pure minds by way of remembrance. I know that many of us, I know I have a lot of friends in the Memphis area, we're all very concerned about the election this coming week and what might befall our great nation if we lose it and forget so much of the great blessings that God has poured out upon us as a nation and as a people. I'm fearful in my own regard that I take for granted too much. As someone that's been to many countries overseas, I can testify that our nation has been blessed above any nation that you could travel to. And I'm afraid we have come to take for granted many of the rights and privileges that God has bestowed upon us. And as a result of that, this morning's title to our message will be, Speaking Truth to Power. As Brother David has already challenged us, you know, Jesus is the one that taught His followers, His disciples, in Matthew 5, verse 16, "...Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Jesus is the one that taught us that we're supposed to be an influence in the culture in which we exist. And we're supposed to be contributors to the light and the salt of our culture. There's a passage in the Old Testament I want to start with, and then we'll go to the Gospel of John. But I want you to open your Bible with me to the 25th chapter of the book of Psalms. In Psalm chapter 25, I want to notice something with you before we try to look at how Jesus Himself spoke to the levels of power that were in existence in His day, namely Pilate. and the Sanhedrin court, but let's go back to the language of David, a thousand years before Jesus ever even came. And David, at the time of the writing of this psalm, had not yet ascended to the throne. He was still a fugitive from Saul, and he was waiting for the fulfillment of God's promise to him that he would be king over Israel. But listen to what David writes, "'Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.'" That's what I want us to do this morning. "'Unto thee, O Lord, Do I lift up my soul? O my God, I trust in Thee. Let me not be ashamed. Let not mine enemies triumph over me. Yea, let none that wait on Thee be ashamed. Let them be ashamed which transgress without cause. Now here's what I want you to remember. Show me Thy ways, O Lord. teach me thy paths, lead me in thy truth, and teach me, for thou art the God of my salvation, on thee do I wait all the day. I want you to underscore in verse 5, he says, lead me in thy truth. If there ever was a time in American history, Christians need to speak truth to power. It's today. Many pundits have already conceded that it may be too late for our nation ever to reverse the downward spiral that we've been in, not just in the last four years, but in many years. We as a nation have neglected to regard, to fear the Lord, to honor His Word. And this is just being compounded each progressive election. We're seeing more and more distinction between light and darkness, aren't we? We need to stand. Brothers and sisters, I'm not here to preach a political sermon. Don't misunderstand me. But I'm going to tell you there are moral issues that are at stake in this election more than we've ever seen before. I'm here to testify to you as a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ that abortion is murder. And what anyone trying to defend or trying to propagate the slaughter of unborn children is nothing more than a sacrifice to ancient Moloch. It's a sacrifice to the gods of the heathen, the gods of the world, the gods of of darkness, if you will. So David's prayer is, Lord, I'm acknowledging that you are the orbiter of truth, and I want to be guided by that truth to the place you want me to be. That's his heart, even while he's on the run, even while he's not experiencing the security that he would in later years. There's a lot of questions in the mind of David in Psalm 25 that relate to many of the questions that we're asking today. I'm going to stand upon biblical grounds and preach or proclaim against abortion. I'm going to proclaim against homosexuality. I'm going to proclaim against the idea, the idea that is being accepted or embraced in our country today that it's alright for children to be transgendered for children to be operated on, to try to make something out of nothing, or make a girl out of a boy or a boy out of a girl. I'm telling you that's from the devil. It's straight out of the belly of hell. And it dishonors the God that creates life. Brothers and sisters, I want you to know we need to embrace truth. And with this truth, we need to be willing to speak to the levers of power in our culture. Now, let's go and look at the example of Jesus, our blessed Redeemer. Go with me to John chapter 18. I want to look at a couple of passages in John chapter 18 and John chapter 19, if God will bless us to do so. There was a man named seed, Spurgeon, that had many of the same concerns we have today about the darkness of humanism and atheism and agnosticism taking over the culture. This actually happened in England. This actually happened. During his lifetime, there was a transition in England where most of the population were Christian or attending Christian churches all across England. Well, that changed after World War II. And C.H. Lewis was writing about that, and he quoted something that I want to share with you about truth. He said, Truth forever on the scaffold. Now, scaffold is where they hang people, a criminal is hung on a scaffold. In England, that's what they did. Well, it says, Truth forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne. But that scaffold sways the future, and behind the dim unknown standeth God within the shadows, keeping watch over His own. Keeping watch, keeping watch, keeping watch over His own. What C. H. Lewis was saying is that even in the darkest times of a nation, Even when there's an