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Responsibility and Responding

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• So we're just going to be reading verse 8 in 1 Timothy chapter 5. The title of the message is "Responsibility and Responding." Responsibility and responding. I started in time to just simply R&R—anybody who's ever been in the military and understands what R&R is: rest and recreation. However, this has nothing to do with rest and recreation, and it has everything to do with responsibility and responding. So if you'll look in 1 Timothy chapter 5 and verse 8, the Scripture says, "But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel." He hath denied the faith and is worse than an infidel. Here's an interesting question.

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• Who is responsible to protect your life, your family, and your property? And many take the position that it is the job of government to protect, and therefore they do absolutely nothing to prepare themselves. Neither do they even think about protection for themselves, their family, and their properties. A few tend to believe that the police, deputies, and sheriffs will protect them and their family and property. You must remember that when such are needed, they're only 30 minutes away or longer.

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• Usually, law enforcement arrives in time to secure the crime scene, which means it's over, you're a victim, you're dead, or your family's dead, and your property is stolen. I want you to listen to this quote. This is by Darren L. Hutchison, who happens to be a professor and associate dean at the University of Florida School of Law. Here's what he said. Quote, "Neither the Constitution nor state law imposes a general duty upon police officers or other governmental officials to protect individual persons from harm, even when they know that harm will occur. Police can watch someone attack you, refuse to intervene, and not violate the Constitution. The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the government has only a duty to protect persons who are in custody." So if you think that police are required to protect you, you are mistaken. So here then is a biblical truth, and that is you're responsible for your life, your family, and your property. You are the first responder, and not the cops, not the firemen, and not your neighbor.

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• So you are responsible, therefore you must learn how to protect, and not only how to protect, but also to have the means to protect as well. There's a gentleman by the name of Burris, no first name given, but here is his quote. He says, "When you don't think of yourself as your own first responder, your destiny is first victim." So here's a recent headline. Terrorist activity within the continental United States and general violent crimes are increasing exponentially and are likely to get much worse.

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• The situation is so discouraging that our leftist media is deliberately and desperately underreporting all violent crime because it makes their Democratic darlings look bad. Well, that's interesting. I want you to look in verse 8 of 1 Timothy chapter 5 again, because here the Scripture says, "But if any provide not for his own, and especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, he's worse than an infidel." Now I want you to notice two things, and you should always notice this about any passage: you should always take notice of the remote context and also of the immediate context. So before we even begin looking at 1 Timothy chapter 5 and verse 8, we must first of all consider the remote context. And if you look in your Bibles to 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 15, you'll notice the theme of this book. The Apostle Paul writes Timothy, who was a pastor, and he said, "But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." Now note, if you would, he

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• said, "But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God." I'm just simply pointing out, although we look at 1 Timothy chapter 5 and verse 8 and we think of our physical family, there's also a spiritual family. There is that which is known as the household of faith as well in the Bible. And so God tells us that we need to provide for our own—that would be our physical house, but also our spiritual house as well. Now, let's get to the immediate context. So look, if you would, beginning in your Bible to 1 Timothy chapter 5 and verse 3. Look what he says: 1 Timothy 5:3, "Honour widows that are widows indeed. But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to shew piety at home, and to requite their parents: for that is good and acceptable before God."

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• "Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day. But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth. And these things give in charge, that they may be blameless." Now, I want you to note, first of all, in verse 7, the Apostle Paul says to Timothy, "And these things give in charge." What in the world does that mean? The word "charge" is from the Greek word "paraggellō," which is translated in our Bibles as charge, command, and commandment. I want you to turn, if you will, and let's look at verses 3 through 5 of 1 Timothy chapter 1. 1 Timothy chapter 1, verses 3 through 5. Paul tells Timothy, "As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine, neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do. Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned." So let me point out the word "charge" in verse 3. Paul said that

