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

🎵dramatic music plays🎵 You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You Hello and welcome to Sure Foundation Baptist Church, please find your seats and let's open our green handles to page 384 Please take your seats and find your green handles and turn to page 384 We'll sing In the Service of the King, page 384 In the Service of the King, sing it out on the first I am happy in the service of the King I am happy, oh so happy I have peace and joy that nothing else can bring In the service of the King In the service of the King Every talent I will bring I have peace and joy and blessing In the service of the King I am happy in the service of the King I am happy, oh so happy Through the sunshine and the shadow I can see In the service of the King In the service of the King Every talent I will bring I have peace and joy and blessing In the service of the King On the last, I am happy in the service of the King I am happy, oh so happy All that I possess to him I gladly bring In the service of the King In the service of the King Every talent I will bring I have peace and joy and blessing In the service of the King Great singing tonight. Brother Alex, can you open us to the world of prayer? Amen. Let's turn to page 175. We'll sing our second song, page 175. It's just like his great love. Let's sing it out loud on the first. A friend I have called Jesus Whose love is strong and true And never fails, how e'er tis dry No matter what I do A friend I have called Jesus Whose love is strong and true No matter what I do I've sinned against this love of his But when I knelt to pray Confessing all my guilt to him The sink clouds rolled away It's just like Jesus to roll the clouds away It's just like Jesus to keep me day by day It's just like Jesus all along the way It's just like his great love on the second Sometimes the clouds of trouble Be dim the sky above I cannot see my Savior's face I doubt his wondrous love But he from heaven's mercy seat Beholding my despair In pity burst the clouds between And shows me he is there It's just like Jesus to roll the clouds away It's just like Jesus to keep me day by day It's just like Jesus all along the way It's just like his great love When sorrows, clouds o'er take me And break upon my head When life seems worse than useless And I were better dead I take my grief to Jesus then Nor do I go in vain For heavenly hope he gives that cheers Like sunshine after rain It's just like Jesus to roll the clouds away It's just like Jesus to keep me day by day It's just like Jesus all along the way It's just like his great love on the last Oh, I could sing forever Of Jesus, love divine Of all his care and tenderness For this poor life of mine His love is in and over all And winds and waves obey When Jesus whispers peace be still And rolls the clouds away It's just like Jesus to roll the clouds away It's just like Jesus to keep me day by day It's just like Jesus all along the way It's just like his great love Great singing tonight If you need a bulletin, I'm not sure if we have any bulletins or not. I think we're out, so you'll just have to listen. On our front cover, we have our verse of the week. It says, For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. That's Romans 10.13. And our service times are 10.30 a.m. on Sunday mornings. And Sunday evening, we have 3.30 p.m. And then Thursday evening, our Bible study, which is, of course, tonight. And we are in the book of 1 Peter. We're going to finish off the first chapter tonight. And then we have our soul winning times listed below. We had soul winning, I think we had 26 out, zero salvations. But thank you everybody for going out and preaching the gospel, or at least attempting to. And you can see the salvation, baptisms, and attendance totals there. And then also our upcoming events. The next thing on the prophetic time calendar is our Yakima soul winning trip. So that's going to be September 28th through October 1st. And there is a sign up sheet in the group. I really need to know as soon as possible whether you're going because it's at the end of this month. So I've got to get everything reserved in advance. So I hate to be that way, but who's kind of on the fence? I'm not sure. Okay, who's going for sure? Did you sign up? If you did not sign up, come see my right hand after the service. No, I'm just kidding. Just please sign up after the service because tomorrow I'm going to call. And I'm going to call, and if you're not there on the sheet, then you're not going to get signed up. So I don't want that to happen. I want as many people to go as possible. So please sign up inside the group. If you don't know how to find it, just ask Juju or Miss Sherry and they can help you find it in there. Because stuff gets buried, but I think you can search for worksheets and things like that inside the WhatsApp group. And then you can find it real easy that way. Anyway, that's what I heard from somebody one time. But we are going to have dinner each night. Most of the meals will be provided at the hotel. The breakfast is provided and they give a pretty good breakfast. And dinners will be provided obviously. We're going to have a preaching time probably on Friday night is what I'm guessing. And then, you know, we're going to be soul winning. So we're going to do a lot of soul winning. And we're going to go into Yakima proper and start, or we're going to try to, this is a big town. So it's going to take a while to knock that town. But hopefully we stay in some receptive pockets there. It's been receptive so far pretty much everywhere we've gone. So that's going to be a great trip. If you have any questions, just see me after the service and we can talk about it. October 23rd, we have Pastor Roger Jimenez coming here for the preaching. He's going to be preaching the Sunday morning service. And the 22nd, the day before that, I don't have it in there, but it's going to be the, good night. I'm Biden-ing out tonight. I need some gingko or something. It's the pumpkin patch trip, the annual pumpkin patch trip. And we're going to go to that. And there will need to be a sign up for that. So who's going to volunteer to make the sign up for that one? Miss Rachel? No, I'm just kidding. Can you? Can you do it? Okay. So that'll be in there. And we definitely need to know the family size. There's only one, you know, usually you buy the tickets in advance and all that. So that kind of has to be solidified also. So October 27th through 29th, we're going to go up to Kent, Washington, or somewhere near there and have a preaching night. Then there will be some soloing on Friday. And then Saturday we're going to celebrate with Sure Foundation Baptist North for their fourth anniversary. And we'll have more details coming out about that soon. But at the end of that trip, which will be October 30th, I'm going to have a men's preaching night for the evening service. And we're going to have like a chili. It doesn't have to be necessarily a cook-off, but just bring your best chili. And if it has beans, that's okay because, you know, beans are allowed in chili. But, you know, if you like beanless chili, then by all means make some. And I will eat that beanless chili because it's good. I like beanless chili. So anyway, either one. Make it either way. And make sure you soak the beans for like several days before you cook them. No, I'm just kidding. I think there is something to that, though. Like if you soak the beans and like take some of the, you know what, yeah, the 2D stuff out of it or whatever, the gas. Bring some Beano for after the service. You know, we don't want to have any incidents here in the church building. So anyway, just keep that in mind. I would like to have some guys preach for that. So anyway, all the other stuff. We're a family-integrated church. That means the children and infants are welcome during the church services. Please utilize those rooms for your convenience, please. No children playing in them afterwards unless they're with a parent. Okay. So mother-baby rooms are for your convenience, but we just want to make sure that things are in a controlled environment here. And the gliders or rockers are for pregnant nursing mothers and elders only. Please don't men allowed in the mother-baby rooms and vice versa. No unattended children in any area of the building. Please no children on the piano. I kind of went off about that on Sunday, but it is still a rule. Yes, I really do mean it. And unless you have my permission, do not get on that piano. Everybody kind of looked at Kayla like Sunday night like, ooh, what's she doing up there? Did she get permission? She plays piano for the church. So she's up there. She had my permission. So anyway, okay, so silence your cell phones if you would at this time, please, and then make sure if you need an escort to your vehicle, you just grab one of the ushers and ask them to walk you to your car. The online donations are on our website. And we sang happy birthday to a bunch of people, and I think everybody was here. Who didn't get sang to? Somebody was – somebody – who, Theo? Theo Huxtable? Theo, how old are you, buddy? Three. Wow, time flies when you're having fun, right? And then I think like Amanda had a birthday last month, and she tried to skip out on us. But what she doesn't realize is that when I find out, I'm just going to make a more big deal about it and try to embarrass you to the fullest extent of the law as a pastor and make your face turn red. What date was your birthday, Amanda? August 13th. She's mad right now. Rylan, write down August 13th. Let it be written in stone that that's her birthday. And then did I miss anybody else's birthday this last month? All right. Let's sing happy birthday. Happy birthday, all right? Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, God bless you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, everybody. All right, and then something that Rylan is fired for immediately is that Remy and Kylie's, their anniversary is not in the bulletin. But it is their anniversary actually today, right? It's today. They've been married for four years. So time does fly when you're having fun, amen? So they've got two children now together. So their life is very blessed. And we're going to sing happy anniversary to them. Rylan, you're rehired. Just make sure you put it in there, all right? Happy anniversary to you. Happy anniversary to you. God bless you and keep you. Happy anniversary to you. All right. That's all I have for announcements. Let's sing another song. We'll receive the operation. All right. Let's turn our hymnals to page 363. Green hymnals to page 363, Wonderful Words of Life. Page 363 in your green hymn books. Sing it out on the first. Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of life. Let me more of their beauty see. Wonderful words of life, words of life and beauty. Teach me faith and duty. Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life. Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life. On the second, Christ the blessed one gives to all. Wonderful words of life, sinnerless to the loving call. Wonderful words of life, all so freely given, booing us to heaven. Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life. Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life. On the last, sweetly echo the gospel call. Wonderful words of life, offer pardon and peace to all. Wonderful words of life, Jesus, only Savior sanctified forever. Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life. Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life. Amen. Great singing tonight. At this time we will receive our offering. Brother Sean, can you bless the offering for us? Thank you so much for this day. Thank you Lord so much for coming to your house. I pray that you will come. I pray that you will come. I pray that you will come. I pray that you will come. Amen. I pray that you will come. I pray that you will come. I pray that you will come. I pray that you will come. I pray that you will come. I pray that you will come. I pray that you will come. I pray that you will come. I pray that you will come. I pray that you will come. I pray that you will come. We are going to go to the ward with our prayer requests. I'm going to read them out and then we will pray. Okay. So first of all I just wanted to ask for prayer for the Bada families unspoken. And also for our church building process in Spokane. We do have a couple prospects so please be in prayer that we can get into a building as soon as possible for those guys out there. And then just a hedge of protection about our church and the churches of like faith that we are friends with. And then also for Brother Alex, Sierra, Ethan, for Brother Chris, pray for him on deployment. And I hear he might be coming back sooner or something like that. But anyway, I know that they miss him and then just obviously pray for Brother Chris' safety while he is away in a foreign country. And also for Steadfast, just continue to pray for them. Pray for our church in England and also for Brother Stuckey and all the missionary work he is doing in the Philippines for Pastor Paul Waringa and also for the prospects of a future church in Poland. I think it is supposed to be in Warsaw. And also for the mothers of a child that are expecting Ms. Chantal, Ms. Sybil and Ms. Amy. And also please be in prayer for the Velasquez family. They definitely need extra prayer as far as moving. Moving is one of the worst possible things a human can do in this life. It is persecution, borderline persecution. It is rough man. I mean and they just move years of stuff so it is hard. And please just give them some prayer for grace and mercy when they are unpacking all their stuff. So it is a process. So anyway, also for Ms. Leilani, continue to pray for her health. And also for Ms. Sierra, once broken prayer for her work situation. For Brother Sean, keep his dad in prayer. Did he already get the surgery? Next Thursday, okay. So pray for Brother Pat. And I think most of the people here know him. If you don't, it is Brother Sean's dad. So just continue to pray for that situation and pray for his pacemaker to go in without a hitch. For Alex Kay, he wants prayer for a man named Preston who seemed to believe the gospel and was not ready to pray yet. And then also for Ms. Sheila, pray for her appointments. And Lord, just for things to go well with her continued pain management and just her health situation that she has been in for a while. And also for be able to make the trip to Yakima. And also for her upcoming hearing that she has to go to. And then for Ms. Crystal, to keep her aunt in prayer. Her aunt has some health issues, so please pray for her. For Ms. Alejandra, keep praying for Kara and for healing. And more test results to come back with good news. For Ms. Amanda, prayer for her court date on the 6th. And then for Steven, prayer for his healing for his leg. And it is getting better, but I think he partially tore his Achilles. So pretty painful. So that's what happens to old people when they think that they're still young and can jump on trampolines. That's why you didn't see me doing it. So I already know. I know my frame and that I'm but dust. So anyway, so Ms. Alejandra has also two other unspoken. Ms. Sherry has two unspoken. I have an unspoken. Ms. Jolene has an unspoken. Everybody else has an unspoken. No, I'm just kidding. But anyway, yeah, let's pray for all the prayer requests. All right, Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, so much for the ability to just come to you, to come to the throne of grace and ask for our prayers to be answered, Lord. I pray that you would just, Lord, you've heard everything that was said so far and all the needs that need to be met, Lord. I just pray that you would bless those prayer requests according to your mercy and your grace, Lord, and just help us, all those that are having health issues, Lord. I pray that you would just help them to get better and heal them, Lord. I also pray for those that are just awaiting for certain dates that they have to appear in some sort of scheduled setting where they're, Lord, just waiting for answers for things and all those different situations that I mentioned. Lord, I pray that you would put a hedge about our church. Lord, help us to continue to grow with quality people, and I pray that you would, Lord, just continue to bless, Lord, people getting saved. I pray for the Yakima soul-wanting trip that's coming up. I pray for all the other missionary trips we've got going on, and I pray, Lord, that you would just help us as a church to care about each other and love one another and be at peace with one another. I pray that you would help Steadfast Baptist Church, and I pray that you would just guide Pastor Shelley as he has to make some hard decisions, and I just pray that you would give them some relief from the persecution that they've been going through. And also, Lord, for the expecting ladies in our church, I pray that you would just bless them with healthy babies and that you would just help them to be having safe deliveries as they deliver their children and that the mothers would be healthy also. And, Lord, just all the things that have been mentioned, Lord, I pray that you would just bless according to your will. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Good evening. 1 Peter 1, please. The book of 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1. I forgot my glasses today, but never fear, I've got my giant print. 1 Peter 1, the Bible reads, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace unto you, and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which, according to His abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations, that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ, whom, having not seen, ye love, in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls, of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you, searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow, unto whom it was revealed that not unto themselves but unto us they did minister the things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you, with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, which things the angels desire to look into. Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ, as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance. But as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation, because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy. And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear. For as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead and gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God, seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently, being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man is the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away, but the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. Brother Alex, would you pray for us? Amen. All right, well, we're going to finish off 1 Peter chapter 1, so this is, I'm going to be mainly preaching about the power of God's Word tonight, and like maybe not everything's going to fit into that encapsulation, but a lot of it is, so I guess if you want a sermon title, that's what it is, The Power of God's Word. So I guess I only got to verse 4 last week. I was a little riled up, I guess, but I'm just going slow. There's no reason to go fast. I mean, it's a Bible study, but obviously I don't want to dwell for too long in one chapter. I know that, you know, there's a lot of people out there that will just do a study on the word and, and they'll go six weeks on that, make it an acronym or something. I'm not trying to do that, but there's a really, there's a lot in the New Testament crammed into each chapter, just very valuable truths for us, and so I just, I don't like to just skim over things like that. I like to take our time and understand what the Bible says. Obviously a lot of these could just be stand-alone sermons, but I'm going to try to make them points tonight, and so let's look down at 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 5. The Bible says, Let's have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, so much for this great church. We thank you for the Bible, Lord, and we thank you for the power that God's word has, Lord, and we just pray that you would help us to take the word of God into our ears and let it sink down into our hearts. Let us be mindful of the things of the Bible and, Lord, that we would take the scriptures to heart tonight that we learn. