this is a great time to start building that spiritual monument in your family's home and showing them hey look the word of God is important to us. We're gonna read nine chapters a day for the whole month of January. We're gonna read the entire New Testament. Hey do it as a family. Do it as a family. Do it as a family. Show your children the importance of the word of God. Go to First Thessalonians chapter five. What's another important pillar that you can set up in your life so that someday they'll ask you what mean ye by these stones? How about prayer? First Thessalonians chapter five verse 17. It's a very short verse. It says pray without ceasing. And it may be a very short verse but you know what? Prayer is an important thing in our lives. Prayer is how things get done. God moves his actions as a result of our prayers and this church can only continue doing great things for God. Our families can only continue doing great things if we are praying to the Lord. Prayer is something that needs to be upheld highly in our churches and in our families and so a great way for your children to see that stone is to let them see you praying. Pray with them at night before you go to bed. And you know I've heard my kids aren't at the age yet where they're praying out loud themselves but I've heard so many funny and cute stories of kids and the silly things that they pray for. Praying for the dog, praying for all these silly things but you know what? That's great because they're starting to see that pillar and someday they're gonna realize the gravity and the extreme importance of prayer in our lives and I want my kids to have a pattern and a habit of praying to the Lord. Go to 2 Corinthians chapter number four. Here's another important pillar we need to set up. Soul winning, soul winning. 2 Corinthians chapter number four. Look at verse one. It says, therefore seeing we have this ministry and we know that Jesus Christ gave us the great commission. It's to man, woman, boy and girl. We all have the ministry. We're all in the ministry. It says, therefore seeing we have this ministry as we have received mercy, we faint not. We wanna make sure that we don't quit. We don't faint on soul winning. Why? Because we've received that mercy from God and if we care and if we're thankful for that mercy that we receive, don't we want other people to also have that same mercy? If I'm thankful to God and happy that he showed me mercy, what's mercy? It's something I didn't deserve. I deserve to go to hell. Every single person in this room deserves to go to hell but I'm so thankful that God gave me mercy and I'm not gonna just take that mercy and run with it. I want other people to have that mercy. I want other people to get saved. Look at verse two. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost and this is a true thing. If we do not raise the next generation of soul winners, if there's no more soul winners on this earth after us, no one will get saved. If the next generation does not learn how to go soul winning and if that is not a thing that they take seriously and becomes a pillar in their life, the next generation will go to hell. They will. That's a terrible thing to think about but there's been times in our nation where we've had a lot more soul winners than that and I'm gonna get to that in a second. I wanna read one more verse here and I can just read this for you but in Ezekiel 22, 30, it says, The Bible says that there was a time where God was seeking for one man to stand in the gap to make up the hedge and guess what he could not find? He couldn't even find one. What a sad thing that is. And you know, now we definitely have a lot more than that but I'll give you an example. In Fort Worth, Texas where I live, there used to be a church called First Baptist Church of Fort Worth. Now the church still exists today but it is a small shadow of its former self. This church used to be pastored by Pastor J. Frank Norris and at the time, it was the largest church in America, a fundamental Baptist hard preaching soul winning church in the 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s. This guy preached so hard, the Fort Worth Zoo would literally let him use monkeys during his sermon to preach against evolution. This guy was so hard that he literally one time approached a drug, and this is Baptist lore. This could be false but I've heard this story and I partly believe it but I'm just gonna tell it. You can take it for what it's worth. There's a story that J. Frank Norris approached the scene of a drunk driving accident that he walked up to the scene, took the bottle of liquor that was in the car, cracked it open, scooped up some gore from the accident, put it on his pulpit, and ripped against alcohol in front of 10,000 people, okay? This country used to be a lot different than it is now and there was 10,000 and plus people in the Fort Worth area that every week would pile into an independent, fundamental Baptist church to hear the word of God preached. Where's that today? I mean, Steadfast Baptist Church is in that area and we have on average between 140 and 180 people on a Sunday morning, and praise God, glory to God, we've gotten over 2,000 people saved this year in the Fort Worth area, but what could we do with 10,000 soul winners? I mean, that is insane. But this country, it's getting worse, not better. Why? Because the previous generation failed to pass the torch. There was 10,000 people there. Where are they now? They failed to pass