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Ridgecrest Baptist Church is located in Dothan, AL and exists to Reach the lost, Build the believer, and Connect people of God to the mission and purpose of God.
years. As we gather in this place with that understanding, we also gather with the understanding that there's a dark cloud that now threatens to undermine all of their sacrifices. I love what President Ronald Reagan said. You heard a little bit in that video, but perhaps you didn't hear some of the thing. Well, he didn't say it in that particular one, but it's in my column this morning, but it is worth repeating. He said on that same occasion you were hearing him, he was speaking at a Memorial Day gathering, and he said this, it is in a way an odd thing to honor those who died in defense of our country, in defense of us in wars far away. The imagination plays a trick. We see these soldiers who died for us in our mind as old and wise men. We see them as something like the founding fathers, grave and grayed hair. But most of them were boys when they died, and they gave up two lives. They gave up the one they were living, and they gave up the one that they would have lived. They gave up when they died their chance to be husbands and fathers and grandfathers. They gave up their chance to be revered old men. They gave up everything for our country and for us, and all we can do is remember.
I dare say that those that we've seen in recent days protesting and screaming death to America in many of our cities and across campuses around this country, I'd venture to say that those people have no real knowledge of our national history, nor do they have any knowledge of the sacrifices that have been made by all of these countless numbers of lives that have been sacrificed to secure the very future of our country. I dare say that those that we've seen in recent days protesting, they have no real right that they are exercising to protest against this nation. Our nation is not unlike many other nations, though, nations that rose under the favor of God, but only later to succumb to God's judgment. Tragically, the idea of American exceptionalism, perhaps you've heard that term, it was first coined in 1912 by a French historian named Arnold Toynbee, Democracy in America. Toynbee was this Frenchman who was a Frenchman who was a Frenchman who was a Frenchman who came to America to study what had made America so great. And he traveled throughout this land and his primary conclusion when he began to write Democracy in America was that America was exceptional. But do you know why he said it was exceptional? He said it was exceptional because of its churches and the people who were involved in worshiping God. He said it made it different for the people who were involved in worshiping God. He said it made it different for every other place. He said that's what made America exceptional. Now, in years since then, that term has been abused and stretched to mean elite. And the fact is, unfortunately, there's a kind of faulty American exceptionalism that has even infiltrated the church, causing us sometimes to think that we are so exceptional and so special to God that He would never allow our demise, nor would He bring judgment. Some have even asked the question, how could a nation that has known God's significant favor, how could it come under God's judgment? Well, that's exactly how the people of God thought in the days of Jeremiah, the passage that we're going to be looking at. They thought we're exceptional and God would never hold us accountable for what we are, what we've become. They thought that they were elite and they thought they were exceptional and they thought that God would not deal with them. They thought that God would not deal with them. They thought that God would not deal with them. Like He had dealt with other nations just because of who they were. And as you'll see this morning in the text, it just wasn't the case. If you're physically able to do so, why don't you stand with me this morning? I want to pull from Jeremiah chapter 23, beginning in verse 16. The scripture says, thus says the Lord of hosts, do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, it shall be well with you. And to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, no disaster shall come upon you. For who among them has stood in the counsel of the Lord to see and to hear his word or what he, what has paid attention or who has paid attention to his word and listened? Behold, the storm of the Lord, wrath has gone forth on the people of Israel. A whirling tempest, it will burst upon the head of the wicked. The angel of the Lord will not turn back until he is executed and accomplish the intents of his heart. In the latter days, you will understand it clearly. I did not send the prophets, yet they ran. I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had have stood in my counsel, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people and they would have turned them from their evil way and from the evil of their deeds. Father, would you speak to us this morning from your holy word? And let it be your words. Father, let it not be the words of a man. Speak through me, God. May the words of my mouth be acceptable to you, Lord. May they have upon them, Father, the presence of the author of scripture, your Holy Spirit. Father, would you bring conviction in our hearts? Would you challenge us, Father? Would you correct any course that needs to be corrected? Would you give us a passion and a desire for you like never before? We're listening. We