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Music You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You Good morning everyone welcome to steadfast baptist church Thank you all for coming if you can all find your seats we can go ahead and get started We're gonna start this morning service off with song number 173 love lifted me Song number 173 Song 173 sing it out The Water's lifted me love lifted me, love lifted me, love lifted me. When nothing else could help, love lifted me. All my heart to Him I give, ever to Him I cling. In His blessing presence live, ever His praises sing. Love so mighty and so true, there is my soul's best song. Faithful loving service to Him He loves. Love lifted me, love lifted me. When nothing else could help, love lifted me. Love lifted me, love lifted me. When nothing else could help, love lifted me. On the third, soul's in danger, look above, Jesus completely saves. He will lift you by his love, out of the angry ways. He's the master of the sea, fill his will away. He, your Savior, wants to be saved today. Love lifted me, love lifted me, when nothing else could help. Love lifted me, love lifted me, when nothing else could help. Love lifted me. Great singing everybody. Let's go ahead and bow our heads for a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you for Steadfast Baptist Church. Thank you for Pastor Shelley and his family. Lord God, we ask that you fill him with your Holy Spirit. Help us to understand and take away the service with us so that we can be better Christians for your honor and glory. It's in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. All right, next up we have song number 410, Faith is the Victory. Song number 410. Song 410, Faith is the Victory. Sing it out. In Kent, along the hills of life, ye Christian soldiers rise. And press the battle air, the night shall veil the glowing skies. Against the golden bales below, let all our strength be earled. Faith is the Victory we know that overcomes the world. Faith is the Victory. Faith is the Victory. Oh, glorious Victory that overcomes the world. His banner o'er us is love, our sword the word of God. We tread the road, the saints above, with shouts of triumph and triumph. By faith they like a whirlwind swept over every field. The faith by which they conquered death is still our shining shield. Faith is the Victory. Faith is the Victory. Oh, glorious Victory that overcomes the world. On every end will flow, we flock, drawn up in dread array. Let tents of ease be left behind and onward to the fray. Salvation's helmet on each hip, with truth altered about. The earth shall trend beneath our tread. An echo with no shout. Faith is the Victory. Faith is the Victory. Oh, glorious Victory that overcomes the world. On the last. To him that overcomes the world. My brain, it shall begin before the angels he shall know. His name confess we care. Then onward from the hills of light, our hearts will love a flame. We'll vanquish all the host of night in Jesus' conquering name. Faith is the Victory. Faith is the Victory. Oh, glorious Victory that overcomes the world. Faith is the Victory. We're doing Jonah 2, verse 3, and we're also on the inside. We're doing our service in soul winning times, church stats. Make sure you're turning that into your soul winning captains and lieutenants. On the right, we have the list of our expecting ladies. And we have down below our prayer list. On the back, we have the note about our conference that's coming up. Below that, there's a kind of a detailed plan as far as just what the structure is going to look like. And then also, we have our Texas chili cook-off, October 31. And then November 16 is our Miami soul winning marathon. And so a lot of people have expressed interest in that as well. That'll be a great time. Even if you're not able to attend our events, we still encourage you to at least pray for us and that things would go smoothly. And this is the one thing I do know is the Bible says that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to His purpose. And even in the midst of not knowing what's going on in the world, I know everything's going to work out great. And I know that when we love God, it's going to work out great for us. And sometimes it can be confusing, but things, you know, always end up working out the way that God would have it. So remember to continue to stay steadfast in your hearts and your minds. And we'll go ahead and sing our third song this morning. Psalm 67. It should be in your white handouts. If you don't have one, you can ask your neighbor or maybe you guys can share. Psalm 67. God be merciful to us, save us us, and cause his face to shine upon us. Let thy way be known upon earth by saving health among all nations. Let the people praise thee, O God. Let all the people praise thee, O let the nations be glad and sing for joy. For thou shalt touch the people, righteously and yon earth, the nations upon earth, the nations upon earth see love. Let the people praise thee, O God. Let all the people praise thee, O let the nations be glad and sing for joy. Then shall the earth yield to her great grace, and God, even our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us at all the ends. On the earth shall fear him. Let the people praise thee, O God. Let all the people praise thee, O let the nations be glad and sing for joy. Great singing, everybody. As the offering plates are going around, would you please turn your Bibles to Proverbs chapter number 24. Proverbs chapter number 24. Proverbs 24, the Bible reads, be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them, for their heart studieth destruction and their lips talk of mischief. Through wisdom is in house builded, and by understanding it is established, and by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches. A wise man is strong, yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength, for by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war, and in multitude of counselors there is safety. Wisdom is too high for a fool. He openeth not his mouth in the gate. He that deviseth to do evil shall be called a mischievous person. The thought of foolishness is sin, and the scorner is an abomination to men. If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death and those that are ready to be slain, if thou sayest, behold, we knew it not, doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it, and he that keepeth thy soul doth not he know it, and shall not he render to every man according to his works? My son, eat thou honey because it is good, and a honeycomb which is sweet to thy taste. So shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul when thou hast found it. Then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off. Lay not wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous. Spoil not his resting place, for a just man falleth seven times and riseth up again, but the wicked shall fall into mischief. Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumblest, lest the Lord see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him. Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked, for there shall be no reward to the evil man. The candle of the wicked shall be put out. My son, fear thou the Lord and the king, and meddle not with them that are given to change, for their calamity shall rise suddenly, and who knoweth the ruin of them both. These things also belong to the wise. It is not good to have respect of persons in judgment. He that saith unto the wicked, Thou art righteous, him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him. But to them that rebuke him shall be delight, and a good blessing shall come upon them. Every man shall kiss his lips that giveth the right answer. Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field, and afterwards build thine house. Be not a witness against thy neighbor without cause, and deceive not with thy lips. Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me. I will render to the man according to his work. I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man, void of understanding, and, lo, it was all grown over with thorns and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw and considered it well. I looked upon it and received instruction, yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep. So shall thy poverty come as one that travaileth and I want as an armed man. Let's bow our heads forward in prayer. Father in heaven, we thank you, Lord, for our church and for this day. I pray that you fill Pastor Shelley with your spirit now. Give him boldness and clarity of mind to preach the message you've laid on his heart. Help us, Father God, to pay close attention, Lord, and to be doers of the word. We love you, and in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. I want to look at verse number 10 in the book of Proverbs. The Bible says, If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. And the title of my sermon this morning is Don't Faint. Don't faint. There is an admonition here to make sure that when you're faced with some level of opposition that you don't faint. And this is the idea of quitting, giving up, not taking things seriously, when it's your opportunity to do the right thing, that you don't just become too scared, nervous to actually do something. The idea of fainting is basically just kind of being too scared or too nervous to be effective. You know, there's the idea, and there's this old adage like the wife is about to give birth, and then the dad faints because he's just so nervous about the situation. But you know what? That's not a very good idea, okay? And especially when your wife, you're supposed to go to the hospital, and she's like, he's coming. And then you're at your house, and she's alone. And this literally happened, okay? So this is my second child. I'm woken up, and my wife's like, uh, the contractions are happening like two minutes apart or something like this or something really close. And she's like really nervous. And I'm like, okay, I don't know what to do. I'm just trying to figure out how to wake up. I'm just like, I don't even know. I'm still tired, you know? Wake me up when you have the baby. No, I'm just kidding. Oh, no, I don't know what to do. And so she like went back to the bath. I'm like boiling water. I don't even know why. I don't even know what. She's just like, boil water or something. I'm just like, okay, I don't know. I'm just like boiling water. And then she's like, he's coming. And I'm just like, oh, no. I don't even know what to do. And I'm like, can we go to the hospital? And she's like, no. And I'm like, okay. Well, you know, what if I just fainted? Like I could have, right? But no, I had to help her with the delivery of Jackson. And you know, I don't know exactly, but like when he came out, it appeared like the cord may have been even wrapped around his neck. It definitely was. I don't know if that was like dangerous or not at the time, but it made me nervous. And I was able to take him out, get the cord wrapped off of him. His head was very blue. They all come out blue, I guess. And it made me nervous. What if I wasn't there? What if I had fainted? What if I was too afraid to deal with an uncomfortable situation? Now, it's not like I've delivered a lot of babies before that. Approximately zero. And so it was a really nerve-wracking experience. There's a lot of things going on, a lot of fluids and all kinds of stuff, right? But it was a day of adversity. But it was important to just be in there, try to be calm, just deal with the situation. And this is how we as God's people need to respond, not just to carnal situations, but even spiritual situations, where when something unexpected happens, when you're put in a weird situation, that you're able to respond and you don't just give up, quit, walk away, decide that you're not prepared for it. Look, I wasn't prepared for that. I wasn't ready for that. I wasn't expecting that. I still am not, okay? But at the end of the day, I love my wife, and I want to just do what's right. And you know, sometimes in our lives, we're going to be put in situations where we don't know what to do. We're not prepared for them. They're difficult. But you're just saying, you know what? I just love this person. I love the Lord. I love my family. I love my children. I love my church. I love these things. And so you're just going to get in the messy situation, and you're just going to do the best that you can. And you know what? Praise God that the wife does 99.999% of the birth anyways, and I was just a spectator. So people can't give me any credit. I was just there, and I didn't faint. So if not fainting is impressive, then okay. I basically didn't faint. But praise God that he made it to where women can pretty much do what they need to do to make that situation happen. And when it comes to our lives, we have to realize that we're going to be put in situations that we didn't expect, that we're not prepared for, that we don't know what to do. But the last thing we should do is quit. The last thing we should do is faint. The last thing we should do is give up. Now I have three points of areas that I want us to not give up on, not faint, not get discouraged on. And number one would be doctrine. Go to Romans chapter 16. Romans chapter 16. There are going to be times when your doctrine is going to be put to the test. There is going to be times when there is adversity against your doctrine. And what does doctrine mean? It just means what you believe. It's not a fancy word. It's not a difficult word to understand. What is it when someone says this is my doctrine? It's just what they believe. If you have a doctrinal statement as a church, it's just what they believe as a church. It's that simple. That's all that it means. But those beliefs are going to be put to test. They're going to be put to test by the world. They're going to be put to test by your family. They're going to be put to test even sometimes by yourself. You may even challenge what you believe. You may feel confused about what's right, what's wrong. And also in a church setting, you're going to even have people in a church fighting over doctrine sometimes. You're going to have infiltrators. You're going to have people try to challenge the status quo, challenge salvation by faith, challenge the Trinity, challenge what Bible version you have. There's a reason why. There is thousands of churches in America that have really weird doctrine. It's because people came in, challenged the doctrine, and they changed. It's because there was church splits where a certain individual arose amongst the congregation speaking perverse things, drawing away disciples after themselves. In fact, if you actually understand church history, virtually every denomination that exists is a church split. It is a church split where an individual in a particular church rose up and drew people out of that church, and then they formed their own denomination. Sometimes cult would be a more proper word to identify what happened. Don't think that this church could not have a same event. Don't think that this church couldn't have an individual coming in and trying to challenge you on what you believe or where to go or what to do. And what does the Bible say when we have these situations? Look at Romans 16 verse 17. Now, beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned, and avoid them. Notice that the Bible says there's going to be people trying to challenge you on the doctrines that you've been taught and on the doctrines that you have learned. It says in verse number 18, For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. So according to the Bible, these people are not godly. They don't care about the Bible. They only care about themselves. But notice what it says. They deceive the hearts of the simple. So some people are going to be deceived by these situations. Hey, brother Jason, will you just help them? If y'all can just leave the service right now just to not be a distraction, thank you. According to Romans chapter 16, the Bible says that there are some people that don't care about the Bible. They only care about themselves. Now, at the end of the day, I don't necessarily believe that this verse is implying the person knows that they're bad because the Bible talks about evil men and seducers waxing worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. This is what people don't understand. This is a hard concept to explain to people. Many evil people are sincere and they're evil. And that many evil people are a mixed bag. They're not just all bad. At times they're good. At times they're bad. And it's difficult to necessarily understand all their motives. You could look at people and, unfortunately, what happens with a lot of evil people is they gaslight themselves. And what that means is they basically confuse themselves they deceive themselves, and they end up believing the lies that they teach. You know, if you were to talk to a Mormon, I don't know if you've ever done this or not, they're very sincere in their beliefs. It's not like they know I'm in a cult and my cult's weird and we wear special underwear that's weird and we have all kinds of Freemason, satanic rituals that we perform in our temple. To them, they think it's real, they think it's sincere, they can't wait to be a god of their own planet and go to Kolob and have endless spiritual babies and they think that drinking coffee is a sin. Now, here's the thing. I don't really like coffee, but it's not a sin, folks, okay? They think that drinking Coca-Cola is a sin. They do all kinds of weird stuff, but they sincerely believe them. And this is what some people think like, well, how could this person be bad? They seem sincere. Okay, I'll grant you that they seem sincere. I think that most of the Catholics in this world are sincere, but unfortunately they're sincerely on their way to hell. And I would grant you that there's many even branches of Christianity, the Church of Christ, those people are very sincere. But you know what, they believe in baptismal regeneration and they're not saved. There's a lot of people that are sincerely deceived and sincerely confused, and what you have to do is you have to say, I'm going to trust the Bible over how sincere someone seems. I'm going to trust the Bible over no matter how good this speech sounds. Notice