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["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] All right, let's go ahead and open in a word of prayer. Dear Lord, again, thank you for this time. We have to come together for the preaching of your word. Lord, I pray that you would meet with us this morning, that you would help me, Lord, to preach your word boldly so that your people would be identified by it. We ask in Christ's name. Amen. Let's go to song number three, Jesus Pated All. Song number three. Song number three. ["Jesus Pated All"] ["Jesus Pated All"] ["Jesus Pated All"] ["Jesus Pated All"] ["Jesus Pated All"] All right, this time we'll go to our announcements. If you'd like a bulletin, as always, just the other hand, just slip by their hand and Brother Adam will bring you one. As always, the service times are in there. The upper left-hand side will be in Acts 28, this Thursday at seven. So we'll be wrapping up the Book of Acts this week. And we have the Churchwide Solemnary, the Regional Solemnary, as well as the Salvations and Baptisms below that. And over on the right-hand side, don't forget next Saturday, we're having a bittersweet potluck, so to speak. What did I say, Saturday? I meant Sunday, okay? Whatever's written there, okay? Just like the Bible, whatever is actually written in the Word of God is what you go with. Not necessarily what comes out of my mouth, all right? So there on next Sunday, December 17th, a week from today, after the morning service, we'll be having our farewell potluck party for the Elliott's and we'll be having a bonito skater that in. So even if you don't like them, show up for a taco, I guess. I'm just kidding. Of course, we're all gonna miss them. But do please come, even if you don't want a taco, and hang out. If anyone wants to bring any sides, you're welcome to do that, but there should be plenty of food. But come and wish them a farewell. I know that you're leaving the next day, right? Is that still the plan? Okay, so that's kinda your last chance to get it all out, you know, to let the emotions flow. Anyway, so come out next Sunday for that. And then don't forget this Tuesday, excuse me, the following Tuesday will be on December 19th, there is Christmas caroling taking place in Tempe. So this isn't taking place here, but this is something they do in Tempe every year. Unfortunately, I won't be able to make it up this year, but the van is available for anyone who would like to go. Is there anybody that's planning on going up there? Okay, I don't know why I even bother announcing it then. So if you've got the details, you know, if you wanna go, go on up. On the back, there's just a note about the fact we're not having a Christmas Eve candlelight service this year, so we will have our normal Sunday services. Nothing is changing as far as services on Sunday. So it's gonna be the regular times, 10.30 a.m., 5.30 p.m., as usual on Sunday. But the only thing that will be different is that after the evening service, we'll have some cookies and cocoa, and you can hang out and have a little bit of fellowship on Christmas Eve if you'd like. Also below that, just a quick note, if you had your yearbook photo, your portrait taken, if you could provide me with your email, I'll be able to get you that high-res image. I know it's kinda getting late if you're trying to do Christmas cards and stuff, but if you could get that to me, the sooner that I can get it to you, and you can at least have that. I know several ladies have already reached out and provided that information to my wife. You can either text me that information, or you can just email the church there. You have the email address at the bottom. But if you could also include the names of those photographed youngest to oldest, that way when we put them, it should be oldest to youngest, again. In this instance, go with what I say, and not what the bulletin says. It should be oldest to youngest, okay? That way I can put the names in order in the yearbook as they ought to be. So if you could provide that information, typically we have you fill that out when we're taking the photos, but this year we just kinda rushed through it. But the photos turned out great. Everyone's, for the most part, looking pretty good. I got a little work to do, but everyone else seemed to have a good photo. So I have those, they're available. I just need the information. I just need your email, and I need the names of those that were photographed, oldest to youngest, okay? And we don't put ages in the yearbook, okay? Just let me put all the ladies' hearts at rest here, okay? We're not gonna tell anyone your age, okay? So that's a big no-no, okay? We're smarter than that here, all right? But that's it for announcements. Let's go ahead and sing one more song. Before we get into the preaching this morning, we're gonna go over to song number 138. That's song number 138, The Demon of Rest. ["The Demon of Rest"] Song 138. ["The Demon of Rest"] ["The Demon of Rest"] ["The Demon of Rest"] ["The Demon of Rest"] ["The Demon of Rest"] ["The Demon of Rest"] ["The Demon of Rest"] All right, great singing. I'm ready at this time. We'll go ahead and pass the offering plate. And as it goes around, you can follow along with me as I read from Psalms, chapter number eight this morning. I'll be reading from the book of Psalms, chapter number eight. ["The Demon of Rest"] All right, in Psalms, chapter number eight, The Bible reads, beginning in verse 1, Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth, who has set thy glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings, thou hast ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. When I consider the heavens and the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained, what is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thine hands. Thou hast put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, yea, and beasts of the field, the fowl of the air and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the pass of the seas. Oh, Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth. Let's go ahead and have a word of prayer. Dear Lord, again, I ask that you would meet with us and bless us through your word, the preaching of it. And I pray, Lord, that you'd help us to, Lord, just be edified for having been here this morning. We ask in Christ's name, amen. So this morning, if you wanna keep something there in Psalms, I am gonna continue reading through the book of Mark, continue on that series that we've started several years, years, might feel like years to you, several weeks ago. But we're going through that kind of a little bit in the same manner as we would a Bible study on a midweek service, with the exception that we're slowing down and really looking at these verses, maybe only looking at a verse or two at a time, maybe several more than that, and just taking our time, making our way through the book of Mark. And part of that is I like just being in the gospels. I just like preaching through the gospels. I think it's a great place to just kind of be, find yourself throughout the year preaching through these. So I hope everyone's enjoying going through the book of Mark and it's getting something out of this. Obviously, it's a little different than what we've done in the past. But I believe it opens us up for opportunity, one, to just preach doctrines that we might not find ourselves through and explaining things in the scripture or maybe explaining some of these more difficult passages. And also just, again, as we did last week and this morning now, just taking the time to maybe looking at a phrase or looking at maybe just something that happened during the ministry of Christ and making application from that, just taking a text and kind of expounding it and making application for us today. And again, that's what I'll be doing this morning. If