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

Well, I just want to thank everybody for having me. It's definitely an honor to come and preach at Sure Foundation Baptist Church. And I just really appreciate your pastor and the pastor's family. They treated us like royalty. I'm stuffed. As far as just the food and everything, it's just been a real treat, especially when you come out. I've never been to Washington or to Oregon or anything like that. And I've been to California, I've been to other places, but it's just been a real treat. You have a great pastor here, and I don't take him for granted. And there's one thing that I always look for when I look at pastors is a pastor that cares about the congregation, a pastor that cares about the church. And it's always good to have a pastor that teaches good doctrine. And you have that, but you always want one that cares about the flock. But I'm really happy to preach for you here today. And basically, when I was coming to the Sure Foundation Baptist Church, I was thinking, what can I preach on? What should I preach on? I'm like, well, I got to preach on the foundations, right? And so I'm a structural engineer by trade. And so that's what I design, foundations constantly. So I design buildings, and the most important part of the structure is the foundation. And so if the foundation falters, then everything crumbles. And the Bible teaches this. Obviously, in Matthew 7, at the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, is that your house is on a rock and not on the sand. And when it comes to the foundations of the earth, what I'm going to be getting into is the foundations of the earth, but also the structure of the earth. And you say, well, why are you talking about that? Well, there is this YouTube theory that's out there called the flat earth. And it seems like it catches momentum as far as just people buying into it. And it's not biblical. And the worst thing about that theory, about the flat earth, is the fact that they're trying to say that the Bible teaches that. That's the worst part. Listen, you can have the dumbest theories in the world. You can believe that the earth is on the back of a turtle for all I care. But when you start saying that the Bible teaches that, that's where I have problems. And that's where it's fighting words there. It's time to go to war. But in Job chapter 38, this is actually a very interesting passage dealing with the earth, the structure, and basically how God had formed it. And in the very beginning of the chapter there, he's obviously rebuking, I believe, Elihew. So Elihew was that fourth, that young man that was basically rebuking Job. And he says, who is this? In verse 2, it says, who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? And if I had a verse for flat earthers, it's this right here. Meaning that they constantly are trying to shove this doctrine of flat earth out there. But they are darkening counsel by words without knowledge. And they need to get a little bit of a foundation when it comes to math and science. But they really need to also get a foundation when it comes to the word of God. So I'm going to be going into a lot of just scripture on this. I'm going to kind of get into a little bit of the engineering behind it, but not much. I don't want to bore you tonight. But I want to go to verse 4 there. It says, where was thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare if thou has understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? Or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? Or who laid the cornerstone thereof, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Now, one thing that the flat earthers will first of all say is, well, you know, a line is something that's flat. So when you measure something with a line, it's flat. Well, go to 2 Chronicles chapter 4, because I first want to talk about that for a second. Just because it's a line doesn't mean that it's straight or that it's flat. And there's actually a passage talking about the dimensions of a bath, or of a molten sea. So in 2 Chronicles chapter 4 and verse 2, it says, also he made a molten sea of 10 cubits from brim to brim, round and compass, and five cubits the height thereof, and a line of 30 cubits, the compass it round about. Now, what you're dealing with there is a circumference, right? And what is that? It's a circle, OK? So when they say, well, they stretched a line upon it, therefore it's flat, well, it doesn't look like that in this verse here, does it? So just to give you some, and I don't want to just go through this whole thing and just debunk flat earth as far as that. I really just want to show you what the Bible teaches on this and how I believe with scripture the only thing that would make sense is a spherical earth, a ball earth, if you will. Everybody just, you believe in that ball earth? Yes, I do. It's a sphere, it's a ball, whatever you want to call it. But also, go to 1 Samuel chapter 2. So let's look at some verses when it comes to the structure. First of all, we see that it has foundations, and these foundations are fastened. So when it comes to troubling passages, so to speak, or when you're looking at doctrine, what you have to do is you have to look at every verse in the Bible. And if it looks like it's contradicting, listen, the Bible doesn't have a mistake in it. Every word of God is pure, but you have to reconcile it all. You can't just take this one passage and just say nuts to the rest of it. You have to make it all fit. And I'm going to show you how all this will fit. Because the Bible says that there's foundations that are fastened, and it's also going to say that there's pillars underneath the earth. And this is where there's four pillars going down into eternity, and it's a disk. But I want to explain this, and I actually made a model. So this is my homemade little model over here. This is not supposed to be Operation Fishbowl. So this is, I'll get to that later. But in 1 Samuel chapter 2 and verse 8, 1 Samuel chapter 2 and verse 8, this is Hannah's prayer. And for sake of time, I'm not going to go through the whole prayer. But I want you to see just some verses where it talks about pillars. And it says in verse 8 of 1 Samuel chapter 2, it says, he raiseth up the poor out of the dust and lifted up the beggar from the dunghill to set them among princes and to make them inherit the throne of glory. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and he hath set the world upon them. So this is a text verse for the flatties, the flat tarts, whatever you want to call them. And listen, I might be being a little crass tonight when it comes to it. But listen, these people are causing people to balk the Bible and to discredit the Bible and say that the Bible's scientifically illiterate, mathematically illiterate. And I hate when people do that to the Bible. And so yeah, I'm going to be a little crass, maybe sometimes with it, but bear with me. But go to Job chapter 9. I should have had you keep a finger in Job. Go to Job chapter 9. Job chapter 9. So I just want you to see some verses dealing with the fact that there's pillars, and I believe these pillars would be underneath the mountains. And obviously, underneath the mountains would be where the foundations of the earth are at. But I want to show you what I believe the Bible teaches about this. Now Job chapter 9 and verse 1, it says, then Job answered and said, I know it is so of a truth, but how should man be just with God? If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand. He is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who hath hardened himself against him and who hath prospered? Which removeth the mountains, and they know not, which overturneth them and his anger, which shaketh the earth out of her place in the pillars thereof tremble. So you're dealing with the earth, you're dealing with the mountains, but then you're dealing with these pillars also of the earth. Go to Psalm 75, Psalm 75 and verse 3. Psalm 75, verse 3. So I just want you to see that this is in other places where it talks about these pillars of the earth. So Psalm 75 and verse 3. And this is going to be kind of a Bible study a little bit. So I know I'm coming out here. I should be just ripping face on something. I may get into that in a little bit. But I want you just to see some Bible here. And listen, sometimes it's good just to get the brass tacks of what the Bible says on the subject. So Psalm 75, verse 3, it says, the earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved. I bear up the pillars of it. Selah. So we see that the Bible talks about these pillars. So what do we have so far? We have foundations that are fastened. We have pillars that are underneath the mountains. But then we have also the Bible does talk about a shape. Now go to Isaiah 40. Isaiah 40. And I was looking at a list of flat earth verses. I'm just like, what have they got? And obviously, they don't have anything. But Isaiah 40 and verse 22 is like one of their text verses, which is hilarious to me. But it's actually, if there was a verse to show you the shape that was just going to clearly tell you the shape of the earth, it's Isaiah 40. Just starting there in verse 21, it says, have you not known and have you not heard? Had it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth. And the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in. That bringeth the princes to nothing, he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. So the Bible is saying here that he sits upon the circle of the earth. Now, if you know something about geometry, you have different shapes. You have a circle, you have a square, you have a triangle. But that's in 2D. That's in two dimensions, meaning that's a two-dimensional construct. We live in a three-dimensional world. In a three-dimensional world, that two-dimensional construct that you'd have on a piece of paper doesn't exist in a three-dimensional world. Because even if you were to say, well, I drew it here, yeah, well, that graphite of your pencil gave it a thickness. Therefore, it's not technically a circle anymore. It's a cylinder. So in a three-dimensional world, the only object that would fit the actual description of what a circle is is a sphere. And so you say, well, why isn't it called a ball? Because the earth isn't a toy, because they're like, well, he threw this nation as a ball. It says in Isaiah later on, it's like, well, the earth isn't a toy. We're not playing football here. And listen, think about that. Isn't a football a ball? But what's the shape of a football? So just because it's a ball doesn't mean that it's circular. Now, a lot of balls are circular, but that's not necessarily the definition of a ball. But also, this is where it really comes down to how do you reconcile all this. Go to Job chapter 26. Job chapter 26, because I really enjoy dealing with contradictions of the Bible, so-called. Meaning I preached a whole sermon on so-called contradictions of the Bible this past Sunday. And I'm an engineer. I like word problems. I like puzzles. I like figuring out problems like that. And so these so-called contradictions are fun to me, because that means, listen, I already know this is perfect. I already know that there's no error in it. So to me, it's just a matter of figuring out how this puzzle fits together. And so I enjoy it. And if anybody else here likes doing puzzles, I like the difficult ones, because then I have a lot more satisfaction when I figure it out. But in Job chapter 26, we're going to see a puzzle piece here that we got to try to fit together. In Job 26 and verse 6, it says, hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering. He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing. So now we see that, OK, well, we have these foundations that are fastened. We have these pillars that are fastened to a foundation, right? But now it's hanging upon nothing. How do you reconcile that? Now, I'm a structural engineer. So when I design a building, obviously, I design foundations. I design all the beams, and I design all the columns and all that stuff that's holding up the building. But when you design, when you're dealing with structural analysis, what you have is what we call global forces and local forces, OK? And they weren't trying to disprove the flatties when they called it global forces, OK? There's a reason why they're calling it global forces. Global forces is basically what you're putting on like something, basically you're just dealing with the whole structure, OK? Meaning like if you had the earth, just what forces are on that structure itself. But then you go into local forces, which is all the little pieces inside of that, OK? Now, I made a little model here, OK? Now, this is like if you cut a globe in half, OK? So what I believe you have going on in the structure of the earth is you have basically pillars that are going down to the center of what you would look at. Now, when you look at this, what do you see when you just look at the face of this? You see what you look like a wheel, right? Now, what this is right here is what we would call a structural compression ring, OK? Now, bear with me, OK? But basically, in a wheel, let's say you had a bike wheel, right? You have spokes that are going down to the center. Well, how this works is basically all these forces are going to come down to this compression ring