if you can, to keep them separated from each other. And that's why I was talking to Helen and I said, it's a very serious thing when you're separated too long. And I know a lot of times people say, well, they're still being exhorted, okay, through the internet. And I say to myself, and the person that made that comment, I said, you think, you've been in other churches many years, you think, Knowing your people. We're going to look at Joshua chapter 1 verses 1 through 9. Okay. And I wrote that to begin with. We live in a hostile world. Do we agree with that? More so than in a long time. This is real. A lot of hostility going on, big time. Okay, Israel just lost a great leader. Well, let's read the text here. Okay, starting in verse 1. Now it came about after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, that the Lord spoke to Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' servant, saying, Moses, my servant, is dead. Now therefore arise, prostrate Jordan, you and all this people to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. He said, every place on which the soles of your feet tread, I have given it to you. Just as I have spoken to Moses from the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. There's some of the boundaries. Okay, all the land of the Hittites, And as far as the great sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory. No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you. I will not fail you or forsake you." Pretty sad when God's got to tell us that, huh? After what He did in Egypt, okay, after sustaining them for 40 years, where no man could live but a few days out there in that place, and sustaining what? How many people? 500,000 or 500 million people that came out of Egypt? Were they all Jews? No. There were a lot of little scoundrels that came along, you know. Verse 6, Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of a land which I swore to your Father to give them. Only be strong and very courageous. Be careful to do according to all the law which Moses, my servant, has commanded you. Do not turn from him from the right nor to the left. so that you may have success wherever you go. Okay, the books of the law were the guidance. Now we have 66 books all together that leads and guides us and teaches us in what direction to go, when to move, when not to move, how to live, and on and on and on. Verse 8, this book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night Is it vitally important that we study? Not only as a group, as a church, as individuals. Because this is our rule book. This tells us how to handle circumstances that are going to come our way. The book of instructions. Be geared up. Be ready for it. So you have to meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." These are some very encouraging words coming straight from God. directed to Joshua because he's in command now. The baton has been handed over and he's got a lot of work to do. Now back to my notes. He says, so Israel just lost a great leader. I mean, Moses went through quite a bit. Paul went through quite a bit. The Lord went through quite a bit. But they're all going through all these things for a purpose and a reason. And it was all to get to this point, to bring this into quotation right here. All this took place for this can happen. Ain't that something? It was all planned towards the redemption plan of God to restore and reconciliate man back to himself. But look at what kind of history had unfolded before all this happened. There was a lot of times where people go completely in a different direction. It was hard for God to keep people on the straight and narrow path. They always keep rearing up. Israel, for sure, over and over and over. Look at all that he had to do to preserve that nation. He put him in 70-year captivity. 400 years in Egypt to preserve that nation because they were going to contribute something to this world one day. Yes. So the Lord had to do a lot to keep Israel alive. Okay. And of course, it's all according to his promises. Beginning in Genesis 3.15. There's where he began. At the most critical time in their history, They were facing a very hostile world. A very hostile world. They were going to face some pretty big obstacles. Pretty big obstacles. What caused them to retreat the first time they went over that land? What did they see? They said, there's no way possible. The giants. The giants. They were huge. Man, I see the pretty big boys in my day. And I always say, I would never mess with that guy. Never mess with that old boy. I'm going to make him my friend. And one of them was called Goon. He was a black guy. Old Goon. I was in road camp, long story short. Before I got out of road camp, he gave me a little gift. Give me a bag, and inside the bag was a watch. Okay, it was a watch. So he says, brother, this is what got you here. That watch, it didn't belong to you. So now you got your own watch, so you don't have to go steal nobody's watch. Okay? And one day, I was at a liquor store, And this car parked right next to mine. And there was a bunch of black guys in the car. And I just kind of looked over there and didn't think nothing of it. My friend went in to get a six-pack of beer. And this guy gets out of the car, big guy, goons, real tall. He's a big old boy. He said, hey, you! And I go, what's up, bro? I said, I'm talking to you! I said, what am I going to do here? What am I going to do? And my friend's inside. And I looked at him. I