I think it was 1989. It was right around in there. I was a youth pastor in Indianapolis, Indiana. I heard about a big meeting down in Louisville, Kentucky, and some of the big-name speakers were going to be there. And I decided I was going to take a day or so and go down to that meeting. I went down to Shawnee Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky. That was my first introduction to Dr. Lonnie Mattingly, who pastored the church. And boy, I got down there, and what a great work was going on in the inner city of Louisville. And souls being saved, buses running, big crowds coming in. And I wish so bad I could take our whole church to go down to Louisville and see that church and experience what God has been doing down there for a long, long time. We can't do that, but God has enabled us a number of times to bring Brother Mattingly here. and him and his wife and preach for us. And this is our second family conference. And I tell you, Brother Mattingly has something to say. God's hand is on him, and he has something that will help us. And so I'm going to ask us to really give our attention now for the next few moments, ask the Lord to speak to our hearts. And if we give God an opportunity, God will use Brother Mattingly. So let's get our Bibles out as he comes to bring our messages now. Thank you. Thank you so much, Brother Leatherman. God bless you. It's a joy to be here today, and I thank the Lord for His goodness to us and the great weather. Last year when we was here, we had a blizzard, and I think this is my water, and I'm going to test it out. No, that was mine. That was mine. It worked out good. And I appreciate that. But it's an exciting thing to be involved in the ministry of the Lord and traveling and being in various churches. And we've enjoyed that now for the last three years. And I was just excited about what the Lord's doing and thankful for what God's doing right here at Mountain Lake Independent Baptist Church. And I'm so thankful for the testimony that you have. across the country and various things that you do that encourage and help other churches and other pastors and other ministries. Things like the big track month that you have and your emphasis on missions and missionaries and just building the work and running the buses and just staying after precious souls. And that's a real encouragement. A lot of folks today have sort of thrown in the towel on that kind of thing. They've thought, well, it just doesn't work anymore. And the problem is they quit working it. It still works, they've just quit working it. Take your Bibles and turn to 2 Kings chapter number four. 2 Kings chapter number four. I wanna talk to you about building a Christ-honoring home. I talked about building your marriage in the last session and really talking about building human relationships, whatever they are, whether it's within the church, but certainly it ought to apply so much the more to our homes and to our marriages, as that's where we spend the majority of our time, and that's where our testimony really lies. I've said this often, you are no more spiritual. Listen, you've got to think about this just a minute. You are no more spiritual than you are in your most intimate relationship. The most intimate relationship you have is your family relationship, and especially your husband and wife relationship if you break it down further, but your family relationship. So if you're not living for God at home, fellas, if you come to church and say God bless you and amen and lead in prayer and shake hands and have a smile on your face, and then you go home, you're a mean old grouse and every now and then a dirty word bumps out or whatever, that's the real you. You are no more spiritual than you are in your most intimate relationship. And I guess my admonition to that person would be, get real. Get real. If you're a child of God, stop. You know, we say, well, you need to act like a Christian. Oh, no. If you're a Christian, just be what you are. Quit acting like the world. Quit letting the world set your standard. Let the Word of God set your standard and be your guide, and that'll help you a great deal. I'm glad my wife Nancy's here today. Stand up there just a minute, Nancy. This is my lovely wife, Nancy. She'll be speaking to the ladies at 6 o'clock tonight, probably talking about shopping or something. I don't know. She'll be speaking to the ladies. I'm going to be speaking to the men. Fellas, I hope you'll come. It's going to be a bombshell. I'm telling you that right now. We're going to have a time in there. We're going to peel back the onion a little bit, find some things that you don't talk about in mixed company, but are very vitally important. I hope you'll come and be part of that with us tonight. the evening service, of course. I'm going to talk about some things, some of the greatest hindrances, some of the greatest hindrances to a successful home, marriage, family, and so forth. And I'll talk about that in the six o'clock, at seven o'clock hour. At six o'clock we'll be doing just the men and she'll be doing the ladies. At 5.30 we have a special session, the preacher told you about that. And then we'll have a brief break, I'm sorry, at five o'clock, and then at 5.30 a brief break for some refreshments and that kind of thing. So it's gonna be a good afternoon, early evening, and we'll get out early, but it'll be a good time together, and I believe God will bless it in a real wonderful way. 2nd Kings chapter 4 verses 8 through 10. My wife