Would There Be Enough Evidence to Convict You?

Today we explore what it means to live an authentic Christian life through daily disciplines and faithful obedience. We examine whether our actions truly align with our professed faith.

• Challenge to evaluate if there's enough evidence to "convict" you of being a Christian
• Scripture reading from 1 Corinthians 7 on fulfilling marital duties and mutual submission
• Paul's powerful testimony in 2 Timothy 4 about fighting the good fight and finishing the race
• Reflection on storing treasures in heaven rather than on earth
• Historical quotes from John Adams and Benjamin Rush on Christianity's role in society
• Warning from Churchill about how "unwisdom, carelessness, and good nature" allowed evil to gain power
• Medal of Honor recognition for Henry Bertram's service in the Indian Campaigns

If you're looking for a family-friendly middle grade fantasy book series, check out "Countryside." Two books are available in the series so far, with a third one in progress. Your reviews online would be greatly appreciated.

Chapters

• 0:00 Opening Prayer and Reflection
• 4:14 Marriage Guidance from Corinthians
• 4:48 Scripture Readings from Timothy
• 10:12 Reflections on Eternal Reward
• 13:13 Medal of Honor and Historical Quotes
• 17:36 Closing Thoughts and Book Recommendation

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:01

Hey folks, this is Jesse Cope, back with another episode of the American Soul Podcast. Hope y'all are doing well wherever y'all are, in whatever part of the day you're in. Sure to appreciate y'all joining me, giving me a little bit of your uh time and attention, a little piece of your day. I will try and use it wisely. For those of y'all who continue to share the podcast with others and tell others about it, thank you very much. For those of y'all who continue to pray for me and for the podcast, thank you. Very, very grateful for your prayers. Father, thank you for today. Thank you for you, Father, and your son Jesus Christ and your Holy Spirit. Thank you for your love and your mercy, your grace, and your forgiveness of sins because of the merit of your son Jesus Christ alone. Thank you for so many blessings, Father. So many that we don't acknowledge. The big to the simple. Thank you for health. Thank you for the love of the spouse, the love of children. Thank you for parents who cared enough about us to discipline us. Thank you for food to eat and water to drink and clothes to wear. Thank you for vehicles that run and electricity, heaters and air conditioning. Thank you for ice in the summer. Thank you for so many things, Father. Thank you for the people that listen to the podcast. Be with them wherever they are around the nation, here in America and around the world. Be with their families, bless their marriages, bless their children, give them wisdom and courage and a strong faith. Help us to all follow your Son, Jesus Christ, to truly love him by following his commands, and therefore to love you, Father, with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Forgive us when we fail. Father, forgive us our greed, our selfishness, our pride, judgment of others, rash words and actions, sexual immorality, our lust, our covetousness. Forgive us our cowardice and our unbelief, Father. Help us to overcome we do believe. Give them wisdom and courage and a strong faith. Help them to rule and lead and teach in fear of you, Father. And please guide my words here. In the name of your Son Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen. Have you made time for God and Jesus Christ today? Have you made time to read their word? Have you made time to pray, to talk to Him, to listen? Is God really at the top of your priority list? Do your actions back that up? If somebody accused you of being a Christian, is there enough evidence there to convict you? And if you're married, do you love your spouse each day? How do you love your spouse? These verses we go through at the beginning of each podcast, folks, that's that's how you love your spouse. It's not something from Hollywood. It's not something out of a Nicholas Sparks book or whoever else you want to talk about. Um you love your spouse by fulfilling your roles and responsibilities as a husband or a wife. Are you doing that? Actions tell the tell again. If somebody accused you of being a good spouse, would there be enough evidence to convict you? Because the only way you can really be a good spouse is to follow those commands of God and Jesus Christ each day. At the end of each day, would there be enough evidence to convict you? Marriage verses for today come out of 1 Corinthians chapter 7, verses 2 through 6. But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband. The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but yields it to her husband. In the same way the husband does not have authority over his own body, but yields it to his wife. Do not deprive each other, except perhaps by mutual consent for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. I say this as a concession, not as a command. Bible verses for today. I'm going to start with Second Timothy four verses one through twenty-two. I solemnly urge you in the presence of God in Christ Jesus, who will someday judge the living and the dead when he comes to set up his kingdom. Preach the word of God. Be prepared whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching. For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject truth and chase after myths. But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don't be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at telling others the good news, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you. As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me, the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me, but for all who eagerly look forward to his approach appearing. Timothy, please come as soon as you can. Demus has deserted me because he loves the things of this life and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescent has gone to Galatia and Titus has gone to Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Bring Mark with you when you come, for he will be helpful to me in my ministry. I sent Tycheus to Ephesus. When you come, be sure to bring the coat I left with Carpus at Troas. Also bring my books and especially my papers. Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm, but the Lord will judge him for what he has done. Be careful of him for he fought against everything we said. The first time I was brought before the judge, no one came with me. Everyone abandoned me. May it not be counted against them. But the Lord stood with me and gave me strength so that I might preach the good news in its entirety for all the Gentiles to hear. And he rescued me from certain death. Yes, and the Lord will deliver me from every evil attack and will bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. All glory to God for ever and ever. Amen. Give my greetings to Priscilla and Aquila and those living in the household of Onesphorus. Estrus stayed at Corinth, and I left Tromus sick at Malachius. Do your best to get here before winter. May the Lord be with your spirit, and may his grace be with all of you. I'm sorry I murdered so many of those names, folks. Psalm ninety five one through ninety six thirteen. Come, let us sing to the Lord. Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come to him with thanksgiving. Let us sing psalms of praise to him. For the Lord is a great God, a great king above all gods. He holds in his hands the depths of the earth and the mightiest mountains. The sea belongs to him, for he made it. His hands formed the dry land too. Come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our maker, for he is our God. We are the people he watches over, the flock under his care. If only you would listen to his voice today, the Lord says, Don't harden your hearts as Israel did at Meribah, as they did at Masa in the wilderness. For there your ancestors tested and tried my patience, even though they saw everything I did. For forty years I was angry with them, and I said, They are a people whose hearts turn away from me. They refuse to do what I tell them. So in my anger I took an oath, they will never enter my place of rest. Sing a new song to the Lord, let the whole earth sing to the Lord, sing to the Lord and praise his name. Each day proclaim the good news that he saves, publish his glorious deeds among the nations, tell everyone about the amazing things he does. Great is the Lord, he is most worthy of praise. He is to be feared above all gods. The gods of other nations are mere idols. But the Lord made the heavens, honor and majesty surround him, strength and beauty fill his sanctuary. O nations of the world recognize the Lord, recognize that the Lord is glorious and strong. Give to the Lord the glory he deserves, bring your offering and come into his courts. Worship the Lord in all his holy splendor. Let all the earth tremble before him. Tell all the nations the Lord reigns. The world stands firm and cannot be shaken. He will judge all peoples fairly. Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice, let the sea and everything in it shout his praise. Let the fields and the crops burst out with joy. Let the trees of the forest sing for joy. Before the Lord, for he is coming. He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with justice and the nations with his truth. Proverbs twenty six nine through twelve. A proverb in the mouth of a fool is like a thorny branch brandished by a drunk. An employer who hires a fool or a bystander is like an archer who shoots at random. As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his foolishness. There is more hope for fools than for people who think they are wise.

SPEAKER_00: 10:52

Last one's a pretty good indication to stay humble, right?

SPEAKER_01: 11:02

Second Timothy chapter four, verses six through eight. As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me, the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me, but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing. Come, Lord Jesus. That's the prize, folks. That's the goal. That's the only one that lasts all eternity, right? Again, you go back to the store up for ourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust cannot destroy, not treasures here on earth where moth and rust can and do destroy. And verse 18, yes, and the Lord will deliver me from every evil attack and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. All glory to God forever and ever, amen. I think a lot of times we want God delivering us to mean that we're not going to have any pain or sorrow or that we might not die, right? And that's that's not the guarantee. The guarantee is that God, because of his son Jesus Christ and our faith, he's gonna bring us safely into his kingdomly heaven. He's gonna bring us home safe, and we can trust him because he's God and he doesn't lie. And he promised that if we I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I believe he died for my sins. I believe God raised him from the dead, he's my Lord and Savior. Because of that, God promises He's gonna bring me home one day to heaven for all eternity, where there will be no more sorrow and no more pain, no more tears, no more heartache, no more injury, no more illness, and that I will have a crown. Right? Medal of Honor for today, Henrik Bertram, also known as Henry Bertram, Corporal, Indian Campaigns, Bravo Company, 8th U.S. Cavalry, U.S. Army, August 13th through October 31st, 1868, vicinity of the Black Mountains, Arizona, USA. Bravery in Scouts and Actions Against Indians. Accredited to Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, not awarded posthumously. Born March 19, 1842, Brunswick, Germany, died december thirtieth, nineteen oh nine, Sacramento, California, buried at St. Joseph Cemetery, Sacramento, California.

