Grace Chapel Bible Ministries
240721 keeping the momentum - 2024/07/21
There they are. Look at them just in time. You got Grady, you got one? Yeah, what's that? I'm asking you to never let them. Now, what's that? Not yet. Good morning. What you got? Oh, what you got? My IT guy, you're here. Oh, my goodness, is this in a mall? This is where I brought my mom. I had no mom to come. Yeah. You might have to use the lever to come. Hello there, you. We made it, sorry. Oh, I'm glad you're here. I'm never at least. Oh, my gosh, you're thirsty. Do I see you here? And 19 hours of Christmas in your home. Why the hell? Because you're well. Because you know what I mean? I don't have to get off here. And 19 hours of Christmas in your home. It's like a bad one. Yeah. Couple days, a couple days. Well, that's not the way people get Christmas in. Yeah. Where's your parents? The way people get Christmas in your home. >> [INAUDIBLE] >> [INAUDIBLE] >> [INAUDIBLE] >> [INAUDIBLE] >> We still be a first two, and we're not alone. >> [INAUDIBLE] >> That does go a little bit faster. All right. Hebrews, chapter 12 verse one. How did that work out for you, Mike Lawback? [BLANK_AUDIO] >> Oh, we just did on Coppella, I could actually hear you singing. >> Really? >> Okay. That's good. All right. >> [INAUDIBLE] >> We'll keep working. We'll keep tweaking. Well, thank you, Lord for blowing up the music. >> Yeah. >> Yeah, we do have to get through our service today. That one was like that. Yeah, it's a motivating song. I like it. I mean, Hebrew is going a little bit faster. All right. How do you guys hear up? >> Yeah. >> Nice. It's like a head singing a long time. And days go by and on. Ah, I did to you earlier. I did finally come. All right. Let's go. 12, 1. 12, 1. Hebrews. Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbered. And the sin which so easily entangles us. And let us run the endurance, the race that is set before us. Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and the professor of the faith, who for the joy set before him endured across the spising machine and has set down at the right hand of the throne of God, for consider him who has endured such hostility by sinners against himself so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood and you're striding against sin. And you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to U.S. sons. My son do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord. Nor faint when you are reproved by him. And this is the word of the Lord. Remember that Jesus Christ is our banner. Anybody remember the name of the Lord that reflects this? Remember the name for that the Lord is our banner? YAHobah Nessie. YAHobah, or if you want to say YAHobah, no say Nessie, but YAHobah Nessie. It means that Lord is our banner. And Jesus Christ is our banner. He is the one that we fix our eyes upon. And Jesus had faced every trial, every pressure, every persecution. He took the spiritual life. You see, as a man, and Jesus Christ was the man, he demonstrated the prototype. You remember that word? The prototype spiritual life. He said, "I am the way. Do it this way." As I've mentioned at some time, I think I've mentioned it. I don't really like Christian fads, but the idea of what did Jesus do. You remember the little bracelets and all that stuff? You know, to keep your mind fixed on the pattern by which Jesus laid. I think the idea that it came from isn't such a bad idea. To keep your mind. And it's not just what would Jesus do, but what did Jesus do? What did he do? Peter said to Rowan Grace in the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And that means that if I'm going to fix my eyes upon him and follow his way, I'm going to have to know his way. And that comes to the study of the Word of God. The joy that was set before him. It wasn't just that he would be glad or he was doing this for joy. We do things for joy, right? We do things. And what is it that makes us happy? We do things that sometimes we go through, maybe we've got a toothache or something. And we have to go, or we have to get our teeth drilled. And that's, okay, it's going to be painful, but afterwards I know I'm going to be happy. That's over and all that stuff. What was it? What was the joy that was set before him? What would be, I'm going to leave it out for you. What would be Jesus's joy? What was it that would make him the happiness? What would make us the happiness I hope? He was able to pay that price for our sin. He was able to be with the Father. He was able to be with the Father, okay? He was able to be with the Father to accomplish his mission? Yes. I'd say this. That... Say that one too. Hold it back up. Yeah, I was going to say that, but it was faint. All right, I think. Hello, hello. Hello? Hello? What was that about? Words. I ain't going to worry about that. Does the body up? No. Okay. All right. That one thing that any of us would be, when it comes to our prayers, when it comes to our prayers, when it comes to our prayers, let's just do it like this. You're right, accomplish his mission. What was Jesus's prayer in the garden? He had to come from the