is here. I mentioned already miss Nancy We've been married for 48 years. I think I've shared this before but it's something that is so helpful to young couples I know there's some new people here that I haven't met before so I'm glad to see you So I've got to share this with you when Nancy and I got married. I knew nothing about women. I By the way, we were married on May the 9th, 1964. May the 9th, you may want to write that down. We were married May the 9th, 1964. And I knew nothing about women. I was working for IBM at the time. I would come in from work, and I didn't know. You know, I'd worked hard all day. I had nothing to do with it. I hadn't even been there. But when I got home, I didn't know if she's going to be in a good mood or if she's going to be all stressed out. When I got to the door, I didn't know whether to duck or pucker. You know what I mean? I mentioned that we were married in 64, in the 60s you remember. That was the time of the hippies and the yippies and the fly power and the peace and love and free sex and all that kind of stuff. And really it was sort of a turning point in our nation where we've been going downhill ever since on that slippery slope. But thank the Lord, neither of us were ever part of that culture, but we knew about it, and they came out with something during that time that was just kind of woven into it, you know, because they were always looking for weird stuff. They came out with something called a mood ring. Anybody remember the mood rings, you know? And by the way, they've recycled the mood ring, you know, what goes around comes around, so you can buy them again now. And they say this, they say, you can tell by looking at the ring what kind of mood the person is in. And I thought, man, that'd be a lifesaver for me. That's exactly what I need. And I bought a mood ring for my wife and asked her to wear it. And she did. And she put that mood ring on. So when I would come in, it made all the difference in the world. Now if I came in, and the first thing you do when I open the door, look at her hand to see what color the ring was. And if that ring was pale blue, I knew it was going to be a great day, a great evening. I knew everything was serene. I knew it was just going to be wonderful to be at home that night. And so it was exciting. But if I came in and she had been stressed out that day, that ring left a red mark right there in the middle of my forehead. Great wife. We've had a great time together. We've enjoyed each other's company for 48 years, even through the ups and downs. We try to survive and learn from the downs, and we try to grow during the ups. and just keep going forward. And you pray for us as we travel and minister that God will use us and that God will give us strength and wisdom to just keep on going. 2 Kings chapter number 4, I'm going to begin reading in verse number 8. So if you have your Bible, let's stand together please and I'll read these verses. I'm going to read verses 8 through 10. The Bible says, It fell on a day that Elisha passed to Shunem. Where was a great woman? And she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was that as oft as he passed by, he turned and thithered to eat bread. And she said unto her husband, Behold, now I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually. Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall. Let us set for him there a bed and a table and a stool and a candlestick. and it shall be when he cometh to us that he shall turn in thither." Here was a family that decided to allow their home to be used for the glory of God. They said, there's a man of God, he comes this way often, we need to do something to help him on his journey. We need to do something to help him get the Word of God out to the world, out to the community. We need to make our home a place of refuge and a place of rest. and relaxation for this man of God. We need our home to have an impact for God on this world. I want you to think about building a Christ-honoring home. That's what they did. They built a home that would bring honor and glory to God. by helping the man in the ministry to get his job done more thoroughly and more effectively and rested and fed and refreshed. And boy, that's very important, isn't it? And in today's world, there's a lot of needs in the house of God and in your home and family, in the neighborhood where you live, in all kinds of ministry opportunities. And we need to ask God to show us what could we do to help our home to be built in such a way that it could be used of God to make a difference, to make an impact, to have an influence for the glory of God. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, I thank You for the Word of God. Thank You that it's quick and powerful and sharp. Lord, I pray that You will bless us today. I pray if there's anyone in this room this morning that's not 100% sure in their own heart, in their own life, they're not 100% sure that if something should happen, they should die today, that they would go to heaven. Lord, if they have one question of a doubt, I pray that today would be the day of their salvation. Then, Father, for those of us who are saved, we thank you, Lord. We know we're saved by the grace of God. It's not because of us. It's because of you. And, Father, we want to honor you. We want to please you. We want to live for you. Sometimes there's a lot of opposition, and I pray that you'll teach us today just a few things about how we could have a home that would honor you and bring