Principles Pictured by the Tabernacle, Silver Sockets

[0:00] It's nice to sing songs with sound doctrine. Amen. So, alright, amen. Let's find in your Bible the book of Exodus.

[0:11] ! We're instructing Moses regarding the building of the tabernacle, the covering, the structure, how it's all put together.

[0:38] And we're likening this from 1 Corinthians chapter 3 to the church. Because the church, he says, is the temple of God. And so it illustrates some important truths about the New Testament church.

[0:51] And two weeks ago, we began with the outer covering of the building. And saw by those golden tashes holding the curtains together, illustrating for us the importance of togetherness.

[1:03] That it may be one is the point. He said it two times in the first 11 verses. We also illustrated there the importance of a covering from those verses.

[1:13] Seeing that there were four layers and kind of likened that to different coverings. But the most important was probably the authority or the order that God designed for the local church.

[1:24] And then last week, we studied the boards and the bars that were supporting the structure of the boards. We illustrated from the boards the importance of standing.

[1:35] Because in verse 15, those boards are standing up. But the bars were there, showing the importance of helping. And we likened that to the roles of men and women in the local church.

[1:47] And so this morning, we'll continue. And in between the instructions of the boards and the bars from last week, some material that I skipped over, has to do with some silver sockets.

[1:58] And that's what I want to take a look at this morning. So would you follow along from verse 15? We'll backtrack just a little bit to the boards. And then go to verse 25. So Exodus 26.

[2:10] Please follow along in your Bible. Verse 15. Verse 15.

[2:42] Verse 15.

[3:12] And they shall be eight boards and their sockets of silver, 16 sockets, two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board.

[3:23] And then he goes on with the bars that we read about in verse 26 last week. Now, it says that under each of these 48 boards that cover three walls of this tabernacle structure, under each board is two silver sockets.

[3:40] These sockets receive the tenons of the boards. The boards are literally standing upon those sockets. Now, a tenon is almost like you'd shave the board down to have something that could drop down inside.

[3:59] This is still a common practice of woodworking today when they're trying to do something that does not show the joint, kind of an invisible joint. There's tongue and groove. You're familiar with that probably.

[4:10] But the tenon goes inside of the socket. And typically today it's just filled with wood glue and it's pretty good to go. But here these vertical boards have two protruding, almost like feet, sticking straight down under them.

[4:25] It's all part of one solid board. The board is just cut and carved in such a way to have those two. And they sit down inside, one tenon inside a socket of silver. And the sockets of silver are 40 together in a line, therefore making this a strong and, you know, what's the word I want?

[4:44] Just in one straight plane, the boards for the wall, so it's a straight wall. These sockets ensure that the boards are firmly planted in their place and they're grounded in a fixed way.

[5:00] A strong gust of wind, for instance, could come by and do some major damage to the tabernacle. And so these boards need to be planted in place. So the sockets act as a holder, as a stabilizer for the strong vertical planks, keeping them standing upright.

[5:21] They act as a foundation for this transportable tabernacle. Now if we were doing this today and building a building, we would dig in the ground a footer.

[5:31] Everywhere the walls are going to be, we would dig down a certain depth and we would form it up and we would brace with rebar and then we would pour concrete and to make some stable, permanent platform to build upon.

[5:47] And then we'd anchor whatever our building material is into that solid structure. That's the practices of building today. But that's not what was taking place here. This is a movable structure, whereas today would be considered unmovable and something stable.

[6:03] Jesus Christ said to build your house upon a rock. Well, they're actually building upon the sand here in the wilderness. And so to have these sockets, they're super important for the structure and stability of the tabernacle.

[6:19] And so what we've been doing is looking at the individual structures and pieces of this tabernacle and likening it to something, some importance that we can learn in our local church.

[6:31] And I believe these sockets of silver this morning illustrate the importance of a foundation. Remember last week we looked at those strong vertical boards, likening them to strong Christian men in the local church and how a local church must have strong Christian men or it will not be a strong church.

