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

All right, so here, see a really interesting story in the Bible. This morning we're going to look at this story, and we have a story here of a messenger, and a messenger, and we're going to look at the story of this messenger, we're going to look at the man, we're going to look at the message, and I'm going to show you this morning some crazy parallels to some messengers that we're dealing with today. So what's the story here? What is the context of what's going on? Here we have this messenger that has come to the nation of Judah, okay? We have King Hezekiah is king at this time, King Hezekiah has watched, the nation of Judah has watched in the past, just a few years earlier, the northern kingdom of Israel taken into captivity by the Assyrian empire. Not only have they seen this, not only did they see this terrible event happen to their neighbors to the north, to their ex-brethren to the north, but they now are facing this same enemy that has come to them. So much so that the king of Assyria actually came across the borders and he actually took the fenced cities, what it means is the outer cities of the nation of Judah, so the king of Assyria has overthrown the northern kingdom of Israel, Hezekiah was, the nation of Judah saw this happen, they were carried away into captivity, they were, you know, it was a terrible thing that happened, they all saw it happen, now this country, this massive empire has invaded them, they came in, they took over the fenced cities, Hezekiah tried to pay them off. Hezekiah was a good king, the Bible says he trusted the Lord, we'll actually see in this sermon this morning and in this story this morning in the Bible how much he does trust the Lord, but, you know, Hezekiah tried to appease the Assyrian king, he tried to, it says he cut the doors off the temple, the golden doors, because the king said give me money basically, he said please leave, please depart my borders, and he said give me, you know, all this gold, so he cuts, he takes the treasures of the house of the Lord, he tries to pay them off, does it work? It doesn't work. The guy comes to Jerusalem, he sends a messenger to Jerusalem and he wants the whole thing. He wants Jerusalem. So here we see in 2 Kings chapter 19, we see the story of this messenger, this Reb Shekeh, he comes and he talks to the messengers of the king and he's giving a very specific, he's delivering a very specific message from the king of Assyria. So let's look at the message that Reb Shekeh had, let's look at it first, let's go through this story, and then we'll apply that, it's crazy the parallels that we see here with what we're seeing in our lives today. But the first thing I want to point out with Reb Shekeh, I turn to 2 Kings chapter 18 and verse number 25, and the Bible says this, it says, Am I now come up without the Lord against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, go up against this land and destroy it. This is Reb Shekeh talking to the king's men, so basically Reb Shekeh, first of all, he starts off and he says, God told me to come here. God told me to come and, you know, overthrow this city. He's like, I am with God. He's trying to get them, you know, he's trying to claim that God is with him and not with the children of Judah. But look, look at verse number 27. He quickly turns and gets angry and shows what he really thinks of God. In verse number 27 it says, But Reb Shekeh said unto them, Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words? Hath he not sent me to the men which sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung and drink their own piss with you? This is the Bible, folks. Then Reb Shekeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language and spake, saying, Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria. Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you, for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand, neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. Hearken not to Hezekiah, for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me, and let he eat every man of his own vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one of the waters of his cistern, until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of branded vineyards, and a land of olive and honey. Sounds pretty good. That they may live and not die, and hearken not unto Hezekiah when he persuadeth you, saying, The Lord will deliver us. Now watch verse number 33. This is a man that just previously, just a few minutes before, said, The Lord sent me here. He said, The Lord is with me, the Lord told me to come here. And in verse 33, just a few minutes later, just a few words later, he says, Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? He basically says to them, Your God cannot save you from us, is what he is saying. Where are the gods of Haman, of Arpad? Where are the gods of Seraphim, Hannah, and Ivah? Have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand? Who are they among all the gods of the countries that have delivered their country out of mine hand? And the Lord, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand. Look, Rab Shaka had a godless worldview. He had a godless worldview. He came to the walls of Jerusalem and he said, you know, he first tried to just appease them and you know, take the easy road, but when he realized that they weren't going to listen, he says, Look, we've just, we've