This sermon emphasizes the importance of staying true to the Word of God and not being swayed by false teachings or pleasant messages that tickle the ears. It calls for a deep commitment to preaching the unadulterated truth of the Bible, even when faced with opposition or allurements of the world. The speaker urges for a revival of biblical preaching that challenges, rebukes, and comforts with the unchanging Word of God, highlighting the eternal nature and power of Scripture.

And so praise God for the word of the Lord. Praise God that when we hear the word of the Lord, our hearts are moved indeed into a place of worship. We are engaged in worship. Yes, we can sing songs that are fueled and doctrinally correct when we think of the lyrics and so forth, but truly the worship leader is the man behind the pulpit, the man that's on fire, the man indeed that has the wind and has the fire inside him, the man that brings forth the word of the Lord, hallelujah. That's the worship leader. Praise God, and praise God, we are going to enter into a great time of worship this morning, amen. We are going to engage in great worship and God's worship and perfect worship because it's the word of the Lord, hallelujah. And the word of the Lord is eternal, is infallible. There are no errors, no changes when it comes to the book. And you know what was said during that conference, many things affected me. And you know, church, I want to speak a little bit about myself, this pulpit, and even you this morning. I do want to speak on preaching a little bit. And I do, my heart is to go deeper. It is in my heart to dig deeper, further into this book that I, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, through the help of the guide, that I will be able to pull out and extract and show you things and teach you things from the holy word of God, amen. Because in Luke chapter 24, as we know, Jesus opened up the scriptures. He opened up the scriptures to the two in the room, to Emmaus, and that's my heart, that's God's heart. But it's my heart this day that through the spirit, that through the anointing, that through the great teacher, that God, through me, would open up the scriptures to us, that we would truly be fed the word of the Lord, amen. I want to go deeper. I have to, as the preacher, as the worship leader. I have to go deeper. And when I think of that, I think of looking out my window of the house, and if I look across, I will see that there are many pots on people's window ledges or boxes that have flowers. But sometimes in urban areas, in the cities, people have boxes on the window ledges, and they have some fruit or some vegetables that are growing inside the box, and perhaps tomatoes. And there's not a lot of work, I suppose, that goes into that, producing the tomatoes. They might just pour the soil or whatever into the box and throw a few seeds in there. But they do get some fruit from that, don't they? They do get something from that. And then I think of those that have allotments. That's a whole different thing. You see, people that have allotments, they're gonna dig deeper, it's not correct. And they are gonna dig further, and they're gonna get more produce and more things, indeed, from the work and from the land. And it's my, I thank God for what he has said to us in the past. I thank God for the truths that the Lord has brought out. But I want to go deeper, hallelujah. I want to go, as it were, from the pot, or from the box, to the allotment. And as I dig, I pray that the Spirit of God would give us weary things, amen. Weary things, and deep things. The deep things, indeed, of God. I want to speak from 2 Timothy. Turn with me to 2 Timothy 4, and 1 to 4. This great charge from Paul to Timothy, and this great charge is, indeed, to me, Scott Hines, this morning, and every preacher, you. Paul says, in 2 Timothy 4, verse 1 to 4, I charge you, therefore, before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick, or the living, and the dead, at his appearing, and his kingdom, preach the word. Be instant in season, out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering, and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears. And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. Let's pray. Father, Lord, take your word, God, and God, take it, and make it like a sword, a hammer, whatever it needs to be this morning. Oh, Lord, I pray that you would help me. I pray, Lord, that indeed, God, that you alone would be heard, that you alone would be heard through your word. I just pray, God, that for those that are here, and those that would watch or listen, God, that there would be an impact, truly, that there would be fruitfulness because of your word. There would be a reaction, God, whatever that reaction would be. God, I don't know but a reaction. And may everything, God, this morning as always be done to glorify Christ, the Son of God, the word who was made flesh and dwelt among us. In his name I pray, amen, and amen. Church, I do, I want to dig deeper for you, so pray for me, continue to pray for me that the Lord would give me wisdom and that the Lord would give me insights, insights when it comes to this book, that the Lord would give me prophetic