Inerrancy is Absolutely Necessary (Video)

With this, and we want to give people a solid foundation, especially if a lot of new faces are coming to Westside Christian Fellowship. What do we believe and why do we believe it? The essentials of the Christian faith. And we believe this is so important because many people don't know. They'll say, God, or I believe in God. Yeah, I believe in Jesus. But what is a true Christian? What are the marks of genuine saving faith? What is a true church today? What does it look like? And so the number one point, the first point, I guess I shouldn't say number one, but they're all built on a solid foundation of God's word is this one. The inerrancy of God's word is absolutely a necessity. I went back and forth on the title, but I think you have inerrancy is absolutely necessary. Inerrancy, what does that mean? You're actually seeing it play out in America. The inerrancy, the accuracy, the authority of God's word. Is it our final authority? Is it without error? Is it the standard? Or is it something to be contemplated? Something to be considered? And we believe one of the foundations of this church is it is without error. The inerrancy of God's word, the authority of God's word. Actually, this is why just a quick history lesson. How many of you have heard of the Reformation? And what came out of that was something called Protestantism, Protestants. You know, they have Protestants, they say Roman Catholics, different things. We really don't get caught up on Protestants because we believe that a lot of, all of us came from the early church 2,000 years ago. There wasn't, you know, different breakups and different things. But for the sake of this argument, Protestant comes from the word protest. And so they protested and more specifically Martin Luther at a church in Wittenberg, Germany in 1517, nailed the 95 thesis to the church doors, challenging the papacy on the authority of God's word. Not you, Pope, but the authority of God's word. And it brought back sola scriptura, scripture alone, faith alone, Christ alone, through grace alone, through the glory of God alone. And that's why they would bring the church. Anytime there's a reformation, it's bringing the church back to the authority of God's word. And even today that you could call it a reformation or a revival that is needed to come, what? Back to God's word as a final authority in all matters of truth. Scripture in the original manuscripts does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact. So that's what inerrancy is. It's scripture in the original manuscripts. There's nothing in them that is in air. You can look at scientifically, of course, and historically, prophetically, archaeologically, you know, it stands the test of time. For example, the book of Mormon, for example, is there are places that are written in the book of Mormon. You can't find any of these places. You can't find the tools they use. You can't find the cities, the kingdoms, the coins, nothing. It's like a fable. We, you guys said it, not me. So, but the Bible, you can see where King David walked. You can see the coins. You can see it's without fault. Now, with that said, I believe and the church believes it's without error on God's end. It's an error. However, God uses imperfect vessels to translate his perfect word. So you will see something in theology called textual variations where the word was translated a little bit differently here than it is there, or this king was spelled differently. I believe it's 90% of all variances in the text are because of spelling. The copyists would spell it a little bit differently. And I actually don't have a problem with that because if not, then we'd have a perfect Bible that everyone would worship in the sense that every word, every jot, every tittle, and it becomes this thing to idolize. And it's almost something that would not happen through the writings of men. So God used imperfect people to deliver a perfect message. So yes, there are some things in it. For example, the new King James versus the NIV. The reason is because translators translated certain words differently. We don't have words in Greek. Sometimes they'll use seven words for love and agape love or phileo love and different kinds of things. And so the translators are given a little bit of latitude there. And there's also different tenses. For example, in John 10, six, it says they did not understand. Some manuscripts have, they were not understanding. And if you read Greek or Hebrew and the way they write is a little bit different. And so translators have an enormous job of trying to translate it. So that is our stance. It's a perfect communicator. God lets imperfect people read his word. It's important to tell even young adults that because when they go to college, people say, oh, look at this. This is a little bit different. In this Bible, it can't be trusted. Yes, it can. The message of the gospel, the message of redemption, the message of God's truth is inerrant. It's inspired. Nothing changes. But in the translation of that is where there are some minor differences. And I will just tell you up front that there are no differences dealing with essentials. In other words, they all agree on the essentials of the faith. And that is what is important. If you are curious about, I'm trying to find the title. If you are curious about how we got our Bible, what translation is best, you can actually put that on our website in the search bar. How we got our Bible or what translation is best. And I went over for a whole hour on where the different translations came from. Some came from the majority text. They call it the Antioch text or the Alexandrian text. So manuscripts, like 