glory to you and help our church and help the ministry and reach our community and be a lighthouse. And Father, we give you the praise in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you so much. You may be seated. One of the first finest families in the Bible said, let's make a prophet's chamber in our home. and take care of the man of God, let's honor the holy man of God. In Psalm 127, listen to this, Psalm 127, the Bible says, except the Lord build the house. They labor in vain that build it. Now I want to tell you something, you may be able to build an extravagant beautiful, expensive, well-appointed, with all the amenities, house, has everything, all the upgrades, all the nicest countertops, and the nicest appliances, and the beautiful trim, and all that kind of thing. But if Christ is not involved in that, then you're building a home for destruction. That's all you're doing. You're headed down a wrong road, a wrong path. He said, except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman awaketh but in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows, for so he giveth his beloved sleep. Lo, children are inheritance of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them. They shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate." As we think of our homes, we think of our families, we think of our influence, think of our testimony, think of our impact, I'm telling you, ladies and gentlemen, there's nothing any more beautiful than a Christian home. There's nothing any more beautiful than a praying mother. Nothing any more beautiful than a godly father. Nothing any more beautiful than children that fear the Lord. And we need to ask God to help us have Christ-honoring homes. God didn't leave us here just so we could be secularly successful. God left us here to bring honor and glory to Him, to be His witness, and to accomplish a purpose for Him. If you're here today, as I mentioned in the prayer, without Christ, God didn't leave you here just to live, eat, drink, be merry, and tomorrow you die and whatever else. God has a plan for your life. God wants to save you. God wants to use you. God wants to take you to heaven when you die. That's God's plan. And nothing less will do, nothing less will satisfy. And a home that doesn't have those goals and that idea for their family and for themselves is a home that is being built in vain. You're laboring in vain. And all those things, even if you gather all the riches of this world, if you don't believe God and live by faith and trust Him to do for you what you can't do for yourself, My friend, I'm telling you, if you start living on the basis of what I can do for God, or what I can do for my family, or what will satisfy me, or what will help my situation work, you start making your decisions based on that, instead of what would please God, what would honor Him, and how can I have His hand of blessing on my life, then my friend, it says, except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. You're building a house that it's just going to fall down around you. As a matter of fact, the devil will devour you, and he goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Some think that they'll save their home with things, and they risk their very life for things. They think, if I just had the material things of this world, you know, we are in a rough part in the inner part of the city. And again, a lot of new people here. So I'm going to tell the story that I remember years ago hearing about a family that got off at the wrong exit. They got off at the wrong exit. And here they found themselves in our part of town, rough area. How many of you have ever been to Louisville area to Shawnee Baptist Church. Anybody here been there? Oh, you ought to come see it. It's amazing. It's wonderful. What God's done on that 11 acre campus right in the middle of the inner city, a deteriorating older part of the city, gangs and drugs and motorcycle gangs and all that kind of thing. And God's built just a wonderful work there. The Lord's been so good, he's proved his mighty power. And it's just exciting what the Lord's doing, the testimony of the church, and how we've tried to reach everybody for the glory of God. But these people got off the wrong exit, and all of a sudden they realized, wow, this looks kind of like a scary part of town. And they pulled over, and he got out his map, and he was trying to figure the thing out. And you can tell it was years ago, he didn't have a GPS. And he was looking through here, and all of a sudden, out of the shadows, here comes these two men. running over there and he had his window down, it was warm. Of course, they had out-of-state license and the fellows, they said, this is a car, we don't want your car, just give us your valuables, give me your wristwatch, give me your cell phone, and pop the trunk, my friend here will take care of that. Man, this guy, he was taking his phone off and he said, give me your wedding ring. About that time, a car turned the corner up down the street and the headlight shined down that way, and those two guys saw it and they took off. He's sitting there, he said, man, that scared me to death. Those guys could have killed us. His wife didn't say anything, he looked over at her. She reached in her mouth and pulled out her wedding ring, put it on. She reached in her mouth, pulled out her engagement ring and put it on. Reached in her mouth, pulled out her bracelet and put it on. Pulled out her watch, put it on. Pulled out her necklace, put it on. You get the picture. He sat there looking at her. He said, man, if your mother had been here, we could have saved the luggage. I want to give you three or four thoughts here very simply. Number one, the foundation of the home. The real foundation of the home is righteousness. I'm talking about the right foundation of the home. I'm not talking about the bricks and the martyr and the footers and the concrete and the steel. I'm not talking about all that kind of thing. I'm talking about how you can build a spiritual home that will stand the storms of life. and how to have the right foundation of the home. And point number one under that of the right foundation is righteousness. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. The wise man built his house upon the rock and the foolish man built his house upon the sand. Is the foundation built so it can stand the storms of life? Are you building your home on righteousness? You say, preacher, what are you talking about righteousness? I'm talking about things that ought to be in a Christian family, in a Christian home, in a Christian's life. Do you have a home that is Christ-centered? Do you have a home where the Word of God is honored? Do you have times where you read the Bible, that it's not just a decoration on the coffee table? Do you have times where you're just gathering dust on a bookshelf somewhere? Do you have times where you pray together as a family? Is it a Christ-honoring home? Is it a righteous home? Is it a home where salvation is talked about, where you try to make sure that your children are saved, and you know that the husband and wife know that one another are saved? Is it a home that's faithful to God's house, faithful to church? They can just count on you. And your children, it's not a question in their mind as they grow up in your home. Well, are we going to serve God this week or are we going to do something else? And I mean, it's just automatic. Hey, there's not even any question. We're going to be in God's house. We're going to be where we're supposed to be doing what we're supposed to do. And is it a home where we're right on the financial matters, where we're the stewards that God wants us to be, where we're teaching our family to live by faith and that we're just going to trust God come what may We're going to trust God. Though he slay me, still I'll trust him. The Bible says, here's what faith is. The Bible says that faith is like the poet Whittier put it this way. He said, the steps of faith fall on the seeming void, but find the rock beneath. Oh, what it is to have faith. The Bible says faith is substance. You say, well, preacher, I just don't see how I could just live by faith. The Bible says that faith is substance. The faith is the substance of things hoped for. It's the evidence of things not seen. And the Bible says without faith, Hebrews 11, 6, it is impossible to please God. So you say, well, preacher, I'm just not sure. You know, we can have prayer and Bible reading and stewardship and be faithful to church and do all these things. And hey, look, put it on your calendar and be good stewards, all that stuff. Hey, put it on your calendar, put it on your to-do list. By faith, then you as a family pray and say, we are going to commit ourselves and we're just going to do it. We're just going to do what we're supposed to do and believe God to supply our need, to give us direction, to give us the man of Christ, to give us wisdom. And I'm telling you, God says, here's some things. We all want God to answer our prayers. Listen now, I don't want to be sacrilegious here. I don't want to be irreverent. But we all want God to answer our prayers, but we don't want to answer His prayers. And it's not like God's praying to us, like there's anything we can do for God. But throughout the Scripture, there's several things God has asked us to do. And we're quick to go to God and ask Him to do stuff we want. And then we get upset with Him when He doesn't do what we want. And yet, we think nothing of making decisions that says, I know what God says, but I'm not going to do that because, you know, this is the real world and times are different and whatever. And I've got other responsibilities. We're going to do our own thing. And yet, we expect God to be there. You know what? Basically, you're saying God is your butler. You know, when you pull the chain, He's supposed to come running and say, yes, sir. Is that it? Or is He God in your life? Are you building your home on righteousness, on faith, saying, dear God, I can't do it, but I'll tell you what I am gonna do. I'm gonna do all that I can, and I'm gonna trust you to do what I can't, and you're gonna take care of us just like you said you would in your word. I can claim that promise. I can ask you to answer my prayer, because by faith, to the best of my ability, I'm doing what you asked me to do, and I pray you'd help me as I try to do what you've asked me to do, that you'll supply the need for me to be able to do it. How many of you, no, I won't ask, so let's take a vote. How many of you think God is able to take care of your family? Don't take a vote, I'm not trying to embarrass anybody. But you see, I'm just saying, you say, well, preacher, we just can't be at church every time the doors are open. Oh, really, well. Now, I understand if you work in a situation, I've got a son that's a police officer, I've got a daughter that's a nurse, and both of them at various times, their schedules and how they rearrange