Transcript for:
Romans 9:25,33 -The Rock- Pastor Rick Beaudry 2023-08-13

Romans chapter 9 verses 25 through 33. Would you open your Bibles and please stand with me as we read God's holy word together. Romans chapter 9 beginning with verse 25. As he saith also in Hosea, I will call them my people which were not my people, and her beloved which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there shall they be called the children of the living God. Isaiah also cries concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved. For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness, because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. And as Isaiah said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodom, and been made like unto Gomorrah. What shall we say then, that the Gentiles, which followed not after the righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith? But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness? Wherefore, because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law, for they stumbled at that stumbling stone. As it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone, a rock of offense, and whosoever believes on him shall not be ashamed. Heavenly Father, we're so excited to be here. We thank you for your Holy Word. We thank you, Lord, we don't need to guess. We don't need to privately interpret what we think or hope it means, Lord. We have the help of your Holy Spirit. Words have meaning, and Lord, we pray that you'd be our teacher, and that you'd open the Scriptures to our understanding, Lord. That you'd reveal yourself to us, that you'd reveal the plan of salvation. You'd reveal more and more of your plan for the nation of Israel. That, Lord, we'd be prophetically on point, that we would be those who are watching, who are looking, who are connecting the dots of all the different aspects of the prophecies that you've given us for these last days. That we'd not be like that generation in your first coming, Lord, that couldn't even discern the times they were living in. They could discern the weather, but they couldn't discern the time of your coming, your first coming. So, Lord, help us to be aware, to be children of light, that that day would not overtake us unaware. That we would be watching, that we'd have that hope, that blessed hope in our heart, and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior one day, as we're watching, as we're anticipating your soon return. So, bless now, Lord. Give us that sense of urgency of just how close we are to you coming for us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Would you please be seated? The rock. Jesus is the rock. Not Wayne, or whatever his name is, you know. He's the rock. He's the real rock. Jesus is the rock of our salvation. He's the foundation stone, number one, for his beloved, his church, the redeemed. And so, Paul is addressing all of the replacement theology people out there. It's funny that very few churches will even teach prophecy. Very few churches. 27% of the Bible is prophecy. They won't teach the book of Revelation. But if they do, they teach it in an allegorical manner. They teach it in a symbolic manner. They don't attack it from literal. They don't use the Old Testament to connect the dots to what's being said in the book of Revelation. As you're studying the book of Revelation, you need to go to Matthew 24. You need to go to Luke 19. You need to go to Daniel, the book of Daniel. You need to go all through the Old Testament to understand what the writer's saying, to connect the dots, because God is prophetically letting people know of the apocalypse. The apocalypse of the book of Revelation is the unveiling of Jesus Christ. The volume of the book is written of him, Jesus said. Search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life. And they are they which testify of me. And so, the testimony of Jesus Christ is the spirit of prophecy. So, Paul, as he's given the gospel in the first eight chapters, chapter 9, as you recall, is the chapter of Israel's past election. Chapter 10, the chapter of Israel's present, in the present tense during the church age, Israel, by and large, is rejecting Jesus as the Messiah, as they've continued to reject him. Chapter 11 is, prophetically speaking, of the future restoration of Israel. So, if I am a person, a pastor, that has the view of replacement theology, that the church has replaced Israel, then I won't be able to look at these prophecies, nor Romans 9, 10, 11, and be able to teach them with a prophetic view of Israel coming back into the land. I would miss May 14th, 1948, when Israel was reborn, according to Ezekiel, chapters 36 and 37, the nation of Israel is reborn as a nation. The bones, the flesh came on the bones. That's unprecedented in history. But if you understand that as a fulfillment of prophecy, you're not a replacement theology person. Now you realize that Jesus is coming again, that he's going to set up his kingdom upon earth. He's going to rule and reign for a thousand years, which is also spoken of in the book of Revelation, chapter 20. And the kingdom age of Isaiah, chapter 11 and all, where the wolf and the lion's going to lie down with the lamb, and the little child leading them near an adder's den and all that. So the curse is going to be reversed. He's going to rule and reign with a rod of righteousness. You and I are going to rule and reign with him as kings and priests. Everything's going to be made right during the kingdom age. You won't see that. You won't think you're in the kingdom age. Some of them are teaching we're already ushering toward the kingdom age. We're going to force the kingdom to come by voting in Donald Trump or some evangelical that's going to take control of all the bad guys, and we're going to cause the world to be good. The Bible teaches the exact opposite. Jesus said, Except those days be shortened, no flesh would be saved. But for the lack's sake, for the nation of Israel, Jesus is going to intervene. We're going to see Jesus ruling and reigning as king of kings and lord of lords. We're going to see David as his prince. We're going to see the nation of Israel dominant over Gentile nations. Presently we're in what's called the times of the Gentiles, where you have Gentiles in dominant role over Israel in the world today. And so all the peace plans and all the different things that we do with Israel, and then give up land and give up your land and we'll have peace, go back to the old borders, all that sort of thing. Eventually the whole world is going to turn their back upon the nation of Israel. They're a cup of trembling. The devil hates the nation of Israel in Revelation 12. He's going to chase after the woman. He's going to chase after the nation of Israel as they have to flee from Jerusalem to the area of Basra, Mount Seir, present day Petra, southern Jordan. And there's going to be a remnant of Jews there holding out. And Jesus said, You're not going to see me again until you say, Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord. And they're going to cry out on him. Two-thirds, as we're going to see in our study, are going to be wiped out. A one-third remnant is going to come through the 77th of Daniel, the time of Jacob's trouble. These are prophecies being fulfilled. And the apostle Paul is taking the time there, a parenthesis, to answer the questions that people have in regard to the nation of Israel. Well, what's this mean concerning Israel? What's this mean, Paul? And so in chapter 9 here, in their past election, Paul's pointing out that, No, they're elected. There's going to be a remnant that's saved. And he's going to point that out. And so we see in Romans 11-25 that this is going to continue until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. When the fullness of the Gentiles be come in, this blindness that's happened in part where there are some Jews coming to Christ, some Messianic Jews, if you will. That's the term they're using, but they're Christians. It started out, the church started out completely Jewish in Jerusalem, and then later the Samaritans, later the house of Cornelius, all the way to Damascus, and predominantly the Gentiles are the ones in this church age. Paul said in Ephesians 3 that it was a mystery once hid, but now revealed in that God would bring forth both Jew and Gentile together in one body, the body of Christ, which we call the church. We didn't see the church in the Old Testament unless you're a student of types, and you could see that Enoch was a type of the church and that Enoch walked with God and was not. If you could see Noah, you could see Noah as a type of the nation of Israel in the ark and coming through the judgment of the tribulation, if you will, and being preserved coming through it. If you could see in Daniel, you could see Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego as a type of the nation of Israel going through the fiery furnace and you could see Daniel unmentioned as a type of the church. And so all through the Bible, there's the picture, there's the picture of the rapture, picture of the church, but to the Jew, the mind of the Jew, Paul, he's saying it was a mystery, a mystery, a secret once hid, but now revealed. Now we get it. There's no middle wall of partition. The