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All right, amen. 2 Kings 4, look down at verse number 18. It says, And when the child was grown, it fell on a day that he went out to his father, to the reapers, and he said unto his father, My head, my head, and he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother. And before you get into these verses here, I'm just going to kind of back up and just reiterate some things. So beginning in verse eight, we learn about the Shunammite woman. And the Bible says that she was a great woman, right? And it's not great like the Tony, the tiger, like you're great, right? She was great in that aspect as well, but really great meaning. She probably had a lot of wealth. She was a great woman. She was a woman of great countenance, rather. And you can see that as we go through here, you can see that she's very hospitable, right? Because she notices, I mean, she takes notice, hey, this man of God keeps passing through our town, you know, maybe we should help him out. Maybe we should do something for him. I would say that's a great woman. I would say that's definitely somebody who has the Spirit of God, who's spiritually minded. And she goes out and she wants to help this man of God out. And then, you know, as the process of time goes on, you know, Elisha takes notice and he's like, you know, I really want to bless her and asks her, you know, you know, what's going on in your life, basically, you know, what would you want of me? What would you want of God? And, you know, she tells him that she's barren. She can't have children. And so Elisha prophesies her. We read the story. She has a child. And then as the process of time comes, we get to verse 18. I mean, and keep this in mind, right? She couldn't have children. She probably, maybe she, maybe she was just living life. She's thinking, well, I'm just never gonna, it's never gonna be possible. So she gets one. And then there's a threat of losing that child. Look at verse number 18 again. It says, and when the child was grown, it fell on a day that he went out to his father, to the reapers. It doesn't say exactly what happened. I was talking with, what was it, brother Jeff and David about this the other day. And it just kind of rang to mind. I was like, I'm gonna preach this sermon on these two verses here. And look at verse 19. And he said unto his father, my head, my head. And he said to a lad, carry him to his mother. You know, I was thinking about using this for a father's day sermon. I might someday because there's a big disconnect here, right? I mean, obviously the guy fell and the dad's like, you know, just like most men are, you'll be fine. Get out of here. You're not really that hurt, right? He's ignoring the facts though. It doesn't say how hard he fell, but it was bad enough to where he was like, hey, my head, my head, something is wrong. And so the title of my sermon this evening is facing reality, facing reality. See, there's oftentimes, especially in my life, you know, I can remember Pastor Thompson and I just talking about like being King James only and, you know, being right on all these doctrines and just, you know, truth in general. And we're just talking about like, what is it? Like, why do we see these things? Why is it that somebody can show us these realities in the Bible and we see it, we believe it. But even other Christians, they see these things and they just reject them. You know, you point out the straight facts. Hey, tribulation, you know what the Bible says? After the tribulation, you know, you go into the doctrine, you just tell them like, hey, you're going to go through the tribulation. You know, in this world, you shall have much tribulation. It's all throughout the Bible. There's no verse in the Bible saying that you're going to escape the tribulation. You will go through it if you're alive during that timeframe. And that's the reality that we need to face. That's a fact that we need to face. The people would rather stick their head in the sand than accept reality, accept fact. I just want to show you this evening, the importance of facing reality and not just with stuff like that, not just with like conspiracies and, you know, things like that, but with anything, right? Things that are true. I'm going to show you the importance tonight on why you need to face facts, why we need to accept reality and build upon those realities. Look at verse 20. It says, and when he had taken him and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon and then died, verse 21. And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God and shut the door upon him and went out. Now keep your place there at the very end of the sermon. I think we'll probably come back to it, but go to John chapter three. John chapter three. So what happened in verse 20, verse 21? The child's head's hurting, laying with mom. You know, she probably doesn't have, you know, a clue of what's about to happen. And then the tragedy happens. All of a sudden the child dies. Now I want to make this statement here. And it's this, ignoring reality leads to tragedy. Ignoring reality leads to tragedy. Now, does that mean if you ignore, you know, certain biblical doctrines that you're going to die? No, that's not what I'm talking about. But it's a tragedy when those things come to pass and we're not ready. I mean, think about the tragedy that believers are going to face when they realize you're not clicking your heels and going home. There's no going back to Kansas. You will go through the tribulation, you know, or take this for an example. You know, you tell somebody, hey, you're going down a slippery slope. If you don't change your behavior, right, you're going to be backslidden. You're going to be out of church. You're going to be out of the will of God. You're going to be out of all these blessings. And guess what happens? They don't listen to you. They don't face the facts. They don't face reality. What happens? It's tragic. They get out of church and they wind up messing their entire lives up, right? That's a tragedy. I was talking with Briley before the service. They was telling me about this kid, this guy that he got saved today. You know, he gives this guy the gospel. The guy goes to church. He believes everything. He gets saved. He calls upon the landlord. He's like, yeah, now I know I'm saved, but I'm still going to go to my church, you know? And you just like got to kind of be blown back by that a little bit. It's like, why would you do that? You've been going to this church or the church that you've been going to, whatever church it was for what? Several years, right? He'd been going to this church for several years and wasn't saved and knew that. He's so here, you got this