you remember there in Mark chapter one, Jesus has come into Simon Peter's house and he's healed his mother-in-law and she rose and she served him. And then it says in verse 35, and in the morning, rising up a great while before the day, he went out, meaning out of Simon Peter's house and departed into a solitary place and there prayed. And Simon and they that were with him followed after him. And when they found him, they said unto him, all men seek for thee. And that would be the title or the subtitle of the sermon this morning. All men seek, all men seek. And that's what I want to preach about this morning. The fact that everyone in this world is seeking after truth, they're seeking after God. It's just that we all don't come to the same conclusion. A lot of people will seek, they'll form their ideas, they'll form their beliefs and they'll settle on something and they can actually settle on that which is incorrect. What we need to be seeking is for the Lord. Again, he says there in verse 37, all men seek for thee. The world seeks for God today. The world is seeking for truth. And the reason why that is, the way I can say that so boldly is because of the fact that God has made man a religious creature by nature. You say, it doesn't appear to me that everyone's seeking for God in this world. Well, the fact is, is that they are because man is religious by nature. He will seek after God. It's just that he doesn't always come to the same conclusion that we have as Christians. They're not gonna settle on the Bible as the word of God. In fact, often in that seeking, in that seeking for truth or God or whatever it is you wanna call it, and a lot of times in the process of that seeking, men will actually reject the word of God. They'll say, well, that certainly cannot be the truth and they'll settle on some other false religion or some other worldview. But the point is, is that everybody is seeking. Everyone is. And why can I say that? Because of the fact that man is a religious creature by design. If you would go over to Romans chapter number two, again, keep something in Mark if you'd like. I'm really just gonna be focusing on just that one phrase or that one verse, rather, that all men seek. All men seek. Romans chapter number two, if you look at verse 14, it says, for when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law. So the Bible's telling us that the Gentile nations are those that, notice, they do not have the law. I mean, they do not have the word of God, they have not been struck in the word of God, and yet they do by nature the things contained in the law. How do they do those things that are contained in the law? How is it that they have a inborn moral compass or whatever you wanna call it? It's because that is what is in our nature. They do by nature the things contained in the law. Everyone knows right and wrong. Everyone has, inherently within themselves, the ability to discern between good and evil. That's why civilizations and societies that don't have the word of God, they still have some kind of a moral standard. Even if it's a little off, maybe it's a little askew from what we would preach as Christians or teach from the word of God, they still have something. And pretty much everybody knows murder is wrong, stealing is wrong, adultery is wrong, and so on and so forth. Those aren't just objective things that society tells us, oh, this is what we're going to believe. We get that from nature, from that which is within us. We do by nature the things contained in the law. These having not the law, these people who do not have the word of God, they are Gentile nations, having not the law are a law unto themselves, which, verse 15, show the work of the law written in their hearts. So God has written in the heart of every person the law, meaning not obviously the Old Testament, right, not the books of Moses and so on and so forth, but the fact that they understand right from wrong. They have a conscience within them. Their conscience, it goes on and says, also bearing witness and their thoughts, the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another. My point is this this morning, and this first point rather, is that man is religious by nature, therefore man is going to seek for truth because God has put it in them to be able to, what, conceptualize the very existence of God. What's the proof of God this morning? Well, ultimately it's the word of God. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. We understand that. But if we wanna start looking for so-called proof that's out there, one of them, it could be, one of those proofs that we could point to is the fact that man can even conceptualize there is a God. I mean, what evolutionary benefit does the idea of God benefit mankind? What did it profit man in terms, if we're looking at it like an evolutionist, well, they had to come up with a religion so they could survive. It doesn't fit. And yet every single person, in fact, the only creature in all of this creation that can even think about God, can even form the thought or the concept of God in his mind is man. That is because God has made man a religious creature, and that is why all men seek for God. All men seek for truth. That's one proof that all men will seek. If you would keep something in Romans, go over to where we were this morning from the reading in Psalms chapter number eight. God has made man a religious creature, man can conceptualize the existence of God, and God has left evidence of his existence in creation. God understands that man is going to be seeking after him, so in order to be found of man, he's left some clues, right? He's left the breadcrumbs, as it were, to find their way back to God. One of them is the fact that man can even conceptualize the existence of God, but also that God has left evidence of his existence in creation, as it says in Acts 14, that God has not left himself without witness, and that he did good and gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. And that's Paul preaching on Mars Hill. He's not preaching to the Jews. He's not preaching to God's people. He's preaching to the heathens. He's preaching to the Gentiles that were there, and he's telling the Gentiles that God gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness, that God's creation, the rain, the seasons, the food, the gladness, the good that God has done is the witness that God has left himself in this world. Man can look at creation and understand that there is a creator, and as much as they would like to deny that, as much as I could say, no, I don't believe that. You know, I believe everybody on some level, even if they're denying it outwardly, even the back of their own mind is probably wondering or at the possibility of God, okay? Look at Psalm chapter eight, verse one. Oh Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in what all the earth? Thou has set thy glory above the heavens. Okay, the heavens being the sky and the stars, you know, our atmosphere and then space, but God's glory, his heaven is beyond that. The babes and sucklings, thou has ordained that thou mightest still the enemy of the avenger. Notice verse three. Work of thy fingers. So he's not saying when I consider heaven itself, which God dwells, okay? But when he says in verse three, when I consider thy heavens, notice the work of thy fingers, right? Meaning that which God has made when he looks up and sees the sun and the cloudest man that thou art mindful of him. And what he's doing when he's looking at those things is he's acknowledging the power of God. He's acknowledging the magnificence and the might of God, the greatness of God, right? The fact that God's name is excellent in all the earth. That's what he's acknowledging. And it is creation that is pointing to the God of the Bible. If you would go back to Romans chapter number one, Romans chapter