church is made up of both Jew and Gentile, male, female, barbarian, Scythian, bond or free, and in Romans 5, out of every tribe, tongue, kindred, and nation, you know, and so the glorious dispensation of the church age that you and I are presently in. So the rock, Jesus is the rock of our salvation. Sounds like a song. He is the foundation stone, number one, for his beloved, his church, the redeemed, verse 25 and 26. He says, The Jews weren't his people. He's saying, I'm going to call them all the way back in Hosea. I'm going to call them my people. But again, in the mind of the Jew, they didn't understand this. Paul didn't understand this. They thought of Jews as being just dogs. They thought of Jews, or excuse me, Gentiles as dogs. They thought of the Gentiles being dogs, just fuels for the fires of hell, that they weren't worthy, that we're the chosen people and all. But he's saying, no, back in Hosea, I will call them my people, which were not my people, and her beloved, which was not beloved. Verse 26. And it shall come to pass that in the place where it was said unto them, you're not my people, there shall they be called the children of the living God. So Paul is quoting Hosea chapter two, verse 23. He's also quoting Hosea one, verse 10, and he's doing it to prove that God intended to save Gentiles all along. It was part of his desire all along. Now he raised up Abraham and he told Abram, Abram, leave that idolatrous home. You know, that you're in with Tara. Leave Ur of the Chaldeans, leave Babylon, and I'm going to bring you along, and I'm going to bless you, and your seed, your seed singular, all nations of the earth are going to be blessed. In order for God to bring forth the Messiah, he had to first produce a people. We know them today as the Hebrews, the Jews, from Abraham. And not through Ishmael, but in Isaac shall thy seed be called. So narrowed down from Abraham to Isaac, and not through Esau, but through Jacob. And the kingly tribe of Judah, which is praise. And then the Davidic covenant, that the king of kings and lord of lords would come through the loins of David as the house of Bethlehem, the house of bread and all. And so we have the Abrahamic covenant, the Davidic covenant, and our king Jesus is altogether Jewish. He's Jewish. If you're anti-Semitic, if you hate Jews, then you hate Jesus. We've been grafted into that true vine, you and I as Gentiles. We've been grafted in and we're allowed to bear fruit because we've been grafted into that root and offspring of David in Jesus Christ. And so all along he intended to do this. People didn't see it. It's a mystery once hid, now revealed. Over and over again you'll see several different times that word mystery used in Ephesians chapter 3. Romans 9.24, even us whom he has called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles. Revelation 5 verse 9, the four and twenty elders, the twenty-four elders that are representing us in heaven, the church is in heaven in chapter 4. Isn't that great? The tribulation period starts in chapter 6. Where's the church? Jesus said, pray always that you escape these things and stand before the Son of God. Where's Jesus? In heaven. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am, there you may be also. Where's Jesus? In heaven. After these things. Come up hither in chapter 4, is what he's saying to them. In chapter 5, the church is in heaven, still in heaven. And Jesus, the line of the tribe of Judah, is the only one worthy to open the scroll, loose the seals, the title deed to the earth, you know. And so we see our representatives there, the four and twenty elders. They sung a new song saying thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof. For thou was slain and has redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, tongue, people, and nation. God's not prejudiced. You shouldn't be prejudiced. You shouldn't teach your kids, nor be taught, nor give in to hatred toward people for any reason at all. We're instructed to love God with all of our heart, all of our mind, all of our soul, all of our strength, love our neighbor as ourself. And so the church is made up of black, white, brown, yellow, all of it. Every tribe, tongue, nation. I have a hard time with that. But all different languages, all. It's glorious. It's wonderful. That we have the glorious gospel. And each and every person in their uniqueness is made by God. He doesn't make junk. Why can't we celebrate the uniqueness of one another rather than trying to compartmentalize everybody has to look or talk or act like this one model, this one idol, if you will, you know. And God didn't make it that way. It's exciting. I see people at the gym and they're tall and lanky and I think there's a runner, you know. And I see a gal come in or a guy come in and they're shorter and big legs. There's a squatter. That person can squat a ton, you know. And it's just God made us all different. And it's it's a frustration to try and be something you're not, you know. Recognize who he's made you run with your strengths and and use them for his glory. Use them for his kingdom and his glory. Just it's exciting. Some people can sing. Some can't. You know, I'm not called to be a singer, but I can make a joyful noise. You know, I can do that and I can blend in with you guys. But I marvel. I thank the Lord for the uniqueness, the gifting, the way that all of us are able to glorify him as we yield our members, as we yield what he's given to us, as we give it back unto him. And man, there's no boasting except in Christ. He says in verse 25 there, his beloved. What's that mean? His beloved. It means to esteem love, to find one's joy in someone. Kathy is my beloved. I esteem love toward her. You know, I derive great pleasure, great joy, great communion and fellowship and just a just a sweet intimacy and friendship. She's my beloved. The Lord Jesus says you're his beloved. You're the one he derives great pleasure and great joy in. He says, I don't call you servants anymore. I call you friends. Intimacy. Not a stranger, not an orphan, not someone distant. And he promises he's never going to divorce you. He's never going to reject you. He's never going to disqualify you. He loves you. Your blood bought. He purchased you with his blood. In that last song we sang, Philippians 1 verse 6, being confident in this very thing that he that has begun a good work in you, that he will complete it. Nothing in Romans 8 is ever going to be able to separate you from the love of God that's in Christ Jesus. Nothing or no one, nobody, nothing, no circumstances, nothing is ever going to be able to remove you from that place of being the object of his love, his beloved, that he wants to, according to Ephesians 2 verse 7, in the ages to come, continue to pour out his kindness, his love upon you. He's not going to grow tired of you. He's not going to look for a trophy wife later as you get older. That's not who he is. That's not who he is. He loves always. He's going to love you to the uttermost. And he's going to give you your new glorified body. Perfect glorified body. This outward man is perishing. The inward man is renewed day by day. And we're his beloved. He lavishes love upon his Gentile bride. In Song of Solomon 6 verse 3, I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine. What a joyous blessing to have the intimacy on the human level of having somebody that we can share our lives with, the two coming together as one, that of marriage. For those that are single or even those that are married, the greater relationship is on the spiritual plane, being one with Christ, that communion and fellowship with him, being married to Jesus, being the bride of Christ. I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine. The love of a husband and wife, that of Abraham and Sarah, that of Isaac and Rebecca, that of Jacob and Rachel. In Genesis 29, 11, Jacob kissed Rachel and lifted up his voice and he wept. Real men cry. Jesus wept. Can you believe this? Here you've got this guy Jacob, the conniver. And he just swindled his brother Esau out of the blessings, out of everything. And Rebecca, his mother, she's like, hey, we just tricked Isaac. Oh, Esau's really bad. He's mad. He's threatening to kill you and all. I need to get you to my brother Laban's house. You need to take off, bro. You need to leave, son. And so he takes off. And as he's taking off and he's heading there, he comes to a well. He comes to an area where people are watering their sheep. And there's a huge stone there and the shepherds are all coming close. And he asks, hey, do you guys know a guy named Laban? And they, oh, yeah, we know Laban. He's a homie. We know him. Yeah. Is he well? Is he OK? Yeah, he's well. And, oh, by the way, his daughter, Rachel, she's bringing the sheep right now. Now, Rachel's a shepherdess, a prophetess, right? Philip's four daughters were virgins and prophetesses speaking forth the word of God. So I picture Rachel, the shepherdess, watching over the sheep. Us moms, you moms, you're shepherdess. You're tending the sheep. Men, we might be shepherds in the masculine, but we're also tending. We're watching over sheep. Jesus is the chief shepherd, the great shepherd. And so we see David as the shepherd boy. All through the Scripture, we see the shepherds