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

So turn back there to Psalm 11, and it's a pretty short chapter here. So I'm not expecting it to be a very, very long sermon, but let's, I don't know, sometimes they are long. Usually when I expect the sermon to be short, it ends up to be some of my longest sermons. I don't know why that is, but Psalm 11, verse 1. Psalm 11, actually, let's start off with verse number 3, just the memory verse there. The Bible says, if the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? The title of the sermon this morning is, The Foundations. Hey, if the righteous don't know, you know, are lacking direction, they don't know what to do, if the foundations be destroyed, what we can see straight away here is that the foundations are important. You know, what are the foundations of Christianity? What's the foundation of Christian living? What are the foundations of New Life Baptist Church? What are the foundations of your family? You need to have strong foundations, otherwise the wicked, we had a look at last week about the wicked person, you can't continue the thought about the wicked people here, otherwise the wicked can destroy your foundations and unsettle you, okay? It's important for us to have our foundations in place. But let's start it off with verse number 1, there's Psalm 11, verse 1. The Psalm starts off by saying, in the Lord put I my trust. How say ye to my soul, flee as a bird to your mountain? So let's start off with the first thought there, in the Lord put I my trust. What does that mean? It means that we have a trust in the Lord God. We're not trusting in ourselves, we're not trusting in man, we're not trusting in a church, we're not trusting in some false God, we're not trusting in some false religion, alright? Why don't we put our trust in ultimately in the Lord God? Now I want you guys to please keep your finger there and turn to Ephesians chapter 1. Turn to Ephesians chapter 1, verse 12. What is this? I mean we all talk about putting our trust in the Lord, but what are we referring to here? What does that mean exactly to put our trust in the Lord? You guys go to Ephesians chapter 1, look at verse number 12, and while you're turning there to Ephesians 1, I'm going to read to you from Psalm 78, okay? I'm going to read to you from Psalm 78 verse 22, which says, Because they believed not in God and trusted not in His salvation. You see, the salvation that God gives us is to be trusted in. And those that do not trust in His salvation, the Bible says, are the same, which believe not in God. Okay? So hey, if we want to trust His salvation, what are we required to do? We're required to believe, aren't we? We're required to believe. Look at Ephesians chapter 1, verse 12, you guys should be there. It says that we should be to the praise of His glory, look at this, who first trusted in Christ, in whom ye also trusted. After that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. So do you see how the Bible associates believing on the gospel, believing in Christ with trusting in Christ? When you believe the salvation that God gives you, it means you've trusted in that salvation. And one thing that I've developed in my soul when you practice, and I've covered this before, but I think it's an important point, is sometimes you're talking to someone that claims to be a Christian, someone that claims to believe on Jesus Christ, but once again you've noticed that they're trusting in their works. Once again they've admitted they're trusting in their church or whatever it is, right? And you lead them through the gospel and you show them, you know, John 3.16, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. And quite often they'll say, I do believe that. I mean, I've knocked on Catholics' doors, explained the whole gospel to them, and they say, I believe that, all right? I've seen some soul winners struggle now. Well, they're claiming to believe, and yeah, Catholics, you know, people that claim to be Christians, they do believe that Jesus died. They believe he was buried. They believe he rose again. You know, they believe that Jesus is their way to heaven, all right? So when they say, I believe that, I've seen people struggle. Well, how do I then explain this? And one thing that I've developed in my soul winning practice is to define belief as trust, you know, trusting in the Lord, all right? So I'll put it this way, and I hope maybe this helps someone. You know, I'll put it this way. I'll say to them, you know, if I said to you that I'm going to heaven, the reason I know I'm going to heaven is because I'm a good person. The reason I'm going to heaven is because I'm striving to keep the commandments of God. The reason I know I'm going to heaven is because I've given money to the poor. I've helped that old lady cross the street. You know, I try to look after my neighbor. And I say to them, look, if I said these words, and that's why I'm going to heaven, am I trusting in Jesus and his sacrifice, or am I trusting in my own good works? Am I trusting in myself? And quite often when I say that, those, oh yeah, you're trusting in yourself, all right? And that starts to wake them up because, you know, they were trusting in their good works. And what I'm trying to point to them is, who are you trusting to get to heaven? You know, and they've got to realize that they're trusting in their own good works. Even though they say they believe what Jesus did for them, they're not actually trusting in what Jesus Christ did for them, okay? So to trust in the Lord for salvation, you know, is to believe. To believe is to trust in what is done. And another passage that I find people struggle with is, you know, when the Bible says that we are to believe with all our hearts. You know, if thou believeth with all thine heart thou mayest, mayest be baptized. You know, what people said to the Ethiopian eunuch. And, you know, people get confused. So what does it mean to believe with all my heart? What does it mean to trust with all my heart? You know, is it this emotional experience? Yes, Lord, with all my heart, yes, you know, am I doing? I hope it's all my heart that I believe in you. That's not what it means. When you believe with all your heart, it means that everything