number one. So God leaves, all men seek, and because God knows that all men seek, God leaves behind evidence of his creation, or excuse me, evidence of himself through creation, evidence of himself through the witness that is in man's own heart and mind, okay? God wants to lead man to himself, but obviously not everyone is going to come to the same conclusion, okay? They're gonna believe, false prophets, they're going to believe their own philosophies and theories and things like that, but nevertheless, the reason they came to that conclusion is because they sought. All men are seeking today. Look at Romans chapter one, verse 18. It says, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness, because that which may be known of God is manifest in them. That which may be known of God is manifest where? In them, tying into the point I made previously that God has made a man a religious creature and man is able to conceptualize God, that man has the witness of the law written in his own heart. It is manifest in them, for God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things of him, the invisible things, the things which cannot be seen of God from the creation of the world are clearly seen. That which we cannot see about God, that which we did not visibly behold about God is clearly seen and understood through creation. Okay, that's what he's saying. That's why the psalmist is able to look at the heavens and say, what is man that thou art mindful of him? It's because the invisible things of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made. Meaning the things that are made, me and you, we can look at creation and we can see the invisible things of God through creation. And what are the things that we see? What conclusions do we come to that God is powerful? And as Paul said in Acts 14, that God is good. We look at the fact that the rain falls, the just and the unjust alike. We look at the fact that God takes care of every creature upon earth, that God sends us these fruitful seasons, that God has done good. As God said, when he looked upon his creation before the fall of man, he saw that it was what? Very good. Look, you should look at not maybe the way the world as man has made it, man's governance outside of society. Obviously, there's things going on in the world that man does to one another. We would say it's not good and that's putting it lightly. But when we look at the blessings that God has given to each and every one of us, the conclusion that we should come to about the invisible things of God is that God is good. And that God is powerful. The invisible things of him, the things that we cannot see from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made, that's us. Even his eternal power and Godhead. That's something we can look at in creation and say, God has eternal power and Godhead. And notice, because of the fact that God has left these breadcrumbs, so to speak, this evidence of himself in creation and evidence of himself in man himself, that they are without excuse. Those that seek are without excuse. God can't be found. Jesus said, if you seek, ye shall find. If you knock, it shall be opened unto you. Anyone that is genuinely and sincerely seeking for the truth will find to the truth. God will make sure it happens. But however, if people would just wanna look at creation and try to find and come to a conclusion by themselves and reject the Bible and reject that truth, God's gonna let them embrace that. But if someone just says, whatever the truth is, I'll believe it. And just says, God, I believe you're there. I don't know who you are, but if you'll just show me, I'll believe it. If someone comes to God with that type of an attitude, God will make sure that they find the truth and they can choose whether or not to believe it. They are without excuse. All men seek today. And they either are given a glimpse of truth, even beyond that which is just given to everyone through their own heart and mind and that which is given to everyone through the evidence creation. They either accept that truth or they reject it. They are without excuse. They glorified him not as God. Neither were thankful, but became vain in their imagination. Creation, that there is a God. When they come to that conclusion, when they are vain in their imaginations. I mean, why do you think the atheist, I mean, who does the atheist, not as much as they should, I think, if they're really worried about social. Honestly, I mean, the Muslims are the ones that are oppressing women and everybody and all these other social classes more than anybody else. But that is not the object of their ire when it comes to these atheists. It's not the Muslims. It's Christians. It's Christianity. It's the Bible. That's what they hate. They hate the Bible preachers. That's who the atheist has the most. They know it's the truth. I'm convinced more than anything they have a very strong need to persuade themselves. Because they've sought and they've made up their own minds about the fact that there is no God. And what happens is they become foolish. Their foolish heart is darkened. And now if you notice here in this passage in Romans one, there's this threefold denial, right? Notice in verse 19, that which may may note of God is manifest in them. Okay, they have the law of God written in their hearts. It's manifest in them. There's that first witness, that which is manifest in them. Notice also the creation, right? The invisible things of the creation are clearly seen. And notice also that it is then understood. It's the threefold witness that they have. They see it in themselves. They have this, that which we may know of God is manifest in themselves and in the creation. And then it is understood. They are even given understanding to be able to comprehend this. It's a threefold witness. But notice after they become vain in their imaginations and their foolish hearts are darkened, that they are then threefold rejected by God, okay? Notice God at first, he gives them threefold witness. He gives them the witness of God in themselves. He gives them the witness of himself in creation. He gives them the witness of himself through the understanding that they have. They truly are without excuse. And when they become vain in their imaginations, when they reject the God of the Bible, the Bible is very clear that God then in turns rejects them. Okay, and look, I understand this is a doctrine that has fallen out of fashion, but this is what the Bible teaches. It's as plain as the nose on your face. And I understand, you know, and we get accused like, and somehow we made this up. Like this is a new IFB doctrine. Well, newsflash, the first time I heard this wasn't in a new IFB church. I didn't even, it wasn't, new IFB didn't even exist. I didn't even know who Pastor Steven Anderson was when I first heard about this, when I first heard the term reprobate, okay? That was a term that I heard in old IFB churches. This is something that people have understood even outside of churches for a long time. They'll jokingly call themselves, oh, we're a bunch of reprobates, right? Rejected by God. Because, you know, there's a certain connotation that comes with being a reprobate, okay? But that's not the point here. What I'm trying to get across this morning is that God gives them the threefold witness at the beginning in verses 19 through 21. It's in them, it's in creation. They understand it, they reject it. It says in verse 22, professing themselves to be wise, they become fools, and do what? Change the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like incorruptible man, into birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things, right? So they start worshiping the creation itself. But notice verse 24, wherefore God also gave them up. Who's doing the giving up here? God is. God is giving up on these people. And