Back in 1 Timothy, and I'll help us here in a couple minutes, we'll back up a verse or two here to set the context. I've entitled this sermon, The Reality of Apostasy. The reality of apostasy. Now, this is what the context is about here in this text. Most Christians have seen it. It's sad, two people get saved at the same time. Maybe they even have the same background. Maybe they even heard the same gospel, came to the Lord the same. But in the end, for no reason that we could see, because they had the same experiences, one turns from the Lord and the other is pursuing Christ in their life. Sometimes this makes us wonder how can two people with the same background, go to the same church. One turns out to be a faithful child of God, and the other turns out running from the Lord. One thing that we need to remember, and not that we don't know this, but as a reminder as we approach this, one thing we need to remember is that profession is not possession. In conversion, is something that is only in God's hands. This is the context today of our passage. The text is reminding us, and this isn't the first time, we saw this in Jude as well, we saw it in Peter, and we have it here in 1 Timothy, the text is reminding us about the reality of apostasy, and we'll define what that is as we walk through here. Read with me first, though, in 1 Timothy 4, verses 1 through 5, which is the passages that we will be covering today. But the Spirit explicitly says that in latter times, some will fall away from the faith paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron. Men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude. For it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer." Let us pray. Father, we thank you for your grace and your mercy. Would you grant us wisdom? Would you help us as we interact with the text here that the gospel, that Christ would come alive to us, that, Lord, we would grow from the milk and the meat that is in your word. And we pray for that here. We pray for anyone who doesn't know you, Lord, that today you would grant them repentance, faith, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Apostasy is the removing, what the word actually means, it is the removing of oneself from core doctrinal teachings to another place. So it's like removing myself from here or from a hobby or something that I was attached to or very involved with and then it removed myself and I go to a different place. Let's remind ourselves of the context here, because there's 1 Timothy 4, and we've preached already through 1, 2, and 3. 1 Timothy 4 starts with a, but the Spirit, okay? So it's picking up from what we just read. So 1 Timothy 3, 15 and 16 say, but in case I am delayed, I write to you so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself within the household of God. So the church. which is the church, the living God, the pillar and support of the truth. By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness. He who was revealed in the flesh, this is Jesus, of course, that we know, was vindicated in the spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken in glory, But the spirit explicitly says that in later times, some will fall away. So what are we talking about? Apostasy from the gospel, apostasy from Christ. That's what we see. That's not just me tying it all together. This is the context of the scripture. That's the context of this passage. So in 1 Timothy 4.1, we have but. So the apostasy here is turning from the core truths of Christ and the gospel, because that's where we were, and that's where the text takes this turn here with but. Beware of apostasy, the text says. Why must we beware of apostasy? And that's what I want us to look at today. Well, look at first in verse one. It says we need to beware of apostasy Very simple, because it will happen. The scripture says that. But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times, some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. So, it will happen. In the days our Lord, in the days that our Lord was in His earthly ministry, Judas betrayed Him. Demas, who was at one point the faithful, trusted companion of Paul, abandoned him. I would suggest to you the hymn writer correctly said that we all have a propensity to wander. But the word used here in verse 1 for fall away is very different than the word to wander. want to be clear in what I'm saying. It doesn't say to stray. What the word fall away means is actually to abandon the faith. I remember when Elijah, not the Old Testament Elijah, this Elijah here, sitting in the front row, my son. So we're at a, I know none of you guys, we're bad parents. None of you guys have probably ever lost your children, but we lose them regularly. And so we're at a baseball game, and Ari actually had a baseball game, and Des runs up to me, and she's all frantic, and she's like, I lost Elijah. Of course, I'm like, what? You know, perfect male answer. What do you mean? So eventually, a bunch of people and I start looking for Elijah. Of course, we find him. He was very little. We find him wandering on the fence. You know, not on the fence, but by defense over there in the baseball park. So Elijah strayed, if you would. He got distracted, and he wandered off. Sometimes things catch our eye. Sometimes, not that I'm saying it's a good thing, but sometimes we, as God's people and his children, stray. This is not what I'm talking about, or the text is talking about here today, when we talk about apostasy. There's another word, maybe where Stray eventually leads, that 1 Timothy 4.19 uses, and this word is translated, or excuse me, 1 Timothy 1.19, this word is translated as shipwrecked. This command I entrust to you, Timothy my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight, keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck." In regard to their faith, this is different than apostasy. Shipwreck