the torch. And that's a real example that you could see with your own eyes. You could drive to the First Baptist Church of Fort Worth today and as it stands, it is a shadow of its former self. I don't even know if they're King James anymore. I've seen pictures of the inside. It's got the purple lights. It's not the fundamental Baptist church where you're ripping on alcohol with that. I mean, that's intense. But hey, you know, we wanna lift up soul winning. We wanna give soul winning to the next generation so that they, when they're old enough, can ask you, Dad, Mom, what mean ye by these stones? Why do we do what we do? Why is it so important to you? And if you've built that your whole life, you can explain that to them and it'll be passed on to the next generation. Here's another pillar. Go to Titus chapter number two. Titus chapter number two. How about parents living in their biblical role? This is something you're not gonna hear anywhere outside of church. There is no secular institution that's gonna tell you the truth about how a mom should be living, how a dad should be living. Look at Titus two, verse three. It says, the aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as become of holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things, that they may teach the younger women. What do we want the younger women to be like? To be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. You know, this is something that's completely going the way of the dinosaur. You're not gonna hear this anywhere else, but the Bible teaches that it's God's will that a man works, provides for his family, leads the home, and that it's God's will for what? A woman to keep at home. And when your children are born in this world and they just live in a home where it's always been, dad works and mom works, you lift that pillar up for them, you let them see that spiritual monument, you know, and they hear about the whole world's doing things differently. Maybe they'll ask you, hey mom, what made me buy these stones? Why don't you work like all the other women work? Dad, why are you the only one working? You know, my friend at church, maybe his mom works, maybe her mom works, but you don't, why? Well, let me tell you why. Show them what the Bible says about it. Not just this world following the world, not just our church following the world, but our church rather following the Bible. Here's another one. How about women dressing like women? That's another thing you don't see anymore in our country. It's considered a weird thing for a woman to actually dress like a woman, but I'll read for you what the Bible says in Deuteronomy 22 five, the woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment, for all that do so are an abomination unto the Lord thy God. You know, thank God, it's not to the point yet in America where our children are growing up seeing men in dresses, but you know what is common is for our kids to grow up and see women wearing pants, right? But guess what? If they grow up in a home where the monument is lifted of, hey, we're gonna honor the Lord. We're gonna do what the Bible says. We're gonna dress the way the Bible tells us to dress and maybe your kids someday will ask, mom, why do you always wear skirts and dresses and none of the other women do? They might ask that question. You might be able to show them what the Bible says. That way you could actually pass the torch to the next generation because guess what? This torch was not passed to the next generation. In decades past, every woman wore skirts and dresses. No women wore pants. No women wore pants. This was not just, oh, 10,000 people in Fort Worth, Texas. It's like, no, the whole world was right on this and now it's deteriorating to where it's weird for a woman to be seen in a dress and skirt sometimes. It's ridiculous, but just because the world changes doesn't mean that we should. We want to pass the torch to the next generation and so how are we gonna do that? Well, number one, we're gonna be like Joshua and we're gonna set up spiritual monuments in our life so that they can see that and ask in time to come, what mean ye by these stones? Number two, what are we gonna do? We're gonna make sure that we get our children saved. Get our children saved. Go to Joshua chapter number five. Joshua chapter number five. Look at verse one. It says, And it came to pass when all the kings of the Amorites which were on the side of Jordan westward and all the kings of the Canaanites which were by the sea heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel until we were passed over that their heart melted. Neither was their spirit in them anymore. Because of the children of Israel. And at that time, the Lord said unto Joshua, make these sharp knives and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time. And Joshua made him sharp knives and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins. Excuse me. And this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise. All the people that came out of Egypt that were males, even all the men of war died in the wilderness by the way after they came out of Egypt. Now all the people that came out were circumcised but all the people that were born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt, them, they had not circumcised. So what's happening here? Basically, Joshua is circumcising the people that were born not in the, or, yeah, in the wilderness, sorry. Because there was a previous generation that was