(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

The Mandelbrot set, before we even get into John chapter 8 this evening, a Mandelbrot set is basically, it's something you should look into. It's really cool and interesting. It's kind of a mathematical proof of God, in my opinion. But math is kind of this, math is this thing that God, this language that God has given us that describes the laws of the universe that He created, if you want to think of math that way. But the Mandelbrot set is basically, and there's many equations that are like this that will do this, but a Mandelbrot set is a very simple equation that when graphed, it graphs a pattern. And it graphs a pattern, and then what happens is, when you drill down into the pattern, now that we have computers, you can just keep graphing this pattern for billions and trillions of iterations, and as you zoom into that pattern, you see all sorts of different beautiful patterns, but this same pattern just keeps repeating itself no matter how far you zoom into that pattern that is graphed from that equation. So what exactly is the Mandelbrot set, and how does it work? The Mandelbrot set is a perfect example of how a simple rule can produce incredible complexity. At its core, the set is generated by iterating a quadratic equation, a simple formula whose highest exponent is 2. To iterate a quadratic equation, choose a value for the variable, plug it into the function, then take the output and feed it back in again and again. In the early 20th century, mathematicians Pierre Fatou and Gaston Julia set the stage for the discovery of the Mandelbrot set with their exploration of dynamical systems. To investigate these dynamical systems, mathematicians study intricate shapes today known as Julia sets. Julia sets are produced by iterating a function of complex numbers. A complex number is defined as the sum of two components, a real part and an imaginary part. Each complex number can be visualized as a point in a 2D plane. The real part is a number found on the number line. The imaginary part is a multiple of the square root of negative one, which mathematicians write as i. Despite the name, imaginary numbers play a vital role in solving real-world problems. To construct a Julia set, start with the simple quadratic equation, f of z equals z squared plus c. Choose a value for c, like negative one for example, then consider what happens when you iterate this equation for every possible starting value. You repeatedly apply the function to this sequence of numbers that you're generating and you ask whether or not that sequence is going off to infinity or whether it stays bounded. For some initial values, your equation speeds off to infinity when iterated like this. These values are not in a Julia set. When you start iterating from other initial values, you might instead get a sequence of outputs that stay bounded. When something comes back to itself, often we call that recurrent behavior and that's where the complexity arises. The boundary between points that stay bounded and those that don't is a Julia set. You can fill it in by including all the bounded values. Different quadratic equations generate a wide range of filled Julia sets, from basic blobs to intricate twisting tendrils. Filled Julia sets can be divided into two categories. Sets where you can draw a line from one point to any other without lifting your pen are connected. Sets where points look like scattered pieces of dust are disconnected. The first rough plot of the Mandelbrot set appeared in a 1978 paper by the mathematicians Robert Brooks and J. Peter Metelsky. Soon after, Benoit Mandelbrot, a researcher at IBM who had access to more computing power, also discovered the set. This led to further explorations. These early computer graphics were crude, but the patterns revealed the presence of something far more complex. You can see the beauty of God in math. It's interesting to look into, so if you've never heard of that, look into it. But the reason I bring that up is because I want to show you tonight that in John 8, we're hearing a narrative from Jesus talking to the Pharisees, but I want to show you that we're seeing the verbal equivalent of a Mandelbrot set in what Jesus is saying. What Jesus is saying here in the verses we're going to be looking at, and just stick with me, just hang on, don't leave yet, alright? What Jesus is saying here in this narrative, these verses that we're going to look at, it has an overall truth to it, but then that truth is reverberated through everything that we see around us, and that's what I want to show you this evening. If I've done a good job tonight, you'll actually understand what I'm talking about, so stick with me. We went through the first part of this chapter last week. We looked at the woman taken in adultery. We're going to pick things up in verse number 17. Right in your Bible, there's some words that I'm going to point out to you this evening as we go through this set of verses in what Jesus is saying, and there's some words I'm going to have you underline in your Bible, if you do write in your Bible, and that'll kind of start to show you, kind of get you to zero in over the target of what Jesus is talking about here. Verse 17, the Bible says this, actually go up to, I think he repeats it here, in verse number 16 is where he first starts this concept. He says, and yet if I judge, my judgment is true, so we're going to see this word keep coming up again and again in what Jesus is saying here, the word is true. Verse 17 says, it is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is what? Is true. So what he's talking about here is they're basically saying to him, they're saying, so I mean, I'm