If You Believe in God, Then What?

The title today, If You Believe in God, then what? If you believe in God, what are you going to do with it? Can you really say that you believe in God and not do anything with it? Can America really say, in God we trust? Oh yeah, you can say most anything that you want to say. We do have what they call the First Amendment rights protection under the Constitution, the Bill of Rights. If you believe God exists, what do you believe about Him? And when we say we believe in God, what do we mean when we say we believe in God? You've not seen God, God is invisible, God is spirit, and you have not heard His voice. Jesus Christ states that in John 5 in talking to the detractors of His day, saying you have neither seen His shape nor heard His voice, and Jesus Christ came to reveal the Father. Well, you might repeat the words of the familiar children's song that says, how do I know? How do I know that God exists? How do I know the Bible tells me so? Do you believe in God because you've been personally convicted by the Word and Spirit of God? Or do you believe in God because you've been swept along by family and the culture that you grew up in? There are headhunters in New Guinea because that's the culture they grew up in, and some still practice cannibalism to this day. The people in China, Shintoism, Confucianism, and other forms of Eastern religions, and Thailand, much of China also, Buddhism, India, Hinduism, Buddhism, the Islamic faith, and so on it goes. But why do you believe in God? Do you believe in God because you have been convicted by the Word and Spirit of God? Or are you just swept along by family, peers, and the culture that you have grown up in? The above is similar to a two-edged sword. On the one hand, we need to be personally convicted by the Word and Spirit of God and not just swept along by family and friends. But on the other hand, we don't want to go against the Word and Spirit of God or our families and friends just to show that we can go it on our own and still survive. In other words, to rebel against what you have been taught. And we're familiar with the admonition. Train up a child in the way that he should go, and when he's old, he will not depart from it.

So on the one hand, we can say that we believe in God, and yet on the other hand, go our own way. And we have seen so many. As I was lying in bed last night, reflecting on the task I had before me this morning of presiding at a funeral, a funeral in which I knew there would be people gathered basically from all over the nation. I know some came as far as from California. And the various backgrounds and experiences, but much of it starting beginning in the German sense, in the culture of the worldwide Church of God. And I thought about the people who went to Imperial schools. I thought about all the kids that lived in faculty row. I had that experience for many years, and many of you did as well. And all of the friends in the worldwide Church of God and neighbors. And we look and see, where are we today? Virtually everybody that would be assembled there would say, I believe in God. But some decide to forget all about God, even though they may at times give what I would call nominal lip service to God. Physical survival is not our reason for being. Some say, well, it becomes a matter of survival. If I didn't get out from there, wherever it is, I could not survive. You know, the people of God have been placed in all kinds of various situations. You read about the great men and women of faith in Hebrews 11. Some saw in a sunder, some going naked, all kinds of different situations and circumstances. These all died in faith, not having received the promise.

So physical survival is not our reason for being. For what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and yet lose his soul, which is really his life potential? And only God, of course, can take that life potential from us. We know, and practically everybody that was there this morning, and practically everybody who has had any founding in the Church of God through the decades, know our reason for being. God created us to attain eternal life in the kingdom of God and the family of God. Belief in God is a spiritual matter. You cannot have a relationship with God apart from revelation. You cannot truly repent and come to God unless you are convicted by the Spirit and Word of God. You may have all kinds of literature, television programs, whatever you want, means of what we call public proclamation. But it is the Word of God and the Spirit of God that convicts a person of the truth. The admonition to us from the Bible is to preach the Word, be instant in season, out of season. Rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and doctrine. For the time will come in which they will not endure sound doctrine, but shall turn to teachers with itching ears, and also be turned to fables. You might say, I believe in God because the Bible tells me so, and I accept the Word of God on faith. But faith, as we know from James 1, faith without works is dead. So it is amazing and paradoxical to me that people will say that they believe in God and give lip service to Him while rejecting what He says about Himself and rejecting what you must do to have a relationship with Him and receive eternal life. What a paradox! How many people in this world are in that situation this very day? I dare say there are thousands, maybe even millions. In today's world, people have fallen into the trap of making God over in their own image. They are in their own minds as to what they believe God is like. The paradox is they will claim to believe in God based on the revelation found in the Bible, but then turn around and reject the very words of God with regard to what God says that we need to do to have a relationship with Him and to receive eternal life. The peoples of the Western world are encouraged to give their opinion about anything you want to name under the sun. Every subject you can name, name it. We want to hear from you. What do you think about this?