things and the swing shifts and all the different kind of stuff that those people go through, both of them at times can't be in church. I understand that, and I think God even understands that if that's the field He's called them into, but at the same time, every time that that's not a a situation that's beyond their control. Then they just say, well, you know, I worked hard last night, so I'm just going to sleep in today. I'm just not going to go. All of a sudden, they've crossed a line. You see what I'm talking about? You can do what God wants you to do. And you can be faithful, you can be earnest, and you can be honest. Without faith, it's impossible to please Him. Then, not only we think about the foundation of righteousness, what about the foundation thinking about doing the things God wants us to do, I think of the story of Lot. The Bible says over in Genesis, if you have your Bible, look over there with me real quick. I want you to see something. In the book of Genesis, the first book in the Bible, chapter number 13. Genesis chapter number 13. I'll get there in just a minute. You probably beat me there. In Genesis chapter 13, I want you to see this. Here's Lot, Abraham's nephew, traveled with Abraham. Abraham was a friend of God. Abraham had the leadership of God in his life. God, through Abraham, established a nation through which we would get the Word of God, through which we'd get the Son of God. On and on, we can talk about it. But God blessed Abraham, and Lot was his nephew. He's raised him like a son. The Bible says in Genesis chapter number 13, I'm just gonna, I can't read it all, beginning verse 10. The Bible said that Abraham and Lot, they had a little bit of a dispute about whatever. And Abraham said, okay, you choose what direction you wanna go and I'll go the other direction. Because they had so many sheep, God had blessed them so much. They had so many sheep and so many goods and so many people and so many employees and workers and herdmen that they were all always getting in each other's way and having fights and whatever else. And Abraham said, okay, you pick, here's Abraham, instead of saying, well, I'm the senior partner here, I'll choose what I want, and you can have whatever's left. Instead, Abraham was very gracious. He said, look, you take what you think you want, and I'll take whatever's left over. And Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plain of Jordan, verse 10 of Genesis 13, and it was well watered everywhere before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest to Zoar. And then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east, and they separated themselves one from the other. And Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. Oh, my. Here's young Lot. He knew better. He had been with Uncle Abe. He'd even seen Uncle Abe make a few mistakes of his own and rectify them and try to make them right. But Lot, when it was time for him to go any direction he wanted to go, hey, he said, That's the best land. In addition to that, I can live in the city. Boy, they've got things going on there. Bright lights, casinos, and ungodliness, and sodomites, and whatever else. And I'm just going to pitch my tent towards Sodom. And you know the story. how that God got upset with Sodom and Gomorrah, decided to destroy it. And God said, told Abraham, Abraham negotiated with God a little while, and got it down to where if he could find ten righteous people there, and that is people that were saved, in the city of Sodom, that he would spare it. And here was Lot and his wife and their children and their children's spouses, and you add it all up, and there was ten right in his own family. And yet, when God looked, He couldn't find ten righteous people. Lot had lost all of his influence. He had won nobody in town to God. He'd lost his own children to the devil. And now here he was. And when the destruction came, his family was decimated. Destroyed. What an awful price he paid. You see, what Lot chose might have been a good place to raise sheep. but it was a terrible place to raise children. I know people that make decisions in their lives. about where they're going to live, about where they're going to move to, about some job offer they've had, and they're in a good Bible-believing church, and they'll leave that good Bible-believing church and go off to some wicked city and say, well, I know we'll be able to find a church when we get there. They don't even check it out. They don't even find one before they move. They finally get there, and they find out, yeah, they go and buy a house, get settled in. And then they say, well, now it's time to look for a church. And they start looking. They say, oh, yeah, there is a good fundamental Bible-believing church here in this city. But it's 30 miles away on the other side of the city. We can't go there. And before you know it, they're totally out of the will of God. And their family is lost to the devil and their own lives become ensnared in the world. That's what happened a lot. I'm telling you this, ladies and gentlemen, if you're gonna build a Christ-honoring home, and have a Christ-honoring family, and live a Christ-honoring life, then you need to have the right foundation for the home, and that foundation is righteousness. Second thing I want you to see is, number one, is the foundation of the home. I want you to see the faith of the home. I know I talked about faith a little bit in the first point, but faith is a big issue in the Word of God. Without faith, it's