6,000 manuscripts have been found. And the majority of the manuscripts say the same thing. So that's called the majority text. But then they have another school of manuscripts who are actually older. And I believe that's where the NIV would come from. And so there's different variances, but they all say the same thing. And we do have to be careful though when you look at translations, right? Because some translations are not translations. They are commentaries. And they call that a thought-for-thought version of the Bible. Like the New Living Translation would be a thought-for-thought or the Message Bible. It's what these people think. They're trying to translate the thought-for-thought. Now that's okay for reading, but you want a good study Bible. What they do is it's called formal equivalence. This side's called dynamic equivalence. Don't worry, those are big words. You don't need them. This side is called formal equivalence, meaning it's word for word for word what the translators meant to say. For example, the New American Standard Bible is really good. New King James is good. King James is great if you can understand a lot of that language. But it does beg the question regarding the Bible, the inerrancy of Scripture. How would God communicate to us? I thought about this a lot. I mean, how would God communicate to us? Because so many people discard the Bible. Like, okay, well, he would give you a vision maybe. Maybe a dream. Maybe some writing up in the sky that would blow away eventually. Or maybe a letter would appear in your mailbox. I mean, how would he speak through the Holy Spirit to you? That happens for sure. But I think even because writing books now, I see why this is so important, is we have to have something that we can reference. A frame of reference. Here is my standard. Here is my Word passed down for generations and generations saying the same thing, affecting the same people the same way. This is our guide. This is our reference. What house, what builder would build a house without a set of plans? Can you imagine if the concrete guy showed up? Hey, I'm here to do the foundation. Where do you want it? I don't care. Just put it anywhere. Well, and then the plumber shows up. You forgot to put the plumbing. Where am I supposed to put the plumbing? Wherever you want. What would the house look like? You want to live there? So there's a blueprint. There's a standard. The same thing with the Bible. I believe that's why. It has to be a written Word. The number one way we communicate. And it's a standard by which everyone can go off. Like a Google document that is shared to all. And you can all see it. We have to go back to that. Remember, people say, how do we know if this is true? Here's our standard. How do we know if this is true? Here's our standard. And when people get away from that standard, that's where that term liberal theology comes in. They get a little too liberal in their theology. And they start to say, well, that was for back then. The Spirit is doing a new thing now. Run for cover. Run, run, leave that place. Leave that place. I know I've referenced this a lot, but I like to do it because it gives people a good point or a good way to see this actually. If you go on YouTube and just put in my name, Shane Eidelman on Fox News, there's an hour interview we did in New York. Morgan was sitting there. And we talked about gay marriage and homosexuality and those types of things. And the pastor actually said that that was back then. God is doing a new, the Spirit is doing a new thing now. So what was a sin now is okay. But see, that's where the culture's going. What was wrong for you might not be wrong for me. That was the culture of Jesus' day. Shane, now God just wants us to live. Well, where does that end? Does anything in the Bible apply? That's why they call it a slippery slope of liberalism. And many colleges are getting liberal. And well, I don't know if the miracles applied. I don't know if there's a literal hell. And see, you gotta just let it say what it says and let it be lived out. Don't go and change things and alter things. Now, if you don't know, that's okay. Ask questions. God says ask questions. I will show you the answer to those questions. And I also believe that this is why all of Scripture must be taught. Amen? Not some. What do they call that? Cherry picking? I'm gonna pick, or smorgasbord. I'm gonna go through. I like these meatballs. I don't like salad. I don't like hummus. I don't like broccoli. I don't like bell peppers. Where's the good stuff? Oh, there's the cake. There's the lasagna. And you go through. The Bible's not a smorgasbord. You can't pick and choose what you want. And I believe that's why all of it must be taught. Because if God is true and trustworthy, then so is his word. And anytime we try to limit things because, ah, that's gonna rub in the wrong way. Good. Sometimes some wood needs some sandpaper. Amen? If I'm touching this and there's a lot of splinters, I'm gonna get some sandpaper and I'm gonna sand it down so it's smooth to the touch. Sometimes our hearts need that little conviction in that sandpaper. God knew what he was doing more than we knew what we're doing. Woe be to the pastor who says, well, here's what I think I'm gonna talk about. I'm gonna avoid these things. When you're avoiding the things that Jesus died for, you're not gonna mention sin and hell when He did. That's what put Him on the cross. And that's why we have to preach all of God's Word. It has something to say about the sanctity of marriage. And so saying those things, you don't have to be called a homophobe to say, you know what? God's Word says it's wrong. And so is fornication, by the way. So