In reflection, Deuteronomy, the fourth chapter. You know, those of you that are early in your studying the Bible, younger folks, I'd like to emphasize to you that as you read in the Old Testament, be looking for the Lord Jesus. because he's there everywhere. And you remember, maybe you don't know, but when the Lord had risen from the grave and encountered those brethren that lived in a town called Emmaus and they were traveling home and they were very confused about all these strange circumstances of Jesus being crucified and then talk of his being risen from the dead and they just didn't know what to make of it all, and he joined alongside of them. And the Bible says that Jesus began with Moses and the prophets and the Psalms and showed them in all of those books of the Old Testament the things concerning himself. And that's a reminder that He is there, and it will help your studies, and you'll get more out of your reading of the Old Testament if you make yourself look for him. Try to see him, and he is there. You might not see him everywhere. It takes a while, you know, a familiarity with the scriptures over many years of study, but you'll see him more and more. And we'll see that today. as well in Deuteronomy chapter four. I don't know how far we'll get through this, but I'd like to start out by reading maybe the first 24 verses, and I'll only deal probably with the first few. But I'm reminded of what Paul said, really God said through Paul in Romans chapter 15 in verse four, You remember maybe that he said, whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning. And so whenever those things written aforetime in that day when Romans was written was all the Old Testament. Had nothing to do with the New Testament. The Old Testament, all of that Old Testament written for our learning, New Testament Christians, followers of Jesus. And so, good to keep that in mind, too. You know, a lot of people, a lot of churches don't spend much time in the Old Testament. That's a big mistake. They're all about Him, and they link the whole redemption story. Very important, the Old Testament, of course. And so, whatsoever things are written aforetime, written for our learning, that, there's that purpose word again, that we, through the patience and comfort of the scriptures, might have hope. And that word patience means cheerful endurance, among other things. But it also refers to the endurance of the scriptures themselves, the truth of the scriptures being enduring. So these things that we'll be looking at in the Old Testament are for our learning, and so let us learn some things from them. This is the time in Israel's history when they're fixing to enter into the promised land. But it's a new generation, except for two men. Of all those that came out of Egypt because of their unbelief, because of their murmuring, because of their disobedience, God said you'll never, never see the promised land. And you know, the sad thing, brothers and sisters, is that for us, a lot of us have been walking the walk a long time, but there's a lot of the promised land in the New Testament sense. Peter said that God has given us great and precious promises. whereby we might partake of the divine nature. And there's a whole bunch of them. But a lot of children of God can go through a whole lifetime as Christians and never experience much of the promised land, the land of the promises of God. And so we want to make an application. God called the land that he was calling Israel out to, and to lay hold of it, a land of promise, flowing with milk and honey. What a beautiful picture. And when the spies went in, you remember, they brought back, can you imagine one bunch of grapes? They had to carry it, two men, on a pole. That's unbelievable. But it's a picture, isn't it, of the promises of God and what is possible in the land of promise. It's a land flowing. But God told His people, I want you to go in and possess it. I've given it to you. So again, let's make application. He's given us the land of the great and precious promises of God. But like we've quoted many a time from the pulpit in Hebrews chapter four, the things that were preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith. And so all of that is a picture. Those things are written for our learning, that we don't make the same mistake. Now we've got a few younger people in here, Luke and Liam and Ethan and Adia and the preacher. All young people. Yeah. I was sitting at the table with the widows, and I think it was Barbara made some statement about all of us old people. I said, wait a minute. Be careful with that, how you throw that around. But here we have, among other things, a new generation is going into the promised land. God said because of your disobedience and your faithlessness and your murmurings and your disobedience and all of the things that went on in 40 years. Some say they could have made that journey in 11 days. That might be stretching it, especially with that many people, but no more than a month. and they were there for 40 years. And I don't know if I've ever read it, I don't remember, but I was brought to my attention in studying this up that they circled Mount Seir over and over and over again. They were going in circles. So do we. In the things of God, we just kind of find ourselves just going in circles, not making any progress, just going around the same mountain. until they all died, God said, you're not going in. Well, we don't want to die and not have really enjoyed the great and precious promises of God in the land of promise as Christians. And so you young people, I speak to you particularly because you're living in a world that's very different than the world that some of us middle-aged