ask you to speak in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you. You may be seated. Now, Jeremiah is a legitimate prophet. He speaks of those who aren't. I'll talk about that in just a moment. But God gave Jeremiah a vision. God gave several, actually, and he gave him a message. And the message was intended to correct the course of an entire nation. And so this nation had become a nation of defiance. They had known God. They had even walked with God. They had lived under the blessing and favor of God. But they had become a defiant people. They were practicing paganism. They were affirming sexual perversions. And listen, not only among the people, but even among the priesthood. And they had, as a result of that, abandoned the ways of God. So God told Jeremiah, you go and warn them. You warn them of the judgment that is coming unless they, turn back. And so Jeremiah did. And he gave them the message of God. He called them to turn back to God. And yet, they refused. In fact, they took the prophet and they threw him in a pit to die. They made fun of him. They denied that they had done anything to bring on God's judgment. And they said, we have prophets of our own. And those prophets tell us good things. They tell us nothing. There's nothing to worry about. That there's only good things ahead. And so we don't need you, Jeremiah. We don't need your message. But in time, the message of Jeremiah would bear fruit. And they would collapse as a kingdom and a nation. Their temple would be ransacked. Their leaders would be killed. Their cities would be burned and left in ruins. And their people would be taken into captivity and slavery. You see, as it was then, it is today. God has limits on his patience. His mercy is great. His grace is great. But there are limits. I give you the context of this passage this morning because America has the same issues that God's people had in our passage. And if we fail to heed the warnings of Scripture, you can be certain what happened to them will certainly happen to us. And so this morning, I want to show you three things that happened to them and three dangers which face our nation today. The first we can see in verses 16, 22, and verse 30. They had a problem with complacent preachers. You notice in verse 16, he said that these preachers, these so-called prophets, and I'll tell you why I say that later on, they were filling you with vain hopes. They were telling you stuff you wanted to hear, but it wasn't true. And then he says later, if they had have stood in my counsel, down in verse 30, if you look on, or down in verse 22, he said, if they had have stood in my counsel, they would have known what to say. But the message they're delivering is their own message. It's vain. It's destructive. It's dangerous. And they don't have a message from God. They haven't been with God. And so they can't bring a message from God. They weren't proclaiming. Look at verse 16. They were speaking visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. It's a clear path to apostasy. We're seeing this kind of apostasy right now taking place before us. In our culture, we're seeing it in denominations. We're seeing it in families. We're seeing it in friendships. We're seeing the very plain teaching of the Word of God being replaced with the moral relativism of our culture. And the Bible calls this the great falling away. And by the way, that's characteristic of the final age. And one of the things that led to Israel's defiance of God's Word was the lack of faith. And so they were saying, well, we're seeing this kind of preachers willing to speak the truth in their age of rebellion. Note again, verse 22. These so-called preachers hadn't been with God. And subsequently, they had no message from God that could have changed the course. Did you get that? If they had have delivered the message of God, it could have saved the nation. It could have changed the course of the people of God. Now, I get it. No, I get it. Listen, I get it. No preacher wants to, talk about, about judgment. No preacher wants to talk about the discipline of God. No one wants to talk about that because today, like the people in Jeremiah's day, people don't want to hear that message. I get it. You get it. Nobody wants to hear that message, but we better begin preaching that message. It's past time. And the problem for the nation of Israel when Jeremiah writes is that, no one would stand up and say, thus saith the Lord. And if you don't, what they said was, what makes you feel good? What message will help you feel good? And by the way, the people hated the message Jeremiah brought, so they tried to kill the messenger. You've heard that before, shoot the messenger. He brought the message. They said, we don't like it. So we'll just shut down the messenger. That's what they were doing. But the problem is there was no one else besides Jeremiah bringing a message. There was no one that had sufficient spiritual courage to stand or spiritual vision to see what was happening around them. What is it that's created such complacency in the pulpits of America? And I want to tell you this, isn't it interesting that when God starts sending his warning to the people, guess where he started first? He started right here. He didn't start there. I'll get to you in a minute. He started with me. He started with the preachers. He started with the prophets. That's where he started. That's where he began. What has caused such complacency in our pulpits today? I think there are several things. One is fear. I read a survey back just a couple of months ago. It's