See, it's so important to follow the Lord even when you don't feel prepared or ready. Here's the truth. When are you ever really ready or prepared to do what God wants? The only way we get ready or prepare is to be submissive. That's the example. Here am I, Lord, send me. Think Isaiah felt ready when he said that? That's a beautiful picture. Thank you for following the Lord. Thank you Jesus for blessing us this morning. The title of my message, I don't know what the title is, but I'll tell you what's been on my heart all week. Things are not always how they seem. Things are not, maybe that's what the title is. Things are not how they appear. What we've experienced this morning, and I didn't know that it would start this way, this message, but the Lord knew. What we've experienced this morning is an evidence of interaction from the invisible realm. I don't mean that in some metaphysical way, I mean it in a very biblical way. The reason this service has felt so good is because there are things going on that are beyond what we can see. Thank you, Lord, for that. The reason it has felt like such a blessing here this morning is because the invisible God is interacting with us in this visible realm. And I praise Him for that. Lord, I praise You for that. Things are not always how they appear. The text I want to take is just one verse, Hebrews 11, 3. You can turn there if you want or just make a note for later. It says, Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. I thought about calling the message that, things which do appear. Hopefully you get the gist of this burden God has put on my heart. I've just been meditating on that one idea. Things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. Do you understand? Everything in the visible world was made by something in the invisible world. And those of us who know God know that the something is someone. That's what the world, there's a movement in the world. I listen to all kinds of podcasts and books and influencers and motivational people. You know, each generation lives inside of a A zeitgeist, a spirit of the age. And different generations have gone through different manifestations of that. We're in a time now where people have tried to find all their fulfillment in the material world, and found out it didn't work, and now they're trying to find something beyond this. That's the movement around us. That's what the world is doing. That's what popular people are preaching, whether they realize it or not. They're teaching truths that are eternal. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, I can tell you more later, but I see person after person talking about the invisible world. And there's some ignorance, and there's some lack of understanding, but there's a hunger. People want more than what's here. They know that they're made for something more than what's here. C.S. Lewis wrote that, if I could quote it right, if I find in myself a hunger which nothing in this world can satisfy, that means I was made for another world. That's why we sing these songs about heaven and they blessed us so much. The Lord is confirming in our spirits you were made for another world and one day you will be there. And in the meantime we're here. And sometimes it's hard. That song, there'll be no misunderstandings. This is what heaven means to me. I never thought about that line. So much hurt in this life comes from misunderstandings. Somebody said something, you took it in a way that they didn't mean and it hurts. You dwell on it for days or weeks or longer. Or sometimes you say something and it was a misunderstanding. There won't even be misunderstandings. We don't even know what that's like. The people I love the most in my life sometimes I've hurt through misunderstandings. None of this was in my preparation. I'm just trying to follow my heart. Not my heart. I'm trying to follow the Holy Spirit like I'm telling you to do. Things aren't always what they appear. Sometimes, in fact always, there's something going on behind the scenes. That man we heard about that came in my mama's work and was mean to her and I want to go beat him up, and you might have heard me praying, I don't think that's wrong for me to feel that way. Now, what I do about it, and if I dwell on it, but a protective spirit for a man, there's nothing wrong with that. But, there's something going on that's made that man that miserable. I don't know what it is. There's something behind it. That we don't know. Sometimes out in the world you come across somebody and they seem mean and you know scripture says a soft answer turns away wrath. How many times have I, I've repented of it, how many times have I answered somebody's hard answer with my own hard answer? You know what it does? You just butt heads. And we're not goats. You keep butting heads with somebody it's going to hurt. We're not made for that. You know how God made us? What He wants from us? He says, I'm near to those who are broken in heart and humble and contrite in spirit. God wants us to defer to other people and to humble ourselves. I'm not saying be run over or allow yourself to be abused. There's misunderstanding about that in religion. We'll talk about it perhaps. But, sometimes it's necessary to not say something that you would have every right to say. Sometimes it's not necessary. I think about, in Paul's second letter, we talked about this recently to the Corinthian congregation, when they took action against the man who sinned so grievously, they excluded him, and then he repented and came back. Paul said what he suffered is enough. In other words, let it go. There's a lot of things you could say that you would be justified in saying, he was wrong. And it'd be okay for you to tell him so, but it'd be better if you don't. That's what he was teaching them. That's a teaching that only a mature Christian can understand. Things aren't