 Amen, alright, so here's a really interesting story in the Bible. This morning we're going to look at this story, and we have a story here of a messenger and a messenger, and we're going to look at this story of this messenger, we're going to look at the man, we're going to look at the message, and I'm going to show you this morning some crazy parallels to some messengers that we're dealing with today. So what's the story here? What is the context of what's going on? Here we have this messenger that has come to the nation of Judah. We have King Hezekiah is king at this time, King Hezekiah has watched the nation of Judah has watched in the past just few years earlier the northern kingdom of Israel taken into captivity by the Assyrian Empire, and not only have they seen this, not only did they see this terrible event happen to their neighbors to the north, to their ex-brethren to the north, but they now are facing this same enemy that has come to them. So much so that the king of Assyria actually came across the borders and he actually took the fenced cities. What it means is that the outer cities of the nation of Judah, so the king of Assyria has overthrown the northern kingdom of Israel, Hezekiah the nation of Judah saw this happen, they were carried away into captivity, it was a terrible thing that happened, they all saw it happen. Now this country, this massive empire has invaded them, they came in, they took over the fenced cities, Hezekiah tried to pay them off, Hezekiah was a good king. The Bible says he trusted the Lord, we'll actually see in this sermon this morning and in this story, this morning in the Bible how much he does trust the Lord. But Hezekiah tried to appease the Assyrian king, he tried to, it says he cut the doors off the temple, the golden doors, because the king said give me money basically, he said please leave, please depart my borders, and he said give me all this gold. So he cuts, he takes the treasures of the house of the Lord, he tries to pay them off, does it work? It doesn't work. The guy comes to Jerusalem, he sends a messenger to Jerusalem and he wants the whole thing. He wants Jerusalem. So here we see in 2nd Kings chapter 19, we see the story of this messenger, this Rebshecha. He comes and he talks to the messengers of the king and he's giving a very specific, he's delivering a very specific message from the king of Assyria. So let's look at the message that Rebshecha had, let's look at it first, let's go through this story and then we'll apply that, it's crazy the parallels that we see here with what we're seeing in our lives today. But the first thing I want to point out with Rebshecha, it turned to 2nd Kings chapter 18 and verse number 25. The Bible says this. It says, am I now come up without the Lord against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, go up against this land and destroy it. This is Rebshecha talking to the king's men. So basically Rebshecha, first of all he starts off and he says, God told me to come here. God told me to come and overthrow this city. He's like I am with God, he's trying to get them, he's trying to claim that God is with him and not with the children of Judah. But look, look at verse number 27. He quickly turns and gets angry and shows what he really thinks of God. In verse number 27 it says, but Rebshecha said unto them, hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words, hath he not sent me to the men which sit on the wall that they may eat their own dung and drink their own piss with you. This is the Bible folks. Rebshecha stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews language and spake saying, hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria. Thus sayeth the king, let not Hezekiah deceive you, for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand. Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying the Lord will surely deliver us and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. Harken not to Hezekiah, for thus sayeth the king of Assyria, make an agreement with me by a presence and come out to me and let him eat every man of his own vine and every one of his fig tree and drink ye every one of the waters of his cistern, until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of branded vineyards, and a land of olive and honey, sounds pretty good, that they may live and not die and harken not unto Hezekiah when he persuadeeth you, saying the Lord will deliver us. Now watch verse number 33. This is a man that just previously, just a few minutes before, said the Lord sent me here. He said, the Lord is with me, the Lord told me to come here, and in verse 33, just a few minutes later, just a few words later, he says, hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria. He basically says to them, your God cannot save you from us, is what he is saying. Where are the gods of Hamath, of Arpad? Where are the gods of Serapham? Hannah and Iva, have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand? Who are they among all the gods of the countries that have delivered their country out of mine hand, and the Lord, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand? Look, Rabbi Shaka had a godless worldview. He had a godless worldview. He came to the walls of Jerusalem and he said, he first tried to just appease them and take the easy road, but when he realized that they weren't going to listen, he says, look, we've invaded dozens and