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

We three kings of Hornet are, bearing gifts we traverse afar. Field and fountain, moor and mountain, following yonder star. Oh, star of wonder, star of night, star with royal beauty bright. Westward leading, still proceeding, guide us to thy perfect light. Born a king on Bethlehem's plain, gold I bring to crown him again. King forever ceasing, never over us all to reign. Oh, star of wonder, star of night, star with royal beauty bright. Westward leading, still proceeding, guide us to thy perfect light. Frankincense to offer have I, incense owns the deity nigh. Prayer and praising, all men raising, worship him, God on high. Oh, star of wonder, star of night, star with royal beauty bright. Westward leading, still proceeding, guide us to thy perfect light. Mur is mine, it's bitter perfume, breathes a life of gathering gloom. Rosine bleeding, dying, sealed in a stone cold tomb. Oh, star of wonder, star of night, star with royal beauty bright. Westward leading, still proceeding, guide us to thy perfect light. Glorious now, behold him rise, king and God and sacrifice. Hallelujah, hallelujah, peals through the earth and skies. Oh, star of wonder, star of night, star with royal beauty bright. Westward leading, still proceeding, guide us to thy perfect light. All right, if you would take your Bibles and turn to Mark 11. Mark chapter number 11. We'll have brother Richie come and read that for us. All right, Mark chapter 11. If you're there, say amen. And when they came nigh to Jerusalem under Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, he sent for two of his disciples and sayeth unto them, go your way into the village over against you. And as soon as you be entered into it, you shall find a colt tied where a never man sat, loose him and bring him. If any man say unto you, why do ye this? Say ye that the Lord hath need of him and straightway he will send him hither. And they went their way and found the colt tied by the door without in a place where two ways met and they loose him. And certain of them that stood there said unto them, what do ye loosing the colt? And they said unto them, even as Jesus had commanded, and they let them go. And they brought the colt to Jesus and cast their garments on him and he sat upon him. And many spread their garments in the way and others cut down branches off the trees and strolled them in the way. And they that went before and they that followed cried saying, Hosanna, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Blessed be the kingdom of our father David that cometh in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest. And Jesus entered into Jerusalem and into the temple. And when he looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the 12. And on the morrow when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry and seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if happily he might find anything thereon. And when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves for the time of figs was not yet. And Jesus answered and said unto it, no man eat fruit of the hereafter forever. And his disciples heard it. And they come to Jerusalem and Jesus went into the temple and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple and overthrew the tables of the money changers and the seats of them that sold doves. It would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple. And he taught saying unto them, is it not written, my house shall be called of all nations, the house of prayer, but you've made it a den of thieves. And the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy him for they feared him because all the people was astonished at his doctrine. And when even was come, he went out of the city. And in the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance sayeth unto him, master, behold the fig tree which thou curses is withered away. And Jesus answering sayeth unto them, have faith in God. For verily I say unto you that whosoever shall say into this mountain, be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, what things soever you desire when you pray, believe that you've received them and you shall have them. And when you stand praying, forgive if you have odd against any, that your father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses. And they come again to Jerusalem and as he was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priests and the scribes and the elders and saying to him, by what authority doest thou these things and who gave thee this authority to do these things? And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question and answer me and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, was it from heaven or of men? Answer me. And they reasoned with themselves saying, if we shall say from heaven, he will say, why then did you not believe him? But if we shall say of men, they feared the people for all men counted John that he was a prophet indeed. And they answered and said unto Jesus, we cannot tell. And Jesus answering sayeth unto them, neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things. Let's pray. Dear heavenly father, thank you for everyone that's able to come to church for the second service. Thank you for the first message we heard on your unspeakable gift. And just fill Pastor Robinson with your Holy Spirit. And I pray that we have ears to hear. In Jesus name I pray, amen. Amen. If you put it on the pillow, it's got to go to sleep. So you're there in Mark chapter 11. And I want to preach a sermon entitled, by what authority doest thou these things? By what authority doest thou these things? And this is the question that the base of the chief priests and all those that didn't like Jesus were asking him. And I preached a sermon last week called, praying for all those that are in authority. So we're dealing with authorities as far as just physical governments and all that stuff. But ultimately, our authority comes from God. And when I preached that sermon, the reason we're praying for those that are in authority is that we might lead a quiet and peaceable life and all godliness and honesty. The whole point of that is to live godly. But if the government gets in the way of what the Bible says we should do, our authority is above their authority, meaning our authority is God. And they are basically questioning Jesus. And I love this passage because I love how Jesus answers them with a question. And he basically says, all right, I'll answer that when you answer my question. And I love how Jesus deals with them. When they bring him, they're trying to tempt him. And he says, bring me a penny when it comes to the tribute. And just how he just stops their mouths. And he doesn't answer them like they would want him to. They're trying to trap him, but he won't let it happen. And so let's read here in verse 27. It says, and they come again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, they come to him, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders, and saying to him, by what authority doest thou these things? And who gave thee this authority to do these things? So if you remember what just happened, Jesus just threw people out of the temple, and he's flipping tables and all this stuff that's going on. And they're saying, who gave you the authority to do this? And it's funny because no one stopped him because he had the authority. And it's one of those things where they would try to stone him or they try to do that, and he would just go through them because his time is not yet. Meaning they couldn't touch him until it was time that they killed him. And the key ingredient there in verse 29, it says, and Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask you one question and answer me. And I will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, was it from heaven or of men? Answer me. And they reasoned with themselves, saying, if we shall say from heaven, he will say, why then did you not believe him? But if we shall say of men, they fear the people. For all men counted John that he was a prophet indeed. And so they're basically in a straight betwixt two. They're like, well, we can't say he's from heaven. It was from heaven because then we're admitting that what John was saying about Jesus was true. Because what did John say about Jesus? Behold, the Lamb of God hath taken away the sin of the world, right? So if they're gonna say that John's baptism, which he preached the baptism of repentance, and what was the