Is that really happy? It is. So I didn't know if I was allowed to give her a hug or if she still needed her bubble. So I went in the classroom over there and she said, yeah, you can. I'm not recommending that for everybody, OK? You have to be someone privileged like me. But no, it was just, as you all know, we continue to keep Abby in your prayers because, you know, it's still an ongoing recovery process for her. you know, issues like cancer are no respecter of age, you know, gender, or whatever. That's true. And so, at any rate, that was a great blessing tonight. Just seeing her and Dalty come in and, you know, he's so funny. You guys need to record that boy. He's got thoughts. You know, if you're watching online, he's five, six? He told me how old he was. He's seven. He told me tonight. He said, I'm seven years old. I'm like, Yeah, man, go. Anyway, we're glad y'all are here. I think that was the most fun prayer request praise note time we've had in a long time. Thank you, Oscar. I haven't laughed that hard back there, just laughing. And Mike Jones, I thought, you know, I thought I got the answer to your problem. Your mother-in-law is a one-way ticket here from Mexico, and Mike just happens to know somebody who's coming from Guatemala and is planning on going back. She could just, you know, get a connecting flight from Guatemala or something like that. I don't know. That's great. All right. We're going to be in Luke chapter 1 tonight and your Bibles. Yes, Pastor Danny? Yes. Yeah, I'm gonna try to stop a little early and give you guys 10 minutes or something. Some of the guys just help us clean up back there, get ready for, we have a movie night this coming Sunday night, right? So our Sunday night service will be a family night, and we're gonna have a great, great time. There'll be a separate movie for the kids, little kids, so we just have something for everybody, you know? It's gonna be great. Now, I know the drive-in people, it'll be a smaller screen than you guys are used to dealing with, but Steven can make it work, right? All right, we'll see, we'll see. All right, we are studying the life of Jesus from the all four gospel accounts from a Jewish perspective, using all four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and kind of going through it chronologically. And we're going to look at the life of the Messiah. And we have really very much in the beginning of our study, we're still looking at the birth of John the Baptist. We've studied a little bit about his parents. You know, they were in their 60s, and the wife had never had a baby, and now she shows up pregnant, and God says it's going to be the forerunner of Messiah, John Baptist. And then we've studied how the angel Gabriel then shows up at this young girl, Mary, and tells her that she is going to be the mother of the Messiah, and also tells her that her cousin, Elizabeth, this 60-something-year-old lady, that she was pregnant as well, and Mary leaves Nazareth and goes down towards Jerusalem, and now has entered into the house, and when she enters into Elizabeth's house, we studied last week how John Baptist, even in the womb, jumped for joy and pointed his own mother to the Messiah, an amazing, amazing soul. If you ever say, does the Bible say that life is inside the womb? I think it's pretty clear. It is. But tonight, we're gonna move on to something else. We're gonna look at a very, I guess it's somewhat of a famous song, in terms of Bible, I guess it is a famous song. It's called Mary's Song, and it's Mary's response to Elizabeth and what she just got done recognizing about Mary's pregnancy and the coming of baby Jesus, and also in recognition of baby John Baptist's declaration of Messiah. I entitled tonight's Bible study, Bible Billboard Top 100 Songs. Think that'll get any views back there or will it get us kicked off Facebook? I don't know. Bible Billboard Top 100 Songs. When I remember when I was a teenager, because I don't care about it anymore, but I remember as a teenager back before the internet was a big thing that we used to have to listen on the radio for Casey Kasem You know, the young people are going, who? All the old people go, I know who that is. Sinners, you should know who that is. But, and he would go through and go down through the top 50 songs or the top 100 songs. Mike, wait, you're sitting there with that guilty look on your face like, yeah, I did that, you know. And that was only, you know, and everybody, oh, what song became number one? You know, what's the most listened to song in school? That was the discussion. I mean, if you'd have told me even then as a teenager that secular music, if you'd have handed me the lyrics from 2020 from pop songs today, when I even as a teenager, Man, I just said, man, if my parents find me holding this lyrics, I'll be in trouble just from holding the lyrics, you know? It's sad where it's gone, but we're gonna look at a Bible song tonight, and matter of fact, the Bible has really a lot to say about songs. When I wrote in my notes famous songs, I thought I'd ask you, can you think of anywhere else in the Bible where are famous Bible songs? The Song of Deborah, I wrote that one down. Remember in the book of Judges where Deborah was used of God to deliver the people. Anybody else? The Song of Moses, all