always how they seem. Even in church, things aren't always how they seem. In marriages, things aren't always how they seem. I've had friends that I thought were very happy end up divorced. Things aren't always how they seem. I've heard about abuse in families. The children, they seem like everything's happy and good. Things aren't always how they seem. Here's what I'm telling you. You can't trust what you see with your eyes. You can't trust what you feel with your heart. You can't trust what you touch with your hands or what you hear with your ears. We see, we hear, we touch, we feel, we take in that stimulus, but we have to rely on God to show us what's real. Let's look at this verse. Through faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." There's so much here. And before we go any further, we're talking about faith, we have to talk about what is faith. We're going to talk about faith, we need to know what it even is. Because most of the world, especially the religious world, does not understand what faith is. There's so many false... Prophets. Preaching. Just name it and claim it in faith. Take God at His word. Take His promise. That's not what we're talking about. That's not how it works. And then there are other people who think faith is something ethereal, and it's out there somewhere, and it's not real, and there's nothing... That's not it either. The first verse in this chapter says, Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Faith is the actual existence. Faith is the actual existence of the invisible world right in front of you. That's faith. Now this is a description of faith, but we'll talk about it for a moment. Faith is like, I've used this analogy before because I haven't thought of a better one. People think faith is jumping across a chasm and hoping that you'll make it across. That's not what faith is. Faith is taking a step. And when you take the step, you know that you're going to be okay and God actually puts a board under you to step on. Faith is like an invisible bridge appearing with every step you take. a real tangible bridge that you're walking on. That's faith. Faith is the actual manifestation of the invisible world here, in this world. It's the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Maybe the actual definition of faith we see in this scripture that says, from Romans 4, what shall we say then? about Abraham, our forefather, according to the flesh. For if Abraham were justified by works, he has something to boast about, or reason to boast, but not before God. For what does Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. The biblical definition of faith is trusting that God is going to do what he says. Simply believe in God. Faith is believing God. It's trusting Him more than anything in the visible realm. Don't forget what we preached recently that God is eternal, immortal, invisible. of all the attributes that could have been attributed to Him scripturally. Those are the three the Apostle focused on in that particular verse a few weeks back. God is invisible and you need to understand that because we live in this, I don't even know what to call it, this like post-material revolution world where people want to make God something that He's not. He is invisible. But sometimes we see Him, His effects, we see the results of Him, we feel Him. Don't forget, He's invisible. It makes a difference. Because we're trusting something we can't see. Hope that is seen is not hope for what a man seeth white if he had hope for. Right? That's Scripture. If you can see it, it's not faith. It's something like plans you came up with. It's different. Here's what I'm saying, and I believe in setting goals, and I believe in preparing for the future, and I believe in being diligent, I believe in doing your best in life. That's another message for another day, but listen, Christians should be, that's the biblical example, we should be the best we can at whatever we're doing. Whatsoever your hand fies to do, do it with all your might. Work heartily as unto the Lord. That is true. Diligence should be a characteristic that God's people are known for. And I can depend on Him. He's a Christian. Do you know that? That's what people should think about. And, along with that, we recognize that none of our own diligence, none of our own preparation, none of our own plans are enough. We're trusting in something beyond this world. God. And we're getting our fuel from something beyond this world. Faith. Which is from God. Faith is knowing God is faithful, believing God is faithful, trusting that He'll do what He's promised, no matter what your circumstances may be. I hear this phrase all the time. I lost my faith. Or he walked away from the faith. That's how you usually describe people who go through some kind of tragic existence, something hard in life, and then they start to question whether God is real. Look, I can walk away from a lot of things, but God's not going to walk away from me. The faith that Jesus gave me when He saved me is beyond this world. And I can't walk away from it. Do you understand? I can have doubts. I've often explained it this way, and I'm careful to say I want to make sure you understand it. Once I told publicly about being saved, and I got that confirmation from the Holy Spirit, I've never doubted whether I'm saved. But sometimes I've wondered how it's possible that somebody like God exists. Do you understand the difference? I have the assurance of salvation deep inside of here, that I'm safe, that He knows me and I know Him. I've never questioned that, but sometimes He is beyond my mind to such a point that I say, how could this be possible? That's okay. It's part of the frailty of my flesh, and I take it to the Lord, and I say, Lord, how could this be possible? And He shows me, or He confirms, or He just reassures me. That's part of faith. We're told later in this