present. Well, Rachel, it doesn't look like she has any brothers to do the sheep duty. And so she's there bringing the sheep. And there's a certain point in time in the day where the stone would be removed and then there would be like a chain of command of different groups that can water their sheep. Well, Jacob, when he saw Rachel, says he wept. He's overwhelmed with emotion. I mean, she, in my vernacular growing up in eighth grade, we used to say, she's a fox. So today maybe they say, she's hot. I don't know what they say today. But in any way, she's really a looker. And he saw her and oh man, he's overwhelmed. Thank God I didn't marry a beast back home. Thank God I waited for God's best. And so he's just overwhelmed with emotion. And he just, real men cry. He's just weeping. Man, it's just so good. And so he made a negotiation with Laban that he wanted Rachel as his wife. And he says, all right, what kind of wages? Stay with me. And so he worked for seven years to pay that ransom price, to pay that price of a dowry, if you will, for her hand in marriage. And it says, it seemed on him but a few days for the love which he had for her. And so Genesis 29, 20. He worked seven years for the hand of Rachel, whom he loved. And then it came time for the wedding night. All right, I worked the seven years. And so let's get the men together. Let's consummate this. I want to know her. And so he wanted the intimacy of marriage with his Rachel. He'd been waiting seven years. It seemed as a moment. It's like a labor of love. And so I don't know if they were drinking or what happened. But during that festive time, the women, the brides would wear a veil. And so you know the story, right? You know the story. So Rachel had a sister, and the sister's name was Leah. And her name, that word Leah means sore eyes. She was not good to look at. It hurt your eyes to look at her. And so he did the switcheroo. He woke up in the morning with a hangover, I guess, and he realized, uh-oh, I went in on to Leah. He tricked me. He did the switcheroo. Where's Rachel? So he came back out. And Laban, who Jacob's meeting his match, right? Jacob's a conniver. Jacob's a heel catcher. He's met his match in Laban. Laban is a switcheroo. He's a conniver. He's going to change his wages over and over and over again and do the switcheroo over and over and over again. And Jacob's going to get sick and tired of having his medicine, his karma, if you will, reaping what you sow come back on his own head. And so Laban tells him, you're going to have to work seven more years. We have a custom, the elder, the firstborn goes first. And so guess what? You've got two wives now. So you can take Rachel, but you're going to have to work seven more years for her. So he works 14 years for the hand of Leah and Rachel. And Leah, the Lord says, the Lord saw that Leah was hated by Jacob and Rachel. And so it says, the Lord opened the womb of Leah, but closed the womb of Rachel, made her barren. So that reproach that came. And so I don't know if Jacob cared much about it. It was scandalous in that period of time. You need to be able to produce babies, bring forth babies. And so she brings forth Reuben. And then after Reuben, she brings forth Simeon. And after Simeon, she brings forth Levi. And then after that, she brings forth Judah. Praise. She's just praising God. And then her womb was shut up a little bit. And then Rachel, she can't. She can't have any kids. And so they go on from there. And Rachel says, I've got an idea. I'll take my handmaiden, because Laban gave some handmaidens. So Billa and Zilpha. And so go into my handmaiden. So some kids started to be born from Rachel's handmaiden. Leah says, well, I can do the same thing. So brings her handmaiden over. They're having some more kids. And then pretty soon, Reuben goes out to the field in a time of harvest. And he brings back some mandrakes. What are mandrakes? Mandrakes are, if I say this word right, aphrodisiacs. And so apparently, it would stimulate reproduction in some way. And so Rachel says, give me these mandrakes. Give me these mandrakes. I've got to have these mandrakes. And she says, no, my son Reuben brought these mandrakes. And so she's really wanting to have a child. She'll do anything she can to try and become pregnant and all. And so she makes a trade. Think of Jacob for a minute here. Four women in his life. Four women to satisfy. And man, what a hard job. And so Rachel says, I have him tonight on the schedule. He's mine tonight. I'll let you hire him. I'll let you have him tonight. And so if you'll give me the mandrakes. So Leah got him that night. And Leah conceived. And then she conceived again. She had like six different kids. And then she had Dinah. She had a girl. And so just prolific. And then later, the Lord gave Joseph to Rachel. And then later, Benjamin. She died in the house of bread in Bethlehem, birthing Benjamin, which she described as grueling and painful. But Jacob changed his name to Benjamin of my right hand, the strength of my right hand. And so Rachel perished there in Bethlehem, bringing forth Benjamin. So then what happens? Now you've got all these different kids, the 12 tribes of Israel. And now you realize that the herdmen, the sons of Laban. He did have sons. The sons of Laban are getting jealous, envious of how productive Jacob is. And the sheep and all. So now he works another six years for all the cattle. And God's hand was upon him. He had the spotted and the striped goats. And presently we're watching Wayne and Brittany's goats. They've got a herd of goats. And they've got this one goat that's in the rut or something. And it will not shut up. I mean, it is just crazy. I can't imagine. I'm a city boy. I can't imagine being around that noise all the time, the craziness of it all. And the kids and 12 kids and all that sort of stuff, man. It'd be like, what's going on? It's just crazy. And so I'd want to get out of there too. I need to get out of here. I need to start my own life away from this crazy place and all. And so he worked another six years for the cattle. So a total of 20 years for his family. And then he treks away from there. And so Jesus purchased you and I with his blood. We're blood bought. And so we see his beloved. If you're really in love, it seems as a moment, he says. The seven years that he worked, the 14, the 20 years, it was as a moment for the love which he had for her. And so Boaz, we remember, marries Ruth, the Moabitess. So she's a Gentile and he being a Jew. And we see the picture of Jesus, our kinsman, redeemer, and the beloved, his church, Ruth, the Moabitess, Gentile bride. So Boaz begot Obed. Obed begot Jesse. Jesse begot David as King David. And Jesus is the root and the offspring of David. Verse 26, the children of the living God. So who were once, according to Ephesians 2, verse 3, you and I were once children of wrath, God's wrath upon us, but we're described here as the children of the living God. In Matthew 16, 18, Jesus said, upon this rock, not upon you, Peter, your little stone, upon this rock, me, massive stone, Petra, upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell not prevail against it. And so the Lord is building this church of Jews and Gentiles. He's building this church. You and I don't need to help Jesus build his church. We simply share the gospel. One man sows, another waters. God brings the increase. He builds his own church. In Psalm 127, except the Lord build the house, they that labor in vain that build it. And we don't want to try through programs and the work of the flesh to be church incorporated. Jesus said, upon this rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. We can be so bold on the offense that we can storm the gates of hell. We should have the globalists and the liberals, the evil people, on their heels. They should be so incredibly afraid of Jesus and his return. But if the salt has lost its savor, it's good for nothing but to be trodden under the foot of men. Why? Because we're so worldly. We're so carnal. We've become like the world. We've become like Lot and Sodom and Gomorrah. They don't fear the true and living God. One day they will. They will one day. Deuteronomy 32, verse 4 says, He is the rock. His work is perfect. Psalm 62, verse 2, He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not be greatly moved. So he's our foundation. In Matthew 7, Jesus described those who are building upon sand and those who are building upon the rock. One of the greatest marital counseling I can give you is to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these other things to be added unto you. I would implore you to allow Jesus to be that foundation that your life and your home, your marriage is built upon. What do I mean by that? Be a doer of God's word, not a hearer. If you're a hearer, if you've just given lip service, then your house is built on sand. And when everything hits the fan, we're going to find out that you built your house on sand because you can't cope. You can't deal with the storms that are coming. But if you're a man, a woman, who have labored and have humbled yourself before God and you've allowed yourself to be broken before God, you fell upon that rock and be broken before him, and he's rebuilt your life upon himself, no longer you living, but Christ living through you, that home, that testimony of faith that you have in Jesus Christ in your marriage, in your walk in relation with him will remain standing and people will stand back and notice how are they coping? How are they getting through this? The difference is you're a doer of God's word, not a hearer. You read God's word. You read God's word. You're in God's word. A doer of his word. You don't just have selective hearing of, well, this applies to me, that doesn't. No, the Holy Spirit convicts you and you make changes. You make changes. You say, Lord, help me to change. Help me to stop this. Help me to start doing this. Lord, I've noticed that I've been drifting. I haven't been spending that time in the word in my devotions in the morning or at night or at noon at work or whatever. I'm kind of drying up. I didn't know it, but I'm drying up. I'm kind of backsliding a bit, Lord. I have an appetite for things of the world that I didn't have before. I've lost my zeal, lost my desire to serve you in such, and I'm really in love with the world. Lord, help me get back on track. Be a doer of the word. Apply God's word. Be in the word. Be in prayer. Be in fellowship. Share your faith with people, and you'll find that your inner man is strengthened day by day. Your outward man may be perishing, but your inward man, day by day, and your walking relationship with him is being strengthened. You're getting ready for the fight. You ain't seen nothing yet. It's going to get worse. Now, I would love to tell you we're going to be raptured before you ever experience any kind of persecution. That would be great. I do believe you and know for a fact that you're going to be raptured before the tribulation, but we're not promised that we're going to be isolated or protected from tribulation, pressure, persecution, problems. Antagonistic people. In fact, the flip side is true. Paul said we through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God in Acts 14. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers them out of them all. How do we know what flavor you are, church? When you get put in hot water from the buns of the heart the mouth speaks. When you're put in hot water, when you don't get your way, when you go through some things, we're going to find out if Jesus is your rock. If He's your rock, you can get rocked, you can be hit, but you're going to make it through. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil if thou art with me. He's there with me. He's going to get me through it. He's going to get me through everything that He allows in my life because He's my rock. He's my strength. He's the one that I want my life built upon. Not upon the Pope, not upon religion, not upon any man or any political system. I want my life to be built upon Jesus Christ. The prophets, the apostles are the little stones, your lively stones. He's the chief cornerstone that everything is built upon, the head and the corner. It's all built on Him. We're a building of God, not made with hands. We're the body of Christ. He's our foundation. Jesus is the rock of our salvation. He's the foundation stone. Number one, for His beloved, His church, the redeemed. Secondly, for His brethren, Israel, the remnant, verse 27-29. Jesus is building a nation, the nation of Israel, like we described with Abraham. God took Abraham, looked for a man to build a nation from. That nation, He's going to bring forth the Messiah thereof. And so, the nation of Israel. God changed Jacob's name from heel catcher to Israel, which means prince of God or governed of God. Verse 27. Isaiah also cries concerning Israel, though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved. Jesus said narrow is the way that leads to life eternal and few there be that find it. Broad is the way that leads to destruction and many go in there at. When He speaks of narrow, really narrow, very, very few that profess to be Christians, we're going to find out, are really Christians. I know that I'm saved. I don't know about you. How would I know? How would I know? We could see fruit, but we really, we look at the fruit. One day the fruit's there, another day it's not. We don't know. God knows though. He knows. And so, we see over a period of time, we can see evidence of the Holy Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love. Without love, we're nothing. I've seen people profess to be Christians. They're the most hateful, mean, nasty people I've ever met. They can change on you because the devil sows tares among the wheat. And I believe God allows those tares among the wheat to teach you and I how to love. It's easy to love one another, but boy, when the tares and the wheat are among us, there's a real test of love. Jesus looks over at Judas and said, Betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss, Judas? Do we love like Jesus loved? Love even his enemies? Huge test. Huge test of provocation. The enemy comes to provoke and get us out of our game and all. But God's building a nation, the nation of Israel. And he's not going to replace the nation of Israel. His promises to the nation of Israel are yea and amen. He's going to fulfill all of his promises. And so, the sand of the sea in number, so that would be the physical number of people, but only a remnant, those that believe in Isaac shall they see, because those that believe are the true Israel of God. And when we speak of seed, singular, it's speaking of the Messiah, that all the Gentiles, everyone in the world that comes to know Jesus Christ, that's the offspring from Abraham, he being the father of our faith. And so, both Jew and Gentile, but through a singular seed, and that being the Messiah's going to come forth from your loins, Abraham. The nation's going to be numbered like the sand of the sea, but only a remnant's going to be saved, according to Isaiah 10, 20 through 23, he's quoting here. So, Abraham's seed, God told him in Genesis 13, 16, is going to be as the dust of the earth. Now, who's he saying this to? He's saying this to a guy that can't have children. And for 13 years, he's not going to be able to have kids, or 12 years. And then his wife comes up with a great idea. How about you go into Hagar? Goes into Hagar and brings forth Ishmael, work of the flesh. Oh, that Ishmael might live before you. Then there's a 13-year silence, where God isn't speaking to Abraham anymore. Not a very good idea. And then the Lord, with a couple angels, comes into camp. This time next year, Sarah's going to conceive and have a child. She incredulously starts to laugh. Yeah, that's what we're going to call him, laughter. She didn't believe. Then she did believe. Abraham believed. He's 90 years old. Sarah, 80 years old. Past the time of being able to be productive. She's gone through menopause. Oh, why would you put this hope in me now? Hope deferred makes the heart sick. I gave up with that a long time ago. I'm content being barren. I'm doing fine at 80. No. Your tent's going to be filled with laughter. You know the joy of having a John the Baptist, you know, for Elizabeth and Zechariah. You're going to know that. They would know what Abraham and Sarah experienced. It's going to be as the dust of the earth. In Genesis 15-5, the Lord's speaking to Abraham, says, as the stars in the sky. So you look up at the stars in the sky, and the Lord's saying, that's how I'm going to make your posterity. That's how many people are going to come forth from your loins, that spiritual posterity. To Jacob, in Genesis 28-14, he said, as the dust of the earth. So he's narrowing down the promise from Abraham to Isaac, now to Jacob. And he's saying, Jacob, you're going to be prolific as the dust of the earth. In Genesis 32-12, he says, as the sand of the sea. So as I've told you many times, I love going to the beach, and you take your hands and you go in the sand. You know, my grandsons were, on our vacation, were taking sand and throwing it at everybody. You don't throw sand. You don't throw sand. You know, because it's getting on people around you and stuff. Don't throw sand, you know. But there's a lot of granules there. A lot of sand. A lot of sand to deal with. And in a lot of ways, it's just deal with it. It's so funny to me that, maybe you're one of these guys, but you go out a day at the beach, get sand all over you, and then you're going to approach your car, and it's like, I can't have one grain of sand on my feet. I can't get any sand in my car. I had sand like this thick in my car when I was a kid. Who cares, you know? But there's guys actually using shampoo to wash their hair. Who cares, you know? Are you a surfer or not? They've got all these tools now to wash your board off, wash this off, wash that off. Just get in the car and drive it, you know. Just get out of there. You're a surfer. As the sand of the sea. So you look up at the stars when you're camping, you tell your kids, you take and put your hands in the sand there, and you look at the granules and think, wow, that's incredible. Amazing, innumerable number of people. A remnant shall be saved. So out of all those people, for God so loved the world, and Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, but especially for those who believe. Just a remnant's going to be saved. You're a remnant church. You're a small little group