right? Remember Moses after, I think it's when they got over on the other side of the Red Sea, I think. Anybody else? The Song of Solomon, you gotta kind of put the Song of Songs in there, don't you? Yeah, that one's a little, yeah, yeah. Actually, in Jewish tradition, you couldn't read that till after you'd been through your bar mitzvah. That was an outlawed book of the Bible, and it's partly because we don't understand some of the pictures that are going on there. But I thought that one, anybody else? There's also the Song of Miriam. you know, Moses' sister, which is the Old Testament name for Mary. So, there are several of them in there. There might be more. I didn't go through and exhaustively look. I didn't Google it. I just used the old, you know, this Google. So, we're going to look at, to me, one of the famous songs that, unlike today's songs, lyrically is very, very powerful. Matter of fact, Dr. Frutenbaum says that this song reveals two things. First, it reveals the extent of the spirituality of Mary. Do you ever stop and think about, maybe if I made this point, if I asked you to consider this, if you could wrap up the entirety of the music that you listen to, does it demonstrate the extent of your spirituality? Interesting question, isn't it? Now, y'all know my position. I mean, I'm not an exclusive, you know, only Christian music, but I'm a strong pretty much there, you know, that music's very powerful in what it does to us and how it affects us. In some ways, the reason I think kids identify so strongly musically, and we could see that generation by generation, is that it identifies us in some way. And so if that's the case, if I were to take all the music that you listen to, what does it identify of you? But at any rate, Dr. Fruttenbaum says, number one, it shows the extent of her spirituality. Number two, it shows the extent of her knowledge. Now we're going to look at this more next week, but in more depth. But we're going to see that most of her song is really Scripture. And of course, we didn't even name one of the great songs in the Bible as the entire book of Psalms, right? It's the songbook, so you could really take all 150 of them if you, you know, they're all great, great music. And so basically, we see these two things, we see the two main foundational elements of biblical music. Is it spiritual and is it scriptural? That's pretty good. Is it spiritual and is it scriptural? Now, I would put that in contrast to is it spiritual or is it fleshly or is it scriptural or is it naturalistic or is it atheistic or is it whatever you want to put opposite of scriptural. And I think that's something we ought to evaluate. Now, that being said, I grew up for a while in an era that somebody told me exactly what kind of music was the only accepted kind of music. You know, I don't find that in the Scripture. I find a lot of different musical instruments that are represented in the book of Psalms, and I don't think it's nearly as black and white as some of our independent Baptist brethren like to make it think it is. You know, I think music is—you say, well, that— I got an argument, that appeals to your flesh, you know. And I said, but classical music is okay. Yeah, yeah, because that doesn't appeal to your flesh. And I would ask him, I said, let me tell you, because I like, I kind of like classical music. I actually like it whenever I'm really sick. Like whenever I've come back from seeing Dr. Miller or something and I've had my tooth extracted, you know, and I don't feel good, you know, I'll sit there and put on classical music and it's healing. But if you've ever gone to a really skilled orchestra playing some of Beethoven or Bach, whatever tends to be a thing. I'm telling you, I've known people that it can bring you to tears without saying a word. Now isn't that appealing to your flesh? Ooh, never thought of that. Well, I know so I I all I'm saying is I think there needs to be balance brought here on Is the music driving you to something away from God or towards God and then we need to be discerning? Even in our evaluation of it because like everything else satan is really good at it but but the two things I can say is does whatever types of music you're listening to as you utilize that in your life over six months or a year, is that driving you to a closer walk with God or not? I think we can answer that question if we're honest with ourselves. Can I look at whatever that is, and can I line up the message of what it's saying, and does it line up with Scripture? I think you can ask that question. Unfortunately, I think I'd go, there is some, you know, when you make the argument, there's some secular music that touches on biblical truth. Yeah, you know, I'd say there probably is. I'm sure there is. But it's a difficult thing, but I will tell you this. It's something that you need to have discernment on and you need to be considering because I think music has a big influence in your life. And we see it here that Mary's about to break out in a song, or at least that's what it's called, is Mary's song. And so we're gonna look at this. It really describes what she sings out what God has done for her. And I wrote in my notes, you know, what has God done for us? Or what has God done for you? And so I thought I'd take a minute and throw