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• "thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine." It is exactly the same Greek word that you find in 1 Timothy chapter 5 and verse 7. It is the word "paraggellō," and it literally is translated as "charge" in this particular verse. Now, I want you to skip down, if you would, while you're in 1 Timothy 1. Look, if you would, in verse 5. The apostle says, "Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned." Now if it's the end, you have to reverse everything, so there would be first of all unfeigned faith, or unhypocritical faith, which would produce a good conscience, out of which charity would flow from a pure heart. But note, if you would, what he said in verse 5: "Now the end of the commandment." What commandment? Well, go back to verse 3. "Neither give heed." Let's see verse 3. He said, "And I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge," or command, "some that they teach no other doctrine." So when he says "the end of the commandment," he's talking about the end of the command to teach pure doctrine, and

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• so, I'm pointing out the fact that this one word, "charge," is also translated as "command." Now, go back in your Bibles, if you would, to 1 Timothy chapter 5, and look again at verse 7. Notice he says, "And these things give in charge," or give in commandment, "that they may be blameless." So we can ask this question: Why was Timothy to give this in a commandment? And the answer was, and still is, that we may be blameless. And "anepilēptos" happens to be the Greek word, and it actually means to be blameless, to be unreproveable. It means to be without censure. It means simply to be without rebuke or reproach. Now let me just quote a passage for you in Philippians chapter 2 and verse 15. The Apostle Paul wrote, "That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world." So he says that we may be without rebuke, that we may be blameless, that we may be harmless. So the commands that he's given here certainly need attention so that we can be blameless in following them and obeying them. Now, let me deal with verse 4

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• before I get to verse 8. So look at verse 4 again. He said, "But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to shew piety at home, and to requite their parents: for that is good and acceptable before God." Now I hope you see this picture. If you don't, I'm going to spell it out for you. The children and the nephews are to show piety at home.

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• We must ask, what does that mean? And the word "piety" happens to be another word for godliness. Then it says that the children and the nephews are to show piety at home; they are to do so by requiting their parents. Now what in the world does it mean to requite? Are you listening? It means to pay back. So your parents took care of you when you were unable to take care of yourself. They fed you. They clothed you. They took care of your health needs. They took care of every need that you had. They educated you. And now God says when there's a widow around, or when there's a parent that's unable to take care of himself or herself, then God says it's the responsibility of the children, nephews. The point I'm trying to make right now is this: it is not just the immediate family; it's also the extended family, because the extended family would include nephews. I had an uncle that was a widower, and my wife and I took care of him for years until he moved near my daughter and her husband, and they took care of him until he died. I'm just simply pointing out the fact God is telling us that it is the responsibility of the

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• family to take care of their own. Now we normally consider and understand that the husband and the father is the head of the house, and God has also designated him as the provider. With that understanding, if you'll look in verse 8 at what he said again: "But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel." Now when you and I hear the word "provision," we normally think of food, clothing, and shelter. And certainly those are basic requirements. Everybody requires those. But the word "provide" and the word "provision" cannot be limited to food, clothing, and shelter.

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• In fact, this is what got me started on this message. I took the time to look up the Greek word for "provide." "Pronoeō" is the Greek word. It's actually made up of two Greek words. "Pro" is a preposition which means "before." And the second Greek word is actually "noeō," which means to understand, to perceive, to consider, and to think. Actually, "noeō" just simply means "I think," or "I ponder," or "I consider." It's from the noun or the word "nous," which refers to the mind. So when you put "pro-noeō" together, then it means literally to understand and to think beforehand. Thus, providing for one's house is far more than food, shelter, and clothing. And it is something that is done when you think beforehand. Thus, it would include what you and I would call education. It would include a biblical work ethic. It would include protection, preservation. It would include many, many things. Let's take it as far as we can take it today and think about this. We're talking about providing for our house.

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• It's not just food, shelter, and clothing. Our family also needs protection and preservation. So the question would be this: Have you provided for the defense and for the protection of your family? Have you pondered and have you considered beforehand what would be needed for the protection of your family? And it's not just food, shelter, and clothing. Your family needs protection as well. So how would you be able to respond

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• to what you and I would call a criminal attack or even a terroristic attack? Not only how would you respond, but would you be able to respond, and would you be able to have the tools to properly respond with? Now, I want you to look back at verse 8 again. Watch this. He said, "But if any provide not for his own, especially for those of his own household." What?

