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Y'all will turn in your Bibles to Proverbs chapter 29. Proverbs chapter 29. We had let me rephrase this. I was gonna say we had finished up with prayer last Sunday, which in the preaching in that series we did. But I don't know that you would ever be finished preaching on prayer. That is a very vast subject in the Bible. But this morning I have something different on my mind. And in Proverbs chapter 29, we are looking at a particular verse, verse 18. I know that y'all have probably heard this verse, mentioned or read before. The title of my message today is Where There is No Vision, the people perish. Where there is no vision, the people perish. So I want to mention a couple things about this verse, give you a little bitty summary, and then we're gonna back up and work our way through this and a few other passages of scripture. I remember in my youth coming up as a Christian, uh involved in other faiths and orders, that I remember hearing this verse preached on, that where there is no vision, the people perish. And oftentimes, a few times, when I heard this verse preached on, it had the reference of the preacher was trying to communicate that uh on an individual level that each Christian should have a vision of where he's going, as in you know what the Lord wants him to do in life, um, and you need to have that in your mind's eye, you need to be thinking about that, praying about that, working toward that. And so therefore, if a young, and again, the preacher was usually communicating with young men and young women, that if you're just kind of aimlessly wandering around and you don't really know where to go or what to do, then you know, well, how are you gonna get there if you have no idea where you're going? And so that was a time or two that I heard that particular verse preached on kind of in that manner. And to be honest with you, the uh that was kind of my understanding of that because I had never really, I've read this verse again, but I hadn't studied it through. And so this morning I hope to bring to you, uh, good Lord willing, what I believe is a biblical understanding of this verse and its context. And so I believe this verse, by the way, the Bible says, where there is no vision, the word vision here actually means prophecy. It's actually referring to the word of God, the and the public administration of the word of God. So where there is no, and you could in the Old Testament terms that word would have been prophecy, and in New Testament terms, that word would be preaching. So where there is no preaching or where there is no public administration of the word, in those instances the people perish. As in uh the people are unprotected, but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. Now, so I want to, and also I want to mention this verse because uh we're gonna look at a couple things out of the Old Testament and ex actual examples of this verse, uh, and we're gonna look at that on a national or country level, and then we're gonna step that down to a church level, and then we're gonna step that down to a family and personal level that directly relates to you and I and what you and I are supposed to do. Like I mentioned that in my youth I heard this verse preached on, and primarily the emphasis of the pastor, whoever was preaching, was saying that young men and women they needed to have a vision of their life for the Lord, and that they needed to honor the Lord and what they said and did. And again, that's wonderful advice, but I want to look at this verse in a biblical context and then kind of step that down in a way that I believe the Bible shows us. So, so we're going to simply read again Proverbs 28:19, the verse says, Where there is no vision, the people perish, but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. So I want you to notice one thing about this: that in the King James Bible, I've mentioned this several times before, that oftentimes the King James Bible will say something and then turn right back around and either say the same thing over again, or in the context of the same verse, the context of that verse is directly related to what the previous part of the word verse is. In other words, if you took a verse and let's say you had a comma or a semicolon or something in it, and so you're gonna call the first part of the verse A, you're gonna uh refer to the second part of the verse as B, and so therefore, in a lot of verses in the Bible, the A part will directly relate to the B part or vice versa. And so this verse is no different. So when it says, where there is no vision, the people perish, but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. So what I want to propose to you is the second part of this verse that says, But he that keepeth the law, happy is he. So in other words, the first part of the verse that relates to uh you and I having a vision, the second part of this verse relates to that, uh, meaning that the man that keepeth the law, happy is he. So that idea of the vision or a person not having a vision is the idea of a person that is uh is not keeping the law. The idea of a person who is migrated away from the word of God. So, in the direct context of this verse, when it says, where there is no vision, again in the Old Testament, that literally means where there is no prophecy. And specifically here it's talking about where there is no public