What Is the Greatest Long-Term Threat to America's Wellbeing?

The following program is recorded content created by Truth Network. Thanks for joining us today on the Line of Fire. Michael Brown is always delighted to be with you from our studio at Christ for the Nations in Dallas. So glad to be back here again with these wonderful students pouring into World Changers every day. Here's the number to call with any question of any kind on any subject when we get to the call.

It's 866-344-TRUTH, 866-348-7884. But first, I want to get your take on an important question. We've seen all the news about the apparent spy balloon that was over America sent by China that we shot down out of the air. What in the world is China doing with a spy balloon? What data is China trying to gather? Is this China showing how defined it is towards America?

How concerned should we be about China in general in terms of World War or some cataclysmic event involving China? Well, I'm not a military expert. I'm not a spying expert.

I'm not an economic expert. So I was thinking, what can I discuss with you on the radio as your voice for moral sanity and spiritual clarity? What discussion can we have where I can weigh in with some wisdom? I can add something to you.

I can be of help to you. So as I was being driven to the airport by my faithful assistant co-worker Brandon on Sunday yesterday, I said, hey, I'm going to post a poll on Twitter and then we fine-tuned the choices together. So I want to put this out for you and talk about the various threats that we face and ask you which you think is the greatest threat to the long-term well-being of America. So I tweeted this out. I'll give you the results a little bit later in the broadcast. In your opinion, I asked what is the greatest long-term threat to the well-being of America? If none of the choices correspond to your answer, then don't respond to the poll, but just tweet your answer.

The final results, we got 1,614 votes. So that's a good response on Twitter. People wanted to weigh in. Good response for me. And I gave four choices.

You can only give four on Twitter. The first was China or Russia, either of them or both of them. What about that as a threat? Or maybe some still think radical Islam is the threat?

Or a one-world government? Or American decadence? Which is the greatest threat to the well-being of America? Is it concerns about China or Russia, concerns about a one-world government, concern about radical Islam, or is it American decadence?

Now, let me make a case for the different ones that were raised. China. We know that much of American economy is tied up with China. We know if China pulled its money out of America, there would be a massive financial collapse within the country. Of course, major issues for China as well. But we are dependent on Chinese money in many ways. We have also money from the Middle East, money from India, and our massive debt.

Of course, there are other things that could have ended, like debt, etc. Or just climate crisis or whatever theories people have. So, China is a growing world power. It's growing militarily. It is under a dictatorial ruler who is really fashioning himself as the new Mao. He is cracking down in many ways on freedoms within China.

It's a very, very dangerous situation. China is facing an ongoing crisis because of a low birth rate, because of their one-child-per-family policy, which is now coming back to bite them. Will China need some aggressive thing to do? Will China benefit potentially from a war with America?

Are we ready to fight back adequately? So, the threat of China. And then, you know, China controlling TikTok and TikTok getting so much information from us and influencing the minds of our young people. What about Chinese influence in that way?

Alright, so put that aside as a very real issue. What about Russia? Well, Russia is not as powerful as it once was, and it does not have the whole Soviet Union.

But it is still a mega nuclear power. What if the war with Ukraine continues to go south for Russia? What if Russia gets more and more hostile to NATO, to the European Union, and to American support of Ukraine? What if Russia and under Putin, maybe the rumors are true, Putin's sick, Putin's dying, I don't know. Maybe under Putin, Russia says, this is it. And he just decides, we're going to try to take out whoever we can.

Launches a nuclear war against America. But I'm just putting out why people would think that these are potential threats. And what about the role of communism seeking to brainwash and infiltrate in different ways within America over the generations? Is there truth to that?

How much truth to that? How much undermining has Russia already done? So Russia is a world threat. Or what about, and remember choice one was China or Russia.

So either of those or both. Then what about radical Islam? What about the role of radical Islam? Hey, Islam is the second largest religion in the world to Christianity. And if Christianity has, what, two and a quarter billion adherents, maybe Islam is 1.6 billion adherents, still rapidly growing, especially because of high birth rates in various countries where Islam is prevalent. How much of Islam is radical? I remember watching an interview on a liberal TV station and a Middle East specialist was talking about radical Islam. And he said, OK, let's just say it's 10 percent of the of the population of Muslims worldwide that is radical. So that 10 percent, if it's just 10 percent, that's 160 thousand excuse me, 160 million people, 160 million radicals, because the vast majority of Muslims are not going to be radical and many will be peace loving and more devoted to their religion than trying to to violently extend it.

That's a lot of people. We saw what happened with 9-11. We know about the power of Islamic terrorism worldwide.