past his cup. He actually had two prayers. And that was the first prayer. What was the second prayer? Two father did it for him. That his will will be done. He actually had two prayers. Father, let this cup pass from me. Not my will, but I'm praying for your will to be done. Because his will done. So what do you think the joy of the son would be? To accomplish the will. To see the answered prayer. His prayer was answered. There was so many things we talked about the joy. We talked about this. How many of us have seen the prayer happen? They answered the prayer. And we said, oh, you've done this, right? Thank you, Lord. And yeah, I prayed for this. It happened. And you shut your mouth and you not tell nobody. Anybody ever do that? No, you're bragging. You are, like Paul says, boast, let me boast in the Lord. Let me tell you what the Lord did. I prayed for this, and this is how the Lord accomplished it. Are you not joyful? Are you not joyful when you see the hand of God move? These are lights. These are lights. They weren't even praying. And they, the waters parted. The waters, the waters parted, and they went through. What did they do? Anybody tell me about Exodus 15? What was Exodus 15? Somebody look at Exodus 15 and tell me what's going on with Exodus 15? Well, I get a drink of water. Smiling face for the first person that gets it. What did the Israelites do after crossing them? The song is Moses. What did they do? They sang. They sang. They sang. What did joyful people do? They saw him ahead of God move. And there's Moses. He's a type of Christ. The song of Moses here for the joy set before Jesus. You think Jesus sang? I think he did. I have the conjecture. But anyway, what was he joyful after it was over? Mom, you know, when you go over the resurrection story, which we're about ready to get into this week, I think, and you see him interact with the people. Don't you just read into it the happiness and his joy at that point? He's almost kidding. Remember what he did with Thomas, you know? Thomas gets a little sarcastic. Well, I think he's a little playful. Why don't you come over here and put your fingers in my wounds over here? Come on, Thomas. And I think he's having a fun time. Remember, when Mary thought he was a gardener, I think he had fun with that. And then he goes, kind of like, what's this? Mary. Mary. Hearing his voice calling her. I think he had a great time. He walked with the men of Mass. And he's walking with them. This is what he's talking about. You know, and I think he was just his humanity because he's still humanity. I think he was having a good time. I think he was really much. And that was an express joy. But the joy, what I'm saying is our joy is not only seeing, listen, it's not just how it impacts me or how I get my prayers or my sickness is gone and he's done this for me. It's not just that. It's seeing God move. It's seeing God move. I hope it brings getting this to you. I hope it brings excitement to you. To watch what God is going to do. Listen, things are coming up in a neighborhood near you. Things. We live in a very precarious time. Somebody looked at that word up the lab. No idea what it means. We live in a time of great trials. It's coming. There was a lot, a lot often we had the Republican convention this week. I've watched summer. We watched summer. We watched summer speeches. It was exciting. And still, I mentioned last week about, you know, things about President Trump almost getting shot and just out of a fraction of an inch, he could have died. And I know I said things that, comparing things that Hitler said, and I don't mean to be derogatory toward Trump on that. I'm just saying that God's hand, God kept Hitler. He was right. Hitler was protected from being assassinated because God had a plan. And he put Hitler where he is, but he also put Trump where he's at. And it made, there was so much excitement during the convention, probably, and I believe him. I believe it was more like any other convention because a lot of them who were believers in Jesus Christ, a lot of God fought a man after that. They saw the God hand of God move. And that brought an express joy. And so, sometimes you want to see that storm cloud come, folks. And I believe we are. We're going to see the trial. We're going to see the pressure. We're going to see these things coming. And I'm not saying we're going to jump around and say, oh, no. And jump around, I've got to do it, do it, do it. No, we're going to express our joy on the other side of the storm, okay? Amen? But for now, we know, and our hope brings us to on the other side of that storm, that there is going to be a joy. Darkness made, what is that? Darkness made our weeping. I think Psalm is in Psalm 50. We've been made endure for the night, but the shot of joy in the morning. Right? So Jesus, the greatest joy that can come to any of our hearts, including the joy of Jesus, is to see the hand of God move. Yes, that's within the accomplishment of the mission, because without the power of God, it wouldn't have happened. So, Hebrews, check 12 first. Okay, bring this up on that for me. For Hebrews, 12, 