Well, I'd like to invite you to take your Bible this morning and turn with me to Matthew chapter 5. Last Sunday morning, I shared with you what is happening with the Southern Baptist Convention, and because I have a great love for the church, I want this morning to talk about Jesus' commands for His church and offer a few more thoughts on this subject. As His church, we want to do what He has designed us to do, amen? And we want to be what He has called us to be. Those two things are essential for us as followers of Christ. William Gurnall, that Puritan, said, You understand what that means as we unfold this. There are actually five commands that I want us to focus in on this morning, and the first one begins in chapter 5 at verse 13. Notice what Jesus says. You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand. And it gives light to all who are in the house. If you were to take some time to read Matthew 5-7, you would see in this first point what Jesus is saying to His people. And Matthew 5, 1-12, the Beatitudes, this essentially is the gospel. This is the attitude that we come in with when we come to follow Christ. But one of the commands I want to focus in on this morning, and it's going to take me some time to unfold it, is this one right here. Jesus has called His church to be separate from the world. Now, why do I take some time to say that? Well, because what we talked about last week, the church has bought into the world's system. And we need to come back and reevaluate that and make sure that we're not doing that too. Now I know each local church has to do this and I trust and pray and hope that they do do this. But as you see from this passage here, we are to be the influencers in society, not the society influencing us. He says that we are salt. And what do you do when you put salt on your food? What does it do? It permeates, it influences, right? It changes the flavor or it adds to the flavor. Some cases it makes it taste a lot better, right? But the point is of influence. And then you take the second statement that he says that we are the light of the world. What does light do? Light exposes darkness. If you have a bug problem in your house, you walk in the middle of the night, you flick the light on, they get hit by the light and what do they do? They scatter. Well, that's what lost people do when you preach the true gospel to them. It's not that we want them to scatter. We want them to hear the truth. We want them to come to the understanding of that. So we pray that God, the Holy Spirit, will open up their hearts to what they're hearing, just as God opened up Lydia's heart when Paul was preaching the gospel to them. But he says here, salt and light. In John 8, 12, He said this, I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of light. And as he was saying that, he was saying also in this, that you can infer from this, be separate. You are not the world. If you know the Lord Jesus Christ, you are a new creation in Christ. You are no longer of this world. Satan is no longer your master. The Lord Jesus Christ is your master. Follow Him. Quit following the culture. Quit following the world. This passage right here, Matthew 7, 21, is probably the most haunting passages in all the Bible, but it says, in Jesus speaking, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. And what is the will of the Father? Practice righteousness. Not your righteousness, but the righteousness that God gives to you by faith in Jesus Christ. And he says that those who do not are those who practice lawlessness. And this passage is for them when he says, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. Now I give you those verses just to point out this universal truth. That that's what the gospel is. It's what Jesus said in Luke 9, 23, if any man desires to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. And the taking up the cross is daily. Some people believe that repentance is only one time when you initially come to faith in Jesus Christ. But repentance is a daily thing. This is what happens all the time in our life, not just one time. Do you think that after you came to Christ that you never sin again? There are some people that actually believe that. They believe in sinless perfection. They believe that the cross, that once you come to Christ, your sin is eradicated. Beloved, we still have this fallenness. We still have this flesh. And if you think that you don't sin, then you need to read Romans chapter 7. The Apostle Paul talked about that struggle with the flesh. Some of you may have struggled with the flesh this morning getting here. I hope not, but it does happen, right? And if you have kids, that happens. If you have grandkids, that happens. Just anywhere you have people, it happens, right? We are to be separate from the world. That should mark us as the church. Not of the world, as Jesus said in John 14 and 15, but separate from the world. And how you know when you're separate from the world is when the world begins to persecute you. They don't believe your philosophy of life. They don't believe in your God. They don't believe in Christianity. They don't believe in the Bible, and you do, and you live it in front of them, and that gets a reaction. If you live Matthew 5-7, you will get a reaction from the world. It'll either be positive or negative. It'll be one of the two. But I'm sure as you're hearing this, you probably thought of Romans 12. because specifically in Romans 12, 1 and 2, Paul says that we are to be living and holy sacrifices. And after giving them 11 chapters of doctrine, he now applies all 11 