The sermon titled 'Ytmp3free' focuses on the theme of the weakening and destruction of cultural, Christian, and family foundations, urging the 'righteous' to act. It emphasizes the importance of understanding biblical faith as active and requiring a response, contrasting it with 'cheap grace,' which is mere intellectual belief without action. The speaker underscores the necessity of being 'born again' and receiving eternal life through Jesus Christ, which involves not just salvation from sin but also surrendering one's life to His lordship. The sermon discusses how historical and current compromises, such as false teachings, poor leadership, and inadequate biblical translations, have eroded these foundations. It calls for the righteous to uphold strong family and church structures, which are essential for a strong community and culture. The sermon concludes with a call to become a standard against these erosions by living according to God's word and being doers of the word, not just hearers.

Father God, we thank you for tonight. We thank you for Pastor Rick, Lord God, and his work. Lord God, in the word tonight, I just pray for your blessings on it. For our hearts, Lord God, I thank you for Wednesday night, starting back up, and I thank you for the gales downstairs with children Lord for your blessings on that brother God and I just pray for your hand in tonight in Jesus name amen Okay, that's better. Thanks, Charles.

Well, as we begin our, Rex is leaving. I guess it's not that good to be back. As we begin our Wednesday nights, I thought it was important that we kind of have a direction, kind of have a theme for where we're going and what it looks like. And obviously the Bible verses they have up on the screen is kind of the summary of what we're gonna be looking at all Wednesday nights from now until a long time because the outline that we have drawn up is pretty extensive. But the question is quite simply this from Psalm 113, if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?

And as we tonight are going to look at how the foundations of our culture, Christianity, our family have been weakened and destroyed and attacked. It's also important that we, as we go through these Wednesday nights, look at what is our responsibility and what are our opportunities as the righteous. What can the righteous do? So as we look at this tonight, I think we start with quite the most important basic of What does biblical faith look like? Because that's kind of the foundation where we all have to come if we qualify to be righteous, that we qualify to see what is what is biblical faith.

1st John chapter 5 beginning at verse 11 reads this way, and this is the testimony that God has given us eternal life. And this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life. He who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

This is just foundational, obviously. First of all, it tells us what? That the testimony is that God has given us eternal life. Romans chapter 6 verse 23 tells us it's a gift of God. So it begins with God, it ends with God, it's God's gift.

He gives eternal life and this life is in his son. And we know from our teachings on Sunday mornings, we know from our teachings Wednesday night, that there's a lot of people who believe eternal life is someplace else, but it's only in Jesus. It's only in his son. And then it goes on to say, he who has the son has life. He does not have the son of God, does not have what?

This is a possessive verb. It's not passive. It's not he who believes, it's he who has. And oftentimes in the past we use an illustration. If you read your scripture any amount of time, you know that God's gift of eternal life gives peace, it gives assurance, it gives calm, It gives all of those blessings that we can have from God the Father.

He wants to change our lives. But some people don't grasp that, and so we often use the illustration of Josh, I'd really like to give you this pen. And this pen will change your life. Obviously it's not Jesus equating this pen with Jesus but I'm trying to show you something. So my heart like God's heart is to give us eternal life.

My heart is to give Josh this pen. And I think this is a valuable pen just like God so loved the world and gave his only begotten son. Obviously how valuable Jesus Christ was. As a father I'm not looking at you anymore. So we have this kind of illustration.

So I think this is a valuable pen and I'd like to give it to Josh. And Josh knows probably that I'd like to give it to him. So I have to ask the question, does Josh have the pen? No. No.

He doesn't have his pen. He who has the Son has life. So this pen is not only just between God and whoever he wants to give it to, but there has to be some kind of response to that desire. And we have that response from Scripture where Jesus has said this in John chapter 3 that we've looked at extensively on Sunday mornings. Jesus answered and said to him, most assuredly I say to you unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. So the question obviously for many, I hope it's been answered for all of us here present, but for many is like Nicodemus, how can I be born again? How does that work? Well, John chapter one is explicit enough and directive enough to tell us how this might work.

It says, but as many as receive him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not of blood nor the will of the flesh nor the will of man but of God, born of God, born again. And so the evidence of being born again is that one receives the gift of God in Jesus Christ's eternal life. Just like Josh would have to receive this pen by reaching out and receiving it. Faith is always active. It's never passive.