baptism of repentance? That they should believe on him, that should come after him, that is on Christ. So if they said, well, it's from heaven, then they're giving legitimacy to John's preaching. And so they can't do that. But they can't say from earth because all these people are saying, well, John's a prophet indeed. Even Herod recognized John as being a prophet that he would hear gladly. And so they're in a straight because they know that they can't say either way because they would be in trouble either way. And so they basically say they can't answer. Verse 33 says, and they answered and said, unto Jesus we cannot tell. And Jesus answering said unto them, neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things. I love it. I love how he's just like, I'm not answering you then. You know, if you don't wanna answer my question, if you wanna be deceitful and hold back what you think, and they're answering like a politician. This is how politicians talk. You know, you want a straight answer. What do you think? What do you believe on this issue? Well, you know, and they just ride the fence and they're trying to get both, they're trying to win both sides. Just riding this fence. And I can't stand that. Listen, a preacher should not be that way. Don't ride the fence, preach what you believe. And preach what the Bible says. And when it comes to this, that's what these religious leaders were doing is they're trying to ride the fence and try to win both sides. You know, they don't wanna, basically the people to be against them. They fear the people. They also don't wanna give legitimacy to what they don't believe. So Jesus says, you know, I'm not gonna tell you then. And I love that. I love when Jesus puts these hypocrites in their place. But go to Matthew chapter seven. So after the Sermon on the Mount, so if you know the Sermon on the Mount, or the famous Sermon on the Mount, is Matthew five through seven. So all three chapters. It starts in chapter, at the beginning of chapter five and ends at the end of chapter seven. But notice what it says here at the very end after he did that whole Sermon on the Mount, which is one of the most famous sermons you know, in the whole Bible, okay? And so in verse 28 here it says, and it came to pass when Jesus had ended these sayings that people were astonished at his doctrine. Notice why. For he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. So who was questioning him in chapter 11? The chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. And they're saying, you know, what authority do you have to do all of this? And you know, from the beginning, Jesus is preaching. They said this man, he's preaching like he's got authority. And you know what, that's what we need. We need preaching that has authority behind it. And my authority is this right here. It's the Bible. You know, that's why I can preach it and say, thus saith the Lord. We're not afraid of what the Bible says. And I know some of the men were talking about how so many people will bring up things. Be like, what do you think about the homos? What do you think about this? Be like, well, the Bible says it. That's my authority. And you know what comes down to is that they have to have a problem with God then. Because we're not just going out there on our own authority. I'm not just up here preaching on my own authority. This is what the Bible says and therefore that is the authority. And I can lean on that. And Jesus taught as one having authority. Why? Because he's the son of God. Because he's the word of God. Because in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. And all things were made by him. And without him was not anything made that was made. So he literally made everything. So he has the authority to tell you what it means. And they marveled at that. They said, you know, this man, he's teaching as one of his authority and the scribes don't. So that tells you something about how they taught. You know, the leadership back then. See, nothing new under the sun. And today in churches you have a lot of people that aren't teaching with authority. They're just teaching something and they're riding one end to the other. You never know what they're even saying, like where they stand. And that's what I see here. When you're dealing with authority, preaching with authority, you know what it is? It's playing. It's very just out there. This is what we believe. And it's in your face. You know, this is exactly what it is. You're not guessing. How do you get done with a sermon or you're like, I don't know where he stands on that. Now hopefully no one comes out of one of my sermons, that I've ever preached, and says, man, I don't know where he stands on that issue. Now if I'm not sure on an issue, I'll just tell you. I'll just be like, yeah, I'm not 100% sure on that. You know, ask me later if I figure it out. And that's fine. You don't have to know everything. But at the same time, if you're saying, hey, I'm gonna teach you some doctrine. I'm gonna teach you something in the Bible. You know what it should be? This is what it is. This is what it's not, and this is what it is. And usually the way, and you know, I preach the way I like to hear preaching, okay? I like to preach, this is what the Bible says, and here's all the other stuff that's wrong, and let me show you why all this is wrong. Let me show you why this is right, and all this is wrong, and when you're done with the sermon, you know, all right, I know he thinks that's all wrong, and this is right. You don't have to agree with me, okay? But at least you know where I stand. At least you know, hey, he doesn't believe you have to repent of your sins to be saved. You know, he doesn't believe that you can lose your salvation for any reason, okay? It's not, I'm not gonna just tiptoe around that and say, well, you know, this or that, and then you're guessing where I stand on an issue. And so it needs to be with authority, and they marveled at that. Go to Mark chapter one, really the same thing, but I just want you to see here that Jesus had authority, but they saw that in his teaching. He wasn't saying, I think this is the way. He says, you know, you heard this said, well, I say unto you this. You know, when you're thinking the Sermon on the Mount, you've heard it said of old time, but I say unto you, you know, and you notice that he doesn't say, thus saith the Lord. He's saying, I say this unto you because he is the Lord, okay, so when he says, I say unto you, you should love your enemy, help those, you know, which hurt you, you know, and going down the line, and when he's saying, blessed be this person, blessed be that person, and goes through the Beatitudes and all that, is the idea is that he's giving you commandment and you say, well, we're not God, I know we're not God. I'm not just making up stuff, okay? That's why when I'm teaching something, it's Bible verse, Bible verse, Bible verse, here's why this is true. Bible verse, Bible verse, Bible verse, this is why this is true. Bible verse, Bible verse, Bible verse, this is why this is not true, okay? And it's, where's the authority though? It's in the Bible. See, the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and the joints of marrow and the discern of the thoughts and intents of the heart. You know, the Bible's where the authorities add and so I'm gonna use it. Now, in Mark chapter one and verse 21, it says, and they went into Capernaum and straightway on the Sabbath day, he entered into the synagogue and taught. So we're in a different place, right, because he was on the mound, he was on a mountain when he was preaching that sermon and now he's in the synagogue teaching and it says, and they were astonished at his doctrine for he taught them as one that had authority and not as the scribes. See a familiar pattern here? That is like, hey, you know, he's not teaching like the scribes. So you know what that means? The scribes weren't teaching with authority. You know what that tells me is that they're teaching, they're not teaching plainly, they're not saying this is thus said the Lord, this is the way it is. It's more of this like ride the fence, it could be this way, it could be that way, we're not sure. How would you like it if I get up here and I'm just like, I'm gonna preach you a sermon but I have no idea whether this is right or not. Do you really care what I say after that? Are you gonna really like, man, I'm gonna really tune into this one. Or would you rather, you know, I'm gonna show you this and I believe