invaded dozens and dozens and dozens of people with gods and their gods did not save them. Your God is not going to save you. He didn't believe in any of these gods. But this was his fatal mistake because he was 99.9% right. All those other gods were nothing. They were dumb idols. But here he came up against the holy God, the only one true living God. But he didn't know it. And it became his fatal mistake. To him, the God of Judah was no different than all the other gods that the Assyrian Empire had just been rolling right over. It was no different. But this was his problem, his fatal mistake. So look, he had a godless worldview. He did not believe in any god. And you know, he lied about it at first, but at the end, the truth came out. All right, and even in verse 34, you know, he says, you know, even in Samaria, he says, you know, because look, he's saying even in Samaria, it didn't save them. And he knew the connection between Samaria and Judah. You know, he's like, the God of Samaria didn't save them. What makes you think that your God? He doesn't believe in any gods. He doesn't believe in any of them. But having this worldview, I don't want to give the, you know, the story away, but you obviously know, having this worldview cost them their whole army. It cost this king his life. The second point I want to make about this messenger is this, Rab Sheka was trying to influence the people here. He had a very specific agenda. Rab Sheka had an agenda to gain power and control over Judah. That was his agenda. He came there to gain power over these people and to basically try to win without a fight. That's what he was trying to do. And what were his methods? What were Rab Sheka's methods? So he came there and he used all these, these, you know, these terrible words, right? His first method was fear. He was trying to strike fear. That's why, look, that's why they said, could you please speak in the Assyrian language? We understand the Assyrian language. Speak to us in the Assyrian language. Because all the people of Judah on the wall were listening. And they didn't want, he said, no, I'm going to speak in your language because I want all the people to hear this. Because he wants to strike fear into the people. That's why he asked for the, that's why they asked for the language change. Because the messengers of Hezekiah knew that the people on the walls were listening to all these horrible things. You know, you're going to eat your own dung. I mean, that's, everyone's like, uh, that doesn't sound good. So he's trying to strike fear. Look at 2 Kings chapter 18, verse number 26. Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah and Shebna and Joah unto Rab Sheka, speak I pray thee to thy servants in the Assyrian language for we understand it and talk not with us in the Jews language in the ears of the people that are on the wall. And right away he responds and he says, you know, half my master sent to me thy master and to thee to speak these words hath he not sent me to the men which sit on the wall. He knew they were listening that they may eat their own dung and drink their own piss with you. So he knows that everybody's listening and he wants them to hear it. So he was trying to strike fear into the people of Judah. So look, he's there. He's trying to, he's trying to push this agenda and the main thing he uses is fear. The second thing is this, Rab Sheka is pitching a different reality to the people. Look at verse number 31. I mean, was Rab Sheka's reality real? Let's look at that for a minute. He's pitching this reality to the people. If you do these things, this will happen to you. If you listen to me, you will be able to stay in your own homes and all these great things, your life will be great. Was that real? Is that a reality? Look at verse 31 of 2 Kings 18, he's saying, don't listen to your king, for thus saith the king of Assyria, make an agreement with me by a present. He's like, give me more money. He's like, you've already given me all this gold and all this silver. He's like, give me more and come out to me and then eat ye, every man. So he's like, you're going to eat this and he's like, or you could eat of your own vine and every one of his own fig tree and drink ye every one of the waters of his cistern. He's like, you can stay in your homes, is what he's saying, until I come. And then he says, he's going to take them away, right? Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, and a land of oil, olive, and of honey, that ye may live and not die and hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you, saying the Lord will deliver us. Can't you just see the people going to Hezekiah saying, man, it sounds pretty good, why don't we just do this? We're going to have this great land, this great property. It reminds me of when Stalin, I don't know if many of you know this, but Stalin after World War II, he tried to repatriate all Russians that had left the Soviet Union during the war and that had fled before even the war started, and he started bringing all these people back. As a matter of fact, the Americans and the British like forcefully loaded people onto trains to send them back to Russia at Stalin's request after the war was over. Not many people know that, but he promised them, land, you'll have 40 acres of land, come back, help rebuild the country, and he threw them all in prison or killed them when they actually got back. So you can about imagine, people