[6:50] That's just the truth. It's not a knock on the ladies. It's the design of God. And those strong boards have got to stand in place and they have got to stay in line and they have got to support this entire structure.

[7:05] It's not an easy thing though to get a group of men to stand together side by side in complete harmony and complete agreement unless those men are standing upon the same foundation.

[7:19] What keeps one board in place is the same thing that keeps the next board in place and standing. All 48 of them all around standing together in unison. Now I want you to notice that this is not one solid foundation.

[7:33] This is made up of 96 individual sockets of silver. Each individual board we read in verse 19 that there are at the end of that two sockets under another board.

[7:49] Each board has two sockets for his two tenons. I find that interesting. Because in the New Testament there are, guess what, two foundations to build a church upon.

[8:03] The holy city in New Jerusalem in Revelation 21 has 12 foundations. But this church only has two. And I want to show you them today.

[8:13] Turn over to 1 Corinthians chapter 3. 1 Corinthians chapter 3. And I don't know that we need to come back to Exodus. We've read what we need to read about the sockets.

[8:28] So go to the New Testament. 1 Corinthians chapter 3. And I want to show you the two foundations that the church is built upon. 1 Corinthians chapter 3.

[8:46] And I'll begin in verse 10. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, Paul says this, As a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon.

[8:59] But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid. And here it is as plain as can be. Which is Jesus Christ.

[9:13] Jesus Christ is the foundation upon which the church is built upon. These are people. And remember verse 16. We read this a few weeks ago.

[9:24] Know ye not that ye are the temple of God? That's a group, a body of people. Ye, plural, are the temple of God. Verse 17. If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy.

[9:39] For the temple of God is holy. Which temple ye are? Now in verse 10 we read, Let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. Men are ministers. Are called of God to minister and to build upon this foundation of Jesus Christ.

[9:54] And to build a church. And to grow that church. And a work it's called. Look at chapter 15 of the same book. 1 Corinthians 15. And this foundation, the first one mentioned is clearly the Lord Jesus Christ.

[10:10] But more specifically, the gospel of Jesus Christ. Find verse number 1. 1 Corinthians 15 and verse number 1.

[10:23] Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received. And wherein ye stand.

[10:33] There's the one socket underneath the board. Underneath it that the tenon fits into. It's the foundation of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[10:46] Each board of the church must have a tenon firmly planted and fixed within that silver socket of the gospel of Jesus Christ. There's no other foundation that'll work.

[10:58] There has never been known to man. If a man moves off of the foundation of Jesus Christ. If he goes after another gospel and plants his tenon in the sand around or below.

[11:09] The church cannot stand. The church will absolutely fall. Look to your right a little bit further. Find Galatians chapter 1. Skip the next book and then find Galatians chapter 1.

[11:28] These silver sockets under the boards of the tabernacle illustrate for us the importance of a foundation for the local church. And the first socket is the socket of Jesus Christ and his gospel.

[11:44] I'm going to begin at verse number 1. Galatians 1 verse 1. Paul an apostle. Not of men neither by man. But by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead.

[11:56] Unto all the brethren which are with me under the churches of Galatia. Grace be to you and peace from God the Father. And from our Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself for our sins.

[12:08] That he might deliver us from this present evil world. According to the will of God and our Father to whom be glory forever and ever.

[12:18] Amen. Now he's going to turn and say, I'm really surprised at you people. Verse 6. I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him.

[12:31] Jesus Christ gave himself for our sins. That he might deliver us. His gospel. But I marvel. I'm surprised that you are so soon removed.

[12:43] Whereas that socket, that tenon was placed into the socket. It's been picked up and moved. Removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ.

[12:54] Unto another gospel. Which is not another. But there be some that trouble you. And would pervert the gospel of Christ. Now Paul makes a very direct and emphatic statement. But though we, himself included.

[13:08] Or an angel from heaven. Which you presume to be the most glorious messenger that ever existed. Either the apostles. The ones that preach on this earth divinely designed by God.

[13:21] Or even some glorious angel from heaven. Though we are an angel from heaven. Preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you. Let him be accursed.

[13:34] As we said before. So say I now again. If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received. Let him be accursed. There's only one gospel.

[13:46] To be fixed upon. To stand upon. To keep the church together and upright. And it's as plain as the scripture. It's the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[13:57] And by the way the tenons of these boards fit perfectly. Into that gospel. Into that silver socket. That foundation. There's no need to add a shim or a wedge to tighten it up.

[14:10] It fits perfectly the way God designed it. There's no need to support it. That gospel is strong. That gospel is sufficient. I think it's a perfect fit. The Bible says in Romans chapter 1.

[14:22] Paul said I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. For it is the power of God unto salvation. To everyone that believeth. To the Jew first.

[14:32] And also to the Greek. That's the gospel. There's some cults around. That try to build upon some other foundation. There's even a cult that says that an angel from heaven.

[14:43] Came and delivered a message unto a certain man. And it's a revelation of Jesus Christ. Let him be accursed. Amen. There's others that pray to Mary.

[14:55] That call on other things. To add to this gospel of Jesus Christ. Let all of it be accursed. Because it's not founded upon the gospel of Jesus Christ alone. Now a little side note here.

[15:07] I hope you've realized. I hope individually you've realized by now. That if you're standing upon your own merit. And if you're trying to stand before God upon your good works.

[15:18] And your good. I'm a good person. Or I've done good all my life. If you're trying to stand upon that socket. It's not enough. And it won't get you through the judgment. You can't build a church upon the goodness of man.

[15:32] Only the gospel of Christ is sufficient. Building upon something that works. Something that God accepts. Something that is finished. Something that is completed. If you leave it up to man.

[15:46] If you try to build upon the foundation of man. Man has good days. And man has bad days. And man is not a stable structure to build a church upon.

[15:59] It will fall. Man will disappoint you. Men will leave you hanging. Men will grow in pride. Men will get distracted after money. Men are not the foundation to build a church upon.

[16:11] But it's the gospel of Jesus Christ. That doesn't change. That has been completed. That has been accepted by God. That's a good place to start. I hope you've realized the need for Jesus Christ.

[16:23] Now I told you there were two sockets. There were two sockets for each board. And there's a second foundation that accompanies the first. So flip over in your Bible to Ephesians chapter number two.

[16:35] Now when it comes to the salvation of your soul. There's only one need for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[16:50] But we're talking about building a church. And so not only do you need to be in Christ and born again. But there's something else to build the church upon. And look with me at Ephesians chapter two.

[17:02] And I'll start getting the context. Verse number one. You were dead. But when you believe on Christ.

[17:14] Then you're made alive. And verse five. You're quickened together with Christ. And then God takes those that are quickened together. Whether they're Jews or Gentiles.

[17:25] And he places them together into a body. And that is in verse 16. 16. That he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross. And so that's the gospel of Jesus Christ we've been speaking of.

[17:38] Now verse 19. Now therefore ye. Paul writing to some Gentile believers. Ye are no more strangers and foreigners. But fellow citizens with the saints.

[17:49] And of the household of God. And now notice verse 20. And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone.

[18:03] Now what exactly did these apostles and prophets lay down for as a foundation? To build upon. What exactly? Was it their testimony?

[18:15] Was it their example? The answers in the scripture. Turn to 2 Peter. Turn back to the right. 2 Peter chapter number three. 2 Peter chapter three.

[18:36] And I'll start in verse one. And the answer we'll find in verse two. 2 Peter three verse one. This second epistle beloved.

[18:47] I now write unto you. In both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance. That ye may be mindful of the words. Which were spoken before by the holy prophets.