dozens and dozens of people with gods, and their gods did not save them. Your God is not going to save you. He didn't believe in any of these gods, but this was his fatal mistake because he was 99.9% right. All those other gods were nothing. They were dumb idols, but here he came up against the holy God, the only one true living God, but he didn't know it, and it became his fatal mistake. To him, the God of Judah was no different than all the other gods that the Assyrian Empire had just been rolling right over. It was no different. But this was his problem, his fatal mistake. So look, he had a godless worldview. He did not believe in any God, and he lied about it at first, but at the end the truth came out. Even in verse 34, he says, even in Samaria, because look, he's saying even in Samaria it didn't save them, and he knew the connection between Samaria and Judah. He knew. He's like the God of Samaria didn't save them. What makes you think that you're God? He doesn't believe in any gods. He doesn't believe in any of them. But having this worldview, I don't want to give the story away, but you obviously know, having this worldview cost them their whole army. It cost this king his life. The second point I want to make about this messenger is this. Rabbi Sheka was trying to influence the people here. He had a very specific agenda. Rabbi Sheka had an agenda to gain power and control over Judah. That was his agenda. He came there to gain power over these people and to basically try to win without a fight. That's what he was trying to do. And what were his methods? What were Rabbi Sheka's methods? So he came there and he used all these terrible words. His first method was fear. He was trying to strike fear. That's why, look, that's why they said, could you please speak in the Assyrian language? We understand the Assyrian language. Speak to us in the Assyrian language, because all the people of Judah on the wall were listening and they didn't want, he said, no, I'm going to speak in your language because I want all the people to hear this. Because he wants to strike fear into the people. That's why he asked for the, that's why they asked for the language change. Because the messengers of Hezekiah knew that the people on the walls were listening to all these horrible things. You know, you're going to eat your own dung. I mean, that's, everyone's like, that doesn't sound good. So he's trying to strike fear. Look at 2nd Kings, chapter 18, verse number 26, then said, Alayakim, the son of Hezekiah and Shebna and Joa and unto Rabshekah, speak I pray that ye to thy servants in the Assyrian language, for we understand it and talk not with us in the Jews language in the ears of the people that are on the wall. And right away he responds and he says, you know, hath my master sent to me thy master into thee to speak these words, hath he not sent me to the men which sit on the wall. He knew they were listening, that they may eat their own dung and drink their own piss with you. So he knows that everybody's listening and he wants them to hear it. So he was trying to strike fear into the people of Judah. So look, he's there, he's trying to, he's trying to push this agenda. And the main thing he uses is fear. The second thing is this, Rabshekah is pitching a different reality to the people. Look at verse number 31. I mean, was Rabshekah's reality real? Let's look at that for a minute. He's pitching this reality to the people, if you do these things, this will happen to you. If you listen to me, you will be able to stay in your own homes and all these great things, your life will be great. Was that real? Is that a reality? Look at verse 31 of 2 Kings 18, Harkin not to Hezekiah, he's saying, don't listen to your king, for thus saith the king of Assyria, make an agreement with me by a present. He's like, give me more money. He's like, you've already given me all this gold and all this silver. He's like, give me more and come out to me and then eat, eat every man. So he's like, you're going to eat this. And he's like, or you could eat of your own vine and every one of his own fig tree and drink every one of the waters of his sister. He's like, you can stay in your homes, is what he's saying. Until I come, and then he says, he's going to take them away, right? Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, and a land of oil, olive, and of honey that you may live and not die and Harkin not unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeeth you, saying the Lord will deliver us. Can't you just see the people going to Hezekiah saying, man, it sounds pretty good. Why don't we just do this? We're going to have this great land, this great property. It reminds me of when Stalin, I don't know if many of you know this, but Stalin, after World War II, he tried to repatriate all Russians that had left the Soviet Union during the war and that had fleed before even the war started. And he started bringing all these people back. As a matter of fact, the Americans and the British like forcefully loaded people onto trains to send them back to Russia at Stalin's request after the war was over. Not many people know that. But he promised him, land, you'll have 40 acres of land. Come back, help rebuild the country. And he threw them all in prison or killed them when they actually got back. So you can about imagine, people didn't really want to go back when they heard this was happening. So it was kind