what the Bible describes it, and by good words and fair speeches. God is saying objectively that what they said sounded good. God's not even saying that, well, if you listen to this, it sounds terrible. Well, if you listen to this, it's not compelling. If you listen to this, it sounds bad. He's saying it sounds good. They're using good words. They're using fair speeches. The word fair means beautiful. The word fair means comely. The word fair means it's delightsome, meaning that it's exciting, it sounds good, it feels good, you like it. But it deceives the heart of the simple because they say, well, I know it sounds good and it looks good, but it's not. I know that this isn't real. Now, I want to go to another place in the Bible. Go to 1 Timothy 4 and look at another place. You're going to be challenged. You know the Bible talks about if you can't contend with the footmen, how are you going to contend with horses? And at the end of the day, if you can't even face a little bit of opposition, how are you going to face an actual serious infiltrator, deceiver, false prophet, false teacher? There's some escalating levels of deception when it comes to false teachers. Some are pretty obvious. Some are just a little bit more cunning. Some are pretty deceitful. Some look like an independent fundamental Baptist, but they're not a good person. Not every independent fundamental Baptist is a good person. Not every single preacher that uses the King James Bible is a good person. You know who's King James only? Kenneth Copeland. Oh, well, he's right on the Bible. But the guy looks evil. For me, I'm just kind of like he doesn't even necessarily look the part. There are some people that look like a straight-laced, nice, caring, independent fundamental Baptist, but you know what? I've heard the gospel, and I don't want anything to do with them. And so we have to be careful, and we have to realize that there is going to be opposition to what you believe. And it's going to be in the church. It's going to be in your family. It's going to be in this world. And what does the Bible say in 1 Timothy 4? Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that at a latter time some should depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. Some people in the end times are going to be led astray into bad doctrine. It's going to happen. They're going to hear false teaching, and they're going to get sucked into it. Notice this. Speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron. There are people in this world who their conscience has been so deadened and so destroyed that they don't even know right from wrong anymore, and that everything is justified. They think that doing anything is justified. There's a pastor that I know of who killed his father in a very brutal, murderous-type fashion. And if you read the story, it's horrific. Now, according to this person's testimony, the dad was abusive. The dad hurt him and did all kinds of stuff, and it's not even a question whether or not the dad was abusive. But here's the thing. It's not okay to kill your dad. I don't care how bad your dad is. It's just wrong. The Bible even has the death penalty for someone that would rise up and strike or curse their parents. And again, the Bible is so clear that we are to not avenge ourselves. We are to have Isaac's attitude. What is Isaac's attitude? If my dad puts me on the altar, then I'm going on the altar. I mean, could you not argue? Like, what would be the scenario when you would fight your dad? Isn't it when he's putting you on an altar to sacrifice you? Like, could you dream up a more intense situation where you may resist your father's instruction? But let me ask you this. Do you think Isaac regrets obeying Abraham? No. And, you know, when we obey our parents, that's going to be the best move. Now, does that mean we always have to be in close fellowship with them? Does that mean we have to do every single thing they say when we turn adults? No, we ultimately follow the Bible first. And, you know, if the Bible says we need to have some distance in our family relationships because they cross boundaries that are biblical, okay, if your parents tell you to sin, don't sin. But at the end of the day, we need to honor our father and mother and do what they say, period. And I'm not going to sit here and say, well, this person's justified because their dad is bad. No, that's someone that has a seared conscience that does not understand right from wrong anymore and is now going to justify evil and wicked actions because of their own perception. And a lot of people would say that was justified. A lot of people would say that was okay. A lot of people would say there's no problem with such a thing. I totally understand. But I don't care what you think. I don't care what I think. I care what the Bible says. And the Bible is clear that you should not rise up against your parents, period. The Bible says that's an end times bad thing when children are rising up against their parents and causing them to be put to death. Or parents even causing their own children to be put to death, obviously inappropriately. Now, it also says this as far as specific instructions, verse 3. So the Bible gives us two clear examples. I don't think that the Bible is limiting. These are the only doctrines of devils that exist. But these are two clear examples. Telling people not to marry and commanding to abstain from meats. You know who this is? Catholics. This is Catholics on both sides of the equation because they tell their leadership and they tell their priests not to get married. Not only that, I hear other Catholics suggesting the idea of celibacy being a better lifestyle than getting married. And you know what? I'm against that. That's a doctrine of devils. Additionally, they would suggest to not eat meat on lent and they have all these weird fish Fridays and whatever and it's just like, give me that beef. It's not only against the Bible, it's against Texas doctrine, okay? We're in Texas here, we eat beef. I can't imagine, it's so frustrating. You go out on a Friday night, on a date night, you want a steak. You don't want catfish. Now, if you like catfish, I'm not against you. But don't tell me I can't have a steak. If you want to be the weaker brother and have catfish, go for it. But I am going to have a steak, okay? If I get to go out, I want beef, right? And so it's just weird how they're commanding to abstain from meat. You know what's so funny? It's like we typically think of Joel Osteen as being someone that would never say anything negative or preach against anything really. But I've heard him literally preach that you shouldn't eat bacon. And I'm just thinking, of all the things for Joel Osteen to preach against, it's so funny that the one time he tries it, it's literally what the Bible is not saying. The Bible is saying the exact opposite. And look, there's nothing wrong with bacon. Bacon is great. I love bacon. Now, go to Proverbs 13 for a moment. This world is going to challenge you on doctrine. And the Bible says that in the end times, there will be people who have itching ears. They turn away their ears from the truth. They won't hearken unto sound doctrine. They don't like to hear biblical preaching. And so this is what we have to expect. You have to expect as we draw nearer and nearer to the time of Christ, as time goes on, that culture is going to be more and more against what the Bible teaches, especially in certain areas. And that certain areas of the world and the culture are going to pervert what the Bible says. The Bible even describes there's going to be times when they call good evil, and they call evil good. And what we have to do as Christians is we have to say, even if it goes against the culture, or even if there's a lot of opposition, I'm still going to do what the Bible says. Now, I had you turn to Proverbs 13 because the Bible is clear on some issues. Some issues it's a little gray. The issue I'm going to describe is not a gray issue. It is a clear issue. Proverbs 13, look at verse 24. He that spareth his rod hateth his son, but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes. The Bible could not be clearer that parents should physically discipline their children. But, you know, I typed in the internet, because I believe this, but I just want to get extra confirmation. I typed in the internet, is spanking abuse? And the top result was an AI-generated response, and this is what it said. There is a consensus among most experts and professionals that any spanking that causes any pain is child abuse. And then they explained it. They said even if, and then they cited court opinions and lawyers and stuff, they said even if the parents applied appropriate punishment when they were not angry, they exhausted all other consequences and punishments, and they did it appropriately, that is still child abuse. I'm just telling you, that is how the world views this issue. And I'm not saying everybody in the world. It's probably the Democrats. Basically, are you a Democrat? And you probably agree with that. And if you're not a Democrat, you probably don't. And I'm not that political. It's a helpful tool for you to identify