circumcised. Then the next generation, Joshua is circumcising. And what is this a picture of? Well, circumcision can be a picture of a couple things in the Bible. One of them is turning over a new leaf, wanting to serve God. Just like baptism is kind of the same thing. You're publicly identifying with Christ, showing that you want to have a new life in Christ. You want to walk in newness of life. And obviously, it's a picture of salvation. Now it's not physical salvation. Just like baptism doesn't save you. Being circumcised doesn't save you. But it is a picture of salvation. I'll prove that to you. You can turn there if you want. Romans chapter four, verse eight says, Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Come at this blessedness then upon the circumcision only or upon the uncircumcision also. For we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. How was it then reckoned? So how was righteousness reckoned to Abraham? When he was in circumcision or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. So when was Abraham saved when he was uncircumcised? Verse 11, it says, And he received the sign of circumcision. What's it a sign of? Well, it's a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised. So circumcision is absolutely a picture of salvation. And so Joshua here, when he's circumcising the next generation, it's a picture of making sure that the next generation gets saved. What good is it if we take them to church and we teach them all this doctrine, but we don't actually get them saved? Okay. But the reason I have the points in this order is because it's gonna be a lot easier to get your children saved when you've already had the pillar of church, had the pillar of Bible, had the pillar of prayer and soul winning and living godly. When you have all those things set up, it's gonna be way easier for them to get saved than teaching them nothing about the Bible, showing them you don't care about church. It's not important. The Bible's not important. Prayer's not important. It's not important to dress like God says to dress. It's not important to live like God says to live. When you show them that example, well guess what? Then it might be hard to get your children saved. And Joshua, he set up the pillars showing the works of God and guess what? Then he circumcised them and got them saved. It's a lot easier when you have those spiritual pillars set up in your life to get the next generation saved. Unlike Lot, it was really hard for Lot to get people saved. I'll read for you Genesis 19, 14. It says, And Lot went out and spake unto his sons-in-law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place, for the Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons-in-law. See, when Lot, when it came time for Lot to warn his sons-in-law and say, hey, God's gonna judge this place. We need to get out of here. He was like one that was mocking. He was a complete joke to his sons-in-law. Why? Because Lot lived a complete joke of a Christian life. He was extremely wicked. He was not one that served the Lord. And so when it came time to it, even though Lot was right here, the Lord was gonna destroy the city. What Lot was saying was absolutely right. But guess what? The audience that he had had no respect for what he was saying. Why? Because of the life that he had lived. And the last thing I would want is for my children to be saved. And then I tried to teach them the gospel and it's too late. They don't respect it. They don't care about it. They think it's a total joke because mom and dad modeled in their life that it was a total joke. You didn't care about the gospel. You didn't care about soul winning. You didn't care about church. You didn't care about reading the Bible. What makes you think your kids are? And let me tell you, if there's one reason to serve God, shouldn't it be that your kids don't go to hell? I mean, wouldn't you do anything for your kids not to go to hell? Well, why don't you take your Christian life seriously? Why don't you go to church? Why don't you read the Bible? That way, when the time comes, then you can actually get them saved. That's the most important thing. Number one, we need to set up spiritual pillars in our lives to pass the torch to the next generation. Number two, we gotta get them saved. It means nothing if they don't get saved. Number three, we have to not tolerate sin. We have to not tolerate sin. And this is another great example that Joshua gave us in his life. Go to Joshua, chapter number six. You all should be familiar with the story of Achan taking of the accursed thing. He was not allowed to take it. It was something that was God's, and he took of the accursed thing. Look at Joshua 6, verse 18 and 19. It says, this is the commandment of God. It says, And ye, and any wise, keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel accursed and trouble it. But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass, and iron are consecrated unto the Lord. They shall come into the treasury of the Lord. So God specifically told them, don't take of the accursed thing. These things are consecrated to God. This belongs to God. Don't take any of it. And what did Achan do? He took of the accursed thing. It's an extremely wicked sin. And I'll just read for you that story in Joshua, chapter seven, verse one, it says, But the children of Israel committed to trespass in the accursed thing. For Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdai, the son of