[19:01] And of the commandment of us the apostles. Of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is words is the answer. That those prophets and apostles laid a foundation with.

[19:14] Their very words. It's a reference in all to the holy scriptures. These words received by revelation. Given by inspiration. And held by the church.

[19:25] Built upon. As sound doctrine. Or a better word maybe is truth. Sometimes several times in this Bible. Paul and I know James uses the phrase. The word of truth.

[19:37] The word of truth. I want to say a few things about truth. For a moment this morning. Turn back to 2 Timothy chapter two. 2 Timothy chapter two.

[19:50] There were two sockets under each board. The one socket. The gospel of Jesus Christ. The other socket. The word of God.

[20:03] And those two foundations together. Is the only two foundations needed. For the local church to be built upon. 2 Timothy chapter two. And we'll begin with a very familiar verse.

[20:15] Verse fifteen. The Bible says. Study. To show thyself approved unto God. Now why do you need to study?

[20:27] Well let me back up just one more verse. To verse fourteen. Of these things put them in remembrance. Charging them before the Lord. That they strive not about words. To no profit.

[20:39] But to the subverting of the hearers. Somebody's teaching and preaching some things that aren't true. And they're not helpful. And you can't build a church on things that aren't true.

[20:50] So the command is to study the word of God. To find out what's true and what's not. Study to show thyself approved unto God. A workman that needeth not to be ashamed.

[21:02] Rightly dividing the word of truth. A man is ashamed when he teaches something that's false. It's a shame unto him. It comes back upon him.

[21:13] When a prophet prophesies something that doesn't come to pass. He shows that he's a false prophet. You're to study. To show yourself approved unto God. You don't need to be ashamed when you study and rightly divide the word of truth.

[21:27] Verse 16. But shun profane and vain babblings. For they will increase unto more ungodliness. And their word will eat as doth a canker.

[21:39] Of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus. Who concerning the truth have erred. Saying that the resurrection is past already. And overthrow the faith of some. Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure.

[21:53] However, the word of God hasn't changed. The word of God is still true. No matter what these two gentlemen go around teaching and proclaiming. And have got themselves a following.

[22:06] Overthrowing the faith of some. Doing damage to a local church. The foundation. The second foundation. And the only other one needed. Is truth.

[22:17] The word of God. Thy word is truth. The word of truth. As Paul calls it here. Look at 2nd Corinthians. Flip back to your left a little bit. Find 2nd Corinthians 13.

[22:36] 2nd Corinthians 13. And just one little verse here. I was going to quote it.

[22:47] But I want you to see it. Verse number 8. It says. For we can do nothing against the truth. But for the truth.

[22:59] The truth is so right. It's so real. It's so solid and sound. It's like if you're familiar with the hardness and density of different elements and stones in this world.

[23:12] And there's a scale that's been made where the diamond sits at the top. I forget the number if it's like a 9 or a 10. But there's certain other ones that you could take a harder object and you could scratch.

[23:23] A certain stone. Like I believe a jasper I think is at like an 8. Something like that. And you could make a mark in a jasper if you had a harder stone or a harder element.

[23:34] But you take the truth. You can't scar it. You can't crack it. You can do nothing against it. So if you're going to want to look for something stable to build upon.

[23:46] To grow a church upon. Look no further than the word of truth. If you're trying to build a church you better get the right foundations underneath. Or it's not going to go up very well and it's not going to stay up.

[23:59] So we've got the truth. Where we can do nothing against the truth. We've got sound doctrine to build upon. Under our feet. Firmly established. It does not change.

[24:11] And neither do we. So the church stands on no other foundations than Jesus Christ and the truth of the word of God. The Virgin Mary is not a foundation for the local church.

[24:25] The apostles themselves and their testimonies and putting their pictures up and hanging things from our mirrors. Those are not foundations for a local church.

