Number 195. I'm a message from the Lord, Alleluia! The message sent to you I'll give. It is recorded in His Word, Alleluia! It is only that you look and live. Look and live, my brother, live. Look to Jesus, love, and live. It's recorded in His Word, Alleluia. It is only that you look and live. I've a message full of love, hallelujah A message of my friend for you Tis a message from above, hallelujah Tis a sin I need, I know tis true Look and live, my brother, live Look to Jesus Recorded in His Word, Alleluia It is only that you look and live Life is offered unto you, Alleluia Eternal life this soul shall have If you'll only look to Him, hallelujah Look to Jesus, who alone can save Look and live, my brother, live Look to Jesus, now and live This recorded in His Word, Alleluia It is only that you look and live I will tell you how I came, hallelujah, to Jesus with Him it made me whole. Twice believing on His name, hallelujah, I trusted and He saved my soul. Love can live when brothers live. Look to Jesus now and live. This recorded in his word. Hallelujah. It is only that you look and live. Our Heavenly Father, we're thankful that salvation is not complicated. Thankful that we don't need to have a certain IQ, we don't need to have to have gone to certain schools, we simply need to listen to the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the lost sinner, and turn to Thee in repentance and trust in Thy Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, for salvation. We're thankful that Thou hast left us with Thy Word, and not just left us with it, but Thou art actively watching over it to make sure that today, 2025, we still have the Word of God that we can handle, that we can read, that we can study. Thankful for thy mercy and grace towards us that we can know the truth. So we pray for each one that's listening at this point, that each one would be wanting to hear the Word of God today. That each one would set aside those things that would hinder them from hearing what thy word has to say today so that they can receive that blessing that they need to have for this day, for this hour. We continue to pray for our country of Canada. We're thankful that we still have the opportunity to meet openly here. Thankful for that. We thank thee that the experiment that the government tried a couple of years ago failed. And we pray that there would be many people that would take this reprieve that we've been given by thy mercy and grace, that people would wake up and see the importance of getting into thy word, trusting in thy son, the Lord Jesus Christ alone for their salvation, to know thy peace and blessing. We ask that thy will be done in Israel. We pray for those hostages as they are maybe have heard that they are supposed to be released within the next short while. We pray for them that they would safely be released. Pray for their families. We pray that they would come to know thy peace and truth in their hearts. If they're not saved, if there are some that are saved, that they would be an encouragement to others. We pray for the family of that young soldier that committed suicide because his girlfriend was killed in that October 7 attack and he couldn't take it. Pray for that family that they would come to know thy peace in their heart. And we pray for many of our soldiers that go overseas and come back and have a hard time dealing with what they've witnessed and pray that they would come to know thy peace in their heart. so that they could get through that difficult scene that is in their memory. We thank that we have a merciful and gracious God who is there to help us and to guide and direct us. May thy will be accomplished here in this place. We recognize on our calendar this is Thanksgiving Sunday. We're thankful for the gift of eternal life, for the hope of heaven, and also for the many material blessings that we have had in our lives. May thy will be accomplished here in this place. May we glorify thee and what is said and done. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. And over to 216. 216. Look to the Lamb of God. Number 216. If you from sin are longing to be free, look to the Lamb of God. He to redeem you died on Calvary Look to the Lamb of God Look to the Lamb of God Look to the Lamb of God For He alone is able to save you Look to the Lamb of God When Satan themes and thoughts of fear are sealed, Look to the Lamb of God. You in His reign shall over all prevail, Look to the Lamb of God. Look to the Lamb of God. Look to the Lamb of God. For He alone is able to save you Look to the Lamb of God Are you weary? Does the road seem long? Look to the Lamb of God His love will cheer and fill your heart with song Look to the Lamb of God Look to the Lamb of God Look to the Lamb of God For He alone is able to save you Look to the Lamb of God Fear not when shadows cross your path before Look to the Lamb of God Endure your sorrow, Christ is all in all. Look to the Lamb of God. Look to the Lamb of God. Look to the Lamb of God. For He alone is able to save you. Look to the Lamb of God. 441. Love lifted me. Number 441. I was sinking deep in sin, far from that peaceful shore. Every day, please stand within, sinking to rise no more. But the master of the sea heard my despairing cry. From the waters lifted me the same. Love lifted me, love lifted me When nothing else could help, love lifted me Love lifted me, love lifted me When nothing else could help, love lifted me All my heart to Him I give, ever to Him I cling. In His blessed presence sleep, ever His praises sing. Love so mighty and so true, may with my soul be sung. Faithful, loving, service true to Him be. Love lifted me, love lifted me When nothing else could help Love lifted me, love lifted me Love lifted me, when nothing else could help Souls in danger look above, Jesus completely saves. He will lift you by His love out of the angry waves. He's the master of the sea, bellows will sail away. He's your Savior, wants to be saved today. Love lifted me, love lifted me When nothing else could help, love lifted me Love lifted me, love lifted me When nothing else could help, love lifted me Take your Bibles and turn to Luke chapter 12. Luke chapter 12, looking at verses 54 to 56. We'll stand, please, for the reading of God's Word, Luke chapter 12, beginning there at verse 54. And he said also to the people, when ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say, there cometh a shower, and so it is. And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, there will be heat, and it cometh to pass. Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it that ye do not discern this time? Our Heavenly Father, we're thankful this morning again that we can come together for something meaningful, that we have thy word, which we can study, that we can examine, that we can allow to check us and to see where we're at and where we need to be. I pray this morning that Thou wouldst help us once again to set aside those things that would hinder us from hearing from Thee. We thank Thee that we have a place where we can meet where it's quiet. We don't have to compete with some noises from other places. We're thankful for that, and we just pray that we would have that discipline that's needed in our lives so that we can pay attention to what is going to be said and hear in the next few moments, that we can receive a blessing from thee. Pray for anyone that's listening and not saved that they might take this opportunity given to them today to know thy forgiveness in their heart, to know thy peace in their life. May thy will be accomplished. We thank thee for the internet. We pray for a strong connection. Pray for those that are not able to find a good church. Just pray that they would be blessed as well and be strengthened in the inner man and to glorify thee in their lives. May thy will be accomplished, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. Some years back, I pastored a church in my hometown in Ontario, and we met, first of all, I believe it was, the first place we met was in that German club, yeah? Yeah, called the Rhein Danube. It was a German club. There were several different nationalities in Leamington. There was Italians, and they had their club. The Germans had their club. And we rented space in that German club. Well, it was a secular club and so Saturday and other times they would have their beer parties and their dancing and so on. And one particular Sunday we were in there and they had, I guess they had quite the party the night before and they had all their beer cases still piled up in the back of the room that we were renting. So we had to do something with that. And one other time, they had a birthday party going, just a wall, cardboard-type wall, between our room and the next room. And they had a birthday party going next door. And they had such loud music, there's no way that we could meet there. So I had to quickly contact the owner, and they gave us a different place to meet. And then we had to have someone standing by our place to tell them, here's where we are today. And so we're thankful that God has been good to us here and given us this place where we can meet and that we can meet without any interference. That's important and I believe it was a blessing from God to give us this building before the Wuhan virus hit so that we could honour God without interference from ungodly people who don't know God and are going to follow the lies of the system we're living with. So if we look at our passage today, we have the title of the message is Christians Need Biblical Discernment. Not just discernment, we need biblical discernment. And the first point that we're gonna be looking at is watching the clouds. And as Christians, again, I've mentioned that before, that every once in a while as I'm driving or outside, I look at the clouds because the Bible says Jesus is coming back in the clouds. Doesn't say what kind of a cloud, but I look at the cloud sometimes and I wonder, hmm, wonder what kind of a cloud it will be when Jesus comes back. But we look at the clouds and we look at the sky And we can determine some things regarding the weather by looking at the sky. Personally, my observation is that our weather forecasters of today are not nearly as good as they were when I was younger. The computer models that they're using and whatever else they're using, they cannot seem to give us as accurate predictions as they used to be able to in the past. Now, of course, anytime we look at the weather, we can't say 100% this is coming. But there are things that God gives us. He gave us the clouds. He gave us the stars and so on. And he gave us also the animals, insects that help us when it comes to determining what's possibly in the future with weather patterns. And so we can do that. And Jesus here noted that the Jews of his day, they were not ignorant when it came to these things. And so he says to the people, when ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say, there cometh a shower. And so it is. So in that land, Jesus points out that the storms came from the west. So if they see a cloud coming out of the west, they knew where to look. They knew what kind of a cloud to look for in regard to what to expect. And watching the weather is very important, especially for a farmer. He looks at the weather when it's time to go out and seed, and he wants to make sure that the snows are done, although crop that's still in the ground, seed that's still in the ground isn't necessarily affected. But he wants to make sure that the weather is suitable, the soil moisture, soil temperature, I say, should be warm enough so that that seed can germinate. And then when it comes time to Haying, he looks at the weather and to see, well, have I got enough of a window here that if I cut my hay today, do I have enough days so that I can get it off without rain on it? And again, we don't control the weather. We don't know that for sure. But we do know that there tends to be a cycle. There tends to be a time when it's suitable to cut that hay and you'll generally get enough days so that you can get it off. without rain on it. Of course today we have an advantage to a degree I guess because we have crimpers now so you can cut it and if it's crimped it doesn't take as long to cure. In the old days you used to use a sickle mower and then you leave it lay and it dries pretty quick then too and then you rake it but it's an extra step that you have to take. So, but the farmer is interested, come harvest time, taking off the crops. He wants to look at the sky, he wants to see, well, have I got, now it's not as critical, I guess, because they