of a big deal. He hunted people all over the world, all over Asia, all over everywhere, psychopath. But look, back to the sermon. So he's sitting here and he's telling these people, you can stay in your homes. And when we do send you away, we're going to send you to even a better place. And you're going to have all these vineyards. And you'll have more than you have now. But look, the Assyrians were known to be brutal people. Throughout history, even secular historians will say it is well documented that the Assyrians were brutal, brutal people. They are known, turned to 2 Kings chapter 19. They're known for things like flaying people alive, like burning captives, killing children. Look at 2 Kings chapter 19 and verse number 28. This matches up exactly with what secular historians have found through drawings and artworks and things from the Assyrian Empire from this time. Look at 2 Kings chapter 19 and verse number 28. This is God speaking. OK, but look what God says. And look at the language that he uses. You're like, why would God use these specific terms? And I'll tell you why. In 2 Kings chapter 19, look at verse 28. Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back the way which thou camest. This is God speaking to the Assyrians, saying, I'm going to put my hook in your lips and my bridle in your mouth. Because the Assyrians, when they led away captives, they would actually put hooks through people's mouths. They would put hooks through their lips and they would wind them up in chains. This is well documented. This is what God has seen what the Assyrian Empire has done to the northern kingdom of Israel as a judgment, by the way. But he has seen it. He's like, you know what? Now I'm going to put my hook in your lips. He's like, I'm going to get you out of this land. That's what God is saying here. But look, turn to Hosea chapter 13 if you need more evidence. Hosea chapter 13. So God was using what the Assyrians did to the people that they conquered. He was using that language against them as he was going to throw them out. Look at Hosea 13 in verse number 16. The Bible here is talking about the judgment coming to Samaria by the Assyrian Empire. And it shows more of the brutality of the Assyrian people. Samaria shall become desolate, for she hath rebelled against her God. They shall fall by the sword. Their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up. I mean, look, it's terrible. These people were brutal. It was different than the Babylonian captivity. Not to say that there wasn't brutality in the Babylonian captivity, but it was much worse with the Assyrian Empire taking away the northern kingdom of Israel. Look, the 10 tribes that were in the northern kingdom of Israel, they literally ceased to exist. They were either killed or they were just, you know, assimilated out of his existence, basically, right? I mean, the people, at least in the Babylonian captivity that happened, you know, later on, at least, you know, they were allowed to return after 70 years. You know, the Babylonians at least allowed them to return. But look, there's no vineyards that they're going to is the point I'm trying to make here. They're, if they capitulate to this guy, they're all doomed is the bottom line. You know, they, you know, basically, you know, he tells them earlier that, you know what? You need to give up or you're all going to starve to death. But look, if they give up, things would not be great. They would all be murdered and tortured and terrible things. So basically, Rabbi Sheka was using propaganda and lies to try to get these people to do what he wanted them to do. That's the bottom line. So what did they do? And you know, he used, another thing that he used was sensationalism, right? He's just, he's over exaggerating everything from the good to the bad, right? He's showing this horrible situation on the downside and then he's over exaggerating everything on the good side as well. But it was all lies. None of it was true. Look at verse 37. How does the story end? How does the story end? You're like, they're in a bad spot. This is a huge army that's come up against them. Look at verse 37 of 2 Kings 18. The Bible says, then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent and told him the words of Rabbi Sheka. So they go at the end of the chapter and they tell the king what they've just heard. Because the king didn't hear this, right? They tell the king what they've just heard and they've got their clothes rent and they're just, there weren't a lot of trouble, they say to the king, all right? Now go to chapter 19, one chapter over and look at, let's continue the story. Look at 2 Kings 19, verse number one. And here's Hezekiah hearing the story and what he does. And it came to pass when King Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and he went into the house of the Lord. The first thing he does. And he sent Eliakim, which was over the household, and Shevna described, and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amos. This is Isaiah's time here, okay? And they said unto him, thus sayeth Hezekiah, this day is a day of trouble. Yeah, no kidding. And of rebuke and blasphemy. For the children that come to the birth and there is not strength to bring forth. They go to the prophet Isaiah and they say, we don't know what to do. We've got this blasphemous guy. He said all these things to us. Help us. They come before the Lord. And look down just for sake of time at verse number 35. And it came to pass that night that the angel of the Lord went out. So basically Isaiah tells them what God is gonna do. God is gonna take care of this situation. God says, I will fight for you. And it came to pass that night that the angel of the Lord went out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians in 104 score and 5,000. 