"Another Lesson from Samuel"

Between Sundays Podcast: This is between Sundays with Pastor Will Thompson and Pastor Zach Gibson. Zach, how you doing today, buddy? I'm hanging in there. voice, I'm praying it'll stay with us. Honestly, it sounds better today than it did yesterday. Yesterday was pretty rough. Two sermons through, you know, last night is just about gone. I was trying to raise my voice and just like it is going anywhere with it. But well, I know from the morning service, ⁓ it was There wasn't the Lord was with you during that one. I know he was with you during the second one. Oh yeah. Cause I mean, I was able to at least preach and then I got in the truck, come home, call Caitlin. She was like, Hey, I was like, Hey, I mean, in the fact you have a pretty much a voice today too. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, some people probably wish I'd lose it, but it's still intact. It'll be all right. They'll get over it. But man, I'm, I'm excited about this week. This week is going to awesome. Some people are like, Oh yeah, what are y'all doing? Some of y'all might think this stuff. don't know. I'm so excited for it. So we've got an opportunity. Uh, brother Andrew Sluder at Bible Baptist church is hosting a youth rally. And when I saw it as a youth rally, I was like, Oh man. Cause I started seeing some of the people that's going to be there. One in particular was Dr. Gene Kim. Yep. And I was like, can a couple of 30 year olds qualify as a youth? We're going to identify as, and you know, he made a post saying that it was age zero to age 99 and that type of deal. And Dr. Kim, brother Kim's going to be ⁓ speaking every morning, starting tomorrow at 10. And we're going to go. for those two days. So Tuesday and Wednesday, listen to him. was, thought it was three days. It's technically three days, but they start tonight with the youth. Yeah. ⁓ cause I, I just as a reminder, looked up his actual yesterday. looked up his speaking schedule. ⁓ yeah. He's got it. Yeah. He's got his on his website and he said he would be here for three days and you were like, no, it start till Tuesday. And I was like, But yeah. So. So we'll do that. Have midweek service there on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning. We're packing up and heading down to King, North Carolina, where the, that's the original correct? Goians. think. Yeah. Yeah. So that that's where we, you know, when we were going to the doctrine matters conference from brother Spencer in, ⁓ when was it? May last year. Yeah, it's been a while. It's, it's almost been a year. ⁓ but, ⁓ I mean, and it w it literally finding goians. It started off as just a Google search and the Lord led us to a place where there is some just great resources. It's amazing how that worked out. Well, just up the road from it at Calvary Baptist Church is the 2026 National Conference from the King James Bible Research Council. And I just so happened to see that that had come up and I was like, well, this, this thing's been in all over the place and it's going to be just right down the road. I mean, Phil Stringer, Manny Rodriguez, David Sorensen, Mark Reno, Caleb Garraway, who wrote the book, Pure Words. They're all going to be speaking ⁓ down there. And yeah, three of those I've read their books. So I'm very proud of that. me reading. Yeah. And then, ⁓ you know, going to go down there for a couple of days and listen to all those sessions. Those men has, and probably go drop a little bit of money in the And the pot down there at Goyens. got to, we got to stop by there. Just, uh, you know, spend some, spend some good time fellowship, good time learning and those types of things. And, we're, trying, we're going to take the podcast equipment down and we're going to try to rope one of them into maybe recording with us. Yeah. I was like, I don't want to sound like a creep, but would you mind coming back to our hotel for about 45 minutes? with you got an hour. Yeah. ⁓ and be able to do that. That's going to be, that's going to be a blast. I've been looking forward to this week and then it's finally here and, I'm excited. Well, Dr. Stringer is coming to the church in September. ⁓ be a good point of contact there to be able to meet him in person, ⁓ and have those types of engagements, but man, it's going to be, like I said, I've been like little kid waiting. a new notebook that I've got a new legal pad just for. ⁓ I've got one that I've not used. I've been having to go on the back of some papers and some of them, but, yeah, I've not used the one to be able to take down here. So it's going to be fun. ⁓ I'm excited about it. you know, if, ⁓ for those that didn't know anything about it or would be interested in something like that, ⁓ they will post it on their YouTube page and we can link it into the description, ⁓ of it. Yeah. So if you're not attending, can definitely watch because I went back and watched countless of them. Yeah. Yeah. And I'll say this, if you, know, obviously we are King James, ⁓ Bible believing podcast. go to King James Bible believing and preaching church. And, ⁓ but if you have any doubts or if you're like, well, what's the big deal? Or this is just maybe a secondary issue to me. Honestly, be willing, be open. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you through it. Cause these are some very, very smart men, but ahead of their smarts, they completely and totally lean on the Holy Spirit to guide them. Absolutely. They don't let academia tell them solely what to do. ⁓ but it's, is, ⁓ I would just say, give him a chance. I mean, you look at somebody, he won't be there this year because he's had some health issues here of late, but you know, somebody that I've been in personal contact with who he's so quick to respond and just be able to give encouragement. And it's just, it's great to have a resource like this, but like a David W Daniels and ⁓ my gosh. At the time he spent researching this, the wealth of knowledge and I don't even want to just describe it as, knowledge, devotion to it. Exactly. Because it's, it's not just knowledge. It's, it's through so much time of prayer and of, you know, we, we might research something in our Bibles, but man, they, ⁓ just. dive in and leave no stone unturned. Well, that's one thing that I've spent quite a bit of time researching and have obtained quite a bit of knowledge from both sides of the argument to help articulate what needs to be said. ⁓ but I mean, I'm nothing compared to how much time and effort and resources and devotion and prayer and, all the effort that has been put into by some of these men, all of these men, ⁓ And have been doing it for years and years and years. Yeah. And it's, ⁓ I think that, I'll, I'll leave it for what I was going to say about this, but it's not, it's not a, attitude of, I've got to win this argument or I have to prove somebody wrong. It's, it's an argument. It's not even really an argument. It's just, it's, it's a plea to the blood. And I think it's, ⁓ It's more along the lines of instead of trying to prove, like we talked about last week, what you said, instead of trying to prove the Bible wrong, why don't you just let it bless you? Yeah. Yeah. And, and, and, know, like we talked about last week, the, argument of it's archaic, ⁓ it's hard to understand. It really, it really starts to fall in on itself because if you need to update something to make it more available and easier to read. Like we said last week, there would be a concession given if people were in it more and reading it more, but they don't. But then also too, one thing that you find predominantly in circles that promote a modern translation of the Bible and a new updated, ⁓ you know, vernacular with it is Well, you have to go back to the Greek and Hebrew. Well, so now you're telling me it's easier to read, but now I've got to go learn two, two languages that are different than my own and are way more ancient than the 1600s. Yeah, exactly. So, I mean, it's, you know, it's, it's, it's amazing how the deception comes. And there's one verse that is just, I mean, it's stuck with me so much in researching this and. I think that's why we it's not a secondary issue for us. It's not something that's tertiary because in Psalm 138 and verse two, it says, I will worship toward the Holy Temple and praise thy name for that loving kindness and for that truth for thou has magnified thy word above all thy name. So that's that's the esteem in which God holds his work. That doesn't sound secondary to me and it's not something we should handle loosely. But you know that we've, we've spent a lot of time and we can spend a whole lot more time talking about