you're trusting in in order to get to heaven is placed on the Lord Jesus Christ, okay? You cannot put 99% of your trust in salvation on Christ and 1% trust in your salvation on yourself or your church or your baptism or whatever it is that people put, you know, as a way of salvation. No. I mean, even if you had to provide just 1% in order for you to be saved, if that's all you had to provide, that 1% that you offer to the Lord has to be a perfect 1%. And immediately people recognize, hey, I'm not perfect. You know, I'm just going to bring 1% of perfection. You cannot even do that, okay? Because you've got to be fully perfect, whether it's 1%, whether it's 100%, that part that you present has to be 100% perfect, all right? So what does it mean to trust with all your heart? It means to believe with all your heart. It means that you're trusting nothing else but the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, you're not trusting on anything else. That's what it means to put our trust, our belief on the Lord. So I hope that helps you understand because you don't want people to think, well, I believe the facts. That means I'm saved. Well, I mean, that's a good start if you believe the facts, but you still haven't put all your heart, all your trust on Jesus Christ. Then people think, well, you know, if people start to doubt their salvation, did I really do it 100%? Did I put all my heart into it? Well, it's not based on your emotional experience, okay? Some people get saved and they might shed a tear. Some people get saved and have a great emotional experience. That's fine. But some people get saved and they're just relieved. Wow, now I get the gospel. Now I understand it. And they won't really have much of an emotional experience. That's okay. Salvation is not based on your emotions. Salvation is based on who you're trusting. Have you put 100% of that trust on the Lord Jesus Christ? Go back to Psalm 11, please, Psalm 11, verse 1. So it's not just salvation, but then once we're saved, we ought to trust in the Lord. We ought to trust that He'll provide. We ought to trust that He'll answer our prayers. We ought to trust that He'll forgive us for our sins as we go and confess them to Him on a regular basis as we sin against Him. Our trust ought to be in the Lord. You're seeking a job. You're seeking necessities in life. You ought to go and seek the Lord and ask for His assistance, ask for His guidance. That means to put our trust in the Lord, okay? But the second part of Psalm 1 says, How say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain. You see, once you have put your trust in the Lord, you're not going to be like a little bird. You know, birds, you make a sudden noise, you make a sudden appearance, they flee, they fly away, you know? A little bird, the idea here is it flies to its mountain. It flies to its place of protection. Now look, once you have your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, you're not going to flee like a bird. You're not going to be unsettled. You're going to establish the Lord God as the foundation of your faith, the foundation of your life. You don't need to be afraid like a little bird, okay? Because you have the Lord as your strength, as your foundation. Psalms 20 verse 7, can you turn that? You're in Psalms already, so just turn there very quickly. Psalm 20 verse 7 says, Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. You see, the governments today, the politicians today, what do they trust in? They trust in their chariots, they trust in their horses, they trust in their military might, you know, to show us strength to the world. So look how strong we are. Maybe some people trust in their economy, some people trust in their jobs, you know, some people trust in fellow man. No, the Bible says here in Psalm 20 verse 7 that we who trust in the Lord we ought to remember the name of the Lord our God. That's how we ought to live our lives, not trust in our strengths, not trust in our resources. Hey, if you've got chariots and horses, good on you. But if that's what you're trusting in, to have victory in life, you're going to fail. You know, we see time and time again in the Old Testament, Israel, that are strengthened, you know, they have the military might, but then they go to war, you know, outside of the will of God, outside of the destruction of God, and they get utterly destroyed. And then we see other times in the Bible when Israel are not a strength, they don't have a great army. Hey, but they trust in the Lord. They trust in the name of the Lord, they go before, and they have great victory, you know, because they've trusted in the Lord. What did King David say? Well, David, before he became king, before he took down Goliath, he said his trust is in the Lord. You know, he's trusting that the Lord would deliver Goliath into his hands. Hey, that's how we ought to live a victorious Christian life, you know, asking the Lord to be our strength, you know, going before in the name of the Lord. Back to Psalm 11 verse 2. Psalm 11 verse 2. It's important who we put our trust in, guys. Verse number 2. Now, do you believe that verse? When you read that verse, do you just sit there and go, I believe that. You know, last week we looked at the wicked man. We looked at how people in this earth are extremely wicked, how they hate the Lord, they hate the ways of God. I mean, look, I'm a Bible believer. You know, I'm here because I believe the Bible. I'm here to preach the Bible, and I can't ignore verse number 2. It says the wicked bend their bow. What's the bow? It's a bow and arrow. The wicked have weapons. Not necessarily physical weapons, well, that could be one way, but they're seeking to destroy people. Who are they seeking to destroy? It says that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart. Now, look, if you're saved, you have the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ upon you. Yes, you're still a sinner. Yes, you're still going to sin for the rest of your life. But as far as your position with God, when God the Father looks at you, what does he see? He sees the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. You've been covered by the blood of the Lamb, okay? It's an amazing thing when you're saved and you put