guy faced with this fact. I've been attending a church for several years. They never showed me how to be saved. And he's like, well, I'm just going to go back. I'm just going to keep on going there. Now, what sense in the world does that mean? It's just like this Shunammite father here, right? You know, my head, my head, right? And he's just like, ah, you'll be fine. Go see mom, you know, go take him to his mom. That's basically what this guy is doing. He's not facing the facts that a real Bible believing church came to his door, right? And gave him the gospel, the good news, which literally changed his eternal destination. And instead of being thankful, instead of saying, you know, maybe that's something I need to take a look at and maybe make a change. Like, well, I'm just going to keep on going here. That my friend is a tragedy because that church doesn't go out into the community and thank God by the way, because they don't believe the right gospel. But that's not a church. This guy's not going to a church. It goes out to the community and makes a difference. That tells people, hey, it's a free gift. We don't go around preaching probation. It's real salvation, right? That's the matter. And it's like, what are you doing? But this is the big problem with most people today. And this applies to saved and it applies to unsafe. And if you just think, look, think back into your life. I guarantee you everybody in here can think of a time where you've been faced with facts. You've been faced with reality. You've been given a warning shot. You didn't take it and something bad happened. That's a tragedy. That's why we need to listen to this sermon today, right? Ignoring reality leads to tragedy. That's what happened to the prophet. Now, what could he have done? You know, who knows? They didn't have the same kind of medicine. It's not like they could have got him a CAT scan or something, right? And stopped a brain aneurysm. But nonetheless, maybe he could have said, you know what? Maybe we need to go find that prophet right now instead of just waiting. Maybe we need to go find a man of God and have him pray for us. Instead of like, well, I got to get all this stuff. I got to go to work. Go see your mom. You know, and we're not actually reading about the lamenting of the father. I'm sure he was sad, you know, for the time being, if he even found out about it. Maybe he was too busy working. And so I just want you to keep that in mind. So John chapter three, look at verse number 20. It says, for everyone that doeth evil, hateth light, neither cometh the light, lest his deeds should be reproven. So we see this verse here. This is a reason why a lot of people don't want to face reality, why they don't want to face facts, is because their deeds are evil. Look, you could walk up to Bill Gates and Fauci and all these rich people and try to give them the gospel all day long. And you know what? They just power dive their head right into the ground because they don't want to hear. Their deeds are evil. They don't want to face facts. They don't want to face reality. And there's something to this. You're going to see this here in a little while. Look at verse 21. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light that his deeds may be manifest, that they are wrought in God. That's the kind of church we are, right? I mean, think about it. You guys come to church, you know, three times a week. You know, we move it to Tuesday. We've still got people here, you know, and it's because you love God, right? And you want your deeds manifest. You want the word of God to expose the things that you're not doing right so that you can face reality, face facts, build upon that and improve your life. That's what this is all about, right? That they are wrought in God. These truths are wrought in God. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter number 13. And so there's a big difference obviously between those who say, you know what? I want to face the truth. I want to face reality and those that don't. But like I said, this does apply to saved and it applies to the unsaved. And you're going to see that here. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 13, verse number one. So Paul explaining the concept of charity to the Corinthians, something that they were lacking in very strongly. 1 Corinthians chapter 13, look at verse one. It says, though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. Now he's not saying that I speak in this angelic language that only the angels and him understand or only God and them understand and the devil can't understand it. That's false doctrine. Show me, show me that in the Bible, right? He's made, this is a hyperbole, okay? That's what this is. This is a hyperbole saying, if I could do these things, but I don't have charity, I don't have love, then it's for not, it's for nothing. Verse two, and though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains and have not charity, I am nothing. So he's continuing on with this hyperbole here, verse three. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor and though I give my body to be burned and have not charity profiteth me nothing. Did he ever give his body to be burned? Right, I mean, cause Pentecostals will come at you with these things, right? Be like, well, I speak in tongues and it's an angelic language. And Paul told the Corinthians that they need to do that and they weren't doing that. And that's why they lacked charity. And that's why your church lacks charity and that's why you're not the full gospel. No, you're full of garbage is what it is. Verse number four, charity suffereth long and is kind. Charity envieth not, charity vaunteth not itself is not puffed up. Verse five, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not our own is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil. Verse six, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in truth. So the Bible says that charity, right? It's just another word for love. But when you read the word charity, or who's heard of a charity before? Oh, these people give all their money to charities and whatnot. The reason why they're called charities and not love is because it's used for a different purpose. So charity is basically love in action, right? Those charities, they take that love offering, that money that you give them and they apply it. They go out and give things to the poor. They act on it, right? That's what he's talking about here. Not just, oh, I love this. Oh, I love this color. No, it's deeper than that. He's saying that if you wanna have true charity, you need to meet all these qualifications here, but he's giving us something very important here. In verse six says, rejoiceth not in iniquity. That's key. That's very important. We're gonna talk about that here in a minute. Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in truth. So what he's telling us is that real love, love that acts, charity rejoices in truth. So here's point number one, people that can't see truths or face facts, face reality, are lacking in charity. Think about it. Think about the Shunammite man. Was he lacking in charity toward his son who said, my head, my head. I'm not saying he didn't love his son, but it's not the most loving thing to just be like, hey, you go take him to his mom. I mean, the Bible specifically mentions the verse prior that he felt, probably fell on his head or had something to do with that. And instead of taking action, instead of acting on it, he demonstrates his lack of love. I didn't say he didn't love him, but it's not complete, right? And that's why I said point number one is that people that can't face reality, they're lacking charity in some regard. They're lacking that desire and that will to act on truth. I mean, think about it. When somebody comes up to you and tries to correct you about something and you're like, whatever, I don't believe that. You know, or what are you doing? You're not really, you're not really, what I'm trying to say is you're lacking some form of love. You're lacking truth for yourself or for whatever the situation is here. Now I'm gonna show you an example of this. Look at verse number five here. I'll just give you an example of this point here. Look at verse five. It says this about charity. It says, does not behave itself unseemly. Well, what does that mean? Well, unseemly is the opposite of seemly. It means inappropriate. It means broken or bad, right? I mean, think about a seam, right? Think about the seam of your shirt here. What would happen if there was like a string hanging out and you were to pull that string and it unraveled, right? That's not good. It's not complete. It's not whole, right? Go to Romans chapter number one. So point number one, one more time is that people that can't see truth are lacking in charity. Take this for an example. Who's ever heard of love is love, right? That, isn't that? I mean, we just came out of June, not too long ago and it doesn't even have to be June. It's anytime the Sodomites wanna get on the news or get on their high horse or attack us. One of the things they'll often tell me in emails and tell you at the door is love is love. It doesn't matter who you love. Love is love, right? You know what these freaks are doing right now? They're taking that message and applying it to pedophiles and saying, you know what? Love is love. We need to lower our thinking on that and we need to basically just conform to the fact that pedophiles are normal human beings. And does anybody know, didn't the American Psychological Association recently changed their stance on pedophiles? Isn't that true? Yeah, so they did that back in the day with the Sodomites. See, they used to classify it as a sick disorder and then they're like, well, it's just a preference now. They're doing the same thing with pedophiles, right? Exactly what they did in Genesis 19. That's what Sodomites do. They go after the children. They don't reproduce, they recruit. We understand that. But their mantra or their chant to the world is love is love. It doesn't matter who you love. That's what they say. Love is love. Now, the Bible says that charity, which is love, love in action, does not behave itself unseemly or inappropriately, right? Everybody understand that? Look at Romans 1, look at verse 27. Talking about the Sodomites, it says, and likewise also the man leaving the natural use of the woman burned in the last one toward another, men with men working that which is unseemly and receiving in themselves that recompense of the air, which was mean. So what did Paul tell the Romans about the Sodomites and their action is not love. You see, they wanna fight tooth and nail. They wanna get into every position possible. They get into the HOAs, they get into the scouts, they get into the management of the stores, the government, the community, all facets of leadership is what their goal is to get into all of these positions so that they can push their unseemly agenda. It's not love. This proves that beyond any shadow of a doubt because Paul told the Corinthians, you know what? Charity does not behave itself unseemly and they say, love is love. And Paul said, you know what? That action is unseemly. It's inappropriate, it's disgusting, it's filthy, it's vile. It's reprobate. It should not be allowed to exist. And what's worse is that you take this truth and you show other Christian people and I'm talking about people that are actually saved and you show them what the Bible says and they just say, I don't believe it. I don't think that means what it means. You say, well, what do you think it means? I don't know, but it doesn't mean that. You're dealing with somebody who is neglecting to face reality. And you know what happens? Those people oftentimes will put their children in a Sunday school class led by one of these freaks and they get molested. And this isn't a once or twice thing. This is a guaranteed fact. This happens every single day in this country, in this world. These people are predators, it's what they do. You know what? And that's what I'm telling you. You know, that's what I'm telling you at the beginning. That's what I told you at the beginning of the sermon. Ignoring reality leads to tragedy. I knew of this pastor in the Sacramento area that was giving pastor men as a really hard time during that whole Orlando thing. And then it came out later on that his son got molested by someone in the church that was a sodomite all because they ignored reality. They would not face the facts. They wanted to remain simple. And the Bible says the simple believeth every word. And that's not our goal. We don't wanna be simple people. We wanna continuously come to church, read our Bibles, listen to preaching and face facts, face reality and build upon those things. Why? So that we can avoid as much tragedy as possible. As much tragedy as possible. I mean, think about this. You don't preach up here week after week. Hey, focus on the eternal. Get out of that old man, right? That's a big message here, right? That's a big message. Think about the people that ignore that. Think about the people that will ignore that. And imagine them at the judgment seat of Christ and they've got nothing but wood hands double. That's a tragedy, right? That's what you say, well, they didn't die. They lived out of life. You know, they made all this money and they had it pretty good and they're still saved. Yeah, but you're gonna be in eternity a whole lot longer than you're ever gonna be here. And you will be kicking yourself every second of eternity. It's a tragedy. All because you couldn't face facts. You ignored reality. Look, we need to pay attention to this. We need to make sure that when you hear something or the Bible cuts you to the heart about something that you just face it. Face that fact and to make the application so that you can get better. Look at verse six again. 