implies, you know, they were here, they're trying to go here, they're moving in their Christian life, somewhere along the way, they capsize. Now, these people can still be rescued. The word apostasy has the idea that a person chooses to abandon the core truths of Christ. They abandon Christ in the gospel. They reject it. The very same word is used in Luke 8.13, where it says, those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy and they have no firm root, they believe for a while, and in the time of temptation, what happens? They apostatize, the same word, they fall away. Same context that we're talking about here today, and the same thing that we have in Luke 8, 13. In Matthew 13, we see the same thing describing the seed that grows, but it shrivels up and dies in the heat of the day. So it's not an unfamiliar concept in the New Testament. So I would say an apostate is not one struggling in their faith. It isn't even one serving, a believer who goes back and serves the old master that he's been freed from. Romans 6 says don't do that, we've been freed from that. But it's not even that one. An apostate is not one who's struggling with the secondary truths of Scripture and, you know, how does all of these work out? An apostate, biblically, is one who willingly falls away, who abandons the truths of salvation by faith alone, one by Christ alone, through God's grace alone. And a few months ago, we did look at Jude, and we saw this in Jude 3. Beloved, while I was making every effort to write to you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. Apostasy is abandoning this faith, which was once for all handed down to the saints, the saints. I'll pick on one of America's sacred cows. I know I don't usually call people out from the pulpit, but here's a good example that people will know of. Oprah, born into a Christian family, attended a conservative Baptist church growing up. Her name If you're familiar, don't know how much you read of hers, but her name's actually Orpah from a biblical character, and that's what her parents named her after. I'm not saying it's wrong that she changed her name, I'm just commenting that her parents intentionally named her after Orpah. She spoke about going to a Baptist church and why she rejected the concept of a Bible church. I'll read to you from her own biography. Then he, she's referring to the minister, I'm picking up here in the middle of what she's saying, but then he, the minister said, the Lord, thy God is a jealous God. And I was, you know, caught, caught up in the whole rapture of that moment until he said jealous. Something about that didn't feel right in my spirit because I believe that God is love and that God is in all things. Oprah rejects the idea of hell, really the idea of what we understand heaven and hell to be, as Jesus explained it. She believes God is everything. That's very different than saying God is everywhere, right? We understand God is everywhere, but we're not pantheists. God is not the tree. God is not the chair. God is not you. She believes and has written that our salvation comes from within ourselves. How does this happen? You know, and I think there is a warning here, and I can't move past this without giving it, you know, and it goes for all of us, but let me speak to some of the young people, or even some of the children who are here today. You know, be warned. She once sat in church, in a good church, went to VBS, went to Sunday school before she later fell away and abandoned the core concept, which is my whole issue with anybody who abandons this concept. Abandons the concept of salvation by faith alone and Christ alone because of His work alone on the cross. And she abandoned that. I'm not picking on her. I'm calling out as wrong and trying to provide a warning and say, this way to heaven, this way to safety, this way to eternity. That's all that I'm doing. When people fall away, the text says we should not be surprised. We should be sad. I think it's a painful I've seen it happen, but not surprised because the Word of God says it'll happen. The problem with apostasy goes way back, right? I mean, this goes back to Cain, who knew God, knew what God wanted him to do. I know that because God told us that. You know what to do. But he wanted to worship his own way. He wanted to worship in the way he saw fit. with Israel, right after being delivered from Egypt. What is the next big thing after the deliverance that we see? Moses is gone for a few days, and they're worshiping the golden calf. Behold, that which delivered you, O Israel. It's an old concept. Of course, some of you guys know, many of those who were there at that scene, the ground opened up and then judgment swallowed them. Oprah judged that God's word is wrong because she didn't like that God describes himself as jealous. As if the creator of everything, the perfect and holy in everything, loving in everything, God shouldn't be jealous when his people pursue other gods which are false. But it didn't resonate with her. Nehemiah 9, 26 says, but they became disobedient and rebelled against you and you cast your law behind their backs and killed your prophet who had admonished them so that they might return to you and they committed great blasphemies. So it is today that apostasy is very real and happens in churches like ours, which love the gospel and preach the gospel. Some of my sad, and this was written to a good church. This was written to Ephesus. Some of my saddest times since I've been a Christian and have served the Lord in the church is seeing people who abandoned the faith. You know, it's hard when you see friends leave, or you move churches, or you see people, you know, move to a different church, that's hard. But, you know, I'm always encouraged when I, you know, someone's going to a faithful church, they're pursuing the Lord. I may have my own personal issues, but the thing that really strikes