Transcription downloaded from https://yetanothersermon.host/_/pbclincoln/sermons/103298/more-sure-trust-the-book/. Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions. Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt. [0:00] Bible this morning, turn over to the book of 2 Peter. 2 Peter, we're going to continue in our What weighs that decision? You know, when you have a issue or a problem or a friend that even asks you for advice or a boss who challenges you to do something that's a little unscrupulous, you know, of trying to do things counter to what guides you, you know? In a world we live today, many people are guided by how they feel about it in the moment. [0:56] You know, what's expedient right now and what makes me feel good or what's going to make me be able to maintain what I have. And so the question that comes about is why do you do that? [1:12] What are you basing those decisions on? You know, when we understand that we can't just trust what we feel in the moment that we need to understand who has the final say in your life as a believer. [1:28] The Bible tells us you've been bought with a price and that you belong to the Lord Jesus. And so he should have the final say and the final say that he gives us is the Word of God. [1:40] You know, we saw that last week as we began here in chapter 1 that Peter tells us very clearly that God has given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness and that we are to grow in them with all diligence. You know, we talked about diligence last week, you know. Diligence doesn't mean it's, oh, when I have time. Diligence means I'm going to do it and I'm going to take the time to do it. [2:07] I'm going to put that into the schedule. I'm going to do those things and understand. But how do we know that the Bible is true? You know, how can we be sure that God's Word is worth building your life upon? [2:21] You know, that's an important question because that's the question that Peter answers next. He tells us that God has given us everything and then he says, I want you to know you can trust the book. That you can trust the book because as we see here that Peter understood that his feelings didn't guide things, you know. Now, Brother Lou back here is a pilot and he can probably affirm this. [2:46] When you get in the clouds, Lou, and it's really dense, do you fly by feeling? I mean, how many would feel comfortable with your pilot in the clouds flying the plane by feeling? They have to trust what? [3:01] Instruments. They have to trust the instruments that give them guidance of how and what's going on. The same is in our life because oftentimes in life we live in the dust and fog of sin and just all the messed up things in this world. But oftentimes people wonder why they crash. The reason they crash is because they're guided by their feelings instead of guiding by the instrument that God's given us. [3:31] And God has given us instruments, his Word to guide us there. And so when we understand, that's what Peter's telling us is God is giving us something we can trust more than our feelings, more than even the greatest day of your life. You know, people oftentimes will talk, well, God gave me an experience. I want you to understand that you cannot guide your life solely from experience. [3:59] God allows you to might have an experience, but that experience isn't the guide. And Peter's going to talk about that this morning. Because I tell you what, Peter probably had one of the greatest experiences that a person could have. When you see Jesus Christ transfigured before your eyes, and he hears Moses and Elijah speaking on the mount, I don't know about, to me, I don't know if you get much better experience than being the presence of God in that sense of being right there when they saw Jesus transfigured. And Peter's going to refer to that here this morning. So if you found 1 Peter chapter 1, go ahead and take your Bibles. Let's stand together. We'll pick up here in verse 12 of 2 Peter chapter 1 and follow along here. And it says this, you notice he says, wherefore. Now remember, whenever you see the word wherefore in the Bible, it refers to what came before. In other words, he's building upon it. He's building upon those things. He says, wherefore, I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them and be established in the present truth. Yea, I think it meet as long as I am in this tabernacle to stir you up by putting you in remembrance, knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ had showed me. Moreover, I will endeavor that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance. For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we were made known unto you the power of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honor and glory. Then there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, and when we were with him in the holy mount, we have also a more sure word of prophecy. Whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts. Knowing this first, that no prophecy of scripture is of any private interpretation. But for the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Let's pray. Heavenly Fathers, we come before you this morning, Lord. We're just thankful for your word. Lord, the guide to us, Lord, it guides us in this life, gives us what we need to not only navigate the challenges of this life, but to live godly, live for you, and to be transformed into your image here, Lord, of just of all the things in our life. Lord, help us to grab a hold of this truth here this morning, be put in remembrance. Lord, there's many things that we know, but we don't remember. That we