[24:36] Cultural traditions. Customs. Not a foundation. You don't build off of some custom that locally you do. The church of Jesus Christ.

[24:48] It can look different around the world. In the sense of how God made nations and men different. But you should have a fellowship and a bond anywhere you go around true believers.

[25:02] Because you have two things that are the same. You have the Lord Jesus Christ. And you have the Holy Scriptures. You have those two things. You can build a church.

[25:12] The church doesn't stand or fall upon any man. Any man. The church doesn't stand or fall upon the latest fads or the latest cultural movements in society.

[25:26] The church doesn't even listen to that stuff. The kingdoms of this world have risen and fallen. And they'll continue to come and go. But these two foundations I'm presenting before you are unchanging.

[25:39] Eternally secure. They're sockets for the church to stand upon. They're sockets both yesterday, today, and they'll be good all the way until the Lord Jesus Christ catches us away.

[25:53] These are 96 sockets that illustrate the importance of a foundation. We've already discovered and studied here that the tabernacle illustrates the importance of togetherness, of a covering, of standing, of helping, and now of a foundation.

[26:12] Those boards and those bars and those curtains and those coverings of skin, all of those come together and they're firmly planted upon a solid, secure foundation.

[26:23] So how important are those two sockets of silver to every single board? In this local assembly of Bible Baptist Church.

[26:34] How important must it be that the gospel of Jesus Christ and the word of God are the two most important things to every single one of you in here.

[26:47] Every single one of you. It's not your family comes to this church. It's not that there's activities on Friday mornings at this church. It's not that we do these giveaways and these raffles and we have bingo.

[27:01] Even if we do have certain things and certain ways of reaching the world and programs for the kids and even if things develop and grow, the most important, the base, the bottom, the foundation has got to be those two things.

[27:17] You want to build something out of this church? It better be founded in the gospel of Jesus Christ, reaching the lost. It better be founded upon teaching and preaching the word of truth. We don't want to develop some social activity here that's not founded in any of those ways.

[27:32] We'd be falling short. Now I want to leave you with a caution this morning. I want to conclude in a way that this is a real thing today thanks to some technology.

[27:44] Remember that there were two tenons on each board and there's two sockets that were cast of silver and designed for that board.

[27:57] Ninety-six of them for all forty-eight. Each board's designed by God that these tenons fit into these sockets and that they line up in a row and hold those boards in place because over top's a covering and within is the presence of God and the ministry of the high priest and all of that.

[28:19] God's determined to set this building up and to design it. Now imagine, just let me borrow your imagination just for a moment and you'll see how this relates. Imagine you see this tabernacle fully assembled but it looks a little off.

[28:35] In your vision, see that there's a little sagging going on in here or just it's not as square as it probably should be and just as you take it all in, there's several spots where you can just tell something's not quite the way it should be.

[28:54] It's not perfectly uniform. And if you look to your left, you might notice off in a distance, there's one of the boards. There's one of those fifteen-foot boards standing up over there by itself.

[29:09] What's it doing over there? Well, you know it's doing nothing. It's not holding anything up. But you look at that board and you see it standing vertically and you think it's kind of weird.

[29:23] And you look around and over there's another one. And now I know why this tabernacle's got some sag to it or it's got some, just looks a little weird out of place.

[29:34] There's boards that aren't in their place. The idea there would be that there's some seemingly strong Christian men that refuse their place in line and determined to stand apart and determined to go out and show that they can, they're strong, they're sturdy, they're capable of standing.

[29:57] But what good is a lone board standing by itself in the wilderness? It may be standing strong, but what's it accomplishing?

[30:09] Standing by itself, holding nothing up, leaving a gap, weakening the tabernacle, making it look off. There's some strong men that are so self-absorbed, so arrogant, that they've stepped out of the place that God has designed for them.

[30:28] And they've determined to stand somewhere else and they don't realize it, but everyone else sees it, that they're serving no purpose. They're not holding anything up. They're not accomplishing anything in the work of God, in the service of God's tabernacle.