it out to you. If I asked you tonight, if you were to write you know, Pastor Danny's song, which that would be a sad song, but if we wrote a song, DT's—I should say that for DT, you know, but DT's song would be really short, you know, right to the point. But if I had asked you, Pastor Danny, a song that was about what God has done for you, what would you say? All right, Danny says he took him from a horrible person to a less horrible person. No, that's not totally what he said. I just, I just used a different translation. Yeah, that's the message version. That's right. It's the message. That's good. But no, he's saying that, you know, God saved him and changed his life dramatically. And amen to that. Anybody else want to give a word? What has God done for you? I would write the song of your life. Anybody? No one else say anything? Come on, y'all. He kept you alive. I think that would be the name of your song, DT, but he kept me alive from your whole life, one way or another. Yeah, yeah. And for a couple of them, I was alongside there. I appreciate God, you keeping them alive, because I needed someone to pick on. I saw another hand. Debbie, I think I saw your hand. Yes, those need to be dead. Yes, yes. Not if you do it good. I know Brock had one in his driveway one time and he He goes, why come my gun's not loaded? But Debbie says a song of protection, and she's thanked the Lord recently at her house. They had a poisonous snake that could have been, it was very visible as opposed to being not so. Anybody else want to say anything? Joe? Song of provision. Jehovah Jireh. Good, yeah. Christian school teacher, and the last couple years have been interesting in your life, and you're still here. Place to live. What else? God provide him with a vehicle when he needed one. Yeah, I know. Sometimes it's so hard to trust God and then sometimes there's somebody who's been there where he didn't have anything. Then when God brings you through it, you're like, how come I had such a hard time trusting God? But it's always easier to say on the other side than when you're in the middle of the, you know, the trial. But anybody else? These are excellent. Yeah, Taylor? Song of mercy. Amen to that. Yeah, song of mercy that God doesn't give us what we deserve. Instead, he gives us grace. Amen, the song of encouragement. Yeah, wow. Y'all are good. Okay, I wondered, I wrote in my head, I thought to myself, I wonder if anybody will say anything. Especially with, continue to pray for Mike O'Brien. Mike and Julie continue to battle some sickness, so keep Mike. Looks weird, I look over here and he's not there, but good stuff. All right, well, let's read from the scriptures what Mary says about what God has done for her, and we're gonna look at the first part of it tonight, verses 46 to 50, where the Bible says, And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. For he hath regarded the lowest state of his handmaiden, for behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath done to me great things, and holy is his name. And his mercy, there's Taylor's, is on them that fear him from generation to generation. So Mary begins in verse 46 and says, And I'll tell you, isn't there a difference between magnifying God, making him bigger in our lives, from our soul, as opposed to just going through the motions? And I think if you've lived for the Lord in a length of time, you've probably done both. Sometimes we get dry points in our Christian life, and you know, our faith isn't all exciting, but I gotta tell you, somewhere along the way where you decide as an adult, you know, like Joshua, you know, as for me and my house, we're gonna serve God. And I think that's a fundamental decision that you make, most people make as they grow into adulthood, come rain or shine or whatever else, by the grace of God, we're gonna serve God, and I'm gonna love him from my soul. you know, that tsuke in the Greek, the inner me, the real me. And I can still remember, for me as a Christian school kid, it really was a process, and I think I would tell you that I don't think I really made that until I was out of Bible college. I had a degree in theology, and I don't think I really fully got there until we got out a little bit. And so God does it with different people at different times in our own individual walk. But I thought it was interesting, she says, when she begins to magnify God from her soul, it says, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. That when you magnify God, you lift him up in your life, do you realize, you say, how do I know if I'm doing it? Because it always leads to rejoicing. Every time. You put God first in your life and you focus on who God is, it brings us to a point of rejoicing. And that is why through the really dark times in your life, don't lose sight of God and don't lose faith in Him. The dark times are where you need to see that light the most. Because sometimes in our lives, and I have been there and I imagine all of us have, if you've lived any length, that there's not a whole lot that I really want to praise God for what's happening around here. But that doesn't mean I can't stop praising Him for who He is and for what He has done for me. And so her magnifying her soul led to a rejoicing, and notice her definition, in God my Savior. So