And Scripture goes on to say this about that, it's the blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Many times we just gloss over these beatitudes and don't really look at the reality that when it says poor in spirit, he's talking about paupers. The word is talking about someone who sees their need. And unless we see our need for a savior, we don't have any desire to, to, to repent of our sin and to receive Jesus Christ into our hearts and lives. So it begins with the conviction of sin, it begins with the reality that all have sin and it comes through the glory of God.

And then from that knowing, from that powerful viewpoint, we understand the only way that we can have our hearts cleansed is by the shed blood of Jesus Christ. And so we ask him to cleanse us of our sins. If you confess your sin, he's faithful and just to forgive, a cleanse of all unrighteousness. And so we partake of that by faith through grace, Ephesians tells us, and we repent of our sins, our heart is cleansed by his shed blood and we invite Jesus Christ in to be our Savior and our Lord. It's important that we don't just ask him to be our Savior because many people are just looking to be saved from hell, saved from death, but aren't interested in surrendering their heart and life to Jesus Christ as their Lord.

And without that surrendered heart of lordship, the salvation is not reality. We have to have that reality. And so as we look at that, we understand the gospel, that the gospel is that Jesus Christ has died for the sins of all men. Behold the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, John says. And in that taking away the sin of the world, he's offered us an opportunity.

He's offered us the provision that He requires for you and I to become righteous. And we do it by faith through grace, Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8 and 9. And so as we understand the gospel, as we understand how one becomes righteous, We understand that now God is going to give us the direction for what the righteous can do. And he tells us in Romans chapter 14, it says unless one is born again he can't see the kingdom of God. Romans chapter 14 tells us this is what the kingdom of God looks like.

The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Righteousness, being in the right standing with God, having our sins forgiven, our hearts cleansed, and our surrendered heart to His Lordship. Righteous. Peace is not life without conflict. Peace is that one mind having the same mind with Christ.

Ephesians tells us or Philippians tells us that doesn't have the same mind in you which isn't also in Christ Jesus. Then it goes on they tell us how he came down from heaven etc. But we need that at oneness that that same mind that you and I are getting by the power of the Holy Spirit, and then that calm assurance that Jesus is in control, that he's ordered and ordained every moment of our lives, Psalm 129 tells us that. And so we have this reality before us of what biblical faith really looks like. But we also understand that this has been a pact and compromise since Genesis chapter 3.

It didn't begin this century. You and I might think it's never been, it's always been. Since Genesis chapter 3, when Adam and Eve sinned and God spoke to them and spoke to the enemy, it's been attacked. And it's been looking to be compromised, it's been looking to be somehow eroded. And as we look at that attack, we begin to look at some of the historical attacks that have taken place.

We can't go through them all tonight. I don't want to go through them all. But one of the key, one of the main compromises, objections, and destruction to the true faith was outlined in a book that Dietrich Barthev wrote in 1937 called The Cost of Discipleship. And in that book he outlines what cheap grace looks like. He uses that phrase, cheap grace.

And cheap grace just says all you have to do is intellectually believe Faith no longer becomes active Faith no longer becomes a response to the Word of God Faith is something that you just agree with it's just something in your head all intellectual And people use that very similar to the way they use, you know, like when most of us leave tonight, we hear they have faith that our car starts, right? Yeah. But that's not the same kind of faith that we have in our Lord Jesus Christ. That faith requires surrender. That faith requires yielding.

That faith requires a relationship. And so without any response, people just think they believe. How many, I don't even, I hate to ask this, and I'm not gonna look over there, it's too far to look. But at the fair, I bet you 90% of the people will tell you they believe in God. I bet you 90% of the people you and I would ever ask would tell us that.

But they don't know about it. They don't have this. That's not biblical faith. It's been compromised and It's been redefined. I asked a priest one time, I said to him, I said, do you know if you're going to have it?

Remember 1 John 5 verse 3 says that you may know that you have eternal life." His response to me was, well, I think I will. I've been good. I've tried. I've done my best. Whatever.

It's all based on words. I said to him, damn, you can know. And my father did know that he had died because he had surrendered his heart and life to Jesus Christ. But up until that point in time, he had gone through seminary, He had been an Episcopalian priest for 15 years plus, and he didn't know because he didn't know the Lord. Now, we die knowing the Lord.