it's not just out of the blue. It's not just that God just at random chooses to reject people. It's people that have had this threefold witness in themselves, in creation, and have had their understanding even enlightened to a certain degree. That God also gives them up. And I wanna highlight there, verse 24, God also, also, also gave them up, okay? It's not God gave them up, it does read that later. But at the first instance, it's God also, meaning just as they gave up God, God is gonna give up on them. Just as they reject God, God is going to reject them. I don't know why that is such a, to some people, that seems so bizarre. I mean, think about in your own life. If someone rejected you, how much, I mean, you're gonna, unless you're weird, unless you're some kind of a sociopath or something, or a psycho, you're gonna keep trying to hang out with that person. If someone just says, hey, I don't like you, I don't wanna hang out with you, I don't want anything to do with you, oh, okay, well, what are you doing next Friday? That'd be weird, right? We could see that in our own relationship, but it's the same way with God. If God's inviting man, man seeking and saying, well, here's creation, here's the witness in your heart, here's the understanding that you need to find your way, if you seek, you will find, if you knock, it will be open unto you, maybe even bringing a soul winner, maybe even having the witness of the gospel given to them, and they say, no thanks, repeatedly. They reject all that, and you think God is just gonna keep insisting? And the Bible's real clear, God also gave them up after they had given them up, and notice what he gives them up to, to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, the things that are in their heart, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves. And this is really why people reject Christianity, because they just wanna fulfill the lusts of their own heart because they understand to some degree that if the Bible teaches a morality, the Bible doesn't teach that you can just go on living some lascivious life. You don't need to stop doing all that to get saved, but the Bible does teach that we ought to live in a certain way, and it's contrary to the flesh. The flesh and the spirit are contrary one to another so that you cannot do the things that you would. And people understand that in the world, they know, they've heard the moral teachings of the Bible, and they say, well, I wanna reject that, I don't want anything to do with that. Why? So they can defile their own bodies between themselves. Fornication, and it gets worse. Verse 25, who changed the truth of God into a lie. So God gives them the witness, and they say, well, that's not, you know, yeah, there's a God, but here's what it actually is, and they make up the God in their own image. They changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator who is blessed forever, amen. I mean, that would be pretty infuriating, wouldn't it, if you were God. You've created all this, you've made man, you've been nothing but good, and you've done all this, right? And the man rejects you and says, well, this is God. You know, I've used this illustration before. Julie got some Play-Doh this morning, my youngest, okay? And what if I come home this afternoon and she's made a little Play-Doh man, right? A little green Play-Doh man on the kitchen table, and I walk up and say, hey, Julie, how about a hug? And she goes, well, this is my dad. I don't love you, this is my dad. This little thing I made, this little imagination of my own heart, this little crude Play-Doh man. I know it's a silly illustration, but I imagine that's how God feels when he looks down and he sees man creating a God in his own heart out of his own imagination. I mean, you know, if you go preaching the gospel, knocking at the doors, and you start talking to people, people say some pretty weird things about God. You know, they have some pretty strange ideas about who God is and why they're going to heaven. Well, why are you going to heaven? Because I adopt dogs. Because I'm a foster parent for lost stray dogs or whatever. I've heard that. I mean, it's bizarre. It's bizarre to think that that's what's gonna let you into a heaven in the presence of holy God because you saved a dog. Not even, oh, I'm good to my neighbor. I mean, that one you can at least kind of understand. That one you actually might even appreciate. Well, at least they are appreciating people, right? But no, it's oh, because I love my dogs. And you know, I'm sure we could go around to other soul winners in this room and they could testify of some pretty absurd ideas that people have about God. And you know what it is? It's God looks down and sees that and sees man making this stupid, crude, childish little Play-Doh. And you know what, I would take offense to that. If I went home this afternoon and that happened with my daughter and that Play-Doh doll, I wouldn't just go, oh, I guess. You know, hopefully she changes her mind later. Man, I'd wad that Play-Doh up and slap it against the wall. What do you think about your little idol now, right? I'd be upset. And look, when God is rejected by man, God gets upset. Right? Especially when they're turning his truth into a lie and worshiping and serving the Creator, or creature more than the Creator. Verse 26, for this cause, everything we just read, God gave them up. There it is a second time. Unto what? Vile affections. Because they reject God and they just want to defile themselves, their bodies between one another, God says, oh, that's what you want? Well, go ahead. In fact, I'm even gonna let you, I'm gonna give you up unto vile affections. Okay? Look, fornication and adultery and the other sins of the flesh, they're filthy. Okay, the Bible calls it filthy, uncleanness, okay? But then there's the next level, which is vile affections. What are vile affections? These are the things that do not come naturally to man. For even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature, talking about being a sodomite. And likewise, also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another, men with men working that which is unseemly and receiving in themselves the recompense of their error, which was meat, meaning they got what they deserved for engaging in that filthy, vile act called homosexuality. That's what the Bible says. How did that come about? When God gave them up, okay? You know, the homo wants to say God made me that way. You're right. Because he rejected you. You weren't born that way. But yeah, he gave you up unto vile affections. Why? Because these people have already rejected God, the God of the Bible, the truth that they have been given in their own hearts, and now God is giving them up. Verse 28. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, they don't even want to think about God. They don't even want to think about the Bible. They have nothing but hatred towards the Bible. God gave them over, there it is a third time, to a reprobate mind, which literally means rejected. That's what it means to be reprobate, rejected. To do those things which are not convenient. So again, God, you know, all men seek this morning. All men seek God, but that doesn't mean everyone ends up coming to the same conclusion. In fact, in that process of seeking, people can come to a place in their lives where they've rejected God enough and rejected the witness that they have been given where God will actually turn on them and reject them. Which tells me this, is that not all that seek will find God. Look, if anyone seeks with truth and sincerity in their heart, and is open to the truth of God's word, they will find it. They will be given opportunity to get saved. If you would go over to Matthew chapter number seven, Matthew chapter number seven. All men seek this morning, why? Because God has made man a religious creature. That's how I know that's the truth. I know that all men are seeking. Every single person in this room is seeking. Every single person in this world is seeking for truth. They might not, you know, in a sense that, you know, they gotta find it kind of seeking where they just desperately need to know. But everyone's coming to their own conclusions. Everyone's thinking things through. Everyone's kind of deciding for themselves what it is they're gonna believe in life. Because God has made man a religious creature. We know that's true. Man can conceptualize the existence of God. God has left proof of his existence in nature in man's heart. He's given to man understanding. And when man rejects that repeatedly, God also gives them up. Even as they don't wanna retain God in their knowledge, God says, well, I'm not gonna retain you in my knowledge. Which tells me this is that not all that seek God will find him. Look at Matthew chapter seven verse 13. Entering in at the straight gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth thee to destruction, and many be there, excuse me, be which go in there at. Because straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto eternal life, and few there be that find it, okay? Now people might read that and think, oh, what Jesus is teaching is that it's hard to get to heaven, right? People say narrow is the way and straight is the gate that leads into eternal life, which must mean that it's very difficult to get through there, right? But really, in my previous occupation, I worked with door openings as a locksmith. I dealt a lot with, I had to take into account occupancy and means of egress. Like how many people are in this room? Okay, then you have to have an opening this big. The doors had to swing a certain way. The hardware that's on there must not have no special knowledge required, meaning you could just shove someone into that door and it's gonna open. That's what those panic devices are, right? Someone's body's gonna press up against the door. It's gonna pop open, right? So in the theater, we're not all gonna burn in here or something, right? We're gonna get out, okay? But what you learn is that you have an opening relative to the amount of people you anticipate going through it, right? I mean, if we had this many people in here this morning, would it make sense to just make that whole front end just a series of double wide doors with removable narrow styles so we could just throw in an electric hold open devices. So we could just throw those doors open and that whole front end just becomes a giant opening. So we could all rush out of here if we needed to. No, it wouldn't make any sense. The fire marshal came down here and says, this is how many people can fit. I think it's two or three square feet per person is how they estimate that. I can't remember. They look at the square footage, they determine how many people can be in here and then they say, okay, the openings must be on either end of the building this big, right? That's how they come to that conclusion. Meaning they create the opening relative to the number of people they anticipate going through it, okay? With that in mind, notice here, why Jesus might perhaps is saying, maybe the gate is straight and narrow because there's not a lot of people going through it. Maybe that's the only reason it's straight and narrow. Maybe that, you know, it's not that it's difficult, it's just because, well, I don't need an opening any straighter or narrower than this because there's not a lot of people in spite of the fact that all men seek that are actually going to find and walk through this gate. Because a lot of people are gonna come to their own conclusions. Some people are gonna outright reject the God of the Bible. And some people are just gonna come to their own conclusions and try to work their own way and come in some other way. Which is why he says there at the end of verse 13, that wide is the gate and broad is the way which leadeth to destruction, hell. Why? Because there's more people going there than going to heaven. You know, and that's a sad commentary on the world. And it's not because God is cruel, it's because those people reject God and they don't do the one thing that all men must do in order to be saved, which is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and now shall be saved. What they end up doing is they misappropriate God's evidence, right? They're seeking God's giving evidence and they're saying, oh, well let me just misappropriate this and attribute it to a God of my own imagination. As it said in Romans one, they change the truth of God into a lie. They worship and serve the creature more than the creator. That's one reason that more people are gonna go to hell than heaven. Another reason is false religion. Because people, look, they're seeking and they might even come to the conclusion, yes, there is a God, right? That's why there's so few atheists in the world because the majority of people are smart enough to just look at creation and just understand life and go, there is a God. It doesn't take a lot to figure that out. The witness in our own hearts, the witness of creation, the understanding that God gives every man, the law that is written in the heart of every single person is enough to lead them at least to the conclusion that there is a God. Obviously, creation is marred, man is marred through sin. That's why we need the word of God to give us further revelation. That's why we need to go and preach the gospel. But everyone at least comes to conclusion that there is a God. They look at the evidence. The problem is that they misappropriated. They come to their own conclusions and they begin to preach false religion. It's interesting in Matthew seven, after verses 13 and 14, where he gives us this dire commentary on the fact that more people are going to hell than heaven, that he then goes on with this warning in verse 15. It says, beware of false prophets. It's kind of like, here's what's happening. More people are going to hell than heaven. Now let me give you the reason why. Because of false prophets. Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. They're just in it for themselves. They're just trying to devour the flock. They're just trying to fleece the flock. They're false prophets. They're gonna teach lies for filthy lucre's sake. Look, the world is full of false prophets today. This isn't a rare exception. I mean, why would it be such a strong warning here? Beware of false prophets. There's very few of them. They're not really that much of a danger. No, it's beware of false prophets because there's many false prophets. John said in his time that there are even now many antichrists entered into the world. Many people that are going to preach a false Christ, a false messiah, there's many of them. You know, here's one, the Roman Catholic Church. And look, the Roman Catholic Church is a false religion that is damning millions if not billions of people to hell. They claim one seventh of the world's population. That's a lot of people. But they're not preaching, you know, I thought they believed the Bible. No, they don't. They believe the decrees of the pope. They believe the writings of the church fathers over the writings of the word of God. You know, if the pope issues some decree and it conflicts with the Bible, they say, well, I go with what the pope says. How do you know that? Because I've talked to Catholics and I've read what they believe. They'll tell you, any honest Catholic will tell you that. Well, here's what the Bible says, yeah, but here's what the pope said, right? And they have a lot of false doctrine. And what are they all teaching? Work your way to heaven. Go, the seven sacraments to earn your way there. And even then, you know, maybe it's just gonna shorten your time in purgatory, right? That's