she's rejoicing in God, but notice she says my Savior. Now, who needs a Savior? Sinners. People who are in a desperate situation need a Savior. You can use that term loosely. You can use it in a political sense that I feel like our country is going to be desperately in need of someone on our political scene that has a political backbone to do what's right. But ultimately, spiritually, and for all of humanity, we need a Savior from our biggest problem, which is that we're all sinners. and that our sin separates us from God, and Mary knew that she was bringing, through her, God was bringing the Messiah to the world, who would save the world, and one of the people that needed that atoning sacrifice was her. Unfortunately, there's a big quote-unquote Christian denomination that teaches that Mary was perpetually sinless. The scriptures do not teach this. Again, Mary ought to be edified and lifted up by the body of Christ. She was a great hero of the faith, and sometimes I get irritated that Christians don't want to acknowledge her as one of the great role models for women, because she is. But she recognized, when she magnified God and saw how great God was, one of the things that does to you in my life and your life is when you start looking at how holy God is and how righteous He is, it makes us realize that we're not. And when we realize we're not, then we are recognized, boy, I need a savior. I need someone to bridge that gap between me and God. And that's what Jesus came and did. And Mary rejoices in God that God, the Son, and God as a whole, the triune God, is where salvation is found. And so she acknowledges that. Now in verse 48, she goes on. Matter of fact, in verses 48 through 50, Dr. Frutenbaum points out that three times Mary uses the word for To kind of say what she's what she's what she's magnifying God for notice in verse 48 For here's the first time for he hath regarded the lowest state of his handmaiden So the first thing she's thankful for is that God regarded her lowest state now remember we've talked about this Why was Mary a person of lowest state? Because she didn't own any real estate Probably didn't. Remember, where was she from? Nazareth. Nazareth was a dumpy town of the day. It was the wrong side of the tracks. She was poor. She was a nobody. But she praises God that God doesn't evaluate people like people evaluate people. I'm telling you, this is a liberating fact when you accept it. And I'll tell you, whenever I get a chance talking to teenagers, it's one that, boy, I have teenagers which they in junior high and they battle this and we all did going through that time of life where, you know, who am I and where is my worth found and I've got a lot of people like me. And when you realize that God's opinion of you is all that really totally matters, if you make God happy, then there's other benefits to it. But Mary was a nobody. And yet God looked at her, and he didn't just see some nobody from the no-name town that was on the wrong side of the tracks, that didn't have any money, that wasn't of any influence. He looked on her heart. Remember that God says he's no respecter of persons, the Bible says? I think we live in a day where a lot of people think God's a respecter of persons, and they're going to be really, unfortunately, saddened to find out that he is not. I thought about it, and I only wrote down a couple because I need you guys. It's Wednesday night, and if I don't keep you thinking, you'll be out of here. Can you give me another Bible example where men evaluated somebody one way, but God evaluated that person differently? Can anybody think of anybody, a Bible character? Saul and David. Remember when King Saul came on the scene, everybody wanted to vote for Saul because he was taller. You know, God has never liked tall people. If you are over six foot tall, you are probably out of the will of God and a bad person. I'm probably just got myself kicked out. No, I'm just a bitter short guy. Actually, I'm not really all that short. I got measured the other day at the doctor, and I'm still five foot nine and three quarters, so I've lost a quarter of an inch in the last several years. But I'm gonna get every quarter of an inch of how tall I am. I'm probably taller than you, so quiet over there. Now, you're a spiritual height over there. You know, and Mike Waits and Mike Jones, Steven, I'm a little worried about you guys maybe making it to heaven. I don't know. Remember, they said, King Saul, he's this tall, good-looking guy, you know, and David, you know, David, he's this ruddy, short, red-headed kind of guy, you know, and God chose the ruddy, short, whatever kind of guy. Now, obviously, it wasn't because he was tall. You know, although we do have Zacchaeus, you know, he was a wee little man. Anybody else think somebody else where different perspectives came in? Esau. That's a good one. I didn't have to have that one written down. Esau and Jacob, where, you know, Esau was the older one, and he was the rough tough, and everybody said, oh, Esau is the man that the blessing, and God said, no, it's going to be Jacob. Very good. Anybody else? Job. Okay, that's an interesting one. Yeah, he got judged pretty harshly, didn't he? By his own friends and telling you dirty, rotten sinner. Anybody else? Well, you guys are