The worldview, especially the Western world at the present time, is being shaped by the Hegelian dialectic. Hegel was a German philosopher who had this theory of history that the great movements in history have been brought about through what he called opposing forces. A dialectic has to do with a two through dialogue and conversation of opposing views. You develop a new synthesis and a new norm. He called this synthesis, and I'm sorry, he called it, first of all, thesis. What is the main thesis of the day? And then anti-thesis. And then in between thesis and anti-thesis is a new synthesis. We will give an example of this. One of the greatest social and moral issues of the day centers on homosexuality and lesbianism. Traditional morality, based on the word of God, states that homosexuality is sin. So the greatest social and moral issue of the day centers on this. So we have one thesis, it's acceptable. We have an anti-thesis, or you could reverse them either way, that says it's not acceptable. Let's go to 1 Corinthians. We'll say that traditional morality and religious teaching of the Bible says, the spiritual teaching says, that this is wrong. That is our thesis. It is wrong. Let's see if the Bible agrees with the thesis. In 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 9, 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 9. No, you're not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God, no matter how much you say you believe in God, or you believe in God because the Bible tells you so. The devils believe and tremble. No, you're not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Righteousness has to do with being right with God. Can you be right with God and not do what he says? The unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God, be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkenness, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. Basically, that covers the gamut of the Ten Commandments, the spiritual law. If you don't repent of these things, you cannot be in the kingdom of God. I don't care how much you believe in God. And such were some of you, but you are washed, but you are sanctified, set apart, but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. The Holy Spirit and the Word of God set you apart. Now I am 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 10. 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 10, something quite similar. 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 10.

We should read verse 9 for part of the context. Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but the way he becomes righteous is through faith in the sacrifice of Christ for the remission of sins that are passed and to repent and go and sin no more. But for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers, murderers of mothers, for manslayers. Can you imagine that you take an AK-47 or any weapon and you walk into a crowded theater and you open fire on women and children? There's an article in the past 24 hours or so in which the large pharmaceutical companies have flooded, they have sent investigators to Aurora, Colorado, flooded Aurora with serious investigators as to what drug this James Holmes was on. It was on something, because the normal natural, you might say even brute man, will not gun down women and children like that. They mentioned Prozac in the article. It's been known for a long time that Prozac can cause people to have suicidal tendencies. So when you get a mind-altering, a psychedelic kind of drug that so numbs your sense of right and wrong, so the drug companies want to go in there and to isolate and find out exactly what drug it was. And of course, there's no telling how many lawsuits and whatever, and that will be in the memory of people for decades. For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for men-stealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound teaching. Now we go to Leviticus 18. Leviticus 18. So the thesis of the people who know the truth and the religious world, one of the great deceits that is taking place, and I hope this doesn't go over your head at the present time, is that on the world scene with regard to politicians, both Republicans and Democrats, basically the ultimate goal is to bring about world government. Now they appear to be at odds in the moral arena, and to some degree they are. Basically it is what they call the conservative right, the Republicans, who oppose gay marriage, who oppose abortion, and other facets of what we would call conservative, traditional family values that are being breached by those who basically said there is no law. There is no right and wrong except what you determine to be right and wrong. In Leviticus 18 and verse 22, It cannot be, I don't think it can be much clearer than it talks about bestiality in the next verse. Then you notice in Leviticus 20 over a page or two, verse 13. Leviticus 20 verse 13, If a man also lie with mankind as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination, they shall surely be put to death.

Their blood shall be upon them. There were ten things, at least under the terms of the Old Covenant, for which you could be executed. And it is basically centered on breaking God's immutable spiritual law. So traditional morality, based on the word of God, states that homosexuality, lesbianism, I lump both of them together, is a sin, an abomination. And under the terms of the Old Covenant, it was punishable by death. Now that's physical death. There is no sin that cannot be forgiven if repented of, and faith exercised in the sacrifice of Christ with understanding. Any sin can be forgiven if you repent of it. Now the antithesis in today's world states that God is love. He loves all his children. They argue that all of God's children are made in his image, and he loves all of his children. True, God loves all of his children. But God does not love the sin of his children. If you can show me in the Bible where God loves the sin of his children, then we can have a different service here. Let's go to Psalm 7, verse 11. There are scriptures in the Bible concerning right and wrong and how God views those who break his laws that you might be shocked at because most of the world never even read the Bible. In Psalm 7, verse 11, God judges the righteous and God is angry with the wicked every day. That's not my words. Yes, God loves his children. He is not willing that any should perish, that all should be in his kingdom, in his family. Now we go to Proverbs 8, verse 13. Proverbs 8, verse 13. The fear of the eternal is to hate evil. Is it wrong to hate? Hate is a very strong emotion. If you fear God according to this, you hate evil. But today, we have embraced evil. We cuddle the evil.