chapter, and we have to understand this, brothers and sisters, without faith, it is impossible to please God. You can't please God without faith. And just to make it very clear, faith and fear are counter-opposed. If you're living in fear, you don't have faith, and if you don't have faith, you can't please God. So make it clear, if you're living a life of fear, you're not pleasing God. Fear is sin. Period. You say, well, do you ever get afraid? Yeah, I do. I call it worry, which is sin. And I try to repent of it a lot. It's a struggle of mine lately. I'm ashamed to say... I'm not proud to say it. I'm not saying that to dismiss any of your own problems. I worry more than I should, especially lately. And you know what God is teaching me? Is that everything I worry about is in this realm. I don't worry about anything in the invisible world. Do you? I don't worry about people being saved because I can't do anything about it. Sometimes I pray about them being saved. and I should pray about it more. The things I worry about are things that I see, hear, touch and feel, which is less real than the invisible things that I don't worry about. Do you understand? I don't know if that makes sense. I'm saying my worries and your worries, your faithlessness, your fear, all of it is rooted in a world that is less real than the world we were made for. There's a reason we don't worry about that other world once we know the Lord. Without faith it's impossible to please Him. For he that comes to God must believe that He is, must know that He is, must trust that He is, and that He's a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. How many times did Jesus point to a lack of faith in His followers? And some of us, we need to learn some communication lessons from Jesus. We live in a generation that thinks you're mean if you're honest. This modern Christian world we live in, they wouldn't like Jesus very much. Just like the religious leaders at the time didn't like Him very much because He spoke truth. He understood and modeled and lived that if you really love somebody, you will tell them the truth whether they like it or not. Now the difference in Jesus and us is He could always see the invisible world. He knew people's hearts. He knew the effects of what He would say would have. We don't know that many times, so we have to rely on the Holy Spirit to show us. So there are ways to be honest, and there are some times that we need to just be quiet. And I've been wrong about that sometimes. Jesus was never wrong. So I'm saying this before I read these verses. He never said anything out of turn. He never said anything he shouldn't say. He never committed sin. He never spoke sin. He never spoke in a way that was unnecessary. I've had people tell me, you know, that wasn't necessary. And sometimes they're right. Sometimes I was a little harsher than I should be, but sometimes they're wrong. And what I said was necessary. Here's what I'm saying, you can't know that unless you get in touch with the invisible world and find out from the Holy Spirit. So listen, these things Jesus says sound unkind, but He was trying to teach them truth. How many times did Jesus point out their lack of faith? He said in one place, Why are you fearful, O ye of little faith? You say, Well, that wasn't necessary. He should have just comforted them. Do you see the difference? Jesus was a man and He wasn't afraid to be, but He was a man of God and He was the Son of God. It was necessary. He needed his followers to understand. This is why I'm preaching. Things are not how they appear. We see the disciples afraid and suffering on a ship and we think they need a big hug. Jesus needs them to understand that their suffering is because they don't have faith. The only reason you are afraid is because you don't have faith. He needs them to understand that more than they need a hug. Do you understand? He's preaching truth in the midst of comforting and helping them. He says, Why are you fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great calm. And then they said later, What manner of man is this that even the winds and the seas obey? And they're thinking later, I know they're thinking it because they wrote it so we could hear it. Wow, we didn't have faith. He wasn't mean, but He was honest. It's not mean to tell people the truth. Things aren't always how they seem. In another place, He said, Wherefore, if God so clothed the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you? This modern religious world we live in thinks Jesus should have just stopped there. But He finished that statement with, O ye of little faith. He wanted them to understand that their fear was based on their faithlessness. Things aren't always how they seem. He called the people that he dealt with, he said, how long will I deal with this faithless generation? It wasn't unnecessary because nothing Jesus said was unnecessary. Things aren't always how they seem. When Peter was on the boat, And Jesus came, and that is such a beautiful picture. He doesn't say, ìCome on the boat and make our life better.î He says, ìBid me to come out there, and I will.î To Jesus. You think about the rationality of that. ìLord, if you tell me to walk on the water to you, I will.