at me are the times where I've seen people just outright just leave the faith, just abandon the gospel. Jesus said in Matthew 24, For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders so as to mislead, if possible, and it's an interesting statement after that, the clause, right? Even the chosen, even the elect. The scripture teaches that there will be many who are deceived and many false Christs. We know God is at work in his church, but we also know people will apostatize. Don't be surprised. And be warned and be careful, because some of this is a warning for our own hearts. Salvation is about being one of God's possession, not some verbal profession. Not every seed that hears the word grows to be what it should be. Some are false converts, and I want to be clear. If you're like me, and I'm not going to call out who I think is sitting here like this, but I'll just say it could be me, right? If you're like me, you sit there, you listen to a sermon like this, and you're wondering, man, am I one of those apostates? Maybe all of you are like, oh, I wasn't thinking that. But if you're like me, if I hear the sermon, that's what I would be there thinking. I would be all upset. And maybe you'd think like I would think, oh, well, maybe I've deceived myself, I gotta make sure, I don't wanna be. Let me encourage you. Because sometimes warnings are hard in the scripture, and sometimes I think we miss it. The context of the scripture is to point us to Christ and to encourage us as believers and as children in the Lord, and that's my purpose here. So let me encourage you. Do you believe that Jesus, is the only hope of salvation? Does your hope rest in anything else? If so, run to Him. If you see Christ as the only hope of salvation and have run to the cross, be reminded about what Jesus said, His words, John 6, 37. All that the Father gives me will what? Come to me. and the one who comes to me, I will certainly not cast out. So my purpose, the scripture's purpose isn't to scare us, it is to warn, to be aware. Now, maybe you're here and you're the, you know, I'll fake it till I make it person, or you fake it or come to church because of self-righteousness or whatever reason. Maybe you've never actually, and this is what I'm saying if this is you, maybe you've never actually ran to the cross because of the desperate condition that you realized you were in and the sinful condition and destiny of God's wrath that you realized. If that's you and you've never run to the cross, then be warned because the scripture does issue that warning. Don't turn to apostasy, run to Jesus and into the hand of God, which according to the word of God, in God's hand, in the Father's hand, not one is lost, none. Not only does verse one teach that apostasy is certain, but it also teaches that it's a sign of the last times. In this, we as believers have hope. When we talk about last times, we are talking, I believe, and I'm pretty certain you can, there's really no other way, I think, to take all of the verses that talk about the end times here. We're really talking in the end times, plural, between the cross and, well, when Jesus comes back, or whatever you think is gonna happen at that time. At minimum, that's what we're talking about. where we will see those final fulfillment of promises, I believe, that were made to Abraham, David, and such. So regardless of what you think about the end times and know about the end time periods, believers can have hope here. We are told that during these last days, people's love grows cold. Timothy's at Ephesus. And last week, we looked at Ephesus quickly in Revelation 2, and we saw that they left their first love because Jesus encouraged them to go back to their first love. It's hard to miss the warning here to Ephesus about apostasy regarding the gospel, because I know where they end up a few decades later. These things are connected. When you think about today's apostasy, You have to see that there's a lack of true, biblical, godly love for the gospel and for those who love the gospel. I've heard it through the years from people who leave church. I'm not talking about necessarily local church. I'm saying that leave, that stop coming to church. This isn't a comment about leaving a local church. It's more that leave the church, that leave even the gospel. And they say this, oh, the church is too conservative, so I'm not attending. Church is too liberal, so I'm not going anymore. You can't win. The church takes up too much time and people expect too much at the end. I personally am not benefited enough by the church, so I'm not going. I just don't get a lot from the church. And you know what? The leaders of all the churches, they're all a bunch of hypocrites anyway. That one happens to be true. And they never do what they say they're gonna do. Problem is, if you stay home, there's hypocrites there too, even if you're alone. The preaching stinks in the church. I just don't get anything from the worship. Ever since I stopped going to church and being involved with Christ and the gospel, I just need me time. Ever since I've stopped, things are better. And you know what? I need to heal on my own. Away from those Christians. These are cleverly designed excuses that I believe reveal a heart that is not in love with Christ and the gospel. And maybe you say, but Jay, I struggle with church. I struggle with being with other Christians. I am someone who understands those comments. I'm in that boat with you. I understand that as well. And I'm not talking about this or necessarily about people who, again, who leave a local church. That's not what we're talking about. But it's an attitude towards the church. It's an attitude towards Christ. It's an attitude towards the body of Christ. It's an attitude towards the gospel. And if you're honest and look around, these things are connected. If you struggle in your walk, Look, run to Christ. Remember