your trust in Christ that now, positionally, before God the Father, you were like the Son of God, because you're covered with the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And so you are someone that is upright in heart because you believe with your heart. The righteousness of God is within you. But it says here that the wicked actually seek to destroy believers, seek to destroy the upright in heart. That's why last week I told you, you know, we need to be careful as a church, because the wicked, this is the target that they want to destroy. They want to destroy God's people. That's what Psalm 11 verse 2 says. You say, no, no, that's not, look, it's true. Otherwise, God would not have written this in his Word. It's here to warn us, okay? And look, as soon as you got saved, praise God, you have eternity in heaven forever, but you've also got a huge mark on you now, okay? The devil and his demons and the wicked, they want to destroy the people of God. This is why it's so important for us that we have our trust in the Lord. This is why it's so important that we stand on the foundations that God has given us, okay? Because the wicked can smell weakness. The devil can smell weakness. And when you're weak, when you're not standing on the strong foundations, that's when they're going to ready their arrow upon the string and attack you. Let's keep, or actually, let's have a look at this. I'm going to get you guys to turn to Psalm 37. Psalm 37 verse 12. Psalm 37 verse 12. Because this goes hand in hand, this Psalm here, Psalm 37 verse 12 to 17, it goes hand in hand with this week's Psalm, Psalm 11, and last week's Psalm, Psalm 10. Let's have a look at it. Psalm 37 verse 12. It says, The wicked ploteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. Hey, who's the just? Us. We've been justified. We've been justified through the Lord Jesus Christ. But look at verse 13. You know, if he gives you fear, if you start to worry, you know, if you start to fear that the wicked want to hurt you, remember verse 13. It says, The Lord shall laugh at him, for he seeth that his day is coming. Say what? Yes, the Lord laughs at the wicked. The Lord laughs at those that seek to destroy his people. How so? For he seeth that his day is coming. You see, the Lord is looking down at judgment day. The Lord is outside of time. You know, and he knows full well what the destruction, what the judgment will come upon these wicked people. He looks down and sees, man, you're going to be utterly destroying that lake of fire, you know, the fire in brimstone. And so he sees, you know, these attempts of the wicked. And laughs at it. You know, because the damage that the wicked can do to you will not be anywhere as harmful as being cast into the lake of fire, by being judged by the Lord God. Verse 14. The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent the bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation. Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken. And look at this, verse 16. A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked. You see, you might see the wicked, you might see them prospering, you might see them being successful in their attempts to destroy. But the Bible says here in verse 16 that a little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked. You say, I don't have much, my bank accounts, I've got a hundred dollars in my bank account. I haven't got much, you know, in this life. But I see the wicked prospering in your life. God says that a hundred dollars you've got, the possessions that you have, the little that you have, is better than all that the wicked have. You see, the Lord can bless you, the Lord can multiply the blessings upon your life. The Lord is looking down and seeking to bless you. You know, and most important than the riches on this earth, is that we lay up our riches, our treasures in heaven. You see, the wicked are not laying up any treasures in heaven. In fact, the wicked, if they don't believe in Christ, will be destined to hell forever. And so what the little we have is actually better than what the wicked have there. Look at verse 17. And this ties back in last week. It says, for the arms of the wicked shall be broken. Hey, what did the psalmist pray for in Psalm 10? That the Lord will break the arms of the wicked, remember that? Alright, here in verse 17, for the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholdeth the righteous. You know, upholds, the Lord upholds you, okay? He lifts you up. Here's our foundation. Here's our strength. You know, we need to make sure that the foundations we have are strong, and they're based on the Lord God. Back to Psalm 11, please, verse 3. Psalm 11, verse 3. So the Lord warns us, He again tells us, look, you've got a bull's eye on your back, the wicked want to destroy you, and they've got their weapons, they want to harm you, they want to harm the people of God. So verse number 3 comes into play. If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? You see, the wicked are seeking to destroy you. If you're not on the foundations of God, what can you do? You're going to be harmed. You're going to be hurt. You're going to be cast down. You may even be destroyed in this life if you don't have the strong foundations that God gives us. What are the foundations? The foundations are so important. Any builder knows that before you start building a house, before you start any project, you must have the foundations in place. When we started this church, what did I start preaching on? The foundations of Christianity. The foundations of New Life Baptist Church. Those were the very first sermons that you heard me preach. Why? Because why build anything unless we have the foundations in place? Another way that the Bible uses the word foundation, or another way that Christianity uses the word foundations, is the word fundamentals. We are an independent, fundamental Baptist Church. When we stand strong in the fundamentals of the faith, the fundamentals of Christianity, it's so important because we see false prophets. We see we Christians often fall into false doctrine, a false sense of understanding the nature of God. You say, why is that? It's because they've lost the foundations. They've lost the fundamentals of