All right, good morning everybody. If you can join me in prayer, I'd like to just seek God's favor and blessing over our time together. So please bow your heads with me. Lord, we have gathered here this morning to hear from your word and to ask that you would help us to just be attentive, God, to your voice, help us to discern, God, how you would have us live and apply what we see today and hear today.

I pray for your provision and protection over our time together. Lord, would you be magnified through just every aspect of our service. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Well last week we started a series on our church's tenfold covenant and Pastor Mark started it off with covenant number one, which is I confess Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.

And today we're going to be covering covenants two and five together because they are related. And because one directly leads to the other, we will be combining the second and fifth covenants for the purposes of our sermon today. So I'd like to read the covenants for you. Just number one was I confess Jesus as my Lord and Savior, and here are two and five.

Covenant number two, I confess that the Bible is the inerrant word of God, which has ultimate authority over my life. And covenant number five, I commit to attending and preparing for weekday Bible studies every week to the best of my ability. So if I'm confessing that the word of God has ultimate authority over my life, I absolutely must commit to devoting myself to the study of it.

And as most of you guys know, the teaching of the word of God is one of the, just the main, if not the main, priorities at our church. And we want to lead you in reading the word of God. We want to help you to study the word of God, to share the word of God, to love the word of God, and to live it out.

And ultimately, Lord willing, we want to guide you and lead you to also help others to love the word of God and to live out the word of God and to share it. And you guys know the name of our church? Most of you guys, 100% of you guys probably should.

We're called Berean Community Church, after the community of Christians at Berea in Acts 1711, who not only listened to Apostle Paul's teaching with great eagerness, they really wanted to hear from God through this man, but at the same time, they poured through the scriptures, they combed through the Old Testament, which was at their access, to see if everything that he was saying was in line with what they believed to be true.

Last week, Pastor Mark started his sermon off with a reading through a section of Matthew chapter 7, and we're going to actually take a deeper dive into Matthew chapter 7, and we'll be expanding on this, and under the idea of what Christ's Lordship means in relation to our study of the word of God.

Okay, so I'm going to be reading Matthew 7, 13, just to start us off. Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction. And there are many who enter through it, for the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life.

And there are few who find it. So here we see that there are two eternal destinations. There are only two paths leading to their respective entrances. You have the wide and the broad, and then you have the small and the narrow. The wide and the broad lead to destruction, the small and the narrow lead to life.

And Jesus exhorts all of the people who are hearing this to enter through the narrow. So the invitation is there, but he also says that tragically, many will find themselves having declined the invitation, and Jesus gives us a very sobering glimpse into the spiritual reality by saying that there are many headed for destruction and only a few headed for life.

So in 2003, you guys know the Barnett Research Group? Yeah. The Barnett Research Group conducted a survey in America, you can actually look through that online, of their beliefs on the afterlife. So 2003 survey on Americans and their view on the afterlife. Of the Americans surveyed, 81% believed in an afterlife.

So about a fifth of Americans said, "Nah, I reject that completely," but 81% believed in the afterlife. And of the Americans surveyed, 64% believed that they would go to heaven. And of the Americans surveyed, 0.5% believed that they would go to hell. So for the Americans who believe in the existence of an afterlife, basically most of them believe themselves to be fit for heaven, while very, very, very, very few believe themselves to be headed to hell.

So according to this survey, the Americans of 2003 believed that they were on their way to heaven, most of them. And so they believe the very opposite of what we see in Matthew 7, 13 to 14. Generally, the Americans of 2003 and likewise, the Americans that are around you and me today in 2019, have a high view of themselves.

We are super confident in our morality and our goodness, we believe that our way is right. And so these surveys actually reflect the opinions and the views that each individual has. And as you and I both know, that personal views, opinions, and preferences matter very little when it comes to the matters of faith.

So truth is truth, regardless of our opinions of it. So Jesus says that there's a wide and a broad for destruction, and many are on that road and enter through it, and they're bound for condemnation, destruction. And there is a small and a narrow, and only a few find it.