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. And so, the Bible says, So, if you just, let me see, let me actually get to 1 Peter in my Bible here. So, it's kept by the power of God's word through faith unto salvation. So, you know, people that say that you could lose your salvation, I mean, there's just so many verses that disprove that, and this is one of those verses that says we're kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. What do we believe in this church? You're saved by faith. You're saved by grace through faith. That's what gets you saved. But obviously, you know, it takes the word of God to be preached to someone in order for them to get that faith. The Bible says faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So, there's just people that want to, you know, say, well, I thought you said this, or I thought you said that, or, you know, it's not just the Bible that saves, it's just Jesus, you know, and people just come up with any ridiculous way to try to discredit faith alone, and they just bring up all kinds of stupid things, and in this chapter I've heard not too long ago someone preached something pretty stupid in the end, and hopefully I can dispel some of those things, because I've actually heard multiple people attack 1 Peter 1 in the very last three verses, where it's talking about how the gospel is the word of God, and it's incorruptible and all that stuff. So, I'll get to that at the end, but what I want to focus on right here is we're kept saved by God's power, not on our own power. So, it's very clear that God is the one that keeps us saved. We believe unto faith, and it's not something that's within our power at that point. You know, salvation is a free gift, and once we receive that gift, see, other gifts we can get and give those back to people, we could just re-gift them to somebody else, but the only way to re-gift salvation is to actually take salvation and give it to somebody else, and then they get the gift, but you still have your gift. So, you can't lose your gift, nobody can take it away, turn to John 10 verse 27, and these are great scriptures to use in your gospel presentation, John 10 verse 27, because a lot of people out there that we're going to run into, and we've got to learn how to dispel the lie that you can lose your salvation, because a lot of people believe it. I mean, I would say a vast majority of people that say they're Christians would say that they believe you can lose it somehow, and so we have to be able to get that down in our gospel presentation, be able to just smoke that idea and destroy it with God's word. So, John 10 verse 27 says, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. So, I mean, those are some really clear scriptures, it's eternal, you'll never perish, and that nobody can pluck you out of God's hand, alright? So, if it says, Neither shall any man, so no man can take away your salvation, and it says, My Father which gave them me is greater than all. God is the most powerful being in the universe, he's the power of the universe. There's nobody that even comes close to how powerful God is. God made everything, God created everything, everything is within God's power, and, you know, his power is also to keep us saved once we get saved, but the Bible says here he is greater than all. The Father is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. And, you know, a really good thing to say to someone that believes that you can lose it, is to say, well, if it says no man is able to, then you can't even pluck yourself out of God's hand, right? That's a great proof text to show that the power of God is what keeps you saved, and that's what 1 Peter 1 verse 5 is saying. We're kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. We're saved by faith, that's how we're saved, and God keeps us saved by his power. And nobody's able to take God's power and take us out of his hand, take us out of his grip, not even ourselves, nobody else. So, when people believe that God is the one that keeps them saved by his power, then they're not going to believe that they can lose their salvation, because ultimately if you believe you can lose your salvation, you're saying that you have the power to give it back. You have the power to become unsaved, and everything rests upon you, when in reality everything rests upon Christ. Isn't that the truth? Everything rests upon Christ and the shed blood and the power of the Gospel and the resurrection. You know, we don't have any power. We didn't pay for the salvation, Christ paid for the salvation, and so if he gives it away as a free gift, it's a gift that you can't give back. And people will say, well, I believe you can just give the gift back, you can put it back on the shelf. And I have yet to find the verse that says that you can put your salvation back on a shelf, or where this shelf came from, or where you theoretically put this shelf. I don't know if it's your grandma's hutch in your house or what it is, but have you heard people say that? You can put it back on the shelf. It's like, what shelf? What are you talking about? Anyway, I'm getting off into the weeds here, but we are kept by the power of God's Word, by the power of God, not our own. Number two tonight, we have a call to go through trials. And the Word of God specifically tells us that we are going to go through trials in our lives. Look at 1 Peter 1, verse number 6. 1 Peter 1, verse 6 says, Now, manifold temptations can be temptations to sin, I understand that, but it's also, when you're tempted, you're going through a trial. Some kind of trial in your life, and that might be a temptation to sin, and to turn your back on God, to leave the things of God, to leave church, to leave reading your Bible or praying to God, or saying, you know what, all this stuff's got me beat down, I'm just done, I can't take it anymore, my life is over. We need to stand strong through trials because they do make you heavy, they make you feel like, man, I can't believe, you know, I keep going through all these temptations, through all these trials in this heaviness, but look what it says in verse 7. That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than that of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. So when Christ comes back, those trials that you go through, those things that you go through, when you pass the test, when you pass the trial and you come out the other end of it, when you come out of the storm and your head's held high because you stood up for what was right, or you continue to fight through your temptations to quit and your temptations to blame other people and then quit. You know, I mean, I always think of Job when I think of trials and temptations because he went through the harshest ones that I can think of besides, of course, the Lord Jesus going through the worst and even being put to death on the cross, I mean, that's a pretty bad trial where it ends in his martyrdom, right? So, but the Bible says that our trial of faith is more precious than gold. And so God uses our temptations to make us stronger and make us better Christians. When I get attacked now, I've been a pastor for four years now, when the attacks come, I don't feel them like I used to. When the first major ones hit me and the first accusations and all these things that have come at me, you know, yeah, it was tough. And obviously there might be some that are even tougher than those that I feel that same feeling. It's a feeling of anxiety. It's a feeling of heaviness like it's saying here. And it's like, well, how am I going to get through this? This is really tough. But the more you go through things, the better you are at going through them again. It's not going to affect you as much the next time. But when you fail in your first temptations and your first trials, you know, I think that God's probably going to just keep helping you to understand that first one. Maybe you failed to go through a trial correctly. Well, maybe another one's going to come that's not exactly like that one, but it's similar. And like, you know, those that don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it, right? I mean, I know that's not a Bible verse, but it is true. So if you don't learn from the history of your previous trials, then you're probably doomed to repeat that trial and temptation until you get it right. Because there's a lot of things that are thrown our way, but know this for sure. You're going to go through trials of your faith. You're going to go through trials and temptations in your daily life, in your work life. You're going to go through temptations and trials within your own immediate family, within your outside family, with people in the public, people in the world. And you're not necessarily going to have to go through the trials that other people go through, but be ready to go through any of them. Be ready to go and stand up and say, you know what, I'm with Jesus. I'm going to stick with Jesus. Thanks for all your offers. Thanks for all your... You know, a lot of times people are discouraging you and trying to say you're in a cult and all this other stuff when, you know, they just... How can you say that someone's in a cult if they're just following what the Bible says? Isn't that what we're supposed to do? Like, I fail to just... Sometimes people, like, will say, you guys are in a cult. Why? Because we believe what the Bible says? Because I'm pretty sure that's what we're supposed to be doing, believing what the Bible says. I think that when you're not believing what the Bible says, that's usually when you're actually in a cult, right? So turn to Acts chapter 14 verse 21. Acts chapter 14 verse 21. The Bible says, And when they had preached the gospel to that city and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra and to Iconium and Antioch, confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith. What was one of the things that Paul was teaching people? When he'd go back and talk to them, he'd say, Continue in the faith. Why? Because there's so many temptations for you to quit the faith. And there's so many reasons why you can give to quit the faith. I just can't go through this anymore. I'm going to quit. Or so-and-so treated me bad at church, so I'm going to quit. So-and-so said this, and so I'm going to quit. My family thinks I'm off the deep end. I'm going to quit. And so what is that ultimately doing? You're trading in your faith for something else. And that's not what we need to do. We need to continue in the faith. And that we must, through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God. It doesn't say before the tribulation, like everybody wants to preach, that Jesus is going to come and he's got the feathered pillow and he's just going to take you up into heaven when nobody else is looking and your clothes are going to be left in a pile. And those pesky tribulation saints, they're the ones that are going to have to actually go through it. They deserve it. But these lukewarm, phony, baloney Christians that won't even go soul winning, they're the ones that are