and everything's going to be compressed into this, OK? And all the forces are going to be in equilibrium. But even on a wheel, you know that not all the forces are hitting it all at once, right? So it can be unbalanced but still have equilibrium. So what you have is you have all of the forces and everything that's in the earth that's basically coming into itself and bearing within itself. Therefore, you have foundations that are in the center of the earth. And everything's pushing in against itself, but it's out hanging in space on nothing. That's the only way it worked. This is the only structure that you could actually have equilibrium in that happen is a sphere. And so structural analysis-wise, it makes sense. And when they say, well, there's all these verses about the fact that, well, the earth doesn't move or it's not going to be moved and all this stuff. Listen, I have a verse for you that will completely annihilate that stupid theory. It's the fact that the Bible says, I have set the Lord always before me because he's at my right hand. I shall not be moved. Well, I guess I'm a statue. You might as well just, I can't move. Someone's got to carry me back home to West Virginia, OK? What that means is outside forces, OK? Meaning that, and they'll use another verse where it talks about how the earth is going to be moved. But in that verse, they didn't ever want to go to the King James because it talks about how the earth is stable and shall not be moved. If you had a top and you spun it right here, it's spinning. That's stable. Now, it's not static, OK? In engineering or in physics, you have two different types of physics. Statics, which means it's not moving, which is usually a building, right, OK? So I'm usually dealing with static. You don't want a building moving around. But, or dynamics, which is something that's moving but stable when you design it, like a roller coaster, right? A roller coaster is moving. It's a dynamic type of force. A building is static, meaning it's staying in one place. And so what you have is the earth is spinning and orbiting, but it's stable. And it's not moved from an outside force, OK? And you say, well, why do people get mixed up on it? Because they don't understand. They're not that deep into it, OK? Meaning that a lot of people aren't taking physics. And I'm not saying everybody here needs to go take physics or be a structural engineer. But what I'm saying is that a lot of times when people jump into this flat earth theory stuff, they're not educated on the math that goes behind it. And basically what you have is a bunch of novices in mathematics and science doing a bunch of experiments. And they don't have all the variables that are needed to do those experiments, OK? And so, but worse than that is you have someone that's going into the Bible. And now they're going to, they're going to basically, if you say that there's pillars going down into eternity that's fastened to an eternity, and that the foundations are fastened like that, now you've just negated Job chapter 26. That says it's hanging upon nothing. Listen, a structure, a building, this building's not hanging. Does that make sense? This building's not hanging. Listen, I know architects want me to have buildings hang. We talk about how we wish we had sky hooks that we can defeat gravity. But we can't, OK? Meaning that you have to have something that's bearing on the ground when you're dealing with gravity. But listen, the Earth is out in orbit where you're obviously orbiting in gravity and all that stuff's working with the sun and all that. But you have to have all the variables when you're dealing with this, and you have to reconcile all the verses. A sphere Earth bearing within itself where you have foundations that are going to the center, basically towards the center of the Earth. That's the only way that you can reconcile all these verses. And listen, I didn't need to go to NASA to figure that out. And they're not giving me a paycheck. I'm still waiting on NASA's paycheck for saying the Earth is round. But also, in this same passage in Job chapter 26, they also say this weird stuff about, well, the firmament's a big glass globe or something like that. And it's stiff and all this stuff. And they're like, oh, there's pillars. It actually says there's pillars in heaven. In Job chapter 26, verse 11, it says, the pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at its reproof. They're like, well, what's that talking about? That must be the firmament. It's glass. That's why they shoot rockets up. Operation Fishbowl. You know, like, so anyway, I can't keep it straight. So how about this? Just in Exodus, the pillar of cloud, the pillar of fire. You don't have to turn there, but you can go to Exodus and read that later. There's pillars that are clouds. There's pillars that are fire. Some things are used in a figurative manner, in a symbolistic manner as well. And so a lot of this stuff, they'll take stuff way too literal. When you go to Revelation, you better have a sense to look at some symbolistic stuff. There's not actually a woman that's clothed with the sun. When the Antichrist comes, he's not going to have seven heads and 10 horns and look like a dragon. Pretty much everybody's going to be like, that's the Antichrist. I don't think anybody will be deceived by that. So you need to know that there's going to be some symbolistic stuff that's being said. Now, go to Deuteronomy chapter 32, because I'm going to show you another way to prove this. Meaning that that's enough right there, right? Is that you have the Earth. It's hanging upon nothing. But you also have foundations that are fastened, and you have pillars that are underneath the Earth. The only structure that that can work in equilibrium of forces is a sphere, or a sphere-type structure. And so that flat disk would not be in equilibrium. You could not have that. It would move out of place. Those forces would not work in equilibrium. And so in Deuteronomy chapter 32 and verse 22, I want to talk about where hell's at, because this is going to be another way to prove to us what we're talking about here. Now, in Deuteronomy 32, verse 22, it says, for a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the Earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains. And now, this is actually the first mention of hell. So where's hell at? Yeah, and it's underneath the mountains. Now, go to Matthew chapter 12. Matthew chapter 12. I believe one of the best verses in the Bible to prove that the Earth is a sphere is actually this verse in Matthew chapter 12 and verse 40. And this verse, and you say, well, is this important? Well, it's dealing with the gospel. It's dealing with where Jesus