Turn to 1 Corinthians 16. We had visitors last Lord's Day, some, and we have some this Lord's Day, so we will review just a little bit again. We have been preaching on Christian manhood. And our text has been naturally from 1 Corinthians 16, verses 13, through 14. Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong, let all your things be done in charity. We made reference in one of our sermons, probably the first one I guess, about the fact that For some of us, quit you like men is not a strange saying because of the fact of the magazine that Brother Robert Greene had, which mainly got its title from a series of sermons Brother John Ashwood preached several years ago on quit you like men. Very profound messages at that time. still would be good today. I'm sure they've got the tapes over there somewhere. Somebody wanted to get them. I don't know whether he could find them or dig them out or not, but anyway, good messages. We live in a weak and effeminate society. We live in a day when very few men are real men in the true sense of the word. People think sports figures or the macho man or the high society man or something of that nature is a man. I don't care if you could bench a thousand pounds, that doesn't make you a man. And many of these sports figures are about as big as sissies as they come, but the fact they don't get their way, they pitch a temper tantrum. And so they're not men as far as I'm concerned, and the Hollywood actors naturally are not men either. And of course, the true Christian man is the Lord Jesus Christ. But as I said before, when I think of Christian men, I think of men like, in the last couple of hundred years, men like Lee and Jackson that were very godly men even in battle and in war and had characters that most people do not even know today. Lee was so dependent upon Jackson that if he told Jackson to be at a certain place at a certain time, he never worried about it because Jackson was always there. If he had to force march his men barefooted through the snow and the ice and over mountains, they made their target, made their goal. The Lewis and Clark expedition. They were not Christian men by any stretch of the imagination, but they were men. And as I mentioned, probably in one of these sermons, one of the men that got drunk on duty one night, guard duty, they gave him a hundred lashes with a whip. And he stood the lashes, lived through the lashes, wound up being better for it as the rest of the company were. The only man they lost on the whole expedition there and back was one man that they believed that he died with appendicitis. That's the only man they lost all the way there and back. I think of men like, I can't even think, Shackleton that went to the South Pole. They were worldly men, but they had character about them. They had character about them. We are talking about Christian men. We are talking about man being a man according to the truth of the Word of God. And we pointed out that in our text, primarily in verse 13, the four phrases there, Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong, Each one of those is in the imperative mood. It is not an option, it is a command. Now we must remember that though I am using this primarily to get the attention of men, the males, this is written to the females as well. The Bible is a masculine book. It always has been, it always will be. It is a masculine book. to men, mankind, and is talking here for women, all believers are to be this way. All believers are to be this way. But we are using this and focusing upon men being men in our society. They are in the present imperative, watchful, The first one is in the present imperative. The second one, stand fast, is also in the present imperative, present active imperative. That means you are commanded to always be watchful. You are commanded to always stand fast. And uniquely, the second two, quit you like men, and be strong, those are in the present imperative also, but they are in the middle, present middle imperative or present passive imperative. In other words, if you are being the first two actively, the second two logically follow. The second two logically follow, but they're imperatives. We're to be that. We're to be that for ourselves. We showed the idea of being watchful is to always be alert. A good man and women, fathers, raise your sons, raise your children to be alert. They shouldn't have to be told to take out the garbage if the garbage needs to be taken out. They shouldn't have to be told to pick up something off the floor if it's not laying there, or shouldn't be laying there. Naturally, if it's laying there, it has to be picked up. But the thing about it is men that are watchful, that are observant, when they see something that needs to be done, they take the initiative to see that it is done. Naturally, if a man is in a leadership position, something needs to be done, he may have to assign someone else to do it. And parents may have to assign their children to do things. But it's to be watchful, and much could be said more than what I have said about that. The second one, stand fast in the faith. That means to be persistent, to persevere, to keep on standing in the faith. Not even to stop at any time. Quit you black men? That means to be brave. And we took two Sundays looking at several passages of Scripture, and no doubt Paul had all of those passages in mind when he used that phrase, Be a man. Be a man. The world tells folks, I'll just be a man. I remember as a boy a lot of times there was a man work for us on the farm. Dad would hire me a lot, and every once in a while, I'd maybe nick myself or hurt myself saying, I'll be a man, come on. You know? And that's what we need to do. We need to tell our children that. Our children think they can't do something. They can do far more than