what He's done for you. Remember who you are, a sinner who deserves hell, and then remember the gospel and that Jesus paid your penalty on the cross. Capture that feeling of relief that the gospel brings. That was Jesus's point to Ephesus when we looked at it last week, remember your first love. Capture that feeling of relief that the gospel brings, because I deserve an eternity in hell. Jesus paid the penalty for that, suffered my complete wrath on the cross, and I am now the righteousness of God. And then tell me about how bad your life is. in the church, in everyone else. An apostate isn't really moved by this. Why? Because the apostate is not really in love with Christ, and the apostate's not really in love with the gospel. Maybe they want social justice. Maybe in their own self-righteousness, they want to be a good person. This is self-love. This is not the righteousness that Jesus tells us to pursue. It's the one he pointed that the Pharisees had. Remember what Jesus said about going to heaven. Blessed are who? The poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. So if you are a sinner who's not worthy of being saved, and Jesus is your only hope, and you never live up to what you're supposed to live up to and what you should be, Well, praise God for that, because Jesus said that you're happy and blessed, which is what that word means. Our society talks a lot about persecution. They talk a lot about hardships. I mean, you can't even get away from it on the sports channel anymore. I mean, the sports news isn't even about sports anymore. I'm listening. I don't know what I'm listening to. They're all about hardships and persecution of this lifestyle or that lifestyle, and hardship and persecution of people groups. And I'm not saying these things don't exist. We should care as God's people about social injustices. I'm not saying in any way we shouldn't. We should. But you want to know who, for years, has been beaten up, torn apart, asundered, persecuted? believers of the gospel. For the most part, and I don't know, we can sit down and discuss history, I'd be willing to do it with you, but for the most part, believers in the gospel have been the most persecuted and hated group on this planet for all about the last 6,000 years. Hebrews 11 talks about this. It says, And what more shall I say? For time will fail if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, and Samuel, and the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of the fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong. became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight, women received back their dead by resurrection, and others were tortured, not accepting their release so that they may obtain a better resurrection, and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, They were put to death with the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated, men of whom the world was not worthy, wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground. And all these having gained approval doesn't say by their works, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because they're talking about those who existed before we saw the fulfillment of the Messiah and Christ, the first advent. because God had provided something better for us. Talking about Jesus. So that apart from us, they would not be made perfect. Can you catch that last part? Because God had provided something better for us. So Jesus is our perfect righteousness. If this is what you cling to, then don't fear. That's not the purpose here. Because God doesn't let any of his children go. And the one who truly runs to Jesus What did Jesus say? We already read it. The one who comes, I will what? No way, cast off. You want to know if you're a true believer? Right, those who want to argue theology, I don't know if I'm saved, because I don't know if I'm really one of the elect or the chosen, and how would I know? Well, you want to know? Well, based on John 6, the way to know is go to Christ. Then you know. Run to Jesus for salvation and Him alone. Cast off self in this world and run to the cross and then you know you are His and He, not you, your life will be a mess. But He never fails. So take courage. Have hope that the end days are here. Because while sometimes we're scared by those kind of talk, It's actually not scary talk for us as his children and those who embrace the gospel because soon, oh so soon, we will be with him without any sin, standing in glory, reigning, worshiping, eating, drinking, partying with our Lord in heaven. These are biblical concepts. Constantly surrounded by the love of God. So the apostasy has a positive side as well. It shows us that we're in the last days, however long they may be, but oh, the glory to come. Revelation 22 talks about that glory. It says, then he showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal coming from the throne of God and of the lamb. And in the midst of its street on either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing 12 kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse. That's an amazing. sentence or phrase, there will no longer be any curse and the throne of God and the lamb will be in it and his bond servants will serve him. They will see his face and his name will be on their foreheads and there will no longer be any night. And they will not have need of the light or of a lamp, nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them and they will reign forever and ever." Thirdly, from verse one, we see that apostasy is also demonically inspired. It says that here. It says the doctrine of demons. And I'm not gonna, I'm not a big one to go kind of super, you know, talk about things the scripture is silent on, but let me say a few things that the scripture I think does talk about. Everything has been said, and I think you could prove biblically, comes from one of three