So those are the realities. And Jesus continues in verse 15, "Beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every tree bears good fruit, or every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.

A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then you will know them by their fruits." So Jesus continues, "He warns that there are false prophets on these roads.

So they look gentle, meek, friendly, harmless enough, but inwardly they are seeking to tear you apart from limb to limb and to devour you, and they are ravenous." But Jesus says that though they may be disguised, there is actually a way for you to discern and recognize them. So you can distinguish a false prophet from a good one by their fruits.

Sounds simple. Let me pause and ask you guys a question. Can you spot a false prophet when you see one? Can you spot a false prophet if you see one? If it is obvious to everyone that that person is a false prophet, that guy is not going to have a long career as a false prophet.

If it's everyone that that guy is teaching such weird stuff that it is clear that he is a false prophet, that's a bad false prophet. Right? So can you discern falsehood from truth? Can you pick out a false prophet from a speaker of truth? Now this is not an exhortation for you guys to think through just a catalog of all the people that you know.

"Huh, that guy is a false prophet. Oh no, I think that guy is good." That's not the exhortation here. That's not a charge for you guys to go on a witch hunt. But this is a skill, the discernment of a truth versus discernment of a false, between the false and the truth.

That is a skill of utmost importance as many of these false prophets, Jesus says, are on the broad and the wide. And they are there to deceive. And I bet that many of these on the broad and the wide are absolutely convinced that if they were to meet a false prophet, they would be immediately be able to pick one out.

So a lot of these people on the broad and the wide are probably thinking, "The false prophets are probably the weirdos on that side." So they believe that the false prophets are on the small and the narrow, and they're likely to be the ones that are being duped by these religious false prophets.

So Jesus continues. So there is a wide and a broad that leads to destruction, many enter through it. There's a small and a wide that leads to life, only a few find it. False prophets are on the road. And so he's going to continue on. Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter.

Many will say to me on that day, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name cast out demons and in your name perform many miracles?" And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness." So Jesus is saying there is a group of people here that have submitted themselves to the lordship of Christ and enter the kingdom, but it's not everyone.

There is a group that has entered the kingdom. In verse 21, he says, "Not everyone." So there is a group that receives this ultimate eternal rejection, and these are the guys on the broad and the wide, and perhaps they include the false prophets. So who are these people that are rejected?

First, they're rejected despite their profession of Lord, Lord. So these on the broad and the wide recognize Jesus as Lord. So they have the correct faith paradigm. They recognize Christ's lordship, and that's not surprising as Scripture teaches us at the name of Jesus, "Every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord." So recognition of his lordship, we can conclude easily, is not enough.

Secondly, these guys are prophesying in the name of Jesus. So prophesying in the New Testament has more to do with teaching and exhorting properly than it does like a foreseeing of the future. So it appears that these guys on the broad and the wide not only recognize Christ's lordship, they have been teaching in Jesus' name as well.

Third, they're casting out demons and performing many miracles. Now if I were to bring you a legitimately demon-possessed person and we brought him to the front like they do on TV, okay, and I cast out the demon from him, some of you will be skeptical, some of you may be in awe that I have that kind of power.

And if I could perform miracles, and let's say one of you guys called me saying, "Pastor Peter, one of my family members is sick at the hospital, maybe it's a terminal disease, can you come and pray?" And I go to that hospital, I lay my hands on that person, I pray in the name of Jesus, that person is healed fully.

You guys would probably be amazed and stunned and likely attribute this healing to the supernatural power of God working through me. After all, why would God give such a beautiful and wonderful gift to an enemy of the cross of Christ? Now if I were to be able to perform many miracles like this, and you could validate these miracles to be authentic, and you could see that I have this kind of power, you likely will swallow up everything that I tell you.