people came up in. And certainly a different world than the older generation that's among us have come up in. It's a different world, and it's a world much more hostile to the Bible, much more hostile to the Christian faith, much more hostile to God, much more hostile to the Lord Jesus Christ, and a lot more willing to compromise with the world and with the culture than ever before. And so, your job to remain faithful and to experience The promised land of the great and precious promises of God's Word is a lot more challenging. And so it's very important for you to learn from our mistakes and not repeat them. You've got time on your side if the Lord delays His coming. and make good of those great and precious promises of God's promised land. And so we learn some things from this text. So let me read a little bit of it. I don't think I'll read the first 24 verses. I think I might, I don't know how far I'm able to read. Let's see, six. Well, let's read all 24. So follow along in your Bibles, that's a good thing to do. Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments which I teach you, for to do them that you may live and go in and possess the land, the land of promise, which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you. Ye shall not add unto the word, I mentioned this verse this morning briefly. Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baal Peor. For all men that followed Baal Peor the Lord thy God hath destroyed them from among you. But ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God are alive every one of you this day. Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me. that you should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations which shall hear all these statutes and say surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. Now, I think I'm going to draw a line right there because I think we have enough to talk about this afternoon. One of the things I couldn't help but think about as I was reading this text yesterday was about our own country. You know, America is very much, has been very much patterned the nation of ancient Israel for the same reason. But we haven't learned the lessons that were written aforetime, and I'm speaking nationally now. And I want you to think if you can remember some of the things that we talked about in 1 Corinthians in the first three chapters, about why that church was in such a mess. And you remember maybe that it was a struggle between the wisdom of men and the wisdom of God. And they were interpreting the commands of Jesus according to the wisdom of men. And in doing that, they were diluting them, changing what God intended them to mean for them. And then the additional problem was They were in the flesh instead of in the spirit. And a lot of Christians today are mostly flesh and very little spirit instead of vice versa. And when it's the flesh that's in the ascendancy, we're gonna make a mess and do and have. And so we can apply that, those things, those principles, and what we read here in these verses, we can apply it Personally, as Christians, this advice, whether we're young Christians or old Christians, for us older Christians, it's a reminder. And we'll point that out as we go through verse by verse these verses in a minute. We can apply it as a church body. We're offered the land of promise. God has given us those promises, but we have to possess them by faith and obedience. And we often fail to do that. And it's a hurt to the church. And it was in Corinth, and it is in Grace Baptist Church. It has been over the years, on many occasions, just like any other church, challenged, challenges by the enemy. And we can also apply these things to the whole nation. And we can understand where we are and why and how to get back. And I'll tell you one thing, all of this, and I don't want to make too political a statement here, but the only way America, if it will ever be great again, and I have my doubts, but if it will, by God's grace, ever be great again, the only way it's gonna be great is not by who's in the White House. It's by what Moses told the people of God right here. That's what makes, that's what has made America great in the past. And it's why we've lost the greatness of what America was. And it's the only way, if there is a way, that we'll ever regain it. And so, as some would maybe say it, make no mistake about it. And that's the value of this book. And so, those of you that are older, that have grandchildren, you can tell them this. Because, you know, if the Lord doesn't come back, they'll be here. Our young people, you're going to be here. And you see as the generations come of age, one by one, X, Y, and Z, all the generations, the change in leadership to the point now where it's a cartoon show that isn't very funny up in the White House. But that's because it's who we are. And who we are is a people that hasn't learned the lessons of Deuteronomy chapter 4 about entering into the promised land and enjoying the sweet and precious blessings of God upon what He has given us. And that same thing is true here. All the things that we enjoyed coming up in this world of freedom and democracy and prosperity is being stripped away. And it's being stripped away because we haven't learned the lessons. And so I say to you, remember the lessons and live by the lessons. It's the only hope for America. It's the only hope for you in this life that's being consumed by unbelief and ungodliness. It's gonna be hard for you to stand, that put on the whole armor of God to stand. And as a church, if this church is to survive until Jesus comes, it's only going to be through heeding the advice of Moses, who is simply a picture of the greater Moses, Jesus Christ. And