they think they can do, and they can do far more than most parents think they can do. All you've got to do is just keep behind them. You might have to really be behind them sometimes in a forceful way. I gave the illustration, I believe, last Lord's Day when Brother John moved out there in the country. And where he moved out there, I mean, it was the wilderness. It wasn't even a good road out there, but it was just rocks all over that place. And I'm talking about rocks. And he had his boys picking up rocks. And unless he's moved, I haven't been over there in a long time, but he had a couple of piles of rocks out there about 15 or 20 feet in diameter, four, five, six feet high. I mean rocks that those boys had picked up. And he'd have them out there picking up rocks, and they'd say, we just can't pick up anymore. We just wore out. He'd say, no, you pick up rocks. And they'd pick up some more, and finally he would let them off. And as soon as he'd let them off, what would they do? They didn't go to shade and set out. They didn't go to the house and lay down. They let out a big war hoop and started running all across the yard playing. You know, they had energy they didn't know they had all of a sudden. Well, that's kind of humorous, but that's the way it is with children. That's the way it is with children. It's sad to say that's the way it is with a lot of grown-ups. I saw a T-shirt yesterday. I don't know what it was all about, but I really liked what it said. Said losers quit when they're tired. Winners are tired when they quit. Losers, you know, they get a little bit tired, and I just can't go any further. Well, I'm 60 years old, and that aggravates me a lot of times. These young whippersnappers talk about how tired they are, and they can't go anymore. I'm serious about that. I'm serious about that. Well, we want to look this morning at the word strong. Be strong. Be strong. Be strong. That doesn't necessarily mean that you have to lift weights. I don't care if you lift weights. I don't care if you exercise, it will be good for you. Just remember that bodily exercise profiteth little. What that means is it profiteth for a little time. Bodily exercise will do you good as long as you are living in this world. But godliness will do you good in this world and in the world to come. It will do you good in both. I don't get enough exercise. I know I don't. But I don't know how to remedy it. and do everything else I need to do at this time. Be strong. This is that present passive imperative. You are to always be being strong. You are always to be being strong. To strengthen yourself. To grow and to grow strong. It comes from a word that means mighty that is only used one time. The word mighty is only used one time in 1 Peter 1, verse 5. This word that we read here to be strong is only mentioned four times, and we will look at those. But I want to give you the root word and see it in its context in order that we might get a better handle on what it is all about. 1 Peter 5. Verse 6, Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. Humble yourselves therefore under the strong hand of God, the mighty hand of God. I don't think there is any question but that God is strong. God is omnipotent. God is not this effeminate God that society has depicted that can't do anything. God has no hands but your hand, no feet but your feet, no eyes but your eyes, no mouth but your mouth. It's no wonder that we live in an effeminate society from an Arminian gospel. Because it's a God that is weak. It is a God that cannot do anything. It is a God that is out of control. But we are to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. Now remember to whom Peter is writing. Peter is writing to Christians that have been driven out of Rome in 64 A.D. Rome burned. History is in an argument. Did Nero set Rome on fire to destroy it or not? Nero wanted Rome burned. He wanted to destroy Rome because he wanted to rebuild Rome. He considered himself a great architect. Nero was so vain that when he died, he was weeping because the world was losing a great architecture. So to get the blame off of him, he said, No, it's because Christians and Jews are living in the city and the gods have judged us. So he banished them. And so Peter is writing to Christians that were driven out of Rome living in here. Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia. So they were being persecuted unjustly. But notice what he says, Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God. Go back and read I Peter in light of that. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God. Therefore be strong, be mighty, be like God. is the idea that we find with regard to this. Now let's look at this word as it's used. That was the root word. Let's look at the word in Luke chapter 1 first. Luke chapter 1. I'm going to tell you how to be strong. Just like I've already told you how to do these other things. Luke chapter 1. talking about John the Baptist. Verse 80, And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the desert till the day of his showing unto Israel. John the Baptist waxed strong in How do you think John did that? Now remember, John was of the priestly tribe. His father was a priest. His father had access to the Scriptures. And I believe John had access to the Scriptures. And John was in the desert doing what? Looking at the locusts and the honey? and drawing analogies from nature? No, John was studying the Word of God. John was studying the Word of God, I believe. He waxed strong in the Spirit. He waxed strong in the Spirit. John was no ignoramus when it came to the Scriptures. He knew the Word of God. He knew that he was the one that Isaiah spoke of in Isaiah chapter 40. Now, can you pull out a verse of Scripture in the Bible and say, this is speaking of me? Can you say, I