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

Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Welcome to Steadfast Baptist Church. If you could please find your seats and grab a song book. We're gonna sing song 258, Christ Receiveth Sinful Men. 258, Christ Receiveth Sinful Men. Song 258, let's sing it out together. Sinners Jesus will receive Sound his word of grace to all Who the heavenly pathway leave All who linger, all who fall Sing it o'er and o'er again Christ receiveth sinful men Make the message clear and plain Christ receiveth sinful men Come and he will give you rest Trusting for his word is plain He will take the sinful last Christ receiveth sinful men Sing it o'er and o'er again Christ receiveth sinful men Make the message clear and plain Christ receiveth sinful men Now my heart condemns me not Pure before the law I stand He who cleansed me crumbles gone Satisfied his last demand Sing it o'er and o'er again Christ receiveth sinful men Make the message clear and plain Christ receiveth sinful men Christ receiveth sinful men Even me with all my sin Purged from every spot and stain And with him I enter in Singing o'er and o'er again Christ receiveth sinful men Make the message clear and plain Christ receiveth sinful men Alright let's open it up in a word of prayer Heavenly Father thank you for the free gift of salvation and for your son Jesus Christ and all the blessings that you've bestowed upon us Lord Thank you for the many souls that were saved yesterday I pray that you bless this service to your honor and glory In Jesus name we pray, Amen Alright for our next song let's go to 145 It Is Well With My Soul 145 It Is Well With My Soul Song 1, 4, 5 let's sing it out together When peace like a river attendeth my way When sorrows like sea billows roll Whatever my love thou hast taught me to say It is well, it is well with my soul Ladies on the first It is well, it is well with my soul With my soul, it is well, it is well with my soul Though Satan should buff in Oh, child should come Let this last assurance control That Christ has regarded my helplessness made And hath shed his own blood for my soul It is well, it is well with my soul With my soul, it is well, it is well with my soul Thy sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought Thy sin not in part, but the full His veil to the gods, then I bear in the war Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, oh my soul It is well, it is well with my soul It is well, it is well with my soul And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be signed The clouds we hold back as us roll The trump shall resound and the Lord shall be said Even so, it is well with my soul It is well, it is well with my soul It is well, it is well with my soul And on the front, we have our Bible memory passage. We're still working on Psalm 59. Anyone who can quote the entire chapter can receive a prize. On the inside, we have our service and soul-winning times and church stats. Just a kind of an announcement about yesterday. So there was a soul-winning marathon held by Pure Words Baptist Church in the San Antonio, Texas area. And Evangelis Alvarez led that for us. He had texted me and said that they had 53 people show up and 41 salvation. So praise God to everybody that went out there. I know a large group from our church went out there and thank you so much to everybody who participated in that. Also on the right, we have a list of several expecting ladies. We also have our prayer list. If you'd like to be added, you can always email us. steadfastbaptistkjvatgmail.com and we'll try to update that. Just please put prayer requests up in the title of that. Also upcoming events. So we have some new ones that are here. We have the Mighty Men's Conference which is going to be August 15th through the 19th. That is our typical schedule. It's a Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Even if you cannot make it for a portion of that event, you're still welcome to come out there with us. And this year, we're going to have Pastor Roger Jimenez come out and preach for us. And so you definitely want to be there, men. Also, it is a men's event, but I do allow 16 and up. If they have a parent or a guardian to sign for them, then they can also attend. But we'll have a sign up sheet for that. Also, September 8th is going to be a guest preacher, Dr. Phil Stringer. He came and preached for us last year and he's coming out to preach for us again this year. And this is what's so funny about Dr. Stringer. He's a really good preacher, so this is why. But after he was done preaching for us, I talked to him about, hey, when would you like to come out again? And this was his next booking. He's so highly desired as a guest preacher that you usually have to book him a year or two in advance. And so it's definitely an honor to have him come out and preach for us again. And he did a really good job talking about the King James Bible. He is part of a group called the King James Bible Research Council. And it's a really cool organization where they basically meet once a year. They usually have their own conferences where they just have a lot of guest speakers that talk about the King James specifically, the Texas Receptus, and just being King James only and everything like that. And so it's definitely a cool, noteworthy type organization. But I just wanted to put that on your radar. Who was here last time Dr. Stringer preached? Yeah, a lot of people were here. He did a really, really good job and so I'm looking forward to having him come. He's going to be preaching, that is a Sunday, he's going to be preaching both the Sunday morning and the Sunday evening services. And so he's going to have definitely a unique presentation to us. And so I highly encourage you to participate in those services. October 4th through the 6th is going to be, so we've been kind of alternating every other year on our Fire Breathing Baptist Fellowship Conference. And so this year I'm going to alternate with the Heritage of the Lord. This is going to be the second time that we do this. And this kind of conference is geared a little bit more towards the youth. That's the goal of this type of a conference, and to have some kind of the youth activities. And so we'll have our annual spelling bee, of course, and we'll have a couple other youth activities. We have Pastor Bruce Mejia is going to be coming out and preaching for us multiple times. And then also Pastor Steven Anderson is going to be coming out and preaching for us for that conference as well. And so it's going to be a lot of fun. I definitely want to just put those dates out there so you can anticipate those events as well. On the back, just a couple church reminders. We'll probably go over these for the month of June. But just as a reminder, please, no running in the church building, and we just want to make sure. We're definitely in a tight space, so that makes it even more important. But we definitely don't want any children running around. If children are running around, our ushers or myself or anybody is going to tell them to stop running because we just want to make sure that we're being safe. Also, children should not be on the stage for any reason. We keep a lot of instruments and other equipment up here, and we just don't want anything to get broken or for them to get hurt. Also, children shouldn't be in the kitchen area unless they're with their parents or being helped. Also, if you have upset children or crying babies in the sanctuary, please just step out until they are under control, and then you can come back in. We do have two mother-baby rooms that are options. They are basically the same, so whichever one you feel comfortable, you can use any and all of them for your children. But children should be accompanied by their mother at all times. So if you do choose to use one of those, please make sure that they are accompanied with their mother at all times. There is also two changing stations in there if you need them. And then just another friendly reminder about Sundays. Specifically, we have just kind of a quiet time period, so as soon as we're done soul winning, handing out maps and everything, getting out of here, we kind of just have a quiet time from 2 to 4 in the building. That just means in the sanctuary area, we just kind of dim the lights, and if anybody wants to use that for a young child to take a nap or anything like that, they're welcome to stay. But there should be no talking in the sanctuary area at all. Additionally, we have two mother-baby room areas, and we should be just keeping the doors open, and if anybody can use those, if they would like to use those, it's for everyone to use. But we also have the fellowship room, and that should be just for other quiet activities, such as like reading or using a device with headphones or something like that. So just as a friendly reminder, and that definitely helps. I know some people travel a great distance, come out here and they want to stay, and so we just want to make it easier if people would like to stay. And so please just be respectful of other people as best that you can. So that's pretty much all I have as far as announcements. We're going to sing our Psalm of the Week. It's Psalm 119, and of course it's just a portion, but we are. So if you want to use the special handout, that will make it a lot easier for you. Psalm 119. All right, let's sing it out together, Psalm 119. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments. I am afflicted, very much wicked be, O Lord, according unto thy word. The wicked have made us near for me, yet I err not from thy precepts. Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage forever. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. Except I beseech thee the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord, teach me thy judgments. Thy soul is continually in mine, and yet do I not forget thy law. The wicked have made us near for me, yet I err not from thy precepts. Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage forever. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. For they are the rejoicing of mine, hard I have inclined mine, hard to perform thy statutes away. Even unto thee again I hate vain thoughts, but thy law do I love. The wicked have made us near for me, yet I err not from thy precepts. Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage forever. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. As the offering plate is being passed around, please turn in your Bibles to John chapter 2, John chapter number 2. John chapter number 2. John chapter number 2. John chapter 2, the Bible reads, And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there, and both Jesus was called and his disciples to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And there were set there six waterpots of stone after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water, and they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast, and they bear it. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was, but the servants which drew the water knew, the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, and saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine, and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse, but thou hast kept the good wine until now. This beginning of miracles did Jesus and Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory, and his disciples believed on him. After this he went down to Capernaum, he and his mother and his brethren and his disciples, and they continued there not many days. And the Jews Passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves and the changers of money sitting. And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers money, and overthrew the tables, and said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence, make not my father's house and house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shallest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple and building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body. When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them, and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had said. Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man, for he knew what was in man. Let's pray. Father God, we thank you so much, Lord, for today, for our church, and just for this opportunity to hear the word of God being preached. I pray that you fill Pastor Shelley with your spirit, enable him to preach the sermon you've laid on his heart with clarity of mind, and help us, Lord, to pay close attention to the message, to draw inspiration from it, Lord, to serve you better. We love you, and in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. I want to look back at verse number nine here in the story. The Bible says, When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was, but the servants which drew the water knew, the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, and saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine, and when men have well drunk, then that which is worst, but thou hast kept the good wine until now. Now, in John chapter 2, this is a really famous portion of scripture because it's talking about one of the first miracles that Jesus performed, and that is turning water into wine. Now, this is a pretty well recognized story of the Bible. I think even people that don't go to church or not even Christian have probably heard about this specific story, and I kind of want to explain this story in two parts. I want to first explain what this story is not saying, and then I want to explain what this story is saying. And the main emphasis of my sermon is to explain what it's talking about, but I do want to make a quick delineation about what it's not talking about. And what the Bible is not saying is that Jesus made alcohol, okay? And unfortunately, because we live in a society that drinks so much alcohol on a regular basis, they need to justify that wickedness and that sin, and therefore they turn to stories like this and they bastardize the scripture to try and pretend like Jesus made alcoholic wine here. And that is false, it's demonstrably wrong, and it's not consistent with the rest of scripture. Now, I'm not going to spend the entire sermon on alcohol, but I just want to go through some verses and talk about why this is not alcohol. If we just kind of pay attention to the context of what we just read, though, it seems really bizarre to try and attribute this wine as being alcoholic anyways. Now, I want to understand a few different things. Number one, it says in the very beginning of this chapter, in verse 3, And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto them, They have no wine. So, you can't necessarily, from that one verse, understand what's happening. You know they're at a wedding, you know they have no wine. Well, here's the question. Why did they not have wine? Did they just never have any wine, or did they run out of wine? And as we keep reading, we'll get more information and understand better what's happening. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, that's how he talks to his mom, all right? What have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. Now, again, this is not a recommendation, children. Call your mom, mom, okay? But he's obviously an adult at this point, and he's kind of trying to make a point here specifically. Verse 5, His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Now, here's another aspect of the story that I think is kind of bizarre. If we were to try and say that this was alcoholic wine, you'd have to then act like the mother of Jesus is just like a wino or something, because she is the one that really wanted it, right? She is the one that's like, hey, make us a bunch of booze, Jesus. And then Jesus is saying, like, woman, what have I to do with thee? Jesus didn't even want to do it, did he? Like, according to the story, Jesus isn't even necessarily doing this out of his own desire. He was kind of being asked to do this by his mother. She wants him to perform this miracle. And you'd almost have to assume that Jesus' mother is a raging alcoholic if you were going to try and make this story about alcohol. That's not what it's saying. Now, Jesus says in verse 7, Jesus saith unto them, fill the waterpots with water, and they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast, and they bear it. So again, also, we're talking about a large quantity of wine that's being mentioned here. I mean, they are just making kegs, as you were, of some type of beverage. And that, again, would be bizarre for Jesus. The first miracle, the God of the universe, his first miracle is just to make giant kegs of alcohol. Okay, that's just a weird idea that some people want to believe. Now, they draw out to this governor, verse 9. And when the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was, but the servants which drew the water knew, the ruler of the feast called the bridegroom, and saith unto him, every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine, and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse. But thou hast kept the good wine until now. Now we actually understand the story. Why? Because if they had never had any wine at all, then the governor would have simply just said to the bridegroom, hey, thanks for finally giving us some wine. Hey, we've been waiting a long time to get some wine. Oh, now you finally give us some wine. Plus, he would have nothing to compare it to, because how would he even make a comparison if he's had zero wine at this point? But notice, he says specifically in this particular passage that it says, when men have well drunk, then that which is worse, but thou hast kept the good wine until now. So he's saying that they have kept something until now, meaning it's reference to exactly what he had just said. Meaning what? That all the men in the party had well drunk. Everybody had drank a lot of wine, and then now they're getting even more wine on top of that. The silliness of this is unless you are just a brain dead alcoholic, if people have well drunk wine, many of them would be drunk. Like, you can't have just a large group of all kinds of people, and they're drinking alcohol, and many of them not getting drunk. Now, again, there are some people that drink alcohol literally every day. They drink so much alcohol on a regular basis that they increase their, quote, tolerance level to where they have to consume even larger amounts and quantities of alcohol to get the same feeling of being buzzed or inebriated at the same level that they were previously. But what doesn't change is the fact that most people cannot drink very much alcohol, and they're already kind of drunk, if not very drunk, and especially people that don't drink at all or drink very little, and especially people that are very underweight, people that aren't very tall. I mean, the thing is that people don't understand is that alcohol affects you based on your body weight specifically. So if you are someone that's petite and you're thin, you don't even have very much alcohol, it will greatly affect you. Whereas someone that is giant, 6'5", weighs 350 pounds, alcohol isn't going to affect them as much as quickly. Just basically, you know, this is just chemistry and biology. You can study it, you can look it up. But if you understand history, you know, the children of Israel are not giants. Have you ever read the Bible? They're not tall, and because there's not Twinkies and Ho-Hos on every single street corner, they're probably all pretty thin, and they work really hard, they're not going to be very obese, meaning it wouldn't even take very much alcohol and quantity to even get most of these people extremely inebriated very quickly. That's bizarre. Why would Jesus be like a bartender at a wedding and just giving even more and more alcohol to all these people after they've well drunk, meaning people are having multiple glasses of wine, and then he's just like, let's give them even more booze. If that was true, that would almost ensure that literally every single person at this event got drunk, which is what's silly is the people that disagree with me and think that this is actually alcohol, they still all admit that getting drunk's a sin. So if getting drunk's a sin, how are they going to explain this story in a way where people aren't all getting wasted, where people aren't all getting drunk and inebriated and blacked out and just horrible things happening? You know, and again, unless you're marrying your third cousin or something like that, weddings are supposed to be fun. Why do you need to get drunk in order to enjoy a wedding? Why do you have to drink so much booze or whatever? I mean, it's just the people that are getting trashed at weddings, it's usually they don't even like each other. It's not even like something that's holy. It's not something that's set apart. It's not something that's worshipping God or honoring the Lord. It's usually trashy people getting trashed, and then their marriage is usually trashed on top of that. And you know what? We're never going to have a wedding with alcohol. That's ridiculous, and it's obviously sinful. Now I'm going to take you to a few passages. Keep your finger and go to Proverbs chapter 23. Go to Proverbs chapter 23. But it's just silly for people to think that Jesus is getting people drunk. And I remember growing up, I went to a church called Trinity Fellowship Church, which is a garbage church, but they were bringing in a new pastor, or they were trying to groom him, and it was his first sermon that I ever heard. He got up and said how he wanted the church to have a wine tasting. And I was just like, what in the world? Why is this your first sermon? And it just really just blew me away to think like, you get an opportunity to preach to thousands of people for the first time, and you want to talk about how