chapters to this main statement right here when he says, I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God. And this is the only sacrifice that is acceptable to God. A living, holy sacrifice. You're no longer dead in trespasses and sins. You are, according to Colossians 3 and Romans 6, dead to sin. So live like that. Sin has no longer any dominion over you. You now, because you have the Spirit of God and the chains have come off, the ability to walk in the Spirit. but you have to submit to the Spirit. That basically means you have to get out of the way. You have to die daily. You have to die to yourself and live for Christ. Galatians 5.16 says, walk by the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. It is a step-by-step, moment-by-moment process. Ephesians 5.18 says, be not drunk with wine in which is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. In fact, it says it this way, be being kept filled with the Spirit. And it's passive. It's not active. You can't fill yourself. The Holy Spirit is the one that has to fill you. He has to control you. And in Colossians 3.16, we're told how that happens. It says, Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you with all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart unto the Lord. How does that verse start? Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you. And if you study Ephesians 5.18 on into chapter 6 and you compare it to Colossians 3, you'll find that both are issuing in the same results. So what it means to be filled with the Spirit is to be controlled by the Word of God. And what is the one thing that the church is walking away from? That very lifeblood, the Word of the living God. And they're listening to the world. And they're being transformed and molded by the world. And that's why Paul says, don't do this. Do not be conformed to this world. But be transformed by the renewing of your mind. so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." And the world wants to mold you into its image. The world wants to tell you how to think. Notice as he says there, the renewing of the mind. We need to think on things above. Colossians chapter 3 is not just the only place that talks about that. Philippians 4-8 tells you what to think on, what to meditate on. Why do you think I spend a lot of time trying to urge you, encourage you to memorize Scripture? Because that's giving you what you should be thinking about. But you've got to take it the next step. It's one thing to memorize Scripture, but it's another thing to meditate on it. And you need to meditate on what you're memorizing. And that's something as a church we should be doing as well. Memorizing His Word, meditating on His Word, so that we live His Word. We are separate. We're not of this world. We're different. You're no longer the same person, and that should be evident in your life. Or maybe that change never took place. Maybe you never got saved. If there's no difference in your life, there's no visible evidence of fruit in your life, yeah, that's a problem, a huge one. Over in 2 Corinthians 6, When Paul was speaking to the Corinthians about their need to stop partnering with unbelievers, he told them in verse 17, And when he says there, come out and be separate, both of those are imperatives. An imperative is a command. And this passage, which originally is found in Isaiah 52.11, as Paul applies it here, and even uses the word therefore to refer them back to verses 14 through 16, which tells them not to be bound together with unbelievers. Listen as to why we're not to be bound together with unbelievers. He says, for what partnership has righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial? Or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God. Just as God said, I will dwell in them and walk among them and I will be their God and they shall be my people. The reason why we cannot walk or partner with unbelievers or be bound together with them is because we have no partnership with lawlessness. We have no fellowship with darkness. We have no harmony with Belial. We have nothing common, nothing of agreement with an unbeliever. And being separate is the characteristic of the blessed man that Psalm 1 talks about. Listen to what he says. How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night, and he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither, and in whatever he does, he prospers." You see, he gives a contrast in that psalm between the righteous and the unrighteous. The righteous are the ones that are blessed. The righteous are the ones who do not walk in the counsel of the wicked. They don't stand in the path of sinners. They don't sit with scoffers. No, their delight is in the law of God, the word of the living God. Albert Barnes says, since you are a peculiar people, Since God the Holy and Blessed God dwells with you and among you, come out from among them." That is from among idolaters and unbelievers, from a gay and vicious world. These words are taken by a slight change from Isaiah 52.11 and they're applied to Jews in Babylon. And they're a solemn call which God makes on them to leave the place of their exile, come out from among the idolaters of that city, return to your own land. But he also says that Babylon is the emblem of whatever is proud, whatever is arrogant, whatever is wicked, whatever is opposed to God. And that is an illustration of separating yourself from the vain, idolatrous, and wicked world. Believers have to separate from unbelievers because of their corrupting influences. You know, when I came to Christ, I went back to the