it's important to understand that. So when we listen, when we hear Moses say, Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments which I teach you." He was teaching them what God wanted Him to teach them, right? Let us think Jesus. Hear the voice of Jesus. Hear, O Church! Hear, O Christian! Hearken, O Grace Baptist Church! Hearken, America! Hearken, individual Christian, unto the statutes and unto the judgments which I, Jesus Christ, teach you. And hearken doesn't mean just hear them, does it? It means hear and obey. Hear and do. And so, let's read No, we read the text already, so let's begin. Let's pray and then get started. Our Father, we thank you for this blessed Lord's Day. We thank you for the rich blessings that you've already provided for us, the sweet fellowship. Thank you for your word. Thank you for giving us a message this morning, your message for your people in their time of need. We thank you for that, Father. What a great encouragement. We're thankful for the sweet fellowship around the table and all that we enjoy. We pray for those that are struggling and suffering right now among our number. There are many. We thank you for the encouragement you've given to them and to us through the message this morning. Now we come to an Old Testament passage, Father. that you brought our attention to just yesterday, and we thank you for that. Help us to preach from it. To your glory, to the exaltation of Christ our Savior, to the betterment of our country, to the betterment of our lives, and to the betterment of the Lord's precious bride, His church. May she be made better as we Attend to these things that were written aforetime for our learning that we, through the patience and comfort of the scriptures, might have hope. These are hopeless times, dear Lord, thou dost know. We thank you for the hope of the scriptures. We thank you for the blessed hope, which is Jesus Christ. Help us to preach today, dear Lord, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Verse one, hearken, O Israel. We've already spent just a few minutes there. Hearken, O Israel. We've emphasized to you the meaning of that word yet again. It's one thing to hear, it's another to hearken. Hearken literally means to hear with the intent to obey what you hear. That's the important word. Hearken, O Israel. We might insert your name. Adia, you might read that and say, hearken, O Adia. Brother Warren would do the same. It would be profitable to do that. Hearken, oh, Warren. Hearken, oh, Jim Burnham, the preacher at Grace Baptist Church. Hearken to these things. We might put, hearken, Grace Baptist Church, and do no violence at all. Hearken, church. Hearken, America. Oh, I would to God that this message would be preached to the nation, our nation, in such a desperate time as this. And I'll tell you this, as I think about the nation again, I've been reading a lot in the scriptures and applying to our nation, but also in the news. And, you know, I was reminded just yesterday evening that someone was answering the question, why all of this alluring, allurement to the extreme right of the political spectrum in our country, to dictators like Mr. Putin. Why are they enamored with him? Because that's what they want. And I was reminded also of what our first president said. about this great experiment in liberal democracy. He said, you cannot, I'm gonna paraphrase, you cannot give this much freedom unless the society that you give it to is a moral society that believes in God and is governed by his precepts. Otherwise, you will have chaos. You think he had something going on? He's got a lot more going on than most of the politicians today. And it's so sad what we've lost over our 200-year history. We don't have statesmen like that anymore. We don't have God-fearing men in the White House anymore who bow before the authority of God's word. And it's been our tragic loss and we're seeing it. And so, if you put those two things together, what Washington said and this growing group of politicians that are enamored by men like Mr. Putin and would desire that kind of iron-fisted rule, over our country as opposed to freedom. You can see the clear and present danger of where we very well may be headed as a country. The days of democratic freedom for America may be numbered. And this text speaks to that. Because our nation was founded with the principle one nation under God. And now increasingly the nation is refusing to be under God to our peril. And so it's an important message even though it's 4,000 years old. We remember that the Word of God is forever settled in heaven. And timeless truths are timeless, especially the Word of God. Most importantly, the Word of God. So, again, verse 1, hearken, O Israel, hearken, Jim Burnham, hearken, Warren Skaggs, hearken, Grace Baptist Church, hearken, America, unto the statutes which I teach. And as I've said already, we can plug Jesus in there because Moses is simply a type or a shadow or a forfiguring of the greater leader that would carry his people into the land of promise. the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, Moses was telling the people what God would have them be told. Jesus is telling us what the Father would have us to know in order to order our lives. And so, hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes which I teach you Moses the intercessor was a type of Christ and I'm teaching you them and Jesus is teaching us them and has taught us them for one purpose and one purpose only, for to do them. Not to hear them, not to know them, not to be able to quote them, but to do them. I was talking to a person recently, been struggling with a lot of things like a lot of God's people. And they said to me, you