either by Barna or Lifeway Research. One of them said that almost 50% of the pastors in America in a private survey said they are afraid to speak out about the issues going on in their culture. Because they're afraid, they'll lose their jobs. Or they're afraid that they'll offend somebody. Or they just don't like talking about it. There's a fear, unfortunately. And by the way, that's what you pray for the pulpits in America, that God will give them a holy boldness to speak truth. Then there's second, there's ignorance. Frankly, many preachers today have been trained on more trendy therapy than they have true theology. I read an article this week by George Barna, whom I just want to share with you. He said, I read an article this week by George Barna, I just mentioned a moment ago. He's considered the leading Christian pollster in the world. And in the article, this is what he said. He's watching what's going on. And they've done all of these surveys. And more than any other, they're the George Gallup of the Christian world. And in this article, he said that the culture, our culture now influences the church more than the church influences the culture. And that we, and I quote, have reached a time of Christian invisibility in the culture. In other words, we're not making a difference anymore. You can't hardly spot us anymore in terms of our impact on the world. And he states that our seminaries are not equipping pastors to disciple people and to help them develop a Christian worldview. We've talked about that. He goes on to say that our pastors must return. What is the answer? He says, our pastors must return to core biblical principles and intentional discipleship. Discipling of the next generation. And he adds this. What I'm seeing now is that we're getting to this place where the typical American will not have anyone in their circle of influence who actually has a biblical worldview. He says the consequences of that, listen to this, the consequences of that is that the elites in our culture will have the opportunity to shut down spiritual freedom. He said, if we keep heading this way, we're going to have to shut down spiritual freedom. If we keep going this way, we will no longer be allowed to go to church. The day's coming, we won't be able to go to church. He says, if we keep going this way, we'll no longer be allowed to buy and read Bibles. If we keep going this way, we'll no longer be allowed to speak in public about our faith. So he says, and I quote, this is our moment. Either we put up or shut up. Ignorance. Another reason that there's such complacency in our pulpits is, listen to this, laziness. Tragically, many preachers have just become physically and spiritually lazy. They are not seeking God. They're not asking what says the Lord. They are not digging into the Word of God. And they are often simply regurgitating what someone else has said. And that's exactly what they were doing in Jeremiah's day. Look at verse 30. Verse 30 in this passage says, therefore, behold, I'm against the prophets, look, declares the Lord, who steal my words from one another. Lazy. That same article, by the way, I mentioned that I read this week by George Barner. He mentions the coming negative impact of artificial intelligence on the church. Artificial intelligence on the church. And this is what he says, we're already seeing an impact, listen, on sermons across the country. Pastors, because they want to do well in some cases, and they want to do well in some cases, and in others, because they're just simply lazy, are realizing that artificial intelligence is a means of getting perhaps a better sermon. You say, what does that mean? Listen, they now have means by which a pastor can speak to one of these AI organizations and say, build me a sermon on a subject, and it will. How dangerous. And how, like, scripture that is. When a person can say, I don't have to get before God, I can get before my computer, and my computer will write my sermon for me. Why are complacent preachers a danger facing America? Because that's number one I put on my list. And these three may surprise you, by the way, because you may try to pick out some other kind of cultural phenomenon. But I believe if we got these three right, there'd be a difference in where we go. So why are complacent preachers such a danger? Why are complacent preachers such a danger? Because they're not facing America. It is because the church, and in particular our pulpits and our preachers, are to be the voice and the conscience of the culture. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said that pastors and preachers and the pulpit is the conscience of a nation. And the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 14, 8, and if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle? Someone has said, a mist in the pulpit will become a fog in the pew. If it's not clear here, it won't be clear there. It'll become fog. It'll be even worse. And God even says to them that if these preachers and these so-called prophets had declared God's Word rightly, He says things would have been different. I tell you this morning, America, like Israel in Jeremiah's day, is facing a crisis because of the complacency of the pulpits. And it starts right here. I believe it starts here. But it continues, with the second thing I want you to see, and that is the problem of comfortable people. Look at verse 17 with me, if you will. Again, he says, they say continually to those who despise. This is the prophets. They say continually to those who despise, those who despise the Word of the Lord. The