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

Let's look back at verse number 10 where the Bible read and the preacher sought to find out acceptable words and that which was written was upright, even words of truth. The Bible says that the preacher is supposed to try and find out the words that he's supposed to use, but specifically he's focused on that which is true, that which is the truth. The title of my sermon this morning is this, why the truth is important. Why the truth is important. If the preacher is supposed to find out words that are true, well then why is that so important? If you would go in your New Testament to John chapter number one, John chapter number one, I'm going to give you four points this morning of why the truth is important. Why the truth is important. As my job of a preacher or any man that gets up to preach the word of God, their job, their goal should be to preach something that's true. Why would I want to come to church this morning and learn something that's not true? That would be shame and folly. The point of coming to church is to come to a place where you can actually hear something that's true this morning. There's a lot of lies out there. It's hard to find anybody that will tell you something that's true or to be honest or to be faithful. Church should be that one institution where you can hear truth. The Bible says in John chapter one verse one, in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. The Bible tells us before anything existed, there was the word and there was God. We know that the word is God according to the Bible. If we skip down to verse 14, we're going to learn more. It says in verse 14, the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. We beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth. We find out that this word is actually the Lord Jesus Christ. He came down and became a man. That's what it means by the word becoming flesh. We know the word is God. We know that that word is the Lord Jesus Christ. We see that Jesus Christ is God. It says in verse 17, for the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. We also see truth itself is delivered by Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is that word and that word is God. This is where that truth is coming from. It also says that if you go to John chapter number 14, John chapter number 14, it says in verse number 18, it says no man has seen God at any time. The only begotten son which is in the bosom of the father, he hath declared him. We find out that God the father sent the son to this earth so that he could give us the truth and Jesus Christ is full of grace and truth is what the Bible says and the truth is coming from him. He says in John chapter 14 verse number 6, Jesus saith on him, I am the way, the truth and the life, no man cometh unto the father but by me. Not only does Jesus Christ give truth, not only full of truth, he is the truth is what the Bible says. And so we follow that progression that we just made. We realize that Jesus Christ is the truth. He delivers the truth. He is full of the truth and Jesus Christ is that word of God which was from the beginning which is God himself. So we find out that God is the truth. This is why it's going to be so important that we understand what truth is and why truth itself is important because it is Jesus. It is God. It is the word of God. Some people would say it seems like you worship the Bible, Pastor Shelley. Well, that's because it is the truth. That's because it is Jesus Christ. It's because it is God is what the Bible very clearly teaches. And the word of God, since it's the truth and my relationship with God the Father is determined by that truth, what could be more important? And my first point is this, the truth is important because it determines our fate. Our fate is determined by the truth. Go over to Luke chapter number four, Luke chapter number four. So how am I going to determine where my fate is going to lie? How am I going to end up in this world? The only answer can come from the truth which is the word of God. Jesus Christ said he was the truth and you can't get to the Father without him which also means you can't get to the Father without truth. So if I want to get to the Father, I have to have truth. Now if the devil is the person who the Bible claims him to be, wouldn't he want to attack that truth? Wouldn't he want to poke at that truth and try to twist the truth? Because if the truth is going to get you the Father and the devil doesn't want anyone to get there, it sounds like he's going to attack the truth. And let me tell you, there's an attack on truth today and you say, what does that mean? How are people attacking Jesus Christ? How are they attacking the truth? How are they attacking God? They're attacking the word of God. That's how they're doing it. There is an attack on the Bible today specifically and the devil does not have a new agenda. It's the same agenda. In the beginning he said, yea, hath God said. He told Adam and Eve that's the first words that come out of his mouth is putting doubt on the word of God. His first attack and his always attack is to put doubt on the word of God itself. Let's see him do this when Jesus Christ is in the flesh, Luke chapter 4 verse 3. The devil said to him, if thou be the son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. So notice the devil is trying to tempt the Lord Jesus Christ who is the truth and say, well, if you are the son of God, he's trying to put shade on if Jesus Christ is the son of God. What is he trying to do? He's trying to put shade on the truth today. He's trying to attack the truth. But what does Jesus say? He says in verse 4, Jesus answered him saying it is written that man shall not live by bread alone but by every word of God. So he says more important than our food today is our spiritual food which is the word of God. More important than anything in this world is the truth today and that's what we're supposed to live by. You can only even have life by the truth, by Jesus Christ himself. And Jesus reiterates our need for truth. But there's an attack on who Jesus is by the devil. Now to give you even a further strength for this point, go to 1 John chapter number 1. 1 John chapter 1. You say, well, Pastor Shelley, it seems like you're connecting Jesus Christ to the word of God. Well, I'm not doing that. The Bible's doing that. Now 1 John chapter 1, you know, I just love verse number 1 because it's such a beautiful picture in the Bible. But it tells us that the disciples themselves, especially John, he didn't see a distinction between Jesus Christ in the flesh and the word of God. Look what it says in John chapter 1, 1 John chapter 1 verse 1. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands have handled of the word of life. So he says, hey, you know what it was that taught to us? You know what it was that we, you know, fellowshiped and we touched and we saw and we experienced? It wasn't just a man. It was the word of life itself. He actually had the word of God there with him. It says in verse 2, for the life was manifested and we have seen it and bear witness and show unto you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us. That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that ye also may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. Now how do you get that fellowship with the Father? Only through the Son. Only through the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And notice he was with the Father, yet we know that he is that word of life and we know that he is God when we compare with John chapter number 1. So God gave us the words of eternal life. If we are to live according to every word, we've established this doctrine. We've decided that, well, Jesus Christ is the truth and that truth is the words of life. It's the word of God. We're supposed to have every single word. Then