didn't really want to go back when they heard this was happening, so it was kind of a big deal. He hunted people all over the world, all over Asia, all over everywhere, psychopath. But look, back to the sermon. So he's sitting here and he's telling these people, you can stay in your homes, and when we do send you away, we're going to send you to even a better place, and you're going to have all these vineyards, and you'll have more than you have now. But look, the Assyrians, the Assyrians were known to be brutal people. Throughout history, even secular historians will say it is well documented that the historians, I mean the Assyrians were brutal, brutal people. They are known, turn to 2 Kings chapter 19, they're known for things like flaying people alive, like burning captives, killing children. Look at 2 Kings chapter 19 and verse number 28. This matches up exactly with what secular historians have found through drawings and artworks and things from the Assyrian empire, from this time. Look at 2 Kings chapter 19 and verse number 28. This is God speaking, okay? But look what God says, and look at the language that he uses. You're like, why would God use these specific terms? And I'll tell you why. In 2 Kings chapter 19, look at verse 28, because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back the way which thou camest. This is God speaking to the Assyrians, saying, I'm going to put my hook in your lips, and my bridle in your mouth, because the Assyrians, when they led away captives, they would actually put hooks through people's mouths, they would put, you know, hooks through their lips, and they would wind them up in chains. This is well documented, this is what God, God has seen what the Assyrian empire has done to the northern kingdom of Israel, as a judgment, by the way, but he has seen it, he's like, you know what, now I'm going to put my hook in your lips. He's like, I'm going to get you out of this land, is what God is saying here. But look, turn to Hosea chapter 13, if you need more evidence. Hosea chapter 13. So God was using what the Assyrians did to their, the people that they conquered, he was using that language against them, as he was going to throw them out. Look at Hosea 13 and verse number 16. The Bible here is talking about the judgment coming to Samaria by the Assyrian empire, and it shows more of the brutality of the Assyrian people. Samaria shall become desolate, for she hath rebelled against her God. They shall fall by the sword, their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up. I mean, look, it's terrible. These people were brutal, it was different than the Babylonian captivity. Not to say that there wasn't brutality in the Babylonian captivity, but it was much worse with the Assyrian empire taking away the northern kingdom of Israel. Look, the 10 tribes that were in the northern kingdom of Israel, they literally ceased to exist. They were either killed, or they were just, you know, assimilated out of existence, basically. Right? I mean, the people at least in the Babylonian captivity that happened, you know, later on, at least, you know, they were allowed to return after 70 years. You know, the Babylonians at least allowed them to return. But look, there's no vineyards that they're going to, is the point I'm trying to make here. If they, you know, capitulate to this guy, they're all doomed, is the bottom line. You know, basically, you know, he tells them earlier that, you know what, you need to give up or you're all going to starve to death, but look, if they give up, things would not be great. They would all be murdered and tortured and terrible things. So basically, Rab Sheka was using propaganda and lies to try to get these people to do what he wanted them to do. That's the bottom line. So what did they do? And, you know, he used, another thing that he used was sensationalism. Right? He's just, he's over exaggerating everything from the good to the bad. Right? He's showing this horrible situation on the downside, and then he's over exaggerating everything on the good side as well. But it was all lies. None of it was true. Look at verse 37. How does the story end? How does the story end? You're like, they're in a bad spot. This is a huge army that's come up against them. Look at verse 37 of 2 Kings 18. The Bible says, Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rab Sheka. So they go at the end of the chapter and they tell the king what they've just heard. Because the king didn't hear this. Right? They tell the king what they've just heard, and they've got their clothes rent, and they're just, we're in a lot of trouble, they say to the king. All right? Now go to chapter 19. One chapter over. And look at, let's continue the story. Look at 2 Kings 19, verse number 1. And here's Hezekiah hearing the story and what he does. And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and he went into the house of the Lord. The first thing he does. And he sent Eliakim, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amos. This is Isaiah's time here. And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke and blasphemy, for the children have come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth. They go to the prophet Isaiah, and they say, we don't know what to do. We've got this blasphemous guy, he said all these things to us, help us. They come before the Lord. And look down, just for sake of time, at verse number 