if you would please this morning, if you haven't already, to the book of 2 Peter, chapter 2. In 2 Peter, chapter 2, we pick up this morning in our examination of Peter's epistles to the church, as we have been now for several weeks, having begun in 1 Peter. And as we enter into 2 Peter, we have already taken note here of a change to some degree in Peter's approach in this letter. His approach, in fact, is that he continues to prepare the church for the great persecution that is coming, one that we've noted on many occasions with regard to the Emperor Nero in the immediate future, having bring the great persecution against the Christians in the city of Rome and throughout the Roman Empire. But also, there's a message here that is timeless for the church, not only for the historical period of what was transpiring in Nero's Roman Empire, but in fact the same charge that is made to us as the church today, knowing that persecution is always to be very much a part of our life. The idea of some type of oppression against the message of the gospel. I mean, after all, there is a thought to us at times, and understandably so. We would imagine that there was a time in this nation when the message of the gospel was well received. That this country loved the church, respected the church, revered the church, and honored the church. My friend, if that was ever so, then I promise you it was a cultural love, a cultural honor, and a cultural revering of the church for what they perceived to be a benefit to them in that culture. And you say, Pastor, how can you say such a thing? I need only look at the landscape now. If we were the church then, are we not the church now? If the Word of God was not beneficial then, is it not beneficial now? How should we understand this? Except that we must understand that for centuries that the church has existed as the Lord Jesus formed it, established it through the founding work of the apostles of such as Peter. It has always been vastly outnumbered. Its influence with regard to society and government and culture has always been subject to change. My friends, we have lived in a tremendous time of blessing in this country, and I am thankful for it. I have no idea how much longer it will last. I will treasure each moment that it continues to occur because I believe that it's been given to us at the gracious hand of God. Have we done some good things to honor God? Has the church at times and periods of time have been faithful to God? Yes, indeed. But if you and I imagine that we've done enough to earn the blessing that we've received in this country, then you are incredibly deceived. God has chosen for His glory and for His honor to use us as an instrument to the world around us. And now, increasingly, if we're honest with ourselves, we begin to see the reason not that we should be sending missionaries elsewhere, but elsewhere should be sending missionaries to us. That is a cruel irony. You say, Pastor, that's a lot of gloom and doom. No, it's not. Not if you hear me well and hear me carefully. What I want you to know is that my hope is not based on how the world sees me or how the world accepts me. My joy is not based on how the world receives the church, nor how the world receives the truth. For history has told me that they will always ultimately reject the truth. In fact, the Gospel of John said that given the choice, they'd rather believe a lie than the truth. So to whom am I to be most concerned? First and foremost, I live for the glory and honor of my heavenly Father. My desire is to be like Christ, for I have been commanded to do so. Secondly, I desire to be like Christ because I feel a great sense of gratitude, responsibility, obligation. For after all, He has redeemed me of my sins. He has paid the price of my atonement. He has accepted and taken on the wrath and the judgment of a righteous and holy God that should have been mine. So my concern is what the Lord sees of me, thinks of me, and considers of me. In a secondary fashion, then I also need to understand the calling that God has placed upon my life. For I have not only been called to be a believer and a follower of Christ, but God in His wisdom, that I dare not question but certainly wonder, has chosen to call me to be a man of God. to be a preacher of His Word, and even more precious, to be a pastor, an under-shepherd, if you will, of His flock. I've had the privilege of doing that here at Sandy Creek for quite some time, and I'm thankful for that. But I understand that role is one that is incredibly crucial and important. It heightens the responsibility and the accountability of my life. Now, by the way, don't you sit too easy. It's not that you're not accountable and won't stand before God, I too, you certainly do and will. But the Bible says specifically that those who endeavor to either teach or aspire to the office that God has placed me in has an even greater responsibility and accountability. for what they do. Why is that important for where we are this morning? Because last week we began the second chapter of Peter's epistle, second letter. You know, if you ever stop to think about that for a moment, we often count these things as the second chapter of 2 Peter. You do know that Peter didn't give us numerical chapters and verses. He wrote a letter. And once again, God in His grace and His mercy has given us a way in which we can keep it straight. by chapters and verses. So we began in chapter 2 here dealing with a subject that Peter was addressing in his letter. And that was his warning. Because you see, Peter opened this letter up by saying, listen, I don't know how much longer I'm going to be around. I sense the time is near that the Lord is going to take me from this place. And I desire once again to inform you, to instruct you, to encourage you. To do what? He wants them to grow, to cultivate and strengthen the faith that the Lord has given them. Notice, He doesn't want them to acquire it. He doesn't want to add on to it. He wants