the faith. But before we look at the fundamentals of the faith, you know there are fundamentals of Christianity. And we all know what they are. Praying to the Lord. Spending time with the Lord. That's a fundamental of your Christian life. Coming to church. Being part of the body of Christ. Fellowshiping with other Christians. That's another fundamental of the Christian faith. What's another fundamental of the Christian faith? Going soul winning. Preaching the gospel. Sharing the good news. Seeing souls saved. Seeing souls coming to the kingdom. Being a fruitful Christian in that sense. That's another fundamental of the faith. You know, reading your Bible. Did I say reading your Bible already? Maybe not. I can't remember. Reading your Bible. That's another fundamental of your faith. Reading, studying, meditating, memorizing the scriptures. All these things are important in your life. And of course, walking in the Spirit. Making sure that you're spending quality time with the Lord. And if you've got sin in your life, confess those sins to the Lord. Make sure that you have sweet fellowship with the Lord. These are key things to your Christian walk. To your Christian life. These are the fundamentals in your life. You drop the Bible reading. You drop church attendance. You drop praying. And you start to see that your life will be shaken. You start to see that all of a sudden, you know, you haven't got the confidence that you once had. You haven't got the strength that you once had. And when that happens in your Christian life, you need to examine, hey, am I reading my Bible? Am I praying to the Lord? Am I confessing my sins to Him? Am I walking in the Spirit? And when you realize that you've got those gaps in your life, you've got to plug those gaps. Those are the fundamentals of your Christian life. What about your family? Do you struggle in your family? Are your relationships broken between husband and wife? Are your children obedient? Are they respectful to the parents? God has given us foundations to the Christian life. Or sorry, to the family units, I should say. To the family unit. You know, husbands, fathers. You know, God's made you the head of your house. God's made you the spiritual leader. That's your responsibility. To be the leader of your family. To instruct your family in righteousness. You know, to go to work and provide and provide, give security to your family. Wives. The Lord asks you to be obedient, submissive to your husbands. You know? As the church is to Christ. You know? These are fundamentals. These are fundamentals of the family unit, of the marriage. And children. You know, the Lord requires you to obey your parents. To respect, to honour your parents. You know, that's a fundamental of the family unit. You start moving away from those fundamentals, from those foundations, you're going to have a broken home. You're going to have a strained relationship in your family. You're not going to find joy in your wife or your husband or your children when you drop the fundamentals that God has given us. And of course, I started off by mentioning the fundamentals of the faith. You know? We need to stand strong on these fundamentals. These are the things that should be the milk of the Word of God. The things that are clear. The things that you've said in your heart. Yes, I believe these things. You know, the inerrancy of the Bible. Knowing that the Bible we use, the King James Bible, is perfect. It's preserved. It's pure. We can trust every word. You know, man shall not live on bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. The Trinity. The Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost. And these three are one. The deity of Christ. That's a fundamental of the faith. You know, you start moving away from the fundamentals, you'll start finding yourself in heresy. You know, and you go far enough, you might find yourself in damnable heresy. The virgin birth. You know, the virgin birth. The blood atonement of Christ. You know? The bodily resurrection of Christ. These are all fundamentals of the faith. Salvation by grace through faith. Not by works. Alright? It's by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. These are fundamentals of Christianity. You move away from these fundamentals, you no longer have Christianity. Okay? That's how the cults start. You know, the Jehovah's Witnesses and the, you know, all the Mormons. These people, these founders, you know, they all came, the Seventh-day Adventists. They all came from sound Christian, well, I don't know if the word sound is the right word to use, but they came from, you know, having the fundamentals of faith, they moved away from those fundamentals, and all of a sudden they're teaching other ways of salvation. They're teaching other things about Jesus Christ. They're teaching another Jesus. You know? You need to make sure when you study your Bible, you have the fundamentals in place, and then when you read the rest of your Bible, it ought to be built upon those fundamentals, upon those foundations that we've been given. And of course we've got the fundamentals of New Life Baptist Church. You know, that's our statement of faith. You can go onto the website, look them up. I won't go into all that right now. But, you know, actually another fundamental of faith is the second coming of Christ. That Christ will return. It'll come back and be the king of this earth, the new heavens and the new earth eventually. That's another great fundamental of the faith. If I, I'll get you guys to turn to, I'll get you guys to go back to Ephesians. Let me, sorry, let me think. No, no. 1 Corinthians, go to 1 Corinthians chapter 3. 1 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 9. 