We make laws to protect evil. And we punish those who cry out against evil. There are now hate laws passed in Europe. There are people in prison, in Denmark, in other places. In Denmark, for example, for speaking out against Islam. I know there's, according to news sources, at least one person in prison. And it's under the hate crime law. The fear of the eternal is to hate evil. Pride and arrogance. Arrogancy. And the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate. Now we go to Matthew 7. In Matthew, the New Testament, and Jesus Christ Himself speaking is even more direct and in a way scary than what we've read from the Old Testament.

Because, once again, it talks about believing in God, and even doing great works in the name of God. But what does Jesus Christ say about it? In Matthew 7, verse 21. Not everyone that says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that does the will of my Father, which is in heaven.

So that's one requirement. You have to do the will of the Father. How do you know the will of the Father? Well, the will of the Father is revealed through the pages of the Bible. Conviction by the Word of God and the Spirit of God.

Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, and Your name have cast out devils? And in Your name have done many wonderful works. We did it in God's name. We did it in God's service. There is a scripture in John 16 that talks about the accommodation in which they that seek to kill You think that they are doing God a service. I guess the Pharisees and others of Jesus Christ today thought they were doing a service by killing the Prince of Life.

Verse 23, And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you, depart from me you that work iniquity. Iniquity is a word that means lawlessness. Therefore whosoever hears these things of mine and does them, so you have a second requirement, you have to obey what God says to do, I will liken them unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock. The rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew, beat upon the house, and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. And everyone that hears these things of mine, and does them not, shall be likened unto foolish men which built his house upon the sand.

The rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew, beat upon his house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. And it came to pass when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at His doctrine, His teaching, where He taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.

See, there are all kinds of gimmicks and things that are being used today to try to get people inside the doors of the church house, to add members to the role, so called. Just about anything that you can think of. Drive-in churches, I guess, drive-out churches, all kinds of churches, and various gimmicks to get people there, as if that is the goal.

The goal is to please God and to do what He says. That is the goal. In fact, because of the sin of His children, and you just think about this, because of the sin of His children, yes, He loved them. How much did He love them? Because God so loved the world, His children, who were steeped in their sins, that He sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Yes, that's how much He loves us. And He loves everybody, but He does not love sin.

God is holy, God is righteous, and He does not abide with sin. So in today's world, you have those who read the Bible and say, traditional morality states that homosexuality is a sin. The antithesis is, oh God is love, and He loves all of His children. And how could you do anything against one of God's children? How could you say anything bad about what He does? After all, these two people love each other. And who should deny them their rights?

The synthesis that we see shaping in this land is, Christianity, nominal Christianity, will accept the gay agenda. And more and more it's happening as more and more denominations are ordaining homosexuals and lesbians into the, quote, ministry. Now, the thesis, antithesis in the political arena follows a similar pattern, but is done in the name of civil rights, or the new term is human rights.

The government passes laws that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation. The opposition, then called a radical right, opposes, as in the case of Dave Cathy, founder of Chick-fil-A. But the government holds the cards and has the power to deny funding or put you in jail for discrimination. And the media has the power to make you look like one of the worst ogres, in fact, a felon that ever walked the face of the earth, because you are treating others the way you are.

And so we have the hate laws that we have already mentioned that make it a felony to speak evil of certain minority groups. But we need to focus on the personal, individual level. What about each one of us individual? People create their own thesis as to what they believe that God requires when it comes to what is necessary to receive the gift of eternal life.

The thesis being, what do you believe with regard to receiving eternal life? That is your thesis. That's your statement. That's your belief. Some people get confused with the word, gift. Eternal life is a gift, but it has conditions. And they make the promise of the gift of eternal life into cheap grace. You heard about grace in the sermonette, meaning, in broad sense, divine favor. Oh God, he is so gracious.

He is so merciful. Not willing to any should perish. Well, you know, he's not going to send you to the hot place because he is so gracious. Let's go to Jude, see what Jude had to say. Jude, the Lord's brother. Guess you would say half brother, technically. Same mother. And Jude, Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James. Of course, in one place in the Bible it says, James, the Lord's brother.

