In the power of Christ, we stand and we praise you, O Lord of the ages. Father, bring your ageless truth into our hearts this morning anew. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. And you may be seated. And you can open your Bibles this morning, again, to Matthew chapter 7, if you can find it. It's the first book of the New Testament. It's chapter 7. And we're near the end of chapter seven in the reading this morning. And I'm gonna read verses 21 through 27 this morning. And so Matthew writes these words of Jesus, and Jesus said, not everyone who says to me, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven. but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, done many wonders in your name? And then I'll declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I'll liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock, and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on the house, and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand and the rains descended, the floods came, the winds blew and beat on that house and it fell, and great was its fall. Oh Father, add your presence and your instruction to this, your holy word, we pray in Jesus' name this morning. And so the Lord Jesus says, not everyone who says to me, Saying things is overrated, and who knew the Lord actually has requirements for people. There's actually stuff that has to be done. And we're the hands of the Lord. We're the body of Christ. Not everyone that says, Lord, Lord, shall enter, but he who does the will. So once again, friends, the gospel gives us a passage that you'll not see on the local church marquee. We're in a time when inclusion is so much more in style than exclusion, isn't it? Exclusion used to be in style. You know, people would brag about the clubs they belong to, or the party they belong to, or the church they belong to. But today it's all about inclusion, isn't it? So inclusion is so much more acceptable to the popular mind today than exclusion. Do you agree with that? And here we find that our salvation through Christ is exclusive. Only some are getting in. Not everyone who claims it has it. Not everyone who's been sold it really received it. Pastor Ken once said to the Lord, Jesus is not afraid to be parochial. And that's true. He comes right out and says, not everyone who calls me Lord is getting in. In other words, there are what he calls hypocrites. Right? We don't want to be among the hypocrites. Political parties love to claim that they're a big tent. You've heard that verbiage, right? We're a big tent. What they mean is that they're widely inclusive of all people. They want all people to come in. They even want different ideas to come in. Right? Different ideas. The man on the street today would much rather claim to be open-minded than close-minded, agreed? People don't say, well, I'm really close-minded. I can be a little narrow-minded, can't I? The man on the street would rather claim to be open-minded. We find that Jesus even speaks about being narrow-minded. It's the narrow gate. Narrow is the way. Difficult is the way, right? In fact, it's so narrow, it's about the size of a man. Because Jesus said, I am the way. That's a narrow way. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through this narrow gate. I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live, and he who lives and believes in me shall never die. He who believes in him is not condemned. But he who does not believe is condemned already because he's not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Friends, these verses exclude masses of people. Right? They're exclusive verses. And we're often challenged with that idea. How often has it been that you shared the gospel of Christ and your ideas were thought to be uncharitable? Or arrogant? Or of all sins, impolite? to suggest that there's only one way into the eternal presence of a great God. God is great, he's massive, more massive and magnanimous and monumental than the whole of the universe and yet there's this narrow door to meeting him. And so people think it's uncharitable or arrogant or impolite to suggest that there's one way into the eternal presence of God and that we know it and you don't. People don't like that. But just to be fair, friends, every religious system does the exact same thing. I want you to know that. We all claim exclusivity with regard to truth and the reality and purpose and identity of an Almighty God. We all claim exclusivity, right? I don't see too many Muslims compromising on their faith and the attributes of Allah. The Jewish faith still holds tightly to the belief that Messiah has yet to come. They're not giving in, well, maybe Jesus was the Messiah. They're not going to go there with you. They still believe that the Mosaic Law is the common law for all men and the standard by which you come into the presence of God. They're not compromising on that, right? I was on a California beach recently, as you know, and I ran into a couple of very nice ladies, Jehovah's Witnesses. They're not as trained in scripture as I recall them to be. They're not as sharp as they used to be. I was actually amazed at how poorly they knew the scriptures, and I seem to remember that that wasn't the case when I've had people knock on my door in times past, but they don't give up on what they believe, on their theology. And so we talked about the deity of Christ. You see, the Jehovah's Witness faith has actually changed the wording of the