1 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 9. It's a passage that a lot of us are familiar with, but it's important because it says here, for we are labourers together with God. Ye are God's husbandry. Ye are God's building. What's God's building? This building here? Is this God's building? You know? No, you, ye. Ye are God's building, right? It says there, verse 10. According to the grace of God, which is given unto me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation. And another beautiful, they're on. But let every man take heed, how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay, than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. And I ask you, brethren, is your foundation the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you saved? Have you trusted him as your saviour? That's a great place to start. But then are you looking at the commands of Christ, the commands of God, the examples of Christ that he left us on this earth, and are you following after his ways? Are you following after his steps? Because he took those steps. He led the way that we would follow likewise, that we would set him as our foundation in our walk with the Lord as well. Now you guys go to 1 Corinthians, chapter 6, verse 19. And while you're turning there, I'm going to read to you from 1 Kings, okay? 1 Kings, chapter 5, verse 15. And what I'm going to be reading to you from is the Old Testament temple. You know, when King Solomon finished building that first temple, the temple of God, what does the Bible say here in 1 Kings, chapter 5, verse 15? You guys are going to 1 Corinthians, chapter 6. But 1 Kings, chapter 5, verse 15 says this. And Solomon had three score and 10,000 that bear burdens and four score thousand hewers in the mountains. So what's four score? Four times 20 is 80. So 80,000 hewers in the mountains. You see, in order to build the temple, there were people in the mountains. They were cutting out stones. They were cutting out rocks. 80,000 workers in the mountains bringing stone to build the foundation for the temple of God. In verse 16 it says, Beside the chief of Solomon's offices, which were over the work, 3,300, which ruled over the people, which wrought in the work. And the king commanded that they brought great stones, costly stones and huge stones to lay the foundation of the house. And Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders did hew them and the stone squarers. So they prepared timber and stones to build the house. You see, even in the Old Testament times, the temple of God, they didn't just build it on the ground. They put labour. They sent workers, thousands upon thousands of men to go into the mountains, bring great stones, you know, precious stones, to lay the foundation of the temple of God in the Old Testament. And once that foundation was laid, then they got the wood. Then they started to build upon the foundation, to build the temple of God. Now, in the New Testament, we haven't got that temple, that physical temple in Jerusalem. The Lord does not require us to go there, to worship, to sacrifice. No, the New Testament, things have changed. And I'm going to read to you from Ephesians 2.19, just quickly. It says, Now therefore ye are no more strangers than 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. Hey, where do you find the foundations of the prophets and the apostles? I've said it before. It's in the Word of God. It's in the Bible. This is where the foundations ought to be. You build your life on the scriptures, that God has given us. And then it says this, In whom all the building, fitly framed together, groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord. What is the holy temple of the Lord, in the New Testament? It's you. You are that holy temple. You are the temple of the Lord. You see, the Lord in the Old Testament, when they built that Old Testament temple, the Lord's presence, His glory filled that temple. His presence was there in that Old Testament temple. But the New Testament teaches that our bodies, that you are the temple of God. And that's why the Holy Ghost comes and lives in you. God's presence is there in you. God's Spirit lives in you as the temple of the Lord. You guys are in 1 Corinthians 6. Look at verse 19. What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? I mean, it's like Paul's surprise here, that the Corinthians, haven't you worked this out already? I mean, you're defiling your bodies. You know, there was fornication happening here, in the church. They were defiling their bodies. They weren't looking after their bodies. And Paul says, What? Haven't you figured it out? Your body is the New Testament temple. It's where the Holy Ghost resides. It's where the Holy Ghost dwells. Verse number 20. For ye are bought with a price. What was that price? The sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, of course. Therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. Guys, the moment you got saved, you were purchased by the blood of the Lord. You were purchased by the blood of the Lamb. That means your body does not belong to yourself. What? Don't you know your body is the temple of God? Alright? Your body belongs to the Lord. You know, everything you do in your body, ought to be subjected to the will of God. And that's the Christian struggle in our lives. That's the Christian struggle. You know, that we seek to do our own will. We still have the sin nature. We still have the old man. You know, and of course, that old man is at war with the new man. The flesh is at war with the spirit. That's the struggle in our lives. But we must remember that we've been purchased by God. You know, we ought to seek to please Him with our bodies. You know, to serve Him with our bodies. And so, I want you to see that your body is the temple of God. It ought to be built on strong foundations, just like the Old Testament temple was built on those strong foundations. Alright? Go back to Psalm 11, please, verse 4. Psalm 11, verse 4. Cause all of this will tie together now. Back to Psalm 11, verse 4. Psalm 11, verse 4. It says here, the Lord is in His holy temple. It just confirms what we just covered, right? Why the foundations are important, okay? The Lord is in His holy temple. Now, this is another temple of the Lord. Of course, you can apply this in multiple ways. The Old Testament temple, we said, the presence of the Lord was there. Yeah, the Lord was in that holy temple. You are the temple of God, your bodies. Guess what? The Holy Spirit resides in you. You know what I mean? The Holy Spirit resides in you. You know, again, you could apply that to yourself. The Lord is in His holy temple. Yeah, He's in this body. The Lord is. But notice in verse number 4, it's another temple. It says here, thanks brother. It says here, the Lord is