couldn't even recognize him at first. Because I had to look up because I was sitting in the car. I said, look, brother, I don't want no trouble, man. And he kept on. And so I get out of the car. Well, I'm going to get beat up sitting in this car, but I'm going to try to stand my ground, I guess, you know. I don't know how far I'm going to get. And then I looked at him, and he grabbed me and picked me up, you know. And I'm right here looking right at him, and I got up so scared I didn't recognize him. I said, brother, Ray, don't you remember me? And I went here, and I'm looking at him like that. He says, Goon, brother! I said, first of all, Goon, put me down. This is embarrassing me. I said, doggone it, Goon, man, I'm going to die today. And we hear all the black boys in the club just laughing and Goon was just having a ball with it. I said, brother, that's terrible to do that to a brother. Okay, so they were going to face some pretty big obstacles. Strong leadership was very important, then and now. Strong leadership is a necessity. Pastors have the responsibilities to show forth stability, strength, and encouragement. Even though sometimes they're going through something, but they gotta stand firm. Stand firm for the sake of the brethren. Because all of us like to lean on somebody that is strong. Because they give you confidence. And they give you confidence. OK, Paul was of that caliber. Always encouraging the brothers. But never, how would I say it, never soft shoe in it. He was pretty blunt. I said, no. Just like Jesus, he didn't soft-shoe around his disciples, did he? He said, in this world you shall have peace through me, but in this world you will have tribulation. Jesus did not soft-shoe or walk lightly around them. That's the worst thing you can do, paint a beautiful, rosy picture. Because God knew it's not going to be walking through the tulips. It is going to get rough. So I'm preparing you for any obstacle that's going to come your way. And you guys are going to face a lot of things. Wasn't it, who was it, Philip or Ananias? The one that had to talk to Paul? He was afraid to talk to Paul. He had heard about Paul's reputation. Yeah. Who was it? Ananias. Ananias. But didn't God tell him that Paul was going to have to suffer a lot for my name's sake? And I can't... You kind of try to imagine what Ananias thought. He's looking at Paul. He's like, I already know it. You're going to suffer a lot. And he's like, he just knew. I wonder if he felt sorry for him. He's like, man, you're going to go through the ringer. God didn't problem us in a bed of roses at all. I didn't pull no punches with Paul. OK. God knows who we are. He knows the kind of strength we can really perform. We have strength and ability within ourselves that we haven't even tapped into. OK? You'd be surprised what you've gone through. Well, Sid, you've been through a lot. You survived, didn't you? Yeah. By the grace of God. Yeah. So there was a strength within your person, but you used the resources that you had. Was there times when you just felt completely defeated? Absolutely. Heck yeah. All of us feel that. Do we doubt God? No. Sometimes we lose strength within ourselves. Because we know, humanly, there's things that we can't do. And that's when we go before God and petition Him with everything you've got. And yet God will allow it to go. Take His course for giving you the strength, the courage, the Constitution that you need to endure, because God knows you're going to be a whole lot better off. Remember what you did with Peter? Remember what he said afterwards? Yeah, what he said afterwards, after you get over this and get through this, because I'm praying for you, then teach my people. Teach them. Did he do that? On the day of Pentecost, he came over like a Like a mighty warrior. That was his best day. The best day for Peter. He stood up like a pillar. He was supposed to be a pillar, supporter of the truth. So he came over wonderfully. And many people, what, 3,000 or so, saved by that sermon that he gave. Wow, he came out good. But look what he had to go through. Look what he had to go through. Strong leadership is very important then and now. We are facing many obstacles in our day, be it COVID-19, be it weak and deceptive leadership, or deceptive media reporting, or inconvenient forms of assembling together. That's when I was thinking about the church, that it was too hot to be out there. Well, we got a little spoiled. Okay. In my personal opinion, they could have been in sight. Okay. But you got to have, like I said, strong leadership to lead out, not to cave under. No, and I told brother, I said, you know, I would have a hard time if I was a member of that church. I would definitely be trying to find a way to be able to assemble together safely, not being reckless. There's so many ways of doing it. You could separate, you know, you got a big parking lot there and you got a bunch of lawn. If you got to separate them 50 feet apart, you got plenty of room for the members that you have. They could have just gone inside the fellowship office. There are going to be a lot of people there, you know. No, that's worse. That's too confining. Well, you know what's funny about that fellowship hall is that that's... I remember when we were kids, we used to go to... Yeah. It was hot in there. That was all they had. But it was hot. I remember it being hot, but yes, they filled it. Yeah, they filled it. It was always packed. The heat shouldn't have