Bible to suit an idea that they have about Christ. That he's merely human and not divine. He's merely human and not divine. When I turned them to the scripture, it almost like caught them by surprise. They were almost amazed that I not only knew the scriptures about this, but I knew the history about this. And she said to me, but it says in Philippians that Jesus made himself lower than God. And I said, but first it said he did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. which is a clear statement that was the exact opposite of what she remembered, but still she wasn't going to be deterred by her mistakes and her misunderstandings. In other words, friends, we're really very narrow-minded when you come right down to it. So back to our verse, not everyone who says, Lord, Lord, But before I elaborate on the passage, I'd like to point out that though confessing with our mouths is a necessary part of conversion, personal testimonies are overrated. People could say anything, right? Romans 9.10 tells us, if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. So there is a part of it that is spoken, right? So I in no way will try to diminish the spoken part of our faith. However, what people say about themselves is often a far cry from what scripture points out as the mark of a true believer. How a person chooses to represent himself is often far from the truth of who they really are. And if anything, the verse we have before us is one of the many doctrinal checks, if you will, over the truthfulness of the things that we say. People say a lot of things, friends. People say a lot of things. And not everything comes from the heart, and even less comes from the heart of God. And that's what Jesus is reminding them. Try to remember, it took us months to get to this point in the Sermon on the Mount, and we're only in, we're in the third of the three chapters, all right? But let's not forget all the teaching that he gave already. And he talks about those being these sayings of mine, he says. And so he comes to this place when he says, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter. Luke's version says it like this. Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do the things which I say? You know, the simple answer I have always given to that question is, I didn't know what you said. I didn't come out on Sunday. I didn't go to a Bible study. I didn't open the scriptures. So why did you not do the things that I said? I didn't know the things that you said. I called on some amorphous being that I hope was there and would listen to me. When there was so much instruction, the concourses, it says in the Proverbs, right? Cry out wisdom. Wisdom's in the open square. There's plenty of places to find wisdom and the truth of the gospel. So the answer may just be as simple as I didn't know the things that you said. So how could I follow them? But I'd like to point out, it's incumbent upon us to know. We don't just get a pass because we were too lazy to find out. Verse 7-12 is the first use of the term Lord. Did you notice that? Did you pick up on that as you're reading through this? In Matthew's gospel, Jesus didn't talk about himself as Lord until this moment. And he says, Lord. The word is kurios. It's used throughout the scriptures. And it does, it It doesn't have any special status as a word. It's used in other places merely to recognize a superior social status, or a slave owner is called Lord, or an employer in some of the parables is called Lord. Right? Kurios. Same thing. We like to capitalize it, but the Greek doesn't do that. Right? We make it special. However, when Jesus uses it here in connection with entrance into the kingdom of God, it takes on a whole new emphasis. Jesus is clearly associating himself with the Almighty of the Old Testament. If you call me Lord, and I'm the way into the kingdom. He's solely responsible for permitting entry into the kingdom. Not Saint Peter standing at the door, as we often hear. Right? But Jesus is the door. He introduces a new concept with regard to association of his title with the performance of miracles. In other words, it's an implication of his deity that people would come and say, we've done wonders in your name, Lord. Right? We've cast out demons in your name, Lord. And so the connection is made more clearly than in previous passages where he declared himself sole authority as lawgiver. Remember the lawgiver passages? He says, you have heard it said, and then he takes the authority to explain what it means and add to the common understanding of it. And he says, but I say, you've heard it said, thou shalt not kill, but I say, if a man hateth his brother in his heart, he's already murdered him. He adds to it. That's real authority. It seems to me that this passage dispels what we call easy believism in our day. Just say these words and we believe you done got born again. You hear that kind of thing all the time, right? Just pray this prayer with me and it's all over and you go about your business, right? And yes, I'm being sarcastic. You didn't pick up on that, the sarcasm? The passage boiled down to its roots as simply this, doing is more demonstrative than merely saying, right? Doing says more than saying. And there are parables which explain this. I'm going to turn you to Matthew 21, 28 really quickly here, because it's just a few chapters over. It's called the parable of the two sons. And Jesus said, but what do you think? And now he's saying this to a group of