3, consider. Consider. Does that bring that up? Okay, consider. The word here is, "Ana legato ma. Ana legato ma. And it means it's think or reason with thoroughness and completeness, to think out carefully, to reason, thoroughly to consider carefully to reason, reasoning. This is considered two places. And I've said this many times, plus you know, you know, advantages that you have as being a pastor is that you can always go back to your favorite, favorite passage or your favorite verses. And so, I'm going to bring it back to recall to mind. There's two places in the Bible that you call that tells the, that talks about meditating on God's Word. What are the two passages that I'll often bring up? Joshua. Joshua is one. Yes, Joshua is one. I can't recite it. That's alright. That's alright. I'm not related to part from your, yeah. Exactly. We're not going to turn that. But he tells, that was the marching orders of Joshua. The Lord told Joshua to meditate on my Word. How often? Day and night. Day and night. Not just on Sunday, not just on Wednesday night. But day and night. Regardless. Mike Lawback, how do we consider it all joy if we have no content in our hearts? Why should I consider it joy? Mike, you could, you could tell somebody, consider it all joy. What, what are you going to say if they say why? We should have the content of the Word of God within our hearts. And the other one is Psalm 11, or Psalm 13, right around there. It's blessed is the man who meditates on my Word. Day and night. All the time. And that requires thinking. That requires a little bit of knowing your God. Knowing his promises. Knowing who and what God is. These things consider that. And that requires what? What? Great. What does it require to concentrate on something? It requires this. As far as thinking. It requires think these things out. We'll talk a little bit more about faith rest of the day or review some of the principles we had the other night. The cross is the perfect point. That the victory has been accomplished by the Son of Man. That's one of the things we've been focused on. I was thinking just a little bit. And I consider the Lord Jesus Christ. And I was thinking a little bit earlier about Thomas Jackson, General Thomas Jackson, in the Civil War during the Battle of Bull Run. And I'm forgetting the names out there who said what. But the army started, Confederate army started to fall back. The Union army was defeating them. And there was someone who said, I think it was one of another Captain or General somebody, a leader of the band. I won't guess who it was. But he said he was trying to motivate the troops. He looked over at General Jackson. General Jackson was sitting on his horse. He wasn't running. He was standing firm, controlling his men, leaving his men. Facing forward, faking through the battle. He said, look at him. He's standing there like a stone wall. And so focus on him, General Jackson, that's your leader. And they rallied the troops upon him. And they pressed forward and the South won the battle for that day. And that's where he got his name, Stonewall Jackson. But that's what we need to do. The Lord Jesus Christ is the author and the professor of our faith. He's the one that he is the leader. He's the one that in him is the victory. Victory is not in ourselves. Victory is not our hand-do-isms and our motivation and our personalities. Our victory isn't upon our talents or anything else. The secret of our success in the spiritual life is our focus upon the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the foundation of our faith. Not how hard you can have faith, but how much you can consider our Lord Jesus Christ. You know, we think that we were soldiers and he's not quite as the bravado as Stonewall. But when he's up, in gunfire, you know, standing up, telling them, you know, I mean, he was leading them in. And for people to be courageous in the midst of battle, I mean, that is a testimony to your faith. And that's what people see. See it. You're not trying to show your faith. You're wearing it. I mean, it's your heart. And it takes that steady walk with the roof to obtain that courage under fire. He's directed right into it because another thing by Stonewall Jackson, one of my favorite stories about him, his captain, one of his captains asked him to serve. Because how can you stay so brave in combat? How can you stand before the bullets and the cannon fire and all that? And not even hardly flinch. He says that my Christian faith allows me to feel safe as safe in battle as I do in my own bed. And that's where we must be. You see, it's not when you go into battle, going into battle, you need to consider the Lord Jesus Christ before you go into the battle. Before you're into where the bullets are flying and the bombs are going off, you need to know who you trust. You need to have a faith and peace time that's going to carry you into war. War is a little bit, I won't ever say it's too late. But by the time you get into the battle, you're not going to go back to the Bible and flip here and there and try to find answers. Because the Bible isn't just a book