this to be true with all my heart. That doesn't mean that you should believe me just, you know, no matter what. But, I mean, at least you know that, hey, I'm teaching this as one having authority, meaning that I'm saying, hey, this is what it is, okay? But if I'm coming up here just all the time, you're like, I don't know, guys. You know, let me just plow through this and see what we find out. You know, this isn't Bible study time as far as like, let's go back and forth and figure this out, okay? When I preach you a sermon, this is exactly what I believe, and if I'm gonna preach it behind the pulpit, then I'm gonna be 99.999% sure that this is right, okay? Now, can I be wrong? Of course I can be wrong. And there's been times where I've said things that I'm like, no, that's not right. Let me rephrase that, let me say that differently, where I've changed my mind as far as what this is actually saying over here. And so we need to preach as one having authority, but that's because we have the Bible. Now, John chapter five, go to John chapter five. God the Father gave Jesus authority while he was teaching down here on the earth. John five verse 26 here, John five verse 26, it says, for as the Father had life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself, and have given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of Man. So we know that he had authority when he was here on the earth. He's going to have authority in the future. He's gonna roll and reign, and obviously execute judgment. Go to Matthew chapter 28, Matthew chapter 28. And how much more now that he's risen from the dead in his glorified state set at the right hand of the throne on high, seated at the right hand of the Father. So I want you to think about that when people say, well, what authority do you have to go out soul winning? What authority do you have to go to church? What authority do you have to lead your family as you're leading it today? This is my authority right here, and it trumps any authority that's out there. It trumps Jim Justice, it trumps Trump, it trumps the United Nations, it trumps everybody. So yeah, ultimately, we need to live peaceably with all men as much as possible. But in the end, God's authority is above them. So look at Matthew 28, verse 16. It says, then the 11 disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain, where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things, whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world, amen. So we see here that when he gives this great commission, he's saying, listen, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth, okay? Now that doesn't mean that we're not all millennialists, all millennialists, meaning that we don't believe that it's the thousand year reign right now, and Jesus is ruling and reigning here on the earth, okay? Like those people believe, like preterists, all millennialists, okay? But obviously God, you know, Jesus has power to do whatever he needs to be done down here until he comes back, okay? And he's given that power unto us as well. And so go to Titus chapter two, Titus chapter two, okay? So first of all, you see Jesus, and we're supposed to be following his steps, obviously. And Jesus had authority, even though he was, he came here to minister and not to be ministered unto, okay? He came here to be a servant, and that's the way we are supposed to be. We're not here to say, hey, we need to all become CEOs of companies and be lords, you know, in this life over people, okay? That's not what the Bible teaches we should be doing. The Bible says that we need to be ministers. If you're gonna, the greatest, if you wanna be the greatest, be servant of all. So those that serve more will be greater in the kingdom of heaven. And so notice in Titus chapter two, Titus chapter two, look at verse 11 there. It says, for the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. Notice that that should is there, that it's not gonna automatically happen, but that's what we are striving for. Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purifying himself, a peculiar people, zealous of good works. Notice in verse 15 here, these things speak and exhort and rebuke with all authority, let no man despise thee. That's the commandment. You know, we have all these verses about salvation or how, I mean, think of chapter two, what's chapter two about? It's talking about the aged men, the aged women, the younger women and the young men and how they're supposed to conduct themselves, how servants are supposed to conduct themselves at work and all that, and he's stating to them, hey, you know, to Titus, who's a preacher, by the way, you know, these things speak and exhort and rebuke with all authority, let no man despise thee. And in Timothy, it says, let no man despise thy youth. Okay, so it's not about age, like physical age, whether you have authority. Listen, you know, someone that's saved, I don't care if it's a child, they have authority to preach the Word of God to someone to get them saved, right? Children can win other people to Christ and they have the authority from God and let no man despise their youth when it comes to that. And so we have authority given by God. Listen, Jesus has given all authority and all power and heaven and earth and he's sending us. Now go to Matthew chapter 10, Matthew chapter 10. Matthew chapter 10, when he was here on his earthly ministry, he gave his disciples both the 12 and the 70. So when you read through the Gospels in Luke, it'll bring up the 70. So he sends the 12 out two by two and then he sends 70 others two by two. So that means you have 35 groups, right, with the other 70 and you have six groups with the 12 going out and preaching the Gospel and healing and casting out devils. Notice in Matthew chapter 10, verse one, it says, when he had called unto them his 12 disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits to cast them out and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. Go to Luke chapter nine, Luke chapter nine. Same thing with the 12 disciples, but I just want you to see that he's giving them power. And I'm setting it up for something here because obviously when you look at this, you're like, well, yeah, they got power to heal diseases and to basically cast out devils. But what you gotta understand is that, yeah, that's all cool when that was going on back then, but that's not the priority. The priority, what I'm gonna show you, is salvation. The priority is preaching the Gospel. Casting out devils and all that, that kinda has to happen when someone gets saved, okay, if you think about it, because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. So if someone gets saved, that devil's automatically gonna be cast out, even today. But in Luke chapter nine, it says, then he called his 12 disciples together and gave them power and authority over all devils and to cure diseases, and he sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. Go to Luke chapter 10, you're in Luke chapter nine, but I'm gonna read to you Mark chapter 13, verse 34. It says, for the Son of Man is as a man taking a far journey who left his house and gave authority to his servants and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. So when Jesus ascended up on high, he's saying, I have all power and authority, but he's giving that authority to his disciples, to those that are going to be in his stead, okay? And so I want you to know that, listen, we have authority here on earth by God to do the things of God. But the thing is that you don't wanna take that and use that as a cloak of maliciousness. So when it's talking about not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, the whole reason it's bringing that up is that, basically, the Bible's saying, hey, you have physical government over you. If at all possible, live peaceably with all men, as much as lieth in you, right? It's basically saying just do what you can to live peaceably with them. But ultimately, God is the final authority, and what he tells you to do trumps anything that they say to do. So if they tell you to do something that's against the Bible, you don't listen to them. You do what the Bible says. If the Bible's telling you to do something and they're saying you can't do it, you do what the Bible says, okay? And, but you're not using that, you're not trying to cause rifts. Does that make sense? You're not like, well, the Bible's my final authority, so I'm not gonna do this or that, and it's like some stupid ordinance that doesn't