the reality of our world right now. The left would associate a proper loving discipline as child abuse. And this is what's dangerous then. People start just using labels and using words to describe things that are not true. And they'll say, oh, this person's abusive when they're not. Because they're using that word inappropriately. Like when they say you're a racist. They say that our church is racist. Look around. Okay? We don't all look like Dylan. I'm sorry. Even myself included, I'm a lot darker than my wife. Am I going to have to hate myself a little bit? I guess I'm going to get mad at my arm when I go out in the sun and I get a really dark tan. People will say that we are misogynistic and we hate women. Well, that's weird because a lot of women like our church. They say that we're homophobic. Yes, I do hate facts. You got me. I'm not really afraid of them, but I just don't like them. Some definitions of that is just an extreme dislike. Okay, sure, yes. So sometimes the labels is warranted, right? That's okay. But a lot of times the labels are just not warranted. They say you're anti-Semitic. Well, no, I'm not. And you know what? I like all nationalities and all ethnicities and all people. And I want them all to hear the gospel and all get saved. So we have to realize we live in a confusing world where people just use words inappropriately, and we don't know what they mean. How about the word repent? There is a wide spectrum of definitions for the word repent. Some people are using repent to mean you have to give up all your sin to be saved. Wrong. And that's not even what it means. Some people say repent means to change your mind. So if you believe in work salvation, you got to repent and change your mind and believe in Jesus, and that's how you get saved. So when someone uses the word repent, it's a loaded word. When someone uses the word abuse, I'm going to say this. It's a loaded word, folks. And we have to be careful because sometimes people, when they're arguing or having a controversy, they have different definitions for the words that they're using, and that's what causes it to be even more confusing. So you have to be careful that you don't just immediately run with certain narratives, certain talking points, when the world loves to twist words and confuse things. Go to Proverbs chapter 19 and look at verse 18. Proverbs 19 and look at verse 18. The Bible says this, Chasing thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying. How are you going to convince me that the discipline being described here is not painful when the kid's crying about it? And again, we get it when they're very little, just telling them that you're going to discipline them, they'll be upset about it. But you know why they're already crying? Because they're hoping you won't do it. They're not crying because it was painful yet. They're crying because they hope you won't do it, and if you never did it, they wouldn't even need to cry. So we have to understand that proper, loving, biblical discipline would result in some crying. I want to go to another verse. Go to Proverbs 23 and look at verse 13. Here's my question. What are you going to do when your doctrine is challenged? What are you going to do when the world says, Do not discipline your children? And I've recommended this book several times, but I really want to keep recommending it. There's a book called The Bridge at Andau. Who's read this? I'm just curious. Has anybody read this? Okay, a few people have read this. There is a chapter in this book that is kind of heartbreaking for me. It was emotional for me. But you have to understand, in Hungary, at the time they were under Communist rule of the Russians, which of course the Russians are always the good guys, okay? They were good guys in World War II. Don't question that. But Communism had taken over Hungary, and you could not homeschool. It's not an option. All the kids are taken to the public school to learn Communism. And part of Communism is at age five years old, they're saying, If your parents do anything against the Communist laws, you tell us and we'll put them in jail. In Communism, it is an everybody rat, everybody out for any perceived wrongdoing. And in fact, in many cases, you didn't even need any evidence, any witnesses. As long as someone just said you did something bad, you're immediately bad and you get ten years in prison automatically. Sometimes you're just killed automatically. Can you really trust your five-year-old to never say anything weird and not even purposefully? Look, our children say all kinds of crazy things. And so the Bible describes how Christian parents, who wanted to follow the Bible's edict on this, and wanted to punish their children and spank them, how they had to worry, If I do this, will my child go to the school and say, My parents have lovingly disciplined me, and they will be put in prison or killed? And how they are caught between a very difficult decision, Do I do what the Bible says and potentially risk going to jail, losing my family, and being killed? It's not going to jail in America, folks. It's going to the gulag, where you are tortured endlessly. Or, just not follow the Bible. And it would say how they waited for a certain age. I can't remember, read the book, it's like nine or ten years old, before they can trust their kids to be honest, and they show them the Bible. They have to show them the Bible in private, because just even reading the Bible, they're going to be put in prison. They have to show them the Bible, they have to teach them why they love them, they have to teach them why they're going to discipline them, and how that parent disciplines his child, tells them that he loves them, sends them to school, and hopes that the kid comes back and didn't rat them out. How can you know that? That is when your doctrine is tested. That is when you find out, how Christian are you? How much do you believe the Bible? That's faith, folks. When you live in America, where you can still do what you want, with almost no opposition, you know, we have it so good, we don't even realize it. But I'm just trying to explain to you, your doctrine will be tested in every area, and you have to ask yourself this question, am I going to do what the world says just to get along, or will I do what the Bible says on this issue? The Bible says in Proverbs 23, look at verse 13, Withhold not correction from the child, for if thou beatest him with a rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with a rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell. What is the result of proper loving discipline, that you would encourage your child to be saved? Because they realize there's a consequence for actions, and what's the ultimate consequence for actions? Dying going to hell. And we want to know that that's serious. And when children that have not ever been spanked are properly disciplined by their parents, many of them are very evil people. Many of them are very wicked people. Look at the left, look at the Democrats, these kids do not fear God. You know why they don't fear God? Because they've never had to face consequences for any of their actions. Because all they did was whine and cry and get whatever they wanted, and that's what they still do. They go out and protest and whine and cry until they get what they want. Because they've never learned what real punishment is. And then they have this hypocritical view on cops. They hate cops when they're getting punished, but they love cops when they can use them and weaponize them against other people. Because they're a bunch of hypocrites. Now, I want to go to another place, go to Ephesians chapter 6, go to Ephesians chapter 6. Of course, we have to understand a few things about this proper loving discipline and what real abuse is, okay? It is very possible to take this too far and get to abuse. What would be signs of abuse? Breaking bones. There are many children that are literally being, you know, not really punished lovingly, just being beat up by their parents and having broken bones. That's wrong. That's abuse. And, you know, that's not even something where I'm saying, like, this could happen, this happens. You know, my mom was a child psychologist. She, like, she got, I think she got a master's degree, or at least a bachelor's degree in music. So my mother originally, when she was younger, got a degree in music. Then later in life, she went back to school and got another master's degree in child psychology and therapy. And she even had a practice in our home. And in this practice, she brought only abused children into the home because that's who she specialized in. She specialized in neglected, abused children. And I don't want to describe the situations, but they were abused, okay? Horrible. So I've been around kids like that a lot. And I've seen it a lot. And it's very obvious. Teachers, my wife has been a teacher. Teachers can tell the difference between abused kids and not abused kids. There is a major psychological damage that's happening to them where they're glum, they don't care. It's just there's a lot of things that are, like, red flags that you can tell when children are actually being abused. Children