in His holy temple. The Lord's throne is in heaven. His eyes behold, His eyelids try, the children of men. You see, there is a temple in heaven. There is a temple where the throne of God is. You know, and of course, you know, when the instruction was given to build the temple, you know, it was always based, or even the tabernacle, it was built upon that which is in heaven. There is another temple which is in heaven. And I'm going to read to you quickly from, from Revelation chapter 7. If you guys want to turn that you can. Revelation chapter 7 verse 13. Revelation chapter 7 verse 13. Thank you brother for that. Revelation chapter 7 verse 13. It says, And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? And whence came they? These are those that were raptured, that were in heaven, of every tongue, of every nation, of every tribe. You know, where do they come from? Verse 14, And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple. For he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. Hey, where's this temple? Where's the throne of God? In heaven. And so of course we know the fullness of the presence of God is in heaven. Okay? So that is another temple of the Lord in heaven there. And notice that it said in Psalm 11, that from heaven, that the eyes of the Lord beholds, his eyelids try, the children of men. You see, God sees everything that takes place on this earth. Okay? God's eyes run to and fro. You know? And it's not just the believers that he's observing. It's the wicked. In fact, we saw how the Lord looks at the wicked. He sees the ambitions of the wicked, and laughs at them. Okay? And we need to remember, remind ourselves, that everything we do is seen by God. You know, we are his temple. You do not get away with sin. And I'm sure you think you have gotten away with sin. I'm sure there are things you've done in the past, or things that you've done recently, that you think, well, I committed this sin, no one saw it. Look, the Lord sees it. He sees it from his holy temple. You know, you gotta remind yourself, my body, my body is the temple of the Lord as well. You know, why would I grieve the Holy Ghost? You know, when we sin, guys, it ought to grieve us. It ought to upset us. And it does. The new man is grieved. The new man is upset. The Holy Ghost is grieved. You know, I'm worried for you, if when you commit sin, you're not grieved at your heart for it. And you have the Lord there, in your midst, watching everything that you do. We need to remind ourselves of this truth. You know, it'll prevent us from sinning. You know, it'll definitely put a big roadblock in our lives of sin. But look, at the same time, we do sin, and the Lord knows we do. That's why we need to go to him and confess those sins, so we can continue fellowshiping with him. But, just trying to remember where I wanted to go from there. Yeah, I just wanted to say that, you know, your eyes of the Lord are everywhere. And if you guys go back to Psalm 11, verse 5, the Bible says here, the Lord trieth. You know, that's like testing. The Lord trieth the righteous. Alright? The Lord allows you to go through tests. He allows you to go through trials. Sometimes the Lord will just allow you a trial. He will purposely allow you to go through a difficulty, to refine you, to improve you, to strengthen you. Okay? And sometimes when you've moved away from your foundations, guys, you've moved away from those foundations, you're on shaky ground, you know, you're on sandy ground, sometimes the Lord will allow you to just go through some difficulty, so you can sink a little bit, so you can fall a little bit, so you can have difficulties, so you would be drawn back to the foundations of God. You go back, you know, this is an area where I'm strong with. This is an area that I've let go of. I need to go back and stand on those strong foundations of God. You know, He trieth the righteous. He wants to see if you'll come through. He wants to see if you'll come back to Him. He wants you to see if you'll stand strong in those foundations that God has given you. But verse number five says, But the wicked and him that loveth violence, he is so hateth. And again, guys, do we believe the Bible? Do we believe verse five? What does it say? It says the Lord hateth. Say what? Isn't God love? God is love. Absolutely. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. All right? It's His will that we would all come to repentance and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. But notice here that the Lord, who does He hate? You know, well, what's it saying? You know, God hates the sin, but He doesn't hate the sinner. Well, what does verse five... By the way, that's not a Bible verse. You know, whatever you hear needs to be tested by the Scriptures. It needs to be tested by the Word of God. Is that a true saying that God hates the sin but not the sinner? Is that a true statement? What does the Bible say here in verse number five? Okay. But the wicked... Who's the... That's the person. The wicked and him that loveth violence, he's so hateth. Say what? Are you telling me that God hates people? I'm just telling you what the Bible says. Alright? That's what the Bible says. That God hates the wicked. Alright? That God looks down. But look, we know that the Lord loves... He loves so much that He gave His only begotten Son. Can you imagine sacrificing your Son and knowing that even some of the people that your soul hates will come to believe in Him and trust in Him? I mean, it's a beautiful thing. You know, but when we see the extreme nature of God, He's got an extreme love, but He has also got this extreme hatred. And that's why the lake of fire exists. You know, there are some people that deny the lake of fire. They deny hell because they've gotten so far away from knowing the nature of God. They think, well, God is only love. You know, surely He doesn't hate. Surely God doesn't destroy. No, that's why some people turn away from hell and go, well, hell doesn't really exist. I don't believe in hell. No, the Bible's clear and we'll soon see it. See, in verse number six, that God will rain fire and brimstone upon the wicked. Alright, let's keep reading. Verse number six. Upon the wicked, He shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and