of answers of how to turn. It's not just a map to turn right, turn left. The Bible is a standard of thinking. It's a standard of thinking. And as we are learning the Word of God, day by day, listen, not just one day, not just one day a week. But we're talking a little today, a little tomorrow, a little tomorrow. Monday, are you going to have your Bibles open tomorrow at some point? Are you going to study something? On Tuesday, are you going to learn something the next day, end of next day? Because every day, you might have a little Bible study tomorrow. You might have a little Charles Stanley on there, you know. If I might be listening to a little bit of Tony Evans or whatever, and even them, I get, if I'm going down the road, I'm listening a little bit, I'm learning something. You see, have to be discerning, you have to be discerning because there's... But when you're listening to, it brings you to the Bible. And every day, I thank God for Bracka, for setting that standard. And I thank God for the opportunity I have every day to be teaching separate Saturday. And I'm prepared for today. But because when we go in the battle and listen, it doesn't bother me anymore that whether it's one person here or whether the whole place is filled, it doesn't matter on the number. You're here. And my job as a pastor, as a conduit, is to help you to help you handle the battle that's ahead of all of us. And ladies and gentlemen, I promise you, it's on the horizon that the enemy is, indicates the Indians are coming up over the hill. What ever matter for you want to say, the battle is upon us. It's time to go up our lines, right? And if the question is not whether or not we're going to suffer, that's not the question. The question is whether we're going to suffer. Yeah. Okay? That's what we do in Bible classes. I found the passage of George a little bit earlier. The sad thing is, many churches are not preparing their congregations for the battle. To prepare them for when they are in the battle. All right. Let's move on. So in a time of crisis, the crisis is going to come. There's going to be shock. There's going to be an event, something that strikes us personally. Maybe we just receive the booze that we have a cancer, or maybe a loved one who is stricken with some disease or something, or dying, or maybe a finance, whatever the crisis. And maybe it's a national crisis. We actually had one yesterday, if I heard of the cyber attack. You heard the cyber attack yesterday? Yesterday or Friday? Yeah, Friday. When Microsoft? Yeah. I didn't hear that, but it was. Close down the airports, close down banking, close down. And it really wasn't advertised as much. What was that? You know, it's bothersome, bothersome commitment of what might be coming down. Another, or another. Anything could be disturbing. When you receive that news, there's the shock. There's the initial shock that's going to come to you. And it's not when you get it. And going over a little bit of what we went over Tuesday night, you're going to emit the emotions. You're going to have an emotional response to it, most likely. Your body's going to go into shock. And shock is the emotions, the adrenaline, the shock, and everything. And what it is that your emotions are trying to supersede your mentality. Ladies and gentlemen, faith works with thinking, not with emoting. You've got to get the mentality back on top. You're going to have emotions. You will have tears. I don't believe in stoicism. I think stoicism is just a form of error. There's going to be tears. There's going to be hurt. There's going to be pain. There's going to be frustration. These things are natural emotions and we've got them. But your mentality has to supersede. It has to rule over those emotions. All right. You may be scared. What time am I going to operate? I will continue to trust in the Lord. And what is trust is acknowledging and knowing. So the first thing we do when we encounter that is stop. And to refuse to allow the emotions to dominate our motives, decisions, and our actions. Our motives, decisions, actions has to be dictated with our thinking. So stop. Hold on. It's not weak out. It's re-collect ourselves. Second step. Recall and refocus. Recall and refocus. That's where you're going to take something. This is where Bible study pays off, folks. This is where verse memorization pays off. Go back to things you've learned in about maybe a passage, maybe something. Maybe David and his Gregory before Goliath. Maybe something Esther. Esther saying, "I was prepared for days like this." You're going to recall bits of doctrine, bits of the Bible that you've learned in the past. Okay. This is your quick reaction for us. This is the stabilization of the mind. By the way, we can help each other do this after you've slapped somebody in the face. Hey, get a hold of your tongue. You don't have to go that far, but you're helping. Remember what we said Tuesday night? That we are helping others to refocus, to get their eyes back on the Lord. All right. Husbands and wives should be right there for each other. Third step. I'll just keep it at three steps. Third