that are being lovingly disciplined, there's not going to be some kind of a physical issue that's going to be obvious. In fact, they're usually going to be happy. They're usually going to be very respectful. That's what they're going to typically be like, okay? So is there real abuse in the world? Yes. You know, if you were to punish your children in sensitive areas of their body, I believe that's abuse. You know, we shouldn't be disciplining children in the sensitive parts of their body. That would be inappropriate. Or if you ever caused them permanent damage. You know, if I meet someone and they have no broken bones, no sensitive parts of their body are harmed, no permanent damage, it's going to be hard for me to agree with you that they're, quote, abused, okay? Because, you know, there's going to be some gray in that area, but it's like, how can you really argue? And I think, unfortunately, our world doesn't realize what child discipline was like in the past, okay? When I went to school, the principal had this huge, like, paddle thing on the wall. It was like this leather paddle, probably like four to six inches thick, or like wide. Not necessarily thick, but as far as its width. And it had holes through it. You know why it had holes through it? So it could swing faster, okay? It looked mean. It looked terrifying. And I remember my mom, she was like, hey, I just want to let you know that the school asks permission of the parents if they can physically discipline the children. She's like, I just want to let you know, I said yes. And I told them, I put a special note, I said, I want to always know because you're going to get punished by me when you get home on top of that. And it was like, you know what, that scared me. But you know what it scared me to do? Follow the rules. I wasn't thinking like, oh, this isn't appropriate or this isn't right. I was thinking like, man, there's serious consequences for my actions, okay? And to be honest, I probably needed more discipline and not less in my life, okay? If I were to look in hindsight, I would say I probably got away with too many things. My parents probably didn't necessarily know as much as they should have. But you know what, I did get disciplined by my parents and it was not fun in the moment. No chastening for the present seemed to be joyous but grievous is what the Bible says. But you know what, I love my parents for that and I love that my parents disciplined me and I love that they took that seriously. Was me as a young child, did I fully understand all that? No. But you know, here's another thing that I know about my parents is that they at no point stopped loving me in this process and they constantly were affirming their love towards me and this is super important to balance with physical discipline. What does it say in Ephesians chapter 6 verse 4? And ye fathers provoke not your children to wrath but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. So according to the Bible, we as parents need to constantly affirm to our children that we love them. We need to constantly affirm to them positive things, encouraging them, telling them that we are proud of them, telling them that we like them, helping them, not just only thinking about their bad attributes. If you only punish them, you're a drill sergeant. If you only encourage them, you're a liberal pastor. Don't be Joel Osteen, don't be a drill sergeant. We need to be somewhere in the middle where we are constantly encouraging them. And you know, I would say this. If anything, you probably want to err on the side of being more encouraging and more positive than being more negative. And you have to have realistic expectations. Children are rebellious. I mean, the Bible says the rod of correction is going to drive the foolishness away from their heart. So you have to say, like, they're already starting with a certain level of rebellion, foolishness issue, and we have to lovingly help them get rid of some of that foolishness. Help them get that out. And we need proper balance in our lives. You know, think about Song of Solomon, and I know it's not about children, but if you've ever read Song of Solomon, you'll notice something immediately. The husband is just nonstop praising his wife. And the wife is nonstop praising her husband. And I believe that this is the type of dynamic that we need to have in our relationships with our spouse as well as our children where there's a nonstop praise. In fact, we talk to our kids probably about this a lot, and I remember at some point a family member had almost criticized us saying, your daughter's going to get a complex if you tell her she's beautiful too much. And I'm thinking, like, well, then she's going to have that complex. You know, I'm not going to not tell my daughters that they're beautiful and wonderful. I'm going to tell them that because they are. Frankly speaking, it's just true. Number two, they need to have a high self of esteem. And, you know, I want my daughters to know, Dad thinks that I'm beautiful and a wonderful person, so they're not attracted to some scumbag loser or some derelict guy. They think they're actually worthy of a high quality person. And frankly speaking, I don't think any guy's going to be worthy of my daughter. There I said it, okay? They're all a downgrade, okay? But I still want them to marry a young, godly man that loves the Lord. And you know what? I feel like I'm going to be handing over a prize, okay? I feel like I'm going to be handing over something special onto whatever men get them. And so I want to make sure that they're of high quality and high character. And, you know, I can't blame a dad for trying to discourage his daughters or keeping young men away from his daughters that he doesn't think are worthy of his daughters. Because they're very important. And we need to teach our children that they are special, that they have a lot of value, and trying to encourage them often. I mean, God is constantly trying to encourage us, and He's our Father. So we should learn from God's example of His constant grace, mercy, encouragement. But also, God is also offering a lot of discipline too, isn't He? He's offering a lot of correction. God's offering a lot of balance. And we have to make sure that we're offering balance in our relationships. And the more balanced you are, the better we're going to do. Because here's the problem with parenting for anybody, is you kind of unfortunately don't even know how well you're going to do until it's over. And so it's really easy to think that you're on a good track when you're not. Or, frankly speaking, kids still have free will. So we have no idea. We have absolutely no idea what's happening. But this is what I do know. The Bible gives us a lot of promises. Train up a child in the way he should go, and even when he's old, he will not depart from it. The Bible tells us to train up our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. That has to be meaningful. If it didn't affect the children, then it wouldn't tell us to do it. If it had no impact, then it wouldn't encourage us to do so. So we need to make sure that we're doing that. So what do we have to do? When our doctrine is challenged, we have to say, you know what, I'm still going to properly and lovingly discipline my children. I'm not going to abuse them. But if the world wants to twist and pervert what I'm doing, I'm going to say nuts to you. And I'm going to still do it. And I'm still going to also bring them up in nurture and admonition. I'm going to be gentle unto them. I'm going to be careful unto them. And as children are disciplined, here's a few tips. You should make sure that the discipline, the punishment fits the crime. It's not going to help them if the punishments don't really seem to fit the disobedience. Additionally, it should always have reasonable force. And that reasonable force should be dependent on the child, their age, their gender, and even what makes sense. If you get to a point where the physical discipline is not working on your younger adult children, as far as teenagers and everything like that, then maybe you need to change discipline technique. Maybe it doesn't necessarily need to be spanking anymore as the only form of punishment, but other things. For me, if you had said when I was 16, hey, if you get a speeding ticket, you're going to get lashings, or I'm going to take away your car for a month, I know which one's worse. I would have been like, give me the beating, and I'll just go drive again. Taking away my car was way more detrimental to me, and it was way more meaningful and impactful. So it's not like, well, now you're going to be punished even more severely physically. That only works to a certain age and to a certain point and to a certain level, and so we want to make sure that we have a reasonable force and we're never going to cross that line. And if it doesn't seem to be working, maybe employ other tactics. Sometimes just expressing disapproval can be more impactful to children than any kind of physical discipline. And kids, they don't want to disappoint their parents in general. Obviously, you could have a really bad kid, and the Bible talks about that, but