a false prophet, friend. The Muslims, right, that are preaching, that's a false religion. They don't believe in Jesus Christ, the son of God. They're preaching, you know, Muhammad and everything else that he taught. And it's all the same thing. Work your way to heaven. There's only two religions in the world, folks. Salvation by grace through faith and works. It's what the Bible teaches, that salvation is by grace through faith and not of yourselves, the gift of God, not of works, that any man should boast. And there's what every false prophet is teaching out there. Be a good person, work your way to heaven, earn your way there at best. All men seek, but then they come to the wrong conclusions. They build up false religions. Look at verse 16, you shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles? You know, if you want grapes, you don't go to the bramble bush. You don't go find some thorn bush, you go to the grape, the vine. I almost said tree. We know that grapes don't grow on trees, right? You go to the proper plant to get the right fruit. Even so, every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. So we can look at the religions of this world and say, well, what's the fruit that they're bringing forth? And honestly, look at some of the things the Catholic Church is guilty of. I mean, I don't even want to talk about it, all the molestation. And look, let me say this about this thing, about this, when you start pointing out the fact that certain organizations have rates of child molestation, there isn't an organization on this earth that doesn't have that. And people want to level charges against Baptist churches. And look, Baptist churches have had incidents of child molestation in them. Because we're just an organization like any other that has sinners in it. And churches are soft targets for these predators because they know that we're loving and patient and kind. And especially today, even if Baptist churches are too accepting of anybody and everybody, we'll let anyone walk through the door, even a predator, and send them down the front row. There's Baptists in this world that'll teach you to put a homosexual in the children's ministry. That's who they want to teach. I'm not making that up. That's where we're at. But here's the point that I'm trying to make, though. Every single institution has child predators in it. The world's judicial system has it. I've known of judges that were caught with child porn. A judge, not a Baptist minister. I understand it's kind of a silly argument to sit there and just point out, oh, well, this institution, that and that. But what really matters is how they handle it. And the Catholic church doesn't really handle it that well, do they? They just ship them off all to Brazil or something. I don't know where they're sending them all. They don't turn them on the authorities. And you could point to Baptist churches have done the same thing. But that's never been the case in this church, in faithful word, Baptist church, and never will be. If someone's found out to be some kind of a deviant, some kind of a child molester or whatever, they'll be exposed and turned over to the authorities. And you know what, we've got a track record of that. Thankfully, it's only happened one time that I know of. And that sends a clear message to the rest of them. Don't try it here, buddy. Because you'll be exposed and we're not just gonna go, oh, well, you know, they're just a sinner like anybody else. We gotta love them. Let's just send them over to this other ministry and just tell the pastor and not any other people, look, they do that and it's disgusting. That's the fruit, though, okay? That's the fruit of false religion. That's just one example. What about the fruit of atheism, right? This is the great irony, right? You know, atheists just hate Christianity and they just decry all the evils of Christianity, right? But let's actually look at the fruit of what Christianity has brought to the world. I mean, I don't think anyone would argue with the fact that we would, if I said, we're living in a world where we're living in the most prosperous country that has ever existed on the face of the earth. I need not point any further than here, okay? We have the most advanced technologies, we have the most abundant, I mean, we have so prosperous that our caloric intake is a problem, right? Like, throughout history, once you couldn't get enough, now it's like, well, now we're getting too many, okay? Guilty, I understand, okay? It is the holiday season, all right? Well, the point is is that we're living in the most prosperous country that's ever existed. And what would, and I don't think anyone also would argue with the fact that this has been predominantly throughout its existence a Christian nation. Perhaps not independent fundamental Baptist, but there's been some strong influence, some stripe of Christianity in every corner of this country and still is to this day. This is a, that's the fruit of Christianity, friend. Prosperity, liberty, freedom. Even the atheist that's able to get up and just espouse his beliefs has Christianity to thank for it. That's called freedom of speech. It was given to us by people who believed Christian principles and understood Christian morality and the importance of it in a nation that wants to experience true freedom. That's what, you know, was it John Adams? I can't remember who said that it was, that our nation was built for a holy, moral, and religious people and it is insufficient for any other? There's multiple quotes like that. It's not in my notes, you know, I'm not memorizing those things. But what's the fruit of atheism? Well, let's just look, what's, who's one of the great, you know, atheists of, you know, of the past? Karl Marx, perhaps, right? Who said that religion was the opiate for the masses, right? Decried the evils of religion, just, you know, in his time, said it was just a necessary evil? Well, let's look at the countries that adopted, you know, his philosophies and communism and other things. How did that turn out? How's that going over there? Not too good. Oh, your one child policy. I mean, just millions and millions of people just being butchered, wholesale, just the gulags. Do we have to really go that far into history? Do I really need to go on? That's the fruit of atheism. Oppression, communism. It's not liberty, it's not freedom. That's the fruit of a Christian nation, a Christian people. And there's no arguing it. You can sit there and make arguments, but those are just the plain facts, okay? Look, all men are seeking, but not all men come to the same conclusion. And as a result, there's a lot of suffering in the world. Go to Psalm 14. I shouldn't keep something there in Psalms, but go back to Psalm 14. You know, people seek, and then they come to the wrong conclusions. And you know what? I don't believe these atheists, and they say, well, I don't believe there is a God. It's easy to say. You can get up and say that. But I've also known atheists who professed atheism, who were very vocal about their atheism, who would later admit that even in the midst of that, their objections, they would still secretly be like, hey, God, if you help me out on this one. You know? They would never admit to anybody else, but even them, they're still wondering, right? That's why they're so, they get so worked up. That's why they're constantly just having to ring that bell. There is no God, because they're trying to convince themselves more than anybody. That's what I believe. Look at Psalm 14, verse one. The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God. I mean, that's what you are. When you look at all of the evidence that God has left behind, creation, I mean, when you start to, and the more you delve into the science of creation, when you start to delve into the biology and the cosmology and