been a factor at all. Something happened in the process of time. I remember that. I remember that. That was the only building. They didn't have that big building. It was just one straight building. Probably no bigger than this. Same width, I believe. That was it. They packed them in, you know. That's when my dad was pastoring the church at that time. Okay. Inconvenient forms of assembling with each other under the canopy of the leadership of the Holy Spirit. And that's one thing you're missing when you're separated or you're divided under this, under what we're going through now because of the COVID. Long extended periods of time of not meeting with each other face to face and fellowshipping, okay, safely of course. It does something to you. It would do it to me. And I use you as an example. And I told Ellen, you know what? She said, man, I miss you guys. I miss being there. She was happy that she was able to get back and fellowship. We need each other physically. And it can be dangerous. It can be very dangerous when we stay too long apart. Because human nature tells them you have to gather together because we draw strength from one another. How do you draw strength when everybody's in their own individual places? Are they being responsible and staying up on their studies and communing with God? But a person that loves God and likes to assemble, they're going to have a hard time having to stay awake. Having to stay awake. I would have a hard time doing that. I would have a hard time doing that. He says, good leadership. does not discourage, but encourages spiritual commitment, no matter how big the hostility and the obstructions is, no matter what. These people knew that. They would huddle in little groups wherever they went. They would steal meat. Sometimes they were made under the penalty of death. Of course, they had a little system in trying to detect infiltration. I told you that before. They had a little piece of number paper, and everybody knew that number. They knew they were members of that body. If there was something different, a different number, say their number is number one, and you see a number four in there, They would just stand right there and then. They would just stand and walk out. Okay, because that's what they used to try to do is infiltrate churches when they tracked them down, when they heard that they were meeting in certain places. But they wanted to meet at the risk, at the risk of losing their lives. And what was one of their precious commodities that they protected? The pastor. At one time, the pastor wrote, well, it's a vital part of the body. Because what does it say? If the shepherd go, the sheep scatter. OK? So there's all these things. You look at it, and you know human nature and how it behaves itself. We need to be in fellowship. Where two or three are gathered in my name in one location, Okay? All this time, there were no two or three gathering. They were all scattered. And people give me a lot of arguments over this, about looking at it differently. I said, all I'm saying is, you should want to have a desire to come, even when you know you can't. And I told Brother Peña, look at David. He was driven from his throne, because his son was out to try to kill him. And what was he living at? Among the who? The Philistines. The Philistines. Enemy camp. But I think in the Psalms, I think I read it one time, that he did he, I just paraphrased, that he missed going to the temple. He was deprived that. He didn't have a choice in the matter. He could not go there. I wish I was back and going to the church, to the temple and leading a what? A procession of people to the house of God. That desire has got to be there. When you know that it's safe and you can do it as soon as possible, the better. And I asked brother, how many people have called you knocking just bugging you about getting back together. You said nobody. Not a one, no. And you've been texting them. I said, I've been texting them. So nobody responded. And brothers trying like crazy, too. And I won't say that on recording, but I'll say it later on. OK, not discouraging, but encouraging spiritual commitment. no matter how hostile or how big of an obstacle it is. For sure, we are facing different forms of hostility, different forms of attacks. But we are facing a more sinister problem. Let's go to Revelation chapter 3. Revelation chapter 3. This is even more dangerous. Chapter 3 and verse 14. The church of Laodicea. He said to the angel of the church in Laodicea write, the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God says this. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold, or hot. And you have to study the area when you're talking about cold and hot, okay, there in Laodicea. Okay, so that's why he's using these terms, okay, because part of the weather pattern and waters and cold and stuff, you know, so... And they had hot springs and cold springs. Right, yeah. That was, so that's what he's using. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you or spew you out of my mouth. Because you say I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing. And you do not know that you are wretched, miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. It's a hell of a description, though. So I did just a little bit of studying on the Laodicean lifestyle. I mean, they were very rich. They were really busy living their lives and doing whatever they wanted to do. Okay, they had all the accommodation. And they talked, from the north you have this, from the south you have this. So very, you know, all kind of places you can go to. We like California because we got the coast, We've got the mountains, we've got the desert, okay? And so we have places we can go to within a two, three hour drive, okay? So that's what makes California, a lot of people love California. It's got a variety of everything, you know? So that's how Laodicea was then, okay? So the sinister problem was either you're lukewarm or you're warm. You can become very complacent, very passive. You can become nonchalant about things, especially when you're not assembling yourself and drawing strength from one another. The Bible talks a lot about the church as a group, as a people. So we, like Paul said, when I come to Rome, I want to share with you and you will share with me. Share what? The gospel. The writings of God's word. You impart to me and I will impart to you. That was Paul's motive into where he went. To be able to impart biblical truth that makes you strong and just tells you how wonderful it is to serve God. People would probably say, why do you look like hell? It's a good fight. It's a good fight. I lost a couple in the back, but I never lost one yet. I accomplished what I accomplished. But I had to take a beating in order to get my point across. So Paul knows all about that. He took everything in stride. Do you think he enjoyed the beatings? No. You think he enjoyed that shipwreck when he was out in the middle of the sea out there fighting for his life and trying to save everybody else's, you know? But Paul knew he had a purpose and a plan. God had a purpose and a plan for him. And God kept assuring him and assuring him. So when we get into our Bible and study, we get our assurance straight from the Word of God. That's where we draw our strength. and something that you'll see that you've probably never seen before. Joshua was facing a physical, visible threat. Is it easy to be able to fight somebody you see? I think it's a little easier than fighting something you don't see. I've been in several little But I see my opponent. Put my strategy together. How am I going to survive this or not? Am I going to win this or lose this? So I can see who signs them up. But it's different. We face a more elusive threat. We know for a fact that Satan has changed his attacks. Because look what he was doing here. Was it working for him? No. The more, and you read this in church history, the more they killed him, the more they increased. Satan was kind of, I think he was just completely baffled about that. He thought by killing them, killing them, and killing them, and killing them, that they were retrieved. He was out to destroy it, trying to destroy it. And he sent all his whips after God's people. But they kept increasing in number. Look at the children of Jerusalem. After they scattered and they were persecuted, they just scattered and grew and grew and grew. A lot of them had good leaders in the Church of Antioch. They had quite a few good teachers. They had Paul, they had Barnabas, and other prophets and teachers. So that was a very sound, strong church. Very encouraging church. And Barnabas was blown away of such a strong spirit in that church. He was amazed what he was looking at. Well, we need that enthusiasm again in our churches today. Have the right enthusiasm. Have the right motive and the right reasoning. I don't care if you're a megachurch, but it'd be great if the megachurch, everybody had the right perspective, the right understanding what the heck they're doing there. And if they have a love for God deeper, because when you have a love for God that's deeper and deeper, it's going to take you places you don't want to go. It's going to take you places you don't want to go. I never dreamed that I would end up in Tehachapi after the age of 10, 13 years old. I said, who in the heaven would want to live in a frozen godforsaken land out here? Siberia. Siberia. I thought you were about to do Russia. I don't know. You can't see a blade of grass anywhere. People are nuts up here. But God got me here. Now I look at it with completely different eyes. Okay? Because I know what got me here. God got me here. That's amazing how that works. And Sister Sharon knows exactly what I'm talking about. Okay. It's losing our identity as God's administrators. We all know what Matthew 5, 13, and 16 say, huh? You are the light of the world. You are sitting on a hill. Okay? And then he talks on the negative side of things when he says, but when he put the candlestick under the hill. That's meaning that we're losing our influence, our input in what's going on in this world. It's just like the ostrich picking the head in the sand. As long as I'm okay, the world can do whatever they want. I don't care. There was a king that did that very thing in the Old Testament. He allowed his enemies to come and see all the gold and everything within the temple. He didn't care because God had just promised him 15 more years of life. And what did he do with it? He squandered it. As long as he was fine, okay, and he was sitting high up the hall, He didn't care. And then he did what he did, and it cost him his life. God let him live the 15 years. Ain't that amazing with God? Even though you screwed up, before the 15 years were up, God said, I promise you 15 years. And 15 years you will have. But after that, you're done. Marked out. Not saying he was lost or anything, but marked out. because