here's, in my mind, the most important question we can ask after this, where is it? I mean, if this is the only way for me to get to the Father, if this is going to determine my fate and my destiny for all of my life, if it's the only truth out there, it's the only way, well, where is it is a good question, right? Well, the same devil who is putting shade on Jesus Christ in the wilderness is the same devil today who's going to try and put shade on Jesus Christ now. And let me tell you, the word of God is Jesus Christ. This is the truth and he's putting shade on the word of God today. Go to John chapter number 5. John chapter number 5. He was saying, if thou be the Son of God, because if Jesus is not the Son of God, then the Bible would not be true. Jesus Christ made it clear that he was the Son of God. He declared that he was the Son of God, but you know what? That's because we have a King James Bible this morning that we even believe this doctrine. This doctrine is under attack of who Jesus Christ is, and there are other English Bibles today that will literally attack the fact that Jesus is the Son of God. And let me show you very clearly that he is, it says in John chapter 5 verse 18, therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him. This is the narrator of the Bible, which we know is none other than the Holy Ghost himself, says because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. So notice by Jesus Christ declaring that he's the Son of God is making it clear to everyone he is God, and he's equal with God. He's on the same level with God. They understood what it meant for someone to declare that he is the Son of God. But what is the devil doing? He's trying to put shade on that. If you're the Son of God, then follow my rules, follow my commandments. But Jesus Christ did not fall for that temptation. He rebuked the devil with the Word of God. Go to Philippians chapter number 2, Philippians chapter number 2, let's confirm this with another place in scripture. Let's find another place in our Bible today that's going to tell us that Jesus Christ was equal with God. Why? Because he is God. There's only one God, and he's made up of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. These three are one is what the Bible teaches. They're one in unity. They're one in purpose. They're one in the fact that they're all God. But we worship that one God. Now, Philippians chapter 2 talks about the Lord Jesus Christ, it talks about the mind of Christ. It says in verse 6 this, who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God. So notice the Lord Jesus Christ, even in human form, even being humbled, even being a servant, he still did not consider it robbery to make himself God or to equate himself to being God. He accepted worship while he was on this earth. He forgave sins while he was on this earth. He raised people from the dead while he was on this earth. He did a lot of wonderful miracles proving that he's the Son of God and proving that he's God in the flesh, and therefore he did not consider it robbery that he was equal to God. Let me read for you what the New American Standard Bible says in this verse. Who although he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped. The New American Standard Bible says that Jesus Christ didn't even think it's possible that he could be equal with God. That's blasphemy. That's what the devil's trying to do by trying to put shade on the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, if you're the Son of God. Look, Jesus Christ didn't have to wonder if he knew he was, and he knew he was equal with God when he was in the flesh. What are they doing? They're putting an attack on the Word of God. They're putting an attack on the truth. The truth itself is important. If the New American Standard Bible is accurate here, then we ought to throw our Bibles in the trash and go home, because he said he's the only way to get to heaven, and now it's saying that he's not even equal with God. He was a blasphemer, which is what the Jews accused him of. This is why the truth is so important. Our fate is hinged on the fact that Jesus is the Son of God. Why would I want a Bible that puts shade on the fact that Jesus is the Son of God? That's one example of thousands, but what could be more important than the fact that Jesus is the Son of God? This is what you have to literally declare to be saved, is that Jesus himself. The New American Standard Bible attacks the deity of Jesus Christ. It attacks the sonship of Jesus Christ. It's an attack on the truth, and the truth is going to determine my fate. This lie is damnable heresy, meaning if you believe this, you won't be saved. If you think Jesus couldn't even grasp to be the Son of God, that's Muslim doctrine. The Muslims reject that Jesus Christ was the Son of God. They reject that he was equal with God. They would say, oh, he was just a great prophet. He was a really good guy. God obviously sent him and did miracles by him, but he wasn't the Son of God. He's not God in the flesh. He's not equal with God. Those people aren't saved. They have to repent and change their mind, and the New American Standard Bible is putting shade on that great truth. Why would I want to rest my eternal destiny on that lie? If I have a New American Standard Bible, I'm throwing it in the trash, and that's if that was the only mistake. If that was the only error, I'll throw it in the trash. I don't want that. How can Jesus say that we have to live on every word, yet I have just a whole verse dedicated to blaspheming the Son of God? The truth is important, and that one verse, I guarantee someone is reading that verse in a church this morning. Isn't that sad? Someone in America is going to read that verse today, if not hundreds of people are going to read Philippians. It's a famous passage. Philippians 2, they're going to read that passage and say, well, I thought Jesus was the Son of God. I thought he was equal with God. Why is this telling me? He couldn't even grasp it. You say, oh, you're just making a straw man argument. I'm not making a straw man argument, and in fact, most scholars of the Bible, they prefer the New American Standard Bible. You go to a lot of Bible colleges, that's the preferred Bible of choice. They say it's the most literal, it's the most accurate, well, it's actually just a lie, is what it is. Now, go to Mark chapter number 1, Mark chapter number 1 in your Bible this morning, why is the truth so important? It's going to determine my fate. Who Jesus is is one of the most important questions when it comes to religion, when it comes to doctrine. Half of the world believes that Jesus was a real person that did miracles by God. You know what? They all disagree on who he actually was. You have a billion Muslims who believe Jesus was a prophet but not the Son of God, they're not saved. You have all kinds of fringe cults and other weird groups like the Jehovah's false witness. You have Mormons, you have all kinds of other groups that attack who Jesus Christ really is. They'll say, well, he's a God, or they'll say he's a Son of God, no, he is the Son of God, is what the Bible says. Look at Mark chapter 1 verse 15, let's dial this in because not only do I have to have the right Jesus to get saved, not only do I have to have the right Jesus to have the right fate, I have to believe the right thing about salvation in order to get there too. Mark chapter 1 verse 15, the Bible says, and saying the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand, repent ye and believe the gospel. So Jesus Christ, his ministry, when he went around, he tried to change people's mind to try and convince them to no longer believe by works righteousness but rather put their faith in Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection as the substitute for their sins. They were trusting the animal sacrifices for their righteousness. He wanted them