things, insights and even foresights to glorify the Son of God and indeed to feed the sheep because, again, that is crucial. That is number one in my heart. That's the number one thing of the pastor, of the shepherd. As Jesus said to his servant, Peter, feed my sheep, feed my sheep. And that is my desire and that is my heart that you will be fed indeed the word of the Lord and nothing else. That is my greatest ambition and greatest goal is to feed you, the people indeed of God. I don't want this pulpit indeed this morning to be a spark. I want this pulpit to be an inferno, hallelujah. I don't want you to be ignited this morning. I want you to be consumed with the word of the Lord, hallelujah, consumed with the true word indeed of God. I don't want this pulpit to be like a dairy farm because all you're gonna get is milk. I want it to be like a beef farm where you get the meat indeed of the word of the Lord, amen. We want the meat, the deep things of God. So Paul is speaking to Timothy here, his prodigy. He's charging Timothy before God. That's a solemn thing, a solemn charge before God. Paul says here, this is before God, Timothy. I have two witnesses and in the minds of two or three witnesses, let every word be established. Paul reiterates the law in Corinthians. Charge before God, you have a solemn responsibility. You are before, regarding your ministry, you are before the eyes of God. As you minister, as you preach, as you bring forth the word of God, there are witnesses. God the Father and God the Son, and it's the same this morning. God's eyes, Christ's eyes are upon us, amen. Now I know God doesn't have eyes, it's a metaphor. But we know what I mean. Christ does, but they are looking, they are looking. So Timothy is charged with this great responsibility and as am I. In James three and verse one, the apostle says, not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. And that is a severe thing indeed. And I don't take that scripture lightly. I really don't, I never have. Because I shall be judged according to what I teach and you will not be there. You will be there, I will be there. Those that teach and labor in the word of God shall be there and they shall give account for their ministry, for that which they have taught, that which they have spoken. And because I take this seriously, I shall not, I shall not be a man pleaser. As Paul says, do I persuade men of God? He says, my allegiance is to God alone and to the word of the Lord and unto the scriptures indeed of God. As the master said, I only speak what the father has given me and that's my heart as well because I again will be judged. Paul says, the eyes of heaven are upon you, Timothy. They are witnesses, they are witnesses indeed. When I think of that, I think of how a trainee mechanic or a trainee chef or a trainee teacher and how they might have a supervisor. And there we have the mechanic, the young apprentice on the engine and there's the supervisor, you know, looking in. He's shaking his fingers. He's nervous because his supervisor is that close or the trainee chef. They are pleading up and there is the supervisor chef overlooking. The fingers are shaking. I think of a trainee teacher, they're giving their first lesson and there's the supervisor at the back of the class and that trainee teacher is shaking a little bit because eyes are upon them. And I should be shaking as well a little bit because of this pulpit, because of the word of God. When I come and open up this book that I indeed would treat this as the holy book of God, as something powerful, something not to be trifled with. It's the word of God, hallelujah. It's the word of God that sets the captives free. His word, indeed, His word. The scripture goes on to say, Timothy is charged. There are witnesses, God, the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who shall judge the quicker the living and the dead at His appearing on His kingdom. He is a judge. He is a judge. He shall judge sinners, Revelation chapter 20. They shall be judged at the great white throne. The believers, the living in Christ shall be judged. But when we come to the Bema, as we very well know, it speaks of rewards. The Bema speaks of rewards. But He is coming, indeed, to judge. He already said this morning, God said this morning that the nations shall be judged. They shall be humbled by the great judge. Psalm 2 talks about that. That is the promise, that is the anointing of the Lord, indeed, is to break the nations. And that shall come to pass, church. There's no doubt about that. Now, I want to move on, I want to move on. In verse two, Paul says to Timothy, preach the word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. He says, preach, preach, preach. Let me say this, categorically, emphatically, preaching is not talking, and talking is not preaching. Preaching is not talking. This morning, did Jesus talk? Yes, but Jesus preached. You see, when you look at the word in the Greek, we get the word herald. A preacher is a herald, and when we think of a herald, and when we think, a way back in English history, perhaps, a prince has been born into the realm, and the herald then has a message. He is despatched with a message that he