abandonment of Christian ethic and moral principles, like England has already gone through, and our nation is in the midst of, yet he's acknowledging that there's God, and he's over all. And he's watching. He's watching over his own. Now in John chapters 18 and 19, a Bible student will recognize immediately this was when Jesus was delivered into the hand of Pilate. Pilate represented Rome. Pilate represented the greatest power in the earth at that time. He was empowered by Caesar, who was emperor of Rome, and appointed to this office, which was a very financially a grand office. He became very wealthy in this position as the governor of Judea. And he was exercising absolute authority. He was a man that was empowered to say a person could either live or die. So the Jews, not wanting to stone Jesus, not wanting to execute Jesus according to the Jewish law by stoning, which they did to Stephen a few years later, wanted him rather to suffer the worst death, the worst condemnation that a human being could ever suffer, and that's the death of the cross. So instead of them executing him, They're going to deliver him into the hands of the government of that time, Rome, and Pilate is that emissary. Pilate is representing the ultimate authority in the world during the first century. And that's where I want to pick up with you this morning. Remember, we're talking about truth speaking to power. Back up, if you don't mind, to verse 28 in John chapter 18. Then led they Jesus unto Caiaphas, and remember Caiaphas is the Jewish high priest of that time, unto the Hall of Judgment, which was built north of the temple and this is where uh... pilot would stay during the time of the the feasts so he's in he's in the hall of judgment and it was early that means it was before dawn which made it illegal and they themselves went not into the judgment hall lest they should defile uh... be defiled but that they might eat the passover now this is interesting to my mind they were so concerned about uh... moral defilement And yet, they were bringing the Prince of Peace, the very Messiah, and delivering Him into the hand of the Romans to be killed. See how blind they actually were? Brothers and sisters, I'm telling you, in the nation you're living in, and I'm living in this morning, there's a spirit of delusion. A spirit of deception. What they are calling liberty today is not liberty at all. What they're calling freedom today is not freedom at all. Because liberty and freedom without restraint or law or governance is nothing more than anarchy. But they can't see that. And I believe the same spirit of deception is seen here in our text where they deliver Jesus into the hand of Pilate. In verse 29, Pilate went out to them of the hall of judgment and said, What accusation bring ye against this man? They answered and said unto him, If he were not a male factor, we would not have delivered him unto thee. Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. And the Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death. And what they're talking about is by crucifixion. They wanted Jesus to be crucified. that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which he spake signifying by what death he should die. Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again and called Jesus and said unto him, Art thou king of the Jews? Now he's going to do some interrogating. He's going to ask him, Are you king? They say you're king. Art thou king of the Jews? And Jesus answered, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or do others tell it of me? Are you asking for yourself, or are you asking because someone else has told you this is my office? And Pilate answered and said, Am I a Jew? Am I a Jew? Should I know that? Am I a Jew? Thine own nation And the chief priest said, Delivered thee unto me. What hast thou done? Here's his interrogation. What have you done? Who are you? And what have you done? Jesus answered, Here we're going to get into the meat of the truth that Jesus is speaking to power. He's saying in verse 36, My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews. But now is My kingdom not from hence. You see, Jesus is saying that His kingdom is not especially connected to the earthly political or national entities, but a spiritual reality that transcends all time and space. He says, Art thou king of the Jews? Jesus says, Thou sayest that I am king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto what? Unto the truth. He's not going to deny who He is in order to get out of the judgment against Him in the court of Pilate. He's going to stand firm on what the truth actually is. That's right. And everyone, and listen to this, he says, and everyone that is of the truth, heareth me. Now this is what I want you to see. I want you to see what Pilate's response to the truth is. Verse 38, Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? I'm going to ask you that question this morning. What is truth? We're living in a very dark age in American history where they're saying that your truth is just as good as my truth, even though your truth contradicts my truth, they're both going to remain true at the same time. that contradicts every reason, that contradicts just ordinary reason, doesn't it? It's a contradictory term. What is truth? Ancient rulers, all through history, controlled levers of power, but that power was not derived from themselves. In the next chapter, chapter 19, I want you to underscore this one verse. In verse 11, Jesus answered Pilate again, Thou couldst have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above. Therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. Notice what he said. Notice his response to the power that was over him as a man. He was saying, you know, Pilate says, don't you realize that I can either