them to strengthen, grow that which is given to them. He said, how are you going to do that? Well, first of all, you're certainly going to trust in God and His Holy Spirit. Secondly, He said, you're to follow, in this case, to be exact in the context, the way of the apostles. Peter makes it clear of the teaching of the way in which they give it, and he establishes the credibility for that message by linking it to its accuracy, to the word of the prophets, to the word of the apostles that have already lived and testified, and all this that is brought forward, and not the least of which, Peter established himself as an eyewitness of the work and the glory of Jesus. As he begins chapter two, he wants them to remind them of how important it is to be strengthened in their faith and be strengthened in the word. Why? Because. Because. There are and there always will be false teachers among you. Promoting and carrying out false doctrine. False ideas with regard to the Lord. And he wants us to understand in chapter 2 as he begins to know this. These people will exist and their continuing to exist should not for a moment cause you to doubt the justice and the wrath of God. Know this. God has shown us in history how he will measure out his judgment. to those before us who have done such dishonoring things to his word and to his message and in effect to his own people. And he will not spare them. As we pick up here in verse 10 this morning, he deals again with this false teaching, but even more specifically with those who dare to do it. Verse 10, chapter 2. And especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries, whereas angels who are greater in power and might do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord. But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand and will utterly perish in their own corruption. and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime." They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you. having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, they have a heart trained in covetous practices and are accursed children. They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness. But he was rebuked for his iniquity. A dumb donkey speaking with a man's voice restrained the madness of the prophet. These are wells without water. clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure. They allure through the lust of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption. For by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than having known it to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb. A dog returns to his own vomit and a sow having washed to her wallowing in the mire. Well, it is clear, I believe, in these verses 10 through 22, that Peter now is speaking even more specifically with regard to this false teaching and false doctrine. He is speaking to the false preacher, the false prophet, the false teacher. Even as it were for us today in practical application, anyone who would stand today and claim to be a man of God, teaching and preaching the Word of God, and yet to be found out that they are not desiring to preach the Word of God at all, but the word of deception. I am reminded that there have been times in our country where they do these wonderful surveys and these studies and they would give a list, if you will, ranking the trustworthiness of different positions in our society. And it is also always striking, oftentimes in the modern age, how far down the list those who are ranked as clergy are, or ministers are, because they have squandered in so many ways the trust and the value and the reverence that people have made upon them in years past, or at least perceived to be so. It is a difficult thing to measure and evaluate with regard to the men of God and those who serve as pastors, men such as I, because there is an understanding here, a need to know that those who serve God in this capacity must do so recognizing that this is not a career choice. It is not a profession. It is, in fact, intended to be a divine calling of God. Now, there is always a question in a conversation, well, pastor, how do you receive the divine calling of God? Did God utterly speak to you in a voice? For me, He did not. But I did feel the overwhelming compulsion upon my life at a very young age that God was summoning me to the ministry. Now, for me, the story might be a little bit unusual because God had summoned me and called me to preach, I believe, at the age of 12 years old. And I preached the message in New Liberty Baptist Church, my family's church, the first time in September of that year, along about my birthday of turning age 13. Now, some would look at that and they would critically say, well, that cannot be. God would not call a man and not take him and want to send him for years of time of training and preparation and education. And I understand and respect that. I say also with respect to understand that there have been many who have walked before me who have been called in a similar fashion. One most notably was Charles Haddon Spurgeon, who was already pastoring a church at the age of around 16 or 17 years old, as I recall, and went on and certainly valued the need for understanding God's Word and Scripture, and did all that he could for the rest of his life to help educate and train other men whom God were calling into the same ministry. There have been those today who put great stake in the idea of education, and I believe it's incredibly valuable too. And there are some who would make the assumption that, is it trustworthy to trust a man of God who has not seen forth and set forth an education with regard to seminary or training as such? I highly believe that that's a valuable thing and a helpful thing, and I've done somewhat of it myself, though I'm not a graduate of seminary. But is seminary a great sense of assurance for you? I would suggest that it is not in and of itself. If you are a student of the educational institutions of our day