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• "He hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel." In other words, you're no longer blameless. This hit me like a ton of bricks. Do you realize the only thing an individual has to do—a Christian—the only thing an individual Christian has to do in order to be classified as an atheist or as an unbeliever or someone who's denied the faith is to deny personal responsibility? Isn't that amazing? Stop and think about that. He said that you might be blameless. So if you do not provide then for the lives, safety, and protection of your own family, then he said you've denied the faith and you're worse than an infidel. So evidently our Lord does indeed place a high standard, very high esteem, upon what I'm going to be sharing with you now. Let me give you a couple of quotes.

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• The first one is by Harry Brown. Here's what he said: "The police can't stop an intruder, mugger, or stalker from hurting you; they can pursue him only after he's hurt or killed you. Protecting yourself from harm is your responsibility, and you're far less likely to be hurt in a neighborhood of gun owners than in one of disarmed citizens, even if you don't own a gun yourself." And that's true. And here is a quote from Pastor Jack Potter. Jack Potter was a former Confederate soldier.

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• He was chaplain to the 26th Texas Cavalry. He was also a Methodist circuit-riding preacher, and he said this after the war was over in 1865. He said this: "I'm not so anxious to wear a martyr's crown as to sacrifice my life when God requires me to use means to preserve it. It is no evidence of a preacher's want of trust in God when he carries a gun to shield his life in the time of peril. It would be the most sinful presumption not to do so. Indeed, I do not carry a gun because I'm afraid to die, but because it is a duty to use means to preserve life."

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• And that is certainly true. The sixth commandment, "Thou shalt not kill," the positive is "thou shalt preserve life." To show you how high a value that God places upon provision of the family in every area and every sphere, I want you to hold 1 Timothy 5—we're coming back there—but look in your Bibles, if you would, to Luke 11 and verse 21. Luke 11 and verse 21. Look at what the Bible says. Our Lord is speaking, and in Luke 11 and verse 21, He says this. Watch this: "When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace." Now first of all, I want you to note He said "a strong man." That means one that is strong in body and mind. Secondly, He said "a strong armed man." And the Greek word for "armed" is the word "kathoplizō," and it literally means to be furnished with arms. He has more than one.

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• He has an armory, so to speak. Third, he keeps and guards, protects himself and his goods. That's what he said in verse 21: "When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace." He's protecting himself. He's protecting his goods. He's protecting his property. Now here is another provision that must be made, and I'm using the word "provision" exactly the way the Bible does in 1 Timothy chapter 5 and verse 8. It means to think beforehand, to ponder before and consider beforehand. So look at it in verse 22 of Luke chapter 11.

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• Then he says, "But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils." So would it not be proper, and would it not be right, for you and I to consider the fact that there are people stronger than we are, and there are people that are better armed than we are, and there are times that we may be outnumbered as well as outgunned? So the question would have to be, what could be done in this instance? Now I'm just simply pointing out the fact that there is safety in numbers. May I remind you

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• that the early settlers and the frontiersmen protected themselves through community or through neighborhood. In other words, if you were alone, you were just simply an easy target. However, when they were grouped together, you had much more protection because you had more people there helping you. You know, this thought hit me. We have lived in relative safety for so long, we don't even think things like this could ever happen to us. Aha, what is going on in the Middle East? That could never happen here. At least that's the mentality that most people think. Well, here's this headline of October the 24th, 2023, from the Highland County Press from the state of Ohio. Listen to it. The headline reads, "A Real Threat."

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• "Experts Warn of Hamas-Connected Terrorist Crossing the U.S. Border." Here are the first three short paragraphs. Listen. "Hundreds of immigrants on the federal terror watch list have been caught at the southern and northern U.S. borders in recent years, and national security experts say there is a real threat of a terroristic attack on American soil as a result. With the conflict between Israel and the Gaza-based terrorist group Hamas escalating, the threat has only grown. U.S. Customs and Border Protection's San Diego field office warns that Hamas may attempt to send individuals to the United States through the southern border."