God was very disappointed in what he did. And after God extended his life and he begged for mercy and he was sincere. But it's funny when God gives you something like that and then you squandered it. Okay, I'll just use this verse now and see if I can make sense of it. You know, take in the marriage vows, right? The marriage vows. For better or for worse, in sickness or in health, for richer or for poorer, until death do us part. That's our vow. Well, it's a little different nowadays. People want something different. You should now read it this way. Okay. Now I like the better, not the worse. For the riches and not for poor. In health, not in sickness. True commitment is taking the original marital vows. That's a true commitment. Through your highs and lows, sickness or in health, rich or poor. When in all reality, that is what we all did when we came to the waters of baptism. When we got betrothed to the Lord, we have taken these vows. or richer for poor, for health, for sickness or health. Those are the vows we took. Some people hang on longer to their marriage vows, literal marriage vows, than they do their vows to God. Sometimes they drop out too soon, too quick. Or maybe after 15 years they're done for. And they can write him out and give God a written certificate of divorce. No, it should be the other way around. You fulfill your vows that you made before God, and God will take care of the rest of you. And you'll live to be married for 60, 70 years, like my dad and Hannah. They got, what, 71? 71 years of marriage. And it wasn't because it was all up to them. My dad was what he was when he was a young man. And Helen was what she was when she was a young woman. OK? But by the grace of God, when they come to know God, their marriage became to mean much more than it did before. OK? Commitment. What does God promise us? First peace, second tribulation according to John 16 and 33. OK. Let's see how this is going to fit in. Second Corinthians, Chapter 5. Okay. We need... Second Corinthians, Chapter 5. Boom. I'm trying to get my thoughts together here. As you're reading, maybe it'll come in handy now. Well, we know that if the earthly tent, which is our house, is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made within, eternal in heaven. Now, that's where I think what I was thinking about when I was reading these, is, you know, we're so concerned with the COVID, of getting sick, contracting it and possibly dying of it. Okay? That we will not assemble for those reasons. I understand that. I understand that. But what if? I feel that we're safer to be assembled. So what if something happens? Because you love God and you want to attend, you want to come. You take all the precautions. Take all the precautions. Because you want to be there with God. My personal opinion, God will watch over you. But if God allows it and permits it, so what? This is what this is talking about. This is what this is talking about. Talking about death. The body is going to give up one of these days, one way or the other. some sooner for others and some later for others. He says, your earthly tent, talk about your body, which is our house, which is housing us right now on this earth, is torn down or dead. We have a building from God, a house not made with hands eternal in heaven. For indeed, in the house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling From heaven, who else spouted out those words? Remember Paul? Ephesians, I mean Philippians 1, 20 and 21. I long to be, it's better for me to be absent in the body and present with the Lord. But if it's more practical for me to stay, so be it. So be it. Longing to be closed, OK, with our dwelling from heaven. All of us here are longing for that day, right? To be clothed with our glorified bodies. It's going to be marvelous, right? It's going to be marvelous. When you think on things like that, and what's in store, what's coming your way, you don't think much about what's going on now. You don't focus on what is really happening now. You're aware of it. Like Paul says, not looking what sits before me. but what sits ahead of me, what I'm striving for. And that, considering my past, my life in the past, inasmuch as we have put on, will not be found naked. Are we afraid, humanly speaking, are we afraid of death? Have you been there yet, sis? Have you died and come back? No, neither have I. Do you know what death is like? No, we don't know. Vince is still alive. I've had death by chocolate. That's an actual kick. Yeah, that's really good. We will strike that from the record. So death is something we don't really understand and we fear it. But we'll read something a little later on that. For indeed, while we are in this tent, or this body, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed, but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. So it's a natural feeling. My aunt, I led her to the Lord, and she was getting close to, And we were all there at the hospital. And she was really afraid. And she didn't want to leave. Leave all her kids behind. And she had a bunch of kids. A bunch of grandchildren. So I understand her. But she was going to. Then I heard my other aunt was telling her, you need to let go. Her name was Carmen. That was my aunt named Carmen. And all I told her was, you know, you don't have to fear. You're ready whenever you depart. But if you want to fight, fight. OK? God will determine the end. OK? But understand what you feel like. So it's not our