will herald. This message, he will not deviate from the message that has been given, he will go with the message, and he will stand wherever, and will he say, hear ye, hear ye? No, he won't talk the message. A herald will say, hear ye, hear ye! Unto you this day is born a prince, rejoice! That's what a herald does, and that's what a preacher does. A preacher doesn't talk, a preacher heralds the gospel, heralds the good news with an urgency, with a fervency, with a fire, and with a wind, hallelujah, because of the oil inside. A preacher, and when you look back down through the generations, you'll see that the greatest preachers were preachers, not talkers. They preached with fire, they moved these isles with the fire and the passion of the living God inside them. Hallelujah, preach. We all know this morning there's plenty of talking today, plenty of talking going on in church, plenty of stools and relaxed talking, that's not preaching. According to the Bible, that's not preaching. Now, there's young Josh, Bible College, he's learning the preaching, and he will be doing a little bit of preaching in Nepal, but Josh is not the be Scott Hines, is not correct? Amen to that, and the Lord will use him, and whatever passion, whatever comes out of him will come out of him. We're all very different, the preachers are all very different, I'm Scott Hines, this is the way I do it, but we still have to preach and be passionate and fervent and alive, because the word coming out of us is alive. Hallelujah, you can't have a dead tongue when you have a living spirit. Hallelujah, you must be alive because of the word of the Lord, it changes lives. Praise God, praise God, preach the word, be in season and out of season. That's the charge to Timothy, be in season and out of season. You see, this word never changes. This word is the same yesterday and today and forever, it never goes out of season. Now, there are some that would like to make it go out of season, but it doesn't go out of season. The Bible, the word of God is always in season. The word of God, let me tell you, it's always relevant, always relevant, the word of the Lord. Now, season, I am to be ready, the preacher is to be ready at all times, all seasons, wherever he finds himself to declare, to herald the word of the Lord. Now, when I think of being in season and out of season, my mind thinks of T.K. Max and Rushmere. Now, where am I going? If you go to America, you will find it's called T.J. Max, for whatever reason, they've changed the letter. But as we all know, T.K. Max, you go into that clothing shop with other goods as well, designer labels, but it's not today's clothing. It's yesterday's, it's past season, it's not correct. You're getting a label, a designer label at a cheaper price because it's not in season. It's last season's shoes, last season's handbag or shirts or whatever. So that's the whole idea behind that shop. I went in and bought a couple of pairs of shorts last week. They are not in season, they're Quicksilver, okay? Just to elaborate, if I was to go to a Quicksilver shop, I will not see them on the shelves because it's not in season, okay? I went into that place, I know it's not in season, that doesn't bother me, I'm gonna get it anyway. But there are those, there are those that will walk past T.K. Max or T.J. Max, why? Because they don't want last season's. They don't want what's yesterday. They want something new and fresh all of the time. That's what they want, the high soles like Jim Patterson. You get where I'm going with this in all seriousness. There are those that will not go to that shop. They'll go down to Victoria Square and they'll go down to the designer shops down there and they only buy from there what's in season. And when I think of that, I think of this book again. This book is always in season, amen. But there are those that are not content, there are those that are not happy with the old time religion, with the word of the Lord and so they will bypass and they will go to the new things, the new novel things, the new things that are being said that tickles the ears as we shall see. But friends, we won't bypass this book, shall we? It's the word of God from Genesis to Revelation and we shall preach it like our forefathers and I shall preach it and teach it the way they did in times past, amen. Now the word of God, the preaching of the word of God according to what Paul says is to do some things, the outcome using the word. Now, it reminds me, I've shared this in the past, the word of God so often reminds me of a Swiss Army knife and it's one thing, one knife, but it has a knife and pliers and scissors and it has a saw, corkscrew, bottle opener. It can do so many different things, one thing but can do so many different things, that's the word of the Lord. That's the word of the Lord. And Paul says, you've detect the word, preach the word and reprove. Now that word reprove means to confute, to confute or in other words, you are to prove to be false through argument, through the scripture. If there's any error, if there's any heresy, then you are to preach, you are to reprove that which is wrong, that which is erroneous, that which is heresy, you are to use the word of God. The Bible says, and having fellowship, what's the scripture again? Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather reprove, rather expose. And the preacher is called, I am called indeed to confute. I am called by this book and I will use this book alone to refute, to confute indeed that which is out there because there is much that is out there that is erroneous, that is heretical, that is anti-Christ and I am called by God as the shepherd, I am called by God as the preacher to expose it. That you will be protected, that you would only draw from the right well, the well indeed of our God and only have his sustenance. That's what reprove is, that's what I am to do with the word of God and I take that indeed seriously. And then rebuke, rebuke, that's not a pleasant word. It really isn't. No one likes to be rebuked these days from the pulpit of God. They don't like it. You see, rebuke actually means to charge sharply, to charge sharply. And there are so many that do not like when the word of the Lord charges sharply. You see, they don't want to be confronted in their state of sin. Don't talk to me about sin. Don't talk to me about sanctification. Don't talk to me about the holiness of the living God. I don't want to hear that. And when the Lord comes through regarding holiness, when the word of the Lord comes through regarding chastening and all of that there and correction, people don't want to hear it. They don't want to be rebuked because they're in a place where Isaiah 5.20 says, woe unto them that call evil good and good evil. Then the scripture goes on to say, to exhort. I like this one. Timothy has to take the word of the Lord and to exhort. That actually means to call to one side. Primarily, it speaks about encouraging. It speaks about comforting. And friends, that is a great delight in my heart and a great joy to bring a word that comforts you. Because all too often, God's people need to be encouraged and need to be comforted because they're in the midst of distress. They're in the midst of turmoil. They're in the midst of the fight. They feel weary. They feel tired. Their strength is almost exhausted and spent. And so therefore, God knows there needs to be a word of the Lord that lifts them up. There needs to be a word of the Lord that encourages them. There needs to be the word of God that edifies them. Oh, it's a joy to bring a word that comforts. The Psalms are full of comforting words. Glory to God in the highest. Hallelujah. And so this is what Timothy is to do. And Paul says, you are to do this with long-suffering and long-suffering and doctrine. In other words, you gotta be patient. The preacher has to be patient. I'm not a patient guy. I'm not a patient man or even a patient preacher. I want to see the results now. I want to see the sinner. I want to see the man that's puffing out his chest change now and take it in and humble himself before the living God. I want to see changes now. But as the scripture says, it's not always instantaneous. It can be. People can move, can repent, can humble, can get up, whatever. But I am to be patient indeed. And it's imperative, it's paramount that everything that is said from this pulpit is in agreement with doctrine, is in agreement with the Bible, is in agreement with the word of God. Amen. Hallelujah. Let's move on, church. Time's going on. Verse three, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears. Paul says for the time will come. There was all sorts going on at the time of Paul and he was ready to depart. His demise was around the corner. And I tell you, from that moment and down through the centuries, men and women have departed indeed from sound doctrine. And we are living in a day and in an age where many, many, many, which grieves the heart indeed of God, but many have departed indeed, went away, left sound doctrine. These people, according to Paul, will not endure sound doctrine. Not endure. Endure means to bear with. They won't bear it. They can't bear it. We've heard that said, perhaps you have said that I can't bear listening to you. I can't bear it. I can't bear what is being said. I can't bear what I'm listening to. That's what it means to listen to also. Makes me think of this wee girl from Portadown starting a new job in a shop in Portadown, clothes shop, male and female. But an older man owns the clothes shop and she's looking forward to her first day at work. She goes into the shop and the first thing that she hears as she gets into the shop is Elvis, the king, being played. Because the man that owns the shop from day one has played Elvis. He loves Elvis. Elvis is on continual loop, all sorts of different albums. And this wee girl's 18 and he's going through the ropes of things, telling her what to do. And after a few hours, she's beginning to struggle a wee bit with Elvis. You know, and she goes up to the owner and she says to the owner, she conveys, you know, have you got nothing else? Perhaps, sure, if you used some more contemporary music, a little bit of dance music or some of the latest bands, rock and roll bands and metal bands or whatever, perhaps you'll get the young people through the doors. If you change things, you'll get young people in. You'll