impossible to please God. He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. The Bible says, Romans chapter 10, verse 17, listen to this, I love this verse. Romans chapter 10, verse 17, you ought to jot that down, you ought to memorize it. You ought to put it into practice in your life. It says, so then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. You know why I believe it's important for God's people to be in God's house when the Word of God's being preached? Because when you hear the Word of God, it's a faith builder. Already, I'm just convinced of this. Maybe I'm an egotistical, arrogant preacher. But I'm convinced of this. I'm convinced that there's 80% of this room already right here today. There went my money out of my billfold that I got it out, because I thought we was going to take the offering earlier. And we didn't take the offering. Hey, I'm out. I'm scot-free. Hallelujah. God's alive. But hey, I'm convinced that at least 80% of the people came with an open heart Maybe not an expectant heart. Now, we ought to come with an expectant heart. I've said this over and over. I've gone to churches, and I've come to the conclusion that our church at home, Shawnee Baptist, was no different, that most all the people, if we took a survey of folks going out, there'd hardly be a handful that spent as much as 15 seconds before the church service, before they came to church that day, that paused and said, now, God, give me something today. Help me today. Show me some things I need to change. Help me to be a better Christian. Speak to my heart. Solve this problem for me. Give me some wisdom. They just come. You know what they got? They come say, well, let's see, I don't know, I'll wear this. I wonder what people will say about this. I wonder if they're saying, you know, I want to go see, I hope the sermon isn't long today. I hope the preacher's entertaining so I don't fall asleep, you know, whatever. I don't know. They got a thousand different things, but not expecting God to give them something. But even with that, I'm arrogant enough and egotistical enough to believe that as I preach the word of God to your head, the Holy Spirit speaks to your heart. And that already today, the Lord has nudged some people and said, boy, that's something you need to give some thought to. There's something you need. You ought to think about that. You ought to apply that in your life already, already. And if not, just hang around, it'll happen. because faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. And I'm just foolish enough, you can call it what you want to, I'm just foolish enough to believe God. If God said that would happen, then I believe it'll happen. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. As God, as you are willing to expose yourself to hearing the word of God. I believe the Word of God will have an impact on your life. It'll be a faith builder. It'll help you increase in your faith and in your walk with the Lord. Don't ever forsake the assembling of yourselves together. Boy, that's so important. It's so important. So we talk about the foundation of the home, we talk about the faith of the home. A home that has faith in it will stand. A home that has faith in it will put your faith in God, put your faith in the Word of God, put your faith in the local New Testament Bible-believing church. I think of Rahab. I don't even have time to go there, but if you want to jot it down, it's in Joshua chapter number 2, the story of Rahab the harlot. Yes, she was a wicked woman. She was a harlot. She had a house up on the wall, and she was in what we'd call, I guess, the red light district, and here come these spies that Joshua had sent over to check out the land, and she hid them. They ended up at her place, and she hid them in the attic, whatever, while the people of the city were looking for them because they feared the Israelites. And they said, we know some spies have come to our city, and we think they might be at your place. She said, oh, they're not here. And she hid them. And when they left, she said, I'll hide you if you'll make sure that when you take over this city, because she believed that it was going to happen. She said, when you take over the city, you'll spare my family. They said, we'll do it one way. You put this red cord in the window. and let it hang down, we'll see that cord and we'll not destroy anybody. They said, you be in their house when we come and get your family and have them all in there and none of them will be destroyed. You know what, that red cord was symbolic of the blood of Jesus Christ. The red cord that runs all the way through the scripture from Genesis through Revelation, talking about our Savior and the sacrifice He made. And here that day, she did what they asked her to do. And not only was she spared, but her entire family was spared. As a matter of fact, if you go back and check out the genealogy, you'll find Rahab right there as an ancestor of Jesus Christ. Isn't that something? I mean, God not only saved her, God gave her a place in all of history, in the universe. There are, I'm thinking about the foundation of the home, I'm thinking about the faith of the home. Third thing I want you to think about with me are the foes that would destroy your home. I said I'm gonna talk about some of those tonight, but I'll just give you two or three different ones here today. One, the Psalmist said in Psalm number 11, verse three, if the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? There are