35. And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out. So basically, Isaiah tells them what God is going to do. God is going to take care of this situation. God says, I will fight for you. And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians, and hundred, four score, and five thousand, a hundred and eighty-five thousand people, when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. The Lord went out, look, no army went out here. The Lord's angel went out, and killed a hundred and eighty-five thousand people of the Assyrian army. So Sennacherib, king of Assyria, departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. But wait, there's more. And it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch, his god, lower case G, that Adramelach and Shazar, his son, smote him with the sword, that they escaped into the land of Armenia, and Esarhaddon, his son, reigned in his stead. So God even makes it so the king that invaded died. And I'm sure Rabsheka had the same faith. So he had a fatal mistake of, you know, having this godless worldview, because the one that came against him was the god, capital G, that he had discounted as, you know, not real. So what does this story have to do with us? What does this have to do, how can we apply this to today? Well, look, I want to show you some interesting parallels this morning with this story of this messenger, his message, and the first thing is, you know, let's just talk about the power of propaganda. The power of propaganda is incredibly effective. There's the reason that people do it for a living, its entire industries are based around it. But the power of propaganda, the way that you present a message to people can be incredibly effective to whatever agenda you're trying to push, is the bottom line. Look, particularly in cases like this, particularly in times of war. You know, a good example for us when I was thinking about this sermon, if you remember the poster of Uncle Sam that says, you know, it's got Uncle Sam with the top hat, and it says, I want you for the US Army. How many of you have seen that? That one poster by itself was credited for swelling the ranks of the United States Army during World War One. Because it just, it was such a powerful piece of propaganda that it inspired all sorts of, you know, patriotism in people and people wanted to serve and go and fight for their country and things like that. Look, other posters, there was other posters, it's interesting to go back and look at these older posters. Another poster from World War One was a poster of, you know, it was called the Great War at that time, right? You can about imagine, it was the first World War, it was a big deal to people, right? Another poster that was really interesting was one that said, it's got a child talking to her father. And the child says, Daddy, what did you do during the Great War? You know, so it's inspiring this masculinity to want to be like, I better go do something in this time, right? Right or wrong, look, right or wrong, I'm not saying these posters are right or these posters are wrong, but I'm saying they're incredibly effective. The way that you present a message can be incredibly effective. You know, then there was all kinds of posters in World War One, in many other war, you know, it happens today too, where they're, you know, posters demonizing the enemy, whether it be the Japanese or the Germans or whatever, right? They're incredibly effective. Now, look, with the digital age, what I'm talking about is TV, internet, propaganda is in overdrive today. Propaganda is in overdrive today. So what I want to focus on this morning is the media, and I want to talk about the media and what the media means for us and I want to look at some parallels with the media today and this story in the Bible. Look, I'm not talking about, you know, necessarily just the news media. I'm talking about media in general, okay? So I want to talk about the media. So what are the parallels? Because the parallels are striking, but the first parallel is this, like Rab Sheka, especially the news media, but the media today has a godless worldview. Turn to Proverbs chapter one. It's a completely godless worldview. They have a very specific agenda, and it is not a godly one. I mean, think about it. From science to, you know, national events to world events, they're looking at all these things through a godless worldview, just like Rab Sheka did. I mean, how did it work out for Rab Sheka? I mean, he made this one mistake. This could be the whole sermon right here. He made one simple mistake. He had a godless worldview. Because look, think about it. If he knew that he was going up against, you know, the only one god that has all the power to do whatever he wants, do you think he would have said the things that he said? He just didn't know. He didn't believe that that god was real. He said, you know, it's just one of the other gods, lowercase g. He's like, we've been rolling over these gods like a freight train. What makes you think, you know, your god's going to help you? The king of Egypt's not going to help you. Your god's not going to help you. He's like, we're just rolling over all the gods. They don't do anything. But look, in Proverbs 1.7, and I know you know this verse well, but the Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. But fools despise wisdom and instruction. So look, if you're getting information from people that don't have the fear of the