get some more sales. The man replies, no, not doing it. Elvis has been here from day one and until I'm put into the ground, Elvis will still be being played through the speakers. And this wee girl, she can't bear it. The day seems like a week and by five o'clock, she goes up to the man and she says, look, I can't come tomorrow. She couldn't bear it any longer. She couldn't listen to that from the past any longer. And so she handed, as it were, in her, well, not her notice, but, and up her back. That makes me think again. It makes me think about many today that cannot bear, that cannot sit under the sound gospel. They cannot sit under, they cannot listen to the true word of the Lord. And they will go again to the contemporary and to the novel. They will go to that which according to Paul will tickle the ears, will please them. I can't listen to that anymore. I cannot listen to the past. I cannot listen to history. I cannot listen to this. It's a new day. It's a new day. We need something new. And that, as we know, is a reality within the body of Christ today. Many have departed. Many have left sound fairy pulpits and they've went to pulpits that have pretty flowers coming out of them and pulpits that have gold and silver and precious jewels all over the pulpits, as it were, and big peace signs and all of this. And these pulpits are decorated and adorned to appease and to draw in. But I tell you something, friends, as long as I am alive by the grace of God, this pulpit will remain afire and only afire. Amen. And only afire. And so the scripture says that the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts. It's their own lusts. It's not God's desire. It's their desire. Their desire. It's their craving. There's a deep desire and a deep craving for that even which is forbidden, that which is anti-Christ. Now they have a desire for other things. Again, novel things. And they heap according to the scripture. Accumulate in piles. That's what it means. Accumulate in piles. False teachers. I tell you, I can go into a man or a woman's home to their library, or I can go on their iPod, listen, see their podcasts, what they're listening to, and I can tell within quite a short while who's influencing them. There's no doubt about that. And I tell you something, there are people out there and they accumulate these teachers. And they have, could I say, there can be books on the library. And all the books have different colors and different fonts and perhaps all the same smiley face in the front. But anyways, when you open up the covers of that book, believe me, it's the same message through. It's the same message through, indeed. And people, this day, they are accumulating teachers, listening to the same that are leading them away, the blind leading the blind, indeed. Itching ears. Do you know what that means, itching ears? Actually, tickling ears. It means, from the Greek, desirous of hearing something pleasant. Oh, I need to hear the pleasant. I just want to hear the pleasant. I just want to go where I will hear things that will be pleasant to me, pleasant to my ears, pleasant to my heart. And so that's where they go. They go to churches where there is no preaching, where there is no true preaching, a biblical preaching from the word of God. They go to churches where there is no mention of sin and wrath and hell. They go to churches where there is none of that, where they are not challenged, but they can be comfortable, indeed, because it's pleasant. Isn't it pleasant to be here? Oh God Almighty, never make us pleasant in this place. Never make us comfortable in this place when it comes to the word of the Lord, that we would be moved. We have to, we have to be moved. The word of God has to move you. It has to affect your mind and your will and your emotions, your affections have to be touched. Everything has to be touched by the word of the Lord, that the Holy Spirit will take it and impact. Hallelujah, an impact, an impact, indeed, again. You see, so many will go to a church where there's less of the Bible. There's many churches and much preaching out there, and I tell you, there's hardly any Bible whatsoever. Any Bible, in fact, within the very message. And so they want to go where it's pleasant, because you see, the scriptures are full of the unpleasant. It's not correct when it comes to rebuke and the chastisement of the Lord, that's unpleasant. Here's what a Roman philosopher said, I forget his name, regarding this scripture, and I think this is very true, who come as to a theater to hear what will delight their ears, not to learn. That's so true, and when I thought about that, this is the imagery that God gave me, I believe. Let's think of a theater, and let's think of two auditoriums within the same theater, and let's say there's 5,000 people, okay, and they have been given free tickets to go to this theater. On the left-hand side, there's a door, the left-hand side auditorium, and the production hall is the Lion King. Oh, the Lion King, the Lion King, and it's got wonderful songs and wonderful puppetry and wonderful acting, oh, it's just a joy. It's truly a joy to watch the Lion King. I haven't seen it, but I'm sure it will be a joy, a spectacle, indeed. And