friends that I had, not to continue to do what I was doing with them, but I went back in hopes of sharing the gospel with them. And when I went back and started talking about the gospel, they immediately did not want to be around me. Because that probably happened to you as well. There were two in my past back then that came to know the Lord. Praise God for that. One of them's in heaven now. The other one's a missionary in France. But when you go back around the world and you start talking about the gospel, either they're going to embrace it or reject it. And I know that in the marketplace, we work with unbelievers. We don't have a choice of the people that we work with. So you need to be salt and light. You need to speak the truth and live it in front of them. It's not just living it and never saying anything, but it's preaching the gospel. Unbelievers do have a corrupting influence, and that's why we have to separate. As I said, righteousness and lawlessness have nothing in common. Light and darkness have nothing in common. The temple of God has nothing in common with idols. We're separate. We're different. Ephesians 5, 6 says, let no one deceive you with empty words. And those empty words are when they're telling you that, listen, you can live any way you want. God doesn't care. You've got grace. Well, in Romans 6, Paul says, shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. Meginoti in the Greek, a strong negative. Perish the thought. May that never be. And then he says right here, don't let anybody deceive you with these empty words. It's because of these things that the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore, do not be partakers with them, for you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth, trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead, Expose it. That's what I want to expose right now. Because in our world today, we're getting hit very hard with socialism. And the countries that adopted a socialism before that, they weren't that, and they were hit just as hard as we're being hit, and what happened? What happened to the churches? The churches bought into it. Churches stopped being salt and light in their culture. And as I shared with you last week, the Southern Baptist Convention's doing the same thing. But this is stuff that's been going on for some time, and it's finally come to the surface. And last year's annual convention, they adopted Resolution 9 on critical race theory, using it as an analytical tool for the gospel. There's problems with that, big problems. But when you look at socialism, And it being on the rise, and you look at it in light of the scripture that we just heard, it's lawless, it's darkness, it's idolatrous, it's contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ. It disguises itself with ideologies like CRT or critical race theory or social justice. And if you affirm these things, then you're considered woke. You've been made aware of your systemic racism and what is in the culture and what is in your life and you're a racist whether you know it or not. It disguises itself in groups like Black Lives Matter or Antifa. Listen how the world defines what they're doing. In the Encyclopedia Britannica, They define critical race theory as the concept in which race is a socially constructed category. Well, first of all, I have a problem just with using the term race. We are people groups, but we're one race. We're the human race. We're the race of Adam. Adam is our federal head, first man created. We're not people groups made up of a bunch of races. Not biblically speaking. But they look at it as a socially constructed category. And they're critical of all races, except for one. And it's intended to maintain social, economic, and political inequalities along with holding the U.S. society as inherently or systematically racist. You know, when I look at America, America's made a lot of progress when you look at our history. But if you're rewriting history, you can't see the progress, can you? We're not what we used to be. We're different. But the direction that our culture is heading is like going backwards again. In an article that includes Ben Carson, This article states that black Americans qualify as victims based simply on their skin color and that white people are the cause of that victimhood and should feel ashamed. And if you want to know if you're woke, it will be if you feel ashamed and you're apologizing for being white. Do you have any control over what color you are? As a child, no. I mean, you know, parents can intermarry and so forth, and that's going to produce, based on genetics, skin tone and variations and so forth. But we shouldn't be judged by the color of our skin. Never should we be judged in that way. We should be judged by our character. I love Ben Carson. If you've never followed any of his story and his history, there is a movie on Amazon Prime, and it's about his life. It's really a good movie. I'd encourage you to watch it. But he said this about CRT. He said it's an attempt to use race as a mechanism for redefining our society, redefining what it's based on and how it impacts everybody. And it wants our people to believe that your race is the most critical determinant of who you are and what happens to you and our society. In other words, and he says this and I love it, it's a bunch of garbage. His dear mother challenged him and his brother to not be what everybody else was. He used to walk around saying, I'm dumb, I'm stupid. And she said, no, you're not. And then she also realized that they were watching too much TV. And she