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• The truth of the matter is they are already here. I don't know if you watched or heard about the broadcast from November the 1st, where the Republican Party had a speaker where the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security were warning about terroristic attacks here in America, and the fact that some of these illegal immigrants have already been captured with IEDs in their possession—improvised explosive devices. You know, I thought when I read this, they know they're crossing, so why are they not capturing them? Yes, they're capturing some, but probably not most.

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• And it's not just Hamas that are here. We have Chinese communists that are pre-positioned here as well. And so the question would be this, based upon Luke 11 verse 22: what in the world would you do when you were outnumbered and outgunned? I mean, it's one thing to fight off one or two men; it's quite another thing to try to fight off 20 or 30 at one time. I'm just simply asking, have you ever thought about a team? Have you thought about a community watch? Have you thought about a community, period? Do you?

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• Do you know how to help? Can you help? Are you able to help others? Scripture teaches that we're not only to help protect ourselves but to help others as well, and the Bible teaches there's safety in numbers. Let me show you. Hold, if you would, 1 Timothy, but turn back in your Bibles to the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 4. Right after the book of Proverbs you have the book of Ecclesiastes—Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes—and look in chapter 4, and let's begin reading there with verse 9. Ecclesiastes chapter 4, verse 9: God says, "Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour." So if I am able to pick cotton, and let me say that I could pick maybe one bale a week, if Clay came over to help me, and we could pick two and a half bales or three bales together, both of us would be better off. I'd make more money. He would make more money. That's what he's saying: two happens to be better than one.

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• But wait a minute. Let's keep going. Look at it in verse 10. He said, "For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him"—now watch—"if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken." So God is saying basically there's safety in numbers. Now Frederick Bastiat—if you've not read his little work, "The Law," and this was written in 1850.

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• Here's a good quote from Bastiat. I would encourage you to read his book. He says, "If every person has the right to defend—even by force—his person, his liberty, and his property, then it follows that a group of men have the right to organize and support a common force to protect these rights continually." And that's true. So, if Clay, if Gary, if Steve, if I, all have the right to protect ourselves, then we have an equal right to come together and say, "We're going to help each other. We're going to fight together. We will protect together." So I'm just simply saying, this is a thought that we and I must understand. Two are better than one—that's obvious. Here's another thought. Remember, if you would, back in 1 Timothy chapter 5 and verse 8. Listen to me: the Bible says, "He that will not provide for his own"—and using again the word "provide" in the standard and in the sense that it's given us in Scripture, to think beforehand, to ponder beforehand, to prepare beforehand—if you are going to help each other as a church, as believers, or even as a physical family, how are you going to communicate? How can you get in

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• touch with each other? How can you reach each other? Well, handheld radios may be small, but they're very convenient and they're very inexpensive. I don't know if you've noticed some of these protests—BLM, Antifa—they always have radios. They always know what's going on, and they always know how to contact each other. I don't know if you notice this latest news: one where the old man ran through the protesters, and they got on their radios and they chased the old man down. They had four wheelers.

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• They even had a roadblock and jerked him out and beat him. How did they respond so fast? They had communications. So I'm just simply saying, if we're going to say we're going to help each other, we have to be able to communicate with each other as well. Now, so let me put it to you like this and apply this to the context. Apply this to the word of provision. If we're going to gather together, if we're going to be together as a like-minded people, it's going to be—we're going to be strong and we're going to be strengthened. But if we stand alone, then we're going to be targeted and we're going to be easy prey. So that means we must, in one sense of the word, have community. We must take responsibility. We must be our own responder. You may think that what I'm saying today is not needed. You need to get your head out of the sand if you're thinking that. All you have to do is consider what would happen if an EMP came against this country.