places, right? God, man, or the enemy. I'm not saying, nor buying into the notion of, oh, well, the devil made me do it. But at the same time, Satan is biblically the God, little g, of this world. That's what the Bible says. According to Ephesians 6, the struggle is very real, and the struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the devil and his demons. Again, I'm not trying to scare us, but let's ask the question, how can we stand against the enemy? Well, the answer is you can't, but our God can. Satan's a created being, right? We don't have to play the opposite game, but right, you do the up, down, left, right, God. There's no answer. There is no opposite. Satan's a created being. We see in Job that he cannot even tempt and operate without God allowing it in his eternal purpose. God is in control. And I always wonder about those who have TV programs and books all about fighting Satan and odd things that the Bible doesn't talk about. In Jude, what we are told is that Michael, the highest archangel, dared not pronounce a railing judgment, but simply said, the Lord rebuke you. He spoke God's word. Our God is truly, in control of everything. As his children, we have no reason to fear. Psalm 44, 18 says, our heart has not turned back and our steps have not deviated from your way. even in Hebrews, with all the warnings, and we've preached through Hebrews before, so if you remember, Hebrews is about Christ, and it's all about that Christ is better, Christ is better, Christ is better. But Hebrews also, in context, has all these warnings, has all these if statements, right? Or 1 John, if you're familiar, has all these tests, as others have called them. But Hebrews 10 says, but we, even with all the ifs, but we are not of those who shrink away because of God, because Christ is better, because Christ was a better priest. That's the whole point of it, because he won't fail, because Christ is a better sacrifice than all those other sacrifices that had to be re-sacrificed again and again. So we, as God's children, don't shrink away. These warnings, sayings, are saying that if you see this in your heart, be warned, run to Christ, rest in the arms of Jesus and be saved and comforted. Jude, after he finished talking about the warnings and apostasy, writes this amazing doxology. The whole context of Jude is very similar to what we're talking about here today in these five verses here in 1 Timothy. And Jude writes, who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of His glory, blameless, with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time and now and forever. Amen. Fourthly, from verse four, we also see that men and women are also involved in this apostasy, in this deception. By means of the hypocrisy of liars, seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created, to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. Be careful of what is out there. This apostasy is not talking just about all of that evil at whatever place to you sounds evil. That's not what it's talking about. It's not talking about the non-religious. It's talking about religious people here. It's the context. It's talking about those who forbid marriage. To be right, you have to not do this. To be right, you have to not eat this. You have to not do this. Rules. And I'm sure these people groups here, in the context of this, this context of apostasy, this isn't, oh, well, he left the church because he wanted to, you know, go join some whatever colony that he wanted to join. This has nothing to do with that. This is talking about those who had the look of human righteousness, religious people. Make sure that you filter everything that you see and hear through the word. That's your job, not mine, meaning it's not my job to do it for you, it's my job to do it for me. It's your job to do it for you. Acts says it, be what? A Berean. who were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, because they searched the Scriptures to see if what Paul was saying was true. And yes, it's true, as great as I may or may not be, if they had to search for what Paul was saying, you certainly got to make sure that what I'm saying is true. But it's a hard issue. It's a hard issue of looking through the Scripture, of the authority of the Word of God being my everything. This is why I'm always writing on the moralistic preaching that is in our church today. And I'm not talking just here about Cornerstone. No, I'm not not talking about us. I'm talking in general, in good, conservative, evangelical churches. Those that we listen to and I listen to and even use their material as I prepare and as I study, it is a problem in today's evangelical church. So many of today's Christian preachers, yes, the Reformed ones also, preach moralism. You hear Christ and the gospel, but the thrust is often moralism. I'm not calling these guys apostates. That's not my point here. I'm just saying, be careful with what you hear, be careful with what you accept. It's a hard attitude in how I process truth, in how I process what I hear, in how I process what I think. Again, I'm not saying they're all apostates, because in that case, I'm an apostate and we're all apostates. That's not my point. Good men I'm talking about. But I'm talking about the heart of what's being spoken of here. But more, the deception and thrust, it's always been there. But it's very, very strong today. And it exists. in today's church. It exists in those that we look to. It exists in our own hearts and we need to be careful and look out for it. Because men, women are involved as well in the apostasy. Remember Colossians 2. It says this, Therefore, no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink, in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day, things which are a mere shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of angels, taking his stand on visions he's seen inflated without cause by his