told them that you are going to check out a book every week. You're going to read that book in addition to your homework, and you're going to write a report on what you read and give it to me every week. And by doing that, she transformed their lives. And on top of the book that they would check out, she included daily Bible reading, daily being in the Word of God. In an interview with the Greg Kelly Reports, Ben Carson said that he has a unique position when it comes to race because he is a neurosurgeon, neurosurgeon. He said that when he peels back the scalp and takes the bone flap off and opens the dura, he's looking at the thing that makes a person who they are. It's not their nose or their hair or their skin that makes them who they are, it's their brain. And the way that it processes information, that's what determines your character. But go back to Romans 12. Why do you think Paul says, be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind? Satan attacks you at that level. He attacks the mind. And he puts things out there that slip you up, that cause you to doubt, cause you to question God. I mean, that's what he did in Genesis 3 with Eve. God didn't say, you shall surely die. He cast a doubt. And he's been doing that for ages. John MacArthur, in an article on the wickedness of critical race theory, he says this, that critical race theory is the vicious, pernicious, and virulent brand of identity politics that results when neo-Marxist social philosophy is blended with postmodern theory. And it's also a worldview that deliberately foments and feeds on resentment, strife, hatred, and division. and just look at the culture. Isn't that what you're seeing? Two groups I mentioned, Black Lives Matter and TIFA. As I said last week, no one would argue whether a black life matters or whether a white life matters or any life matters, though there are people out there that say, you can't say that. You can't say all lives matter. But to God they do, don't they? Amen. CRT advocates will tell you that being passive or silent about racism is not enough. In fact, they say silence is still racism. They say one must be actively engaged in tearing down racist systems, white supremacy, and white power dynamics in order to be considered anti-racist. This is a process that never ends because racism itself never ends. It only changes forms. And that's what's going on with the culture. And now that's what's going on with the church. And as I said, the Southern Baptist Convention adopted CRT last year in their annual meeting as, quote, a set of analytical tools that explain how race has and continues to function in society. And intersectionality is the study of how different personal characteristics overlap and inform one's experience. And let me just ask this. Knowing this will help you to present the gospel? I think having this information will stop you from preaching the gospel. Listen, everyone is a victim of sin. Not of your race. And again, I hate the terms. How can this be a tool for the gospel when it actually denies the gospel? It's Marxism. Again, John MacArthur says, in short, the doctrines of CRT are dangerous to society's well-being, but more they are unsound and unbiblical and utterly incompatible with authentic Christianity. CRT diverts attention from the real problem with the human race. All are sinful and under divine judgment. It removes the centrality of Christ and the cross. It turns the hearts and minds of Christians from things above to things on this earth. It obscures the promise of forgiveness for hopeless sinners by telling people that they are hapless victims of other people's misdeeds. It's devoid of love. He goes on to say, Christians are the last people who should ever become offended, resentful, envious, or unforgiving. According to 1 Corinthians 13, 5, love does not take into account a wrong suffered. The mark of a Christian is turning the other cheek, loving our enemies, praying for those who mistreat us. Christ is the example whose steps we are to follow. 1 Peter 2.23, while being reviled, he did not revile in return. While suffering, he uttered no threats, but kept entrusting himself to Him who judges righteously. Hatred, envy, strife, jealousy, outburst of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, hostility, divisiveness, bitterness, pride, selfishness, hard feelings, vindictiveness, and all similar attitudes of resentment are the self-destructive works of the flesh. The beneficial fruit of the Spirit produces the exact opposite attitudes. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. And 1 Corinthians 13 says, love keeps no record of wrongs and such qualities frankly directly contradict the core principles of CRT. The church cannot adopt this. But many have. Many have. It's dangerous. It's unbiblical. It promotes the works of the flesh rather than the works of the Spirit. It undermines Jesus' message to evangelize the lost. How can you evangelize if this is the tool you're using to do it with? Understanding whether people are racist is not the issue. Romans 3.23 says, For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The gospel is not that all are racist and fall short of the glory of God, but that all have sinned. Each person is responsible for their own sin, not the sin of others. And that's the issue with the gospel. But CRT, critical race theory, reverses it. I am not responsible for someone else's sin unless I'm teaching sin. I can't repent of something that I haven't done. And reparation is just as sinful as CRT that's promoting it. LGBTQ, whatever they call all that, events they