don't swath so much. But in the days of swathing, you wanted to make sure that you could get that crop up before it starts to sprout in the windrow. You want to make sure that you get a number one grade and not a number two or three. So it's important for the farmer in particular to be watching the sky and to be learning. When I was a young boy, I worked for my neighbor, and he was a good farmer, and there were certain things that he could see, but then he had one other advantage, if we can put it in quotation marks, and that is that he had arthritis. So he could tell when a storm was coming. His knees would bother him, his elbows would bother him, and he was generally right with that part. Now, I know that he had a lot of pain with that because he would let me know that, but he could tell when there was a change in weather coming. And so here we see that the people of Jesus' day, they were up on these secular things. They knew about the clouds in the sky, they knew how to read them, and they knew when the rain was coming. The second thing we see is that they didn't just watch the clouds, but they watched the wind as well. It says, when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, there will be heat, and it cometh to pass. And so there's another thing that God gave to man. Generally speaking, we look at the wind. We had a lot of wind yesterday, and we had some rain as well. And I said to my wife, you know, I wonder what this is blowing in. And according to the forecast, there's supposed to be some snow coming this next week in certain areas. I don't know if it's going to hit our area. The forecast says no, but they're not always right. So we'll see. But we look at the weather patterns, and of course, for those of us that are Christians, we're a little smarter than our government. We know that has nothing to do with the amount of cars that we're driving or how many cattle there are, and so on. We understand that God is in charge of the weather patterns, and he uses the weather patterns at times to speak to us. He wants to get our attention sometimes and he uses, well all the times, but he uses weather patterns at times for that purpose. Sometimes we have adverse weather conditions because God is trying to get our attention and we would be wise to listen to him. Okay, what do you want us to learn from this? There's always something we can learn. With the perversions that we have today, if you take, for instance, just by way of mention, if you think that the New King James perversion is as good as the King James, and you read from Proverbs, I believe it's chapter 29, 25 or somewhere in that area, It will give you the exact opposite with regard to the wind blowing and the results and the comparison that it gives there. I'll just go to that verse. It's in that area there somewhere. Oh here, 25 verse 23, there you go. Kind of off in my numbers, but Proverbs 25, 23, it says, the north wind driveth away rain. So doth an angry countenance a backbiting tongue. So there in that passage, we're told that the north wind is going to drive away the rain. So when the north wind comes in that context, it takes away the rain. It's gonna drive it away, give you a sunny day. If you take the New King James, the perversion, it will tell you the exact opposite in that verse from what the King James says. And the people that put together that perversion say there's nothing changed. All we did is update the language. Liar, liar, pants on fire. But you see, that's the problem. And a lot of people, they use that because, well, it's newer. Yeah, it's newer all right, but that's about all it has going for it. So again, we see here that in our text it tells us that we can look at the wind, and generally speaking, we can determine conditions that are coming by the wind. Now, when the wind blows, it generally takes a day or so before that weather change takes place. You get a nice warm wind. I remember when we lived in Alberta pastoring the church there and never lived in Alberta before. I had heard of Chinooks but never experienced one. And this one day, I walked downtown and was walking past the bank on the street there. And there was an empty lot right by the bank. And so I walked past that empty lot. And as I went past, and this was already cold weather, as I walked past that bank and on that lot, a warm wind hit me. And I thought, where's the fire? I thought there must be a building on fire that there's this warm wind. But it wasn't a fire. It was a Chinook that was coming. First time I'd ever experienced that. And it was a contrast in the wind that came with that Chinook. And the town we were in was built on the side of a hill on a slope. And so when those Chinooks would come through and melt that snow, and then it would freeze again before the water was all gone, you have ice on the roads. And so school buses couldn't climb the hill to get to the school. And it was difficult to walk. because you would all be sliding across the street and onto people's grass because the sidewalks were too slippery. It was interesting. But again, that was the weather patterns. And we could learn from those things at the time that we lived there about how those Chinooks operate and how to watch for them and the things that happened when they were there and so on. But these things, God, Jesus here is not condemning these people for paying attention to the weather patterns. He's not telling them you should not do this. But what he is pointing out to them is that they were more concerned about that than they were about biblical truth. You know, it's interesting when you look at it, our third point is unable to discern this time, and that word this is important there. But when you look at verse 56, he says, ye hypocrites. When the farmer is looking at the weather patterns, When the lady that is doing laundry is saying, well, should I hang it out today or do I need to use the dryer or keep it in the house? What do I do with it? When you're doing that, you are, without recognizing it, you are acknowledging there is a creator. Where does the weather pattern come from? Now, of course, the evolutionist doesn't want to admit that. But he's studying the weather and if the evolutionist was honest, he would realize that he can't depend on evolution because evolution is all on chance. So just because