What about that? Or trying to indoctrinate people in prisons, people come across the borders with radical Islam. How many sleeper cells are in our midst?

So I'm just giving I'm not trying to scare you. I'm just giving the case for each or one world government. We saw a real possibility of something like that. As as we looked at, say, World Health Organization's and things like that with covid, there was a lot of international cooperation, international leaning on the same data and things like that. And as a result, there were there were lockdowns and crackdowns and forced vaccinations.

If you wanted to continue to work, if you wanted to be in certain public sectors and things like that. And many people say, hey, overnight we can have a one world government. And the Bible does speak about an antichrist ruling over the whole world. So perhaps that could be the greatest threat as as the various nations join together in a very secular way or try to create their own system of religion, a secular religion and take over the world. And that could that could be a direct attack on our freedoms and a direct attack on future American well-being. So, again, just giving the short case for each of these in terms of which is the greatest threat to the long term well-being of America.

And then the last one, American decadence. Abraham Lincoln did not actually say America can't be destroyed from without, but from within. That that is not an exact quote of his, although it's been used as an exact quote, rather as a paraphrase of some of his words. And this is in the midst of slavery in America and the war, the fight to free the slaves and bring equality. So Lincoln says this. And this was a speech from, well, let me get the exact year here. 1838 speech.

All right. So this is well before Civil War. So he says, We find ourselves in the peaceful possession of the fairest portion of the earth as regards extensive territory, fertility of soil and salubrity of climate. So going on with that, we toiled not in the acquirement or establishment of them. Their legacy bequeathed us by a once hardy, brave and patriotic, but now lamented, departed race of ancestors in terms of heritage. Then he says, At what point, then, is the approach of danger to be here?

Let me back up. The task of gratitude to our fathers, justice to ourselves, duty to posterity and love for a species in general all imperatively require us faithfully to perform. How then shall we perform it? At what point should we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it? Should we expect some transatlantic military giant to step the ocean and crush us at a blow? Never. All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined with all the treasure of the earth are unexpected in their military chest with a bone apart for a commander could not by force take a drink from the Ohio or make a track on the Blue Ridge in trial in a trial of a thousand years.

So here's the part of the quote that's been paraphrased and simplified. At what point, then, is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, If it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us.

It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of free men, we must through all time or we must live through all time or die by suicide.

So that's the quote that was paraphrased to say we won't be destroyed from the outside, but from the inside. Now, what do you think out of those choices? What do you personally think is the greatest threat to the ongoing long term well being of America? China, Russia, radical Islam, one word, government or American decadence, sin in our own midst, worldliness, greed, narcissism, materialism, lust of the flesh, addiction to things of this age. I want to read a quote to you from Benjamin Rush, who is one of our founding fathers. This is my revolution book. June 13th, 1808, Benjamin Rush, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, wrote a letter to John Adams complaining of the deterioration in American society since the revolution. So in a period of 30 something years, he's saying that American society is deteriorating. It's 1808. He quoted the words of an 80 year old, 81 year old man who, quote, knew America in her youthful and innocent days, but who felt that now, quote, they had all become idolaters. They worship but one God.

It is true. But that God was God dollars. 1808. With disgust, Rush noted, St. Paul places covetousness and uncleanness together as improper subjects of our conversation. But not only our streets, but our parlors are constantly vocal with the language of a broker's office.

And even our convivial dinners, dollars are a standing dish upon which all feed with rapidity and gluttony. So what would Rush think today of American decadence, of our worldliness, of our carnality? Where does that fit in terms of long term threats to America?

So I asked this question on Twitter and I had a hunch what the answer might be. But to be candid, I was very, very surprised by how extreme the answer was. In fact, let's let's take a look now.

I was going to make it more suspenseful. Let's take a look now. This is my Twitter poll posted yesterday. Sixteen hundred fourteen votes is slightly over 24 hours ago.

I posted it. China or Russia together, right? China or Russia only got eight percent of the votes. Radical Islam. Only five point one percent.

One world government. Nineteen point five percent. American decadence. Sixty seven point four percent. Over two thirds said American decadence.

By far the greatest threat to the long term well-being of America. What do you think of that? We'll be right back. Thanks for joining us again, if you got a way in, want to weigh in, have a question for me on any subject that relates to the line of fire. A little later in the show, I will be getting to a wide range of calls. So call now eight six six three four eight seven eight eight four in a few minutes.