185,000 people. When they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. The Lord went out, look, no army went out here. The Lord's angel went out and killed 185,000 people of the Assyrian army. So Sennacherib, king of Assyria departed and went and returned and dwelt at Nineveh. But wait, there's more. And it came to pass as he was worshiping in the house of Nisrach, his god, lowercase G, that Adromelik and Shazzar, his son, smote him with the sword, that they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esarhadan, his son, reigned and is dead. So God even makes it so the king that invaded died. And I'm sure Ravshaka had the same fate. So he had a fatal mistake of having this godless worldview because the one that came against him was the god, capital G, that he had discounted as not real. So what does this story have to do with us? What does this have to do? How can we apply this to today? Well, look, I wanna show you some interesting parallels this morning with this story of this messenger, his message. And the first thing is, let's just talk about the power of propaganda. The power of propaganda is incredibly effective. There's the reason that people do it for a living. There's its entire industries are based around it. Propaganda, the way that you present a message to people can be incredibly effective to whatever agenda you're trying to push is the bottom line. Look, particularly in cases like this, particularly in times of war. You know, a good example for us when I was thinking about this sermon, if you remember the poster of Uncle Sam that says, you know, it's got Uncle Sam with the top hat and it says, I want you for the US Army. How many of you have seen that? That one poster by itself was credited for swelling the ranks of the United States Army during World War I. Because it was such a powerful piece of propaganda that it inspired all sorts of patriotism in people and people wanted to serve and go and fight for their country and things like that. Look, other posters, there was other posters, it's interesting to go back and look at these older posters. Another poster from World War I was a poster of, it was called the Great War at that time. You can about imagine, it was the first World War, it was a big deal to people, right? Another poster that was really interesting was one that said, it's got a child talking to her father and the child says, daddy, what did you do during the Great War? So it's inspiring this masculinity to wanna be like, I better go do something in this time, right? Right or wrong, look, right or wrong, I'm not saying these posters are right or these posters are wrong, but I'm saying they're incredibly effective. The way that you present a message can be incredibly effective. And then there was all kinds of posters in World War I, in many other, it happens today too where the poster's demonizing the enemy, whether it be the Japanese or the Germans or whatever. They're incredibly effective. Now look, with the digital age, what I'm talking about is TV, internet, propaganda is in overdrive today. Propaganda is in overdrive today. So what I wanna focus on this morning is the media. And I wanna talk about the media and what the media means for us. And I wanna look at some parallels with the media today and this story in the Bible. Look, I'm not talking about necessarily just the news media, I'm talking about media in general, okay? So I wanna talk about the media. So what are the parallels? Because the parallels are striking. But the first parallel is this, like Rav Shekka, especially the news media, but the media today has a godless worldview. Turn to Proverbs chapter one. It's a completely godless worldview. They have a very specific agenda and it is not a godly one. I mean, think about it, from science, to national events, to world events, they're looking at all these things through a godless worldview, just like Rav Shekka did. I mean, how did it work out for Rav Shekka? I mean, he made this one mistake. This could be the whole sermon right here. He made one simple mistake. He had a godless worldview. Because look, think about it. If he knew that he was going up against the only one god that has all the power to do whatever he wants, you think he would have said the things that he said? He just didn't know. He didn't believe that that god was real. He said, it's just one of the other gods, in the lower case, G. He's like, we've been rolling over these gods like a freight train. What makes you think your god's gonna help you? The king of Egypt's not gonna help you. Your god's not gonna help you. He's like, we're just rolling over all the gods. They don't do anything. But look, it Proverbs 1.7, and I know you know this verse well, but the Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. But fools despise wisdom and instruction. So look, if you're getting information from people that don't have the fear of the Lord, what, it's the beginning of knowledge. Like it's the start of it. So they haven't even started getting knowledge or wisdom. So do you think