to trust his sacrifice, which was the death, burial, and resurrection. Now I'm going to read you another English Bible here, this verse. It says, this is the New Living Translation, the time promised by God has come at last. He announced the kingdom of God is near, repent of your sins and believe the good news. It doesn't even say gospel anymore. And let me tell you what's not good news, repenting of your sins. This is not good news by any stretch of the imagination. Let me tell you about some of your sins, okay? The Bible says the thought of foolishness is sin. You probably already sinned, okay? While you're here, you might have had a foolish thought, okay? The Bible says the look upon a woman with lust is to commit adultery in your heart. To hate your brother is murder. I mean the Bible says, him that knoweth to do good and doeth not to him it is sin. Hey, just not doing the right thing is a sin according to the Bible. When did you repent of that one? When did you repent of every foolish thought? Hey, this is not good news, this is bondage. This is being brought under the law is what the Bible describes. That would be the worst news imaginable because here would be my next question, which sins? You know, I notice people that believe this doctrine, they have their own list of which sins they have to repent of. Well, I repented of drugs. What did you repent of? Fornication? Well, you know, working on that one. Are you going to church? Are you reading the Bible? Are you going out soul winning? Did you stop having foolish thoughts? Are you drinking alcohol? I mean, hey, are you smoking cigarettes on a regular basis? Which sins is it that you have to turn from? And let me tell you which sins you have to turn from to get saved. None. Zero. Because that would be a workspace salvation. Now, go to Jonah chapter 3, Jonah chapter 3. You know who doesn't have good news today is the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 version. You say, what's that? That is the doctrinal statement of almost every Southern Baptist church in this country. Almost every Southern Baptist church in this country, if you go to their doctrinal statement, they'll point back to the Baptist Faith and Message today, and they'll say, do you have to repent and you have to believe? Now, they don't just leave it there. They define what they mean by repent. And this is a direct excerpt from their doctrinal statement. They say that repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God. A genuine. They're not even saying like you're trying, that you're giving it good effort. It's saying you really did. It's saying you genuinely turned from every single one of your sins. If you're trusting that to get you to heaven, you're not saved. Their doctrinal statement literally contains damnable heresy in their salvation section. And the Southern Baptist Convention is the largest denomination in America if you throw Catholics out. Obviously, Catholics aren't Christian anyways. If you ask a real Catholic, they're not Christian. But the largest denomination, they have 50,000 churches in America. 50,000. In fact, there's some statistics that say there's 50 million Baptists in America. 50 million. That's a lot. But you know what? A lot of them are not saved. I remember going out soul-wanting not that long ago over in our old location, and it seemed like Brother Ryan was getting this whole church saved by himself. It's called Grace Baptist. No one going there is saved. I mean, he's just single-handedly just getting saved. And they were low-hanging fruit. They were really receptive. They were really close. But you know what? Close doesn't count when it comes to your fate. I almost made it to heaven. I was real close. That's not a good thing to say. I want to say I know that I'm going to heaven. I want to actually get there. And my fate hangs in the balance. Your fate hangs in the balance. The whole world's fate hangs in the balance of the words of God. It's the only way to the Father. Look what it says in John 3, verse 10. And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way, and God repented of the evil that he said that he would do unto them, and he did it not. The Bible says if turning from sin is a requirement of salvation, that would make it a works-based salvation. Because God, when he looks at someone turning from sin, he calls it works, because it is work. It's hard to give up sin. It's hard to turn from the things of the flesh. Hey, your flesh desires sin. Your flesh desires all manner of evil and wickedness and all the things that are out there tempting you. You know why it's a temptation? Because you want to do it. I'm not tempted with eating asparagus. I'm not tempted with putting beans in my chili. This is not something that I desire. I'm not going to fall victim to this sin. If you don't believe that's a sin, that's your problem. Go to Matthew chapter number seven, Matthew chapter number seven. But we have to realize that it's hard work to give up sin. It's hard work to get things right with the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says that salvation is actually easy. Jesus Christ said that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. Jesus Christ said you just have to humble yourself like a little child. Jesus Christ said, hey, you just have to walk through the door. You just have to take a drink of water. It's just a moment of time that you just have to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. If God's a loving God, why would I think that he's going to make the way to heaven so difficult, so hard? He didn't. He just said there's only one way though. Look at Matthew chapter seven verse 14. Because straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life and few there be that find it. The Bible says that going to heaven, it's straight, meaning it's a very tight window, meaning it's narrow. It's very narrow. It's so narrow, there's one way. There's only one entrance. It's Jesus Christ. But luckily for us, it's easy. You know why? Because Jesus did the hard part. Jesus lived that perfect and sinless life for us. Jesus Christ tasted death for every man. The Bible says his soul was made an offering for sin, meaning what? His soul went down to hell for three days and three nights, taking the punishment and bearing that for us, suffering for us. But the pains of death were loosed and he was risen again and he's our savior. And you know what? The gospel is the beautiful picture. It is the good news because he did all of it. He did everything. I don't have to turn from any sin to get saved. All I have to do is accept his free gift is what the Bible says, salvation by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. But you know what? The new King James in this verse that we just read, listen to what it says, because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life and there are few that find it. Now, you know what? If salvation was by repenting of your sins, it would be difficult. And you know what it should say? It should say difficult is the way which leads to life and no one finds it because no one's going to find that way if it's by repenting of your sins. No one is righteous. No one is good enough. The Bible says if you offended one point, you're guilty of all. Hey, I don't, you say, well, I don't sin that much. Have you ever told one lie? That's enough to get you out of heaven. That's enough to separate from God, the father. And if you think that that's the worst thing you've done is told one lie, you're lying again. Okay. So I know you have at least two lies. Okay. Go to second Thessalonians chapter number two, second Thessalonians chapter two. Why is the truth important? Because it determines our fate and not just my fate, your fate and not just your fate, the fate of the world. Every single person's fate is determined on the word of God. That's why we're King James only. We believe that