I'm just saying in general, we're not really dealing with that. I also believe it's very important in discipline to explain to the child why they're being disciplined. Now, when they're two years old, I'll still tell them, but that doesn't mean they necessarily get it, right? But as they get older and they graduate, we should lovingly explain to them why that we love them. This is what's going to happen. We should also tell the children that we love them before and after and make that clear to them and not make them think, like, I'm just so sick and tired of you and I don't like you and I'm just punishing you because you're just a burden in my life, but rather saying, I don't even want to do this. I love you. My dad would sit me down and my dad would say, I don't want to spank you. I hate this. This is not fun for me. I don't enjoy this, but I'm doing it because I think it's right and you need this, and then I would get disciplined. Now, I'll be honest, my dad spanked me very hard, okay? It was not a pleasant experience, but at the same time, it was needful, and I love my father for that. And I love that my father disciplined me with what the Bible says and wasn't a liberal parent that just refused to punish me in any way, and I think that the punishment should graduate over time. Now, what's interesting is I've had several conversations with my father in the last few months and even in our lives, and a few years ago, I talked about parenting with him and stuff, and I've always asked him, I just said, you know, what is, from your perspective, like, what's something that you would have changed in your parenting? Because why not ask a parent that already has a lot of adult children, like, what's your perspective? And I think that he gave me really good counsel. He gave me really wisdom. He said this. I wish that I had told my kids that I loved them more and that I had been more verbally affectionate. And you know what? I think that is great advice, and I think sometimes we have to sometimes ask people that have already been there and done that, what do you think? Because they're going to usually have the best perspective. What I'm probably not going to do is ask the single guys in here, what do you think is a good parenting technique? I'm not going to ask the single guys for marriage advice. I'm not going to ask them for dating advice. Frankly speaking, I'm not going to ask them for very much advice at all. Now, let me say this. If you want to be single, you should ask their advice. Because I'm sure they're going to give you a lot of really good advice on how to be single. It's like, hang out with other single guys, play Dungeons and Dragons, you know, be nerdy, don't talk to women. It's like, they've got that on lockdown. Okay? And again, I'm not trying to pick on them, even though I do. I'm trying to encourage them to realize, you know, sometimes we want to make sure that we're asking the right people for the right advice. You know I'm also not going to ask for advice in marriage? Divorce people. You know I'm not going to ask for advice on the Bible? People that don't believe the King James Bible is the word of God. People that aren't saved. You know? Like, I want to make sure that I'm getting advice from people that are good at things. Hey, if I want to know about computers, you know I'm going to ask someone that's been working on computers for 20 years. You know, if I want to ask somebody about cars, I'm going to ask somebody that works on cars. And look, sometimes people come to me and ask me questions about things like cars or the industry or whatever, and I may have opinions, but I'm like, I'm not going to be the best person to ask about every subject, because frankly speaking, I don't have experience in every subject. Find somebody that has experience in this subject. You know, I'm not even going to get up and say, I know all the ways to raise teenagers and young adults, because I've never done it. You should take everything I'm saying with a grain of salt. But at the same time, we should all trust what the Bible says, period. And I advise all of you, you know, when parenting, in marriage, ask people that are successful at it. If you can find someone and say, this person has great children that I really admire, ask them their advice. You look at someone that has a great marriage, ask their advice. Right? Those are the type of people that we should get advice for. If you want to know how to be successful in the job market, ask someone that's successful in the job market. Don't ask the guy that's living with his parents without a job. I mean, I'm just thinking like, this is not a person to get career advice from. And look, there's plenty of men in this room that are very successful, and much more successful than I am. You'd be better off asking them their advice on how to be successful in the business and the workforce than I am. Now, of course, I have experience as well. But you know, in any area of life, we need to ask the people that make sense. In the multitude of counselors, there is safety. And when it comes to doctrine, I want to make sure that I have a multitude of counselors on my side. I want to make sure that I have a bunch of saved, godly pastors saying the same thing, and that I'm not going to follow some weirdo out into some house church where we're literally the only people that believe something. If you're the only few people in the world that believe something, it's because you're wrong. The Bible is not hit in the corner. Good doctrine is not hit in the corner. Now, albeit sometimes good doctrine is a minority position. Sometimes good doctrine is not championed by very many people. We should always be careful when our doctrine is not something that very many people believe. Go to Titus chapter number 3. Do not faint on doctrine. When it comes to the King James Bible, don't faint on that. When it comes to soul winning, don't faint on that. When it comes to being a Baptist, don't faint on that. When it comes to the importance of church, don't faint on that. When it comes to how to rule your house, when it comes to the Bible's suggestions and tips and guidelines, do it like the Bible says, no matter what. No matter what you see, no matter what you're experiencing, no matter what people say, you know what, I'm going to do what the Bible says. I can't tell you how many times I've heard weird advice from family members, friends, all kinds of things. Don't have that many kids. Don't punish them. Don't do all these things. And it's just like, well, you know what, I'm going to do what the Bible says, period. And it's like no coincidence that a lot of the people that are offering me unsolicited advice failed in that area. And I'm thinking like, why would I then care what you have to say? Titus chapter 3, look at verse 8. This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men. So number one, we need to make sure that we don't faint on our doctrine. But number two, we need to make sure that we don't faint on our diligence. Our diligence. What is diligence? According to the dictionary, it's steady, earnest, energetic effort. Steady, earnest, energetic effort. It's not only important to know what's right, it's important to do it. And I'll be honest with you, I think that knowing what to do is the easiest part. Doing it is the hard part. It's pretty easy to know, like, go to church, read the Bible, follow the commandments. I mean, we could just go home, right? I mean, we already know what to do. But then it's like, doing that is difficult. And when it comes to raising children, being a loving husband, when it comes to going soul winning, it's easy to just sit here and know to do that. What's hard is to actually do it. Why? Because soul winning is a pretty thankless job. And people always criticize it. Well, where's all the people you got saved from soul winning, huh? I don't know. I don't keep tabs on all of them. You know, where are the nine? And you know what? Praise God that there's more people going to heaven than that are in this room. Like, what am I supposed to believe now? Because according to you, none of those people are saved. Well, your heaven's pretty small then. Because not only that, the people that usually attack soul winning, they're wrong in the gospel and they don't even like us. So it's like, then how many people are saved? Just the Calvinists that were elect and are persevering under the end? Well, even the elect don't seem to be doing so great. How about Steve Lawson of Dallas Bible Church here, who's recently let go and resigned for an inappropriate relationship with a woman? Is he elect now? Is he persevering under the end? I mean, you're going to get up and you're going to teach that you have to be persevering under the end to be saved, and your pastor is having to resign for inappropriate relationships with women. That sounds like your doctrine is pretty inconvenient for you now. It was nice when everybody thought you were such a great person, but what about when you're not? Praise God for the doctrine of the Bible that you could be a crappy person and still go to heaven if you believe in Jesus Christ. Praise God that you could be literally David and