Zerah, the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing, and the anger of the Lord was kindled against the children of Israel. So this is a very grievous sin. This is a huge issue. This isn't some minor deal. They took of the accursed thing that belonged to God. And how did Joshua respond to this? Look at chapter seven, verse 19. And Joshua said unto him, and Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto him, and tell me now what thou hast done. Hide it not from me. And so just as a side note, Joshua, as a good leader, when there's sin in the camp, he confronts it. He doesn't just let it go under the rug. He doesn't just pretend like it doesn't exist. He confronts the serious sin that's in the camp. Look at verse 20. And Achan answered Joshua and said, Indeed, I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done. So he's going to make confession here. Verse 21, When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold and two hundred shekels of weight, then I coveted them and took them, and behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent and the silver under it. So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran under their tent, and behold, it was hid in the tent and the silver under it. And they took them out of the midst of the tent and brought them unto Joshua and said unto all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the Lord. And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan, the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had, and they brought them down unto the valley of Achor. And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? The Lord shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones. And you know, this is definitely not a very pleasant story. It's not something that's really fun to think about, that there was a horrible sin committed in the camp that Joshua had to confront, and that ended up with him being burned with fire and stoned with stones. It's not a very pretty picture, is it? But you know, in the New Testament, in 1 Corinthians 5, if you'll just turn there really quickly, in 1 Corinthians 5, the Bible teaches that there's some sins that cannot be allowed to come into the camp. There's some sins that are unacceptable to be allowed in church that the man of God has to take care of. And guess what? When he takes care of it, sometimes it's not going to be very pretty. Sometimes it's kind of an ugly situation. Sometimes a lot of people don't have the stomach for it. But look in 1 Corinthians 5, really quickly, in verse 11, it says, But now I have written unto you not to keep company if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator or covetous or an idolater or a railer or a drunkard or an extortioner with such and one know not to eat. And so, obviously, that's not a pleasant thing to do sometimes. Your brother in Christ is in a grievous sin and you have to cut off your relationship with him. You have to not let him be in the camp anymore. And it's not a very pleasant thing to do. But as a good leader, Joshua, he did not put up with the sin in the camp. He did not accept it. He did not stand behind it. And, you know, it makes me think that whenever there's a situation in church where the leadership has to do the hard thing of kicking someone out of church, stoning them with stones spiritually, in a sense, right, that we need to back up the man of God. We need to back up the church discipline. We need to back up when Joshua has to take care of Achan. And all throughout the Old Testament, and before I get there, notice, once he stoned him with stones, he built a heap of stones over him, right? And it served the same purpose as those stones from the Jordan River. It's a monument. And when someone gets kicked out of church, that is a teaching opportunity for our children saying, hey, son, hey, daughter, let me name the names and tell you why brother so-and-so is no longer coming to church. Why? So that we can scare them into not doing what brother so-and-so did. And all throughout the Bible, you see wicked people being cut off from the congregation. The man that picks up sticks on the Sabbath day. The man that curses the Lord. Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Even in the book of Judges, you have people separate themselves from the congregation just for being weak, just for being scared. And guess what? I'm going to take both of those examples and teach my kids about both of them. And say, yeah, brother so-and-so, he got kicked out because he was wicked. Because he was a false prophet like Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Or wouldn't be brother in that case, right? Or brother so-and-so, he got kicked out because he took of the accursed thing. He did something wicked like in 1 Corinthians. He's no longer with us and here's why. Or hey, brother so-and-so was too scared to go to the battle. Brother so-and-so was too weak to go to the battle. And I'm going to tell my kids about both types of people because both are a teaching opportunity for our children. Why? So that they can be strong and not be like that. Joshua 7, look at verse 10. And the Lord said unto Joshua, get thee up. Here's how God feels about it. Wherefore, lies thou thus upon thy face. Israel hath sinned and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them, for they have even taken of the accursed thing and have also stolen and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff. And why does it matter? Why does it matter