going to, I'll give you the general conversation that's happening, but I really want you to see the depth of the words that Jesus is using here, but basically they're saying, oh, you say that you're somebody, and you know, who are you? He's saying yes, but the testimony of one person, you know, means nothing. You know, that's the Bible right there. Jesus is quoting in verse 17, he's quoting Deuteronomy 19, 15, he's quoting 2 Corinthians 13, and he's quoting Matthew chapter 18, where, you know, by two or three witnesses, you know, someone can be accused. So there's this very solid doctrine in the Bible that says, you know, one person just can't accuse somebody. You know, there has to be two or three witnesses, let every word be established in the New Testament, it puts it that way. But Jesus is saying there's two people that testify that I am who I am. He says, I am one that bear witness of myself, so there's one, and the Father. So he literally claims God the Father as his second witness that sent me barest witness of me. Then said they unto him, where is thy Father? And Jesus answered, ye neither know me nor my Father. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also. Talking about if they would have believed the Bible, they would believe Jesus, we've talked about that. These words spake Jesus in the treasury as he taught in the temple, and no man laid hands on him, for his hour was not yet come. Then Jesus said again unto them, I go my way and ye seek me and shall, now he repeats this three times, he repeats this saying three times, he says, ye shall die in your sins. Whither I go, ye cannot come. Then said the Jews to him, now say there's not comedy in the Bible, all right, in verse number 22, then say to the Jews, well, was he going to kill himself? And they're like, what's that mean? You know, they're just, everything's just going straight over their heads. They have no idea what he's talking about. Is he going to commit suicide? Then said the Jews, verse 22, will he, will he kill himself? Because he said, whither I go, ye cannot come. And he said unto them, ye are from beneath, I am from above, ye are of this world, I am not of this world. Gee, what is he claiming here? He's obviously claiming to be God. In verse 24, look at this again, it says, I said therefore unto you that ye shall die in your sins. For if ye believe not that I am he, again, he says, ye shall die in your sins. So three times in the last few verses, he said this phrase that you are going to die in your sins, all right, look at verse 25. Then they said unto him, who art thou? And Jesus said unto them, even the same that I said unto you from the beginning. They know exactly who he is claiming to be, they just do not believe him. Look at verse 26, I have many things to say and to judge of you, but he that sent me is, here it is again, true. And I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him. They understood not that he spake to them of the Father. Look at verse 28, then Jesus said unto them, when ye have lifted up the Son of Man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself, but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. And he that sent me is with me, the Father hath not left me alone, for I do always those things that please him. As he spake these words, many believed on him. So many people did believe that he was the Messiah, that he was sent from God the Father at this point. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, if ye continue in my word, then ye are my disciples indeed. Look at verse 32, and ye shall know the what? Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. So these people, these Jews, these certain Jews, the Pharisees were still having a hard time here, but there were some people that heard him that believed on him, that got saved when Jesus was talking about this. But then he says, if ye follow in my word, you can be my disciples. So look, every person that gets saved is not a disciple. Every single person that gets saved is not going to follow Jesus with their life. But Jesus is saying in verse 32, if you do follow Jesus, look what else will happen to you. He shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. So you're going to just know more and more truth, is what Jesus is saying, if you continue in my word. Just think of the concept of what he's saying here. As soon as somebody gets saved, do they immediately know the Bible? You get somebody saved at the door, they've never opened the Bible, they never even heard of Jesus before he came to their door, and you explain to them the gospel, you explain to them who Jesus is, you take 20 minutes, half an hour, whatever it takes to get them to the point where they believe that God sent his son Jesus Christ to die for them, they trust on that, they get saved. Do they know what's in the Bible at that point? Other than the simplest thing in the Bible, the gospel, they don't know what this book says. They don't have any idea. And Jesus is saying if you follow and continue in what? In my word, you'll know more and more truth. This is what he's saying. They answered him. We be Abraham's seed. So they're just completely missing it. He's saying the truth will make you free. So he's talking about the people that believed on him, that got saved, and then continue to become disciples and continue in his word. Those people will be free. They answered him. We be Abraham's seed. So the Jews are like, hey, you know, we're of Abraham, and we were never in bondage to any man. How sayest thou? Ye shall be made free. So that offends them. Because they're saying, look, they're in bondage right now. It's like, what are they talking about? They're in bondage to the Romans right