am fulfilling this verse of Scripture? John knew he was. And it was not because he had some esoteric feeling. It is because he knew the Word of God. We find this throughout the Word of God. the context in this being strong. Joshua was commanded to be strong and quit himself like a man. How was Joshua going to do this? Because he must have the Word of God and he must meditate therein day and night. The only way that a man can be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might and stand upon the principles of the Word of God and say, I'm standing where I ought to stand, is because he knows the Word. If you don't know the Word, you'll follow this philosophy this day. You'll follow this one another day. Some smart preacher can come along and tell you this and you'll believe that. Another will come along and tell you that and you'll believe that. Sad to say, many preachers, you can tell who they read by what they preach. They'll be reading some old Puritan, and they claim to be Baptist, and they're preaching Presbyterian doctrine and don't even know it. You know why? Because they don't know the Word of God. And they'll be preaching this one week, and they'll be preaching that next week. And they don't even see how one contradicts the other. They don't see how one contradicts the other. That's sad. That's sad. No wonder the people of God are confused. Several years ago, Brother Wallace pastoring Pine Hill Church, and some preacher had come through there spouting off something, Brother Wallace got up after he left and he straightened all that out and he asked one of the old sainted men there, I've forgotten which one it was, I think I know, but anyway he asked him, he said, what do you think about that when one preacher comes along and says something and another one comes along and says something else? He said, Brother Wallace, we've heard that so much all of our life, we just let them have their say and go on. That's sad. That's sad. But John waxed strong in spirit. Now you can sit around and pray from now till the Lord comes back for God to make you strong in spirit, but if you don't get your nose in the book, you'll never be strong. You'll never be a man. Not in the true sense of the word. You'll never be a man. I mentioned Lee and Jackson. The reason those men could stand in battle and pray because they knew the God whom they served. They knew that God was sovereign. They didn't have baptism right, but they had that right. Seriously. Luke chapter 2. Now we're talking about the Lord Jesus. Verse 40, And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. You know why people vacillate so much as they go about in their daily activities and their daily lives, and why they question their salvation so much? They don't know the Word of God. They don't know the Word of God. You say, well, this is talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. That's true, but as a man, he learned. As a man, he learned. In verse 52 it says, he increased in wisdom. He also increased in favor with God and man. You say, I don't understand it. I don't either. That's what the Bible says. I have no idea how he could increase in favor with God except as a man. But he did. The Bible says so. But he also grew and he waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. Now you might get up in the morning, you might have the belly ache, you might stump your toe before you get to the bathroom, and you might think that the world has forgotten you. But if you are strong in the Spirit, you still know that the grace of God is upon you. And how are you going to know that? It is having the Word of God in your life in a mature way. And the reason men do not know when to stand is because they don't know the Word of God. They don't know the Word of God. They don't know the Word of God. And therefore they figure their wives have more wisdom than they do. Sad to say, many times they do. Because many times women are studying the Scripture when the man's not. That's sad. But it's a fact. The next time it is used is in our text, and then the next time is in Ephesians chapter 3. Let's turn there. I know that was our Scripture reading this morning. But in Ephesians chapter 3, Paul prays that we be men. I begin at verse 14, For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, here it is, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man. Now, this word to be strong, this word for strength, is used four times in the Scripture by the divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and you see that in the other three times, other than our text, it is always in connection with the Spirit. Therefore, I do not believe that we are forcing the interpretation when the Apostle Paul said, in I Corinthians 16, verse 13, to be strong. You are to be strong in the Spirit of God. And that is not sitting around waiting for some feeling to overwhelm you. That is a methodical understanding, learning, a methodical learning and understanding of the Word of God. a studying and understanding of the Word of God. And that only comes by knowing the Word of God. I think I gave it recently, the illustration of John Rogers, a man in England many years ago that was sent to the stake and was burned for his faith because of distributing tendrils Bible. And this man, if I remember correctly, had about twelve children. And as he was going to the stake, his wife and children were begging him to recant. Now that will tear at the heart of any man. That will tear at the heart of any man. What man who loves his wife and children would not want to stick around and to take care of them. But he continued to walk on to the stake. And he died in the flames. How can a man do that? He's either a fanatical fool or he knows the Word of God. Fanatics have died for their own delusive ideas. But