that we need to take out the trash sometimes? Look at verse 12. Therefore, the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies because they were accursed. And here's what God says. Neither will I be with you anymore except you destroy the accursed from among you. That's scary right there. When a church can no longer do the great works that they were doing, they can no longer stand before their enemies. God's no longer with them. Why? Because of the accursed thing inside of them. Because a little leaven, leaven at the whole lump. And so when it's time for the pastor to take care of business and take out the trash, hey, I'm gonna stand with him because I want our church to be able to stand before our enemies. I want the Lord to be with our church. And so I'm not gonna feel sorry when pastor has to kick someone out that's wicked or kick someone out that's a false prophet or if someone who is weak leaves us. Not gonna feel pity for it. Not gonna feel bad for it. Because you know what the Bible says in Amos 3, 3? Can two walk together except they be agreed? Can two walk together except they be agreed? You know, even if someone leaves the church and they weren't kicked out, when they have bitterness against our church, bitterness against our pastor, they don't like our spirit. Oh, you know, I think our pastor's a great man of God. You think he's a criminal. Oh, let's be friends. No. No. Can two walk together except they be agreed? I'm not gonna feel sorry for that. I'm not gonna be a part of that. And I think, and this is just my opinion, but I think that some of the people that have left this church were not truthful in their reasons for leaving. That's just my opinion. You could have your own opinion. My opinion is that some of the people, maybe not all, I believe some of the people that left this church is because they despise Pastor Thompson, because they think he's evil, they think he's unqualified, they think he's a criminal, and I have a problem with that. And I think you should have a problem with that. And I think you should teach your children when that happens and use it as an example saying, don't be like this person who's weak, who's scared, who doesn't back up the man of God rather than teaching your children, oh, it's fine. Any church is just as good as another. No, it's not. It's a lie. You want your kids to care about the things of God? Why don't you show them that you care? Why don't you pass the torch to the next generation and say like Joshua, in Joshua 24 verse 14, let's go there, in Joshua 24 verse 14, Now therefore, fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood and in Egypt, and serve ye the Lord. And if it's seen evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose ye this day whom ye will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood or the gods of the Amorites in whose land ye dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. And that is the goal, should be the goal of every single person in this church that you and your house will serve the Lord. And guess what? You get to decide how that's done. You get to decide. If you have different beliefs you think is a better way of how to pass the torch, you're the pastor of your home and you get to make that decision. I don't get to make that decision. Sometimes things are going to be preached that are wrong or that you think is wrong and you have to go. You have to be the pastor of your own family. But I believe that these principles that I laid out this morning is a great way to pass the torch to the next generation. Number one, set up spiritual monuments in your Christian life. Number two, get your children saved. And number three, do not tolerate sin. Let's have a word of prayer. Lord, thank you so much for this day and thank you for this great church. I love this church, Lord. And I just pray that you would continue to bless it. I pray that you would just expose any infiltrators that would want to hurt Pastor Thompson in the future, Lord. I believe this church is doing great and I believe you're blessing this church highly because I believe this church is following the word of God. And I pray that we and our families would do the same. That way our children can grow up and we could pass the torch to them and they could take this church and make it even better than it is right now. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Song number 150. My faith has found a resting place. Song number 150 in your green hymnals. My faith has found a resting place. Song number 150. Let's sing it on the first. My faith has found a resting place, not in device nor creed. I trust the ever living one. His wounds for me shall plead. I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died and that he died for me. Enough for me that Jesus saves. This ends my fear and doubt. A sinful soul, I come to him. He'll never cast me out. I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died and that he died for me. My heart is leaning on the word, the written word of God. Salvation by my Savior's name. Salvation through his blood. I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died and that he died for me. My great physician heals the sick. The lost he came to save. For me his precious blood he shed. For me his life he gave. I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died and that he died for me. Amen. Good seeing brother Robert. Could you end us with a prayer? Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. .