Lord, what – it's the beginning of knowledge. Like it's the start of it. So they haven't even started getting knowledge or wisdom. So do you think that it's going to be correct if they have no knowledge? Another part of the Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. They have no knowledge. They have no wisdom. They haven't even started. It's not like, oh, they're halfway into it. No, they haven't started. I mean, that's what the Bible says. Look, Rabsheka was wrong completely. I mean, look, it doesn't even have to be sinister. If they don't fear the Lord, if they don't know, if they don't have a fear of the Lord in their worldview, they're not going to be correct. Even if they wanted to know the truth. Even if they wanted to know, if they don't have the fear of the Lord, they're not going to know. They're going to make mistakes. Big ones. I mean, Rabsheka's mistake cost him his life and 185,000 people of the Assyrian army. Turn to 2 Kings chapter 19. Just keep your place there. We're going to be going back to that. But look, all these gods, it's just one more, and God responds. God responds and tells him how wrong he is. Look at verse number 22. It says, whom has thou reproached and blasphemed? This is where Isaiah is speaking for God here. They laid it before the Lord and they went to Isaiah and they said, what do we do? Ask God, tell us. They already said that he blasphemed. They already told Isaiah that this guy blasphemed the Lord. They said, whom has thou reproached and blasphemed? Against whom has thou exalted thy voice and lifted up thine eyes on high? Even against the Holy One of Israel, the one true living God. So like Rabsheka, the media today is just, they're pitching, you know, this godless world view, this godless world view. Look, here's another one. Like Rabsheka, the media today is pitching a literal different reality. Remember Rabsheka says, hey, if you do this, this is going to happen, which was just not true. The media today is, look, it's the same as Rabsheka. They're trying to influence you. They're trying to influence you. And guess what? It gets even better because they used the same two tactics that Rabsheka used. What are those tactics? Fear and sensationalism. That's the two tactics that they used. It's exactly the same. Look, if all, think about it, think about it. If all you did was watch TV, you would be convinced that the world is on fire today. But what's happening today? What's actually happening today? What is reality? You know, you would be convinced a few weeks ago that there's just dead bodies everywhere. I mean, that's the reality that they're pitching. Like I've had people over the last couple of weeks calling me and texting me from all kinds of different other states, places that I used to live, Texas. Man, are you guys okay there? It's like, that's crazy. What's going on there? I'm like, what's going on here? But I know what's going on. They got their face in front of the TV and all they're seeing is fires and bricks flying everywhere and they're like, it's all in California. You know, it must be, you know, everybody, right? Everywhere. Sometimes you just need to turn it off. You just need to kind of look around for yourself. You know, go to the store, find out, you know, what is, turn to Matthew chapter 15. I mean, what is your reality? Otherwise, look, otherwise, Matthew 15, we just looked at this on Wednesday night, but look at verse 14. Otherwise, this is you. If you don't use your own eyes and all you're doing is following people and letting people with a godless worldview constantly tell you what your reality is, this is you. Matthew 15, 14, let them alone. They be blind leaders of the blind and if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. And here's the thing, you're not even the leader. You're following, you're the blind following the blind. If all you're doing is listening to people with a godless worldview, that's it. People look, folks, people with a godless worldview, they have a different reality than you. They have a different reality than you and they want a different reality than you. So you say, why do they do it? Yeah, it's to push a worldview, a godless agenda. You know, maybe as simple as politics, power, those types of things, but look, here's another big driver. Same as Rapsheka, money. Is that a shocker? Money. He said, give me presents. They already gave him all this gold and silver, give me more. Look, here's the thing, nobody will watch, if there's a news reporter in Fresno and on the local 6 o'clock news and he's standing in a parking lot and he's like, you know what, the thing is, there's not really anything much happening here and it looks, oh, there's a guy going to Chick-fil-A and no one's going to watch that. No one wants to see that. Sensationalism sells. It's that simple. You know what? That's why you'll see YouTube feeds of multi-riots, because people will watch that. You know that YouTube, think about this for a second, this is mind blowing, 300 hours of video get uploaded to YouTube every single minute. So here's an analogy, think of it this way, say you have a hardware store in town. Say you have a hardware store and every single day, 200 new hardware stores open up in your town, is it going to get easier or harder to sell hammers? 