you want to bring in booze to church? And I'm thinking like, even at that time, I was not the type of Christian that believed that drinking alcohol was always a sin. I thought that in moderation it was not necessarily a sin. But at the same time, I was not an idiot, and I recognized that if you brought in a bunch of unlimited free wine into church with thousands of people, someone would get drunk. Like the chances are 100%. There's not like an exception like, well, everybody here is going to moderately drink or whatever. Like that's foolishness. That is silly. That never happens. And so, yes, is it possible that there's a grown man out there that every once in a while just drinks like one beer and doesn't get fully drunk? Yeah, it's possible that that could happen. But when you have thousands of people showing up for free liquor and free booze, everyone is going to get drunk probably, and for sure some people. And I'm just thinking like, why would a church facilitate people to get drunk, to drink alcohol? It just makes no sense unless you're just a raging alcoholic yourself, which I would argue many pastors and these false prophets and false teachers are raging alcoholics. That's why they're so permissive on the doctrine of booze and alcohol today. You know what? The Bible is not so. In fact, even in America, it used to be illegal to drink alcohol. I don't know if you realize that or not, it was illegal to drink booze in America because the entire nation could recognize it was a sin and recognize it was bad. And honestly, I'm not saying that that needs to be the law today. There's a lot of legitimate reasons why you may change the legal situation. You don't want to make alcohol illegal. But my attitude is that you should stay away from it, even if it was legal or illegal. It doesn't really matter. It certainly would make our society a lot cleaner, generally speaking. And again, you're always going to have people going into the mafia and bootlegging and doing all this kind of stuff when it is even illegal and you have issues. But there's a lot of places in the country that are pretty clean. I grew up in Canyon, Texas area, Randall County. It was a dry county. And in fact, many Texas counties have been dry counties in the past, and they've slowly over time changed and adopted on that. But what a dry county is is you cannot buy or sell alcohol in that particular county. Even in Lubbock, it was a dry county, and it was a dry county where it's a major university, Texas Tech. So basically, I don't know the exact distance, but let's just say like 15 minutes or 20 minutes or something like that out of town, it finally went to a different county. So it was just literally like this street just filled with all these liquor stores and booze stores where all the college kids would go because you could not buy alcohol in that particular county. Now, maybe that's changed since then. I don't know. But I think that they've at least adopted it where restaurants can sell it and stuff like that. But people have not always had this attitude of drinking alcohol as cool or fun or awesome. That's like a modern thing, especially a modern thing for churches to be like that, and it would be extremely modern for Baptists to be like that. Historically, almost all Baptists, even the non-King James only people were saying that drinking alcohol is a sin and were staying away from booze. Baptists used to have a reputation of, well, they don't drink. I remember even that carries me today. I remember being at a work event, and someone asked me about church or whatever, and I said I was a Baptist, and they're like, oh, so y'all don't drink? And I'm like, yeah, that's right. We don't drink. Because initially, I'm called a Mormon. It's like, you have how many kids? You don't drink? You go to church a lot? You know, you're white? I mean, and I don't look like Dylan, but I mean, at the same time, it was just like, they thought I was a Mormon, okay? I'm not as good a Mormon as Dylan is. His skins are wider than mine, so he's repented of his sins better or whatever. But the Bible is clear on the specific doctrine. You know, the modern versions change Proverbs 23 a lot, especially the Bible NLT, the New Living Translation. They completely alter a lot of these verses. But the King James is really clear in this passage. Look what it says in verse 29. Who hath woe, who hath sorrow, who hath contentions, who hath babbling, who hath wounds without cause, who hath redness of eyes, they that tarry long at the wine. That would basically be describing John chapter number two if it was alcoholic. It'd be like, what a terrible wedding, because they've been sitting here having wine for a long period of time. They drank all the wine until they ran out, and then they had all this extra wine that's tearing at the wine. And then he's saying here, who hath woe, who hath sorrow, who hath contentions, who hath babbling, who hath wounds without cause, who hath redness of eyes. Now this sounds like a bar. This actually sounds like a country bar, if you ask me, where they're all sad and depressed and they get in a bar fight and hitting each other, and their lives are just trashed, and so they just get trashed, okay? And you know what? People that have something to live for shouldn't drink alcohol. It says in verse number 31, Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth its color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. Now, this verse is really clear that there's a time when you should not drink wine. Notice it says, Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, meaning that something changed about the wine. What would be the change that happened to wine? Well, what does it say specifically in this verse, when it giveth his color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright? How can a beverage move itself? Does it grow legs and run around? No. Anybody that has any basic knowledge would understand that in order for something to become alcoholic, it has to ferment. And in order for a beverage to ferment, it's foaming and it can actually literally move itself, which is exactly what the Bible is talking about. Now, the color, that's really obvious because if I take a bunch of grapes or virtually any fruit and I squeeze it into a glass, it's going to be a clear liquid. And what actually gives wine its color is they take the skins and they leave them in the juice after they've already squeezed it and they allow that time to slowly give its color. Most wine and most beverages today, they just use food coloring. They just basically just use some kind of a dye in order to get the color that they want. But have you ever heard this thing called white wine? That's where they didn't dye it on purpose specifically. But in times past, they needed the yeast from the outward skin of those grapes. So most all the wine is red. If you read the Bible consistently, wine is always a picture of something red. It often pictures the blood of Jesus Christ, okay? And so most wine was dyed red with the skins that gave it the yeast and over time it would ferment. And if it fermented, then it would become a different color and a different type of wine and alcoholic beverage. The Bible is saying don't look at it. How in the world is Jesus serving that up when the Bible is condemning it and saying don't even look at it? And what's the consequence? Verse 32. At the last abideth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder. Thine eyes shall behold strange women and thine heart shall utter perverse things. Yea thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mass. They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick. They have beaten me, and I felt them not. When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again. So again, according to the Bible, it's describing a clear alcoholic beverage because what happens? People start saying perverted things. They lie with women that are not their wife or they don't know them. Strange women. There's a consequence. It's biting like a serpent. You can even literally get beaten and not feel it. Now that's true because if you drink an alcoholic beverage, you kind of deaden the nerves, you kind of deaden the feeling of your body, and you can actually tolerate pain at a higher level than before. You can actually get to a point where you don't feel the consequences of pain as much. And look, pain is beneficial. Pain helps you. Go to Proverbs 20 for a second. If you didn't have pain, you would most likely destroy yourself. You would put your hand on something hot, not realizing it, and you'd burn your hand. You could catch your hand in the car door. A lot of your reflexes and stuff are built on you having hurt yourself in the past, and your body just automatically built a reflex to kind of be careful, whether plugging something in or touching something. You just have all these natural reflexes that your body gave you to kind of prevent you from getting hurt, whereas if you didn't feel pain, you would constantly just do all these random things with your body and hurt them, slam your hands in the car door, touch things that are hot. People would be constantly just blowing parts of their body off and just hurting themselves constantly, sitting on something. You could just be sitting on something and just totally injure yourself, injure your internal organs. You could play a sport when you're injured and hurt yourself even worse. You could try to lift weights, and if you didn't feel that pain, you could hurt yourself by lifting something that's too heavy for you. I mean, pain is a very necessary component of your life, and if you're just drinking alcohol, you're putting yourself at such a giant risk to injure yourself, to harm yourself. That's why drunks are constantly killing themselves inadvertently. I'm not saying that they're doing it on purpose and saying that they basically, because they don't experience pain at the same way or the same level, they're putting themselves in dangerous, harmful situations, and they're constantly injuring themselves That's why the Bible says, who hath wounds without cause? Meaning they're just hurting themselves because they don't even know what they're doing. Yet I'm supposed to believe that Jesus is literally just getting a whole room full of people just drunk and wasted to injure themselves. Only a fool would believe such an interpretation of the Bible. The word wine in the Bible is a complex word. It can mean multiple things. Sorry, there's lots of words in the Bible that are like that, but it's not that complex. It's basically fresh wine, non-alcoholic. Old wine, alcoholic. Okay, that's basically as simple as it is. Now, it is technically possible, even back then, to have preserved non-alcoholic wine, and, you know, this is what a lot of people say is like, oh, well, Welch's wasn't even invented, you know, back then. The printing press wasn't invented back then, so I'm supposed to believe they didn't have the Bible now? Right? I