[30:43] And my caution to the church is don't follow a man that's gone rogue, that's stepped out of his place.

[30:54] He claims that there's a calling on him. He even comes up with a name for a ministry for himself and then goes on to stand all alone.

[31:05] But the reality is it's just one stiff-necked man that refuses to submit to the place that God designed the local church. A man has ambition that's greater than his submission.

[31:21] And off they go. And in this day and age where YouTube and ministries are just all over the place, you be careful that you don't go following and chasing after some fool that has got a pride problem, that doesn't stay connected to a local church, one that God designed that doesn't stay in his place.

[31:43] I think of a brother I mentioned him before. I'll mention him again. He's a good brother. He comes here, Jared Pilkington. One thing I enjoyed about the very first time he came in here and introduced himself, he introduced himself as a preacher.

[31:56] And he said, I go to Bible Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida. Pastor Brian Donovan is my pastor. And I just thought, amen. He's just right away saying, I submit there.

[32:09] I belong there. And I'm out here preaching as the Lord opened doors. I'll follow his leading. But that's where I'm plugged in. That's where I stand with those brothers. And as we've talked over the years, he said more things along those lines where the one time he was in town, and not often is he in town for a length of time, but he said, I made an appointment to get with the preacher and to go meet with him and just go out for coffee.

[32:33] And he didn't have much time, so actually I went and got coffee and brought it to him. And I just got some one-on-one time with him because I didn't want to be out there where it's just me, me, me, me, preaching, preaching. He said, I want to get under a man.

[32:44] I want to be where I belong and follow his direction and bounce my questions off of him and just get some counsel from him. And I appreciated that in that man to see his personal humility, that he wasn't trying to build the ministry upon his own shoulders.

[33:01] And I think it's a great example to follow. His ambition is not greater than his submission. But there are men, and there are a dime a dozen, and they're showing up more and more today in this age, that boast of a gift and refuse to stay connected to a local church.

[33:19] And that's just a caution to you. Be careful who you listen to. Be careful who you follow. Because God designed it one way and one way only. And these 96 sockets of silver illustrate for us the importance of a foundation.

[33:35] You have the church. This church. Where the gospel of Jesus Christ and the word of God, they're the only two foundations needed. Bible Baptist Church doesn't need anything else but those two, and we can build.

[33:48] That's a sufficient. And if you're looking for more than those two, well, you're probably going to have to look somewhere else. Because we're not going to build this place upon rituals, upon ceremonies, upon social clubs.

[34:00] Anything that comes in and happens and gets grown by the grace of God, we'll deal with it as it comes. But we're not looking to build off of anything but those two. Feeding the homeless, that's not a foundation.

[34:13] Absolutely not. Charitable, that's good. Supporting missions, that's great. But the foundations are the gospel and the word. It's not our job to rescue America.

[34:25] That's not a foundation for the local church. Not at all. Now, personally, individually, do you have your tenets firmly fixed in the gospel of Jesus Christ and his word?

[34:41] Are those the two most important things? If I said, can you name on a list the best two things, the best five? Would they be the top two? That you're born again? And that you have the holy scriptures?

[34:54] What else is better than those? But personally, if I asked you about salvation, would your answer be Jesus Christ?

[35:04] Or would your answer be, well, preacher, I try my best. I've been doing the best I can. Because if that's your answer, you're placing your tenet in your own righteousness, in your own socket, the socket of your good deeds.

[35:25] And that's not going to do it. That'll break. You can't build on that. It has to be Jesus Christ. Don't stand on your own goodness this morning.

[35:35] Be standing on Jesus Christ alone. If you're saved, then individual, can I direct you to this book? To having a firm and true and lasting and daily fellowship with God in his holy words.

[35:54] Not Instagram. Not YouTube. Not what some scholars saying is happening because of Iran and Israel and America.