that. it's, mean, I think it's, I think it's an important thing to, to discuss and it, roots out confusion. Um, I know Mark Reno, he's one of the speakers and I was listening to one of his former, this was like 2022, 2023, uh, sessions that he did at the conference. And he said, you know, he grew up in a King James church and He had a Bible study with some buddies of his and one had a, you know, he's in high school. One had an ESV, one had an NIV, one had an NASB and they would be reading and then they would get to a verse that all of them kind of contradicted on all of them. And he asked his friends, you know, well, what do we do now? And they're like, well, we're just going to read them all and then pick the one we like the best. It's not ice cream flavors when you're talking about the word of God. All that is, is I'm going to be the point of authority. Yeah. The one I like. Well, and that's what it boils down to too of, okay. And, and you know, I'll say this, me and my wife were having this conversation Saturday and I appreciate her asking these questions and desiring to learn more and desiring to see exactly where the stance comes from. Can it be updated? Okay. Well, let's say it is. And we've, we've talked about this before, but what version of English are we going to use? And what it boils down to is everybody's going to have their own version to be the point of authority there. ⁓ you know, we've talked about the differences between buggies and shopping carts and water fountains and bubblers and Cokes and pops and so trunks and boots and all these things. So we can't come to a consensus. So somebody's going to have to be preeminent within that. And that's where it comes down to. And my question is, if the concession is, that it's a good and valid translation, and we believe in the providential preservation that God had promised. Why is there a need to make something better? That's perfect. Yeah, that's, that's the whole crux of, yeah, that doesn't make any sense. But it also too will, and we won't spend too much more time on this, but we believe unashamedly, unequivocally that in six literal days, God created the entire universe, all the habitation on the earth, the skies, the sun, the moon, the stars. We believe that a sea was parted and that the Israelites walked across on drag realm. We believe that a man literally not figuratively was swallowed by a whale and then spit up three days later. We believe that blind men Bartimaeus received his sight. We believe that lepers have been lepers have been healed. ⁓ Dead people have been risen from the grave. then the Lord Jesus Christ. was formed in Mary's womb by the power of the Holy Ghost, born without a father on this earth, lived a perfect sinless life, died a death, was buried, rose again, was seen and testified of by countless eyewitnesses, ascended and is coming back, yet we can't believe that God would give us a perfect version of His Word. We can believe all that and have faith in it and say, no, there's no allegory here. This is the truth. But God wouldn't give his work. Now here's the thing. Do you think it's cause that that's one thing we have control over? I think it, I think it's partly that. And I think it's also partly too. We cannot be ignorant brethren. I'm using Paul's type of vernacular and I'm using Peter's type of vernacular here to say we are in the last days. There is an extreme falling away. mean, guys, seriously, just sit back and look. This isn't just trying to be nostalgic or trying to be old timey. We have, we have a culture in a society that justifies not killing animals for food because they're precious and life matters. And in the same breath will justify a mother going into a clinic and butchering her baby in her womb and call that healthcare. That's not something done in a back alley. That's something done that people are that in this country for a time of 50 years was constitutionally validated and justified. And people still celebrate it. Yeah. and, all, all those things and, and, ⁓ you know, that you don't use terms like sodomy anymore. You just call it, you know, it used to be sodomy. Then it was, you know, this type of behavior. then it was a civil union. Well, now it's marriage and love. And it's a redefinition of terms that we didn't define to start with. They're God's definitions of what he has prescribed. And now you can't watch a TV show without something popping up in there. The structure of the family unit since the late eighties, Every sitcom that's on the dad is just some bumbling idiot who is always getting in trouble, always messing up, always had like there's, there's none of the strong male figures because now our society would say that that's chauvinistic mentality. Yeah. Okay. And then let's go a step further and talk about what scripture says. Okay. If a man is acting that way, we talked about this earlier. What's he, what's he known as a chauvinist? What? Pig. Okay. It's pig type behavior. And then we've taken, and we've said in culture that if a woman's acting in the wrong way, that she's a version of a female dog. Yet the Bible talks about that the dog will return to his vomit and the sow will go back and wallow in her muck. So, I mean, we've even, we've even reversed, uh, uh, things to be descriptive. Yeah, the reference is to be descriptive of who we are in society. Everything is turned on its head. So in this day and in this age, that's where it's failed to is man is preeminent. Man is the point of authority. Even when it comes to church. I want it done my way. People will hear the King James thing and say, that's your preference. People will hear the you're against contemporary Christian music industry because that's your preference. No, that's the twisted thinking in where we live. ⁓ it's not about preference. It's about what is God's desire? More than God's desire. What's God's design? Exactly. Everything I just want to be, you know, God's already got it all figured out and he laid it all out for us. And we've been doing nothing but mess it up from the beginning. We've done a really good job of screwing it up. mean, from the very start, here's this perfect place that is no sin, no death, no cancer, no, no, no nothing. Everything's perfect. Just don't eat that tree. And then we can't, we can't resist. We go and we eat the tree. ⁓ so I think, and, and, and also. on those lines of going back to why that's needed and how it's going is because people don't want to have to study the scriptures. They don't want to. They want to be spoon fed. That's too hard. Yeah, exactly. And I taught on this, there the other last Wednesday night. Jesus is the one who opens this book. When John sees the glorified Lord there on the Isle of Patmos, then he's transcended up into the Spirit, which is a picture of the rapture of the church. says, immediately I was in the Spirit. And he's weeping in heaven because nobody's worthy to open the book. Nobody's able to open the scroll that has writing on the inside and the outside and sealed with the seven seals. But the lamb is worthy to open it. Well, Jesus is the one that can physically open that, he's the one who also opens this work. opens this word to us spiritually. This is not, there's no possibility or capability of carnally understanding this word. We talked, or I preached yesterday morning on hindrances in the Christian life. The way you treat your wife can hinder your prayers. Don't believe me, go read 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 7. The way in which you live can close your eyes to the things of God. And then you wonder, sit there and go, I'm trying to read this and it's not making sense to me. Well, of course it's not. You've selfishly and self-willed put the blinders back up that this is not to be carnally interpreted. This is to be spiritually interpreted. When's the last time the majority of people, and I pray that the numbers more than what I think it is, sit down and say, and pray before they start reading their Bible and say, not just, you know, Lord help me today or that. God, I can't understand this word. I need a voice from heaven. I need the Holy Ghost who dwells within me to guide me through this. Show me in your word what you would have me to see today. think it's quite a bit. But we want to be able to just, you know, hear it in a way we, well, here's the thing guys. Well, I mean, hold on just a second. Okay. If you're worried about understanding God's word in the way that we can understand it and have to get it in our, that ain't gonna work in heaven. No, it's not going to be modern English in heaven. know, going back and this is another thing that kind of trips up the