is adultery. So is all kinds of sexual sin outside of marriage. That's our standard. I don't care what the Supreme Court says. You can change laws, but you can't change God's mind. Changing those laws will not change His truth. It's an open defiance to God. And there's also a dangerous view. I've heard this locally, actually. Pastors or leaders or Christians will say, I believe Scripture is true in its message of faith, but I don't think it's true in all these other areas of condemnation. So they say, well, it's message of faith and hope is true. No, no, you can't have a partial gospel. Where does that stop? Well, you believe the miracles are true? Well, some of them. Oh, okay. Can you imagine living like that? Then it's up to personal interpretation, personal opinion. And God's Word never allows us to go there. And so it does beg the question, I think all churches right now should be asking this question. Does the world love the way you do church? Do they appreciate that your church never challenges? Do they appreciate the fact that you never call things into question? If the world loves the way we do church, you might want to read Jesus' words. He said that true disciples will be hated. True followers will be hated. True Bible-believing, Christ-centered, Holy Spirit-filled churches, the world will either repent and be converted or they will condemn you. They will hate you because the same sun that melts the wax also hardens the clay. So if the world, if Nancy Pelosi and the governor, everybody just, man, I just love Shane's messages. I mean, just let's be honest. That would not be a good thing. Unless God's working in their heart and they're ready to repent and believe. Then they love it or they hate it. They hate it if they're convicted and their pride is being challenged, but they love it if God is working in their hearts. It's a dangerous view to say that it's only partially true. And what I've noticed in those pastors or Christian leaders or churches or Christians that believe that, they're actually miserable. They're very prideful. They actually attack Christians and they're on the side of Hollywood and the media and they're on the wrong side of the fence because they're allowing God's Word to be changed and altered. Jeremiah 5.25, God told the people, just like today, your sins have withheld good from you. Your sins have withheld good from you. Your iniquities have separated God from you. And so what is the answer when that's happening? When God says the people's sins have reached to heaven, I'm withdrawing my blessings on the land, what is the solution? Well, according to these false prophets, Jeremiah said, an astonishing and horrible thing has been committed in Israel. Think about this. God is saying an astonishing, something that is incredible. I can't believe this is happening. Not only astonishing, it's a horrible thing. The prophets prophesy falsely and the priests rule by their own power and my people love to have it so, but what will you do in the end? In other words, He's saying, my prophets are prophesying falsely. They're telling the people, peace, peace, don't worry about God's judgment is not falling. God loves our sin. He's a winking, He's a doting grandfather up in heaven or He's a cosmic ball of love. He just loves us, folks. We're doing nothing wrong. You're prophesying falsely and the priests or the leaders are not calling out sin and my people love to hear it so, having tickling ears, looking for teachers who will tell them what they want to hear. Have you ever thought that false prophets might be a judgment on those seeking out false prophets? God gives them what they want. They're looking for people that will tickle their ears and I just read, many of you probably have too, Barna, you know Barna Research Group. They just came out with a new statistic that 20 to 30% of all churches in America are not going to reopen, but I find it quite ironic that the ones that are staying open are the ones holding to God's truth. You look at what John MacArthur's going through. Look what John MacArthur's going through. Look what Rob McCoy and look at the Baptist Church in Santa Clara. Look at Jack Hibbs. Look at what God's doing with West Side. Look the churches that are holding to the truth of God's word, the inerrancy, being filled with the spirit, seeking worship and prayer. Those who are on fire for God, you cannot close down a work of God and that's what you're seeing. You're seeing those churches stay open where the word is elevated and you're seeing churches begin to close or not do anything when they're not elevating God's word, when they're running to, worried about fear and when they're supporting anti-God movements around our country that are causing these chaos and these rioting and some of these churches are behind that and we can't open. There's COVID out there, Shane, don't you know? Hey, you haven't seen the shenanigans the last six months? 