that it's gonna be correct? If they have no knowledge, another part of the Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. They have no knowledge. They have no wisdom. They haven't even started. It's not like, oh, they're halfway into it. No, they haven't started. I mean, that's what the Bible says. Look, Rabbi Shekka was wrong, completely. I mean, look, it doesn't even have to be sinister. If they don't fear the Lord, if they don't know, if they don't have a worldview, a fear of the Lord in their worldview, they're not gonna be correct. Even if they wanted to know the truth. Even if they wanted to know, if they don't have the fear of the Lord, they're not going to know. They're going to make mistakes, big ones. I mean, Rabbi Shekka's mistake cost him his life and 185,000 people of the Assyrian army. Turn to 2 Kings chapter 19. Just keep your place there. We're gonna be going back to that. But look, all these gods, it's just one more. Then God responds. God responds and tells him how wrong he is. I love verse number 22. It says, whom has thou reproached and blasphemed? This is where Isaiah is speaking for God here. They went to, they laid it before the Lord and they went to Isaiah and they said, what do we do? Ask God, tell us. Whom has thou, he said, they already said that he blasphemed. They already told Isaiah that this guy blasphemed the Lord. They said, whom has thou reproached and blasphemed? Against whom has thou exalted thy voice and lifted up thine eyes on high? Even against thee, holy one of Israel. The one true living God. So like Rab Shaka, the media today is just, they're pitching, you know, this godless worldview. This godless worldview. Look, here's another one. Like Rab Shaka, the media today is pitching a literal different reality. Remember Rab Shaka says, hey, if you do this, this is gonna happen, which was just not true? The media today is, look, it's the same as Rab Shaka. They're trying to influence you. They're trying to influence you. And guess what? It gets even better because they use the same two tactics that Rab Shaka used. What are those tactics? Fear and sensationalism. That's the two tactics that they use. It's exactly the same. Look, if all, think about it, think about it. If all you did was watch TV, you would be convinced that the world is on fire today. But what's happening today? What's actually happening today? What is reality? You know, you would be convinced a few weeks ago that there's just dead bodies everywhere. I mean, that's the reality that they're pitching. Like I've had people over the last couple of weeks calling me and texting me from all kinds of different other states. People, places that I used to live, Texas. Man, are you guys okay there? It's like, that's crazy. What's going on there? I'm like, what's going on here? But I know what's going on. They got their face in front of the TV and all they're seeing is fires and bricks flying everywhere. And they're like, it's all in California. You know, it must be everybody, right? Everywhere. But sometimes you just need to turn it off. You just need to kind of look around for yourself. You know, go to the store. Find out, you know, what is, turn to Matthew, chapter 15. I mean, what is your reality? Otherwise, look, otherwise, Matthew 15, we just looked at this on Wednesday night, but look at verse 14. Otherwise, this is you. If you don't use your own eyes and all you're doing is following people and letting people with a godless worldview constantly tell you what your reality is, this is you. Matthew 15, 14, let them alone. They be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. And here's the thing, you're not even the leader. You're the blind following the blind. If all you're doing is listening to people with a godless worldview. That's it. People, look, folks. People with a godless worldview, they have a different reality than you. They have a different reality than you and they want a different reality than you. So you say, why do they do it? Yeah, it's to push a worldview, a godless agenda. You know, maybe as simple as politics, power, those types of things. But look, here's another big driver. Same as Rapsheka. Money. Is that a shocker? Money. He said, give me presents. They already gave him all this gold and silver. Give me more. Look, here's the thing. Nobody will watch if there's a news reporter in Fresno and on the local six o'clock news and he's standing in a parking lot. He's like, you know what? The thing is, there's not really anything much happening here and it looks, oh, there's a guy going to Chick-fil-A and no one's gonna watch that. No one wants to see that. Sensationalism sells. It's that simple. You know what? That's why you'll see YouTube feeds of multi-riots because people will watch that. You know that YouTube, think about this for a second. This is mind-blowing. 300 hours of video get uploaded to YouTube every single minute. So here's an analogy. Think of it this way. Say you have a hardware store in town. Say you have a hardware store and every single day, 200 new hardware stores open up in your town. How hard, is it gonna get easier or harder to sell hammers? 