need to take time to slow down, and to remember, and to put into practice. Lord, I just pray your hand be upon the message here today, Lord, that you would be what is seen, and what's shown. And Lord, that we might be encouraged and strengthened here today, Lord, that we might trust you more, that we might remember who you are, what you've done, and what you provided for us. And Lord, we ask it all in your precious name. [7:36] Amen. May be seated. You know, as we see here, Peter knows he's about to die. Peter's getting to that point in life where he says, hey, my days before me are definitely shorter than the days behind me. [7:49] He said, I know that that's going to come. Matter of fact, he says, Jesus told me that I was going to die one day. You know, he said, I understand the reality of that. And Jesus told him he was going to die in his old age. You know, John chapter 21 tells us this. And he says, we find in our text, he talks about shortly, I must put off this tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ has showed me. You know, people know generally that their time is short. You know, when people know that time is short, you know what happens? There seems to be a shift. You know, we can be distracted by a lot of things in life, but you know, when you think you're faced with the end, your focus changes. [8:37] Your focus moves from that which is peripheral, and it starts shrinking the circle down pretty fast of what's important. You know, and starts taking that in and say, okay, what's really important? You know, if you ever know, I've been on the deathbed of many people, you know, most of the time they're not worried about the weather. Oftentimes, especially believers, they're worried about others of what they're going to hold on to. They're worried about what people are going to remember. They're worried about their kids. Are they going to remember the things you taught them? Are they going to remember, did you equip people in the right way? Did you do the right things? And we see here that Peter is doing this very moment with other believers. He's telling them, he says, with the time I have left, the truth needs to understand that the truth doesn't stop with him, or what he's seen, that he points them to the scripture, the word of God, and says one thing we can possess and give to you, and to the next generation, the generation after, and the generation after, he says it's the word of God. [9:46] You know, that's the reason God has preserved his word. It records Peter's experiences, but Peter says, hey, the word of God is more important. A more sure word. You know, and as Peter begins pointing this through, giving the direction here, notice here, as we look at verse 12, of don't forget. You know, don't forget. You know, look back here at verse 12 in our text this morning. It says, wherefore, I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth. [10:24] What's he talking about there? He's talking about that like precious faith that he spoke of in verses 2 and 3. He says that like precious faith, you know the truth. You know how to be saved. You know what God has given to you. We've taught you. We've shown you. We've presented these things to you, and we see here, he says, don't we forget what we know. You know, that's the problem, is it's not oftentimes that we lack the information. We lack remembering the information. We lack recall, especially in the moment. If something's not on the forefront of our mind, we find here that we forget the believers that Peter was writing to were already established in the present truth, and everybody says, hey, you guys know what you have, but you need to implement it and keep it in the forefront of your mind. You need to remember. You know, we see here in verse 12, he talks about remembrance, to be put in mind personally. You know, this is one of those dynamics. The word remembrance here is used three times here in the next few verses, but they all have a little different attachment to it. The first one we find here in verse 12 tells us, remember, be put in your mind personally. In other words, he says, you need to understand it on a personal level. In verse 13, notice what it tells us here. He says, yea, I think it me, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance. In other words, he says, I know you know it, and you need to know it personally, but I need to remind you again anyways. [12:05] Have you ever noticed that oftentimes we need reminded? We need reminded of many things. It's easy to let things slip. You know, life gets busy. Things happen. [12:16] Now look down in verse 15 quickly. He says, moreover, I endeavor that you may be able after my disease to have these things always in remembrance. In other words, this word remembrance here implies to make or to help you remember. And he says, I'm going to pass from the scene. You need to be diligent to remember, to put yourself in a way that you can know and understand. [12:39] You know, God makes it clear we need to be reminded. You know, think about Israel. You know, if experience guided us, Israel should have had the experiences. They saw what God did to Egypt to get their release and set free. He saw what they did when they walked through the Red Sea on dry ground. [13:01] You know, have you ever read the Bible and said, man, they're foolish people. Why don't they remember? And then you look at the mirror and say, well, why don't I remember? [13:14] Look over to Deuteronomy chapter 6 for a moment. Deuteronomy chapter 6 here in verse 6 says, and these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart, Have you thought about that for a