people that are opposing him. He says, a man had two sons and he came to the first and said, son, go work today in my vineyard. And he answered and said, I will not. But afterwards he regretted it and went. And then he came to the second and said, likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir. But he did not go. So one said he would go and didn't go. And the other said, I won't go. And he went. He obeyed his father, even though he said he wouldn't. And so Jesus asks, which seems almost a rhetorical question, doesn't it? Which of the two did the will of the father? And people got the answer right. It's obvious, right? Doing says more about your intentions and your commitment and your love and obedience to God than just saying things. And that's really, friends, that's really the whole point of the passage. So I've always told you that conversion is more about being. Your whole being has changed, right? It's more about being than simply doing. It's more about being than simply saying. However, doing is still the only visible part of our being. Doing is the outworking of a genuine kinetic faith. You know what I mean by that? Kinetic is a faith in action, right? Faith does things. And it not only does things, but it does the things it says it does. It's truthful. The Greek word for faith recognizes no other kind of faith. From the lexicon we read this. The verb form to believe is this. Pistuo. You ever hear the word pistuo? The first definition says a firm conviction. The second definition says a personal surrender to Christ. So the first is a firm conviction, the second is a personal surrender to Christ, and the third is conduct inspired by such surrender. Friends, faith has to do with conduct. It has to do with things. That's the Greek understanding of this when Jesus said it. Faith is not static, it's dynamic. It does work. It not only says, it not only does, but it does what it says. It accomplishes what it claims to accomplish. And so as we progress in our own theological understanding, we should come to recognize that the new being that we have become in Christ will produce a different product than the old being that we left behind. It should produce something different. You know, we had a brother this morning talk about his old man passing away. And about the new man, well the new man's gotta have new works, new fruit, renewed, different things. You gotta say things differently, act differently. So faith isn't static, friends, it's dynamic. It not only says, but it does. And so as we progress in our theological understanding, we should come to recognize that the new being that we've become in Christ will produce new things. So Paul writes, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. I've always said you're saved out of something, this present evil world, but you're saved into something too. And the secret of that is you're saved into the church. We like to leave the church out of the equation, but the church is the body of Christ. He's the head. He's not a disembodied head. He has a body. And we are it. And we are the hands and the feet and the voice and the words of Christ. We are all those things. Now you may recall Jesus' comparison from other places in the Gospel accounts. From chapter 9 of this Gospel he said, and this is a great illustration, no one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. for the patch pulls away from the garment and the tear is made worse. Funny he knows all these sort of domestic things, you know. He says, nor do they put new wine into old wineskins. You see, wineskins are made of some kind of animal skin and the fermentation of the grapes in there cause the thing to expand. It's expandable. But if you were to take an old wineskin that's already expanded and filled it with new wine, it would burst. And so his illustration is well taken here. No one puts new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break and the wine is spilled and the wineskins are ruined, but they put new wine into new wineskins and both are preserved. So with regard to how the way of salvation is presented in many Christian circles today, it seems to me that the whole experience is based on saying, and does not proceed to any concept of doing, which is sad. It seems that way to me. In fact, it's so stressed. I've seen it stressed all my Christian life. Just say these words, right? Just pray this prayer. And you ask somebody, is so-and-so saved? Well, he prayed a prayer. 10 years ago, maybe 20, but he's all set. We're so afraid of incorporating works into the equation. I call it hypercorrection. I remember one time many years ago teaching an adult Bible study on James. The epistle of James is very practical. It's like the Proverbs of the New Testament. James is the cornerstone of faith being without works is dead, right? His famous statement. You gotta do stuff, right? Not to gain your salvation, but to express it. the new creature expresses himself in good works. That's the outworking of Christ in us. If it doesn't happen, it's not there. And so as I was teaching the Bible study, I promoted all these things. And one of my friends, he was a very good man of God. And he came up to me and he said, you got to stop with the works. You put works and there's not one thing we can do to get saved. And I said, I know, but we have the book of James. And they say, well, it seems to go against Romans, because Romans says there's no works. Well, Romans is talking about salvation, and