step is to apply doctrinal rationales. When you get back to thinking, now you are thinking God's thoughts action, and you are thinking your way through the crisis. And your thoughts or your decisions or motives and actions are now being decayed by rational thinking and not irrational emotions. Got it? You all right with that? You said you don't. I like stoicism. You got what? I like stoicism. And if not, I just don't have a negative light on it, and I guess it won't be a school of thought. And in depth, it's controlling your emotions. But I see why you wouldn't have a negative light on it because it's man doing it itself. I'm going back to that. What is it? Do you like stoicism? Oh, you like stoicism. But when stoicism, it's what man can do himself. We're trusting in the Lord. The Lord is our stream. But there's schools of thought in it that I like. OK. I can see where you go. I can see a little bit where you're going with because, like I said, with Stonewall Jackson a little bit earlier, he was snowing when he was sitting there. But I don't think it was so much stoicism as much as he, the Word of God also creates a command presence maybe. A visible, relaxed, no latitude. Relaxed, relaxed, no latitude. And when my brother died, I had, you know, at one point I broke down for me. You know, I broke down and I went for my brother. And, I mean, it was a outburst of weeping. I mean, my heart was breaking. And somebody said, well, they're, you know, and they started giving me some, say, well, listen, don't, you know, he's in a better place than that. I said, no, you don't have to say nothing. At that point, they didn't have to say nothing. I wasn't snowing. My heart was breaking. But at the same time, I was still fine. I wasn't, I didn't lose faith in God. I didn't lose faith in everything. My posture was... There's a time for me. Yeah, I got up. I snippled a little bit, but my heart continued to march because I had the service I had to put together. I needed that. So when somebody is breaking down, you don't have to. It doesn't necessarily mean you have to. First of all, it, they're not stuck, but it doesn't mean something wrong with their face. But through the tears, beyond the tears, is there an opportunity to trust them all? Or at this time, my heart was breaking. Jesus wept. Do you think Jesus wept before that tune? Do you think that he lost his faith at that point? No, not at all. His heart was breaking. All right. So, three steps. Stop. That's, that's stop allowing emotions to take charge, recall and refocus, bring back doctrinal viewpoints. Some type of, maybe a Bible verse, something that will prime the thinking and then apply doctrinal rationales. Every crisis must be met. Our decisions and actions must be handled from a position of strength. There is no strength behind your emotions. None. Your strength lies beyond faith and faith demands thought, thinking and the subject that you are, are focusing upon. The strength comes from a stable mind, pitched upon Jesus. Hebrews, chapter 12, verse 3, consider him who has endured such hostility. There you go. Very proud of you. You're, man, I've got the right man. Thank you. All right. Antelogia. Antelogia is rebellion against authority. With special focus upon verbal opposition, rebellion, strong opposition, defiance. Jesus came and he turned the establishment upside down. You know, status quo, if you're, if you're in status quo, Michael, I think you'll like this. Status quo, if, if everybody's in status quo, there might be a little bit of victory. They're living to let live. There, just this law, nobody comes in to upset the apple cart. You're okay. Everybody can get along. Everybody can get along. Don't let nobody come in. And even though things are wrong, where everybody's just compromising, making sure everything's right. Because, because the most, you know, the most important thing is everybody gets along. You might be all damned to hell, but just as long as everybody gets along. Jesus came in and he did not stay with the status quo. I love this example of President Trump. He did not come in. President Trump tore up the gray area. And he made a thin lot because there was a gray area that evil likes to work in that nobody, you know, that you just don't touch. You're either on this side or gray area. But when he came in, there was authority. When authority speaks, good authority. It turns things, it breaks things. It turns things upside down. And those that are, those that you, you stepped on their, their way or their way. And we've seen this, we've seen this in a church. We want it this way. But when a leader comes in and says, no, it's not going to be that way. And Jesus didn't come in. Jesus did not come in. Just like this. People think he's so weak and mild and Jesus came in. Jesus didn't come in and make him mild. Even as a lamb. Well, I just had the wrong definition of meat. Yeah, you're right. He turned. He is not only did he turn the tables upside down and ran the money changer to add that temple. But he was established in his authority or his father's authority. He was standing on his father's authority