the south wind is going to bring heat one day doesn't mean it's always going to do that. It might change and you get a cold south wind, if evolution is true. but because God is the creator of all things, we can look at the clouds, we can look at the wind and feel the wind, and we can look at the animals and the birds and insects and even children. Some people have said, you know, and I think it's true that when children are more restless, usually you can tell there's a storm coming. It's just a fact of life. And so there are things that we can look at, and because there is a creator, we know that generally speaking, that's how things happen. We can have some confidence on the human level. The problem with the people that Jesus is speaking to here, and the problem today is the same, but the people there Even though they could determine, they could see what was happening in the material world, they couldn't see the time they were living in. They couldn't discern this time. Now what was this time? This time was the time when the Messiah would come. The Old Testament prophesied the coming of the Messiah. Daniel chapter 9 lays out the timing of the Messiah. The people of Jesus' day would have been far more familiar with that than we are today. But Daniel lays it out at a particular time. The Messiah would be cut off, so then they could go back and say, okay, so here's when he would be born. Daniel tells them that, tells us that too. And they had the scriptures. And it wasn't that there were not people of that time that were recognizing that. Simeon and Anna were both ready when Joseph and Mary went to the temple according to law with Jesus. When they took him there as a young baby, they were there. Why were they there? Because they were anticipating the coming of the Messiah. They knew that the time, they didn't know the day, but they knew that the time was there that the Messiah was coming. And they were at the temple. And when Mary came in with that baby, they knew who that child was. They knew it. because they could discern this time. But the Pharisees and their crowd, Jesus says, you cannot discern this time. Jesus is standing in their midst, doing the things that the Messiah was going to do. And if we look at some things about it, if you go to Micah chapter five, And again, the Jews were ignorant of this in Jesus' time, not because they couldn't know, but because they chose not to know. It wasn't that they couldn't know. Same thing today. It's not that people cannot know, but people choose not to know. Micah 5 and verse 2. But thou, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be the ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Bethlehem, where was Jesus born? Bethlehem. Who was told that Jesus was born in Bethlehem? The shepherds, not the chief priests, not the king, the shepherds, we're told. And then two years later, who was it that came seeking the king of the Jews? It wasn't the chief priest then either. It was wise men from other countries, not from Jerusalem. But the Jews, the ones that were there trying to discredit Jesus, they could have known the time they were living in. They could have known that this man that is talking to us is the Messiah, because they could have known where he was born. It was not a secret. The shepherds, they left praising God, and they told others about it. So it wasn't a secret. Then we go to Isaiah chapter 7. Isaiah chapter 7. And in verse 14 it says, therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. What did Jesus scold thee? Jews about, always looking for a sign. Well, here, God says, I'm gonna give you a sign. Therefore, the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel. What was Mary? She was a virgin. Joseph had nothing to do with the birth of Jesus Christ. He was just the protector there, but he had nothing to do with her conception. Mary, a virgin, conceived. And they knew. They even said to Jesus at one point, we be not born of fornication. So they knew in their mind Jesus was an illegitimate child. But they didn't pay attention to this which they had in their scriptures. They had this. It wasn't that they didn't have it. Jesus opened the book of Isaiah and preached a message from Isaiah. They had it. But they chose to ignore it. Chapter 11, Isaiah chapter 11. Verse one, and there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse. and a branch shall grow out of his roots, and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. A branch that is going to come out of his roots. And this is what this branch is going to be like. Who was Jesus when he was on the earth? He had wisdom. The people, they acknowledged the fact that he spoke with authority, not like the scribes and Pharisees did. He was different. They could see that he was different, but they did not allow God to help them to connect the dots. They didn't allow God to show them, this man that is standing right before you, this man is the Messiah. Go back to chapter 9, Isaiah chapter 9, verse 6. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end. upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. Again, the nation of Israel had these passages. The scrolls were there. They were available for the priests to look at and to study and to speak to the people about to teach them the word of God, but they ignored these prophecies. And when Jesus stood before them, he was and will always be the Prince of Peace. And he is the one that is wonderful. His counsel was always right for the people. Always he had an answer for them. Every time. But yet, here he was, standing right before them. And they could not see who he was. Why couldn't they see it? Well, one of the reasons was that the Jews of that time, they had one thing in their mind. And that one thing that seemed to be predominant to everything else was that they wanted to be out from under the Roman government. They had been under the Roman government for a long time. The Pharisees, they had learned how to cozy up to that corrupt government. They didn't like them, but they had learned how to cozy up to them and to get protection from them to be able to preach their heresies and to try to force the Jews to follow them. And the Roman government gave them their stamp of approval. But they didn't want to stay there. They wanted to have the days of David