î You know why? Because in that moment, Peter was living in the invisible realm, not this world. Did Jesus change the laws of physics so Peter could do what he did? I don't know how that... I don't know what happened for Peter to be able to walk on the water. I don't know. It doesn't matter. It happened. How did Jesus walk through the wall? I don't know, but he did. Here's what I'm telling you. Things aren't always how they appear. Don't put too much trust in this physical realm. Peter walks on the water. Wow! And when he gets scared, would you have gotten scared? How many of you would have been too scared to ever get out of the boat in the first place? But Peter knew his safety wasn't in the boat, it was in Jesus. We're hard on Peter. I don't know if I would have gotten out of the boat. To us, Peter was a man of great faith. None of the other apostles did that. You know what Jesus told him? He reached out his hand, he took hold of him and said to him, Oh, you of little faith. Why do you doubt? He wanted Peter to understand. So that wasn't necessary. Or my favorite, that wasn't very nice. So what? Jesus never said anything that wasn't necessary. His job wasn't to be nice. His job, His destiny, was to fulfill the purpose His Father in Heaven gave Him, which was to speak the truth and to die for our sins. To die a perfect sacrifice. Everything we do that matters is rooted in faith. All acceptable forms of service to God must come from faith. This is why we're still talking about the first two words of this verse, through faith. Through faith. You can't do anything for God without faith. So, I spend a lot of energy and time trying to figure out what I'm supposed to do. Or, Lord, show me this, or show me that, or show me how to help with this or that, or do this for our... You know what the apostles said? Lord, increase our faith. That's a prayer I haven't prayed as often as I should. How about you? Do you pray every day from the depths of your heart? God, increase my faith. I don't. I want to start trying to. Because what we need more than anything else, more than marching orders, more than being equipped to do something, more than being given strength or wisdom, is faith. More than money, more than health, we need faith. Through faith, we understand that the worlds were made, were framed by the Word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. through faith. And the whole rest of that chapter, which I'm not going to read today, it starts over and over through faith or by faith, by faith, by faith. Every person who served the Lord acceptably, it is preceded by that two-word sentence or statement, by faith. Every person who ever served the Lord, by faith. So we can pray like the apostles, Lord, increase our faith. That's what we need to pray. Give me faith, Lord. I don't have enough, give me faith." I'll move through the rest of this a little bit quicker. The second part of this verse, the beginning was through faith, we've talked about that. The next phrase, we understand. All of your understanding about God is rooted in faith. There's something fundamentally different about this statement than simply intellectually knowing something. And every person who's ever relied on science to prove God is missing the point. God can't be proved by science because it is only through faith that we can understand Him and what He does. You know why? Because He didn't come from this world where our science came from. He's from the invisible world. And He's in the invisible world. And sometimes He interacts in this world for our benefit. It's a beautiful thing. We live in a time, and maybe every time, at least since Jesus has been this way, we live in a time where people's understanding is darkened. Scripture talks about that. People think they understand but don't, and oftentimes those without any spiritual understanding, whatever those... People think. They have no spiritual understanding and they're telling everybody else how they ought to live. We need to understand, just because somebody is in a place of authority, doesn't mean they have any spiritual understanding. Just because you call me your pastor, doesn't automatically mean I have any spiritual understanding. Just because I'm standing up here, doesn't guarantee that I have any spiritual understanding. That's why you need to listen with something beyond your ears. and something beyond your mind, and something beyond your heart, and make sure that what I'm saying, or what any preacher is saying, or what any authority is saying, is from the other world, from God. Because if it's from this world, it's not going to help you. You weren't made for this world. The truths that we teach aren't from this world. They're from God. I want to give you a practical example of how people in positions of authority, either self-appointed or not, think that they know what's best for you. This is just one example to try to drive the point home. And this isn't saying anything about how you eat by your own personal preferences, you know, whatever you think you should do, but just listen to this scripture verse. Now the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing to be rejected if it's received with thanksgiving. For it's made holy by the word of God and prayer." King James Version says, "...forbidding to marry, commanding to abstain from meats." I don't have any confidence in vegans. Now, if you want to eat a vegan diet, I don't care. I'm not being mean to you. What you choose to do is fine. But I'm talking about people who make veganism a religion. and say everybody should do it, read this verse. People who are participating in false religions like that got their doctrines from demons, not from God. Now you might be saying to your... maybe you're getting defensive and saying, that's not necessary. And let me remind you, this is in my... God didn't call me to be nice. God called me to preach the truth. If you're trusting in veganism, or environmentalism, or in recycling, or in population control, or in global warming, if you're trusting in any of these things instead of God, you're missing it. Do you understand? I'm not giving you my opinion, I'm reading Scripture. And just because people are in positions where they should be in authority, I thought I'd say this later in the message. I'll say this now. There's many false spirits gone out into the world. By their fruits you'll know them. We're supposed to test the spirits. We're supposed to see if what people are saying and doing lines up. How do you test the