know, I've gotten a lot of advice from a lot of different people. But I finally decided that the only person I'm going to listen to is Jesus Christ. I said, Hallelujah! I mean, that's music to a preacher's ears. That's what we want to hear from our people. But be careful what you mean by that. Because a lot of people will take that and say, well, God told me. God told me to go to Kansas. God told me. I remember a man, a good man, when he was approaching Y2K, you know, he thought the Lord was coming back. He was wrong. The Lord told him. The Lord didn't tell him anything. I told this person that was saying to me, they finally decided they're just gonna listen to Jesus. I said, that's a great, that's what we all should do. And that's what Moses is telling us to do. But be careful what you mean by that, because the, I said, how are you gonna know he told you? I said, the only way you can verify that Jesus has said that to you is you've got to find it in the Bible. If it ain't in there, he didn't tell you. You can't substantiate it by what's in the scripture. But it's a great thing. That's what we all should do. And that's what Moses is saying right here. Hearken. This is a time for you to hearken. Like never before. Especially you young people, it's a time to pay attention to what Jesus has commanded us. Whatsoever Mary remember in John chapter 2, whatsoever he saith do, that do. Best marriage advice in all the world. It's often not followed, but it's the best advice. And that's what brings miracles. And that's what this country needs is a miracle. And the only way that miracle is going to come is if all of his people do what Moses is telling us. Hearken, O Israel. Hearken, O Grace Baptist Church. Hearken, America, unto the statutes which I teach you. Hear Jesus saying that I teach you, and I teach you these for you to do them, that ye may live. And I hear the words of Jesus in John chapter 10, 10. I tell them these things that they may have life and that more abundantly. Oh, America has had such abundant life in every measurement, including spiritually. Some great revivals have taken place in America over the years. Wonderful, powerful working of the Holy Spirit through churches, but we're seeing less and less of that, not more and more. It's a time to hearken. It's a time to hearken. Churches are closing their doors. More and more, when the polls are taken about church affiliation, more and more people, every time a poll is taken, are checking the none box. None. No religious affiliation. No church affiliation. That's not what Jesus taught. Hear, O Israel, hear, O Grace Baptist Church, hear, individual Christian, the statutes which I, Jesus Christ, teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and that abundantly, as Jesus promised in John chapter 10, verse 10, go in and possess the land. which the Lord God giveth you. God's given us the promises. What does the Bible say about all the promises of God that are in Jesus Christ? There may be. They're all yea and all amen in Jesus Christ. You can count on them. You can take them to the bank. They are good. All we have to do is possess them by faith and action. You say, well, we know this already. Israel knew it too, and they quickly forgot it. And most all of them but two men died and never saw the promised land. And a lot of Christians, including us, are not enjoying the fatness of the land of promise like God has given us. Because we have not hearkened. Whatsoever he says do, that do. Doesn't matter whether you can see it or not, whether you believe it or not, whether you want it or not. I told the person I was talking to, I tell this to everybody, I said, it's just like Brother Pierce's advice. You try to know the will of God, you decide what you want to do, do the opposite, and you'll be pretty darn close. I've never found a better one yet to that. And that's what Mary basically, when Mary said, Whatever he says, do. Well, the governor's wanting wine, and Jesus said, fill these pots up with water. Didn't we read about us being clay vessels this morning? Those were clay vessels. They wanted wine. That represents joy. Well, you ain't gonna get the wine unless you fill it up with water. In the Bible, the water of the Word. We need to fill our pots with the water of the Word. How did they fill them up? Half full to the brim. Couldn't get another drop in there. We gotta be that full of the Word. And then the Lord will turn that water of the Word into the best wine. not just Boone's Farm, the best wine, the good stuff. This is a message for our time. You think about with me. There were 600,000 men came out of Egypt. Seventy souls went down there. Some estimate two million people came out of Egypt. All those adults, except for Caleb and Joshua, were not allowed to go into the Promised Land. They lost the privilege. Even Moses lost the privilege. And that's noteworthy, too. You know, Moses was a man of God. So, he has no exemptions. You know, people in high places expect to get some exemptions. God is no respecter of persons. It doesn't matter if you're Moses or not. He did not possess the promised land. He got to see it. And I think that might have been more like salt in the wound. Buddy quickly reminded me that, yeah, but God buried him. Yes, he did. That was a unique situation. And that shows us a contrast, you know. It doesn't matter how special you are in God's purpose. You got to play by the rules. Harken, O Israel, to the WORDS that I have GIVEN you! Harken to the words of Jesus!" These are the ONLY important words! AD, you're going to college now? Others of you are all going to school, you young ones? We were in there once. Brother Pierce said, you know, I went to school twice. once in my