1 Corinthians 13, verse six, rejoiceth, so talking about charity, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in truth. Beareth all things, believeth all things, hope all things, endureth all things. So you say, what do we do about this? Okay, I understand that people that can't see reality, people that can't face facts, right? They're lacking charity. It's because their love is misplaced. They're acting out in the old man, basically. That's really what it boils down to. Look at verse six again, rejoiceth not in iniquity. So here's another thing I've noticed. Oftentimes when people are really like just living in the world, you know, they're just coming to church and just basically wearing two hats. Sooner or later, they fall out because they never develop that charity for the truth, that love for the truth. They don't, week after week, get those wins and build upon themselves, you know what I'm saying? And so they wash out. This is a dangerous game to play and something that we need to take heed to. Turn to John chapter 16, John chapter 16. Paul tells the Corinthians later in chapter 15, it says, I protest by rejoicing, which I have in Jesus Christ, O Lord, I die daily. See, Paul understood that it's a battle having two natures, having the old man and the new man. And every single day you have to just make that choice to die daily, you know? And when you do that, you're gonna find yourself developing a love for the truth, developing a love to having your deeds manifest and brought before the light so that you can get better, so that you can march on, so that you can become a better Christian, so that you can become a better servant of God. Look, it's hard work. There's a reason why there's so many empty chairs in here. But you could go to one of these other churches and they're packed. There's a reason for that and it's because they are lacking charity. They have their ears itching and that guy up there will do nothing but scratch them, scratch your back all day long. He's never gonna tell you the facts. He's never gonna tell you reality. He's never gonna tell you anything that hurts your feelings or steps on your toes. All they're gonna do is just tell you you're good, love wins, right? Love wins. Isn't that what Rob Bell said? Who knows who Rob Bell is? Real famous faux Christian author. He wrote a book called Love Wins. And basically the conclusion is that everybody gets saved at the end of time because love wins. Talk about somebody who's never probably even read a page out of the Bible. You can't even read the false Bibles and come to that conclusion, okay? It's ridiculous. Look at verse four. John 16, look at verse number four. Jesus says this, "'But these things have I told you "'that when the time shall come, "'you may remember that I told you of them. "'And these things I said not unto you at the beginning "'because I was with you, "'but now I go my way to him that sent me. "'And none of you asketh me whither goest thou.'" So he's trying to prepare them. He's trying to give them some information here, give them some wisdom to help them out in the future. Verse six, "'But because I have said these things unto you, "'sorrow hath filled your heart.'" I want you to think about that for a second. He's like, hey, I'm telling you the truth now and sorrow has filled your heart. Here's point number two. Many people make conscious efforts to reject truth because it's not always pleasant. This is just something that you have to realize, right? Because this can help you in your perception. This can help you expose this to other people. What does he say here? Look at verse six again. "'But because I have said these things unto you, "'sorrow hath filled your heart.'" You see, the disciples are like, why do you keep talking about leaving and going up to heaven? I thought we were gonna have the kingdom here, right? Remember, that's what they wanted, the kingdom now. Not in God's time. They wanted it now on this earth. And Jesus is telling them things and they're like, they're not quite understanding it, but they understand enough that sorrow is filling their heart. And that's why I'm saying point number two is that many people make a conscious effort to reject reality solely because the truth and the facts that they're facing are not pleasant. And that's just life. A lot of things that are true, a lot of things that are factual, they hurt. Let's just be honest, right? We live in a fallen world, but here's the good news. Turn to Romans chapter eight. As believers, right, we know who wins in the end. You know what? And it saddens me when you tell other Christians these things, kind of like the tribulation example. I like to use that one because it's so applicable. You just tell them about these things. No, you're not getting out of here. You're not escaping anything. You're gonna go through this. So you might as well start getting ready now and making the mental preps and doing the things that you need to do so that you can persevere, so that you can maybe even make it through or get some people saved to the last minute instead of, because I just wonder, what are these people gonna do? Are they gonna be like, maybe we just misunderstood the Bible. Maybe we should just sit back and take a break and just kind of think about things. I don't know. I think some of them will be like, okay, we're wrong. But knowing what I know about most people because of the Bible, I think a lot of people are gonna try to play it off. Well, he can't be the Antichrist. Look, people like John MacArthur and these other big name preachers, they're already trying to make excuses for this stuff. They're already saying that you could take the mark of the beast and then do the baptism of John and get it washed away. That's ridiculous. The Bible's clear. You take that mark, you're going to hell. You're a reprobate, you're condemned. There's no hope for you. None, zero. But yet they're like, oh, well, you know, maybe you could take that baptism of John and just wash it away. They're ignoring the facts. They refuse to face reality. And the worst things get in this world, you know what? You're going to see more and more people just turn away. Like, I don't want to see it. You know, just pull that Wizard of Oz tactic. Just stand in the corner, click your heels three times and say there's no place like home. That might work in Hollywood, but it doesn't work in real life. Romans chapter eight, look at verse number six. I just want to show you this here because this is a reason why most believers don't want to face facts. Look at this, verse six. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. You know, obviously the first application here is just talking about the two types of people you have in the world, right? The quick and the dead. There are people out there that are just floating along. They just don't know, right? They just don't know. They just go through life. They're carnally minded. They don't want to think about the things of God. They're not necessarily bad, but if they continue down that path, the Bible says there's a way which seemeth right into a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death, right? And that's where that way will lead you. That's where that thinking will lead you. You continue to put it off. I know I should probably go to church. I know I should probably listen to that soul one, and maybe I'll listen to him next time he comes around. You know what? You don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. It's possible that you could die. So he says for to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. You know, and you can see this when you're out knocking on doors, right? You knock on that person's door and they're like, yeah, I don't know. I do go to church, but I'm not sure if I'm saved. I'm not sure if I'm going to heaven or they don't go to church. They're like, that's a good question. I don't know. You know, you have the answer, tell me, right? That's somebody who's kind of spiritually minded. And the Bible says that that leads to life, right? Those are the types of people that we love to run into. Verse seven, because the carnal mind is enmity with God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So basically saying, hey, the old man has nothing, nothing to do, has no desire to learn the things of God. Verse eight, so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. And that does apply to us as well. You know, when we're walking in the old man, we're not pleasing God, right? And so let's just be honest. One of the reasons why most believers reject reality, whatever it is, is because they're walking in the old man. Right? They come into a church like this, that's too hard. I don't like, I want the lights, I want the rock band. I want all the comforts that the world could give me, but I want it in kind of a Christian-ish setting. Right? That's what they want. Because they're carnally minded. They can't accept the fact that, hey, Bible says you should be sanctified. We should be the exact opposite of what the world wants. Right? I'm not saying it's sinful to have drums. People, oh, prove to me right now that I'm sinning by playing the drums. Look, I don't care about your drums. We're just not gonna have them. It's too close to the world, I don't wanna go there. End of story. Don't tell me, oh, you go to show me, no, I don't have to show you anything. We're just not gonna do it. Because I don't want to have any resemblance of the world inside God's house. You know what? And let's just be honest. The drums make you feel a certain way. Right? It's sensual by and large. Maybe someday you guys will meet a drummer that can play otherwise. I don't know. He can play in the New Evangelical Church. Don't come here. And I will sing the hymns just like they did in the Bible. You know, we'll go from there. So obviously I explained here, you know, to be carnally minded is death. But it's also the same for the believer. You can't lose your salvation, but you can remain carnally minded. Who's known a believer that's carnally minded? Who in here has been carnally minded since you've been saved? Just every single person in this room. And where does that road lead you? To some sort of death, some sort of tragedy, some sort of trouble, right? That's why believers reject reality oftentimes. And if we could just change that mindset, wake some people up, you know, and point them in the right direction, man, we could really do some serious damage to the kingdom of the devil, I'm telling you. Go to John chapter eight. We're gonna spend more time on this one here, and that is why do the non-believers or the heathens reject reality? What is it that causes them to not want to face reality? John chapter eight, why can they not see truth? Look at verse 43. John chapter eight, verse 43. It said, this is what Jesus says. He says, why do ye not understand my speech, even because you cannot hear my word? So he asks a question and then he answers it. Says, why do you not understand my speech? He says, even because you cannot hear my word. So he's saying it's impossible for you, for this group of people to hear his word. Now, do they hear the words coming out of his mouth? Do they hear the sounds? Do they understand the words a little bit? Yes. They don't get the message. Why is that? Why can they not get the truth, the reality of God? Why is it that you can show somebody crystal clear, John 3.16, and they're just like, you gotta repent of your sins. You have to turn from your sins to be saved. Why is that? He's gonna explain that. It's because they oftentimes can't hear his word. Verse 44, ye are of your father the devil and the lust of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own for he is a liar and the father of it. Now, that doesn't mean that every single person you're out soul winning with, when you give them a verse they don't get to the truth of the devil. That's not what I'm trying to say. Jesus is telling these Pharisees, these super ultra spiritual types this, because they've already made a conscious decision to reject him, which is rejecting God the father. They don't believe Moses, he tells them that. He's like, you don't believe in Moses, you're definitely not gonna believe in me. Look at verse 45, and because I tell you the truth, you believe me not. Verse 46, which of you convinces me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do you believe or why ye not believe me? Why do ye not believe me? Verse 47, he that is of God heareth God's words, ye therefore hear them not because ye are not of God. So this is very, very good wisdom for us here, especially when you're discipling people, especially when people come to church and you're out soul winning, right? You're at your job site, somebody's like, I'm a Christian, I'm a Bible-winning Christian, but they can't get simple doctrines like the gospel. They just say, well, I think the Episcopalians have a good message, I think the Methodists have a good message, I think the Catholics have a good message, I