matter, right? In Luke chapter 10 and verse 17, it says, and the 70 returned again with joy. Just for Satan's context, if you went up to the beginning of the chapter, you'll see that he had 70 others, other disciples, that he sent two by two. It says the 70 returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Okay, so this is pretty awesome stuff. I mean, to be back there in that day, doing these miracles as the apostles were doing, but notice in verse 20 here, notwithstanding. So that's a contrasting statement, right? So you did all this, they're like rejoicing that they had this power over the devils and all this stuff, and he's saying notwithstanding, in this rejoice not. So imagine that you're doing all of that, okay? And he's saying, don't rejoice in that though. It says that the spirits are subject unto you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven, okay? So what you should be really rejoicing is that people are getting saved. You know, you're saved and people are getting saved, okay? That should be, and so you could look at the Bible and say, well, he's given him authority over all this stuff. Yeah, but he's also given you authority to go preach the Word of God. He's given you authority to get people saved, okay? Go to John chapter 20, John chapter 20. I want you to know that as Christians, we have a lot of authority in this world, okay? When it comes to, we're God's people. We are the holy nation. We are the peculiar people. And we are the royal priesthood. And so there's a lot of authority. That's why Paul is basically trying to rein that back a little bit, like, listen, I know that we have this authority from God. I mean, I know we have this, but when we're in the world, we need to just try to get along with the ordinances of this world. But that being said, obviously, if it goes against God's authority and God's Word, then you're not gonna adhere to that, okay? So, you know, you think of the one sermon as far as like, yeah, we need to try to live peacefully, but at the same time, we have a lot of authority by God in this world. Notice in John chapter 20 and verse 21, it says, then said Jesus to them again, peace be unto you, as my Father has sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and saith unto them, receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whosoever sins you remit, they are remitted unto them. And whosoever sins you retain, they are retained. Now, this verse, I believe, mostly is talking about in the church, okay? So if you think about when Peter said, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, and he says, I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and basically the same thing that's being said here, but he says, upon this rock will I build my church, okay? So the idea is that, okay, if we kick someone out, then to God, they're kicked out. If we forgive somebody and bring them in, to God, they're forgiven, okay? That's a lot of power, if you think about it, that he's saying, listen, who sins you remit? They're remitted. And who sins you retain? They're retained. Now, think about this, Al-Sulwani, who, imagine that he's giving you the power that if you knock the dust off your feet to that town, he regards that. He regards that, and he'll remember it, in that town or wherever you were at, it'll be better off for Sodom and Gomorrah. That's a lot of power that he's putting in your hands to have compassion, and think about this, and I know this may not be popular, but if we don't go out soul-wining, they're not getting saved. People aren't getting saved by reading the Bible. People aren't getting saved without a soul-winner, okay? And so that means there's a lot of power there and authority that has to be there. So that being said, if we don't go out soul-wining and we don't give them the gospel, then their sins aren't gonna be remitted. Does that make sense? And so that's a lot of authority, and listen, where authority is, there's a lot of responsibility, okay? Anybody that's a leader in their company or high up or own a company, yeah, it's cool being the owner, minus all the responsibility that comes with it, right? Because there's a lot of responsibility that comes with all that power and authority, okay? And so when it comes to this, yeah, we have a lot of power and authority when it comes to the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God, nuts to the kingdom of this world. It's all gonna fade away and burn up. The elements of this world are gonna melt as fervent heat. We have the keys of heaven. We have the authority from God Almighty, the King of Kings. He's giving us all power and authority to go out and preach the gospel and get people saved. But if we don't go, they don't get saved. And listen, that's the way it's always been. The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. As it is written, the just shall live by faith. How shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things. It's always been that way, and if we don't go, they're not getting saved. Now, you say, well, what if no one went? Well, don't give me impossible hypotheticals, because obviously that's never gonna happen. You know, that everybody just stops soul winning and no one gets saved. Listen, that's not gonna happen because the Bible's already said that in the end, the gospel's gonna be preached to every nation. It's gonna be published in every nation. So you can miss me with that garbage, that, well, you know, it's possible. No, it's not possible. It's not, it's not possible for everybody to just stop soul winning, because if it did, then there would be a generation of no one saved and no one ever getting saved after that. It's not possible if it's revealed from faith to faith. And the natural man received not the things of the Spirit of God, and neither can he know them because their foolishness is not to him, because he's spiritually discerned. A natural man is not gonna read the Bible and understand it just like the eunuch said, how can I except some man should guide me? That is what every unsaved person is saying when they're reading the Bible. Whether they wanna say it or not, they don't understand it unless a spiritual believer shows it to them. That's the way it is. That's a lot of authority, and that's a lot of responsibility. And so we need to take it seriously, obviously. But notice that he says, as my father hath sent me, even so send I you. Don't take that lightly. Think about that for a second. As, that's basically saying like, just like he sent me into the world, I'm sending you. That's a tall order right there, to try to follow up the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why it takes a lot more of us, right? You know, to fill those shoes. Go to John chapter 17, John chapter 17. John chapter 17 and verse 18. It says, as thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. So not only the father's saying, or he's saying the father sent me into the world, even so send I you. He's basically stating this over and over again, he's talking to the father in John chapter 17. He's saying, as you sent me, I sent them, or I'm sending them into the world. And that same authority that Jesus had, when he taught as one having authority, we can have that same authority as we preach. Go to 2 Corinthians chapter five, 2 Corinthians chapter five. This is why it's so important that we're King James only. Or whatever language you speak that you have the true word of God, that you have a rock that you're basing your information off of. I can't imagine, this is, I can't imagine how churches that aren't King James only, how they can preach as having authority. How can they preach as one having authority, and how can you hear as one's having authority to be able to discern that if you don't have an unmovable foundation of the word of God? I'm telling you right now, I would not want to be a preacher if we didn't have a perfect word of God. I just wouldn't want to do it. I don't want a movable foundation. I don't want to be unsure as I'm teaching you. This is a big responsibility to teach doctrine, and if what I'm teaching it from isn't infallible, then I don't want anything to do with it. I don't want to touch it. When it comes to salvation, how am I supposed to tell people, salvation is by grace through faith, if the Bible's got errors in it, or there's parts that are wrong in it. How do you know that the part that I'm trying to teach you isn't wrong? And so it's baffling to me how people can try to preach, but that's why when you go