argument and you can see how. It's a house of cards that starts falling on itself. Well, the original languages are this. And that's the tractor against why the King James is the correct version of the Bible for the English speaking world. But now we have all these new ones and we say, well, it needs to be in English because English is the predominant language and we need to be able to have it for ourselves here. I think so many times people, they hear ⁓ that our salvation is not on ⁓ And think that that's two blanket of a statement. ⁓ Because there is nothing that we can do to achieve our salvation besides falling on our face and pleading the blood. Yeah. But once we receive that salvation, we have to put the work in that God has commanded of us. And I think that's, that's the thing. A lot of people think, ⁓ well, I don't, I don't have to do anything. Just like, yeah, even if you fall in the plane, you're still in the plane, but you got to pick yourself up. What did I say at the start of sermon yesterday? There's a lot of people who are born again, but they're not Christian. How dare you? could you say no? Cause Christian is be Christ likes, be a Christ follower. You may be saved, but your life is not emulating. It's not reflecting Jesus in the way in which we're commanded to in the scriptures. So yes, you, you may be saying. But there's a lot of wood, hay and stubble there and you're, you're not a Christian. You're not acting like a Christian. It's not just, you're not acting like you're not, you're, you're a Christ professor, but you're not a Christ follower in your daily walk. upon what it says coming out of Antioch. Yeah, that, that ain't, that ain't my words. Yeah. But yeah, it's, I think that's a lot of people. Okay. I'm saved. So no, we have to put the work in. We have to do the things that God has commanded of us. We have to pray without ceasing. We have to open up our Bibles every day. have to, and that's not just checking off, you know, the checklist. It's open up this Bible. It's pleading to the Lord above and it's saying, Lord, please, I come to you just open and willing. And all I want to do is to learn more and go deeper into your word. And is that going to take precedent over watching TV? Is that going to take precedent over the things that you thought that you wanted to do? Yes. And some people, if you see that as work, I think that you are ill informed. That's not work. That's a command. Yeah, that's You're a new creation. So now there's, there's a new life there. There's new joy. You know, I've heard it said before, Paul didn't carry around a King James 16, 11 Bible and in his ministry, Paul also didn't carry first and second Peter, first, second, third, John, Jude book revelation. So do we, do we not read them either? Yeah. But then, you know, the thought is. It's the, it's the proper English translation for the English speaking world. ⁓ but, but it wasn't written in English. have to go back to Greek and Hebrew, but the whole crux of it is, is you're trying to get it in some type of modern English. So like you can, you can concede and say, God getting his work. Like was it a surprise to God in the 1600s ago? You know, I wonder if people are going to start speaking this English language now, know, ⁓ And that just, that, that to me and like that part of it, but then like the other part of it with, you know, fundamentals of the faith and sticking to the straight way. And we've, we've talked about it when we were talking to Hunter on the phone earlier this morning about it's really been pressed in my heart about the ditches because there's a straight narrow way. And people veer so hard one way with it or they veer so hard the other way with it. It's too extreme. Yeah. And like, if you say anything about Israel, like we were talking this morning, automatically people think you're Greg, Greg Locke. And if anybody says anything negative into the connotation of Israel, automatically you're Tucker Carlson. You know, if you speak about is God not being done with Israel and rejecting ⁓ the heretical approach of replacement theology. ⁓ Now you're Ted Cruz saying Christ is King means you hate Jews. If you say anything bad about the wickedness that is in Israel today and how they're the number one distributor of pornography and how ⁓ homosexuality, it's rampant, Hollywood, all these things. Then all of a sudden you ain't no different than Nick Fuentes, you know? And it's like, don't, you don't read your word. You don't focus on what the word is actually saying. And we, we, we go to these extremes. It's just like, do I believe that there are new songs today being produced and we're going to get into the word. I just think we needed a couple of minutes to talk about some of this stuff. is then there's one more point I want to make too, before we get into some of the passages we've been talking about. But ⁓ there's a song, I believe it's by Hillsong. Correct me if I'm wrong. What a beautiful name. Is that by Hillsong? I think so. Yes, it is. ⁓ So I want to show this, this is where the issue comes because again, you can go in one ditch. There, there are songs being written today that are theologically sound and there's, there's no issue with them. ⁓ there are songs that were written of old that are not as theologically sound, but, the things that we have to look at is Are we truly trying the spirits? Are we truly discerning what is right and what is wrong? But like this song right here came out in 2016 played in it was probably sung in over a million churches yesterday. mean, it's, all over the place and some of the words sound right. And that's where it gets us. What a beautiful name. The name of Jesus. Absolutely. But like here's the thing if you say well we put you know a good screening on these things and we want to that's that's what I always hear yeah if it if the song if We put it up against scripture and it passes the scripture or it passes the Bible test Then we say nothing wrong with it Well, how deep are you willing to look exactly? And well, that's too much work. Well, it's not too much work when it's handling the things of God. So this song begins, you were the word at the beginning and word is capitalized. Yeah. Yeah. That's, that's John one. I'll take you to it. I'll give you that one with God, the Lord most high. Yep. Because the, the, the God head is proven. Yeah. You're hidden glory in creation. So we're three lines into it. And now we've already hit a stumbling block. Hidden glory. Hidden glory. Well, what, what, what, what's, what's hidden? But, but I mean, okay, so we're, we're, going to hold the microscope up and we're going to do the due diligence of checking things and making sure that it is biblically sound. But listen here in Romans one, Romans one 19, because that which may be known of God is manifest in them for God has showed it unto them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen. It's not just kind of seen, it's not you got to look real hard. But the invisible things, His glory, His magnificence, His sovereignty, His holiness is made manifest. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly saying being understood by the things that are made. Well, that would be creation, wouldn't it? But it says it's clearly saying even his eternal power and the Godhead so that they are without excuse. Listen to Psalm 19 here in verse 1. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork. So that right there, clearly, your hidden glory in creation, that's two passages of scripture I can take you to and go, no, that's completely... wrong. That's subverting. Well, that's just one line. Yet one line turns into two lines. When we're talking about the Word of God, as we read earlier in Psalm 138.3, that He elevates His Word above all of His name. We don't just play loose with that. It either agrees with it or it doesn't. Yeah, yeah. And what you can see is, is that's how subtle the things are that come out of these type of sources. And that's why the source does matter. The messenger does matter. ⁓ Those things have to be. Here's the bad part. We are seen as just old timey when we're speaking about these things, but understand if you're a pastor, if you're a worship leader, you're doing something that is in the ministry of God. You will stand before God one day and give an account and be held accountable for those things. That's handling the word of God loosely. That's not studying to show yourself approved. It's, it's a popular song and it's an emotional song and it sounds great. And like I said, I'll concede the first two lines, theologically sound, theologically sound. How do you miss that point? the heavens declare the glory of God your hidden glory. is clearly seen your hidden glory. When I walk outside, even on a day like today, it doesn't matter. That's nothing. There's no hidden glory. Well, it talks about the Godhead being shown. What does the Holy Spirit referred to as in the book of John? The wind. Yeah. The SU in is a symbol of the S O N like the Godhead is shown. Everything is, is, is evident. It's, it's described. It's, it's, it's there before you and it's clearly seen. These are the things that that people just think we're trying to harp on and be negative about, these are the pitfalls that we're trying to say, watch out for. Make sure you're having clear discernment. A glass of water that's 99.99 % water, but then is 0.01 % poison can still harm you. It may not kill you. You're going to have lasting side effects of that and it engages and it engulfs and it brings you in. And I know that song was sung in multiple churches yesterday. So many pastors either just said, I like this song or they did what they said that they're either, they're either saying we vet them and they're not. So they're lying about it or they're vetting them, but they're not vetting them very well. It only took me to get three lines into it to go. That doesn't line up with scripture. Or they're just blatantly choosing preference. Their preference is... There you go. ...over. what scripture calls for. It's just like when you're, you hear a pastor preaching and reading a passage of scripture and say, now it says this right here, but a better interpretation of that would be based off of what authority based off of your authority of what you think it should say. And, and those are, those are the things, those are the pitfalls guys. That's, that's, that's where the rubber meets the road. That's why And maybe we haven't always articulated that and we just come off as like haters and saying, you got to do it our way. No, that's, not what this is about. reason. There is a reason why. we have issues with some of this stuff. It's not just cause it's new and no, and how many times have we said that? Well, and here's, here's another thing of like today's age. I think I talked to you about this last week and I mentioned it to the church last night. If you hear somebody, a pastor talking about hell today, ⁓ yeah. Which is, which is very, very few and far between really, because well, people don't like to hear about that. You're right. People don't like to hear about that. you just talk more about hell than you did heaven to two times more. but used to you heard a lot of sermons about hell. Then you heard here, you know, for a long time, lot of sermons about heaven. And now it's like, it's fixated where the majority of your sermons are about here. So you've stepped into that. What is the way in which you hear majority of everybody, whether it be some type of soul winner, some type of evangelistic outreach or a pastor when they preach on hail, how do they describe hail separation, separation from God, you're separated from God or you're separated from family members that went to heaven or friends that would go to heaven or even just people, you know, see, and even in that. If it's people, you know, and they went to heaven, that means they're a Christian. They're the ones inviting you to church. They're the ones always talking to you about it for a lost man without a clear understanding and definition of what hell is. Separation of God can sound like heaven. Yeah, that's what they want because you know what? In that moment, they are separated from God. It's no different than the state in which they're in. If you don't. accept Jesus into your heart, you'll be separated from God forever. A lost man can sit there and go, excuse me, nobody's ever going to bug me about coming to church again. I'm never going to be handed another gospel track. I'm never going to have to hear about this stuff again. That sounds great. Sign me up. When Jesus Christ spoke about hell, he talked about it of a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. He talked about it where the worm dith not and the fire's not clenched. When he talks about the rich man crying out, and begging Lazarus just to dip his finger in water to cool his tongue because he's in torments and these flames. That's the way that Jesus... So we want to spread Jesus's message, but see, we even begin to dictate how we spread Jesus's message when we even talk about hell. If we do talk about hell, you know, if we do, it's we are separated from God. Cool. I'm already there. What's any difference in between that? If we're truly wanting to be Christ like we're truly wanting to be followers of Jesus. Let's start speaking the way he did. I would, I would start, you know, why don't you describe hell the way it is that anyone who any human or any soul that goes there is a visitor or not welcome because hell was not created. was made for Satan and his angels. So, I mean, you're going to be treated as if you are an unwanted visitor. to the utmost degree by someone who has nothing but evil intentions to begin with. Well, and that's another thing about the Bible translations, newer versions change the name hail to Hades because that's what it said in the original Greek, but they don't change the name of heaven to our announce, which was in the Greek. It's still heaven. if we're not change, if we change the word, does that not soften the blow? It absolutely. We don't change heaven, but we change hell. That, I mean, that, that, are the things. This is why we speak the way we do and try to put out what we do is to be a sign of warning. And I know we're getting back into the book and we're getting ready to talk scripture. And this is probably going longer than, than I wanted it to, but that's, that's the reason why we, take the stands that we do. We're trying to warn to use that discernment. The best things in the world, the best lies in the world, the best tricks in the world have to have to start with some semblance of truth. You cannot throw. I'm going to go trout fishing with my sister on opening day. can't just throw a blank hook out in the water. I can't just put a spinner. That's just a treble hook and that's it. It's got, it's got to look like eggs because it's corn niblets on the hook. Yeah. It has to be a worm because that's what they would eat. has to emulate and simulate a look of another trout. It has to be something to try to catch you. That's the bait you have to throw out. There has to be some semblance there of, okay. And who disguises himself as an angel of light. The devil. Exactly. And that, I don't know why we started this way. Maybe somebody needed to hear that. Maybe we just needed to say that to clarify things, but. That's the doctrine that we need to hold to stick to the book. because that's the doctrine of the Bible. Exactly. That's what it is. Stick to the book. It's black and white. There's no gray. And if your flesh butts up against it, it's obvious that your flesh is the issue and not the word of God. Right. You know, we talked a couple of weeks ago, ⁓ in first Samuel. We were going to get into Daniel four today, but I knew we, you we were going to talk a little bit about that. And then we just decided, you know what, let's just go, let's go through a couple of different passages and just talk about a couple of different things. Word of God, things that we've been reading things I'd like for you to share. don't know if we did last week or not, but what you saw there in Matthew, if did we, but even you go deeper. So, you know, we leave chapter three in first Samuel with Eli getting that message from, from Samuel of what God's going to do. Yes. And boy Samuel. Yeah. Um, for the first time heard the Lord speak to him. He didn't know him at the time. Samuel did not know the Lord at the time. Um, but glad he did. Yes. Um, But the Lord gave Samuel a very, very, I don't even want to say a warning. It was a very stark message to tell Eli of what's coming. Yeah. Cause then based upon Eli's decisions and actions. Yeah. The iniquity of his house, the way his sons have been acted, the acting, was going to be no sacrifice left for him to make. And here's, here's where we can do it the right way or do it the wrong way. The Philistines come and take the ark in chapter 4. ⁓ Now, Eli's sons were in charge of the ark, because that's their job. It said here in verse 4, so the people sent to Shiloh that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubims. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. I put ⁓ in the margin of my Bible, the wicked in charge of the sacred. Yeah. You know, and that's just, that's a warning for us. Verse five says, when the Ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel shouted with great joy so that the earth rang again. The thing that we must do is not just worship the things that God does, not just praise and honor the things that God does, but praise and honor Him regardless. Now look what the things of God can do. Verse 6, And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of the Lord was come into the camp. And the Philistines were afraid for they said, God has come into the camp. the Philistines, I look, I wrote right here. The Philistines had more discernment than the Hebrews because they're seeing the arc and they're going, yes, we've got our weapon back. The Philistines hear it and they go, ⁓ man, God's with them. And look what they say twice right here in verses seven and eight. And they said, woe unto us for there have not been such a thing here to Here to four, woe unto us, who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty gods." You see, they put a plural there. These are the gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness. Guys, the Philistines act like they know more about what's going on. And that's a warning to us that you need to be in your word. Cause what happens when you go witness into somebody and they know more about the Bible than you do? They're going to walk the floor. You're going to have any answers. was like at morning. You called me. You care if I share that story? Go ahead. Go ahead. That was a rough morning. I was sitting in my office and will calls me and he goes, well, I just got the floor mopped up with me. So I grabbed my phone and grabbed my keys and I'm like, I'm going have to go find somebody. said, nobody going to come whip up on my boy. And I was like, what happened? And you tell, well, I went in at the time. had a different job than I have now. And, ⁓ I went into one of the accounts that I was working on and just felt led to, share, share the Lord with this gentleman, ⁓ that I had known for a long, long time working at where I worked. And I tell you guys, I was not ready. ⁓ I, first off, I did not go into it. prepared. And when I mean prepared, I did not say get myself ready and, and, and, know, in deep thoughtful prayer, was not, I just kind of ran in there, which the Lord can bless those times of, of being instant in and out of season. But it was almost Willy nilly witnessing. Cause I was getting ready to leave that job and they asked me why. And it was almost kind of a prideful witnessing. Yeah. Because they had said something about why I was leaving. And I said, you know, I'm going to be I'm going to be a pastor. And so ⁓ I'm going somewhere else and everything. And when I tell you this guy that I started witnessing to knew he knew more scripture than I did definitely at the time. But the way he he did it was he definitely he knew. the bullets that he was going to use. He had them ready and you can tell he had used them for years. That was his main counter. That was the main things he would do. And I left there with my tail tucked between my legs. Cause at the end of it, there was nothing really I could, I could say because I wasn't prepared. I wasn't, I went in there with the wrong ⁓ attitude, definitely in the wrong spirit. of why to do it. And now I can look back and see that. But at the time I was just like, well, I was trying to witness man, you know, and it was, it wasn't good, but the good thing about that was it didn't discourage me. Exactly. It made me realize I need to be instant in and out of season when I need to be ready at all times. didn't discourage you, but I'm glad it wounded you. Oh, I am too. You know, because you could have walked out of there and been like, well, that day was just a Reprobate heathen and ain't no hope for him. I gave him what he needed to hear and not grown from that, but I still think about him. Exactly. The Holy ghost wounded you in that moment to be like, ⁓ hold on now. And those are great times. I've told that story multiple times about standing there on the football field and said something that could be considered inappropriate because it, and man, it made everybody laugh and it was so funny. And it was like, ⁓ I'm getting the approval of all these guys around me. And driving home almost had to pull my truck over on the side of the road and throw up. was so nauseous. I was under that much conviction. And then by the time I got home, I'm like, Lord, thank you for that. Thank you. That's not just something that passes right by me. Yeah. I think that when, we have those, those interactions with people and we're, we're trying to do the work of the Lord and we're trying to witness to people for one, there's always. And I'll tell you, there's always the time and the place to do it. And I think time and the place is anytime you do it. And so, but, to be ready, I think we need to, as, we're called, we need to constantly be in prayer. We need to constantly have on that, the armor of the Lord and we need to be ready. And instant at all times. And I wasn't. And, ⁓ yeah, like I said, I got my butt whooped for it. Well, you had the helmet of salvation on, you had the breastplate of righteousness, you had the shield of faith, you had the belt of truth, your feet were shod ready to share the gospel, but you didn't have the sword. I did not. He, ⁓ he took the sword and he didn't even, he took the sword out of my hand or he had one and he, didn't even cut me with it. He just beat me with the button. Yeah. And, and see, that's why it's so important. Paul writes that is you got to have the full armor. if you had had the sword, but not the breastplate of righteousness or the shield of faith, then it turns into an argumentative, I'm going to show you how much I know and I'm going to be better than you. I'm just going to throw a bunch of Bible at you. that's what it, you see how, mean, that's, isn't that beautiful though, man, how God designed it to show us there's examples because I have been in situations in my life where I've had the sword. And son, I was just swinging it from wall to wall. Yeah. I wasn't using it as it's double edge to be able to pierce and dissect. And we fail in those moments, but praise be to God, him being long suffering as he is. There's your King James word. means patient that, that his spirit ministers us in that moment. And I've never, like you would sit there and go, man, I'm thankful for the chastisement I got right there. You know, when you're a high schooler and dad finds out that There's going to be alcohol at a party, but you're really wanting to go. And he says, no. And you storm back into your room. I'm just going to throw an example. Let's give a story. This is just a random, like, I I don't, this has probably happened. It's had to have happened in the course of human history. Let's say this. Let's say you're a big time football player. There's a party Friday night. You're wanting to go. Everybody's going, well, daddy's caught wind that there's going to be alcohol there. He says, son, don't go. Yeah, but all my buddies are going to be there. No, you're not going. You're staying here. You storm into your room, you slam the door and you go, I can't, I can't stand him. And I'm getting chastised and I'm getting punished for not being able to go do what I want to do. Come to find out your buddies drove home drunk and gotten a wreck. Yeah. You know, not saying they died, but maybe, maybe they got dinged up and they can't play football or, you know, whatever the situation. or the party got busted and they all got arrested. You sitting there going, hated that chastisement at the moment, but now I see the bigger picture of it and I'm thankful for it. know what I mean? I mean, I honestly, Zach, I, just another real world example and I got it from my mother. ⁓ man, a woman of wisdom. ⁓ traffic. We sit in traffic and we think, you know, you can have two perspectives. You can say, I'm in a hurry. I got to get, get going. Well, first off should have left earlier, but I know life happens, but ⁓ perspective that my mom told me one time and it really stuck with me and do I follow it all the time? No, because I'm impatient. ⁓ but There's been times that I have and I pray that I, that I keep doing it. Mom, mom, one time I was running late or something. got home late. ⁓ either way I was late. wasn't in a good mood and mom looked at me and mom said, think about this. She said, what if you were stuck in traffic because the Lord knew he needed to slow you down because up ahead you could have gotten a wreck. Yeah, exactly. or anything along those lines, you never know the circumstances, especially in the world that the Lord