administration of the word. In other words, the prophets are not preaching the word of God. In the New Testament, the preachers are not preaching the word of God. Therefore, the people, therefore, the nation is not hearing the word of God rightly divided and rightly explained to them, and then therefore they have no vision, they have no understanding. In other words, you could think about it in this instance. Um you could think about a pagan nation, take an ancient pagan nation, the Amalekites or the Babylonians or something like that, or even uh bring it a little bit more modern, like the Vikings or uh the Incas or the Aztecs or something like that. And so, if you take an entire people group, an entire nation, where there is where there is no vision, the people perish. So, in other words, if you take like the ancient Babylonians or uh the Vikings or something like that, or even a modern society in the world that is not a Christian nation, and therefore they worship pagan gods. Where there is no vision, where there is no prophecy, where there is no preaching of the word of God, those people, that nation, is perishing. They are languishing away. They don't have the truth, they don't have proper understanding. Therefore, those people are suffering, those people are being weakened because they do not have an understanding of the word of God. Does that make sense? And so that is the context of this verse when it says, where there is no vision, the people perish. But then look at the remainder of that verse. But he that keepeth the law, happy is he. In other words, the individual or the family or the church or the nation, the nation that has the law of God, that has the Bible, that has the scriptures, and uh those scriptures are being explained to them. And uh so on a national level, uh, the word of God is being publicly administered, it's being broadcast, society as a whole is hearing the word of God, society as a whole is being exposed to that, is being led in that direction by the leaders, uh, by the prophets and priests and preachers and so on and so forth. That nation is being blessed, and then at least a portion of those people, but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. So that nation, that people, is being blessed as a result of the public administration of the word or the public preaching of the word, and then therefore they don't have lack of knowledge. In other words, they have uh they're growing in grace and in knowledge of the Lord, and so therefore the people are blessed. Now, so you can see the contrast between a pagan nation that does not have the word of God at all, and they're going their own way, they're sacrificing their children, they're doing all those terrible things, and then a nation that actually has the truth, that actually has the word of God, that even on a national level, in some extent, they are being kept accountable for their behaviors and their actions, that you know, there is a cultural or national morality as a result of that, but even more so they are being exposed to the truth. Well, as I studied this, one of the things that was pointed out was that think about a nation that even now let's bring this to modern times. That, brothers and sisters, in modern times, Christianity, at least by the media and the public, is attempting to be boiled down into a one among many of religions, right? Okay, you're you're a Christian, you're a Muslim, you're a Buddhist, you're a Mormon, you're a pagan, you're a Wiccan, you're whatever. So in modern times, they want to lump Christianity in with all of these other religions. That, okay, well, you're a Christian, and your religion has its own form of morality, and I see that, you know, y'all believe uh in monogamy of marriage, y'all don't believe in divorce, you know, y'all believe in the nuclear family that you're supposed to have kids, you know, you believe that you're supposed to go to church and give and so on and so forth. And so modern culture tries to boil Christianity down just to this little neat and tidy religion that is very restrictive and that y'all have a form of morality. Well, you know, there are other religions that have a form of morality and they're similar to y'all, and so on, and so forth, and that's the way the world likes to put us in this little neat and tidy box like everybody else. Well, where there is no vision, the people perish. Real Christianity and the truth cannot be boiled down to some simplistic morality that is the understanding of the world. Christianity, brothers and sisters, is the gospel. It is the good news. It is the fact that you and I at our very core are not good people. Amen? You and I at our very core are fallen individuals, but praise be to God that a holy and righteous God who could not accept man, that he sent his one and only begotten Son, who was miraculously born of a virgin unlike any other human being that has ever walked the earth, and that that was a real event, that was not a fairy tale, and that he came and lived an actual, sinless, perfect life unlike any other human being, and then he willingly, in a sovereign manner, because no one could take his life from him, laid down his life because he did that in obedience to God, and he did that for the benefit of God's children, and he came and sacrificed himself for the church, for the bride, for those chosen of Almighty God, and he came and justified them in the sight