sister's place when she was sick, and once on Valentine's Day or Easter to get some candy. That was the extent of his formal education. He was pretty well self-taught, but anyway, the point is, all that education will do you some good, can do you some good. If you're not careful, it'll do you a lot of harm, because more and more the education is being taught is worldly wisdom, which goes absolutely contrary to God's wisdom. That's why the Bible says in 1 Corinthians where we were, you know, the Bible says, Paul is the one speaking in 1 Corinthians 3, he says it several times in different ways, but he says, be fools for Christ's sake. Make the foolish decision. What does that tell you? That tells you the wisdom of this world is absolutely 180 degrees opposite of God's wisdom. And if you're going to do what Jesus has commanded, the world and your friends in the world and your teachers in the academics of the world are all going to think you are crazy. You're a fool to turn this down or to not pursue this. Be fools for Christ's sake. The most important thing is to pay attention, to hearken to what Jesus has told you. Whatever comes of that, success or failure in the world's standards, You are far better off, I am far better off, the church is far better off to do exactly what he tells us to do. Now all of us have heard a lot of what he said, but not all of us, in fact, all of us have not done all that he's told us to do. And to the degree that we've not, we've not laid hold of the promised land. We've forfeited. our stake in some of the precious promised land. Verse 2, what I quoted this morning, you shall not add to the word, neither shall you diminish out from it. That's what they were doing in Corinth. That's what we often do. That's what the megachurches are often doing, the prosperity gospel. They've added to, they've taken away in order to kind of customize this to fit what the world really wants. They want more stuff, they want more success, they want more glory. And so they're promised that in lieu of the promises of God. But you've got to add to, you've got to take away from. And Moses and Jesus said, don't do that. Whatsoever He sayeth do, do exactly that. But then He gets down to verse 3. And Moses reminds the people of God. Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baal Peor. For all the men that followed Baal Peor, the Lord thy God hath destroyed them from among you. Now, I'm not going to go and open all that up for you, but I'll just cite you back to Numbers 21. in that area where Balaam was contracted to curse the people of God and God wouldn't let him do it. Couldn't do it. Nobody can curse God's people. God will not allow it. But God's people can curse themselves. And that's what happened. Over the process of time, they began to mix and mingle with the unbelievers. And one of them took a wife of, well, didn't take a wife, he took a Midianitish woman. Moses reminds them, he said, your eyes have seen what the Lord did. Now we haven't seen it with our eyes, but we can see it with the eyes of faith. We can read back there, you can go back in Numbers 25 in that area, and you'll read there that God killed 24,000 of His people, Israelites, with a plague because of what they had done. Now that's important because we live in an age of Christianity where what's talked about is God is love. And He is. But in this text, if we were to get there, close to the end of it, we will read that our God is also a consuming fire. And whatever God was, He still is. And that very phrase is found in the New Testament. And Moses said to them, you can see, you saw with your own eyes what God did when you didn't listen to Him. And we can see it reading on the pages of Holy Writ. We can see it reading the history of Israel. We can see it right now reading the newspaper. We can see it in the churches what's happening. We can see it in individual lives of Christians who are more and more compromising with the world and the culture. God is not pleased with that. Never has been. He's called us out to be a peculiar people, His own people. That's a high privilege. It's an exalted standing that we have in Christ. But He calls us to be a separated people A holy people sanctified, a holy people simply means set apart by God for His purpose. And our purpose is not to mix and mingle with the world and its ways. And God is a consuming fire. He's a God of love. He's a God of grace. He's a God of forgiveness. He's a God of mercy. But He's also a consuming fire. And that hadn't changed. Now, he never turned his back on Israel. They're still his people. And he will bring in a remnant to enjoy the kingdom and share with us, the church, Christians. But he's still a consuming fire. And what's going on right now over there is a consuming fire. What's going on in America? Is God consuming fire? We're seeing it. We're seeing what God is doing because of what we have done. And Christians have a part in that because we have failed to be as separated in the world as God would have us be. And with each generation, there's more compromise, a little more compromise, a little more compromise, until we've gotten so far away from him. You know, I've said sometimes, I've said, quoted the first few books of Revelation, the first three chapters, where we find Jesus walking in the midst of the golden candlesticks representing the seven churches of Asia. And he keeps saying, I know thy works. He's still walking in the midst of the candlesticks and he still knows our works. And he threatens some of those churches to take the candlestick away. That means it's no longer a church of the Lord Jesus. Forfeiture. Our God is a consuming fire. We can see it today in our own country as the foundation is