is going to use to put guardrails up in your life. And let's say you were in that instance, both situations that you and I described, let's say you tried to witness and say, and you know, are you going to walk out of there with a haughty mindset and be like, well, he's just There needs to be some evaluation there. No. that's, why I called you at the time. Yeah. mean, really, you know, as a, as a pastor and someone that I was, ⁓ you were, you know, still actively discipling there. was like, I'm, know, tell me what to do. You know, tell me, ⁓ not so much what to do, but it was, yeah. Or actually, I think at one point I told you in that conversation, I said, I need to work on this big time. Yeah. Well, or if I had left from the football field that day and never thought another thing of it. Yeah. You know, just been like, well, got a laugh. you ever sit there and think about all the things you've done and not all the things you've done in your past, but you sit there and, know, before the Lord truly took over your life and became Lord of your life. Do you think about those situations that you're like, man, I wish. prayed that God would have chastised me. You know what I mean? As a young and I never beg for a spanking. I do now. ⁓ as an adult, I don't, know, and, that's a, that's a tough prayer to pray Lord. I get out of your will, do what your words say. I'm not commanding or demanding for God to do anything. I'm just saying, let me, let me more, more, I guess a better way to say it is let me see the chastisement. Yeah. Let me see. this, give me the eyes, give me the perspective. He that have an ear, let him hear. Well, let me hear this. It's, it's along the same lines of if you pray for patients, yeah, you're going to get it. There's going to be a lesson there. So the Philistines here, they, it's almost like they had more discernment than the Hebrews did than the Israelites did, but they said, woe on us twice. They realized that God is present there. But here's what the enemy does. And this is what's so important. And this goes perfectly with the story you were telling. Look in verse nine, be strong and quit yourselves like men. you Philistines that you be not servants unto the Hebrews. As they have been to you quit yourselves like men and fight the devil in the face, knowing is still going to come with a full barrage. He he's going to flee, but he's going to come back. You don't know when you don't know how you don't know where, but he's going to come back and continue to be that adversary to continue to resist you to continue to try to hinder you. on yesterday morning. hindrances in the Christian life. Exactly, the temptation in the wilderness and at the very end, now we can go into all the studying that we found of how long a season is, but The Lord, you know, the devil will be back. He has seasons and he left Jesus for a season. And the next time he came back to him was when he entered into Judas to betray him. Verse 10 says in the Philistines fault and Israel was smitten and they fled every man into his tent seat. That shows that it wasn't the presence of God that was with them and the Phil. And here's the thing. If you think. If you think wearing a cross necklace is going to do it. If you think having a Bible on the dash, you truck is going to do it. If you have some type of semblance or some type of show or something that you put out in front of you in that way, just going to church. Exactly. Exactly. It's going to do it. It's not going to do it. The Philistines come back in, they remount. They go, be men here. Quit whining. We ain't going to go through this again. And when they fought, Israel was smitten and they fled every man into his tent. And there was a very great slaughter for their fell on Israel. Thirty thousand foot men. Now look here in verse 11. And the Ark of God was taken and the two sons of Eli, Haphni and Phineas were slain. So the ministers of the Ark who were wicked in their own right, who were mishandling are slain. the ark has been taken, the Philistines had more discernment saying, God must be with them. We're still going to go fight. If their faith had truly been in God, this wouldn't have happened. Verse 12, and there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes rent and the earth upon his head. And when he came low, Eli set up upon a seat by the wayside watching. for his heart trembled for the ark of God. Now hold on a minute here. Here's the old backslidden priest who just one chapter earlier was told it's coming. Yeah. It's going to bad. has let the lamp stand go out, who has let his sons do whatever he knows his sons were there and his, his worry in his... I love the way this is written. His heart trembled for the Ark of God. Now, I'm not trying to discredit the Ark of the Covenant because that was where the presence of God went, but you can see where their faith was as they thought it was in the peace instead of the one who gave them the peace. You know what I mean? It was in the actual item instead of the one who gave them the item. That's why I... honor and revere this word because I honor and revere the one who gave it to me. That's why I'm so staunch with my positions is because the God of heaven gave us this word. His worry was for that. It wasn't for his sons. And when the man came into the city and told it, all the city cried out. were they upset that they lost the Ark of the covenant or were they upset that they had disappointed God? Which one? That's key. Yeah. Now for Eli's sake, listen in verse 14. And when Eli heard the noise of the crime, he said, what meaneth the noise of this toll moot? And the man came in hastily and told Eli, no Eli was 90 and eight years old and his eyes were dim that he could not see. Yes. And the man said on Eli, I am he that came out of the army and fled today. out of the army. And he said, What is there done, my son? And the messenger answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people. And thy two sons, Hophni and Phineas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken. Look at verse 18. And it came to pass when he made mention of the ark of God. So he understood. His faith had been as backslidden as he was, his faith had been regained. You can see that through the way he's talking to Samuel. He just got told that both of his sons were killed in this. But when he made mention of the ark of God, he fell. from off the seat backward by the side of the gate and his neck break and he died for he was an old man and heavy. I love has a little extra tidbit in there. And he had judged Israel for 40 years. put a arrow and wrote my Bible. What have I done? He felt responsibility. Yes, for his sons, but he, he, had come to grasp that where was his heart truly troubled at? He was so heartbroken. He basically, fell out of his seat and his neck and died. It was because of the defilement he had done in the eyes of God ⁓ knew that he had failed the people he'd failed his son. The reason that his, had failed his sons is because he had failed in the eyes of God. The reason that he had failed the people is because he failed in the eyes of God. It wasn't the sins that he had committed and how it had affected other people. Just like when Potiphar's wife came into Joseph, it wasn't, well, my dad would be angry at me about this. Your husband would find out and get angry. I'm going to feel bad. I don't want to defy God. I don't want to sin before him. But all this had been done. You realize it wasn't that he... that just spoke to me so much. It wasn't that he heard that his two sons had died that he fell back with. No, was that the ark had been taken. So he knows what he had been responsible for through that time of... through the backsliding, that the Word of the Lord is not going out, the lampstand is burned out, the ministry of God has been loosely handled. The disappointment... that he's been to the Lord. He has allowed for the enemy to come in and take the things of God. he fell back and died. If we had more people today that fall off their seat when they found out something to the Lord. Yeah. That it wasn't just about what it did to other people, but that we've done something in God's eyes that much that you fall back in your chair. I'm not saying people got to fall back and die. No, but that, I mean, that's just, that's a vivid picture of just. body, soul, spirit, everything being devastated. talk about repentance. Yeah. Just devastated and just literally falling. yeah, that just, really spoke to me the other day of, know, you read about the start of him there. Then you read about the interactions with Samuel then comes and says, don't hold anything back. Tell me