To them that are sanctified by God the Father, set apart, preserved in Jesus Christ, and called. Mercy unto you in peace and love be multiplied. Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. Jude was going to write a totally different epistle. One in which, while here are the things that we hold common in our belief, our common salvation, and sort of an exhortation.

But then he realized there was a greater need. It was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares who were before of old ordained to this condemnation.

Ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness. See, if it were not for the grace of God, God's divine favor, we wouldn't even exist. Because of his divine favor, he ordained the great plan of salvation. And that's why we exist. Because of God's divine favor, he sent us a Redeemer so that our sins could be forgiven and that we could be viewed as sinless before God and receive the Spirit of God. Certain men crept in unaware who were before ordained to this judgment. Ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, meaning lawlessness, and denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

I will therefore put you in remembrance, though you once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt afterward, destroyed them that believed not. And then the rest of this epistle, Jude, goes through various scenarios, which is somewhat similar to what I'm doing today regarding the history of God judging those who are evil and that they are not going to be in the kingdom of God. Now we go to 2 Timothy 3, verse 1, a summary of today's newspaper, a summary of the newspaper 20 years ago, a summary of the newspaper 100 years ago, a summary of the newspaper in the days of Christ, a summary of the newspaper in the Garden of Eden, a summary of humankind.

In 2 Timothy 3, verse 1, This is known also that in the last days perilous times shall come. And we are part of that generation, last days, I don't know how long the last days will be, if we count it from the time that Paul wrote this, 2,000 years. But there comes a grand climatic crescendo in which things get so tense and so evil that unless God intervenes, no flesh should be saved alive. For men should be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, arrogant, to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trusebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good.

Oh, yes, we want to jump on anyone that takes a stand against that which is evil, like a pack of wild wolves jumping on raw meat. So if Dave Cathy and Chick Fil A take a stand, we're going after him. We're going after him with both barrels, blazing.

Having a form of godliness, well, I skipped verse 4, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof, from such turn away. See, the power of God is this, that upon being convicted by the word and the Spirit of God, through the word and Spirit of God, you can be transformed, and you can become a new creation in Christ Jesus. But if you just say, I believe in God and continue to go your own way, you deny the power thereof. And it's like people think today, well, there's so much pressure on our youth, there's so much pressure on all of us, there's so much pressure, Satan, and all of that, that you cannot obey. Well, that's rubbish. I know to a certain extent it's truth, but you look at Daniel and the Chatterak, Meshach, Abendigo, their Babylonian names, and where the environment that they lived in, going to graduate school in Babylon, and yet remained faithful. Or you talk about being threatened with their own lives if they didn't bow down and worship the image that was created.

It is possible. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, lead captive, silly women, laden with sins, led away with different lust, ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. There are so many paradoxes in our society today. The more we spend on education, for example, it seems the lower our test scores. The more we do in trying to help in various social programs, it seems the worse it gets. The more money we pour into, quote, scientific research, it seems in a lot of areas the worse it gets. And new diseases break out. The recent Ebola outbreak in Uganda, this Ebola outbreak in Uganda is highly contagious. It is a virus. There is no known vaccination or any drug to combat it. Now, they say that in recent times, in the past day or two, they somewhat have it under control. But a virus like that could spread rapidly around the world.

So people will spout off all kinds of things about God. Having never read God's revelation of Himself, the word God implies the highest being in the universe. The highest being in the universe. There is none greater. He's our Creator. He's our Father. He's worthy of praise and honor and worship. He is also all-powerful, omnipotent, we say, ever-present, omnipresent, all-knowing, supremely wise, eternal and invisible. You know, I could turn to Scripture after Scripture that would say basically the same thing. And even though we have listed many of God's most important qualities and characteristics, there's one more that we have touched on, but we really need to explore a little more. And that is, even though God is the supreme sovereign of the universe, our Creator, and even though He's all-powerful, all-knowing, even though He's the wisest being in the universe, He's all of that and more. We could still be outside of His sphere of concern, except for the fact that through His grace, He created us, and He wants to share who He is and what He is with us. That is so sobering, the greatest being in the universe, with all those qualities and characteristics. Can God exist without us? Yes, He can exist without us. Is it His will to exist without us? No. Not willing that any should perish. Just like you. You want every member of your family to be in the Kingdom of God. You're not willing that any of them should perish. God is not willing that any of His children perish. He wants a relationship with them. Perhaps we can begin to understand the relevance of God in our lives when we begin to understand His love, His mercy, His long-suffering, His care and concern for the creation. In today's world, it's more this love and tolerance part that's emphasized. Perhaps historically in the Church we've overemphasized the law part. But we have to be careful ourselves that we remain steadfast and committed to the faith once delivered like Jude was talking about. The hairs on our head are numbered. Not even a sparrow falls to the ground. Are you not worth much more than sparrows? So God is a familia, family-oriented and relational being. He's the author of marriage and family. He created us male and female in His image. However, all of these positive things that we can say about what God wants does not negate the fact that we have to repent and turn to Him. Let's go to Luke 13. Luke 13.