200 every day, 200 more hardware stores, is there a market for it? We don't care, 200 more just opened up, 200 more, 200 more, 200 more. So guess what, you're probably going to start giving away candy and putting bounce houses out, like free pizza, just to get everybody into your store to buy your hammer. That's why you see, that's where clickbait came from. Because people are trying to put out sensational stuff to get you to watch their stuff. The guy that's just out there just telling the truth, I don't believe he exists anymore, maybe he used to, it's so hard to find him, it's almost irrelevant at this point. But the guy that's just out there saying hey here's what's really going on, no one's going to watch that. No one's going to watch that. They want to see the bodies loaded on the trucks, they want to see the grave with all the bodies, they want to see the fires, they want to see the craziness, they want to see all the sensationalism. And I've got news for you, it's only going to get worse because of money. Because the cable news channel wants you to watch their stuff, they've got to have more fires and more craziness and more, I mean it's not the truth, it's not reality. I mean look at any given moment in this world something crazy is going on somewhere. I mean look, I talked to my dad on Sunday night and I had a really interesting, he gave me some really interesting perspective and I want to share it with you this morning. First of all, none of this, as far as the riot, none of this is new. We burn the cities every 20 years in this country. It's like 20 years, let's burn this place down. That's what we do. But look, here's the thing, I talked to my dad and he told me, he's like oh yeah, he's like I talked to your sister in Denver and she's all worried and I was like I just gave her some perspective. Let me give it to you. He said let me tell you about the 60s. You know, 70 years ago, 60 years ago, 60 years ago, in 1963 the President of the United States was shot and killed. The entire 60s themselves were just covered, just spotted with riots everywhere all the time. There was riots in almost every year that you can find. You know from the civil rights movement and things that were going on, there's all sorts of riots. You know, there's riots, let me read you a news article from 1965. On August 11, 1965, Marquette Frye, an African American motorist on patrol for robbery, on parole for robbery, I'm sorry, was pulled over for reckless driving. A minor roadside argument broke out which then escalated into a fight with police. Community members reported that the police had hurt a pregnant woman and six days of civil unrest followed, nearly 4,000 members of the California Army National Guard helped suppress the disturbance which resulted in 34 deaths and over $40 million in property damage. There's riots all throughout America in the 60s and even into the 70s. I mean from the civil rights stuff to the protests on the Vietnam War, I mean think about that. The Vietnam War went on for 15 plus years, 15 years, at the height of which 300 Americans were getting killed every single week. I mean think about it, for those of you who remember 2003 and the Gulf War and all that kind of stuff, 300 a week were being killed in the 60s, right? In 1968, the president's brother was shot and killed, a senator. You know, he had Martin Luther King assassinated, you know, and then in 1968, there was real rioting. Like hundreds of cities in the United States were on fire in 1968. Huge riots. 1969, think about this, 18 to 22-year-olds, so the Vietnam War's been going on, 1969, they started the draft. So you get a letter in 1969, you know, you think about how crazy your life seems right now, how about the government shows up on your doorstep and says, hey, hey son, you're going to Vietnam now. You know this war you've been watching for almost 10 years? You're going, buddy. You're like, Viet where? Some farm kid from North Dakota, you're like, Viet what? You're looking at your map, where am I going, why? I mean, look, those are crazy times. Those are crazy times. So I mean, look, people must have thought America was coming to an end. You know, I'm sure plenty of people did. So look, I'm not, so look, and guess what, the same groups that were exploiting victims back then are exploiting victims today. The exact same groups. I'm not saying it's good. I'm not saying we shouldn't pay attention. I'm just saying put things in some context, all right? I mean, the world's not coming to an end. Jesus isn't coming back this afternoon, okay? But most of the time what you're watching, the media to bring it back, is just they're pitching a false narrative. So what do we do? What do we do, you say? There's all kinds of rap shekas out there. What do we do? Do we handle this? Let me just give you my two-step approach to reality, all right? Here's what you do. Here's what you do. Step number one is this. Everything that you view, you view through the lens of the Bible. That's step one. I mean, that will solve, look, that will solve the worldview issue. What did Hezekiah do? What did Hezekiah do? The first thing is he went to the Lord for answers. And that's what we should do. Everything that we look at, we look at through the lens of the Bible, period. And that will filter out all this garbage for us. But you say, you know, can I never watch or read the news? No, that's not what I'm saying. But you need to understand the context. If you know the Bible and you look at things through the lens of the Bible, it will show you, it will show you how to read between the lines. You see what I'm saying? And