that deal with the idea of religion and churches, and you look very closely, you'll find that they are having endless debates and battles over doctrines. Sometimes those that we thought were settled a long time ago and yet now are being brought to question. There are issues of morality in our religious educational institutions that once were a settled fact that now all of a sudden have become questionable. We are now debating the sin of homosexuality, as if God may not have meant what he said. We are entertaining the idea of accepting this principle of transgender identification. One of our political candidates said just this past week that an eight-year-old can make that choice, along with the deciding whether he was going to be a fan of Marvel or DC Comics. He didn't say the comic thing, I added that, because I found those decisions equal in an eight-year-old. And we look at the church to give responsible and truthful answers to that, and yet the church now begins to scratch its head and wonder if it's so for them either. A prominent Christian teacher of years that many people have followed recently went back and actually edited the books that were presented digitally that she had written several years ago. She couldn't get back the ones that were in print, but she went back on digital and she actually corrected what she had written. That was once a biblical response to this, and now said she's no longer certain of it. I understand. To show you how easy it is for a man to call himself a man of God or anyone to do so, it's not hard. Listen to the silly ways in which someone can be ordained. This ad said the following. It was in a college news, or a clip from a college newspaper. Would you like to become a minister? Ordination is without question and for life. Legal in all 50 states and most foreign countries, perform legal marriages, ordinations, and funerals, receive discounts on some fairs. I'm not aware of that. Over 265,000 ministers have already been ordained. Ministers' credentials and license sent, a certificate of ordination for framing, and an ID card for your billfold. We need your help to cover mailing, handling, and administration costs. Your generous contribution is appreciated. Enclose a freewill offering. Doctor of divinity, anyone? In Evanston, Illinois are the missionaries of the new truth, quote, end quote, who are advertised under the heading, we want you to join our faith as an ordained minister with a rank of doctor of divinity. They state, quote, we are a fast-growing faith actively seeking new members who believe as we do that all men should seek the truth in their own way by any means they deem right. As a minister of the faith, you can set up your own church and apply for exemption from property and other taxes. Perform marriages, exercise all ecclesiastical powers, seek draft exemption as one of our working missionaries. Who knows what the date is on this? We can tell you how. Get sizable cash grants for doing missionary work for us. Some transportation companies, hotels, theaters give ministers reduced rates. I'm still missing out on that. Get the whole package. For one hundred dollars, this ordination is declared to be legal and valid anywhere in this country. And by the way, these folks have strict standards. And in a note entitled Ordination of a Dog. Sadie, a Labrador retriever belonging to the Charles Thurber family in Terra Linda, California, was ordained as a minister of faith. By the Hilltop House Church in San Rafael. The dog's name and $15 were submitted by the Better Business Bureau of San Francisco through a newspaper ad. By return mail, Sadie received her certificate of ordination. Could it be any easier to be a false teacher and a false prophet? You say, Pastor, yes. If that is meant to kind of scare you for a moment, it should. It should. So how do we determine the difference? I mean, after all, Peter is flying out here in verse 10 and telling us about these brute beasts, this false preacher, as it were, that is being described in these awful, evil ways that he describes them. Natural, brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed. Speak evil of things they do not understand and will utterly perish in their own corruption, will receive the wages of unrighteous. So he begins speaking about these terrible people, but he notes to us that if we are to understand and we are to be able to discern who those who are false and those who are true, where do we begin? Well, may I offer you one question that we began with what the preacher says with his mouth. Peter has told us three times here using the word of blasphemy. To describe what these preachers say. Notice, he says in verse 10, those walking according to the flesh. They are speaking, he says, presumptuous, self-willed, not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries. So he speaks of the idea that they're willing to speak evil of someone else. And in this case, he describes them as dignitaries, meaning people who should have been respected. In verse 11, he uses the phrase of railing, or reviling accusation. Speak evil again comes up in verse 12. Dignitaries, sometimes translated in Scripture as glorious ones. Who is he speaking of here? Well, the fact of the matter is, there is no definitive answer to that question. The Scriptures have left us scratching our head a bit. Some have suggested it to be angels, but we don't often hear false teachers and false prophets speaking insultingly about angels. The other plausible answer to this question is that they are the ones speaking evil of the ones who are truly preaching the Word of God. We certainly see evidence of that because we recognize it was one of the greatest attacks that came of the Apostle Paul in his work in the churches in Asia Minor, specifically in Corinthians. Paul was continuously accused by critics, those who vied for the congregation's attention over him. And in order to do that, they could not do anything to refute the doctrine that he was teaching