everything, and how this whole universe and our world and our earth and everything is just in this delicate balance, how could you look at that and say, well, there is no God? That's not the conclusion you come to, unless you're a fool. Somebody would look at that. Anyone who would deny the witness in their own heart, who would deny the fact that they can even imagine their own heart, who would deny the fact that they can even sit there and conceptualize the idea of a God and then deny him is a fool. A fool has said in his heart, there is no God. And what's the fruit of being a godless nation? They are corrupt and they have done abominable works. There is none that do with good. That's the fruit that comes with coming to the wrong conclusion. When all men seek and misappropriate the evidence that God has given them and begin to follow their own vain imaginations, it leads to abominable iniquity, abominable works. It ties in with Romans 1. They reject God. God gives them over to vile affections because that's what they want to do anyway. They reject God through the lusts of their own heart. God gives them over into vile affections. The fool says there is no God. As a result, they do abominable works. There's none that do with good. Verse two, the Lord looketh down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand and seek God. They are all gone aside. They are all together become filthy. There is none that do with good, no, not one. Have not the workers of iniquity no knowledge. This is what happens when you start to become a godless nation. God will look down and say isn't there anybody that does good? Notice he looks down on the iniquities, the workers of iniquity who have no knowledge who eat up my people as they eat bread. The Christian, the Bible believer, the one who says there is a God and his name is the Lord Jesus Christ and salvation is only through him. That person then becomes their next victim because they don't want to retain God in their knowledge and they sure don't want a bunch of Christians preaching the gospel. They sure don't want some preacher getting up and boldly proclaiming the word of God, boldly proclaiming the words of Christ who said I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. There's only one way and it's through Christ. They want to eliminate that from society. They want to get rid of it. All men seek but they do not come to the same conclusion. I need to wrap up. Go to 1 John chapter number one. 1 John chapter number one. I'll just remind us, you say I thought we were preaching through Mark this morning. Yeah, Mark 1, 37. We're getting through it, one verse, two at a time, maybe more. And they said, when they had found him, they said unto him, all men seek for thee. Jesus goes out to pray early in the morning. Disciples get up and they find him. Meaning he went out ahead of them, right? And they bring this message that all men seek. What I love about this story is that the disciples knew where to go. Everyone else is seeking but they're like, where did he go? And the disciple says, well I know where he is. He's out praying. And the disciple knows how to get to God. He goes and he finds him. Look, the Christians today know who God is. If you believe, if you've sought and you've come to the conclusion that this is the word of God and that Jesus Christ is the son of God and you've put your faith in him, you know what, you're on that straight and narrow way. You're going through that little door. You're one of the few. He said, Jesus called us his little flock. You're in the minority. And I'm not trying to give you some kind of victimhood mentality. What I'm saying is you're very blessed. You're very privileged to be able to know that. All men seek for thee, Jesus, but we knew right where you were. Christians know where God is. The Bible says in Proverbs 4 that the path of the just is as the shining light that shineth more and more into the perfect day. The way of the wicked is as darkness they know not of what they stumble. Look, the unsaying of this world, they might be seeking but they're stumbling in the dark. They're tripping all over themselves. But the path of those just, those that have been justified by grace through faith in Christ Jesus, you know, we're as the shining light more and more into the perfect day. Our way just gets brighter and brighter and brighter. We accept the truth of God's word. We believe on Christ. He gives us a knowledge and understanding. We grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. We discern more, we understand more. We understand more about God's word. We understand more of the truth. Our way is illuminated, the path is brightened. We're not stumbling around. Look, the way of the wicked, they know not of what they stumble. And all men are seeking but not all men find. And if you've found this morning, you're very privileged. You're very privileged. The Bible says that the natural man receiveth not the things of God, neither can he know them for they're spiritually discerned. It's a very privileged thing to be able to pick up this book this morning and read it and understand it. It's a spiritual gift. It's given only to God's children. The proof is that you hear unsaved people read this book and then they try to tell you what it means. It's like, what are you talking about? They say the most ridiculous things. They get it completely backwards. Like for example, Matthew 7. You know, they'll talk, oh, you gotta do all these works. Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven. See, right there, the Bible says you gotta do God's will if you wanna go to heaven. And it's like, but he goes on and says, many will say unto that Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works. But Lord, didn't we do the exact same things that you did on earth? Right, and they're saying, hey, we cast out devils. We prophesied in thy name, we did many wonderful works. And it's true, they're repeating back to him the same things that Jesus did on earth. And he says unto them, he says, I will profess unto them, I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work iniquity. How can you call that iniquity? Jesus, you did these works. It's because they're trusting in their own righteousness, which the Bible calls filthy rags. That our righteousnesses are as filthy rags before him. I'm not going to heaven, well, God, you know, I went out every Saturday for an hour, and I knocked doors, and I tried to preach the gospel. Let me in. I mean, I know I'm a sinner, just like everybody else. I know that I have a life of sin, and that my flesh is corrupt, and I could be just as wicked as pretty much anybody else in this world. But you know, I got up every Sunday morning, and I preached the Bible, so let me in to bask in your holy glory. No, me thinking that something I can do to work my way into heaven is iniquity. But yet, a person, a Catholic, somebody, will read Matthew 7, read those verses, and not get that. Why, because they know not at what they stumble. The word of God is a stumbling block to them. You know, the will of God, Jesus said, this is the will of the Father, that everyone that seeth the Son believeth on him. That's the will of God. You know, whosoever doeth the will of God, right, that's who gets to go in, well, what's God's will? That whosoever seeth the Son believeth on him, and have everlasting life. That's the will of the Father, that everyone that hears the gospel would believe it. Not that we would try to work our way into heaven, because none of us can. The point I'm trying to make is that, look, all men were seeking, that was the message of disciples brought to Jesus, but the disciples were the ones that were able to find Jesus. And when they found him, they said unto him, all men seek thee, but not us, because we've already found you, and we're already saved, and we already know where