Luke 13, verse 1. There were present at that season some that told Him of the Galileans, whose blood piloted Mingle with their sacrifices. So there was this event at one point in which people in Galilee were killed, and the blood that streamed from their bodies apparently was captured and offered at the same time that sacrifices of bulls and goats were offered on the altar. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose you that these Galileans were sinful above all these Galileans, because they suffered such things. See, time and chance happens to everyone, and it rains on the just and the unjust. And to some degree, people tend to forget that God is involved in their lives or maybe begin to think that He's not, because it says in Ecclesiastes, because sentence is not executed speedily against an evil work. Therefore, the hearts of men are continually set upon evil. He began to think, well, what difference does it make? Look what they're doing, and they seem to be blessed. Look at me, what I'm doing, and I'm getting nowhere. See, God is the ultimate judge, and He knows your heart, and He knows who you are, what you are, and where you are. Jesus said, do you think they were greater sinners than everybody else? Verse 3, I tell you no, but except you repent, you shall all likewise perish. Of those eighteen upon whom the tower of Siloam fell and slew them, think you that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you no, but except you repent, you shall all likewise perish. And that's applicable at all times and all ages. And here we are. So we have to give God more than lip service. Let's go to Ezekiel 33. Ezekiel 33 and 34 have been viewed at times and talked about as the watchman chapters, the duty of the watchman. Ezekiel 33 and verse 30.

Also, you son of men, the children of people still are talking against you by the walls and in the doors of the houses and speak one to another. And that King James translation obscures the meaning of that a little bit. What it's saying is the people are talking about what you have said in the doors of their houses. If we bring it to modern terms, well, people talked about the sermon today. Some people said, well, I got a lot out of that. Such and such and such and such. And that's good if what you hear in almost every opening prayer that we would then inculcate this into our lives. Son of men, the children of your people are still talking about you, still talking about what you said in the doors of the houses and speak one to another, everyone to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is a word that comes forth from the Lord. And they shall come unto you as the people comes. They shall sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but they will not do them. For with their mouth they show much love, but with their heart they go after their covetousness. And lo, you are unto them as a very lovely song of one that has a pleasant voice, can play well on an instrument, for they hear your words, but they do them not. And when this comes to pass, lo, it will come. Then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them. So, brethren, we must not ever let that happen to us. Here you are a remnant. As I mentioned earlier, of lying in bed last night and reflecting about all of those that we have seen come and go in the Church of God. And here we are. And so, like the Apostle Peter said in 2 Peter 1, I will not be negligent to put you in remembrance of these things. No, you know them. We have to be reminded, and it has to be emphasized. And I don't think we can dwell too much on our personal conviction, commitment, and courage to do what God has called us to do. Let's go to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8.

Romans chapter 8, these verses here summarize what God has for us to a large degree. You know, the Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 2 that, I have not seen the earth not heard, neither has it entered in the hearts of men, what God has prepared for those who love Him. Then he talks about, but we can know them through revelation, the things of God. And we can get glimpses of what we shall be and what we will be like and what the world will be like and what we have termed the wonderful world tomorrow, the world to come. Romans 8.14, for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