some enemies of your home that would like to destroy those foundations. One is the unequal yoke, a husband not saved or the wife not saved, or having friends that are unsaved. Can two walk together except they be agreed? How can darkness and light have fellowship one with another? Hey, by the way, if you're here today and you're unmarried, you've never married, I want you to make sure, you better be careful, you better make sure that who you're getting ready to marry believes the same thing you do, that you're both saved, that you're both committed to walking with Christ. You better make sure of that. I tell you, in fact, that was not the case in my case. I married my wife. I wasn't right with God. I was intent on making a big living and whatever. God supernaturally broke into our home, and that's another long story, I won't get into it, but God changed our lives. My wife got saved, I got right with God, but I'm telling you, it wasn't because of anything on our part. The truth of the matter is, I should have been more diligent than that. I should have shared my faith in Christ with my wife, but I just assumed, because honestly, here's the honest truth, she was living a better life than I was, so I assumed she was a Christian. Isn't that something? And I was not living up to my responsibility as a Christian, so I was embarrassed to talk about it with anybody. I didn't want to sound like a hypocrite, even though that's exactly what I was. I was living hypocritically. I was living one way, professing one thing, living another way, living one way in front of my mom and another way in front of the crowd. It's not right. And God blessed us and helped us and saved my wife and helped me to get right with Him. And then later on down the road called me into the ministry. And boy, we've had a great journey. When we got right with God, we've never looked back. We've never regretted. giving our lives to Christ and going on with Him. And neither will you, if you'll just sell out to Him. Don't just dabble at it. Don't just sort of test it. Just sell out. Just trust Him. By faith, go whole hog. There are foes that would destroy your home, the unequal yoke. And then the unhappy home, having the wrong priorities. And all those kind of things. Psalm 144, verse 15 says, be ye happy. I'm sorry, in the last half of that verse, it says, happy is the people whose God is the Lord. Happy is the people whose God is the Lord. You say, preacher, what's that saying? Sounds like it's repeating itself. God is Lord. No, God is the Lord. God, the word God, that's the creator God, Elohim, God the Father, God the Son, the God, the Holy Spirit, the creator. But that word Lord is Jehovah, that he is your personal savior and Lord and loves you. He's not just the God that you're trying to appease. but he's your personal God that gave himself for you, that died in your place. Happy is the people whose God is the Lord. There's the unequal yoke, the unhappy home, and largely that's caused because of wrong relationships. And you gotta be careful because here's what happens in 21st century America. Here's what happens. We have discovered something called a social network. Instead you'll have all your friends and followers and all those kind of things I I thank the Lord for the internet and the things and the tools that can be used In an honorable way and can can can be used as tools to help you do a work for Christ But if you're not careful, you can get caught up in that thing and you can end up with some relationships and some friendships that are displeasing to God and you could be drawn into a web of of destruction Better stay away from that thing If you can't control it, you ought to unplug it. But if you can control it and use it for God's glory, be a testimony, be a witness, then let God use you. Unequal yoke, unhappy family, unattending home. We already talked about that being faithful to God's house. How important it is that you serve the Lord. Foundation of the home, the faith of the home, the foes of the home. I want you to think about the future of the home, the future of a truly Christian home. is heaven. Pretty simple, isn't it? The future of a truly Christian home is heaven, and our goal ought to be that every member be saved and serving our Lord Jesus Christ. It pays to serve God in your life now, it will pay to serve God at your death, and it will pay to serve God throughout the endless ages of eternity. True joy exists only in the home of those who know Christ. You know, here's the simple salvation plan. We're sinners that don't deserve heaven. The Bible says we've all sinned and come short of the glory of God. Pretty simple. There's a penalty for sin. The Bible says the wages of sin is death. And He's not just talking about physical death. We all face that. We're all going to die. The Bible says it's appointed unto man once to die, and after that, the judgment. But he's talking about spiritual death or separation from God forever in a place Jesus called hell. Over in the book of Revelation he calls it death and it says this, death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into that lake of fire. So we're sinners. and the payment for sin is death. But God loved us so much that He sent His Son to pay that death penalty for us, to take our place, to become sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. The Bible says that God proved His love. God commendeth His love toward us, Romans 5.8, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And Romans 10, 