people didn't like the Word of the Lord. They despise it. And so these prophets said to those people, it will be well with you and to everyone who, look at this, stubbornly follows his own heart. And they say to those people who are following their own heart and their own desire, what did their prophet say? He said, oh, no, don't worry. No disaster will follow this. Comfortable people. Comfortable people is another way of saying self-centered. We're living in an age of me-ism. Would you agree with that? We're living in an age where it's my way or the highway. We're living in an age of my own truth. Y'all have heard that one happen. Well, that may be your truth, but this is my truth, my own truth, stubbornly following our own hearts. Dave Hunt said the average person who claims to believe in God, as does the majority of Americans, is too preoccupied with himself to give God much time or serious thought. They followed their own heart. They followed their own heart. Listen, this is an example of what I've said many times to you before, you know, where I've told you how you'll hear people say, well, I know God. I know God. I know God. I know God. I know what God says, but I choose to believe this. That's exactly what was going on here. I know what God says. Okay, we hear what you say, but I like a different thing. I want a different message, and so I choose to believe something else. And by the way, as if choosing to believe a lie over the truth will make the lie truth, deceiving themselves. It's where we are as a nation. It's where we are in many times. It's where we are in the cases in our churches. Remember this, you know, as I've told you many times before, you know what the problem with this book is? It deals with us a whole lot more than it deals with them. I wish it dealt with them more and less with me, right? So I could just point out there and say, look at them. Look at them. Look at what they're doing. It's bad, and there's stuff. I mean, it's horrendous, but judgment starts with the house of God, the scripture says. It begins with us. It begins in our pulpit. It begins in our seats. The fact is, when you take complacent preachers and you put them with comfortable people, you will eventually get compromise on the Word of God. You will get a redefining of the truth. You'll get apostasy. You'll get a denial of judgment to come. Ken Ham writes and says, Today, few Americans are aware of the spiritual epidemic that wiped out the land of our Christian forefathers, and even fewer are aware that the same epidemic has reached our own shores and is spreading like a virus. Look, don't misunderstand what I'm saying, and don't let the devil tell you something that I'm not saying. I am not against comfort. Actually, I'm a comfortaholic. I love it. I'm not against it. I'm all for it. If you gave me the option to vote for it or against it, I would vote for it. I would vote for it. I'm not saying something the devil likes to whisper in the hearts of people. I'm not saying to you that the Christian life means you got to live miserable. Don't hear me saying that. I don't believe that at all. And don't let the devil tell you that. It's one of the great lies propagated out of hell to cause people to say, I don't want anything to do with Christianity because Christianity means to stop doing the ten things I enjoy and start doing the ten things that I hate. And we believe that nonsense. Listen to me. The Christian life is full of joy, the peace that passes all understanding. Have you ever experienced that? Nothing like it. It's full of grace and peace and meaning and forgiveness and abundance. I've come that you might have life and have it abundantly full and overflowing. It's full of eternal victory. And these and other facts about our faith is what makes it incredible. So don't let the devil tell you that if you ever experience comfort, but there is a kind of comfort that's dangerous to you spiritually. Do you get that? Y'all understand what I'm saying? If you do say amen, because I can keep going. That'll get an amen fast every time it does. But there are some things that should shake us from our stupors. There are some things that should rattle our comfort zone. There's some things that should rouse us to stand righteously. In the cultural arena. Because if we do not do that while we can, the day is coming when we cannot. Can you not see it on the horizon? If we do not do it while we can, the day is coming when we can't. And there are some things that biblically should move us out of our comfort zones. Then there's a third thing I want you to see. I want you to see the danger of cultural politicians. Now just hang on. The danger of cultural politicians. Look at verse 18. He says, or who has paid attention to his word and listened? There are a number of places through here. What we see is these so-called prophets were not real prophets. Because what they were doing is they were doing this. You know what they were saying? Which way is the wind blowing? What do you want me to talk about? What do you want me to tell you? What do you want to hear? They weren't really, you know what they were? They were cultural politicians. What do you want? What do you need? What do you want? What do you want? What do you want? What do you want? What do you want? What do you want? I want to hear from me. They were masquerading as prophets. They were simply telling people what the people want to hear. It was dangerous to truth then. Listen, it's dangerous to truth now. How do you recognize a cultural politician? Well, I'm so glad you asked this