I have foolish words. But that's an important distinction that we understand. There used to be a chief of police from Stevens Point, and we were having Bible study together an awful lot, and he would say, well, unless you're born again Christian, and I would tell him, Joe, that's an oxymoron. If you're not born again, you're not a Christian. Well, I'm Catholic.

It doesn't make you a Christian. I'm Lutheran. It doesn't make you a Christian. You need to be born again. And so all you have to do is say, I've been born again or I'm a Christian, because that's the total of it.

So, easy belief in this, cheap grace. And then there's denominations that preach and teach that salvation is gained through the sacraments. That's a false teaching. We lived in Merrill and one of the people that we were fellowshiping with asked their Lutheran pastor, how do you know if you're going to heaven? And his answer was, I just point to my baptism certificate.

Hard to find that in God's world. But many people are deceived and deluded, and the foundation of biblical faith has been destroyed because of the false teaching that salvation comes through sacraments. It's prevalent, especially in Green Bay. It just is. And we have a mission field, obviously, that God has put us in.

Another way that it's been compromised is that church leadership has been compromised. 1 Timothy chapter three, beginning at verse one, gives us an illustration. And many people misunderstand this to the point of saying, well, this just says if a man desires a position of a bishop, I don't desire the position of a bishop. So that doesn't include me. Yes, this is for everybody.

I remember leading a group of men a number of years ago, and one of them just boldly proclaimed, I don't desire the position of a bishop. And I said, are you married? He said, yeah. I said, do you have any children? He said, yes.

I said, you're a bishop. You are the spiritual leader of your family, so you better figure this out. But it says this quite simply. If a man desires a position of a bishop, he desires a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach, Not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous, one who rules his own house well.

Having his children in submission with all reverence, for for man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the Church of God? Not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. Moreover, he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach in the snare of her doubt. Qualifications not just for somebody who's an elder in a church, qualifications for everybody who claims to be a believer, especially leaders in their family. And because a wife is a helpmate to her husband, she gets this same kind of examination as well.

But we can see some of the compromise that's happened in our culture and in religious culture. When somebody can tell his congregation that he needs another jet to spread the gospel, Jerry and I are just looking for a sessa. When you look at some of the budgets and the salaries of the pastors are higher than their mission offerings, something's wrong. Something's dramatically wrong. When you come to the end of this qualification, you say, Moreover, you must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest you fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

I went to pick up a stainless steel, maple syrup and for a pastor, and I didn't have any money and I didn't know I had to pay for it. So I said, well, the man's a pastor, you know, he's good for it. He said, they're the worst. He must have a good testimony among those who are outside. We went to buy some carpeting for the church basement and you know we were looking at good, steady, good carpeting that would last a long time and the guy wanted us to take us to the cheapest carpeting because that's what churches buy.

That's a good testimony. You have to begin to understand how just subtle little things erode the foundations and it doesn't take much. That's rats, what a limestone foundation looks like. Just little cracks come in and he gets to swim to the washing machine. You understand it doesn't take much to begin to erode and begin to destroy and begin to compromise what God is trying to do.

It tells the same thing about deacons. Those who are called to minister must be revered, not dealt with tongue, not given too much wine, not greedy for money, holding the mystery of faith with a pure conscience. But let these also be first tested, let them serve as deacons being found blameless. Likewise, their wives must be reverent, not slanderous, temperate, faithful in all things. Let deacons be the husband of one wife, ruling their children in their own houses well.

For those who have served well as deacons have gained for themselves a good standing and gratefulness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus." You know, this calling is not an employment opportunity. It's a call to serve, and all of us are called to serve. And to serve with the right heart and to serve with the qualifications, All of us need to be able to pursue these and say, this is what I'm lacking, this is what I need. But we can see the church, not God's church, not capital C, but the nominational churches ordaining LGBTQ, ordaining women, ordaining men who don't qualify being the husband of one wife. Another way to trend, Another way that it's been destroyed and eroded is poor biblical translations.

And people base their faith on that. 2 Timothy 3, chapter 3, verse 16 reads, and we all know this scripture, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good word. All scripture. We don't get to pick and choose. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and it's profitable.

And it's profitable for doctors. It's profitable for reproof, for correction, for instruction, and we grab a hold of that. But we need good translations. We need translations that don't compromise. We need translations that just don't...