because it was absolutely true. So instead, they tried to impugn his character. They tried to suggest that he was as they really were. That he was seeking to profit, that he was seeking to be lord of the matter, that he was on some kind of ego-based power trip. The great irony was is that Paul made it clear to the Corinthians, especially in one case where he made the case for the fact that he deserved to be supported by them, but he refused to take a dollar from them, no doubt being overly sensitive to the accusation and making certain in their minds that anything he did was not for his idea of taking advantage of them. What a preacher says with his mouth, when you hear him denigrating and speaking evil of that which you can examine and see absolute truth in, then you ought to be alarmed. You ought to be alarmed. So he says, listen to what he says. Balance it against God's Word and the command of God's Word. Listen to what he says. Those things that come out of his mouth. He also presents the picture of what a false preacher sees with his eyes. When we pick up in verse 13 here, he says, and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. There are spots and blemishes carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin. I want to stop there just for a moment. So what a false preacher sees with his eyes, these are preachers, he says, that are drawn and consumed by what? One word that comes immediately to my mind is they're drawn and consumed by sensuality. Now we can take this from its relatively harmless stage to its most destructive stage. We see this as people who are looking to have relationships with those God has, or they've said God has given them charge over for the sake of what gratification and pleasure that relationship will bring to them. Now, my friend, there's nothing wrong with your pastor having a relationship with you as brothers and sisters in Christ. There's nothing wrong with him being able to enjoy some measure of fellowship. But my friends, if there is the desire within him to simply enjoy you for what you bring to him, not what he sacrifices for you. Then we have the beginnings of a relationship that is not intent on honoring God, but honoring oneself. Therefore, you began to change the way you relate to one another. You began to a desire to please only for what you may get out of it. when in fact the Bible requires of the man of God that he must be governed by the Word of God, not only in the pulpit, but in his relationship with you as well. The false teacher and the false preacher will be the one who's willing to ignore that, not only at his peril for his pleasure, but it will be for the peril of the congregation in time as well. There is the extreme of where this leads us. It's one that we quickly recognize. It is the pastor who has an eye full of adultery that finds himself willing, not only susceptible, but willing to cross that line and utilize his position as a man of God to indulge in the most heinous of sensual sins. We live in a time in our culture where time and time again, and I easily concede that a true man of God can make a grave error in judgment, will commit that awful sin. But a true man of God will then repent and humble himself before God and seek some measure of restoration as God's Word sees fit. The false teacher and the false man of God is the one who will do so and will seek to justify and rationalize his actions. and seek neither repentance nor restoration. In fact, in the worst end of this, we have seen men, very well-known men of our day, who after being caught repeatedly, eventually stood up and said, none of your business between me and God. He had nothing else to use as a rationalization, I suppose. One needs to question, is that a true man of God? is that a teacher, a preacher of truth, honorable to what God has placed upon his life and his calling. They are preachers that are drawn and consumed with this sensuality, and worse, they become willing to practice that depravity on those within their charge in their church. Peter says, look to the person of that false preacher. Listen to what he says. Look at how he sees you. Finally, he speaks about what a preacher seeks with his heart. They have a heart, he says, in the latter part of verse 14, trained in covetous practices and are accursed children. They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness. But he was rebuked for his iniquity. A dumb donkey speaking with a man's voice restrained the madness of the prophet." Well, we go on here to the point of not only examining the fact that Peter now wants you to understand and examine the preacher's view and the use of money. His desire for material wealth and how he views his own. These are things that should be examined and understood as well. He then gives us an example of it by using a man's name by the name of Balaam. Balaam, whom we are told about in the book of Numbers, was a prophet, a prophet of which the enemies of Israel attempted to use, desired to use, to speak to God and speak of a curse against the people of Israel, their chosen enemy. Well, the one thing you must understand about Balaam is, and the reason why Peter uses him as an example is because the Word of God would tell us later on that Balaam was indeed a false prophet. He was not a prophet of God. So they would gather him and they would pribe him and give him all that he asked and says, now I want you to say a curse against God's people. Strange thing is that God wouldn't allow that. God wouldn't allow that. Now this is a very important part in the story of Balaam. It's not only to understand that Balaam was indeed a false prophet. He is a false preacher and a false teacher that Peter wants to warn you about. But he also wants you to know at the same time that as he said before, these people are worthy of and subject to the judgment of God. And he says they're also subject to the divine will of God. Because you see, Balaam, not once, but multiple times, was called in by these kings