moment? What was God's instruction to Israel? [13:44] He said, if you don't keep it on the forefront, you'll forget. If you don't keep it as a priority, you'll forget. Jesus tells us something. Look over to John chapter 14. [14:00] John chapter 14 here in verse 26. It tells us this. We have, you know, we have an advantage over Israel of the Old Testament. We live in a blessed generation. [14:15] Notice what Jesus says, but the comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things. He shall notice and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. [14:31] You know, as a believer, you have an advantage because you've got a Holy Spirit that will stir your heart. What a blessing. That God gives us something to even help us remember. [14:43] To help us grab a hold of that truth that's there. Because, in other words, we will leave that truth, leaving the truth behind is a danger. [14:54] You know, or something that we need to make sure we do to leave it behind. Notice Peter here in verse 15. He says, I will endeavor that you may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance. [15:05] Peter's goal is that he wanted to ensure the truth would last after he's gone. You know, we have the truth. We got this letter that God inspired to stir us to remembrance. [15:18] To stir us to those things, to understand how this works. Because Peter's letter here, his second letter, is important. Because Peter's talking in this book about something very critical. [15:31] Because he's really dealing a lot with those things of remembering and not just remembering the experience. Remember the truth. Remember the truth that takes place. [15:45] You know, that's the reason that we live in a spoiled generation too. Because we got these little electronic calendars that always beep at us. Long as you put the information in, it reminds you. [15:56] You know, it's like this last year. It's one of those things I've never had to do before. I've had to start taking medications. And it's one of those things that when you don't do something and you have to do something, you've got to put a reminder in. [16:08] So twice a day, my phone goes ding and says, hey, did you take your medication? You know, sometimes it still doesn't help. But you know what we do that for? Is to help us remember. [16:20] To remember. You know, because we set it for all sorts of things. For birthdays, in medicine, for meetings. But not because they don't matter. Because life gets busy. You know, that's the reason we need to put the scripture as a priority in our life. [16:35] Not just listening to it, but applying it to thinking. You know, one of the problems I think we have in our generation is you had a mindset for a while. [16:46] It's just like, well, if you read your Bible every year, things will be good. The problem is, if you don't meditate on the Bible, you're still in trouble. Think about, remember what God has said. [16:58] To remember what God has declared. Because that's how we work through the problems and issues that we have in life. Because we have something more sure than anything else. [17:09] Because I want you to see or notice what Peter says about the word of God. Because he starts with a contrasting statement in this. That he goes this. He says that we were there. He says, I want you to know we were there. [17:22] Who's he talking about? Him and the other apostles. Notice in verse 16, it says this. For we have not followed cunningly devised fables. [17:34] We. In other words, Peter says, this is not just from me. It's from the other apostles, as we'll learn. And he speaks very clearly about this. And he says that we were made known unto you the power of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. [17:50] But we're eyewitnesses of his majesty. You know, think about that for a moment. Peter says, I saw Jesus Christ transfigured before me. [18:04] Him and John and James all saw something that was an experience that many people say, oh, you had that experience. [18:18] And it was an important experience for Peter because, remember, Jesus used that to teach him something very important. That experience happened not for Peter to say, I'm important because I had an experience. [18:31] He had an experience to teach him something about God. Teach him something about who Jesus is. Because notice here, what he says here. He says, we're not following cunningly devised fables. [18:42] You know, not myths. You know, false teachers, even in the days of the apostles, were trying to downplay the witness of the apostles. Remember, the church is built on the foundation of the apostles. [18:56] The things that they said, the things that they established, are the foundation of the church that Jesus Christ started. Jesus is the cornerstone. [19:07] They laid the foundation of that to establish what we do today. But false teachers were calling them, hey, don't trust them. They're just made up stories. [19:18] And Peter says, I want you to know there was nothing made up about it. He said, our faith is not built upon tall tales, but things that really happened. [19:30] He says, I was an eyewitness. Along with others. And where was that? That was in the holy mount. When him and John and James went up on the mount. [19:44] And Jesus was transfigured. And Moses and Elijah were there. Speaking with Jesus. You know, Peter saw something. [19:55] But he says here something else. He says very clearly. He says, as notice verse 17. For he received from God the Father honor and glory. And then there came a voice to him from the excellent glory. [20:07] You know, this is important. He says, he heard God. He says, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye him. [20:18] You know, Peter talks about that in verse 18. He says, this voice which came from heaven, we heard when we were with him in the mount. Now, Peter's developing something here that's important. [20:29] Because, you know, there's a lot of people today that use the excuse, well, I had an experience or God told me. God told me that this is what I need to do. And I believe the Holy Spirit can speak to us. [20:44] But the problem is, is that to know which spirit is speaking to you, you need to measure it against something. I don't know how many of you saw on the news this week. This is a great example this week, you know. [20:56] There was a quote unquote preacher who came out and said, God told him to take a second wife. Literally. He was interviewed. [21:06] That was his statement. I prayed about it and God gave me a dream. That I needed to take a second wife. That was his experience to justify his action. Think about that for a moment. [21:19] He's building it upon a supposed experience. Of what he was supposed to do. Now, Peter's building this because Peter says, Hey, I want to tell you, I've had an experience that supersedes experiences. [21:35] He's building this for a reason. He says, in the Holy Mount. You know, he talks about the course of witnesses. You know, even John later writes in 1 John 1. He says, You know, Paul later speaks of it in 1 Corinthians 15. [21:59] He says, I want you to know that those apostles didn't die for a myth. [22:10] They did not die for a made-up story. They didn't even die for their experience. [22:21] Because their hope was not in the experience. We get in trouble when we put our hope in the experience. He says, I just want to tell you, I'm a witness to what I'm about to tell you. [22:34] You know, when you think about, when you go to court, who's a better witness? Somebody that's a second-hand testimony or a first-hand witness? You know, we have a thing in our legal system called hearsay. [22:50] You know? Well, my friend Joe told me. Well, that doesn't measure up. But when Joe comes and says, Hey, I'm giving testimony that this is what I saw, that's a whole different weight. [23:06] Peter's saying, I want you to understand, I want to give this weight of what I'm about ready to do, about what I'm about ready to tell you, because this is important for you to grab a hold of. Because there's something more sure than experience. [23:20] There's people in trouble today. My experience tells me this. And Peter says, I don't care about your experience. I got an experience that supersedes your experience. I don't know. [23:31] I don't think I would argue with that when Peter saw Christ transfigured. That's a pretty big experience. Hearing a voice from heaven. He looks at this. Look at verse 19. [23:42] He says, We have also a what? More sure word. Wow. Peter says, I've had experiences beyond experiences. [23:56] Experiences that God allowed him to have. To teach and to learn. But you know what Peter says? Hey, don't live your life on experience. [24:10] Peter says, I don't trust this because of my experiences. He says, We have a more sure word of prophecy. We have something of more value. [24:22] He says, Notice this. Where until you do well, that you take heed. To take heed to it. As unto a light that shineth in a dark place. Until the day dawn and the day star arise in your heart. [24:37] Think about what Peter's saying. The word of God is more sure than a mountaintop experience. He says, It's more sure than a voice that you heard from heaven. [24:50] He said, The word of God holds a higher place. Peter just told us about the greatest moments of his life. And then he says, The written word of God is more sure than my experience. [25:04] It's what he's given to us. You know, I want you to understand, But experiences are real. But they seem to happen to one person. They fade. Your experience can be misinterpreted. [25:18] You know, I've seen people all the time. Well, I think this is what I want to do. Or I experience something. Therefore, I make a decision. Then it turns out wrong. Because experiences respond to emotion. [25:29] God gives us emotions for a reason. But I want you to understand, Your emotions, Your feelings are not direction. Think about it. How much trouble would you be in If you let your feelings guide everything in your life? [25:42] Let me just give you an example. When the last time somebody cut you off in traffic. I'm sure when they cut you off, The first thought came to mind wasn't, There's a soul that needs a savior. But you know, When we consider who they are and what's going on, That they're people just like you. [25:56] You can have a different perspective. It's not built on our experience or what happened. It's what God has told us we need. To look at those things differently. [26:08] To understand the picture of what God has there. Because experiences fade. The Bible, I want you to understand, He says it's open to everyone. It never changes. [26:19] It's always proven true. You know, Think back when Jesus was using the example of Lazarus and the rich man. You remember that story there in Luke 16? [26:32] Where the rich man woke up in hell. And Lazarus was in Abraham's bosom. And Jesus accounts a conversation. And He concludes it this way. [26:43] Because the guy is saying, Just send somebody back from the dead. And they'll believe. So they don't have to come here. You know what He's really saying? Give them an experience. [26:54] And it'll change them. Look over to Luke 16 for a moment. Luke 16 and verse 31. And He said unto them, If they hear not Moses and the