For you have not received the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the Spirit of, and the Greek word is we, Othea. And it literally means sonship. It does not mean adoption, as in the old King James. The Greek word for son is weos, H-U-I-O-S. Thesea has to do with being a part of sonship. Why are we not adopted? Just like in the human family. In the human family, you can adopt someone that does not share your DNA, someone totally foreign. It might be from a different country. And they can have legally all the rights and privileges of a son. But they did not come out of your loins, of you and your wife. But see with God, it is His divine essence, His very Spirit, that is in each one of us. Therefore, we are in the spiritual sense, literally, sons and daughters. We're not adopted. You can look up in a concordance. Now, a lot of the commentaries will try to make this into adoption. Because one of the things that the true Church of God is accused of is teaching that we shall become gods on the God plane. If you just read Romans 8-11, which is just above this, it says, by the same Spirit that God raised Jesus from the dead, He will also make alive our mortal bodies. And so if God is on that plane, then we're on that plane. If Jesus Christ is on that plane, we're on that plane, as we shall see here. The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children then heirs, heirs of God, heirs of God, inheritors, and joint heirs with Christ. Where is Jesus Christ now? Is Jesus Christ God? Those who would deny the essence of what we shall be will also deny Jesus Christ, because we are joint heirs with Jesus Christ. Does Jesus Christ, as it says in the Bible, sit on the right hand of the Father, making intercession for us? Is He a quickening spirit, a glorious, radiant spirit being, as described in 1 Corinthians 15? Well, if you're going to believe in God and the Bible, you'd have to say, yes, He is. If children then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together. See, that is our destiny. As a loving Father, God wants us to be supremely happy. He wants us to be filled with love, with joy, and with peace. And so, as we sit here today, can we say that we are filled with love, joy, and peace, fruits of the Spirit of God? If not, then we need to do some soul-searching and get in tune with what God says. Let's go back to Psalm 51. We're usually seeing Psalm 51 after the Passover services, though we didn't this year. Psalm 51, apparently written by David after Nathan the prophet came to him and confronted him with his great sin of adultery with Bathsheba, and the killing of Bathsheba's husband Uriah the Hittite. In the first several verses, David admits his sins and his sin against God, and then he makes this plea. Verse 7, Purge me with hyssop. I shall be clean, wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness, that the bones which you have broken may rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart of God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with your free spirit. So if we have lost the joy of our salvation, and I think that's one of the things that we really need to focus on, is recapturing that love, joy, and peace that comes through God's Spirit.

So as we have seen here today, the law of God is really a perfect reflection of God the Father's holiness and righteousness. We go to...we're there in Psalm. Just turn back there to Psalm 19. This is one of my favorite passages of Scripture in the Bible. Psalm 19, verses 7, 8, 9, long and there. Psalm 19, verse 7, The law of the Eternal is perfect. If it's perfect, it cannot be improved upon. Converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise and simple. The statues of the Eternal are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Eternal is fewer, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Eternal is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Eternal are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yes, than much fine gold. Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover with them, as your servant warned, and in keeping of them, there is great reward. In Romans 7, verse 14, we've read here from Psalm 19, verse 7, that the law of God is perfect. So in Romans 7, verse 14, a vital aspect to remember, we know that the law is spiritual. It is perfect and it's spiritual. So the conditions that God imposes on the believer stems from His spiritual law. God's holiness must be maintained. In the scripture it says, this is in 1 Peter, it says, Be you holy, for I am holy. Undefiled, pure, and that's the way God wants us. The conditions that God imposes on the believer stem from the spiritual law. God's holiness must be maintained. And that's why the Father forsook His Son, Jesus Christ, on the stake. That He let Him die, that ignominious death, to pay for the sins of the world, so our sins could be removed as far as the east is from the west, and that we might be partakers of the divine nature. So, brethren, we must keep this big picture burning brightly in our minds continually. You know, it says in 1 Thessalonians 5.10, maybe it's 5.8, that we are saved by hope. And what this means in everyday terms, the helmet of salvation is hope. That continually before us is this picture. One of the scriptures I read at the funeral today is in Hebrews 11 about Abraham. Abraham was looking for a city whose builder and maker is God. He had that vision before him. And about Moses in that chapter, it talks about that Moses, even though he grew up in the household of Pharaoh, and could have been a prince, perhaps, the Pharaoh of all of Egypt, he forsook the pleasures of Egypt to be with the people of God. And it seems that our generation that we want both. We want the pleasures of this world, and at the same time, we want God. And it seems that it is only in the time of trial and trouble, and when we're faced with a great tragedy, that we seek God. I'm not talking about any person individually in here. I'm talking about the general sense of the way that we view the world. But I hope each one of us will keep that big picture burning brightly in our minds. Let's go to one final scripture here in Ephesians 3. In Ephesians chapter 3, beginning in verse 16, Ephesians 3.16 That he would grant you, according to his riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that you might be filled with the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. So if you believe in God, then what?