God is. And if you're saved this morning, that's the same testimony that you have. Look at 1 John 1.1. He says, that which was from the beginning, which we have seen, which we have heard with our, and we have seen with, excuse me, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled with the word of life. Jesus is saying, we found Jesus. I leaned upon his breast. I handled him. I've seen him with my eyes. I saw him in the mount of transfiguration. I saw him walk upon the sea. I saw him feed the thousands. I saw him raise the dead. I saw him, we all saw him do these great things. This is the Lord God. We've looked upon him. We've heard him. We've handled him. The life, verse two, was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness that he also may have fellowship with us. And truly, our fellowship is with the Father and with his son, Jesus Christ. He's saying, we know who God is. We saw him. We heard him. We were there, and now we know where he is, and we're just trying to get the rest of you to him. They came to Jesus and said, they found him, and they said, all men seek thee. John is saying, look, we found him. We want you to find him too. Verse three, that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that ye also may have fellowship with us. Our attitude should not be, well, we found him. What about you? Still looking for God over there? Still trying to find the truth? Good luck. That's not the attitude John had. John said, we declare this unto you. He said, we found him. We handled him. We've seen him. We've heard him. We know who God is. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. We have fellowship with the Father, and these things we write unto you. We write unto you that your joy may be full. That was the response that Jesus had when they brought that message back there in Mark. He says, and they found him, and they said unto him, all men seek for thee. And he said unto them, well, I'm right here. What's their problem? I'm right here. Obviously, people have a hard time finding God. Obviously, some people, yes, they have the evidence of creation. Yes, they have the evidence of the testimony in their heart. Yes, they have all these proofs, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they're gonna come to Christ. Someone has to help them. Someone's gotta get them the rest of the way there. And he said unto them in verse 38, let us go into the next towns, that I might preach there also, for therefore came I forth. And he preached in their synagogues, through all Galilee, and cast out devils. The disciples says, all men seek thee. We've found you, but all men seek thee. And Jesus said, well, let's go get them. And Jesus didn't go play hide and seek. Oh, he's over here, now he's over there. Warmer, you know, warmer, colder. You're warmer, colder, colder, warmer, red hot, ice cold. No, he said, oh, they're looking for me? Let's go, let's go find them, let's go into the next town. I'll preach in their synagogues, I'll heal their sick. I'll let everybody know, here I am. You know, and today, we have the word of God. John had the same attitude. We've declared these things unto you. We've written these things. Peter said, we have not followed cunningly defies fables, when we made none unto the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. He's saying, look, we're not making this stuff up. This is the truth, we know it. We've written these things down. And look, here's the thing, here's the application. And I'll close. You're saved, you know who God, and you know where to find him. You know where to find the truth this morning. It's right here. It's right in your hand. Hopefully you got one with you. You know, you've got one, here's the truth. Here's what all men seek. Right here, it's this book. All men seek thee, Jesus, the word of God. That's the title of Christ. The word of God, that's his name. The word was manifest, right? We have that truth. What are we doing with it? What are we gonna do with it? Hide under a bushel? Or are we gonna do what Jesus did and say, let's go preach. If they're all seeking, then let's go preach. Look, there's people in this city that are seeking. And I'm not saying every single door you knock, they're just gonna fall on their knees. I've been waiting for this answer, I'm so glad you're here. There might be. It'd be rare. But if we keep going and keep knocking and keep seeking them, we will find them. If we seek after the seekers, we'll find them. It's done out there, though. Jesus said, let's go and preach. He didn't say, well, let's turn our church into a seeker-sensitive church. Let's just emulate the world to draw in to entertain a bunch of people and then maybe they'll stumble upon the gospel while they're here. And I can just preach a gospel message every single Sunday. Look, we go seek out there, we bring the truth to them. Just like Jesus did, Jesus came to us. I mean, it's Christmas, isn't that the theme? That Christ came down from earth and dwelt among men. That he put on that robe of flesh, that he was born lowly in a manger and he sought at men. That he came and preached peace and glad tidings, goodwill to men on earth, isn't that the message? He didn't say, hey, get to heaven and you can hear it. I'll bring it right down to you. I'll condescend to men of low estate and preach it. That's the only reason any of us found the truth is because Christ came here and now we have this truth. It's our duty to preach the gospel. It's not a hobby. It's not something to make ourselves feel spiritual. It's not something that we can lift ourselves up and say, well, you know, we preach the gospel and these other churches don't. We do all the soul-willing. That's not why we do what we do. You know, well, of course we do that. We go out and preach the gospel because, you know, we're old-eyed, we're not old-eyed, we're new-eyed Baptist church. There's Baptists out there, that's what Baptists are known for, soul-willing, that's just what they do. You know, hopefully, that's the reputation Baptists have. It seems like they're losing it. Well, we don't just do it because we're Baptists. We do it because that's the duty of everyone that's found the truth. Well, why is it our duty? Because all men seek. All men seek and they're going to come to a conclusion. They're going to decide some things about what they believe. And without our help, without the preaching the gospel, they're going to believe wrong and they're going to go to hell. That's the sad truth. And all I'm trying to do is emphasize this morning, look, if all are seeking, let's go help them find Him. Let's go get Him saved. Let's go ahead and close in a word of prayer. Dear Lord, again, thank you for the privilege for having known the truth, Lord, that you've given to us an understanding that life is in your son and, Lord, that you've opened the eyes of our understanding, you've given, you've enlightened us, Lord, that through your word and, Lord, that thank you for everyone in this room that has sought and has found you, Lord, and rather been found of you. And, Lord, I pray that you would just help us to never, Lord, lose the burden for others, Lord. That's the burden that you have, that there's men out there, people in this world that want to know the truth, that would believe the truth if someone would just come and share it with them. And we thank you again in Jesus' name, Amen. All right, we'll go ahead and sing song number 129. Song number 129. ["The Star-Spangled Banner"] On the pages where we'll be Let the eyewear still be Let the wandering one From that moon and sky control Be our state of the blue Who lies in the wonderful room He alone, in thy hymn, Christ the King, simply to... When my light shall close this door May I rise to hold the key I, Christ the King... Thanks again for coming, everybody. I'll be right back. ["The Star-Spangled Banner"]