the King James Bible is God's words in English. It's been preserved. It's been time tested. It doesn't, it's not chock full of heresy and false doctrine. It's not putting shade on the word of God. You know what I never do is turn to my King James Bible and it says, these verses aren't in the original. Some manuscripts don't contain these verses. You know what? It just says an authority. Hey, it has some letters in red. It's like these ones, Jesus said, FYI, but you know what? The NIV takes those out. These modern Bibles, they take all kinds of verses out. They take all kinds of phrases out and I can show you verse after verse, section after section. The NIV says that Elhanan, the son of Jehoragem slew Goliath. I thought it was David because it was David. Hey, in Deuteronomy 22, the NIV justifies rape. David says that a rapist, all he has to do is pay 50 shekels and he gets to marry his victim. It's like, what in the world put the, put the rapist to death? Every time. He doesn't get to pay some bounty and then just get off scot free. That's the society we live in now where you just, oh, I'm on parole. Oh, you know, I paid my dues. Hey, your due is to die. That's your due if you're a rapist. That's gross. That's the society we live in where people can just attack women, attack harmless little innocent children and they're not put to death. That's why we have repeat offenders. You know how you don't have a repeat offender? Put all the first offenders down. It's real logical. It makes it, it works every time it's effective, okay? And I like effective policies, okay? Unlike our government, they don't like effective policies. Second Thessalonians chapter two, look at verse number 11 and for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie. You know what I think is part of that? This confusion of Bibles today. This delusion, there's so many people, they're so deluded when it comes to the Word of God. They don't even know where the Word of God is. You try to show them the differences in the Bibles and they're still just like, I don't know. Does it really matter? Yeah, it really matters. It's Jesus Christ. Why would I want to attack Jesus Christ? Verse 12, that they all might be damned who believe not the truth but had pleasure in righteousness. Notice, I'm too busy. I don't want to care which Bible to use. I'm just going to watch the football game. I'm just going to do my hobby. We're going to the lake. You know what? If you don't believe the truth, you're going to be damned. Notice the only connection of getting out of being damned is believing the truth. So if I believe a false Bible, that's not going to save me. I have to believe the truth in order to get saved. Now it says in verse 13, but we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit. Notice this and believe of the truth. Notice he contrasts one group's damned. They didn't believe the truth. The other group is sanctified. They've been preserved through what? The belief of the truth. The truth is so important, it's vital to our salvation. Go to John chapter number 8, John chapter number 8. Point number 1 this morning is this. Why is the truth so important? Because it determines our fate. Your fate hangs in the balance of whether you believe the truth or not. That's why I hate every false way. That's why I hate every false gospel. That's why I hate every false Bible, because it's an attack on the truth, and those attacks on the truth are destroying people's fate. There's people that are zealous for lies today. There's zealous for things that are false. Hey, there's a lot of Muslims that are zealous in Islam, but it's a lie. There's a lot of Catholics that are zealous for Catholicism, but it's a lie. There's a lot of Baptists that are zealous for their doctrinal statement, but it's a lie. Hey, the only thing that's going to save you, it's not a denomination. Hey, we got Baptists. They got Baptists. You know what's most important? We got the truth. We believe the Bible today. We believe the gospel is a free gift of salvation. Now if you believe in repentance of sin gospel, you believe in bondage today, and let me give you another proof text of how that could never be true, because Jesus Christ is not going to give you bondage. He's going to give you freedom. Look at John chapter 8 verse 31. Then said Jesus to those Jews who believed on him, if you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed, and he shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. So here's my second point. You know why the truth is important? Because it gives freedom. Freedom comes from truth. Freedom does not come from lies. Bondage comes from lies, and if we think about this in connection with salvation or the gospel or going to heaven, if I had to get there by works, that's bondage. That's not easy. That's not going to bring freedom. If it's all been bought and paid for and it's just offered to me, freedom, freedom. Now as we dig into this verse, this verse is going beyond just salvation. It's going beyond just where your fate is. It's also determining the freedom you have in this life. The freedom that you're going to have in this life is through God's word, is through the truth today. The more truth you know, the more free you can become from sin itself. Now how do you say, pastor, how do you know it's not of works? Because truth gives freedom. Now let me read the Baptist faith message again. We're not done kicking that dead horse, all right? Two thousand version. This is what they say about justification. Now you go to Romans chapter 5. You go to Romans chapter 5 in your Bible. What is justified? Justified is how God views your status, whether he deems you as righteous or guilty, innocent or guilty, righteous or wicked. He basically looks at you and is going to justify you. How are you justified? And the Bible tells us how we're justified, but let me read their doctrinal statement how they believe you're justified. Justification is God's grace, gracious and full acquittal upon principles of his righteousness of all sinners who repent and believe in Christ. You know, they already told us what repentance is? A genuine turning away from sin. So they say you're justified before God if you genuinely turn away from all your sins. You know what? The Bible has a different message. Look at Romans chapter 5 verse 1. Therefore being justified by faith. Notice he didn't insert a genuine turning away from sin next to that. It was just simple by faith. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. The Bible's crystal clear. We're justified solely on our faith. It's not of works. Now since we're here in Romans chapter 5, look at chapter 6 now. Because our freedom of bondage is not just from works-based salvation. It's also from the sin in your daily lives that's going to drag you down. That's going to cause you all kinds of consequences and affliction and pain in this life even after salvation. You know, some people say, oh, you Baptists give people a license to sin. Well, first of all, you didn't seem like you needed it before I gave you the gospel. And secondly, you know, I'm not going to tell you that you can just live however you want because you can't. There is a punishment. I'm just changing which punishment you get. We're just swapping hell out for earthly punishment, okay? That's what we're swapping out. I would rather have that than, you know, Hugh Hefner or all these other wicked people that split hell wide open. They don't have any punishment on this earth. Their punishment's in hell. So when I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, I'm just swapping punishment options. But that doesn't mean there isn't a punishment to sin. There is. And there's a bondage to sin, and sin will take you to places you don't want to go. And it'll keep you longer than you want to stay. Romans chapter 6, but we have freedom through the truth. It says in verse number 5, for if