You may treat me like a celebrity, you may treat me like a spiritual guru, why? Because that's a very natural reaction to the supernatural. So we are naturally reverent toward those who we are amazed by. The interesting thing is, Jesus does not say to this group, "No, you didn't do those things." "Lord, Lord, did we not?" Jesus doesn't say, "No, you didn't, you're mistaking." He simply makes a declaration of condemnation.

"I never knew you, depart from me, you who practice lawlessness." For me, Matthew 7, 21 to 23 is actually the scariest passages, is one of the scariest passages in all scripture. Why? It's because I'm not 100% convinced that I am not a false prophet. I am hoping with all my heart that I am not one, but I am not 100% convinced.

So when I look at my life, and when I look at my heart, there are too many blemishes, too many bad fruits in my flesh, I am rotten to the core, which you guys probably already have known. So I don't trust me enough to be able to say, "Oh, for sure, absolutely, I'm not a false prophet." As it reads in 2 Timothy 3, 13, false prophets who hold to a form of godliness, as it says in verse 5, they themselves are deceived, so that they do not know that they are false prophets.

So it is possible that most false prophets are not aware that they are false prophets. So are there false prophets and folks on the broad and the wide who have orthodox theology? Yes. Are there false prophets and folks on the broad and the wide who profess Jesus Christ to be the only way and the truth and the life?

Yes. Are there false prophets and folks on the broad and the wide who have supernatural power? Yes. Scary stuff. If someone were to ask you how you know with absolute certainty that you are truly a believing child of God, you will likely come up with some kind of theologically sound verbal answer, and then in your mind, you will probably try to kind of validate those things by listing out your Christian resume.

And sometimes we seek reassurance by the Christian activities and experiences in our lives, so what is on your Christian resume that you try and find reassurance in or others may look at and pat you on the back for? Was it baptism? Was it mission trips? What are those things?

I have a few, and allow me to share with you some of mine, okay? First, I've been a pastor for over 19 years, and objectively, I've forsaken comforts and served as a missionary to China. We've immigrated again to Korea, and now we came back. I've forsaken these things. I am not a health and wealth gospel teacher.

Although, I would not be on this pulpit if I were. My teaching and preaching, people have said, is mostly in line with Orthodox Christianity. I've traveled to many parts of the world visiting orphans and widows, probably more than you guys have and probably more than you guys ever will for the most of you.

And after all, isn't visiting orphans and widows in their helplessness something that our God and Father consider as pure and undefiled religion? I've done that. I've preached Orthodox biblical truth and dispensed Bible information in many different cultural contexts, and I actually can say I put myself in harm's way for the ministry of the gospel.

I've traveled in North Korea more than I have in the South, and I could have lost freedom from that. So, I've done that, and I've led many of you in here in Bible study, in discipleship. So, I've done all these things, but none of these things guarantee that I'm not a false prophet.

None of these things guarantee that I am on the small and the narrow. I may have a form of godliness, but is this truly good fruit in my life? Is there genuine fruit-bearing spirit power? So, like I said, I am not 100% convinced that I am not a false prophet.

I'm hoping that I'm not. I'm trusting that I'm not, but that's where I stand because I refuse to put 100% of my trust in any human being, especially myself. So, how about for you? What are the things that you might say, "Lord, Lord, did I not," and then you fill in the blank?

"Lord, in your name, did I not do these things?" What are the things that you can state and claim? If you guys have been studying with us through the book of Philippians, you know that all of these things that I just listed, it's scabalon, excrement, rubbish in the sight of a holy, holy, holy God.

These things do not guarantee entrance through the small and the narrow. So, Jesus says, "There's a wide and a broad, many enter through it, it leads to destruction. Small and the narrow leads to life, only a few find it. There are false prophets, you can distinguish them by their fruits.

But many of these guys are so deceived, they get to judgment and they think they're on the proper road and they're not." So, let me ask you guys, you will know them by their fruit sounds easy enough, but is it that easy? How do I discern which road I am on?