13 says this, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. If you're here today, you're not 100% sure of heaven as your home, you know you're a sinner, you do believe that God loves you and that Jesus died for you, then I beg you today, Ask Him to be your personal Savior. Settle that matter in your heart and life forever. Don't leave here today without Christ. In just a few moments, we're going to give you an opportunity. We're going to sing a hymn of invitation. The altar is open, and someone is here to pray with you and to show you the way. Don't be ashamed or embarrassed. Then in addition to that, there are Christians all over this room, and you need to have that right foundation for your home. You need to be building the right kind of home. And you have loved ones or friends or neighbors who do not know Christ, and today would be a wonderful day just to come. as a family or as an individual and say, we're going to pray that God's going to help our home to do right and be right. And we're going to pray for our loved ones and family members, close members and distant family members that are not saved or not serving God, whether they're saved or not, and pray that God will somehow get a hold of their hearts and use us to be a witness for His glory, for His honor. Let's bow our heads for just a moment, please. I wonder who's here today. You say, Brother Lonnie, I am saved. I know for sure that if I die today, heaven is my home. Would you slip your hand up just a moment where I can see it? Preacher, I'm saved and I'm sure I'm saved. God bless you. Many hands. Thank you so much. I wonder who's here today. You say, Brother Lonnie, I couldn't honestly raise my hand and say I know for sure that I'm going to heaven, but I'd like to know that. Please pray for me. Is there anyone at all? Heads are bowed and eyes are closed. Just slip your hand up where I can see it a moment. No one looking but the pastor and myself. Preacher, I want to be saved. I want to know for sure that heaven's my home. Anyone at all, just slip it up where I can see it. Preacher, pray for me. I want to be saved. Not just for heaven's sake, but even for my family's sake. I'd like to know Christ. I want Him to be in charge of my life and in charge of my home. Pray for me, pray for our family, pray that God will bless. One who's here today, you say, Preacher, I know some people, I have some family members that I'm not sure they're saved, and I have a burden for them. It may be within your own immediate family, children, or parents, or siblings, or it may be distant family members that maybe go even further, grandparents, or it may be cousins, or aunts and uncles, but you say there's someone in my family that's not saved, and I'd sure like to see them saved. I don't want our family chain to be broken. I would like to see them saved and pray with me that God will touch their hearts and give me the courage maybe to speak to them and get them to church or give them a gospel tracker. Do something to make a difference. There's somebody on my heart today. Would you slip your hand up? How many say that? God bless you. So many hands all over the room. I think you may take them down. Who's here, and one last question, who's here and say, preacher, my family, my family, and my life, maybe it's me, maybe it's me, myself, and I as a member of my family, there's some things I need to help our family. Or maybe it's for some other member of your immediate family. You say, Preacher, I believe we're all saved, but there's some things that need improvement. There's some things that need help. We need God to intervene. We need greater faith. We need a stronger foundation. We need to do some of the things that you talked about today. Pray with me for myself or for my family that God would help us in the needs that we have. How many would say that? Just slip it up there. Slip it up all over the room. God bless you. God bless you. It's wonderful to be honest, isn't it? I tell you this, Nancy and I pray all the time that God would bless our family, to help us, our family members, but even our own immediate family. Now it's just me and her. And we pray that God would help us to be a testimony and to keep us strong and keep us well, help us be faithful and help us to grow in Christ and to be better Christians and to be better witnesses. And I'd like to invite you that raised your hand just then, in just a moment, I'm gonna pray and the music's gonna begin to play. And when the music begins to play, we're gonna stand together and I'm gonna ask you, join me here at the altar and let's pray to that end. Let's pray for our family and our loved ones. While you're there, if you have a need in your own personal life, you pray for you and ask God to help you do right. If you come as a family, pray together as a family. If there's something that's not right in your family, admit it and pray about it and ask God to help. Will you let Christ have his way? While we quietly slip to our feet, I'm going to pray and then the music will begin. Let's just go ahead and slip to our feet right now. Then I'll pray. Then the music will begin. Heavenly Father, you know our hearts here this morning. I pray your Holy Spirit would just have his way. Lord, help us to be growing Christians. Help us to become what you want us to be. Forgive our weaknesses and our failures. And Father, we give you the praise, we love you, and we thank you in Jesus' name, amen. As the music begins to play, you come right now. Join us here at the altar.