and he was cleaning out the temple. The leaders there, the Pharisees, the strides, the Sadducees, that status quo. They were, they were on top until Jesus showed up. And Jesus wasn't above them. He was one of the people. But he came and established authority. The people recognized his authority. And did the people respond to it? No. They were hostile to it. Some of them responded. They responded. Okay, thank you. They responded. And how did they respond with every attack they could? I'll go back to, you know, somebody you can see since right now in President Trump, he has endured every attack against him and it's attack against his authority. Somebody said that if you were to shut up and went back and went back to his own business and everything, he could have gotten out. But now he stayed and it disrupted the status quo. Jesus disrupted the status quo and every hostility against him was leveled against him. Everything. Not only from the physical realm, but the spiritual realm. When you step in, when you're Christian life, and listen, if you're Christian and if I pop Nito, you might be able to get away with living life and everybody loving you and getting away and dying and living comfortably, you know, because nobody knows that you're Christian. You're a Christian, but when your life reflects in a hostile environment, your life reflects the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. You're going to suffer hostility against you. He suffered hostility against his person. All sin is against God and all sin is rebellion against his majesty. We in our time and culture and place in this world, we have been accustomed to residing at any given moment and now hold on before you raise your eyebrow, Tim. But there's been one or three positions that we have resided in. We have resided in the light. We have resided in the dark or we've resided in the gray area. Okay, hold on, because really, when it comes down to it, I'll help you out here. Because really, there's only light in dark. But people have been satisfied with, as I've already described, staying in a gray area. And really, that gray area is not. Really, what the gray area is, is carnality. The truth is, I wish I put the chart back up there, I don't think it's up there. But the truth is that at any given moment, you are either in darkness or you're in the light. You are either living by your carnal nature, the flesh, or you're living according to the dictates of God. What is the gray area? The gray area is the moral side, listen, the moral side of carnality. Because if you're sitting there and you think, well, I'm good and I do this and I do that. And I may not, I hear it, you heard it. Well, I may not go to church, but that doesn't mean that, you know, I'm, you know, I'm not a bad person or all that. And I'm not questioning about your church habits or anything else like that. But the spiritual life is not lived by a basis of morality. You may be a good person. Okay, I'll give that to you. You may be, we know a lot of kind people, not people, good. It's not the Christian way of life, folks. That's not the, that's the gray area. Morality can be a two-edged sword. Morality on one end is saying, I'm too, I'm, you know, I'm, I'm too evil. I'm too bad to go to heaven. God would never forgive me. The moral side is saying, I'm good enough to go to heaven. I am living a Christian way of life by my morality. I'm a good person. So what I say again, arrogant or, or the gray area is the moral side of carnality of the flesh. It's not the spiritual life. Okay, but too many Christians live their lives in that gray area. They're not growing. They do not have any spiritual priorities established. And I'm going to ask you quite a lot. Don't answer it. They come and eat in your own heart. Where's your spiritual priorities? Do you, are you reading the Bible? Are you interested in what the scripture has to say? Peter says, grow a grace in the knowledge of the Lord. Say, I say with you stress, how are you going to do it without being a student of the word of God? Are you, are you praying? And all your priorities should be coming out of scripture. Are you praying? Do you make it? Hey, do you make it a habit of prayer? Are you going the extra mile? Are you, are you attending a Bible class? Are you learning? Are you, and a systematic, are you pursuing the Christian way of life? Are you acknowledging your sin when you do sin to God, confessing your sins before Him? That you may be turned back into the fellowship with them, that you may continue to advance. Are you doing these things? That's up to you. That's in you, in your heart. Are you learning and growing in God's Word? Are you keeping God's Word? No. I'll tell you what I am doing. I'm working a soup line. That's right. I can Saturday. I'm always there. And I may not go to church, but, you know, nonetheless, I'm a good person. I don't have to go to the church with those hypocrites. You know? And I could read the Bible on my own and learn I don't have to be under no pastor to learn the Bible. We've heard all these things before, haven't we? And a lot of these people are in that