exactly what the Lord said. and to know all these things, to wonder what's going on. And for his sons to fall was not the thing that did him in. The thing that did him in is he had failed the Lord. Not that it put it, not that it put him down any, Lord, but just that's the weight of the responsibility we have to carry in our life. It's just on Sundays where you have to present yourself under the Lord. You know, people say this and it's true. It's true. Salvation is a free gift, ⁓ but it everything. It calls the precious blood of the Son of God, the one in whom nothing was made without him through him. All things were made. He went through all that and another little Bible tidbit here. I've heard people say, well, I killed Jesus. The Romans killed Jesus. The Jews killed Jesus. He laid down. said, said, no man take my life from me, but I lay it down freely. No. And then I'll take it up again. He. laid his life down. You don't get the satisfaction of killing Jesus. So he laid his own life down to purchase us. That's the book of Acts. I think it's chapter 20 verse 28. Purchased us with his own blood. Now you've been bought. You're not under you're not your own. You're under new ownership. You're under new management. The life you live now. This is Bible is not your own. So stop being so free. Look at the consequences it can have when we get free and loose with how we worship God. Yeah, it's... You know what I mean? Like... ...veteran devastation. and disappointment and death. Well, cause you and I've been through this before. When your hope is in a building when your hope is in another human ⁓ that ends up letting you down. Now you're ⁓ shows where your true faith is. ⁓ shows what you're truly putting stock and putting faith in to say, ⁓ I should have, I should have not been doing the things I was doing. I ⁓ looking to man to guide me instead of God to guide me. I was having hope in a building more than I was having the hope of the one who even gave us the building. Amen. That's it. And when times come, you see people begin to crumble. This, this same story is being reenacted all over the United States of America today. It's happening today. happening today. And you know how Eli got on that path? He got off straight way. Sins of omission. Yeah, he got off the straight path. So that blessed my soul that they'd look through that. Absolutely. Before he knew it and here's the thing too. He was so upset And I think we've said this and I truly believe it. I think God took him out of here because he said if you're not going to do the things that I've called you to do instead of keep defiling my... I don't think it was... I don't think that that he that Eli got a way out. No, what an easy escape ism. No, I think the Lord said I'm taking you out of here. You disappointed me and you've done enough. And he showed him that. Exactly. That's what's scary. And because he said not only... I have sworn under the house. says, not only I told you that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity, is, which he know with, because his sons made themselves bow and he restrained them not. is that judgment placed on him right there? Yeah. Yeah. Is that, is that, is that all of it at one time? You sons are dead. The arc's gone. The people are in turmoil. you did this and now I have a I have a boy that I have obviously called that I have called out I have Samuel who's going to come and fix this because whenever I see that you know that he died God's not even given him a chance to get back up and fix it yes he was yes he was he's blind and fat yeah that's basically what he's one It's very telling will, it's very, it's very practical devotional for us today. much you, if you get past that surface level ⁓ of, he was upset or even the historical significance of trying to configure a timeline and say, okay, so this is where the arc went back to the Phyllis names. And this is where like getting the timetable of it figured out the deeper devotional doctor, I mean, there's doctrinal precedent that we can take in the church age from that passage of scripture right there. Well, they're about to get Amaroids. the statue of Dagon set up in there. It's going to fall down. It falls and then breaks. then they're all smitten with the. Amaroids, which is the Old Testament word for hemorrhoids. then they're like, please take this back. Take it. Not only that they make a golden image of a, of a hemorrhoid that they give. Right here. Six, six 17. And these are the golden Amaroids, which the Philistines returned for it for a trespass offering unto the Lord. Take this away from me. And golden mice. Yeah, because then the mass went in and ate up all the crowd up all the crops. Yeah. And that's why they made, made a basically the things that, that the Lord smote them with the, the, the curses that the Lord laid on them, the mass that ate all the crops and, and and the Amaroids. ⁓ they turned around and that's bad day for the Philistines. turned around and made idols of them which they still didn't learn. And so. That's a very telling example of... Probably I wouldn't say touch, the unclean thing, but don't mess with the things of the Lord. One could almost say our committee at church wasn't working very well. We need to make a subcommittee and make this committee to back up that committee. You're making hot holes of the things that have got you in the trouble. That's your end. Yeah, absolutely. ⁓ He's talking about Baptist committees. do you make a camel? How do you make a or no? What is a camel? It's a Baptist committee that put two horses together. ⁓ man. Well, and you know, that's like, what was that? That was that tozer book. had you read that passage out of, know, The way we do, the way we do church and the way we function, the way we see things, you know, so and so is a bank teller. They need to go on the treasury team. So and so is a business. They need to go on the so and so has a construction business. They need to go on this team on the building team. you start assigning those roles and it's like, but, ⁓ the primary focus for how this needs to be set up? Yeah. What's the point? The walk needs to be. primarily the function and that's where, you know, if a church is doing that, you can see this is more of a business organizational structure as opposed to just being a house of God. And I don't say just as something demeaning, but you know, the, the that's we've gotten so mainstream with everything. was it? Tozer said, all you had in the day was a Bible. used to be all you had in the day was a Bible and then all you had. then or all you needed for a church service was a Bible and a hymnal and now you can't do a church service without a Bible and a hymnal and a trailer full of equipment. That's pretty spot on. Yep. That's it. And a trailer full of equipment. Man. What a man. I saw a thing last night. Here's here. And here's a good, here's a good segue for that. I saw a thing last night ⁓ and a guy that had been doing prison ministry for years, almost sent it to should have sent it to you and got a hold of tozer. It was like, I'd like to come speak at your church. He said, ⁓ I do this is when tozer was still alive. So, yeah, this was like prison, prison. Yeah. He was like, I do this example where I bring up an actual electric chair. And I get somebody to come sit in it and make them fake that they've been electrocuted and toes are said, I love your zeal for the Lord, but we don't need to shock value people and believe in the Bible. He said, there's a sacrifice enough. Yeah. And I don't need pageantry. We don't need those types of illustrations to do, cause then you're going to, he said it this way too. He goes, So you're going to come in and shock all the people and they're going to be so discombobulated. Then you're going to ask them for money. He was like, no, but he said, We don't need these type of antics to be able to help the cross. The cross speaks for itself and like and very low. said, and I'll pray for your ministry. He's like, that's just, that's just not what we're going to do here. I don't, I don't need to add anything to this. Yeah. Uh, I've seen a quote by toes. He's got so many awesome ones. And, um, I actually, saw it the other day and it was I know I'm probably going to butcher it, but it's a man who's only worried about entertainment in the church is not worried about the church all. ⁓ I'm like, okay. ⁓ okay. you chew on it. Yeah. ⁓ It was something like that. don't try to basically he was saying, don't try to say, I'm worried about getting people in. ⁓ you know, getting people butts in the seats because if that's what you're worried about, that's all you're going to