We'll get to you. All right. I would much rather have the responsibility fall on me to make changes in my life that were going to affect my future rather than to be dependent entirely on others. So I would I would rather as an American if it's true that our greatest problems, our greatest dangers are from within. I would rather have that where we can deal with it ourselves rather than be dealing with some external force would be a hostile China, hostile Russia, hostile radical Islam, hostile World War One World government, whatever it is better to have it on us to deal with. I would rather say with with my future in terms of decisions that I make, whether it's going to be good or bad.

I would rather I work that out with God. And if there are problems, God can show me if there's things I need to change, God can show me rather than being dependent on everyone else. So if again, this just opinion of sixteen hundred plus people on Twitter. But if those opinions are accurate and I would personally say they are because it's up to us to make things or break things as Americans, if we are if we are turning to God, if we are seeking to do what is right, if we are turning towards righteousness and seeking to stand for justice and help poor and needy around the world and spread the gospel around the world and try to build up godly families.

I don't mean everyone in America, but very positive, good things coming out of America. Then God can protect us from any external enemy. We can sink our own ship in that sense. No one else can sink it unless God allows that to happen. And he only allow it to happen or even cause it to happen because of sin and decadence and disobedience and rebellion in our own midst.

So that's what we can deal with. And it starts with us in the church. And then it starts with each of us individually. Sometimes I'll pray the Lord's Prayer and go through the words of it in an expanded way. Lord, hallowed be your name, Lord, over the whole world. May your name be hallowed and recognized and pray it in the largest terms.

Your kingdom come, your will be done and then keep praying it down more and more than to our not just the whole world and to our country specifically, then to my region, then to my community of believers or my ministry or life or family and then me ultimately me. So that's what's in our control. America as a whole is not your control or my control, but each of our lives with God's help, they are in our control and we can bear fruit. We can live disciplined, godly lives or we could live decadent lives. We could live lives that are that are caught up in the lust and desires of the flesh. Remember that Jesus says in Matthew 24, because iniquity will abound, the love of many will wax cold.

Obviously, it had relevance to that first generation of disciples, but I believe it has great relevance, especially for the end of the age. An ongoing relevance that where we have sin so available, it's easy for us to get soft. It's easy for us to get addicted.

It's easy for us to become carnal. If you're in a society where you barely have enough money to get enough rice for the day to subsist on a almost starvation diet, greed and the consuming materialism and accumulation of wealth, that's really not consuming you. You're just trying to survive day by day, moment by moment. But if you're in a situation where you've got all kinds of opportunity and the more you have, the more you want, right? It says in Scripture that he who loves silver is not satisfied with silver. He who loves gold is not satisfied with gold. The eyes of a man are never satisfied. So according from Ecclesiastes and from Second Peter, that sometimes the more we have, the more we want. And it can be the same with any fleshly lust or addiction. All the bad foods that we eat that we're addicted to in America, this cuts our lives short.

This is part of our own undoing. Think of growing up in America a few hundred years ago. What did you do for entertainment? You didn't have radio. You didn't have TV. You had books, outdoor games, table games. Maybe there was some special shows and presentation, a drama in your town or something, or the latest news.

Someone comes through with the latest news. But I remember growing up, there was radio, AM-FM radio. And then there were TV stations. We had a number of TV stations, and it was black and white TV. And some of the stations, I think most, went off at midnight.

Maybe we had a choice of five. So that was long before color TV. That was long before cable TV. That was long before streaming online.

So there's this endless distractions and then availability of things we never had before. I've often mentioned in terms of holiness issues and things like that and sexual sin, that when I was in my heaviest drug days, 15, 16 years old, shooting heroin and living in complete rebellion, that I had no access to pornography. I couldn't go to a porn theater even if I knew where one was. I couldn't go to one. I couldn't buy a magazine.

None of my friends' fathers subscribed to Playboy in those days. So even if I was looking for things, I didn't have access to them. Today, a kid, an eight-year-old kid, just stumble on it or find it on a cell phone. So the availability of things at our fingertips, we've never had this before.

And because of that, we get distracted. All right, I've got some good news. I've got some encouraging news in the midst of this. I'm holding in my hands, and I am very excited to hold this in my hands, my newest book.

It officially releases in one month, but we got our shipment in already. Why so many Christians have left the faith, responding to the deconstructionist movement with unshakable, timeless truth. And what I do in this book that's unique is I not only describe the problems, what's going wrong, where the issues are, why so many Christian leaders, individuals, young people have left the church, why Christianity overall seems to be declining within America in terms of numerically people professing Christianity, not only outline the problem with sensitivity and understanding, but each chapter I say, OK, here's how we answer.