in horrible tempests, this shall be the portion of their cup. Why does the Lord laugh? Because He knows on the day of judgment that their cup, what they receive, will be the fire and brimstone. You know, that the Lord will rain snares upon this wicked people that reject the Lord Jesus Christ for all eternity. Now, keep your finger there. Let's go to Genesis chapter 19. Genesis chapter 19. When you see these words, fire and brimstone, what does it bring to your remembrance? What are the first things you think about? Usually hell. Right, usually hell fire, the lake of fire. You know, and that makes sense. I'm trying to understand, guys, because there's a big misconception in Christianity, you know, the idea that the devil is in charge of hell. I don't know if you've ever heard of that, that the kingdom of hell belongs to the devil, that the devil's in charge, that when people are thrown into hell, that it's not the Lord torturing, it's not the Lord bringing torment upon them, that it's the devil. It's the devil and his angels. And you'll see, like if you guys have seen Chick tracts before, quite often the Chick tracts, these comic cartoons, they'll show people cast into hell, and the devil and demons kind of like, you know, you know, bringing torment upon the people with their pitchforks and stuff like that. That's not true. Okay. Who owns hell? Who's created hell? It's the Lord God. Okay. And we'll soon see that fire and brimstone is not how the devil deals with things, but it's how God deals with the wicked. It's how God brings judgement upon the wicked. Alright. So let's look at Genesis chapter 19 verse 24. And, you know, you guys know the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. Why were these cities so wicked? What was their great sin? It was homosexuality. It was sodomy. Okay. These people would reprobate homosexuals, you know, and just Lot. Poor Lot. I don't know how he lived there. I don't know how he lived there, but the Lord saw fit to remove Lot and his family before he rained fire and brimstone. Let's look at it. Genesis 19 verse 24. Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah, brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities and all the plain and all the inhabitants of the cities and that which grew upon the ground. You see, God poured out. This is a great example of seeing the wrath of God, the judgement of God, the hatred of God being brought down by fire and brimstone upon these wicked cities. That's how God feels about homosexuality. Okay. That it will bring down fire and brimstone. You guys go to Revelation chapter 9, please. Revelation chapter 9, verse 13. Revelation chapter 9, verse 13. We're looking at the end times. We're looking at the judgement of God, the wrath of God being poured upon the earth. You guys are familiar with the trumpets and the vials as the wrath of God. And here in Revelation chapter 9, verse 13, Revelation chapter 9, verse 13, it says here, and the six angels sounded. So this is the sixth angel, the sixth trumpet. And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God. Drop down to verse 17. It says, and thus I saw the horses in the vision and them that sat on them having breastplates of fire and of jacinth and brimstone and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. By these three was a third part of men killed by the fire and by the smoke and by the brimstone which issued out of their mouths. So this is when God pours out his wrath upon the earth in that final seven years, the trumpets and the vials being poured out here. And this is the sixth trumpet and you see how the Lord has these horses and I'm not sure if these are some type of spiritual creature or something that God has created or if it's a reference to potentially, I've heard people preach that it might be like tanks or some type of military weapon but God allows it that issuing out of them would be fire, smoke and brimstone. Hey, this falls in line with the wrath of God as he goes and destroys those that have taken the mark of the beast upon the earth, those that have rejected Christ, those that were not raptured. And we see once again how God allows fire and brimstone to be used as an object of his wrath. Now go to Revelation 14, please. Revelation 14, verse 9. Revelation 14, verse 9. And this is where we're most familiar with the use of fire and brimstone. Revelation chapter 14, verse 9. The Bible says, And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, that's the antichrist, and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God. You see what the wrath of God is, guys? What is it? Let's keep reading. Which is poured out with our mixture into the cup of his indignation, and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. So who will be tormented here? Those that took the mark of the beast. How are they going to be tormented? The Bible calls it the wrath of God. What is hell fire? What is the lake of fire? Is it the wrath of Satan? No, it is the wrath of God, okay? The misconception of hell, no. The devil is not in charge of hell. In fact, the devil will be thrown into hell, will be thrown into the lake of fire, and he'll be tormented day and night, forever and ever. You go to Revelation chapter 20, please. Revelation chapter 20, verse 10. Revelation chapter 20, verse 10. The Bible says, And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night, forever and ever. Just in case you didn't believe me. The Bible tells us that the devil will be cast into the lake of fire, tormented forever and ever. Does it sound like the devil's in charge of hell? Does it sound like he's in charge of the lake of fire? He's not, okay? What is he experiencing? What is the torment that the devil experiences, and everyone else that will be cast into the lake of fire? The wrath of God. The fire and brimstone is an object of God's wrath, not the devil's wrath, okay? It is part of the wrath of God. And I'm gonna quickly read to you guys just very quickly. Actually, if you guys, just go back to, go back to Revelation 14, because it is something I really want to drive home, because there's a lot of false teaching about this. Back to Revelation 14, and verse number 10. Revelation 14, verse 10. Let's just read it again very slowly. Let's