gray area and they're standing there. I'm a good person. That's on the basis of their Christianity. And we're looking at each other. Oh, look at Martha over there. Oh, Martha's such a saint. Martha, oh, Martha, she's got jewels in her crowns. She's always doing good things, you know, and stuff. You know, Martha hardly ever says anything about the Lord or she knows nothing about it. She is a nice person. She is a great Christian. You have spiritual priorities established in your life. Are you growing in the Lord? And listen, if you're willfully ignorant of God's Word, I'm going to answer for you. No, you're not. No, your heart broke, comes through scripture. And if you're willfully ignorant of God's Word, you can be good as... You can be good as the day is long and you're no close to God. Then you get a very moral person and sit in jail. One may not be licentious, but one is not living in the light either. Joshua said, "Go back to Joshua." Joshua said, "Choose this day whom you will serve." Amen. Hallelujah. I thank God for living in a time in which we are living. Because normally when times are good. Listen, remember what George Whitten said the other night a couple of weeks ago. It is in the place of where there is great persecution against the Christians. That's where Christianity is booming. And Muslim countries. People are coming to Christ in communist countries. People are coming to Christ and they're worshiping in there. They're praising the Lord and they're being persecuted for their faith. What do we do here in the United States of America? But I'm grateful for the pressure that's coming because I've got loved ones. They may or may not be Christians. I don't know. But if they are Christians, I praise the fact that there is no longer a gray area. It's a time to choose this day when you will serve. George said something the other night as well, which was very good, very profound. I don't know if he said it during the meeting or what we talked about the other night. And I think maybe in our conversation with him. But he said that one thing that he's looking for and all this woke and all this society, all this broken society kind of thing, that many of these kids are going to wake up and recognize this thing, right? And there's going to be a great repentance and they're going to say, okay, this is obviously not the truth. What is the truth? We are learning the Word of God so that when we have the opportunity that when we meet one of these broken people, that we be able to say, okay, the world has lied to you. Let me tell you what the truth is. So getting back to my point, I praise the Lord for living in the time that there's no longer a gray area. You're either on this side or that side. I say to you. And this is a decision we need to make every day choose this day, whom you will serve. Now it's the time. The rebellion that we see in the world is picking up steam. It's different. Some people will say, well, this is, it's always been like that. It's always a trend, not world, not world, not world, not globally, as we've seen, because the laws of divine establishment to include nationalism has broken down. You see nationalism was a lot, nationalism at one point was allowed to be a barrier between evil, you know, a nation could rise up even in a hostile, evil world. A nation could rise up within its borders, protected borders. And they could, they could have the freedom to, for the gospel. They could have the freedom to learn the Word of God. The borders have been broken down. There's no longer borders. We're back to the time of Noah. There's a gentleman. What did Jesus say? What did Peter say? Just like it's going to be just like in the days of Noah. There was no nations in the day of Noah. The barriers were broken down. This was a warm world. This is where we are today. Your life needs to shine today in this broken world. There are no political answers. There are no political answers. I watched, back then I watched some of the conventions this week. There was a lot of optimism. And I, you know, I prayed for President Trump. I pray that you get back in the office. I pray that I pray for good government. I, I, I'm not pessimistic in saying, "Well, he's business." No, I, I'm looking at, I'm not saying he's not a good man. But I'm saying that our answer is not political. Our answer is spiritual. And I, and I don't know what God is doing in, in this. Are we going to see a repentance in our country? I pray for it. I pray for it. But all my hope is not in the one man getting in the office in November. And I hope yours is not either. First it is a man who puts his trust in the man. All right. And again, I say nothing against President Trump and the things that are happening. It is exciting to keep your eyes open and what, you know. You maybe lift it up here. We're all right. We're going to take the hill. And you may be knocked down to, right down to your knees. Once again, like I said, the cyber attacks got me a little bit concerned. All right, so the question is, if you were, if you were arrested for being a Christian, somebody, if somebody hauled you in for being a