Here's how we respond. Here's how we help people. So maybe you yourself are struggling. Maybe you're having your own questions and quote deconstructing.

Maybe your friend or loved one has. This book could be key to strengthen your faith or bringing someone back to the faith. Let me just run through the chapters in the book and then I'll tell you how you can order exclusively through our ministry, a signed, numbered advanced copy.

So chapter one, there really is a problem. I just talk about a number of prominent leaders, pastors, others, seminary professor, music ministry that have fallen away and no longer believe. Some no longer believe the Bible at all. Some no longer believe in God at all. Some have changed their version of Christianity, but they've fallen away. And then second chapter, atheist agnostics and the trickle down effect in that chapter. I explain how the objections of the atheists that started to become very prominent. Oh, about 17 years ago, how they have trickled their way down objections to the Bible attacks on the New Testament.

And they're just in the general public consciousness. Then chapter three, can Christian leaders be trusted? What about all the scandals? How has that affected people in their view of the church? Then chapter four, if gay is good, the church is bad.

In other words, if gay is no different than being gay and no different than being straight, and gay relations just the same as straight relations and your best friend is gay and your family member is gay, you yourself are gay and you say, hey, I love God and we're good people. But that means the church is bad because the church is opposing this and church is bigoted and hateful. Chapter five, the politicizing of the gospel. When we wrap America in the gospel flag, when we wrap the gospel in the flag of America, when we become more associated with political party or political leader, when we make spiritual battles primarily political battles, it turns people away. Chapter six, the effects of a compromised gospel. What's happened because of a generation, more than a generation, of a watered down gospel that's being preached and giving people a wrong idea of who God is and what the word is and what God requires? Then chapter seven, because iniquity will abound.

I get in depth in terms of all the distractions and temptations of this age. Chapter eight, why should we care about what the Bible says? What makes the Bible relevant? Why even care about it? Chapter nine, how could a good God send billions of people to hell?

What kind of God do Christians have anyway? These are the things we tackle head on. And then chapter 10, can deconstruction be healthy? Is it possible it's good to deconstruct and question everything and see what you can build up and not build up?

Then chapter 11, where do we go from here? So the whole book is practical, it's hard hitting, it's honest, it's compassionate. You'll find, understand, a greater understanding, pastors, leaders, also why people are leaving and falling away.

Why so many young people are raising questions that the previous generation didn't raise. But then practical answers through the book. And in the next few weeks, God willing, we'll be unpacking some of this. We'll be going through some of the material in the book, which will then give you an idea of what's in the rest of the book.

But each show will be meaningful in itself. And then we have an appendix with resources to build your faith, etc. So here's how you can get exclusively through our ministry a signed, numbered copy. And we'll be sending these out. Since I'm back from on the road within two weeks, we'll be sending these out.

So you'll be the first to get them before they're released to the public. Call this number 800-538-5275. We just set up our call center in time for this book getting out. That's 800-538-5275.

Or if you like, for Ask Dr. Brown, 800-5385-ASK. So call right now, order as many copies as you want. We'll sign them.

I personally will sign them. Put a scripture reference in for everybody. I haven't decided which verse I'm going to put in yet, but I always think, pray, what's the right verse, and then put a specific reference. So you'll get that in every single book that we send out. So this is exclusively through our ministry.

You can also go to our website, Ask Dr. Brown, AskDearBrown.org. Just click on store and you'll see this. You can pre-order a signed, numbered copy. These will be available in Christian bookstores and wherever you order online. But this is the one way to get the signed, numbered copy, which is kind of a collector's item. I love sending them out.

We pray over the books and thrilled to get them to you in advance. But we've got to face these issues. And this whole idea of American decadence, it's a very real issue. And it means that the world in which we're living as believers in America, as easy as it is compared to many other parts of the world, it's also very difficult because of the abundance. I've got an update on a shocking case from England, eye-opener. But first we're going to get to your calls, and then a couple other edifying things I want to share with you today.

Change can happen. It starts with you. It starts with me and our own relationship with God. Thanks, friends.

Welcome to The Line of Fire. I'm Joe Brown. So glad to be with you.

866-348-7884. Going to the phones momentarily. A few weeks back I wrote an article about what I see God doing in America and how I'm full of hope and expectation in the midst of the darkness, in the midst of the depravity, in the midst of the confusion, in the midst of the compromise. I'm full of hope and expectation because I see God moving powerfully in many, many lives. I was bringing a word of encouragement.