prophets. Now, you got to consider. [27:06] What's the context here? What was the word of God they had for that day? The Old Testament, Which is summed up in Moses and the prophets. None of the New Testament had been written yet. [27:17] So He's telling them there, The word of God, Neither will they be persuaded, Though one rose from the dead. In other words, you know what He said? [27:28] He said, If they don't believe the word of God, Their experience won't make them believe it either. You know what? There's a lot of people that say, Well, I want to read and get an experience. You know, the only experience you need to have from the word of God Is a relationship with Jesus through faith in Him. [27:44] When we understand that, It'll change your life. It'll change what takes place. Because the word of God is important. Notice what Isaiah 40 tells us. [27:55] It says, The grass withereth, And the flower fadeth, But the word of our God shall what? Stand for how long? [28:06] Forever. Forever. Because what is it? He tells us it's a light in a dark place. You know, this word dark reveals a dim and dirty place That is a fair picture of this world. [28:23] You know, this world is a dark place. People love darkness rather than light. You know, John writes this. He tells them very clearly. [28:33] He says in 1 John 5, He says, The whole world lieth in wickedness. In the next chapter, Peter's talking about Lot. And he says he's vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked. [28:47] You know what? We live in a dark world. We live in a world that darkness prevails. If nothing else, I'll tell you, Yesterday was a day that people loved darkness rather than light. [29:00] When we have a holiday that celebrates death. I'm not going to get into that dynamic much, But I must go make that statement. Think about the spiritual dynamic of what's going on. [29:11] As a believer, are we dead? We're alive in Christ. As a believer, you ought to celebrate life, Not celebrate death. [29:25] Death and darkness go together. Why do you think they do everything after dark? You know, there's some reason for some things That the Bible describes. [29:36] I want you to see here this dynamic. And we get worn down by the way of the wicked people around us. But Jesus says this, I am the light of the world. [29:47] He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, But shall have the light of life. As a believer, we're to walk in light. What's that light? [29:58] Look over to Psalm 119 for a moment. Verse 105 says what? Thy word is what? A lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. [30:09] The word of God says, Hey, I'm the light you need to see to navigate the darkness. You know, darkness is all around us. We ought to be light. To walk in the light. [30:23] Think about it, till the day dawns. You know, Zacharias called Jesus the day spring from on high. The sunrise who came to give light to them that sit in darkness, In the shadow of death, To guide their feet into the way of peace. [30:39] You know, the sun broke through when Jesus came. He came as a light to the world. To move us, to transform us from darkness to light. To be different, to be changed. [30:52] Because now we can see where we're going. To trust in Him. One day, I want you to understand, Until the day star rises, I believe it's talked about, One day when we'll see Him face to face. [31:04] But until then, we have His light to guide us. You know, remember we talked about Pilate's a little earlier. In the clouds, He trusts His instruments, not His instincts. [31:15] When your emotions, your circumstances, And even your spiritual experiences point one way, And Scripture points another way, You have a choice to make. Are you going to go with your experience, Or are you going to go with the Word of God? [31:29] So sadly, we have a tendency to go with our experience over the Word of God. How do I feel? How does this talk to me? Instead of saying, what does God's Word say? How do we apply that into our life? [31:44] Because notice what He says here. It's not from man, but from God. Notice here in verse 20, Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture Of any private interpretation. [31:57] For the prophecy came not of old time by the will of man, But the holy men of God spake, As they were moved by the Holy Ghost. You know what Peter's saying? The Word of God is not a human invention. [32:09] The Bible didn't start with the writer's ideas. There's a lot of books written That have a lot of human ideas To solve life's problems. [32:21] You can go down to the bookstore and find a hole. It's called self-help. I'm going to look to all these different sources. I'm going to look to philosophers And all sorts of doctors And all sorts of things. [32:32] And you know what God says? The things you need most is the Word of God. You have already given you everything That pertains unto life and godliness. [32:43] It's not a human invention. Think about Jeremiah the prophet Telling us here in chapter 1 verse 9, Then the Lord hath put forth His hand And touched my mouth. [32:54] And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. 