we've been planning together the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection, knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. So notice the Bible's saying that the truth, God's word, can free you from sin itself. Meaning what? You can recognize, hey, what I'm doing's wrong. What I'm doing is a sin, and that truth can tell you to do something different. If you've never been given the truth, why would you ever stop sinning? What's going to stop someone from doing something wrong? Being told that it's wrong. Being given the truth. Now it says in verse number 8, look at this, now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. Knowing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dieth no more, death hath no more dominion over him. You know, there was a point in time where death had dominion over the Lord Jesus Christ. He was in captivity to death. His soul was in hell. His body was in the tomb. He was in complete dominion. You know what? He was resurrected. He conquered the grave, and now he has the keys of hell and of death, and he's victorious, and because he did that, we can also be victorious over death, and not just that kind of death, but also the consequences of sin. It says in verse 10, for in that he died, he died unto sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body that ye should obey it in the lust thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Now, liberal Christianity loves this phrase, I'm not under the law, but let's explain what that actually means, okay? What does it mean when you're not under the law? It means that you don't receive the punishment that you deserve. Now let me give you an illustration of this. If I drive down the highway, and it says 70 miles per hour, and I'm driving 80, the cop will pull me over and give me a ticket, and let me explain why, because I'm under the law. But you know what? If a cop drives 90 to catch me, he doesn't get a ticket for some reason, because apparently cops are not under the law. They should be, but here's the thing. That's the illustration that God is giving us for our sin. Hey, I don't receive the just recompense of my sins today, and you know what? You don't either. The Bible gives us all kinds, there's so many people that would be put to death if they got what they deserved according to the Bible. There's so many people that receive all kinds of harsh punishments. They got what the law actually prescribes, and in fact, we would all go to hell, because that's what we deserve. That's what we've earned. You know what? I'm not under the law today. I'm under grace. This is like the undercover cop. He gets pulled over, or he's an off-duty cop, right? He gets pulled over, and they're like, oh, you're a cop? Go ahead. Hey, you sinned today, and because of Jesus Christ, oftentimes Jesus Christ says, oh yeah, he's your child. And God the Father's like, okay, I'll give him grace today, and he just lets you off from sin. So here's the question. Should I just drive 100 everywhere? Don't take this too literally, okay? The answer's God forbid. The answer's no. You should still obey God's commandments, even if you don't receive the punishment. Hey, should cops still drive the speed limit? They should. They shouldn't. Just because they're not under the law, just because they're not going to receive the just recompense of their reward, does not mean that they shouldn't follow God's commandments. And just because us in the New Testament, we can get away with all kinds of manner of sin today, does not excuse that behavior. And whenever you try to point out to somebody, hey, you would be violating the law here, they spit in your face, and they're like, well, I got grace, you know. It's like, that's stupid. The Bible says God forbid. We should still use the law to determine if we're sinful, and you know what that law's going to do? It's going to motivate us to get out of sin, because we're not supposed to yield our members to unrighteousness anymore, we're not supposed to be as sinful anymore, and when you stop sinning in your life, it's going to give you freedom. There's freedom in following God's commandments. There's freedom in following the rules. There's freedom in having boundaries today. Look at verse 16. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey? Whether it's sin to death or obedience unto righteousness, God be thanked that ye were the servants of sin, that ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you, being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. So when you believe the truth, you get set free. You become free. I'm now no longer going to ever suffer the condemnation of the law by going to hell. It's never going to happen. But I also can escape other punishments in my life by stopping sinning, by not yielding myself to that sin, by turning from those sins. That's why it's still important. And many people are saved from eternal punishment of sin today don't realize they have the opportunity to be freed from the bondage and affliction of sin now, too. Now I want you to go, if you would, in your Bible to Romans chapter 7, or you're right there. Let me give you a few more verses. The Bible says the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints of moral, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. The truth has power today. It has the power to change men's lives. It has the power to free you from sin. And you know, the only things that have power today are truthful. That's why the only reason memes are funny is because if they're true. You know, if someone puts out a meme out there or a joke out there and it's not true, it's not funny at all. They're like, that was just stupid or rude or mean or something. The only thing that really has power today is truth. Lies don't have power, slander, libel, these type of things. That's why the politicians don't have any power today because they don't speak any truth. Any time they accidentally let it slip every once in a while, everybody gets so excited, it's like, whoa! He actually said something truthful for five seconds. But the only thing that has power today is truth, and truth can slice through the lies. That's why the Bible says, no weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper. Lies aren't going to kill me. Lies aren't going to take me down. Why? Because I have the truth on my side. Now, how will this keep me free from sin? What kind of bondage are you talking about? Well, I didn't want to go far. I just figured, let's just go to the next example the Bible gives us. Let's get practical. Okay? Let's look at verse 1. The Bible clearly states that divorce is always a sin. It is always wrong. And when you have that knowledge, whenever you go into marriage saying, you know what, when I say till death do us part, I mean it. Till death do us part. You know what that's going to do? It's going to free you from the bondages of divorce. And let me warn you about the bondages of divorce this morning. You know what? Divorce lawyers. Anybody that's been divorced, they're going to be, that's going to sting in the ears a little bit. Divorce lawyers. They're already in a wicked industry of splitting people from their spouse. Not only that, divorce court. That's an ugly proceeding. People dread going to these things. And you know what? They give all their money to divorce lawyers. They get ripped off. All the fees, all the fighting of divorce, all the stress of divorce, all the anxiety of divorce, all the depression of divorce, all the self-pity, all the self-woe, the joint custody. And you know what? The worst part about joint custody is it is a continual pain. You know, some of these things happen once, so hopefully if you go through court it's only like a quick proceeding and you kind of can heal after that. But that joint custody just hits you every week. It just hits you every weekend. It just hits you every moment when