How do I discern who's teaching me truth, who's feeding me lies? Matthew chapter 7 verse 24, "Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them may be compared to a wise man who had built his house on the rock." So verse 24 starts with a therefore, okay?

And as we have learned, wherever there is a therefore, you have to ask yourself, what? What is the therefore therefore? So there has been a very heavy exhortation from Christ and the therefore, there's an expectation of a proper application. Therefore is a very important word in every language and in English, therefore connects what was previously just said about all of this stuff to what the application is.

"Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and slammed against that house, and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.

Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and slammed against that house and it fell and great was its fall." So Jesus describes a man building on the solid foundation of a rock.

This man and the few who are on the small and the narrow are one and the same, okay? Jesus also describes a man building on the sand. This man and the many who are on the broad and the wide are also one and the same. Rain comes on both in judgment, okay?

Or you could say the torrent, the flood, it comes. But the house that stands the test is built by the man who, one, hears the whole counsel of God, and two, acts on the whole counsel of God. ESV says, "Does the whole counsel of God," and IV says, "Puts it into practice." But the idea is hears the word of God and does the word of God is the person who's building on the rock.

And here at Berean, our goal is for you to be on the small and the narrow. Our desire is for all of us to be on this small and the narrow and we want to equip you to bring others also onto this small and the narrow. And according to Jesus, the way you do this is through the dispensation of his word.

What are Jesus' last words to the apostles who will build this church? Matthew 28, 18 to 20. And Jesus came up and spoke to them saying, "All authority has been given to me in heaven on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." If you look through the scriptures, parable after parable especially, for example, Mark chapter 4, the parable of the sower, the thing that bears enduring, lasting, persevering fruit is always the word of God. So the church's main responsibility is not to make you feel loved or inspire you to be a more moral person or to become a better you or to become a good leader.

That's not the job of the church. The job of the church is not to surround you with good friends or to make you feel welcome or to entertain you. These are not bad things, but by doing these things, we might actually mislead you or give you a false assurance of your salvation without even knowing that we're doing that.

The church's main responsibility is to restore you to the King of kings and the Lord of lords. The church's main responsibility is to disciple you and make you a worshiper of Jesus Christ. And Jesus says the church is to do that not only by teaching you all that he has said, but also to lead you in doing all that he has said.

So I'm going to turn your attention back to covenant number two. It says, "I confess that the Bible is the inerrant word of God, which has ultimate authority over my life." So for you guys who are members, if you sign this as a member, this is what you are agreeing to, okay?

This is what you've signed. My standard is not the culture. Our standard is not church people's expectations or even Berean leaders' expectations. Our standard is not the ever-changing trends of our modern age. Our standard is not policy or political affiliation. Our standard is not what the world thinks Christians ought to look like.

Our standard is not the person next to me or the person in front of me. Our standard, which is ultimate authority over our lives, is the word of God. And the word of God alone has ultimate authority for your life. I confess that the Bible is the inerrant word of God, which has ultimate authority over my life.

So that first part, you might get tripped up. Well, inerrant word of God, okay? And let me explain briefly to you what this is. I'm not going to be able to go into this so much in detail, but I do want to talk about this a little bit. 2 Peter 1.21, "But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation.

For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God." 2 Timothy 3.16-17, "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be adequately equipped for every good work." There are passages in the Scriptures like this that tell us that we have what God intended us to have.

Does that make sense? We have what God wanted us to have in His Word, okay? So what is inerrancy? What is inerrancy? Wayne Grudem, a theologian most of you guys are familiar with, defines it this way. The inerrancy of Scripture means that Scripture in the original manuscripts does not affirm anything contrary to fact.

So it's absolute truth. And this is what the Webster's Dictionary defines as inerrancy. The belief that the Bible is free from error in matters of science as well as those of faith. So basically, the Bible as we have it is God's Word as He would have us have it.