spirits? Scripture. And the Holy Spirit. Have you ever thought God led you? The brother said this morning, I thought God was leading me, but it was just my sinful flesh. I have. There have been plenty of times I thought God was showing me something, I thought it was the Holy Spirit, and I later realized it wasn't. Now, the Holy Spirit will never mislead you. You might mislead yourself. How do you know if what you think God is telling you is from Him? Does it line up with Scripture? If I think inside of me that everybody who eats meat is going to hell, does it line up with Scripture? Nope. So that's not a doctrine from God. If I think that everybody who's not a Baptist or a Church of Christ, or pick your label, is going to hell, do I see that in Scripture? Nope. That's not a doctrine from God. Do you see what I'm saying? Scripture is the test. The only way you can be sure if what I'm preaching is true is does it line up with Scripture. And Scripture can't be understood only with your mind and your eyes. It must be understood through faith. This sermon is not about diet or veganism or meat or not. I hope you know that. This is just one practical example from Scripture. I could find some other ones to make the rest of you uncomfortable if you want. But that's not the goal. And by the way, on a personal note, I battled a long illness with Lyme disease, a long time, almost died. And part of what God used to heal me was an almost completely vegan diet. So I'm not anti-anything. I'm pro-Jesus. Okay? Now I eat mostly meat, and that's working good. So, none of these things are the point. All of this stuff is from the visible world where we're not supposed to trust in. That's what I'm trying to preach. Let me move on. Faith is the foundation for a life pleasing to God. Now, anything that we're relying on to try to increase our understanding, unless it's rooted in faith, we need to be cautious of. I mentioned that we're in an age where people are searching for truth beyond the natural world. They're trying to get into the supernatural. And a lot of people, it surprises you. They're using psychedelics and hallucinogens and other drugs and compounds like it's just completely rational. Like it makes perfect sense. It helps you get beyond yourself. Be careful. Be careful with that. Be careful with listening to people. I'm not making a blanket statement. I'm just saying, be careful if somebody receives what they think is truth while they were tripping. Be careful. You don't need drugs to get in touch with God. Be careful. It's only through faith that we understand the deep things of God. Faith. And true faith only comes in the midst of a completely sober mind. Faith, where everything in your rational mind tells you not to trust, but there's something deeper saying trust, that's faith. Faith is not suspending your natural mind. It is instead choosing not to rely on your natural mind. There's a difference. Faith is not stopping thinking. It's thinking and realizing that your thinking only goes so far. and trusting in someone and something deeper. It's through faith that we understand truth, and even deeper than that. Jesus tells us this, "...when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth. For He won't speak of Himself, but whatever He shall hear, that shall He speak, and He will show you things to come." The Spirit of truth. You want to understand truth? You want to live truth? The only place you're going to get it is the Holy Spirit. Lord, increase our faith. Give us more of You. This next phrase, ìThe worlds were framed by the Word of God.î We know thatís confirmed later in Scripture, ìIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.î ìAll things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.î Oh, how beautiful! The Logos, the eternally existing Word of God, made everything. And He existed before everything, with His Father. Even though He wasn't born as the man Jesus yet. I don't understand that. It's true, and it's beautiful. That's how we understand, only through faith. And then this last phrase, "...the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." I love that phrasing, the reason I read King James today, because it's so memorable. Things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. Or put it in modern English, everything visible was not made by anything visible. Wow. I've said this already, but I want to say it again. Everything we think is real was made by something more real. Boy, that's beautiful. Hebrews 1.3 tells us about Jesus. He's the radiance of the glory of God, the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power. We were all taught growing up a certain concept of the universe and how it works. Heliocentric solar system and gravity and all these laws of nature. And you've heard statements like, as immutable as the laws of nature. Who do you think made the laws of nature, if such things are there? God. You think gravity holds everything in place? It's not what the Bible says. I take this literally. He upholds all things by the Word of His power. He's doing it. Jesus, through His power. Now, is He using gravity? I don't know. You could call it that. But He's holding the universe together by the Word of His... When He spoke, it happened, and it's still happening. He's beyond this world. I've got chills thinking about that. Now, with all of that, let me just make a few points that the Lord put on my heart. I'll say again, you can't always trust what you see. You can't always trust what you hear. You can't always trust what you feel. You can't always trust what you taste or smell, touch, any of it. A person might have things going on in their life that you don't know about. Almost certainly they do. They might have a past you don't know about, either good or bad. They might used to have been somebody. I've met some homeless men. I used to talk to a lot of homeless guys when I