of a holy God who otherwise would have been totally unacceptable to him, and therefore by doing so, he purchased their salvation. He borne them again by the miraculous and spiritual and sovereign operation of the Holy Spirit, and literally translated them into heaven in his spiritual understanding and rejuvenated their minds and consciences and made them a dual citizenship individual who is a spiritual being and a fleshly being, unlike the people of the world. And now they have knowledge and understanding of God. Now they have a desire to seek after God and walk with him. Before they didn't want any of that, right? And so God, and he's given us an inheritance in heaven that you and I cannot uh earn or deserve. And God has done all of that, praise be the Lord. And the scriptures, the Bible, actually tells us about all of that. And by the way, if you don't hear anything else today, all of that is true. Amen? All of that is true. And that is the gospel. That is the good news that wretches like you and I were born again by the grace of God. And so, excuse me that the world wants to boil our religion down into some neat and tidy little uh version of morality that is like and akin to other religions? No, it's not. No, it's not. The gospel is true. And brothers and sisters, where there is no vision, where there is no prophecy, where there is no true preaching, the people perish. They are weakened. The word uh perish literally means to be exposed. It literally means to be naked, it literally means to be unprotected. There's also one definition of this word that means to be loosened. Well, Josh, what does loosen have to do with anything? Y'all tell me, would y'all say that modern-day America's values and understanding of the truth is loosened compared to the word of God? Any takers on that? Yes. Where there is no public administration of the word of God, the people are weak and naked and exposed and perishing. They're hurting. Why, Brother Josh, why are the people hurting as a nation? Because they don't have the truth. They're not exposed to the truth. They're not being time after time after time being reminded of the truth. That's what this verse in Proverbs 29, 18 is talking about. Where there is no vision, where there is no preaching or prophecy or ministration of the word, the people perish. They're weakened, they're exposed, they're naked, they're becoming less. They're not getting stronger, they're getting worse. But, but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. That man is not exposed, that man is not naked, that man is not weak, the man who is obedient to the word of God, the man who hears the word of God and is following after the word of God, the nation that hears the word of God and is following after the word of God, that nation is not weak and is not exposed. That nation is strengthening itself. That nation is blessed. Now, let me get historical for just a minute. This year, in 2026, the United States of America, based on our founding documents, and again, there was people here before that, but our nation as an official nation is roughly 250 years old, 1776 to 2026. 250 years old. In the history of the world, America is a very young nation. A very young, in other words, if you were to compare our nation to China, the nation of China, brothers and sisters, is thousands of years old as a nation. If you were to compare our nation to the Hebrew nation, it's thousands of years old. America, brothers and sisters, is a infant. We are literally the new kid on the block, okay? Now is the prosperity of America compared to all the other nations of the world? How much wealth do we have? How much military might and power do we have? How much advancement do we have in the world? And again, I'm not going to debate with you about that. My point is, is that for as young a nation as we are, we are, if not the most powerful nations in the world, one of the top two or three most powerful nations and wealthy nations in the entire world. Okay? Well, Brother Josh, why is that? I want to venture to tell you that one of the reasons that is, is because our nation was founded as a Christian nation on the principles of the Bible and the fact that our nation, beginning with, and even up to this day, again, I want y'all to understand something too. That show me an example of a perfect human being except the Lord Jesus Christ. There's not one. Show me the example of a perfect nation. Well, Josh, what about the Jewish nation? No, they're not perfect. What about America? No, they're not perfect. Show me an example. My point is this. There is no example of a perfect preacher, of a perfect prophet, of a perfect apostle, of a perfect president, of a perfect prince. There is no example that everybody, whether you're Daniel or the Apostle Paul or Moses or King David or President Trump or President Lincoln or President George Washington or whomever it is. There is no perfect human being except for the Lord Jesus Christ. So you and I can debate all day long, brother Josh, you know, America's not perfect, and you know, we've gotten our uh we've gotten off in a ditch and we've gone the wrong direction. Okay. I agree with you in a lot of senses. We're doing a lot of things wrong that we need to repent and return to the Lord. But my point is, at the founding of the United States of America, when we were attempting to build a nation literally on the gospel, on the word of