think the Mormons are well-meaning, I think, no, they're all of the same religion, it's probation, right? As long as you are a good boy and follow the commandments, you'll get to heaven, right? They ignore the reality, they ignore the fact that it's too late for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And when you tell these people that, and they're just like, I don't get it, just know you're dealing with somebody that's not saved, you're dealing with somebody that they just don't love that reality, they just don't love reality at all. They lack charity and they're basically people that just view that as not pleasant. And you know what, it really is a hard truth to realize that Jesus said, hey, most people will go to hell. That nice, wonderful, 94-year-old lady that did nothing but good works all her life, baked cookies for people and just went out and fed the community and just always was just selfless, right? Just full of selfless service. Went to church, but she believed that she was doing that because that was required for her salvation. The Bible says that that woman will spend eternity in hell. Look it up in Matthew chapter number seven. That's a fact, that is reality. I don't care how pleasant you think it is or not. It doesn't change it. It's reality, it's fact. And the world looks at that message and they say, I can't get on board with that. I just can't believe that. Right, who was it that was talking to the person from Tree City Church the other day? O'Briley, again? Yeah, what did he say? You told him, he said, do you believe that if people don't believe in Jesus? He's not ready for that reality. Yeah, he's not ready for that reality. He's like, I just can't get on board with that. Again, proving my point. There's nothing but a Shunammite father. That's what he is. Let's move on here. Verse, actually back up. Verse 47, one more time. He that is of God heareth God's word. Ye therefore hear them not because ye are not of God. So just remember that, keep that in mind. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter two. 1 Corinthians chapter number two. While you're turning there, I'm gonna read for you a famous verse that we use oftentimes. John 10, 27. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. So that means when you go up to somebody, you tell them a basic fundamental out of the Bible, you show them these things. When they understand that, that's a pretty good indication that they're saved. Now, are there people out there that can put on a good front and act? Yes, there are. We've talked about that before. We'll always talk about that. But by and large, Jesus said, hey, my sheep hear my voice. You give somebody biblical truth and they respond to it. Oh yeah, yeah, that is what it says. And God spake all these words in Exodus chapter 20. Oh yeah, I believe that. Now when somebody is like, ah, yeah, I don't know, right? I'm not sure if he spake all these words. I'm sure most of them are good and some of them may even be right. Guess what? You're dealing with somebody who has neglected reality. And guess what the end is going to be? Tragedy. Tragedy because they're playing games. First Corinthians chapter two, look at verse 14. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them. Why? Because they are spiritually discerned. Without the Holy Spirit of God and dwelling inside of you, a person cannot understand reality. They cannot understand the truth of the Bible. You say, yeah, but they're so successful in the world. Guess what? Being successful in the world without Christ is a tragedy. It's foolishness. I mean, what shall a prophet man gain the whole world but to lose his very own soul? And people look to that, well, I gotta be like that. I gotta be like that guy. He's so wise, he's so smart. He's going to hell. And I'm not saying you can't read books by other people and even learn different things from them, you can't. But don't idolize these people. Don't view them as wise because they're not wise. The Bible says that they're fools and they can't understand spiritual truth. Let's turn to 2 Timothy chapter number two. And I'm gonna read for you 2 Thessalonians 2, 10 through 12 which says, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness and them that perish because they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved. This is what it boils down to. A lot of people don't wanna face the truth. They don't wanna face facts. They don't want to face reality because they don't love the truth. Verse 11, and for this cause, God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie. And there's a verse for the century. Did you know that God can deceive people? That God can push somebody over the edge to where they cannot be saved. They cannot understand truth. And this is why we have to be on board with this. This is why we have to face our own facts, our own realities and get better so that we can go out into the community and teach this to other people. Because this is what we're trying to prevent, right? We're trying to prevent more and more people from going over this line. You know, when Paul said, you know, that the antichrist isn't gonna be revealed till there's a falling away first. You know what that falling away probably has to do with? A lot of people becoming reprobates. Verse 12, it says that they might be damned who believe not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. So there you have it. This is why the world can't face reality. This is why they can't face facts because they have pleasure in unrighteousness. They lack that charity. They lack that love and action. So 2 Timothy 2, look at verse 24. So leading up to this, we learn verses about being a good soldier. Brother Matt preached about that not too long ago. Talks about a workman that needs not to be ashamed. It's talking about just the servant of God, right? Anybody being fit for the master's use. Verse 24, it says, and the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient in meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves if God-paired venture will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil who are taken captive by him at his will. And we just need to be okay with this. We need to realize this. You know what? There are people on this planet that we love, that we talk to, that are in your family, that are at your work, that are your neighbors, that are out there in the community when you knock on their doors. There's people out there that you share this thing with them. You go through the whole gospel, and at the end, they're like, I still think you gotta turn from your sins. I still think you gotta work your way to heaven. You know what? You could be dealing with somebody who God hasn't