had, they were charging white people reparation fees to attend until it was discovered. Romans 3.23 again says, All have sinned. And all need to hear the gospel that they are sinners. and need to repent. It's not a matter of color. It's a matter of character and deeds. They need to see that they've offended a holy God and they need to repent of that offense. I believe the gospel cuts directly to the heart and it reveals its ugliness. Yeah, racism is a hard issue. You know what the Bible calls it? Partiality. James chapter 2. And it's a sin of how we treat people. It happens in the church. People see somebody come in well-dressed, and they invite them to sit in a certain place, but somebody walks in that's not dressed like that, dressed down, maybe doesn't have a lot of money to buy nice clothes. Maybe wears the same clothes a few times. And they don't give them any attention, but they want them far, far away. That is sin. And all I can say is if you're guilty of anything like that, or if you're guilty of any of this that I've already mentioned, you need to repent. You need to see it for what it is. The gospel exposes all of this and offers Christ. All the ugliness of your heart, Christ is the answer. Ephesians 2.14 says, He is our peace, who made both groups into one, broke down the barrier of the dividing wall by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, the hatred, which is the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross by having put to death the enmity. So beloved, we have to call this for what it is, and we have to make sure each person in here has to make sure you're not buying into, quote, the garbage. Everything in our lives and everything in our culture should be seen through the lens of Scripture. This is an ideology. This is a worldview. This is why in Resolution 9 last year, when it was presented at the Southern Baptist Convention, that there were godly, conservative people that understood the issues and tried to get the committee to change its language so that people would understand the danger of critical race theory and to understand that this is a Marxist philosophy. But they were shot down. So we're commanded by Jesus Christ to be separate from the world. Next we're commanded by Jesus to evangelize the world. And we're to do it with His message. But if the church continues to adopt this wicked ideology, then there's no message from Jesus to evangelize with, is there? Because it's been obscured. It's been put in the back. No one can hear it. And what's the message? Here's the message. Matthew 4, 17, From that time Jesus began to preach and say, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repent of what? Matthew 5.48, therefore you are to be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. He's the standard. Everyone is to line up to Him. You're repenting of the fact that you fall short. You fall short of God's perfection. You fall short of the glory of God. You miss the mark that He has set to follow Him. See, we all have been imputed with the sin of Adam. And that gives us the sinful nature. We're sinners at conception. David said in Psalm 51 5, Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. And as we grow, our hearts begin to reflect that we're sinners. Jesus said in Matthew 15, 18, and 19, but the things that proceed out of the mouth, they come from the heart. And those defile the man, for out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. And you could take Paul's list in 1 Corinthians 6 and Galatians 5, and you could just add to that. You could take the list in Revelation 21, But that's what you're repenting of. And if you're not sure if you're a sinner, then just put yourself up against the Ten Commandments. Have you ever taken God's name in vain? Have you ever lied? Have you ever stolen? Have you ever lusted? Have you ever committed adultery? Jesus said if you look at a woman to lust after, you've committed adultery with her in your heart. That's what you're repenting of, and each person is guilty, and each person is to blame for their own sin. I can't confess the sins of my kids or my wife. I can confess my sins. I can't confess the sins of my grandkids and it be forgiven. Yeah, I can plead on their behalf. We see a lot of that in scripture, but each person's responsible for their own sin. And each person needs to accept that responsibility. And with all this CRT and all this social gospel, all this social justice, it's taking away that responsibility. Because everybody's a victim, unless you're white. Because you're the cause. See how satanic it is? In Romans 5, 6, it says unbelievers are called ungodly. Verse 8 says that they're sinners. Romans 3.10 says, There is none righteous, not even one. There is none who understands. There is none who seeks for God. All have turned aside. Together they have become useless. There is none who does good. There is not even one. Their throat is an open grave with their Tongues they keep deceiving, the poison of asps is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness, their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their paths, and the path of peace they have not known, there is no fear of God before their eyes." That was you and me before Christ. That should not mark us now. You sin because you're a sinner, and Jesus says to repent and believe the gospel. And the gospel is the good news that He paid for that sin in His own body on the cross. He stepped in and took our punishment. We deserved death for our sin. The wages of sin is death. But He stepped in and took it for us. We deserve judgment. He took