now. And they're like, we're free. What are you talking about where, you know, you need to make us free? We don't need to be free. I mean, whatever. So the point is, Jesus is saying, you know, the truth will make you free. Point out, I just want to really point that out in verse number 32. Because that's important. Look at verse 34. Jesus answered them, verily, verily, verily, I say unto you. What does that mean, verily, verily, by the way? It means truly, truly, okay? Whosoever commit a sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house forever, but the son abideth ever. If the son, therefore, shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. Okay, so now look at verse 32 and look at verse 36, because this is important, all right? So it's kind of like, what we're going to do here is we're going to do, well, if A equals C and B equals C, A equals B. You follow me? So look at verse 32, where the Bible says, where Jesus says, he says, the truth shall make you free. And then Jesus says, the son shall make you free. So the truth makes you free and the son makes you free. So what does that mean? The son is the truth. That's what that means. All right? And look, I preached on this. This isn't really the point of the sermon. I preached on this in John chapter 7, I believe it was, where it was talking about Jesus being good, Jesus being the truth. Jesus says, I am the truth, the way, the truth, and the life. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father but by me in John chapter 14 of verse number 6. So the truth makes you free, the son makes you free, so the son equals the truth. And that's just what Jesus is repeating here. Nobody understands what he's talking about. But he equates that to one thing here. He equates the truth or what is Jesus? What did we learn Jesus is? Jesus is the truth but Jesus is also what? In John chapter 7, John chapter, Mark chapter, well, we studied the whole thing last two weeks ago. Jesus is good. We do good but Jesus is good. He was persecuted and killed because he is good. You are not good. I am not good. I can do good by following Jesus by continuing in Jesus' word but I can never be good because there is only one good and that is God, all right? So Jesus is good, Jesus is the truth, but look what Jesus says here that is offending the Jews here but look what Jesus says that the truth will do or things that are good will do, meaning things that are true. So things that are good are things that are true. Can we equate those things at this point? Absolutely. All right? So those things, good things will make you free and things that are not true will put you in bondage. That's what Jesus is saying here. And this is really the truth that I want to tell you tonight that yes, it applies to the gospel and yes, it applies to what Jesus is saying but Jesus also says this to the people that become disciples. This applies to everything, that true things put you in freedom. Don't we love freedom? I mean, that's Americans, right? Freedom, yeah. I'm an American. I want to be free. I'm going to show you how to be free tonight, how to truly be free. This is what Jesus is saying and how to be in bondage tonight. So Jesus is basically saying no truth equals no freedom. That's what Jesus is saying. In verse number 24, he says it and then again in verse number 21, he's talking about truth throughout this entire chapter. But look at verse 24 and verse number 21. He says this three times in these verses. He says you will die in your sins. Look, that's the opposite of freedom. What he's talking about to these people, he's talking about salvation here. He's talking about the fact that we are all dead in sins and if you're not saved, you're going to die in those sins. Those sins are going to kill you. And the silly thing about a saved person is that we're not, we're free from sin. Like what does that mean? Does that mean I'm never going to sin as I'm saved? No, it means that I'm free from sin, meaning sin can't kill me. Sin can't kill my soul. If I'm saved, I'm going to heaven. I have eternal life no matter what, no matter how many sins I commit. I can kill my body. I can wreck my body. I can wreck my family around me. I can do whatever I want. But sin cannot kill me. So it would be silly for me to put myself in servitude to sin in my life because it has no power over me. It has no bondage over me because I've accepted that one big pattern that I'm talking about, the gospel. That's our big pattern. But what I want to show you tonight is that that pattern just repeats itself through everything that we see. That the truth equals freedom and that lies equal bondage. Turn to Galatians chapter 2, Galatians chapter 2. Just for a couple examples from the Bible here, look at Galatians chapter 2 and verse number 4. Galatians chapter 2 and verse number 4. So yes, definitely that the truth of the gospel has made us free from sin. That is definitely true. Look at Galatians chapter 2 and look at verse number 4. But the Bible also teaches that lies, what is the opposite of the truth? Lies. Things that are not true. Lies equal servitude. Lies equal, as Jesus says here, bondage. Look at verse number 4 of Galatians chapter 2. And that because of false brethren, unaware is brought in and that because of false brethren, unaware is brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty. You know what that means? Our freedom. Which we have in Christ Jesus that they might bring us into bondage. So you see, here somebody came in the church who was trying to teach things that were contrary to what, you know, the gospel teaches. So we have liberty in Christ. We're free in Christ. Sin has no power over me. If I go ahead and just continue sinning in my