going to be taken out of here because they don't deserve to go through tribulation. No, that's not what it says. It says, through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God. We've got to prepare ourselves, folks, because it's going to get worse. You can't hide from it. There was this guy on Twitter and there was the dirtbag atheist that's always messing with us all the time. He put a clip of me saying that women could divorce men at any time and it's a hard time for people to be married basically at this time because there's just no-fault divorce is basically what I was getting at. And then some person on there replied to his tweet and said, don't put us in the lump with these guys. We don't believe like that or whatever. And he's claiming to be a Christian, but he's just dogging out Bible preaching. He's dogging out and they're mocking him and teasing him and saying, well, we're not going to pick which ones are the right Christians and stuff like that. And they're just teasing this guy relentlessly. And it's like, hey, if you wouldn't have compromised, buddy, if you weren't some kind of stinking Democrat or whatever you are and quit compromising your faith and stop apologizing for Bible preaching, then maybe they wouldn't be mocking you and teasing you right now because the guy's a clown. How are you going to put Democrat as we're a Christian, don't listen to that guy. He's bad, but he's going to call himself a Democrat. No, I think, buddy, you got the wrong Jesus because Jesus wasn't a socialist Democrat. Well, he gave free food to people. Yeah, he did. But he also says if man doesn't work, neither should he eat. So how about that? Why don't you mix that in with your actual teachings instead of just saying, acting like Jesus was this hippie, long-haired social justice warrior or something. He was ripping people's faces off and not leaving them any cloak for their sins. So the Bible says we're going to go through trials. We're going to go through tribulation. And turn to Luke 6, verse 22. Obviously, you want to keep your finger in 1 Peter 1, verse 6. But Luke 6, verse 22 says, Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and shall cast your name out as evil for the Son of man's sake. What's it say, though? Blessed are ye when people do this to you. But when people are actually hating you because you're sticking up for Christ, and they're reproaching you, and they're separating themselves from your company, when they hate your ever-living guts because of what you believe, they cast your name out as evil, and that's for Jesus' sake, the Son of man's sake, not for our own sake. But the Bible says we're blessed. It says, Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven, for in the like manner did the fathers unto the prophets. So we're supposed to rejoice in the day that we go through some kind of tribulation like that. If someone's persecuting you for your faith, if someone's saying, hey, that person's a bad person because they believe that, you know, whatever Jesus teaches in the Bible, that's what we should stick up for. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they had the chance to bow down just like everybody else did, but you know what, they stood up, and they said, no, no matter what you say, oh King, they were respectful, but whether we die or not, we're not going to bow down to that image, period. And so what was their persecution to get thrown in the flames? But because they stood up and because they believed that Jesus was going to get them through that, He did get them through that. You couldn't even smell the smoke on their clothes. The fire was heated seven times worse than it should have been. The people that threw those soldiers in, I mean, excuse me, that threw them in, the soldiers that threw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fire died because the fire was so hot that they just like dropped dead. Right? So we have to stick up for the Lord no matter what. And don't be ashamed of His word and of His name. Now look at Mark chapter 13 verse 9. Mark chapter 13 verse 9. I'm really going to spend some time on this tonight. Mark chapter 13 verse 9, because I think people just get this wrong idea that Christianity is just, hey, go to church, go out with a smile on your face, everything's always going to be okay and hunky-dory and all that kind of stuff. But in reality, that's not what you see happen in the Bible. You see prophets going up against kings and telling them that they're wrong and getting slapped around for it. You know, Jeremiah the prophet got smacked in the face because he preached the word of God. You know, in a country that was supposed to be a theocracy, in a country where the king was supposed to write out his own copy of the Bible and that he was supposed to not multiply wives to himself or multiply horses from Egypt. You know, there was all these rules and laws. It was a religious-based government. And so even in a place that's a religious-based government, things can go wrong. There were none of the king or his noblemen or even backing up a prophet of God who's clearly a prophet. But anyway, Mark 13 verse 9 says, But take heed to yourselves, for they shall deliver you up to councils. And in the synagogues ye shall be beaten, and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them. And the gospel must first be published among all nations, but when they shall lead you and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak. Neither do ye premeditate, but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour that speak ye, for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost. So, you know, there's going to be a time again in this earth when we're going to be brought to council. We're going to be brought to different, you know, it says the synagogue. It says, you know, they're going to be brought before kings and they're going to deliver you up. They're going to be traitors and betray you. And it says to not premeditate what you're going to say because God's going to give you what you need to say to those people. Don't write yourself a speech. Just say what God's put on your heart, basically. It says in verse 12, Now the brother shall betray the brother to the death, or to death, and the father the son, and children shall rise up against their parents and shall cause them to be put to death. And he shall be hated of all men for my name's sake, but he that shall endure till the end of the scene shall be saved. So it's talking about your own family, the people that you grew up with in your same household, your own father, your own mother, your own children will rise up against the parents and shall cause them to be put to death. It's not just a slap on the wrist we're talking about, folks. And it's talking about the very people that cradled you after you were born, the people that taught you how to read and write or how to walk and talk and all the other different things that you do. Those very people will deliver you to be put to death. I mean, think about that. So we're not called to have some sweetie pie life where everything is just great all the time. There's going to come a time when people are going to think that they're doing God a service by turning you over. There's going to be a time when we won't be able to trust our own family members, won't be able to trust even some of the people in our own house. It says, and you shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. So why would they hate us? Because they hate Jesus. So if they hate Jesus, they're going to hate the Christians that follow him because right now the teachings of Jesus, people used to respect the teachings of Jesus even if they weren't saved or whatever. They would just still hold lip service and say, I don't have a problem with that or whatever. But that's changing. Now they're saying, I saw a comment yesterday that said, what did it say? It said, you know, all these people are saying things from the same book. Maybe the book is the problem. Maybe the book is the problem. But they're not saying that about the Quran. They're not saying that about any other religion. It's just Christianity because they don't like the fact that they can't murder their own children. They don't like the fact that the Bible says that homosexuality is an abomination before God, the fight of our generation. They don't want to accept that we have our own faith, that we don't have to believe the stinking lies that are coming out of Hollywood and from the music industry and from all these different places that the devil is just putting these things into people's minds, you know, and Christians are just swallowing it up and acting like it's not a big deal. You know, it is a big deal. We've got to stand up for what's right and true. Now turn to Job chapter 23 verse 10. Job chapter 23 verse 10. I've got to hurry up here. But we're going to go through, you know, this isn't talking about, this could be you. I mean, those last ones I just read through, those are future things. They're things that happened during the apostles' time and they've happened for a long time, but it's specifically also talking about another time which is yet to be the future where there's a great tribulation. There's a great falling away from the faith and we see the beginnings of it now. Job 23 verse 10 says, But he knoweth the way that I take, when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. See, 1 Peter said that the trials that we go through are better than gold. So when Job was tried, he came forth as gold. But it says, My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined, neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips, I esteem the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. How do we get through a trial? Well, Job just kind of gave us the answer right there. You know, walk in the steps of the Lord, you know, keep his way, don't decline from his way, and don't go back from the commandment of his lips, you know, and esteem the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. Do you really, do you think that way? Because that's how Job thought, that's how Job got through his big trial and he got double back what he lost and then he got ten more kids. So, you know, God blessed him for going through those trials and he's going to bless us for going through persecutions and trials also. Turn to 2 Timothy 3 verse 11. The apostle Paul was no stranger to going through afflictions and persecutions. Peter was no stranger. Peter was persecuted. Peter was arrested. Peter was beaten. Peter understood he had