that for us. We deserve hell. And He took that judgment for us too. Romans 8-1, to a believer there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. No condemnation. This is the message that has to be preached instead of a social gospel. And remember this, as Thomas Brooks said this, till men have faith in Christ, their best services are all but glorious sins. Did you get that? Till men have faith in Christ, their best services are but glorious sins. So we have to be separate, we have to evangelize with the message of Christ. Third, we have to trust Christ. And I'm not talking about just initially for salvation. Yes, that's a given. But every day we are to trust Him. When Jesus fed the 5,000, He was saying to His disciples, trust Me. He was saying to the crowd, believe in Me. When He came to the disciples walking on water, in essence, He was saying what? Trust Me. When Peter said, can I come to you on the water? He said, yes, come. Peter had to trust Him. It's only when he looked around and saw the waves, and the storm, and the wind, and all of this going on, and he began to doubt, and he began to sink. But Jesus was right there, put His hand in his hand, lifted him up into the boat. Beloved, 2 Corinthians 5.7 says, We walk by faith, not by sight. Galatians 5.5 says, We, through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. Proverbs 3, 5, and 6. This has been a passage I've been meditating on all week. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. Jeremiah 17, 7. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord. Isaiah 26.4, trust in the Lord forever, for in God the Lord we have an everlasting rock. He's worthy of our trust. D.L. Moody said, trust in yourself and you're doomed to disappointment. Trust in money and you may have it taken from you, but trust in God and you are never to be confounded in time or eternity. So be separate from the world, evangelize with Christ's message, trust Him. Fourth, love Him. Love Him. When's the last time you prayed that? Lord, I just want to tell you I love you. I love you. And how are we to love Him? Go to John 21. Go with me to John 21. Peter was told how he was to love. In John 21, and we can get a lot from this. In John 21, beginning at verse 15, So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these? Do you agape me more than these? Agape love? And Peter said, yes, Lord, you know that I fillet you. You know what fillet means? I like you a lot. Jesus is saying, do you love me like I love you, that I'm fixing to give my life for you, I'm fixing to die on the cross for you? Because he'd already told them, greater love has no man than this, than one lay down his life for his friends. And he said, you're my friends if you do whatever I command you. And he was about to lay down his life. He was about to demonstrate that love. And so he's asking him, Peter, do you love me like that? And Peter's response, no, I love you a lot. So he said, tend to my lambs. He said to him again, a second time, Simon, son of Jonah. Do you agape me? Do you love me? And he said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I phileo you. Use the same word again. He said to him, shepherd my sheep. He said to him the third time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you phileo me? Now Jesus is using his word. Peter was grieved. Should have been. Wouldn't you? He was grieved because he said to him the third time, Do you phileo me? Because he used his word. Do you even like me a lot, Peter? And he said to him, Lord, you know all things. And you know that I phileo you. Jesus said to him, tend to my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wish, but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you and bind you where you do not wish to go. Now this, he says, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he said to him, follow me. Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following him. The one who also had leaned back on his bosom at the supper and said, Lord, who is the one who betrays you? And so Peter, seeing him, said, Jesus, Lord, what about this man? Aren't we so good about comparing ourselves to others? And Jesus rebuked him. He says, if I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me. You're the responsibility in all of this. Don't worry about him. You worry about you. Are you willing to make the ultimate sacrifice in your love for Christ by laying down your life for Him? Because, beloved, to come to Christ, that's essentially what's happening here. You die. If any man desires to come after me, let him deny himself. That's a disownership of yourself. That's disowning who you are, your hopes, your dreams, your passions. You're dying to all of that. And now you're taking up your cross daily and following him. You die daily, as Paul said. Do you love Jesus like that? In Matthew 22, 36, he was asked by a lawyer who was testing him, Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? And Jesus said, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend the whole law and the prophets. And that's what the gospel does. It confronts that love. Do you love all these things more than you love him? Do you love your life more than you love Jesus? Do you love him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength? Do you love him like you love yourself? Last command I want to mention, just pigtails off this previous one, is obedience. Jesus wants us to obey Him. You could say you love Him all day long, but if you never obey Him, then you don't love Him. Because Jesus said in John 14, 15, If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. Said