was for three days and three nights. And this is actually one of the best verses to prove that the Earth is a sphere. So I would couple this with Isaiah 40 in verse 22, where it says, he sitteth upon the circle of the Earth, and then where Jesus was for three days and three nights. It says in verse 40 of Matthew chapter 12, says, for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the well's belly, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the Earth. Now, I think most people know, like, you talk about the heart of an artichoke, or you think of vegetables, or fruit, and stuff like that. The heart, what is it? It's the core. Do you know that the etymology of the word core is heart or innermost part of anything? The innermost part of something. That's what core means, and it means heart. And you think about our heart, right? What is it? It's in the center of your body. But when you think of emotions, what is it? It's your innermost feelings, right? So what is the heart? It's the innermost portion, OK? Now, hell is in the innermost part of the Earth, and it's hell beneath. And this is where the flat tarts will basically take a basketball, pour water on it, and be like, see, gravity doesn't exist. The water falls off. And then they spin it, and the water's flinging around and stuff like that. Listen, gravity, OK? And what you have to deal with is that forces are working normal to a sphere, OK? So when you're on top, the force is going this direction. When you're right here, the force is going this direction. So what does it feel like to you? That right there. I know this is half a globe, so forgive me. I wanted you to see the inside of what's going on here, OK? Because it's going to be important as we go to Jonah chapter 2. As you go to Jonah chapter 2, I'm going to read Acts chapter 2 or quote it off to you. It says, this spakey of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh, to see corruption. Because when Jesus said he was going to be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, that means he was going to be in hell for three days and three nights. Now, Jonah chapter 2 is where Jesus was pointing them back to. So when people don't believe that Jesus went to hell, I'm like, that is the one sign that he said I'll give you is the sign of Jonas. Let's go back to Jonah, at least, and see what he's talking about. Jonah chapter 2 and verse 1, it says, then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly, and said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me out of the belly of hell, cried I, and now heardest my voice. OK, so obviously this is a prophecy of Jesus and pointing to what he was going to do. But look at verse 6. Verse 6, it says, I went down to the bottoms of the mountains. The earth with her bars was about me forever, yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God. Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt I suffer thine holy one to see corruption. But notice that, what's the first mention of hell? Where's hell? At the foundations of the mountains? What's it say, where was he at? Went to the bottoms of the mountains. And what did it say? The earth with her bars was about me forever. And when you look at, this is why I wanted to show you this model, meaning that what you have inside of here is a bunch of compressions rings, which could be like a shell, right? But what's bars and pillars? Well, the Bible uses this when you're dealing with the tabernacle. It talks about bars and pillars dealing with building the tabernacle. We would use this in engineering. The bars would be called beams, and the pillars would be called columns. So they're just synonyms, meaning that what you'd have across here is a bar, and what you have down there is a pillar, OK? So when it says the earth with her bars was about me forever, what are you dealing with? You're dealing with the pillars of the earth that is being about him. And he's in the center of the earth. He's underneath the mountains, the foundation of the mountains. And everything's bearing within itself. And that's the structure of the earth. It makes perfect sense. And actually, that's the only way that it would make sense. This disk earth on four pillars is biblically illiterate, but also structurally illiterate, mathematically illiterate, scientifically illiterate, OK? And so that, to me, it makes perfect sense. But here's the thing, also, when you're dealing with hell, it's also called the bottomless pit, OK? Now, go to Revelation chapter 20. Revelation chapter 20, so you say, well, OK, where are you going with this? You know, if it's in the center of the earth, how's it at the bottomless pit, OK? Well, I want to show you a passage where Satan is being cast into the bottomless pit. And I'm going to show you that the hell and the bottomless pit are the same place, OK? Basically, a lot of times in the Bible, it'll just use different terms to describe what's going on, right? A lot of times, hell is talking about fire, OK? Well, it's fire. It talks about being dark, OK? It's dark. And it talks about it being the bottomless pit. So it's kind of showing you another aspect of it, OK? But in Revelation chapter 20, in verse 1, it says, And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast them into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled, and after he must be loosed a little season. And so you're saying, well, OK, he's cast into the bottomless pit, doesn't call it hell. Well, go to Isaiah 14, because Isaiah 14 is actually where this is being. Isaiah 14 is prophesying of Revelation chapter 20, OK? And so this is before the devil's cast into the lake of fire. And so when you see in the Bible when it says down to hell, or cast down to hell, and when it's saying down, you're talking about hell that's beneath in the center of the earth. When you see people saying being cast into outer darkness, or cast in the lake of fire, you're dealing with the lake of fire, OK? And so what we're dealing with in Isaiah 14 is where Satan is being cast into the bottomless pit, OK? And you say, where are you going with? I have a reason why I'm going through this, OK? Because this is where the flat earth would fall off the rails too. In Isaiah 14, verse 9, it says, hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming. It stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth. It had raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. All they shall speak and say unto thee, art thou also become as we? Art thou become like unto us? Thy pomp is brought down to the grave. In the noise of thy vials, the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? How art thou cut down to the ground which didst weaken the