God, on Christian principles, it allowed a nation that was younger than all the other nations to literally rise to a prominence of power and wealth and position unlike any other, and the only reason of that is at least we attempted to serve the word of God. So we were blessed because of that, not because we were special or more intelligent or anything else. I would literally argue that the United States has been blessed because of the gospel. That's why this youngest kid in the world, by way of a nation, is one of the most blessed nations in the world. And it's all because of our attempt, imperfectly as it may be, I grant you that, to serve the Word of God. You and I are literally all from work today. You know what day it is? It's Sunday. You know why as a nation, the United States of America observe Sunday as the day off. Why is that? Because we were founded as a Christian nation. The Jewish people don't do that. They worship Saturday. Their day of worship is on Saturday. That was their Old Testament biblical holy day. The Muslims don't observe Sunday, that's their holy day, because they're not a Christian nation. I'm not saying that the United States is perfect because we are not. But I am saying that we are in the current position that we are in in the world because of the gospel. Because we were founded on those principles and we attempted to serve those principles, and in a very short amount of time we have been blessed. Where there is no vision, preaching or prophecy, the people perish, but he that keepeth the law, happy is he, or that nation, or that person, or that family is blessed as a result of it. And America is literally an example of that very thing. Now, turn, if you will, to Hosea chapter 1. Hosea chapter 1. I've got to move along. I'm sorry. Hosea chapter 4, not verse. Hosea chapter 4. In Hosea chapter 4, we're going to read through verse 10. Hosea chapter 4, beginning in verse 1. Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel. So he's writing to the nation. For the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. What is a controversy? The Lord has a complaint. The Lord has a complaint against his own people. Because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing and lying and killing and stealing and committing adultery, they break out, and blood touch bullet. In other words, sin increases upon sin. Therefore shall the land mourn, and everyone that dwelleth therein shall languish, they shall be weakened. With the beast of the field and with the fowls of heaven, yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away. In other words, you're saying the physical blessings of the earth, i.e., the cattle and the livestock and the fowl of heaven and the fish of the sea, the little the literal food of the land, is being taken away from them as a result of their own personal sin. Verse 4, let no man strive, fight against, nor reprove another. For thy people are as they that strive with the priest. In other words, what does that mean? God is saying, I have a complaint against you. You are literally fighting against the word of God. You are literally fighting against the priest. The priests are attempting to preach to you the word of God, and you are saying, No, I don't want to hear that. I don't want any part with that. Verse 5. Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother. He's saying that the people are corrupt, that even their prophets are preaching to itching ears. They're not preaching the gospel. They're just preaching a generic morality. They're just watering down the word of God. And you're not going to just fall in the nighttime when people would do mischief and wickedness under cover of darkness. No, you're going to literally die in the daytime. And the prophet is going to die with you. And the mother who is the most protected of the most important in an ancient society of the status, we've got to protect the women and children because they're our next generation. No, the mothers are falling, and the prophets are falling because they've been bound up in all this national sin. Verse 6, here's the verse. The Lord says, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because thou hast rejected knowledge. I will also reject thee. That thou shalt be no priest to me, seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. Stop. So, Brother Josh, I see your point that we have been a blessed nation, that in a very short amount of time, America has risen to a great amount of power and wealth. And if historians examine that, why is that? Why is America risen to such heights in such a short amount of time? Again, I believe that the very reason of that is the gospel itself. A nation that was founded upon and saturated by the gospel, again, imperfectly. But now take that same nation, this nation of the United States. And now let's do, or we're doing what this verse is telling us or warning us. Because thou hast rejected knowledge, the word of God, I will also reject thee. Thou shalt be no priest to me, seeing thou hast forgotten the law of God, I will also forget thy children. Will all of our advancements, with all of our internet and knowledge and advancements in medicine, would y'all say that America is becoming a better and better and better and more godly nation and more prosperous nation? No, it's not. It's actually declining. Why is that? Seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. In