godly men and godly women and godly children have stood against all and have given their lives. That can only be by an understanding of the Word of God and knowing that you're right based upon what the Scriptures say. Based upon what the Scriptures say. I've had many people when I've tried to talk to them about something in the Scriptures to say, Oh, I don't know as much about the Bible as you do. I can't argue the Bible with you. I just know what I believe. Well, immediately, first of all, I lose all respect for them. I don't care who they are. If anyone professes to be Christian, their first desire is, what does the Bible say? And secondly, they are willing to stand upon the principles of the Word of God. Many times people say, well, you just don't understand. I don't have to understand. All I have to understand is what the Word of God says. All I have to understand is what the Word of God says, and then I can I can give instruction, I can preach, I can teach, and I can live in good conscience knowing that I am doing and standing on what God has said, and that is being strong. At the same time, just about any man that does that will walk away and go to God in wondering if he's right or wrong. See, he's not brazen to the point that he thinks he's infallible. But there comes a time after he's studied the issue enough, say like election, I don't ever walk away wondering if I'm wrong about election anymore. There are some things you become solidified in. And you can stand. And you can stand in good conscience. And you can die on those principles. Let's look at a couple of other Scriptures quickly. Psalm 31. Psalm 31-24. Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord." Now you know what hope is. It is a confident expectation based upon knowledge. Confident expectation based upon knowledge. So be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord. David, a man after God's own heart, you remember when he was in Ziglag upon one occasion? His own people turned against him. Nobody was there to comfort David. And it said he encouraged himself in the Lord. He encouraged himself in the Lord. How can you do that? By confident understanding of what the Scriptures say. And you know you're standing where you ought to stand. A couple of other places, 1 Samuel 4, 9, it is in connection with the quit you like men. 1 Samuel chapter 4, verse 9, so here is where the Philistine said it, Be strong and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Quit yourselves like men and fight, but the word there is, Be strong." Now let me refresh your memory on this. The children of Israel were going to go out against the Philistines. They were afraid they were going to get beaten. So they were iconoclastic. That means they thought if they had a symbol, they wouldn't lose. So they got the Ark out there and they said, we are going to take the Ark of the Covenant out there so we can win. Because we have got the Ark of the Covenant, God loves that so much, He won't let them destroy that. God can raise up ten Arks of the Covenant if He wants to. So they brought the Ark of the Covenant in. I mean Israel made a big war cry and it caused those Philistines to be scared to death. We've got to fight, or we're going to be overtaken. Give it all you've got. You know what happened? Those of you who've been hearing, you know. The Ark of God was taken, and he has, and Hophni were killed. Eli fell off the beach, broke his neck. His daughter-in-law died in childbirth. and the name of the baby, Enkabot, the glory is departed. It is more important that you be strong in the Lord than you hold on to your religious symbols. You don't need religious symbols. I've been there. The first Bible I had was the World Bible with a cross on it. My grandmother gave me a little cross. I've got an old Bible, a New Testament at home that my grandmother gave me. It's got four four-leaf clovers in it. I want to keep that for sentimental value. But I used to think there was something to it. I found four four-leaf clovers one time on Friday the 13th. It got hit in the mouth of a baseball bat, so what does that tell you? It's all a bunch of junk. But I used to wear the ikthus, the little fish symbol. Christianity is not in signs and symbols. It's in a living lifestyle of strong men, strong men. Last Thursday at work, sodomites had put up their posters and they were talking about the gay pride and all of that. I don't know what happened because a bunch of stink was raised He would cause ripples up into Benton Harbor, Michigan. Thing about it, I hadn't seen it. Somebody asked me if I'd seen the bulletin board. I said, no, I haven't seen it. They started telling me what it was and I started talking. One of the workers there said, Jimmy, I've never seen you that excited about anything before. Most of the time I just go and I do my job, keep my opinions to myself. cause as few ripples as possible. But I let them know right quick. It was perversion. It was wickedness. Our founding fathers thought they ought to be killed in this land, and I think the same thing still. They ought to be driven out. I said, they ought to let me out. I'd just like to be king for about two days. They said, you think you'd take that long? I said, no, I wouldn't take that long, but I'd like to have it anyway. In other words, I don't have to blush, and I don't have to apologize for the wickedness of sodomy. I don't have to wonder about what the laws ought to be, and I don't have to wonder about am I being fair or not. I told them it had nothing to do with being fair. It has to do with what's just. So everybody that works around me knows what I think of sodomy. I'll let them know right quick it's not homosexuality. It is sodomy and it is a sin. And GP is Gomorrah's perversion. It's not gay pride. I told them that too. You're not