nations? For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit also upon the mouth of the congregation in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the most high, yet thou shalt be brought down to hell to the sides of the pit. So what are we dealing with here? We're dealing with Revelation chapter 20, where he's going to be cast into the bottomless pit for 1,000 years. After that, he's going to be loosed a little bit, obviously. And then he's going to be cast into the lake of fire after that. But in this case, what's interesting about this is that when he's cast in, everybody that's in hell is going to meet him at his coming. Now imagine that you have what the Flat Earthers would say is that basically you have the bottomless pit that just goes down into eternity. How are these people meeting him at his coming? How in the world are they even going to be there? We're dealing with all the kings of the earth. I believe all the kings of the earth are going to meet him at his coming, and hell is going to move. Think of Lazarus, the story of Lazarus and the rich man. Was he falling down into eternity when he was talking about all this stuff? But I believe this is very clear that you're dealing with the fact that you're dealing with in the center of a sphere, where's the bottom? There is no bottom. Because if you look at this sphere, this would be the top, this would be the top, this would be the top, this would be the top. Everything around it would be the top. Where's the bottom? It's not there. As soon as you go to the middle of this sphere, you'd be starting going back up. So that's what you're dealing with. You're dealing with the bottomless pit because there's no bottom to the center of a sphere. So it all fits, and it also fits with the fact that how are all these kings going to meet? The devil at his coming. And so this is very simple, honestly, when you look at this. And it's the only way that it does fit. Now, I want to show the spiritual aspect of this because obviously the reason that I teach on this, the reason that I want to hit on this, because this is a foundational truth. And it's no marvel, you know, when I was actually looking at Pastor Thompson's sermons coming out here and stuff like that. And he's doing a whole series on the foundations. Do you realize how important that is? Do not take that lightly when he's preaching on eternal security, when he's preaching on faith alone salvation. Listen, if the foundations be destroyed, what shall the righteous do? And listen, we need to bring back the foundations. We need to strengthen those foundations because if that foundation crumbles, everything crumbles. And sometimes, I think, and especially in our movement, sometimes people will just, they take for granted what those have already learned. And they jump and run ahead without making that foundation sure. And listen, you need to have eternal security down pat. You need to have the fact that the King James Bible was the word of God without error down pat. And if you don't have that down pat, and you don't have that secure, and you're not just really strong in that, then you better just leave off end times prophecy for a little bit. Listen, I know end times prophecy's fun, but you better have eternal security down pat. You better have salvation down pat, and the word of God down pat, because I do see the fact that when people start running ahead without that, now they're saying, well, do you need the Bible to get saved? Do you need to understand eternal security to be saved? It's like, those are foundational doctrines. And if you let those slip, then everything's gonna crumble. And so we need to have the foundations. And sometimes, you know, we're just like, oh, I already know that, you know, and you wanna run ahead, but listen, we need to keep the foundation sure. And when it comes to mathematics, listen, you say, well, that's simple, that's simple. Yeah, it's simple, but we need to have it sure. And we need to get back to that. And listen, you know, when it comes to Bible knowledge, we need to be that way, but don't be afraid to learn some other things other than Bible knowledge, meaning we need to know some math, we need to know some science. And listen, you say, well, why do I need to know that? I'm not a structural engineer. Listen, you need to be able to stop the mouths of the gainsayers. Listen, you know, I'm learning Greek right now. And I've been learning it for a couple years, and I'm learning it and all that stuff. You know, one of the main reasons why I'm learning Greek is to stop the mouths of the gainsayers. It's not because I think I need to know Greek to know the Bible. Listen, we have the perfect word of God in English. No one needs to learn Greek. Praise God, for the last 400 years, you know, we've had the King James Bible in front of us that we can read it, know it, and you can know every single doctrine without going back to the Greek or Hebrew. But sometimes we need to go outside of that and say, you know what, I'm gonna learn something else. I'm gonna learn something to where, hey, listen, they start hitting me with that, I can just throw it right back in their face. And when it comes to this type of stuff, you have a bunch of novices coming out with a bunch of so-called pseudoscience and mathematics. And listen, we'll preach against evolution all day long because that is science falsely so-called, but this flat earth theory that's out there is also science falsely so-called. And not only is it science falsely so-called, but they're putting it under the guise of Christianity. And listen, you know, as much as evolution is trying to destroy the foundations of Christianity, the flat earth is doing the same. And they're doing it thinking they're doing God's service. But let's look at some biblical aspects when it comes to the spiritual foundation. So we have the, listen, everything about the earth, everything that God has created is a picture of the spiritual. Okay, you think about the body being, or a triune being, and then the fact that God is three persons in one and how that pictures the spiritual. But go to Matthew chapter 16, Matthew chapter 16. Jesus Christ is the foundation. Jesus Christ is the cornerstone. And so I started off in Job chapter 38 dealing with the foundations of the earth, the physical foundations, but in that same chapter there's actually a great prophecy about the spiritual foundation. And Matthew chapter 16, the whole church is built on this foundation of Jesus Christ being that chief cornerstone, being that foundation. And it says in Matthew chapter 16 verse 16, it says, and Simon Peter answered and said, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. What rock was he