the kid's crying and saying, I don't want to go and be with Daddy or I want to stay with Mommy or whatever it is, that just pain and that suffering. And you know what? If you've made this mistake or this sin in the past, I'm not telling this to condemn you. I'm trying to help you understand that that's a bondage and it sucks. And God doesn't want anybody to do that. And you should try to teach your children and those that have not made this mistake, please stay married. Please stay with the spouse that you have. And you know what? That truth of saying I should never divorce is going to free me from the bondages and afflictions of divorce today. And you know what? 50% of marriages are ending in divorce today. That tells me a lot of people are suffering and you want a lot of saved people are suffering from that. A lot of saved people are having alimony. Talk about bondage. The government will literally take over your checking account and just rip money out of your account without your permission. They don't ask you. You know, that tells me the government can take all your stuff whenever they want. I don't know if you realize this. They literally will hijack men's checking accounts and just take the alimony straight out. That's how it works. That's called bondage. I don't want people just taking money on my account without asking me, without my permission. All the mixed families and all the different problems that come with it. Look, I'm telling you, the way of transgressors is hard and the Bible is crystal clear. We ought to stay married to our spouses. We ought to love them. And the truth is going to give you that knowledge. But you know who's telling you not to ever divorce? Only this. I mean, you're not going to hear that message in public school, in the university, on the television. The television will tell you, oh, you don't stay in that bad marriage. You find your new spouse. It's great. You go, woman. You know, you go, girl. There's billboards in this Dallas-Fort Worth area I've seen and it says, get a bigger closet. And it has the divorce lawyer's phone number. It says double your closet size. And I'm like, joke's on you. I don't even have half the closet. It's like, increase your closet size by a twelfth, you know. It's like, you can only get like a couple pairs of shoes extra or something, you know. And the divorce lawyer's going to take half the closet. That's what she's saying. Go to Titus chapter 1, Titus chapter 1, you say, well, that's not a pleasant truth. Well, you know what? The truth doesn't have feelings. And I'm supposed to get up and preach the truth is what the Bible says. And you came into a Baptist church this morning. I don't know what you expected to hear. We're going to feed you afterwards to kind of calm you down, all right? And if you've been divorced, I'm not mad at you. I don't like you less. I just want to teach people not to get divorced, not to make that mistake. I've made mistakes. I preach against tons of mistakes that I've made. And I'm not down on people. I just want to help people realize the truth so they can be set free from the bondages that exist out there. And we need to love our spouses and we need to make sure that when we make a vow, we don't break it, especially to God. Titus chapter 1, look at verse number 1. It says, Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledging of the truth, which is after godliness. You know what's going to make you godly? Just acknowledge the truth today. Just accept truth. Just say, you know what? Jesus said that, so I'm going to believe it. Jesus said, what God has joined together, let not man put asunder. He didn't have any caveats. He didn't say, well, I understand it's not a great marriage. You know what? No one's perfect. You're married to a sinner. No one's like, well, I married the absolute perfect person. I mean, you didn't because I already did. So you guys are, you know, you don't have any luck. Sorry. Go to John chapter 15, John chapter 15. Only one person can be married to the best spouse, and I got that. My wife had to settle for something less, you know, because she is the best person, right? The truth is important. Why? Because it affects your fate. It determines your fate. Why is the truth important? Because it gives freedom. And number three, the truth is important because it affects your friendship. It affects your friendship. You know, if you have a friendship built on lies, it's not real. That's called flattery. There's a lot of people that'll flatter you today, and that's not a real friendship. Whenever push comes to shove, they'll abandon you, they'll lie about you, they'll slander on you. You know, friendship has to be built on truth today, and it's not different with the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at John chapter 15 verse 14. You're my friends if you do what somebody commands you. So notice, if you want to be God's friend, if you want to be the friend of the Lord Jesus Christ, there is a condition. You have to follow His rules. You have to be friendly back to Him. You have to do what He said. You have to believe the truth. The truth will make you a friend of God. Hey, Abraham was justified in being called the friend of God in James chapter number two. You know why? Because he followed God's commandments. And let me tell you this. You can be saved and not God's friend. King Saul is as saved as all of us in this room. You know what? The Bible emphatically says he was the enemy of God, the enemy of God, while he was fighting against Him, even though he's saved. James chapter four, go to James chapter number four. Hey, if you break God's commandments, if you're not following God's rules, you know what? God does not consider you a friend. It's not a good friend. Hey, if I come over to your house and I TP your house and I start doing graffiti on the garage door and I start throwing rocks through the windows and I come and steal your TV, you're going to be like, you're a sorry friend. But you look good, you know. How's it going, buddy? I just love you. You got 20 bucks to borrow? Is that really a friend? Is a friend going to hurt you and harm you and stab you in the back and lie? I mean, imagine, hey, I'm your friend, but anytime around other people, I just lie about you and say how much you're an idiot and then I talk slander against you. That's not a friend. Don't say you're my friend when you're willing to talk trash on me to other people. And you know what? The Bible says faith are the wounds of a friend, but a friend's going to tell you the truth and it's going to be open. Open rebuke is better than secret love. Hey, if your friend's messing up, if your friend's screwing up, if your friend's standing in the street corner, say, hey, get out of the street. Oh, you're so mean. Why? You want me out of the street? But you know the protester, I'm not going to tell him that because I'm not his friend. I'll tell him to stand in the street. James chapter 4, look at verse 4, ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God, whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. If you don't want to follow God's commandments, if you want to go and be like the world, God says you're his enemy. And you know what? There are many people that have been enemies of God that have gone to heaven. You don't have to follow any of his commandments to get saved. You don't have to follow any of his commandments to have eternal life. But you know what? If you want freedom and you want friendship, it's through following the truth. That's why we believe it's so important to actually go to church. That's why we believe it's so important to actually read the Bible and know the truth because the truth can help give you the freedom of the world and give you friendship with God. Who do you want to be friends with more than the Lord Jesus Christ? Than God himself. But you know what? You get that through the truth, through