fleshly mind and not holding fast to the head from whom the entire body being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments grows with a growth which is from God. You realize what he just said, right? The religious people and the churches who are not holding on to the head. What's the head? The head is Jesus. but they're in the body and they're part of the body. They may speak about the head, they may reference the head, but they're not holding on and clinging to the head. If you've died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why as if you were living in this world, do you submit to such degrees such as do not handle, do not taste, do not touch? which all refer to things destined to perish with use in accordance with the commandments of men. These are matters which have to be sure the appearance of wisdom and self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value. It's not even a little. Look, the Bible says exercise will profit your body a little. This is of no value. against fleshly indulgence. What is of value is Christ. What is of value is being attached to the head. What is of value is being a leader, because these are people in the church, is being a leader in the church, is being a member of the body of Christ that is constantly reminding people about the head that is of the body. And that, which is most important, which is the Colossians 2 point. The conclusion of our verses today encourage us as believers to be still and enjoy our lives in the gospel. I'm not saying do whatever you feel like doing. Look, I would encourage you to be a lover of God who's constrained by the scripture. I love God. I love the Father. I love what God has done for me, and as a result, I certainly want to please Him. I don't. I fail all the time. But my heart is to love God. And Christianity is kind of a funny thing. You see Paul and Silas singing and rejoicing. And they're locked in a prison cell that's probably worse than any place any of us have ever been in. And they're singing. Stephen's most glorious moment, I assume, on earth is he's literally being stoned to death for preaching the truth. And he sees the Lord at the right hand of the Father as he's being stoned. In the midst of the apostasy, if you trust Jesus alone for salvation and have anchored your righteousness in the cross alone, then listen again to what our text says. I'll just pick up in the middle here. Men who forbid marriage advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. That's believers. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude, for it is sanctified by the means of the word of God and prayer. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if received with gratitude. And there's an attitude here. It really goes back to All of my thoughts, everything I do and don't do are from the authority of the Word of God. And all of my other thoughts on what's right and wrong, well, you could do whatever you want with them. While sometimes God brings suffering for His glory and our good, He also wants us to enjoy His creation. We are to rest in the gospel, looking to heaven, because at the end of the day, what can hurt me? What does it matter? What's going to happen to you if you're one of God's people? Your eternity is all spiritual riches, according to Ephesians, in heaven forever and ever. So we'll close with the very common, well-known reminder from Romans 8, and then we will pray and sing. It says, what then shall we say to these things? God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare his own son, but delivered him over for us all, how will he not also with him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies, who is the one who condemns? Jesus Christ is he who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword just as it is written, for your sake we are being put to death all day long. We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered, but in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen? Let us pray. Father, we thank you for your grace. Father, we are prone to wander. We confess before you that as your people here, those who are your children here, we fail when we shouldn't. We end up in places we shouldn't be or wandering by defense and straying away. But Father, we know that it's You who keeps us, and we're thankful for that. And we pray, Father, that You would help us to have a heart to confess before You, to lay down before You where you would have us to, and where we are failing or have failed, and then to move forward and enjoy what you've provided for us in Christ, and to trust and rest in the gospel. We pray for our friends, our neighbors, anyone here or anyone we interact with at work or anywhere who doesn't know you, that you would save them, that they also could have this hope. And father, we, we pray that you would help us to be balanced. We don't want to be scared of the warnings and scripture, but we also don't want to ignore them. And father, we, we, we desire to take them seriously. We pray for our kids. We pray for our own hearts that we would remain anchored in Christ. And in the gospel, we know that it has nothing to do with us. Father, we know that you alone. reached down, saved us, that it's Jesus, you and your work alone that we're saved by. We also know, Father, that it's your hand that preserves us, that it's you. We can't preserve ourselves. And for that, we're thankful, because we know we'd mess it up. But Father, we pray you'd help us. Help us to see where we do mess it up, and help us to be faithful. We want to honor you, and we want to love you. And we pray that you'd even show us in areas where we're failing here, and help us to be people. And a church here in Miami who truly loves you, and is in love with Christ, and is in love with the gospel. And we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. If you would stand, we'll sing and then be...