other words, when America started rejecting the Word of God and rejecting the gospel and putting it on the back burner and not taking Christianity seriously, then the Lord's saying, okay, well, because you've rejected the law of God, I will reject your children. In other words, those following generations that are so important to you, the upcoming generations that's unfamiliar with, you know, well, Brother Josh, back in the, you know, the 20s and the 30s and the 40s and before that, that, you know, divorce was so frowned upon, and young people living together outside of marriage was so frowned upon, and homosexuality was taught against, and, you know, and drunkenness taught against, and it seems like the culture at large is just accepting all this. You know, the borrower servant to the lender, that so many families are in financial debt, and they're just making uh unwise decisions and ungodly decisions. But I don't understand, Brother Josh, why our nation is not being blessed. We ought to understand why our nation is not being blessed, because we've rejected the law of God, and therefore God says, Seeing thou hast forgotten the law of God, I will also forget thy children. They are being forsaken, they are being weakened, we are being exposed. The United States is running around naked and defenseless. Because Christianity is just one religion among many. Oh, all roads lead to heaven. No, they do not. A singular road leads to heaven. It's through the Lord Jesus Christ. There is one true religion on the earth, it is Christianity. It is the Bible. All other religions are false. They are demonic, they are lies of Satan. He can brand whatever he wants to brand them. There are only two religions in the world: the truth and lies. Christianity and all other brands and names of religion. I do not apologize for making that statement, brothers and sisters. It is my job as a minister to be the priest, to lead, to preach the truth. When there is no public administration of the word, the people are weakened and dying. If I don't say anything, then I am accountable to the Lord for not telling you about the truth. America is getting weaker and weaker because families are forsaking the word of God and going the way of everything goes. Shame on me if I don't tell you that. Brothers and sisters, we're talking about some things that are very, very serious. Verse 6 of Hebrews of Hosea 4 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee. That thou shalt be no priest to me, seeing thou hast forgotten the law of God, I will also forget thy children. As they were increased, so they sinned against me, verse 7. Therefore will I change their glory into shame. They eat up the sin of my people. In other words, the priests are sinning with the priests are sinning with the people. The preachers aren't preaching godliness, holiness, the Bible. They're preaching some watered down, weak version of morality of all roads lead to heaven, kind of thing. They eat up the sin of my people and they set their hearts on their own iniquity. In other words, you have the prosperity gospel, you have preaching preachers preaching for their own benefit, not for the benefit of the people, not serving the people, but instead serving themselves. Therefore they eat verse eight, therefore they eat up the sin of my people, and they set their hearts on their own iniquity. And there shall in verse nine, and there shall be like people, like priest, and I will punish them for their ways and reward them their doings, for they shall eat and not have enough, they shall commit whoredom, and they shall not increase, because they have left off to take heed to the Lord. In other words, this is what happens when a nation's stop serving God. So that's two Old Testament examples. Let me take you to a New Testament example.

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Turn, if you will, to Acts chapter six.

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I want to paint this in Acts chapter six and show you in a little different light how the word of God is supposed to be so important to the church. Acts chapter six, beginning in verse one. And in those days, when the number of the disciples were multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily administration. So what is this talking about? So the context of this is when in the New Testament, in the book of Acts, after Christ arose, and the apostles, the disciples, are now have been sent out, especially in the book of Acts in Jerusalem to the Jews. And the church of God is growing, that it is growing exponentially, that 5,000 came into the church that day. And so the church is growing very fast, very quickly. And so amongst the number that is now in the church is growing the number of people who are widows and who are needy. And so the apostles, who are limited in number, find themselves that they don't have enough time. They literally don't have enough time to go around house to house to house, to person to person to person, to feed everybody, to physically minister to all the needs of all the people of the growing number of the church. And so as a result of that, the people started to complain that were in the church that, hey, it looks like that the apostles are spending more time ministering to the Hebrew widows than they are to the widows that are came from other places. Because they're, in other words, they're prioritizing them