reading your Bible. You say, I never read the Bible. It doesn't sound like you're very good friends with God. Go to John chapter number four, John chapter number four. The Bible says the church is the pillar and ground of the truth. Without a good church, you won't even have fellowship with God. If I said, hey, I have a really, really great friend. He's my best friend. When's the last time you saw him? It's been like decades. When's the last time you called him? I don't call him. Is that really your best friend? That's sad. That's your best friend. My best friend's with Jesus. When did you go to church? Last Easter. When do you read the Bible? Well, I have the Bible app. Did you look at it? Well, you know. I got a Bible verse on the wall. Is it King James? Well, it doesn't sound like you have much of a friendship with God. You know, you get a friendship with God. Read your Bible today. Read your Bible tomorrow. Read your Bible the next day. Get the truth in your life. The truth is important. Get a King James Bible and start reading it. My last point is this. Why is the truth important? Because it's the source of our faith. It is the source of our faith. The Bible says, so then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. We get faith through believing the truth. God gives us the truth. We believe it. That's what faith looks like. John chapter 4. Look at verse 19. The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worship in this mountain, and ye say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain nor at Jerusalem worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what? We know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews, but the hour cometh and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father seeketh such to worship Him, God is the Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. If you want to worship God, it has to be according to truth today. Your faith in lies is not pleasing to God. Your faith must be in truth today. And notice this woman they're fighting over, where's the right place to go worship? Is it the Methodist church or the Catholic church? And he's like, you don't know what you worship. It's not a fair comparison because Jerusalem is the right place at this time. But he's saying it's about to not matter. It's not going to be about a location. It's not going to be you have to be in this city. It's you know in Bethel or it's not going to be in Jerusalem anymore. But if you want to worship the Father, you have to do it in spirit and truth. What's spirit? Desire. God doesn't want robots. It's not Calvinism, my friend. God's not forcing you to worship Him this morning. No, He wants people to worship Him out of a true, sincere desire in their heart, actually appreciate Him out of love. That's why there's so many people that have God in their heart, but they don't serve Him. Because God wants to isolate those that really don't care from the ones that do. It's not the people in church that are saved this morning. There is millions and millions of people that are saved and they don't go to church. They don't read the Bible. And you know what? They're not exercising their faith in truth today. And if we want to worship God, I don't want to spend time worshiping something that's not real. I don't want to waste time worshiping God fake, in a fake way or according to lies. If you want to truly worship Him, you have to have the truth. That's why the truth matters so much. Go over to Exodus 20 for a second. The Bible says this, Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. You want to look like an idiot? Teach false doctrine. There's nothing worse than getting up and preaching lies. There's nothing worse than getting up and preaching false doctrine today. And that's why the Bible makes it clear you have to study the Bible, realize what the truth is, and then preach that truth. Getting up and teaching people they have to repent of their sins. You look like a moron. You're a fool today. And you know what? People that put faith in that, they're not even worshiping the right God. There's people that sing songs with false doctrine in it. That's not pleasing to God. There's people that go to a bad church where they don't even have the right Bible. That's not worshiping God. Hey, if I get up and read the message, that's not worshiping God. You have to have your faith in truth today. Otherwise it's not real worship. The Bible said there was true worshipers. You know what that tells me? There's false worshipers. There's fake worshipers. You want to know about some fake worshipers that don't even know what the heck they're worshiping? The Catholic church. You go to a Catholic church today, you know what's going to be in there? Idols. It's full of idols today. Look what it says in Exodus 20, verse 3. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Verse 4. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve them, for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children under the third and fourth generation of them that hate me. You know what? We see the children of Israel constantly having all these religious services and all these ceremonies and they have all these idols. You know what it makes me think of? The Catholic church. The Roman Catholic church is full of idols today. The Bible is crystal clear. No idol of anything in heaven. Well, it's God that I have an idol of. Well, it said no. It said, well, it's a dog. Well, it said no. Okay. It's a bird. It's a dove, Pastor Shelley. I've got the dove on my car. It's wrong. Well, it's the fish. When did the Bible ever say that God's a fish? That's Dagon. That's the false god Dagon. That's the fish god. Okay. Go if you would to Deuteronomy chapter 4. The Bible says in Acts chapter 17, for as much as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold or silver or stone, graven by art and man's device. How can we look at the creation of the world today and think that the God of the universe is a rock, is a stone? I mean the Bible mocks these people who would literally chop down a tree and then they would use half of it of fire to warm themselves and the other half they would grave a god and worship it and say, thou art my Father. This is the evolutionist today. He literally will make a fire and then warm his hands and think, oh, I came from the tree. I came from a monkey. I came from a rock. I rained on rocks and turned into a person. What are you talking about? It's like grandpa. The Catholics, they literally, you go to their homes. They have a shrine. They have a shrine to a false image, to a false god. They don't even know what the heck they're doing. It says in Deuteronomy chapter 4, let me give you even more clear verses, verse 16, lest you corrupt yourselves and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure. Oh, but it's precious moments, but it's these little angels, these little babies. That's weird. Are you like a pedophile or what? Why is it cool to have naked babies on your wall? Like all these pictures of naked babies. This is like called art today and like all these women love is like, but it's in a picture of flowers and it's a picture. It's like, I don't want pictures of naked babies on my wall. Michelangelo, I mean, it's just a bunch of fat babies with wings just decorating their entire sanctuary. I'd rather just take some wood, okay? I'll take the wood and I'll just stain it, all right, but I didn't grave it into a figure. I didn't grave it into a bird or a naked baby or whatever sick perverted things are coming out of the Catholic church. I wonder why their church is full of pedophiles when the walls are covered with naked babies on it. Do you think that's a coincidence? They're just sitting there looking at that filth. It says, lest you corrupt yourself. Notice the image corrupts you by making the graven images and all the pictures and all the filth today. Hey, the Bible