15 days to flatten the curve has turned into six months and doctors are divided. The medical field is divided. Numbers are skewed. They're altered. There's fear. We're trying to, you can see this is a clear agenda now and somebody has to come out from that and say we still love people. We want to be cautious but at the end of the day, we're seeing that shenanigans are taking place and God's word is trying to be suppressed and don't sing in church and I had to look this up. The happy birthday song spreads COVID and they are serious because I guess when you pronounce certain things and you're, you know, are they aware that the only real mass that's going to stop that type of microscopic virus is what the N95 mass and these things just put a cloth on and we're good. Well, who touches hundreds of door handles at Costco and the ATM machine in the waitress just handled hundreds of items from Patriot? Where this madness, it is madness in control so it's okay for the church to step out and say we love people. We want people to be safe but we also don't want to be fooled and God will speak to his people about what they should do. I want to share something that was given to me in 2009. I think Linda, you'll probably be okay with this, I hope. If not, tell me later but tell me for the second service but Linda emailed me in 2019 and at first I was like, right? I just, whatever, thank you. I mean, I'll just check and she got up. It was early in the morning, I think. I got to talk to you. God put this on my heart. She said there will be a fall of unrighteous churches here among you but Westside will gain those who are thirsty for righteousness and my principles and who will build a solid foundation in the word which pleases me, says the Lord. Stay the course and nothing can be undone. But what, except that was a year ago. That was a year ago. Unrighteous churches are going to fall in the AV and close out. Come on, what is this? And then I remembered this and that's exactly what's happening. Why? Because they're not holding, they're not elevating God's word. They're not being broken and humble before him. You've got arrogant pastors coming to the pulpit more concerned about their opinion than what the Holy Bible says and that will never, a church can never survive that and then that's why you see them in fear, closing up, never to open again possibly because we're so, we have to submit to the government. No, at some point, you've got to submit to God when that government now is telling you to go against the founding document of the constitution. That's the governing authority. So when the government is actually usurping that authority, we sit under a higher authority, that being God and then the United States is governed by the constitution. This is just history, folks. Now, if you see a huge pandemic, the black plague and you've got to take measures. But when the CDC just came out recently and said only 10,000 deaths in the whole United States are attributed to COVID alone, that's .00035 and you're doing all of this because of fear and agendas that are out there. I know that's gonna ruffle feathers. I know that's gonna get emails, but I don't care. We are called to speak the truth. Now, I don't, sorry for all these rabbit trails, but I think they're important. Some doctors that know immunology, immunologists, they made some interesting cases. They would say that last year, if someone died of Alzheimer's or heart disease or diabetes or you name it, even if they had the flu, they don't list it as the flu. They list it as they died of these. But now if a person dies of anything, but they had COVID, now it's ruled as COVID often. That's called dishonesty. That's called manipulation. And that's just facts. Don't get, well, Shane, you don't know anything. Doctors do. That's what they're saying. They're being mislabeled because there's huge payouts. There's huge agenda going on. The enemy of our souls is working this society. As soon as he said, you can't sing in church, I'm like, oh, you gotta be kidding me. It's just unbelievable. And I believe that churches who are holding to the truth of God's word are going to see, maybe they have to go underground. Maybe they will have to close sometimes as far as a building. I don't know what the future holds, but if you put the wrong person in office, you will see the church being silenced very quickly. Do you know why our governor decided to open churches? Decided to, because he had a real mean letter from the Department of Justice saying you better, you're going to court. See, they were pushing hard to keep it closed. If nobody pressured them, they would just keep closing. Actually in San Francisco right now, you're allowed to have one person in church. And then the flu season gets here. Here we go again. You see, there's a massive amount of demonic opposition to this. And if you have the wrong person where the Department of Justice is on the governor's side, then churches will be closed down. You think someone like me is going to be allowed to have a voice? Look, that's nice. No, lock it up. Close it down. This is huge. That's why I don't like when people say, stop being political. There is so much on the line. You have no idea what's on the line. Silencing the voice of God's truth, providing just hell for our children, our grandchildren, mocking God, allowing perversion to be legal. It's just incredible. And I think people need to wake up. If you're led by the right spirit, you will be. But be careful. There's arrogance. I said this. I was going to say this. Arrogance doesn't teach people the whole counsel of God because their opinions are more important. But also arrogance can happen when we worship the Word. We worship the Word. Have you ever seen those people? It's the Father, the Son, and the Holy Word. And it's like, that's where that Bible thumper term comes from. I think so. I've been called that a few times, but that's not what I'm talking about here. But you know, the Bible thumping, rigid Word, go get them, Shane. There's no brokenness and humility in your heart. So be careful on this as well. But again, for more on how we got our Bible, I'll just have you go to that message. But I want to talk about some things about inerrancy of Scripture. I don't know if you've thought about them before, but do you know who quoted the Old Testament quite often? Jesus. So are we saying that the Bible's not really from God, but Jesus quoted it as the final authority? And then you