mean, just because something doesn't exist in the same form today doesn't mean it didn't exist back then. And, look, I've done actually a lot of research on this issue. To say that they didn't have unfermented wine in times past is to just be ignorant of history. There's so many ways, and there's basically all the same ways that we have wine today. You can take wine or fruit, and you can boil it, and you can basically produce some kind of a jelly or some kind of a concentrate that's then preserved or stored. And you say, like, well, they didn't have refrigeration. Yeah, but, you know, back then they actually had streams and rivers of water that were cold, and you would just bundle stuff that you wanted to keep refrigerated, and you put it in the stream. Who's actually been camping before? Okay, like, five people. No, I'm just kidding. We went out camping, and, you know, when we go up near the mountains, you know what they have? Cool water streams, and all you do is you just put all the refrigerated stuff you want in the stream, and you tie it down, obviously, because you don't want it to go with the stream or whatever, but you put cokes in there, you put meat, you put fresh meat, you put all kinds of stuff in there, and you can actually have it preserved just like a normal refrigerator. Okay, additionally, have you ever heard of this thing called a wine cellar? Do you think it's just convenient to store things way down underground? Like, why would they just be like, you know what? I wonder what we should do with this wine. Let's dig a giant hole in the ground just to store it down there for no reason whatsoever. You know why they would store it down below? Because it's cooler down there. They can actually preserve things down there because it's temperature-controlled down there. Okay, so, yeah, they would boil it and create kind of a sap, and they could use that, and, again, that's how most of our juices are anyways. They're not 100% fruit. They're basically just a little bit of concentrate mixed with a lot of water. If you go to the store and you buy juice, it's like 90-some percent water and just a little bit of juice that was mixed in there, and the Bible talks about, even in Proverbs, the women, when they're preparing their table, how they're mixing their wine. What does that mean? They got some of the fruit juice or whatever, concentrate or whatever, and then they're mixing it in with these things. In fact, we've even had ice before refrigerators and stuff. You know, even the rich had ice back then. I know you don't want to believe me, but you know what they would do? They would go up into the mountains, and they would chisel out huge, huge chunks of ice, and they'd put them on wagons, and then they would cart them down for the rich on a daily basis, and that huge brick of ice, obviously it's melting, but it's going to stay in a huge chunk for a long period of time. I lived in Amarillo, Texas, and we would get a lot of snow, and sometimes we would get just giant snows, and they would last months, months, because they would pile them up because they're clearing off the roads, and they would just pile them up in these big piles, and you'd have, you know, 70, 80-degree weather for months, and you'd still have these giant chunks of snow out there. So, you know, people just don't realize that, yeah, most of the things that we have today, the rich had in times past. They still existed. In fact, that's where we got the idea is they already had it. We just were figuring out new ways to do the exact same thing, okay? So they had indoor plumbing. They had a lot of things that you don't realize. So there's no new thing under the sun. Now, I'm not going to go so far as to say they had rocket ships, and they were flying around or something still like that, but obviously we have some new technologies, but generally speaking, a lot of these things still existed, and it's not a hard concept called fruit juice. I mean, how dumb do you think the people in the past were? They couldn't even figure out fruit juice. They could figure out alcoholic beverages, which is way more sophisticated, takes way much more time, effort, and energy, but they couldn't figure out that before they made the wine, they could just drink the juice that they had extracted from the fruit, right? Because everyone will agree they had alcohol for all that time, but never in the history of all that time of making alcohol, they didn't think like, let's just try the juice out and see what it tastes like. No, they never thought of that. I mean, wow, what an amazing concept, right? This is the type of scholarship that you get when you go to other churches. You want to know why they come up with this kind of goofy scholarship? Because they want to justify drinking alcohol. What does the Bible say in Proverbs 20, verse 1? Wine is a mocker. Strong drink is raging, and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. You know, they say, oh, the Bible always says how wine's great. And you think, yeah, the Bible does say that wine's great in a few places, but it also says that it's terrible in a few places. So how am I going to reconcile the fact that the Bible says that wine's good in one place and wine's bad in another place? It sounds like it must be talking about two different things then, right? Or you have to just believe the Bible's full of contradictions. Just like the Bible says in some places God creates evil, and then other places says God is not even tempted with evil, and he can't do evil. That means evil has two different definitions. Evil could mean sin and wickedness, or it could mean harm. God doesn't commit sin. He can't be tempted with sin. But you know what? He brings a lot of harm in, like when he flooded the entire world and destroyed everything except for Noah and the ark. That was a lot of evil. Read Revelation. A lot of evil God's going to bring upon this earth. Locust from hell. That's evil. But God's not lying. God's not going to steal. God's not going to do wickedness. So you just have to recognize that the Bible can have words in English that mean multiple things. It's not that difficult of a concept. What's difficult of a concept is to think about how you can read this verse and then say that alcohol's good. I mean, it's literally telling you that it's wrong right there. It's just as plain as the nose on a Jew's face, all right? Go to Proverbs 31. Proverbs 31. But you know, of course, Jews wouldn't want you to believe what I'm telling you today because they've written extensively about how they want all of us to be a bunch of drunk idiots so they can rule over us and slave over us. So if you like drinking alcohol, you're falling into the trap that those of Judaism want you to fall in and to become weak and docile and basically just an ignorant, babbling fool that can do nothing. It makes a country weak. It makes a country foolish. It makes a country dumb. And you know what? Nothing was accomplished drinking alcohol. Nothing productive. Nothing good for society. There aren't great inventions. People aren't winning trophies and prizes while drinking alcohol and getting drunk. You know what? It's just a fool's errand and the only people that drink it are fools. That's what the Bible says because it says you're deceived. You're not wise. That's what the Bible says. Proverbs 31, look at verse 4. It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes strong drink, lest they drink and forget the law and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted. Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. Let him drink and forget his poverty and remember his misery no more. Now again, obviously, in verse 6, some people are such raging alcoholics, they say, oh look, it says give drink to people. It's making fun of this idea. It's basically saying like, yeah, I guess if someone's literally on their deathbed and they're just in excruciating pain, yeah, let's just give him a little bit of alcohol so that he doesn't feel the pain, right? I mean, is that really that radical of a concept? To think like, hey, we have a beverage that could potentially take away the pain. Maybe we give it to this person, right? You're on the battlefield and someone's leg got ripped off by a cannonball and they're bleeding out and they're screaming in agony and you give them some kind of a beverage that kind of takes off the edge, right? Because he's going to die in 20 minutes, but you don't want to hear for the next 20 minutes. So you're like, okay, drink, just give him some drink, right? But is that like a recommendation of like, let's drink alcohol now? No, it's basically like saying, hey, the guy that's literally dying and is about to perish, what does the Bible say? Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish. This is someone that is going to die in the near future. He's saying this guy has nothing to live for and is in excruciating pain. Okay, we'll give him something to kind of dull the pain a little bit. And you know what? Praise God that there are certain medications and drugs that can just take the pain away when you're in excruciating pain and you're about to die, okay? So is it saying we could use illicit drugs and some type of elements here in that kind of a scenario? Sure. Is there a legitimate use for some kind of alcohol? Maybe in a medical situation. I mean, if you were going to literally perform an amputation or have to like dig out an arrow out of someone's chest or something like that and they can't even lay down on the operation table because it hurts so bad, yeah, maybe getting them drunk out of their mind at that point would be good. Maybe them being blacked out would be good. And you know what would be better? If they've never had alcohol so they don't have a high tolerance level, you could just give them a little bit and they're already good to go. It'd be kind of frustrating if this guy's like, I need 50. You know, it's like, man, it'll take a while. He's going to die of alcohol poisoning before he feels the effects of the numbing, okay? I mean, that's not beneficial. And yeah, you know, sometimes alcohol is used in sterilizing equipment, medical equipment and things like that. So yeah, is there legitimate uses for alcohol? Sure. But is this now saying like us as Baptists, we should throw a party and all get drunk? That's ridiculous. Was Jesus ministering to a bunch of people that were ready to perish at the wedding of Canaan? No. So trying to justify it with this, oh, what about the poor guy? You know, again, it's not really an advertisement. Even if we were to try and say this was, it's in these really rare exceptions. It's basically just saying like, don't throw this guy in jail. So you could almost make an argument that this is basically just saying that maybe it shouldn't be illegal. Is someone such a loser that they have to drink just to forget how much their life sucks? Then it's just like, just let them do that. It's like this guy's such, this guy just has