life, I am making myself a servant to that sin because that sin has no power over me. It can't kill me because Jesus has freed me from that. But then you had false brethren come in. What does that mean? It means they were telling lies. It means they were saying things that were not true and they were trying to what? They were trying to bring them into bondage. No one can bring you into bondage. This would be the pastor that stands up here. If I was trying to bring you into bondage, I'd be a pastor and I would stand up here and say, you better listen to me and do whatever I say or, you know, you're not even saved. That's me trying to bring you into bondage. But guess what? I can't bring you into bondage. Only you can put yourself into servitude of sin. But it still has no power over me. You have to make that personal decision to do that yourself. But look, this is the purpose of lies. Think about just what's the purpose of someone that would tell you a lie. Someone that would tell you a lie is trying to get you to do one or probably two things. They're trying to get you to think a certain way or they're trying to get you to do a certain thing. Isn't that true? People that would lie to you. I mean, what would be the point of someone lying to you? I mean, this is like, you know, politicians, right? They're trying to get you to think a certain way. You know, they're trying to get you to think and the irony is this. They're trying to get you to think that they believe something. You know, I mean, if a politician was actually like, you know, a decent leader, he would try to convince you of truth. But instead they're just trying to get you to believe that they believe something. And they do it through lies. So they're trying to get you to think a certain way. That's one thing that, that's one reason that people tell you lies. They're trying to get you to think differently. They're trying to change your mind. Or the next one is they're trying to get you to actually do something. And this is really where they're trying to get you to think a certain way so then you will do a certain thing. Right? This is a car salesman. You know, I'm sorry if anyone's a car salesman. All right? But look, this is a shady salesman. All right? Then it would just, they'll tell you anything just to get you to just, to, a better example probably is like thieves and scammers, right? Somebody that calls you on the phone or tries to send you an email and trying to just get you to just to scam you to what? To try to get you to give them your money. So what do they do? They tell you lies. Oh, there's something wrong with your computer. You have to click this link or your computer's going to erase itself or whatever. And they're trying to get you to do something to give them money. But guess what? Go to Proverbs 22 and verse number 7 just to prove this concept for you that lies equal bondage. I mean, this specific lie, if somebody would scam you out of money, what is that doing? What is that bringing you into? Look at Proverbs 22 and verse number 7. Proverbs 22 and verse number 7, the Bible says, the rich ruleth over the poor and the borrower is what? Servant to the lender. So here the Bible is saying if somebody goes and just, if you just get scammed by every single person that will lie to you, look, you have to almost assume that everybody's a liar today or you're going to get scammed out of everything that you own. But the Bible says if that happens to you and you get scammed out of all your money, you are going to be in servitude. And that is true. That's exactly what Jesus is talking about here, just in an example, a financial example that lies the opposite of what Jesus is saying. The truth makes you free, but lies bring you into bondage. So the point is people lying to you are trying to put you into some form of bondage or another, period. Blanket statement. Turn to Proverbs chapter 29. The worst lies, so every single lie that someone would tell you is that person trying to bring you into some sort of bondage. Think about that next time somebody lies to you, all right? But the worst lies are these, lies that we tell ourselves. You know, we can put ourselves just like Jesus says that we could become the servant of sin. Put yourself in bondage. And by lying to yourself, look, the worst lies that you probably hear in your life are lies that you tell yourself. Look at Proverbs 29, 23. But guess what? Lies that we tell ourselves will also bring us into bondage. Proverbs 29, 23, the Bible says this. And guess what? Pride is a form of a self-told lie. A man's pride shall bring him low, but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit. A man's pride will bring him into bondage. In Isaiah 16, 16, 16, 6, I'll just read it to you. You turn to Galatians chapter 6. The Bible says this. We have heard of the pride of Moab, he is very proud, even of his haughtiness and his pride and his wrath, but look at this, but his lies shall not be so. He's totally just equating lies to that bondage to pride, which is just a lie. Pride is just, look at Galatians 6, 3. Pride is simply a lie that you tell yourself. That's all pride is. Galatians 6, 3 says, for if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. The Bible's saying you think you're so great. You're not. You're lying to yourself. And as you saw, lies bring you into bondage. So look, what I'm trying to get you to see this evening, and I'm going to give you a lot of examples about this, Jesus is speaking a universal truth here. I don't care if you believe the Bible or not, we're all going to pretend like we don't know anything about the Bible and we don't believe the Bible for the next few minutes, alright, or at least that we don't know