morning. Let me tell you how to recognize a cultural politician. A cultural politician is someone who is more concerned about pleasing people than pleasing God. They're more concerned with making people happy than pleasing God. They're more concerned with standing for righteousness and truth. Now, I want to say something else, just like I put a little caveat in that last point, I want to put a caveat in this one in which I want to say to you, they're not all politicians or cultural politicians, okay? There are some good ones. There are some who desire to please God. I know some, and they want to please God. They want to serve God. They want to honor God in the roles that they hold. But like in the case of Jeremiah's day, far too many are more about themselves and being liked by the culture than they are about standing for what is right. I know some of those too. And let me be clear about something. Cultural politicians are not just in Washington or Montgomery or City Hall. Listen, you can spot cultural politicians in industries. You can spot them in universities, hello? You can spot them in families. families. You can see them on organizational boards, and listen, you can even find them in churches. They are those who are in places of influence, who refuse to speak up, who refuse to stand up for what is right in God's eyes and God's Word. They're more afraid of offending people than they are offending a holy God. They're more interested in being a friend of the world than a friend of God. But you know what James said about being a cultural politician, a cultural friend? He said, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Did you know that verse was in the Bible? James 4 and verse 4. David Wilkerson, who has gone on to be with the Lord a few years back, but in a message titled Sodom's Sister, which in which he was referring to America, he said, and I quote, a proud nation is a nation that says we neither need nor want God in our education system. We do not want God mentioned in our courts. We do not want any public prayers offered to God, and we never mention the name of Christ. A proud nation declares, who needs God to fight our battles? We are a superpower. The pride of a nation occurs when they scoff at prophets and watchmen who warn of coming judgment. Pride refuses to believe there is a God in heaven who will smite with anger those who turn against him. Most tragic of all is when we ignore all the warnings of history, of how God has dealt with nations in the past. He said, He said, the word of God to Judah was horrible, but it also has tragic implications for the United States because America has become the sister of Sodom. You cannot tell me, he writes, that God will not judge a nation that makes it unconstitutional to utter his name in schools and public buildings. For example, just this past week, I don't know if you saw all the current political administration made a policy decision that the Knights of Columbus could no longer hold a Memorial Day worship service at the Virginia-based Poplar Grove National Military Cemetery. This week, just this week, they said, you can't do that, Knights of Columbus. You say, well, have they been doing it? Only for 60 years on Memorial Day, but suddenly that's unacceptable, and they were told they can no longer do that. Hasn't been this way. On October 3rd, 1789, George Washington speaking said, it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence, to acknowledge, you get that, the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favors. Don't listen to these people out here, these cultural revisionists, these historians who are rewriting your history to say God was not a factor in the founding of this nation.
That's deception, and it's lies. It's to change the narrative because the narrative needs God to be out of the culture. The epitome of cultural political pride is to make decisions that declare in effect, we don't need God, nor do we want His light to guide our ways. People, America is facing a dangerous future, just like the people of God are facing a dangerous future. God did in the past when they forsook God and they abandoned His word. One analyst said this, his name's Chuck Baldwin, he said, the American empire will follow every other notable empire of antiquity and collapse under its own weight. The signs are already ubiquitous. They're already there. This guy's not a believer. He's just saying, I'm just observing what's going on in our nation compared to all the past great empires that have collapsed. And he said, when you look at what's happened, he said, the signs are already there. I believe it's true, but I also believe it doesn't have to be. I believe we can be revived, but we must wake up. We must remember where we came from, and we must repent of our sin, and we must return to our biblical roots. So I want to close. How do we respond to these things? What we need is an army of people. People for God who will not bend and who will not bow, but will take seriously the call to live for God. And change won't start in our culture until change starts with us. So listen quickly. I want to close by giving you eight things. We could add more to the list, but I want to give you some responses. You know, preachers, I told our staff this week, I was sharing with them about the message God had put on my heart to bring. It's off of our current series. We'll go back there next week. But I said, you know, as I'm telling them this, I said, one thing that we have to be careful sometimes is we don't give any application. You know, we say, here's how it is. Here's