focus on. So we probably cut that out too, but that's all right. ⁓ Yeah, man, I just... Now I can all I think about is Eli. Yeah. And if the Lord, if that was all the punishment, the judgment and everything all in one, I don't know. Well, as long as the message is going out. well. I don't know man it just It's taxing and it's heartbreaking. And we were going to get into a little bit here in second Peter, but I love the note at the top in the description in our Bibles. It talks about how hand in hand, second Timothy and second Peter go about how they're both, ⁓ are aware that their martyrdom is near. and they're singularly sustained and joyful both foresee the apostasy in which the history of the professing church will end. One has a lot of emphasis on the teachers themselves, another has a lot of on the church members. But what you see in none of the epistles, whether it be the books of John, the one I used to refer to as the little Johns, ⁓ second Timothy, second Peter book of Jude, none of them have a tone of dejection or pessimism. And that's not inspired words. That's just in the study notes, but that, that really spoke to me. When I was reading that this morning, it's so true. Like, that's where if we've ever come off as like dejected and pessimistic and negative with it, it's more out of grief and sorrow for it to see where things are trending and how it's transpiring. And that's why we wanted to get back into the scripture, get back to doing these things. And, and I'll, got, like I said at the beginning, almost hesitated speaking about things we did earlier. Cause, but, but I think that's a good way to be able to explain these things that it's not just, I want my hands and I don't want none of this Brandon like stuff and like, well, when the Lord opens your eyes up to things and we, and we've said this a lot of times, but probably needs to be reiterated when the Lord opened your, opened your eyes up to things and a few times. You you've dove into things and you've kind of told me about it and then I've done and you're like, all right, get ready, get ready. When the Lord opened your eyes to this thing and truly how deceptive the devil is and how much just. how vile we are as sinners. Now this is not me being pessimistic or dejected. It's just being true. That's just reality. It's just reality and it's being truthful. But when the Lord opens your eyes up to that and you see it, yes, we can definitely come off. I know I have come off as more brokenhearted and I've expressed it many times and too many times as anger. But I'm not Peter. I don't have the wisdom of Peter. ⁓ I pray one day I'll have a tenth of the wisdom of Peter but I also fly off the hook like Peter did but at the same time, it's it's but but we have the tools and we have a more sure word. Mm As he says in second Peter, even more than what they heard on the Mount of Transfiguration. Yep. Even more than the name of But, but you just said it. Maybe we've said this too much. Go ahead for the listeners. Read second Peter one 12 there for me. Therefore, will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them and be established in the present truth. Now, read verse 13. Yay. I think it meet as long as I am in this tabernacle to stir you up by putting you in remembrance. As long as I'm in this flesh, I'm going to continue. You may think it's monotonous. You may think it's repetitive. I'm going to continue as long as I'm in this flesh to stir you up and put you into remembrance. These things. What is the apostle Paul's favorite go to be not ignorant brother, bring not ignorant brother. And then what was one of Jesus's go to this is great. Have you not read it? keep going back. Well, I feel like that's, that's all I hear. That's all I hear. Yeah. Peter's saying right here. I am not going to be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things. I'm not going to slide with it. I'm not going to be Eli and look back at the end of it and go, Oh my goodness. What have I done? Read second Peter to chapter one on your own time. Like started really getting into it this morning and man, and we're just going to get to it, but two episodes this week. We're already over an hour. Yeah, we're going to try to get. Maybe that's how we start off Friday or Thursday. Whenever we do it. I don't know, we're going to get that in though, but either way, I'm excited. That's a powerful passage of scripture right there. And the cross references you can get out of that. And I think, I don't think it's, we're never going to be a completed work in this sinful body. We're never going to be. So we must constantly strive and work at doing those commandments that we've been given. It's like we said last week, stand up on Sunday morning. Start singing Jesus paid it all. Just stop right there. Don't sing it. ⁓ you started singing again. All to him. hope. That's not a period. That's a comma. I surrender a good deal. A large amount when I can. I don't think it's how it goes. know we're laughing about it, but it's, I mean, it's true. And it's, know, it's. It's important. Well, it's, It's it's Shadrach, Meshach, and Imbandigo. These things are too important. This is too important. And I will not be careful with what I say. I ain't gonna be scared to give you this answer. He's going to get us through it, but if he doesn't, we won't praise him anyway. Absolutely. Well, let me pray us out of here and then we'll see y'all again here in a couple of days. Lord, we thank you again for this opportunity to come together and to speak to your word and to speak of the truth that we can take from your word and just to help shine some light in some places. Lord, it comes from a broken heart. Lord, not that we're being downtrodden and not that we're being pessimistic, but just a call back Lord. ⁓ that revival call that has went out for so long through this nation that you've blessed us with, through this world in which you've created. Lord, a true authentic revival, a revival of the Holy Ghost, not just something that's put on, not just something that bases off of emotion, but Spirit-driven, Lord, and Spirit-guided through every piece of it, that there would be conviction in the land. Lord, that there would be burdens placed on people. spoken about this on many of occasions that burdens can be a good thing, a burden for a lost soul is a good thing. Burdens in this world seem bad and hard, but Lord, we know where our strength comes from. I think of that passage in Nehemiah that his strength comes from you and his joy comes from you. And when that's where we're centered, even when we see things that are wrong, Lord, if it grieves our heart, it's grieving our heart in the right way because we're drawing closer to you. Lord, help us to not get to the end of our lives and look back like Eli and go, what have I done? But Lord, to see the truth that you still call people, that you're still calling people into ministry, that you're still saving souls, that there's still Samuels out there, Lord, to be able to tell your word and to tell the truth in your word. Lord, I just pray for those that listen to this, God, that they would be edified through it. But most importantly and above all, that you would be glorified through it. Help us in our daily walk, Lord. It's not just a one and done and we can take Monday off and Tuesday off and just come in on Sunday and get our batteries recharged, but it's I die daily, as the apostle Paul said in your word. Lord, help us to do that. Help us to strive to see people come to salvation, to see people that have come to salvation, to begin to walk in that light, not just be standing there in that light. But God, to do what it is that we're called to do, you called us to be the light. There's no way that we can have any light on our own, but we can be a reflection. Lord, I read that in your word and studied that about the sun. God reflecting off of the moon, it shows light in the darkness, and that's what you called us to do. Lord, you've given us a purpose. You've given us an opportunity in this world. Let us make the most out of it. Let us not get so called up and wound up in the things of this life. but Lord to have our eyes fixed on things eternally and to live for you daily. And we'll give you the praise, honor and glory for it for it's in your precious sons name. pray. Amen. Amen. Well, next episode we're going to come to you guys from live from King North Carolina. Yep. ⁓ from the King James Bible. Institute conference research council research council. So he's a couple of that's breakers that you're talking about. Yeah, either way, it's gonna be fun. And yeah, but we love you guys and God bless.