can tell, it is written. It is written. Well, did the prophet say of you, it is written. It is written. And Jesus referenced the Old Testament as the authority, as the inspired, inerrant Word of God. And it's funny because that's why I believe that when they went to arrest him, they said, why didn't you arrest him? They said, no one ever spoke like this man with such authority, referencing the Old Testament, speaking as if this is God's Word, speaking as if this is real and true. And it is. And I alluded to this earlier, the consistency and reliability from Scripture is, it's not even, it's unmatched. I won't go into a lot of detail because I'm sure a lot of you know, but the Bible was written over 1,500 years. Did you know that? The New Testament is pretty short, but the Old Testament is written over 1,500 years, 40 different authors, three different continents, kings, princes, paupers, prophets, sheepherders. I mean, and they all said the same thing, that the consistency there, again, scientific, I told the atheist when I debated him at the college, I still tell atheists this, can you show me one place in the Bible where they really miss science? I mean, they just, oh boy, they blew it. Back when Egypt was, back in Egypt, they were telling people to mix cow dung with whiskers from a cat to put on a sore. That was the general thought back then or bloodletting. Remember early in American history where they would just let your blood drain, get all that blood out. The Bible, even circumcision on a certain day of the week is best because of the coagulation of the blood. Even doctors are finding that. One of the ways they ended the plague, I believe in England, was a man was reading and said, wash your hands. And the physicians wouldn't go from operating on a dead person to delivering a baby. They would wash their hands. They're transmitting these, there's so much in there scientifically that is completely accurate. That confirms the reliability of God's word. They've never missed it. And people say, oh, but Shane, what about pork? And what about shellfish? Come on. Well, did you know that's very bad food to eat? Very toxic. I'm sorry. I'm gonna just upset some people right now, but I'm sorry. Shrimp and lobster are like feeding off the cesspool of the ocean. They're there to clean. And pig and pork is very dirty meat. And God says those are unclean things, knowing that how it affects the body. It's amazing all the things that happen talking about the universe and the stars and the solar system. And it's just mind boggling. So we see the consistency and reliability of Scripture. We see that Jesus quoted it and we see all the best one, the changed life. Amen. How many of you have experienced the changed life by the power and the reading of God's word? I remember when I came back to the Lord. I remember when I came back to the Lord. I'm like 29. I'm reading this like, where was all this? I don't remember this when I was a kid. Where was all this? And that was Scripture just leaped out of the pages. It said, what will profit you, young man, to gain the whole world, but lose your soul? And I began to cry out to God and say, oh God, I was in the process of losing my soul. And the word came alive and it began to transform your heart. And you begin to be filled with the spirit of God and say, I like Paul. What Paul's saying here, the spirit of the living God is within me. And the Bible becomes alive and it changes your heart and your life. What other book can say that you will never talk to a Mormon or a Jehovah Witness or any that said this? It's confirmed. It just came alive. It changed my life. No, it's just, it's good. We follow this, but nothing, nothing that changes your life. And I did have somebody once say, but Shane, but I prayed it and I received a burning in my bosom. I said, be careful of the devil and give you a burning in your bosom. That doesn't mean anything. I'm not just picking on people. I'm trying to be honest. I'm not actually not picking. I'm sharing it. This is big. This is serious. This is a matter of life and death, heaven and hell. No other book speaks like God's word. Why? Because it is living. It is powerful. It is active. Like any double-edged sword, it pierces your heart. It convicts and it begins to help you go in the right direction. You begin to understand God's will. Have you ever opened things and the scripture just speaks to you and you get clear direction for your life or you wait on God? Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. It's living and it confirms the heart of God. You also get to see the heart of God and that's why you can't separate the old from the new. Some people say, well, we live under the new covenant now, Shane. That was good. No, there's no real change. The Bible is the Bible. Old Testament, New Testament. What they're saying now is we're saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, not by trying to follow a whole bunch of rules and things and the blood of bulls and goats temporarily covering our sin. We live now in the finished work of Jesus Christ and the thing I like the best about New Testament saints is you can be filled mightily with the Holy Spirit of God. The same spirit that rose Christ from the dead can live inside of a believer who's fully surrendered their life. That's why they get a little excited during worship. That's why they might clap a little bit. That's why they might get excited when who the son sets free is free indeed and they experience God. That's one of the beasts I have with those who believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are not for us today because when I experienced the power of the Holy Spirit and I read what Paul