coming up more than I did. The widow's might, all right? She was probably very much low thought of, and yet God said, you guys think she's nothing, but to me, she's done this great thing. I thought about the other one I wrote down. Remember the little boy at the lunch, the five loaves and two fishes? and was it Philip, one of the apostles, says, no, this little kid's got this annoying lunch he's brought. It's got five loaves and two fishes, but I mean, what is that among so many? That's Ken's translation there. You know, and Jesus said, you've got the wrong perspective on this little boy and his faith. You know, so be careful about thinking and buying the lie of the devil that because of the mistakes you've made in your past, the things you've done wrong, or where you come from, that you can't be used of God. Matter of fact, in spite of being a nobody, her second for is the last half of verse 48, Despite the fact she was a nobody, she says generations are going to speak of her, and here we are thousands of years later, and we still are. Now, this one might be a little, I don't know, controversial, but consider this. Never lose sight that God rewards his servants, and oftentimes he names them. Read your New Testament. At the end of almost every New Testament book, God names people that were faithful servants. Now, you might say, if I were to write a song about me and say, you know, I'm rejoicing in the fact that a hundred years from now in the United States of America, in Prattville, Alabama, they're still going to be talking about Pastor Ken. I have no illusions that ten minutes after I'm dead, you know, that'll be Jenny, maybe. You know, Jenny and Addie Bure, my granddaughter. Those two are probably still talking about me. That's probably where it'll stop. But you might say, if I were to make that statement, well, that's kind of egotistical. You know, but Mary's not saying anything on really out of egotism. She's just acknowledging a truth. So sometimes when God uses you, I know we have been trained that you can never say thank you, but it is not wrong for you to recognize if God uses you to bless somebody, to encourage them, and they come to you and they say, thank you for how God used you in my life. And for many of you who are looking around here tonight, I'm looking in your eyes, you pretty much, most, if I've known you any time, you people in this room are that to me. That you've been there for me, you've blessed me, you've encouraged me on my walk. And you say, oh, you know, it's nothing. No, it is something. and it's okay. That's why I don't have a problem, you know, in churches. You know, we don't try every single week, you know. We're not one of those churches. I grew up when I was a young, when my parents were younger in their faith, we used to go to this independent Baptist church that whenever this pastor would come out from the little doors back here, right, Joe? Joe Nolan can give me an amen on this. He was part of the cult. You didn't know Joe Nolan got saved out of a cult. But whenever he would come out of the doors, everybody had to stand up and applaud. and everybody had to go, you know, like this for him. And I remember being a teenager in there going, oh, this makes me wanna, and I was just a stupid teenager, but I guess I was smart enough to know that was stupid. But it's not wrong for a church to recognize faithful service of a pastor, faithful service of a church person. And Mary says, I'm rejoicing that generations from generations are still going to call me blessed. You know, now the thing I find funny or ironic about this, in Mary's day, right here in Luke chapter 1, when all these events are going down, and Mary, when she eventually does leave her cousin, which is going to be six months later, so when Mary goes back to her hometown, she's going to be six months pregnant. What do you think people in Nazareth are, when they talk about Mary, what are they going to be saying? Bad girl, bad girl, bad girl. Yeah, I don't know, you know. Thank you, that's all I can hear. Whoever said that, that's all I can hear. You know, you think her reputation was trashed around town? You think she might be the most judged person in the village? She had to endure that for quite a while, maybe for a long, maybe for the entirety of her human life, I don't know. But when we talk about Mary tonight, unless I brought that up, was that the first thing you thought about Mary? We consider Mary to be, you know, one of the heroes of the faith. You say, what's your point? Today, millions of people are not talking about Mary's unfaithfulness. We talk about Mary's purity. We're talking about the exact opposite thing that Mary was identified as in the moment. My point is sometimes when you do right for God and you choose to do the right thing, you are going to get labeled very poorly. People are going to say you are evil. People are going to say you're wicked. But you have to know, and I can't answer this for you other than going to God's Word, are you doing what's right as God's called you? And if the answer to that is yes, let God defend your reputation. Because a thousand years from now, when we're dead and gone, and we're in a place called heaven, if you did the right thing, God knows, and I have a sneaky suspicion, many other people will