worked downtown. And some of them had been somebody. I met a man who was saved in a jail cell by the grace of God. He said he cried so much there was a puddle, literal puddle. And when the Lord saved him, he had him stand up and he said he looked down, this is a beautiful testimony, he said he looked down at that water from his tears on the floor and God played his evil life before his eyes in that puddle. He showed him all the evil things he did and why he was in prison and he deserved to be there. And then he said, that was who you used to be. Now you're mine. You don't feel that, I don't know. I still feel it. It's been a decade since I talked to that man. That's who you used to be, now you're mine. And this man, he didn't have a dollar to get a ride on the bus. And he told me this story with no bitterness. He used to be a multimillionaire real estate developer. And when he told me, he said, I lost it all because I became an alcoholic. There was no bitterness, there was no resentment, there was no, it's not fair. You know, he gave glory to God. And it's just, I caused my life to be what it is, but God had mercy on me. And he wasn't bitter and resentful that he needed a dollar to get a bus ticket. It just was. Isn't that beautiful? I still think about him. Now, here's something else in the things are not how they seem. This is something the Lord showed me because Part of being very driven, like I am, is you tend to be severe. Sometimes I'm too hard on myself, but I think I should be, so I'm not going to stop. But then sometimes you're too hard on other people. And God has shown me, I want you to hear this. Some people's lives, some people, it's harder for them just to exist. Sometimes we look at other people and we think, why are they this, this, or this? Or why can't they do that, that, or that? And what we need to understand in that is some people, it's literally harder for them just to exist than it is for you. So there's room for mercy. Things aren't always how they seem. Part of this, and I won't dwell on it, it might be another sermon later, people can deceive you. Things aren't always how they seem. We're warned by Jesus in Scripture to watch out for people who seem like sheep, but they're actually wolves. We need to be aware. We don't live in some Mary Poppins world or Winnie the Pooh or something where everything is okay all the time. This is a bad world. We need to be aware. Not dwell on it, but be aware. Things aren't always how they seem. I had a conversation. I'm not rambling. I'm trying to follow my heart. I know it's been a long time, but I'm not finished yet. Stand up if you need to stretch your back or something. And I mean that sincerely. We went up to, I thought it was Amish country, turns out it's Mennonite country, it's a Mennonite community. And I got to talking to this man named Dietrich, and we talked a long time. And I said, what's the difference in Mennonites and Amish? And he said, everything and nothing. And then he explained to me some of the differences. But what he said basically was, Some Amish have loose morals and some don't. And some Mennonites have loose morals and some don't. And some rely too much on their austere lifestyles and some don't. Some Mennonites have cars. He told me some Amish have cars. I didn't know that. One real difference is the Amish shave their top mustache and the Mennonites don't. And he told me that jokingly. Here's the point. We're talking. Things aren't always how they seem. And this man, somehow we got into the idea of pacifism. He said, we don't believe in violence. I said, neither do I. But if somebody tries to harm my daughter, I have a greater moral obligation to do whatever I have to to protect her than I do not to be violent. You know what he said? You make a good point, brother. I can't disagree with that. That's true. Things aren't always how they appear. And we don't always know what's going on behind the scenes. Part of things not being how they appear, sometimes you want something to happen so bad that you start to believe it actually is happening. I had a friend one time, I wanted to be saved so bad. So, so bad. And Mary Grace has been saying that lately. It tickles. So bad. But I wanted this girl to be saved so bad. And she told me on the phone that she was saved. And I started what I thought was rejoicing. Well, she wasn't saved. It wasn't real. And how I felt wasn't real. I wanted it so bad. I was trying to make it happen. You can deceive yourself. Thank God she was saved later. Scripture says, don't neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. That's true. You don't always know what's going on. Things aren't always how they appear. Don't neglect to be loving and kind and hospitable to people. And, as I said earlier, believe not every spirit. Try the spirits, whether they're of God, because many false prophets are gone into the world. And that there are people disguised as harmless sheep, but are really ravenous wolves. I've heard preached a lot, I've heard it said so many times, you might be entertaining angels unaware, but we can't forget that person that looks like a sheep might be a wolf. Both. Okay? Sometimes, this is the last point that was on my heart, sometimes people want the best for you, but insist you ought to do something that wouldn't be the best for you. because things aren't always what they appear. This is why it's so essential for us to focus on Jesus and what He wants me to do. Because I might think He showed me what you should do, but I don't have your relationship with Jesus. Do you understand? I can never know to the same degree what is good for you as I can what is good for me. It's not possible. And a lot of harm has been done by well-meaning people trying to do something for someone else that they think should happen. Things aren't always how they appear. Don't be afraid to be uncertain. That's faith.