SPEAKER_00: 13:42

Henry Bertram. Just another name to add to the list, folks.

SPEAKER_01: 13:54

A few quotes for history today. John Adams, second president, signer of the declaration. Suppose a nation in some distant region should take the Bible for their only law book, and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited. What a utopia. What a paradise would this region be. Right, we're never gonna have that's one of the promises the left, socialism, communism, Nazism, fascism, like they always try and make, right, utopia. We're not gonna have utopia on our folks until Jesus Christ comes back. But just like any professional athlete, you aim for perfection, right? You aim for perfect, and that's Jesus Christ, that's the Bible. So anytime we aim for something else, we're automatically aiming for less than perfection. We're automatically aiming to do worse. Benjamin Rush, also signer of the Declaration, one of the three most influential founding fathers, according to John Adams, along with George Washington, and either Thomas Jefferson or John Jay, I can't remember right now. Christianity is the only true and perfect religion. And in proportion as mankind adopt its principles and obey its precepts, they will be wise and happy. So another signer of our declaration saying, hey, the closer we get to the Bible, the closer we get to God and Jesus Christ, the more happy and wise we will be. We're never going to be perfect, folks. The religion is perfect, but we're human. But you aim for perfection. You aim for perfect for Jesus Christ. And the closer you get to that, the wiser and happier you will be. There's a number of our great leaders who have echoed that comment. I think Patrick Henry was one, a quote that we read often. And I want to say there's another bouncing around in the back of my head, at any rate. I wanted to leave you with a few quotes out of the preface for a book by Winston Churchill on the Second World War. This is the first volume in his series called The Gathering Storm. And this preface was by John Keegan. Just one quote from Churchill in war, resolution, and defeat, defiance, and victory, magnanimity, and peace, goodwill. We probably need to pay a lot of attention to that quote these days in America. And then each of these volumes, Churchill gave a theme to. I think there were five, four or five volumes in the Second World War history that he did. And for this first book, the theme was how the English-speaking peoples, through their unwisdom, carelessness, and good nature allowed the wicked to re-arm. There's going to be a day in history books if God allows the world to continue on for another few centuries or millennia, where people look back at this time and American history in particular, Western civilization as a whole, but particularly American civilization, and they look at our unwisdom, our carelessness, and our good nature, our live and let live kind of philosophy. And they're shocked at how we allowed the wicked inside the United States to gain power, right? People that follow leftism, socialism, communism, Nazism, fascism, Islam, they're going to be shocked at how we allowed people that obviously stand for such evil, such wickedness to gain power in our nation when it wasn't set up that way at all. And then the last, this was actually a quote by John Keegan, who wrote this preface on this first volume. Some were with opponents or future enemies with whom he nevertheless succeeded in making common cause, talking about uh Churchill and kind of how he wrote this, talking about the different people he interacted with. Again, some were with opponents or future enemies with whom he nevertheless succeeded in making common cause, Stalin foremost among them. Don't ever forget, folks, we don't do a very good job teaching this today. Socialism, communism, Nazism, fascism, leftism, those are all just different shades of the same horrific evil, folks. They get to the point, different paths, maybe. They have slightly different ways of doing things, but they're all still blatantly evil. And they all go hand in glove with Islam. And that's that's the bottom line. On a little cheer note, again at the end, if you're looking for a middle grade fantasy, uh family-friendly book series to read, kids, grandkids, I would humbly recommend Countryside. I've got two books in the series so far, working on the third one if you get a chance. I would appreciate you checking it out. And if you enjoy it, if you'd leave a review somewhere online, I would very much appreciate that as well. God bless y'all. God bless your families, God bless your marriages, God bless America, God bless your nation, wherever you are around the world. Listen, folks. We'll talk to y'all again real soon. Looking forward to it.