know as well. Now the last one of the four, and we'll stop tonight in verse 49 and 50. Four, there's the last one. The last one is, notice she says, He that is mighty has done great things to me. You know, she doesn't say God's done a little bit for me. She doesn't say God's done little things. One of the greatest barriers that Christians have to overcome is the belief that God can do great things through you. Now, be careful here because don't take great as defined by humanity. Take great as defined by what God says is great. Because what God says is great is often very different from what man says is great. And yet, Oftentimes, I know when we first took this church, and sometimes I still fight it. So don't say it because I'm inside either. I might verbally rebuke you or inside at least I'm thinking it. This is not a small church. Nothing against small churches in number. Don't misunderstand. But I can tell you that the gospel message because of what you folks do prayerfully, financially, and the fact that we exist, that the gospel is going out in dozens and dozens places around the entire globe because of what our local ministry does. This is a big thing. You know, it's easy in our humanity when we think something is little and insignificant, it's easy to blow it off. Why not? Because it's not that important. See? That's a big sneeze. Now if Wanda were here… I wish Wanda… Wanda, if you're watching, you know, Wanda's the best sneeze. Right, Sarah? That was pretty good, didn't I? That's a pretty good Wanda sneeze. She's my favorite, but that was pretty good. But don't let Satan tell you that God can't use you to do great things. And you know, I think it's a great thing, maybe what God uses you to do, maybe you're a stay-at-home mom, and I hate it when people say, I'm used to stay-at-home mom. No, maybe if that's what God has you to do, and you do it the best you can do it, and that's what God, it's a great thing. Don't let anybody tell you differently, and that's why we think, oh, I'm not doing something great like that person over there, you know, and trust me, we pastors, we have an issue with this, don't we, Danny? And I want to be on everybody's TV all across the land, you know, and if we're not running a million people in church on Sunday, you know, we're not doing enough. But that's wrong. Just do what God calls you to do and realize that it's not unimportant, it's important. Mary recognized that God was going to do great things through her, not weak things, not little things. But he does it inside of his holiness. And in verse 50, he does it with his mercy. And notice he shows that mercy from generation to generation. Aren't you glad that God's mercy, the same mercy that was available to Mary, is available to you and available to me. Now there's only one qualifier that God the Holy Spirit, through Mary, puts in the song. Did you notice it? And His mercy is on them that fear Him. It's not on everybody from generation to generation. It's on those kind of people that fear Him. Now, what does it mean to fear God? Anybody? Respect? To be in awe of Him. I found it interesting, a very little known verse in the Bible is found in Malachi chapter 3. kind of brings this whole thing full circle about fearing God and seeing God use you and doing great things and people making a judgment, but God makes a different judgment. The Bible says in Malachi 3, verse 16, There's that same principle. The fear of the Lord spake often to one another. They were involved with the remnant, other believers, and the Lord hearkened and heard it. And a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his name. So Malachi the prophet says there's this book in heaven, usually it's referred to in theological books as the book of remembrance, just taken right out of the scriptures, where God writes down the servants that fear him and that think on his name. Now again, I always ask questions. Does God need to write something down in a book because he's going to forget? I forget, you forget, we all forget. God doesn't forget. So why does he write it down in a book? Anybody? Any suggestions on why then does God write it down in a book? So we can read it! Think about that. I don't know, God will be the judge, and that's why don't walk away and say it's only pastors that are going to do that. It doesn't say that, it says him that feared the Lord. And when you and I do what is right, maybe nobody else notices it. Maybe even it's called evil by those who don't want to hear righteousness, whatever. But God notices it when we stand by faith and we stand in a holy fear of God. And I love how Malachi says, that feared the Lord. And then in a demonstration of what is that fear of the Lord, that thought upon his name. Does that just mean that I sit around all day and think the name God? Pastor Danny's laughing. I'm glad he saw the humor. And that really is kind of absurd. He's talking about God, as you read the Scriptures, takes His name really seriously. That's why when people want to take God's name in vain, I'm one of those—you've heard me say it, I'll say it again. I don't like any kind of profanity and all the, you know, I'm kind of those kind of guys, old-fashioned, but I'd rather hear the MF word than I would hearing someone take Jesus's name in vain, if I had to choose. It really rackles me. And I'm telling you, when you mess with the name of God, Remember the Ten Commandments? Can you say them in order? Think about it. Don't mess with God's name. It's talking about when God writes his name, and in the Hebrew there's several names that God has. I used one of them tonight, Jehovah Jireh, God will provide. But his name is a demonstration of his character. And when we think about God, and I keep focused and we think on his name, and I realize that God is a righteous God, and I realize God is a holy God, I realize God is a providing God, as I keep God in my name, guess what? It impacts the way that I actually live. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, lean not on thy own understanding, in all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Mary, she rejoiced because, boy, God did great things through her because she had a proper fear of God. And I encourage us in these troublesome days and difficult days, just remember who God is and trust it to Him. Tony Evans uses an illustration that I thought applies to me as a car guy, and I got some car guys here tonight. Anybody who happens to drive a really fast car, if you're blessed to own a really fast car, not your Toyota Corollas and not your Honda Odysseys, okay? I always think it's a good idea, and a friend of mine gave me this wisdom and said, when you get a really fast car, you better buy a radar detector. because you don't realize how fast you can be going really fast. Right, Josh? Okay, back. Josh has got his head down on the back. We got a whole club of us here. I'm not gonna name any other names. But when you're going down the road, I have one of these things in one of my cars. It's not in my pickup truck. And every now and then it goes bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, And when I hear the bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, I know one of two things is true. Either I'm going by the CVS pharmacy with its little door center unit out front, or there's a squad car around. Or both. Or both. Wisdom. And all of a sudden, it affects the way that I'm driving. That's why I think having radar detects is good for anybody, because it does make you aware. Here I'm driving down the interstate, and I have done this a time or two, and even in a faster car that happens to have a really nice radar detector. I'm cruising along at a safe speed for the car, as the car was made to go. And I'm going along, all of a sudden, beep, beep, beep, beep, comes on, you know, and I go, back it off, back it off. And so, you know, my little stallion that has hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of horses under the hood. And now I'm going another really good speed. Now these other people are coming by me in minivans now. You know how embarrassing it is to get passed in your sports car by a minivan? It just doesn't sit good with me. Right, Brock? It just doesn't. You don't care. He doesn't care. Yes, he does care. Yes, he does. But I know that up ahead on that stretch of interstate, I know what's coming. You ever seen one of those where the police have those like those those sting things that have got 15 cars lined up and they got one person set ahead with the gun on the overpass and then they're just tagging cars and once you go another half mile, they just come off the interstate and pull you over. You ever seen one of those? You know, well that's what's up ahead and now I know it's there. But the guy in the minivan, who's now mad at me, going, look at that guy, he's got that sports car, and he's just going, blah, blah, blah. And he goes zooming on by at 90 miles an hour, which is full speed for the Honda Odyssey. Don't you love it when about two minutes later, you're cruising by in your 500 horsepower sports car, and there's the guy in the minivan with the police squad car behind him with the window down. And I know what you do. You do what I do and roll down the window and go, ha, ha, ha. You see, if you knew there was a police guy there, the enforcer of the law, and you were to go by at 90 miles an hour, you'd call that person an idiot and a fool, right? I'm just telling you and Mary's telling you, God's out there. And He is holy. As an unbeliever, you're going to give an account to Him. And as a Christian, we're going to give an account for our service. And as you go through life, every now and then, maybe a problem comes that you think is a big problem. You know what it is? It's God giving you a little radar detector. He's going, Think about what you're doing. Think about the direction you're going. because the accounting day with your Savior is up ahead. Mary has a great song. Next week, we're going to look at the last half of it and learn some more truth. Great song, right? Billboard Top 100 Christian songs, Mary's song, and very good. Thank you for tuning in tonight. We're glad you have. We're going to say a word of prayer and be dismissed. Lord, thank you for the teaching of your Word tonight. Thank you for the way you've blessed us so very much. Bring us back together. We do lift our nation to you, and we lift Israel to you today as well. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you for being here. God bless you. Oh, before you go offline, you can go by. I got one quick thing to do.