of people that have come out from the world and said, we want to follow King Jesus according to his word. We want to stay consistent with his word. That's a remnant church today. Why? Because we're in a time of apostasy. We're in a time where the majority of the church is rebelling against God. It means a departure from the truth. You're staying upon that rock. You're a doer of the word. You're a hearer of the word and a doer. You hear God's word, and then you apply it to your life. You grow thereby. And that's why you're secure. Because none of this is unplanned. God's sovereign. He's planned all this. Everything's falling into place, as Jan Markell would say. It's all falling into place. Jesus is coming again. This present age is waning. This age of the church is coming to a close, and when the church age comes to a close, there may be a gap thereof after the rapture, but the next age that's coming is the time of the tribulation period, the 77th of Daniel, a seven-year period of time where the nation of Israel signs a peace treaty with the Antichrist. At the midpoint, 1260 days in, this Antichrist goes into the temple that's going to be rebuilt. God didn't ask him to rebuild it, but says it is going to be rebuilt. The abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet is going to go into that temple, declare himself to be God, demand to be worshiped as God. 1260 days after that, Jesus is going to return. 42 months later, 3 1⁄2 years later, Jesus is going to return in his second coming, coming to planet Earth to take possession. It's going to be a slaughter. He's going to slaughter the globalists, slaughter the demonic globalists who are in war, in rebellion against God with the Antichrist, who is the champion of the devil and the beast, which is the Antichrist, and the false prophet. They're slain by Jesus with the sword of his mouth and just the brightness of his coming in 2 Thessalonians 2. Just the brightness of his coming, the Shekinah glory of God, when he's coming in the clouds, he's going to destroy his enemies. The blood is going to be as high as the horse's bridle. All their technologies, all their knowledge, all the occultic, demonic knowledge that they derive from the pit of hell to use against God, fails. Oh, how the heathen rage and imagine a vain thing against the Lord and against his anointed, against Jesus. God holds them in derision. God laughs from heaven at the plans of these trillionaires, these billionaires, these demonic people. Just a joke. The stage is being set. Revelation 17, 17. He's putting it in their hearts what to do. They're following his script. The stage is being set. Going to wipe them out. He's going to be glorified. So a remnant shall be saved. In John chapter 8, Jesus differentiated between He made a distinction between the natural and the spiritual seed of Abraham. The Pharisees, the religious leaders by and large, were the natural seed. They could tell you what tribe they were from and where they fit in with the 12 tribes of Israel and all. But after 70 AD, when the fires broke out in the temple, none of them can now. But you have the lineage of Jesus. You have the lineage of Jesus in Matthew 1 and Luke 3. We know where he came from. All the way from Adam and then the other lineage through David. He has the legal royal line to the throne. He's the son of man in Luke. Gospel through Mary. All the way through Mary's father down to Adam. So we have his lineage. But these guys, they said, we're Abraham's seed. We're Abraham. And Jesus says, no, you're not Abraham's seed. Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he saw it and he was glad. The gospel was before preached unto Abraham and these guys don't get it. They don't understand it. And so they're arguing with Jesus and he says in John 8, 39, he says, Abraham is our father, they say. And Jesus said unto them, if you're Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. What's the work of Abraham? He believed. It was imputed unto him for righteousness. He believed. In Hebrews 11, they believed. Without faith, it's impossible to please God for they that come to him must believe that he is. And that is a reward of those who diligently seek him. They believe. By faith, by faith, by faith, by faith, by faith. They please God. Those that draw back, those that fall away, they're not pleasing unto God. They believed. Galatians 3, 7, Paul says, Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham, the sons of faith. Your seed, it's going to be like the stars of heaven, the spiritual posterity of people that believe. Verse 28, For he will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. So what work? What work is going to be cut short? A quick work. We've got the thousand year rule and reign of Jesus. We've got over 2,000 years of the church age. But we've got a seven year period of time. The time of Jacob's trouble. A time where Jesus said, The world has never seen, nor will ever see again, how cataclysmic, how horrific, when over half the people upon the planet are wiped out. Over two thirds of the nation of Israel is wiped out. And a one third little remnant is preserved as they purify going through the fire of the tribulation period. And so he says, For he will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. The work of judgment during the great tribulation. In Matthew 24, 21, Jesus said, For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there shall no flesh be saved, but for the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened. Satan is a sore loser. The devil is a sore loser. If he can't have it all, he's going to take it all down. If he can't have it and get Jesus to bow down and worship him and give him all the kingdoms of the world, I can give to you, Jesus, if you'll bow down and worship me, because I'm a counterfeit God, the Father, and I've got a guy coming along, the AC, the Antichrist, in place of you, a counterfeit, and I've got the false prophet, a counterfeit Holy Spirit. We're going to use artificial intelligence and all the technology we have to try and deceive people, because we're not omniscient. We don't know all things. We're not all powerful. We don't have all that power, but we have a might, an authority, a power that we use from a human and an occultic standpoint. But our greatest weapon is that of deception. We're going to deceive people. They're going to believe the lie that they can be as gods, that they're going to give in to it. They're going to take a mark on the right hand of their forehead, and we're rolling, we're running, we're moving forward in our destruction. But when we figure out we can't have it all, it's not working, that time is short. In Revelation 12, guess what? We're going after the nation of Israel, the apple of God's eye. We're going to destroy every last one of them. We're going to destroy every last human being. We're going to hit the nuke buttons, the neutron buttons, all of the buttons. We're going to let every weapon that men have ever made fly to destroy all flesh. And Jesus said, except those days be shortened, no flesh will be saved. But for the elect's sake, the church is gone. It's not the church. But for the nation of Israel, for the elect, that remnant, I'm going to intervene. I'm going to rescue them. That's what he's saying here. He's going to cut it short. For the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened. The time of Jacob's trouble, the 77th of Daniel, Daniel 9, 27. Verse 29, And as Isaiah said before, except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodom, and been made like unto Gomorrah. We'd have been completely wiped out unless the Lord had remained a seed or brought forth a seed, a remnant. God preserved a remnant. We'd have been completely wiped out as a nation. According to Isaiah 1.9, only a remnant survives. Now in Zechariah 13.8 and 9, listen. Two parts therein shall be cut off and die, but the third part shall be left therein. And I'll bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried, and they shall call on my name. Jesus said in Luke chapter 13, verse 35, You're not going to see me again until you say, and that's what they're going to do. They're going to cry out finally. Their eyes are going to be opened. They're going to have faith. They're going to cry out, and they're going to realize their Messiah is the one they pierced. Their Messiah is the one they crucified. They're going to come to a saving knowledge of him, and God, according to Jeremiah 31, is going to write his law on their heart. They're going to be born again. They're going to have the Holy Spirit. And I will hear them, and I will say, it is my people. And they shall say, the Lord is my God. That's the kingdom age. That's when the church, and the nation of Israel, and the Gentile believers that come into the millennium are all one in that the Gentiles start out as being believers. The sheep and the goat judgment. The sheep come in. During that thousand years, there are Gentiles that have children in their natural bodies, and many of their children don't believe. At the end of the thousand years, the devil's loosed. He's been held in the abyss. The Antichrist and the false prophet are put in the lake of fire. But the devil's taken and held, incarcerated in the abyss. After a thousand