I posted it on Facebook and someone posted a response, no, no, no. It's repent, repent, repent. Well, hang on. Repent, repent, repent leads to refreshing, renewal, revival. If there's true repentance, God moves. And repentance has been the heartbeat of my message for decades, going back to when I first started preaching 50 years ago. So I've never stopped preaching repentance. I preach it to this day, to this moment. But repentance, true repentance, brings refreshing. True repentance brings renewal. So if more and more of us will humble ourselves and pray, if more and more of us will cry out to God, if more and more of us will seek him earnestly, if more and more of us will turn aside from the things of this world and go after God, it is not too late for America.

God could do the most amazing things in the days ahead. And I see signs that something is happening. I'm not dreaming. I'm not making this up.

I'm not just feeling it. I'm telling you things in front of my eyes that I see with God moving. And I don't just mean in a Bible school where everyone's on fire for God.

No, I mean in churches, different churches around America. Something is happening. So there is a pushback taking place.

866-34-TRUTH. Let us go to Yael in New Hampshire. Thanks for holding.

Welcome to the line of fire. Hello, Yael, are you there? I am. Can you hear me? Yeah, I can. Go ahead.

Okay, great. So I have a question regarding sin. And I know that not all sin is equal. And some sins have different consequences than others. And I would like to get your view on, or your professional opinion, on those who say the sin of pedophilia is no different than the sin of having premarital sex.

Petro-sectoral premarital sex. There is clearly a distinction in that sin. There's a difference between these two sins. Could you articulate your opinion on that?

Surely, absolutely. First, let me give you a couple of broad statements. One, we recognize that sin separates us from God, and that all of us and ourselves fall short of God's glory and perfection, and therefore need God's mercy and forgiveness. And if I self-righteously say, well, my sin is not as bad as your sin, God doesn't want that. God wants me to take ownership from my sin before God.

So we start with that. Number two, of course, not all sin is equal. Not just in terms of consequences, but in terms of the sin itself. That's why some sins in the Old Testament had a death penalty and others didn't. It was far more grievous in the Old Testament to say, be in rebellion and witchcraft, or to be a murderer, or to be an adulterer. It was far more grievous in God's sight than to eat unclean food.

One had the death penalty, the other did not. We see in John 18, when Pilate is interrogating Jesus, that Jesus says to him, those who turn thee over to you have committed to greater sin. They went beyond their authority and what they should have done. They committed a greater sin. When Jesus is rebuking religious hypocrites in Matthew 23, he says, okay, great, you tied on the smallest little produce. That's good that you did.

You should keep doing that. But you neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice, mercy, and faithfulness. And then 1 John 5, it speaks of someone committing a sin unto death, but not all sin is unto death. So for sure, not all sins are equal in weight and severity in God's sight.

And then common sense tells us that as well. Which is worse in God's sight? That I hold bitterness towards someone and I'm and I decide not to forgive them or that I murder a person. Which is worse that that a guy every so often has some lustful thoughts towards another woman.

He's not married to or that he goes out, leaves his family and lives in adultery. Do you go to jail for thinking something or do you go to jail for committing the crime? So we understand even common sense that some sins are worse than another.

So specifically now your question. Of course, pedophilia is worse than consensual heterosexual sex outside of wedlock or even consensual homosexual sex outside of wedlock because not only does it involve a sinful sexual act, but it also involves abuse. It also involves the taking advantage of a minor.

It also traumatizes a minor and shapes a minor in ways beyond these other sexual acts. So if someone says, look, we're all guilty of sin the pedophile and the liar and say, okay, we're all guilty of sin. We all need Redemption. That's why Jesus died for us.

But for sure, you're compounding multiple sins in this one sin and you're compounding sins in a way that bring about more abuse and more negative destructive long-term effects. That's why Jesus says in Matthew 18. Woe to anyone who offends one of these little ones. Better that a millstone was put around your neck and you were cast into the sea than you offend one of these little ones or cause one of these little ones to stumble. And he says in heaven, their angels are always looking at the face of the Father.

So that would make very clear that a sin like that is of greater consequence and is an even greater evil. So that's my professional typically based answer. That is excellent. Dr. Brown and I'm getting your book. I am getting your book that sounds like an excellent book because it's going to address some of the subjects that I'm dealing with. Thank you so much.

Dr. Brown. You are very welcome and do me a favor when you get the book and read it. Send us a note. Let us know we'd be blessed to hear that or better still on social media. And if you get our books and you're blessed by them, you can just on social media take a picture of you with the book and say, hey, get this. I've been blessed by it's the best way to spread the word. So thank you so much. By the way, by the way, before I go back to the phones, when we send out the preordered books, the first ones, right?