said, I'm like, I experienced that too. I can relate the experience. There's nothing wrong with experiencing God. Now, don't interpret the Bible based on your experience. Interpret your experience based on the Bible. Make sure your experience is backed by the Bible and if there's things in there that people sometimes in some churches are just weird and bizarre, you gotta be careful. Like I was at one place and I see angel feathers falling down and gold dust. I'm like, be careful. The whole time I'm saying be careful. I don't care how high you jump. I wanna see how straight you walk when you come down. I wanna see the fruit of your confession of faith because that's really when the Holy Spirit's moving in someone is they live by the word of God. They're quick. I'm not saying you can't see angels. I'm not saying you don't have visions and dreams. I'm open to all that because it's all in the Bible but be very careful as well because Paul said, even if an angel comes to you and preaches to you some other gospel, let him be, in the Greek, it's anathema. Let him be accursed and isn't it funny that most religions, I can name three right now again but I don't wanna seem like I'm beating up a religion. They say that they were, an angel came to them. An angel came to them. An angel came to them. Be careful but I can't ignore this part either. When it comes to the word of God, faith does play a role. Somebody said, you Christians, you just, oh, just believe it like that. It's so stupid. No, we don't check our brains at the door. We consider everything I just said but yes, at some point, faith has to play a role. You took a little bit of faith to get you here and go over that hill. It takes a lot of faith of mine to get me in an airplane. I'll tell you what. I'm like, that's 30,000 feet. That is just remarkable. Lord, just, I hope, you know, it's just there's a certain amount of faith. So yes, there is a certain amount of faith that says, God, I trust in you. I believe in you. I believe this is your character, your nature. I believe you gave us this word. Lord, I take it for all that it's worth. I give you all of my heart. I put my faith and trust in you and in your word. Watch what happens. There's a boldness there because now you're anchored in God's word. Many of you have heard of Billy Graham, correct? But I bet you haven't heard of Chuck Templeton. Charles Templeton was actually a better preacher than Billy Graham. They said he's going to be the next campus crusade, whatever that was called. Campus crusades for Christ? Okay, the C's always get me. And I'm reading his biography right now. Billy Graham's is incredible. But Chuck Templeton was more gifted, more powerful speaker. But then he got caught up in liberal theology. You know, Billy, I don't know if we can trust everything in the Bible. And he was bringing up some good points. And Billy was confused. And he went to an old tree stump cut down right up by Lake Arrowhead, I think. Back when you could still see the beach, the ocean from up there. And he laid down his Bible on the tree stump and he said, God, I'm so confused. Don't take me word for word, but I'm so confused, a lot of good points. But from this day forward, I am taking this to be your word. I am preaching your word. This is the truth on which I will stand. And from that day forward, he never looked back. And Chuck Templeton died a very, very sad man before Billy Graham. I think there was one interview. I don't recall. I would love to find it where the interview asked him and he began to tear up and he said he would love to get that joy he once had all over the inerrancy. Because when you begin to question, now it's okay to, I mean, Lord, I don't understand the concept of hell fully. Help me here. You know, but it's not being questioned him to drift from him and become bitter and resentment and an excuse to sin. It's a question sincerely asking God, please show me. I'll tell you one big question that I don't understand. And I always bow my head. I pray and I say, Lord, I don't understand, but you do. And I'm gonna trust in you in this. It's when he would order the slaughter of villages when Israel went into the land. I always have a hard time with that. I just do. But God knows it. I don't question him. I think because he knew that even those people left, that sin was so, if we had time to go through how the Moabites would worship or the Amorites or the Assyrians, it was perverted, cruel worship. They would actually put their children on the hot searing arms of Molech, these statues and burn their children to death sacrificing. So it's almost like God said, the sins of the parents will be passed down to the children and wipe out that entire sin, wipe out that entire negative demonic influence and let's rebuild. But that's one point I can't answer people as far as, oh, well, theologically. My heart breaks sometimes when Moses would go in or Joshua and have to just kill an entire city. But it never has persuaded my love for God or my faith because he knows best. Ultimately, I know he knows best. And by his word, he spoke the heavens into existence. By his word. Think about this. I don't know why I'm frustrated now because I'm tired, but God woke me up at three o'clock and I'm like, I just got home. I just went to bed from the stadium. I get late because after I preach, I can't get right to bed. And I just began to write this down at three this morning. And just a reminder of his word, by his word, he spoke the heavens into existence. Job says, by the breath of his nostrils, his enemies are consumed. He sent his word and it healed them and delivered them from their destruction. He sent his word. He who hears this word of mine, Jesus said, he who hears this word of mine and does it, I will liken him to a man who built his house on the rock. And when the rains came, see, that's what you have to remember. The rain is coming. The storm is coming. It's not the storm that hurts us. It's not being built on the rock of Jesus Christ. And God's foundation and God's truth. And if I could just shake marriage couples and say, it doesn't matter what your spouse is doing. What are you doing? That's the issue. That's the problem. He who hears my word and does it, I will liken him to a man who built his house on the rocks. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my word will stand the test of time. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God. How many of you are spending time feasting on God's word? And I tell you, it builds me up because I come in looking at what's going on in our nation. People send me all kinds of crazy, you should see what's going on in major cities right now. There's a lot of things that are not good. And I get very discouraged. And then I open up the Psalms and say, who will stop God almighty? Who I can send one angel and it'll wipe out 185,000 Assyrian soldiers trained for battle. My word will not return void. Strengthen yourself, son. Build yourself up in the power of the Holy Spirit. Not by might, not by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord God. And you build yourself up. Don't rely on me to build you up. You need to be in God. This is just a supplement. This is your vitamin D because you didn't get enough sunlight. But you gotta be getting the sunlight and in God's word and all the vitamins and nutrients and you build yourself up one day a week for an hour. Oh my Lord, that's not gonna change much. And I believe that's why many people are dying spiritually. Oh, but Shane, I go to church one time a week. Try eating once a week. It's the same thing. Actually, more important spiritually. And His word, there's something about His word, right? When you begin to chew on God's word, it begins to direct you. It begins to encourage you. It begins to make you bold again. And I told my wife if she wants on my tombstone, my verse can be, His word is in my heart. His word is in my heart like a burning fire. It's shut up in my bones. I'm weary of holding it back. And I feel that way like Jeremiah sometimes. He said, the people are mocking me. If you saw that debate I did, they were mocking me on the other side of the table. Oh, they're mocking, mocking, mocking. But His word, He said, His word is in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones. I'm weary of holding it back and I cannot. Why? Because the implanted word of God, there's the power. The Holy Spirit grabs the word of God. And that's how you go forth. And that's what real preaching is. It's theology on fire. It's God's word on fire. Listen, I used to be a motivational speaker. I used to speak on weight loss and it was fine. But nothing like preaching God's word. There's a burning in your belly. There's an anointing that takes place. There's an unction. There's a spiritual power. There's a spiritual authority where you can speak into the, who but God can reach across the landscape through radio and internet and YouTube and people fall down on their face. A guy came up to me last night and said, oh, I tuned in this message. I just fell on my face at home and I began to worship God and my life has been changed. He's crying and wanted to hug me. I said, hug him. Give him the credit because that's the power of God's word. It's a hammer. Did you know that? It's not my word like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces. It's an arrow in the hands of a mighty hunter. It's assurance for a praying mom. Any praying moms out there? I hope so. Praying dads, you're okay too. We would actually love to see more men here at early morning worship than women. We'd actually love to see more men at the prayer meetings than women. We'd actually love to see more men initiating Bible studies than women. Why does that happen? Because the enemy knows he's, God has given you that role as spiritual leader in your home to lead the way. Oh, I can hang out there. It's going to get difficult though. God's word is hope for those in need. I look to the hills. Where does my hope come from? You can give a single mom barely getting by, her husband just left, you can give her hope through God's word. You can give a man who's just been diagnosed with cancer, you can give them hope in God's word. It's an anchor in the sea of confusion. Amen? It is the, sometimes I just, who can you believe? Everything is contradicting this and you don't, now there's something, I don't even know what this is, something I don't even know what it's called, where they can manipulate videos to say, Putin say something he really didn't. I'm like, where is this going to stop? But it's an anchor in the sea of confusion. It's a guiding light in times of darkness. It's a solid foundation when all hell is breaking loose. Yes, the authority of God's word, the inerrancy of scripture is so important, but beyond that, you've got to be living in that word. Let it penetrate your heart because what comes in goes out. That's why when we started this church, the seven pillars, I believe God gave us, number one was the desperate need for absolute truth. Can you believe if we would go back to that? How easy all of this would be? What does God's word say? And then finally, one of the favorite verses in John, and the word became flesh and God's word became flesh, Jesus Christ. Is that amazing? And the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we behold the glory of the only begotten father, full of grace and