years, he's loosed to deceive, to entice, to show the free will of man. Man that had a perfect environment. You can't play the blame game. You can't go to your psychiatrist and say, hey, I just didn't get enough hugs or drugs, or people didn't understand me. You had a perfect environment. The curse was reversed, Adam and Eve. Kathy always reminds me, hey, Adam and Eve had a perfect father, and they still chose to rebel. It's not about your home. I mean, some of that stuff scars you, definitely messes with you, definitely can cripple you, cripple us. But God, there's something so much greater that came into my life. Someone so much greater that came into my life that that stuff pales in comparison to what he's doing in my life. He took all that the enemy meant for evil, and he's turning it around for good. And he chose a worthless person, a broken, worthless person, and he's making something beautiful. He's the potter, and I'm the clay, and I just need to yield. I need to trust. I need to go with the flow instead of fighting against him. Don't fight. Don't resist the Holy Spirit. Don't quench the Holy Spirit. In Micah 5.3, Therefore will he give them up until the time that she which travails has brought forth. Then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. And so, the woman in Revelation 12 is the nation of Israel. The nation is being birthed. The nation is coming forth in a time of great pain, great travail, in the time of the tribulation period. The remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. Jesus is the rock of our salvation. He's the foundation stone for his brethren Israel. The remnant. He's the rock. He's the foundation stone for his beloved. He's the foundation stone for his brethren. Thirdly, he's the foundation stone for believers to whosoever will, the righteous, in verse 30-33. He says, verse 30, he's asking a question. Paul's asking a question. He's imagining the questions that Jews would have, that others would have. Well, what about the nation of Israel? What shall we say then? The Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness. Gentiles weren't seeking after God. Were you seeking after God? I wasn't seeking after God. I wasn't looking for the righteousness of the Mosaic Law my first 20 years of life. I had a conscience. I had a good mom and dad that taught me right and wrong. But I wasn't seeking after God. What shall we say then? The Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness? Even the righteousness which is of faith? Yes. The answer to that question is yes. They came by faith. That's how I came by faith. God arrested me. God revealed himself to me. God introduced himself to me. And I couldn't come based upon my performance, based upon how good I was, or based upon any promises I'd make with him that I'd promise I'll be good. I promise I'll knock on all the doors. I'll hand out your magazines. I'll sing Krishna Krishna. I'll do whatever you want. No, he did it all. He said it is finished. Paid in full. In Isaiah 65, it says, I am sought of them that ask not for me. I am found of them that sought me not. I was not seeking God. I don't know about you. Were you seeking God? I mean, my grandkids, I hope they're seeking God. I don't want them to go through 20 years of chaos or confusion. I don't want the world to beat up on them and take away their innocence. I want them to be raised in Christian homes and have a faith like John the Baptist from their mother's womb. I want them to be powerhouses for God. Mightily used of God. But the Gentiles weren't looking after God. They're idolatrous. They're following after false gods. I wasn't seeking after God. Jesus said no man can come unto me except the Father would just let me draw him. I was drawn. And I'll raise him up in the last day. Paul says I was apprehended. Paul was on his way to Damascus to arrest Christians. He's a blasphemer, forcing Christians to blaspheme, to recant. He was the chiefest of sinners, incarcerating people and all. It was in that condition as an enemy of God, as a child of wrath, that God saved you, that God saved me. While we were enemies of God. He chose you. We didn't choose him. And you go to your high school reunions, your college reunions, your military reunions, family reunions, and you look around the room and you say, why me? These guys had the same chance. They rejected over and over and over again. Why would I say yes to this? Why would I give in? Why would I follow this? Why would I leave everything to follow Jesus? Not that I had a whole lot to leave, but you like to build it up. Oh man, do you know what I left? Do you know what I gave up? Would you give up? A whole lot of vomiting. Yeah, that's what you gave up. You drunks. 1 Corinthians 6.9 says, Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Think about it. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? And such were some of you. If you're a Christian, if you profess to be a Christian, you've got a BC, before Christ, character. You've got a testimony. And you don't need to glorify that testimony. You don't need to, Oh, I was the greatest sinner. No, you don't need to go into that. You just recognize, Hey, I was a drunk. I was a druggie. I was this. I was that. I was selfish. I was a psychopath. Whatever. That's who I was. I was blind and now I see. There's a contrast. There's BC before Christ and there's a transformation and a change. An inner transformation and change. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things are passed away. All things have become new. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived. Neither fornicators. What's a fornicator? Pornos. Pornography or sex outside of marriage. Will not inherit the kingdom of God. Nor idolaters. What's an idolater? Something that you love more than God. The master passion of your life. It can be money. It can be sex. It can be pleasure. Lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. You're an idolater. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulters. An adulterer, what's that? Somebody's married, but they're having sex outside of the sanctity of their marriage. That's adultery. They don't inherit the kingdom of God. Wow, there's a whole lot of weeding out in there. Do I keep going? I bet you in this list I can get every single person in this room. All right, what's the next one? After the idolaters, there's going to be the effeminate. That's half you guys in here. You didn't think I knew. Or abuser of themselves with mankind. What's that mean? That's twisted. Nor thieves. Anybody ever stolen something? This one will get us all. Or the covetous. Paul was caught by the coveting of his heart, an internal sin. Not external, internal. Covetous, what's it mean to be covetous? To be dissatisfied with Jesus. Always wanting more. Wanting your neighbor's car or wife or house or something somebody else has. Being dissatisfied, discontent with who God's made you. Being unthankful, unholy. Not rejoicing in who he's made you and what he's given you. And so we've got the covetous. We've got the drunkards. We've got the revilers and the extortioners. And such were some of you, but you've been... That's the beauty of it. You can come out of the gay-lesbian lifestyle. You can come out of the adulterous lifestyle. You can come out of whatever it was in your past. You can come out of it. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. He didn't come for the righteous, but for sinners. Jesus can transform and change a person's life. We do not Christianize this behavior. We do not say, I'm a born-again adulterer. I want to pick on us first, okay? I want to pick on us first. I'm a born-again thief. Are you Joe Biden? Who are you? I'm a thief. I'm a liar. I'm a born-again idolater. I'm a born-again fornicator. I'm a born-again, just fill in the blank. I'm a born-again effeminate person. Oh, I'm a born-again lesbian, pedophile. It's good for the kids. So you're watching the church give in to it, and they're Christianizing all this aberrant behavior. Paul says, Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? We're not picking on anybody. We're all in that list. And such were some of you, but you've been washed. You've been sanctified, washed in the blood. Sanctified, set apart, pulled out from there, made holy. And then you're justified. How? In the name of Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit. That's salvation. Boy, I love my salvation. I do not want to perpetuate these behaviors. I want to be set free from being Rick Beaudry. I want a new name. I want my name written in the Lamb's Book of Life. I sin. I sin every day. I'd be a liar if I said I didn't. But the Lord helps me to not practice sin in a lifestyle of sin, of deception and continuing in these lifestyles. You go to 1 John 3 and you see the difference of sinning and practicing sin. The lifestyle, the character. And such were some of you. Praise the Lord. Question. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. Yes, that's true. They followed after the law of righteousness. They followed after the Mosaic Law. But they didn't attain the righteousness. Jesus is my righteousness. Believers, they failed to believe. James in 2.10, he says, Whosoever keeps the whole law and yet offends in one point is guilty of the whole law. Guilty. What's the wage of sin? What do you deserve if you're guilty? The wage of sin is what? Death. Death is what? Eternal separation from God. What's the gift of God? Eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, right? It's a gift. Can't work it. Can't earn it. Lest any man should boast, right? And even that faith you have is a gift from God. Even that measure of faith, even His drawing you and keeping you and waking you up is a gift from God. In Galatians 3.21, If there had been a law given, which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. And don't make the mistake of denigrating the law. The law is holy. The law is good. The problem is me. I can't keep the law. I can't be good enough. What's the standard? What's the criteria? Perfection. 100% keeping of God's word. Only one person did that, Jesus. Tempted in all points like we and yet without sin. The last Adam. Our federal head. Our representative. His righteousness imputed to you and I. Credited the account by grace. His unmerited favor through faith. And that not of yourselves. It's a gift of God. Not of works. Lest any man should boast. Verse 32. Wherefore, because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by works, Are you working? Are you seeking righteousness by working? By being a good person? But as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled. They stumbled at that stumbling stone. They stumbled over Jesus. They fell. They tripped up over Jesus. They didn't recognize Jesus is that rock. That rock of salvation. They kept stumbling over him. They kept tripping up. He could raise Lazarus from the dead and they're stumbling. They're plotting to kill not only Jesus but Lazarus. What's wrong with you guys? You're psycho. If you don't believe me for my word's sake. Believe me. The works that I've done. The blind are able to see. The deaf to hear. The naked are clothed. The demons are cast out. The dead are raised alive. What don't you get? What Messiah were you looking for? Did you ever read Isaiah 53? Did you ever read Psalm 22? The Messiah to be cut off. The Messiah to be beat beyond the recognition of a man. His beard be pulled out. Did you ever read the day that he would walk into Jerusalem? On this thy very day of your visitation. Hosanna, Hosanna, save now. Crucify him. Crucify him. Why? What evil has he done? I find no fault in this man. Let his blood be upon us and upon our children. It's like the times we're living in now. It doesn't make sense. It's irrational. The stuff that's happening now is irrational. These people are psychos. And you and I are like, what's wrong with them? It's so simple. When you rebel against God. When you continually rebel against him. You go insane. These people are insane. And they were insane with hatred toward Jesus. Insane, this stuff. They weren't in the right mind. They were demonic. They came to Jesus in John 6. What shall we do that we might work the works of God? This is the work. That you believe on him whom he has sent. It's by faith. The Philippian jailer. Believe. Paul and Silas said, believe. And you'll be saved. What must you do? Believe. What's it mean to believe? We have to define all of our terms. What's it mean to believe? It's not just an intellectual consent that these facts are true. It's a deposit that you make. It's a surrender that you make. You surrender your heart completely unto Jesus as your savior and your Lord. You trust in him. You don't trust in yourself. You trust in his finished work. His righteousness upon the cross of Calvary. His blood being shed. It's by faith you grab hold. And he transforms and changes you from in. The rich young ruler. Good master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one. That is God. You recognize I'm God? Only one good. But if thou will enter into life, keep the commandments, which I've kept them all from my youth up. Now Jesus is looking at this guy and he's saying, I've got to draw out that faith. I've got to bring you to the point where you're no longer puffed up and prideful and thinking you're good enough to get into heaven. I've got to point out the thing that you're blind to. Go and sell all that you have. Give it to the poor. Come follow me and you'll have eternal life. What was this man's sin in his life that he was blind to? Covetousness. He was in love with his stuff. And Jesus pointed out, you're more in love with this stuff than you are with me. It wasn't the stuff. If riches increase, set not your heart on it. It's the love of money that's the root of all evil, not the money. Don't fall in love with the stuff. If he tests you and he takes it away, you're going to curse him to his face like Satan told in regard to Job? Or are you going to say, naked came I into the world, naked I'm going to go. The Lord gave it, the Lord take it away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Is that your heart? Skin for skin, all that a man has will he give for his life. If he tests you by taking your health away, are you going to curse the day you were born? Are you going to curse him? Oh, you speak as one of the foolish women speak. Shall we not receive good at the hand of the Lord and not evil? Where were you? When? Job, I don't want that conversation. Where were you? Oh, Lord. Oh, I have borne myself. I repent in dust and ashes. You've got a choice, rich young ruler, be perfect or believe. Verse 33, as it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone, a rock of offense, and whosoever believes on him shall not be ashamed. Jesus came unto his own, and his own received him not. Those in Nazareth thought he was crazy. His own brothers thought he was crazy until after the resurrection. He was in the world, the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. They stumbled at that stumbling stone, that rock of offense. But whosoever believes in him would not be ashamed. Isaiah 28, 16, Psalm 118, 22. So the religious leaders were offended by him. People of Nazareth were offended by him. Isn't this just the carpenter's son? Who's he making himself out to be? His brothers thought he was beside himself. 1 Peter 2, 7, Peter says, Unto you, therefore, which believe, he is precious. But unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same has become the head of the corner. So the religious leaders, trying to build their nation, trying to keep their religion going, the stone, the chief cornerstone that they disallowed, has become the head of the corner. Except you fall upon Jesus and be broken, one day that stone is going to fall upon you in judgment and grind you to powder. So it's better to come to that stone, that rock, and fall upon him and be broken. Say, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Come into my heart and life and transform and make me new. Rather than priding yourself on how great you are, how good you are, and one day you hear the Lord say, Away from me, I never knew you, you that practice iniquity. Christianity is a relationship with the true and living God. And we come broken. We come by way of the cross. We come according to his terms. Jesus is the rock of our salvation. He's the foundation stone. Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. Whosoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken them unto a wise man which built his house upon the rock. Are you a doer of God's word? Are you applying these truths to your lives? Is your life being strengthened, your inner man being strengthened day by day? Jesus builds his church. He builds nations. Did Jesus... Was he involved? Did we ask him for his help in building this nation at one time? I watched the video yesterday that Eric sent me, and it was a pretty powerful video. I probably should have posted it. Robbie and you guys will help me with it. You guys already know it. But with the Roe versus Wade reversal, the statute that was used all these years in regard to separation of church and state has been removed. So the guy was advocating all pastors need to let everybody know that you bring your crosses back up, your nativity scenes back up. Get it all going. Do it all. Be bold. Be on the offensive because they lost. The Supreme Court recognizes your religious freedom, and there is no such thing as separation of church and state in the sense that you can't be involved publicly with the profession of your faith. It's not a private thing. It was something that would happen for 50 years this has been in place, lying to the church and the church. Let's say you put a cross out in front of your building somewhere or a billboard. There's neighbors or people that could say, I'm offended by that, separation of church and state. So all across America they're having to take down these crosses. You're driving your car. They're having to take them down. The atheist said, Hey, it's against us. And apparently those days are over. So go on the offense, is what he's saying. I'll have to post it. I'll have to get it for you. I'm pretty incomplete, aren't I? In the area of religious freedom. Hi, I'm Kelly Shackelford. I'm President and CEO of First Liberty Institute. First Liberty is the largest legal organization in the country that all we do is religious freedom. And there's some tremendous news that very few pastors, unfortunately, know about. And that's why I'm trying to get you the