You guys follow me? The Word of God, the Bible, is God's Word as He would have us have it. So this is God's Word. And this is what every single one of our leaders believes. This is the formal stance of our church, and that is why we study the Word of God as passionately as we do.

What I've noticed in my near two decades of ministry, it's not a long time but it's enough, is that people who have a trouble with inerrancy ultimately have an issue with the Bible's authority over their lives. People who wrestle with inerrancy ultimately don't want God's Word to be God's Word.

And though they may spend hours reading about the Bible, about textual criticism, canonicity of Scripture, they don't actually spend a lot of time studying the Bible themselves. Because if I can poke holes in the Bible and to say that it's not God's Word, I have some wiggle room and I ultimately don't need to submit to it.

And in almost 100% of the cases, and this is again, personal subjective experience from someone who's potentially a false prophet, okay? So take it however you will. But in my flawed subjective experience, almost 100% of the cases, liberal theology leads to liberal morality. Liberal theology leads to liberal morality.

And rejection of the Bible as the inerrant Word of God never leads to freedom. In fact, I've seen it lead to more bondage. Liberal theology always leads to liberal living. Liberal theology leads to a rejection of truth, a rejection of God, and a rejection of the pursuit of holiness.

And if someone's mind is made up, you can't convince them otherwise. And the sad thing is that this is often done in the name of truth, in the name of God, in the name of a pursuit for righteousness. I really want to know the truth. Well, really. Wolves like to dress themselves in sheep's clothing so much so that eventually, wolves often convince themselves that they are sheep and not wolves.

So you have to be careful. The Apostle Paul says something similar in 1 Corinthians 14, 37 to 38. If anyone thinks he's a prophet or spiritual, let him recognize that the things which I write to you are the Lord's commandment. But if anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized.

So basically, what Paul is saying is you reject the authority of the Word of God, the author of the Word of God rejects you. If you, in your arrogance, reject the authority of the Word of God, the author of life himself will reject you. And actually, it's not more of a you do this and he'll do that.

It's actually a condition of the heart. You've already been rejected. And so, the natural byproduct is you say, "Well, forget the Word of God. I am my Lord." And that happens almost every single time. Now, proper doctrine and belief in the inerrancy of Scripture, it does not automatically equate with appropriate living.

But trust me, lawlessness, the potential false prophet, okay? Lawlessness always accompanies a rejection of the authority of Scripture. And rejection of the inerrancy of God usually leads to rejecting all things that are good. So why do I believe that the Word of God is truth? Objectively, I believe it can't be conspired by man.

40 different authors, including prophets and kings and a shepherd, carpenter, musicians, learned men, unlearned men, educated and trained men, unskilled and mumbling men, they wrote the Word of God. 40 different authors, three languages, different contexts, different cultures, different countries even with one message. God is God. We are not.

And he sent his son or he will send his son to deliver us from our sin and restore proper worship back to the creator. That's the consistent message throughout the Scripture. So objectively, man cannot have made this up. Secondly, everything I know to be good and true and moral and upright and kind and compassionate, I found in Scripture.

And everything that this world says is really noble and honorable, all of that is found in Scripture. And subjectively, I will share, the Word of God has absolutely and radically changed my life. I was a very lost, very angry, very selfish, insecure, confused young man. I had addictions, I had idols, I had major issues.

And unfortunately, I brought them into the pastoral in my first few years of ministry. So actually, there are some of my former students who are now here in their 30s who are in that original youth group, asked them, "I was pretty messed up, but God has changed my life." Through His Word.

The delight in the Word of God, the commitment to study it, to memorize it, and to share it has absolutely changed everything about me. So I believe in the sufficiency of Scriptures, not only for the objective reasons, but also for subjective impact it has had on my life. And I want to exhort you to do the same.

Taste and see that the Lord is good. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways, acknowledge Him. He will make your path straight. I want to exhort you to love the Word of God because that is the lamp unto your feet and the light unto your path.