building, on Peter? No, on the rock that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. That is the rock, that's the foundation. Jesus Christ is the rock. And think about this, my friends, what's between us and hell right now? Jesus. Physically speaking, what's between us and hell? The foundations of the earth. Jesus Christ is that foundation that's the only thing separating us from hell. But in 1 Corinthians chapter three, you go to 1 Corinthians chapter three, I just want to show you some, we're at Shura Foundation Baptist Church. I guarantee one of the big reasons why I picked that name is because we're talking about Jesus Christ. That's the whole moniker of Shura Foundation Baptist Church. And it's a great name. And the foundation is the most important portion of the structure. And listen, I hope you build a great spiritual house here at Shura Foundation Baptist Church, but do not forget about that foundation. Make sure that that foundation is sure, that it's steadfast, unmovable, and everything else will take care of itself on top of that. But in 1 Corinthians chapter three and verse 11, it says, for other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. That foundation is Jesus Christ. Salvation is the foundation, right? You get saved, that's the foundation. And listen, Calvinists, you could choose not to build on that foundation, you'd still be saved. You could have a foundation with no building on it. That'd be foolish, right? Who wants a foundation with no building on it? But the foundation is Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse four, 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse four, it says, and then all drink the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. That rock, that foundation, it's always been Jesus Christ. Ephesians chapter two, Ephesians chapter two. Everything that we believe is on the foundation of Jesus Christ. And it says in Ephesians chapter two, Ephesians chapter two and verse 19, so bear with me if you can't turn there, I just, for sake of time, I'm gonna read this. In Ephesians chapter two and verse 19, it says, now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself, being the chief cornerstone in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye also are builded together for inhabitation of God through the Spirit. Notice how everything is banking on that foundation. Listen, I do forensics analysis on existing buildings from time to time, meaning that you have to go in and see if the building is sound, structurally sound. And the worst thing, the worst news you can give somebody is that there's something wrong with the foundation. That is the most expensive fix that you have to deal with is the foundation. You know, if a trust is breaking, it's like, okay, we'll fix the trust. The foundation is messed up, now you got a whole bunch of problems. And so whenever you see foundational problems, that's the worst type of problems you can ever have. And, you know, people will come to me and say, hey, you know, I wanna buy, I've had people say, hey, can you look at this house? I'm looking into buying this house, and I'll look at it, and there's been times where I look at it and be like, walk away, walk away. And the house is beautiful. Everything on it, if you weren't an engineer, and you were just going to go in there, you'd be like, this house is beautiful, like look at all the furniture, look at all the wood floor, you know, like all this stuff, it looks great. It's gonna fall down the hill. You know, it's gonna split in half. There's literally one of them was splitting in half, because it was falling down, because it wasn't on a good foundation. And it was on sinking sand, as the Bible would say. But the Bible says in 1 Peter chapter two, 1 Peter chapter two, 1 Peter chapter two and verse four, it says, to whom coming as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed a man, but chosen of God and precious, he also has lively stones, or build up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be ashamed. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious, but unto them which be disobedient the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone assembling and a rock of offense even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed. And this is where this is quoted, this is your moniker verse right here. 1 Peter chapter two is quoting this verse right here where it says in Isaiah 28, 16, therefore thus saith the Lord God, behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation, he that believeth shall not make haste. And listen, these flat earthers are constantly coming out there saying, listen, if we can just prove that the earth is flat, everybody will believe on Christ. That's hogwash, my friends. The Bible says that the power of God unto salvation is the gospel. I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. And isn't that what it says here? Do you know where it says he that believeth shall not be ashamed? You know where it says he that believeth shall not be confounded? He that believeth shall not make haste. You know where that came from? Right here. All those verses where it says he that believeth on him shall not be ashamed is coming from right here, which is what? The foundation, the cornerstone, which is Jesus Christ. That's how people are gonna get saved, not by this flat earth garbage. And they're not gonna get saved by a lie. But let's say the flat earth was true. That's not the power of God unto salvation, my friends. It's the gospel of Jesus Christ. Do you go out, listen to me, my friends, do you go out and give the gospel and say, hey, listen, let me tell you about the shape of the earth. You know, if you just understand this, I think you'll get saved. You know, let me show you all this stuff. Listen, I'm all for creation. I'm all for young earth creation and going through all this stuff, but that is not the power of God unto salvation. The gospel is, and it says, and by hearing the word of God being born again not by corruptible seed but by incorruptible by the word of God which lives in the body forever. That's the true way to give the gospel. So don't get sucked into this stuff where they're saying, well, you know, if we could just prove this and then everybody would be believing. No, they would not believe on it. That's it. I don't care what worldly proof you find. I don't care if you find chariot wheels in the bottom of the Red Sea or ashes at Sodom and Gomorrah. Listen, the gospel is what's gonna cause people to get saved. The word of God, faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God, not by physical means. Now, go back to Job chapter 38. With this in mind, do you know that the