news. There has been an attack going on across our country against religious freedom in ways that I think a lot of people have never seen. But we've had some major, major victories in the last 13 months. And I just want to focus on one and let you know the implications. There's more to this and we'll certainly provide you anything you want. But a lot of you heard about the Coach Kennedy case. Coach Kennedy was a guy who just wanted to go to a knee and pray after the game. And they fired him for that. And we went all the way to the Supreme Court, won a case that you cannot do that. That violates the First Amendment rights, free speech and free exercise of religion of the coach. And this fall, he's already back as a coach. Coach Kennedy will be going to a knee and there'll be plenty of TV cameras. But what people don't know is what happened within the decision. Within the decision, there was a major precedent by the name of Lemon. And that was overturned. What Lemon was was we have an establishment clause because our founders didn't want there to be a nationally established church that everybody had to support. So that's what they put in the Constitution, that we were going to do that. Fifty years ago, the same Supreme Court who gave us Roe v. Wade said, no, we think that this clause means a lot more than that. We think it means a strict separation of church and state, that wherever government is, religion can't be. We think it means that if you're offended by religion, you can bring a lawsuit. You can't bring lawsuits because you're offended. Only against religion. So our whole lives, we've seen attacks on nativity scenes at Christmas and Ten Commandments monuments and prayer to school board meeting. And if there's any sort of religious activity at school, it's like the school's on fire. Why? Because any of these things are in the Constitution? No. Because of the Lemon case. It's been cited over 7,000 times in the last 50 years. Well, just 13 months ago, the Supreme Court reversed Lemon. It is no longer the law. Everywhere that crosses went down, they can come back up. Everywhere that Ten Commandments were put in the closet, they can come back out. Prayers can be back at the school board meeting. Students, players can pray together after the game. The coaches can join them. What's happened is for 50 years, people have been trained that they can't do all these things regarding faith and expression in public. That's no longer the case. Everything has just shifted. But the problem is people don't know. And so what we want you to do... So, praise the Lord. And it's up to us. It's up to the church. It's not a political problem. It's a spiritual problem. And if we drop the ball, we don't do anything, don't run with it, then the politicians interpret that as indifference, and they're going to keep running toward hell, you know? Take us all with them. So we have a chance to be salt and light and to stand against it as... What's the name of the coach? Joe Kennedy. Yeah, as he did. He stood against it. Like many of you with COVID and other things, your jobs and stuff, you stood against it. You stood up for righteousness. It cost you for a time, maybe for quite a while, but many are being rewarded. Many are being exonerated. But also, if you talk to Robbie, many continue to go with the slapdown, the smackdown. They don't want to fight. They don't want to resist. So anyway, we have a chance. Jesus builds His church. He builds nations. He builds lives. We need to let Jesus back into our schools, our homes, our churches, and allow Him to be that rock that our life is built upon. We've wandered. We've strayed. We stumble over Him, so to speak. And He brought me up also out of a horrible pit. Psalm 40, verse 2. Did He bring you up out of a horrible pit that you were in? Out of the miry clay. And He set my feet upon a rock and established my goings. So our life could be just like, we're sinking, we're drowning, we're in a pit, and then the Lord saves us, and now we have a foundation that our life is built upon, built upon Jesus. In Psalm 62, verse 2, He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not be greatly moved. So you can trust in Jesus. He's a sure foundation. In the midst of rebellion, in the midst of chaos, the just absolute craziness going on out there, we have a sure foundation. We have a foundation no matter what they try to do, no matter what storms or things they try to bring against it, Jesus is our foundation. Jesus is the rock of our salvation. He's the foundation stone for His beloved, for His brethren, and for believers, whosoever will. As it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone, a rock of offense, and whosoever believes on Him shall not be ashamed. Do you believe? Is your life built upon the rock? Is Jesus the rock of your salvation? That's all you need to concern yourself with. You can't control all the other stuff they're doing. You concern yourself with, I'm going to be a doer of the Word. I'm going to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and He promises me all these other things to be added unto me. That's the greatest marital advice I've ever received, is the vertical. Put the vertical right, Rick. Seek first the vertical, the spiritual in your life and in your home. And on the horizontal plane, God will handle that. God will deal with that, the ups and downs of it. Let's pray. Father, thank You for saving me. Thank You for saving us. Thank You that we don't need to go through this life in blindness, in despair, discouragement, suicidal, without hope, going crazy, resisting the Holy Spirit, resisting You, kicking against the goats. Thank You for arresting us, Lord. Thank You for intervention as You've intervened, as You stepped in and revealed Yourself unto us. And by the power of Your Holy Spirit, Lord, You extricated us. You pulled us out of that miry pit, that place, that deep hole. And, Lord, allowed us to stand firm upon You, that our life is built on You. You taught us how to obey. You taught us how to read. You taught us how to comprehend. You taught us how to fellowship and to listen and to receive from You that we might give, that we might yield to Your Holy Spirit. We thank You for the work of Your Holy Spirit internally. Where, Lord, we have a choice. We can choose to engage in the pig pen, like we once did, or we can choose to say no to the pig pen and spend time in fellowship with You, Lord. On a higher plane, a higher level, much better things that You offer for us. The best. This one thing. Worshiping, knowing You. Lord, evermore help us to be faithful unto You, to persevere, to continue in the faith, to continue pressing toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Help us to finish well, to bring glory and honor unto You. We pray for Coach Kennedy and his family. We pray for others who have paid the price in their persecution and their unwillingness to compromise. Lord, we thank You for the victory. We thank You for sustaining them. And, Lord, we pray that it would inspire much of the youth and the people in this community, in our community, to stand for righteousness and be prepared to be persecuted in that stand, but to never give up, to never give in, to never quit. Fill us with Your Holy Spirit, Lord. Fill us with Your love. Help us to love. Help us to reach the lost just as You reached us. To play our part, to do our part. While your heads are bowed as you continue to pray, if there's anybody here this morning you've never surrendered your heart and life unto Jesus Christ, this is a moment, this is your moment, where you can. This is the time, the safest place you could ever be. Nobody's going to hurt you here. God's not wanting to hurt you. God's not wanting you to stumble. He's not wanting you to walk away from here abused or bleeding or anything. The Lord wants to bring the balm of Gilead. The Lord wants to bring healing. The Lord wants to restore you to fellowship with Himself. Anyone here this morning, you don't know Jesus, but you want to. He's revealing Himself to you. In faith, lift your arms to Him and surrender. Cry out to Him, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Jesus, come into my heart and life. Make me new. He hears that prayer. He'll answer that prayer. He'll transform and change you. The work is complete. He's a God of love, and He's looking for you to respond. He's not going to force you, but He's making Himself known. Anyone here this morning, just lift your hand up. We want to pray with you. Heavenly Father, thank You so much for the assurance of salvation we have. Thank You that we sit here secure and at peace. Chaos outside the door is out there. Life is crazy out there, but we thank You that You help us get through it each and every day. The hope that is ours is in Your coming kingdom. We don't hope in this world, but Lord, we know we have a job to do here. We know that You've enlisted us, and Lord, we pray for faithfulness. We pray once again that You would help us to be faithful to what You've called each of us to do, that we do our part, that You would be glorified, that the harvest would be great, that many would come to a knowledge of Your wondrous love, Lord. Thank You for being our rock. Thank You for saving us, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.