above us, or at least that was the way that the people were thinking about it. So that's what this verse is talking about. In those days when the number of the disciples was multiplied, in other words, followers of Christ, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration, meaning the daily ministration of food or the things that they stood in need of. Well, verse two, Acts chapter six, verse two. Then the twelve, that's the apostles, called the multitude of the disciples, that's the followers of Christ, unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business, but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word. Stop. So the apostles said, Look, we are having so much of our time taken up and literally feeding people and clothing people and helping people find shelter that we literally don't even have time to study. That's what the Lord has called us to do. Now, I don't want you to misunderstand me in this. That there might have been a preacher in the past who said, therefore, look at this. You know, y'all need to, you know, bolster up what you give the pastor. That's not what I'm talking about at all this morning. We look, I want to be very clear and candid here. I'm very thankful for what Bethlehem Church gives me by way of my support and giving to me. Amen and praise the Lord. I'm very thankful for that. That's not what I'm preaching on this morning at all. What I am preaching on is this. I want you to see that in the Holy Scriptures, the writing of the Lord, and these are actually the apostles who walk with the Lord Jesus Christ, who in their current church community, they had widows that were hungry. Amen? They had orphans that were hungry. They had people that needed to be housed and people that needed to be clothed. And what I want you to see is they recognized that that was a need, okay? And I want you to see that those apostles made sure that those needs were taken care of. But they also recognized that their primary calling and their primary job to preach the word, that they literally said that look, and I want y'all to see this. Y'all get me right here. If you don't hear anything else, y'all get me right here. The apostles literally said that the preaching of the word cannot be neglected. Do you see that? I mean, they're literally brothers and sisters who are going physically hungry, you understand. And the apostle says, we recognize that. And these people need to be fed. But at the same time, you understand, we will not and we cannot neglect the word of God because that is our calling. You see that? So I want y'all to see that in the modern world that you and I live in, most people say, Well, Brother Josh, you got to feed them folks. And I remember that uh one of my favorite ministers outside the old Baptist is a black minister. He was a Reformed Baptist. His name is Vody Bacham. He passed away if it wasn't last year, the year before, maybe been last year, well, it was last year. And I love that man. He is my brother in Christ. He is now the Lord in heaven, and uh he is a faithful servant of the Lord. I have been blessed over the years by his preaching. Uh, he has spoken much truth into my life. But he made a comment about modern missions in the modern church. He said that when most people in the modern church think about missions in the mission field, they think about people going to other countries and building houses or digging wells or bringing vaccines or something like that, bringing medicine. So when most people in the modern world, in the modern church, think about Christian missions, quote unquote, in their mind, what they think about is somebody bringing physical aid to somebody else in another part of the world. Well, we need to go build them a house, or we need to go dig them a well, or we need to go bring them food, or we need to go bring them medicine. And Vodis said, look, that is very important work. But that is not missions according to the Bible. According to the Bible, missions is the preaching of the gospel. Amen? In other words, the thing that you and I talked about earlier, about the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, where there is no vision, where there is no preaching of the Word of God, where there is no public administration of the Word of God, the people perish, the people weaken, the people languish and die. And so, what I want you to see here in the book of Acts is that while everybody would agree that feeding somebody who is starving, or giving somebody medicine who is dying of a disease, or housing someone or clothing someone, these are very important things. There's no question that they're very important things. But what I want you to see, brothers and sisters, is how great of an importance the Bible puts on the preaching of the gospel and the word of the Lord, where the actual apostles that walked with the Lord Jesus Christ says, it is not that we should not be neglecting the word of God just to feed people. Do you see that? And I agree with Bodie Bach's statement that he was literally talking about when the modern church thought about missions, they literally only thought about building houses and digging wells. That's not missions. That is humanitarian work. And again, it is needful and it is good. But that's not missions. Missions, according to the Bible, is what the Apostle Paul did. When he went and he preached the gospel in all of those heathen Gentile