says to put the word of God on your wall, on your doorstep because whatever you look at and whatever you see is going to affect you today and you know what? The truth matters. Quit showing me pictures of filth. Hey, if you show me pictures of filth, I'll unfriend you. I'll unfollow you. I don't want to see it. I'm not interested in looking at that and you know what? The disgusting predators today, all they want to do is just show you filth. Show you smut. There was this documentary made by the LA police department and they were warning against sodomites, against pedophiles, against faggots and they said these faggots, they prey on children. You know what they do? They just try to show them pornography. That's how they get them started. They just show them a dirty image. They show them something filthy and that just leads to a dark road. Now let's keep reading this verse because I want to get more clear. It says the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female. Sorry, your Mary statue is a false god. It says the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that is flyeth in the air, the likeness of anything that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth, and lest thou lift up thine eyes into heaven and when thou seest the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the hosts of heaven shouldest be driven to worship them and serve them, which Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven. Go to 1 Corinthians, chapter number 10, I'm almost finished this morning. Let me tell you this, there's so many people, they don't even know what they worship today and you say, well, it's harmless, it's just a little statue, a little cutesy ornament that I have. Say, oh, I don't have those, I just have dogs. Well, I feel like people that have dogs have an unhealthy worship of dogs because it's also their family. It's also on the airplane with them. I wonder why in the airplane you can have a dog, is it because there's all these dog graven images everywhere and people start worshiping animals and beasts? You know, the Bible has no positive mention of dog, sorry to offend you with the truth this morning, okay? If you have a dog, I'm not mad at you, okay? I'm just going to tell you the truth though, it's not man's best friend. Your best friend should be Jesus, but you have to follow his commandments if you want to get that. I'm going to tell you what these idols are like actually. It tells us in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, look at verse 19, what say I then that the idol is anything or that which is offered in sacrifices to idols is anything? So the Bible is saying, look, from a physical perspective, we realize it's just a rock, it's just a stone, it's just ceramic, it's just metal or gold or silver or aluminum. There's nothing special about it from a physical sense, but the Bible says there's a spiritual connection to graven images. Look at verse 20, when I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils and not to God. And I would not that you should have fellowship with devils. The Catholic church is worshiping devils this morning. They don't even know what they're worshiping. Just like the lady in Samaria, Jesus Christ is looking at her, he's like, you don't even know what the heck you're worshiping. You're worshiping devils and you think you're worshiping the real God. So many people today have a fake religion, they have a false religion. Why? Because they have not elevated the one thing that matters, the truth. Go to Matthew chapter 5, last place I'll be turning, Matthew chapter number 5. A billion people on Sunday don't even know what they're worshiping, they're called Catholics. It's sad. That's why we need to go out and preach them the gospel, that's why we need to warn them of the lies that are out there. And you know, the truth is so much more powerful than the lie today. We need to show them the word of God. Even if it's offensive, even if it doesn't change everybody's mind, at least it could change somebody. Now, like I said, the worst thing you can do is preach a lie and people will put their faith in lies all the time. That's why it's so important when you get behind God's sacred desk that you're not getting up here and preaching lies. This should be the only place, this is the only place you can hear truth. Where else are you going to go and hear truth, the bar? At the football game? At the political rally? I don't care which side. You're not going to hear truth, the public education system, the university, you're not going to hear truth from these people. You're going to hear agendas, you're going to hear lies, you're going to hear slander, deceit. This should be the one place you can come to and feel safe, like, wow, I can just relax and let truth come into my heart. But people that get so hardened from all the lies, they don't want to listen to anything. Look, we need to soften our hearts with the word of God and accept it. And we need to be faithful as God's preachers when we go out to preach the truth today. And there's a warning to those that would not. You're an idiot. You're a fool if you preach lies. Look what it says in Matthew 5 verse 19, whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments and shall teach men so. He shall be called the least and the kingdom of heaven. But whosoever shall do and teach them the same shall be called great and the kingdom of heaven. Why is the truth so important? Well, you know what? It's the source of our faith. And the Bible says if I get up and I teach falsely just the least commandment, I can be the least in the kingdom of heaven. There is a lot, a lot of pastors in this world who will be the least in the kingdom of heaven. Do not think, well, you know, I want to be a pastor so I can get a big mansion in heaven. You know, most of them, in my estimation, will be the least. And, you know, that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination on the side of God. You know what? God loves someone that is not teaching lies and just goes to church infinitely more than a saved pastor teaching lies behind God's word, behind God's pulpit. There's a strong warning to those that preach lies. And you know what? Even if you're not a pastor, you get an opportunity to come up here and preach, you better make sure it's the truth because the truth is the one thing that matters. And hey, nobody's perfect. We can all make mistakes, but we should all be willing to change our mind and accept the truth. The acknowledging of the truth is what godliness is. You say, hey, you want to be godly? Accept truth today. And let me tell you this, I didn't pick anything in the Bible today that's even questionable if it's true or not. Everything that I taught. So if you feel like, well, I don't like that point, well, you need to accept the truth. You say, well, you know, I think dogs are the greatest. Well, you know what? The Bible doesn't have a positive mention. I'll show you. Come after the service and I'll talk to you about it, all right? Let's close in prayer. Thank you, Father, so much for your word. Thank you for giving us the truth and giving us the opportunity to determine our fate to be in heaven. Thank you for giving us the freedom from sin. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to be a friend of Jesus Christ. And thank you for giving us the source of our faith, the truth, that we don't have our faith in lies, that we actually know what we worship today, that we can worship you in spirit, and not just in spirit, but also in truth, and pray that you would bless the meal that we're going to consume and the fellowship that we're going to have. And I pray that this church will continue to be a light for the truth today, that you would use us greatly to be a pillar and ground to the truth, and that we could use that truth to change men's lives. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.