guess what? Just like with rap sheka, most things start with something true. I mean, rap sheka was correct when he said, look, we have this huge army. We've just taken over the northern kingdom of Israel and, you know, now we're here. I mean, that was correct. All the other stuff from there, it all starts with something true. It all starts, you know, with a victim or something, with something true. It's the same thing with the riots. It all starts with a victim, a terrible event. Nobody argues that. But the problem is, having a biblical worldview will open your eyes to all the godless agendas that follow, like socialism, like communism, like anarchism. All these things, they're all there. They're all twisted up in this. And it's nothing new. It's nothing that didn't happen in the 60s or even hundreds of years before. These agendas are there to take advantage of situations, and there's people pushing these agendas. And if you have a biblical worldview, you'll recognize it. You will see it. Don't trust it. And the second point is this. You look at everything through the lens of the Bible, and the second thing is this. Use your own two eyes to determine reality. Please. You know, the media will always sensationalize everything because they have to sell it to you. They have to sell it to you, just like Rab Shaka. Look, my faith in this last year, my faith in the media has gone to zero. I mean, I knew what it was about before, but it has gone to like zero now. Just because of, look, the media, the way that you need to look at things is through the lens of the Bible, and it must be verifiable with your own two eyes, right? There's no trust anymore. You know, you can't trust godless people. You know, I don't know why that surprises me, or it did surprise me, but it shouldn't surprise you. Look, that's why I drove around so much during the lockdown. I was driving everywhere. I've never put so many miles on. I mean, sometimes you just need to turn off Rab Shaka and see what's going on. Period. And ask yourself, what is my reality? Look, there is no bodies in the streets. They weren't there. You know, just this last week on Tuesday, people were working like, huge riot, huge riot in North Fresno, you guys got to take a different way home, you guys got to do this stuff, you guys go around. I got off work, I drove up there. I drove to River Park, there's nobody there! I mean, you got to see what's going on because everyone just gets worked up, and pretty soon the whole mall burned down, and then, oh, Chick-fil-A's on fire, and it's just like, there's hundreds of people there, and there's going to be this huge thing, and just don't go home, everybody's got to go home now, and like, there's nobody there. Nothing happened. I mean, you got to just open your eyes. Sometimes, Fresno's not on fire. Everybody that knows me from other states, I'm okay. We're getting by. It's like 85 degrees out today. It's beautiful out. But look, here's another thing. Here's something I do notice, right? Because guess what, first of all, the soul winner, another sidebar, the soul winner will have like a pulse on the country, on the community like nobody else. The soul winner will. Here's what I notice, and I was talking to Brother Frank about it yesterday, things are getting less receptive in certain neighborhoods because people are, you can tell they're hard-hearted. You can tell people are hard-hearted in certain neighborhoods that we're going to. I noticed that. I've noticed it over the last three weeks. Things are less receptive. That's not good. But look, the soul winner will, just by the nature of the work that they're doing, will have their eyes open to the community like nobody else. More than the police, more than any community people, because we're out there, we're out there just talking to the people. We're out there just, how are you doing, walking on the street, how are you, we're from church. People generally don't care about, you know, they're not going to be upset talking to people, but I can tell the difference. In the last three, so this is not good. You know, it's better, you know, as soon as it gets over, you know, the whole attitude of it all, it's going to be better for the gospel, it's going to be better for the people. But look, so just keep your eyes open. Those two things. Look at everything through the lens of the Bible. Open your eyes. Open your eyes. But just imagine this, and here's something that's kind of sad. Imagine the person that has a godless worldview. Imagine this person for a minute. I mean, it's really, it's really kind of sad when you think about it. Imagine the person that just has this worldview where they're looking at the world that has no god. I mean, where there's no truth, there's no absolute truth. This is why, by the way, atheistic thinking, the atheist and his thinking will always fail. Because if there is no absolute truth, and your truth is different than my truth, it just really comes down to whoever has the most power has the truth. That's what it boils down to. You know, translated into government, that's what it means. It means power equals truth, right? I have more strength, I have more power, my truth wins. That's what it boils down to. So all the, you know, the intellectual thought that they think that they're putting into, that's what it equals. Strength equals truth, if you're an atheist. That's it. Right. Turn to John 18, or just look at the front of your