responsibility to tell him to stop fighting. No, we leave that in God's hands. He's got it in control. And she just slipped right on out. She went gone. And I'm telling you, I could imagine what she'd look like on the other side of heaven. OK? Because she's had a rough life. Very rough life. A very disappointed husband, and really backstabbing bad. Bad, bad. Maybe they'll tell you that story. Because I had a part in that. No choice of mine. Now, he who prepared us for this very purpose is God. who gives us the Spirit as a pledge, a pledge for what? For the day of our redemption. Ephesians 4 and 30, again, many times. Therefore, being always of good courage and knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. He says, we are of good cheer. We are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Therefore, we also have our outer ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to God, bottom line. We want to be pleasing either dead or alive. So what I'm saying is, When we're afraid to come to assemble together, okay, because we fear death, well, that will keep you awake for a long time. I was telling Helen, I said, you know what? The Democratic state governors and Democrats, they want to push this thing until next year to keep our country shut down, schools shut down, okay? And if we listen to them and believe everything they're saying, I said, you guys are going to be out for a long time, a long time. I said, my personal opinion, we're safer now than we were a couple months ago, OK? There's all kinds of precautions you can take, and you can assemble. There's so many ways. And then she started mentioning a few ways of this and this and that. I said, well, that's what you can do. Yes. I even told her, I got a solution here of bleach and water. Okay, you can put that together. You can have the brothers come on Saturday and wipe all those pews and everything. Wipe everything down wherever and just confine everybody to that general area. Okay. Wear a mask. Wear the mask. If you don't wear the gloves, that's fine. Just make sure you have hand soap and things like that. So there's ways you guys can assemble. You don't have to sit out there and eat. You can stay in the building. I said, Sid, that's what I'm talking about, leadership. Leading your flock and keeping them safe and leave the rest to God. But having the desire and the heart to be in God's house, that is lacking with among many of our brethren. They settle too fast and they drop out, shut it down too fast. And it goes on and on and on. Okay, I want to go to chapter six. He says, working together with him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, okay, at the acceptable time, I listen to you. And on the day of salvation, I helped you. Okay, behold now is the accepted time, behold now is the day of salvation. Giving no cause for offense in anything so that the ministry will not be discredited, not be discredited. Whatever we do contrary to God's will, it discredits the church and it really puts the church into a tailspin. But in everything, commanding ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in affliction, in hardship, in distress, in beatings, in imprisonment, in, what's that word, Toman? Mine says riots. Huh? Mine says riots. Right, okay, that's good. Terminal, okay, in labor, in sleeplessness, In hunger, you think all these things are little inconvenient things to try to be about the Lord's business with all these obstacles in our way? Paul says, he went through all that and God delivered me from them all. Okay, I look like chopped liver at the end of the day, but I'm okay, I'm still here. You still look 50 years older. Huh? You still look 50 years older. Apparently I still look 21. You better. The other day I was telling him how I was going to help this guy at Costco put these boxes up in the truck. And I said, well, I can help you get those up there, you know. I don't know why I said 72. He said, I'm 72. I don't know. I don't know if I got that much strength to get these up there, but I can help you, you know. And the woman says, 72? And I didn't correct it. I just left it alone. He said, you look like you're like 50 or 60. I said, I told you I was going to help your husband so you don't have to, you know. Butter me up, you know. I appreciate that. It's good to hear. You may not know you're lying. People just want to be nice. He said, impurity. Now look at this. First of all, I talked about imbedding and imprisonment, OK, and riots, and labor, and sleepless nights, and in hunger. Now we look at a transformation on the next list. In purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in holiness, in genuine love. Now we are going to be looking at the type of weaponry of war we use. In the next verses. In the word of truth. That's one of our weapons then. He said, in the word of truth, in the power of God, by the weapons of righteousness, for the right hand and for the left. Now you see the transition from beating and all this, and then from purity to wisdom, and then it tells you how you fight this battle. How you fight it. By glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report. regarded as deceivers and yet true, regarded as deceivers yet true, as unknown yet well known, as dying yet behold we live, as punished yet not being put to death, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich Well, we became rich because of one man. He took the position of a poor man. He became just a common man. He stripped