200 every day, 200 more hardware stores. Is there a market for it? We don't care. 200 more just opened up. 200 more, 200 more, so guess what? You're probably gonna start giving away candy and putting bounce houses out, like free pizza just to get everybody into your store to buy your hammer. That's why you see, that's where clickbait came from because people are trying to put out sensational stuff to get you to watch their stuff. The guy that's just out there just telling the truth and just, I don't believe he exists anymore. Maybe he used to. It's so hard to find him. It'd be, it's almost irrelevant at this point. But the guy that's just out there saying, hey, here's what's really going on. No one's gonna watch that. No one's gonna watch that. They wanna see the bodies loaded on the trucks. They wanna see the grave with all the bodies. They wanna see the fires. They wanna see the craziness. They wanna see all the sensationalism. And I got news for ya. It's only going to get worse because of money. Because the Cable News Channel wants you to watch their stuff. So they gotta have more fires and more craziness and more, I mean, it's not the truth. It's not reality. I mean, look, at any given moment in this world, something crazy is going on somewhere. I mean, look, I talked to my dad on Sunday night and I had a really interesting, he gave me some really interesting perspective and I wanna share it with you this morning. Look, first of all, none of this, as far as the riot, none of this is new. We burn the cities every 20 years in this country. It's like 20 years, let's burn this place down. That's what we do. But look, here's the thing. I talked to my dad and he told me, he's like, oh yeah, he's like, people are, he's like, I talked to your sister in Denver and she's all worried and I was like, I just gave her some perspective. Let me give it to you. He said, let me tell you about the 60s. You know, 70 years ago, 60 years ago, 60 years ago, in 1963, the president of the United States was shot and killed. The entire 60s themselves were just covered, just spotted with riots everywhere, all the time. There was riots in almost every year that you can find. You know, from the civil rights movement and things that were going on. There's all sorts of riots. You know, there's riots. Let me read you a news article from 1965. On August 11th, 1965, Marquette Fry, an African-American motorist on patrol for robbery, on parole for robbery, I'm sorry, was pulled over for reckless driving. A minor roadside argument broke out, which then escalated into a fight with police. Community members reported that the police had hurt a pregnant woman and six days of civil unrest followed. Nearly 4,000 members of the California Army National Guard helped suppress the disturbance, which resulted in 34 deaths and over $40 million in property damage. There's riots all throughout America in the 60s and even into the 70s. I mean, from the civil rights stuff to the protests on the Vietnam War, I mean, think about that. The Vietnam War went on for 15 plus years, 15 years at the height of which 300 Americans were getting killed every single week. I mean, think about it. For those of you who remember 2003 and the Gulf War and all that kind of stuff, 300 a week were being killed in the 60s, right? In 1968, the president's brother was shot and killed. A senator, you know, he had Martin Luther King assassinated, you know, and then in 1968, there was real rioting. Like hundreds of cities in the United States were on fire in 1968. 100 huge riots. 1969, think about this, 18 to 22 year old. So the Vietnam War's been going on. 1969, they started the draft. So you get a letter in 1969. You know, you think about how crazy your life seems right now? How about the government shows up on your doorstep and says, hey, hey son, you're going to Vietnam now. You know this war you've been watching for almost 10 years? You're going, buddy. You're like, Viet where? Some farm kid from North Dakota, you're like, Viet what? You're looking at your map? Where am I going? Why? I mean, look, those are crazy times. Those are crazy times. So I mean, look, people must have thought America was coming to an end. You know, I'm sure plenty of people did. So look, I'm not, look, and guess what? The same groups that were exploiting victims back then are exploiting victims today. The exact same groups. I'm not saying it's good. I'm not saying we shouldn't pay attention. I'm just saying put things in some context. All right? I mean, the world's not coming to an end. Jesus isn't coming back this afternoon, okay? But most of the time what you're watching, the media to bring it back, is just they're pitching a false narrative. So what do we do? What do we do, you say? There's all kinds of rap checkers out there. What do we do? How do we handle this? Let me just give you my two step approach to reality. All right, here's what you do. Here's what you do. Step number one is this. Everything that you view, you view through the lens of the Bible. That's step one. I mean, that will solve, look, that will solve the worldview issue. What did Hezekiah do? What did Hezekiah did? The first thing is he went to the Lord for answers. And that's what we should do. Everything that we look at, we look at through the lens of the Bible, period. And that will filter out all this garbage for us. But you say, can I never watch or read the news? No, that's not what I'm saying, but you need to understand the context. If you know the Bible and you look at things through the lens of the Bible, it will show you how to read between the lines. You see what I'm saying? And guess what? Just like with rabshaka, most things start with something true. I mean, rabshaka