being destroyed in our own nation and other nations that were once strong Christian nations. You know, the whole Protestant revival started in Europe. There was a time when those nations were strong for the Lord. Not today. Most of them are wholly given over to Antichrist. And we're well on our way, if not already there as a nation. We can see it as the foundations are being destroyed in our own nation and other nations that were once a strong Christian nation. And so 5 and 6, we'll wrap it up here. BEHOLD! That's an important word in the Bible. God says, I want you to SEE this, I want you to HEAR this, I want you to THINK about this, BEHOLD this, LOOK at this! Behold, behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us. That's something worth looking at. Behold what He has done for us. What kind of love can take this rank and defiled sinner and make me a child of a living God? Welcome at His table for all eternity. Behold what manner of love. This is something to look at. And here's the same word. Behold, Moses said. Think about Jesus. Behold, Jesus has said, I have taught you statutes and I have taught you judgments even as the Lord my God commanded me that you should do so in the land whither you go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of nations. What made America great? Godly wisdom. manifesting itself as a nation, the overarching influence of one nation under God. That didn't mean that everybody was saved in that nation. It just means that the principles of godly wisdom, because Bible was being taught in the schools, because churches were being attended by families, whole families, Families prayed together around the table. There was a male and a female in the household to give both examples of nurturing and command. Things were in order. They were in God's order. And the manifestation was a great nation, unlike any other nation in the world. And the whole world has looked to us for nearly our entire history for guidance and instruction on how to do this democracy thing, and also for help, which we are always willing and able to provide. All of that is a reflection of godly wisdom. And the nations looked on and had to acknowledge just what Moses said, just what Jesus, hear Jesus saying. Verse six, keep therefore and do them for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes and say, surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. What are they saying today? That nation is a nation of fools. And you know what? They're right. Which the Bible also predicts. Romans chapter 1. How many times have you heard me quote it in the last year or two? Thinking themselves to be wise, they have become fools. We've thrown our wisdom out the window. And so, young people, what is the hope for you? What is the hope for our nation? If there be a hope for our nation, it is in exactly these first six verses, God to Moses to God's people. There's a great promise, and I'll wind up here just to remind you of it, I think. I have the presence of mind of finding it. I'll see if I can. No, no, no. Why can't I remember it? My memory's failing me here. I won't stay at this too long. Yeah, I found it. Here we have another wise man talking to the people of God some years later. This is Solomon. Verse 12 of 2 Chronicles chapter 7. And the Lord appeared to Solomon by night and said unto him, I've heard thy prayer and have chosen this place to myself for a house of sacrifice. Talking about the temple that had just been raised. If I shut up heaven, verse 13, that there be no rain or if I command the locusts to devour the land or if I send pestilence among my people, if my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways." Quit compromising with the world. Quit ignoring my commands to you. I loved you and I gave myself for you. Listen to what I'm saying. Hearken unto me, Christian. Hearken unto me, Church. Harken unto me, America, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now many would say that was a promise made to Israel, and it was. But these things, too, were written for our learning. And there are still a lot of Christians in America. And God provided America, first and foremost, for Christians. that they might have a place to come and serve him according to the scriptures. Not by government edict, but according to what saith the Lord. And yeah, a lot of heathen came, and a lot of unbelievers came, and a lot of, you know, wickedness has always been part of our country, more now, however, than ever before. But this was one nation under God. Was. But this is a promise I think that we should pay attention to. And so, this is a new generation in Deuteronomy chapter four, fixing to cross in. God has given it to them. God has given these promises to you, young people. But you have to possess them. You have to lay hold of them. And don't be like the generation that got left behind, that missed out. on some of the most precious blessings that God has promised us. We have to lay hold of them. And so we're about to turn over the nation to your hands. What are you going to do with it? Repeat the same mistakes? Or take them further away from the God of all grace? Or are you going to learn from history and listen to what Moses said as they were preparing to enter into the promised land. May the Lord bless His word to all of our hearts, but especially our young people, to hear the word of the Lord. May the Lord help us. May the Lord help our nation. The only way America, if it ever will be great again, the only way it will be is by listening to the advice of the man of God. That's the only salvation for America. Maybe too late. I don't know. That's God's call, of course. But let us hear the words of the Lord. Let's stand and sing.