how it is. Here's how it is. And we go, yeah, that's how it is. What do we do about it? And so sometimes we can walk out frustrated or depressed and go out and say, well, so much for that. Didn't help me any. So I want to give you some things that I believe are tangible, things that you can be doing right now that I believe if those who can do it, they can do it. And I want to give you some things that I believe are tangible, things that you can do right now that I believe if those who can do it, confess to follow Jesus Christ would take serious these eight things, it would change this world. And by the way, not just this nation, it would change this world. So what are they? Here they are. Number one, get serious about knowing God. I don't mean to insult your intelligence because I think that's probably a no-brainer, but it needs to be said. Get serious. I mean serious about knowing God. I told my wife, I guess it was last night, maybe it was this morning early, I told her about a man and I said, man, listen, when God got a hold of him, God got a hold of him. And he was way out there, but now he's in love with Jesus and it shows. And he's serious about knowing God. Second Peter 3.18 says, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That's a command. And we need a new desperation for God. We talk about we need revival. This will produce revival when we get serious about knowing God. Second, cultivate your prayer life. Cultivate your prayer life. In Luke 18 verse 1, Jesus told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. Always pray. Now listen, you're living in an age that'll cause you to lose heart. Would you agree with that? Jesus said, pray, don't lose heart. What should you do when you're starting to lose heart? Pray. Seek him. Pray, pray. Cultivate your prayer life. People say this, well, I don't really know God. Yes, you do. Just like you're talking to a friend. It's conversation with God. You can do it. You can do it. You know how you get really good at it? By doing it. Practice makes perfect. You've heard that old line. Now, I don't know if it'll make you a perfect prayer, but it'll sure get you further on down the road, won't it? And so cultivate your prayer life. Just like you're serious about knowing God, give energy to your prayer life. We need to reconnect our hearts to God's will. Then number three, stand firm on biblical truth. Stand firm on biblical truth. In Jude, verse three says, beloved, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once and for all delivered to the saints. You know, we're, there's so many out in the Christian community now that are massaging the truth to make it work for the way they've already decided to operate and live. Stand firm. You know what? You know what? By the way, Jude, was the half brother of Jesus. And he was James's full brother. He's the half brother of Jesus. And Jude writes this. He said, you know what I wanted to write and talk to you about? Some stuff that is good. I wanted to write and talk to you about our mutual salvation. That would have been really refreshing. Isn't it great? We are safe. He said, but I realized that what I needed to write to you about was to urge you to stand for the truth. And here's something interesting Mason that he says, Faith once and forever delivered to the saints. There's not a new, there's not something new we need. What we need is to stand on what we got. And see what you're watching around you. You're watching it in the evangelical world. You're watching people that are massaging what was delivered to us and creating a new hybrid that is not the truth and does not align with God's Word. Stand firm on biblical truth. Ronald Reagan said this, I believe with all my heart that standing up for America means standing up for the God who has so blessed our land. We need God's help to guide our nation through stormy seas. But we can't expect Him to protect America in a crisis if we just leave Him over on the shelf in our day-to-day living.
Number four, walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5, 16 says, But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not be saved. You will not gratify the desires of the flesh. You want to know how to live a life of victory? Walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. Can you? Yes, you can. The Holy Spirit, Jesus said, I'm going to the Father. Remember, He told us I'm going up to the Father, but He said, it is imperative that I go to the Father because if I don't go to the Father, I can't send the paraclete. I can't send the comforter. I can't send the advocate. I can't send the Holy Spirit. I have been with you, but He will be in you. You can walk in victory. And we need His power. Boy, do we ever need it? We need it now more than ever to live in victory and even show a lost world this is what victorious living is like. Walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. Number five, don't ignore what is going on around you.
You can't believe how many times I've heard over the last few years, I just don't want to know, I don't want to know, I don't want to know. As if somehow that's going to make it all okay. Hosea 4, 6 says, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. And because you have rejected knowledge, I will reject you from being a priest to me. My people are destroyed because they don't know. By the way, the implication there is also the pulpit. In other words, the pulpit hasn't helped the people know the truth. And so my people are destroyed because they don't know the truth and it should have started with the priest.