himself of all his wealth, his riches, everything, so that we can be rich and have eternal life. Your mother's phone is ringing. He says, as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things." When you leave somebody to the Lord, you have enriched their lives. You're not any more wealthier. It doesn't help your bank book, but that's not the purpose. The purpose is to enrich others with what we already have. that we've already been enriched. He said, our mouth has spoken freely to you, O Corinthians. Our heart is open wide. You are not restrained by us, but you are restrained in your own affliction. We restrain ourselves from doing what we need to do. God is trying to keep us moving forward, no matter what's in our way. Okay? So we sometimes restrict ourselves. We restrict ourselves. There's a lot of things I know I can do. Sometimes I feel I don't do enough. I hear about other people and their mission work and things that they're doing and things they're accomplishing. And sometimes I feel like I'm just stagnant here, you know? I'm not spinning my wheels. Don't misunderstand me. I have a work here. I have a ministry. Okay? But it just seemed like I wish I could do more. I miss my Bible studies. I was talking to Helen about them. I said, brother, we miss them too. And Brother Peña told me, he said, brother, we were having those Bible studies. They were the closest I could get to going into some kind of a seminar school, studying tabernacle studies, dispensational studies, church history studies. OK? He would always tell me at the end of every class. I said, Brother, I really enjoy these lessons, man. They really help me out a lot. And so he started teaching the tabernacle himself at the church, but he only taught like three classes. And Helen was telling me, he got motivated when you were teaching on the tabernacle. He tried it in the church, you know, but he only did like three lessons. I said, the reason being because he ran out of material. Ran out. Like Jim said, ran out of soap. But I'll tell you one thing, when we decided to go on the Tabernacle, I was reluctant to go there. I didn't think for a minute that there was no way I could teach this thing. This is just way beyond my ability to teach something like this. But I did. The only reason why I said, okay, yeah, let's do it. And then after I left, What did I do? But I committed myself. And we were on it for quite a few months. And as I was studying and studying, I started to see a pattern. I started to see it come alive. I started seeing things. Then I started teaching it in that fashion. And one of the first things that I learned, from here to here to here to here, I could see a pattern. Repentance, justification, sanctification, service. And that's sequence. So we're putting it together. And we had some really good classes on that. We really did. OK, let me see if I can move on here. OK, who's restraining who? Like I said, we restrain ourselves a lot of times. And we kind of go. Satan is a master of deception. He is full of trickery according to Ephesians chapter 4 verse 14 through 16. And these are the things we have to fight against. And if we don't fight against these little trickeries of Satan, he can convince us of a lot of things. He can convince us, well, you've got the COVID going on, you don't have to go to church, stay safe. OK? But knowing Satan, that's not his purpose. There's nothing good in this man. He doesn't do anything good. Because if he did, his house would crumble. OK? And Jesus said that about that. How are you going to get Satan to do something good when he's completely evil? Can anything come out of that good? No. Satan's good. Our goal is to disband God's people from coming together as a body to glorify the Lord and our Savior. And where do we go to where God receives His honor and His glory? Where do we go? Ephesians 3.21. Somebody read that. Very, very good verse of Scripture to memorize. to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Okay. So that's, that's, uh, that's very important. Okay. You can't do that when you're separated and split all over the place because he received his total honor and glory within the church body. Okay. Within the church body, not on site. When we glorify God is when you come and assemble. Now, when you leave this building, then you jump into a different dynamic. Then you're in the service of the Lord. But when you come here is when you mean business. Israel was required to come here when they meant business. That's what I said earlier about David. He wanted to come to the house of God. And the house was just a tent. And it was in, I think, in Borut at that time, okay? Because when David got back, he wanted to build a house for God. We'll probably read that a little bit on that Sunday. Okay, so Satan's goal is to destroy people from gathering together. Satan wants to desensitize us so that we don't feel bad either. We don't come to church for any reason. And what does Hebrew 10.25 say? Hebrews 10, 25. So all these things that I'm bringing up, I'm bringing them up for a reason. Because there's certain brothers out there telling the other churches, you know, by posting this, I said, you know, you don't have to rush back in your church, you know, why? Go ahead. Let us not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another in all the more as you see that they approach you. See, encourage one another. Find a way. Find your way. But you got people that do these little posts. I