anything about the Bible. But I'm going to show you how this universal truth will work for anybody no matter what. I mean, obviously there is a direct reference to salvation, but Jesus is saying lies equals bondage and truth equals freedom. Guess what? The Bible is the universal truth. The universal truth. What does that mean? What do I mean by the universal truth? I mean that it is the truth that applies. This is how you can know that the Bible was written by God. This is, I believe, the biggest proof that the Bible was written by God. It's the only book, it's the only book ever written that you can hold in your hand and read that applies to every single person that's ever lived or ever will live. Find me another book like that. It's the universal truth. Everything in the Bible is truth for everyone. What does that mean? It means that it works for everyone. The Bible is such a universal truth that somebody didn't even know what the Bible said and didn't even believe the Bible, but just decided, I'm just going to do everything in the Bible. It would still work for them. I mean, take salvation out and put it over here and just say, I'm just going to run my family like the Bible says, I'm going to have all my relationships go like the Bible says. I mean, no one would ever do this, but if they did, it would still work for them. Because it's that kind of universal truth. And that's why, I mean, God says in 1 Timothy chapter 2 and verse number 4 says, you know, that God will have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the what? The truth. So the Bible is the universal truth. Now, here's a cool trick that I'm going to show you tonight on how to figure out what is true in this world around us and what is good in this world around us. And anybody could do this. Anybody could do this. Because guess what? Everything is not in the Bible. I mean, obviously, if you know the Bible, you can apply the Bible to everything. But we're going to pretend like we don't know what's in the Bible tonight, all right? Everything that anyone would ever tell you, this neat little trick will work on. I mean, so pay attention. Look, everything. I use this all the time. I use this all the time. Because, look, there's some weird stuff going on out there. There's some crazy things that people believe and say, and it just gets crazier every single week. I mean, look, everything is not, every single detail is not in the Bible. Obviously, the Bible can be applied. That's why you should know the Bible. And you should know the Bible so well that you can see something happening in the world and just apply it directly to whatever weird thing someone said. But a lot of people don't know what the Bible says. As a matter of fact, there's never been a time in the history of our country where fewer people know what the Bible says or what's in it and what's not in it. But think about it like forms of government, you know, political positions, whatever it is. I mean, how many different commentators are out there on podcasts spewing different ideas and opinions and, you know, do this, don't do that. I mean, from everything to anything. I mean, you can find all these different positions. I mean, should I get in an ice bath for, you know, five minutes every single morning? I mean, is that in the Bible? But I mean, here's a trick that you can use to apply to all these things to figure out what's true and what's not. I mean, it's a Bible application here. It's a, I'm going to call it the universal truth test that you can put these things to. The Bible is the universal truth. We know that, right? It's a book written for every man that ever has lived or ever will live. All truth then should be universal. Is that not true? If the Bible is the universal truth, then all truth should be universal, meaning if there's something that's true, it should apply to everybody. Otherwise, you know, we got to start to wonder like maybe there's a problem. And remember, truth equals Jesus, and Jesus equals, you know, good equals truth, good equals Jesus, and Jesus equals truth. So this should work for everyone. I'm going to give you some simple examples. If you're confused, I'm going to give you some examples of the universal truth test on some simple things. All right? Here's a universal truth. That wall is white. That works for everybody, right? I mean, everyone pretty much should agree if you have a, if you're colorblind, just take our word for it, all right? But the point is that's a universal truth. This pulpit, this pulpit is wood. I mean, that's universally true. I mean, everybody can see and look at that, you know, Brother Luke is sitting there, right? I mean, we can just see that it's universally true for everybody. It's an observable universal true thing, right? So the truth, again, the truth should work for everyone. Now, here's a test, and let's get into some bigger things. Here's a test on some things that are not universally true, that they don't fit this type of test, all right? So let's just take, like, some government forms that people are trying to push, all right? So take socialism, all right? Everyone's like, grrr. So look, there's socialism today. There's socialism today, but here's the thing. It can't work for everybody, thus it can't be good. See, socialism really only works, and look, and we have historical proof of this just in the recent, you know, couple of centuries or one century, actually, but socialism only works if just a few people accept it. Socialism only works if, unless, you know, there's, you know, there's these people, it only works unless there's these people over here that oppose it. That's the only way it works, because they're opposing it, and they're still pulling the