only other place, when it talks about the cornerstone, this term cornerstone of a foundation or just cornerstone in general, it's always talking about Jesus Christ. And the only place that wouldn't specifically say that is in Job 38. But I believe it is talking about Jesus Christ, okay? So I'm gonna come full circle coming back to where we're at in Job chapter 38. We talked about the physical shape of the earth, that it's got foundations that are fastened in the center. Everything's bearing within itself. It's an equilibrium, but it's hanging upon nothing. But then you have the fact that we're dealing with the spiritual aspect, which is Jesus Christ, the only thing separating us from hell, but also the fact that he's the chief cornerstone. Now, Job 38, verse six, it says, "'Whereupon are the foundations there of fastened "'and who laid the cornerstone thereof?'" That's not the end of the sentence. So when it says, who laid the cornerstone thereof, this is a question that hasn't ended yet. In verse seven, here's the end of the question. It says, "'When the morning stars sang together "'and all the sons of God shouted for joy.'" So this is where a lot of people say, well, the sons of God are angels. I'm the witch of the angels said to you at any time of the hour, my son, this day, have begot me. You got a problem, because he's never said to any angel that they're their son. And in Job, in the very beginning, you have the sons of God presenting themselves before the Lord. What do you have? Saved people in heaven, my friends. But you have the sons of God, but this is interesting because the sons of God are shouting for joy when the cornerstone is laid. Now, what you have here is you're dealing with the foundations, he's dealing with the foundations of the earth, but now he's dealing with a prophecy of Jesus. Now, go to John chapter eight, John chapter eight. Now, John chapter eight, and you say, well, why is he saying it in past tense? He does this all the time in prophecy. Go to Isaiah 53, it's in past, present, and future tense, talking about Jesus coming and dying on the cross. How about this? And as you're turning there to John chapter eight, in Romans chapter four, in verse 17, it says, as it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations before him whom he believed, even God, who quickened it to death, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. He said to Abraham, before he was ever even a father of Isaac, he says, you are a father of many nations, present tense. Why? Because he called those things which be not as though they were. And so he says things in a present tense because it is as if it had already happened to God. Because his word is sure, it will not come back void. When he says he's going to do something, it's going to happen, and it hasn't even happened yet. It's like revelation. Listen, revelation to God has already happened. It's as if it's already happened to him. We're just waiting for it to actually take course. But in John chapter eight, now think about this with that in mind. In John chapter eight and verse 56 is my favorite, I love this passage. I love when Jesus says this to him. In John chapter eight and verse 56 it says, your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, thou are not yet 50 years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am. Praise God, I love that. I wish I was there just to see them. You know, it's like when he was in the Garden of Gethsemane and they said, are you Jesus? He said, I am he, and they all fell backwards. But in this case, what are you dealing with? Abraham saw his day and rejoiced. What is that? The sons of God shouting for joy. Job 38 being fulfilled when Jesus came to the earth, when Jesus rose from the dead. And so, what do you have? You have the chief cornerstone in Job 38. And you say, well, Job doesn't deal with prophecy. He talks about the resurrection in Job 19. He talks about how in my flesh I'll see God. So tell me again that there's no prophecy in Job. But what are you dealing with? The lamb slain from the foundation of the world. In Revelation chapter 13 verse eight it says, it says, and all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, the antichrist by the way. Just to give you some good exposition there. It says, whose names are not written in the book of the life of the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And you say, well, how can he be slain from the foundation of the world? Because he called those things to be not as though they were because he's an eternal God. Because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. Go to first Peter chapter one. First Peter chapter one, I didn't look at my watch so I'm sorry if we're here for three hours. No, I'm just kidding. We're almost done. But in first Peter chapter one, I just want to give you some verses on this and the fact that Jesus Christ is the foundation. Why is he likened to the foundation of the world? Because he's a lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Because salvation's been from the foundation of the world. We are not dispensationalists. It's always been by Christ. It's always been by faith. It's never been by works. Andrew Sluder can go put that in his pipe and smoke it. Little soy boy. I'm sorry, Pastor Thompson was listening to him earlier so he's on my mind. So first Peter chapter one in verse 18 it says, for as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead and gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God. So we have all these prophecies. When you look at Job chapter 38, you're dealing with the fact that hey, at the foundation of the world, it's as if it had been done. In God's eyes, Jesus had already come. He'd already died on the cross. He was already slain. He was already resurrected. How about this? In Hebrews chapter four, in Hebrews chapter four, I want you to turn to 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy chapter one. I'm gonna read Hebrews chapter four. It says, for we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, as I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest, although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, and God did rest the seventh day from all his works. Listen, the Sabbath is a representation of salvation, where we rest and don't work. Salvation is by faith alone, right? Not by works, the same man should boast. And what that's stating is that salvation has been finished since the foundation of the world. You say, well, you know, what do you mean by that? How can it be finished from the foundation of the world? You know, he hadn't come and died yet. Listen, he called those things which be not as though they were. He had already, God