James is talking about assurance. It's a different subject. So we're so afraid of incorporating works into the saving formula that we deny the appropriate place of works in the life of the new saint. You know, years ago, Franklin Graham, who I love, I love the Grahams and what they've done and their boldness. He just boldly comes on, buys commercial time now and presents the gospel. You're going to love Franklin. And he has the Samaritan's Purse, which we've given money to and probably should again because of the Texas thing. Years ago, he came and 10 of the churches, I was one of the churches who wasn't here. It was before we were even a church. And we all supported that. But because there were 10 churches involved who all had different theology, hopefully slightly different, right? When people gave themselves to Christ at the great gathering, and it was the Zyterian Theater. Was anyone there? Does anyone remember this? Brenda was there. down in New Bedford, when people came to Christ, some of us were counselors and we would receive them and talk to them about their faith. We were not allowed to invite them to church. Do you believe that? I thought it was terrible then and I think it's terrible now. Because the other church might get jealous that we talked to more people than they did and got more people to come to our building than they did. I mean this is all it was about. We were not allowed to invite them to church. I just thought, We left them out there hanging. Now, just so we're clear, the common evangelistic idea is that we're saved by works, and that is, of course, bedrock gospel truth. But the favorite statement of that is also attended by the proper place of works in the relationship. And so I read to you something that many of you probably have committed to memory, Ephesians 2, 8, and 9, but I add verse 10 to make the point. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that is not of yourself. It is the gift of God, not of works that anyone should boast. For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works. Why were you created? Why were you created anew? For good works. And Jesus just gave us two and a half chapters of what those good works should look like. Which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. You don't have to search around for them. God prepared them and put them in your path. And even though he did all the work, he's given you the credit for doing the work. Boy, that is grace. Now, just so we're clear, the common evangelicalistic plea to ask Jesus into your heart is not found in the Bible. We do know that, right? I just want you to know, I'm not saying you could never use that phrase or anything, but when things become a cliché, and you know how I am about clichés, I get a rash when I hear a cliché. You know, I take pills now for it and I only get the rash if I repeat the cliche. So you'll never hear me say, ask Jesus into your heart, I'm sorry I don't say it. Okay? I don't care if you say it or if that's the way you were taught to say it. But once it becomes a cliche, it tends to lose its meaning, friends. All right? And so use the phrase if you must, but please resist the temptation to let the phrase become the emblem of the finished work. All right? It's not. How many of us have been disappointed by people that said the phrase, and are nowhere to be found? Right? Like the prodigal son, found out there in the pigsty of life, eating what the pigs ate. Right? We hear it often enough, just say these words, and you'll be saved. If you prayed that prayer with me, we believe you got born again. In fact, this inane process is so ingrained in the evangelical mind today, we sometimes go so far as to believe that apart from saying it, no one can be saved. You have to say those words. It's a mantra. You know what a mantra is? It's a Hindu prayer. You know what an incantation is? You have to say these words. It's priestcraft. An incantation is like a witchcraft spell. If you didn't say the words, you didn't get saved. Right? And we sometimes think without that we can't be saved. Now I got an illustration of this. I had a good friend and she was a wise Christian woman. And she talked about this very sad story of a revival meeting where a nominal, sort of liberal, unbelieving preacher went and he took his son with him, his adult son, right? And so they went there and the preacher did what revival meetings do and they called people to raise their hand. Raise your hand if you're gonna trust Christ with your life. And the boy went to raise his hand and the father put his hand down and everyone went, oh. And I said, honey, why is everybody sad? The kid got saved. He didn't raise his hand. You don't get saved by raising your hand. You don't get saved by raising your voice. You don't get saved during COVID if you turn your lights on in the parking lot. That doesn't get you saved. That's not how it's done. Receive with meekness the implanted Word, which is able to save your soul, James said, 121. Right? It's the Word that gets you saved. You know? Your father could jump all over you and dress you to the ground and try to hold back the faith that God put in you. It was the gift of God, not of works that anyone should boast. And that father's boasting he can keep it out. He can't. The kid got saved. There's no sorrow here. Just a father who didn't catch on the way the kid did. So now let's talk about election. No, not today. So I reminded them that we're not saved because we follow