was correct when he said, look, we have this huge army. We've just taken over the Northern Kingdom of Israel and now we're here. I mean, that was correct. All the other stuff from there, it all starts with something true. It all starts with a victim or something, with something true. It's the same thing with the riots. It all starts with a victim, a terrible event. Nobody argues that. But the problem is, having a biblical worldview will open your eyes to all the godless agendas that follow. Socialism, like communism, like anarchism, all these things, they're all there. They're all twisted up in this. And it's nothing new. It's nothing that didn't happen in the 60s or even hundreds of years before. These agendas are there to take advantage of situations and there's people pushing these agendas. And if you have a biblical worldview, you'll recognize it. You will see it. Don't trust it. And the second point is this. You look at everything through the lens of the Bible and the second thing is this. Use your own two eyes to determine reality. Please. You know, the media will always sensationalize everything because they have to sell it to you. They have to sell it to you, just like Rapshaka. Look, my faith in this last year, my faith in the media has gone to zero. I mean, I knew what it was about before, but it has gone to like zero now. Just because of, look, the media, the way that you need to look at things is through the lens of the Bible and it must be verifiable with your own two eyes, right? There's no trust anymore. You know, you can't trust Godless people. You know, I don't know why that surprises me or that did surprise me, but it shouldn't surprise you. Look, that's why I drove around so much during the lockdown. I was driving everywhere. I've never put so many miles on. I mean, sometimes you just need to turn off Rapshaka and see what's going on, period. And ask yourself, what is my reality? Look, there is nobodies in the streets. They weren't there. You know, just this last week on Tuesday, people would work like, huge riot, huge riot in North Fresno, River Park, you guys got to take a different way home. You guys got to do this stuff. You guys go around. I got off work. I drove up there. I drove to River Park. There's nobody there! I mean, you got to see what's going on because everyone just gets worked up and pretty soon the whole mall burned down and then, oh, a Chick-fil-A's on fire. And it's just like, there's hundreds of people there and there's going to be this huge thing and just don't go home. Everybody's got to go home now and like, there's nobody there. Nothing happened. I mean, you got to just open your eyes. Sometimes Fresno's not on fire. Everybody that knows me from other states, I'm okay. We're getting by. It's like 85 degrees out today. It's beautiful out. But look, here's another thing. Here's something I do notice, right? Because we're, guess what? First of all, the soul winner, another sidebar. The soul winner will have like a pulse on the country, on the community, like nobody else. The soul winner will. Here's what I notice. And I was talking to Brother Frank about it yesterday. Things are getting less receptive in certain neighborhoods because people are, you can tell they're hard-hearted. You can tell people are hard-hearted in certain neighborhoods that we're going to. I noticed that. I've noticed it over the last three weeks. Things are less receptive. That's not good. But look, the soul winner will just buy the nature of the work that they're doing. We'll have their eyes open to the community like nobody else. More than the police, more than any community people. Because we're out there, we're out there just, we're out there just talking to the people. We're out there just, how are you doing? Walking on the street, how are you? We're from church. People generally don't care about, they're not going to be upset at talking to people. But I can tell a difference. In the last three weeks, so this is not good. You know, it's better. As soon as it gets over, you know, the whole attitude of it all, it's going to be better for the gospel. It's going to be better for the people. But look, so just keep your eyes open. Those two things. Look at everything through the lens of the Bible. Open your eyes. Open your eyes. But just imagine this. And here's something that's kind of sad. Imagine the person that has a godless worldview. Imagine this person for a minute. I mean, it's really kind of sad when you think about it. Imagine the person that just has this worldview where they're looking at the world that has no god. I mean, where there's no truth. There's no absolute truth. This is why, by the way, atheistic thinking, the atheist in his thinking will always fail. Because if there is no absolute truth and your truth is different than my truth, it just really comes down to whoever has the most power has the truth. That's what it boils down to. Translated into government, that's what it means. It means power equals truth. I have more strength. I have more power. My truth wins. That's what it boils down to. So all the intellectual thought that they think that they're putting into it, that's what it equals. Strength equals truth, if you're an atheist. That's it. Turn to John 18. Or just look at the front of your bulletin. Look, Pontius Pilate knew this. Pontius Pilate knew this. Look at John 18 and look at verse number 37. This is Pilate standing