nothing to live for, is such a loser. Well, you know what? We'll let him just, you know, basically drown his life and his sorrows. But you know what? I'm still not even saying that that trumps the law or something like that. I'm just saying that's one interpretation. But to take these one verses and say somehow it's a recommendation for booze, you're drunk. You'd have to be drunk to even believe that. Go to Zechariah chapter number nine. Now this is what I get thrown at whenever I bring this topic up. Oh, you're telling me that grown men get excited to drink juice? I thought that was like a kid's beverage, man. Men are not excited to drink juice. Okay. Well, you know what? That's a silly argument because I want to show you that men get excited about all kinds of cool stuff. Like corn. Look at what it says in Zechariah chapter nine, verse 17. And if you've been following along in the Wednesday sermon, you already saw this verse. It says, for how great is his goodness and how great is his beauty, corn shall make the young men cheerful. Oh, you're such a goody two-shoes. You think that men like drinking juice. Men like eating corn. You know, under the pure, all things are pure. And yeah, I guarantee if a guy has only had water for the last five months of his life and he finally gets to have a juice beverage, he would like it. Why is that such a radical concept? Why is that such a radical concept considering the fact that almost every construction worker out there is drinking a Coca-Cola today? Seems like they like it. Oh, you think that men like to drink things other than water. Yeah, they do it all the time. It's called Coke. It's called Sprite. It's called orange juice. Yeah, people love drinking these beverages. And because we live in America where we have such an abundance of juice and these kind of beverages, yeah, maybe your mind's so warped that you don't like it anymore. But you know, people that aren't getting this every single second of their life for free virtually, they would like those beverages. And they would be excited to drink those kind of things. And men can like drinking juice. It even says in this verse, and new wine the maids. Oh, you just think that women just want to drink juice? Yeah. Young women, I mean, new wine is obviously unfermented because it's new. And when we talk about maids, we're talking about young women. Young women, historically speaking, are not the highest of society. They're not the most elevated. So it's basically saying that yes, young women like the high life. Young women like to be catered to and get the fancier, finer things in life. I don't know if that's a shocker to you, you know. But it's not saying they have to get drunk. It's not saying they're winos. All the young women are winos. I mean, it's saying men like corn. How would that even fit with this? Dudes want to just eat some corn, while chicks want to get wasted. You know, I like street corn as much as the next guy, but that's just not a really well-parallel statement, is it? Go to Isaiah 65. I'll go one more place here, and then we'll kind of talk about this chapter. But, you know, it's just such a bizarre, perverted mind that has to try and justify drinking alcohol. And you know what? Our church will not ever justify drinking alcohol. Well, how are you going to reach people? I'm not interested in reaching drunkards, because the Bible says I'd have to throw them out. I don't want to have to bring people in that I didn't throw out. Oh, well, you know what? Everybody drinks. Okay. That's why our church isn't growing exponentially right now. And that's okay. But you know what? I'm not going to sit here and justify drinking alcohol. And I'll say this. I've seen a little bit of a change in the younger generations. It seems like they've kind of woken up to the reality of how drinking alcohol is poison. And now it doesn't really help them. You know, a lot of young people are starting to realize, like, hey, maybe, like, working out and eating meat and all these things they keep telling me are bad are actually good. And drinking alcohol doesn't really benefit me that much. And maybe they can kind of sober up and recognize that drinking alcohol is foolish. Now, Isaiah 65, look at verse 8. Thus saith the Lord, as the new wine is found in the cluster and one sayeth, Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it. So will I do for my servant's sakes that I may not destroy them all. Now, of course, this is kind of a parable in a sense or a metaphor that he's using. But God always uses carnal truths to expound spiritual truths. And in this passage, it's bringing up that there's new wine found in the cluster, meaning a grape that has not even been squeezed yet. There's new wine in it. So am I supposed to believe that alcohol is in grapes now? That does not exist. It's clearly describing that new wine is an unfurmented, just juice that comes from a fruit, and wine itself could be referring to either, but we have to let the context tell us if we're talking about which. And it's like, well, how are we going to figure that out? Well, you know, if in the next breath they're throwing up on themselves and everything's dirty and filthy, it was alcohol. And if in the next breath it's talking about eating corn, it was talking about juice. It's not that radical, it's not that hard to figure out. When it's saying like, hey, you're an idiot and a fool for drinking this, it's not talking about juice, it's talking about alcohol. When it's saying this is a blessing and it makes men's hearts marry, well, then it's talking about the juice again. So it's really simple, it's really easy, and when it's talking about Jesus making water into wine, it's not talking about alcohol. Now let's go back to John chapter 2. Not only is it important to explain sometimes what passages don't mean, it's important to explain what they do mean, okay? And here's the thing, the Bible is a spiritual book. What would be the spiritual picture of Jesus turning water into alcohol? Like, that doesn't even make sense to me. Like, I would love to hear what your spiritual connection is to that. Because alcohol is described as a poison in the Bible. So the first miracle Jesus did is he made poison, and he got people drunk. Like, what would be the spiritual picture? The only thing you could think there is he's like an evil bartender. He's destroying men's lives or something like that. That's not Jesus' life, that's not his ministry. He didn't come to destroy men's lives, but he came to save, okay? So it wouldn't make sense. So what is the interpretation? Well, it's turning water into fresh juice, into fresh wine, and not only just fresh wine, the best wine. And that's what I wanted to focus on, and that's what the chapter focuses on. He says in verse number 10, But thou hast kept the good wine until now. And so, I'm going to title my sermon based on this latter half of the sermon, but I came up with this idea of the best is yet to come. The best is yet to come. They were at the wedding, and they were enjoying wine, and it was good. They enjoyed it, they liked it. They didn't think there was anything wrong with it. But then they got the new wine, and it was even better. Meaning that in many cases, the best is yet to come. And when we study this, the spiritual picture is really clear of the distinction between the Old Testament and the New Testament. The wine that they were drinking initially was that old wine, and it was good. There was nothing wrong with it. And men had well drunk, meaning we fulfilled the Old Testament. It had come to its latter end. But now we're getting the New Testament, and you know what? It's even better. That's the spiritual picture. And of course, doesn't that make sense to be the first miracle that he does? Hey, we're making a transition from the Old Testament into the New Testament. And you know what? Don't be disappointed. Be excited, because the best is yet to come. In fact, now we're going to have an even better time. How can you go from good wine to just raging alcoholic? That's like the worst thing that you could think of. No spiritual picture whatsoever. Bastardizes the Bible. Makes Jesus a sinner. It blasphemes the Scripture. It's wicked as hell. I hate when people say Jesus made alcohol. You know, that's just, that's a lie from hell. Go to Hebrews chapter 7. Let's talk about how this is better. Hebrews chapter number 7, when we transition from the Old into the New Testament. And the Bible explicitly tells us that this is better. It says that a lot of things are better. Look at Hebrews chapter number 7 verse 19. For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did by the witch we draw nigh unto God. So according to the Bible, the New Testament is a better hope. It's better than that Old Testament specifically. Let's keep reading. Verse 20, and as much as not without an oath, he was made a priest. For those priests were made without an oath. But this with an oath by him that said unto him, the Lord swear and will not repent, thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. So not only is it a better hope, it's a better testament. And this is an objective statement made by the Holy Ghost himself saying that the New Testament is the better testament. We can literally quantify it and say that it's better. Just like that old wine was not as good as that new wine, the new wine is better. So the New Testament is quantifiably better. Look at chapter 8 and I want to look at verse number 3. It says, For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices. Wherefore, it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer. For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law, who serve under the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle. For see, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount. But now he hath obtained a more excellent ministry by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. So notice what the Bible is saying. It's a better hope, it's a better testament, better promises, and a better covenant. This sounds better. It seems like the Bible is even emphasizing the idea that it's better in almost every way that you can imagine. Let's skip down to verse 13. For if the blood, I'm sorry, in that he say of the new covenant, he hath made the first old, now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away. So the Old Testament is gone. It's done. They ran out of wine. They have no wine. Just like the Old Testament is going to run out, and it's going to be gone. It's just done. And then they only have the New Testament. You know, people that say like, oh, I want to be in the Old Testament. Well, that would be like being at this wedding and saying like, I want to drink some of the old store. But it's gone. It's vanished. Well, the Jews, they have their wine. Nope, that wine's gone. If you're drinking wine, you're drinking the New Testament wine. You're drinking the new wine, which is Jesus. And if you don't have Jesus, you don't have the Father. Because he that has Jesus, he hath both the Father and the Son. And if you deny Jesus, you have neither. Okay, so the Jews, they ran out of wine. They have no wine. There's not an option. You're either on the new wine program or you have no wine. But there's no one drinking the old wine. It's ran out. Okay, specifically it's gone. Look at chapter 9 verse 1. Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service and a worldly sanctuary. So the Old Testament had specific ordinances. If we skip to verse 6 for the sake of time, it says, Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always in the first tabernacle accomplishing the service of God. But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the errors of the people. The Holy Ghost this signifying that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing. So it's just basically saying that specifically in the Old Testament they couldn't see into the holiest, so everything wasn't made obvious yet. Okay, it says in verse 9, Which was a figure for the time then present in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining to the conscience. Did you notice this language? Which was a figure for the time then present. Notice he didn't say for the time present. He said for the time then present. Meaning what? It's over. If it was still happening right now, then it would just be present. But it was for the time then present. Meaning that there's been a gap, meaning that something's changed. Something's happened where no longer is that the case anymore. It's not legitimate anymore. Verse 10, Which stood only in meats and drinks and diverse washings and cardinal ordinances imposed on them until the time of reformation. So you say, okay, when is the time of reformation? The next verse, But Christ being come, and high priest of good things that come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. So all those pictures of someone going into the tabernacle and offering an animal sacrifice in the Old Testament was to foreshadow one event. When Jesus would go in with his own blood, and it was a once for all sacrifice. And that was the better sacrifice. That was the better testament. That was the better covenant. That was the better hope. That was the better promises. Everything was better about it. Okay? So this is what we're talking about with this new wine. And think about it. He's coming in with his blood. What does wine represent? Often blood. And without the shedding of blood, there's no remission. And in fact, a testament is not enforced until there's the shedding of blood. And so specifically, you know what? That is what gave us that entering into that new covenant. It's kind of foreshadowing here at the wedding of Canaan. Hey, the new wine. We're turning this water into wine. And you know, Jesus came by water and blood. Not by water only, but by blood also. And you know what? We needed both of those. And we had Jesus being perfect, undefiled. And then that turning into wine kind of shows that change. Like Jesus' blood was shed for us. And he permanently changed for us so that we could have what? Redemption. And of course, you drink that. You drink that wine. And that's what gives, sustains you and gives you life. Just like we believe on the blood of Jesus Christ. And that washes us and cleanses us and gives us life. And in fact, even says in John chapter number six that you literally have to drink his blood. Okay? And of course, don't be a Catholic here. Don't drink blood. Okay? Nor does it turn into blood. They always want to tell you how it's not a symbol. And I'm like, how is it not a symbol when Jesus says, This bread is my body? He didn't say, This body is my body. He said, This bread is my body. Meaning what? It's a symbol. You stupid Catholic. It's bread. Yes. Is it a metaphor? Absolutely. Okay. Okay. But it's still bread. And of course, these metaphors are to foreshadow and to picture things specifically about the Lord Jesus Christ. Okay. Skip down to verse number 23. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. So notice what the Bible says. It's a better hope, a better testament, better promises, better sacrifice, better covenant. I mean, it's better everything. And for sake of time, I'm not going to go there, but there's another thing the Bible says. How about the better country that we're all striving for and we're all looking for? And what we have to understand is that the New Testament is better. Why? Well, the cardinal ordinances are done away with. Praise God for bacon. I had bacon yesterday. Who else had bacon yesterday? God bless that hand. All right. I see a few of you still love the Lord. All right. Bacon is wonderful. I had bacon. I had sausage. I had Canadian bacon yesterday. All right. I went all in. Okay. And it was all delicious. And I loved all of it. Okay. And you know what? That's only possible because we're in the New Testament. I just, you know, and here's the thing. I've tried a lot of pork and even alternatives lately. Someone did a grocery delivery for us and they accidentally gave us turkey bacon. Who's had turkey bacon? Okay. I'm sorry. I'm like, I can just throw this away. But I was like, you know, that seems wasteful. So I cooked it and I ate it. And, you know, I'll be honest, it wasn't bad. But it was basically like you take deli meat and fry it. I was just like, okay. But at the end of the day, you know, I tried it. I'm like, eh. You know, I had the sausage. Like, eh. Canadian bacon. I was like, eh. And then I had the bacon. I was like, this is why everybody likes bacon. It's just so much better. It's just so good. Okay. I just love bacon. All right. This sermon has been brought to you by bacon. Hey, we're talking about the best is yet to come. I mean, the Old Testament states they didn't even know what they were missing. But I'm telling you, they were missing out. Not only that, specifically in the New Testament, we have a spiritual nation. Meaning what? That all of us don't have to go travel to the Middle East a couple times a year to worship God. Praise God. You think that it's hard to drive here? How about making a pilgrimage to Israel a couple times a year? That would be fun, wouldn't it? That would be a lot of work, a lot of effort. I mean, especially with all of our young children. I mean, it's difficult. Flying with a lot of little children is tough. Okay. You know, traveling is already a little bit difficult. But traveling with young children is just some level of infuriation. Okay. And praise God that we live in the New Testament where we have a spiritual nation. We don't have to travel to Israel in order to worship God. We don't have to go to that temple. In fact, we're here right now worshiping God. And you know, we are the temple of God because we're a spiritual building of God. And so we don't have to travel. That makes the New Testament better. Hey, I love the fact that we don't have to do that. I love that we're part of a spiritual nation of all believers. Here's another thing. The veil was torn. Now we have direct access to God the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ. We can simply just pray to God the Father through Jesus Christ. We don't have to actually go to a Levitical priest and ask him to intercede on our behalf. Okay. Additionally, there's no more circumcision. This is great. I mean, I'm glad that we don't have that ritual, especially considering how many people get saved later in life. How many of you got saved after 15 years old? You should keep that hand up that you're glad there's no more circumcision. Okay. Because you have to get physically circumcised to join the nation of Israel. I don't know if you realize that or not. Okay. That would be rough. The church. I love church. The church is better. Hey, it's better than the church in the wilderness with the tent. Now we have a building, right? No more Sabbath. Hey, I'm glad that the Sabbath is a spiritual thing, and I don't have to worry about that anymore, and I don't have to go through that particular burden. Now here's the thing. The Sabbath wasn't really created to be a burden, but society turned it into a burden. And so a lot of the benefit there is the fact that it doesn't exist just for the people to bastardize it. Because the Sabbath was meant to be just basically just don't go to work. Right? That's not that bad, right? It's nice to have a day off, and that you wouldn't necessarily have to do your normal daily labors or chores. You're basically just resting and taking it pretty easy for the day. But there's no more Sabbath. I'm pleased with that. Bacon. I already mentioned that. I just want to mention it again. The New Testament. You know, I love reading the Bible. Don't hear me wrong. But it's easy for me to read the New Testament in comparison to the Old Testament. Who would say they love reading the New Testament more than the Old Testament? Oh yeah. I mean, look. And there's sections of the Old Testament that are awesome. You know, and I love the Proverbs. I love Psalms. Genesis is a cool book. But just in general, like, I just kind of just love the New Testament just a little bit more. Like, it's just a little bit easier. I feel like I fly through it. I love a lot of the Epistles. It's just kind of fun almost. Whereas sometimes the Old Testament, you're just like, ugh, this king sucks, you know? And the next one sucks too. And who's this weirdo? I don't even know who this is, you know? And then you're like, I just wasn't even paying attention for the last two chapters and I still don't know what this is saying. You're just like, man. Whereas the New Testament is just a little bit more engaging. It's just a little bit more exciting. It's a little bit easier to read. And you know what? We have it. Praise God, I get to read the New Testament. Not only that, it's just extra. It's just more. I get to read all the great old stories of the Old Testament and I love them and I enjoy them. But you know what? The new wine just tastes a little bit better. It just is a little bit nicer. And so in some cases you have to understand, like, the best is yet to come. You know, the Trinity and who God the Father is are more revealed in the New Testament than they were in the Old Testament. And you know what? That's better. I like that we get a little bit deeper and more rich understanding of who God is from some of the revelations that we have in the New Testament. The New Testament doctrines are a little bit clearer, a little bit cleaner. We have the book of Revelation, which is a lot more understandable than the book of Daniel. And look, there's nothing wrong with the Old Testament. The Old Testament's good, but the New Testament is better. And that's not my opinion. That's the Holy Ghost's opinion specifically, okay? I want to go to just a few more places and we'll finish. Go to Ecclesiastes chapter 7. But, you know, in general, I just want you to understand that in many cases, the best things are yet to come. We kind of, I think, sometimes can get sucked into this attitude or this feeling like that everything is going downhill and everything's really negative and the future's not bright or something like that. But in many cases, the best things are still awaiting us and life gets better in many ways that you haven't really thought of. And so I just kind of want to explain a lot of different things and I want to kind of give you some hope and encouragement that for many of us, some of the best things haven't even happened yet. Ecclesiastes chapter 7, look at verse 8. Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. It's a lot of times better at the end of a project than it is at the beginning of a project. And one of those projects specifically to me is Steadfast Baptist Church. Now, again, I wasn't here for day one. You know, I've inherited this church, you know, after several years of its existence. But, you know, and it's not like those early days wouldn't have been fun. Now, I visited here for the one-year anniversary service. So I was here in person for the one-year anniversary and it was fun. Pastor Anderson came. He preached a sermon called Go Big or Go Home, which I found recently and I re-uploaded on a rumble. So if you want to check out that sermon, you should go check it out. But it was a great sermon. It was a great service. We had a lot of fun. You know, there were people like Adam Fannin there. Okay. So that was kind of a downer. But at the same time, you know, it was good. But I feel like church can, especially if they're serving God and doing the Bible, it kind of just gets better over time. And, you know, there's been times where we're kind of in the wilderness, so to speak. Now we kind of have a nicer building. And what I think is if we really dedicate ourselves to church, we can make church really awesome in the future. Like, we could have a really nice facility, a really nice property, just like building the temple. You kind of start building the temple, but it's better when it's finished and you're enjoying it, right? And we're kind of like building church and we're kind of in that stage of like building the temple. But, you know, the end could be a lot greater and we could have a lot of cool things. We could have amazing programs. We could have all kinds of extras, all the stuff that, you know, churches that we look at that are big that they get to enjoy. We could have those with good doctrine on top of it, which would be a great blessing. And in many cases, church over time can get better. Not only that, just even the doctrine, you know, when I think of just in general, churches 20 years ago versus churches today. Now, again, I'm not trying to talk bad about churches of the past, and I think there's always been good churches. But just if you were to ask me, Pastor Shelley, would you rather go back in time 20 years and go to whatever church you want or go to a new IFB church today? And I honestly would tell you I'd rather go to a new IFB church today. And so in some cases, church in general has gotten better over time, okay? Our Spanish ministry is still in its infancy, but just think about the potential of that particular ministry and where that could go, and I guarantee the end would be better than where we start and where it began. Not only that, just you as a person, individual, especially men, your finances usually get better over time. Usually not making the most money when you first start working. It's usually over time your finances get better and your career develops and you start making more and more money and you usually have more money later in life than you did at the beginning of life. And so that's something that gets better over time. Here's another one. How about marriage? Marriage can get better over time. Sweeter as the years go by is what we sing, right? And obviously there's a lot of joy and happiness and the honeymoon stage and having fun, but you know, marriage, there's an element to marriage that's really special and it's the years that you've been together. Like, you know, one aspect that would be sad for people to have to kind of start over is they kind of don't have that history. They don't have those memories necessarily, and so they have to form new memories and new history. But at the same time, you know, it's not to say that they can't have a great marriage or something. It's just the longer you're married to somebody, a lot of times the better it can get. And you can have really fond memories and you get to enjoy, you get to know each other even on a deeper level. You go through all kinds of different experiences and so many cases even marriage itself can just get better over time. That's why you stick with it. That's why you stay in it, okay? Also, kids, your kids pretty much get better. I mean, at first, they're just this screaming terrorist, okay? I use that word lightly, but it is somewhat of a joke. But let's just be honest, what do they do? They just scream and get their demands met, right? I mean, there's not even negotiation, right? They need to be fed, changed, you know, they're tired, whatever, and you just have to do it. You know, you're just kind of like, ah, whatever, you're obligated, okay? But slowly, over time, they start learning how to do things themselves, don't they? When they start learning how to feed themselves, you're like, oh, man, thank you, right? When they learn how to change their clothes, when they learn how to use the bathroom by themselves, you're just like, oh, my life's so much better now that they're able to do that. When they're able to tie their shoes, you're like, yes, they can tie their shoes. Whenever they can eat food without spilling it all over themselves, that's a huge milestone, okay? When they can finally read, it's just like, yes, they're not retarded. No, I'm just kidding. Some might be offended by that word. I'm not being mad at, mean to someone, okay? Joe Biden's retarded, all right? You know, but it's like, over time, you know, kids slowly get better. Here's, how about your conversations with them? Now, again, it's cute when they just kind of say gibberish and jabber and whatever, but you know what? It kind of starts getting special when they can say, I love you, and they mean it, when they're appreciative, when they learn things, when they ask questions, or they know something that you don't know. It's cool. It's a fun feeling. It's fun when they start growing up and developing, and then when they become adults, it's gonna be even more, you get more joy out of those children. Go if you went to Proverbs 23. I don't know if I told you to turn there or not. Go to Proverbs 23. I just want to show you a few verses I just want to show you a few verses on that. But how do kids get better? Your conversations with your children will get better over time. The time that you spend with them gets better over time. You know, doing activities with them. You know, playing games with them, it's not necessarily as enjoyable when they're as young, just because they're not maybe as competitive or they don't understand the rules, but over time, they get better and better, and then all of a sudden, it becomes a competition, and then it's fun. I know, you know, from my history of my family, like, we played games a lot, and we were very competitive, but, you know, when we were younger and we'd play with our parents, it wasn't even fair. They would always win every single time, but then eventually you get to a point where you can actually compete, and it's fun. We'd play spades, and if you want to see my dad lose his mind, you know, play spades and beat him. You know, he will just, you know, or play Scrabble, because Scrabble, he's the smartest person in the room. It's not even a question, but because you get to draw all the tiles, you can draw better than him, and boy, when he's not drawing well, he just loses his mind. He's just like, oh, you're so lucky. You're getting all the beneficial tiles or whatever, and it's just like, well, I'm winning, you know. Sorry. But, you know, it's fun to actually compete and have those experiences, have those activities, and, you know, grandchildren. These are the best, because you get all the benefits of the child without any of the responsibilities, and you just get to enjoy. Like, children, every parent enjoys children, but then there's this, like, attachment of the burden, and you have to take care of them and all the other stuff. Grandchildren, it's like, I get to just enjoy, and, you know, that's a beautiful thing. It's a wonderful thing to get to have these things, but you know what? The best is yet to come. You know, you get to enjoy your children and your grandchildren later in life. Now it's the hard work. Now it's the labor. It's much more difficult, and sometimes people think, like, oh, I don't want to invest in that, but you know what? You're going to reap a lot when you invest in all of these children. You're going to have so much delight. Proverbs 23, verse 24 says, the father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice, and he that begeteth the wise child shall have joy of him. You could have decades of some of the greatest joys ever having raised wonderful children, but you know, people that haven't raised any children will be sad if they're a dumb cat that'll die. Look at Proverbs 29, verse 17. Yes, cats are stupid. Sorry to hurt your feelings again. Good thing I don't care. Proverbs 29, verse 17, correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest. Yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul. You know, you invest in your children. You discipline them. You take them to church. Well, it might seem like a lot of a burden right now. You're going to reap so much benefit and so much joy from them in the future. I want to go to just like two more places. Go to 1 Corinthians 2 and go to John 14. This is the last place I'll have you turn. You know, here's another thing that gets better over time often is your wife's cooking, and, you know, it's just reality because no one starts out being a great cook. It's just not possible, and if you do something regularly and often enough, you're just going to get better at it, just naturally speaking, and so many times, this is why people really enjoy grandma's cooking. You want to know why they enjoy grandma's cooking? It's not that she's in her mental high point or in her physical high point. It's that she's been cooking for a long time, so she knows everything. She's already screwed up all the meals on grandpa, okay? And you're getting to reap the benefits of her already understanding how everything works, and, you know, there's a lot of art and skill and knowledge when it comes to cooking, and, you know, those grandmas are sometimes the best cooks ever, and sometimes you get the best food, the best cooking from grandma, not the guy that literally crossed the border yesterday. You know, that's what all the fast food restaurants have, right? But the last point I want to make is, even if none of