a certain set of evangelical directions. That's not how it's done. We're saved by faith in God, which is an inward thing that's done by God. Raising a hand or a voice or not raising has no effect on the divine calling of the human heart to the side of Christ. Saying a thing is vastly overrated, friends. The proof is always in the doing. The saying is necessary, but the proof is in the doing. Right? And James said it this way, faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. And he goes on to illustrate it this way. Someone will say to you, you have faith and I have works. Show me your faith without your works and I'll show you my faith by my works. And then he says this, and this is really the crux of the matter. You believe there's one God, you do well. Even the demons believe. Even demons have that much faith, but they tremble before God. But do you want to know, oh foolish man, that faith without works is dead, he says. So it seems to me that the faith of demons is the precise point the Savior makes in the passage. Demons don't merely believe there's a God. They know there's a God. It may be said of them that they also know who He is and they know who Christ is. The saying is not in the knowing per se. That's part of it. All these things are part of it. Right? Jesus isn't telling us not to say, Lord, Lord. He's telling us to accompany it with the works of the Lord. It's not in the saying, and if I had my way, I would reinvent the word believe. And I think I've told you this before. Believe has fallen on hard times. It doesn't mean what it used to mean. It doesn't mean pisteuo anymore. Because clearly it's not in the believing either. For even the demons believe that much. They have what I call a naked belief. It's not attended by anything. It's undressed. Right? A naked belief. When they confront God, they know who he is. Recall the demon possessed man from Mark chapter 1. Who Jesus said as he approached the man, the demon said to him, let us alone. What have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? This is the only guy in the synagogue who knew who Jesus was. Except the apostles that went in with him. But he's the only guy in there. He knew him. He wasn't introduced. But he could see him. And he called him Jesus of Nazareth. He said, did you come to destroy us? In other words, you're God. Because who can destroy a demon but God? Right? And then he said, I know who you are, the Holy One of God. Demons have a lot of knowledge about God. A simple recognition of Jesus, though, is not the same as saving faith, then, is it? Now to be fair friends, demons are not the object of God's love as we are. He didn't come to save demons. Their faith won't get them saved. But a faith unattended by works of love and worship and charity and forgiveness is no faith at all. That's what the whole sermon is about. It's all in the surrendering to Christ that is the true work of salvation upon a human soul. Belief must be attended by a genuine recognition of the Savior. Of his essence. That means his nature. His purpose. His divinity comes through. And because grace is irresistible, Salvation is more a product of the sincere love of God than just the naked belief that He exists. How many of your friends talk about God? Or say, Lord willing, who know nothing of the Savior? And just so we have our doctrine straight, friends, let me just remind you of one thing. You could not ask Jesus into your heart if He wasn't already there. Right? Thank you, I needed an amen. I didn't ask for it like Danny does. I need an amen. Can somebody give me an amen? Jesus said, no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. In other words, I'm already in there. God put me in there. Now you can come to me. You couldn't do it before the Father drew you to my side, right? And he says, I'll raise him up at the last day. In other words, the work is done as soon as the Father brings in The knowledge, right? The fact of the matter is that regeneration precedes faith. Only saved people make a profession of faith. Every other profession is a false profession, and that's the one Jesus is trying to drive home here. He's describing it. In other words, friends, real saving faith is not initiated by us. It is the gift of God, sometimes to the unsuspecting sinner. And we have the examples of Paul and Jonah. Friends, Paul wasn't going out to honor God. He thought he was. But Jesus knocked him down off his horse. We know he wasn't on a horse, even though all the pictures, the painting, the great painting showed him knocked off the horse. But he blinded him, and only then could he truly see. Right? Paul wasn't out to find Jesus. Jesus said, I'm Jesus who you're persecuting. See what I mean, though? He identified himself with the church. He was persecuting the church, the followers of Jesus. And Jesus takes it personally, just like I do. You see what I'm saying? And so we love him because he first loved us, John writes. Paul wasn't seeking Jesus. He wasn't in a search for him. He didn't make a profession of him. Jesus knocked him down, blinded him, and said, this is me. And from now on, you'll serve me. And then he went to Ananias and said, receive him, because I showed him how many things he must suffer for my sake. That's commitment. He told him about the difficult way, and Paul still followed. Verse 22, many will say to me in that day. Now I read last week that narrow is the gate and difficult is the way that leads to life, and you won't see that