2 Timothy tells us all Scripture Is given by what? Inspiration of God. How did this happen? [33:04] They were carried along, moved. This word is the same word used in Acts 27 To describe a ship that's being driven by a storm. It says the men that wrote the Scripture Were real men, Each with their own personality, Their own way of describing things, Their own way of talking. [33:22] But the Holy Spirit carried them Right where God wanted them to go. You know, I want you to understand This is this picture That being driven, In other words, They didn't put up the sail Or control the utter on the, I think that's the right word. [33:39] That's the one that came to mind anyways. Rudder. That's the one. Not utter rudder. Mornings. That wasn't the right word when it came out. It's close. I want you to understand, He says this, He says they were driven. [33:53] In other words, God totally directed, They became totally dependent upon God. Totally dependent upon Him For what was there, What was written. [34:07] You know, Proverbs 30, Verse 5 says this, Every word of God is pure. He is a shield unto them That put their trust in Him. Add thou not unto His words, Lest He reprove thee, And thou be found a liar. [34:20] Jesus said this, It says, For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, One jot or one tittle Shall no wise pass from the law, Till all be fulfilled. [34:32] I want you to understand, It guides us even in daily life, Because Scripture came from God, And not from man. We do not come to it To make it say what we want. [34:44] We come to listen for direction and guidance. Notice you don't get to tell a light How to shine. The light does its task. The word of God does its task to guide us. [34:59] Light will always pierce darkness. Light will do its task. We need to remember, We need to build reminders. [35:11] You know, That's the reason it's more than reading the word of God, It's studying the word of God. When we understand that we put effort into it, To think and to contemplate and to meditate upon it, To allow it to soak in. [35:28] You know, The problem is, Oftentimes I think in life, We take the word of God like a big gushing rainstorm. In a rain, Heavy rain, It hits the surface and runs off. [35:39] What we need to do is let it soak in. Ourselves absorb, The truth of the word of God. You know what that is? [35:49] That's meditating, Studying, To understand what is the context. What's God trying to teach us here? How is he trying to teach us? How does this apply, Into the principles of my life? [35:59] You know, To understand, To weigh feelings by the word. When feelings in scripture disagrees, You need to let scripture have the last word. To keep those things, You need to keep a lamp lit in your life, Because in the dark seasons of life, You need to hold on to what God has written. [36:19] You know, Romans 15 says, Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written, For our learning, That those, Through patience and comfort of scripture, We might have hope. This morning, Our hope is in the Savior. [36:31] Our hope is not in a spiritual movement, It's not in a church, It's not in baptism, It's not in ritual. Our hope is only found, In Jesus Christ, And his word. [36:49] Because the word of God, Is what reveals to us, What we need to know about Jesus. What we need to know about God. What we need to understand, Because the question is, Will you believe what God has said about his son? [37:03] That starts with understanding, That you're a sinner, That needs a Savior. To understand that picture, That whosoever will, You know, Let him take of the water of life freely. [37:15] You know, Jesus said, He that heareth my words, And believe on him that sent me, Hath everlasting life, And shall not come into condemnation, But shall pass from death to life. [37:26] Cometh by hearing, And hearing by what? The word of God. The word of God, Is our foundation, Of faith. Not saved, There's no better day than today, Than to call upon the Savior. [37:39] If you're unsure. To know him as Savior, I want you to understand, That Peter says, You do well, To take heed. That word heed, Means hearing without doing, Or to hear, And to do. [37:54] It's not hearing without doing, Because one that does that, Is fooling themselves. Think about what Jesus said, He said, Why call ye me Lord, Lord, And do not the things which I say. [38:07] What is God showing you, In your life, Even this week, That you ought to obey? Put it off. Diligent now. Diligence, Isn't, Necessarily long term, Diligence starts at a point, And move forward. [38:25] Are you going to start, Being diligent, Really trust the word of God, In your life. Jesus said this, Whosoever, Heareth these sayings of mine, And doeth them, I will liken him, Unto a wise man, Which built his house, Upon a rock. [38:44] Today are you building your life, Upon the word of God. Something more sure, Than your feelings, Or your experiences. Where are you? Savior, Do you need to trust him more? [38:58] Do you need to continue, To build upon the foundation, Of the word of God, In your life? What about you today? As heads are bowed, And eyes are closed? Maybe God's speaking to you, Holy Spirit's talking to you, And says, Hey, What are you trusting? [39:17] In your feelings? Are you trusting my word? Can't operate in both. You? To you today, Heavenly fathers, We just come before you this morning, Lord, We thank you. [39:29] Lord, We just pray. Let's have your hand upon each one, Here today. Lord, You know the need, You know the things, that you're stirring hearts here even this morning to make a decision about what you would do or have them to do. [39:44] But Lord, we know that the reality is many will shun or to avoid, take heed to your word. To come to you today humbly, our feelings and our emotions to say, Lord, you are everything. [40:03] Lord, your spirit work upon the opportunity to respond here today. And we might not go away just as we walked in. It might be a light that you shine through as you guide our path, how it impacts others. [40:22] And Lord, we ask all these things in your precious name. As the piano plays, what about you?