cart. As soon as everyone just accepts it, everyone dies, basically, is what happens. So that, I mean, that's just one example. Look, all leftist ideas fail this test. This isn't a political sermon. I'm just trying to get you to see some of the ideas that are being thrown out there, and they fail this truth goodness test, this universal truth, this universal goodness test. So look, what happened when everybody accepted socialism? Over 100 million people died. Bondage, big time, that's what happened. That's Jesus' words coming true. Think of this. Think of, like, wokeism. Think of just, like, all that is encompassed in this wokeism. Think about just theft, just theft. That can only work if just a few people do it. That can only work if just a few people steal. So if we just completely decriminalize theft, it only works if there's some people, or actually the majority of people that are willing to go to Home Depot and wait for 20 minutes for the guy to come and unlock the 18 cages that everything's been caged into and are willing to pay that price for whatever that item is, by the way, that price is now more to cover up how many items that they've lost because there's a certain percentage of people that just steal everything. But now apply universal to that. Everyone just steals everything. No one pays for anything. It completely fails. It just completely falls apart. Technically, chaos. I mean, just all kinds of destruction works this way. Destruction only works. I mean, just think of, you know, littering, trash, graffiti, all these different things. It only works if there's people that come and clean it all up. If there's people that'll come and repaint everything and pick up all the trash. Otherwise, like, society would just come upon at the seams. Otherwise, so what does that mean? Not good. Bondage. Because it fails the universal test. Here's one, and just, like, try to pretend you don't know anything about the Bible here, as I bring up this next one. How about all this perversion that's being pushed, especially on kids, especially on the next generation? Forget the wickedness of it just for a second. Forget the evil and the reprobate mind and what the Bible says about it. We get that. But just, why is no one noticing that if everyone did this, civilization would end? I mean, what in the world? If everyone adopted your philosophy, mankind would be dead in, like, 40 years. And you know what's funny about this whole thing? And Brother Trevor brought up a lot of it in Sunday night sermon. It's actually happening in the West. In Western countries, civilization is literally dying. It's happening. You say, what do you mean? In Japan, in the last two years, twice as many people died as were born. Yep. That's real. Hey, that's just math. That's just math. In the United States, it takes 2.1 children in order to replace a population that grows older and dies. In the United States, it's 1.6 now. In Europe, it's 1.5. Western society's dying. You say, why is it dying? Because of abortion? Because of attacks on marriage? Because of perversion of all different kinds? Because of fornication? Because of attacks on God's plan for the family where a man would meet a girl and get married and have children? And the funny thing is, no matter what anyone tells you, what lie anyone tells you about a man can become this or whatever and a zebra can become a cow or whatever, nothing is going to change the fact that the only way for civilization to survive is God's truth. That's right. That's it. Amen. That's the only way. So you could apply this to anything. Let's think of some other ones. We could just do this trick all night long. Think of woke hiring. I'm just going to go out and I'm not going to hire the most qualified person. I'm just going to hire the person of a certain race or a certain gender. That's what I'm going to do. And I'm going to make them surgeons. That works if it's just a few people, a few percentage. But if you do that with everybody, everyone's going to die. All the bridges are going to fall down. All the buildings are going to be like, because nobody knows what they're doing. It doesn't work. It doesn't work. Electric cars. You're like, whoa, you're getting crazy now, Pastor. Just think of electric cars. We need to mandate all electric cars. Is this a good idea or is this a bad idea? Well, let's just use the Bible before you just get all emotional about it. Let's just use our universal truth test. So there's 283 million cars in the United States right now. All right? Look, I buy an electric car. I would. You guys know what kind of car I drive. I would get an electric car if they were free, but I can't find a free one. I can't find one that costs $500. I can't find one even that costs $4,000 because I really like the $4,000 car. So I can't find that. So look, I mean, well, I guess, you know, $30,000 apiece. How's everyone going to afford, you know, 283 million cars? I think about 80% of those are financed. Shocking. I think about 80% of people's cars that you see driving on the road, they don't own them. Some bank owns them and they're making a payment on it. And I'm not down on you if you're making a payment on a car. But the point is this. Okay, I've got to buy everybody a $30,000 car now. So I've got to replace the 283 million, I mean, it's just math. I've got to replace 283 million cars with, let's just have the government buy them all. Yeah. Yeah. For $30,000 apiece, that's $8.5 quadrillion. You're like, what's a quadrillion? You're like, what in the world are you talking about? That's $8,500 trillion. You're like, what's a trillion? Go Google, look at like the stacks of money that are trillions. Okay? It's like, it's crazy. The point is, it's not