to most of these churches, you go into a Methodist church, you go into all these other churches, they're not teaching as having authority. They don't have authority in what they're saying. They're like, well, you know, this is what it says in this one. I like the way this one says it over here. Man, that's a lot of authority right there. And I've been in those liberal Baptist churches, too. It's like, I like the way the NLT says it here. It's just constantly moving, moving the goalposts, moving this or that, and you have no idea whether that's right or wrong. No, you should be hearing doctrine and saying, hey, that's what it says. It's black and white. You can't resist it. You can't gainsay it. And any doctrine that I preach, that I want you to try to destroy it. Come at me, bro. No, I'm just kidding. Obviously, I try to do that, and that's why everybody loved Jesus' preaching, because his doctrine was sound. It was sound, and you couldn't penetrate that with anything. They didn't know how to answer them. They'd just be like, they can't even think of a question to ask them, let alone try to demolish what he said. They just, they're like, no man asks them any more questions after that. Just constantly going through there and be like, they got nothing, and that's authority right there. That's being a boss, and that's where Jesus is just preaching, and he's just laying it down and having authority, and no one can say anything. Show me a place in the Bible where they ever had anything to say that Jesus didn't have something to say to him. He's just constantly, he's in the leadership position, and he's telling them what they should believe, and he is the teacher, not the one being taught. And obviously, as a preacher, I wanna be like Jesus. I wanna be like, I wanna preach as one having authority and having good, sound doctrine, but nowadays, it's just, it's not there, and you can imagine why people don't wanna come to church, you know, why they don't wanna hear preaching, because there's nothing sound about it. It's just this ever-moving, with the flow, and half the stuff they're preaching, you can get on watching TV. You know, it's just whatever's popular that day, they're talking about it. There's nothing of substantial substance that they're preaching. Go to 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 17. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17, it says, "'Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, notice this, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead be reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.'" So when we're talking about reconciliation here, what are we talking about? Eternal salvation. We're talking about your sins being remitted. And notice that, obviously that passage where it's talking in John chapter 20, it's probably more so dealing with believers and, you know, physical remission, as far as the church and discipline and all that stuff. But would that not apply to the ministry of reconciliation? Meaning that we're preaching the word of God, he's given us that ministry of reconciliation, he's given us that word of reconciliation, which we have right here, and we are in Christ's stead. We are ambassadors for Christ, okay? Imagine, you know, you have like ambassadors to all these countries for the US, right? You have authority by the United States, the nation of the United States, to be an ambassador, meaning that you are in their stead. You're speaking on behalf of the United States. Well, how about that now? With Christ, we are speaking on the behalf of Christ, okay? And we have the word of God to do it, right? It's not that we just have this ministry, we have the word of reconciliation. We have the ministry of reconciliation, and we do that with the word of reconciliation. Because we're speaking in Christ's stead because we're stating, here's what the word says, and we're expounding it, we're explaining it, we're preaching it. You're saying, well, you know, do they have to preach it? Well, I think, actually it says in 1 Corinthians that God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching that we might be saved. So yes, that's how it's done, okay? So you say, well, I think they can read it and figure it out. Show me your chapter and verse on that. I'll show you chapter and verse where that doesn't happen, where it's very clear it doesn't happen that way, and where preaching has to happen, and they have to hear it preached to them. And what is that talking about? Well, if you look at Nehemiah, when they preached the word of God, it says that they preached the word of God, and then they gave the sense, right? So they would read it, they read the law, but then they gave the sense, okay? Meaning that they show what does it mean, okay? That's what a preacher's supposed to do behind the pulpit. If I just got up here and just started reading my verses off, right? Let's say I just went up here and I just started reading off these verses, and right now I don't have really many other things on here besides just verses, okay? I have one place that says obey God over man, okay? So, but you would get that once you read this verse, okay? But if I just read to you these verses and I just start reading them off to you, are you gonna even know what the sermon's about necessarily? I mean, it's not wrong to have verses and have the Bible, it's not like that's completely unprofitable, but the whole point of preaching is to say, hey, here's what the verse says, here's what it means. Here's how you apply it, right? Here's the exhortation, the reproof or the rebuke that goes with it, preach the word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. And the idea here is that when it comes to preaching the word of God from a pulpit, it needs to be with authority and it needs to be plain and simple for people to understand. You need to be able to expound it to where it's something that's maybe a dark saying, it's cryptic, but you unpack it and say, hey, here's how it applies. This is what it means, okay? And the same thing when it comes to the gospel. Even though the gospel's really simple, people need it explained. And how, I preached a whole sermon about the gift, the unspeakable gift, but isn't it the case every time we talk to somebody, we have to explain what that gift is and we have to tear down a wall to be like, hey, a gift is something you don't pay for. And even after I'll explain that to them, I'll say, a gift, if I gave you this as a gift, you don't pay for that, right? What if I gave you a dollar for it? Or what if I asked for a dollar? What if I said you gotta come to church for me? And sometimes they'll be like, I don't know. But usually they get all that when you're just talking about like a physical book, right? But then you say, okay, well, Jesus said he's gonna give you everlasting life, but what if he said you gotta go to church for him? And they're like, well, I don't know. You see how you're tearing down this wall? Like, they just don't grasp it. And you have to tear down that wall and be like, it's a gift, it doesn't matter if it's something that costs a dollar or if it's something that's priceless, if it's a gift, it's a gift. But you gotta tear down that wall even though it's something very, very simple. Because the natural man received it, not the things of the Spirit of God. Now, where did I have you turn? I didn't have you turn anywhere, did I? So I go to Matthew chapter 10, Matthew chapter 10. Matthew chapter 10. I don't know about you, but everything that I do in life, I wanna do with boldness. I don't wanna be ashamed. So when it comes to the Word of God, the great thing about having the perfect Word of God, this word of reconciliation, the more sure word of prophecy is that you don't have to worry about being ashamed of it. It's never gonna let you down. There's never gonna be a time where you're gonna be like, aha, I gotcha. Now, they may think that, but it's never the case. The Word of God is always smarter than them, it's always wiser, they're always gonna be found out to be a fool from what the Bible says. The Bible's never failed. And there may be times where you've read it and you said, man, that kinda seems like it contradicts, and then you figure out what it means, and you're like, that is perfect. That is perfect. And there's been times where places I'm like, that seems like it contradicts, and it's so perfect, and I actually use it as illustrations, I use it out soul winning, I use it in my everyday life, and it's something