cannot break a promise. God cannot lie. When he established, when he makes a decree, even though in our timeline it hasn't happened yet, it is as if it had already been done. He's outside of time. Now, 2 Timothy will just bolster what I just said right there. In 2 Timothy chapter one, verse eight, it says this. It says, but be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God, who had saved us and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus, what? Before the world began. What was given us? Salvation. Salvation before the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who had abolished death and had brought life and immortality to life through the gospel, whereinto I'm appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher of the Gentiles. Listen to God, you gotta look at it this way. If you had a movie, right, and you took that film, and you were to string it out right here. Well, in our, if you're in the film, you're in that timeline, so you're kinda inside of that timeline, right? God's outside of that, and he's looking at it from the beginning, from the end to the beginning. He knows the end from the beginning. And so to God, even though it wasn't until right here that Christ came, he already knew the end. He already knew it was gonna happen. He's outside of that. And so that's why you say, well, how do people go to heaven? Because he's the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Because he calls those things which be not as though they were. And so when you look at Job chapter 38, and it's talking about the foundations of the world, how about in hope of eternal life, which God, I cannot lie, promised before the world began. The fact that we have salvation since the foundation of the world. He was ordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifesting these last times for you. And that makes a lot of sense. How about the fact that, also dealing with the foundations, but how about the pillars? You know, all these physical things have a spiritual aspect. When you're dealing with Hannah's prayer, go back to 1 Samuel chapter two. 1 Samuel chapter two. And this last point I'm really gonna make is just dealing with the pillars and the spiritual aspect of it. In 1 Samuel chapter two and verse one, it says, and Hannah prayed and said, my heart rejoiceth in the Lord, my horn is exalted in the Lord, my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies because I rejoice in what? Thy salvation. There is none holy as the Lord, for there is none beside thee, neither is there any rock like our God. Sound familiar dealing with the foundations and all this? Now, when you go down to verse eight is where you're dealing with the pillars of the earth. And it says, and he raiseth up the pourer out of the dust and lifted up the beggar from the dunghill to set them among the princes to make them inherit the throne of glory, for the pillars of the earth are the Lord's and he hath set the world upon them. Can anybody think of another verse in the New Testament dealing with pillars? 1 Timothy chapter three, it says, but if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. Isn't it amazing how the Bible just all fits together? You know, when you're dealing with the foundations of the earth, the pillars, and you have the fact that Jesus is the chief cornerstone and that, what is he gonna build his church on? On that rock, which is Christ, which is the pillar and ground of the truth. Listen, sometimes we just need to get out of YouTube land. We need to get into the Bible. Listen, there's enough here to keep you interested for a lifetime. Every time that I think I know something about the Bible, I start reading it again and I realize I don't know anything about the Bible. When you compare it, I'm just being honest with you, when you compare what you think you know to what's actually in there, we really don't know that much. And this is a very complex book and there's so much to learn in this book. And you know what? When these type of things come up, bring them on. When the modalists come out, bring it on because I love it because then that's gonna tighten up my doctrine. When this Flat Earth stuff came out and they were, you know, Doka came out with it and all this stuff, I'm like, oh man, that's interesting. And then that's when I'm like, oh man, I'm gonna actually look at this. I'm gonna look into this and I'm gonna figure out. And you know what? It just strengthened my faith in the Bible because you see, hey, you know the Bible's right. The Bible's not scientifically inaccurate. The Bible's not mathematically illiterate. Actually, everything makes sense. It's all mathematically accurate. It's all perfect. And obviously, we should take that by faith. That is perfect. But listen, if the foundations be destroyed, what shall the righteous do? And we need to focus on the foundations. We need to focus on the foundations in our reading, writing, and arithmetic. We need to focus on the foundations in our Bible doctrine. So when you have a sermon, when it's dealing with foundational truths, whether it's just on the King James Bible being perfect or on salvation or on baptism or on just simple truths, listen, dig in. Learn something new about it. Listen, listen, you don't need to learn a new doctrine. Why don't you find some other verses that bolster that same doctrine? Why don't you find all the other passages in the Bible, all the parallels, all the symbolistic stuff that bolsters that same doctrine, and then when someone comes up to you the next time and says, hey, I think you're wrong about that, and be like, well, I got a lot for you now. Listen, when someone's bringing up an argument to me, do you have more ammunition than you had before? And we need to keep these doctrines. The foundation's the most important, and I'm all for all the other doctrines. I'm all for preaching against Zionism. I'm all for preaching on end-times prophecy. I'm all for all those types of doctrines and the fun stuff and all that, but listen, the foundation's the most important. Don't let that slip. And the foundations of the earth, I thought it was an interesting topic, just the structure of the earth. The flat earth is retarded. Let's end with a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for today, and thank you for this church, and just thank you for Pastor Thompson and just all the hospitality, and Lord, just pray that you'd help us to keep the foundation sure, and Lord, to hold on to that rock, and Lord, we just thank you for your word. Thank you for the fact that it fits together, and that it's scientifically accurate, mathematically accurate, and Lord, we love you, and pray all this in Jesus Christ's name, amen.