being smart. You're not being mean. You're not being hateful. you're being truthful and you're standing on the principles of the Word of God. We need men. We don't have any men. In fact, there are some men up there at work that sure don't profess to be Christian. They have more ideas of what that is all about, of being a man, than some that I know that claim to be Christian, because they hate it too. They let it be known. Sometimes the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of life, and that is a shame. Read one more, 2 Samuel 10, verse 12. Here is where Joab, sometimes his character is questioned, but he said, Be of good courage, and let us play the men for our people. And for the cities of our God, and the Lord do that which seemeth Him good." That's a good statement. All we can do is be a man and let the chips fall where they lie and let God do what He's going to do. That's what the three Hebrew children said. They said, We know that God is able to deliver us, but whether He will or whether He won't, we're not going to bow down to your golden image. I tell you what, there's a little children's book that has made a lasting impression on me about Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. That's the names you ought to use, not the Babylonian names. It's a little children's book and you've got a big plane out here and you've got this golden image raised up to heaven. and everybody's bowing down on their knees and there's three men standing up and some of them are bowing down looking back like this. That put a visual image in my mind of probably what it's more like than anything else. Can you imagine being in the middle of 120 people? Probably more than that, I've forgotten. Let's just say 120 people in a room. and everybody's bowing down, but you're standing up. How would you feel? Let's say you would go to a fake healing service just to see what it's all about. I've gone to a few. I've seen A. A. Allen. I've seen Kenneth Hagin. And some of those other devils, you say, you are being mighty harsh. Read I John 4. And they get everybody worked up. Now everybody is in agreement. Stand up! And I remain seated. You feel funny sitting there. But you know you're right. You know you're right. Would you stand up? You say, well, you don't know what to do until you're there. That's what it's about. That's what being a man is. You're going to stand on the truth of the Word of God. We get the idea from what we're reading from the context that the Christian man is one who does not quit or give up, but he continues in the task until it's completed. He continues in the task until it's completed. Now that's where I was aiming to put in that slogan that I read on that t-shirt yesterday. The loser quits when he's tired. The winner, winners are tired when they quit. The winner doesn't quit, in other words, until the job's done. Many men, as well as women, have the habit of going to bed or laying around doing nothing simply because they're, quote, tired. You ever heard that? Quite prevalent, you know. I'm tired. I'm tired. Well, what does the Bible say? bob says that managed to work but what it looks like that forward is inconceivable that he would not be part i have pain in my back right now as i'm preaching not fake because of a broken neck and paralysis burn, ache, and throb when I stand very long at the time. Now, I'm not trying to get sympathy. I'm trying to make a point. That's just the way it is. That's life. That's life. This modern effeminate society does not want to do anything that will make them tired. They are living in a dream world. They are living in a dream world. Most, if not all that we do is tiring. And he who is a man continues to go even when he is tired. Ecclesiastes chapter 5. I don't know whether I have even spoken to Brother Floyd along this line or not, but I would imagine that he has trouble finding good workers simply because they don't want to do anything. Isn't that right? They all want a paycheck. Ecclesiastes chapter 5 verse 12 says, The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much, but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep. Oh, who was it, I can't think of his name now, the guy that built the Spruce Goose, what was his name, the rich man? Howard Hughes. He was a rich man. You know how he died? Living in a room naked. Afraid to eat anything for fear he would get poisoned. And he had hand-picked people to serve him his meals. I mean, he couldn't enjoy anything. for his riches. But the rest of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much. Now, he may not get to rest very long. He might have pains in his back and in his side and everywhere else that he has to turn over and eventually has to get up and get out of bed. But what rest he gets is sweet. It's sweet. The sleep of a laboring man is sweet. He won't be so picky about what he eats either. You say, what does all this have to do? It has to do with being a man. It has to do with teaching our children. It has to do with the fact that you keep going on in the midst of adversity and you don't get everything the way you like it. I have found that the more that a person sleeps, taking naps from time to time, the more he wants to sleep. Well, I take me a nap. Next thing you know, he's taking a nap every day at that same time. And it gets a little longer and a little longer and a little longer. And the next thing you know, he's a sluggish individual. I didn't say he's a slugger, but he may turn into a slugger. Look at Proverbs Chapter 6 Proverbs Chapter 6 Verse 4, Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids. Now notice what it says. You don't give it. That means you are in control. Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler. Go to the ant, thou sluggard, Consider her ways, and be wise, which, having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep. So shall thy poverty come, as one that travelleth and i won't as an arm and notice the more more you want well i just gotta have so much some people may require more than others but i still find that you can do more than you think you can do, just like the children. You say, well, I'll be tired. I just can't perform well. You can if you keep pushing at it. No, you won't perform as easily as you would at other times, but you can still make it. You can still make it. And the sluggard's soul will not be rich in the truth and in the ways of God. Look at Proverbs 13. Proverbs 13. Verse 4. The soul of the sluggard desireth and hath nothing. But the soul of the diligent shall be made fat." How is your soul? Are you fat in the Lord? Notice, the soul of the sluggard is going to desire. It's going to lack. It's not going to have that which is needful. A Christian man is going to be one who has his soul constantly fed with the Word of God. The sluggard will have his soul fed with the things of the world. And therefore, his soul will have nothing. His soul will have nothing. What are we getting down to? Just every day working to read and study the Scriptures is being a man. And people not doing that are wimps. They're feminine. They're feminine. You say, well, I don't have time. Yes, you do have time. Well, you just don't know my schedule. God knows your schedule. If we have time to read a newspaper, to look at the news, to read a book, or anything else, we've got time for the Word of God. We might have to do like Job and steam his Word more than our necessary food. It wouldn't hurt us to miss a few meals. But you know what? The sluggard is so dull, you can't convince him of anything. Proverbs 26, verse 16. The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason. You can tell a sluggard the Word of God, and you can teach them the Word of God, and they've got more reason, they've got more points against for each point than you can make. They won't listen to the Word of God. They'll listen to their reason, they'll listen to Grandma, they'll listen to the neighbor down the street, or they'll listen to anybody else other and what the Word of God says. Why? They're sluggards. They will not listen to the counsel of the Lord. Well, I'm going to have to finish up on strength later on. Time is... I figured I wouldn't have enough. I'm not trying to be mean, beloved. But I am being honest with the Word of God. If I'm not, then I would challenge you to show me from Scripture where I'm wrong. But I know the only way that you can live in good conscience in everyday lifestyle in this wicked society against the filth of this world is to know the Scriptures. It's to know the Scriptures. You don't have to worry about whether abortion is wrong. You don't have to worry about whether tattoos are wrong. You don't have to worry about whether all of this piercing of your body is wrong. You don't have to worry about whether cremation is wrong. You don't have to worry about whether sodomy is wrong. You don't have to worry about anything. You don't have to worry about whether dressing modest is wrong or not. You say, well, I look odd. So what? How do you look with the Lord? How is your soul with the Lord? Well, my soul is not doing too good. Well, maybe I'm on target. Maybe I'm on target. sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason." That doesn't describe our society. I don't know what does. You can talk till you're blue in the face. See, I was raised up on the tail end of a society that still had enough influence from the Word of God, they would listen to sound reasoning. You can't get anyone hardly to listen to sound reasoning today. But when you do, it's amazing. See, some of the people at work, I'm running a little long, but some of the people at work He said, well, I just don't understand how can they not see that's wrong? I said, because they're left to their own ignorance. They said, yeah, but how can? I said, well, I said, let me talk to you this way. I said, if I put some straw down here on the floor and some meat and we bring a lion in here, what's that lion going to eat? That's what it's going to eat the meat. And I said, why? Before they could say anything, I told them the answer. I said, that's just nature. Now man, I told them, is not basically good. Now the world and the educational system says that man is basically good. And I talked to them about John Dewey and Horseman and the Prussian philosophy of education Plato's philosophy of education, which is where we are. And I said, now you don't have to teach your children to do good, I mean to do bad, do you? He said, no, no. I said, why? Because your children are basically evil. Yeah, that's right. They're not basically good. That's right. But the world philosophy and the world educational system says they're basically good. And God is leaving man to his own self and his own blinded condition, and therefore all he can do is destroy himself. So I never thought of that. I said, therefore, this nation is under the judgment of God. I got to teach total depravity. I got to teach the judgment of God. and a lot of other things. That's the reason our nation loves sodomy. Our present administration does. Every law that's been passed for the last 20 years has been in their favor. So the court system loves them. And you know where unbelievers are going to spend? Unbelieving moralists are going to spend their lives in eternity with sodomites that they hate. Beloved, we are under the judgment of God in this nation. And you cannot You cannot cause man to see the truth of this unless God opens their eyes. But we still must stand unwaveringly on the truth of God's Word. And you can only know that you're standing right if you know the Word. Let's pray.