back. They wanted their own king and they wanted their own government. The problem was they did not recognize the beauty of the days of David. David was a great warrior, yes, but the reason that David was successful in battle is because he trusted in God. When David took that sling in his younger years and he took that sling and those stones and he went running towards Goliath as Goliath is blaspheming God. I'm sure David was a fairly accurate shot with his sling, I don't doubt that. But I believe that God directed that stone to hit Goliath in the only bare spot he had. With the first stone, not the second or the third, the first stone. And that stone hit Goliath hard enough that he went down, and David could go and take his head off. David trusted in God. When David became the king, and the Philistines are coming out against him, and David asked God, should I go out to war with them? God says, yeah, go. So he went, and he was successful. The Philistines came back again and said, God, David says again to God, should I go out against them? And God says, yeah, but not the way you did the first time. I want you to go from behind and I want you to wait for the rustling of the leaves and the mulberry trees. Who does that? The enemy's right there in front of you. I'm going. God says, no, that's not how you're gonna do it this time. And David listened to God. And he did what God said and he was successful. And by the time that David died, the Philistines didn't even bother to consider attacking Israel because they understood we can't win with that guy as a king. And the fear of God was so prominent at that time that when Solomon became the king, he had a number of years of peace before trouble came because he started out walking in the fear of God. But he turned aside and God couldn't bless him. And the nation of Israel was never as strong again after that because of the sin of Solomon. But the nation of Israel had been blessed with the word of God. They had been blessed with good priests. There were many false priests as well. But they wanted those days of David back. But they didn't understand how they could have those days. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It's a tree of life, so on. Without the fear of God, you can't have the peace of God. You can't have the blessings of God without the fear of God. And that's what they were not understanding. And so Jesus is, you know, he's not like many times we are. He's not, Jesus was not a politician. He wasn't interested in, what's the word? Flattery. He wasn't interested in flattering anyone. He spoke the truth. The truth is what makes a person free. And we need to speak plain language. We don't need to be mean. Jesus was never mean. He loved the people. But he starts out in verse 56, ye hypocrites, you're looking at the weather. You're looking at the clouds. You're looking at the wind. And you're determining what you're going to do for the day or the next couple of days because you can see what's coming. But here's something of far greater importance than whether you can get your hay crop off, whether you can sow your grain. Whatever it is, here's something that's far more important. This has to do with your soul. And you're not able to discern this time. You can't see that this time in which they were living, they could not see that the Messiah was right there with them. He was going to do away with the Old Testament system. He was going to die and shed his blood. No more bullocks, no more lambs, no more turtledoves. Now it was going to be Jesus Christ. The veil of the temple was going to be torn in two. No priesthood needed anymore. Change coming. for the better because the Old Testament promise that started in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15 was being fulfilled in their very time and they couldn't see it. They couldn't see it. And so instead of them rejoicing in the fact that the Messiah was right there with them, instead of them sitting at his feet and asking him to teach them the truth, they were looking for a way to pick him apart, looking for a way to discredit them because they wanted to protect. You see, they wanted the days of David in regard to physical prowess is concerned, but they wanted the days of the Pharisees in regard to spiritual things. They wanted to be in control, the Pharisees did. And the average person was too bound by the Pharisaical teachings that they, even though they saw the benefit of Jesus' teaching, they saw the blessings of being with him, feeding 5,000, healing the sick and so on, they saw all of that, but they were so crippled by the Pharisaical teaching they had been raised in, they couldn't see it. That's one thing that is so important, something that we really need to get a hold of. The things that we are taught when we are young, it's quite difficult, not impossible, but it's quite difficult to throw that away and go a different direction. I guess it's the pride that's in us that makes it so difficult for us to be willing to say, that was wrong, this is right, I need to drop that, and I need to follow this. It seems to be a very hard thing for us as people. And so that's something that we need to be so careful. The saying is, Too soon old, too late smart. And sometimes that's a very true saying. I know in my own life, too soon old, too late smart. And again, you know, looking at us here, every one of us, we're not in the jungles of Africa where we don't have access to the word of God readily. We all have Bibles. We can read them. We read English, except for one person here, maybe, that doesn't read much English. But the rest of us, we can read English quite easily. And so it's not that we sit here and say, well, I don't have any way of knowing any better. But it's again the matter of Letting the Spirit of God direct us, even for those that are listening to me today and you're not saved. The Bible says, turn your Bible to John chapter 14, just by way of reminder. John chapter 14. Sorry, chapter 16. John chapter 16, starting there at verse seven. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you. But if I depart, I will send him unto you. If you're listening to me right now and you're not saved, here's what the Holy Spirit is doing in your life right now. So if you were to die today, you're not gonna be able to stand before the Lord and say, I didn't know, nobody told me. Here's what the Holy Spirit is doing in your life right now, if you're listening to me and you're not saved. When he has come, he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. What does that mean? Well, verse nine, of sin because they believe not on me. of righteousness because I go to my father and ye see me no more, of judgment because the prince of this world is judged. So every person that hears the word of God, and even those that are not sitting in a church and listening to the word of God, doesn't say that they have to be hearing that word right now, but it tells us that the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, when he comes, and he is here, been here since Acts chapter two, he will reprove the world of sin. That's why a lot of people don't want to go to church. That's why a lot of people don't want to read the Bible. That's why a lot of people don't want you talking about the Bible. That's why the government years ago said, we're not going to have the Bible in the public school system. Christian parents back in that day said, well, we don't like it, but OK, we'll accept that. They should have. We should have. And we did, but not early enough. But we should have said, OK, that's what you want in your system. We're not part of that system. That would have been the right answer. That's the right answer any time the government wants to interfere with God's plan. OK, that's your plan. But God says this. And we need to say, I'm following God. So That's the problem. The lost people in our time, that's why when people walk by here, sometimes I see them walking on the far side of the street. What's wrong with the sidewalk here? There's nobody parked on the sidewalk. They walk over there because they don't want to be close to what's going on here. That's their problem. That's their loss. They're not gaining anything by walking further away. They're not gaining anything. They're hurting themselves. Because the Holy Spirit is busy. He's working. The problem is that our world allows for so many distractions that interfere. It's not that he's not, the Holy Spirit's not working, but you know, we're very good as people. We're very good at setting up distractions. And there are so many of them in our world today. And that's a real problem. And again, it's up to parents, not the government. It's not up to the government to tell us when we can watch something on the internet, YouTube, whatever. That's the parent's job. And the government right now is working on a bill. It's called something to do with harms bill. And supposedly to police hate speech on the internet. The problem is that our government doesn't know what hate speech is. If you warn somebody that Islam is a false religion, you're an Islamophobe. That's hate speech according to the government. If you stand too close to a murder clinic, which is called an abortion clinic, and you pray out loud, that's hate speech. You hate those women that are going in. Don't you know that they don't have any option? Our government does not know what hatred is. And they are trying to intimidate us into bowing to their secular, wicked belief system, rather than trusting in the God who knows everything. And we need to get a backbone, those of us that are saved. And we need to understand, if you go in your Bibles to 2 Timothy chapter 4, I think there's another danger that we're facing. We're living in an electronic age, and the internet is there, and YouTube is there, and there are some people that are very smart when it comes to the internet, and there's all kinds of programs out there that you can get, and it's much easier today to get information than it was 10 years ago. Much easier. So it's almost at your fingertips. If you know how to use Google, you can punch in a few words and you get all kinds of information. Almost click the button and away it goes. There it is. And so we are very much attuned to that today. When our children were young, There was already a problem that some people were recognizing in regard to Sunday school, that children would come to Sunday school, especially unsaved families, children coming to Sunday school. And back then the internet wasn't there, but TV was there. Sesame Street was there and other things like that were there. So children would come to Sunday school and they wouldn't want to sit and listen to the lesson. Why was that? because the TV was spoiling them. Everything was moving so fast. Now they're sitting in a Sunday school class and a teacher is standing there. She might have had flannel graph, maybe not. But even that doesn't move as fast as those images do on a TV screen. And so the children, they could not sit and listen to someone telling them something, they had to see it going by. They had to see the action moving. It was not a good thing, but it was a fact for a lot of people. And now with the internet, it's not just the children anymore that cannot accept listening to somebody speak. It's now the adults as well, because a lot of those children are now adults. In 2 Timothy chapter four, the Apostle Paul warns, I believe that this is part of discerning the times that we're living in right now. 2 Timothy chapter four, the Apostle Paul says to young Timothy, I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom. Preach the word. Be instant, in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. But after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables. So you see, the average church today, the larger churches anyway, but a lot of churches, they have to have a screen up front. And the verses are beamed up there, the music is beamed up there, and the pastor, if he has any points, and then he has to use some illustrations, and he's gotta stick them up on that screen because we can't sit, we cannot endure sound doctrine. We're so spoiled. and we miss out on the blessings that God wants us to know because we have allowed ourselves to be impacted by a secular world, because it tells us in this passage, the Apostle Paul preaching, God directing, he's the author of the Bible, and he tells Timothy to preach the word in verse two, and then he says in verse three, that the time will come and they will not endure sound doctrine. And God didn't say there, well, because of that, we need