That is the heartbeat of every leader. We want to point you to Christ through His Word. Covenant number five reads, "I commit to attending and preparing for weekday Bible studies every week to the best of my ability." Now because we believe that the Word of God has ultimate authority over our lives, the main responsibility of our church is to direct you to learn, to love, and to live out His Word.

Amen? That's our job. John 14, 15, Jesus says, "If you love me, you will obey my commandments." We want to teach you and we also want to learn how to love our God the way He desires to be loved and worshipped. He is the standard. And if you notice, our church doesn't have too many programs, right?

To the complaint and derision of some, "We don't have many programs." And when we do have a program, there's a Bible study in it, right? But why do we do it this way? Because growing together in the knowledge and the practice of His Word is non-negotiable. That is a priority.

That's absolutely essential. Everything else are good benefits that come with that, but the central thing is our fellowship has to be founded upon the Scriptures. And our covenant number five, our Bible study, is actually the very bare minimum for your good. Let me say this again. Our Bible study is the bare minimum.

That's the basic and fundamental. Bible study is not the goal. That's one of our starting points. And it's sometimes so disheartening that so many of you here struggle to keep up, struggle with what should be just the bare minimum. It's cumbersome. I'm busy. And you struggle to just prepare for something so basic, which is just an hour and a half, two hours a week.

Why is this covenant so important? Why is number five so important? Our worship must be fueled by a proper understanding of the whole counsel of God. Our worship must be fueled by a proper understanding of the whole counsel of God. Our personal worship has to be fueled by a proper understanding of the whole counsel of God.

When life is good and things are comfortable, we have to be reminded that this is not our home. We have to be reminded that we are to love the Creator, not the creation. We need to be reminded that the things of this world are passing away, that our treasures have to be stored up in heaven.

Those are the things that we need to be reminded of when things are good and comfortable and easy. But when life is hard, and some of your lives are very hard, we need to be reminded that God is in control, that He is love, that He is good, He doesn't make a single mistake, that He has ordained all things for your good is what we need to be reminded of.

Our personal worship has to be founded on truth, because He is looking for those who will worship not just in spirit, but also in truth. Our personal worship has to be fueled by Scripture. Our corporate worship must be fueled by Scripture. The way we do church has to be biblical.

We need to test everything. So 1 Thessalonians 5, 16 to 22, this is, you want to discern and know and test God's will for your life? Here it is. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and everything give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the spirit, do not despise prophetic utterances, but examine everything carefully.

Hold fast to which is good, abstain from every form of evil. One of the negatives about a typical Bible church is a lot of times they reject all things charismatic. And I'm not saying that that's of our church, but a lot of times Bible churches that are very conservative do reject things of more spiritual in nature, but here it says, do not quench the spirit, do not despise prophetic utterances, examine everything carefully, hold fast to what is good, abstain from every form of evil.

So I can't just reject stuff like that, but I will test it by the Word of God. So what do we think about charismatic gifts? Don't believe what the church stands on, you search the scriptures for yourself. What do you think about charismatic gifts? Why do we baptize people the way we do?

What is our perspective on financial giving? Should we even call it tithing? What are all of these things based on? And how do the leaders shepherd the flock of God? What are you to expect from the leaders in their shepherding of the flock of God? And how are you supposed to pray for and submit to the leadership of the church according to the Word of God?

Our worship must be fueled by a proper understanding of the whole counsel of God. Second, our fellowship must be fueled by a proper understanding of the whole counsel of God. John 17, 17, "Sanctify them by the truth, your word is truth." Jesus is praying on the path of all the saints to come and in their relationship with one another and he says, "Sanctify them in your truth, your word is truth." The Word of God will impact positively or negatively your relationship and it's supposed to sanctify your friendships.

So our fellowship must be fueled not by personality, what do you call it? I'm at a loss of words, I'm talking too fast. Personality like attractions. Our fellowship must first and foremost be founded upon our understanding of his Word. Our evangelism and our engagement in the Great Commission must be fueled by the Word.