so that's in the left-hand side auditorium, and then there's the right door, and over the right door, it says a two-hour lecture on tractor engines, two-hour lecture on tractor engines. Now, if you were to stand at the side and watch the crowd, how many are going to the left and how many are going to the right? The multitude, the bulk, are gonna go to the left. Why? Because they want to be entertained. There's puppetry, there's lights, there's smoke, there's a razzle-a-tazz, it's pleasant. I won't be pleasant, I won't be thrilled if I sit for two hours and listen to a lecture on tractor engines, but there are some that would. There are some, some men or women, farmers or enthusiasts, they'll go there, they'll bypass the lights, the flowers, and all of that there. They'll go in and they'll sit for the two hours. That's a picture of the age that we are in. And I thank God for the remnant of God. I thank God for the remnant, that hunger for the Word of God, and it's my prayer over you this morning that your appetite for the true biblical Word of God would increase and that God Almighty would open up the heavens, as it were, and rain upon us meat after meat after meat after meat, that He would continue to keep us and keep us right and keep us on the right path and keep us to the right will indeed, in the name of Jesus, for Jesus' name's sake, amen. Praise God, praise God, hallelujah. I'm winding this down, I'm closing. Remember, the girl that I talked about moved. On, she moved on. Many people move on. Where do they go to? Well, they go to fables, as Paul says here, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned on to fables. In other words, it's just vain and hollow. What they go to is vain and hollow. They had wholesome doctrine. Wholesome doctrine means healthy. This Bible makes you healthy, it keeps you healthy. Why on earth would anybody want to leave it and go to something that's vain and hollow? It reminds me of tofu. Why on earth would somebody stop eating a steak and begin to eat tofu? That's the truth of it. But that's the truth. There's hilarity in this place, but that's what God, God scoffs at this. God, I don't know what the Lord makes of this. That's the imagery. That's what's going on, as it were. When we think of a departing from this word, tofu is completely tasteless. But here's what happens, friends. I want you to get this. It's tasteless. So you have to add something to it. You add whatever, you add some sort of spice or sauce or whatever. And I tell you, and it grieves the heart of God, there are many people out there, if you were blindfolded and you had a bowl of tofu and people put spices, the chef put all sorts of spices on there and you were blindfolded, you were eating, you probably wouldn't know what you're eating. Something that has begun, something that is innately bland and tasteless. And so many are sitting in churches indeed and what they're eating is spiritual tofu. And the preacher goes to one book and one magazine and the other trendy magazine and the other hip sayings and he dishes them on, as it were, the tofu message. And he sprinkles that. And the people are blind and the people are deaf. And they are digesting indeed that which is not from God, but from man and above all from the pit of hell. Amen. There's no fire, no wind, no spirit, no truth. It's false and it's dead. We must stay firm. I'll finish with this story and one more scripture. There was this footballer, 1819, awesome footballer. And he was playing for this club, one of the lower league clubs. And I mean, boyhood dream to play for this club. It's his club. His grandfather took him there when he was a small boy. His father, his grandfather, season ticket holder. His father, season ticket holder. This is my club. This is the young man's club. His walls, the bedroom in his father's house, his mother's house is just covered with posters and flags and bunting and scarves and so forth. He lives dreams. If you were to prick him, what would come out would be the football club. And he's an intricate part of this team and he's loved and cherished by the fans indeed. Okay, everything's going well. He gets a good salary, he's living a good life. But then one day, one day comes the slimy agent. The slimy agent has been in the stands watching him, watching him for a while. As this young man leaves the club, the slimy agent steps into his life and says, I've been watching you. I've been watching you. You're a great footballer. You're bigger than this club. You're better than anyone else in this team. What are they paying you? Do you know what I can do for you? I can get you glory. Do you know what I can do for you? I can get you trophies. You will not get trophies here with this club, with this team. Do you know what I can do for you? I can get you a hundred times what you're earning now. Do you know what I can do for you? I can get you adverts on sponsorships and you can advertise aftershave and clothing and so forth. I can get you into celebrity circles. I can get you women. I can get you gold. I can give you all this. If you just leave, depart, walk away. I tell you, what a great offer. And many a young footballer, as we would know, has the prospects