I'm just going to use a term and I hate to use it almost but dumbed down so that it's so common that you lose the reverence for the Word of God and it loses its effect. The message is a great example of that. I was going to find a copy and read it to you, and I'm glad I couldn't. But you could understand, there's Bible references that have absolutely no reference to the blood of Jesus Christ. You tell me Christianity that has no reference to the blood of Jesus Christ.

You tell me Christianity that has no reference to the blood of Jesus Christ. There isn't. It's important that we have proper translations that we look at. And if you have any questions about that, Jerry and I can help you find one. We can help you find one that you can read and understand.

But it's not difficult. And we have to look at God's word properly translated to begin to grasp what biblical and how our Christianity is built on. 2 Timothy chapter 2 tells us this, study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." Young's literal translation reads this, be diligent to present thyself approved to God, a workman, irreproachable, rightly dividing the word of truth. There's a book written a number of years ago called The Law and the Gospel, and the author of that book rightly divided the word of truth by those two very important doctors, the law and the gospel. And the important distinction between the two that they're not mingled because you can't mingle the law and the gospel.

Many do not know those teachings who mingle the two. We cannot afford to do that. The law is that doctrine of the Bible that teaches us what we should do, not do, how we should be, not be, how we should act, react, not act, react. And the gospel and the law points out our need for a savior and the gospel obviously the good news is that Jesus Christ has provided that and Then at him our Lord and Savior we have the solution and so we look at rightly the body The word of truth That word in the original language talks about expounding directly, expounding the Word of God, or rightly, the dissecting the Word of God. And people are Bible tools are so available.

How many of you own a concordance? If you don't own one, I would be willing to gamble and I'm not a gambling man that it's on your Bible app on your phone. So you do, you diligently study, you look at the Word of God and say, that's, you know, I'm going to give you a little example. When we were meeting in our homes a number of years ago, I did a Bible study that God is a terrible God. Okay?

I can take you through 50 Old Testament Bible verses to tell you that God is terrible. What's the problem with that? It doesn't define terrible the way you and I now define terrible. That word in the Old Testament talks about awe-inspiring reverent and holy. If I tell you somebody's terrible you would not put that definition on it, would you?

So we have to learn and we have to give ourselves and we have all those tools available. There's Bible dictionaries, there's concordances, all of that is available to us. But you and I have to extend the effort. You and I have to be diligent. You and I have to decide we're going to study.

That's not just reading. That's studying. And you and I begin to see our responsibility that if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? This is one of the things the righteous can be doing. There's a number of people who greatly rely on commentaries, and I've got nothing against commentaries.

I think they're important. But the Bible tells us that he sent us the Holy Spirit and he will lead us into all truth and so I don't really need to know what John Schmoll thinks about this. I need to ask God to teach me all truth. And then I'll look at a commentary to see if what I'm discernin' is truth, is the same as some biblical scholars have discerned. So you need to look at good commentaries as well.

You know people, I know people who get their theology through movies and books. You know anybody who's read Left Behind or seen the movie Left Behind and based their end time theology on that movie? Most of us do. God's Word. So we ask ourselves, is the foundation of destroyed?

What can the righteous do? Here's the call. So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, His glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of Lord will lift up a standard against them. The standard.

God's people become the standard lifted up against the enemy. What about the family? You know, without strong families, there can't be a strong church. Without a strong church, there will never be a strong community. And without a strong community, there'll never be a strong culture.

But it all falls on the family. And God tells us what a family looks like. Moreover, he answered instead of them, have you not read that he made them beginning male and female, and said, For this reason man shall leave his father and mother be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh, so that they are no longer two but one flesh? Therefore when God hath joined together, let not man separate. God from the beginning made them male and female.

There's a man running for a political office in Texas that thinks there's six Texas. I've heard there are as many as 20, or 56, I forgot the number anymore. Folks, there's two. Male and female. A family is male and female.

We cannot let culture, we cannot let even the Supreme Court decision that said same-sex marriage is a spy, we cannot let that define the terms that we use. It's critical that we understand. God's intended that covenant of marriage to be lifelong, but God has joined together, let no man separate. And there's always been divorce. We know that from the New Testament.

Jesus said it was because the hardness of your heart, Moses, allowed that. So we know it wasn't a good thing. Malachi tells us God hates divorce. But the divorce rate in America has continued to increase almost steadily. There's been a little decline in the last couple of years, the last decade or so.