in verse 21, he who has my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves me. In verse 23, if anyone loves me, he will keep my words. Loving Christ is obeying Christ. And that's the only proof that we have to express our love for him. Mere words are not enough. There are a lot of people that say they have a profession of faith in Christ, but they don't have the obedience. And beloved, that's the gospel. Turn with me to John 3. John chapter 3. And I've told you before about verse 16, the word that he uses there about believing whoever believes in him. That's the same word that's translated commit. or entrusted in verse 24 of chapter 2. Same Greek word. So when he's calling on people to believe, he's calling on them to commit. Look at the end of chapter 3. Look at verse 36. He who believes, and it's used in the present tense. Present tense in Greek means this is an ongoing action. He who continues to believe, we could translate it. in the Son has eternal life. But he who does not continue to obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. Continuing to believe, continuing to obey. And beloved, when you're presenting the gospel to people, that's what you're calling them to. You're calling them to obey the gospel of Jesus Christ. In 2 Thessalonians 1, Paul said this. He says, this is a plain evidence of God's righteous judgment. so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God for which indeed you are suffering. For after all, it's only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you and to give relief to those who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day and to be marveled at among all who have believed for our testimony to you was believed." You're calling people to obey the gospel. So do you love Jesus? Do you obey Jesus? Are you being separate from the world? Are you evangelizing with His message to unbelievers? Are you trusting Him for all things? Remember, Judas heard all of Christ's sermons. And he is in hell right now. If you've gotten caught up in this whole socialist movement, You need to repent of it and you need to understand that the gospel is the true liberator. And what we're seeing in society and in the culture and burning down the systems, because that's what they want to do. They want to burn it all to the ground and start it all over. But it never ends the problem. Does it liberate anybody? It just enslaves another people group. Believe me, I am not advocating that everything going on in our culture, everything going on in our government is right. But who established the government? Romans 13, God did. And 1 Peter 2 tells us that we are to submit to the governing authorities. And the only time that you're given in Scripture where you do not have to do that is if the governing authorities are telling you to disobey a clear command from God. Acts chapter 4. That's the only time. And take the example of the apostles. They were even gracious as they told them that we are to obey God rather than man. You judge whether it's right to do that. But we know that this is what we're to do. As we close out this morning, would you please? Pray for the church. As a whole. Pray for this church. I can't control what everybody thinks or believes, but I can give you the information, you know. I can tell you what the Word of God says. I can call you to it. And my prayer is that you will follow. Don't be part of this woke movement. What does woke mean? To be awakened. It was a slang term. You're now awakened to your racism. And you need to repent because of your skin color. Because of your supremacy. I agree with Ben Carson. That's a bunch of garbage. And I agree with John MacArthur, that's the worst thing that has come into the church. Will the Southern Baptists recover from this? Well, time will only tell. My prayer and hope is that they will. My fear is that they won't. Because you get this stuff deeply embedded And now we have a president of this convention who is a liar. He's a plagiarizer. Watch more of it this week. If you want more on this, I encourage you to go on YouTube, pull up Justin Peter's ministry. I spent an hour and a half on it, but he took J.D. And Ed's sermons put them together and you can just hear it back and forth. And like I said, I take my notes. If you want a copy of them, you can have them. If you want them later, they'll be online when the sermons up and you can go to all the places where all these things that I shared with you are and you can read them for yourself. Father, we thank you for your word today. We thank you for the privilege that we've had to study it. We thank you. Lord, that we as a church have not adopted any of this. And I pray we never will. We never will be deceived by it. And Lord, I also pray as we prepare for our next study, our next book study in First Peter next week, I pray that you would just begin to prepare our hearts as your words give us those truths in First Peter one. And Lord, that we will Again, live out the truths that we're exposed to. Help us as a church, we pray. Thank you, Father, also for each person that you brought today and each of our guests. This is, as you know, Lord, not normally our Sunday mornings. It's normally in a book. But Lord, I know that at times we have to speak about what's going on in the culture, especially as it affects the church and what we as a church are to do. So we pray that you help us. And I pray, Father, for anyone in this room that has not embraced the gospel of Jesus Christ. Lord, draw them to yourself now. And save them, I pray. We pray all this in Jesus name. Amen.