given permission, who God hasn't allowed to basically see the truth. You know what? That's a reality that we need to face. Because let's face it. Some people, I get it. We all have people in our family that we love. Sometimes they die. We don't wanna go around making excuses for them and saying, you know what? I think because this person went down to the homeless shelter and fed everyone every day of the week and was always praying and always did this and always did that, that they're saved. Because that might not be the reality. We gotta be careful with stuff like that and just realize that in meekness, we need to be people that are meek, instructing those that oppose themselves if, paredventure, which means perhaps, if God perhaps will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. So what does that tell you? That there are people who God won't give repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. There are people who God has blinded. John chapter 12, Jesus said very clearly that some of the people there, some of the Pharisees and stuff, that God had blinded their eyes so they could not be converted, so that they could not be saved. This is reality. This is a fact that we just have to be okay with and we have to realize that's just the way that it is. But the key here is being meek and instructing those that oppose themselves. And there's a lot that plays into this. You could preach a whole sermon on this, right? You know, when you go up to somebody, you get them saved, you know, the worst thing you could do is be like, all right, now you have to get in church. If you don't, you suck, you're weak, you know. You don't wanna be like that. You wanna just be like, hey, you know, here's where we're at. You know, is it cool if I follow up with you? Would you be okay with that? If not, no problem, I'll leave. You never know what that could do because the world's used to these bozos, these J-dubs and these Mormons coming around just literally being forceful with them. You have to tithe, you have to come to the temple, you have to do this. And they think that we're like that as well. And so when we show up with a meek, cool spirit and we're just like, hey, you know, just glad you're saved. Just glad you got saved, you know, but if you want more, if you wanna be a disciple, if you wanna continue on, you know, reach out to me. Let's set up time, maybe we could talk. Maybe I could just show you a little bit of doctrine. Do you have any questions? Are there any biblical questions that maybe plague your mind sometimes? Let's sit down and talk about that type of stuff. You know, you don't even have to come to church. Maybe we could just meet together. You have no idea the impact that that could have on somebody. I've seen it several times. When you invest in the people with that meek and humble spirit, people that oppose themselves, man, it opens up all kinds of opportunities. Go back to John 16. Verse number seven, John 16, verse number seven. It says, nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away. For if I go not away, the comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he has come, he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment, of sin because they believe not on me, of righteousness because I go to my father and you see me no more, of judgment because the prince of this world is judged. And look at verse 12. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Why was it that they could not bear the things that Jesus wanted to tell them now? What was it? Why couldn't they bear them now? Point number three, the fundamentals have to be set in order to receive the truth. You see, they didn't quite have those Old Testament scriptures about the resurrection down in their hearts yet. They didn't know the full truth about the kingdom. They couldn't really visualize it. They didn't have a good grasp of it. Jesus talked about it and they could quote him all day long. Right, they could say, yeah, he said this. Yeah, he said he's gonna go up to heaven and call. Yeah, he said this, he said that, he said this. They could quote him word for word, but they didn't understand the meaning. And it's because he didn't have those foundations settled in their heart. And that's why we need to make sure that we have the fundamentals in place if we're gonna continuously build on ourselves. If we're, I mean, cause you look, you come to church, you're gonna be faced with all kinds of things you don't do right. Right, every time I open up this book, I'm like, I'm not doing this right, I'm not doing that, I need to do more of this, right? Baby steps, you know, pick a couple of these things and do them and then, you know, as that grows, as that increases, then you move on. That's why Jesus said, hey, I've got many things that I wanna tell you guys, but you just simply can't bear them now. And it's because they were lacking in the fundamentals. He didn't have that base yet, right? And so before you go into deep doctrine, make sure you can at least preach the gospel first, right? I mean, I think that's key. And that's a problem with a lot of these young people that will come into this movement. I'm talking young spiritually, maybe older in age or young in body and young in spirit, whatever the case is, right? They hear a few sermons online and we love them, God bless them, you know, come in here and grow, but you know, they wanna get straight to the tribulation and fight on the Jews and all these other doctrines, right? But they can't give the gospel. Jesus would say to that person, hey, I've got many things I'd like to show you, I've got many things I'd love to teach you, but you cannot bear them now. You need to get your feet wet. You need to get the foundation settled first and then you'll be better able to understand all the other things, right? That's what he's telling them. Go to Luke chapter number six. And so simply put, truths need to be built upon. Realities need to be accepted and dealt with day by day. Luke chapter number six, look at verse number 46. Jesus says this, and why call ye me Lord? Oh Lord, Lord, and not do the things which I say. Verse 47, whosoever cometh to me and heareth my sings and doeth them, I will show you to whom he is like. He is like a man which built an house and dig deep and laid the foundation on a rock. And when the floods arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house and could not shake it for it was founded upon a rock. Verse 49, but he that heareth and doeth not is like a man that without a foundation built a house upon the earth against which the stream did beat vehemently and immediately it fell and the ruin of that house was great. You see the two types of people that he compares and contrast