possible. Minimum wage is another one. Let's just keep going on these. See, every single one of these policies, it fails the truth test. It fails the, look, if you get, let's print 85, let's print $8.5 quadrillion dollars and buy everyone an electric car and guess what you'll end up with? We will all be in bondage. That's what'll happen. How about this one? Minimum wage. I think that only these, it works, mandating minimum wage works if it's only a very specific group of people. But what, I think everyone should make $20 an hour. Right? I mean, isn't that fair? I mean, everyone should make, as a matter of fact, if $20 an hour is good, $100 an hour is better. I think everyone should make $100 an hour. 200. Let's make it 200. $200 an hour. And just let everyone make $200 an hour. Guess what? Society would collapse. Why? Math. Math. Turn to Galatians, chapter 5. Turn to Galatians, chapter 5. Look, all, this is, like, this is just logic. This is just logic and this is just the logic of Jesus', I mean, we're just going through simple logical steps here. To be a leftist and to buy into these woke policies, I mean, it's like you have the inability to think. You don't even need the Bible. But look at verse, look at Galatians, chapter 5, and look at, here's another one. This is going to ruffle some feathers here. Libertarianism. You're like, what? I'm a libertarian. Libertarianism. It fails the universal truth test. You're like, why? Well, just follow me. Follow me. Libertarianism only works in a fake world. What are you talking about? You kind of have to know a little bit of the Bible, and that's why I had you turn to Galatians 5. You've got to apply a little Bible to figure this one out. So it's a little harder to figure this one out. So I can give people a little bit more of a pass that are libertarians than that are these leftist, you know, crazy lunatics. But libertarianism, it fails the universal truth test. It only works in this fake world where sin only affects you. I mean, it was, I don't know, it was well over 10, maybe 15 years ago when I realized that, you know, these libertarians are really just a bunch of potheads. It's like, really? Why drugs? Why is it just like, I got to be able to do drugs? And I want to be able to do drugs. And it's like, I'm in my house doing drugs. Like, why are you so obsessed over drugs? Why do you want to do so many drugs? I'm like, can't we just talk about freedom and the Constitution? They're like, drugs. I'm like, why drugs all the time? That's just my personal annoyance with libertarianism. Even Ron Paul is like, legalize all the drugs. I'm like, what is wrong with you? But the problem is it only works in a fake world where sin only affects you. And that's not true of any sin. Look at verse number nine of Galatians chapter five. Galatians chapter, I mean, we could go to Bible on this one all day long. We could go to study the book of Proverbs, you know, talking about, you know, you're just going to be destroyed if you walk with fools. But look at Galatians chapter five, verse number nine, a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. What does that mean? Let's just talk about a little leaven, talking about sin. A little bit of sin spreads to other people. It affects other people. You find me one sin that you think you're doing that isn't affecting other people, and I'll tell you how it's affecting other people. If nothing else, it's destroying your heart, which is going to affect a lot of people in your life eventually. Look, whether you believe in sin or not, that's true. That's why, I mean, even libertarianism leads to bondage, folks. It just leads to sin. So look, just apply this philosophy to things that you see in your life. And if you wonder, like, is this good? Is this true? Just apply it. Does it pass the individual, you know, the universal truth test that Jesus is talking about here? You know, is something good? Well, guess what? Marriage is a universal truth. That's good for everybody. Marriage is a universal truth. I mean, children are a blessing. That's a universal truth right there. Guess what? Sobriety is a universal truth. That's good for everybody. Hey, there's somebody that drinks and he's from, I don't care where he's from. Quit drinking. There's somebody that does drugs and I don't care where they're from, when they were born, where they live, stop it. And it's a universal truth. That's a good thing. Here's another one. American exceptionalism. Ooh. Let me explain what I mean by that, first of all. What I mean by that is this. First of all, I believe that America, it was a good idea. It was a pretty good idea at the foundation, at the beginning. And look, I mean, I think we wrecked it. We're doing a great job of destroying the whole thing. But what I mean by American exceptionalism is this. I'm talking about modern day American exceptionalism, meaning that we can do immoral things because we are Americans. That we can go out and we can invade countries. We can murder people. We can bomb, kill, overthrow, whoever we want, wherever we want, because we are who we are. We're Americans. It fails the universal truth test, big time. It's terrible for others in the world. I mean, you're at some wedding and some jerk shows up that did something bad and so your whole family gets blown up. I mean, that's just a simple example. But guess what? It's not good for that person. I mean, go and talk to people that have a non-Western world perspective. Go read some things that they have written about this exceptionalism. Look, here's the ironic thing, though. While it's not good for people outside of what we're doing, it's terrible for us too. Why? Because things that are not universally true, things that are