that's like, man, that's fantastic, I'm glad that's there. And we need to hold onto it and know that it's perfect, because here's the thing, if you don't believe this is authoritative, then you're not gonna preach it with authority, right? Let's say there's a church out there that says, hey, we only use the King James. But let's say they don't believe it's perfect, you know, they believe there's mistakes in it, or that you gotta go back to the Greek and Hebrew to figure out what it really means, then they're not gonna preach it with authority. They're not gonna be on every line and be like, that, what it says right there, that's exactly what it means and we gotta figure out what that's talking about, right? If there's some supposed contradiction, you just need to look at that and be like, that's right, let's figure it out and figure out all that fits. But most people, you know, most churches that would maybe even have a King James there, they're not looking at it that way. And I'll say there's even a lot of Baptist churches that say they're King James only, they kinda are in word only. Because they say that, but then they'll read a commentary where they're going back to the Greek or in Hebrew and it's changing, like you wouldn't have gotten that by reading it in English, okay? If you can't, if you can't prove a doctrine with just the plain English, if you have to go back to another language in order to prove a point, then you're wrong. Now, if you can prove, and I'll say this, if it's right in English, it's right in Greek and Hebrew. It should be right in any language, right? It shouldn't be like, well, it works in this language but not that language. No, it's right in all language. But listen, if you have a doctrine and you have to go to another language to prove it, then first of all, you're not King James only if you have to do that. If you can't just read it in there and say, this is exactly what it means. But also, you know, you're not gonna preach that with authority, because you're not gonna be trusting every little line that's on there, every jot and every tittle. So, where did I have you go? I had you at Matthew chapter 10, right? Look at verse 26, it says, "'Fear them not, therefore, for there is nothing covered "'that shall not be revealed, and hid that shall not be known. "'What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light, "'and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye "'upon the housetops, and fear not them "'which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul, "'but rather fear that him which is able to destroy "'both soul and body in hell.'" Now, a lot of people take that last verse and be like, see, he can still destroy. No, it says the soul, right? It's able to destroy both body and soul, or it doesn't say your soul, okay? It's just saying that, hey, fear the person that's able to throw someone in hell. That's pretty much what it's saying, right? Fear that person, don't fear the person that can only kill a body. Fear the one that's actually able to destroy someone's soul, okay, that's what you're supposed to fear. But it says, "'What I tell you in darkness, "'that speak ye in light, and what ye hear in the ear, "'that preach ye upon the housetops, "'and any church that is afraid to tell you their doctrine, "'any religion that's afraid to tell you,'" or they're like, well, you can't know that until you're in it, until you're involved. Listen, I don't care, we were kinda talking about that, you go out soul-winding and stuff like that, and people are like, well, what do you believe on this? Usually, I'm like, well, let's get through the gospel first, right, and let's not get off on these rabbit trails, but ultimately, if they really want, if they're like, we're not going any further than you tell me, be like, I'm gonna tell them. There is nothing that I preach that I would not tell an unsaved person or a saved person or anybody, okay? And that's why a lot of people say, well, you probably shouldn't put your stuff online because that's meant for just believers, and if an unbeliever sees that, it's gonna turn them off. How many times have I heard that? It's gonna turn them off, and they hear what the Bible says. Well, let them be turned off, then, but you know what the Bible says, what I tell you in a year, that preach you upon the housetops, and what I've heard in a year is all of this, by the way, and I know some Baptist preachers don't actually read it, so they can't actually say that, and can't actually say I'm gonna actually preach it all, because how could you preach it all if you never read it all? But you know what, the Bible, there's a lot of harsh things said in there, there's a lot of crass things that are said in there, there's a lot of hard sayings that people don't wanna hear, but you know what, I'm gonna preach it anyway. You know what happens? More people end up getting saved. So this whole idea, it's always funny, you're like, you can't preach that reprobate doctrine because people won't get saved. More people, I've won more, you know, those people that say that, I've probably won more people to Christ by preaching them the reprobate doctrine as I'm preaching the gospel than they probably ever won in their whole lifetime. I can't even count on both my hands how many people I've had to explain that to. Or I've had people say, I will not go any further until you tell me what you believe about that when it comes to the homos. You're like, well, they probably didn't get saved. No, actually, they only listened to me because I said that. I've had someone, I remember a young lady that was in California, and I probably told you the story before, but she basically was about to go to work or whatever, and she says, listen, I don't wanna hear what you have to say because you believe pedophiles can get saved and go to heaven. And I'm like, actually, I don't believe that. Actually, they're all dead men walking. Not one pedophile's gonna step foot in heaven. And I quickly explained to say, hey, listen, someone that's a pedophile has been given over to a reprobate mind. They had an opportunity to get saved, but they rejected God to a point where he rejected them, and then they became an animal, and they're gonna die and burn in hell for all eternity. And you know what she said to me? All right, you can show me what. You can show me what you were gonna show me. And you know what she did? She got saved. So you know what? People that save that kind of garbage, they don't have any experience with it. Those are the same people that don't actually go out soul winning. Those are the people that don't go out soul winning and be like, let me show you how it's done. You guys aren't doing it right. You know what? Instead of telling me how to do it, why don't you show me how to do it? But you know what? I'm gonna preach it from the housetops. I'm gonna preach every line. You know what? If YouTube doesn't like it, then they can go to hell. If Facebook doesn't like it, they can go to hell too. But you know what? I don't want the world to go to hell. But it comes down to this. You say, well, what if they did get turned off by that? The Bible says, Jesus says, preach it from the housetops. He never said to conceal doctrine. Show me in there where it says, hey, what I told you over here, besides the place where he's talking about when he's about to be killed and he hid that from their eyes until later on, but show me where he's telling his disciples after he rose from the dead saying, listen, you know, don't tell anybody about this yet. Hold this back. This is too hard for them. No, it's always just hard saying, hard saying, hard saying, hard saying, and you know what? It is what it is. So go to Acts chapter four, Acts chapter four, and I just want to show you a story here with Paul and John. I'm not Paul and John. Peter and John and the disciples and the idea of when they came up to government. So like I said last week, I was preaching on the fact that, hey, you know what, you need to obey government as much as possible, as much as you can without, you know, live peaceably with all men. Now listen, you say, well, that means that if a cop came up to you and said, wash my car slave, do it. Listen, we have the Constitution. There is a law above them, you know that, right? They swore to protect the Constitution, so I would be obeying the law of the land if I said no. If I said no, get off my property, okay? So we don't live in Communist China right now, okay? But by the way, in Communist China, you