to level this curse against Israel, but God made certain that that would not take place. In fact, he went to such great lengths that one day he had Balaam have a conversation with his donkey. Now, one could either say this is an incredible story to tell, or it must be one of the most humiliating stories to tell. Because in reality, Balaam was such a foreign prophet to God that when the angel of the Lord showed up, it was the donkey who had to tell him who it was. Let that sink in for a moment. Maybe Sadie the Labrador could be a better minister than some in God's hands. So it was that God used that donkey and, in fact, God used Balaam. And Balaam was simply along for the material wealth ride. He didn't allow God speaking to him and God using him to hold him up from his sin. He still desired to profit from it. Eventually, Balaam would also be caught up in an awful teaching and an encouragement. He eventually did do his best to disrupt the nation of Israel. And later he would be killed. Peter wants you to know that those who would follow the example of Balaam, those who would, even utilizing the message of God, even those who would use a measure of the truth of God, by the way, hoping to still come out ahead for themselves more so than the cause for which they claim to serve, that God would not allow this to take place without consequence. So we must know and we must be encouraged by the fact because I got to tell you, let me be honest with you. I've shared this from the pulpit before. I'm notorious. My wife gets on to me and says, change the channel. Because I'll turn the television on and I'll hear such false teaching and false preaching that just raises. And I tell you, I'm offended. I am. And she's right. I need to move on. It's not like I'm going to sit there and listen to them, but what breaks my heart is how many people are. We must be students of God's Word, and we must be discerning. How do we do that? Well, you must go back to that student part. We spoke about this in chapter one. You must know what is true and able to know what is false. I pray that you would study God's Word and follow Peter's instruction to understand this and recognize what is coming of this. And this is one of the great tragedies of all when we look at the last part of this passage. Picking up in verse 17. These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lust of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption. For by whom a person is overcome, by him also is brought into bondage. For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world, through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, and having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them, according to the true proverb, a dog returns to his own vomit and a sow having watched her wallowing in the mire. So let's understand this for a moment. In verse 17, he gives us this description of water springs, mist, he describes as being driven by a tempest or a storm. Now, when we start thinking about it, the Scripture tells us from the book of Genesis forward, there's a continuous action of speaking of the idea of actually preaching and teaching God's Word as the water of the Word. It takes the idea of growth. It takes the idea of foundation continuously. And so, when we see that idea of it being waterless, and even describes a mist that never pays off. I mean, from the farmer's standpoint, that's the idea. The clouds come up, you may feel a mist, but then the next thing you know, it's nothing but a storm that is blown by the wind and it's gone. Nothing. Nothing. That's the end result of it. He said that's what these false preachers and teachers are. He then describes their work as one that is intending to enslave others in the bondage that they themselves know. They want to drag you into this bondage of corruption that they're living in, that they're drowning in. They know no other way. They seek success by virtue of the numbers of people they can gather in a room for an hour at a time. They seek success by virtue of branding themselves to the world so that if they can put a beautiful color picture of themselves on the cover of a book found on the LifeWay bookshelves, that people will buy it. Because if they said it must be good, look at him. Look at what their church is doing. People presume that when there are baptisms taking place and vast numbers coming, well, those people must be on fire for God. Well, they might be on fire, but I'm not certain it is God always. It takes more discernment to determine which is which. So we understand here with the idea of this false teacher and false preacher that they promise a lot, but they actually deliver very little. Understand this, he said. Even as a true believer, they would do their best to lead you off in the direction in which they are going, and that is not a good one. In fact, the end of this is going to be ruin. Judgment for them. And even as you, as a true child of God, it will be an incredible, huge waste of time and damaging time to your witness and to your life and your journey for Christ, for which you will need to repent and turn back to. And my friend, you may not say to God, God, it's not my fault. That lousy pastor took me to that. I do believe the Lord will look to your heart and your mind and say, child, my child, I commanded you to try the spirits. I commanded you to search my word. I commanded you to discern. You and I must be aware of that. And then there is a striking conclusion here. that the Lord is leading us to. He describes in verse 20 through verse 22 this idea that these false preachers and these false teachers might have come to such a place where they have some measure, some knowledge of the Lord, some measure of His Word, having been involved even in the house of God to this point, and yet to find that at some point this will all be over. This will all be lost. This will all be destroyed. And he speaks to this awful proverb about the dogs returning to the vomit and the pigs going