to be delivered out of prison. Remember he was chained up? And then he even got kicked in the side by an angel. You know, he's breaking them out. He's like, get up Peter. Let me give you one more. You know, so he understood persecutions but we need to understand them too. Look at verse 11, it says, Persecutions, afflictions which came unto me at Antioch at Iconium and Lystra. Remember he was just talking about that? In Acts chapter 14? What persecutions I endured, but out of them all the Lord delivered me. See, we're going to be put into persecutions. We're going to be put into trials. We're going to be put into temptations. But look, the way Paul handled it is the way you're supposed to handle it and he was delivered. Even though he got stoned with stones that everybody thought he was dead, he still got up and walked to the next town the next day and preached the gospel. I mean the guy, you know, Paul means little. You know, so he changed his name to Paul, but like, God didn't change his name to Paul. His name was Saul. But Saul in the Bible, the first king of Israel, was head and shoulders above everybody else, wasn't he? He was a big guy. He was a, you know, everybody probably perceived him as a tough guy, but Paul was little. But he was more tough than Saul was. You know, Saul was afraid to fight Goliath and I understand why he was, but like, Paul wasn't afraid to walk into a city where he was about to get killed and still preach the gospel anyway. So he went through many trials and tribulations and persecutions. It says, but, verse 12, Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. We're going to go through persecution, folks, and the Bible says if you live godly in Christ Jesus, it's going to happen at some point. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. Does it say evil men and seducers are going to get better and better? No, it says they're going to get worse and worse. So the more time goes on, the worse it's going to get. It says, and I love this part, it says in verse 14, but continue. But continue. That should be, you know, something that we put, drill into our brains, we should drill it into our hearts, you know, and even though all this stuff is getting worse, even though we go through the worst kind of trials and temptations, it says but continue. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them. So we've got to continue in the things that we learned and from the people that are teaching us the right things, from the Bible, of course, knowing of whom thou hast learned them. So we're going to be hated, we're going to be persecuted in this life, but how will you handle it when it comes to you? How are you going to handle it? Are you going to stand up or are you going to bow down? That's a fair question, isn't it? Are you going to stand up or are you going to bow down with the pressure? Oh, I didn't know I was going to have to lose my job. Oh, well, I didn't know my mom was going to hate my guts. Oh, I didn't know my dad was never going to talk to me again. I didn't know my kids were going to hate me. You know, what is your ultimate thing that's going to take you out? Because that's what the devil is going to have planned for you. So you just have to have this, you know, Jesus said that he set his face like a flint that he was going to go to Jerusalem. That's how you have to set your face like a flint and say, you know what, no matter what comes, no matter who hates me, no matter what I'm about to go through, I'm going to keep walking towards Jerusalem. I'm going to keep walking in the faith. I'm not going to quit. I'm not going to back down. I'm not going to bow down. I'm going to keep going, but continue. But continue, right? So when the Lord comes back, you want to have an attaboy instead of being a disgrace, don't you? Because nobody wants their boss, I talked about this when I was on my trip in Texas, but nobody wants to be that person that's caught not working. When you're at work, you want to be caught working. If your boss comes up to you, all of a sudden it surprises you, and you're like, got your feet kicked up on the desk, you're on Facebook, or whatever, or you're not working, you're not doing what you're supposed to, when your boss catches you not doing what you're supposed to, it's embarrassing, isn't it? It's shameful. But how much more shameful is it going to be when the Lord Jesus Christ comes and you weren't doing what you were supposed to be doing? You stopped, you didn't continue. You know, in a video game at the arcade, some of you might know what I'm talking about, an arcade, but you used to have to keep pumping quarters in it, right? They keep going, and they designed the video games to make you want to just spend everything you had to try to get to the next level. So there was a little thing that would come up, and it would give you a 10-second countdown, sometimes 20 seconds, because they really want you to put that money in, but it was continue, question mark. So we want to continue, not to pump quarters into a video game, we want to continue serving the Lord, and when he comes, we want him to be proud of us. We want him to be thankful for the things that we've done and say, you know, to give us an, what's an attaboy? It's a pat on the back, right? So we don't have to necessarily get our pat on the back for every single thing we do, but isn't it good every once in a while that someone acknowledges the good things that you do and how hard you work and things like that? I've never been the person that needs to be, you know, didn't I do a good job, boss? I mean, it's just, it gets weird, right? Okay? When people are like that, it's just like, that's cringey, bro. Like, just stop. Let him, you know, acknowledge that you did a good job or whatever. Turn to Matthew chapter 25, verse 19. Matthew chapter 25, verse 19. So when we come, when Jesus comes back, we want to be getting the attaboy or attagirl from him that we've done well, all right? Matthew 25, verse 19 says, after a long time, the Lord of those servants cometh. That's talking about, I mean, basically in the parables, it's talking about Jesus coming back, right? And reckoneth with them. See, there's going to be a day when he comes back and there's going to be a day when he gives us rewards for the things that we've done in our lives as Christians. And it says, And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliverest unto me five talents. Behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. So this person's putting in the work and God gave them a certain amount of talent and they doubled what God gave to them, right? And it says, His Lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant. That's what you call an attaboy. That's when God says, Well done. Isn't that what you want, though? Isn't that what you would rather have? The well done, thou good and faithful servant? Not, Hey, you slothful and wicked person. What are you doing? What are you thinking about? Thou hast been faithful over a few things. I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. So, you know, that's what I want to be told to me. I don't want to be told to me, you know, you wicked and slothful servant. You know, I gave you this and you didn't take advantage of it. You actually just did nothing. I don't want to be that servant. I want to be a servant that God is well pleased with. Now, back to 1 Peter 1, verse number 8. 1 Peter 1, verse number 8. 1 Peter 1 says, Whom having not seen, ye love, in whom though now ye see him not, yet believing ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. So Peter's talking about, you know, we haven't seen Jesus yet. You know, when he comes back, that'll be the first time we ever see him. But see, other people have seen him. There was people that lived in that generation that actually did see him. They met him. They interacted with him. Some people rejected him. A lot of people rejected him. Some people hated his guts, but some people loved him. Some people followed him the best that they could, right? So, but we have not seen him, yet we love him. And it says, in whom though now ye see him, not yet believing. So, this is a distinction that we have with other generations before us, because think about it, in the Old Testament, there's a lot of times when God would reveal himself in certain ways. He'd reveal himself through some powerful miracle, through some leading of miracles from prophets, and people would generally, when God would show his power and stuff, that's when people would follow him. Obviously there was people that didn't need all that stuff, but that's what they had. Even when Jesus was here, he was doing signs and wonders and miracles, raising people from the dead, walking on water, all this stuff. We haven't seen that stuff, but yet we still believe. And, you know, God holds that as a, you know, we have a special blessing because of that. That's how he wanted it to be in the end times. Isn't that interesting? Like, we would think, well, maybe more people would get saved if they would just see the things that God did, but you know what he wants? His people to have faith. And so it's hard for people to have faith, you know, there's even people that didn't have faith, but saw the miracles of God. So God wants us to have faith in his word that he's going to do what he says he's going to do, and that we're supposed to believe in him by our eyes of faith. Now, Hebrews, go ahead and turn to John chapter 20. I'm going to read Hebrews 11, verse 1. Hebrews 11, 1 says, Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Now obviously in that chapter, in Hebrews 11, it tells us a lot of different people who live by faith. But see, not everybody only lived by faith, and they would live by, you know, the Jews wanted a sign, right? And the Greeks, they want wisdom. But, you know, God wants us to operate by faith. Faith is the substance, the things that actually are there, of things hoped for. What are we hoping for? We're hoping for heaven. We're hoping to be able to spend time with our Savior that loved us, you know, and it says it's the evidence of things not seen. We haven't seen Jesus, but the evidence, the fact that we have the faith is what God wants us to have, and He nails us down for us in John chapter 20. Look at verse number 27. It says, Then saith he to Thomas, because remember Thomas is called Doubting Thomas, and he was doubting because he wasn't there when Jesus came into the room, and he said, Even if I reach in and touch the prints of the nails or reach into his side, I'm not going to believe, right? So that's how a lot of people are, right? Isn't that how atheists are? Unless I can test them in a test tube, I'm not going to believe. Now, but obviously I think Thomas was a good guy. He was just, you know, he was lacking a lot of faith here, but it says, Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands, and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side, and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. So why did Thomas believe? Didn't he say he wasn't going to believe until he had the opportunity to do it? Then he sees Jesus before his eyes, you know, and I don't think he did put his hands in there. I don't think he did thrust his hand into his side. I think once he saw him, he probably felt like an idiot. But you know what he did? He did believe. And he said, Be not faithless, but believing. And so he got to see the risen Christ appear before him, and the wounds were still in him, obviously, because Jesus was offering for him to do that. Thomas realizes exactly who he is, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed. Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed. He's talking about a future people that have not yet, you know, he's talking about people in the future from here on out. And even if you think about it, the apostles had great power to do miracles and signs and wonders, and that kind of kick-started the movement of Christianity after that. But after that, it's just faith. It's just the Word of God is what we're supposed to believe, and that's how God wants it. Okay? Look at verse 30, it says, And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written that you might believe, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life through his name. Those are wonderful scriptures there. The things in the book of John are written that we might believe, because we haven't seen. See, but the power of God's Word of the New Testament, the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Word of God has so much power that people, even thousands of years later, can be shown the Word of God and shown the Holy Scriptures and given the Gospel, and they believe even though they haven't seen. And the Bible says we're blessed because of that. So everybody in this room that believes in Jesus, you're blessed. And I believe there might be even an extra blessing for that. It kind of sounds like there is. So, I mean, because you think about the people that Moses let out, a lot of those people died in the wilderness. Why? Because they didn't have faith. They didn't believe. Even though they had manna every single morning, they had to have known that God put it there, but then you still have to believe in Jesus and trust in Him to save you. It's not just that you believe that He is. You believe the miracles that He does and all the wonderful things He did in the Old Testament. He did miracles. He parted the Red Sea. He killed 185,000 people in one day that were trying to come against Hezekiah. He allowed Gideon and 300 men to destroy the Midianite army with 300 people, and they said it was like grasshoppers, you know, just a multitude innumerable. A one million man army of people came against Asa and he defeated them through the power of God. So, I mean, God just does a lot of great miracles in the Old Testament. I mean, David killed Goliath, a man that was a man of war from his youth, and David was a youth that didn't even have any armor on. He killed him with one shot, right? Through the power of God. So, you know, Christ appeared. He had those mighty miracles and works that He did, and the apostles spread the gospel with signs and wonders, and now we have the word of God. No signs and wonders being done. We have the completed word of God. That's what we have. They didn't have that then. They didn't have that. They didn't have, you know, Romans chapter, you know, that Philip didn't have Romans chapter 3. It wasn't written yet. But, you know, there's obviously other scriptures that, you know, obviously could reveal that you're a sinner or whatever, but we have something that the saints in times past did not have the completed word of God. And so it holds more power than any miracle. And you might not think that that's true, but it is true. It's very true that the fact that this word can get people to believe and people will say, well, I believe if a miracle happened, but they probably wouldn't. In reality, they would not believe. And, you know, those that believe in Jesus through preaching of this book have a greater blessing because we have not personally and visibly seen these things happen, but we just believe it by faith. We believe this book by faith, and that's enough. That's enough to save you. And Jesus said that those that believe without seeing are blessed for this fact. Turn back to 1 Peter 1, verse number 10. 1 Peter 1, verse number 10. It says, Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you. So the prophets didn't even know really the plan. They knew parts of the plan. But, you know, let me tell you something. The gospel was a mystery in the Old Testament. The gospel was a mystery. So it says, Searching what or of what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. The gospel was a mystery. You know, the prophets inquired and searched diligently and they didn't fully understand the big picture. But one thing that's great and true is that salvation always has been by faith. And even though they didn't understand the whole plan, they still believed in the name of the Lord and called upon his name and were saved. Because that's what it takes to be saved. It takes faith. Now, the things of the gospel were kept hidden. Right? Turn to Romans chapter 16 and this is a fact. This is a fact of scripture. They did not know the plan completely. They did not understand completely the gospel. Look at Romans chapter 16, verse 25. It says, Now to him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery which was kept since the world began. So, the revelation of Jesus Christ is a new thing. It's a New Testament thing and it's something for the end times. But, I mean, why do you think that it was kept secret though? I mean, I don't know. I could say that what I think is that the devil didn't know the plan either. So, if the prophets didn't understand the complete plan then the devil didn't know it either. So, because if he really realized what was going to happen when he allowed Christ to be nailed to the cross he probably wouldn't have let it happen. He probably would have tried to avoid that from happening somehow. And so I believe that the gospel had to be kept a mystery to a certain extent. Okay? And obviously we have all the scriptures that we can go back and look and say well, yeah, that was talking about Jesus. That was a foreshadowing of Jesus. But, they didn't completely understand it. I don't even think Isaiah completely understood. I mean, they did understand some things. They understood that Jesus was going to be born in Bethlehem. But, they didn't understand everything else because when Jesus came he kind of flipped all their knowledge on its head. They're like, can any good thing come out of Galilee? But, the scriptures did say out of Galilee, you know, he says out of Egypt have I called my son. Like, they just couldn't put together the whole thing because it's very cryptic and dark sentences. Right? So, but it says, but now is made manifest. That means it's fully shown. Right? And by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God made known to all nations for the obedience of faith. See, now everything is fully realized. Now everything is fully seen. And everything has been brought to the point where we know what all those scriptures mean now, but they didn't have that stuff. But what's better, to have the word of God now or to have miracles that we had shown to people that we don't even know? You know, it's still the word of God, but like, you know, people were afraid of God when God came out of Egypt because of all the things that he did. But even in Gideon's time he was like, where's all these miracles that were talked about by our fathers? Because when God's not being, you know, when people aren't, you know, believing in God like they should and following God like they should, he's just going to kind of back out and not be part of it. But he's not doing that with us because his Holy Spirit has been dwelled each and every single believer, and so we have something that they didn't have back then, also the Spirit of grace, the Spirit of God. So, you know, people were still saved in the Old Testament, still saved the same way by faith, but how it was ultimately performed was a mystery to them. Look at verse number 12 in 1 Peter, it says, unto whom it was revealed that not unto themselves but unto us, they did minister to the things which are now reported unto them, or excuse me, unto you, by that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven which things the angels desire to look into. So they didn't have these things themselves, isn't that what it says? It was revealed that not unto themselves but unto us, they did minister to the things. So the people that were like, you know, these great people in the Bible, you know, they had great things, you know, obviously God worked through them mightily and things like that, but they ultimately didn't understand everything, they gave it to us to understand. So we are specially blessed, even in the generation that we live in, that we have the Word of God that goes throughout all the nations, isn't that what it said in Romans chapter 16? That now it's manifest to all nations. So the whole world is way more blessed now than it ever has been in history because of the gospel being revealed to us in a special way through the Word of God. So, and in verse 13 we have the call to be holy. The call to be holy, it says, Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober and hope to the end, for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, not fashion yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance. So the Bible says to gird up the loins of your mind, it's a very interesting term being used there, but what did God tell people that were kind of, he was like trying to get them to gear up and mobilize. He's like, get up and put your belt on. You know, the guy, there's a guy that I used to work with a long time ago and he, you know, he always didn't wear a belt. It's like any time he ever bent over to do something, it's like, oh bro, come on man, like I don't want to see that. And so when you gird up your