read it slowly. Because you've probably also heard the misconception that when someone's thrown into the lake of fire, that they're eternally separated from God forever. Have you heard that before? That you're eternally separated from God forever? But let's have a look what the Bible says here in Revelation 14, verse 10. It says, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation, and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone. Where? Where is he tormented by fire and brimstone? In the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. Who's the Lamb of God? Jesus Christ. Okay. Is the lake of fire eternal separation from God? No. The lake of fire, those that have been tormented are in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. Why? Because it's the wrath of God that's bringing the torments. It's the wrath of God that issues out the fire and brimstone in the presence of the Lamb. Why? Because it's the wrath of God that's bringing the torments. It's the wrath of God that issues out the fire and brimstone. Alright. Now, let's just get a secondary scripture here. So please turn to 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, please. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 7. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 7. You see, as safe people, when we're in heaven, we're going to be rejoicing that we're in the presence of God, that we're in the presence of the Lamb. Rejoice in. What a blessing. Rejoice. Rejoice. But those that are in the lake of fire, they're also in the presence of the Lamb. But they're facing the wrath of God now. The curse has fallen upon them because they did not allow the Lord Jesus Christ to take their curse upon himself. They decided, no, we'll take on the curse. We'll be saved by our own merits. You know? But they're still in the presence of God. They're still in the presence of the Lamb, being tormented day and night. The Scriptures confirm this for us. Look at 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 7. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 7. The Bible says, And to you who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. Look at verse 8. In flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. So they've not obeyed the Gospel. They've not believed the Gospel. Verse number 9. Who shall be punished, look at this, with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power. Look at this. Where is this fire, this flaming fire coming from? Where is this everlasting destruction coming from? It's coming from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power. Now I'm looking forward to the glory of the power of God. I'd love to just stand in God's glory. But if you reject Christ, you reject salvation, you build some other foundation which is not the Lord Jesus Christ, you're going to be tormented and punished, everlasting punishment in the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's coming from his presence from the glory of his power. So I hope you see that there that the book of Revelation, Thessalonians here, both confirming for us where the torment comes from. The flying brimstone, it's coming from the Lord. It's coming from the Lord God. Satan's not in charge of hell. Please, if you believe that, get that thought out of your head. It's the Lord that's in control of hell. It's the law that casts the wicked into hell. It's the law that torments the wicked into hell and of course it's the law that's going to judge and torment the devil and his angels forever and ever in the lake of fire. Back to Psalm 11 verse 7. Hearing about the wrath of God. Hey, but we need to know the whole counsel of God. God's given us his Bible so we can learn and to know the fullness of God, to know who he is. All right? Verse number 7. For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness. Hey, how did that compare to what we read before? That he hateth the wicked, right? He hates the wicked. But look, for the righteous Lord loveth righteousness. We see what the Lord loves. He loves righteousness. I'm going to make it to heaven and my own righteousness. No. That's why we need the righteousness of Christ. All right? It's perfect. It's pure. You know, it's kept all the commandments of God. That's why God loves us as his children because we've been, you know, because of Jesus. Because he was the only begotten son of God. We get the privilege of being children of God by being sons of God because of Christ's countenance doth behold the upright. His countenance doth behold the upright. So you see, the love, the Lord loves the upright and the wicked, they're trying to destroy the upright. So you see why the Lord hates the wicked? It's because they're trying to hurt the people that he loves. What an honour. You know, if you're saved today, you can say that the Lord loves me, that the Lord loves the upright. His countenance beholds the upright. You know, the Lord shines his face upon you. The Lord loves you. The Lord wants to protect you from the wicked. That's why he's got to try you. That's why he's got to bring you and remind you to stand on the foundations that God has given us in our life because he wants you to succeed in life. He wants you to stand on the foundations that he wants you to succeed in life. And he wants you to stand on the foundations that he wants you to succeed in life. So, I just want to end on this, guys. Let's know the God of the Bible. Let's know the God that we worship. The God of love, the God of hatred, you know, the God of heaven, the God of hell. You know, this is the true God that we worship. You know, we ought to love him. You know, that's righteous. I mean, do you think it's righteous to love the things that God hates? Do you think that's right? How do you think God's going to feel about that? If you love the things that he hates, it's not good. You know, that's why we've got to be careful about how we entertain our lives, the things that we watch, the things that we read, and so, are these things that I allow into my life, are these things that God loves, or are these things that God hates? And if they're things that God hates, get rid of them. All right? Get rid of them, and make sure that you seek after the things that God loves. Let's pray.