So it could be numbers one through 150 or numbers one through 500, right? If a lot of people want to get the book in advance, the preorder. And we've encouraged folks, hey, go to Amazon and post review. Well, Amazon shut that down. Basically, when there was a flood of people trying to review my last couple of books, they shut it down. Well, that looks suspicious because it wasn't ordered through Amazon. We can't verify it.

So it's a real shame that that didn't used to happen. That just means that that there are other ways for you to share the message and tell people about the book if you're blessed by it. All right, let's go to Eric in Charlotte, North Carolina. Welcome to the line of fire. Thank you, Dr. Brown. Thank you for your ministry and just love you. Real quick, I needed also for you to repeat that phone number to get your book and the promo for the vitamin supplement. You got it.

All right, so tell you what. So to order the book, the preorder, it's 800-538-5275. 800-388-5275.

And if you want to get these Triveda supplements, in fact, I've got to give you a personal update in a moment. Number to call for that, so different numbers, is 800? 800. 771? 771. 5584?

5584. Yes, sir. Tell them Dr. Brown sent you, all right? All right. The promo code? Oh, the promo code is Brown25. So capital B, Brown25. That's Triveda.com.

If you go online, just go to Triveda.com. This is a permanent code now, Brown25. And just to remind everybody, everybody ordering for the first time, 100%, 100% of the total order, 100% will be donated to our line of fire fund as we expand this broadcast across the nation. Okay, thanks for asking, Eric. As to your question, go ahead. Yes. Just a simple question. Do you believe that a Christian can lose his salvation or have his salvation taken away? I'd appreciate you giving me a yes or no answer and then give me the support or verses that you would use on one way or another. Yes, sir. Great.

You got it, Eric. Yes, I believe a Christian can willingly forfeit their salvation. In other words, God will not force us to stay in his home as his children. We can willfully walk away from him, deny Jesus as Lord, refuse God's grace. If we want to serve God, he will absolutely keep us to the end. So the positive promises, Philippians 1, he who began the good work in you will bring it to completion. Hebrews 12, Jesus is the author and the finisher of our faith. John 10, no one can snatch us out of the Father's hand. Romans 8, nothing can separate us from the life of the love of God in Christ. John 5, we pass from death into life and now have eternal life. All of those verses speak very plainly, and there are others as well, of God's keeping power, of the fact that he who started the work will finish it, that our trust is in him. And because of that, Eric, I never ever, for a split second, worry about, quote, losing my salvation because I'm God's child and I want to serve him and I know he's keeping power.

He's kept me now for over 51 years. At the same time, I see many warnings in the New Testament about the danger of falling away. Colossians 1, that he'll keep us unspotted, blameless if we continue in the faith. I see 1 Timothy 2, that if we deny him, he will deny us. I see 2 Peter 2, that if someone comes to the knowledge of the Lord, escapes the pollution of the world through the knowledge of the Lord Jesus, and then goes back, it's worse for them than if they were ever saved.

It would have been better that they never came to the knowledge of the truth. I see warnings in Hebrews 2 about us drifting. Hebrews 3, about us departing from the living God. Hebrews 4, exhorting us to continue in the faith. Another warning in Hebrews 6, Hebrews 10, talking about how we could trample underfoot the blood of Christ that sanctified us and there's nothing waiting for us except fiery judgment. Hebrews 12, saying if we could not survive if we refused the law of Moses, much more if we, as believers, refused the word from heaven, the voice from heaven. And then, excuse me, Revelation 3, that Jesus will not blot our name out of the book of life if we're faithful to him, suggesting our names could be blotted out. Those in other verses indicate to me that it's possible for someone to willingly walk away from God. That being said, I do believe in God's keeping power.

I do not believe that we have to every day, oh, I'm saved. Oh, no, I'm lost. Oh, no, I'm saved. Oh, no, I'm lost.

Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. It's no way to live. At the same time, if you say, hey, whatever sin I commit, no matter what I do, I'm still saved, that's a dangerous thought as well. Hey, Eric, I hope that helped. May the Lord bless you. We will be right back. Welcome back, friends, to The Line of Fire. So I want to get back to the, quote, eternal security question in a moment that Eric from Charlotte had raised.

Once saved, always saved, perseverance of the saints, different words, different terms, different meaning for these different terms. So I want to come back to that in a moment. But when I finish the broadcast here, go back to my on-campus apartment at Christ for the Nations.