truth. So I might talk about this a little bit next week, but I want to close with this. Did you know that your beliefs must line up with behavior according to God's word? A genuine Christian, the true Christian, his beliefs line up with his behavior. Now be encouraged. I'm not talking about being perfect or I would have to go sit down. But when you believe something, your behavior has to back it. That's why James says, faith without works is dead. Faith saves us. It is through faith alone and Christ alone. You're saved. But if there's no reflection of the image in Christ in you, even if it's a little, you know, you're not there yet, you're learning, you're growing, but there has to be a reflection there of humility and love for God's word and our behavior backs up our beliefs. That's another sign of someone who is truly following Jesus Christ. And when you fall, you get back up and you say, Jesus, I'm sorry. You don't continue and wallow in the sin and enjoy it. You might have the wrong heart because somebody who's been converted, they love God, their heart's been changed. And if they fall back into sin, they're miserable. They might stay there a while, but there's miserable. And I would say that's still fruit. That's fruit of conviction. They need to get their heart back and they're on the right path with God. And it's interesting. We talk about essentials of the faith. I'll talk about that more as we go forward. But the essentials of the faith always deal with salvation. The inerrancy of scripture, the virgin birth, the resurrection, the empty tomb, these things, it's essential to faith. So I want to ask you this morning, I almost said tonight, and I heard this from family members, even once coming to my ma's memorial. Shane, I'm good. I was baptized as a baby. I'm good. This breaks my heart. I actually went to a Catholic funeral seven, eight years ago, and I could not believe that he was saying, because of your baptism as an infant in the Holy Roman Church, you were saved. That's blasphemy. You can get as mad or upset as you want. That's blasphemy. Actually, I had a Roman Catholic lady come up to me a few weeks ago at the stadium. She goes, oh, I started listening to your messages. I hated them at first, but you know what? They made a lot of sense. And you need to hear my heart. I'm not poking fun. I'm showing you the truth. These are big deals. If you've got people on their way to hell and nobody wants to wake them up because they're too scared to offend, that's not biblical. The Holy Spirit will go in and he will offend you. He will mess you up. He will rock your world. He will disorient your whole thinking to get you to turn to God. So those people say, I was baptized as the baby. It doesn't matter. Or I was baptized when I was 12 or whatever. It doesn't matter. Baptism doesn't save you. Baptism does not save you. Believing in Jesus saves you. And then there's a desire to get baptized and follow that commandment. And there are people I know, friends I know, that believe that you're saved when you get baptized, not when you believe. It's after you get baptized. And I always confound them with this. They have never given me a good answer yet. And I say, well, then you believe then that we baptize unbelievers. Well, no, you can't do that. Well, that's what you're saying. They're not a believer until they go under. So you are baptizing unbelievers. Well, if you put it that way, no, that's what you believe. You are saved the moment you bow your knee to Jesus Christ and cry out and say, because of the cross and that work of redemption, Lord, I believe in you. And that faith is stirred up and say, now there's a desire to get baptized and publicly profess my faith and belief in Him. But then other people say, well, I belong to this church or a relative of mine. I hope he's at the memorial and hears this. He told me many years ago, oh, Shane, yeah, I'm good. I'm a Baptist. I'm saved. I'm a Baptist. See, he's hoping that identity saves him. Somebody who's been truly saved, they will never say, oh yeah, I'm this. They'd say, yeah, I believe in Jesus Christ. He saved me. He set me free. And of course, the famous one here, I'm a pretty good person. Can you imagine standing before God? But I'm a pretty good person. And I asked somebody that many years ago now. It was a family member. All these family members. And I challenged him a little bit because I just hope God sees all the good I've done. I hope when he weighs it on a scale, that will not get you salvation. People say, well, God knows my heart. I've been a Christian all my life. What do you mean all your life? You were born a Christian? See, there has to come a point where you repent of your sin. Lord, I repent and I believe in Jesus Christ. And then a lot of other people, new age movement or different things say, well, I think God is this. I think this will happen. Oprah's a good example. And when I think, see, none of those things. It's the only way. He is the only way, the only truth, the only life. Nobody can go to the Father except through Jesus Christ. There is no other way. If there was another way, there would be another way. Jesus wouldn't say in the garden, Father, take this cup from me. This cup of wrath, of indignation that's going to be poured out on the son. He wouldn't have said, Father. He said, Father, if there's any other way. God, if there's any other way. Can you imagine that prayer in the garden and Jesus there probably broken, humble in his humanity, knowing what he's going through, knowing what he's going to go through, knowing what the Roman soldiers are going to do, knowing the pain of the cross. He says, Father, if there's any other way, take this cup from me.