set you free or I can condemn you as a criminal. Don't you understand that? Jesus responded to that. You would have no power over me except my Father which is in heaven give it to you. See, Jesus is acknowledging two things. He's acknowledging the reality of His heavenly Father, that He is the Son of God, that He is the Messiah, that He is the chosen vessel that the Father sent into the world to redeem lost sinners. He is who He is. He didn't change who He is to accommodate the culture. He didn't change His doctrine or His teaching to get out of trouble. or to be rejected of the culture. He didn't do any of that. He wasn't compromising anything. What he was doing was speaking truth to power. And brothers and sisters, if you study the Scripture, people tell me all the time, Brother Jeff, don't be so concerned about this election. Don't you worry. You believe in the sovereignty of God, and we're going to leave it in His hands. You know, one of the most troubling articles I read recently was an article that said in the last election, 35 million registered to vote Christians did not vote. 35 million Christians that are registered didn't vote. In other words, they didn't like either candidate. So because they didn't like either candidate, I'm just not going to vote. And the last election was won by less than 30,000 votes. You know, that kind of shook me up. I don't know how that affects you. What happened? What happened to Christians who would compromise their Christian duty to vote our moral values, to vote for those who stand up for Christian ethic? What happened? And brothers and sisters, the sad news is a lot of those same Christian people that are registered to vote are not going to vote this coming Tuesday. And brothers, I'm going to tell you, that has far-reaching consequences for our nation. It's a time for us to speak truth to the levels of power while we can, while we have the opportunity, because that opportunity is quickly fading. And that's my concern. But you know what I think about? I think about how many examples there are in the Scriptures of God's people speaking truth to power. I go all the way back to the time of Moses. Moses stood up to a man named Pharaoh, who was the ruler of Egypt, ancient Egypt. And he had one message. And Pharaoh didn't like the message. But his message was, it's time to let the people go. Let my people go. And God had raised up Moses for that very reason. He would not compromise the truth in order to be accepted of Pharaoh. He knew Pharaoh wasn't going to like what he said. He knew that. And Pharaoh's anger was against Moses. In fact, the last time Moses appeared before Pharaoh, Pharaoh says, Moses, if I ever see your face again, I'm going to take your life. You see, he thought he was the boss. He thought he was in control. After the children of Israel followed Moses out of the land of Egypt, remember that same Pharaoh got up his army, got his whole army, and says, you go get those rascals and you bring them back because I want to take old Moses out. I want to take him out of the way. And you know the story. And brothers and sisters, I think about that example of Moses. You know, Moses was like many of us here this morning. You know, he told the Lord, he says, you know Lord, you need to call somebody else because I don't speak eloquently. I'm not a man of a lot of education, as it were. I'm not a man of a lot of ability, as it were. But you see, God doesn't always call the qualified, but He always qualifies the called. He always qualifies those that He calls. He's always going to equip His people to be the sound of truth in the face of power. Moses. Yeah, that's right. Moses is a great example of that. Amen. That's exactly right. I think about a man named Sennacherib. He was king of Assyria. And you know the history books say that Sennacherib in 40 years never lost a battle. He had the largest army of that period of time, which was 185,000 men, and he never lost a battle. Everywhere he went, he experienced victory. But there was a time when He came up against Jerusalem, as the Scriptures record for us. And there's a man named Hezekiah, who was a good king, a righteous king in Judah. And oh, Hezekiah gave us a great example. He looked up to the Lord and said, You know, we don't have the power. We don't have the ability to deliver ourselves from this great enemy. But our eyes are upon You. He was trusting in God. Sennacherib says, Hey, I'm going to make you a deal. Listen to this. What a deal. I'm going to make you a deal. You give me all your men to be slaves. You give me all your women to be our concubines. You give us your children to train up in our way. and to indoctrinate with our idolatrous teachings. You give us that, and you let me take out one of your eyes, and we'll let you go free. What a deal! Wouldn't you take that deal? What a deal! But you know, Hezekiah prayed before the God of heaven. He put that letter out before the Lord, and he says, Lord, what do you want me to do? And you know what the Lord said through His servant Isaiah? He says, I want you to speak truth to power. And you tell old Sennacherib, you tell him straight up, not one of your arrows is going to land inside the city. And that night, one little bitty angel, one angel from the Lord went throughout the 185,000 man army of Sennacherib, and the Bible says they woke up dead. Now that's kind of a contradiction. How can you wake up dead? No, when Hezekiah and the children of Judah woke up, all of the enemies that they were afraid of were dead. They were taken out of the way. What happened in that scenario? Hezekiah, by God's grace, spoke truth to the levers of power. I think a lot about those three Hebrew children. Shadrach, Meshach, and who? And Abednego, that's right. They went up before Nebuchadnezzar, and Nebuchadnezzar made