The first thing I'm going to do is drink my nitric oxide from Triveda and myo-health amino acids because about 45 minutes after that, I'm going to be heading over to the gym here to work out with a bunch of students. I don't know how many will be there. Last time we had probably about 11. And one guy was in his 40s, everybody else. Well, the other guys in their 20s, probably most of them early 20s, some of them in the gym regularly. So we had a good workout.

And God willing, next month I turn 68 and I plan on pushing with these guys and giving them a run for their money. So again, it flows at a healthy lifestyle by God's grace, all by His grace. Because I was a food wimp. Those who know my story know I was a food wimp.

I was addicted to unhealthy foods and to try to eat new healthy. No, no, I don't eat that. I don't eat that. My wife once explained to a translator from Finland. He was visiting our home. He was in our area in Maryland and he said, oh, so I understand that your husband doesn't eat all these foods. We were trying to feed him in Finland because that means he never tried them.

Oh, I thought I'm in trouble. Now they're going to make me try these foods. I'd often said I would rather preach to an angry, hostile, potentially dangerous crowd than try new foods. And I did it. I lived that out.

I would find excuses not to try new foods and preach fearlessly to dangerous, angry, potentially violent crowds. But God intervened. You know that whole story in my life. I'm not going to get into it again.

Eight and a half years ago. So eating super healthy every day, working out regularly. But I tell you, these supplements have just been amazing.

I'm seeing some really, really good results. So this morning I started my day with a little glass, like an ounce of Nopalaya, which deals with all kinds of inflammation issues. And then I'll do the nitric oxide. So that's blood flow, oxygenation, helps with general energy. And then the myo health, amino acids, especially getting older. It's hard to maintain muscle, build muscle, just helps in many, many other essential ways. So I do that before the workout. Sometimes we'll take the myo health, amino acids after. And I'm seeing progress. I'm getting stronger, literally, and more energetic and things. So I encourage you to do the whole thing, right?

Change your lifestyle, exercise, get rid of the unhealthy things. But the supplements are great. And the thrilling thing is Triveda says, Dr. Brown, we're going to get this broadcast blanketing America. So we're working together. That's their vision to do it.

And that's where they're taking 100 percent of everything that comes in on your first order, giving 100 percent of it back to our line of fire fund. And that's where it's that's all that it's going to to help us get to more people because we want to encourage your friends. It's not too it's not too late for you to make change. Man, I've been at this for so long. I know it's hard. It's very, very hard to make major lifestyle changes. We all face it.

That's reality. Otherwise, we'd all change on a dime. We'd all be in perfect health. We'd all be perfectly fit. We'd be perfectly spiritual. We'd be perfectly moral. Every marriage would be perfect.

Every family would be perfect. If it was that easy. But it's not. And a great starting place for me because we started talking about American decadence, right? That's why I'm coming back to this subject. A great starting point for me is to say, God, I'm weak. God, I I've had problems. I need your help. You said, well, just just come instantly. Sometimes it's after months and years of saying, I got I need your help.

And if you help me, I'll receive your help. And when you when he helps run with it. Wow, I don't I don't want that. OK, great, great.

I'm not interested in watching that. OK, good. But that thing used to pull on me.

It's not. Take a step in the right direction. And as you do, it's easy to take the next step and the next. And then you look back at the old stuff. You think what happened? How how did that have such power over me?

How did that dominate my life? And it's glorious and wonderful to be free. So I want to give you a number to call. But when you call in, you can you can talk to to the health care folks here. Not not health care.

Excuse me. The specialists of Triveda, you can talk to them and just ask, OK, I'm looking at I've got inflammation issues. I got arthritis or what what you recommend for this. And they'll be able to tell you. Just tell them Dr. Brown sent you again the number not for the book, but for these health supplements, wellness supplements. Eight hundred seven seven one fifty five eighty four.

Eight hundred seven seven one fifty five eighty four. Or if it's easier, just go to Triveda dot com. So go online. Triveda dot com.

Use the code Brown Capital B Brown 25. OK, so I was doing a live stream just looking at my clock here for a time. I was doing a live stream for Gypsy Church, Gypsy Christians on Friday night. We started at 10 p.m. Finally, about eleven fifty seven. I got to go. It was two hours into it.

I'd put it down for an hour. But it was that lively discussion. That many precious Gypsy brothers. I'm sure there were sisters there, too. But it was all brothers that were appearing, almost all of them with a nice beard.

Obviously, a cultural heritage Romani Church, as they be called. But we had, I don't know, at any given time, maybe three hundred seventy five people that high on a live stream, which, by the way, Instagram live stream. And that means a lot of people are watching over the course of the hour. The hour ended.