to have more helps. If you're not good in chalk art, you shouldn't get in front of people. If you don't have some kind of a program that you can beam pictures up there and show here, look at this, look at that, you shouldn't be a preacher. He doesn't say that. He says the problem is people won't endure sound doctrine. And because people won't endure sound doctrine, they can't tell the time that we're in. Jesus was standing before the people in our text. He says, you hypocrites, you can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it that you do not discern this time? What time are we living in right now? Well, the Bible says that in the last days, perilous times shall come. It says because of those perilous times that we're in, it says that men will be lovers of their own selves. That's where we're at today. Lovers of their own selves. Scratch my ears, that's what Paul said was gonna happen in 2 Timothy 4. Tickle my ears, tell me what I wanna hear. That's the time we're living in. And the sad thing is that a lot of preachers today are doing just that. They're figuring out, how can I tickle the ears rather than preach the word? You know, I heard recently that there's a church that is trying to get people to go to its college. And so what that church is doing is they're enticing the young men in particular to, because young men like sports a lot of times. So they're saying, if you want to play sports in our gym, you have to enroll for a certain number of classes. What kind of a student is that gonna make? If that's the incentive that you have to get them to go to Bible class, you have to teach that, give them some sports to play. Years ago, we were warned with regard to youth programs Whatever you cut the teeth of the youth that you're trying to draw in, whatever you cut their teeth with, you have to keep entertaining them. You have to keep bringing something new out because otherwise they're going to say, ah, we'll go somewhere else. That group has more entertaining things than you have. I'm tired of that. Give me something new. And that's a danger, was a danger back then, and it's a danger today. That we are, that's why we can't fill the pulpits. Because young men are not going to Bible school because they want to know God, because God is calling them to some kind of a full-time ministry somewhere. They're not going because of that. They're going because I can play this sport. I'll endear the classes, but that's what I want. I want that sport. Shame on us. If that's what we're going to entice them with, what are we going to keep them with? Now, the good news is that occasionally one of those young men will get struck by the word of God and realize, I need to get serious. But we need to be careful that we're not setting distractions in front of our young people that's going to keep them from being able to discern this time. There's a great need in any generation, there's a great need in our time for people to hear the word of God. A great need to actually hear the word of God. Forget the distractions, we don't need that. Just hear the word of God. The Alpha Program, I don't recommend it, but the Alpha Program enticed people to come by a meal. We'll give you a free meal, and then we'll try and sneak something in from the Bible. And oftentimes it wasn't the truth anyway. But that's the mentality. Can't just say we're having a meeting tonight, we're gonna preach the word of God, we're looking at, we can even have a series if you want to, but people are not interested in that. You gotta give me something else. And if you can give me that something else, that'll tickle my ears, I'll endure a little bit of preaching. I read a short clip this week about a well-known preacher in the state says, if you're preaching more than 20 minutes, it's too long. Because people don't have an intention span beyond 20 minutes. Well, that's sad if that's the reality. If that's the reality, there's a real problem. So I've gone over that, I better quit. But that's the sad thing. We don't discern the time we're living in, the dangers that we're facing that are all around us, and we don't have an answer. And the reason we don't have an answer is because we're not willing to put in the time to get the answer. We're not willing to take the time that's necessary to have God, even when we're saved, we're not willing to take the time to be groomed in our hearts and our spirits to the truth. You know, I've mentioned it before, and again, because of the internet right now, And I've talked to some people too about this, you know, looking at Charlie Kirk. I don't know if the man was saved, but when everything that I have read about him, because he's so popular right now, everything that I have read about him, all the counselors that he had around him, all of them were at best watered down. Many of them were not even saved. I don't know if any of them were saved. Now, we can say, well, he was a young man and he was searching and who knows where he would have come to. Yeah, that's true. But again, as we looked at in Sunday school too, if a man is saved, if a person is saved, the Spirit of God dwells in that person. And the Spirit of God, the Bible says, will guide you into what? All truth, not all error. So when you surround yourself with only people who are error, how are you ever gonna get to the truth? And if you're saved, is God gonna leave you there? Is that the God of the Bible? That he surrounds his people with error and says, oh well, that's where you're at, that's okay, as long as you know Jesus. That's not the God of the Bible. And so a person can be can be submerged in new evangelicalism, can be in an emergent church, can be in a charismatic church, can be in a Catholic church, and if that person gets saved, the Spirit of God is gonna move them out of that and into greater truth. That's the Spirit of God that I read about in the Bible. That's the God that I read about in the Bible. That's the God that I have personally experienced in my life being raised in New Evangelicalism. In that system until I was 35 years old. That's the God because in my years from 20 on when I was saved, I was very lackadaisical till 35. But even in that time, I was not satisfied with what I was getting in New Evangelicalism. Why was that? Because the Spirit of God was in me and he was trying