Learning and teaching to do everything that God has taught. John 10, 16 says, "I have other sheep which are not of this fold, I must bring them also and they will hear my voice and they will become one flock with one shepherd." So Jesus has other sheep, they will hear his voice.

We have to make sure that when we are trying to lead his sheep to the shepherd that they are hearing his voice correctly and not our opinion. When we are evangelizing our unbelieving family and friends, we have to make sure we're not getting in the way. First Timothy 4, 16, "Pay close attention to yourself." And this isn't an endorsement on like self-worship, this means scrutinize your living, okay?

Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching, persevere in these things for as you do this, you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you. We need to be reminded that we need to persevere in scrutinizing both our doctrine and our lifestyle. Why? So that we don't become a stumbling block to those who we're trying to reach and save.

Being a member at Berlin Community Church is not enough. Being a member at a Bible church is not enough. Being at a Bible church hearing sound teaching is not enough. You being at this church and not engaging in the scriptures is like going to the gym and watching people work out.

It does very little for your body. It actually causes jealousy if anything, right? It's like, "Man, he's ripped." Right? That's what happens. Being at a Bible church and not engaging in the study of the word is like you just going to the gym, paying money, and then popping out.

Covenant number five is not something that we aspire to. It's the bare minimum for your well-being as a church member. Now in our house, in our home, I have a twin son and daughter. They're four and a half. In our home, we have dining rules. They're not like set in stone, but these are our table manners, eating rules.

It's such a struggle to get four and a half year olds to eat. Anybody familiar with this? It is really difficult. You may have similar rules at your home. Number one rule, we wash our hands before we eat. Good or bad? It's very good. Number two, good dad, right?

Number two, we pray and give thanks to God before we eat. Now they pray, they're just saying words at this point, and they say random stuff, right? They talk about bunny rabbits and stuff in their meal prayer, but we want to get them in the habit of thanking the Lord, so that's rule number two.

Number three, we do not throw our food or play with our food. They used to do this, and they got in trouble for this a lot. They probably don't remember, but that was a rule that we established, and we disciplined them for it, for throwing food. They always throw the meat.

They don't throw the pasta. I'm like, "I could have eaten that." They're throwing away the food, and that is something we don't do, right? Because it's wasteful, and that's just not acceptable in society. Fourth, we don't have toys at our table. Why? Because they get distracted, right? It's not that we don't want them to play with toys.

It's just at mealtime, focus on the food. And fifth, we're to have both butt cheeks on the chair when we eat. You may have never heard the word butt cheek in a sermon, but here it is. You need to have both buns on the chair because they keep getting up.

They get off. They wander around, and it's like, "Get back on there." That's a rule that we almost always have to remind them of, and sometimes have to put them on timeout enough, or timeout for. Why do we have rules at our table? Ultimately, the rules are there to ensure our kids properly eat.

I don't care if they play with a toy or if they get up off the chair. Them staying on the chair is not my desire for them. My desire for them is to eat, ultimately to grow. These house rules are not there for them to become good house rule keepers.

They're there for them to eat, for them to grow. And I'm hoping that none of you are judging me as a bad parent for having these rules. So why do we have covenant number five? It's to make sure that our members at our church are eating. And as I have said before, weekday Bible study is the bare minimum when it comes to the study of the Bible for our members because there are eternal consequences potentially at stake.

One Bible study a week and one sermon are totally not enough. This is not to restrict or stifle you or make you feel guilty, okay? But if you were to eat only two meals a week every week, I lovingly should call you out on that because you should be eating on average 20 times a week feeding your face, something, even small.

But two times a week is not enough. It's better than zero. So being in the habit of coming to Bible study not prepared or regularly skipping it, that is not a problem. That is a symptom of a big problem. Are you guys following this? Not coming prepared is not the problem.