But don't be naive. Don't just say, well, if I don't know, out of sight, out of mind, I just put my head down in the ground in the dirt and I'll just act like it's not happening and as long as my little world and my bubble is not affected, life is good. Don't believe that your bubble won't be affected. It will be sooner or later. And then you'll have to go, what happened? How did we get here? Why didn't I anticipate that? Why am I not stronger spiritually? Why am I not stronger spiritually? I didn't see this coming. No, because you had your head buried in the ground.
Don't ignore what's going on around you.
David Jeremiah said, There's a moral and spiritual war for the souls of Americans. And this war must be waged by preaching the gospel through prayer and obedience to God's Word. Don't ignore what's going on around you. Number six, become biblically literate.
I don't want to insult anybody's intelligence watching online television, listening by radio in this live audience. But American Christians are sorely illiterate biblically. They don't know. Now, you're in a different class, Ridgecrest. You're in a different class, okay? No, I do hope that you know much more about Scripture. And I feel like that's part of my responsibility, too, is to help get you there. But you've got to get there, too. I love Acts 17, verse 11. It says, Now, these Jews were more noble than those. These are the Berean Christians. And they were more noble than those at Thessalonica. Because listen how it characterized these Berean Christians. They received the Word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. In other words, they didn't just say because Brother Ray said it or because somebody out there said it. They examined the Word. They were biblically literate. What does the Bible have to say? That's incredibly important if we're going to navigate forward. There's an old, I used to listen to some when I was a teenager, I was a real dull kid. I was a nerd. I was a Bible nerd. And I would listen a lot of nights in my bedroom, laying on my bed. I would listen to two guys, well, three guys, Oliver Green. Some of you may remember that guy. He had a real gruff voice. And the other sometimes was Lester Roloff, evangelist Lester Roloff. He was a radio kind of evangelist. And he said this one time. He said, People read newspapers far more than they read the Word of God. And then we want, now this is decades ago. He says this. They read newspapers far more than they read the Word of God. And then we wonder why America is in the mess she's in today. The Bible, this book, is the book that made America great. But since it's been kicked out, we've seen America going under and going down. Become biblically literate. Number seven, walk by faith and not by feelings.
Paul says in 2 Corinthians, he says, So we are always of good courage. We know. We know that while we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord. For we walk by faith and not by sight. Right now we have to live by faith, he says. We've got to walk by faith. Because don't depend on your sight. You know what sight is? You notice I said walk by faith and not by feelings. And here's the reason I said feelings. But it says by sight. Sight represents your feelings, your senses. We walk by faith because your senses aren't going to always be reliable. Because your senses are driven by what class? Your feelings. And if you're not careful, your feelings are not reliable. Because some days you feel good, right? And some days you feel bad. And if you let your feelings control how you follow God, you're going to go into a ditch sooner or later. And you'll be up and down in your faith. Up and down in your walk with God. We walk by faith, not by feelings. Until we are with Him, until we see Him and are in His presence. By the way, in heaven, faith will not be required. Did you know that? There will be no need for faith in heaven. But right now, between here and eternity, we need to walk by faith. That means we don't always let our eyes tell us how to think.
Our faith in the Word of God, our faith in the work of God, and in the promises of God gives us confidence until we get to heaven. And then last, don't live in fear.
Psalm 34, verses 4 and 5 say this, I sought the Lord, and He answered me. And He did. He delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to Him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. Isn't that good? I sought the Lord. He didn't say we don't have times when we're afraid. He didn't say that. But He said, when I'm afraid, I sought the Lord. And the Lord delivered me from all my fears. Now, if you seek the culture, it'll scare you to death. You'll live in anxiety and fear all the time. Why? God doesn't want you living. He doesn't want you living in fear. He wants you walking by faith, your confidence in Him. You don't have to live in fear. He's not given us. Paul wrote to Timothy, this young preacher, and he said, God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love and a sound mind. You don't have to live in fear. Don't live in fear. You follow the great Deliverer, right? But don't be naive, all right? There are dangers facing America. That you and I can make a difference with. People say this, is it too late? I don't know. They thought it was too late in the Old Testament for Nineveh.
But it wasn't. God redeemed the whole city of Nineveh. They said, no, you can't. There's no hope. But there's always hope in Jesus Christ. He is our victorious Savior. He's our victorious. Keep your eyes on Him. Seeing that we are encompassed. By so great a cloud of witnesses. Let us throw aside the weight that so easily entangles us. And let us run with endurance. The race that is marked out before us. With our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus Christ. The author and the perfecter of our faith. That's how we go forward. That's how we bring the possibility of redemption and revival.