back to the wallow. Well, I don't know about you, but I don't know if this is exclusive to the country or exclusive to you, but it's true to the nature of an animal. A dog will quite often return to his own vomit. It's a nasty thing to see. I'll be honest. If you grew up in any kind of farming community, then you understand this. You can take a hog out of the lot for a moment, and you can wash him down, spit, shine him. I mean, you can part his hair or whatever you've got. I don't know. But in time, it'll all be for nothing, because he needs to wallow in that mud. The implication here would be that there are many who will claim that they are men of God, preachers of the Word. And yet we will come to find out that they were nothing of the kind and not even a child of God at all. What a tragic end. Even more tragic to know that God's people, even for a time, could be subject to their leadership. Peter says, beware. I would encourage us to beware. I thank you for the time that you spend here, in our time of worship, in our time of preaching and instruction. I have told you many times, and I tell you again this morning, when myself or anyone else stands in this pulpit and attempts to expose or preach or explain the Word of God, please do not imagine that it's truth because I said so. Verify. Search the Scriptures. Know that it is truth. I am absolutely fallible, but they are not. Do we all search for the understanding and make mistakes along the way? You better believe it. What I know to be true in God's Word now is not necessarily what I thought was true when I was thirteen years old standing in a pool pit, my knees knocking, trying to present the gospel. I'd like to say I've come a long way, but when I think about God's knowledge versus mine, I haven't really come that far at all. And that's where you begin. You begin not talking about what you do know, but taking stock of what you don't know. So Peter tells us to stay clear of these. How do we do it? There's a fundamental problem. There's a fundamental truth that you and I must continually grasp. Number one, you cannot know that which is false unless you know that which is true. So I ask you this morning, do you truly know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior? For me, Christ opened my heart and my eyes to see the truth of my sin and to see the glorious hope that is found in Jesus as my Savior. To know, even as a child, that there was nothing I could do to improve my condition before God. There was nothing I could do to get myself saved, though I was determined to do it if I could. And I cried out to God. I cried out to God as only a child could, pleading for Him to save me, knowing my sin. And I'm convinced that He did so. I was born again, but I wasn't born a theologian. I was born an infant in Christ who knew not much more than the Lord had graciously saved him somehow. I knew. I knew about a virgin birth. I knew about a sinless life. I knew about a crucifixion on the cross. I knew about a promise of eternity. My friend, I pray you know those truths. They are not a place to end, but they certainly are a place to begin. I pray you know them and I pray you desire to grow in them as Peter has commanded us to do. so that we may be able to discern that which is true and that which is false. That which deals with the promise that is not simply ours now, but more importantly, ours for eternity. One that cannot be measured in dollars and cents. One that cannot be measured in physical health or any idea of prosperity, but instead is measured by the infinite grace of God. One that is valued, valued, Not by strategic relationships here, but by the most important relationship we have with a holy and righteous God through His Son. One that does not aspire to our glory, but aspires to His. My friend, if you came in here this morning thinking we were going to preach a gospel message that was going to make a better you, or make you feel better about you, then you have come to the wrong place. With God's help as his witness, it's not my desire for you to feel better about yourself. My desire is for you to feel better about God. And honestly assess who we really are. Center is saved by grace. Elevated only by his hand and not by our own living in the hope and the joy only he can bring. For my friend, if you've not noticed, anything and everything the world has to offer, even through the institution of church, is a fleeting prospect. But that which God has given us does not rot, does not fade, does not go anywhere. Paul spoke in his letter to the church at Corinth when he said that our bodies, they're deteriorating. Today I'll preside over a time with a family who have lost a precious loved one. The man's body had been deteriorating for 20 to 30 years. Many health struggles. But the one thing that we know that Paul said is, is even as his body was dying, the work that the Lord had done within his heart was growing stronger, not weaker. The same is to be true with us. I'm standing before you. And some days more so than others, I'm rotting away. This is rotting away. But there's something that's been done within me. That God has orchestrated in a way that I cannot begin to imagine. That never goes away. That never rots. No matter what anybody says. No matter what anybody does. No matter where God has me on this path or on this journey, no one, not even me, no one can take away that which God has given and God has done. I pray you know that today. And we'll rely upon it. As the foundation of all you do in this life, God has given you stand with me. as Luke comes with a song of commitment this morning. And as we stand together, may we be reminded in the words of this song that's been chosen for us this morning with regard to the church arising. What does it mean to arise? It means to arise solely. in the love and the admonition of the Lord, trusting solely in the command of His Word, relying solely upon His strength and His Spirit to do anything He has asked us to do as we sing.