loins, it's cinching your belt up so that you can get some work done and it's kind of hard when your pants are falling down, right? Now all these people around, you know, they're even wearing belts and their pants are still underneath their, you know, it's like, I don't want to look at your behind buddy. You know, what in the world is wrong with you? How can you run with your pants sagging all the way down to your ankles? Or past your butt? I mean, it's just really weird. But what's God, God's not telling them to gird up the loins of their physical pants or whatever. He's talking about girding up the loins of your mind. So he wants us to, you know, get ready to use our mind, that mind that we have which is of Christ, that mind we have, that new mind, that new man is that mind of Christ and he wants us to make sure that we're ready to use it. And how do we do that? Well, we'll be sober, hope to the end. And it says, as obedient children, in verse 14, not fashion yourselves according to the former lust and your ignorance. So what's he saying? He's saying, hey, you know, you've gotten a great thing. You've gotten, you know, the gospel preached that nobody understood in times past. Well, why don't you use the extra things that you have in your arsenal and utilize those things in your daily life? Because we have that mind of Christ. Now we have that Holy Spirit indwelling us and so we have the ability to fight sin more than other people did in times past. We had, you know, and it's saying for us to be obedient children. We're children of God by faith. And it says, not fashion yourselves according to the former lust in your ignorance. When you were ignorant, when you weren't saved, when you didn't understand these things, you know, don't fall back into those things. It says, but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation. So God wants us to be holy. He wants us to be separate. He wants, you know, he says, come out from among them and be separate, sayeth the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing. We're not supposed to yoke ourselves together with unbelievers. You know, we need to get ourselves out of the hog pen as soon as possible. When you first get saved, you're still, you know, piggy. You still got the slime on you, you still got the mud and all that stuff, but as you learn the Bible and as you learn God's Word, which we have the whole thing, then God wants you to just start being separate. Start being sanctified. Stop living in the ignorance of your former lust. It says, you know, God's holy. And it says, he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation. It's not talking about the conversation like where you're talking with someone. It's talking about your manner of life. The way you live your life, let that be holy. It says, because it is written, be ye holy, for I am holy. And if you call on the Father, who without respect of persons, judgeeth according to every man's work past the time of your sojourning here in fear. See, what comes, you know, with great power comes great responsibility or whatever, right? You know, we've been given this great responsibility of the gospel and these extra revelations that nobody else had in times past, but that comes with a price for us too. It comes with the price of that God expects us to, you know, he's not going to be a respecter of persons. He expects us to pass our time sojourning in this life, in this tabernacle, in this body that we live in, in fear. He wants us to fear him. He wants us to fear to keep his commandments and live a holy life, as much as we possibly can. You know, that's something that we strive for. We strive to be holy. We strive to be separated. We strive these things, but nobody in this room is perfect, including yours truly. But it's something that we're striving for. It's a prize that we're trying to reach out and grab. It's something, the mark that we're trying to get to, we're trying to finish the race being as separated as we can, being as holy as we can, and just getting rid of those former lusts and the weight of the sin that doth easily beset us, right? Sin, you know, is something that's going to weigh us down and drag us down and make us not as effective as we could be. So, it says, verse 18, Forasmuch as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation or lifestyle received by the tradition of your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Nobody's ever been able to do that before, and nobody's ever going to be able to do it again. Christ is the only one that could live that perfect life to where He was literally without blemish, without spot, without sin. And the Bible says we're not redeemed by corruptible things. So obviously that's something that cannot be corrupted. It's never going to be able to be gainsaid. It's never going to be able to be destroyed. What Christ did for us was something that's eternal and is incorruptible. Therefore, He was the first begotten of the dead. Therefore, He was the first one to have a glorified body. And you know what? Still today is the only one with a glorified body because He was perfect and His blood was shed for us and His blood had zero sin attached to it. It says the precious blood of Christ. You know, John MacArthur might want to learn what the precious blood of Christ actually means with His bloodless gospel. The stinking raging heretic is what He is. And you know, people really say that they like John MacArthur. It's like, how can you like someone that's just a flat out devil? The guy is a devil. He's not saved and he teaches lordship, salvation, amongst lots of other things that are just total heresy. He says you can take the mark of the beast and still be saved. And he still sticks to his guns on the fact that he says that the blood of Christ isn't what saves us. It was the death that he did. Well, it was the whole thing, right? I mean, it was the death, the burial, and the resurrection. But the blood of Christ is what was placed on the mercy seat and it cleanses everybody in the world from all their sins. That's pretty powerful. That's why it's precious. The greatest cleaning agent of all time. Blood. Precious blood. Sinless blood. Sinless blood. It says, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you. So he was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but now in these last times he was shown to us. Now, this was 2,000 years ago when it's saying in these last times. So are we living in the last times? We are living in the last times. He was living in the last times. It says, who by him do believe in God that raised him up from the dead and gave him glory that your faith and hope might be in God. So God raised Jesus from the dead, but also the Bible also says the Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead. The Bible also says that he raised himself from the dead. And you know how that's possible? Because all three are God. So Jesus, he said, you know, I lay down my life, but he also was able to take up his own life. He also was able to raise himself from the dead, but also the Father and the Spirit. But it's interesting, it says that your faith and hope might be in God, and Jesus Christ is who we're supposed to believe in, so obviously Jesus Christ is God. See, the Bible just says that over and over again, too. But people just say, where does Jesus say that Jesus was God? Well, it's saying it right there, isn't it? That if you believe in him, if you believe in God, that's Jesus, you call upon Jesus' name that that faith and hope might be in God. So God is who we're supposed to have faith in. We're also supposed to have faith in Jesus. He's the one that saved us. So not in miracles, not in signs and wonders, not in physically seeing Jesus, but in actually believing by faith that he can save us. Verse 22, Seeing that ye have purified your souls and obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently. So Christ said, a new commandment I give unto you in John chapter 13. He says in John 13, 34, A new commandment I give unto you that ye love one another as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. Now, that's a new commandment that Christ gave to us that we're supposed to love one another. What's Peter talking about? He's saying that you've purified your souls to obeying the truth, but you're also supposed to have unfeigned love for the brethren. That means not fake. You're supposed to actually really do it. You're supposed to actually really love your brothers and sisters in Christ. You know, the Bible says we're supposed to love God with all of our hearts, minds, soul and strength, but we're also supposed to love our neighbor as ourself. And I don't know if you realize this, but everybody in here is your neighbor. So, you know, we're supposed to love of the lost, but, you know, we're also supposed to love each other. And that's what the Bible says. Jesus said, By this shall all men know that you're my disciples, if you have love one to another. So a good clue that people, if people don't love you that are your brother and sister in Christ, that's kind of a red flag, isn't it? Because what is that? Like when we go to someone's door and they go, Yeah, I'm saved or whatever. You know, they're just like rude to you at the door. You know what I'm talking about? Why are you even asking me that question? It's just like, chill. Like I'd be happy if somebody came to my door and asked if I was saved. I'd be like, praise God. You're the first one. Thank you. You know what I mean? But people are just like, Why are you here? Yeah, I'm saved. You know, just like slam the door on here like, Okay, I can really tell. You're just, the fruit of the Spirit is like abounding in you. So we're supposed to love each other. We're supposed to have unfeigned love for the brethren. Now let's move on to the last section here. And it's 1 Peter 1.23. So the word of God saves, okay? I've heard people say, It's just Jesus that saves. Well, I know it's Jesus that saves. I know what He did for us saves us. But you know, there's more to the gospel than just saying the name Jesus. I've told this story before, but there was this guy who was mocking Jesus before I was even saved. And he had a button. He was actually a queer, by the way. He had a button on his shirt that said Jesus on it. And he was just like mocking the fact that he had this button. Jesus, you know, he was just using it to blaspheme and stuff like that. And, you know, but if you just walked up to somebody's door and you had a button on your shirt that said Jesus on it, you just walked up and knocked on the door and when they answered you went, Jesus, are they going to get saved? No, they're not. A lot of people have bumper stickers on the back of their car that say, you know, that you should believe in Jesus and all this other stuff, which is good. But, like, honk if you love Jesus if you've seen those ones. But, you know, that's not going to get people saved. Maybe it'll make people think about God, which is good. But you just walking up and saying Jesus to someone is not going to get them saved. Look what it says in verse number 23. Being born again. That's talking about being saved, right? Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible. By the word of God which liveth and abideth forever. So what does it say that it's not corruptible seed, right? So I've used this to apply this to false Bible versions. And I believe that that still holds true today. I still stand on the fact that I think that false Bible versions, unless they actually have the real gospel, the right words in there, that they can't save. So, you know, why does the devil make a bunch of counterfeit copies of Bibles? Well, because he wants people to not get saved. He wants people to think the word of God is foolish. He wants there to be contradictions in it. He doesn't want people to be saved. So if it's a corrupted version and it doesn't have the right verses in it or whatever, they're not going to get saved from that. Now if it is the word of God in there and they just, like, took pieces of the word of God out of a corrupted Bible version, I think that someone could get saved if it's the word of God, okay? But simply just my belief on this is that fake Bible verses are not going to get you saved. But obviously the seed it's also talking about is Christ. You know, Christ is the seed, but look what it says. It's specifically talking about the Bible. Because it says, not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the word of God. That's what it's talking about. The word of God which liveth and abideth forever. Now obviously Jesus Christ is the word of God. He's living and abiding forever. I agree that Jesus is what saves, but it's not necessarily only talking about that. It's talking about the word of God. That is the seed that the sower went out to sow. It was the word of God. It says it in the parable in, I think, the book of Mark. But it says, All flesh is as grass, and the glory of man as the flower of grass, the grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away. But the word of the Lord endureth forever, and this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. So people will say that it's not talking about the Bible, but what do you mean it's not talking about the Bible? It says, but the word of the Lord endureth forever. It's talking about the Bible. What's he been talking about this whole chapter? He's been talking about the word of God. So what do you mean it's not talking about that? You can't just say, oh, it's just Jesus. It is Jesus that saves. But listen, the word of God has to be preached to someone. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. It's not just someone walking up and saying Jesus to somebody. Why do we go out with Bibles and knock on people's door and say, can I show you from the Bible what it takes to be saved? Why do we do that? So they can see that what the Bible says for themselves, we can explain it to them. How shall they hear without a preacher? But then you've got bozos that are saying stuff like, well, it's just not talking about the Bible versions. Look, we've got the King James Bible here, folks. We have a perfect Bible in English for us to understand. There's no greater book on the planet than this. Now, obviously, other languages have translated the word of God. I get that. But this has been the most powerful translation in the last 400 years of any language in the world, period. So how are you going to say it's not talking about the Bible? This is the incorruptible word of God that we're holding in our hands. When we go to people's doors, we're showing them not our words, not our testimony, not Jesus bottled down or dumbed down so somebody can understand it better with our own words. That's not what we're supposed to do. We're supposed to go up and preach people the word of God. You know why? Because it says, but the word of the Lord endures forever, and this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. How are we going to show them the word of God if we don't have it? You know, Jesus is in heaven right now. He's not on our shoulders waiting to explain things to people. Now, He might be inside our heart. The Holy Spirit is inside our heart. The Holy Spirit has part of that transaction that happens, obviously. It's convincing people of sin. It's convicting people of sin. He goes before us as we go to preach to these doors, and He prepares hearts for people to be saved. I understand that, but we don't have literally Jesus there to, like, here, tap in Jesus. He's going to explain the rest to you. See you later. No, it's the word of God, folks. It's what it's talking about. Now, turn to 2 Peter 1, verse 16. 2 Peter 1, verse 16. I'm going to close after this. This is the last verse I have for you, the last verse is. But even Peter explains it in a very special way for us to understand, I think, what he's meaning here. Look what it says in verse 16. But we have not followed cunningly devised fables, stories, when we made known unto the power of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. They were there. Peter was there. They're not just making up stories, you know, to tell. It says, For He received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. So he heard God say that, he heard the Father say that, and this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with Him in the holy mount. Talking about the mount of transfiguration, right? Where Jesus was glorified amongst them. So it says, We have also a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto you do well that you take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts. What's the more sure word of prophecy? It's talking about the Bible. How do I know that's true? Look at verse number 20. It says, Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. So what is Peter talking about? What's the more sure word of prophecy? It's the Word of God. It's the Bible. That no prophecy of the Scriptures of any private interpretations. Isn't it talking about the Scriptures? Look at verse 21. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. So the Word of God is a prophecy not by the will of man. The preaching in the Bible is not from man. It's from holy men of God who spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. They spake it. They wrote it down. Okay? It's perfect. It's infallible. It's inspired. And that is what we use to get people saved. It's not walking up and going, Hey, Jesus saves, bro. Stupid. That's not what the Bible is saying there. It's talking about the Word of God. The Word of the Lord endureth forever. Okay? And obviously, yes, Jesus saves. I'm not saying that he doesn't. So somebody's going to be like, Wow, you're saying Jesus doesn't save? I'm not saying that. Of course he saves. But the Gospel, the story that we get it from is from what? If we didn't have this book, how would you know about Jesus? You know, you play the game campfire or whatever, or telephone or whatever it's called, and you tell one person something and it gets around the whole campfire, and at the end it doesn't say what the person said at the beginning. And because sometimes people intentionally twist those words as it goes around intentionally, so it'll sound stupid as it comes out the other end, right? You've played before, right? So, but that's not what happens with the Bible. The Bible is the Word of God. It's sure. It's copied. It's right. It's translated correctly. And you know what? That is what the power of the Gospel is in this book. This is all we have. So why do we believe the Bible is true? Because we have it. It tells us what to believe. It tells us how we're supposed to believe. How many times did I show you this by faith? How many times have I showed you it's a gift? How many times in the Bible does it show you that it's eternal and you can't lose it? How many times? This is what we have to hold our hat on at the end of the day. This is what we preach. This is the Gospel. We preach the Gospel from God's Word. Period. With no apologies. Everything in this book I believe. I don't care how hairy it is. I don't care how people think it's just some goat herders from the Bronze Age that just faked out some fables and stories that Peter said it wasn't cuddling to defy his fables. He says it's the Word of God. So that's 1 Peter chapter 1. Alright, let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you Lord for this great book. Lord, that we know that we can preach the Gospel and people are going to get saved out of it. Lord, I pray that you just help us to just love this book and to cherish it and all the promises that are in it are ours and all the promises that you say are going to come to pass. Everything that you say is going to come to pass at the end of time is going to come to pass, Lord. Pray you just help us when we go through our fiery trials, Lord, that you would be there with us and Lord, even though we might not be able to see you, we might not be able to feel you. We know that you're there because the Bible says that you are. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Now let's turn our handles to page 248. Let's sing our last song, page 248. Now I Belong to Jesus, page 248. Now I Belong to Jesus, page 248. Sing it out loud on the first. Jesus, my Lord, will love me forever From Him no power of evil can sever He gave His life to ransom my soul Now I belong to Him Now I belong to Jesus Jesus belongs to me Not for the years of time alone But for eternity Once I was lost in heaven Once I was lost in sin's degradation Jesus came down to bring me salvation Lifted me up from sorrow and shame Now I belong to Him Now I belong to Jesus Jesus belongs to me Not for the years of time alone But for eternity Joy floods my soul for Jesus has saved me Freed me from sin that long had enslaved me This precious blood He gave to redeem Now I belong to Him Now I belong to Jesus Jesus belongs to me Not for the years of time alone But for eternity Amen. Great singing. We'd like to see you back here Sunday morning at 10 30 and also at 3 30 on Sunday as well. Brother Sean, can you end this with a word of prayer?