here. The people that face reality, that do the work, they go in order. In verse 47, what does he say? He says, whosoever cometh to me, right? So obviously whosoever gets saved, whosoever gets born again, whosoever cometh to me and heareth my sing. So it's not just enough to get saved. You have to hear his sings. You gotta hear what he's teaching you, right? Remember he said, I got many things that I want to teach you, but you can't bear them now. You come to him, you hear his sings and do with them. That person, the person that can do those three things and those three things well, what does he say? I will show you to whom he is like. And this is the type of person that we all want to be. He is like a man which built an house and dig deep and laid the foundation on a rock. And when the flood arose, what does it say? The stream beat vehemently upon that house and could not shake it. Every single person in here will go through the floods. The floods are coming. The floods from your extended family, the floods from the community, the floods from your work, right, these people that just want to try you and pull you out of the will of God and get you back in the world, right? The only way you will stand is if you've come to him, you hear him and you do what he says. We're not talking about salvation. Once you're saved, you're always saved. We get that, we understand that. But after that, that's just the beginning. Now, if you want to be that solid rock, you want to be that go getter, you want to be that disciple, you've got to do what he says. You have to face reality. And the reality is that you're not doing what he said. You're not applying these things. And so you make that change. You say, yeah, you're right, amen. I'm not doing that, but I'm gonna start. I'm gonna start doing those things. And then tomorrow, when you get tried, when you get worked, when you get attacked, you will not fall. It's that simple. If we could just get people to realize that, just get them to understand that you need to face reality. We need to face reality. We would avoid so much tragedy in our lives. Go back to 2 Timothy 2. I'm gonna read a couple of Psalms for you while you're turning there. Psalm 11, three says this, if the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? The reason why we have so many Bible versions in English today is solely for this reason. It's to stop what the righteous can do. Who are the righteous? Those who have been saved, those who are born again. Think about that. If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? Did you know that it's a fundamental thing to give somebody the gospel, that that's like a foundational thing? That's like basic. I mean, you got saved by the gospel, right? Doesn't it make sense that that should be like one of the first things you should be able to learn how to communicate? So what is it about, we have all these so-called Christian churches, but they can't do anything. Why is that? They lack the foundations. Look, there's Baptist churches all over the place. And some of them I've checked are even right on the gospel, but they've got no soul winning. No soul winning times. And some of them have soul winning or they call it tracting, and they'll take the winter off because it's really cold here, right? And they'll take certain parts of the summer off because it's really hot. If the foundations be destroyed, if you take away that fundamental time and that fundamental drive, what can the righteous do? And the answer is nothing. Psalm 138 verse two says, I will worship toward thy holy temple and praise thy name for thy loving kindness and for thy truth, for thou has magnified thy word above thy name. There's another foundational fundamental truth. Hey, and God spake all these words. And God framed the worlds by them. And it's no marvel that he can preserve every single word to every single generation. There's nothing too hard for the Lord, the Bible says. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. They're not like words in other books. You see, people will be like, oh, Shakespeare has been preserved. All these other books have been preserved. Homer's Iliad has been preserved. Oh, but not the King James Bible. Not God's word, right? That's in a thousand manuscripts scattered throughout the world. And hey, to each his own. If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? So if you have that mindset, what can you do as a righteous person, as a believer? And the answer is nothing. And you go tell these people that reality and it hurts. And they're like, wait a second. If what you're saying is true, that means I'm lacking. I'm not working. I don't like that. I don't love that. I'm going to ignore that. And you know what the end result's gonna be? It's gonna be tragedy. That's what it's gonna be. 2 Timothy 2, look at verse 19. Nevertheless, the foundation of God stand as sure having this seal. So this is important. The foundation of God has a seal and he explains that. The Lord knoweth them that are his and let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. Not to be saved, but to carry on the foundations, to carry on the fundamentals. Because when we have the fundamentals down, guess what? Then the righteous can do. And the righteous will do. Ephesians 2, 20 says this, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. That's the beginning of the Bible to the end of the Bible. He says the apostles because that like represents the New Testament. A lot of times I'll just say the prophets, meaning the Old Testament. Here's a statement again. Ignoring reality leads to what? Tragedy every single time. Think about the Shunammite woman. I was gonna have you turn back there, but for sake of time, I'm just gonna say this. What did she do? Her son died. The son that she thought she would never have. The child that she thought she would never ever see. She gets her wish. She gets to raise a child and then he's taken from her temporarily. Does she pull what the husband does and be like, oh, go see your mom. Go bury him. No, she springs into reality. She goes and sees the man of God. And what was the result? What was the result of that action? What was the result of facing the fact that our God is bigger than our problems? It's life, salvation. So you see the difference there. Ignoring reality brings tragedy. Embracing reality brings life. Let's pray. Thank you so much, Lord, again, for bringing us here to be able to hear truths from your word. It's a pretty blessed all the travel that we have going on this week, Lord, the conference. And I pray that bless the soul winning that goes on here as well the rest of the week. Please bless the fellowship as well after the service in Jesus' name I pray, amen. Amen.