this great idol. Remember the story? He made this great idol that kind of looked a lot like Nebuchadnezzar himself, didn't it? And when the music started playing, he commanded all of the people under his rule to bow down to that image. But old Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego said, You know what? Old Nebby, you know what? We realize that you're telling us what to do. We realize that you're in charge of the laws of the land. We realize you've got all the power you can handle. But we're not going to bow to that image. We're not going to do it. You know what they were doing? Speaking truth to power. And I want you to know that when He put them in that fiery furnace, they didn't burn up, did they? They didn't burn up. And old Nebi went up to that furnace and he looked in there and he said, Hey boys, didn't we throw three folks into that fiery furnace? But I see four, and they're walking in the midst of that flame, and there's no harm to them. And I see four, and the fourth is likened to the Son of God. You see, they were speaking truth to the levers of power. And you know what? After that event, after they came out of that fiery furnace and they didn't even smell like smoke, did you know I can walk into a big room just like this auditorium and somebody can be smoking a cigarette in one corner and I walk in the other corner and I come out smelling like a cigarette? I got a good friend that asked me, Brother Jeff, do you think I can go to hell for smoking cigarettes? I said, oh no, you won't go to hell for smoking cigarettes. You'll just smell like you've already been there. You see? But when they came out of that furnace, they didn't even smell like fire. They didn't have any singed hair on their beard or on their eyebrows. Can you imagine? God was protecting them in the midst of that trial. What were they doing? They were speaking truth to the levels of power. I think about the great example of Daniel. Remember Daniel? Daniel. There was another king called Darius. He took the place of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. Another king rose up, whose name was Darius, and he was a Mede. He was king over the Medean armies, and he was ruler in the city of Babylon, and he really liked Daniel. And he made Daniel the prime minister of his province, the prime minister. He was his chief advisor, and there were folks jealous of him. And they knew that the only way they could find a fault in Daniel was to find it in relationship to his service to God. How can we get him? How can we set a trap for him? Ah, they said. They went to Darius and said to him, we need you to make an edict that if anybody prays to any other god over the next 30 days, then to you and your gods, let him be cast into the lion's den. And the Bible says that when Daniel heard about that edict, you know, that edict went out, you can't pray to anybody for 30 days. Sounds similar like a government saying you can't go to church, you can't assemble in the house of God for 30 days. You better bend, you better bow, or you're going to burn. But the Bible says that Daniel, when he heard that edict, went to his own house, opened the windows toward Jerusalem, and prayed just like he did at other times. Three times a day, just like he did before. Brothers and sisters, I'm going to tell you something that you need to hear. I'm a law-abiding citizen, but if there's ever a law that contradicts the clear teachings of God's Word, You and I should not obey that law. Daniel is our great example. And you know the story, don't you children? You know they put old Daniel in that den of lions. They threw him in there and he stayed there all night. But do you think those lions ate up old Daniel? Did they eat Daniel? Oh no, no, no, they didn't eat Daniel. Old Uriah ran down. You know what's interesting to me? I think old Daniel had the best night of sleep he ever had that night. He looked at those lions and those lions were... They thought they were going to eat him up, but that old angel just shut their mouth just like that. Daniel says, you know, he that keeps Israel neither sleeps nor slumbers, so that being the case, I'm going to go to sleep. and he slept all night. But you know the Bible says that old Darius didn't sleep a wink. He didn't sleep a wink. He didn't allow music in the house. He didn't eat. The Bible says he fasted all the night. He didn't sleep a wink and he ran down to old Daniel. He ran down to that demon and he says, Daniel, has your God that you serve continually delivered you from the mouth of the lions. And I think out of meanness maybe, Daniel waited a few minutes to answer. The Bible doesn't say that. That's 1st Jeff 2.3. But I'm just thinking that he's probably somebody like you and me and he might want to wait a few minutes. And then he says, O King, live forever. See, he's respectful of authority, isn't he? He's respecting the right of the government to rule over him. But he's not going to compromise the truth of God to satisfy the king of Persia or the king of the Medes. He says, O king, live forever. The God whom I serve has come down and shut the mouth of the lions because there was innocence in me. And before Him and before you, I have done no hurt." And the Bible says He pulled him up out. He pulled him up out of that den. You know what Daniel did, children? He spoke truth to power. You see, and there's many other examples, but let's hurry back to John. Let's talk about the greatest example in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's think about this for just a few moments together. Jesus is before Pilate, but He's not compromising. He's not going to compromise the truth of the Scripture, the truth of His Father. He's not going to compromise it all. He's going to speak truth. Where can truth be found? Now let's ask the question, where can we find what is really true? Write down Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse 4. The God of heaven is perfect and right. just and true. The God of heaven is the rock of our salvation. That was the acknowledgement not only of Moses in Deuteronomy 32.4, but also all the way through the Word of God. You see, brothers and sisters, the God of heaven is the citadel of truth. He's the source. He's the fountain of all truth. And David said something in Psalm chapter 31 verse 15, he says, My times are in thy hand. Deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from them that persecute me. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant, and save me for thy mercy's sake. David is acknowledging that it's the truth that he knows about God that is going to give him relief when he's facing his enemies. I don't care what that enemy is, brothers and sisters. It may be an ideology. In fact, I believe that we're right on the verge of World War III today, and it may be that for the first time in American history, we're going to be attacked from forces across the ocean. through nuclear bombs and so forth. But whatever that condition is, I'm not going to be afraid. I'm not going to be afraid because I'm going to stand on the truth. And the truth is that there's a God in heaven who is the source of truth, and that God in heaven is the one that rules over all the nations of men. I love what Nebuchadnezzar learned about this God in Daniel 4, verse 35, when he says that there is a God in heaven, who works His will among the inhabitants of the earth in heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth. And there is none that can stay His hand, nor say unto Him, What doest Thou? See, we're going to stand on that firm foundation of the truth. The God of heaven is the truth. He's revealed Himself in several ways according to the Scripture. He's revealed Himself through natural creation. Romans chapter 1 teaches us that even Even nature itself will teach us that there is a God, that God does exist, and that He is a Creator, and that He is a Sustainer. and that everything is dependent upon Him, even in creation. Also, secondly, in Providence. The God of the Bible is a God of history. History is His story, you see. He's the one that raises up kings, and He takes them down. He raises up nations, and He takes them down according to His own will and pleasure. In providence He has revealed His truth. He's always consistent. He's always the same. And I love that about the Bible. I love that about God Himself according to the language of Malachi chapter 3 verse 6. He says, I am God and I change not. Therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. I change not. Listen to what James said in the 2nd chapter of his letter. James said, "...Every good and perfect gift cometh down from the Father of lights, in whom there is no variableness, nor shadow of turning." You see, that's the God of truth. The God of truth doesn't change, brothers and sisters. Somebody says, well, you're too old-fashioned. You're too old-foggy. You need to roll with the flow. You need to adopt. Each generation needs to adopt your own morality and your own way of living. But brothers and sisters, the Word of God doesn't change. God doesn't change. What God said is wrong a thousand years ago is still wrong today. I didn't write that. That's not just my opinion. Brothers and sisters, we have God's Word to lean on. God's Word is the foundation of our truth this morning. We need to defend it. We need to embrace it. We need to share it with others. Let your light so shine before men. I believe that Jesus Christ is the standard of all truth. Jesus said in John 14, verse 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father except by Me. It's through Jesus Christ. It's not through Allah. It's not through Buddha. It's not through Confucius. It's not through Libertines. It is through the Lord Jesus Christ that we have access and acceptability to the Father. That's the truth, brothers and sisters. That's the truth of the Gospel. Jesus Christ is the measure of all truth. I love John chapter 1 verse 14 where the Apostle John writes this, The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory as the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and what? And truth. You see it? Do you see it? We don't have to guess about what's true and what's not. I mean, we have a Supreme Court Justice that can't even define what a woman is. Somebody said, well, define for us what a woman is. Well, I'm not a biologist. Well, I'm not either. But I know what the Bible says, brothers and sisters. I know what God's Word says. He created them male and female, and that means there's only two genders. That's the truth. You've got to stand on that. You've got to speak that truth to our culture, no matter what it costs. And as Brother David already told us this morning, you know, a high cost is involved in preserving liberty. And too few Christians today are willing to pay the price. And I think that's why our country is in the condition. Somebody says, well, Brother Jeff, you know, you can point to the colleges, you know, propagandists and all the things that are being rotten stuff that are being taught in our school system today. Yeah, I realize that. But I'm going to tell you, it takes Christians to stand up against those things to make them change. Because they're not going to change on their own. It's not going to happen by osmosis. Jesus said, You're the salt. You're the light. And what are you going to flavor the culture with? Truth. What kind of light are you going to bring to your job? What kind of light are you going to bring to your marriage, to your home, to your state and your nation? What kind of light? It needs to be the light of truth. Amen? So where