[36:05] The book. You and the Bible. Do you have a daily reading plan? Where you personally, not the next person, not the preacher, you open up your Bible and turn the page the next day.

[36:19] And turn the page the next day. Absorbing the holy scripture. Your life can't be built upon the word of God if you're not in it. If you're not fellowshipping with God in the holy scripture.

[36:32] I couldn't give you the numbers. But I know it's gross. The amount of Christians that don't have a daily fellowship with God in the word of God. It's not important to them.

[36:45] They take it or leave it. I believe the Bible, preacher. What's it say? It's the good book. Don't know a thing about it.

[36:56] That's on you, Christian. If you've been born again, it's on you to go to that book. God will drive you. He will call you to his scriptures. It's your job to shut the rest of your world off so you can get to it.

[37:11] And that's where the fellowship begins. So as a church, we're built upon these two foundations. As an individual in this church, I want to draw your attention. Those two better be in your heart too.

[37:23] The holy scriptures and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let's bow our heads and we're going to take off here just in a moment. But with everybody's head bowed and eyes closed, can I ask you this question?

[37:33] Just one question. Are you firmly planted upon the gospel of Jesus Christ? You. You.

[37:46] If I asked you, how are you going to get to heaven when you die? Is your answer, Jesus Christ is my savior? Or is your answer, I'm trying to do the best I can?

[37:58] I go to church. This church can't get you to heaven. I can't get you to heaven. But Jesus Christ can. He died for your sins. So my question to you all individually is, do you know for sure that you are going to heaven when you die?

[38:16] Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Place your faith in what he did on the cross and that it was for your sins. You can have forgiveness of sins by calling out to him by faith, believing on him alone.

[38:32] Don't hold on to this church. Don't hold on to what other religions tell you to do. It's already been done for you by the person of Jesus Christ.

[38:43] Is there anybody here that says, I'm not sure if I'm saved and I want to be sure today? Would you slip your hand up real quick? Nobody's looking. Just slip it up and put it down. Say, I'm not sure that I'm saved, but I want to be sure.

[38:54] I'm tired of not knowing. Listen, I'll show you from the Bible that you can know. It's a wonderful thing. We sing about it a song called Blessed Assurance.

[39:05] Jesus is mine. I want him to be yours this morning if you're not saved. Then, church, I hope that you took serious and understand how important the word of God is.

[39:19] Don't ever think that we talk too much about the Bible here or that we put it up too high and that we need to do other things and have more programs for this. You better get a hold of that truth that God put that book here.

[39:31] That's the only holy thing in this room, the book, the Holy Bible. And may we exalt it and elevate it and build upon it in every facet of our lives.

[39:43] Father, this morning I want to thank you for this truth of this foundation and how necessary it is. Thank you, Lord, that this church has been built a long time ago upon these two foundations.

[39:54] It's a blessing to know that other men have labored and I'm just entering into their labor. But, Lord, ultimately it's been you. It's been your grace. It's been your will.

[40:05] It's been your word. It's been your gospel. And so we're thankful to have these two things, that they're just as good today as they were 40 years ago and 200 years ago. And thank you that we have them.

[40:17] Lord, help us then to be faithful to them. Help us to see them as important as you see them. And may we never get distracted by other things. I pray also for these brothers and sisters that you would shelter them from false doctrine and false teachers and from foolishness that's out there and from self-willed men and their supposed ministries and their attempts to get a platform and a following.

[40:43] And, Lord, may we have discernment and give us all wisdom in these areas. And may we never be led astray in any way. Thank you, Lord, for this day, for the first day of the week where we can meet together.

[40:54] Thank you for the blood of Jesus Christ that washed away our sins. If anybody's not saved here and not sure about it, Lord, please impress them and give them the courage to speak about it today. We pray this in Jesus' name.

[41:06] Amen. Amen. Well, with that, we'll be dismissed. Lord, we'll...