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• An electromagnetic pulse attack. All that one bomb, up in the air, destroying all communications. The electrical grid is gone. Cars are down. Sunspots, sun flares, solar flares do the same thing. Read up on the Carrington effect. How that the last century basically destroyed a number of communications and electricity. It was all gone. I'm just simply saying, when you stop and think about this, if the electricity is gone, there's not going to be any gas pumped. There's not going to be any stores opening. And once the stores are broken into and looted and the food is gone, what are hungry people going to be doing? Looking for other houses to break into. And if you have a garden, they're going to assume that you have food and that you're going to have food put back. I'm just simply saying, yes, look what happened in Louisiana and in Texas during the hurricanes. Look what is happening now into these fine jewelry stores and clothing stores where they're having these mobs break in and just steal and destroy and run out and walk out, and no one is able to stop

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• them. Why? Because no one's willing to shoot them. I'm just simply saying that's a daily occurrence on the news. Let me give you a couple of quotes. Colonel Jeff Cooper is dead now, but he left a lot of wise sayings. He said this: "One cannot legislate maniacs off the street. These maniacs can only be shut down by an armed citizenry. Indeed, bad things can happen in nations where the citizenry is armed, but not as bad as those which seem to be threatening our disarmed citizenry in this country at this time." And then

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• I love this next quote. He says this: "You can say 'stop' or 'alto' or any other word you think will work. But I have found that a large bore muzzle pointed at someone's head is pretty much the universal language for stop." Yeah, I agree with that. Senator Larry Craig said it like this: "The first right of every human being is the right of self-defense. Without that right, all others are meaningless. The right of self-defense is not something the government bestows upon its citizens. It is an inalienable right older than the Constitution itself. It existed prior to government and prior to the social contract of our Constitution. We do have an inalienable right to protect ourselves, our lives, and the lives of others. It is a God-given right."

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• As I mentioned earlier, it's based upon the sixth commandment. We are required to preserve life. That is why the Bible in Psalm 82 and verse 3 says, "Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy."

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• Now, I want you to look back at 1 Timothy chapter 5 and verse 8, because I want to emphasize this word "provide." Look at it again. He said, "But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, he is worse than an infidel." The word "provide" once again means to perceive with the mind beforehand. It means to understand, to think upon, to heed, to ponder, all prior to. So here's another question. Are you listening? Have you provided or seriously thought about and prepared for medical emergencies?

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• Do not begin to complain and say, "But I'm not a doctor. I'm not a nurse. I'm not an EMT. I'm not a paramedic." Most folks are not, and neither am I. However, I do know how to suture. I do know how to pack a wound. I do know how to stop bleeding. I do know a number of things that require a little medical knowledge. I do know that we need medical supplies. I do know that we must be prepared to take care of ourselves and our families. Wow. Anyone can take CPR courses, basic medical classes at tech schools. Have you considered the fact

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• that during a war, or what you and I would call a really grid-down situation, there aren't going to be any hospitals? There aren't going to be any emergency rooms. There aren't going to be any clinics. Huh. How in the world did women ever have babies before there was a hospital? How were broken bones set before there were hospitals? How did men deal with wild animal attacks when there were no doctors and no emergency rooms?

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• If you do not remember the message I preached a good while back on Christian mountain man Jedediah Strong Smith, I would encourage you to go back and listen to that message. I'm going to give you a quote because Jedediah Smith was attacked by a grizzly bear. Listen carefully. On his second expedition, he was attacked by a grizzly bear. The bear came out of the thicket and mauled Smith violently, throwing him to the ground, smashing his ribs, and literally ripping off his scalp. When the attack was over, the scalp was hanging on to his head by an ear. Smith instructed Jim Clyman to sew it back on. Clyman did the best he could, but thought nothing could be done for the severed ear. Smith insisted that he try. According to Clyman, "I put my needle sticking it through and through and over and over, laying the lacerated parts together as nicely as I could with my hands." Now, listen to this: after two weeks of rest, Smith resumed his duty as captain of the party. Wow. Wonder where the lidocaine was at that time that deadened it to where he could really sew it up.