those things are even technically true for you or if you don't get to experience any of those, the best is still yet to come because we're awaiting a new heaven and a new earth. We're awaiting a new life that's going to be so much better than this life. If you like this life, you're going to like the next one more. It's just guaranteed. The problem is that so many people are so short-sighted and so they just live for this life because they like it, not realizing that the next one's even better, okay? Now, I'm just reading for you, but in Luke 12, verse 33, the Bible says, Sell that you have and give alms, provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither muth corrupteth, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. So the Bible talks about there being treasure in the heavens that faileth not. In 1 Corinthians, chapter number 2, look at verse number 9. It kind of brings up a... It's not going to be specific. That's talking about specific treasure, but this is just describing what things are going to be like. Verse 9, but as is written, I have not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered in the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. You know, the governor at the feast, he had never had the new wine, so he didn't know what he was missing. He loved that wine, the old wine. But then once he got the new wine, it's like, well, I would never want to go back to the old. This is so much better. But he had no idea what he was missing out on. And you think, none of us really know how truly great the new heaven and the new earth and all the spiritual rewards... I mean, think about this. God isn't going to hold back bad things from you. He's giving you treasure. You know, there's nothing wrong with treasure apparently because God is going to give you literal treasure in heaven. Obviously, those that are faithful in work, if you're a lazy bum, you get none. But those of us that actually have gone out and done the soul winning, you're going to have treasure in heaven. Like, right now, people would love to have the diamonds and the pearls and the gold and all the finer things of this world. But you know what? That's going to perish and you're going to lose it. Whereas you don't realize that many of us have that in heaven, literally. We are going to have literal treasure in heaven and that treasure is going to even be better. And what's great about that treasure is there's no sorrow with it. Because, you know, just being honest, I've thought about this a few different times, just gold specifically. Because, you know, gold is a great investment. You know, why? Because it has tangible value and because they constantly print money through inflation, that constantly loses its value and gold stays high. So if you want to transfer money into an asset that's going to stay relatively stable and you're not going to really lose money over time, gold. And in fact, when you look at it from a long time period, you know, gold's up like 5,000% or something like that over the last 20 or 30 years or something like this. So it just, it's a solid makes sense investment. But here's the problem. In order to get gold, you have to buy gold. And think about this. What if you go into the pawn shop or you go into one of these gold and silver buy stores and you walk in and you start buying a bunch of gold? What about that punk teenager or young guy that's sitting behind the counter noticing that you're putting in all this gold and he notices your address on that card that you bought that gold? And do you think that guy might be incentivized to share your address or your information with someone and recognize, hey, I've noticed this guy's been buying a lot of gold or someone waiting outside the store and he tips him off and they follow you to your car and they literally jack you in the parking lot because you bought a bunch of gold or they tell their buddy and they come and rob you in the middle of the night to try and get that gold. Or once you even have that gold, what are you even going to do with it? Oh, I'm waiting for a doomsday scenario. Okay, well, in a doomsday scenario, everybody's starving and trying to figure out how to survive and you're just walking around with lumps of gold. You don't think anybody would want to kill you and just take your gold? Who are you even going to sell it to? You know, so here's the thing. Having a lot of money puts a giant target on your back. Having riches puts a big target on your back and it makes you susceptible for people who want to kill you, hurt you, and harm you because you have that money, okay? So here's the downside of having riches and money. Huge target on your back, you have to constantly worry about people stealing it. That's why people that have literal gold or precious stones, they have them in safes with security and cameras and they're constantly monitoring and they're always worried about it. Then people are saying like, hey, why don't you buy gold that's stored by a secure company? Yeah, you have a paper certificate, buddy. What are you going to do with that when, you know, the Biden hits the fan, all right? I'm using his name as a cuss word, okay. But, well, basically that paper's going to be your gold. They're going to be like, oh, sorry, it's gone. Like the gold under the World Trade Centers. Oops. Or someone broke in and literally stole it and then it's like, oops or whatever. I mean, it's like, you know, owning really expensive precious stones and metals and gold and stuff like that is a dangerous job. It's a dangerous job. That's even why the Rothschilds got into the business. Have you ever seen the Wells Fargo coach? You know what I'm talking about? That was to transport the gold. But you know what people do? They would wait on the highway and they would rob the banks as they would transfer money from one bank to another. So that's where the Jews came up with the idea of like, hey, we'll just send a letter and we'll offset accounts from basically, you know, one account to the other and we won't actually transfer any of the physical gold because if we do, we'll be killed and robbed and taken advantage of or whatever. So owning gold, there's a lot of danger and sorrow attached to that. You know, if you have expensive jewelry on, if you have expensive stuff all over you and you go in a dangerous neighborhood, you could literally get robbed by people that just want to steal the gold off your body. Flave a flave, you know? But the Bible's saying in heaven, the gold, it won't deteriorate in any way. There's no moth, there's no rust, and there's no thief. And so you don't even have to worry. You could literally just have gold sitting out in your front yard and no one's going to take it in heaven. But you know what? You don't get that. And the streets are lined with gold, so what does it even matter anyways, right? But I think that it's real. I don't think God's just saying like, I'm giving you this treasure, but it was meaningless. I think the treasure still has a great value, otherwise it wouldn't be something to work for. But the best is yet to come. The treasure in heaven is better than the treasure on this earth because you don't have to worry about figuring out how to store it and keep it safe and people figuring out where it's at and robbing you and stealing from you and whatever. And you know, if you ever decide to buy gold, be careful. Be careful. Be very careful about that kind of stuff and how you store it. I'm not even saying you can't do it or don't do it. I'm just saying it's a dangerous activity. I had to go to one other place, John 14. Here's the last one I want to bring up. And you know, we always want to have that nice house and there's nothing wrong with having a nice house today, but the problem with a nice house is it kind of slowly gets worse because of rust, moth. It kind of deteriorates. Things break, whatever. It's life. But according to the Bible, there's other houses that we could be excited about. And in John chapter 14, look at verse 2. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you. You know, your house today isn't even nice. It's not even close to as nice of the house as you're going to have in heaven. And it's a better country. You know, I enjoy the wine of this life, but the wine of the next life is going to be so much better. And the best is yet to come in so many areas of our life. We shouldn't be discouraged, we should only be encouraged because for all of us that are saved, the best is yet to come. And in many of our lives, your marriage, your kids, your finances, even your living situation, it's probably going to get better over time and you should stop being so negative about everything and start working for the mansion in heaven because if you work spiritually, you'll never lose it. You say, you know what, I'm going to try and build a carnal palace. You're going to lose that. But you can't lose the mansion in heaven that's prepared for you. And so we should work and serve the Master that's actually going to prepare us heavenly riches that will never be lost or never taken away from us. Let's close in prayer. Thank you Heavenly Father so much for the New Testament and all the better things that you gave us, the better promises, the better covenant, the better hope, the better testament. I thank you that we also have a better future ahead of us. I pray that we wouldn't allow this world to back us down mentally, wouldn't cause us to be disappointed about this world, but rather we'd look at the great opportunity. We have to store up even more riches, more treasure. There's more souls to be saved than we could ever get saved. I pray that we would just have a fervent zeal to do the spiritual things, do the spiritual works, that we wouldn't just be rich on this earth, but we'd be rich towards God and that we would understand that the best is yet to come. Amen. Let's go to song 180. Song 180, Isn't the Love of Jesus Something Wonderful? Song 180, let's sing it out. There will never be a sweeter story Story of the Savior's love divine Love that brought Him from the realms of glory Just to save a sinful soul like mine Isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful? Wonderful, wonderful Isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful? How wonderful it is to be Countless as the universe around me Reaching to the farthest soul away Saving, keeping love in ones that found me That is why my heart can truly say Isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful? Wonderful, wonderful Isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful? Wonderful it is to be Love beyond our human comprehending Love of God in Christ, how can it be? This will be my theme and never-ending Great redeeming love of Calvary Isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful? Wonderful, wonderful Isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful? Wonderful it is to be Great singing. Thank you all for coming. God bless. You are dismissed. You