what? And that's why a lot of these things that you see us doing, that we justify American exceptionalism, all the things that we do and all the places we invade, all these things, what are they based on? They're based on lies. That's why. But guess what? It's not good for us either because lies bring us into what? Bondage. This, I mean, you want to be free, let's get back to the truth in this country. Do good things in this country. Hey, here's a good thing we could do. If we as America went out and we helped some nation that was going through a famine and we fed it, that's a good thing. That would be a good thing and that would lead us to what? To more freedom and not bondage. But you do bad things and just base them all on lies and we get more and more bondage is what we're going to get. Turn back to John chapter 8. Turn back to John chapter 8. The Bible says in Proverbs 28, too, it says for the transgression of the land, many are the princes thereof. As we continue to lie and lie and lie and do things that are not true and not true and not true, we're going to have more and more princes. What does that mean? It's more and more people ruling over us. Less and less what? Freedom. Go back to John chapter 8 and look at verse number 44. So I hope you see what I'm saying when I say that Jesus had a universal truth here that he was talking about with the gospel, but this universal truth applies to every single possible thing you can think of. Every single thing that someone brings up to you, some idea, just apply that to it. I wonder if that idea is good. Well apply Jesus' test here. Apply the universal truth test to what people are spewing out there and you'll see a lot of truth come out. Look at John chapter 8 and look at verse number 44. See lies are Satan's way of enslaving the world. Lies is exactly how he does it. Look at verse number 44 and just look at how many times our words come up in this verse. Year of your father the devil. Now he's talking to the people who have obviously not believed, the Pharisees they can't believe and the lust of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, but look at this. And abode not in the truth. How did he murder? How did Satan murder? He murdered through a lie. He murdered through a lie saying what? Ye shall not surely die. That was a lie. Because as soon as they ate and disobeyed God and ate the fruit of the tree and the knowledge of good and evil, they immediately died. And now they were immediately in need of someone to save them at that point. He murdered, he murdered all of mankind through a lie. He murdered through a lie. Look at the rest of the verse 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. So look, only the truth can free you. I mean obviously through the gospel, the gospel is the only truth that can truly free you from death that Satan put us under, that our sin puts us under. Think about it though. The gospel frees us, but you think about the other side of that, that's a lie, works-based salvation, that's a lie, that can't free you. Works-based salvation, just think about it folks. Anybody listening to this on YouTube that believes you have to do good works or do some good works and maybe adds works to Jesus or whatever, as long as your works are in there, it's a philosophy that leads nowhere. You could never get there. It's a philosophy, you're choosing a path that leads you nowhere but to die. In what? In your sins. That's why Jesus said that. Look, nothing, and if you take away anything from the sermon tonight, I know you all believe the true gospel, but you have to understand that nothing works without the truth from the smallest thing to the big things. Nothing works without the truth. And guess what? Just don't ever forget that the truth is for everyone. The truth applies to everyone. There's not your truth. This is what they're trying to teach you today. Well, that's your truth, brother. No, no, no. There's not your truth and my truth, there's the truth, that's it. There's one universal truth, the truth. So just as a lesson for ourselves personally, we should obviously strive to be truthful in our lives. If we don't strive to be truthful, and you know, what do we say, we're all liars. Look, lying's really bad. Don't just take lying as this thing like, oh, we all lie and all this. Look, lying is terrible because you're trying to bring other people into bondage and you're going to put yourself in bondage as well. You should strive to be truthful in your life as a Christian. I mean, don't be fake. Be a real person. See, people lie and they try to cover things up and they try to do things, you know, and lie about who they are and be fake because they don't like the problems. But hey, look, we all got problems. We all got problems. And if you lie about your problems, you're never going to have any chance of fixing your problems. Just be real. And look, excuses are lies. Don't make excuses. Just be truthful. Sorry, brother. I said I was going to help you with that and I didn't and I should have done it. Man, sorry. That's hard. That was hard. This is a lot of people that can't do what I just did right there. Instead, they're like, oh, well, you know, I had this thing and all this and then you're just a liar. You're putting yourself in bondage. You're keeping other people in bondage. So look, this is just a great example of a verbal Mandelbrot set is what I wanted to show you tonight. That there is one truth and it applies to everyone and everything that we see around us. And guess what? It exposes lies. It exposes lies. Let's bow our heads and have a look. Let's bow our heads and have a look. Let's bow our heads and have a look. Let's bow our heads and have a look. Let's bow our heads.