You say, well, it's just us. Well, no. Elijah said that. He sat down in a cave and said, God, it's just me. And God said, no. No, Elijah. I've got thousands over here in this city that haven't turned their back on me. There are more out there. But you know what sometimes the more needs? They need the us to stand strong. So they say, yeah, there are people. There are people that believe the truth. Practice the truth. That love God. And love lost people. This isn't an us versus them. You understand that? But if we're not us, we'll not reach them.
And so, you can be a difference maker. On this Memorial Day weekend, you can be a world changer. Don't worry about what others should be doing. You concentrate on who you should be for God. You let God handle the outcome. And if we get down the road, what does that say? It was just too late. Too little, too late. You won't be sorry that you chased it hard after God. You won't say, well, I wouldn't have given that much energy to God. You won't be sorry. Nobody in heaven. Think about this. We walked in heaven today. And you say, well, here I am. Boy, you gave a lot of your life and energy to God. None of them are going to say, yeah, I wish I could do it over again. You know what they'll say? I could have done more. I could have served him better. I could have been more devoted to him. I could have followed him nearer. I could have obeyed him more. I could have, and I didn't. But the good news for us is we can. We can. We may not have the rest of the day. We may not have tomorrow. But we got right now. And while we've got right now, that right now should be redeemed. Redeemed. The time wisely. Paul said, let's redeem it. In fact, let's take a vote. You want to take a vote this morning? If you're in favor of redeeming the time between here until Jesus comes, raise your hand. Look at that. Is that not amazing? I'm not a bit shocked.
Let's redeem the time for God. Let's be the people of God. Let's cause the people in the world. They're not our enemies. They just haven't found the good news of Jesus Christ. So don't approach them. You know, for 23 plus years, I've been telling you, never get upset at lost people for acting lost.
But we can act like saved people. Right? And make a difference. Let's pray. Father, help us to be those people. Help us, Father, to get it in the passage. And you brought your judgment upon them. But Lord, we've got time. We can get it. And we want to get it. We want to redeem the time. We want to use the days that we have left, Father, for your glory. And Father, help us to put into practice these principles that will help us be world changers. Thank you for your word. Thank you for these stories, God. We can go back and learn on their nickel. Let us learn. Let the church, let the pulpits, let the people, let the politicians get it. Get what it means to be your people. To stand. For righteousness and truth. And allow you, Father, to redeem and revive a land that's forgotten you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Would you...
I hope you have tuned in to the broadcast today. I hope you've been encouraged by God's word. It sure has been a joy to share it with you. And even now, people at Ridgecrest are making decisions for Christ. Perhaps as you've watched this broadcast, you've recognized the need for your own decision for Christ. The prompting of the Spirit has caused you to recognize that you need Christ as your Savior. And the good news is you can receive Him right where you are. The Bible says, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Right where you are, you can call on Him. Say something like this from your heart to Him. Lord Jesus, thank you for loving me. I know I'm a sinner. And I know that you came into this world and died on the cross for my sins. And right now, I invite you to come into my life. Forgive me and be my Savior. I can assure you, if you'll call on Him, based on what God has already told us in the Bible, that He'll hear that prayer and He'll answer that. And He wants to begin this new journey in your life with you, transforming you into His image. We'd love to help you with that decision as well. You'll see a QR code on your screen. And if you would scan that, or you'll see contact information, or if you'll contact us about your decision today, we'd love to help you take next steps. There are no strings attached, no fees involved. We'd just like to help you begin that journey with Christ. You may be watching this broadcast today and say, I need a church family to belong to. I already know Christ as my Savior. And I'd like to be a part of the Ridgecrest family. Also, if you will, scan that QR code. That'll take you to a location. And we'll be able to help you make those kinds of decisions, like becoming a member here, or if you've never been scripturally baptized, those kinds of things. So contact us through that QR code or through the contact information on the screen. Well, again, it's been a joy to have you with us today. And I hope you've been encouraged by God's word. Whatever decision we can help you with, by all means, contact us. May the Lord bless you.