It's a symptom of a larger problem. And I found that usually people who aren't prepared for the study, who are regularly the slack in their preparation for the corporate study of His Word, are usually not engaging in it privately. Now again, there are exceptions to the rule, so don't throw something at me, okay, if you're like, "Well, I don't prepare for the Bible study, but I do it on my own." Okay, so if that's you, then great, hallelujah.

But generally speaking, people who aren't prepared for the proper study of His Word usually aren't doing Bible intake the rest of the week. Generally speaking, one of the first signs of struggle I observed at our church is a gradual checking out from Bible study. And my guess and my assumption is that if you're not keeping up with the church Bible study, you're not keeping up with your own personal devotions.

And that's of great concern to me because I care about your well-being. The Word of God is foundational for your growth. Now this is for you guys who are keeping up with the Bible study, who are enjoying the inductive study. May I challenge you to go deeper? May I encourage you to an intense, passionate study of His Word?

May I encourage you to memorize as much Bible as you can? Make it your ambition to have a bucket list memorizing 31,100 plus verses. Know His Word, love His Word, live His Word, share His Word, and make sure you know exactly what you're talking about. Let the Word of God transform every aspect of your life.

Go deeper. Don't stop at covenant number five. Imagine if you just memorized one book a year and retained it 10 years from now. Do you not think you're going to be a more intimate believer? You don't think you'll have a deeper walk with God? You don't think you'll be sounder in your faith?

Shame on you if you've been a Christian for 20 years and you have no understanding of the Word of God. Know His Word because what I say on the pulpit, if I say wrong things, you should call us out on it. Know His Word. Why memorization? The blessing of the Lord and the nearness of the Lord follows those who meditate on the law of the Lord day and night.

And you cannot meditate on something you have not memorized. Are you guys following this? You cannot meditate on something day and night if you just do a Bible skim. Check. That is not the goal. You reading the Bible through in one year, great for you. It does zero for your soul in that if that's all you're doing it for, you're not feeding.

It's just like licking a hamburger and then saying, "I've eaten." Go deep. Memorization is not the goal, it's the means. The means for properly responding to the Word of God throughout every moment of every day. That it kind of flows through your prayers even. That the Word of God is so saturating your mind and your heart, you see things clearly.

So don't just stop at number five. That's where you start. Don't let that be your goal. I've done it. That's there for you to thrive. That's not there for you to get just a whack on the spiritual bottom. As a church, we want to hold fast to these covenants so that we can build His church the way He wants it to be built.

Amen? We want to be those on the small and the narrow encouraging others on the small and the narrow. We want to be able to say, "That's a false prophet, but hey, let me reach out to this false prophet. Maybe he can be on the small and the narrow too." The only way to do that is not by logic, is not by study, or apologetic study.

It's by the Word of God, which is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword. The Word of God is powerful. It's sufficient to change and transform dumb people to make them saints. Amen? Luke 6, 46 to 49, "Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?

Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like. He is like a man building a house who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock. And when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it because it had been well built.

But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly is like a man who built his house on the ground without any foundation, and the torrent burst against it, and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great. May the Lord move us to be a church full of people building on the solid rock of Jesus Christ." Amen?

Sanctify them by the truth. Your word is truth. Let his truth sanctify this church, grow this church, and build. We're going to take some time to pray. And I want to ask you, how's your diet? People are asking me that all the time. I came in ninth place out of nine guys.

I lost 15 pounds. I came in ninth place because we got some crazy people. But on that diet, everyone was asking me, "How's it going?" And then they take me to a soup plantation and fatten me up, right? "How's it going?" So I want to ask you, how's your diet?

Bare minimum, you're going to get messed up with bare minimum. Bare minimum is going to cause you over time just to be a shell of religion. How are you doing in terms of your diet? You are what you eat. Pray. Ask God for help. The Bible is a big book.

Ask him to help you learn it. Ask him to lead you to people who will help you learn it. Ask him to make you so adept in the knowledge of the word of God that you are a soul saver with your life. So let's take some time to pray, and then the worship team is going to come up.