I think that's because people are just living together, not getting married. That's my opinion. But in 1969, California decided you don't need any fault. There was called a no fault divorce law that passed in 1969. By 1970, all 50 states has accepted that.

Not biblical reasons, no fault of the people. And the number now is close to 40% of all marriages and the divorce. And it's higher for second marriages. God intended it to be a life long commitment. And the standard that God wants upheld is that very standard of a life long commitment.

And it's skewed as I share by people who are living together without the benefit of covenant. And then all of a sudden you hear this word prenuptial. Prenuptial changes covenant to contract. This is how you need to behave. This is how you need to respond.

This is how you need and if you don't, I'll divorce you and this is what you will or will not get and people sign these prenuptial agreements expecting their marriage to fail. George Barnett, I'm not a big fan of George Barnett, but George Barnett just says there's no statistical difference between those who claim to be Christian in the world as far as divorce is concerned. Shouldn't be. Now I don't think he properly defines Christian, alright? I'll give you that.

But that aside, there should be a standard. And if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? I'll tell you. They shall fear the name of the Lord from the west, and glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy comes in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against them.

What about the vision and the culture that we live in, and this vision for America. 1620, right after the Pilgrim landed in Plymouth, Minnesota. Now they went to Massachusetts with that. Have you ever seen Plymouth Rock? It's the most disappointing thing in the world.

It's no bigger than a stable. You'd expect it to be some kind of huge thing. It's about the size of this table. Yeah, so that's right. Awesome.

Anyway, that's Riggs's side. 1630. I'll find my place here. 1630, John Winter, who was a Puritan pastor, said this, that God is looking for America to be a city set on a hill. He's quoting from Matthew chapter 5.

John Kennedy quoted that. Ronald Reagan quoted that. This was the vision of our founding fathers, that America would be different from every other country. Because it would be based on character, it would be based on Christian principle, it would be based on sacrifice. It would fulfill the call in Matthew chapter 18 that the nation will be discipled by the church, not vice versa.

Go ye therefore and disciple all nations, teach all nations, you know the rest of the verse. That's the righteous responsibility. And the church is abdicated. We've let government supply and take care of the needs of the widows and the bottomless. Whose responsibility is it?

The Bible says it's ours. We, the foundations people, And this is why it's important that we look at this extensively throughout the year because there's many, many opportunities that you and I miss or that you and I don't grasp, but there's also responsibilities that we have. And as we look at that reality, what does the standard look like? We need to examine our foundations. It begins with me.

It begins with you. It begins with Psalm 139. Search me in the name of God and know my heart. Try me. Know my anxieties.

See if there's any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. People, that takes courage to pray that. Because I am fully aware as well as you are fully aware that if you ask God to search you and bring your sin before you by the power of the Holy Spirit, he will. And that calls for a response in each and every one of our hearts. What will we do with that?

But the standard begins with me and you. It doesn't begin with a fellowship here, it doesn't begin any other place than in my heart and your heart. And we begin to understand how true that is from Matthew chapter 7. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father. Many will say to me that they, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, done many wonders in your name, and then I will declare to them, I never knew, depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.

Lots of religious activity, but not a relationship with Jesus Christ. No foundation. Therefore, whoever hears these things of mine and does them, I will liken him a wise man who built his house on a rock. When the rain descended, the floods came, the winds flew, and beat on that house did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

And The rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house and it fell. And great was its fall. If we're examining the foundations, first of all in my life and your life, but then in the life of the church, the voice of faith Bible church, the church where the capital C, we begin to understand we have to understand it needs to be built on the rock. And this is not going to come as a surprise to you I hope and I want you to understand clearly tonight, the rock is not the Word of God. The rock is Jesus Christ.

This, Every word of this points us to the rock. Every word of God's holy scripture reveals an important aspect of who Jesus is. And we need to read it from that perspective. But scripture tells us this, behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone, a rock of offense, and whoever believes on him will not be put to shame. Whoever believes on him, Jesus Christ, will not be put to shame.

It talks about a cornerstone in Psalm 118, It talks about a cornerstone in Psalm 118. It talks about a cornerstone in 1 Peter chapter 2. Jesus Christ, the cornerstone, the rock. But His word reveals the rock to us, and that's why we give it such an important place. That's why we call ourselves a Bible church because we want people to understand not only to come here but to drive by that we're basing the foundation of our faith in Jesus Christ on the Word of God that has revealed it to him.