Christian, you've heard this question before, would there be enough evidence to convict you? But I'll add a few more questions on this. Would there be enough evidence to convict you as a Christian? And what I mean, you know, and I think you get a little confused there. I mean, just hypothetically. Could people look at you and tell that you're a Christian? The way you live your life, the way you speak, the way you act, you know. Do you care? Do you care if other people see you as a Christian or not? Will you answer? I hope not. Knowing that, knowing that it's a threatening to your personal safety. It's coming down line. If I say I'm a Christian or if I may find out I'm a Christian, I could be persecuted. I hope they don't find out I'm a Christian. Or do you now and always say, I hope so. And what I'm saying is, I hope the people, because if I'm a Christian, Pognito, listen, now are people out there living all kinds of, they look, I've said this before, they look like the world, act like the world, they smell like the world. If you look at them, you would never know that they're a Christian by their behavior or anything else. And they say to you, I'm a Christian because I trust in Jesus Christ. But they have no, there's nothing about their lives that would make you think that they were a Christian. Oh Lord, I would not want. You see, and I see that has taken the Lord's name in vain, taking His reputation in vain. Like I said, I run with the crowd, my language, my speech, my conduct, my way of life. There are homosexuals out there saying, I'm a Christian because I believe in Christ. May they are and maybe you're not. What? If you're a homosexual, then why you, if you're a Christian, why are you even practicing that that lifestyle? It's contradictory. I don't, you know, well, you know, I can believe in Jesus Christ. I don't know what you're a Christian. Not just by the word you said, but we'll let the Lord handle it. But I don't want, it would be an insult for me to live a life that people cannot see the Christ in me. So, time of grace, time is a great commodity. Even as we see darkness spreading in our, and our life, it's becoming more evident. And yes, I'm saying that, listen what I'm saying, it's becoming more darkness, it's becoming more dark in our world, in our culture, in our societies. But the light is shining brighter for the believer who is growing in the Lord. Because he's got a, he and she's got their personality, or they're, they're priority straight, they're praise the Lord. And remember, dark in darkness, your light shines brighter. Your light is shining that people take notice in a dark world. And that's opportunity in itself. As Peter says, sanctify the Lord God in your heart and be ready to give an answer for the hope that's found in you because people see your light. And they want to know about it. What is it that, where, where's that hope found? What, what makes you the Christian that you are and that light is just, wow, they want to know, I want to know. I hope for each of us, we'll have that experience in the dark, this dark world that our light is shining so brightly. He, Matthew chapter 5 verse 15, I'm closing down to, I want to just going to read this out. Matthew 5, 15, nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket. But on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house, let your light shine before men in such a way that they see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Time has given the Christ following an opportunity to fortify and secure one's position in Christ. The establishment of spiritual priorities begins with the intake of the word of God. Bible knowledge or Bible doctrine. Let's close it out in prayer. Father in heaven, we love you, we praise thee. We're excited about what you're doing. Yes, Father, we do recognize that there is trials and tribulations that set before us. But we also count it as joy. Count as joy because we're going to see your hand work in such a glorious fashion. Our faith is in thee, and I pray heavily, Father, that the Spirit will continue to strengthen our heart and strengthen our minds and strengthen our soul, that we may continue to keep our armor on, keep our swords sharp, our shields up as we continue to press forward to that high ground of spiritual maturity. We praise these things at Christ's name, amen. Yes, I didn't say anything, I don't know if it's still on yet. Go ahead, yeah. But I didn't want to say anything about, because I couldn't be wrong. But I had to catch when President Trump, when President Trump was hit on the plane after he shot me and said, I heard through a day he said, it was the grace of God. I've heard a lot of these things. He said God's grace. He said God is the grace of God. I was like, ah! Yes, he did. Yes, he threw out the wicked with me. I thought that I heard that, but I didn't want to say anything. I believe he set out and is acknowledging the war and not the war. I'm interested to see where is that kicking him? You know, where is that? I wonder if he knows, does he know he knows the word grace? Surely he knows what grace is. But I wasn't.