We started another one and boom, a ton of people came out. And this question came up about, quote, eternal security. And I was asked, well, what about Charles Stanley? I think David Jeremiah. They preach eternal security, that a true believer can never lose their salvation. Do you consider them brothers?

Of course, they're brothers. Fine men of God. Fine Bible teachers. Of course, respect and honor them.

I'm sure there's much I could learn from them. It's not this is not something whether I see someone saved or not because they hold to this. And there are many fine Christians who will say if someone is truly saved, then they will not live in open rebellion against God. If someone is truly saved, they will not end up denying Jesus and dying as a Buddhist or an atheist or a Hindu or a Muslim or something like that, or or leaving their families and being in multiple adulterous affairs and dying and repent. And they would say that person was never truly saved. That's what a Calvinist would say, who believes in what we call the perseverance of the Saints, that those who are truly saved will persevere in holiness to the end.

If they if they backslide or fall away, it's only temporary and they'll come back. So they would quote from 1 John 2 and say that if people left the church, then they were never really of us. But if they're really of us, they would have stayed. Now, that is the case for many that they were never truly converted. They were never truly born again. They were with us for a while and they left. And the fact that they left is further proof that they were never truly among us. That doesn't apply to every single person who ever leaves them. I don't understand the scripture to be saying that at all, that every single person who ever leaves was never truly with us.

One reason being the many warnings of apostasy we see in the scripture and others that experientially have seen people as far as I can tell, they're as born again as I was born again. They were serious about God as I was. They were in the word. They were praying. They were sharing their faith. They had a legitimate new life experience in God. They turned away from sin.

And over a period of years, things get in their heart and mind and they fall away. We can debate in the parable of the sower, the seed planted on shallow ground. Was that a genuine convert that fell away? Was it a false convert? That's a debate we can have. The seed that fell among thorns doesn't bring fruit to perfection. Was that a false convert or a true convert whose life is muddled? We can debate that.

But to me, what I want to do is emphasize the practical. Any teaching that has you wondering every day, if I'm saved, I'm lost, I'm saved. Oh, no, I committed sin. Oh, no, I didn't confess every sin before I went to sleep.

I'm damned. I'm going to die. Oh, if I die in my sleep. Oh, if I got in a car accident, I'm driving in the car and someone cuts me off and I yell at them and then I die, then I'm going to go to hell because I yelled. No, committing a single sin, lying.

I smoked a cigarette and then I die smoking a cigarette, I go to hell. You know, the whole idea, what if you were sinning the moment the rapture happened? You were sinning in that moment and you'd be left behind because you sinned at that second. Anything that causes you to live like that is not the gospel. It robs you of assurance. It robs you of confidence in God.

It robs you of resting in the grace and goodness of God. And I'm as saved this moment as I was during a time, maybe I was going through a severe trial in the Lord or struggling in a certain area. Every one of us has sinned since we've been saved.

Every one of us who could fully understand human nature, we've sinned in one way or another every week, every day. We didn't pray with sufficient devotion. We didn't love our neighbor sufficiently. We didn't love God fully. We thought a wrong thought.

We said a wrong word. So it's not like you go save, lost, save, lost. Your name's written in the Lamb's Book of Life in pencil.

Let's give him like a week, see if he's really serious before we write it back in. No, that's a tormenting way to live. That's not the gospel. On the flip side, any message that says no matter what sin you commit, no matter how you live, you can never lose your salvation. That's opening the door to destruction.

There was a mass murderer, if I remember, at LA Fitness in Pittsburgh, that he massacred people in cold blood and then took his own life. And he was very keen on one book that said the moment you profess faith in Jesus, at that moment you are born again, whether there's any change in your life whatsoever, whether there's any repentance in your life whatsoever, and no matter what you do the rest of your life, you're still saved by faith and grace at that very moment. But doesn't salvation save? I thought salvation changes us, not just write your name in heaven, but changes us. We now belong to God.

Jesus is our Lord. And this guy read this book and he had a quote in his journal. If I kill people, I die by suicide, to paraphrase, I still go to heaven, just a little earlier. Anyone that teaches that, that's dangerous. The biblical gospel is one that gives you absolute assurance as a believer that you have nothing to fear. Don't fear the future, don't fear what other people could do, don't even fear yourself or what you might do. You put your trust in God. He who began the good work will bring it to perfection, he'll complete it.

I rest in that 24-7. But God forbid if I said, hey, I'm going to go sin, I'm going to do whatever I want to do because I can't lose my salvation. Danger, danger. Let's walk this out practically rather than debate the issue. All right, we've got a big topic to cover tomorrow. Don't go anywhere.