before Jesus. Pilate therefore said unto him, art thou a king then? Jesus answered, thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born. And for this cause came I into the world that I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth here hath my voice. So he's saying, yeah, I'm a king. That's why I was born. That's my purpose. And he says, everyone that is of the truth, here's my voice. He's saying to Pontius Pilate, look, if you're of the truth, you'll know this. You'll believe me is what he's saying. In 38, Pilate said unto him, what is truth? What is truth? Pontius Pilate had a Godless worldview. There's no truth. What is truth? Your truth is different than my truth. Look, Pilate had a moment of honesty there where he basically just said, you know, look, what is truth? Cause I don't know. That was a moment of honesty that Pontius Pilate had. He's like, I don't know what the truth is. What is it? Then it really plays out into what I just said. You know, what does it matter if I give this man up to be killed? What does it matter? Because guess what? He had the power to do it. So he did. Power equals truth for the Godless. Strong equals right for the Godless. Pontius Pilate was strong enough to do whatever he wanted to do. His truth was preserve myself, preserve my political future, preserve my position. Thus execute him. That is my truth. That became his truth. Look, there must be an absolute truth or it all breaks down, period. And the Bible is the only absolute truth that exists. It's the only absolute truth that can be trusted. Whenever someone has a narrative that doesn't fit that truth, it needs to raise a flag for you, period. Look, here's what it all boils down to, folks. Rabbi Shekka was a liar. He was a liar. He was pushing an agenda. It's the same with most of the media today. You need to recognize that or you will be led by the blind. You say, but I'm saved. Look, there's a lot of Christians that believe a lot of stupid wrong stuff because they're being led by blind people, because they're believing blind people, because they're not filtering things through the Bible. Just because you're saved doesn't mean you won't fall down some stupid rabbit hole. It has nothing to do with it. Being saved means you're going to heaven no matter how dumb you get on planet earth. I mean, who wants to be in heaven and live on their life and be like, man, I was a moron for most of it. I mean, but it happens. But look, people, godless worldview, the blind, open your eyes and look around. Rabbi Shekka was a man with an agenda. His agenda was money and power. It's no different. He was willing to lie, cheat, and steal to get it. It's no different today. Turn to 2 Kings 19. Look at verse 14. Rabbi Shekka went back and then he wrote Hezekiah. He was not done speaking. He wrote Hezekiah a letter and he sent it to Hezekiah. And Hezekiah took the letter and that's what he took in front of Isaiah. And he took the letter and in verse 14 of 2 Kings 19, the Bible says in Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers and read it. This is Rabbi Shekka's letter. And Hezekiah went up into the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord. I mean, he took the letter and he just laid it before God. He said, here's what's being put on me and he laid it before the Lord. I mean, what a great verse. And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, oh, Lord God of Israel, which dwelleth between the cherubimms, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth, thou hast made heaven and earth. By the way, do you talk to God like this? Maybe you should. Do you speak to God in these respectful terms when you pray? Because I said, he prayed, right? And this is an answered prayer. So I want, I mean, raise your hand if you want your prayers answered. Look at how he speaks to the Lord. Do you get to bed at night and you're half asleep and you're like, hey, God. Ah, ah, leave fall asleep halfway through the prayer. Look, that's not how Hezekiah talked to God here. Look at verse 16, Lord, bow down thine ear and hear. Open, Lord, thine eyes and see. And hear the words of Sennacherib and that which hath sent him to reproach the living God of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their land. So it all started with that truth. He laid that letter before God. It all started with that truth. He laid it before the Lord. Look, we need to look at everything like Hezekiah did through the lands of the Lord. You need to lay these things, these messages, these messengers before the Lord, which is viewing it through what God has given you. He's given you the lens. He's given it to you. Open your eyes, look at things through biblical worldview and understand that it's the Godless that are pushing propaganda on you. Okay, let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for today. I thank you for this great story in the Bible. I thank you for King Hezekiah and just the way that he handled this and was such a great example for us to just bring everything and lay it down before you. And Lord, I pray that you just, you just edify us through this story. Lord, with all the propaganda that's being pushed on us today, help us to know that it's just the blind and they don't understand that you are the true one living God. Lord, we love you. I ask that you bless the rest of today, soul winning and church this evening. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.