commit adultery and murder and still be saved. And people are like, oh, you're giving people license to sin. You know, I've never met a single person that I've taught to them once they've always saved, and they went out and killed somebody. I've never gone to the door and been like, hey, I just want to let you know you can do whatever you want and you'll still be saved, and they pulled out a gun and just shot somebody. Like, it's such a false accusation that we're giving people license to sin. Or, you know what's even more important? I don't walk around with little certificates that after I get someone saved, here is a certificate. You are now free to sin as much as you want. Or I have like a briefcase of certificates. Would you like an adultery certificate, a murder certificate, a drunk certificate? Which one would you like today? I'm not the Catholic Church literally selling indulgences. Isn't it so funny that they accuse fundamental Baptists of giving license to sin when the Catholic Church sold licenses to sin? So the church that teaches salvation is by works, gave literal licenses to sin. I've never done that, never would do that, and then I'm the one guilty of it. Talk about ultimate hypocrisy. Seems like your doctrine doesn't really work when you say, hey, if you're teaching salvation by faith, you're going to give people license to sin. No, the people that teach us by works, they're the ones that give licenses to sin. Ah, you give a license to sin. No, you're a Catholic. That's Catholics that do that. Go to Proverbs 2. We need to be careful to maintain good works, though. Just because I could literally quit right now, I could walk out of this service without finishing preaching, and I could go and just be a heathen and ungodly for the rest of my life, and I will see you in heaven. Now, as my wife would say, she'd be looking down at me in heaven from her upper heaven, but, you know, I would still be there. You can't get rid of me. Some people that don't like me, you're going to have to see me in heaven. And because you can't sin, you'll like me. That might be the worst punishment for you. Oh, man, I'm not going to like Pastor Shelley. Yes, you are. You are going to like me. And we're going to give each other high fives or something, you know? Wouldn't that be funny? The person that hated you, that was saved, you go up there and you give them a hug right when you get into heaven. Hey, buddy, good to see you. We're next door neighbors. Right? But, you know, at the end of the day, where you're at in heaven is going to be based on your diligence, isn't it? And how your life turns out is going to be based on your diligence and what path you walk down. Look at Proverbs chapter 2, look at verse 11. Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee, to deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things, who leave the paths of rightness to walk in the ways of darkness, who rejoice to do evil and delight in the frowardness of the wicked, whose ways are crooked and they froward in their paths, to deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the strangers flattered with other words, which forsaketh the guide of her youth and forget of the covenant of her God. What is the Bible saying? Discretion shall preserve you. When you have discretion, it'll help you from getting off the path that you're on. So here's the thing. In the Christian life, number one, we have to identify the right path. What's the right path? The King James Bible. What's the right path? Salvation by faith. What's the right path? Being, you know, a godly Christian that follows the commandments. Of course, specifically, I think being a fundamental Baptist is a great path to be on. But then you have to start walking on that path. And when you're walking on that path, we have to be careful that we don't stop walking or go off on another side trail. We want to just keep staying. We want to just keep reading the Bible and keep going to church and keep being a Baptist and keep raising our kids to love the Lord and just not faint. Don't give up on the path. Just keep going. And you know, any time you've ever, anybody that's ever run, we all know sometimes you can't keep that pace, right? I mean, if I were to go running, pretty soon I'm going to start jogging and then pretty soon I'm going to start walking. But at least if I'm just moving forward on that path, that's fine. But just don't faint. And you know, sometimes in your life, you're going to be kind of running. Sometimes you're going to slow down because you got a little tired and you're jogging. Sometimes you're walking. But then, hey, you can go back to jogging again. And then you can go back to running again. And then you can kind of go back. That's life. Life is a marathon. And would God, we'd all just run the whole time. But that's not most people. Most people are not going to run the entire time. Most people can't run a marathon in two and a half hours or whatever. But you know what? Don't give up. Just keep running the marathon. Just keep going and stay on that path. Don't go to another path. Don't get off. Don't start changing what you believe when there's some adversity. Just say, hey, I'm committed to this. I'm going to do it. I'm going to keep going. And you know, use the discretion you have to realize, hey, this person that's telling me to get off this path is a bad person. This person telling me to stop has failed in this area of their life. Hey, this person is going against what the Bible says. I'm not going to listen to you. I'm going to use discretion. And I'm going to say, this person's flattering me. This person's lying to me. This person's deceiving me. And have the diligence to keep going. Go to one more verse. Go to 1 Corinthians 15. We'll finish. Point one, we need to make sure that we don't faint on our doctrine. Number two, we need to make sure that we're not feigning on our diligence. And point three is we need to make sure that we're not feigning on our determination. And our determination is our attitude. But we need to be determined that we are going to stay the course. And what happens often is you have the right path, you're going on the right path, but then you get discouraged. But then your attitude changes, and that could cause you to then not have the diligence to keep going, or to change paths. And so we have to make sure that we maintain the right attitude, the right mentality. You know, the Bible says very clearly that all things work together for good to them that love God. There have been times in my life where things did not make sense. I didn't understand them. But you know what? All things still worked out. I've had to have difficult conversations with people many times, and in my career as a pastor, and even just in life. You know, I've known people who, when they were struggling in their marriage, and this is way before I became a pastor. This is way a long time ago. People were struggling in their marriage, and at one point, the wife was saying, I hate my husband, and I've never loved him. Which I knew was false, because I've known them personally. That was not the case. But they had just gotten so upset, and they're kind of gaslighting themselves, and deceiving themselves, and believing this narrative. They separated. They weren't living together. It was ugly. And what was funny is basically just because money got tight, they were forced to move back into the house. Not because they wanted to, because they didn't have the money. And then they, after about a year, fixed it. And now they have a great relationship. Now they love each other again. And it's not that they stopped loving each other as much as it was just there were some serious issues. They had problems. And they just didn't understand what was going on in their situation. And sometimes we can have the wrong mentality, and we can forget why we're even on the course that we're on. And you're saying like, I don't even know why I'm doing this. I don't even know why I'm going here. You know, you wouldn't be the first person to be walking out there in 100 degree weather with a Bible and suit, and think like, why in the world am I knocking on these ghetto doors? And maybe you go through a rough patch. Sometimes you go through soul-winning patches where you're not getting people saved. Especially when you go to Watauga. And you're just like, why am I here? In fact, if the door opens, they're going to throw something at me before they're going to want to hear the gospel. But you know what? That's when your faith is challenged. That's when you're in a day of adversity. But you say, you know what? I already have the determination to know that soul-winning is right, and that I'm on the right path, and I'm just going to preach the gospel anyways. And why do I know that? Well, because I go to steadfast Baptist church. In 1 Corinthians 15, look at verse 58. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. So many people will tell you that soul-winning doesn't work. So many people tell you that soul-winning is vain. So many people say, where are they? It didn't happen. It doesn't work. It was fiction. You're not doing it right. This is meaningless. But let me ask you this question. What method did they have to get people saved? You know, it's so funny. The people that criticize soul-winning, they never show you how to actually get people saved. They don't have a better method. They don't have a bunch of converts that they're lining up and showing for you. Because here's the thing. If you have a better way of getting people saved, I'm ready to hear it. I'm not only ready to hear it, I'm ready to do it. But you know what's so funny? They have nothing. And so they're completely content letting the whole world die and go to hell and do nothing because they believe soul-winning doesn't work. Well, you know what? You have a bad attitude. You don't have any determination to do anything. But you know what? I walk by faith, not by sight. You know, it wouldn't take much faith if I knocked on someone's door and I preached them the gospel and they got saved and they immediately changed into a suit and tie and came to church with me and got baptized and then became a soul winner every time. You know how much faith that would take? Zero. Because you'd be like, wow, this works great. You'd be like, you'd have zero doubt because you wouldn't even walk by faith. You'd walk by sight. You know what? It takes faith to say this person got saved, but you know what? They're one of the nine who's just not even grateful. Did you realize that when we say, where are the nine? Nine people couldn't even just say thank you. And let's be honest, most people who get saved probably won't even say thank you. Ten percent will say thank you. And then an even smaller percentage of the ten percent are going to even show up to church once. And then an even smaller percentage of them are going to end up serving God in any capacity. And then an even smaller percentage of them are going to want to go soul winning. And then you go to statements like what Jesus Christ said where he says, the harvest truly is plenteous, but the labors be few. Jesus didn't say, oh, the harvest is small and the labors are many. He said the harvest is plenteous and the labors are few. Well, if the harvest is plenteous, you know what I should expect? That I can just go out there and get people saved really easy. And I should also expect this. Very few people are doing it. Which is exactly what soul winning is like. Your interpretation of these verses is wrong and bad. I already know that soul winning works. I already know soul winning is what the Bible says. And you know what? I'm not going to be moved off of that course. I already have the determination to say I need to be a soul winner until Jesus takes me to heaven. Because I am steadfast. And steadfast is not a name. It is an attitude, folks. And I don't care what this says behind me. We need to be steadfast. And we of all churches in the world, what a shame and an embarrassment if we were name only steadfast. We need to, as a congregation, always be steadfast. You say, well, I don't get things. I don't understand things. Things are good. Things are bad. Look, in the end times, things are going to be horrible. But I hope that there's still a bunch of steadfast Christians out there. I hope no matter what happens, you say, you know what? Even if I'm the worst person in the world, I can still preach the gospel. I mean, look at the woman in the well. She's not a great person. She got a lot of people saved. And, you know, some people would like to say that they're a better Christian than you. Let's just say they are. I don't really care. I'm going to still go soul winning. If everybody else quits soul winning, we can go soul winning. If other churches explode and blow up and die, we can go soul winning. If you change churches, go soul winning. If you stop going to church, still tell your neighbor the gospel. Now, I'm not telling you to quit church. I'm not telling you to quit this church. I love you. I want you to be here. But you know what? Never stop soul winning. Never give up. Don't faint. Because you know what the devil wants? He wants people to stop preaching the gospel. At the end of the day, the devil has one goal. To still kill and destroy. And he wants people to die and go to hell. And he doesn't care about any of the other stuff. And he doesn't even care why you quit soul winning. He just wants you to quit. He doesn't care if you became a Calvinist. He doesn't care if you're just on the couch. He doesn't care if you're jaded. He doesn't care why. He just wants you to quit soul winning. He doesn't care if it's because your mom and dad are mad at you. He doesn't care if it's because you have marriage problems. He doesn't care if it's because you are just being sinful. He doesn't care why you quit preaching the gospel. He just wants you to quit preaching the gospel. And you know what? We need to preach the gospel no matter what the devil throws at us. Because people are really dying and going to hell, folks. Real flesh and blood. And if you don't preach in the gospel, almost nobody will. Never stop preaching the gospel. Never give up on the word of God. Have an attitude right now. Have a determination right now in your heart that says, I already know this path. I already know the direction of my life. And I'm going to do this regardless of what's going on around me. And just put your life on hold. Just press this button and say, I have a lot of problems in my life. I'm going to put them all on hold. And I'm just going to give this person the gospel. Because who cares if you're in jail? Who cares if you've been lied about? Who cares if you have problems? It doesn't matter. Here's how you go to heaven. That's what matters. When you get to heaven, read Ecclesiastes with me. Everything else is vain. Everything else didn't matter. All the labels and all the other stuff didn't even matter. You know what mattered? Getting people saved. And I think that some people, they're hyper-focused on everything but preaching the gospel. And that's wrong. We should have that as our central focus in life. And then allow everything else to fit around that. Now, of course, the better Christian you are, the more you love your wife and your children. You go to church and you read your Bible. You're going to be a better soul winner. You're going to do it more often. That's why it's important to have the right doctrine, get on the right path, and have the right attitude. We need to, when we are challenged in our doctrine, in our diligence, and in our determination, to say, you know what, I'm not going to faint. I'm going to be steadfast. Let's call this a prayer. Thank you, Heavenly Father, so much for giving us clear direction in the Bible. I pray that we would have the right attitude when it comes to the things of God. Thank you for giving us the Bible so we could have the right doctrine. I pray that you would help encourage us to have the diligence to keep doing the right things. And even when we fail, even when we come short, even if we slow down, that we'd have the right attitude to keep us going on the right path. And that we would just decide right now that we want to be steadfast in our hearts and we want to worry about the lost. This world's dying and going to hell, and I pray that you give us a burden and a zeal to get people saved. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen. Our last song, we're going to go to 449, Dwelling in Beulah Land. Song 449. Song number 449, Dwelling in Beulah Land. Sing it out all together. Far away the noise of strife Upon my ear is calling And I know the sins of earth Be set on every end Doubt and fear and things of earth And pain to me are calling God of these shall move me From Beulah Land I'm living on the ground in Underneath the cloudless sky I'm drinking at the fountain That never shall run dry Oh yes, I'm feasting On the manna From a bountiful supply For I am dwelling In Beulah Land Far away the noise of strife Upon my ear is calling And I know the sins of earth Be set on every end Doubt and fear and things of earth And pain to me are calling God of these shall move me From Beulah Land Far below the storm Nothing then can reach me To Beulah Land I'm living on the mountain Underneath the cloudless sky Praise God! I'm drinking at the fountain That never shall run dry Oh yes, I'm feasting On the manna From a bountiful supply For I am dwelling In Beulah Land Let the stormy breezes flow And I cannot alarm thee I am safely sheltered here Protected by God's hand Here the sun is always shining Here there's not an army I am safe forever In Beulah Land I'm living on the mountain Underneath the cloudless sky Praise God! I'm drinking at the fountain That never shall run dry Oh yes, I'm feasting On the manna From a bountiful supply For I am dwelling In Beulah Land On the last viewing here The works of God I see In contemplation Hearing now his blessed voice I see the way he bled Belling in the Spirit here I learn of full salvation Gladly will I tarry In Beulah Land I'm living on the mountain Underneath the cloudless sky Praise God! I'm drinking at the fountain That never shall run dry Oh yes, I'm feasting On the manna From a bountiful supply For I am dwelling In Beulah Land Great singing everybody. You are all dismissed. Thank you for watching!