said, don't be so hurry to get back into church. I said, we're still a body. No, you're not. This young bug doesn't know what he's talking about. And feeding that kind of rhetoric, a lot of the weaker members buy it, hook, line, and sinker. And they're looking for ways to not come to church. They were doing that before the COVID. But I feel for those that really want to come back, like my dad and Alan and Carrie. Those are the only ones I can speak of. There's probably others. Those are the only ones that I know for a fact. Of course, my dad got upset because they didn't weren't able to meet. But you got to stand up. You got to stand up. And I encourage my brother, pastor in that church, brother put on some good boots. Okay, gird up your loins and do what you want to do. and counteract these other things that people don't want to do. You can't force them, but you've got to stand your ground. Okay? And I told him, I said, you're young still. You're young. He doesn't like confrontation. Nobody does. Nobody does. It's heart-wrenching sometimes, gut-wrenching sometimes, when you have to say something or stand up for truth. It's not easy sometimes. And I learned a lot of that because of what Jim's been through in his lifetime. Some of the men look as good as he does. That guy's amazing to me a lot of times. Many talk a big talk with no actions behind that talk. People talk about faith. That's what took care of Alan. I said, look, you guys are always talking about faith. Now is the time for faith to kick in. We're being precocious. But it's time to come back and reassemble. And I told her, I said, I told Brother Benja, look, if you're going to have church this Sunday, I will go down in fellowship with you. OK, I will go down and support you. And I told Helen that. She said, well, we're planning on being there this Sunday. Well, somebody needs to tell him, because the last time I talked to him, he didn't know what they were going to do. Okay? So it's okay now. Give me a call and let me know what the results are, you know. But I'll be there for you, brother. Okay? With bells and whistles. With my sanitizers. With my little mask if I need to, you know. Whatever. Just to encourage him. Just to encourage him. That's the bottom line. Okay, and then he'd talk a big talk with no action. He says, I'll call that self-deception. Deceiving oneself is the worst kind of deception. But see, when people make those kind of decisions to just discontinue, I don't even realize the severity of what they just did. That's not stimulating. That's not encouraging. It's giving in to the fears that are out there. The fears that are out there. For that matter, there's a lot of things we can fear. But no. When it comes to meeting in God's house, you know, gird up your loins. Put on the full armor of God. OK? The bottom line is, do not be so quick to shut down Or disband. Proverbs 27, 17. Why do I have that? Proverbs 27. 17. Oh yeah. Iron sharpens iron. So one man sharpens the other. We understand that, huh? We know exactly what that's talking about. Strength in numbers. Remember Ecclesiastics 4 and 12? Remember the twigs? Ecclesiastics 12. No, 4 and 12. Okay, I think it's the right one. And if anyone can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is so quickly torn apart. There's strength in numbers, and that's what you do, and you don't have that when you're separated. There's another three twined entities. This is my idea. You have the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Those are three strong, and they all work for us. They all work for us. Father, Son, Holy Spirit, husband, wife, and God. Husband, wife, and God. Love of country, love of family, and love of God. Okay, so these are, and that's the end of that. I thought I had another page. But anyhow, I just thought I'd bring this little lesson, you know, that I thought it was necessary, you know, to see how we are to be under the circumstances and these times that we live in. Very difficult time, very rough time. But don't disconnect with God in your service to Him. Okay? Don't disconnect. Do whatever you can to make it work and be safe. And be safe. And God will take care of the rest. You know, love God with all your heart and your might and your soul. And sometimes doing that will cost you your life. It will. Ask any of these brothers here. Ask any of those brothers in the 11th chapter of the book of Hebrews. Ask them. They lost their lives. But they never usurped their responsibility. They kept forging forward. If these people, these brothers would see us today, You're running because of what? A little virus? Should we face lions and bears and all that? Well, that was David. David met some pretty rough animals in his day. And he took them down. He took that big old boy. And we know what was behind that, faith and trust and the love of God, the love of God and the love of country. And he took that old boy down. Okay? So there's a lot of examples for us to teach us to live courageously in the times that we're living in. Okay? Because, you know, things can and maybe will get worse as time goes on. We leave that in God's hand and just pray that God will be merciful to this country. And we will have another four years, but the fight is still going to be going on. They're not going to let up on that old president. But he's a fighter. He loves this country. He loves the American people and he's going to put everything on the line. And he knows how to avoid all of this craziness.