on the church marquees of the town. And there are few who find it. And I told you I do not know how few is a few, and I still don't. Today we read about many have a false faith, and I'll tell you again, I don't know how many are many. So I don't know how few are few, and I don't know how many are many. And I don't believe people who think they know how many are many. But I'm fearful of that implication, aren't you? Many will have a false profession. I don't like that. Only few will find me. I don't like that. I like it better that I have some assurances I'm one of the few, though. So I hope we're all part of the few and only a few are part of the many. That's how I feel about it. And so many will say to me means many will come with a false confession of faith. It's my belief that that's true because so many heard false preaching. Right? Like I presented already. They've been given a false way, a false security, and a false lifestyle. Just go about your business. Doesn't matter what you do. You said the words and you're done. It's like a salesman, a preacher, who pitched a simple course, or simpler than the one Christ is preaching. He made you an offer you can't refuse. Just say these words, and your eternal cares are over, and you can go about your business. All things are not what they seem, friends, and all things are not what some preacher or prophet said they were. Verse 23, and then I will declare to them I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. Remember the Lord's warning. Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly, they're ravenous wolves. You'll know them by their fruits, he said, right? They're out there. And what are fruits, friends? Fruits are works. Fruits of the saints are compared to fruits of trees, and fruit tells the tale. A particular tree will produce commensurate fruit. Same is true of the saint. You ought to be producing something different than what you produced before you came into contact with the Savior. You got to produce something different. And note the types of works Jesus refers to. They're all religious works. Did you notice that? The works that he that they speak about doing many wonders in your name, casting out demons in your name, right? All these things are religious works. It's strange. It's not strange to me that those are the ones he points out because those are the religious people who just think they've done something that God has no respect for. So the works that he speaks about have to do with prophecy, with exorcisms, with miracles. And one must wonder just how verifiable each of those things is. You know, I always found it interesting, the whole Pentecostal movement, and please, when I say this, I don't throw out the baby with the bathwater. These are our fellow Christians and believers, and their doctrine is very close to ours, and they're Baptistic even. But this whole thing about everyone preaching in tongues is simply unscriptural. And when they take it to the place where if you haven't spoken in a tongue, you don't have the Holy Spirit. Well, in my recollection of Acts chapter 2 is the Holy Spirit came with tongues and with fire. And I've never seen anyone display the fire. When you display the fire, you have a right to that doctrine. But if you can't, It's a demonstration and not a prescription. You follow me? It's a description, not a prescription. It happened once for all in a time. There are so many more claims of the miraculous than there are demonstrations of the miraculous. I can tell you that the very same things that were counterfeits in that day are the same counterfeits in our day. Miracle workers, right? Verse 24, therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I'll liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock. I mean, that doesn't even need explanation, but this is not the only place where Christ is referred to as the rock, friends. Right? That firm foundation upon which a person must erect an impregnable building or build an enduring life. I know a little about foundations, laid a lot of them. And you dig down until the dirt's hard. And if you disturb the dirt further down than you have to to put your footing in, you have to compact that dirt again. You can't just build on soft stuff. And that's what he's talking about. Peter brings it home to the building referred to as the Christian life. Peter explains the building. We know he's not really talking about a building, right? He's talking about building your life. And so Peter says you also as living stones are being built up a spiritual house. You're the building Christ is building. And he says you're a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Paul writes of it also, he says, no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? Friends, you are a spiritual building that God has built on the firm foundation of the truth of Scripture and a recognition of who the Savior is. Do you not know that you're the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? For they all drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ, and so let the rain descend, let the flood come, let the wind blow and beat on that house, and it will not fall, for it's founded on the rock, which is Christ himself. Amen. Father, we praise you for this simple, mindful illustrations, oh Lord, of the Christian life. Let us walk after you, knowing the promises, trusting in the bedrock principles of the word of God. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.