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• Mm-hmm. I wonder where the antiseptics were. I'm simply saying there was nothing. It was probably a crude needle and crude thread. It was not a suturing needle. This was an expedition. This was out in the mountains. Hugh Glass, another mountain man, was mauled by a grizzly bear and left for dead by his companions. He wasn't quite dead, but they were pretty sure he was going to die, and so for fear of an Indian attack, they left him. When Hugh Glass came to, he pulled himself to a stream, got some water, washed his wounds, crawled until he found some leftover meat from a dead carcass that the wolves had not eaten. He ate some of that meat. He got grasses and mosses and covered his wounds. He crawled, walked, and staggered 200 miles to Fort Kiowa before he could get help. They don't make men like that today. I'm just saying, what are you going to do if you can't take care of yourselves? You're going to be up the creek without a paddle when there is nothing. You can buy medical books.

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• You can buy the book "When There Is No Doctor" or "Where There Is No Doctor" and the one "Where There Is No Dentist." You can buy the books by Dr. Joe Alton and—I forget Dr. Cynthia's last name. She has a book, wonderful book. And there are all kinds of materials that you can buy and teach yourself. You know that you're going to need some supplies, short-term and long-term medical supplies. Get them.

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• Whose responsibility is it to ensure that your family is fed and clothed, sheltered, protected, and taken care of? It is not the government's responsibility. It's not your neighbor's responsibility. It is your responsibility. You are to be the first responder. That's it. Now I want to show you something. Look in your Bibles just back a few pages to 2 Thessalonians chapter 3, and I want to begin reading there with verse 10. It is not your responsibility to feed the world. It is not your responsibility to feed sluggards and lazy individuals. No, neither is it mine. Look at this: 2 Thessalonians 3, verse 10. The Apostle Paul says, "For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread." It's your job and your responsibility to take care of yourself and your family and provide for every need. Yes, there is biblical charity, but it is not charity to support those who are so indolent and slothful that they will not

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• work. Hungry men will do one of two things: they'll either learn to work or they will steal. If they're willing to work, you may be willing to share. If they're willing to steal, you must be willing to protect. You cannot provide for everybody, but you are responsible to provide for your family. In all things, we must trust the Lord Jesus Christ to make us wise, to lead, guide, and direct us, and give us a mind to think beforehand of what we will need to prepare ourselves and our families so that we may continue to serve Him. He must give us that grace. He must give us that wisdom. Now, let me give you a couple of scriptures. David pointed this out beautifully in the Psalms, and I could multiply them, but here's three. And David said in Psalm 7, verse 10, "My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart." My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart. And then he said in Psalm 31, verse 2, "Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me." So he's begging God to save him.

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• Let me ask you a question. Was David a warrior? Yes. Did David fight? Yes. But he's still trusting in God. In Psalm 59, verse 9, he said it like this: "Because of his strength will I wait upon thee: for God is my defence." I'm sure that every one of you have heard this old adage. Here it is: "Trust in God and keep your powder dry." What does that saying imply? It implies, number one, that our real protection is in God himself. But secondly, it implies it's our responsibility to use the means that God has ordained to protect ourselves.

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• Now the truth of the matter is this: all of our preparation, all of our plans are useless without God. Hmm. Psalm 127, verse 1: "Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain." That does not mean that there's no need for watchmen. That does not mean there's no need for weaponry, but it does mean that our total trust and reliance must be on God because He is our divine protector. We must use the means that God has ordained. Now, I want you to listen one more time to 1 Timothy chapter 5 and verse 8. He said, "But if any provide not for his own"—remember what the word "provide" means: you are thinking in advance of whatever you need to take care of your family—"but if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the

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• faith, and he's worse than an infidel." So to deny our responsibility to prepare is being worse than an infidel and denying the faith. That is why God said in Proverbs chapter 6, "Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: which provideth her meat in the summer, that she may have in the winter." Go to the ant, consider her ways, and be wise. Our preparation must be done with trust in God and seeking His blessing to make it successful for our lives and our families.

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• Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee. Let this, Lord, sink into our hearts and our minds, that we are responsible and we are to respond to our responsibility. And all it takes to be worse than an infidel and deny the faith is to deny our responsibility before Thee. Give us Your grace. Teach us. Build us up in the most holy faith, we pray in Christ's name. Amen.

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• so

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-04T15:13:01Z