can't have church, and you can't go out and win people of Christ and go out soul winning. So, and you say, well, would you do it there? No, I would knock the dust off my feet until God destroys that land, or, you know, something happens to where they can get right. Because I'm not gonna beat my head against the wall and just go out and just get martyred for no reason. You know, I'm gonna go to a place that's perceptive. Say, what's hope for China? When people, there's plenty of Chinese people that are here in America. Win all of them, and then they can go back into their country and get people saved, and it could turn around eventually. But listen, I'm not gonna go beat my head against the wall against an unreceptive place. That's like saying, hey, let's go find the rich places up here and just beat our heads against the wall and try to, you know, and they're throwing us out of their HOAs and gated communities and all that. You know, I'm not gonna waste my time with that. So in Acts chapter four, Acts chapter four and verse six, Acts chapter four and verse six here says, and Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, by what power or by what name have you done this? Does this sound familiar? Because what did they say to Jesus? By what authority doest thou these things, right? And so if you remember, he was overthrowing things, but he was also healing a whole bunch of people and doing great miracles, and they're saying, you know, by what authority do you do this? And notice what Peter says in verse eight. It says, then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, ye rulers of the people and elders of Israel. So who's he talking to? Is he just talking to the laymen of the area? Is it just the citizens, or is he talking to the rulers? He's talking to those that are in authority. And notice what he says in verse nine, it says, if we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole, be it known unto you all and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him, that this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at naught of you builders. So notice he's putting it in their face. You crucified, it's the stone which was set at naught of you builders, which has become the head of the corner, neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. That is boldness. That's preaching with authority, and he's preaching with authority to the authorities. Because they're saying, you know, what power, you know, who gave you this power to do this? It's crazy, you know, because they just healed a man. And they're coming to him saying, you know, what right do you have doing this? Just the same reason why they were wanting to stone Jesus for healing a man on the Sabbath day. But keep reading in verse 13, it says, now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, that's the key right there. And boldness goes hand in hand with having power and authority, right? You know, God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. And you know what, that's what I wanna have. I wanna have boldness. I wanna get up here and preach and be like, this is right. This is right, prove me wrong. Prove me wrong from the Bible, okay? And that is the type of preaching you need. Authority, power, and that's what we need. We need sound doctrine that is preached with authority. And the only way that's going to happen is if you have a rock. If you do have an authority, you know, God-given authority to where it's from the word of God, this is what it says. And because here's the thing, no one can gainsay the Bible. People can gainsay what I say all day long, but you can't gainsay the Bible. And so that's why your doctrine needs to be from the Bible. And a lot of people have doctrine and there's just no Bible attached to it. And that's just like a deck of cards, you know, a house of cards just getting ready to tumble if you don't have it founded on the word of God. Go down to verse 17 there, verse 17. And so they took knowledge, I'm sorry, I didn't read the rest of that verse there. Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, why are they unlearned and ignorant men? It's because they're big, big dumb animals, like they don't know anything. I mean, by the way, Peter and John were both writing in Greek, you know, in their epistles that they're writing later on. I mean, we're talking about people that knew multiple languages and they're not idiots. But you know what, they're unlearned and ignorant because they were just fishermen. They weren't the elite scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, and chief priests. They weren't in the elite club. So to them, they were unlearned because they didn't, they didn't, you know, come up under their ranks, okay? But notice what it says, they marveled and they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. You know, even their enemies said they'd been with Jesus. And you know, when people hate us, they're like those Bible thumpers. You know what, take that with pride. You know what that means? You know those fundamentalists? Yeah, what's your point? I'm a fundamental Baptist, right? That's literally our name. Like, yeah, did you read my sign? Did you read our invitation? Because I'm an independent, fundamental Baptist. And so, but you know what, they say it as, you know, kind of a degrading thing. But when I read this, I don't take that as degrading, like they've been with Jesus. You know, to them, Jesus was a deceiver and all this other stuff. But if someone said, he's been with Jesus, that's a compliment. You're like, yeah, thanks. So, verse 17, go down to verse 17 there. So the whole story, obviously, they healed this man and these people can't deny the miracle that happened. In verse 17, it says, but that is spread no further among the people. Let us straightly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name. And they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. So let me ask you a question. This should be a no brainer. Do you think that they should listen to what they have to say here? Do you think they should actually say, well, you know, they're God-given authorities, right? Doesn't it say, you know, that we should obey all those that are put in authority? No, it doesn't say that. I think you need to reread Romans chapter 13. It says, the powers that be are ordained of God. Okay, the power itself is ordained. Not the people in power. The power of government is ordained by God to what? For the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of them that do well. What are they being accused of? Healing somebody. Helping somebody. And they're being threatened to not preach in Jesus's name. And what do they say? It says in verse 19. But Peter and John answered and said unto them, I love this because it's kind of the same way Jesus would answer it, is they don't just straight up tell them right up, hey, here's what we're gonna do and nuts to you. Notice what he says. Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. So here's their answer. No, we're gonna speak it. But notice what they say. They say, you should judge with yourself whether we should obey God over you or not, right? Because listen, it's obviously true. Like, are they gonna be like, no, you need to pay us over God. You know, obviously that's not what should happen. And I love how they answer it that way. But go to chapter five, because they're brought again. They're brought again. The apostles are brought again. And they're like, didn't we tell you not to do this? I must be like, didn't I tell you that I wasn't gonna stop? I don't know, you know, do you not listen to what I said? They said we cannot but speak the things which we've seen and heard. Does that sound like you're like, oh, okay. I guess we're not gonna do this anymore. Verse five, or verse 27 here, it says, and when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest asked them, saying, did not we straightly command you that you should not teach in this name? And behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. Now, that is hilarious to me. Hilarious that they're saying, you're intended to bring this man's blood upon us. I think I remember something where you said, let his blood be on us and on our children. I think I remember that when you said, let him be crucified. So put that in your pipe and smoke it. It's funny how they twist that to be like, I can't believe you're trying to say that we killed him. What? You know, today it's funny because people are like, oh, you know, the Jews didn't kill Jesus, even though the Bible says that over and over and over and over again. Not only the rulers, but ye also. But verse 29, then Peter and the other apostles answered, so it's not just Peter saying this, it's all of them, right? The other apostles that were with him, answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than man. So we ought to obey God rather than man. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a prince and a savior, for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses of these things, and so it is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him. When they heard that, they were cut to the heart and took counsel to slay them. So notice the boldness there. He said, listen, you know, we ought to obey God rather than man. And you know what? You know, you're God, you're the one that slew him and hanged him on a tree. But notice it says, him have God exalted with his right hand to be a prince and a savior. And notice that he says here in verse 32, and we are his witnesses of these things, so also is the Holy Ghost. So they're basically saying, that's to you. We're gonna obey God rather than you because you killed God on the tree, right? You killed Jesus and God the Father exalted him into a, you know, obviously he's seated at the right hand of God and he's given him all power and authority and we're his witnesses. So we're not gonna listen to what you have to say. So, you know, today when it comes to, you know, you say, how does it apply to us? Well, obviously we always have opposition when it comes to soul winning. I mean, this year is probably the first time I've thought of opposition when it comes to just going to church, right? With this whole COVID thing and, you know, them trying to shut down churches and do all that stuff. That's the first time that I've ever in my lifetime, and I'm not that old, I'm only 35 years old, but I've talked to other people and they're like, we never had this happen before. And, you know, maybe since like the Spanish flu or something like that, which no one alive is gonna be talking to you about that, right? So, you know, this year is probably the first year that we ever even dealt with that. It's a good idea as far as like, are we even gonna be able to meet in church? So most churches don't have to even deal with this, because most churches don't go soul winning. Think about that. Most churches, they read this and they're like, man, it'd be cool to live in the days of Acts, and we're like, what are you talking about? We're getting the cops called on us, we're getting kicked out of places, we're getting threatened to be put in jail, like, yeah, no, there's nothing new under the sun, but it's always that opposition. And the opposition is because we're preaching Jesus, right? We're preaching the gospel. Are we out there just like, hey, we're trying to tell everybody about the reprobate doctrine. That's our modus operandi is that everybody understands that the queers can't be saved. Oh, that is not what, you know, I'd rather not talk about them, to be honest with you. Half the time it's them that are bringing it up. You know, it's like, do we have to talk about that? I don't really wanna talk about that. But you do, because obviously, if they really wanna know, I'm an open book. There is not one doctrine that I'm not afraid to talk to you about. You say, well, is there anything that's uncouth for children, listen, the Bible is wholesome words. Every word of God is pure, and the wholesome words of Jesus Christ. Listen, anything that's more of a, you know, even a bedroom thing or a marriage thing, it's said in a manner that children may not, you know, most children just aren't gonna even understand what's being said. Until later on. Okay, it's just not, it's not, it doesn't use explicit language. It's not, you know, crude. The Bible's crass, but it's not crude. Okay, and so there's nothing. Go to Song of Solomon, I'll read that whole, I'll read the whole book to you right now, if you want me to. And there's some, there's language in there that if you're married, you know what it's talking about. Okay, or if you're not married, you probably know what it's talking about. But the idea is that there's a lot of stuff in the Bible that's more mature, but I'm not afraid to preach it to anybody. And that's why we're a family integrated church. You know, if I was afraid to preach certain things in the Bible around children, then we'd have to separate them, right? Because I gotta preach the whole, all the counsel of God. But since there's nothing in here that's off the table, then all the children should hear it. Now a lot of children just aren't gonna understand if it's something that's really, really hard or whatever, they're just not gonna know what we're talking about, okay? Because maybe they're innocent from that, they just don't know what that's even talking about. And that's fine, okay? They should still hear it. And we need to know that we have authority. And I find this, that those that believe that the King James Bible is perfect and believe that it is their authority, that God blesses that. That it's no coincidence that those that have sound doctrine and can find great nuggets of truth in the Bible and are just figuring out how everything fits together, it's no marvel to me that it's those that believe it's perfect without error and that goes so well. I would be shocked if it was the other way around, right? But that's why when you see these Dr. Fat Bottoms in their ivory tower talking about doctrine, they don't know their left hand from the right hand. It's because they don't actually believe it's perfect and they don't go out and do the work. Because the fruit of the righteousness of the tree of life and he that winnest souls is wise and I believe God blesses the workers and I believe he blesses those that actually believe when he says that every jot and tittle will be there. That heaven and earth shall pass away but my word shall not pass away. I believe he blesses that. And you know what? That's the type of mentality we need to go into that and when you go out and preach the gospel, you preach it with authority. There's no like, I think this is right. I know this is right. And you know what? People notice that. How many people have you gone and you give them the gospel and be like, I don't know if I agree with you but I respect that you obviously believe this. Has anyone had that said to them where they're just like, you obviously believe this wholeheartedly? I've had people say that to me many times where they're just like, you really do believe this, don't you? And they can just see it. You're not playing games. You're not just like, hey, I'm just testing this out. You're like, you believe that, don't you? And it's like, yeah. And so we need to have that type of authority, boldness, power when we preach and it all comes down to this, being filled with the spirit. Being filled with the spirit and the word of God, that gives you boldness, that gives you authority. And you know what? Ultimately, this authority is above all the authorities that are in this world. And not to use it as a cloak of maliciousness, not to just go out there and just throw your weight around, so-called at the world. But ultimately, when we're pushed up against the wall and they're saying, don't do what God tells you to do, we're fighting back. And we're not gonna stand for it. And listen, if God be forced, He can be against us. So let's end with a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for today. Thank you for your word. Thank you for the souls that were saved this week. And Lord, just help us to be a soul winning church until you come, until the end of our lives, Lord. Just help us to be in the ministry of reconciliation. And thank you, Lord, for the authority that you give us here in this life. And we know that we're like lands among wolves. And we know that the world is against us. But we have the authority from you to preach your word boldly. And Lord, just help us to do that. Help us to have faith in your word and to always believe in the perfection of it. And Lord, help us to know doctrine, to know sound doctrine and to teach sound doctrine. And Lord, we love you and pray all this in Jesus Christ's name, amen. So brother Dave will come and sing one more song and then we'll be dismissed. And don't forget, we're gonna do some questions for the kids and then a little choir practice. All right, take your song books and turn to song 432. Song 432. And if you.