to get me out of that. and he broke me to the place where I got out of it. He's good. God is good. And so we need to be careful. For myself as a preacher, I need to be careful not to give in to the ideas of the world today. Well, the only reason you can't get more people here is because you don't have enough entertainment going on. Get a bingo night going on or have some popcorn sometimes or something like get some activities going on to draw the people in. No, no, they need to hear the word. The word of God is what people need to hear. And so we need to meet them where they are, listen to what they're saying, but we need to give them the word of God. And when you do that, you soon see it on the face of them. You see it in their attitude. Not many are interested. It's a sad reality. But God says that's what time we're living in. It's a great falling away. And I'm thankful for any church that is drawing people in, but make sure that you're drawing them in with God's methods, not the world's methods. We don't need Christians that still need to be fed pablum. We need Christians that can stand up and men in particular that are willing to say, there's an area there, that church, they need a pastor. Money? Well, yeah, I can see that's a small area. There's not a lot of employment in that area. I don't know how I'd make a living and so on. But you know what? If you put God first, he'll open ways for you to survive. He'll provide. He's done it for us. He's done it for others. He's good. And we don't always know where the money's gonna come from. We don't know how we're gonna do it, but you should put God first and don't get caught up in the things that God says, seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you. Everything that we need, not everything that we want, but everything that we need will be there if we put him first, if we learn to discern this time. We're not expecting the Lord's first coming, we're expecting his second coming now. We're seeing how that our world is moving closer to that. Mr. Trump, I think, is a great introduction for the world. Where is that man? Mr. Trump has brought peace in eight different wars, they say. And the Nobel Prize was dedicated to him, not given to him, but dedicated to him by the woman who received it. Mr. Trump is not a peacemaker. He is a compromiser who has lured people into compromised position, who is forcing Israel to give up its own authority for the sake of terrorists. But he is another stepping stone in preparing the hearts and minds of many people across the world for the Antichrist. What's the Antichrist gonna do when he comes? He's gonna be known as a peacemaker. He's coming in riding on a white horse and he's got a bow in his hand, but he's got no arrow. He doesn't need an arrow because by the time he comes, the world is gonna be so gullible and so hungry for a man to come and solve the world's problems. and they're gonna embrace him. I'm thankful for the conditions that Mr. Trump has been able to influence in different parts of the world. I'm thankful. But it's completely wrong to look at that and say, he's the man. He's a lost man. He's on his way to hell unless he gets saved. He's a lost man. He needs our prayers. But his method of peace, Jesus says, the peace that I'm gonna give you is not like the world gives. You see, they still have to have troops in Israel and Gaza because they have to try to keep this peace. And it's not gonna last. If you've paid attention at all to Islam, if you've paid attention at all to Hezbollah, to Hamas, you know that it's not going to last. The name may change. But the philosophy remains the same. Why? Because Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace. And unless he rules in the heart, there is no peace. God says that several times. We looked at that in one of our devotionals this week. There is no peace to the wicked. That's what God says. It's not what man says. So if we want to help our generation, if we want to help our people today, it's going to be when we get into the word of God and make that our complete and absolute authority. And we don't hold our noses and say, well, this is the best that we have. No, the best that we have is the Bible. That's the best that we have. So let's not settle for anything less than that in our own lives. We can't control the world. But when we're talking to people, when we're raising our families, when we're trying to influence something, the Bible is our authority. And the people around us need to know that. That's the answer. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we're thankful that we have thy word, thankful that we can look at the weather outside, we can look at the clouds, we can look at the winds, and we can determine things there too. We can see the weather patterns in our area, and they're helpful for us. But there's something that's of far greater concern that we should have a much greater interest in than what the weather patterns are. And that's the souls of people. the thoughts of people, what they're saying, what they're doing, and how that we need to have an answer in this time in which we're living. What's going on? What is it that our God is doing? What is it that our God is trying to get us to see? I pray that thou wouldst help us, those of us that are saved, that we would be able to determine, to see, to discern the time that we're living in, and that we would be able to give an answer when we talk to our neighbors or that stranger even, that we can give an answer that can help them. They may get upset with us when we give them that answer, but that's the good news of thy word. It's powerful. And even though they get upset when we give them that answer, that word is still in their mind. And it's still going to have an influence even as they walk away cursing and swearing. So we're thankful that we have such a great God who is so merciful towards us. I pray that thy will would be accomplished in our hearts and lives today. Anyone listening that's not saved that they would see that the hope that they need to have is to turn to Thee in repentance and trust in Thy Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, for their salvation. May Thy will be accomplished in the heart and life of each person listening today, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.