Let's look at that. From Ephesians chapter one, read this slowly with me. In him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth. That's important because it was the word of truth that caused us to see our need for a Savior. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

It's the word of truth that brings conviction to sin. But that truth, that word of truth, needs a response. And we call that faith rightly responding to the word, the revelation of God. In Him, you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of his glory. The word of God revealing Jesus Christ to us.

The word of God revealing their need for a Savior, the law. The Word of God revealing the Gospel. The Lord Jesus Christ. Redemptive work on Calvary's cross. Critical.

And we get our theology, we get our study from the word of God. One of my favorite authors writes this, theology must work itself out in most practical relationships. Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. Our Lord, you said our Lord, that is you must be more moral than the most moral being you know. You may know all about the doctrine of sanctification, but are you running it out in the practical issues of your life?

Every bit of your life, physical, moral, spiritual, is to be judged by the standard of the atonement. Theology gives way to reality. All life has lived before the Lord. We know that from John chapter 1 verse 14. John the Baptist declared this of Jesus when he was coming to him.

Behold not only behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world, but he said this, the word has become flesh. What are the first three or four verses of John chapter one? In the beginning was the word, the word was with God, the word was God, all things. It talks about the word being Jesus Christ. And we know that this isn't Jesus Christ in reality but it is because it reveals him to us.

And it's kind of a concept which hardly grasps you, put your mind around, But it's reality. And this life lived is an obedience to the revelation that we get from God's Word. James chapter 1 says, Be doers in the word, not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. I've often times asked people, do you think you can be deceived? And many times people tell me no.

We all can. But we all need to understand that. We have to respond to the Word of God. Every time Jerry preaches on Sunday morning, every time I preach on Sunday morning, every time you turn on your radio and hear the Word of God, It's requiring a response. And people know response as a response.

In Deuteronomy chapter 30, it says, the word is buried near you in your mouth, in your heart, that you may do it. Reinforced in 1st John, now by this we know that we know him if we keep his commandments. He who says, I know him, does not keep his commandments as a liar, the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in him.

He who says he abides in him, him ought himself to walk just as he walked. Colossians chapter 1 tells us this, as you have received Christ Jesus Lord, so walk. By this we know him, if we keep his commandments. And love is perfected as we obey God's word. This is the love of God that we keep his commandment and his commandments are not burdensome.

Wow, what a concept. Yeah, oh, don't feel that steel. No, don't feel that steel. It's not burdensome. It's not hard when you surrender to Jesus Christ.

We begin to see that how we respond to God's word reflects our relationship with Him. People, our works, our obedience will never create a relationship with Jesus Christ. However, a relationship with Jesus Christ will always create a bond, obedience, always. That's our call, That's our responsibility. James tells us that faith without works is dead.

He's not saying you get you get faith by works. He's saying if you have faith, you will have works. You will be above what God wants us to be above. And don't misinterpret that word works just to mean that something that you and I will do for God. It's what God is doing in and through me a primary work.

This is the work of God if you believe in Jesus Christ. That's right. And Pius Oswald writes this, Very few of us know anything about conviction of sin. We know the experience of being disturbed because having done wrong things. But conviction of sin by the Holy Ghost blots out every relationship on earth and leaves one relationship only against thee, the only have I sinned." Psalm 51.

When a man is convicted of sin in this way, he knows with every power of his conscience that God dare not forgive him. If God did forgive him, the man would have a sense, a stronger sense of justice in God. God does forgive, but it costs the rending of his heart in the death of Christ to enable him to do so. People tell us that salvation is free and it is because you and I can't earn it, we can't pay for it, but it costs God the Father here to be the only begotten Son. And the piercing question that we all face is if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?

And Isaiah gives us that response. So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy comes in like a flood destroying the foundations, the spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against them. You and I surrender in our hearts and lives to Jesus Christ become and can become that standard. Father, I would ask that you would just search each and every one of our hearts and allow us to hunger and thirst for the truth of your word, to become the standard you've called us to be.

Recognizing, Lord, that there's been attacks in the foundations of our faith, the foundations of our culture, our family have been attacked and in some ways destroyed. But you're calling us, your people, to be a standard. And we accept that challenge tonight by your grace through faith and say to you, lead on, okay, eternal. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. All right, We'll start again next week.