are we going to find that truth? We're going to find it in God. How are we going to know how to defend it? We're going to know God's Word. Because in John 17, verse 17, Jesus said this in His high priestly prayer. Jesus said these words. He says, Sanctify them through Thy truth. Thy Word is truth. You want to know where to find truth? Look in God's Word. And it's not going to change with the flowing tides of human teaching or ideology. It's not going to change. Hallelujah. I believe we're commanded to apply truth to our everyday lives. Let's get three quick points here. In worship, in walk, and in work. In worship, in walk, and in work. In worship, remember what Jesus said in John chapter 4 verse 24? He said, The hour is coming and now is when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in what? In truth! For the Father seeketh such to serve Him." And I believe He still is. I believe He still is. Because I believe as long as the world exists, He's going to have a New Testament church in the midst of it. It's going to be here when Jesus comes that the church, the citadel of truth is going to be in the earth. It's going to be here. to worship in spirit and in truth. We need to walk in the truth. I love 1 Kings. We don't have time to go into this, but in 1 Kings 2, verse 4, we find that mandate to walk in the truth of the revealed God of Israel. I love what John said in 3 John, verse 4. He said, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. There's no greater joy, not only in the heart of a Christian father, but in the heart of a heavenly father. There's no greater joy in his heart than when his children in the earth are willing to worship and to walk in the truth. Hallelujah. We need to apply this truth to our everyday life. Don't we? In Titus chapter 3 verse 1, he says, Be ready to every good work. What's a good work? A work that's done in truth. A work that's done in truth. based on the truth of the revealed will of God in His Scripture. Ephesians 2, verse 10, the Apostle Paul said, well, back up to verse 8, he says, For by grace you are saved through faith in that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto what? Good works, which He hath before ordained, that we should walk in them. What kind of good works has He ordained? Works that are in accordance, in harmony with truth. Truth. How precious is the truth. You know, He said to buy the truth and sell it not. This is something that's better and more valuable than anything in this world. I'm telling you children, I have a lot of confidence that you're going to succeed with whatever you choose to do. You're going to be equipped and succeed in life. And I'm going to tell you that there's something more important than being a multimillionaire, a famous lawyer, a famous movie star, whatever that field of endeavor God would lead you into, I'm telling you that the greatest accomplishment that you'll ever know is to walk faithfully in the truth of God's Word. You do that, and you're going to accomplish what God called us to do, to speak that truth to the powers that be before us. So this truth is going to be regulating our worship, regulating our walk, regulating our work. And I'm going to close with this in John chapter 19. I love this. I believe Jesus is showing us the example. He says in chapter 19, verse 11, Thou couldst have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above." Brothers and sisters, I want to testify to the true Gospel. I want to tell people about a Father in heaven that chose a people in Christ even before time began. I want to tell them about a Savior that came into the world through His own shed blood. to take our place, to die a death that we deserved, so that we could live eternally a life that we could never earn or deserve. I want to tell people about that. I want to tell people about the truth. The truth of salvation is not based upon what you do. It's not based upon your worthiness. It's not based upon what you can accomplish. But it's based upon the sovereign grace of a sovereign God. I want to tell them about a Holy Spirit that brings about regenerating grace, a Holy Spirit that takes out the hardened, stony heart that we have by nature and gives us a heart of understanding, a heart tender toward the Word of God. I want to tell them about that because they need to hear it, brethren. They need to hear it. The hope of America is not communism. The hope of America is not socialism. The hope of America is not a government that takes over every institution and every part of a citizen's life and existence. But the hope of America is Jesus Christ. He's the truth. He's the way, the truth, and the life. And no man comes unto the Father except through Him. I want to close with this one thought. Please don't misunderstand me to say that government is not necessary or important. Don't misunderstand me. Romans 13. Just read it. The powers that be are what? Ordained of God. They're given to us. to preserve the good and to punish the evil. This is a necessary institution that God gave in the book. That's right. But brothers and sisters, when the levers of power become so great that the government says it's no longer permissible for you Christians to share your faith in public, or you Christians to meet together in public. or you Christians to have a radio program where you're propagating the gospel, or a newsprinted paper where you're propagating the truth of God's Word. When the government says that that is wrong and should not be done, that's when we need to rise up and speak truth to the levers of power, trusting that God, the God in heaven, is going to preserve us. May God bless us to awaken to this responsibility today. Thank you for your good attention and I appreciate you allowing me to share with you what God has put on my heart today.