of holding up the trophy, of getting the women, of getting the mansion and the flash cars and all of that there. It's too much to turn your back to. And many a young man has left it, left the club, that which they grew up with, the team. The club hears about it, hears about his move. The fans, more or less. How do they view him leaving? It's treachery. He's a traitor. How could he leave that which, all that he has known is this ground and this club. How can he? Because of the bright lights, the big city. And friends, that's a picture of the church today. That's a picture of many within the church today. And Satan and his tactics and his ploys has come along and has raised up men and raised up women and sent men and sent women to infiltrate the church and to pull and to draw many away from the true gospel, from true biblical preaching behind pulpits and offered them this and offered them that, offered bright lights and offered wealth, health, all of these sorts of things. Pleasantness. I'll give you pleasantness. I'll give you an abundance of pleasantness. I'll give you a message that you will love. I'll give you a church that you will love. You'll never feel convicted again. You'll never be challenged again. You'll never be poor again. And all of these sorts of things. I tell you, church, 1 Peter 225, but the word of the Lord endures forever, and this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you, and to that I say amen, and amen. I was going to read a quote from Spurgeon, but I've left it in the car, but the gist of that quote was that he would not yield. He would not yield to what men would say or what women would say. He would not bend. He would preach. He said, I will preach what I want to preach. I will continue to preach what I desire to preach. I won't be persuaded by men. I won't be discouraged from whatever doctrine or whatever thing, and he goes on basically to say that some would say, well, that's doing great damage. What you're saying is doing great damage to the church. He says no. He says what I have said doesn't do great damage to the church. It hasn't damaged the morality of the church. He says the only damage, and I'm condensing this, the only damage that has been done has been done indeed to the work of Satan by my preaching. That's the condensed version, but there's such truth in that, and when I read that, it fired my soul indeed, and that's my own heart. I will preach and continue to preach as God leads in this book, and any damage we pray, and we do believe that he has damaged the kingdom of darkness, and he will continue to do so through a preaching people. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this word this day, and we pray my God, my Father, that you would take this word and drive it deep, deep, deep down, God, into the innermost parts of our being, and Lord, that that word would germinate, and that word, God, will begin to explode, and that word will begin to consume, and God, that word will begin to cause not a spark, not just a fire, but an infernal God in our lives, in this church, God. We pray that there will be a spread of fire, the fire of God, not strange fire, but holy fire, the fire of God, the fire of God's holy word, and God, I pray for this land, and I pray for those that listen, God, even to this prayer, and I pray, God, that you would move upon the hearts and minds of many, hearts and minds of young people in this land, and I pray, God, that indeed that you would captivate their hearts, that they would not be captivated, God, by the new thing, and by the novel thing, that they would not, God, just run with the crowd, because it's cool and hip, but God, that they would separate themselves, oh God, that they would be like the boy Jesus, that carried in the Father's house, oh God Almighty, that there be tyers in this day, in the young, and in the old, a people, God, that have a flame, a people that have a fire, a people like Elijah, a people that prophesy only the word of the Lord, oh God, and for those, Lord, that are sitting under false doctrine, for those, God, that are sitting under erroneous teaching, we pray, open up their eyes, remove the blindfold, show them, God, that the spiritual, truthfully God is tasteless, and has no life, but is death, God, death to their minds, death to their souls and their spirits, open up, God, open up, open up, God, cause God the false God to manifest and be exposed, and only light, God, would prevail, darkness expose, God, oh God, wreck and break, God, pulpits, God, that are anti-Christ, wreck and break, God, pulpits, God, that are opposed to the preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, wreck and break, God, those altars on the bill, and let there be altars unto the Lord, altars, God, that shall see fire, altars that shall see the truth of God, and a peace, oh God, in the name of Jesus, oh God, revive, revive, revive, I pray, won't you revive us once again, that we might rejoice in thee, the Holy One of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, our God, a living God, a fearful God, oh Lord, we bless you, and we thank you, and we do want to see him, lifted up, the Lord Jesus, in his name we pray, hallelujah, hallelujah.