nations and he spread the word of God. Now, while he was doing that, did he take up collections? Did he help feed people? Of course he did. But that was not his primary mission. And even here, the apostles, now, again, if you read on, and for time's sake we won't do that, but in the book of Acts, they literally appointed out deacons and they pointed out these men that were godly spiritual men to make sure, reputable, honorable men that made sure that they were to the work of administering the finances and the food and the needful things. And so those gospel ministers, i.e. the apostles, made sure that that work of the needful physical things was taken care of. They made sure of that. But they also made sure to prioritize the fact that they had to preach the word of God. Because that is the very thing that the Lord called them to do. And because, well, Brother Josh, you mean they couldn't just stop what they were doing and primarily focus on feeding people? No. Because if they were physically feeding the people food, and then they were not spiritually feeding people the word of God, they were starving the people to death of the word of God. Amen. And so what's happened in America, Bo Josh? I can tell you what's happening in America, I believe. I believe that initially America was attempting to follow the Word of God. And now over the years, that influence of the Word of God as a nation, as a society, as our communities has become less and less and less, it's become less and less of a priority. And while we have many churches and humanitarian organizations that are out there feeding the homeless and helping the sick, and again, that is a good work, and we should not neglect that. But at the same time, we also and absolutely should not neglect the preaching of the Word of God and being obedient to the Word of God and sharing the absolute truth of the gospel in a fallen world who does not recognize that it's truth at all. Where there is no vision, the people perish. But he that keepeth the law, happy is he. So this is an example of the Lord saying that the preaching of the word of God needs to be a priority in the church. And now, in closing, we bring this down to the personal level. Turn with me, if you will, to Luke chapter 10. In Luke chapter 10, we see where the word of God is brought down to a personal level. Now, I mentioned that in my youth, some of these ministers that preached on Proverbs 29, 18 were trying to apply, where there is no vision, the people perish to the individual. The context of that verse in the Bible is national. It's national. But in other words, it's the entire country. It's the entire people of Israel, it's the entire people of God. If the people of God aren't being preached to, if the people of God aren't being obedient to the word of God, then they're weakening themselves. That is the context of Proverbs 29, 18. And then we see in Acts how the context is that the church. The church cannot neglect the word of God. And now we come down to the personal level where those ministers in my youth were attempting to preach that were in when the individual neglects the word of God, that he is weakened, or it's not the most, you know. Look at Luke 10. We're going to begin reading in verse 38. Luke 10 and 38. Now it came to pass as they went, he entered into a certain village. This is Jesus. And a certain woman named Martha received him into her home. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving. And she came to him and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Question mark. Bid her therefore that she help me. So Jesus came into the community. He came into Mary and Martha's house. And Martha, her focus as a godly woman, you understand. Martha is a godly woman. And she sees Jesus and she sees Jesus as those that are accompanying him. I must feed all these men. I must feed all these people. And then this is her Lord. This is the most honorable guest that she's ever had in her house. And she believes him to be the Messiah. And she loves the Lord. So I must get about. I must make sure there's food on the table and everything is prepared and everybody has lodgings and she's making sure everything is squared away. And she is so very overwhelmed. She is anxious. She is overwhelmed by all the preparations. And then she looks in there and she sees her sister, who is also her equal, who is her youth fella, right? Her sister is the one who labors beside her, who helps her. They do all this stuff together. They do all the preparation together. And she, can you imagine Martha's just slaving away there in the quote-unquote kitchen, and then she goes by the door, and then she comes back by the door again, and then she comes back by the door, or maybe she walks through the living room, and time and time again she sees Mary right there on the floor listening to Jesus. Do y'all think that she's getting a little bit madder every time she walks by the door? Why is Mary not helping me? Does Mary not see me serving? Does she not see me cooking? Does she not see me cleaning? Does she not see me preparing? And then finally it comes to a breaking point where Martha literally goes to Jesus and says, Jesus. She literally says, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister had left me to serve alone? Jesus, did you not care that my sister is sitting there listening to you and she's not helping me? In other words, Jesus, Lord, the creator of the universe, you don't care that my sister is not helping me? Has left me to serve alone? Jesus, tell her that she needs to help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, not what she was expecting to hear. Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things. In other words, Martha, you are anxious and you are overwhelmed right now. But one thing is needful. And Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her. Martha, what I want you to do is stop. Take your apron off, stop cooking. Come in here and sit and listen. If we eat two hours late, it doesn't matter. If your house is not picked up, it doesn't matter. Brothers and sisters, if Jesus came to your house, Jesus now came to your house, would you and I be more concerned about serving him a meal? Or maybe this is the only time I'm gonna hear him. Does everything come to a screeching halt and stop? If the grass isn't mowed, if the windows aren't clean, if the baseboards aren't wiped down, if the supper is cold, everything in life needs to stop and focus only on him for a time. Lord, I don't want to miss this opportunity to hear you. To be near you, for you to speak into my life. Bru Josh, why do you tell that story? I tell you that story because you and I as Christians, and you and I as a church, and you and I as a nation can get distracted by all the other good things that you and I are supposed to be doing, and we can neglect the most important of all things. Mine and your relationship and walk with in obedience to the word of God and the person of Jesus Christ is more important than your yard, than your dinner, than your marriage, than your children, than your job. It is supposed to come first above everything else. And when you put it first above everything else, Matthew 633, but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and then and only then will all of these things be given you as well as a byproduct of you putting the sovereign God of the universe in his first and proper place, then he will give you a good marriage and good parenting and good children and good prosperity and a good church and a good community and a good job and so on and so forth. But do not get that out of order. Don't minister to the widows first. Don't make your children an idol. Don't make your job an idol. All the other jobs is my job as a man to provide for my home. Therefore, I'm gonna pour my soul and my life and my job, and I'll work 80 or 90 hours a week, and then I come home weary and tired, and I don't even know my life, and I don't even know my children. Satan to me, like, brother, you need to cut back. Satan to me, like, brother, that you but what was the last time you get church? Well, I got there one Sunday a month. I just couldn't get to them other three Sundays because I had to work or because my job was no, no, brother, I'm sorry. Your job is not that important. Let me reiterate that. Your job is not that important. God is more important than your job. God is more important than your wife. God is more important than your children. Now, Brother Josh, you better clarify that. When a man makes God the most important thing in his life, then God is a byproduct and is a blessing for that man, then turns his attention back to his wife and to his children and to his church, and he becomes a better husband and a better father and a better workman. And then the Lord blesses his efforts in all of those areas. But when a man gets idolized and he puts his soul focused on something outside of God, then that man's house starts falling apart. When a nation takes their focus off of God, that nation starts weakening and becoming exposed and loosening its values and its morals and its focus. When a church, well, we're just going to build houses, we're just going to dig ditches. Well, when was the last time you actually focused on preaching the gospel? Can you not do both? Brothers and sisters, the Bible is true. Jesus told Mary. One thing is needful. And Mary had chosen the good part, the better portion, which shall not be taken away from her, Martha. I want you to come and sit down. Let the dinner get cold. I don't care. We're going to eat, we'll eat later. It's not the most important thing. I remember in my youth, a godly Christian man I knew of another faith and order. He worked for one of the bottling companies. It was a soda company. And he had a good job. And he was offered a promotion that I knew this man personally. He was offered a promotion that would increase his pay. Now you granted, this is back in the late 1990s. He was granted a job promotion that would increase his pay to the tune of $15,000 or $20,000 a year. That's a lot of money. And especially back in the 1990s. But it required that he worked every single Sunday. No, I will stay where I'm at right now and not take the $20,000 bump in pay. Because my Lord has told me to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. I can't spend that time away from God and my family. That's the hard decisions that families make that want to honor God. Where there is no vision, the people perish. But the man that is obedient to the word of God, he is blessed. I hope this has been an encouragement to you. We are going to close in a word of song. I'm going to ask Brother Don to come up and help us do that. And then the church doors will be open if you desire to unite with the membership of our church. Brother Don.