bulletin. Look, Pontius Pilate knew this. Pontius Pilate knew this. Look at John 18, and look at verse number 37. This is Pilate standing before Jesus, Pilate therefore said unto him, art thou a king then? Jesus answered, thou sayest that I am a king, to this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice. So he's saying, yeah, I'm a king, that's why I was born. That's my purpose. And he says, everyone that is of the truth hears my voice. He's saying to Pontius Pilate, look, if you're of the truth, you'll know this. You'll believe me, is what he's saying. In 38, Pilate saith unto him, what is truth? What is truth? Pontius Pilate had a godless worldview. There's no truth. What is truth? Your truth is different than my truth. And look, Pilate had a moment of honesty there, where he basically just said, you know, look, what is truth? Because I don't know. That was a moment of honesty. That Pontius Pilate had. He's like, I don't know what the truth is. But then it really plays out into what I just said. You know, what does it matter if I give this man up to be killed? What does it matter? Because guess what? He had the power to do it, so he did. Power equals truth for the godless. Strong equals right for the godless. Pontius Pilate was strong enough to do whatever he wanted to do. His truth was, preserve myself, preserve my political future, preserve my position, thus execute him. That is my truth. That became his truth. Look, there must be an absolute truth, or it all breaks down, period. And the Bible is the only absolute truth that exists. It's the only absolute truth that can be trusted. Whenever someone has a narrative that doesn't fit that truth, it needs to raise a flag for you. Period. Look, here's what it all boils down to, folks. Rab Sheka was a liar. He was a liar. He was pushing an agenda. It's the same with most of the media today. You need to recognize that or you will be led by the blind. You say, but I'm saved. Look, there's a lot of Christians that believe a lot of stupid wrong stuff because they're being led by blind people. Because they're believing blind people. Because they're not filtering things through the Bible. Just because you're saved doesn't mean you won't fall down some stupid rabbit hole. It has nothing to do with it. Being saved means you're going to heaven, no matter how dumb you get on planet earth. I mean, who wants to be in heaven and live on their life and be like, man, I was a moron for most of it. But it happens. But look, people, godless world view. The blind. Open your eyes and look around. Rab Sheka was a man with an agenda. His agenda was money and power. It's no different. He was willing to lie, cheat, and steal to get it. It's no different today. Turn to 2 Kings chapter 19. Look at verse 14. Rab Sheka went back and then he wrote Hezekiah. He was not done speaking. He wrote Hezekiah a letter and he sent it to Hezekiah. And Hezekiah took the letter. And that's what he took in front of Isaiah. And he took the letter and in verse 14 of 2 Kings 19, the Bible says, and Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers and read it. This is Rab Sheka's letter. And Hezekiah went up into the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord. I mean he took the letter and he just laid it before God. He said, here's what's being put on me and he laid it before the Lord. I mean what a great verse. And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, O Lord God of Israel, which dwelleth between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth, thou hast made heaven and earth. By the way, do you talk to God like this? Maybe you should. Do you speak to God in these respectful terms when you pray? Because it said he prayed, right? And this is an answered prayer. So I want, I mean, raise your hand if you want your prayers answered. Look at how he speaks to the Lord. Do you get to bed at night and you're half asleep and you're like, hey God, ah, ah. Then you fall asleep halfway through the prayer? Look, that's not how Hezekiah talked to God here. Look at verse 16, Lord, bow down thine ear and hear, open Lord thine eyes and see and hear the words of Sennacherib and that which hath sent him to reproach the living God of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their land. So it all started with that truth. He laid that letter before God. It all started with that truth. He laid it before the Lord. Look, we need to look at everything like Hezekiah did through the lands of the Lord. We need to lay these things, these messages, these messengers before the Lord, which is viewing it through what God has given you. He's given you the lens. He's given it to you. Open your eyes, look at things through biblical worldview and understand that it's the godless that are pushing propaganda on you. Okay, let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for today. I thank you for this great story in the Bible. I thank you for King Hezekiah and just the way that he handled this and was such a great example for us to just bring everything and lay it down before you. And Lord, I pray that you just edify us through this story, Lord, with all the propaganda that's being pushed on us today, help us to know that it's just the blind and they don't understand that you are the true one living God. Lord, we love you. I ask that you bless the rest of today's soul winning and church this evening. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Amen.